𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 - 𝟎𝟎𝟏 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 ✔️

the end

The world you've stumbled upon is a world of endless darkness. Of lightning. Of terror. Of faded skies and murky clouds. The world you've stumbled upon is a world of ruin.

Is this what's left of the society?

It may have been a dance of the dark or an illusion in the fog, but you could have sworn you'd seen a rose. It was alive and swaying happily in the wind. But soon, the mist overtakes it. The rose is nothing more than a silhouette before it vanishes completely.

The lightning does not touch you, nor does the dust of the world taint your eyes. You stand among everything, walking through the clouds like a shadow. You hear the straggled coughs of a man in the distance. The man you'd been looking for.

He's unrecognizable. Half of his body burned, the side of his face scorched, his blonde locks turned to ash. Under it all, he was still your boy.

And yes—he was broken like glass, the pieces of him shattered, but that did not make him shattered into pieces. In fact, it made him stronger, for he had turned the pieces into shards.

He was not broken, he was not shattered. He'd turned the pieces into blades, sharp like the end of a dagger. But what could you have expected of him? The world had done to him exactly what it had done to you, but instead, he'd chosen to let it make him stronger.

He'd turned his pieces into blades—that was the part you hadn't seen—but the part you still couldn't see was that he was cutting away at everyone in his path. His blades must have been dipped in poison, for you couldn't see the dangers lurking in your wake. You couldn't see the dangers lurking in him. He wanted to take over the world, but at what cost?

You're too far gone to care.

So you take a step, and then another, towards the man. He doesn't say anything. What was there left to say? You don't stop until you are inches away from his face. It was obvious the lightning had struck him numerous times, the inflections of his skin replaced by burns, but you could fix it. You could fix him. He was not too far gone to revive.

He says nothing as you lay a hand over his head. You close your eyes and focus with precision unlike any other. You remember every aspect of his face, the chisel in his jaw, the curve of his lips, the slope of his nose, the spark in his eyes.

And then you remember the sound of his voice, the sound of his laughter. All the things that made him smile, the moments that made you get teary-eyed. Light knocks against the walls, soft lips against yours, chocolate hearts in your palm.

He had picked you up when you'd fallen, comforted you when you cried, loved you when no one else did. After everything, it was him. It was only him.

Paper planes, portraits of spiders, moments hidden behind bookshelves. The memories came back to you like the fragments of a dream. Pieces of a life that felt so far away.

But it wasn't, he was here. You were here. This was only the beginning, the beginning of the end. The beginning of a world you'd rule together.

You open your eyes to the familiar, gentle face you'd known for ages. His skin is smooth and soft, his eyes are deep blue, and his locks are golden blonde. He's looking at you.

Then, he kisses you.

All at once, everything's clear. The world was right again. It would always just be you and him, and you'd come to realize that he wouldn't have it any other way. He wasn't letting you go and you didn't want to leave.

Light emits through the darkness. You break away from the kiss to find a window to a brighter world staring back at you. Some sort of portal had just opened.

"Hey..." 001 mutters, "I know that place."

There's a boy on the other side with eyes you recognize. 010—no, Eddie. He staring at you with a perplexed expression. Behind him is a sign that reads, WELCOME TO HAWKINS.

001 grabs your hand, motioning for you to follow him. "I guess it's now or never," he murmurs into your ear.

In his grasp, you feel all you've ever known, all you've ever loved. Whether or not the world was ready for the two of you was unknown. But you were both ready for the unknown. As long as you were together. The path was clear.

You smile. "Me and you. Forever."