Final Thoughts and Loose Ends (Naomi)
From Toosigma
| Title | Final Thoughts and Loose Ends |
|---|---|
| Author | Philip Mann - Naomi |
| Campaign | Convergent Threads |
| Session | Intersession |
| Posted | |
| Game Date |
Hero destroyed himself, but even in that act I am not so willing to give that he redeemed himself. No, I must say that I knew him too well to believe that he would have done it again even if he thought he would not have been destroyed by the Shadow Prince. What he did, taking his own life so that he could not be controlled by another, was as selfish as anything he has ever done. In this instance, however, there was but one good outcome regardless of his intent.
To that end, I am willing to overlook some of his misdeeds and simply remember him as: “Hero, a man I knew far better than I liked, and a man I liked far less than I wanted to.”
For what seemed an eternity, Cald floated in the inky black nothing. He remembered the blow that sent him here, but he could not fathom why he had gone no further. This place, this Purgatory, seemed a waiting area for those whose souls needed direction into the next life. Around him was a sea of spirits, light and dark, all waiting for the agents of their Gods to claim them and take them to their eternal beyond...
Naomi knelt before the temporary shrine dedicated to her fallen brother as she had nightly for the weeks since she had returned from Xen'drik. She prayed for answers, and she tried to figure out why Fate had taken him from the world when it seemed he was needed the most. Each night before now, realizing that she was probably just being selfish and that she missed her brother, she got up and returned to bed with Kayli. This night, however, she dug deep into the powers that Fate had granted her, and sought to find one that would bring her brother back...
Cald watched as angels and demons alike claimed the souls around him. So strongly aligned were the forces that each shown in a light or darkness of its own. Over time, what seemed like days or mayhap weeks, the gargoyle found he was virtually alone as far as he could see. Fate had not come to claim him yet, but he was not worried as he knew his faith was strong enough to keep any from falsely take possession of his spirit.
As he drifted, far in the distance he could see a flash of light and the aura of a being so purely good that he knew it must be an angel. As it neared, he could see gigantic gossamer wings gently beating their way through the nothing. This being was so luminous that it hurt his eyes to look, but so comely that he could not avert his gaze as he tried to make out features behind a brilliance rivaling the sun. Dark creatures fled from the angel's path, and spirits awaiting the messengers of evil gods were pushed aside as if by a wake of energy before her.
“Cald...” a voice almost as familiar as his own called to him. “Big brother, it is time to come home...”
His heart was conflicted with joy and sorrow, “Have you too died, but become an angel to come and take me beyond, little sister?” he asked Naomi.
“No, big brother,” she replied, “I have not died.”
Not sure if he wanted the answer for she obviously was an angel, Cald asked her, “Then why are you here?”
“Fate was not ready for me to die, as she was not ready for you to be taken from the world.” She paused before continuing. “She has granted me the power to bring you home if you wish, or she will come to get you when it is your time, big brother.”
He knew his heart and knew that he wanted to be with his sister and family again. “What must I do, little sister, to return home with you?”
Naomi smiled and extended her hand to him. “Take my hand, big brother, and I will show you the way back to our family.”
He took her hand and she pulled him effortlessly through the inky black. Their path accelerated to a speed that he thought they should be torn apart, but her gentle grip on his hand never faltered. Soon, as if cast from a dream, he awoke on an unfamiliar floor next to his kneeling angel. Her wings were no more and her body did not glow with holy light, but the goodness of her heart shown through to his own. As long as he remembered her, nothing had ever changed that.
The tears of joy flowed freely down Naomi's cheeks as she said, “Welcome home big brother...”
He could not remember where he had been, only that he had dreamed a wonderful dream and awoke just then...
