Epilogue

[lesmodsalouette]

EPILOGUE

Your stopped time has restarted. Whether you were in the grassy field or fighting for your life on the castle grounds, you'll suddenly find yourself in an untouched area of the gardens. Ish is back, and so are the items, and the dead.

You return to Chateau Ambregris with the certain knowledge that come Monday, you will greet a new week, in a home of your own choosing. No longer will the chime of the clocks hunt you down, no longer will the oppressive scent of roses haunt your senses, no longer will you be forced to watch the death of those you've come to love and hate.

Parting is such a bittersweet sorrow, isn't it?

Make merry one last time, in this castle of illusions. Ironically, your memories of this stolen time that never existed are the one thing that will truly remain to you.

END NOTES

🔮 All dead are revived as tsukumogami! Congrats on your immortality(?)
🔮 Any other contracts made with Ish will be honored
🔮 Characters may choose to leave for any world they desire.
🔮 Time has not passed while you were stuck in this loop!
🔮 There will be no cross-dimensional world travel, except for on Samhain (Witches New Year October 31st/November 1st). On these dates, Ish will enable everyone to visit each other's world freely.
🔮 Universal Communication will be possible, courtesy of Manba and Ish. Everyone who wants one will be given a small fox that can communicate with other foxes through voice and video; the foxes can talk and are fairly simple creatures, enjoy them and give them fried tofu once in a while.
🔮 Powers are on for the finale, but Ish will step in and yeet anyone who gets too out of hand back to their homeworld, so play nice! (or relatively nice. )

[OOC: Welcome to your epilogue! The timeloop is ended, the evil has been defeated, and you have some time to catch your breath in the castle before the rest of your life begins! ]

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[calamitish]

He won't.

[ he knows that in his bones. ]

But even if he did, I wouldn't mind.

[antline]

[He tilts his head.]

Are you not afraid to die?

[allrounder]

[ Swatting at his hand just means that G'raha grasps at theirs instead. His now. ]

I find your quick wit impressive, charming, and something worth adoring, Siffrin.

[siffriend]

[ His forever, if he'd like. ]

... "My Siffrin".

[allrounder]

[ Ah. He should amend his statement, huh? ]

I find your quick wit impressive, charming and something worth adoring, my Siffrin.

[ That's much better, he thinks. ]

[calamitish]

I've died plenty of times before! But that's not your question really, right?

If I could die and make him happier in doing so, then I would without a single regret. But I think if he heard me say that, he'd bite me really hard.

[ he casts a glance over wherever hwylryn is, which is not too far away. ]

[antline]

...

[He has learned so much about love and relationships in the last 4 weeks and everything is contradictory and he really just has to sigh out a:]

Love is very confusing.

[calamitish]

The heart isn't a simple thing! And everyone loves in different ways.

What about you? Have you found love?

[antline]

....Yes. I have.

[He's so unsure but yet...he is sure. Somehow, he can be confident in that.]

[arbalestrier]

[Okay but if he told her he was trying to sell her one of the mascot power suits, would she say yes--

Well anyway, he's perfectly fine with whatever answer, honestly. He doesn't know enough about her home to claim it would be useful to her anyway.]

Affirmative. I'm a professional, after all.

[There isn't a hint of pride or arrogance in that statement; it comes out like he's simply presenting a fact to her.]

Although I don't usually advertise or solicit sales myself.

[arbalestrier]

[The loophole thing is interesting, but--]

That wasn't what I meant. I was referring to how you got us here to begin with.

[He can't imagine that being someone else's wish, unless it had to do with swapping places to escape the game.]

[calamitish]

Hwylryn, if you turned into a rock I would turn into one too.

[ that wasn't the main takeaway from everything that's been sad, but it's what he clings to. ]

I hadn't heard her voice in so long and now I never will again. I have all the powers she once had, but part of me feels so empty. She was my everything even if she wouldn't even give me a name.

[ he closes his eyes, drops falling on his cheeks. ] .

...if I didn't have you, I would have let her take me. I pushed back against her, even though part of me wishes I didn't.

I love you, so please...stay with me. You're the only one who understands.

[arbalestrier]

[Thanks fox buddy, that explains a lot.

All right, that was a lie. It doesn't explain anything because how the fuck does a fox do anything but taste test. Yamanbagiri's endorsement helps a little (you definitely have his attention when its viability on the battlefield is mentioned), but that comes with a host of other questions.]

Displays? [Maybe they carry around tablets or something. More importantly:] How do you ensure that the enemy doesn't intercept your communications?

[coldseep]

( Whether it be stretched out across the hedges, gazebos, flowers, orchids, or pond, Hwylryn, at this particular juncture, is sprawled out in dragon form, sunning himself and happily munching on fruit that he lazily floats over to himself.

He catches Ish's gaze when he glances over, having a particular instinct for these things, and he stretches and half exposes his tummy, like he's inviting Ish to come curl up with him in the sun. His jaw flexes coyly, flirtatiously, teeth bright and sharp in the sun, but maybe it's just coincidence he does that, given the topic.

But Ish is on the job (probably), so he'll let Ish off with a warm brush of sea breeze against his cheeks before closing his eyes in the sun again. )

[calamitish]

[ this isn't work, so he's coming over to give hwylryn a tummy rub ASAP-

-except no, he can't abandon sariel like this. he'll be over as soon as he's done. in return for the seabreeze, the sun will shine on hwylryn a little warmer and the fruit from the orchids will be a little sweeter. hwylryn will feel the golden glow of his magic even if he doesn't open his eyes. ]

[coldseep]

( Ah... it's so normal for him to speak of mana stones - he feels so used to thinking of his own death - that he hadn't thought... how that might feel to Ish, especially in his moment of loss.

It must have hurt at least as much as it hurts Hwylryn now to hear that a part of Ish wishes he'd let her erase him. )

... I'm not going anywhere. ( He holds him even tighter, as if to anchor them both. ) I'm sorry I scared you.

( A kiss pressed to Ish's hair - shh, shh... )

I won't turn to stone. Not ever. So don't you disappear on me. And when it gets hard, I'll hold you, just like this. ( A kiss, again. ) We'll never be alone again. All right?

( And if it ever gets too hard, for Ish, or Junior... then the three of them can depart together. That's what Hwylryn would like to believe. They won't leave a single one behind - though, he'd prefer it if they all remained alive.

But those are plans for one day; not now. Not when they haven't even yet begun. )

... So... thank you for staying here with me.

( For pushing back. If Norna had returned and Ish was gone, then... those plans for one day would have had to become plans for now, he thinks. Not a single one left behind.

A kiss, a kiss, a kiss, stroking his hair. Cry if you need to; but, don't mourn him. He isn't gone. He won't be. Do you feel him? )

... Why wouldn't she name you?

[coldseep]

( :(.... The way Hwylryn's head lowers, he certainly feels really sad to hear that. )

... Do you have to?

( his tone like 🥺 )

[distain]

No, and I doubt I'll ever get sick again.

[It's... strange to say that. Objectively, being free of the Blue Star Curse frees her from the ugly inheritance of her father's genetic disease. The strangeness of it, though, leaves Andrew feeling a little unmoored, and it comes through in her voice.]

As long as this toy endures, so will I.

[She pulls the capybara a little more beneath her arm, holding it almost too tightly.]

[coldseep]

( Ah... He feels sad, for Sariel. His hearts aches for him, just as it had before he'd done all these things to him - even though he's the source of Sariel recalling such a miserable part of his life.

What he doesn't expect is for Sariel to extend that kindness back to him, despite everything.

Hwylryn is quiet for a few moments, before Sariel finds what tears he's failed to wipe away drifting from his face - and dispersing into the air. )

... I think I've seen it here. ( Has been given it, even - from so many people. ) But I was scared of it. The dark is all I've known.

( He's scared of a lot of things that are unfamiliar to him, deep down. Maybe it was so easy for him to twist into the mirror of Gwawlyn as he is because his heart was the fragile one between them. )

... Have you experienced kinder, here?

[coldseep]

( Hwylryn listens with interest in this foreign tradition that has been offered to him. It is strange to consider the worship of gods in relation to himself - he, who has been worshiped as a god in passing, as an avatar of the skies and ocean; he, who is of nature's weave. He supposes it is of human nature to look to the aspects of all things and bargain with it for safety and strength.

But he had not considered that there is something that could be learned from the principles of worship. Several thousand years of living, and he realizes now he had simply shrugged much of it off as a human oddity.

The idea of change as something inevitable and grand - something to find awe in, than to simply know as truth. He seems to consider this perspective. )

... That sounds fun. ( Hwylryn back at it with the simplified vocabulary. But he likes it when life is simple. ) The landscape of the earth and sea change pretty often. The same places I've known will be gone after just a few years, whether it's thanks to the elements, or because of the creatures within it.

( It's hard to gauge what "a few years" is to Hwylryn, but the point mostly stands. He makes a sound - with his vocal chords proper; it's deep and resonates like a piano played - thoughtful. )

... I wonder when I began to think of myself as static. I'm an element of nature, too.

( It is not so much a triumphant declaration so much as a statement of contemplation. It's not strange that he has - the world changes so quickly, and he's felt left behind; so slow to change that it seemed to him he's not changed at all, anchored by grief, anchored by isolation.

Hmmm. )

Do you wish for change, too?

( He knows Siffrin isn't fully happy with the way things are - or were - at least, back home. He doesn't know what he's missed of them in the graveyard, and conversations since their return. But it doesn't sound like Siffrin ascribes to this particular ideology, either. )

[coldseep]

( Hwylryn gazes at Blade, his palpable intent - it cuts sharp as his sword across the gulf between them, though he would not count on that gulf existing for long.

Hwylryn exists as an element of nature, but, even so, Blade hardly feels weak to him.

It's really too bad. He would have liked to fight him like this, with the same viciousness, but on better terms.

Still, Hwylryn does not move. The floating fruit, mid air, simply seems to hang there, bobbing in place. )

Hello, again. I see you've found your resolve.

( Gently, the fruit float aside, as if tucked away for a future snack, and the wind blows - still sunny; still soft. But it does shift. )

I did as I needed to do to keep the promises I made to live.

( But he thinks Blade understands this about him already. )

I see you've chosen to live, too. I hope your heart can bear it, when others come for you, just as you come for me.

( They're not so different, he feels. There will come a day - if that day has not come already - where Blade will trample upon others to hold fast to what makes him happy.

Such is the cost of living. It's only that Hwylryn has chosen to learn how to make peace with it. )

[frostlight]

[She doesn't answer right away, opting to watch and take measure of him first.]

. . . Yeah. You did.

[Despite her terseness, she speaks truthfully. She has no love for the carnivals as a whole, but Hwylryn's question is telling of what sets the both of them apart from their human guests. Of course, he'd seen it as a game—a bet he'd made in order to determine his lot in life, no matter how extreme his school of thought.]

So? Has winning changed anything for you?

[coldseep]

( The answer doesn't surprise him, knowing what he knows of G'raha, but he had considered that G'raha might be more reticent to give it - that, perhaps, he'd have found his resolve challenged, and needed a postponement. He would have been okay with that.

But that G'raha proceeds is remarkable, as ever. Would that he have such resolve. Maybe one day - if he does well and truly change. If it's still possible, for someone like him. )

. . . I would like that. If I think on it now... it's true that there doesn't exist a part of the land that never changes.

( And, as a part of nature, he should remain in motion, shouldn't he? )

I'll only hope I don't exhaust my mortal companions before they see a river split the land into a canyon.

( With time. Maybe longer than is fair to ask for, but such as it is.

If anything, though, and to G'raha's credit: )

. . . I don't feel as if I've learned nothing from you, for what it's worth. ( Even before the murders - let's set aside that. ) I think things that may seem small to you have been, at times, revolutionary to me.

( So not all changes, he thinks, are invisible - and maybe this doesn't change the acrid taste of what their friendship finally became.

But it might be worse to feel that nothing came of it but a bloody end. He wonders if it feels better for G'raha to know he had begun to teach him something, even if the conclusion Hwylryn drew from the equation was wrong. )

I think I learn a little bit with each conversation, things I haven't gotten just from passing humans on shore... even as we speak now.

[coldseep]

( He seems happy, genuinely happy, for her assessment - he could whip up a tornado about her, but he'll be good and spare her the theatrics. The air that flows about them, though, is suddenly much warmer, and the way he articulates in the air flares with delight. yay tiamat praise!!!!!!!!!!!!

He can't help it. Her demeanor resembles Gwawlyn and Balthazar enough that her words hold particular weight. )

Mmhm. It gave me a lot to think about.

( The tears finally dry, like a raincloud passed by to reveal the sun. It's a difficult topic, still - he's lost friends, and even the act of doing it has run great cracks along his heart.

But it did help him, in the end. Though that's not an answer he thinks most want to hear. )

I've been worried about the same sorts of things for such a long time. ( Clearly. He cried about Gwawlyn on their first meeting, and how long ago had Gwawlyn died? ) But doing this, I think . . . forced me out of that mire. Not all of it, but enough. I wish I didn't have to do it this way, but . . . I'm glad that I did it, in the end.

At the very least, I think I'll try living.

( Maybe he'll even get to pay Akira and Mithra a visit in the future . . . Ah, he'll feel bad, after what he asked of Mithra, but? He does miss them. )

Has your time in the other gardens changed anything for you? Are you going home soon?

( Not too soon, he hopes. )

[siffriend]

It sounds like a hassle.

[ Haha... ha. So no, in essence. At least. Maybe not like that. ]

There's someone I hate very, very much, who hurt someone I love. I thought he wanted to change, so I wanted to give him that chance, and he used it to--

[ (you see a flash of brightness in mind you see a hand reach out and grab someone small you see)

Siffrin inhales harshly. ]

... To betray our expectations, and intended to kill that someone to "teach me a lesson" about stopping him short of victory. [ (you don't know if you can face him again but you have to) ] I looped back before it happened, but it still did in that timeline no one remembers. Not even him.

[ It's a stark contast to many other conversations, pulled away from themselves and focus remained on the person before them. But therein lies the reason they mention it at all:

Because Siffrin, cautious as can be, believes Hwylryn better than the person who'd betrayed their hope.

... Another step forward, and like the apparent nonsequitors Hwylryn had given as bits of stories before, so does Siffrin branch off of this. ]

I was set to travel... well, just to... wander, after we saved the country. I'm... scared, of never seeing my family members again, of losing them like I did my home. [ (Orphaned by the world, you recall.) ] They all have something they want to do, and I don't. No plans, no thoughts, just... back to being on my own.

... But Raha offered me a future, [ pained as Siffrin sounds about it; it can't ease the grief they feel about their family members entirely, but it helps a little. to know he does. ] So... even if it's a hassle, even if... I'm scared, and it's hard... I want to step forward.

[ But Siffrin also sincerely wants to break the cycle and fails, too. Again, it cannot erase nor ease everything entirely -- but it helps, a little. And maybe that help will make it easier to try something different one of these loops, once Siffrin's certain, once they know. ]