THE END

[mayfield_mods]

You've walked for what feels like ages down the highway as a group- all those who chose uncertain freedom over certain death. Within an hour, Mayfield became a distant speck on the horizon before ultimately fading into the hills and trees. The only sign of the place you've escaped is the sky, which remains an eerie brown even after night falls and you've put Mayfield hours behind you.

Try as you might, it's impossible not to imagine that you've been led into a trap. What if this is all part of some new sick game of Johnson's- or even Zemekis'? It certainly wouldn't be the first time. What if the events of the past few months- saving Annie, Gray's "ghost", Zemekis' apparent death -what if it's all been nothing but the latest in a long tradition of Mayfield's-

These thoughts fade when you see the first sunbeam.

This road isn't like the ones before: the roads that looped endlessly into themselves, inevitably leading back to where they began. This road has an end.

Keep walking forward and you'll find yourself in a new town, both similar to Mayfield and utterly unlike it. The buildings here are crude and unfinished- the streets little better than paved paths of dirt. There are no drones here, no hazmats, no one in sight other than you and your companions. But all of these things are nothing more than trivial details, when compared to what you feel the moment you enter its boundaries.

There's power here- you can feel it in your fingertips. Each and every one of you can, from the most godlike seraph to the most ordinary human: power, faint but unmistakable. The power to build a world, and to destroy it. The same power that's been lorded over you for four years... but now, it's yours to command.

You can create a new life here. It isn't the home you remember- the home you remember, after all, was never yours to begin with. For some of you, that's a blessing. For others, it's a hard truth you'll have to live with. But even though you can't go home, with the power you've been given, it might just be possible to bring home to you. Bits and pieces of it- locations you remember, small creatures from your world- no people, though. That's one power Annie decided not to give you.

The place you've found isn't perfect- there will be work, hard work, and pain. The place you've found is your own: there are no overseers here, no Zemekis, no Johnson. The place you've found may not be paradise- but it's the nearest thing you're going to get.

You've found, at last, a better place to live.

Comments

[vytis]

[The source of the creaking is actually the dog, running in ahead of Lithuania and finding Koharu before he does. Lithuania had to pause in the kitchen--the similarity to how it was in Mayfield is unsettling enough that he thinks he should really change it, though it doesn't occur to him to try out any of the ability to change things here they'd apparently gotten.

Instead he follows the dog to where Koharu is.]

Looking around?

[Lithuania still looks like he needs about two days of sleep, mostly because he probably does at this point. He's been turning the situation over in his head, though--the computer, always going back to the computer.]

[willbeurprincess]

[She sets the little photo album she had been about to open to the side to greet the dog, nuzzling his head for a moment.] I just wanted to see what I could do. I thought about changing everything but I don't want to do everything without your input--[There's a pause, because she assumed they'd still live together and she never even asked] Are you alright Lito-kun?

[vytis]

[Lithuania doesn't object to the implication of them living together; instead he sits down on the bed where he won't disturb anything, looking over at his flag.]

I'm just tired. I guess I'm allowed to be, now.

[willbeurprincess]

[She reaches over and runs a hand on through his hair, smiling sadly] You've always been allowed to be tired you know. But I can clear off the bed if you want to rest--should I make two? [She frowns at the space] I could make it bigger too--I think...

[vytis]

Make--? Oh. [Right, they can do that sort of thing now. He feels for the power, curiously, and it's a strange thing even for a nation to have hold of.]

You shouldn't tire yourself out over a bed. We could always build one the normal way.

[willbeurprincess]

It's not that tiring. I mean, I can do it still. [Koharu quietly starts picking up her things and turns to the empty space near the walls. She imagine heavy wooden furniture, a desk and a chair, a wardrobe for each. Oh--that did tire her out though. She sat back down hard]

...Never mind I'll do it tommorrow--besides do you know how to build a bed?

[vytis]

[Lithuania frowns, now worrying over her.]

Really, don't tire yourself out, it's fine--and yes. You know, we weren't always able to just go to a furniture store and buy one.

[willbeurprincess]

It doesn't mean you personally would know how to build one Lithuania. I don't expect you know every skill ever. Well not every skill. [She's smiling, she's FINE]

[vytis]

[Lithuania is still going to fuss over her. She has to be used to it by now.]

It doesn't mean you have to make one appear out of thin air for me. It's fine.

[willbeurprincess]

[She will just have to lean over and kiss him softly]

I shall attempt to make less things appear out of thin air then.

[vytis]

[Lithuania kisses her back.]

You didn't actually make a bed, you know.

[willbeurprincess]

[She blinks] What?

[vytis]

[Lithuania gestures to the rest of the room.]

There's still only one bed.

[willbeurprincess]

...I wanted to make things to put our things in and then I got tired. [Fluster] I meant to!

[vytis]

[Lithuania smiles a bit more widely than he has in a while.]

It's fine. Tomorrow, right?

[willbeurprincess]

I will make another one tommorow. [There's a little pout]

[vytis]

Right.

[Lithuania stands up again, with a bit more energy, and starts putting things away into all the furniture Koharu made. Might as well use it, right?]

I might change the kitchen around. It's too... Mayfield, right now.

[If he keeps busy and discusses something silly like this the fact that they have one bed between them might now come up.]

[willbeurprincess]

[She smiles, watching him put things away for a little while before she can reply. It's a bit of a routine already to how they go about eh day, but watching him set things up is almost like moving in together. And it's a choice--or at least she hopes it is.]

I couldn't think of one to copy honestly...You can change around everything if you like. My house at home was traditional style and I don't really want to bring in anything from the school. So...I mean--do you like the bedroom?

[vytis]

[Lithuania folds his flag up carefully, gently--he'll unfold it later, when he has somewhere proper to place it.]

I think it's nice. Maybe I could make the kitchen look a bit like my old one at home? I'd have to change the layout, but we can do that now easily enough, I suppose.

[willbeurprincess]

[Koharu tilts her head] Well if you think anything should change, do whatever you like. I did want to ask if you wanted a library or something? I think you can bring books from home and things. [She smooths out the bedspread gently, humming]

[vytis]

Bringing that many books would take some time. [Now that things have been put away, he sits down on the bed again. It's still the only bed in the room.]

I suppose we do have time, though.

[willbeurprincess]

[There's a pause when he sits and she smiles, blushing a bit but not enough to get attention] It was just an idea. Things we couldn't have in Mayfield that's all. We don't have to exchange for things we want, we can just create them.

[Then there was a long slightly more awkward pause as she realizes something very important. Tonight there is only one bed. Oh.]...Ah--Is this--is this okay for tonight--I mean--the bed...?

[vytis]

[Lithuania's already realized this particular situation, so he doesn't react quite as strongly, but he still blushes. He stretches out on the bed before answering--it's really not a bad bed, actually.]

Ah--yes. I couldn't let you sleep on the floor, you know?

[And he's still disoriented enough with this new situation to feel a bit more lonely than usual.]

[willbeurprincess]

[Koharu can't stop herself from blushing but she crawls up onto the bed properly to sit in the middle. She kicks off her shoes and tucks her feet up underneath her. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, she closes her eyes to relax]

You wouldn't have been a very good Mayfield husband now would you? [She pauses] Or boyfriend. Mn, I should have made a nicer blanket. This one isn't as soft as I pictured.

[vytis]

[Now Lithuania blushes, realizing that he's been treating this entire new situation as something like Mayfield 2--only it's not, and they don't really have to live together, he just kind of wants them to. But now it's not something he can explain away as Mayfield making them, and what are the chances of them ever getting a Catholic priest here who would be able to do confessions?]

A-ah--well, you could change that tomorrow too, right?

[The bed is easier to think about.]