Gate of Memoirs/The End of Sacrifice

Your path ends in silence. Your fight, at long last, is over--and your rest awaits.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Hope, Despair"	Music: "Hope, Despair"
 	
*A harsh, grating noise reminiscent of crackling metal pierces your ears.
*Beaten, yet still unbowed, even you find your spirit flagging as the Sliver continues its struggle against you.
 	
*Can this only truly end when one of you is dead?
 	
*S'eljah: Now, !
*S'eljah: While I have it bound!
 	
*Not even Kranus's ascended powers could shatter the phantom bonds of the Queen.
*The Sliver looks down at you then, and in its burning gaze, you think you see a hint of desperation and sorrow.
 	
*Kranus: ...
*Kranus: Was it...worth it?
 	
*You falter for a precious moment, and stay your hand.
*Surely there is another way out of this. One that doesn't involve fighting to the death.
 	
*S'eljah: Tch.
*S'eljah: I always knew you were the hesitant sort...
 	
*There is a crisp shatter like that of glass, and the resultant flash plunges you into shock.
*The space breaks apart, and with it, the Devourer's fetters.
 	
*Driven by frenzied hunger, Ascha lunges at the weakened Sliver.
*You watch in abject horror as Kranus—the anomalous, sentient, *sapient* Sliver—is torn apart.
 	
*The sickening sensation of pulverized essence seeps into your every pore, and you fear the shattering of your own mind.
*After what feels like an eternity, the carnage ceases, and all that is left in the air is the smoldering spit of embers.
 	
*Ascha: Ķk͡kk͢rh͏hh.͠..
*Ascha turns her maddening gaze on you, but freezes in place, bound by a phantom force.
 	
*You whip around, and the Queen's triumphant smile is positively chilling.
 	
*Her extended hand teases out a strange, glowing core from somewhere deep within the Devourer.
*The luminous orb pulses and lashes out in streaks of light, but strikes an invisible cage holding its form together.
*Silence falls all around you like a curtain, paradoxically light yet terribly heavy.
*Your composure escapes you in a trembling breath as the weight of your deeds bear down on you.
*What has the Queen done?
Music: "A God" 	Music: "A God"
 	
*S'eljah: Why, the end of an anomaly, as it were.
*S'eljah: Congratulations are in order, .
 	
*S'eljah: It was the Mad Tinkerer's hubris that led him to believe he could harness the powers of the Void for his own.
*S'eljah: Yet, what good came of it? He hastened his own demise, and with it, allowed the creature to roam and grow.
 	
*S'eljah: Had you not stopped it in its path of destruction, I fear there would have been far worse to deal with...
*S'eljah: And now, we are finally rid of these contemptible forces.
*S'eljah: It was ever the fate of savages to tear each other to pieces, wouldn't you say?
 	
*You glance back at the strangely calm Devourer.
 	
*Ascha returns your gaze, but it was no longer filled with hunger or malice.
*Behind the fixed smile, you see only a doll-like emptiness in her eyes.
 	
*S'eljah: I have kept my promise, . The Devourer has been purged.
 	
*S'eljah: This time, she will be quiescent. Obedient.
 	
*You can only stare blankly at her.
*Kranus... Gone. Utterly, completely gone—even the argent bits of its husk, reduced to dust.
*This was not your intention.
*You might have been able to convince Kranus. Could you? *Should* you?
*Should Ascha once more grow out of control, who will be left to stop her?
*For every world she disintegrates, its twin across the Veil suffers the same fate...
*You will never understand the mad rhyme and rhythm of the universe, nor should it be your place to do so.
*The Queen is just as inscrutable as your first meeting, and you fear it will ever be so.
 	
*Doubt takes root within your heart as you look up at her.
 	
*With the grace of a doting parent, the Queen leans down and strokes one ice-cold finger across your cheek,
*giving the distinct impression of some strange tendril.
*S'eljah: You shall know when it is time, my dear.
*S'eljah: Only then.
 	
*Yes. Your time will come.
*All things must die, and all things shall live again.
*But someday, all things will cease to be, just as the Queen said.
*Nothing lasts forever.
*Are you afraid? Should you be afraid?
*One last thought crosses your mind, and you give voice to it.
 	
*S'eljah: ...Still thinking about that...*Hound*, are you?
 	
*S'eljah: What could come of it? Banish it from your memory.
*S'eljah: "Giselle" is but a figment condemned to dust. You know this.
 	
*S'eljah: And the sooner you take solace in that...the better.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*You only manage a dazed half-nod and stumble away into the darkness, mind abuzz with too many whispers.
*Can you make peace with your decision?
*And if regret threatens to consume you...is there anyone out there who can change the hand of fate?
*For now, you look out into the vast Void...
*...and all that greets you is a trepidatious silence.