Loading
I Come, I Conquer, I Define
- Elysium
Whoa, I really did it! I actually took them out! ...Need any help, Weedy?
- Weedy
No, I'm done here too—as long as you don't crash the ship again!
- Elysium
Sure thing! Phew...
- Elysium
I don't think I can ever ride a roller coaster again.
- Weedy
Wait, Elysium... where did all that blood come from?! ...Did those bone fragments hit you?
- Weedy
Well, at least let me wrap you up a little... And what exactly does Thorns want, again? Did he say?
- Elysium
Ah... he can tell you himself when the time's right!
- Anastasio
Ah, Isidro. So you wish to atone for your sins, to rescind the impact you've had on the innocent, to send them merrily back to their old lives.
- Anastasio
Is this an expression of your resolve? A reflection of your conscience?
- Anastasio
When they realize the end is near, many sinners turn to sobbing appeals for the friends whom they have implicated.
- Anastasio
Alas, that does not mean they have truly repented.
- Anastasio
How does one who knows naught of their own desire demonstrate the ability to suppress such desire, and to atone for the sins thereof?
- Isidro
No. It's you who need to suppress your own desire. You who needs to demonstrate that ability.
- Anastasio
...Naturally. I have always said that desire cannot truly be killed. Even now, the desire to feed upon the lives of others lives on within me, and I must suppress it.
- Anastasio
I will cut off my flesh with my own hand and dispose of it.
- Anastasio
I will demonstrate that I can suppress my thirst for it, if only briefly.
Isidro can see the grotesque scars under Anastasio's collar, marks of flesh that has grown back after being cut away.
- Isidro
You said desire grows endlessly, dragging more and more people into the abyss.
- Isidro
How many have you judged and killed with that pretext? Why do you think that you, and you alone, can suppress your own desires?
- Anastasio
Because death is liberation.
- Anastasio
Before being corrupted by desire, you had lived an honest life, performed honest deeds.
- Anastasio
As such, you have the right to be liberated from that corruption. By death.
- Anastasio
But my life was a mistake from the beginning. My very existence a sin.
- Anastasio
Were I to die, my pathetic existence would have held no meaning other than sacrilege.
- Anastasio
Therefore, I must atone. I must atone for as long as I can, until I am consumed by desire.
Anastasio pressed the nails on his left hand against his own chest until they pierce the skin. Only pain can calm him down now.
- Isidro
You mentioned the meaning of your existence.
- Isidro
Are you really unworthy to die, Anastasio, or do you just want to live too much?
- Isidro
You keep talking about your desire to feed on others. But isn't your most fundamental desire to keep on living?
- Isidro
Be it self-harm or the judgment of others, aren't you just trying to make sure that your so-called sinful self can live on with peace of mind?
Anastasio's assault had slowed while listening to Isidro's confession; now, it intensifies again.
Each time Isidro parries an attack, strands of Corazonix float up from his arm from the impact.
- Anastasio
If you shall not confess, you shall die.
- Teach
Look out!
- Pascuala
Chupamedias! Cojones! Finshit!
- Pascuala
Don't you have an Iberia to save instead of coming after us?
- Pascuala
All for a damned compass nobody cares about!
- Pascuala
All I ever wanted was enough money so I wouldn't have to do this stuff! You think I like living like this?! I hate it as much as you do!
- Pascuala
Why do you have to come after me?
- Pascuala
You have no right to judge me... None!
- Teach
Pascuala... Pascuala!
- Teach
Stop! They're not fighting back anymore!
- Pascuala
*Pant* *Pant* I...
- Teach
Stop! We... need to...
- Teach
We... need to... move...
- Pascuala
Oh... Teach...
- Pascuala
No! Teach! Hang in there...
- Pascuala
If you pass out now, I'm leaving you out the next time I buy a round of saltfin garum for everyone!
- Teach
Now... you're starting to talk like Elysium...
- Pascuala
Really? Was it funny? Do you feel any better?
- Teach
Let's find a place... to hide...
Pascuala frantically digs through her pockets.
She has many pockets. Very little in them belongs to her; most was stolen.
Finally, she finds a few herbs. She chews them into small pieces, then puts them into Teach's mouth with a trembling hand.
The last thing Teach did before she passed out was protect Pascuala's head with her arms.
Pascuala presses her cheeks against Teach's arm, trying to feel her body temperature.
She has lost so many things, but right now, this warmth belongs to her.
- Javier
This is the last time we'll cross blades, Juana.
- Javier
Only one of us is leaving here alive.
- Javier
I'm their leader. If you're angry at their betrayal, take it out on me!
- Juana
And then what?
- Javier
If I die, let my crewmates go.
- Javier
I swear on my life that they won't have a new leader, that they'll live their new lives however they want.
- Stunned Sailor
Javier... you...
Juana responds with an even more ferocious flurry. The helm wheel brushes across Javier's back. He grits his teeth and swings his blade.
It finds Juana's forearm, cutting almost to the bone.
- Javier
And if I kill you, I'll take your head and earn the bounty!
- Javier
I'll share the money with everyone, so they'll all live better lives—
- Juana
Haah—!
A violent jolt sends Javier stumbling backwards. Juana leaps, and the helm wheel falls upon him, sending blood and salt flying.
Javier swings his fists wildly at Juana, his weapon broken.
- Javier
Hrrh... Hrrh...
Javier struggles to lift the heavy wheel off himself, but a punch from Juana sends him back into the pool of blood.
- Javier
Hrgh...
His breathing is thick and heavy. He tries to lift himself up again, only to once again meet Juana's fist. His vision grows red with blood.
- Javier
Ugh...
There is no strength left in him. He flails around in the blood pool, struggling in vain to stand up.
But the crushing weight of the helm wheel suffocates him, dislocating his arms and legs.
He can no longer even raise his head.
- Javier
Hrrh...
- Javier
You win... Juana... Kill me.
- Javier
When I die... spare the crew... I'm the one who incited them.
- Javier
Kill me... end this.
Javier gazes into Juana's eyes. He has never done so from so close, close enough to see his own reflection in them.
He suddenly feels like he still has something to say.
- Javier
That day... when you passed by my window... I was trying to bake bread for the first time... it didn't work out... it was black all over...
- Javier
I wasted precious food... no one would eat it... except you...
- Javier
You passed by the window and picked it up... you put it in your mouth with a big smile...
- Javier
You finished the whole plate...
- Javier
And I was thinking at that time... that I'd give anything... to see that smile again...
- Javier
Anything...
Javier closes his eyes and waits for the inevitable. The helm wheel will find his neck, and then everything will be over.
- Juana
Congratulations, Javi.
- Javier
*Cough*... *Cough*...
- Juana
You won your duel with the previous leader.
- Juana
Now stand up and get back to your crew.
- Javier
......
Javier musters the last bit of strength he has, trying to stand.
But the floor is wet and sticky with blood. It is all he can do to crawl forward, little by little.
Then the sailors come, one after another, lifting their new leader from the blood, the one who fought with them to the bitter end.
The blood they shed in the deadly struggle mingles on the ground. They put their shoulders together.
The Corazonix on Isidro's right arm pulses. He swings his sword behind him and dodges towards the right.
Anastasio follows closely, his blade pointed at Isidro's throat.
Isidro knew that the boiling steam would gush out from a hole in the ship, stopping Anastasio's pursuit.
Isidro takes his stance again. He sees how Anastasio's sword-holding hand is scalded by the steam, yet it doesn't tremble in the slightest.
- Anastasio
......
The burns do not faze Anastasio. He thirsts for pain.
Isidro thrusts into the steam. Anastasio's sword falls from his hand with a clang.
But his handcannon is now pressed upon Isidro's brow.
- Anastasio
......
Anastasio is silent. He will not say another word until he has pulled the trigger.
Isidro is forced back to the edge of the ship. There is nothing behind him but empty air.
- Isidro
Once, you were just a pitiful child struggling to survive.
- Isidro
But now, you've become a killer who's drowned his hands in blood on your so-called path of atonement.
- Isidro
You're the only one who deserves death here.
Isidro leaps.
The sound of the handcannon's shot echoes through the hollow bones of the valley.
Isidro sees Anastasio put the handcannon back on his belt, then close his eyes as though he had just been born again.
Isidro turns his head—the bottomless pit is right below him. The heat gushing within the bones resonates with the Corazonix on his arm. He knows the steam is about to swallow him.
At the end, he looks towards the sky.
Across the towering bones, through the heat wave of the steam, he can see clouds and sky, just like the azure ocean and white waves from the stories.
The ocean he had wanted to see with his own eyes.
Isidro falls towards the steam vent.
