Epilogue

Comma and Apostrophe (Part III)

     Once upon a time, there was a girl who did a stupid thing for love. To atone for her crime, the gods demanded that she avenge her people by ridding the oneness of those that had destroyed them: the humans. Together with the only other survivor of the alpen race, Selina, she travelled from world to world seeking vengeance. Most of the time, all they needed to do was assassinate a key figure or two and the self-destructive humans would wipe themselves out. But at other times, things were a little more hands-on. At first, the girl kept track of how many lives she'd taken, for it weighed heavily on her conscience. But after a while, she lost count. All she knew was that there was enough blood on her hands to fill an ocean, and yet the gods were not sated.

     For ten years, in alpen time, she'd carried out her mission. She thought she'd seen enough filth and depravity to make her insides rot once and for all; she was naïve. Eventually, her mission led her to a world dominated by humans. They'd multiplied like ants until they'd infested the entire planet. There was no saving this world; it was already lost.

     "The gods must have been mistaken," said the girl, drawing up her hood. She couldn't risk anyone spotting her pointed ears. Especially in the middle of the afternoon, when she couldn't play it off as a trick of the light. "There's nothing we can do here."

     "Oh, but there is," said Selina, licking her lips.

     They walked slowly through the neighbourhood—quaint little houses all in a row, each with a neatly trimmed lawn in front. A family of humans housed in every one. Blissfully unaware of how their very existence was a blight on their universe.

     "There's a girl," said Selina, waving her gauntleted hand about to emphasize her words. "She is destined to play a pivotal role in the ruin of all that is good. But her powers are weak. Underdeveloped. If we stop her now, none of the horrors she is to be responsible for will come to pass."

     "If we stop her now, we'll be killing an innocent child."

     "Innocent?" Selina frowned. The sun hung low in the sky, illuminating her from behind. Her golden hair sparkled. Her green eyes bore into the nameless girl's soul, melting her from the inside.

     "Forgive me," said the girl. "It isn't my place to question the will of the gods."

     Selina nodded. "Besides, I'm not asking you to kill her. The gods appointed me with the right to pass judgment on the cursed child, not you." The girl winced—she too had been a cursed child once, a maqpi. Only her curse had turned out far worse than she'd ever imagined. To put this child out of its misery would be doing it a favour; if only someone had done as much for her. "You just need to help me find her."

     They split up when they reached a fork in the road. The nameless girl crept along the sidewalk, every now and then catching sight of a child at play, or a stray cat, or a beaten down car. Her wandering brought her to a ravine. She opted to take a stroll through the ravine, secluding herself within what little sliver of nature the humans had yet to destroy.

     A path ran through the ravine, over a small creek. The trees thinned to her right as the ground sloped down towards the creek. A girl sat crouched on a bed of stone by the flowing water. The nameless girl still had difficulty calculating ages in human years, but she estimated that the girl would have to be about six or seven.

     The nameless girl watched the young girl study the rippling of the stream and then, in the blink of an eye, scoop up a handful of water. A fish, about the size of the girl's fists, flopped in her hands. The young girl held the fish up to her face, nudging it with her nose. The nameless girl continued to observe, unblinking. Seconds passed. Minutes. And yet the fish did not die.