melodiesoflife | Endgame || Apocalypse

Entry tags:

Endgame || Apocalypse

Characters: Anyone
Where: Pandaemonium
When: March 05th
Summary: The first phase of endgame begins! The Heroes of Light are on their way to deal with Garland as they’ve left their unfinished businesses in the hands of their friends amongst the NPCs. How will it end? The mingle threads shall not be modded, only The Guardian will be modded. Please do not start individual threads for The Guardian, reply in a single thread. Starting from now on, the game is officially in endgame. Please do not post any new posts on Mognet or in the Log Community, unless they’re backdated to before this event. The second phase of endgame will be posted once The Killer Of World thread will have been unlocked and completed.
Warning: ̩̼͋ͬͅ.̷̳̗ͦͣ͐ͭͣͬ̈́ ̤̙ͫ̉.̨̯͖̗͓̥̭̣̂̄ͣ̏ͯͫ ̶̼̻̳ͫͧͥ̆.̭͎ͮ͂ ̳̤͓̖̫͌ͪͥ̄͗̐̌.͚͍̀ ͈̻̠̥̜ͦͦ̆ͨ͋.̼̹̹̠̟͚͎ ͙͇̲̘͖̉̌̒͂̈ͮ.͇͙͑̍̽ ̪̭̹̤͓̯̜ͦͣ̒̾͆͗ͦ͟.̝̯̲͗͊̽ ̛̙͌̈ͤ̚.̪̮̰̘͚̏ͦͤ ̲̼̺͓̣̝̐.͗ͨ͜ ̧́̑̄ͥ.ͬ͊̋ͣ ̝̠͍̭̯̽.́ ̊̽̈.̡̥̖̣͓̬̠̰͗͑͂ ͍̭̩̝̉͊̑̃̓ͤ̇.͆̔̀̈́̐̋ ͇̬̤̲͉̜͙̓̍ͦͯͤͥ̔.̯̻̺͔̰̞̙͋͡ ̻̼̣̮͖̮̋ͬ.̖̝̞ ͕̦̙̞̹̲̖̓̃.̌ͯͯ͟ ̺̘̪͊̊.̲͖ ̧̼̙̋ͦͧ̂́̑͑.̷̼̬̭͔͙̹̫ͦͧ̔̄͐̏ͫ ̱͎ͥͥ̈͝.̲̣͖̪͓̯ͩ̓̈̿ͧ̅́ ̪͈͚̺̦̝͎̒ͦ̇̚.̂̆ͯͦͩ̃̀̀ ̬͕̼̆.͎̃́͐̄͒̑ͪͅ ̠̳͎ͬ.̛̭͓͗͌ͪ ̴͉̱͉̘̯̟̔͐.̫̣̥̔͑͛́ ̝̭̤̜͖͎̙̈ͪ̿̓ͯ͂̚.̟̲̥̥͈̭̳̈̋ͥͦ ͔̩̈͋͐͗̚.͓̝̼͍̈ͧ͊ͅ ̥ͥ.̷̬͍͙ͥ̓͋ͅ ̪̯̠ͨ́̂.̱̙̘̫̰͕͈̎̓̊ ̧̻̃̎.̬̇̄ ̘̣̺̼ͯ͋̀.̯ͬ ̆͗͆̆̋͝.̴̞͖̫́ͬ͌̉̍̿ ̪̹̥͙̑ͅ.̵̻̮͓̉̃ͯ͑̊̈́̚ ͚̽̒̚͘.͇̮͇̻͍͈̠͂̓ͣ̀͡ ̩̠̖̋.̺͎͈̦̺̈́ͮͬ͌̋ͧͩ ̳̠͕͙̎ͩ͜.̛̆ͥ̒͑ ̘̠͓͚̱͗͜ͅ.̢̠̠̥͍̬̂̊͋͊̂̄̐ ̦͛.̰͚̫̱͙̩̅̓ ̲̜͌̒ͭ͑͠.̠̆̈̏͆̉ ̰̹̳̻̥̮̬ͨ̍̐̆͗ͫ͜.͕̥͔̳ͩ͞ ̣͓̥̑̍͊̽̄̀.̳̘̭ͭ̔̎̍͜ ̟̞̯̏.̙̯̦̞̱̘ͬ͐ͩ ̯̠̣͉̪̅̅ͣ́ͅ.̡͗̍̿͊͐͊ ̲̙́̽̽́.̝̟͇͈͚̿͝ ̑͜

Mingle Thread
The Guardian
The Killer Of Worlds

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Levy never really knew Ramza personally, but his reputation was certainly something all Heroes of Light were aware of. It stings, that the best of them would fall so close to the end. But there's no time to mourn for him or the others who had been knocked into the Abyss now. The remaining Heroes had to save as many of themselves as they could if there would be any hope of defeating the reborn Kalki.

"Let's go! We don't have much time!"

And there's no way she's letting Tsubomi fall into the Abyss. She wants answers just as badly, but she's not going to lose her here in pursuit of them. Whatever insecurities she has about herself, she's been a reliable constant in Levy's life, and a great source of courage for the young mage. If apologies need to be made later, she'll make them, but for now she reaches for her girlfriend's hand and uses Teleportation to whisk the two of them onto the Enterprise.

"Lailah, you need to go," Chrom instructed the Seraphim within. "Make sure the rest of our band makes it out okay." His serious face was fixed on the violet-eyed freelancer. He couldn't yet sheath his sword, given that it was part of his arm so long as he was armatized, but he certainly had no intentions of striking down his own comrade.

"We are NOT killing him. There's no coming back from that," he said sternly to Ales, frowning over his shoulder. "Evacuate now! We'll need your help to find a way to separate them later." He dashed for Ramzki, making a grab at him, but only managing to seize air. The platform was starting to buck beneath his feet, momentarily disrupting his balance, but he was determined. "I'm not leaving without him, Kalki! Let him go!"

"I'm going the other way! I'll be alright!" Sonic said, pointing towards the stairs. With that, the hedgehog raced towards the stairs, making his way upwards once he reached them. If anything, he had to make sure that any other Moogles and soldiers weren't around before running back to the Enterprise.

"Vincent! Put me down!" Sheena was struggling against his hold before all hell broke loose, and her struggles ceased. Her attention now focused on Ramza, she couldn't help but shake her head in disgust.

"It's Rialynn all over again! They knew this would happen! That's why they were mad that we didn't kill her! It was a goddamned test!" Okay, she was now pissed enough to truly break free from her friend and come to a stumbling stop. They had been made fools of--again.

"Nobody else attack!" she yelled. "Remember what happened earlier!" She started to head towards Ramza, the shaking ground seeming not to affect her, when two balls of fur flew into her.

"Sheena! You're all right!" Corrine cried, burying his head into her shoulder. Mogdelina, on the other hand, was flitting about, looking for her Hero. Reaching up to hug Corrine, the ninja changed direction and pulled her partner's Moogle to her.

"Mogdelina, I'm sorry. Albel went over the side."

Keeping a strong grip on the little one, she turned back to Vincent. "Thank you. You were right. Albel never would have forgiven either of us." Him for not stopping her, and her for disrespecting Albel that way. "Come on, we're leaving. We can't get them back now, but by Martel, we'll do it somehow."

And with that, she headed towards the portal, stopping when she saw Reno asleep on the ground. No way was she losing someone else she cared about. "Corrine, take Mogdelina back. I'll be along shortly."

Leaning over, she grabbed Reno's hands and began pulling, only to stop immediately. Nope. Can't do it alone. Spotting Cloud nearby, she called out to him.

"Cloud! Help me get Reno through there! Someone else grab anyone else who's hurt or asleep!" Hopefully, that will stop any more attacks as well.

From being well on his way already to the stairwell, by that time nearly at the first steps, Sephiroth completely missed what had transpired with Ramza in the meantime...at least until that final spell was cast.

The immediate shaking to the platform earned a sharp stop to Sephiroth's progress up further than two steps and he turned to look back. A private breath hitched, eyes widening, as he saw that the edges of the platform were crumbling away; people were going to have to get out...surely they wouldn't think to stay now-

But from already on the stairs -he lurched and almost lost his step while looking due to the trembling of what might well be the entire world- one thing was clear. He might well be able to get back there, with a Dash from his custom job still, to attack or to get others clear of danger...

...it wouldn't help anyone, at all, should it all be brought to an abrupt end here. All those worlds that had been before, all those countless souls...all those that were at risk for the future....

As he turned back to continue up the stairs, effectively turning his back again on the platform entirely, a small pale fluff of a moogle near enough collided with his middle not two steps later. But it was all that Sephiroth could do but to clutch Spencer against him as close as possible and continue to make a hasty, yet staggered retreat up the stairwell. The moogles might think that it might be best with their Heroes down there, but things were literally falling apart all over.

Spencer had dutifully uttered that the Enterprise was waiting; if only he could weather the intense earthquake which had been triggered. Somewhere along the way, another small moogle had hitched a ride somewhere about mid-way down Sephiroth's hair as he determinedly carried on. At least he'd sheathed his sword, in the meantime.

Ophelia had bee-lined through the crowd towards Vincent, and was quiet for once. Oof-ing a bit with a small "Kupo!" as she was passed the rifle he'd brought. Clutching it close as she knew it was important and precious, and then staying close as the taller gunman made his way over to where Johnny was.

Likewise, Reno would never forgive him if he left someone that important to him behind. Reno was an ally, a friend; and while Johnny was hardly the easiest person to carry, Vincent would manage enough. Careful of his gauntlet's claws, and sure of his grip before getting the other over his shoulders in a fire-brigade style carry. He could manage this at least enough to get them to safety on the Enterprise, Ophelia fluttering behind him and holding her questions for now.

Santa could've cared less about the dramatic betrayal playing out in front of them. There were bigger concerns.

Apologizing silently to Duster, he went to Akane and scooped her up in his arms. He spared a glance at Lydia to make sure she was getting herself off of the crumbling platform.

With the two girls settled, Santa activated his teleportation skill to get himself and Akane out of there.

"So meaningless." Hisui whispered, tired of all the fighting and panic and... just. Everything. He had no more emotional outburst to give. He made his way to the exit, motioning for anyone who had to go by foot to get through it, just in case the path would be blocked or caved in. After a handful of people started getting out, he looked back before making his own way through, still unsure of everything that transpired.

"Tch." With that, Hisui made his way through, hopefully making an escape. Not that it mattered. This wasn't going to end.

Flynn trusted the others, and there was not much else, if anything, to add. They had to escape, and some have already made their rounds to get out. But Chrom was right - there was no point in killing Ramza, because Kalki would most likely just hop into another Hero.

"Yuri!" He shouted, trying to get his friend's attention. "... Be careful." There was no need to say anything else. Yuri would make it out alive and meet with Flynn again. Don't sacrifice yourself, you arrogant bastard! "Let's move it!" he ordered everyone else who was straggling, and not to the ones facing Ramza. They would halt him, hopefully.

Being forcibly expelled from Chrom's body as he undid the Armatus, Lailah took a step back, still absorbing everything that was going on. "Sir Chrom...!" She wanted to stay. He was her partner. She wasn't going to let him take on something all by himself! But... a quick glance around, and she knew he wasn't alone. He had all these comrades who would, if it came down to it, die at his side. But they had to make it. And she had to do her own job. She knew he wasn't looking at her, but she nodded. Had she still been on Glenwood, she most likely would not be able to be separated long distances from the Shepherd, her vessel, but perhaps here, the rules worked differently. "Everyone who cannot teleport, follow me!" With a snap of her fingers, the Silver Flame appeared above her hand as a guiding light. "Let us retreat to a safe distance, attend to the injured, and get out of here!"

"Y'all get goin'! I'll handle this!" It was time for him to be a hero in his own way: through talking it out.

"Ramza!" With the best of his ability (and help from the Levitation ability), the Barkeep hopped onto the next bit of uncracked floor and waved him arms around or Ramzki. "And you, Kalki! That ain't your body, so get your conscious right outta there! Shoo!"

A middle aged man, standing beneath an untouchable force of destruction that was literally about to send the Heroes into the abyss, flicked his hands at the figure of his housemate. This young man was like a son to him, and he wasn't letting this malicious spirit mess around with him.

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A mass retreat? It was a tough call, given the circumstances. Even as the ground crumbled to dust, he could still move around with ease, circling past the Heroes who worked their way towards the Enterprise, but not hesitating to extend a helping hand to anyone who needed it.

Just go. Catching Minato’s unsettled expression, he motioned for the boy to flee while he still could. As much as he hated the thought of leaving Ramza, none of them was capable of enduring another display of Kalki’s abilities, let alone in the air.

Not everyone seemed to show the same level of concern. Ace listened to the Barkeep's declaration with a heavy heart, but if the possessed Hero was to hear anyone out, this was probably their best bet. The least he could do was plant a thought in Ramza's mind, using the Telepathy skill, hoping that it would reach him where ordinary words failed.

“Don't let her take over! You can still fight it, Ramza. Listen to him.”

With no more time to spare, he finally reached his primary objective. Tear. Mindful of her injuries, he lifted the melodist off the trembling ground and into his arms, ready to Teleport any moment now.

The former imperial knight hers the words that escaped Ira's mouth. That's not Ramza.. He did hear it clearly. That only made things worse. So Kalki was going as far as possessing other people for her plan? He somehow had lost all mercy he had for her. None of this sat well with Yuri. He knew that whatever came from this wasn't going to be a good thing. At least, he understood and heard what the silver haired boy had to say. Yuri saw the young man fall into the pit and he even tried to grab the other but he didn't make it. Neither did Selphie. She watched him fall into the Abyss and Yuri could only close his eyes as he watched the other's form disappear into the darkness. He didn't make any move to jump but Selphie's voice made him turn to her briefly, "Yeah, I know. I'm not about to do that right now."

Not after what he saw happened to Jaune. Following Selphie's response, his ears rung from the ordering tone of his favourite Princess. Oh jeez, could they all just give him a break. He didn't exactly jump in now did he?

"Right, I forgot we had something like that and hey no need to shout at me. I wasn't going to actually jump in."

He replied with a big sigh, "Alright ladies, let's get this thing going then. Grab whoever you can and get out! I'm going to go help with the stragglers. "

As soon as he said that he watched a fellow ally run straight for Ramza. Seriously?

"We aren't going to kill anyone. We had to stop Kalki and that was the only way, and now she's refusing to stay dead. We're short on resources. There's no way we'd be able to take her down right at this moment," Yuri replied as Chrom started to speak. He may not know the other but he had seen his face around a lot and he sort of deducted from the other's response what kind of person he was. Yuri wasn't going to repeat the past mistakes. He was trying to so hard, yet things were still not working out.

"Hold it!"

Yuri shouted at him before making a break for Chrom. They had to get out pronto, "We can't fight right now! Did you not hear what I said? You'll be dead before you could land a hit!"

"Sunshine cover me!"

He ran at Chrom who was facing Ramza in order to make sure the boy wasn't going to get himself killed. Yuri was a reckless and he understood Chrom's thoughts but they couldn't die here. He couldn't die and Chrom definitely wasn't.

Chrom didn't have time to argue. What could he say? How could he explain the bond between himself and the others who had agreed to fight together as a unit? Perhaps they hadn't as much time to grow as cohesive as his Shepherds in Ylisse, but they were still his responsibility.

He could not leave a single one of them behind. "Stop worrying about me, and see to the others!" he growled between clenched teeth as Ramzki once more vanished and reappeared beyond his reach, toying with the young lord. "We're not leaving a single person behind, possessed or not! GO!"

"Look it's not like I don't get where you're coming from but we don't have any way of subduing him! She possessed him but he's still alive. There's a chance we can get him back, so listen to the guy that's usually diving into dangerous situations head first for once!"

Yuri snapped at Chrom as he finally made it over the other with huge strides. He didn't have time to watch another Hero die.

"Let me remind you that you're also one of the others. Don't make this difficult."

Chrom could barely spare one glance at Yuri as he approached. "Shut up and help me then, man!" Would that he knew Yuri's name, he might have used it instead of ordering him the way he might an unfamiliar troop. But what could he do? What spell or ability was at his disposal that might possibly make a difference?

Chrom stopped with his feet spread wide, grimacing as he drew upon the power of Soul Eater. It would devour some of his own life force, but it might slow Ramzki down long enough to get in one good blow to the side of the head...

"Sorry pal, but I don't have a death wish and you sure as hell won't be harboring any death wishes either."

This was becoming really annoying. This guy was stubborn and he couldn't really blame him. Whoever this Ramza is, he must be important enough for Chrom to lose his shit over. Well, Yuri would have too if it was one of his friends but it was beside the point. There was no more time for negotiations.

He flipped the handle of his sword up and stood directly behind Chrom after he was distracted by casting Soul Eater.

"Blame me later but I-- we don't have time to lose another able and functional ally," without warning, Yuri used all the force he could muster and struck Chrom's pressure point with the hilt of his sword in hopes of knocking the guy out fast.

"Nngh--!" Chrom's eyes flinched wide with the force of the blow, before rolling up into his eyelids. The nobleman slumped loosely to the ground in a heap of clinking crystal and armor fastenings, Falchion clattering to the crumbling platform from out of his nerveless gloved fingers.

Yuri truly felt bad for this but he knew better than anyone that fighting right now was suicide. He didn't want Chrom to die in vain. As soon as the man collapsed, Yuri sheathed the other's sword back in its place along with his own. Quickly, he hoisted the unconscious Prince over his shoulders in a piggy back manner and made a run for the Enterprise. He'd still hope that Selphie was covering on his tread back as well. Yuri heard another voice but it wasn't like he could stop Barkeep right now. He was one person.

Well, this all just went to hell very, very quickly. Ramza was about the last person Jade would have expected to turn on them. No doubt Kalki had been very happy about that.

Knowing Rukia could handle herself with flash step, Jade sought out those who couldn't teleport or otherwise get away on their own. No time to think about it too much. He Vanished to Ruby's side and took the girl's shoulder before using Teleportation to get them both to the Enterprise.

Selphie nodded as she dashed after Yuri. She didn't know what he was planning but felt some relief when he confirmed that he wasn't going to jump. She grinned briefly at Natalia for backing her up before continuing to pursue her friend. She could hear people trying to reason with Ramzki and part of her wanted to try but it felt too late to reason with them now. She cursed silently under her breath before stopping in front of Yuri, drawing out her nunchaku and spread her feet wide against the bucking platform.

It all happened so quickly that Selphie didn't have time to say a thing to Chrom before Yuri had knocked him out. Chrom didn't want to leave anyone behind and she could understand that sentiment but now wasn't the time as Falchion came clattering to a halt near her feet. She backed up to the two men and quickly undid the belt that held Chrom's scabbard and put Strange Vision down. The sword was heavier than her own as she grabbed the scabbard and slid the sword inside. It was no small feat for the perky brunette to loop the belt across her right shoulder but she managed it.

"I've got your back, Yuri," Selphie said as she reclaimed her nunchaku and settled back into position. "And I'll talk to that blockhead on your back later."

Selphie let her eyes narrow into a sharp, serious glare before anyone could tell her otherwise. "TIME TO GO FOLKS," she bellowed at anyone who would listen.

Most unfortunately, people calling out to Ramza didn't seem to be helping in any ways. Any attack delivered against the possessed knight resulted in the now familiar phasing out effect and it didn't seem his consciousness would overcome Kalki's. As the floating platform crumbled Garland's and Kalki's corpses fell into the abyss and soon, Ramza-Kalki himself fell as well, without trying to move away from the crumbling platform. Anyone clinging onto him for a reason or another will fall into the abyss as well. The rest of the platform had only seconds left before crumbling entirely.

Going up the stairs, they would find the entirety of Pandaemonium and the Imperial City slowly collapsing and crumbling as the earthquake's intensity grew. The soldiers were already retreating and only the potion-selling soldier and a moogle with him weren't running away yet. They greeted all the Heroes of Light coming from the stairs with a simple sentence, pointing toward the exit.

"Go! Get to the airship!"

Meanwhile, the situation on the Enterprise was hardly better. The ship was shaking as it was still landed close to the imperial city and most of the crew seemed to panic, with Cid yelling out orders to the crew members left and right while holding the wheel, as the first Heroes of Light started appearing on the airship.

"I said we're not going till they're all back." Then noticing whoever were the first Heroes to have appeared. "Speak of the devils. The hell's happened down there!?"

Sonic came to a stop facing Cid, an annoyed look on his face.

"Hell's right, Cid!" He said. "Garland's dead, Parasraya was actually Kalki and Ramza's been possessed by her and even that I have my doubts on! Some of the heroes are MIA thanks to those two!"

Though Natalia raced up the stairs into the city, she didn't stay with the other heroes. Instead she went for the soldiers, shouting orders of evacuation. They'd all fought so bravely for the rest of them, the last thing she wanted was to see them meet their deaths here.

She shouted her warning as she moved, making sure it was heard, making sure it was spread.

"That means you too!" she told the vendor. Why hadn't he budged yet? "Come on, you won't sell more of your wares in this place!" If he needed help picking up his goods, he'd get it. But she had no intentions of leaving any of this world's people to their own devices, using the last of her healing magic on any who was wounded or struggling.

He tried to hurry the others to escape the best he could, even though he knew they would not trust the darkness at his disposal nearly as much as he'd wanted to believe. After watching everyone had either been dragged off by others or had willingly begun either climbing the stairs, he reached for Lydia's hand before taking her through the Dark Corridor as well. If only what he first heard on the other end was something that didn't make his blood boil.

Why did no one trust his observations? Was it because he was the lowly replica of the hero that should have been here instead? No, such thoughts needed to wait. Shaking his head, he took one step onto the deck of the Enterprise, and-

"He is right on one point," Ira said, fully stepping out of the portal. "Garland is dead."

With that said, he turned his hard glare to Sonic. "He wasn't in control at all, and I refuse to believe someone who so strongly advocated the laws of this world and stood beside us all this time would betray us willingly.

"Feel free to doubt my ability to sense the darkness of others' hearts all you want. It won't change the fact that he is in Kalki's thrall."

[ooc: If anyone else wanted to escape with him, he will have waited for them to go through! Feel free to handwave it!]

If it was a choice between darkness trusted by another Hero and falling into the abyss- well. The choice didn't seem that hard to her. She shook herself once she was on the deck, unsettled, and reached up to pinch her nose as she listened to the others. One conversation like this had to be enough for one lifetime, surely.

"I don't believe it, either," she said, shaking her head to try to settle herself. "I don't know why Kalki went for him, but… We have to find a way to deal with that now." Admittedly, she wanted a little time to not deal with anything for a few moments- but she wasn't sure that was going to happen. "As for the earthquake- I believe that's something she did as well."

Ramzki dodged his bullet, not that it was any surprise. Of course she'd use that same trick as before and not get rid of her new body. Did all Avatars have the ability to possess other people upon death? Magic was stupid, so Ales didn't bother to ponder that while he jumped into Ira's portal.

He tumbled onto the deck of the Enterprise, rolling with the graced of a floppy Teensie armored with uneven spikes. The puppet following him fared better as it stood up to face Cid while Ales struggled to stand on his feetl.

"Either way, Ramza's body is still down there and probably will join the other Heroes. Not counting him and Puras--Kalki. Not counting them, 11 of our number are gone." His mouthed tightened. "What's happened out here?"

Cloud followed the order he was given, hefting up Reno and carrying him through the dark passage. He spared one last glance to Ramza as he fell away, his brow furrowed. He wanted to believe in his friend but part of him wondered just when the change happened. Before or after? And how much was he involved in it.

He pushed the thought away as he stepped through. It wasn't going to help.

Upon arriving at the Enterprise, Cloud joined in the pessimism. "It was a trap to begin with. Kalki knew we wouldn't have any choice but to do this so she took the chance to make it her victory." He was cut off by Ira before he could get to Ramza and maybe it was for the best. He was running hot on adrenaline and anger right now, not thinking clearly and hope was being held at arm's length.

But Ira was right. He felt the same way about Ramza and so he felt betrayed, but he also knew enough about Ira's powers to believe in his words. "Maybe it's because he never used any Jobs. Or maybe it's because of who he was." He shook his head, there was no way of picking this apart now.

Instead he rolled off of Ale's comments. "Cid, have you seen any of them?" He rattled off the list of names of the missing, including Deadpool.

______________

Elsewhere, closer to the stairs and that exit the other Heroes were using an unaccompanied gold chocobo fussed and fretted as it waited for its Hero to emerge from the crumbling keep. Zack had never accepted Cloud's decision to leave him behind at the ranch for this and he slipped his hitching post and stable stall shortly after the Heroes had landed at Pandemonium.

But Zack is a smart bird and he'll listen to anyone who tells him Cloud is safe and will also help carry any of the unconscious or wounded to safety.

Tsubomi was a bit disoriented with her sudden arrival on the Enterprise. If anything, she'd be just a bit annoyed at Levy for not warning her about the jump. She's more grateful that she saved her.

Letting out a sigh, she heard the commotion over Kalki and Ramza. However, it was Cloud's comments that got to her.

"W-wait...!" She called out. "Didn't the video say that, for one to be a God, they had to conquer their Shadow self? He must have... does anyone remember what Ramza had to deal with?"

Jack makes it to the Enterprise, breathless, and has to lean against the nearest supportive surface. "Next time...equip Dragoon, Harkness."

He lets the names, the list of the fallen wash over him. Nanami. Mary. Damn it all. They never would have gotten this far without them. It's Tsubomi's question that gets Jack back on the ball, and he opens his eyes again. "He succeeded. Outside of that, what does it matter? He found his faith again." As much as Jack can say without revealing things that are not his business to speak of.

But, okay, it's showtime. "This was not entirely a trap. We did need to defeat Garland and prevent the cycle from being restarted, that was always a part of the plan. We just didn't think that someone else had her own plans to capitalize on this. We did succeed here today, so now it's time to figure out how to do it again."

Jack is looking around for Jade and Chiaki, specifically. "We have options, none of them are good, some of them are much stupider than others, so let's start with the best we've got. The plan from the very beginning was that once Garland was out of the way, we would activate the Soul Divider to try to reconnect the Calamity back to the broken pieces of the other worlds. We just expected that we were going to have more time to be able to do that. If we were to go turn it on right now, to try to interfere with what Kalki is doing, what are the odds that it would work?"

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