onceuponacomm | the final afterparty

the final afterparty

[

That sure happened, but everyone, by some miracle, made it out alive. No one else died, nothing blew up, no arson was committed, we're all still here. And being here, being present despite everything that just happened, is really important. This is for everyone, McGillis and Yuri included (and Jack, if he wants to party from the dungeon), because they all need it. Even with the new revelations, nobody should be left behind.

The party takes place in the bar again, and it probably looks a little...odd? Because there's all the alcohol in the back, and then...there's a bunch of donuts on one of the tables. Two whole baskets of donuts from the bakery, provided by Tenn. Next to the baskets is tea provided by Koto. Have at it, everyone. ]

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[ Were you trying to make him laugh with your traumatic backstory............ ]

Understandable enough. Handling corpses is not exactly a pleasant pastime even if you're not sensitive to it. And either way, I doubt it would have made a difference in the end.

[He's having a bad night. Sometimes you get really morbid about shit. Sometimes you go burn a mansion down. He's feeling surprisingly great about his trauma right now.]

I find that there was little difference that needed to be made. Everyone that's flat-out killed has been handled in one way or another.

I'm being petty.

[ Like, he's aware of that, but not invested in changing it. ]

You would have voted some measure of correct either way, but there's something frustrating about it happening based on entirely false conclusions. I'd rather be defeated properly, as you correctly deduced during trial.

And yet you handed us all of this for no reason, which is disappointing.

Well, I suppose disappointment is the one feeling the whole group is united in now.

I wouldn't know. I don't claim to speak for the rest of them.

You're very literal, sometimes.

I feel as though this should no longer surprise you.

[He shrugs.]

You're welcome to assert yourself as much as you like. You're doing a very strange job of it.

It's been a very strange day, isn't it only fitting?

In the end, I don't care what any of you think of me. It can't be worse than what has already been said about me in my world.

[ Or if it is, he'll be impressed. ]

[Oh, that seems familiar.]

I take it your goals aren't proceeding as planned...?

My reputation has been mixed from the start. You know the song and dance - people get truly nasty about those of lower birth.

[ Which is putting a lot of things very mildly, but it gets across what is needed. ]

But you're right anyway - I was in the middle of a rather violent conflict before this.

Believe me, I'm well aware.

[He's also not too surprised to hear that, honestly.]

That's unfortunate, however. Though not unexpected, given what you're after.

[ There is no reason to keep it all secret anymore. There is also no reason to share it, but... McGillis's just going to not look at Alexei as he keeps speaking here because all of this is hard to admit to but it is somewhat freeing to be able to speak openly. ]

I obtained my world's equivalent of the magic sword. I assembled the heroes I wanted on my side.

It might not have been enough. I'm sure those children were all massacred by now.

[Sometimes there is a very concerned effort not to judge that needs to take place. This is one of those times. What the christ, McGillis.]

...What children are you talking about?

[ This sounds...... worse than it is? ~~It doesn't~~. ]

Tekkadan. An independent paramilitary company that I am allied with. From what I understand, it was originally led by the usual unsavory types who exploit child labor but they made short work of those people.

In our world, they've become small legends in their own right. A group of teenage mobile suit fighters escorting an important political figure from Mars to Earth, changing the course of a whole election? They've performed miracle after miracle.

If there are any heroes who can bring about a true revolution, it would be them, I thought. I was going to give them sovereignty over all of Mars, in the end.

[...That could have been much worse, actually. But then, people under 12 can apparently try to join the Blood Alliance and the Hunting Blades, so Terca Lumireis is possibly not a good indication of when people should or should not be allowed to fight. The Empire is a little stricter with it, but that just means you start at 15 in the Empire.]

But that isn't going as planned, from the sound of it.

[What...happened there, exactly.]

It isn't. There is a horrible dragon who won't accept the judgement of the sacred sword. Even though I obtained Bael... even though Agnika's soul chose me...

[ Hopefully Alexei can infer that neither the dragon nor the sword are entirely literal here. ]

I'm certain he has mercilessly devoured them now. He would never save anybody, not those who would need him.

Edited 2021-07-11 23:07 (UTC)

[No, he understands.]

I see.

[He doesn't say anything else immediately, just considering. It's the sort of thing that deserves it, really.]

Fortunately enough, I think the rest of them here are too tired of this entire practice to reject you entirely. I would be surprised if you were under any threat of retaliation here; the most you might get is Edelgard's usual self-righteous indignation that things didn't go her way.

So I suppose we'll see how all of this plays out in the end.

This game is close to being over. I did not think I would be the only one who still stands to gain a wish by the end of it, truthfully.

[ He thought someone else might get away with murder or that Jack would be here... but this is just as well. ]

I am apprehensive of how the end will play out for all of us though. While I would have sacrificed each and every one of you for my goals, I don't particularly wish ill on any of you either.

And there's no guarantee of it, even for you.

[It's not pointed or anything; it just is what it is, and as it stands nothing is currently guaranteed.]

Whether I die or not is of little concern to me. It's as I've said before; I remain alive through obligation. That isn't to say that I don't believe continuing to live is worth anything, but should I be struck down then so be it.

[ McGillis just nods. The wish is a gamble and it might not pay off in the end, but it is better than nothing - especially in his situation. ]

I'd rather see you live through this to teach your world a lesson, really. Hamelin says that the players who have not earned a wish get 'the ending they deserve' - whatever that means.

[He just shakes his head a bit at that.]

And I'm sure you know why none of us will accept that.

Oh, certainly.

I think Hamelin also would not mind to see you succeed, so maybe we can join forces in the end. However that may turn out, I do look forward to everybody's best attempts.

There's someone I need to retrieve from the other side before I accept any endings that may be doled out. Whatever happens from there is secondary to me.

[ You do NOT know when to quit when it comes to resurrecting the dead. One might say you have a problem. ]

The mirror creature is going to eat their essence, so you better make that a fast rescue.

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ideismo - 2021-07-12 00:16 (UTC) - Expand

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