50 EXT. TRAIN - NIGHT
The train is on its way to the First City, cutting through the dark across the grasslands.
51 INT. TRAIN - CARRIAGE - NIGHT
Joseph, Maria, Solomon, and Aether are sitting in the harsh light of the train car as it bumps up and down on occasion.
JOSEPH
So... wait. The Last Stars, the souls of God... are just... an astronomical phenomenon?
AETHER
There''s nothing spiritual about them. I don''t understand them completely, but they''re vaguely related to gravitational waves. It''s rare that we come across them, but they''re really just comets that are made out of energy or something, rather than rock and ice.
JOSEPH
They don''t even have a will?
SOLOMON
They resemble life, but bacteria is the best comparison. They certainly aren''t conscious. They convert distortions in spacetime into energy, just like living things metabolise nutrients. The goal is to make them into Gods with power and intellect.
MARIA
Quite a far cry from the preaching and the sermons.
SOLOMON
Even for the few priests who do know, it''s so wrapped up in mysticism that they usually don''t notice.
AETHER
The purpose of the Grand Shrines is to give the Last Stars consciousness and wills. The Towers are the Lesser Grand Shrines, they only capture the Last Stars.
MARIA
And the Greater Grand Shrine is the vessel that the Last Star inhabits to gain intelligence. Which would be you.
AETHER
I''m beginning to think you know more than you first let on.
MARIA
Pilate knows a lot of the details.
JOSEPH
Why didn''t he fill me in?
MARIA
Your lack of despair, mostly. Faith for faith''s sake. He thought it was a mercy to keep you in the dark.
JOSEPH
I''d have liked to know.
MARIA
You wouldn''t have believed it before meeting Aether. That''s what the Faith is, you know. It might not be good, but it''s not evil either. It''s "perfect", so it has no morality any more than a wheel has for turning.
JOSEPH
What do you mean?
MARIA
It''s ideal for its purpose. It is what the people need it to be. And what they need is a tool, to build hope. It has all the facts, it''s correct. But it''s not the facts that are important. It''s the values.
Joseph looks at Aether, and admits defeat.
JOSEPH
I guess. But just because it''s not inherently spiritual, that doesn''t mean that I''m not looking forward to The End.
Maria quietly sighs.
AETHER
Well, that means you have my magnanimous self to thank, no? I am indeed the Fifth Greater Grand Shrine. I was born to form the core of the God that shares my name.
MARIA
This doesn''t explain Sophia''s magic glove.
AETHER
The Last Stars aren''t the only ones of their kind. They''re not much rarer than comets in this part of the universe. The gauntlet is a weapon derived from the First Star, the sample the Magisters studied in order to work out how to build the Shrines. It''s the same power that Solomon and I were designed to receive, so it makes sense that we can manipulate it somewhat.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
JOSEPH
Why not use that to make a God?
SOLOMON
Too small. You need bigger.
JOSEPH
How much bigger?
The windows begin rattling, and the lights begin to flicker and sputter out, but the carriage isn''t plunged into darkness. A bright light shines through the window, and Joseph rushes up to it.
JOSEPH
Holy crap.
His eyes widen as he tries to take it all in.
52 EXT. TRAIN - NIGHT
The entire sky to the east of the train is filled enormous white star, gleaming brightly. Bordering it is a pale blue, as though radiating daylight. From its main body wisps thousands of glowing trails like wings of diamond.
JOSEPH (O.S.)
Holy crap! That thing''s gigantic!
It''s hard to believe such a thing isn''t already a god in itself - the cosmic beauty is unlike anything ever seen in history, making even mythology look like its dreams are too small.
53 INT. TRAIN - CARRIAGE - NIGHT
Joseph is practically pressing his face against the window, but Aether, Maria, and even Solomon are enraptured with it.
JOSEPH
Maria, are you seeing this?!
MARIA
(amused)
Yes, Joseph. I''m seeing it.
AETHER
(nervous)
I don''t think all of that is going to fit inside me.
MARIA
Phrasing.
AETHER
I''m serious.
SOLOMON
You''ll be fine. You were born to receive the biggest of them all, remember.
AETHER
That doesn''t help!
Joseph places a hand on her head.
JOSEPH
I believe in you.
AETHER
I haven''t earned that.
JOSEPH
If you want to earn it, you can always prove your conviction.
Joseph reaches into his pocket, producing a LIME.
JOSEPH
I brought this lime you can eat.
AETHER
(incredulous, lost for words)
Oh my god.
JOSEPH
Maria ate one whole. Skin and all.
MARIA
It was fine.
AETHER
You''re idiots! You''re both idiots!
Joseph laughs, and Maria cracks a slight smile.
JOSEPH
I wish Pilate was here to see this.
MARIA
Hopefully everyone got out okay.
JOSEPH
Yeah... They''re all pretty hard to put down, but Sophia is basically invincible... I still don''t even know how she found us.
SOLOMON
Under the right conditions, she can sense us using the First Star, but she has to find the trail before that''ll work. She won''t be able to track us out here if we play our cards right.
Aether slowly steps toward the window, next to Joseph. A mixture of anxiety and concern is welling up.
JOSEPH
What''s wrong?
She doesn''t answer.
JOSEPH
Aether?
Aether is staring at the Star as it begins to bleed into the First City''s Tower in the distance.
54 EXT. FIRST TOWER - NIGHT
The Tower''s matte black exterior is beginning to light up with the shining white patterns of the vessels as the glow of the Star is funnelled in through its top.
55 INT. FIRST TOWER - INNER SHRINE - NIGHT
The heart of this Tower is similar to that of the Fifth City''s. Pontiffs are surrounding the core, calling out values and instructions to each other as they adjust dials and equipment. The white light from above is spilling down the glass funnel and into the core. However, instead of a silver sphere, this Tower instead has a bright FIRE at its core. The starlight begins to wrap the fire, and the fire itself turns white.
FIRE (V.O.)
I...
The fire cannot see or hear. It has no senses. It receives no information from outside. But it knows.
FIRE (V.O.)
I am. What... is "am"?
A cold, lifeless phenomenon has just been given a mind. It reaches out.
56 INT. TRAIN - CARRIAGE - NIGHT
DRIVER (V.O.)
We will be arriving at the First City in about five minutes. Until we arrive, please enjoy the view.
Aether''s eyes fill with fear.
JOSEPH
Aether?
She doesn''t respond. She clenches her fists.
57 EXT. TRAIN - NIGHT
In the distance, the base of the First Tower explodes. A flash of white flame erupts from the bottom. The white patterns fill the sky as the Star is absorbed into the Tower. The flames are expanding, getting closer and closer to the train at blinding speeds.
58 INT. TRAIN - CARRIAGE - NIGHT
JOSEPH
What''s that?!
AETHER
Hold onto something!
Aether throws her hands forward against the glass just a moment before the flames arrive.
59 EXT. TRAIN - NIGHT
The blaze consumes rails, the fields, and even the train. Only a single carriage remains, intact as the flames race around it, protected by Aether''s barrier. Everything else is sublimated instantly into incandescence, incinerated. The flames push on for a few long seconds as Aether desperately struggles to keep the carriage safe, even as the ground beneath it evaporates. For just a moment, it is a single speck, careening through an infinite blazing void of blinding white. After a moment, it falls, landing sideways in a shallow pool of white lava.