play "the end"
it's as if it happened in slow motion. the muffled words as you sprint towards her, the last thing she'll ever say. "take me Whitney, and remember..." she leaps into the awful pool in the centre of the room, and turns in the air, smiling. she closes her eyes...
the fire burns out. the noise stops. the chamber is silent. you fall to your knees, still not comprehending what just happened. she couldn't be gone, no, it was a dream. you've been dreaming from the start. but no, Bertha was really dead. kind, friendly Bertha, who only wanted to do good, and to retire to the Magma Lakes. gone. forever. Cardboard leaps from her stool and runs up to you, brushing against you with her tail and purring. the cult vanishes. the quiet is murderous. S.C.O.W was gone, but you'd lost so much more...
you walk slowly back down the dirt track you began your journey on, kicking at the stones and dirt with your torn, weathered boots. you notice your old wooden spoon and lego brick, lying on the floor. a relic of the past. as you enter the familiar gates of Plop, the hustle and bustle slowly breaks into your ears, the age old sound of life, of people. you step up to the statue in the middle of the town square, a stone likeness of a bear in a tiny hi-vis vest and hard hat, and announce to the people of Plop. "VILLAGEPEOPLE! my friends, my family! i have returned from an epic quest in which i set out to retrieve Cardboard, the cat you all know and love. and i bring news greater than great." you gaze around at the anticipated crowd, a sea of eager faces. "S.C.O.W are no more.." you mumble, quietly. the enormous cheer and applause cannot heal what you have lost. as you are raised into the air by grateful arms, the cheering and whooping starts to echo. in the end, you won. Bertha would've wanted you to be happy. you smile, and start to quietly sing to her memory. "i will always.."
"...love you..."
the end