https://i.imgur.com/v8feEgH.png
They too, are ready.
To bring an end to this nightmare.
So when their bodies are immobilized by the Azure Starlight, they do not fight.
So when their center is touched by Inverted Heart, they do not dodge it.
Instead, they embrace it all.
https://i.imgur.com/wofYqh1.png
And in that moment, the combined powers, souls and Truths blossom.
The Hand That Inverts Real - it makes Metaphysical purely physical for just a moment.
The Strings That Bring Control - they grab a hold of the insidous, darkened venom and choke it, ripping it away from the two, roots and all.
Together, they pry the doors open and rip away the Serpent that has been hiding in hearts of both lions.
They drag it out into the sunlight and expose it for what it truly is.
There is no escape for the Darkness, for the Madness.
Through the Dualism of Two, the World Egg has already been switched around.
Outside becomes In.
Inside becomes Out.
And the strands of starlight chain the Serpent of Thought into rooted reality, leaving it for all to see!
They fall...
They fall...
They fall...!
But where they fall, it is the manifestation of the Soul, the Soul of the Brothers Lionheart.
Their reality.
And is there, that they must deal the final blow to the serpent.
For whereas Prushka's arche has inverted the internal and external.
And whereas Hisa's arche has bound even the metaphysical under her control.
It still lives.
--- And now it is up to them.
https://i.imgur.com/qgfTwCP.png
It was a massive creature that emerged from the darkness of the of the Precipice - without seemingly having an end to it. An actual monstrous serpent, the brainwashing and mental orders given physical form, just like the rest of the things in this world. This was the thing that had so deeply burrowed into the psyche of both Pyry and Ahti and made sure they could never lead normal lives.
And while it was now tightly imprisoned by the azure strings, it was still very much alive.
Breathing. Watching. Waiting.
Coiled around a pillar of stone, hewn of many colours and with multitude of holes in it. Holes through which Hisa and Prushka could see something wondrous...
The shining, blazing sun. And the shining, glowing moon.
Bright and desperate to flee.
Almost like...
"Did you know?"
Suddenly, a voice - gentle and jovial - spoke aloud in the vastness of space.
"In Finnish mythology, the evil witch Louhi steals the sun and the moon from the sky to torment the heroes. She binds them to her otherworldly mountain, Sariola, deep within. On a beautiful island in the middle of a lake, into a pillar of stone and under a hundred locks," the voice continued. "Within that pillar, great serpents feast with poison and guard the sun and the moon, in case the heroes would try to steal them back."
A laugh. A beautiful laugh, a kind laugh... but also sickening.
"I wonder... is it, then, fate that their souls would take this form? Or perhaps it is mere coincidence? In either way, it's quite amusing, is it not? A sun and a moon... very fitting, I'd say. Poetic, even."
And then, they saw it.
Standin there, in the shadows of the massive stone pillar and the even larger serpent.
A thin man with a gentle face and a frail body - and with a smile on his face.
https://i.imgur.com/Vzvya1H.png
"What do you two think?"
For one of them, that man was familiar. Prushka had seen him before. A shadow in the heart of Ahti Jalopeura, the one responsible for his suffering. A figment of memory, of imagination, and a trauma that did not let go of the young man. He was as much reality as he was merely a scar in his heart, fear of something that would never leave him alone. And now he was here, in this place. As if he had been waiting for them.
For the other, the man himself was not familiar. However, the moment Hisa laid eyes on that beautiful face, she understood what he was. Certain things never leave our minds, our souls. The happiest memories... and the worst. This was a trauma. Not only of Ahti, but also of Pyry. A man so horrifying that he had left deep, deep wounds into the hearts of both, ones that might never heal. And he, without a doubt... was the source of the venom that controlled their minds.
The ultimate cause of all this suffering and pain.
And he seemed to find laughter in that thought.
"Speaking of which... I wonder if congratulations are in order?"
He, exhibiting no powers or abilities, not even equipment of Turnside, faced both Hisa and Prushka.
The regal girl still clad in her Fiction Body.
And the girl still holding onto her crackling Arche.
Yet, he seemed none too worried.
"So, accept this applause, from Dr. Utujoutsi."
He clapped his hands together without any signs of sarcasm.