My sisters already told me exactly what I need to do, so with a breath, I call upon Monster, feeling the familiar, comforting weight of the scythe in my hand. I slice my blade across my palm and get to work, touching the first skull of the Annuli who came long before me.
Immediately, I’m rushed by visions of the creation. Of Hell, of balance. Of how important the darkness is as a backdrop for the light. I see my ancestors and the sacrifices they made in order for me to be standing here today.
I get overcome with a sense of time stopping as power sweeps over my vision, and I watch in awe as memories from past Annuli are carried out like a movie on a screen. Except I’m not just watching, I’m here, experiencing it like a fly on the wall.
I see Hell being made, the Abdicated coming down, the first Annuli and Gatekeepers forming the Hellgate and promising to protect everything it stands for. Years spin forward like a movie reel as I try to take it all in. Figures blur as they go, centuries whip by, and the Hellgate slowly deteriorates. Battles come and go, blood is spilled, and Annuli, Gatekeepers, and Guardians all make sacrifices throughout the course of time while I stand back like a spectator.
Done speeding forward, I watch in awe as the last memory slows to a near stop, and blurred figures become clear and crisp. My eyes widen when a beautiful Annulus with red hair and wings appears before me, a proud scythe in hand and a knowing look on her face. She’s standing in Hell’s Embrace like a magnificent champion, her hair matching the fire of the Hellgate’s flames that burn behind her.
As soon as my eyes land on hers, her expression softens, like she was waiting for me all along, for all these years. My heart skips in my chest, and I know that somehow, she really is seeing me.
Her bright eyes flick over, and I realize my sisters are standing at my sides, and that she can see them too. A dazzling smile spreads across her face at the three of us, and then I’m hit with an all-encompassing emotion of love and purpose and pride.
The last thing I see before she begins to fade away, taking all of the visions with her, is her smile as she mouths the words well done.
By the time the vision disappears, tears are slipping down my cheeks, and my entire spirit feels full. I look over and find Medley and Delta are crying silently too, and my heart wants to burst from everything I just experienced. To know where we came from, to feel the love and hope our ancestors had for us for the future, and to see her, that nameless Annulus female, tying us all together. It’s overwhelming.
I have so much more than I ever even thought to dream of or even hope for. Family, something I never thought I’d ever have in my life, is all around me. And even though my ancestors are gone, I can feel them here. I can still feel the red-headed female like she’s tied up a thread that was hanging forlornly inside me and connected it to her. Our kin is wrapped all around us in this place, in us, and they’re encouraging us and giving us peace.
I know now that I was always going to end up right here, beside Delta and Medley, and that every circumstance we faced was a stepping stone we had to cross in order to find our place, our destiny.
I have three amazing mates who I love, and I know that love is just going to continue to grow and deepen and bloom until it’s as beautiful and thriving as the garden all around us. I have a purpose now. I’m not just needed, I’m vital in ways I could have never fathomed before, and I fit.
I feel so grateful, so blessed by it all, and as I begin to make my way down the Hellgate, pressing my bloody palm to every skull as fiery flames lick at my palms, I vow to keep it all going. To give whatever I can to the future that will come after us and to the present and all that it has in store. When I touch the last skull, I offer up my love and gratitude, finishing the Annulus duty to reset the Gate.