This epilogue officially ends Tales of a Lost World. Huge thanks to everyone who’s been reading since the very beginning, a little more than two years ago. Look forward to a sequel coming this fall at earliest. Till then, enjoy my new summer project series, Nostalgia.

Episode the Last, Epilogue

Ice disappeared at that very moment that he revealed his identity to Kunai. In the silence of Aodh Tower, at the site of the destruction of the Three Phonemes’ souls, Kunai was left to brood, and to contemplate: Arai was his enemy.

A greatly injured Ryuu survived the Battle of the Underworld, as did all major characters involved in the conflict. Lilith was defeated, but the victory would be short-lived. Upon the reunion of Kunai with the others, Kunai told Ryuu everything about the revelations at Aodh Tower.

All those who had been connected to the Three Phonemes mourned their loss for two weeks. As the only one apart from Arai to witness their end, Kunai felt the most guilt for not being able to save them. Ryuu and various others attempted to console Kunai, but he rapidly drifted into a downward spiral.

After the defeat of Lilith, peace meetings were held between the Four Worlds in the Underworld. The Charemis Monarchy had been overthrown by Lord Kimura’s forces, but a representative government known as the Republic of Night World Provinces, RNWP, attended the meetings. The general consensus at the meetings decided upon a solution of using the plans left behind by Tide and the Four of Victoria Island to seal off the Four Worlds from one another, thereby severely restricting traffic between the worlds to only those with government-issued permission cards.

The purpose of sealing the worlds was to prevent the possibility of the Fatalists from easily moving from one world to another, thus making it easier to track them down should they reappear. However, for the duration of the five years Arai had granted grace, there were no documented conflicts at the borders.

Many of the surviving members of the group that had traveled together with the Phonemes returned to the Maple World. However, Silver chose to return to the Rift World in order to lead political and economic reforms with the Myougun Empire dissolved.

Ryuu returned to Victoria Island and settled in Perion, where he would immediately begin drafting his plans for a Joukai Academy similar to the one he had been trained in as a youth. However, his plans were for a public academy that admitted any student willing to fight against the Fatalists.

Membership rapidly swelled and the Academy gained repute and recognition that even transcended the world borders. While the former members of the Phoneme group were each invited to teach at the new Joukai Academy, only Sasha chose to do so. Zack disappeared about one month after the Battle of the Underworld, presumably to pursue his own exploits. Rill decided to enroll as a student himself, believing he needed to refine his skills.

Ellinia and Orbis were resurrected anew, while the other cities and regions that had been under the dominion of Lord Gilford, Lord Duncan, or otherwise the Myougun were liberated and granted independence. Many chose to obtain membership in the new Victorian Union. A similar treaty was ratified in the Ossyrian region as well.

Graves were dug for Ayame and Ivy outside the site of the new Joukai Academy in Ellinia. Lily’s grave was placed in the temple where she’d spent the majority of her short life at the request of Bishop Calburn.

Ryuu would go on to grieve the loss of Ayame for over a year.

Anti-hybrid organizations soon gained notoriety as an underground movement after the Battle of the Underworld. Groups and persons hostile to hybrids were justified by their shady leaders due to the existence of the Fatalists, who were closely associated with hybrids.

However, one of Ryuu’s immediate goals after peace was made was to pursue all existing Paradoxes left in the world and exterminate them. This goal was achieved about four months after peace was declared at the Underworld Conference. Of course, the peace was only temporary, with the Fatalists waiting at the end of the five years.

Many of those remaining who had been close to Arai, primarily Ryuu, Kunai, Yttrius, and Azuma, took his betrayal the hardest. A satisfactory theory explaining how and why his betrayal occurred never surfaced, and the matter was left unresolved.

As for Kunai himself, the betrayal of Arai combined with the loss of Ivy and Lily had a devastating effect upon him. For the first two months after peace was declared, Kunai confined himself to his room, and emerged only at irregular times to speak with Ryuu.

Very soon, his mind began to wander and he longed for the experience of traveling once again. He decides to depart on a journey, first exploring the Maple World. After about a year of traveling, he disappears past the world borders to journey across the other three worlds.

Knowing, however, that in five years, darkness, more fighting, and more pain awaits him.