plumnovel Chapter 249: The Fate of the World
Chapter 249: The Fate of the World
The air felt cool. There was no longer that blistering power that ravaged all that it touched. Prota could breathe, and while she needed to keep her guard up, she could momentarily relax. Just a little.“I hope it works,” Anta muttered nervously. “It would really, really suck if it didn’t.”
“Anta,” Prota breathed sharply.
“Kidding, kidding. Trying to lighten the mood.”
That was going to be hard to do. Prota had just watched nearly every person she’d known die before her eyes, sacrificing their life to further her goal. The only thing keeping her sane was the knowledge that [Resets] were still a thing should John be willing to co-operate. If this failed, it would all be for nothing. The belief they would have held in their last moments would be a lie.
Although perhaps that was for the best. As John had once said, it was the living who had to carry on and suffer.
Prota’s vision slowly recovered. She blinked, trying to remove the blind spots in her eyes.
The sight that greeted her eyes almost knocked her out.
“...Prota.”
“John.”
He was standing completely still, his tattered scarf fluttering in the wind. Light somehow streamed into the massive pit he’d formed, shining on his blank expression.
No. Not completely blank.
An incredibly pained look was present in his eyes.
“What… what did you do?” he stuttered.
“I told you. I’d come back. For you.”
Prota wasn’t entirely relieved. John could definitely be acting. He’d managed to fool Anta into thinking he hadn’t [Reset], and so he could definitely be pretending to have recovered his memories, especially considering how much Prota had told him about her past life.
But she was more inclined to believe it had worked. John could fake a lot of things, but that pained look on his face wasn’t so easy to replicate. And Prota knew.
No matter how good he was at acting, his eyes always told the truth.
“...why? Why, what was the point?” he muttered, seemingly beginning to panic.
“I promise. John… John said he always keeps his promises. Me, too. I wanted to keep my promise,” Prota said, almost pleading, her voice cracking.
“That…”
John went silent, searching for words he would never find.
Prota could breathe.
This was it.
The end of the journey.
All her hard work. Her pain, her suffering, her efforts, it all led up to this point.
Somehow, the point of everything had gotten a little messy. Anta had never been her sister. The Demon King had never taken her. In fact, the Demon King had never existed in the first place.
But this was a [Story]. Her entire life was a journey. So she was given a goal anyway.
She was given a reason to live.
Not a goal given to her by John, or Sofya, or anyone.
It was a goal Prota had set for herself. A choice of her own will. Prota had never told John her promise. There was nothing forcing her to choose the harder path.
But doing what she wanted wasn’t always easy. She’d learned that. But she’d gone through it anyway.
Because what she wanted mattered. And once she made her choice, she would follow through, because no cost was too great.
Somehow, making it all the way here made it worth it. The weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.
John was here.
“Wha- Prota, are you stupid?!” he exclaimed, having recovered a little. “There was no- I killed everyone! Twice! Are you fucking serious? Why didn’t you just kill me?”
“...what?”
“You could have just used [Deus Ex Machina], and that would have made you powerful enough to just take my energy! It’s not like you need everything, right? You just needed to stop me from leaving? You could have easily- well, I guess it’s better for me that I didn’t teach you how to use that. I don’t know why I’m complaining.”
He let out a hollow laugh, trying to dismiss the issue, but Prota knew what he was saying.
He didn’t want to take responsibility.
Instead of being forced to leave a world, he would rather be ignorant and have Prota kill him, thus allowing him to pass without having to make a choice. But it was he who taught Prota that this wasn’t right.
Even if the choice might be wrong, it was better to have the option to make that choice.
And these were John’s memories. Not hers. It wasn’t right for her to make that choice for him.
John was her saviour. Her brother. That wouldn’t change, even across worlds, even across timelines. And if he chose to get rid of her, then she would be fine with that choice.
That was the choice she’d made.
“Why… why are you doing this?” John finally asked, falling to the ground. “Wouldn’t it have been better for you to just save everyone?”
“No. John… keeps making me do the work. Makes me make choices. Your turn. Your memories. Your life. You make the choice. This time… no running away. I ran away. You came back for me. You ran away. So I came back for you.”
For a moment, there was silence. Prota had no idea what John was going to say.
But of everything, she hadn’t been expecting denial.
“Prota! You don’t get it! This doesn’t change anything!” he suddenly yelled. “Do you think that coming back changes the outcome? No! This world. The people, the [Characters], they don’t get a happy ending just because you went through all that! Look. Thank you. It’s nice to have someone care about me, but do you understand what you just did? Your life! Everyone’s lives! It’s mine or theirs! What happens if I choose myself, huh? Are you really-”
“Yes. My choice. I’m ok.”
John just stared at her with wide eyes.
“You… what?”
“Not my world. Not their world. John’s world. If this world can’t exist without John, then it’s your world. You didn’t ask to come here. If you leave… it’s ok. Because the dead don’t realize they’re dead. The living have to suffer.”
His own words, coming back to bite him. Prota knew what he was doing. He was trying to guilt her into killing him, into sacrificing him for the world. It seemed like he was trying to be selfless, but really, he was just being selfish.
If he really wanted to sacrifice himself, he wouldn’t have [Reset] the world.
The world she’d lived in began to flash through her mind.
She’d learned how to live. And in learning how to live, she also understood that death was a part of the process. Jinae’s words made sense to her now.
Life was beautiful. Every part of it. From her time on the streets to this very moment.
Perhaps some of it wasn’t the best. It was painful. It was hard to think about.
But Prota wouldn’t change a single bit of it. Because even the smallest of changes might have put her on a different path. And Prota didn’t want that.
Because she was proud of who she was. A person who couldn’t be defined by anyone else.
She was Prota. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The same went for John.
“John,” Prota said quietly. “Fight against the [Author]. Listen to them. Live. Die. Doesn’t matter.”
She put her hand on his chest, looking deep into his eyes.
“But make a choice. Make it your choice. If you sacrifice the world, that’s your choice.”
For the longest time, Prota had been banking on the idea that John cared for [Characters]. But now, standing in front of him, that idea faded somewhat. Yes, she wanted to save the world. Saving the world at the cost of one’s existence, however, seemed a little unreasonable. Not because she was unwilling to sacrifice the one for the many, but because the many only existed because of the one.
“Prota,” John pleaded, choking on his words. “You can’t… you know. Really? You’re going to make me go through this? Again? I don’t… I can’t. I can’t do it again. You’re making me choose again?”
“...yes.”
She watched as he gagged, then threw up violently, collapsing. He panted, taking heavy breaths, eyes bugging wide, gagging more, but nothing was left for him to hurl.
Slowly, he wiped his mouth, trying to calm himself, trying to recover, his heart pounding wildly, sweat pouring down his face.
And then he snapped.
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“Why?!” John raged. “Seriously, what the fuck is the point?! You think I can just snap my fingers and fight against the [Author]? You think I can just do whatever the fuck I want, rewrite the ending, make it all happy and joyful, you think I can do that? I wouldn’t be in this shitty fuckass situation if I could! That’s not how this works!”
“I know.”
“Then what are you making me do? This is why I didn’t want to meet anyone, because it just ends like-”
His rant was cut off as Prota walked up to him, giving him a firm slap on the cheek. He was so stunned he froze, completely motionless for a good few seconds, only to reach up and pat his face as if checking that it was still there.
“You’re a coward.”
Stunned, he slowly looked down to see Prota staring back up at him, tears in her eyes.
“You keep running away. You’re just scared. You don’t want to get hurt. So you run away. No more running away. Make a choice.”
“But-”
Before he could say anything else, Prota threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to leave.
But it was a sacrifice she was willing to make.
She wouldn’t give up her experiences for anything. Just because it hurt to lose things didn’t make them any less worthwhile to have. The memories in themselves were worth the loss.
“John. It’s ok if I go. If you just remember me… I’m ok. But John is special. John has other worlds. Other people. More memories. More power. You gave up your world and your memories. You can’t give up now.”
“...Prota-”
“I didn’t give up. Even though I lost everyone. Even though no one remembered. I kept coming for you. So don’t give up.”
She squeezed tighter, as if hoping John would never let go.
But he would have to.
From the start, there had never really been an option.
John could stay for a little longer. Wait until all his friends died. He could even wait until the heat death of the universe.
But eventually, he would have to leave.
And Prota understood that this really was his world. The [Author] wouldn’t give him a way out. If he really desired it, maybe, but it was highly unlikely that was the case.
“...damn.”
John was quiet now. His body felt limp, a little cold.
“I… I guess I just needed someone to force it onto me, huh? I needed someone to make me do it.”
A moment of silence. Overhead, the noise of wind blowing over the hole whistled deep down into the pit.
“Is… is this it?”
He slowly put his own arms around Prota, resting his head on hers.
“Thank you.”
Suddenly, she felt something splash onto her head. A tear. She couldn’t look up, but from the irregularities in John's breathing, she knew.
And tears began to flow out of her own eyes as well.
“Prota, I-”
“It’s ok. Because of John, I got to live. I got to see the world. Not your fault. Not my fault. [Author’s] fault. Right?”
“...right,” John said, letting out a shaky laugh. “Right, that’s what I’ve always said.”
“Nn. Get them. For me.”
“Yeah, I’ll make that bastard pay.”
Prota could feel her hair growing wetter and wetter. John’s shirt was similarly soaked already, wet with tears.
“Just don’t forget. Never forget.”
“Yeah. Obviously. How could I?”
“Promise.”
“...I promise.”
They released each other simultaneously, staring deep into each other’s eyes.
“I guess… this is how it ends.”
“Nn.”
“Thank you. Prota. For everything. For everything you’ve done, for staying by my side, for… you know. I don’t think there’s a point in saying this anymore.”
For a moment, there was silence.
“John. Do you… do you regret it?”
“Regret what?” John laughed. “Meeting you? Leaving my old world? I mean, I don’t know. What would I define as regret? And I did make the choice to leave my old world, and it’s still around, so-”
His own words stopped him in his tracks.
“Wait. Why are they… why are they still alive?”
Prota’s eyes widened.
Why were they alive?
“Zero,” John gasped.
As if on cue, the soul emerged from John’s body, clapping slowly as if presented with the end of a beautiful play.
“Well, well, well! In the end, the ending remains unchanged, huh?” he laughed. “Looks like I was right. It doesn’t matter if you remember or not. You’re still the same person inside. Which makes sense. You know. Since we’re so similar and all.”
“Yeah? Oh, I’m sure that’s so fucking funny,” John growled. “Be helpful for once, alright? What’s going on? Why are the rules being changed?”
“What rules?”
Those two words brought the entire conversation to a halt.
Everyone understood what he was saying. The [Author] had suggestions and guidelines, but ultimately, rules did not exist. There was no such thing as a hard set of rules that an [Author] had to follow as an absolute.
If one world could disappear while another didn’t, then there was nothing stopping that from happening.
“But- no, your explanation doesn’t make sense!” John yelled. “You said this world disappears because it’s no longer being told! Then- what-”
He fell into silence again, absolutely confused by the implications.
“...what?”
John was locked into silence. He didn’t know what to say. Prota was similarly quiet, unsure of how she could help. Zero, of course, was prohibited from saying anything anyway, so just like that, the conversation was brought to a halt.
It was up to a new party to bring it back to life.
“Oh, my god.”
Anta floated out of Prota’s body, looking incredibly annoyed.
“Seriously, you’re both so freaking annoying! You, you can never make up your mind, and you’re so mopey all the time! Get over yourself! And you!”
This was directed at Zero, who raised his hands in surrender, an amused look on his face.
“You keep hiding all these obscure secrets like you’re playing a game! Maybe this is a [Story] to you, but it’s very real to us! You keep playing with us like it’s all a game, don’t you? Like it’s entertainment?”
“...Anta. What do you think this is?” Zero said with a sad smile. “And believe me when I say I’m not the enemy at the moment. I’m trying to help John. Just like you’re trying to help Prota.”
John, meanwhile, had momentarily forgotten about Zero’s words, confused by the new presence.
“Um. Sorry. Who are you?” he asked, pointing at Anta.
“You- are you stupid?” Anta groaned. “Hello? Do you remember what Prota was trying to do originally?”
“She… um… she was trying to find her sister, right? Wait, don’t- oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. The twist was that her sister didn’t exist, and that she was able to see you, her soul?”
“Bingo!” Anta grinned. “See, you can be smart when you want.”
“That sounds like something Prota would say, but in more words,” John grumbled. “Great. You’re just a Zero version of Prota. Just what we needed.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Should I be quiet?”
“I take that back. Prota isn’t as much of a bitch as you are. I guess that really does make you a lot more like Zero.”
“Hey!” Zero protested. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know damn well what it means,” John muttered. “You wanna be helpful, or not?”
“Sorry. I can’t give you the answer,” Zero shrugged. “Look, I’ll tell you this. I’m not lying about anything. I can promise you that. And I will tell you that once you figure it out, it’ll make sense. It’s not some stupid thing like ‘the [Author] just makes decisions.’ It will follow a logical line of thought. I know I was being a bitch earlier, but seriously, just think about it. For you, it isn’t really the worst ending of all time.”
John pressed his lips together tightly. If Zero was really saying that, then there was something there. A way out.
But figuring it out was simply too difficult.
“Ugh. Seriously, this is so stupid… maybe I should just [Reset] now,” John muttered. “At the very least, we can think about this in a nice room instead of this stupid pit I made.”
“It’s a nice pit,” Zero offered.
“Not helping.”
“Right. Sorry.”
Prota, meanwhile, felt like she understood something. There was something someone had said, something she’d realized, but it just wasn’t clicking. She felt like she was so close to understanding it.
But her inability to communicate properly was getting in the way.
She couldn’t put it into words. She could only get the feeling that she knew what the answer to their problem was.
Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to figure it out just yet.
“Hey.”
John’s tone was nervous. Prota’s head snapped up to see him frowning.
That was never good.
“There’s… was I really the last boss? That’s not how this works. I can’t play the [Antagonist],” John muttered. “That’s not how my role works. I can oppose the [Protagonist], but at the end of the day, I’m a neutral party. My existence isn’t present for the purpose of opposing Destiny.”
“John,” Anta said warningly. “Hey, let’s not jinx it.”
“I’m not jinxing it. I can’t. Not anymore,” he muttered. “There’s nothing to jinx. We haven’t reached an ending yet. I can’t make a choice yet, even. That option isn’t available.”
Prota flinched.
An ending.
There was something she was forgetting. John had momentarily distracted her, but she’d been saving her [Deus Ex Machina] for this moment. How could she have forgotten?
Arguably, it was one of the most pivotal moments of all. They hadn’t seen her much, but her impact on their journey had been undeniable.
“Hey, Prota. How sure are you that you want me to make this choice?” John said quietly.
His scarf was wrapped around his face, his hood raised. He was preparing for combat. Prota understood why.
“John’s choice. I promise.”
“Cool. How much [Deus Ex Machina] do you have? Or, [DEM], I guess. Damn, that a lot faster to say.”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Ah fuck. Right, it’s not like we can measure it. Well, hold onto it. You’ll need it soon.”
“...John should take it.”
“Nah.” John grinned, putting his hand on Prota’s head. “I trust you. You know. Since you beat the shit out of me pretty good.”
“How many times?” Anta said, looking a little too excited at the prospect.
“Like. More than a hundred, that’s for sure. Seriously, you guys were way too strong,” John grumbled. “There’s a reason I was close to giving up.”
This was it.
The last few steps of the journey were right there. The opening of the cave. The last few trees of the forest. The exit to the maze.
And the one who’d been with her at the start was now here at the end.
One last guardian stood, blocking their way to freedom.
But the experiences, the memories, the journey that had brought them to this point…
It would be what led them to victory.
Perhaps that wasn’t always the case if one thought realistically.
But this wasn’t reality.
This was a [Story].
“Here she comes.”
A crack of thunder rang out as a presence nearly knocked the siblings off their feet. It wasn’t an attack. That was simply how strong the presence was. Both darkness and light permeated the air, blinding in two ways, and a figure floated in the center of it all.
Diaboli, Celeste, whatever her name was, appeared to be both an angel and a demon. A celestial body with horns, a purple aura surrounding the figure, the stars within its pitch-black body shining brightly.
In that instant, the souls vanished.
John’s body began to glow as [Infinity] was activated, a familiar set of weapons falling into his hands.
Prota immediately integrated with her own soul, blue and red mixing together as they prepared for the final fight.
“Hm. I did not anticipate this outcome,” Celeste announced.
Her voice echoed majestically in their ears, like the voice of the cosmos itself had spoken.
“Yeah. No shit. You didn’t know that I already beat you once, too, huh?”
“...that does not follow. If I had been defeated, I would not be here.”
John grinned. “Yeah, well, it happened. And if I could do it once, I can definitely do it again.”
“Very well. It would be immature for me to ask for your surrender, I suppose.”
“Yeah. Duh. How about you? You’re not upset or anything?”
“Such emotions would only get in the way-”
“Well, fuck you!” John yelled, flipping the goddess off. “You know what? Fuck you and your schemes! You think you’re so much better than me? Well, guess what! You’re not! You had the power to bring peace to your world, and you know what you did instead? You tried to fuck me up!”
“You, too, could have done the same-”
“I never said I was going to save the world! You know what? I’m not upset at you for trying to kill me. That’s fine. I’m pissed because you pretend like you’re so much better than me. You know what? You’re not. Oh, you tried to save the world? You know what you sacrificed instead? Look at this!”
John was pointing to Prota, who was staring up at the goddess with defiant eyes.
“You fucked her up! You let her suffer, just to kill me? Well, guess what, shitass? She’s gonna help me beat the shit out of you, you hear me? I’m going to fucking kill you! You are going to die! No, you know what? Fuck you! Kill yourself! Die!”
Even under his scarf, his defiant smile was visible.
“How does it feel? The very thing you created to kill me is going to be the one to take you down.”
No more conversation was needed. The points had been made. Further talk would only be a waste of air.
“Alright, Prota. Do it.”
Prota raised her hands. One more time. She’d give it everything she had.
[Deus Ex Machina].
Soul Steal activated. With her new powers, she could do something she’d never done before.
John’s energy was right there, ready to take.
Her core was filled up with something. Not mana. But something else.
And then there was a loud cracking sound as her core itself burst, disappearing.
There were no limits on her strength, now. She no longer needed a “core” to hold mana. Her entire body was a vessel for power.
That strange power was all she needed.
True to its name…
An infinite amount of energy began to flow into her.
“Alright, Prota.”
From the very start, it had just been the two of them. Two incomplete souls, wandering without purpose.
And now, here, at the end of the world, it was still just the two of them.
But now, their purpose was clear.
In the end, the fate of the world was not determined by its hero.
But by two beings who didn’t belong.
“You idiot,” John called out. “You shouldn’t have given me a reason to fight. You had so much leverage over me. But the instant you gave me something to fight for, you lost. Should’ve just let me alone, dumbass.”
One, hated by the world, desperate to show emotion but unable to do so. Hiding away, running from others, afraid that an extended hand would not be a helping one, but a beating one.
The other, destined to lose everyone, desperate to care for someone but unable to do so. Rejecting others, distancing himself, afraid that he would inevitably lose those he reached out to.
Two halves of a whole.
Completing each other.
“This is the end.”