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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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?

[ what good will an example do for someone who can't really understand what he does

but fine. ]

...The one I'm returning to, then. We have to go to Enkyou to protect one of my former masters and another family from the History Revisionists who want them all dead. Most of the time, we can find them before they even reach their target. So as long as we keep our distance from my old master while we wait for the Revisionists to appear, we won't need to be seen by anyone else in order to do the job.

And what's the likelihood that the Revisionists will know that you're coming to protect your old master? Do they know they have an opposition?

[ hm... at that, kara can only shrug. ]

Probably. If not us, there would likely be another team sent by a different citadel. But they won't know when or where we'll show up any more than we know where they'll appear.

Sounds more like a mission of risk. [...there's a pause then, hands lingering on a shirt he was about to pull down.]

You better not break then. [It's not exactly an order, but like. Wow. Please save Kara.] She wouldn't be the only one who wouldn't accept that, I imagine.

Every mission is a risk.

...But I'm not planning on breaking. And even if I do, I'll have the omamori the saniwa made. The only ones who will die are the Revisionists.

[Ah. That's enough assurance for him and in the end he settles on another grin. It's not like he doesn't believe that anyway.]

Then when you find her, come find me if you have time. Who knows what we'll be doing by then...Milord's going to be busy trying to take over Boston, I assume. I'll be around. [Okay, maybe not enough assurance. And maybe he just wants to see the two of them and judge them in the future. It's fine.]

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