"W-what is that?" Musique asked, gaping at the huge figure looming over them at the city's gates. They'd just made it out when the storm arrived, and a giant foot emerged from the clouds.
"It's… Sango…" Kitsune uttered, her voice shaking and her body cold with sheer terror. "We're too late. The end has begun sooner than I thought…"
Xinyu looked at the falling god with listless eyes.
"So, that is a god," Xinyu said.
"The one governing them all," Kitsune said. "An elder god."
Xinyu couldn't keep her gaze away from Kalahari. "My friends are there in the city… I can see them with Erlang's eye. And the witch… she is there too."
"We've got no choice," Kitsune said. "I will transport you as far as possible from here, then you must use all your power to run to Arthur and set sail for the Moonless Terra immediately with as many people as possible. I just hope that god does not destroy everything in a single swing. It seems we got a bit too ambitious and wasted time. Come. Let us-"
"Cygnus is there too," Xinyu said.
Kitsune's face became stricken. Quickly, she used her magic to scan the city, and there she saw him, lying on the ground at its center. "No…"
"He is necessary for your plan, yes?" Xinyu asked. "It does not matter if I live without him."
"That's… not true," Kitsune said. "There is another way. He can be saved, but for that, we must live."
Xinyu shook her head.
"I am sorry," Xinyu said, casting a smile to Kitsune before walking back to the gates. "It appears I am unable to abandon the things I like after all."
"You can't," Kitsune said, grabbing Xinyu's hand. "If you don't escape, we'll never succeed. Do you think stalling the inevitable for a few seconds will change anything?"
"Who knows?" Xinyu asked, her voice trailing off.
"I do!" Kitsune protested. "You must leave immediately, and not look back, just like always! Is leaving the past behind in hopes of a brighter future not the creed of the Merchant of Joy? No matter how many corpses you must step over, is it not you who will show humanity the light?"
"That is indeed the creed of the Merchant of Joy, but not Xinyu Ma's," Xinyu said. "My path is destined to be forward, yet pesky bonds keep dragging me back, no matter how far I run. In the end, I am just a naive girl who cannot leave anyone behind. Musique. Remember when I said sometimes you have to choose between preserving the self and preserving what one loves? This is what I spoke of."
"Now's not the time-" Kitsune started.
"Now is the only time!" Xinyu said. "I can see it! Just beyond the horizon! A glimmer of hope! The solution I have yearned for!"
"If you go back, you are going to die," Kitsune said.
"So what?" Xinyu asked.
"You're the one who said she was unwilling to die for her ideals!" Kitsune said. "What happened to tasting the peaches of the tree you planted? To see it bloom?"
"Those were the Merchant of Joy's words," Xinyu said. "But not mine. If I must make a choice, I will always choose the one paved by my heart. Not the one paved by my sister, nor the one fate has laid out for me, nor the one designed by this mask I have worn all this time. Regardless of what I said before, I am doing what I want, and nothing can stop me. Not you. Not fate. Not a god. My greed is too great for me to hold it back any longer."
Xinyu clasped her fist in her palm and bowed to Kitsune and Musique.
"Witness my soul!" Xinyu said. "Today, I am going to show you why I have fought all this time! Why I, Xinyu Ma, have continued to walk down this thorny path with a smile all this time."
Even if it means sacrificing everything.