A drip of water pelted against Piper's nose. She brushed her hand against her face, and then opened her eyes slowly, uncertain. A world of greens and yellows unfolded before her, and she shuffled to her feet in a lush green, forested landscape.
Looking above her, she could see that the droplet of water had fallen from a tree's branch. Trees bearing deep green leaves were distributed haphazardly, obscuring any view of the horizon except in one direction. To her left, the foliage ended sharply – light shone through from the distance.
Piper took a few steps toward the light. The forest floor was odd – tree roots buried themselves in soft, loamy soil and smooth stones. There were no fallen leaves, no decaying plant matter. Glancing up, the edge of the forest was approaching. The crystal mage raised her arm to shield her eyes from the piercing light.
The wind whistled through the forest, forcing the leaves into a symphony of rustling sound. Just in front of her, a solitary leaf was pulled from its branch. She lowered her arm and bore witness as the first leaf of the strange land made its way, slowly, to the ground.
She pressed on, and with a few more steps she broke the barrier, stepping out into the light. Her eyes widened.
It was a stunning sight from her viewpoint at the cliff's edge – untouched peaks and valleys dotted with forests, plains that stretched as far as the eye could see, and rivers that flowed from icy mountaintops to a spacious bay in the distance, acting as an infinity pool that stretched out into the endless blue sky.
"Beautiful, no?"
Piper stiffened. That voice definitely conflicted with the landscape. She turned and faced none other than Master Cyclonis herself, who stood only a few feet away.
"Yes. Where are we?" the empress' rival asked evenly.
Cyclonis glanced at Piper. "I think I'll call it New Cyclonia… just to keep it simple."
Piper narrowed her eyes. "You… made this?"
"The stone I used was intended to be used for creation, after all… so I made some changes to the plan, and, well, here we are," Cyclonis said indifferently. She raised a pale finger and pointed in the distance.
Piper shifted her view to the direction Cyclonis had chosen, and she could see the Cyclonian and Atmosian fleets in the distance, slowly circling the new terra. They had ceased hostilities.
"Why?" she asked.
Cyclonis sighed. "It was either this, or allowing my people to fall into chains. I believe this was a better choice."
They stood in silence for a moment.
"What about Starling? And the council? You're still wanted."
"I've dismantled the Cyclonian war machine. We'll have to cannibalize what remains of our fleet for parts to settle here, and we'll be nearly defenseless while we develop."
"What's to keep them from coming in and stopping that?"
Cyclonis faced Piper again, wearing a serious expression. "I'm taking a gamble," she said firmly. "I'm taking a gamble that people like you will continue to do the right thing."
She paused for a moment, then, after facing the new world again, continued.
"They may interpret this as an olive branch, or at least a break from hostility. But I'm hoping for lasting peace… and maybe they will understand that I'm the only one who can supply that."
Piper raised an eyebrow. "You? Peace?"
"Yes," she replied after a moment. "I'm not sure if I ever properly thanked you for saving me. You took a chance. You gave me my life, a second chance… but also another point of view, both for me and for my people."
She pulled her hood down and took a deep breath, bright purple eyes sparkling in the light. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.
"And maybe that's all I ever needed."
End.
[ Author's Note:
I'm finally done. This took a horrifically long time to finish, but I told myself I would, and I did. It's definitely not perfect, but it is what it is, and it smacked me around enough to teach me a few lessons about writing. I've definitely gotten better since I started.
The number one lesson would have to be that when it comes to writer's block, or just wanting to get a story done but having something that is keeping you from doing it, if you write as little as a sentence a day, you'll still finish eventually, but if you don't write anything at all, you never will. Simple enough, but I wish I knew it before I started.
Hopefully I'll crank out some more stories in the future… and maybe they won't take anywhere near as long. Wow, I really need to work on that.
Thanks to everybody who reviewed, even though updates were few and far between. Actually, make that especially because updates were few and far between. Good stuff, all around.
Hope somebody gets something out of reading this the same way I got something out of it by writing it.
Until next time. ]