I opened my mouth to give my judgment, to speak the words that would determine every soul's fate. The void hummed with anticipation, a frequency that made my teeth ache and my bones resonate like tuning forks.
Then Astro collapsed.
Not slowly. Not with warning. Just sudden complete failure. His ash-form losing cohesion, particles scattering like disturbed smoke. The feather's light finally depleting completely, its last shimmer dying like a star going dark.
He crumpled, and I caught him before he could scatter. Pulled him against my chest, feeling how little remained—how his body felt less like flesh and more like sand held together by desperate will. How close to final dissolution he was. The scent of burned offerings and dying embers clung to him.
"No. No, you don't get to die right before I make the choice. You don't get to leave me alone for this."
His eyes opened slightly, silver-and-shadow barely visible through the gray film coating them.
