Ritz regained consciousness on her feet, standing flat as a windstorm tore around her. Her hair whipped around and her skin was pelted with stone and sand. She protected her face with her hands as she scanned for life.
"Mewt! Doned!" She hesitated for answer, then called again when she got none.
"Where is everyone?"
"Ritz."
She spun, coming face-to-face with Marche. His eyes half-closed and his shoulders sulking. He was in his blue coat and white scarf; clothes from St. Ivalice.
"Marche!" She shouted over the winds. She reached out a bare hand to put on his shoulder. The instant it landed, the winds vanished. The new silence was hauntingly empty.
"I'm sorry, Ritz." Marche said before vanishing.
"Ritz!"
Ritz looked at her still-outstretched hand and curled it into a fist. She shook her head and turned to look at Mewt and Doned running towards her, both garbed in clothes from the real world.
"Are you ok?" Mewt asked and then looked her up and down, "You've changed."
Ritz looked down to see she was in her white coat and green pants, both of which were from the real world.
"I don't get it." She said.
Doned spoke, "It's how Marche sees us…like in our Ivalice, we all looked how we saw ourselves…you in your armor and Mewt in his royal clothes. The same principle goes for here too, just with Marche."
"Speaking of Marche…" Mewt cut in, "We have to find him."
Ritz turned on her heel and was shocked to see that the landscape changed in the two seconds it took her to do so. It went from a windy wasteland to a lush, green meadow peppered with colorful flowers and oak trees. Standing next to one of the larger trees was Marche, turned away from them.
"Marche!" Doned yelled and took a step towards him. As his foot hit the ground, he felt his brother's hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Doned." He frowned and sighed, then turned to Ritz and moved his hand from hers, "I'm sorry, Ritz."
Mewt watched Marche apologize to both Ritz and Doned and then turn to him. Mewt looked into his eyes, dark and cloudy-a far cry from what he knew. He kept the gaze constant as Marche reached up to put his hand onto Mewt's shoulder. Mewt snorted and clenched a fist. He brought it across Marche's jaw, sending him reeling to the side.
"Don't you dare say you're sorry! You have nothing to apologize for."
There was a clap of thunder followed by a sudden downpour.
"I ruined your paradise." Marche said softly, getting back to his feet. A grey outline of a bruise had started to form on his cheek.
"You didn't ruin anything." Doned said, "We're all happy in the real world! Happy with us, happy with you!"
"Liar." Marche hung his head and the ground beneath started to change, to morph like soft clay. Buildings and forests grew out of the grass and within minutes, they were standing on a rooftop in Sprohm.
"I saw what my paradise is, what my peace is and it's the real world. But your paradise is here, where you have everything you need."
"We don't have you." Doned said, "We don't have you and that hurts."
"What good am I? I'm nothing but a destroyer-"
"No." Mewt said, "Listen to me, Marche! You brought us back to the real world, yes, but you also brought us paradise! Each of us learned something in Ivalice that we brought back with us…I learned to live with loss. You forced me to learn that life without a mother is livable and that I should not sit back and watch the world pass me by-"
Ritz cut in, "I learned to accept me! I learned to love my family and not to take them for granted!"
"And Marche, you showed me that you loved me! That you cared, whether or not I can walk! Don't you understand?" He took a step forward and shoved Marche in the chest, "You gave us these things!"
Marche was quiet.
"Guilt isn't what you should be feeling!" Ritz yelled, "You should feel pride! Joy!"
The winds returned and the town of Sprohm blew away like ash, returning the group to the wasteland. Marche looked up at his friends, at Ritz and Mewt, both of which gave him the best smile they could through the gales. When he turned to look at Doned, he approached. His brother wrapped his arms around him and he could hear him crying.
"Wake up, Marche…I can't live without you…"
The ground beneath all of them vanished and they fell, tumbling into blackness.
# # #
From the summit of Kudik Peaks, Marche could see all of Ivalice. She spread open as a patchwork quilt of farms, forests and cities. The winds carried the land on it: fresh-baked Sprohm bread, the leafy smell of the Giza plains and even the Jagds' bitter cold. Marche closed his eyes and leaned into the gust. He felt the world embrace him with the comfort of faith and the warmth of a mother's turned around at the sound of a chocobo approaching. He smiled at the Judge riding on it. His friend's voices sounded around him.
"I don't hate you, Marche. You're my brother, I can't hate you."
"Marche, I don't hate you. You did what you had to do."
"You're lucky I was here to save you."
"You should feel pride! Joy!"
"Wake up Marche…"
"I can't live without you."
The Judge drew its sword and attacked. Marche smiled broadly and caught the steel of the blade. It ran across his hand without harm. He pulled it from the Judge's grip and tossed it behind him. It flew off the cliff and vanished in a flash of light. The Judge, angry, clawed to remove its helmet.
As expected, Ritz was underneath and she scowled as she said her line:
"You had no right to take this away from me."
"I didn't take it away." Marche said, "I gave it to you."
There was silence.
Ritz smiled and turned her steed around. She rode off into growing light. The world started to vanish. Marche turned to the cliff. He watched as their Ivalice started to fade. The light took the land, a sunrise of color. Soon, no detail could be found in the sea of it.
"It's beautiful." Ajora said next to him, his body fading.
"Yeah, it is." Marche said. He took a deep breath, "Thank you."
"Don't thank me." Ajora said, "I was simply the flint that started the fire."
"Just the same." March clapped at the old man's shoulder. He smiled widely.
"Goodbye, Ivalice." Marche said. The light rose and took them both.