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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[antemeridian]

[ ah, this feeling...

those who have paid attention to Homura will note that she's had a ring on her left hand's middle finger the whole time they've been in the castle, which she will quietly fiddle with and check on in during small, in between moments. it's such a small thing, such a small detail. it's so unnoticeable under normal circumstances (designed to be that way, even), that the absence of it, well— if you weren't aware of it, you might just forget what it was like to have access to it in the first place. her connection to magic isn't the same as it is for some of the others here, after all, who live and breathe it like forces of nature. for her, magic comes from herself, comes from the soul, and she's always had that here, the same as it ever was. not the magic, just her soul. not being able to pull on it was strange, but certainly, nothing had felt missing...

now, though, something does feel different. the sense of magic around her is one thing, but another is— well, might as well try it, like flexing experimentally a disused muscle, just to see that it still works. one step, a flare of violet flame. very briefly a pair of wings snaps out for a moment, only to vanish just as quickly as she dismisses them (not as pure white as they are in the gif, though not quite as blackened and eldritch as in this) to check on the diamond shaped gem at the back of her hand (somewhat dark. still gleaming, though. manageable).

... now that the adrenaline rush of doing is no longer needed, and compartmentalization in order to get things done is no longer required, it all comes crashing down on her. what now. ... what now. ]

I suppose we did it, didn't we? Somehow, despite whatever that was.

[ is the matter of the space time tear truly resolved? are they going to have to watch out for more of those things? where the fuck are ish and his goddess, she doesn't trust like that.

or, i guess, if you want to handwave things to a little later, Homura can be found wandering around in the gardens (in normal clothing, thank god. or if you really want she can still be in the magical girl outfit), staring up at the sky, or whiling away time with the spider lilies. make some conversation before they hit the road? ]

[diel]

I don't think we got to talk much outside of trial. Do you mind?

[ he's sitting on a branch of one of the sturdier trees in the garden. he twirls his finger and one of the reddish leaves pulls itself from the tree and dances for her. ]

[antemeridian]

I do not.

[ a hand cards through her hair, but otherwise she's placid, still. unbent and unbroken, as the world continues to spin on around her. ]

Would you like to relocate somewhere private, or is this location suitable?

[diel]

Here is fine. Are you coming up?

[ that’s a cute idea. ]

Though I politely ask that you sit on a different branch.

[ he still has that thing about dark-haired girls, sorry. ]

[antemeridian]

I could.

[ to both of those things, in fact. and while she could just climb up the normal way... for everything else that magic is and requires, it is, at times, convenient.

you get to decide whether she magical girl hopped her way up to a convenient branch a decent distance away from him, or if she used her wings to get up here. but regardless once she's situated on her new perch: ]

Is there something you wanted to ask me?

[ or is he just... meandering his way through everyone, and saying his goodbyes when he sees them? ]

[fourtuity]

[ Clover's so glad Lili and Homura were out of range, because really, she wouldn't have taken it well at all if something happened to them. She breathes out a sigh of relief. They made it out alive, despite whatever the heck those things were. ]

Yeah, we did it. We really did it, huh? I know there's a lot of stuff to do still, but...at least that's over.

[antemeridian]

We did. And yet. It seems... almost too easy, really. That it ended this way.

[ but perhaps the dead really did already handle the time distortion, over on their end? and perhaps letting this realm collapse after the last of them leaves neatly solves the problem of it trying to tear itself apart.

it's just that it happened so fast... can you believe it was only like one, two ic hours tops since the end of the carnival. the adrenaline crash is real.

(she's also glad Clover and Lili were, for the most part, fine. Clover, well. she was still standing, still swinging by the end of it. that's enough for the healers among them to be able to take care of. Homura would, if she were capable of it.) ]

Part of me is still waiting for the catch. [ ... ] I do not think it will be quieted until we've all returned to where we intend to be.

[fourtuity]

Ugh, definitely. I'm not believing things are really, really over until we all head to where we wanna go.

[ Home...not quite home yet, but there are some loose ends to tie up. At the very least she doesn't want to leave until she checks on everyone she likes. And of course that includes Homura, her main inspiration for (attempts at) staying calm.

She closes her eyes, slowly breathes out...and then raises her voice, as if making an announcement to the sky. ]

Ahhhhhh, I'm just so super glad we all made it out of that okay! I know you and Lili were far back, but that was still nerve-wracking as heck to think about!

[antemeridian]

It was a very crowded engagement, yes... I am a little surprised there weren't more near misses with people nearly hitting each other.

[ the ghost of Miki Sayaka, here to complain about feeling threatened by friendly fire. but anyway, Homura sure knows she was hard pressed to line up some of her shots sometimes.

between Richard being their obligate sword user, Vanis and Chara with their knives, Clover with her axe, and whatever the hell Blade was doing, nevermind the kebiishis' own weapons and their fun little pet skeletons. that's a lot of live steel flying around in a pretty hectic battlefield. ]

I am also glad we all made it out of that. Are you ... [ pause, rephrase. ] It seemed like you took quite the blow from one of them, partway through.

[ 'how are you doing now?' ]

gardens

[safetycheck]

[ She'd seen Homura's wings, the magic, and it's all so beautiful...just like Homura's soul. She has worked so hard. Honestly, the group would be in waaaay more shambles than it already is without her.

And as a fellow Primrose, it doesn't feel right to leave her without saying goodbye.

She approaches and gives her a little wave while Homura is looking up at the sky. ]

Do you know what you'll be doing now?

[antemeridian]

... I did mean what I said to Cain, earlier.

[ like. an hour, two hours ago, tops. can you believe that. she's probably sitting on a branch of one of the trees there, but she'll turn her attention to and nod at Lili in greeting when she waves. ]

The world is irredeemable. People aren't a monolith, or some shining ideal you can put on a pedestal to guard, and keep safe from all harm. If you try to do so, you will be disappointed, over and over again.

[ and then you will become jaded, and come to resent people. and then, you will succumb to your own black and white ideals, and spiral into a self-destructive cycle, at the end of which lies only—

well. not that, not anymore. it shouldn't be. she was real, the photography room— just an image. that wasn't real. ]

... but even so, 'there are a lot of things worth protecting too.' That was... I've...

[ ... ]

I've ... never really talked about her, have I?

[siffriend]

[ Hello, fellow timelooper!!!!!!!

...

Don't mind Siffrin's staring -- well, she should expect it with her display, but... it goes beyond that. So that's her color... She doesn't look too different, that's nice.

After he's had his fill though, he'll visit later and sit with her at the spider lilies.

(They're red, too. So many things are red.) ]

You fought well. I don't know how to use, um, a gun, but it seems hard to handle.

[antemeridian]

... They would have been somewhat less so if they were of more modern make. The ones here are— outdated, by a few hundred years. The technology and designs have greatly changed in that span of time.

[ hello, fellow timelooper. Siffin's allowed to stare. or, well. perhaps it's not that Siffrin's allowed, and simply that Homura isn't fussed by the attention from earlier.

(red, red, red. red like her ribbons, red like fate.) ]

As it is, though ... yes. It was indeed somewhat tiresome.

[siffriend]

[ Outdated by a few hundred years... Crazy. ]

Kinda like shooting a firework.

[ Right? Same principle, probably. ]

So. What's the deal with it? Your wings and stuff. It was really cool.

[antemeridian]

That's about what it is, yes.

[ good job Sif, you understand the basics of it. fireworks, but now make it weapon. ]

As for the wings... They're just a part of my magic. [ ... ] Well. Maybe not mine, exactly.

[ocenon]

[ ohio, homura. ]

... I'm not sure I completely understand what that all was. Especially since Norna didn't even seem to notice what had happened, from what Ayaka had said.

[ which, like?????????????? hello?????????????????? ]

[antemeridian]

[ nani the fuck, norna. ]

... Perhaps Yamanbagiri might know more, then?

Though... they somewhat reminded me somewhat of spiritual entities from my own world. We call them Wraiths.

[ocenon]

It might be worth asking. Especially if there's any sort of a risk of things leaking outside of the pocket dimension.

[ at least they're powered now, so they'd be able to handle it?? but still. ]

Are they spirits of those that've passed? Or something different?

[antemeridian]

Something different. They are more like ... the grief and curses of the world, given shape.

[ loud shrugging. she's actually not sure what they are, and it's not like any sources she could ask about them are likely to be reliable. this is the best she's got. ]

[coldseep]

( A familiar dragon of a more palatable size has watched that entire affair - the magic swelling; bursting; rippling out - and watches her for several long moments more after. )

It seems we did.

( In answer to her question.

A beat. )

... Will you be returning to keep your promise?

( The answer is yes. He expects as much. But, still - he's clingy. He can't simply see her without saying goodbye in some fashion, even if he's on the outs with two Primroses (and another two adopted Primroses) already. )

[antemeridian]

[ she's quiet for a moment, casting her gaze up to the sky for several long silences. the moment stretches long enough that it would be easy to assume that she doesn't want to speak to him, after the events of earlier.

eventually, it flickers over to the flowerbeds around the pagoda, where the spider lilies grow. ]

... What did I say my promise was, exactly?

[ her promise ... he doesn't know, does he?

that she is a broken shield, the mechanisms all rusted through. ]

[coldseep]

( He is patient, and he is trusting. He thinks that if Homura does not wish to speak with him, then she will make it clear soon enough - and if that is the verdict, then he can take waiting a little more to know.

He is happy that he receives an answer, in the end, even if the topic could be a less weighty one. )

... She asked you to stop all those things the two of you suffered from happening at all, right?

( Or ... something to that effect. Right? But he says this with some uncertainty, because it sounded like she felt she failed at this task - that in the end, what was done could not be undone - simply the way that it occurred - and, in the end, she had become a memory.

But Homura doesn't sound as if she'd conceded defeat, either. Does she still intend to try, or - was her promise of a different nature than he presumed? )

[baebladie]

[ If Homura takes the opportunity to spend time by the spider lilies, eventually, she will see Blade stop on by. ]

...They're still here.

But, that's not why you linger, is it?

[ Curious, that she chose this area specifically to spend a longer amount of time. ]

[antemeridian]

It is not.

[ Said simply. When she moves her head to glance slightly over at him it disturbs the ribbons in her hair, causing them to sway gently in the breeze. ]

I imagine you might be able to guess why.

[baebladie]

I do.

[ Their conversation from last week is easy to recall; about partings and the like. As everyone is heading back to their worlds - or elsewhere - it seems also relevant. ]

It won't be long before departure. Many of us won't see each other's faces until that one date.

[ And the flowers represent such partings - though, usually inclined towards permanent ones. He wonders if Homura expects it to be more than that then temporary. ]