A solitary figure cloaked in black walks towards the once proud Figment Raider ship, or had it actually been Anima Mundi's at one point? The figure doesn't know. It is night over Mac Anu, the grand ship floats idly in its cloaked location of the river alleyway.
"At one point the need to animalize was greatest. To express complexes in animals that created an active and screaming universe, as readily as a child kicks upon its deliverance from the womb. Fear. Brutality. Rage. All animalistic." The figure removes her cloak and stands bathed in pale moonlight. "Anima aestheticism cannot shout. And thus no one hears it dying. But man is incapable of coping. So where are we now?"

The ship does not answer her. At this moment she could release it from its bonds and free it. But she does not. For man always needs a place to crawl and lick his wounds. A place to be five years old again. It does not end here.
"It never did. The gods and goddesses of old shall hide. Cloak themselves." She stares at the ship a moment longer and looks next to her, expecting to see her demon having materialized for the final moments and the fiend did. The great purple creature, wings flapping for a moment, grand, powerful and naked with no shame.

"Its not over is it?" The creature asks in her other-worldly voice, the same that it has been since the girl and demon knew each other.
"For us, yes. For others who may find the sanctuary. It will always be open. There will always be a need for anima instincts. A place to hide from pain, swearing and loudness."
"It will be strange to leave it. The demon gazed sadly at the ship.
"No stranger than being whole." The human replied, and silence lapsed for a moment. Then the human bowed her head towards the ship, her body sinking slightly as she did a half curtsy.
"Come Viva, we've a long ways to go ourselves, and night is fading on us," the mortal turned from the ship and began to leave the alley. Her demon stared at the ship for a moment longer and then slowly faded away from the scene. For a moment the human froze and shuddered, then she straightened.

"My myth becomes my truth; my life symbolic and allegorical. Self-forgiveness. Self-acceptance. Self-love. Yet even more so. I am sinful but not guilty. I am the happiest sinner in the world." Viva said softly, a trace of the demon lingering in her voice, and then it was gone. She didn't look back for the ship. It would be lost in the fog of night by now. Perhaps those who inherited it next would be granted the same reprieve.

Then the mortal too, vanished. Fading out like her demon. Outside of the game, she unplugged the headset and shut down her computer. Finally, for the first time in the longest time, something had gone right.

People seldom saw the night version of Mac Anu. Although Hax was sure that there were few who stayed on as long as he did, he always found the night to be somewhat...reassuring.

Of course, for what he was planning, and where he was going, he wouldn't need very much assurance, only a can of lighter fluid and match.



As he took shelter on the ship, he noticed a figure walking towards the ship.

He overheard the combination between the two, unknown to the figure.

"Its not over is it?"
"For us, yes. For others who may find the sanctuary. It will always be open. There will always be a need for anima instincts. A place to hide from pain, swearing and loudness."
"It will be strange to leave it."
"No stranger than being whole."
"Come Viva, we've a long ways to go ourselves, and night is fading on us,"

It was Viva. His heart sank. She thought that the ship would be there for forever, and that the animal-hearted would find safety there.

Lighter fluid and Vak spell in hand, he consorted his demon for one last time.

Shall I go with my mate now?

Yes. So long...friend.

With that, he felt the demon desert his body, and watched the shadow streak across the ground toward the figure. His demonic wings instantly retracted, and his appearance wasn't much different from that of a normal player. Well, not counting the flaming armor.

He covered himself in lighter fluid, and then ignited it. The ship was burning around him...

~~~~~~IRL~~~~~~~

The firefighters had quite a time of putting out the explosions. Unknown to the police who would later investigate the homicide, Geoff had planted C4 on the structural points of the mansion in which he lived. The police were looking for suspects, and his parents were both grieving. Were Geoff still around, he would have thought some snide thought as to how it was only for their public image.


In the blustery morning, as the authorities were containing the aftermath, a small piece to a box floated down the street. The words 'The World' were visible as it floated end over end down the street....