Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was oddly touching that someone else would have even passing concern for him or Iron. He didn't expect anyone or anything in this world to care one iota for him, for all the respect he had shown them. But this greyling sounded genuine, bafflingly so. Kindness was rarely found, even in the memories he repossessed. "Ta." he said, thank you. "And aye. Here's to a future."

Reap tensed up immediately at the hand on his shoulder that followed, recognising the voice without even having to think about it. But the reaction was not revulsion or rejection, it was sheer crushing guilt as he remembered in a collision the dissonance between how he'd behaved towards Rojand and the memories that surged newly restored in his thoughts like a white hot chord of affection. He'd told him he hated him, but really he loved him. It was inexcusable, surely it was?

His lips twitched in a frown for just a moment before he turned, and on a whim that came from deeper than the memories that were Reap, took hold of Rojand's hand and pulled him into a loving embrace, lingering for a few long moments.

"I'm a ******** idiot." he said.

Time had no more meaning when the shrine spoke, stilling all of the urges within him. It meant their role in the creation of whatever tapestry the goddesses had made them to help weave, was over. He vaguely remembered letting go of a hand, when he felt the call. Everything stopped. Even his heart.

Had he even walked here? He couldn't remember the journey. He was in front of the shrine, stepping into the room he'd entered so many times before. The room he'd never seen. The room he couldn't forget.

And the goddesses were still as stone, statues that told him nothing but the silent promises their ever changing plaques had to offer.

He read the word final, and knew it was the end.

We love you most, the pedestal said. His still, quiet heart suddenly throbbed with disagreement. No, he was loved. He was loved most. Not the goddesses, but --

Trebor's head turned and his eyes were clouded over, filled with gray as the fog calls to him. There, waiting just beyond where he can see, he's sure he'll be loved most. He's sure whatever makes his heart beat will be waiting. Until then, it was silent, cold, and still. A dim yellow, barely flickering. He was so much more of a shadow than he'd seen around him. He'd never found what he was looking for.

He thought he had. A flicker of longing hit him. He thought --

The door waited in front of him. His hands reached out for it, slowly reading the only words it gave. It took him longer than the rest - and didn't it always? Didn't it always.

His hand pressed against his still heart. He was sure it had beaten once. He'd felt it underneath his own hand. Fluttering, throbbing, wanting, needing, taking --

His hands fell away from the door. He refused to push it open; nothing was waiting for him, after all.

Only an end.

Tiletk had wandered up to the shrine, his fingertips interlaced with Fayre's as they walked together. They always walked together now - it got to the point where he simply couldn't imagine not being next to her in some fashion. Thoughts danced on his mind.

Initially he wanted to coax Fayre into ignoring the calling, and to running away with him. Running away to where nothing could part them ever but he couldn't bring himself into telling her any of this. Running is what lesser beings did. Running is what prey did. If he had to run he would shame himself and Fayre both. He squeezed her hand lightly as he stalled despite the calls to step forward and sacrifice.

You cannot escape forever.

He wanted to tell her something, something that was at the tip of his tongue. It had to do with who he is but his words wouldn't come out and no matter how hard he tried to call it forward it just never came, he remembered but he didn't remember. It was awkward and it would have been cruel if he had recalled the other times where he was aware of this remembrance only to have it tugged away from him.

When it came down to it, he remembered nothing of his name.

His heart swirled with colors but he barely noticed it, just as he had barely noticed the glowing skullpin on his person. These were trinkets, tiny things. Small nuances as far as he was concerned. Tiletk was simply himself and he knew...

"I love you," this he said out loud and quietly to Fayre. Bluntly and forwardly. These words surfaced and came out of his mouth so easily though he did not have them before. "I...I wanted you to know before we..."

Tiletk didn't want to finish the thought.

he had come, despite herself, despite her better judgement and own desires, because they called, and she had to obey. Compelled in such a way that she could not refuse, no matter how much she doubted or how much she she wished she could stay away.

What they had to say did not better her opinion, and she tared blankly up at the three as they demanded a sacrifice, again. Not just a memory, not this time, but her heart, everything she was or would be. It was a steep price, and she retreated a step, hand pressed over her core, defiant, frightened. She didn't want to continue onward, but she went through those doors because she no longer had a choice. They had taken the choice from her.

Inside there were others, some familiar, some not, but they were not what stole Coyote's attention and left such a devastated, hopeless look upon that sweet face.

Memories, memories lot, given up, taken, and now regained. She stood with her hand pressed against her core and she felt heat wash over her in an overwhelming rush as she remembered standing in a solemn hall with her tiny hand engulfed in the warm, shaking grasp of her father.

There were gaps, some short, some long, but the timeline played, this time in proper order. A funner l, a broken man making sandwiches for two little girls, an over worked father with no time to spare for the children left behind that he provided for. She Stood there, The events of the past, her past playing out before her, and her legs trembled, knees weak, as somber colors played within the swirling core of her heart.

There were no happy memories to recall, nothing to suggest she had anything positive to return to or look forward to. It made her despair, and all that raw emotion finally surfaced in a cracked, helpless sob.

There was something undoubtedly freeing about knowing everything was coming to an end. Something that made you forget all the questions, all the suffering, and simply live in the moment. Her grip on his hand was firm, but there was no question about whether they were going to answer the call of the shrine or not. She knew she was going to have to say goodbye. She was ready to do it on her terms.

When they entered the room, Fayre briefly recalled the first time she'd seen the statues in front of her. She'd been so different, then. Had that even been her? So quiet, unsure, scared; she didn't even know what smiling was. Now she couldn't stop. Even now, she couldn't stop. Even though every reason for smiling was being plucked away from her like a ripe fruit, leaving her to droop and wither without it.

She almost immediately tried to walk for the door, but Tiletk wasn't ready. She knew this, because he was speaking; he was saying something. A word - no, a string of words, put together to express a feeling. She turned around, her expression vacant and confused. She was putting the words together, in her mind. They were like a puzzle - they didn't fit - maybe this one should go first, and then.. no, maybe just..

Her core swirled with a very faint, very dull blue. He was a rainbow, a beautiful creature almost whole - and she was merely an echo of something that might have been. Her eyes crinkled, and she smiled.

She knew how to smile.

"How do you know what love is?" She asked, her voice tinged with amusement and jealousy.

No one existed as much of anything to Amity except for their hearts, but he recognized those well enough.

Or at least, he recognized one of them.

The noise broke out of her just as he stepped up behind her, and it hurt even though he didn't want to think that someone else's pain could hurt.

He wasn't sure why (he wasn't sure why, he wasn't sure why; that was the refrain of his now-life) but he reached out and rested a shaky skinny hand on the back of Coyote's neck, and said nothing. Just stood there, looking ahead of both of them and not at her, with his fingers twisting up under her curls, carefully at arm's length.

Even now wasn't a time to get too close.

"I just - wanted to stay with you guys," Rojand said quietly. He swayed towards Reap, just a little. "Sorry I was an a** to you." Flickers of half-memories, fragments he had barely grasped. Reap remembered more than he did, maybe. He wished he knew more.

He looked over to Iron. "He's here. You go on - I need to go say something. I'll be right there. Okay?"

Rika found herself once again surrounded by the familiar pillars and pedestals. Reading the plaques, her brow furrowed the longer she read. Final task? Wall? Sacrifice her memories? If this was the end, what would become of her? With this question spinning in her mind, she passed through the fog, almost as if it were dragging her, to stand in front of a door. Reading the inscription, her eyes widen in disbelief.

Offer to us your Heart.

She couldn't give up the only thing she laid claim to! If she lost her heart... wouldn't she disappear? Or would she become a goddess? Placing her hand over her chest, she felt the warm blue glow from within. Could she really give up her heart, and if so what would happen? Hesitantly, she placed her hands on the door and pushed it open. It creaked ominously in the silence, as if to signal the beginning of the end.

Rika had to do a double-take as she walked into a room that was seemingly identical to the one she'd just been in. No... it was indeed different. The statues were glowing, but not in their original colors. Rika shuddered as she walked up to inspect the statues, and caught a glimpse of the words upon each plaque:

Sacrifice yourself for us

Had this all been a trick? Was she there only to serve as fodder for the goddess' ambitions? No, she wouldn't let herself be used like that!

Whirling around at the sound of shuffling, she saw shadows moving in the distance. Enemies? Were they here to take her heart? Before she could reach for her weapons, she noticed a familiar glow. Hearts, just like hers... well, almost. These were not enemies, but wanderers like her. Gazing down at her own heart glowing within her, she marveled at the amalgam of colors that weaved their way through the once pure blue core. She had so many new experiences, so many new memories. Memories...

In a blinding instance, memories came flooding into her. Her confusion at the fragments of memory while hunting for shards. Her sadness at attacking what had once been a dear friend, not once, but twice. Her disgust in herself for prioritizing her life over the life of another. Her happiness in finding that someone had loved her, regardless of who she was. Someone loved her? But who? Wasn't it important? Who... was she?

Clutching her shoulders in an effort to keep the memories from overflowing within her, she wracked her brain for the answer. Her eyes clenched shut, hoping to dredge up an image, a word, anything. Think! It had to be there. The person that loved her so dearly...

Her soul searching was interrupted as the floor began to shake an an intense pressure descended upon her. Rika gasped as the world went red and an audible crack tore through her surroundings followed by numerous others.

Forcing her eyes open, she found the world had been dyed red as well. Looking up, she immediately jumping back with a startled yelp. The moon had gotten closer, soaked in a blood-red hue with single beady eye staring at her, as if peering into her soul, judging her with that wicked smile.

She had to get away, but she couldn't move as the grinning orb moved closer... closer... until she felt like it was swallowing her whole. No, she didn't want this! As she tried to struggle in her red prison, a voice rang out. She winced at the harsh tone that seemed to stab her with every word. Queen? Throne... false kings? Give... her heart?

This was the final task? To give her heart to this... thing?! She refused! Such a being so full of coldness and hatred didn't deserve her heart!

Her mind cried out, but her body had a different plan as it slowly shuffled forward without her consent. No... she didn't want to! She didn't want her heart going to such a spiteful queen! Rika continued screaming internally, even as her hand absently reached towards her chest. Her heart was going to be taken, whether she wanted it or not. She couldn't! She wouldn't! But her body would...

"Will you give up so much-

"-when you have experienced so little in return?"

A slow rumbling caused her body to halt. Absently peering into the crimson sky, she watched as it split apart. A shower of green and gold poured forth, fighting off the sea of red that had once painted the world. Even the moon wasn't safe from the waves of green and gold as it too became overwhelmed. Breathing a sigh of relief at regaining control of her body, she dropped to her knees, patting her chest just to make sure her heart was still there. That horrid queen wouldn't get Rika!

Rika? Was that her? No... it wasn't. But if not... what was her name? Her true name...

Rika was broken out of her thoughts as the ground shook once more. The building in the distance morphed wildly, gates launching out of the ground, tree roots rising with no clear path. The war between the colors was spinning out of control. If the didn't do something, everything would be destroyed. But what could she do?

Her heart.

Her heart could stop this. The only question was which side to choose. Words rose in her mind. Destruction: the power to obliterate, Pride: the power to endure, and Creation: the power to breathe life.

She certainly wouldn't choose destruction, not after having her heart nearly ripped out without her consent. Pride didn't seem like the right choice either... who would there be to remember her, or even care? Creation... to take small pieces and combine them to make something greater. To use knowledge to advance the world to a better place. This one felt right. Slowly rising to her feet, she held her hand up to her chest and made her choice.

She chose Creation.

She watched as the chaos around her settled into lush and peaceful greens and browns. Her hand still on her heart, she approached a lone pedestal. A single crown lay on top of it, beckoning for something. She knew what she had to do.

Digging into herself, Rika gasped and grunted at the pain that overtook her. Her grunts developed into cries, and those descended into agonizing screams the farther she dug. She didn't want this, but it was better to have a choice in her heart's destination rather than have it taken by force. As her hand wrapped around her heart, her tugging seemed to knock something loose. Memories.

"I can never forgive you!" Just a little further...

"Being great is about more than just looking intimidating. It's about what's inside you." Almost...

With an audible snap, Rika pulled her hand out, her heart glowing and pulsating in her grasp. She gasped and wheezed from the effort it'd taken to remove it as she began to feel a dull cold coming over her. Trudging forward, she grabbed the side of the podium to steady herself as she placed her heart in front of the crown.

"You have made the correct choice. This is the end for you, but the beginning for me. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."

With this everything would be set right. She would create a new beginning. She closed her eyes, taking in the last few memories her body still held despite how cold it'd become. She didn't mind how the few memories she still retained ebbed away. She didn't mind the voices in her head, shouting out her name...

Her name? Ah, yes... that... was her name... her... true... name...