No End, No Beginning

         “So, it was all a lie?”

         My accusation echoes in the empty throne room.

         The chancellor studies me for some moments, then speaks. “Humans only have one ending. Ideas live forever.* How do you think the empire has been thriving for so many centuries?”

         “But a fake empress -” My thoughts are a jumble as reality splinters. “She's revered as God! And you’re telling me she doesn’t even exist?!”

         “Of course, she exists.” They begin to walk toward the throne, directing my attention to the stained-glass windows as they pass under them. “She exists in every heart of every believer, every temple where her praises are sung, every battlefield where our enemies are slain in her name. She is a god in the truest sense; as long as people believe her to be one, she is one.”

         I gape at them as they ascend the dais stairs. “But you made her up!”

         They chuckle. “I didn’t make her up. I’m just human, after all. I have a beginning, and I have an end.” They stop at the empress’ throne.

         "And so do you.”

*quote from Ruth from Barbie (2023)