☆TRACK XIV: THE END COMPLETE

[interdimanagers]

Who: ALL WHO DARE ENTER.
What: The Grand Finale.
When: July 25th, 2055
Where: THE MOON.
Warnings: All kinds of things, I'm sure.

“These are the days. The end complete. The world still turning to the sound of the suffering. You are the jury, we are the saints. Our minds divide, the past repeats. A war still brewing in the hearts of those we once bled. I am the knowing, the living dead.” ☆THE END COMPLETE The aftermath of the battle with Lesedi is a mixture of fortune. On one hand, a severe enough blow has been dealt to Lesedi that she has been forced to disappear almost entirely, and Gold has survived the conflict – on the other, Silver has disappeared too, and so have the rest of the Pride musicians. While Virgo carries on to the end of the tour, Pride is almost entirely absent from the last two weeks of the schedule. Some of what remains of its bands will appear on stage, but something seems off about them – including the musicians that the rescuers know personally. Even when on stage, it’s like they’re not really there. As if something is puppeting them directly from behind the scenes. Anansi appears only briefly during the final performances, and from what Gold will tell everyone, she has been Silver all along. The two of them had been working undercover for years to gain the power and influence they had, enough to begin fostering a rebellion in their seconds lives. So much of what made it possible to bring the rescuers together had been enabled by those connections, which was why it had been so crucial that no one know the source of their power or their knowledge. Now Gold seems to be blaming herself for the fact that Silver hasn’t returned, suspecting that Blanche has done something to her as a result of her stepping in during the fight with Lesedi. Neither exec has left hiding since then, and its nauseating knowing that they could basically be anywhere. There only seems to be one thing left to do, and that is beat the two of them to the proverbial finish line. Gold used her close connection with Lesedi to gather crucial information about where the finale of it all would be taking place, and the basic essence of what would be done – which was part of what had inspired her to attack Lesedi so desperately. The end of the ritual is scheduled to take place on the moon. ☆THE MOON It’s a good thing Shep has a spaceship. The scattered remains of the world tour are spent in preparation. Though some may try to get close to the musicians that remain, it’s become nearly impossible – any attempt to get too close to met with those individuals being abruptly teleported away, no matter how disruptive it may be at the time. It’s not like it matters to the audience. The enchantment of Tera’s populace is still holding, though there is something off and inconsistent about it. Most of the time, festival goers will refuse to acknowledge that anything besides a radical concert is going on, but then there are those in the crowd that will suddenly seem to peer through the fog. Something about the spell is broken, and it’s likely the series of disruptions to its execution that has done it. The best option seems to be following the two of them to the finale, and ruining the ritual once and for all in its critical moments. The lost musicians have to be there, and it could be the rescuers only chance to retrieve them. On the day of the rituals climax, Shep’s ship will carry everyone willing to fight towards Tera’s moon. The rescuers will catch glimpses of the Crescendolls ghosts more and more frequently as the moment arrives, though they seem to be avoiding Gold and Shep in the meantime. Through a combination of magic and brute force, the rescuers will be able to make their way into the the label’s moon base – a structure paradoxically shared by both Pride and Virgo. It seems that this entire thing has been organized to end in a structured battle from the very start, like a final duel between r ivals that has been planned for centuries. Everything is finally coming to a head. But how will this play out when one of the two is a mere shadow of their former selves? ☆PRIDE For the musicians of Pride, the fight with Lesedi is the last thing you remember clearly. If you weren’t there at the time, then the moment when things changed is even more disorientating. You remember the feeling of Lesedi’s spacial pull against your body, and then everything became a long, confusing dream. There is darkness and fire and stars, and then a feeling like you’re feeling split from something essential to your being. After that, nothing goes back to normal. You think you remember performing a few times, but it didn’t feel like you, even if the magic was still there. Life passes by weightlessly. It’s a familiar feeling – like a hole has been left inside you. Despite all the progress you’ve made towards regaining who you are, it’s seems like there’s one final hurtle to overcome. Despite everything, you’re still here. ☆VIRGO For anyone left in Virgo’s ranks, things are much clearer but no less tense. The rest of the tour has been rushed, and the events have been minimal. The execs, however, have been in a very good mood. With Pride’s near total disappearance, it seems like Virgo’s victory in whatever battle this has been is guaranteed. But yet, there is still a sense of ill ease. Whether you knew what she stood for or not, one of the most visible veterans, Anansi, has gone missing, and the rest of them seem nervous. The end is coming fast, and nobody seems to know what that means for them. And then it finally becomes clear why, when the entirety of Virgo is rounded up and taken to the moon – not as performers, but as sacrifices. “Dig deeper, remember All you've been and all you've left behind. Wave goodbye, my dear. Dig deeper, remember All you've been and all you've left behind. Welcome home, my dear.”

Comments

[mildwildchild]

Time here is distorted, almost meaningless - there's no need to keep track of the passage of time in a place where nothing will ever happen save for your own slow, agonizing descent into utter torpor - and Jamie only becomes aware of things slowly, in tiny increments. He thinks he can hear a sound, a shuffling noise like something moving through the sand, but in short order he convinces himself that he's just hearing things. Nobody else is here to make such a noise, after all.

The hand on his shoulder startles him, and with a jerk he straightens and twists around to look behind him. There's no one there, of course. Jamie wasn't really expecting otherwise, but there's still a pang of something like disappointment.

He sighs, breath clouding in the air a little. Then he hears something else, something with enough magical oomph behind it to penetrate the little bubble of isolation Jamie's built for himself. His name.

"Is - is someone there?" His voice is hesitant, little more than a whisper.

[faithfulflame]

Rei zeroes in on Jaime's consciousness, her mind a single, solid point driving towards him through the murk of reality. This place is so strange, reminding her in a way of the door Pluto always guards. There's really quite a lot wrong with all this, but it makes it easier to push through and focus when she hears his voice.

Clear and strong, she responds in a gently reproving tone, the voice of an elder sister.

"Jaime. It's me, Rei. Please wake up. I'm here for you."

[mildwildchild]

He looks tantalizingly close to snapping out of his stupor, a little flicker of what might be relief penetrating the bleak despondency of his expression; but then it disappears again, swallowed by the hopelessness surrounding him.

"You're...no, that's. That's impossible. Nobody's coming for me." His gaze drops to the sand, and he huffs ruefully. "You should just...leave now. Nobody stays very long, anyway."

[faithfulflame]

"Jaime." Rei's voice hardens a little bit, noticing that he'd almost woken up. Almost. So, a little more force might be needed.

"When have I ever left you alone? When have I ever once just vanished on you? Even when I was on the run I still contacted you. Wake up, stop feeling sorry for yourself."

[mildwildchild]

"People leave even when they don't want to." Like his parents - the only parents he can remember, now. Like Yosuke. Like Sora.

He raises his eyes briefly, but there's still nothing there. Just a shadow, flickering, something he might only be hallucinating. "I thought...that was just the way it was supposed to be."

[faithfulflame]

"And yet here I am."

Rei gathers all her psychic might and slams it against his mental barrier, drawing on every ounce of strength she has to do so. Her body shifts, shimmers, changes unbidden into her other form. Her past self, the Goddess of War and Passion. She cannot, and will not, leave this be. She hurls her mind at his again, and again, and again, battering on his mental gates.

"Jaime. I'm here for you. Wake up. Get up. Don't just sit there. Your life is in danger and I'm here to make sure you go home in one piece."