Summer's End Suite

The protective sphere surrounding the runaways dissipates as Ari and Lyra carry an unconscious Gem away from the fallout.  Around them, trees have been flattened, grass has been burned away, and there is no sign of life for miles.  Standing on a hill surveying the vast destruction, Ari and Lyra spot a horrifying sight: the city they grew up in, that has been host to their best and worst memories, lies in ruin, a charred cinder of its former glory.  As Ari and Lyra slowly regain their composure and begin to ask each other how they’re still alive, Gem awakens. 

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I. Wake

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[Gem]

I slip in and out of a trance

A blurred and nebulous vision of reality

Where am I? What am I doing here with you?

It’s nearly sundown, they’ll be expecting me

And what’s that swirling fog encompassing my horizon?

My memory seems lost in the haze

Is that smoke? Where’s the fire that preceded it?

What has set this place ablaze?

 

Some act of nature beyond our control?

Or a sinister force operating in the shadows?

A universe turned rogue, chaos to behold

Wake me from this nightmare, let me go

 

[Lyra]

We had to get away for our own sake

We could never have foreseen the death and destruction in our wake

But now is not the time for lachrymose reflection

There's no turning back now, fate has sealed our direction

 

Nature is untamed and beyond our control

As are dark forces operating in the shadows

Release the anchor, cast off for a future bright and bold

Wake, and let it all go

 

II. The Bridge

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[Gem]

Maybe I could move on if I had nothing left to lose

But I can only think of the future I’ve been refused

I’ll never see my family or friends again

An evening’s respite gave way to summer’s end

 

I ran across a bridge that collapsed into the sea

The divine spirits have turned their backs on me

The waves assault the shoreline and the tide will not recede

Maybe I have no choice but to let it consume me

 

III. Summer’s End

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[Ari]

I know you’re terrified; I’m scared as hell too

Of this new world that came like a bolt from the blue

Everything you knew is forever gone

Your faith and desires, the right and the wrong

 

But they tried to stifle your creativity

And turn you into a cog in this cruel machinery

 

You’re a writer, you’re an artist; you’re nobody’s fool

You weren’t meant to play by their rules

You never fit in, didn’t know how

The world you left isn’t worth returning to now

So, leave the rose-colored glasses behind

And the regrets that leave you blind

Let us give you the strength to go on

You’re going to be fine

 

Oh, all seasons must end

Oh, the nights grow cold again

The sweltering heat of the summer drained our lifeblood away

Trapped in convention, we lived tomorrow the same as today

 

Some see the autumn as the death of youth and dreams

But the winter is never as barren as it seems

Ambition and perseverance, born from summer’s end