An excerpt from Chapter 19:
"A strong battle cry resounds into the world. The music subsides. Coming out of the blur, two feeble arms escape from under the lid of a cold blue sheet, reaching to share a first and last touch. Two bouquets of delicate fingers grasp once into thin air, aiming for the cries, and collapse for good as the veil settles over them.
A brief moment before she surrenders her hands, a Most Holy Mother and Child descend from above. The Empress inquires in firm, gentle voice if she would receive the one true Orthodox faith. Her face is covered, to the world she is dead, but underneath the sheet, she accepts with one last nod of the head. There is no need to uncover the veil of death for the eyes of the soul to witness their grace. The Baptism of desire opens the gates. The Child blesses, and all three ascend, leaving behind the blind and the dead. They carry on with their tasks. They have long sealed their paths.
A departing gurney hovers her body away on a bright corridor. The ceiling fixtures turn into suns. An immaterial light that has never graced the sewers overwhelms even its most darkest corners. The filth dissolves under its intense purity, and soon the tubes, the landfill and the world are redeemed from the immaculate canvas of life.
Fade to white. The beginning ends. White settles."
