K909: The Last Optimus

Title: The Speed of Regret

The pristine white of the bridal gown blurred at the edges, a shimmering mirage in Kael's tear-filled vision. Aeyla. Even her name tasted like a bittersweet memory on his tongue. Twenty-seven years old, a doctor with hands that could mend broken bones and stitch together shattered flesh, yet utterly powerless to heal the gaping wound in his own heart.

He gripped the champagne flute tighter, the stem digging into his palm. The bubbly liquid sloshed precariously close to the rim, mirroring the instability within him. Around him, the wedding reception buzzed with forced gaiety. Laughter, clinking glasses, and the saccharine melody of a love song he couldn't bear to decipher. All of it a mocking symphony to his silent agony.

Across the room, Aeyla smiled. Not the radiant, unrestrained smile that used to light up his world, a smile he'd once believed was reserved only for him. This smile was… careful. Polite. Directed at the man standing beside her, a man who wasn't him. A man she was about to promise forever to.

They had known each other since childhood, their families intertwined like the roots of ancient trees. A bond of shared history, of whispered secrets in sun-drenched fields. A bond that ultimately strangled their love. Cousins. Close enough for playful affection, too close for marriage. The unspoken rule, the invisible barrier, had always loomed between them, a silent judge condemning their deepest desires.

He saw the tremor in Aeyla's hand as she accepted the wedding ring. He saw the subtle tightening of her jaw, the flicker of something akin to regret in her eyes. Did she see him? Did she see the pain etched on his face, the silent plea he couldn't voice?

The champagne glass trembled violently in his hand now, threatening to shatter. He could feel the blood rushing in his ears, a deafening roar that drowned out the wedding vows. He was suffocating, drowning in a sea of unsaid words and unfulfilled promises.

"You look like you're about to expire, my friend."

Kael flinched, startled by the voice beside him. Deviant. His rock, his confidante, the one person who understood the agonizing truth of his unspoken love.

Deviant's dark eyes, usually twinkling with mischief, were clouded with concern. "Come on, Kael. You're the best of the best. Good looking, brilliant doctor, a better man than anyone else in this room. And yet… you're losing the woman you love. Is this some cruel cosmic joke? Is this the rule of love?"

Kael stared at Deviant, the question hanging in the air like a poisoned dart. Was it the rule of love? That the deserving don't always win? That sometimes, duty and family tradition outweighed the deepest desires of the heart?

He couldn't answer. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't stay.

Without a word, without a backward glance at the fading white dress, at the woman who was slipping away from him, Kael turned and walked out. He didn't dare look back. He knew, with chilling certainty, that if he witnessed Aeyla's vows, if he saw her become another man's wife, his heart would simply cease to function.

He was alone. Utterly, devastatingly alone. His aunt, the woman who had raised him after his parents' tragic accident, was gone. Now, Aeyla was gone too, lost to him in a web of obligation and societal expectation. He had no anchor, no compass, nothing to tether him to this life.

He stumbled out into the cool night air, the wedding music a distant, mocking echo. He fumbled for his car keys, the metal cold and familiar against his trembling fingers.

He started the engine, the roar of the powerful machine a temporary distraction. He wasn't thinking, not really. He was acting on pure, unadulterated pain. He drove.

Faster and faster. The speedometer needle climbed, blurring into a dangerous red zone. The road ahead stretched out, a black ribbon unspooling into the darkness. Each second that passed was a fresh wave of agony, each mile a testament to his unbearable loss.

He closed his eyes for a fleeting moment, a dangerous indulgence. He saw Aeyla's face, her smile, her eyes filled with a love they could never fully embrace.

Suddenly, blinding headlights. A deafening horn. The screech of tires on asphalt.

A truck, a monstrous metal beast, hurtling towards him.

Time seemed to slow, stretching into an eternity. Kael felt a strange sense of detachment, a surreal calm washing over him. The pain was still there, a dull ache in his chest, but it was fading, being replaced by… relief?

Perhaps this was it. The end. A way out of this agonizing cycle of longing and regret. A new life, free from the suffocating weight of unrequited love.

As the truck slammed into his car, a violent, earth-shattering collision, Kael closed his eyes. He welcomed the darkness, the oblivion. In his final moments, he whispered a silent goodbye to Aeyla, a promise that he would finally be free.

Kael remembered the screech of tires, the blinding headlights, and then…nothing. Now, a profound lightness filled him, a sense of release he hadn't known he craved. He opened his eyes, expecting the sterile white walls of a hospital room, but instead, blinding light assaulted him.

Pushing himself to his feet, a strange, unearthly ease in his movements, he saw them. Ten figures, radiating power and an almost tangible aura of…something ancient and vast. Gods. He was sure of it.

He stood in a place that seemed to exist outside of reality. The ground shimmered with iridescent particles, and the air hummed with an energy that vibrated in his very bones. He looked around, spotting ten other figures, seemingly as bewildered as he was. Were they all…dead?

"Who are you, human?" a voice boomed, laced with thunder, drawing Kael's attention back to the figures before him. The speaker, a man with a thick grey beard and eyes that crackled with lightning, had to be Zeus. "And why are you here? We only required ten souls. What is the meaning of this intrusion?"

Before Kael could stammer out a response, another voice, colder, darker, cut through the air. "Should I return him to the mortal realm, Zeus? Or does this insignificant speck possess the fortitude worthy of my Underworld?" The speaker, cloaked in shadows and radiating an unnerving chill, could only be Hades. Kael shivered despite the warmth emanating from the…gods?…around him.

The air crackled with tension. These beings, these…gods, seemed on the verge of conflict. Kael felt a surge of panic. He didn't belong here. He was just…Kael. An ordinary guy.

A softer, gentler voice intervened, breaking the brewing storm. "Relax, great lords," a woman with hair like spun moonlight and a face that radiated warmth said. Kael instinctively knew her to be Amaterasu. "We do not yet know why this human is here. Perhaps we should ascertain the reason for his presence before passing judgement."

Another woman, similarly radiant but with a quiet strength in her eyes, nodded in agreement. "Lady Amaterasu speaks wisely. We should examine this…child's purpose in arriving here. Right, brother?" This must be Parvati, judging by the subtle, almost imperceptible, nod she gave to a man standing beside her.

The man, radiating an aura of serene calm, replied, "You are correct, sister. There must be a reason for this human's arrival." His voice was soothing, like the gentle flow of a river, and Kael found himself inexplicably calmed by it. This had to be Vishnu.

A woman with an air of ancient wisdom and regal bearing spoke next. "This…presence… this strong presence. Do all of you great lords and goddesses feel it too, or is it only I who senses it?" The woman, her face framed by dark hair and eyes that held the secrets of millennia, was undoubtedly Isis.

Vishnu replied, "We can also feel it, Lady Isis." He exchanged a knowing glance with some of the other deities.

A man with a sun-kissed face and an aura of warmth that rivaled Amaterasu's added, "This bright aura…it can only belong to one god." This had to be Ra, the Egyptian sun god.

A woman with a wistful expression, her gaze fixed on some distant point, finally spoke. "I believe we all know who is coming, right, Goddess Parvati? This must be your Lord and husband." She was beautiful and ethereal, like the moon she represented. Chang'e.

Parvati's expression softened, a delicate smile gracing her lips. "Yes, it is he who is coming. Lord of Infinity…Shiva. There must be a powerful reason for him to grace us with his presence."

A hush fell over the assembly. Even Zeus and Hades seemed to hold their breath, anticipation hanging thick in the air. Kael, thoroughly lost and increasingly terrified, felt a surge of…something. A pull, a resonance, deep within him.

Then, he arrived.

Lord Shiva made his entrance without fanfare, yet the impact was undeniable. A wave of pure, raw energy washed over the assembly, forcing Kael to instinctively brace himself. He felt…changed. Altered in some fundamental way he couldn't begin to comprehend.

But it wasn't the power that struck Kael the most; it was Shiva's appearance. He looked…young. Almost shockingly so. The other gods, even Parvati, felt ancient, imbued with the weight of eons. But Shiva looked like he could be…Kael's age.

He looked like a young man, perhaps twenty-five, with piercing blue eyes and long, dark hair cascading down his shoulders. Parvati, standing beside him, seemed even younger, radiating an almost childlike innocence. Maybe twenty-three, twenty-four at most.

Compared to him, Zeus looked positively ancient, his face etched with the lines of countless battles and millennia of rule. Hades, too, felt old, a being of shadows and secrets accumulated over an eternity. Isis, Ra, Morrigan, and Chang'e all seemed like middle-aged figures, their faces bearing the marks of experience and wisdom. Vishnu, with his brown skin and calm demeanor, looked like a mature and handsome man, perhaps in his early thirties, the picture of a settled, married life.

But Shiva…he was different. He was fair-skinned, radiating an almost blinding light, and possessed a raw, untamed energy that set him apart from the rest. He was the Lord of Infinity in the guise of a young man, and Kael couldn't tear his eyes away.

Shiva's gaze swept over the assembly, pausing momentarily on each of the gods before finally locking onto Kael. The intensity of that gaze was almost unbearable. It felt like he was being dissected, examined, and understood on a level that transcended words.

Finally, Shiva spoke, his voice surprisingly gentle, yet carrying an undercurrent of immense power. "Who is this mortal? Why are you here, child?"

To be continued...