to all the npcs of dragon quest ix, a sincere thank you for everything they've done.

A well-worn girl whose clothes were ragged at the seams and with hair pulled up tight and falling apart at the ends looked up and saw the stars, ever-present and spontaneously burning. A wish, her brain told her quietly, people made wishes on falling stars.

They had come true before for people not unlike herself. She had seen people wish for many things, such as when Ivor put a rock in the palm of his hand and murmured for strength of will under his breath before skipping it over the surface of the lake, or when her grandfather wished for better dreams whenever she bade him goodnight. Others who were more jaded often wished for smaller things, knowing the difference between luck and skill.

But sometimes wishes were halfhearted, ones made by people knowing that no matter what happened it couldn't come true. Wishes couldn't do the impossible - they couldn't grant immortality or solve world hunger or bring dead fathers back to life. So she stood up straight and looked back towards where the inn stood proudly, hands calloused but still willing to do what needed to be done.

But a storm was coming, she could feel it - a whistling in the winds, a congregation of dark clouds that took away what little light from the moon that the falls were given. Water held light much like a lamp held the Hephaestus flame, but a drop of water fell at her feet and she stopped.

The stars were falling. The sky cried in a hailstorm of wind, and for a moment there was a blinding light that almost looked like the shape of a person.

After feeling another drop land atop her head she looked up once again and saw it - something had fallen off the edge of the waterfall, and at the same time a loud earthquake hit and made her tremble to her very bones.

She fell. She fell and then rose to her feet unsteadily, stumbled then tried to get up again. After a moment or two she removed her apron first and then her outer clothing before tying up her skirt and wading knee-deep into the waters, reaching out with both hands towards the object - a human - gently floating downward onto the shore. The water had broken their fall, but not that much. She was almost sure that they were dead.

There was no resistance when she tugged on their clothing, strange and exotic. She gasped as her fingers touched something wet but not clothlike at all, and when she leaned forward to look she realized what was surrounding the person in a large circle - a halo of feathers.

"What is this...?" She said, and just as suddenly as she had seen it they disappeared beneath her fingers, crumbling away as if like dust.

The light faded away and she nearly tripped on the gravel beneath her, water dripping from her hands and feet. She shook her head roughly to snap herself out of it, brushing her hair out of her face in one deft movement. This was no time for daydreaming and this stranger's life was at stake.

And with this one act of kindness, several things took course.

The cogs of time continued turning as they did, but the timeline diverted into many different paths.

Within the castle to the east, one king locked his daughter away in the confines of her own room. The girl cried tears of sorrow and of frustration, knowing that if words could not reach him then only action will. But her limbs were weak and her heart even more so, and so she watched as one warrior set out alone without a single aid or soldier to assist them.

How cruel, the locket in her possession whispered, that this is how life must be.

An old woman remembered a lullaby of a long-forgotten time and a shining castle in the north, waiting for the return of its knight. A creature in dark armor wields a blade and carries his skeletal body to Brigadoom, which had grown decrepit and lost to time due to the curse of age and a possessive fool of a witch. A soul rejoins his lost love. A girl cries.

A replica of a village made of stone stands in solitude at the very top of a lone mountain, overriding any of the monsters roaming the caverns. They make way and respect the stonemason's final wish. A slime makes his home. His grave becomes his greatest discovery known to mankind.

A jar once holding a curse of ailments upon an unsuspecting altar took hold of their victims, playing with lives as easily as they did their confinement. A scientist marries a woman and then loses her just as quickly, and together as a whole they grieve and move on. They learn to love again.

One tailed fin rose up from the coastline as jagged teeth opened, and a man whose greed reached no bounds attempted to forsake a loyal fisherman's wishes, a daughter's silent plea, and his son's confidence that he would do what was right and good.

A doll in a mansion waits for its master alone, praying upon anything that it would make its owner happy once again. But their feet are cold and their hands are numb, and they do not have any heart to speak of, and they speak in lilting tones. They learn that it is alright again. They can rest now.

A snowed-in village up near the mountains, isolated from everywhere else by the cold climate and the lack of agricultural progression. An academy student stares at his teacher and cowers, fearful of punishments for the disrespect that they had not caused. They learn to keep their heads up when the suffering is over, and the teacher learns his errors.

A town loses their pride and their dignity and became harsher because of it. Their fear became ingrained into them, a trait they passed on so that they would survive later on. Do not trust a stranger, they said to their children, and a boy who'd once been an outsider too cries himself to sleep. They find a solemn soul and learn to trust outsiders once again. They learn how not to discriminate.

Across the seas a lighthouse sings, alone yet still strong. The old man looked out past the sea and knows that without a doubt a person would arrive to tell their tale. His island was a resting place for seafarers, a home for those in need of one, and nothing would stop him from giving them safety.

A queen from a desert utopia makes a mistake and eventually learns from it. She vows to both herself and her people that never again would she horrendously squander away the resources of her palace, nor would she ever indulge in luxuries that could not be afforded at the cost of her kingdom. She realizes who and what she could become. A maid forgives their ruler.

A dancer, who'd only ever loved to be quick on her feet.

A chef, one middle-aged man who'd lost his pride and lived day by day trying to understand why he still tried.

A priest, who'd come to terms with the desert she lived in and the consequences of incompetence.

A palace, which stood tall despite all of this and lived on.

Across the skies and into the Realm of the Almighty a demon stared down at himself and realized there were more to mortals than just hatred and rage, and there was more to life than just betrayal and anger. A necklace becomes a silent promise. A lost soul finds her companion. They ascend to the skies.

Aquila looked up from his prone form to stare directly at his protege for the first time and realized, oh. This is what I have missed.

A glowing pink fairy looked up beside her pilot's side and smiled brightly, hand in full salute.

I am with you, she said, and then the constellations roamed free.

haha im not crying you are