< ENDING 4: Sana, The Pale Whistle >
Nothing could be done about the Heart of Ours. Jury, the triplets, the Golden Middle – none survived their hearts being wrung out from their chests. The only one who remained was Frost. She lived for days on end, enduring a vicious cycle of watching her heart break free from her chest until the light faded from her eyes.
Sana, the Healer, could only watch in horror as the Bloody Herring’s plans succeeded.
“All’s well it ends well, wouldn’t you agree?” The Bloody Herring hummed delightfully as he approached the trembling Sana.
“S-Stay away…!”
“Oh but dear, I’m not here to harm you! I’m not like that tasteless Leitmotif to make you scream!”
“You’re… you’re worse than him.”
“So it may be so, but I believe in a cause unlike him. That things that don’t kill us makes us stronger. More complete. It’s a shame that you aren’t exactly compatible. Your eyes would certainly fetch a high price in one of our attractions~!”
“P-Please no…”
“But be at ease, oh Healer! I’m not as cruel as to pick you apart. No. You have a greater purpose in mind.”
“W-Wait – stop – let me go –!”
Sana’s eyes were concealed with a fleshy blindfold. She didn’t remember much of what happened. She later found herself stretched across a cold table surrounded by golden apparatuses.
A harrowing procedure followed. So much blood was drawn that it was impossible to believe that it all came from one small girl. Violent hacking and the snapping of bone filled the air. Her screams were like the howls of a dying cat. Eventually, those screams turned into that of a whistle.
At the end, a beautiful hand which had never seen a second of labor plucked the pale whistle from the table.
[???]
“So this is her Inherit Value condensed. It’s beautiful. Pray tell – does this…”
[???]
“You assume correctly. She is still conscious in that form. Her physical construct has changed, but her mind still remains.”
[???]
“So pretty. I must thank you for this gift. It will make for a wonderful addition to my collection.”
* * *
< ENDING 5: Ber, The Ugliest Duckling >
Frost had failed the one thing she couldn’t afford to.
Ber was released into the world as nothing more than an unwanted child. Deep down, that child craved attention but attacked those who came too close. The Impuritas succeeded. They condemned Ber to an irreversible Corruption.
Not even Frost could bring her back now.
Cer and Res willingly took damage so that they could embrace her sister.
No matter how many times they did this, Ber would never change. Such was the nature of the Corrupted. Nothing short of a miracle could save them.
And so, Ber’s existence as a Moon came to an end.
Some nights Frost wondered what Ber could have been. She imagined a swan dancing beneath the light of the moon whenever she looked up.
No doubt, Ber’s Corruption weighed them down to the point where even Cer found it difficult to cope with. The little warmth that Res used to display was never seen again. They were so close to completing their mission in the City of Spades, but Ber’s Corruption slowed them down to a crawl.
Cer and Res didn’t know how to move forward. And Frost frankly didn’t either. She blamed herself, even though the blame should have fallen on the Impuritas. Eventually, that self-loathing became hatred.
“Ber… Ber… I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” Cer groaned.
“Come back to us Ber. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have taken your bear. I shouldn’t have.” Res grieved.
Nothing could bring her back. This loss was to be expected given the nature of the world and their mission. But even so, it was a loss that no one could move forward from. The Ber, who revealed snippets of her true self, was consumed by the shadows of the past.
One could only imagine what the tiny, Corrupted Ber was going through in that body.
…
Even after the reclamation of the Nexus, Ber’s condition never improved. It felt inhumane to Archive her, so they build a lake for her to live in on the Floor of Amalgamation.
This lake was off limits save for a select few. Some nights one could hear the cries of a child longing for love across the mountains. Cer would find herself howling at the moon, a futile effort to communicate with the husk that was now her sister.
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Res visited Ber often. No matter how many times she was refused, Res would never allow herself to be pushed away.
She lamented that she could only do this now as she wept in the hands of her tiny, bereaved sister.
* * *
< ENDING 6: Cinder’s Prophecy >
What was only an Apocalypse Corrupted rose to the level of Paradise Lost in only hours. The Arbiter could not contain the threat that once ruined the Old World, and the Beholders were left scrambling to reinstate ancient weapons.
But their efforts were futile.
The Corrupted Zone that summoned a burning city spread across the Nex Megalopolis as a sea of flames consumed everything in its path. A single, flaming entity bearing a burning crown of thorns laid waste to Brandar.
Corrupted broke free from ImpulseWorks sites like a swarm of lotuses. If the flames didn’t kill the denizens of the Nex Megalopolis, then the Corrupted did. The apocalyptic nightmare saw the Moons, the Impuritas, the Beholders, the Archetypes – and all facets of civilization fall to a living Star.
[Arbiter]
“We all failed. The cycle repeats itself. But there will be nothing left after this.”
[Archivist]
“Not even the tales we’ve archived? What will happen to them?”
[Arbiter]
“All will be lost. Time cannot be restored. Elysia has lost that power.”
[Archivist]
“What about Jury?”
[Arbiter]
“It may be feasible if she were to turn back the clock. Would it be possible? I am in no position to confirm it. But it may be possible. The outcome of it however… will lead to the same disease that took Elysia.”
[Archivist]
“But we can still try, r-right?”
The light of the Crowned exceeded that of the Piece of the Fallen Star. The sun itself dimmed in its light. Reality morphed according to the thoughts of the Crowned, converting the Nex Megalopolis into a splitting image of the Old World.
The concrete spires reached far into the distance. The seas transformed into streets, and the forests beyond Brandar rose into buildings. Its Corruption Zone spread like an infection, and there was nothing that the world could do other than to witness its fated death.
[Arbiter]
“If Jury’s wish were to be granted… then there may still be hope for this world. However, this Cycle will never be broken.”
[Archivist]
“What do you mean?”
Anna was curious as she clutched onto the diary belonging to Sinder. The Arbiter didn’t need to clarify.
They would find out what she meant soon enough.
* * *
< ENDING 7: A World Without Frost >
Sitting atop a throne of crystal was a haggard being. Her pale hair coated her entire body like a cocoon. Blue crystals jutted from the hair like they grew from it. The throne was so high that one needed to completely rear their head back to stare up at the being.
A pair of golden eyes stared through the thick veil of hair as a dark claw clasped at the handrest. Beside the handrest was a pale rod shaped like a double helix. Blood continuously dripped from a golden heart impaled by the forks.
It dripped endlessly onto her clawed hand, the temporary warmth reminding her of better days.
[???]
“You’re still here. After how many thousands of loops did you repeat to save the Amalgam?”
An incomprehensible being caring a mark on their right hand spoke to her. Joining him were an ensemble of 7 women, each whose eyes glowed with a radiant, blue light.
They were not human.
“… Who are you?” An unrecognizable voice left the lips of the pale-haired woman. It was Jury… no, it was who used to be Jury.
[???]
“I am like you. A being lost and forlorn. Exiled but left to live. A ruler with no kingdom to call their own.”
The blue crystals that grew from her body like the thorny studs of an armor also grew from her head, forming a pair of hideous thorns. Dark spots that once corroded Elysia tainted her body, marring her with impurities that erased two of her Skills.
[Innocent], and [Remnants of Purity]. In their place were [Guilty] and [Eminence of Qliphoth].
Even her name was replaced.
The Jury now went by the name of:
[???]
“Be at ease. We did not arrive within the fallen ruins of the Nexus to kill the Timeless Grey Star.”
A Star.
Jury, through each loop she died through, carried the strength and knowledge of her last iterations. Eventually, her Light and her dominion over it grew to the point where she was considered a Star in her own right.
Jury ruled over the remains of a fallen Nexus. It was split into two halves after a war that sought to uproot her for her repeated, futile attempts to rescue Frost from Corruption.
It inevitably ended in the death of all Archetypes and the destruction of Nav, leaving her as the sole inheritor of the Nexus. The Nexus itself was tilted at a steep angle. It was no longer the pillar that stood proudly towards the cosmos. Instead, it was a sunken, sad construct that held treasures of powerful beings.
Treasures that called millions from across the world in hopes of retrieving a Gift of their own.
Jury – the Timeless Star – emitted a ticking sound as her claws sank deeper into the crystal handrest. The surrounding world revealed nothing but pale ruins of the indestructible Nexus, and yet, Jury had cleared this area on her own.
Such was the power of a Star.
“Have you come to plunder my treasures?”
[???]
“Believe me, the Pleiades and I have no need for the remnants of decrepit Stars.”
“Then speak. Why do you seek an audience from me?”
[???]
“The Rivers flow deep beneath this world. From here to the lands beyond the seas of Elysia. Constellations exist there, seeking water from a River they will never find. Are you content with your kingdom?”
“… I’ve spent an eternity reliving the past. I have only ever felt lament in regards to my kingdom… my Cycles.”
[???]
“Then, if I could grant you a method to amend that pain, then would you accompany us back to the dunes beyond this land?”
“… You are confident that you can mend this wound?”
[???]
“All things have an origin. The Amalgam was a Star derived from a primordial power. 15 years can no longer return that same soul to a shattered nexus. Therefore, with that remnant of the Amalgam you carry, it will be possible for Her to return to you.”
“All for my company?”
[???]
“No. For the sake of our kingdom come, I ask of you to join us in a world born anew. A world untainted by our abject failures. Where those like us who were exiled and driven to madness can flourish.”
“There will be no ‘Arbiter’ to judge us ever again.”