Colin's posts

Zeke's face paled when he saw that.

He really wasn't even questioning why he saw her, how he'd seen her, why she was calm, how she'd seen HIM... all he knew was that he saw her soul outside of her body, and it then disappeared.

He knew what that generally meant.

He then took a few unconscious steps back from the door, almost falling backwards on his ass, before shaking his head rapidly.

'Be... strong.' he told himself.

'Just... walk away... and be... strong.' he finished, before slowly beginning to trudge away.

Nate raced into the room within a matter of seconds, and he gritted his teeth when he saw what he did.

"Damn it..." he cursed.

"Shoo, shoo." he told Zeke, ushering him out of the room. "We need to work, and fast!" he told him.

Zeke didn't fight back too much, and could only stare at the closed door, as Nate and Alicja tried to save Hazel's life.

"...no, no, no..." he said quietly.

"Hazel, please... please, don't go..." he whispered.

"Don't leave us... don't leave ME..."

"Well..." Leo replied.

"You'll need to sign this." he told her, materialising a scroll and quill. "...we're more high tech than this, this is for the sake of preserving history, essentially." he promised her.

"And after you sign, we'll have a few things to discuss. Well, one thing, really. Sleeping. But if you want to know that before hand, we can discuss it now." he told her, as Hazel thought about it.

Meanwhile, Zeke was 'visiting' Hazel, which amounted to little more than him worriedly checking up on her and seeing no changes, when he suddenly noticed something with her soul.

He saw it started to fade, as the machines she was hooked up to indicated that she was fading, and alarmingly quickly.

"NO!" he exclaimed loudly, not caring about his volume at the moment.

Leo shook his head.

"We've had our eyes on you for a while, recruitment-wise." he told her.

"You seem to just have the natural ability to help soothe others and calm them down, despite your own insecurities and such." he reasoned. "However, we've been unable to properly offer you the chance due to your mental state and... well, meekness." he told her bluntly.

"However, you standing up to Future Lindsay is proof enough that you are ready." he promised her.

"I can assure you that this is no mere courtesy." he then said.

"...the one in charge would have my head if I were doing this for any other reason than you being truly fit for the position."

Leo just bit his lip.

"...it's not going to hold." he admitted. "When you wake up, you will indeed be 'a broken mess', as you say." he told her. "You... may very well be worse off than when you were with Vanessa Encrae." he revealed.

"But! But, but, but!" he then quickly went on.

"All is not lost." he told her.

"There IS a way for you to avoid that fate." he then said.

"Join the Order."

"...yes, the Order." Leo sighed.

"I admit, I didn't think too much ahead when I mentioned that so casually, but... well... perhaps it's for the best." he went on.

"I belong to the Order of the Sand." he revealed. "When I was dying from that disease a while back, I... well, I didn't survive." he revealed. "Even though I don't LOOK it, I am very much dead. And eternal." he told her.

"I was approached with the offer to join. I am now, essentially and effectively, a sandman." he went on.

"The Order governs and regulates... sleep and dreams."

"It is." Leo responded.

"One can argue that that's why you had that experience in the first place; to stop that future from coming to pass." he told her.

"All you needed to find out was what started it. Who started it. Whatever. The turning point of it. And then put a stop to it." he went on.

"It's as simple... or as complicated... as that." he finished, before sighing.

"Anyway, do you have any more questions?" he asked.

"I have all the time in the world to answer them." he assured her.

Leo was silent for a moment, and then sighed heavily.

"You did... but at the same time... you didn't." he told her.

"I... don't know if you figured this out or not, but... you weren't thrown into another dimension, Hazel. You were thrown into the future." he revealed. "You're currently in a coma, and you've been experiencing a sort of out-of-body experience, where you saw the future of this world." he went on.

"When you sustained enough damage to effectively kill yourself, we, the Order, stepped in and brought you back to your own body, in your own time." he then explained.

He then paused to let her take that in, and potentially ask questions.

Odds are she had more than a few.

As soon as she brought her hands up, she felt another pair of hands atop them. They were soft and gentle, and they filled her with a sense of calmness and warmth, as her mental state started to stabilise again.

When she looked up at who was there, she saw Leo's familiar face.

"Hey." he greeted her.

"That helping?" he asked, referring to her mental state, and what he'd done.

"You looked like you were in a bad state." he then commented further.

As her vision faded, she saw everyone there crying... even Nixie, who seemingly had enough control to allow her emotions to show. The last thing she heard was sobbing and crying, before Lindsay's voice rang throughout her mind once more.

'...all because I dared dream of a world where ALL had mana...' echoed around her.

Then... she fell into darkness. Complete and utter blackness.

It surrounded her, it almost threatened to engulf her... before she suddenly felt the sensation of being flung backwards, rapidly, but then stopping. She was still surrounded by darkness, but it seemed less oppressive.

And then she heard a very familiar and friendly tone.

"Hazel...? Hazel?" the male voice asked.

As Drake held what she'd given him, he sank to his knees, sobbing quietly.

"...." he was silent, as Hal sighed quietly.

"Hazel." he said.

"Thank you." he told her.

"...........good bye again, Hazel." Ty said defeatedly.

"I think I always knew it was a matter of time before you left again." he mumbled.

"At least you made a huge difference..." he then added quietly.

Tears began to fall from Tyson's eyes, as Hal shook his head.

"Don't apologise." he said.

"You've... done so much for us." he told her, as Drake got closer.

"...H... Hazel..." he stammered.

"You... that... he..." he stuttered further, before just shaking his head and hanging it low.

"...damn it all." he cursed quietly.

"Don't leave me, Hazel..." he said. "...I love you."

Ty was the first one that raced up to Hazel, grabbing her and holding onto her.

"Hazel, no!" he said.

"No, don't! Not you! Not again!" he pleaded.

"Don't... don't let him take you away again..." he whispered, though he could already tell.

"...it's no use." Hal said quietly.

"Hazel, you've... done a great thing here." he told Hazel, as the rest of them slowly approached.

Though nobody could see it, Hazel could tell... Lindsay's ashes were in there.

And they were ready to reignite.

However, the inky darkness, laced with the golden dots, were stopping it... suppressing it.

She swore she could almost hear Lindsay's consciousness in there, too.

'Kiah will continue... this is nothing more than a hollow victory for you...' he told her.

'She will continue to work that we started so long ago...' he added, as the blackness fully engulfed him.