a world without

The only way to defeat Void is for Aichi to sacrifice himself.

____________________________________________________________

1: the flesh is merely a vessel

Aichi closes his eyes.

He stands on a cliff overlooking Cray’s vast lands. The sky is a cloudless blue. The air is fresh and a breeze picks up from the south, making green fields ripple gold under the rays of two suns.

It’s the Cray he knows in his heart, the Cray he’s fighting to bring back.

Blaster Blade stands beside him, regal and reassuring.

“The choice is yours to make,” he says. “The cards are in your hands.”

“I know,” Aichi answers and looks on. They’ve talked about this all of last night, for the past several restless evenings. Aichi takes his time, weakly sifting through fear and consolation, only to repeatedly encounter an oddly comforting sort of acceptance.

Blaster Blade waits for him.

Aichi opens his eyes.

____________________________________________________________

He is in the world behind mirrors.

It is a quiet world, eerily disorienting yet familiar. There are no people, only images on glassy surfaces that quickly come and go. Aichi could leisurely explore but he is quickly running out of time.

He finds Tatsunagi Takuto alone in a small, high-walled room, sitting amongst images of Kourin, Suiko, and Rekka, their smiles and times together, conjured in the struggle to keep himself sane. The boy is visibly tired, but there is still light in his eyes. He looks up sharply upon sensing Aichi’s presence.

“Sendou Aichi…” Takuto’s voice is weak.

Aichi smiles painfully. “It’s alright, Takuto-san.”

“Why are you here? Void is…what happened to Void?” He tries to move toward him but slips.

“Please don’t come any closer, Takuto-san. Void is…”

Aichi sees Takuto’s eyes widen in realization and horror. He forces himself to stand on shaky knees. “No…” his voice breaks. Anger starts to flow from him in waves. “No…no! You…”

“I am taking Void into myself,” Aichi gently explains. “I’m going to travel to different worlds and release it bit by bit. It’s going to take a long time.”

“H-how…what’s going to happen to you?”

Aichi shakes his head and Takuto lets out an anguished cry.

“No!” He sinks to the floor. “I never wanted this for you. I never thought…when I asked for your help…that things would turn out this way.”

“This is what I chose, Takuto-san,” Aichi says. “I wanted to save everyone.” After a pause, he adds laughingly, “Vanguard is really fun. It saved me. I want to bring that kind of Vanguard back.”

Takuto’s face is pleading.

“Takuto-san, I leave the future to you.”

The walls shatter and Tatsunagi Takuto is alone once more, but free.

____________________________________________________________

Aichi is lying on Escrad’s lap.

He feels Void steadily fill his being, stitching itself into his soul, eating away at his spirit like a million tiny ants. It tears into him from the ground. His back is on cold fire, his limbs are losing feeling and feverish sweat shines on his brow. A pained sound passes his lips in a plume of red and black smoke.