The Never Ending Tails

The night was falling as it was falling on the faith of men; it was a very strange night, one that feels odd and makes one wonder if the world was coming to an end. The firmament was filled with light shades of red; a very strange sight caused by a very specific event, the crimson moon.

The astral body in its full phase was hanging high in the sky with a deep shade of red, a red so strong that it gave the impression that the moon was covered in blood. The Crimson Moon was carrying the faith of the new order, it was also the trigger Sélas Prime, the last man, needed to realize the consequences of such a development.

The effects of Sélas’s transformation weren’t really known to the order; the only thing they were sure of was that the glitch never aged since it was first acquired in 1969. They knew that the glitch had somehow managed to shatter his mind, but they never knew how.

At that point, they needed to go on with project prime, they needed a reminder of the age of men, and what men have pushed them through; it was irrelevant if the human artifact was conscious or not, as long as he would be alive and maintained as such for an indefinite amount of time.

They thought about using the glitch himself at some point, but his grotesque and frail appearance wasn’t showing the kind of men that really made the life of women miserable through the ages. They ended up deciding that the best would be to choose someone that would be more fitting for the image, but they needed him to be obedient and docile, Somebody that would blindly jump from a cliff if told so by the order. It is for that reason that position of Golden Knight has been created; as a precaution in case the project was to be started, this way, they could have the perfect guinea pig for their little experience.

Sélas was no longer the man he used to be; Even if the process of making him the last man didn’t change much in his physical appearance, it changed something very deep within him. His mind wasn’t the same after the experience. He only realized what was going on after a full month. The way he got to know wasn’t trivial; it affected him very deeply on an emotional level.

Sélas took back his position as Golden Knight a week after the event; just enough time for the Bio Scientists of the Order to check the success of the experiment. They noticed that the process changed Sélas’s DNA, adding bits of information into his genetic code that they knew were responsible for the Glitch’s Immortality. The Bio Scientists were glad to see that the results were positive. Sélas on the other hand was feeling grim; He hoped all along for the experiment to fail. He wasn’t a fool, and he knew what his new status would imply.

During the week he was given to rest, his thoughts were entirely directed to Frederica, or as he used to call her when they were kids: Eri. He always liked Eri, as long as he could remember, and that faithful day, his mind was a war zone. He still nourished foolish hopes for him and Eri, after all, he was her Knight! He swore an Oath to serve and protect her, and he thought that maybe, they could be more. After all, didn’t they have a moment of bliss? Why couldn’t they have more of those?

He knew that it was over, the moment he closed the door behind him to become the last man. Even if they were to be together, he could only make her feel bad, staying young forever while she would grow older. He would gladly stay by her side until her last moment, and love her as he did from the first day. But she wouldn’t be happy… She would start to hate herself first, then she would hate him… His mind was leading him in a way, while his heart was leading him in the opposite direction, leaving him torn in the middle.

After his week of rest, Sélas wore once again his shiny gold armor. He looked in the mirror of his room at the Sigil on his chest-plate; a sleeping fox in the middle of a sun. Sélas laughed nervously at the irony of the vision, but he was scared more than anything. He didn’t know what would happen when his eyes would fall upon Eri’s. He sighed cursing destiny that have put him in such a tough spot.

Taking a deep breath, He left his quarters to go to the Silver Keep. On his way to the glass tower, he met a fellow knight of the order; Fabian Tarl. Fabian Tarl was working as the Paladin of the high council, and both Knights only had respect for each other. He also met Arianna, the High Priestess of the Moon. He used to trust Arianna, he knew that she was way smarter than him or Eri, and that she knew exactly what she was doing. He would blindly follow her into a pit without fear.

Sélas finally got to the encounter he feared, Eri was at her throne room at the very center of the Silver keep, on the last level of the glass Tower. She was magnificent in her Silver Dress, and her royal paraphernalia. After a few steps, He faced the Queen and putting his right hand on his heart, he knelt. Showing respect, he kept his eyes on the ground.

“I am back at your service my lady; I hope my absence wasn’t too much of a bother.”

“You may rise, Golden Knight. It is a delight to see you on my side again; how are you feeling?”

The words were warm, but Sélas couldn’t to put an end to his dilemma. He rose as he was asked, and finally crossed the sight of Eri. His heart skipped a beat when the jade of her eyes took the center of his vision. Nothing has changed, or so he assumed.

A week passed after this first encounter during which the Golden Knight couldn’t sleep much. His desire to be closer to the Silver Queen was growing more and more, and he couldn’t think about anything else than kissing her, holding her in his arms, be one with her again…

It happened again the last day of the week. The Golden Knight found himself alone with the Silver Queen; she requested from him to keep her company during her evening readings. The Golden Knight felt his stress rising as much as his desire; he remembered the previous kiss and the passion he felt.

He loved Eri, and couldn’t live distant to her, no matter what he could think, and he felt that she might still love him.

The Queen cut her finger with a page, letting go of a small cry of pain.

“Are you hurt my lady?” He said, moving toward her.

“It’s alright, just a little paper cut.” She said, nervously laughing.

The knight reached for a first aid kit as he approached the queen. He bent on his knees, and took her hand, then getting her finger towards his mouth, he sucked the dropping blood, before putting a small nearly invisible bandage on it.

“I know when you’re hurt Eri, don’t act like I don’t.” He said those words without thinking. It was against the protocol, he shouldn’t…

“You always do Sélas…” The silver queen responded.

Sélas raised his head, crossing the sight of the Silver Queen, he was surprise to notice that her face was moving toward hiss. He started moving as well. They initiated the kiss that they have waited for so long. It was like a firework in the Golden Knight’s mind, all those feelings. But as the Knight was exploring the kiss, the silver queen stopped it.

“Sélas we shouldn’t…” She said with deep regret in her beautiful eyes.

“I…I am so sorry my lady” Started Sélas, “I didn’t mean to offend you, I only couldn’t bear those feelings anymore, and I thought that maybe they weren’t one sided. I present you my deepest apologies.”

“Don’t apologize Sélas. Your feelings are not completely one sided, but we shouldn’t go on like this at this moment and place. We can’t let anybody know. We will have a moment at some point, maybe the last one of those I’m afraid… But not just now, I will let you know. Now can you please patrol around to make sure no one saw us?”

Sélas got back on his feet, and bowed a little.

“As you wish my lady.”

Two weeks passed without the Silver Queen giving any notice to Sélas about their alleged last moment. The Golden Knight couldn’t stand it anymore; he was burning with passion for the queen and thought that he would be able to change her mind, to show her that they could still be together, that they would find a way out of this paradox.

He waited for her reading time at the end of those two weeks, and made sure no one would disturb, but as he was about to get into the corridor, he heard the door of the room opening. Sélas stopped his progression, and stayed silent in the shade. He saw Fabian, the Bronze Knight walking out of the room, and as he got completely out of the door’s frame, he saw a hand still holding his; the hand of the Silver Queen…

Sélas turned on his feet, and walked the other way, trying to keep his emotions in check. He felt his mind about to explode, and walked faster, not bothering about the people walking his way anymore.

After a moment, He found himself standing in the middle of the royal gardens; the sun was falling, and no one was to be seen around. He stayed there; looking at the sky, until the last rays of the sun vanished, leaving the field for the Crimson Moon. The Knight focused all his attention on the astral body, trying to find something to think, anything. What he found was the Gift. In his case, the Gift took form of Clarity.

His mind stopped turning in circles and for a second, he was completely calm. He felt his thought rearranging and being redistributed in an orderly matter. Everything finally started to make sense to him; his desires for the Silver queen were selfish and self-centered. He understood that she couldn’t go through such a difficult relationship, that it will destroy her. She chose Fabian because he was a more realistic choice, a choice that she would be happy with on the long term.

He felt all his emotions calming down, while his mind went faster and better than it ever did. He kept looking at the Crimson Moon, and soon understood something bigger than his own ordeal. The faith of humanity was in danger.

He was soon to be the very last man, but if men were to completely disappear, if only one gender stayed; chaos will soon ensue, and the end of humanity might be close. He figured out a plan, and was surprise to see himself taking action to achieve it.

Sélas only stopped when he got to the facility where he was made immortal. He cracked the security code with ease, and after a few steps, he accessed a room that he had glimpsed during his previous visit to the facility. The door was made of steel and was protected by a password system; it only took him one attempt to open it. As he expected, still no security camera; he knew that the order believed in privacy and trusted locks more than electronic eyes.

Inside, He found one glass pod, with a person sleeping in it. He checked the vital signs, and deducted what to do to open the pod. Even after the machine was stopped, the person inside was still unconscious. ‘Of course he would’ Sélas thought, ‘the glitch shattered his mind in 1969 during the moon landing.’

Sélas put his hand on the Glitch’s forehead, closing his eyes. He found what was wrong with the Glitch’s mind, and in a way knew what to do to fix it. When Sélas took his hand off him, the glitch opened his eyes. He looked at Sélas for a moment before talking.

“I didn’t know I slept for that long; 240 years! That is truly a lot. My real name is Simon, not the Glitch, just so you know, and you are the Golden Knight: Sélas prime right? Man did I miss a lot of stuff!”

The discourse of Simon was quite bizarre, but weirdly enough, Sélas understood it.

“We must move, things are going in a very wrong way, and I need your assistance.” The Golden Knight said.

“I know, I also know that you know. And yes! We should definitely move out of here. But I like your idea!” Simon responded.

“It is the only possible path, no more falcons or foxes, no more faith of the sun or the moon. The only thing that could work is the Eclipse…”