The mirror room, Overlord's castle, Sandy's Perspective
Today seemed like it was going to be a good day. Nocturne was coming home from his most recent outing and apparently he had been successful, but what I heard and saw when me and several of his advisers entered the mirror room was different than anything we could have expected. Clutching a shield near as large as himself and weeping wasn't an all powerful overlord of Tartarus, it was a young man in pain... and the marks on the shield showed all too well what had caused it. It was Dullahan's shield.
"Tyler... w-where..." I couldn't get out more than that as he let out a hellish wail of pain that set everyone within seven thousand miles of the castle on edge and continued to spread, I didn't even need to ask what he did when I felt it... the overlord had sent a command, the netherworld would mourn a good soul this day.
Shrine of Heroes, Nocturne's perspective
The shrine had taken very little time to build considering what it now held upon it, a massive shield, a large book, and a coin. On the shrine was a picture taken by an opportunistic demon who figured having a photo op was a good idea in case of repeat customers. So the picture showed myself, Sandy, Dominic, The Shadow of Newvale Dullahan, Auric Fulcrum the Golden Sun's chosen, and his mare Measured Thought.
"We never did get to see how they ended up did we Sandy?" I asked with tears in my eyes, sure I was being sappy, but it hurt dammit... one minute I'm traveling through the multiverse on my way home and the next I'm smacked in the face by this lifeless shield belonging to one of the few people I've met that I'd likely call a friend that were once human like myself. Gripped in the shield's jaws was a folder of some kind but, it could wait till the ceremony was over.
Sandy walked up to the stand and spoke. "Now, I know none of us really knew Mr. Fulcrum and Dullahan much beyond our working relationship, and to hear this news means very little to some. But, to our Overlord it is the passing of one such as himself, one of the other people from a world not ours that were sent to a version of Equestria... one of the main reasons he restricted mirror travel in the first place. So today we honor these brave people and their world's passing so that we may remember them when no one else shall." She said brushing away a tear from her eyes as she stepped down and I stepped up, for the first time since entering Equestria looking... mortal.
"My fellow demons, children of darkness, sinners, whores, all around fun people." I say with my traditional smile, I wouldn't give up on that advice I have to Auric... never. "Today marks a sad day for the multiverse as a whole, a powerful ally and a friend has shuffled off the coil of mortals in it's entirety. Today we burn incense as we cannot commit a body to the ground, today we mourn a hero of his people, and an enemy of injustice, just as we are." I spoke with passion in my voice and from the looks I was getting it was conveyed quite well.
"Auric Fulcrum and his group's fate is unknown to me at this time, and it will likely remain this way for all eternity. Though I beg you all to take up a glass in the name of his world, in the name of a fallen hero, let us drink to the Golden Sun's chosen and cherish the gift of his memory for generations to come." I said as I held up a glass to several tearful roars from the more primal demons.
"To a Hero! To Auric Fulcrum! Lost but, never forgotten!" I cried out again before downing my drink and the entire netherworld drank with me. Cheers and prayers going out to his kin if any still existed, hopefully this powerful echo would reach across the void eternal to wherever he was now... that was when I heard it, my ears twitching twice as a soft frown graced my lips for the first time in years.
Hope.
That is what I hope to convey with this transmission: hope.
Though your world may be ending, though all things may be burning, take heart: it need not be the end.
My name is Auric Fulcrum, and I am one of the few immortals who knows what to do at the end of their world.
I cannot pass The Answer on, for all beings must come to ask The Question and Answer it in their own way.
But if you try, truly try, and manage to do so and are immortal, then there is hope for you.
Only an immortal who knows how can transcend the Multiverse's rules and laws can survive the End of All Things.
All worlds must end, it is the law of entropy. But if you are immortal, then such rules need not apply, and you can escape the bounds and confines of the Multiverse.
Beyond, what awaits is limitless potential. I stand here with six other immortal beings, aspects of Equus. First, we shall ensure that our old world is stable, so as to stabilize our existence here.
And from there? Who knows. Anything could happen. Nothing is forbidden.
This message is set to broadcast, repeatedly, eternally, with only a minute between transmission times. It will bring that one nugget of wisdom, that one truth, back into the Multiverse, to all that can and want to hear it, for as long as the Multiverse exists.
And that message is hope, for it will not be in vain.
Sandy came close enough to hear a very faint whisper leave my lips as I left the assembly. "Goodbye Auric. I Hope we meet again soon." She would handle the clean up, she knew I'd need the space right now... I needed to vent void hopping sounded good who knows, I had a new shield to try out after all.
Item Gained!: Headless Shield DeFontaine!