Still a bit crying, I put the black box into a large bag, checked the key one last time and swung the bag over my shoulder. Thankfully, it was early in the night, making it fairly easy for me to carry everything out of the city. Pulling my hood deep into my face, I left the city through the eastern gate by showing my permit and turned around one last time a few hundred metres away.

The capital city, the bustling heart of the Worchester Kingdom was surely a nice place. I had found so much fun there, found a family for myself and helped all these kids. I was a bit proud of myself as I turned around, stared at the near-endless snowy fields and started running.

Eastwards. Back to the place where it all started and beyond.

A few merchants looked at me as I scooted past their camps, faster than their horses or mules could ever pull them, leaving only a trail in the snow behind. I ran for my life, or rather for every minute, I could spend with Mary. If I was just a tad faster, I could spend a bit more time with her. And that alone was a reason for me to accelerate even more until one wrong step could lead to a catastrophic end.

But I didn´t care. The streets around the capital city were well kept, and the snow was already trampled flat, enabling me to run as fast as I could. After an hour or so, the endless wheat fields were already replaced by a thick forest, blocking my view of the beautiful night sky. A few wolves howled in the distance, and I? I howled back loudly, tears blocking my vision for a few seconds.

They howled once again, and I howled back, this time without the tears. But even the wolves were left behind shortly afterwards, leaving me alone for the time being … like I was in the past, during all these times I drowned and would be in the future again.

Life was fickle, and being an immortal myself, it looked even more fickle in my eyes. But very rarely, it was still worth fighting for. And so I accelerated yet again, and reached speeds I never did before over a long distance, just so that I could spend a few more minutes with Mary, and Hannah would see her family a bit sooner.

And during the day? I didn´t stop. My journey was meticulously planned, and each time, I reached a trading post where I bought a horse, drove it near death the whole day, and then sold it afterwards again, only to start running when nightfall came.

It was a boring time. My whole body felt sore each and every day, only to heal during the night. But it was also a time where I learned things about myself. For example, that I needed a large backpack instead of the bag to carry the black box … I was not entirely sure what that meant for me, but whatever. At least I had a large backpack after the third day and my back didn´t hurt that much anymore. On my fourth day of travel, I could see the lights of Eastminster in the distance, where everything started. It was the place where I met Mary for the first time, and where I coaxed her into being my mother. With a warm heart, I ran past this place as well and followed the streets we marched on back then.

Memories, happy and painful, about Luna resurfaced, my first, and still my best friend. She was the first person to notice what kind of personality I had, and in her childish naivety, she still accepted me, because she saw something in me.

Was it the hope for change? That I would change my way of acting? Maybe, maybe not. If so, her thoughts may have been wrong. So much blood was on my hands, and even on this travel, I couldn’t resist drinking the blood of a few merchants. I haven’t changed that much … but maybe Luna didn´t see that in the first place. I wished I had asked her when we met in purgatory, but I didn´t.

I could only guess why she did what she did. Maybe she knew I would become the saint and save the world in some kind of comatose holy ritual … but I doubted it.

Whatever it was, she still followed me around in my heart, just like Mary did, just like the children in the orphanage did, just like Sophie, the non-existent child did and if I was entirely truthful, even my beloved pillow, Hannah, did.

My thoughts were racing, possibly even faster than my body was, about everything and everyone. About Aska, the day where it all began, till the day we parted on the lighthouse, kissing for the first time in the place where everything began and ended, for everyone.

Would I end in purgatory as well? I couldn’t tell, but I knew I had not understood everything about me, about this world, and about Aska himself. I still didn´t know why the world was younger than they all claimed, I still didn´t know what my role in these things was …

But I was sure that one day, I would find out. With the help of my friends, my family, whoever else wanted to help me and definitely a whole kingdom at my disposal.

At last, I arrived at the river I once flooded and crossed it with my horse over a newly erected bridge. It was exactly at dawn when I jumped off my horse and bound it towards the bridge. In front of me was the heartland of the elven kingdom, way past its borders. So far though, nobody bothered me, even though I could spot a few of them time and time again.

The once prosperous forest laid bare in front of me and revealed itself as a husk of what it once was. The trees were still burnt down, blackened in some places, while completely gone in others. Not a single new plant seemed to have grown here since the elves set everything on fire to defeat the devourer.

Looking into the distance, I spotted a green light slowly drifting towards me. Smiling, I waved towards Irmisul and the elven king below her.