Argument

All is silent, not a breath coming from the three standing in a black canvas of space. Silhouette of a transparent little girl in a blue T-shirt, faintly gleaming as the only source of light amidst eternal gloom, feels ethereal. She looks up at the older girl with red hair with a sad, but heartfelt smile, putting her hands to her chest, before gradually fading away into the soft guiding shine, leaving the two in the darkness.

"Ah..." the red-haired girl closes her eyes for a moment, in a deep daze, comprehending the first can be now free and happy, and it is all finally over

he's shocked, still in suspense, not believing in the reality of liberation.

"It's... this is it..." her voice is blank, feeling numb from final sense of closure

he looks around, then at her, finding the coolness of the void oppressive "Essie..."

she feels relieved, not paying attention on anything else anymore.

he grows only more alarmed, starting to realize that even if they are free of hellish suffering, they still are going to spend the rest of eternity in this dark nothingness, which scares him.

she looks into the distance, devoid of any emotion

he heads over to her, hesitantly stopping short before coming too close, his voice strained "Essie.. now, we have to... find a way, reconnect..." looks around nervously "where even are we..."

she turns to him with faint hollow smile on her empty face "This is peace."

he is getting more tense

she looks haggard, but at ease, as it's exactly the death she ever imagined as real "Don't worry. It's okay now... We are free..."

he feels stressed, frowning "What are you saying... Essie?"

she's, on the contrary, relaxed, somewhat dissociated.

his frustration grows "You can't lose focus. Not now, we should get out, what was the plan? Stop it."

she takes a faint exhale, still smiling distantly "It's time to rest... sunshine. To sleep... everything is okay. Finale has come, we've made it. It's finally the end..."

"The end... it's not!" her words sting him, he steps closer, breathless "Essie, what do you mean?! I can't stay here- It's not what we were going for! You can't- Essie, stop it! You can't let me stay here, you promised! You promised to find a way, you can't stop here! You want us to die..." his hands start trembling "It's not how it supposed to be."

she stands there with a blank expression

he grabs her by the shoulders "You told me we are still alive. That it's a nightmare. So we can return our souls in our bodies, I know Vitae sustains them no matter the damage. There won't be harm, more Vitae would heal us, we can't stay here, Essie!"

she keeps looking at him with her emotionless gaze

he's getting increasingly frustrated, shaking her roughly "I don't want to die! You led us to this point, I had to die over and over, through such pain, and all that for nothing?!"

she shakes her head in exhaustion, "Look around... there is nothing to be afraid of... this is real death. It's not harmful—"

"No!" he shoves her furiously "'Look around'?! It's you who should! 'Not harmful'- you're going to condemn us to eternity in this void, in nothingness!!" he tries to keep his voice from trembling "Depriving us of life we still have!!"

"Life... what's the point in life of constant pain..." as she thinks back to Vitae, her face distorts "there is no guarantee. We died so direly... even if our physical selves still do exist, imagine the pain we will find ourselves in upon awakening..." looks at him with stern sadness "there, in the world we left long ago. It could have been years. We won our freedom... not 'living forever'. And now we can sleep..."

he turns to her, stricken with despair "We shouldn't!!" feels everything burning inside "No matter the pain!.." clenches fists "what does pain mean when we are alive?! Something always there, despite any misery, to cover it." Tries to control himself, yet too stressed out for that "Anything we can wish for, we can achieve anything.. In life- there is naught in death!.."

her face darkens "What's the meaning of such a life... It is not even life when you only suffer... I've had enough of this nonsense." gravely "You like no other should understand the stakes." In clear pain, remembering their years spent in that tainted existence "It cannot be called life when all you feel is never ending agony... I heard you cry, I saw your pain every second of every day, and I do not want you to feel it ever again." She's clearly having a hard time talking about all that "'Living forever' is not a blessing, it's only a curse. Vitae was ever unnatural... what exists beyond should remain undisturbed. How can you even cherish living hell... I don't understand, (his name). True death is peaceful."

"You do not understand!" he snaps, "I don't want to spend eternity in here... we've already gone too far!.." turns away from her, bitterness and desperation evident in his wavering tone "Essie... you promised... you also wanted to know... and we could be together, in life we'd never had before..."

she stays unyielding "May it be a cold oblivion, in it you find release... there is nothing to be afraid of here. Even if nothingness is absolute, it's not harmful. Coolness is reverent, meant to calm a long-suffered finished life forever. See... there is no painful things anymore, further the realm of restless carrion's destroyed grudge. There is no 'worst place' for you. Death is just final cradle."

anguish rings through as he tries hard to fight back tears "Is that what you want, ruin everything?! Take away everything we have, everything we could achieve... You can't forget, it was your fault from the start. Now you take me with you again, after everything you've already put me through! After you said to kill them! I did as you said. You've taken everything from me, my family, my life, you said you will protect me... you let that happen to me, the pain I've been through, I wouldn't have to if it wasn't for you! You could've come faster! All this time... I suffered, no relief, even for a moment, you promised, you told me it will end, that it's a nightmare and we will wake... I trusted you, and now you're betraying me!"

she's hit in the most sore spot, shaken greatly into silence

he keeps fuming in cold rage, pushing her further "You're hurting me. Like the rest... you, the one who I've trusted most. I need you now... and instead of helping, you're leaving me to die... Essie, don't do this to me."

she's still silent, looking at him with searing pain ripping everything within

"You want me to be left in here? You promised we will be happy. Now you prefer to let us be hurt forever in nothingness." He says

she shakes her head sharply to the side with a grimace of pure inner torment "I don't want you to be hurt. And that's why I want you where you'd never be." lips trembling, even though she sounds firm as ever "I don't understand, what would life mean in the world where we are long forgotten..." turmoil on her face, her voice gradually takes on a wistful tone "your family are long dead... my parents maybe too... my brother may be an adult..." closes her hands on her chest "we could rest, in peace... like your family. Like the First... now there is nothing to disturb us... nothing to hurt... there is only stillness and final harmony... we lived our lives, but everything has to end."

he turns to her, then storms over, roughly seizing her shoulders, looking her right in the face again "Past is in the past, it is all behind us! We still have our future!.." his tone grows powerful and solemn "Our universe, our foundation... It's destined to never end, like us. There are endless possibilities... you don't know what potential it truly yields. Level no other would ever reach. New horizons you dreamed of. Together, we could achieve what no person would ever be able to! It must live on... it can't go to nothing."

she keeps silent, turmoil on her face ever present as she sees how desperate he is. She's on the verge of making a final decision.

he feels helpless, seeing she doesn't give in, finally breaks "We could be together forever... if we live, there would be nothing holding us back anymore... it would be our happily ever after..." tears overflow and start streaming down, but even now - he knows it's the last method to leverage her. Pull on what was significant not for him, but for her. Show her what she's not going to dismiss so easily with her undying care for him "Essie... I want to go home." Voice is now really weak, almost pleading "Sit under our tree. Film sunrise. We might do it if we return, nothing would ever stop us... Nothing could stand in the way, each day could be something nice, bliss of every happy moment, we could still have it... I want you to make me cookies again..." takes a shaky shallow breath "I can't forget all that... please... Essie..."

her face darkens beyond limits as she stands still, looking at him, and his tears make her heart sink, so she's already made her decision

he takes his hands away from her to cover his own face, and lowers his head

"Would it really make you happy?" she asks faintly

he jolts his head back up with a surge of hope "It would!.. Would!" talking rashly "It would for us... Together!"

she knows there is no return once they are back to life, and they won't be ever able to rest, she feels really uneasy, but seeing him so distraught, especially after what they have already been through is way more unbearable for her, so she takes a few steps away with a sigh, and then with a single swing of her metal rod cuts through the fabric of the space, creating a glowing line as a transmission between dimensions, for after defeating the host of the dark realm, she gained the ability to manipulate it

he watches in amazement

clearly still conflicted, she slowly turns, but her face is beaming with a serene smile, as all she wants is for him to feel better, her only meaning to be happy, no matter the cost. Approaching him, she holds out her hand, speaking in a calm, soothing tone "Let's go."

he akes her hand gratefully, standing up and going after her near the opened rift

And as the two step in, they immediately lose their time and space orientations, returning to the physical world, reconnecting with physical bodies to then live forever.