melodiesofeternity | A Starlight Carol

Sasami sees Papyrus and Uendo both take the ghost's hand. Sasami's unsure right now, but there's a bit of group mentality going on here. If not taking it means being left here, she doesn't want that!

She'll take the ghost's hand.

Asriel slowly rubs his face.

Come on. There's no way him dying would destroy Earth. He's not that important.

Up until recently, him dying would have been a blessing for it.

But he doesn't particularly want to get killed by some stupid giant dragon.

"Tell us what we need to do." He says, taking his hand as well.

Those who took the Lalafell's hand, or connected to him by touching someone who touched the Lalafell hand, will find the atmosphere around them changing. They're still in the cemetery, but in spite of being the same place it feels very different. The sky turned blue and somehow, all fires went out. Instead, now flowers are blooming as if the catastrophe had never happened in the first place.

The Lalafell changed, too. Now it's a little girl who looks up to those who took her hand.

"H-Hi... I'm sorry for those t-things... That's the only way I could cheat-cheat and get to you past h-her... But I don't have a lot-lot of time..." A pause. "W-What the ghosts showed you... I-it's the future as it's written now... The summoning of B-Bahamut will destroy everything... And when it do-does, your worlds will die with it... I-I can't explain why, it-it's complicated... Maybe someone else could explain it..."

She let go of the character's hands. Those who didn't take the Lalafell hand or connected to it are stuck in the nightmarish version of the graveyard till it's over, unfortunately.

"You can rewrite that future... B-But it'll ask a lot out of you... That's w-why I used Starlight to contact you... That embodies the-the spirit you'll need to have... If you f-fight just for yourself, you'll fail... If you g-go at it without joy or love, you won't find the s-strength to walk through it... For you-you to succeed, you're going to have to f-form a special bond with V-Vaikuntha and its people... Not unlike the b-bond people feel during Starlight... If you c-can't do that, you w-won't be able to rewrite this ending..."

"If-If you have questions, I'll answer anything I can... S-So long as the answer doesn't put m-me at risk..."

Sasami blinked as she saw the girl before her. She recognized her from the first day she came here. How she told her to trust her Moogle after the stupid thing was so annoying and protective--

And Sasami let out a gasp of shock as what the girl said clicked in her head.

"That's why you told me to trust my Moogle so long ago!" Sasami said. "We've been going through this the wrong way, haven't we?"

The change in scenery brings a loud gasp from Papyrus, followed by a soft sigh. Everything's... okay? They can still change the future? Ah, what a relief! What a blessing. And the way sounds oh so simple! Love and kindness? Compassion for Vaikuntha itself? Simple, really!

At least, simple for a sap like Papyrus.

Though, this does beg the question. "WHAT OF THE SUMMONING ITSELF? THE SUPREME EIDOLONS? WOULD THEY STILL AID US IN SAVING THE FUTURE?"

"Believe me, I'm not going to be fighting for myself. Not much point in that."

Asriel says, glancing to Papyrus. "But I think we can do something about the 'joy' and 'love' part. The people here have been nothing but good to us. Can't see why we wouldn't give back in kind. Why's it important, though? Is the summoner.."

Like him?

"...depressed?"

"I-I think you've been doing great..." She replied to Sasami before replying to Papyrus. "They-They will help, yes... If you do-do not awaken them all, it will be much m-more difficult for you to succeed..."

She then turned to Asriel.

"The summoner is... Sad... B-But she..."

She stopped, looking down and hesitating before switching topic.

"V-Vaikuntha isn't t-too different from her... Didn't you n-notice weird things...? Like those h-holidays... H-How they m-made the Jobs... The way c-certain people decide to speak or b-behave..." A pause. "I-It is a place for broken souls to heal... You can o-only win by healing those souls... But you'll h-have to fight sometimes... Sometimes, w-when someone is so sad and a-angry, they refuse to be healed... And they choose o-oblivion..."

"The summoner is a girl..." Sasami uttered, pondering this. Of course, the girl mentioned a lot about this world that made sense.

"But, we're not doing enough, aren't we? Celebrating the holiday just with us..."

Wait, there was that Halloween incident, that building that celebrated those other Heroes of Light!

"Ah!"

"BUT WOULD OBLIVION TRULY MAKE THEM HAPPY? IS THERE NO OTHER WAY TO BRING JOY BACK TO THEIR LIVES?"

Death just seems so... final. So hopeless. Like admitting defeat and Papyrus, stubborn as he is, is not one to call it quits.

"IF WE CAN JUST REACH OUT TO THEM, SURELY THERE MUST BE A WAY TO SWAY THEM FROM SUCH A DISASTROUS PATH!"

Isn't that true? One can hope.

Uendo is still struggling to process the sudden change in atmosphere, let alone the little girl's advice. If you fight just for yourself...

...No, that's something he'll have to think about later.

"So... You're that girl who used to appear in Curti Center?" He's never met her himself, but the description matches. "Then, the person pursuing you... Is it the summoner, or someone else? Can you tell us that much?"

He tries to keep his voice gentle despite how upset he's feeling. The girl sounds like she's having trouble speaking -- it would be cruel to frighten her further.

"T-They're the same person... D-Don't worry, she doesn't want to h-harm me... But I c-can't avoid drawing her attention for too long n-now..."

She then turned back to Papyrus.

"She... S-She thinks even if you d-don't realize it, you t-too suffer like her... I-I don't think you can a-avoid fighting her... B-But that doesn't mean she-she is beyond redemption... E-Even if she w-wants you to think she-she's evil and heartless, I-I think sh—"

The little girl suddenly freezes up, eyes widening in surprise, and within a split second she's gone, as if she had vanished in thin air. The scenery fades to black and all the characters are back to wherever they were before meeting with the ghosts. It's over.

A Starlight Carol

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