I took a deep breath, perhaps my final one. With damp, trembling hands, I clutched the needle and pulled with all my heart. It came free with ease, more so than those before it. And then...
The ground began to shake violently. The underworld crumbled around us, its glowing walls eroding into nothing in mere seconds. As red sunlight began to filter in, panicked screams filled the area; the once-villagers were perfectly aware of what was happening.
I could only stare blankly ahead, holding the disintergrating needle tightly. Dark smoke emerged from the hole it left, wafting under us and then rising, carrying us with it.
"What's happening?!" a terrified voice yelled. "We're gonna die!" shrieked another. The smoke carried us above ground, where it began to merge with other smoke clouds floating over the deteriorating streets.
The villagers and Pigmasks all scrambled in a futile attempt to get away from the clouds. They all packed tightly in a corner of the falling city, the ground falling away behind them as the clouds drew near. Some of them were seriously considering jumping into the gaping abyss.
Lighter and his son were the only calm ones. They focused on looking for any way out of this. Fuel glanced upward, and his jaw almost dropped. "Holy dice! Look!" he barked, pointing to me, before fainting and falling forward onto the clouds.
The others all followed suit in turn, staring in disbelief at me before fainting themselves. Some fell backward into the abyss, to be rescued by clouds rising beneath them.
The smoke clouds rose from all across the island, merging and forming into something solid. Storm clouds above began to block out the sun, leaving the smoke to glow faintly. Various animals, chimeras as well as natural ones, dotted the solid smoke alongside the humans, although they, too, had fainted. I was the only one conscious.
Suddenly the part of the solid cloud I was standing on rose. The others all tumbled down the slope to land near the other limp forms, leaving only me and Claus' dead body.
A pair of yellow eyes opened on either side of me, and the "cloud" shook gently with a soft growl. It was the dragon.
"Lucas," a voice spoke into my mind. It took me a while to realize it was the dragon's. "I sense your heart, your intentions for freeing me. I know what you want me to do."
"But... I don't know what I want you to do..." I replied.
"Relax," it reassured me. I fell forward onto one knee as it began to fly, lowering in a soft arc to what was left of the Earth. It skirted the surface of the never-ending ocean, crossing back over itself occasionally so I could see what it was leaving behind: solid ground, awash with hints of plant life.
"Lucas," the dragon began, "we know that what Pokey said about human nature was a lie."
I blinked, trying to think back through all his speeches. The dragon waited for me to recall the exact one before continuing. "You remember that all the denizens of Nowhere Island lived in peace and harmony before Pokey intervened. If he hadn't, they would have gone on as such until the end of time. We know it in our heart to be true."
"Our heart..." I echoed.
"Now the people of the island who came on the white ship remember how and why they came to the island. They remember the events that led up to the end of the world. The future can never be certain, but it is our hope that the memories of what has happened will be enough for them to live in peace again."
The dragon then rose up towards the parting clouds above us. It bent its head gently towards the Earth, so I could look at the restored planet. The ground it had made glowed a pale green, so I could see the life growing on the surface. Trees that would have taken years to grow turned from saplings to tall, proud forests in seconds. Flowers - many of them sunflowers - bloomed, wilted, and bloomed again. Grass flourished over the dirt patches. Mountains stood strong, dotting the landscape. As well as grasslands, there were icelands and deserts, and of course the familiar oceans; the planet was more diverse than I ever could have imagined. Was this what the Earth looked like before the first end of the world?
"I wish the others could see this," I thought aloud. "It's beautiful..."
"It's quite a treat for those who get to observe it," said the dragon, "but they do not need to see Earth from here to recognize and appreciate its majesty."
It then dove towards the Earth, aiming for one of the savannas. I watched the ground approach, the wind rushing through my hair. I was alive. We all were. And in our own ways, we all contributed, made this all possible.
The dragon entered the ground, leaving us scattered along the surface. I ran my fingers through the luminescent grass, my head clouded in thought. Thoughts of the people trying to escape the smoke. Thoughts of this wonderful planet beneath us. Thoughts of what the dragon had said.
Our heart. Singular. As if we were one being.
I glanced up from my thought, startled, as the dragon emerged from the ground in front of me. I stood from my kneeling position on the ground, and it lowered its head to be at eye level with me. A magnificent creature it was, holy, omnipotent, and perhaps omniscient. And yet, timid as I am, I was not afraid of it. In the past, even though I knew this dragon would not harm me, I still would pull back in fear. But now, after all I've been through, perhaps I'm not so faint-hearted anymore.
"What will you do now?" I asked it.
"Just now," it replied, "you were considering the meaning of my earlier words. Referring to ours as one heart was not an error."
"So that means..." I thought aloud, my gaze drifting towards the ground.
"Brace yourself, Lucas."
I looked back up at it, blinking curiously. The last thing I remember was the dragon rearing up and charging towards me, into my body...
I understand now.
Once the dragon has been released, it will destroy or restore the Earth according to the heart of whoever set it free.
It will then merge itself and its power with that person.
And they will become the new dragon...
|\ | \ <-- fin...? | \ ######