During the time of Ouroboros's imprisonment, the liberated Kevesi Colonies received visits from a Consul.
N to 11; D to 4; C to 9; J to 30.
Colony 15 was a bit of an odd duck, seeing as how its commander was also a Moebius...but his cooperation had been relatively easy to gain.
xxxx
/Time: Chapter 5, during Ouroboros's Imprisonment in Agnus Castle/
/Hargan Point, Erythia Sea, Cadensia Region/
Triton had been lost in thought when the telltale sound of a Moebius warping jolted him out of his reverie. "Hmm?" Looking over his shoulder, he remarked, "Ah, if it ain't good ol' N..."
The Lord High Consul of Keves stared coldly at Triton, his eyes shimmering like ice behind his mask. "Reflecting on your failure, T?"
Triton turned back to his old Ferron, its broken Flame Clock standing out like a sore thumb. "Nah, was just thinkin' about something...not sure what it was, now. Lost me train of thought, no thanks to ye."
"Hmph." N, hand resting on the hilt of his Blade, remarked, "I'm certain you've heard by now of Ouroboros's capture."
"Kinda hard to ignore all the ruckus from that there Prison Camp," he mused, thinking back to the sound of explosions that had echoed from Li Garte; how many days ago had that been, now? "Didn't get no Iris message, either."
"...you have an Iris," dryly observed N.
Triton hummed. That SOUNDS right...did I get a message? He wasn't sure. "Eh, wouldn't be surprised if it's on the fritz, if it's as old as I am..." (The thought that he had simply forgotten the message ironically slipped his mind.)
N simply scoffed. "What a wretched state you've fallen to...regardless, know that Ouroboros will be executed during the upcoming Eclipse, less than a month from now." His hand, clenching onto the hilt of his sword, was impossibly audible. "Whatever foolishness convinced you to throw your lot with them...know that should you step one foot onto the grounds of Agnus Castle, Z's retribution will be unpleasant."
"Ha! If Z is that bothered, he sure hasn't let me know about it." Not that he'd had much cause for teleporting to that musty excuse for a theater, as of late. (Come to think of it, did he remember the precise coordinates...?)
"I can only assume that Z is somehow entertained by your juvenile tantrums," said N. "But entertainment can only go so far; the passage of fate for the next Homecoming has been set in stone. Any attempt at meddling will be punished. Severely." The sheer condescension in his voice was palpable. "Continue your meandering elsewhere however you'd like; Agnus Castle is off-limits until after Homecoming. Ignore this warning to your own eternal detriment."
At N's chilling words, Triton could only chuckle; a stray thought was caught before it could vanish into the depths of his ancient mind. "Gotta say, N...that lad, Noah? His face is certainly more appealing than yours; he can actually smile worth a damn. Ye ever thought about the last time ye smiled because somethin' made you happy?"
CRASH!
Triton grimaced from the sudden impact to his torso; in the blink of an eye, N had smashed the sheath of his Blade across his body, releasing a concussive impact that threw him into the nearby cliffside. The impact of his helmeted head smacking into hard rock rattled his brain.
N, his face set into a hateful sneer, spoke with an icy tone that was as cold as it was vicious. "You speak nonsense, old man. Noah is nothing more than a failure: a wretched example of what happens when you try to rise against Moebius. He will be yet another lesson to all: a lesson about the consequences of trying to fight the very world itself. That fact is set in stone...and it will not change." Turning away, N sounded as one trying not to snarl with disgust. "You have been warned, Consul T." Without another word, he teleported away.
The wizened Moebius grimaced, shaking his head to clear the spots in his vision; only instincts bred from countless years of battle had caused his helm to manifest over his head, right before the moment of impact. As it was, he'd only have to deal with a bruise instead of a bloody gash...if that. "Hah...wonder what it was I said to make him so salty?" All thought of what he had been here for had been knocked away by N's impromptu attack...yet, there was a strange bit of clarity that the pain had imparted. "Hmm." An old streak of mischievousness arose, eliciting a grin from the ancient warrior. "...well, he said not to go to Agnus Castle...he was clear on that," Triton said aloud to himself. "Guess I have no choice but to listen to 'em."
Chuckling to himself, Triton went on a bit of a walk, trying to wrangle the thoughts in his mind into something assembling a coherent plan.
xxxx
It wouldn't be until he witnessed Consul M's encounter with Fiona that Triton would have a clearer direction...but that story's for another time.
Speaking of M: she had volunteered to handle the liberated Agnian Colonies which were most likely to interfere...Mu being the first.
Tau was off-limits, seeing as how Consul U had made it very clear to the other Moebius that they were her 'pets'. There was a certain understanding, implicit amongst their kind, to not interfere with Colonies that were not currently under their aegis. Doing so would have betrayed the fact that M was no longer such, but Mio in disguise.
As for Lambda, Iota, and Gamma? J no longer cared for Isurd's Colony after its Flame Clock had been broken...and Ouroboros had already destroyed E and G, the respective Consuls overseeing Alexandria and Teach. Those three were fair game.
But her warnings for those three were likewise for another time...as something else requires our focus, currently.
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/Captocorn Pass, Captocorn Peak, Aetia Region/
Mio (you're M; you must not be Mio until it's over) stood atop a snowy ridge, gazing upon the distant climes of Aetia and Cadensia.
She had secretly informed Monica and Ghondor about the existence of the Annihilator...and obtained their promise that the Lost Numbers wouldn't interfere at Agnus Castle until after the Homecoming had concluded. (To think that the City was actually bound within a massive Ferronis! No wonder they had avoided Moebius for so long.) She had delivered her warnings to Fiona; to Isurd; to Alexandria; to Teach. She would have to trust in their sense of self-preservation, in their ability to keep a level head.
At last...there was only counting down the days until the Eclipse.
Looking up into the sky, the moon's shape was of a waning gibbous; in less than two weeks would be the new moon...and then the reckoning.
Her attitude of forced detachment was the only reason she hadn't been overwhelmed by the flux of memories that M had carried with her: countless years, treading through the ebb and flow of an unending war...extending mercy here and there, whenever she found the opportunity, if only to remain sane...watching as N slowly but surely descended further and further into his own self-imposed hell, where not even her touch could warm his heart...
(It should have been hard, intellectually speaking; N was literally a past incarnation of Noah, so they were the same...her memories of the man she had come to love should have been tainted.)
(Yet you know that Noah would never have such cold and malicious eyes...you know this, because you're alive.)
Such a dreadful curse, to become a Moebius: to witness and remember the memories of all your past lives...to witness the failure that had culminated in a terrible choice.
(She had always died before Noah. Always. It was an unyielding constant.)
(And now, M is going to die first, once more...leaving N behind. Yet again, the constant endures.)
The wretched agony of it all made her want to scream. Yet she couldn't; the weight of the silver mask upon her face served as a palpable reminder of her current circumstances. M had long become inured to the turmoil in her heart...and therefore, so did Mio.
It was why she didn't flinch when a message came through to her Iris. "N."
"When will you return to Agnus Castle? Your presence as the Prime Consul will be expected," he calmly said, his open face floating in front of a guardrail overlooking Erythia Sea; in the background behind N, she could see the image of the Great Sword in her Iris.
"After a thousand years, these Homecoming events have become tedious." She spoke as one bored, yet with sincere honesty; M had truly become desensitized to the dreadful ceremony of the Homecoming. (After all, it was because of her influence that the first off-seeing ceremony had been done, over a thousand years ago.)
(What irony, that a past version of yourself was the cause of the role you once despised? The role that Miyabi taught you so much about...would it have spread, without you?)
N hummed out of seeming agreement. "Tedious though it may be, it is still necessary. Especially given the current crop that shall be reaped."
Mio forced herself to ignore the striking malice underlying N's words; his utter antipathy towards Ouroboros was palpable...and in light of M's memories, she had a good idea as to why. (She couldn't say so aloud. Not yet. Not yet!) "It is strangely ironic, to see our faces on other people; if only they had learned the lessons we did, their fate might have been better."
"An impossibility, alas; fated to die as they are, they are doomed to perish before they could embrace the truth of this world."
"Indeed," she relented, mentally recoiling from the 'truth' he so fervently believed in. "I feel no need to witness the futility of their struggle. Given their impending execution, there is little point."
N chuckled. "A fair point...but with my other tasks completed, there is nothing left to do but savor every last drop," he said, with an almost maniacal relish. "To remind myself of the reason we chose Moebius...such an opportunity does not come around very often."
Why do you despise yourself so?! Oh, how she wanted to rage at how he enjoyed the torment of her friends and comrades! Why can't you see what's become of you!? "I suppose it doesn't...I will be back before the Eclipse."
N slowly nodded. "I look forward to it."
Just a hint of warmth; a slight trace of affection, left only for her; a damning reminder that N — in whatever delusion he had thrown himself into over so many years — believed he had done all of this for her. Say my name, thought Mio, feeling a strong impulse from a string of memories that had become more and more common to M in recent decades. Say it!
"Good night, M."
"Good night, N," Mio calmly said, as her Iris shut off. Moments later, a single tear leaked out; it immediately froze from the cold, before blowing away into icy flakes. And so it continues...
She let the cold buffet her; it was a soothing balm for her spirit, tamping down the tempest within her heart. It also forced her to listen...there.
From an unknown distance, the sound of a familiar flute could be heard; against all odds, Colony Omega still stood...and so did Miyabi. (M had known this...however, the Consul had not possessed the same connection to Miyabi that she did.)
(You nearly keeled over upon realizing their existence. Wouldn't that have been a swift way of being discovered?)
...hold on Miyabi, prayed Mio within her mind and soul, letting the sad and lonely tune echo through the air. Once this is over...we'll come for you.
xxxx
At last...we turn to N.
xxxx
After...'counseling' Colony 11...N had been present to ensure that Shania was properly connected to the Flame Clock system, along with her cohorts. It was a testament to an eternal truth: those who professed to be outside the flow were not immune to being swept away by its current. Seeing their Ouroboros eyes — a latent symbol of their rebellious heritage — become devoured by the glow of the Flame Clock...was strangely vindicating.
(This world could not exist without Moebius. To go against them was tantamount to suicide.)
(Perhaps they will be spared your pain, if they simply resign themselves to the flow.)
At last...there were less than two weeks until the Eclipse. Until then...he had nothing better to do, but to listen to Ouroboros's futile attempts at escaping.
He must have seemed like an odd specter to the guards, hovering beyond the sight of both cells; he was, however, close enough to hear them strike at the walls and the bars. The uselessness of it all was a balm to his soul. Strike at your prison all you'd like, Noah; you cannot escape your fate. (After all, he certainly hadn't.)
(Had you not become Moebius...you'd be him. And wouldn't that be a wretched fate?)
Every so often, he heard Ouroboros speak to each other; their attempts at whispering were not quiet enough to escape his ears. They sounded so lost, so utterly defeated: knowing that they had no choice but to wait.
He was halfway tempted to interrupt whenever they tried to speak across to Mio...but no. She was not his Mio. She was not M: the one who had endured the Endless Now together, with him. To let them have these last moments...was both a mercy and a curse: a beautiful dagger, driving the sorrow ever deeper.
Hearing Noah's agonized breaths, his muffled tears...it was like reliving ancient memories: every single failure, brought back to life.
N drank it all in, as a man dying of thirst; their pain was proof that he was right. Their suffering was testimony to the inevitability of Moebius. To be presented with defeat and loss in such stark terms was to experience penance, to be set free from any and all doubts. (After all, even if he was a Moebius...he was also a human.)
(And mere humans are so weak, aren't they? You'd know better than anyone.)
He remained, running on the life of his immortal body; even as the days piled on, he maintained his vigil.
Then, at long last...it was the night of the new moon, before the Eclipse. Ouroboros had all but stopped trying to escape now, resigned to the inevitable.
It was then, that N heard Noah speak.
"Do you think an off-seer...can ever reach others?" he asked his comrades, voice muffled by stone and distance. As Noah spoke in hoarse tones, N strained his ears, focusing on every single syllable. "You know...I thought...our lives were like our music. Always in our hands, under our control...I wasn't facing the truth. Even if I could reach people, I wouldn't be able to save them...I should've known that." There was a hiss of breath, followed by a quivering voice. Noah was doubtless on the verge of tears. "It's unbearable...seeing lives slip away from you...even though they're right there..." He was finally beginning to sob. "What am I even doing...?"
N resisted the urge to snarl out of spite. You brought this upon yourself. You tried to change the world. If you were truly me, you would have known that this was doomed to fail from the start.
Then...Mio spoke from her lonely cell. "It's dark out, huh...? No moon." She sounded strangely lighthearted, for one facing their death. N forced himself to listen to Mio's fainter voice. "But...the starlight...it's so nice and warm..." Calling out to Noah, she said, "Hey...when the two of us first met. You asked me if I wanted to survive."
N suddenly felt weary, mouthing words he hadn't spoken in so long. 'Mio,' he silently said, without a sound, "do you want to survive?' He had spoken those words long ago, in a life long lost; a life where he had been the one to pull Mio away from Agnus, to fight against Moebius alongside the soldiers of the first City. She didn't mind either way...and yet she still chose me.
"I replied...I didn't mind either way." N ignored Noah's subsequent affirmation, waiting for Mio to continue. "I'll correct that. Now I...want to live. To live, and learn...a whole lot more...Noah...there's so much for us to see..."
...M once said those words to me. How strange, to hear how his Mio's life could echo into that of a future incarnation; how devastatingly poignant, to think of those wretched times, where he had been so full of naive hope. Over and over, he had pulled Mio with him into damnation...but she had not cared, because she was with him. They had had each other. I once believed that would be enough; so long as you were by my side, I thought I could endure whatever the world could throw at me. Then he had lost her...again. And again. And again. Over and over, until the thought of trying again felt like madness. Do you understand now, Noah? N's lips fell into a bitter frown as he brought his focus back to their conversation. Do you understand just how much pain you've invited upon yourself? And for what? What have you gained?!
He finally picked up on Mio's words once more. "But you know, these feelings that grew within me...they're thanks to you. That's why...you're not allowed to say it's been for nothing. You've enriched my life, Noah. That's clear now."
As more of Mio's comrades began to bitterly weep over those words, N found himself getting angrier. Can you bear to listen to this, Noah?! Such wondrous words, all for you...and you'll never get to hear them again! All because you dared to think that you could stem the tide, with your pitiful power! It was utterly galling. You're not me; not anymore...so long as I live, I'll never let your weakness claim me!
At last, there seemed to be a climax to Mio's one-sided conversation. "You know...I don't want this to be it," she said, showcasing a hint of remorse and melancholy. "If I were given the chance...if this road I've walked...were to keep on going...I'd like to spend that time...with my Noah."
Those words broke the dam that was Noah's willpower, as he was reduced to open sobbing.
As for N...he felt strangely cold. I hope you're proud of yourself, Noah. All of this could have been avoided. Yet you thought you could do better...and now, your failure will be an abject lesson for all. (Some part of him felt tempted to bust open those cells; to extend the offer of Moebius to Ouroboros, to let them embrace the Endless Now. Surely they were not so pigheaded!)
(You know full well that they are. You heard from Shania at how they reacted.)
(They could live forever, if they so desired...who would refuse to take such a gift?!)
(And how many times did you have to die before you were finally willing to take Z's offer?)
Without another word, N finally walked away.
xx
(Little did he know, that Mio's ears — upright and open to hear as much as she could — had picked up his oh-so-familiar steps.)
(Little did he know, that Mio — nay, M — had meant those words in more than one way. They were for Noah, on Mio's behalf...for N, on M's behalf...and for her Noah, on behalf of the Mio she used to be.)
Her smile was sad...yet full of a somber joy, knowing that the pain N would soon endure because of this...would be his key to freedom. Goodbye, Noah...I hope that the future will be kinder to you...and this time, our other selves will be around to make sure it happens...
xx
Mio, still in the guise of M, had warped into the VIP quarters of Agnus Castle, where commanders and Consuls usually stayed in relative luxury. She had quietly waited for N to return from wherever he had been waiting. (Inwardly, she privately dreaded being in close quarters with him. Would he be inclined...for something more carnal? Would her trepidation about tomorrow's grand deception be unveiled by her nerves?)
She needn't have worried; when N quietly opened the door — not even knocking, much less warping in — she nearly balked at his appearance. "You look awful," she quietly said.
N looked like he hadn't slept in days. "I...had to witness it all. For me. To remember," he whispered, nearly on the verge of stuttering. With clawed hands, he grabbed her shoulders, looking at her as though he were lost and starving and afraid and furious; it was a heady cocktail of emotion that she could never recall seeing on a human face, much less N's. "So many reminders of what a wretch I used to be...but I'm not that failure anymore. I'm not."
Only her iron will, bolstered by M's memories, prevented Mio from gulping. "You need to sleep," she calmly said. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day."
N shakily nodded, impulsively drawing her into a feverish embrace. "I always have you," he whispered, as if reassuring himself. "M and N, together always...the two of us, side-by-side...forever..."
"...yes," she whispered, returning the embrace against her better judgment. "Side-by-side." If only he knew, just how far behind he had left M...oh, if only he knew! It was almost painful, realizing how quickly he had fallen asleep against her shoulder. Even though it reassured her that nothing untoward would be happening that night, it still signified just how much turmoil he had subjected himself to, to the point of blinding himself to what was most important.
As she quietly set N down on the large bed, she quietly crept behind him, maintaining a small yet perceptible distance between her and his back. He snores like Noah, she idly thought, which was almost enough to make her cry. N...you're so much like Noah. Yet you've changed so much...for the sake of our eternity, you've done so many horrible things...and so did M, in the vain hope you would one day realize what you'd done. Alas, he never had. I wish...it didn't have to end with such a cruel deception...but this is what we have to do. (She couldn't help but wonder if he had even spared a thought, this past month, as to how many lives he had ended for the sake of their eternity.)
(You can only hope that the shock of it all will wake him up.)
For N's sake...Mio desperately hoped so. She didn't want to think that saving him was hopeless.
Soon, she too fell asleep, dreaming of Noah and Mio: living so many different lives, both good and bad. M's wish...for Noah and I to show you the path you ought to have walked with her...I will see it come true. I swear.
xxxx
And thus came the Day of Fate.
An ominous Eclipse, casting the sky in darkness, with shades of gold along the horizon; a tenth-termer, dissolving into golden motes; a pained scream of Mio's name...and then, an execution stopped in its tracks.
It hadn't taken long for realization to set in for N: to understand that M and Mio had switched weeks ago...to belatedly comprehend that the words of the Mio in that cell had been the words of M, of his Mio...!
N's shocked scream of agony was a sign that his ways would not be changed so easily.
But you all know how that story ends, don't you?
xxxx
Author's Note: Mmm, that's some good angst.