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THE FINAL CHAPTER. IT HAS BEEN QUITE A TRIP.
This was a platonic good end, I'm assuming there's romantic ones too? Anyway it was bittersweet but good! I don't actually need romance to enjoy a story. (But will definitely be looking up how to get it >.>)
Content note: Suicidal ideation, death
It's the night before they plan to see Hikage. Beniyuri can't sleep, and though she is overcome by sadness, can't cry. She sees a light by the door to the greenhouse. She follows it, thinking it might be a butterfly, and finds...Kagiha.
She knows it might be a illusion, but she doesn't care, and falls into his arms.
He gets all up in her business and softly asks for her ribbon, saying anything they have material attachments to traps them here. It's super creepy, and feels like Master!creepy rather than Kagiha!creepy. I like to think Beniyuri would normally be smart enough to figure out that this is a trap, but she says her thoughts are melting away so I'm going to read it as magic.
Beniyuri: But that was a gift...from Monshiro...
Kagiha: Don't you want to be together? With me?
I haven't pursued Kagiha at all which makes it feel weird that he's the only one she's expressed any romantic interest in (though she clearly loves everyone platonically) I'm hoping the transition to interest in other dudes won't feel too jarring. Still, this will be quite a moment when I am pursuing Kagiha.
She gives him the ribbon, and he looks so relieved that her doubts evaporate. And then he apologises and says he has to go for Reasons, asking her not to tell anyone about this.
So she doesn't! Mmm, good choice, Beniyuri. We see her look into the distance, blankly, her butterfly clip almost completely black. "We'll all be together soon."
NNNNG.
SO. TENSE.
The way to the master's lair is marked with black butterflies. WHAT A GREAT OMEN.
AND THEN. I PLAYED STRAIGHT THROUGH TO THE END. So this may be a bit incoherent!
What had been an endless hallway now ends in an ominous doorway. They hear voices.
Kagiha: I did everything you asked. Will you keep your promise?
Hikage: Yeah, yeah.
When they come in, Hikage laughs and it becomes clear he deliberately set things up so they'd overhear and realise Kagiha was working with Hikage. Kagiha is entirely miserable.
The room is huge and all made of glass, through which they can see impossible, disorienting swirling rainbow lights.
There's some villainous gloating from Hikage.
Beniyuri: Don't hurt Kagiha!
Hikage: Oh because YOU'D never hurt him. Except you don't remember, do you? You should have remembered by now, but you don't want to. You get to live a happy life free of guilt while everyone else suffers for you.
Beniyuri: What? Tell me what happened!
Everyone else: NO!
But he approaches her and she feels a box she's held closed in her mind begin to open.
Flashback:
Takuya=Yamato
Kazuya=Monshiro
Aki=Karasuba
Ai=Beniyuri
Natsuki=Kagiha
The kids are leaving the mansion. Except, the narrow path back to the shore of the lake has started to flood. They rush through the ankle deep water...and then Kazuya realises he's lost the ribbon Ai got from her mother.
Kazuya: I'll go back for it. Everyone else wait here.
They try to hold him back, especially Takuya (who...probably stole it...) but he insists. So Ai and Natsuki go with him, leaving Aki and Takuya on the shore.
Kazuya finds the ribbon in the mansion (I guess Takuya just tied it loosely or stole it and dropped it?) but by this time the water is knee deep. They struggle back towards the shore, the rain so heavy they can't hear Aki and Takuya saying they've gone to get some grownups.
Kazuya is swept into the lake. Ai tries to save him but is just pulled in herself. Natsuki, who is the tallest and oldest, jumps in and save Ai, then goes to save Kazuya as well. Ai is left alone in the water and the rain. Mist descends. People come for her, but everything goes black.
We see her at the funeral for Natsuki. Adults mutter about those poor children, and how Kazuya still hasn't woken from his coma.
Takuya and Aki move away. Beniyuri asks herself: did Kazuya and Natsuki move away too? Why can't they still all hang out as friends?
Hikage: You see? It's all your fault!
Me: No it's not!
Beniyuri: It's all my fault. Natsuki thought it was too dangerous but I persuaded him.
Me: Oh yeah. Damn. That part is kind of your fault. BUT YOU WERE SEVEN.
She is overcome by all the self hatred and guilt she has been repressing. She feels weak and selfish and useless. Natsuki is dead because of her and she forgot.
Hikage: Wouldn't it be better...if you were dead? :D
Beniyuri: Yes.
The darkness that has been building in her heart bursts forth in a swirl of black butterflies. Her hairpin shatters. She begins to transform.
Karasuba and Yamato try to comfort her, to embrace her, and her darkness burns their skin. They cry out in pain and the air fills with an awful smell.
Monshiro: You took her ribbon D:
Kagiha: You said she needed to let it go to come back to life!
Hikage: AHAHAHA :D :D It was the one thing keeping her safe :D
Kagiha: I trusted you!
Hikage: No you didn't. You knew not to trust me. But you didn't want to let go of your one hope of returning back to life. Of being with her. You love each other so much and yet you only bring each other pain! :D
Beniyuri's mind is going, but she realises that Hikage is trying to drive Kagiha to despair, just like he did with her.
Hikage takes the shard that fell from Beniyuri's hairpin, and finally completes the kaleidoscope.
Hikage: HAHAHAHA!!! Finally! The world will feel the pain of-
Monshiro shoots him.
Monshiro: Where is the ribbon?
Hikage: You missed deliberately didn't you? But it won't do any good. *shoots him back, and he falls*
Beniyuri pushes away Karasuba and Yamato, not wanting them to be hurt any more than they already are. They collapse to the ground. She hobbles over to Hikage. She repeats how sorry she is over and over, overcome with how ugly and awful she is. (Beniyuri you look like an awesome goth butterfly goddess but anyway)
They say some really sweet things to each other that I don't remember.
He tells her she needs to live. And he puts the ribbon around her neck.
She comes back to herself.
Kagiha: I need you to do one thing. Only you can do it. When I give you the signal...I need you to shoot Hikage.
Beniyuri: What?
He runs towards Hikage, shooting. The others shoot too, not necessarily very well in their weakened state, but able to act as a distraction long enough for Kagiha to overpower him, and hold him still.
Kagiha: Now, Ai!
Beniyuri: But you'll be shot too.
Kagiha: It's ok. Live. Smile for me. Save everyone.
The others encourage her and she realises this is the only hope for anyone to make it out of this.
She shoots.
Kagiha and Hikage explode into black and white butterflies.
Beniyuri falls to her knees and calls out to Kagiha. She feels the remains of his spirit, comforting her, and remembers that she promised him to smile. To live.
The room goes dark. But the kaleidoscope is glowing. They can use it to return home.
Ai, Aki, Takuya and Kazuya hold hands, and like a ribbon tying them together the bond between them lets them stay together as they travel between worlds. Ai swims through deep water, towards the light above. Towards life.
END OF CHAPTER SEVEN
Ai wakes in a hospital bed.
The others have awoken too. Apparently, there was a bus accident when Takuya, Aki and Ai went to visit the lake where Natsuki died, and they fell into the lake and went into comas.
We see them a year later, going to visit the lake again. They are clearly all close friends. Kazuya still can't walk very well, and since the path isn't wheelchair accessible Takuya is carrying him, which he complains about good naturedly.
They stand by the lake and leave flowers for Natsuki. Ai thinks of him as her first love.
The manor is gone now. After Natsuki died, it got knocked down, so that noone else would get hurt. There had been rumours and accidents around it for years. It had belonged to a strange man who was researching how to bring the dead back to life. When that failed, killed himself.
Ai thinks about all the possible futures that could have happened, including perhaps one where Natsuki lived. But they have to face the present they're in.
Ai: We'll take the courage you gave us, and we won't stop moving forward.
"The past and the future go on endlessly. Just like our own pasts, which can never be erased. All souls have a past through which their lives must flutter. We think upon these souls, as those of us gathered here in life resolve to start our own lives once again. I'll face the future and continue to walk, until the day my wings of life fall away."
We see this image, just before the closing credits play: What looks like Hikage, and Usagi, who is presumably his daughter. (even though...there's no reason he would have looked like that when he wasn't pretending to be Kazuya... But shh)
THE END
I really liked that! THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP TEACHES A YOUNG GIRL TO LOVE HERSELF AND SHOOT THE BAD GUY IN THE FACE
I don't understand how I got it though. The good end branches off the first part of the epilogue but I don't remember any choices in that scene. And checking an old save, the flowchart lets me access ALL the scenes I've ever seen as a player, even if they haven't come up in that playthough. So how does it decide where to send you? How do I get a DIFFERENT ending??
TIME TO LOOK UP A WALKTHROUGH (I did and GOSH. That is some COMPLEX DEPENDENCIES)
I'm glad I played unspoiled, though.
AND WAIT. THAT SUIT DOES KINDA LOOK LIKE THE PRIEST OUTFIT IN MY DREAM AFTER ALL.
Which means, next up...colouring in competitions, a church potluck, and catching the... BUS. OMG THERE WAS A BUS. I AM SUPER PSYCHIC.
*cough*
Looks like that was the real Kagiha after all, Beniyuri is just dumb for cute boys. Also she was very traumatised and on the verge of becoming a literal despair monster, so I should cut her some slack.
I've unlocked 33% of the achievements and 43% of the gallery. So there's quite a bit to go!
THE FINAL CHAPTER. IT HAS BEEN QUITE A TRIP.
This was a platonic good end, I'm assuming there's romantic ones too? Anyway it was bittersweet but good! I don't actually need romance to enjoy a story. (But will definitely be looking up how to get it >.>)
Content note: Suicidal ideation, death
It's the night before they plan to see Hikage. Beniyuri can't sleep, and though she is overcome by sadness, can't cry. She sees a light by the door to the greenhouse. She follows it, thinking it might be a butterfly, and finds...Kagiha.
She knows it might be a illusion, but she doesn't care, and falls into his arms.
He gets all up in her business and softly asks for her ribbon, saying anything they have material attachments to traps them here. It's super creepy, and feels like Master!creepy rather than Kagiha!creepy. I like to think Beniyuri would normally be smart enough to figure out that this is a trap, but she says her thoughts are melting away so I'm going to read it as magic.
Beniyuri: But that was a gift...from Monshiro...
Kagiha: Don't you want to be together? With me?
I haven't pursued Kagiha at all which makes it feel weird that he's the only one she's expressed any romantic interest in (though she clearly loves everyone platonically) I'm hoping the transition to interest in other dudes won't feel too jarring. Still, this will be quite a moment when I am pursuing Kagiha.
She gives him the ribbon, and he looks so relieved that her doubts evaporate. And then he apologises and says he has to go for Reasons, asking her not to tell anyone about this.
So she doesn't! Mmm, good choice, Beniyuri. We see her look into the distance, blankly, her butterfly clip almost completely black. "We'll all be together soon."
NNNNG.
SO. TENSE.
The way to the master's lair is marked with black butterflies. WHAT A GREAT OMEN.
AND THEN. I PLAYED STRAIGHT THROUGH TO THE END. So this may be a bit incoherent!
What had been an endless hallway now ends in an ominous doorway. They hear voices.
Kagiha: I did everything you asked. Will you keep your promise?
Hikage: Yeah, yeah.
When they come in, Hikage laughs and it becomes clear he deliberately set things up so they'd overhear and realise Kagiha was working with Hikage. Kagiha is entirely miserable.
The room is huge and all made of glass, through which they can see impossible, disorienting swirling rainbow lights.
There's some villainous gloating from Hikage.
Beniyuri: Don't hurt Kagiha!
Hikage: Oh because YOU'D never hurt him. Except you don't remember, do you? You should have remembered by now, but you don't want to. You get to live a happy life free of guilt while everyone else suffers for you.
Beniyuri: What? Tell me what happened!
Everyone else: NO!
But he approaches her and she feels a box she's held closed in her mind begin to open.
Flashback:
Takuya=Yamato
Kazuya=Monshiro
Aki=Karasuba
Ai=Beniyuri
Natsuki=Kagiha
The kids are leaving the mansion. Except, the narrow path back to the shore of the lake has started to flood. They rush through the ankle deep water...and then Kazuya realises he's lost the ribbon Ai got from her mother.
Kazuya: I'll go back for it. Everyone else wait here.
They try to hold him back, especially Takuya (who...probably stole it...) but he insists. So Ai and Natsuki go with him, leaving Aki and Takuya on the shore.
Kazuya finds the ribbon in the mansion (I guess Takuya just tied it loosely or stole it and dropped it?) but by this time the water is knee deep. They struggle back towards the shore, the rain so heavy they can't hear Aki and Takuya saying they've gone to get some grownups.
Kazuya is swept into the lake. Ai tries to save him but is just pulled in herself. Natsuki, who is the tallest and oldest, jumps in and save Ai, then goes to save Kazuya as well. Ai is left alone in the water and the rain. Mist descends. People come for her, but everything goes black.
We see her at the funeral for Natsuki. Adults mutter about those poor children, and how Kazuya still hasn't woken from his coma.
Takuya and Aki move away. Beniyuri asks herself: did Kazuya and Natsuki move away too? Why can't they still all hang out as friends?
Hikage: You see? It's all your fault!
Me: No it's not!
Beniyuri: It's all my fault. Natsuki thought it was too dangerous but I persuaded him.
Me: Oh yeah. Damn. That part is kind of your fault. BUT YOU WERE SEVEN.
She is overcome by all the self hatred and guilt she has been repressing. She feels weak and selfish and useless. Natsuki is dead because of her and she forgot.
Hikage: Wouldn't it be better...if you were dead? :D
Beniyuri: Yes.
The darkness that has been building in her heart bursts forth in a swirl of black butterflies. Her hairpin shatters. She begins to transform.
Karasuba and Yamato try to comfort her, to embrace her, and her darkness burns their skin. They cry out in pain and the air fills with an awful smell.
Monshiro: You took her ribbon D:
Kagiha: You said she needed to let it go to come back to life!
Hikage: AHAHAHA :D :D It was the one thing keeping her safe :D
Kagiha: I trusted you!
Hikage: No you didn't. You knew not to trust me. But you didn't want to let go of your one hope of returning back to life. Of being with her. You love each other so much and yet you only bring each other pain! :D
Beniyuri's mind is going, but she realises that Hikage is trying to drive Kagiha to despair, just like he did with her.
Hikage takes the shard that fell from Beniyuri's hairpin, and finally completes the kaleidoscope.
Hikage: HAHAHAHA!!! Finally! The world will feel the pain of-
Monshiro shoots him.
Monshiro: Where is the ribbon?
Hikage: You missed deliberately didn't you? But it won't do any good. *shoots him back, and he falls*
Beniyuri pushes away Karasuba and Yamato, not wanting them to be hurt any more than they already are. They collapse to the ground. She hobbles over to Hikage. She repeats how sorry she is over and over, overcome with how ugly and awful she is. (Beniyuri you look like an awesome goth butterfly goddess but anyway)
They say some really sweet things to each other that I don't remember.
He tells her she needs to live. And he puts the ribbon around her neck.
She comes back to herself.
Kagiha: I need you to do one thing. Only you can do it. When I give you the signal...I need you to shoot Hikage.
Beniyuri: What?
He runs towards Hikage, shooting. The others shoot too, not necessarily very well in their weakened state, but able to act as a distraction long enough for Kagiha to overpower him, and hold him still.
Kagiha: Now, Ai!
Beniyuri: But you'll be shot too.
Kagiha: It's ok. Live. Smile for me. Save everyone.
The others encourage her and she realises this is the only hope for anyone to make it out of this.
She shoots.
Kagiha and Hikage explode into black and white butterflies.
Beniyuri falls to her knees and calls out to Kagiha. She feels the remains of his spirit, comforting her, and remembers that she promised him to smile. To live.
The room goes dark. But the kaleidoscope is glowing. They can use it to return home.
Ai, Aki, Takuya and Kazuya hold hands, and like a ribbon tying them together the bond between them lets them stay together as they travel between worlds. Ai swims through deep water, towards the light above. Towards life.
END OF CHAPTER SEVEN
Ai wakes in a hospital bed.
The others have awoken too. Apparently, there was a bus accident when Takuya, Aki and Ai went to visit the lake where Natsuki died, and they fell into the lake and went into comas.
We see them a year later, going to visit the lake again. They are clearly all close friends. Kazuya still can't walk very well, and since the path isn't wheelchair accessible Takuya is carrying him, which he complains about good naturedly.
They stand by the lake and leave flowers for Natsuki. Ai thinks of him as her first love.
The manor is gone now. After Natsuki died, it got knocked down, so that noone else would get hurt. There had been rumours and accidents around it for years. It had belonged to a strange man who was researching how to bring the dead back to life. When that failed, killed himself.
Ai thinks about all the possible futures that could have happened, including perhaps one where Natsuki lived. But they have to face the present they're in.
Ai: We'll take the courage you gave us, and we won't stop moving forward.
"The past and the future go on endlessly. Just like our own pasts, which can never be erased. All souls have a past through which their lives must flutter. We think upon these souls, as those of us gathered here in life resolve to start our own lives once again. I'll face the future and continue to walk, until the day my wings of life fall away."
We see this image, just before the closing credits play: What looks like Hikage, and Usagi, who is presumably his daughter. (even though...there's no reason he would have looked like that when he wasn't pretending to be Kazuya... But shh)
THE END
I really liked that! THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP TEACHES A YOUNG GIRL TO LOVE HERSELF AND SHOOT THE BAD GUY IN THE FACE
I don't understand how I got it though. The good end branches off the first part of the epilogue but I don't remember any choices in that scene. And checking an old save, the flowchart lets me access ALL the scenes I've ever seen as a player, even if they haven't come up in that playthough. So how does it decide where to send you? How do I get a DIFFERENT ending??
TIME TO LOOK UP A WALKTHROUGH (I did and GOSH. That is some COMPLEX DEPENDENCIES)
I'm glad I played unspoiled, though.
AND WAIT. THAT SUIT DOES KINDA LOOK LIKE THE PRIEST OUTFIT IN MY DREAM AFTER ALL.
Which means, next up...colouring in competitions, a church potluck, and catching the... BUS. OMG THERE WAS A BUS. I AM SUPER PSYCHIC.
*cough*
Looks like that was the real Kagiha after all, Beniyuri is just dumb for cute boys. Also she was very traumatised and on the verge of becoming a literal despair monster, so I should cut her some slack.
I've unlocked 33% of the achievements and 43% of the gallery. So there's quite a bit to go!
no subject
Date: 2021-05-30 11:35 pm (UTC)Congrats on being psychic! And predicting the twist with Kagiha being dead, that still took me by surprise.
Looks like that was the real Kagiha after all, Beniyuri is just dumb for cute boys. Also she was very traumatised and on the verge of becoming a literal despair monster, so I should cut her some slack.
I had the same reaction on, "this is clearly not the real Kagiha!" It was literally a chapter ago that Hikage did the face-switching show-and-tell! I still like to believe it was partly hypnotism though.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-31 12:19 pm (UTC)Congrats on being psychic! And predicting the twist with Kagiha being dead, that still took me by surprise.
Thankyou! And we shall politely ignore all the times my predictions were wrong :)
no subject
Date: 2021-05-31 04:00 pm (UTC)I'm sure that's never happened before. :)