Her bedroom around her faded away as Val’s consciousness extended to the room next door, Ross’s bedroom two months prior. After their mother had left him alone that night, Ross must have acted upon the new information that she had divulged in him. With this as her prompt for a starting point, the following series of events unfolded.

To start with, he sat at the edge of his bed, lacing up his shoes. Rather than the pajamas of the previous scene, Ross appeared fully dressed in this one. Already, he had his own backpack ready to go, not too different from the one that Val had just packed.

His shoelaces tied in one knot, then another. After that, he pushed himself up, followed by him scooping up his backpack. One strap slung over his hunched shoulders for him to head to the door in a quick saunter.

In the center of the room, however, Ross froze. His shoulders twisted around as he took in his surroundings. "I really am leaving, it seems." A sigh huffed from his lips, and then he carried on out the door.

Ross paused once more in the kitchen where their mother waited for him.

“Mom, are you sure that this is right?” He let his eyes drift to the door that led to Val's room. This slight movement of his darting eyes appeared as prominently to Val as if he had reached a grasping hand out to her door. Past Insight allowed her to see the truth in the past.

In confirmation, he said, “I should wake up Val or wait until the morning to say goodbye. We always planned to go to the Summit together, so if I am going to leave like this, she at least deserves an explanation.”

The truth was that Ross had not wanted to leave Val behind, perhaps even regretting his choice to this day. At the very least, Ross would miss her just like she missed him. Some warm sense of solace filled her, knowing that her brother still cared about her back then.

Their mother grasped him tightly into a hug. “Be safe, my son. May the future bring us together again.”

“I am sure that it will.” Ross hugged her in return and pulled away with a note of finality.

As much as Val ached for him to act differently than he had, she must watch Ross set out on this journey by his lonesome, in accordance with the past.

As Val followed him from the apartment, she drifted behind him like a haunting spirit. Her spatial presence in this timeline moved to allow her to exit the apartment. Down the stairs, her vision bounced in much the same way as a person walking down the stairs in a physical body. All the while, Val fixated her gaze at the back of Ross’s head.

The door to the outside world opened up by his hand. The dark of night welcomed Ross in its hazy embrace, nearly making Val panic for a moment that she would lose him if she did not advance her vision faster. The weather had decided to roll in with some atmospheric fog on the night that he had left.

The glaze of light from the nighttime city always kept Ross in view, even as a dark silhouette against the darker night. Above them, the stars could not be seen due to all of the lights that sparkled in the city.

In that spirit, Ross tilted his head back to the blanket of black that was the starless sky. "Hey Val," he whispered upward. "In a way, it is reassuring to have you with me right now, you in the future and me in the past. We are going to the Summit of Ascension together, just as I had always promised you. Please, do not think too badly of me."

Those words sent a jolt through her being. While she may not have a corporeal form in this moment of time to experience the physical lurching of the heart, but she existed in a state of raw intelligence and emotion. In this way, Val felt the unfiltered appreciation of Ross’s acknowledgement of her.

"Well—!" Ross cheered. Hesitantly, he turned around to stare back at the door. “It still feels like I am talking to myself.” Despite his words, his deep blue eyes seemed to pierce right into her invisible presence.

Aimlessly, he said, “I really hope that you are there, Val. Could you develop the ability to talk in the past sometime? If you do that and I strengthen my Future Sight, then I bet we could hold a conversation in that way. We could counsel each other from another point in time!”

It was weird hearing Ross suggest ideas like that, without first saying that he needed to research time paradoxes and all of that. Maybe he had already done so, in that book he had constantly read over the summer.

At any rate, Ross said, "Let's get a move on! Indeed. Onward to the Summit of Ascension!" He carried on, and likewise, Val continued to follow him.

They moved westward on the streets of Brillion City. As far as Val could tell, Ross simply ambled in the general direction of the west for the time being. The soles of his shoes slapped over concrete, eventually being drowned out by the decision to speak again.

"You know Val, in another way, it is also reassuring to not have you with me for real. I see imminent danger ahead of me, though I am not quite sure if I can even change that.” Despite his words, Ross continued with his brisk strides towards his fate. Nothing seemed to make the confidence falter from his steps, nor the steady light in his eyes grow dimmer.

He chattered on idly. “You probably think that Mom is playing favorites, the way that she is sending me off early, but I promise that you are definitely her favorite! She is sending me into danger and keeping you safe at home."

As someone who craved the thrilling life of a goddess, Val wanted to snort at that. She drifted on after him like a shadow, feeling long and dark with envy, but also worry.

If danger had indeed awaited him, she could only hope that his gift of Future Sight would have allowed him to avoid it. What good was precognition for, if not to change the future into a more desirable one?

At any rate, Ross continued to walk on. “I feel like I am talking to myself. Really, I have no idea if you are even here right now, so I am going to be quiet.”

Ross walked some more. He walked for what seemed to be an hour or more, navigating through the dark streets of the city. It was odd, given how he had passed a good number of bus stops.

From the looks of things, Val might have overstated how quickly she could gather this information. Rather than a blink of an eye, this search might take a minute at this rate.

The maintenance of the vision required her energy, more of which she was willing to expend. Her impatience swelled within her which prompted Val to attempt to speed up time, like she had done by accident, last time.

The dim colors around her began to blur. Ross’s step kept the same length in his stride, but his legs moved faster than a human could walk without breaking their stride. She wondered if Ross was aware that she could do this and how funny that he looked right now.

Where Val must have saved herself some hours of boredom suspended in the past, she also recovered some vital minutes back in the present timeline. Those minutes won did not come without consequence. As her surroundings moved faster in her vision with the time speed-up, her head began to spin into a contortion of dizziness. Val would not be able to hold onto this vision for as long, but hopefully her remaining strength would be enough.

Normalcy returned to the speed of time whilst Ross entered a shoddy motel. Considering how nothing bad had happened on the dark city streets, this motel must be the danger that Ross had mentioned. The place looked like it would have bed bugs or worse critters inside at the very least.

Unfazed, Ross met the receptionist at the desk who nearly dozed off on the night duty. “I would like to get a room for the night.” Already, he had his wallet out at the ready before the receptionist even shook herself fully awake.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” she said, coming to attention. “It is quite early in the morning for anybody to be wanting a room, but we have vacancies, so who am I to turn you away?” The receptionist poked her glasses up against her face.

“I just have one question,” Ross said, holding the money back. “Does this motel welcome dogs?”

“Why, yes. Do you have a dog?” The receptionist leaned over the desk to look around at the ground at Ross’s feet, expecting to see a little pooch hanging around out at his ankles.

“No, but my sister will. I just wanted to be able to recommend her a place to stay,” Ross said with a glowing smile.

“What a sweet, young man,” the receptionist said. “You remind me of my son.”

Ross handed over the money to pay for the room and received the key.

“You have gotten here extremely late, but check-out is still at 10:00 a.m.,” the receptionist warned.

“No problem,” Ross said with a little salute of his fingers. “I have a bus to catch first thing in the morning.”

Silently, Val thanked Ross for speaking his intentions aloud. That would give Val a bit more information for when she wanted to resume with the next vision. This motel would have to be where Val left off, since her fading energy barely allowed her to cling onto the past anymore. Fast forwarding through several hours for the first time had definitely taken its toll on her.

Before she relinquished her view of the past, Val first followed Ross into the room he had just rented. In the event that he had something to tell her alone without the risk of prying ears, Val wanted to hear it immediately.

Without saying anything, Ross strode across the room to the double bed. He kicked back off of his feet to make himself at home. A single finger pointed up to the ceiling light that he had left on. “Leave the lights on, to not let the bedbugs bite.” With a nonchalant wave, Ross laid back over the completely made bed. “Goodnight Val.”

If only Val had the ability to speak in her visions of the past, she would say goodnight to him too in addition to a barrage of questions. Perhaps Ross could understand her intention with his Future Sight, no explicit communication required on her part.

Goodnight Ross, she thought in place of words. Then, she let the past fade around her like an evaporating puddle.

In place of the musty hotel room, Val’s own bedroom manifested around her. Eyes opening with new clarity, she knew exactly where she would go with Foofy. She would head west and make a less-than-desirable stop at that dog-friendly motel for the time being. All she needed now was Foofy to accompany her.