"Help me! Help me!" Her eyes have widened in realization. And then there's a faint squelching sound. He turns away, can't bear to look. When he does look again...she's gone.
The machine is clanking, swirling, chinking, and all of a sudden, like change in a vending machine, out pops a dark, almost black stone. The roof sags a little more.
He picks up the crystal.
It sparkles...
There's a moan. One beam falls, and the others are tumbling. He sees the other stone, the magenta one, and he longs to turn for it, but the others are running, shouting his name.
The girl is behind him, shoving him along, and so he runs.
He runs away from his past.
And for the first time in a long time...he sheds a tear.
Why?
Not even he knows the answer.
The palace falls.