Chapter Text
There was a Presence.
He felt nothing. He was nothing. Just another Presence in the large expanse of the Hunger, floating in the melancholy waste.
Time didn’t exist, and yet it happened all at once. But that didn’t matter anyway. What was the point of keeping track of something that didn’t matter?
Time was a concept, just like personhood. There was only one of the Hunger that kept his name, the first to have become enlightened by the pointlessness of existence. This Presence didn’t know this name, yet. He was too new. Or at least he thought he was? Maybe he was too old. How long had it been?
It didn’t matter. He was Here, and it didn’t matter where Here was. He was the Hunger now.
Then, he heard the Song.
Kravitz broke through the surface, gasping, desperately trying to stay afloat. He looked up into the sky and saw a beacon of light, the source of the Song, and woven in to the Song was a Story.
Kravitz had heard this Story before. He had met those who were there as it was written.
There was a woman—Maureen, he remembered now—who had heard the Story before her body was prepared to. It had killed her. In her wake, she left a prophecy:
I saw all of existence, all at once. I saw a dark storm, a living hunger, eating it from within. But I saw a brilliant light heralded by seven birds flying tirelessly from the storm. I saw seven birds.
Kravitz knew those birds.
The Twins
Taako—Oh gods Taako, he was supposed to be the bounty of a lifetime—er, afterlife. Kravitz had been given first dibs as the Queen’s favorite, and he was so thankful for the hard work it took him to get that status. Otherwise, he never would have met the beautiful elf that he’d become so enamored with. That he’d willingly broken his moral code for.
Lup, the sister that Taako forgot but had always known he’d had in his heart. It must have been Hell for her, to be so close to her brother but unable to do anything but watch him make mistakes and get hurt. Kravitz was glad he’d broken the umbrastaff. If he had to unleash a lich upon the world, Lup was the best lich he could have asked for.
The Lover
Barry, that must be him. Barry, whose love for Lup transcended life itself, dying over and over again and forgetting her in the hopes that he would be united with her once more.
The Protector
Kravitz laughed. “Protector” was Magnus boiled down into one word. Even when he forgot one hundred years of his life, he stood his ground and saved Raven’s Roost from a vicious dictator.
The Lonely Journal Keeper
Lucretia’s hardest year was the one with the Judges, the one where she was the only one to have survived the first day. She ran, fought, and mourned for an entire year, struggling to survive so she could see her friends again. This was repeated when she made the choice—a terrible one, but what she believed was the only option—to say goodbye to her friends yet again for what would be ten years.
The Peacemaker
Merle stood against the Hunger and talked with John, made conversation with the force that had chased them down with the sole intention of killing them and taking the Light. Merle managed to become the closest thing to a friend as one could be with a hoard of universe-destroying darkness.
The Wordless One
Davenport didn’t deserve what was done to him. The mission was his life, and so without the mission, he didn’t know who he was beyond his own name. Yet he was always kind. He stood by Lucretia—the one person who knew him—and he helped her in any way that he could.
I saw Seven Birds.
Kravitz knew those Birds. They were starting to become his family.
Kravitz rose out of the Hunger, black tar dripping off of him. For a split second, Kravitz was filled with warmth and life as he felt his Lady’s presence once again. He couldn’t revel in the feeling, as at the same time a blue crystal, the one that represented the Astral Plane, began to appear out of nowhere, and his very being was drawn to it.
Kravitz closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was standing in the middle of a once-ruined city, and on the edge was Taako, kneeling with his hands placed on smooth sapphire.
Kravitz could do nothing but stare in awe as the realization of what Taako had done just hit him—Taako had transmuted the once glassy ground into blue sapphire, establishing a connection to the Astral Plane. In doing so, he brought the Planes of Existence in connection with each other and was so powerful that he willed the entire town of Phandalin back into existence.
Taako raised his head. He was shaking, covered in dirt, and exhausted. Then he stared at Kravitz for a single moment before running straight for him.
“How—” Kravitz started, but was cut off when Taako crashed into Kravitz’ body, wrapping his arms around his neck and holding on for dear life. Kravitz felt wet hot tears on his neck where Taako buried his face and he brought arms up to cradle Taako. Then Taako pulled away and crashed his lips into Kravitz’, and all Kravitz can think is that it feels so nice.
Kravitz’ knees buckled, and they both crashed onto the ground, kneeling where they once stood, not letting go for a second. Kravitz pulled away ever so slightly and brought a hand up to cup Taako’s face.
“You are so powerful,” Kravitz said, marveling at this man’s beauty, swimming in the bright colors of his eyes, a stark contrast to the dull world that he’d just been pulled from.
“Well, natch,” Taako said, and Kravitz laughed at that. He pulled Taako in for another kiss, this one quicker, because he had something he needed to say.
“Taako—I was crazy about you before I knew you were a dimension hopper, before I met Lup and Barry, before Wonderland. Before some weird light told me a story about your one hundred year journey through existence where you were fighting for a century to save the world.”
“Even though I look like shit without magic?” Taako asked.
Kravitz took a breath and leaned forward to touch his forehead against Taako’s. "I love you, Taako,” he told him, “and at this point, I think that everyone in reality is going to love you after hearing your story. Regardless of how you look.”
The tears that came from Taako’s eyes began to freely spill once more, and Kravitz swiped his thumb across his cheek to wipe them away.
“That was actually a test, your face is a skull half the time,” Taako blurted out, and Kravitz laughed, a true, full-bodied laughter that he hadn’t experienced since before Wonderland.
The pair was thrust back into reality when Lup swore so loud that it was carried across the battlefield. Kravitz and Taako looked away from each other to watch as one of the Judges from Lucretia’s year alone came towering over them, threatening to crush everything underfoot.
“I don’t know how to kill that!” Lup shouted, her lich form floating over to Taako and Kravitz and radiating panic.
Kravitz stood, helping Taako up on the way. “Well, I think I know some folks who can help.” He said as he turned to Taako. “You want to see what I’ve been working on while I’ve been away?”
Taako nodded, and Kravitz stepped out of his lover’s arms, concentrating on the Astral Plane, on the Eternal Stockade, and waiting for the Judge to get closer.
“You remember those wayward souls I’ve been imprisoning?” Kravitz said, spreading his arms with his hands down, facing the sapphire ground. “I’m giving them some time off for good behavior,” he finished. When the shadow of the Judge’s foot passed over them, he knelt down on one knee, slammed his open palms down on the ground, and called forth Legion.
The Raven Queen had been doubtful of this plan. It took a lot of convincing Her before he even got permission to talk to the Souls. Then he started working on convincing the imprisoned Souls to wreak havoc on the Hunger’s forces. It took less negotiation than he thought it might, most of the Souls glad for the chance to stretch their proverbial legs for a bit, especially if it meant they wouldn’t have to join the Hunger.
Legion’s hand crashed upwards, stopping the Judge’s foot from slamming on top of Taako and Kravitz, and then Legion pushed again, throwing the Judge off balance. Then Legion fully emerged from the glass gemstone to rise in its full form, and it roared with a thousand different voices, and then it pushed the Judge backward. The judge was sent flying backward several hundred feet, and Legion chased after it.
“That was rad!” Lup yelled, floating over to high-five Kravitz. “It’s good to see you again, Ghost Rider.”
“It’s good to be back,” Kravitz told her. Then Lup gave two thumbs up and floated back to Barry, who was in the middle of an intense spell.
Kravitz turned to Taako and kissed him again. He was pulled back to reality when the ground shook and Legion roared. Kravitz looked up, then sighed. His work wasn’t done yet.
“I need to keep an eye on Legion, Taako, but it’s—“ Kravitz laughed, just relieved to be among the living again, at the same time stroking Taako’s face. “—It’s so good to see your face again. When I was over there, I just, I thought about you constantly.”
Taako smiled. “I mean me too pretty much, except the world’s ending. So kind of like half and half, but still, free thought time was definitely devoted your way.” Kravitz nodded in understanding at that. “Let’s go ahead and save…everybody, pretty much, and then we’ll move on to…us. Does that sound good to you?”
Kravitz nodded, kissed Taako’s forehead, and stepped backwards towards Legion. “Let’s figure it out after we save the world,” Kravitz said.
Taako nodded, and with that, Kravitz took off running. He summoned his scythe—and, oh, that was such a good feeling—and he tore a rift in the air, jumping through it and landing near Legion’s feet. Kravitz started taking down the Hunger’s forces, keeping an eye on Legion to make sure no souls got the idea that they could escape in the chaos. He melted into the battle, hacking and slashing with time passing without notice.
Kravitz looked over to see Lup where she was addressing an enormous crowd. He couldn’t hear her, she was too far away, but he could feel the power of her words, urging the citizens to take action and fight for their home.
And then she lit her hands and led them into battle.
Kravitz looked up and he saw what only could have been the Starblaster, flying towards the storm for the first time. He knew that his beloved was on that ship, and in the midst of battle Kravitz knelt. He prayed to his Queen, to Istus, to any of the gods who would listen. He prayed that they would aid the Starblaster, and that its crew—and Taako—would come back to their new home plane, safe and sound.
As Kravitz raised his head, he began to hear music. A song that echoed throughout the battlefield. He raised his scythe and fought with a vigor that he’d never known before. All around him, he felt the inhabitants of this plane do the same.
As the music swelled, Kravitz heard a voice, one he doesn’t know offhand but one that feels familiar, and it says, “You’re going to have to fight. And… you’re gonna win!”
And Kravitz fought, along with everyone else, to defend his home.