Age Of Miracles | Pietro Maximoff

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Before Our Very Ends

Music is "I'm Sorry" by John Paesano from the Maze Runner: The Death Cure OST.

Picture is Jane Levy as Glory.

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"It never ends until it has to end, and then too late to begin. Now is a time for beginnings, and so we have to start--and the start is what happens before our very ends."

- Captain Universe

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CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

"You never wanted to be Mistress Death. You took my mantel under extreme circumstances, to save the world and those you love. But I see now that asking you was unkind, that this mantel--what should've been a gift--is a curse. Now you have the chance to give the mantel to someone else. Are you ready?"

I clench my fists tightly. "More than you'll ever know."

Death nods, then raises her arms so that the dark cloak she wears spreads to encase the three of us. Everything goes dark, and I'm taken to the mind plane once again. Only, this time, Killbane and I are joined by Death herself.

Killbane looks surprised to see us. His dark gaze shifts between the two of us, lingering on Death. "You're her," he mumbles. "You're Death."

She nods and lowers her arms. "Hello, Gregory Kane. We meet, at last."

"So, that's it, huh? I'm dead now. Where do I go next? What afterlife awaits me?"

"None, if I can help it," I interject, pulling Killbane's attention back to me. "We're running out of time, but I think I may have a solution for both of us, Killbane. A solution that gives you the chance to avoid the thing you fear most: death. A solution that will rid me of a mantel I never wanted."

My old enemy's eyes light up with realization. "I can become Death?"

"Hopefully not Mistress Death, but yes," I chuckle, moving closer. "I don't know how this works, so she's here to help." I nod my chin towards the primordial deity. "But first, I have to ask you if this is something you might wan--"

"--Yes," he interrupts, not letting me finish. His face lights up. "I mean, it's not ideal, but I would rather do anything than die. It's the one thing I've feared all my lives, the thing that drove me to do all the evil I did. To take your place, to take the mantel, nothing would make me happier. Especially if I can help you in the process, Gloria."

I nod, convinced. Turning to Mistress Death, I ask the obvious question. "How does this work?"

"I think you remember how this works," she insists. "The poem. Have him repeat it back to you."

I nod, recalling the poem I used first to summon Death then to become her. I take Killbane's hand and turn to stare him in the eye. "Repeat every word after me, okay?" He nods. "Are you sure about this?"

Killbane offers a small smile. "More than you'll ever know."

A sense of finality washes over me, and I begin to speak each line of the poem to him. Killbane repeats the first lines back to me, and I feel a change in the air. The chill is gone, replaced by warmth. The image of Mistress Death starts to flicker, and the darkness that came with her vanishes. Time is frozen still, and yet I feel myself being affected by it for the first time since becoming Death.

"Why do you fear me?
I am your friend.
I but guide trav'lers
Rounding the bend--
Lead them to freedom
From time and age,
Help them start writing
On a new page."