Cerulean Planet (Blue Dust Trilogy #1)

Epilogue

Before he knew it, Jiayun and the monster had spent 11 Earth years on this planet. Maybe it was because a full rotation on this planet took five days that Jiayun felt time was flying by so quickly.

They turned the cave into a castle and made the island their backyard. They also decided to abandon it all at one point, choosing to wander the oceans aimlessly as they slowly explored this planet.

In the end, they returned to it.

"When do you plan on evolving into your Second Form? You'll take your memories of me and leave this place, right?" Jiayun had asked the monster these questions more than once.

But the monster never gave him a firm answer.

Jiayun became lethargic and would sleep for many hours each time to the point where his biological clock seemed to nearly align with this planet's cycle. He no longer touched the monster intimately. One day, even as the day grew brighter, Jiayun still did not get out of bed.

The monster gently rocked him from beside his bed. Jiayun slowly opened his eyes. "I'm tired," he said.

"I've had enough, and I'm tired." He turned his body as though wanting to continue sleeping.

The monster grabbed his shoulder, flipped him back around, and pinned their gaze on Jiayun.

Jiayun looked exhausted. His expression was one filled with pain.

"What is wrong? Are you sick?" the monster asked.

"I want to see you evolve. You should head to the bottom of the ocean right now and prepare to evolve into your Second Form."

"What is happening with you?" the monster propped him up, extending a tentacle to probe at him.

"Let go of me. Just let me go."

"Go where?"

Jiayun gave no response and continued to struggle, but the monster didn't let go of him. Jiayun fell from the bed and tried to crawl outside. A tentacle closed around his ankle and pulled him towards the monster. Many more followed.

Jiayun lost steam after struggling for a bit. He lay in the monster's arms, then reached out and gently held them. "I'm going to die, I know it."

The monster pierced one of its tentacles into the skin under his ribs, pushing it inside his body.

His blood was murky and without a trace of life. Upon examining, the monster discovered that cancer cells had taken over almost all of his major organs.

It would not have been a problem in a military base well-equipped with medical devices, but ever since the first meteor shower, Jiayun had known how things would end. After each meteor shower, his watch would remind him that the amount of radiation in the environment far exceeded what would be considered dangerous. Over time, he became nauseous and was consumed with pain. He knew that his body was starting to fail. Recently, the cancer cells had seeped inside his brain. Unfortunately, there would not be many days left where his mind remained clear.

The monster began shifting their form. A hoard of tiny tentacles inched towards him.

Jiayun batted them aside. "You can't. Cancer has remained an incurable disease for humankind ever since its discovery. I don't want to keep on suffering.... Stop! Stop it! Let go of me!"

Jiayun was shouting almost hysterically.

The monster retracted all of their tentacles and stared at him, despairingly, helplessly.

Jiayun crawled back onto the bed, curling in on himself. After laying there for a long while, he finally got out of bed to look for something to eat.

The monster had stood pinned to the spot. Seeing that he began moving, they went up to him to provide support. "Are you hungry? Wait for a bit. I will make some food for you."