(…will any remember them?)
You want so say something…something to comfort him. But you can’t find the words. You don’t even know if there are any. You can’t just let him die like this…but you don’t have a choice. Either you stay here and he dies with you, or you leave and he dies anyways. Why…why does it have to end like this?
You stand back up and look at Cirno, who looks back at you. You both nod to each other and look towards the door. From this angle, you can walk right to it.
“I’m waiiiiting,” Remilia sings impatiently, bobbing her foot in the air as she seems to sit cross-legged in an invisible chair.
“Come on, Cirno. Let’s just go.”
Together the two of you make for the door. You can’t tell if Remilia (or Sakuya for that matter) is focusing on you, because you’ve resolved yourself to not focus on them.
“So, what should we do once this is all over?” you ask the fairy softly. “Any ideas?”
She plays along. “Well, I’d really kinda like to just sleep; like sleep all day. ‘M really tired. Then, I dunno, maybe you ‘n me could go visit places tomorrow. Like, we could go see Miss Letty!”
“And exactly
where do you think you’re going?” Remilia asks, sounding rather miffed.
You nod. “Sleep sounds good. Real good. I think I could sleep for
two days after all this.”
She grins. “Bet I could sleep for
three.”
“Four.”
“
Five.”
“Six.”
“
Seven!”
“Eight.”
“Nine…ty zillion and nine!”
You smile and place your hand on the doorknob. Good; it’s not locked.
“I asked you a
question, boy. Come back here.”
You open the door. The morning sunlight looks fresh and new; much better than the windowless interior of the mansion.
“
Come. Back. Here. Now.”
The door begins to swivel shut behind you. A cool breeze hits your face. It feels good. Feels free.
“You will return here at once, or I swear I’ll tear that fairy apart in front of your eye before I rip it off!
I, will, make, you, suffer!”
You hesitate for only a moment, but it’s past now. It’s over. You’re outside. The door is shut. She’s not a problem. She’s gone. It’ll be okay. It’ll…it’ll be…okay…
The two of you casually walk down the mansion steps and down the flagstone path. A part of you is afraid that any moment you’ll hear the tumultuous sound of the doors crashing open and hell being unleashed upon you, but it doesn’t come. Maybe it never will. The sun is higher in the sky than you expected; time must go by quickly within those walls. The globe casts comforting golden rays on the green grass, shifting slowly to ones of orange and pink and red in the morning clouds.
You slow down your walk and twirl the vial of Elixer in your free hand. It could just be another one of Nathaniel’s plots…but somehow you just know that it isn’t; this one is real. You show the vial to Cirno.
“Is it…is it worth the risk, Cirno?” you ask, almost hypothetically.
She thinks for a while, but after her face goes through several different contemplative states, she merely shrugs her shoulders. “I…I, it’s…I don’t know. It’s too hard for me. I’m not the smart one, remember? You’re like way smarter than me; you’re Mr. Smart! So, I guess, umm…you, you decide, for me. I, I’ll, I…I trust you. I’m not afraid anymore. The Strongest isn’t gonna be afraid anymore, not never.”
You look from Cirno to the vial, back to Cirno, and back to the vial. The crystal shines in the sunlight, but it can’t compare to the shine of hope and compassion in the fairy’s eyes. So little time spent in Gensokyo…so much experienced…and in the end, she’s the only thing you managed to keep with you. And now…now you have a choice. You could keep her forever. An infinity of forevers, until the world ends, and perhaps even beyond that. But how long will it last? Forty years before you pass away? Fifty if you’re lucky? Can you force
perfect immortality on her just for fifty years of your own selfish time? Can you live your life knowing she’ll be cursed with life eternal long after the world has forgotten your name?
…But can you live your life if she dies within the next year, or the next month? Will your existence in Gensokyo mean anything without her? Could you learn to let her go?
And yet…this is only if the potion fails. It might succeed. It might do just what Dr. Yagokoro designed it to do: a week of infinite regeneration. One week to escape this mess, to run far, far away, and get help. One week to solve this mystery once and for all.
It could save her, or condemn her…It could save
you, or condemn you.
The power of eternity in the palm of your hand.
[ ] Let her drink.
[ ] Do not let her drink.
[ ] Drink it yourself.
[ ] …there’s enough in here for two…
Afterwards…
[ ] Go to the gate. Try to get past Meiling (specify how)
[ ] Veer off to the side of the grounds. Have Cirno fly you both over the wall.
[ ] Veer off to the garden. Go into the caves.
[ ] Veer off to the garden. Look around for Flandre.
[ ] …No. This was stupid. Go back inside the mansion.
[ ] Destiny lies in your own hands. Write-in.
========================================
And unto you I ask a question:
The gift of life immortal, upon this ancient land;
Would it be a blessing, with the whole world in your hand?
Or would it be a curse instead that rots you to the core?
Eternity is waiting now, so choose forevermore.
>>26475 >It's too bad we can't have another playthrough like with a game to try and see other routes (like Koakuma or Sakuya maybe?). Ok, Koakuma's route just spells bad end but hey, I'd have wanted to read that bad end... Sad, but true; A Scarlet-Stained Memoir would not work well with a second play-through. All the paranoia would be gone.
And who are you to judge Koakuma? Do you know her? Do you understand her? Did you even try to? Those who do not even try shall see their lives pass them by in fear and boredom.
>>26477 >The suspense is KILLING me. I now suspend you in a different way, instead.
>>26478 >Also, 256+ posts with so few updates. Jesus, it's like Owen is trying to break all the records of the boards. If he doesn't make a new thread, I can see this one getting close to MiG's record of 1,5k+ posts. Not hardly. I simply cannot keep up with the influx of comments fast enough to make new threads as soon as 200 rolls around; I have never said I was a fast writer, and I have unfortunately slowed down as of late. A 1500 post thread would just be silly in this day and age. Awesome, but silly.
>>26481 >Route doesn't necessarily mean romantic involvement, it could simply mean friendship or an attachment to a specific character but it usually always ends with that character being the focus of the ending for our hero whether it be his reason for acting or a person he/she can bind their fate with after the story. For all we know, there might have been a route that could have led us to become good friends with Nathaniel! I assess this statement to be correct in many ways.
>>26484 >Do you enjoy torturing us? I demand a WALL next post. As I have stated before,
all my posts are walls. Perhaps you would do well to remember that.
