'Because… you're the kind of person who can overcome this. Because you can move past the deaths of your friends, Maizono and Kuwata, and keep moving forward. Without someone like that, the others would never be able to break free of such a desperate situation.'

'Move past their deaths? That's, I could never do that.'

'...'

'No, I'm going to carry them with me the rest of my life. How could I possibly "move past" something like that? Kuwata, Sayaka, I'll carry them with me forever. I'll carry their memories with me wherever I go!'

'...So instead of forgetting them, you're choosing the hard road.

Well, I have high expectations for you.

By the way, I have to admit I'm curious, how did you know I wanted to talk to you about Maizono?'

'Oh well…

...I'm psychic.'

'Huh?'

'Kidding, I just have pretty good intuition.'

That dream. Why did he have that dream? Actually, a dream isn't that good of a way to describe it. A memory would be a better fit.

Naegi Makoto slowly began to open his eyes. Though he was expecting to find something akin to a ceiling or a wall to gaze at when he did so, he was instead treated to the sight of pitch black nothingness instead. Sitting up in a panic, the young man quickly tried to take note of his surroundings. Everywhere he looked it was the same nothingness. He felt the sensation of stepping onto solid ground and yet when he looked down he saw nothing there to actually stand on. It was as if he had stepped into the void.

"Where am I?" He questioned under his breath.

"Wonderful question to ask Naegi Makoto-kun!"

Eyes widening in shock at the sudden high-pitched voice coming from behind him, Makoto spun around only to find himself face-to-face with…

"...Usami?" The lucky, young man exclaimed the name in shock.

Indeed, standing before him was the plush, white rabbit in magical girl clothing that he and many others know as Usami. The rabbit was gazing up at him with a look of awe and adoration, as if he were some big shot celebrity and she, a dedicated fan who knows all his works. Naegi quickly finds himself confused by all this. She should only exist in the virtual world, whether as an A.I. in the Neo World Program or as an avatar for the former Ultimate Therapist. So how is she here, standing before him? Seeing his confusion, the rabbit bounced up to get his attention.

"I am not Usami!" It exclaimed. "You'll have to excuse me Naegi Makoto-kun. I can't exactly show you my true self, so I decided to borrow the squeezably soft form of Usami here!"

Any confusion that Makoto had before was only amplified from hearing the rabbit's(?) words.

"Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself again! Let me introduce myself to you Naegi Makoto-kun!" The being hopped up and did a little flourish to Makoto as if to dramatically announce itself to him. "My name is Clementia, and I am a goddess! I am so wonderfully pleased to meet you Naegi Makoto-kun!" The now proclaimed goddess preened.

Whatever sort of answer Makoto was expecting from the being in front of him, this certainly wasn't it. It was as if he were a goalie expecting a soccer ball to be kicked at him only to have a hockey puck come flying instead. A goddess? That's just too much! Is this...

"...a freaking joke?" The luckster deadpanned. "I can believe a lot of things, but just going straight to calling yourself a goddess? That's a little too much even for me…"

The rabbit in front of him stopped in its tracks. She went silent, as if she were contemplating his words. "Oh jeez I guess it wouldn't make sense for you to really believe that huh?" She hummed.

"You don't live in a world where the divinity is strong so it wouldn't make sense to just accept that. Ok!" She perked up, as if she had just thought of the right answer for a math question. "For just a brief moment I will show you my true form Naegi Makoto-kun! Just a quick peek for you though! Who knows what will happen to your soul if you look too long? Ok ready?"

Giving him no time to process her terrifying words or even give an answer back, she changed. For just a brief second, Makoto gazed at the goddess's true form. It was indescribable. No words could pop up in his head to be able to detail what he saw. Whatever he had seen had robbed him of his ability to even think. Yet just as quickly as it came, it went; perhaps all for the better as well. Soon enough he found himself once again gazing at the sight of Usami. In the span of three seconds his entire perception of the being in front of him had changed.

"Do you believe me now?" Not trusting himself to speak, Makoto nodded his head. "Excellent! With that out of the way, let us speak!" The goddess waved her hand and Naegi found himself sitting down on a plush seat across the divine being. "Comfy? Good! Now let us talk. I have much to discuss with you Naegi Makoto-kun."

Makoto found himself with a cold sweat. There is no real way to predict how this could go. He's diving in completely new territory here. "Um, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Just gonna have to hope for the best here...

The goddess, Clementia, smiled brightly at him. "Well first I would like to congratulate you for doing such a wonderfully, terrific job in your world Naegi Makoto-kun! Most of the Remnants of Despair have been stomped out and Hope's Peak is on it's way to being rebuilt! The world is slowly but steadily recovering from the Tragedy and it's all thanks to you and the Future Foundation's efforts!" The divine being cheered.

Despite the situation, Makoto found himself blushing brightly from the praise. While the world will never truly be the same, the Future Foundation's work has ensured that society can at least be healed. The scars of the Tragedy will always be there, but he and his friends have made sure that the wounds have been properly closed.

"But are you really happy with this outcome Naegi Makoto-kun?" Clementia questioned. "Are you completely satisfied with how things are ending?"

Makoto frowned, confused. "Of course I'm happy with how things turned out. You said it yourself, the Remnants of Despair shouldn't be causing anymore problems and the world is being rebuilt. Everyone has hope for the future again. How could I not be satisfied with this outcome?"

The goddess in rabbit form kept silent for a moment. She gazed at him with a certain intensity that hasn't been there before. "...But what about everyone who's not there? What about those who died?"

Makoto stilled.

"Maizono Sayaka, Ikusaba Mukuro, Kuwata Leon, Fujisaki Chihiro, Owada Mondo, Ishimaru Kiyotaka, Yamada Hifumi, Celestia Ludenburg, Ogami Sakura." Each name uttered by the divine being made the pit in his stomach sink deeper and deeper. "Your friends, these lives that the Tragedy claimed right before your eyes. Can you truly say that you're happy with how things ended with all these precious friends of yours gone?"

The lucky, young man kept quiet. He wanted to rebuke it. To protest and say that things are fine as they are. And yet…

"...I can't." He whispered. "No matter how much I want to move on, I can't." It was the truth. The truth that Makoto didn't want to face. No matter how much he tells himself that he did the best he could and that he should be satisfied, he never will. Not with those who had been lost. Not with those who had died so unfairly.

"I see, I see. But should you really be feeling that?" She gave a small shrug as if to say it was just a trivial thing to her. "They died in the game. Sure one or two of them may not have deserved their deaths, but for the most part they had all died because they participated in the killing game. Whether they gave in to temptation and tried to kill, had some pretty damning secrets, or just went and gone crazy, none of them are completely innocent you know? Don't you think they deserved their deaths?"

The way she said that, so uncaringly, as if the deaths of so many people meant nothing to her at all, it rubbed the luckster the wrong way. In a rare rush of anger, he stood up and glared down at her. "Of course not! None of them deserved to have died at all! Even if they broke to despair during the game, none of them deserved to have their life taken away like that!"

The lucky, young man, normally so passive and kindhearted, stared the goddess down with passion in his voice and a gleam in his eyes. Even so, Clementia didn't budge. "Even Enoshima Junko?" the goddess inquired.

Makoto flinched. Even now all these years after her death, Enoshima was still a sore spot among those in Class 78 and Class 77-B. For a second he hesitated. The lucky, young man known as the Ultimate Hope wondered if he truly believed in what he was going to say. If he was really going to defend his polar opposite, the one known as the Ultimate Despair.

"Yes." Makoto stated his answer with such conviction that even Clementia was taken back for a moment. "Even if I can't truly understand what Enoshima was thinking when it came to her obsession with despair, I still believe that she didn't deserve what happened to her. No one deserves a life full of despair like that!"

The rabbit form that Clementia took subtly twitched. She leaned forward, moving herself a bit closer to Naegi. "...And if you could save all these people?"

"Huh?" The bravado that Makoto had accumulated in order to answer back to the goddess fell flat as soon as he heard that remark.

"You keep saying that they didn't deserve their deaths, but it's a bit too late for that considering that they're dead." Clementia then brought her gaze up to him with a certain gleam in her plastic eyes. "But that still doesn't mean that can't be saved Naegi Makoto-kun."

Clementia hopped up and did a twirl in the air. The sparkles flying off her straining his eyes a bit. When his vision was clear again, the goddess had Usami's staff and what looked to be a rolled up piece of parchment in her hands. "Naegi Makoto-kun! I, Clementia, the goddess of mercy, forgiveness, penance, and redemption ask that you become my champion!"

His bewilderment at the rabbit just rose, the words dying in his throat. This, what is this?

"Become my champion and represent me in a different world from yours, Naegi Makoto-kun. In exchange for this, you will find your friends, save them, and be able to bring them back to your world!" As she spoke, Clementia unfurled the parchment revealing itself to be a glowing contract. "I promise you, Naegi Makoto-kun, you can save your friends from their fate! What do you say?"

The lucky, young man in question bit his lower lip in thought. This whole thing is crazy! But he can't help but to contemplate it. A chance to save them all, it sounds good, too good. Become her champion and save them all? There's no way it could be that easy. And yet…

"...If I become your champion," Makoto began, "what exactly does that mean for me?" Indeed, the whole idea of becoming this goddess's champion was just entirely too vague. There are too many questions about this whole thing that he needs answered before he would readily accept.

The goddess in rabbit form nodded. "To become my champion, Naegi Makoto-kun, is to represent me in a world where the divinity is needed. You shall be blessed with my power and become an avatar of redemption in that world." At this her tone lowered, becoming more serious. "This world is in need of one who can redeem them, Naegi Makoto-kun. Your friends, I am serious about them needing to be saved."

The lucky, young man went quiet, listening to her words intently. "Though you may not believe that they deserve their deaths, that doesn't mean that they believe the same." His eyes shot open at her statement. "Each one of your friends believe that they are in that world to repent in one way or another. It's a dangerous world, one where violence and deception is commonplace; and each one of your friends believe that they are there due to their actions in the killing game. Whether as punishment for their sins or as just the next step in their life, they have tied themselves to that world believing they are receiving their just desserts. When they die there, they will belong to that world from that moment forward and will be forgotten in yours. Do you understand what I'm saying, Naegi Makoto-kun?"

Makoto felt his knees shaking, his legs gave out under him as he fell back to his seat. He understood what the goddess was saying. The thought gnawed on his heart. He carried the thoughts of his friends with him everywhere and it was with them that he was able to do what he did. This revelation, the fact that they believed themselves deserving of an unjust punishment, it's just too cruel! And, to be forgotten all together...

The luckster clenched his shaking hands. He understood what he had to do. He stood, his stance now fully confident and upright, as if he were a valiant knight standing up to an imposing tyrant hellbent ending his life. His eyes shined brightly, the fires of the Ultimate Hope gleaming like miniature suns. Clementia was taken aback at the sight.

"I accept your offer! To save my friends from an unjust fate, I'll do whatever it takes!" Makoto's words carried so much conviction, so much hope. They were said so resolutely that the goddess could feel herself completely believing in him. She could feel the power in his voice. Her form trembled with excitement.

"Such confidence..! Just as I expected from the Ultimate Hope!" The goddess hopped and twirled again. The contract now had the signature of Makoto and her staff glowed brightly. Her form shimmered as faint bits of light began pouring from her back.

"I, Clementia, accept thou's conviction and strength of heart to transform thyself to an avatar of the divine." The goddess's voice reverbs as her form glows even brighter. "Rise with joy and hope in thine heart as a Champion of Redemption!"

There was a bright flash of light before Makoto found himself alone once again. Though his surroundings changed somewhat. The pond before him was filled with a shimmering liquid that gave a subtle glow. He was given no warning before a voice sounded in his head.

"This will be the last you hear or see of me for a while, Naegi Makoto-kun." He jumped at the suddenness of the voice. "Now step into the pond mine Champion. You will find yourselves in your new world soon." At that, all went silent once again.

Makoto stood for a moment before he moved. As he began to take his first steps into the pond, the reflection in its surface caught his eye. In it, he saw himself dressed in gleaming knight's armor. His eyes were hardened and showed his conviction yet held a certain softness in them that showed empathy. His face and body was that of an veteran that had been to war several times yet stayed strong and held to his spirit.

The reflection eventually broke as Makoto stepped deeper and deeper into the water. As he fully submerged, he lost his footing from the ground and lost control. Despite that, he didn't feel as if he were drowning. In fact, he didn't feel any sort of sensation at all. As his eyes began to close, he held onto his hope. His hope to save them. His hope for a better future for them. His hope to bring them redemption.

'There is no hope left in this world. When you sleep, it's on a bed of despair. The world is in despair. You are in despair.'

'If I don't do something, everyone's gonna be consumed by despair...!

You claim there's no hope left in the world. But if despair is contagious like you say…

...then so is hope! I'll use my own hope to plant the seeds of hope within everyone else!

As long as there is hope, we'll never give up!'