The silence was deafening.
For a moment, Jack couldn't tell if the world had ended or if he was simply lost in the aftermath of something beyond comprehension. The rift, the Maw, the crack in the heavens—all of it had ceased to exist. There was no sound, no movement. Only the quiet hum of something vast and ancient reverberating through the air.
It was as if time itself had stopped.
Then, slowly, the world began to shift. The fragments of the universe that had splintered and scattered began to pull together, piecing themselves back into shape. But it wasn't the world Jack had known. It was something else, something new.
Something clean.
The air around him hummed with energy. A warmth, a soft, golden light began to fill the void, wrapping around him like a comforting embrace. The edges of the rift, once jagged and broken, began to smooth out, their edges rounding like molten metal cooling into a solid form.
Jack couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. The weight of everything, of the choice he had made, pressed down on him, holding him in place. The Blade of Echoes was still in his hand, though its glow had dimmed to a soft, pulsating light.
A figure appeared before him, stepping out of the light as if it had been waiting there all along.
It was her—the First Flame.
But she was no longer the figure of destruction. No longer the harbinger of death. She was... different.
Her skin, once obsidian, now shimmered with a translucent glow, like the light of dawn spreading over a darkened sky. Her eyes were still filled with gold, but there was no longer sorrow or anger in them. Only calm. Only understanding.
"You did it," she said, her voice gentle, yet it echoed through the very fabric of reality itself.
Jack opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. His throat was dry, his heart pounding. He had expected something—anything—but not this. Not peace.
"Why?" he managed to rasp, still holding the Blade tightly. "Why bring me here? Why show me this?"
"You chose," she said simply. "You chose to let go of the cycle. To break the pattern. To end the madness of endless destruction."
Jack shook his head, confusion clouding his thoughts. "I didn't know. I didn't understand. I thought—" He paused, the weight of his own words catching in his chest. "I thought I was the end. The Devourer. That I—"
"You were never the Devourer," she interrupted, stepping closer. "Not truly. You were the key. The vessel that could end the cycle, the one who could reshape the world and all of existence."
Her words were like a balm to his tortured soul, soothing the fear and confusion that had gripped him. But they didn't completely erase the pain. The pain of what he had become. The pain of his choices.
"But why me?" he asked, the question tumbling out before he could stop it. "Why was I the one to do this? Why not anyone else? Why not anyone... better?"
"Because you were the one who chose," she said softly. "Others might have been chosen, but they would have turned away. You embraced the darkness, Jack, but you never became it. You faced your fear, and you chose to face the light."
The weight of her words hung heavy in the air. Jack stared at her, his heart racing, still unable to fully understand. But one thing was clear—the world was no longer crumbling. The universe was, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, beginning to heal.
"But what happens now?" he asked. "What happens to the world? To the people? To us?"
The First Flame smiled. It was the kind of smile that came from knowing everything had always been meant to be this way.
"The world will begin again," she said. "And you, Jack, will be a part of it. You and your friends. You will rebuild what was lost. You will help guide the world, not as a destroyer, but as a protector. A creator."
Jack's breath caught in his throat. "And the Devourer?"
"The Devourer was always within you," she said. "But only because you allowed it. You fought it. You chose to protect, rather than to destroy. And now, the Devourer no longer needs to rise. It is gone—because you chose to break the cycle."
For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Jack felt a weight lift from his chest. He could feel the chains of the past, the weight of guilt and fear, falling away from him. He wasn't the Devourer. He wasn't the end.
He was something else.
"I don't know if I can be what you want me to be," Jack said, his voice quiet but resolute. "But I'll try. I'll do whatever it takes."
The First Flame nodded, her eyes glowing with approval.
"You already have, Jack. You already have."
And with that, the light around them began to fade, not into darkness, but into something new. The world began to take shape, the stars returning to the sky, the land reforming beneath their feet. The rift closed, the Maw retreating into nothingness.
Jack took a deep breath, feeling the world shift around him, the energies of life and death flowing through him in harmony.
"I'm not done," he whispered, his voice stronger now.
"No," she replied, smiling softly. "You're just beginning."