“...The meals were as numerous as the chairs and there was an outside balcony view overlooking the Snowfell palace. I used to close my eyes and listen to the chimes above me.”

  ~Calissa Nylanis

  It has been many years since Elissa Moon was freed. The neon signs in the vibrant cities. The sounds of snow-mobiles and the newest jet packs fill the locals with life. Children play in their snow castles and the Shasis roam, finding their companions with each white breath. I smile on some days. Most days I feel lonely, like the only person among miles and miles of snow. I take that back. It's not so lonely anymore.

  I smile. I found love again. They rescued him after the historic battle everyone talks about now. The Mastals are defeated. My lover returned and we promised to never give up again. It was like nothing changed since we first met. I look at my lover. We have a daughter now. Sometimes I read her fairy tales.

  From time to time I still walk out on the balcony at Calissa's. I look below at the Snowfell Palace and at the sculpted angels of ice, marking the graves of three lost friends. There's an inscription I wrote that reminds me, carved into ice every year. It's the one Seran gave me. It's a poem about finding love again. Seran called it Chimes.

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  You are what you eat

  Stumbling in the snow

  Not much of a fairy tale

  There is no such thing as luck

  Run while you can

  The torture ship above

  Broken contacts

  Running from lost love

  You shouldn't be afraid of change

  The friendship of a Shasi

  A new story begins

  You can have it all for free

  We dream of a fairy tale

  The one we call life

  Find me Tomorrow

  The chimes stop the strife

  Surrender to love

  Missing the trend

  Turn yourself in

  It just needs to end.

  Why did you give up on love?

  Why did you give up on fairy tales?

  To live on Elissa Moon is to live with a fairy tale. It's a fairy tale I never want to die.

  As I listen to the cold wind around me, I gently close my eyes like child being read a story. I wrap my arms around my body. The sound of chimes above me.

  THE END