Hello everyone, and welcome to Reunion, an Eternights fanfic where I give my take on the ending from the POV of each of the 4 dateable characters in their respective one, so there will be heavy spoilers for the conclusion of the game ahead, if you haven't played the whole game or seen videos of someone doing a whole playthrough, I recommend you return after you do.
But in case you are reading this out of curiosity and don't know what Eternights is, it's a recently released Persona-inspired indie game by Studio Sai, which being indie, their first release and only having had one full-time developer obviously has its flaws, lack of polished details and is a bit sort (around 12hrs), but considering this the game shows a huge amount of work and overall I found it really enjoyable, money well spent, I would recommend to give it a chance, maybe check videos of someone playing first or wait for a sale to buy it and enjoy the story it offers.
The reason for writing this fanfic is because I've seen a lot of players comment how sad, depressed, confused, torn apart, etc. they are after seeing the ending, and while the ending is sad for the most part, I think the game leaves us enough elements to point that we indeed get a happy ending and we can leave satisfied at having saved the world while still having everything for a happy life. So the story will analyze/explain aspects of the ending from the POV of the characters themselves.
Without further ado, let's get on with the story and hope you enjoy Min's chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Eternights nor any of its characters, they are property of Studio Sai.
-.-.-
Chapter 1: Starting Line
And so, here I am, walking aimlessly through a city I don't know, wondering if I'm going in the right direction, wondering how I can find out what the right direction is. I sigh to myself.
Lux simply decided to up and shove me into the middle of the city to work things on my own without a phone or even a map.
Or money.
Things have been weird since the fight with Umbra ended. At least for me, I don't really know how the rest of the world has handled the aftermath of the near apocalypse that we stopped, at least there is people on the streets now so that's good, but definitely out of the norm for me, since that moment I had been living in Lux's domain.
More than living it was more just passing the time there, Lux didn't give me a lot of details about what happened to me. "Aww, don't worry your pretty little head over it Min, only Sia would understand the whole explanation I'd have to give you, just know that you are very lucky and that everything will be okay, I owe you a lot for all your effort in my behalf so far, let Mommy Lux handle the rest my child", she even finished by flexing her thin arm like it had actual muscle to show off. "Don't get impatient, remember, good things come to those who wait."
Ugh. Talking to her has always been frustrating, yeah, she doesn't mean any harm with her teasing, and sure, she has shown real empathy over the pain and deaths of others, like what happened to my friends from Team 11, but the way she acts like an airhead and refuses to give a straight answer most of the time was tiring when I only had to bear with it in my dreams, enduring it 24/7 was an ordeal and half.
Whether I wanted to or not, I ended up learning a few things about her, some worrying. Like the fact that she is hopeless to measure time or remember dates most of the time, I thought she never answered how much time we had left to save the world to sound mysterious, but it turns out she doesn't even feel the difference between days and weeks, she slipped one time we were talking about Yohan, "Oh yes, for everything he's learned in all these years he's the same at heart as when he was a mortal, and he's barely over 500!" That's off by 300 years!
"Oh, I don't sweat small details like that, time probably feels different here than on Earth anyways, and I've always been lucky enough to have little darlings like Yohan and Aria to handle things like giving correct dates, schedules and the like".
I suddenly feel my face darken and my eyes to open wide in fear, 'Please no! Please no! Don't tell me she had me there for years without her even realizing it!', I quickly walk over to a man sit reading a newspaper, "Excuse me sir! Could I borrow your newspaper for a moment? I need to check something!"
"S-sure, here." I quickly scan the pages and let out a sigh of relief, less than 2 weeks have passed since the final battle happened; I give a bow and return his newspaper to the gentleman. "Thank you sir, I really appreciate it." He nods and goes back to reading.
As I go on my way, my mind goes to the worst part of my stay with Lux, the girl talk. "Please Min! I barely have the chance to talk to another girl without the world being in danger!", "Let's share skin care tips! Oh, better yet! Let's braid each other's hair!", "Wish to join me in looking through people's chat histories on the internet? Some are hilarious!", "Ok Min, I want .DETAILS. Tell me about the night of the meteor shower with him!"
Warmth spreads through my chest and my lips curl into a smile just thinking about you. You, the other half of Team Tough, my coach, my boyfriend, the most important person in my life. There were actually quite a few good moments during my stay with Lux, the latest one meant a lot to me, she tried to give me an opportunity to send you a message. Of course by that time she had already told me how you were doing, trying to get back on your feet but still struggling with what happened in the conclusion of the fight, it made me sad how I was responsible for your current suffering, so whatever I could do to give you even a bit of confidence that things would be okay was more than I could ask for.
I had recorded a message before the final battle, one day we were together, in your birthday perhaps, you would receive a package with the most incredible hat you'll ever see, a tiny screen inside the box would play you my message and I would be nearby seeing your reaction to my little surprise present, asking if you liked it.
Obviously, things didn't work out that way, but Lux apparently was able to tap into my phone and remotely send you the video. She said that the bond we shared needed a little push, something to make your heart race with my memory so she could open a line between us and let me talk to you, to reassure you I was fine. She said the line would be short and unstable, so the message might cut in a few parts, but that it was the best she could do without the risk of damaging something in the world. Once she gave me the signal I went ahead.
"Coach, Coach, I'll see your face again soon. Lux, she's helping me right now, so know that I'm running, I am running back to you."
I feel that must have happened a few days ago at most, I hope I was able to give you peace of mind with it, that I managed to lift your spirit even a tiny bit with that gesture. The next thing Lux told me was that she was almost ready to send me back, and to prepare myself for our reunion, to practice what I wanted to say to you, to start dreaming about all we would do in the future.
Finally, "Okay Min, it has been delightful to have you here keeping me company, but you still have much to live for and I'm just dying to see what you'll do from here on out, are you ready?"
"Yes! He knows I'm coming back at this moment, so I'm ready to see him!"
"What? Oh no, darling, he doesn't know what's happening today, we're giving him a surprise!"
"W-wait, so I'm just going to magically appear in front of him out of nowhere?!", 'WAIT! What if she messes up and I end up falling on top of him like the first time we met?! With my hand squeezing his bi-'
"Of course you aren't Min! I'm transporting you to a quiet part of the city he lives in, don't you think it'll be romantic? You, on the lookout for your prince, him, suddenly finding the love of his live on what promised to be another uneventful day after both of you absentmindedly cross paths with each other, only to turn around and let the sparks fly again as your eyes meet. *Squeal* It isn't a yacht date, but it's still pretty close."
"But I've never been there! How will I know where to look?! A-am I getting my phone back or at least a map of the city?"
"Please Min, where is your spirit of adventure? You already were a battering ram to destroy a giant wall, this will be a piece of cake in comparison! So remember, when you meet him again keep calm, take a deep breath and smile!"
"N-no wait a –"
And that's the story so far, it's ironic how I gained so much confidence to face monsters and stop the apocalypse, but now I'm anxious about seeing you again, I'm feeling nervous about not finding you today, about embarrassing myself when we see each other again, what if –
Something out of the corner of my eye catches my attention, I was so immersed in my thoughts that I almost miss it, I even ended up walking a bit farther than if I had been paying proper attention to the otherwise empty street.
It's you. Despite all my worries, I did manage to find you, my heart starts hammering at my chest at the realization. By this point I've already heard you stop in your tracks and turn around towards me, I'm too nervous to know what to do immediately, but Lux's advice sounds in my head. I calm my heart, take a deep breath and put a calm smile on my face, before turning to see you.
And there you are, with your arm extended as if you are unsure whether to touch me or not, your other arm now of flesh instead of the glowing energy I grew accustomed to see for so long, and your face showing more anxiety than what I thought I'd ever see you with.
I'm sorry if my lack of action feeds any fear that you may have, this is an important moment, so before I do anything I just wish to capture every detail in my heart.
Before I let my tears streak down my face at finally seeing you again.
Before I run into your arms and hold you tight.
Before I tell you how I wish to play with you finding ugly things, beautiful things, boring things and every kind of thing the world has to offer.
Before I kiss you again.
I wish to engrave this moment in my heart, the moment where we will start running towards the rest of our life together.
This is it Coach, our very own starting line.
-.-.-
And that's it for Min's chapter, hopefully the past/present narration was understandable enough, it was an enjoyable read for you and I managed to portray my favorite girl as she deserved. It was a bit hard thinking up a message that felt alright and lined up with the fragments we hear at the end of her message in the QR code, but I think it makes sense like that.
In case you liked this and will be keeping an eye out for the next chapters, they will be as follows: Yuna's next, followed by Sia's, with Yohan's at the end. I'll try to upload the next one in around a week so that anyone interested knows the intended upload schedule.
I figured that I should try to explain different things in each chapter so that they don't feel like a carbon copy outside of the focus character in question, so even if you only liked one romantic interest in particular, it might be worth to read the other chapters anyways to see my take on the different aspects of the ending. Suffice to say that Sia and the power of SCIENCE! will be doing the heavy lifting in regards to explaining how everything happened like it happened.
In case anyone decided to give this a read and has questions regarding the ending that weren't/haven't been addressed yet, has any constructive feedback for the chapter, etc. Feel free to leave a comment and if needed I can give you a reply either by PM or in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading and be well.
