Restoration.

I looked back up at the Palaza as I treaded water to keep me afloat. From the top on down, flakes of its façade began falling off. Soon, the tips started crumbling downward toward me, so I swam away from it as fast as I could. However, I could still feel the whole thing break apart behind me. I looked back one last time to see large chunks splashing into the lake. The forceful waves that were subsequently created eventually reached me, and they carried me even farther away. At that safe distance, I witnessed the last of Palaza Avare sink below the surface. Everything went with it: the wealth, the gold, the Bendo figures…and Jin. In a flash, it was all gone.

Suddenly, it was just me and the lake. I glanced in every direction for a sign of land, but saw nothing. If I began swimming in any direction, I knew I would tire quickly. But then I heard that raspy scream again and looked up into the distance. There was a floating, fibrous white object moving swiftly through the thick mist toward me.

“Chaotica,” I said, petrified.

It kept approaching until it hit the water like a dense, sinewy fog, and I could see the water that surrounded freezing almost instantly. Instead of heading straight for me though, the thing started circling me at a distance, and I turned to keep my eye on it. As it glided around where I was, it left a path of ice behind it. Before long, it had swirled even closer to me, and I noticed the water around me getting colder. I wasn’t ready. “I’m not ready for this!” I shouted, but it seemed as though it was just to hear my own cries. My limbs were tingling and I sensed my pulse rate pump faster and faster as the anxiety and hypothermia first started to set in.

Chaotica, whatever its nature was, quickly overtook me and I became enveloped in a white haze. All I could see was my own body and the immediate water that surrounded me. I quickly noticed the ice forming along the edge near my body. Pretty soon, ice was forming on me too. Shivering and hyperventilating, I kick my feet into overdrive just to keep me moving. Then I realize…it’s no use.

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