u/ElegantAssassin

One final pause before stepping forward.

We're ready.

^{Hello there, Kraa-rav. We hope you missed us.}

A hesitation. Could you blame her? Peace made or not, this was finality.

Yes... we can hear you....

"We" are I and I. Dusk and Dawn - two Ka to a Ba.

The Metaverse deserves to live eternal, but it has no place for us anymore. We've done nothing but deeds to protect it, but to settle down after it no longer needs protecting... where would we belong?

Proof, you need? Behold the weapon and but a small trickle of the ashes that remain of Bezumius. We are the one who struck him down.

...

A presence shows itself.

There will be no need. We've made our piece... we volunteer.

Perhaps your likeness to it is something neither of you yet understand.

Do what you must, I'll keep you safe.

We watch silently.

Sense enough.

Are there any types that bring change on a fundamental level?

Can you understand it?

We were. We've since parted ways, as we each had different destinies to seek out.

Refugees we are not. But we were friends to that Mountain of old. Did any stories of Boone the Warbringer manage to stay preserved here?

Have we not? Two became one within this vessel, this vessel became shrouded. The two eased their conflict when they saw through the same eyes. And two became one. And two became Dawn.

We wouldn't bet on it. They could be hostile, or apathetic, or just fearful of the weight of our quest.

That makes two of us. Should this run by sail or by oar?

We wouldn't know unless we found one. We made the mistake of failing to ask that stranger about it before parting ways.

Where should our eyes be looking?

Absolutely. We recall when facing the third's blight, one of the ones who came to our aid brought something and used it in the expelling rite. A crystal, we thought was Order, but it felt of an energy of neither Entropy nor Order, it was merely neutral in its radiation.

Does such an artifact sound familiar to you?

...

I never realized how much I missed fighting alongside you.

We should take whatever ashes are left and separate them far across worlds. We do believe he's truly dead, but why risk him putting himself together again?

You won't get the satisfaction.

Vulnerable as he'll ever be. She takes the chance to pin him down with a blade driven through the heart, and a barrel pressed against the back of his head. Juste had once said piercing both the brain and heart would be necessary to end a vampire. Time to see if that holds up.

Any last words?

A more graceful stance by comparison. Darting in arcs around the monstrosity, swatting away incoming strikes with her blade, repeat, take a stab into one of the eyes deep as it will go. The amount of blood is not surprising, but unnerving nonetheless. The pistol in the other hand she uses sparingly, cautiously. Raw chaotic power like that was not suited for her like it was for the opponent.

At last an outward appearance that matches his inward mind.

I can keep those grimy hands away from us while you hit him where it hurts. Mind the fangs.

We wouldn't expect you to remember, but we'll show you.

The vantablack covering her figure dissipates from the top of her head down to her neck. The two at the top of the hill are now the first to see her face in years.

Do the names Juste, or Violet, or Eli, or Zane ring a bell to you? People we cared about, that you destroyed.

Something new dawns on the sand at the outcropping's edge. She takes up the dropped sidearm, the barrel now pointing on its ex-owner.

Finally, Bezumius.

You look lost. What happened?

So they still have their integrity after all.

The waves of dark reality are spreading, but it's not as hopeless as we thought. Curses were meant to be undone.

Are we too late? Avanna, Tumelilla, can you hear us?