[Fourth Wall Finale] Day: Break

[thewatchers]

[Fourth Wall Finale] Day: Break
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Suneater falls like a star’s dark mirror, crashing to the Earth in a haze of icy blackness so hard it shakes the ground for miles- but it still falls.

As the first rays of light begin to dawn on the horizon, the massive dragon raises its’ head one last time, straining to open its’ jaws in one last, hungry attempt to devour the light… and collapses completely, breaking apart into smoke and dust.

When it dissipates, only a massive skeleton is left behind, bones as clean and dry as if they had been resting there for years.

And very, very softly, so faint it almost can’t be heard, every Candle living hears the voice of something very far away- not even remotely human, but so deeply, endlessly warm:

”Thank you.”

It isn’t a voice you’ve ever heard before… but something about it makes you instinctively look up, towards the rising Sun. Somehow, the light and the voice remind you of each other.

Though the final blow doesn’t instantly destroy the various zealots and opportunists that followed in the last Herald’s wake, Suneater’s death and the knowledge that Nightfall has been lost to them is an unrecoverable blow to the enemy’s morale, and the remaining foes are fairly simple for Daybreak’s forces to finish up- those that don’t simply flee or surrender outright.

When the last of the opposition is fled, dead, or safely in custody, and none of the scouts or Seers report any further traps or tricks in store, the word goes out. The Headmistress, leaning heavily on her sword to support herself in her exhaustion, lifts her hand and calls out the signal, which is taken up and passed along:

The battle is over.

Cassandra sinks gently, carefully to one knee and plants her own massive sword in the ground, a golden grave marker for everyone lost in the struggle to stop the night... and maybe even for Suneater as well, last and lost master of a wild, primal world long gone, twisted though it was by the end.

Under her steady digital guidance, the vast construct disassembles itself and once more resumes the form of the school as you’ve known it.

...And yes, all your belongings were stored safely during the fight. (You may return to your dorms to find some particularly fragile items covered in bubble wrap. It’s unclear whether this served a practical purpose or was just a discreet little joke on Cassandra’s part.)

It’s time to lay down your weapons, treat the wounded, bury the dead. The cleanup may well take years, and those lost to the last Herald of Night may never be returned to us- but the casualties were the tiniest fraction of what the world would have suffered if the battle had been lost, and those who survived have time now. You are no longer the generation born into a world on the brink of disaster, a world running out of time. You can recover, rest, and rebuild at your leisure.

The duty of Daybreak Academy is complete.

Your job is done.

But…

Well. You’ve learned a lot, haven’t you? Part of it was just how cruel and wicked the world can be… but part of it was how beautiful and wondrous it is, too.

Even though its’ duty is done, Daybreak Academy will remain, offering guidance and knowledge to anyone who asks for it- and beyond the Academy’s doors, there’s a whole new horizon out there. Earth and the Outlands are open and free for anyone willing to brave the journey. In the world that has not died, there are endless possibilities for you to explore and discover, to find joy and sorrow and everything that you never expected until you found it.

It’s a brand new day.

Comments

[bxbxbxbx]

Does it matter which it is? [No matter how she might look at it herself, she would almost certainly be seen by most if not all of the people of Remlia as being in the wrong.]

[arcadianvampire]

I suppose not. Both lead to the spilling of blood... and almost certainly to tragedy.

[Another thing he's learned over his long life. Not that he's ideologically opposed to revenge at its core. But in practice, he found, an eye-for-an-eye usually left everyone blind.

But that said, it did not mean that nothing should be done either.]

...So you've begun to wonder if taking revenge for your clan will truly ease your troubles? Or that perhaps there might be another way to bring some semblance of balance to what happened to your people?

[He doesn't use the word "justice," per se, because justice can be twisted and perverted, and often is a loaded phrase. For all he knew, the Dragonblood Clan might have been a victim of some fool's false sense of justice for perceived wrongs.]

[bxbxbxbx]

I've had some time to think since ending up here, and revenge, retribution, whatever you want to call it, it won't help or change anything. [It also runs counter to the things that one of her closest friends had basically spent their whole life insisting upon, despite how much it felt like the rest of Remlia had been against them.

But, if Valvatorez had managed to catch sight of Katida during the battle, he would know that her emotional wounds haven't come anywhere close to healing yet, and might not for a good while still; the hallucinations, that vision, presumably of one of the individuals who had been responsible for whatever happened, that had set her off particularly hard.]

Maybe it would be better to just give them what they want and not go back at all, find a new home somewhere else and try to live the way Amica would have wanted me to.

[arcadianvampire]

[Valvatorez was quiet for what might be a little too uncomfortably long, but he did not look upset or really at all flustered by it all.]

There is often wisdom and strength in being able to let go of your pain and anger. Revenge very rarely gives you the true catharsis you might need. Sometimes there might be closure in getting it, but... you have to ask what the price you have to pay for it is. Often it leaves you emptier than you started, a shell devoid of purpose and little more than spent rage and hatred.

[His eyes finally leave the horizon, looking up to the sky, to the heavens. Almost lost in thought for a moment.]

What you truly need is closure. Maybe building a new life might do it. Maybe it won't be enough on its own.

But, let it be known you have a home at Daybreak Academy. Always. If you wish to start living a better, happier life, and work toward a new purpose... that is part of what we are here for.

...They helped me do something much the same, after all.

[bxbxbxbx]

[Katida is quiet for several moments, thinking to herself. She was basically treated the same as anyone else here despite her identity or circumstances, wasn't she? Treated like she already belonged; she almost certainly wasn't the first contracted mage to walk through those doors, and she probably won't be the last.

So, maybe, maybe, this should be the place.]

I'll have to think about it. [What, exactly, that new purpose should be, she means.]

[arcadianvampire]

Of course. There is no need to rush.

[He cracked something of a smile, perhaps something strange for an imposing, legendary sort of figure.]

And do not be afraid to use the school's facilities for counseling either, if you need to talk to someone with confidentiality, either. It's a slow process, moving on. But you'll find a lot of kindred spirits or people who care here too.