I nearly stumbled over a mound of charred foundation jutting out from the blazed earth as I continued to walk in circles. Looking around the dust-filled remnants of the home, I was filled with a sense of worry.
I rubbed my temples and glanced up at the night sky. The stars twinkled back, proof that I'd returned to my rightful version of reality. Under different circumstances, I might've basked in the simple joy of being able to see the normal sky once again. But it was hard to be poetic or sentimental when I was face-to-face with the possibility of being the world's first human meteor.
I spun in a slow circle, scanning the rim of the crater for clues. The edges were sharply defined, like the ground had been punched by something heavy, some kind of projectile. There was also nothing else here besides myself and the remnants of the house.
If it wasn't me, then what else could've dropped out of the sky?
I paused, glancing down at my body. My clothes were spotless, my skin healed, and there wasn't even a scorch mark on any inch of my body. The ground, however, looked like it had been baptized in dragonfire.
'Some kind of protective effect granted to me after leaving the subspace? It must be pretty powerful if it allowed me to crash into the ground and create this crater without getting a single scratch on me. Was it that strange feeling that enveloped me? The Oversoul?'
I quickly shook my head.
'That line of thinking is... well, it makes sense and might be right. But, it assumes that I'm the cause of this crater... I mean, there's still a chance that it wasn't me... If anyone saw this crater, they'd assume a bomb went off... You know what, that must be it! A well-timed bomb that just so happened to go off right as I came flying down!'
Balling my hand into a fist, I hit it against my palm in satisfaction. If it weren't for my stupidly logical mind, I'm sure that I would've been able to leave it at that. Sadly, that same sense of worry crept up on me.
Behind me, a subtle sound made its way to my ear. It was the sharp sound of loose stone and pavement crunching underfoot.
"I can't imagine that hole to be something entertaining. Why are you taking so long?"
Her words cut my dazed waltz short, and I turned toward the rim of the crater.
Cacophony overlooked the outer rim of the crater. Her hair caught the moonlight in a way that made it shimmer faintly, and her bare feet rested against jagged stone. Arms folded loosely, she gazed down at me without any definite emotion on her face.
"Ah... hey." I stared at the beautiful woman for a breath whilst weighing my next words. "It seems that the shift between worlds has temporarily short-circuited my abilities of percognition, divination, and hyperperception! It's a trouble not worthy of your royal consideration, a meager ire that'll sort itself out. That said, there is a... detail that I would like to sort out with you! You wouldn't happen to know if I, uh, well, if I caused this?"
"Short-circuited? What an odd combination of words. That term makes no sense to me. Other than that, what is the 'this' that you're speaking of?"
With my healed right hand, I gestured to the molten crater I was standing in. "This 'this'"
The Empress raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Would it trouble you if you did?"
'Of course it would! Even outside of the destruction of property charges, this is serious business!'
My gaze swept over the scorched dirt, now churned and scattered beyond recognition. Beneath this ground, the ghost's bones had been hidden away and protected. I don't exactly feel bad for that monster, but that doesn't mean that I should abandon my own humanity or beliefs when dealing with it. Its bones were its final remnants of its time as a human being, and I believe that there's at least some meaning in that. There should be at least.
After everything that has happened, I think both the Vanished and the ghost should be properly put to rest.
'They deserve a proper burial, but now that the house has been... destroyed, not even the ghosts' bones remain... The only thing left is the skull.'
The thought of expressing these feelings crossed my mind, but it didn't go far. I swallowed them down and flashed the Empress a grin.
"Ha! Only that it would leave behind a trace of my remarkable deeds for my foes to find. I'm a very popular fellow, I'll have you know. I'm sure that my fans will also turn this site into a place of worship!"
A soft, musical sound escaped from Cacophony's lips. It was a mixture between a chuckle and a sigh. "You concern yourself with strange priorities. Your bearing, words, and intent are all out of alignment, and even on their own, each perplexes me. How does one even become such a tangled mess of oddities?"
She took a few steps forward and made her descent into the crater with effortless grace. In a matter of seconds, she stood a few paces away from me at the crater's center.
Her eyes drifted toward the skull lying in the dirt.
"Even if accidental, you must've protected it during the transition between the Null Streets and reality by holding onto it so tightly. How lucky, not all of it was lost. The gods must show you their favor."
My mouth opened slightly.
Cacophony crouched down and placed her slender fingers in the scorched dirt. "Hold your tongue. I get the gist. Though I'm unsure why you'd want to do something so pointless. Is it sympathy? How irritating. This creature was an enemy that tried to kill us. Urgh. Whatever the case, let's get this over with."
As she disavowed my unspoken feelings, she flung loose dirt to either side with fluid motions.
"Well," I muttered, crouching beside her. "I can't just let you do all the work. I may not have supernatural elegance, but I've got… uh, decent shoveling technique."
I plunged my hands into the soil and began to dig alongside her. The dirt clung stubbornly to my fingers, but the rhythm of the act was grounding. The heat was dissipated, and the temperature of the dirt, while hot, was manageable even for me.
Seeing as it was a grave for only a skull, the process of digging the hole was short. The result was a shallow hollow in the reddish-brown, scorched dirt.
When it was finished, she reached out and gently lifted the skull. The cracked bone gleamed faintly under the moonlight. She held it with a strange, almost reverent stillness, her expression devoid of mockery or amusement.
She lowered it carefully into the small grave. The skull silently settled into the dirt.
Scoop by scoop, we then covered the skull in a mound of dirt.
When the last layer of soil was in place, Cacophony brushed her hands together and stood.
She turned her back to me and began walking away. "It is a meaningless gesture meant only to satisfy the living. Those who are dead and gone will think nothing of it, and those who are living should only think of what's yet to come."
I stared at the small mound of earth, feeling a weight I hadn't noticed before lift from my chest. "Yeah... It's probably something like that."
Paying her words little heed, I allowed myself to mourn the lives that had been lost. From the beginning, I doubted that she'd be able to understand anyway. I doubted that anyone would really.
Placing my right palm on my chest, I allowed my fingertips to feel the pulsing of my heart. Following that, I raised my left hand until it was just below my chin. Then, in a single swift movement, I brought my left hand vertically downward through the air.
'My mother taught me that a long time ago. It's a prayer granted to humanity by the Goddess of Swordsmanship and Purity. The right palm is the guard that protects one's own life, and the left hand is the steel that takes life. May she bless your souls.'
The stars above hung silently still in the wake of my prayer. The stars, the moon, and the Empress were the only witnesses to the burial.
"Rest easy, you went through enough already," I whispered.
Getting up, I realized that my legs had gone a bit numb. After giving them a shake, I took a few steps toward Cacophony.
Looking down from the rim of the crater, she was unimpressed.
"Are you done?" she asked, her voice calm and cold.
"Yeah," I replied, brushing the dirt from my hands. "I'm done."
I climbed up to meet her, my legs aching faintly from the effort. The world beyond the crater stretched out into quiet suburbia, untouched and unaware of the chaos that had just unfolded.
Now it was time to move on.
Now, bizarrely enough, my task was to take an ancient Empress to my home. In my utter exhaustion, the thought of more walking filled me with dread.