ReLive: The Unreasonable Routes To Redeeming The Villainess (ch11)

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!!

Can and will this play reach a conclusion... and if so, what sacrifices must be made...?

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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						Chapter 11. Magic Of Some Sort


"…We must wait for her, no matter how long it may take…"

Maya remembers. Those had been the last words she'd said to all of her friends once they'd taken part in the ReLive for 'Ashes of the Phoenix.' Somehow, it feels as if she'd spoken those words only yesterday…

And yet…

/How long has it been…? How long… have we been a part of this stage…?/

She sees only blackness right now, only a darkness that seems to extend for eternity.

She remembers. She isn't sure how or why exactly, but she remembers the events as they come back to her now.

She isn't sure how much time has passed in the real world since she and the others had jumped onto the stage to wait for their ninth actress to join them. But here - in this world - she understands now.

It's been two months.

Two months of attending the Magic Academy.

Two months of learning how to cast spells and ride brooms.

Two months of meeting people she already knew.

Her friends. Her classmates.

They are all here. Even in this all-consuming blackness, she can feel it.

She remembers.

Everything she'd said and seen and done here over the past two months had been the actions of the Duchess - of the character of this world.

But Maya remembers it all now. For, as the actress, she had said and seen and done all those things herself. She just hadn't been aware of it until now.

And what of her feelings? Had those been her own, or merely a fabrication for the sake of the events of the play? She isn't certain.

But there's one thing she is absolutely certain of now.

And it's that she remembers everything.

Every terrible thing Claudine had tried to do to them in order to fulfill her role. Every nasty glance and sharp word and terrible spell.

All for the sake of playing her part. All for the sake of trying to save them and bring them home.

But not Maya, nor any of the others, had been themselves here. They hadn't known Claudine - only the Viscountess. They've been trapped for two months in this world's timeline, and all the while Claudine had been doing such awful things in an effort to break them free.

But Maya had seen her crying. She'd known the sweet and gentle Saijou Claudine was far too kind of a girl to ever be able to cause anyone any harm. While Maya and the rest of them have been living the lives of puppets, Claudine had been her true self - and she had been truly suffering for it.

And Maya's actions at the Ball tonight had only made it worse.

Perhaps some of her own genuine feelings - feelings that Tendo Maya harbors for Saijou Claudine - had bled through into the Duchess' being. Because if Maya knows one thing in all of this confusion and chaos, it's that she loves Saijou Claudine with all her heart.

And that isn't just because of the play. It's something she's known for quite some time now, something she's never had much rhyme or reason for putting into words.

But 'Ashes of the Phoenix' had acted as that catalyst to push her forward, to make her recognize her feelings.

Maya loves her. Truly, with all her soul. She loves Claudine.

But all this time, Claudine has been suffering all alone, without anyone to recognize or remember who she truly was.

Maya isn't sure why she herself has been granted the privilege of remembering now. But she can only hope it isn't too late.

The world around her is still black.

From what she can recall, the Ball had just been underway. Claudine had finally broken due to Maya's proposal - because that is not how this play is supposed to go.

So much has been changed throughout the course of it, until the point where it is more or less a new play entirely now. If they don't find some way to give it its proper ending, 'Ashes of the Phoenix' and everyone within it will be erased, one way or another.

She - Tendo Maya - absolutely cannot let that happen.

Through sheer willpower and determination to achieve that goal, she pushes herself up from the cold marble floor of the ballroom and opens her eyes.

The room is still and quiet. All of the other students, including Karen and her other friends, are unconscious across the floor. A table had been smashed against the far wall, and as Maya sees it now, she remembers how it had gotten there.

"Claudine-"

"Oh, I am afraid not."

Maya's heart seizes in her chest at the sound of that deep and eerily-familiar voice. She turns her head slowly as she staggers to her feet and gazes upon the figure of the giraffe.

"You…" she whispers. "Why are you-?"

"I am here to see an end to this failure of a performance," he informs her. "I held back for as long as I could. Truly, I did. I believed your ninth actress would eventually think of some way to fulfill her role properly… But then you went and changed the ending irrevocably. For the Duchess to marry the Viscountess is an ending 'Ashes of the Phoenix' may never allow. Saijou Claudine-san knew this, and so it broke her. And as such, she broke the fourth wall. And that was something I simply could not allow. Therefore I have suspended this play. Temporarily."

Maya feels her stomach twisting as he confirms her thoughts. She had been the cause of this. It was the Duchess' proposal to the Viscountess that had pushed Claudine to the point of no return and ruined the play. Because Maya's own feelings toward Claudine had somehow leaked into her character's actions when she hadn't even been aware of her true self. In other words…

"My… My love for her… caused this…?"

She looks around the room again, to where all of her friends are slumped on the floor. And finally, her eyes come to rest on Claudine.

She, too, is lying there, just mere feet away from Maya. There is a cloud of black mist around her, and as Maya peers closer now, she can see it gradually sinking into her skin. Black tears are running down her cheeks, even though her eyes are closed.

Maya sways, trying to take a step toward her, but she drops to her knees.

"My love for Saijou-san… has destroyed the ReLive…? My love… is what will get us all erased…?"

The giraffe cranes his neck behind her.

"I suppose that is one way to consider it." Now, for the first time ever, he actually almost sounds regretful. "It is a shame. To be losing nine promising Stage Girls all at once in this way. Never did I think I would see the day. And yet, in that regard, this, too, is a very unique performance in its own right. I understand."

"What will happen-?" Maya tears her gaze from Claudine and turns back to him, shaking. "What will happen to us now-?"

"What will happen…?" he repeats calmly. "I have reset the memories of everyone here, just a few moments back. That should have included yours as well. Why you have somehow managed to both retain your memories of this ReLive thus far, as well as recall your memories of who you really are as an actress, escapes me. It seems there is always an anomaly of some sort when it comes to Seishou Music Academy."

"But Claudine-!" Maya cries. "What-"

"The Saijou Claudine-san you once knew no longer exists, I'm afraid. You see, as punishment for failing so miserably to fulfill her role in this world, the stage has rejected her. I have erased her memories of who she once was. Now, she is truly the Viscountess - the villainess. For that is who she needs to be in this world. Although-" He flicks an ear at something yet unheard. "-with how quickly the Korosu are breaking in, this world will not last very much longer. It truly is a shame."

"Wait-" Maya cries. "What do you-?"

"Farewell, Tendo Maya-san. As this time, it will be the last."

A sudden, chilling wind cuts through Maya's spine now. She turns back to Claudine to see her slowly pushing herself up. But when she looks back to the giraffe, he is gone.

The other students are beginning to regain consciousness as well now, asking their friends if everyone is all right. But as Maya staggers to her feet once more, her eyes return to Claudine and never leave.

The awful black aura is radiating from her even more strongly now, smothering smoke coiling all around her. It stains her nails and the tips of her fingers, creating ugly black vines up her arms and across her collar.

The darkness has reached her heart.

And when she finally lifts her face - where her cheeks are tainted with black teardrops - Maya is horrified to find her eyes have gone completely black as well. There is no color, no shine. Only a void of darkness.

And Claudine - no… - the Viscountess stares directly into Maya's soul, with those pitch-black eyes like the abyss itself, so hollow and terrifying that Maya can't even speak. A wicked, cruel smile spreads across the Viscountess' lips.

"Oh~?" She chuckles, but it's not with Claudine's charming little giggle. Instead, the voice coming out of her throat now is warped and twisted, like rock scraping iron, as if it pains her even just to speak. "What have we here? The Duchess Tendo? The woman who ruined my life?" She brings a hand to her chin, black nails touching black lips. "The terror in your eyes… I like it. Please keep showing me that petrified expression."

Maya trembles. Every inch of her.

"C…Clau-"

But she can't even speak.

This girl. She isn't Claudine. This isn't her kind, gentle soul.

Suddenly, the Viscountess flashes out her arm, and another table goes flying. The students shriek and run in terror, but the doors remain shut, locked by the Viscountess' curse. Even as Nana and the others begin trying to compile their powers and combat her evil magic, they aren't strong enough to overcome it.

There's a crazed, shrill laughter, a grating cackling that strikes terror deep within Maya's heart. The Viscountess raises her arms, and the black aura begins lifting her into the air.

"You'll pay!" she shouts. "You'll all pay for what you've done to me! For loving that damned Village Girl more than me! For casting me aside like I was nothing-!"

She speaks as the Viscountess from the original play spoke.

Maya recognizes these lines.

These are the lines the Viscountess shouts at the crowds as they bound her to the cross before lighting it on fire.

These are her dying words.

"No-"

Maya whimpers, but it goes unheard as the Viscountess thrusts yet another table with her magic. She then begins to gather up everything she can all at once and toss things about in a violent fury.

She aims for the students, for the people she once believed to be her friends. The black winds around her create a raging storm now, a swirling tornado of the manifestation of her deep-rooted hatred and ire.

Everyone screams and tries to run or hide, and the Viscountess enjoys their terror, drinking it in like air. Even after all the tables and chairs and lights have been smashed to pieces, she begins shooting spells out of her fingertips, firing black streaks of magic at anyone she can.

"You want to kill me for treason-" she shouts. "-but I'll kill all of you first!"

More of her final lines. These are things the Viscountess originally shouts in denial for her own doom. But now, in this version, she can actually make it a reality.

But even so, she only has so many lines left. Once she runs out of them - once her role has ended-

"No-"

Maya cries out again, but then there's another terrible sound.

Amongst all the screams of terror, the slicing of the Viscountess' spells, and the crashing and snapping of furniture, now there comes a loud, ear-splitting screech. Maya watches in horror as the Korosu appear out of nowhere.

Or rather, they tear through the walls and the air - through the play itself.

Just as the giraffe had said, they have finally broken in to erase this failed ReLive - to destroy it and everyone within it.

The air is shattered by screams and wails as everyone scrambles to try and escape. Those who have been hit by the Viscountess' spells cry out in anguish as their friends try to heal them.

By now, Nana and Junna have cast as large a barrier as they can manage.

"Everyone!" Junna cries. "Come to us! Help us expand the barrier!"

"Baroness!" Mahiru wails. "Wh-What are those monsters-?"

"I'm not sure-"

"Quickly-!" Nana cries.

Mahiru and Hikari had been trying to fight off the Korosu with spells of their own, but nothing seems to be working on them. They just keep advancing, snarling and swinging their weapons to kill.

"Nothing's working-" Hikari whimpers. "It's like… they're not even from this world-"

"Miss Hikari!" Mahiru grabs her by the arm now and pulls her away. "It's no use! We must get to the barrier!"

By now, most of the other students have made their way over as well. Everyone adds their own powers to strengthen it and expand it to extend over as many people as possible.

Karen is still outside of its range, desperately helping the last few stragglers get to safety.

"Kaoruko! Futaba!" she shouts. "Hurry!"

Kaoruko remains as one of the last people fighting.

"Don't think so little of me!" she snaps. "I'm one of the only purebreds here, after all!" She manages to at least keep the Korosu at bay long enough for Karen to save the last of their classmates. But neither her magic, nor Futaba's sword, do any actual damage to the monsters.

"Kaoruko!" Futaba grunts. "That's enough! We gotta fall back!"

But as they turn to race to the others, Kaoruko is struck in the back by one of the Viscountess' bolts. With a short cry of pain, she collapses breathlessly to the floor. Futaba shouts in horror.

"Kaoruko!"

She runs to her, dropping her sword in order to gather the Heiress into her arms. Black tears have begun running down Kaoruko's cheeks. It's the same for everyone else who had been struck by the Viscountess' curses. It's all Futaba can manage to carry Kaoruko into the barrier where Nana lets them in and then closes it behind them.

"Karen!" Nana cries. "Duchess! Please-! It's too dangerous-!"

Only now that Nana screams her name does Maya seem to come back to her senses. She'd watched all of this unfold for the last few moments, frozen in a haze.

The Korosu continue tearing through the ballroom, and through the play itself. And she knows from the initial fight she and her friends had engaged in within this world that their magic barriers will only hold up for so long before their strength drains altogether. They will be overcome before long, and the Korosu will erase them all.

It feels like a nightmare. Like watching a horror movie. Like she isn't really a part of it.

The Viscountess remains engulfed in her black storm, cackling wickedly as she slices the air with her curses. Maya jolts when a pair of Korosu suddenly come charging at her, and it's only by means of reflexive magic that she manages to blast them away for the time being.

The entire world comes down around them.

It's ending.

The first play they've ever failed to save will also be their last performance ever.

/No…/

She grips her head in her hands, her mouth hanging open in a soundless scream.

/No- this can't be-! This can't be how it ends-!/

They'll never be able to go back to their world.

They'll never remember who they were.

They're going to lose themselves and each other forever.

/How…? How can I stop this…?/

To her, the Viscountess' maniacal laughter sounds more like the echoes of uncontrollable sobbing.

/There must be some way… to fulfill the play's true ending…/

The true ending would mean the Duchess would marry the Village Girl. But that would result in the Viscountess' death. And now, as things are, the Viscountess and Claudine are one; if the Viscountess dies, so does she.

Even though that ending will complete the play and save Maya and the others, they will lose Claudine forever.

But if the ending of the play isn't fulfilled, they will all remain trapped here forever. And with the Korosu already upon them, 'forever' isn't a very long time. In only moments, the Korosu will have torn this world to pieces and erased it, and they will all be destroyed along with it.

In retrospect, it's an easy choice, isn't it?

Let them all die here…

Or just let Claudine die…

After all, she isn't even Claudine anymore.

She is just the Viscountess - just a character in a play. An evil, treacherous character, at that.

Surely, Claudine would want this of Maya.

Surely, she would beg her to choose the proper ending if she could.

Maya knows Claudine would gladly become a sacrifice if it meant saving the rest of them.

After all, that's exactly why she'd jumped onto this stage without a second thought to become its ninth actress in the first place.

All this time, Claudine has been sacrificing herself for them. It's what she wants.

Even now, as Maya looks up into the dark haze of wind shrouding all around her, she feels she can read into those abysmal, lifeless eyes. It is as if whatever traces of Claudine are still left are beseeching her.

/Please… Save yourselves…/

It will be their salvation.

It's what Claudine wants.

For all their sakes.

It's for the best…

. . .

. . .

. . .

And yet-

And yet-

She simply cannot grant Claudine that wish.

"I'm sorry."

Suddenly, the Viscountess' crazed laughter comes to an abrupt stop. The cutting winds die down, just a little, as she turns her blackened gaze down on the Duchess.

"You…" she spits. "How dare you spout apologies to me now? It's too late for that! It's too late for all of you!"

But in spite of her vengeful words, Maya feels the tiniest flutter of hope pass through her heart. Because the lines the Viscountess had just uttered were not lines scripted to her in the original play.

Maya's intention has been made known to this world now.

The Korosu all stop, suspended and immobile, forced to watch and play the audience to this unprecedented turn of events.

All of the other students observe as well, huddled together beneath the cracking barrier that seems like it will give at any moment now.

Maya keeps her eyes on the Viscountess still floating on her dark clouds. She takes a step closer to her.

"I've found my answer, Viscountess," she proclaims.

"What-?" The tainted girl snarls down at her and aims a blackened finger at Maya's chest. "I've heard just about enough from you, Duchess. To think I'd fallen for the likes of you. What a fool I was. But it doesn't matter anymore. I'll kill you first!"

Without hesitation, she fires out a streak of black lightning straight at her.

But even though not Maya, nor anyone else casts magic to defend, the strike vanishes into thin air before it can ever reach her. Maya smiles.

"I see. So the play truly has come to accept my choice, then."

"What-?!" The Viscountess hisses in fury, trying again to fire her curses. But they all dissipate uselessly into the air. Savagely, she lunges down at Maya, still carried by her violent winds, but sinking lower now to screech into her face. "What witchcraft is this?!" she demands. "What kind of spell can stop my dark curses?! What kind of black magic are you using?!"

Maya looks back to all the others, who are no longer cowering in such fear as before. Even when the barrier finally breaks, the Korosu do not advance on them.

Maya looks to Karen - the Village Girl, and the play's main character - for a long moment, and then back to the Viscountess.

"What I am using," she says calmly. "Is not black magic. But it is magic of some sort, I'm certain."

"What, then-?!" the Viscountess howls.

"Magic indeed," Maya replies calmly. "A magic all its own."

She reaches out now, and everyone holds their breath once again.

And then, Maya takes the hand of the wretched villainess and finds her shaking. She reveals her answer.

"What I am using, dear Viscountess, is love."

There's a murmur of shock and confusion from behind her, but the person in front of her shrieks shrilly.

"Love-!" she yowls. "You think you can fix all of this with love? Then you should have loved me from the start, you wretched fool! But instead you chose her - that dimwitted Village Girl! You chose to love her instead of me-!"

She tries to break free of Maya's grip, but it seems the Viscountess is trembling far too much. She doesn't have the strength to pull away.

Or perhaps - just perhaps - it's because she doesn't quite want to.

Maya keeps a firm hold of her hand now, not fearing the blackness transferring to her own skin. It doesn't encroach upon her. It can't make contact or even hope to compete with this magic of hers.

"It was not a choice," Maya replies. "Love simply happens, and it can't always be explained how or why, I'm afraid. It isn't so easily defined. But I believe that's what makes it the most beautiful and powerful magic of all."

The room is stunned into silence. Not even the Viscountess has anything to say. She simply stares into Maya's eyes with those black, soulless ones of hers, where so many tears have been shed down her cheeks. The winds around her lessen, just a little.

Maya looks to the final lead role of this play.

"Miss Aijou?"

She offers her other hand now, and Karen seems ready, as if she'd been expected to be called upon. She draws in a deep breath and hurries over to them, taking Maya's outstretched hand.

"Yes, Duchess Tendo!"

Maya dips her head to Karen with a smile.

"I suppose since this play is already being destroyed that it doesn't matter if I break the fourth wall once more, isn't that right?" She lifts her head and her voice to the giraffe whom she knows is still watching and listening, but there is no reply. Maya chuckles. "As I thought. As such, I will now perform an ending scene. An ending that will both satisfy the original script of 'Ashes of the Phoenix,' and also spare the villainess her doom." She gives a squeeze to both Karen's and the Viscountess' hands.

But the Viscountess still tries meekly to pull herself free.

"What are you doing…?" Now, the voice that had been screaming accusations is choked and hoarse. "You can't save me from my doom! This is the ending I've chosen!"

"But it is not the ending you want," Maya says. "In fact, I believe that is an ending no one wants to see. After all, the Viscountess deserved recognition and love too, did she not? She worked hard to get to where she was. Perhaps in the original play, she was written to be a horrible and irredeemable character…

"But in this play - in this version of 'Ashes of the Phoenix' - we did not have that Viscountess. Instead, we had a sweet and caring girl who cried herself to sleep every night. A girl who loved her friends dearly enough that she would gladly sacrifice herself for their sakes. I think we would all agree such a character is called a heroine, not a villainess."

Maya's voice rings out strongly now, not only for the other characters and her friends to hear, but also for the Korosu that have become the audience of sorts, and for the giraffe watching from high above the stage. All eyes are upon her now, and every heart waits in thrilled anticipation to see the ending she will perform.

Maya sweeps her gaze around to all of her friends.

Junna and Nana are holding hands, their eyes sparkling with hope, willing Maya to bring an end to all of this.

Futaba and Kaoruko are clinging to one another, wiping each other's tears, presenting Maya with every remaining shred of strength they have to offer.

Mahiru and Hikari are hugging each other and crying softly, standing courageously at the front of the group to defend, and now imparting that same courage onto Maya.

She accepts all of those things from them. Their hope. Their strength. Their courage. And combined with her own feelings of love, it creates an all-powerful magic.

Maya turns back to Karen now and lifts her hand to her lips.

"Miss Aijou," she proclaims. "I am officially offering you my heartfelt proposal. The proclamation of love from the Duchess to the Village Girl. The ending that the original script of this play demands."

And as she speaks, little by little, the other Stage Girls begin to remember themselves.

Karen - not the Village Girl, but Aijou Karen herself - now assumes her role and grins a beaming smile back at her.

"I accept!" she announces. "Duchess, I will marry you!"

There's a murmur of surprise around the room. The Viscountess herself gasps softly, and Maya hears the hurt in it. Finally, she looks back to her.

"Viscountess?" she says. "Please do not think this means I have rescinded my earlier proposal of marriage to you."

The Viscountess blinks.

And now, the smallest shimmer of light begins to twinkle to life in her eyes, like tiny stars filling up a dark night sky. Her voice becomes quieter now, and the painful rasp in it fades away.

"What… are you saying…?"

Maya keeps hold of her hand and maintains her smile.

"A very good friend and classmate of mine once witnessed a tragic and depressing act - one of nine friends forced to fight and steal radiance from one another. And she proclaimed that it was far too sad, far too tragic. That no one wanted to see such a play. And I agreed with her. We all did."

Squeezing Karen's hand, Maya flashes her a smile. Karen nods vigorously back, wiping her eyes as tears start to fall. And all of their friends are crying too, chuckling softly.

"I remember…" Nana says. "Our first revue…"

"Me too," Junna laughs. "Back when Kagura-san first transferred."

"That Karen," Futaba sniffles. "She just did whatever the heck she wanted."

"Even back then," Kaoruko agrees. "Karen-han has always been so unpredictable."

"That revue," Mahiru whimpers. "It holds such a special place in my heart… I love it so much…"

"Me, too," Hikari says at last. "It's where I got to meet everyone and fight alongside you onstage…"

Maya is glad to see their memories have all returned to them. Karen, too, has begun to blubber like her old self.

"That's right!" she blurts out. "N-No one… no one wants to see such a sad ending! No one wants the ending where you'll be a sacrifice… Kuro-chan!"

Her voice seems to jolt the Viscountess a little, as if she remembers the old nickname. Though it isn't quite the same version Karen had used for her in the play, it's still one she knows somehow…

Maya keeps hold of both of their hands firmly, and finally turns back to the Viscountess.

"Do you see now, Viscountess? This is my answer. The Duchess will marry the Village Girl and fulfill the true ending of the play. But she will also marry the Viscountess and save her from her doom." She puffs out her chest a little proudly, a little conceitedly. "She will marry them both."

Now, the whole room goes up in squeals and cheers, particularly from her friends.

"Both of them-?!"

"I mean… I guess that still works, though…"

"Yeah… like she said, it still satisfies the original-"

"-but it also doesn't allow for any of that needless tragedy."

"A new ending… one without death or sacrifice…"

"A happy ending…"

Slowly, little by little, the Korosu begin to fade away.

Karen gives a big, loud sniffle before grabbing Maya's hand with both of hers.

"She's marrying both of them!" she exclaims. "Somehow, that's a very Tendo-san-like ending! Definitely something you would do!"

"I am glad you agree," Maya chuckles.

All this time, the Viscountess hasn't breathed a word.

But the clouds of black around her have begun to disappear, until she is standing beside her classmates once again on her own two feet. The dark vines that had been constricting her body - from her fingertips all the way to her heart - vanish. The darkness relinquishes its suffocating hold on her - for it is nothing in the face of Maya's love.

And when Maya gazes back into her eyes, the blackness is being overcome by light.

"Viscountess," she murmurs. "I have chosen to re-write the ending of this play. And as such, I have re-written this entire world. With this ending, we can make it a happy stage filled with hope and love."

Maya now lifts the Viscountess' hand to her lips and kisses her.

"So, please allow me to ask you once again. Viscountess Saijou Claudine… will you marry me?"

All at once, the darkness in Claudine's eyes is erased, and the beautiful rosy pink returns. Tears fall, but for the first time since this ReLive has begun, they are not tears of pain any longer.

At last she smiles, and it is from her heart.

It is no longer the Viscountess who stands before Maya, but Claudine. Her Saijou Claudine.

"Yes-" Claudine whimpers, and the tears fall like stardust. "I will marry you… Duchess… Tendo Maya…"

And somewhere - in some world, on some stage - the curtains fall as a conclusion is reached.

And once more, the scene fades to black.

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A/N: So when 0mn proposed this idea to me, they gave me notes on everything short of this chapter. The ending and how Maya saved/concluded the play was left entirely up to me, so I hope you find it feasible. I wanted it to be something dramatic and charming, as only Maya could pull off - deciding to marry them both. Because the Duchess loves the Village Girl, but Tendo Maya loves Saijou Claudine, and on this stage Maya is herself as much as she is her character, just like the rest of them are.

Maybe you noticed the point where I stopped referring to them as their characters and started calling them their real names again in the narration~

And most importantly of all, I wanted to make it clear the giraffe was wrong; Maya's transcending love for Claudine did not doom the play. Her love for her is what led her to be able to create a new and better ending. Her love was a strength, not a setback.

I hope you'll look forward to the finale!