act21side

You're staying here of your own accord, to help that young cub change the place.

You're giving me too much credit.

My dream has always been to live a simple life with a few good friends.

I'll defend it, if someone threatens to destroy it.

There's nothing complicated about it.

I never truly knew you, Cellinia.

I didn't realize how Siracusa exhausted you, or how you resented Columbia.

Now that I think about it, I was like my grandma.

She spent her entire life hoping that old Salvadore would change his mind.

But she never even asked, never tried to fight for it.

The same for me. I assumed the good times would last forever.

I was so proud, and arrogant.

You wouldn't mind me staying with you, and I would love to chat more with Sora.

But I don't deserve that. Not yet.

And so, let me close the curtains on Act 3 of <i>La Morte di Texas,</i> on Cellinia Texas's story.

You're free, Cellinia.

No one defines you.

So let me put it a different way.

You're my nightmare, Texas.

You always surprise me.

You're always a step ahead of me.

You made all the decisions that I couldn't.

And now I can finally say this, after finally taking that step, like you did.

You're right.

There's nothing complicated about it.

If I hated everything about Siracusa so much, I should've destroyed it.

In the end, you're the one who made me take this step.

That's why you said goodbye to your father, and why you're standing here in front of me.

You want to settle things with your past.

Yes. Just like you.

We didn't have to go at each other's throats like this.

But it happened.

We each decided, on our own, that to kill each other is the way to settle things.

The best way to say our goodbyes.

The one who survives will become stronger.

Not that Lappland has become stronger than Texas, or that Texas has become weak.

Just like how Lappland did not lose to Texas seven years ago because she was weaker.

They were evenly matched from the beginning.

What determines the outcome is Lady Luck, perhaps... or more importantly, strength of will.

Seven years ago, Lappland lost the battle of wills.

But now, having said goodbye to the famiglia, her will is no weaker than Texas's.

Either may win, and either may lose.

Ugh...

It's over.

Texas!

Stay back.

Texas takes one look at Sora, then closes her eyes.

Lappland thought she knew Texas well enough.

What did she not know?

She bore witness to Texas's exhaustion with Siracusa, and her decision to declare war on the country.

Texas's decisions surprised her each time.

But this time, she thought, it would not be so.

One lives, the other dies. There would be no other end.

But as she saw the unwillingness to let go in Texas's eyes, she once again realized that she was wrong.

At the very end, in the ending that Lappland wrote for herself, Texas has surprised her, once again.

Ha. Alright.

Lappland sees this battle as a farewell, a liberation.

Lose, and she will accept her death.

Win, and she will be able to let it all go.

When the pin by the name of Texas is pulled from her consciousness, a lunatic by the name of Lappland would be born.

But it never happened.

Because—

Texas. So you were just Texas after all.

Of course I'm just Texas.

What about you?

Looks like I'm just Lappland.

Lappland extends a hand to Texas.

Texas takes the hand.

Texas, am I your friend, or your enemy?

You're my friend, and my enemy.

Then go.

Let me do what a friend should.

Texas nods to the others, and walks towards Grey Hall.

It is all so natural, as though it was always the way things should be.

When Lavinia walks into the church and sees the body sitting silently on the pew, she finally accepts the truth—

Bernardo is dead.

She sits by the man who was both father and brother, the man who had such an impact on her life, and stays silent.

In the end, she says nothing.

But she holds Bernardo's lifeless hand, as though communicating something, or getting something from him.

Then, she turns and leaves.

The dead are dead and gone. She must move on.

I heard my friends talking about what you did.

Let me ask you one thing, child.

All the nations across these lands are seeking change, trying to move with the times.

But the impetus for change is an awareness of inadequacy, or a search for breakthrough.

Does Siracusa need that? Does Siracusa really need to change?

Do you think... that the famiglia is something that must exist?

Nothing is. But it existed for centuries before I was born.

We can't deny our history, or so easily destroy what already exists, can we?

That's why you chose to continue the famiglia system when you established Grey Hall, except now all the famiglie have to operate under your control.

I don't intend to deny it.

In fact, I think it was the correct decision, in its time.

But things are different now?

Correct.

The return of the Columbian famiglie brought advanced technology and philosophy.

The Columbians are exerting an increasing influence on famiglia-style rule, but many haven't realized it.

Some of what my father did was overly radical.

Our motivations are different, and so are our means.

But one thing is the same.

We both believe that—