"I did not...I should have expected this, but it is..."

"I can't really believe it myself." Lulu said while riding on Trizel's shoulder.

"What...what happened?" Ted added as he felt a strange pain in his chest.

They had all returned to The Oasis from their "beach" vacation to find it burned down. Charred black pillars of wood and the occasional partial wall seemed to be all that remained. The entire upper floor was gone, with even the bricks covered in soot. It had been absolutely decimated by a fire and was almost unrecognizable. They were all in shock.

"Did that creep try and smoke you out or something?" Og'drimun asked.

"I am afraid not," Sid declared as he stepped forward. "I attempted to light him on fire so we could slow him down and rendezvous with you and Death. I used the high proof rum to soak him, and the bar caught on fire with him."

"Well, I was the one to actually light him on fire," Narissa admitted casually. "Though the matches were from Sentenza of course."

This uh...man, this is honestly a big bummer. I really liked my room. Death sighed.

Ted was the first person to step forward. He put his hand on one of the charred beams that once supported the second story but was now laying in pieces on the ground.

"Ouch!" Ted pulled his hand away immediately, as the heat threatened to burn him. Now that he had a moment, he could feel the intense heat still coming off of the wreckage.

He took a step back and shook his head. He just wished he could remember everything that happened after he ran into the basement and before he appeared above the beach. It felt like there was something important there he was forgetting. Something beyond his own fears and doubts that constantly clogged his mind. Above all, there was this strange primal fear that gripped his heart when he tried to think about what happened. He remembered something about a garden, and feeling wet, but not much more.

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"I would like to apologize," Sid's voice shook Ted from his own thoughts.

"What would that do?" sighed Sentenza as he pressed a cigarillo against a smoldering chunk of wood and breathed in to light it.

"It seems appropriate as I am responsible for this grave mistake." Sid continued.

"Wwwweeee wwwooouuulldddd'vvveee hhhaaaadddd aaaa hhhhhaaarrrdddeeerrr tttiiimmmeee fffiiiggghhhtttiiinnggg iiinnn ttthhheeerrreee iiiffff hhhheeee wwwaaassssnnn'tttt wwweeeaaakkkeeenneeeddd ffrrrooommm ttthhheeee fffiiirrreee." Bakade nodded as she put her wrapped hand over Sid's shoulder.

"I have respect for my own abilities," Trizel added, "but I have to agree with her. The burning seemed to slow him down quite a bit."

The hollow king nodded his head slowly before he sat down in his old spot up against the still smoldering wall. Whisps of smoke came up from where he sat against it, but it did not seem to bother him.

"Your kind words are unnecessary," Sid explained. "It was much too rash of a decision. This will set us back much more than we gained from burning him."

Sentenza let out a small puff of smoke before he said, "So? What do you want to do about it? Go back in time? No point in that kind of thinking. Just have to move forward."

"Yeah, no point dwelling on the past," added Og'drimun with a fake smile as he looked at Sentenza. "Just need to live with what happened, and not get angry."

Death appeared behind Sid and put his arm around him, right on top of Bakade's. Yeah, can't say I'm not bummed out, but things could be worse, right? Plus now, all that fog is gone, and we can just rebuild it even better than before!

"We do not have all of the necessary materials for a rebuild. Especially if we lost any of the machinery in the kitchen. Those would be difficult to repair or replace." Sid explained.

Lulu patted Trizel's shoulder, and the giant rolled his eyes before he grabbed her and gently lowered her down to the ground. "Who says it has to be rebuilt the same way? We've got that big forest, the tents and rides from the carnival. Why we should have plenty around to even improve things!"

"Rides?" Trizel said as he raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean those games we played?"

"Huh? Nah. We never got around to that part. Besides, it's hard to run those things with just one person. Especially with how often they break down." Lulu said dismissively. "What I'm saying is that it's obvious we can build something resembling the old place."

Ted looked sorrowfully at the smoldering ruins. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. What right did he have to say anything after all? He ran away. He didn't help fight at all, he just stuck himself in the middle of it somehow and distracted them. Whatever sent him flying from the sky was the only reason he was there. His hand gripped the cloth on his knee as hard as he could as he grit his teeth. Everything was destroyed, the kitchen, the karaoke, the alcohol. All that work, just gone. If he had stayed behind would things have gone differently? Would he have somehow found a fire extinguisher under a table?

Not knowing was the worst, especially when his cowardice was the only reason that he wouldn't know how things could've been different.