XPost: alt.comics.lnh

Looniverse-Egyn, where the heavens fell.

Dragonslayer Lass dragged herself to the lip of the crater. She buried her spear in the cracked pavement and used it to hoist herself over, panting with exertion, wiping the grime and sweat off her forehead, and looked up at the stars and the scars on the moon.

Shaking her head, she leaned back into the crater and grabbed Knight Genesis by the hand. She pulled them up as well, and they sat together for a while, leaning
against each other, looking down at the corpse of the god, and the cosmic spear,
twin of Dragonslayer Lass's own, that bound it to Earth once more.

"You know," said Dragonslayer Lass, panting, breath fogging in the cold air, "I'm getting tired of blaming things on years."

Knight Genesis stared off into the distance for a minute before responding. "...we just ended the Rage of Heaven, and *this* is what's on your mind?"

"Literally everything is on my mind. But this is what I can process right now."

"Okay, fair." Knight Genesis straightened up, pulled off their gauntlets, and put their arm around Dragonslayer Lass. "Why are you tired of blaming things on years?"

"So like... 2016 was the Rain of Angels. And the battles were awful and you got news about them every day, but everybody knew the Legends of Night's Hearth would stop them before they breached the atmosphere. And then they didn't. So it felt like this was a uniquely and singularly awful year."

"Sure, sure."

"And then in 2017 we had to deal with the consequences of that, the rampages and the melting of Chicago and everything, which was worse. And then, even after
the Monster League won their first big victory in 2018, we had to deal with the Spirit Floods and the Endless Eight thru the rest of the next couple years."

"Right."

"And then in 2019 we defeated Michaelucifer, and we thought we were done with it - but then of course his blood poisoned the land and sea, and we had to retreat underground, and of course the Imperial League decided they needed payment and pulled the Horn of Ending and..." Dragonslayer Lass gestured to the corpse of the god.

"Yeeeeeah." Knight Genesis shook their head.

"And everything got even worse. So I get it. But like..." Dragonslayer Lass unbuckled her helmet and ran her fingers thru her hair, then looked Knight Genesis in the eyes. "I feel like, when you're at this sixth 'boy this year sucked' year in a row, you gotta admit, it's not the year. It's history. It's our whole civilization having built up to this for decades, centuries, and we're the poor bastards who finally actually have to deal with it."

Knight Genesis squeezed her around the shoulders. "And it's not over yet."

"It's not." Dragonslayer Lass sighed, looking at the moon again. "But also, like... in 2020, people, not the League or the Legends, just a whole bunch of ordinary people, stood up to the Empire and got them to back off. And this year,
so many other people managed to make things better, in ways that we haven't seen since before the Greatest War. You know the Crystal Miners got independence, right?"

"Yeah, I heard about that right before we suited up. Badass."

"I know, right?" Dragonslayer Lass held up a fist, and Knight Genesis bumped it.
"So a lot of bad things have been happening, but also, some big, important good things. So, next year... we don't have to stop talking about the terrible demons
we have to fight. But we should be celebrating the bad guys we've managed to knock down, and the people we've made safer and happier."

Knight Genesis smiled. "Well, then, when we get back we'll celebrate this, and all the victories to come."

"Heck yeah we will. Happy New Year, Jacinth."

"Happy New Year, Sakura."

Drew "I just finished watching Evangelion 3.0" Nilium

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