Epilogue time!

I know there were a lot of people wondering what would happen to Morgoth, so….

The Game of the Gods, Epilogue

"You shouldn't have done that, Morgoth," Ulmo said, as they halted near the Walls of the World and the gate they would use to shove Morgoth back into the Void. "If you hadn't done that, you might have been able to stay in Valinor. He was in a forgiving mood that day."

Morgoth straightened his shoulders. "I am the Dark Power of the world," he said. "It had to stay that way."

Aulë, his other escort, sighed. "Yes, but tossing the box of Sues into Ekkaia and deliberately spreading them to other worlds? Was it really necessary to go that far?"

"Yes," said Morgoth darkly. It was all very well for them. They hadn't heard what Eru said when He touched Morgoth's mind.

This has been a day for redemptions. You may still have yours, if you ask nicely.

"Ask nicely" was anathema.

So was asking for redemption.

And Eru had shown him a vision of the future. Yes, it would have involved dwelling in Valinor. Yes, it would have involved making nice with the Valar, and even learning to enjoy the singing of the Vanyar.

Morgoth wasn't quite sure which part of the vision had horrified him most, though: the one that showed him eventually marrying Nienna, or the one that had showed him eventually sitting around with Manwë and laughing about Fëanor's "antics."

No. He was Morgoth, and he was going to stay that way.

"Here we are."

Ulmo opened the door in the Walls of the World, and Aulë pushed him, almost gently, through.

Morgoth turned and looked back at them. Aulë looked regretful, and started to say something about visiting someday, but Ulmo shut the door firmly.

Morgoth looked around the absolute blackness of the Void, and sighed in relief. Yes, it was boring, but he thought it was time he remembered what boring looked like. Here, at least, were no mad Elves, no even madder Elves telling him that he was in love with them, and nobody to read his diary, which he still had clutched in his hands.

And he could think of the trick he had played, spreading Sues to other worlds, even if he would never get to see what actually happened.

And he could rest safe and sure in the absolute knowledge that there was nothing Eru could do to pay him back.

"I'm bored! Play with me!"

A ball of light appeared next to him, and Morgoth turned around to regard it in horror. It turned almost at once into Isanthétaril, who stared at him with a pout on her face.

"He exiled me to the Void!" she whined. "For nothing! Just because I wanted to save the world, like I was destined to do!" Then her eyes grew bright. "But you can play with me. He promised me you knew lots of fun games!"

Nothing I can do to pay you back? whispered Eru's voice in his mind.

Morgoth screamed. "No! Let me back in the world!" He turned and started clawing at the Walls of the World. "I'll do anything! Live in Valinor, chat up Nienna, laugh with Manwë-"

"I don't think that will work," said Isanthétaril brightly. "He mentioned something about forever-"

Morgoth screamed again.

Eru laughed one more time in his head, and then His voice vanished. Something appeared in front of Morgoth, though- a piece of paper. He snatched it up, hoping that it was a message from Eru promising some sort of reprieve.

It said:

Dear Dark Power of the World,

Amazing what kind of mood He was in to listen to ideas from me.

Fëanor.

The End.

I want to massively, massively thank everyone who read, and especially those who reviewed- whether it was to point out mistakes, ask questions, or just to tell me how much fun they were having. I wrote this to have fun, so it's good to see I could make other people feel the same way.

Namárië!

-Limyaael.