Disclaimer: I do not own anything that belongs to GAINAX, DC or Vertigo. All rights reserved.
Chapter Eight: The End
Lilith fell from the cross, and all was not well with the world. The Furies looked upon the abomination before them, the oblivion of their universe incarnate, as it's mask fell into the pool, it's liquidated face solidifying into that of Shinji Ikari. Try as they might, they could not kill this, for it was their deaths that waited inside. Lilith-Shinji stood in the pool, defiant in its stance, it's body still without gender, but now leaner and more intimidating than ever before. The eyes were a cool, ocean blue, cold and dead eyes that stared at the Furies.
Die.
The ghostly forms that made up the Furies began to shred into bits, slowly, as though so Lilith-Shinji could enjoy their writhing and screaming. The Kindly Ones were now non-existent. Lilith-Shinji looked on to the scene before him, the gored and ripped up remains of EVA-01, the stunned and still EVA-02, the dead EVA-00, and the entirety of Terminal Dogma. Above his head Lilith-Shinji could feel the lives of billions, the human populace, creeping across the planet's surface like a sickly layer of filth, filling every crevice with their wretched existence. Beyond Earth, he could feel the light of the sun, Sol, the fool who let Delirium guide him into the creation of humanity as it is today. Beyond Sol, beyond the solar system, Shinji could hear the screams of sheer terror of the stars, for the stars knew this day would come. He could feel the fear in the hearts of the aliens on every inhabited planet in the vast void of space. He could even hear the groans of displeasure from the galaxy itself and the galaxies beyond, and the begging of every atom of the universe, begging him for mercy. He considered them all, weighed their worth, importance and potential to do him harm, to cause pain and suffering and hatred amongst themselves and others, and decided to aid the universe with a new start… but for a new start to begin, the old beginnings must end.
Die.
The universe is not endless. Not like Death. And so, from the edges of the universe, the End began. Galaxies sighed as their innards were melted into nothingness, their stars crying as Death took them all one-by-one, the planets groaning in agony as they writhed with earthquakes and tremors before finally turning to dust. When the inside died, the galaxy died as well, and collapsed into darkness that was simply nothing. Galaxy by galaxy, the universe suffered its final fate, until all but the Milky Way was consumed. The stars around Sol fell as well, each one cursing his name for bringing about their end, until finally Sol himself, sick with grief and distraught with fear, fell to Death's touch as well. Each planet, all but Earth, fell as such, and inevitably, the death of mankind began.
Lilith-Shinji filled his ears with the screams of death, the genocide that he committed. He heard it, weighed it, and decided that it was good.
The realm of Delirium cannot be described by mortal words or mortal tongue. Suffice it to say, that chaos rules there, and order knows no place in such a realm. Until now. As Death walked calmly into Delirium's realm, the realm knew order, knew death, knew the meaning of the End. As Death approached Delirium, who sat crying cradling her only possession, the realm shut down until only a bare, neutral gray concrete floor remained. Delirium turned to Death, and showed her a wedding ring.
"I was married once… I was happy. I can go now." She let the ring fly into the air, watching it disintegrate before Death cradled Delirium's cheek with a soft hand.
The empty rooms and forgotten mirrors of Despair gave her reason. They were portals into the hearts of men and women, portals by which she could do her work. But now the mirrors shattered and the rooms vanished, and so when Death finally came to Despair, Despair could only shrug. Death offered her hand to the large womanly form that was Despair, and Despair gladly took it, saying, "It was a good End, the entire universe despaired before it perished, and so my role is done."
Desire's realm was always a pulsing passionate red of eerie chaotic design. But now the chaos left, and the red turned to blue, blue to purple, purple to black. Desire looked about his/her realm, satisfied with it's end, and offered his/her hand to Death.
"Even when I'm gone, you'll still want Shinji, won't you?" He-she asked.
Death only nodded as she took her brother-sister's hand.
Death moved on to Destruction's realm, where he returned after several millennia of absence. The realm had already died before Death got there, but Destruction was there, and so she had to collect him in the dustbowl that was his decadent land. "I wish I came back earlier, I could have made this place a beautiful land of life… of creation," he began.
"I know you would've, little brother…" Death said, her smile now gone.
"Do not feel said about your siblings… it was inevitable. You knew that all along…"
"It doesn't mean I have to accept it… well, I guess it does, but I can be damn pessimistic about it." Death gave her small sad smile before reaching out to Destruction. Destruction ignored her at first, instead showing his red knapsack on a wooden stick. He opened it, revealing a broken silver sword. "I remember now why I left this position… I couldn't take it, having to aid you with your work so much." With that, Destruction's huge hand enveloped his sister's, and it was he who vanished to nothingness.
Daniel had replaced Morpheus as Dream, but all the same, the realm crumbled as Death walked through it. Dream's servants fell into obscurity, and Daniel could only shrug at the loss, having not had enough time to make any real connection to it all. Death came to Daniel, without words, and simply offered a hand. Daniel tried to run, only to have Death reappear in front of his path. As he tried to slow to a stop, Death poked an unforgiving finger into his chest.
Destiny read the last page of the book aloud in his garden, something he had never done before, something that was forbidden by the Furies. But they were gone now, and he wished to try it before he himself suffered the same fate.
"And so, Death's last stop, the garden of Destiny, began to fade. The statues of her siblings crumbled to dust as the pictures depicting their appearances ripped into strands of paper. Ever so slowly, the walkways began to unite, once twisting paths of loops and circles, now they merged and shifted until all that was left was a single straight path in nothingness, a path that Destiny walked upon. As he looked up from his reading, he saw that he came up to the edge of his walkway, and so the book that Destiny was bound to, the book in which he had written the First Word, the book that contained the universe itself, reached the End."
Destiny closed the book and looked up, only to see nothingness before him. Looking back, he saw Death behind him on the straight path in oblivion, the concrete walkway that was maybe ten centimeters thin, the only thing keeping him from falling forever. He turned to her, the book balanced in front of him and offered to Death. "It was a good Book, wasn't it?" he asked.
Death nodded. "Lots of good plot twists, lots of romance, lots of sadness… a balanced story." She took hold of the book, the essence of Destiny, and took it from the tall, robed old man. The chain that bound the book to him broke without effort at the tug. Just as the chain disintegrated, so did Destiny himself, and the book itself. The walkway vanished, and Death floated alone in oblivion, alone with the fading dust of the only sibling older than her. There was only one thing left to do.
Shinji sighed, and the universe was gone. All that remained were the souls that remained in his heart, floating there, awaiting the orders of the new God. I don't want to be God… I just want to be… with her… Shinji cursed at how easily fooled he was. Third Impact passed, and he was not with Death, not as Lucifer Morningstar promised. Tricked by the devil, Shinji had no options left. A decadent God with no plan, no idea…
"Hello again!" Death greeted cheerfully, making Shinji stumble in the floating oblivion. Almost instantly they were both in Shinji's room, (a created mock-up of it, with Shinji's newfound power,) and Shinji fell upon the bed.
"You're… you're here… so he didn't lie—"
"I'm afraid he did… I must go too," Death said, her frown returning in full.
Shinji was filled with an empty sorrow, a despair that was no longer caused by an Endless, or by the realm thereof. Instead his despair came straight from the human spirit, a thing that made it so pure it was far worse than anything the old Despair could have crafted. "There must be some way to stop this!"
"There isn't, you are the new Creator, you destroyed the universe, now you must rebuild it in your image, by your plan… all that kind of stuff. You have to make your own Death, your own Destiny, etc. etc…"
"No! I want… I want you… I love you…" Shinji stammered out, the words still shy in his mouth.
Death blinked at him, then gave a simple smile. "Well, if that's how you feel… reject this." Shinji stared at her, and so she continued, "The Furies will be back, of course, and we will not be able to speak again until you die like a normal human… but we would see each other again. But if that's what you want, do it now, before the universe is forgotten altogether…"
Shinji frowned at the concept, life again, living again, pain again… but then… love again. Shinji nodded firmly at Death. "Then that's what I'll do."
"Then that's just peachy keen!" Death gave him a thumbs up, and everything went black.
The sand was cold to his flesh. Each sand crystal clung to his flesh for dear life, each one pure white, untouched by erosion, seawater, wind or dirt. I'm…I'm alive. Shinji sat up, feeling the itching pain of sand against bare flesh. He looked forward to see a sight that no mortal could have possibly seen before him. Lined up in front of him, the new Endless floating above the red water, framed by the huge decaying head of Lilith-Shinji. From left to right they stood, first with Death, her old self still, and the newer forms of the rest.
Destiny was now a young man, reading the first page in a newly crafted book. Dream is young as well, his flesh more muscular than gaunt, and his eyes shining with new ideas. Destruction gave a small smile, a teenager at best, and clutched a newly crafted silver longsword in his left hand. Desire had his/her own outfit, consisting of a transvestite-like leather dominatrix outfit. Despair, a morbid looking overweight woman, seemed focused more on cutting her arms with a broken shard of metal than the scene around her.
Most shocking was Delight. Now sane and in control, the teenage Delight seemed so sure of herself, it made Shinji's heart pulse with a surge of happiness. The Endless faded from view, leaving him to the desolate Earth. Looking up, he saw the stars, as they once were, alive and well. All about him he could see humans appearing on the beach, disoriented, but alive, perhaps more alive than they once more, now that Delirium was not part of the universe. Shinji left the scene, not wanting to meet those he once knew. They would know that he caused this temporary Hell, that he was responsible for the end of the Instrumentality Project, that he sacrificed their so-called salvation in the end of their universe.
Shinji had faced the End, and turned away from it. Now a new End would have to be written, and no one would know that until Destiny finishes his newest novel. All of this swirled in Shinji's mind, his ever-present smile never vanishing, his walk a calm and strolling one.
The Endless are back, and all's right in the world.