"I have made my decision", the Queen said. "Zahin, I will not recreate your Zone. You did the worst decision by leaving your people at their time of need. However, I think you are still worthy of staying alive without a Zone, as a normal resident. I will let you make the decision; will you stay here and live in another Zone, or will you give up your life and return to the Nothingness?"
Zahin wasn't too happy about the options, but the decision wasn't too hard.
"I will give up my life and my Zone and return to the Nothingness. I believe that this is the best choice for everyone, it seems."
"I am glad you agree", the Queen said.
"Your majesty, if it is alright, I will take all literature from Xavier and place them in my library", Japhet said. "They are true art and it's always good to get my people something new to read every now and then. I believe that the people in Alma and Vesper have no time to read."
"It is a good decision", the Queen responded. "I will give you three days to move everything to your library and then Xavier shall be faded to white, devoid of all life. You all can go now. Zahin, I apologize that this happened, but you have to understand that it's for the best. I will return you to the Nothingness and take your life whenever you are ready. This choice will not quite be permanent, but can be."
"I understand, your majesty. I'd like to have a few words with my Elsen first."
The other guardians left, so did Zacharie.
"I apologize for giving up my life", Zahin said to the three Elsen. "I hope you can find a good life outside of Xavier. I might return one day, but it's uncertain."
The Elsen left after saying their goodbyes. Zahin turned to the Queen.
"I'm ready, your majesty."
~~~
Four days later Zacharie and the Judge were back in Joas, sitting in the basement of the warehouse.
Trey, Silas and Teige had parted ways. Trey had moved to Vesper and worked in Enoch's factory. Silas had moved to Bismark and spent his days reading books. Teige had visited Xavier and gotten a box full of his old crafts that he had then sold to Zacharie, who sometimes visited the Elsen of different Zones and sold the crafts to them. Zacharie had also taught him the art of making masks, and he had learned very fast. At the moment Teige was in Alma, because he had gotten a part-time job from Dedan at the meat fountains.
"See? It was after all a good idea to explore the Zone", Zacharie said. "We saved those unfortunate Elsen and got new information about that odd guardian and his Zone."
"It was quite the mystery", the Judge agreed. "Well, we met some fascinating people too. The adventure didn't end quite as I thought it would, but it doesn't matter. Either way, I am going to visit my brother Valerie in Bismark tomorrow. Are you going to join me?"
"Of course I will, Pablo."
~~~
A/N: There it is; the unofficial ending to STILL. I hope you enjoyed this weird adventure as much as I enjoyed writing it. I don't know when I will write more about this AU, but I will at some point for sure.
I had at least three different ideas for the plot of this story but the two previous ones didn't make much sense. I hope this one made sense, at least a little bit.
If you enjoyed this book, feel free to leave a comment or a favorite.
Thank you again for reading!
-RatQuing
YOU ARE READING
(Under editing) STILL
FanfictionZacharie and the Judge go to explore a blue Zone no one seems to remember, and they find a huge mystery, yet no one is there to help them solve it. ~~~ This is an AU, so expect things to be different from the original game.
