Ti passed in this perfect atmosphere, one by one, they spoke about the Hell they went through, about the grief they felt, the pain they went through.
Not once did they stood away from Dora, as in fear of seeing him disappear again.
Minutes after minutes, they all ca to accept that for so reason, for a miracle, the monster had disappeared.
Freya told her story, spoke about Eryl, her regrets for the elves, her remorse for Gloria, Apophis, and Lust.
rcy spoke about the murders she committed, the genocide of Wrath, how Freya’s words affected her, how lost she felt. She apologized again for Solaria.
Iris mourned her comrades, she cried out her weakness in the most important mont and how much she was guilty to feel happy because they would put on Dora the task of saving everyone.
Liliana spoke about her fallen comrades, the sacrifices leading to this mont and thanked Dora for finally put an end to the discord between his friends.
Finally, Lilith, stuck to his stomach told him stories about her road to beco the strongest monster, all her adventures and evolution. She only looked at his face when he ntioned wishing to go on another adventure with them.
To all of them, Dora listened, he didn’t talk a lot, he didn’t took the spotlight. He simply listened to all their stories, with genuine interestw and each ti, the ice broke between them and they felt more comfortable around each other.
Soon, Candace found the courage to speak, and so she spoke about how great they were, how high she felt of them. She apologized for being useless to them, prompting them to oppose this declaration.
They laughed lightly, they forgot where they were, their pain was disappearing, so much that Solaria recovered the ability to chuckle from ti to ti.
Marie didn’t talk much, she didn’t need to. She regularly exchanged glances with Dora, both sharing a silent language only they could understand. It was only when Lilith pointed out that Rhea was his biological sister that she and the others showed a deep shock.
In this perfect picture, Hope, behind watched the scene he didn’t feel invited to.
He briefly rembered Nefertari’s words, as she predicted, Dora ca back, and he was erased, but the more he thought about it, the more he ca to another conclusion.
"It wasn’t my story, I don’t have my place there."
Next to him, Cid, hands in pocket nodded.
"Well, at least you tried. It’s better than watching."
"... No, I didn’t. I’m not talking about love... I’m not in this picture, I can’t stand among them."
Cid gave him a look of confusion, but Hope showed a calm smile.
"When you all went to train, before the Twilight of Gods, She asked to join you... She said that I would miss a lot if I didn’t... I was too arrogant, I ssed everything. I don’t share the sa mory as you, I couldn’t spend ti with Ely, I’ve lost the right to stand with them... What an idiot."
He lowered his eyes full of sorrow. Cid rolled his eyes and pushed him slightly.
"Then don’t hesitate, go now, love the mont with them."
"Heh... You sure you understand ? I could never do that."
Hands on hips, he rolled his head keeping and amused face.
"I hate him, I don’t want to share his world, I’m just saying that I was wrong to try."
"... You’re really hopeless."
Ti flew, and once the stories reached and end, Dora looked at the ceiling.
"I wonder... If we had another chance but without these Sins stuff, if we could live the sa adventures... Sohow I understand why there was a need for evil in this world."
"We don’t need another chance, we are together now," Iris smiled, "So let’s just end this and we’ll enjoy every second of our lives."
She shared a smile with the others, they knew one thing for sure, they knew what they wanted for their future, and what they didn’t lack was ti.
It would be a little different for Candace, as she was immortal, but with the information that everyone would eventually rebirth, she could just wait alongside Dora.
She smiled at him, trying to convey this ssage, when his little grimace took her joy away.
"... Ah... Yeah... About that..."
It wasn’t that this reaction was abnormal at this mont, but it wasn’t the eyes of joke, more of trouble.
She t his gaze, and so, his expression changed.
"There’s sothing we need to talk about, it’s also for you, Lucca and Giudecca."
He crossed his legs, the girls, still in their dream world reacted too slowly at the sudden change of atmosphere, only Candace noticed Dora and Rhea’s expression.
"First of all, like I said, I’m the Origin, I know many things beyond your understanding, and I’m not saying that as a joke. This universe, what’s beyond, every concept, I’ve understood them all, so you should understand that if I’m telling you that we have won, it’s because I’ve seen sothing that will confirm our victory."
They nodded to him, glued to his lips. They expected a great twist, a secret power Dora had in reserve, only Candace could see beyond this picture, her mind processing what had been said before.
"For now, I’ve taken control of my body, but as soon as I’ll use the power of the Sins, my other half will awake again, and if both of us disappear, then the invader will take our body and this world will be destroyed like the world of the Players. To put things simply, as long as I can use the Sins, the other half will be a nace, and as long as the invader will exist, we will be in danger. The only solution we have, is a miracle, a real action of God to make him disappear, and give us the world we want."
"... So... You an that it’s hopeless?" Freya murmured.
"No, I was speaking literally. The solution is to bring "God" here to stop him, but because of the way this universe has been made, God won’t see us, unless we send him a signal."
He shut down for a bit, this ti, his face forced everyone to get back to the seriousness of the mont.
He gazed at his friends and then his mouth opened.
"Marie, Freya, rcy, Iris, Zury, Lilith, Liliana, Hope, Lucca, Giudecca... For the final part of our plan, I need to beco the True Dora with all my Sins, and let the invader enter my body, then you will have to kill ."
A cold silence fell on the room.
The room once filled with warm love slowly faded, letting drops of despair raining on every mind.
Their worried gaze, at first tense, progressively lost their energy and soon, their gazes beca bland.
"It’s the only solution, it’s not a sacrifice, not even a bet. It’s the only thing, the unique thing that will change everything. It’s not that I can’t take my other half, but the invader is a monstrous version of , a Dora who has assimilated others Dora. I won’t defeat him, but if we use the thod I have in mind, they will."
The girls watched in silence, in this room, one could hear each heartbeat lowering.
What to say? What to think? How should they react?
They stared at him in disbelief, maybe they wanted to insult him, to bla him, to beat him.
He made them believe in a new life, a new change, another chance, yet the second thing he asked for was to destroy their happiness.
"... You’re really cruel." Candace sighed.
"... Yes... But... Ah... Well, let’s do it like this."
With his only hand, he pushed the ground and changed his stance.
One knee and his fist on the ground, he closed his eyes.
"I know you’re here, could you co closer? I want to talk to all of you."
In the back, near the corridor, one person left alone all this ti resurfaced.
Her face already in tears, Zury walked with slow steps.
She was aware of the situation, she had heard Freya and Dora’s speech, she ca back with the hope to see the light again, but she ca only to hear this last request.
She stopped behind the others, immobile like a scarecrow.
"I really want to talk more about what you lived, but I can’t let you all handling after what I said. I’ll just say that, you know , you know what you represent, so what he said should never affect you. And now, everyone..."
He raised his head, his eye burning with a spark reaching everyone eting his gaze.
"To , the worst cri one could commit is hypocrisy. All this ti, people have blad everyone for all the tragedy that happened, we always question good or evil, we suffer, we lose, but we never know why. Today, I know one truth, no matter the space, the ti, this is my world. Whatever exist in my world, is under my protection. No one else than is responsible for the the horror we went through, because I was born to defend this world."
His words resonated in the whole room, the knights in the back, the warlords and Rhea behind him, all listened to Dora’s speech.
"I might be cruel, but I’m not a coward nor an idiot. I know what I have to do, but I’ve decided to tell you everything because I’m not planning on running away. I... Will... Create... Our... Future. I said, so I’ll do. It might sound ridiculous, it might be the worst to put on you, but if you believe in , if you can believe in everything I’ve shown so far, then believe that. The solution I’ve found is not and excuse, but the best idea one could think about. The universe is bigger than you think, and to keep it safe, there are rules. My goal is to use one of these rules to bring God here. You wanted to have a good life? I’ll give you a true dream. Everything we’ve lost, everyone we thought we will never see, I’ll bring them back. A world with your family, with your friends, without worries, I Will Give Them To You."
He bowed his head, he was the prince of the world, and he was kneeling in front of his people.
"I’ll just ask you to wait a little, it won’t take long, maybe you won’t even feel the ti. This isn’t a goodbye, I’m going for a eting, but the ticket is the death of my body with the invader inside. This is my last selfishness, once I’ll be back, I’ll be your will."
On their knees, sitting, or standing, they let their eyes do the talking.
Their head lowered, their eyes, lifeless at first, had regained so color through his speech.
This ti, for the first ti, Hope descended on the ground.
The Holly knights and the black knights, the warlords, all of them who hated him were rendered speechless.
He didn’t try to trick, he didn’t try to play around, he straight decided to grant their wish, and because he took the initiative, they couldn’t cheer.
A tickle made Agharita flinch, she noticed a tear on her cheek and was surprised to be that moved.
Dora remained on his knee, bowing down, and suddenly, a warm embrace covered him.
"It’s because of all of this that you’re the worst." Candace hugged him from behind. "Do you really have to go that far? To carry all of this? I would be satisfied by living with you, everyone would, but you want to sacrifice yourself?"
Over her sobs, her body trembled, holding Dora firmly against her head.
"I really hate people who sacrifice themselves... I really hate when you do that for the others... Think about us... Think about what you an for us..."
Her tears fell on his shoulder.
"You’re too horrible... You want to sacrifice yourself? Fine, you have my permission, but I have one condition... I want to die too."
"... Candace."
"You said you would give us everyone back, right? So there’s no problem if I die now... Please... You all can die with ti, unlike ... Don’t let see your graves... Don’t let stay immortal if you won’t be there... Let die with you..."
The Pseudo-avatars trembled more, they couldn’t find their words to express their growing distress.
Marie crawled to reach Dora, then, head against his chest, she lted in tears.
"Relax, Sloth, our death is also part of the plan."
Rhea advanced, everyone looked at her with surprise and confusion.
"... Sis Rhea?" Lucca murmured.
"Like he said, he needs to beco the True Origin first, it ans that we will give him our soul. You and I shall be the last to die before him."
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