6th Interlude: Happy Memories

Konrad faces Jasmine stoically. "I wonder if you know my past. Do you know how much death and suffering I've caused?" He pauses to reflect briefly, blinking, and continues. "A lot. Even to my own family. I tried to hide it from her, and for a while, I was looking forward to causing more, before I slipped up and it all came out. And you know what? Before we lost her, I had barely begun to start finding myself, and she tried to save me. So for what it's worth, I wouldn't sell that fairy short. She's a softie, but she's tough. Tough enough to handle someone like me."

"Yeah, not the last time. And Konrad's right, she is tough. But also, wouldn't you rather be the one to tell her? Imagine if Edward does. Or Goodman. You think you feel bad now, it will only be worse then."

The longer Konrad talks, the more Jasmine's expression softens. By the time Mihai and Steve share their own feeling about the matter, she's turned away from them, unable to endure their gazes. Once Steve has finished speaking, she takes take a moment to breathe deeply, after which she says, "...I'll tell her. But only after you're gone. I... I need to do this alone."

Steve nods, and says, "Alright, good, good. Talk to you later. And please let her know that we love her and we'll come for her as soon as we can."

"You can tell her yourself. I'll... I'll speak to her after that." She pauses. "Unless you prefer to wake up now."

"...She's waiting for you."

She points at the stairs.

Jasmine stays behind in the lab along with Goodman, Stacy and her younger self. When the adventurers reach the top of the stairs however, they see her again, sitting on the same crate as before, listening to Breeze.

"...and then I said goodbye to all of them, promising that I would see them again one day! It's been so long though, I wonder if they've changed much since. You'd really like—oh!" The fairy notices that her friends have returned and she flies to meet them. "Demon Hunter! Snowstorm! And Wildfire! You're back! How are you? Everything all right? Mommy told me it's almost time to wake up. I'm a little sad to say goodbye, but I know we'll see each other soon. Oh, and she's agreed to let me call her Mommy now! Isn't that awesome?"

Breeze looks at her friends with a wide smile, overjoyed to share this good news.

Konrad chuckles. "Very! It's nice to see you both getting along. Blue, it's almost time for us to wake up again."

"Yeah, it sucks but we'll be seeing you in real life very soon, so don't be too sad. We love you. Be sure to tell Jacob too."

"I'll tell him you love him too!" Breeze lunges at Steve's throat and hugs it as tightly as she can before jumping to Konrad next. "You take care of yourselves now! Don't wanna see you hurt when you rescue me." Last but not least, she hugs Mihai. "Can't wait to see Fedler too."

While Mihai talks, Jasmine stays in her corner, silent. Breeze however seems a little confused, and she tilts her head to the side, wondering what exactly Mihai could mean.

"Hmm, okay. I'll make sure to listen to her then. You guys take care now, okay?" Breeze rubs Mihai on his forehead, as if to calm him. "Don't worry about Fedler. I'm sure she's fine. Call it fairy intuition!"

"We'll be alright, Breeze. You and Jacob sit tight, and we'll see you soon."

"Bye bye!"

Breeze waves goodbye at them, a few tears in the corners of her eyes, while Jasmine watches on from the other end of the room. Darkness then creeps towards the adventurers, wrapping them into a blanket of oblivion that suppress thoughts and feelings.

Then they wake up.