Stargazer

Part XIII: Beginning's End

"It's time," she whispered into my ear.

I gave Beginning's hand a long squeeze as I stared forward. Her small fingers were hot to the touch, but at that moment, I didn't care. "Does it have to be?" I asked.

She nodded, and I sighed. We chuckled together sadly.

"Alright then," I said as I turned to her, trying desperately to absorb her features into my memory again. Her appearance had changed slightly as we talked, her faded silver-blue tangles from before smoothed a little at the ends--she'd been playing with her hair while we were talking. The worry lines on her face had faded over the course of our conversation, but her undereyes were still dark and tired-looking. At least she's smiling, I thought. Her golden eyes stared calmly forward at the star from which they came. When she saw that I was looking at her, she turned to me and grinned widely, her effortless smile reminding me of the time I first saw her. I didn't want to say goodbye.

"I'll miss you," I settled for, finally.

Beginning opened her mouth and closed it. I imagined her being about to say "I'll miss you, too," before realizing she soon wouldn't be around to miss anyone.

"Take care of yourself, Stargazer," she said. She rose from her position in the empty space and released my hand.

"I'll try."

I blinked, and she was gone. Her figure had disappeared into nothingness while the her star gave no unusual sign of its inner chaos.

Any second now.

I put my hands over my face, instinctively bracing myself for what was to come. I wanted to speak, but my mouth and throat hurt inexplicably.

"This isn't the end for you, Beginning. Not really," I whispered, forcing the words from myself as water collected in my eyes. I had a feeling we would meet again, and I wanted to give her that reassurance before she was gone. I couldn't explain it. "But goodbye. Until I see you again." I shut my eyes tight, making the tears roll down my cheeks. Who knows how long that will be, if at all?

I didn't hear any boom, but in my head, a deafening roar was taking place. Just as the scorching heat of Beginning's outer layer began to reach me, my body disappeared, reverting back to an ethereal form. It didn't matter to me. Even if I had been able to feel the shockwave or the explosion, it wouldn't have hurt as much as my heart did at that moment. My first companion in the universe was gone.

I took a few ethereal steps back and looked upon her remains. Even in death, Beginning was spectacular. Her remnant was moving away from me fast, but I could see it already forming colorful tendrils and complicated shining webs in the distance. All kinds of new elements were being made there and behind me, soon to be integrated into the next generation of stars and planets. In this new batch, I'd make sure to never make a star as big as Beginning again.

My spirit moved towards the center of the blast, pulled almost unconsciously by an incredibly strong force. The dust had already cleared, and the light of Beginning's remnant was more than enough to shine my way towards the small dark spot in the middle of it all. The starchild I knew had become a black hole, and even though it didn't look like much from where I was, I knew it was currently the strongest body in the universe. Still, it wasn't enough. Not now.

But I had a plan and a promise to keep.

As my body returned to me, I threw my arm outwards, towards Beginning's remnant. The supernova--no, hypernova--released an unbelievable amount of matter into space. I could use it to make her stronger. I flexed my wrist, pulling the matter with my entire body and soul, until the nearest tendrils began to move slowly towards me. They weren't close enough. I had to pull them closer somehow.

Beginning's grave made a strange whirling sound in my mind suddenly. I knew what I had to do.

In a fluid motion, I threw myself past the event horizon, flexing my arm tightly. The material followed me.

I stretched, and in a fraction of a second, the entire course of time flashed before my eyes. I saw Beginning's face and the twins and so many other figures I didn't know yet. Flowing green star stuff fell in line behind me, until everything became dark. I felt extremely tight, like my entire body had been crammed to fit into a single cosmic point, and I unconsciously began to panic.

Beginning, a voice--my voice--yelled loudly in my mind. I have big plans for what you leave behind. We're going to make a galaxy, and you'll be the center of it all. You'll have thousands of millions of stars all around you to fill the sky and keep you company. You'll love it, I promise. I'll make sure you love all of it.

She giggled.

I heard myself screaming as I fell right back out of the black hole, my body reappearing once more, even though I didn't realize it had left me. The dark spot, even though I couldn't see it directly, seemed to have grown even more massive. It was more than enough for what I wanted to do.

I cleared my throat and held my arms out, as if offering the object a big hug.

"I am Stargazer," I said. "And you are what's left of my Beginning--you are her tomb. But by my word, you will be the most marvelous tomb of them all. You shall be the center of a new galaxy--the first galaxy in the universe. All that orbits you will be under your domain and your domain alone, until you fizzle or are obstructed. I will call your domain Beginning's Novae, for the first cosmic event I encountered here."

As the final words left my lips, another boom sounded in my ear. A protostar had formed--not in my palms this time, but in Beginning's cosmic cradle nebula. The universe had been set in motion. 

Now the real work begins.

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I do not endorse the action of jumping into black holes, by the way.

Thanks so much for reading this chapter of Stargazer! If you liked this chapter, I super appreciate your votes, and your comments are awesome always! Your feedback means Stargazer (***the universe) to me, guys, so thanks so much for your critiques and continued support!

I just want to let y'all know that I toiled with the idea of having the moon spirit come and throw herself and life into Beginning as a revenge plot to make the galaxy, but I decided against it a while ago. So, hey, alternate storyline: that happened.

Open-Ended Questionionionion: Lol, do you guys have any other creative alternate storylines this novel could've taken so far?