Looking into a Mirror 3

"If you could go back… do all of it again, what would you have changed?"

Rebecca went still at that question as the hand she used to stroke her dear friend's hair stopped completely.

The sweet echoes of the lake they were in, close to their camp seemed to soothe the otherwise heavy and loaded question presented to her. The leaves were almost autumn-like when looked at a first glance but given that this was a land of fantasy and faeries, it was surely a place where wonder and imagination existed in the most extreme of senses. Even the fantastical sky, beautiful, mosaic-like, and as if a painting made into reality was truly divine in every sense of the word.

Yet at the same time, underneath all of the window dressing, all of the beauty, this world like her own had a hidden sinister quality to it that Rebecca found disturbing as well. Nothing felt as it seemed, and as the days and untold years went by, she was reminded how 'artificial' the entire land was…

A lie in the most elaborate of forms.

It was always a lie.

Still, this lake and the peaceful view it held became a mainstay for both of them, periodically they would both just relax and sit back in this place when they were all tired or simply exhausted from their campaigns. Campaigns that in hindsight have become less and less fortuitous as of late.

At first, her dear friend was apprehensive of this place and did not really bother much with it, but as time passed when more and more issues arose and her burden became ever so heavy, she started to appreciate the calmness of it all, with just the waters and sight allowing them a slight freedom from all of the problems that began stacking up.

Rebecca recalled this place as Lake Windermere back in her own world. A place that she was not awfully familiar with, but it was a place where her late friend Hero used to talk about when they had errands in the UK. It was a place where they both just sat on the shores of the lake and talked like old friends…

One of the last few conversations before Hero would be killed days later by a monster.

Now, it was strangely fitting to have experienced this lake again with another friend. A dear friend who was very much as close to her alike the many that she had left back in her own world. A rare commodity due to the air and personality that she built around herself.

A falsehood wrapped in nothing but total guilt.

"Becca?" her dear friend asked, taking her out of her musings. Her head and blonde hair were spread on her lap as they met eyes with each other. Thinking, and feeling, Rebecca bit her lip before speaking.

"I don't know. I think I was too far gone at that point to care about the smaller details leading to the plan we staked our lives for. I don't even think I have any right at all to answer that question because I would be… far too scared to even contemplate on it."

"Why?" she asked. Rebecca then started to stroke her dear friend's hair.

"Because…" she stopped as mixed emotions started to invade her head, a heavy sigh followed as the cool breeze that dragged the waves onto the otherwise calm shore almost became an indication of her current thoughts. "…because I can't really say if I can make a difference at all in changing the final outcome. I might even… die earlier if anything, all because of a lost cause that probably meant nothing in the end. I wasn't even there to see if we succeeded, or if we lost."

"The world still spins. Perhaps your sacrifices were earned enough in the end." She offered.

Rebecca could only frown as she started looking away.

"Were they even worth earning for, in the first place? Even if I managed to change… to do better, the only thing that I would do… is delay the inevitable. Or hasten it. I don't really know."

"We can't truly say. Fate is a fickle thing and even if I were to somehow achieve the purpose that I was saddled with, I am not sure myself if it was all worth it in the end."

Rebecca looked at her friend and almost paled with her words.

Morgan… had not been herself lately. She had changed severely in the last few years as strife, pain, and various other problems rose from the sheer weight of the responsibilities cast on her by an unknown force. It had made her quiet, much more withdrawn, and worse, she had turned almost temperamental with a heavy mask placed on her face to hide away all of the hate and negative feelings towards the people she encountered.

The mask was so thick that even Rebecca had a hard time breaking it.

Underneath it all, what scared her the most was the fact that when she watched her friend, the only person she could see was herself. The Rebecca Costa Brown in her original world before her death, before meeting her dear friend in this faraway, alternate Earth.

Or perhaps the better term would be, she saw Alexandria as she once was.

"Becca…"

"Yes?"

"Have you found what it was that you were actually fighting for in the first place?"

Rebecca looked at her friend and saw the mask slip off even if by a little as she felt her other hand being squeezed by her friend's own.

"I am not sure I understand the question."

"What actually drove you to push on despite everything that you have done for your cause?"

Rebecca could only stare in silence as she contemplated that question. A second later she licks her lips and looks towards the reflection of the sunlight twinkling on the surface of the water.

"Seeing the sunrise on the horizon, knowing that… every action was justified to see it all happen." She admitted with guilt in her tone.

"Even if it took seeing everybody as pieces on a chessboard. Loss and gain never mattered, only that the enemy's king was defeated." Her friend callously remarked as Rebecca's squeeze on their conjoined hands tightened.

Morgan then sighed. The tension in her form loosened up.

"Say perhaps, I do find a way to get you back to your world… what would you even do?"

"Fight. Regrettably, it's always been about fighting."

No longer did saving anything matter for the most part when everything would be ash and cinders in the next few years, weeks, or even days.

"Would you do it differently this time, perhaps?" her friend asked.

"I… I don't know. Even if I were to go back to the very beginning, what exactly could I change? The Path was the only thing that stuck to the wall. We've never had anything that worked as proficiently as that." She said, realizing too late that she was slipping back into her older habits.

The older Rebecca.

"Then what changed? Why do you seek to be different now, in a different context, in a different world when the one thing you were always sure of following in your old instincts was the only thing that worked?"

Because the only thing I see when I look at you is me.

She nearly let those words slip out but given the nature of her friend's eyes and thinker aspect, Rebecca knew that she probably figured it out. "I… I just wanted to be better. I wanted to be… the hero I always thought I was."

"I see… but this world does not need heroes. Nor did your old world did…"

She was about to say something to rebuke her until her dear friend rose from her lap and sat beside her. She then proceeded to look at the lake with a faraway expression on her face.

"I wish we could stay like this… forever. Just us, and the calm, relaxing sky as if we were nobodies just enjoying each other's company." Her friend then closed her eyes and hummed with a low tone.

"Becca…"

"Y-yes?"

"Will you still remember me in the morning? Once those dark clouds are gone… once everything returns back to normal? When all of that's left is to bask in the peace of it all?"

"O-Of course… why would you ask that?"

Her dear friend did not face her, what she merely did was a small smile as she shed a single tear.

"I'm glad. I hope I can do the same for you… someday…"


Rebecca woke up. She was dreaming of it again.

The absolute last she had ever seen of her friend.

A faraway memory brought two years ago. She had woken up from her sleep, a very stark change to her former situation where her body was essentially time-locked. Now, after mysteriously returning in early 2009, her body had not changed after Morgan's tampering…

Nor did the sudden return to a time just before everything had turned for the worst was jarring and horribly harrowing for her. Especially when she recalled how much she had done all the way to that point in her life. No longer were her full emotions stunted and no longer did she view the result of her actions in a much more accepting light.

Evidently, after 'waking up' from the dream, she hurriedly told the Cauldron collective of her memories, strangely untapped and unchanged from all the complex processes normally seen in Morgan's spells and abilities. This allowed her to explain the possible events in the future, their possible way forward, and the various events that inevitably just soured their entire objective in the first place.

Normally, Contessa, Doctor Mother, and even Numberman were appalled and shocked at her words to the point that she voluntarily allowed them to examine and test her, given the change of her power and the result of her agent being 'tampered'. Her words were tentatively accepted for now as they all agreed on finding Morgan and her lost Earth with the resources they had…

Only to come up as a failure as time passed.

Legend and Eidolon merely looked at her as they discussed the ramifications of their actions moving forward but due to the mystery surrounding her claims, it only fostered great debate amongst themselves. Even Contessa was greatly confused by the steep changes in the Path given Rebecca's new claims, yet the prospect of changing things for the better was not in store…

And try as Rebecca did, she knew that it was pointless.

Yet she shouldered on, doing much more in the process with the context of those memories allowing her much more optimal decisions, most that some of the Cauldron members agreed to, including Legend…

But as much as the good they fostered in changing things for the better, the uniqueness and different strategy that for the most part Rebecca had initiated only amounted to more butterflies to the timeline. Changes, that only hastened into something new entirely.

Said butterflies that became much more apparent and pervasive.

One of them was that a new Endbringer had appeared, which added another existential threat to the already existing 3…

Nascent developments of various powerful Parahumans becoming much more conflict-driven…

And worst of all, the erratic nature of Scion being much more 'involved' in certain aspects of the drive he was currently following.

All of it snowballed into a much more different set of branched issues that considerably became worse given that even Rebecca's revelations only continued to relay the realization that any sort of compromise or change they wished to implement was just far too late in the great expanse of things to come.

It also made Rebecca realize that any chance of her trying to fix the mistakes of the past was only riddled with heartache and pain because they were yet again far too gone to change at this point.

Far too gone to make any meaningful and optimal choices that would result in better outcomes.

It got so bad that Rebecca started to realize she was slipping back into older habits.

She was becoming the callous, Alexandria again.

The reflection in the mirror that she no longer wished to see or become.

Yet all points seemed to head towards that direction and she was unsure what could be done to change them because any catastrophic change of any nature towards the nature of Case 53s being revealed to the world, her identity as Costa-Brown, or even the simple nature of the Enemy being revealed, were just far too problematic to simply unleash on everyone.

Compromises were still made.

Sacrifices and justifications were still created.

Rebecca could not handle it anymore as the burden and weight of all of those actions came crashing down to the point that she could no longer handle them. Unlike her dear friend that became the one person that consoled her of it all…

There was simply no one who could do the same to her.

She became so frustrated and angry that she damn near made an incident publicly with a villain attack in Los Angeles and she went overboard with how she dealt with the suspects. It nearly tarnished her reputation, a reputation that she was hoping to change but the world just proved difficult.

Luckily, the resources of Cauldron allowed the event to be much lesser than it originally was but the fact that she allowed herself to get to that point just made her pontificate on the truth that she had far, far too many issues within herself that needed addressing.

Both as old wounds from the past…

…and decades of self-justification that were built on a house of lies.

It was a terrible prospect especially with all the events being so different compared to before that she wondered why Morgan had even sent her back, if anything a part of her wished that she never came back at all, because at least then she would have been there with the only person that mattered to her in the past many years of her life.

A person that to her heart actually mattered compared to all the complex feelings of this world being the way it was.

However, not all was lost.

Even as the more positive and better approach backfired on her tremendously with all the guilt she had within her, there was one positive light amidst the darkness of it all.

"Alexandria, ma'am… are you sure I'm ready enough for this?" the shy and embarrassed voice of one Taylor Hebert said to her as she met the young woman in the Boat Graveyard of Brockton Bay.

Yes… it was ironic.

Majorly ironic considering the memories she still kept.

Ordinarily, it was not a measure of revenge nor anger that drove her to one day meet the girl who became her killer. She was not right in the head during that time, and she wished to simply meet, perhaps scare, and even arrest the vigilante on the very first documented night when she first met the local hero, Armsmaster. It was a means to allow her some satisfaction selfishly to give her closure…

But what came out became so surprising that it effectively turned into a boon.

She was unsure of the girl at first, knowing that this was now 2011, a year where most of the traction for everything moving forward started, but it all slowly escalated into a relationship that Rebecca found herself being glad of.

As weeks passed in the number of meetings they had, she slowly understood more why the girl had escalated the way she did in the old timeline and why her death was of her own foolishness.

Yes, it was a bitter pill sitting there and tolerating the person that killed her, but as her pride was laid low and her extreme tendencies were tempered within her experience in Fae Britain, Rebecca found herself a person that like Morgan slowly became a dear one to protect and observe within her damaged, ridiculed heart.

Taylor Hebert was no longer simply a face that had ended her life on a past memory.

Taylor Hebert eventually became a companion, dear to Rebecca's soul that she pushed forward on being a proper role model to the girl that in essence, started it all.

Smiling supportively, she placed a soft hand on the young girl's shoulder as Taylor reflexively stood straighter. Sometimes it still shocked her how different this Taylor was from the one that she had met in the older timeline. She was still naïve, scared, and even unsure of her powers given the story that she told her about as she opened more to her…

But deep down, within those eyes, Rebecca still felt the intensity, unwavering determination, and an iron will that trumped even her own.

"Nobody is truly ready for everything, Weaver. If anything, I think being prepared for any sort of outcome is the best advice to give anyone when they wish to do anything in life. Because at least then, you would be much more content and patient with what comes at you in the future."

"B-But… I'm not even sure I'm worthy. Me? A nobody from… Brockton Bay being your apprentice and p-partner of all things? Are you really sure I'm qualified or even worthy enough for it?"

"The fact that you're saying that to me now only solidifies my choice. Most people your age would kill to be in your place." She replied with a small amount of humor as the girl looked down on her feet in embarrassment. It almost reminded her of Totorot when she was being reprimanded by Uther.

"But what about Dad? Am I going to come with you to Los Angeles?"

"No, not actually… in fact, this is more of an unofficial partnership if anything."

"Oh." Taylor's voice suddenly dropped, but before she could rebuke or ask anything Rebecca simply giggled at her reaction.

"I think you misunderstand; the reason I've chosen you is precisely why it's unofficial. I don't want this to be simply a publicity stunt nor even a simple job on my behalf that I can simply forget once it's done. I want this to work between us, not just as partners but as someone I can train personally and closely without any tampering from anyone in our reach."

"Oh…" Taylor's face then brightened up. A slight blush appeared within her mask as she realized what her idol had meant. "…y-you mean that?"

Rebecca simply smiled, her body language and affirmation being enough despite the helmet concealing her face.

"B-But that's a huge responsibility. A b-big deal if anything. Am I… Am I really worthy of it? I'm not even strong, I just control bugs… and I can't even get my life straight." The girl started to look at herself with all of her shortcomings as Rebecca squeezed the teen's shoulder supportively once more.

"Weaver, do you want me to let you in on a secret?"

"I… y-yes? Am I allowed to?" the girl asked as she was emotionally overwhelmed.

"I wasn't… always like this you know. Being strong, being this high of a pedestal that to this day I'm not sure I was ever worthy of." Rebecca then started reminiscing as memories of the past started to appear in her head. "I was simply a young woman who had lost everything and gained nothing through all the years I suffered with my own mortality… I still can't believe actually that I've gotten this far given how impossible it was for old me to contemplate on… but I'm here."

She placed her other hand on the teen's shoulder, looking her straight in the eye as Taylor listened in rapt attention. Shocked and surprised that Alexandria of all people opened up to her.

"In truth, I still don't think I've done enough or even become a proper hero in the first place, but…" a memory of a sparkling smile under the shadow of a pleasant-looking tree flashed in her head. "…a dear old friend reminded me daily that I needed to do better in order to be the hero that I always dreamed of being… that I always wished I could achieve to the best of my ability."

Rebecca then smiled as she looked at Taylor once more.

"It's not about being powerful, strong, or famous at the end of the day… what really matters, is having the heart to do the right thing, to do what's necessary for the greater good. To be the hero that people think you can be, something that can be aspired to." She continued as she pointed her finger at the teen's chest. "… and to me, you have potential to be that, one that I and my dear friend can be proud of despite all of the odds."

Taylor was at a loss for words. Looking at her hero she simply remained silent.

"Why… why are you putting so much trust in me?" Taylor asked after a period of silence as Rebecca looked at her.

Rebecca then recalled all of the friends she had made in the long, imperfect journey of her life.

From Hero…

To Totorot…

Even the bumbling Uther…

And lastly, Morgan. Sweet dear Morgan who had lost her way much like herself at the end.

She then looked at Taylor, seeing that spark of energy, determination, and unyielding willpower made her see another mirror of hers as she was back in the day. She had already failed all of her friends, her conscience, and humanity before altogether…

She vowed no more again. She wished for victory even in the smallest fraction.

Just so she could prove to her already diminished heart that she did something right for once.

"Because I see myself…" she admitted as Taylor perked up.

Rebecca then knelt in front of the young woman and took both her hands into her own.

"And I want you to be better than me."


It was not an ideal climb or slope.

Their relationship, while close and cordial had been tested numerous times. Not just with the affair regarding Shadow Stalker, nor the state of Brockton Bay as a whole along with other problems brought forth by Taylor's home life…

Yet they persevered. Together.

Tightly, even stiffly Rebecca taught the girl nearly everything, she had experience in as well as numerous pointers on how to be the hero that she wanted the girl to be.

It was not perfect, nor even cleanly fit as Rebecca would like…

But even as incidents regarding Coil, to which Rebecca rapidly shut down from behind the shadows, had merely increased their relationship to a level that had Taylor stick to her like a surrogate guardian.

She became the mentor to a girl that had nearly lost her way. A pillar to which she could lean on despite all of the adult connections in her life being shattered the way they were. It went so much to the point that their relationship had quickly changed the Bay for the better…

Even down to the smallest of details regarding its current state and condition.

Yet even as their relationship blossomed, the butterflies she had placed in the world had now firmly taken root as the truth was finally exposed to her dear apprentice and companion.

One that had quickly deteriorated what trust the girl had with her in mere moments.

Now, sitting in another empty, nearly windowless room alone with Taylor, brought the horrid nightmares of her initial death back into the fold. Yet this time, deep within the Cauldron complex where Taylor begrudgingly accepted just for the sake of their relationship.

What trust was left between them only continued to dwindle as Taylor remained silent as Rebecca painfully explained the reality and consequences of the threat, they would all face one day.

So much so that despite Taylor, a lot older now, both understood and acknowledged some of the actions that Rebecca's group had done, and simply became much more bitter with each minute that passed. If this was in the older timeline, Rebecca reckoned that it would be much worse…

But given that they all still had to compromise despite it all, it was a tough pill to swallow for both of them in this context.

"So, you were just using me. How utterly convenient." Taylor said in a deadpan that made Rebecca flinch. The teen had her mask off as disgust, disappointment, and anger along with a plethora of emotions seemed to clash on her near-static, expressionless face.

It was… happening again.

Due to her actions, her shortcomings. Her neglect.

Rebecca felt as if this was Morgan again…

Dear Morgan, who slowly and surely became cold and callous as each failure and painful setback started to pile on. Dear Morgan, who deliberately removed her from her life for the simple fact that she was done with it all.

Done being the savior that her people wanted. Done being the person who wished to do everything right so that peace and a wonderful tomorrow would prosper and grow.

And now… it was Taylor. Her demeanor, her expression.

The way she looked at her reminded her of the Skitter that had killed her.

It reminded her of Alexandria, the reflection she saw in the mirror that she wished to cast away.

"I did not use you," Rebecca affirmed as she hunched over the table between them.

"Am I supposed to believe that, with everything that you've told me?"

"Taylor… I am being honest with you. Right now. Right here, because you mean something to me. You're someone I care about. Not a pawn for a chess game, but as someone that is dear to me."

"What about the others? All of those people Alexandria! All of those innocent men, women, and I don't know, children? Being stuck the way they are because you and your friends can't find the goddamn nuclear codes to kill what's basically a God." Taylor angrily replied as she almost stood up in her seat, her presence, nearly overwhelming loomed over Rebecca's at that moment as the gravitas of even her voice alone figuratively shook the room.

"You've condemned who knows how many people to fates that I can't even dream about thinking and you're here being honest and fair to me just so I can trust you?"

Rebecca found herself clenching both her hands.

"How am I supposed to trust you? You brought me here, in the middle of this place, just so I wouldn't tell the world how Alexandria is basically doing war crimes because the world will end soon? Because there is literally nothing that can be done to stop it?"

"Taylor…"

"Am I just a scapegoat? Or a means to release all of that guilt so that you can feel better about yourself from all of this?"

"Taylor…" Rebecca begged. She recalled the first time Morgan had similarly vented out her anger as she was exposed within that conversation.

"Have I lost my use? Are you going to kill me after just so I won't spill this dirty little secret of yours?"

"Taylor…"

"Did you even care about me in the first place?! Or did you pretend like everything you've done up until this point?!"

"Taylor… please… I need you to listen."

"Don't you dare use my name! You won't even tell me yours and you act as if you have the right to use it as you see fit. You haven't been honest with me from the start haven't you?"

"Taylor… I beg you, please just calm down and-

"All of that crap of being a hero, everything you've thought me, everything you've shown me, everything that I have every right to thank for… is all a lie because you're just a fraud. You're no different than every piece of shit that's out there killing people right now… you're no different than that goddamn space whale about to end our world on who knows when."

Rebecca froze as Taylor, now standing from her seat due to all of the tension and spike of emotions slowly sat back on her chair as she folded her arms. Taylor was still insecure despite everything that she grew into. She was confident, far more brave, and tougher too as Rebecca had championed, but she was still the lost little girl deep inside on that very night they met underneath it all.

And she was just as hurt as Rebecca is currently.

"Were you even a hero?"

Rebecca was still, seconds later a great big sigh came out of her chest as her quivering fingers reached for her helmet's release button and she finally showed herself to the girl in all her pathetic glory.

The scar, still remained on her face even as Morgan had returned most of her normal bodily functions. She had aged, or at least figuratively looked aged considerably compared to the old timeline where she was basically frozen in the middle of her adulthood. Now, there were strands of white hair on her roots as well as a few stray strands while her skin, which lost some of its lively skin tone bordered her on near pale. The scar that ran on her face was still a relic from the past that Morgan simply left as a memento for her sake and was a gloomy reminder of who she became.

Rebecca was at her most vulnerable as her reddening eyes looked back at Taylor with all their intensity.

"I'm not. I'm no hero. I'm just a pathetic excuse of one."

Taylor looked shocked, not because of her identity but with the words she just said.

"It just keeps getting worse… day by day, my heart… my heart just cannot take it anymore because the more good I do, the worse the situation becomes. The more terrible some decisions transform into and I just can't take it…"

She felt her nails dug into the gloves as Taylor watched.

"… I can't seem to keep any promises. I can't fulfill any goals because it all just collapses in the end with me being none the wiser. All I can do is just ruin everything; I can't even save any of my friends from falling to their own doom because I'm so goddamn useless."

She slammed her fist on the table, making it collapse in front of them violently as Taylor, unperturbed, continued to simply stare.

"What I am is simply Alexandria… a lost cause to a broken dream. A broken reflection."


It was the end.

It came earlier than before. Far more violent than before…

And worse, they were utterly useless with nothing, not even Contessa being relevant at the end of all things.

The sky was now wrought with radiation so dense it might as well be an alien world. The valleys, the continents, the seas, and even the very Earth they stood on were now nearly covered in a perpetual and pervasive Crystal of various, alien colors.

The world shook and broke down as two Entities clashed against each other.

A renegade Endbringer from the Oort Cloud and the Golden Scion clashed as waves of light and reality being siphoned and broken around them cursed the land entirely. Two forces of abnormal power broke down the many Earths along the strings of the Enemy's reach.

They had failed once more.

Rebecca had failed yet again in an unsurprising turn of events.

She watched on in pure stillness and absence as she held the crystallized corpse of her dear ward.

She was the last person left alive, a curse of fate it seemed as if it tortured her sadistically before her own end would come.

The world shook violently as sound no longer registered to her senses.

Death was near… and she wished to embrace it.

She did not wish to see anything. She merely wished to simply cease existing.

Because she was a coward.

Guilty of all the shortcomings and wrongdoings she had ever committed.

Perhaps this was appropriate after all.

A mistake that needed to be erased from infinity altogether.

Rebecca closed her eyes as she felt the last tear trickling down her face move while the world burst around her in iridescent light.

Maybe this was her way to be free.

Yet as she embraced the destruction of everything, she slowly opened her eyes in confusion as she basked in the unending glow of white that welcomed her.

Rebecca remained still.

Until her gaze landed on a body just inches away from her.

She moved, slowly but surely towards them.

It was a woman. Clothed in blue and black. Pale skin against blood and multiple wounds. Bruises peppered her body as her long, bleach-blonde hair cascaded around her back.

To Rebecca, however, there was no question who this was.

She started sobbing to herself as tears began pouring from her eyes.

She embraced the still and dying corpse into her arms as the pale woman shifted.

Her eyes opened as she looked at Rebecca's face.

Rebecca continued to sob, louder this time as the pale woman squinted their eyes.

"W-Who are you?"

The pale woman reached Rebecca with her hands as it made contact with her skin. She closed her eyes as the cooling sensation of her touch coupled with how soft, kind, and loving it was while blood trailed in its wake made her lean into it.

Crying as she did so.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I… I failed you. I failed all of you."

"Ah… you… you are familiar."

"I'm so s-sorry." Rebecca continued as she placed a supporting hand upon the one touching her face.

"Becca. Dearest Becca. M-My dear friend."

Rebecca bitterly smiled.

"I wish we were on that lake again… seeing the sunrise. Beautiful times they were."

"Yes… yes they were." Rebecca bitterly said as she started choking on her tears.

"Once everything is o-over… I-I would like to go there… one, last time."

Rebecca moaned in pain and anguish as she caressed her dear friend's form.

"Why… why do you cry Becca'? W-We… can still s-save Britain. W-We can still save… our home. T-Together…"

The two reflections vanished.

There was nothing at the end.

Truly nothing as the mirror shattered in two.


AN: I leave you all to think for yourself if those final moments in this side story were true or perhaps a figment of their own imaginations.

I originally did not plan for this to have our resident Type, because I made a roulette based on what extra threat literally existing in this new iteration Rebecca was placed in would greatly hasten the process of that version of Worm's doom. Spider-boi won it after about 3 or more tries, which was strange. *shrugs

But anyway, this was written kinda like an irony on both the fates and perspectives of Morgan and Alexandria with all of the context of their lives reaching to that point. How both fell from grace and were doomed once they had lost their path entirely.

FYI… I am still open for an Aesc/Tonelico redemption fic, much lighter and heck of a lot more positive in tone in the future. Hopefully, I can make a snip of it soon.