As Hope read on she recalled how she too, on her own death bed, wanted to dismantle everything in all of creation, for nothing mattered so much as her Love. Everything else paled in comparison.
Hope spoke the final line, folded the poem and set it on Adder's coffin, then wiped the tears from her eyes as she turned to stand next to Viper.
Hyla suddenly embraced her, and Hope stood stock still. It was a devastating thing to witness a strong soul crumble.
"Thank you for saying what I could not." Hyla's voice broke as she held onto Hope, her arms trembled as they gripped tight.
Hope rubbed Hyla's back not knowing what else to do. There was nothing she could do really, except be there. It was a shame that it took tragedy to bring them together.
Viper smiled even though it wavered.
The memorial finished with the lighting of a perpetual flame before they exited the mausoleum. It had been an exhausting day.
18 Happily Ever After
Hope
Hope and Viper sat in the lab with Tara and the visiting scientists while they extracted a fresh blood sample from Hope's arm. She watched as they placed it under the microscope connected to a large video screen, then very carefully added a few Morbo virus cells. It took a several minutes but slowly cells in her blood swarmed the Morbo virus and began consuming the plague.
Tara looked on in shock then started laughing gleefully much to the Anguis scientists chagrin.
"What is it?" Hope asked her friend.
Tara looked at Hope.
"The common cold!" Tara clapped her hands excitedly as she got up and did a little jig. "Oh my god. The scourge of the universe was brought down by the common cold!"
"Seriously?" Hope gaped.
"What do you mean?" Viper asked
"Every human in this camp possesses a few of these little viruses in their bloodstream. It's a common virus for us, no more than a nuisance, really. No wonder you were coughing so much in quarantine." Tara replied.
"Can we create a vaccine?" Viper asked
"We don't know how the Anguis or other species will respond to this new virus but this is a monumental start." One of the scientists replied looking overjoyed.
His companion nearly wiggled in his seat with excitement. Hope couldn't help but grin.
"Wrong!" Tara exclaimed, much to the scientists shock. "The Anguis will be fine. These two over here have been swapping spit for weeks and he's fine." Tara pointed to Viper.
Hope blushed at Tara's blunt assessment of their relationship.
"Viper Rex please let us take a sample of your blood to see if this is true." The man in the lab coat requested.
Viper happily put out his arm as they collected a sample and then they all watched the screen with bated breath.
Hope grinned as the usually subdued Anguis scientists cheered when the small amount of cold virus she'd introduced to Viper battled the Morbo and won.
"This is amazing. I always hoped to see this day." One of the scientist choked out, clearly overwhelmed.
It almost made Hope cry to see it. Countless people throughout the universe had suffered, and now there was hope for a cure. Hope felt humbled that her people could come to their aid. They had certainly banded together to help her fellow humans and each other.
"We need to return to Earth. I have an interesting feeling that what we'll find there will be greater than we could have ever hoped." Viper turned to a mended Ophidian who stood at the door smiling subtly at Tara. "Contact our allies, let them know a cure is on the horizon. Do not let them irradiate Earth."
Hope's eyes widened. She'd almost forgotten. This meant Earth wasn't doomed after all.
Hope smiled as she snuggled next to Viper on the sofa. The days that followed their discovery had been crazy.
Tara helped the scientists breed the cold virus. It was a disgusting process since every human in the colony was asked to spit into a sample cup. All the allied species sent several representatives to test the simple vaccine. Only the avian species reacted poorly, but they were able to counteract the adverse affects with extra oxygen till the subject's body acclimated. All in all it was a shocking success. People that had previously hated their presence now blessed their very existence. Not just Anguis but the vast universe erupted in celebration.
Best of all was the day Adder's body was pulled from the stasis mausoleum and brought to the lab. He was placed in quarantine and injected with all the chemicals that would revive him, including the fledgling vaccine.
Viper and Hope stood back as Hyla pressed herself to the glass. When Adder coughed and cracked open his eyes Viper had to catch his mother.
"How was the afterlife?" Viper had asked his father as they watched the machine send samples zipping through the equipment. They didn't need to hear the results it was plain to see.