Oh? Who are you? Would you care to hear a story?

Yes?

                We’ve been here for so long, so terribly long. Not all of us know how we got here, but I am one of the few whose memory stands firm. However, time passes… seemingly without my noticing. It seems just yesterday that the Glomdoring was born, and not even an hour ago, Zenos the Insubstantial once more wreak havoc upon the Basin.

                But that point is moot now, as all of them seem to be. Time passes and it seems as though my thoughts grow increasingly incoherent, things that would once have sprung to mind now evading my deepest thoughts and meditations.

                Ah, there I go again, off on a tangent that I did not even realise I was upon until after I had finished. I was ready to leave you here without telling you what I meant to. Which was…what was it again?

                …

                …

                I recall now, I apologise. We have been here so awfully long. Not all… what? You say I have told you this? Yes, that does seem a tad familiar.

                You are the first in many years who has talked to me and not simply run past. I was beginning to think that I have become the monster that many view me as. Still, it is nice to be heard, even if it is just for these few moments. I am sure that once you have received what it is you want of me and been off, I will find myself deposed of.

                Many forget that we were once alive, or perhaps they never bother learning. Once, the people nearby were taught that we were once sentient, but it seems as though we are just their prey now. Still, I have a moment of respite where I can speak to you, so I cannot complain.

                No, I can complain much.

                I complain of that princess who chose for us, not asking if we wished to be obliterated in a single heartbeat. I complain of the same princess who has left us alone all this time. I complain of the princess who has left me behind every time she has come to rescue my brethren.

                But do not take that smug look on your face, dark one. I complain too, of the emperor who caused this, without whom the old empire would still stand. I complain of him turning me into a target for the younglings.

                …I know, I am lucky. I still possess my finer points of thought, scattered though they may be. I look and see those who were once my friends, my family has long passed on, and neighbours float by with no gleam in their eyes. They exist, but they simply are. Reduced to nothing more than instinctively defending themselves.

                *sigh*

                Oh, is this your friend? A shame he interrupted us before I was able to speak of the cold. It’s always so cold.

                AH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP THAT!

                Oh Marilynth, why have you left me behind once again? The flames of Nil are far worse than I feared them to be! I remember now, feeling this before. Marilynth, my forgetfulness only strengthens me in that I forget this pain, and forget that I have ever been deposed of. I am just a lowly gardener, what do they wish of me?!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! NO, NIFILHEMA, YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU ONCE WERE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—

                …

                …

                Am I at last free? If this is Celestia, and I am home, then the breeze feels good. The smell of salt is lovely, and it will be good on my skin. Oh wait, I don’t have skin. I suppose that I have transcended the need for it, my friend who has moved on. Hopefully, one day I shall see you once more.

                Damnation, this breeze is chilly. Maybe if I… wait, I recognise this place. This is my old garden! Oh, how lovely it is to see it again, though I feel close to tears at its current state. Maybe if I am lucky, the turnips will grow once more.

                Ah yes, the other spectres won’t need to eat, but maybe a passing traveller will feel a slight hunger!

                Oh? Who are you? Would you care to hear a story?

                Yes?

                We’ve been here so long…

 

 

      "All we want is to be remembered. Is that too much to ask?" - Rudzine Reltine