[ti]solo[/ti]'Nothing gold can stay'

She is not there. There is no sign she ever was there. They got their wish. They are alone. But they didn't mean it! "Come back!" They beg. And it is not just Padma they are speaking to, but her.

Suddenly, there is realization that the background noise of their Crown of Thorns whispers are gone, usually oddly comforting in their eeriness. All are silent. All are dead.

At least, all is quiet until they hear another voice, distorted and warped and loud, coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

bE CaREfUL wHAt yoU WisH FoR

It is taunting them, Fairytale realizes. Those words that they had given as a catchphrase back at the very start... Are now being repeated at them.

Fairytale has never been an act, but instead themself unfiltered by anything else. There is a reason those are the words that stuck with them after all they have been through in their life.

"Give her back! I want her here!" They forcefully state, as if the world would conform to their wish for a third time.

bE CaREfUL wHAt yoU WisH FoR

The voice only repeats itself.

PADMA: 150/300

Which is why it is such a surprise to see the clear, untainted stream where the path ends. It is pure as only fresh water can be. Fairytale stares blankly, not understanding why this is here.

Until they suddenly do, when a hint of red comes from upstream. Their heart should be frozen, has been frozen since her, but now... They find it is thudding in their ears. If there as anything else to hear, they do not hear it. All they can do is follow the river upstream.

As they follow, the red becomes anything but faint. They reach the source, but they do not want to look. They know what they will see.

PADMA: 50/300