Gustav nodded while wiping sweat from his brow.
"It is done."
The refugees turned in every direction, gasping, sobbing and laughing. Stars twinkled brightly above, planets shimred around them, and the universe stretched vast and whole once more.
E.E. dropped to sit on a newly ford patch of stone.
"You’re insane, bro... restoring an entire universe? Who does that!?"
Gustav muttered.
"Soone who destroyed it... I suppose."
Endric stepped forward and grabbed Gustav’s arm, gripping tightly.
"Thank you big brother," he whispered.
Gustav nodded and moved away slightly like he was scanning the surroundings for any abnormality.
After a while he stood alone and peered into the distance.
Fresh stars shimred like newborn diamonds. Galaxies glowed in vivid spirals. Planets spun in harmonious clusters with their atmospheres restored and their oceans shimring under sunlight.
Civilizations awakened, breathing, speaking and living as though the apocalypse had only been a bad dream.
Laughter echoed across the small reconstructed moon Gustav created for his friends.
E.E was dancing around with his arms spread wide.
Falco was grinning so hard his cheeks twitched.
Sersi cried openly, overwheld.
Aildris sat down and inhaled deeply, like he could finally breathe for the first ti in months
Elevora hugged a child tightly while Xanatus cracked jokes with two crystalline beings who were still in awe that they were alive again.
The hundreds of refugees were celebrating just as hard.
So leaped into the air.
So curled around their families.
So sang the songs of their species.
Others simply lay flat on the ground, crying with relief that life had been restored.
It was joy.
Raw, pure joy.
The kind of celebration that could only co after total annihilation followed by miraculous salvation.
And in the middle of that joy...
Gustav stood alone.
He was physically among them but emotionally separated. His head head was lowered and his eyes half-lidded with a distant, quiet ache.
No one noticed at first.
The music of celebration drowned everything else.
E.E wrapped an arm around Falco and shouted, "BRO, we’re going HO! Like ho ho! Earth, beaches, food, my bed—OH GOD my bed! I missed my bed so much!"
Falco laughed. "I can’t wait to fix my sound system. If it survived."
Aildris smiled faintly. "Finally over..."
But it was Endric who noticed first that his brother’s aura was dimr than it should be.
"Hey..." Endric whispered to the others. "Gus hasn’t moved."
They all turned.
Gustav stood at the edge of the moon’s reconstructed surface, staring into the restored universe with a look of indifference. There was not a single speck of joy in the depth of his gaze.
E.E blinked.
"Ayo—why he looking like that?"
"He should be ecstatic," Sersi murmured quietly. "He did it... the universe is alive again."
Falco frowned. "Let’s go to him."
The group walked over with curious expressions. E.E walked the fastest and, not thinking too deeply, leapt onto Gustav’s back.
"BROOOO!" E.E yelled joyously while saking his shoulders. "I’m sure you can’t wait to see Angy!"
He expected Gustav to laugh.
Or smile.
Or roll his eyes.
But Gustav didn’t move.
Didn’t react.
Not even a twitch.
E.E paused as the others arrived behind him.
"Don’t look so down," Sersi said softly.
"It all worked out," Elevora added with a smile. "Everything is back to normal. Angy’s probably searching for you right now."
Aildris rested a hand on Gustav’s shoulder.
"You can finally stop carrying the universe on those broad shoulders of yours," he said.
Gustav’s fingers clenched.
Then he whispered.
"...Angy is not coming back."
The celebration behind them didn’t just quiet... it collapsed.
The laughter died.
The refugees fell silent.
Even the stars seed to dim.
E.E blinked, then laughed nervously.
"Huh? What are you talking about, dude? You already restored everything. I’m sure she’s back on Earth waiting for you. Bro, you better wife her up QUICK—I can’t wait to be godfather..."
Gustav slowly shook his head.
And repeated with a hollow voice.
"Angy is never coming back."
This ti... they felt it.
There was sothing in his voice....
Sothing carved in sorrow deeper than they had ever heard.
Falco stepped forward with a confused look. "Gustav... that’s not funny."
"Seriously," Sersi added as fear creeped into her tone. "Don’t joke like that."
Elevora reached for his hand. "We just got you back. Don’t scare us."
Gustav finally turned toward them.
And what they saw—
The pain in his eyes
The emptiness
The devastation
The quiet, brittle grief clinging to him like frost—
It froze their hearts.
Aildris staggered back unconsciously.
Endric covered his mouth.
E.E felt his stomach drop so quickly he nearly puked.
Gustav spoke softly, yet every word hit like a teor.
"She knew the sacrifice she was making... when she brought back."
The group’s breath hitched.
"She knew the price," Gustav continued as his fist trembled. "She and... our unborn child."
Several of them inhaled sharply.
Sersi’s knees weakened.
Elevora’s hand flew to her mouth.
Even the refugees nearby stopped to take in the words.
Falco whispered, "Un... unborn...? She was truly pregnant..."
"She didn’t tell anyone," Gustav said quietly.
Endric lowered his head in guilt.
Gustav turned away again, staring into the beautiful universe he had just restored.
"She is gone forever," he whispered. "I cannot bring her back."
They didn’t understand.
Gustav had restored planets.
Restored galaxies.
Restored entire civilizations.
He could bend the laws of existence
Rewrite tilines
Recover the dead
Reverse extinction
Undo universal demise.
So why not Angy?
Falco choked out, "Gus... why? Why can’t you bring her back? If you restored everything, then—then she has to be sowhere! Her soul, her consciousness—"
"She doesn’t exist anymore," Gustav whispered. "Not her body. Not her essence. Not her soul. Not her spirit. Not even a trace in cosmic mory."
A tear slipped down his cheek...
"My resurrection consud every part of her. She used her existence to pull back. There is nothing left to restore."
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