<i>Time refuses to move forward. Someone is toying with the instruments that measure it,</i>
<i>the digital and the mechanical alike.</i>
<i>"The second hand on my watch ticks once. Then I must wait a year for it to tick again."</i>
After I lost all of you, stranded in the Fog, time just stopped for me.
Look around. Everyone here shares the same kind of past.
...We're not "monsters." We're just drifters who lost our home.
Grrr... Grrr...
...Mm.
Everyone watches as the Chimera wraps her arms tightly around
As they rise, the void seeps into
The first voices to pierce through into her failing shell belong to Leora and the others—the "vanguard" of that world.
When I come back, we'll look for Luna together.
We'll go see the dandelions bloom.
And Froggie... From a really cute cartoon. When I come back, we'll watch it together, okay?
...But soon, there won't be any living humans left in this world.
So this time, let us take the lead.
We will definitely pass through the Gate.
Thank you for coming to collect my belongings. There's a candy in the red box. I hope it helps sweeten the bitterness.
Feel free to take a short break here, but it's not time yet to stop... Nemo.
Like everyone else, I rewrote the rules of the Hetero Tower and became a part of it...
We're close to having our own secret tunnel... When that time comes, take everything we've left behind and go to Dominik's era.
Oh, by the way, I want to name this tunnel extending from the Hetero Tower "the Bridge Across Dreams"... Doesn't it sound nice?
If what you said is true... that sending the Sefirot to "other worlds" can save everything...
That everyone will come together, stand side by side, and beat the bad guys...
But you... you probably couldn't make it happen.
...I'm not doing so good either. I can't go find Luna anymore.
...Then let me help you finish your mission.
The voices at
...Our little hero... Alpha... Why did you... set out too...?
I'm sorry... Lu... cia.
I'm sorry... we... failed.
...
I'm sorry we left you at the base. I'm sorry we made you walk our path. I'm sorry you had to suffer so much.
I'm sorry. The grown-ups failed you. Can you forgive us?
A crack has split the surface of that cold and hardened shell.
......
Another soul long steeped in that poison speaks now, her voice hoarse:
...Time stopped for me the day I lost you all.
In the beginning, there was only regret. I shouldn't have looked up at the dome. I should've kept my eyes on you. If I had just been paying attention, maybe you wouldn't have vanished.
For the longest time, I thought you were dead. I thought you'd been buried under rubble, crushed by a falling ceiling panel.
It wasn't until I had no choice but to accept the [Crown], until I gained access to knowledge I was never meant to have, that another possibility finally hit me...
The Chimera forces out a bitter smile, one that belongs to Joanne.
What if you two had simply gone somewhere beyond my reach? Somewhere I couldn't see or touch?
Did that mean I still had a chance? A chance to find you? To give you the [Crown]?
Could I bring you back, and could we still save the world... the one we all refused to let go of?
The Chimera cradles Alpha close against her.
I'm sorry. This is the only way I can talk to you now... But I finally found you.
Jo... anne...
Alpha finds herself nearly breathless, wrapped in an embrace she never thought she'd feel again.
What identity should she wear, what heart should she bring, to face this bond drifting in a forgotten corner of the universe—this friendship... or perhaps this obsession?
Lucia, you don't need to tell me. I know I've done wrong. While I was resenting the Punishing Virus for taking my friends away, I was doing the exact same thing to the friends of another world.
I've said my apologies to all of you, millions of times in my head. But I know... not a single one can undo what I've done.
Joanne wrenches her head around and lets out a piercing shriek.
But that's just how the world works! To do what's right, to grab that final chance, I had no choice but to stand on the wrong side for now!
Torn between regret and helplessness, Joanne speaks, burying one of her faces in both hands, as though the shame of facing an old friend, of facing the world at all, has finally overwhelmed her.
They all fought with their lives for this. Three thousand one hundred and sixty-two F.O.S. students and faculty... All of humanity... their sacrifices bought me this chance... I can't let their deaths mean nothing...
This [Crown]... it's so heavy. But I have no right to run from it...
I am... a "survivor" of the old world... and a "sinner"... in your new world.
Behind those buried features, a hollow, bitter smile fights its way onto her face.
I will... cease to be.
...Just think of us as the scapegoats this story needs, alright?
The Chimera writhes and tears at itself once more, its thoughts visibly unraveling. Different voices spill from its many faces, rival consciousnesses each clawing to be heard.
......
Alpha stares at those familiar yet chaotic faces, each one parading before her in turn.
Their mouths gape open, and the only words they speak are:
And yet, their hands hold fast to
Forgive us... for doing whatever it took. This thread of sanity is all we have left to hold onto.
Every single moment the Fog and [Crown] ate away at our minds, we held onto the good old days. Those memories... they're the only reason we lasted this long!
Let's go back now. And promise me, never leave me behind again, okay?
Our dear little Lucia, we failed you. We'll take you back right now. We'll promise never to leave you behind again. Okay?
............
With the whole of it settling upon her, Alpha's lips begin to tremble.
But what can I do... to save you?
If I wear the [Crown], I can... take you home?
The Chimera's last strand of hope manages only a sigh, one that scarcely sounds human.
Within the Fog, all those long stripped of their home resonate as one.
AHHHHHHHHHH!
The Chimera lets out a piercing shriek.
The [Crown] crashes down upon the Chimera with crushing weight, ripping away the last shred of reason, seeking to transform it into something utterly "lost."
Yes... Home... I want to go home. We want to go HOME!
This long, cruel ordeal... We have lived it for far too long. We have nothing left to give!
Alpha remains trapped in the Chimera's grip, her gaze drifting past it to the F.O.S. starship—battered, wounded, on the verge of collapse.
Along its hull, the tiny white moths are still beating their wings.
Cover me while I'm moving in! Ngh!
Blade in hand, Lucia gives chase, only for the "failures" to come flooding from every rift of the Fog. They rampage blindly, battering her mid-bound and sending her crashing back against the F.O.S.
The human lunges forward, catching Lucia as she tumbles down, and drives her blade into the hull. Their deadly slide grinds to a halt just short of the edge.
I'm fine! We can't let it take Alpha!
In a single motion, Lucia rolls upright, hauls the human up, and lunges back into a sprint.
Her frame roars under the strain, and deep within her M.I.N.D., a current of unease churns relentlessly.
Instinct tells her that if the Chimera takes Alpha away, the consequences will be beyond undoing.
Without hesitation, she contacts the F.O.S. starship.
All units, standby for covering fire—
...!
Lucia raises her head. Across the boundless void, the two Lucias lock eyes for a single moment.
One of them lets out a thin, weary laugh.
Perhaps it is the Fog's gift of unwanted sight, too much vision, too much truth, leaving her sharp with clarity and heavy with exhaustion.
Perhaps it is the sight of this world's vanguard team, still clawing and struggling, utterly unaware that they are fated only to be swallowed by failure.
Look, this world's ordeal has yet to end.
Alpha understands now, with absolute clarity, that she can never lay down the struggle. She must take up the will of the other worlds and fight on, eternally, without end.
This is her fate. The starting point of "Lucia".
If I take the [Crown], there's still a chance, right?
Even if it costs all of you?
The Chimera has collapsed entirely into chaos, capable now of nothing but incoherent wailing.
Alpha has made her choice. Held fast in the grip of these maddened old friends, she tightens her hand around her blade and begins to fight back.
She grits her teeth and wrenches one arm free, shoving away the familiar faces that crowd around her.
Then she draws her blade, strikes to sever the Chimera's arms, and claws fiercely at the "core" nestled in the fissure of its chest—perhaps the [Crown] itself—only for the Chimera to swat the blade from her grasp.
Ngh!
...Doesn't matter. I don't need it.
Alpha's hand lashes out with desperate resolve, plunging deep into the Chimera's chest, tearing through the blue-violet mass in search of what she needs.
!!!!
The Chimera lowers two of its heads, sinking teeth deep into Alpha's shoulders, and begins to tear.
This is nothing. You've all endured far worse.
The Chimera snaps both of Alpha's arms, and Alpha answers with her teeth. She, too, sinks them into the Chimera's neck and chest, tearing back with raw ferocity.
Like the most primitive of humans gnawing at bloodied flesh, save that both of them hold tears of blood.
Lucia catches sight of Alpha's sudden, feral counterattack and freezes for half a heartbeat, then drives herself forward even faster.
Don't worry! Don't push it! We're coming!
Her cry cannot bridge the distance to Alpha, so Lucia lifts her blade and sends a razor-edged arc slashing through the void.
But the distance is too vast. The energy wave carries for only a moment before the void devours it whole.
...Damn it!
A sudden tightness grips Lucia's chest. The churning emotions within her M.I.N.D. clog the energy flow of her Omega Core, leaving it sluggish and strained.
Hurry... We have to do something... Commandant!
Target locked!
Vanessa's voice filters through the comms in broken fragments, carrying with it a thread of weary mockery.
...Honestly. My whole career, just running support for someone?
To hell with that! Fire!!
The erupting force field slams into the Chimera, jolting its escape route several degrees off course. Alpha is still clutched tightly in its arms.
Lucia and the human leap upward together. With a swift stroke of her blade, Lucia cuts down the "monsters" blocking their path.
The moment her blade strikes true, their data floods into her, countless memories of failure surge through her M.I.N.D., each one a dull, throbbing ache.
Right... Everyone here in the Fog has lost their home.
But I'm not losing mine. Not again.
Haaargh!
The white moth shoots skyward in a blur, bringing her blazing blade down upon the Chimera's body.
It hurts! It hurts!
Nngh!
The blow wrenches the Chimera's arms loose, and Alpha spills from its grasp in a tumble.
The human catches Alpha securely.
—Only to find her body ravaged and torn from the Chimera's savage assault.
Seeing another familiar face, Alpha shuts her eyes against the pain, letting herself feel the arms wrapped firmly around her.
(How am I supposed to face you now...?)
...!
The human cradles Alpha's head, forehead pressed to forehead, fingers gripping her ears while shouting. The Fog degrades all information, and sound is no exception.
Yet through the haze, a memory surfaces within Alpha from that long-lost world: two figures in bulky spacesuits, clumsily pressed together in the void of space, confessing their feelings to one another.
—Just like now. Comms cut off, no sound able to carry across the silence. Only visor against visor.
But even then, the "information" reached the depths of their hearts.
Something in the touch against her brow and ears resonates deep within, forcing her eyes to open.
Before her, the human's lips seem to shape words she knows by heart. Lucia, just beside her, labors over her torn body.
......
...Right.
To... not lose where I belong again... To... go back home.
...I can still fight.
I can do it...
I can do it!
Alpha staggers to her feet and takes the blade Lucia offers. The wounds along her arm push back against the Fog's corruption, flooding her limbs with renewed strength.
Vanessa stands on the deck, her gaze fixed on the figures battling above.
Soon, a streak of red light blazes to life. The Chimera recoils from the devastating blow, shrieking as it falls back.
It thrashes like one drowning, cleaving through the Fog that coils around it. More vagabonds pour from the rifts, surging toward the insects swarming below.
Not far away, adrift in the gray, humanity's ark floats on, its communications tower still flickering defiantly.
Comms tower's holding... Babylonia's message came through... And Lucia and that reckless fool made it to the Chimera.
Vanessa tallies the situation in her mind. Then the starship lurches beneath her, and she stumbles.
She steadies herself, but barely.
Heh... Great. But everything's falling apart.
What's next? Right... activate the beacon in the monument and restart... the main engine... Ngh.
She clamps her hand over the wound in her arm, but still the blood flows relentlessly out of her. Her life ebbs with it, her consciousness dimming at the edges.
Even so, she forces her gaze upward, watching the two little moths fly toward the Chimera.
Then she lets out a sneer.
Now I get it. Some people are born to chase the stars right to the edge.
And some are destined to stay stuck on the ground, on the deck, looking up at their backs—in "shame."
She touches the hollow where her eye used to be.
But that's our job! Without people like us, who the hell catches you idiots and lunatics when you fall?
Slowly, she raises her uninjured arm and gestures toward the Gray Raven Commandant and Lucia, soaring through the sky above.
Tell... Tell Instructor Elianna... I said hi.
She opens the comms, broadcasting to all units.
Tell the stars... I said hi.
She walks toward the next duty she must bleed herself dry to fulfill. She walks toward the monument.
—All units!
Anyone near the square monument, get that beacon inside it activated at all costs!
Everyone else still breathing and moving, get to the main engine and restart it. I don't care if you use the control room or climb the damn thing yourself!
We give everything we've got to support the Gray Raven Commandant and Lucia!
