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<span class="mu-i">That's not going to happen!</span>
—it'll be over. He has to let you go, or he'll be dissolved too. You'll be fine. You're sure you'll be fine. You have Richard, and... yeah.
<span class="mu-i">Richard?! He's in your head! What's he going to do?</span>
Okay, then you won't be fine. You'll just have to— it'll be a heroic sacrifice. That's good. That's important. He can't die with you.
<span class="mu-i">Nobody's going to die!</span>
When they aren't falling, the beetles are hardly moving. They tremble under your back. Come on. He doesn't have to lie. He definitely doesn't have to die here pointlessly. He doesn't want to die, right? He's not like stupid Ellery?
<span class="mu-i">No, I— Lottie! What happened to positive thinking?!</span>
What happened to being realistic? Can he quintuple his strength? Does he have some extra beetles lying around? Why's he so blue? It's not helping him lift you any better. Is he stupid? He's going to give out.
<span class="mu-i">Lottie, I'm not. Don't be a jerk. I'm saving your life.</span>
Not very well.
...Sorry. You're just... you're scared. You don't want to die. But it's better you than him, right? And you— you mean— he's right. You didn't plan this all the way through. You didn't have any contingencies for the bombing or anything. The bombing...
The bombing! You curl up on yourself, searching around in your pockets, hoping against hope you'll find it. You <span class="mu-i">will</span> find it. Positive thinking. And there it is: the bomb in the plum can. A dinky thing. More of a grenade. But with plenty of bang, right?
<span class="mu-i">...Lottie?</span>
No, you're not explaining anything to Gil. If he doubts it even a little, it won't work. Does he trust you? Completely?
<span class="mu-i">Yeah.</span>
Okay. You grasp the bomb to your chest with one hand, and you stick the other down your throat. You dig around. You find the sun, bring it to your lips, and clench it gently between your teeth. You touch the fuse to it.
It lights, as it must, as it always will have. You choke the sun back down. Gil!
<span class="mu-i">What?!</span>
<span class="mu-s">Fly!</span> And you toss the can down through the beetles into the infinite void. Before it can get that far, it explodes: a perfect orange fireball, a starburst of smoke, heat and a shockwave to your back. The outrush of air buoys you, renewing Gil's strength, sending you and the beetles up, up, up, up...
...but not far enough up. It was only a plum can. You can feel in your gut, the apex, the downturn. Down, down, down, Below, Under, into the void, into nothing at all. You killed the writers, and your story's ended. Does Gil see it? He's still struggling against gravity. Inevitability. You shut your eyes.
"Hey! <span class="mu-i">Herald!</span>"
(3/4)
