Read In the Ruins of Eridanus :: Epilogue

Content Warning: Depression.

When the rain stopped destroying everything in its path, the world seemed peaceful and beautiful despite the presence of the Rainbanes. Wet leaves hung from broken branches, and the wind was barely a whisper among what remained of Eridanus.

The fire burned no more.

The cities were empty. Human voices had faded with time. There was no one left of that species —only the memory of what once was life.

And yet, he was still there, wandering.

Vin.

His wings no longer flew like they used to —his movements were slower, less impulsive. He no longer burned everything in his path. The mutant with a skull-like face and eyes like burning coals dragged himself through the ruins not out of rage... but something close to sadness.

He stopped in front of the old tent, destroyed by time. Part of Leonard’s belongings still remained there. He wanted to touch them, but his hands would destroy them, so he only looked at them and walked away in silence.

He still remembered.

Even though his mind had been stripped of words and his body of humanity, something still persisted within him. Not his name —not a clear image.

Just the presence of the human he loved. A memory of genuine concern for him.

Sometimes he returned to the cabin where he had been cared for, to the spring where he had bathed with him, to the places they had once walked together. He observed them with nostalgia. He would sit nearby for hours. He would look at every detail, as if expecting to see someone next to him, close enough to call him by his old name.

But perhaps that was never going to happen.

Had he not made the decision to take him away from what had once been his home, it was only a matter of time before another, stronger mutant —or perhaps even he himself, once his sanity slipped— would have killed him. That human was doomed to die there anyway.

It was autumn. The sky was gray, as always. Clouds gathered above, and moisture filled the air once again. The rain was going to return once more.

Vin was near the human's former dwelling and decided to remain motionless. In some deep corner, hidden among mutated muscles and disfigured flesh, he felt that something was missing. Something that transcended logic and time. A spark that once had a name…

Leonard Engel.

He wasn’t sure if he had lost him, if he had killed him… or if he had let him go.

He only knew that he loved him. That he still loved him as if it were the first time —even if he could no longer say it. And as long as that feeling for that human did not disappear, he was not completely lost.

The first drops began to fall. Vin did not flee. He extended what were once his hands to the sky. For a second, he felt safe, as if someone was beside him. Perhaps the human: his friend, his beloved, his hope.

That was enough for him. Vincent and Leonard were going to be together somehow —possibly.

Maybe in another life, but not in this one.

After that day… I never saw him again, ever.

As for me, I simply wander through the forest, watching the other Rainbanes kill each other, while I lose what little remains of who I once was. Amon, a failed seducer.

I'm Still Here

I don’t know if anyone will read this.

I don’t even know if I’m still real.

But if these words reach someone… then maybe I’m not so alone.

I never had the courage to say it.

I loved you in silence, while pretending it didn’t matter.

And when I finally wanted to speak, it was already too late.

I don’t know if you survived, or if I did too.

But I’m still breathing,

I guess that must mean something.

If you ever felt invisible, if you cried for help and no one answered,

if you thought you weren’t worth it… you’re not the only one.