Fun?
As I watched Neron and listened to all he said, I wasn't even sure what to think or believe anymore.
It all sounded too good to be true.
However, when he quoted me and gave me that confident smile, I instantly knew he was up to something. But what exactly?
'Aether, can he achieve it?' I asked her.
~No. Even with this phenomenal amount of power, he doesn't have nearly enough to reach the very dawn of time. That would make his power almost equivalent to ours.~
Then how was he planning on achieving it?
~There is more than one way to do something. When you do not have enough power for a Spell, what do you use?~ Aether asked.
"S-Spellcraft…" I slowly answered.
But, if that was the case, and Neron used Spellcraft, would he still be able to obtain the energy he needed? Wouldn't that mean he'd have to suck all the Aether around him dry, adversely affecting the universe itself?
~The surrounding Aether of one universe isn't nearly enough to accomplish this feat. Besides, he already has a universe's worth of energy at his fingertips. There's also the fact that Neron can't contain all that energy.~
The more I conversed with Aether, the more I realized how absurd this venture of his sounded. I mean, Neron was phenomenally stronger than anything I could have imagined.
However… he wasn't enough!
Even he couldn't defy the laws of equivalent exchange—and he needed the right amount of energy to effect the right amount of change.
"I don't have enough energy. I can't do it. I am limited." Neron's voice echoed in my ears as he made a mockery of our concerns. "Those are all valid concerns."
However, Neron wasn't stopping.
Light from his universal construct shot towards the Nether, shrouding it in its light. At this point, Neron was in control of his body.
"If I am limited by my amount of energy, all I have to do is ensure I don't run out. If I am limited by the durability of my frame, all I have to do is ensure I never perish. In essence… I could simply loop it all."
My eyes bulged once I heard this.
~Indeed. His plan relies on that. The fact that he can simply reset his body to ensure he never takes damage while still churning out a stable supply of energy without running out.~
What sort of loophole was that? How come I never thought of this?
If Neron was able to achieve this feat, and constantly pour out infinite Aether, with no limits… then he had far transcended what I currently thought of him.
He was quite literally unlimited!
*
*
*
"Let us begin." Neron spoke softly, allowing himself to be completely plunged into the stream of time.
However, it wasn't his time—but the Nether's time.
The stream appeared more like a raging sea—deep, dark, and murky.
Neron felt like he could get lost in its depths if he wasn't careful and the moment he ran out of energy, he would drown.
However, how could he stop now that he had come so far?
'Everything… everything had been for this moment!'
>VWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!<
And so, he initiated the backward swim against the forward movements of the tides of time.
In one fell swoop, a massive chunk of his Aether was consumed—not only because he was using time in such a way, but because Nether constantly ate through his energy. As a result, he was burning through way more power than normal.
But so what?
In an instant, his power was restored.
It was taken away, then restored. Over and over again, this process continued near infinitely.
Thanks to the power provided to him by the Constellations, his frame was able to handle the strain, and the power he had access to radically increased.
All the cards were on the table, and he just had to keep playing. Everything depended on his will, as well as strong determination.
'I started all of this. I have more than enough!'
The stream was long—far longer than anything that should have been allowed to exist. Even though he kept at it for a very long period, he could not see the end of the stream.
It seemed like an infinite eternity.
Yet… he kept up with the flow, pushing the flow downwards, and erasing anything that existed from that point onward.
By pushing the flow past the border of time, he would achieve his desire.
The extermination of the Nether.
Forever.
*
*
*
Finally, after pushing for so long, he reached it.
The dawn of time itself—when all that existed and didn't exist began.
It was a wall—one that seemed like complete emptiness. Beyond it would be the world before anything. Before even nothing.
Beyond this place was Origin.
With the flow concentrated at this very point, all he required was one final push, and his goal would be complete. However, Neron felt drawn towards the realm that existed out of the bounds of everything that could be known.
'All Things' waited for him beyond this juncture.
"No." He whispered, closing his eyes slowly. "No more…"
Hardening his heart and giving one final push with everything he had, he sent the flow beyond the wall and used the clog of time to ensure this process was never initiated.
"This loop will constantly ensure this process stops at this point and reverts every single time."
This was the hallmark of his plan.
"The work is done." He sighed, smiling softly, his eyes still closed.
Memories of his past, and the origin of his path, flooded his mind. The mistakes he had made to get to this point, and the errors he'd committed, which caused the ruin of everything.
He could only atone for everything by doing this.
"You were right, Serah." He smiled, remembering the woman he loved with his whole heart.
"We won."
*
*
*
[A/N]
The Nether has been defeated, and the WAR is finally over.
However, is that truly the case? Is this the end of everything?
Perhaps.
This could be the happy ending we've all been waiting for.
