"No. No. Nonononononono..." Jacob stared at the fallen Mack. Then, Chris tried to administer first aid, and Jacob snapped into action, trying to help, praying, desperate, trying to bring life back to the sweet doctor. He tried to fight Hat Man, refusing to accept it, then slumped to his knees, all fight spent. Then he saw Kiamo Ko, and realized he hadn't seen the mystic during the rooftop fight. Steele. Kiamo. Vesuvia, Morgana, Block, Electric Man. And Mack. Dear Mack. He looked over at Silhouette. "Sophie, I --" And then, before he could register anything, Sapphire was on the ground. On reflex, Jacob spun and shouted Dissonance at the offending party.
When Danny asked about a funeral, Silhouette looked at him and said, "I will take care of the bodies." She did not give anymore explanations. Then Sapphire blocked the ninja star that was meant for Danny. The ninja was stumbling away, Sapphire's razor stuck in the side of his neck, when Jacob's attack made him scream and collapse on the ground. To finish him of, Silhouette snatched Sharpshooter's pistol out of his belt and shot the ninja twelve times. She only stopped shooting because the gun ran out of bullets. Then she turned to watch as Sapphire bled out. Her face was as emotionless as when she watched Mack die. "I should have never became a hero," Silhouette whispered to herself. Strong-Arm put his hands on her shoulders and she let him, her eyes trained on Sapphire.
Chris turned away from the dead body, shaking his head. The sadness was evident from all around him, Jacob throwing himself at the dead body, Silouette killing off the last ninja, Sapphire falling. Overall, this adventure was quite a few shades darker than the average one he was used to. They did some questionable things, left some body behind. He looked at the two dead cops. "Now what?" he asked. "We have two police officers dead. And about thirty ninjas. Let's not even talk about our partners. There will be questioning, and we better get us some good lawyers."
Danny fell to his knees, not even registering what was going on around him. "Emma?" he mumbled, his mouth not wanting to work. God no. How could you do this to me? Her heart beat became irregular but slower. Shaking he put his arms around her, only looking at her eyes, trying his best to ignore the blood. "You didn't have to do... you..." He didn't the words to explain. " I want to get to know you. I want..." I want to fall deeply in love with you. Danny gently laid her down, not wanting to move the star from her throat in case it made her worse. Suddenly all the noise and colour from all around rushed in. Chris was talking about lawyers and a few feet away was the ninja who had done this. "Someone help me! Someone help her! Shut the fuck up about lawyers!" God, her blood was everywhere. She's... Again I have failed to help one I care for and I can't even get revenge. So instead he flew at Chris, who had done no crime other than talk about something too practical. Danny shoved him on the ground, his knife blade drawn.
John supported Sophie when she needed it, trying desperately not to collapse himself. It made him rather happy though, to know that she still leaned on him in a time like this. It was obvious she was saying goodbye, and possibly for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to say. No snappy comebacks, no clever remarks or final words of wisdom. Nothing. He'd said goodbye to many many people. Some goodbyes where easier than others, but he'd gotten used to them by now. But right now, he didn't want to say goodbye. A ninja-star flew through the air. It was strange. Not too long ago his gun would already have been in his hand, trained to fire that deadly object out of the sky, but now... nothing. It was like he was only watching a movie as it happened. Something he could do nothing about. His eyes followed it soar... until it reached Sapphire. Everything was happening so fast, and yet so very very slow. Jacob crumbled. Danny snapped. Sophie gave up. Desperately, he searched for the right words. The right thing to say to sooth them all. Some catchy comment that would make them all able to recover again. But it wasn't there. He couldn't find it. Watching Danny charge at Chris gave him something that he at least could do something about. He stepped in, grabbed the arm he was holding the knife with and looked Danny in the eyes. His own were still dead, though a hint of sadness was already starting to sift through. “Danny… This is not the way you want to remember her. The woman you loved gave her life for you, don’t throw that away.”
Danny tried to wrestle his arm back from John, each pull making him less and less certain. "What the fuck am I supposed to do with it? Go back to living on the bloody top flat, doing nothing with my life?" he spat. Emma was behind him, lying in an increasing pool of blood. There'd only be another if he carried on. His hands started to shake, as if they were trying to save him from what he might do. All he wanted is to have everyone shut up and the last five minutes to be gone. Then his brain kicked in telling him that stabbing someone wouldn't do anything, no matter how much he wanted it to. Danny went limp, his knife clattered on the ground. Tears began streaming down his face as the anger faded away. "Well then, what am I meant to do?" he said softly.
"Be the person she cared about." John gently let go of Danny's hand. "Moments like these define who you are Danny. Believe it or not, you're already a different man than you were a few days ago. So am I. I doubt I'd be able to live a peaceful life anymore... but I'd like to be. Adventure doesn't make a life meaningful. And Sophie's right... it always ends like this." He swallowed a lump in his throat. He looked around once more, taking in all of the bloodshed, all the death and despair and finally, he cried.His face was still as solid as a rock, but it was slowly corroding from the streams of tears gushing down his cheeks. "You are the best of all of us Danny. You are the only one who never stopped caring. So please, don't stop now."
Danny lobbed his knife far away. It was strange seeing John cry. "I wish I could. I-I'm sorry John, I'm just so... I'm so so sorry Chris," he sobbed realising he was on the floor because of him, "Emma..." he moved off from John and back to Emma. "I couldn't have done that. You know that, right?" Danny didn't even know if she was dead as her eyes were still shining their brilliant blue.
Nyr gathered up her swords from where she’d left them on the factory floor. She could hear all the commotion outside, of course. The crying. The shouting. Despite it all, she took her time collecting her discarded weapons, silently vowing never to cast them off again. Even when Arianrhod passed, carrying Kiamo’s body, the Tymarian didn’t seem fazed by any of it. Once she was outside, she took a seat by the water’s edge to watch the last bits of burning wreckage sink beneath the waves. Whether it was pieces of her ship or Kwan Yin’s, she didn’t know. Didn’t really matter. Neither of them would be going home again. Behind her, the humans were still carrying on, crying and shouting. None of it made sense. This was no way to honor the fallen. But Nyr just sat there, far from it all. An outsider. An alien. She didn’t belong, she never did. They were heroes, she was… what? A warrior? Yes, and a damn fine one at that, but is that what Earth needed? Is that what they need right now? What do you think? She asked, having a silent conversation with the pile of ashes that had once been Kwan Yin. From one warrior to another, what is our place in this world? I suppose you couldn't find yours but, c'mon, a thousand years of wisdom... surely, you can tell me something. She thought of Mack, no, ‘Kachina’ was his name. Earth’s mightiest warrior. And what about you? Where do you fit in? What does it mean that your very existence precludes the end of this world? Pointless questions. Stupid, stupid questions to drown out the awful racket of hearts breaking. Nyr sighed. She had heard enough. Nyr suddenly stood up and stomped over to where John and Danny were mourning Sapphire. “Stop it!” she said, pointing a stern finger at John. “You stop crying, right now, dammit.” And then she turned to Danny and grabbed him by the collar. “I may not like this woman, but I am not going to sit by while you cry her into the afterlife. “Where she is going, we will all go someday, only she has had the rare honor of embarking on that final voyage, having defended the life of someone precious to her. Pray you can be so fortunate, boy. And if you dare shed one more tear, I swear I'll... I'll rip your eyes from their s-sockets... and… and…” She blinked, as if there was something in her eyes, all four of them. Just dust. Or smoke. That’s all, Nyr thought. So why, when she wiped at them, was her hand wet? “Dammit all,” Nyr muttered as she released him and turned away, hiding her face in her hands. “Leave me be, human.”
For the first time in years, John wiped his tears. Not because he was ashamed of them, or because Nyr believed them a bad way to honour the dead, but because it was over. And it had all right to be. He cast another glance at Sophie, safely in Strong-Arm’s arms. He’d like to say goodbye before she left. He’d probably leave too. Then he stepped towards Nyr. He wanted to put an hand on her shoulder, but he knew her better than that by now. “I will, if you want me too. However, there’s something you should know. Most humans don’t know this but there’s a spaceship… well… less a ship and more of a train really, that passes by Earth every year and takes passengers from here all the way to the Andromeda system and back. Tymar is on the route. It’s very exclusive and passes cost a fortune, but…” John reached for the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out an old leather wrapping. Inside it was a pass with the picture of a beautiful woman on it. It had faded quite a bit and the name had become illegible. “This used to belong to my travel companion. They never expire. If you want it, it’s yours.”
Jacob took a few deep breaths, steadying himself. Nyr's speech helped, actually. He turned to Silhouette. "There are a lot of things we shouldn't have done. But I don't think any of us went into this as a game. People died. But how many more if would have died if we'd stood by and done nothing? "Sophie, I know you are hurting right now, but could you honestly look each person you've saved over the years in the eye and say you wish you hadn't? That's not who you are, Sophie. That's not who Mack, or Steele or Kiamo want you to be." He looked to Danny, knowing fully the pain in his eyes, because Jacob felt it, too. The loss, not only if a friend, but of the hope and promise of so much more. "So we keep going. Maybe.... maybe the burden of being a superhero is no longer ours to bear. But we keep living, because to do otherwise would be a dishonor," he said, glancing at Nyr. Jacob rubbed his face, gloves rasping over days of facial hair. "Police will be here soon. We do need to prepare for what's coming." He looked over at the handful of ninjas still in enchanted sleep. Were those few really the only survivors? Turning to Strongarm, he asked, "The League has some sort of government liason, yes?"
When Danny attacked him, Chris didn't do anything to defend himself. He didn't join the tear-filled conversation that followed. He was ashamed. He meant what he said. They really did need a plan for what they were going to do. But it was insensitive of him, and rude. That was strange. It was as if one long day has changed him, a man nearing his fifties. Sure he would have had some reaction if he was borrowing someone else's personality. Fly into a rage as Goku, or sulk in a cave as Batman. But as Ripoff he wouldn't have given a single damn. He wouldn't have felt any connection with these people, hell he didn't feel a connection with himself. And while his remark would have been a very Ripoffy thing to say, his shame and sadness were not. He went over to Danny, and put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Sorry, Pigeonman, I was insensitive. I owe this woman my... I don't even know yet. I am still the same man, and yet, something is different. I believe I might change now." He nodded to Jacob, who said what he said, but woth more tact. He looked at Strongarm for am answer. Back in the day, the League had complete goverment backing, but that was back then. And if they were going to be persecuted, well, he didn't change enough to stop him from saving his own skin first.
Silhouette did not look at Jacob when he told her not to give up and she did not give him a reply. She stared into the distance with a smooth, frozen expression. She did not look like herself anymore. All the life and fire was gone and she was like a living statue. "None of you need to face the police," Strong-Arm told everyone. "You can leave now, before they arrive. We will handle everything." He nodded to Arianrhod, who had just came back with Kiamo Ko's body. She laid him down next to Sapphire and Mack, then she made a wide circle in the air with her good hand. Sparkling gold fire trailed behind Arianrhod's fingers and created a large portal. Through the portal, they could see a dirty alleyway in the middle of Fortress City. People were walking by the alleyway on the street, going about their day, completely unaware of the magical portal. "Walk through here and you will be in the shopping district," Arianrhod said. "You can go home." Then she gave them all a wry smile. "But don't get too comfortable. You've all proven yourselves to be formidable warriors. If the League needs your help, we will call on you." "Don't worry about the days you've missed of work," Silhouette said in the same flat, emotionless voice she had been using since her little brother's death. She took out a phone and, after pressing a few buttons, looked back up at them. "I just moved a hundred thousand dollars into all of your bank accounts from the League of Heroes' savings. We've got more than enough money from government funding and private donations. I hope that's enough to thank you all for your services." She looked at Nyr. "I don't know if you have much use for earth currency...if you need anything else, just ask the League." "Please, that's more than enough," Sharpshooter said with a light chuckle. "These guys are gonna be partying nonstop when they get home. You better invite me. I feel like celebrating, yanno, since I just came back from the dead and all that." "Party later," Hat Man interjected. "We have work to do. We have to rebuild our headquarters and secure the city. I bet the Viper Gang is already wreaking all sorts of havoc in the lower city and god knows what the mobsters are getting up to." "Yes, we have plenty of work ahead of us," Strong-Arm said. He was about to say something else, but then he realized Silhouette wasn't standing with them anymore. Somehow, she had dragged all three bodies (Mack's, Kiamo Ko's, and Sapphire's) to one of the police cars. She had already loaded them into the back seat before anyone noticed what she was doing. "She must have done it while we were all distracted when I made the portal," Arianrhod said. "What the hell does she think she's doing?" Hat Man cussed. "What's happening, Sophie?" Sharpshooter asked with a concerned expression. It was obvious that he thought Silhouette might have lost her mind. "I'm going to take care of them," Silhouette said flatly. She opened the door on the driver's side and looked around at everyone. "Thank you for everything." When Strong-Arm took one step in her direction, Silhouette raised her hand and she was holding a gun she had taken from one of the fallen police officers. "Don't follow me, or I will shoot you. Look into my eyes. I'm not bluffing." She did not lower the gun until Strong-Arm took a step back. "I'm going to fix this," she told them. Then she slid into the car and drove away, the tires kicking up pebbles and smoke.
"She's doing what?" exclaimed Danny, to no-one in particular. Emma had gone. And an alien version of Sophie had taken her away. His body began shaking again, but his mind wasn't sure what emotion was doing this. Fear, anger and plain old worry were some of the possiblities. The portal did not look inviting, especially in the state he was in. Tears and blood streaked his face and bile and blood did the same to his coat and his jeans. What the hell is Sophie doing? I don't want any sodding money. I want to make sure Emma's body and the others are cared for. Fuck it if I get shot, he thought as he rolled up his blood encrusted sleeves and began rubbing his arms. I couldn't save her but I'm sure as hell saving her body, and with that he took off, after the car, tears still in his eyes.
Chris let out a sigh of relief when Adrianhod opened the portal. So he was going to make it out, somehow. He walked for the portal, without looking back, when he suddenly turned around and said, "I want you guys to know. No hard feelings about, you know, kicking me out of the League and all. I was a danger to you," he winked at Hat Man, "and a liability. I think that is what I was to myself. Well, self is a quite new experience to me. So goodbye. You gave the old man quite an adventure, who knew you can find yourself at fifty years old." He laughed, and walked through the portal. One Month Later Chris breathed deeply, his eyes closed, feet in a crossed position. Calmness settled over his body. He was aware of everything, the tingling in his toes, the steady heartbeat in his chest. He imagined a ball of light, blue in colour, spreading from his chest onward, all over his body. He was at the cliff again, the voices all around him. He gave them no notice though, but listened inwards, to the one sound he recognized better of all. Then another voice broke through, louder than the rest, and he was suddenly pulled under, a thousand calls surrounding him. He jolted out of his meditation. His heart hammered against his chest, cold sweat covered his brow. He was sitting in a dark room, filled with empty bottles from the previous night. He cursed, kicked one of the bottles. Had he known how much he depended on using on his powers, he probably wouldn't have had the courage to stop. But there he was, a month and a day without using any personality but his own. The nights were hardest. He would cry and scream, his mind begging him to take another in. The only way he could silence that was with the booze. But he was making progress, he thought, and he never broke, not even once. He swore to himself not to take another mask, until he knew his own face. Chris walked outside. The air was cold and thin, but he was getting used to it. Maybe he would start writing, he thought. In his mind were memories of a thousand characters. He could help the next generation of heroes fond their source and inspiration. But that could wait. Chris looked around, absorbong the beutiful scene of the Himalayas.
Jacob looked around at the death and destruction around him. He looked at Silhouette, disappearing into the distance. God, he was tired. He turned to Strongarm. "Look after her," he said. Then, to Danny, "If you need someone to commiserate with, look me up." He looked at the portal, and stepped through. *** David opened the door and blinked. "Dad, what--hey!" Jacob threw his arms around his son and squeezed tightly, tears silently flowing onto his boy's shoulder. "David?" Esther, David's girlfriend came around the corner. "What's--oof!" Jacob grabbed her, too and pulled her into the hug. *** One month later... There was a knock at the door, but Jacob didn't look around. "Come in," he said. "Sorry, I was wondering if you could tell me where room 108 is," said the male voice at the door. Jacob continued copying information down onto the board for his next class. "This is it." "Not what I expected," said the voice. Jacob capped the marker and turned. In the doorway stood a very attractive man in a grey suit. The man smiled. "Really not what I expected." Jacob found himself smiling back. "What were you looking for?" "I'm supposed to be teaching a physics class, but, uh..." He gestured to the room, with the piano, music stands and other accoutrements. Jacob chuckled. "I think you're looking for 108B. This is 108C. The building you want is across the quad." The man nodded and extended a hand. "Thanks. I'm a visiting professor." Jacob took the hand and smiled. "Clearly. Jacob Craft, Music Theory." "Princeton Charmont, Physics." Jacob arched a brow. "Princeton Charmont?" The man blushed and chuckled, his eyes impossibly blue. "My parents had an interesting sense of humor." *** Maestro arrived at the scene, with the alarms blaring and people screaming as the Ringmaster and his gang pillaged. Another person arrived on the scene, this one wearing armor seemingly made of solid light. As Maestro piped the clown-themed thugs into submission, White Knight took the fight to Ringmaster. When the villains were subdued, Maestro turned to the Knight. "I could have handled this on my own, you know." White Knight raised his visor. "Like I'm gonna let you have all the fun? Besides, there is that faculty party later." Maestro smiled, looking into those impossibly blue eyes. "I suppose it would be remiss of us to miss our own engagement party."
Silhouette skidded to a stop when she saw Danny following her. She stepped out of the police car, raised her gun, and fired a shot. The bullet went through his side, a flesh wound, but it was enough to send him spiraling out of the sky and dive straight into...a Dumpster full of giant pieces of styrofoam. Silhouette walked up to the Dumpster and looked down at him and sighed heavily. "You might want to bind that wound to stop the bleeding," she instructed him. "The cops will be here soon and they will find you and take you to the hospital. I'll give them an anonymous tip where to find you." She reached up to grab the lid of the Dumpster, but before she slammed it down, she said, "I did warn you." Then she closed the lid and used the steel wire from her grappling hook to tie the Dumpster shut. Silhouette was long gone before police arrived, leaving nothing behind but a silver 'S' buckle laying on the ground. It was broken in half from when she drove over it.
Nyr stared at the travel pass in John’s outstretched hand, her expression blank, unreadable. Home. She had a way to go home. Just take it and be gone, leave this place and don’t look back. It would be so easy. Her hand instinctively flinched toward it, but she paused, fighting that knee-jerk reaction. She knew damn well there was a better way to beat Kwan Yin than sacrificing her ship, but she did it anyway. And now she was stuck here, stranded. She lied to herself and pretended it was an accident, pretended she didn’t want to be here. So why was it so hard to resist John’s gift? Why not just admit you like this place, these people? Cowardice comes in so many forms. She hated liars and cowards, yet here she was, lying to herself and cowering in fear of her own feelings. Thank the heavens Arianrhod arrived just in time and gave her an easy out, a convenient excuse not to accept John’s offer... but not to deny it either. Nyr simply turned away from him as the League spoke, pretending to be distracted. And then Sophie went berserk. The last few minutes had been full of surprises and Nyr hadn’t had the strength of will or the strength of body to respond to any of them. Not this time. Sophie sped off in a stolen police car with the bodies of their fallen comrades and Danny took to the skies in pursuit. Ignoring the pain in her body, Nyr sprinted to the other car and drove off after them, without so much as a goodbye or a thank you. But the chase was short-lived. She screeched to a halt many blocks later, in front of a dumpster. With her bare hand, Nyr sliced the wire binding its lid shut and lifted it open. “She won’t get away,” Nyr said solemnly. “I will find her. I give you my word.” She offered her hand to Danny. “But not today. Come on, I’ll get you to a hospital.” One Month Later... “Took you long enough,” Nyr whispered under her breath as she peered through a pair of binoculars. She stood atop a tall building, her black cloak flapping in the breeze while a full moon shined down on the Fortress City skyline. Meanwhile, a slim figure clad in black scaled the side of the SuperTech skyscraper, her movements as nimble as a spider. This mysterious intruder made her way up the eightieth floor and cut her way inside with a laser. Nyr had seen enough. She stowed her binoculars and cast aside her black cloak, revealing a pair of small thrusters and over a dozen blades affixed to her back. They sprang open like switchblades or the wings of a demon. The logo of SuperTech’s R&D department glinted on their razor-sharp tips. Nyr got a running start and leapt off the building. A quick burst from her thrusters propelled her across the gap. She slipped neatly through the hole the intruder had carved, tucked her wings and skidded to a stop in the hall. Where are you? Nyr thought as she slid two swords from the rig on her back. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen Silhouette since that fateful night on the docks, but this night she was determined to get close. Very close. She soon arrived in what appeared to be some kind of laboratory. The lights were off, casting everything in shadow. There were rows of tables covered in all sorts of gadgets and gizmos, and several robotic suits were hanging by hooks on the walls. With her second pair of eyes, Nyr could see that one of the hooks was empty. Not a second after she noticed that did she hear a faint shuffling noise. She whipped around and saw Silhouette coming out of an adjoining room dragging a heavy robotic suit with one hand and carrying a handful of gadgets in her other arm. She stopped, giving her old friend and ice-cold glare. "What are you doing here?" Silhouette asked flatly. "You know exactly why I’m here," Nyr said. She tossed Silhouette's 'S' buckle on the ground and adopted a combat-ready stance. "Stand down, Sophie. I’m taking you in. I would like you to come peacefully.” She began advancing slowly. “But I would love for you to resist.” Silhouette glared in defiance. "I don't have to answer to you," she replied in crisp tone. "I don't answer to anyone anymore. I quit the League of Heroes. I'm an independent agent. Now, if you don't mind, I'm late for an appointment and I'm on a tight schedule," she said as she began to pull a small silver disc from her pile of stolen gadgets. A bomb! Nyr thought and charged at her. The thrusters on her blade-wings ignited, propelling her forward. But it was no bomb. A blinding flash of rainbow light sent her spiraling off course and she crashed into a wall. “Stupid SuperTech junk,” Nyr cursed as she shed the damaged blade-wings and ran after Sophie. She was still seeing spots. Even her other set of eyes were a blurry mess. By the time she regained her sight, the building was completely silent and Sophie was long gone.
"OK, let's start he bidding for $20 on this dresser!" The auctioner said while gesturing to a antique blue dresser Emma had favoured. It was a little chipped around the edges, but in fine condition. Just as the bidding started, a lone man stepped forth from the small crowd gathered outside Emma's apartment. "I think that belongs to me." He said forlornly, while pointing a scarred finger towards the dresser. The auctioner looked confused. After a quick moments hesitation, he replied rather slowly to the man, as if talking to a simple child. "Sir, I'm sorry. This is an auction of a Ms.Emma Blues items. She is dead, and by the court of law-" He spun out rather suddenly as the man sent a death glare his way. "I have the papers." The man pronounced, pulling an official looking document from inside his coat. After handing it to the auctioner, he took a moment to read it. "I believe these are the right credidentals, but Ms.Blue had no living relatives?" "None that she would have....mentioned." The strange man said, as the thin line that was his mouth curled up into a strange smile. Suddenly, bolts of red electricity burst from the mans fingertips, and branched out to strike every person there. They all heard the voice in their heads. You will forget all mention of Emma Blue, and continue your lives. Everyone suddenly rushed off, and the man stepped inside his new apartment. "Oh dear Emma." He said to himself, "No one wanted you, except for your dear, old brother."
John put the pass back in his pocket and allowed a soft smile to cross his face. Good for you Nyr, good for you. However, it quickly disappeared when Sophie... no… Silhouette stepped into the car and said goodbye. Strong-Arm, it would seem, had been just as helpless as John was. His hands, controlled by his heart, not his mind, already had a firm grip on his gun with the barrel pointed at the closest tire. But then, slowly, reluctantly, he brought it back down. This was her decision. She alone could make it. Who was he to stop her? How would he stop her? He didn’t fear her threat. He was sure there were a thousand and one ways she could kill him on his feet, but a gun wasn’t one of them. She knew that as well as he did. Could that mean she wanted him to chase her? Was the gun a hidden message? Stop it. John holstered his weapon and turned around, no longer allowing himself to look at the dust cloud she’d left behind. She made her choice. Respect it. Watching Danny and Nyr chase after Silhouette and Jacob and Chris step through the portal he knew that it was time for him to move on as well. He’d go traveling again. Visit some old friends. Go as far away from this place as he could so he could cherish the memory of his feelings of this day as one of those moments that built his character. *** The sun bathed the seemingly abandoned train station in a warm orange light. Sitting on one of the benches was a lonely traveller, tired of the weight of his memories. There were a handful of other people as well, among them a slender woman with long hair, a simple dress and a pigeon on her shoulder. The station trembled as the big machine rolled in. The nostalgic sound of its whistle brought him back to the old days. Remembered him of the first time he stood on this station, unable to believe he’d be able to get on board. She’d been with him then. That was a good memory. When the doors opened, a familiar figure stepped outside, a blue cap on his head and a whistle around his neck. “Hello Mr. Wilson, it is good to see you again.” “Hello Mr. Conductor, it’s good to be back.” “And, where will you be going this time?” “I… I don’t know.” With one foot on the steps, he hesitated. He’d always travelled with a purpose before. His first journey being the obvious example, but even afterwards… first back home… then to see her again… and finally… Sophie. Even then it was the glimmer of hope that she might still be alive that drew him back home. Would the pain of her memory be as strong a force to drive him away from it? They flashed by so fast, so vividly, that it was almost as if he was reliving them right there and then, on the first step of his new journey. The simple joy when he first learned she was still alive. The reverence at her skill when she first assaulted Morgana. The desperation when he thought he’d lose her by the hands of Vesuvia. And then, finally, the complete and utter peace when he held her in his arms. You know, if things were different… “Well… screw that.” He turned and stepped away from the train and into the setting sun. It seemed silly now… how close he got to actually abandoning hope. He’d always fought for what he believed in, did the impossible to fulfil his dreams… and his goal was obvious now… and he would travel to the end of the earth if need be, to find it again. Find her again. *** They say the end of every journey is the beginning of a new one and that when a weary traveller finds a place to call home he will find happiness at last. Where John’s travels would take him, nobody could know, but one thing was certain: no matter how long it took, no matter what challenges he might face along the way, one day he would reach his destination.
