StCroix RPG

The day had been too long, it seemed like the patrol lasted hours more than usual. Maybe he'd run out of things to say to Max, the great direwolf that padded at his side. It was an encouraging thing to see the direwolf still spend time around him, when it could have spent time with its rightful owner now, but...there were still only so many things he could say in a one-sided conversation.

And he'd had far too many of those in the past few months. It was his own fault, avoiding the others at New Atlantis, avoiding anyone he didn't have to interact with, but he didn't regret it. He was done. He was done playing the Island's game. He was done making friends and getting attached just to watch the Island rip them away as soon as it mattered, only to bring back a copy. One who remembered nothing, one who wasn't--and couldn't be--even the same person that left.

They were only close enough for it to hurt the most.

As it was, he ought not to even bother with the Island's most recent 'gift'. It hadn't been meant to help. It didn't help, seeing the life he'd never have while the Carolyn who wasn't the same lived in the same hut, just next door.

Yet, he always found himself back in the room, always seemed to end up watching the images of the life the Island took away. An sometimes, in the moments between sleep and waking, he could believe what he saw and heard was real.

So, of course, something had to go wrong.

The snap jolted him away immediately, and the holographic image of Carolyn and young Sam flickered unsteadily as electricity lanced along the ceiling. Austen made no indication that she noticed the disturbance at all, but he brought up a hand to shield his eyes, and grabbed up the G36K at his side. The room exploded in painfully bright light before he quite made it to his feet.

And he very nearly stumbled and crashed to the ground when it faded. "What the hell?"

This...was most definitely not New Atlantis.

She woke to the sound of her mother calling. Even as sleep faded, she could still hear the faint call, whispering and echoing in the silence of her mind where the Planet once was. Some might have considered it just a dream, a silly memory of something long past. It wasn't uncommon on the island, to dream you could fly again, to dream you were home, to dream the people you loved were still close.

Aeris knew the truth of the matter. She knew to follow the image of the dream, and slip out of the dojo, even though the sun hadn't quite made it over the horizon yet. She considered the home of Squall and Zell briefly, but the call, that lingering dream, was too strong.

It was time to move on. She'd fulfilled her purpose. Her friends, of all people, would understand that.

She padded through grass and underbrush along a familiar path, as the pre-dawn dew clung to her dress and skin for every green plant she brushed by. She didn't mind at all. Her heart was free. She was free once more. Where she last left with regret and looking back all the way, now she understood. This was what was meant to be. The future ahead of her was long and bright. There were so many people she would see, so many lives she would touch, and so many worlds she worlds meet.

This was her call. In twenty-two years, she had been reluctant to accept it. In two, she finally understood.

She accepted it with open arms.

Kyokyo danced amongst the grass and flowers of her familiar clearing, and the twin unicorns walked out of the forest around her to bid her farewell. She smiled softly, reaching out to pet their shining white fur. "Don't be sad. There'll be others to be your friends. Just wait and see."

The male huffed, and she gave a soft laugh, leaning forward to nuzzle it's snout affectionately, before turning back toward the dojo and the home of her two closest friends. "Goodbye. Keep an eye on everyone, you two. I'll see you again!"

She smiled, and settled down in the grass, where she would always lay throughout the warm summer days on the island. The two unicorns settled down on either side, as she tangled her fingers in the grass, and watched the stars fade into light.

With the first rays of sunlight, the sky crackled and snapped with a sudden charge of electricity. Streaks of lightning danced across the interlaced treetops, and for just a moment, before blue light enveloped her, she caught sight of her mother's white materia, falling from the clear sky to where she lay.

A final, parting gift.

She pushed herself up off the debris filled streets, and blinked up at the differing sky that surrounded her. This was certainly preferable to the sort of world changing involving almost drowning, even if familiar faces weren't around her this time to welcome her.

Yet, her grin was brilliant and wide, anyway. In the distance, still unfamiliar and tentative, she could again hear the soft thrumming of the planet. It was wonderful.