"For
I have but the power to kill,
Without – the power to die
–"
-Emily Dickinson
…
…
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His hands grab at shriveled vines.
His feet dig into the rocky slopes.
His eyes look ever heavenward.
He's driven by a lone, selfish desire.
…
He slips once.
Twice.
And again.
The dust falls into his eyes.
The wind kicks at his hair.
But he's almost to his goal.
So he forges on.
…
The sweat drips down his determined face.
His teeth grit.
His eyes narrow.
His fingers clutch whatever they can get a hold of.
And he continues to ascend the rocky heights.
…
Ten feet to go.
…
Five feet.
…
Three.
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…
One.
With a final heave, he pulls himself up.
He's reached the summit.
The apex of the world.
The pinnacle of mankind.
The world stretches out before him, a finished canvas waiting to be re-painted.
He inhales deeply.
He smiles knowingly.
Suddenly, a bright light fills his eyes.
The atmosphere pulses with raw, alchemical energy.
He shivers with anticipation.
And he flings his arms to the sky.
The air around him crackles.
His blood roars through his veins.
With a single flash—
—the fabric of Time ruptures.
"Will you permit me to relieve you of those Elemental Stars?"
Reality shatters like a twisted mirror.
"You cannot easily discard people like I can."
And all that is known is suddenly lost.
Distorted.
Annihilated.
"Working for the benefit of others is quite noble. That's what Mia always said."
The pieces fly apart...and the remnants congeal together again in a mockery of truth...
"Who has robbed me of my dream!"
And he falls.
And falls.
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…
"Ah, well...I can't stay the same Alex you knew forever..."
…
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…
And he sleeps.
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…
Alex is entombed in the ruins of Mt. Aleph.
In the beating heart of the earth.
Utterly alone.
He is not alive...but not quite dead.
I cannot escape this.
But...what is this?
I have long lost the right to live...and yet I cannot get the relief of death.
I...
I am suspended between the jaws of death and the hands of life.
It is an infernal, lonely limbo to which I am chained.
Felix clings to the edge of the cliff, his fingers clawing at the crumbling dirt.
He swings his body up to try and regain his footing.
He almost has it.
Just one more...
But his grip slips.
And he plummets to the ground below.
His ragdoll body lies crumpled on the terrestrial floor.
His hair falls around him like broken wings.
His eyes are closed in silent surrender.
Beneath him, the warm magma stays its course in the arteries of the earth.
It feels as though Time has stopped here.
Yet...I am only more aware of how it passes.
Those in the land of the living say that Time is a river, slow and constant.
But that is an illusion.
I know now that Time is a waterfall.
It starts gently and lulls you into a false sense of security.
By the time you have realized your foolishness, it is too late.
There is no escape.
You go over the edge.
And in one shrieking rush—
It all ends.
But that end...is not death...
Isaac's Muramasa blade slices through the backbone of a Chimera.
Violet blood spills everywhere.
The monster gurgles a final breath as it collapses.
Isaac lets out a sigh of relief.
But he doesn't notice its companion behind him.
Not until Garet's voice warns him...too late to be of any help.
The second Chimera swings a poison-covered claw and catches the boy by his shoulder.
Isaac cries out and clutches at his wound.
The Chimera strikes again with a rear kick.
Isaac flies into the sand-colored walls of Venus Lighthouse.
And he blacks out.
His form is curled up like a lifeless fetus.
Wanting—needing—a place to truly rest.
But all he has right now is the suffocating warmth.
It presses in on him, a virtual coffin.
I had it.
I was there!
But it was ripped from my grasp.
By Isaac?
The Wise One.
Both.
Neither.
...did I ever truly have it in the first place?
Within that same lighthouse...
Jenna, Kraden, and Alex emerge from the bowels of a staircase.
They tread a few paces in uncertain silence.
Suddenly Jenna stops.
She bites her lip and casts her eyes downward.
"I...I can't leave him..."
Alex regards her curiously. "Jenna?"
"Not without trying..."
The girl turns and sprints back up the stairs.
"Jenna!" Kraden and Alex both shout.
They both take off after her.
At the top of the staircase...
Jenna is entangled in the tentacles of electricity that block the passageway.
Her face contorts in pain.
She wails.
One final zap—
—and Jenna is vomited onto the floor at Alex's feet.
His tattered cloak covers him like a funeral cloth.
It hides a soul as putrefied...and forgotten...as carrion...
What did I have before this, I wonder?
I had something.
I know I did.
But I...
I've forgotten what it was.
And when I think of that, my heart does not feel empty.
But when I think of what I could have had...
My heart cries endless, stinging tears.
Garet lets out a yell and sends a torrent of fire at Saturos.
Saturos dodges and flips backward.
He retaliates with a searing flame attack.
Garet isn't quick enough.
He takes the full force of the blast and drops to the ground, charred.
His prison is his grave.
But it gives him no rest.
No peace.
Every inch of him is pain itself, from his fingers to his feet, and down to the specks of dust that deign to blanket him.
I cannot sleep.
I cannot rest.
Something tells me that I will never slumber.
I am not through here.
This is not the end.
But for now...
I lie.
Mia rushes to Garet's aid.
She kneels by his side and raises her hands.
Her palms glow blue with the power of Ply.
She starts to chant an incantation.
Then...
A deadly heat wave ripples through the wintry air.
A blue aura springs up briefly around Mia, protecting her from the same fate as Garet.
Thus protected, she manages to soothe some of his burns.
But she is caught in the next round of fire from Saturos.
She collapses next to Garet.
Pale lids fall over aqua eyes.
Behind the marble statue of a water maiden...
Alex watches.
A limp body remains sprawled beneath the rubble.
A young man long fallen.
Above him, Time flows its deceptively indifferent current.
I cannot escape this.
The ruins remain untouched from where they first collapsed.
People come.
People go.
Sometimes it's a simple passing by.
Sometimes it's a wrong turn.
Sometimes...it's a tribute to a faded memory...
Something tells me that I will never slumber.
What was once a haven for life is now only a shell for the dead.
The lost.
The forgotten.
The end...is not death...
The young man screams silently.
But not even the sulfurous vapors can carry his ghostly voice.