drainheart | A final farewell...?

[What Cubia once knew as his garden is now just a mess of destroyed buildings and fragmented data. The destruction itself doesn't bother him much — he could restore this place to its former appearance in a matter of seconds — but there's no point.

Everyone has left him. Whether they cared for him or not, they've abandoned him and left him behind in this mess, but he supposes that's fitting. Given what he knows now at the end of it all, all Cubia can do is bitterly laugh.

He never held any power over these people. From the very start, this was all a ruse. Father always gets what he wants in the end.]

...Ah, there you are.

[A flash of brilliant blue wings sharply contrasts the grey clouds looming above. Amon will assume his usual form here, clad with all his previously missing memories. Cubia's greeting lacks its usual enthusiasm, but he's happy to see Amon anyway. As happy as he can be, given the circumstances.]

So you managed to survive. I suppose that saves me the trouble of reconstructing you from your memories. Welcome back... Amon.

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[This isn't what he wanted, it isn't, but it's inevitable that anyone he might come to care for will abandon him. That's what Father said. That's what Father did, leaving him behind with the knowledge that all he could ever do is hurt people and cause them pain. He was right, wasn't he? Everything that's led to this point was proof that Father was right all along.

Cubia stands frozen in shock and listens as Amon shouts back. If he didn't care, then he would most certainly leave, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he?

Tears spill freely down Cubia's cheeks, but he makes no move to wipe them away. His fingers tremble when he reaches out to take Amon's hand, restoring him to full health and healing his wounds. The ends of Cubia's fingers blacken and flake away, but he would rather give life to someone who deserves it than waste any more time preserving his own.]

...I don't want you to stay. If you do, you'll only hurt more. I don't... I don't want to see you in pain anymore.

[Oh, and how he wishes he didn't care what happened to Amon, but he does. Despite his nature, Cubia cares deeply.]

All of the data I gathered... All along, Father was using me to obtain it. I should pay the price for my mistakes, shouldn't I? But it's Father who wants to keep you all here. The best I can do is slow him down.

No... no, no, don't...!

[ Amon finds his health returned to him, something the mirror of his real-world body had robbed from him, but at a cost he doesn't want to accept. As soon as he watches Cubia's fingers flake away, he surges forward, trying to catch the boy in his arms and drag him into a hug. ]

Don't go. Tell me how to help you. I still... I do, I still want to help you. You're a victim, too, Lily. There has to be something, anything, please...

[Dizzied by the life he's poured into Amon, Cubia easily crumples into his arms. It feels... warm, calming, just like his hugs always have, but Cubia knows this is a kindness he no longer deserves. He doesn't pull away, but he buries his face in Amon's shoulder to keep the worst of his tears hidden from sight. He can't afford to hurt the man he looked to as a brother any more than he already has.]

Thank you... for calling me by that name. It means a lot to me, you know.

[Even if that name was never his to begin with, that Amon would honor his wishes and continue to refer to him by it brings Cubia some relief.]

I was born in this world... and I'll die along with it. Destroying Fragment is the only way you'll be free of Father, so please... don't let him win.

[Cubia brings a hand up to his heart and withdraws something smooth, shiny and dark from within himself: a Virus Core, or so it appears. Cubia visibly pales after withdrawing the core from himself, but he insistently holds it out to Amon in the hope that he'll take it.]

This is my Core, that of the "Lily" you knew. I want you to keep it.

[ Why, why, why? He couldn't save Meteion and now he can't save Lily, either?! It was true, then, what he had said before. He can't save anyone... he can't... He feels the burn of tears in his own eyes, eyes glistening with them as he holds onto Cubia tight for a time, but then he's pushing away only far enough to remove his own core.

It's chilling to see. That's like his heart, isn't it?

Amon hesitates, but only for one fearful second, and then he reaches out to grasp the core. ]

I wanted to save you... this world... but if we can't... Lily. You'll always be my dear little brother Lily. Never forget that. If we... [ It's hard to say this, tears of his own beginning to fall. Everything that they wanted was impossible in the end. ] Let us save who we can now, from your father. I will see it done, no matter what. I will make sure they curse his name for this, not yours.

[Seeing Amon accept his core, Cubia smiles. In the end, he found someone who would accept him despite his many mistakes. Why fight his inevitable fate when he'll never be happier than he is right now?

The Core sinks into Amon's chest, imbuing him with all of Cubia's memories— the Father who rued his existence, all the people he'd met, and his inevitable fate as a tool to be wielded by the man who trapped them here. He'll see a glimpse into the not so distant future as well, Cubia assuming his monstrous form against his own will to put up one final barrier between the players and Harald.

Cubia's death is inevitable, but he's known this for some time. It was only with Amon's help that Cubia has finally accepted it. If he can do nothing else, he can act as one final chink in his father's armor to give the others a chance to escape and find true happiness in the world they came from.]

You know... I think I get it now. What it means to be happy.

[His blackened fingertips are cold and heavy, but he lifts them to swab at Amon's tears anyway.]

You made me happy. I always wanted family who would love me. Now that I have that... I have nothing to lose.

[It isn't just his fingertips that have begun to blacken. The rest of Cubia gradually blackens and fades away bit by bit, an inevitability Amon can't stop. Now that he's been given his heart, his body will fade away, but Cubia is happy this way. Finally, he is happy.]

I love you, Nii-san. I hope you'll find happiness waiting for you back where you belong.

[ These memories... Amon isn't terribly shocked by the revelation as the core sinks into him, alongside the one he'd gotten previously. That Harald would do this all, it makes so much more sense than some sad AI trying desperately to find a family, to learn to love, to be... ]

I'm so glad, Lily, that you know now. I... [ Even as Cubia fades away, he'll hang on, intent on keeping his arms around him until the very end, until his body is no more. ] I love you, I love you so much, no matter what else happens. Even if I find it, I'll never forget you, as you wanted to be, as my brother.

[ He doesn't want to say goodbye. All he wants to do is cry and hang on and saying that word is too final, to much of an end, and so all he can do after is stay as he is until Cubia's body has faded from his arms completely. Then, he is alone, in this strange place that had once been a garden.

It will be a time before he can summon up the will to get up, to leave, but eventually, he will.

Harald is going to die for this. He'll make him suffer. ]

A final farewell...?

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