[b][i]Ashton Andrews and Flame Brooks[/i][/b] 

"You were trying to trigger a reset, right, Ashton?" Flame asked his boyfriend as the latter stared blankly at nothing, his face flat with shock. "Aerith had killed herself, Chieko was being abducted, and we all just lost against Fritzi and her group. Given the information you knew... You couldn't have done anything else."  

Ashton slowly shook his head, refusing easy absolution. Tears were in his eyes as he said,"Flame, I killed Hiro. I stabbed him thinking that it'd trigger a reset. Repeat: I killed Hiro because fool that I was, I thought I'd had this game figured out and that all will be cleared the moment we get another reset!"

Flame put his hands on Ashton's shoulders, saying, "Ashton; I'm here with you. I won't pretend things will be all right, not right away. But you had no other choice and I will keep saying that until you believe it -"

Ashton grabbed his boyfriend's right wrist, saying, "Even if you're right, I may have ruined it for everyone. Here is what I infer from the chattering of the people around me."

A pause, as Ashton began deducting once more, "One, that these people and Lord Talus are behind our abduction and transportation into this world; they're not even trying to hide the fact that they're the people who 'love' us. Two, that this is part of a game, in which one of us is selected as a 'Sentinel', which, considering that Hiro was called one, is a term for the person who resets the timeline when killed."

Another pause, "Three, and this is a hidden rule, these... 'Embodiments of Sin' run things so that we can't easily just kill ourselves or each other to force a reset. Four, the two of us are abberations; un-desired playing pieces with an unknown patron or set of patrons. That makes us more vulnerable than the others. And Five, I don't think they and Lord Talus can erase Hiro's death [i]or[/i] the consequences of it in Lugnica; including that Older Male Oni calling me a monster."

Flame breathed a sigh of relief as he said, "If you're able to deduct that much, then you can devise a way out of this mess. But as for me..."

He turned to Lord Talus and the other 'Embodiments of Sin' and said, "All right, you lot! I know you hate us or otherwise take exception to our presence, but we want to know if you guys can bring Hiro back! Or, for that matter, if killing him just returned him to Earth - Alive - without his memories. We are willing to pay any cost within the bounds of reason and morality to do such, and we know guys like you - Dark Powers - can do a lot of impossible things when paid with the suffering of others. So we offer to suffer, we offer blood, we might even offer one of our souls - Mine - if it'd bring Hiro Nishioka back!"