What Never Changes
*Huff...* *Huff...*
We rushed back to the cave with Smile and found Ayla gasping for breath.
Ayla stated she needed to clear her head and was going out for a while.
But she didn't come back, so I went looking for her...
Smile opened her hand to show us a torn packet of medicine.
Crumpled and torn, it was still packed with the pills Ayla had been taking.
Retrieved the pills scattered beside Ayla after finding her collapsed by the shore.
A torn medicine sachet, with pills scattered all around it... That would mean...
Yeah. It looked like... she was trying to throw them away.
...Don't tell me that Ayla...
*Cough...*
*Cough! Cough!*
Ayla seemed to come to, coughing hard as she sat up.
Smile quickly offered her the medicine, but Ayla refused to take it.
*Cough...* I don't need it...
There's no point in holding on any longer... Nothing's going to change.
Ayla's temperature is dropping. This is dangerous...!
It's okay... It's all over anyway...
Ayla caught her breath as her coughing eased for a moment.
Maybe I knew all along... that it was all pointless...
I was arrogant enough to think I could change things... and selfish enough to want to live...
If I'd known it would end like this... I never would've tried so hard.
...But Ayla...
...Luna...
...
I'm sorry... for being so stubborn...
I didn't know... I only had until tonight...
What...?
Ayla's eyes were full of sadness, but she held back her tears and forced a smile.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overhear you...
I realized too late... that all our efforts were for nothing...
Ayla, you can't give up—
You said you can't change fate, no matter how hard we try... right?
Maybe... I underestimated fate.
Her words were calm and unwavering.
She wore the quiet resignation of someone who'd lived through it all before...
What a miserable end...
A sad smile crossed her face.
...!
All that's left is to wait for tonight to pass...
So really... I'm okay.
After all, there's nothing difficult about waiting for the end.
...I guess you're right.
Waiting for the end is easy.
...Luna...!
Luna had been silent the whole time. Her expression unreadable, she slowly smoothed out every crease in the half of the treasure map Ayla had been clutching.
It's already decided how this ends.
So nothing else matters.
All I have to do is let go. ...Let go of any hope of changing it. Let go of the thought that this time might be different.
Despair is inevitable. And facing what you already know is coming... isn't so hard, is it?
Luna's blue eyes rested on the map, but her gaze seemed fixed on somewhere far away.
No hope. No expectations. Just wasting what's left of this dull, meaningless life...
Until the ending that's already been decided for me finally comes.
...
That's... what I thought I had to do.
Then she stopped smoothing the map and turned back.
But then, I just had to meet the greatest gambler in Lavistar.
She turned and smiled at me.
And I decided to make the biggest bet of my life with him.
I'm putting my entire dull, meaningless future on it!
Not with the sad smile of someone who'd given up, but with a triumphant grin...
How about it? Want to bet too?
She held out the map, now smoothed flat, to Ayla.
...I don't understand what you mean... I...
...
No. What good would it do now? Once tonight is over... so am I.
I don't want to keep hoping for something that might never happen...
Hmm. I see.
All right, then! I'll show you just how intense tonight is going to be! Come on!
W-wait...! L-Luna, what are you doing...?!
Luna took Ayla's hand and led her out of the cave. We followed close behind.
L-Luna... I... I can't go on...
Look, Ayla!
With a sky like this, tonight might never end!
Only then did Ayla notice how unusually bright the moonlight was. She looked up.
...!
Her eyes opened wide.
How... can there be two moons...?!
A perfect miracle that wasn't in the future I saw.
...!
Even so, fate may demand an even greater miracle than this.
We might still come up just short again.
...
But... just look at that.
You can't call yourself a gambler if you see this and don't go all in.
Luna handed the now-flattened treasure map back to Ayla.
So, Ayla! Want to defy fate with us?
...Luna...
If your fate says you won't make it through tonight, then let's make this a night that never ends.
If your ending says there's no treasure that can break the curse, then let's go and find one that can bless you with a long life!
Ayla's gaze wavered as the treasure map trembled in Luna's hand.
Let's keep widening the cracks in fate little by little.
I don't know if it'll work...
But let's see it through together, all the way to the end!
...
...Yes. I... I want to live on...!
*Sniff... sob...*
And in the unusually bright moonlight, the light returned to Ayla's eyes.
Yeah. That's all I needed to hear.
As Luna smiled at Ayla, her eyes shone as brightly as the moonlight.