SIS B4: Epilogue: Seven Year Promise and A Troubled Monarch

"You're not shitting me, right? No, of course you're not since I just confirmed it... Well, I won't complain but Daz might when he hears about this," Rose said over the phone to Ellie.

Sitting cross-legged atop her largest machinery aide, renamed to Robot 1 from M Destroyer.

She had initially called it that with the M being short for Madison. She shook her head, reflecting on how immature she had been when she thought she had feelings for Daz purely because he had cured her deafness.

"He wants to take over the world, right? Unite it to stop shit like the Truthians from ever happening again. I couldn't help him like Crusher could to eradicate them so I'm better used doing this kind of thing," Ellie responded as she zoomed across the Atlantic Ocean.

"... Well, someone has to deal with the small island nations, I suppose. Plenty of places like Taiwan out there even despite so many islands collapsing. Just stay clear of the UK, China, and Europe. Daz has plans for those places," Rose ordered.

Ellie didn't technically work under the girl. Hell, she didn't work under anyone. Not anymore. Sandy was her only boss and she happy keeping it that way.

She was a citizen of New Earth but she felt little-to-no love for the place. It... it had failed her.

Still, she didn't refute the young girl's words. "Let me know if I'm needed, but otherwise, don't contact me again."

And with that, she turned off her phone. Ellie wanted to meditate and try to gain some form of peace in her troubled mind.

Some of Master Sorola's written words he'd shared with her at Fort Home's cemetery floated to the surface of her thoughts.

'I just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone in your pain.'

She smiled wryly. 'I may not be alone in my pain, but I am alone...'

***

"The bitch hung up on me," Rose spoke aloud in shock.

She scrunched up her eyebrows and pouted. "Literally no one but Daz does that to me, New Earth's Flower. Fucking arrogant woman. Why can't more people be like Bei Fan? At least he acts like a good guy despite being a monster."

Rose was actually quite thankful towards Mu despite her harsh words. He was a potential ticking time bomb but as more and more days got added to his clock, he made his value more and more apparent.

After all, without him, the approval ratings for Daz would likely be at rock bottom but the extensive mental health services he provided free of charge with his clones helped greatly with keeping her brother's image mostly pristine.

People were able to see the reason and logic behind his words more clearly when they weren't as plagued by their mental demons.

'If only 5,000,000 people hadn't literally just died because of him, even if unintentionally. So many more kingdoms and smaller empires are gonna be more hesitant to join us now since they'll demand reparations. And if Daz's twists their arms, it could snowball. Hopefully, Ellie doesn't cause more issues than she can fix,' Rose thought with a long sigh.

"Why so glum?"  a voice she recognised asked, making her almost jump right out of her chair despite being paralysed from the waist down.

"H-Hi Vanessa..." Rose greeted awkwardly. "Did... Did you, uh, climb in through my window?"

"Sure did!" the German teen laughed. "Apparently, my patron god is, like, a monkey man of some sort. Been trying to imitate him a bit. What's your god look like?"

Rose scratched her cheek. 'Why isn't she mentioning my confession yesterday?'

After somehow managing to mumbled the words 'I want to date you' in a complete botch-job of admittance for how she felt towards the girl, Vanessa had just smiled sweetly before leaving her room.

Now she acting like it had never happened in the first place. This both relieved Rose and bothered her greatly. Even more so than the shaking of the planet, in truth.

"Uh... My dreamscape teacher says it's a cyborg thing. It identifies as a guy but it's genderless. I don't know much more than that," Rose answered honestly.

"Huh. A cyborg for the God of Information? I should have visited the cathedral before it was blown up. I mean, I did volunteer work there but I never actually went into the prayer hall. Y'know? Staff rooms and all that jazz," Vanessa replied with a charming grin. "Kinda wish I could have taken a closer look at all of the god statues."

"..." Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had gathered her courage after getting pressured by both Daz and Madison, did she not?

What was the harm in doing it again? "I want to date you."

Vanessa's smile cracked a bit. "Ah, I was kinda... uh, hoping you'd not say that again."

Rose felt a pit growing in her stomach so deep it could perhaps match the depths of Daz's paranoia.

"... Why?" The 11-year-old girl felt tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. She hadn't cried in a while but it felt almost impossible to stop the floodgates from rising at this point.

Vanessa quickly knelt down to be eye-level with her and she wiped away at her eyes. "Hey, hey! Don't cry. Uh, well, like, you're 11, I'm 16. That's... that's pretty weird."

"... Is that it?" Rose asked, refusing to look at the face only inches away from her own. "The age difference?"

Vanessa shuffled back a bit and chuckled nervously. "Well, uh, I mean, I've never had a boyfriend before, let alone a girlfriend. I'm certainly not against the idea of a same-sex relationship, but yeah, I'm your caregiver, aren't I? It's weird on more than just the age level. I'm not anti-lesbian or anything though."

Rose could only think of how she had just been given a flash of hope only for it to be crushed violently. "... Then stop taking care of me."

"Sorry, what?" Vanessa asked back in confusion. "If I don't take care of you then Madison will have to and I really don't mind. It's fun bathing and gaming with y-"

"It isn't fun for me!" Rose screamed Vanessa into silence.

More tears spilt out of her eyes as she added, "It's stressful and nervewracking! You're so kind and beautiful. You put up with my shit personality and don't complain. You do whatever I ask and you genuinely care... I... I love you. I want to be a couple with you. If you looking after me is getting in the way of that, then stop! I'll be independent! I'll wait until I'm older! Just... just give me a chance..."

Vanessa wore a difficult to read expression on her face upon hearing such a desperate plea.

She sighed and leaned her forehead against Rose's. "I'd normally laugh and think you were just being cute but, I mean, c'mon. You're Rose. The biggest of brains. The lead information gatherer of the NCIA and my dear, precious friend."

Rose trembled in fear, worry plaguing her entire being at the possibility of further rejection.

"Look, I'm not gonna stop looking after you. I'm not gonna stop playing games with you or being as nice as I am to you. I don't do it out of pity. I also don't do it out of love. If you still feel the same way about me when you're... what, 18? 18 sounds good. Yikes, I'll be 23... Well, when that time comes and if you still love me, ask me out again. I'll think on it seriously then, 'kay?" Vanessa offered.

Rose felt her heart sink and rise all at once. "I... I can wait seven years. If... If that's what it takes, then yes. I agree."

Vanessa grinned so radiantly Rose mistook her for the sun. She was blinded by her beauty.

"Great!" the German teen happily exclaimed. "Well, with that out of the way, will you stop being so awkward around me now? I knew something was up but I never thought it'd be... well, just a crush."

"It's not 'just a crush'," Rose spat out defiantly. "But, uh, I-I'll try. It might get more awkward now that you know how I feel..."

"Hmm... Whelp, we'll figure it out, I'm sure, haha," Vanessa chuckled.

Rose just stared at her in silence as a few final tears poured out of her eyes. a faint smile took a hold of her lips as she thought, 'I really do love her...'

***

[Ember of Fear [Adept-level (final mastery)] has increased to 27%.]

Mu slowly opened his eyes as he stopped his mediation and self-reflection. 'Ah, Daz has come to visit me. That cloud of suffering that follows him has grown so much... It's almost suffocating...'

Still, regardless of how uncomfortable he felt around his fellow reaper, he had pledged brotherhood with the man. He wouldn't turn him away just because he felt some discomfort near him.

He knew not how Daz didn't just collapse and cry all-day every-day when he was followed by so much suffering, loneliness, and fear.

"Welcome, Brother," he greeted with a warm smile to which he received a nod in response.

Daz placed himself next to Mu on his porch. "Clone or original?"

"I am Shen Mu, brother. I would never have a clone greet you. They are but tools to extend my reach," Mu answered.

"I see. That's reassuring to hear. Do you mind?" Daz asked as he gestured to his head.

In truth, Mu did mind. Helping his brother was always such a massive strain on not only Mu's Embers but his mind, emotions, and even his soul.

Still, he buried such thoughts and nodded happily. "Of course not. Suffering, I assume?" he asked as he placed his hand atop Daz's light grey hair.

"... If this bothers you, you don't have to help me. I'll cope on my own," Daz offered. "I can sense your hesitation through my Ember of Empathy."

Mu closed his eyes and smiled. "No, it is okay. This is just one more trial I must overcome in my path to conquering my own fears. I wouldn't forgive myself if I gave up on you when I know full-well that I can help lessen your burden if only a little. Speaking of which, let's discuss it, shall we? The new reason for your rise in negative feelings."

He watched Daz's shoulders relax a bit as he struggled to coax some of the man's suffering out, even if only a mere millionth of it. It was just so... colossal and rich.

"I killed over 5,000,000 people yesterday, Mu. That's more than five times the population of New Earth," Daz confessed. "I acknowledge that I didn't personally put a blade through their guts or a bullet through their heads. It wasn't intentional but it still happened and I am the reason why. My 'ingenious' plan to use a Star of Eternity to wipe out a mythical city led to the death of about 5% of the entire planet's remaining population."

"A heavy burden, of that, I have no doubts," Mu replied. "Still, what good does abusing your state of mind do to fix things?"

"Pardon?" Daz asked back with creased eyes.

Mu shook his head faintly. "Accidents happen. A child kicking a soccer ball through a window. A god sneezing and destroying a planet. One apologises profusely and cries their eyes out in guilt, the other shrugs their shoulders and says 'it shouldn't have been there if it didn't want to get ruined'. Tell me, Brother, are you either of these people? Do you see what point I am trying to make?"

"... I think so? And no, I'm neither, am I?" Daz answered, much to Mu's pleasure.

'As troubled as you are, Brother, you are smart. You are strong. You are open to the wisdom of others. If only my father shared these traits of yours...' he thought.

Mu looked up and stared at New Earth's skyline as he replied, "You are both in that you have made a mistake when you did not intend any harm. You are neither in that you are you not begging for forgiveness nor are you expressing apathy over the harm you have caused. You are working to right your unintentional wrong. I watched the press conference. Remind me, what did you promise to do?"

"... Rebuild homes, cities, lives. Help any and all affected but not allow it to stand in the way of my greater goal to unite our planet," Daz said in a level-headed manner.

Mu nodded. "Correct. However, most importantly, you held the press conference in the first place. A lesser man would have lied about the cause in an off-handed and secretive manner. Instead, you owned up to it and have made pledges to heal the harm caused. I am not alone in my respect towards you for this. You need not suffer as much as you do over this tragedy. The dead are dead, as unfortunate as that is. Move past it and don't allow it to chain you down when you are aiming for the greater good."

"..." A deep look entered Daz's eyes. He stood up as a massive chunk of black and powerful energy flowed from his scalp into Mu's hand. "Thanks. I feel better. I really owe a lot to you, Mu."

Smiling wryly, Mu replied, "You owe me nothing but if thinking so helps you, then so be it."

Daz nodded then left Mu's residence. Once he was gone, the Death Reaper flopped down onto his back and began panting heavily.

[Ember of Suffering [Adept-level (final mastery)] has increased to 98%.]

"How troubling..." Mu mumbled to himself before spending the next several hours taming and properly assimilating the fraction of pain and misery he had withdrawn from his brother's very being.

It would take time to heal both New Earth's king and the minds of all of the planet's people after this recent global-scale accident. Still, Mu was committed. He had a vision just as Daz did, and he was determined to see it through to the end.