Daybreak, by Mitsuki Hoshiko
Author's Notes: As convoluted and disjointed as this fic is, I really think that this is the sort of genre that is left neglected far too often. Constructive criticism is welcomed gladly, though flames will be used to fire up the barbeque. I have played through both Myst and Riven. So I suppose I know what I'm talking about. Enjoy!
It's been... three weeks since that day. Three agonizingly long weeks since I first stumbled upon the book, since I first set foot on Myst Island. And three weeks since I became entangled in the tragedy of Atrus's family. The Ages of this place have become familiar to me now, and I often wander them, reflecting on my first visit to each one.
It's hard living here alone. Atrus is here as well, cooped up in his study writing feverishly, but he's never been much for socialization. So I'm alone in what may be another dimension than my own. With no way back home. It gets hard to wake up in the morning, look out the window (if there is one), and realize that I may well be here for the rest of my life.
I'll probably go crazy long before the end of it.
Oh believe me, I was never a "social butterfly" back home. No, I was content to hide in the background and watch life go by. Perhaps this is some bizarre punishment for my silence. After all, what better way to drive an introvert insane by isolating him? By cutting him off from all human contact? But regardless of that, I am willing to keep living for tomorrow (however dull that tomorrow may be).
Atrus said once that he might require my assistance again. Why, I don't presume to know. It may have something to do with that book he's forever scribbling in. He said it was "repairs" when I worked up enough courage to ask him. But repairs to what? He truly baffles me. Maybe insanity runs in his family; God knows his sons were neurotic enough. But Atrus seems sane enough. On the surface, that is…
I have decided. Tomorrow I will demand to know just what it is that he is doing. And perhaps then this persistent question in my mind will finally be allayed. Whether it is a link back home, or a link to some strange and alien land of his own making, I do not care. Whatever it is that he needs done, I will do it.
And perhaps then, I can return home at last…