grimmoired | EPILOGUE ;

EPILOGUE ;

The End
EPILOGUE - WEEK 740 Narrators End ;

Wake up, Narrators. You've done well this past weekend.

As you awaken on this beautiful morning, the doors to the castle are wide open and a festive mood fills the air. Music can be heard from the garden and the ballroom, the dining room's overflowing with tasty treats and beverages, and everything is awash in a soft glow of purples, reds, and golds.

Yet as you exit from your dormitories for the last time, several things will be noticeable to you...

Lining the hallways, several new ornate mirrors flank either wall. Each mirror is engraved with the name of a Narrator and allows each participant of this war to view their world back home. They will be able to see who they wish to see and the current state of affairs in their world. They will also, thanks to their adventures in the Other Space, be able to view the future of their home worlds and what's at stake for them.

No matter where they are in the castle, each Narrator will also find themselves presented with a leatherbound book, a jar of ink and a fresh quill. As they open the book they will see a write-up of their story up until now with several blank pages at the end of the book. As promised, the ink won by the Dragon's ending is enough to allow Narrators to write their own happy endings... even those that directly clash with what they've been able to witness for themselves in the mirrors. Go ahead, write yourself into the universe of another Narrator. The story is yours to tell. Alternatively - if you seek to write a new story for yourself entirely, additional pages will be provided for you to draft up that fresh start.

Meanwhile, the longer you linger around the castle it will become clear that it's much noisier than it should be for only forty people.

Venturing further downstairs you will find several guests waiting for you. Some of these may be people you know from your own worlds, brought here to take you home thanks to the extra magic obtained from the Other Space. Others are past participants from previous rounds of this war, battle stories and triumphs to share. Apparently they'd received an invitation to a celebration to mark the end of it all. Even those who had died from previous rounds and not revived are present. While it had been thought that they'd been lost in the Other Side when there was not enough ink to revive them - it appears that they'd been given new life via your efforts.

The clock in the foyer seems to have stopped. Take all the time you need to say your goodbyes... you are in charge of your own destiny from here on out.

Welcome to your farewell log, everyone! A couple of fun notes for your perusal.

Due to the efforts of characters yesterday in the mini-adventures, characters have unlocked the ability to preview their futures and decide their own destinies. Additionally, they have unlocked the ability for castmates to visit them in the castle, along with characters who have participated in previous rounds of the war! Please feel free to tag in with your gamemates' castmates or other characters from previous rounds that you can make your own Grimm AU for. If you want to share where your character is going, comment here.

Your final CR chart is here, your TL;CR meme is here and your friending/love meme is here.

Thank you guys so much for a wonderful eight weeks! We hope you had a magical experience here with us. ♥

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You have no idea what sort of place this is, do you...

[not that it would stop him even if he did?

a sigh, before shirasu turns to look at him, wrist still caught in tenka's hand. he had them for long enough that he almost thinks to explain the bandages he no longer has on him, now that the burns are gone, but-- ah. right. he looks like himself again, doesn't he?]

--you really shouldn't have come.

[not just because of what's happened here, either. it would be much easier to do what he needs to and return where he needs to be if tenka weren't here; they're just going to part ways again. right?]

[If Tenka knew what kind of place this was, he only would've moved faster.

Instead, he looks up at Shirasu with a vaguely annoyed expression.]

Don't say something like that when I've been trying so hard to find you. We really have to talk, you know? There's a lot that you need to explain, and even more that I need to demand answers from because you'll probably try to leave stuff out!

[jeeze.]

.... so just stop trying to make my decisions for me, okay? It's getting old fast.

[it's been a long eight weeks. he's tired. he's killed, he's died, he's come back to life, he still has so much to do when he returns--

and he hates thinking sousei might have had a point, he really does, but maybe tenka does deserve to at least get to ask the questions he has. he's going to find out about some things whether shirasu is the one to tell him or not.

eventually he sighs, reaching up to brush that one stray lock of hair from his face that the headband he's wearing doesn't quite hold back. maybe he also wants to know what a better person than him would do with the chance that shirasu has right now.]

... we're not discussing this here.

[this is a talk to have in private, even if no one is around. they can go to the dorm room for it.]

[With the motion, Tenka feels his eyes drawn to the purple hairband - and he wonders at it for a moment. The last time they'd met, that was missing. He's not sure what became of it... but the Kinjou Shirasu he knew only disposed of it when he was going about ninja business.

It's nice to see it again.

So.... he manages a smile at that.

Too trusting. Forever too trusting.]

Okay! Push my wheelchair!!

[And only once Shirasu agrees will Tenka let go of his hand.]

[still this trusting, after everything-- even allowing shirasu at his back. why is he like this...]

You wouldn't know where to go if I didn't.

[that's a yes.

so he'll push tenka along to the dorm, where there's a door that he can safely shut between them and the rest of this castle.

shirasu sits on the edge of the bed, but he doesn't speak first; he doesn't know where he'd begin.]

[ . . . Shirasu's never pushed Tenka's wheelchair before.

That's something that Tenka thinks about as he gets wheeled to their destination - even as he manages idle comments like:]

This place is really fancy... Think about if we just borrowed one of the vases. We could have money for months!

[Borrowed.

But that's just Tenka being Tenka. When they go into the room - he's again enraptured with everything in it. The pillows, the decorations, the luxury... and as he's marveling at everything, that's when he drops - ]

Sousei told me.

You were the one who went after Mom and Dad that night.

[he's not the only one thinking about it. shirasu finds himself glancing down to tenka's back, at one point; this was his doing, yet this is the only time he's actually done this for him.

of course it's something along those lines that comes up first.]

I was.

[there's no point denying it.]

Only your father's death was part of the plan, but-- it was all my doing, yes.

.... I didn't think he'd lie to me or anything, but...

[Sousei wouldn't do that. He'd hide things that he didn't think that Tenka needed to know to try to protect him so that he didn't get physically hurt - but something like their parents... of course it was the truth. Even now, Shirasu is confirming it. Of course it was the truth.

Tenka's expression crumples at the simple acknowledgement.

. . . ]

You're really... adding on to the reasons for me to be mad at you, huh?

You should probably be more than just mad, Tenka.

[even without this, tenka had plenty of reason to hate him, but somehow still didn't. he has to wonder if even that knowledge will be enough.]

Haven't I done more than enough for that?

[it would be much easier to deal with being hated.]

... I probably should be... People don't say it out loud - but their eyes do the work for them, you know? Whenever I say that I want to find you again...

[They look sad - like he doesn't know what he's saying.

... but even when it was Shirasu Kinjou in their home, when people were wary of him just for his eyes and hair, people did that. But it was Tenka who lived with him. Who laughed with him, smiled with him, had dinner with him and relied on him for anything that he couldn't handle on his own.

Wouldn't Tenka know better than anyone?]

But it's not really something that simple.

If I could just be mad... or hate you... maybe it'd be easier.

But easier would probably just be a lot of lies - and I can't lie and say that I wouldn't miss you.

...you really are a fool, you know.

[don't say he'd miss him, after all of this. shirasu isn't meeting his eyes anymore, fingers curled slightly into the blanket covering the bed, his own gaze cast down just enough not to look at tenka's face.]

What were you even intending to do when you found me?

[just demand answers? or try to bring him back somewhere he can no longer go? that time's been over ever since he left.

he doesn't exactly think about the when, instead of if. it's just sort of a fact that tenka does not stop.]

I'd tell you to make sweets for me again! I had some really good ones - so I was gonna tell you to try making them! Soramaru's good at cooking, but wagashi eludes him a little, you know?

[Immediately.

It's the mundane things. The little things. There's no grand plan for trying to bring Shirasu back - no big moral reason. Just the simple fact that there are some things that have changed, and Tenka would like the old times back.]

... I didn't like being in the house without you in it.

[Didn't rather than don't.

Because he doesn't plan on letting that be the case anymore.]

That's what you--

[he at least expected him to say he'd ask for the truth. that he'd have some other plan besides asking for something so simple.

it's maybe the most ridiculous thing he'd heard yet. it's so--]

[it's so tenka.

shirasu presses a hand to his face, posture slumping a little as he dissolves into soft, exasperated laughter. he's too tired to stop it. how else is he supposed to take something like that?]

I really don't know what I'm going to do with you.

[this is why he didn't want this. it's too easy for tenka to do this to him.]

[For the better part of a year - Tenka had to keep some things to himself. Chuutarou and Soramaru could talk about how much they missed Shirasu and wanted to see him again, but Tenka wasn't ready. So he kept that part of his heart wrapped up tight, neatly stowed away, gently suffocated until he could find time to figure out how he was feeling -

And the sound of Shirasu's laughter manages to get everything to unravel.

Tenka mouth starts smiling before his brain gives permission. His heart coaxes a laugh out of his throat before his logic even has a chance.]

Bahahaha!

Come home with me, obviously!

Tenka--

[a part of him wants that, is the thing. there's still a part of him that remembers the warmth and laughter, that he was happy there. enough so that it felt like a dream to him (and those all have to come to an end, don't they?)

shirasu buried it as well as he could, but being here, away from his work and his clan-- he told himself he'd never smile again, yet he has. he said he wouldn't laugh like that again, but someone so much like the three of them pulled it back out of him.

a part of him, part of 'shirasu kinjou' that didn't die, missed hearing that laugh and seeing that sunny smile.

still. still-]

...you know I can't do that.

Edited 2018-07-30 06:34 (UTC)

Don't tell me what I do or don't know...!

[ - because it gets tricky.

With Shirasu, that gets tricky. There was plenty Tenka didn't know. Plenty that was kept hidden from him, and plenty that was done when he thought that his brothers were safe with Shirasu. They still have to talk about that. Of course they do. Because keeping secrets has never worked out well for the two of them.

He trusts Shirasu anyway.]

Don't be stubborn. Something something Fuuma and clan - all that complicated stuff... but that doesn't mean you can't come back home. Do you have people to take care of?

Just let me help...!

I already told you, last time. You have your home, and I have mine-- with them.

[he can't abandon them, but neither is their work something he could ever let tenka help with. he'd disagree with so much of what they do, shirasu is sure.]

I'm their Head, Tenka. I can't abandon them now, not when I can finally try to make things right.

Of course you shouldn't abandon them - don't be stupid.

[When will Tenka ever recommend abandoning anyone.

That might be part of the problem with Shirasu, after all.]

But what does 'make things right' even mean? Why can't that be giving them a home over in Shiga too? Ninjas don't need to do that kind of work anymore... and if you're the Head then you can help them figure out new ways of life too!

[Stubborn.

So stubborn.]

It's the only kind of work they know how to do. If I gave them all a normal life, they wouldn't be able to live it... they'd still be relying on my orders.

[he pauses there, exhales a slow breath. being honest is difficult, but he's... trying.]

Everything I did was to ensure they would still have a place in the world. To restore our position when we were no longer needed.

... being a ninja is difficult and bloody - that shouldn't be a lifestyle for anyone anyway. There's not a lot of laughter if you go down that path... or at least, it's not easy.

[He was a child soldier after all - he knows it well. The Yamainu, at their heart, was a good group of people that could only retain their beliefs because of their kind leadership. Their actual task was unpleasant.

It's easy to be overtaken by grief when all you know is war and killing.]

The world is a big place, you know?

[He's always been saying that - always thinking about the country as a whole.]

We can just teach them something different - so that they have choices, rather than orders.

That's... a large undertaking, you know.

[and he could change things so much more easily.

shirasu pulls out a book from somewhere in his ninja outfit, along with the ink; he places the book in his lap, fingers tracing over the cover of it.]

-I have the chance to rewrite the way things are, though. I could restore everything for us-- I can't change my past failures, but I can ensure that it happens this time. I only need to decide how.

[Tenka rolls his wheelchair closer then - partially to look over the book and examine it. He tilts his head as he listens to Shirasu's explanation -

And pauses.

Restore everything for them. Plunge Japan back into chaos. Ruin everything that Sousei worked so hard for. Put Soramaru and Chuutarou back in danger. Tenka looks like his heart is about to escape his chest at the idea—

He reaches out with his right hand to place his hand over Shirasu's, eyes wide.]

Wait.

[He knows this in his heart - he can't let that happen, Shirasu can't, he can't.]

Just -

Write a future where the Fuuma have choices - so they can live happy lives, like you did... like we did.

[Some part of his tone sounds partially pleading -

and the rest sounds far away, like he's still processing, trying to figure out what he'd have to do if Shirasu betrayed him again right in front of his eyes, when he's right within arm's reach.]

[he glances back up to tenka when that hand covers his, blinking-- it's enough to get him to pause, to listen and take in everything tenka is saying. his fingers tense reflexively beneath tenka's touch, but he doesn't shake off his hand.

so they can live happy lives, like you did-- but is that really something that could last? that they'd be happy with, in the end? he managed it for a time, but...]

It's everything I worked for over these last eleven years, Tenka. What I lost-- it was all to bring us back to where we once were.

[would taking a different path mean it was all for nothing, in the end? everything he sacrificed, the betrayals--

...his expression is no longer so certain, though. it's been so long since then, but he still remembers-

my brother, mother, and everyone else can live happily in the world i will create.

he has to wonder if they would be happy, or simply fulfilled. if they would be able to experience the same warmth he had, if he just carves out a place for them through creating chaos.]

[ . . .

Shirasu lost family - not once, but twice. That's what it was, right? The other ninja that attacked them that looked just like him... that was a brother, a twin. And he let go of the Kumou Shrine too. It was his choice and Tenka remembers that - he can't forgive him, not yet. Not when he remembers asking Shirasu to look after his brothers and instead stumbling on the mess that was made -

But he thinks about it.]

... Nishiki lives with us now.

I don't know what it was like - how she was living before with the Fuuma... but she's growing everyday. I think she's smiling a little bit more now, and she's found a place next to Soramaru - kinda like your place with me. Not as a Kumou ninja... but as a friend.

[ . . . ]

Does it have to go back to how things were? Back when things were bloodier - and everyone was fighting.

... the sun's shining on Shiga now. I think you'd like it.

I think we can move forward - to a world where everyone gets the chance to learn how to smile and laugh, instead of fighting for a way to live, like you need to earn your place to survive.

We can do something different.

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