The last episode of Empires, but slightly different. Pixl is still MIA. Katherine is outside when the cracks start. And fWhip doesn't manage to drag himself out of the rubble in time. Basically lots of death. And angst. Fun 😄
I also wanted to write dramatized versions of Scott and Pearl's endings.

Tremors.

Explosions.

A massive, smoking crater.

A demon freed from his prison.

The world was ending, and the inhabitants had no choice but to watch.

Joey was in tears. Shelby was clinging to him, trying to hold him steady.

"It's all gone. Gone. Everything. My people- oh, my people, they're gone, they're gone, everything's gone," he moaned softly, and Scott and Pearl exchanged looks.

"What happened?" Joel and Lizzie came charging out of the woods, running to meet their fellow rulers. Sausage and Katherine met them, their faces solemn.

"You guys felt that, right?" Lizzie asked, before looking around. "Where's my brother?!?" She took a step back, looking around worriedly, and Joel wrapped his arms around his wife.

"I'm sure he's fine," he soothed her. "It's Jimmy. The Codboy can take care of himself." Lizzie ignored him, instead spinning to face Scott.

"Do you know where he is?" She practically begged, and her face fell when Scott shook his head no.

"Gem isn't here either, maybe he's with her. They've always been allies, they're probably together." Pearl told the Ocean Queen, and Joel turned to Joey.

"What happened?" The Mezalean King asked.

"The Lost Empire... it's gone... destroyed... four of my dogs survived, and one parrot. Nothing else."

"Joey..." Shelby said softly, but he shook her off.

"No. What caused that? There were pieces, pieces that weren't from my empire. They looked- they looked almost like the roofs of the Grimlands." No one could answer him, and a heavy silence fell over the gathered rulers, only to be broken by the sound of footsteps.

"Jimmy?" Lizzie sprang to her feet.

"Why's he crying?" Scott asked, running to meet him. Jimmy was indeed crying, his tan face streaked with dust and blood and tears.

"fWhip- he- he's gone. Done. Bye-bye. That big bang? That was him. He blew up. Smithereens. He's gone. The Grimlands- they're gone." He was shaking, his voice breaking, and pretty much collapsed into Scott's arms. Gem pushed her way out of the jungle underbrush on the other side of the clearing, and Katherine ran to meet her, hugging the wizard tightly.

"What did you do?" Sausage asked fiercely, his eyes dark and worried.

"We were- we were trying to make a new Codfather helmet. We put cod and salmon in the reactor together, and it was too much. I think fWhip realized, because he told me to run. I did. Even then I barely made it out alive. fWhip was still inside, there's no way he would have made it. The whole place was completely obliterated." Joey sprang to his feet, knocking Shubble away.

"So you're to blame!" He snarled, grabbing his bow and nocking an arrow, pointing it at Jimmy's heart. "You're the reason my empire is destroyed!"

"Joey put the bow down," Shelby grabbed his arm.

"Joey, calm down!" Gem darted forward, as her little black dragon blew a small burst of purple fire.

"What is that?" Joel asked, temporarily distracted, as Pearl strong-armed Joey's bow away from him.

"This is Violet. But it doesn't matter right now. They didn't know what would happen. They didn't mean for your empire to be destroyed. It was an accident."

"Oh stop being so neutral, Gem," Joey snarled, shoving her hard. Gem stumbled back, and Sausage quickly stepped between the two, before either of them could hurt each other.

"Guys," Lizzie interrupted softly. "Guys, the prophecy." She was holding the prophecy book, opened to a page near the end. "The resolution of a never-ending feud brings unimaginable chaos that will destroy the world," she read, then looked up at the others.

"We're fucked." Scott stated flatly. Gem smacked him, and Katherine shuddered.

"The world- it's ending?" Pearl asked nervously.

"Rivendell," Scott breathed, before bolting off in the direction of his kingdom.

"The Overgrown!" Katherine's faerie wings fluttered as she raced after him.

"Come on, love, we need to check on our empires." Joel took Lizzie's hand and led her away, glancing back once to smile reassuringly.

"I have to check on Mythland." Sausage said, turning away.

"And I on Gilded Helianthia." Pearl spread her golden feathered wings and flew off. Joey stalked forward, having retrieved his bow from Pearl, and snarled threats in Jimmy's face. Jimmy flinched back, gasping apologies before Gem stepped between them, forcing the avian to back off.

"Don't threaten the poor cod," Gem sighed, and Joey spun away, seizing Shelby's wrist and pulling her behind the Road Builder's Guild building.

"I'm going to get revenge on the Codboy." Joey was breathing hard, ripping one hand through his hair. Shelby tucked her dark curls behind her wolf mask, reaching for Joey's hand. He allowed her to, shifting his weight nervously.

"Just be safe," Shelby whispered. "I have to go find my wolves. The Mother Wolf is waiting. Then- I'll see you again, okay, Joey?" She pulled him into a hug. "Stay strong, Graceffa." She stepped back, then turned to face the path to the Undergrove.

"You too, Fungi Girl," Joey whispered, and Shelby smiled fondly. "Make sure you tell Mother Wolf I said hi. I hope she remembers me." Joey's attempt to lighten the moment worked, and, for a moment, the two forgot that the world was ending.

The moment was cut short, however, by a low rumble in the air. Joey's eyes got a faraway look in them, a look Shelby had only seen a few times before.

"Joey?" She asked nervously, and Joey turned to her.

"He's out," he breathed, his eyes refocusing on Shelby intensely. "He's out, Shrub."

"Xornoth?" Shelby asked, fearing the answer. Joey nodded.

"If Xornoth is free... then that means..."

"Scott is dead."

Rivendell was in flames and pieces.

The corruption tentacles had returned.

Scott ran up the path, stopping near the wreckage of his house, and staring around his kingdom in horror. The enchanting tower had collapsed, and a blood-red tentacle had wrapped around the debris. His house was a flaming heap. Aeor's statue had had its head snapped clean off. All of the waterfalls and water features had turned to lava. The village was completely hidden beneath the rubble of the collapsed cliffside.

"Nonononono," Scott whispered, then climbed the debris of his house, breathing a sigh of relief as he unearthed the Rune Blade. "The sword's still here, but... everything else isn't." He jumped down from the ruins, before breaking into a run, heading for the church.

"I've got to go check on the crystal. I know it's stupid, I know he's out here, obviously, but if the crystal itself is still there, maybe I can use it to capture him again." He wasn't sure if we talking to himself or to Aeor. He jumped a burning beam and opened the trapdoor that hid the ladder to the cavern.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," he whispered, climbing down. "No." The cavern was empty. The ice had melted, and streams of lava fell down some of the walls. Scott took a step back, trying to steady himself. "He's gone." He spun and ran for the ladder.

"That's not good, that's not good, I need to warn everyone." He pulled himself up and left the remains of the church. A figure stood on one of the corruption tentacles that curled over the edge of the cliff.

"You!" Scott snarled, drawing his sword.

"Hello, brother." Xornoth smiled, staring at Scott with contempt. "I hope you don't mind the- remodeling I've done."

"How could you do this? This was our- your home, our home!" Scott burst out, stepping towards the cliff's edge.

"Was being the keyword here, brother," Xornoth said, tipping his head. "Not that there is much left to call home now."

"How did you even get out? We trapped you!"

"Not very well," Xornoth drawled. "That pathetic excuse for a wizard has a lot to learn if she thinks that's magic. But, she won't get any time to learn anything when I'm done with her." Xornoth grinned, his inhuman smile growing. "They all won't."

"Don't- don't you dare hurt them! I'm- I'm not going to let you!" Scott snapped, taking a step closer.

"Awww. Do you care for them?" Xornoth stepped closer. "You couldn't even help them when I wasn't here. What are you gonna do? Throw a snowball at me? If you haven't noticed yet, brother, fire melts ice." Xornoth opened his hand, allowing a blue flame to dance over his palm to prove his point. "Don't worry, I'll make sure it hurts when I get them all. Especially that one fish boy you're fond of." Xornoth smirked, as Scott fumbled for a retort.

"You- you leave Jimmy alone!" He charged forward, his sword drawn, only to slam into a wall of red energy, knocking him backward and sending his sword skittering out of his hand. Xornoth quickly adjusted the forcefield so that the sword was on the outside, where Scott couldn't get it.

"Now, now, brother, I thought I was the one with the temper. But I know you're going to be a thorn in my side if I don't deal with you first. So let's sort that." Xornoth snapped his fingers, teleporting the two of them to a different part of Rivendell. Red corruption tentacles surrounded an open circle, where Xornoth stood, and a smaller circle, where Scott was trapped. Flames surrounded the ice elf, who forced himself to his feet to glare at his demonic brother.

"You need me, Xornoth. You can't kill me or you die," Scott said, trying to buy himself some time.

"Oh, I know that. Why do you think I didn't bother you much the first time I came here?" Xornoth stepped closer. "You don't recognize the layout of the spell you and your friends did to me?" He gestured to the flaming circle, which Scott now realized was inscribed with runes. "I had plenty of time in the crystal to figure out how it works, and work out a better one. I had to speed up my process when that idiot set off that explosion and the tremors broke the ice containing me. But I think I worked it out pretty nice in the time I had." Xornoth took another step forward, until he stood directly in front of Scott, only the spell separating the two. "You're gonna be trapped away forever, brother. But don't worry. I'll make you watch as your friends beg for me to finish it."

"I won't let you get away with it!" Scott shouted, and Xornoth laughed.

"What are you going to do? Your ice magic doesn't work in here. Your friends are trying to stop the destruction of their own empires. You have nothing. You have no one."

Twin souls trapped in an endless battle since the beginning of time.

"Well... I have this." Scott drew the Rune Blade, and Xornoth's eyes widened.

"Where did you get that?"

"So you know what it is, then." Scott held the blade up to the light, watching the runes flash cyan. "You know what it does."

Chaos and order, light and dark, hot and cold.

"Well, you're stuck in there. You can't kill me with it anyway." Xornoth raised his chin.

One cannot exist without the other, for if one soul dies, the other is sure to follow.

"That's the difference between us," Scott whispered, turning the sword. "I don't always put myself first. And, sure, I've made plenty of mistakes. And I've hurt people. But I always did my best. And, for the first time, in a long time, I finally know what I need to do for my friends. Because... I don't need you in here to kill you... when I'm right here." Scott smiled.

And then he drove the sword through his stomach.

fWhip woke to the sound of whining and panting. He forced his eyes open, wincing at the brightness, and struggled to focus on the large cream and tan shape in front of him. Koda whimpered and licked his face. Nova nudged him out of the way, rubbing her face against fWhip's hand.

"Hey, puppies," fWhip whispered, as Nova whined and grabbed fWhip's scarf in her teeth, gently tugging on it.

"I don't- oh, baby, it's no use." fWhip rubbed her soft ears one hand. "I'm not gonna make it." Nova whimpered. fWhip propped himself up with one hand, surveying the land around him.

"The Grimlands..." he whispered. He reached out, using his free hand to rub his knuckles under Koda's chin. "It's a miracle you two survived." The Grimlands was completely destroyed. fWhip lay at the bottom of a massive crater.

"Jimmy...did he make it? I hope he did." fWhip pushed himself up further, locking his elbow as he surveyed his predicament. His legs were pinned under a massive boulder, and warmth pooled at his stomach. He couldn't force himself to look, but he knew the wound punctured deep. fWhip sighed, lowering himself back down onto his elbow. Koda whimpered, brushing against him again.

"What's the matter, Kodie?" fWhip asked, using his free hand to pet his dog again. He froze when he saw his knuckles were red. They hadn't been red when he woke up. They hadn't been red when he was petting his dogs- wait.

"Koda. Come here," he forced authority into his voice, and Koda immediately trotted over. fWhip reached out and grabbed Koda's collar, gently lifting his chin. fWhip felt his stomach drop when he saw the deep red that stained Koda's fur.

"Kodie," fWhip whispered, pulling his injured dog against his chest. Koda slumped down beside him, and fWhip knew that Koda wouldn't survive this either.

"fWhip! fWhip!" fWhip's head snapped up at the sound, and Nova jumped up, howling and barking, and then Gem was there, scrambling down the edge of the crater and throwing her arms around him.

"Thank the elder wizards!" she breathed, holding him tight. "Jimmy said you hadn't made it out, and I knew I had to come check. I'll go get Joel and Pearl and Sausage, and they'll lift this debris, and I'll get Katherine and she and I will make you some healing potions, and you'll be okay, you have to be okay, you're going to be okay."

"Gem," fWhip interrupted gently. "Gem, you know that's not going to happen."

"It will!" Gem said fiercely, her green eyes glinting.

"Take care of Nova for me," fWhip said, gently shooing Nova to his twin's side.

"No! You'll take care of her! And Koda! I'm not going to lose you too! Not after Mother and Father!" Gem protested, pulling her cloak off and wrapping it around fWhip's shoulders.

"I'll- I'll be right back, okay? I'm gonna get you some healing potions," Gem fumbled, standing up, but fWhip caught her hand.

"Stay."

"But I can get you things to help you!"

"No. It's too late for me, and Koda too. Just stay by my side. Twins 'til the end?" fWhip asked her, and she slowly lowered herself back onto the uneven ground, twining their fingers together.

"Twins 'til the end," She whispered, her eyes filled with tears.

Koda had stopped moving.

fWhip rested his head against the ground, and as the world faded to black, Nova began to howl.

Jimmy found Gem a little while later, holding her brother's body and crying.

Sausage felt numb.

That was the only way to describe it.

He sat on one of the benches at spawn, watching the other survivors with bleak disinterest. Gem sat on the bench across from him, clutching Nova and sobbing. Jimmy had found her in the crater that was once the Grimlands, the dead bodies of fWhip and Koda next to her. Lizzie sat next to her, humming quietly and rocking back and forth. Even in his bleak state, Sausage had done a double-take when Joel had led her into the clearing. Lizzie was human again. And from what Joel - and Lizzie - had said, she had no memory of this world. Jimmy and Joel stood together on the far side of the clearing, talking in low voices. They seemed worried, and Sausage didn't blame them. Five people. Out of twelve. And out of them, one was grieving for her brother, another was an amnesiac, and Sausage himself was in shock.

"We know fWhip is dead, but what about the others? We'll need to search for them," Joel said firmly, stopping his pacing to look at his brother-in-law. Sausage glanced up, and cleared his throat, forcing himself to speak.

"Pearl is dead." Jimmy and Joel turned to him in surprise and walked over to the benches.

"How do you know?" Jimmy asked, sitting down beside his friend. And Sausage closed his eyes and recounted everything that had happened since he had left to check on Mythland.

He told them about the Blood Sheep raining from the sky, overtaking his kingdom. He told them how he had run to Bubbles, who had told him to help Pearl. He explained how he had arrived to find Gilded Helianthia in flames, Pearl frantically working to put the fires out. He recounted trying to help her, only to discover that the corruption that still lay underneath her kingdom fanned the flames. His voice shook as he described Pearl's sudden faint spell, how she collapsed in his arms as he pulled her to somewhere out of the flames. He told them of Pearl's final words- a plea for him to take care of her animals. Words failed him after that, and he could only nod toward the freshly dug grave half-hidden by foliage at the edge of the clearing.

The Sunflower Queen's final resting place.

Gem scooted over to him, still holding Nova, and set the dog on his lap, before wrapping her arms around him. The two sat there in silence for a moment, remembering their fallen friends. The Wither Rose Alliance was broken in half. Two members living, two members dead. The moment ended when a loud yip rang out, and a brown dog with black speckles on her back came charging out of the undergrowth.

"Bubbles!" Sausage smiled, relieved to see his faithful companion. "Is Sir Carlos with you?" Bubbles barked, jumping up onto Sausage's lap, nudging Nova back to Gem.

"But he is okay?" Sausage asked her, and Bubbles barked affirmatively. Sausage blew out a breath. "Good."

"We need to find the others." Joel was the one to speak, staring off into the distance. "I say we go check each of their empires. They could be trapped somewhere. Or they're hiding. They wouldn't know that some of us are here." Jimmy nodded.

"Should we split up or stay together?" He queried.

"How would we split?" Gem asked.

"Lizzie and I will go to The Undergrove, Jimmy and Sausage to the Lost Empire, and you stay here in case anyone else arrives?" Everyone nodded, and Jimmy and Sausage, accompanied by Bubbles - Jimmy had left Norman behind with Gem, he didn't want his precious Cod Cat to get hurt - set off for the short trek from spawn to the Lost Empire. Joey still had yet to build a road, so the trio was stuck slashing through the undergrowth. When they finally arrived at the Lost Empire, Sausage felt his jaw drop. He had heard Joey speak about his ruined empire, but he hadn't truly understood the level of damage. The canals were clogged with debris from the village, and the temple was barely standing, its sides ripped with holes.

"Joey?" Jimmy yelled, starting forward into the remains of the village. "Joey!" Sausage followed him, helping his friend clamber over debris.

"Joey!" Sausage joined in, and Bubbles began barking as well, the fluffy brown and black dog running ahead. "Find him, Bubbles!" Bubbles barked in response and ran on, as Jimmy and Sausage scrambled after her. Bubbles reached the remains of Joey's pyramid and disappeared inside, still barking for Joey.

"Be careful, girl!" Sausage yelled, and Bubbles barked reassurances. Then she stopped.

"Bubbles!" Sausage yelled, moving faster, worried for his companion. Then Bubbles began barking again, telling him to come quickly, it was bad. Sausage relayed the message to Jimmy, and the two arrived at the foot of the pyramid.

"Bubbles is inside," Sausage said, ducking through a hole in the wall. "Bubbles?" he whispered, not wanting to raise his voice for fear of causing the temple to come crashing down with him and the others still inside. Bubbles whined, bringing his attention to the center of the room, where Joey's storage room was.

"Come on," Jimmy whispered, climbing past him to reach Bubbles. "Oh."

"Jimmy?" Alarmed, Sausage hurried after him, then stopped next to him. "Oh."

Joey lay curled among the rubble, his eyes peacefully closed and one brightly colored wing wrapped around him.

"Bubbles?" Sausage asked, crouching down next to her to check Joey's pulse. Bubbles barked, nudging Joey's head.

"He fell," Jimmy muttered, looking up.

"Wouldn't he have caught himself? He can fly," Sausage asked, having seen Joey's incredible airborne stunts. Jimmy shook his head, gently touching Joey's shoulder. "Look at his other wing." Sausage leaned closer, then swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat. Joey's right-wing had been almost completely busted.

"We should take him back to spawn. Bury him with Pearl. He deserves a burial, but we can't do it here." Sausage forced out, leaning forward. Jimmy nodded, gently lifting the other boy, careful on his broken wing, even if he couldn't feel it anymore. Sausage and Bubbles moved ahead, clearing the way for Jimmy. Neither of them noticed the red and black crown lying a few feet away from Joey.

Gem sprang to her feet as Sausage pushed his way into the clearing.

"Did you find him? Where's Jimmy? Are- oh." She stopped as Jimmy followed Sausage into the open.

"No," Gem whispered. "Not another. Not another! No one else! Not again!" She stumbled back, sitting down on one of the benches as Jimmy laid Joey down near Pearl's grave. The Codboy was covered in Joey's blood, and he slipped off over to the river, submerging himself while Sausage dug the second– and hopefully last– grave. He only paused when Joel and Lizzie returned to see if Shrub was with them. She wasn't. But they weren't carrying a body, either, so that was good news. Jimmy resurfaced to greet them, and he and Joel joined Sausage digging the grave as Lizzie helped Gem clean Joey's face. When they finished, they stepped back so Joel could lay Joey gently into the grave. After their friend had been buried, Sausage turned to Joel.

"Where's Shelby?" He asked.

"I don't know. The Undergrove- it was burning. Fire everywhere. We searched as well as we could. Nothing. Not a trace of her wolves, not a trace of her." Joel looked east, where the Undergrove lay in a valley on the edge of the jungle.

"Where should we go next?" Gem asked. "There's four of us– technically five if you count Lizzie but she doesn't remember enough to help– and four still missing." She shrugged one shoulder, letting the tattered remains of her cloak slide.

"Who's still missing? Scott, Katherine, Pix, and..." Jimmy trailed off.

"Shubble."

"Oh."

Joel rubbed one gloved hand over his face.

"We still need to bury fWhip, and Koda, by extension," he told them, then looked at Sausage. "You and I are the strongest people left, now that Pearl is gone. Can you help me dig him out?" Sausage nodded solemnly.

"What about Scott, Pix, and Katherine? We haven't even looked for them," Jimmy interjected. "I can go check."

"You can't go alone, Jimmy," Joel told him.

"Then someone can come with me," he insisted. Sausage looked at his friend, guessing how he must be feeling, knowing the love of his life was still out there and possibly in danger.

"Sausage and I need to move fWhip, and I'm sure Gem wants to be there when we pull him out. And I don't want Lizzie going anywhere without me," Joel told him. "Just stay with us until we've gotten fWhip. Okay?"

"Okay..." Jimmy whispered, before following the others in the direction of the Grimlands.

"Since Pixandria is so far away, you three will have to go to both the Overgrown and Rivendell. But, the Overgrown is on the way to Rivendell, so you shouldn't have to go out of your way," Joel told them, as he stood from where he had been kneeling beside the river, cleaning the dirt and blood off of his hands. Jimmy nodded, then did a double-take.

"Three?"

"Gem will go with you and Sausage." Bubbles barked at him.

"And Bubbles, of course." Joel smiled, offering his hand to the little brown and black dog, who allowed him to rub her ears.

"Katherine, then Scott. Understood," Gem said firmly, herding Nova into the Road Builders Guild building. Jimmy picked Norman up and set his cat in the cottage as well.

"Stay safe, buddy," he told his cat, before turning to Sausage and Gem. "Let's go."

The trio set off immediately, heading south. Even before they fully arrived at the Overgrown, Jimmy could see the wreckage. Massive, glowing cracks crisscrossed the ground, and several buildings had collapsed into some.

"Katherine!" Gem yelled, and Jimmy and Sausage quickly joined in, calling for their missing friend. Bubbles barked, and Sausage looked at her, before turning to Gem and Jimmy.

"Bubbles says she senses life in Katherine's storage room." The three broke into a run, heading for the entrance to the underground room.

"Katherine?" Jimmy yelled, opening the gates. Katherine wasn't there, but several cats greeted him, meowing.

"Muffin!" Gem ran to Katherine's cat, lifting the yellow tabby into her arms. "And these must be the rest of Katherine's cats. But where's Katherine?" Bubbles walked over to a large white cat with gray splotches, and the cat seemed to be explaining something to her. Bubbles in turn turned to Sausage and barked twice. Sausage paled.

"Councilor says he last saw Katherine about ten minutes ago when she ran out during a round of tremors – which Councilor assumes was the formation of those cracks – in an attempt to save her people. She didn't come back," he translated, before turning and starting down the hall to one of the exits. "I'll search the village. Gem, you take the valley. Jimmy, her castle." Jimmy nodded and started up the staircase that led to Katherine's castle. It was mostly intact, save for the two towers that had toppled, and the massive crack that stretched from the Overgrown Fountain through Katherine's front door.

"Katherine?" he called, moving from room to room, looking for the fae.

"Jimmy!" The feminine voice made him jump, relief swelling in his chest, but he quickly realized the voice belonged to Gem.

"Yeah?" He called, moving to the top of the steps.

"Come here." Jimmy made his way down the steps, finding Gem outside, standing next to the largest crack.

"Look." Gem knelt next to the edge, leaning over. Jimmy looked over the edge, then gasped.

"Can you get down there?" Gem asked. "I'll find Sausage." Jimmy nodded, crouching and gripping the jagged wall of the crack, before starting to climb down. He managed it, making it to the ledge halfway down the crack. He dropped the final two feet, then knelt down, nervously reaching out.

A pause.

And then the steady thrum of a pulse met his fingers.

The knot of tension in the pit of his stomach began to unravel.

Jimmy blew out a breath and leaned back, before beginning to check Katherine for injuries.

"Jimmy?" Gem called, and Jimmy shot to his feet.

"She's alive!" He yelled up to her. He could just hear Sausage and Gem's sighs of relief.

"How do we get you guys up here?" Sausage mused, unzipping one of the many pouches on his belt and pulling out a coil of rope. "I have this, but there's nowhere to hang it to pull you up."

"What about the castle ramparts?" Gem suggested.

"Gem, you beautiful genius!" Sausage immediately climbed up to where he could fashion a makeshift pulley, throwing one end to Jimmy and the other to Gem.

"What do you think? How should we get her up?" Jimmy called, unsure.

"Wha-" Katherine mumbled. "Jimmy?"

"Katherine!" Jimmy blew out a breath as the tension knotting his stomach disappeared completely.

"H-hey..." Katherine slurred her words slightly, blinking blearily at Jimmy. Jimmy crouched down next to her.

"Do you think you're strong enough to hold on to this rope? So Sausage and Gem can pull you out of here?" He asked her, gently helping her to stand.

"Maybe..." Her eyes closed halfway, and Jimmy took the rope, tying two loops in it, one for Katherine's foot and the other for her to hold. Jimmy stood nearby as Sausage and Gem pulled her out of the crack, then he turned to the wall, preparing to climb out.

"Jimmy, I know what you're thinking, and if you try to climb that wall in your state I will strangle you," Sausage threatened, and Jimmy rolled his eyes and stepped back. Sausage threw the rope back down, and Jimmy took it, letting his friend haul him out. Back on solid ground, Jimmy helped Gem support Katherine, taking her down to her storage room, where Muffin, Councilor, and the other cats ran up to her.

"Hey, everyone," she whispered, as the animals swarmed her.

"Sausage." Gem turned to the human. "Can you take her back to spawn? I don't feel safe leaving her here alone, and she's not strong enough to go with us all the way to Rivendell and then back to spawn. You're strong, you can protect her." Sausage nodded.

"Go ahead. We'll rest here for a while, then we'll go back to spawn. See you there. And good luck"

Jimmy could smell the smoke before the Elvin kingdom even came into sight.

"Oh no," Gem whispered, staring at the wreckage.

"Scott." Jimmy broke into a run, and Gem easily kept step with him as they ran along the bridge to the main part of Rivendell.

"Xornoth must have broken free. I don't know how, but this couldn't be anyone else," Gem told him, as they ran up the path toward the Church of Aeor, which was the highest intact vantage point in Rivendell.

"Jimmy!" Gem gasped, as she stopped. Jimmy spun, half drawing his sword as he followed her gaze to a motionless shape on the ground.

"It's not Scott," he said firmly, crouching next to them. They were clearly Elvin, with dark magenta-purple hair and deep matching eyes.

"It- it's Xornoth." Jimmy did a double-take at Gem's words. The boy indeed resembled Scott, with the same high cheekbones, sharp features, and pale skin. And his eyes did match those of the demon...

"He's dead," Gem proclaimed. "But he has no visible cause of death..." She frowned, sitting back on her ankles. Jimmy stood and looked around, studying their surroundings. He spotted something on the ground a little ways away.

"No." He ran over, dropping to his knees, and hoping, hoping, hoping desperately to feel a pulse.

But Scott's skin was cool to the touch. No life force behind the blood that pooled around him. And his blue eyes were open and dull.

"He killed himself," Gem whispered in shock. "Why would he do that?"

"Maybe- maybe Xornoth was going to do something to him. And- and he decided he'd rather die," Jimmy mumbled, although he knew that wasn't likely. Scott was too stubborn.

"But then how did Xornoth die?" Gem asked, before reaching into her pack and withdrawing a leather-bound book. "I took this from Lizzie when we realized she couldn't remember," Gem explained, as she opened the book of prophecies. "Page eight. Look. This must- this must have been referring to Scott and Xornoth." She pointed out the prophecy.

Twin souls trapped in an endless battle since the beginning of time, chaos and order, light and dark, hot and cold. One can not exist without the other, for if one soul dies, the other is sure to follow.

"So...Xornoth died because Scott killed himself." Why didn't you tell me?!? Jimmy screamed silently, pulling his boyfriend's body closer.

"These runes...this spell...this is the spell we used to capture Xornoth. He tried to capture Scott the way we captured him." Gem traced one of the dormant runes with her finger. "And Scott...he wasn't going to let that happen. He knew he was the only thing standing between Xornoth and us."

"I'm taking him back. I'm gonna bury him," Jimmy decided. "Rivendell is nearly destroyed. I'll take him to spawn."

"Should we take Xornoth?" Gem asked.

"If you feel you can carry him."

Katherine sat next to Lizzie, watching Sausage, Joel, Gemini, and Jimmy dig two graves.

Of everything she had expected Jimmy and Gem to find, Xornoth's dead body was not among them. Yet there he lay, no longer corrupted, almost identical to Scott, save for his hair and eyes and clothes. Gem had advocated to bury him alongside the others, and Katherine had agreed. Everyone deserved a burial.

"What do we do now?" Joel asked, stepping back as Jimmy and Sausage covered Scott and Xornoth's graves.

"We have to leave," Gem said. Everyone turned towards her in surprise, even Lizzie, but she met their gazes firmly.

"I'll make us a portal to leave. Gather anything you need, because I doubt we'll be coming back. You know how the Hub treats servers that go down."

"What about Pix and Shubble?" Lizzie asked.

"They'll probably send someone back to find them," Gem insisted. "What matters is that we get out of here." She stared them down, until, one by one, they relented. Katherine watched in silence as Gem raised her staff and opened the portal to the Hub.

And, together, they stepped through, leaving Empires behind.

May make a part two where the people from outside of Empires react to the server going down, y'know, some brotherly angst on Grian's part(his sister is dead) and Jimmy having to break the news of Scott's death to Wisp and H, and Lizzie dealing with her amnesia, etc. Also I really just want to write overprotective Joel staring down one of the Hub admins in an attempt to be allowed to return to search for Shubble and Pixl. ✨Angst✨