There is no force powerful enough within this universe to forgive me for what I've done.

It cannot be unwritten. Even if it were possible to undo the decimation that I wrought, it would never be erased from my memory. That moment will be eternally etched into my mind, and no light, no words will ever cleanse my being of it. Just as the fire and runes will no longer leave my skin, I will forever be marked by it.

That is as it should be, but it is too much. With every thought that lingers in my head, I break a little more. I walk a little further into the darkness with no light to guide me. I don't know how long until it swallows me up again and I won't be able to pull myself back from--

In the middle of some lonely, grassy plain under nothing but the light of the stars, Athira snapped her hand away from the half-empty page. 

"I can't do this," she said to the new presence inside her mind. 

"You can," they replied, the words clear and straight through her own fractured thoughts. The one life that had somewhat survived her accidental wrath. "I've been poking around in here a bit, seems like you're quite adept with the markings you humans make." 

There was just too much. Too much swirling through her head. She couldn't lock it down with simple words. It was all or nothing. Nothing and everything. She'd destroyed a city. She'd destroyed a family. 

She'd--she'd killed Zoe. 

"Just write,"  said the bird. Athira clung to its voice, the only thing that made sense, the only reason she had in the absence of Zoe's light. "Beginnings only matter if there's something to follow them."

"But beginnings must never be forgotten," murmured Athira. "Without them, the rest of the story would never exist."

She took a deep breath to steady her hand and began to write. 

Alone isn't the worst thing a person can be...

*+*+*+*

THE END

*+*+*+*

 A/N - You know how this works by now. Long ass A/N in the next part. 

and yes i did ninja add this ages after I actually finished PF because it sorta just occurred to me so I wrote it and now it's a thing. <3