Author's Note: Finally, we are here at the end. When I originally drafted this fic, I had planned on ending it right after the final battle, like I did last chapter, with the possibility of continuing the fic once further seasons of the show aired. Since then, unfortunately, the show has been canceled, and I felt terrible leaving this story on quite the same cliffhanger. I could never come up with enough ideas for a full series fix-it or continuation, but I felt like I just had to end things on a slightly more hopeful note. I hope this epilogue is satisfying in that regard.
Once again, credit for the fic and chapter titles go to "Father to Son" by Phil Collins. As always, so many thanks to my sister for being my editor and cheerleader for this fic (and all my others). You can find her on Tumblr and AO3 under the username "thebusytypewriter." I highly recommend her works, especially if you enjoy the Danganronpa series.
I hope you enjoy.
Epilogue:
when you find your heart, you'd better run with it
They follow the trail of wilted vegetation and barren trees at top speed, stumbling over dead vines and choking on the stench of death that permeates the air. The woods have gone silent, the usual chirps and squawks of Thra's creatures absent. Ordon and Rian's breathless calls for Deet are the only sounds that pierce the air, ringing out eerily in the silence.
Suddenly, Ordon trips on a gnarled root, which sends him sprawling to the ground. He can't help but let out a yelp as his hip twinges.
Rian, a few feet ahead, stops short and scrambles back to help him up. "Are you alright?"
Ordon tries to catch his breath. "Yes, yes, fine! Keep going!"
Rian keeps his arm around his father's shoulders, like he's afraid the older gelfling is going to tip over. "I'm not even sure we're going the right way. There's no—"
Ordon hears a faint sound and reflexively reaches out to clutch his son's shirt. "Sh!" he commands.
His son goes quiet immediately, and the two hold their breath as they listen, ears cocked in search of what Ordon heard. After a moment, Ordon hears it again—the distant but unmistakable sound of horrible, gut wrenching sobbing.
Rian hears it too. "Deet," he breathes, and he wrenches himself out of his father's grasp, tearing off in the direction of the sound, Ordon close behind.
It's only a few moments before they turn a corner in the path of decay and see Deet, collapsed to her knees in a blighted clearing. Her arms are wrapped tightly around her, fingers clutching and pulling at her dress as she doubles over weeping.
"Deet!" Rian yells. The Grottan's head jerks up, her sob catching in her throat at his shout. Her eyes widen, tear tracks shining among the trails of purple veins that snake down her face.
"Rian!" she cries, clearly horrified.
Ordon's son clambers over a downed tree and into the clearing. "Deet!" he cries again. "Deet, it's okay. It's going—"
She throws her hand out in his directions, open palm out. "Rian, stop! Don't come any closer!"
Rian obeys, raising his own hands in a placating manner. "Alright, alright."
Ordon takes the opportunity to slowly ease himself over the same fallen log, his hip protesting again. A twig snaps when he lands, and Deet's eyes dart over to him wildly.
"Ordon—" she starts, chin quivering before she seems unable to go on.
"It's alright," he says. "We're here to help."
The Grottan shakes her head frantically, braids swinging. "You can't! It's the—it's the darkening!"
Rian takes a little step forward, hands still raised in supplication. "We will figure it out, Deet. Augrha is in Stone-in-the-Wood. She'll know what to do."
Deet sobs. "No, it's not safe!"
Rian takes another step. "It's going to be okay, Deet."
She sobs again, hands tugging at the fluffy white strands of her hair. "The trees, Rian! Look at the trees!"
Rian takes another step and gestures to himself and his father. "I know. But look—we're right here. We're fine." He steps closer again.
Ordon reflexively reaches out toward Rian, torn desperately between wanting to help the Grottan girl that has becomes so dear to him and keeping his son safe. "Rian—"
But Rian bravely steps forward again. And again. "You're not dangerous, Deet. You are the most kind, gentle hearted gelfling I've met. You would never hurt a creature of Thra if you could help it." Deet sobs again, covering her face with her hands, but Rian continues on. "It's the darkening. But we can fix it, alright? All of us, together."
Rian kneels down—reaches slowly for Deet's hands. He gently, carefully takes them and pulls them away from her face. Ordon can't breathe.
But nothing happens. There appear no signs of Ordon's son withering and dying like the rest of the plants and creatures around them.
Rian holds Deet's hands in one of his own and reaches up to cup her cheek with the other, wiping at her tears with his thumb, even as his voice becomes wet with his own tears. "I promise, Deet. We will stop the darkening, I swear it."
Shocked out of her tears from Rian's proximity, Deet inhales sharply and shakily before throwing herself into his embrace. He returns it desperately, both overcome with emotion.
Ordon can feel the tears on his own face. He rushes forward without another thought, wrapping his arms around both gelfling, kissing both of their heads.
In that moment, as they cling to each other, Ordon makes himself a promise as well. He will do everything in his power to give Deet and Rian—and Hup, and Brea, and Gurjin, and all the others—the bright future they deserve together. They will defeat the Skeksis, and heal the land, and reunite the Clans.
He doesn't yet know how, but they will.
Thank you so much for reading! I am tickled pink by how sweet people have been about this fic, even with the occasional hiatus.