Chronology: Ultimate

Waiting... To many people, especially the anxious ones, waiting was the worst torture one could bestow upon a person. The tense moment before sharing something, the gap between the relayed information and the feedback reaction. To wait was angustiating, if only because of the uncertainty that permeated that one space, like the silent in-between the tick-tocking of an analogue clock. Was the message comprehended? Was it taken nicely, or badly? Did this change things and how did it do so?
From an observer's point of view, no longer than a minute had gone by, and yet to the fearful pyromancer, it had felt like an eternity.
A crushing, disconcerting eternity spent bouncing around self-depreciative thoughts, heavy amounts of guilt, a screaming flight instinct and way too many past occurrences and internalized abuse that so cruelly reinforced all his fears; As if the ultimate proof for the skewing of the scale's of probabilities towards the worst outcomes. So when it had finally been broken, when the silence had at last ended, it was like a breath of fresh air. A gasp that dragged him back to reality.

And the first individual to break that enclosure of agony and uncertainty had been, the most unexpected one...


The-the delusional cartoonish man was being reasonable for once??? Sage could help but look back at Benedict with legitimate shock, alternating gazes between him and the others with his mouth hanging slightly open in complete disbelief. Not only that, not just understanding words, he was also being given a pat in the back and a... lollipop? What age did the other even think that he was?? This was something people did to children, right? Still, he accepted the sugary treat in a stick offering, staring at it for a moment, blinking in confusion... Until he let out an amused snort that collapsed into a light-hearted laugh. For some reason, this was just, really funny when contrasted with the weight of the information he had shared!

"I don't think I've ever been gifted a lollipop before...", he had briefly mused to himself before putting the candy inside one of his jacket's pockets, "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, really. You know? This kinda makes me regret threatening you with a fire cage at the beginning, almost. I mean, you were trying to destroy a random church~", he shot a finger gun at the man and chuckled playfully.

A surprisingly good start already!! Oh Gods, this was soooo relieving!

The next member to say something was... the young man wasn't going to lie, it felt like looking at the graphics of a really old video-game. An older man with unusual geometric and low detail features. He shrugged and just said something about finding ways to surpass problems. Which was... worrisome, did he just not care or did the direness of the whole thing just not make it through to him?? This wasn't exactly a solvable problem either, at least, not entirely. All they could do was be aware of it and try to avoid it altogether... The Descendant could only give this one a wary smile and still be concerned.


Who spoke up this time looked like... a mix of a person and an octopus?? Wait, his punk friend would word it differently... Cephaaaaaaa-something?? N-nevermind... Why was he even trying to remember things he had never learned properly?! Lucy was the Biology major, not him! Either way, Sage would have remembered seeing them before... probably. Were they a new addition to the group like Yang and Weiss were? That'd definitely explain it...

"I- I suppose?", he had blinked in surprise once before answering, "I should have done this from the beginning if you ask me though.", 'If only I wasn't so scared of everything... Surely, that's the opposite of true bravery.'

At least the wildfire pun had gotten a little 'pffft' out of him, and they seemed to both understand and accept it just as nicely. At this point, the pyromancer was really wondering what he had been so afraid of. Though the very end needed a quick correction.

"No, not the fires. Trying to put them out as more spawn would be a futile effort...", he had explained scratching at his chin with awkwardness, "How do I put it? Think of me as the source. As long as I'm still awake, in whichever state that may be, there will still be a fire. They're tied to my emotional states so uhhh, yeeeeeaaaah... ... I'm terribly sorry in advance."


Then came a medieval attire clad woman, with an aesthetic that reminded him just faintly of the Unicorn Clan. Hopefully, she didn't share the same ideals as them... The Descendant had taken a while to place it, but eventually, he had recognized her voice as one of the people that had spoken after the white-haired one he had learned to call Ciri. Perhaps it had been the lack of the weird futuristic armor... This one was, a bit scary, he could still remember the way she had threatened Lealan with a spear? Looked like a spear and then proceed to lecture her both verbally and physically rather harshly...

"Uhhh, uhhh...", yikes! He was absolutely intimidated. It wasn't like the burning down of his own lifespan was that important to know either, "...N-no ma'am!", aaaaand he couldn't even say anything about the razed down auditory to establish a scale of danger or something...
Oh well.

Next were Megumin and Lucky's turns with, two very distinct reactions: Understanding and curiosity; Excitement and dismissal.


"Weeell, that's where your definition of Magic probably differs from ours... We call Magic the channelling of a Concept, either through oneself, like our Deities or their Descendants like me, or through a tool such as an Array. Concepts are well, they're basically the building blocks of the Universe, whose true natures and definitions can't be changed. Space and Time form reality; Life and Death, existence; The 5 Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Metal and Wood, are what the planet is made of. Then Weather and Lightning reign in the skies. Sun and Moon are considered Pseudo-Concepts as they don't fit in by definition, being added in after the formation of the Universe itself, but can still be channelled into Magic in their many forms... ... At least, that's all that they should be.", Sage sighed, this was the part of the story that he had given Alexis during their trek to Twilight Town, but not Leo yet. The full story.

"People like me are... not supposed to exist. We're a mistake, the fact that we exist is a wrench thrown into the Natural order of that Universe. Descendants are a mix of Deity and human... In my case, the Deity of Fire and Transitions, is a Phoenix, The Phoenix. People, are not supposed to channel Magic through themselves, it is self-destructive. Neither our bodies nor our Souls are built to withstand it. But more than that, when a Concept is suddenly able to interact with the physical world; These two forces that were never supposed to meet this way... Well, then you get things like Entities and the Take-Over happening."


"No, Lucky. It won't and... I won't either.", he was trembling again, ever so slightly, "How old do you think I am? How much do you think I'll get to live? I said both Soul and body... Every time that it happens, It... spends my own time to live like fuel... Like a flame, or a battery, growing weaker and weaker... I won't get to live as much as other people will, eventually, it's all going to run out."", the shaking intensified, he seemed to be close to tears again, "And my only solace is that it may run out while I'm still myself..."


There was no holding it anymore, as tears not of fear, not of pain, but of pure joy began making their way downwards.

"N-need me...?", Sage knew he couldn't breakdown without risk, he couldn't just wail it out or crumble in place, so he held his free hand in fist and allowed just a small portion of it out as he cried silently, "I- ...I've... never been told that I was needed before..."


Orbeck, Weiss, Yang and even a soldier whose name he didn't know yet had also joined to say their own pieces. Notably shorter than the rest, but just as meaningful. Megumin and Lucky also had more to say after Leo's part. Before he could start crying even harder, the pyromancer had taken a deep breath and dried his tears on the jacket's sleeve. Instead of continuing to crumble, he worked out a gentle smile with gratitude, not that his eyes wouldn't try to water again.

"T-thank guys, I- I don't know if you can grasp how much this means to me, but, it does... Like, a whole ton...", he had lowered his gaze for a moment, in internal contemplation, and yet changed minds as soon as the rest of team RWBY had begun to leave, "Wait, Yang! I...", he took a deep breath again searching for some composure, "I don't hold it against you either, for back there in the train... Look, if there's anyone that can understand where you were coming from, that person... is me. I uh... I guess that we've both gotta reign some things in, don't we?", the pyromancer laughed softly, "Well, a good darn luck to us."

And that had been everything... It, had gone exceptionally better than anything his mind had been conjuring up. Now, yes, he felt that wave of relief people typically got after sharing difficult subjects. Now it was finally over. The others were scattering to go explore and he himself had gotten rather interested in the Missy's quest for... her hat? Actually, thinking about it again... She had been wearing a different hat all this time, hadn't she? ...Wow, that was embarrassing, the young man had really not realized that at all!
But first, there was something else that had been bothering him for a while...

"So uhhh, Orbeck?", he had glanced over at the sorcerer, unsure of how to go about things. Awkward as always, "Back at the, plane-thing, a-airship? You mentioned a powerful cleric and I've been wondering... That person wouldn't happen to be called Hershel now, would they?"

As soon as he got his answer he'd go after Megumin to help retrieve her actual pointy hat, which meant that he'd be a bit late given that the archmage was already running off after... is that a huge bird??!; But really, he just had to know this!!