CXXXI.

Quiet. Be still. Don't move.

Fear of being found by the Funeral Wreaths was not the only fear that kept her from moving. There was something else, too –she didn't quite understand it, but there was something about the white-haired man who was sheltering them that was… off. Kawahira. It was a fear that wasn't entirely unfounded; those illusions he used, that killing intent scattered to the far side of the mountain, it was–

–something she couldn't quite name or put a label to, yes, but it simply wasn't natural.

… No, that wasn't quite right.

Because it was natural, the way he just reached out into the Mist and constructed that illusion of bloodlust, even though it wasn't… but perhaps… perhaps the way he trailed his fingers through the Mist was even more natural than any of the techniques any of them used. But it was strange. Strange, as in… different, in a manner of speaking; different and similar all at once.

And that deeply unsettled her, more than anything else in this moment.

"Setsu?"

She didn't know what to make of this Kawahira, even though he was helping them… for now.

CXXXII.

("Is it worth it?")

Destruction.

The Funeral Wreaths had tracked them down to Kawahira's home again, and the battle that had erupted between both sides when Yuni was temporarily kidnapped, it… it had destroyed a good portion of Namimori City itself, which was partially why they were currently camped out in a forest clearing.

"I will not be running away anymore. Tomorrow… will be the final battle."

Setsu doesn't doubt Yuni's words.

(What she doubts is their victory. But there is no other choice; they must win, to protect the Tri-ni-sette from Byakuran. To return to a peaceful past, free of the strife and pain plaguing this future.)

CXXXIII.

He sees her again, and it hurts. It's almost physically painful in his chest, this hatred that burns upon seeing her, and he wastes no time exchanging words with her as their eyes meet and the Mist comes forth.

There is no time.

(He is running out of time.)

Yuuto… is not unaware of what he has done, signing his soul over to Byakuran, selling himself to the devil in exchange for power. But Stella is strong, and if he wants to kill her, if he wants to avenge his beloved –there is no other choice. He has to do this, in order to ensure her complete and total death. To free his little sister from the monster's clutches, even in death.

In some ways, Yuuto considers Stella to be even worse than Byakuran.

Aconito… is not dead, not completely. Normally, under any other circumstances, his strength would be enough to keep the other man at bay, but this time –this time, he slips.

Just a small mistake, a tiny falter as illusions flicker back and forth between him and the shell of his sister standing before him.

That's all it takes.

But… he doesn't mind.

He knows that Byakuran and Aconito have planned this all along; Aconito needed a new body, a new host, and Yuuto offering himself up on a silver platter at the time was… convenient. Convenient, and useful; and so Byakuran agreed to take him under his wing and grant him the power to kill Stella. He was never quite meant to have survived as long as he did, and even though he struggled and resisted this possession…

Right now, he doesn't mind anymore.

Because even if illusionists are notoriously fickle and tricky, whimsical and prone to change, deceptive as the Mist that they are enshrouded in, there is one thing that can always be counted upon in the case of Aconito, and that is that Aconito hates Stella.

Yuuto doesn't mind Aconito taking over his body as much as he should.

Because he knows that it doesn't matter which one of them it is –Yuuto and Aconito, Aconito and Yuuto– because, different as they are, they still have one point in common: they want to see Stella dead.

(It does not occur to Yuuto that, perhaps, the girl smiling sadly before him is not Stella-masquerading-as-his-sister. Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that Yuuto does not dare hope that her claims of not being Stella are true. He cannot afford to, not anymore.)

The pale ghost opens her lips for the first time in their battle, right before everything fades to darkness in his eyes and Aconito takes over.

"I'm sorry, onii-chan." she says. "I love you. Please forgive me for killing you."

CXXXIV.

You are foolish.

"Love tends to make people like that," she agrees. The creature standing before her is wearing Yuuto's skin, but it is not Yuuto. Not anymore. The part of her that is more Stella than Setsu ruthlessly crushes down on the burgeoning grief in her chest, and she smiles instead. She smiles, because anything else, and she would fall to pieces; she cannot fall to pieces, not now. Not at such a crucial moment, not when the others were depending on her to keep the Millefiore Mist preoccupied.

So she waves her arm, and the storm of butterflies gather around her, swirling restlessly.

…

By all means, this is a battle that she should lose. She is only here to buy time; nothing more, nothing less. Without Stella, Setsu cannot hope to stand against Aconito as she currently is, at her current level of strength –but see, there's a curious sort of thing about flames.

Dying Will.

Stella's flames had ignited in desperation, when she didn't want to die, but what kept those flames burning had been her willingness to die for the people she loved. Flames were tied to emotions, resolve. One could always train in different techniques, train to increase flame power, but ultimately, the strength of flames always, always came down to the strength of one's will, the state of mind in battle.

If one were to ask, she cannot explain just how, exactly, she was able to keep up with the illusions that Aconito constructed using the power he had taken (stolen) from the true Stella. There was fire-ice spreading through her mind the moment she knew that Yuuto was gone –and then, the world was so much clearer than it had ever been before, and the Mist that had always seemed to slip through her fingertips answered and obeyed her call.

It's not something that can be described simply in words.

How? Aconito demands, angry and bitter and still so very full of hatred. How can you still possess such power? You are dead. There is no Mist than can match me, not anymore.

"There is nothing you can do," she says simply, and it's true. Sea snakes crumble into sand before dissolving to acid, and yet before the acid reaches her, it arches up and joins the storm of butterflies ensconcing her inside.

While it is not in Setsu's nature to say such a thing –she finds that she simply doesn't care very much anymore.

HOW?!

"There is nothing you can do because you are weak." Setsu steps forward, butterflies trailing her footsteps as she advances on the man-wearing-her-brother's-face. "I was once told that I am weak because I lack ambition, purpose, resolve. I will not say the same to you."

Then why–

"There is only one reason why you are in this position." Aconito struggles against the prison of butterflies that he is caught in, but to no avail. Setsu smiles again, but coldly. "There is only one reason why you are still weaker than me. There is only one reason for your defeat, your death today."

Blood splatters into the air as the butterflies converge upon the screaming man.

"My will to end your miserable existence is stronger than your will to kill me."

(It does not matter that she seems to be channeling the part of her that is Stella more and more as she steps deeper and deeper into the Mist. It does not matter. All she can see is Yuuto's face before her, the hatred he carries, and she can only regret what once was and might be again.

Stella would care nothing for killing Yuuto, but Setsu does, and that is what she has essentially done in this confrontation.

…

It is time.)

She looks up at the sky and speaks, even though no one will hear.

"This is Control. File 001-Aconito… has now been deleted. Termination complete."

CXXXV.

Byakuran comes.

Byakuran comes right after the bottomless flame-sucking pit that is Ghost disappears, and–

Sometimes, she wonders.

She wonders what Stella had known about Byakuran, that made her fight so vehemently against being pulled into his sphere of influence. She wonders how Stella had realized about the Tri-ni-sette, for her to declare that it must never fall into Byakuran's hands. She wonders if Stella had somehow been able to glimpse the future –but then, that's ridiculous, is it not?

She wonders what Stella would say to their victory.

(For a moment her heart had nearly stopped in her chest; Tsuna was heavily wounded and there was just so much blood. But after Yuni sacrificed herself, Gamma willingly following her, something in the Sky had snapped and Byakuran, as powerful as he had made himself, even with the flames he had absorbed from Ghost bolstering his abilities –he hadn't stood much of a chance after that.

Flames were mysterious, indeed.)

CXXXVI.

"Aren't you going to say anything? It's your last chance, y'know."

(Before they leave, before our past selves return to where they belong –this is the last chance to tie up any lingering loose ends, now. No regrets.)

CXXXVII.

Irie Shouichi is not an eavesdropper.

It is by complete accident that he stumbles upon the scene that he does –although, to be sure, it's not so much that he stumbled across it as it stumbled across him; he might've accidentally locked himself in the closet while searching for a few gadgets and machinery he needed to operate the time machine to send the younger generation back to the past that they belonged in and–

"What the hell?!"

Loud, brash, Squalo. Uh oh.

"Language," a soft voice without any real reprimand in it, and Shouichi recognizes it immediately. Setsu/Stella. Or is it just Setsu and not Stella now? "Really, I'm not going to go see him if he doesn't want to see me. The terms that we parted on back in Italy weren't exactly…"

"You put him to sleep with Mist flames."

"… So I did. I was needed here in Japan. Is there a point to this, Superbi?"

A frustrated sound from the Varia swordsman. Shouichi quailed in his corner, the storage door being the only flimsy line of separation between him and the conversation taking place outside. He didn't need to hear this!

"At least go talk to him," Squalo's voice sounds again. "Boss- … he's not, it's not what you–"

"I already have an idea of what you're trying to say, but you have to realize…" the young girl pauses. "Superbi, I know there were… issues, between Xanxus and the Stella of this time. We have… talked, somewhat, about this before. You don't need to worry about him on this matter anymore, even if it… even if it might take awhile."

"'Somewhat,'" the silver-haired assassin repeats in complete deadpan. "Sister–"

A sudden silence.

"… I know this sounds cruel, but you have to remember –in this future, Stella is dead. I am not the same Stella that lived in the time, but… I think, I understand well enough… to say that it would not do for you to dwell on the past. Humans learn from the past, live in the present, and look forward to the future. Do not keep looking behind yourself all the time, chasing after ghosts lain to rest. You're going to trip that way."

There was a small snort from the swordsman.

"You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"I'll always worry," the words were said so matter-of-factly, candidly. "You're not an easy brother to look after."

The lull in conversation was longer this time; Shouichi almost stepped out of the closet, thinking that they were finally gone –and then the Varia assassin's voice sounded again.

"You're not going to go find Boss before you leave?"

Her reply is gentle.

"I don't need to, Superbi."

(Let me go, Xanxus. You must. You must finally let me go, and live.)

…

…

…

Shouichi cringes when he finally steps out of the storage closet and sees Setsu smiling wryly at him.

"Er… sorry?" he offers, and the girl huffs a small laugh. "I, um, didn't mean to overhear that. Really."

"I can believe that. It's something Sousei would do –I've already talked to him earlier. He… I thought he would be more upset when I told him… about Yuuto…"

Her voice grows quieter towards the end, trailing off, and something in her eyes darkens.

"He doesn't blame me," she says softly. "Even though it's my fault."

"… Not exactly," is all Shouichi manages to think of saying. "I mean, technically you're only the past version of future-you, so you haven't done any of the things that your future self has. Why would be anything that your future self has done here be your fault?"

She blinks at his reasoning, and the movement is so owlish and blank that, for a moment, Shouichi cannot help but laugh. This is Setsu, and even if she's a little more Stella than probably is strictly healthy for her –this is Setsu, and maybe, maybe things will turn out to be for the better this way.

CXXXVIII.

Mukuro doesn't so much ambush her as suddenly appears from around a corner and whisk her away in a flash, which is pretty much an ambush in itself, so… actually, never mind, then.

She gets ambushed by Mukuro while going up the stairs, and she doesn't struggle when he takes her away, even when Sousei yells some very creative insults at the laughing Mist.

"You look awful," she informs him, and it's true. Mist flames curl over his body to project an image of strength and health, but no one comes out of a battle against someone like Byakuran unscathed. He looks entirely too amused by her comment than is fitting for someone who should still be resting in bed.

"I look fine," he says, and it's true, if only because of the illusions that he keeps up around himself. He does not say I am fine, which is admittance enough in itself that he is not. Fine, that is.

She gives him the Vongola box, as well as the butterfly box weapon that he had given her.

"It is time for me to leave," she reminds him, as she had been on her way to the room where everyone was meeting up in front of the time machine with Sousei before this impromptu, un-Mukuro-like kidnapping took place.

For a moment, she wonders if he will say anything more, as he gazes at her with a strange look in his eyes.

"Nell'illusione che hai creato, ho conosciuto l'amore." he murmurs softly, dual-colored eyes gleaming under the fluorescent lighting. "I do wonder what changes will be wrought in the past, now that this future has taken place… how strange. Even with Byakuran dead, there will nothing but uncertainty and danger lying in wait for us. One can only guess at what game we are forced to play at in this lawless world, and whether we have always been naught but chess pieces upon the board in this game."

She shrugs.

"I'm pretty sure that's what life is, Mukuro."

He laughs, not unkindly, but not without the faint, bitter trace of regret and an edge of wistfulness.

"Keep this," he presses the butterfly box into her hands again. "You should be leaving now, before it's too late."

There is no change for any further exchanges to be made as Mukuro abruptly spins on his heel and disappears in a blaze of indigo flames after that parting comment, and Setsu is left standing alone in the hallway.

CXXXIX.

I know that once we leave, we will make our own world.

With these changes that have now occurred, our future will diverge from this one –no one will ever suffer a future threatened by Byakuran again; we will be safe. We will return to a past of peace, and know that we have succeeded in averting a war.

Even if it is a war that no one will ever know.

But this future –this future in which the damages by Byakuran has already been wrought, it's… sad, in a way, because it will disappear. With her death, Yuni has ensured that Byakuran's influence in regards to the havoc he wreaked using the Mare Rings will be reversed, undone; blotted out as if it had never existed in the first place. Everyone had been so happy to see it, but…

I guess, it didn't occur to you at the time, maybe. Not initially, though you must've thought of it later, before you came to find me.

Mukuro.

Because –this future, this future is one irrevocably damaged by Byakuran. It's the war with Byakuran that shapes and changes this generation, that forges the people into who they are. People are shaped by their experiences, and now that the Sky Arcobaleno has used her powers to remove these experiences –they are tragedies, yes, but they are also the experiences molding you into who you are today.

Once we leave, the power of the Sky Arcobaleno will assert itself over this parallel reality as well.

And, when this happens –everything will be undone. There will be no Byakuran threatening to conquer the world, there will be no Millefiore fighting against Vongola, there will be no danger to the balance of the Tri-ni-sette.

I guess I really didn't think about it before you came and talked to me, Mukuro. When you talked about the differences that would be made once we returned to the past, knowing of this future and what we had done to avert it… this future won't keep on traveling in a straight line like I assumed it would; the line would unravel, rewind, before weaving itself together again.

Except.

Except it won't be the same. It will be different. And… maybe there will be no danger from Byakuran, but this undoing of everything, of the fabric of reality itself–

It means you won't exist.

Not in the same way that you exist now; you are a Mukuro who has lived through war with the Millefiore and fought toe-to-toe with Byakuran. Once reality is undone, there will be no Millefiore to challenge, no Byakuran to battle, and you will be a different Mukuro.

'You of the future yet to come' will still exist, but 'you of the future already past' will cease to be.

And that's… sad, because no one will remember. No one in this future will remember how there was a war that nearly ended the world, no one will remember the bonds forged through trials and tribulations, and… even if it means that there will be peace, it's also a little sad, don't you think?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mukuro.

Even though you will forget yourself as you cease to be, and are reborn a new person, one who has no need of me –I will know. I will know of what you done in this future-that-will-never-come-to-be; I will remember.

I will remember you.

(Thank you.)

CXL.

"… C'mon, guys. Let's finally go home."

.

…

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Author's Notes:

… Hi everyone. :3 No, Canopus isn't abandoned or discontinued. Did anyone happen to think it was? Really?

…

…

…

… I'll finish writing it one day. Probably. I think. xD Polaris had a few bumps along the way, too, while I was writing it… though hopefully this hiatus thing won't become a common occurrence, haha.

Finally done with the future arc here. (Throws confetti) The whole thing with the KHR future we know not existing anymore probably didn't happen in canon, but since it was mentioned that Yuni's sacrifice erased Byakuran's influence in every world he tried to take over –in that case, it would apply to the KHR canon future as well, wouldn't it? And if his influence was erased, there would be no war, and without the war to shape them, the tenth gen of this new future would be a different tenth gen from the one that originally existed in the timeline-that-was-obliterated-to-remove-Byakuran's-influence. The reasoning is a bit loopy here, but hopefully it's not too confusing. xD

Setsu doesn't realize the point about the future literally becoming undone until the last moment after her conversation with Mukuro. In a way, Mukuro giving her the butterfly box is a way of silently asking her to remember him, to remember this future. It's why she tells Squalo to move on from her future self's death in the earlier conversation with him, because she doesn't realize that possibly Stella will be brought back to life because there's no Byakuran around to nudge things along and kill her. Not that Squalo will remember this conversation, anyways.

Also, found my old draft for Sirius, which some of you might know about –it's another AU spinoff of Polaris, except one where Stella survived her battle with Torikabuto and ensuing encounter with Byakuran. Had a preview of that up at some point on my profile, but I took it down later. Not sure when Sirius will be posted, but, like Canopus, I'll probably get around to it eventually. Even though I'll most likely get sidetracked by all the other stuff I want to write? :'D We're at roughly 50% completion in regards to Sirius right now.

… Oh gods, summer vacation really isn't long enough. (sobs) I have so much writing I want to get done and not enough time to actually write…

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Onwards Till Dawn will be updated shortly after this.

I have also recently published a One Piece OC fic titled pluck down the stars from heaven. Please head over and check it out if you're interested~

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QUESTION: I will probably be leaving the endgame pairing here ambiguous. Again. Any thoughts?

Till next time,

XxZuiliu