[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]

Can't we... split it in half?

Create a second one?

Go out and find the seven dragon balls??

[warpweft]

[She's about to go into an explanation of why no, it can't be split in half, the spark will become unstable if the surface is cracked, blah blah blah, when she stops, and looks at Tsumugi for a few seconds.]

...

...

Fine.

Say there was a way to do it. To have two Nessas.

But you had to find it yourself, because it simply doesn't exist in Nessa's world. And even if you searched every universe out there, it may still be impossible.

Then what would you say?

[cosplayed_out]

...Uh...

[give her a minute]

[warpweft]

[WAITS.]

[cosplayed_out]

Nessa, I'm... I'm not a universe slider. If I was, I'd have taken all the people who died in the killing game and crammed them into a dating game instead.

[...]

--Is this really... really... what you want? You've kinda been acting like you plain want to be alive, up until this point.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great plot twist. A noble sacrifice from a character who until now has acted callous and selfish. People love that. It turns a distasteful character into a legend.

But... I don't know how many people are going to be around to appreciate it, Nessa. Maybe just us four. The rest in the prison will only see teenage Nessa having another day. They're plain not going to see any of this. Not Lilith. Not Esmau. Not Agnis, or anyone else. Not even... you.

[...]

So...

Is this what you want?

[warpweft]

...

...

[The yellow-eyed Nessa lets out a low sigh.]

I'm not Nessa.

I'm her Shadow. I'm the feeling inside her heart that with her choices, she was responsible for creating something. Something that became a life of its own with feelings and thoughts and hopes and bonds uniquely its own. And that one day, she would choose to take her life back and that that choice would erase the life that she had created.

The fear that she had created a living being that she would get rid of when it was no longer useful to her.

The fear that she was just like Lilith, manipulating life just to suit her.

I tried to convince her -- and all of you -- that that girl was just a fake, that she wasn't really something real. So that when the moment came, she wouldn't hesitate to take her life back.

And she's refused to believe it every step of the way.

Nessa believes that this Nessa is alive, and she can't abide by just discarding her, if she can make the choice to save her instead.

[...

She sighs again and puts her hand over her face.]

That bloody outlook is what got her into this situation in the first place...it's exactly what I was trying to get her to not do.

But even I can't turn a blind eye to it anymore. That girl stood up to Esmau, something Nessa could never do...because of the influence all of you had on her. I'm a manifestation of Nessa's darkest impulses and even I'm not a cruel enough woman to think she doesn't deserve a second chance, after that.

[cosplayed_out]

...

So, you wanted to be the villain to force us to do the right thing?

[warpweft]

[Huff.]

What do I care if all of you think I'm a prick if it means Nessa gets her life back.

I'm a Shadow. Shadows are supposed to be villains.

[cosplayed_out]

... I guess real life isn't too different from anime after all.

[warpweft]

Please.

If this were an anime, I'd be significantly better dressed.

And I'd have a cool symbolic monster form.

[cosplayed_out]

I can make you a cosplay.

[warpweft]

[Huff.]

Do you want know how to get Nessa to dress up with you? It's not cosplay, but it's a start.

[cosplayed_out]

No, no. That would be cheating.

I'll drag her into the cosplay swamp in no time!

[warpweft]

You shouldn't underestimate her.

Have you ever considered that she'll drag you into the lolita swamp instead?

[cosplayed_out]

I wouldn't have taken you for an EGL! But, there's plenty of media with characters who wear EGL. Kamikaze Girls, Rozen Maiden, Umineko...

Oh, and... you owe me a pinch.

[warpweft]

[Punches her in the shoulder.]

[cosplayed_out]

Hey... you specifically said 'pinch'!

[warpweft]

I'm going out with a bang.

[cosplayed_out]

I'll write a fic pairing you with Broccoli Carrotstick.