She could see Planeptune in the distance. The shine of the city's bright lights brought a small comfort to the tired witch as she pushed her tired body to walk past its limits. Of all the nations of Gamindustri, it was Planeptune where that the magically inclined girl had always found herself the most welcome.
She hoped she would be able to see it again...
This last adventure of hers had been too much. She had gone off on her own, celebrating the anniversary of her first starting out as an adventurer. So much had happened since then — good and bad. But through it all, she hadn't given up. She had plans, after all, large plans as well as small plans.
It seems even returning home might be too large a plan for her right now.
Was she getting old? Was she not cut out for adventuring after all?
She should have asked her old friend, Marvelous, to come with her. The two of them had had many adventures together in the past... Yet this journey was one she had chosen to take alone. She had wanted to show the world that she could travel on her own. She had wanted to prove to herself that she didn't need assistance, that her power was more than enough to challenge all the odds. She didn't need a party nor even a single goddess at her side.
And yet... As she made the painful walk back... She could only recall her travels that had been in the company of others.
The witch could still remember her first adventure with Marvelous. A mapmaker that now resided in Planeptune had joined them on that journey... It felt like so long ago. Things had looked so much brighter for her back them, so luminous. She had had bright, shining dreams back then.
Now, however... Her dreams seemed as though they could barely glow in comparison. Her dreams could only serve as a telescope to look back at what she had accomplished. She couldn't spare the extra energy to look forward any longer — she had to preserve it all for walking now.
But what a life she had lived. Oh what adventures.
A fighting tournament fought together with that rambunctious Lee-Fi, her journey with Marvelous across the desert, and then to see that great kingdom... The two of them had done so much together. And she wasn't the only one the witch had done much with! There had even been occasion when the very goddesses of Planeptune themselves had traveled alongside her — and she alongside them. It had been a real experience, to say the least.
Even that time that she and Nisa had gone on a fruitless adventure that seemed like it had lasted an eternity looked a little more enjoyable in hindsight. She would have even happily accepted an invitation to the subsequent prison sentence she and Nisa had briefly been forced to serve.
So many memories...
So little she could do with them now.
She sent those thoughts away. She wouldn't let herself get bitter now. Not when she was so close! All of her favorite shows had been recorded and her little pet dragon was waiting for her to return. Planeptune was so close, oh so close...! She just needed to push herself a little more, keep the exhaustion at bay...
And then she would be fine again. And then everything would be fine again.
That little flickering hope was what was keeping her going.
If she could just get to Planeptune, everything would be fine.
If she could just lift up her foot one more time, everything would be fine.
If she could just think about how much worse the desert had been, everything would be fine.
If she could just ignore the searing pain in her side, everything would be fine.
That small glow would have burned brighter than any star years ago. Even now, she was sure that it would lead her where she needed to go. She would see her friends again soon. She would be fine again even sooner.
It wasn't sudden when the witch collapsed on the road to Planeptune. Anyone could have seen it coming given the state she was in. The problem with that was, of course, that she was alone. In the most important moment, in her last... There was no one there at her side. If she hadn't been alone... If she hadn't gotten herself in trouble... If she hadn't run off by herself... Maybe she wouldn't have been lying on the road like this now. Maybe this moment could have been put off for when it might have naturally come... instead of arriving so prematurely, so cruelly.
There was nothing to be done now. There was no turning back the clock. Time was not as eternal as some might think, and hers had finally come to a stop.
Clutched tightly in her hands was the treasure she had ventured outside of Planeptune's borders to obtain. It was something only she could obtain, something only she would be able to produce for the world... One final gift to delight the masses that gave it a chance... But she would not be there to see the glow of the smiles it brought to the people when they saw it for the first time.
Nor would she hear the screams of those who would come upon her body lady that evening.
No one would know her final thoughts. No one would know if she was at peace. No one would know if she had been scared. No one would know the sorrowful release of saying goodbye. Not her friends, not her goddess, not even her little pet dragon. None would know any of this. Some might not even know there had been a wonderful girl that they could have known to begin with... and now they would never have the chance to correct the mistake.
No one would.
For all that anyone would ever know from that moment forward... was that Imageepoch was gone.