Previously on Life Is Strange: Eternity War…
"Listen, little cousin," said Alex. "She will get over it. I mean we help Chrysalis finish a war like this, anyone would.
"With all due respect," said Kristine. "I've burned that bridge with the herd. I've cut all ties with them a long time ago since the day I enlisted. Having no reason to commit such treason at all."
"Lieutenant Prescott," said Penske. "You are hereby ousted from the upcoming mission as well as every other mission beyond. You'll be escorted to the brig, relieved from duty, and I'll have a court-martial scheduled for when this war is done."
"We just got intel that the leader of the resistance group Fehr Dhaled is stationing refugees and his fighters in the Al Zarif valley," said David. "Dr. Kara Hendricks. A senior science officer of Chrysalis under resistance custody for a special project set in a dig site near the warzone. Project Tesseract as they call it."
"Our doctor may have vital information on the circumstances responsible for ConDef's latest attacks," said David. "Project Tesseract being said circumstances."
"We were lucky to secure Dr. Hendricks before the ConDef advance," said Dhaled.
"After Triple 4," said Hendricks. "We were to dispose of any evidence Project Elysium was responsible for the Neo-Chrysalis invasion in Portland. The same tech we used for that project we recycled for Project Tesseract. The project was designed to link a rift to a parallel realm similar to Elysium. Only this time, Tesseract links to a realm known as the Underworld."
"Your ass wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for her," said Rachel. "My ass wouldn't even be alive if not for her.
Max didn't just lie to me about the job," said Chloe. "She lied to me about a family secret of hers that she's kept from me since she first left me."
"My nephew Ares has dreamed of a goal for centuries in the longevity," said Hades. "His entire life had been spent in believing mortal life can only survive should only half it be sustained in existence."
"Time is running short, Traveler," said Chronos. "You must hurry while there's still time to complete your quest. Go to Meridian Prime. There you will find the Ark of Genesis and foil Ares's plot to obliterate half your people living on the Earth. But be warned, the shard can never touch the fingers of Ares. Protect it with your life if you will. Ares is only two shards away from his dream."
Alex and I have been floating on the stormy sea for almost an hour and the ConDef boats were catching up to us by the dozens. I make sure the windshield wipers are on and our guns we locked and loaded to defend ourselves when need be.
"Max, they're gaining on us!" Alex shouted.
"Head straight to the island!" Alex navigated. "Watch it, watch it!"
"Oh, shit!" I startled.
The big ConDef boat drives into us and rams us off our boat and destroys our boats in two. Causing the two of us to go overboard and into the saltwater.
"Max!" Alex screamed.
"Whenever my men fail, Ares cuts them down like pigs," said Alkaline. "But whenever we fail, we're let off the hook. Don't you ever feel my men are more expendable than the two of us? That he's only stalling our death for a looser end to tie down?"
"Ares has been a messiah for many armies for generations in the making," said Joanna. "Though his morality is flawed, his leadership isn't."
"No matter what becomes of Kristine, I know we'll be okay," said David. "Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves…the enemy of my enemy…is my friend."
Cayce and Kristine kiss for the first time.
"Meridian Prime!" Alex rejoiced. "The long-lost legendary HOW utopia. Discovered after one-hundred years by one Alexis Caulfield."
"And?" Max thought.
"And, and her younger, slightly less charming cousin who happened to be tagging along for the ride Maxine Caulfield. You know, I always knew you'd make something out of yourself one day."
"Here's Ezra, Jeremiah," said Max. "Founders of Meridian Prime. All marked with the word 'traitor'. Not 'murderer'. Not 'tyrant'."
"'Traitor'," said Alex.
"Citizens of Beirut!" Dhaled echoed to the crowd. "Now is your time! Take back your city!"
"I'm hurt, Commander," said Flint with another cough of blood. "I…tell my little brother…my mom…dad…tell 'em I love 'em. And…and…"
"No mission too difficult…no sacrifice too great," said Mason as his last words before being gutted in the heart by Thanatos's weapon and dying instantly.
"No!" David screamed.
A telepathic force shoved us away against the wall. The force being caused by Apollo's powers. Then Apollo telepathically restrains us with scrap metal to subdue the three of us. We struggle some to no avail.
"Many have opposed me and tried to kill me for matters I found necessary for the good of the universe," said Ares. "None have outlived so. I will leave you to your fates. Only the reclamation will decide that."
Thing is, Max," said Joanna. "You're family once descended upon the herd's family tree for generations. And now you're the last heir to the HOW family tree. One chosen to have your time power and all that gibberish."
Joanna returns her aim at me and I warn her she was making a mistake. Then Alex got in front of me to protect from whatever bullet comes out of Joanna's barrel. And then Joan shoots Alex in the arm that leaves a bleeding graze on it. Causing me to accidentally slip off the cliffside and fall down into the river at the bottom. I scream to death as I fall.
"Max!" Alex cried.
Chapter 1: Together Again
Max – Age 17 (POV)
Alex – Age 20
November 3rd, 2012
7:29 PM
Seattle, Washington
Beacon Hill
A few hours pass after being sawed in twos by Fredrick the Eccentric. As soon as the show was over, Fernando and Kristen left us and Alex and I took the train back to our neighborhood of Beacon Hill and walked the rest of the way home. My big cousin and I walked down the block to my house and were laughing out loud and talking about my voluntary performance on stage with Fredrick.
"You shoulda seen the look on your face when you were cut in half like a ham!" Alex chuckled. "You were absolutely shitting yourself! You – were – shitting – yourself!"
"Shut the fuck up, Alex!" I chuckled. "You're embarrassing me!"
"'And now, prepare to be amazed by my first ever eccentric trick on this fine young lady named Max as she is about to be split in too!'"
"Stop that, Alex! Seriously, I already regret coming up there to volunteer for that bozo."
"Come on, Max. You won't guess how many eccentric people I've meant in my travels with Dad who have made me uncomfortable but started to grow on over the years."
"Like who? Like the dude from the Taj Mahal who made Dad and I meditate in a mandapam. We had to take our shoes off or they'd throw us out for infidelity."
"Infidelity?"
"You know what I mean."
"No, I don't know what you mean."
"Their religion Hinduism is what I mean. Of course, we didn't become Hindus ourselves but we were showing respect to it."
"Whatever you say, ma'am."
Alex turned her head and offered me to take her hand so we could hold hands together walking ourselves home. She smiled invitingly and I figured maybe holding hands can cheer me up from my embarrassment. So, I give her a light smile, take her hand and continue walking.
"You know what," said Alex. "You and I need to go on an adventure. Together. We can leave tonight."
"Excuse me?" I wondered. "Are you cereal?"
"Yes, I'm cereal! Let's both skip town and never turn back!"
"Oh, come on, Alex. Don't be stupid."
"What do you mean? Didn't we agree earlier that we'd go?"
"Yeah. Eventually, maybe?"
"Let's go, right now!"
"No, Alex! Let's not!"
"Okay, then. Why not?!"
I sighed stressfully. Then I give Alex reason not to go immediately at this time of night.
"For starters," I begin. "We still have parents to go home to who's roofs we still live under. Not to mention we have no money to book any fights to where you'd want to. Much less for hotels, food, clothes, whatever."
"Oh, don't be like that Max," said Alex. "I use credit cards and paychecks to back me up. Plus, a bank account I can borrow money from and we won't even have to spend a fortune. And I think our parents can live without us for some time. Besides, when was the last time they've ever treated us fairly, huh?"
"They still care about us and we still care for them. Everything they've done for us may not have always been the fairest, but I have dreams of my own I'd like to achieve. That being photography."
"There's no rule or law that says no photography in our little journey. You can make a reputation and even career photographing the globe."
"And where would our adventures take us if it were up to you?"
"If it were up to me? How 'bout you? What uniquely twisted location does Max and Alex Caulfield equal?"
"Hmm…how 'bout an indefinitely long adventure around the world in eighty days?"
"That sounds like the greatest idea anyone's ever thought of. Stolen from the writings of Jules Verne."
"Never read that book."
"You and me, on a hot air balloon, filling up our load with hilarious souvenirs and flying overseas. We may come across the Eiffel Tower, the Himalayas, the Amazon River, the list is infinite. And one day, we'd find someplace to land. Whether it'd be the beaches of Hawaii, the islands of Japan, the Bahamas, wherever. Then we'd run into a sacred land full of natives who ambush us with bows and spears and then say 'Halt! You shall not pass outsiders! This is sacred land! Who are you and where do you come from?!' Then I'll say 'Please don't hurt us! We're just tourist! We're too young to be ravaged!'"
"You're so full of shit."
"Oh, what a lovely night this is! I can feel the whole world just hugging us together right now!"
Alex giggled to herself and the optimistic and naïve big cousin she was, I was the one more doubtful and realistic. I sighed in disbelief and wanted her to cease her overconfidence.
"Alex, can we just stop for a second?" I asked her. "If you don't mean this, and are just saying this for the sake of saying this, then the life you want us to have is never going to happen."
"Oh, shut the front door!" Alex snapped. "I've never been more serious in my whole life!"
The two of us hold our two hands and do a merry-go-round on the asphalt. Alex still had the habit of making me cheer up every time I felt blue. Only I was going to need a bit more convincing than Alex saying she's serious.
"Max, what exactly can it take to convince you?" Alex wondered.
X/SQUARE/LM – TRUST
B/CIRCLE/RM – LOYALTY
"What about trust, Alex?" I asked. "Can I trust you with everything you do wherever we go?"
"Well, of course, you can, Max," replied Alex. "You can trust anything I say. No secrets kept."
"Thing is, Chloe and I used to say the same thing about an adventure of a lifetime. An adventure to treasure island. And look where we ended up instead. I hear my voice every day on the tape recorder I left Chloe after the funeral. Imagining her curled up on the floor, holding the recorder tightly, and weeping herself to death. Even crying herself to sleep every night over how I left her when she needed me the most. I still hate my parents for making us leave to this city and Chloe and Joyce were just beginning to bury a good man of theirs. I really don't want us to find ourselves in the same place I was four years ago."
"You're overthinking yourself, Max. If you don't want things like that to happen, then maybe you shouldn't say things like that either."
"And just because I don't say things as such, doesn't mean it won't happen."
My phone buzzed and I picked it up to read a text from Mom.
Mom: Max, it's late. When are you coming home?
"It's Mom," I sighed. "Asking me when I'm coming home as if I'm twelve again."
"Hey, want to come to my house instead?" Alex asked. "Dad has a game of dominos we can play and you can sleep in at my place if you like."
"Sure, I can do that, I guess. I'll just have to tell Mom."
Max: I'm gonna sleep in at Alex's if that ok.
Mom: Very well. Be sure to come back in the morning.
Max: Sure.
Then Alex's phone buzzed and she received a text from Fernando. Which I wasn't going to like.
"Oh, boy, Max," said Alex.
"What?" I wondered.
"Fernando's saying hashtag Max Sawfield is trending right now on Twitter."
"On Twitter? What are you – wait, the magic show? Me sawed in half?! He posted that online?!"
"Looks that way. He sent me the link to it."
"Are you kidding me?! For fuck's sake, Fernan!"
"Oh, relax, Max. He says it's getting over a thousand likes and hundreds of retweets."
"You relax! I never want anything humiliating in my life posted on fucking Twitter! God, my life is so over!"
"No one's life is over until it's over."
"Tell that to Gus when we see him again at school. I'm so getting made fun of over this."
Max – Age 21 (POV)
Chloe – Age 23
July 23rd, 2017
10:22 AM
Meridian Prime
Meridian Rainforest
"Alex changed my life so much," I said to Chloe who was treating my head wound. "She was just like Rachel. Adventurous, overconfident, naïve, even deceptive at times. All her tenacity was determined upon nothing but the great journey of a lifetime."
Chloe had been treating my head injury with some gauze and alcohol as soon as she woke me up after being washed out by the river. I sat there explaining more about Alex like I should've four years back in Chloe's room as Chloe herself played nurse.
"She wanted nothing more for us than to become explorers and adventurers while I wanted to be a photographer. Ow."
"Okay, just hold still," said Chloe.
The rubbing alcohol stung a bit as it touched the graze on my forehead.
"You know," I continued. "For a while, it felt like…if we weren't taking turns getting into trouble…it was because we got in trouble together. And…after I lost her I – or after I thought I lost her…"
"You didn't want to bring her back up again," said Chloe.
"Something like that. Well, that's it. Now you know everything."
"With you, I doubt that's everything. But…it's a lot."
"Love to know what you're thinking."
"I'm thinking that you're lucky that I found you when I did."
"Yeah."
"I'm glad you didn't lose a limb or anything. It would've been a royal pain getting you out of here."
"How did you find me anyway?"
"Oh, you know. Easy. Just follow the sound of gunfire."
"No, I mean how did you get here?"
I look up at the sky to see the obvious. Bryan's plane flying sky high as the eye can see as his engine is overhead on our ground.
"Oh…of course," I said.
Chloe reached for her radio and spoke to Bryan.
"Come in, Bryan," she said.
"Hey, Chloe," responded Bryan. "How's she doing?"
"Oh, you know. She's banged up but she's alive. Par for the course. Now we just need to rescue the other Caulfield."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll let Max tell you."
Chloe tossed me the radio and I speak to my Uncle. I should scream and lash out him right fucking now for the lies and secrets he knew all along! Even longer than since this trip began.
"Hey, Uncle Bryan," I scoffed. "Glad you can join us."
"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it. So, what happened to Alex?"
"Joan's got her."
"Shit. You know where they are?"
"Yeah. They're heading to the northern side of the island. See if you can find a place to set down over there. Once we get Alex, we're going to need to get outta here pretty quick."
"Copy that. I'll send Rachel and Frank down there once I do."
"By the way, Bryan, Joan told me a little story of hers that you and Alex having been keeping from me for far too long."
"What story?"
"You know what story. Your Herd of Whales story you've been meaning to tell me when we saw each other again. And when we do, we're gonna have a nice long conversation about it. Capiche?"
Bryan remained silent on the radio for a second. No surprise why.
"Very well. When we meet again, I'll make good on my promise."
"What an asshole, right?"
"I'll fill you in on everything when I see you."
"Yeah, I can't wait."
"Look, you two be safe down there."
"You know us."
Now that Chloe and I were together again, she lent me back my pistol that I take back from her. Chloe was already armed with her own pistol holstered next to her waist so we could fight back against ConDef posted on the island.
"Trade ya," said Chloe.
I gave her back the radio in exchange for my gun and thanked her.
"Thanks," I said.
"Sure," she said.
"No, I mean…thanks for saving me. Again."
"I almost didn't this time."
"Right."
"C'mon. I got us a ride."
Note: So, I'm back guys. It's been almost two months since I finished episode 4 and two months of so much I've had and wanted to do since that has kept me from writing. Binging season 3 of Better Call Saul, watching a terrible season of Fear the Walking Dead, watching an amazing final season of Preacher, playing Gears 5, Control, and Borderlands 3, replaying Telltale's The Walking Dead series on the Definite Series Collection, et cetera, et cetera. Not to mention I'm being forced to retake some classes in college in the spring while taking gen eds this fall. Which is getting me held back from senior classes. Which I don't wish to get into.
I've also been working on an outline for my next story after this one which will be a Mass Effect story. A sequel to Andromeda and I've put the outline on hold in favor of getting back to writing this. And yes, I did play episode 4 of Life Is Strange 2. Which in my opinion is the best episode by far!
Enjoy the penultimate episode of Max's final season. Until next time, stay tuned and golden!
P.S. The flashback is another homage to Before the Storm in case you haven't guessed.