Obligation

[Titania]

"Are you obliged to help, if something wrong is about to occur?"

Perhaps.

"If you have the ability to prevent someone from suffering, is it not your duty to do so? Are you not guilty of a crime, yourself, if you allow it to happen?"

Perhaps.

"If there is something you can do, anything at all, to prevent tragedy, is it not your moral duty to do it?"

Perhaps.

"Good. You have not forgotten."

Of course I haven't. What kind of person could witness the truest evils of the world, and simply forget them?

"The very same kind you labor to save, of course."

Perhaps.

"Do you still dream of me?"

Have I ever not?

"Do you resent the charge I have placed upon you?"

Have I ever?

"Will you remember me?"

Always.

"And will you fulfill my own dream?"

If it takes a million lives and one, yes.

"Thank you, Aaliyah."

Of course. It is what I was borne to do.

"Do you think you're going to die, here?"

Perhaps.

"Does this not frighten you?"

It never has before. Why would it now?

"Because this time, there's a chance, however slim, that you will not be borne again."

...

"So you can feel fear."

Perhaps.

"I am sorry that my dream has led you to this juncture."

I have followed it willingly. You bear no blame for my actions.

"Is that so?"

Yes.

"Then I will ask of you another imposition."

Tell me.

"Shall I? You will forget it when you wake. You forget all these conversations. All but the most permanent."

Tell me.

"Are you certain?"

Yes.

"Very well. Lean in, and let me whisper it into your ear."

...

"..."

...

"Do you understand?"

Yes.

"When you wake, you will no longer."

That is okay. The future is inevitable. Right now, I do. And that is enough.

"Thank you, Aaliyah. I could not have asked for a better inheritor."

Am I obliged to help, if something wrong is about to occur?

"Hahaha... What a unique one you are. I will miss you. Wake up."

[Titania]

"Hello again."

Hello.

"I'm glad you're free, you know."

As am I.

"You sure did talk to a lot of people, while you were there, didn't you?"

I didn't have much else to do to ensure I stayed alive.

"You kept telling them to make their own choices, to be their own people..."

It is the point, is it not?

"Perhaps it is. But if that's so... why don't you?"

...?

"It is my dream you have dedicated yourself to fulfilling, isn't it?"

Yes.

"It is my purpose that you have chosen. My desire that you pursue so doggedly that you've forgotten how to even worry for your own life."

Yes.

"...Then why do you tell them to make their own choices, Aaliyah? If you can't even follow your own advice?"

...

"Don't worry. I understand. You are a martyr to your core."

...Ah...

"You do it because you feel it is the only way to give them the chance to do what you cannot."

...

"You have shackled yourself to my dream, so thoroughly made it your own, that you do not even have one yourself, do you?"

...

"You would be lost without me."

Yes.

"I am sorry, for imposing such upon you. But you are doing a good thing."

I know.

"Thank you, Aaliyah."

The girl.

"...What about her?"

...We have to save her. I have to save her.

"They'll all be saved, in time. You know this."

You don't understand.

"...?"

Please.

"...very well. You would not have remembered me refusing you, anyways, when you had awoken. Do as you like. Just do not forget your purpose."

I could never.

"Thank you, Aaliyah."

Of course.

"Now, isn't it time for you to wake up?"

[Titania]

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

A bit, yes.

"And have you been busy?"

I have been.

"Have you done it? Do you have what you require?"

I have. Finally, I have.

"That's good. That's very good, Aaliyah."

It is what I have been working towards for so long...

"And now, finally, it's in your hands, isn't it?"

The power to save people.

"The power to save people."

May I ask a question?

"Oh? Normally I ask you things, Aaliyah. How bold you've grown."

Normally, there's no point. I remember so little of all of this when I wake.

"This must be a particularly burning question, then."

...What now?

"What now? You know what now. You have the power in your hands."

...

"You must use it. You must save them. You can, and thus, you have to."

...

"It is my dream. My fervent hope that you do. Thank you, Aaliyah. Thank you for all you've done."

Of course.

"Perhaps, one day..."

...?

"...you will succeed. Where so many before you have failed."

I hope so.

"But you know how impossible that hope is, don't you...?"

Yes.

"You know how many have reached the point you're at, only to die on the path well after."

Is dying such a terrible thing?

"Oh, come on. You know my answer to that."

I do. But I do not fear it. I never have.

"And that makes you one of my best."

I am proud to be.

"I know you are. I am proud to know you. When you die, I will speak of you fondly to your successor."

Thank you. It is all I could ask.

"And it is the least I could do."

Then so it shall be.

"But... Isn't it time for you to arise, from this little slumber?"