The Voyager held onto his seat as the ferry pressed onward through the waves that crashed against it.

“No one comes this far!” The Ferryman shouted. “How many days?”

“Six days!” The Voyager cried.

They broke through the tidal wave and came to a standstill amidst the storm. Now they were silent. The moment was brief but the peace granted clarity to their thoughts. All around them in this flooded valley was the green water, the ruins of structures long abandoned to the ocean, and their ghosts roamed wailing.

“Where are you heading?” The Ferryman asked.

“To the tower. To the origin. You know this, Ferryman, but why do you ask?” The Voyager stood up and cast back his cloak. He wore aged and ragged armor of a knight, at his side was an old phone.

“Do they know? I know where you come from, Voyager. The Distant Shore and its inhabitants. Who knows why you left? The true why. You caused the Long Winter, remember?”

It began to rain.

“Do not threaten me,” The Voyager sat down across from him.

“Threaten? Look around you. This was your doing. All the ghosts are because of your actions. You did this.”

“It wasn’t me. It was the person I never wanted to be. This me is fixing things.” At this the Ferryman threw back his hood to reveal her scarred face. The Voyager recognize her. “You are the ghost of the old, move on.”

“Me? Move on? Voyager, look at yourself! You hid on that shore for years and even when you tried you gave up. Now this valley is vile, toxic, and remembers all your mistakes. I shared my secrets and bonded and guess what? YOU THREW IT ALL AWAY when you gave in. Nothing can fix this!” The Ferryman looked to the fallen valley.

“You’re nothing but a ghost, a shadow, and I know what I did was wrong. I can’t forget it. I promise you I won’t do any of this again.” But the Ferryman just laughed at him.

“Just wait until they know. Just wait until they know.”

They docked at the port and the old phone rang. He looked to see who it was.

W. Gte

He took a deep breath and answered. “You might want to sit down, I have a long story to tell you.”