Lud woke up from the bed like every other day. He was woken up by his lovely wife Tifa who has always been there for him. Tifa says "Unfortunately, I’ll have to go to work sooner today. I’ll co back as soon as I’m finished working. After all, we have been trying for a baby for a while and I feel like we are getting there." With a forehead kiss, Tifa leaves and Lud slowly gets up to do housework.
So ti during the day, Lud gets a call from Adam asking if they could go sowhere today. Lud didn’t have anything in mind today with the exception of being there when Tifa ca, but other than that, he was free.
Adam ca to pick Lud up and they went to a cetery. Lud comnted "Well I didn’t expect you to bring here Adam. It isn’t anyone’s anniversary, so I’m a bit confused."
Adam says "Just follow . I’ll explain when we are there." Lud didn’t question Adam further and followed him.
Eventually Adam stopped and started looking at a grave. He then said "Read what that says." Lud looked at the tombstone and he was surprised about what he saw. He didn’t manage to read it out loud, so Adam repeated "Who is buried under this tombstone, Lud?"
Lud managed to say "Well this can’t be. It... it says that it’s yours but... you are right here with . Does soone else have the sa na as you who died here? I think I would have heard of it by now, but nothing cos up."
Then Adam says to Lud "Look at the death date. Think carefully about that day and see if you can rember anything." Lud looked at the date and it said "2.27.2119" Lud looks at it carefully and rembers a phone call he received. A phone call that once destroyed his whole reason for existence. A phone call that told Lud that once confird his identity said. "Lud Freigner, your brother, Adam Freigner, is dead."
Lud is shocked by this mory. He rembers the call but... he rembers Adam being there all the way till this mont. Lud asks "What... What is going on? Who... Who are you? What are these mories?"
Adam then said "To make everything simple, you are in a sort of dream created by Zolotifa. She captured you and dragged you down to the abyss and locked you in a state where you and she could live the days you never did in your past lives. As for ... I’m... just an illusion created from your image of Adam. The image of Adam that didn’t die that day and you got to live with most of your life."
Lud says "Zolotifa? Zolotifa. Yes, I rember now. The 73rd day that woman ca to my ho and took . How... How long has it been since I’ve been like this?" Fake Adam answers "Normally, I couldn’t say, but since I’ve been keeping contact with Li, I can tell you that it has been three months."
Lud then says "Three months? But all those lifetis I lived... How... no, the ti in the abyss works differently when compared to the rest of Lutah, so I shouldn’t question it further. But now that I know the situation, are you planning to send out sohow?" Fake Adam answers "Correct. We have carefully made an opportunity for you to leave the abyss, but what cos after you leave... Well, let’s just hope that Li got it right. After all, he is the oldest darn being that exists."
Lud is about to say sothing, but then Tifa cos and asks Adam in a threatening way "What are you doing Adam?" With that, fake Adam says "Well, ti’s up, I suppose."
Then fake Adam pushes Lud and a gate shows behind Lud, making him fall in it. Tifa shouts "NO! Don’t you dare..." and then Lud was out, surrounded by his trusty companions. Most of them were shedding tears of so kind.
anwhile in the dream, Tifa asks "I thought that letting you have that ego was going to be fine, but it turns out that it was a mistake. No matter, I’ll just need to go there, snatch Ludwig and do it all over again."
Fake Adam says "I don’t think that it’ll be that easy. We have made sothing to counter your abilities in the outside world, you see." Tifa scoffs and says "You think that those pests can stop ? What a circus troupe you all are. But before I erase you, I have to ask one question from you. Why?"
Fake Adam asks "Why what?" And Tifa says "Why would you do that even though you know that your existence would end the mont you got in my way? Do you have any sense of preservation?"
Fake Adam then says with a smile "I may be fake created using the image Lud has for Adam, but you have mistaken Lud’s feelings towards Adam from what they truly are."
Tifa scoffs and says "I? Made a mistake? Fat chance. Lud only saw Adam as soone to be protected. Nothing more. Nothing less."
Fake Adam stays silent as he smiles and Tifa is forced to continue saying "But you think there is sothing else. You... who haven’t existed that long... what ager conclusion have you co up with?"
Then Fake Adam says "While you may be correct that Lud wanted Adam to be protected, you forgot one key fact. That key fact being, while Lud wanted to protect Adam, to Lud, Adam had beco a sort of a hero that kept him going. A hero who would do amazing things with his short lifespan. A hero who would also do anything to make his brother happy. A simple, hero."
Tifa begins to laugh hysterically for a mont. Eventually she manages to say "You think that Lud thought Adam as his hero? Are you kidding ? That is the funniest thing I have heard since I ca to this wretched world. Adam could not do shit with his life. He only was a leech sucking on Lud’s happiness to the very day he died. I know this since I was there after Lud nearly killed himself."
Fake Adam retorts "But you did fail the second ti, didn’t you?" And this makes Tifa annoyed and say "Goodbye little ego. Your existence will end up being aningless."
And with the snap of her finger, Zolotifa destroyed the dream along with every person that was inside of it. Then she said "Now then... ti to go pick. Him. Up."
When Zolotifa ca to get Lud back, they were expecting her to co. Zolotifa asked "You’ve been waiting for ? You must have realized the futility of resistance. Now hand him over to and I’ll spare your miserable lives."
Lud says "I’m not going anywhere with you." This makes Zolotifa sigh and says "Violence it is then."
Zolotifa tries to make the others fight each other with her powers, but for so reason it isn’t working. This makes Zolotifa confused and asks "What is going on? What have you done?"
Then Lud says "Li made so adjustnts to the psyche of all inhabitants of Elysium so that your power couldn’t affect them. This ans that your tricks are aningless now."
Zolotifa pauses for a mont and begins to laugh hysterically. It continues for a while and then she says "You... you can’t do this to . Do you bugs understand how much effort, how much suffering I’ve been through to get darling to be with ? Ten. Thousand. Years. Ten thousand whole years of continuous existence in a abyss that tries to swallow whole for each, fucking, passing, mont. Ten thousand years of waiting. Ten thousand years of agony. Just to be with darling. If you understand then hand him over now."
Li says "It is aningless Zolotifa. You have lost." Zolotifa waits for a mont and then stares desperately at Lud while she says "Darling. My love. Please co to . In that dream, nothing can hurt you. Nothing will hurt you. I’ll make us live all kinds of lives over and over again until this world’s destruction. Co to and we can be together again. Co to and repay what you took from us."
Lud says "No. I don’t know what happened between us, but I won’t co with you." Zolotifa almost begins to hysterically laugh again, until Maumar shows up and says "I made sure that he didn’t rember anything about you so that he can live in peace for what he did that day. You have to be forgiving to him, my child."
Sothing snaps in Zolotifa as she begins to shout "You! It is all your fault! You took everything from and now you ask to let it all go! You think that I’ll ever call you my father?! Well screw you and your delusions because I hate you from the bottom of my heart! Always have been and always will be! Don’t bother talking to ever again and just disappear from my life you fucking dreaming isolationist!"
Maumar says "I take it that I have upset you." To which Zolotifa says "Oh you figured that out did you?! Congratulations, you earned a god damned cookie!"
Maumar says "It has been a while since you used sarcasm. But still, I believe there are so things I must rectify so that our agreent will be honored. Ludwig Freigner, would you be willing to witness what your history with my child is?"
Lud thinks for a mont and then says "As much as I’m worried that I’ll regret knowing it, I will take this opportunity to know the truth." This makes Maumar say "I see. Well then."
And then Lud, Zolotifa and Maumar appear in a hospital. In the hospital bed lies a 42 year old dark haired man covered in bandages. Next to him is sitting a woman that Lud saw in Zolotifa’s dream.
Tifa says to the man in monotone voice "From the looks of it, your condition is stable now Mr. Freigner. What are your thoughts?" The patient says "I’m feeling great doctor. I’m already feeling better and ready to go back to work if you just let ."
Tifa says "I cannot do that Mr. Freigner. You have multiple fractures on your bones with several scrapes from the road. We are currently considering if you’ll need skin transplant for all the skin you have lost, but we leave the final decision to you since you look broke."
The patient says "Is calling broke even necessary?" To which Tifa says "It is just my honest opinion Mr. Freigner. But moving on, I have sothing that I must ask you regarding this accident."
The patient says "Sure. Go down ahead." And Tifa says "We believe that the reason for the car crash was mostly due to an accident caused by an error in the car’s self driving code. This is what the investigators as well as your statents have told us. But from personal experience, I feel like you are hiding sothing from us Mr. Freigner."
The patient asks "What would I be hiding, doctor?" To which Tifa says "I personally believe that you caused that accident to happen in an attempt to kill yourself."
Then the patient says "? Kill myself? No way. I still have half of my life ahead of , doctor. I won’t do sothing as drastic as that."
Tifa’s thoughts were heard by Lud, Zolotifa and Maumar. She thought "He is obviously hiding it. If I were to be professional about it, I would make a report to keep an eye on a potential suicidal patient, but the world is getting too grey recently, so I might as well let it slide. At worst, this guy dies and I will be seen as soone who missed the signs."
Tifa looks at her patient for a mont and then thinks "What if I get him to personally open up to and get a little fun out of it while I’m at it." And then Tifa says "If you are worried that I’ll refer you to a psychologist, then you have no need to worry. I don’t trust those guys either since they basically ruined my childhood by telling my parents I have conduct disorder. Since my parents were smart, they realized that it ant that I could potentially beco a psychopath and knew that treatnt would be costly, they just abandoned in the middle of Africa. So believe when I say that I won’t report you to those losers."
The patient is a bit taken aback by what Tifa said and Tifa then thinks "Why the hell did I open up to him like that? I wouldn’t normally just say sothing like that to a random person, so why?"
Then the patient says "I... It’s true that I caused the accident on purpose. I just... I’ve been alone ever since Adam... My brother died. I just... I just don’t see any point to continue."
Now even Lud recognised the patient even though it was obvious to others. The patient was Ludwig Freigner. Himself.
Tifa then felt sothing that she has never felt before. She thinks that "Is this person... finally the one that... shows so color in this gray world? Yes, I see it now. This man is the one."
Tifa would give Lud her number and both of them continued to talk even after Lud got out of the hospital. Tifa was even willing to pay so of the dical bills that had accumulated over Lud’s stay since she was that interested in him.
Lud got better ntally after a couple of years while he and Tifa continued to talk. Eventually, the two started officially dating and the two were talking about marriage.
One day, Tifa returned ho where she and Lud had lived for a couple of years. When she looked at the shoes, she saw that Lud’s shoes were there, so she concluded that he must be ho as well. She called Lud, but no one answered.
She kept calling his na and when she entered the bedroom, she knew the reason why he hadn’t answered. Lud was laying in bed with a bottle of pills next to him. Tifa didn’t panic and went to test out Lud’s pulse, but when she touched him, he was cold. This made Tifa conclude that, indeed, Lud killed himself without talking to her first.
Then Tifa went to the kitchen while dialing 911. When a person ca in line, Tifa started to speak. "In ##### There are two dead bodies. One dead in the bed, most likely due to overdose, and the other, lying next to him with a slit out throat." Tifa grabbed a knife and left the phone in the kitchen.
She continued to mutter "We were going to have a life together. For such a long ti, I have lived in a gray world without any color, but you, you my darling were the only color I ever saw. I refuse to go back to that colorless world again. A world without you."
Then Tifa got next to the bed with a knife in her hand. Then she said "You know, if I would have found you sooner, I would have made it look like that I killed you so that you would at least be rembered to be the guy who died by soone monitored constantly for psychopathic behavior. But since it’s been so long that your body has gotten cold, the blood won’t flow when I stab you to make it a little bit believable. If I did it now, the cops would know instantly that I stabbed you after you’ve been dead for hours. Now you will be rembered as soone who died by taking pills."
Tifa sighs and says "You know, I was planning on telling you this soon, but I’m three weeks pregnant. I bet you didn’t even think that would happen. I an, I did tell you that I was using pills and you were wearing condoms, but I got a hand in it and made it possible. I wasn’t trying to babytrap you by any ans. Oh no. I just wanted to have your child, but now, it has all gone to waste. There is no guarantee that I will give a successful birth, so why even bother waiting when I know that I would be put on a watch list after they co here. So now..."
Tifa then gives a final kiss to Lud’s cold dead lips and says "I don’t believe in the afterlife, but if there is one, I hope I’ll see you there." And with that, Tifa slit her throat with a great precision to make sure that she dies soon after.
And thus ended Ludwig Freigner’s and Tifa’s life on earth. That is how it ended and that is as far as it should have gone.
But in another mory, Maumar calls Tifa’s soul and says "Tifa Iglio. I have a proposition for you." Tifa responded by simply saying "Fuck off. Just send where-ever my darling is."
Maumar says "There is a very low chance that you’ll see him after this, but I can give you the opportunity to have that possibility, albeit a slight one." Tifa responded "Then I’ll take it."
Maumar says "But I haven’t told you the risks yet." To which Tifa says "You told that I can be together with my darling once more. That is all I need to know. Now get it over with already so I can et him."
Then Maumar says "It is not that simple. You’ll have to endure ten thousand years in a hellish environnt if you want your wish to co true. The success rate is literally astronomically low, so I understand if you don’t want to proceed." Tifa just says "I don’t care. If there is even a slightest chance of seeing my darling again, then I’ll take it. I’ll go hell and back to be with him if that is what it takes."
Maumar asks "Are you certain? Your soul might beco sothing beyond repair." And Tifa says "How many tis do I have to tell you that I don’t care. You are supposed to be so godly entity and you can’t get that across? What a waste."
Maumar then says "Then... If you grab my hand then we will begin." After Maumar extended his hand, Tifa took a hold of it imdiately, and the rest is history.
Lud, Zolotifa and Maumar return back to Elysium and Zolotifa says "What a waste of ti."
Maumar asks Lud "Do you have anything you want to say after you know the truth about how it ended?" Lud proceeds to asks "Then... the GFOO shutting down... didn’t I enter this world through that?" Maumar answers with "That was a fabricated mory to give you a fresh start. But more importantly, do you have anything to say to my daughter?"
Lud thought for a mont and then said to Zolotifa "I’m... sorry for what I’ve done." The people around them are confused on why Lud is saying sorry to the person who kidnapped him and trapped him in an illusion. Li whispers to others "I’m sure there must be a story behind it. Let’s just wait for now."
Zolotifa says "It doesn’t matter anymore. You don’t want to be with anymore and that is the end of that. Now go and be happy while I’ll fiddle with the mind of the people of Lutah for the rest of eternity."
Lud asks "Do you... want to co visit more often?" This surprises everyone, including Maumar but for different reasons, so he says "What are you saying Ludwig Freigner? Why are you simply asking her to visit when you can ask her to live with you?" And now Zolotifa is confused.
Lud then mutters "I didn’t know that was an option." And then asks Zolotifa straight in the face "Will you live with again Tifa? This ti, I promise to tell you if I’m feeling down." Zolotifa... Nay, Tifa looks at the extended hand that Lud is offering and sees the vibrant colors behind him. But when Tifa last looked around the world not touched by Elysium, it was gray as it was on earth.
Tifa realized that Maumar had kept his promise. The ten thousand years of pain were all paid with this mont where she can finally be with her darling. She grabs Lud’s hand and says "Yes."
It is a happy mont for Lud, Tifa, Maumar, but the rest of the people there, Li, Liz, Sarah, Xu, Zenith, Mätuk, Marco, Elisia, Tear and Weiss, were feeling that this kind of sounded like a marriage proposal.
Li decided to retreat, Mätuk went to his master’s shoulder to warn him and Xu wanted to witness the upcoming mont like a gentleman.
One word can describe the next sequence of events. Bloodbath.
When everything had cald down a little, Maumar ca to Lud and said "I promised you that if you survive this trial, I will let you see Adam Freigner’s last monts. Do you wish to do so now that I am here?"
Lud thought for a mont and then said "Now that I have started connecting the dots, I think I’ll pass on this offer." Maumar says "I see. Well then, if you’ll excuse ..." But Lud stopped Maumar by saying "Intead, I want to have one final chat with my father."
Maumar says "Your father? You an Olaf Freigner?" Lud says "Yes. Can you do that for ?"
Maumar thinks for a mont and then says "I suppose it is possible. I don’t even have to fiddle with ti this ti. However, I can only make you appear in his dream. Is that okay with you?" To which Lud replied with "Yes. Whenever you are ready."
Then in a brief mont, Lud appears in a white space where an old man is sitting on his chair. Lud says the words "Dad? Is that you?"
To this, the old man says "I haven’t been called that for decades, though right now, I can’t really recall how many years has it really been since that day, but I suppose that is how dreams work."
Lud recognises his dad’s voice like it was yesterday and says "Dad, it’s . Ludwig." Olaf raises his head and looks at Lud, who appears to be in his earth self. Olaf instantly gives out a warm smile and says "Luddy. It’s been ages. The first ti I have seen a dream in decades happens and now I dream of my son in adult form? Now isn’t this a miracle and a half."
Lud smiles and says "I haven’t been called that in ages. How are you doing dad?" To which Olaf says "I have seen better days, but it isn’t all bad. We are now at the end of the second half of the 22nd century, so being old is a lot easier than it was a century ago. Though if I must say sothing, I hate the sll of chemicals and all these wave thingies."
Lud chuckles a little, but then he hears Maumar’s voice saying that "The ti is limited, so use it wisely." This makes Lud say to Olaf "Hey dad. Can we talk about what happened back when we were little?"
Olaf fell silent for a mont and he asked "Do you love your mother Luddy?" To which Lud answers "Yes I do. She was the one that raised ."
Then Olaf says "If I’m to tell you the truth, then that might shatter your image of the mother you had. Even so, are you ready to continue?" Lud answers with "Yes. I have co this far after all."
Olaf then says "I don’t know what kind of life you had, but here it goes. Back when Aileen heard the news of Adam’s condition, she, in no uncertain terms, lost her marbles. She had a history with schizophrenia, so it wasn’t a complete surprise that she started to make out scenarios where I was abusing both you and Adam. Police were called multiple tis and I hid all this the best I could for you back then, but during the middle of trying to sort things out, Aileen did sothing drastic and hurt herself severely and blad it on . Police took into custody and we had to go to court for who gets to keep the kids.
As much as it has been since the constitution was made, the USA’s legal system can still be bullcrap sotis and Aileen ended up winning in the court and I ended in prison with a restraining order waiting when I got out. Aileen then moved you two to another state and I never really heard from you again. That is the story that I call truth and it is up to you if you want to accept it as your truth."
Lud thinks for a mont and then rembers so things from his life on earth that didn’t make sense for the longest of tis. Then Lud decided to say to Olaf "Mom told us that you abandoned us." To which Olaf responded with "Figures, but I hope that she at least managed to raise you right." To which Lud responded with "In hindsight, and Adam had a pretty good lives." Olaf responded with "Good. That is good."
Maumar said to Lud that "There is only a little amount of ti left until I have to send you back, so it is about ti you said your final words to your father." Lud nodded and then said to Olaf "Hey dad." To which Olaf responded with "Yeah, what is it, Luddy?"
Lud then says "This will be the last ti we et, so I’ll say goodbye to you properly." Olaf responds with "Oh, even in a dream, you are still such a good kid. But rember Lud, sotis it is better if you never do say goodbye. Sure, it isn’t good to leave things on a sour note, but if you can just rember soone fondly, then I’m sure that is enough for the other person. Granted, there are so assholes that don’t deserve such a thing, but I digress."
Then Lud says "Thank you dad. I... I..." But he can’t finish the words as he begins to cry. Olaf notices this and manages to get out of his chair to give Lud one final hug. He just says "It is okay son. It is okay."
And with the final words that Lud manages to say before he goes back, he says "I love you dad." And the next mont they are at Elysium with tears flowing down Lud’s eyes.
Maumar asks "Was it satisfactory?" To which Lud says while wiping his tears "Yeah. Yeah, it was. Thanks."
Then Maumar says "Well then. I suppose that is my job done. Back to staring at graves I go." And so, Maumar pops away.
anwhile, on top of a tall tree, a woman is staring at Elysium as she says "Well well well. It has been a while since I’ve seen a scenery like this. Well... I have seen it many tis, but it is the feeling that I’m getting now that takes back. Nevertheless, it is good to be ho. I’ll have to be patient for a while before I can show myself. Probably when the star elf conference happens, I’ll make one of my golems to interfere. Then, which one to choose?"
And sowhere in the abyss, a wood masked man with no eye holes but glowing parts representing the eyes to suit the mood of the wearer sits on a throne. The mask also has a crack where the mouth is to represent how the wearer moves his mouth. Back of his head is covered with a white mane and at the top of his head are two antennas.
In front of the mad stand Lud who is cursing the man sitting on that throne. The one in the throne stands up and starts to walk towards Lud while saying "So... how does it feel to have witnessed your whole world be consud? I’m sure you feel quite angry, but then again, where does that get you? Nowhere else but here."
The man walks ever so closer to the Lud in the hall as he speaks "It is a sha that yours wasn’t the one tiline that he chose. If it was, then I’m sure things would have gone much more differently. But without him, no matter how hard you try, you cannot defeat because as long as a single fly of mine exists, I can begin anew. Do you get the futility of your actions now, Lud Freigner?"
Lud says to the man "You and your swarm. Even if it won’t be , one day, soone will defeat you!" The man says "Brave words that fall on deaf ears I’m afraid. Then tell , what are your words now as I take off the mask?" The man takes off the mask and Lud has a horror in his eyes that is rarely ever shown. And before Lud could make a sound, the man opens his ghastly jaws and devours Lud whole.
Then the man returns to his throne, sits down and starts tapping his fingers against the chair. The man then says "Oh woe is . When will all this end? When will I find the tiline that he chose? How many tilines will I consu before I find the correct one? Though my swarm is endless, it is getting to be quite a bore after so long harvesting each tiline. But I’m sure that I’ll find it soday. Which tiline shall be the next victim, I wonder. So what do you lot want to say after I just consud the last of one tiline? What do you say?"
Then in a heavy chorus, an seemingly endless army shouts "All hail The Swarm King, Nesis! All hail The Swarm King’s desire! All hail The Swarm!" The sa chant continues seven tis in total and the swarm king seems quite pleased with himself.
Then he grabs sothing with his four fingered claw and says "May I guide us to the absolute biggest of finales."
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