Author's Note: This one builds off of some of the themes of Z's character that were explored in the fifth installment.

xxxx

There was once a time where Homecoming did not end with the glorious sound of flutes.

(Right before the proverbial clock ticked over to the climactic finale, Consul V severed Ashera's head from her neck. The mark on her body had the tiniest sliver of red left over: almost microscopic. Yet it was enough: instead of dissolving into a golden cascade, crimson motes arched into the air, akin to a shower of blood.)

There was a shared understanding that those who made it all the way...would be lost forever, prohibited from ever returning to the cycle of rebirth. It was therefore no surprise, that some in Moebius sought to prevent this, so as to ensure their stockpile of lives would not diminish.

(It was during a time where Moebius M served as Keves's Prime Consul, and N likewise as Agnus's High Consul; they switched every so often, so as to reduce the monotony. As a Commander named Crys disputed V's decision to execute one who had reached their Homecoming, she intervened personally, to let Crys have his way with his own subordinate. Needless to say, V was not happy. "Don't be a fool! Then their life...will be lost from circulation, will it not?!")

However...this was fundamentally impossible, as an event at the climax would show.

(N had believed that M was lost forever...and yet, in the final moments against Z, they both emerged from Noah and Mio: specters, representing the desires that had given them life.)

The world of Aionios had been born from Origin; even the humans born outside of its flow could trace their ancestry to it. As such, to speak of a life becoming lost — as if it could ever slip away beyond the bounds of the Endless Now — was foolish in the utmost.

And yet...

(in the face of V's disbelief, M calmly retorted, "Z also wishes it so.")

...Z allowed this belief to take root.

xxxx

/Time: An Indeterminate Period Prior to the Destruction of the First City/

/The Amphitheater, Origin's Core/

The man with a given name of Triton chuckled at the footage on the big screen: of him, cross-armed, standing atop the head of a Ferronis as it rammed into a great dragon. "Ye must have yourself quite a lot of laughs, watching all this stuff here."

Z, as was his wont, did not respond. Not immediately. "There are times of amusement. There are also times where the sheer grief of those who meet their end...enraptures." Despite his word choice, he certainly didn't come off as one full of joy.

T scoffed and let his mind be known. "Ye don't sound like it."

"The life of those within the flow...the feelings and experiences they evoke...is something we lack. Our very nature prohibits us from creating a new 'reason' for living. All that we have and are...is thanks to humanity. And in turn, everything that humanity possesses is returned by us. An eternal 'give and take', as humanity's desires ebb and flow..." Z briefly looked up, as though hearing something else. "The voices of the formless dead: their response to the essence of life...it informs our actions...and how we express ourselves."

T tilted his head. Voices? I don't hear nothin'. "That being the case...then why offer an 'out' for 'em?" The theater's canvas now showed images from an Agnian colony; an old soldier in the twilight of his tenth term was surrounded by his fellows, each one smiling and crying in equal measure. And why not? That tenth-termer had made it to his Homecoming. All the while, Moebius Y watched with a measured yet calculating eye. "If they make it to the very end of their life, they're free from the 'cycle of rebirth.' Why give 'em an option to stop livin'?"

"Does it seem as such?" inquired Z, looking back towards the screen. As footage played of the tenth-termer dissolving into gold, he elaborated, "The Endless Now...is humanity's overarching desire: the reason Moebius came to be at all. It is in service to that desire, that we ensure the world goes on in perpetuity...but are not life's trials an exhausting exercise? So many endeavor to live, seeking the best possible life...and this world is one where life is always at stake, at any given moment. So many want time to stop, yet lack the means or the strength to do this...so why not reward them, with what they desire? Their peers rejoice in the moment; their emotions, with expectation, become exalted; amidst the end of their short yet momentous lives, their existence becomes a crown...and the world keeps on going, fueled by their contribution. Thus do they earn their rest...and another rises to take their place."

T frowned, scratching at the brim of his piratesque helm. "...so, they still be around?"

"But of course. All things trace their being to Origin. The formless dead remain as such by their own desire...and yet there are many who seek to stake their own claim, to embrace the life that they have witnessed but through a glass darkly. They who are victorious at their Homecoming, embrace death with gladness. In time...they will doubtless seek to return to the cycle, if only to experience the life that they yearn for. So long as Moebius exists, we will ensure that the world endures until that day...thus does everyone bask in this grand ceremony of death...and rebirth."

(In another place, and another time, words spoken long ago — drunk with power and mania, as green light blazed from an awakening titan — echoed through the ether, heard by none, yet witnessed by an everlasting memory: "Let it begin...the ceremony of destruction...and recreation!")

"I think I get it, now," murmured T, crossing his arms with a thoughtful hum. "Yer basically givin' the poor saps that make it to the end a break from all the fightin'!"

"It is simply a fulfillment of their desire," he nonchalantly said. "Nothing more, and nothing less."

T stared oddly at him, feeling a bit perplexed at how detached Z acted about everything, even though he spoke in such grand terms about how Moebius was the embodiment of human life in its fullness. "Then why let the other Consuls interfere? A lot of 'em have started followin' that daft idiot V's lead, and executin' the tenth-termers before they make it to their last breath."

Z simply remarked, "Moebius directs the flow according to humanity's desires...yet for those of you plucked from the passage of fate, do you not still have desires of your own? We are part of the very same flow, after all...and it would be hypocritical, to admonish others for enacting their own desires, and doing what they could to preserve the Endless Now."

"Why let 'em believe otherwise, then?"

"It would not change the truth underlying their desire. Besides...from the perspective of an everlasting moment, a life removed from the cycle of rebirth for ten years, a hundred years, a millennium, or even longer...it's all the same."

T hummed thoughtfully. "Then...if we were to bite the big one, we'd come back as well?"

Z shook his head. "That is part of what it means to be Moebius: in return for eternal life, the eternity of rebirth is denied to you. Human life retains its sublime quality precisely because it is so short...yet your extended lifespans afford you greater creativity. It is a balance...but for those with immortal bodies to lack a fear of death: would that not lead to stagnation? A life without struggle, without risk, without challenge...would be a dull and tasteless thing. Do you not agree?"

"...I think I see what yer sayin'." T sighed, leaning back in his chair with an impatient air. "Though, what if people desired a world other than this one? What if they wanted an actual future beyond the 'now'?"

"Then I would not exist: it is as simple as that," he stated, with a dogmatic finality.

"Ye sound so sure! Have ye thought it out that much?"

Z calmly gazed at T, his crimson eyes speckled by the dual glow of red infinities. "How could I have not? It is...my role, in this world."

(In another place, and another time, words spoken long ago — spoken in defiance of his counterpart, she who wondered as to why he seemed to feel nothing with regards to his defiance of their Father's wishes — echoed through the ether, heard by none, yet witnessed by an everlasting memory: "How could I? That isn't...my role in this world.")

"...I've been alive for awhile now," murmured T. "And I appreciate the life ye let me lead, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I wonder if there be more than just this..."

"If there is a future you long for...then what is stopping you from seeking it? What great obstacle lies in your way? If you had the power to do away with the Endless Now...what would stop you?"

T thought about it. He really did. Was he willing to give up his current existence for the sake of something...unknown? Let's see...I think Aionios was s'posed to not exist, right? If the Queens had actually succeeded way back when...then what would life have been like? Would I have still been the same Triton I was beforehand? So many things would have been left undone, and so many things would have gone unexperienced...and oh, the thought of all that grandness never having been? It rattled the mind.

"And there it is," said Z, with a hint of knowing. "That desire for 'now', driven by a need for certitude...even after everything you've been through, that still trumps an uncertain future. And hence Moebius persists."

"...eh, can't exactly argue with that," admitted T. "Makes ye wonder though...a world driven by fightin' and dyin' can't have been the only possibility."

"The world itself is fueled by the consumption of life; that very life serves as a bulwark against the annihilation that drove so many to despair in their final moments," Z cryptically said. "To deny that is to delude yourself."

T huffed. "Ah, I ain't no fool. Just wonderin', is all...makes you wonder about us humans though, don't it? That our desires have apparently led to a world of endless war. What does that say about us, you reckon? Bein' that yer the ruler of this world, and all that."

"It is not my place to pass judgment," coolly remarked the very first Moebius. "You would have me hate them?" When T shook his head, Z added, "To hate this world would be to hate the very reason I am here: to prefer oblivion over existence. Such would be anathema. So no...I do not."

(In another place, and another time, words spoken long ago — a sober and solemn answer to a prince who asked if he hated humans, all because he had admitted he was weak for killing to survive as long as he had — echoed through the ether, heard by none, yet witnessed by an everlasting memory: "No...I hate this world.")

Somehow, T felt that there was more to it than that; however, he couldn't quite put it into words, so he let it slide. "...would be odd, if you of all people ever got tired of livin'," wondered T, rising to his feet. "Anyhow, I've kicked back for long enough! I think I've got Colony Delta for the next few generations..." Before he departed, there was one more question he had to ask. "If, by any chance, humanity's desires do change...how would ye react?"

Z seemed amused by his question. "Human nature is unchanging. Even if desires shift direction within the stream...they ultimately follow the river's flow. But that variety is what gives life its zest. And I will witness it all: every single death...every single rebirth...and everything in between."

"...if that's the case, ye might wanna try living it out yerself, instead of sitting back in this musty ol' theater!" joked T with a laugh. "If you ask me...I'd like Homecoming to be somethin' grander. Like a tournament or somethin'! Wouldn't that be a lark?" He wondered aloud, before he warped away.

"...and that is what Y, X, you, and all the others are for...T," calmly said Z, even as his eyes returned to the screen. "Not all are as boisterous as you...by the time they reach the end, life has seemingly become a burden, as strange as that may sound...no matter what reasons they come up with in their mind to explain its import, the essence of Homecoming remains the same: a respite from the duties and obligations that come with living. Is that not true, o ye formless dead?" he asked aloud. "A grand ceremony, to mark one's passing...perhaps it will naturally emerge from the flow itself: to make the end a thing of joy, so that you can rest in peace...until your next turn at life comes back around..." A thought to ponder for the future, perhaps.

In the meantime, he leaned back in silence, to watch the eternal moment play itself out.

xxxx

At that moment, somewhere within the Aetia Region...a boy with long, blond hair — a mere fourth-termer, serving as a mechanic in Colony 6 — quietly fashioned a flute amidst his downtime.

For the first time (but certainly not the last), he blew a note through the instrument.

He liked the way it sounded.

xxxx

Author's Note: Juxtaposing Z with words of his prior main antagonists helps provide a lot of similarities and contrasts, I've noticed.

But yeah, it really doesn't make sense for N to make such a big deal out of M dissolving at the Homecoming, only for them to come back at the very end.

So my justification is simply that Z doesn't really think in terms of the same amount of time as the others who are aware of the cycle of rebirth. From his perspective, those who make it to the Homecoming are still bound by the flow...so if they take an extended break from the cycle, why would it matter in the long run, if the Endless Now lasts forever? (And from the perspective of those who knew them, they're not gonna remember the next time they get reborn, because they'll have been long dead by then. So what does it matter?)

It probably would have helped N cope, at the very least.

Alternatively, Z could have simply explained it as follows: "Why do you worry about M? You both have Protagonist Privileges."

"...oh. Right."

"How could you forget?"

"I've been an Antagonist for so long, how can you blame me, Z?"

"A fair point."