EPILOGUE
Once upon a time, on a planet beyond its grasp, night and day laid down their weapons.
Pagomènos housed a people wrecked by conflict, as people are wont to be. Peace gave way to wars, and wars became apocalypse.
Once upon a time, the heiress of sunlight built a council like a constellation, chosen by everyone they would lead. The queen of shadow condemned her greatest enemy not to death, but to life—to an eternity of knowing that she had failed, and her own offspring would only continue to grow beyond her.
Once upon a time, the machine named Aspect became the first citizen of one planet’s two worlds, with all the rights of any person.
Once upon a time, the doctor called Ednit oversaw the deconstruction of the Evolution Project. All records were declassified, exhumed, and he dedicated himself to caring for human bodies instead of decommissioning them.
Once upon a time, the deathless Evolved who revoked their loyalty became emissaries between the light and the dark instead, overseeing
the construction of peaceful exchange. They were led by a woman once their own, but since returned to her body—the one they called Jelza. Like a north star, she guided them toward a peaceful future for her daughter and the generations to come.
Once upon a time, at intervals throughout the age, the sunlight heiress herself was said to plunge into the dark.
Officially, she visited to maintain political peace and to recharge a well of power—a fruit granted as a gift by the shadow queen.
Unofficially, everyone knew she slept in the queen’s bed, covered only by the shadow of her wing.
Once, far from our planet, galaxies beyond the world we know, light and dark kissed outside of time, their collision iridescent against the starry sky.
THE END