Chapter Text
Verso
“...It’s over. Verso.”
The words came out hollow as I offered my hand towards the tired soul. I almost didn’t recognize my own voice. It doesn’t matter. My suffering will end soon enough.
As the young soul of Verso takes my hand, I feel the weight of all that has transpired come back to me all at once. My body feels heavier and heavier with each step we take towards our own oblivion.
“Is this truly how you want things to end?,” a small voice silently echoed beside me. I feel my body freeze. “Do your friends really mean so little to you?”
I turned and stared at the boy holding my hand. Where once a void was staring up at me now had eyes of sorrow and kindness made of marble.
“I…how–how is this possible?” I stammered. One more step and I could’ve finally be free, yet I hesitate.
“Your memories,” the boy began. “I saw them when our hands touched. You’ve grown beyond what Maman intended. You’ve become your own person, and created real memories of your own.”
The boy turned to face the rift where everyone had entered from. “Does she deserve the fate you’ve chosen for everyone?”
I turned to face her, the one woman who I’ve betrayed not once, but twice now. Lune still sat there beyond the rift staring at me. The look–both of subtle heartbreak and devastation–pierced and cut deeper than any Nevron blade or spike. I caused that…
“No,” I answered. “Of course not. None of them desired this.” Flashes of memories of nights around the campfire came to mind at that moment. The laughter, the comfort, and the comradery we all shared. But the memory of that one night…the night I stole away with Lune, to help her compose her “song,” etched the deepest wounds. Why does that memory burn more than any injury I’ve suffered?
Ah.
I’ve fallen, haven’t I? I thought I was ready. I thought I had no more regrets, even when I lied to everyone. Except now, I’m staring at the one I regret hurting the most.
At that revelation, memories of Monoco, Esquie, Sciel, and Maelle flooded his thoughts. Regret surged forward as did the tears. This world may not be real to the Painters, but it is real to them…they’re real to me…
“What could’ve I done differently?” I whispered.
Silence was the only answer for what felt like the longest moment.
“You could Paint,” the boy answered. “You could return to when this journey began, and Paint a new end… a better beginning.”
“What?” What was the boy suggesting? “I don’t understand. I’m only a Painting in this Canvas like everyone else. I’m not really one of the Dessendres. I can’t Paint, let alone with the mastery that they wield.”
“You are, but you are also Verso,” the boy didn’t skip a beat. “You were made to be the perfect vessel for his soul. If we merge, and you can gain his ability to Paint temporarily. You do not have the chroma to change this outcome completely yet… that’s why I am offering you a chance to go back. To begin again.”
“What about the Canvas?” My mind was reeling from this. Could this really be true? “Without someone painting, the world will still cease to exist, won’t it? I thought we were tired of being nothing but a tool for a broken family.”
“I am tired,” the child’s voice was calm. “I am tired of the role of being their emotional crutch. That doesn’t mean I don’t want my world to fall apart.”
The boy paused for a moment, contemplating his next words. “This world will fade away, yes,” his voice was laden with sorrow, “But when you return, a version of me will exist in the new timeline to keep the world from unravelling. There you must convince Maman, Papa, and Alicia to return home. Help them heal the emotional scars that Verso’s death has brought on them. When they do, I can merge with my counterpart in that timeline. I’ll be strong enough then to keep them from breaking our world and themselves without being a slave to their whims. We’ll all be free of our burdens.” Each word spoken came out with increasing conviction, but most of all hope.
This sounded like madness. This had to be madness! Yet, I feel something within myself. A feeling I’ve long since forgotten.
The desire to live.
“That’s a paradox,” I murmured, still struggling to believe this could really be happening. “But.. I–I don’t think I can do this alone.”
“No, you cannot,” the boy answered. “You’re not alone though either.”
The boy released my hand and made his way towards the rift, towards Lune.
Lune
How could he?
After everything we’ve fought through together. After everything we shared.
I sat down at the edge of the rift, and stared defiantly at him as everyone gommaged away around him. Every rational thought came and went trying to make sense of it all, but none did.
We were… we are his friends. Was it too foolish to think after that night that he’d changed his mind about life?
Verso had taken the hand of the child’s soul and began to walk away. Each step he takes, my breath feels heavier. The end is coming. The end of everything we love. The end of everything we fought for. I can’t bring myself to look away. I won’t accept this, I can’t. A hollowness begins to grow as my anger rises.
The man–the one I once foolishly believed I could have had a happy ending with–betrayed me again. He stops right before that final step. His body practically scrubbed away into flower petals. He and the boy turned to look at me.
Tears traced down his cheeks from those damned grey eyes.
Why now? Why tears, when he’s seconds away from condemning our world into oblivion?
And then… I felt it.
I didn’t realize that Verso wasn’t the only one crying until now. Somewhere between this torrent of emotions, my own tears had begun.
Life keeps forcing cruel choices. Cruel choices lead to crueler fates…
I shut my eyes in my vain attempt to keep my emotions in check. No… I won’t let this get to me. Not now.
Moments pass in what felt like an eternity. When I opened my eyes, Verso and the boy had stepped through the rift. The boy’s voided face was no longer an empty husk. It was a child with innocent and exhausted eyes.
“You can still save everyone,” the boy said. His voice was calm, almost too calm for the weight of words he spoke next: the same insane plan he’d given Verso–a chance to rewrite our history.
I stood up, disbelieving of what was just said. I looked between the two in front of me. Only moments ago, doom loomed over me. A sharp breath of air convinced me I’m still here–still alive.
“How am I supposed to trust you after what you’ve done?” My voice is barely audible and lacking the conviction it once did. Verso and I held each other’s gaze. “How can I believe you won’t just run towards death again?”
Before Verso could answer, the boy spoke up, “He’ll have you.” His tone was simple, but resolute. “We can recoat the world–make it better, but he’ll need someone to keep him grounded.”
“Lune, I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” Verso’s words came slowly. “But everyone else deserves better than what has happened here. I–I don’t want to be a hypocrite anymore. I was too late to see how wrong I was, but if what this Verso said is possible,” gesturing to the soul child, “then I want to take the chance. I know I can’t do this without you.”
I want to believe him. I could always tell when he’s holding back secrets. I held his gaze to see if there was any deception or omissions he could be hiding. I don’t see any behind those eyes. Just raw exhaustion and regret.
With a sigh, I dropped my head, thinking, breathing in the ruins of my home around us.
“Lune?”
A thunderous crack rang and echoed across the empty ruins of Lumiere. A reddening hand print laid perfectly across Verso’s left cheek. The boy flinched right next to him, wide-eyed, not expecting what had just happened.
“Alright,” I exhaled, shaking off the sting in my right hand. “But if you betray me again, I will find a way to kill you myself permanently.”
Verso simply nodded, and surprisingly, he smiled. A genuine smile.
I can’t believe I’m doing this. I felt the corner of my own lips tugged a bit as I tried to force down the growing smile.
“So, let me get this straight,” I said, folding my arms.“Our plan is to go back in time, save as many of our friends as we can, heal a broken family while transporting our version of Verso’s childhood soul–inside of you–to a duplicate of said childhood soul in that timeline–so it can act as safeguard to keep the Maelle’s family from tearing themselves apart again. Did I miss anything?”
I smirked at the absurdity.