So, uhm, when I said epilogue, I imagined something happy but instead my mind came up with this. Featuring roasting each other, late-night talks, some more trauma, and Hao waking up.
Anyways this is the end of this little fic, now I gotta figure out what to do with my life.
Namari opens his eyes. Everything is blurry, but he feels no pain. Thank goodness, the last thing he remembers is awful pain.
Once his vision clears, the sees a silhouette crouching next to him.
"Namari, so you're the first?" Namari has to blink for his eyes to actually start focusing. Chrom sits next to him, the same smile as he's always had, and grins.
"You knew I would always be first," Namari replies almost grumpily. He can't believe him, being so cheerful when he sees his comrades and friends dead. However, he can't help it.
"It's good to see you," he says and takes his arm. It's good to see his friend again, even if (technically) he is suddenly older than he is. It's a weird feeling.
Other than that, Namari doesn't feel any different than he had while alive. He's still in his battle clothes, and it takes him a second to realize that he can get more clothes at will. He wraps himself tight in his cloak and looks around. The space where they are is almost bare, there is just a minimum thing, but visually, it reminds him of the Patch Village. However, it's almost empty.
"Where is everyone?" he asks Chrom and his friend shrugs.
"For now, it's just us. There are different societies in the Great Spirit, and there are usually more people. Today's just weird, might be because the new Shaman King is getting crowned," he says, and Namari nods. He takes the offered hand and stands up. He wonders how everyone else is doing.
He doesn't have a lot of time to look around when Bron lands. It's not a nice sight, almost all of his clothes are gone and Namari looks away. He's not big friends with Bron, but seeing him like this, no, thank you, he will pass.
However, this means that the invaders managed to get past Bron, and while everyone is strong, Namari doesn't think that there is anyone more devoted to the duty than the giant man in front of him. He thinks that soon, he will see more friends come.
"You're a fool, Namari," Bron says once he's dressed again and has looked around.
"Well, hello to you too," Namari replies in the same manner, and looks at him. Right now, there is no Goldva and no Shaman King to stop them.
Chrom tries to play the peacemaker and raises his hands, trying to step between the two.
"Come on, no need to fight right away, no?" he says, and Namari would love to tell him that there's indeed no reason to fight. He doesn't want to fight, it happened once that he had to fight his family in bad blood, he doesn't want it to happen again.
"We could've stopped them if you had used the Patch song," Bron says, but he sounds less mad now. Namari scoffs.
"Relying on the Patch song didn't save you, now did it?" he says. Apparently, he's still in a taunting mood, and he enjoys the feeling that he's right. Bron relies heavily on the Patch song, but his mere presence here is proof that it didn't work.
Bron opens his mouth, about to say something, but he shuts up again and hides in his cloak. Namari smiles. He knows it's because he's right.
Namari realizes that Red Rope isn't there with him. He suddenly feels quite insecure without his spirit; he glances at Chrom. He looks fine with it, but Namari knows that his spirit was collected and didn't return to the Great Spirit - instead, Nichrom has Purple Kick now, and Chrom has been here without his spirit ally for who knows how long.
The three of them sit down. The Great Spirit looks scarily normal, and Chrom offers them drinks and food. Namari raises an eyebrow when he sees him prepare everything the traditional way. Chrom seems to catch his look and shrugs.
"It's easier to just will everything into existence, but this helps keep some sense of normalcy," he explains, and Bron and Namari nod. They are sitting quite away from each other and are almost about to taste the tea when Magna appears.
"Nichrom!" he's saying, and Namari and Chrom exchange a look.
"Come on," Bron grumbles; apparently not happy that each one of them is getting killed.
"What about Nichrom?" Chrom asks and goes to crouch down next to him, but Magna is already on his feet and almost pacing like a caged animal. He almost misses that Chrom is there with them.
Magna shakes his head, refusing to tell Chrom about his brother.
Magna sits down next to Bron, away from Namari. Like Renim and Namari, the two have a complicated relationship. Magna prides himself on a grasp that can even kill a cobra, which, naturally, goes against Namari's skin, and the two rather avoid each other. It's natural, he thinks as he sips his tea. It's probably Radim's turn right now, and he knows that Radim is strong. He doesn't like to fight either, but he has been born into the Patch. It's his duty, and Namari knows that Radim will carry it out wonderfully.
"Damn electrocution," Magna says as he slams his fist into the table. That's all he does, and Namari lets out a low chuckle.
"You met it, too?" he asks. Once upon a time, he might've felt bad that he finds such joy in not being the only one to die this way, but he has long since stopped caring.
Magna raises an eyebrow.
"I thought you seemed quite sure that no lightning can get to you in the desert," he remarks, shutting Namari up. The younger Patch narrows his eyes; now, this, this he doesn't appreciate.
"I... miscalculated," he admits through gritted teeth, and Chrom whips his head around to look at him.
"You miscalculated?" He's surprised. They're used to Namari being right in most cases. After all, he does take in mind all different angles, and he has done extensive research on the contestants' battle styles.
"It was the oasis," Namari gets out through gritted teeth and feels Bron slam his hand on his back. He almost hisses like a startled snake.
"That little pool of water?" Magna says, obviously amused. "One wouldn't think that such little water would be enough for lightning."
"You don't say," Namari replies, his careful mask disappearing for a second in annoyance. Who even decided that the first three plants would be guided by them?
Namari decides to ignore them and sip his tea.
Radim doesn't turn up for a long time and the four of them actually think that maybe he had done what they couldn't, but they're gravely mistaken. When Radim turns up with Platinum Sword in tow, they all look at him unamused.
"Where were you?" Bron asks, and Radim scratches the back of his neck.
"Sorry, I got caught up. They're staying with Kalim for the rest of the night," he says, and Namari sighs. Kalim is too nice, allowing them to replenish their furyoku instead of striking them down. At least that's what he would do, go for them while they're vulnerable. But Kalim is kindhearted, and he wouldn't attack vulnerable people. Namari doesn't wonder anymore why he and Thalim are friends, they both have gentle personalities.
"Guess we can catch some rest too then," Chrom remarks and the others look at him. It makes sense, they have at least six hours if the contestants are staying at Kalim's for the night.
Radim comes to sit next to Namari and takes his own tea, thanking Chrom.
"They surprised me. They're better than they look," Radim says. Namari raises an eyebrow. It's big praise coming from Radim since he had the pleasure of announcing the matches. But, he supposes, it is something different to supervise the matches and actually fight. The matches are, after all, in a controlled environment. This is a life or death fight, and the confined space of the arena doesn't account for all the situations, and they all know it.
Namari can only nod. They surprised him too. They sit in silence for a while, and then Chrom says: "Maybe we should get some rest too."
"Really?" Magna asks, and he doesn't sound like he's considering proper rest. "We're dead and you want to rest?"
Chrom shrugs. He's not phased by Magna's rough attitude.
"You'll see that there isn't much to do in the Great Spirit," he explains. "It's good to at least try to conform to a daily rhythm so you don't lose the sense of yourself."
Namari looks around. It seems that time is passing similarly to the world of the living, but the feeling is different. He doesn't feel tired at all.
"Souls within the Great Spirit are encouraged to follow schedules like they did when alive," Chrom says. Since he has been here for a longer time than they have, Namari, Bron, Magna, and Radim all get up. It's almost surreal that there are rooms ready for them.
Namari enters his, and he looks around. It looks just like in the Patch Village, but at the same time, it's so different. He had to do everything himself his whole life, and having a room just be there feels wrong.
Nevertheless, he's not going to question it. He has a whole eternity to get used to this.
He wonders why he can't sleep if he can will everything here. But the images of Ryu dying flash in his mind, and Namari sits up. It's the middle of the night, and he feels sick to his stomach. Before the plants, he had never killed any other human being. Namari realizes that he feels really bad, even if he knows that Ryu got resurrected in the end. He gets resurrected but the feeling of dying, it lingers. Namari was always proud of himself that he could stand death, he could see someone die right in front of his eyes and not flinch, but once it's him who has killed, he feels sick.
He pushes the covers off of himself and stands up. It's unlikely that he will be able to sleep. He goes out. It was January when the fight ended, and, unfortunately, the weather here reflects the weather in the living world at the time, even if it is a few degrees warmer than it usually is in the caves.
"Hey," a voice says and Namari glances to his left. Radim is there, sitting on the edge of a small wall, one of the sodas in his hand (again). "Can't sleep too?"
Namari nods, he doesn't feel like talking at the moment. Radim shuffles aside and leaves a place for him to sit in, and Namari sits down, keeping one leg up on the wall and leaving the other to hang freely.
Radim sips his drink.
"You know, I never took a life before this," Radim says, and Namari actually isn't that surprised to hear that he's plagued by the same thing that haunts him as well.
"It's my duty, but it feels... wrong ," Radim says and tilts his head backwards to look at the stars. They're beautiful, and neither of them stops at why the stars are visible if they are supposed to be underground.
"I can fight, that's no problem, but I wish we didn't have to kill," Radim says and finally crushes the can in his palm.
"It's kill or be killed," Namari murmurs. It is true, in a way. If they do not restrain the invaders, they could be killed. They cannot afford that. They can't afford to let the invaders pass if they can help it.
"Still, it's this sick feeling that settles in your stomach," Radim says, and takes his sunglasses off to pierce Namari with his gaze. The older Patch doesn't even think about how he still wears them in the middle of the night. "You feel it too, don't you?"
"Yeah," Namari says finally. "It's weird though. You know it's us or them, and if it's us, then it can be the Shaman King too." He tries to choose his words carefully, tries to still think of the job he's supposed to be doing, but Radim summarises it well enough for him.
"It's our job but doesn't consider us as people," he says. Namari's eyes widen; he knows that Radim is proud to be a Patch, that he does his job well, and that he would rather avoid a fight if he could help it, but to actually hear these words out of his mouth is shocking.
Namari nods.
"Killing someone is actually hard," he says. "Not in the moment itself, but afterwards. When you realize what just happened." He catches Radim's expression and knows that he feels the same. They know that Bron has killed the contestants too. They know they have been revived, but Bron isn't sitting with them. Namari is kind of jealous. Bron has always had a steely mind when it came to the job, and he isn't afraid to kill. Namari supposes that, under the effects of the Patch song, it's easier not to realize what exactly has happened. But neither Namari nor Radim used the Patch song, and they are actually affected as people. They are so young but had to kill already.
Radim hangs his head. He looks tired. Namari can guess that he would probably rather sleep now, but he's not sure if he will be able to. They have to try, though. And if anything, it's not like this night will be eternal. A new day will come, and then... Namari isn't stupid. He knows that it won't magically get better. Nothing in life is magic. He just has to hope that this talk actually helped.
It's easier to sleep now. Even if he's dead and technically wouldn't need sleep, his body makes the decision for him, and he falls asleep soon.
The next day, they all gather once again. Some of them look like they didn't sleep at all (Radim), some have bags under their eyes, some are grumpy like every morning, and some look very chipper to start the day (Chrom).
It's almost scary how fast Kalim appears. Magna raises an eyebrow, and Bron can't believe that Kalim would be defeated so easily. But then again, Namari also didn't think that about some others. They're not even done welcoming Kalim when Renim appears, and he looks around.
"How?" Radim breathes out. That's probably what everyone else is asking. Renim sits up with his legs crossed and props his chin up with his hands.
"Overthinking," he says simply. He sounds disappointed if not a little mad, but Namari thinks that if anything, he's not mad at them but at himself.
"You got killed by overthinking?" Bron asks, arms folded on his chest. It seems that everyone has forgotten Kalim for now and the older Patch is getting a nice cup of tea with Chrom now.
"Quite literally," Renim says, and Magna can't contain his laughter.
"This is too funny!" he cries. It doesn't seem funny to anyone else. Renim narrows his eyes at him.
"Hao's small companion has interesting powers," he tells him, and Magna connects all the dots. He knows Opacho's power, but he can't help but find it even funnier than he did before.
"Thanks," Renim says sarcastically before he stops paying attention to him. He comes to sit next to Namari after he gives a quick handshake to Chrom.
The Patch seems nervous. It's time for his little brother to fight. The fight that was supposed to be his , had he not died during the qualification fights. Namari looks at him over his shoulders.
Everyone who is here has years of experience, years of training fighting in their plant, knowing how to use it to the best of their abilities. Nichrom doesn't have years of experience. He's still just a child. Namari knows that Magna practiced with him whenever he could, when they were back in the Patch Village, but a few months of training can never substitute years. He's only worried at what state the young Patch will come.
As expected, it doesn't take long. They all leave Chrom to actually take care of his brother.
The two brothers stare at each other for a while. Nichrom seems shocked to see his big brother again, but then Chrom envelops him in a big hug.
"I missed you," he says, and Namari can see that Nichrom is trying to get away at first, before he slowly puts his hands around Chrom's back, and buries his face in his cloak.
"I'm sorry that I left," Chrom says when he breaks the hug. Namari doesn't see how Nichrom reacts, but the two of them go to sit together to catch up and talk. Magna doesn't join them. They all feel that they deserve some time to bond.
"Do you think their parents are here too?" Renim asks in a whisper, and Radim shrugs.
"They should be here, no?" Namari says. They are in the Great Spirit, after all, and it's a collection of all souls. If Chrom and Nichrom's parents are somewhere, it should be around here.
Namari feels that there will be no talk with the two of them for the next few hours. However, he's not sure how much time they actually have before the King awakens. There are only three of them left, Thalim, Silva, and Rutherfor. Namari doesn't really count Goldva, even if he probably should, but she's not one of the officiants. Interestingly, the four most powerful people are left for the last plants, but Namari doesn't think they will actually manage to stop the invaders. Thalim is strong, but he doesn't like killing, and it's more possible that he will rather restrain them than kill. In addition to that, he seems to be at a disadvantage in his plant. Beaches are prone to erosion, which, Namari knows, is Thalim's weakness. He knows that he can do a lot of things, but once they figure out his weakness, he loses all means of defense. It's actually unfair, that he has such a disadvantage, but Thalim feels comfortable in the sea plant, and Namari has come not to question it.
Silva, on the other hand, while powerful, he's driven by his emotions. The effects of the Patch song have probably worn off by now and Namari hopes that he will protect the plant as he is supposed to do, but he's sure that he will go easy on them. That leaves Rutherfor and Goldva.
These two might actually have a chance at stopping them. But he knows from Radim that Yoh Asakura has this furyoku nullification skill. Namari grits his teeth. He has disliked this ability since he had to test the Gandhara members, and he's sure that if the boy uses it on either Rutherfor or Goldva, it will create an opening.
Basically, even though the plants and defenders exist, they are at a disadvantage now. The invaders are too far and too few members are left.
Namari is starting to get bored from just sitting around. He stands up and starts pacing. It's worse than waiting in the control room for any of Goldva's new speeches. He fiddles with his fingers anxiously. He's starting to lose hope that they will manage to protect the Shaman King. He turns his head around when he hears a yelp, but nothing is happening yet. Namari heaves a sigh. For a moment there, he thought that it might be Thalim, but it's just Bron and Renim messing around. It's interesting to see them acting like kids again, Namari thinks. Neither of them ever had a normal childhood as they deserved. Sure, they ran around like other children, play-fought, but in general, they never truly had a childhood. They were always just preparing for this moment.
There is another yelp, and now it is Thalim. Namari hurries to him.
"Are you alright?" Kalim asks and offers him his hand, and the younger Patch accepts it.
"They figured you out, didn't they?" Namari asks, and he's one hundred percent sure that he's right. Because he's always right. Well, if you don't count the whole plant fight, he is mostly right.
Thalim nods.
"I wanted to defeat them before they realized," he says. His eyes are actually open and his hair is out of its ponytail. It seems that it was quite an intense fight.
"You just didn't fight seriously," Bron scoffs, and Thalim immediately turns into a defense mode.
"I did!" he replies, almost sounding offended.
"You can snap necks with your oversoul," Magna says, unamused. He's not amused. He's irritated that he was defeated so easily and that everyone else seems to be easily defeated as well, one by one.
"And you didn't use it?" Magna finishes and Namari sees Thalim wince. He stands up and ties his hair up again.
"I just restrained them," he says. It is very much in the line with what Namari already predicted, and he's not surprised at all. No one here should be surprised; they know that Thalim doesn't want to kill anyone.
Magna rolls his eyes. It seems that he has given up for now. Thalim wraps his cloak around himself and hurries to sit down between Kalim and Radim, and Namari sits next to him.
"Be glad that you didn't kill anyone," Radim tells him and Thalim raises an eyebrow.
"It sucks big time," Namari adds. He usually doesn't use such language. Usually, he is controlled and doesn't swear. However, he thinks that he deserves to let off some steam.
"I just don't want to see anyone die," Thalim looks down at his lap.
"I would hope that would include yourself, but apparently not," Namari comments. It's in a light tone, to let him know that he doesn't mean it that seriously, but he sees Thalim look away, and knows that it wasn't the wisest thing to say. Sometimes, he can take things too literally.
"Relax, I'm only joking," he says. He wants to add "I'm glad you're alright," but considering that they all just died, he doesn't know if 'alright' is truly the right word to use. And while Namari has had a few hours to shake off the pain and feeling of death, it just happened to Thalim, and he doesn't want to make him feel worse than he already is.
"Do you want coffee?" Namari asks him, and sees him perk up a little.
"Should I make it?" he asks. Namari smiles slightly. Thalim is so pure and innocent, offering to make the coffee as if he just didn't die , but Namari wants to do this.
"I can do it," he offers. "I can practice my frappuccino skills."
Namari finds the kitchen easily, and, to no surprise, everything he needs is already there. He goes about preparing coffee as he usually does. He can see the group from the small window in the kitchen. So far, nothing has happened, and they're all sitting there around a table, Magna is solving a crossword while Bron and Renim are arguing about something. Chrom and Nichrom are away with each other, catching up. Kalim, Radim, and Thalim are sitting together, and it seems that Kalim is telling them something, to which Radim smiles, and Thalim politely nods.
Namari tries to do coffee art again, only to realize that he has the whole eternity to practice now. Well, probably, depends on what Hao is going to make them do. Sighing, he takes the cups - his has a generous portion of whipped cream - and takes them outside.
"Here," he puts the coffee in front of Thalim and sees him perk up significantly.
"Thanks," he says and takes the cup. "You know, the coffee art you do is lovely."
Namari smiles slightly. He knows Thalim is trying to be polite, but the coffee art rather looks like someone tried to do a leaf but it ended up crooked.
"No one can measure up to you when it comes to coffee art," he says, almost an automatic response. No one can measure up to Thalim in anything coffee-related.
"I'm not that good," Thalim says and Namari resists the urge to roll his eyes.
"You're selling yourself short aga~in," he says, rolling the "again" over his tongue like a song. Seriously, at least they have, well, all eternity to work on his younger friend's self-confidence.
Thalim laughs and raises his hand to scratch the back of his neck again when Silva appears. Unlike a lot of the others, he's not confused and just looks around as if he had come home after a long day at work.
Everyone is staring at him, blinking in surprise.
"No reaction?" Magna comments dryly, looking up from his crossword. Silva gives him a look.
"I did my best," he says simply. While no one is ready to dispute that, some of the members exchange a glance.
"I'm sure you did," Radim says, always trying to be welcoming.
However, it's Chrom who gives Silva the biggest welcome, leaving Nichrom for a moment and enveloping his friend in a big hug.
"Silva!" he cries, and Silva returns the cry and they stay in the hug for a few minutes.
"I missed you," Silva says after a while, and catches Nichrom's look. The child crosses his hands over his chest and narrows his eyes at him. However, it's nice to see the two of them reunited.
"I missed you too," Chrom replies, hugging him a bit tighter before ultimately letting go. "How's your baby doing?"
Silva hesitates in answering. Namari sips his frappuccino and thinks that maybe because he's been dead for a while, Chrom doesn't realize just how this question might sound to Silva, but then his friend smiles slightly.
"She's safe and sound with my parents," he says. That's all he says. He doesn't come to sit opposite of Chrom, knowing that Nichrom doesn't like him very much. He knows that they have all eternity to catch up.
Namari and Thalim barely finish their drinks when the world seems to shudder.
"Is that?" Kalim says and looks up.
"The King is awake," Bron confirms, and Magna closes the crosswords.
"Finally!" he cheers. Namari and Radim look at each other. It seems that in the end, they made it. Rutherfor made it if anything. The invaders didn't make it to Hao, they ran out of time, and they fulfilled their duty.
However, they all get confused when Lip and Rap appear, looking around all confused.
"What?" Thalim gasps. This wasn't supposed to happen. Only the ten of them and Goldva were supposed to come here.
Silva grumbles. It seems that he's not happy about this - he wasn't happy with Hao becoming the Shaman King in the first place, and it seems that his hunch was right. However, there's nothing they can do now.
"What happened?" Kalim goes to ask, but there's no time before Goldva appears. Namari and Thalim immediately hide the cups, trying to act as if they just weren't chatting and doing nothing. Goldva still sees and narrows her eyes at them, and the two of them do their best to look away.
"The King has awoken," Goldva says, not paying attention to them anymore. "What a magnificent power. That's the true power of the Shaman King."
Silva and Chrom exchange a look.
"Doesn't she seem a little crazy to you?" Silva mutters, low enough for Goldva but loud enough for everyone else. Namari narrows his eyes. It's true, though, Goldva seems different, her eyes are unfocused and she truly seems to have gone a little mad.
"Why are we not with him then?" Magna asks, and Bron nods in agreement. Magna is asking the real question here - where is he and why are they not with him right now?
Suddenly, Rutherfor lands with them. She looks flushed and nervously waves her hand at them.
"Hi, everyone," she says in a low voice.
"What is happening?" Renim asks. Rutherfor clears her throat.
"The Shaman King is awake," she says. Everyone nods; they already know that much. "He kills everyone just by looking at them."
Kalim's mouth hangs open. So Hao isn't even going with his shaman-only kingdom idea, he has decided to erase all humanity from the Earth's surface. Namari knows that he shouldn't care about that; the Shaman King's will is absolute, but erasing all existence leaves a sick feeling in his stomach. He can see Thalim go very pale next to him.
Nichrom stands up and wraps his cloak around himself.
"That means we have to move, right?" he asks. Chrom laughs nervously.
"Well, we can't enter the Shaman King's domain without his permission," he explains, and it becomes quite clear that Hao probably doesn't want them there. Radim sighs.
"Well, that's great," he remarks, and everyone has to agree.
However, it doesn't take long for them to feel a pull and disappear.
Namari opens his eyes again. It's a strange feeling, being pulled over from one dimension to another, and this one is a pure one. However, it's filled with people. Everyone who has participated in the Shaman Fight. He can see all the teams and some extra people gathered.
"I'm the fucking Shaman King," Hao says to his twin brother. It seems that he's in a better mood now, however, it's impossible to tell what it means for them.
It's almost comical how Hao first killed everyone and is now bringing everyone back to life. However, Namari knows that the Patch must stay in the Great Spirit. It's the law, the officiants have to stay and serve the Shaman King. He always knew it would come down to this.
It's nice of Hao to revive at least Lip and Rap. The twin girls briefly go to hug Rutherfor, and then they disappear along with the rest of the people.
Finally, it's just Hao and them again, and a bare, white dimension. Hao shoots Silva a smug face.
"Well, we have 500 years of fun in front of us," he says, and they all nod. They're well aware that it won't be just 500 years. They have the whole eternity here.
"Let's get to work, first, I want a new throne here," Hao says and they look at each other, before chorusing: "Yes, Hao-sama."
Namari wonders if they will ever retire, but frankly, he doesn't think so.
It indeed seems that they have a long shift in front of them.
