The repairs didn’t take much time. Once it was fixed, the Endeavor made its way to the Galdredan Lava Kingdom. As everyone got their assignments, Arsha poured over a prophecy with her lovers. “I don’t understand it,” she muttered. Her lovers nodded in agreement. Her door chime then rang. “Come in.” The door opened to reveal Mordek with a cane. “Lord Mordek!” Everyone stood up and bowed.
“Not a god anymore,” reminded Mordek. “It is I who should be bowing to you, Champions.” He did so.
“Sorry, Lo-Mr. Mordek,” stumbled Lardeth.
“I’m asking you to ignore three hundred years of teachings concerning me, now that I’m mortal,” chuckled Mordek as he sat down in a chair. “I understand.”
“Pardon me for asking,” said Malnar, “but how’s your foot?”
“I’m getting used to it rather quickly. A few more days and I won’t need a cane anymore.”
“You’re grinning madly,” observed Gorfanth.
“Yes, yes I am. I’m about to finally understand mortality, something that’s eluded me throughout my time as a god! I’ve finally evolved to being mortal!” That caught everyone’s attention.
“Hold on, you EVOLVED to being mortal?” asked Foresna.
“Yes, a god becoming mortal IS evolution in my eyes. We can now grow and change like you lot do! We can make mistakes and the consequences won’t affect the Realms and-!” Mordek’s eyes fell on the prophecy everyone was looking over and a scan of the original tablet it came from. He picked up the modern translation and arched an eyebrow. “…What’s with the grammar mistakes?” he asked.
“Mistakes? Where?” asked Falnii.
“Right here!” answered Mordek as he pointed out “Mortal’s”, “Titan” and “Falls”.
“That’s the modern translation. ‘When the Final War ends, by Mortal’s hands, the Titan falls.’ That’s how the prophecy goes.”
“And that’s what we’re having trouble with,” remarked Arsha. “By all accounts, Dr. Borg should have ended the Final War right there when she drained you and Oyed.”
“Are you sure that’s the translation?” asked Mordek.
“That’s what Priest Naswek said.” Mordek smacked his face.
“Altrek trained him better than that! No wonder there were blowhard heroes trying to save the Realms on their own!”
“Mordek?”
“‘Mortal’ is in the plural possessive,” explained Mordek. “‘Titan’ is plural here. So, the prophecy’s translation should say ‘When the Final War ends, by Mortals’ hands, the Titans fall’.”
“Titans?” repeated Gorfanth.
“Dr. Borg and her flunkies!” realized Lardeth. Gorfanth then snapped his fingers as he understood.
“That’s right, they took Oyed’s Divine Mana as well as yours!”
“Making them Titans of the Elements, not mere gods,” confirmed Mordek. “And the hands of the Mortals that made them fall (literally, in Yulduk and Dr. Borg’s case) were yours.”
“…You know, I’m kind of glad the mistranslation was what was taught,” mused Arsha.
“What for?” asked Mordek.
“Can you imagine the kerfuffle that would have erupted? If Naswek presented the correct translation, there would have been all sorts of chaos! ‘There’s only one Titan!’, ‘Why can’t ONE person save the Realms?!’, and ‘Can’t the Divine Ones count?!’ probably would have come out of people’s mouths, then we would have turned our backs to you and fought the Final War alone and probably lose it!” Mordek considered her words.
“…I suppose that COULD have happened,” he mused. “I would have thought you’d all learn more about teamwork better than you already do right now.”
“There’s something else,” said Lardeth. “If we all took the mistranslation as gospel, so did Dr. Borg.”
“Good point!” agreed Arsha. “Either way, the Prophecy’s mistranslation saved us!”
“Speaking of prophecies,” interjected Mordek, “recall the two Tablets of Prophecy?”
“Yeah, they’re both supposed to be the Final Prophecy. At the end of the Final War, only one will come true.”
“Well, the tablet containing a doom-and-gloom prophecy crumbled to dust. I have a feeling you’ll want to fulfill THIS version of the Final Prophecy. This time, you’ll get it straight from me, no mistranslations whatsoever.”
“Let’s hear it!” urged Falnii. Mordek cleared his throat and began.
“When stagnation is banished from the Realms and all life rebuilds, the length of all life that decays shall double what it once was, all reaching the same limit and perpetually growing together. The rulers of all Realms, both present and future, shall forever rule with wisdom, justice, and kindness. The power of divinity shall propagate through the Realms and from the parental Three shall spawn more, all uninhabited, but ready for expansion of life. Thus it shall be for the Eternal Age of Unity.” Falnii thought it over.
“All life shall double what it once was,” she muttered. Her eyes went wide. “You mean…my 50,000-year lifespan’s…gonna double to 100,00?!”
“And all life will reach that limit, barring the biological immortals?!” asked Malnar.
“And there won’t be any more corruption in the governments of the Realms?!” quizzed Lardeth.
“And more Realms are coming up?!” asked Arsha with hope. “Empty ones?!”
“Yes on all counts,” replied Mordek. “I believe Marshii and Aldarval just went through the effects of their lifespan reaching 100,000.” Everyone cheered.
“COLONIZATION PROJECTS, BABY!” cheered Arsha. Her face then slowly fell. “But…that means…the coronations.”
“Oh, yeah,” winced Malnar. “My parents and I are discussing how my coronation will play out now that the Final War’s over. I can’t stay here.”
“Which should make our wedding that much sweeter,” mused Falnii.
“She’s right,” agreed Lardeth. “According to ancient law, we need to be crowned first before we get married.”
“I’ve never understood that,” remarked Mordek.
“That law was put onto the books,” explained Malnar, “to ensure that the new Ruler has a bit of time to address a few matters of state before marrying the ones they love.”
“So, we’ve got some work to do first before the wedding,” sighed Foresna.
“Ah,” said Mordek. He then got up. “Arsha, you may want to see Rokalla. He…was not in a good condition when we rescued him from the Divine Tower.”
“I only got a few reports that said he was in critical condition,” remarked Arsha.
“He’s currently legless and he’s lost his eye and ear.”
“You could have said that!” Arsha dashed out of the room to see Rokalla.