He dug.

He dug through the rubble, even as his scorched flesh cracked and flaked off his body, blood dripping through the gaping wounds torn each time he moved his limbs. The space where his Cores had been was now occupied by various bodily fluids, continuously drained and refilled as a small part of his mind kept circulating mana in a wild attempt to heal his body fast enough to make a difference.

His heart was torn to shreds, along with the rest of his body, but that wouldn't stop him for long.

It never did.

The pain was an afterthought. Pushed aside to be contemplated later, when he had more time.

He dug.

His fingernails tore off at some point. Or were they burnt off? He lost track of what his body lost in the explosion of mana that encompassed the warehouse.

It didn't matter anyway.

None of it mattered.

He dug.

Desperation rose like bile in his throat.

Not again...

Not again!

He couldn't lose someone precious again!

Maybe if he dug faster, just a bit faster...

And when his fingertips connected with a tiny, charred figure buried beneath the smoking debris, it did more damage than everything else combined.

He screamed.

His pain and anguish, his failure, combined with his mana and ripped apart the morning skies, bringing rain crashing down upon the foggy city.

Gently, ever so gently, he lifted the tiny body into his arms.

One droplet hit the scorched flesh that was once her face, now an unrecognizable mass of cracked charcoal. Then another droplet. And another.

Whether it was tears or rain, he neither knew nor cared.

Words unspoken, explanations never given, hung overhead in a writhing mass of sorrow and regret.

A shuddering sob shook his shoulders, but no matter how he cried, how he screamed, how he begged and pleaded, the little body only grew colder.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered hoarsely, his voice as cracked and jagged as his still-healing flesh. "I'm so sorry... I broke my promise, Big Sister... I couldn't... Keep either of you safe... I couldn't even... Free her... In the end, I...! I... I failed again..."

Overhead, the mythal barrier was laced with thousands of nigh-invisible cracks. The force of the explosion and its subsequent redirection of energy caused the protective Circuits to waver, lines wobbling and nodes sparking with loose mana.

Outside the barrier, one lone leviathan sensed the weakness in that dreaded bubble, and flicked out its forked tongue.

【 I suppose it's frustrating? 】

【 To think you were the protagonist, only to die like some side character extra? 】

【 "How can my story end here?! I have so much left to do!" 】

【 Yes, I understand. I get it. Your journey barely started, how can this be the conclusion? 】

【 That's how it goes, though. Do you think everyone who dies gets a satisfying ending? That all things are resolved, regrets are cleared? 】

【 No. 】

【 People die. 】

【 Every moment, every second. Young, old, wealthy, poor. Death doesn't discriminate. 】

【 They die with a thousand things unfinished. They die with regrets, wasted potential, mysteries unsolved, sins unredeemed. 】

【 You are no different. 】

【 The truth hurts, huh? 】

【 Everyone's the protagonist of their own story, but sometimes stories end abruptly. Sometimes, stories are over sooner than you think. Even when you don't want them to be. 】

【 It's more important to live every day as though that ominous ending page is approaching. You never know, after all. Accidents happen. 】

【 Stories end. 】

【 ... Okay, okay! Stop yelling! 】

【 Look. This story, your story. It's ended, right? You died. I can't undo that for you. Here it is, black and white. Finished. 】

【 All things must end. 】

【 But every ending is also a beginning. The beginning of a new story. 】

【 In your case... 】

【 Things didn't work out this time, but that's okay. This was a... Practice run. Like a closed alpha game. You were shortlisted into the list of testers, but your character ran across a game-ending bug and your save file got all corrupted. Your character has to be deleted. 】

【 But you know, it's just a character? You're ultimately playing a game, right? So you can make a new character. Or you can play a new game entirely! It won't be the same character, with the same old experiences, but who says that's a bad thing anyway? 】

【 So that's it. This life is over. This story's done. 】

【 What? Regrets? Oh, right... It's hard to move on when the failed life is so fresh, huh? 】

【 Hm? You want to know what happened to your friends? Well... I'm not really supposed to... 】

【 Okay, okay! Sheesh, you have some creative swears... Let me check my records, here, help you out a bit. As a personal favor. 】

【 Yup! Don't worry, your friends turned out alright. They all lived long lives. Even little Teresa! Wow she grew up into someone great! Thanks to your bit of meddling, she developed her skills in combat and espionage and outdid all her sisters. In the end... 】

【 Ah, she killed them all. And her mother! And took over as Empress, eventually. Quite vicious, but she was beloved by the people even as the nobility hated and feared her. 】

【 You must be so proud. Her family sure had it coming, woof. The kid they raised as a sacrifice to hone the other, more favored children, turned around and ripped the rug out from under all their feet! 】

【 Lucas and Vera... Went back to their families. With the protection of Faust, who felt obligated to watch after all your little friends, they didn't have to worry about repercussions from those who previously harmed them. But they never regained their noble status, and died in obscurity. Their descendants eventually forgot their noble lineage, and the line dies out after 5 generations. Lucas and Vera themselves, however, lived full and happy lives. They named one of their grandchildren after you. 】

【 Otto went with them. They adopted him, you know! He never awakened as a Deva, but he became quite the famous herbologist. He could grow anything! And never had to kill again, once you were out of his life. Ah... Your death turned out to be a good thing for him, at least. He remembered you with a combination of fear and awe, every so often. 】

【 Little Hana... Ah, she was devastated. She went with Faust and ended up in his organization. Poor thing... She was an excellent spy. Excellent enough that she was eventually able to disappear entirely, and retire with her wife and children in a quiet village in the Mu Republic. Apparently she always wanted to live there, since that's where you were from. She never did reconnect with her own blood-related family, but it never weighed on her either. 】

【 Bao... He stayed with Hana until she was an adult. Then he returned to the wilds, and joined a herd of Wild Fera like himself. He never bonded with another. Never happy, but never unhappy either, he died old and content but thinking of you. Until the end. 】

【 Ah, did that hurt? Sorry, it's the truth though. You touched their lives, some more strongly than others. You left an imprint in your short time together. And considering how traumatic your death was, of course those closest to you would be affected the most. 】

【 Hm? What about him? 】

【 Oh, yeah, no. Faust didn't die with you. It's really hard to kill that guy! Which is for the best, since he protected and provided for all the people you were attached to after your death. The mythal burst cuz of your little accident, something that awful Rosethorne woman was quick to spread around, demonizing you and Professor Bishop at the same time. 】

【 Waves and waves of monsters, thousands of people dying... It was nasty business. You in particular were made into one hell of a villain afterward! As though you did it on purpose... Teresa never believed it though. It's part of what cemented her desire to take action against her mother. She believed all along it was an assassination plot against you! 】

【 Faust helped Teresa overthrow her mother as part of his revenge. He even wiped out that nest of Cthil hiding in Brittalund, you know? The squidfaces, who made that nasty sneaky ring of yours. He was really upset about you dying, went on a personal crusade against the buggers. 】

【 Yes, upset. Genuinely distressed. 】

【 No, he didn't hate you. Yes, he was an idiot and an asshole who made bad, dumb decisions. But he was your uncle, you know? 44's uncle, whatever. He never directly lied to you. Hid things, certainly. A case could be made for lying through ommission, I suppose... But a lot of that was because of that nasty Oath. He really wasn't the reason you were a slave, nor could he fully explain himself! And he did think he was protecting you by leaving you on the estate, and by limiting contact he thought it would keep you hidden in obscurity. 】

【 By keeping his distance and tossing you aside in a place full of his people, he thought he was keeping you safe while also making it look like he was only doing as much as obligation demanded. To make it look like you weren't as important to him as you were, as the daughter of his most beloved big sister. If you weren't important, you had no value as a bargaining chip. Ergo, you wouldn't be in danger from his enemies, or those of your mother. 】

【 That was his theory. In practice... Things don't always work out as planned. He miscalculated the depths of that guy's twisted mix of love and hatred for 44's mom. The man who made you a slave, tried to use Vigen to kill you slowly and painfully under Faust's very nose, and who indeed got 44's mom killed in the first place. All that hate wrapped up in one nasty dude, and Faust still miscalculated how important your death would be to that guy. 】

【 Like I said, an idiot. Faust was... Incompetent, when it came to emotional matters. Always was. 】

【 You have that in common, I think. 】

【 Hey! Enough with the swearing! I know it doesn't excuse what he did! Just saying, he had his own complications, you know? Not to mention, your idea of acceptable is very different from that world's definition of acceptable. For Elysium standards, he treated you with great kindness and incredible delicacy considering the situation. 】

【 Only from the privileged perspective of a peaceful era of a peaceful world would he seem cruel. Your world had hardship and darkness, but it was a different sort than what was on Elysium, and your generation was born in a time of gentle kindness. It forged a different set of morals and values. That conflict of perception, I... Didn't take it into much consideration. I'm sorry for that. 】

【 Anyway, that should be about it. You know what happened to them. And now comes the hard part. 】

【 Yes, this is genuinely the end. Yes, you really did die just like that. And yes, it's completely unfair. 】

【 But we learned a lot, you and I. Your memories of this attempt will be wiped, but it'll leave impressions on you. Echoes. And those echoes will remain in your soul for the next go around. 】

【 Yes, the next one. 】

【 I told you, didn't I? 】

【 All things must end, but every end is a new beginning. 】

【 Next time... Next time I'll do better. 】

【 WE will do better. 】

【 Just to make sure, I'll take awhile to set things up. Shift stuff around, modify a few timelines, adapt the Interface... 】

【 Patch mistakes. 】

【 This was the first time I did something like this, you know? I learned a lot thanks to you. And I want to do better. For myself, and for you. So hang tight, okay? 】

【 Until I'm ready. Until next time. 】

【 Until then... 】

【 Good bye, Li Mei. 】

【 And thank you. 】