TCS: Fate Of The Cosmos

Johnson's epilogue

The dirt let out a gravelly noise as the sword blade twisted and dug deep into the ground. Once a blue glowing, molten warm surface, was now a transparent blade with no shine.

Johnson now put both his hands on the handle, and continued to press the sword into the coarse mixture of pebbles, sand, and dirt.

The crusader had hoped for peace at this moment, but there was none to receive as all around him was movement, sound, and life. The flying steeds the people of the stars brought with them littered the blue above, howling as they passed by overhead, accompanied by the croaks and shrieks of various reptiles of the skies, and the chirps of birds. There was no foreseeable end to the distractions all around him, but he had already come to terms with that. He had picked quite a bad time to perform this little ceremony by himself, but he couldn't wait any longer.

When the tek blade was secured and lodged properly into the ground, the knight began twisting and turning on the weapon handle until he could hear the wiring within crackle as they tore apart. Leaving such a dangerous weapon out in the wild would be an incredibly bad idea, as it could easily wind up in the wrong hands, therefore he sought to make sure that his sword would never be picked up again.

Once it was done, Johnson knelt before the word. He could admit that he felt quite proud of the location he had picked for this, all around him he was surrounded by exotic flora of beautiful colors, pinks and deep purples. A worthy resting place for a warrior, and someone he called a friend.

Without the need to say a single word, he planted his hand on the sword guard, paying homage to the fallen agent. He had hoped that Chris would live to see this day, and stand by his side as the world prepared for festivity. There were going to be parties, that was for sure. Seeing how everyone out there was howling and cheering out of pure joy, it was certain that colorful lights and flares would soon light up the skies, as people celebrated being alive.

Standing there mourning the death of his comrade, he nearly let out a giggle at how absurd their friendship had been. A holy knight from a distant past, and a soldier from the stars, two very unlikely friends who grew close over such a short time period. Agent 47 was a stoic but precious soul in Johnson's eyes. He was a serious figure but a caring one at heart, and the only person the crusader trusted with his deepest and darkest of secrets he had never dared to speak word of to anyone else. When Johnson was at his lowest, Chris helped him up from the dark, and gave him hope- And through all of this, Johnson had never realized that he didn't even know the man's name.

Shortly after Agent 47 sacrificed himself, the part of the genesis colony ship they had traversed burst into multiple mushroom clouds. The cause was never confirmed but it was suspected that the ion power plants had been set off from within the ship infrastructure. Johnson was amused, for as he had promised, Chris did in fact go down in the blaze of fire. It was when he snooped around in folders of a thousand papers that he discovered the name of his mysterious friend.

"You picked him a beautiful resting place." A deep voice spoke, followed by gravel being kicked as their footsteps grew near.

"If only he was actually here. I greatly dislike marking empty graves."

"Ah, well."

The man crouched down next to the kneeling crusader, gently placing his hand on the knight's shoulder and nudging him slightly.

"Will you be ok?" Bob asked.

"...I don't know."

The survivor remained quiet for a moment, not wanting to stir up the quiet moment they shared for the fallen warrior. After a while, he asked his friend. "Have you ever grieved someone's end before?"

"The last time I felt grief, I was blinded by rage. Sorrow was not something I could sense in those last moments I was alive after I lost my family." Johnson explained, letting out a long sigh.

"Grief has not followed me into this afterlife. I feel pained, yes, but it is more like a darkness inside of me that not even faith can heal."

Bob could only let out a short 'hm' before the man continued on about his past.