"A box?"
Nothing but echoes of footsteps could be heard as the pony walked towards the giant spiral wooden tower.
"I feel like I'm missing something, but what?"
Her ears flicked as she tried to remember why she was here, but it was a hazy blur for some odd reason.
"What's wrong with me? Is the MAGICDIE also affecting my memories now? I don't remember anything other than being with Otacon and Sunny that night."
She shook her head and kept walking, never noticing the purple carvings on the walls. She stopped before a wooden door blocking her way to the spiral wooden tower. She stepped back, looked up at it, and saw odd wooden cravens and what looked like a golden unicorn.
She grunted with amazement. "Not bad wood craven, but the unicorn looks off."
The pony walked forward, feeling the wood and then knocking it, hearing it echo in the giant hallowed tree. She could see there were no handles. She tried pushing it, but it was locked.
"Hmmm, maybe I can..."
She reared back and kicked the door with all her strength, but it didn't break, not even a dent.
"Ow! Damn it, why is the wood so hard!?"
She rubbed her leg in pain, then looked back at the door, glaring at it. She quickly ran away from the door, stopping and looking back at it. She narrowed her eyes and took a running stance. With a quick dash, she ran toward the door quickly. She lunged forward as she got near it, slamming her back hooves into the door's wooden surface, leaving a solid impact and cracking the area she hit. She leaped back and landed, breathing heavily, and seeing her kick indeed did nothing to move the door.
She huffed and stomped her hoof, shaking her head. "Okay, new plan."
She turned around, sat her rear down, and searched her sneaking suit, looking for something to aid her.
"I don't remember wearing my old sneaking suit, but if I was the one who chose to wear it, then that means it's in here somewhere."
After a few minutes of searching, she found it.
"YES!"
She took out a small white box and smelled it, exhaling her breath with a smile.
"Ah, smells like my favorite brand."
She quickly opened the box, used her magic to pull out a white stick, and put it near her nose, smelling it...only for her ears to drip down in disappointment. She put the white box near her eye, seeing a white paper, and pulled it out, seeing it was a note. With an annoying grunt, she read it out loud.
"Dear Jane, I knew you'd try to pack your smelly cigarettes, but after you promised me that you'd quit, I swapped them for sugar sticks. Good luck with your mission! Love Sunny."
She growled, crushing the paper in her hoof, but sighed, uncrushed it, and smiled.
"Damn kid, always one step ahead of me." she put the sugar stick in her mouth and slowly chewed it as she wondered about something.
"Errr, if Sunny knew I was on a mission, then that means Otacon does as well, right? It also confirms that I had a mission to come here, but why do I feel I'm missing something important?"
She kept chewing the sugar stick as she thought, and she swallowed it when it was almost gone. Her ears went up with delight.
"That's damn good!"
She pulled out another one, put it in her mouth, and finally turned her attention to the giant wooden door. She looked up, seeing no ceiling over the high walls, but she knew better that she could not jump that high. She took the sugar stick from her mouth, put it back in the pack, put it in her pocket, and moved closer to the door.
She knocked on the door again, placed her hoof on it, and then placed her ear on it. Maybe she could hear something, but there was nothing, not even the sound of anyone on the other side. She looked at the crack she had created and saw nothing inside it. She sighed, stepped back, and turned her body, looking at the wall next to her.
"Looks like I do gonna try and climb it, huh? Maybe I packed something that could help me?"
She took her sugar stick out, looked at the door, and smiled. She threw it at the door's surface, causing it to land on the ground. She wasn't going to be bested by a door. She turned away and checked her belt, which held her items. She pulled out her hand pistol, a custom M1911A1.
"Hmmm, whatever mission I'm doing, I needed to be armed, huh? So, this is a combat mission. But against what?"
She shook her head, placed the gun back, and checked the next thing, but her ears picked up something as it twitched. She looked back, seeing that the wall she checked before was now a large open doorway. She walked toward it, standing in front of it and trying to look inside the dark tunnel. She saw nothing, so she just shrugged and entered.
She looked at the walls, noticing the odd carvings on the wooden surface of the tunnel. Had a blue-painted pegasus on it, with a rainbow trail behind it.
"Odd, why do I feel like I've seen that pegasus before? It almost looks like..." she stopped. She could hear something ahead of her, sounding like footsteps. She quickly checked her pockets and found what she needed.
The footsteps got louder as they got closer until brown boots stepped out of the darkness. Standing there was a tall, young, blue-skinned 20-something mare with spiky rainbow hair. She had a giant metal sword on her back, and she grabbed it and stabbed it into the ground, as she could see what was in front of her.
"A box?"
Right there, in the middle of the tunnel, was just a normal-looking cardboard box.
The woman scratched her head, then looked around and walked closer to it. She bent down and poked it, seeing it wasn't a mimic monster but felt like a regular box.
"I wonder what's inside. Could have element shards inside, and my mana is pretty low."
She placed both her hands on the handle of her giant metal sword and raised it. She cut the box in half with one swift swing, revealing it was empty.
"Ah, nothing inside?"
She heard a click above her, and her ears flicked. She raised her sword in time as she blocked a bullet. She lowered the sword a bit; seeing above her was a shadow of some creature. She could see it falling from above, landing far from her, and pointing its weapon at her.
"Looks like old Shinra's remaining experiments are still around, huh? Bad enough, I have little mana left and can't remember...!" she couldn't finish as she blocked a bullet but knew that it wasn't a kill shot but a warning shot like the other one. She saw the figure holding a handgun and pointing it at her once more.
"What are you? You look like a pony but so different. Standing on two legs...reminds me of Metal Gear." said the shadow figure, lowering her gun.
But the woman saw her chance; she quickly rushed toward the figure, swinging her sword down at it. The metal hit the wooden floor, scattering it and blasting wood pieces into the air.
The woman could see the figure somehow dodged her blow, making her yell at it. "I don't know what you are, and I don't care! But you aren't going to find me easy to kill!"
The figure landed and grunted in annoyance.
"Pretty strong kid, but wielding a giant paperweight won't help you!"
The figure pulled out its gun, firing off a bullet, but the woman swung her sword, knocking it away. She charged again, swinging her blade, only for the figure to dodge each attack.
"Kid, I met better sword users in my time on the field, and you are just too slow." she pulled out a grenade, pulled the pin with her mouth, and tossed it near the woman's feet.
"Crap!"
She couldn't put her sword up in time to block the grenade, which exploded and sent her flying backward. The woman was on the ground, breathing heavily and trying to stand up. She was injured and couldn't move, but the figure walked up to her. She looked up, seeing the figure with the gun pointed at her face.
"Like I said, kid, using that paperweight is useless. Give up and tell me who you are and why you are here."
The woman smirks, her hand glowing with a green light. The figure could see the weird light show as the light covered the woman and healed her of all her wounds.
"What!? Is that nanomachines!?"
The woman used another light, this one red. She pointed her hand at the figure and unleashed a small fireball, but the figure dodged it and jumped away, grunting in annoyance.
"So, you are a Genome Soldier. I thought all surviving genome soldiers were rounded up and imprisoned after the Shadow Moses Incident."
The woman stood up and glared at the figure. "I don't know what Genome means, but you did get the last part right; I'm a SOLDIER!" She darted at her once more, swinging her blade near the figure's neck. But like before, the figure dodged it and fired her gun, hitting the woman in the chest, but it hardly did any damage.
"yeah, nanomachines are at work here." said the figure, rolling away as the woman stabbed the ground where she was.
The woman pulled her sword out and raised her in a combat stance.
"Nanomachines? Are you talking about the Elements?"
The two slowly walked around in circles, glaring each other down.
"Elements? Shinra? SOLDIER?" repeated the figure, stopping and taking a sugar stick and chewing on it.
The woman raised her eyebrow, puzzled as to why the figure had left itself open, and asked her a question. "Who are you? How you've been acting tells me you aren't with the old Shinra but don't know anything..." She placed her sword on her back. "Something tells me you aren't from my world...in fact, maybe it's the other way around going by this weird place."
The figure finished her snack and placed her gun back into its holster. "Or we're both fish out of water here."
The figure got closer and took out a lighter, as it was too dark. She had trouble lighting the flame, so the woman used her magic and made the flame bigger in her palm.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
Both women stared at each other, seeing each other's faces for the first time. They were dead silent until they pointed at each other.
"OTACON!?"
"ZARA!?"
The two lowered their arms and had confused looks on their faces.
"Zara? My name is Solid Matter Snake, and I am a soldier. What are you talking about?" said Snake, taking out another sugar stick.
The woman kneeled and stared at her, confused. "Otacon? My name is Haze Strife, and I am a former old Shinra inf—" she stopped. She could see the suit Snake was wearing and knew she had many years as a soldier. "1st Class SOLDIER..." she coughed.
Snake could tell there was some hint of embarrassment in Haze's voice, and she smirked.
"So, a soldier from another universe using a giant paperweight and magic, huh? I must be dead or something, then." She took out another stick but stopped and eyed her. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
Haze nodded. "Sure."
"Do you remember how you got here or why?"
Haze's eyes widened, and they became lost in thought. "Now that you mention it, I don't. The last thing I remember is recovering this sword after leaving Edge and heading back to the remains of Midgar."
"Edge? Midgar?" asked Snake, chewing the stick.
Haze stood up and turned to the way she was going. "A city. It was built near Midgar, where my friends and I helped the planet stop a meteor from destroying the world. With Holy and the Harmony stream. Midgar was mostly destroyed as the meteor would have crashed on top of it if it wasn't what I just said."
Snake blinked and stared at her. "That...sounds oddly familiar."
Haze looked at her. "What?"
"Dunno, kid, that sounds like a video game or anime plot. You and your friends saved the planet from a giant meteor and weird shit helped along with it? Yeah, sounds like a game plot." she swallowed the snack and stood up, looking at where she came from.
Haze felt somewhat pissed off.
"I'm not a kid! I'm 23, and what about you? Do you remember anything?"
"My memories are fuzzy, and the last thing I remember was being home with Otacon and Sunny."
They stayed silent, staring at the tunnel where Haze was heading.
"So, are we dead, or did someone bring us here? But why and what for?" asked Haze, walking toward the tunnel.
Snake followed her, looking down and thinking.
"I found a note from Sunny, and it seems I chose to be here. Something tells me we're here because we want to be here. Maybe the answers will be found beyond that door I found and that spiral tower above." Snake noticed Haze looking back at her, giving her a strange look. "What? I found this door, and a tower is above it."
"A tower?"
"Yeah, a tower made of wood. We're inside a giant tree, it seems."
Haze stopped and turned to her.
"....we're inside of a giant tree?"
"Yeah..." Snake stopped and crossed her arms. "Kid, where did you wake up?"
Haze also crossed her arms and tilted her head back to where she was walking from.
"I woke up further down this tunnel, but it was a dead end, so I started walking in another direction until I met you."
Snake took that information and started walking again while Haze followed her. The two didn't talk until they walked out of the tunnel and found the same door that Snake had found. Haze looked up and saw that her new friend was telling the truth. They were inside a giant tree, and beyond the door, there was a spiral wooden tower leading to the top of the tree.
Snake walked over to the door once more and just looked at it.
"Hey, kid, can you cut your way through this door?"
Haze didn't respond to her nickname. She looked at the door and back at her sword.
"This old sword can cut through the hardest of metals, so cutting a wooden door shouldn't be a problem. But let me try something else first."
She readied herself and jumped high into the air, making Snake whistle at the jump. Haze landed on the wall and started to run upward since no ceiling was above the room. When she got closer, she slammed into a purple barrier, causing her to fall back down, but unknowingly, 
two evil red eyes glowed in the darkest part of the tree and had a smirk on their face.
Snake watched as Haze recovered mid-air and landed. "Looks like bypassing the door is not an option."
"Seems that way," replied Haze, putting her hand on the handle of her sword and taking it off her back. "Looks like it's time to chop a door down."
She dashed to the door and raised her sword; she sliced through the door like butter with a few powerful strikes. Haze spun her sword around and placed it back on her back. She smirk.
"Kid, showing off isn't gonna impress me, but still, nice work."
Haze's ears twitched, hearing Snake complimenting her. "Thanks, old timer."
"Old?" laughed Snake, walking up to her. "I might look old, but I'm 42."
Haze joined Snake as they walked through the door and found themselves in another tunnel with a stream of water coming from the end of it.
"42? With that partly white hair, you have? Looks like you're 60 or something."
Snake was annoyed and flicked her off with her tail, and the two headed down the tunnel. Snake turned her head, seeing the door Haze destroyed, slowly fixing itself.
"Hmm, that's a neat trick, fixing the door after the damage. Something tells me this place might be alive."
Haze looked back and saw the door fully fixed but quickly disappeared.
"Or someone is behind this."
The two continued to walk until they reached the tunnel's end. They saw the stream of water and decided to follow it. Snake and Haze could hear the sound of water getting louder and louder until they came to a massive underground lake with a waterfall feeding into it. The source of the water was coming from the spiral tower itself; as they were near it, they just needed to climb up the wooden walls.
Snake was amazed by the sight.
"Wow, this looks amazing, but who built it? And why?" she thought to herself, walking to the water and looking into it but freezing what she saw.
Haze took notice and joined her, and just like Snake, she froze at what she saw. The lake's surface wasn't showing their reflections but another version of themselves.
"...I look like your kind..." she blushed. "But naked?"
Snake got closer to the water and glared at her younger self, a version that had never seen the battlefields or had to go through hell.
"I look like a kid again."
Haze looked at her. "Magic water isn't common in my universe, but something tells me we shou-h-hey!" she watched as Snake poured her whole head into the water, and bubbles appeared.
Snake pulled her head out, swallowing the water. She felt her face like she was hoping for something, but she held her white mane and sighed.
"Thought for sure it was a youth spring."
Snake could hear Haze laughing at her, making her glare at her.
"Well, that's one thing out of the way. Now, what to do next?"
Haze took her boots and socks off and dipped her feet into the water, enjoying the warm feeling. Snake sat near her, and they looked up at the waterfall.
"Well, kid. Can you carry me as you jump on the wooden surface and ninja run to the tower?"
Haze raised her eyebrow.
"Ninja?"
"I'm just saying, your jumps and ability to run on the walls remind me of a ninja."
"Okay, I guess you are kind of right..."
Snake could tell she embarrassed Haze. She smiled and patted her on the back.
"Nothing wrong with ninjas. Hay, I know one myself. She calls herself Lightning Bolt."
"Lightning Bolt, huh? Sounds dumb; what does she do? Use lightning bolts?"
Snake laughed and walked away, prompting Haze to quickly put back on her socks and boots and call out to her to wait for her.
"Hey, hold on!"
Snake just ignored her and walked around the lake but stopped. She felt someone was watching her, but when she looked around, there was nothing. She shook her head and waited for Haze, who had caught up.
"Ready, kid?"
Haze didn't answer her question. Instead, I asked her a question of her own.
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
Snake didn't say anything, just waiting for the question.
"I take it that's a yes? Anyway, who's Otacon and Sunny? You said something about being home with them, so I'm guessing their family?"
Snake sighed and crossed her arms. "Sunny is the daughter of a soldier who helped Raiden and me, but the Harmony AIs had her until Raiden saved her and gave Sunny to Otacon and me to protect and watch over her. Over the years, she became like a daughter to me and Otacon. She is a sweet girl but annoying when she takes my cigars. I can't stay mad at her, though. As for Otacon, well..."
She sighed.
"She's a nerd, a very smart one, and my best friend. We've been through a lot together, and she's why I'm still alive today." She dug through her belt pockets and knew it was there. "Sunny, you truly know what I need, huh?" She took out a photo and handed it to Haze, who took it.
"...This is Sunny and..." Haze let out a small laugh. 
"Otacon, huh? Looks like a nerd indeed." she returned the photo, and they continued.
"So kid, who's this Zara person? I take it she looks just like me?"
Haze stopped and did not say anything, making Snake stop and look at her.
"Hey kid, everything alright?"
Haze didn't answer; instead, she walked to a big rock, climbed on it, and sat down. Snake knew something was wrong.
"Kid?"
Haze closed her eyes. "Zara was my best friend and someone I looked up to. She saved and broke us out of Shrina's lab, and before we could arrive at Midgar, Shrina found us. She hid me away and gave her life to save mine. That was 3 years ago."
Snake didn't say anything and walked to the rock. Haze looked down at her, and Snake took out another sugar stick. She offered it to her, and she took it, but Snake pulled it back.
"The pap-" she coughed. "The sword on your back is hers. Isn't it?"
Haze didn't move.
"Yes, it's hers. I was heading back to Midgar to give it a proper resting place and memorial."
Snake finally gave the sugar stick to her and sat down.
"I don't know how much it matters, kid, but she sounded like a great true soldier, and she must have meant a lot to you if she fought to the bitter end to keep you safe. You'll see her again one day, but right now, let's find out why we are here and why this tree has a tower inside it and a lake that can show our other selves." she put away her pack and looked back at her. "Hey, kid. Got a photo of her?"
Haze nodded and took out a worn-out and badly ripped photo. She handed it to Snake, who looked at it and saw a younger version of herself standing with others. 
One looked like Raiden, but she had never seen the tall woman with the multicolor mane holding a very long katana as she stood in the middle. She gave back the photo, and Haze placed it back in her pocket, going to ask Snake a question until she sensed something.
"You feel that? Someone's coming."
Snake stood up and got into a fighting stance, taking her handgun out.
"I felt it earlier, but I didn't see anyone or anything. So, kid, where is it coming from? Is it near the lake?"
Haze listened carefully and nodded.
"Yes, in fact, it's already here."
Snake followed Haze's glance toward the waterfall, and they saw two red eyes within it. They got ready and saw it walking out of the waterfall. Everything around them went dark as it stepped out, and a black mist appeared.
"What the hell is that?" yelled Snake, training her gun on the creature.
Haze couldn't believe her eyes.
"...it's you?..."
The evil-looking Twilight smiled at them, opened her mouth, released a black mist, and only asked one thing.
"FRIENDS? WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS!?"
Haze took out her sword and was ready for combat.
"Hey, old timer, can you give back up to me from afar? I don't know what she is, and I have no idea how to kill her, so that that support would be great."
Snake fired her gun a few times and saw the bullets did not affect the creature.
"Giving you encouragement of support counts?" asked Snake jokingly, making Haze smirk a little.
"Guess I'll have to find out, won't I?"
"Well, good luck, kid."
The two readied themselves, and Haze ran at the evil-looking Twilight and tried to cut her. The dark Twilight blocked the blade with her horn and parried it away, sending Haze straggling backward, but she didn't have time to recover, as the evil Twilight charged up a laser attack and launched it at her.
Snake could tell that this fight was gonna be brutal.
"Shit, can you dodge it, kid?"
Haze blocked it in time and jumped high into the air, dodging the laser, which blew a hole in the floor. Haze landed on her feet and ran forward again. She started to use magic again; this time, a yellow light filled her hand and unleashed a thunderbolt on dark Twilight, clearly feeling the electric shock.
"Good work, kid! Keep it up."
Haze heard the praise and charged once more, swinging her sword and making a massive cut across Twilight's chest, cutting it open. Haze thought she had her, but she quickly backed away as a ton of mist blasted out of the wound. Haze closely looked at the fog, seeing it killing the wood as it turned dead.
"Looks like cutting her open is a bad idea, kid. Try to cut her head off."
"Roger that."
Haze ran at the dark creature and tried to cut its head off, but it quickly escaped by teleporting away, making Haze ready herself for an attack. She darted her eyes around but did not see anything, but she quickly realized something and turned to Snake.
Snake rolled away in time as the dark creature soared at her, her horn pointed and mouth open, leaving behind the mist. Snake covered her mouth, quickly backed away, and met with Haze.
"It knows tactics; it tried to go after the one that couldn't harm it," grunted Snake, taking out her combat knife but coughing loudly, making Haze ask if she inhaled the mist.
"Don't worry, kid, it's not that. It's something...." she coughed again but more violently, falling to her knees.
Haze was shocked and confused by this. She checked Snake but quickly pushed her as the dark creature soared between them, almost getting them. Haze promptly jumped back as the mist nearly touched her, while Snake rolled away and laid on her back, safe away from the fog, but her coughed attack wasn't letting up.
"Shit, that fucking hurts," she grunted and stood up, watching the dark Twilight charge another laser but much bigger this time.
"You okay, old timer? What's wrong?"
Snake held her chest, and the pain was increasing. She quickly looked through her belt pockets, knowing if this was her true final mission. She knew she or Otacon would pack it in case she needed it.
"Come on, we must have packed it!"
She looked up and saw the laser was charging faster.
"Oh shit, kid! Kid, get out of here! I'm just deadweight right now. I'm useless; we won't know why we're here if you die too!"
Haze looked at the charging beam and back at Snake. Without any words, she ran toward her and stood before her, protecting her.
"Damn it, kid! Don't be like your Zara friend, and protect this old soldier! You still have more to live for than I do. Don't throw it all away."
Haze looked back and smirked.
"You think a few words will get me to run away?" she looked forward, seeing the giant black beam being unleashed at them. "I'm not letting you die for me, not again!"
Haze raised her sword and stood ready to deflect the beam, hoping it would save them. However, before the beam could reach them, a rainbow spark appeared between them and the laser. In a rainbow flash, someone held their hands out, catching the beam and slowly forcing it into one spot, making it into an energy orb.
"Close one!" sighed Spark, crushing the orb in her hands. She looked back at the two. "Haze! Jane! You okay? Huh?" Spark could see Snake coughing even more. She knelt beside her and put her hand on her.
"Jane, is this what you meant? Right!" She placed her hand behind Snake and searched through her back belt pockets, took out a pack of suppressors, and handed it to her. "Here, take it quick."
Snake nodded, opened the pack, took one of the long suppressors, and jammed it in her neck. She heard the sound of the device injecting its fluids into her neck, but after a few seconds, her coughing and breathing had eased up. She took a few deep breaths, and her mind and body relaxed.
"Thanks, whoever you are, I owe you one,"
Spark smiled and stood back up, looking at Haze.
"Keep her safe. I'll be right back."
Before Haze could answer, Spark teleported away and reappeared before the dark Twilight, repeating what she said before, making Spark look at her with sadness.
"I'm sorry..." she whispered, pounding her fist together and slamming a punch into the wooden floor. The punch scattered the darkness that covered it and revealed the pure grass that covered the wood.
The scattering made the dark creature hiss and slowly faded into its mist, but as it vanished, it spoke to Spark.
"You promised me..."
And it was gone, leaving Spark not wanting to open her eyes, as she clutched her fist harder.
"....sorry."
"Who are you!?" called out Haze, putting her sword back on her back. "And how do you know us? Are you the one who summoned us?"
Spark stood sad-faced and slowly approached them, stopping before Snake. She looked down at her and smiled as she knelt and held her hands together.
"Thank goodness you're okay. How do you feel, Jane?" she gave Snake her hand, which she took, and stood back up.
"Better, thanks. But I guess you have some answers for us, huh?"
"Yeah, that would be a start," answered Haze, crossing her arms.
Spark nodded but looked toward the tower and what was at the top.
"I have your answers, but I'll explain when we reach the entrance." She looked back at them, knowing they would want an explanation. "There are others who just entered the tower, and we need to find them before..." the two could see the sadness in her eyes. "Before that dark creature goes after them. They aren't prepared for it."
Snake took the lead and walked forward. "Well, no point standing around and talking. Let's move."
Spark watched as Haze joined Snake, seeing the two walking toward the wooden cliffside and Snake trying to get on her back but failing as she was too old and short to reach her.
Spark closed her eyes, smiling. "Don't worry, Spark. This time, it will work! You gathered the people that can understand them, so all is okay."
Haze had enough and carried Snake, not minding the weight. She jumped on the cliff face and started efficiently running up it.
"Hey, old-timer. I gotta ask you something."
"What's up, kid?"
"Do you trust this woman? I have a hunch about her, and I wanna see you agree."
"That's a tough question. I don't know her, but I would trust her." Snake looked down and saw Spark walking to the lake. "Something within me tells me she's a good woman and can be trusted."
Haze smiled and continued climbing but asked another question: "How did you know this sword belonged to my friend?"
Snake looked at the weapon in Haze's hand, smiling.
"On the battlefield, a weapon can carry many stories just by looking at it and how well taken care of it is. Just by looking at that sword, it hasn't been taken care of in years, to the point that there is rust forming." she could see Haze looking a little regretful about not taking care of the sword. "Kid, that blade has many stories to tell because of the battle it kept being a part of. A clean weapon has fewer stories, while dirty and damaged ones have a ton to tell. So, when I looked at the sword and how it was cared for, I just had a hunch about its story."
"Oh, that makes sense. Well, thanks..."
Snake patted Haze on the head and got her attention.
"You kept that sword well. Don't regret yourself. If Zara saw you now, I'm sure she would be proud. So, keep going, and don't let her down."
Haze felt something in her heart, almost wanting to cry, but she put her emotions aside and focused on climbing the cliff.
"You got it, old-timer!"
They finally reached the top, and Haze gently placed Snake on the ground. They looked back down, waiting for their savior to arrive, but she was still looking at the lake.
Spark wanted to cry, as within the lake's surface, her reflection wasn't her own but that of her two sisters looking back at her. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out until she opened them and looked down...seeing nothing, not even her reflection.
"...one of a kind, huh?" she opened her wings. "Or a bootleg copy."
She flapped her wings, taking off to the others, but the gust of wind made the water's surface ripple, showing an entirely different version of her.
Somewhere within the spiral tower, there was nothing but darkness. The only light source was a blue light on a woman's back, showing life sign readings. She wore a light armor suit, her helmet coming off and going into her suit collar back.
She could hear a child laughing and the sounds of drums, drums playing a military marching song. She froze and slightly looked back, hearing only one thing.
"Mother?"
End of Chapter One