Tobias faced the sun and spread out his arms, feeling the warmth and comfort, standing ever mightily on the cliff edge. He smiled and closed his eyes. For the first time in so long, which felt like an eternity for him, joy swelled in his chest. This...this felt like home. Like home before it was ravished by fire and blood. Like home when he could freely look up at the sky and see possibilities. Now, all he sees is impending doom and ceaseless, needless bloodshed.
He could hear native birds chirping in the distance, a faint reminder of his mornings. The sea breeze filled the air with soothing salt, his lungs taking in as much as they desired. For once, depressed thoughts washed away with the crashing waves rushing back to the sea, wherein the abyss they bury long-forgotten fears and secrets.
Peaceful words slipped out of his mouth, a phrase that'll forever haunt him for as long as he lives. An eerie ghost of his past."The day is young and so is the soul, now is the time to enjoy life. Tomorrow, it may be a gloomy day if the day at all arrives."
But his past never stayed that away, for behind him, concealed by the peacefulness around Tobias, his past smiled and ran up to him. Cold arms of the past embraced Tobias as the finishing words nailed the coffin shut. "Or so my poet goes."
Tobias looked behind him, and his world shattered again. It shattered, not in a bad way, like how it did when he emerged from the bunker on that gray, ashen day, but in a good way. A small spark of hope-filled his heart, but...a dark truth was revealed. A glimpse of the past suddenly poured over him. So this was Illuminati's magic.
Now his heart quivered with pain and suffering as he kneed down. Iris was confused and worried, but Tobias look at his former would-be lover in the eye, a fiery rage swelling in them. He knew the truth. Iris destroyed their home, but it was not without good intentions of preserving their dying culture.