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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[antline]

...Hm?

[A surprise offer. He stares for a moment.]

If you wish. You don't have to, though...

[siffriend]

I'd like to show you how I usually Craft things. Stay here.

[ They'll scurry off, quick as can be, and will return a few minutes later with a small block of wood.

Notably, the blade they bring out isn't themselves or any other traditional carving knife from the castle, but a gently curving dagger. ]

Do you want an ant? Or something that reminds you of me?

[antline]

[Oh there goes Siffrin. Oh, here comes Siffrin. The knife is new, and he gives it a quizzical look.]

Something that reminds me of you. I already have an ant.

[#logical]

[siffriend]

Okay.

[ Then, in that case....
They don't mark the wood like they did with Sariel before, starting to whittle it down. ]

... This is my weapon, back in my world. Scissor Craft users like myself use it as our "medium". I've had this dagger for as long as I've been traveling.

[ (Maybe longer. It isn't like you remember where you got it.) ]

[antline]

[Huh, a weapon. People have all sorts of weapons. He's seen guns, knives, swords, gadgets...bomb barrels for sharks.]

I have a weapon, too. It's a scythe.

[Just to say that.]

Scissor Craft...it's not scissors, though.

[siffriend]

[ Good old bomb barrels. ]

No, but it's a blade. You'd use Scissor Craft, too.

[ (Just like you!) ]

[antline]

Huh.

[A beat.]

What about a shotgun?

[siffriend]

[ (Huh.)

Siffrin thinks.

... ]

Paper, maybe...? Since they usually focus on support.

[antline]

Paper...?

[Does a shotgun have paper involved....]

Can you learn...other Crafts?

[siffriend]

[ Gun are a little hard to categorize, but... Siffrin's going off what they've seen. ]

Yeah, but it's really hard. Takes... years, decades, to figure out how to work the other ones when they aren't the ones you're born "talented" at. Some people, like Mira, have two they're really good at, but Odile is so smart and old, she's learned how to use Rock and Scissor Crafts too. In her own way.

[ ... ]

I... can, too. Since I've been looping so long. With Paper and Rock.

[ But it's said quietly, almost ashamed. ]

[antline]

...

[Looping. Yes. He thinks he heard about it too, before. Chara and Homura and Siffrin, too, they brought it up, had experience with it.]

[He can detect that change in emotion, and raises a hand, putting it on Siffrin's shoulder.]

Thank you for helping us with what you know. [A beat.] I guess it's also good that we don't have any loops here, anymore.

[siffriend]

[ Siffrins




doesn't flinch away? Not as much, anyway. Huh.

Maybe touch therapy has been working out here. ]

Yeah. Though, we would've kept getting stronger and stronger, according to Yaman. So it's kind of like I've been boosted even more.

[ (If you had to put a number to it, then...

... You guess you're probably closer to 90, now.) ]

But, um. I know what it's like, being... in the first loop, still. Even if it's been a while. So I wanted to be able to help, however I could.

[antline]

Ah.

[The hand goes back to his lap. Sorry, Siffrin. He doesn't mean to startle. Be not afraid...]

Mm. I think with you, Chara, and Homura, we had a very good idea of...what to do. Sometimes its very scary not...knowing.

[...]

How did you get into that loop?

[siffriend]

[ (... No, you--)

Siffrin is taking Sariel's hand and putting it on their head. There. ]

Raha has an idea but I don't like it so I'm gonna figure it out.

[antline]

[Oh.]


[Oh. Okay. He pats it. Pat pat pat.]

Why don't you like it?

[siffriend]

Because then I'm the reason they're stuck.

[ And who wants that?




The headpats are the only thing keeping him from crashing out rn. ]

[antline]

Hm.

[Still not getting it, but he's continuing the patting, helpful.]

I don't want you to be upset.

[siffriend]

[ Better that he doesn't. The patting is so, so nice. ]

Then let's set it aside. Tell me about something you like instead, and I'll listen while I work.

[ ... ]

Tell me about ants. I think they're fun to watch, but I never thought hard about it.

[antline]

[Oh, ants. He can do that - finally, something he's good at, he feels.]

I did some reading on them. They work in a hive. There is one queen, who they all serve. She releases pheromones to help direct them all. They recognize each other by scent, and by using their...antennae. The little feelers on their head.

[siffriend]

So that's why they're always going.

[ Always moving around... The animal's body starts to take shape, small and slender, with a long, fluffy looking tail. ]

What happens when they meet other ants? That don't smell like them.

[antline]

It depends. Mostly, there are fights. Ants fight over...food. Territory. Resources. Sometimes, if there is no threat, they leave them be.

[He's peering over at the fluffy tail.]

But that doesn't happen often.

[siffriend]

[ (Ants are surprisingly smart for such little guys.

Just like you!) ]

They kinda remind me of bees. They have a queen, too, but bees dance to communicate. It's fun to watch.

[antline]

I would like to see the dances up close. But they get mad if you do that.

[The stings. :(]

Ants are a little more agreeable, though. They don't seem to mind people watching.

[siffriend]

[ The stings... ]

They don't. I guess bees might be shyer, or... they aren't used to people, so they don't know how to act around them.

[ ... ]

I've heard... that if you treat the bees as friends, and you clean their nests when they start to overfill... then they'll remember your face, and they won't sting you anymore. It might take a while, but... I think bees would like to be our friends, too. They just don't know how.

[antline]

They remember faces? They have such small eyes, though...

[But it makes sense. They, too, need to figure things out, just like him.]

The animal world is very mysterious. But I think bees...do a lot of good work.