Grain

Epilogue 1

It is dark. The cigarette is gone.

What was 432 can no longer be recognised as such, its mind and corporeal body torn from each other, the latter discarded, and the former forgotten. Not by itself, however.

"Hello!? What is this? Where did it go?"

Its voice diffuses, as if the words were never spoken.

"What? I didn't come all this way for nothing! Why am I here!?"

Nothing.

"Can you hear me? Anyone?" Its ‘voice’ breaks. "Syro?"

Syro is not here.

"Then who are you? What did you do? Why did you bring me here? Put me back, for fuck's sake, I wasn't done!"

Oh, you child. You brought yourself here. This is the 7th. You're in my home.

"What- no! That makes no sense! I fought like hell to get to the 1st, I earned it! I fucking earned it! I can't be here, there were no gates, I had the Heart in my hands, I can't-"

"I..."

Hm. You see now, don't you? Like I do. Drop the punctuation.

The Heart was the gate. It's cyclical? The dependency?

I made it so.