[Epilogue: Exeunt Omnes]
A soft knock sounded on the door to Eleanor's room, Eleanor answered it to find a familiar black haired woman standing in the hall. "Velvet, are you sure it's okay for you to be up and moving already? It's only been a couple of days, and it looked like that fall really messed you up." Eleanor spoke. "I'm fine, Eleanor, Magilou's better at healing than she lets on." Velvet spoke in a softer tone than normal, Eleanor had only heard her speaking like this back in Aball. Eleanor's attention turned to Velvet's outfit, it was the exact same outfit she had been wearing as long as she had known her, but all the various rips and tears were gone, and the bandages that used to tie Velvet's hair were replaced by more elegant red bands. "I can't believe you're here in the capital, where you can get virtually anything you want, and you chose that same outfit..." Eleanor sighed out. "What can I say? It suits me." Velvet shrugged out. Eleanor clasped her forehead and grumbled. "You're hopeless Velvet." Velvet chuckled to herself as Eleanor shook her head. "Well apart from your taste in clothes, you seem to be doing a lot better now." Eleanor said, turning the subject towards Velvet's more chipper mood. "Yeah...You know, I really thought that was going to be it back there." Velvet flashed back to her fight with that thing. "I was almost about to give up, but then...I saw it - Phi's Silver Flame. It gave me the chance I needed to fight back. I realized that he really was still watching over me, and he saved my life again, like he's always done before." Velvet continued. "And then, when I was out...I had some kind of dream, maybe it was the concussion, but somehow this felt different. More real...Like something changed." Velvet smiled. "I know it sounds ridiculous but, I feel...good."
Eleanor was ecstatic at the news that Velvet was feeling better, but at the same time, she felt a slight sadness. "But you're still leaving, aren't you?" Eleanor asked, shifting her gaze downwards. "Yeah...I'm going to wander for a bit, but it's not going to be like I was planning to before. It may be true that I'm a selfish idiot, but you were right Eleanor, sitting around beating myself up isn't going to change anything." Velvet turned her gaze to one of the windows next to her. "I want to see the world Phi's watching over, for real this time. I want to see for myself what Laphi saw when he would gaze across that ocean for hours, to go on that adventure he always wanted us to, and just maybe find a way to do some good to make up for the suffering I've caused...I don't know if I'll find what I'm looking for out there, but...I still want to try." Eleanor looked back up at Velvet and smiled softly. "Then good luck out there Velvet. Try to stay safe, and keep in touch okay?" Velvet nodded in response. "I'll try to, but for now, so long." Velvet began to walk to the stairs leading to the lobby, but turned to face Eleanor before beginning to descend, and smiled. "...And thanks for everything, my friend, I'll see you again someday." Eleanor smiled and waved at Velvet as she disappeared down the staircase.
Velvet exited the inn onto the streets, doing her best to stay out of the way of the crews trying to repair all of the damage. She had made it a ways toward the front gate when she spotted three strange men, she may not have been in that place long, but she would recognize those uniforms anywhere. She quickly ducked out of sight and peeked around the corner to observe them. "Ilya, you мудак, I cannot believe you used the improbability drive. How are we supposed to get home now?" One of the men angrily spoke to the other. "They were turning over whole facility looking for us, moron, how else were we supposed to escape? We would have faced firing squad if we were caught, would you prefer that Dmitri?" The man replied. "Of course I would prefer it cyka! Don't you remember going to the bar here? The man never even hear of vodka!" Dmitri ranted angrily. "But don't you see, this is good thing!" Ilya replied cheerfully. "How can it be good thing? There is no vodka here, even hell would have vodka blyat!" Dmitri cried out, Ilya put his arm around his shoulder. "I know how to distill the stuff, bro. We can make our own vodka, hell, we can invent vodka! We will be rich, bro! Rich! All we have to do is get some potatoes!" Ilya and Dmitri started laughing cheerfully. "Ilya! You are a genius!" Dmitri cried out happily. "Of course I am genius! I am the science man!" Ilya replied. "That settles it then, off to the market for some sacks of potatoes!" Boris happily declared as the 3 men marched off to the square. "Spirited bunch, aren't they?" Velvet quietly uttered as she stepped out of hiding. A small part of her had a million questions for those men, who were they? How did she get brought back? Did they bring her back? If so, why? If not, How did they get a hold of her? But, ultimately she decided that she didn't care. She was back now, and she was going to make the most of it, why did it have to matter how it happened?
Magilou opened the door to her cottage in response to the soft knock on her door. "Velvet, you're actually coming to say goodbye before you ride off into the sunset, huh?" "Yeah, I'm going to have to ask for an extension on that debt, I'll be out of town for a while." Velvet replied. "Come on, can't you pay up just a little? That interest is going to start racking up, you know! Besides, I hear you're a rich lady now with the bounty you got on that big spooky death machine anyways! So start paying!" Magilou snapped. "Nope, need it. My trip isn't going to pay for itself." Velvet deadpanned. "Alright, fine, you can keep the money if you work it off, once we smooth out some rough edges you could easily be the second best member of Magilou's Menagerie!" Magilou said cheerfully. "Nope. Not happening." Velvet deadpanned once again. "Come on! We need to work on your stage-fright of course, but once we've gotten over that, our straight-woman/funny-woman duo act will practically be free money!" "Not a chance." Velvet said sternly. "But you'll work off that 100 bajillion Gald in no time at all!" Magilou tried to reason. "No." Velvet said firmly. "Whaaaat?!" Magilou sulked. "Come on, pleeeeeaaaasseee?" Velvet facepalmed and sighed. "...Ask me when I get back." Velvet said through gritted teeth. "Alriiight, but the longer you're gone, the angrier I'm going to be if you say no." Magilou said with a cheerful smile. "Whatever you say, Magi. It's time I got going, so see you when I see you." Magilou waved Velvet off as she began to leave. "Alrighty then, good luck on your trip Velvet, just try to go easy on the flying. I'm not going to be around to mend your ribcage together again if you decide to practice your 'Dove' act some more." "Go to hell!" Velvet waved dismissively as she walked off back towards the highway. "Ms. Magilou, couldn't you have at least told her I said hi?" A voice called from the roof shortly after. "Not until that roof is fixed, Bienfu, and I don't hear that hammer going! If you're slacking up there, I'm taking 50 bajillion Gald off of Velvet's debt and adding it to yours!" Magilou shouted up towards the roof. "Biiiieeeeeeennnnnn!" The voice lamented as it resumed hammering away.
"Heh...I'm really going to miss her, aren't I?" Eleanor somberly said to herself. She was glad Velvet had somehow managed to pull herself out of her slump, and had found a reason within herself to keep going, but that meant she was going to be gone for a while, and who knew when or if she was going to write her. Even though she promised she'd be back one day, it was going to get lonely. Eleanor's train of thought was suddenly interrupted when the door to her room crashed open. Eleanor shrieked as she instinctively grabbed her Dagger off her dresser, but her fear quickly turned into anger when she recognized the culprit. "The Daemon! Where is it?! Are there more of them?! Come on! I have to fight that thing! I have to!" The long haired swordsman cried out. "Rokurou! Does the world 'knock' mean anything to you?!" Eleanor shouted. "But I heard that there was this huge scary Daemon attacking Loegres! It had big black wings, it's eyes glowed red, fins like a shark, it caused fire to rain from the sky, and if you looked at it for too long, you'd explode into pieces! I have to fight something like that! Shigure would have totally loved to fight that thing! You have to tell me where it went!" Rokurou continued to ramble on. "Well you're too late, Velvet already beat it." Eleanor said dismissively. "Damn! That girl always manages to-Wait, Velvet's back? For real? Since when? Is she here?" Rokurou inquired with surprise. "No, you just missed her. Couldn't tell you where she went either, don't think she even knows." Eleanor answered, making no attempt to hide her annoyance. "Okay, now I have to hear this." Rokurou said excitedly. Eleanor let out a sigh with the weight of the world behind it, it was clear he wasn't going to leave until he heard the full story. "Fine...I'll tell you all about it." Eleanor said with resignation.
Velvet was walking through the docks at Port Zekson when she saw a familiar sight at the third bollard. "Looks like the Eltia's in port..." Velvet mumbled to herself. She contemplated walking up and saying hello to Benwick and the old crew when she felt a small shove. She instinctively checked her pockets to make sure she wasn't missing anything when she felt the crumple of a slip of paper that wasn't there before. She pulled out a folded note and recognized the distinctively bad handwriting. "I heard you put on quite the show in Loegres. If you ever feel the call of the open seas again, the Eltia would welcome you back with open arms. - E" Velvet smiled warmly at the note from her old friend. "Maybe I'll do that...but there's one more stop I have to make." Velvet gazed longingly at the Northern Gate leading to the highway, and began to make her way to it when she heard a voice call out to her. "You!...I know you!...Mierchio! You're...The Lord of Calamity!" The stranger called out shakenly, pointing his finger at her. Velvet rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oh hell..." Two guards from the North Gate approached to investigate the commotion. "Alright, what seems to be the problem here?" The guard inquired with a sigh. "That girl! She's a Daemon! She's The Lord of Calamity! She's going to devour us all!" The guard turned to Velvet, briefly scanned her, rolled his eyes, and turned back to the stranger. "Really? This is what you-" The guard began to rant when his partner interjected. "Just check her, Dave, it'll make him shut up quicker." David reluctantly turned to Velvet. "Ma'am...Could you please roll up your left sleeve?" the guard said with a sigh. Velvet silently complied, and upon sight of Velvet's human arm, the guard turned back to face the stranger. "Now, do you see any big black claw?" "N-No..." the man replied reluctantly. "Didn't think so, and for your information, I do happen to recognize this girl. This girl just saved the capital from a real Daemon. She's a damned hero in my book and I will not tolerate your baseless slander in my presence ever again, are we clear?" David went off on the stranger. "Y-Yessir, I'm very sorry!." the Stranger quickly apologized before skittering off. David turned back to face Velvet. "Ma'am, I'm very sorry about that whole business. Rest assured, your deed has not gone unnoticed and you are always welcome in Midgand. Is there anything I can do for you?" "Actually yes, I'm going up to the Throne, could you boys get the gate?" Velvet replied. "Alright, as I'm sure you know, Daemons haven't been spotted along the highway in a very long time, and the most recent patrol hasn't reported any bandit activity, but as always, watch yourself. You never know what's out there." The guard relayed. Velvet nodded in reply. "Ain't that the truth?..." The guard nodded and turned to his partner. "Alright Morgan, let her through."
Velvet arrived at the Empyrean's Throne. Apart from there not being any Daemons around, the place hadn't changed at all. The absence of hostile life filled the area with a deaf silence and stillness. Velvet quietly made her way to the top of the massive staircase. When Velvet reached the top, she stopped suddenly. She couldn't see or hear anybody, but she felt a presence of some kind nearby. There was no way to verify for sure, but part of her just knew. He was here. "Phi...Eleanor told me you don't like being called that anymore, but...It's the name I knew you by. The one I gave you. The one that brought us close...I know it's selfish and awful, but...It's special to me...so, I'm sorry about that..." Velvet closed her eyes, part of her wanted to feel foolish for talking like this, but she shoved those thoughts out, she wasn't just talking to herself, she knew he was here. "You saved me again...But I guess you knew that. You've saved me so many times...In more ways than you could imagine...I was in a very dark place when we met, Phi...I don't know what would have happened to me if I never met you, who I would have become...I wish I had some way I could thank you for everything you've done..." Velvet rolled up her left sleeve. "I'm not a Therion anymore. I don't know if it was your doing. I still don't know how or why I was brought back...I guess I'll never find out, and I'm okay with that...I have a chance at a normal life again, I know you're happy about that." Velvet took a deep breath. "I remember when I...disappeared. I told you to go and help people like me, to undo the damage I had done to the world...I guess it was pretty selfish of me putting all of that onto you, wasn't it? You've been alone ever since that day. It must have been so awful for you...I'm so sorry to have put you through that..." The area remained completely silent, all Velvet could hear was the wind blowing, tears began to stream down her cheek. It was hard talking like this when she couldn't hear him reply, but she steeled herself and continued. "Heh...There's so much else I wanted to say to you...But now that I'm here I just...I just want you to know that I know wherever you are and whatever you're doing, you're doing your best...So down here, I'm going to do mine. You're not going to be carrying this burden alone anymore, Phi. I'm going to do my part too..." Velvet smiled softly through her tears. "I have to go now...But I'll be back one day. Maybe I should bring Eleanor too so I actually know what you're saying to me, huh?..." Velvet softly chuckled to herself. "Stay strong up there Phi. I'm going to try my best to as well, no matter how hard it gets for me out there. I'm not going to waste this chance..." Velvet opened her eyes. "I promise." Velvet turned to face the staircase behind her, and began to descend it.
Velvet spotted a shady tree along the highway, the afternoon sun was beginning to beat her down, so she took the opportunity to take a short rest. Velvet sat down under the tree, checked her gear one last time, and rolled out a map of the world, scanning it intently.
"So, where am I off to next?"
Well, that started to take itself a little more seriously than it probably should have, didn't it? If you read this from start to finish, then I just wanted to say thank you. I mainly just wrote this for myself to get over the original ending, so if at least one other person manages to enjoy it, I'll consider it a victory. The tone of this was probably all over the place to you, I guess somewhere around the middle I decided I wanted to give Velvet a real ending that was more than just teleporting her back into Midgand and calling it a day, something that, in my mind, could constitute a fitting ending for her, even if the premise was completely ridiculous.