The three groups reconvened at the pinnacle of the tower, shrouded in darkness aside from an eerie red glow from the sky and beams of light strobing about the platform. Celes squinted through the unnatural and disorienting lighting at all of the arrivals, then exclaimed, "Terra! You made it! You're all right!" She stepped carefully towards her through the dizzying illuminations and held out an expectant hand. "We defeated the Warring Triad and we still all have our magic, too! Does that mean...?"

Terra shook her head. "No... all it means is that this isn't over yet..."

They were interrupted by a familiar laugh from above them. "Welcome, friends!" it cackled. The strobing lights coalesced on an upper platform, revealing the form of Kefka sneering down at them. "I was certain you'd all show up here eventually, so I've spent all this time coming up with the perfect greeting."

Twelve pairs of eyes glared back up at him, the man responsible for destroying everything they once knew and loved. And he had the gall to be so flippant about it. What was his ultimate aim with all of this? "How much do you have to destroy before you've had your fill, Kefka?!" Celes demanded.

"My fill?" he questioned. "I have obtained the ultimate power! I can never be fulfilled! Behold!"

He raised one arm and Terra suddenly lifted off the ground. "Terra!" Leo shouted, grasping towards her in futility but she was whisked into the air too quickly.

Kefka merely laughed again and raised his other arm, flinging Locke into the air as well. "Such magnificent power. The likes of you are mere insects before me!" He squeezed his hands causing Terra and Locke to gasp for air while the others helplessly watched from below. "You should embrace your destruction. Everything eventually comes to nothing, anyway."

Terra clutched at her throat, then flared out her power, breaking Kefka's hold on her and floating back down to the others. Annoyed, Kefka threw Locke back down at them as well, where Celes leapt to the side to catch him before he hit the ground.

Cyan watched his callous display and fumed, stepping forward and insisting, "I am quite familiar with loss. However, thou hast forgotten that people are capable of building anew that which has been lost."

"Which in turn will still eventually crumble," Kefka retorted. He turned and raised his arms to the blood-red sky. "Why create anything when you know it will be destroyed? Why even cling to life when you know you'll eventually die? Why do anything when you know in the end none of it will have mattered?"

Leo held Terra protectively, scowling up at Kefka's back. This nihilism, though... he regretted to realize that he was personally familiar with it. Back when the world had originally fallen and his mind had receded into nothingness, he had been afraid to continue to exist in a world where everything he had worked for had come to nothing...

But it had been Terra who had coaxed him out of that state, giving him something to live for again. Terra looked back up to him and they nodded to each other, then she stepped away from his grasp and floated up towards where Kefka stood. In a calm but firm tone, she explained to him, "Because it's not the end result that matters... It's having something worth living for right now. Something worth striving for... Something you wish to protect..."

Kefka grunted and swatted her to the side with his power again. However, Terra resisted it and quickly righted herself, staring him down and declaring, "Why does life need to have an absolute meaning? If you can find your own answer for what has meaning in your life, isn't that sufficient?"

He scoffed at her. "And have you all found your answers to the 'meaning of life', even in this world on the brink of death?"

Terra glared at him with an unshakable resolve in her eyes. "We have."

She floated back down to stand with the others, then turned to face him, declaring, "I can finally experience love."

Locke stepped forward to join her, adding, "I have someone I need to protect."

One by one the others stepped forward to give their testimonials on what drove them to continue to fight for the world despite its current state. "My wife and son live on in my heart," affirmed Cyan.

"I have friends here... and family..." Shadow said cryptically.

Edgar ran his hand through his hair. "I still have a personal mission to ensure my kingdom is rebuilt under the banner of peace and prosperity."

"And my brother's always looking out for me and I've gotta make sure I'm looking out for him! Ha ha!" added Sabin, nudging Edgar with his elbow.

Celes came forward to glare up at Kefka confidently. "I have people who will accept me for who I am."

"And I've got my precious granddaughter," Strago remarked.

Relm folded her arms. "And I've got a granddad who's a pain in the butt so someone's gotta look after him!"

"I have the wings of a friend to lift me up," said Setzer.

Gau jumped up and down. "Everyone friend! Everyone Gau friend!"

Leo looked around to all of them with warmth in his heart. They all had such passion and love for life. And he, too, knew for certain why he had survived and why he had to keep on living. Stepping forward to join Terra, he lifted his eyes to Kefka and stated, "Because life can still go on after a tragedy, and I have a responsibility to those still living to ensure that it does. There is no reason a failure must define the rest of our lives."

Kefka bowed his head and held his face, turning his back to them and shaking. Had... they actually gotten through to him? Such poignant exclamations from a dozen people proving to him why life was still worth living had to have done something.

However, still shaking, he balled his fists and turned back to them, shouting, "I can't stand any of you, you know that?! You all sound like chapters from a self-help booklet! Bleck!" Raising his arms, the strobing lights about him sinking into a crimson hue, he informed them, "But if there's one thing that your sickening answers have taught me, it's what I need to wipe out next!"

Terra's chest clenched in panic. "Kefka, no!"

He sneered and snapped his fingers, a bolt of light shooting from the top of the tower into the distance. After a few seconds, an unnerving thunderous rumble of a distant explosion reached their ears. Terra felt her heart race. There was no way of telling what that had just hit. Mobliz had been his first target before, so if he had targeted it again...

Kefka grinned down at them arrogantly as everyone's resolve was suddenly shaken by the anxiety over what he had just done. "You see? I wield the greatest power in existence! You are nothing but dirt compared to me! Less than dirt! Less than whatever is less than dirt!"

To demonstrate, he raised his arms again and the platform he was standing on shot high into the air atop a burning pillar of stone. Spinning around, he declared, "I will destroy everything and create a world that knows only death!"

More stone pillars shot out of the ground around them, disrupting the party's unity. Terra steeled herself then leapt forward, latching onto one of the stone pillars and riding it up to Kefka's level. "You can never destroy everything," she informed him firmly. "New life... and new dreams will always be born."

Kefka fumed at her, stomping his foot repeatedly. "Then I'll destroy those, too! I'll destroy absolutely everything! Destroy, destroy, destroy!"

Leo rode up another pillar, his sword embedded in the side of it as support. "Kefka!" he called out to him forcefully. "I cannot allow you to destroy any more lives!"

Kefka's lips pulled into a coy sneer as he tilted his head to look back at Leo. "And what have you ever been able to do about that?" Leo didn't falter from his position, which only caused Kefka to clutch his belly and laugh mockingly. "Ee-hee hee hee, I'd like to see you try. After all, what fun is destruction if no 'precious' lives are lost?"

The pillars they were all standing on suddenly glowed and converged together into a ball of light. Terra leapt off hers and caught Leo, safely guiding him back down to the others where they could only helplessly watch the light from the pillars shoot out again and cause another rumbling explosion in the distance.

Terra clenched her hands. Whether he had targeted Mobliz... or Maranda... or Jidoor... or anywhere, no one was so callously expendable regardless of who he was attacking. There was no getting through to him... no convincing him that life and the world held meaning regardless of what state it was in. If they were going to protect the things they held dear... they were going to have to do so by force.

Glaring up at Kefka jeering temptingly down at them, Terra met his gaze resolutely and declared, "Kefka... this ends now."

"Hmph... then come and get me," he taunted, pointing at the sky. The entire area glowed a blinding white and a gigantic pillar erupted from beneath him again. Except this time instead of an amalgamation of rubble and the mangled remains of anything that had once stood in this location, the pillar almost seemed alive, teeming with the screaming, snarling faces of a half a dozen unidentifiable beings of vaguely human form all bound by writhing, steam-belching piping. Kefka himself had disappeared above the clouds at the pinnacle of this new monument of torment.

Turning to the others, Terra informed them, "Kefka has absorbed all of the magic of the Warring Triad. It took all of us to defeat the three of them... it's going to take all of us to defeat him now. You all saw what he intends to do. This is our one, last hope to protect this world's future. Are you all ready?"

Locke pumped his fist. "We came here ready for this!" he insisted. "The whole world is depending on us, so we can't back down now!"

Celes nodded. "Everyone still alive now... and everyone who comes after. What we do here now will determine their fates forever."

There was a round of resolute nods from the rest of the team, and they all turned to face the creature at the base of the tower, the torso of a hulking slate-colored devilish figure that sprouted the twisted piping that supported the remainder of the tower out of its back. It swung down its massive arms at the party, who scattered to dodge them.

Shadow leapt onto the creature's arm and threw a Flame Scroll, unleashing a blade of flame from the unraveling paper that struck the monster across the face. Setzer meanwhile took a handful of dice, blew on them, then casually flicked them at the hulking visage before him. The dice exploded with a surprising ferocity for their size, leaving their opponent charred and blinded.

Turning to the others, Setzer informed them, "Looks like we've got things taken care of down here. Go on, we know the real prize is at the top. We'll keep this thing under control."

"Thank you Setzer, Shadow," Terra commended. She and Celes both spread their arms and combined their magical powers to grant a party-wide Float spell, lifting themselves and the other remaining members off the ground to ascend the pillar to its summit.

However, when they were halfway up, they were held up by a mighty roar. The head of a white tiger snapped at them from the twisted array of metal. Surrounding the beast's face were half a dozen human likenesses all bearing Kefka's face, but a variety of body structures as though they were some kind of discarded prototypes of Kefka himself.

Relm rubbed her chin and noted, "You know... it might actually be kind of artistic if it wasn't so weirdly creepy." Lifting her paintbrush, she announced, "I'll show that clown what a real representation of the human condition looks like!"

She launched forward and Strago held out his arm, shouting, "Relm, wait! ... Ah, there's no holding that girl back..." Snorting through his nose, he looked over the writhing mass of flesh and metal, noting, "While you did give me plenty of new monster experiences to brag about back home, this is just a bit too much. Let's show you what the original magic-users can do, eh? Grand Delta!" He raised his arms and a spinning triangular void opened, cutting through all of the figures bound to the tower.

Gau grunted and unleashed a frantic scratch attack on the tiger face. "You not real animal! You steal animal's face and destroy animals' homes!"

Relm sat on the head of one of the Kefka figures, whose face she had painted to resemble a Moogle. Waving her paintbrush at the others, she declared, "Yeah, we got this. You guys go punch the real one in the face for us!"

Terra and Celes nodded, lifting the remaining members to the summit of the tower. Here sat another figure that bore the appearance of Kefka, reclined upon the snaking metal tubing and surrounded by parapet-like exhaust pipes belching steam and flame. Hovering above the prone Kefka-like form was what appeared to be an angelic, almost motherly face looking over it.

Edgar cocked his head in confusion. "A mother figure... did Kefka ever even have one?"

Leo's face fell into a somber expression. "I was only twelve years old when Kefka was taken in by the Facility as the first Magitek test subject and had little interaction with him prior, so I knew nothing of his family. But after he was infused... no one came forward to vouch for his sake. There was mass unrest in the ranks after rumors spread of what had happened to him, but that was in fear for ourselves being subjected to the same, not over what had happened to him. Kefka... had already been abandoned as damaged and not worth fighting for."

"So then... it's possible that he never experienced love in his entire life..." Terra ruminated, gazing down at the reclined figure under watchful angelic eyes.

"Everyone is worthy of love but no one is owed it, Terra," Leo explained. "Kefka spent his entire life exploiting any goodwill sent his way. Experiencing love also necessitates being receptive to it. It took me a long time to be able to accept this, but... some people are just so toxic that they aren't worth pity, as they divert any and all energy offered to help them towards their own self-destructive ends."

Locke juggled his knife in his hand. "And if he's used to exploiting people, this sort of image may just be more of the same: invoking feelings that he can take advantage of. Even on the slim chance that this is a real cry for some kind of family... we can't afford to take pity on him now. He's done too much, and too much is at stake."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what he's trying to say with this whole creepy tower, I just know it's coming down," Sabin affirmed. He launched forward with a massive flurry of punches on the reclined figure, but as soon as he did, the angelic face glowed and healed the damage away.

"Ahh, he's going to make me attack a lady, then," Edgar mourned. "How cruel he is indeed. Certainly not worthy of anyone's pity." He lifted his chainsaw and revved it a few times. "How it pains me to do this, but you leave me no choice..." The chainsaw cut messily through the angelic figure, tattering its headscarf and halo. "Ugh, how obscene, now I feel dirty..."

"It is thy own fault for utilizing such barbaric machinery," Cyan scolded. He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, focusing his energy and relaxing his muscles. Then, in a burst of energy, he swung his sword almost too quickly to see, bellowing in the Doman tongue, "Hissatsuken Tsuki!" Both figures were struck with a paralyzing blow that temporarily stopped their movement.

Locke leapt onto the pinnacle of the twisted forms and scanned his eyes around the crevices between the metal piping. "Hey, thanks for stunning them, Cyan, now I can see if there's any treasures that got tangled up with them."

"Locke, is this really the time...?" Celes sighed.

But Locke descended from the tower shortly after carrying two swords, gleefully beaming, "Hey, look what I found!"

Celes looked at the swords in complete befuddlement. "Wh... what? Is that... another Ultima Weapon?" She reached out to take it and it flared to life in her hands, the blade glowing blue and elongating into a greatsword. Looking it over, she noted, "I... can't absorb magical fields with this, but..." She swung it and an arc of blue energy sailed over to the two figures at the tower's pinnacle, slicing them in half. "It'll do."

"My gift to you," said Locke with a wink. "Not sure about this other one, though."

Terra held her hands out and took the other sword, whispering, "I feel... great magical energy coming from this one." Once her hands closed around the grip, she gasped as she could feel magical energy flowing into her as though she had been holding a piece of Magicite. Closing her eyes, she informed them, "This... this sword is an Esper... It wants to help us fight."

"See? There's benefits to treasure hunting, right?" Locke noted cheekily.

Celes sighed, then glanced behind him at the crumbling tower spire and the two figures collapsing with it. However, as they fell, the reclined figure raised its hand and softly chanted, "Repose..."

A beam of light suddenly fell from the heavens and struck Locke in the back. His eyes widened in surprise only momentarily before he fell backwards towards the collapsing tower.

"Locke!" Celes shouted, rushing down towards him, however Edgar and Sabin caught him, Edgar producing the Phoenix Magicite and holding it over Locke's chest.

Locke gasped back to consciousness, taking a few panicked breaths. Squinting, he tilted his head up to Celes, offering her a weak thumbs-up. "Heh... sorry about that. Looks like I'm gonna have to sit the rest of this one out. Go stab him in the face for me, all right?"

Celes let out a relieved breath and nodded. Edgar assured her, "Don't worry, we'll take care of him. It's up to the four of you to see this through. Good luck."

Leo, Terra, Celes, and Cyan ascended through the thick layer of clouds that had shrouded the twisted tower in darkness. As they rose above them, they were bathed in a radiant golden light as though they had crossed into the realm of the divine. Terra held her chest and shuddered. "I feel... a tremendous magical energy here. The power of the Warring Triad... but warped into something even more sinister."

The clouds above them parted and a dazzling winged figure descended slowly towards them. This figure, too, bore the likeness of Kefka just as all of the facets of the tower had, but this one seemed to carry more substance and will. Indeed, the power radiating off this amethyst-skinned being was enough that even the non-magical members of the party could feel it.

Cyan snorted. "So the man who would cravenly vanquish an entire kingdom without sullying his own hands or even look his victims in the eye now sees himself as some sort of god." Despite Kefka's size having grown to overshadow them many times over, he still fiercely glared up at the hulking figure in determination. "No more shalt thou lay down unwarranted punishment from a place of hiding, cowardly fiend. I am proof that thy attempts at snuffing out all life shall never succeed."

"And I am grateful for your survival, Sir Cyan, as you are indeed a symbol of endurance that we can all admire," Leo agreed. Facing Kefka, he asserted, "I was the one who stood between you and your malicious deeds before, and I have no regrets doing so. I envisioned a bright future for our Empire and nothing you have done has changed that. Despite your efforts to take away everything, our dreams still persist."

Celes took a deep breath and nodded, looking up at Kefka firmly. "It's true... Even after the world fell, even when I thought I had lost everything and was completely alone, even at my lowest moment... I still found hope. Even that one spark of hope that you failed to snuff out was enough to re-energize me and move me forward to gather everyone here to face you now."

The giant godly form rolled his eyes, then boomed down at them, "Do you even listen to yourselves? So what if you've found one tiny thing left to convince you to carry forward? Then what do you do when you get there and there's still nothing?" He spread his arms and lamented, "Life... dreams... hope... Where do they come from? And where do they go?" Raising his palm towards them threateningly, his face darkened and he intoned, "Such meaningless things... may as well be destroyed..."

Terra stepped forward, bowing her head valiantly. "You can't destroy them, though... That's why you keep escalating this, to this form you bear now. You keep taunting us that we foolishly hold on to life, dreams, and hope despite them being temporary... and yet even through everything you've done, you've been unable to erase them." She turned her eyes up to him, flashing with resolve. "And that's because we're all supported by something you have never had the desire to understand: Love!"

Kefka blinked at her, then leaned back in a mocking laughter. "And how does 'love' save you from utter annihilation? If your hearts are what cause you to cling to existence in futility, let's see how you manage without them." He pointed a finger at the sky, and with a sneer chanted, "Heartless Angel."

A golden light surrounded the four of them like a Raise spell, however instead of granting them life, it felt like it suddenly sucked it out. They collapsed to their knees and Leo clutched at his chest, having unnerving flashbacks to this sensation. The pain in his chest, his limbs going limp, his vision rapidly starting to fade... Kefka was killing them. It had only taken a word and they were all suddenly helpless and dying before him before they'd even had the chance to launch any kind of attack. Squinting to the side through the black curtains closing from the peripherals of his vision he saw Terra, Celes, and Cyan all in similarly helpless states.

No... they'd come too far and fought too hard for it to simply be over by the snap of Kefka's fingers. With what felt like an enormous effort, Leo shakily felt his fingers through his pocket and pulled out an item he'd been saving all year, then with the last of his strength crushed it in his hand.

A brilliant multicolored light erupted from his hand and surrounded all of them. With a gasp, they felt their energy surge back to peak power, their strength and stamina fully restored. Celes shook out her head and exclaimed, "General Leo, was that... was that a Megalixir? Those are so rare; I can't believe you would use one!"

"Can you think of any better time to do so?" Leo responded a little dryly. He pointed his sword at Kefka and instructed, "Now, everyone, before he has the chance to devitalize us again! Attack!"

Cyan closed his eyes and raised his sword in front of his face. "For the honor of my homeland and loved ones, Kefka, I rend thee." He dashed forward, announcing, "Hissatsuken Retsu!" There was a flurry of steel and he slashed at Kefka multiple times faster than anyone could see. Leaping back to his position with the rest of them, he slid his sword along its scabbard and sheathed it, and as he did so the gashes from his previous strikes opened in Kefka's skin, his wings tattering into a cloud of feathers around him.

"Aaagh, you little insect!" Kefka bellowed. "Why couldn't you just do what's best for yourself and die with the rest of them?"

He swung one of his tattered wings down towards Cyan, but Celes stepped in the way and raised her Ultima weapon, slicing it off. "Kefka... I may have began as a Magitek Knight just as you... artificially infused with the powers of Espers and used as a living weapon to oppress the world... but I saw the suffering our actions were causing and chose to stand against them. You saw the same things I did and more yet still chose suffering. Whatever torment you're experiencing now, it's of your own making."

"Agh, my beautiful wing!" the godly creature whined. He pointed at her and shouted, "Firaga!"

But Celes drew her Runic Blade in the other hand, absorbing the spell's power and then immediately countering with, "Flare!"

A pinpoint explosion erupted from Kefka's chest, blowing him backwards. While he was reeling, Leo swooped forward and swung down his own Ultima Weapon. Kefka caught the glowing blade in his hand, leaning down and sneering. "Oh? Raising your sword at me again, General? I'm sure you remember this didn't go so well for you the last t-" Leo spun his Crystal Blade in his other hand, targeting a Shock directly at Kefka's face.

"I will raise my sword at you as many times as it takes, and I will stand back up every time you try to strike me down," Leo replied. "We both have our share of mistakes that have led us down dark paths, but you alone refused to learn from them. I stand here in service to the entire world while you only ever stood in service to yourself. Your lack of any kind of bonds shall spell your inevitable downfall."

Kefka shook out his head and raised his arm in rage, swinging it down. "Why can't you ever just roll over and die like the pathetic lapdog you are?!"

But this time Terra moved in to block his strike with the Magicite sword. Straining with all her might against the giant arm, she insisted, "Kefka... I'm not going to allow you to harm anyone ever again. You say there's no point to life if we all eventually die. But the cycle of life and death has been going on for millennia and will continue for millennia more... A single life may be temporary, but what it adds to the whole lives on forever, and you will never destroy that."

Kefka was pushed back again by the force of the sword and the power that Terra imbued into it. Seething, he stretched out both hands, the golden rays of light surrounding them turning dark and foreboding, and it felt like the entire atmosphere began to tremble. "Fine, then... You say existence can't be destroyed completely, but I can still return it to the void of chaos from which it ultimately came... such is the end that awaits you..." Closing his eyes and concentrating his power, he whispered, "All of existence shall be forsaken..."

Phantom faces of Kefka began appearing around them, laughing mockingly as the whole of existence quaked. Celes looked to the others in panic, insisting, "I don't want to wait to find out what that spell he's charging up does. We can't let him cast it!"

"And thus he shalt not, Lady Celes! By the honor of Doma and the memories of all her people, my ultimate technique... Hissatsuken Dan!" In an instant he had slashed through Kefka, appearing behind him as though time had stopped. Kefka's body shuddered and the charge on its spell almost looked like it had reset itself.

"Cyan, that's incredible, you've just bought us more time!" Celes exclaimed. Raising a piece of Magicite above her head, she declared, "King of the Dragons, Bahamut, I summon thee! Mega Flare!" The Magicite glowed white and the apparition of a giant black dragon sprang from it, its wings extending and shadowing even Kefka. The dragon's wings glowed a radiant blue, and a massive wave of energy erupted from its wings and mouth, scorching Kefka's body and blowing the remnants of his own wings off.

Kefka grimaced, raising his arms again. "I will destroy... everything... You can resist all you like, but in the end... it means nothing."

Despite his boasts, it was apparent that he was at his limit. Leo looked on at him passively and noted, "Normally when encountering an enemy at this stage I would be willing to take pity on them and offer them a chance to surrender." Glancing to Terra, he nodded and admitted, "But in this case, I have already offered far more mercy than I perhaps should have. Even your life has value, but you were the one who squandered it."

Terra reached out to hold his hand that was holding his Crystal Blade, holding the Magicite sword in her other hand. "This sword forged of Magicite that Locke found in the tower... I've heard its thoughts... Its name is Ragnarok, the guardian of the end of time." She looked up at Kefka calmly. "And it says we're not there yet."

She twined her fingers around Leo's and turned to face him. "I want to grant this Esper's wish, and use the power it granted me to finish this. And whatever the outcome of that may be... I also want you there with me. Your support, your love... to prove that these feelings can overcome what Kefka has done... and also so that I'm not alone when it's all over..."

Leo nodded, turning to hold her like they had in their dance back at the opera house. They both closed their eyes and he could feel the power from Terra radiating out of her and through his arm into the sword. Though he was wholly unfamiliar with this Esper and its power, he could still sense Terra's will permeating him. Her hair flared pink and she morphed into her Esper form, enveloping the both of them in a blue glow.

Kefka splayed his hands at them, ready to launch his attack, but Leo and Terra dashed forward as a pair, the glowing Crystal Blade extended in front of them. As Kefka's hands glowed red, they burst through his defenses, the energy that had built up around him shattering like broken glass. Pressing further still, they gave one final push and thrust the sword into his chest. Kefka gaped down at them in shock, but Terra and Leo merely held the sword firmly while chanting in unison, "Ultima..."

For a moment it seemed like nothing had happened. Kefka's hands were still glowing red, but he hadn't moved any further. Then, the glow from his hands faded, and cracks began appearing all over his body, a brilliant violet light erupting from them.

Terra pulled Leo back, leaving the sword embedded in Kefka's chest as the power of Ragnarok destroyed him from the inside out. Kefka turned his eyes to the heavens mournfully as his body began breaking apart, reaching a hand up as though to grasp at some invisible higher power. But, as his body decayed further, the arm fell and he slumped in defeat. "So be it, then... Live your pointless lives in this dying world... When nothingness eventually consumes you, too... I'll be waiting there..."

The remainder of Kefka's body disintegrated into a cloud of dust and the brilliant golden light that had been surrounding them faded. All was quiet a moment before Celes hesitantly attempted, "Did... did we do it...? Is he really gone for good...?"

She suddenly wavered in the air and realized, "Oh no, our Float spell!" Reaching out to Cyan, she instructed, "Come on we need to get to solid ground fast!" She turned to Terra to see her and Leo still holding each other's hands and gazing into the other's eyes, almost oblivious to what was going on. Or, rather, more likely so aware of what was about to happen that they didn't want to focus on anything but each other.

"General Leo! Terra!" Celes shouted again. The two snapped out of their daze, then solemnly nodded and followed her as they descended back to the summit of the tower.

When they arrived there, the remainder of the party had also safely descended and gathered. Locke ran towards Celes to inform her, "The tower's collapsing! Did you beat him?!"

Celes nodded. "Yes... but Kefka's power was what was holding this tower together. With him gone..."

"Then let's get moving! The airship is just ahead!" Setzer insisted.

"Right, let's hurry," said Celes. "We'll all make it out of here if we work together!"

Terra nodded and stepped forward, but at that moment her Esper form began to waver. She collapsed onto one knee, holding her chest and gasping for breath as her body trembled. Leo and Celes were immediately kneeling next to her in trepidation. "Terra?!"

Locke pulled out a piece of Magicite, whose brilliant green glow slowly faded before the stone disintegrated into dust in his hand. "The Magicite..." he whispered.

"So magic truly is disappearing from this world now," Strago confirmed sadly, watching his own shard of Magicite waste away.

"Which means that Espers, too, will cease to exist...?" Edgar said in worry, looking to Terra.

Celes squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "No... not Terra, too..."

Leo simply rested a hand on Terra's back, watching over her in silent vigilance. Terra took a few more shuddering breaths and turned her head to try to focus on him through the pain coursing through her own body. It felt like some invisible force was tearing her apart piece by piece from the inside out. Was this really it, then? Was she just going to curl up and die on top of this crumbling tower and be buried in the ruins of Kefka's destruction just like Vector?

No... she couldn't do that to Leo... she couldn't do that to the children or her friends. Even if she was fated to disappear, she was going to go down fighting it to the end.

Shakily pushing herself to her feet, Terra insisted, "We've come this far... you all need to survive, and I'm going to make sure you do." With a deep breath, she pressed forward, nodding resolutely to Leo and Celes. "Come with me. I can use the last of my power to guide you out."

Notes:

- All the characters have a sort of invisible "priority ranking" in the game, where the character with the highest "rank" in your current party is the one who is given the generic dialogue lines in a scene. The ranking seems to go Terra, Locke, Edgar, Cyan, Celes... and after that I'm not sure since usually you'll have at least one of those characters with you. Thus, in the three parties I have here, the highest-ranked character in each is Locke, Cyan, and Terra.
- And due to the above, if you do a "minimum endgame" run where you only re-recruit Celes, Edgar, and Setzer (the three characters that are mandatory to have before you can get the airship, and thus reach the final dungeon), because Edgar outranks Celes, he's the one who gets the big speech about the meaning of life in the end.
- Leo's contribution to the "self-help booklet" speeches here is partially pulled from Act 2 Final Chapter Part 2 of Dissidia Opera Omnia, where they do a re-run of the speech scene except this time Leo is actually in the party so he gets a line, too. His line there is "I live for the sake of the survivors of my homeland". Also he's hanging out with Setzer because someone on the DFFOO writing team has a direct link to my brain or something.
- Cyan's Bushido/SwordTech was "Hissatsuken" in Japanese, which is like "sure-kill sword". "Tsuki" is Eclipse/Stunner, "Retsu" is Tempest/QuadraSlice, "Dan" is Oblivion/Cleave.
- The two figures at the top of the tower are "Lady" and "Rest". You can steal Ragnarok from Lady and Ultima Weapon from Rest.
- Rest always casts the instant-death technique "Repose" on a random party member when you kill it.
- Leo knows enough not to still hoard Megalixirs in the final battle.
- The Ragnarok sword doesn't actually teach Ultima, only its Magicite form can. But Terra also can naturally learn Ultima at level 99, so... spontaneous love-induced level-up!
- Chapter title is the Italian approximation of "Dancing Mad", the title of the final battle's music.