I was asked for a sequel.

Here is your sequel.

Tech wasn`t supposed to die.

None of what had happened to him was supposed to have happened.

But it did, by some freak accident, and it sent everything into a tailspin.

As soon as he made the decision he`d never been meant to make, he`d doomed himself, one way or another, and just that simple choice spawned so many different timelines.

But what followed created more.

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Zoey stared straight ahead of her, letting Rythian hold her, but for the most part feeling hollow.

Her Techy was gone, and with him he had taken much of her happiness.

She could still find joy in some little things, like pretending that he was in a better place now, but knowing with the utmost certainty that the best place for him was here, Blackrock, with Teep and Rythian and her.

So whatever small amount of happiness that ever brought her was quickly squashed by the sadness.

Even worse than when she was feeling empty, was when she was filled with the sadness.

The tears that threatened to spill; the wracking sobs that were sure to consume her if she submitted to them.

Rythian and Teep had found their distractions.

Rythian kept himself occupied with his new friend, Ravs, and frequented the Crooked Caber, his bar. That easily kept him busy at almost all times.

But now he was with Zoey.

Teep had begun to really dive into his guard duties, destroying any sort of hostile if it even looked like it was going to encroach upon his turf. He really didn`t let anyone or thing in, not wanting a repeat of the last time they`d trusted people.

And Zoey just withered away in her crushing sadness.

Everyday, crumbling more and more.

Perhaps that`s why, when Teep was kidnapped, she seemed disinterested?

Perhaps that`s why, when she rescued him, she didn`t come back?

When the girl and her dinosaur friend abandoned Rythian, to go to the rebel mushrooms, Rythian felt a part of him die.

He realized what this was. This must`ve been how Tech felt when he learned his sister wasn`t real.

Loss.

Pain.

But most of all, for Rythian, at least: disappointment.

He thought she was dead, he really did.

He lost contact with Ravs, and shut himself off from the world, and bad things happened.

When Zoey finally returned after a few desperate attempts at contact, she found the castle in pieces, the farm destroyed, and Rythian, haggard and exhausted, staring at her with owlish eyes.

"Rythian?" She`d asked, concern in her voice.

The Mage had simply stared at her, disbelief in his violet eyes.

"You aren`t real." He`d finally whispered. "Zoey died... that`s why she never came back."

Zoey shook her head. "No, Rythian, I`m not dead! I didn`t die, I just... left."

Rythian continued to stare at her, and then slowly retreated into his ruined castle.

Zoey followed.

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A few days later, Zoey learned about the bomb.

With a smile, she declared that she could fix the problem.

She toiled for seemingly endless hours.

Rythian had become more of himself over those few days, and was just happy to see her again.

He didn`t think he ever would.

And then... when she told them all to leave, he felt a heavy stone in his chest.

But he did what she asked.

He could never say no to her.

And then, while he was waiting for her to come and bring them back, he heard the explosion.

He knew.

He knew, and so he started walking away.

He didn`t want to have to lose someone else.

Especially not Zoey.

So if he didn`t see it, it wasn`t real, or at least, that`s what he told himself as he walked away from the castle.

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So now we come back to the subject of timelines.

We look at the choices they made, and we follow the paths which lead to the best ending.

The perfect ending.

We close in on the sunny day, with a slight breeze blowing past.

We listen to the laughter of happy friends, and we turn to look at them.

A picnic is laid out, and Zoey, Rythian, and Teep are enjoying the nice day, smiling and laughing with each other.

This is the perfect ending.

And you may say, "Tech isn`t there, though, so it`s not the perfect ending!"

The truth is: the fact that Tech isn`t there makes it the perfect ending.

Because, as I said before, Tech wasn`t meant to die, but he was never meant to be found, to live, either.