X2.1.2 – The Truth About Black Fortia

"Five—" Roa said, speechless.

"Thousand years old," Nirvana completed his sentence. "But, again—you could be even older. Who knows?"

"You mean to tell me that we have known each other—for millennia?" Roa said with wide open eyes.

"No. I said you're that old based on what you told me in the past, as well as what others have told me about you. I actually met you 753 years ago on a hot summer day in a world called Pardasia, somewhere on the Seventh Heaven, where the Head Mountain meets the Tears of the Sky," she said, her eyes lighting up as a warm smile appeared on her lips. Roa stood there with a confused look on his face, causing her smirk to disappear at once. "So, since we go so far back, imagine how it makes me feel when you stand there in front of me with not a single shred of a memory about all the things we went through. Like—how am I supposed to even—" she said gesturing and rolling her eyes.

"You act as if I wanted to get myself reset," the little boy blurted back, causing her to freeze for a moment.

"Well—funny story. You sort of did," she revealed, causing his eyebrows to furl. "What I mean is—back then, after Black Fortia fell, and the last major domino of the revolution fell along with it, we pulled back. We all pulled back—and at one point, we scattered. The Lord, furious and cruel as he was, went after us with all of the might of Default World, hunting us all down like insects. He captured most of us, including most of the remaining leaders of the revolution. A handful of us escaped, however. Me, you, Ditto, Vay, and a few more, splitting ways to make sure that we would not all end up with the same fate. We hid for years, but the Patriarch's fury would not relent. He wanted us all captured. Until the last of us finally understood why—why he wanted to capture us, and not kill us."

"Why?" asked the Sunflower.

"To get to you. He knew that if your friends and comrades were still alive, he could use them as a bargaining chip against you," explained the pink-haired Jumper. The boy looked at her without saying a word. "One day—we received a message, straight from the capital of Default World, from the Lord of Lords himself. He said to you: 'the day has come and your rebellion is dead. Give yourself up and at least your friends shall live.' The situation seemed hopeless. You told me to leave you, so that I would be safer. Of course—I didn't."

"Why did he want me? Because I know—knew the way to the Core? So that he could realize some wish?" asked Roa.

"No. You hadn't found the way to the Dreamer yet back then. No—he wanted you because you were the one who had led the revolution against him. And your fall would be symbolic to its end."

"I—led it?" Roa stood there, frozen.

"Before you gave yourself up to the enemy to save the others, you told me something. You told me, 'Never give up.' I listened to you, Roa, I listened to you as if the very Universe was speaking to me that day. I believed in you—with all my heart. I still do," she said, as she stared deeply in his eyes. "I could not believe that even in that moment, when all was completely dark and lost, you professed to me the one thing no one had left in their hearts—hope," Nirvana explained, her eyes beginning to water.

"I don't understand," he hesitated to say.

"You told me 'The fight is more important than the man. I will come back. Even if it's not with this mind, or with this body, I will return, somehow. In the hearts of those who hope for a better world, who dare to fight against the wrong, I will return—someday.' I begged you not to go, but you wouldn't listen—you never do, you stubborn idiot. I told you not to trust that monster, but—you did."

"And our allies—our friends? Did I save them in the end at least?" he asked.

Nirvana stood up from her chair without saying a word. Her chest heaving up and down, as if she were trying to quell a storm within her chest.

"Dead. All of them. Every. Single. One. The monster killed them, regardless. He made a spectacle of it too, to make sure no one else that was left with any desire to fight back would have the courage to do so from then on. He killed them all, Roa."

"So—why didn't he kill me, if I led the whole thing?" he asked.

"Beats me. Still haven't figure that out until this day," she shrugged her shoulders.

The room fell into complete silence, lasting for several minutes. Nirvana walked up to one of the tall windows behind her desk and stared at the busy city outside.

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"So then—when did I actually find the way to the Core?" asked Roa, still confused.

"After you left. You sent the Lord a message in return and promised him that you would give yourself up within one year's time as you made your way to the capital of Default World, Central-Center. You revealed to me the reason for that delay—as always, it was to give hope another chance."

"What do you mean?"

"You went looking for an even large bargaining chip you could bring to the table. You went on a solitary journey to find the Ambrosians," Nirvana explained, as she turned around, a fiery look in her eyes.

"The primordial inhabitants of the Palace?" asked young Vesper, rocking baby Mattina to sleep in his arms. "I heard legends of such people, but I always thought they were just that—legends."

"They're real, or—were real, when they were still alive. You see, flower boy, as a last act of defiance, you decided to go look for the only ones old enough to know the Palace better than anyone else. The Ambrosians—the ancient keepers of the birth waters of the Palace. The first immortals. Wise beings of archaic origin, righteous enough to never have abused their knowledge, or immortality for selfish causes. You set out to do the impossible—find them. They knew the way to the top of the labyrinth—and you, in your endlessly stubborn—beautiful—foolishness, decided to go find them," Nirvana laughed, shaking her head. "And somehow—you actually did."

"So—why didn't I ask the Dreamer directly for a wish then? I could have just asked it to make me strong enough to defeat the Lord and Default World if it truly is the most powerful being in Existence. I don't get it," Roa walked up to Nirvana and looked up at her.

"You did try. You sent a message back one day, surprised the hell out of me, and said that you would attempt to scale the entirety of the Palace—and make the wish to save everyone. By then, however, only one month was left, and the Lord had grown impatient, hearing of your movements, and catching word that you had somehow met the Ambrosians."

"So, I never made it to the Dreamer, then?"

"Nope. You see—the Ambrosians were moved by your cause, somehow, and decided to reveal to you the way to the top of the labyrinth. They gave you all the shortcuts, all the way to the Tip of the Top. On your way up, however, the Lord of Default World sent a message to all corners of Existence, ordering everyone--locals, Shadows, and Free Folk, to find you—and bring you to him, for a great reward, or else—" Nirvana looked down.

"Or else--what?" asked the child.

"Or he would kill everyone. Every single person under his rule. When he realized that your friends weren't enough, he was the one who brought an even larger bargaining chip to the table. Genocide. He knew your heart was driven by a sense of empathy for others. Something he obviously never had within himself. The monster began killing millions, and when word got to you, eventually—"

"Eventually—I gave myself in. I didn't get to the Core in time. I never got to the Dreamer," said the Sunflower, slouching as he plopped himself on one of the couches.

Silence filled the room for what seemed like an eternity.

"As much of a fool as you are, Roa, you were always a righteous one. And smart, too," Nirvana winked at him with a smile.

"That's the first compliment I've heard from you. Why do you say that?"

"Because, the day before you reached the capital of Default World, you sent me a Blurr, an auric message from afar. A message with yet another one of your ingenious plans. You told me that you had learned a Gift from one of the Shadows you had defeated along the way. I didn't believe you at first, after all—no one can learn the Dark Gifts; but then again, it was you we were talking about." Nirvana eyes narrowed. "You said that you were going to give yourself in, and hope for the release of our friends, and the stopping of the massacre—but, you were going to use that Gift to stall them for as long as possible after they would capture you."

"Stall for what?" asked the child, causing Nirvana to nod and smile again.

"What else? Keep them from getting to the Dreamer, and of course—to keep the flame alive. Keep the revolution going—and continue the sacred revolution—the Greatest Fight." She did a thumbs-up and manifested the Compass Gift, causing a colorful flame to dance on top of her finger. She moved her hand until her arm pointed in the Sunflower's direction. The flame grew larger, dancing wildly, as if excited by his presence. "You see—finding your location wasn't impossible. Afterall, I'm very acquainted with your aura's signal. The problem was finding an Exit that would get us in, unnoticed. That's why your plan was ingenious. You left breadcrumbs. Tiny clues for us to find."

"Breadcrumbs—to the Exit?"

"No. You had no clue where they would take you after you would get to the capital of Default World. Instead, you left us the directions to a person that knew every single Exit under the Lord's control. The Ambrosian you met. She told us how to find the portal we used to get you out of that prison world. Too bad they killed her before I could get her to spill the beans on the path to the Heart of Hearts."

"The Shadows killed her?"

"Yup, who else? Not that she would have spilled the beans, anyway. I remember telling her we were fighting for the same cause, but for some reason—she never trusted me like she trusted you," Nirvana explained.

"Can't say that I'm too surprised," joked Roa, receive an angry look from the Jumper.

"Anyway, they killed her—then they spend the next decades looking for and hunting down every single Ambrosian they could find, until, well—there were none left. That way, the Lord would be the only one with the map to the greatest treasure—to the ultimate power. Makes sense, right?" She turned back to face the window. "There was one little problem with his perfect plan, however."

"The Gift I learned from that Shadow," said Roa. "What was it?"

The Jumper's stare pierced his eyes, as if digging into his soul, as silence filled the room.

"Reset—it was the Gift of Reset—and you did the one thing the Lord of Default World never thought you would do. You did the unthinkable," Nirvana glanced at him with a nod.

"You have got to be kidding me," the Sunflower said as his expression drew dead-serious. He placed his hands on his head. "You mean to tell me that—I—erased my own mind?!"

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