tthhee oddiissee Chapter 50 (final chapter)

The Magician stands outside of the Rose, staring up at the structure in eager anticipation. He has been waiting a long time for this moment.

There’s knocking coming from the structure. Knocks turn into bangs. Bangs turn into dents coming out from the metal man’s chest. It’s slow at first. A hand emerges from a seam in the man’s chest. Then another hand. The hands grab at either side of the opening and peel it apart. It is still dark inside the metal man, but the silhouette can be seen.

Ro leaps out of the metal man, landing feet first. He is hesitant for a moment, getting his bearings. He takes a deep breath and holds it in. Reality. Ro stands up, showing off the way his body has changed yet again. He is as tall as usual, slim, but not worryingly so, and the fabric remnants of the sync pod cling to him, flowing in the wind as he walks towards the Magician. His scars are still intact, but have taken on a different shape: each one filled with the metal of the Silver Star. They shine in the winter sun.

Ro approaches the Magician who waits for him, standing in the snow, wearing a long ratty coat and a scarf around his neck. Ro kneels down in front of him and embraces the Magician. It’s an embrace the Magician is eager to return, and they hold each other for a solid minute or two before letting go. Ro gets back on his feet, a warm smile on his face.

“It’s been a long time,” The Magician says.

“I just saw you. I think I did, anyway,” Ro responds.

“Could be. Hard to say where I really am at any given time.”

“If you say so. You’re answers are about as straightforward as usual.”

The Magician laughs. “You know me.”

“Is your name really Sean Greene?” Ro asks.

“My name was never Sean Greene. But it was close enough.”

“You’ll always be the Magician to me.”

“And that’s always what I’ll be. Funny, how that works, isn’t it?”

“Funny isn’t the right term for it. But I don’t know a better one.”

“Sometimes I wonder why you even bother speaking,” the Magician says with a light sarcastic tone.

Ro laughs in return. “Sometimes I wonder myself.”

Ro stares up at the sky. There’s a giant black orb of energy spinning around in the sky, creating a powerful wind that sucks everything into it, a band of pink light around the edges of it. “I suppose that’s the Black Nova I’ve heard so much about.”

“One in the same. There’s a reason I’m the only one here. Oh, by the way, I think this is for you,” The Magician says, reaching into a coat pocket. He produces a detailed drawing, rendered with a loving amount of accuracy, of the Rose with a teenage boy standing next to it. The boy is bright-eyed and beaming, a look of love, happiness, and confidence on his face as he stands next to the Rose.

“This is so sweet. I can’t remember his name for the life of me,” Ro says as he looks at it. He waves it around in his hand and it disappears, wiled away to somewhere safe.

“By the way,” Ro says. “I have something for you as well.” Ro brings his hand in the air, and the Magician’s mask comes sailing out through the hole he made to get out of the downed ship, gently placing itself in Ro’s hand. He is quick to hand it over to the Magician.

“My mask,” The Magician says, his eyes lighting up. “It’s as iconic as ever.”

Ro laughs. “That’s the marketing term for it!”

The Magician looks it over. He brings it up to his face, nearly putting on, but decides against it, opting to shove it into this coat. “It’s been so long, I’m not sure it’ll feel right wearing it anymore.” He looks back up to Ro. “I wore it mostly for your sake anyway, and I don’t think I’ll need it anymore.” The Magician closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, wistful, patting the mask in his coat. He looks back at Ro. “What about you? You don’t need a mask do you?”

“No. I’m done wearing masks,” Ro replies.

“You certainly seem to have figured some things out.”

“More or less. I have some answers, but I don’t really know what they mean. I understand what I am. More so than before, anyway.”

“And what, or should I ask, who are you?”

Ro takes a breath, closing his eyes, a serene smile on his face. “I am Ro. I have been known by many names, but that was the only one that was mine. I’ve been many different people, but I’ve always been Ro. But what that means has changed in ways that I couldn’t have predicted.”

Ro opens his eyes, looking into those of the magician. “I’m magic, but I’m not a magician. I’m powerful, but I’m not god. I’m immortal, but still fragile. I’m empathetic, but I’m not human.”

The Magician had a big smile on his face as he asked, as if prompted by a performer telling a joke “So what are you?”

“I am Beyond.”

“And what does that mean?”

“I have no fucking idea,” Ro responded. They both shared a laugh.

“Well, whatever you are, you look good. I like what you’ve done with the Silver Star.”

“It’s how it’s mean to be used.”

“And I’m sure you’ll use it to its full potential. Now that you know what it does.”

“Do I know that? That’s news to me.”

“You have a better idea than you did, though?”

“Yes, more or less.”

“That’ll have to do.”

Ro looked back up to the black nova in the sky as more and more of the debris from the planet he was standing on got sucked up into its vortex. “This is it, huh?”

“For this place, yeah,” the Magician responded.

“This place meant a whole lot to me. A lot more than Earth, anyway. How strange that I should dream of New York City, a place I haven’t been to in over… well, how long is it now?”

“I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to. A while, let’s put it like that. I don’t think it’s that strange. When you were young, you dreamed of living there, didn’t you? I know I did.”

“It’s true. But I’ve moved past it. I’ve moved past a lot of things.” Ro closes his eyes in reverie, thinking about his whole life. I’ve been part of this strange world for so long, I’ve almost become a part of it. And now it’s all about to go away. “But it was never home. Not really.”

“Where is home for you, Ro?”

“Same answer as always: wherever I end up next.”

“Good answer.”

“What about you?”

“You know… wherever.”

“That’s less good.”

“I’m confess, I’m not much for poetics.”

“Still, it’s a shame this place will be gone soon.”

“Yep. Some good times had here. For the both of us. Y’know, there’s still a week or two left. If you really wanted to-”

“No, I won’t,” Ro interrupts. His smile is more wistful than it was before. “There’s no one here, anymore. My memories are about the people, not the places. And the places have changed so much that I couldn’t recognize it if I wanted to. At least, I hope they did. I don’t have anyone left to say goodbye to. Haven’t for a long time now. Even the whisper is fading away.”

“Really?” the Magician asks, genuinely surprised. “Did you ever figure out what it was?”
“Not remotely. But I hear it more clearly than I ever have before. Strange that it would happen before it goes away forever.”

“You wouldn’t want to live with it forever, anyway.”

Ro laughs once again. “You’re right about that. It drove me crazy before. Still, I can’t help but be a little sad about it.”

They both stay silent, both of them observing their surroundings. Ro was taking in the snow, the mountains, and the remains of the satellite he used to be a part of “The Rose, huh,” Ro mumbles to himself. “I guess it makes sense.”

“Since when has your life made sense?”

“Not for one moment.” Ro keeps staring at the Rose thinking about CALI. His thoughts about CALI turn to thoughts about all of the people he knew and loved on this planet. There were so many, I couldn’t name them all. “I wish I got to say goodbye to him.”

“You did, in your own way. There are a lot of people you never got to say goodbye to.”

“And there are going to be even more, aren’t there?”

“I’m sorry to say that there will be. I don’t know for sure, but I know how life is and that’s how life always is. For you and me, both.”

“I know. Sometimes I wish I could transcend this sentimental heart of mine.”

“That’s no way to live. Inside, you’re as human as ever, despite your statement to the contrary.”

“You wound me,” Ro says with a large grin.

Ro looks back towards the Magician. “I should really be going,” he says. He swirls his hand in the air and thrusts it forward, creating a large hole that glows blue and goes all the way through reality itself. “You want to come with?”
The Magician looks to Ro and looks to the tear in the fabric of space-time. “No, I’ll find my own way.”

“Suit yourself,” Ro says as he’s about to walk through the portal.
“You’re not gonna say goodbye?” The Magician asks with a sly smile on his face.

“Like, I’m really gonna be rid of you that easy,” Ro laughs.

“You never know. It couldn’t hurt.”

“You’re probably right.”

Ro walks over to the Magician. He kneels down in the snow again. Instead of wrapping himself around the Magician, he grabs the smaller man’s hands in his own, sharing an intimacy by staring in each other’s eyes. It’s another departure, likely for a long time, but neither man looks depressed or sad. They both have loving expressions full of warmth and care. Each of them know, the other one will be just fine without them. Still, Ro tells him “Thank you. For everything.”

The Magician’s smile widens. “Don’t mention it,” he says softly.

Ro gets up. He stands at the threshold of the portal. He looks back towards the Magician one last time and waves at him. The Magician waves back.

Ro steps out of the world and into a place that is beyond imagination.