Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mimi was HONORED to have been chosen as a dino trainer, especially... since... well, she wasn't quite sure why they never let her. Sure she was a bit clumsy and excitable and might have forgotten to lock the pens a few ties resulting in the larger dinos almost eating/killing someone BUT EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES, right???

Forgive and forget~
At least, that was her motto in life. And she didn't make THAT many mistakes...
But... she was finally turning over a new leaf! Not only did she get to TRAIN dinos, but she got to train BABY dinos!!!
Mimi cuddled the eggs affectionately, humming a little lullaby.
Everything would turn out just fine~

----------------------

As much as she loved each and every one of the "children" she looked over, a particular one had caught her eye. One she had affectionately dubbed "Tiny", as they were the runt of the litter. Despite being the smallest and the last to hatch, he had never let his bigger, older siblings take advantage of him. He was as feisty as ever with an attitude to boot, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of being docile and sweet, especially to her. Even after fighting off his siblings from trying to take his food (and even stealing some of his older siblings' food, which Mimi duly scolded him for doing), he would always try to share a portion with the equally-tiny girl, and when nighttime should fall, he would always curl up on her lap while she read bedtime stories to him.
A girl and her baby dino. A perfect little life.
At least... until the incident

---------------------

"N-no, please! It was an accident!! Don't hurt Tiny!!"
"It's too late. He's killed one of the caretakers. We can't take the risk."
"Please! It... it wasn't his fault! I saw what happened! They were bullying him! He... he was just defending himself. Please!!!"
As much as the girl cried, pleading for them to forgive, it was all in vain.
It... it wasn't fair!! That "caretaker" had ALWAYS been super mean to all the dinos, but they knew he was the "top boss" and feared him.
At least... all of them did except Tiny.

Had she... had she been there...
She had only stepped away for ONE second.
The fence that kept the dinos in had been twisted apart by one of the larger dinos, leaving a whole big enough for Tiny to squeeze through. Even now she wanted to think he was only curious and not trying to run away, but she couldn't pretend to not see the scars on his body that... while small, seemed to grow in number each day.
And even THEN he didn't do anything. Tiny was a good boy!!

But... she wasn't sure what happened, but Tiny...
Even now she believed it was in self-defense. The caretaker had ATTACKED Tiny, and to defend himself Tiny lashed back.
She wasn't sure quite how he was able to KNOCK the tall caretaker to the ground, nor did she know how he knew to... go for his neck.
It had been a painless death she was sure, but... it had been brutal. Despite his size, Tiny HAD grown, and one clamp around the caretaker's windpipe was enough to kill him. If that didn't do it, snapping his neck definitely did the trick.

"PLEASE!! NO!!!"
She could hear Tiny's anguished cries. Couldn't... couldn't they have given him a painless death as well? Why torture him? It was... cruel. Too cruel.
Her crying grew louder and louder when Tiny's grew softer. Even when the crying ceased she continued to cry.

I could have stopped it. I could have saved him.
Through her anguished tears she sobbed and sobbed.
Tiny... I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.

890 words


Lareina neatly patted down the folds of her green dress, disgruntled that the book she fell in to gave way to so much dust and grime. Even if their city was in a near apocalyptic state, surely some of the Hivemind could afford to clean up a little! Also their incessant chanting was getting annoying.

One of us. One of us.

Now, a city in a ruinous state in itself was no problem to Lareina; she was a reaper, after all, and human death was a natural part of her job description. What was a problem, however, was the fact that every human being pulled into the Hivemind meant they were essentially clones of one another. Could you imagine reaping the same soul over and over again? Sweet pumpkins, the monatony of it all! Her catalog would have all entries filed under one heading! Where was that human folly? Their ingenuity? Their creativity?

From what she could gather, apparently all that died when some spandex clad group did. The solution was clear then: Lareina must make the humans wear spandex to return them to their proper state of stupidity. And she must do it without human Fear, for there was none left here.

She could only hope that time passed at a different pace in a story than in her own world. After day 1, it became obvious that forcing 7 billion struggling humans into squeaky tight clothing was no simple feat. She did manage to get some of the tiny humans with poor speech into a swath of latex, so 4 down, 6,999,999,996 to go.

Proud of being off to a good start, Lareina took some time to observe the effect in day 2 (a note: apparently when in a book, smaller tasks such as sleeping and going to the bathroom were irrelevant; this was a nice time saver). Hm, no apparent alterations in the human behavior. Well, all of the newspaper clippings showed busty women and men with many layers of muscle, so perhaps it had to be such a type. The next day she managed to wrangle in such a man, emulating one of those net traps she had seen humans use before. One human spandex cocoon later, Lareina continued the process of elimination: Manboob window? Check. Mask? Check. Heeled boots? Check. The human was released back to the wild, but no further changes were noted. What more did they want?!

Clearly she was missing something.. Ah! The classic billowing cape. On day 3, the reaper determined that this cape must flutter just so for it to work, for all the photos with capes were quite majestic. Perhaps she should start wearing one. To test it's flutter-bility, the reaper sought the tallest point in the sky: Yes, that floating disc shall do nicely. Now, reaching a floating object without being able to fly was particularly tricky, but she managed to find the tractor beams that cycled the humans up and down for maintenance fairly easily.

At first she tried to join their chant and shuffle along, but they were all mentally connected to one another and could instantly sense her Otherness. Well excuse me for being different! Just build a wall why don't you! Her next attempt at sneaking in went more smoothly: She squatted (excuse me, shuffled elegantly) under a box until she reached the landing pad, whereupon the tractor beam pulled her up with nary a hitch.

Finding a window or deck to check the cape's ability to flutter properly also proved to be a surprisingly difficult task. She snuck around corners and tried each of the hissing doors to no avail. At some point, she opted to just punch every button she came across, for surely one of them would open a window. Lareina began to doubt this logic when it caused the sirens to wail and the flashing red lights to flicker like a strobe. When she felt the pit of her stomach drop, the reaper realized the disc was plummeting from the sky - Ah, no! She must test the cape before it fell any further!

Following those who were fleeing, the green haired girl found herself in front of an open window at last! She tossed the cape out the window, watching how it descended alongside the sinking vessel. Yes, this was perfect fluttering! This would save humanity!

The crash was an unexpected one; why would they not have landing gear? See what happens when you don't let humans have their creativity? Utterly disgusted at being coated in dirt, it took the reaper some time to pry herself out of the wrangled metal mess. Emerging into the light, she could hear the screams of joy and sorrow. Ah, the humans were individuals again. It truly was the perfect cape. The book permitted her leave at such a happy ending.

It is said that many books following this one employed great use of capes, of which became the cause of many heroic deaths as their capes kept getting snagged on things, thereby allowing more villains their victory over the span of the century. Well, the consequence was of no matter to Lareina, who didn't so much as look back at it when she returned to the real world. The first thing to do was to find that book gremlin to receive her praise for a job well done.

“No… Just no.”

That was all Dr. Wu said to Dr. Bing after after she suggested her project. It was just an idea that popped off the tip of her brain. She probably would’ve forgotten about in a few seconds. But, Dr. Wu said her magic word. Now it was on.

No? Oh! I thought you said, “Go.” As in go do that! Yeah, that’s what I’ll tell him.

Dr. Bing didn’t get this far by years of education and experience. She got here with some forged documents and a pyrite tongue. She knew it was only a matter of time before she was found out, so she was going to have as much fun of as could until then. It was easier than she thought to obtain DNA for her solo project.

They really should beef up the security around here. Guess, I’ll just pick one that sounds little. Amphicoelias fragillimus… Fragillimus sounds like a fragile Gallimimus. So it’s probably a little egg-eater. Yeah, that sounds adorable!

With a lot of deception, the sly scientist’s project moved forward. The infant sauropod hatched on Site B. Dr. Bing was there for it’s birth. She named the dinosaur Winsor.

“See! I knew you’d be a pocket pal!”

As time lumbered on, Winsor quickly started to grow. Dr. Bing came up with lie after lie and a whole army of excuses to keep Dr. Wu or any of her higher ups from finding out about her secret project. She was happy that Winsor was an herbivore. Missing trees were much easier to account for than missing dinosaurs. But as Winsor came closer and closer to adulthood, she was much more difficult to hide. Isla Sorna was larger than Isla Nublar, but a reptile that is almost two-hundred feet long is not something people usually can ignore.

Yup, I’m getting fired… Like extra fired. They’ll have to make a new word for the level of fired I’m going to be. Bing will be a synonym for “screwed beyond all reason.” Maybe I should just get out while I can. But, I can’t abandon Winsor. They’ll want to to put her down or something! I can’t let them do that to her! I’ll find a way to convince them. She’s not an insanely huge abomination! She’s an insanely huge attraction! Yeah, I’ll go over Dr. Wu’s prodigal head. I’ll talk to Hammond. He likes big, crazy ideas. He’s the damn king of big, crazy ideas!

Unfortunately, before the hopeful Dr. Bing could speak to John Hammond, Dr. Hu and several other higher ups finally got wind of Winsor. Dr. Bing found out they planned on putting down the behemoth dinosaur by depriving it of lysine. The carcass would be discretely and efficiently disposed of by allowing the island’s carnivores to feed on it. Dr. Bing was to be fired immediately and was going to be buried in heavy legal actions.

What have I done? This is all my fault. I have to do something!

The guilty scientist hurried through the jungles of Isla Sorna. She was desperate to find Winsor before anyone else. She had no confidence that she could do anything to stop them. She had run out of ideas. Dr. Bing ran with all her strength. She panted loudly and shouted incoherently. She knew she was an obvious target for any predators lurking in the dense jungle and she didn’t care. At the very least, she wanted to say she was sorry and say goodbye.

“Dammit! Where are you?!”

She tripped and hit her head hard on a tree. The impact put a buzzing sensation in her skull. She dropped down to her knees and buried her face in some leaves in defeat. Abruptly, the tree next to the one she ran into moved. It wasn’t a tree at all. It was one of Winsor’s towering legs. Dr. Bing ran to her creation and hugged her colossal leg.

“There you are! I’m so damn sorry! I don’t know what to do. They’re coming for you and I’m never going to see you again.”

Before she could shout anything else, a worker arrived to assess the situation. He was going to say that John Hammond heard about Winsor and demanded the creature be allowed to live out her life naturally. But before he could say anything, Winsor’s massive tail whipped around and took his body apart. It appeared that the giant sauropod viewed the stranger as a threat and wanted to protect the scientist. Dr. Bing was in shock. Panic took control of her as she looked at the pile of human death near her. She said her final farewells and ran. She hid on the island until she could sneak onto a ship.

I’m just a coward Winsor. Leaving you behind is the worst thing I can do… I’ll never forgive myself.

Do not feed the dinosaurs when it was not their allotted feeding time. Those were the rules from day one. They had followed them to a perfect T, making sure the reptiles, (if they could and should have just have been considered reptiles at all was another subject entirely), always got their meal of fresh live stock at exactly 7 am before any public showing. Something that had always struck Lure as particularly odd. Most people found the feedings interesting. But then again, most people also got too touchy over when little baa baa black sheep ended up without any wool and turned into bones yes sire, two bags full.

It was the cycle of life, and if tourists really gave a damn about the creatures they were so enamored with, they would have actually not gone nuts at the feedings and the 'inhumane treatment' of the feedings. It was a show. Just so happened that the small raptors that Lure had raised were a tad bit more aggressive than their larger counterparts. Had to be probably, given who they would have been in direct competition with for food.

This morning was no different than any other starting out. The old sheep, sheered, had been brought into the pet and tied to the post. The tiny feathered raptors let loose once Lure was out of the enclosure, and wham bam thank you ma'am the dinos killed quick, loudly, and the sheep was picked clean in under 30 minutes. It signaled that now fed, it was semi safe for Lure to go in and begin the basic training routines.

There was only two- Lapis and Mica. Named for pigments- small dots of color that had been on their shell. A pair of twins- the other tiny raptors of their same species having died recently due to complications stemming from climbing in a tree and taking a bad fall.

Hindsight 20/20- they should have been better suited to the inevitable cannibalism between them. They were in the end predators.

Small coos and chirps from the pair, Lure smiled, swaying their head back and forth as the raptors did the same before the usual bob. Up and down, up and down. Like birds. It was cute in a sort of could rip you apart way. Tiny teeth and claws- only they were actually several inches long and were made of pure muscle. Like eagles, other birds of prey, raptors to raptor- all were dangerous, deadly, just a matter of one was more feathered than the other. One was more universally accepted than the other.

A head nudging to Lure's side kept them mindful of where the two moved, Twins they might have been but all it took was an imbalance of attention and you gave them, wild animals, to attack. They liked Lure, only cooed and came close to them. But it did not stop idiots later that day. The cooing disarming from one of the cleaners.

All it took was a feeding gone wrong- a mistake. They ate past morning so now they knew they could eat whenever they had prey.

An arm torn off though bars, a man had bleed out, screaming, trashing in pain while the facility went on lockdown and guns fired into the enclosure. By the night's end, three beings were dead. The poor ignorant cleaning man who had given to the nature of man, curous.

Lapis and Mica, two had simply done what animals, predators did when they encountered prey. They attacked, pounched. Ate and then left when they sensed danger. But dinosaurs did not escape bullets.

Lure looked at their bodies being carted away.
Rules didn't always protect those intended.

He was lost.

It felt like this had happened before -- wandering endlessly, searching for something he knew not the name of, his hand drawn up to his chest and clutching the fabric of his clothing as he walked, tension spread out through the entirety of his being.

Music seemed to surround him, and it was impossible to tell if it was in his head, or if it came from the shadows around him, wafting up from his feet as he walked.

Don't you miss having a soul?

The voice made him stop, his expression perplexed as he stared forward, his breath speeding up.

You should find your true heart.

Sucking in a breath, Etzer swayed on his feet, feeling as if he was going to collapse any moment. His true heart... did that mean he had a false one? Or did that mean... he didn't have one at all?

The thought confused him, and he pressed his hand against his chest, trying to get his pounding heart to slow down --

There's nothing there.

Eyes widening in realization, the heartless collapsed to his knees, arms wrapping around himself as he sucked in a sharp breath, long hair pooling over his shoulders as panic slid over his face.

No.

No no no this was all wrong, how could he not have a soul...!? Didn't he feel as others did? Didn't he have emotions...?

Something came into his view as he began to see again, arms automatically extending to receive the item floating in front of him.

Power of the Warrior. Invincible courage...

The words were spoken, yet not spoken -- they crept into his mind, staying there, alerting him to this particular object in front of him.

Etzer blinked once, then pulled away from the floating weapon, rising to his feet. Courage was not something he had innately, it was something he edged away from, something he knew he didn't have.

Deep down, he was a coward.

Turning away completely, Etzer frowned as he saw another object in the distance. He walked slowly, feeling like he was walking through boggy water, before he saw a shield floating just a few feet away.

Again, the words seemed to embed themselves in his mind.

Power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends...

Etzer didn't even reach out for this one.

He had no friends.

None that were left, anyway.

He didn't even have his brother.

The third, and last, object... seemed brighter than the rest. He felt himself drawn to it, even before the words seemed to 'speak'.

Power of the Mystic. Inner strength...

He breathed in before taking the weapon, fingers closing around it as a thrum of power slid through his hands, coursing through his body.

Inner strength.

That was how he kept going, wasn't it? Because of his inner strength. His determination to keep existing...

To find his heart.

He still felt empty, but with the rod he held in his hands... glancing to it, he squeezed it gently with his hand, before setting off down a particular path that revealed itself, blocks of squares sliding into a makeshift path.

The way things were coming together... it didn't worry him at all.

He knew he'd always been searching for something... and now thanks to some whispers in the wind, he finally figured out what that object was.

His soul.

Glancing to his weapon again, he gripped it tightly before walking to the staircase, climbing up it with ease... his gait slow, but determined.

Etzer would find his soul, and become whole again.

He'd be a person, right? That's what souls did...

... right?

Otto awoke slowly. His eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, with minimal sun peeking through a salmon coloured curtain. Was he back in Deus? The infirmary... no. He was in a hospital like room, but it seemed less stark, and a little bit more homely. Something smelled awful, and he had a bad feeling it might be him. Otto shifted to sit up, catching a glance of his arms as he tried. They were bare. By bare, they were scarless, smooth. He lost his breath. He had to be dreaming. Scars didn't just disappear. They faded, the lost their edge. But they did not vanish. His freckles were not nearly as prominent, as if he hadn't seen sun in years.

It must be a dream.

He looked up as a door opened, and a shocked nurse discovered him up in bed. "Oh." She paused, seeming as if she'd seen a ghost. Otto didn't recognize her. She wasn't wearing a division jacket. She wore normal scrubs like a real nurse. She double took and gasped. "Oh!" Rushing to his side, she checked vitals and other things a nurse did that Otto didn't truly grasp.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?" She asked calmly, patiently. Everything felt stiff, as if his blood were made of molasses. His limbs barely obeyed him. Just forming words was difficult. "Mm... fine." He murmured with much effort. It was a lie. He wasn't fine.

"Where am I?"

- - -

A coma, she'd told him some time later. Five years in a nursing facility or hospital of some sort. He forgot the name. He'd been told he'd been found in the field behind his house one morning, unresponsive. They didn't give him many details outside of that. After some tests and a much needed bath (to which, embarrassingly, he could not do on his own), he was left back in bed. To wait for his family to visit.

His family. His mom. His father.

They'd been alerted soon after he'd woken up. "They'll be so happy." They'd said. "Everyone was so worried." They insisted. Lies. All of it. His family had never had time for him. Did a five year coma suddenly make them good parents? No. Either they were faking it, or they felt guilty.

He didn't want to see them.

- - -

There were names and voices he recognized in the nursing staff that came in and out. He heard someone call for a woman named Enya, the nurse who'd found him awake. Her voice reminded him of Tenya, in that it was excitable, even if she tried to hide it. Other voices and names were too quiet or far, but still.. they rung familiar. Maybe others from Deus were here too? Perhaps this was another base, and that family comment was confused nonsense. But then.... the coma.. five years.

- - -

And there they were. His parents. They entered the room, stopping cold when Otto met their eyes. All of his fear and hate seemed to hide just behind the brim of his boiling point. Just below the surface, he wanted to blow up. So many years had passed, and he'd barely thought of them. But now, standing there, faces so familiar. It all came back as if he'd never left.

"Oh Otto.." His mothers eyes shined with tears, as she rushed to his side. Her hands held the sides of his face tenderly, as if afraid to break the illusion. "You're back.." She whispered, dark brown eyes searching his soul for recognition. "You came back." Her voice broke in a way he'd never heard from this woman he'd known to be so stern. She softly sat down on his bed and held him closely, yet never too tight. As if he were a stranger, yet she could not let go.

He didn't hold her back. His mind was at a crossroads of emotion. He didn't know which was best to express. He had questions. He had doubts. This had to all be some dream, or trick. His parents couldn't truly be here. He was supposed to be dead and buried to them. He'd been at Deus.. right? Truth and reality blurred together. Otto couldn't be sure where he was in time or space.

She pulled away softly as his father calmly crossed the room to sit down, his stern scowl ever present on his face. Yes, this he recognized. The disapproval and judgement shined through his gaze as if Otto had inconvenienced him by waking up at all. His mother sniffed, trying to maintain her conservative demeanour once more. Otto kept his focus on his mother, to avoid his dad's unpleasant gaze.

"So. The nurses. They told you what happened?" She asked, more her distant self again. "Yeah." He murmured, his jaw still feeling stiff and his tongue uncooperative. She nodded primly, moving herself to sit beside her husband. "Do you remember how it happened, Otto?" She tried to sound sensitive to him, but it came out like an interrogation. Was she always this awkward with him? Looking at the pair with older eyes, they seemed less militaristic, and more like adults pretending to know what to do.

Uncomfortable. They were uncomfortable.

"No." He said with confidence. Because he didn't remember. He remembered going on a mission to Halloween. He remembered Deus, his routines, his apartment. The first day he'd left for Deus was ages ago. Oddly, his dad looked down after that.

He knows something...

- - -

Days went by. He learned there were two nurses that cared for him round the clock on a regular basis. One was a sarcastic sort that Otto actually found to be fun to talk to. She reminded him of...

Another nurse that came was soft spoken and often led Otto through exercises to keep his muscles working. Kind and patient, despite Otto's insistence he could do everything by himself. He was wrong of course, but the man at least pretended it wasn't funny. Evidently, the man knew him well. He'd often come to care for Otto while he'd been in a coma.

Coma.. he was still sure this had to be a vision or something. This could not be reality. He had to get back. Had to get home to Deus. Chance was waiting...

He didn't wake from this dream. More days, and more nurses who'd seen to him over the years, each of them reminding him of the people he'd known at Deus. Was it that.. or were those people he met... truly what created his friends in Deus.

Had Deus been the dream?

A blond lady that motivated him while he worked on his muscles and tried to walk, a lady with a wide grin and silly laugh. A cute nurse who'd apparently read him bedtime stories, with a singsong voice and warm heart.

- - -

He was alone with his father one day. Otto did his best to ignore his presence, certain he was only there waiting for his mother to arrive. But then he spoke..

"Otto. We need to talk." Otto gave him a peevish look. His father stared back stoically, uncertain whether to let that adolescent attitude slide or not. "It's about the day you, umm...." Otto's attitude fell, and he felt dread settle in it's place. Whatever happened might solidify if where he was truly were reality or not. This could still be a dream, despite weeks having gone by. Right?Something in his heart was scared. He didn't want to know what happened.

Something flickered in his dad's eyes, and Otto knew he couldn't stop the man from speaking his mind. His dad's eyes had never looked so human. The man clutched his knees for support, staring Otto head on as the blond sat in bed.

"I was there with you out there. In that field. You and I were... we got into it." That was normal. Fights with him were an every day occurrence. "You.. did your normal thing, just mouthed off like the brat you always been. But I lost it. I hit you. Hard." He swallowed. "Real hard."

Regret. Guilt. That's what the was in his dad's eyes.

"You went down.. and hit your head on a rock." His eyes flicked down a moment as his dad caught his breath. Otto felt hot in his chest. Seeing his dad show an emotion other than anger alarmed him.

"I called the hospital, and you got rushed over but the damage was done. I told them I just found you out there." Of course he did. Sully his perfect image in public? Not for Otto. How he explained away the injury, he could barely guess.

"I've had a lot of time.. while you been here. Time to think. Where I... where we went wrong, your mom and me." He seemed to have calmed himself, but the cold distance he'd known the man to have seemed lost somewhere. Otto's throat hurt. He wanted to be mad at him. Yell and blame him for all his heart ache and trouble.

"We..." He seemed to struggle with words before settling on something. "Otto.. you were adopted." He said this as if it were revelation, but this was something Otto already knew. He kept his face still, and tried not to give anything away. "We took you in when your mom's brother and his wife needed to give you a new home. They had a kid of their own already. Sketchy on the details, but wanted to keep you in the family." He waved it off as if this were barely important. Otto felt tears p***k his eyes, despite the anger that swelled hot in his belly.

"That's all beside the point. The point is... we didn't really know what it meant to raise a kid. Specially not a kid like you. Thought balancin' one little brat and our job would be simple."

"We were wrong."

Otto squeezed his blankets hard, opening his mouth to let the old man have it. He was silenced as his dad held up a hand, wishing to continue.

"We.. dumped you on yer grandpa." Otto knew. "Let him raise you while we did our own thing." He knew this already. "And then he died." Otto remembered. With a broken heart he remembered that day. "Suddenly, we had a kid with a mind of his own and we didn't know how to deal with him. I saw you as my failure to..." He huffed, the word failure slipping past his lips distastefully. "I wanted my own kid. I couldn't. Doctors said we couldn't. S'why we took you. But then we had you and it weren't what I expected. Looked nuthin' like us. Acted like a spoiled brat, no thanks to grandma and grandpa spoilin' you rotten." Otto's anger began to die down, as sadness sunk in. He also realized something. Jebediah, his dad, was trying to make amends somehow. For Otto, for himself, he wasn't sure.

"You went down that day five years ago.. and I realized I'd never... never get the chance to.." He huffed and let himself show what he truly felt. Remorse, clear as the tears in his eyes.

"Otto you deserved better than what we gave you and I am so sorry." A heartfelt apology Otto never knew he wanted. He'd wanted to yell at Jeb, tell him how terrible he'd been, or show him how he'd hurt him over the years. But it fell away. All of it. The hurt was there, but Otto couldn't stop crying long enough to be ********'.. Otto, c'mere." Jeb stood abruptly and sat with Otto, pulling him against him. A hug. His dad, big bad Jeb, was hugging him. "I'm so sorry. So sorry." He murmured to himself, holding Otto tightly to his crisply ironed shirt. "Shouldn'tve taken you gettin' hurt to make it this far."

Maybe this was a dream. Maybe not. But something let go inside Otto's heart. A grudge he'd held for longer than he knew.

"I'm sorry too.." Otto murmured, almost outside of himself. He held Jeb back, his hands resting on the man's stiff shoulders.

"I forgive you, dad."