Elliot: A Lucid Dream

27: Bridges

Hey, everybody! This chapter marks the end of ELLIOT, except for the three epilogues and perhaps the occasional Special. If you've gotten this far in the story, you've got my undying gratitude. I especially have to thank InYourDreams2248, wander-wall, One_fish, and @Onisom3, who've all pretty much stuck with me since the very beginning. Thank you all so much!

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I sat on the train, alone.

It was so strange to be the only one in that little wooden compartment as the train rumbled along its tracks. The train shook quite a bit; the tracks going into Asteria were less developed than the more travelled ones. I was starting to get a feeling that going to Asteria was only for sightseers looking for that beautiful night skies and thick forests. Touch of nature and all that. City people seeking the last bits of free nature. Striving after something away from you.

The sky outside was pale blue, dotted with white clouds that blurred together as the train barreled across the Kaitonese plains. Streaks of white ran through that azure sky. A few evergreen trees appeared here and there, then suddenly increased in number, blurring out all of the hills and mountains. The forest was starting up.

The only train to Asteria.

I had to get back to the glitching house.

It was lonely, being the only one on a train compartment. It was the only time I'd travelled alone, even though I'd taken quite a few train rides in the last couple of months.

I clutched Sonnet's book. My arms were folded over my stomach as I slouched in my seat, huddling the book close to myself. It held everything. This book held the truth.

Why did I take it?

I didn't know. Sonnet didn't give me the book. She didn't notice it, tucked inside my clothes, when I left, either. It didn't feel like mine. Looking down at that worn red cover and its coded messages, I felt nothing but betrayal. I didn't even take the code, copied down in Camille's journal. No, there's no way I would take Camille's journal. The very idea was unthinkable. Camille's journal was Camille's. It was her most prized possession. There was just a different feel to it. This book... this book didn't matter as much.

Why, though? Camille's journal held none of her secrets, just ramblings about the Asterian woods and the code. The code was probably the most valuable thing in it, actually. And yet... this book. This book held information about the Spirit Field and could be used to find A-21... this book was much, much more important.

So why did the very idea of taking Camille's journal feel more disgusting than physically, actually, taking this book?

Camille loved her journal. She brought it everywhere she went. She wrote all her excited, fresh ideas into it.

Sonnet hated this book. It was a reminder of betraying her family. The very thing that she was told never to do. It embodied her betrayal and how she was trapped by her family.

On a technical level, Camille's journal was nearly worthless. It was filled with the scribblings of a poor, hopelessly optimistic, and nameless first-year college student. It shouldn't have mattered if I took it and threw it straight into the river. She could always write another, start from scratch. Sonnet's book was priceless. Her book was written by SC Im, fifty years of research by a famed scientist- things proven to work, the key to great power- all in one book. SC Im was gone. How could he write another?