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A flash of cognition... in the gloom...

A consciousness... nearly eaten away by disordered emotion...

Unable to perceive... Unable to be perceived...

The outermost layer of the fortress in the skies above the Shard begins to break apart, its many fragments falling like a rain of iron spilling across the ground.

The enormous skeleton halts in place, its nerve bundles still wrapped around the airship.

The revenant's final consciousness is dissipating.

You promised me that future beyond question, Theresa.

But your followers have become hindrances upon your path.

My fellow souls are in disarray from centuries worth of scorching flame.

This forge was meant to be my cage, my execution chamber wherein I could slit my own throat.

I have not yet paid back the price for betraying my clan!

This is the last thing I can do, Theresa...

A violent ignition.

The shadows dissipate from within the inferno, and the flames envelop the airship, tearing apart the nerve bundles.

They charge towards you too.

And as for you all—

You use false words to place yourselves atop a pedestal of virtue.

Use lies of deliverance to cover the scars Sarkaz inflict on themselves only to survive.

You dare not even confront her death—

There was no need for you to come here.

...;Theresa?

Are you here to look for Amiya? Or perhaps...

Are you injured?;Is that child by your side... Amiya?

So that is your answer, Doctor...

You try to step forward, but your body fails to move. You are separated from the scene by an untouchable barrier.

You finally realize that this is not reality.

This is what the revenant has compelled you to see.

A scene of truth.

Wait... They're...

You see many figures by your side advance.

You recognize their weapons and armor. You have seen their shadows before, rather recently in fact...

Weren't they the apparitions aboard the airship?!

Have they come to protect Theresa?

No, that's not right...

You see them draw their swords against the wounded King of Sarkaz.

You see a scene that you could never have imagined.

Theresa fallen in a pool of blood, protecting the sleeping Amiya in her embrace.

Her murderers surround you.

You and them, conspirators all.

What was that...

The fleeting scenes melt away, returning your consciousness to reality.

You look at W, Kal'tsit and Amiya. You see the expressions on their faces. You realize that you were not the only one watching those visions unfurl.

W...;Kal'tsit...;Amiya...

The calmness of this dangerous mercenary's expression feels rather strange. You feel as though she should be flying into a rage.

But she does not.

She doesn't even glance at you. Gripping the cannon in her hands tightly instead, she is staring at the revenant's remnant shadows.

Kal'tsit looks back at you.

Her emerald-green eyes remain calm and collected as ever, but you notice a tinge of sorrow that was not there before.

Amiya stares ahead blankly in a daze, her arm outstretched, as though trying to grasp something.

But all her fingers find purchase on is nothingness.

Remain calm, Dr. {@nickname}. I ask that you stand behind me and Mon3tr.

As I have told you before, I knew what happened in the past, but I had my reasons to keep it from you.

I approved of Theresa's choice back then, and telling you as you are now, the truth would not have been of any use.

But...

<i>But Theresa...</i>

<i>Was it also your choice to allow the revenant to show visions of the past to us, here and now?</i>

Doctor...

It is true that during our time in Chernobog, and even after, I had my doubts about you.

But the choices that you have made since are proof enough that you truly do walk the same road as us.

Calm down. Do not waver.

Hypocrite.

Coward—

...Shut up.

How dare you use Theresa to try and sow discord between us.

Just disappear already.

...Enough.

Kal'tsit, tell your monster to hang back a bit. Wasn't really prepared to do this right now.

I know that old thing's not going to make up some fake movie when he's right about to die.

I'm not an idiot. There couldn't have been anyone else who murdered Theresa.

There must have been an explanation for what happened back then, but killing someone who doesn't remember anything...

That doesn't interest me at all.

Surprise. Doubt. Sorrow.

The incomprehensible truth is like a sledgehammer striking at your heart.

You feel difficult to even begin to recover from the shock. The calm tone of the two before you didn't help you forgive yourself.

Amiya...

You look at the silent girl, her face streaked with tears.

You want to say something, but she is the one who speaks first.

Doctor... I knew.

Or rather... I suspected it a long time ago.

Amiya?

I still remember... why Dr. Kal'tsit had to send the Doctor to Chernobog to heal after the accident.

And the reasons the elite operators gave when they opposed the decision to rescue the Doctor.

Even if everybody was quiet about it, I could still guess. There was only one possibility.

I have guessed, but I still don't understand...

The Doctor I knew, the one who saved me, brought me so many different places, told me so many stories...

The one who brought me back to Babel, the one who tried anything and everything to cure my Oripathy, the one who promised me that I had a future...

That incredibly kind person, why did that Doctor... why did that one kill the equally kind Theresa, the person who loved everyone...

I don't remember.;I don't know.

I still have so many questions I want to ask you, Doctor.

The you who rescued me, the you who murdered Theresa, the you who stands before me right now... In the end, which one is the true you, Dr. {@nickname}?

I just didn't know how to ask you...

Since you awoke from the sarcophagus, despite the loss of your memories, you always stood with us no matter the danger... How could I believe someone like this could be a murderer?

I promise you.

I will find an answer.

You reach a hand out to Amiya.

Doctor!

The deck of the airship suddenly begins to shake violently. Amiya immediately grabs your hand.

The dark shadows that once gathered within the cabin have begun to bloom in the sky.

Below the glow of the crimson horizon, a black blossom, dark enough to swallow all light, furled itself around the airship.

The airship is collapsing.

We must withdraw immediately.

—!;Those shadows are trying to block our escape route!

Stand behind me, Doctor—

'Collapse not in disorder'.

As I speak these words, thus do nature's laws restructure.

The shadows enshrouding your thoughts are dispersed.

Golden incantations break apart the inky blackness, raining down upon the damaged areas of the airship.

The words fall apart as they touch the surface before reforming, suturing together the ship's broken body, healing its wounds.

Logos!

Everyone, allow me to handle the shattered fragments.

Pass through the shadow. The skeletal nerves that will ferry us back are ready.

The banshee's bone pen hangs down from his hand, lightly touching upon the surface of the shadow.

With shadow as parchment, the banshee scribes his incantations with restless flicks of his wrist.

Golden veins wend their way through the shadows, as the fires are slowly extinguished.

I can see the nerve bundle!

We're ready to withdraw, Logos.

Very well.

Hold my hand tight, Doctor—

The nerves... snapped?

You all fall back down onto the deck of the airship. The hull beneath your feet continues to shake, but the revenant keeps his silence.

The shadows circle underneath everyone's feet, as though mocking you.

White crystals extrude from the hull, radiating a cleansing light.

A gentle light. A graceful light. A light that pacifies all confusion, mayhem and disorder.

The rays wash over the shadow, becoming ever more dazzling.

The purest white erases all color around you.

Immediately after, a black hole appears in the distance, devouring the radiance whole.

Darkness. Tranquility.

Amidst the pitch-black dark, a singularity emits its first ray of light.

The light of thought. The light of emotion. The light of rebirth.

The ray of weak, reddish light begins to grow and expand.

Illuminating the hand that wrought it.

Illuminating—

Theresa...

She walks forth from the darkness... No, she has been there all along.

It is just that for a moment, she chose to let her gaze fall upon you. For only a moment.

Within her embrace, the revenant's scattered consciousness coalesces once more.

All his sorrow. All his misery. All his rage.

They dissipate as she consoles him, and at last, the revenant returns to serenity.

She carries her compatriot, abandoned by death as he is. She brings rebirth. She rewrites fate.

Theresa!

There is no response, but you manage to glean some curious information from her expression.

You dare not say for sure.

Everyone holds their breath because of her presence. Everyone awaits the first words out of her mouth.

Silence.

She says nothing, retreating back into the gloom.

She leaves no tracks. It is like she were never here.

But everyone understands that she has finally taken action.

Did I miss Her Highness say something—

Hey, wait, the airship's moving again?! It's even at full speed!

I thought the old fossil was—

It is Originium.

We have gotten too close to Amnannam. The airship is an Originium-rich environment, and its stocks onboard fuel it with energy.

Theresa...?

The nerve connections snapped?

Through the openings in the skeleton, she sees that the great witchcraft-powered construct has already broken free of the nerve bindings, now hurtling at unchasable speeds towards Amnannam hanging in the sky.

W...!

Hoederer! You're awake?

Emergency landing...

What did you say?

The Feranmut... It left a final bit of energy inside the Lifebone.

Perform an emergency landing... in Londinium, somewhere safe...

W and the others are still on the airship!

I already... promised Dr. Kal'tsit... and the Doctor.

To do everything we can... to save more lives.

All we can do... is try our best...

But—

Many have called you by these titles.

'The evil spirit of Babel'. 'The Doctor of Rhodes Island'.

Many have believed in you. Believed that you always make the right decision. That no matter how despairing the circumstances, you would always be able to find a way out.

But—

You are far from omnipotent.

It all happens in a flash of lightning.

Theresa does not reappear, having gathered up the shadows and taken them with her.

As you approach the Cunabula of Suffering, the crystallization advances ever more rapidly.

Now that the tides of shadow have retreated, you finally notice that the crystals have covered the entirety of the airship.

Your companions still stand by your side. They are great fighters all, but in the face of this fated disaster, you are all powerless.

The airship, unable to stop, rams into Amnannam—

And is brought to a standstill.

The instant that the ship is about to touch Amnannam, the colossal vessel, once hurtling at full speed, is slowed to a crawl.

Time itself stagnates.

The great Originium tree rapidly grows new limbs, firmly grasping the airship.

The lush branches quickly extend and envelop the ship.

You see everyone trapped in that moment.

You see the Originium grow wildly.

You see Amiya anxiously stretch her hand out towards you.

This was the moment that time stopped for her. You can even see her shouting your name.

But pure Originium covers her body at a terrifying speed, and the words never manage to leave her mouth.

It spreads.

You rush towards her, but you are nowhere near fast enough.

It engulfs.

You see the Originium about to swallow up the final dregs of her body.

Amiya!

You muster all your strength to extend your hand, trying to grab hold of hers... but you are too late.

You are no longer able to take hold of her hand.

A torrent of jumbled information rushes into your mind.

It is like you are seeing a tranquil world, one completely turned into Originium.

Amiya... Kal'tsit... Logos... W...

All of Rhodes Island. All of Londinium. All of the battlefield. All of Terra.

Amiya!

No, this is not what you wanted to see.

How could you allow all this to happen?

Stop. Stop!

STOP!

<color=#000000>You did it, Dr. {@nickname}.</color>