[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

[rise]

[voidhearts]

[---crack-BOOM!]

[With a boom of thunder, someone Thundersteps past Esmau and up to the altar, nearly knocking Esmau over in the process. But -- Sprezzatura is still trapped, so who?]

[DROWN]

[voidhearts]

What the hell?!

[Esmau runs for the altar. Only to be struck by a violet Void-tinged Magic Missile that knocks her backwards again.]

What, but - I trapped all five!

[Esmau quickly looks around to make sure. Everybody, including Nell, is still trapped.]

So who...?!

[The smoke from the Thunderstep clears...]

[rise]

[warpweft]

[Nessa is standing there, holding the Voidheart on the altar.]

Th....this is mine!

[She RIPS the Voidheart off of the altar and the memories stop inflicting damage to the group.]

And you're not hurting my friends!

[Esmau ROARS and charges at Nessa. Nessa brings her left hand up to her head - she's suddenly holding an Evoker which she presses against the side of her head and fires. She squeaks loudly at the sound of it going off, but Orpheus, the Master of Strings appears and Bashes Esmau. It does no damage, but it seems to really annoy her.

All of you are no longer taking damage from your memories. But you're still trapped in Esmau's bubbles.]

REACTION

[voidhearts]

[cosplayed_out]

[Tsumugi screams in a very un-Mukuro way as starts to get her bearings...

Right.

A lot... had changed. She had changed. Maybe not completely, but... who cared if she was manipulative? Who cared if she lost the killing game? Who cared if she was hopelessly obsessed with cosplay? Cosplay was fun.

She can feel the bad emotions falling off of her, but it's a temporary relief when she sees what's going on outside.]

Nessa!!

Re: REACTION

[velluminous]

?!

[messianic]

[ that's--?!

It's--he wasn't expecting to see Nessa, and certainly not Nessa wielding one of his Personas, so for the moment he can only watch on in startled amazement. ]

[survivaltricks]

[. . . and then it's gone]

[the suffocating feeling, the memories he'd sooner forget, they're gone, and Akira's eyes snap open as he sucks in a sharp gasp. it takes him a moment to realize what's happening before him, but when he does]

N. . .

[her name teeters on the edge of his tongue]

-- Nessa!

[DROWN]

[voidhearts]

You....you little...!

I'LL KILL YOU FOR GOOD THIS TIME!

[Esmau swings her glaive through Orpheus, cutting it in half. She roars as she rushes towards Nessa, no subtlety, just trying to run her through.]

[rise]

[warpweft]

Wh-whuuuh!

[Nessa holds up her Cosplay Armor -- the Magic Ring! Specifically the Magic Ring from the first edition of The Hobbit, which is just a magic ring that turns the wearer invisible, not the One Ring from the second edition and The Lord of the Rings which corrupts you and turns you into a ringwraith!

Anyway, she slips the ring on and becomes invisible, avoiding Esmau's strike, which destroys the altar behind her. Nessa appears a short distance away and is holding From Heaven. Which is different from the Evoker! They're two different guns! She fires the gun at Esmau, screaming again as the recoil of the gun kicks her hands way up and seems to rattle her down to her bones.]

[DROWN]

[voidhearts]

[The bullets bounce off of Esmau as she runs at Nessa, who uses Cosplay Weapon to summon Gandalf's staff. She's about to use it when she sees Esmau is too close for her to cast a spell in time - she needs to Thunderstep away again - or use the ring to go invisible again or --

The hesitation costs her. Esmau kicks her in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of her.]

RRRAAAAAAHHHH!

[And drives her glaive through Nessa's chest.

The young witch's body suddenly goes limp as the blade runs her through.

This feels familiar.]

REACTION

[voidhearts]

Re: REACTION

[velluminous]

[ it all happens in slow

motion ]

Re: REACTION

[velluminous]

NESSA!

[ MAGIC MISSILE MAGIC MISSILE MAGIC MISSILE

just. beating on the bubble from within. the only thing you can see for a second is the flurry of bolts impacting against the Void, and the only thing you can hear is the infernal howling, shrieking, wailing of the woman inside ]

[cosplayed_out]

...

[despite herself, another memory comes up. That of her bashing another living person's head in. Just how visceral it'd been, even compared to the executions, because she had to get her hands dirty. But, this... made her want to do it again. Compared to any other execution she could dream up. Putting her in a killing game was too good for her.]

You are going to die for this, Esmau. This, and insulting anime!

[Right, stay grounded.]

[messianic]

[ oh no no no no no --

It's a softer yell than Sprezzatura's, but nonetheless: ]

Nessa!!

[survivaltricks]

[WELL. THAT SENSE OF RELIEF DIDN'T LAST LONG, DID IT]

[because whatever triumph had filled his heart after Nessa appeared is immediately replaced with ice in his veins]

-- NO!

[see Akira pounding violently against the sides of the bubble now, trying his best to break it, knowing that there's no way he can]

...

[warpweft]

[Nessa lets out a weak cough.

She remembers this. She remembers this feeling. She remembers Esmau doing this to her once before. But she knows this time is different. This time, her mother isn't around to bring her back. This time, she's going to let down more than just herself....she's going to let down all of her friends too.

She tries to tell them she's sorry, but it just comes out as a weak gurgle. She can already feel her vision fading and her body going numb...

...

...

...

'Saving everyone is not your responsibility. You're trying to help people. You and the rest of Echidna are the only people who can take on that role.

So--thank you. Thank you for doing what you are.'

...


'You want to learn to be better you. I can help with that.'

...


'You fought back for us. And I've never been able to thank you for it.'

...

'I don't know who Nell is, and I'll gladly listen if you want to confide and it will help, but I can tell that you're associating me with her. I don't want you to think of Nell when you think of me. I'm Tsumugi Shirogane. I'm not someone you betrayed. You did all you could.']

[rise]

[warpweft]

[Nessa's hand grips the Voidheart.]

The Void is my Heart.
My Heart is the Void.
What I give freely, you shall return.
Thus, I give my heart.
Thus, you give your Void!

[A black clawed hand shoots out of the Voidheart and palms Esmau's head.

Then it squeezes as hard as it can. Esmau's eyes widen as purple sparks appear alongside the umbral hand's surface.

It explodes, throwing Nessa and Esmau apart.]

[rise]

[warpweft]

[Nessa is hurt. She's burned. She's bleeding. But she's still moving. And she still has the Voidheart in her hand. She looks up and crawls on her hands and feet towards...

Sprezzatura.

She drags herself along the ground towards the bubble trapping Sprezzatura. She weakly holds the Voidheart out towards it. She can free her. She can free her with this. She just needs to get...a little....closer....]

[DROWN]

[voidhearts]

[A foot slams down on her arm, pinning it to the ground and stopping her crawling.

Esmau snarls down at Nessa. She's huffing and puffing. Sparks are flying off of her....not her body. Her shield.

There's a crack in Esmau's shield.

Esmau glowers down at Nessa, apoplectic that she's actually been harmed, even in this slightest way by Nessa. She starts to raise her glaive. Then she turns her head to see where Nessa was crawling too.

And she sneers at Sprezzatura.

She takes a step back. She rears her glaive up, positioning the blade so it's ready to fall on Nessa like an executioner's axe.

And she grins right at Sprezzatura. The person Nessa chose to crawl to in her most desperate moment. Esmau wants to savor how she reacts to what's about to happen.]

REACTION

[voidhearts]

1/2

[cosplayed_out]

[a monotone comes from Tsumugi's crystal]

Wow.

This is so absolutely depressing.

I am totally in despair right now.

Re: REACTION

[velluminous]

[ she's completely in despair right now.

there's something insane happening in Tsumugi's bubble, but the babbling and crashing is just background noise to her own heartbeat in her ears as Nessa, broken, dying, crawls her way towards her.

she's going to die trying to reach her. if she'd done more, maybe she'd still be...! if she were a better teacher. a better friend. just better, in general.

the frantic Magic Missiles have stopped, abruptly, like flicking a switch. suddenly there's no fight in her, only bargaining.

her voice comes out splitting and raw: ] Get away from her! Bitch! Shadow. Take me instead! There is so much you can force from me. Do you hear me? I'll kill you!

[ but she knows Esmau won't stop. the executioner doesn't stay her blade on account of the audience. so she stumbles forward: ] --Nessa! Look at me! Just l-look at me, lapochka.

[DROWN]

[voidhearts]

[Esmau takes one last look around, taking in your horrified, desperate reactions with a giant grin on her face. She swings the blade down, towards Nessa's neck.]