//------------------------------//
// The Flickering Flames (Epilogue) 
// Story: The Legend of the Everfree 
// by Shadowmane PX-41 
//------------------------------//

In a dark cave with a dripping celing, elongated stalagmites and stalactites, and a single brazier in the middle of it, a fire flickered on its last embers. The wood beneath it had been mostly burnt, and now all that remained were ashes. It desperately danced on what remained of the wood, but was getting smaller and smaller every minute.

A figure dressed in a black hood with blue lines on it walked into the room, towards the fire. It saw the flame trying to burn, reached down towards it, and blew it out with a simple breath. She then reached over to the brazier's lid and closed it up tight, looking at what remained of the lifeless and damp wood.

"And with that, the flames of Miasma and her men have been snuffed out." The figure put down the hood and revealed herself as Abacus Cinch. Only now, she wore a pendant of New World around her neck instead of her usual attire. "A pity, really. Of all of the people who wanted to see the Rainbooms suffer for their insolence, I was sure she would be the one to do it.

"But, you know what they say. Fate is not entirely set in stone." She locked the brazier up with multiple padlocks and threw the keys into the darkened cave. "Everyone thinks that they can win, and then at the end, an upset can snatch the glory, and essentially everything that they love away from them."

"You sound upset." One of three more hooded figures appeared behind Abacus, walking towards her.

"I too know what it's like to feel undefeatable, and then to lose everything at the last second." Abacus sighed and turned towards the three figures. "I was once the principal of one of the most prestigious schools on this rotten planet, but after being dealt a blow to my honour by those insufferable urchins, I, much like the late Miasma, lost everything."

"Only another reason why the Grand Master wants this world to burn." The second hooded figure nodded, their face still shrouded by the darkness. "We too know how it feels to lose to the Rainbooms."

"We are all bonded by a single goal." The third figure stepped forward. "We all hate the state that this blasted world is in, and we all want to see it torn down and rebuilt in our own image, much like an infant tears down a tower of builiding blocks only to reform it."

"When the Grand Master initiates the purge, all seven billion people we leave behind will die in a sea of explosions and fire." One of the two other figures nodded. "And sure, it'll leave the world a radiated wasteland, but in order for the world to be made great again, it's gotta die and be revived. Kinda weird, really."

"I'm not quite so sure you decided to be the embodiment's of New World's music with such philosophical tongues like that." Abacus cracked a small smile. "If anything, you should've been in charge of literature instead."

"True. But we're more into singing, not reading." The figure in front took down her hood, revealing Adagio Dazzle with a red pendant hanging by her neck, along with New World's insignia. "The Battle of the Bands opened our eyes to the beauty and fragility of life, but still, that does not mean that we care for it, either. The three of us have been robbed by this filth known as the human race, so it's only fair that we destroy them all, and only leave the chosen to survive."

"I almost feel sorry for these miserable creatures." Aria Blaze took down her hood. "But then again, they did make us lose all of our powers, give me a headache, and leave us to die on this godforsaken rock, so quite honestly, I say screw them. Screw them all!"

"Aww, c'mon, Aria." Sonata Dusk showed her face as well. "Not all humans are bad. The ones I've met are actually really friendly."

"Sonata. Everyone falls for your goofy happy-go-lucky shctick. That's why they love you." Aria grumbled and crossed her arms.

"Don't mind them. They're just bickering children, and I happen to be their only guardian." Adagio Dazzle looked back at the other Dazzlings before returning her gaze to Abacus Cinch.

"With Miasma's flames extinguished, we shall simply have to accelerate the process." Abacus looked back at the brazier one more time before she walked off towards the cave's exit. "The Everfree Forest's power should now be taken into account, and we must inform the Grand Master before they walk right into a trap."

"And the Rainbooms?" Sonata asked.

"Trust me, girls. Those infants will never see the warheads coming." Abacus left the cave, causing the Dazzlings to follow behind her.

When everyone left the cave, all that remained was an empty stillness as darkness took the whole area. The fires had peetered out and the water droplets were echoing as they landed, piercing the silence that now engulfed the epitaph. The stalagmites and stalactices from a different angle all spelt out a message.



Miasma. New World's Embodiment of Nature Control.

Deceased