OOC: Dream
The thing that was Neo Exdeath reared, letting out horrible cries of death from its many mouths, writhing as light burst out from its many wounds. The four of them watched, dumbstruck, as it dissolved into the very nothingness it had desired to create. And then everything faded....
She felt the touch of Bartz's hand on her shoulder... there was no ground beneath her, no sky above her, only endless blackness and drifting stars. The Void was still there... but no, no, they had beaten Exdeath! This couldn't be the end of it... not after all they had fought... after Grandpa... she opened her mouth to protest...
"No! You do it, come back! Don't leave me alone!" she shouted up at the branches of the giant tree, tears streaming down her face.
"You know I can't do that. But you're not alone... You understand that, don't you." The ring of branch and leaves moved towards her... green light glowed out from it as her fingers brushed against it, filling her with warmth... then she forced down her fear as the airship rushed towards that horrible, silent mass of blackness that had been Tycoon. This was it... this was the beginning of the end of their journey... no going back now.
Will we come back? she wondered. Would they live through this? Probably not... Exdeath had the Void. They might not even get close. But she forced that thought away. Grandpa had stood against Exdeath--and none of them were alone. Together, they would defeat Exdeath. What happened after that--well, it would happen, whether or not they were there to see it. It didn't really matter what happened to them... if they didn't defeat Exdeath, there would be no life, period.
And there they were at the end, the four of them... floating in the stars, watching the crystal shards whirl together... the people and places taken by the Void returning. And then a not-too-distant star exploded in a shower of light. The wind drake flew towards them and they climbed on, holding onto each other as they glided back to the world....