The Return

By fate, it was found, 1

An accident ‘twas not.

The gun was discovered,

The portal reborn.

A fateful trip then, 5

To a world once seen.

Discovered by four,

And invaded by guns.

A short walk then,

To the castle’s hallowed ground. 10

Where the crater lie dormant,

A great gaping abyss.

A tombstone lie centered,

In that circular pit.

“Here lies those souls 15

Who helped us escape”.

A flower’s deposit,

A fond remembrance,

A disquieted soul,

now becalmed. 20

Something stirs once more,

In desperate agony.

A plea for help,

Will it be ignored?

Unable to resist, 25

That vulnerable call,

A departure too soon,

Back across the plains.

A repetition of the past?

The suits’ return? 30

The fates only know,

Soon will they show.

Through the forests,

Dark and foreboding,

Brigands at every clearing, 35

Wolves all around.

Silent as the trees never are,

Avoiding the bandits,

Circumventing the wolves,

An exit appears. 40

A village in sight,

But darkness calls away,

The hero from it,

Thus resting outside it.

The plea growing weaker, 45

The pull growing ever stronger,

The hero growing weary,

Regretting returning.

When will he arrive?

In time to give aid, 50

Or on time to greet death?

Or never at all, held back by inner tumults?

Hurriedly running,

Unable to face,

The possibility of failure, 55

The pain on their face.

An old friend awaits,

Where could he have come?

The third one lies dead,

Been killed by the suits. 60

The fourth surely approaches,

The terrible call,

To lead once again,

In this time of need.

From over the hill, 65

He limps slowly,

That Umbral beside him,

That aged friend of old.

A reunion at last,

Yet worse for its timing, 70

A vow of vengeance,

Whatever the cost.

Four then speaks quite softly,

More stress-aged than others,

“We’ve run all our lives, 75

But we’ve come to our end,

I’d like to seek peace,

And penance for that

Which we’d done

So long, long ago, 80

I’m tired and weary,

As you all must be,

But I’ll fight one last time,

To die fighting as one”

The three voice agreement, 85

And they head out once more,

Towards the age-old explosion

That leveled a castle.

As elders they shuffle,

With canes in their hands, 90

Yet agile as ever,

As time’s worked quite odd here.

In the forest, ignored,

As too aged to hold value,

They pass through in silence, 95

Just as they’d prefer.

The portal, it looms,

Grand in their eyes,

What shall await them,

But their own demise? 100

The four step carefully,

Through that once-held friend,

Now just a remembrance,

Of teenage rebellion.

Now have they passed through, 105

The sun in their eyes.

They look all around,

Surprised by the sights.

A ruin on this side,

To mirror the other, 110

From which they’d departed,

The one they’d created.

A silence enveloped,

Those that were gathered,

They gazed forth in wonder, 115

What could have done this?

This lively city, deserted,

But more depressing than the other,

They sift through the rubble,

Not sure what to find. 120

A newspaper, how antique,

But needed that moment.

It headlined the destruction,

Of that once-great city.

Yet movement was spotted, 125

People emerging from houses,

Scavengers and descendents,

Not noticing the strangers.

They couldn’t hide well,

Standing centered and all, 130

So found they were shortly,

But not recognized.

The chance of rebirth,

To claim or deny?

The ultimate question, 135

It lie in their palms.

The decision was made thus,

To rebuild this grand city,

One brick at a time,

To see the greatness once more. 140

That their souls might be

Relieved at last.

That fateful flight,

And historical chase.

Yet they all returned, 145

To the scene of the crime,

To make their amends,

As lives are but mortal.

An end to the story, the quest at an end.

Now they can rest, their story now penned. 150