An Ending Without Salvation
Cristelle's bullet flew straight for the hand gripping my sword.
With a deafening blast that hardly sounded like a gunshot, the Star Piercer was knocked into the air.
The tremendous impact sent a numbing shock from my right hand all the way up to my shoulder.
Checkmate, Captain.
Still feel like to clinging to that meaningless childish fantasy?!
Haydee is your companion.
Your friend. Your family.
Pfft... Fufu... Companion? Friend? Family?
Weren't you listening? It was all an act.
To deceive your enemy, you must first deceive your allies.
If even you saw it that way, then I suppose my deception was quite successful.
She was lying.
I'd only spent a short time with the two of them, but even so, I knew that much for certain.
And...
You know it too.
You cared about Haydee more than anyone.
...Please, just shut up!
All those warm words you keep throwing at me as if you understand everything...
I can't stand them!
What... do you know?
That pity you offer from your lofty perch as though you're somehow above it all...
I'm sick of hearing it!
People... can never understand another other people completely.
...Shallow pity offered without understanding...
That's nothing more than another form of violence.
...
This revenge... is the ending we have always wanted.
So... it has to...
Yes. Haydee herself must want this ending too.
Right, Haydee? Say it... NOW!
Tell me I'm not wrong! Tell me this is what you want too!
How do you know that?
What...?
You're not Haydee. You can't understand her completely either.
Don't you think that's contradictory?
...!
Kgh...! Hnngh...!
...You.
You overdid it. If you keep abusing the power of that eye, it'll consume you eventually.
Hrrgh...!!!
You're having another nightmare.
Haydee staggered over to Cristelle, who had collapsed while clutching her eye, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Then she took Cristelle's limp hand and guided the barrel toward her own heart.
You're right.
Revenge was our greatest wish.
I've... lost sight of what it means now.
But if you still want it. If that's what you choose...
Kill me and complete your revenge. That's fine with me.
Kgh... Haydee...
After deceiving everyone else...
Are you going to deceive yourself in the end too?
What kind of relationship, hmm... How should I put it...?
I suppose it would be most accurate to call myself Haydee's guardian.
In other words, I'm something of a mother to her.
A life spent pursuing nothing but revenge while neglecting yourself is a lonely one.
And a life lived after losing yourself is lonelier still.
Do you truly have no desire to glimpse your past?
...No, this won't do. Get on my back.
Wha—n-no. I'm fine. I can walk on my own...!
Stop arguing and get on. You're in no shape to walk.
Cristelle's hand fell limply to her side.
The pistol slipped from her grasp and clattered to the ground.
...
...Then, if even one of those feelings was real...
...What was I supposed to have done...?
But... Morcerf... Haydee...
I... can't choose either...
Humans are contradictory by nature.
And selfish too.
That contradiction and selfishness lead people to make mistakes. Everyone does.
But...
I don't want to stand by and watch an irreversible mistake happen.
An ending where no one is saved, where everything falls apart...
I refuse to accept it.
If I let this chance slip away... How...
How much longer will I have to wait before I can catch Morcerf again...?
I slowly took Cristelle's trembling hand in mine.
...My promise still stands.
I said I'd help you.
...
...Heh... Fufu... Fufufu...
Hahahahaha!
I see... So that's how it was... Ahh... Perhaps I was the one forcing things all along.
...Captain.
You're not merely childish. You're selfish...
...Immature, foolish, and impossibly stubborn.
But perhaps that's your strength. Somehow... it makes me want to believe in you.
...I'm glad you changed your mind.
Phew... Thanks to you, the anger that had overheated my mind has finally cooled.
Only now am I beginning to see what I couldn't before.
...An ending without salvation.
Yes... that's exactly what it would be.
Why... couldn't I see something so simple until you said it?
Cristelle suddenly raised her gun. Before I could even react—
NO!!!
A single gunshot rang out, filling the space with its echo.
Why... did she pull the trigger?
I thought I was getting through to her.
I thought Cristelle didn't truly want to kill Haydee...!
WHY...?!
Because I remembered who the real enemy is, Captain.
I told you, Haydee isn't the enemy.
It wasn't me.
Haydee...? Are you okay?
She didn't shoot me.
Look. The bullet didn't hit me or even graze me.
...So back up a little. I told you I'm fine. Stop clinging to me.
H-how closely are you planning to look?! You pervert!
N-no, that's not what I was trying to do—
I was just checking if you were hurt...
...Cristelle.
This choice is a little unexpected.
I thought...
I thought you'd shoot me without hesitation.
Haydee. I myself am rather surprised that I made this decision.
But the Captain's impassioned speech made me realize one thing as well.
You realized... something?
Indeed. I nearly chose an utterly foolish path.
Haydee.
Why did I, Cristelle, swear blood-soaked revenge against Morcerf?
Because she took everything from me.
She destroyed, plundered, and violated things I could never recover!
And so I vowed to return that endless despair to her.
But if that revenge meant losing something precious I'd finally gained again...
Wouldn't that contradict the very reason I chose revenge in the first place?
Haydee. You belong wholly to me.
...
My employee, my partner in vengeance, and the one under my protection.
...My companion.
Fool that I am, I've only just realized it.
You were precisely what Morcerf intended to take from me once again.
All for the sake of leading me to an ending without salvation.
We know someone who delights in such vile, revolting little performances.
Isn't that right? The Sage of the Kingdom—
No. Executor of Deception, Morcerf.