[Endgame: rise or DROWN]

[warpweft]

[How long have you been exploring Nessa's palace now? You've met her family, viewed her memories, learned how to fight as a witch and tried to find the source of her power and the Treasure of her palace: the Voidheart. And along the way, you've tired your best, with mixed success, to avoid the incarnation of her eldest cousin and the representation of her trauma and fear, the Nightmare of Esmau.]

[Wherever you are in the Palace right now, you feel the ground briefly shake under your feet. Little shakes here and there haven't been out of the ordinary - Esmau is trying to blow the place down to the studs, after all. But that felt different. That felt....worse.]

[Your phone beeps as you receive a message.]

Comments

[cosplayed_out]

Agnis!!

[her eyes dart side to side in paranoia before approaching and kneeling down]

Hey... stay with me...!

[voidhearts]

I can't...

I couldn't keep her Heart safe...

I can't keep her safe...

I let her down....

[cosplayed_out]

... [reaching for that black hole]

[voidhearts]

[Your hand reaches into the hole and you feel a depth of pain. Regret. A sense of profound failure. An inability to protect someone incredibly dear to you.

Do you have anything that can fill the hole...?]

[cosplayed_out]

Agnis... there's still hope! Nothing's happened yet!

[there's a mental tug that she shouldn't be saying this while cosplaying a despair sister, but she ignores that.]

And... if you can't keep her safe... you can make it better! I know how much the time you spent with Nessa meant to her...

...so, forgive yourself too... please get up!

[voidhearts]

[She looks up, tears falling from her eyes. Something in there seems to resonate with her.]

....the time we spent....

Everything's fading away....I can barely remember what it was like when she was young....

[Despite that, the hole shrinks...just a little bit.

You feel a warmth start to build in your hand.]

1/2

[cosplayed_out]

Sure you do! You remember... the time you spent reading... the time she got better... how you let her have a normal childhood...

[...shit, she has an idea, but this is going to hurt.

COSPLAY POWER ACTIVATE.]

2/2

[cosplayed_out]

...Agnis? Why are you crying...? I wanna spend the day with you...

[voidhearts]

[Agnis gasps.]

Nessa?!

Nessa, is that you?

[Her breath wavers.]

Nessa...I'm so sorry....

[She reaches her hands up and puts them on "Nessa's" shoulders.]

I'm so sorry I couldn't protect your Heart...

[At the mention of one of Nessa's memories, the warmth in your hand suddenly takes shape, becoming a white, pulsing orb of light. You feel a familiar memory radiating from it...]

[cosplayed_out]

[...no, she really can't do this. Her skin erupts into violet welts]

S-Sorry... I-I'm n-not N-Nessa...

B-But y-you a-already k-know... h-how m-much l-love y-you gave her... by reading to her about F-Frodo... G-Gandalf... and D-Dorothy...

[she finishes by putting the light orb in the void heart]

...Please don't blame yourself.

[voidhearts]

[Agnis gasps as the orb is placed into the hole in her heart. She sucks in a breath and sits up straight. She places both hands over her heart as the memory of the time she spent with Nessa is returned to her...

....and the hole slowly fades. She lets out a few breaths, tears still falling.]

I just...

I just wanted.

To give her someone that wouldn't let her down.

[She runs a hand under her eye, wiping her tears.]

...thank you, Tsumugi.

[The haze around the two of them begins to fade...]

1/2

[cosplayed_out]

Y-You're welcome....

...I'm gonna change back now because this is very uncomfortable.

2/2

[cosplayed_out]

[and, back to being Mukuro, her welts slowly starting to dissipate]