It's so hard not to cry in the face of sacrifice. It's more than just that someone might give up something for your sake (or for some shared cause between you, I guess), and it's more than just having to watch 'em go. It's something bigger than regret, something bigger than sorrow, something bigger than gratitude, and bigger than even love. It's bigger than each of those things because it's all of them at once plus a little extra. If I had to compress the feeling down into a single word for you, it'd be 'A Lot'. Which is two words, so I think that kinda proves what I'm talking about here. The point is, when Kat saw Diaofei fall it took her everything not to jump right after her and try to... what would she even do? Swim back up? She never learned! And she was so busy fighting robots that all she had time for was a gasp and a little 'no!' before her sword arm was needed again, and it was just... [i]such[/i] a relief to see Opalis go diving after her. Good. That's really good. Neither of them were gonna die, then. 'Cause dragons could do anything if they wanted to. Even the really silly ones. [i]"Rather than looking for an escape, find the courage to live anew..."[/i] Liz is still singing Kat's song. And with every member of the Elevator Crew who drops, she swings brighter and more sweetly than before, as if she was determined to make up the difference somehow. Or maybe she just smelled opportunity in the thin space air (like, there's still a little bit up here, right?) to shoot up the importance rankings and take all the credit that everybody else left behind. In this way, the difference between a foxgirl and a dragongirl was paper thin. But in any case, she's singing. And for Kat? That's the difference between being able to keep fighting and not. [i]"An impulse, for now that's all Let's begin, no more delay"[/i] Oh, but when Berserker dives, it's heartbreaking. Kat forgets that fighting is still a thing that needs doing, and she's only saved by the castle walls and the timely intervention of a pretty pink dragon tail from the cost of stretching out her free arm instead of swinging the one with a weapon in it. As if she could catch her Servant and stop her. As if she could will another Command Seal onto her hand and somehow make all of this stop. But she can't. And she wouldn't, besides. She's got too much respect for her partner to tell her she knows best at this point. And besides, someone [i]did[/i] need to deal with that factory, or there'd be no end to the fighting. [i]"With all the traces we've built up The budding prints leave their marks One by one toward the future"[/i] But it's so hard not to cry. It takes her very soul just to stay strong. Because... well, because. She knew, right? She knew the whole time that this ghost of an ancient warrior wasn't going to be with her forever. Like, even if she'd fought in the Sunshard War and won the whole thing, they'd have had to say goodbye eventually. Things would go back to normal. 'Cause all journeys end up back in your little house with your little family sooner or later, and Berserker wasn't a woman who could fit herself in a place like that. She wasn't even gonna wish for incarnation in the first place, Kat knew that better than anyone. So she knew. She definitely knew she'd haveta say goodbye. But knowing that you'll need to at some point is a very different feeling from knowing that it's come to it right now. 'Cause sure as she knows that Berserker had to jump, she knows there won't be any coming back from that choice. Not even in victory. So 'some day' turned to 'right now', and then 'right now' didn't give her a chance to say any of the stuff that she'd planned on, to make it easier. No time for thank you, no time for sorry, no time for 'you were the best', no time to smile, no time to laugh, no time to scramble to ask her mom (hehehe) to make a cup of tea real quick to see her off. Nothing but a surprised yelp and the sight of a hero falling slowly, framed by the window in a castle wall that really only for the first time managed to be something beautiful instead of brutal. [i]"Should the end of the world come You and I are together one."[/i] Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits continues her journey upwards from within a glittering space castle. She spares a glance downward, and for the first time in her life she sees the ring of broken glass surrounding her planet that used to be nine other suns from above, instead of below. For the first time, she doesn't need the sunset to see them glittering. And it's so beautiful. The gleam. That private aurora that was just for everyone brave enough not to run away. She couldn't ask for a prettier battlefield. She couldn't give Berserker a sweeter place to part from her. No surer sign that the both of them were heroes. There was no need to pretend at being knights and princesses... the woman she sees lit up by the First Princess' halo is surely a queen. And she does [i]not[/i] cry. And it's the hardest thing she's ever not done in her entire life. She stands up, instead. She fights, because the castle still stands tall and she can't let the rest of these stupid machines tear it down. And while she fights, she watches. She watches her home down below, in all of its incredible majesty. She watches her partner disappear into the enemy fortress and just barely remembers to raise what's left of her blade up in a salute. And she watches the vault climb steadily closer. She watches the laser array blasting away at it. And she knows, without even needing to do math, that she isn't going to make it in time. "Haaaaaaaaa, what a drag." says Elizabeth Bathory, still stubbornly playing the music in spite of everything. "No! I'm not giving up! We... we all came this far! It can't have been for nothing, it just can't!" She doesn't cry. She doesn't cry. She [i]doesn't[/i] cry. Oh, Kat. My brave little flooferdoodle... "Actia! You've got a plan, right? A spell? How do we make this thing go faster?" "The nature of an elevator is that it only has the one speed, Katherine." Actia's gaze is locked down, not up. She follows the trail of a glittering ribbon with her fist clenched tight, "This really is the most that I can do." "Wh- but! But we! C-Cy?" "Whaddya want [i]me[/i] to do? Shake my tails at it? You think I'm carrying Princess Qiu around in my pocket or something? I don't even wanna be getting closer to it in the first place! It's against my contract for one thing! And for another if I could solve this problem by being cute at it we'd be done already, wouldn't we? [i]You're[/i] the one who's always talking about being a hero like that frizzy-fluffled busybody! What's [i]your[/i] plan?" Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits does not cry. She does look at the blunted, mangled remains of her little sword and throw it as hard as she can at the orbital laser array, because it's the best she's got left. The music shifts when she does it, but she's too busy to notice. She does not give up, and she does not cry. Even when her weapon disappears without anything happening besides more of the Vault door breaking down, she doesn't cry. Because she's the bravest girl there is. [i]"Just like the sun (Everything is) I must shine (Illuminated by me) Call it Sadness, Eternity, Popularity, I just want to make sure If I love you? You love me more!!"[/i] Which is maybe why Elizabeth Bathory breaks several of her rules all at once and wraps her up in a big pink hug. "That thing really is an eyesore, isn't it?" "...Elly?" Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. Not her too! That tone of voice, that wistful look! Not you too, Magical Hacker Hero Idol Elizabeth Bathory! Don't you do it! Don't you start saying goodbye too! That's not fair, you've only even just said hello! But her pinker than pink painted lips curl upwards in a smile that's about three quarters a smirk and one quarter surprise at feeling genuinely touched, and the true magic of an idol is that everybody can read the whole thing even through that opaque mask on her face. No secrets between an idol and her fanclub president. Well, 'til the next interview drops in any case. "You're pretty pathetic when you get right down to it, aren't you cutie?" "I, wh-wha?" "Heh. Don't go getting the wrong idea or anything, I'm not doing this for you. It's just an idol's job to protect smiles. That's all this is." "Th-then..." Kat's voice chokes in spite of her incredible bravery, "You've got a plan?" "Psh! Who do you think I am?! I'm the cutest, most beautiful, most charming, perfect best dragon hero I✦D✦O✦L in the world: Elizabeth Bathory! That piece of useless junk's got nothing on me!" She flashes peace signs and all of her best and cutest poses, and unfurls a pair of massive draconic wings from out of nowhere on her back. One last little pause, to make sure the elevator's got her backing track set up properly. It was pretty rude of her to switch back to her song without telling anyone, y'know? "You go ahead and sing the fanchant, cutie. It's your whole job to make sure I shine as bright as possible, remember?" Ah. Well dang it, how'm I supposed to stay mad at her after a line like that? In any case, she's off like a bullet. Or a shining pink laser. Or a hero. Or a princess. Or even a Princess. Her entire body is shining with pink energy, and the trail she cuts through space is something that everybody the whole world over down below can see trailing through the sky even through the light of sunset. So you can add 'comet' to the list of jobs she qualifies for now. See, here's the thing. When she was summoned, Elly had three entire Command Seals burned on her in an instant. And all of them basically boiled down to the same thing, which is what put her on this elevator full of foxes to begin with: protect that vault. Ignoring that would've cost her pretty much everything she had. But following those orders? Puh-[i]leaze[/i]. There is not a single thing in space the Burrowers had ever built that could handle her. [i]"Like an idol (Because I am) It's ok if it all falls apart (not alone) Love, Eternity, Popularity, I just want to make sure You love, You love me more!!"[/i] And that's the other thing. Even more than those Command Seals, her little song's true now. She's been alone, or pretty close to it, ever since she got summoned. And that happened well over a hundred years ago. But now. But now, but now? There's someone there. Someone's [i]actually[/i] cheering for her. And then two someones. And then three. And three's a crowd, don't you know that? Did you think that glow was the light of three command seals? Did you think she needed wings to fly? Idiot! Those are just for show! An idol does everything she does with love! Gradually, the laser array pivots off of the vault. Adam has a new, much more terrifying target that he needs to take care of before he can get back to his incredibly important work. For once there's no dismissing the barbarians and the threat they represent. For just one moment, it's all he can do to throw the full force of his purchased might at making this awful, scary dragon... thing go away. The lasers power up and focus on a single point. Their combined might crashes down on the dragon-comet-hero-idol and engulfs her light completely. "We believe in you, Elizabeth!" "They'd better give me so many wallets for this I'll need a cart just to- oh! Sorry! Yeah, go Elly! And stuff! Woo~!" "You can do it, Elly!" "OF! COURSE! I! CAN!!!" Her mic stand is her spear. Her voice is her power. And her love is still more powerful than either of 'em. Elizabeth Bathory crashes through the full power of that laser as if it were nothing more than harmless light. In fact, so much the better that it's all shining on her. What's this other than the biggest spotlight of her entire life? A small, pink bullet crashes into a massive laser platform, and an entire world sees it happen. At first it's quiet. And then the explosions come, silent bursts of pure light in so many colors it's like fireworks. The most perfect, the most wonderful, the most incredible display of starbursts and flowers anyone has ever seen in all their lives. She's still sparkling when she falls. And it's so beautiful that it takes even the closest observers need a minute to realize that her whole outfit is tastefully torn to shreds. That her wings are floppy, useless ribbons. And that her hair is a horrid mess. Her eyes shine wet from something that can only be happiness. And Elizabeth Bathory tears off her mask as she falls, first level with and then beneath the castle elevator. Idol magic or no, it would be a crime if nobody could see how radiant her last smile is. "Ahhhhhh, this was so much fun. I'm so glad I got summoned. I'm so glad I got to be an Extra Class this time. Be...cause. I finally got... to be... somebody's..." Hero.