Alma 159 All Good Things Must Come To An End

It was the second reset node -- one of the five enormous constructs that Lacrima had entrusted Reed and Lu'um to activate in order to stop the prophesized Eventide of Faith. 

Reed scratched his head and said, "So you're telling me you don't know anything else about them? You, of all people? Left in the dark? ...You're going to have to excuse the skepticism in my tone, Sweetcheeks."

Lu'um turned around and said, "What if I told you -- hear me out on this for a hot second -- that I genuinely don't know everything. That I, in truth, am not actually an omniscient being from the eighth dimension, dear. 

Yes, I know much, but I can't say I know everything. There are some things that have been kept from me too, and this construct is one of those things." 

Doubt filled Reed's mind, but it vanished after an idea popped into his head. 

"Do you at least know who built these things? You're not going to tell me that you don't know that either, right?" 

"Well... Yes, I do know who built these reset nodes, but I think that's besid--"

Ah, so I was right. Why didn't I come to that conclusion sooner? Of course, it was that cunt who built them. Built everything else that's messed up life, so why would he not be responsible for this, too? 

Reed waved his hand in annoyance and flew toward the reset node, stopping Lu'um from finishing her explanation. The less Reed heard about that bastard, the better he felt. He had heard enough. 

The moment he touched the machine monolith, it began rebooting from its last stable date of operation in recovery mode. 

"Registered user detected. ERROR. Unable to establish a link with the Central Core.

Last known connection date -- Era of Ruin, year 5426/ Seventh Lunar Spring/ Month of the Hummingbird, 18th day."

Reed slowly backed up from the monolith, aware of what was likely going to happen. He did not want to be around when it started to begin the reset process. 

"A diagnostic check is required. Please wait for one moment..." 

When Lu'um flew past Reed toward the monolith, he said, "H-Hey, I don't think we should stick around any longer. It's not safe here anymore, not with what's about to happen!" As far as Reed was concerned, the faster they bailed, the greater of a headstart they'd get on the damned construct...

Lu'um ignored Reed's concerned pleas and then touched the monolith herself after a period of contemplation. 

A flash of orange light flooded the monolith and it said, "...Registered user detected. Privilege level Bet3. Welcome, user."

"Access file storage date -- Era of Ruin, year 0001. Third Solar Summer, Month of the Fox, 10th day." 

"ERROR. Alphlevel administration rights have not been granted to you, please contact a registered operator for further..."

"Search query for all files on operation SUNDOWN, GARDENCOFFIN, and LAST-TWILIGHT." 

"ERROR. Alphlevel administration rights have not been granted to you, please contact a registered operator for further..."

The monolith sputtered out a string of warnings and rejections in cold, lifeless voice, much to Lu'um's frustration. She bit her lips and turned toward Reed silently and waited for him.

Oh, for fuck's sake... This isn't what I signed up for... Also, isn't this a form of exploration? 

Reed flew back to the monolith and said, "...Search query for all files on operation SUNDOWN, GARDENCOFFIN, and LAST-TWILIGHT." 

"...Omeglevel access rights detected. 34 files found on operations SUNDOWN, GARDENCOFFIN, and LAST-TWILIGHT. Please state the clearance code." 

Reed licked his lips and said, "...Open sesame?"

"ERROR. Invalid clearance code. Please state the correct clearance code." 

Well, it was worth a try. Can't say I didn't give it a shot. 

Reed looked Lu'um with a sympathetic expression and shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"Look, your guess is as good as mine, but I don't think we have much time here left," he said, "State the status of the internal diagnostic." 

"...Internal diagnostic complete. Vital signs unstable. Corrupted pathways detected. ERROR. Elevated blood pressure detected. 

Temporal incursions detected. WARNING. MANDATORY RESET REQUIRED FOR SPATIOTEMPORAL REBOOT.

WARNING. RESET REQUIRES USER AUTHENTICATION."

"...Yeah, that was what I was expecti--" 

"COMMAND ACCEPTED. RESET IN PROGRESS. PLEASE VACATE THE PREMISES IMMEDIATELY, USER." 

....W-Wait, what?

Reed's eyes suddenly popped out of his sockets in fear. He immediately blurted out, "CEASE THE RESET! STOP! WAIT!" 

The monolith did not respond. It had already begun its monumental work, no longer bothering with Reed's desperate queries. He had sealed his own fate. 

He turned toward Lu'um and heard a long sigh come out of her helmet. Resignation filled her soul as she watched the monolith tremble furiously in preparation, gathering Anima for what was to come. 

"Oh come on, now! You CANNOT blame me for that! How was I supposed to know that--" 

Lu'um didn't even bother to respond, which only embarrassed Reed more. She flew over to Reed and grabbed him, opened up a spatial tear, and chucked him into it before she entered. 

They had disappeared. And right on time too, as staying any longer would have proved problematic for both of them. While Reed had been able to outrun the deadly surge of superheated Anima in Centlani Deep, things would not have ended as cleanly for them had they tried to outrun the purge in the Silvermoon Grasslands. 

For it would not be a physical purge, but a temporal purge. They would have not likely survived a temporal purge, as it would have been akin to outrunning all of time itself. Reed and Lu'um would have been slowly chased down from all angles by an all-consuming purge wave of Anima from all directions. 

It would not have been as simple as before with Centlani Deep, which had been a race from point A to point B. In that scenario, Reed only had to run away from point A and reach point B to escape. 

The temporal purge wave destroyed everything in a non-linear fashion, which would have made it impossible to escape. The all-consuming purge wave would not have come from point A but also from point B this time, therefore making it into a death sentence for everyone within its range. 

Thus, Lu'um had opted to go where time itself did not exist -- the Void. 

It was a place somewhat removed from the axis of time, which meant that it was not completely subject to the temporal purge wave that was affecting the entire continent at the moment. 

The moment they stepped into the Void, the armor Lu'um wore vanished into nothingness having been deleted from existence. It was a sign to her that the purge wave had finally finished its course. Unbeknownst to Reed, it was why Lu'um had encouraged him to pick up random things from across history. 

They served as historical markers of the purge's progressive through time since each one belonged to a distinct period of time. Now that the armor was gone, along with her helmet and Reed's ridiculous costume, she was sure that the temporal reset worked. 

When Reed noticed that his outfit disappeared, he said, "Oh, look's like the reset worked, right?" 

Lu'um nodded and said, "Yes, it should already be over. Though there's only to truly find out." 

She tore open a spatial tear and they walked through it, stepping out on the other side. 

It... was the Silvermoon Grasslands, late during the evening. The sun had come so low to the horizon that only the faintest threads of its light could be seen, heralding the end of the day. 

Night would come in a few minutes, no doubt, thought Reed.

He turned around and saw the Spirit of Bountiful Charity behind him and Lu'um as it solemnly hovered in place. Everything was still where he last remembered it was before they had left. 

"...How long have we been gone?" 

"In their eyes, it has only been a matter of seconds. To them, it probably seemed like we stepped into the anomaly for a breath, and then it was all over." 

Reed wagered that they had been in the anomaly at least for an entire month, at best. 

All of that time compressed down into a handful of seconds. The madness of the whole experience, traversing through five millenniums of history, only to find out that it had all happened in less time than it took to make a cup of tea. 

The sun had finally set over the horizon. Night had come and with it came the final cry of the Silvermoon Azaleas. 

They shone like little stars on their own, undisturbed as they brought hope to the untouched grasslands. There was no scar upon the land anymore, for it had been erased from existence. 

Reed and Lu'um relaxed for the first time in what felt like a long time for them. A heavy weight had finally been removed of their shoulders. Velvund could rest easy. The Silvermoon Grasslands were safe.

They had already done enough for today, yesterday, and tomorrow. 

For just a little while, they spent their time like normal people, basking in the light of the night. They deserved at least that much for their hard work...

Chapter end