The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Remain by Your Side (Neutral Ending One)

Note.

This Ending is a bit different from any Ending done before. Instead of taking place at the end of the story, it takes place during a major decision in the story.

The major decision in this Ending is when Mono chose to find Salem in search for the Blood's cure. We know that Mono's absence led the First Vao to lose to the Blood, leading to him forgetting who she was.

But what if Mono chose not to leave?

This Ending leads into the Sapphire Spin-off.

...

Mono stood in her room, her hands holding the mask she was going to use to hide her identity in her travels, faced with a decision. She could hear the First Vao down the hall struggling against his restraints. The stench of Blood filled the house, assaulting her nose with the bitter, yet sweet scent.

Whatever the Blood was doing to him, it wasn't good. If she could find the cure from Salem, there might be a way to save the First Vao from his madness.

But at the same time, could she afford to leave? His fading memory had begun to scare her. If she left...

Would he forget Mono?

The thought felt like someone had stabbed her in the chest. She turned back to her bedroom door. Muffled through the walls, she could hear his stomach growling. Her hands gently squeezed her mask.

Snap.

With one quick flex of her hands, she broke the mask and threw the pieces away, slipping out of her travelling garments and hanging them back in the closet before sliding back into her maid uniform, smoothing the apron out.

He needed her. He had never needed her more than before. Mono was certain of it; if she left, his Curse would take control. Out of everyone in the Cult, he always remembered her, even when he forgot parts of himself. If she abandoned him, then she could never call herself his friend, nor his lover.

With a quick stop of time she made her way to the kitchen, pulling open the freezer and taking a frozen slab of meat, setting it in a skillet before turning on the stove. Jack looked up from his coffee, a magazine laid open on the kitchen table, his relaxed yellow eyes flickering with curiosity.

"Milady? Are you preparing him a meal before you go?"

Mono was silent for a moment, her shoulders rising as her tension grew. "... I am not leaving."

For a moment she swore she heard Jack stop breathing. "Q... Quoi?"

Mono turned a sharp glare at him. She wasn't going to waste the effort hiding the fact that she didn't trust him. "I am not leaving when Vao needs me," she growled. "There will be other chances to find a cure. With this Blood, we will never age. So I will remain at his side."

"But... Milady, wouldn't a cure solve this issue?"

Was that desperation in his voice? Jack was slipping up. He was giving Mono more confirmation that his intentions didn't mean well. The Cult Leader lifted the seared steak from the skillet and set it down on a plate, taking it into her hands.

"I do not believe it would be the best course of action," Mono snapped. "Whatever you are plotting... I will ensure it does not come to see the light of day, Gulden."

She didn't grace him with another glare. But before she left the kitchen, she could hear the change in his voice. Her staying in Grimmore was not something he had planned.

Mono's dress shoes tapped down the halls as she walked to the door, stopping only to freeze time so she could leave the plate suspended in the air and unlock the door. Taking the plate again, she pulled it open gently, peering into the First Vao's room.