08 - epilogue

[afflictionmods]

EPILOGUE

So.

Juniper is dead. Lorelei and Florence are alive. And the rest of you, thankfully, are also alive and kicking.

The building is kind of a mess right now, and a lot of the citizens are in kind of disarray, confused and uncertain of what exactly is going on in the Camellia tower. Things are a bit of a mess right now, but what matters is that you’ve stopped things. The cycle of these experiments, suppression – it’s over.

Your markings are still here, however. You are free to try and figure that out, too (though the answer is, indeed, quite simple with the "B" toggle, and may be hand waved). Other than that, though, everything seems to be...stabilized. As good as they can be, anyway. Lorelei and Florence are around, for any last conversations. When you emerge, the sun is out, perhaps brighter than usual – though whether that’s because of joy from the citizens or confusion is anyone’s guess – and some of you are covered in blood, but you are here.

And you are ready to finally, finally return home.

---

(OOC: For anyone who's willing, Lorelei will be able to configure tablets to synch up with the portal here at Estelline. From there, they will be able to world hop to someone else's world; so the Estelline portal is now a hub, of sorts. It's not a direct world hop and it's a bit inconvenient, but it is a way for you guys to see each other again.

She will also ensure that those who are currently sleeping will be sent home in one piece.

All of this can be handwaved, or threaded out in the Lorelei thread.

Happy Good Ending, everyone!)

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

[exofractured]

In my limited experience, they tended to.

[Not that he's saying he didn't deserve some backstabbing, but... it was a thing. But he nods. It's a relief that Fai understands so quickly.]

More or less. Truthfully, I don't know what I want yet. It was a relief to think about leaving it behind me. Perhaps I'm just using Marcus to push the responsibility for the decision onto someone else.

[partymagician]

If you are, at least you recognize that.

[ He laughs softly. ]

Still, if it's possible for you to do that, I think you should. That way, you could travel with no regrets.

[exofractured]

It's like you to say something like that. But you may be right. And what about you? There's nothing left for you to settle, is there? Your curse?

[It didn't seem to have returned with their powers, at least, so Phantom's been assuming he has more time to deal with that.]

[partymagician]

I'm not sure what will happen with my curse, to tell you the truth.

[ It's gone here, but who's to say what will happen in another world? ]

As for other things... I'm not sure what I can do. All I can do is hope I'll come across my companions again someday.

[exofractured]

If the effect was in the chip itself, then possibly...

[There's too many unknowns there. He shakes his head a little.]

You're not certain you can find them?

[partymagician]

I don't know how much time has passed. I could go back and die, or they would have moved on without me. It's hard to know.

[ He frowns. ]

I'll just have to hope that our paths cross again.

[exofractured]

With as much traveling as you plan to do, I'm sure you will. If I find anything in my research that would help, I'll try to reach you both.

[He was also hoping the dying thing was dealt with. Worries on top of worries, although there's not much they can do without more information. He gives a little sigh.]

I know I said Hien was the idiot. But I hope he can keep you from doing anything careless as well.

[partymagician]

I appreciate it.

[ It does mean a lot that Phantom is so willing to help. ]

And I think he will. He’s already helped me with some of my own more ignorant thoughts.

[ Like thinking he deserves to be hated. ]

[exofractured]

Good. You two suit each other well. I would have been worried to see either of you leave alone.

[Well, he's still worried. Phantom doesn't exactly have so many friends that any of them are expendable.]

[partymagician]

I’m surprised we ended up matching each other so well.

[ Whoever picked their team did a great job… ]

And Hien would never let me go without him, so don’t worry in the future either.

[exofractured]

I can count on him to be stubborn and you to be sensible. That's reassurance enough to go on.

[partymagician]

[ He laughs. ]

You have a point! Though to tell you the truth, I'm just as stubborn as he is.

[exofractured]

I'm starting to doubt whether it was really your intention to reassure me at all.

[Well, it probably does work out for the best that they're both like that.]

[partymagician]

Perhaps not... but I hope it reassured you nevertheless.

[ ... ]

And I hope that, whatever you do, you feel at peace with your decision.