Anima, Epilogue: Letting Go

--01-- [Scene: Taillteann] <BGM: Wishes Travel>
Two women stood before a lone grave on the outskirts of Taillteann;
one in green half-plate armor, the other in a sheer black leather minidress.
The former placed a bouquet of flowers on the grave.


--02-- <BGM: Wishes Travel>
"Eight years now," the shorter woman lamented.
"Eight years," the taller woman in black echoed.
"I still miss him, Kiandra..."


--03-- <BGM: Wishes Travel>
"Sorry, Vivian...it's my fault he's dead."
"You say that every year."
"And I mean it every year. If I hadn't...encouraged him to
pursue a relationship...he might still be with us."

--04-- <BGM: Wishes Travel>
"I'm...starting to forget him," Vivian said.
"You never completely forget your family," Kiandra said. "You never stop loving them.
And it never stops hurting when they're gone..."


--05-- <BGM: Wishes Travel>
"All you can do is...find a way to go on without them.
Find something...or someone...to fill the void they left behind."
The taller woman put her hand on the other's shoulder.


--06-- <BGM: Wishes Travel>
"If I had known things were going to end up like this, I'd have left well enough alone.
I...I feel like it's my fault..."
"I don't blame you, Kiandra. I never will."


--07-- <BGM: Wishes Travel>
"I'm sorry, Vivian. I just wanted you kids to be happy together. If I'd have known this was going to happen,
I'd... It would have been different. I'd have left well enough alone."



--08-- <BGM: Wishes Travel>
"Who would have known she was a literal demon in disguise?" Vivian scowled.
"Meara fooled us all... She even fooled herself in the beginning...
fooled herself into thinking she was one of us."


--09-- <BGM: Wishes Travel>
"I'd have never believed it... She just didn't seem the type."
"Believe it. She was red, she had horns, she had wings,
the whole deal. I only recognized her face. That was still the same..."


--10-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
Neither spoke for a while.

Kiandra broke the silence. "All quiet on the front lines?"
"Too quiet," Vivian replied. "Almost a year now with no incidents. It seems too good to be true..."

--11-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"Nobody's seen the Prophets since they went through the Gate," Vivian continued. "There haven't been any
Apostle attacks since then, either. We can't be sure it's over, but...it feels like it..."



--12-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"We paid a bloody price for a bit of peace," Kiandra lamented. "I'm sick of wars. If I have to make one more
cookie-cutter broadsword, I'm gonna stab someone with it. I'm sick of losing people..."



--13-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"...and I'm sick of burying loved ones. I've had my fun reliving my youth,
being young and pretty again, but...I think I'm about ready to move on..."

"Move on...? What do you mean?"

--14-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"We've talked about this. It's...time for me to leave. I was just waiting for today."

"Oh... I...kind of hoped this day would never come... But it's not fair for me to ask you to stay, is it?"


--15-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"I promised I'd hold on here until I could leave you with a peaceful world again.
For one last anniversary. Well, here it is.
It's...time for me to...move on."

"I know...it's just hard to let go."
--16-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"Where are you going?" Vivian asked.

"To face the end I ran away from by coming here. It's time for me to stop hiding from Old Grim."

"You were...dying? Were you sick or something?"
--17-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"No... I'm just old, Vivian. I've lived a good long life, I've cheated death once already,
and I'm keeping my husband waiting in heaven..."

"Husband...? You're...you were married?"

--18-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"For fifty-two years. The day we met, we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together...
and we did. True love never dies... Guess you know now why I always wear black." Kiandra chuckled.



--19-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"Fifty-two years...!? How old are you anyway, Kiandra...?"

"If anyone asks, I say twenty-one. And here, I can get away with it! Truth is...I'm way past ninety by now.
I'm starting to feel it again."

--20-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"...you know, suddenly everything you've done makes a lot more sense."
"Hee hee. You three kids were like the grandchildren I never had."
"Grandchildren, huh? ...Didn't you ever have kids?"


--21-- <BGM: Splitting a Gray Sky>
"I did...two boys. They grew up to be good men. And they'd have been good fathers...
But instead, they were sent off to fight in a pointless war...then brought home in coffins..."

Her fists clenched.

--22-- <BGM: Heartfelt Plea>
"Oh...oh, I'm...I'm sorry I asked..."
"Find someone special to share your life with, Vivian.
There's no worse feeling than being old and all alone.
Take it from someone who knows from experience."

--23-- <BGM: Heartfelt Plea>
"I know I don't have any right to tell you what to do, since it's my fault you ended up this way..."

"...it's okay, Kiandra. I forgive you. It's Meara I can't forgive...and she knew I wouldn't."


--24-- <BGM: Heartfelt Plea>
Vivian hugged the taller woman. "I'll miss you..."

Kiandra returned the hug. "Life's shorter than you think, kiddo.
Make the most of the time you've got...and cherish the people you share it with."

--25-- <BGM: Heartfelt Plea>
"I... I will. Goodbye...and...rest in peace..."
"Goodbye, Vivian... Live a good life."

After a long while, the two let go, and Kiandra walked away, looking up at the sky.

--26-- <BGM: Heartfelt Plea>
"Sorry I kept you waiting so long, my love... I'm coming home now..."

She faded away like a ghost, and was gone.

Vivian sat by her brother's grave for a long while, still crying.
--27-- <BGM: Heartfelt Plea> {SFX: wind}
At last, she stood and wiped her tears away.
She unfastened the sword at her side, stabbed it into the ground
next to the headstone, then walked away.

Eventually, she stopped visting every year...

--28-- [Scene: none]
In the years to come, Vivian did find someone to love and be loved by, but never let go of her anger,
and never found it in her heart to forgive her brother's killer, who she once called a friend...



--29-- [Scene: Avalon Gate] <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
Avalon Gate stands silent and still.
Nothing that passed through it on that fateful day ever tried to return
back through it, and nothing else has tried to enter.


--30-- <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
None knew what happened beyond the gate.
Meara and the Prophets were never seen again.
The Apostles, the Unholy Light, and the mutated creatures it spawned soon vanished from Erinn as well.


--31-- [Scene: Emain Macha] <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
The corrupting power of "Mother Ladeca" was gone.
Perhaps it is true that Meara took the fight to that other world...and prevailed.
As for what has become of her, none shall ever know...


--32-- <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
The Alban Knights returned to obscurity after the danger passed.
They would remain ever vigilant in the shadows, though,
waiting for a day when they would be needed once again.


--33-- [Scene: Tara] <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
Erinn would take a generation to rebuild.
New lives, new homes, new hopes, and new dreams rose from the ashes of the old.
Many of the scars left behind would never heal, though...


--34-- <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
With the royal lineage now extinct, a new government of the people was formed.
In time, the young Aliech Republic would prosper as the old kingdom had never before...


--35-- [Scene: Tir Chonaill] <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
...but just as Erinn began to return to glory, the Milletians suddenly left it behind.
Some of them whispered that their time was drawing to a close,
but none believed them until they were all gone.


--36-- <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
The gods had no hand in their disappearance. The Soul Stream had not been sealed.
One day, the Milletians simply all vanished as one.
None are sure why they departed, or where they went.


--37-- [Scene: Rath Royal Castle] <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
Without gods or Milletians, the people of Erinn now stand on their own, and shape their own destiny.
Nothing endures forever, and prosperity never lasts, but for now, the future remains bright.



--38-- <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
Later historians would call the era when Milletians walked among them as a dark time for Erinn,
but one that ultimatly brought about their world's own glorious rebirth.



--39-- [Scene: none] <BGM: The Generation of Alchemy>
In the end, though, only this much is certain: the coming and going of a single soul
was the catalyst that remade this world, for good or ill, and Erinn remade her in return.



--40-- {SFX: wind}
But now, only the gods remember the girl from another time and another world
that made this new golden age possible...or their mistake, which brought her here.


THE END