Everyone was silent as Kohta finished telling Lucy's story to the survivors. It was apparent that he was having some difficulty retelling it and nobody wanted to press him at the moment. "None of us have ever been the same since," said Kohta. He looked to Kanae with a sad expression. "Kanae has not spoken one word since she saw her mother get killed right in front of her eyes."

Judith Anderson nodded in sympathy. "So this Lucy really did turn out alright in the end?" she asked. "If she could lead a normal life, why can't these little queens you mentioned?"

"Because it took nearly every ounce of Lucy's willpower to keep from reverting back to her old self," said Kohta firmly. "I…I should not have glossed it over. Lucy often described to me how it was a daily struggle to keep her impulses under control." He looked to Nana apologetically. "You won't be offended if I tell them, will you?" he asked her in Japanese.

"If course not," replied Nana in the same language. "They have a right to know."

"All diclonius have some level of emotional or psychological instability," said Kohta. "Even Nana here, who is normally so kind and gentle, has had occasional lapses where reason flies away and the desire to end humanity comes bursting to the surface." He looked hard at Nana. "Didn't you say it took a bullet grazing the side of your head to bring you back to your senses when that soldier fellow convinced you that you that no one would ever accept you and that there was no place for you?"

Nana frowned and snorted in anger. "He wasn't a very nice person and I was stupid to think that we could help each other in destroying Lucy…I can't help but wonder whatever became of him though."

"And I can't help but think that there was really no point in Lucy going to confront their queen," Mayu said after a few moments. "After all, even if the younger queens are no longer actively trying to end humanity, we are still being killed off by their childish civil wars."

"Mayu is referring to what we saw in Las Vegas," said Nana. "It took nearly a year for us to walk to Vegas from LA. We hid out there for a few months until the hive from LA tried to expand their territory there. The Denver hive saw that as a challenge and took it upon themselves to make sure the LA hive had nothing there to exploit." Nana began going into detailed descriptions of how huge airplanes, loaded with explosives, flew out of the northeast and began dive-bombing into the buildings and streets, causing mass devastation. "There were perhaps forty other humans still alive in Las Vegas," continued Nana. "They refused to allow us to live with them because of me." Nana curled her knees up into her chest and scoffed. "Too bad for them. I felt them planning the strike hours before it actually happened. None of the Vegas survivors came out alive; they all died when the Denver hive bombed the place into dust. They have since destroyed the LA hive too."

Jim Anderson scratched his head and looked puzzled. "How do you know all this? I thought you were not tied to the hive minds?"

"I already told you before; I am not bound by the will of any queen," said Nana. "All I can do is tap into their information exchange. I know what they know, and they all know what the rest of the diclonius know." Nana trembled slightly and tears began running down her face. "Oh Lucy, Lucy; why did you have to try to stop them?" Nana muttered to herself. "Your intentions were good but you only made things worse."

"What are you talking about?" asked Jim.

"The fact that Lucy tried to keep the silpelits from killing their human predecessors for as long as she could," said Nana. "Your kind had no idea what that the diclonius, and more specifically their silpelit warriors, were meant to kill humans until it was too late. Sure, the people at that research lab knew, but they didn't tell anyone what to expect from the diclonius. Perhaps Lucy had allowed a few silpelits to kill, perhaps if the world had the chance to see us for what we really are, your kind would have found a way to save yourselves. Instead Lucy held off the attack and the hive mind was in the perfect position to strike when she lost control."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," concurred Jim. "So, it was orchestrated like a game of chess; position your pieces while making a few sacrifices, and strike hard when your opponent is in no position to stop you." Jim exhaled noisily through his nose. "So, Nana, what are the hive minds up to now, and what has happened in the last four years? I've gotten the impression from the start of this little story of your's that the three of you are hiding something big from us."

Nana looked to Kohta for some shred of inspiration. Fear was evident in her eyes. "Do I have to tell them, Kohta?"

"Yes," said Kohta, "tell them Nana. They have a right to know."

"Just after Persephone died, her direct offspring which were scattered across the world each claimed a population of silpelits. Being the emotionally unstable beings we are, and considering the level of aggressive competition between queens, war was inevitable. It is the instincts of a diclonius queen to eliminate her rivals, and they each tried doing just that. They used what technology they had available to try to destroy each other's hives, and they did not care what the costs in lives were. What we saw in Las Vegas is pretty typical of what has happened everywhere.

"This went on for roughly three years. The hives have mostly used up the last of their airplanes, cars, tanks, and other vehicles trying to destroy each other. Many of their targets were the manufacturing plants in other hive territories that made these vehicles. They no longer have the means to produce them. With most of the world's doctors dead, there has been no adequate medical care either.

"Six months ago, the queens finally began maturing enough that they now see their dilemma; they have no way of continuing their race without humans. But still they do not cooperate. The few hives that survived their war have been searching the wilderness and the ruins of the world's major cities looking for any survivors, but they do not share their resources. Every human that has been found so far produces silpelits. Many of the hives continue to dispose of these humans as they have no need for them."

Nana began shaking violently as she continued. "While the hives refuse to share their food, their humans, and their resources, they have had no qualms in sharing their knowledge with one another. The statistics are not good." Nana closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began rattling of statistics. "They have estimated the remaining diclonius population to be perhaps nine-hundred-thousand. Eleven reproductive queens have survived their civil war. They have estimated the remaining human population to be less than three-thousand. There are most likely less than one-hundred humans not carrying the silpelit gene, and it is only a matter of time before they too are incapable of reproducing fertile offspring; that is, if the entire human race is not already infected." Nana curled up into a ball and began weeping into her knees. It was some time before she could compose herself enough to continue. The remaining statistics were almost to painful for her to repeat. "Both our races, human and diclonius, will be extinct in less than seventy years. The current generation is the last."

Judith Anderson turned pale and shook her head. "No, that's impossible. This cant' be true!"

"I'm afraid it is," said Nana. "With most of the world's population dead and technology blasted back to the invention of the brick there is no chance of fixing this problem." Nana sniffed and wiped her eyes. "The hives have accepted their inevitable fate and have stopped attempting to produce more queens. They are not trying to speed up the process like their mother was, but they are not trying to stop it either. They have become selfish and fatalistic in their attitude; 'we're all going to die soon anyways, so grab what you can and enjoy it before we all go the way of the dodo'."

Jim looked at his feet. He could not think of anything to say. "We're walking on the banks of the River Acheron," he muttered at last.

"What did you say?" asked Kohta.

"It's a reference to ancient Greek mythology," said Jim. "I may not have this completely correct, but according to the myth, four rivers encircled the underworld; I remember the River Styx, but I forget the other two. The Acheron was the last of the rivers to cross before one entered into the underworld." He shook his head and began laughing. "I'm sorry," he said after a few moments and quite a few angry looks. "But it was the first thing that popped into my head is that we are all poised upon the banks of a raging river of death."

There was again silence for a few moments as Jim Anderson regarded Nana. "I think I owe you an apology," he said with a rather sheepish look in his face. "I…should not have judged you based on what you are. It was wrong of me."

"I'm sorry too," said Thomas. "The next time I point a gun at a stranger, someone give me a swift kick in the ass to bring me back to my senses."

"I accept your apologies," said Nana. "And I forgive you. You lost so much to my kind it was only natural to assume I was dangerous." Nana smiled and slowly approached the German shepherd dog with her hand outstretched. "Does this mean we can be friends too, Wyatt?" she asked. The hair on Wyatt's back stood straight up and he sent Nana scurrying back with a low, open-lipped snarl. "I guess that is a 'no'," said Nana.

Everyone had a chuckle at Nana's antics. It was amusing to see almost childlike behavior in a woman who looked to be almost forty.

"What will you do now, Kohta?" asked Jim. "Are you going to move on again, or are you planning on staying for a while?"

"I think perhaps I'll stay here," said Kohta. "I'm tired, Jim. My body and soul have been broken in this war. We've been running from one place to another four almost four years, and I've run just about as far as I care to." Kohta leaned back against a concrete slab and sighed. "I'm just so tired."

"So what to do all of us do now?" asked Rebecca Anderson. "Humanity, I mean. With no hope of our species continued survival, what is there to live for? What is the point of carrying on?"

"We carry on for each other," said Kohta firmly. "We carry on because we have all lost loved ones who would be ashamed to see us wallow in self pity. We carry one, so that we can enjoy what little time we have left in this world." Kohta sobbed slightly and a single tear fell from his one good eye. "Though, I do miss my wife, and I do miss Lucy. I loved them both, and now they are gone." He straightened up and wiped his cheek dry. "We are going to survive as individuals the best we can. It's just hard knowing it end's with us."

"Aye," said Jim. "But, it is going to be difficult to try to stay positive and not be depressed, knowing that we walk the banks of the River Acheron…"

Epilogue

50 years later

The world has fallen silent. Should an observer who saw the Planet Earth from space eighty years ago pass by they would notice a conspicuous lack of lights from the shadows where night had fallen. A closer observation would reveal something else.

Scattered across the world are the derelict ruins of a once proud people. But now their monuments to their achievements crumble with the passage of time. The eyes of those who once looked upon their works with a vain pretence of invincibility and immortality have turned to dust, reclaimed to the bosom of an earth who welcomes all of her children back to her equally. It was, in the end, the final thing in common between human beings and the diclonius. The body of a king is reclaimed by the soil in the exact same manor as the poorest pauper.

All that humanity had done, all of their accomplishments and their successes, they were now just dust and echoes; the ghosts of challenges overcame and the strife of individuals as they tried to make the world a more pleasant and easier place for the next generation that would follow after themselves.

But there would be no generations to follow, and all that mankind had done; every wonderful discovery, every war that had been fought, every people who became united, every government that had arisen and every family who had laughed and cried together; there would be none to remember what had happened, none to benefit from their struggles and triumphs.

In the remaining libraries scattered across the earth, books sat rotting on the shelves as their pages decayed; for there would never again be eyes that could comprehend the meaning of their words. In the few museums that had escaped the destruction, paintings hung unviewed; for there would never again be minds to appreciate their aesthetic beauty. And in the ruins of one city, a human skeleton lay in the streets clutching at a music box. It was open, and its purple velvet lining had all but faded away under the bleaching glare of a sun that continued to shine on despite our absence. Yet the golden plaque on the inside of the lid was intact, and the word Lilium was visible, if any were left who could understand it. The music box made no sound, played no solemn tune; such things require human hands to fix and to operate. No ear would ever again hear the solemn tune of that music box.

The two races that were just another passing phase in a world that would soon forget they had ever been there, the two races that were convinced that the sun could not rise and set unless they were there make it so, the two races who had destroyed themselves in their haste to be master of everything they saw, human and diclonius; were truly, totally, completely, and permanently…gone.

End

-:-:-

Bonus Material

These are the events as followed. The time given is the amount of time that passed after the end of the anime.

3 months: The new diclonius queen dubbed Persephone is found in a maternity ward sweep and imprisoned at the research facility

5 months: Arakawa manages to artificially replicate the virus. Director Kakuzawa begins running tests on his own staff without their knowledge.

6 months: Kohta and Yuka get married. They move to Tokyo but Nana and Mayu stay at the Maple Inn with Lucy. Under Lucy's leadership the Maple Inn reopens for business.

1 year, 2 months: The first of Kakuzawa's staff begin giving birth. The resulting offspring are all silpelits. He orders that a number of controlled reproduction experiments take place based on eggs harvested from his queen. He orders that a number of women be found who can serve as surrogate wombs for the artificially fertilized embryos. His agents round up women from forced prostitution rings from the Philippines, Taiwan, and China. He uses Arakawa as his first test womb. Against the advisement of Arakawa, Kakuzawa launches project "Pandora's Box" and his agents begin introducing the artificial diclonius virus to just about any source of possible contamination they can think of.

1 year, 5 months: Kohta and Yuka give birth to their first daughter, whom they name Kanae.

2 years: The women enslaved as surrogate wombs at Kakuzawa's research facility begin giving birth. For reasons they do not understand test group A (carrying embryos sired by a father not infected with the virus) either has frequent miscarriages or give birth to watered down queen while test group B (carrying embryos sired by fathers who were infected with the virus) all give birth to full queens, all female.

4 years: Kohta and Yuka have their second child, a silpelit they name Nyu.

6 years: Only 1 in 100,000,000 births is producing a human child and the human populace is heading toward massive genetic destabilization.

8 years: A worldwide state of emergency is declared. Desperately the various governments around the world attempt to round of the rising generation if silpelits. Japan seems to be getting hit the worst. Kohta, Yuka, their children, Nana, Lucy, and Mayu flee to the United States.

8 years, 3 months: It is discovered that the current strain of diclonius are incapable of producing males. Director Kakuzawa is tricked into releasing Persephone. She takes command of the world population of silpelits who rise up and begin slaughtering the last human generation. Yuka is killed in this strike by her own daughter, Nyu. The massive diclonius army learns how to operate military technology through trial and error and shares the information with the rest of the race. Many die in the learning curve, but their deaths are seen by the hive mind as being part of the greater good. Lucy is taken back to Japan where she kills Persephone. The few remaining queens divide up the hive mind. Kohta and the remaining members of his family flee northeast.

8 years, 4 months: The diclonius hives; each ruled by an immature tyrant queen (all the offspring of Persephone) wage wars in their childish tantrums. Technology is blasted back to the Iron Age. They kill each other off at a rapid pace.

11 years, 6 months: The hives begin a desperate bid to round up as many humans as possible in the hopes that there is someone out there who knows enough about genetic engineering to find a way to save their race from extinction. By doing so, they spread the numbers of the last few "pure humans" even thinner. Some hives try to preserve them and use them for breeding stock in the hopes that they can have a few more humans to serve as sires for their young queens, but most simply terminate the humans they have no use for.

12 years: Kohta and his family arrive in Salt Lace City, Utah. Kohta relates the events leading up the demise of the human race to a small band of survivors they meet there.

62 Years: The last of the human and diclonius survivors die of old age. Both races are totally extinct.