Prota sat by the campfire, his expression cold and lifeless. Krain had made him a cup of tea and set it on the cave floor beside him, in case he felt like drinking it. Krain wasn’t much better off. He felt… confused. They both did. Death wasn’t something they had experienced before. They had heard about it, read about it in books. Most people knew that death was once a normal occurrence that happened to everyone eventually. But it was a different thing to experience it firsthand.

Prota had prepared himself to send off the Lost. He often prayed for their safe travels to the afterlife. He thought of death as a time of rest, refuge, comfort, and relief. He hadn’t thought of it like this.

There wasn’t any warning. It wasn’t a slow transition. With the Lost, he had always imagined it as if he was waving goodbye as they slowly walked away, drifted to sleep, or floated up into the sky. But this wasn’t gradual. It wasn’t gentle. It was sharp and harsh and sudden. In an instant, she was just… gone. That was it. There was nothing left of her.

Nothing.

How could someone just suddenly be reduced to nothing? As though they never existed? Is that what death was? Was Prota dooming everyone to have a futile existence? What was the point of everything they all lived for if they were just going to vanish without a trace?

The worst part was that his instinct was to talk to her about this. All of his thoughts on death, on their goals, he would talk about with Tiki. And now, every time he thought anything, he would habitually think to get up and find her so he could talk to her. 

He stood up from his spot in the cave and turned toward the lake where she had bathed the night before. She was the one he’d talk to whenever he was sad. He should go to her. She’d know just what to say. But she couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t talk to her about the thing he was sad about, because the thing that he was sad about was that she no longer existed. He realized what he was doing and cried.

Krain watched as Prota’s shoulders shook with sobs. Like Tiki, he too would often comfort Prota in times of need. He saw himself as something like an older brother or father figure to the boy. But this time… he had no clue what to say. This was foreign territory for him. His 38 years in a world of immortals taught him nothing about situations like this. This whole time they were rooting for death, and now that they had it, they wanted to return it.

Krain stayed close by but stayed quiet to give Prota space to process everything. Later that night, as Krain was preparing to sleep, Prota spoke for the first time since Tiki’s death.

“Hey, Krain?”

“Yeah,” Krain replied. He looked over at his young friend, wanting him to know that he’s there for him.

“Why are we doing this?” Prota’s face was serious, as he looked into the fire. Krain could tell he was about ready to quit. “To kill people?”

“No,” Krain said heavily. He stood up from his makeshift sleeping bag. “We’re doing this to save people. We’re doing this for the people who are already dead. We’re helping them move on to the afterlife so they can find peace.”

“Then what about people like Tiki?!” Prota yelled. “What about the people who aren’t ready to die?! Are we subjecting them to their deaths as well?!”

“Destroying the immortality machine is only going to affect the Lost.”

“But after that…!” Prota fought, his hands clenched in fists. “Anyone will be able to die in a blink from any little thing! Just like Tiki! I don’t want… I don’t want anyone else to have to go through that!” His voice shook and tears filled his eyes.

“That’s part of life, Prota,” Krain said solemnly. “In order for life to keep flowing, people are going to have to leave to make room for more. That’s the way it was before this, and that’s the way it’s meant to be.”

Tears spilled down Prota’s cheeks. He shuddered, and his fists loosened and reached up to his upper arms to steady his shivering form.

“I’m sorry,” Krain sighed. “That’s just how it is.” His eyes wandered to the glittering lake that Tiki once bathed in, but his mind was elsewhere. “When you met me… I was in a bad place. The woman I loved… the woman I still love… she had become a Lost. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to fix her. I wanted to heal her. But over time, I learned… that wasn’t an option. She was already gone. Her mind went, and I knew it wasn’t coming back. As we speak, she…” he inhaled deeply to stifle a sob. Then he looked at his friend. “She’s not alive. She’s not living. She’s a shell. A shell that still feels pain. I just want her to escape from that. I don’t want to sit back and let her suffer anymore. I can’t do that.”

Prota looked sadly at the floor of the cave.

“I was so lost when you found me,” Krain said again. “I didn’t know what to do. I thought I’d be doomed to let Maria go through that for all of eternity. But you…” He stepped closer to Prota, pulled his face towards him, and looked directly into his eyes. “You told me that there was a way to save her!

“Tiki and I…and everyone else who helped us out on this journey… We followed you because we believed in your cause! We believed you were the bravest man we’d ever met! You had the courage to face death when none of us even knew what the heck it was! In a world where we couldn’t even accept that such a thing existed, you were there saying… ‘I’ll bring it back’.” His voice was gentle as he mimicked his leader. “You taught us that the mysterious force that used to exist was the key to ending mankind’s suffering and letting the world thrive again. You taught us that, if we found a way to let people move on to another plane, it would make space for those who are still able to enjoy their lives. It would allow us to have enough food and resources, so that everyone could grow up never wanting for anything. So that kids wouldn’t have to suffer from starvation. So that hospitals wouldn’t be too overrun with half-dead bodies to care for a sick kid. So that the world could be the beautiful place that we’ve heard of in folk tales. You were the one who made us believe that.” His metallic olive eyes glistened as he remembered the hope Prota had inspired within him.

“You’re right,” Prota said, as he wiped his tears and stood up, his hands clenched in fists. “I won’t let everything we’ve been through be for nothing!” He looked up at his friend. “I won’t let Tiki’s death be in vain!”

“That’s the Prota I know,” Krain said with a proud smile. “What do you say we storm that tower tomorrow and get our revenge?”

Prota nodded with newfound determination.