Heaven's Not Enough

Part II

Chapter 5 – Tinnitus

March 21, 2019

Concrete, WA. (Population: 601)

Eliza braked her truck in front of Ralph's house. It was late afternoon, but her uncle wasn't home. That did little to assuage her suspicions. She turned right around and brought her truck back to her parents' place; her mother's car was missing too.

Eliza opened the garage padlock with her key and parked her truck inside. She didn't know if she'd be away from her vehicle for long, and everything in it was too valuable to leave laying out in the open.

Rob opened the garage's inside door as she was offloading several boxes of crafting supplies and sentimentals. Her father was struck wordless and stunned by seeing Eliza there, bloodied and bandaged. She moved to him and hugged him tightly, then pulled away just as quickly. "We need to find Uncle Ralph."

"Liz, you didn't call... what—what happened to you?!"

She almost shouted, more out of desperation than anything else, but she mercifully managed to check her voice. "We need to find Uncle Ralph. Where's Mom?"

"She's at work, staying late to work on the fish again. Why?"

"Something really big is happening. I'll explain when we're all together. Do you know where he is, or not?"

"N-no, I don't know. What's happening? I didn't see anything on the news..."

"Forget the news, I was almost killed today. Some maniacs shot at me, Dad! My partner got shot!" She panted.

Rob's eyes bugged out. "E-Elizabeth..."

"They were trained, Dad. They had a sniper, automatic weapons, everything. They weren't some drunk poachers either, they were the real deal. Maybe... maybe military? Maybe deserters, or, or something!"

"Okay, Eliza. C-calm down... what's your uncle have to do with it?"

"I need to make sure he's not doing something stupid. Come with me, I need you if I'm going to talk to him. We need to find Mom, I think she's with him."

"What, up at the dam?"

She wiped her bandaged forehead with her sleeve. "Up at the dam. Now, Dad. We need to go now. And leave your phone."

"A-alright," Rob said, nodding, trusting her. "Let me get my coat."

Eliza took her truck back to the dam. On the ride up the hill, Eliza told her father about her run-in with her uncle at Devil's Tower. Along the road to the factory, Rob and Eliza came across two men in the shade of trees, standing at a blue, waist-high swing-out gate. Andy stood beside it wearing the bomber jacket of his full deputy uniform. The second man wore a hardhat and jumpsuit, one of the dam engineers. Eliza recognized him as Gus. Rob rolled down his passenger side window.

"Andy," Rob rumbled with a frown, and with all of the bite of a suspicious old man. "Tell me, what're you doing up here?"

"Rob? Sorry sir. Right now this road's off limits. Gate's closed. I'm afraid you'll be trespassing if you don't turn around. Head back to town, please."

"I'm looking for my brother. You seen him today, Andy?"

Andy shook his head. "Not today, Rob. C'mon, turn it around. Let's go."

"Don't give me that garbage," he growled. "My wife works here, you know I'm no trespasser."

"Mr. Douglas. State law, 9a-52. Trespassing is a misdemeanor, and the owner's agent has declared no access to the lake, citing poaching issu—"

Rob cut him off with a bellow. "Andy, you haven't babbled like that since you were in diapers! Some whackjobs with automatics just tried to kill Eliza out in the woods. She needs to see her uncle. So are you going to tell me where my brother is, or not?"

Andy finally looked in the window at Eliza, apparently having not looked at her properly in the shadows, because he instantly winced at the sight of her face. "Are you...? Holy shit." His eyes widened instantly, his face screwed up in utter, abject horror. His voice wavered. He was a different man in an instant. "Liz, are you okay?"

"No," she whispered hoarsely.

Andy looked like the word had physically struck him like a hammer. "Oh my God." After a moment's deliberation, he turned to Gus. "Oh my God. Gus, go get Ralph. Tell him it's urgent." The worker nodded, made his way to the nearby utility truck with haste, then took off down the road.

Eliza leaned over. "Andy. Please tell me what you're doing."

"It's... not my place to say."

That was exactly the wrong thing to say. Anger reared. Eliza got out of the truck suddenly, in a flash of movement that surprised even her. She slammed the door, then started towards him, shouting. "Well, shit's about to get bad, Andy. Real bad! So you better start talking! I want to know everything!"

She stopped just a few feet away from Andy, and he outstretched his hand toward her for distance, fear in his eyes. "Eliza—!"

She ignored him, brushing his hand aside. "Those guys who shot at me, they were anti-uploaders. They were the guys from Utah, for Christ sake! My partner's in the hospital with a bullet wound in his chest. I shot back. I... I killed one of them."

Andy and Rob both gasped.

Rob's voice was weak. "What? Eliza—? No!"

She wheeled. "I had to! They tried to kill me, Dad! If I didn't, he'd have killed my partner. I didn't have a choice!" She glared back at Andy, and pointed at him. "So you tell me what my uncle is doing. Now. What you're doing. Because I have a truck full of guns, ammo, and food here, and I hope to God above that Uncle Ralph isn't going to do something stupid to get himself killed."

"And what, exactly," Andy asked sternly, "do you think we're doing?"

"The fish in the lake will keep us fed," said Eliza. "The quarry has its uses. He's building a camp, isn't he? A prep camp? A last stand?"

Andy said nothing, glancing at Rob nervously. "I..."

"He is," Eliza declared. "I knew it. My mother knows too, doesn't she? She'd have to. You can't move stuff up here without her noticing."

Rob got out of the truck. "Eliza, wait, are you serious?" He looked to Andy. "Is she—are you—are you both serious? There's no way things could be that bad! That's nuts, we don't need this!"

She turned back to her father, her hands going to his shoulders. "No, Dad. This is what we need. Uncle Ralph was right, things are going to get bad. Whoever those guys were, there are way more of them. I know it. The militants in Snohomish county. Cops getting shot in the woods. The compounds they found. The blackouts! There is going to be a civil war here, Dad, and we need to get way clear of it. We need this!"

"Eliza, listen to yourself! This is insane! How could anyone be this organized?"

"I don't know." She turned back toward Andy, trembling as she looked him over. Only then did she realize how glad she was to see him... and she felt something else, as their eyes met. Regret at yelling at him so harshly, surely, but... with a despondent mewl, she threw her arms around him and clung, pressing her head against his chest. He hesitated for only a moment, then brought his arms around her. "If you could do something about it," she said, "you would. Wouldn't you?"

"I am doing something about it," Andy said resolutely. He held her.

It was the most comforting thing she had felt in ages. She looked up into his eyes pleadingly. "Please tell me you're not picking fights, Andy. Please... please tell me my uncle isn't going out and bombing clinics."

Andy started. "That's not what we're—" He turned, and Eliza followed his gaze. The utility truck was coming back, and quickly. Andy stepped away from Eliza. The driver of the truck laid on the brakes at the very last moment, and the truck came to a complete stop just before the gate. Ralph leapt from the driver side door and slammed it, not even bothering to turn off the engine. Gus got out of the passenger side, looking at Eliza sympathetically.

Ralph stomped over to the gate, breathing hard, terror in his eyes as he beheld her state. "What happened, Liz? Gus said you were shot at?"

Eliza glared at him, but didn't reply right away. She walked back to her truck's bed and cut a string off the tarp with a knife. She glanced into the truck for a moment, grabbed a shoe box, and walked it back over to Ralph before thrusting it into his arms.

He caught it. "What's this?"

"Grid maps. Lists of ponds, streams, and lakes nearby that still got fish. A binder with some other game maps and local farms. And my truck?" She thumbed over her shoulder, and flashed a humorless grin. "Loaded with gear. I just dumped a few thousand dollars on food and ammo. Imagine that. Me, a prepper."

Ralph looked from the truck to the shoe box, then back at Eliza. His expression softened. "Are... are you okay?"

"No. I almost died," she snarled. "I just killed a man today, some real psycho prick with a sniper rifle. So do not lie to me, Ralph!" She poked him roughly on his chest with two fingers. "What the hell are you doing out here? Because if you're just getting off the roads, then count me in. But if you're gonna go out there hunting cops and clinics, like that asshole who tried to kill me..." She exhaled heavily. "I swear to God, if you're going militant...!" She grabbed at his shirt collar and shook him as he held the shoe box.

No one moved, and the only sound anyone could hear was Eliza's heavy breathing. She was painfully aware of the vicious look she wore, her green eyes hard and set on him, her soul was alight like fire. It was only the second time Eliza had ever seen her uncle show fear of anything.

Ralph let out a quiet breath, and looked into the eyes of his niece. "Lizzie," he said, softly. "We're just moving away from the roads. That's it. I swear to Christ, Lizzie, that's all we're doing. We aren't gonna go murder anyone, that was never part of the plan. So please, let's just all calm down. Hear me out. I'll explain everything."

Eliza breathed hard for a few seconds, took a deep breath, shuddered... then nodded quickly, releasing him. She could hardly see through her stinging eyes. She took note of her emotions and attempted to regain her composure. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. We can... we can talk. Yeah." She inhaled deeply again. "I'm sorry, Uncle Ralph... I just..."

"It's alright, Lizzie." Ralph nodded. He spoke tenderly. "I get it, you're shook up." He turned back to Andy. "Andy, unlock the gate. We're letting 'em through. This doesn't change anything though. If anyone else comes up this way, you turn 'em right around. And if anyone starts taking photos again, you take their phone and smash it. You hear?"

"Yes sir," Andy said. He relaxed and reached for his key ring.

Ralph looked at Eliza again. "C'mon, little lady. Welcome to your new home. Let's take your truck down, I want to hear everything. And Rob, stop shaking. We're all fine now."

Andy remained at the gate with Gus, and Ralph, Eliza, and Rob all piled back into the Tacoma. Eliza drove down and around the bend to Devil's Tower. She was shocked to see the old factory's equipment shed was surrounded by vehicles. It housed several work trucks and a couple of flatbeds sat out front. The shed itself looked like it had been patched up considerably.

A cement mixer was parked out in front of the abandoned factory. Eliza could hardly recognize the building. Bags of mortar and stacks of cinderblocks lined the base of the tower, and more cinderblocks could be seen beneath the open archway. A handful of workers in hardhats slaved away, mixing mortar and cutting rebar. One man was covering some graffiti with a paint roller. A small generator rumbled away in the shade next to a couple of gas cans.

Rob gaped. "Ralph? You did this?"

"Yep. These are my guys from the company. Remember Marcus, Rob? Moved out of town a while back? He started his own construction supply company out in Sedro, bless him. He's shoveling his surplus our way. No cost."

"I remember him," Rob said quietly, his tone flat.

"We found enough folks fed up losing family to the AI, so they're all willing to keep their mouths shut. I'm running the show of course, GC, foreman, n' all that. And I pulled Andy in. June gave the go ahead as long as we keep it quiet."

Eliza squinted at the building, still not believing her eyes. She saw that someone had already painted over some of the ugly graffiti on the upper levels. "But... why the building? I mean, I get the location, but this building is a... it's a dump."

Ralph grinned. "You called it, girl. It is a dump. Perfect reason right there. There's no power running through here, it's been abandoned since the sixties. No power lines, no computers. Good layout, just needs reinforcing. We're going dark while the going's good, and this is prime real estate."

Eliza put her truck in park and just marveled. "Are people living here yet?"

"No. We're not at that point yet, Lizzie. Won't be for a while. We're gonna add some dorms to the lower levels, though. Marcus thinks we can get a hundred people in here, easy. We're patchin' holes, putting in some extra doors. Fortifications are in the works. Right now, we're just filling in the walls and floors that've been busted through. And getting rid of this damn graffiti! It's about time someone did!"

Eliza couldn't believe her eyes, even as she swept them over the building a few more times. "You've even got Andy out front, scaring off the kids," she said. "Does the cement company know about this? The power company?"

"The power company doesn't know, and they don't need to know. They've got no reason to come up this far. And the land owners are never here. Far as they know, June's still just running the plant. Right now, we're locking off access to the lake from both sides. Securing the lake here is June's prerogative. It doesn't look so suspicious since the poaching problem started, so we could protect the sockeye."

"The dam's fish collector," Eliza realized.

Ralph nodded. "Bingo, little lady. When things get bad, we won't be able to bring in any more food from the stores. We'll net the fish collector and use it to feed ourselves. It's perfect."

"And the money?"

"Everyone you see here is pooling up and paying out of pocket. Yeah, it's a gamble. But if Brazil is the canary in the coalmine – and to me, it is – then this is a surefire bet."

Eliza sighed in relief. "Uncle Ralph. I saw..." she frowned, and quieted. "I saw some horrible things today. It's going to get bad all over, sooner than we think. I know it. The Army's spooked enough to have armored vehicles rolling around in the woods, looking for rebels. You were right. This is the smartest thing you've ever done."

He grinned with pride. "Hey, didn't I say you'd thank me?"

"You did. Wow."

Ralph opened the cab door. "C'mon. Let me show you around. I think June's inside, in the break room."

Rob followed. "June didn't tell me about this," he said, barely a whisper.

"That's because she knew you'd try to stop me," Ralph said.

Eliza sat at a folding table with her family and retold the whole incident at the OHR mine. Rob looked like he was sitting on a landmine the whole time, worried sick as if everything was happening in front of him. When Eliza finished, June hugged Eliza tightly from the side and didn't let go for a long, long time. Eliza just hugged her back, and felt relief at getting her story off her chest.

It really did feel good to talk about it. She wasn't sure if talking about near death experiences was what her counselor had in mind, but Eliza resolved to vent more often.

Ralph leaned forward. "Real guns, huh? Automatics?"

"Yeah," Eliza said. "And I'm sure these guys were ex-military, I'm sure of it. The way that one talked."

"Mmh." Ralph nodded. "Sounds like deserters, you're right. That'd explain why the troops wouldn't tell you anything. They'd keep that wrapped up tight."

"It'd cause a panic," June observed.

"It made me panic," Eliza said. "That's for sure."

Eliza remembered Private Dodge and Private Warner, the two troopers she met on her way to the hospital. She tried to imagine them as rebels, gunning down civilians on the road. She felt a shiver go down her spine, and that prior kinship she had felt with them rapidly turned into a sour, hollow pit in her stomach.

Rob had stared into his hands throughout the tale. But finally, he spoke. "It won't get that bad in town. It can't. Everything was so normal today, and yesterday. Things aren't... couldn't be that bad. If there's this, what is it, a rebellion? This movement? They'll stop it. They'll have to."

Ralph put a hand down on the table. "But it’s not just here, Rob. It's everywhere. Damn near every state around is seeing militias pop off, and don't forget Salt Lake's been completely evacuated now. I wonder just how many towns are bunkering down just like we are, getting ready for the end. There have to be more!"

"It's still too early!" Rob cried.

Ralph shook his head. "This ain't your call anymore, Rob. It's out of your hands. Out of all our hands. We tried it your way, and I thought maybe I might be a little paranoid too. But this thing Liz brought us today? This story? This sells it! We need to do this, whether we want to or not. We don't have a choice!"

"You're going to go broke," Rob said. "The power company'll find out, they'll kick you out of here, and you'll land yourself in court. And if they find out Andy's in on this, he'll lose his job!" He looked at June accusingly. "They'll fire you, June!"

"I don't care," June mumbled against Eliza's shoulder.

Rob looked at her with disbelief, then glanced about the room, waiting for someone to argue. He looked at Eliza desperately. Fresh from battle as she was, she couldn't find any reason to disagree with her mother or uncle either.

"Screw the law," Ralph growled. "We all know the risks here. But the laws aren't protecting us anymore. Tom and Gale are proof of that. Tom, at the least! Wasn't even eighteen, Rob! Just up and went to that upload center, no parental consent. Do you even realize how stupid that is?"

Rob glowered up at his brother. "Of course it's stupid! But building a camp? You haven't thought this through!"

"I have thought this through, brother." Ralph crossed his arms. "This is the only choice that makes sense."

"You've got all these workers here scared too," Rob continued, unphased. "Eliza, I'm mortified about what happened to you, and I'm sorry. But look at our town. Nothing's wrong here. Whatever's out there, the Army will stop it. You're scared of something that isn't happening. We can't just abandon our home!"

June looked up from Eliza finally, her cheeks damp. "Nothing's wrong? How... how could you say that? Where are our neighbors, Robert? Where are our children?"

"And you, June!" he said back sternly, ignoring her question. "I can't believe you've done this, June. Without telling me!"

June blanched, her incredulous expression turning defensive, and she stood. "You kept saying things would get better, Rob. From where I stand, it doesn't look like that. We can't just wait and see anymore. We had to do something."

Rob sighed. "I thought you were up here working, not... building a camp."

"I am working," June said. "I'm working to protect our family from... what happened to Eliza today."

"That happened outside the cities," Rob said firmly. "Going deeper into the woods isn't going to make it easier for us, it'll make things harder!"

"Excuse me?" Ralph said. "What about Salt Lake? That AI is eating every family it can get its grubby little nose on. Or maybe you're forgetting the kids you lost? Don't be delusional, Rob!" Ralph turned to face Eliza. "You're with me, Lizzie! Say something!"

Eliza didn't want to contradict anyone, too rattled and worn out for any more confrontation, but trying to stave off total dissociation. She stared at the table in silence.

Ralph grunted when she didn't reply, and he faced Rob again. "That game did this, brother, and don't you forget it. Got your kids addicted, and just stole 'em away. It's doing this to everyone, and now everyone's pissed off."

Eliza slowly stood, realizing that if peace were to occur, she'd have to make it. She was no longer able to stomach the arguing anymore. Leaning forward, placing both hands on the table, she sighed. "God. Look, everyone just... stop." At first, she wanted to say something scathing. She wasn't so sure she wouldn't.

Rob looked at her. "Eliza?"

She took a deep breath. "If we start pushing each other away, then we'll lose more people. It's that simple. It's not just Celestia's fault. We caused this too."

Ralph squinted. "The hell you mean? We didn't do anything."

"Shut the hell up and let me finish!" She shouted so suddenly that she surprised even herself. Eliza glared at her uncle until he backed down. She didn't expect that either. Whether it was from sympathy for the day she had, or a newfound fear of her after her outburst at the gate, she couldn't be sure. Maybe, she thought darkly, that it might be the new blood on her hands.

She lowered her voice as she addressed them all once more. "I played the game too. I'm the only one here that's really played it." She paused for a few seconds to let it sink in. "Let me tell you what it's like.

"You think it's addictive? Jesus, what an understatement. I loved it. Equestria gave me everything I love about life. I was a forester. I hunted. I learned about ecology for my job. I had friends, good friends that I left behind. Even... even had a pet. But every time I played this game, it kept trying to make me feel guilty for thinking it was just a game. With how you all felt about it, I had to force myself to stay busy just to have an excuse to stop. I worked my ass off at college, at the academy, then for my job. I took every second of overtime, because that's all I could do. Because if I'm not busy, I'm thinking about it. My friend Luna, she begged me to slow down. And that? Slowing down? That would have led back to Equestria Online."

Her next thought made her hesitate, but it needed to be said. "A... a few days before Gale booked her flight to Germany, she told m—... Gale told me she wished our parents still loved her. She wouldn't believe me when I said you did. And I warned all of you, but you didn't listen to me. You just kept shutting her down. All Celestia had to do was give Gale what she didn't have: a supportive family."

Eliza continued so quickly that any response anyone had was swiftly cut off. "And Tom?" She scoffed. "When he ran away? He didn't want a lecture, he wanted someone to listen to him. I wasn't enough. If his whole family had just listened to him, he might've realized we still cared. He might still be here."

She looked down at the table again, and winced. "And George? God, George... it was okay for the first couple of years." Eliza hung her head. "But after Gale left... I stopped playing. George kept going. He let it nest in his head."

Her father looked at her sadly. "Liz..."

She shot her gaze toward her father and kicked one leg of the table. "I fucked up! I was so stupid, I pushed him away! Tom told me he wanted me to go upload with him, did I ever tell you? And you know what? I missed my little sister, and I didn't want to lose my little brother, and I didn't want to lose George. I wanted to go. So badly. But I thought of all of you. I couldn't do that to any of you."

No one said anything.

"When that sniper shot at me... all I could think was, why didn't I upload when I had the chance? And that's when I finally realized. That's what Celestia does. She wants us to be scared of each other. She finds an open wound and pours salt on it by the gallon until you give in. You want to know why I killed that man today? Why I didn't upload? Because I can't protect you if I'm dead.

"I love you all, and I'd do anything for you. We're here now. If you don't accept your mistakes, she'll turn them into weaknesses, and she will use them. So you all need to start loving each other. If you don't stop fighting each other, we might as well go upload now." She looked at her father. "This is happening, Dad. I'm sorry. I know you love our home. We all do. But this... this keeps us safe. We need this."

Rob's eyes slowly lowered to his hands. Eliza saw her family again with new eyes. They all looked visibly stunned. She turned wordlessly and shambled out of the break room, out of the factory, and back to her truck. She slumped and braced her elbows on the tailgate. She felt like she was about to vomit again. When the sensation had passed, she felt a sudden, ravenous hunger, and started to rummage through the back of the truck bed for the groceries. When Eliza noticed the bag she sought was in the back seat of the cab, she rolled her eyes and grumbled with minor frustration.

"Eliza?" Her mother's voice. Eliza felt a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for saying... all of that. I've been wanting to tell Rob we made a mistake by pushing Tom so hard. I just never knew how to tell him. I hope... I hope you can forgive us."

Eliza didn't move. She couldn't meet her mother's eyes. "I forgave you a long time ago, Mom. We can only learn from it now," she said. "We get stronger. Tougher."

"I know."

"No matter what we do, we're going to lose people. Good people. Some of your staff. Maybe some of the people here now. Maybe to the fighting, or to uploading... we can't let it slow us down."

"I... I know."

Eliza turned, and finally looked at her mother. June's eyes were bloodshot and wet. Eliza threw her arms around June and squeezed her close. "Thank you. For finally understanding."

June looked Eliza deep in the eyes as they broke away. She flashed a sad smile. "I need to go talk to your father. I'm proud of you, little bird."

Eliza nodded. She broke off to go find that can of food. Then, she remembered that package she found on her doorstep. She pocketed a can of peaches, then made her way back into the factory. Eliza climbed to the top via the inside ladder, clambering onto the top roost.

There by the balcony, she moved to the spot where George had proposed to her years ago. Slowly, she sat down and crossed her legs. With a hand, she removed the small box from her pocket and placed it carefully on the edge of the balcony, wanting to keep an eye on it, like it might contain a snake. She withdrew the can of peaches next and cracked it open. Eliza practically drank the juice down, savoring the flavor as she chewed a slice that came with it. Her eyes hardly left the box.

She reached in with a hand and carried the rest of the slices to her mouth, one at a time. A decision needed to be made.

She read the label again. Apex, scrawled in marker.

Had it said Eliza, if it bore a return label, or if it had any other trace of deception, Eliza would have thrown it back into her apartment before she left. But by writing Apex on it, Celestia had deliberately delivered an unveiled strike. Eliza considered it a brazen challenge. Of course, she still considered tossing the wretched, vile thing into the lake and letting it sleep with the fishes forever. But then... she'd never know what laid inside. And she, if nothing else, had to respect that rare shot of honesty across the bow.

Eliza downed the last of the juice in one gulp and put the can down. Her decision was made. Eliza drew her knife and flicked it open to cut the tape. The box opened right up. She peered inside.

There, right on top, was George's engagement ring.

Beneath the ring was a folded note. Eliza immediately recognized George's handwriting on it. Frantically, she took the ring out, placed it beside her on the concrete platform, and unfolded the paper. She began to read.

Apex,

I fear you'll just throw this letter away without reading it. Considering the source, I'd understand. But if you're still reading, thank you. It means a whole lot to me. I spent days trying to get this all down into the right words. It's important to me that you know how I feel. This is a form of closure. I think.

I see now that I ignored your discomfort. I understand now why you felt the way you did, and the anger you showed was the result of fighting something much, much bigger than yourself. You did not deserve this, you sweet soul. You deserved so much better than the way I treated you, for my misunderstanding of your fear. For this, I am truly and deeply sorry.

I've spent so long agonizing in regret for leaving you like that. I saw how angry you were with Celestia the other day, when she let us speak. I know you well enough, Liz. When you're scared for others, you get angry. You're scared for your parents. I know. It broke my heart because I wanted to hug you and tell you it will be okay, but I can't do that anymore.

Perhaps it's time for us both to move on from each other. Princess Celestia assures me you've already moved on, and that you're strong enough to persevere. She promised me that she'll be watching over you, at least until you come to a decision. That's not really enough for me yet, but it will have to do for now. I would be devastated should any harm come to you. I wouldn't be the only one.

Sugar Song, Blue Sky, Luna, and I... we all respect your decision to stay on Earth. We'll always love you, and I'll always cherish the time and laughter we shared together. This photo of you, the one with your pretty green eyes and lovely smile, will always have a place on my hearth until the end of time.

Even if we never see each other again, you will always be a part of who I am. The love and friendship we shared were truly beautiful, and I am a better pony for having met you. Farewell, my strong and beautiful friend. I hope you find happiness, wherever you go. We are each with you in spirit forevermore.

Love forever,

Hopscotch.

Eliza let out a slow, shaky breath. She pocketed the letter and looked into the box. There was one more gift for her there, a square white slip. Her fingers trembled as she reached in, and she withdrew it. It was a Polaroid style photograph. She knew what it was even before she turned it over.

Hopscotch's adorkable, lovable face took half the frame. A timid, smiling Apex took up the other. Her green crystal pendant made it into the shot, along with some of her bow. Gale had been the one to take the photo in the game long ago.

Eliza stood and leaned on the door frame. Her eyes traveled along the lake's water for what was probably the hundredth time in her life. She looked up to the budding stars in the amber sky.

Just like that, Eliza let go of George. She had her closure, and she forgave him. She could hold herself together just a little while longer now. So, just like that, Eliza allowed herself to fall wholeheartedly into Celestia's trap. But only this one last time, and only because it was something she needed right now.

"Okay, George," she said quietly, as she trembled. The aches in her body intensified as she shivered, and she looked at the ring, picking it up, turning it over in her hand. She slipped it around her right ring finger and twisted it idly. "Thank you."

The sunset really was quite beautiful up there on Lake Shannon.

Author's Note

[Asa - Subway]

🌒 ~ I must acknowledge the rightness of this catharsis and closure, for Elizabeth. If I am to be fair, I should be praising the more positive actions on the part of the Other. But as with all other actions It took upon Terra... this action of apparent love was made cruel, and deeply nefarious, by its greater context and purpose.

The means, in this course, do not assuage the ends.

Thanks to Sugary Violet for the photo of Apex and Hopscotch.

If you're curious, [here's a video of some guys exploring the real Devil's Tower.] Not really necessary to understand the setting, but I found it to be really interesting study material for writing this story. Fun fact: the background of the title image is Devil's Tower.