I tried to warn them, I really did. None of this is my fault. "Gods", I said to them, "even gods of a world as small as E2, are not meant to mix. On their report cards it reads does not play well with other gods. Look at Olympus," I said, "look at Parnassus. Look at Val-fucking-halla!"
Everyone knows that gods only get together for an apocalypse.
They didn't listen, of course. dannye even had the gall to say that it was sour grapes, because I couldn't make it, stuck here at the end of the world like I am. Oh well, he's sorry now. Or he would be, if he could.
They were insistent, determined, there was nothing I could do to stop them. But I had this horrible, horrible feeling that it was all going to go disastrously wrong, I just couldn't shake it.
I cashed in every last air-mile I owned. I arranged a rental car. I just prayed I could get there in time. I may not have the charisma of the other gods, but I do good calming.
Anyway I logged in and sat my husband down in front of the screen and told him to watch - to keep watching, to call me if anything happened.
He called alright. He started calling as soon as I landed and he kept on and on calling.
It didn't seem too bad at first - I thought he was being hysterical, he's just a tad straight-laced about drugs, overreacts a bit. I mean, these are adults, you'd think they could handle a little altering of their minds.
But his voice got more fraught with every call, and last time, he said "Look, I'm not going to call again, just put your foot down and
get there. "
If Nic was going to encourage me to break limits then things had really got out of control.
I hadn't imagined anything this bad, not in my worst nightmares. I'd thought maybe riverrun and dannye would fight - when two people get on as well as those two in cyberspace, there is often disillusion and bitterness when they meet. I thought there would be harsh words, things said that should have been left unsaid, cracks appearing in our solidarity that would damage E2.
I didn't expect this. Nobody could have expected this.
How did it get this bad? None of them are really evil I'm sure. Well, no-one other than thefez, but I never trusted him, and I've never really seen him as being one of us - he was there, but... other.
Of course WickerNipple was wrong to do what he did. I don't excuse him, but he didn't mean badly, I'm sure he didn't. And Jinmyo - well, she's a complete innocent, you can see that, just from looking. It was just a series of misadventures, nobody intended any of this.
I've given the girls tea. They're just huddled there, the three of them, crying and clinging on to each other. You can't blame them. riverrun just sits, staring, and you can see him, blaming himself. He told me quietly that this may be the worst thing he's ever seen, and he's seen plenty. I wish he could cry too, he'd feel better if he did.
I've put a sheet over bones. Once the detective tells me it's okay, I'll start to clean up the blood.
The police arrived about twenty minutes after I did. Nic called them, bless him.
The cops have promised to be gentle with Brawl, they've called an ambulance for him. He's the one I feel sorriest for, really. Bones, dannye, wharfie, they can't feel pain now - but he'll feel it forever, and he couldn't help it.
They're calling in reinforcements to look for thefez, or what's left of him. The detective -- his name is Paul -- says he may have been wanted for other crimes, under a different name.
They're directing all their questions to me - nobody else is coherent. I guess they'll pick up WickerNipple and Jet-Poop at home, if they can find out where home is. I don't know where they live. I don't even know their names.
Paul is saying we have to go. The ambulance is here, and Brawl is sedated. Paul's loaded the girls and riverrun into one car, and he's driving me back himself. He tells me reporters are waiting, back in Savannah. I'll have to speak to them, I suppose. I have to make them all understand - the press and the Police, that this was all just a terrible chain of accidents, and nobody is to blame.
I have to.
I will.
Everything will be okay