Chapter 358: No Strings on Me

Chapter 358: No Strings on Me

If you want to support me check out my patron at /athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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Chapter 358: No Strings on Me

24th March 2015, Sayre Manor

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

I refuse on principal to let that being have any hold over my immortal soul. She could reincarnate me once more, forcing me to fight endless battles for an eternity.

No more!

I am the Avatar of Death, but I will not always be. I was born to light yet forced to darkness. I have lost and suffered more than any being on this cursed planet. I have withstood loss after loss, pain after pain, with a heart of glass that is slowly shattering with every single one. I decree no more. I have given my entire life to Death; she will not get a drop of what comes after.

To prevent Death itself from getting my soul, I will have to gift it to someone else, someone that she can't touch, and I have the perfect candidate. After all, the Queen of Olympus was invisible to her, and I would rather trust my soul to her, and live out my time in her realm after my death, than allow my patron to have it.

And Death did have a blind spot when Hestia is involved, didn't she?

A sinister smile appeared on my face when the barebones of a plan started to get put together.

It was two days later that the plan was ready to be executed. I had given my students a day off and teleported to a familiar cave in Wakanda. It really was the best place to make a ritual. The vibranium had absorbed most of the ambient magic around, making it an exceptional magically sterile environment to conduct any ritual.

Yeah, that was how I was planning on executing my plan, with a ritual. Yeah, I didn't have the greatest track record with rituals, since, you know, I almost died in the last one. But binding your soul is a very delicate situation, one that needed precision. One wrong move and I could end up enslaved to a demon like Mephisto, or Dormammu.

Perhaps it would be better to leave them at least a goodbye, some kind of closure.

I create a small illusion of myself that would act like a messenger and make it record. My surroundings which was essentially a representation of the dimensional chaos, shifted into stars, and I could look at the Earth below me. Was I subconsciously getting one last look at my world before saying goodbye? I didn't know, but it seemed fitting in a way.

"Ah, there it is," I find myself saying, "silly old Earth. The more I save it, the more I save it, and the more it needs saving. It's a treadmill. Yes, I know they'll probably get it all wrong without me. I have given everything for this silly little planet, and it's not enough. It will never be enough."

I grimaced as I found myself arguing with nothing at all, and just straightened up and looked at the recording, "I'm sorry I'm leaving you, I really am. I don't want to leave you out to dry, to deal with something I was supposed to fight, but I'm just tired. I refused to be the universe's fixer, the puppet cosmic entities use to try to fix their messes with their prophecies and quests. I suppose I'm abandoning you, in a way, but don't I deserve to have my peace? Thousands of years I have been fighting one horror after another, saving the universe from horrors you cannot even comprehend. I have fought mighty gods, and demons in realms where the laws of physics simply did not exist and was focused on the greater good, humanity's survival. And all I got for it was betrayal and heartbreak. I was so focused on some impossible goal for thousands of years that I forgot to live. The sad thing is that I know that Death is planning something for my afterlife, and this is me saying the most beautiful word in the English language, no."

I took a deep breath to stop my little speech, "Sorry, I was ranting for a bit. But the truth is that I am broken. I have been broken for a long time. And this is just me just not wanting to break even further. I know that the challenges that will await you will be frightening, so I thought I would give you a few pieces of advice an old woman like me learned the hard way. Basic stuff first, never be cruel, never be cowardly, and never ever eat pears. They're disgustingly squishy," I giggled slightly with tears in my eyes.

I really hated the fruit, something that Wanda and Jean teased me about endlessly. I guess that makes this goodbye a little bitter. I straightened up and continued, "Remember, hate is always foolish, and love is always wise. Always try to be nice, but never fail to be kind. You never know how far a single act of kindness can reach. Give your best whenever you commit to anything. Save as many children as you can. They'll always surprise you. Laugh hard, run fast, be kind."

I looked down, with teary eyes, and murmur softly, "It's time for me to let go now. I want you to know that I love you all, and that I cherished the time we had together. We all knew that I was preparing you for taking over for me. I guess this is me saying tag, you're it. I hope you do it better than me."

I ended the message and made it so that it would be sent on the next day. With that done, I watched as the Earth slowly morphed into the dimensional chaos and I stepped forward. I slowly floated towards the end of my bond that was getting stronger and stronger.

With every second, it solidified, and the moment that I reached Hestia, our vows would become binding, and our marriage ritual would finally be completed. I would be free to make my own choices, to live as I wish, and perhaps to die as I wish. Oh, it wasn't even close to being perfect, but it was better than the alternative. I would be letting go of my mission, of the fated fight against Entropy.

I guess this is me saying Fuck You to everyone involved in my misery.

I could feel the golden realm of Olympus as I neared. My hand was barely a couple of inches away from it when everything turned white.

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If you want to support me check out my patron at /athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.