Chapter 72: We are One!

Ultimatums, second to questions, are my most favorite things to move people. Be it emotional, logical, or comically! Forcing someone to pick between two difficult options is, or rather was, a pleasant hobby of mine.

But here, at the cliff of war, Vega proposed a rather easy one. Give up your life of misery and slavery or continue down it till its unhappy end. Kind of like asking whether you want ice cream or both of your legs broken.

Well, it would be easy unless if you thought the ice cream would never arrive and instead your chains would be replaced by a new set.

“...what the fuck are you saying Vega?” Krimm didn’t quite get what she was trying to tell her, since she did not know there was already an entire army in Uvi Jantok as they were speaking.

“Wha-look down! Look down and tell me-me what ya see!” Tugging Krimm, nearly lifting her off her feet, Vega showed Krimm all that was happening below. The cries of battle, fires burning hotter and hotter, the soldiers marching in the streets.

“...no…no! Runtaii invaded early!? What the hell is he-”

“See Krimm! Is that who ya want to be?!” Vega shouted at her, grabbing Krimm by the face. “Do ya know who’s down there?!” Her voice went fiery, and her eyes flowed with a violent power. Vega wasn’t willing to wait any longer. The scarecrow’s patience existed no longer, for everyone and everything was at stake.

Her ears rang, for Krimm had only seen this side of her once, when imbued with the magical force back in Obstacle one, the ability to create vines and thorns from nothing, and not it was used in this emotional outburst.

“Krimm! Stop denying yourself!” Vega gripped hard onto her head, trying to make Krimm see the sky. Not wanting to feel the pain of what she had done, Krimm kept her eyes closed, which made Vega infuriated at how much Krimm was squandering. “Krimm, there is a world out-out there! There is life out there. One you can have! A life of laughter, of friends, and of family. And it’s going to get destroyed.”

“And what makes you think that I deserve it?” Krimm snapped at her, pushing her away towards the chasm’s light. While Vega was illuminated by the stars and the moon, Krimm stayed in the dark of the tower, in the dark of awful memories.

“Deserve!?”

“Yes! I have lost it all before! My Kalio, my friends, my people! All of it is gone because of Iozia!” Firing right back, Krimm wasn’t going to let Vega think of her like a mindless drone. “I have killed Iozians, and I damn liked it! What makes you think I deserve this life you speak of!? This family you speak of?!”

Shocked at how much Krimm believed the lies Ani told her, Vega took a step back, before looking down at the destruction in the city.

Did she think that’s all that could be? Or maybe was she scared that when she looked at the sky it would end up dark like her life had been up to that point? All of that, Vega thought. And all of that Vega wanted to ask that of Krimm, but she thought of something else.

“...Ya gave me a hug.” Her voice, all pent up and angry, sounded off when speaking about such a pleasant thing like a hug. “Ya didn’t have to give me a hug. Ya didn’t have to listen to me. Ya don’t have-have to listen to me. And yet ya do. Ya choose to. Want to tell me why?”

“...”

“...Ya had a choice! Ya could have left me, rip-ripped me apart again, or simply ignored me! Yet-yet ya cared enough to comfort me when I was in pain.” Pressing her hand against her chest, Vega squeezed her fabric skin, and then pointed out towards Krimm. “And now… ya have a choice. Not for me, but for your own life.”

“...Yeah. A single hug totally forgives all the shit I’ve done. What’s next, I'll give you a kiss and then I get to go to heaven?” Krimm spoke through gritted teeth, crossing her arms. Even though most of her face was in shadow, Vega could see the venom in her eyes, so that someone could suggest that she had potential.

“...I actually would like a kiss.” Vega let out a nervous laugh, and she saw Krimm’s demeanor weakened. Like she couldn’t fight against her kind heart. “But… what I'm trying to say Krimm… I’m not saying ya are a good person… I’m saying ya can be a great one.”

As they stood there, more and more papers fell from the ceiling, slow enough for both of them to get a look. Instead of writings and theories, they were pictures and drawings.

“Gods… why did it have to end up like this…” Lifting her head up, seeing the images drift by her, Krimm couldn’t help but to cry a few tears. Vega’s anger calmed, allowing her to absorb the falling drawings.

Pictures of places Kaliber had been, different continents and people, most of them smiling. Soul gems and from who they came from, ones tha Kaliber took plenty of care of. And the most plentiful, drawings of Ena and Kaliber together, from all sorts of artists, the two playing instruments of hugging one another.

One fell in front of Vega’s face, of which she let drift into her hands. The sketchy style showed a Kaliber with eye bags, tired by work and the background corresponded to the academy in the first obstacle. She was holding Ena’s much smaller hand, and despite all that they had both faced, they both smiled, true and genuine.

“I think I figured it all out. This place holds memories of Kaliber. Of important parts of her life. A conversation she had with Ena. A cave where she sang and played songs with her. …The battlefield where she first used the Gem Harvest to produce Soul Gems.” Letting go of the paper, she let go of the memory she never belonged to. Her smile was sad, yes, but she was content, for it wasn’t her life. “This-this tells who she is, and how she came to be. Kaliber’s story of what she did in order to save us in the future. To defeat Ani Arma.”

“This isn’t meant for me. I don’t belong… I’m not even supposed to be here.”

“Krimm, you know it’s not like that! Ya see-see what Kaliber has written down. We pushed through, as ourselves and with each other. She didn’t build the towers for me alone.” Turning her back to her, Vega gazed at the horizon, where everyone was trying to fight for their lives.

“What?”

“She built it for everyone. Kaliber built-built it in the district of the Ghosts, and here we are, standing high above where everyone can see! I was meant to open them and share them, the secrets. The Soul Gems! All of it, to save everyone from this war! From Ani Arma!”

“...Vega… no one can stop this. Runtaii is already here… His army is here. And now… it's over.” Krimm brushed past Vega, dejected and sapped of hope. Sitting down at the edge of the chasm, Krimm watched as the soldiers battled one another. The Iozians were holding their ground, however the Tripolian archers and their Snake Skins were wearing them down.

“...Krimm… if ya don’t help me… my friends are going to die.” Vega stood above her, speaking firmly and with an authority that was unlike her.

“...I can’t save them. I’m… too weak… I’m not strong. Not like you…” Tilting her head away, Krimm could not stand how powerless she felt. Just like the Galtian elves, just like Kalio. Happening all over again.

“Krimm, that isn’t what the person who hugged me, who wanted to have friends, who wanted to love, would do. Look at me.” Vega grabbed Krimm once more, shaking her as she spoke. “Look at me!”

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“...yes?” Her eyes once full of venom were now soft, and weak. And yet Krimm kept her eyes open.

“What do ya see?” Placing a hand on her own face, Vega traced all that she was composed of, all of it weak and easy to rip and cut. But Krimm didn’t see weakness, but a powerful soul. “A girl made of hay. That’s what I am! A girl that wants to sing, that is friends with a bird, and wants to protect all that I love. And I have been cut apart, stabbed, burned, and faced opponents I had no right to fight and yet I did.”

As they spoke, a faint rumbling hit the ground, making them both jitter and shake. More of the papers fell down, blotting out the tower’s darkness. Krimm could not conceal in the dark, she had to face the sky.

“...yeah?” Krimm responded, knowing how powerful Vega could be. And in turn, herself.

“And I deserve more. You deserve more! Ani Arma has lie-lied to ya, that you’re some help-helpless victim, but you’re not! Ya aren’t Krimm the Assassin, ya are Krimm the Fairy!” Vega pulled Krimm up from the edge and made her stand. Not just stand but stand proud.

Krimm could feel it, coursing through her veins and fibers, just as Vega had. Though she was born in a body unfavorable, in her veins was the might of all elves, of the spirits. Crushing both her hands into fists, Krimm could sense how much life she had in herself. How much more strength she really had. It was almost unbelievable.

“...do you really think that?” She asked quietly, half to Vega and half to herself. Was she really capable of changing the fate of this city? Was she strong enough to change her own?

“I don’t think that. I know that! Ya could have killed my friends, ya could have stopped me. But ya made a choice to do good. And ya are so much stronger than ya think!” Vega’s voice switched anger to emotional inspiration. In her eyes, glowing more with magical power, dripped tears that floated into the air.

Vega wasn’t saying this for only Krimm’s sake, but also for her own. For so long, Vega believed she was nothing, believed that her input didn’t matter, believed that she was weak. Believed that she needed someone to fix her, to explain herself.

That was a lie. But now she knows the truth, and it has set her free.

“Ya had every opportunity to stop me. Yet-yet ya opened your hands to me. Now… I open my hands to ya.” Holding out her gloved hand, Vega stretched out to Krimm’s face, who stared at in hesitation.

Right here, she could start this journey, right here. In front of her stood a person who would help her, not remake or repurpose her, but help her to take the steps.

More and more rumbling shook the tower, as now some of the brickwork of the tower began to fall. Scaffolding buckled, plenty splitting apart and falling down into the dark abysses of the tower. The papers and books fell passed them like waterfalls, a solid wall of memories and drawings.

Even in the chance, a chance to change her life, Krimm could not shake the awful memories of the past, that they might haunt if they aren’t finally defeated. If they aren’t finally killed.

“...maybe… but… I don’t know, What Iozia has done to me. To my face. To my… Kalio. This isn’t fair…” Leaning on her back foot, Krimm grabbed her scar in shyness.

How every fiber of her being was screaming out to shake Vega’s hand was overwhelming, and how every fiber screamed in pain at what Iozia had done to the elves.

Seeing this conflict build up in Krimm’s face, Vega opted for a final gamble. A final effort to get Krimm to join her.

“...My friends have been hurt by people like Runtaii and Ani. Valiato, a fourteen year old girl got her arm cleaved into by his soldiers.” Vega illustrated the brutality of the event with her voice, and how terrifying it was for her friends. Krimm’s eyes widened, in half shock and half regret.

“...I… I-”

“Is that not enough for ya?! Ari Amir, the one who has defended me and protected my friends, gave his life to Ani Arma in return for nothing but betrayal! Is that what ya want?!” Her voice too portrayed the anger and desperation of Amir’s history, how he suffered at Ani Arma’s hands.

Her yelling paired up with the tower’s now continuous shaking, with the chasm they were near growing bigger, with the bricks and the foundation falling down in the cityscape below. Despite this, Krimm still hesitated, wondering if she would survive either option.

“...I… I’m-”

“Skaldi! Skaldi…” Slowing down to take in the thought of the elf, Vega knew that if this last effort failed, he and they all would perish. So she would give it her all in delivering this final message. “Skaldi, he’s an elf too. When I met him, he was sour and a dick-dick. Over the course of traveling with him… he’s really grown. Sure, he’s sometimes insensitive. Sometimes he is too brash. But really… he’s become a good person. One that has fought even though he was weak, even though he originally didn’t believe in himself…” Vega pulled her hand back and laid it on her neck, tugging on it for she feared that he may lose all of his progress because of this war.

Feeling that agonizing screaming in her soul fade away, Krimm realized something. Skaldi was the one she had nearly killed.

She had nearly blown him up in the city. As she was bombing the city to test its defenses, she had noticed him and the girl, which she now knew was Valiato. He had been protecting her as she brought the buildings down.

Skaldi, a thin and effeminate man, one most would not suspect to even be brave enough to fight a fly, was protecting Valiato with his life. A great sinking in her heart shocked her. She nearly killed an Elf that survived.

An elf that survived all the torment Iozia had delivered onto them. And still sought to protect it in spite of it. Who still did good in the ways he could. Not because Skaldi had some allegiance to it, but because this was his home. Not only his home, but their home.

The shaking of the tower calmed for a minute, allowing the two to relieve the tension enough for them to think. It was now or never.

“...Skaldi…he lost his eye to a Snake Skin. He’s one of… if not my best friend in the world. I don’t know what I’d do after that. Do you think that’s fair? To these people that have done nothing wrong? Doing the same thing Iozia has done to the elves?” Vega swung her arm back towards Krimm, who now ceased being shy.

Returning with even more instability, the rumbling shook apart entire sections of the tower. Shelves, furniture, and the very roof fell and flipped over, sprinkling down into the city, erupting in a cloud of library ruins. The two however did not move their position, standing stalwart.

Krimm gripped her shoulders hard, angered by what she had done. What Ani Arma had commanded her to do. What he was planning to do, to starve and destroy this land full of people, just like her home.

“...No. No! What’s Runtaii is doing… what Ani has done. It’s wrong. It’s all wrong!” Krimm proclaimed, gritting her teeth in righteous anger. Her hair started to flare up, and her eyes ignited too with celestial force.

She wasn’t going to be a spectator, she was going to fight!

“That’s right! Ani Arma claims that we are tools, but it is the hands of the wielder that-that makes that so. In his we are tools, weapons of war. But in our own hands… are instruments. We are art.” Vega announced, as if the entire world was looking upon them, for she would preach this truth to the earth and sky.

Collapsing evermore, the tower’s stability weakened as more and more of it crumbled. The floor underneath formed several cracks and gaps, leading down into the depths of the towers, full of mysteries and possible a way to defeat the army.

Vega lent out her hand, seeing Krimm’s emotions. As she waited, she knew she had less time to find the Soul Gem, the one Kaliber had been speaking of. Holding it out one last time, she held out her hand as the floor they were standing one started to fracture.

Lifting her arm weakly, Krimm raised at the level to Vega’s. This was it. Either accept it, or back out for the rest of your life, Krimm thought. The pain of her past, the pain of loss, all of it filled her mind. However, the hope of a good future filled her heart, along with Vega’s.

“…I may be a Ghost… but my people aren’t…” Reaching out, Krimm approached Vega.

The Fairy held the hand of the Scarecrow.

“...Krimm. Thank ya. Thank ya. We’re going to save them.” Letting out all of her unease, Vega spoke kindly and gratefully. Her eyes looked to Krimm’s hand, who was shaking with a massive amount of tension and anxiety. Krimm wasn't going to betray her, but there was a single thing that had to be put to rest.

“Hey…I’m scared…”

“...that’s okay. Haha, I’m scare-scared too. Remember, this is our choice. This is what ya were made to do. This is what I was made to do.” Vega pulled Krimm in, and gave her a much needed hug.

Even as the floor finally gave way, Krimm held Vega close, feeling safe for the first time in years. As the plummeted down, she saw what could only be described as the moon sparkling over her body. The scarecrow’s body illuminated with a powerful force, one that warmed Krimm’s cold heart.

“Krimm, right now, you have a choice. I have a choice. Either defend the world or become the fertilizer that feeds it.”

“Vega… I want to defend this world, to make it better even if I die trying… For my atonement…” The fairy spoke with tears in her eyes and her heart in her throat. “I will stand by you, through fire and storm.” Krimm smiled, full of joy and hope. There was much work to be done, but now she didn’t have to do it alone.

As they fell down, surrounded by the debris of the tower, they both found the situation sort of ironic. Not some half a day ago they were fighting and bickering as they fell through a similar place, yet now they were intertwined.

Heart with Heart. Soul with Soul. Purpose with Purpose.

“Thank ya Krimm. We may be different, but tonight, we are one. Tonight, we are sisters. Together, we are what we aren’t alone!”