The Tower's Will (Reality Hibiki) [Kahn,Destiny,Naito]

Kahn watched Brahaman fall to pieces, stating a fact that they had just proven to be true this day. The red haired young man let out an exhausted sigh...he was tired...and exhausted, though part of him wanted to jump for joy. Though he noted the soul seemed to be having a reaction to the body...oh tell me that there wouldn't be another fight. He certainly hoped not, but then suddenly there was a blue butterfly. Kahn blinked and when his eyes opened to find themselves in an entirely different world with a masked man standing before them.

Evidently, this was the Philemon that he had heard so much about. After the explanation, Kahn only seemed to nod, he wasn't sure what to say about all this. If he was honest, this was all very new and bizarre. Though when he glowed and witnessed his newest persona he smiled. A feel of absolute confidence filled him, yes...there was a feeling of ease and confidence that flowed through him now. So this was how Naito was able to summon three personas, he had uncovered the power closest to his heart.

Now Kahn had done the same, and it felt...good...right. Like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders or the clouds had parted and there was now...clarity in his mind. Then he noted that they were given a chance to choose where they wanted to return to. He could avoid the disaster if he so desired, but that would no doubt doom the world and his friends. No...he could not do that...no way...no how. "Easy choice for me." He said looking at the red world.

When he heard Souka' soul cry out, Kahn glanced back over to Philemon, before looking back at the soul. Should he intervene? Is it his place? The red haired young man had no idea what the right choice is, but...perhaps he could be of some aid. "You have a tough choice to make, but make the one that you can live with and makes you happy. Perhaps your...body can help?" The red haired young man said before looking toward Souka's body as if looking for the right word to call him, "Do what you believe to be right, I'm sure you will make the right one." he said attempting to assure the soul before looking toward Philemon,

"Noctis told me a few things about you, and while there is a lot to say. I guess the only thing I can really say is, thank you for the opportunity and the power. I appreciate and I would like to thank you for more. But as I'm sure aware, there is a bit of a crisis in our world. I have friends in that world and I'm not about to leave them behind. I had better get back to them, they could be in trouble. I couldn't live with myself if I let them behind when I could be of help, so once again. Thank you for the power, but I'm going to head back and make sure that they're okay." Kahn said before looking to the others. "Hope to see you all there soon." Then he turned and hurried back to the world that was in a crisis, a fighter to the end. This was his world and he was not about to let it got to pieces if there was something he could do about it. He desired his world to be safe and secure from these events, and right now...it was anything but.


(Exit)

    // Thank you...oh God, thank you... // She didn't know how or why, but they'd done it. They'd survived. That god awful...God was crumbling before them. It hadn't been easy, but they'd done it. A strange quiver shot through Destiny's spine--out of relief? Of joy? Disbelief? She wasn't sure. She didn't care. All she wanted was to see that thing, Brahman, fade away into nothing and leave them alone for good. Thalia apparently shared that sentiment; as the God left, the persona glared defiantly, throwing it a raspberry as a final show of distaste.

    As Souka--his soul, to be more precise, fell to the ground--Destiny froze for a moment. Her first thought was to go over there, to check and see if he--it?--was alright. But could souls even get physically hurt? Did their forms follow the same laws of physics and pain that normal people did? ...That felt like a stupid question, considering the anything but normal situation, but she wondered it anyway.

    Before she could form any further thoughts on the subject, the soul fell. Destiny shifted forward, intent on going closer to see if it was in pain, or if Thalia could do something, but was immediately pulled back into a warm chest. Glancing up at the woman behind her, she met her persona's gold eyes, which were for once devoid of anything save for apprehension and concern. It didn't take much to understand Thalia's thoughts, and despite wanting to go closer, Destiny heeded her other self's wishes and looked back at the soul, barely catching sight of a small glimmer of light above the figure before--

    Both the girl and her persona let out a shocked little cry. Destiny, momentarily blinded, slammed her watering eyes shut. Neon spots dotted her vision, intermingled with some of the blackness from behind her eyelids. Heavens, she was getting a headache from that. A light one, but a headache all the same.

    But that soon faded, and the next thing that echoed through her head was not pain, but a soothing voice she'd never heard before but somewhat liked all the same.

    Carefully, Destiny opened her eyes and blinked several times, slowly adjusting to the new surroundings. For a moment, she was distracted by the scenery, something that reminded her of an aurora borealis, before her gaze was drawn to the speaker and held fast.

    What he said was so simple and yet so hard to understand. She understood what personas were...to a degree. Chance told her that much; you beat your "shadow", your inner demons, and gain a power that proves you've done so. And yes, she'd seen Naito and Kahn use different persona--how, she hadn't even begun to fathom--but never realized that they were all different pieces of them. There was one new nugget of knowledge. And then this..."choosing them". While the scenery calmed her to a degree, she was still mildly perturbed by the implications. So when she'd gotten her persona a little over a year ago...that was because he'd "chosen" her? How did he do that? Why? The thought swirled in her head until she shook it lightly, dispelling the idea. That was over and done with. There was no sense in worrying over it now. After all, there were bigger issues at hand.

    Like the fact that she was glowing blue, for one.

    And the fact that Thalia's arms were slipping away and, after a quick glance back, Destiny understood why: her persona was starting to float up, causing her grip to falter. Oddly enough, Thalia wasn't even fighting it; save for a surprised glance at Philemon, she just offered a broad grin before her golden eyes slid shut and she was encompassed in the same blue light that shrouded Destiny.

    All of a sudden, Destiny heard a familiar little giggle inside of her head. Her eyebrows furrowed in response. // Thalia? But you're... // Her persona shouldn't be in her head. She didn't call her back. Plus, there was still the matter of the figure above her. If Thalia was back, then what was-?

    In the moment she'd been distracted, the light above Destiny faded, and a new figure appeared in front of her, smiling proudly. The girl distantly heard Philemon's words, and suddenly, everything clicked. So this...this is what her innermost self looked like?

    The woman stepped forwards so only inches separated them, reaching out a hand and cupping Destiny's cheek. She continued to smile before she bent down and pressed her lips to Destiny's pinned hair, whispering: "Good job."

    Then her touch was gone, her body too, lost in what seemed like pearl-colored dust that faded away within moments. But she wasn't completely gone; Destiny could feel her too, making herself at home in her heart just as Thalia had.

    The choice Philemon presented them with seemed easy. They'd been fighting all this time for Ueitawa; why would they jump ship now, just when everything was starting to look up? ...Well, she could see how it was tempting to choose something else. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Quitting now meant rest, and rest was something she craved. But she'd made a choice at the beginning of the night; no more running, no more pushing away the issue. She resolved to face it, and that was what she was going to do.

    ...In a moment.

    Destiny watched Kahn race ahead, offering him a slight wave before he left. She then turned her attention to Souka--that is, the soul. After taking a deep breath, she approached him and  offered a small smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked gently. "I can imagine it's a lot to take in, especially after...going through what you have." From what she'd seen, he had been quite literally chained to Brahman, possibly since the moment of his death. That had to have been a horrible existence; she internally shivered at the thought of going through it herself. Poor Souka...hopefully, whatever choice he made would let him go somewhere where he could be happy.

    She had been hoping for a better, maybe verbal answer, but the look on the soul's face was enough for Destiny to get an idea that he wa not fine at all. Probably worried, confused, stressed...a number of things, really, and none of them good. It wasn't hard to see that he also had no idea of how to handle the choices he'd been given. She wanted to say more. She wanted to give him some help, or hope, or something, but nothing came to mind. How could she possibly hope to offer advice to someone who was going through something she could barely fathom herself? As much as she tried to keep it, the small smile slipped from her face and the girl's expression turned somber.

    ...What?

    For a moment, all Destiny could do was stare at Naito, the perplexity clearly evident on her face as he stepped closer. Had he really just said...

    // But why...? //

    Normally a gesture like that would have her a mess in mere seconds, if not moments. Normally he did those things o mess with her, to see how far he could push things. But this...this was just...goodbye. That's all it felt like. ...No, worse than that. A dismissal, almost. A way to say this wasn't her place, wasn't something she should worry about, to just wait and go about her business while he did...whatever here. For a moment, all Destiny could think about was this strange mixture of anger and sadness coursing through her and the decision of whether to try and get Naito to explain himself or to slap him instead.

    In the end, she did neither, and merely listened for a minute more, understanding causing the negativity to be washed away. So that was his reason. Possibly helping Souka either move on or become a new god. ...Alright. That she could live with. Splitting up without any means of communication wasn't preferable, but she knew there was no way of talking Naito out of something. And besides, leaving Souka on his own hadn't sounded good to her in the first place; knowing someone was around to help him made her feel a little more at ease.

    This "third and final option" of Souka's...well, the body's, anyway...they'd been through this before. Back at that "team meeting", when Natashi and Aburai brought up the possibility of going back in time. They'd already nixed that option from the get-go. Right now, they either won or lost, and that was that. But if they went back...who was to say it would be for the better? So Souka would live. Who's to say he wouldn't die some other way and be contracted by Brahman then, or that Brahman couldn't just choose another person and set the same plan in motion? Could the new users be able to fix that? What if they were chosen to be users again, but their "new selves" and their new experiences rendered them incapable of fixing things like they'd done before? ...No. that was an awful plan, one full of too many ifs and unknown variables.                    

    "...'It would be like killing our current selves.'" Destiny murmured to herself. That's what Natashi had said, wasn't it? That yes, the current crisis would be averted, but they'd basically die and be replaced with other versions of themselves. After a quick intake of breath, she glanced at the two Soukas and spoke. "I wish I could say yes. I wish I could give you back your life and stop everything, all this fighting and struggling in one fell swoop. But if we do that, the people we are now are lost. Dead, basically. And..." she paused for a moment before steeling herself and continuing on in a voice that sounded more confident than any she'd used before, "We've come too far and done too much for me to agree to that just because it's the easiest way out of this."