This is it? That is the secret of Hope's Peak?
This is what students have been slaughtered over? The world they were trying to get to, protect from their secrets, and built up their dreams in- it had been destroyed, ravaged by despair.
At first, I couldn't believe it. Japan had been destroyed? That's impossible! But another part of my brain knew it was. Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed… All great countries in history have been destroyed. Do you really your own country will last… forever?
All of the death, trickery, plotting, strife, anger, hate- it had been empty. Pointless. The lie had been bought, the fight had been fought, and, in the end, most of us students had lost our lives.
What purpose did that serve? What purpose did they serve?
I glanced around at the others as the new information began to sink in. They all had different expressions of shock, pain, confusion, panic- all could be summed up in one word: despair. They were falling into despair. We were falling into despair.
Thinking about it was almost as painful the atmosphere. Junko stood there, a sadistic grin on her face as she watched, drinking in the despair and sadness emanating from us.
The images were still on the TVs around the room, showing different devastation from around the world, devastation that we had been able to escape. We ourselves had blocked the entrance, closed the doors, and sealed the exits- all to survive this war going on. And what was the outcome? We had gained the courage to fight, but not for hope. In the end, we were preserving the life of despair, whether we meant to or not.
We all gave some to this school life of mutual killing, but some gave their all. Not all of them willingly, but that was how it turned out. And all the rest of us did was carry on with our lives, merely shedding a few tears, if even that.
We were all make to believe that our enemies were each other and our own selves, but that was all a lie. Just an artificial enemy, so we overlooked the real enemy until it was too late. Until some of our friends had already lost their lives.
What purpose did this serve? Did it even have one?
As Junko crossed her arms, giving us all a despaired filled smirk, I realized something.
There was a purpose for all this. Not despair, which had been intended by Super High School Level Despair. No, it was something else.
It gave us a reason to hope.
Thinking about them fueled the fire that burned against the evil that had brought us here- that had trapped us here, afraid and panicked. The same evil that had, in the end, cost them their lives. That evil needed to be destroyed, annihilated as much as was possibly possible. So no one else could feel the pain, the suffering, the fear that it caused- so no one else could fall for its lies.
We have to live, for their sake, if for no other reason. We cannot fall into despair- not now, not ever! We must look a future full of hope. Sure, Japan may have been destroyed, fallen to desperation and misery, there must still be some survivors out there that haven't had their hopes dashed. Maybe it's all just a hope against hope- no; it's a hope for hope! And, right now, hope is what we need to overcome this. Hope for a better outcome, hope for a brighter tomorrow, hope that helps us take step after step down the road of life. I mean, my one good quality is being optimistic.
We can't lose hope!