Epilogue
A YEAR HAD PASSED. Dragonmaw City welcomed the Festival of Spring’s Dusk, a celebration of new life. Percy stood on the platform, holding the sacred relic for Pontiff Moran. Moran closed the volume of scripture. When the prayer was complete, the gathered crowd of citizens let out ringing cheers of celebration.
Percy looked toward the splendor of Dragonmaw City, glimmering under that golden sunlight. “Sometimes I feel like everything is surreal,” he said quietly.
He trailed behind Moran as they walked into the hall. Gentle, light music began in the distance as Moran slowed and Karna came up to them.
“As of now, the land has become suitable for planting seeds and growing crops,” Moran said. “It’s hard to believe.”
Percy beamed. “I was talking about the whole world. I only wish that A-Ka and Heishi could have seen it.”
“They will return.” Karna took Percy’s hand and bowed to Moran, who smiled gently and continued, “Go, take a walk around. The weather is beautiful today.”
Dragonmaw City had dismantled its defenses, and the clear sky stretched above for thousands of miles. White clouds drifted by, and below, a golden sea of tulips were in full bloom, creating a vision of splendor.
“Has Heishi written back?” Percy asked Karna.
“No, he hasn’t. When I last received word of him from Huixiong, he was in Phoenix City, but he only stayed there for three days before he left for the Western Shore.”
“Is he still trying to find a way to enter the Nucleus of the Astrolabe?”
“Mhm,” Karna replied. “He’s not the same as us. Let him be. Sweetheart, where do you want to go now?”
“I want to take a look at the memorial monument. Can we?” Percy asked.
“Of course.”
Karna helped Percy into a carriage, and they headed toward the memorial monument outside of Dragonmaw City. There, a pointed tower that was over sixty feet tall had been erected, directed at the heavens. On it were carved the serial numbers of all the clones who had perished in the final battle.
Percy placed a single blossom in front of the monument while Karna stood silently behind him.
“I don’t know why,” Percy said, “but I’ve been dreaming about the past lately.”
“And?” Karna knelt down by Percy’s side, one hand around his waist. Percy closed his eyes and leaned his head on Karna’s side.
“Everyone’s hard work has finally paid off,” Percy said quietly as he opened his eyes, looking into Karna’s azure ones. “They’ve all done incredible things, so I must also continue to live well.”
“Why don’t I come with you to the carnival? How’s that sound?”
Percy began to smile, and before he could respond, Karna had already lifted him up by the waist. Settling the boy on his shoulders, Karna strode rapidly toward the crowds participating in the revelry of the Festival of Spring’s Dusk.
Phoenix City had dismantled its clamoring factories, and the new city hall rose on the land where they had once stood. It was shaped like a phoenix’s wings spread in flight; the eastern wing was the headquarters of the human mercenaries, while the western wing had become the living quarters of the clones.
“President.” A mercenary knocked on the door and came in. “We’ve found Heishi’s whereabouts.”
Shahuang propped his legs up on his office desk, his hat covering his face, but he didn’t speak.
Huixiong was currently signing off on a stack of documents, and without lifting his head, he asked, “Is he still unwilling to return?”
“He is on his own,” the mercenary replied. “This is the telegram that he sent. He’s along the shore of the Eastern Mainland.”
A hint of a smile peeped out from under the brim of Shahuang’s hat. “That brat. How much longer does he want to stay away? Doesn’t he like the coffee jelly from that one stall outside the Central Government Tower? Why doesn’t he come back and eat his fill?”
“I think he’ll never give up,” Huixiong said. “Leave him be. Let’s prepare to celebrate the Festival of Spring’s Dusk. Does General Angus have no other requests?”
“He should be preparing to step aside. I expect he’ll give his resignation speech today,” Shahuang said.
In the afternoon of the Festival of Spring’s Dusk, Angus stood in the central plaza.
“With this, I hope that our kind will smoothly integrate in this new world,” he said solemnly. “We have turned to a new page of history, and I hope that this world will accommodate all of you.”
Applause resounded across the plaza before Angus continued. “Beginning today, the Rebellion of the Black Plains is hereby dissolved, but the status of each individual in the organization will be maintained. I believe that every one of you brothers can still understand each other and unite for a common cause. Please remember and engrave in your hearts our brethren who offered up their blood and their lives for us…”
More and more humans and clones chose to leave Phoenix City, dispersing across the entirety of the continent, starting new villages, tilling new ground for crops, or becoming wandering shepherds. The harbor city that A-Ka and Percy had first seen when they arrived at the Western Mainland, Kurlovich, became the center of commerce for the region.
Meanwhile, the waters of the ocean had thunderously swallowed up the City of Steel after Father had been destroyed. Humans migrated to the Primeval Heart, and here they established their first political state on the Eastern Mainland.
Heishi, wearing sunglasses, stood on a shore that stretched as far as the eye could see. His black windbreaker drifted in the ocean breeze, and a mechanical limb filled one of his sleeves. Here, only boats came and went, and the fishermen grinned as they chatted loudly, asking about him. Heishi nodded toward them as he walked along the beach, leaving behind a trail of clear footprints.
“You’ve come again!” A small child, barefoot, raced across the beach toward him. “Why did you come back? What are you looking for?!”
Heishi merely hummed before continuing to walk. A group of children flocked around him, asking all sorts of questions.
“I sensed it,” Heishi said. “It should be around here.”
“What did you sense?” the children asked.
“Cocoon,” Heishi responded simply.
“Huh? What’s ‘Cocoon’?” The children laughed loudly, then scattered off to do their own things.
One of the small children who had lingered asked, “Da-gege, will you attend the Snowy Mountain Festival with us?”
“If I find the person I am looking for, I will.” Heishi took off his sunglasses and glanced at the child before ruffling his hair.
“This is for you.” A boy put a paper bag in Heishi’s hand. “Mama says that you often come to our village and have helped us a lot.”
Heishi reached out with his mechanical limb and gently took the paper bag. When his metal fingers closed around it, they let out a series of soft sounds as they rubbed together. He nodded. “Thank you. You should run along. Don’t make your families worry about you.”
The remaining children ran off, but they still looked back at Heishi across the distance, waving to him in farewell. Heishi also smiled at them and waved his hand.
A bonfire was started by the shore, and the warm, gentle night fell on them. Over the ocean’s horizon, the full moon rose, casting its silver radiance. Heishi leaned on a section of the rocky reef, pillowing his head on his own arms as he stared into the distance.
A-Ka, ever since we parted from one another, I’ve done as you said. I went to Phoenix City and ate the shredded coconut buns and coffee jelly that you spoke of.
I passed through the northern section of the Western Mainland, where I saw mountain peaks and islands out at sea. I saw their waterfalls and volcanoes. At every stop along my journey, the sunlight followed me. I passed through the forests you described, the ones that could sing.
Right now, I am beside the great lake, the Eye of the Creator. This is a clear, limpid snowmelt pond, and every year, around the time of the Festival of Spring’s Dusk, the waters of the lake melt from the ice they were encased in.
I went to all of the places that you spoke of, but I cannot sense you. The sunlight, the wind, the rainwater, the snowflakes, the great land and its various inhabitants—none of that is you, and none of it contains your essence.
It wasn’t until the moment that you melded with the Nucleus that I realized how the last emotion that my Heavenly Father let me develop could bring such intense longing and pain, such loss of direction.
Or perhaps my Heavenly Father never imagined that I would also experience this feeling that I will never be able to absolve myself of. This eternal, unchanging grief and regret.
Did you know? On the day Karna returned with us, Percy already realized the truth behind Feiluo’s departure. It was just like you said: He understood that Karna was not Feiluo, just like I understand that the current world is not you. But Percy said nothing about it. He is living diligently and adamantly strives to achieve happiness, just like he did before.
This is also a lesson that I have learned from you humans. So I will continue to search, though I shall no longer focus on grief. As long as I feel that you are alive, there is still hope for everything.
Heishi closed his eyes and toyed with a piece of crystal in his hand. It glittered with light, pulsing as if it resonated with something. It was the melody of the push and pull of the tides; it was the beating of Heishi’s heart; it was the complicated state of mind borne from the meeting of despair and hope that lingered for a long time without dissipating.
When the morning light shone over the ocean, the gem seemed to tremble. Heishi was immediately startled awake and opened his eyes.
A red sun rose, and under its bright morning rays, the waters of the sea pushed the incubation chamber to the surface, where it quietly grounded itself on the beach.
Heishi walked to the chamber and opened the lid.
A-Ka was just waking, and he had a weary expression on his face as he slowly opened his eyes. When he saw Heishi’s handsome face bathed in the light of the rising sun, he began to smile.