onceuponacomm | EPILOGUE

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. ]]

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...A lot sure did happen, did it? But we were victorious...

[ ... though there's one more thing he feels like he wants to talk about?? Maybe?? ]

What was that at the end, though? A super power?

[Ah.]

I suppose there's no use in keeping it a secret.

...I have two crests. I don't know if I've explained that to you but... they're Marks left by dragon blood that has been forcibly put into my system. One I inheirited from my ancestor who was Saint Seiros' chosen champion and...

One of them is the Crest of Flames. The crest of Nemesis himself after he murdered the Goddess and took her power. The people who killed my family and thousands of others did so so that they could plant that crest in my blood. It manifests... oddly, sometimes. I'm the only one in the world who has it, I believe.

[ He wonders if this had to do with the experiments she spoke of, because that does not sound humane. At all.

The cues of 'forcibly' do help him conclude that, at least. ]

Oh, I see...

Is it dangerous at all? For you?

[ ...Since she said it manifested oddly. ]

...My lifespan has been... significantly reduced. I'll likely only make it to my early to mid thirties.

[She shrugs. It just means she has to work harder in the meantime.]

Using it isn't dangerous though. At least I don't think so. It only becomes dangerous if I specifically try to use the Crest of Seiros on the Crest of Flames and not the other way around, although I don't exactly know what would happen if I did that... but...

I can feel something starting to awaken, something very old and something very powerful, whenever I even get close to giving that a try.

[And now she's watching for a reaction.]

[ She...doesn't have to wait...

His eyes started to tear up as soon as she said that her lifespan was going to be reduced. He almost doesn't notice himself just because he was that caught off-guard about that going to be a thing.

Huaisang quickly wipes at his eyes though when he feels those tears fall. ]

Is there anyway to reverse that? There isn't, is there?

[ Maybe he should look into it. He did plan on doing some traveling at some point, but man. ]

Do...any of the others here know this too?

[She shrugs. She doesn't honestly know if there is... she's not sure if she would take it. What's been done to her body already is... enough. It's... strange to see him crying over this. Even Hubert hadn't cried... not to her face at least. He'd just... seethed.

Her father had been a wreck, though. Out of guilt, probably. A small, bitter part of her feels he deserved some of that guilt.]

I don't know. There's only one other case of it that I've seen. I hope so, for her sake. Her lifespan... is a lot shorter. Early twenties at the most, the reports I read said it was a maximum of twenty five, a minimum of seventeen before the effects become too much for her body. She's only fifteen.

But no. Nobody knows. I'd ask that you don't tell anyone either.

[Maybe if they gain the Beldam's power... maybe they can change things. But she's not going to look for a way to remove her crests when she still needs them to win a war.]

Edited 2021-07-19 12:34 (UTC)

[ Ah...

So he's the only one who knows, then. Huaisang's kind of surprised, but he already knows what his answer will be to her request. ]

...alright. If there's a way to reverse something like that for you at some point...I do hope it's possible, for you.

[ He says this but he's wondering if the power can reverse things. It doesn't seem fair? He knows life is far from fucking fair from his own experiences because he's definitely far from naive, but he can at least think that sentiment. ]

What are your plans when you return?

Well. As much as I'd like to follow a lot of you, my own responsibilities demand me back home.

[She frowns.]

I'd like to get some technological advice from McGillis. I'm not an inventor, but this does give me a unique position to smuggle technology and weapons into my world for us to reinvent. One of my enemies has far more advanced technology than anything we've seen, and I've had to play nice with them so they don't just wipe us out. If we could get enough weapons to match them, I wouldn't even need to do that.

But... I think for starters, I need to forge alliances with the right people. Claude von Riegan, the heir to the Leicester Alliance, and Dimitri Alexandre Blaidydd, the heir to the Kingdom of Faerghus. I think I can win them both over. It was too dangerous previously but... with any hope, I can bring about a war with extremely limited collateral damage.

[She could aim for none but also it's important that the world doesn't change with a whimper, or else the Church's power won't be challenged.]

[ He's got some responsibilities back home to catch up on himself so he can't just immediately jump into her world, but he considers other ways he can help. ]

...I know his situation might be complicated [ So he doubts weapons from his world could easily be brought in, for example ], but I'm sure just asking for some advice might help? Even if I'm not sure how much in regards to reinventing, though it can't hurt to try and see what he says.

[ This is an area he himself lacks expertise in, however. ]

Winning over people can be relatively easy, though it usually does take a good amount of time. But if you would like some tips, I can write some things down for you to consider so that it could help make the process go faster. And if you're willing to take me up on that, please tell me more about those two some more if you have the knowledge.

[She smiles a little. It's faint, but it's there.]

Yes... I'll have to talk to him about it. See how much I can get from him, and how much he's even willing to give. I believe I might have hurt his feelings. [No regrets though, his wish fucking sucks.]

Dimitri is looking for the culprit behind the murder of his parents, and the ones who pinned the crime on the people of Duscar, something that was used to justify an invasion and subsequent genocide. I know the culprit. It is the same man that killed my family.

And Claude... I don't know him as well, he's an enigma who hides behind jokes and making a mockery of everything. But he hates the church, almost as much as I do. And he has ambitions. Grand, long-reaching plans. I am almost certain they're aligned, but I can't be entirely sure either. But that's the point of negotiation, isn't it?

Edelgard, if you want him to help you, I believe you had better treat him with respect. Please.

At the end of the day, he is still a person, and should be treated as much. I should also add that if you hurt his feelings he may be less inclined to help you in the first place.

[ Huaisang understands why people aren't too happy with McGillis' choices, and that's fine with him that they disagree with them. But he's not going to abide by any rudeness about the person he loves to his face. ]

...Anyway, I think gaining Dimitri's allegiance should be simple enough. If you go about it respectfully and ask for his aid while doing your best to assist him with finding the culprit to the point of dealing with him, it's likely he'll return the favor. That is, if Dimitri is someone honorable enough to keep to his promises.

As for Claude, getting closer to him is the best advice I can offer. If you make it clear or hint you dislike the church as much as he does, he may be inclined to eventually open up to you. If he has long-reaching goals, and presents himself as an enigma, then I can only imagine that he might even test the waters in your direction to see if your goals do align. But probably vaguely.

Edited 2021-07-21 23:02 (UTC)

[She furrows her brow at him, confused.]

I respect McGillis. I wouldn't ask for his help if I didn't. He also knows that in my situation, I'd be asking him as a potential ally rather than as a friend. We are of a similar mind in these matters, for better or worse. That's not to say I have no personal fondness for him either, though I'm sure he wouldn't accept it if I offered a less professional friendship, it's simply not our priority in this. I've grown some level of personal attachment to several of you.

But yes, I understand that if I've hurt his feelings, he may be holding it against me. I won't apologize for giving my opinion, though admittedly my wording and tone may have been a bit harsh. [The important thing to note is that she did nothing wrong though.

She does nod along with what he's saying, however. She's fairly sure how to go about winning over Dimitri... he's a bleeding heart, painfully naive, gullible and foolish. Focused on what lies right ahead of him rather than the greater implications. She just needs to make him fully aware of the abuses that the church is directly responsible for, and make him aware of the consequences of pre-mature rebellion against Arundel.

If she can get the Kingdom and Alliance to swear fealty to her, she may be able to fight both Those Who Slither and the Church, especially if she seizes church territory and relocates into their keeps and converts their cathedrals into military outposts.]

The issue with Claude is that he doesn't allow anyone close to him, really. Nobody knows any intimate details about his life... his retainer knows more of my secrets than his, I suspect.

... I can't imagine that he would.

[ He pauses to reevaluate what she's said, and then lets out a breath. He suppose he didn't like how harsh it sounded, and he still doesn't, for that matter. ]

I can also see the point you're making, since you're really not friends or anything like that. I just suppose the wording did happen to worry me, all the same...but I'm also sure you can understand that.

[ With their points clear, he feels it is a good enough point to move forward for now.

It seems judging from her point to going straight to Claude is indicative that Dimitri is the easier hurdle to overcome between the two. To be quite honest, even if he doesn't know this man, he gets the feeling that he is in some ways similar to him. Except that it may be that Claude may have a tighter handle over his morals than he is. This is of course a very tentative outline of a man he has never met, but Huaisang has worked out people on far less scraps of information in order to achieve his desired results. ]

I think that you won't be able to learn more about his personal life even if you gave it your best shot, then. Maybe in about three or four years, but you probably don't have time for that?

So, the advice I gave to you might be a good starting point for now. If you spend enough time with him and make it clear you two have similar goals, it really can still help your case, even if he wouldn't give you his life story for quite awhile.

[She nods along with what he's saying. Not really clueing in on the fact that they're done talking about it.]

...Politics is cruel. And I do consider McGillis a friend, ultimately, despite everything. I don't see him as a chess piece to be discarded, if that's what you're worried about.

[She mulls over what he's saying about Claude. She suspects he has trust issues that are enough to make McGillis or Jack blush, and she suspects he's a lot more than he's saying.

It is hard to pin down someone who all you really know about is how little you know about him.]

Even if our goals are aligned... he is still a noble, and he likely would not accept reform by my own hand, in the same way that I would never concede it all to him. He is... deceitful. Underhanded. Manipulative in a way that I am not.

I can't show him too much of my hand, lest he take the advantage and hand me in. There are many nobles who loudly profess that they hate the church or the Goddess, who will go on to bend the knee and sacrifice their ideals for power.

[She frowns. Thinking about Hamelin and Raven and her and everything that went wrong in this game.]

Perhaps... I could speak to him in my alter ego, accompanied by one of my trusted agents [The raving lunatic serial killer she picked up from the smoking ruins of his dead family, who she gave an Iron Man suit and a giant fuck-off scythe, but yeah same difference.] and we could communicate that way at first. If I conclude that I can trust him, I'll unmask. Thoughts?

Edited 2021-07-23 19:57 (UTC)

[ ...ah.

He's glad that she didn't clue in on that, because yes...that's exactly it. He doesn't know what to say to that either, but it's clear he's proceeding along the conversation with more ease now. ]

I do think you have a point about it being wise for you not to completely show your hand, or too much of it. Even if he happens to not be as cruel as most of those nobles from your world may be, he could think you doing so would reveal you are far too careless of an ally to work with.

[ At least that's what he might think, and then keep that ally at a very far reach, depending on what exactly the reveal of that hand in its totality was. It really does depend, though. ]

Hmm...yes, I guess that is one way to go about it. He'll probably be cautious at first, and it can be a little more touch and go. But he might appreciate the way you handled things when or if you do end up unmasking.

At some point I do imagine the two of you would probably have to work out details more than how you would with Dimitri, though it should be fine unless Claude does really turn out to be a power hungry guy.

[ But they both know that's pretty much part of the risk, anyway. And one can't go forward without taking some. ]

[She smiles in amusement.]

Claude is hungry for power. So am I, though. Regardless of where his ambitions or ideals lie, he desires the control necessary to make them a reality.

I don't believe that he's an evil man, though. Or at least if he is, he's not a moron about it. He knows that the Church rules Fodlan, and it only takes one look at my family tree to be able to tell that trusting the Slitherers is a fools errand. If he were to stand against me, his most powerful vassal would almost certainly side against him in order to curry favour with me anyway, and his strength would be ripped in half. Regardless of what he wants... we just need to make him understand that we're his best hope, I imagine.

...Oh. Well, if he's not stupid about it, it'll be easier to work with him in general.

[ Because yes, there are people who do desire, need, or want power to make their dreams a reality or for whatever other reasons. But it depends on how they go about it in the end. ]

But, well, I think you have it.

There's not much I think can be said? And I believe if you try hard enough, it'll work out. You're not really a quitter, after all.

[She lets out a chuckle in amusement.] If I was, I imagine I'd have well and truly thrown in the towel by now.

Thank you for the help, Huaisang. You are welcome to come visit me, if you would like to help some more, or if you would just like to see my homeland. I will probably be leaving tomorrow.

[ ...And here is where Huaisang's going to be letting out a smile of his own. ]

Of course. Anything for a friend.

[ There's a small chosen few he's comfortable with calling that, but after everything, and doing this right now feels like Edelgard fits in that category. ]

I'll definitely drop by at some point, though! Don't think you're rid of me yet. That being said, I think it's time for me to go and say goodbye to the others. I'll see you later!

[ He's definitely also visiting because he has to make sure she doesn't die, okay. ]

Of course. I'll be seeing you, Huaisang. Regardless of when we see one another again, it has certainly been a pleasure.

[She smiles at being referred to as his friend, she's not sure how much that means for him, but it does mean a lot to her.

Friends... The concept of having friends who understand the full extent of her nature was... alien to her, not too long ago. Gratitude flutters in her blackened heart, among the complex mess of emotions that remains about this ending.]

And I hope you and McGillis are very happy together, wherever you may end up.

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