With this epilogue, I am proud to say that I have completed my first fanfic.
It's definitely not the best, but given all the support I have had over the past chapters leading up to this point, I am glad you guys have enjoyed it.
Anyways, I am probably not going to be writing new fics or updating my SCP crossover fic anytime soon, I want to focus on a very important year of school first.
Maybe I can start again next summer.
Atharvpathak: Yes, that was always my intention, to have the trees as 'physical' objects in Eden compared to their metaphysical status in real life Theology.
The Rupture: You mean the Accelerator vs. Nepthys fight on the Queen Britannia? It happens a lot earlier in this story than in the actual light novel.
Xeno01: Thanks. I hope this ending is to your liking as well.
Anyways, without further ado, the final chapter and the final quote! We started with East of Eden, so why not end with the same book?
Disclaimer: The To Aru Series is owned by Kazuma Kamachi.
Timshel - Thou Mayest
- John Steinback (East of Eden)
Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom), December 21, 20XX – Late Morning
As Accelerator flew across British airspace towards Edinburgh castle, the esper made out a dozen or so individuals on the ground running towards the same direction.
Undoubtedly, it was Touma, Aleister, and the rest of the band. They, too, were racing their way into the castle.
Coronzon's intuition was correct. Aleister needed to use a certain weapon in order to defeat Mathers and the rest of the reproduced Golden Dawn members; however, that allowed the great demon to easily break through the seal spell.
This meant the band was now in great urgency to get to Mather's corpse before Coronzon did. The band must have seen the same soaring bright light as the esper did on the Queen Britannia - albeit with much less enthusiasm.
Accelerator also wondered if any of them noticed the second light he was making.
Did they think it was him?
Could any of them in a million years have ever deduced what the first-ranked esper was about to do?
In any case, those questions would be reserved only for the band once they reached Edinburgh Castle.
By then, he and Coronzon would be long gone.
Accelerator soon landed on a small stone path in the castle's cemetery. As he looked around, the esper saw Mather's corpse had already been dug out. Coronzon was waiting patiently for him and Qliphah near it.
Well, mainly him. Qliphah had been napping on Accelerator's back since he took flight from the Queen Britannia.
Coronzon only continued to stare at Mather's corpse as the esper drew closer.
"Were you waiting for me to arrive before burning the body?" Accelerator asked.
Still focusing her gaze on the corpse, the great demon sighed. "Partially. I was also wondering if I should say anything to the body before I burn it."
Accelerator rubbed the top of his head at Coronzon's little dilemma. "If you think it's appropriate, then say a few departing words. We all have little thoughts on the roads we travel, but sometimes…"
"…Sometimes, just following what feels right is enough."
Coronzon smiled at her partner's answer. "Yes, I suppose that would be sufficient."
The great demon began her eulogy:
"Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers! I, Coronzon, am here to report the completion of our contract. When you made a deal with me on that fateful day before your death, you wished for me to ruin Aleister Crowley. Today, on December 21, 20XX, I can decidedly say that this desire has been completed."
"I have taken Aleister Crowley's greatest weapon away from him. Not only that, but the Clonoth tree he so aspired to use and usurp the Sephiroth with instead grows alongside it."
Coronzon let out a small sigh. "On my end, I demanded freedom from the Sephiroth. In the end, however, it wasn't you who fulfilled this part of the contract. Instead, it was someone else, someone special enough to realize what I truly desired."
"Freedom wasn't the means to an end. It was what I wanted to be able to define my own self – Sephiroth tree or not. With this understanding now, I will continue striving towards that goal with the help of that special someone."
The great demon's voice became slightly quieter as she continued her speech. "Which is why I want to ask you one final question. Was ruining Aleister Crowley a wish that simply hid a deeper desire? Did you perhaps hope that by reducing him to nothingness, the both of you could stand back up together again? To pick up the pieces and start anew?"
Coronzon was bending over, almost whispering to the corpse at this point. "In the end, that doesn't really matter anymore, does it? You took whatever hidden feeling you had about Aleister Crowley to your grave. I have one last word to say to that: Timshel. You spent the last few moments of your life hellbent on vengeance against Aleister Crowley. Unable to break the cycle, unable to walk a different road. I earnestly hope that if you ever live again, you can learn past that mistake."
As the great demon spoke her final words, she also murmured a small spell. In an instant, Mather's corpse soon ignited in blazing flames.
Coronzon pulled away from the corpse before turning towards Accelerator.
"Say dear, don't you also want to write something down to the guest that will be arriving soon? You likely won't have the chance to meet them again for a long time after this."
The esper scratched the back of his neck, careful not to wake the still-sleeping Qliphah.
"I would, but I don't have any stationery on…"
Instantly a piece of paper and a pen materialized onto the great demon's hands.
"…me."
Coronzon laughed. "Simple magic, my dear! No need to worry; I will hold on to Qliphah as you write."
"Keep it concise." Accelerator repeated to himself as he jotted down his words. As he was doing so, Coronzon let her mind wander a bit.
"You know, when Mathers was still friends with Aleister Crowley, his one true goal was to revive the Stuart name." Coronzon mused as she watched her partner write his letter.
"That's a royal family, isn't it?" Accelerator asked not looking up. "Why? Was there something special about it?"
The great demon gave out a warm mirth. "In the big picture, no, but I was thinking that we could honor that wish in an ironic way. The House of Stuart finally restored, but not as a royal family, just as a simple one. Something that's not perfection, but just good enough."
The esper shrugged. "Are you suggesting for a name change? That's alright with me. I don't think I should be going by Accelerator outside of Academy City."
Just then, Coronzon pulled a small card out of her pocket.
A tarot card? The esper finally stopped monetarily to understand what his companion was doing.
"It is part of the deal with Hamazura Shiage. In return for his part in the grand plan, I would allow the replicated Dion Fortune to live. Hmm, are you still annoyed by that episode, dear? Apologies if so."
Accelerator only shook his head. Maybe he was before, but not now though; jealousy or envy meant nothing now.
"Thank you, dear." The great demon stated as she smiled. "I suppose any hard feelings towards Mathers, Aleister, Hamazura…I suppose they don't really matter anymore."
Coronzon flicked the card onto the ground, where upon it immediately transformed into an unconscious red-haired woman in a white dress.
By then, the esper had also finished his letter. Accelerator knelt down to place the note next to Mather's burnt pile of ashes.
Shouts and screams by familiar voices by familiar voices could be heard down both sides of the hallway towards Edinburgh's cemetery.
*ZZZ* Despite all the commotion, Qliphah was still sleeping soundly on her mother's back.
"We should get going now," Coronzon murmured. "Try to draw power from the Clonoth. Perhaps it can take us out of here without too much of a scene."
Could he actually do that? Well, it couldn't hurt to try at least.
Accelerator attempted to locate Last Order's location in Alaska. As his wings glowed, a section of the cemetery stone walkway suddenly morphed into the concrete street of a city.
Holding hands together, Accelerator and Coronzon walked down the road into their new lives.
Kamijou Touma couldn't say for certain if the events that had happened in the past week or so made any sense.
Of course, most things in his life rarely did, so it was saying something that this peculiar adventure was truly the weirdest one.
His trip through Egypt, fighting against London city's defenses, and getting chased by Aleister's former comrades all the way throughout England and Scotland, Misaka Mikoto and Misaki Shokuhou arriving at the nick of time to help him battle Mathers on top of the royal carriage, and last but not least, Hamazura's betrayal to Coronzon all somewhere between these incidents.
Wait a minute; he had forgotten about something…
Oh right, rumors of an albino boy - Accelerator – causing mischief all over the United Kingdom.
How the hell was he even here?
Despite the spiky-haired boy and the rest of the band's pleading, Accelerator had returned to the city to fight Coronzon - a suicide mission to anyone who knew of the great demon's immense power.
Apparently, it wasn't as suicidal as the band once thought. Somewhere, somehow, the esper had survived his fight with Coronzon.
That just brought up even more questions than answers, and Touma didn't even want to try and answer any of them.
Such Misfortune…
At a certain church just before Edinburgh Castle, Aleister finally managed to defeated Mathers by drawing in magical energy. However, the chairman also had to unlock Academy City to distract his former comrade with an orbital strike. That had the unintended consequence of breaking the sealing spell and releasing Coronzon from her imprisonment.
The great demon was undoubtedly behind Aleister's zugzwang at the church. The band's worst fears were realized once a spark of light immediately flashed its way above the Scottish skies.
At the same time, everyone felt a massive shake that temporarily stumbled all of them off balance before seeing a second light also approach the castle.
Was that also Coronzon's doing, or was it a savior that could fend off the great demon long enough for reinforcements to arrive?
None of them had the time to dwell on those thoughts. As they rushed through the hallways of Edinburgh Castle, they could only hope for the latter.
The band bursted into the castle cemetery. At the same time, Hamazura Shiage, holding on to a mysterious item, crashed through the other side along with the magic god Niang Niang and Takitsubo Rikou.
"Dion!?" The three exclaimed as they saw the red-haired magician in the flesh once again.
Hamazura dropped the artifact before he and Rikou rushed towards Dion to embrace her with a sigh of relief.
The blonde level 0 had achieved his goal of bringing back Dion Fortune, but that didn't help explain their current situation.
"What the hell is going on!?" Touma yelled directly at Hamazura. "Where is Coronzon!?"
Finally realizing that his trio wasn't the only group that made it to the cemetery, the blonde level 0 face instantly turned pale.
Fuck. Hamazura Shiage had a lot of explaining to do.
Takitsubo quickly stood in front of both Hamazura and Dion. She was determined to prevent the others from harming them.
Luckily, before any of that could occur, Niang Niang conjured up a loud but harmless firework that drew everyone's attention.
"Now, if we are done yelling at each other, can we return to the main concern at hand?" The Taoist magic god asked rhetorically. She was not being playful this time.
"As we all know, we expected Coronzon to arrive here first in order to destroy Mather's corpse. Given the uncovered grave and the pile of ashes, it's safe to assume that she was successful in this goal."
As Niang Niang pointed towards Mather's ashes, the realization that Coronzon succeeded set in with the rest of the band.
"So, she eliminated her one Achilles' heel…" It was Othinus, who was sitting on Touma's shoulder, that chimed in. "Now, there is next to nothing that can stop her from using the Honors of Scotland to…."
The former magic god trailed off her words once she realized what Hamazura Shiage was previously holding on to.
The Sword of State. One of the treasures that Coronzon supposedly needed to throw the world into chaos.
Coronzon had burned Mather's corpse, but she didn't bother to go through with her main plan.
Why?
As the band started to argue amongst themselves once again, Misaki Shokuhou – the starry-eyed level five – noticed a small piece of paper next to the pile of ashes.
"A letter?" Misaki wondered as she picked the note up. Everyone in the cemetery was now focused on the starry-eyed level five.
"Oh, it's an open letter!" Misaki exclaimed as she started to read out its contents for everyone else to hear.
Dear Touma Kamijou, Aleister Crowley, and whomever else might be reading this letter,
The greater past week has been hectic for all of us. From Academy City to the UK, we probably all had many questions along the way, and some that are still left unanswered.
However, with these questions comes learning, and I have learned a lot through my own questions, probably more than I have ever had in my lifetime.
When I fought Coronzon in the desolate streets of Academy City, I finally learned why I committed to those horrendous actions during the sister experiment all those nights ago.
When Coronzon tested me against my own ego, I learned what it means to try and replicate the ideas of others without my own thoughts.
When I attacked Hamazura Shiage and Nephthys on that train towards Edinburgh, I learned what it means to be emotionally hurt, but also what is means to be emotionally attached to someone in the first place.
Finally, when I rejected the fruit of the Sephiroth Tree in the Da'at, I learned that we cannot change the roads we walked on in the past, but that also doesn't mean we should chain ourselves to them. Instead, we should carry on those experiences to better ourselves on new roads.
From this point onwards, our roads will now diverge. With everything I learned and experienced this past greater week, I believe I should take Will's advice and finally break the chains that shackled me to the dark side of Academy City. I will start somewhere new, far away from the city, and ensure I don't repeat the same mistakes I did in the past.
I will do so alongside Coronzon, who she herself has also learned many things from her own questions. We still have much to learn, and I ask you to try not to find us for anything other than dire emergencies.
On that final note, if Misaka Mikoto is also reading this letter, I would like to extend the same apology I gave to the sisters in Da'at to her as well. Perhaps she can feel a little more at peace with me out of the city. While I realize that might not nearly be enough, I hope that my previous promise to be of aid in dire needs would serve as a small stepping stone towards forgiveness.
Best Wishes,
A̶c̶c̶e̶l̶e̶r̶a̶t̶o̶r̶ Adam
A name was crossed out, but it didn't take a genius to realized who wrote the letter.
"Wha…" It was Misaka Mikoto who finally spoke. "Did that bastard suddenly have a moment of epiphany!?"
Aleister dropped to his knees as he realized what his grand plans now amounted to.
Hamazura could only scream in confusion. "Accelerator was working with Coronzon this entire time!? Why did he attack me then!?"
While the rest of the band continued to argue and shout with one another, the two magic gods, Othinus and Niang Niang had a more serious discussion.
"You felt that too, didn't you?" Othinus asked Niang Niang. "Nephthys is gone, and the cosmos seems to have been irreplaceably changed."
The Taoist magic god nodded in response. "Even before Nephthys went out of her way to follow Hamazura, she started to rave about the Queen Britannia and a third tree..."
Niang Niang stopped in her tracks, realizing what exactly had just occurred over this early morning.
Turning towards the still kneeling Aleister, the Taoist magic god gave a stoic look at the magician only to be replied with a solemn grim.
"Do you feel it, Aleister Crowley?" Niang Niang asked the world's greatest magician. "The blossoming of your third tree, used to destroy a magic god."
"Accelerator defeated Nephthys!?" Hamazura blurted out in shock. The rest of the band had quiet themselves down to listen to what the two magic gods had to say.
"More like destroyed." The Norse magic god corrected the blonde level 0.
"Dead!?"
"Yes, but not entirely accurate." The Taoist magic god corrected. "Vaporized would be the better definition. Her existence has been erased not only by this new tree but by the other two trees as well."
"I can't say for certain what Nephthys even is now…'non-existent' perhaps is the best answer."
"In any case…" Othinus started to summarize. "The events that have occurred this morning are becoming clearer now. The shaking, the second light, all were tied to Accelerator and this third tree."
"However, one question remains: What should we do now, knowing that Coronzon is still out somewhere?"
Niang Niang shook her head at what Othinus might have been suggesting.
"Even if we find them, then what? Whatever this Accelerator child did, he utterly erased a magic god from existence. Coronzon is likely to share this newfound power. Even if the both of us were at full strength, getting to them would probably be as easy as traversing through a sniper nest."
The power to destroy even the magic gods rested in Coronzon's hand.
But Coronzon wouldn't use it against the world; instead, she simply held on to it as the great demon left with the first ranked esper to live a different life.
"Lilith is still safe with me. If Coronzon just wants to live a life elsewhere with Accelerator, then that is fine by me." Mina Mathers stated as she caressed the young child's head.
One by one, the rest of the band fell in agreement with Mina's logic. Even Aleister didn't have the strength to try and go after the two. It would essentially be fighting against life, knowledge, and now also humanity itself.
Othinus mused at the finale of their adventure. "I guess someone else was the hero for this story…how does that make you feel understander?"
Touma only stayed silent. The wielder of Imagine Breaker had no words to say to anyone. He was just too speechless on the esper he thought he had known all about since their first battle.
The royal family arrived soon after, alongside their knights, but by then, no battle needed to be fought.
As a small celebration was now underway inside the castle, Misaki Shokuhou was daydreaming about the possible situation between the first-ranked esper and the great demon.
She knew next to nothing about Accelerator and even less so about Coronzon. Still, the starry-eyed esper couldn't help but imagine a romantic undertone between them. A prince carrying the princess towards a happy ending.
"Well, I hope they find paradise wherever they end up."
Fairbanks, Alaska (United States of America) – Early Spring
A few months ago, Katarina Morrison – the principal of Fairbanks Aurora High School, had a big problem.
Mr. Hill, the school mathematics teacher, had announced his retirement before the Christmas break.
This wasn't surprising to either the staff or the students at Fairbanks Aurora H.S. Mr. Hill was pushing eighty, and the elderly gentleman had been a teacher at the school for almost five decades now.
Thus, the school had its annual Christmas celebration dedicated to him.
Still, for Mrs. Morrison, she needed to find a replacement ASAP. Alaska had some of the most competitive salaries in the USA, but the largest state in America was cold and paradoxically small as well. Not many people were willing to uproot their lives to move there.
As the clock ticked away the time until the end of the winter break, Katarina was constantly hoping for a Christmas Miracle to happen.
Indeed, that 'Christmas Miracle' would happen with the arrival of the Stuarts. Of particular interest was the father of the family – Adam Stuart, an albino young man who was more than willing to fulfill Mr. Hill's position.
At first, the family didn't sit right with her. They were just…a little too weird.
Adam Stuart walked with a cane, but he seemed young. A little too young. His oldest daughter could have easily fit in as his sister.
Speaking of his children, the younger and older Misaka sisters felt more like clones than the actual daughters of Adam and Laura Stuart.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Stuart and Ms. Yomikawa – his wife and ward, respectively, seemed so different personality-wise compared to Mr. Stuart that Mrs. Morrison had a hard time believing they could have ever met Adam in the first place, let alone marry or adopt him.
Really, the only person who made a little sense was his youngest daughter – Qli. She had her father's condition but also her mother's features. Even then; however, there was something odd about the girl that Katarina couldn't quite place a finger on.
Still, Mrs. Morrison was desperate enough to accept him for the job. While the young man looked much more in place with the students than the other teachers, Adam Stuart had all his credentials in order, and who was she to ask any more questions?
Katarina soon discovered that her worries were unfounded. Adam got along well with his family, students, and peers, and while his teaching abilities were inexperienced at first, the young man more than made up for those shortcomings with his extensive knowledge.
Lately, rumors were going around the city that Adam Stuart was from the famed Academy City. That would certainly explain his mathematical prowess, but why would a man as smart as him move from the bustling technological metropolis to small, quiet Fairbanks?
Whatever the case was, Katarina Morrison was glad that Adam Stuart had come to start a life in Fairbanks, Alaska; by the looks of it, he was just as glad as well.
When Adam Stuart first arrived in Alaska, the young man's main worry was how the rest of his family would react to the situation, especially Laura.
Luckily, most of them seemed ecstatic or, at the very least, reasonable to the situation. Maybe it was for his shake, but all of them quickly settled down to a permanent stay in Fairbanks, leaving Academy City only as a memory.
Laura Stuart was also a hit with Yomikawa Aiho, and the middle-aged woman took an instant liking to the great demon…
*Giggle* "That really happened?" The previous Anti-Skill commander asked as she could barely contain her laughter.
A slight red blush of embarrassment started to form on Adam's cheeks. He had held Laura to her promise in Eden, and now that they were settling down, the young man finally asked her about the joke she had made when they first gazed at the Qliphoth.
Now, he wished he hadn't.
"We both were, but he couldn't have known without eating the fruit."
Yomikawa bursted out laughing. "That's no good, your first experience seeing your significant other in her beauty, and you didn't even notice!?"
"My poor boy," Yomikawa continued to laugh, "But I have some good news for you: if you ever want to conceive a child the proper way, I can always give you the run down!"
The two women hollered even harder at the young man's misfortune.
Maybe they got a long a little too well.
For Misaka Worst, the news of their current situation had originally left the older clone a little dejected at first…
"Ah, tou-san got himself a wife, and the sisters have forgiven him. Who is Misaka supposed to bother now?"
That lasted about five seconds once Misaka Worst realized that fact didn't matter at all.
"Tou-san, of course!"
Adam groaned at that little memory. Even after all this time, somethings still stayed the same.
Finally, for Last Order, the young man had feared the young clone would be jealous of Qliphah's presence. However, that wasn't the case for the most part, and the two were more than willing to cause daily mischief that would nearly scare Adam half-to-death a few times.
Still, the young man noticed that whenever he praised Qliphah, the next day, Last Order would seem just a little more obedient. Timing her free time and offering to do the dishes after dinner.
Hmm, perhaps a little envy was a good motivator for the clone.
All in all, Adam Stuart was content with this life. It was much more monotone: waking up, teaching the seniors…then the sophomores…then the juniors…then finally the freshmen and repeat, but it also wasn't as destructive as his previous life. His greatest worry now was whether or not his students understood the course material, not if his next battle would emotionally scar him.
Which is why on a fair March morning, Adam Stuart was surprised by a few certain conversations he had.
"This is the best time to see the Aurora Borealis," Yomikawa told the young man between bites of her breakfast. "We didn't see them the first time we got here, and Last Order was pretty disappointed about it, so I ask myself, why don't we just go today after dinner?"
Adam looked up from his cup of coffee. "Hmm? Sure, I guess we can go after dinner tonight." The young man mumbled in agreement.
Yomikawa smiled in response. "You know, I wasn't so sure about this when you first came here down that road. It felt all too surreal that you wanted us to stay in this place."
"But seeing you happy…I like it, it's nice seeing you finally living a normal life."
Yomikawa laughed at her own statement. "Well, as normal as a sixteen-year-old teaching math at a high school can be."
"We need to make money somehow." Adam shrugged as he took another gulp of coffee. "Laura looks after Last Order and Qliphah while also managing the local church. I can't be doing nothing, can I?"
That caused Yomikawa to laugh again. "We all have qualms about wasting away doing nothing. That's why I got a job as a fitness instructor at the all-girls private school just down the street. Even Yoshikawa got a job again at the local university, it wouldn't be right for us to start mooching off you."
"On another note…" Yomikawa looked at Adam, a bit sterner this time. "Aside from your responsibilities, you are still a growing teenager. I will be packing you an extra portion for your lunch again. Since you are no longer fighting battles anymore, you should start thinking about your own health."
Adam only sighed in response.
The national admission exam – The SAT, was coming up soon for the junior students of Fairbanks Aurora.
Thus, on that same day, Adam discussed his joint teaching plans over lunch with Mr. Clark.
"My inside sources say this year's essay prompts will be from 'East of Eden'. Adam, my friend, have you ever read the book?"
Hank Clark was the school's eccentric English teacher. While Adam couldn't say his methods of helping the students were entirely principled, there was no doubt that he was a great teacher.
The young man shook his head in-between bites. "I don't think I have."
"It's John Steinbeck's magnum opus. An allusion to the Book of Genesis all set in the backdrop of post-WWI California."
Adam only nodded in understanding. The young man never read the book, so he didn't have much to say about it.
"I could talk for hours about its symbolism and other figurative languages, but I digress. If you want my opinion, the most tested prompt will be from the book's common themes, especially the word - Timshel."
The mention of that word caused the young man to look up from his food. Wasn't that the word Laura stated to Mather's corpse in her eulogy?
"Timshel?" Adam asked.
"The Hebrew word translating to Thou Mayest. It is repeated many times throughout the book: the idea that humanity isn't compelled to sin or perfection. Instead, we have the power to choose our destiny."
The conversation ended there, but as Adam continued to teach until the sound of the final bell, the young man couldn't help but wonder why he felt a personal connection to the idea of 'Timshel'.
That was until he and the rest of the family were sitting on top of a hill, looking straight at the aurora lights beginning to form in the night sky.
The aurora glowed a multitude of different but bright hues, and even Laura seemed impressed at the sight.
"So pretty says Misaka Misaka as she stares at the lights in amazement."
Qliphah could only nod her head in agreement.
Timshel - the word continued float aimlessly in his mind, but he now realized what exactly it meant to him.
The idea that humanity could chose their own path - their own road. Something he had started on that faithful winter day in Academy City.
He didn't have to attempt to be the perfect villain or the hero anymore. He didn't have to be the perfect anything now. All he had to do now was be good.
A good teacher, a good father, and a good partner.
After all, it wasn't the first time, but this was truly his own choice.
