Dark. So dark. Nothing but blackness. Bleak blackness. I am walking on a path, and on this path may no one walk.
I am walking on a long road. Where it begins, where it ends; what it leads to, where it leads from, I do not know. No one knows. But I walk on nonetheless.
Sounds; no, outlines; no, pictures. Pictures appear by my side, floating by in an ephemeral mist. Pictures of my mother and father smiling. Pictures of us as a family, laughing and loving.
Pictures of a car. Headlights. Screaming. Silent screaming. Sounds occur with the pictures. A crash, a scream, more screams. Sobbing. A weak voice. Red. So much red. So much black. So much sad.
Crying. Mourning. Sadness. Grief. Black. Too much black. Tears. Tears. So many tears. Shadows, words of consolence.
Darkness. Black. Bleak. Flickering. The scent of smoke. The constant scent of smoke. Smoke and... Something else. Something evil. Something bad.
Yelling. Anger. Distance. All this distance.
Why? Why did it happen? Was it me? Yes. It was me. All me. All my fault. All my fault. Myself. My happiness. My pride. My foolishness.
I hug my arms around myself, drawing into myself as the darkness surrounds me. All my fault. Why.
"Orpha."
Orpha..? Is that my name? Orpha. Orpha. A high voice pierces the dark. The blurry outline of a girl materialises before me. This girl. Someone important. Someone important to me. Who? Who? Who?!?!
Eve.
Yes. Eve. That's right. My joy. My love. My happiness. My salvation.
"I love you, Orpha."
Yes. The words. The words sound right. A new set of pictures appear. The shadows multiply.
Eve helping me bury the Vulpix. Eve and I, meeting in the pouring rain, the rain which disguised the tears against her bruised face. Eve, being pulled along by her arm. Eve, averting her gaze under her boyfriend's questioning. Eve, crying into my breast. Eve, holding myself against her on the smooth white bed. Myself, standing between Eve and her boyfriend, shielding her body, holding back tears.
Light slowly begins to fill the area.
Eve and I, smiling, laughing. Eve facing off the Champion, myself in the stands. Eve and I, jumping around Mimi and kissing as the Garchomp blushed.
Eve and I, taking comfort in each other. Soft sighs. Fleeting kisses.
The path becomes brighter, some strange light illuminating its passage. I see Eve, with a sad look on her face, waving at me. She looks different. She is dressed wholly in a white robe. Her sad smile is uncharacteristic. Her body seems... Immaterial. I reach for her, and feel my hand stop in front of her face, stopped by something unseen, something unfathomable. Realisation dawns on me.
No. It can't be. Not Eve. Definitely not Eve. Not her. Not after everything. Tears, unbidded, trail down my cheeks. Eve extends her hand to me, like she did so long ago in the rain. An offer. I understand. Herself, in exchange for everything else. A choice between either being with her forever and losing everything, or losing her for now and getting a second chance.
An easy choice, to be sure. Smiling, I take her hand and step with her into the warm, warm light.
-------------------------------------------------
Next to Orpha's still body, a cellphone glows, displaying a text message.
"Orpha.
Terrorists attacked my hotel. They have guns. I'm going to try and stop them. I love you forever. Please remember me.
Goodbye."