//------------------------------//
// Epilogue: Fate of the Damned 
// Story: Sunset Shimmer: Path of the Damned 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

As Sunset regained consciousness she found that, once more, she was grateful for the fact that she had been reborn as an undead, so she wouldn't feel pain anymore, as she was sure that her body would be in agonizing pain after the battle she had with Zovaal not that long ago. She expected to find herself near the corpse of the Eternal One that wanted to destroy all of reality and enslave everyone to his dark will, staring up at the dark and twisted skies of the Maw, but what she quickly discovered was that she was in the gate filled space that was the summit of Oribos. Sure enough she found that the Arbiter was staring down at her, while also finding the Archon and the Sire to her left before finding the Winter Queen and the Primus off to her right, filling every space save for the one that was directly across from where the Arbiter rested. As she glanced back at it for a moment Sunset realized something, it had been Zovaal's position before he either shattered it or the other Eternal Ones did after he was locked away in the depths of the Maw, but now that hardly mattered since he was dead and his plans were no more.

In that moment Sunset pushed herself into a kneeling position, as she knew there was no way she could do anything with all five of the remaining Eternal Ones watching her, while gathering a bit of her magic to mend her wounds, because despite the fact that she didn't feel pain she knew that untended wounds could kill even her.

"And so the deed is done, just as you claimed." the Winter Queen stated, where it sounded like they had been waiting for her to wake up after her short battle with Zovaal, even though it had been possibly the hardest and she was sure she would have lost had he been in possession of most of his powers, all while she noticed that the Winter Queen seemed a little sad over that fact, "Zovaal, our brother, the first Arbiter of the Shadowlands, is no more."

"The First?!" Sunset remarked, as it sounded weird when she thought about it, because she meant that the others must have learned of their brother's plans and turned against him, the rightful judge of the Shadowlands, before she realized, to some degree, that everything started to make sense, especially the Domination markings on Zovaal's body, "Actually, I guess that makes sense."

"When we banished Zovaal, and I marked him with Domination to ensure he could only watch over the Maw, the forges of Zereth Mortis understood that we had no Arbiter and forged a new one." the Primus said, as he knew that Sunset had all sorts of questions and he was there to answer them, even though he was actually present in the chamber while the rest of the Eternal Ones. save for the Arbiter, were colored images coming from their home realms, "With Zovaal falling to a new position as the Jailer of the Maw, chained up for his crimes of turning against the will of the First Ones and trying to twist all of reality to 'fix' a flaw he believed he had discovered, we created a Pantheon of Death that now had six members that would watch over the Shadowlands. Following that logic, with Zovaal dead for good, the forges would have started making a new Jailer to watch over the damned that have been sent to the Maw... however, I don't believe that such a thing is even necessary right now."

"I hope you aren't suggesting that we do away with the position of the Jailer, now that Zovaal is dead." the Archon stated, which Sunset had to agree with, now that the Shadowlands have operated this way for a long time, with six Eternal Ones in charge of everything, the loss of one would cause another to be made, if the Primus was right about the existence of this 'Zereth Mortis', which the others didn't seem to agree with.

"No, I am suggesting something entirely different." the Primus replied, where he reached into his robe for a moment as all of the other Eternal Ones watched him with interest in their eyes, no doubt because he was the smartest of them all, so it meant they were eager to see what he was thinking of, before he pulled out Frostmourne, which radiated dark energy as Sunset realized her weapon wasn't in it's scabbard, "While I was imprisoned in Torghast, stripped of my memories so I'd be a pawn of our brother's plans, Zovaal extracted the plans to make a very special pair of items that I called the Vessels of Domination, which he corrupted to make it so the mourneblade would break the souls of the slain in half, keeping part of it inside the blade while sending the other half to the Shadowlands. I... originally designed the blade for the one that would watch over every soul sent to the Maw, and, when combined with the helm of a ruler, they would be the symbols of one's authority as the Jailer... I made them for when Zovaal realized his error and embraced his new role, but he continued with his path to the bitter end."

"It's a shame that we didn't bring him to Revendreth first, I could have tried to help him absolve his sins." the Sire said, as he seemed the most saddened by Zovaal's passing, mostly because it seemed like the others preferred to keep more of their emotions locked away, even though the Archon and Winter Queen were slightly saddened by the news, though after letting out a sigh he turned towards the Primus, "However, I know you well enough to understand that you have a plan in motion, brother... what are you thinking about, in regards to a new Jailer?"

"This blade, so named Frostmourne, has been returned to the realm it was created in, along with it's helm companion, so I propose our champion take Zovaal's place." the Primus answered, where the Eternal Ones glanced at Sunset for a couple of seconds, who was just as shocked as they were when she considered what it might mean, letting a mortal, regardless of whether or not she was living, would take the place of an Eternal One, "Sunset Shimmer has shown that, despite her past actions against the mortal races of the Mortal Plane, she is capable of stepping up and defending what she believes in, as in the safety of Oribos and the rest of the Shadowlands. When she struck down our brother, ending his plans to dominate all of reality, his twisted power as the Jailer was absorbed into this blade, meaning we should be able to transfer it to a new host... we are missing a Jailer, that is true, so I propose that our ally take up Zovaal's second mantle, replacing him as the new Keeper of the Maw and, more importantly, the Jailer of the Damned, watching over the souls that are sent to her domain."

"I'm not questioning your judgement, brother, but... is that a wise idea? She was, after all, Zovaal's greatest champion in all the Mortal Plane." the Winter Queen asked, which made sense when Sunset thought about it, as she seemed to be linked to Life in some manner, making her wonder if she was related to Elune in some manner, the night elf goddess that most, if not all of them, worshiped in some manner, "Shouldn't we allow the forges to do the task that was given to them when the First Ones created the Forbidden Realm?"

"I have been freed from my desires to dominate all of reality... I no longer follow the path he put me on." Sunset said, as it seemed like some of the Eternal Ones were still thinking about the idea that their brother had proposed to them, while at the same time she showed them that she was more than willing to abide by whatever they wished, because some wanted her to suffer for her crimes and she agreed with them, "However, if you decide that I shall spend the rest of my days as the Jailer of the Damned, than I will bow to your wisdom and offer you my power, to watch over anyone who is sent to the realm that Zovaal once ruled over."

The Primus glanced at the others, who seemed to debate the issue that he had presented to them, before they seemed to come to a decision on the matter and beckoned for him to proceed, causing Sunset to wonder what else all of them might have seen in her or learned from the Arbiter and talked about after her departure. In the following moment Sunset stood up and noticed that the edge of Frostmourne was glowing, radiating the power of the Jailer based on what the Primus had told the others, causing her to realize that he had been telling the truth, he was more than willing to pass on Zovaal's role, and all of the power that came with it. With the other Eternal Ones basically giving him their approval on the matter, even if some had reservations about her, despite her killing their brother to save reality, the Primus pointed Frostmourne's tip at her for a few seconds before pressing the tip against her chest, as if her armor wasn't even there. In that instant she felt the power of the Jailer surge into her body, wrapping around Sunset's entire body as it left the blade that it had been stored inside, where she closed her eyes and allowed it to wash over her as she felt her own power increase as what had once been Zovaal's own power became part of her own.

A few seconds later she emerged from the torrent of energy and found that her armor was the same as before, save for the pants area having been turned into the lower section of a dark gray robe, with chains serving as a belt, and when Sunset opened her eyes she found that she was as tall as the other Eternal Ones, causing her to jump back for a moment and land right on the last remaining pedestal.

"Sunset Shimmer, Jailer of the Damned, reporting for duty." Sunset stated, though as she said that the Primus returned her blade to her, which now seemed larger than she remembered it being, likely a side effect of her transformation, and she knew that, in time, she would be called by her new title, like how Kyrestia was the 'Archon' and Denathrius was the 'Sire', so in time she would be known as the 'Jailer'.

"And now the Pantheon of Death has been restored." the Primus said, where he returned to his own pedestal so the rest of the Eternal Ones could focus on what he was saying right now, even though everyone knew that Sunset would be in the hot water for the foreseeable future, just to be sure a second Zovaal wasn't lurking in the shadows, so she had to show all of them that she was on their side, "I must return to Maldraxxus and clean up the mess that has been made of the Houses I left behind... though I suspect that our realms will be busy for a time, thanks to all the souls that have been brought to us by our new Eternal One."

Sunset nodded with the others as the projections disappeared, where she was able to tell that her own pedestal now had an icon that looked like her Cutie Mark, only twisted in color to match Domination Magic, before Tal-Inara opened a portal back to Oribos for her to take. She walked through it and found herself on a circular walkway that looked like a ring, since there was a hole in the middle of the massive structure that was Oribos, the Heart of the Shadowlands, though she found out something interesting, if she or someone jumped into the opening it would bring one to the Maw. Sunset could feel a lingering spell of sorts in the central area, which was likely how her army had gotten to her new domain in the first place, if the Arbiter had allowed them to manifest a physical form first, but in the end she determined neither option mattered for her right now. She wished Tal-Inara well before spreading her wings as she fell backwards into the opening, allowing her to fly down towards the magical portal that connected the deepest part of Oribos' structure to the Maw and passed right through it without wasting too much time, causing her to reappear inside the Maw.

With that done she knew that she would need to speak to the remaining Mawsworn, to figure out their original duties had been, before Zovaal sharpened them to be an army, so she could get her domain back on track, but she was eager to face these challenges and whatever the future held for her and the rest of the Shadowlands.