The Chronicles Of The Finalists

Hope We're Not Monsters To You

Kreek blinks rapidly after the vision, looking at the others. They're all recovering from it too, looking around in confusion, and at each other. James appears to have had the same vision, looking kind of upset.

"...Well. That was...interesting." Kreek mutters, trying to be quiet.
"Hah, I believe you all saw that too, huh?" James tries to joke, but he's not doing very well, looking unsettled at best. "That's embarrassing.."
"..You're stressed over the deaths, aren't you?" Ashley steps forward. She's good at this, due to her wish. "You're stressed and trying to prevent more, you're trying to protect those around you cause you know it will hurt, aren't you?"
James remains silent, expression unchanging.
"That's why you went with the Magius, right? Cause they promised to stop all the deaths - you want to protect them, right?"
"..Yeah, that's why I'm doing this." He nods. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be getting this upset. I know you're trying to help but I'm afraid you've stayed alive too long. I'm sorry."
More birds start appearing and attacking, which Kreek and Tanqr start getting rid of.
"You two focus on him! We'll destroy the birds!" Tanqr yells, receiving a nod of approval and then Ashley and Hyper turning to James once again, who's got his spear out, but it's shaky.

"You don't have to attack people for it, though! You don't have to worry about it, you know! With a friend like Justin and a group around you, everyone will be safe, we promise you that!" Hyper yells, looking over to Ashley, who takes his hand. A rune appears, and once again, a flaming arrow shaped much like a sword appears in her bow, which she aims towards James, who seems to just look them dead in the eyes.

"If that's true, then..."
"You don't have to worry about it any longer! You won't have to feel the same pain again!"
Then she shoots, and pink and blue fills the room, striking James in the heart.

Colours. Colours and light blast throughout the area, destroying the birds and the hedges, leaving the area a blue scape, blinding everyone involved and throwing them back. Hyper skids on the floor, using his cutlass to prevent him from flying back.
It spreads out across the room in a circle, as things disintegrate, including the bird on James's shoulder.

And then it all fades.

Hyper rubs his eyes and adjusts to the new area. They're still in the space, but it doesn't have any scenery, just a blue abyss. James, meanwhile, is left on the floor, they can't really see him.

"Did we do it?" Kreek asks. "Did we save him? I'm confused."
"Me too, I can't tell if-"
Suddenly, a blast of black and green shoots out of the soul gem on the caretaker's head, but what appears isn't a doppel. They know it's not a doppel with one look at it. It's a massive black bird, shadowy and wispy, flapping in the sky.

"That's the actual rumour!" Ashley cries, loading her bow again and shooting at it.

"Of course it is!" Hyper summons a group of weapons and shoots it at the bird, which takes the hit but tries to swoop down at him. Kreek pushes him out of the way and slices at its head. It seems to take the hit quite quickly, already shrinking. Tanqr shoots at it, so does Ashley, Hyper and Kreek attack it-

Hyper summons some more blades which Kreek jumps on top of, running along them as they're shooting towards the billowing bird before he jumps onto it's back, stabbing inwards with a glowing sword.

"Well." Kreek says, as the final wisps of black fade away. "That was surprisingly easy."

"Yeah, the only reason that was difficult was because of the fusion." Tanqr adds.

Speaking of James, the whole group notices as his soul gem begins to glow. And suddenly, all the red that's in the soul gem starts to evaporate. Slowly rising into the sky like mist, and dissipating. He's changing too, blue hair turning brown and blue jumper turning a deep green. He still lies unmoving, but this time he's clearly unconscious.