Chapter 47 - Epilogue

Everyone was skeptical when it was announced that the summoning phenomenon had been resolved. Even though he was there, Tetsuo still had doubts it was truly over. However the week after, while everyone waited for someone to appear, nothing happened. And the week after that. And the week after that. After a month had passed, it really began to feel like it was true.

Over the next following months, many things changed while also staying the same. Despite the truth of Remes coming out and Pia’s memories serving as an easy way to prove it, many Alvanians and Earthens remained suspicious about how much information was hidden, and how quickly so much of it had been revealed. The kingdom was a longtime ally of Remes, so it’s no surprise that people were skeptical of the exploitation and cult leaders working there. Regardless, Alvania made large moves to end the suffering of Remes, largely led by Roscoe who could easily relate on account of having been born there.

Wilbur had begun to make efforts to preserve the history of Alvania, all the secrets and conspiracies now included. As part of his research, he spent much of his time either in the underground ritual chamber, or speaking to Earthens about the ‘Tervana Civil Crisis’ as he called it. As part of this, and for the sake of closure, he gave Eleanor’s brother a proper burial, finally laying his remains to rest after three hundred years. He also requested special permission for Eleanor to be temporarily released from the dungeon so she could be a part of the ceremony, as his last true remaining family member.

For the time being, her crimes were still being researched and reported, so they had her detained. Given how much of what she did was left to speculation and being unable to age, she provided an interesting problem to Alvania’s legal system. For the time being, she was to remain in a cell while being forced to constantly wear Ficium gauntlets. While she seemed nothing like she used to, the times where Tetsuo visited her for help with Ficium related projects seemed to do her good. She was more quiet and less boastful than before, but she seemed to appreciate working together still as teacher and student, now with no secrets between them. Alon had told him that while she was drowsy during one of his visits, she had told him that she felt like a weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders.

Alon for better or worse hadn’t changed much. He was still trying to court Lunette and was more direct about it now, but it seemed Veera still didn’t approve of him very much. Pia, who had now moved in with Veera, said she liked the two of them together, frustrating Veera even further. Her exact words were: “He makes big sis Lunette happy! Isn’t that great!” Tetsuo was sure that if Lunette had heard that, the entire building would have frozen over. The two of them still struggled quite a bit with transparency and directness in communication, but that would come with time and effort.

After her performance at the workshop raid, Bianca gained a reputation as the ‘Thunderclap Knight,’ on account of the sound her gun made before she went in for finishing strikes. While Tetsuo had long since melted down the gun, it seems the name stuck, and she became a bit of a celebrity amongst the rest of the titled knights. Crimes and unrest didn’t just disappear in the kingdom, so she still remained quite busy as one of the kingdom’s elite guards.

For himself, Tetsuo retired from the knights, instead taking the position Eleanor had left behind as the kingdom's smithy. That being said, he spent most of his time working on practical tools, primarily for Earthens, to improve the quality of life in Tervana and other poor regions of the kingdom. So much Ficium had melted into the floor of the underground ritual chamber, that it was unlikely they would ever have to mine for Ficium again. Tetsuo also began running classes, raising a new generation of smiths to inherit his place when he had had enough. Eleanor’s guide book was useful for teaching them, but every now and then he’d still need to go back to her for help with the content.

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Tetsuo laid on the roof of his home, staring out into the sky. The way the constellations shone, and cosmos danced across the night continued to mesmerize him. He remembered how the sky had looked when he arrived here, and even now he still couldn’t deny how much more beautiful than Earth it was. It felt odd knowing this would be the sky he’d see for the rest of his life. Scary in a way too. Regardless, the air was fresh, the surroundings were quiet, and the food tasted natural. For him, maybe that was all he really needed.

He heard Bianca climbing out of the window, as she climbed onto the roof to join him. It was still odd to see her with her hair short, and especially odd to see her wearing the Alvanian crest.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

“Nothing much…”

She laid down to his right looking up at the stars with him. “You know it’s still weird seeing how open the sky is. Like no skyscrapers, towers, or wires. Just empty sky.”

“You still find it unsettling?”

“A little bit. But I’ll be okay.”

She turned over and grabbed his hand. He looked closely at her hand and observed their ring on her finger, reflecting the stars in the band.

Tetsuo remembered something and began to laugh. Bianca seemed confused and started to get worried. “Why are you laughing? What’s wrong?”

“Remember back during that raid a couple months ago, when you told me to forget about you and live my life?”

“Oh… not this again…I told you I was sorry for saying that already.”

Tetsuo smiled to himself. “No, don't worry, it’s not that. I just realized you said all that but whenever I saw you afterwards, you were always still wearing your ring.”

“I mean, well…”

“You were totally still holding out for me!”

“No, I wasn’t! I was resolved!”

“You were! You said all that but you were just lying so you could make me snap out of my weird midlife crisis.”

“...So?”

“We’re the same! You were also hiding your feelings to try to make me happier! You were doing a convoluted plan!”

Bianca frowned as she began to turn rosy. “So what? Is it that bad that we’re alike? It just means we have things in common…”

Tetsuo pulled her close and hugged her tightly. “No, it’s nothing bad, I just thought it was funny.”

Tetsuo leaned down and lowered her face, softly kissing her lips. She pulled closer, pressing her face into his.

“Is it weird to say that I feel like I like who I am again? You know, now that I’m not overthinking things.

“I already knew who you were, dummy… I was just waiting for you to realize it.”

“Huh.”

Tetsuo smiled, taking in a long deep breath. He closed his eyes as he drifted to sleep, holding Bianca close under the starry night sky.