Sepide approached Polyetta with her sword in hand, ready to stop her creator. Polyetta put the book in her pocket and took her sword, ready for the fight to come.
"Sepide..."
Without a doubt in her heart, the girl rushed at Polyetta. The two swords clashed, but even despite Sepide's pain from earlier, she was the faster one. For once, Polyetta felt out-skilled, all she could do was try to keep up with Sepide's fast and quick attacks.
"Sepide! Why do you fight!? Weren't you happy in this world? Just doing missions forever, without worrying for the future..."
"The future doesn't scare me anymore, my past showed me how splendid the future can be. I want to see my future, not one I was created to make!"
The girl continued to attack her former leader with intensity. Polyetta couldn't even run away or use her book, only seeing her chances of winning lower.
"I-I'm the Goddess! How could I lose to one of my creations!?"
Without using words, Sepide answered by breaking the woman's sword in a clean hit. The new Goddess stared at the broken blade in shock. She was now forced to throw it and use other means of fighting. She tried using the bit of boxing Neige taught her but Sepide already knew everything about it and could easily dodge. Polyetta was so focused on her fight that she didn't even notice that everyone else arrived and managed to get rid of her distractions. Everyone was cheering for Sepide, persuaded she would be able to win against their former leader. The girl managed to put Polyetta down, forcing her to drop her mask and book to the ground. The woman tried to get the book back but Sepide put her foot on it, staring at her with a serious expression on her face.
"It's over, leader."
"Over... Over? Over!? It's not over! I was chosen to create a perfect universe!! If you don't want it, then fine! I'll create a world for me and Neige! You can all die!! I don't care about any of you!!"
A violent wind forced Sepide to step back, even sending the diary to fly away. Everyone had trouble even standing up because of the force coming out of the woman. Neige managed to stand up but still couldn't understand what was happening.
"Polyetta! Calm down, it's over!"
"No!! I'll save you Neige! We'll be happy together, forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever..."
"She's completely crazy!" Silva said, barely able to stand "What is even happening!?"
The group tried their best to not be flown away from the powerful wind. Sepide planted her sword on the ground and used it as an anchor point, but even that didn't prevent her from slowly getting away from the woman. Despite her best efforts, Silva was sent back and bumped into Emely, which sent both of them on Remiel who managed to stop their fall. Gwyn lay down on the ground to resist the powerful force while Ina grabbed her leg to not go away. Everyone was so focused that they didn't even notice Ada's body falling from the roof they were on. They all struggled to even keep going while Polyetta yelled, holding herself in her arms. The only that managed to keep a strong stance was Neige, who stared at his friend with concern.
"Polyetta... It looks like she can't control her feelings. If we don't do anything, she might become an anomaly too."
"Are you serious!?" Yelled Silva from the other side "Neige... I know it sounds harsh but... You need to finish her!"
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"She's right!" Yelled Sepide "We can't let her become like the anomaly! Please Neige, you have to do it!"
Neige took a deep inspiration and slowly walked against the wind, his dagger in hand. Polyetta was still standing there, crying and yelling insanities that didn't make any sense. Neige barely managed to get closer before a tentacle made of golden slime attacked him, sending him a few meters back. Holding his blade firmly in his hand, Neige stood up again, getting closer to the woman he still considered his friend.
"Polyetta!!! I'm going to save you! No matter what, you're coming back with us!"
Another tentacle swung toward Neige but the man managed to use his dagger to stop it. The appendices were cut in half, which seemed to hurt the woman as the wind got even more powerful. All Neige could do now was stay where he was, no matter how hard he tried, the wind prevented him from going forth. The force pushed him so violently that he was about to fall, but thankfully, Sepide managed to catch him from behind and helped him advance.
"Come on Neige, you can't fall now!"
Silva pressed her back against Sepide, helping Neige to get closer to the woman.
"She's right! We did so many stupid and dangerous things, we're not going to lose because of a nerd!"
The three friends managed to keep up and got closer to their former leader. Despite the strong force pushing them away, Polyetta was only a meter away from Neige, sitting defenseless on the ground.
"Neige! it's our chance!"
"Silva's right! We can end it all here!"
Neige took his dagger in hand. All he could think about was all the moments he spent with Polyetta. The moments when they would eat together in front of the bakery, the walks next to the river, the missions they did together. Neige put his dagger back on his belt and approached the woman before taking her in his arms. A strong force pushed him away, but no matter what, Neige continued to hold onto his friend as hard as he could.
"It's me Polyetta... It will be alright."
"N-Neige!?"
The wind suddenly lost strength, the tentacles around stopped moving, and the woman gave back her friend's embrace. The snow continued to fall on the two friends as the sun was rising in the sky. The other members grouped around the two friends and stayed silent for a few minutes, looking at them with relief. They couldn't help but smile and laugh to know that everything was over now, while Polyetta slowly opened her eyes like she woke up from a long nap. She looked around in confusion, staring at everyone around.
"What... Happened..."
"Nothing Polyetta, just rest."
The woman obeyed and continued to hold Neige softly and closed her eyes, falling asleep in his arms. When he saw how exhausted his friend was, Neige held her in his arms and stood up before turning toward the group.
"We should find the book and return to our universe. We spent enough time here."
Everyone agreed and headed toward the stairs. The book was probably sent flying far away and they thought it would take time to find it, but thankfully for them, Ada just arrived with Cinnamon and the book in her hand.
"Hey! I found the book!" Ada ran toward the rest of the group and looked at Polyetta, sleeping peacefully in Neige's arms "It's hard to think she's the reason behind all these troubles."
"Like you're one to talk." Said Silva "Do you have any idea how many problems you made?"
"I mean... At least one I suppose?"
"If only it was just one..." Sepide muttered to himself "Does anyone know how to get the old universe back now?"
"I can try." Gwyn said while taking the book from Ada's hand. She read a few pages of it and shook her head with an annoyed face "She really writes like a toddler, I can barely read her. It seems like all she did was create a parallel universe. We could leave and return to ours, but it will probably lead to this place crumbling on itself once we leave."
"There's nothing I want from here." Emely announced with a smile "I want to go back home and work on my next invention while my pet bat keeps me company. This place means nothing to me."
"I agree." Said Remiel "It does not seem like I will gather any more information in this universe."
"If everyone agrees, let's go then!" Ina said with a warm smile "I'll cook something good for you all once we're back. We'll take care of Ada and Polyetta once we're back, and everything will be back in order."
Gwyn nodded and gave the book and the pen to Neige with a smile on her face.
"Neige, bring us back to our universe. We can't wait to see again the world we worked so hard for."
"Yeah, everyone, great job on the mission!"
Neige beamed with joy at everyone while taking the book. A page from the book of their lives just turned, but this was far from the end of their story.