Chapter 299: Denouement

Li sat down in front of a towering ash tree he had created, resting his back against the sturdy trunk. Tia sat in his lap, nodding her head from side to side as she hummed a little tune she had picked up from somewhere. Probably in the streets of Riviera. 

The tune made Li realize how far away they were already from the city he once never thought he would leave. How he would get even farther and farther away as he went West. It was oddly fitting, in a way. He left Riviera just as he came to realize he wanted to influence more than his farm – he wanted to shape this very world. 

Or, as he was coming to realize more and more: protect it. 

The wind picked up, the low sing song of a gentle breeze fluttering through the air and picking up a stray leaf or two -the first time a breeze had ever touched anything green here for nearly two centuries. In a way, it was remarkable how much of a fresh start Li's very presence gave this place.