subdivided | mingle: farewell

mingle: farewell

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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[That's so intense. That's so much and his expression seems to reflect the fact that he's still uncertain about it, but...well, if anyone can handle it it'd be Kara in the first place.]

Then the most we can do is try our best, isn't it? [The situations aren't exactly applicable, but he laughs softly.] You're preparing for a battle and I'm preparing for my second year of high school. Working with other people is always going to be a challenge, but being here has made it a little easier.

[It's necessary. He's not letting this sword leave underdressed and underprepared especially when he has Lili's interests in mind, too.] You really don't think she's going to as soon as you're both ready? [He sounds incredulous, but...he's curious.]

What's high school?

[ kaoru's another child of nobility, isn't he? he always struck kara that way, same as lili... but nobility usually has private tutoring for their children, in kara's experience. what even is a school that isn't a style of forging swords?? ]

No, I know. And I'll be waiting for her once my mission's over and I've gone through repairs, but we both have our own duties in our own worlds. It's just as likely she and I will both be too busy.

But we agreed to keep trying anyway. It'll just be a little harder, once we've left here.

[It's almost funny that Kara's asking, but this isn't the first time he's fooled people into thinking he's higher ranking than he really is. Instead of addressing that though, he thinks of Kara's mission first.]

As long as you're trying I suppose I can't fault either of you. I no longer have to worry about you two putting each other aside entirely. [A wry grin follows.] I believe people fight for the things they truly care about, regardless of how hard it is.

As for high school...it's a level of education where I'm from. Our particular school is the most elite in Tokyo, but currently our club is on an exchange to study in another country for a year. [A shrug.] It's what we do to ensure our leadership and business skills are high enough to succeed.

Our duties to our own worlds have to come first. But Lili would never allow me to ignore her, after what I told her.

[ it will be an odd arrangement, for sure. even if it weren't for the duties of their separate worlds keeping them apart, neither of them are familiar with modern dating conventions. it will take some time and discovery on their part to make it work. ]

You don't have tutors? And what's... Tokyo?

[ he's an old sword, save him ]

I know. She's told me a little about some of what has to come first for her, and she's stubborn when it comes to things she's passionate about. [He could stand to sound less fond. He's also picking out a blazer for Kara. Someday maybe he and Lili will go on a nice date.] ...you'll be fine. A few of us are in the same position of trying to figure out how to make time for one another when our worlds continue moving.

[Case in point, he hasn't quite figured out what to do with Miki but he's going to try. There's a pause though...and there's an actual laugh this time.] We have tutors for some things, but no. Hikaru and I attend a private academy for years. We've had the same classmates for just as long and considering it's a school for those of a higher degree...well. You can imagine what that's like.

[A bunch of rich bitches. There's a pause then.] I forgot that this was probably after your time. It's one of the prefectures that makes up Japan. The country's capital, actually, and Tokyo itself is split into parts. Ouran's located in an area known as Bunkyo, which is north east of Shinjuku and west of Taito. [Not that this means anything to Kara.]

...it's a very large city made up of smaller compounds, basically. Right now the members of the Host Club are in America though. We just moved to Boston.

[ kara nods because well... that's one of the things he likes about lili. when it comes to something or someone she cares about, she never gives up. it's pretty admirable. ]

The biggest problem will be my current master. We aren't supposed to leave the citadel without their permission.

[ and yeah none of those names mean anything to kara? though his brow does furrow at the mention of the nation's capital. ]

They moved the capital from Kyoto?

[ also what's a boston. ]

And I'm guessing your master won't exactly let you leave for personal reasons. [Wild.] I don't know how you'd explain it, but...a little detour never hurt anyone.

[Don't listen to him, Kaoru is someone who does whatever he wants so often he forgets rules are real. But he nods along all the same. Please don't ask what Boston is because Kaoru sure can't really explain it.]

They moved in like 1860-something? A long time ago in my timeline but pretty far in the future in yours, I'm guessing. The emperor moved from Kyoto to Tokyo during the beginning of the Meiji era. [...how to explain this to a sword...] Tokyo used to be Edo?

[Help.]

We're not supposed to, no. But I don't ask them for much, so if I don't have any chores, they might allow it. No one's ever asked for something like that before.

[ because none of them have any reasons to leave, besides missions? but it's not like it will cost them any money, either, so no one can hold that against him (hasebe).

he'll nod in recognition for that one, though! ]

Oh - I know Edo. We weren't used as much by the Meiji era, though. I think I was in storage by then.

[ he never kept track of the exact date that happened? he was just kind of bitter about it? but that would be why he's so lost on all this modern stuff. ]

[Don't mind him, he's definitely trying to wrap his head around the idea of not being able to just do as you please whenever you want. But this is just another way that Kara's more disciplined than he is. As long as they can agree, Kaoru can walk away satisfied. It's not even really his business but he wants them to be happy. As far as he can tell, they're happy with each other.

It's just another lesson he's still learning. People are always happiest with others.]

I thought that might be the case. [Maybe not that far back, but given everything...but also wait. Wait, wait, wait.] ...why would you be in storage...?

[Kaoru knows Kara's not human, but the rest is still not entirely connected here.]

[ oh, right. kara never really explained beyond that, did he.

in that case, he'll pull the sword, still sheathed, from his belt for kaoru to get a closer look. ]

Because I'm a sword, and they didn't need me anymore.

[...alright give him a moment to process this. He'll even move closer and set the clothes aside to examine the sword but he's careful not to touch it or anything.]

...I always assumed your scroll was mocking you. ["Item: Ookurikara."] We studied a little of the Shinsengumi for a theme for the club, but that's still not the right time period for you, is it?

Edited (stray words why) 2019-08-12 17:52 (UTC)

Not for me, but we have some of the Shinsengumi swords at the citadel.

[ they'd probably be delighted to hear their masters' legacies still live on. ]

I was one of the swords used by Date Masamune. I served his family for generations after, until they gave me away for safekeeping. That's when I was put into storage.

[This is both fascinating and very confusing, but it's fine, he'll keep his mouth shut and just let Kara talk. He's not as big on history as he could be, but the names are familiar. He's also subconsciously tapping the space near his eye when Masamune's name comes up.]

That would make sense given what you remember. [Edo, he means. There's a look of recognition at least.] You must be a valued artifact then if they kept you somewhere safe. But then how did...[A gesture. How did this happen?] Your new master took you back out?

...Sort of. I don't fully understand it myself.

[ he'll busy himself with reattaching his sword at his waste as they talk. ]

Our new master has magic, and they use that to summon us and give us human form. I don't know much about how it works, but they were able to find and summon the spirits of swords who were lost, or even broken. Since then, we stay at the citadel until they give us a mission.

[So much makes sense now, and he's keeping his eyes on that sword for a moment. He's mostly trying to figure out how a sword ended up turning into someone like Kara's human form. Magic seems to always be the answer.]

A new home. [He can get that concept. He's busy racking his brain for something though.] It's like... tsukumogami then. Your spirits were inhabiting the swords, and now you have a different form. I can only imagine there's a lot of you.

That's exactly what it is, yeah.

[ but they aren't just spirits anymore, for better or worse. being able to wield their own swords is a good thing, but they get all the disadvantages of being human now, too, except for repairs and, you know, the sort of immortality. ]

I think there's... [ give him a second ] ...around fifty of us now? But there are still some swords our master hasn't been able to summon yet. There'll be more, by the time the war ends.

No offense, but I can't say I envy your position at all. I prefer being human even if it means not being as strong. [There's a half-grin. Fifty sword spirits manifested as people...it's hard to imagine, but also knowing that Lili had a crush on a sword makes a lot of sense, too. It explains Kara's behavior and how Lili treated him and it's nice to actually be caught up, wow.]

But...just how long is this war going to go on for you? What's the end?

Being human is… inconvenient.

[ but he’s not going to complain about the details of why to a human? it’s not they’ll understand how strange it is to go from being a tsukumogami who simply served his master to having a human body and all the strange new experiences that come with it. so he’s just going to leave that there, and move on. ]

We don’t know how long it’ll go - just that we have to keep fighting until the History Revisionists yield, or we eliminate them. It could be months, but more likely years. Maybe hundreds of years. Or maybe it will never end, but as long as we don’t break, we can keep fighting.

After that… Maybe we’ll just go back to being tsukumogami, or maybe we’ll be free to choose for ourselves. I don’t know.

[He'll let that drop because likewise he won't argue about it with someone who's very used to not being human. It's two different scenarios and he can at least understand that part, even if he doesn't get the full extent at all.]

There's always going to be an end even if it takes hundreds of years. That's impossible otherwise. [...] Despite being inconvenient, I sort of hope you get to make the choice to stay as you are now. Maybe in hundreds of years it'll really feel like it's worth it.

[And he shoves a pile of clothes into Kara's hands. It's basics and some flashier date-esque clothing to take back, all appropriately sized for him.]

Yeah, but that doesn't mean all of us will be around to see it.

[ they might break. kara wouldn't be kara if he didn't at least acknowledge the possibility, even if he had no intention of letting that happen to himself or any swords in his team. ]

If I get to make the choice... I think I might go to Lili.

[ as for now... he stares at the pile of clothes with a frown. ]

You know I'll never have a reason to wear most of this, right?

Call me optimistic, but I'd like to believe you just might. [There's a little shrug following that. While it may sound like he means that in regards to Kara's clothing, it's also in regards to not breaking. He's seen what Kara is capable of. It's hard to imagine otherwise.]

Besides, if you do end up going to Lili that's a reason for these clothes in and of itself. You've just proven my point.

[ kara rolls his eyes. ]

You’re both too fixated on appearances. Completing a mission without breaking is more important than how I look while I do it.

Edited 2019-08-21 01:41 (UTC)

Maybe that's true, but there are some missions where your only chance of survival is all in how you present yourself. Haven't you ever heard of camouflage? Stuff like that? Fashion has just as big a place in war as anything else. It's about how you apply it.

[He may or may not be unfortunately stuck on that point of view.]

Maybe for you, but we don't have those kinds of missions. The less we're seen at all, the better.

[ no camouflage, only stealth ]

[SIGH. He can at least accept that better now than he could have before, but at the same time it's a little annoying for him. But Ookurikara's always sort of been this way as far as Kaoru can tell.]

...give me an example of a mission then. If not being seen doesn't automatically mean camouflage, then what?

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