The longer Axln sat through the ongoing speculation for the matter, the more confident she got in her chosen approach. Sure, she wasn’t certain regarding how knowing fate was needed would matter, but it was the most glaring solution she could think of.

“I don’t know how elemental land is doing, but it looks like our crew here is getting worn out again. Might we adjourn this for a while more before getting back to the problem.” “Drew, I worry that if we call things here, we will have to bring things to a permanent closure. Lyun and I really can’t keep this going forever, we might instead need to take what has been discussed and look for answers more locally. If we’re really running out of time, I table the suggestion that everyone takes an opportunity for any closing conversation before the connection becomes forever broken. If people want to break with a snack for that period, that’s reasonable, there might even be merit for arranging private conversations too, as it seems even Mheridz and Velvet had taken an interest in that area. Lyun and I however will need to sit down somewhere else. We’ll still keep that thing going, but someone else should keep the instrument on.” Drew went quiet as he realized that his words may have resulted in a motion for Axln to bring everything towards a closure. Considering how magnificent this connection was, it would really be unfortunate that such could never again be repeated.

There was quite a lot of closure needed in the process as well. The two who could call themselves each the sisters to the pair had a lot to speak upon for lifestyles of being a sister, especially after learning that they each had a subtle connection to the other’s sister for quite some time. Once Sophie and Xwyrh were finished, Drew and Jhez had quite the volume to speak upon with each other too, especially since they had only just learned they would both one day become fathers under mutual terms. Even Tristine and Ezhyrae had volumes to speak upon about abstract creations, considering the similarity between each of their studies, which each called upon new inspirations to bring them ahead of the current curve. Tristine needed novel new ideas for technical designs which could make a conduit like her shine, while Ezhyrae needed her own inspiration to yield innovation before the foundry which could merit her own new title, hopefully in a way which applied her study of ersatz. Tristine and Ezhyrae each then spoke volumes of the legacy brought out by Holi and Luna, the unsated marvels of each, superseding the potential of their own community, likewise remaining untapped and yet related to the interests of Ezhyrae and Tristine. Velvet and Mheridz were last to close everything off, though neither of them had very much more to say.

“Are you two done yet?” “Not yet, mom. Velvet seems to think you have a plan, because you sound like you have a plan. I would have to agree with her. Where are we going?” “Sorry, but you’re going to have to stay here. It seems even Luna can’t provide directions to where I need to go, and I know you absolutely have no idea either. Only Lyun can help with this one.” Axln was starting to wonder if letting Mheridz actively conspire might have been a poor decision. “I heard my name, what am I missing?” “Hey mom, can you tell Kori.. Axln there to not be so uptight?” “Wait, since when did I get nominated to be a mom?” “You know it’s going to happen, you know we’re blood related, what else am I to call you in that case? Your age might fit it more, but we’re certainly not sisters.” “Okay, I did miss a lot. Axln, what’s going on?” Lyun did know she was supposed to be a mom one day, she just had gotten used to Velvet just calling her by name. The subtle references were building a very different impression for her.

“Our two future daughters here are apparently getting a bit future aware as we get closer to a grand conclusion. Their role in everything really is coming to an end, though. You and I will have to take it from here.” “So you have figured something out. You had seemed rather preoccupied in thought during our assumed break, I could tell something was up. I’m guessing you just wanted to hold the matter for when we would be free to move.” “Pretty much. I mean, I don’t have much concrete, only a theory, so I don’t want to get people’s hopes up. However, we’re running out of time, and there was nothing better, so I think we’re going to have to at least work with what we have.” Axln’s plan was no secret to Lyun, at least the existence of one wasn’t. What was also obvious was how there was something she didn’t want to speak about the details right now, potentially due to the present company.

“You know what, this is stupid. I thought it was just me, but you’re doing this to Mheridz too. She’s right, we need to do something to be there for you, so that you don’t just be so foolish when we’ve succeeded. You’ve changed, improved, you’re like living heroes.. but you’re still willing to leave us behind. I know why I can’t go, I can’t get there. Why can’t she go?” “You’ve both done enough, we can…” “No, no, and wrong. We’ve given up our chance of a future, set our very lives to end, all tied to this one success. Don’t you think it’s exactly where we need to be, to be there in accomplishment to what we gave up everything to achieve? What in the world are you planning that you think merits keeping us away from that?” “Look, I know this is important for you both, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring you to the room that the legendary book had been originally hidden away would…” “Shit! You’re going there! To hell with everything, please bring Mheridz! I know, you’re thinking this is some conspiring angle for like that whole surender deal, but that idea is junk now. Even so, finding that book’s hiding spot.. it would mean a lot. Everything had always been about that stupid book, dealing with that stupid book sounds like the greatest way to go out. Come on, this is our last chance, please?” Velvet sounded pretty desperate, really driving home a lot of guilt on Axln. The guilt wasn’t only sitting on Axln either, even Mheridz was shocked to find her partner fighting so hard for her.

“Axln, let’s just bring Mheridz with us. Even if she can’t help, she won’t hurt either. They both deserve this.” “To hell with it, fine. Mheridz is really good at brainstorming, maybe she will be handy if we can’t figure out what we find there.” Lyun even knew she wouldn’t be quite up to speed with the brainstorming planning Axln goes through, so such was an actually viable excuse. Even so, at this point, Lyun would have still been compelled to support at this point even without such a handy excuse available. “Great, I’m glad I managed to get you two convinced over there, it would be the least I could do. I mean, I know you both would be looking into stuff, then making your way back to this side. However, in all consideration, if you really are making the last move.. this might be the end of the road for me. If you accomplish everything before returning to this side, this will be the last chance for me to talk to not only Mheridz, but either of you. My initial role was to keep you both from the book, but it seems my final one was to secure Mherdiz’s path to it. Mheridz, you’ve got things from here, go bring our life’s mission to its success. Kori, when you get back here, Holi will have everything I’ll be passing forward. Mom.. thanks for pulling through, for staying strong this time, for not letting go. I know that your conviction here is going to make all of the difference, things are going to be alright. When you meet my successor.. actually, I probably have nothing to say there, you already know. Give them the future I could only dream of.” Velvet could hardly speak through her final words, the incident audibly getting to her. The tears were also rather contagious for everyone around.

“Velvet, thank you. If I don’t see you again…” “Hey, come on, you obviously will. If it isn’t any time soon, then certainly you’ll find yourself with a much younger version to deal with. And hey, even if time would have shifted enough that said young one isn’t exactly me, but some other young one of slightly different genetics, that’s okay too. She.. maybe even he.. will get the future then that I’ve worked so hard to form, and so they’ll be pretty close to the same thing, right? So yeah, I’ll make sure everything is ready for you too. We’ve already started dismantling your giant lens, by the way, though at this rate we’re practically left to dumping everything on the moon. Make sure you’re careful about that on the way back, the stuff is still outright radiant with stored energy still. It’s pretty harmful for a person, though not deadly.. not as deadly as it would be for any DMAs at least.” “True, though that’s probably going to do wonders for cleaning up any remaining chaos. All that ambient ultraviolet energy is just going to make it outright dissolve, but could leave some nasty sunburns even with mild exposure. We should probably be fine with returning via citadel anyway.” “Uh, maybe, but I hope you would at least come and check up on things here first, especially if I am gone. If you’re ready to keep Kori in the air, your wings should be enough to handle things, Epsilon isn’t hard to find. Oh, and yeah, I’ll be moving from Omega to Epsilon, your crew would be far more understanding than the people of aerospace, hopefully with Holi’s help. Best wishes for a swift success, you three.” Lyun was surprised when Velvet suddenly ended the call with such words, though she felt she could understand. Such farewells were getting very difficult, the girl simply couldn’t keep going. However, Lyun really didn’t want things to end with just that, she really wanted a much better final farewell. If she couldn’t get her wish.. well.. at least she was determined to pay such intents forward. Whatever new Velvet the future would hold, Lyun would pay such feelings forward then.

“Wow, Velvet is actually really good at expressing herself, I’ve never been half that skilled. I knew she was quick to panic, but this.. that’s a talent worth respect. Considering her words though, she has a really good point. At any time during this process, I could simply just disappear, even without warning. Rather than find myself with a missed opportunity, I might want to instead take from Velvet’s fine example. Of course, I have nothing I will have the chance to arrange for you, not unless there is more time to do so. Lyun, you’ve already been to my office, pretty much everything you might need is there. Specifically, there is a letter in the desk which I’ve so carefully tried to produce in the otherworldly script, so that you two are the only ones who could read it. I know, my reproduction is terrible, but your future selves were capable of reading such scripts, so I’m certain you’ll figure it out too. The letter is easy to identify as it is marked with the same sigil as.. my family’s.” Mheridz tugged at her bracelet at that point uncomfortably, a forgotten aspect of the future both Axln and Lyun had let slip past their thoughts in the time since. Axln at least had no problem with that family tradition, feeling it would be a proper symbol to use going forward at the academy.. maybe even during future concerts. Lyun too, realizing Velvet would be with such a bracelet too, felt that her future family business might be in more of a need of fancy branding.. at least maybe in her arts and music division.

“Mheridz I’m sorry for almost turning you away from this.” “Oh mom, I can tell why you almost did, but I’m thankful you aren’t. Velvet is right, I need to see this through. It would be way better to spend my final instant knowing I did it, instead of just waiting around and vanishing unexpectedly. It.. it’s a shame that Velvet is probably going to have no choice but to confront that herself. Maybe.. maybe we shouldn’t keep her waiting overly long then, that would just be awful to the girl. What do we need to get in order before we’re on our way?” “I think the first order of business would be to compose ourselves, all three of us are quite the emotional wreck. Lyun, you probably look the worst of us all, not going to lie. You and Velvet.. really take this emotional stuff pretty rough. However, I think Mheridz and I could do with a bit of time too. We can’t rush such a thing, tackling this without a composed head is really going to add problems for us, mostly because we’ve got that maze to look forward to again.” Axln and Mheridz might have been handling things with a visual composure, but that certainly wasn’t how either of them felt. Lyun however wore her emotions on her face.. and down her cheeks, the girl not even composed enough to find her own voice. It was all too obvious that having the chance to calm down would be the most important first step in this process.

“When we consider preparation, consider that all three of us are really set for dealing with a chaotic spook, but we’re not quite so ready for more mundane ventures like finding secret rooms in giant structures. We’ll need to see what can be gathered together for that.” “You don’t want to bring Luna either?” “Luna doesn’t know the way, such a secret was even kept from her. Meanwhile, the siege-mantle still needs a lot of work, and really it would just be easier with everyone else out of the way. Luna will be staying here, along with the members of the academy, and basically all of the staff behind either. I mean, if this doesn’t work out, we’re going to need a way out of here so that we can return to Ruixse. In that case, I would prefer us to be ready for that eventuality.” Axln might have almost left Mheridz behind, but her plan wasn’t to have left Mheridz idle. She would be invested into this plan, and would have needed someone working on their backup plan. As is, at the very least, she would probably send Mheridz as a messenger to report their failure, getting things coordinated here while they checked in on the other side with the same report. This plan still worked out.

“So, in the matter of preparation, what is our plan once inside the citadel?” “Lyun is the only one who has reached the room in question, though for that reason.. it might be very difficult to return there too. Neither of us were feeling very clear-headed at the time, and we did have plenty of patrols to worry about as well.” “I have reports of the patrols you found, even in a round of disposal. However, none of them even could account for their own location, so that hardly helps at all. Actually, I suspect Lyun would be intimately familiar with the last report we had before her sudden success.” “Oh right, her ex. Where is that guy anyway?” “Velvet and I were even talking about the two esteemed exes, which was a great chance to hear about the jerk trying to swoon my mom. Mom never talked about him, of course, something you would probably understand. I honestly never met the guy, because he sort of perished before I was born. It seemed that was something which had still managed to play out, one of the foes there taking out his assigned fighter while you both fought moon-sides. It was interesting, because the warden in question had also fallen to the same causes. I matched reports too, discovering that the warden couldn’t even outlive a simple pilot. Velvet was still of like mind to myself, I don’t think I like your ex, but quite honestly neither guy deserved such a death. Technically, there are a line of people who deserve that impression though, so.. I hope you’re willing to arrange for those funerals.” In other words, Mheridz was implying that Axln would not have access to any additional guides. It was probably for the best at that, additional guides would get in the way, Lyun would have struggled with that particular instance.. though it was also difficult to hear about the losses too.

Nick and Zxyd, both of those two guys had sort of been a thorn at their side through the process, right around when Kori and Lyun had broken up with them. Of course, both guys had been working for the two esteemed daughters, who were both suddenly not so thorny. Before that though.. both guys had been important to them. It seemed this trial would come with constant loss of lives, first from Fiona and Yhzia, now from Nick and Zxyd, and soon Velvet and Mheridz would be gone too. At best, they would have to ensure that there were no further losses, that no one else would perish here, there were far too many lost as things stood. The losses of their past, present, and future would all come together in this one final act, and it was a burden enough that they wouldn’t want to add any further weight to it. Axln wasn’t even certain how much time might remain before chaos would simply make another move, making use of the legendary secret in order to assert dominance. In all accounts, if she was right in her beliefs, chaos would only have to exert the influence of probability upon the will of the world itself in order for everything to go wrong, and that there would be no way such a will could defend itself at present.

While the hand of chaos was no longer in play, they would have to act before such tranquility suddenly ended. Quite certainly, this whole monumental moment was pivotal to the entire process, there would be no coming back from something like this, even though none of them yet understood how true that was.