It was midnight, and the being that had erupted from the southern volcano was rampaging still, throwing away the lives of millions.

Millions lost to our lack of foresight. But we cannot do anything now. The beast never sleeps. It only grows.

I saw a child, with her mother; the child looked up to me and said, "Is my daddy doing good in the war?" So I thought, this young lady knew too well of the sitaution. But still I replied to her, "Yes, I saw him just a few minutes ago preparing to depart."

Her mother cried, but she stood silent.

So I said to him, my partner, "David, is this not too far gone? Is it even possible to save merely one life at this point?"

"I can't leave this place knowing we didn't try. We must keep fighting."

"David, surely you jest—"

"Can you still walk, fire a weapon? Invoke methods?"

"Yes," I answered reluctantly.

"We will go, and we will win. If we don't…"

"I understand."

[insert things about fighting, then finally crashing back into The Place]

"It always comes back to this place."

"Doesn't it?"

"We need to use it, David."

"I have, through seeing all possibilities, failed to find any other solution."

"This sucks."

I got up out of the rubble, wiped the dust off my coat, and walked toward the kitchen. The cabinets were still pristine, unlike the rest of the house, now destroyed by us crashing directly into it.

The third cabinet from the right side of the room, on the bottom shelf, lay a small cake, not but the size of a miniature candle, round in shape and with four candles smaller than a nail burning strong. The cake made of chocolate, and the icing on the outside like a shell, vanilla.

"Are you ready? Look into my eyes." I said, taking the cake and shoving it into my mouth, whole.

I chewed the cake, which must not have taken even five seconds, and swallowed it.

"O divine cake of reason, forgive us but one treason; destroy this world, in place another, the time to go, for last summer."

"The final sin laid out tonight, remove of us the fatal plight;"

"Conteret omnia haec, respice in hac mundi."

As the roof went crashing down, everything became a blur.

The ritual was complete.

[insert sections]

• reuniting
• planning
• moving
• insertion
• destruction
• forgiveness
• procedure
• finish