Entropy [5]

Epilogue (1): The Greatest Sacrifice

Epilogue (1):
The Greatest Sacrifice

After waking, Vosh had been stricken with clarity. Despite the half-truths he told the Titans, the half-truths he told Conner, he knew what needed to be done. He'd witnessed all of this before, over 400 times. Every time, reality was altered, 1 problem remained the same... Him.

He allotted himself 3 days time to feign weakness. If the Titans were to believe he was merely human, he had to play the part. After all, he was being watched on the hour by agents of Darkseid and Barbatos, in turn making them agents of Perpetua.

She could not know. None of them could. It was the only way to secure his future (his legacy) now that the time loop had ended. He should have heeded his father's warnings, if he had just stayed, it wouldn't have come to this.

He could feel the disturbances in space and time. That was the reason he slid out of bed, earning a confused whine from Krypto who laid on his legs. "Sorry, Boy," Vosh's ultraviolet eyes were plump with emotion. "For everything Supernova has done and will do. And I'm so, so, sorry that I have to ask this of you."

Vosh stroked Krypto's soft fur. Tears brimmed his eyes as he knelt his head down. He chuckled to himself when the dog attacked him with kisses and nuzzles. He gulped and looked Krypto in the eye, lavender lights swirled within the dog's irises.

"I'm gonna go away for a while, Boy, possibly a really, really long time. And while I'm gone, I need you to take care of someone very special for me. Can you do that?" He worked the dog's coat.

"You'll know when its time." He added. He plopped a kiss upon Krypto's head and left the room.

He let his body carry him where he needed to go. To the room where Calvin Breach was losing hold on his powers. Not because of the Eskaton, but because of Supernova. Because he'd forced a child to hold the strain of 400 timelines from start to finish.

Breaking the loop so suddenly, an act his child made to save him, left Calvin little time to adjust. He would likely collapse under the turmoil of all the failing timelines inside. Which would in turn destabilize the current timeline they stood within.

Vosh hoped it would happen. Because in order to save everyone, he would have to hurt them all just one last time. He would use Calvin again, as he did in the original timeline, as Trigon did, as the Eskaton did. There was a place he needed to go, a reality he needed to return to.

"What are we dealing with here, Z? Be blunt." Alister's muffled voice came through the door.

Vosh pushed the door open. "She would die before the word ever left her mouth." He warned as he stood in the doorway. Cosmic magic was tricky that way. Even though the Old Gods who created the Carrion Amulet had been long unbound, their dying spell remained. So long as Vosh's energy protected them, however, they wouldn't fall to ashes.

All eyes fell on him. Despite crawling away from the brink of death merely 3 days ago, he was good as new. Not a single scratch marred his skin. His powers hadn't returned as far as they were concerned.

Yet, standing near him felt empowering. His voice enticed action. Luckily for him, Alister's untapped powers masked his own. "What I'm about to say cannot leave this room." Vosh said. He motioned for Conner to shut the door.

"You know what that thing inside of him is don't you?" Zatanna asked. Her eyes followed Vosh like a magnet.

"Calvin's soul is bound to an unnameable beast. Its name was stripped from existence. For good reason, too." Vosh explained. "Since his soul is in a mix up between that monster, Trigon, and temporal magic.. his body is a battleground now." The last bit was an old truth. Nergal, in truth, wasn't even part of Calvin's bloodline. Just folklore added to the Ascendant's story over time. Calvin would find the truth on his own, when he assumed his true role in existence.