~ Endgame ~
A Requiem of Dreams
Only thing I can imagine,
Living with all my voice,
I'll admit that I may not be strongest,
Torn up into the darkness, been there so many times,
Now I know how to rise back up.
Confronted with an enemy seemingly forged from darkness itself, Celia's first thought was one of light. Her stylus darted before her, sketching a sun. A sphere of the purest, most brilliant light, inspired by the column that had shined down upon Faith during his transformation, came into being. Responding to Celia's will, it soared forth, slamming into the Noise with a tingling sound.
The Noise staggered soundlessly, then retaliated by thrusting one tainted palm forward. Four heavy black chains exploded outwards, soaring unerringly at Celia. She tried to dodge aside, but they followed her, wrapping around her and binding her limbs tightly together.
Celia struggled in vain, trying to break the unyielding chains. Finally, recognizing that her efforts were futile, she looked up at Tenebrae, unsure of what to expect.
The Noise's extended palm flared blue, and a torrent of water roared towards his seemingly helpless victim, consuming the first chain.
With a thought, Celia called to her stylus once more, sending it into a rough circle and interposing a frozen barrier between her and her attacker. The magical stream splashed off the shield, showering the young artist with seemingly harmless droplets of water.
Tenebrae's hand then flashed violet, and lightning surged through a second chain, dissolving the chain as it went and arcing around Celia's barrier. Before Celia could react, a powerful jolt ran through her.
A red flash, and the third chain burst into flames. Disoriented and unable to sketch something in time to stop the flames, Celia reached out to her teleportation pin, disappearing and reappearing on the other side of her enemy. To her horror, the remaining two chains had followed her, and the flames caught up a second later, devouring the rest of the chain and shrouding her in blistering heat.
Imagining a sudden downpour, Celia set her stylus to work, and a gush of water descended upon her, dousing the flames. Through the deluge, Celia then saw a green flash. Not knowing how else to defend herself, she teleported herself again, moving back to her original position. From there, she watched an avalanche of heavy boulders roll past where she had been standing moments ago, and breathed out a sigh of relief.
But her relief did not last long. Tenebrae was already moving again, holding both of his arms out to his sides, palms facing upward. He tilted his head up towards the sky.
Six pins erupted from the ground around him, leaving a web of cracks in their wake. Each pin then projected a sphere of colored light outwards, forming an irregular ring around Tenebrae, wide enough to encompass Celia as well. The six spheres began rotating around the Noise at varying speeds, and they seemed offset just enough so that they would not collide with one another.
With the six darklit planets in play, Tenebrae turned his attention to his opponent once more.
Blake stared calculatingly at Lumen, waiting for his opponent to make the first move.
Lumen stood similarly still for several seconds, then twirled both of his batons casually, folding his arms into a defense cross ahead of him so that one baton rested beneath each of his arms.
Then, in a blink of an eye, he had rushed up to Blake, snapping both batons outward. Blake tried to teleport himself away, but both batons slammed into his gut before his psych could take hold of him. He reappeared behind Lumen, clutching his belly in pain.
In a flash, Lumen was upon Blake once more, swinging his batons in a relentless flurry.
Again, Blake tried to teleport himself out of Lumen's reach. Again, the savage Noise arrived by his side just as he reoriented himself, and the sun-like sigils atop of the batons slammed into him from seemingly every direction at once.
Realizing that teleportation offered him no escape, Blake went on the offensive instead, desperately firing off magical lances at random. His luck proved exceptional, and three of the five lances he tossed slammed into his attacker, who staggered away, reeling from the powerful blows.
Brushing the pain away, Blake quickly activated another psych. A massive axe materialized, swinging overhead and descending heavily on Lumen.
Lumen's batons snapped up in a protective cross, catching Blake's axe with remarkable ease. There was a brief pulse of light, and then the glow surrounding the Noise seemed to intensify just slightly.
"Only a jump away," Lumen pronounced gravely.
The Noise leapt back, twirling gracefully in the air with both of his batons outstretched. The head of each baton flashed, and the light seemed to shoot straight up and down, forming thin, scintillating beams. The two beams darted outward, tracing a seemingly random pattern on the ground as the followed curved, unpredictable paths.
One of the beams seemed to home in on Blake. He tried to sidestep it at the last moment, but guessed poorly, for the beam unfortunately moved in the same direction. It slammed straight into him, exploding forcefully in a shower of golden flames.
Blake reflexively teleported himself away, disappearing a fraction of a second before Lumen dashed up to where he had been standing. The Noise chopped wildly with both batons, hitting only air. There was another blinding flash, and two more beams appeared, swirling across the ground and turning to rush towards Blake's new position.
As the beams neared him, Blake dove aside once more, firing off another barrage as he went. Lumen's light beams missed this time, and Blake's projectiles sailed past them, striking the Noise squarely on the chest and leaving a series of prominent scorch marks.
Lumen recoiled when struck, but recovered quickly, flipping both of his batons in full arcs. Two more light beams shot outward, and this time, Blake teleport himself away from the beams.
When Blake reoriented himself, he found that the light surrounding the Noise had grown brighter yet again. "Only a skip away," Lumen declared.
Before Tenebrae could strike again, a trio of meteors slammed into him, sending him reeling. Celia's stylus remained in motion, following the three molten projectiles with another scintillating burst of light.
Heavy black chains shot forth, silhouetted by the fast-fading light, but Celia was quick to teleport herself out of reach. Her stylus sped back towards her, and the comfortable grip of her bow fell into her hands. Sizzling streaks of electric-blue lightning burst forth, one after another, drilling into the shadowy Noise.
The largest of the six spheres, pale with light brown swirls, seemed to flicker. That was the only warning Celia received before jagged monochrome lightning erupted from somewhere behind Tenebrae, firing back her way. Before she even realized what was happening, the bolt reached and pierced through her, leaving her numb and twitching uncontrollably.
A different sphere flickered, and large gray bubbles appeared around Tenebrae. The Noise charged at Celia, and the bubbles followed, orbiting him eerily.
Celia had lost her bow in her moment of distraction, and knew she did not have the time to redraw it. Instead, she invoked Lightning Rook directly, sending forth another bolt of lightning to stun Tenebrae and pop the bubbles surrounding him. She began drawing again, too, reimagining the continuing snowfall as a shower of scorching flames.
The large sphere with swirling brown patterns flashed again, and this time, Celia knew what to expect. She teleported herself away again, narrowly avoiding another wave of black lightning, then completed her sketch. A flaming swirl appeared above them, setting the falling flakes of snow ablaze. Celia then brought her stylus back to her side, drawing a silvery, egg-shaped shell around herself.
At first, Tenebrae appeared to be in pain, writhing and twisting as smoldering embers rained down upon him. Then another of the orbiting spheres flashed, and a translucent gray barrier appeared around the Noise. Shadows churned and roiled within the barrier, erasing the burn marks left by Celia's meteors, arrows, and firestorm.
The flaming swirl above vanished, and the snowfall resumed once more. Tenebrae lowered his barrier, and to Celia's horror, the Noise seemed to be in perfect condition once more.
Black lightning flashed across the zone again, blasting Celia off her feet. Trembling and unsure of what else to do, Celia raised Lightning Rook and fired again, missing quite badly. More monochrome lightning soared her way, stinging her painfully as it played out violently across her quivering form.
Celia knew she couldn't keep trading blows with the powerful Noise when her psychs were unable to inflict any lasting harm. Weakened by Tenebrae's lightning and barely able to move, Celia willed her stylus back to her side, renewed her egg-shaped shield.
A second later, a sizzling gray inferno appeared in front of her, seemingly out of thin air. The magical flames then surged towards Celia, trying to push through her defenses. Celia's barrier held, though, and safely behind it, Celia went to work once more, trying to imagine something strong enough to overpower her seemingly insurmountable foe.
Her stylus began tracing an outline of itself, which became a duplicate that drifted up to merge with the original. It continued drawing, and with each copy of itself that it made and absorbed, it become blurrier and denser. Its lines, too, became blurred, and the newer images of itself seemed to become less and less defined.
A crack appeared in Celia's shield as it finally began to wear thin, and wisps of gray fire began leaking through. Celia teleported herself away immediately, needing to buy just a few more seconds. When she reappeared and felt herself being drawn towards her stylus, she knew her plan was working. Her stylus had become a simple black mark, so dense that it seemed to draw in all light from around it. It tugged at Tenebrae and his psychs, too, for the Noise appeared to be trying to resist the stylus's pull, and his next arc of lightning curved towards the stylus, missing its mark.
Celia willed her stylus to plunge downward. The stylus jabbed straight down, punching through the snow and the grass and soil below. The whole world began trembling, leaving both Celia and her opponent off balance. Celia then teleported herself further back, a split second before the stylus exploded into a hungering vortex.
Time itself seemed to slow as the black hole seized Tenebrae. The Noise tried to pull away, but to no avail, for the psych proved irresistible, dragging him inwards towards absolute darkness.
"Quit your rambling!" Blake cried in frustration, unnerved by Lumen's nonsensical comments. The teen gestured with one of his pins, and his axe rematerialized at his side.
Blake knew the blow wouldn't connect, and even as Lumen shifted both of his batons to block the summoned weapon, Blake was already firing again with his other pin. Magical lances hammered into Lumen, tearing further at the Noise's formerly-pristine robe.
The mysterious glow surrounding Lumen seemed to dampen the impact this time, and the Noise barely seemed to flinch before launching himself forward in another devastating attack routine. His batons now seemed to flash with every strike, sending searing pillars of light spilling forth one after another as Blake scrambled to stay clear.
Blake was forced to teleport away a moment later when Lumen caught up, only narrowly avoiding a blow aimed straight for his head. Unfortunately, he reappeared directly in the path of one of Lumen's beams. Before he could correct his mistake, the pillars slammed into him, blasting him from his feet. Even before he hit the ground, a second beam struck him, and then a third, hurling him through the air to crash painfully upon the frozen lawn.
"Only a hop away," came Lumen's unshakably calm voice.
"Shut… up!" Blake screamed, shrugging his dazed stupor away and flipping himself lightly back onto his feet. He thrust both fists forward, one pin held in each.
Silvery-blue chains erupted from the ground around Lumen, seizing and pinning the powerful Noise. Then, a swarm of magical lances appeared around Blake. With a thought, Blake sent his projectiles shooting forward, channeling his rage and frustration into what he hoped was a lethal bombardment. Raw, azure energy spilled forth as, one after another, his lances hit their mark. The air itself began to vibrate uncontrollably, then the cerulean light exploded outward, engulfing Lumen whole.
Then the light faded, and though Lumen looked battered and torn, he seemed far from beaten. The Noise braced himself defensively, his movements remaining fluid despite the countless scratches and tears across his form. Then he spun forcefully, and this time, a gentle trail of light followed the head of each baton. The silvery lines sharpened, then spiraled outwards. One lashed out like a whip, striking Blake in the face and throwing him back to the ground, leaving a bloody gash on his cheek.
Blake's head lolled to the side as he tried to reorient himself.
Then Lumen was standing right beside him, and Blake felt the Noise's two batons pounding forcefully at him. He heard a loud crack and felt a sharp sting of pain as one of the batons slammed viciously into his chest.
Though it hurt him just to move, Blake reached for another of his pins, knowing that he had to get out of the Noise's reach. He teleported himself away once more, hoping to land clear of the Noise's devastating light beams.
Behind him, Lumen continued playing out his fury, chopping and slashing wildly at nothing in particular, sending pillars of light cascading outwards in every direction. Blake had less than a second to catch his breath before he was forced to start running once more, desperately trying to avoid the relentless barrage.
Lumen came to an abrupt stop, bracing himself suddenly, and Blake almost missed the telltale sign. The teen threw himself to the ground, ignoring the agonizing burn in his chest. The pain grew tenfold when he landed, and he knew then that at the very least, he had broken a rib.
Silvery cords lashed outward again, spiraling harmlessly over Blake.
Unwilling to give in to despair, Blake forced himself to his feet yet again, and stared into the darkness beneath Lumen's hood. He took some solace in the fact that his opponent looked at least as haggard as he felt.
But despite the many visible wounds the Noise bore, Lumen's voice remained as unwaveringly calm as ever. "Only a step away," he said, the words rolling smoothly off his tongue and hitting impossibly clear notes.
The light around Lumen flared up, now shining so brightly that Blake could barely make out the Noise's silhouette.
The spiraling vortex faded away, and Celia's sleek black stylus returned to normal, soaring back to her side.
Tenebrae slumped back, barely recognizable. It looked as if the force of Celia's psych had dragged at the Noise from every direction imaginable, twisting and distorting him as if he were made of clay. Points jutted out randomly from his coat, and his head had been crushed into an irregular, angular shape, leaving his glowing red eyes uneven. Half of his right wing had been torn away entirely, and what remained was a bent, useless mess of swirling darkness.
An orbiting sphere flashed, and a shielding sphere formed around Tenebrae.
"No!" Celia cried. Heeding her desperate call, her stylus shot towards her, and her bow reappeared at her side. Lightning arrows sizzled forward, slamming into the resilient barrier in quick succession, but they were unable to reach the Noise within.
The dark shadows churned within the sphere, and right before Celia's eyes, Tenebrae began mending himself once more. When the barrier finally disappeared, Celia's opponent looked fully unharmed.
Black flames roared hungrily through the air, forming a serpentine pattern and plunging down at Celia from above. The young artist countered immediately, and the flames splashed harmlessly against a silvery kite shield. She then presented the shield in front of her, just in time to stop a stream of black lightning.
Then another of the orbiting spheres became active for the first time, and crackling orbs of dark light sprayed outward from Tenebrae's extended palm. One of them slammed into Celia's shield, shattering it neatly in two, and Celia only barely had time to teleport herself away before the others connected.
Tenebrae spun to face her, and another of the spheres flashed. Celia felt the ground at her feet growing even colder, and scramble aside just before an icy spear erupted from the ground where she had been standing.
Celia began to run, and intricate, jagged icicles continued shooting up into the sky in her wake. The freezing projectiles each soared up about thirty feet before exploding, showering both Celia and Tenebrae with stinging sleet.
Out of the corner of her eye, Celia saw the largest sphere flash again. She turned sharply, crouching as she came to a stop. Tenebrae's next bolt of lightning missed her by less an inch, flashing straight in front of her. She countered with a lightning bolt of her own. Then, simply because she wasn't what else she could do, she hurled another flurry of meteors at the Noise.
More black orbs of crackling energy spun Celia's way, and then another flickering gray spiral of flames burst from the ground around her feet. The flames clipped her legs as she leapt aside, but she fought past the pain, finishing her drawing of a chasm at Tenebrae's feet.
Tenebrae simply spread his wings and took to the air, and with that, Celia knew she was out of options. Perhaps there was more she could have imagined, but Faith's Noise just seemed ready to accept anything she could dish out at him and more.
More an act of defiance than anything, Celia began invoking her Lightning Rook pin repeatedly, blasting away. Tenebrae hung there motionlessly, suspended in midair, accepting the blows without response. Finally, Celia's arm slumped down to her side. She looked up at her foe in despair, wondering why the Noise had stopped retaliating.
Then she noticed that the six orbiting spheres were all approaching a direct line behind Tenebrae. Michael's warning about the darklit planets echoed in her mind as she watched the spheres reach perfect alignment behind the dark Noise she battled.
Blake stared defiantly into the light, refusing to look away. He could no longer even really make out the shape of Lumen's hood, but somehow, he knew Lumen was staring back at him, too. Blake knew that he should be attacking or preparing to move aside, but all rational thinking had long since flown by. If he had to be honest with himself, Blake knew there was no way he could outlast his opponent.
But after all the years he had spent lying to himself, what was one more lie?
"Come on, Faith! Don't tell me you're too tired to fight on," Blake jeered breathlessly, trying his best to ignore the countless bruises and cuts he had sustained. As he spoke aloud, the festering wound in his chest sent a burning shock running through him, and he winced painfully.
Lumen only stood there, silent and unwavering.
"Damn you!" Blake spat. "Quit mocking me and fight, you bastard!" He thrust one hand forward, ignoring his body's protests, and a stream of sapphire energy flurried forward, too unfocused to form any true shapes.
The half-formed psych splashed harmlessly against Lumen's illuminated form. The shielded Noise didn't even flinch, and only continued staring into Blake impassively.
"Damn you!" Blake cried again, calling for his axe. The mighty weapon swung down at Lumen, who did not even move to block it. The blade struck where the Noise's head should have been, then promptly dissolved into fine, golden sand.
Losing what little composure he had left, Blake let out an angry, incoherent scream, and continued his onslaught, alternating between his two psychs. He even tried to bind his foe with more silvery-blue chains, simply for good measure.
But try as he might, none of his psychs could penetrate the Noise's divine, impregnable light.
Then a voice came from within the light, not the high, otherworldly voice of Lumen, but the natural, gentle, sympathetic voice of Faith. "It's over, Daniels. You cannot overcome even a mote of the Garden's luminescence."
"Shut up!" Blake ordered furiously, blasting away. When his psychs failed him yet again, he went for his newest pin instead. "Three point one four one five nine two six five!" he chanted. A wave of energy exploded out from the Conductor's pin, and like Blake's own psychs, it seemed to have no effect.
A ray of light curved and swirled outward, forming a whip and swaying hypnotically. In his weary state, Blake could only stare at it, entranced, until it struck him painfully on the wrist. He dropped the black-and-white pin Celia had given him, and the tendril of light caught it, pulling it to Lumen's waiting grasp.
Again, the Noise began speaking in Faith's mostly unaltered voice. "That was very bold of you," he remarked lightly. "I've never seen anyone asides from Minamimoto attempt a Level i Flare. Bold, but unfortunately quite feeble."
Blake only stared at the Noise angrily, unable to find the words for another bitter retort.
"You know, I've always wanted to try this pin out myself," Lumen continued conversationally. "Now seems to be as good a time as any." With that said, the Noise began to chant a stream of numbers himself. "Three point one four one five nine two six five three five eight nine seven nine three two three eight four six two six four three three eight three two seven nine five zero…"
The pin flashed brightly, a momentary prick of light that just barely outshone Lumen's radiant aura.
A storm of raw energy spilled outwards, and before Blake realized what was happening, it felt as if his entire body had burst into flames. The air rushed by, and he felt like he was flying, falling, or perhaps a bit of both.
Then, as suddenly as it began, it was over. Blake found himself lying limp on the snow, nearly forty feet away where he had been standing. He couldn't really feel anything at all: not the pain, not the cold, not even his own limbs. All he wanted then was to escape, to close his eyes and sleep.
But that, Blake knew he could not do. "It's not over," he rasped, mustering every ounce of strength remaining to him and finding his voice once more. "It's not over!" he repeated loudly.
"No, it isn't," his opponent agreed. "Another twenty digits and it probably would've been, though. Tack another fifty digits onto that, and I probably would've blasted myself in the process, too. Leave it to Minamimoto to create the most suicidal pin the Underground has ever known, I suppose."
Blake took a deep breath, realizing that he was beginning to regain feeling in his limbs. He rolled sloppily over onto his side, and clumsily pushed himself up into a kneeling position.
Lumen watched him rise, then spoke again, the unearthly, inhuman tone returning to his voice. "And so we arrive upon Eden's doorstep," he said, his serene, seemingly nonsensical words filling Blake with dread.
As he had done to summon the six darklit planets, Tenebrae spread his arms wide, looking up to the sky. Behind him, the six planets held their position for a moment longer, remaining in a perfect line. Then they rotated along a new, perpendicular axis, until they formed a vertical line directly above Tenebrae. All six planets flashed at once.
A sense of growing apprehension plagued Celia, and she began firing wildly, throwing everything she could imagine at her Noise opponent. Boulders, meteors, clumps of ice and snow, cars, and even a painter's easel went flying out from her stylus, punctuated by bolts of lightning, but Tenebrae's barrier had reappeared, effortlessly defeating all of her psychs.
Celia's stylus then darted forward, drawing another layer around Tenebrae's barrier. It solidified into a cement box as the young artist tried to sever the connection between the Noise and the six darklit planets above.
Then, for the first time, Tenebrae spoke, and upon hearing the Noise's voice, Celia could no longer believe that even a sliver of the man who had been her friend remained in the twisted demonic creature before her. Tenebrae's gravelly, rasping voice sounded nothing like Faith's. It did not even sound remotely human. Each word seemed to have been violently torn from the Noise's cursed lips, echoed by a powerful, discordant rumbling.
"Be eclipsed by the darklit celestials aligned."
The shadow of the six darklit planets began to spread. Celia turned to run, but it felt as if she were treading on air, unable to escape the encroaching shadow. She called to her stylus to grant her wings once more, but even then, it felt as if she were moving in place.
The darkness crept up behind her, swallowing her whole and stealing the light from around her, until all she could see was Tenebrae himself.
A single droplet of water twirled around the Noise, shining impossibly bright, rekindling Celia's hopes. It soared towards her, elongating into a single, icy feather. That feather multiplied into hundreds, then thousands, forming a protective sphere, her only defense from the crushing darkness.
Lumen seemed to absorb the light around him, and although he remained too bright for Blake to make out his features, his silhouette became more defined. The angelic Noise crossed his arms imperiously, and his now-golden wings flapped gently behind him, lifting him up into the air.
When Lumen next spoke, his words resonated with power, echoing powerfully as if a hundred beings were speaking in the same smooth, melodic voice.
"Fade into the light of the Paradise lost."
Mysterious clouds rose from the ground, as if to cage Blake in. Then light shone outwards from Lumen, reflecting off the clouds in the many vivid autumn hues of the setting sun. Small orbs of light began cascading down from the sky like falling stars, shattering against the frost-covered grass and leaving pools of light where they fell.
Though every movement pained him, Blake began scrambling left and right to avoid the beautiful, yet terrifying storm. His eyes stung as the sky grew brighter and brighter, and at last, he tore his gaze away from the sky, curling up in the corner in hopes that the falling light would not strike him. But by then, the ground itself had been consumed, too, becoming little more than a shining, featureless plane of light.
Light and darkness alike faded, leaving Celia and Blake lying upon the tranquil frozen meadow. The unscathed layers of snow covering the meadow and the nearby sidewalks gave the clear summer night a tranquil, wintery feel.
Celia struggled to push herself into a sitting position, crushing a few frosty feathers beneath her palms as if they were made of soft snow. She looked up to see Tenebrae and Lumen standing side by side.
The two Noise turned to face each other and seemed to step into one another. Light and darkness melded together, then Faith stood before her once more. He met Celia's gaze dispassionately, but there was a trace of tenderness and remorse in his eyes. "Are we finished?" he asked quietly.
As much as to avoid looking at Faith as out of concern for her partner, Celia glanced at Blake, who seemed only barely conscious. Fighting on was certainly out of the question; she wasn't even sure how much longer the teen would survive.
"I'm not going to erase you," Faith said reassuringly. "In fact… here."
Celia flinched as a translucent gray sphere materialized around her. As shadows began swirling soothingly around her, she caught a glimpse of a similar barrier appearing around Blake. Then Faith's psych took hold of her, and she was blinded to the world beyond the sphere. Her wounds mended, and any lingering pain disappeared. Her fatigue began to fade, too, as if she had just awakened from a long night's rest.
When the barriers disappeared, Celia found herself feeling alert and thoroughly rejuvenated. Beside her, Blake rose to his feet. He, too, seemed to have made a full recovery. "You may as well erase us," Blake said bitterly. "I'm not playing your game again, and I won't be a Reaper. I won't be like you. I bet Celia's thinking the same thing."
"Celia doesn't know what to think right now," Faith said somberly.
Celia opened her mouth to protest, but her words died in her throat. Faith was right, she knew. She didn't know what to think – or what to believe – anymore.
"We'll call our first battle here a draw," Faith went on. "Only thirty minutes remain. You two should have little trouble surviving the rest of the night."
As he stepped up to the waterside, he reached into his coat for a pin. Several hundred feet away, the water's surface began to churn softly. Giant branches of ice covered in crystallized, frosted leaves sprouted from the calm tides, stretching high into the sky. The tree's massive trunk, at least fifty feet in diameter, followed close behind.
Winter's Hollow had come to life.
"Celia… please don't follow me," Faith said. He hopped down towards the waters below, which froze to catch him as he fell. He then began casually striding across the water's surface, leaving an icy trail as he went, a walkway leading straight towards the roots of the frozen tree.
As he watched Faith slowly shrink in the distance, Blake shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, Celia," he apologized, in barely more than a whisper. "I shouldn't have attacked him. I know you still had things you wanted to say to him. I just… I was so angry. The way he stood there, lying straight to our faces, jerking you around after everything you've been through… I couldn't stand it. I wanted to punch the bastard in the face."
"It's okay," Celia said forgivingly. "I kind of wanted to hit him, too. I'm sure he has his reasons, but I'm tired of him keeping me in the dark. He wasn't lying to us, though."
Blake looked at her incredulously. Then he turned away and sighed. "You still trust him, don't you?" he said in a resigned tone.
"Mm-hmm," Celia answered peacefully. She watched silently as Faith reached the frozen tree and began scaling the branches, agilely moving along them towards the front. Then he disappeared from view, and though Celia could not see the front of the tree from where she was standing, she knew her friend was resting there, waiting for the Game to end.
A powerful longing filled the young artist, and she yearned to be there, too, standing within her creation beside the one hope she still clung to.
"Sorry, Faith," Celia whispered. "But the world ends with me."
Blake overheard her, and turned to her in shock. "Celia, you aren't really thinking about going after him, are you?" he asked fearfully, clearly still shaken by their battle against the powerful Game Master.
But unlike Blake, Celia wasn't the least bit scared. "I stopped thinking rationally a while ago, I think," Celia admitted.
"We can't defeat him," Blake reminded her despairingly.
"I don't intend to defeat him, or even fight him," Celia replied. "I still just want to talk to him."
"And what if he refuses to talk to you until the Game is over?" Blake pointed out.
"Then I'll stay with him and wait for the Game to be over," Celia answered simply. She turned to her partner, smiling. "Thank you, Blake."
Something in her tone sat poorly with Blake, leaving him feeling quite uneasy. "For what?" he asked cautiously.
"When I became your partner, I didn't really give it much thought," Celia explained. "I was afraid to fade away. I wanted to live again, and I was ready to do just about anything to make that happen. Then things turned rough, and I think I nearly gave in."
Blake swallowed uncomfortably. "It was my fault things turned rough," he argued. "Just like it was my fault you were here to begin with."
"But you changed, Blake," Celia said. "You tried to make yourself better, for my sake. Even though we didn't quite get along, you offered me hope when I needed it most. You were so determined to help me and to be the best partner for me that you could be."
Blake shook his head shamefully. "I killed you, Celia. Trying to help you win your life back was the least I could do," he insisted. "You don't need to thank me. You shouldn't even be forgiving me for what I've done."
"You don't need me to forgive you. You need to forgive yourself," Celia replied. "Faith said I won't be this game's winner, but you might still be. You might still get another chance for yourself, and I really hope you do."
"No way," Blake immediately disagreed. "I don't deserve to live again, and even if the Reapers make me the winner, I won't let them bring me back to life. I'll make them bring you back instead."
"Somehow, I don't think that's really an option," Celia said, smiling faintly. "Blake, if you win, and if the Reapers offer you a second chance to live again, please accept it. I know you believe that you already messed up your life, but you can still fix it. Try to make things right with your friends and family. Keep chasing your dreams, find yourself new ones if you have to."
"But…" Blake tried to interrupt.
"I don't believe for a second that you're really good for nothing," Celia said, cutting him off. "You helped me survive this week. You solved most of the riddles the Reapers left for us. You were the one who realized something was wrong with Graham. You're smarter than you give yourself credit for, Blake."
Blake fell silent and looked down at his own feet.
"Please, Blake," Celia said. "Promise me that if the Reapers grant you a second chance, you'll try to make the most of it."
"Have you really forgiven me so easily?" Blake asked, tears welling up in his eyes.
Celia grinned shakily. "I don't know. Ask me again tomorrow," she said.
"That's not funny," Blake protested weakly, though a reluctant smile tugged at his lips, too.
"Thank you, Blake. Thank you for being my partner, for trying to become a better person for my sake, and for all the time you've spent looking out for me," Celia said again. "Thank you, and… goodbye." Her mind reached out for her stylus pin and she went to work, imagining swirling golden loops and strands.
"Goodbye?" Blake asked blankly. "What do you mean?"
"I can't ask you to come with me," Celia explained. Her sketch finished, and golden chains appeared above her and Blake both, falling over them weightlessly and shackling them together. "I still trust Faith, but if this is a mistake and I wind up getting myself erased, I don't want to take you with me."
Celia's stylus spiraled downward, slashing through the chains. The links broke apart with a sound akin to shattering glass, and Celia knew at once that her plan had worked; she could no longer sense Blake's presence at all.
"W-What did you just do?" Blake demanded, horrified.
"I broke our pact," Celia explained calmly. "Take care of yourself, okay? Maybe we'll see each other again someday."
"Don't! This is crazy!" Blake protested, and Celia felt her former partner reaching out to her, trying to reestablish their pact.
"Goodbye," Celia said again. Feeling strangely light and free, Celia rushed to the water's edge, leaping down to the icy walkway. As soon as she set foot upon the ice, it began to melt. She began to run, and the icy trail continued to melt in her wake, lasting only long enough to guide her to where she so desperately yearned to be.
After what felt like an eternity, Celia found herself standing just a few feet away from tree's grand hollow. Faith sat at the edge, his legs dangling over the tree's sturdy roots and his gaze fixed upon the distant city lights of Seattle. Celia then glanced down at her timer and saw that, to her surprise, less than ten minutes had passed since she had left Blake's side.
"Faith," Celia called.
Faith climbed to his feet and turned to look at her, wearing a bittersweet smile. He did not seem the least bit surprised to see her again. "Hello, Celia," he said.
Celia crossed the last few branches, shivering slightly when she felt the wind's cool, gentle caress. Faith met her as she neared the hollow, offering her his hand for the last, precarious step.
"Here," Faith said, removing his coat and gingerly draping it over Celia's shoulders.
"Thanks," Celia said gratefully.
Faith returned to his seat, and Celia followed, sitting down beside him and leaning against his shoulder.
"Where's your partner?" Faith asked quietly.
"I don't have one right now," Celia replied. "I ended my pact with Blake."
Faith gave her an odd look. "How? Players cannot break their own pacts," he said.
Celia shrugged. "I don't know for sure. I just remembered when you broke my pact with him, and tried to do the same thing," she said. "And then our pact was gone."
Faith shook his head in disbelief. "You never cease to surprise me, C," he said, impressed.
"Why, thank you. You can be rather surprising yourself, you know. I never thought I'd see a blizzard in the middle of July," Celia teased.
"But breaking your pact with your partner was foolish," Faith berated her. "There's still fifteen minutes left in this game, and you've left both you and your former partner defenseless."
"You sent Jason on his way without a partner," Celia reminded. "If he's safe from the Noise and the Reapers, Blake should be, too."
"And what about you?" Faith asked.
"I'm here with you," Celia replied.
"I am the Game Master. I am your opponent," Faith reminded.
In answer, Celia grasped Faith's hand tightly. Her stylus appeared and quickly drew a chain around her and Faith. Faith seemed to resist at first, but he relented quickly. When her drawn chains vanished, Celia could sense Faith's vibrant presence once again. "You're also my friend. Now you're my partner, too," Celia said lightly, trying to hide the giddy feeling that had come over her. "You'll keep me safe, won't you?"
Faith sighed helplessly. "I'll try," he agreed. "I've been trying, really, but you seem determined to make keeping it as difficult as possible."
"Sorry," Celia apologized with a sheepish giggle.
"It's not your fault," Faith said, backtracking hastily. "The world is what it is."
"Are you going to tell me what it is?" Celia asked hopefully.
Faith shook his head slowly. "I can't. Please believe me, Celia. I wish I could have told you everything from the start, but there are…"
"Rules, I know," Celia said understandingly. "It's okay. I believe you, Faith. I still trust you."
"We're almost there, Celia. The Game is almost over. Once it is, I'll tell you everything you want to know," Faith promised.
Celia's contented smile faded. "Faith, what will happen to me once the Game is over?" she asked, dreading the answer. "Can you tell me that, at least?"
Faith pondered her question carefully. "Yes and no," he finally admitted. "You will have to make a decision. No one, not even I, can tell you what your decision should be, let alone make it for you."
One by one, the options Jason had mentioned earlier echoed in Celia's mind. Erasure. Playing the Reapers' Game again. Becoming a Reaper. Celia thought of Blake, then, remembering her final words to the teen. Then she thought of herself, recalling one of her earlier conversations with Faith.
"What is it, C?" Faith asked, noticing Celia's thoughtful expression.
"I was thinking about how much this game has changed Blake, when I realized that it's changed me, too," Celia admitted. "Do you remember asking me once whether I was happy with my life?"
"I do," Faith said, nodding slowly. "Why?"
"I thought I was happy, at the time," Celia explained. "Now, I'm not so sure. I think I was only content because I was afraid of losing what I had. When I first became an artist, I knew it would be a long and difficult road, but it felt like the right thing to do. Then everything began to crumble around me. I changed my work to fit in. I tried to compromise, hoping to keep my dreams alive. I lost sight of what I truly wanted. Then I met you. You were willing to listen to me, not just to what I had to say, but to the thoughts I tried to put into my work. You understood me the way no one else could."
"You give me far too much credit for something so simple. I listened because I wanted to understand you, and I understood you because I listened," Faith said, shaking his head and looking embarrassed. "But, what does that have to do with the Game?"
"Because until I came here, I didn't understand why you were so important to me, Faith," Celia said. "I never noticed how empty my life was while I was alive."
It was Faith's turn to adopt a thoughtful look. "Interesting. You are coming to understand the Reapers' Game on your own," he remarked.
"Not on my own," Celia corrected quietly. "Even though you've been trying to tell me as little as possible, I've been listening to you, trying to understand you, just like you did for me."
"Have you considered scanning me with your Player pin?" Faith asked.
"I thought about it, when I still thought you were a normal, living person," Celia admitted. "But I couldn't do it. It seemed wrong. Intrusive."
"Go ahead and scan me," Faith invited.
"I didn't think Reapers could be scanned," Celia said cautiously.
"Your Player pin doesn't just allow you to scan and imprint. It protects you from scanning and imprinting, too, which is why Players cannot scan or imprint upon each other," Faith explained. "Reapers carry a pin that affords them a similar level of protection, but my pin is a little bit different. You should have little difficulty scanning me."
Unable to resist her curiosity, Celia concentrated upon her Player pin. A steady, bold voice she did not recognize resonated in her mind. The voice seemed full of passion, vigor, conviction, and determination.
"To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…"
"What does it mean?" Celia asked Faith, bewildered.
Faith sighed. "That's who I am," he explained cryptically, rising and moving to stand at the center of the hollow. Behind him, Celia got to her feet, too. "Celia, you said you still trusted me. Did you mean it?"
"I… of course," Celia said, though she suddenly felt as if something was terribly, terribly wrong.
"Then I have a favor to ask of you," Faith said gravely. "I need you to try to erase me."
"W-What!?" Celia gasped.
"Don't hold back," Faith warned, his expression hardening.
For several seconds, Celia could only stare in shock. Then, when it became clear that Faith was not joking, the young artist shook her head vehemently. "No. I'm not going to fight you. I won't try to erase you," she declared.
"You will, or you will be erased yourself," Faith promised coldly.
"Why are you doing this?" Celia whispered, tears springing to her eyes. "What's gotten into you, Faith?"
"I stand between you and your dreams of the future," Faith countered. "Now is the time to choose, Celia. Will you hold fast to your hopes and aspirations, or is this where you surrender them forever?"
"No… Faith, please," Celia begged, her voice barely audible.
A frozen mist began swirling around the Game Master's feet. The flakes of ice slowly drifted upward, wrapping around the Game Master's left hand and extending outward, crystallizing into a shimmering, intricate leaf-bladed sword made purely of ice.
Faith presented his frozen weapon with a graceful flourish. "Please, Celia," he said, a pleading look in his eyes. "Don't give up. Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world."
When Celia did not immediately move, Faith jabbed his sword in her direction. A violent, wintery gale roared towards her, tearing her off her feet and casting her out of the tree's grand hollow. She felt herself falling towards the frigid waters below, and reached desperately for her pins. Moments before hitting the water's surface, she disappeared, reappearing inside the hollow.
Upon her return, Celia felt a great surge of power, and when she saw Faith charging at her, she lashed out reflexively with Lightning Rook, throwing a massive blast of lightning at her attacker. Faith braced himself, and a barrier comprised of small, hexagonal tiles of ice appeared around him, but Celia's lightning crashed straight through. Faith staggered back, grunting in pain.
"Faith! Please, stop!" Celia pleaded.
But Faith said nothing, and only charged again. Desperate to stop him, Celia began sketching a brick wall. Halfway through, her eyes went wide with horror as the surge of power she had felt began fading away. She and Faith were still bound by a pact, she remembered. Now, Faith was using her own strength against her.
Knowing that the wall would not hold, Celia teleported herself away again. She turned in time to see Faith's sword cleaving straight through the wall. In the same, fluid motion, Faith fell into a crouch, spinning to face Celia where she now stood. A sphere of solid ice erupted from his free hand, spinning as it soared across the hollow. Celia dove to the ground just in time, and the projectile slammed into the wall behind her, exploding into countless jagged shards.
Then Celia felt Faith's power reaching her. Fighting back tears, she reached out to her stylus. A wall of crackling flames formed in front of her before rolling forward like a deadly, incinerating wave.
Faith burst through the fire wave, shielded by another of his frozen barriers. His sword flashed forward again. This time, Celia knew she had enough power to defeat the attack, and ordered her stylus to mimic Faith's barrier. Faith's sword slammed into her tiled barrier repeatedly, unable to penetrate.
Celia teleported herself away again as she felt the borrowed power leaving her. She turned in time to see Faith leaping into the air, his sword seemingly taking on a life of its own. The glistening weapon darted forward, stabbing straight through the barrier Celia had left behind. Then Faith and his blade spun in midair, and sped across the room the other way, towards Celia's new position.
Celia dove aside, and felt an inexplicable urge to curl herself up against her limbs. She did so, balancing her weight perfectly so that she could come out of her roll standing. Then, expecting Faith to strike again, she threw herself to the side. Faith zipped overhead once more, then landed lightly on his feet.
Almost immediately, Faith spun and charged once more. Celia threw a bolt of lightning to slow him as she felt her power growing, and called to her stylus. A sword, identical to Faith's, appeared in her hand.
That stopped Faith in his tracks. "Have you ever used a sword before?" he asked, frowning.
Celia took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "Nope," she finally said. "Care to teach me how before you dismember me?" she retorted dryly, hoping to bring her friend to his senses.
"As you wish," Faith agreed, taking no note of her sarcasm. He flipped his sword to his right hand, then charged again, chopping downwards. Celia only barely had time to shift her own blade and intercept the strike. Faith pivoted hard, reversing his momentum and slashing again from the opposite direction.
Somehow, Celia noticed the subtle shift in her opponent's balance, and anticipated the strike. She spun away Faith's blade, then thrust her own sword forward, driving Faith back. Celia felt an odd sensation then, as if an unseen force was reaching out to her, guiding her movements. She leapt forward, launching a series of carefully measured chops and thrusts to put her opponent on the defensive, stopping only when she felt her power waning.
At the first opening, Faith back flipped away, putting himself out of Celia's reach. A barrier formed around him, turning aside Celia's countering lightning bolt. Then Faith allowed his sword to lead him into another series of quick, aerial forward thrusts, dashing back and forth across the hollow as Celia desperately rolled away from each attack.
As Faith's third strike went wide, Celia called to her stylus, renewing the fading lines of her sword. Faith landed a few steps away, and this time, Celia charged him, slashing in a quick, rhythmic pattern. She easily overpowered Faith's attempted parries, ending with a powerful thrust that nearly impaled Faith's shoulder.
With impossible speed, Faith brought his own sword sweeping outward, just barely turning Celia's weapon aside. Then he thrust his free hand forward, and a cloud of frost erupted from his palm, engulfing Celia.
Thinking quickly, Celia willed her stylus back to her, lining herself with gentle, warm flames that easily suppressed the bitter chill. Faith took advantage of her distraction to strike again, but she was already long gone, teleporting herself to the far side of the hollow with a thought.
Celia didn't stay gone, though. She promptly teleported herself back up to Faith, drawing her own form into lightning just before her teleportation psych could take hold. Faith must have been expecting her, for he was already backing away, but Celia was too quick, rushing through him and leaving him momentarily stunned.
Without breaking her stride, Celia pivoted smoothly, turning just as her stylus deposited her bow into her waiting hands. She fired immediately, then shot Faith a second time even as he was reeling from her first shot. Then she fired a third time, only this time, Faith's barrier came back up in time to block it.
Faith's icy barrier exploded almost immediately after deflecting Celia's lightning. Faith surged forward, slicing Celia's bow cleanly in half. Celia's stylus darted in, but before Celia could sketch anything else, Faith spun, slicing the stylus apart with a perfectly-timed reversal.
Celia grabbed for Minamimoto's teleportation pin, but before she could invoke it, Faith slammed into her, knocking the pin from her grasp and dropping her to the ground. Before she could sort out what just happened, she felt a chill from the frozen blade hovering an inch from her neck.
Feeling thoroughly defeated, and not just for having lost their battle, Celia looked up to Faith, bitterly meeting his gaze. "Do it, then," she whispered. "Go on. Erase me, Faith."
Faith only smiled disarmingly and backed away, dismissing his sword. "Even if I wanted to, which I mostly certainly do not, it's too late. Time's up. Congratulations, Celia. You've survived the Reapers' Game."
Celia looked down to her palm, and found that her timer was gone. Strangely, she did not feel relieved or triumphant, or even remotely satisfied.
All she felt was anger.
"What is wrong with you!?" she screamed, hopping to her feet.
Faith had turned away from her, though, and stood again at the edge of the hollow, looking out over the sound towards the sparkling city lights. "I'm sorry, Celia. I needed to know your limits. I never wanted to erase you."
"And you thought I wanted to erase you!?" Celia shrieked, tears streaming down her face.
"Of course not. Pushing you along would have been much easier if you did," Faith said sorrowfully.
The pain and remorse in Faith's tone didn't even register to Celia, who found herself trembling uncontrollably with rage. Hardly even aware of her movements, her fingers closed tightly around her Lightning Rook pin.
A fierce bolt of lightning, greater than any Celia had conjured before, exploded forth. Strands of energy danced out erratically as the devastating bolt shot through the hollow, striking Faith directly in the back.
Then, as if that one psych had drained everything she had to give, Celia slumped to the floor, her anger spent. "Why, Faith?" she whispered pleadingly.
She knew that Faith hadn't truly been trying to erase her. She knew, too, that there had be a reason behind Faith's seemingly incoherent actions, a reason beyond abject cruelty. She just couldn't fathom why he was so determined to leave her in the dark, and why he had made every possible effort to crush her spirits.
"The Game is over, isn't it?" Celia pleaded, pulling herself unsteadily to her feet. "Please, Faith… tell me why." Her eyes settled upon Faith, who still stood unflinchingly at the edge of the hollow. He hadn't moved an inch since he had been struck, nor spoken a word.
Then Celia saw the Space Needle, lit up and standing tall in the distance, peering back at her through the scorched hole she had blasted through Faith's chest.
Celia stared, frozen in disbelief, her eyes widening in horror.
Ever so slowly, Faith turned to face her, acceptance and serenity shining out of his eyes.
"No… no, Faith… no…" Celia whispered, her whole body going numb.
"I can… I can live with this," Faith whispered, as if he were speaking to himself.
Celia shook her head wordlessly. Her throat felt swollen, and she could hardly breathe, let alone give voice to her words.
Golden chains of light appeared around Faith and Celia. Then the chains shattered, and Celia felt her partner's presence leaving her.
Panicked, Celia raced forward, reaching Faith just as he collapsed to his knees.
Faith looked up, meeting Celia's gaze. Then he smiled warmly, and Celia could see the relief in his eyes, relief that brought her no comfort whatsoever. Only then did she find her voice once more. "No! Faith! Stay with me, Faith!" she pleaded.
"It's going to be alright. I promise, C. Everything's going to be alright," Faith whispered.
Wings sprouted from Faith's back, gradually spreading wide. His wings weren't the spiky black wings of a Reaper. Rather, they were comprised of elegant feathers of ice, delicate quills much like the one he had once left upon a memorial at the street side for a departed friend.
Then Faith's wings shattered, and Celia found herself lost amidst a flurry of gentle snow. The storm grew thicker and thicker until her world was fully blanketed in darkness.
Don't you dare try and pull me into your world,
I have myself to follow,
That's who I choose to live for,
I'm not here to be perfect and pretty,
I'd rather be the villain,
As long as I know it's right…
Author's Note:
Lyrics taken from Tatakai, Beat's theme from the iOS remake.