Epilogue: Together, to Skies Still Unknown

A month had passed since.

Scholars, historians, and generals from all sides of the conflict alike had established the events of the day as a landmark event; A watershed moment in history. The first time they had seen the Dragon Lord defeated, instead of routed into a retreat. For lack of imagination, they called it “The Battle of Bellfry City”.

Of course, Haruki called it by another name:

“The Day I Defeated the Dragon Lord and Fucking Lost My Plane.”

Finally given the time to process everything, he lamented the loss of the Kenichi Modern. Gave it a proper mourning and everything. They recovered the fuselage, but its half-exploded engine and missing wings and tail meant it really was just junk now.

Now that he thought about it, wouldn’t that name fit as a title for a light novel? Fitting, too. It'd be the perfect title for a fantasy-in-another-world genre story. Though publishers would probably gawk at that curse word in the title. He didn’t fancy himself a writer either. He’d never written a single note about the Kenichi Modern that wasn’t a diagram with bad handwriting.

But he would try.

On one fine, summer-like day, he sat under a tree overlooking the faraway Ka-Ilyah castle. With a feathertip pen and ink, he opened an empty journal Marina had made for him, and began writing down his accounts of the events.

He began where it started.

The day he crashed into another world.

Little-by-little, he wrote down what he remembered each day that passed from that moment, up to his final fight with the Dragon Lord. He wrote down his feelings, his impressions, his thoughts and anecdotes.

He didn’t seek to write a story. Haruki merely wanted to have a somewhat accurate recount of these events. One day, he might die in battle, or suffer some incurable-here-but-curable-back-home diseases and perish. This journal would serve as his proof of existence. If, one day, the Divine would bring another otherworlder like him here, they could find it—and learn from his experiences.

Then, he recounted what had happened since that day.

Exiled from the Federacy for their traitorous acts against Lias, Ako and Marina del Alfons joined the Redwing Pirates. They didn’t know how long they’d be away, but exiles lasted until the day they died or until someone pardoned them. At least, that was how it worked in Haruki’s home world, if history was to be believed.

Haruki and Anemone took a trip back home to Ka-Ilyah with the pirates, but Flare and Warren stayed at that unnamed island to recuperate. Flare in particular wanted some time to heal from her wounds and… attend to important business. Her words.

Marina and Ako joined them to Ka-Ilyah, but naturally, they were not welcomed back to the kingdom. However, King Haldur took kindly to their efforts to not only defeat the Dragon Lord, but for bringing Anemone back safe and sound. And so, he gifted them land just outside the castle. Surely, the growing Titanseye deposits and helping move the technological advancements of Ka-Ilyah had nothing to do with that, right? Being outside the castle walls was good, so they wouldn’t have to suffer the ire of the understandably unsettled Ka-Ilyan populace.

Haruki himself was awarded the title of Hero of the Sky, but a day after, was chased out of the kingdom by scheming, angry ministers. For kidnapping the princess. He was lucky they didn’t execute him, but the king was happy enough to keep Haruki’s head on his shoulders.

Somehow, he felt like Marina got the better end of the bargain despite being the bigger traitor.

Shrugging his shoulders, Haruki excluded that specific thought. No slander on this notebook. Only facts.

As for Anemone, she returned to princess duties. She attended classes again, and practiced royal decorum. Though she had this renewed spark in her eyes that drove her day-to-day. She didn’t attend to those duties because she had to—but because she wanted to. There was some new grand purpose to her actions that Haruki knew existed, but wasn’t privy to. At least, not yet.

He didn’t know what his next move was. There hadn’t been a report of any Sky Legion attacks in a month, so even battle wasn’t really in the cards. At least, right now. When the Battle of Bellfry City ended, the Inverted City even retreated back into the endless sky, unreachable like it had always been.

When he finished recounting his events, his journal only filled a fourth of the way. Marina had included too many pages, he thought, but perhaps it was by design?

Wind blew his hair back, its length having grown from a month of no grooming. He didn’t know his hair could grow up to his neck and past his brows, but he didn’t hate it. In a few weeks, he could probably tie it back into a knot or a small ponytail. Extra cool factor. Unfortunately, his chin stubble never amounted to anything.

The wind blew again. This time, his head lifted from the journal, eyes forward, following the current.

Anemone stood before him, dressed in her usual adventuring attire, a gentle familiar smile showing on her face for Haruki to enjoy.

“Hey. You’re here,” Haruki said.

“Miss me?”

“A little. It’s only been three days.”

Anemone walked up to him. “Three days is a bit too long when we spent quite a while waking up next to each other, yes?”

You sound like my girlfriend or something. “I guess so.”

She peered over to his journal. “You done writing?”

“I guess I am,” he said. “A shame I can’t fill the rest of it. I’m no writer. I’m not good at embellishing my stories. Just wrote things as I saw them, nothing more.”

“That just means there’s space for more,” she said with a rising voice, like she was pointing out an opportunity. “Isn’t that nice?”

“Hm.” That’s true, he thought. “Guess so.”

“Guess so? I know so.”

“Right.” Haruki closed the journal, sure that the ink wouldn’t bleed between pages. “So what brings you here today?”

“What, can I not see my hero when I want to?”

My hero? Haruki looked away, flustered. “Y-Your hero?”

“Yes. My hero.” She kneeled beside him and beamed at him with a playful grin. “That’s what you are to me. And so that’s what I’ll call you.”

“...Haruki is fine.”

“Alright. Haruki—my hero.”

“I said Haruki is fine,” he said, weaker this time. It was nice being called something by someone, not as a title, but as endearment. “By the Divine, you’re taking after Marina and Flare so quickly.”

“Is that wrong?”

“No, not really.” He paused then looked back at her, face still red. “Just saying.”

“Speaking of.” Anemone raised a finger. “You have to come with me, quick.”

“Why?”

Anemone pulled him back up on his feet. He suddenly remembered she was still physically stronger than he was, even if not in the same magnitude as Flare. “Come on!”

Haruki forced himself to follow, simultaneously storing the journal in his new adventuring sack. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see!”

She took him back to the outskirts of the Ka-Ilyah castle, and into a warehouse-looking structure at the compound Marina and Ako built for themselves. Its structure, metal in nature, contrasted greatly with the Art Nouveau design of the castle in the background.

Flare came out of a side door to meet them.

“F-Flare? What are you doing here?”

She grinned, teeth out. “I did tell you I was attending to some other business, right? Well, business is good and you should come see it.”

Marina peeped out from the same side door. “Is Haruki here?” She looked at him, and her face immediately lit up. “Oh! Haruki! Come on over, quick!”

Anemone pulled on him excitedly. “Come, come!”

He had never seen the girls get so collectively excited about a single thing before. It made him wonder what could possibly get them so riled up. Curiosity now brimming from his sleeves, he entered the warehouse, magelight blinding him for a second. When his vision settled, he gazed upon what layed inside.

Wings. A fuselage, red-orange of linen cover, ending in a front base of iron. Wheels strategically placed as landing gear. A propeller in front. Its structure was a little off-blueprint and it didn’t quite look the same… but…

It couldn’t be anything else.

The Kenichi Modern.

He rushed to its side, scooting from side to side, caressing every curve and edge of it. “B-But how?”

Flare gave him a thumbs up. “My business!” she said. “After Marina settled, I took her on some trips to sea. It was tough not getting shot on sight by the Bellfry coast guard, but we did it. Some deep sea diving later, and we retrieved every part we could find of your plane. Thankfully, it sank to a shallow part of the sea and not some impossible trench, so it wasn’t too difficult.”

Marina took a dainty step towards Haruki, face flushed a slight red. “Seeing how you treated it, I knew it mattered a lot to you. It wasn’t just some weapon to you. It had sentimental value.”

Anemone crossed her arms and knit her brows at Flare. “Hey! The only reason the Bellfry guard didn’t shoot you was because I told my father to negotiate safe passage.”

“Oh. Guess I should thank you?”

“You should.”

“Thanks, then.” Flare looked away and smiled like a cat. “Not bad for a leaf-lover.”

Feeling the familiar sensation of the KM’s being, a tear left him. “Ah…” More followed, until he sobbed.

Of all the miracles he had experienced in this mystical realm—

—This was by far, the most miraculous of them all.

Mr. Junk. Great grandpa. You’re back.

“Thank you. Thank you, all of you,” he said through tears. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“I-I think we have an idea,” Marina stammered out, clearly not knowing what to do.

The girls let moments pass, waiting with relaxed breath for Haruki to finish. After a few minutes, he regained his composure, but his face was wrecked with tears and snot.

Anemone handed him a handkerchief.

“Thanks.” He wiped himself, feeling the softest fabric he’s had touch his face. Was it soft because of its make, or because Anemone gave it to him when it mattered?

With the soiled handkerchief on hand, he glanced at Anemone, then back at her. She laughed and said, “Uhm… keep it.”

“Oh yeah, of course.”

Ako entered the warehouse, sitting on a new wheelchair with quieter wheels. No more squeaking. “I can tell you’re happy with the product,” she said. “It’s not a perfect recreation, but everyone worked hard to preserve its likeness.”

“Oh no.” Haruki nodded. It was perfect because it was everyone’s work. “This works just fine.”

“Works?” Ako giggled. “Are you sure it does?”

“Hey!” Marina shot back. “Mama! We worked hard on it. It should work!”

“That’s up to Haruki to see, isn’t it?”

He exhaled and took a good long look at the new Kenichi Modern. Only one way to find out. He hopped on to the pilot seat, inspected the equipment, and saw them all seemingly intact.

Marina carted Ako to the KM’s side. Then, Ako began to speak, calling for Haruki’s attention.

“What are you planning to do next, if this ends up working?”

Haruki shrugged. “I don’t know, really. Didn’t think that far ahead.”

“There is more to discover in this world. There are so many places I haven’t been to, many mysteries that I’ve never had the chance to discover. But maybe,” she said with a twinkle. “Maybe you’ll see them all.”

“Tall ask, even for someone with a plane. Even planes need somewhere to come back to.”

“You’ll always be welcome here.”

Remembering Josephine’s request, he turned the plane’s ignition. The propeller started on its own, and he could hear the clinking of Titanseye chunks within the fuel tank. The engine, quieter this time, allowed the girls to talk over it albeit still shouting.

Flare put a hand on her waist. “If you’re still interested, you can join us Redwings, see where our adventures take us.”

Marina bumped her aside playfully, yet competitively. “There’s still more of the Lacrimosa’s mysteries to uncover,” she said. “And to find a way back to your home world.”

Right. My thoughts exactly, both of you. “One at a time, ladies.” He shot Anemone a glance, bated breath and waited for her request. “What about you, Anemone? What do you wanna do? I’m taking requests.”

Anemone looked up, beaming.

“Can we fly—for a little bit, Haruki?”

He smiled back.

“Of course. Get on.”

Anemone rode on the co-pilot seat, strapped her seatbelts, and awaited flight. The doors of the warehouse opened, courtesy of the girls, and warm sunlight flooded the structure’s insides. The Kenichi Modern bathed in its divine glory, ready for another flight.

And so was Haruki.

The Kenichi Modern taxied down the now-makeshift-runway, and lifted off the ground shortly after. No magic needed—just pure technology and miracles.

They flew past the treeline, then further up, until the kingdom became a blur, and the warehouse a shrinking blip before them. The horizon stretched further and further, mountains kissing the sky in bright blue. The air, which had smelled a bit like oil and animal manure, became fresher the higher they went until it became pure—pure enough to almost drink.

White, fluffy clouds flew above them and beyond, painting the sky like a child’s coloring book.

Anemone grasped the cup-like communicator in her hands. “Everything’s so tiny again.”

“That’s what happens when you go this high up, yeah.” Haruki glanced at the distant Inverted City, the feeling of curiosity now dominating over any urgency to go home.

Here—Here was home.

“Haruki?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m in love.”

“With what?”

“With everything.” Anemone’s voice fluttered. “Through all we’ve been together, now I can say for sure. That feeling. I’m in love.”

Haruki chuckled once. Yeah. He was sure of that feeling too.

He flew towards the Inverted City, and then circled the Kingdom of Ka-Ilyah. He only registered the rest of the girls at the del Alfonses’ compound as little blips, but was certain of them waving at him.

“I’ve been in love for as long as I remember.” 

He glanced back at Anemone. Though he could only see her hair from the front seat, he could hear her smile. He chose his life. The people around him. The burdens he wanted to carry. Someday, he swore—that he'd love with a full heart once more.

He exhaled, stress leaving him.

“There anywhere you wanna go?”

Anemone let a second pass, thinking. Then, she said, “Let’s go back to everyone.”

“Oh, we done already?”

“Yes.”

Anemone lifted her face and stared at the deep blue sky, and reached out.

“Next time, let’s fly… with everyone. Together—to skies still unknown.”