Chapter 21, The Truth Revealed

"So, I was born in 1893. I don't know what day I was born but I know I arrived in Columbia on October 8, 1893. Anyway, at the time, the Lutece Twins offered him a choice of giving me up in exchange to wipe his debts since he had a gambling problem."

"How did he have gambling problems," I asked.

"My mother died giving birth to me and it made him go to gambling and drinking," she quickly answered.

Well Elizabeth and I have something in common. Both of our mothers gave birth to us and died in the process.

She tucked some hair away from her face, "Once he gave me up, he soon regretted it and tried to take me back. The Lutece Twins had opened a portal to Columbia using Lutece Device and he wrestled with Comstock to give me back. As they closed the portal it shut on my right pinky, severing it."

She raised her right hand to show her pinky, but it was still there. So, how did she get it back?

"How did you get it back?"

"That comes later. But when I lost my pinky, I was given…something in return," she states before taking a huge breath, bracing to tell me something.

"What were you given?"

She paused for a moment, fidgeting again with her pinky, "I was given the ability to teleport between realities and go between universes with ease. I called the portals I made called Tears. I became omnipotent. I could go anywhere at any point and manipulate realities to my will. I existed everywhere at any time."

I almost fell off the bench. She could time travel and go between realities? If what she is telling me is really true, holy shit. In front of me is one of the most powerful beings ever right next to God.

Elizabeth took notice of my reaction, "Are you alright?"

I controlled my breathing, "Yeah just, I mean holy shit Elizabeth."

Elizabeth waited a moment for me to catch my breath then proceeded,"Continuing, the reason I was taken was that Comstock needed a child to continue his legacy as he was infertile due to traveling between realities. And Comstock is an alternate Booker."

"Alternate Booker?"

"Yes. There is a moment in Booker DeWitt's life where he could be baptized of all his sins as a ruthless soldier in the Battle of Wounded Knee. One reality he took the baptism and became Comstock to found the floating city of Columbia. The other is the one who came after me as Booker."

Starting to get a bit confused, but I'll roll with it. Floating city sounds pretty nice however. Better than an underwater city.

She continued, "Comstock claimed to the city I was a miracle child from God as in Lady Comstock's womb it took me only seven days to be born. But Lady Comstock wasn't told the truth. She assumed I was a child that Comstock and Rosalind had with each other. So she wanted me out of the house. Around that time, tears started to appear around Columbia and people were starting to be concerned as to what was going on. Turns out, it's a side effect of my powers. No matter what reality I am in, they start to appear. I'd later find out that Rapture was in one of the tears and that's how they were able to bring the technology from there to Columbia to use. Dr. Suchong and Jeremiah Fink started to work together to make a protector for me and they created SongBird."

"What did it look like," I inquired.

"He was metallic and was like an owl if it mated with a regular bird and had leather wings. I can draw a picture of him for you later, but that's the main idea."

"Was he not that big?"

"No, he was pretty big. Were talking maybe ten feet tall."

That's a big pet. Biggest pet I've had was Fawkes but he wasn't a pet. He was more of an ally. And even then he was not as big as Songbird.

I cleared my throat, "Sounds like quite the pet. How did you bond with him?"

"Well after they moved me to Monument Island, which was a tower that housed me most of my life. They had Songbird crash through the building and his oxygen tube came loose. I attached it back to him and that's how he imprinted on me," she answered.

"Outside of Songbird, did you have anyone else?"

"Not really. I was by myself most of the time but once I left the tower. I found out they were watching me for years. From when I was just reading or doing art to even when I changed clothes."

Yeah that's just plain creepy. I mean spying on a girl and invading her privacy just to see how her powers worked is disgusting.

She progressed, "Though I wasn't always lonely. Before I was 14, I could go anywhere I wanted. I traveled to so many different beautiful places and was able to meet people. When I first learned I could do this, I tried it out and ended up teleporting myself into a tree, knocking a bee nest down. Not a surprise there but the bees were not happy and once I started getting stung, I went back to Monument Island."

I laughed, "Do bees still scare you today after that?"

She shot me a glare, "Yes. I can't stand them. Getting stung by them hurts. Anyway, I think I was 13, but I traveled to Rome and met this boy around my age. He was really cute with his brown hair and green eyes and he taught me how to skip stones. I wanted to keep hanging out with him, but I always wanted to go back to Songbird and not leave him. I never could find the boy again and around that time, the Lutece Twins made a Siphon to drain my powers to prevent me from being able to travel to other realities whenever I wanted."

Kind of reminds me of wanting to leave the Vault before I actually did. I always wanted to know what was out there growing up, but I always wanted to come back. Felt like home. Guess it's that worry that always brings you back.

"Why? Did they not want you to leave," I asked.

"Probably. They thought as I became a teenager, I might not stick around. So I was stuck there. I didn't know what was wrong at the time, but I would learn later. But after seeing Rome and some other beautiful places, I looked in my books for other locations and I wanted to go to Paris. So for years I imagined what it really looked like and tried my best to see if I could go there despite the limitations. But I was never successful."

Guess that's where her dreams of going to Paris came from. Maybe one day I can help make that a reality for her. She deserves to see it even if it's hell on earth there like it is here. Who knows? We could maybe rebuild Paris.

"So how long were you in the tower for? Until Booker came," I questioned.

She took a breath, "It was July 6, 1912 that Booker came for me. I was 19. And I was just trying to open a portal to Paris again and he literally fell out of nowhere from the roof. And I was just shocked to see him. So I kept throwing books at him."

So what I saw was real. It was through Booker's perspective. No sense in keeping it a secret.

"I think I might have seen that," I stated.

"What do you mean," Elizabeth asked.

I scratched the back of my head, readying for impact, "So I sort of lied about the dream with Amata I had. I didn't know at the time, but I dreamed I was walking around your tower and saw you opening the tear to Paris. Then it ended when I fell through the floor and you threw a book at me."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes subtly and looked away, like she wasn't surprised in the slightest.

I raised my hands, "To be fair I didn't know what to make of it. It looked like you, but you were missing a pinky that had some thimble on it and could rip tears. I didn't know you could do it at the time. But the real question I have is how could I have dreamed of that?"

"No idea. Could be somehow the twins gave you the dream. No idea how, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of what they could do. But why didn't you tell me the truth at least?"

"Well to be frankly honest. It sounds nuts and stupid without knowing what you said so far. I thought it was a stupid made up dream. And besides you haven't been all that honest with me either."

She reluctantly nodded, "Yeah. We both haven't been that honest."

We sat in silence for a moment, reflecting on what we said to each other.

She cleared her throat and continued, "So, after Booker dropped in, a statue I have that warns of Songbird on his way activated and I tried to hide Booker since there was no way out for him to escape from. He thankfully had the key to escape with as there was a door I tried for years to pick the lock open to escape from to no success."

Well that explains how she's so good at picklocking. She had literally years to do it.

"So, we unlocked the door and the truth started to be revealed to me about how they were spying on me for so long. Eventually we got to the top, but Songbird was ripping the tower apart. Booker and I jumped off and he had a skyhook thing that would attach to rails that went around Columbia. It's like a form of transportation for people to get around Columbia with it being in the sky."

"Speaking of that, how does it stay in the sky? Giant balloons holding the buildings up," I asked.

"It's simpler than that. Quantum Levitation. Rosalind discovered how to trap an atom in mid-air without it falling. The particles can then be set to maintain a specific altitude, and the effects of gravity become countered, leading it to impart that effect to things attached to it. Basically the floating atoms helped the city float," she answered.

Makes sense. More or less. If my Dad was still alive, he probably could have explained it better.

Elizabeth tucked some hair behind her ear, "Anyway, Songbird ripped the skyline apart and we fell into a floating beach. I resuscitated Booker but he was still in rough shape. My ear was drawn to music and I was excited to go but didn't want to leave Booker. He gave me permission to leave him so I followed the music. Eventually, I found some people that were dancing around and they invited me to join them. So I joined them while I waited for Booker and he eventually found me. I wanted him to dance with me, but this would be my first introduction into how stoic and serious he is. Then he suggested getting an airship to go to Paris. And I was so excited that I was gullible to not see he really wasn't going to take me."

I was stunned for a moment. Guess Booker wasn't all that he was made out to be. Seems like everyone else, he had an agenda that came before Elizabeth. At least at first.

"As we made our way to the airship, I remember having all these whimsical thoughts. I felt like a princess being rescued and nothing but freedom was in front of me. And I almost believed it until Booker noticed something was wrong when the concession guy wasn't giving the ticket to the airship. So he drew on him and the whole place was a shootout. I got scared and started to run off. He chased after me up to a lift and I called him a monster for killing people. He then finally came clean and told me that I was a target and him drawing first is what saved both of them. He reminded me that they will stop at nothing to put me back in the tower. So, I reluctantly agreed and we continued forward."

"Shook your whole world huh," I acknowledged.

"Yeah it did. But more things would shake it even more. After a few hours we would eventually get to the airship but Booker put coordinates to New York instead of Paris. I caught on immediately and knocked him out with a wrench. But then the airship would be attacked by the Vox Populi and I fled on my own."

"Who were the Vox Populi?"

"They were rebels against Comstock. But their lines were just as blurry as Comstock. You'll see when I get to it," she expressed.

"Wouldn't shock me. Even the Brotherhood of Steel is like that in some ways," I remarked.

"No doubt about it. After some time I tried to stowaway on a ship to leave Finkton, but was caught and thrown off. I then heard Booker nearby, calling to me and I ran. I used my tears to stall him as long as I could but then some agents caught me. He'd eventually take them out but in the chaos I would run away again. As he was chasing me, a Handyman attacked him and threw him onto a hanging crate."

"Handyman?"

"It was an attempt by Fink to make people live forever. Mostly older men but they were in giant mech suits that kept them alive with horrible side effects."

"Ah. The price of immortality huh?"

"Yeah. Back to the story, the Handyman attacked the crate, making Booker fall but I'd save him by bringing a blimp into existence to help him. He told me that he made a deal to get the airship back by providing weapons to Daisy Fitzroy, the leader of the Vox Populi. I'd pull him off the airship, but I told him he was just a means to an end to get to Paris, nothing more. In terms of finding the guns, we had to find a gunsmith maker named Chen Lin to get the weapons. Throughout our time in finding him, I remember taking a bit of admiration to the Vox and even compared them to the people that revolted against tyranny in the French Revolution. And throughout that time, I even admired Booker protecting me and putting his own life against mine. As we went through Fink's Factory, I found a locker that had Lady Comstock's Diary and that's how I found out I was not Comstock's Daughter and that she locked me in that tower."

"Talk about a bitch mother," I blurted out.

"True. But I cannot blame her. I'd find out why later. Eventually, we would find Chen Lin was tortured to death. Both of us had almost given up, but we got a hint from the Lutece twins in their usual vague way that the tear near his body could take him to a reality where he was still alive. However, my powers were still being hindered by the siphon that I didn't know about yet. So we couldn't come back. Booker and I agreed and I opened it. We tracked the new Chen Lin down and found out that he was alive this time because he was married to the sister of Fink's Head of Security which prevented him from dying for being married to another Chinese woman."

"Wait, he died because of that?"

"Yeah. This was 1912. Racism was still as strong as ever," she affirmed.

"Honestly, it hasn't really changed that much. Guess it doesn't matter where you are in time, racism still will always exist on some level."

"No doubt about that. Later, we would find Chen Lin himself, but because of his death in the previous reality, he was disoriented. Alive in one reality and being dead in another so closely made him appear that way. Booker suggested just getting the tools and that would be enough for Daisy. We found out the tools itself were in Shantytown, a slum of people suffering and starving in the streets from Fink's greed. It only influenced me further to support the Vox and believed they could change things to be better. It's not different from what I've seen in Freeside or even parts of New Vegas. Pretty much Shantytown on a wider scale."

"Yeah. Hopefully soon Mr. House and the two of us can get people out of it," I stated.

She tucked some hair behind her ear, "Yes. If we can prevent him from becoming a dictator. Back to Shantytown. We would reach the police station and eventually find the tools and spare guns. With how much there was, we could not bring them back by ourselves. So I saw another tear nearby that I opened that took us to another reality where the Vox's revolution was underway and were destroying Fink piece by piece."

"So much reality hoping. Did you ever return to the original?"

"Somewhat. But once we did return we passed the gun shop on our way to Finkton and we found Chen Lin and his wife both dead.I remember being so distraught. I blamed myself because I felt I created this reality to see the Vox succeed based on what I had seen them do. I felt fully responsible even though Booker tried to tell me it wasn't. We left the shop, but regret still would be on my mind and would only get worse. We tried to find Daisy and tell her the deal was made. However, things got complicated because the reality I created had Booker be seen as a martyr of the Vox cause. And Daisy seeing him still alive 'complicated the narrative'. So her response was to send the Vox after us and we fought our way to the docks. Once we were there, we saw Daisy murder Fink and was wanting to kill a child as well that was in Fink's rank. I remember telling Booker to distract him while he boosts me into the vent to take care of her."

"You haven't had to do something like this before have you," I expressed.

She shook her head, "Not at this point. I felt my mind racing. I didn't want a child to die but I didn't want to kill Daisy. I still felt underneath that maybe Daisy could see reason. Maybe just stabbing her in a non vital area and talking to her could fix this. I would hop down quietly and see a pair of scissors. I grabbed them but she started putting the gun on the child even more and I felt enraged. I felt my emotions get the best of me as I stabbed her in the back, near her heart. She turned around and tried to grab me, but I stepped back, shocked at what I just did. Booker walked towards me, but I was in so much shock, I remember raising the scissors to him. I felt like a monster, covered in her blood. I'd drop the scissors but I ran to the airship, just wanting to get away from everyone and everything. I'd lock myself in a room on the ship. And cleaned myself up a bit. I saw that there was a blue and white dress with a small jacket and corset. I put it on, but I grabbed a nearby blade and cut my hair up a little under my ears. I eventually came out and asked Booker if we could ever forget what we had done. He said it isn't possible. Just to keep moving forward. I looked down, trying to accept what he said but then Songbird came back and forced the ship to crash into Emporia, home of the rich."

"That stupid bird never gives you a break huh," I remarked

"No he never did. Once we crashed, the Lutece Twins were playing on a nearby piano and I recognized the tune they were playing. They were trying to bring SongBird back. They'd eventually reveal that was the true secret of how he was controlled. A tune on a specific instrument. With that knowledge in mind, we made our way to Comstock House, where Comstock was residing. On our way there, I remember seeing people trying to evacuate. Desperate to get out of there by seeing that Comstock was failing as prophet and a leader. Once we approached the gate, it was locked and even though it recognized me as Lady Comstock, we still needed her fingerprints to get in. I then realized her remains might be in the Memorial Gardens and we could cut her hand from her body there."

I felt a puzzled look come on my face, "Kind of morbid don't you think?"

Elizabeth also did the same, "Really? After what we've been through, that's morbid to you?"

"No, but I didn't think you were already there at that point."

"Well I loathed her at the moment and wanted to get out of the city as soon as possible. So I was willing to do whatever it takes. Booker would eventually open the casket but Comstock was ready. He sprung a trap and chastised me for what I was doing then eventually activated some minor siphons to drain my powers more. But in doing so, he used the energy to bring back Lady Comstock as a siren. Using my current hatred of her and her dead self, he was successful and she brought back the dead to fight us."

"Well this went in an unexpected direction. Looks like you got a zombie apocalypse on your hands," I joked.

She smiled, "Ha. It wouldn't last long. We would follow her through the Financial District, the Market District, and Victory Square. But throughout that time, tears would reveal the truth. Lady Comstock confronted Rosalind about the truth about me and Comstock had arranged with Fink to murder the Luteces to keep everything a secret about me not being his child. But in doing so, the Lutece Twins existed across dimensions which is how they're here to this day."

"So, they are Omnipotent like you," I asked.

"Yes. Like I was," Elizabeth replied.

"So, how are they twins?"

"Robert is a male version of Rosalind that she discovered when she was experimenting with the Lutece device. So they just stuck with each other pretty much."

"Huh. So, they are twins, but not gender twins," I concluded.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes. Once Booker and I understood the truth, I approached her in Victory Square and expressed to her that we have to both let go of our hatred with each other. Comstock was the true enemy and hurt us both. Surprisingly, she agreed and destroyed the gate for us, wishing us well before disappearing. With the house in sight, we made haste, but guess who came back?"

"Songbird," I replied.

"Yup. He came from below and grabbed Booker, throwing him into a nearby building. I tried to stop Songbird, but he wouldn't listen. As he went for the kill, I told him I would go back. It stopped him immediately and I hugged his hand, telling him to take me back to the tower in exchange for Booker to live. He picked me up and flew off with me, but he didn't take me back to the tower. He took me right to Comstock's House. Comstock tried to persuade me at first to listen and come back to him. He told me Booker wasn't coming, but I refused to let it go. So he subjected me to torture, experimentation, and mental condition to force me to go to him. I still refused and after months of it, they wanted to fit me with a sort of leash to make me behave. Electrocution at the ready if needed. Booker thankfully arrived in time as they stuck a spinal needle into my upper back," she finishes, turning around pointing to her upper back.

I winched. I cannot imagine having something like that in you let alone in your spine.

"Ugh. Can't imagine how painful that was," I remarked.

"That wasn't the worst part. They wanted to do all of this without anesthesia or sedatives by Comstocks orders."

What a bastard. His own adoptive daughter he was willing to torture to make his perfect heir. Fucking asshole.

Elizabeth continued, "Anyway, Booker shut down the siphons that were weakening my powers to which I responded by opening up a tear that brought in a tornado that killed all the scientists. Once the dust had settled, Booker freed me and pulled the spinal siphon out," she states, subtly wincing.

"It hurt coming out didn't it?"

"Yes. I still have the scar of where it was on my back," she paused as she rubbed her back for a moment, "Once Booker freed me, he gave me a note that an older version of me had given to him that was the key to stopping Songbird. I didn't get what it fully ment just yet, but once I was situated, I threatened I was going to kill Comstock but Booker wouldn't let me. Rather he would do it himself. So we headed out, and made our way to his airship, called the Hand of the Prophet. He tried to convince me that Booker knew more than I realized and demanded him to reveal the truth about what happened to my finger. He didn't know what he was talking about and after Comstock tried to hurt me, Booker drowned him in a baptismal dish."

"Did he know what he did to you?"

"No. Not yet. His travel through dimensions to come and get me fogged his memory incredibly. And even when he did, I didn't hold it against him. "

I motioned her to continue.

"Once we got to the top of the airship, I finally realized that the tower I was in my whole life was the reason my powers became limited when I was 14. Then I also realized that the note my older self gave me, the word Cage, was the notes of the song to sing to Songbird. I destroyed a nearby statue that would always sing it when he came by and took the instrument. As I held it, Songbird came by and tried to attack, but playing the song stopped him. During this time, the Vox tried to attack us but we used Songbird to fight off the Vox. Once that was done, we used Songbird one last time. To destroy the tower and the siphon once and for all. Once it was destroyed, I felt my powers fully return to me. I could see everything at once. I saw all the doors, all the realities flooded over me. However, Songbird was on his way back to attack us and as Booker tried to warn me, I opened a tear to stop Songbird right into Rapture. He came towards us and tried to attack but the water pressure started to crush him. I tried to comfort him, thanking him for protecting us, before the pressure finally crushed him and his body sank to the bottom of the ocean."

"Do you miss him? Even after everything?"

"To an extent, yes. It was like having a somewhat distant family member who, despite their flaws, did what they were supposed to do in protecting me. And as a sort of final act of love, helped me before dying. So yes, I miss him in that way. "

I can relate to that on some level. My Dad, I feel in his final moments, was trying to do the same to me. Though he was not distant to me, not by a long shot.

Elizabeth pressed on, "I showed Booker the truth in how there was always a door at the lighthouse that always brought him to it. Like it was fate. I then revealed to him the truth like I told you about my powers and the extent of it. I revealed that my powers and their full extent allowed me to see everything and that there were similarities but also differences to each of these realities. Constants and Variables."

I rubbed my head, "My head is starting to hurt from all this."

"Yeah it might be confusing, but that's the summary of it. Regardless, Booker wanted to just kill Comstock and end all of this. Smoother the son of a bitch in his crib. Even said to just go to Paris. However, I had to slowly reveal everything to him for him to see the truth since that was what he was wanting to do."

"That he was Comstock at one road and the other he was Booker?"

She nodded, "Yes. And once he saw that, we were back at the baptism place. Then myself and other versions of me appeared. Around seven. And we drowned him, to stop Comstock once and for all."

I almost got off the bench. She had to kill her own father in order to truly stop Comstock.

I looked down and looked back up, "Shit. I…I…I don't know what to say, Elizabeth."

She did the same, "That wasn't the worst part. The other versions of me disappeared and I was the only one left. I then felt every one of their grief, pain, and suffering as well as their lives collapse onto me. As I saw Booker's lifeless body, I…I… burst into tears."

I saw tears starting to come down from Elizabeth's eye, showing how hard she was fighting the urge to cry. I extended my hand to her for her to grab it. She grabbed it, held it for a minute before she started to wipe her tears away quickly and gathered herself together.

"I tried taking myself to Paris, but I just wanted to be alone. I opened a tear to just the woods and walked around, trying to gather myself together. I couldn't. I tried other places, and it only helped a little. I don't know how long I spent doing this, jumping from different places to just think and be alone. But as I gathered my thoughts, I saw there was one Comstock left in a reality that had escaped. This one, instead of me losing a pinky, I was decapitated by the tear closing. This caused Comstock to go into grief and wanted the Lutece Twins to put him in a place where he could go back to how he was before. And he was counting the travel to that reality to screw up his memories so he could forget."

"And everything is more or less what you told me before?"

"Yes. There are some more finer details, but I'll tell you the rest another time. When I arrived, tears started to appear as they always do so I quickly changed outfits and got acclaimed to Raptures culture. However, when Comstock was killed by the Big Daddy, he came after me and…knocked me back and impaled me on a piece of rebar, killing me."

I felt a shock fill my face. She died once before and almost as bad as how Atlas died.

I stood up, "You died?"

"Yes. I found myself in Paris or what I assumed was, but something wasn't right. I started seeing something was wrong and I saw Sally. She ran away and I then followed her through the streets. The whole place became nightmarish and eventually I approached a door that looked like the same door that I entered to find Comstock. I opened it and was met with the same gauge I used to turn the heat up to lure Sally out. Then I turned around and saw Sally being burned all around me. I couldn't escape it and I pleaded constantly. Saying how sorry I was and I didn't mean for it to happen. Then I blacked out and then I met Altas the same as before. But I couldn't remember what happened. I remember coming to Rapture to make Comstock pay but that was it. I didn't know why suddenly I was back there. I also had some sort of a manifestation of Booker in my head to help comfort me and get me through Rapture. He would guide me and tell me what to say to keep me alive."

I sat back down, "How did this Booker know this?"

She shrugged, "No idea. My theory, the Lutece Twins and the knowledge I had before. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary for them to do something like that and help jog my memory of it. To give me some comfort or something else. After all, it could have been them that put the dream in your head of Booker finding me for the first time."

I also shrugged, but in agreement.

"Then eventually I would find my own body. And I was shocked and more confused. Until the Lutece Twins pulled me aside in a rowboat, like Booker before when he came to get me and more or less broke things down. Basically, when I died, I was still existing because of my quantum superposition. "

I felt the puzzle look on my face return, "Quantum what?"

"Quantum Superposition. Simply put, I wasn't the same and the only way I could come back is I had to give up my ability to use tears and be stuck to where I died. All I knew right then, were just fragments and knowledge of the doors. I couldn't see any of them anymore."

I rubbed my head, "This is hurting my head more."

"Do you want me to stop," she expressed.

I stopped rubbing my head, "No. We are almost there. Might as well keep going."

"Ok. Everything is more or less the same except the hair I had to retrieve for Suchong was my own and I almost ran into my past self when Daisy was telling Booker that him being alive complicated the narrative. Not only that, but I found out Daisy had no intention of killing the child. The Luteces revealed to her that she had a role to play in turning me into the woman they needed me to be. Finally, as I was dying, I saw flashes of Jack hijacking and crashing the plane which would lead to the visions I saw later that I told you. But at the time, I didn't fully know if it was true."

"What do you mean? If you saw all the doors, then wouldn't that be the truth," I questioned.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes, but the way it was presented to me… wasn't clear. And before Sally held my hand as I died, the way I saw it wasn't the same as it was the other times I opened them. It was like I was looking into the fog of a marsh. I could make out the jist of it, but nothing was truly clear. So before I saw the interview of Sally in the 1980's, I didn't truly know if she made it."

"Before I resurrected you, what was it like? Being dead officially?"

She paused for a minute, "I remember…floating. My body felt weightless and I felt like I was floating up towards the sky. Like I was going to heaven. I looked down and saw my body and how it looked transparent. I felt like this for maybe five minutes before I looked down again and saw my skeleton starting to reappear. Then I felt my skin start to boil and I saw blue electricity circling me. It hurt as much as burning your hand on the stove, but I felt it everywhere. Finally I saw smoke and fell out of the Vita Chamber. And you know the rest."

I rubbed my eyes and laid down on the bench, staring at the night sky settling in and taking in what Elizabeth told me. Now everything makes sense. And this is so much to take in. I thought I lived a shit life and many others I came across back in D.C. But Elizabeth had the worst one of them all. She never got to truly live and experience what life has. She died twice and when she's brought back, to finally be able to live. It's here. In a post apocalyptic wasteland, barely resembling the world she was once in. Now I truly know why she cried when she realized where she was. She thought she was finally free and could live a life of some sort. Only for it to be crushed with the truth. That she was still stuck in hell, just with a different coat of paint. It also makes sense why she kept this a secret. I can't really fault her. Out of context, this sounds so crazy. Anyone would have thought she was nuts. But after everything I've seen not only in the last two weeks but in the last four years, anything is possible to me. From seeing the Lutece Twins and being with Elizabeth for so long, I don't think she's making this up.

I saw Elizabeth's face cover the night sky with a look of concern, "Are you ok?"

I stood up, reseating myself away from the table of the bench, "Yeah. There's so much here to take in. I'm still mixed on how to process this all."

She sat down next to me, resting her hand on my thigh, "I'm so sorry I kept this from you Evan, but how could I know how anyone would react to this? I mean looking at this, it sounds like I'm crazy or I'm making this up."

I grabbed her hand, "I can't fault you for reacting this way. At all. If you had told me this at the beginning, I would definitely have my doubts even after witnessing Rapture and the Lutece Device. But after being with you these past weeks and seeing the Lutece Twins,I believe you."

She stared deeply in my eyes, "Really? Even though I don't have anything to prove it?"

"Well you always fidgeted with your right pinky. It's an odd thing to fidget with. However, knowing you lost it at the start of your life and only got it back recently, it would make sense for you to keep fidgeting with it like it was still lost. So, that is as good enough proof as any for your story to me at least."

Elizabeth's eyes started to water up and without hesitation, wrapped her arms around me. She then let all her tears out, crying into my shoulder.

"Thank you Evan," I hear her say.

I wrap my arms around her to comfort her further. Then I started to cry, almost feeling the same thing she was feeling.

We embraced each other for a few minutes until we both stopped crying. We pulled away, but I felt Elizabeth's arms still around me. I saw in her tear covered eyes, she was still staring at me with relief. But in her eyes, I could feel she was wanting something else to comfort her. And I knew what it was.

I cupped my hands around her face and pulled her in, pressing my lips against hers. I felt her arms go around my neck and her mouth start to move, forcing mine to move with it. It felt relieving not just to me, but I'm sure for her. I could tell she found comfort in telling me the truth. Like a load was taken off her chest. But I felt the same way as well. I told my story and it felt good being able to share it with someone who not only understood, but someone I could trust. I spent years after my fathers death not being able to trust anyone or finding comfort in someone. And sitting here with Elizabeth, just the two of us kissing, I finally felt it.

I felt her slowly pull away as she smiled at me coly.

"Thank you, I needed that."

I took a breath, "No problem. I think we both did."

We smiled at each other for a moment, before I saw Elizabeth shifting herself to lay her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her, the same as I had before on our first date. I saw off in the distance the faint orange and pink color of the sky, still holding on as the sun started to slowly become consumed by the dark of the night sky and the stars above. I sat there, slowly watching it disappear until I felt Elizabeth raise her head off my shoulder and stood up.

"Well, it's getting late. Any idea where we could stay?"

"There is Goodsprings we could head to. It's not too far."

Elizabeth extends her hand for me to grab. I grabbed it and used it to pull myself off the bench. We both grabbed our bags and walked off, holding hands side by side.

In the distance, I saw two figures that I couldn't make out initially but then it hit me that it was the Twins. I could faintly make out that they both were smiling almost as if in approval. Or rather, like they were proud of what they had done. After hearing Elizabeth's story, it's clear they do care on some level and they always will in their own special way. Sure, it's not always pretty how it turns out, but it's enough to show they care for the right reasons. I smiled back, to confirm to them what they had already expressed.