MyStreet: When Angels Fall (OC Character Added)

End of a Lifetime/Time Moves On

"NO!" Michael howls, full of insanity and rage. "NO, NO, NO!!!!"

"Sir---calm down---" one of the lab helpers says, but Michael backhands him without a thought.

"FIGURE OUT WHERE HE'S GONE!" Michael roars.

"Y-yes s-sir." The lab guy says, scrambling to the console.

But I'm seeing something else. I'm seeing a magnificent palace, with white stones that glow with a violet hue of power, all converging in a great hall with a symbol I recognize as Irene's in the center of the floor. And on either side of it, two people lay motionless.

One, Aaron. Still in his Ultima wolf form.

And the other, Irene. Still looking and sounding exactly like Aphmau as she reaches for Aaron, knowing full well she won't make it. A mystical voice echoes through the hall, singing a song I don't recognize as Irene's eyes start to fade to gray.

And then she finally looks me in the eyes.

Violet... her voice whispers, so soft I'm scarcely sure I heard her. I need to apologize. For a great many things.

"You don't have to apologize for anything." I say. "You saved me. Saved Aaron. Saved all of us. At the lodge... And now... You saved Aaron. You didn't have to. But---"

No. I need to explain. She insists, her voice weakening. I took... her life... my life was over... so I took... hers... she... she still had her Aaron...

Irene stops. You need to understand, Violet... I loved him. But I loved all of you. So I lived through you all. I interfered where I shouldn't have. I crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed.

"You're Irene." I say uncertainly. "You saved us at the lodge."

I did. But I started so many other things. And now, I can't save you here. I can't do anything else. I'm dying, Violet. You need to know what will happen once I'm gone.

"You mean you won't still be inside me?" I ask.

No. I won't. But the Demon Warlock can get through to you now. Not host you, no. But you could, theoretically, hold his soul for a short period of time if Travis is ever defeated. Short amount only. At most, a few weeks. Unless I can stop it.

"But---"

I need to perform this last spell. It's all I have strength left for. This will show you, Violet. And it will protect you.

She closes her graying eyes and holds out her hand. A warm, purple breeze settles over my heart, spreading through me, from my heart to my arms and wrists and toes, and my eyes, changing the world around me. I can see the good, the peace, the love in everything. In Aaron's heart. I can see the pain he's feeling, the need to let it all dissolve and go away.

I suck in a breath.

I can see Irene.

The real Irene.

She's not lying down, dying. She's alive. She's breathing, loving, laughing, living. And she's wearing armor, with a faded red bandana around her wrist, playing with a small child with light brown hair and wide blue eyes, and another with dark brown---almost black---hair and brown eyes, who is looking at Irene with all the trust in the world. Irene looks up at me.

This is who I was.

Keep it in your heart, Violet. Stay the Violet I knew. Stay the Ro'Meave girl I remember, the sweet child everyone counted on to hold love in the worst of times. Goodbye, Violet Ro'Meave. Remember who... her voice fades away, and I can't tell what she said.