The Sword of the End
N slashed at Noah; the group shockingly gasped as they expected his head to be cut off. The sword was blocked by a purple glow on the surface of his skin; M launched her shockwave at the last moment, halting his sword from penetrating even a dent on his skin. As the glow dimmed, N, with an unhappy look, turned his attention to M whom betrayed his will.
M walked over to Mio's remnants, picked up the white flute before descending the staircase. The others watched what she had to do, had to say.
"M..." She ignored his words. N backed up two steps to let M take central stage. He signaled to the soldiers holding onto Noah's hands to release him. Sheathing her mask, she bent down to pick up the black flute Noah had dropped on to the ground before him1, looked at both before tucking the black flute into her pocket. She got down in front of Noah, with both hands, handed him the white flute.
"Huh", He finally tilted his head as the flute appeared in front of him. M wouldn't have known he's currently using the Kevesi flute! No, there's no way!
"I'm sorry..." He instantaneously shoot his head up and looked at her, whom continued, "My hair, it's gotten kinda long. Will you still... walk alongside me? Noah?" He remembered the shockwave M released when they first met her, M controlling Mio attacking Noah.
His eyes teary, he tried calling out, "Mio..." Is this her? Is this really her? Is this his Mio? A drop of tears slid down his cheek; she smiled and gave him a slight nod, acknowledging its his Mio that had returned.
She had returned; it's really her! Forget about the desperation, forget about the desolation, forget about the anger; it's all nothing if he could have her back! Wiping off his tears, he took the flute from her hands and tucked it into his pocket. Reaching out for her hands, they slowly stood up, eyes on each other all the time, embracing her return, embracing his suffering.
N, on the other side, iris dimmed and dimmed and diminished and diminished into a dot so small we almost cannot see. His fears could not be withheld anymore. This is a situation he couldn't fathom. What had happened? What had happened? It can't be! It can't be!!! His legs getting shakier and shakier, his body effetely stooping backwards, his legs reversed to keep himself standing against gravity.
"Wh-what...! Impossible... You're...!"
Mio finally had her attention turned to him; her smile quickly diminished into an angry look, showing what he wanted: an iris with the half-Ouroboros half-Moebius symbol: half yellow, half red; two dragons forming a Tai Chi symbol biting each other's tails; in the middle was a moebius strip symbol, albeit much smaller than the outer TaiChi symbol.
"Ouroboros?! Huhuh!" He recalled when M first launched the first shockwave at the beginning of the battle. Still quivering, he held his hands up and put it on his forehead, "...Does that mean...? Back then, the two of you...?! So... the one who died is...?" He turned to look at Mio's, no, M's remnants, shook his head in denial. He had snuffed out her flames; she had gone forever! All that remains was her shirt. "Huh huhuh... AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! UHUHUHUH AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!! WHY, MIO...?!!! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! YOU SAID YOU'D BE BY MY SIDE! MIO! ALL I DID, I DID FOR YOU...!!!"
"You must have known."
"URRRRGGGHHHH!!" He glanced at her aggressively.
"The other me... She couldn't follow you any more... She couldn't go on!"
What Happened Back At First Shockwave
Mio was shown the past memories that she had shared with Noah earlier in an environment similar to Ouroboros space, on a hologram. She watched attentively until M explained, "What you see... Those are our memories." She turned her attention to M, whom continued, "Continuing uninterrupted, since the world was taken captive, a long time ago. Memories of me and him..."
"Why are you showing me this?"
"You are..." She thought for a while, shook her head in denial, "No, all of you are my repentance."
Her eyes widened with curiosity, "Repentance?"
In her appreciating stance, "How I wanted us to be. You embody all our hopes... Our dreams of how this world should be. Even though you and your friends should never have existed, the fact that you are here is proof enough."
"So you'll... let me live? But, if you go through with this, you'll be..."
She squinted her eyes, "To my Noah, the time with me is everything." Then she widened it with hope, "I just want it to... end." Mio followed by squinting her eyes, shocking to hear.
"Huh..."
"Moebius like me... We can exist only by taking the souls of those... that grace this world." The hologram now turned to show K and the other Moebius scene they fought before, the screen where they drank lives after either Kevesi or Agnian won, as M continued, "Nobody pays the slightest mind to the thoughts, and dreams those many lives espouse." It now showed the soldiers whom fell to the ground. "We gorge ourselves, covet every ember, just to delay our inevitable ruin."
"That's why you want to disappear?"
"If I die, maybe he'll see... Maybe he could somehow... realize what it is that I wish. That would be enough." They enjoyed a moment of silence as M thought of the moments they shared, and Mio soaked what she had told her, and if that relates to her relationship with her Noah. She continued thereafter, "Afterwards, it'll be up to you two... to walk the path we ought to have walked... he and I."
End First Shockwave Memory
Noah: "The path they... ought to have walked..."
The other Ouroboros were still flabbergasted, until Taion announced, "So it's confirmed... N and M are... other versions of Noah and Mio."
Mio didn't attend to them, still speaking to N: "The other me... She passed all of her memories on to me. So that I could share... everything with you."
"'Share everything...'"
Noah couldn't fathom: "I have to know. How could you do this? Why are you on their side?"
"What are you talking about?"
He held out his hands to reminisce on N's son, "I felt him, with these hands... That sensation, the emotion... It was no illusion. And yet, you still became Moebius! Harvesting people, without even batting an eye!"
N breathe shuddered as his long forgotten memories was brought into the forefront.
"I want to know why. Isn't there a trace left inside you? Of your old feelings? Because if there was, even a little-"
He sniped at Noah before he could finished his sentence, "Feelings, you say? You dare... Huhu, huhuhuhuh... My feelings... My feelings have never changed, THEY'RE THE SAME AS THEY ALWAYS BEEN!!!"" He pointed his sword at Mio, desperately continued, "THEY'RE FOR YOU, MIO!!! THE TIME I HAD WITH YOU MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME! But now... it's all gone... huhuhuhuhuh... If she truly is gone, I'll have to redo it all! Watch me! Rewind our clocks, back to the start!"
"Huhuh..." Mio felt sad that he can't even understand, drained in his own emotions and needs.
"Noah... My long shadow... You have stolen her away from me... I will extinguish you, AND TAKE HER BACK!!! MIO IS MINE!!!"
"Uhuhuh..."
"She's not yours, she's mine. You are nothing. SHE BELONGS ONLY TO ME!!!" He slowly put his sword back into its scabbard, preparing to gather the energy. Taking a step back, his eyes fixed on Noah, and his energy field reverberates the surrounding air2.
Noah clenched his fist, felt his failure, "Words won't cut it... I can't get through to him... Mio..." She nodded in return. As he turned his look at the other Ouroboros, their shackles were released, immediately turned and faced their guards, gave them kicks and punches and hauled them off the stage.
"Mimi..." She dashed towards Mio...
"Mio!" Taion followed thereafter.
"Are you... Are you really my Mimi?"
"I'm sorry I worried you. This was the only way." Sena gave her a hug, appreciated their reunion.
"N-no, it's fine... You're here..."
Taion looked in the other direction while they were hugging, shielding them in the background in case someone attacked. As he sensed her attention, he turned and nodded back with a smile, to which she acknowledged. Lanz on the other side just joined, together with Eunie, ran and joined Noah, reminded, "Might wanna leave the teary reunion till later. The mudder's glaring and he looks pissed off."
They stood in a row, Taion commented, "I can more or less grasp what's going on here, but you'd better explain the details later."
Noah: "Yeah, absolutely. If words won't get through to him, there's only one way left to us. No... We can't let this go on! Mio!"
"Yeah! I'm ready when you are!" Together, both their iris lit their respective symbol and their body overtaken by blue glow as they Interlinked, Noah in control.
X: "They're Interlinking? No way!" She still held out her staff to apocrypha their power, felt shocked when it didn't restricted them. She pointed the staff at them, pushed for more power to shackles them. "No... Can't be! Why isn't Z's power doing its thing?! AHHHH!!!"
Noah's Ouroboros saw X and jumped towards her, with Mio taking control, grabbed the ball at the center of the gyroscope, and squeezed it until it smashed into pieces. "You've gotten ahead of yourself, X."
"Let's get stuck in!" As Lanz sensed his power returned, he was ready to Interlink. Eunie gave a wink at Taion, to which he pinched his glasses and they Interlinked. Mio did a jump and somersault in the air, gave up on X to focus on N. Riku and Manana took their weapons and joined in from behind.
X: "Urgh..." She looked at the Ouroboros, then turned to N whom was still gathering momentum, pitifully asked3, "N! Come on, destroy them! Make it so they're not reborn... Pound their souls into the dust!"
"I don't take orders from you. But... Moebius are the world itself! There can be but ONE ME... AND I AM IT!!!"
Noah's Ouroboros knocked him back. Then, Noah make a grip horizontally directed at his Ouroboros Core, "Huhhhhhurgggggggggg..." He pulled out a sword from within his core; it's center was a replica of the Ouroboros Core.
"The Sword of Origin...! You are going to end it all? To end Moebius, the pinnacle of life?! This very world?!" He tucked his sword back and jumped into the air, launched himself at Noah.
Noah blocked his attack with the sword, replied, "If the world holds our lives back, I will end it! It's as simple as that!"
"It is impossible! I tried... We tried to walk that path, and failed!" He recalled standing at the beginning of the Y-junction road, standing there unmoving.
Noah rebutted, "You're full of shit! You never tried, you're just a coward!"
N was shocked how he knocked him back, "What did you...?" Or perhaps, he was shocked by what he labeled him.
"If you meant it, you'd've found a way! But you didn't even try to make the effort... did you?!" Noah now prepared to launch an attack at him. "So what do you know of the world and of life?!" With one slash, it knocked N's sword into the air, send fire sparks emanated from the point of contact as it sliced through his golden armor.
"AAAAAARGGGGGHHHH!!!" The Sword of Origin disappeared; N dropped to the ground, face slammed against the floor. Noah's Ouroboros landed behind him as he struggled to get up. His sword dropped onto the ground beside him. "URRRGHHHAAAAA!!! URNGH..."
As they turned to him, they cancelled their Interlink. Mio still tried to convince him, "N. Do you know why she traded places with me?" He was breathing furiously, still trying to stand up, as Mio continued, "She felt imprisoned. And you... You put her there." With concerned eyes, she recalled the days and nights M was alone in the cell herself. "Shuffling lives pointlessly back and forth... for an eternity of control."
"You call it... control?"
"She never really wanted anything like that. She just, she wanted to live out her precious days together with you. You should've been able to give her that!" Tears rolled down M's cheek as she stood in front and looked outside the prison window, at the starry night, reminiscing her Noah that had parted ways with her.
"Is that... why she handed her life to you?" He gently put his hand at his heart, "Is that why she rejected me?!"
"It's not rejection! She understood, she always knew your reasons! All she wanted was to end your misery... That's the reason she gave this body to me. By leaving this world behind, she wanted to tell you -- she didn't want 'forever'. She wanted to be there with you...!"
By now, N had partially got up, black fog emanating from his core. "And so she left me behind? SHE WOULDN'T DO THAT!!! HOW COULD WE BE TOGETHER NOW?!!! With her gone from the world, WHAT'S THE POINT OF IT ALL!!! "
"It's you that drove her to this! WAKE UP ALREADY!!! You're Noah, right? WHY...? WHY DOES NOTHING SEEM TO GET THROUGH TO YOU?!!!"
Noah noticed the dark particles that was emanating from his X-crest. X noticed too, hypothesized, "...Damage to his Core? Tch... Useless lunk... Although... N is the wielder of the Sword of Origin... It'd be a problem to have him croak here. Don't you think, Z...?" She knew he was watching from the cinema; she knew he knows everything; at least everything that he needed to know.4 No reply from Z we can hear of. X continued, "Oh well. In that case..." Both of her iris glowed with Moebius symbol and she took control of the Queen,
"URRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!" The siren-sounding noise alerted Noah and Mio and the other Ouroboros, bringing their attention to her.
Eunie: "LOOK! THE QUEEN!" She was jetted up from her throne into mid-air. That throne transformed into a giant mecha-robot with sharp claws and beam weapons.
Taion: "Is that... Is that what she really was?"
Sena: "Knew it! It's the same as with Keves!"
X: "We've got a winner! In Keves's case, it was all a bit toothless, huh?" The mecha robot floated forward over the top of X and Shania towards the stage below. It aimed its guns and blasted at the Ouroboros and the other Agnian soldiers. The Ouroboros defended, but the Agnian soldiers ran for their dear life. X elatedly announced, "But this time, there will be no escape!" The mecha robot just flew over the top of the stage and chased after the soldiers, claiming their lives. The group quickly dashed forward to engage the Mecha robot, to prevent further unnecessary taking of life.
The mecha robot was gathering energy to blast at the group. Before it even finished, Noah interlinked and sliced through its flame clock 5, halted it, and it released an extremely strong burst of green shockwave that engulfed the whole castle ground, before dropping to the floor and engulfed in flames. The Flame Clock on the main Castle immediately died out.
The Flame Clock inside the Agnian soldiers' iris disappeared and they seemingly lose strength, fell to the ground thereafter. X was terrified, "W-with one blow... That sword... Guess there's no mistaking it. Where did a brat like him get that...?" Riku watched happily as he summoned the sword when he needed the power; Noah and Mio cancelled their Interlink, approached X, with the former announced,
"Don't waste your time on petty tricks. The Castle... is in our hands now."
"Petty tricks, huh...?" She wasn't ready to give up yet. "Hehehe... You think you've won?" Both her iris again glowed with the Moebius sign as Noah watched what was to unfold. Suddenly, the ground started shaking vigorously, and a tube stuck out from the pelvis of the floating castle. "Tell me, do you know the phrase 'last laugh'? Admittedly, you probably won't find this very funny... But I will. See how you like THIS!"
The tubing split in half, revealing a purple tube with a needle in the middle. Its an Annihilator! Purple sparks began to zoomed through the arrow lines on the side as a purple globule of energy ball gathered in front of the needle. Larger and larger it grows.
Taion quickly dashed towards the stage, shockingly announced what he saw, "An Annihilator?! There was one in Agnus too!"
X laughingly announced, "We have another winner!"
Eunie caught up with Taion, concernedly questioned, "Wait! What are you even gonna shoot?" The other group dashed past her.
"You wanna know the target? It's right here!" She used her thumb and pointed to her back; the blurry sword laid in the back. All while the Moebius symbol glowed brighter and brighter in her iris. Noah used his Iris to interpolate where she's pointing at and singled out the part of the sword where the City was hidden.
"The City?!!"
Sena: "How'd they even find it? HUH!!!" She looked up and recalled the person whom was standing beside X all the time, being quiet and out of their attention temporarily. She trod forward, desperately wanted acknowledgement, "You didn't..."
"UHAHAHAHAHAHAAH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
X: "Ehehehe... I suppose that's that mystery solved."
Sena, her eyes widely opened in disbelievement. Lanz scolded, "You scum... You've even sold out the City?"
"JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW? You dream of living out your days in peace? You wanna protect the natural way of life? AHAH!!! All that shite... is a right afforded only TO THE POWERFUL!!!"
"Huh..." Noah was shocked at what she'd shared.
She continued, "What about those who can't live in peace, huh?! Are they meant to survive in all this chaos, until the very day they die?! I have not one thing to my name. I don't even have the power to CHOOSE! Screw it... For all I care, all of this CAN GO TO HELLLLLL!!!"
Sena cannot know how she could be so desperate, "Shania, please...!"
X: "Whichever way you lot wanna slice it, your lives are in our grasp! I will teach you the meaning of regret, and reap you like so much rotten grain!" The Annihilator finally reached its maximum gatherment; purple rings encircled the edge of the tubing as it launched and colored the sky purple.
They group shielded their eyes as they watched the fate of the City. X looked up at the sky and shouted, "Z!!!" Then, she was teleported off the location. N, still bending on the floor, perhaps was forced teleported back to where Z was.
The Annihilator died down after the launch. Shania, with the tip of her mouth pushing up to smile, turned around and saw the Annihilator blew a hole in the location of the City. Rocks encircled the center of the impact.
Sena watched in awe, prayed, "Please, no! The City..." Even Lanz's eyes showed clear desolation as they watched their hope wiped out.
Noah took the blame after a few moments, "Huuhhh... It's all my fault... I didn't think they'd have an ace up their sleeve... I got careless..."
Mio reassured, "It's OK."
Noah turned to her, wasn't sure why she was calm, "What...?" She gave him a confirmatory node and turned to face the sky the same direction. Shania was shocked by their reaction, turned around as heard ships rising up to the level of the Castle ground. It was a Levnis no different from the one Guernica crashed.
Manana: "Levnises from City incoming!"
Eunie: "Who the-?"
"AHOYYYY!! Ya dags!!!" More and more levnises floated upwards as she shouted through a speaker.
Noah: "That voice... Ghondor?!" Shania terrifyingly watched as she appeared and cursed,
"Guess who's back, bitches!"
The ship parked around the empty spaces in Agnus Castle ground. Ghondor, accompanied by Oggy and Aggy, approached the Ouroboros with Shania watching in the background, still frozen. Behind her lined some Lost Numbers' holding their guns.
Noah excitedly exclaimed, "Ghondor! You're all right?!"
"Damn, that was gonna be my line! Heh..." She turned to Mio, "Looks like things worked out over here anyway."
Noah just joined the dots, "Did she...?"
"Yep." That day, Ghondor and Monica watched Mio teleported into the City. "If she hadn't clued us in, we'd be up shit creek now."
"Right... Mio..."
Sena: "Monica and the others?"
She effetely replied, "Bitchqueen's fine, too..." Then, touching her temple to send data to their Iris, "The City's currently right about... here."
On his Iris, Noah exclaimed at what he saw, "Underneath the world?! How is that possible?"6
"The City itself is actually a massive bloody Ferronis! If we feel like it, we can move it to anywhere in the world."
Even Taion was impressed, "Simply astounding!!!"
Lanz: "I thought it was just like an oversized Colony."
Ghondor: "That wasn't exactly common knowledge. The Bitchqueen and I knew... and a handful of others, that's it. We had to be sure... so that some slimy traitor wouldn't drop us in it."
"Traitor..." Sena whispered, turned her head around as they faced the lonely Shania. She was still panting furiously, couldn't accept her fate. When everyone turned to look at her, her iris diminished into a dot, as if with fear, or perhaps, with anger, with anti-resignation.
Ghondor slowly paced towards her, arms around her hips, "All right... I'm not gonna ask 'why'. I suppose I know the reason. But if it's what I'm thinkin', then I don't get it at all. If we'd made one mistake, the City woulda been wiped out. Before we're done, you'll tell me everything I wanna know, Shania." The reverberating in her tone revealed that she did care for her childhood friend.
The group watched and waited for her reaction and reply. She took several steps back, as if gravity pulled her backwards not downwards. Her hands clenched heavily and shakily at her failure. Desperately, she spoke, "It's your eyes, that look! You've always looked at me that way! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS...?! WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME, STANDING HERE ON MY OWN???"
"Shania..."
"Uhuhuhuhuh... I've had it... Huh... I've had it UP TO HERE!" She withdrew her blade, a pistol, and pointed it at Ghondor.
"Hoh!" Ghondor was shocked at her hostility. Oggy and Aggy quickly step forward and called their blades; some others backed up, other Lost Numbers stood forward; Eunie and Taion hyper-reactively summoned their blades.7
She took a few steps back, pulled the pistol to her right ear, and pointed it on her temple.
Sena: "SHANIA!"
Ghondor: "DROP IT!!! THIS ISN'T WHAT I MEANT BY 'DONE'!!!" She quickly dashed past Aggy and Oggy, trying to reach for her.
She cut her off, "Don't misunderstand..." Ghondor stopped on her track as Shania continued, tears rolling down her eyes, as she shouted, "This is... THIS IS THE BEGINNING!!!" And she shot herself on her temple. The sky rotated around her; and before she dropped to the ground, she saw Ghondor and Sena dashed after her.
Sena: "SHANIA!!!" Ghondor's hands reached out for her as she approached; but it was too late; her head hit the ground and she was done for.
The group (Ouroboros and Ghondor's) gathered around Shania, felt sad despite her misdoings. Sena knelt beside her corpse.
Noah walked forward, knelt down behind her, and put a hand on her shoulder, lightly asked, "Are you... ready, Sena?"
She turned to him, "Noah..."
"This is the fate that Shania chose. It isn't the end." As they turned their attention back to her, he continued, "Like she said herself, this is the beginning. Come on. Up you get." Her feelings when she said they were the same never fades; her desire to find someone whom can reciprocate with her, and to lose her, can't be easily get over with, or maybe, not even forever.
Mio reached out and gently placed her fingers on her other shoulder, assured her it would be OK. She looked up at her eyes, Mio nodded back to her. With Mio's help, she got up, still looking at her corpse.
Noah: "I don't know if it'll reach her... But still... Sena, we'll do all we can."
"Mhm..." The blue morning sky in the distance signified a new beginning.
The Lost Numbers were curing the injured Agnians. One Agnian, perhaps a leader, leaded Aggy and Oggy to someplace. The Agnian soldiers started chatting with the Lost Numbers without displaying hostility. Some looked to repair their Levnises.
Footnotes:
1: Noah was still bending down on the floor, his heads looking on the ground.
2: 蓄势。
3: 撒娇
4: OK, not really everything, or the protagonists won't have a chance to beat him unless with unbeatable powers.
5: The one with Keves and Agnus flames from both clockwise and anticlockwise fully charged.
6: Unfortunately, one could see nothing from the turquoise screen other than the City surrounded by rocks with no special features that stood out.
7: Others like Sena, Lanz, Mio, and Noah didn't call their blades.