Epilogue
Brittany set down her pen and stood up. A bird called quietly from somewhere in the myriad trees of Eder B'lontahv. She liked it here – it was quiet, peaceful and beautiful, exactly as garden ages were meant to be. Still, they had work to do. She stowed her pen and the deep purple book she'd just finished writing back into her bag. She walked over to the vacant pedestal next to the book linking to the volcano compound. Rummaging in her bag, she pulled out a second book, this one a dull brown-grey. Opening it to the last page, she placed it carefully on the pedestal.
It was nearly six months since the traumatic events on Serenia, and she, Jordan, Rachel and Maddy had all decided they needed something to properly take their minds off what had happened – a project, of sorts, just as this very age had been Atrus' project ten years ago to take his mind off the possible destruction of Releeshahn. And as it so happened, they had a project at their fingertips, ready-made.
Brittany glanced around the serene valley, then down at the open book in front of her. With a small sigh, she pulled her bag up onto her shoulder and laid her hand on the page.
Jordan sprayed some more polish and cleaner onto the shelf and rubbed at it yet again, but to no avail. With a defeated sigh, he dropped his cloth and set the bottle of cleaner down on the floor.
Behind him, Brittany linked in. Jordan straightened up and turned to greet her.
"How'd it go?"
"Fine," replied Brittany, pulling the purple book out of her bag. "Did you have any luck?"
"No," sighed Jordan. "I don't think we're going to be able to get these burns off without replacing the timber, and I know next to nothing about woodwork."
"I thought that might be the case," replied Brittany, frowning slightly. "It's a shame, but…"
They paused, idly considering the ugly burn that smeared the shelf.
"Maybe … maybe we could put the books there instead," muttered Jordan. "Cover the marks up?"
He took the purple book from Brittany, flicked it open and sat it on the shelf. Lengthwise, the book covered the burn completely, but the burn was quite a bit higher than the book, so some of the burn still showed over the top.
"It's better than nothing," replied Brittany with a shrug. "Any damage to the machinery?"
"Everything in here is fine," said Jordan, gesturing to the faded paintings and map. "The fireplace sounds pretty stiff, mind. It still works, but it might be worth having a look at the machinery and seeing if we can fix it up at all."
"Mhm. What about everything else?"
"Mop's still checking everything else."
On cue, Maddy entered the library, clutching a large grey book.
"Hey Britt. Did you get the book done?"
"Yeah," replied Brittany, nodding at the purple book. "How're the other machines?"
"Well, the cogs and the tree seem fine," said Maddy, setting the grey book down on the shelf at the end of the room. "The ship looks as though it's beginning to develop small leaks. I thought we'd better get the book out of there while we still could. As for the rocket…" She sighed. "Most of the generators are completely dead. The power lines seem okay, but we need to trim the trees around them or we might have some issues. I have no idea how to get in to the generators, though, and even if I could get in I wouldn't have a clue how to fix them."
"We'd better ask Atrus about the generators," muttered Jordan, making a note in a small notebook he'd pulled out. "We might be able to open the rocket with an external generator, but that'd be dangerous… and we need to take care of the trees first, like you say."
The three of them wandered out of the library and into the forest, which was a little overgrown with tall grass but still thick with the intoxicating scent of pine. This, they knew, was their project. Their distraction. For as much as Atrus and Catherine didn't want this island, the four of them wanted its beauty preserved. It had sentimental value. Because this was where, twenty years ago, their lives had changed forever.
Because this was where it all began.
