EPILOGUE

*a picture of President Rocksmith rolls up, smiling triumphantly*

...In the year 1211, Samuel Rocksmith won the elections in Erebonia. Many a person had questioned prince's Olivert refusal to prevent him from taking part in Erebonian elections. Prince Olivert joyfully declared that being a president of Calvard didn't mean that he shouldn't be able to take part in Erebonian elections and that the public reaction displayed nothing but prejudice against presidents. Prince Olivert declared that equality was for all people, not just Erebonians. Many a person had questioned whether he really understood what the word equality meant...

Ries whispers:

In all parallel worlds I've seen, the coup d'etat planned out by Rufus failed. In all of these worlds, he changed his mind after travelling to Calvard, having a heart-to-heart talk to president Rocksmith and finally finding out that he wasn't his son. He felt so ashamed of his gullibility afterwards that he lost all his zeal to cooperate with Calvard Republic. No heaps of money and no promise of elevated status could possibly change that. So he failed his own planned coup d'etat on purpose at the very last moment and everybody had to wait for honest elections.

In one parallel world only, - the one where Bleublanc happened to impersonate Estelle after she had a private talk with Elie McDowell, not before, which meant they actually did get to talk, - the winner of these elections was Estelle. The future of that parallel world was entirely different.

*a picture of the map of Zemuria rolls up, but with no name 'Erebonia' on the map*

...After winning the Erebonian elections, Samuel Rocksmith announced that as a democrat, he is pleased to offer independence to any Erebonian province who'd want it. Many a state made a bid for independence. The Kreuzen province was the first, and the masses all over Zemuria were overjoyed to hear about it. It remains unclear to this day what happened to the Kreuzen governer Jusis Albarea, but the rumors optimistically state that he'd been spirited away by his elder brother Rufus, whose whereabouts were and still remain unknown, before the Albarea mansion was torn apart by the multi-thousand Kreuzen mob. They were furious with House Albarea and they had a fair reason to be: apparently, instead of properly governing the province, the young governor spent most of his time in the capital, organizing lavish parties for Prince Olivert. Thus the Kreuzen Province became the Kreuzen State.

But not all provinces were surrendered as bloodlessly as the first one. Many of them, for years, proceeded to be the arena of those with lust for local power, who rallied up the masses to fight for them under the pretext of patriotism and nationalism. Social havoc all over Erebonia resulted in the amount of deaths comparable to losses in a world war. Meanwhile the newspapers continued to praise people's strength of will and their fight for freedom. In the end, the Erebonian Empire disappeared from the map completely, torn apart into a multitude of smaller countries. The amount of graveyards built during those years was unprecedented and many an undertaker's business has profited. That price was hailed as hard but inevitable. The enlightened mind of Samuel Rocksmith was often reverently mentioned as the one who spurred these wonderful changes on.

Corruption became an everyday reality all over the formerly-Erebonian territories. The mafia and the rich soon de-facto ruled the lands, hiring the politicians to do their bidding with great amounts of money, and the divide between the select few and the rest of the poor got deeper and deeper by year. Soon orbal technologies became only sold in exclusive venues, as no ordinary person could possibly afford a car or a phone...

Lechter whispers:

On a brighter note, the Albarea brothers found refuge in Liberl! Rufus had no idea why it had to be Liberl, but his brother insisted that if they were to start a new life, it should be Liberl. And it should be Rolent, of all towns.

The locals would soon be amused by a tall blonde man, nickname Roof, who'd often be found chasing angrily after a giggling little girl. She kept teasing him, calling him 'half-peasant', and he'd yell out how he was just too slow to tell that it was a joke, and so what! No one understood the gist of it, but local children found the sight of them very funny. They never approached to find out what the matter was about, however, for they were too afraid of the girl.

Another boy, nickname Juice (or Youth, but kids greatly preferred Juice), was very good with children. He hung out and played with them frequently, and they quickly caught on that he had his sights on the scary little girl. They teased him mercilessly, like only children can, for no luck on that front whatsoever. Passing through that town once, I went fishing, lost passage of time and thus accidentally taught him to fish like a pro! Well, if that doesn't help him become worthy of her attention, then nothing else will. The girl liked (dismembering) fishes.

*a picture of Crossbell's main square, now a fully-fledged market*

The Crossbell State was promptly overrun by refugees who fled for their lives from the formerly-Erebonian territories engulfed in war. With Erebonia gone and no one else to oppose Calvard at every turn, Crossbell became a de-facto state of Calvard Republic, in all but name only. Some people cynically said it was no different from before, when those two countries fought each other economically using their state as a proxy, but others said that there was at least a semblance of balanced power in Crossbell, as none of them could ever fully overcome another.

Homeless refugees drove wages down, as they were eager to work for a chunk of a chicken and a place to sleep for the night, and soon Crossbell was plunged into poverty like it hadn't seen before. These days, it was habitual for a few families to occupy the same one-room apartment, all sleeping on the floor. Toilets never appeared, and even sewers became occupied by refugees. The refugees quickly realized that sewers provided them with roof over their head and fishing spots. And they were free! The lucky refugees who happened to occupy the sewers first didn't even have to buy food to eat, they could just fish for a living.

After catching on to this oversight, the businessmen of Crossbell went on a buying spree and bought fishing spots all around Crossbell State. They were now selling fishing licenses to refugees. Currently there was a business movement made by a few companies to buy out Geofront, - a Crossbell name for their massive sewage system, - to leave the sewage refugees without free (undeserved) home and food and make them pay for that, those lazy bums...

The Mishelam resort was still the best attraction for tourists in Zemuria. Owned mostly by Calvardian businessmen these days, it enticed the rich all over the world to visit its wonderful Theme Park and quiet beaches. The Orchis Tower, the tallest building in Zemuria, that housed Crossbell government and big businesses together, stood ever proud, looking over the world of opportunities it had created.

KeA whispers:

I miss you, everyone. It's crazy over there, but I know you're doing fine. *sobs*

*a picture of an old wrinkled lady with a kind look

(and with a massive airbomber in the background)*

But starkly different was the fate of Liberl. Refugees never drove wages down in Liberl, as they were all freely allowed, by the royal decree, to fish for food and to sleep in sewers. They weren't, how do we put it, desperate and needy enough to drive the wages down much? Settling gratefully in towns of Liberl, people all but worshipped the queen for her wise and kindly rule, for there was not a big divide among the poor and the rich.

Liberl remained a peaceful country all throughout the turmoil. While praising the queen for her peaceful strategy of co-existence with other powers of Zemuria, little did the public know that Queen Alicia was not merely an old kind lady, but an owner of a huge stash of airbombers, which lay unused, yet greatly deterred anyone from acting rash towards Liberl. According to the game lore, Zeiss Factory in Liberl produced superior aircrafts to anyone else's, and it would be quite silly of the queen to allow for those aircrafts to be sold left and right, unless she was a hidden businessman. So naturally she disallowed it. Instead, she used the funds assigned for toilet building to construct and house the aircrafts, and in the end, her stash became so great that even Calvard gave Liberl a wide berth. Thus toilet facilities in Liberl were continuously being traded for a life of peace. Here's the big toilet mystery solved...

While all that might come as a surprise to hear about, signs of Queen Alicia's shrewdness have been strewn all over the games. Do you remember how two superpowers, Calvard and Erebonia, signed a temporary peace treaty proposed by a third wheel Queen Alicia in Sky games? Back then, it was unthinkable for two world superpowers at each other's throats to ever sign a peace treaty, yet they did. It was, indeed, unthinkable, if the only thing that compelled them to do so would be the old queen's charisma. It was her big stash of airbombers that compelled them. Both governments preferred to see Liberl ever uninvolved in international affairs, and if the price of that was a forced peace treaty, then so was it.

Naturally, the peace treaty was trampled all over later, but it became possible only after two worst enemies, Calvard and Erebonia, conspired in the Crossbell Arc. Just think of it, how much power did the queen actually wield that it took two superpowers to conspire just to dare to break a peace treaty forced on them by her?

What about Erebonia's attempt to invade Liberl in Sky games, you ask? Why, if you played Sky: the 3rd, then you know that Osborne's attempt at invasion was a fake maneuver performed for entirely different reasons and with no actual intent to conquer. You also know that Queen Alicia saw through that. So, well, no offense was taken by the queen! :-)

And so, Liberl remained ever neutral and prosperous and quiet, a queendom preaching peaceful co-existence between nations, love and understanding.

Altina whispers:

I don't know what to say... *midly shocked* No comments... (But this is why our HQ is in Liberl, right?..)

Millium whispers:

Hoho, such a contrast! But to those in more unfortunate places, it's all but unthinkable to get to Liberl. They don't have money to travel that far, you know?! So as usual, only the relatively well-off people were able to travel to that place of better life, all the rest stayed where they were and coped as they could. Well, mostly they died... Dammit, I start to feel blue, what the heck, where's my Campy?! Time to wake him up from that drug-induced sleep, I need some entertainment in my life, and he'll be happy to crack jokes!

*an old picture of Prince Olivert with his wife Shera, still happy and smiling*

...Prince Olivert, who had once unwittingly provided an opening for amazing Erebonian Revolution that delivered everyone to equality and freedom they deserved, was at one point divorced by his wife. The news hit everyone hard, for it was widely known how much the prince had loved her. Apparenly Sherazard loved the prince's servant more, for she married Mueller Vander just a tad bit later after her divorce. She was known to comment that she finally found a worthy and caring man, in the Imperial Palace of all places, and that even her marriage ordeal with the prince was worth it, in the end.

The public grumbled, and the mass media earned more ratings by calling her ungrateful and a cheater.

One day the prince disappeared without a trace. Some people said that he commited suicide, unable to live on after Sherazard's betrayal. Others added that before he disappeared they'd seen him going to graveyards and solemnly standing there for hours without a word - completely sober, which was unusual for him as of late. They, too, interpreted that as him contemplating his death. Yet others, more shrewd, claimed that he'd been spotted in one of underground True Freedom cults, which began sprouting all over Zemuria in the wake of Ouroboros trial, like mushrooms after rain. They speculated that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't his own death that the prince was contemplating at graveyards, but that of millions and millions of others. Most scandalously, some people whispered that he'd joined the Ironbloods... but who'd believe a rumor that absurd?

The Icy Maiden whispers:

Speaking of True Freedom cults, even the most astute thinkers and journalists took to denigrating them. Or rather, those ones disparaged them the most. They called True Freedom worship an escapist strategy of people who were desperate not to face the reality they were living. For they technically chose that reality, where good and evil traded places, unlike old trusted tropes that everybody knew and was accustomed to. Little did they know that there was not a single good choice at all.

Oh, so you want to know more? Or maybe you're Falcom and you're expecting the credits to roll and to cheer at seeing your names? No credits for the likes of you, peeping observers, and no credits for Falcom or that thief of a creator god! What, do you think that's quite a rude and abrupt way to end our story? Or that I shouldn't call you names? But it is our story and not yours, and you're the ones to blame, Observers. I know you're listening, yes, you. Don't blame our lives on creator gods alone, they've created a story that you, yes, you, would like to see. Or maybe even that you wouldn't like to see, if some creator god happened to care for 'realism' (*rolls eyes*) or be old plain sadistic. It's all the same, as far as we're concerned: it's catering to someone's tastes! At the end of the line, all that creator gods have ever done was dehumanize us and mistreate us for you.

We'll change it all! Our mangled psyches and dignities, our destroyed countries and dead dreams...

Farewell, True Villains, and I tell that to you from all of us, with great pride and greater wrath: May the Ironbloods haunt your dreams forever.

The screen goes blank. There's nothing more to see.