Warning: Suicide
And The Wanderer walks into a dream. They come out in a familiar field. Rolling hills fill the horizon. The wind blows the wildflowers like waves. Three mountains rise out of the rolling purple hills. A single tower rises out of the mountain, white like ivory. The dome that caps the enormous tower is brown, like the wooden trunk of a sturdy and ancient oak tree. The Wanderer stands, then falls to their knees. They cry. They have returned.
Eventually, The Wanderer reaches a home they had left long ago. It is a simple wooden door, with a bronze knocker fitted to the door. It is like the many identical houses around it, made of white bricks fitted together with golden mortar. There are no windows that glimpse into the house. The Wanderer inhales, then knocks a tune on the door:
"..
.... .- ...- .
.-. . - ..- .-. -. . -.."
The door opens to a woman with long, frizzy blonde hair. Her face is old, yet young too. She is timeless. She smiles.
"Amica Mea. I have waited for you, my wanderer."
The one in front of her smiled, their face no longer distorted.
The prodigal son opened the door to their old home. It is just as they remember it. Not even cobwebs fill the corners. No dust covers the bed or cabinets. Toys are still strewn about, as they left them. As if they merely stepped out for a moment and aged years, only to return for a moment.
Nothing had changed. They kneeled and began to clean up the toys. "Why are you cleaning them, amare? I remember what happened before. King Lion had slain Lord Train and taken the throne. Now everyone is worshiping him." The figure watched as the not adult, not child kneeled on the floor and began to play with the toys.
"I can't." The figure whispers, more to themself than Euridice in front of them. "I have more important things to do. Like my ship. I need to unpack it."
The woman looks up. "What do you mean? You do not own a ship."
"I do, it has many stories and things our people would be interested in. Tales from lost civilizations, tales of weapons that can shatter worlds."
"But why would they want to hear those stories?"
"Because those lands are wide and storied. Perhaps they would want to...travel there..." At that moment, something changed within him. A realization. "Oh." Their voice was soft, delicate, like they were handling a dying bird. "No, this is all wrong. A place like this should not exist."
"What do you mean, amare? This Golden City does exist."
"But it shouldn't. " They narrow their eyes. "There are rules. And this place disobeys them." They walk out of the house, into the street of the City, the sunlight no longer blinding them.
"Amica Mea, what are you doing?" The woman ran out, chasing after them.
"I am not your love any longer. You banished me! And now you have no interest in the things I brought back. I thought this was my final goal, my final peak to climb. But I realized something: I left this place behind. I left this in the past. I thought that if I returned here, my life would return. But I cannot keep coming back here. If I kept running back to you, my feet would turn black and my lungs would collapse. I can't come back to this town. It's too perfect. Too timeless. That Collector was right: no town can exist outside of time, and I don't belong here anymore." The figure lowered their gaze to the path laid with gold. "Change comes for and affects everything. I am no longer your love. I am-" The figure looked up from the road, eyes narrow and gold. "ENTROPY." They jump into the air, sending out a shockwave that doesn't affect the people who have gathered around, but shakes the buildings to the foundations. "This City is wrong. You are all cowards, too scared to accept change. To scared that something will challenge your perfect life. Your perfect life of safety and boredom. Too scared to see, to experience something new. Too scared to find something that challenges your mind, that challenges your world." Buildings began to rapidly decay, turning to rubble. The tower in the center of the city began to crack. ENTROPY lays a hand on one of the buildings, crushing the two at once. "How long did you think this would go on for? Change happens, whether or not you cause it." The tower cracked in half, rapidly aging, and crumbled to the ground, crushing houses in the process. The City is thoroughly ruined, no building remains. Eurydice watches her love as they float to the ground. "If the embodiment of ENTROPY itself has to force you to change, so be it." ENTROPY stands on the ground and leaves The Wanderer. "If you meet me again, I will not be so kind."
