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Emmett gulped down the entire bottle of spirits, the searing sensation doing little to ease his inner turmoil. His companions watched in shocked silence, too stunned to intervene. At last, one of them, with a quivering voice, managed to speak up.

"Hold on... I believe Athena still thinks about you."

Emmett chuckled darkly, his eyes fixed on the expansive, barren skyline. "That's not possible. If she still cared, she would have returned ages ago..."

In a swift motion, he flung the bottle over the precipice, observing it vanish into the abyss. He turned to his friend and inquired, his voice laden with anguish, "If I leap, do you think I'll reunite with her?"

His friend's heart raced with alarm, rushing to pull him back. Having known Emmett for ages, the sight of his companion's broken state deeply affected him. He worried Emmett might actually follow through.