Chapter Text
Tia sat at the base of Mt. Elious, staring at the flaming comets that shot out of...well, it wasn't quite clear where. Her head turned as she followed their paths, stopping only when they crashed into the earth. She forced her eyes to remain open, even as they seared from the light. One of them hit the spire at the top of the castle. Good, she thought.
"That sound...is the world at its end?" Ur asked.
"I don't think so. Not yet, anyway," Mieli said. "Those seemed to be fired to cause damage to the castle spire. But given who we're dealing with, this world probably only has a few days remaining at most."
"Unless we stop this thing ourselves, right? C'mon, let's go!" Rempo shouted.
"...no," Tia said as she sat down and opened the Book of Prophecy, flipping to the last chapter. The spirits turned to face her, but none made noises. Tia pulled out her pen and put it to her lips as she entertained the latest question the book was asking of her.
"What do you mean?" Rempo asked after a minute. "Weren't we planning on putting off the end for a little longer?"
Tia wrote a sentence before lifting her pen back to her mouth. "I changed my mind. You remember what happened, right? I used the book to save Kaleila from an invasion and I was betrayed by my friend. Then after you all were stolen, I was sentenced to death as nobody came to my aid. Not a single person defended me!"
"Still, you should give them another chance," Mieli said. "Maybe they-"
"I killed humans for them, Mieli! Maybe it doesn't mean anything to spirits who have seen the death of countless worlds, but I'm FOURTEEN! Did you even notice what that did to me? I saved them, and they want me dead! Let the king defend them for all I care!" Tia glared at the castle as bits of it fell. "I'm trying to make the new world be better than this one. It's fine if this one ends; I have this book for that reason."
"It's true that us being here means even our best efforts might not stave off the world's death," Ur sighed. "All it would take is someone else figuring out what in the world that was, decide it's a great idea for conquering, and they could end the world whenever they want."
"Then let's beat Kullervo and figure out what it is! If we know, we can stop it if someone else tried to do it, which gives us more time to plan the next world!" Rempo exclaimed. Neaki flew up to his face and glared at him. Tia flipped back a few pages and looked over what she wrote in previous questions.
"You know that won't work," Ur said, his voice quiet. "If someone knows how something dangerous works, others will be more likely to figure it out. Information is impossible to get rid of. Remember three worlds ago? Remember what happened when we 'stopped' those weapons? Remember how abrupt the end was a month later because he told someone else how to use it?" Tia added another sentence to an answer.
The four spirits floated in silence, watching the fires spread through the forest. "I wish the book would let us stop these conflicts early," Rempo sighed.
"Me too," Mieli muttered. "I'd like to see more than the beginning and end of the worlds we create."
Neaki motioned snapping something in half and pointed at the book.
"Yes...it would be nice to do more than create. This problem is our fault to begin with, so not being able to stop it feels cruel," Ur said.
"Do you think we should tell her about the key? We all know she won't abuse it, like..." Rempo looked at the flames.
"We should. We all know she's justified in acting this way. But..." Mieli sighed.
Neaki nodded.
"A little time to think on it shouldn't hurt. It's too dangerous to search for it now, anyway. Let's give it a day." Ur and the women turned their backs to the fire and floated over to Tia. Rempo continued looking and shook his head.
"She deserves to know," he whispered to himself. Then he turned his back too.