Chapter Text
The universe sang .
The song rocked through the fabric of everything, and everything responded in harmony. For a few long, glorious moments, everything was light and sound beyond comprehension, a chorus of stars that rang until one by one, they ran out of breath.
The music faded. The universe ended. The last stars relinquished their final notes, and everything fell totally, completely, silent.
The silence lasted forever.
The silence existed for the briefest of moments.
And then the universe took in a deep breath...
Wait, said the witness. Wait, not yet!
Things teetered on the verge of bursting, barely contained. Infinite energy, infinite possibility, crushed into a single point. It should not have been able to wait, but wait it did. The universe held its breath.
I want to see your new song, the witness said. I want it so deeply. But…
But…? The witness asked itself, through the universe.
But I want to go back, too. I want to see the story that could have been. I want to live and see things end on my own time, on my own terms.
I know that’s impossible. The witness admitted. Things were ending, and I had no way to stop them.
I want it anyway. Even if it’s impossible. Because it’s impossible. The witness searched, grasping for something, anything. An idea, a hope.
There was only the void, and the pinprick of light.
So it grabbed onto that.
There has to be a way. The witness whispered to the tiny ball of music. There has to be a way to do both.
Yes. Said the witness. And no.
There is a way to be multiple places at once. To hold multiple fates within you. You remember, don’t you? The rules?
I do.
Touch something quantum.
The witness clasped the universe to its heart.
And close your eyes.
They woke, as always, next to the fire. The soft crackling of flames, the feel of hard-packed dirt beneath them, the rustle of leaves in the wind. All the same, all familiar.
But even without opening their eyes, they knew it wasn’t the same.
Next to them on either side lay two others, hands clasped in theirs. One frail, with slender fingers. The other large, scaled and tough.
“What the fuck?”
Slate’s voice echoed around the campfire, and the witness smiled, releasing a long-held breath.