Endgame: Not With a Bang

[animusnpcs]

The whole Tower went a brilliant, blinding white. Then it went black, and there was nothing. Surely this is it--something's gone wrong, something's failed, it didn't work, everyone is dead, or maybe worse--

And then light filters back in--it lights only the various residents of the Tower. No matter where in the Tower they were before this happened, they are all together again now. It appears that they are in a void, but after a few moments, as if their eyes are adjusting to it, more things become visible: the machine that may be their salvation is here. Ruana, with a visible pulse of energy encircling her, is here, but appears colorless and frozen. Aria is here.

Zo is here. And he speaks. "I can't hold her forever. We have to act now. I want to save you all, so I'll do my best. Just tell me, okay?

What do you want me to do?"

Comments

SPEAK TO ARIA OR ZO

[animusnpcs]

[doctor_dismemberment]

[Richtofen is still on his hands and knees. Well, hands and one and a half knees. His bleeding has stopped (or whatever passes for bleeding when he's a fucking wireframe), but he can't stand up like this. He snarls, looking more or less like an aggravated, wounded dog.]

What do you mean, what do we want?! Send us back! Fix all this, you useless, worthless bastards!

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid's eyes dart to Ruana, before he moves to Zo's side.]

We've been told your powers have grown very, very quickly and that changing boundaries between things are where your skills lie. In the machine room we were shown videos that seemed to imply that all the life on our worlds was what was used to give us each immortality. If you shift our boundaries back from immortal to mortal, would that return the life to our worlds?

[Of course, he's not sure about directing the life flow. All he can hope is that it would go back to where it came from in the first place.]

[keybearer]

[The others seem to have gotten the discussion rolling. If their immortality really was what caused the worlds' death, then he'd more than happily sacrifice it to send things back to the way they were.

But a question tugs at the back of his mind, and so he looks to Zo with a frown.]

If you manage to pull this off, what's gonna happen to you two? And to her?

[greyerrant]

Loken is very quiet, and says, "While I know the others are trying to figure out how to help everyone go home, I have a different question. Can you slow her down long enough that I might... give her peace?"

His persona flickers into existence behind him, putting a translucent hand on his shoulder.

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Veronica's eyes flickered open, and her gaze immediately went to Ruana. She eyed the frozen woman nervously.]

What we want...? Why are you asking us?

[prayed]

[...]

What about the people who got sent back before? Are they just out of luck?

[septette]

....what if-- [ her voice is oddly unsure, even for all the months of trauma bogging down on her ] ...how would this work if I came from a different place between here and home? A world, whatever you want to call it--you said we might be able to go to 'different' universes instead of our own....is it like that? Because I was in a different 'universe'?

[silencetoreason]

[France hasn't had much to say. He's been preoccupied with the fight, and with all this talk of solutions and moving to different worlds, he doesn't have any knowledge to share. He has overheard that, if he goes back to his own world, he won't be able to see anyone from the other worlds again.

He glances over at Zelda when he hears her voice. At Enoch. At anyone he's vaguely familiar with. There's a pang in his chest, one that he knows very well by know. It's the pain of loss.

But they'll be alive. They'll be alive, and he'll have memories of them. That's good enough. So instead of lingering on them, he turns his gaze to Zo.]

...You will die? [There's a light tremble to his voice.] There is no other way... No, you want to do this?

[no_longer_a_king]

[She should have known it would not be so simple. The hope for freedom she had been clinging to is so very close within her grasp she could smell it and taste it, had already thought of herself as free. Arturia's face is perfectly neutral as she looks at Zo, her voice calm as this must be hard for him as it is. He is at the end of his life and is about to take someone dear with him, regardless of all Ruana has done:]

There is.... there is no other way? If we wish to go somewhere besides our own world, it has to remain dead?

[Eternity is something she can live with. Given she does not know exactly what she is at this moment, she hadn't given much thought to it. Whether or not she could die is something to deal with once she has left here.

But now her choice is freedom at the cost of an entire world: its history, its future. She clenches a fist and thinks it's not fair. It's not fair at all. Why can she not have both? Just once, why can she not have both her own selfish desire and what is clearly the right thing to do?]

[crouching_sin]

[Naoya steps forward, having listened to some of the conversations.]

Should we choose to go somewhere else, would we never be able to die?

[bowandblade]

[Upon hearing the options laid out before them, Archer stands by, aloof. Though he doesn't reach out to Ruana, he looks at her frozen form while speaking to Zo.]

You are the closest she has to a remnant of her own world, are you not?

[attheclocktower]

[She's been listening. Listening to as much of Zo's conversations as she can. And she's gotten the most important parts. Their memories will be preserved. Their worlds can be restored. But only if they go back.

She'd made her decision on that front at least. It still hurts though, this moment of parting. No matter how much she's known it would be coming.

And so she says the hardest words she's ever had to say.]

I want to go back.

[There are very definite tears - or at least as much as there can be in her wireframe form - in her eyes. And even without prompting she reaches out for a hug. And her words are for him and him alone.]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry we couldn't save you. And I'll make it for you. To four and five and more. Thank you so much for giving me this time.

[Because in the end, it was always down to him and what he'd done. Her family, her hope for her future... it wouldn't have come to pass without him. And maybe Ruana too, a little.]

[keepscalm]

[England has been listening to the others talk to Zo. He's not sure he has much to contribute; everyone has already asked about the things he feared. There's a part of him distraught at the fact that he has no choice but to go home, because he'll never see the family he's made for himself here again. But he'll have to face that part in a moment.

He approaches Zo, his expression vaguely pained, but hard to read beyond that.] ...if you have a moment?

[miseris_socios]

[It's a silly thing, a stupid thing, but he has to ask.]

... Will I keep my Persona? Even if we go back to how it was physically... will I keep her?

[fionnuisce]

Hey--listen, this is important. This place pretty much sucked all around and I'm not going to pretend it didn't. I'm really terrible with this sentimental shit, so...

[Waver crossed his arms, shifting a little uncomfortably.]

...thanks. For bringing me here. As miserable as it was, this...this was important. Ultimately I'm grateful to have come here, and I needed you to know that before the end.

[myblueskies]

I'm sorry [A teary Romeo is flinging himself at Zo] I wish you could come too. You could come live with me!

[But he's heard everything and he knows it's not possible] Thank you for being nice to us Zo, I'll remember you forever and ever

[neverbeamemory]

[He can't do much more than to sit there, half propped up on a bent wire frame arm, and listen to everyone else talk to Zo or Aria.

A lot of the violet threading has been singed away from his form and microfilm looks in places about as burned as it can look without disintegrating entirely. Indeed those long swathes of film that had made up the mass of his iconic long silver hair is burned back just about shoulder-length. It had been a close call for Sephiroth and liquid still leaks from splits in what would be skin. The small mercy perhaps being that the Glamour isn't up, so even he can't take stock of how bad it is.]

So why don't you tell me what option there is for me now?

[He shouldn't have to explain it much more than that, to Zo. The boy had ripped his existence apart before with his barrier control-]

To restore a World that may destroy me in return, before I can reclaim a body again, or to go to another World with a new body?

[Sephiroth wouldn't much like to humiliate himself much more in front of all the other survivors either but emotions ran as high as the pain. Though, if he's going to expire right now, maybe there isn't much point to keeping that pride now-

There is already a Nesir-shaped gap burning a hole in his what he can only describe as somewhere in his core that he can't reach or identify with.]

[notsogrimreaper]

[Ryoji looks from one person to another... observing all the friends he's made thus far, trying to memorize their faces. He knows he should go... but the possibility of leaving all this makes a hand tighten around his heart.

He's already dead, but... his soul may tear apart if he's forced to leave his friends.

He looks at Yukiko, remembers what he told her. He can't give up just yet... so he'll have to ask.]

If we go to other worlds, will there be any dangers to them? Can I...

[He swallows, shakes his head.]

Will I cause an end to any world I go to?

[He needs to know if there's even a possibility before he makes his decision.]

[attheclocktower]

[Once she's finished speaking to Aria and Zo, while others are still doubtless speaking to him, telling him their decisions, Xion turns to face any of the crowd who'll listen, including the chipped retrieval units.]

Like I told Zo... I'm going home.

I don't know what's waiting for me there. It'll be dangerous for me for a while. I might not be able to help anybody that comes along but... if you want to, I'm okay with that.

[Her eyes are lingering especially on the chipped retrieval units as she says it. Particularly on the one she knew best, Suna. Xion nods her head once, then turns back]

I have an ability... in my own universe, it lets me move between worlds. When I get home, I'm going to try to do more than that. I'm going to try to find a way between all our worlds. Zo said... that for us to be here, all our worlds are connected in some way. So I'm going to try to find it. And if... when I do it... then maybe I can try to find a way to help us who want to see each other again.

[She smiles, brokenly. Maybe it's a foolish wish, but it's one she'll follow to the death. Because it's what makes all of this worth it. The bonds she's made and formed. The people she's about to lose.]

Until then, I guess this is goodbye.

[fionnuisce]

Hey--come on, don't be stupid.

[Waver sighed, shaking his head. His tone was lightly admonishing in a far less than serious manner.]

'Goodbye' is something permanent, isn't it? What you want to say is 'I'll see you soon'. Come on, it's basic English here.

If you can really do something that impressive, then it'll be simple for you to find that connection. Have a little faith in yourself, hm?

[myblueskies]

[Romeo is still shell shocked that he survived and still horrified at all he has seen and the idea that even if they get to go home, they didn't save Zo.

He is mainly looking for Diarmuid, because he wants to get Pinnochio back, they need to go home together. But he is also looking for his friends because he needs to say goodbye to them.

He is happy that the get to go home, but sad that he will be parted from them. He doesn't seem to know whether to smile or cry.]

[miseris_socios]

[Ken tackles Romeo, hugging him tightly.]

We'll find each other again. Promise.

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki was crying, but that was nothing new. It wasn't all sad tears though, he is so happy at the fact he gets to go home. He just wished they could help Zo and despite all she had done, and all the bad that had come of it he wished they could have saved Ruana in the end.

He stood hand in hand with Sanshi, Gohran is in his shadows, nursing his wounds. Taiki was so proud of him, he knew how hard he had fought and though he didn't like fighting, he knew it had been necessary.

He looks around, wanting to say goodbye but being afraid to approach anyone]

[oathshackledbird]

[After Diarmuid calms himself and becomes a little more at ease with his decision, he makes his way over to Taiki and gives the boy a gentle smile. He crouches down, so he can be more on the boy's level as he speaks.]

Ready to go back home to your king?

[Open] Before he calls out to Zo-

[neverbeamemory]

[Talk about giving it everything he had.

Sephiroth is a (probably) still smoldering mass of microfilm and frame. He sits propped up, no matter how painful it must be for him, back on one bent forearm. He feels exhausted and more spiritually drained than he has in a long time though still his violet core is shining bright, he focuses all of his consciousness into a small point on the floor nearby while he listens.

It hasn't quite yet sunk in, all the pain from the deeply burned film-that-should-be-skin. The whispers of nervous twitching brought on by the ghosts of the electricity and those voices still ringing with their resonance in the back of his head. And Nesir-

They were going to take her down, together.]

[myblueskies]

Sir? [Romeo spots him and approaches cautiously, more because he doesn't want to startle the man or cause him to hurt himself more] Do you want me to get a healer?

[savedbyasong]

[So they had done it. Figured it out and they were going home. Home... back to West town and Rat, back to saving Safu.

What would it be like, he definitely wasn't the naive child who had left No. 6 anymore and he wasn't even the still naive boy from West town. He was something else, and he wasn't sure how those he knew at home would take his changes. And he wasn't sure what to do about No. 6. He still was against destroying it, but something had to change, the power had to shift. He wasn't sure a middle way was a simple or feasible solution.

But enough time when he returned to worry about all of that, for now he was here and he had goodbyes to make.]

[oathshackledbird]

[Despite how optimistic he has been about them being able to get to this point, it is still a little hard for Diarmuid to believe they are here. Even if the ending is not perfect--and boy does he feel how not perfect it is--it is still an ending. Not only that, it is an ending that has left him with direction and more sure of who he has become than at any point during his time in the Tower.

He just wishes he could be more sure about what others think of what he has become.

Still, he is trying hard not to linger on those thoughts. Instead, he makes his way around to the people he knows, people he cares about, people he may never see again. There are many goodbyes to give and not much time.

That is why he doesn't ask Shion if it is okay to hug him. He just hugs him.]

We made it. Thank you.

[provenworth]

[Standing outside the main group, Elena watches the group in a quiet reverence. The task of defeating Ruana, seen as insurmountable, had actually been accomplished with the help of Zo and others. And now they faced a dilemma that many had thought of, but never thought possible.

Home.

A concept that seemed just out of reach. A word that rang with an uncomfortable hollowness. With everything that she's gone through, the ups and downs, friendships forged, the idea of actually leaving seemed...somewhat less appealing.

But with the need to leave imminent and necessary, she was left a sad, sickening feeling of loss. Of having those very carefully built friendships - the very tight-knit family - torn apart by space and time. A part of her wants to break down into tears. Another refuses to let her - the importance of being a strong figure in a state of chaos too greatly needed in her mind.

But she would at least tell those she knew that their friendship was appreciated. Their efforts well done. And hope for them a better future.]

[midgarhorizon]

Elena.

[Reno had limped over to Elena after hearing what the options were. Yeah, his face is pretty grim. Exhaustion and the weight of having to make a choice. He knows what he's going to choose, he just... needs to know it's okay. From her.]

I...

[He doesn't finish that thought at first, just reaching out to tough her face, lightly, along her jaw.]

I'll find a way.

[There's no doubt in his voice, just the usual self confidence he always had back home.]