onceuponacomm | EPILOGUE

Epilogue

After all is said and done, in the wake of the void and sprinting through one final door.

You come out into light. Sunlight actually, a backyard in what appears to be a typical suburban town, if you're familiar with those. The sun shines cheerfully overheard, blissfully unaware of what everyone has went through. And this is everyone, as faces you haven't seen in weeks tumble out in one pile from a basement door.

Happy Saturday, everyone.

There's plenty of reunions and catching up to do, but you've utterly left Aira Niluc behind you after seven long weeks. And through the window of the house which looks like it has seen a better seen better days is one wall mural that reads "And they all lived Happily Ever After".

[[ Happy Golden End everyone, you've earned it! There's still the matter of sorting out where to next, but everyone is whole and alive and without button eyes. Using the knowledge from the object Phil had and the beldam's magic, they can also now world hop only one side effect...the portal that opens to everyone else's worlds here? Is made entirely of pixie dust. Everyone's powers will also restore fully over the course of the next few hours. ]]

navigation

rules

shop

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I did want to give two letters to a friend and then leave the world behind once they're all delivered. That's it.

[ but he hit a hiccup. ]

But those letters are gone now unfortunately. So much for planning.

[ .... ]

I think we have time. Maybe there's paper around here so you can rewrite them again.

[ he'll actually get up to start looking. ]

Don't worry about it. I...wasn't sure what to do after the letters anyway.

[ He does appreciate it, but...well, he has a lot of mixed feelings now that it's confirmed these bodies do work? ]

It seemed a lot easier a couple of days ago.

Yeah...things seemed a lot easier when we weren't sure how the end was gonna be, huh...? Now it's almost unbelievable that we made it that far.

[ he hums. certainly them staying as spirits seems a lot easier to believe than....the fucking disaster that was today. ]

Why not stay here?

I was thinking along those lines, yes. Return as a ghost, deliver the letters, make sure everything is okay, rest in peace.

[ But having a body changes a lot of things. He's still not sure what to do with those feelings. It's easier when he was doubting it'd work well for him...and stop that thought. ]

...Wait, here?

[ Does not compute??? ]

This is a house.

[ gestures? at house? ]

And I'm guessing it must be in some sort of town or village. So...I think you can live here, Nageki. It's not like someone's going to kick you out or anything?

[ That actually gets him to laugh a little. Something about how he said it is somehow funnier than it had any right to be. ]

After all the time we spent trying to escape? That seems rather anticlimactic, doesn't it?

Well, we escaped from the basement. That's a lot more than some horror genre characters have going for them.

[ even if the doll body thing is still a little gross if you think too much about it! ]

But I guess that's kind of how a Happily Ever After is, isn't it? A little boring, but kinda satisfying. I've heard people talking about jumping back through worlds so I think you might even get visitors.

Good thing for us.

[ Still better than his original body, to be honest. He'll like his doll body much more once that initial feeling of grossness passes, but that's farther into the future. ]

Jumping back through worlds... [ He'll mull over that for a moment. ] Actually, that sounds interesting too? Maybe I'll visit everybirdie and judge them on basic life skills. Or stay here most of the time.

[ That'd certainly make hanging out here a lot more palatable, considering how much of a goal it was for him to help get everybirdie out. He's...still not sure how safe it'd be for him to stay in his original world full time, so hearing these options? Honestly, it's quite the relief. Strange to think about though. When was the last time he wasn't compelled to do something because he had no other choice? ]

Having choices like this feels...odd.

Does it?

[ that’s what c-ta blurts out, staring curiously at nageki. he’s about to say that he doesn’t know how that feels but… he does, in a way. all the things he did were because he felt like he had no other choice. of course, there were a multitude of choices but… ]

Yeah… it does. [ he hums, trying to force the thought away ] But I guess that’s how adventures are. Lots of choices.

Adventures... I do like the sound of that.

[ Nageki tilts his head, pensive. It's likely he won't be able to visit everyone as much as he likes considering how uncommon large birds are in other world, but that's still a lot more options than he ever had before. If he weren't so intent on figuring out where he stands now, it'd be almost enough for him to get decision paralysis. ]

Though I'd prefer a quiet one for now. Surely there's such a thing as a nice, relaxing adventure.

[ As long as he isn't recognized by the wrong birds, maybe he can have one as he reconnects with those he cares about. ]

I'm sure there must be some out there. Nice quiet adventures that don't involve a bunch of giant bugs that spit fire.

[ he falls silent for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. ]

I wonder if we could visit Samidare too sommetime. Like the worst reunion you've ever imagined.

[ In contrast, he looks down at that. Somehow, he has a feeling that they won't be able to meet for a while. Which is a little lonely, but she made up her mind. And he wants to respect that determination. ]

I believe that we can sometime in the future. Maybe not very soon, but I'm sure we'll have that worst reunion.

[ He'll look up from the ground to look at C-ta's direction, suddenly sounding a lot more firm than before. ]

We'll have to share a lot of stories then.

EPILOGUE

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject