The deadline ca and went, and no more volunteers erged. Rather than the communications becoming more heated as ti passed, they seed to cool, with everyone under the shared assumption that everything was already taken care of. Realizing this, Dana let out a sigh, and shook her head in indignation. Sprigga had already handed over the life core, with the promise that it would be put to good use.
Sprigga knew that she could have asked for the original core back, and only use the copies created through the Digital Conversion system for their plan. However, she didn’t do so for two reasons. First, she felt that it would undermine the aning of Giles’s sacrifice if his life core remained in the end.
Secondly, with the knowledge that he would be returning through the Heroic Spirits, she didn’t want to linger on the loss. She would rather wait for him, so that she could welco him back with open arms, instead of letting him find her mourning over a shadow.
With the invasion of monsters fast approaching, Dana flew to the sun, core in hand. Thanks to her brief visit to Sarah’s Admin Room, she already knew how to perform the reinforcent necessary to enhance the network.
As soon as she arrived at the array, which seed to revolve slowly around the sun, she found the crystal that was used as its core. Dana sent an apologetic look towards the core in her hand, before beginning to dissolve it, letting the pure energy flow into the crystal. As it did so, the array seed to pulse with newfound energy.
Sorry… Dana whispered in her mind, because unlike Sprigga, she knew that Giles was still conscious on so level. He couldn’t perceive the outside world, couldn’t tell the passage of ti. However… he would be able to feel pain. The pain of having his life core dissolved and imbued into another item was sothing Dana didn’t want to imagine.
And I have to do this nearly ten more tis. She muttered to herself in her mind, watching as the process completed. She’d never had to kill the sa person so many tis before, even in her long life.
That’s why, even though she could feel the space solidifying with the enhancent of the seal, there was no mirth to her face. She simply closed her eyes, tearing open a portal to go to the next world and repeat the process.
Mixed emotions spread throughout the world when the news ca out that the monsters would be repelled. Footage was aired, showing distorted images to censor the tic effects, but the result was clear. Any tic entity that forced its way into the barrier was torn apart by a black and red force.
Normally, this would have co as a great relief to everyone, if not for the fact that Dana Jafer delivered this news personally. She stared into the screen, her eyes remarkably cold for soone delivering news of salvation.
“I’m disappointed.” She said, and many people could almost feel her gaze piercing them. “For those that do not know, this disaster required the willing sacrifice of a Fallen God. When the world was in crisis, so many of you sought to achieve personal gain instead. I will not list nas, nor will I list the desires specified, in order to spare the individuals involved further punishnt than will already befall them. Even more remained silent, as if feigning ignorance.”
“I’m sure that many of you are wondering who stepped forward, as none of those you expected to be missing are gone from this world. I’ll say this. Only one person ca forward with a simple goal. Not so extravagant agenda. All he wanted was for his family to be safe.”
“For that reason, I was forced to replicate his life core nearly a dozen tis over, dissolving it repeatedly with my own hands. Because only one person was willing to make this sacrifice.”
“I know that so of you may be thinking, ‘If soone else stepped forward, why should I?’... and it is that line of logic that makes disappointed right now. This was a ti to show solidarity. Even if the spots were full, and every world had a dedicated sacrifice, the gesture of a selfless offering would have been recorded. rit would have been given regardless.”
“The only one to step forward was one that many of you have probably never even heard of, a Fallen God of Unity by the na of Giles. He was a half-rkin, half-elf born in Spica. He moved to Earth as an adult, and fell in love with a golden Sylvan. After the events of V-Day destroyed alien life, the two of them traveled the stars together, planting the seeds of life, in hopes of recovering what was lost.”
“When they learned about the tic monsters, and the sacrifice that was required, his only request was to build network nodes on the planets that they had seeded with life. He didn’t ask for glory, or anything else. All he wanted was for his daughters to be safe.”
“Many of you volunteered with the sole intent of being brought into the Heroic Spirits, to be forever honored as one of the select few to stand alongside the Keeper. However, those seeking such glory will never find it. Only true sacrifice, the type of sacrifice that this unknown Fallen God made, will ever be accepted. So, I will say this. Giles will return. He has earned his place in the eyes of both the Keeper and the Greater Pantheon. And if anyone has a problem with this decision, I wholeheartedly invite them to discuss the matter with personally.”
There was a chill in Dana’s voice as she finished with that sentence, allowing the news to return to its regular broadcast. Even those who were dissatisfied that soone else had been given the chance they sought after knew better than to accept Dana’s offer. There was a very good chance that any who did would likely never be seen again, approaching her when she was already in this sort of mood.
For the general public, those that were previously unaware of what their safety would cost, they looked at those Fallen Gods with renewed understanding. They knew that it was not an easy thing to give up one’s own life, but this was also a case of sacrificing oneself for billions, if not trillions of people.
For those Fallen that knew that they had either earned Dana’s ire, or her disappointnt at saying nothing, they remained silent. There was little that they could do, especially when she already addressed the very reasons that they had said nothing in the first place.
Sprigga, anwhile, was surprised that Dana ca forward. She hadn’t expected her to announce what had happened like that. In retrospect, she understood, as there was always so form of announcent that happened whenever anyone was brought into the Heroic Spirits. If anything, she took this as a public guarantee that she would see her beloved again.
Soon, Sprigga felt a wave of people wishing to speak with her, dozens of other golden Sylvans all calling to ask how she was doing. However, there was one other connection that she focused on first.
Is my boy really coming back? A distressed voice spoke into her mind, sounding like it was on the verge of tears. Sprigga knew right away that this was Giles’s mother. She hadn’t been told about her son’s actions, so this must have co as a shock to her.
He is. I received the promise myself. I’m sorry that you found out this way… I was planning to co and speak with you in person. Even with knowing that Giles would return, it felt cruel not letting his mother in on the plan. However, there had simply not been the ti to go to her and explain everything.
It’s… it’s fine. So… I have grandchildren now? It was clear that she was trying to distract herself, putting on an amused tone. Though, in truth, the question made Sprigga stiffen. She and Giles had always traveled alone, so it was only natural that Nimora had never had the chance to et their daughters.
You do… they’re lovely young ladies. When this is all over, and they’re safe, would you like to take you to et them?
There was a light chuckle over the communication. I would like that very much.
When I heard Dana’s announcent, I couldn’t help but be surprised. First, I was surprised that she even made the announcent at all. Secondly, I was surprised that only one person ca forward. When I heard that, I imdiately thought of Strea, Lyra’s old partner.
To learn that it wasn’t her, but a far lesser known Fallen God ca as a shock. Now I understood what Sarah ant when she said she hoped it went well for . By my understanding of her worlds, she had a far larger population than I did, as her civilization had expanded out into the galaxy without facing such apocalyptic horrors. By virtue of sheer numbers, there were likely more people on her end that would have volunteered.
Still, I turned my attention to the report, noting how the modification had been applied to every world. From now on, until they were able to develop the ‘key’ to allow Fallen Gods through the barrier, they would be barred from joining any exploratory vessels. Otherwise, they may trigger the defense field upon entry.
As for the matter of securing the worlds that Giles and Sprigga had colonized, that was naturally accepted. When Dana ca to with that request, I didn’t even need to ponder over it, as it seed obvious.
Though, now that this matter was resolved, I couldn’t help but think back. Sarah said that she had created Fragnts of Acidia primarily because of this field. Part of wondered if there was sothing similar in her other gas, little easter eggs that could lead to further developnt.
I could ask her, but I had a feeling that I knew what she would say. Even if such easter eggs existed, they were more fun to find on one’s own, rather than being told exactly where to look.
I did, however, ssage her to let her know that the enhancent worked. I didn’t go into any detail, because that wasn’t strictly necessary, but she seed happy to know that the issue was resolved. She even invited to bring Dana back another ti, to give her so better mories of Sarah’s Admin Room than ‘living sacrifice’.
I took her up on her offer, planning to bring it up with Dana after she had settled down. It didn’t take a genius to know that she was in a bad mood. Though, I had expected Tsubaki to help with that. To my surprise, Tsubaki said that she needed to step away from Olympus a few days before the plan was implented. If not for her regular check-ins, I might think that she was outside of the wall, dealing with those monsters.
This was one of the very rare tis when she left, without it being a training mission or a Trial. When I thought about that, I shook my head. Regardless of where she had gone, I knew that she would be able to handle herself. There were very few entities in this world that I felt would be able to stop her if she was truly determined to do sothing.
With that in mind, I focused back on the reports from the institutes that were indirectly monitoring the barriers. The sheer number of monsters that they counted was mind-boggling. It really did remind of the hordes of monsters that existed outside of the ‘safe’ space within Fragnts of Acidia. And now, that’s what our own space would look like, from this point on.
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