Chapter Text
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Amongst trash and a decrepit and cold room inside the Penrose, a haunting yet beautiful tune echoed through the entire ship, the enchanting notes of Franz Schubert’s “Ständchen” played.
Risking her life to finally become reunited with her beloved Ariane, Elster had managed to unlock the three-locked safe that had been stashed away in Ariane’s Rotfront room.
Inside, she’d found a beautiful lily and within the blink of an eye, she suddenly found herself teleported in front of what looked like a burial ground.
Six pillars surrounded what looked like a grave and, in front of five of the six pillars, was an unconscious Elster unit.
Come closer, a voice suddenly rang in her mind. The voice felt like a warm hug that wrapped around her yet strangely foreign and melancholic. She found herself unable to resit.
Using the last of her strength she could muster, Elster moved towards the empty pillar and placed the lily on top. She looked around in confusion, anticipating something to happen.
Her legs finally gave out. All the stress and repairing and damage had accumulated, finally overtaking her body. She fell to the ground and could scarcely move a single finger.
That’s when she noticed it. The grave that was surrounded the pillars suddenly opened up and revealed a pit of writhing flesh, not unlike the flesh she’d encountered on her way through Rotfront.
Parting like the Red Sea, the flesh revealed the most pristine item Elster had ever laid her eyes on. A small cube with a circular hole in the middle of all its sides - not much different from a tesseract - revealed itself.
It looked like it was made from the purest marble, with what looked like azure veins travelling throughout the artifact. A faint but warming rose-red glow emitted from the middle of the item and brought a sense of calm over Elster.
Take it, the voice calmly told Elster. You are still able to save her.
Cracking and tearing sounded from Elster’s Replika body, as she strained it beyond what its limits should’ve been. The comforting sound of the voice filled her with determination.
Elster dragged her body towards the artifact and grabbed hold of it. As she touched the item, a flash of white, blue and red filled Elster’s mind before she suddenly found herself lying on a metallic surface.
Gathering her senses, she looked around to situate herself. She’d found herself in a familiar place: The corridor just outside the cryogenics room on the Penrose.
Scattered piles of trash filled the corridor, and stains of blood and Oxidant had pooled and corroded around the ship’s floor as well.
Elster found herself listening to another voice inside of her head. This time it was not the warm and comforting voice she’d heard before, this time it was familiar. It was her own.
I have to go see her, she thought, knowing instinctively what to do.
She pushed her body away from the floor, quivering and trembling as she did her best to support her own Replika body. With the artifact in hand, she held it to her stomach and moved towards the impossibly big door where the cryogenics chamber awaited.
And where she was waiting.
With the sound of releasing pressure, the massive door parted for Elster and inside she found what she’d been looking for all this time - consciously and subconsciously: her beloved Ariane.
Stumbling her way to the side of the cryogenics pod, she’d finally reached her goal. She’d made it to Ariane.
She leaned over the pod and gave Ariane’s forehead a gentle kiss. Like Sleeping Beauty, Ariane opened her eyes as if she’d been asleep for hundreds of years; She probably had at this point.
She locked eyes with Elster, and a burning, hot sensation spread throughout Elster’s chest.
“Elster,” Ariane gently said, exhausted from her current situation. “You’re awake. I missed you.”
Like a shotgun, a memory suddenly shot to the front of Elster’s mind. Ariane had said the same thing on the day they celebrated their 3000th cycle anniversary. Feeling a lump forming in her throat, she responded with a shaky voice.
“I missed you, too,” Elster responded, grabbing one of Ariane’s arms and pressed the hand to her own forehead. Savouring the touch of her lover for just another moment, she pulled Ariane’s hand away from her forehead.
“I brought you something,” Elster’s voice trembled. She lifted Ariane’s hand and took out the artifact.
Elster watched, as the artifact shrunk in size, morphing itself into that of a small ring. She finally understood.
She gingerly placed the now ring-shaped artifact on Ariane’s ring finger. A flash of the same rose-red colour she’d seen being emitted from the artifact before shot out and filled the cryogenics room.
Before she had a chance to react, she watched as some force gently lifted Ariane out of the cryogenics pod and brought her to her feet.
“Thank you Elster, my beloved, I knew you’d come to save me,” Ariane said.
“I didn’t keep my promise,” Elster hesitantly said, looking at the floor out of shame.
“You did something better, my love, you found a way for us to be together.”
Next thing she knew, Elster could hear the beautiful tunes of “Ständchen” play as she grabbed Ariane’s petite hands, holding them tight, not wanting to let go. The two started swaying from side to side before they started full-on dancing inside Ariane’s rundown personal quarters.
Looking deep in each other’s eyes, Ariane was the first to break the silence between them.
“We will be together for all eternity, my beloved Elster. Would you like that?” she asked.
“That sounds wonderful, Ariane. But how?” Elster answered confused, not sure how they would do that in their current state.
“The ring you brought has given me the power for us to be together,” Ariane timidly responded. “We have to start from the first day we boarded the Penrose for the first time, but all the terrible things we went through won’t happen again, and can live together for the rest of eternity,” she explained.
Elster continued to dance, holding tightly on Ariane’s hands. She looked at the artifact she’d given her and thought of all the things she had to go through to get to this moment.
“Will we remember all that has happened?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But I know fate brought us together, so we will surely become lovers once again,” Ariane responded, resting her head on Elster’s chest.
“Okay, if it means we will spend the rest of eternity together, let’s do it,” Elster said, letting go of Ariane’s hands and hugging her tightly. “Let’s enjoy this final dance, before our new life begins,” she said.
As the song came to an end, the pair hugged each other tightly while swaying from side to side.
“I love you, Ariane,” Elster said, looking deeply in Ariane’s eyes.
“I love you too, Elster. Come find me in the next life,” Ariane replied before kissing her lover one final time in this life.