View source for The World Hanging Upside-Down (Dark Endymion)

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2016/02/13
|Location=The Past
|Synopsis=The puzzle piece from Jadeite's place is in hand; memories return to everyone, even to the people who currently remember nothing at all.
|Cast of Characters=38,109
}}
@};--',--'-,--


'''3 August 2004, early afternoon.'''

---

"Really, ''really?''" the little boy asked again, gripping the hands of the tall man and woman at his sides, hoisting himself up and swinging on their arms for a second in thoroughly animated delight.

"Of course," said the woman with a laugh, face shadowed by her hair, "we promised, didn’t we? When you turned six. Which, ohhh, it’s not long from now, is it?"

"TODAY, it’s TODAY!!" the child shrieked, letting go the man’s hand to hug the woman’s, then squealing as the man scooped him up to put him on his tall, tall shoulders.

"That’s right," agreed the man, as the boy hugged his head and rested his chin in his hair. "Today we’re going up there, and if all goes well, you should meet the first of them again tonight. Now-- keep in mind they won’t remember you yet."

"I know, I know," said the little boy, a damper put on his spirits for the first time. He ground his chin lightly into the man’s head, and the man made a small sound of protest. "Why do I have to be the only one who remembers?"

"You know why," the woman told him with a sigh, reaching up and up to ruffle his black hair. "I know it’s not fair. But if they go looking for you before you can meet them, glory knows what could happen to them. The nightmares could take them away from you again."

"I miss them," the boy said softly, muffled, in the man’s hair again.

"I know, my Prince," said the man, gently patting the child’s knee. "But take heart. You’ll start meeting them tonight, and since now we know she’s in the area too, you’ll get to meet her again soon, too, and all her friends. And this time..."

The child couldn’t suppress his cheer of pure, unadulterated joy at the news about her.

"...this time we’re watching for the problems, and we’ll have your backs until you all grow up," finished the woman, smiling up at the little boy. They came out into the light, and there was a shiny red car parked under the trees, bright in the dappled August sunlight. "So don’t worry. You won’t be the only one who remembers for much longer."


@};--',--'-,--


'''3 August 2004, late afternoon.'''

---

The storm had hit without warning, and as good as the little red car was, it'd been a while since the man had driven anywhere. Rusty driving and a storm-- well, they were coming down a road edging a mountain by the sea, with sheer cliff above and below them, and he was looking for anywhere to pull off the road, but it didn't even have a shoulder.

He ''slammed'' his foot on the brake

and

nothing 

happened.

The bend in the road came much too fast-- the man was yelling, the woman was unbuckling desperately quickly and trying to climb over the seat into the back, either to put herself in front of the child sitting there and try to shield him, or to get the door open and shove him out before the car went over the edge--

The car went over the edge, and they were in freefall. 

Later on, the little boy wouldn't remember screaming a name in his mind, in his heart, in his ''soul'', as the car sailed down and impacted against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. 

Later on, the little boy wouldn't remember the woman dying in front of him, the man dying, everything exploding, the wreckage twisting around him, piercing him, nearly killing him; later on, the little boy wouldn't remember the man pulling him weakly away from the jagged stabby metal protrusions that would keep him from healing. He wouldn't remember sobbing as he tried to heal them, to fix them, instead of fixing himself.

He wouldn't remember passing out to the sound of the stormy tide lapping against and over the wreckage until the crews came to find them.

He wouldn't remember being pulled out of the mess to sounds of shock that he'd only hit his head.

He wouldn't remember the name he'd screamed out across reality, calling someone important for help when he was terrified out of his mind.

Later on, he wouldn't remember anything at all.