Lud wakes up on his bed as if it was all a dream. A very, very long dream.
Soon after he woke up, Toki, Sarah and Li came to his room with Maumar behind them.
Toki jumped at Lud and gave a tight squeeze. She said "Thank goodness you are okay. I don't know what Maumar did, but I'm happy to see you okay."
Lud was a bit puzzled and replied in confusion with "Okay?"
Sarah said "Do you… feel okay?"
Li looked at Lud with a worried look and said "I think that he must have been through something horrible. What did you do Maumar."
Maumar answered "He simply spent time in a lonely place until the end of time came."
Toki glared at Maumar and asked quite angrily "Why did you have to do that?!"
Maumar said "As I have stated before. It is for the future of Lutah."
Tifa came soon after and said to the whole room "He basically locked dear into isolation till the end of time in some unknown timeline for his sick experiment."
Maumar replied "It is not sick if it is for a good cause."
Li replied "I have come to learn that a good cause doesn't justify horrible actions. I think it is time that you learn it too."
Maumar replied "I'm well aware of the suffering I cause. However, my love for this world is unparalleled and I'll do anything to make sure it will last as long as possible."
Lud asked, "Even at the cost of other's suffering?"
Maumar replied with a simple "Yes."
Lud took a deep breath and then asked Maumar "What happened to Nemesis? I'm sure that he was there at my last moments there."
Maumar said with a hint of disappointment "He did a thing with the intention of letting you out early. As for what happened to him, it is none of your concern. Although, it wouldn't matter even if I told you."
Lud asked Maumar "You mentioned that it was my second trial. What are these trials for?"
Maumar, ever so mysterious, answered with "It is not yet time for you to know."
Then Maumar looked at Toki and Tifa and said "I have something to tell you two, so come to Toki's residence in the abyss."
TIfa replied "I'm allowed to go to the abyss now?"
To which Maumar answered with silence. Soon after, he disappeared.
Toki commented "He really needs to be more open about things. Don't you agree mom?"
Tifa replied with a scoff and a "For me, he is much too open."
Toki said "Yet you don't have the full picture of what he is planning to do with dad."
Tifa scoffed again and said "It is not like I don't have any idea. I've got few theories of what exactly he is planning, but I have yet to make up my mind on any of them."
Toki got up from Lud's bed and said "I see. Well, we'll see again soon in the abyss, yeah?"
Tifa said "We'll see."
With that, Toki nodded, said goodbyes to the people in the bedroom and left to the abyss.
Sarah said "All this talk about abyss is making my head hurt. At least it is over."
Lud and Li stayed oddly silent after hearing Sarah's comment, which made her ask "What's wrong? We defeated Nemesis, didn't we?"
Li says "Maumar was a bit vague about Nemesis' fate, but I feel like another battle has started. Right, my lord?"
Lud said "Yeah. I don't know why, but my head is spinning. It is like… I'm me, but at the same time, not me. I spent so long in isolation that I'm surprised that I can even talk properly."
Tifa said "I think you being a thryv'nith has a part to play in your sanity. The little gift that abyss can give to people like us."
Li says "I think that Ms. Tifa is on to something. Yet… I think that my lord being a homunculus also has a part to play in his sanity being with us still."
Sarah asks Lud in a worried voice "Can I help you in any way Faust?"
Lud simply smiled and said "I think… you being here with me is enough for now. I… just… Don't want to be alone right now."
Li has an idea and asks "Would you like for me to grant permission for the other battalion commanders to come and see you?"
Lud said with a smile "Yeah. I'd like that."
With that, Lud spent quite the time on talking with his subordinates in varying ways. Some were serious and some were not. Some cracked jokes and some shed tears.
Of course, Lud had to hear the ugly truth that not all people in Elysium made it through the battle. Lud told to prepare to make a parting ceremony for those who lost their lives in the battle.
But for some reason, Lud didn't feel sadness after hearing all those who lost their lives. He thought "Is this the fact that I'm a king and death is something that I just have to deal with?" But then a more dangerous thought came to his mind "Do I… simply not care? But… why?"
Tifa was there the whole time Lud talked with the people who came to visit him. In Tifa's eyes, Lud had lost something in him. Tifa thought "Was this part of your sick experiment, you asshole?"
Tifa also thought long and hard if she should go to the meeting personally, but the fact that her other self urged for her not to go back to the abyss made her decision easy. Because "Even though it isn't my idea exactly, it is an idea of another me."
Tifa sighs and thinks "Just hope that that bastard doesn't make darling suffer too much." With this thought, Tifa realized that she had accepted that there is nothing she can actually do to stop Maumar from doing what he wants. The least she could do is not to give in to Maumar's wish for her to call him her parental figure.
In a deep dark abyss lies a city identical to Elysium. Though there is barely any light around them, the magical torches shine brightly in the deep deep darkness.
Toki goes to a place where people can gather and watch what beauty remains of the city. The eonite golems walk around the city as if nothing is out of the ordinary from the days when they once basket in the welcoming sun.
Toki says knowingly "So you wanted all the singular beings to gather here. What do you want?"
Maumar comes from the shadows and says "With my protection, even those who normally cannot handle these depths can exist here."
Toki, a bit irritated, says "You didn't answer my question."
Then a familiar, yet unfamiliar voice says "Can it wait a bit longer, I have yet to find where Nemesis is."
Toki is surprised to see that Riatla one of the singular beings, let alone alive.
Toki says with surprise in her voice "How do you still exist?"
Riatla says in a bored manner "Rude. But whatever. Let's get all this over with so I can actually do something that keeps me going."
A familiar voice to Toki, but not for the other two present, says to everyone "Don't worry Riatla. You will find Nemesis eventually. You just gonna be patient."
Riatla says, still sleepy "And who the hell are you supposed to be?"
Maumar says "He is the fateweaver. The one responsible for our story's existence."
Riatla wakes up a little and says in surprise "What?"
Sante says "Glad to see you all here. Although there is one that both exists and doesn't at this moment, that is something that will be revealed at the end of the chapter. The exception to what is about to come."
Riatla says in a surprisingly annoyed tone "You… You are responsible for all our misery?"
Sante says "Yes, but can we get to the main topic why we are here? Maumar, if you will."
Maumar says "While I'd love to chat with you more, I'll do as you wish. I gathered you two, Toki and Riatla here, as I'm about to create a rule for all singular beings."
Sante says "Except for…" and he and Maumar say in unison "That one person who shall not be named yet."
Toki says in surprise "A rule? For us singular beings? Why?"
Maumar looks at Sante for a moment and Sante remains silent.
Maumar then explains in the usual bland voice "For hence forward, so that no singular being abuses their powers, going back in time in one timeline is strictly forbidden now."
Toki and Riatla say in unison "What? Why?"
Maumar looks at Sante again and this time Sante explains "To make it short, we need actual consequences to be in consideration since this part of the story kind of lacked some of the impact the story had previously. Time travel kind of made things meaningless to some degree, as such the rule was made."
Riatla says "I'm sure you and Vega would get along splendidly. But if I had would borrow her persona a bit, I'm sure she would say something along the lines of 'You are the one who allowed that thing to exist in the story, so fixing it this way is kind of shallow.'"
Sante says, "I agree—that's exactly what she would say. But I needed to intervene to make things more... engaging. On a meta level, that was my intent. In the story, though, the canon reason is that Maumar wants to assert greater control over the events still to come."
Riatla is stunned by what Sante said and stutters "I… but… How can I take Maumar's reason seriously now that I know the fateweaver's point of view?"
Maumar says "You are welcome."
Riatla says in an agitated tone of voice "How is that your line?"
Maumar says in a calm manner as always "The point that you need to take is that if you change things that you see happen in the future, you will meet a fate similar to Nemnem."
Riatla is barely holding it together as she hears the name "Nemnem" mentioned. She says in a British accent "I beg your pardon, who?"
Maumar says in a way that kind of exudes smugness "It is the name I gave Nemesis in his new life."
But alas, Maumar's tone of voice was as bland and monotone as ever, so only Tifa, who is listening around the corner, can catch on to it.
Riatla takes a moment to breathe and gather her thoughts as there is simply too much information to a newborn singular entity to handle.
Toki says "What did you do to Nemesis exactly?"
Maumar says "He is in a far away place, unable to return to the abyss."
Riatla, finally able to respond, says with the little determination her slothful self can muster "I will find him."
Sante says with a hint of amusement "Look at you. Not only do you embody sloth, you also add pride and lust to the mix."
Riatla says in an annoyed tone "What do you mean lust?" To which Sante smiles and says "Oh you know exactly what I mean. Little spice of Stockholm syndrome adds a bit of intrigue I must say. But did I make it overstay its welcome? I need to go through my notes later."
Toki asks "So the reason why you are here is to what? Add your perspective to the mix?"
Sante says "Sort of. But mostly to make sure the title of the chapter holds true."
Maumar asks "What is the title?"
Sante says "The Writer's Lesson: A Story of Dissociation".
Riatla says "Dissociation? This story is all about dissociation?"
Sante says "Basically yes. You have already seen it with your own eyes. The pride of the middle realm. The madness of Nemesis. Maumar's wish. And it all comes down to people losing themselves."
Maumar says "Is this the part where we sit down and listen to the fools rant?"
Sante replies with a smile and words "Yes. Fools rant. And after it is done, I'll go to the next scene where… well you don't need to know yet."
While there are some words that people there want to say, for some reason, they find that they can live without speaking them at this moment and focus on listening.
Sante lesson:
Sometimes, a person must ask "Are we the entertainers or are we the ones being entertained?" This is always assuming that there is a higher power out there. Higher power, or someone just watching us outside our vision. Is it us in the story that are entertainers? Is it the knowledge of being observed that makes us the entertained?
Does the world need entertainers and the entertained? Does it not just simply need us to exist as ourselves that gives us the opportunity to be just the character in our meager story. Just us. No audience. No one is watching. Just an empty stage where the characters just are doing what they heart desire.
It does not matter if we are the main character if we let the stage just be a stage without an audience. Story doesn't need an observer to be told. Story can be what we make ourselves be. It is simple, yet all too complicated at the same time.
Am I making sense? Who knows. I'm just a nobody who once wrote a story. There were people watching, people who might even have gotten entertained, but the story didn't have any entertainers. Just actors playing their role in a stage that happens to get a passerby as one of their audience. Short their visit often was, not waiting for a story to end. There are two reasons for that to happen.
One is that the audience is simply not entertained. The other is that sometimes… conclusion is the worst thing to happen to a story.
The other is how this story ends for the audience as it was by my design this time around. A story that, while it had a solid end, there would be more to be had. "What comes after when the main character attains absolute power? Will they make the world a better place? Will they grow mad with power?" None of those. The last scene that the audience shall bear witness is the disassociated and disillusioned main character. Someone who lost all sense of self. Sense of purpose. When a person isn't even as significant as a single electron, can one hold the sense of importance in the present when having a conversation with said person?
The TLDR is this. This isn't a story for the entertained. Neither is it a story for the entertainers. It is a story for the sake of story.
So when you ask me whether I regret creating this story, there isn't a yes or no answer available. The suffering I have given to you poor souls is real to you, but not for the audience, for the entertained.
Yet I made it be.
Toki looks away for a second and when she looks back, she sees that Sante is now gone. His role is fulfilled for now, yet grievances remain.
Tifa says "He sure loves to rant, huh."
Riatla says "No kidding. All that meandering."
Toki comments "But there was a message there."
Riatla, a bit annoyed, says "Yeah. He might be a fool, but he is the fool who created our story."
Toki says with a worried voice "But I still think that we should be able to go back in time. If we can't, then what was the point of us getting this far?"
Maumar says "I'm sure you know that changing things wasn't the reason why you became like this, little one. Riatla might have had ulterior motives behind it, but even she knew the futility of trying to change things."
Riatla says in annoyed tone "No kidding. I saw how futile Nemesis' whole thing was. Doesn't mean I'm not pissed off that we can't be one of the selling points of singular beings now."
Maumar says "In the abyss, it doesn't matter if you cannot go back in time. You can just go to a similar enough timeline a bit earlier and then go through the motions."
Toki says "That isn't the same."
Maumar says "For our kind, it is."
Riatla says "Whatever. The sooner I start looking for Nemesis, the sooner I find him, so bye."
Riatla leaves Toki's abode and now only Toki, Tifa and Maumar are left.
Maumar says "It is funny actually."
Tifa acts interested and asks "What is?"
Maumar answers "The fact that the abyssal aspect of futility is trying to do something."
Tifa becomes interested as she hasn't heard of such a thing before. She asks "What?"
Toki, also not knowing what Maumar said, asks "I'm with mom. What do you mean by 'abyssal aspect'?"
Maumar says "It is a thing I made to classify singular beings after they become more numerous."
Tifa sighs and says "So it isn't anything important. Just one of your weird perks again."
Maumar says, as if he is proud of his little thing "It is important. For example, you are the abyssal aspect of control and your child is the abyssal aspect of eternity."
Tifa says in an annoyed tone "And how is that supposed to do anything?"
Maumar tries to defend his classification by saying "There are more useless classifications out there."
Tifa chuckles a bit and says "That doesn't really help your argument."
Maumar would pout now if he had the capacity, so he comments "I would be really annoyed by now if I had those emotions."
Tifa scoffs and says "Whatever."
Toki then goes to a different topic and asks Maumar "What the Fateweaver said earlier. About the main character. If… if what he said is true, then… Is dad's fate going to be…"
Tifa says "Bold of you to assume that darling is the main character. For all we know, it could be anyone."
Toki inquiries "Do you really think that, or do you just hope that he isn't the one?"
Tifa scoffs again, says "I don't have time for this" and is about to leave.
Toki asks Tifa before she leaves "Mom. What have you been doing all this time in the abyss in the first place?"
Tifa looks behind her and answers with a brief "Mourning." And with that, Tifa also left Toki's abode.
Maumar comments "She is a hard one to please, I have noticed."
Toki is worried and asks "What is she mourning about?"
Maumar turns away and begins to leave. But before he leaves, he says "Sometimes… Sometimes what is left untold is the best left untold. But if you are interested, you have a person you can easily find to ask that question."
With that, Maumar left and now Toki was alone in her abode with her eonite golems.
Toki sighs and walks a bit in her city of eternity to gather her thoughts. She had spent a long… long time there. A long enough time to even rival Li's lifespan, but in the abyss, the time doesn't matter as much as it does on the outside. Especially so deep in the abyss.
Eventually Toki finds herself in what used to be her world's Elysium's throne room. She walks towards the throne, not wanting to look up on the one sitting on it.
But then… she reaches the throne with her head down. She sees the eonite feet of someone important. Someone who has followed the story so far should know. A story of loneliness.
Yes. Once Toki raises her head to look at the one sitting on the throne, she sees none other and a very worn down looking golem of her father, Faust Ilumnos.
Even though Faust in Toki's timeline died long before the city was plunged to the deepest depths of the abyss, Toki has never once sat on that throne. She has led people, sure, but she never dared to take the title of a ruler.
Toki says in a somber tone "What should I do dad? What do you think I should do?"
The Faust golem just looked at Toki with the same expression that it always had. A warm smile that he hoped would help his child on the never ending journey.
Alas, that smile also was a curse in a way. It was something that made Toki always question whether she had done what her father had hoped or was there still something he would have wanted for her to reach.
Inside Toki knew that there were two things her original father wanted. One was the prosperity of Elysium, and the other was that Toki would be happy.
The first one Toki succeeded to uphold to some degree in her timeline. The other… Toki had no way of solving that part.
Toki muttered to herself as she stared at the smiling golem of Faust "Dissociation he said…"
Toki contemplated her whole life. Most of it has been just sitting in the abyss meditating and she didn't mind that. "But could I still be happier?" She wondered.
For Toki, just being close to the "sleeping" people of her timeline was enough to make her happy as far as she knew. "But is there more to be had?"
Toki remembered why she went against Nemesis in the first place, and she realized that while there wasn't really a reason, she was happy to meet and talk with other versions of her people.
Toki kneeled in front of the Faust golem and asked him "Is it okay for me to just spend time with other yous?"
While it was impossible for the Faust golem to answer, she could feel the approval of her father right there and then.
Toki smiled and rose back up. She contemplated what to say to Faust golem for quite a while, but eventually she found the words and said "This isn't a goodbye, but I'll be going for a walk."
And with that, Toki went back to the timeline she helped previously and would live there without any time travel shenanigans. Of course, the way the abyss works made it so that there would be another her in the abyss soon enough, so she had faith that that version of her would look out for any huge calamities.
Somewhere else, Nemesis wakes up in a forest all alone. He wonders what happened to him for a moment, until he recalls his sacrifice to Lud. This puzzled him though, since he was sure that he was going to truly die this time.
Then an unfamiliar voice says to Nemesis "How are you hanging Nemnem?"
Nemesis asks "Who and what are you calling me?"
The man says "Maumar's made you go to a very distant timeline and made you a new identity. Well, I say he, but it was kind of me, but not really, but at the same time kind of yes, but still kind of no."
Nemesis asks "What?"
The man says "Maumar named you Nemnem in this new world as he wanted to make you be able to have a normal life. Well that is on paper, but you are a contingency plan in case Lud fails to be what Maumar has planned for him. He won't fail, but that is something he won't know for quite a while."
Nemesis says "So… I'm in a timeline far away from the chosen timeline, because Maumar has further use for me yet."
The man says "Well basically I just wanted to milk you for more content, but that is besides the point. Canon thing is that you are a backup plan for Maumar because you are kind of Faust Ilumnos but not really. It is a whole mess that I created, just… accept this as your new life."
Nemesis asks "Why can't I just leave and go wreck havoc to another place?"
The man says "You can try, but you won't be able to thanks to the little trick Maumar used on you."
Nemesis tries to leave the timeline and go to the abyss, but he finds that he is unable to do so. He says "So… I'm stuck."
The man says "Basically yeah since Maumar wanted to make you feel a little more humility this time. Well I say that, but I wanted something to keep you in this timeline to make more content for me, but that is breaking the fourth wall kind of deal, so just take it as Maumar having a laugh at your expense."
Nemesis asks "Who are you?"
The man says "The audience probably are tired of my introduction shtick, so I'll just say that I am Sante. A kind of nobody IRL but big deal here. Which is inverted to you in a way, but let's forget about all that."
Nemesis asks "So… what am I gonna do now?"
Sante says "Whatever you want to do."
Nemesis says "Except leave."
Sante replies "What I just said."
Nemesis now notices that his worldview is more grounded than he used to have, so he looks at the ground and asks "Why do I feel so tiny now?"
Sante answers "Oh yeah, your body has regressed to that of a 12 year old child and so has your mental capacity to some extent."
Nemesis asks in surprise "What?"
Sante says "It is Maumar messing with you again." Then under his breath, Sante says "Well actually it was to make a more interesting setting to a side story, but that is besides the point. It really is hard to interact with the characters."
Then Sante continued "Just accept your new life as Nemnem in a land that is almost like the lands you are used to seeing, but filled with much more different decisions that had led to this moment."
Nemesis says "I see. Well then, time to move on… I guess."
Sante says "Yeah. See ya. Or not. Just know that you will meet Riatla someday again, just not near in the future."
And with that, Sante walks away from Nemesis and disappears while Nemesis accepts his new life by saying "Well, time to make another Swarm for the Swarm King."
And with that, Nemesis' story is no longer connected to the story of Lud Freigner. Never will their lives pass again in the eyes of the Threadwatchers. Thus dictates the Fateweaver.
In the far corner of the abyss, Maumar walks with the screams of his kind. Not the kind that comes from the abyss, but ones that helped him build this world once upon a time. Yes. He was at The Graveyard of Gods.
He was there looking for someone, as it was time, yet not, for her/him to manifest.
Soon enough, or not so soon, he reached his destination, yet not. There he saw an amalgamation of a being of many paths. It was like many other screaming beings in that space, but this was special, or was going to, or always has been.
Eventually, that being of many paths managed to calm down and morph into a singular mind built from many selfs. She had long black hair, a mechanical left arm, long ears and a bust of decent size.
Her left eye was a royal yet evil color of violet. An unnatural color even in this world, as it was mostly reserved for those born of corruption like abyss or tainted by evil.
Her right eye was golden yellow that had a slight amber ring near the pupil. It was as if she was as pure as a saint blessed by gods, which in turn, was kind of ironic to some extent.
She has some sorts of tattoos around her body that are visible that seem to have some sort of flow. She isn't covered in tattoos per say, but there are some.
Then the woman stretched, causing the screams surrounding her and Maumar to intensify to the point that even Maumar started to feel something. What that something was remains a mystery, but there was a feeling there.
The woman looked at Maumar and said "Marumaru! It's you! How have you been?!"
Maumar answers with the usual expressionless manner "Nothing much different. Or maybe yes, depending on what, when and where your mind currently is accustomed to."
The woman says "Good point. It is all kind of a mess in there. Or out there? Who cares?! We are at the abyss right? I'm supposed to be a goner, right?"
Maumar answers "Indeed. As a god, you had to face each and every timeline's version of yourself and deal with that."
The woman says "I see. But I am me. Or am I? Does it matter? Probably not. I feel much, much more powerful than I did before I ended up here. It must be all those mes that are now me me, but not me. Yet yes and no? Nah! It doesn't matter! I feel like I could even face you now!"
Maumar says "In some extent, you can bring me quite a bit of trouble since not only are you a god, but you are also a singular being without becoming a thryv'nith. A truly unique case."
The woman says "I see. I see. I see! I see! So power all the way out here now… Out where? Where to? I feel…" She sniffs a bit, "I feel I smell an interesting thing out there where I am not. The smell of… Potential."
Then she makes a pose and points somewhere while saying "Tune in next time in… Whatever this is, dear audience! It'll have leaps and bounds, hops and scotches! Here and there and nowhere!"
The woman spins and makes another pose with Maumar, who ended up doing so because of the woman's power.
Together they say, albeit Maumar's voice still monotone, "Let the show… begin!"