Chapter 656: End
"...Mom... I’m glad you’re okay." I’m sitting on the floor and I look at Mama Echidna, who just arrived. She glances around before her gaze stops on Pandora.
"Azraelith, where’s Pandora?" she asks while I look at ’Pandora’—or rather, the avatar Pandora left behind.
"Mother, your favorite daughter decided to go on her journey alone, so all that’s left are avatars! Anyway, Azraelith, don’t worry, I’ll take care of our baby by myself. I have special plans for that child," Pandora answers my mother and says to me with a truly diabolical smile.
Mama looks at Pandora’s avatar, staring at her for a long time. An uncomfortable silence hangs in the air until she finally sighs and sits down on the floor, stopping her observation of Pandora.
"You’re free, Pandora. We’ve already done everything we needed to do. Your freedom is something I won’t interfere with... Are you two okay?" Mama asks with a tone of concern.
"I took permanent damage to my hands and my blood. I don’t know if it can be healed right now, but fortunately the damage doesn’t hinder me that much. It just left these parts completely white to show the damage," Pandora extends her hands, showing that even her avatars were affected.
"And you, Azraelith?" Mama asks me, catching me off guard.
"Ah, I... I didn’t have as many problems. Morynna preferred to stay passive to stop me from adapting. Her plan was functional, but I managed to win... And you, Mama? Are you okay?"
"...Of course. Everything is perfect." She lies, and she lies very well, but I know it’s a lie because I can feel how destroyed her body is on the inside, while outwardly she seems perfectly fine.
"Well, I guess we’re done here, right? I’m sorry you two didn’t get a proper goodbye with my real body, but my life didn’t stop just because this ended," Pandora stands up, speaking in a sad tone.
"I’m the avatar that will live with Azraelith, but that also means my real body will probably never appear to you again... Azraelith... could you leave? I... I need to talk to my mother alone." Pandora’s tone is very strange, but I decide to respect it. I stand up with some pain and start to leave.
What Pandora does is no longer my responsibility. She does whatever she wants with her life, and it’s not my place to control that.
...
...
...
"So, Pandora, what do you want?" Mama Echidna speaks, trying to maintain a tone of normalcy, but I can see she has a lot of damage.
"...Just to thank you... Our relationship started at a very bad time in my life, and thanks to you, my life improved so much..."
"But even the most childish of children has to grow up, and even the slowest of little birds has to leave its nest..." I say to her, getting closer as I open my arms.
"..." She accepts my embrace while I take a deep breath.
"Thank you... thank you for all your help, Mother... I got everything I wanted thanks to you, but I’ve also already paid that debt... You’re my mother, and that won’t change, but... it’s time for me to start my own journey."
"...You don’t plan on coming back, do you?" she asks in a sad tone. It’s strange to see Mama sad, but we’re still mother and daughter.
"Eh... I... I really don’t plan on coming back... If I did, I wouldn’t have put so much effort into the avatars... But hey, this isn’t a goodbye forever, right? And now, Mother, you can live the life you want with Evangeline," I give her a smile.
"...You’ll always have a place by my side, Pandora. I don’t know, and I won’t interfere in whatever it is you want to do, but if you need help, don’t hesitate to ask."
"..." We stay in an uncomfortable silence as I pull away from the embrace. I’m not good with goodbyes, so the situation is a bit awkward.
"If you ever need help, Mother, you can ask this avatar here. I’m the strongest avatar since I’m the one who will stay with Azraelith, and if necessary, my real body will come."
"...Take care, Pandora, and don’t be irresponsible, okay?"
"Of course!! I don’t plan on dying!!! Death is completely off the table!!... Anyway, I hope this fight satisfied your thirst for revenge." I don’t know what she did, and I don’t want to know, but she seems so much lighter and more satisfied.
"Ah, yes. I got my revenge in a satisfying way... Although Delphina is still alive and I despise her deeply, I’ll keep the peace with her for your sake, Pandora."
"Thank you for being understanding, Mother!!... Now, could you give me some space? I... I need some time..." When I say that, she shrugs at me and heads in the direction Azraelith went. I wait until she’s far enough away to collapse onto the floor.
"Haaa... It seems this is the end..." I look at my hands. Maybe it’s wrong of me not to at least say goodbye to the people I love, and maybe it’s a bit of a cowardly move to let the avatars handle everything without me even having said a real goodbye.
But I think we’ve already passed the "point" of that situation. Now is the time for me to go alone in search of omnipotence or die trying.
"Violet and Blayze... I’m not... going to take you with me... I’ll leave you two in this avatar, so the contact between your home and my real body will be blocked," I say to Violet, who stays silent.
But I know she heard me, and I know she didn’t answer precisely because she understands. I want to be alone, absolutely alone on my journey, because that’s how it’s always been. I’ve always liked conquering certain things completely on my own.
"What an unpleasant feeling..." The feeling of emptiness I feel is so devastating, because now there are no more visible walls in front of me. I’ve already left behind the stage of being just an instinctive monster.
Now the only wall I see is between me and omnipotence, a wall that seems like an infinite climb, but I’ll never give up. I’m not the type who ever gives up, so either I become omnipotent or I’ll die trying.
"I think it’s time to go back." To take care of my new baby, the reincarnation of Elysia. I made a completely new dimension and created an avatar. As soon as I give birth to this baby, my avatar will take care of everything regarding this successor.
"I still have to have Mikael’s baby... but some avatar of mine can do that later." All that’s left is to wait. It was an arduous journey, a journey where many would have given up.
But I clung to my life with all my strength until the end, and even though everything ended in a way that maybe wasn’t what was expected, I’m satisfied, and I think that’s what matters.
"Yes, I think in the end it was always about my personal satisfaction..." It was always about crushing everything in my path in pursuit of my desires, but I’m ambitious, and if my desire is to climb even higher, so be it.
Regardless of everything, I’m happy, and I think that’s what really matters now—my happiness. In the end, it was always about that. My happiness. My desire. My path and me shaping it by force.
-The End-
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A Note from Galaxy
Hello, Readers. Here we’ve reached the end of the work... Eh... It was a very long work, and it was a lot of fun to write it and follow it alongside you. The support from all of you was incredible and far greater than I ever expected for such a dark story.
I understand that this ending might not satisfy everyone, and this is the end of the main story. We’ll still have more Chapters that will be segments showing the future, so there’s still content! It’s not really "The End," just the end of the main story.
The point is that now it’s time to talk a little about the work!! The work as a whole follows several interesting dynamics, and when I wrote it, I wanted to show something to the readers.
It’s not about "Evil wins in the end" or "Being monstrous will bring you happiness," since that’s kind of the image Pandora gives off—absolute evil that always wins even after hardships and ends up happy.
The real point is about determination. It’s a work that shows the perspective of a monster that NEVER gives up, no matter how hard, how sickening, how much it hurts her, or how much she loses along the way.
It’s a work that shows how much an unwavering determination, whether used for good or evil, can shape your life. Throughout this entire story, if Pandora had been any less determined at one moment or another, she would have died.
It was always about facing a bleak future and thinking, ’I’ll get through this even if I suffer.’ Pandora’s journey wasn’t easy, wasn’t all flowers, and above all, wasn’t fair.
She is an absolute monster who fought tooth and nail for the chance to reach this pedestal she stands on now.
So what I want to say is that in this work, its real message is about the determination to never give up on anything. Pandora is a monster, both literally and symbolically.
This work dealt with a lot of symbolism, and Pandora as a [Monster] represents something basic: primitive beings don’t give up, not out of stupidity, but because in nature, determination is the fuel that determines whether you’ll live another day.
A wounded animal fights for its life until the very last second, for the chance to be alive tomorrow. Pandora represents exactly that desire to keep moving forward, because as long as you’re not dead, your determination will shape your life.
And neither good nor evil changes how much being determined and never giving up can help you in something. I’m not saying humans are like animals, and it’s impossible to have determination like Pandora’s.
What I’m saying is that if you’ve followed this work up until now, and you enjoyed it, it inspired you in some way, or at least served to distract you from your problems, then it has fulfilled its purpose.
Because determination takes many forms, and even a slight moment of distraction serves to make you determined. For example, curiosity—’What will happen in the next Chapter’—can give you the strength to keep going, even if just for one more second.
And I don’t mean in a life-or-death situation. Sometimes we wake up and think, ’What’s the point of me existing? Is there something I can look forward to?’ If my work was something that made you think of the next day as something you eagerly awaited, I’m already happy.
Even if it’s just entertainment, I still believe works reflect a lot of society as a whole, and this work shows both the most monstrous side of a being and shows that moving forward even when it’s difficult can reward you in the end.
Obviously, I don’t condone Pandora. As a character, I find Pandora fascinating, and she was a protagonist I loved writing, but as a living being, Pandora is repugnant.
And that’s fine. It’s normal, because we’re human and we can always admire qualities even in the cruelest being that exists, and Pandora’s determination to move forward is enviable.
In my works, I always try to follow the character’s vision. I don’t write based on what I like, what I believe, or purely my interests. I create a character and think, ’What would this being do?’ and that is how beings like Pandora are born.
She is sinful, horrendous, monstrous, and a being so evil and despicable that she can only be described as wicked, but I know how to separate what I believe from what the character believes.
Pandora is an absolutist being. She believes that strength is absolute, and being the strongest, she will do whatever she wants. In her view, that sustains her world, and the world implied to her ever since she was human that the strongest controls everything.
Even for me as the author, Pandora is too extreme, and that is exactly why Pandora seems alive—because Pandora has the courage to do what others don’t, and because I, as the author, don’t try to hide, pacify, glorify, or reduce the violence she causes.
Pandora is violent, she is evil, and she was never a heroine. At most, she helped people to get things from them. Even the few times she helped someone, it was aimed at gaining something for herself.
And I believe that’s what attracted some of you—seeing a being without morals who isn’t "fixed," doesn’t become "good," and above all, "doesn’t forgive." Pandora always wanted revenge, and I would never make her forgive the heroes, ever, because I know Pandora is a being that would never grant forgiveness.
So in my writing, I could also never make her forgive the heroes. Well, I think that’s it. I just wanted to talk a little about my mentality as an author.
I believe communicating with the people who supported me is important. You have no idea how much this work helped me and how important it was to me. I know some people didn’t like what I wrote.
And I know many didn’t even understand that it’s a fiction made to be seen from the absolute side of the monster, just as I know there are people who can’t separate the work from the author.
Anyway, I’m just grateful, even for the people who criticized me and made me improve. I learned a lot of new things while writing this work and I loved sharing with all of you everything I was learning.
I hope you decide to continue following me and check out my profile. I’ll always be posting new works, and I apologize for the flaws and errors, or the slips that happened in moments when my health worsened.
And I thank from the bottom of my heart everyone who stayed until here despite my flaws! In the end, we’re human, and everyone makes mistakes! But the important thing is to learn from the mistake and improve in the future.
Just as I hope you decide to continue and read the next Chapters. They will show several things that didn’t appear in the main work, but I also understand if you want to leave. After all, from here on, the main story has already ended!!!
See you on the next journey.
