Knees At the center of a once peaceful lake in a grove of poplar trees Evelyn towered over Azruphel’s corpse. She watched with tear drenched eyes as the priceless gown disappeared into snowflakes as she faded. Bowing her head, she recognized her failure. She had never been able to say she loved her mother, her pride and cowardice too powerful. Evelyn clenched her left fist once, then released. It would end today.(Or would it?) Extending her other hand towards the group assembled at the lake’s edge, the sword of flame flew to her hand. Clarent had felt her grasp before, and feared her. Trembling, he was shocked to hear her request. "Will you slay me, Clare?" And from the blade rang a cold voice in answer,"yea i will drink thy blood, that I may forget the blood of Titan my master, and the blood of Umbra slain unjustly. I will slay thee swiftly" One of the figures stepped from the group and called out to her. “What you doing?” "Saying goodbye. Goodbye, dad. Take care of the kids, please?" Before Evelyn could stab herself, Clarent stabbed into her chest. The fire spread throughout her whole form, erasing her consciousness from the throne. Despair had died twice. The group was in shock, and we will leave that dreadful scene that never happened. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Evelyn awoke with a gasp, sitting up straight in a shallow stream. She found herself on a disc floating somewhere in space. To her left, all was Deep black. Sharp, thorned plants grew on the bank. Sharp pyramids stretched beyond the disc. To her right all was light and peaceful, with freshly cut grass covering peaceful hills. Soft white orbs gently floated beyond this edge. Looking down, the river was grey and so were the rocks at the bottom. “Eve?” Evelyn jumped into a defensive position, her nanites forming shield generators and turrets. Cruel red energy flowed through her eyes, and combat mode engaged. “Put those toys away, my friend. We must be going.” A tall, lean figure wearing black armor approached her from the Deep side. Without his signature mask, she could hardly recognize him. “Umbra?” “Yes. And yet, no. You only knew me as the aspect of death, and now, I am myself once more. Come, follow me.” He took her hand, and walked downstream. She noticed he did not dare touch the water, being very careful to levitate over if necessary. Before she could ask, they reached the center of the disk. A tall figure in glowing, white robes sat facing away from them on a small fountain. “Mom? Mom!” Evelyn’s eyes turned blue and she sprinted to the fountain. Almost tackling her, the mother and daughter embraced. “I… I thought you were gone!”said Evelyn. “I am, my dear. And you would be too, if it wasn’t for him,” responded Az, pointing towards a small sphere approaching them. Evelyn zoomed in, finding a small sphere of polished platinum. It slowly grew, and opened to reveal a simple, grey equine. Umbra reached the fountain, and took a knee with them in the presence of his majesty. “Please, stand. You’re too kind,” said Zbruh. He motioned for Evelyn to sit, and stood before her. “My dear, you have suffered much. But your past mistakes have caused a multitude of pain for others. I can hardly fathom the amount of disruptions your first suicide caused, let alone your second. This cannot go unpunished.” Evelyn bowed her head, accepting her fate. “But, you have caused good. Your children vouched for you, giving examples of your patient motherliness. Because of this, we found an alternative sentence.” The sphere opened wider, and two more figures stepped out. The first looked like a smartly dressed elf in black suit and tie with an icosahedron on his necklace. He stepped aside, and his comrade floated through. She appeared as several crystal shards that gently clanged together in harmony. “Allow me to introduce Random and Harmony, the most powerful heads who joined our cause.” “A pleasure as always, Z.” Random shook Eve’s hand, his wide smile almost proving disconcerting. “Enchanted,” said Harmony. Her figure gave off vibes of gentleness in chaos, an eye of the storm. “Your task is to journey with these two and fix the timeline from the start,” said Zbruh. “You know your own failures the best, and must reverse them. I advise stitching the timelines together well enough that the casual explorer from time will not notice the seams. Pay careful attention to the swords and those whose trust is hard to obtain. Oh, and one more thing.” Zbruh gently tapped Evelyn on the forehead with his wing, and her armor turned an ivory white. “A sign of your new calling. Deter not from the path, and you may follow us beyond. Good luck, Eve. I’m counting on you.” Eve nodded as Zbruh re-entered the sphere, taking a knee once more. Turning to her mother, she noticed Umbra and Azruphel were following Zbruh into the sphere. Panicked, she grabbed her mother by the legs, begging her not to leave. “No! I… I… I never got to… got to say…” “You love me? My dear, I know. Most of all, I know. But we must go beyond, to the realm of Twilight. If you can reverse these mistakes, you may follow. I know you can.” Az gently wiped away her daughter’s tears, and kissed her on the forehead. As Evelyn slowly stood up, she saw a tear go down her mother’s face. The sphere closed, and the balanced few had gone. “You’ll be fine, Eve. Besides, the worst has yet to come,” said Harmony. Eve nodded, and the new trio departed to the past.