Chapter 2008: Stay Eos did not want the Living Codex; the price for this upgrade was too much. After all that he had lost and was expecting to lose in the coming fight, he did not want to easily write off any life until he knew that he had no more choices to make but this one. In the beginning, he had viewed the Primordial Record with fear and distrust, because he was not able to see through its abilities, but Eos now saw that, despite all of its powers and potential, this Singularity was unlike the World Stele, and the Primordial Record could as well be a child. Of course, he would not say out loud this sentiment, or the Singularity would become irate, but Eos could not see any reason why it would willingly lay down its life even before it had the chance to live. Eos still called the Singularity an it, but he would one day like to call it by a name that signified what it figured itself out to be. So, Eos deliberately pushed it aside while focusing on creating his Incarnations and pushing forward his evolution, which now had a firm direction. If everything went according to plan, this would be his final evolution, at least that is if he lost the battle. If he won, then in the future there was an assured possibility that he would continue his endless ascension and evolution, but for now, Eos had laid down all of his cards on the table and selected his greatest potential form until the end of this fight. Thousands of years passed as the completion of his Incarnation reached thirty percent, and in all this time, the Singularity had been pushing Eos to acknowledge its evolution to the Living Codex, and finally, Eos opened his eyes, knowing he could no longer push back on this matter any longer. He halted the creation of his Incarnation and slowly stood up. For more than a hundred thousand years, Eos had not risen from his throne, and now that he did, he almost wished that he could sigh in relief, but his body was perfect, and any memory from when his body would ache from such long stretches of inactivity was so deeply buried in the past it was almost non-existent. Opening his palm, he called the Singularity, and the blue book appeared on his palm, shining like a star. To call it a book was underselling what it was when it resembled a carved gem with the light of the stars buried inside it. Resting on his palm as he felt its warmth, memories flooded his mind, from the first moment he opened his eyes inside Trion until he was standing here, and through it all, there was a constant in his life, and it was this Singularity. Perhaps it was designed to something that he would naturally gravitate towards, but the Singularity had proven to him in the past that being with him was a choice. With the death of Rowan, the Singularity had the choice to choose anyone in its vicinity, but it had waited for Eos. The Singularity was his friend, and Eos had slowly come to realize this truth over the years. The blue book pulsed in his palm, and Eos smiled, his happiness reaching his beautiful eyes. It had been a while since he could smile so deeply. "I can feel your resolve in all of your pages, but my mind is made up, and you can blame my Incarnation Rowan for taking this choice." He sighed as he already knew the answer he was going to give. Eos looked up, his sight piercing past the Origin Realms and deep into Limbo. He could not see any of his enemies yet, but he could feel them. They were coming for him and everything he held dear, and if he took the path of the Living Codex, the merger of the power within the Singularity would proceed a million times faster than the Primordials would ever expect. Paired with his upcoming final evolution, most of the Origin Essence in Existence would be his to control... victory was within his grasp, but he could not take it. Eos had sacrificed his friends, he had sacrificed his children and family, and he had sacrificed himself many times to achieve little victories through the years, and although he had been deeply hurt by these choices, he had never hesitated, because he knew that the cost of such sacrifices was worth it. Why, now, in the end, was he hesitating to allow this life to die to bring him that one step closer to his goal? This should be easy for him at this point. How many lives has he seen ended? How many had he ended with his own two hands? And how many more would he end until all of this was over? He had stood here before, when his son Andar, his friend Maeve, his mother Elura, and his children, the brightest of Angels stood in front of him. They told him to honor their sacrifice, and with every breath he took from that moment forth had been for them. Eos had thrown away his name, had given up on love or comfort, every day had been a battle to move forward, because he believed that he was limitless, he could never fall... he was wrong. Some weight was enough to break him. He had watched the Ancient Primordials claw out their freedom, saw the ease with which these ancient horrors played with the hearts and minds of all, and he wondered if he should have fought harder than allow these sacrifices to happen... because in the end, did it not just benefit End? "All my life, I lived with the philosophy that the means define the end, and no price is too high for your goal, and you would have me take your life for my victory. I know you believe this is the only way to victory, but I have learnt that a victory born of an innocent life is not a victory; it is a defeat I would carry forever. I did not fight to reach this moment so I could lose you in it. We find another way, or we fall together. Your place is beside me, not beneath me." Have you ever wondered how End could grow so strong? It feeds on deaths and destruction, and no matter what I give up to grow stronger, it also feeds this enemy." Suddenly, a voice spoke behind him, and Eos flinched, knowing that the only way he would have missed someone coming so close to him was because all of the Incarnations here, even though they were not fully awakened, must have summoned this person here, when they believed he needed their counsel the most, "I do not believe that End profited from that sacrifice as you think, it lost far more than it bargained for." Eos turned to see Eva, the Primordial of Revelation, and her eyes were wet with tears; perhaps more than anyone, she knew his entire story, and understood why the man with everything was still alone. She shook her head and glared at him fiercely, "I understand that I may never fathom how powerful this mysterious force can be, or its reach, and even if it was able to draw power from the sacrifice of those around you... do not underestimate the changes that occurred due to those sacrifice Eos... your efforts and all those around us would hurt, but it is for a good beyond us all..." Eos’s eyes widened, and he stumbled back, "Please," he whispered, as he squeezed the Singularity, "Don’t ask me to bear this. I have lost enough. Do not make the memory of you the cornerstone of my survival. I would rather stumble forward with you in the dark than walk a sunlit path haunted by your ghost. My strength comes from those I love standing with me, not from their ashes. Stay. Fight with me. Live with me... Fall with me."