Chapter Text
This was the end. Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the end. Well... it could also be the beginning, he supposed. Of what? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t know what ended to get him here. It felt like- well, nowhere, really. He knew something had happened, something that made him nothing. Had he ever really been anything? Well, even now, he had to be something, right? He had memories- but he couldn’t remember them. He knew something was there- but he couldn’t see it. He had a body- but he couldn’t feel it. He knew of many names– but didn’t know which one was his. So currently, he really was nothing. But he craved something. Who was he, anyways?
A flurry of identities flashed through his mind, names without faces, faces without personalities, personalities without names. But the names mattered most right now. He could find the rest later. What names did he know? Which one, or even, which ones, were his? Would he even know? It couldn’t hurt to try.
Aglaea, Anaxagoras, Castorice, Cipher, Hyacine, Tribios. No, none of those felt right. Mydeimos, maybe? No, that one felt special, felt comfortable and safe, but it wasn’t his. Perhaps someone very close to him. Cyrene? Caelus? No, no. These names also felt special, but still belonged to other people. These names were all dear to him, really- but none of them were his. None of them felt right. None of them made him, well, him.
More names flowed by, running through his mind like water. Nothing. They began to slip away, as though they never existed. Then-
Khaos. Khaslana.
From nothing, they made themselves present in his mind.
Oh. Those were his names. He knew this, like it was an innate fact burned into his mind by the very essence of being. Khaos didn’t feel right, though- like it was the name of a person who died in his skin. It wasn’t his anymore. Perhaps it never really was. Regardless- Khaos no longer existed. It wasn’t him.
Khaslana- that must have been the first one he knew. That one felt strange, as if it had been his name, but it had either died or- perhaps- become someone else. There was also an almost unbearable weight carried by that name, along with the burn of a flame as (if not more) powerful than a star. No, Khaslana wouldn't do- he had a feeling it was never really meant to.
Deliverer.
That seemed like more of a title than a name, though he couldn’t say he minded it entirely. Something fond lingered around that one. Though, something also inexplicably, impossibly heavy. Almost heavier than the weight carried by Khaslana. But he felt that maybe he could still use it regardless, since the identity it belonged to no longer seemed to fully exist.
Irontomb. NeiKos496.
Absolutely not. That first one certainly wasn’t his name. That may have been a name expected of him, but it would never be one he would take. It was as if this name had attempted, at some point, to become him instead of the other way around. The very thought made something in him begin to burn. This was unnecessary now, wasn’t it? He’d already figured out his name. Deliverer, right? Even if it wasn’t the best option, he could still use it if needed.
As for the second option- that hardly sounded like a name at all. Why were there numbers? Why did he somehow know that the "k" was capitalized, and why did it seem more like a username/codename? Again, thinking too hard about it was pointless. This one wouldn't work either. He could work with-
Then, a voice. A memory perhaps, suddenly audible, though he couldn’t tell who the voice belonged to. Someone close to him perhaps, since the sound of it brought him a strange sense of comfort, and crowned his mind with a gentle golden aura.
“Phainon, of Aedes Elysiae. What is your dream?”
Phainon. That- that one felt better. Much better. Perhaps that was his name. Maybe not originally, but it seemed like a good name to go by. It felt- not yet dead, so alive enough to use. Yes, Phainon felt good. Aedes Elysiae- that must be a place. The sound of the name filled his mind with golden light, his body with warmth. Aedes Elysiae was but a memory- but he felt the need to carry it with him.
But what else had the voice said? What was his dream?
What a strange question. He wasn’t sure he could answer it. And yet, images began to play behind his eyes, giving break to the nothing he had been seeing since never, as well as forever. Maybe just since he’d been here. Which was nowhere. But his mind now showed him somewhere. Golden fields of tall wheat, a pink-haired girl on a swing shuffling a deck of cards under a large tree. A large animal in a city square, decorations and celebration evident as a woman in white and gold waved alongside two men on the back of it. A white fountain, children all around- twins adorned in purple, who caught his attention briefly before the next image. An empty plot, the bright blue sky above as silver clashed with bronze- not in an effort to injure, but to better, with a flash of blond-to-red hair and golden eyes that somehow reminded him of home.
The sun, rising on tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Then send them on to tomorrow.
That was where he wanted to be. That was his dream. Tomorrow. The others were waiting for him there. Even if he didn’t know who they were quite yet.
It no longer mattered that he was nothing in nowhere. He could think. He could dream. He could be. And nowhere was only not somewhere, if you didn’t know where somewhere was. And now he did. And now he is something. And now he is somewhere. He felt himself begin to burn, not with rage (like he'd expected, for some reason), but with some other emotion that was almost completely foreign to him. But not unwelcome. Brilliant, blazing light ripped through the darkness, which shattered into billions of shards of glorious gold. He opened his eyes at long last.
His name is Phainon of Aedes Elysiae.
And it is time for dawn to finally break.
It all happened in an instant. One that happened to also last forever, and yet no time actually passed. Until it did, of course. In that instant, both nothing and everything happened all at once. The last puzzle piece slotted into place- then shattered. 100% became 0%. The headless body was completed then ceased to exist, the demiurge it had fought to reunite with following suit not long after. The fight for the universe was won, but the outcome changed before anyone realized that the path shifted. Or maybe after. Or maybe, it never changed at all. Time distorted, with space simply flowing with it in an upwards stream. And all at once, this hidden planet, this virtual world of memory, this experiment gone wrong- it all ceased to exist. For how long? Never.
And in that infinite instant, dreams were finally granted access into reality, as the hands of time and memory were finally joined in the blazing absence of nothing.
—-
When the Trailblazers woke up, they had no idea where they were. At least, March 7th and Dan Heng didn’t. The two of them had woken up on a dock, with Caelus between them. It seemed that he woke up first, as he was already sitting up, staring around in shock.
“Where are we?” March grumbled as she sat up, leaning on Caelus’ shoulder as she stretched and looked around slowly. They didn’t seem to be anywhere particularly special- it was just a dock, on a bay overlooking a vast ocean. Behind them sat what looked like a small village, completely surrounded by golden wheat swaying in the wind and gleaming in the young morning sun.
Wait.
“I’m more concerned about how we got here.” Dan Heng said in response, also taking a moment to stretch before looking over his surroundings, then his companions. His brow furrowed as he took in Caelus' expression.
“Caelus? Are you alright? And- is this where I think it is?” He asked, placing a firm hand over one of Caelus’, noticing that he was shaking slightly. And that, somehow, he felt oddly different.
“It’s strange. I know I've been here, it even feels almost nostalgic, but the name is escaping me. How ironic that my memory is still poor even with Remembrance powers.” March said, rubbing her face while turning to stare intently at her companions. Her eyes lingered on the golden horns perched atop Dan Heng’s head, but she said nothing about them.
“I-I-” The grey haired boy started, then took a deep breath and looked around himself, then back up at the sky. “Yes, I think this is exactly where you think it is, Dan Heng. I haven’t got the faintest idea of how we got here though, since- well- it shouldn’t be possible. Not after everything we did, not after the ending was rewritten- what happened? And why are we here, of all places?”
Upon curious looks from both his friends, Caelus sighed. He’d answered their questions with more questions. Okay, pause, back to the most important question: where were they. Of course, they had all been here before. For him, it would be hard to ever recover from what he saw happen to his friend here, in that horrific continuous loop of self-destruction that always started here on this pier. But this time- this time it felt different. Even more different than those endings he saw from Cyrene, where he had joined her under the tree as she rewrote the very idea of Amphoreus’ being, and fate itself. The other two had been here briefly as well, but he wasn’t surprised if the “long time” within the previous cycle had taxed their memories somewhat.
“We are in Aedes Elysiae.” Caelus finally confirmed, looking over at Dan Heng, who stilled. His face visibly morphed as he looked up at the sky, at the town behind them, at the rolling wheat fields, then finally, back at March and Caelus. His tail flicked behind him, portraying even better than his face how confused he was.
“So- that means we’re back on Amphoreus. But how? Herta only just began attempting to accelerate the process of bringing everything back through As I’ve Written, it shouldn’t be so far along yet. Plus, I- wait, why does everything feel weird compared to before?” Dan Heng took a moment to breathe, letting himself regain his bearings. It was only then that he realized that he was back in his full Permansor Terrae form, despite being very certain that he was in his human form before they ended up here.
March leaned forward “Another, probably better question that I’ll ask again- how in Aeons’ names did we get here?”
Caelus shook his head. “Not a clue. We should check things out though. That’s our job, after all.” He stood, pulling up March and Dan Heng by the hands, and took another look around. It was immediately obvious that something was off, but not necessarily in a bad way. It took him only a moment to realize what it was.
“The worldborders are gone.” He breathed, staring around at the vast, seemingly limitless sea of wheat in one direction and water in the other, both undisturbed by the red border limits that used to haunt this place in the edges of his vision, as a reminder that nothing here was entirely real- just code and memory. But the borders were gone now.
“Dan Heng, come here for a second.” Caelus turned around and immediately wrapped the (much taller) dragon in a tight hug. Dan Heng stiffened fractionally, before relaxing into the embrace slightly.
“Caelus- what are you doing?” He asked, his confusion evident. Usually Caelus and March refrained from hugging him, if only out of respect for his boundaries. Although, he found that he didn't exactly mind Caelus hugging him all that much. It was still confusing as to why he was doing it, though.
“A science thing. Also I’m hugging you. Thought that bit would be obvious, smart as you are.” Caelus replied easily, then stepped back as Dan Heng simply stared at him, unimpressed.
“Well? Did you figure something out?” March asked excitedly.
“Yeah, I think.” Caelus said, looking at his own hands for a moment. “-I think we’re actually here. Like, physically. Weren't we some sort of memory-based/semi-physical mental-projection type thingimajig before?” He glanced back up at Dan Heng, who nodded and brought a hand to his chin.
“Yes. Us actually being here physically also would explain why everything feels different compared to our earlier times here. However, that does make the how of how we got here even more confusing.” He turned to look back at Aedes Elysiae. Caelus looked over at March, who nodded as well, energy seeming to visibly fill her body like a charging battery.
“Yeah. Last time I checked, we were on the Astral Express. Not that I’m complaining about being back here, of course, especially if it’s been reborn even better than I remember it being originally. Ooh, I wonder if whatever restored this place also brought back the people! Can't hurt to see, let’s go check it out!” She immediately took off towards the town, leaving Caelus and Dan Heng to exchange amused looks before tearing off after her.
As it turned out- yes, there were people there. Very confused people, that was, who all looked as if they'd just woken up from a horribly disorienting nightmare. A man dressed in typical farming attire stumbled by, clutching his head with a pained look on his face. A young girl was sobbing on the ground, cradled in what looked like her mother's arms, though she didn't seem much better off than her daughter judging by the teary, far-off look she had. Even the animals seemed off-put. It was unsettling, to say the least. Caelus and Dan Heng found March just as a middle aged woman left her, looking to be in a daze, and March turned to her companions with a strange expression.
“These people- they remember their deaths. From the black tide. But it's almost like they think it was just a dream, because clearly, they're here. At least, that's what the lady I was just talking to said. It's so strange.” March said, voice troubled slightly.
“Yeah. Though, if there's any bright side to all this, these people being alive and Aedes Elysiae being, well, intact, is technically a good thing.” Caelus said. Because even if all these people were confused and likely traumatized, they would recover eventually. “They're real now, I think. I mean, it seems like everything else is, and it wouldn't make much sense if the people weren't. Then again, nothing about Amphoreus has made much sense, so-”
“Caelus.” Dan Heng said, interrupting the inevitable spiral of nonsense that he was no doubt about to fall into, crossing his arms as Caelus floundered his way back into sensible thought.
“Right, sorry. Actually, you know what this might mean?” He asked, excitement visibly rising in his facial expressions at the prospect of seeing their friends again, “The Chrysos Heirs might be back. Hopefully not in black, that might be bad. We should go to Okhema and check!”
March clapped her hands excitedly while Dan Heng sighed dramatically (though his swishing tail betrayed his amusement).
“Let's get going then. We'll have to move fast if we want to get there at a reasonable time. I wonder if we'd be able to warp to the baths still…” Dan Heng trailed off as March threw an arm around both of her companions (which was a bit awkward given how much taller Dan Heng was in this form). She grinned at both of them.
“It wouldn't hurt to try. And even if we can't warp there, I'm challenging both of you to a race to see who can find someone they know first! Bonus points if it happens to be one of the Heirs.”
Caelus grinned back at her. “You are so on. Let's go!”
—-
Mydeimos was no stranger to the dark seas of death. He had just never been here with basically no hope of getting back out. He had also never had it feel quite so… different. The normal turbulence and screams from unfulfilled souls were gone, leaving only gentle waves to flow around him in comfortable quiet. The only sounds came from the water lapping against him, and a vague crystalline shimmering he wasn’t sure of the origin of.
He wondered, vaguely, if this difference meant that Phainon had succeeded in bringing the Era Nova. That this was the new resting place for Amphoreus’ fallen, peaceful as Castorice had always promised. Peaceful as they deserved. Or maybe he was just close to the next life, the calm here simply providing him a break from the chaos that his life had always been. He’d take either, really. With any luck, he’d be reunited with everyone soon enough- after all, he did still at least have to show Phainon his library. But for now, all he could do was wait to see what fate had planned, and continue to float in the abyss.
Mydei never realized that he hadn’t opened his eyes before while in the Sea of Souls until the moment that light suddenly began to shine out of nowhere. Really, he’d never even realized that his eyes were closed. Now that they were open, he was greeted with brilliant golden light, cleaving through the very essence of the space around him and burning the shards before they could land in the dark, starry water. It was only then that he realized, while moving his hand further into the warm, liquid darkness- the water wasn’t deep at all. He could have sat or stood up at any time. He could have walked away, maybe found an exit, somehow left this realm, all without that much effort. It could have been so easy. Almost insultingly poetic.
No reason to dwell on that now, though. He felt something move around him, and looked down to see a multicoloured beam of light illuminating the water around him, pulling him to sit upright with a sound like gentle laughter. He watched as the colorful stream shot upwards towards the blaze in the sky, and as the warm gold reached his body at last, he felt as if a familiar hand was being offered to him. Offering to help him up out of the water, and take him somewhere far away from here, this shimmering plane of liquid darkness and reflective crystal.
He felt, innately, that already knew where that hand would take him.
He smiled as he grasped it, and was gently pulled upwards into tomorrow.
—-
Aglaea had always known that she was fated to fall before the Era Nova. She’d lived for far too long anyways, already lost everything that had made her human. She doubted that she would even be needed after their success- she’d trained Phainon well after all, and knew that he was more than capable of leading Amphoreus into the new dawn. Something in her longed to ache at that, the idea of Phainon- that boy she’d helped to raise and could almost think of like a son- taking her place and going on without her.
Was this an ache of pride that she was struggling to feel? Sorrow for what she knew she had left behind to Phainon, who she knew by this point would likely have fought harder than anyone else to reach the end?
Was it that barest hint of the love that she could only dream of remembering, faintly clawing at the echo of her heart?
The infinite pool of gold yielded no answers. She had anticipated her death would be something like this, but she never anticipated that it would be quite so- cold. Above all else, this place was cold, in a way she had never experienced before. The liquid gold around her was dull, as if tainted by something that had removed all of its radiance. Perhaps her presence was the cause. A disturbance in this otherwise blank, tranquil void of white walls and muted metal waves. She supposed that maybe this space was a reflection of her own mind- dulled and blank after far too much time spent alive, but not living, losing the very parts of herself that made her human until nothing but a human-esque shell of a body remained, the warm glow of life lost to memory.
That was, of course, until she heard something akin to billions of glasses shattering, the stoic silence broken at last as beams of hot, brilliant golden light ripped through the fabric of the reality she was trapped in, shattering the walls and restoring the brightness to the liquid, glowing gold now spilling out and onto everything. A strange warmth filled Aglaea’s chest as a multicoloured beam of what felt like pure joy circled her body, before pulling her towards the source of the blinding light of what she knew could only be a new dawn.
A hand was extended to her, offering to help her along, and for once, guide her into the warm embrace of tomorrow.
She couldn’t help but laugh as she took it.
—-
Cifera had never seen a world without lies or deception. She had never thought she’d ever want to. The sweet sugar coat of lies was always far more appealing than the sharp glass that was truth. And yet… She couldn’t find herself displeased with her death. Something irrefutably true, and yet the outcome was… strangely pleasant. It was mostly blank, a strange, almost colourless plane, but in the centre of it all was a tree with shimmering leaves and crystalline fruit. A faint chime continuously sang from the tree, distinct enough that the sound never left her ears, but with a variance and gentleness that kept it from becoming grating.
Of course, one thing on the tree caught her attention instantly- a single branch made of solid gold. Despite all the other pretty fruits and leaves, the branch was all she could think about wanting. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been here, but she knew that most of her time had been spent trying to reach it. And yet she never could. She would slip, fall, tire out- or the branch would simply seem to move out of reach just as she got to it. It didn’t make any sense, but something about this place kept her from giving up. The strange comfort of the realm kept her running, and for once- she didn’t really have the urge to run away.
It did, inevitably, start to drain her. What started as a simple desire to have that shiny gold branch was becoming a desperate obsession. She knew there was something different about that branch, knew that it held something special and invaluable, but she just couldn’t reach it.
Not until the “sky” shattered. A blaze of fiery gold, followed by a streak of multicoloured light that circled her, letting out a sound like a gentle sigh. Cifera watched as the rainbow light swirled up the tree just as the fiery golden light shattered it, leaving only the now glowing golden branch, now offered to her directly. No malice, no hesitance, no need to try and swipe it before it was taken from her sight.
She took the branch tentatively, and almost cried at the soft warmth it carried. She clutched it to her chest, then looked back up at the beam of gentle light. The golden inferno that had burned everything else seemed to join the rainbow light, merging together into an outstretched hand.
Another pleasant truth.
A single tear rolled down Cifera’s face as she took the hand.
—-
Castorice was familiar with the feeling of death. She had grown accustomed to the practice of helping passing souls reach the garden beyond, and was used to the feeling of life slipping through her cold, cursed fingers. This was all familiar, in some way or another.
And yet- here, in this field of pale white and purple lilies, hyacinths, and chrysanthemums- She’d never felt more alive. Her skin was warm, the soft flowers didn’t wilt under her touch, and her body no longer ached with the weight of hundreds to thousands of unfulfilled souls. Existence here could be sweet, if not a bit lonely. But that was okay. She’d been lonely most of her life. The shadows and grace of solitude tended to be far more welcoming to her than any person, and she was never exactly keen on the idea of forming a close bond only to lose it the moment she got a little too close.
This existence suited her, alone in the pale garden of death. Surrounded by flowers and shimmering bluish-purple crystal walls that refused to show her reflection. It was almost poetic, how perfectly she fit into this place. There was nowhere she could think of that would suit her better.
Right?
In all honesty- no, not really. Despite everything, she longed for the warm embrace of another human, longed for the feeling of comfort that would come from finally being free to have such an opportunity, and longed for the sense of accomplishment upon finally taking it.
Despite everything, she wished her hands were gloved in life rather than death. But there was nothing to be done about that now.
The intense golden light that eventually sheared the garden in two nearly blinded her, and she instinctively shied away from the disturbance that had so suddenly broken the monotonous peace. A gentle whisper graced her ears however, and she pulled her hands away from her eyes to see a stream of rainbow light flowing around her. It felt almost like a hug, warm and comforting, before it left for a brief moment to join the golden blaze.
A hand reached out from the light, with a whisper of assurance.
And for once, Castorice took the hand without fear.
—-
Anaxagoras had never seen such bullshit. All his preparations, all his experiments and theories- proven, then thrown right out the window. Leave it to him to successfully transcend himself into the very core of Amphoreus and its code, only to be randomly booted into some sort of ethereal, eternal library.
To be completely honest though, it wasn’t the worst place in the world. The books were all ones he’d already read, but that made sense. It was unlikely that he would trust new information gained from the death plane, given that it was likely all a construction made from the essence of his soul and his own prior knowledge. A place to comfort him. How boring. It couldn’t have even had the courtesy to leave him with anything to experiment with, or- an admittedly selfish desire- a person to join him. A very specific person.
Whatever. It wasn’t up to him, so there was no reason to dwell. As time passed, he began to think back. On his life, and more importantly- the people in it. Mostly Phainon. That chaotic wreck of an absurdly intelligent boy, one of his students, turned into the fiercest warrior Anaxagoras had ever seen. Potentially that anyone had ever seen. He’d watched Phainon growing up, and now he was struck with the thought that he might’ve grown almost fond of the boy. The same boy that he’d ended up leaving, in the end. He couldn’t help but hope that, even if Phainon had suffered from his death, and probably many others- that it would all eventually come to fruition.
And it seemed that inevitably, it did. Anaxagoras was interrupted from his rereading of some random alchemy book by what seemed like the light of a hundred suns searing the very fringes of reality, burning away everything until it was just him. A swirling stream of rainbow light shot through the remains of the strange library, filling the air with gentle whispers. Eventually it came to a halt in front of him, and the golden light behind it seemed to turn it into the image of an outstretched hand.
Well, if such an intriguing sight was being offered to him so freely, and if it had the effect he was already theorizing it might- wouldn’t he be quite the fool to not take it?
—-
The sky was always such a beautiful sight. Hyacine was always enamored with the bright blues of the day, and had adored the image of the star-filled night skies beyond the effects of the Dawn Device. But here, in this strange, mirror-like dreamscape- the skies of Amphoreus had never seemed so dull in comparison.
A glassy expanse of shallow water stretched as far as the eye could see, reflecting the view of an infinite sky split in two- on one horizon, the bright blue of down soared upwards, darkening steadily until the deep indigo of night emerged directly above where Hyacine stood, small flecks of stars gradually growing in number and brightness until they vanished beyond the other edge of this eternity, shining in the billions and illuminating the otherwise sunless space.
Hyacine felt like she could spend forever here. It felt like a culmination of all the peace and comfort she could ever want, a reflection of the kindness she had so freely given out for so long. A view of infinity that she could never have dreamed of, an embodiment of the true beauty of the sky.
However, the fact that she was alone here lingered on the edges of her mind. Being by herself had never suited her well, and even when she wasn’t around other people, she usually had at least Little Ica for company. Yes, the innate calm of this infinite sky made it a bit more bearable, but it still bugged her. Was this how Cassie had always felt? Okay with her forced circumstances, but unable to escape the pit of emptiness that came from it? Was this how Phainon would feel, as the only person able to witness the end?
The thought made her want to cry. How she wished she could’ve relieved her friend’s pain, relieved everyone’s pain, for that matter. She couldn’t now, though. All she could do was wait in this infinite sky, and hope that eventually, her wish, and everyone else’s for that matter, would eventually be granted.
The sign that it had finally happened came in the form of what looked like a sunrise, turning the skies more colours than she could’ve imagined before they began to shatter and burn. A wisp of joyous laughter soared by in the form of a streak of rainbow light, and when the new sun finally blazed fully over the horizon, burning away the night, the rainbow light offered her a hand. One that felt like a second chance, and a chance to be reunited with her friends again.
She took it in an instant, eager to see the new dawn ahead.
—-
The first thing Tribios noticed when she woke up was that- well- she woke up. As a singular being. She could feel her body, much larger than she’d been in a very long time, and, for the first time in ages- she felt whole. Mostly, anyways. She didn’t dare open her eyes for a while, as if doing so would end up splitting her apart again. Not that she had entirely minded the extra company, but having her conscious split in three was quite the headache.
When she finally did open her eyes, it was to what appeared to be a rather simple sort of temple, loosely decorated by vines and other various greenery that served as nice accents to the otherwise mostly plain white walls. Traditional style pillars and arches of marble and quartz were the only notable architectural features of the place, though Tribios did notice that there were also glimmers of deep bluish-purple crystal around, shining in the moonlight and reflecting back her image perfectly. Well, almost perfectly.
Despite the fact that she could feel her body was larger, look down at her adult hands and see her old clothing on her body, her reflection in the dark crystal was that of her three smaller forms, all staring back at her with faintly melancholic smiles. She stood up, and very abruptly nearly fell right back over. Her body felt so different now, but she managed to slowly stagger over to the nearest crystal mirror before collapsing in front of it, a hand pressed to the cool, glassy surface. She looked down to catch her breath, but upon looking back up, she lost it again at the sight of Trianne, Tribbie, and Trinnon all putting their own hands against hers in the reflection. The smiles never left their faces, even as they all looked up at something beyond Tribios.
She turned to see a blazing light, like a rising sun, suddenly flooding the temple, beginning to burn away the walls and pillars around her. A multicoloured beam of light suddenly streamed into the rapidly deteriorating temple, and backlit by the golden blaze it seemed to take the form of an outstretched hand. Tribios looked back at her reflection, and though the glare made it hard to see, there was no doubt that the 3 split Tribios’ were all nodding at her encouragingly.
A three-toned, gentle whisper passed through her mind.
We’re still here with you. We are Tribios. All of us. Take the hand, and we’ll see you tomorrow.
The hand was still being offered to her when she looked back. When she took it, it felt like the final piece to her puzzle had finally slotted back into place. She stood, and let the hand guide her into the new day.