Utopia of The Infinite [C]

The sky was calm.

Not silent or empty, but full of breath, wind, and a sense of vastness that only tranquility could provide.

The Requiem floats over the plains, her hull shining with warm starlight. The world underneath her shimmered as if it had just woken up. 

The forests stretched green and broad.  Rivers moved on purpose. Old ruins cracked open, not due to collapse, but because to the development of flowers pushing through their bones.

The girls stood on the landing deck, the wind blowing through their hair, their shoulders softly touching.

Nobody spoke for a long time.

Izzy let out a nervous breath. 

"So... we won?"

Auri did not respond right away. She was still watching the clouds and the light move just beyond the horizon. 

"We ended the game"

"But not the story"

Mira remarked softly, stepping nearer.

Wen leaned on the rail and nodded. 

"The loops have gone. I triple-checked the data. There are no reset signals. No echo coding. Just... freedom"

Lyra held her crystal with both hands. 

"And a lot of possibility"

Back inside the Requiem, the conversation was calm but genuine.

"We could go back"

Izzy suggested, peering between them. 

"We designed the ship to return. Home is still there, perhaps"

"Is it?" 

Rhei inquired, her voice softer than normal. 

"Would we even recognize it anymore?"

Sera sat beside the observation bay, hands folded. 

"Even if we did go back... would we be the same?"

Auri stared down at her palms. They still felt like her hands, only heavier, stronger, and wiser.

"I don't think we're supposed to go back" she said finally. 

"I think we were meant to bring something forward"

It didn't happen all at once, as it seldom does, but over the course of a few days, weeks, or months, they began to transform the unknown world. Not as conquerors. Not as survivors.

As participants.

Rhei and Izzy worked side by side, laughing more than usual. They built bridges between floating islands that were half-tech and half-magic, with reactive material that responded to intent.

"I want people to feel safe here"

Rhei explained one evening while adjusting a solar array over a carved archway.

Izzy threw her a tool without looking. 

"They will. It is in the bones"

Mira addressed the sky-beasts, urging them to live freely. Some came. Some people watched from a distance. One winged, gentle-eyed creature landed alongside her and let her braid tiny feathers into its mane.

"They're choosing us now"

She added with surprise in her voice.

"They always were"

Lyra said, as constellations develop in the early dusk. 

"We just had to stop being afraid to be chosen"

Wen created a data stream of light and tale embedded in the stars, which was then weaved into a song. The Requiem's core hummed harmoniously, preserving every lesson, name, and memory that no longer needed to be hidden.

"It's not a record" she informed Sera. 

"It's a guidebook. In case somebody comes after us"

Sera grinned and tucked a blossom into Wen's braid. 

"Someone will"

One morning, a visitor arrived.

Not from another loop, but from another realm, attracted by the restored equilibrium. He appeared disoriented and unsure, gazing at the horizon as if he had never seen color before.

They greeted him and asked his name. When he sobbed, Mira held his hand without asking why.

Eventually, more arrived.

Guardians who were formerly captured by dread creatures and caged by the Chain people spirits repeat that newly discovered voice.

No thrones were built, and no leaders were crowned, but the girls stood in the center, not to dominate, but to be remembered.

One evening, as the stars bled purple over the sky, Auri traveled alone to the extreme end of the world.

Beyond the cliffs, wind curled upward, transporting heat from the living core underneath. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, watching the clouds breathe.

Footsteps approaching. She did not turn.

"I saw a child today" she added softly.

Mira sat beside her, patiently.

"She laughed. Just laughing for no reason other than joy"

Mira did not speak.

Auri closed her eyes. 

"I think that's when I knew we made it"

Later, all seven of them stood at the top of the skybridge, which had not been created but had grown from their collective presence.

Below, the world shimmered, with gardens sprouting where grief had previously looped, towers sparkling with renewable energy, and rivers booming with music. It was not ideal.

But it was alive.

"I used to think infinity was cold" Lyra murmured. 

"All that space all that time"

"It's not" Sera stated, joining their hands.

"No"

Auri agreed, smiling and looking at each of them. 

"Infinity is warm because we get to choose what fills it"

They stood in an open circle, comfortable, with no war to prepare for and no shadow to chase.

Rhei stared down at the field, which stretched to the horizon. 

"So... what now?"

Auri breathed in deeply, held it, and answered steadily and confidently.

"Now, we live in this unknown world"

-END-