Code Realize: Future Blessings: Victor!
Oct. 6th, 2020 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrMasterlist of Code Realize posts
SO THIS TOOK ME A WHILE, HUH.
Code Realize is the game of the month at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
otome_games, and thinking about it again inspired me to dig up my Playstation controller and finish this after getting 3/4 through more than a year ago.
Despite me losing momentum, it's very cute. There's just no choices to keep my attention, and established relationship fluff isn't as appealing to me as getting-together arcs. But I still had some feels!
I get the feeling the parts about the other LIs are going to involve some of the same scenes, there was a notable vagueness about certain things.
It starts with some A+ angst and self hatred from Victor as he thinks back on the events of his path.
Cardia's making sure he hasn't forgotten anything as he gets ready for work.
She's still afraid to touch him with her bare hands but he just holds her hand to his "smooth, boyish" cheek, enjoying the warmth, then says "There's no need to rush this. You can take all the time you need to get used to it."
Then she realises she's made him late and he rushes off...only to rush back, saying he did forget something: to tell her he loves her.
VICTOR <3
(also lol what a contrast to Lupin. NO OFFENCE, LUPIN FANS, HE'S GREAT, THIS IS JUST MORE MY PERSONAL JAM)
...and then she gets back to cleaning the house. Ah well. She wants the mansion to be ready whenever anyone else comes to visit. She feels a little lonely when Victor's at work.
Victor has become the leading British Imperial Court Alchemist in order to work with the now more peaceful Victoria. But he FORGOT HIS LUNCHBOX.
He's in a meeting at the palace and she doesn't think she can get in but then Van Helsing comes along and tells the guards she's carrying "important materials for the summit".
They find Victor telling Delly he is responsible for the poison gas that killed so many vampires. "I know I can never atone, and this is a pathetic attempt to assuage my own guilt, but...I am so very sorry." It has eaten away at him, preventing him from being able to be genuine with Delly.
Delly: Your attempt to take responsibility is admirable, but the sins of the son are not also the father's. If my father was here, he would say the same.
Victor: Thank you, Delacroix.
Delly: I may be a king but I'm also your friend!
Victor: Thank you Delly :)
Van Helsing and Cardia join them, saying Delly was very regal, and he gets cutely flustered. Victor refers to Cardia as a "knight-protectoress" :D Delly teases Victor about getting love filled bento from his wife and he gets VERY flustered hee.
(are they married??)
Just as Cardia's about to leave, Leonhardt invites her to meet with the queen. She's been "reducing military pressure on European powers, colonies, foreign ethnic minorities" and everyone's been talking about how gracious she is.
Victoria talks about walking the ruined parts of the poor district, seeing the damage she had done. But she also saw them rebuild even while they mourned. "It is as you said, the Britons, and Great Britain herself, are not weak". She compares herself to an overprotective mother. The sort hat murders their kids, I guess :/
She complains about being very busy now, and Cardia offers Victor's special calming tea, which Nameless has RUINED for me as a concept.
Victoria asks how things are going with Victor and ponders if she should give marriage a try and Leonhardt freaks out then forces himself to be all "I MEAN THAT WOULD BE DELIGHTFUL". Victoria says she's too busy right now (the wiki says she 34 which is SUPER OLD to be putting it off but I'm not complaining)
Anyway, afterwards Cardia is happy to have such direct proof that the Queen is determined to be pacifist. But she feels oddly melancholy, wondering how long her happiness with Victor can continue.
At home, Victor asks if she's ok and offers to examine her if she's feeling unwell lol. And then Saint-Germain unexpectedly comes to call.
Cardia asks if his business in France concluded well and he demurs then sadly says "There's someone I want you to meet...rather, someone you both must confront."
I was wondering about that...
He leads them to a strangely silent Tower Bridge. Guinevere and Omnibus appear. But they have come, not for Cardia, but for Victor! They see in him the potential to become the next Isaac, and warn him that while scientific progress is all well and good, he must always consider the consequences.
Victor says he has already made that mistake and never will again. Omnibus is pleased...but then turns to Cardia, saying that while her gem is currently mostly inert it could change back.
This makes Victor angry. "Even on a scale of decades, the possibility of reactivation is zero!"
Omnibus: Yes. But I speak of hundreds or thousands of years hence. Even if your body has lost it's poison, it remains inhuman. Even I cannot guess how long your lifespan might be, while that young professor has no more than 50 left to him.
Cardia really is a metaphor for atom bobs, huh.
Omnibus says she is going to offer them a choice. Just as I'm thinking she's going to ask Cardia to offer to die when Victor does she instead suggest that Victor become an Apostle of Idea!!
Victor: Eternal life...with her...
Saint-Germain: It's hardly fair to speak only of the benefits.
So Victor has two choices: become an immortal assassin now, or eventually die of old age and leave Cardia alone. He asks if "purging all possible threats to humanity" includes Cardia. Saint-Germain sadly admits that was his original mission, and Omnibus says it is on hiatus- until the day Cardia's gem becomes poisonous once more.
Victor is given three days to decide.
Saint-Germain is sadly apologetic that he couldn't save them from this, but Victor and Cardia are just grateful for his efforts, since him begging for Cardia's life is the only reason they have been offered this choice. Victor points out they'd have noticed he was immortal eventually haha. Saint-Germain gives them a clumsy, grateful smile.
Cardia can't sleep. She doesn't seem to be sharing a bed with Victor despite the end of his path, but he can't sleep either. "I figure if I must worry, I might as well do it by your side."
She cries, frustrated that she's ruining his future, terrified of being alone again one day. He holds her close.
Victor: Don't you remember my promise? I don't care how many thousands of years we're talking about, I'll never let you become a monster.
And then he promises that when he decides what to tell Omnibus, she'll be the first to know. But the one thing he's sure of is that he'll help her, no matter what.
Victor POV. Saint-Germain finds him sitting outside work, angsting.
Victor: When Omnibus described cardia as "cursed" I was sure I would never forgive her. Yet I felt angry towards myself, that she remains "cursed" after all my efforts. I had been so sure I could make her happy...I don't know how long Cardia will live. But I will do everything in my power to make her happy. Yes. Even if I have to murder-
Saint-Germain: Is she nothing more than a justification to you? You know better than anyone that she is a gentle, kind-hearted girl.
I think this may already be our second Victor Angsts CG *is not complaining*
Victor: What in God's name would you have me do? She'll be left alone and terrified. I won't be there to help her.
Saint-Germain: You speak only of yourself. What if I was to remain near her, and tell Omnibus it was for surveillance?
Victor: Then...than can I ask...
Saint-Germain: But would that truly be her happy ending? Consider this a warning from an elder. Eternity is far too long to be spent alone.
...is he saying she'd be better off dying when Victor does? Ehhh, I think she could find new scientist friends.
Saint-Germain: You, Cardia, the others...I will see you all to your deathbeds. Occasionally recalling enjoyable times spent with those I shall never see again, I have no choice but to live on. Perhaps it is a blessing from the Lord that I am alone, that I do not know love. The loss of what was once gained is unbearable agony...*chuckle* Alas, I have bored you speaking of myself.
Saint-Germain ;_;
Victor thanks Saint-Germain for his insight. Saint-Germain tells him the life of a human is longer than he thinks, and that there is still hope. As he walks away, Victor appreciated that Saint-Germain acted not as an Apostle of Idea, but as a friend.
We see Guinevere warn Saint-Germain. "Omnibus would rather not lose one of her oldest apostles, which is why you are given a certain degree of freedom. But everything has it's limits." But Saint-Germain still hopes the world will be kind to his friends.
Cardia is disassociating from anxiety and trauma. Sisi drags her out for a walk and eventually she realises she's at Victor's work, which is surrounded by guards: Victoria is visiting. She wants a better understanding of her city. Leonhardt takes the opportunity to FINALLY apologise.
Cardia: I've long forgiven you for calling me a monster!
Leonhardt I was more talking about...using you as a superweapon...
Cardia: We were both just following our beliefs.
Cardia, his belief was that it was ok to use your body against your will to murder people, including your boyfriend. Yours was that you'd rather he didn't. These are not equivalent points of view!
He says this doesn't absolve him of the need to make amends, thanks her for preventing him and the Queen from making terrible decisions. The lives they lead now, and Britain's bright future, are thanks to her. He asks her to keep an eye on them, just to be sure.
Ok, I'm still not a fan of this overall plot, but this all makes me feel better about it than I did at the end of the Victor path.
Cardia: Your confidence in the future makes me jealous.
Leonhardt: When the future is murky, all the more reason to stand tall and proclaim how bright it will be! The future is suspended upon our words and actions in the present.
Cardia decides to stop angsting alone and go tell Victor it's too early to give up.
Victor is finishing up a meeting describing the new and exciting replacement for steam: electricity! Victoria says he seems down, reminding her of the man she knew two years ago (BECAUSE OF HER TRICKING HIM INTO COMMITTING GENOCIDE) and offers a sympathetic ear.
But then Cardia barrels in and knocks him to the ground, and there is a very nice CG of him blushing up at her, surprised, glasses knocked back into his hair. I guess she's straddling him??
Victor: C-cardia? I'm in a meeting...
Cardia: You said I shouldn't feel awkward coming to you at work. And it can't wait another second! I don't want you to become part of Idea. If you have to pay for our future with coin minted from your own suffering, it's no future worth having.
Victor: Imagine weeping in agony, desperate for help only a dead man can give...I will stop at nothing to prevent that future. If I can keep that smile on your face, I will kill a thousand men.
Cardia: No!
Victor ...just kidding :)
BAD VICTOR
(Meanwhile Victoria is presumably just off screen, having no idea what they're talking about, and wondering when they'll stop canoodling on her rug)
Victor: Both of us had the first instinct to martyr ourselves. But you taught me to stop running from the past, and now I need to stop running from the futures other have put into my head.
Cardia: We won't think about future that wind up with one of us miserable. I want to help you find a third way.
Victor: Then...can I ask you to entrust me with your life?
She doesn't even have to think before saying yes.
(Oh hey, I thought of another solution: they have kids, and teach them science! Cardia's descendants help keep great-great-grandma from turning into a bomb! I'd just say she could get new friends and lovers etc and keep in touch with the best scientists of the day, but given the genre she can Never Love Another. Children are a loophole)
Hahaha once they finally let go of each other Victoria complains about how boring it is to be the third wheel. Victor seems to have forgotten she was there and is very embarrassed, especially when Victoria congratulates Cardia on being a firebrand who pushes her man to the floorboards heehee. But then Victoria narrows her eyes and asks Victor to elucidate the more troubling bits of their tête-à-tête.
AND THEN. I DIDN'T PLAY FOR A YEAR.
...looks like my p key was broken again for part of this...
While I was playing Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly I had to stop hearing Karasuba as Victor and now I have a little of the opposite problem.
Anyway!
Cardia and Victor have come up with a plan, and give each other a secret smile as they wait to meet with Omnibus. They hope Saint-Germain won't get into trouble for helping, but he says it's the least he can do as their friend (nakama)
Cardia is so afraid bile rises in her throat and I get distracted thinking about how her biology even works.
Victor: I wish I could say everything will be alright with the loud confidence of some of our friends. But all I can offer you is this *holds her hand*
Victor tells Omnibus he'll spend the whole of his life working to make Cardia not only safe, but mortal. That way Idea won't have to watch forever in case she explodes. Ehhhhh. But he and Cardia say some very sweet things about their determination to live by each other's sides.
But Omnibus rejects it. More apostles appear. Saint-Germain tells Omnibus he still believes in the ideals of Idea but not this specific decisions, then stands with Cardia and Victor as they prepare for an unwinnable fight...
And then all their friends appear! Lupin, Impey, Van Helsing, and Delly.
Van Helsing tells Omnibus he mistrusts any sense of "justice" which relies on death. "Whatrever lies atop your mountain of corpses...even if it's 'proper', it's worthless to me"
Lupin: I don't care if you're an Apostle of God Almighty, if you have a problem bring it on!
Victor: I dedicate the rest of my life, every fibre of my being, to her protection. You say I have potential. Take our lives, all the time that's left in them...and please. Wager it all on us.
Omnibus: Child of Isaac, the only future I forsee is a path paved with endless suffering.
Cardia: I had given up on ever knowing love. But my friends- Victor most of all- proved it wasn't impossible. I choose to believe in him until our very last moment. I choose to believe in myself. I want to wager on my own potential. Even if it takes time for me to become human...I know my soul is human, because I fell in love with one. And that is why I know I can change the future you see!
Impey: Soooo coool ;_;
And so Omnibus relents. She tells Victor to keep his vow to fulfil his potential and actually help the world, and tells Cardia Idea will be watching. And then she and her Apostles leave.
Everyone joyfully hugs Victor and Cardia, and then the two of them kiss, Cardia no longer feeling any doubt.
Closing Credits!
We see Cardia at home, cleaning, a little sad that all their friends have left already. But things aren't quite back to how they were...
We see Victor at the palace as Victoria says she's glad Victor and Cardia are alright especially since it sounds like she'll be getting more Science for the UK.
Victor: I was thinking it would be good to expand our junior research program, and maybe get me an assistant.
Victoria: I have the just the person in mind. Their skills are still in development, but they have guts and a quick mind.
Me: WAIT
Victor: If you speak that highly of him I suppose I can expect a lot.
Cardia: It's a pleasure to meet you Vic-Professor. Teehee.
Me: :D :D
Victor: o.O ?????
Cardia: I wanted to be near you, and help you, and I thought it would be convenient having the gem near. But I suppose my knowledge of alchemy isn't good enough...
Victor: NO I'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY I JUST...thankyou??
Victoria: Is it not my duty to guide all citizens of the United Kingdom to happiness?
Cardia: Then shouldn't you be happy too?
Victoria: Perhaps. What do you think, Leon? ;)
Leonhardt: I will help in any way possible!!
Victor: Never mind.
Cardia promises Victor to study very hard, and he says she's a quick study and will make a great assistant.
He takes her to a pretty church, a place for making vows of love. He says that they will remember the suffering in their pasts, but not be burdened by them. And any time she is overcome by fear or sadness, he will hold her and tell her: everything will be alright. You're a normal girl, and you're allowed to be happy.
And then he recites the traditional marriage vows. She is surprised and delighted, and makes her own impromptu vow to love him for eternity.
She hears a voice on the breeze, murmuring of future blessings.
THE END
That was sweet. I'm generally not a fan of "immortal woman wants to be human and die with her bf" plots but it does make more sense when her immortality comes with the potential to destroy humanity. I GUESS. Also her becoming his research assistant is totally adorable.
As mentioned earlier, I got bored of Herlock Sholmes's path. I might play Saint-Germain's story, and want to see Finis and Delly's. One day.
SO THIS TOOK ME A WHILE, HUH.
Code Realize is the game of the month at
otome_games, and thinking about it again inspired me to dig up my Playstation controller and finish this after getting 3/4 through more than a year ago.Despite me losing momentum, it's very cute. There's just no choices to keep my attention, and established relationship fluff isn't as appealing to me as getting-together arcs. But I still had some feels!
I get the feeling the parts about the other LIs are going to involve some of the same scenes, there was a notable vagueness about certain things.
It starts with some A+ angst and self hatred from Victor as he thinks back on the events of his path.
Cardia's making sure he hasn't forgotten anything as he gets ready for work.
She's still afraid to touch him with her bare hands but he just holds her hand to his "smooth, boyish" cheek, enjoying the warmth, then says "There's no need to rush this. You can take all the time you need to get used to it."
Then she realises she's made him late and he rushes off...only to rush back, saying he did forget something: to tell her he loves her.
VICTOR <3
(also lol what a contrast to Lupin. NO OFFENCE, LUPIN FANS, HE'S GREAT, THIS IS JUST MORE MY PERSONAL JAM)
...and then she gets back to cleaning the house. Ah well. She wants the mansion to be ready whenever anyone else comes to visit. She feels a little lonely when Victor's at work.
Victor has become the leading British Imperial Court Alchemist in order to work with the now more peaceful Victoria. But he FORGOT HIS LUNCHBOX.
He's in a meeting at the palace and she doesn't think she can get in but then Van Helsing comes along and tells the guards she's carrying "important materials for the summit".
They find Victor telling Delly he is responsible for the poison gas that killed so many vampires. "I know I can never atone, and this is a pathetic attempt to assuage my own guilt, but...I am so very sorry." It has eaten away at him, preventing him from being able to be genuine with Delly.
Delly: Your attempt to take responsibility is admirable, but the sins of the son are not also the father's. If my father was here, he would say the same.
Victor: Thank you, Delacroix.
Delly: I may be a king but I'm also your friend!
Victor: Thank you Delly :)
Van Helsing and Cardia join them, saying Delly was very regal, and he gets cutely flustered. Victor refers to Cardia as a "knight-protectoress" :D Delly teases Victor about getting love filled bento from his wife and he gets VERY flustered hee.
(are they married??)
Just as Cardia's about to leave, Leonhardt invites her to meet with the queen. She's been "reducing military pressure on European powers, colonies, foreign ethnic minorities" and everyone's been talking about how gracious she is.
Victoria talks about walking the ruined parts of the poor district, seeing the damage she had done. But she also saw them rebuild even while they mourned. "It is as you said, the Britons, and Great Britain herself, are not weak". She compares herself to an overprotective mother. The sort hat murders their kids, I guess :/
She complains about being very busy now, and Cardia offers Victor's special calming tea, which Nameless has RUINED for me as a concept.
Victoria asks how things are going with Victor and ponders if she should give marriage a try and Leonhardt freaks out then forces himself to be all "I MEAN THAT WOULD BE DELIGHTFUL". Victoria says she's too busy right now (the wiki says she 34 which is SUPER OLD to be putting it off but I'm not complaining)
Anyway, afterwards Cardia is happy to have such direct proof that the Queen is determined to be pacifist. But she feels oddly melancholy, wondering how long her happiness with Victor can continue.
At home, Victor asks if she's ok and offers to examine her if she's feeling unwell lol. And then Saint-Germain unexpectedly comes to call.
Cardia asks if his business in France concluded well and he demurs then sadly says "There's someone I want you to meet...rather, someone you both must confront."
I was wondering about that...
He leads them to a strangely silent Tower Bridge. Guinevere and Omnibus appear. But they have come, not for Cardia, but for Victor! They see in him the potential to become the next Isaac, and warn him that while scientific progress is all well and good, he must always consider the consequences.
Victor says he has already made that mistake and never will again. Omnibus is pleased...but then turns to Cardia, saying that while her gem is currently mostly inert it could change back.
This makes Victor angry. "Even on a scale of decades, the possibility of reactivation is zero!"
Omnibus: Yes. But I speak of hundreds or thousands of years hence. Even if your body has lost it's poison, it remains inhuman. Even I cannot guess how long your lifespan might be, while that young professor has no more than 50 left to him.
Cardia really is a metaphor for atom bobs, huh.
Omnibus says she is going to offer them a choice. Just as I'm thinking she's going to ask Cardia to offer to die when Victor does she instead suggest that Victor become an Apostle of Idea!!
Victor: Eternal life...with her...
Saint-Germain: It's hardly fair to speak only of the benefits.
So Victor has two choices: become an immortal assassin now, or eventually die of old age and leave Cardia alone. He asks if "purging all possible threats to humanity" includes Cardia. Saint-Germain sadly admits that was his original mission, and Omnibus says it is on hiatus- until the day Cardia's gem becomes poisonous once more.
Victor is given three days to decide.
Saint-Germain is sadly apologetic that he couldn't save them from this, but Victor and Cardia are just grateful for his efforts, since him begging for Cardia's life is the only reason they have been offered this choice. Victor points out they'd have noticed he was immortal eventually haha. Saint-Germain gives them a clumsy, grateful smile.
Cardia can't sleep. She doesn't seem to be sharing a bed with Victor despite the end of his path, but he can't sleep either. "I figure if I must worry, I might as well do it by your side."
She cries, frustrated that she's ruining his future, terrified of being alone again one day. He holds her close.
Victor: Don't you remember my promise? I don't care how many thousands of years we're talking about, I'll never let you become a monster.
And then he promises that when he decides what to tell Omnibus, she'll be the first to know. But the one thing he's sure of is that he'll help her, no matter what.
Victor POV. Saint-Germain finds him sitting outside work, angsting.
Victor: When Omnibus described cardia as "cursed" I was sure I would never forgive her. Yet I felt angry towards myself, that she remains "cursed" after all my efforts. I had been so sure I could make her happy...I don't know how long Cardia will live. But I will do everything in my power to make her happy. Yes. Even if I have to murder-
Saint-Germain: Is she nothing more than a justification to you? You know better than anyone that she is a gentle, kind-hearted girl.
I think this may already be our second Victor Angsts CG *is not complaining*
Victor: What in God's name would you have me do? She'll be left alone and terrified. I won't be there to help her.
Saint-Germain: You speak only of yourself. What if I was to remain near her, and tell Omnibus it was for surveillance?
Victor: Then...than can I ask...
Saint-Germain: But would that truly be her happy ending? Consider this a warning from an elder. Eternity is far too long to be spent alone.
...is he saying she'd be better off dying when Victor does? Ehhh, I think she could find new scientist friends.
Saint-Germain: You, Cardia, the others...I will see you all to your deathbeds. Occasionally recalling enjoyable times spent with those I shall never see again, I have no choice but to live on. Perhaps it is a blessing from the Lord that I am alone, that I do not know love. The loss of what was once gained is unbearable agony...*chuckle* Alas, I have bored you speaking of myself.
Saint-Germain ;_;
Victor thanks Saint-Germain for his insight. Saint-Germain tells him the life of a human is longer than he thinks, and that there is still hope. As he walks away, Victor appreciated that Saint-Germain acted not as an Apostle of Idea, but as a friend.
We see Guinevere warn Saint-Germain. "Omnibus would rather not lose one of her oldest apostles, which is why you are given a certain degree of freedom. But everything has it's limits." But Saint-Germain still hopes the world will be kind to his friends.
Cardia is disassociating from anxiety and trauma. Sisi drags her out for a walk and eventually she realises she's at Victor's work, which is surrounded by guards: Victoria is visiting. She wants a better understanding of her city. Leonhardt takes the opportunity to FINALLY apologise.
Cardia: I've long forgiven you for calling me a monster!
Leonhardt I was more talking about...using you as a superweapon...
Cardia: We were both just following our beliefs.
Cardia, his belief was that it was ok to use your body against your will to murder people, including your boyfriend. Yours was that you'd rather he didn't. These are not equivalent points of view!
He says this doesn't absolve him of the need to make amends, thanks her for preventing him and the Queen from making terrible decisions. The lives they lead now, and Britain's bright future, are thanks to her. He asks her to keep an eye on them, just to be sure.
Ok, I'm still not a fan of this overall plot, but this all makes me feel better about it than I did at the end of the Victor path.
Cardia: Your confidence in the future makes me jealous.
Leonhardt: When the future is murky, all the more reason to stand tall and proclaim how bright it will be! The future is suspended upon our words and actions in the present.
Cardia decides to stop angsting alone and go tell Victor it's too early to give up.
Victor is finishing up a meeting describing the new and exciting replacement for steam: electricity! Victoria says he seems down, reminding her of the man she knew two years ago (BECAUSE OF HER TRICKING HIM INTO COMMITTING GENOCIDE) and offers a sympathetic ear.
But then Cardia barrels in and knocks him to the ground, and there is a very nice CG of him blushing up at her, surprised, glasses knocked back into his hair. I guess she's straddling him??
Victor: C-cardia? I'm in a meeting...
Cardia: You said I shouldn't feel awkward coming to you at work. And it can't wait another second! I don't want you to become part of Idea. If you have to pay for our future with coin minted from your own suffering, it's no future worth having.
Victor: Imagine weeping in agony, desperate for help only a dead man can give...I will stop at nothing to prevent that future. If I can keep that smile on your face, I will kill a thousand men.
Cardia: No!
Victor ...just kidding :)
BAD VICTOR
(Meanwhile Victoria is presumably just off screen, having no idea what they're talking about, and wondering when they'll stop canoodling on her rug)
Victor: Both of us had the first instinct to martyr ourselves. But you taught me to stop running from the past, and now I need to stop running from the futures other have put into my head.
Cardia: We won't think about future that wind up with one of us miserable. I want to help you find a third way.
Victor: Then...can I ask you to entrust me with your life?
She doesn't even have to think before saying yes.
(Oh hey, I thought of another solution: they have kids, and teach them science! Cardia's descendants help keep great-great-grandma from turning into a bomb! I'd just say she could get new friends and lovers etc and keep in touch with the best scientists of the day, but given the genre she can Never Love Another. Children are a loophole)
Hahaha once they finally let go of each other Victoria complains about how boring it is to be the third wheel. Victor seems to have forgotten she was there and is very embarrassed, especially when Victoria congratulates Cardia on being a firebrand who pushes her man to the floorboards heehee. But then Victoria narrows her eyes and asks Victor to elucidate the more troubling bits of their tête-à-tête.
AND THEN. I DIDN'T PLAY FOR A YEAR.
...looks like my p key was broken again for part of this...
While I was playing Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly I had to stop hearing Karasuba as Victor and now I have a little of the opposite problem.
Anyway!
Cardia and Victor have come up with a plan, and give each other a secret smile as they wait to meet with Omnibus. They hope Saint-Germain won't get into trouble for helping, but he says it's the least he can do as their friend (nakama)
Cardia is so afraid bile rises in her throat and I get distracted thinking about how her biology even works.
Victor: I wish I could say everything will be alright with the loud confidence of some of our friends. But all I can offer you is this *holds her hand*
Victor tells Omnibus he'll spend the whole of his life working to make Cardia not only safe, but mortal. That way Idea won't have to watch forever in case she explodes. Ehhhhh. But he and Cardia say some very sweet things about their determination to live by each other's sides.
But Omnibus rejects it. More apostles appear. Saint-Germain tells Omnibus he still believes in the ideals of Idea but not this specific decisions, then stands with Cardia and Victor as they prepare for an unwinnable fight...
And then all their friends appear! Lupin, Impey, Van Helsing, and Delly.
Van Helsing tells Omnibus he mistrusts any sense of "justice" which relies on death. "Whatrever lies atop your mountain of corpses...even if it's 'proper', it's worthless to me"
Lupin: I don't care if you're an Apostle of God Almighty, if you have a problem bring it on!
Victor: I dedicate the rest of my life, every fibre of my being, to her protection. You say I have potential. Take our lives, all the time that's left in them...and please. Wager it all on us.
Omnibus: Child of Isaac, the only future I forsee is a path paved with endless suffering.
Cardia: I had given up on ever knowing love. But my friends- Victor most of all- proved it wasn't impossible. I choose to believe in him until our very last moment. I choose to believe in myself. I want to wager on my own potential. Even if it takes time for me to become human...I know my soul is human, because I fell in love with one. And that is why I know I can change the future you see!
Impey: Soooo coool ;_;
And so Omnibus relents. She tells Victor to keep his vow to fulfil his potential and actually help the world, and tells Cardia Idea will be watching. And then she and her Apostles leave.
Everyone joyfully hugs Victor and Cardia, and then the two of them kiss, Cardia no longer feeling any doubt.
Closing Credits!
We see Cardia at home, cleaning, a little sad that all their friends have left already. But things aren't quite back to how they were...
We see Victor at the palace as Victoria says she's glad Victor and Cardia are alright especially since it sounds like she'll be getting more Science for the UK.
Victor: I was thinking it would be good to expand our junior research program, and maybe get me an assistant.
Victoria: I have the just the person in mind. Their skills are still in development, but they have guts and a quick mind.
Me: WAIT
Victor: If you speak that highly of him I suppose I can expect a lot.
Cardia: It's a pleasure to meet you Vic-Professor. Teehee.
Me: :D :D
Victor: o.O ?????
Cardia: I wanted to be near you, and help you, and I thought it would be convenient having the gem near. But I suppose my knowledge of alchemy isn't good enough...
Victor: NO I'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY I JUST...thankyou??
Victoria: Is it not my duty to guide all citizens of the United Kingdom to happiness?
Cardia: Then shouldn't you be happy too?
Victoria: Perhaps. What do you think, Leon? ;)
Leonhardt: I will help in any way possible!!
Victor: Never mind.
Cardia promises Victor to study very hard, and he says she's a quick study and will make a great assistant.
He takes her to a pretty church, a place for making vows of love. He says that they will remember the suffering in their pasts, but not be burdened by them. And any time she is overcome by fear or sadness, he will hold her and tell her: everything will be alright. You're a normal girl, and you're allowed to be happy.
And then he recites the traditional marriage vows. She is surprised and delighted, and makes her own impromptu vow to love him for eternity.
She hears a voice on the breeze, murmuring of future blessings.
THE END
That was sweet. I'm generally not a fan of "immortal woman wants to be human and die with her bf" plots but it does make more sense when her immortality comes with the potential to destroy humanity. I GUESS. Also her becoming his research assistant is totally adorable.
As mentioned earlier, I got bored of Herlock Sholmes's path. I might play Saint-Germain's story, and want to see Finis and Delly's. One day.
