mingle: farewell

[cyclists]

Farewell
34 Revived

As the sun rises on Saturday morning, all will be quiet and still in the village. Not a single soul stirs as the sun and the moon linger in the sky, visible should anyone look.

A shimmer of stars spark through the air as a swirl of darkness lifts from the village. Everything has returned to as it once was, all 16 houses in-tact and all buildings precisely as they were before. Beams of light follow, soaring through the air and delivering every single participant back to this plane of existence.

As participants gather their wits and take in their surroundings, they'll find that a celebratory banquet has been prepared for them not unlike the one that originally greeted them. Decorations hang from the rafters and windows as lively music plays and can be heard in every part of the village. Some may even be able to trace the source to a gathering of musical instruments, and even...a turntable? Strange. All manner of fruits and vegetables appear to be perfect for harvest, and a variety of freshly cooked dishes from across many worlds can be found on display at the tables in the center. If you don't see your favorite dish? All of the ingredients can be found, along with amenities to make it yourself.

Surrounding the center of the village, several gateways open one by one, a soft gold glow emitting from them. No dangers linger in these parts, but adventure awaits those who wish to find it. Likewise, silver gateways open alongside these and serve as portals that allow participants to return to their homeworlds whenever they're ready.

Your Oracle Bells are in working condition, all messages saved from your time here and featuring a new network feature. Even as you leave this world, you're only 140 characters away from the friends you've come to cherish. Look around at those who join you today. Look hard enough, and you may even find some familiar faces you haven't seen for a very, very long time.

Though your time in this village draws to a close, the universe has settled and found a path to follow. You will always have a place here should you wish to return, and even when you depart for your next destination, your strength and power will follow you.

Your gratitude will be remembered, participants. Congratulations.



Happy endgame, friends! Thank you guys for a fun nine weeks! Here's a breakdown of what's happening in this post.

-All participants have been revived.
-All locations from the game have been opened, including the locations of the CYOAs.
-All characters' homeworlds can be visited.
-Castmates will be able to come through these world portals and play with the game's cast! So feel free to tag each other, etc.
-The Oracle Bells now have a universal network! We have a post over in the free-for-all meme comm so please just spam each other to your heart's content.
-All elemental powers will remain with characters when they leave! This includes their special skills.
-And yes, all injuries are healed and all characters will remember their time here.

In addition, we have a feedback post, love meme/friending meme, and tl;cr meme for your endgame needs. Your final CR chart is also up.

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Comments

[unsaid]

Hm... I rather think that this scenario is what everyone wanted, did it not?

[you know, the general revival, thank god shess is the last man standing thing.

it’s not like mikazuki had any plans aside from that!

.... well, it’s what he’s going to pitch anyway, even if it’s not remotely convincing]

[unfriendliest]

[ kara stares at him for a moment, clearly unconvinced. there's something missing there, and he knows it, but for now he'll simply say: ]

...I would have preferred not having to fight you.

[unsaid]

Hmm... I suppose it is difficult to raise a sword against a comrade.

[this is what he says but a bitch has absolutely fought kogi before because it was easier than admitting to a singular feeling

honestly kara is so valid every time he said that jiji is literally never straightforward about what he says because i have no idea if he'll say a single direct thing in this thread]

Even so... a battlefield suits our steel better than surrender.

[unfriendliest]

I would do it again, if I had to.

[ because mikazuki is right - they belong on the battlefield. and yet... ]

Why did you fight? Corruption or not, you knew I wanted Shess to be the last.

[unsaid]

Hm... The corruption did make me long for the battlefield in a way that I normally do not.

[he's a sword, at the end of the day. jiji normally prefers to relax rather than fight, but when those violent urges work up...

on top of the fact that at the very base of his desires, that extended even onto his wish that he passed on to shess, mikazuki munechika wants nothing more than to get the chance to live. all things are meant to break one day and yet...

there are a few ways to answer what kara is really getting at, and he thinks that they're all rather complicated things.]

I suppose from there, it was simply inevitable.

[not that he's ever cared once for the word 'inevitable' bUT LISTEN THE LIES KEEP COMING]

[unfriendliest]

[ inevitable? the look on kara’s face makes it clear that he doesn’t believe that. ]

The only thing that’s inevitable is that we break.

[ kara thinks he might understand, if jiji ever bothered to explain his actions. the only thing he really wants is the ability to make his own choices - and that was granted, if only in part, when he was given a human body. But there’s still a mission to accomplish back home, and a war to win. ]

They said the corruption doesn’t make you do something you wouldn’t ever consider, just that it enhances the worst parts of you, and makes you act on them.

Would you have been so eager to break Tsuru, too, if he’d been there with us?

[unsaid]

[ . . . . there's a bit of a smile at that - because is that so inevitable too? perhaps, perhaps not. they've all broken once here, and yet they're fine. even if they're to break one day, is that the end? or, since his wish with shess went through, will they break or will they die?

none of these are things that mikazuki says out loud because the question manages to make his expression even more unreadable than usual.]

... I hope you do not think that I was especially eager to break you in particular, my comrade.

[that wasn't done out of spite, even if his words were rather biting.]

But the corruption also does not allow for surrender [he thinks back on it - being asked if someone could take their own life when corrupted and while it wasn't impossible, they probably wouldn't go alone] and even Tsurumaru would have to break in order for our mission here to complete.

[last man standing and all that.

but would corrupted mikazuki still have been so eager to leave shess for the last man standing if the man he loved was around?

hard to say.]

[unfriendliest]

No, but I was the one standing in your way. If it were anyone but the two of them, you would have cut them down just as easily.

[ his frown only seems to deepen, with mikazuki's words. maybe he just doesn't understand the corruption well, since he was somehow untouched? still, that seems an odd thing to say, given kara's experience, so he can't accept it easily. after all... ]

Kaoru surrendered.

[unsaid]

So he did... It was quite admirable, for a young human such as himself to put his care for you ahead of his own life. Corruption has motivated others to take the steps they must to protect others, as well.

[it's why hisoka died, after all.

and it's why mikazuki couldn't let the mission end without him being present to ensure it all. he possesses pride in spades, even if it might make other matters difficult. as a sword, he couldn't allow himself to break until he was sure that he'd done all that he could.

... well, there are still some things he regrets.]

Is there still something that you seek from me, Ookurikara?

[unfriendliest]

It wasn’t that. He knew just as well as the rest of us that he may have to die for this to end, and he made a choice.

[ kara is all about making choices for yourself, after all. he regrets not being able to give the same choice to squall, but without knowing how he would have reacted to the news…

well. it doesn’t matter anymore. so kara only stares down mikazuki in silence, for once thinking hard about his words before he speaks again, crossing his arms over his chest. it may look like a stern gesture, but if kara were a little more honest, he'd realize it's to protect himself from the answer. he has a feeling that he won’t like it.

and even though he tries, he can’t quite hide the venom in his voice, barely restrained under forced neutrality. ]

Do you really believe the things you said about the Date?

[unsaid]

[he can't help but wonder if the two reasons cannot coexist - but mikazuki is far more pleased that ookurikara seems to be making the effort to read others at all. he really has grown in a lot of ways, hasn't he?

even as he asks that question - and mikazuki remembers that just as well, some things will also stay the same.]

Ha ha ha...

[though at least the laugh lacks the usual genuine amusement - even if there is some wry tone to it]

Not in such harsh terms.

In other words -

The Date defined an era without ever taking the role of 'unifier' within themselves. They remained fiercely loyal to whom they swore to alliances with, but were not without their own character and zeal. In the modern era, it is difficult to say that they hold the same illustrious position that they once did... they shaped Japan, and their memory will be treasured in the hearts of the people forever.

[and that's the type of history that mikazuki enjoys - the kind that is never meant to last forever, and yet he's always selfish enough to try to extend the lifespan for as long as he can. it would be impossible for him to ever scoff at the date.]

And I do believe that you are their sword, through and through.

[unfriendliest]

[ and here he doesn’t bother trying to hide his anger, a fire burning in his eyes. ]

I know their history better than any of you.

[ better, even, than the other dategumi. they’d all left the family at some point, but kara had been with them since the tokugawa awarded him to tadamune before serving masamune himself. mitsutada, sada, tsurumaru - they were all as dedicated as kara, but he’d been with them the longest, served them all and helped their history unfold before being given away himself for safekeeping. but by that time, the age of warriors had ended, and he was no longer able to shape their legacy in the same way.

so yes, he knows the date. he knows their unwavering dedication - even masamune’s, though he longed to have a more active role in the unification of the country. so it makes kara bristle to hear mikazuki speak of them as if he wouldn’t - especially so soon after using them to attack kara. one of the first things he’d done upon being summoned to serve the saniwa, was to ask where they’d gone from there, once he’d been given away. the age of warriors had ended by then, but even so…

ookurikara doesn’t care what mikazuki says about him. but he won’t allow anyone to speak of his masters the way mikazuki had - and yet, some of the fire drains from his voice, leaving him quiet when he speaks again. ]

They were always more than just a legacy.

[unsaid]

[well, kara had asked him what he believed, so he gave an answer now that he can speak uncorrupted - but he supposes that he can't blame ookurikara for his protectiveness. mikazuki is somewhat similar to tsurumaru in the sense that he doesn't feel an incredible attachment to any of his previous masters -

but he's also very different in the sense that he instead focuses on paying attention to each individual person in history, legacy or not. he meant his words as a compliment, as praise - for not everyone can leave their mark in history the same way that the date did. their legacy speaks volumes about what they were able to accomplish, and he cannot help but think that in the grander scope of history - to become a part of a national memory is one of the greatest hopes someone can have.

though he doesn't feel entirely surprised that ookurikara - regarded as one of the younger immortals here - sees his immediate loyalties first. it's endearing, and stubborn, and -

ah... mikazuki's expression softens. sometimes he truly does miss kogitsunemaru.]

They were your family and precious masters, were they not?

Even if I cannot fully comprehend your anger - [not when he lacks the same loyalty to one family line] - I know well enough that what I had said certainly deserved it.

[unfriendliest]

They were.

[ the dates were good people, dedicated and noble - and they were the only ones who never abandoned him, until it became necessary to relinquish him. his love for all of them, especially masamune, will never fade.

it isn't fair of him to hold words borne of the corruption against mikazuki himself. kara knows that. even so, it's this annoying heart that he gained with human form that refuses to let it go, and clings to anger on the date clan's behalf.

does mikazuki still treasure these newfound human emotions so much, knowing this? ookurikara can't understand why he would.

- ah, but it doesn't matter so much now, does it? it's done, and they can go back to their own worlds. kara isn't going to waste time hoping that they'll never have to see each other again once they do. even his own mikazuki munechika would undoubtedly agree with this one. it's why he never fully trusted the old sword, despite wanting to. he was always too much of a mystery. ]

If your citadel has an Ookurikara - don't talk to him about them.

[ no kara would take such words kindly. it may be better not to hear them at all. ]

[unsaid]

Hm... I cannot promise such a thing.

[if only because - ]

I think it would be rather wonderful to hear more about them from someone who loves them so.

[it's something that mikazuki barely knows. he loves his current saniwa very, very much - he feels gratitude toward him, and would do anything to ensure his happiness even if it means keeping him in the dark. but that's different from the love that a sword can feel for an entire family line, the devotion and loyalty that comes with having a master that you adore during the turbulent era itself rather than after it.]

But I will be sure to keep my thoughts to myself, whatever they may be.

[kara: i hate mikazuki he's so mysterious
jiji: i see, kara wants me to be more mysterious]

[unfriendliest]

[ no, that’s… not really what he wanted. if ookurikara had his way, he would cut this mikazuki off from anything regarding the date clan, anything at all - at least temporarily. but he knows there’s no way to do that, between mikazuki’s connection to tsuru, being from a different citadel, and having access to history records even if he can’t go and see it unfold for himself. and then there’s mikazuki’s usual way of just… doing whatever he wants.

this is really the best that kara can ask for. ]

...That’s fine.

[ it’s clear that he isn’t necessarily happy with that conclusion, but. if it means saving another version of himself from hearing such harsh words about his family, then that’s what matters most, isn’t it?

perhaps if their positions were reversed, he’d want the option to choose this on his own, as he does in all things. but ookurikara knows himself best. the other will understand. ]