I ʜᴏᴘᴇ I ᴡɪʟʟ ɢᴏ ᴛᴏ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʟɪᴇs ʙᴇʏᴏɴᴅ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ...
Flash.
He was floating in the air. Empty space, a blackness, encompassed him.
Flash.
“You will be destroyed?”
Yᴇs.
Flash.
"Stormfather?”
Silence.
Flash.
He curled up into a ball and cried...
A Few Moments Later
Brockett didn't know how long he stayed there. Time was meaningless for him, but that didn't mean it wasn't there.
Roshar was gone.
The Stormfather... was gone.
"Honor is dead." he whispered. "The last fragment of Honor, gone."
"And I killed him."
He shivered. Flashes of the moment of collapse flew through his mind, an unstoppable reply of that horrible, beautiful moment. He had truly been Ruin, then. Now, in the after, he was Brockett. Just Brockett. He had felt the Shard truly merge with his soul, them becoming one. That terrified him. So Brockett forced Ruin's power into a corner. Wound it up in his spiritweb, locked it with a Cognitive key, and dissolved it into nothing. Never again would he touch the power. Not fully. He would always be a Shard, but he couldn't be Ruin.
Eventually he stood. But... stood where?
The Spiritual Realm was strange, he discovered.
Brockett floated, a piece of Adonalsium numbed completely. He turned off all feeling of anything, running away from that doomed planetary remains. He floated for seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries- until he was as far off into the Nothing as a being could get.
It then happened almost sneakily. Brockett felt something inside him, and after having hidden away all feeling he nearly didn't recognise the sensation. A warmth. It felt good, reminding Brockett of better days. He nearly smiled.
Light grew from... somewhere. Whether it was from him or from something else, he didn't know, but the Spiritual Realm was strange. And then... a voice.
Yᴏᴜ ᴅɪᴅ ᴡᴇʟʟ, Aᴀʀᴇɴ.
Arren. Brockett hadn't heard that in a very, very long time. His first name. He hated it, but from this voice it was somehow alright.
"Stormfather?" Brockett asked. But as soon as he spoke it, he knew the answer. This voice was far greater than the Stormfather's was.
Nᴏ, ᴄʜɪʟᴅ. Bᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪs ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴄᴏɴᴅᴇᴍɴɪɴɢ. Yᴏᴜ ᴅɪᴅ ᴡᴇʟʟ.
"Did I?" Brockett asked. "The Stormfather is dead. Honor is dead."
Hᴏɴᴏʀ ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴀs ʟᴏɴɢ ᴀs ʜᴇ ʟɪᴠᴇs ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛs ᴏғ ᴍᴇɴ. A sᴛʀᴏɴɢ ᴍᴀɴᴛʀᴀ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ᴛʀᴜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴀs ᴡᴇʟʟ.
Brockett blinked. "Say that again." He whispered.
Hᴏɴᴏʀ ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ sᴏ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴀs ʜᴇ ʟɪᴠᴇs ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛs ᴏғ ᴍᴇɴ. Aɴ ʏᴏᴜ, Aʀʀᴇɴ, ʜᴏʟᴅ Hᴏɴᴏʀ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ.
"I hold Ruin in my heart." Brockett said. "But I locked it away. To not break anything else."
Yᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ᴅᴇɴʏ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ. Hɪᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ Sʜᴀʀᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴡᴏʀsᴇ. Yᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ, Aʀʀᴇɴ. Iᴛ ᴅᴏᴇs ɴᴏᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴜsᴇᴅ ғᴏʀ ᴘᴜʀᴇ ᴅᴇsᴛʀᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴏᴛ ᴜsᴇ ɪᴛ ᴀs sᴜᴄʜ.
Arren found himself nodding. He let Ruin emerge, reluctantly allowing the power to reconnect with him. "Thank you."
Oғ ᴄᴏᴜʀsᴇ.
But Arren had one more question. "If I may ask... who are you?"
If the light could smile, Arren felt it do so. Is ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʀᴜʟʏ ᴀ ǫᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴇ ᴀɴsᴡᴇʀᴇᴅ?
The light grew, and Arren found that he could not see. His mind went blank, but he felt peace.
Iᴛ ɪs ʟɪᴋᴇʟʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ɪs ɴᴏᴡʜᴇʀᴇ. Bᴜᴛ sᴏ ʙᴇ ɪᴛ.
Flash.
The power of destruction burst forth, a black animal of smoke surging from his form and sinking into the ground.
Flash.
Silence.
Arren opened his eyes. He was back where it started. Roshar. Or, rather, the space Roshar once had inhabited. But he had just drifted for what had felt like, been like, an eternity. That he knew. The voice returned to him. Had it all... not occured? Had it been a fragment of his mind?
Or had the piece of Adonalsium inside of him... Connected with Arren in a way that lacked reason even to divinity?
Whatever the case was, Arren felt better. Honor is not dead, he thought.
The Father is Merciful. Arren turned his eyes and mind and soul inward, to Ado's fragment. He looked out into the cosmere, knowing that the rest of his existence would be unlike what he could ever dream. He knew that while painful, destroying Roshar had brought peace to Autonomy and likely everything that had ever inhabited the universe. He knew the Stormfather would affirm his choice. He knew Honor was alive, he knew the Stormfather was happy.
"The Father is Merciful."
Sir Arren Brockett launched himself into the cosmere with Ruin's power, content with what had happened. And for the first time in as long as he could ever remember, happy.