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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Comments

[simulacres]

Well...

[ ayaka opens her mouth to answer that simple question and...

finds herself at a loss.

not because of a lack of reasons. the moment that the question was presented, a myriad of reasons floated to her head, each one of them more self-deprecating than the last. but none of those were something that she would be able to say without either being looked at like a weirdo or like she's ungrateful.

... ]

Don't think too much about it. It's a bad habit of mine, it seems.

[antline]

....Falsch did the same. He was an actor I knew. He beat himself up a lot because he thought things wouldn't go his way. He got drunk a lot, too.

[He purses his lips, thoughtful. He misses Falsch - a man who thought he was made to be underground forever, like a mole.]

...I think I might understand it. You did something wrong. But that doesn't mean you can't...acknowledge that what we have is something to be happy about.

[simulacres]

I don’t really drink, but… I get it.

[ ayaka sighs, looking up at sariel with a somewhat hesitant expression. ]

You’re right. I’m happy for everyone being back… I didn’t know what to do when Norna said that she didn’t know how to do any of that and that she was just going to take Ish away. So I’m glad we got to solve it, even if it was a little ridiculous.

[antline]

I'm glad we could solve it, too. I believe most of us have something outside of this world...we want to go back to, or look for. Or maybe we have found something to keep living for.

[A little huff.]

Do you have something to keep living for, Ayaka?

[simulacres]

…

[ … ]

I’m not sure. [ saying saber doesn’t sound quite right, as it sounds like she’ll be some heartbroken maiden when he eventually returns to the throne. and while a part of her still wishes for a solitude equivalent to disappearance… ]

I just… don’t want to die. [ it’s as simple as that. there’s nothing heroic about it— just a girl trying to survive. ] And if I die, I want to die fighting.

[antline]

Living for living's sake...I guess that makes sense. But as far as I know...people have a purpose. Or a goal.

[To live listlessly, with no role, no reason. Can someone really do that?]

cw passive suicidal ideation

[simulacres]

I’m not as brave or as driven as you guys. Honestly, before coming here, I don’t think I really cared if I lived or died in the first place.

[ she smiles bitterly, ashamed to even admit that about herself. she doesn’t add that, at that time, she would have most likely preferred to disappear all together, but she wouldn’t be surprised if sariel made the leap anyway.

she looks to the side, unable to meet sariel in the eyes. ]

If I manage to survive the war, then… I guess that’s a nice thing to look forward to. Finding a reason to live for.

[antline]

...

[He sort of felt that way too for a long, long while. And then the Deputy Head came, in all his glory. He hitched his being to him like one would attach a string to a star.]

Why not now? Why let a war get in the way of that?

[simulacres]

Because I don't really know what's going to happen after. And I don't want my entire reason to live to be tied to Saber.

[ because if they survive, then he'll eventually leave back to the throne. and if that's the case, then it's on her to find something else that gives her meaning. ]

[antline]

Is that a bad thing? To be tied to him?

[He, too, is tied to someone else. Another, now.]

[simulacres]

I don’t know. [ she answers honestly. ] I’m happy right now, but…

[ hmm… how to put it. ]

He’ll… probably have to go back to where he came from very soon. And once he leaves, I don’t think we’ll see each other again.

[ it’s just the way things are. she’s not happy with them but… she can’t complain either. at the end of the day, she ended up being given the miracle of extra time… and that’s as good as it will have to be. ]

[antline]

...I don't know if I will ever see the Deputy Head again. He might be stuck in the rainbow for eternity.

[It seems like a drastic change of topic, but he continues.]

I still...care for him, no matter how far away he is. I hope you do the same. I'm sure Richard will want that.

[simulacres]

I don't think I could ever forget him if I tried.

[ there's probably a lot of questions to be had there. 'why is the deputy head stuck in a rainbow?' being one of the main ones. ]

But I think... finding my own reason, separate from Richard, is probably what he would also want. That doesn't mean that I won't care about him. I think it's probably the opposite?

[ quite the opposite, actually. she's quite certain that what richard would want is for her to live as freely as possible and hanging onto his loss would only hinder that. no, the best thing to do... would be to use the life that he helped protect for something that he would be proud of. ]

[antline]

I see.

[What an odd concept. To find one's own reason, instead of letting someone else dictate it...]

I hope it works out for you, Ayaka.