by GR Griffin
"You are the one I've been waiting for, Zeus," said Kanika's final trace of herself. "I guess you could say… you're the one I chose."
Zeus scoffed. "You're saying I'm the chosen one?" He shook his head. "No. I'm no chosen one. I'm just a dumb monster with too much anger."
Barb gave him a friendly punch on the arm. "Modesty was never your strong suit, big fella."
The Emperor gazed the broken surroundings. "The Outerworld. Our home. Can it be saved?"
"You don't need this world anymore," Kanika answered, shaking the sparks which made her head. "The Outerworld's time has come. Soon, you will all return home. The Earth is where you will be free, free to make your own paths, forge your own destinies. You, the future, will spread peace between humans and monsters for countless generations. But before you go… one last thing remains."
Kanika cupped her hands together and conjured a new star from nothing. This one was unlike any that made her. It glowed almost blue, and shined as crisp as light through a diamond.
Zeus heard his father gasp. He turned to find him, along with his grey brethren, trembling before the tiny speck of light. "Dad, what's wrong?"
Juhi stammered. "That power… I can feel it…" His head shook as if suffering the mother of all migraines. "The concentration. It's… unimaginable…! So much power, hidden within the Obelisk all along. I can't even begin to tell you how strong it is."
"What is this?" asked Zeus, absorbed, light catching his eyes.
"This is power untold," Kanika explained. "This is what the real Kanika glimpsed before my existence. In my hands, I hold the power to reshape the entire universe." A smile creased her dotted lips. "The desire has always been there, Zeus. You have always wished to change the world. I know, I can feel it. Even now, after you've conquered the evil inside yourself, there is still much you wish to change, yet have been powerless to do so. Now, I offer you an opportunity beyond your wildest dreams."
Zeus and Barb stared at the blue star. A great decision awaited the lion emperor.
"Zeus, great emperor of the Outerworld, I bestow upon you… one wish."
Chapter 36: A World Reborn
"One wish…?" Zeus murmured, light dazzling his eyes.
So, this was the true power all along? One wish. The power to reshape the entire universe. To change life, existence itself as they knew it with a few words. What else could the hidden power of been? Perhaps Zeus dreamt of instant godhood, or a massive, invincible army to smite his foes, or power beyond his wildest dreams.
The decision fell upon Zeus and Zeus alone. He was the chosen one, whether he liked it or not, and it was by his right, his power to destroy the evil in his heart, that he be granted this choice. He now held the entire universe by the throat, and it would adhere to whatever he desired. No matter how great or meagre, all life throughout the universe was about to change, and nothing was ever going to be the same again.
The witnesses fell silent, expecting the Emperor to make a decision right there. Toriel's fingers clutched Fleck with increased tightness. Papyrus's bones rattled to the tiniest apprehension; he hoped the Emperor didn't hate puzzles and japes enough to spirit them out of existence.
What to choose? What to wish for? Zeus thought he would know, right off the bat, what's he do upon locking the Obelisk's secret. As the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity rested before his eyes, presented to him, his thoughts ran dry.
"One wish," Kanika repeated, nodding.
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"Every wish granter in the stories I've heard always have a rule against wishing for more wishes." Zeus folded his arms. "What's yours?"
Kanika shrugged. "Nothing's stopping you, but" – she shot out the last syllable rapidly before he got any ideas – "I'd strongly advise against it. This concentration is so great that the universe is barely containing itself as it is. So a thousand more just like this might very well cause all life as we know it to fold in on itself."
Zeus nodded and swallowed. "So just the one… and there's so many things to change." He rubbed his forehead and flared his nostrils in deep inhalation. "Hundreds and thousands of things. How can I decide?" A few seconds later, Zeus lifted his head with a jerk. "Dad," he muttered, then swung around. "You know what this means?"
Juhi, initially still at the sight of this revelation, at the energy ebbing from such a tiny speck of light, snapped alert at the sudden sight of his son's silver irises. A small helping of dust rippled off his hair.
"I can wish you back," Zeus continued, speaking with an eager rapidness. He spread his arms upon the rest of the monsters made of dust. "I can wish you all back to life. We can all return to Earth, together."
"You could, my son…" Juhi smiled, bobbing his head, yet an earnest tone deceived him. He briefly looked away. "However… I don't think you should."
"What?" Zeus choked. His reaction rubbed off of Juhi: it was a rare moment to ever witness his son in such a shocked manner; he figured nothing surprised him. The Emperor of a ruined world looked upon the dead, at their ashen affliction, the torment that has haunted them for every waking second since their deaths. "Why? Don't you see? This is the perfect solution. You can all live again, return to your families, make up for lost time. Don't you want to be alive again?"
Juhi took mushy steps on the mushy earth. "Of course I'd like to be alive again. All I've known throughout life is how to live. This form feels like I've lost of part of myself." He halted before his child. "I can't make this choice for you, but before you decide," he said, "look at us. I mean, really look at us. Look at them."
Zeus, at first, failed to see his father's intent in those outlined eyes; he had to force himself to take another hard look at the Grey Ones, mingled amongst the living. The short ones twitched and uncovered their coatings, chortling and weeping and gnashing dusty teeth. He recognised old Rex, hunched over, scratching his ear off with his heel whilst mumbling away to himself. His floppy ear grew back and he scratched that one off, too. The stern Overseer Eden – he recognised the straw protruding from his folds – still had a head about him, although a strange tic crept into his stance. Danyell, even in death, still carried that limp. The parents to Lieutenant Rita appeared to act as if they were unaware that they were dead: nagging over a little mud on the floor. Zeus squinted as if trying to make out text scribbled between the lines.
"We're not built to last forever – nobody is," Juhi said. "Our kind are evidence to that. They've been gone for so long that their minds have faded, and many of us have passed away from natural causes, myself included." He presented empty palms to his only son. "If you bring us back, most of us won't last very long; and those who do, I'm afraid will remain lost to madness.
"So please, you've been given something truly extraordinary. No other person alive has ever been granted an opportunity such as yours. Don't waste it on us." Gentle hands of ash fell upon Zeus. "Our only wish is to be free…"
Despite his condition, those hands still retained the caring energy of his old man, and that energy seeped within himself without leaving a speck of dust on his coat. With another glance at the Grey Ones, understanding the insanity they were drowning in, Zeus slumped. The first thought to spring to mind seemed like the obvious choice, and the excitement it held evaporated into the same mists which consumed the man with the pitchfork.
"If not you," Zeus said, "then what should I wish for?"
Juhi smirked, and Zeus understood: he believed in him. "That's for you to decide," he answered, sounding confident. "I'm sure, though, you'll figure it out."
A thousand eyes drilled at him from all around, watching, waiting. The four broken walls felt to be watching, having stopped in the middle of their apocalyptic crumbling and curiously waited to see what would happen next. Silence took over despite the abundance of suggestions and ideas burning deep within bellies.
The crowd around Fleck stood united. The threat was over, but the monster who tried to destroy them and killed Fleck (for a short time) remain
ed present. After everything that had happen, Toriel was unsure if she could ever let her child go again.
If Flowey the flower had one wish, he would wish he had that wish. This entire ordeal had been his chance to be the hero. Yet he dreaded the possibility that he had fashioned himself a villain different from the one who prowled the caves beneath Mount Ebott. This could have been the golden opportunity to prove to himself that he was capable of good deeds, or, at the very least, one very good one that would make the greatest change.
Zeus remembered his mother, his grandmother and grandfather, and all those lives lost during the war. His soul of light fluttered with the possibility that he could finally see them again. He could scarcely recall Mother's touch, her earthy scent, her voice, the lullabies which saw him to sleep lifetimes ago; nor did the fuzzy memories of knightly tales and traveller's rumours by his grandparents' fireplace linger. With one sentence, he could have them back. With his mouth open and lungs inhaling, he faced Kanika.
"I wish—" he started, the entire crowd held their collective breaths, then… nothing.
They waited. Imaginations swam with the many possibilities that could come through his teeth. The six monsters from the Underground and their determined human held each other tighter, bracing themselves for the uncertain future which would be their reality for the rest of their lives. That was if they were allowed to be part of it.
With a grumble, Zeus lowered his head.
"What happened?" Barb asked. She bent down to look him in his face. "You looked to be on to something there."
"I was gonna wish all those monsters who died during the war back," Zeus replied, sounding deflated, without looking up.
The outlines which comprised the dead emperor's features brightened at the thought of his wife. The wounds had healed, but the scars remained, and he missed her so. After his death bed, he had been denied the chance to reunite with her in the afterlife. What he wouldn't give to see her again, if even for one minute. "That… would be wonderful. I don't see why you can't bring them back. This affliction won't have affected them, so they'll—"
Zeus interrupted, "It's not that simple." He turned upwards to the pockmarked sky, thoughts drifting like those same stars with the little he remembered. "How long have they been gone? A thousand years, give or take, just like all the others. What kind of world would I be bringing them back to? Who would be there to greet their return?"
Silence. The delight on Juhi's features fell limp, as did his demeanour.
"I'll tell you right now: a world a millennia older than what they remember," Zeus went on. "A world where the ones they loved are no more, or in your sorry state, or, like me, haunted with a thousand terrible choices." He turned ninety degrees to the right, sinking deep and in need of somewhere to look which didn't include a staring face. The cloudy ceiling offered only so much sanctuary. "She remembers a quiet boy in a potato sack, with dirt on his fur, skinned knees, and a gleam in his eye."
For once, Juhi believed he was seeing the world through his son's eyes. "She remembers a loving husband," he said lowly, "who always put the needs of others first, and went out of his way to protect family."
The son faced the father. "Could she be proud of us, of what've we've become? Me, the monster who nearly became their killer."
"And me, the father who turned his only son into his worst enemy out of insecurity."
Together, they watched, in their imaginations, as three dusty ghosts bearing a resemblance followed the man with the pitchfork into the mist, never to been seen again.
"I'll make the best wish I can," Zeus whispered. "And I'll do it for them…"
To this, Juhi could only nod. "You will. I know it."
Their world within the garden continued to glow a faint shade of blue, it almost appeared purple in the grey hue of evening. This warming feeling like he was getting closer to the perfect wish grew, and yet the only progress he made consisted of shaking some leaves and counting the bad choices which fell out. Kanika's final essence waited patiently, star cupped in ghostly hands constructed of more stars. In fact, she was pleased that such a desicion was not taken lightly; her creator, herself in a previous life, sacrificed herself for this. Her face, straight and content; her body, upright and symmetrical, gave the impression that she already knew what the wish would be.
All across what remained of the Outerworld, the residents stood, sat, muttered amongst themselves, and waited for something to happen. Thoughts ran across roaming minds that this was their home now, and they could only pick up the pieces, work around the cracks and rebuild their homes from the ground up. A colossal endeavour, especially given how little ground there was to build off of.
Their homes had been reduced to rubble, but many found some strange solace in reconnecting with their lost loved ones constructed from ash. They ran with words about how much they had been missed, or how things had never been the same since their departure. They talked about changes in their life and asked what was happening now. The Grey Ones could answer from their connection to the Outerworld that their Emperor held the future in their hands.
"Honestly, I can't decide…" Zeus admitted before the spectre, before everyone. He hated to say that, it made him sound weak. The ruler who picked his courses without delay, strode forward with every decision he made, good or bad, for once did not know how best to proceed. He stood within a forest thick with trees, a desert with no water for miles, floated on the open sea with no land on the horizon, and the first direction he took was where his course was bound. "Barb, I don't suppose there's anything you'd like?"
She flashed a grin. "Other than to be four inches taller and have my own pony?" She pressed her clasped hands to his cheek and fluttered her eyelashes.
"You're on your own there," responded Zeus, chuckling.
"Good, because I'm not fond of ponies," she replied, dropping her whimsical façade. Somewhere, upon the shards of the Outerworld, someone was offended. "I'll make a suggestion though. If this war has torn you up that badly, then why don't you change it? You could wish for the monsters to have won, or for both sides to have called a truce." She shrugged. "Or, heck, why not just wish for the war to have never happened in the first place?"
"That would spare all those monsters from being trapped underground… and all of us from living up here…" Zeus said, bobbing his head and rubbing his chin as he reflected upon that idea. "And all those who died. It would be like killing two birds with one stone."
"Yes," Juhi interjected, "but the past is a delicate matter; it's the reason why we're here right now, and it makes us who we are. If we were to alter it, who knows how much it could change today. If we changed the past, then it would mean the Outerworld was never founded, and none of this would have happened, and…"
Barb frowned. "And everyone today won't exist… including me." She closed her eyes, inhaled, swallowed, and then exhaled. "I'm okay with that if you are, Maxie…"
The two lions looked upon the bounty hunter. Already, so many lives had been lost along the way. The thought dawned that maybe, just maybe, a few more lives might need to be axed for the greater good; for dreams of a better world, a brighter future.
"If you have the chance to make the world a better place…" Barb crossed her arms. A tremble intruded on her tongue, a shudder made her head twitch and her breathing odd despite her best efforts to steel them. "Then it'll all be worth it, right? I mean, what's one life worth?"
Zeus thought it was quite ironic. The bounty hunter, who dealt with subjects of a deadly nature, possessed a fear of death. Frightened by the unknown. Such a primal fear did not weaken her; on the contrary, it made her more dangerous. It made her fight harder, stronger, think faster on her feet and wings.
Zeus went to her. "No, no, I can't do that," he fretted, taking her hands. It was written in his voice. "I won't. You deserve to live, Barb; you're more important that what could have been. There's a lot of things in my life I wish I could take back… you're not one of them. I'm happy we met. I wa
nt you – need you – in my life. Your parents need…" He suddenly remembered them. "Your parents!"
"It's okay." Juhi held his head and focused, feeling for the flow of magic around him. He found their sparks. "They are fine," he said with a smile. "Bruse and Terri are alive, like everyone else. Confused, but alive and well."
Both Zeus and Barb exhaled together.
"That wish is off the table," Zeus said. He didn't just say it, he confirmed it. "You're not going anywhere, Barb. I promise."
Barb showed her appreciation with white, fanged teeth and said, "Thank you, Maxie."
They could not wish the Grey Ones back, nor could they wish back the casualties of the past, nor could they change the war which started the chain of events which was their lives. These initial ideas were bust.
To this, Kanika's imitation spoke, "I can give you some ideas, if you'd like."
Without waiting for a response, a pair of stars fell from the pale sky and danced in circles in the still air before coming to a stop beside the spirit. From the pinpoints of light, many, many rays of light projected images and scenes around them.
"You may not be able to change the past, but you can change the future for the better," Kanika commented over the swirling visions of men and monsters painted black and gold.
"You could wish for peace." Men and monsters of light shook hands, declaring an end to all forms of hostility until the end of time. It spelt the end of prejudice, of discrimination, of war itself. A world where everyone respected one another, regardless of who they were. A world free of fear, injustice, hate, and anguish. The perfect world.
"You could wish for equality." The divide between humans and monsters shattered, and the two races became one in the same. To be a human was just the same as being a monster, and vice versa. Mankind became just as magical as monsters were physical. Humans were stronger no longer, and monsters could no longer absorb a human's soul to achieve godlike power. Compatibility. It would eventually be commonplace to see families comprised of both races, minus the disgust and discrimination of others. It would simply be normal.