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

[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'?

[animusnpcs]

The way yours works, the world you were in before was connected to your original one, so they both got destroyed when you came here. I'd have to put you back where you were exactly to save your original world, too.

[septette]

[ there has not been a moment quite like this in all of Remilia's 500 years of life. ]

I have to...go back to that awful place? I can't just...go home with Meiling and Patchouli?

[ and the finish line was finally in sight--just to be ripped away again. No danmaku fight could ever knock the wind out of her quite like this just did. ]

[animusnpcs]

I could put you in one of their worlds. They're not all the same instance, so I could send you to one of theirs instead, but you'd have to give up the one you came from.

[septette]

[ well, that deflates a large chunk of her rising panic. but she still looks fairly shaken ]

....let me get this straight, even though they were both 'directly from Gensokyo', it was different worlds, technically? [ ... ] If I go with them, will anything happen to my memories?

[animusnpcs]

You'll remember everything you do right now. They're from a Gensokyo where maybe they wore a different shirt one day or maybe someone ate a different breakfast a long time ago, but mostly it's the same as yours.

...Um, there'd also be another you there, too, but that won't hurt you or the other you or anything.

[septette]

[ Oh, she's heard of that. The...ripple effect? Or was it the butterfly? Something about there being infinite amounts of universes for every variable that ever existed, all branching out.

But that hardly matters at the moment. She could go home, she could escape this, but...there would be two of her? She tries to ponder what she might do if she saw a double of herself appear...right now, it wouldn't matter, she'd believe it. But if it was the 'her' from before waking up in the Facility? It would be harder. Cloning, copies, illusions--she would still insist she was the only Remilia. And her own scars would only prove the 'real' one's point. She was too broken to be Remilia.

But it was better than going back to the Facility. Anything was better than going back to the Facility. Even staying here. ]

...alright. I can be satisfied with that. [ ... ] Thank you, the two of you.

[ the words feel strange on her tongue, being that wow, who has she ever actually thanked? but there's gratefulness swelling up inside her as she gives a small curtsy. ]

[animusnpcs]

You're welcome. [Zo bows back, trying to be proper about it in return.] I hope you're happy for real where you end up!

[witchoftheweek]

[Patchouli has been watching, listening, and she waits until Remilia and Zo are done before approaching.]

- Remi. Come back with me. It won't be 'your' Gensokyo, but...

[it won't be where you were before. The words hang there, unsaid but - hopefully - understood.]

[septette]

[ Admittedly, going with Patchouli wasn't the route she had in mind--there was still so much emotional baggage, so much she didn't remember about being in the Facility with her. Even though Meiling wasn't there either, it was still more comfortable, in a way....and she'd told her what had happened. ]

...are you going to plead my case?

[ 'because the other me won't accept my presence' ]

[witchoftheweek]

- you never needed to ask. Of course.

[Strange things happen all the time in Gensokyo. A double - even a double that is different - isn't all that odd.]