THANK YOU, YOUR MAJESTY (End Game)

[whimsicalism]

[That... that was quite an eventful two months, wasn't it? Well, almost two months, anyway. The Storyteller isn't gone completely but her power over the castle has been replaced by the Queen. All cursed objects reminding the living of the dead are gone as are monsters like Bloody Mary or the train.

Instead the castle is calm and safe for everyone. The foyer however is getting crowded since now all of the dead, including those from round zero are being pushed around. There's a quick announcement from the Queen (which gets a reaction out of most of the new people) informing them that they'll be going home if they want to.

Your friends will be coming down from the seventh area soon enough. Your memories, however, have already returned completely.

The Invidia Castle has been restored under new rulership and even if Closetland still is bad? At least there's one bastion of hope against the remaining kings. You have your powers back to some extent, as well as the power of belief, but only in the castle. Alice will shut them off for you if you start causing too much trouble, though. This is a nice event don't ruin it for everyone.

Rest well. You're free.]

Comments

NPC INTERACTIONS

[whimsicalism]

[If you want to interact with Alice or directly with some of the NPCs (just ask me first, I can't play all 31) from round zero, let me know here. Entei and Molly will be showing up later.]

Seven is going to get Yeeted by a small high schooler named Kanji maybe

[seventhlittlemonster]

[Hm... that scary-looking boy, he was the one who used to be in Room 4?]

Uh... hello there.

Re: NPC INTERACTIONS

[imozon]

Alice!

[It's time to PICK UP AND HUG A DOLL]

Catchall for Rumo/Mikhail/literally any of the weirdo children you wanna yeet at him

[octopups]

[ :O!!! More not-human kids! The legends are true!!]

H-hi! I'm Amdi!

kirika containment zone

[prescience]

[There is a LOT to unpack but probably the hysterically crying lump on the floor is enough to get her attention?]

(I'll take an Alice thread too if you have time, if she wouldn't come over I can write a start.)

[xxxx_me]

[Once he's stopped crying, he comes over to her with a wane smile.]

Alice... we did it.

[battlestations]

[Nigel spots Aya in the crowd and instinctively starts digging through his pockets for any dolls to throw]

[rhododendronhoney]

[Cori's got a special talisman she wrote for Alice, which she offers.]

So, um, I'm not quite sure how your doll body works, but...this is supposed to protect against nightmares. Plus... I guess now I can help take a look at the protections on this place

[strictura]

[ At some point after his conversation with Nigel... ]

Hey, Alice... You like the idea of a children's paradise too, don't you? If I were to come back here and try to establish one in this world, headquartered at the castle for now... would you be all right with that?

[xxxx_me]

[Well, Allen is here. And he's clutching at his chest crying as memory after memory - awful, awful memories, and yet so many good ones too - return to him all at once.]

[undershadow]

Allen!

[ She was going to do the whole awkward avoidance song and dance, but the babby is clearly in trouble and she's just... going to run on over instead. ]

Hey, hey, it's okay... I mean I don't actually know that but it's a lot, huh?

[littlebratziska]

[Well. This is awkward.]

A-are you all right?

[seventhlittlemonster]

[As he reappeared, he clenched his hands, he looked around at so many faces he's never seen... and the faces we have seen.]

W-We're back... [A few tears dropped from his eyes. For once, however... it was from joy.]

[strictura]

[ Look, he's not going to come over in case you don't want that, because he knows how much he hates being approached by anyone he sees as threatening, but.

He'll apologize if you do. ]

[ballooncaged]

Ah... Back together!!

[Get it. As in his head and body weren't separated in deadland. God Mizuki is crying so much.]

COME PET DOGS

[octopups]

[All of Amdi is running exuberantly around and between anyone and everyone he's ever had one (1) positive interaction with.]

You're back! You're back!!

Re: COME PET DOGS

[seventhlittlemonster]

I am!! [He knelt down for the buppers!!]

[littlebratziska]

[Franziska feels oddly vulnerable, around people she'd not seen in so long, looking around at everything and feeling out of her element, again, and not quite sure she trusts any of this. Part of it is remembering again.]

So... it just ends now?

What about where we were?

[octopups]

Franziska!!!

[HELLO MOODY LAWYER CHILD HAVE EIGHT NYOOMING DOGS]

You're back you're back!!

[prescience]

[This would be a wonderful time to return to the living and congratulate the heroes on their job well done setting the world to rights.

But shotgunning 15 years of memories is really, incredibly, overwhelmingly a lot to process mentally.

Not for the first time during her stay in the castle, Oriko ends up falling to the ground on her ass. Uncharacteristically, she is sobbing hysterically. She would be very easy to trip over in this position even if someone wasn't looking for her.

Alternatively, give her about ten minutes and she'll be back to a more stable mental state, giving supportive, slight smiles to everyone like she's attending a party that really isn't meant for her.]

Well, what will you do now?

[octopups]

[At some point during his first round of zoomies Amdi comes across the sobbing Oriko and freezes, totally unsure what to do.]

[But after a moment he gathers himself. He comes up to her all from the front, heads low, not speaking yet, just reaching a nose gently out toward her face.]

[strictura]

[ ...Huh. It's really ending. It's kind of hard for Nagisa to wrap his head around it; even more so when he suddenly has these missing memories flooding back all at once. Most of them he would have been happier to never remember again, but... he can also finally remember what hope feels like again. That makes it worth it.

He stays somewhere near the wall at the edge of the crowd for the time being, not sure how welcome a presence he's going to be at this point. But he's here, and he definitely seems to be in much better shape than the last time any of the living saw him, at least. ]

[xxxx_me]

[Sorry did you think you were escaping.]

Nagisa!

[nothingposh]

[Ah, well. That all happened.

Gavroche hangs back slightly, sort of just watching what's happening. He doesn't really want to go home. He's not sure he can go home, if he's being honest. Does he want to say that to anyone? Not right now. Not during all this.

There's some music clinging to him, though. It's soft, like someone's turned the volume on it down low, but definitely audible.]

[prescience]

[Now that her embarrassing release of emotions she should have under control is over, Oriko catches sight of his inconspicuous hanging back and gently squeezes her way through the foyer crowd to get over there.]

Is there an epilogue to this story, Gavroche-san? [An...encore? That might be more appropriate for what he's familiar with, but it doesn't fit the written world they seem to have found themselves in.]

[undershadow]

[ Lena comes back into existence about as abruptly as she did the first time, and before she actually says anything she pats herself down, looking stricken. Under her breath, she mutters: ]

It worked?

[ It doesn't feel like she should be so lucky. It doesn't feel like she deserves it. But she's back, and she's solid, and about three seconds after this realization she hears an indignant squawk as a purple face bank clatters to the floor.

She's finally, truly, and hopefully irrevocably, free.

This doesn't keep her from awkwardly standing on the edge of everything, though! You can take the witch out of the shadow, but you can't take the shadow out of the certainty that everybody sees her as a monster and, rightly, blames her for the witch's actions. But cooler-than-thou statements are just how Lena copes with overwhelming emotion, so... ]

Congrats, nerds. You really pulled it off.

[ also magica de facebank is probably yelling a bunch of violent shit in a british accent but we're just gonna ignore that for now!! ]

[littlebratziska]

[Without even talking to Lena, Franziska walks over, grabs the facebank, and hurls it into the corner of the garden, then returns.]

[battlestations]

[As soon as the memories come back, he remembers his teammates, family, friends - all these missing pieces, and memories that mostly warm his heart. The uncertainty he'd been feeling before had already been displaced somewhat when he found he was able to throw himself into the power of belief, but it feels good to have all of that rounded out again. It's bittersweet, though. They're still all people he'd vowed not to return to. Remembering their last goodbye is enough to bring a tear to his eye. Well, no one would blame him with all the happy ending going on around him, so he'll just let it go and then wipe it off with a sigh and squared shoulders.

After that, Nigel is mostly standing in front of the foyer window, the letter from the Delightful Children crinkling in his fist as he stares out dramatically into the coastal horizon. Every last one of the dead people is going to be awkward for him to face in one way or another so he's just going to try and keep it together once they all start crowding in. But mostly, he is very bothered by the presence of his enemies and he kind of wants to go back to space as soon as possible to report. God, he has missed reports.

But you know, if you were one of the survivor pool, he'll probably at least turn around and offer you a high five (or a head scratch, you know who you are.) They did good work there.]

[seventhlittlemonster]

[TARGET SPOTTED]

Was I a good cadet, sir? [He stood with the same squared-shoulder posture that he almost forgot while he was mcfucking dead]

[rhododendronhoney]

[Finally, a real fucking kitchen. Cori's gonna be stuck in there for quite a while as she stirs and bakes, coming out with a giant plate of various pastries. She arranges them on a table, a few labeled with various magical effects, mostly minor fun stuff.]

About time we got one of these. Go on, take your pick, I've got more baking in the oven.

[She'll also start working on drawing a variety of talismans, arranging them on the table as well.]

These are for safe travel, these protect against the creatures of Closetland, these are for memory...

[To anyone who can sense magic, they definitely have a magical feel to them.]

[seventhlittlemonster]

[FINALLY SOME GOOD FUCKIGN FOOD THAT'S NOT WEIRD HAMBURGERS GROWING OUT OF THE GROUND

He knew he was going to believe in these talismans after all this.]

...Thank you, Cori. [He felt that sisterly warmth once more now that he remembers One...]

[ballooncaged]

[Oh? The foyer is the subject of attention? And the castle in general is going to stay standing after all?

Then... it's time for Mizuki to bring back those foyer benches from the beginning, arms curled over her shoulders. She has a backpack from Julys filled with any knickknacks from her room, or rather the Orichalcum Trident is too big and strapped to the back.]

After all this, it'll almost be hard to get used to living in a little apartment again.

[But, you know... When she's set that down and gotten further from the rush of battle, the strong facade... this is the kind of thing she might be talking about when asked about her plans to stay:]

Gotta finally make Date buy me that unagi.

[battlestations]

What even is unagi, Mizuki?

[Mizuki was a good teammate through and through, he's completely comfortable talking to her before they say their goodbyes. Though it's a pity she can't stick around. He'll have to get a new combat specialist.]

MOLLY AND ENTEI

[whimsicalism]

[After a while... Two new faces show up. Well, one new face if you're a survivor. Well--I mean. You've possibly talked to her before but it's always been in shadow.

They go off and talk with Alice alone before rejoining the group. Entei is standing to the side a bit warily while Molly talks with the newcomers. Molly's going home soon... to her 'real' dad but at least she can always come visit Entei and her new friends.]

[xxxx_me]

[......Uhhhhhhhhhh.]

...

Roary...?