Point-of-View: Inoka Fonseka

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"Cheers! It’s been one year since the war against Hell ended, we earned the peace we’ve enjoyed since then, and here’s to hoping that peace lasts for years to come!" Declared Neo, as he held up his beer with a grin, "Alright, everyone, that’s all I had to say, so just focus on enjoying yourselves to the fullest, feel free to do whatever you want in here!"

As he just mentioned, a year has passed since the war against Hell ended. And to celebrate the anniversary, with things having been peaceful since then, Neo was throwing a party, having invited everyone.

He contacted all of us well in advance to make sure we’d be free today, and then transported us all here using his portals. He’d done a great job with this, he’s got everything you could think of.

A wide variety of food, plenty of alcohol, a ton of weed, and he’d rented out an amusement park to host it in, so yeah.

All of us Outliers were here, along with Fenris, Elise, X and Serafine. Dieter, who’d been living with X and Adelmira, had been in a deep depression for ages, but he was finally starting to resemble some semblance of his old self now.

"Hey, it’s been a while since I last saw you. How’s it going?" I greeted Elise, as I bumped into her by the drinks bar.

"Oh, it’s going well, merci. I’ve sort of been...retired, I suppose. Doing nothing and just being lazy all day is addicting, especially after everything that happened," She replied with a wry smile, as she poured herself a cocktail.

"Huh, yeah, now that I get a better look at you...you do look kinda out of shape," I responded with a grin.

"Wh-wha-...? Did you just call me fat?" She drowned indignantly, elbowing my side with a pout.

"Heh, sorry," I laughed sheepishly.

I spoke with her a bit longer to catch up about everything, before wandering around the amusement park. So much has happened, and even though it all ended a year ago...it doesn’t feel like it was all that long ago.

From the day the Meta-Orb landed in my apartment to that day one year ago...it had only been a little more than a year and a half, that’s how long I was in Harmony for.

Everything that had happened, all of it, had been just a bit over eighteen months. It was just a small fraction of my life...and yet, it feels like it was my entire life.

Those eighteen plus months shaped who I am now, more so than any other phase of my life ever did. It wasn’t all good, there was definitely a ton of bad, and I have several regrets, but...I’m glad I went through it all.

"Oh, hey man, we were just looking for you," Suddenly came Zoraiz’s voice, as he walked over with a wave, alongside Alexis and Aurora.

"Hey, guys, what’s up?" I responded, as they approached me.

"There’s a cool ride that X and Adelmira were talking about, we figured we’d give it a try. It seats four, and we thought it’d be nice for the first four of Harmony’s Outliers to go together," Remarked Alexis with a grin.

"What about Fenris? Isn’t he with you?" I asked Aurora.

"Nah, he challenged Neo to a drinking contest. He won but he can barely stand," She sighed with a shake of her head.

"So, what do you say? Wanna give it a try?" Grinned Zoraiz.

"Yeah, why not?" I replied with a wry smile.

We then headed over to the ride they were talking about, which turned out to be a boat ride through a large tunnel, full of holographic monsters and stuff. Guess it’s really good CGI or something if the others recommended it so highly.

We got onto the boat, which was shaped like a small ship and had four couch-like seats on it. We took our seats and the ride began, taking us into the tunnel.

Woah...they’ve designed this tunnel beautifully, it looks like a starry night sky, full of shooting stars and glistening brightly. Holograms then popped out, making it look like there were dolphins flying through the air.

"Wow, this is pretty relaxing," Zoraiz sighed contently, leaning back in his seat.

"It’s nice to be able to enjoy something like this without having anything else to worry about," Added Alexis in agreement.

"I’m really glad I met all of you...my life is definitely better with you in it," Replied Aurora with a smile.

"Hey, come on, don’t go getting all sappy on us...especially if you’re gonna state the obvious, some things don’t need to be said," I responded with a grin.

"Maybe, but I think it’s worth saying at least once-...hm? Hey, I’m smelling some Monsters, I can sense a breach, not too far from here," Frowned Aurora, sitting up.

"Yeah? Then let’s go take care of them...unless any of the others are there?" Inquired Alexis, as her hands crackled with lightning.

"Nope, we’re the closest," She shook her head in response. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Alright, then let’s head there right away," I declared with a nod.

"How many are there? Think we’ll need to call the others for some back up?" Zoraiz asked Aurora.

"Nah, there’s just a few of them, we can definitely handle it ourselves...after all, we’re the strongest in the world," Replied Aurora, before adding with a wry smile, "Or, at least, I am."

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