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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[arbalestrier]

[Once they're back, he gets directed to the container with their personal belongings and he makes a beeline for it. Digging through the mess, he grabs a number of items that a Japanese high schooler definitely shouldn't have, such as a few grenades, more knives, a five-shot revolver and several spare magazines. Last but not least, he takes out a semi-automatic pistol and starts examining it right then and there. You might have to tell him to get out of the way if you're looking for your own stuff...

After that, he stays in the garden, apparently fiddling with the mascot costume. There's a robotic-sounding voice coming from the headpiece while Sousuke fiddles around with it (while outside of the body of the costume, thankfully). If you end up glancing over for whatever reason, Sousuke will look up from what he's doing.]

Are you interested in purchasing one?

[Surely something like this would be useful even in other worlds... right?]

[siffriend]

[ Siffrin had ducked into the bin to gather what few things belonged to them, including a silver coin (precious, always with you) and a dagger, but the meat of this is...

... will be the costume. Sousuke's a range of earthy colors, and the mascot is. Something. Very nice colors. ]

... Yeah. How much?

[arbalestrier]

Its retail price is fifty thousand dollars US. But I don't mind discounting that if it's too much.

[Or rather, does Siffrin even know what a US dollar is...?]

[siffriend]

[ (You have no idea what a US dollar is.




But that is a large amount of them.) ]

I'd like to use it to make my kid smile. What's the discount looking like?

[arbalestrier]

I can give you one for free. But the rest of my stock is back home, so I can't retrieve it right now.

[Not unless he struck a deal with Ish, anyway. And he's not keen on that.]

If we're able to meet up another time, I can hand one over to you then.

[siffriend]

[ (Oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!) ]

Thanks. I'll hopefully be done with my loop troubles by then, so Bonnie can experience the wonders of oversized mascot characters.

[arbalestrier]

[It'd only been two weeks ago, but it feels like it's been a lot longer than that. At the time, Sousuke had still been grappling with the idea that magic existed, so this definitely serves as something of a reminder for him. Although, that begs at least one question.]

I didn't realize you had a child. You can't see them until you're finished?

[siffriend]

No, Bonnie's with us right now. We're taking care of them until their sister's unfrozen. I just thought, maybe... they'd find it funny.

[ Fumoffu. Such a cute noise. Also, please... let this be the best implication that Bonnie is not Siffrin's kid by flesh and blood, ]

[arbalestrier]

I see.

[Clearly Siffrin has two kids--okay no, he gets it.]

I've been mobbed by children while wearing this suit, so I think they'd like it.

[The fumoffu stamp of approval...??]

[antemeridian]

... You are Japanese. And not much older than me, if I recall.

How exactly do you have those, actually?

[ like, she knows how she got them, once upon a time. and she could in theory try to do the same again, except without time stop, she'd show up on security cameras and sensors and cctv. which is to say her method was extremely illegal. ]

[arbalestrier]

[At this juncture, he realizes secrecy is pretty pointless when they all hail from very different worlds, even if they might have similarities.]

I purchase them from various arms dealers I met during my time overseas. Using my personal connections, I smuggle them into the country. The organization I belong to also provides me with the equipment required to complete my missions.

[So yeah, what he's doing is also pretty illegal...]

[antemeridian]

... Do you ever have trouble finding places to store it all?

[ or does the organization he belongs to also handle that for him... ]

[arbalestrier]

No. I have separate storehouses around the city, although I keep enough with me in case of an emergency.

[Sometimes shootouts just happen!!]

[antemeridian]

I see.

[ wow, seems convenient. ]

I do not have quite the same luxury as you in regards to that, I am afraid. Still ... it would be nice, to have something familiar.

[ just in case she needs something and can't rely on magic! though how the hell she's going to acquire more ammo if she somehow runs through a clip or mag or whatever it is that she's gotta use on whatever she hypothetically picks up is still a mystery. liberal usage of memory editing magic, maybe. ]

Exactly how much would you be charging for them, though, considering we do not exactly have access to money here?

[arbalestrier]

[He does recall the mention of guns on her plaque, so he doesn't blink an eye at her asking. Even so, it is worth some degree of scrutiny if someone is asking to buy weapons off him.]

That depends on what you're asking for. But why do you need it?

[antemeridian]

They work just as well as other weapons when used against the monsters born of humanity's curses.

[ completely even, dead serious. ]

Consider it ... hm. Magic is convenient. Very much so. [ and she might demonstrate, if he wants to ask, but for now: ] But if there's at least one thing that might be taken away from this place, then it's that magic is not always something that can be relied on.

[arbalestrier]

[His brow furrows just a little at the mention of curses and monsters, if only because it sounds absurd upon hearing it. Even so, these four weeks were also absurdity incarnate (at least to him), and the fact that Homura is saying it gives the statement more weight.

So he considers it, although he still doesn't grasp the limitations and mechanics of magic.]

I don't entirely understand, but I agree that contingencies are important. [...] Can you tell me more about those monsters?

[antemeridian]

[ ah, time to talk like she's from a jrpg. or maybe just a chuuni. ]

I can try, though without prior awareness of them it will sound absurd. But they are called "Wraiths," and they are beings that most people can't see. They roam at night, cloaked in the chilling miasma that follows [ or heralds? which comes first, really... ] their presence.

Wraiths prey on people. To be more precise ... they consume the metaphorical heart. Good emotions, bad emotions; the people who have had their hearts eaten by wraiths end up hollow— there isn't anything left of their ability to feel or want.

[ it's all very kingdom hearts. ]

[littlegentleman]

[Junior really isn't sure he should engage, but in the end, his curiosity gets the better of him. Maybe it's just that it's familiar--several guns in that bin were his own. A switchblade, too. He watches silently as Sousuke re-arms himself before finally speaking up.]

I never did ask...who do you work for?

[It was almost funny--after all, Sousuke had asked Ish the same question, when they'd all first arrived. Or remembered arriving, rather.]

[arbalestrier]

[He doesn't look particularly fazed at the approach, and there's no judgment at the guns and blade. Honestly, Sousuke had been meaning to have a talk after Ish revealed the results of the vote, but between everything that had happened post-trial and Junior's lack of responsiveness immediately after, there just wasn't the opportunity.

There isn't any hesitation as he answers, because he doesn't anticipate that Junior will recognize it.]

Mithril. We specialize in counterterrorism operations and military intervention for regional conflicts.

[littlegentleman]

[Sure enough, Junior doesn't recognize the organization. Fair's fair, so he responds in turn.]

I'm with the British Library's Special Operations Division. It's supposed to be an anti-terrorist organization as well.

[Well, he'd found out a lot about their goals, lately. "Supposed" was definitely the keyword.]

[arbalestrier]

[Sousuke was familiar with the various components of the UK's armed forces, but this was a new one. It was always possible that something similar existed and he simply didn't know about it because it was well-protected or new enough that information hadn't spread. He's not necessarily looking to force Junior to divulge classified information, but since it was brought up...]

Do they have other objectives?

[safetycheck]

[ Yo, Sousuke. She's been wanting to say goodbye to him, but uh. Well. He's approaching her with an offer...to buy.......a gun......... ]

No, unfortunately not. [ "unfortunately" ] It's not something that's been introduced in my homeland, and I don't think I'd like it to end up there, either.

[ Those are your thing, Sousuke! She'll stick with her bow and arrow strategy. Jokingly, she scoffs. ]

Always business with you, isn't it?

[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.