Beautifully Damaged

White Light

Brilliant white light surrounded me. Lack of confusion and fear made the expanse feel much more pure and complete than it had the first time I'd been here. The real world was such a dark place; endless light was what I really needed.

"You realize that this is it, don't you?"

I whirled to face the most breathtaking being I'd ever seen. The Angel of Death was tall and thin with hair the fell over his forehead and over his ears. Azrael certainly wasn't what I expected. The sparkling sky blue of his eyes was so open and kind that I couldn't believe he was associated with Death. The boyish curl at the end of his midnight black locks only added to his young charm.

It was astonishing to think that he was millennium old when he didn't look a day over twenty.

"That I'm dead?" I answered finally. "Yeah."

The admission was so alien in my throat. It somehow made my death real. Even though I'd finally accepted my own death, I couldn't yet think about Alex's or even Drake's.

Azrael's understanding gaze only lodged fresh tears in my throat. They were only just overpowered by my stubborn sense of denial.

"You have questions," Azrael prompted, reading the swimming confusion in my eyes.

I was glad that he didn't try to ask me about Alex or Drake, or even what had happened in my last few hours on Earth. The lack of prying pity allowed me to feel stronger, more in control than I actually was. I respected him for it.

Nodding, I cleared the lump out of my throat. "What happened to them?"

I couldn't bring myself to name either of the two. Azrael knew whom I meant, of course. The answers would only bring me pain, I knew, but I couldn't move on without knowing for certain what had become of them.

Azrael seemed to have expected this. A grim look crossed his angelic features before he started in on the terrible truth. "Drake was a creature of darkness, a lost soul claimed by it before it could know the light after death," He began gently. "He was destroyed by the light Alex created to save you." For a second, Azrael paused, weighing the words that would seal Drake's grave for me. "His... purified soul was sent back into what we call The Cycle."

Azrael must have caught my baffled gaze, because he instantly moved to explain. "He will be reborn, as most souls are once separated from their human form."

"And Alex?" I asked, surprised at the strength in my voice.

"He's not dead," Azrael assured me.

A breath of relief escaped my bursting lungs before I could register that the phrasing of his answer felt... off.

"But he's not alive," I amended for him.

Azrael sighed. "It's complicated, but he has not met me at the gates of Death, as you have. That's all I know."

I felt the crippling blow of disbelief and grief all over again.

At least he's alive, I reminded myself half-heartedly, or at least not dead. Truthfully, the thought didn't inspire me with great confidence. There was a big different between the two statements. Seconds of silence passed before I could muster up enough courage to deal with what would become of me.

"Then could I-?"

"No," Azrael interrupted firmly. "You, my dear, are very much dead. I cannot bring you back again."

"What happens next, then?" I finally managed.

Imminent death still scared me, despite having met it many times in my life. Azrael was only the gatekeeper, after all; I had yet to face my fears.

Shockingly, the angel smiled at me, a conspiratorial grin. "Do you trust me?"

His question struck me as strange. Nevertheless, I found myself answering on instinct. "With my life," I joked drily. The beginnings of an involuntary smile tugged at my lips.

"Then we will meet again, sooner than you think, Blaise Anthony."

I wanted to ask him what he meant, but with the end of his goodbye, my world went blissfully dark.

---

And so ends the epilogue of my first ever completed story. Thank you to everyone that has made it this far and has supported this story, perhaps even from the beginning! I cannot describe how much happiness it has brought me to see this make it to the second round of the Watty Awards. So, of course, many thanks to all of you.

I hope you enjoyed this, feedback is still very much appreciated.