Stelle arrives at the coordinates provided by Sparkle, only to see that familiar figure.
"Firefly?"
Firefly is staring at a Sparkle doll in the pool.
"Twenty-eight minutes, forty-six seconds… twenty-eight minutes, forty-five seconds…"
She's muttering a countdown.
"Ah, you're here!" Firefly turns and sees Stelle.
Firefly explains the situation.
After receiving an anonymous tip, she came here and found the bomb.
Upon examining it thoroughly, she discovered two issues.
First, the bomb is infused with the power of a Path, and unless the creator is found, there's no other way to disarm it.
Second, the bomb contains a memetic virus inscribed with the word "banana" over and over.
Stelle lowers her head, "Is there really no other way…?"
"Well… it's not entirely hopeless. Remember? The script said I'd experience 'death' three times in the land of dreams. I think this is the prelude to the 'third time.'"
"I told you, don't resolve plot threads in moments like this!"
"You might already know, I was born without the ability to dream, and my way of entering dreams relies on the Stellaron Hunters' special methods. This lets me do things ordinary Dreamchasers can't.
If I can endure the pain of the memoria's pressure, I can dive into the primal memoria beyond the dream, and that could give the Radiant Feldspar a chance to survive.
I'll take this bomb to the depths of the dream… as deep as possible, to a place where no one else is. That way, no one will get hurt."
[Stan her, I'm stanning her so hard.]
[Batman: The Dark Knight vibes!]
[Where's Welt Yang? Just toss a black hole and call it a day!]
[Yeah, isn't Acheron here? One slash, and it's all over!]
— —
"What about you?" Stelle's three words come out heavy with concern.
"Don't worry. I believe this Firefly armor is strong enough to get me where I need to go before the countdown ends… maybe even bring me back safely.
This is the best and most reasonable choice right now. After all, this long story deserves a 'perfect' ending.
Let me share something with you. It's something Miss Acheron told me: 'The so-called impossible is merely something that hasn't yet come to pass.'
Right now, there are so many things that seem impossible… but are they truly, absolutely impossible? I'd say, maybe the moment when those 'impossibles' are disproven just hasn't arrived yet.
Whether it's a literal end, a pain akin to death, or a life-or-death crisis… until that destined endpoint arrives, they're no different, and I can still make many choices. I firmly believe…
The moment we make a choice, the 'outcome' in our hearts already has an answer.
It's not fate that shapes us—it's we who shape fate."
[I remember that was something the Duke said, not Acheron.]
[Duke: She's stealing my lines!]
[That line was so good. Firefly's finally found her redemption in Penacony!]
[Honestly, I wasn't a Firefly fan before. miHoYo leaned too hard into her—two games, plus a whole convention-like event just for her. But hearing this, her character arc's finally shining.]
— —
Firefly steps into the pool, heading toward the real bomb. "'Astral Express' and 'Stellaron Hunters'… like light and shadow."
As her hand reaches for the Sparkle doll, she's already donned her Sam armor.
"We walk different paths, tangled and intertwined, moving forward together, growing vibrantly… The endpoint may be set, but… it's not now."
Before her words fade, blazing flames erupt from the back of Sam's mech.
In an instant, it rockets into the sky.
The Sparkle doll chimes, "Since things are going too smoothly… the countdown's speeding up!"
"Life is too short, like a firefly drawn to flame. So, if you've found an answer in your heart… always remember, don't leave yourself with regrets."
Firefly lets out a shout, and the flames turn into green fluorescence.
"We have that right… don't we?"
With a sonic boom, Sam vanishes into the night sky.
The bomb explodes…
But it bursts into a display of vibrant fireworks…
At that moment, Sparkle bounces over to Stelle's side. "If you're so worried about others' safety—why not get a closer look?"
Sparkle pulls out a giant hammer from nowhere and smacks Stelle off the airship.
The next moment, she's caught by Sam.
Finally, Sam's mech slowly dissipates, and Firefly, reborn from the shell, clasps Stelle's hands, fingers interlocked.
Even the dazzling fireworks pale in comparison to her.
"Look, in this land of dreams, everything is allowed, everything is possible.
We came here with our own goals and achieved them in unexpected ways.
Whether the outcome is sweet, dreamlike, bitter, or grounded in reality, it's the answer we've always dreamed of.
So, why do people choose to sleep? I think, like you said…
Because in the end, we all have to wake from the dream."
One by one, the characters on the airship make their appearance.
Like at a billiards table, there's Argenti, clearly praising the fireworks, or Boothill behind him, drawing his gun.
[Quick, thank Director Sparkle!]
[Thanks, Director Sparkle. Wanna teach me tonight? My bed's open.]
[Did I just see Boothill pulling his gun?]
[This scene is just too beautiful!]
[Ah! A perfect curtain call. Penacony's story is complete.]
[Not yet!]
— —
After the airship's performance, the scene shifts to Dreamflux Reef.
Acheron is paying respects at a gravestone.
The Astral Express crew arrives at the gravestone as well, here to bid farewell to everyone who gave their all for Penacony.
A farewell to Tiernan.
A farewell to Razalina Jane Estella.
A farewell to Gallagher.
A farewell to Mikhail Char Legwork.
A farewell to Micah.
And finally, a farewell to Acheron.
Acheron gives Stelle a faint smile. "Remember when we first arrived in Penacony? No one could've imagined our journeys would cross like this."
"Who exactly are you?"
"Come to think of it, I never properly introduced myself…
Simply put, I'm a Self-Annihilator cursed by 'Nihility.' My homeworld was destroyed long ago, consumed by THEIR 'Nihility' IX's shadow.
To fight against the fate of annihilation, I set out on a journey to find a way to sever 'Nihility.' After a long quest, I'm certain my destination lies in the depths of the 'Black Net,' where reality and Nihility divide.
There, a secret called the 'IX Agency' is hidden. One day, I'll reach it."
Acheron also shares a perspective on the world's lore.
"Long ago, I was like you, with irreplaceable companions. We, too, set out on a journey, doing our best to make the right choices at every right moment.
Sadly, we didn't achieve the right outcome. But moments like this… they make me feel like they've never truly left.
In this universe, there are countless worlds, similar yet different, and countless people, similar yet distinct.
I've walked alone, meeting 'old friends' on unfamiliar planets, their figures overlapping with my past.
To you, what does this 'sense of déjà vu' mean?"
"A wish to return to the past."
"Like everyone in this story, we run passionately and bravely toward the things that give our lives meaning, down the path of fate.
Set out on your journey without hesitation, Nameless of the 'Trailblaze.'
Even if the ending is predetermined, that's okay—there's too much we can't change.
But until then, on the road to that ending, there's still so much we can do."
The camera zooms in on Acheron's face. She smiles, facing everything. "And the 'ending'… will take on an entirely different meaning because of it. That's the meaning of a 'journey.'"
"Those beautiful things were true before, and they are true now. And I believe…
They will still bloom at the end of 'Nihility,' until we meet again in the sunlight."
In that final moment, Acheron transforms back into Raiden Bosenmori Mei, with black hair, dressed in white, and that smile once bathed in the glow of a sunset.
"Those beautiful things were true before, and they are true now. And I believe…
They will still bloom at the end of 'Nihility,' until we meet again in the sunlight."