The Epitah of Jonathan Bixby.
Salivice chipped away at the steel walls patiently, writing out his message. The only thing he could leave behind. It took him what seemed like ages, and when he was done, he stepped back and looked. The words stretched clearly across an entire wall of his cell, in plain sight. They weren't the only words he had written, for days before he had taken to writing down every thought and memory on the steel walls. But this one, he made in large, bold letters, clear as day. The others may fade in time, but this one would never fade so long as the building stood. He read aloud what he had written:
"Herein be the last words of a doomed man. A tortured soul.
This I dedicate to the one and only dearest love of my life, Julia "Ciyanid" Gilliano.
You will never know how much I loved, and still love you, but yet still I failed you. Failed you in every way it is possible to fail someone you love and care for. And yet I still foolishly hold out hope that you love me yet. I know this not to be true. And that is why I must forget. To die would be a greater burden than to live, and yet to live is the greatest burden of all. So instead, I will forget. Omni-Reform, those blessed angels of redemption in the great family of Omni-Tek, will ensure that. When You next see me, I will not remember you. I will not remember anyone. Some things will be left. My job, some minor details of my life, but the rest will be erased. It is my hope that Reform can craft a kinder, softer version of me. Failing that, I hope they create a heartless scourge upon all clanners. But know this: There is one gift I can give you. One thing I can do for you. I will never understand why I did this once Reform has finished with me, but it is all that I can do. The pain that you bear, I will take. Through what remains of our connection, your pain will be mine instead. It will not take away the pain, and though it may cripple me forever, It is all I can do to make up for the endless failure that is and was my love for you. When we still shared love, you asked me why it was that I loved you. It is now, what seems like ages later, than I can tell you. You have a strength, an inner beauty, a natural resiliency, that far surpasses even your immense beauty. You take on the pain of other selflessly when you can, and yet, you are free. You soar on the wings of birds, laughing and playing amongst the boughs of trees, something which I could never do. From the very begining I was a slave to my pride. You are in many ways everything I have always wanted to be. Strong, honest, Fair, and kind. All that you do is a thing of absolute and utter beauty. You showed me kindness, even though you hated me. And that makes you a better person than I ever was. Ever will be. And I, in my pride, took a rare gem, and threw it away. I squandered your love, and you will never forgive me.
All I ask is that should the impossible happen and somehow the new me falls in love with you once more, that you think that perhaps there is something more to this than just one man's foolish heart setting foolish goals. Understand that I wish you only happiness and joy. I love you, my dearest Julia, but I have failed. And so this is the only legacy I can leave you.
May God have mercy on my soul.
Jonathan "Salivice" Bixby, from the Prison in Newland City."
"I pray I never find this. For if I do, it would be the greatest cruelty of all." Salivice thought.
Meanwhile, far away....