Gloria's Final Letter
Dear Benjamin and Annabel,
I never thought I'd have to write this down, the lessons I've learned and the morals I stand by, but it's never been more apparent than now that this may be the only chance I have to give this to you. If you're reading this, I've died without the opportunity to give you this message personally, but in words or in pen, it doesn't matter, as long as you receive it, something too vital to take to my grave unknown. By now you probably have so many questions about what's happened, but I'm sad to say I can't answer most of them, what I can tell you is what I've taken from it, what it all means. When I was young my father gave me a message, one very few people know, said it was my obligation to pass it on, so it won't die off, but through my life, all the things I've seen, the people I've met, I found something more, my own message to carry. Now I'll give you both of them. My ancestor passed down a story through the generations of my family, his story, never realized its purpose until I saw first hand what it all meant, for you, it should be relatable. Over four-hundred years ago, my ancestor, his name was Nathan, and four other travelers came upon a forest which held a spring in its center, both of the likes no man had ever seen before. Drinking from the spring, it gave them a gift beyond all comprehension, with powers none of them had ever dreamed of. As others were called by its signal beacon and angelic chants, they decided to use their powers for good, to carve out a better road for those who were blind to the signals to follow, they called themselves Pathmakers. They each had goals, deliverance from fear and pain, betterment of humanity to love, care, trust, to let all people see beauty as great as they'd seen, combined they sought to silently make a perfect world, but eventually their plans faltered. Other followers sought more, control over mortals and roles of superiority in humanity, then another group seceded themselves from the title altogether. Believing themselves chosen by destiny, they ventured to clear the world of all people who lacked the gift given them, and finding an ancient stone, a rock already carved out, taking the powers from fate's hold and placing it in the hands of mortals, they carved out another rock, severing not only themselves from humanity, but also the springs and the powers they held. Tainting the stone, they summoned forth a light, that would burn the world with the fires of the Acropolis, but the Pathmakers quickly interceded, blocking the lights and sparing the populace, but with their powers confined merely to the blood lines of existing, segregated holders, the Pathmakers disbanded and faded just as quickly as the Lightbringers, each of the five forced to bury a piece of the forest, and the hopes they once held. What resulted was a third group, composed of the majority of the spring followers, with morals of neutrality and xenophobia towards mortals, alongside the withering of the Pathmakers and the Relickers, merged one with the Lightbringers, still outnumbering those holding the true morals, and over four-hundred years later nothing's changed. When I first heard the story I took as little from it as my father, and everyone who'd heard it before him, despite Nathan's purpose standing indiscreetly in front of us the whole time, but from it I took something none of my family could ever see, a precognitial sign that the lights would burn for the second time within my lifespan, and with knowledge of it universally blotted out, I set to stop it. Along the way I found Calum's stories, and following them I saw history repeat itself almost word for word in the Assembly and the Relicker deserters of Omnitec, and from there it started to become much clearer. My ties to the Assembly eventually backfired, another group cited me as a political target, putting me and my whole family in danger, which along with the Assembly's small-scale activity level forced me to leave California to find answers, leaving behind everything I cared about in my life. Ties to everything but the lights cut, I could focus more on uncovering Nathan's purpose, for what it was worth. As I traveled further, visiting places they'd been, more of the story came with them, and the more I saw the aftermath of Nathan's story in everyday life, not just confined to follower descendants, but in the universal populace. Through all the people I'd met, ones sauntering in their everyday lives, the people who drove me from my home, and the men who would activate the stone a second time, coalesced with the few people like them I met to see that humanity had taken the same road as the Pathmakers. Nathan passed his story down hundreds of years, up until me to no avail, merely to show the end mean of his story, and the role that needed to be played in it. What he saw was the secedition of the spring followers as a precursor to history's fate, either as a catalyst to the results or a living example of what had always existed, just made it obvious. I saw the followers three groups in everyone I met over those years, in minor aspects of life, and in the major. The evil derivative, the Lightbringers and Relickers, bringing the lights a second time, the neutrals, isolated assemblies, safeguarding consistency, selected members for their survival and closetedness from outsiders, barring assistance and progression as a result, and the ones whose morals survived the centuries, like the person Nathan made me to be, the few that they were. In the twenty-three years I spent traveling the country I met only one person who held morals of the likes they'd cherished, in the forest, it still exists, whatever she was looking for is unclear to me, but I knew it was just, and I always remembered her for that reason, her name was Allison. For as long as it's been occurring, the people of the world have been divided into these three groups, and as many occurrences paralleled to Nathan and Calum's tails, have that many times the good faded in numbers and morals of justness, compassion and selflessness have become less and less followed. Nathan knew this fact, he passed on his story to keep at least his family in the minority, to try to make those morals survive the test of time, and we now stand at the threshold of that question, the lights are coming, and the test of whether the good can outweigh the evil will determine the outcome of history's future. If the Keystone works to its full avail, then all derivatives of humans but the cold and selfish will die out, the world will hold its standards for a time, but the reigning Relickers and Lightbringers will bring swift death to the other two. I hope that as you read this the world is just as free as it was in my lifetime, free to choose your own fate, and the things you bring to the world. Through my endeavors, I knew my death couldn't be allowed to signal the death of this world, flawed as it is, I needed to find others, people who exercised affable morals to carry this through if I couldn't, when I met you, I saw you had not only the means to do it, but also the determination to follow it true, and for this reason I'll die with no fear that the Keystone will clean the slate of humanity's long, hard history. What I ask is for you to hold the morals you follow, take the story I've given you, and pass them on to whoever you can, your children, your parents, already know them, gave them to you, do the same. It's a bloodline now, just like the Pathmakers, history repeats itself time and time again, can't be allowed to die out, but I know you, great intentions, if it does die, it won't be by your own will. Always hold to yourselves, to those you teach these things to, trust, love, care, compassion, selflessness, and never lose the hope. Nathan gave me one last thing in his story, he hoped that passing on tails of their morals, what they hoped to bring, would help them live on, things he hoped would never die out, he couldn't bear to let live the fact that no one would ever hear the spring's heavenly song again, that he loved so much, along with those of the other two, Paxton, the deliverance of fear, pain, evil, and Stanton, the betterment of people, to keep these morals, and I think he brought all of these through this. I wish you the best in your lives, happiness, closeness, and luck. I leave you with this one last statement. Hope is the Keystone that holds the balance of humanity, supports its structure. Humanity's hope, lies in the people who hold true values, who live their lives as caring, compassionate people, who let all the others live their lives as they see fit, with no opportunity to see otherwise, they hold the keystone of humanity in place, it is their will to hold it or let it go, and once all supports have fallen, once the holders of hope die out of the world, humanity falls apart, for it has no further purpose to survive. Keep safe, keep good, keep moral. I know you will.
Yours Forever,
Gloria