Axel's Promise

Epilogue

A DAY AFTER AXEL'S S DEATH.

Fable was running as fast as she could through the ruined Ice Storm Village, trying to find Axel. 

"Axel! Where are you!?" Fable exclaimed, her voice filled with worry. Fable stopped and stared at a group of healers tending to the wounds of the White Doves left outside. Fable shook her head, then she began to climb the slopes, the harsh, frigid wind whipping her skin with an invisible whip. It hurt, but Fable didn't care. She needed to find her husband. 

Once Fable reached the top, she was greeted with hundreds of dead bodies that all lay still like stones, snow covering their bodies. Fable walked amongst the sea of corpses before coming across a snow-white feather, which was as stiff as a board from the cold. Fable then saw Axel's staff lying on the ground, almost completely covered in snow, and beside it laid the partially covered, frozen corpse of Axel, whose once immaculate, white skin was tainted with blood and chunks of ice. 

Fable's lips quivered like a leaf in a gentle spring breeze as her knees slowly pulled her down to the ground. Fable began to brush away the snow to reveal Axel's torn chest and the stake that it held. Fable tried to remove the stake, but it felt like it weighed as much as a star, so removing it was impossible. Fable's head slowly gravitated toward Axel's chest and rested on it before crying into his frozen suit; the rose that once was full of life was now a dead husk of its former self. 

After a few long minutes of mourning, Fable stood up, picked up Axel's body, and began carrying him to a peaceful place to give him a proper burial. 

AFTER REACHING HER DESIRED PLACE TO BURY AXEL. 

Fable decided to bury Axel on the grounds of Xenia's Temple near a flower bed; a lot of White Doves get buried here, so Axel wasn't the first. Fable set Axel's body on the ground, then began digging a large enough hole for him. Fable struggled a bit due to her pregnancy, but she got the hole dug, then picked Axel up again. Fable fell to her knees, then allowed Axel's body to tumble into the hole. Fable started crying again.

The ground began to vibrate a little; something was coming. Fable lifted her head and looked behind her; it was Leo with Lobo and Chelly! A smile formed on Fable's tear-soaked face, but it quickly faded when another series of sobs killed it. Leo jumped down from Lobo and approached Fable. Leo placed a hand on her back and glanced down into the hole. Leo sighed painfully before he began to fill the hole back up. 

With the hole being filled, Leo leaned the shovel against a rock, then squatted down and wrapped his arm around Fable, holding her close. Lobo and Chelly sniffed the hole, then whimpered and laid down next to the two White Doves. Leo began to gently rock Fable back and forth. 

"Shhh. It's all going to be okay," Leo said softly; he started to cry himself. Leo took a deep breath to hold back his tears before standing up, then offered Fable his hand. Fable looked at Leo's hand, then took it. Leo then helped Fable mount Chelly, then Leo mounted Lobo, then rode through the temple gates, as no flood waters could get them in there. 

TWO MONTHS LATER

The day has come; Fable was in labor inside of Xenia's Temple. Fable grabbed Leo's hand and squeezed it between each hard, strenuous push. Fable panted between each push. Leo said encouraging words to Fable.

"C'mon! You're almost there! Just keep pushing!" Leo exclaimed, his eyes locked into Fable's. "You have this, Fable!" 

Fable stopped pushing for a moment. "I can't do it!" 

"Yes, you can! Axel would have wanted you to do it! Do it for him!" Leo replied.  Fable nodded, then, with one final push, the baby was born. The nurse on the scene cut the umbilical cord, then cleared the baby's throat of fluid. The baby began to cry. With the crying baby in hand, the nurse slowly approached Fable and placed her son into her eagerly awaiting arms. A smile fifty miles wide formed on Fable's face as she beheld her child.