Thank you, Aria-Artemis… Airi smiled softly, a tear in her eye as the silvery, feminine figure hovering before her reached out to brush her cheek with pale, ghostly fingers. Then, she vanished in a beam of moonlight without a word. The Tragedy was what allowed the humans to communicate with the gods in ways they normally didn't when the world wasn't actively ending. Now that the universe's natural order was slowly restoring itself to balance, Artemis' time was running out. She had no more justification for lingering on Earth.
Aria was her human alter-ego. Aria was punished for getting too close to such a powerful group of mortals, the Ultimates responsible for the Super Nova computer program. Artemis was not supposed to walk among the mortals in such a way again for at least two centuries so that by the time she returned, no one alive at the time of her great sin would still be alive.
"I am so sorry for all the pain my actions have caused you, and so many others… Please look after her, won't you? And yourself?"
"Of course," Airi whispered, touching her cheek, as if she could hold Artemis' hand there forever. Even though she knew their love could've never been, even when Artemis was still Aria, that didn't make the little schoolgirl crush that Airi had on her any less. First love, even if it was a childish crush, was always hard to forget… But even beyond that, Aria had truly become like an older sister to Airi. "Now I will do the same for your daughter…" And indeed, in all the days to come, Airi drew close to the Neo half of LumiNeo, though the interest was unreciprocated initially.
If anything, Neo was more like Ku Mitsuhashi, who had since taken Abyssmare under his wing upon learning that his father had abandoned them just as he abandoned Ku. But Neo and Ku kept an emotional distance. After all, how could the literal son and metaphorical (grand)daughter of Sho look each other in the eyes after everything they'd done because of him? Airi had no such reserves. There was a reason she said "Aria-Artemis" rather than the reverse. Maybe the rest of the world would wish to honor the goddess first, but Aria was the one Airi loved first. Maybe Neo and Ku were slow to trust, but in Airi's opinion, life was far too fleeting for any of that!
Likewise, with the Tragedy finally ending, the FF could at last return to its original function as an American Hope's Peak. Until then, though, Abyssmare was sent overseas to Japan to attend the slowly-restored Hope's Pinnacle. As the promise went, once the American Academy was fully restored, Abyssmare could return as its first generation of American Ultimates, mentors to all the ones destined to come after them. It would be their redemption arc for everything that had happened at the FF the first time.
Oh, Neo, I'm so proud of you… Artemis smiled upon her daughter from the stars and clouds above. Even though I put you and your father through so much Despair, you still found a way to the light of Hope! Hmm… Neo… That name… It was Greek for "new". Fitting…
But just because the world was getting a new beginning, a second chance, that didn't mean it was all sunshine and roses. On the contrary, their work was only half over. Post-Tragedy, Mana took to the airwaves, and literally.
"HEAR YE, HEAR YE, THE TRAGEDY IS FINALLY OVER! JUNKO ENOSHIMA IS DEAD! THE FINAL KILLING GAME IS AT LAST OVER!" The Ultimate Announcer flew through cities on the rope ladder of a helicopter piloted by Masaki, of all people.
Toka, meanwhile, worked on the ground and down below, purifying the world's water supply. As absentminded as the Ultimate Hydrologist was, her keen eye and perfectionism were critical to her success. Soon, she became somewhat of a legend because of her connection to water.
"Raise your glass?" she'd joked sheepishly one night. To the surprise of none, her cup was full of… water.
Honestly, I wonder… Did Poseidon bless her? Airi chuckled.
And last, but certainly not least, Shano became something of a mentor to the survivors of the V3 Ultimate Academy Killing Game. Whispers asked if she wasn't trying to find something of a replacement for the hole in her heart created by the loss of Photon, but those whispers never got louder than that, friends of Shano silencing them before they could grow. Shano and the survivors of V3 grew to care for each other. Why mess with something like that? Didn't they all deserve some comfort? And CoA wasn't the only one.
Dennojo was at last reunited with his long-lost granddaughter. And Haruki was reunited with his wayward niece! And Ryujin was reunited with Airi and the rest of CoA! He could at last dream of a reality in which he was nothing but a humble café owner once again. In the beginning, only Ku was absent from the reunions, but he managed to keep in touch with LMO all this time, even if he would go dark occasionally.
In his wild goose chase around the globe after his wildcard father, Ku came to the conclusion that as selfish as Sho was, that selfishness could almost be weaponized for good. After all, that was why he kept leaving clues, traps, puzzles, and mysteries for his son to solve. If the boy was worthy, Sho would protect him by showing him the way. If he was unworthy, he would die.
Like father, like son, neither man was coming home until he was satisfied, no matter the risk. And eventually, Ku was given some measure of mercy, a level of closure. He was entirely unrelated to the D4FES kidnapping that preluded the Killing School Transfer. The footage of Rinku talking to the shady man about the D4FES was actually Ku! She'd gone to him, asking for advice on how to host her own D4FES, for as Rika had said, she'd been trying to unite them all. But Maho had altered the video to deceive her peers. Now, though, they knew the truth. Ah, but with one mystery solved, another always followed soon after.
Sho went missing—presumed dead—not long after the Tragedy began to end. It was suspiciously sudden… But with the Tragedy ending, Ku knew he was needed back home, especially when he caught wind of Abyssmare through CoA.
I COULD continue to chase my father, but… I think I have the closure I need… for now. THEY need me now… His eyes turned east. Not you, father. You never needed me… For a moment, a look of bitterness flickered across his face.
For every mystery that arose, another answer would eventually be found. Even though Sho's status was as of yet unknown, there was much more clarity on the fate of his father, Ku's grandfather, Kazuo. Bad blood seemed to run in the family, but Ku was determined to break the chain. Sho was selfish, though on a much smaller scale than Kazuo. As such, the price Kazuo ultimately wound up paying was higher. Ku could walk away. He did walk away. And so he did not have to pay the price. He would be better to Abyssmare than Sho had been to him, or Kazuo to Sho.
And they weren't the only ones trying to be better than their past. Once the final battles of the Tragedy were over, LumiNeo returned her split, divided consciousness to the FF, coordinating with those in America so that they could reunite in Japan. Elsie sent some of her mecha suits to rescue Sophia, Weronika, and Weronika's three younger siblings, carrying them the last leg of the journey as they GPS-ed to Elsie's exact location.
"Woah! Missus! Those were so cool!" Mick, the eldest sibling, grinned at Elsie with wide, admiring eyes. The middle child, Jonathan, managed to give her a shaky nod of thanks, but it was clear from his expression that the suits had scared him. Last, but certainly not least, was little Marie, who'd ridden over with Weronika, despite her insistence that she was old enough to ride alone like her big brothers.
Elsie smiled smugly, arms crossed.
"Thanks," Weronika grunted gruffly, bumping shoulders with Elsie as she walked past, but for once, she wasn't being sarcastic. The bump was friendly, and so was her smile. It jarred Elsie more than if Weronika had sucker-punched her, and she recoiled inwardly, stomach twisting.
Wh-what the—?! Weronika… smiling at me?! No! I- I- I am Elsie Largo! Ultimate Sponsor and Supervillainess! The only reason she'd helped end the Tragedy was to overthrow Junko. She was going to be the world's ruler one day! Not that weird, blonde bitch!
But Elsie certainly had not helped anyone because she wanted to be a hero! Eew, gross, no! Not me! That was Weronika's job. Wero the Hero, pah!
But Weronika only shook her head, chuckling in quiet amusement. No, she still did not like Elsie, but to her, actions spoke louder than words. Elsie was a lot of talk, all bark and not a lot of bite. She could talk big game about being a big bad, but what big bad went to such great lengths (literally) to bring the rest of her unit-mates, and their families, back to her?
She would argue that it was to reunite Abyssmare, now that they had proof that, to some extent and capacity, Neo lived. That meant there was still Hope for them to be a powerhouse group. After all, hadn't they been promised the restored FF if they played their cards right and cooperated with the Hope's Peak gang for just a little while longer? All of that was to say, Abyssmare had use for Elsie again. That was why she cared. And it was nothing more, nothing less.
Yeah right, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, Else… Weronika smirked.
Sophia, meanwhile, was all but glued to Neo's hip, literally attached to the Neo side of LumiNeo no matter where they went. She secretly seethed with jealousy that this Lumina Ichihoshi bitch got to be united with her Neo Lone, but when LumiNeo—with Nozomi and Izuru—proposed the idea of separating mind and body once more, Sophia was all for, it calling upon every supernatural force she could to aid in the endeavor.
It was as if the Ultimate Empath was also trying to assimilate with and into Neo. She just had to pry Neo away from Lumina first… But before that could happen, LumiNeo needed to continue working together in order to sort through all of the backed-up consciousnesses they found after scouring the Hope's Pinnacle 4D network. It was Team Cyber and Team Punk, the tech side restoring the digital and uploaded consciousnesses of the fallen students, while the magic side sought to see spirits and deities and other mystical entities.
Sophia even teamed up with an Ultimate Fortune-Teller of another class: Yasuhiro Hagakure, or as he was more commonly known as, Hiro (with one "i", not two). But even though he was not the Hiro of the Killing School Transfer, they still brought her back. They brought all the Masterminds back. It was something that a lot of them were nervous about, but understanding that the root of the Tragedy was Junko, it seemed only fair that everyone got a chance at redemption, now that they could bloom safely away from Junko's looming shadow.
A-a-and the f-f-f-faster I h-h-help Neo with this qu-qu-quest! The s-s-s-sooner she'll s-s-separate fr-fr-from… Lumina! Sophia gave a mad, feverish giggle as she activated her Ultimate Empathic senses, trying to detect frequencies in the air just the way Lumina was.
"A-a-all e-e-energy and m-m-m-matter are con-s-s-s-erved somehow!" she muttered to herself as she waved her arms, in their dark, striped sleeves, back and forth over a sigil of death. She closed her eyes, her third one opening, and it caught a signal from the Great Beyond.
Sophia called upon all manner of aliens and otherworldly beings, seeking the essences—spirits—of the dead students of Hope's Pinnacle. That was why all the work had to be done inside a restored version of the fourth academy. That was where the Killing School Transfer students' essences were the strongest, and now, those essences were growing even stronger…