"…This reminds of the past," Akh'sha murmured, his voice low, like a fading ember in the dark. "Back then, we held it together like this, sitting close, sharing wine, talking about how we'd face the monster invasion at dawn"
A soft chuckle escaped him, tinged with warmth and the weight of years gone by. It was the sound of soone who had laughed through pain and learned to find comfort in echoes.
"Back when I was still a fool with nothing," he said, swirling the crimson wine in his goblet. The liquid caught the firelight, casting bloody reflections on his weathered face. "I talked big, dread even bigger… And sohow… Nothing ever really changed"
He looked at Taufik, his expression softening, less the hardened warrior, more the man beneath the scars.
"So dreams are ant to be buried. So nas… We still whisper in our prayers. We thought that day would be the end of it all, our liberation. But it was just a mont, wasn't it? A flicker. And now… Here we are. Prisoners again, in the land we once called ho"
Taufik remained silent, his eyes lifted toward the night sky. A single, slow-moving star crawled across the dark expanse, and he followed it with a tired gaze.
"…Don't worry," He said, at last, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "To , you're still a fool"
Akh'sha snorted, a dry laugh echoing through the quiet night.
"Then I suppose I've stayed true to myself after all," He said, raising the goblet in a mock toast. "To fools… And the stubbornness that keeps them breathing"
Silence fell again, but it wasn't empty. It was full of mory, of battles fought and friendships forged in fire. The aurora rippled above them, like banners in the sky, honoring those who couldn't be there to see peace.
The silence hung a little longer, until Taufik shifted, his eyes still on the fading star.
"About that," He said, breaking the quiet like a pebble dropped into still water.
Akh'sha looked up, eyebrow raised slightly.
"You don't have to worry," Taufik continued, his voice calm but carrying a quiet gravity. "Soon, when I'm ready to return to Earth… I'll open a portal. Not just to go back, but to connect all the continents. No more broken lands. No more isolated kingdoms waiting to be devoured"
He paused, letting the words settle like ash.
"And I won't stop there," He added, turning toward Akh'sha. "I'll make another portal... One that links Draco and Earth. A bridge between worlds"
For a long mont, Akh'sha said nothing. The firelight from the candle flickered in his goblet as he held it mid-air, frozen. His eyes searched Taufik's face as if trying to decide whether to laugh, cry, or call him mad.
"Is that your new dream, then?" He asked, his voice softer than before. "Playing god between worlds?"
Taufik smirked faintly, but it wasn't pride that glead in his eyes. It was a purpose.
"No," he said. "Just cleaning up the ss left behind… And giving everyone a choice. To stay, to leave, or to start again"
Akh'sha stared at him for a beat longer, then drank deeply from his cup.
"…Still a fool," he muttered.
Taufik chuckled. "Yeah. But maybe this ti, a fool who finishes what he started…"
He looked toward the horizon, where the stars began to dim, the sky paling with the promise of dawn. Then his gaze returned to Akh'sha, clear, unwavering.
"And I don't play god, Akh'sha," He said, voice edged with sothing ancient. "I am a God now"
The words didn't echo, but the air changed when he said them like the world itself paused to listen. Even the wind stilled, the trees held their breath, and the fire bent slightly inward as if recoiling from the weight of that truth.
Akh'sha stared at him, silent. Not with disbelief, but recognition.
He had seen it, glimpses, fragnts, buried beneath Taufik's calm, behind his quiet pain. Now the truth stood bare between them.
"…When?" Akh'sha finally asked voice hushed, more reverent than afraid.
Taufik looked down at his open hand, flexing his fingers slowly as if he held sothing vast and unseen, letting the silence stretch a mont longer before he spoke again.
"When the world needed it," He said. "When I was faced with two choices, advance, or be devoured"
His hand hovered above the firelight, fingers curling slowly into a fist.
"When I stopped asking why…" He said, voice low and resolute, "… And started asking what cos next"
Akh'sha leaned back, his expression unreadable. For a long mont, he didn't speak.
Then, finally, softly, he said, "And what does co next, God of mine?"
Taufik looked up, and, in his gaze, burned not arrogance but purpose. A quiet, terrifying certainty.
"Justice," He said. "Balance. And if needed… Ruin"
Akh'sha didn't respond right away. His fingers tightened around the stem of his goblet, not from fear, but from mory.
From the weight of all he had seen, all he had lost, and the quiet awe of what now sat beside him.
The fire cracked softly.
"You speak of justice," Akh'sha said finally, his voice low. "But you know as well as I do… Justice depends on whose side you stand on"
Taufik's smirk faded, swallowed by the flickering firelight. His gaze grew distant, burdened, like soone who had walked too far beyond the reach of mortal roads.
"That's why I won't stand on anyone's side," He said quietly.
He rose slowly to his feet. The fire at his back stretched his shadow high against the ruins as if the night itself bowed in silence. His cloak swayed in the cold mountain wind, black and tattered at the edges, yet regal in its fall. There was a weight in his movents, asured, unshakable. Like the earth itself had chosen to rise in the shape of a man.
"I won't be a king," he continued, voice deep and unwavering. "Or a prophet. Let others crown themselves with those titles"
He looked up at the stars, those distant watchers, silent and uncaring.
"I'll be the one who ends the ga. Who collects the debts no one else dares to acknowledge. Who ensures the dead aren't forgotten"
Akh'sha watched him in silence. The fire crackled between them, but the warmth had faded.
Then his voice cut through the stillness.
"In the end… What is your real goal, Taufik?"
The na felt heavier now as if it belonged to more than a man.
"You built a portal," Akh'sha went on, "sothing that could bridge two worlds. That's not sothing done on a whim. Don't insult by saying it was just so we could visit each other more often"
He leaned forward, eyes sharp.
"If that was the case… You would have done it a long ti ago"
Taufik didn't answer imdiately.
He stood with his back to Akh'sha, watching the horizon where the first faint thread of light teased the edge of the world.
Finally, he spoke, soft, like a whisper etched in stone.
"Because one world wasn't enough to bury the truth"
The words hit like a drumbeat in the silence that followed. Taufik's voice wasn't loud, but it didn't need to be. It carried with it the quiet certainty of soone who had already walked through fire and shadow.
"I can do it alone, Akh'sha. I'm more than capable," He continued, his tone calm, stripped of pride. "But what I'll be carrying… Is not just Earth. It involves the entire universe. All the worlds out there... Seen and unseen"
He turned, just slightly, enough for Akh'sha to catch a glimpse of his eyes... No longer rely human. There was depth in them now, a vastness, like galaxies slowly burning behind each glance.
"And if the gods," He said, "the angels, the demons… All of Fate's puppets still want to keep playing their gas…"
He paused, the wind catching his cloak like a banner in a gathering storm.
"Then I'll bring the other world, other players to the table"
The words rang out like a divine edict. Not a threat, but a promise. Promise for a brighter future.
"I'm not here to conquer," He said, quieter now, almost solemn. "I'm here to recruit you, Akh'sha"
He stepped forward, shadows parting around him as though the night itself obeyed.
"I've already spoken with Dagraha and Kania. Both have agreed to join . They see it too, the storm that's coming. The need for sothing greater... Sothing greater than just kingdoms and ideologies"
He stopped in front of Akh'sha, the fire casting flickering light between them.
"I don't need loyalty," Taufik said. "I need conviction. I need people who rember the dead, who carry the weight of every sacrifice, not for glory, but because no one else will"
His hand remained at his side, open, not commanding, but inviting.
"So, Akh'sha… Will you keep mourning yesterday, or will you help shape what cos after the end?"
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