.renatus.
born again, risen again, restored
You watch as he makes his choice—watch as he staggers, and breaks, but does not stop. You watch as he casts the demon into the depths of the pit and falls himself, but his son is there to catch him. You feel the agony of shredded muscle, of bone welded to searing hot metal, of plastic and flesh that melt and mingle together. And beneath that, deeper still, you feel the agony of a universe in the throes of rebirth.
You feel the change, the sudden, almost inexplicable shift, as the conflict that has raged within you since before the foundation of time fades into memory, and then nothingness. The darkness that has always been there is gone, and the light—the light is changed. You are changed.
Your joy pervades the universe, and your tears are reflected in the rain of a thousand worlds.
He has done it.
Some have said that you are the greatest power in the universe. They may be right. But there is one thing you have always lacked, because you are, for all your power, ultimately only an energy field. You lack the power of choice.
So you created him to choose for you. A living being, formed within the womb of a slave woman, to live and to die, and in so doing to end the conflict. A choice between light, and darkness.
Instead, he chose the sacrifice that transcends both.
His son has saved him, as he has saved you. And though you could not have understood it before, you think, now, that it is fitting. You are glad that he chose as he did.
He stumbles and falls now, and his son cannot drag him any further. But he hardly seems to notice.
He speaks, a feeble whisper, but its echoes fill all the depths of space, and you hear his voice everywhere. And you know that it is your own voice, as well.
"Help me take this mask off."
His son hesitates, but not for long, because he understands. It is for this moment that he was born, even before the worlds were made.
The boy reaches out, fear and wonder dancing in his eyes, and lifts the mask away. You feel your own mask shatter as his is removed forever, and the last of the darkness in you fades and finally dies. You know that there can be no darkness again. He has chosen.
Blue eyes gaze up into blue, and the universe is born.