Journey of the Soul Finale: Light and Dark
Light filtered in, shining on a small lump hiding under the blankets. Slowly, a small girl got out of bed. Lila rubbed the sleep from her eyes, but didn't dare fully open them. Sunlight beamed down from the gaps in her window and hurt whenever she did more than a squint. Eventually, Lila rolled out of the bed and onto the ground. Wait….sunlight….what time was it?
"….ITS ALREADY NOON?!" Lila shouted as she saw the clock. She dashed towards her dresser before quickly realizing she already had clothes own. But why were they so dirty? On second thought, it doesn't matter. Everything's fine.
Lila made her way out of the bedroom. Now that she thought about it, it wasn't her bedroom. Once she walked out of the room though, she saw a familiar face.
"Hi Duna!" Lila hugged Duna around her waist as she sat at the table drinking some kind of brown drink, "did I sleepover last night?"
"I suppose you did." Duna returned Lila's smile and took a sip from her cup. She made a face.
"What is that anyway?"
"I believe it's called….chocolate milk."
"Really? That doesn't look like chocolate milk to me."
"Oh…I suppose I made a mistake while making it then."
"….you can make chocolate milk?"
"Not very well apparently. But that is beside the point. According to human times, you stayed awake until very late in the night, so I thought it best not to wake you up."
"Right, thanks. Hey Duna? Can we visit Todd Today?"
"Ah, I suppose that's would be alright."
"Cool! I wonder if they have chocolate milk at the hospital." Todd had hurt himself at the caliosteo cup finals. He had lost to Rupert and was sent flying backwards by a tidal wave. The doctor on the phone said he may have broken an arm. Waiting for news on his condition was part of why Lila stayed up so late…she thinks. At any rate, he'd probably be lonely. Lila at breakfast (although at this point it's pretty much lunch) as fast as she could before finding her sandals. She slid into hem and waiting by the door impatiently while Duna finished her drink. Duna slowly got up, but then immediately doubled over.
"Woah!" Lila ran over to help steady her, "are you okay?"
"I am fine, my back has just been a little sore." Duna gave her a reassuring look, but Lila was smart enough to know that she was just trying to keep her from worrying. Well, that's okay. They're going to a hospital anyway, she can get Duna looked while they're there. Everything's fine.
Lila and Duna walked out of the apartment building and walked through the plaza of Cranial city. People waved to them and they waved back as they walked by. The sun scorched her face as it beat down, but the shade of the floating ruins were fun little spots to jump between on their way there. Speaking of the floating ruins, Lila decided to stop and take a look at them.
The floating ruins was a shattered mess of rock. She remembered something about it being a complete structure at one point, but had never seen even pictures of it being while before. Blue electricity crackled across the different chunks of rock. She supposed this was the energy that kept it together and floating. She wished she could go up there and jump around on the little islands, but something in the back her mind told her that was a bad idea. Oh well, she could always check it out later.
"Hey Duna, I may have asked this before but were you around when the floating ruins were still one thing?"
"No, I don't believe I was."
"Right, maybe we should ask Todd if he was?"
"I doubt he'd be in the mood for middling discussion."
"Yeah, I guess not." Lila pretended to know what Duna meant as she jumped to another shadow. Eventually, they reached the hospital after several more jumps.
"Hello." Duna nodded to the receptionist.
"A yes, you two must be here to see Todd, correct?"
"Yes."
"He's in room 580." They thanked the receptionist and moved into the elevator. It rose slowly with a hum.
"You think we should've brought flowers?"
"I don't believe Todd would appreciate flowers."
"Oh…what about your boyfriend?"
"…what?"
"Well, I want to know if all boys don't like flowers, or is it just Todd?"
"Lila…..I don't have a boyfriend." Suddenly, Lila felt herself black out as pain spiked through her head. A sound like a tv's white noise. There was someone talking through the white noise. Flashes of different images racked through her brain. It was someone's face, who was it?
"Just watch me kid, this is gonna be a good one." In an instant, it all stopped after she heard that. Her vision came back, the white noise stopped, the voice stopped, and she was brought back to reality. Lila looked at Duna, it look like she didn't notice it.-/ her mouth opened, she stopped herself.
"I can tell her later." She told herself, "right now we should worry about Todd." Right, she could always tell her later. Everything's fine.
The elevator finally stopped on the 5th floor and the two walked out. It was still quite a bit of walking before they finally reached Todd's room. The room itself was a nice white color. Light seeped in from the windows.
"Hey guy-er….girls!" Todd gave a wide smile. His arm was in a cast "how's it going?"
"Todd, do you appreciate flowers?" Duna asked as soon as they walked into the room
"Huh? Well, I think they're fine. I know a guy that pretends to hate flowers though. He actually really likes them."
"Interesting. May I have the name of this supposed male human that enjoys flowers?" Todd gave Lila an odd look, who just laughed. Duna's fascination with the different quirks of humans had always been funny.
"Sure….actually, I don't remember his name. Ah well, it's probably not that important. Anyway, what's the visit for? Don't tell me you were worried about me."
"Todd, you broke your arm!"
"It's just one bone. I've got 205 more." Todd looked at his arm for a moment.
"You know, that didn't sound like something I'd say."
"What?"
"I don't know, maybe I just wanted to sound cool." Todd gave Lila a warm smile, then let out an exasperated shout.
"But man, I was so close! I made it all the way to the finals and then choked on the final round! This sucks."
"Doesn't second place get a runner up prize?"
"Yeah, but if I won, I would've been a master fighter!"
"…doesn't winning the entire fossil park sound like more of a prize?"
"Well, yeah that's cool too, but being a master fighter is all I've dreamed about. I guess I'll just have to go through the level up battles like everyone else." Todd reached over with his good arm to take a drink of the glass. Lila noticed that his hand shook slightly.
"Are you sure you're alright Todd?"
"I'm fine. Everything's fine. Why do you ask?"
"You're hand is shaking, does it hurt?"
"No, not in this arm. The other one's a little sore though."
"Then why is your hand shaking?"
"I…I don't really know. Guess my nerves are just a bit out of whack." Something caught Lila's attention on the table in the room. It was a small cloth package covered in shadow out of the sunlight. A white edge was pointing through a tear in the cloth.
"Hey Todd, what's that?"
"Huh? Oh, that was a bunch of stuff in my bag. My bag got destroyed during the fight. I'll be compensated, but until then all my stuff is over there." Lila walked over to the small cloth and put a hand over it. She wanted to open it, but didn't know if it was okay.
"Go ahead," Todd told her, "I don't even know what that is myself." Lila unfurled the small cloth wrap.
"Ow!" The white edge made a small cut on her finger before the cloth unfurled to reveal a sharp bone.
"Is that a fossil?" Duna asked.
"Yep. Now that I see it, I'm pretty sure I was gonna revive it later."
"You can revive a whole vivosaur with just a…what is this anyway?" Lila carefully held the bone edge away from herself.
"I think it's either a claw or a toe. A yeah, the new revival machine doesn't need the head fossil specifically."
"Cool!" Lila put the fossil back. She immediately wanted to pick it back up again and she didn't know why. It was just a fossil, she could probably find another one. She stepped back into the sunlight from the windows and turned back towards Todd and Duna.
"So when can you get out of the hospital?"
"Later today actually. Sometime after 5 or so I think."
"Aww man. Why not now?"
"Lila, we shouldn't rush his recovery."
"Ugh. Fine. But you'll come by once they let you go right?"
"Of course! Count on it." The three talked some more as the time passed. Eventually, it was time to go.
"Oh yeah, can you guy-er….girls go through my place before I get back? I want to make sure I didn't leave anything on."
"I suppose so."
"Great! The door's always unlocked, so you should have not trouble getting in."
"Why is it always unlocked?"
"I'm….not sure. I guess I just keep forgetting. Anyway, see ya later!" Todd waved as they said goodbye and left. Lila stole one last glance at the fossil on the table. Why did she want to take it? She had always been taught that stealing was wrong by….someone, so why? She cleared the thought from her head and instead focused on the fact that she was going to get to see Todd's apartment. She'd never been there before. Lila was a little sad that he wouldn't come by until later, but that's okay. Everything's fine.
Lila and Duna left the hospital and made their way towards the fighters lodge. Once again, Lila began jumping between the shadows cast by the floating ruins. It was strange though, she had known Todd since the caliosteo cup started. Has she really never been to his apartment before? She could swear up and down she knows what it looks like, but also that she never saw Todd himself in it. Maybe she was just imagining what it looked like.
"Hey Duna, have you ever been in Todd's apartment before?"
"No, I don't believe I have."
"Huh….I bet it's really dirty."
"Perhaps."
"I bet he doesn't put his dirty clothes away."
"Lila…."
"I bet his sink is full of dishes."
"You are projecting."
"But I might be right!" Duna didn't laugh.
"….that was funny."
"It was."
"So you should laugh."
"Apologies."
"…..awwww." Lila pouted in her overdramatized way. Usually, Duna would at the very least always chuckle. This time though, there was no reaction. Lila didn't bring that up though; She was too excited to be brought down.
They made it to the fighters lodge in significantly less time than it took to get to the hospital. Partly because it was a shorter distance, but mostly because Lila had run out of shadows to jump across. Duna led the way as they navigated a maze of doors not unlike the apartment complex Lila lived in.
"Duna, have you been here before?"
"…I must have."
"Huh?"
"I mean…yes, of course. How else would I know the way?" Something was going on, but at the same time it couldn't be that big of a deal. After all, Everything's fine. They arrived at room 24, which was apparently the destination. There were strange scuff marks on the hinges, as if it had been slammed shut and torn open several times. The knob was dented on one side like someone had punched it. Duna slowly turned it and immediately, the smell of teenage boy wafted in as they walked into the room.
"Eewwww." Lila pinched her nose, "he's got enough stink for two people."
"Indeed, we should check everything quickly. You check the floor."
"Why me?"
"Because I don't want you near a stove, microwave, or oven if they were left on."
"…fine." While Duna checked all the electrical appliances, Lila did some investigating on the floor. Surprisingly, there were no clothes hanging in the floor and the dishes were all clean. The only thing on the floor was a newspaper. That made sense, it was Sunday. But why was the date off by two days? Oh well, it's fine. That being said, there was a door at the end of the main room that caught her attention. It was Todd's bedroom. She knew she shouldn't…..but she was gonna anyway. Everything's fine, so there should be no problem checking out his room, right? Lila slowly slid the door open. It creaked loudly. She stole a glance at Duna, who was struggling to turn off the microwave.
"Confounded human technology…." She muttered. Lila snickered a bit before fully opening the door. She immediately wished she didn't.
Images bombarded her head in quick succession. It was that same person and their blank face as before. They were fighting something. No, now they were laying on the bed. No, now they were standing on top of a building. No, now they- no. No. No. No. No. No!
"Nothing bad's going to happen." That was her voice.
"Yes it will."
"How do you know?"
"Because I'll be the one to cause it." This person causes bad things to happen? Then why does Lila keep seeing them? Reality came back into focus. Lila was standing in the doorway to a very messing bedroom. There wasn't any clothes on the floor like she hoped, but the desk and dresser had all kinds on crap on top of them. The top bunk was neatly made while the bottom's blankets were stuffed under the bed. There was a bag lying on top of the bunk, half zipped open. Wait, why the bunk bed? Todd lived alone, so does he really need two beds? Strange. Lila walked towards the bottom bunk and checked the half open bag. There wasn't anything particularly interesting in it. There were a few letters that she didn't read (it's rude to read someone else's mail), a massive ring with pointed edges that probably would fit around someone's head, some sort of necklace with a blue prism bit on the end, a small black box, what looked like a fighters license, and a binder that read "memories". Lila looked at the card and her jaw nearly dropped. The photo within the card was, probably purposefully, fasted out, but the M was clear to see.
"Todd's a….no way!" Lila whisper shouted. Wait, that wasn't Todd's name. It was faded out as well, but the signature remained. HC. Hmmm….why is this in Todd's room? Lila moved to put the card back when her elbow knocked into the binder, opening it.
"Oops." Lila turned to close the binder when she saw the image. It was a simple photo. It had Duna in it giving a small smile. What caught her attention was the person next to her. He had one arm around Duna's shoulder and was paying attention to her more than the camera. She could tell because the very next photo was Duna looking at him and he was turned away blushing furiously. Who was this person?
There were more pictures too, and almost all of them had the same boy in them. Lila's hands began to shake. White noise filled her ears.
"Wh-who are you?"
"I never did properly introduce myself. The name's Hunter. Hunter Cloud." Thousands of memories began surging through Lila's mind. Hunter, Zongazonga, Alvis, Arawn, all of it. Lila pulled back and curled into a ball.
"I…forgot about it all." She began to cry, "why? Why did I forget?"
"A new plan that will leave everyone happy." Arawn's words echoed in her mind. She looked at the pictures again. She quickly picked them up and started running.
"DUNA!" Everything was not fine.
…..
"And to top it all off, I try to finally accept that I'm just gonna live in a dark hole for pretty much the rest of my life only to have it NOT EVEN MATTER!" Dino shouted to no one in particular as he walked down the path. It had been 2 days since they lost to Arawn. Two days since…since they lost Spinax.
Dino didn't really know how to feel about that. For one, Spinax had known about who he was when they were together. He could've told him, instead of keeping it a secret. Spinax could've stopped Dino from disappearing. But at the same time, Hunter cared about Spinax quite possibly more than anything. Dino could sense that, and he also knew that Spinax technically saved his life by sacrificing himself.
"Damn it, this stuff's too complicated." He muttered to himself as he walked. The only problem was, he had no idea where he was going. Everything looked like a regular town, but it was all in shades of grey like a monochrome movie. He was fairly certain this was some part of Hunter's subconscious. They weren't dead. At least, not yet.
"Gotta get out of here soon." Dino kept talking to himself to fill the void of sound, "if that dumbass is unconscious, I could probably take control of the body." He quickened his pace a bit. He recognized this neighborhood from somewhere in Hunter's memories. Maybe at some point while he was on the run? In that case, it would be simple. All he would have to do is find the end of the memory, which would be the part of town where it opens up to a highway. Hunter never remembers anything in between destinations.
"Okay, I get out of here, I take over, and I get back at this damn world. Simple…right?" Dino clenched his fists as he watched monochrome children run across the lawn of a house. They couldn't see him, no one could.
"Lucky bastards. They can go home and not get treated like shit the second people realize they're alive." Dino watched one kick a soccer ball to another, who bounced it off his head. They laughed as the third child got struck in the stomach and had the wind knocked out of him.
"Dumbass." Dino muttered.
"C'mon Hunter, at least TRY to kick the ball."
"….you've gotta be kidding me." Dino turned. Yep, the kid who just got hit by the ball had dark blue eyes that shined even in the monochrome scenery. He looked strange without the bags under his eyes though.
"I…I'm sorry. Here, let me try again." The child Hunter ran up to the ball and kicked it as hard as he could, which wasn't very hard. It was almost pitiful how little the ball actually rolled. The other children, of course, burst out laughing again.
"Man, you stink at this!"
"S-sorry." Hunter chased after the ball for a bit before getting distracted by a grasshopper on the lawn.
"Hey pay attention! This is important!"
"But this grasshopper is really cool. It's like a small vivosaur!"
"Stupid, bugs aren't dinosaurs."
"I know that, but-"
"You're so weird."
"I don't think that's a bad thing." Hunter continued to watch the grasshopper as the other kids exchanged looks. They kicked that ball away from him and started moving away. Hunter looked up to see them running away.
"….okay." He said, "see you guys later…." Dino heard Hunter sniff as he walked away.
"I shouldn't bother with this." Dino told himself, "I should just walk away and get a way out of here. I'll get back at everyone as soon as I get out of here….damnit." Dino began following Hunter. He knew exactly which memory this was. Hunter walked slowly up the street, stopping occasionally to look at something moving in the grass. It was always just another grasshopper or a lizard.
"C'mon, pick up the pace." Dino kicked at Hunter, but his foot went right through the memory. He hated this. He didn't understand why he was even bothering with this memory, he should just leave. Still, Dino cursed himself as he followed Hunter up to the house. The house where he found Spinax's Dino medal. The house where all his trouble started.
"Hunter!" A female voice called Hunter up to the front porch. It was a woman sitting on a chair with a harmonica in her hand. It was Hunter's mother, Lily.
"H-hey mom." Hunter tried to open the door and walk in without talking. This wasn't gonna fly.
"Oh no you don't." Lily grabbed Hunter's shoulder, "something's wrong."
"I'm fine."
"I didn't ask if you were fine."
"…."
"What's wrong?"
"…mom, do you think I'm weird?"
"Of course I do."
"What?" Tears formed in child Hunter's eyes.
"Is there something wrong with that? If someone thinks you're weird, all that means is that you have your own way of doing things. There's nothing wrong with that. It's what makes you you!"
"So, it's okay that I'm weird?"
"Of course it is! I wouldn't have it any other way." Lily began to play on the harmonica, "see? I'm weird too. Do you know anyone else's mom who can play the harmonica?"
"No, But playing the harmonica is cool!"
"Exactly!" Lily played an upbeat song while Hunter did the stupidest dance Dino had ever seen.
"How does this guy live with himself?" He muttered.
"Hey mom, do you think you could play the harmonica more often?"
"….sure, I'll play it everyday for rest of your life if you want me to"
"Really?!"
"Really, no let's go eat dinner." Soon enough, Lily had beckoned in Hunter for dinner. Hunter's Dad, Dexter, was trying and failing to move potatoes from the oven onto a plate.
"Hot! Hot! HOT!" Dexter slammed the final potato onto the plate, half crushing it. He adjusted his glasses and laughed nervously.
"Oh, uh, hello you two."
"Do that again!" Hunter marveled at the crushed potato before reaching for one himself in an attempt to crush it. Dexter quickly grabbed his hand.
"Woah, slow down there sport. We still need a few left to eat."
"Awwwww."
"If they crush that easy, maybe we shouldn't eat them, hmm?" Lily out an elbow on Dexter's shoulder and smirk, "then again, who was it who said they would cook to perfection? If I remember correctly, you volunteered for this."
"That's because you said you wanted to try cooking the steak." Lily's smile disappeared.
"The steak!" She ran out of the room.
"Dad, is mom weird?"
"Yes, yes she is." Dexter and Hunter were setting the table when Lily came back with a smoking cookie sheet with three black lumps on it.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Look Hunter, she made medium well!" Dexter shouted with delight.
"Isn't that your favorite Dad?" Hunter played along.
"Sure is. Thanks honey." Dexter kissed Lily on the forehead before going back to the table. They all sat down to eat. Dino rolled his eyes; they were making his teeth rot.
"You sure you can handle using a steak knife sport?"
"Of course, I'm a big kid."
"I don't know Hunter, Dad's a big kid and he cut himself with a knife yesterday." Dexter quickly covered the mark on his hand.
"Well I won't, I'm wayyyyyy more careful than dad."
"No you're not." Dino replied. He sat in the corner of the room, watching them, "I know that more than anyone." There was a bit of silence as they ate.
Then, the doorbell rang.
"And now I have to watch a crying child, great." Dino showed child Hunter a specific finger.
"I'll get it" both Dexter and Hunter spoke at the same time, "what? No, I'll get it."
"So that means that I'll get it." Lily laughed and got up toward the door while Hunter and Dexter half-argued.
"Wonder who it could be." Dexter absentmindedly said as he cut a part of his steak open. The overcooked meat made a bit of a cracking noise as it was cut.
Then there was another cracking noise. One that was followed by the sound of a scream and something hitting the floor.
"What was that? Mom! Are you-" Hunter stopped talking as a hand covered his mouth.
"Everything's going to be alright…Hunter, stay here." Dexter flew out of the room before grabbing the pickax that hung from the wall. Dino recognized it as the pickax that Hunter always carried around with him. Child Hunter hopped down from his seat and slowly started walking around the corner. However, he immediately started moving faster once he heard a gun go off six times.
"….no, that's not-…I'm imagining it again…it's just me being weird-there's no way. That can't be what-yeah, that wouldn't happen. Not to mom and dad." Slowly, a figure rounded the corner. They were in a brown hooded cloak. This was, apparently, the dinaurian throwaway grunt that killed Hunter's parents. Dino looked around the hooded figure and saw the grotesque sight. Dexter and Lily were dead, plain and simple. One had holes in his body while the other had a snapped neck. Child Hunter saw this as well. He didn't saw anything, but tears kept sliding down his cheeks. The dinaurian was apparently going to let all this play out.
"…..please wake up." Hunter slowly walked towards the bodies. "You said everything would be fine. You promised to play the harmonica for me. You….you can't leave!" Hunter broke down on the floor sobbing. His small body shook violently. For once, Dino didn't have anything to say. What does he care so much. Why does this feel so wrong to watch. Something's out of place. Based on the way Hunter told the story, this seems different.
"I wouldn't be too sad, you'll be joining them soon enough." When the Hooded figure spoke, Dino froze. Things began clicking into place. If the Dinaurians kidnapped Hunter right after this, why even bother killing his parents? There's no way they could find him if he was kidnapped anyway. How would a dinaurian even get a gun? This has to be someone from earth and who would want Hunter specifically dead. The only person who would want Hunter dead at this time is someone who wants him out of the way at the moment. Someone who had already created his replacement, Lila. Someone who didn't know about soulflame just yet. Someone with that voice. Someone who could twist minds and memories to make it seem like he didn't.
Someone like Arawn.
"Now then," the hood's face was concealed, but Dino saw right through it, "it is time for you to-"
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGH!" Hunter's scream was filled with torment as he grabbed the pickax and swung at Arawn blindly. It was almost as tall as Hunter, so the momentum made him spin around like a deadly top. Arawn made a move to hold out his hand, but pulled it back as wisps of light trailed off of it.
"I'd rather not leave a trace of myself." He muttered. Dino found that he was moving too. He was moving around the room trying to find something, anything, that he could interact with. He knew it was hopeless, he didn't care. He wanted Arawn dead.
"I suppose I should just do this instead." Arawn pointed the gun at Hunter, who jumped up in the air.
"Gooby-"
"AAAAAAAARRGGHH!" Sparks shot from Hunter's eye as he grabbed the gun and watched it out of Arawn's hand. Arawn made a noise of…excitement? Hunter grabbed a steak knife from the table.
"Well now, this certainly changes things, doesn't it?" Hunter responded by screaming and charging at Arawn with the steak knife. Arawn held out his hand and there was a flash of light. From there, everything went black. The memory was over, and Dino was left standing alone in darkness.
"….it started there. It all started there. All this time I thought the world had just dealt me a shitty hand. That I got stuck being attached to the one guy that the world despised. No, it was HIM." Soulflame erupted from Dino's eye.
"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't exist. I'd be whole person at the very least." Dino began walking. Stars began to shine in the sky.
"New plan. I get out of here. I find Hunter, wake his ass up, and we go kill that bastard." Dino thought about Hunter. He spent his whole life believing his parents were killed by Dinaurians. He never got revenge…..
"Maybe…maybe you were right." Dino tried something for the first time in a while. He smiled.
"Maybe revenge isn't the answer for this. But, just this once, let's make an exception."
…..
Dark. Why was it so dark? He was so tired of the dark. It didn't have to be this way. He couldn't find a way out. Why not? He was just sitting here, curled up in a ball. Why didn't something just come along and kill him already? There's no reason to keep going. He's gone. He's gone and won't come back. There's nothing he could do anyway. What did he plan to accomplish? What he could possibly do with the life he'd been given? Nothing, that's what. He can't win. Not now, or ever. It was useless, even with all the memories coming back. It was all HIS fault. He killed them. He killed him. He started everything and caused him so much pain. In the end, he can't even stop him. He can't stop anything. He cant do anything. He can't. He can't. He can't.
"So it seems that he was more than a friend. He was your tether to reality." Hunter slowly lifted his head. His goggles covered his eyes and he couldn't see.
"You really should not be here." It was Xerxes. He looked the same as he had in the vision of the past. So that must mean….
"…..heh…ha…..Hahahahahahahahaha!" Hunter was bursting with laughter. He laughed until his sides hurt.
"So it didn't even freaking matter. If you're here that means I'm dead."
"Well, not necessarily. You're body is very much mutilated and practically destroyed, but your soul is still persisting."
"That must be because of….because of Arawn." Hunter didn't say anything after that, so Xerxes spoke again.
"There is a way to go back."
"Okay."
"….are you not interested in knowing?"
"Not in the slightest."
"….."
"If I'm dead, Arawn can't take his soul piece back from me."
"So your plan is to leave everything in the hands of your friends?"
"…I miss them."
"That is not what I asked."
"I miss Lila. I miss how she wasn't afraid of anything. I miss how Todd would always be there. He isn't here now, and I don't know where he is. I miss…..I miss spinax but I guess I could probably find him here. I….miss Duna. I miss seeing her and feeling like everything would be okay. I miss the way she would always tell me what she thought, if it was good or bad. I miss how she was one of my closest friends, but was also tougher on me than anyone else. I miss-"
"She sounds really important to you." There was a new voice. It was female and reminded Hunter of Lila. Hunter looked up to see a girl standing next to Xerxes.
"Oh, hi Zariah. Good to see you not possessed or dead."
"…..I don't believe we've ever met."
"Of course not."
"…..Xerxes, is he alright?"
"No. Zariah, this is Hunter Cloud, the man who helped me defeat Zongazonga."
"Oh! Then is there anything we can do to help him? I owe him quite a lot."
"Help? That's a good one." Hunter tucked his knees to his chest and fell on his sides. He chuckled manically.
"Hunter is without Spinax, who was a constant in his mind. Without him, Hunter is left to only his own thoughts. I believed this has happened before."
"I'm insane." Hunter giggled, "insane on multiple planes."
"…Hunter, Spinax has not appeared here."
"….what?"
"When a person's soul arrives in this place-"
"What even is this place? Is it heaven? Hell? some other religious bullshit? Afterlife? Beforelife? Duringlife?"
"I like to call it the in-between." Zariah mentioned, "a place between life and death. Since my soul was destroyed but my body remained, I was cursed to come here when I died. Xerxes lost his body before his soul perished, that means he came here too. You could probably find all the people killed by Arawn and Zongazonga here as well due to the nature of their magic."
"That's interestingly interesting. So why am I here? I fell and died. No, I fell in the ocean. Spinax died. Spinax…Spinax is gone. He's gone! Gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone. All gone!"
"Oh dear, you have been through a lot." Zariah kneeled next to Hunter and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You look a lot like Lila. Did you know she's your descendant? Not me though. I'm adopted. Adopted by Dexter and Lily Cloud. They're dead though. Did you know Arawn killed them? I just learned that like a few minutes ago. My memory's weird like that. One minute I'll be confused by myself, then the next I'm just here realizing that everything, EVERYTHING, Is his fault." Hunter tore off his goggles. The band snapped and they fell to the ground. Tears splattered to the ground. Hunter's eyes were wide and bloodshot.
"Isn't it so funny how things work? First I end up here, now there's a way out that I can't go, now there's that fact that Spinax should be here but he's not, now my memory is filling back in and all I want is for it to stop. I want it to stop. I want it to stop. I want it to stop. I want it to stop. I want. I….I…." Hunter broke down crying. He sobbed as Zariah pulled him into a hug. Xerxes bowed his head and looked away.
"I am sorry, but we cannot help you." Zariah let go of Hunter and stood back up.
"That's fine. Nothing can help me."
"That is not necessarily true. You could leave this place."
"Oh yeah, I could leave. I could leave and die and the Arawn would get his soul piece back…..what's going on?" The question was vague, but they knew what he meant.
"We have no way to know what's going on in the outside world, But I can assume that Arawn is slowly regaining power."
"How do you even know about Arawn?"
"My soul piece was absorbed by him. It gave me insight into his true nature. If he had destroyed earth, then many more people would be here."
"Then….then…..what do I do?"
"That is your choice."
"No it isn't. It's never been my choice. My life's been one railroaded line of me being dragged through the dirt because of this….no, wait, I'm wrong. That's not right. It isn't the world's fault." Everything that's happened. The good and the bad. All of his choices. They were all the result of manipulation. The one at fault was….
"I won't have a choice until I get rid of Arawn. I want…it's funny, I used to want to be the best fossil fighter in the world. But now, I just want my own life. I want the people I love to be safe. I want to live in a world that can be safe. But that won't happen. Not unless….I make it that way."
"You sound like Xerxes." Zariah chuckled, "he would always have to say something especially dramatic whenever he made a decision." Xerxes scowled at Zariah.
"At any rate. There is hope yet. Your soul is currently still within your body. If your soul exerts enough life energy, then it is possible you could awaken. However, that would be incredibly draining."
"And I'd wake up in the ocean….so yeah, not ideal."
"Hunter start running." Zariah gestured towards the black abyss, "you need to use as much energy as possible." Slowly, Hunter pushed himself up.
"You said Spinax isn't here, right?"
"Yes. It is possible his soul is in a limbo of sorts."
"Then maybe….no, I should focus on right now." Memories flooded through Hunter's brain as he took his first step forward. A boat arriving at vivosaur island. A level up battle. A fight against the bb bandits. A mine cart system. An underwater pirate ship. Meeting Duna. A legendary battle between vivosaurs. Falling in love. Saving the world. Giving people a home. Running away. Being split in half. Being Dino. Meeting so many more people. The caliosteo cup. Everything. Everything has led to this. And even if everything that's happened has been manipulated and controlled by Arawn, he wouldn't trade a single moment of it. That being said, it was time he made his life his own.
"Goodbye. I'll….probably never see you guys again, but thanks."
"Good luck Hunter." Xerxes smiled.
"Thanks, I'll need it."
"Tell my descendant that I said hello!" Zariah waved, "remember! Don't stop running!" Hunter took off. Don't stop running, keep moving forward.
He passed a few other people. Some of them were In the same types of clothing as Xerxes and Lila. They looked at him and gave small nods as he passed. There was one person, though, who had a very familiar facial structure. He looked confused as he wandered around. Hunter almost instinctively attacked him, but then remembered something: Who this person was and a promise he made concerning them.
"Hey Alvis!" Hunter shouted. The man turned towards him with a bewildered look.
"Who are you."
"Just a guy trying to live his life. By the way, I have a message. Your dad, Robinson, he's proud of you." Alvis had a blank look for a moment. Hunter saw a tear roll down his face before he tore his gaze away to focus on running. His mind was a acing faster than his feet could ever carry him. Ironically, a lack of voices in his head is what carried him off the deep end. But that didn't matter now.
"I can't believe I almost lost hope." He laughed at himself, "Robinson would be so pissed at me." Soulflame flared forth from his eye, burning brighter than ever. He had a new plan now. Fight Arawn, beat Arawn, and save the world.
"That sounds pretty good right about now."
"Dino?!"
"Sup. Did I miss anything."
"Well, let's see. Everything is Arawn's fault."
"Sounds about right."
"And Spinax isn't wherever the hell we are right now, so he's either in limbo or purgatory."
"That's….interesting."
"Also, revenge is wrong."
"I know."
"I know you know, shared mementoes remember? I just want to say that before I act super hypocritical and beat the shit out of Arawn for personal reasons."
"Understandable. By the way, what the hell is the plan for beating him anyway?"
"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it."
"The saying is 'cross that bridge when we get to it'"
"No, we're definently burning it down." Hunter saw something in the corner of his vision. It was a shining silver star that appeared in the sky. It was working. He felt his emotions surge like the first time he had ever used soulflame. He hit a mental barrier within his mind. Something was holding him back.
"Keep moving….keep." The pain had started to return.
"I just realized, I probably have at least 7 broken bones."
"Which means you've got 199 that are in working condition so put them to work."
"Dear god you sound like Spinax."
"Bitch."
"Nevermind." Hunter felt himself getting slower because of the pain. This wasn't good. The people that he passed now gave words of encouragement, telling him to not give up. Hunter was surprised when he saw a dinaurian ahead of him.
"How did a dinaurian get killed by Arawn?"
"Hell if I know." This dinaurian had striking bright blue hair and dark blue eyes. Around one eye was an X-shaped marking….wait a minute.
"I expected you to be taller." The dinaurian spoke when Hunter got close enough. They even sounded the same.
"And I expected you to be around. Looks like we're both disappointed."
"Touché. I was killed for hiding the idolcomps. Apparently, he didn't want any loose ends after he helped create you."
"Helped?"
"Of course, I contributed unwillingly."
"I'm not calling you dad."
"I don't expect you too, but I would
Like a favor."
"Yeah?"
"Save the humans. I went through quite a bit of trouble to keep them alive."
"Sure….thanks Xeno."
"Hmm? For what?"
"For not giving up on this world." Hunter then ended the only conversation he would ever have with his father. It was an odd feeling, but refreshing.
One by one, more stars started to appear. Hunter had to slow down as the force of his energy pushing against the barrier made it feel like his head was going to split open. He had to keep going. He had to keep going. He had to….
"Don't give up." It was another voice that spoke. A voice resonating in his mind that came from his memories.
"Don't give up." Hunter heard it again. From deep within his soul. Voices from his past, telling him to keep going.
"Don't give up."
"Don't give up."
"Don't give up."
"Don't give up just yet sport! You've still got us in your corner!" Hunter almost stopped moving. Did he hear that right? Another sound filled his ears. This one wasn't coming from in his soul.
It was the sound of a harmonic playing.
Slowly, two people came into view in front of him. He recognized them instantly.
"I'm sorry." Lily was crying as she moved the Harmonica away from her mouth, "I promised to play for you more, didn't I?"
"You….y-you're here."
"Of course! We wouldn't want to miss our son's big moment, now would we?"
"Arawn, he killed you." Hunter never fully processed that. It was a recently unlocked memory (thanks to Dino), and now, it was finally setting in. His parents are here. Their souls are here, with him.
"I…I'm sorry." Hunter collapsed on the ground in front of his parents.
"I'm so so sorry. I couldn't save you guys. I couldn't do a thing. I didn't even try to save you. I ran away, I ran away like a coward. I should've gotten help. There might've been a chance. I…left you all. I'm so sor-" Hunter was cut short when his mother slapped him across the face.
"I guess I deserve that."
"Yes you do. That was for stopping."
"…huh?" Hunter felt himself moving forward. Hie parents each had an arm around their shoulders and were pulling him forward.
"Hunter, it's not your fault." Dexter told him, "and there's no way either of us could ever blame you."
"….you have no idea how much I needed to here that." Hunter planted his feet back on the ground and began walking. He felt them let go of him. He couldn't turn around, no matter how much he wanted to.
"You wanna know what you can do to make it up to us?" Lily' a voice echoed behind him, "go up to that jerk and give him a good punch from me, alright?"
"Sure thing….man, I must have the weirdest family dynamic in the world."
"What's so wrong about that?"
"Absolutely nothing. Good….goodbye. I love you guys."
"We love you too kid. Now go get em!" Hunter let out a shout. Stars began shooting across the sky, spinning around him. Blue flames sparked up on the ground, creating a circle. The fire began to form a vortex around Hunter, engulfing him within. The stars began to shine brighter than ever, creating a swirling kaleidoscope in the sky. From inside the tornado, two eyes opened, burning with blue fire.
…
All things considered, Duna thought she was doing an excellent job of staying calm. She had known for quite some time that something was wrong. She had said things that she believed and didn't believe at the same time. There are gaps in her memory. Todd never got to the finals of cup, and she certainly hadn't stayed with Lila for two days. Wait, it hadn't been two days, had it? Duna kept all these thoughts to herself, hoping that she could figure it out on her own before she shared anything. Unfortunately, things only got more confusing. So when Lila came rushing out of Todd's room with a binder full of images she'd never seen before, but at the same time had, it was a bit too much to handle. When she saw the first image, her vision blacked.
"What am I forgetting?" Duna held her head in her hands. It was a series of flashing images that kept playing on repeat.
"Duna!" Lila's shouts seemed close, yet far away at the same time. What was happening? White noise filled her ears.
"There's a lot on my mind right now." Who's voice was that?
"What do you mean I can't eat raw snakes? That isn't a Dinaurian thing?"
"What if I just buy a new window. That's how it works, right?"
"Y'know, I'd bet you have a good singing voice. I, on the other hand, sound like a dying toad."
"I tried reaching out….dear god that hurt." Reaching out….
"What if I just buy a new mattress? Or you could just take my bed and I'll sleep in the floor? Please don't leave me in debt to Rosie."
"You want to learn how to MAKE chocolate milk?...you're a genius."
"No Spinax I won't ask her to marry me….yet. I'm still way to young for that. Maybe I'll take her to a wedding though. She talked about wanting to go to one that one ti-OH, hey! Uh,…how long have you been standing there?" The next voice that spoke was her own.
"Hunter, why do you tell so many jokes?"
"Well, half of them are just jokes Spinax told that he wants me to repeat to you because he knows I'll be embarrassed."
"And the other half?"
"That's just me trying to get you to laugh."
"….why?"
"Because I like hearing you laugh. Is that a weird reason? It's kind of weird, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that."
"Hunter…." Duna said aloud. Reach out…she need led to reach out. She did it once before, but that was out of anger and the person was right next to her. This would be much more difficult, especially without something like soulflame to help her.
"You…remember?" Lila came into focus for a few moments.
"Yes….Lila, I need you to do me a favor."
"Yeah? What's the plan?"
"We're going to save the world."
"I like this plan already."
"Go back to Todd, show him the memory book, and take the fossil you had earlier that was on his table."
"That fossil…is it?"
"It is. Please, Go. We have little time." Lila nodded while sprinting out the door. Duna sat, cross legged, on the ground. Before, she reached out because of pure anger. Not this time.
"I know you're still alive. I know you're out there somewhere." The pain began. Her already injured back felt like it was cracking.
"You must be hurt right now, on the outside and the inside. But we…I…need your help."
"….I'm sorry." He responded. Hunter was here.
"Sorry?"
"I thought dying was the best thing I could do to help. I didn't help at all. I may have just made things worse. Maybe I was just running away again."
"I don't think so."
"That's reassuring. By the way, good job staying in contact for this long. I passed out after a single mental image."
"It requires strong emotions…are you okay?"
"See for yourself." The ground began to shake. Duna was snapped out of the communication. She weakly began moving outside of the room. People had begun filing out of the building. When she got outside, she was nearly pushed by the wind.
"What's happening?!" Someone shouted.
"It's a hurricane!" Someone else yelled.
"No, LOOK!" Underneath the floating ruins, there was a massive column of blue fire. Duna smiled and nearly cried as she saw the ocean itself swirl around a single point in a massive flaming whirlpool.
"ARAWN!" The shout was magnified and sent directly to the mind of any person in range. Every single person on the islands, no, every single person in the world had heard it.
"Interesting." Another voice sounded off, "this future was significantly less likely to happen." It was Arawn. The memories had returned to the people. He wasn't even trying to conceal himself anymore.
"THIS IS IT ARAWN. YOU AND ME. ONE LAST BATTLE."
"You never cease to intrigue me. You've lost quite a bit and you still want to fight. You've lost your home, your parents, you friend-"
"AND ITS ALL YOUR FAULT."
"Figured that out, have you? Very well, I accept your challenge." A beam of light shot out from the top of the floating ruins.
"A climactic showdown between good and evil, between light and dark. It's rather exciting, isn't it?"
"You want to talk about light and dark?" Hunter laughed. "Fine, I'll be the darkness. The darkness that'll give the world hope. Besides, if it's dark, that just makes light shine that much brighter." Fire exploded from the ocean. Hunter was standing in the center of a massive whirlpool at the ocean floor. Fire trailed upwards from his wrists and ankles, partly covering his arms and legs. A mask of flame flickered on his face before disappearing. When he opened his eyes, those same blue flames could be seen within them. Hunter slowly looked up at the floating ruins above him.
"My soul…our soul…doesn't belong to you."
"Correct. No matter how strong you are now. No matter if you've reached the perfect form of soulflame or not, there is a price that belongs to me. And I intend to take it back."
"That was your fault. You chose to give it up. I don't want it. All I want is to live my own life." Hunter clenched his fists.
"I want to live in the world I love, WITHOUT YOU IN IT."