Mecanimus
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A Journey of Black and Red Epilogue 6: The End
🕑 Added 2023-02-22 04:33:58 +0000 UTCI wake up and take a deep breath, an immediate mistake. It smells stuffy in my sarcophagus. Blood still drips down my throat so I rip out the tube and frown. A press of the button above me and a panel open with a dreadful ‘beep’ ‘boop’. Arg! I already told Loth Junior to stop but the little twerp has so much fun making all those technological thingamajigs so unnecessary noisy! A screen lights up, much nicer than what I remember.
I see earth from above. It looks blue and green enough. Gibberish text lines down the right side, talking about ‘OS versions’ and whatnot. What do I care about the version? Give me the facts already.
A large sphere soon appears in its place. It looks like a massive disc with, appropriately, a pirate hat placed delicately upon it. It appears to be quite dusty. The Space Fury must have stayed in orbit a little too long.
“You! Artificial thingie! Report. What indicator woke me up?”
//PROCESSING REQUEST.
“Why, in the name of the Watcher, can you not be made to talk normally? Aaaaargh.”
I press more buttons — eliciting more infuriating boops — but there does not seem to be options in the menu to make the machine less obnoxious.
//Environmental status, normal.
//Geopolitical risk, low.
//Invasion risk, low.
//No anomalies detected.
“OH THAT IS IT!”
I simply teleport out of the sarcophagus and dress with a thought, in armor because I can. The immense hall I am resting in is still in the waking up process but it does not matter. I feel two distinct forms outside of the wards, made blurry by their opaque intensity. Those two clowns woke me up? I am going to eat them.
I teleport out and rant immediately as I stride towards the control panel in the far wall. Many wards and traps around here but they are all keyed to me.
“What did I say last time? What did I bloody say? THE NEXT CAD WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER WITHOUT CAUSE WILL GET MY BLADE UP HIS DISRESPECTFUL FLACCID ARS— Oh, it… it is you?”
Eyes of amber peer amusingly through a slit in the blast door. I can tell who it is because he stands in my domain, yet disbelief still forces me to stop.
“Sinead?”
“Poppet! It has been far too long. Nice trick using the tree. Love what you have done with the sphere! And with magic increasing at such a pace, my friends and I have found a way to visit! We met a local kind enough to wake you up so we could assist with your… little problem.”
Torran steps out of the shadow with a tender smile.
“Torran!” I yelp excitedly.
Then I realize that, while it is not unusual for an immortal to keep a lover in every sphere, having them meet constitutes a terrible faux-pas.
“Well, this is a little awkward.”
“Not to worry, my star, we have already agreed to fight for your hand in a struggle to the death.”
“Could you please reconsider?”
“Hahaha he jests, he jests,” Sinead replies with a slightly manic smile. “We just wanted to save you from centuries of hermit isolation. And I have just the thing! A little visit to the spheres to get some advice from auntie Carnaciel, then off to the Blood Court for some action! The non sexual kind!”
“Well, that does seem nice. What are we waiting for?”
“We were hoping you could get us through the traps,” Torran helpfully added.
“So lazy.”
“Loth Junior created a fire pig one. He had a Bingle install it”
“Nevermind I will just fly us out. HOW DARE YOU RISK MY LIFE LIKE THAT!”
Comments
wd40bomber7
I patreon'd just to read the last of the epilogues and give a little to my favorite author. Thanks so much for the wild ride!
Mecanimus
And thanks for the support. Now to get all of it on Amazon...
Rebecka Nyberg
One of the best endings I´ve read in a long time. Thank you for this Journey ;P. It has truly been an epic read.
Ben Morgan
Accidentally stumbled over journey on amazon, started reading without realizing that I'm already following you thanks to Viv. Amazon was to far behind and I had to keep binging, and now here we are. Beautiful story. Thank you for sharing it with us, from the bottom of my heart.
e
I feel the same! The final confrontation with Nirari felt low res next to some of the other battles Ariane has gone through. And although it makes sense Ari becomes the sovereign of the sphere, I wish we could get more of an idea of the exciting things she can still look forward to. Throughout the story Ari getting more power just sucked a lot of narrative tension out and made Ari seem bored by the lack of challenges. I want to know if she's going to conquer and adventure across the spheres with Loth and Sinead and maybe Torran. And what's happening with Constance? How was the situation with the love godling resolved? Did she just leave behind everyone on her team to take up with Ari? What was the method for saving the people who were left in the nuclear winter? Did Ari make sure certain people were preserved in the underground such as her human relatives?.And when did Ari sire someone? Why was he chosen? I just want more detail on the final relationships she is left with, on what there is left for her to be excited about, and what she wants to do with her unlife!
Connor Cowan
I…. need more );
Such an amazing ending, it makes the devastation of it being over worth it. So many stories end badly which destroys the wonder that made up the journey. A good ending leaves you feeling satisfied but still bereft of your connection to the continuing narrative. Thanks for taking us all on the journey of black and red.
TFTJ
Robert Vick
Thank you. I have binged the last 150 chapters over the last couple weeks and it was great. Definitely one of the best vampire stories I've read.
Mecanimus
Her adventures will continue in the imagination of the readers.
Mecanimus
NO PUN INTENDED
Mecanimus
Ending it well was always going to be a challenge after such a long saga so I'm glad I didn't fuck it up.
Mecanimus
Next project soon!
Mecanimus
It has certainly been a ride. Thanks for the support!
Mark Villalobos
I just want to thank you, truly. This has been such an amazing read and to have witnessed it week by week was a pleasure. I’m much like a few others, I’d discovered this on royal road and was pleased to have found such a diamond among the garbage. This was beautifully written from beginning to end. It is so sad to see it end but so refreshingly pleasant to see it complete. Ariane the Dread Pirate Goddess will live on!!!
Mecanimus
My pleasure. Sorry the entire ending needs a solid edit and the beginning of the arc deserves a rewrite imo.
nicoplas
What a ride. What a story. I still remember binging the first 15 chaps like a madman after thinking this was going to be just another cringe vampire story and finding this masterpiece instead. Thank you very much for bringing this novel to life. It was a years long wild ride of dozens or hundreds of some of the best reading hours of my life. The last 10-15 chaps need an edit though, I found a lot more mistakes than it is usual for your works. I’ll say it again: Thank you, you brought to life one of my favorite novels ever
Enkelados
I guess that's the end of the ultimate vampire Story. What a journey.
Amazing story and ending 10/10. Thanks for writing it.
Benedikt K
Thank you very much for the entire story. It was a real adventure with a fitting end. Looking forward to what you will dream up next as well as the continuing story of Viv.
Stryx
Thank you for writing this story, it has been an absolute blast following and I’m going to miss Ari. Looking forward to your next work!
