come_sailaway | END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

[they seem to glance at every individual person, despite their gaze never leaving Maximilien's.]

When we remove our hands, a new world shall be born. [a wry smile] For one of us, it will be something of a one-way trip.

[ Feeling shaky and disoriented, Fio is a little slower peeling away from the pile of people. She scans those closest to her, a small sense of relief washing over when she spots her friends and family. Is Sparkles nearby as well? There's another tiny burst of energy when she sees her skeletal father and the captain, bringing Fio to bounce onto her feet. ]

Daddy! Mister Captain! [ A pause, when she hears the Erda's words. And her attention is easily drawn towards the light coming from Max. ] One-way trip...? Huh? [ Another beat. ] Is Max gonna be okay?

Perfectly fine. [a reassuring smile that. kinda falters a bit.] We think. The technological level of his native realm and the magical level of our native realm are somewhat in conflict, but we believe we will hold up our end of the wish.

... It's a rather interesting experience, not knowing what will occur. We are pleased to have it.

[There's many odd thoughts that happen at the end of perceived existence. The one that's sticking with him is that this should hurt far more than it does. His sensors are barely registering that someone has their hands in his chest cavity, probably because the gem in his chest is distorting reality around the Erda's hands. Death should be painful, shouldn't it?]

Don't worry Fio. It'll be fine. Even if I'm not.

[He doesn't know that, he can't possibly know that - but he has to have hope doesn't he. What an odd and curious sensation. He looks at the Erda, wondering if she's seeing more than just some machinery and wiring right now, if there's something beyond all of this now that reality itself seems to be tangible.]

We're all getting new experiences aren't we?

[Skulduggery had always known that Maximilien was capable of grandly heroic acts, but this is an unhappy confirmation. Unhappier still is the knowledge that even though he may want to intervene, this is one sacrifice that only Max can make. It's hard to be a hero when all you can do is witness.

Still, he can see his family in the doll heap of people trying to figure out where the non-existent ground is. He can feel the heat of the Captain next to him, and Fio's voice coming out clear as a bell. He'll take what solace he can in that.]

What about Malin? Or others like her?

[ Fio visibly tenses at the answer for a moment, then her shoulders sag. They wish for freedom for everyone and they can live in a new world together. Everyone—and that includes Max. Maybe "everyone" includes some of the bad guys there too. There's always bad people. People like Malin. But they can defeat them again— and again, right?

Most of all, she's worrying about Max's fate. She doesn't say anything else. Only a faint whimper as she lowers her head dejectedly. ]

That one is dead. [their head tilts.] And do take care to remember that death is quite the final word, now. We have seen many sudden mortals deal poorly with the transition... As for others? We cannot say. You are all beings unmoored from your set paths; what comes next is beyond all ken.

[they will answer any other questions posed to them, but once all that is done, they will turn their attention solely to Maximilien.]

This new world will born from what you made your heart. What do you believe it will be?

[because, as it has always been, things are only what you believe them to be.]

[this is it, huh. this is the moment they've been looking for, the idea of something new, something for those set adrift into a new ocean, a new life. and they'll all be free. free to soar, to fly, to fuck up and to try again and again. to drift apart or cling together, depending on what may come.

took them long enough to get here, if everything that's been said is true.

she pulls herself out of the pile, hissing quietly at the pain that still exists, and refuses to look down. that'll only make this splitting headache she has worse. and this entity, this divinity or whatever else, speaks as cryptically as one might expect such a being to. why they couldn't have stepped up earlier is beyond her, but you don't question such things in the moment.

instead she looks at Maximilien with a lingering regard and respect. this doesn't seem like the kind of thing it's easy to come back from, or any certainty of after. yet he's making a choice, for the rest of them to have a future.]

...We'll remember this.

[her, his allies, everyone else. whatever happens, good or bad, he'll be remembered.]

[There's silence from the Omnic for a while, his eyes are moving, so he's still there but this is ... momentous. For as egotistical, self-centered and narcissistic as he is he'd never actually thought that the fate of existence would rest with him. That the power to reshape reality is up to his non-existent imagination.

Beliefs, as a concept, are something so human, but he does have them doesn't he? From the belief that Skulduggery has a pep talk ready to go immediately after this to believing what the Erda is telling him right now.]

I believe that everyone can make a fresh start, that we can recover ourselves from this place. Somewhere safe. Somewhere free. Somewhere that everyone can make into their home should they choose.

[He says it with meaning, trying to imagine it, trying his best to visualize the concept. The intent is there, and maybe that's enough.]

… We hope you see it.

[the Erda’s human form bleeds away, replaced by a stream of violently pure light, from which a single, pale fish swims forward into Maximilien’s chest before exploding into blinding light.

it passes. they blink away the spots. and they are now… somewhere.

well. it’s a road. a forked road, to be precise. there’s some sparse grass, and mostly dirt. it extends out for a while, and then sort of fades back into the mind-hurty nothingness they had been exposed to before, though looking at it does hurt somewhat less, as if there’s some sort of protection between them and oblivion once again.

maybe creating a nice-looking reality is a bit harder than it looks. but, it’s better than nowhere.

a few things happen at once:

there’s a feeling like something being switched from “off” to “on,” and, suddenly, every power and ability that had been lost due to the actions of the Captain and Malin both come back at full force.

bahamanuel violently retches, and coughs up a very, very, very frizzy orange cat.

and the Erda is gone. though, the gem in Maximilien’s chest cavity gives off the same pale glow as that fish.]

[It's obvious the moment her powers are back because Flan's hair goes from a half missing mess to exploding in length, spilling out over the ground and writhing. Then Flan falls and she's gone, completely vanished-

-and then back with a jubilant scream of joy. She grabs Pratt and falls with him, and this time, she can still be heard screaming from directly above the group, plummeting gleefully with Pratt through the brand new sky (and a very unwilling and unhappy April stuck in Flan's mass of hair). ]

[April is also screaming.]

[ Fio's summoning powers are very likely functional. She doesn't bother to check. The lanterns will appear when needed and that won't be necessary for now. The nearby screaming causes her to briefly tense, but she eases up when realizing it's only Flan and April.

Her gaze sweeps about their new surroundings and quickly scans over her companions. Family and friends. There's so many people that she wants to check on. But first, especially after those seemingly last words earlier... ]

Max, you're okay! You're okay! [ With a spring in her steps, she launches into a flying hug at Maximilien's waist. ]

Oh.

[A little ineloquent for the Omnic, but he hadn't expected to make it this far. And his processors have no idea how to catalogue what just happened to him. All of reality just channeled through his chest and he needs to ... yeah he needs to sit down for a second.

He falls to his knees in the dirt, sitting back on his legs and bringing up a hand to touch the gem in his chest. It doesn't feel different, and yet everything feels different.

Fio almost knocks him over with the force of her hug and his arms pinwheel wildly to brace himself against the ground.]

I think... I think I am? Are you alright? Is ... did it work?

[He needs a moment.]

[Pratt, who's been on an extended leave of absence in his own mind, wakes up in time to see an ... explosion maybe?]

Where the fuck are...

[Aaaaand he's falling. What the hell is happening? Pratt is also screaming along with April before he really comes back to himself.]

Flan? Oh god please be Flan.

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