A false world washed away by a setting sun left nothing but a blank void, a blinding white canvas with nothing but five figures sewn together by the strands of time. A sudden crack in the void drew a cry from one of the three young girls as they looked at Jay and Broderick with questioning eyes. More cracks and fissures appeared in this blank space, and a furious gale ripped through them. Instinctively, the girls shielded themselves from the fatal tempest.
Broderick knew that there was much that needed to be explained, but there was little time for it. Jay kept her eyes downcast, away from the others, and Broderick knew he was on his own this time. He yelled loud enough to overcome the wind. “There’s no time to explain! You have just witnessed the fall of your false world. You will wake up on true Gaia together. Find Jay and I, and we will explain everything.” Another powerful gust struck him and robbed him of his breath. “The temple!” he cried desperately. “Meet us at the temple…” His voice soon faded away as the world about them shattered.
And yet, throughout the entire ordeal, Jay had been silent. Being no stranger to such chaos, she was clearly unaffected by the surrounding turmoil. However, looking at her friends sent a stab through her chest. All she could see in their eyes was fear and uncertainty. Three warriors, once thought to be the Guardians of legend, were now just a group of teenage girls, shielding themselves from a harsh storm. They once had so much blood on their hands, but they had been given a second chance at innocence. Now, they were going to face Gwydion once again, and they would no longer be immune to the brutalities of war. Their innocence, once valued, would now be their biggest threat.
And she could only blame herself.
As the final moments of the Illusion came to an end, Jay whispered something under her breath. With her humanity barely intact and the others unable to hear her, it was perhaps her only chance to say it.
“Forgive me.”
