The last thing my main, Jean "Femme Fencer" Depallier, did before "the day" was to get taken out by John Starkweather to Black Friday. We had gotten engaged a few weeks before. I was pregnant with his child. I remember going to Icon and getting every bit of the dress just right...it took me at least an hour. We ran into some old friends, some old enemies, and had the best time.
It was so wonderful that night before. We laughed, we drank, we talked about the VoPC, and we had so much fun there. It was, simply put, the greatest night of Jean's life, because she loved John for years. But he never looked at her that way until she became his "go to girl" and trusty assistant. We built the VoPC together in that last year. We ran it smoothly, but fanatically, and our ranks were growing every day. I can't tell you how deep we were in the whole CoH life. Every day we did something new, met new people, RPd more people into our plots, and so on.
And now, Jean's dream of being Mrs. Jean Starkweather was becoming a reality. I even reserved the name and made my alt for the day we'd finally get hitched. I'd major in Katana and Regeneration...a perfect PvP build so I could protect my husband and the leader of the VoPC. I was already trying to think of priest characters I knew who could marry us. I was already making a list, in my head, of my bridal party. And I was thinking about where we could hold it...right at Williams Square...right where Jean wanted it.
Little did we know, that night, events were being put into motion that would destroy everything we built. There would be no wedding...how could we have a wedding with such a pall over us? There would be no child...how could I give birth to a child amidst all the uncertainty? The VoPC itself was split in two. Some went to TSW. Others, like me, stayed behind. Within a few days, we did our final RP together as a group. And then, it was done.
I'd like to say it'll be the same if we got our city back. It'll be good, no doubt, but I don't know if it could ever compare to that sole, singular night on August 30, before "the end times." Perhaps it was just as well to have that one, perfect date: that one, perfect show of gratitude and devotion we had towards each other at Black Friday. That's what I'll always remember about Paragon City; that's the moment that made all the levels, base building time, RP plots, AE work, Virtue Verse entries, BBS posts and /tell hell worth while. I'll always have that.
But maybe, with all our effort, we'll have better.
Here's to better!