//------------------------------//
// Extract from [redacted]'s journal; Entry date unknown 
// Story: Monument 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

We should have run away. We should have run to the opposite ends of this world and never come back. We should never have fought in the first place.

It was the right thing to do. Think of all the lives we saved. Think of how many more will be saved. We had to stay. We had to keep watch. And now it is done. It is sealed. It is bound to this earth. We won.

You said the same thing when we wore our minds thin fighting the beast. You said the same thing when we poured our kin's blood in its maws to prolong its slumber. You know it will not last this time, sister. You know it will not.

It's over. The Spire is complete, the blade has been plunged to its skull. Nothing will ever set it free. Shed your fears. We are free. 

You know that's not true. I know you must know. I have heard it sing, sister. The snake is not gone. It will never forgive us.

Let go of your nightmares. Our terror is over. We have defeated the demon, this time forever. No more sacrifices. No more blood. No more loss. I know you are scarred, but please, believe in me. Believe that we've finally made it. Let go. Let yourself heal. Our subjects will want to see you at the inauguration.

There shall be nothing to celebrate, though I shall attend it. I know you can hear it too, though you delude yourself into believing you do not. It's only a monument to our madness you've built. One day you will have to wake up from this dream. One day it will wake again too.