Foreword: Egads! It's complete! This is the last installment! I've actually created a multi-chapter work that I wasn't lazy enough to turn into a plot bunny! AND it wasn't (entirely) a piece of crap!
...I think Hell just froze over...
---
Epilogue: Final Dream
Bill opened his eyes to find himself in an English-style garden, standing beside Morpheus. With a quick gasp, the young researcher looked down at himself, hoping that he wasn't a Meowth once more. Oddly enough, he wasn't. He maintained his human form, though he seemed to be dressed in odd clothing. Like a colorful version of a Victorian-style suit, even more intriguing than what he usually wore.
"Morpheus? What are you doing here?" Bill asked as he at last looked up at his companion.
"It is time," Morpheus informed him.
Bill tilted his head. "Time? Time for what?"
Morpheus, as always, refused to provide a straight answer. "Follow me..."
With that, the god floated forward, down a cobblestone pathway between rows of rose bushes. Bill walked forward, feeling the hard, cold stones beneath his bare feet. He followed Morpheus, taking the time to admire the flowers and foliage all around him. He couldn't imagine why he was there, but a feeling of tranquility settled deep inside him. He didn't even feel at all panicked as Morpheus led him into the maze of hawthorn.
After what seemed like hours, Morpheus stopped at the opening of a large, circular clearing within the labyrinth. Bill nearly ran into the back of the god of dreams due to his lack of attention. The mortal gave the other a curious look as a pair of golden eyes gazed over a dark shoulder with a blank expression.
"We have arrived," Morpheus told him.
"Arrived where?" Bill inquired.
Morpheus closed his eyes and stepped aside, revealing a table before him. Bill looked closely at it, noticing that it looked a little like how he imagined the tea party with Alice, the Mad Hatter, and the March Hare to be like. A teapot sat in the middle of the white table covered with a green and maroon table cloth. Around it sat a plate of biscuits, a sugar bowl, and other things one would normally find at a tea party, all painted in a variety of colors. Two white chairs were set at the table with round seats and heart-shaped backings. One of these had been empty, but the other...
Bill's eyes widened as he looked at her. The little, plump girl with short, dirty-blonde hair and sparkling, brown eyes, still dressed as the little girl who stumbled into Wonderland one boring afternoon. However, Bill could see that just behind her were a pair of pure, white wings, small and simple, like a cherub's.
"I knew I had to get you SOMETHING for your birthday," Morpheus whispered to him with a smile. "So, I made a few arrangements and brought you her. Happy birthday, Bill."
Bill only nodded, unable to find his voice.
"Well? Go talk to her!" Morpheus placed a hand on Bill's back and pushed him towards the table.
The youth walked slowly to the small "party," gave the girl a nod, and sat down in the empty chair.
"It's been a long time," the little girl stated. "I've missed talking to you."
Bill could only nod again.
"So, did you keep your promise?" she asked.
Bill snapped out of his stunned condition and blinked. "W-what?"
She grinned and laughed. "Your promise! Your promise, silly! Remember? I promised you that I'd go around the world and see everything, and you promised me that you'd find yourself! And we promised each other that whenever we're done, we'll come and tell each other all about what we saw! Do you remember, Bill?"
A sheepish grin spread across his face. "O-of course, Alice."
"Good! Because I did!" Alice smiled broadly. "Oh, and you won't believe what I saw! Being an angel let me go wherever I wanted to go! I got to see the Eiffel Tower and a Chinese New Year celebration in San Francisco and Stonehenge and... Oh, I got to see EVERYTHING, Bill! It was just like in the books you read to me a long time ago! It was so much fun!"
Bill smiled. Though she's been everywhere, Alice hadn't changed. She still saw only the good side of things, the best of the world. And though it was incredibly naïve, the sense of joy within the girl seemed to radiate to everyone around her. It was this that caused Bill to feel that very warmth and contentment deep in his heart that he hadn't felt since the day before Alice fell ill.
"How about you?" Alice finally asked. "What did YOU do?"
Bill kept his grin on his face. "I found myself, Alice. With the help of my friend, Morpheus, I think I truly understand the way I feel about things."
He went on to tell her about the places he had went to in his dreams -- the circus, the city, the ocean, the Lotus Temple... Everything. When he was done, Alice beamed.
"I wish I could have gone with you," Alice told him. "That sounds like fun!"
"Well, I'm glad to be home now," Bill replied.
A bell echoed in the air. Alice looked up, and a sad look drew across her face.
"I've got to go," she said solemnly. "I have to go back to Heaven."
Bill frowned. "But... If you leave, will I ever see you again?"
Alice emitted her wind-chime giggle. "Of course you will, silly! I'll come back in your dreams, and we'll be together again someday. Besides..."
She extended her wings and took flight, but not before reaching over and touching Bill's chest with one finger.
"I never left you," Alice informed him. "As long as you remember me, I'll always be in your heart."
With that, she flew towards the sky, disappearing in a flash of white light. Morpheus glanced at Bill and smiled before ascending himself into the lingering illumination.
"Thank you, Morpheus," Bill whispered as he closed his eyes.
---
Bill woke up to find himself in his childhood home. He put his hands behind his head and remained lying on his back, staring at the ceiling in thought. He remembered little of the night before. Nothing much happened, save for a dinner with his mother and sisters in celebration for his awakening at last. Well, actually, there was something that happened not long after he put Ellie to bed.
He remembered that he was sitting on the mattress, staring at his lap as he heard his mother's sobs from down the hall. He wondered if his sisters heard it too, but in any case, he had to talk to his mother. Alone.
Slowly, he stood and walked out of his room, slinking quietly to the door to the master bedroom where he saw his mother sitting on the bed. She was looking at the wedding album as she cried uncontrollably. Bill couldn't figure out why, but he noticed that something (or, rather, some things) seemed to be missing from the room.
"Mum?" he murmured softly.
She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked her gently.
She didn't answer as she lowered her head again. Bill came up with another question, and after a moment of only opening and closing his mouth in an effort to speak, he managed to present it to her.
"Father... He isn't at the casino right now, is he?"
At that, his mother sobbed loudly. Bill tilted his head and felt a tug on his sleeve. He glanced to the side to see Beth at his elbow with a concerned look in her eyes.
"We need to talk," she told him. "You've missed something important while you were in that coma."
Bill nodded and followed Beth into her room. As soon as he walked in, she shut the door and leaned against it.
"He isn't at the casino," Beth told him, replying to his question. "He's gone."
Bill looked at her with a perplexed glance. "Gone?"
Beth nodded. "He left us not long before you came to, about a week or so before the time when Ellie literally pulled the plug on you."
"Why?"
Beth sighed. "We don't know. He didn't say anything about it. He just said he was going to pick up a few things at the supermarket, but he never came back. He..."
Beth stopped herself. She didn't want to tell Bill that it was probably because of him. All of their parents' arguments involved either Bill or Ellie. Whether or not Davis thought of his children as something other than problems, it was hard to say, but that's the way things were.
"If there's anything I can do -- anything from send you more money than I usually do or move back here -- please, just tell me," Bill urged.
Beth said nothing as she walked forward and stared into her brother's eyes. With that, she embraced him and cried on his shoulder. Unsure of what to do, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye and hugged her back.
"Just act like the world isn't going to Hell," she choked. "If you could show me how to do that, then things would be just perfect."
Unable to find much else to say, he told her something simple.
"There are things in this world that are what they are because they are, and there are things in this world that are what they are because they choose to be."
She didn't even bother asking for an explanation as she continued to cry.
Presently, Bill's expression turned to one of grief before he sighed and closed his eyes. Carefully, he sat up and threw his legs over the bed. It was a new day, and as his philosophy stated, it was time to face whatever was ahead, no matter what it might be. He nodded to himself before standing up. Everything was going to be okay.
"You're not alone," he murmured to himself as he pulled clothes out of a closet and got dressed. "You're not alone..."
With that, he smiled and walked out of his bedroom. He walked past Beth and said a cheerful "good morning" to her, causing her to smile. That was her assurance. Everything was going to be alright.
In the family room, he found Ellie, quietly playing with a Gameboy as her mother cooked breakfast in the next room. Bill paused to glance at the grandfather clock to find that it was only eight in the morning. His eyes trailed from the numbers on the face (which seemed almost foreign to him after being trapped in a world where time meant nothing) to the pictures on the wall. His fingers rose to touch the frame of one. A Christmas portrait...
He tore his eyes away and knelt down to Ellie, who sat on the couch and didn't notice his presence.
"Good morning, Ellie," he greeted softly.
Ellie turned off her Gameboy and put it aside before glancing up at her older brother and giving him a shy smile.
"Before breakfast, I want to teach you a song in the backyard," he said. "I taught it to a friend of mine a long, long time ago, and it made her happy. Maybe it will do the same for you."
He offered a hand to her. She smiled broadly and took it, looking at her older brother with a mixture of fondness and awe as he led her to the backdoor and into the fresh, morning air (though it was still of the city). He turned her around and knelt down to her level again.
"Now, the words are simple and easy to remember, and the tune is sure to lift your spirits, no matter what," he told her with a smile. "Alright?"
Ellie nodded and listened as Bill began to sing.
"On Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to have known
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello
"On the corner is a banker with a motorcar
The little children laugh at him behind his back
And the banker never wears a mack
In the pouring rain...
Very strange."
Ellie giggled at the pseudo-perplexed look Bill had on his face as he sang about the banker. He grinned again and stood up before taking her hands and dancing with her around the backyard.
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back..."
Bill stopped and bent down to continue.
"On Penny Lane, there is a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen
He likes to keep his fire engine clean
It's a clean machine."
Bill stood again and danced about with Ellie as he hummed. He didn't notice as his mother and Beth stood at the window, watching as smiles grew across their faces.
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...
Four of fish and finger pies
In summer; meanwhile back..."
Ellie sat on the tree stump sitting in the middle of the yard as Bill once again knelt down to her.
"Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway...
"On Penny Lane, the barber shaves another customer
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim
Then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain...
Very strange."
---
Outside the city, Davis continued to walk up the hill. He had stayed in various places in Goldenrod City throughout the month, but he then decided that the city itself wasn't for him. And so, he looked back down on the city for the last time before turning and heading towards Violet City. He didn't know where he was going to go or what he was going to do there. He just knew that he wasn't good enough to be a father or a husband. He had to leave it all behind.
It was a shame he would miss his youngest daughter and his only son singing together. And while the upbeat tune escaped their throats, one told the other that everything was going to be alright. And indeed they were going to be, in Ellie's opinion.
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back...
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies...
"Penny Lane..."
...I think Hell just froze over...
---
Epilogue: Final Dream
Bill opened his eyes to find himself in an English-style garden, standing beside Morpheus. With a quick gasp, the young researcher looked down at himself, hoping that he wasn't a Meowth once more. Oddly enough, he wasn't. He maintained his human form, though he seemed to be dressed in odd clothing. Like a colorful version of a Victorian-style suit, even more intriguing than what he usually wore.
"Morpheus? What are you doing here?" Bill asked as he at last looked up at his companion.
"It is time," Morpheus informed him.
Bill tilted his head. "Time? Time for what?"
Morpheus, as always, refused to provide a straight answer. "Follow me..."
With that, the god floated forward, down a cobblestone pathway between rows of rose bushes. Bill walked forward, feeling the hard, cold stones beneath his bare feet. He followed Morpheus, taking the time to admire the flowers and foliage all around him. He couldn't imagine why he was there, but a feeling of tranquility settled deep inside him. He didn't even feel at all panicked as Morpheus led him into the maze of hawthorn.
After what seemed like hours, Morpheus stopped at the opening of a large, circular clearing within the labyrinth. Bill nearly ran into the back of the god of dreams due to his lack of attention. The mortal gave the other a curious look as a pair of golden eyes gazed over a dark shoulder with a blank expression.
"We have arrived," Morpheus told him.
"Arrived where?" Bill inquired.
Morpheus closed his eyes and stepped aside, revealing a table before him. Bill looked closely at it, noticing that it looked a little like how he imagined the tea party with Alice, the Mad Hatter, and the March Hare to be like. A teapot sat in the middle of the white table covered with a green and maroon table cloth. Around it sat a plate of biscuits, a sugar bowl, and other things one would normally find at a tea party, all painted in a variety of colors. Two white chairs were set at the table with round seats and heart-shaped backings. One of these had been empty, but the other...
Bill's eyes widened as he looked at her. The little, plump girl with short, dirty-blonde hair and sparkling, brown eyes, still dressed as the little girl who stumbled into Wonderland one boring afternoon. However, Bill could see that just behind her were a pair of pure, white wings, small and simple, like a cherub's.
"I knew I had to get you SOMETHING for your birthday," Morpheus whispered to him with a smile. "So, I made a few arrangements and brought you her. Happy birthday, Bill."
Bill only nodded, unable to find his voice.
"Well? Go talk to her!" Morpheus placed a hand on Bill's back and pushed him towards the table.
The youth walked slowly to the small "party," gave the girl a nod, and sat down in the empty chair.
"It's been a long time," the little girl stated. "I've missed talking to you."
Bill could only nod again.
"So, did you keep your promise?" she asked.
Bill snapped out of his stunned condition and blinked. "W-what?"
She grinned and laughed. "Your promise! Your promise, silly! Remember? I promised you that I'd go around the world and see everything, and you promised me that you'd find yourself! And we promised each other that whenever we're done, we'll come and tell each other all about what we saw! Do you remember, Bill?"
A sheepish grin spread across his face. "O-of course, Alice."
"Good! Because I did!" Alice smiled broadly. "Oh, and you won't believe what I saw! Being an angel let me go wherever I wanted to go! I got to see the Eiffel Tower and a Chinese New Year celebration in San Francisco and Stonehenge and... Oh, I got to see EVERYTHING, Bill! It was just like in the books you read to me a long time ago! It was so much fun!"
Bill smiled. Though she's been everywhere, Alice hadn't changed. She still saw only the good side of things, the best of the world. And though it was incredibly naïve, the sense of joy within the girl seemed to radiate to everyone around her. It was this that caused Bill to feel that very warmth and contentment deep in his heart that he hadn't felt since the day before Alice fell ill.
"How about you?" Alice finally asked. "What did YOU do?"
Bill kept his grin on his face. "I found myself, Alice. With the help of my friend, Morpheus, I think I truly understand the way I feel about things."
He went on to tell her about the places he had went to in his dreams -- the circus, the city, the ocean, the Lotus Temple... Everything. When he was done, Alice beamed.
"I wish I could have gone with you," Alice told him. "That sounds like fun!"
"Well, I'm glad to be home now," Bill replied.
A bell echoed in the air. Alice looked up, and a sad look drew across her face.
"I've got to go," she said solemnly. "I have to go back to Heaven."
Bill frowned. "But... If you leave, will I ever see you again?"
Alice emitted her wind-chime giggle. "Of course you will, silly! I'll come back in your dreams, and we'll be together again someday. Besides..."
She extended her wings and took flight, but not before reaching over and touching Bill's chest with one finger.
"I never left you," Alice informed him. "As long as you remember me, I'll always be in your heart."
With that, she flew towards the sky, disappearing in a flash of white light. Morpheus glanced at Bill and smiled before ascending himself into the lingering illumination.
"Thank you, Morpheus," Bill whispered as he closed his eyes.
---
Bill woke up to find himself in his childhood home. He put his hands behind his head and remained lying on his back, staring at the ceiling in thought. He remembered little of the night before. Nothing much happened, save for a dinner with his mother and sisters in celebration for his awakening at last. Well, actually, there was something that happened not long after he put Ellie to bed.
He remembered that he was sitting on the mattress, staring at his lap as he heard his mother's sobs from down the hall. He wondered if his sisters heard it too, but in any case, he had to talk to his mother. Alone.
Slowly, he stood and walked out of his room, slinking quietly to the door to the master bedroom where he saw his mother sitting on the bed. She was looking at the wedding album as she cried uncontrollably. Bill couldn't figure out why, but he noticed that something (or, rather, some things) seemed to be missing from the room.
"Mum?" he murmured softly.
She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked her gently.
She didn't answer as she lowered her head again. Bill came up with another question, and after a moment of only opening and closing his mouth in an effort to speak, he managed to present it to her.
"Father... He isn't at the casino right now, is he?"
At that, his mother sobbed loudly. Bill tilted his head and felt a tug on his sleeve. He glanced to the side to see Beth at his elbow with a concerned look in her eyes.
"We need to talk," she told him. "You've missed something important while you were in that coma."
Bill nodded and followed Beth into her room. As soon as he walked in, she shut the door and leaned against it.
"He isn't at the casino," Beth told him, replying to his question. "He's gone."
Bill looked at her with a perplexed glance. "Gone?"
Beth nodded. "He left us not long before you came to, about a week or so before the time when Ellie literally pulled the plug on you."
"Why?"
Beth sighed. "We don't know. He didn't say anything about it. He just said he was going to pick up a few things at the supermarket, but he never came back. He..."
Beth stopped herself. She didn't want to tell Bill that it was probably because of him. All of their parents' arguments involved either Bill or Ellie. Whether or not Davis thought of his children as something other than problems, it was hard to say, but that's the way things were.
"If there's anything I can do -- anything from send you more money than I usually do or move back here -- please, just tell me," Bill urged.
Beth said nothing as she walked forward and stared into her brother's eyes. With that, she embraced him and cried on his shoulder. Unsure of what to do, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye and hugged her back.
"Just act like the world isn't going to Hell," she choked. "If you could show me how to do that, then things would be just perfect."
Unable to find much else to say, he told her something simple.
"There are things in this world that are what they are because they are, and there are things in this world that are what they are because they choose to be."
She didn't even bother asking for an explanation as she continued to cry.
Presently, Bill's expression turned to one of grief before he sighed and closed his eyes. Carefully, he sat up and threw his legs over the bed. It was a new day, and as his philosophy stated, it was time to face whatever was ahead, no matter what it might be. He nodded to himself before standing up. Everything was going to be okay.
"You're not alone," he murmured to himself as he pulled clothes out of a closet and got dressed. "You're not alone..."
With that, he smiled and walked out of his bedroom. He walked past Beth and said a cheerful "good morning" to her, causing her to smile. That was her assurance. Everything was going to be alright.
In the family room, he found Ellie, quietly playing with a Gameboy as her mother cooked breakfast in the next room. Bill paused to glance at the grandfather clock to find that it was only eight in the morning. His eyes trailed from the numbers on the face (which seemed almost foreign to him after being trapped in a world where time meant nothing) to the pictures on the wall. His fingers rose to touch the frame of one. A Christmas portrait...
He tore his eyes away and knelt down to Ellie, who sat on the couch and didn't notice his presence.
"Good morning, Ellie," he greeted softly.
Ellie turned off her Gameboy and put it aside before glancing up at her older brother and giving him a shy smile.
"Before breakfast, I want to teach you a song in the backyard," he said. "I taught it to a friend of mine a long, long time ago, and it made her happy. Maybe it will do the same for you."
He offered a hand to her. She smiled broadly and took it, looking at her older brother with a mixture of fondness and awe as he led her to the backdoor and into the fresh, morning air (though it was still of the city). He turned her around and knelt down to her level again.
"Now, the words are simple and easy to remember, and the tune is sure to lift your spirits, no matter what," he told her with a smile. "Alright?"
Ellie nodded and listened as Bill began to sing.
"On Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to have known
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello
"On the corner is a banker with a motorcar
The little children laugh at him behind his back
And the banker never wears a mack
In the pouring rain...
Very strange."
Ellie giggled at the pseudo-perplexed look Bill had on his face as he sang about the banker. He grinned again and stood up before taking her hands and dancing with her around the backyard.
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back..."
Bill stopped and bent down to continue.
"On Penny Lane, there is a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen
He likes to keep his fire engine clean
It's a clean machine."
Bill stood again and danced about with Ellie as he hummed. He didn't notice as his mother and Beth stood at the window, watching as smiles grew across their faces.
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...
Four of fish and finger pies
In summer; meanwhile back..."
Ellie sat on the tree stump sitting in the middle of the yard as Bill once again knelt down to her.
"Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway...
"On Penny Lane, the barber shaves another customer
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim
Then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain...
Very strange."
---
Outside the city, Davis continued to walk up the hill. He had stayed in various places in Goldenrod City throughout the month, but he then decided that the city itself wasn't for him. And so, he looked back down on the city for the last time before turning and heading towards Violet City. He didn't know where he was going to go or what he was going to do there. He just knew that he wasn't good enough to be a father or a husband. He had to leave it all behind.
It was a shame he would miss his youngest daughter and his only son singing together. And while the upbeat tune escaped their throats, one told the other that everything was going to be alright. And indeed they were going to be, in Ellie's opinion.
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back...
"Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies...
"Penny Lane..."