Ideal World Endgame

[idolpro]

Who: Beautiful dreamers
Where: The Game Tower
When: Day 271, morning

[When you wake, the folding chairs and divans from before have all been cleared away. You're lying asleep on the floor, healed of all injury.]

[You remember the events of the worlds you've visited as though visions seen in a dream -- though for those of you torn from your perfect existence, there is an ache inside you which will not fade for some days... the pain of something precious that has been lost.]

[Out beyond the windows of the tower, the sky is no longer a perfect blue; the vegetation is no longer as lush and inviting.]

[The view is of Tokyo-F, exactly as it's always been.]

[Near the far wall, there is an open book on a pedestal. The pages are empty. It is titled GUEST BOOK, and a pen waits nearby.]

GUEST BOOK | SOUVENIRS | WINNERS

Comments

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

[He is picked up!]

Hm?

Re: 2/2

[backstory]

I think according to this ring, I am supposed to be engaged.

[ He. He has an engagement ring on. ]

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

Did you get engaged in one of those worlds?

Re: 2/2

[backstory]

[ . . . A little melancholy here, but he smiles. ]

Something like that. There were a lot of familiar faces in my master's dream world.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

...Did... everyone get engaged...?

Re: 2/2

[backstory]

I think everyone had a ring.

[ Master... ]

It was really nostalgic to see everyone though. It felt very real and made me realize how much I miss them. Three of our companions used to be here, but... they have been transferred to other programs for a while now.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

[So his Master has a harem, got it.]

I can see why that'd be hard for someone to leave behind.

Re: 2/2

[backstory]

[ His master has a harem... orz ]

I am a little upset admittedly. We managed to leave the dream together, but... I would like to talk to her.

. . . Her ideal world denies everything that I am. And I believe... it is her worry for myself and the other dragons that does so. I would like to assure her that she needn't fret about us so much.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

Because as you exist right now, it'll just put you all in more danger?

1/2

[backstory]

[ . . . . . . . . . . Would admitting or talking about this maybe . . . be helpful here?

x10 unsure ]

2/2

[backstory]

Because we are dragons, we have a very short lifespan.

One of my memories, unfortunately, shared this knowledge with her, and I believe she has come to... feel vexed about this point. On top of the sudden attention we have begun to garner back home.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

[...Ah.]

So in her ideal world, you can't be a dragon, because she doesn't want you to die.

[Well, he'd wished for something similar himself, so it's not too surprising.]

Re: 2/2

[backstory]

That seems to be the case.

[ Among other things, but... he thinks their existence as dragons was a big one. ]

However, were I not a dragon or in the position I was at back home, I never would have met her. And so it is not something I want her to feel gloomy about.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

Even if it's short, you can still be happy with how you spent your life, huh...

But it sounds like she's the one who has to live with being left behind.

Re: 2/2

[backstory]

I am sure being left behind is quite difficult in its own way. But, at the very least, she will always have the Thunder Beast.

Us dragons will be replaced, but unlike the Thunder Beast, he is not.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

It's probably lonely in its own way. Losing everyone you love, just for them to be replaced by someone else.

What's the Thunder Beast?

1/2

[backstory]

[ THIS IS WHY. It's cooler to just die in battle than get replaced regularly. LET HIM DIE COOL. ]

Her heart is full of vast amounts of love. I hope that in the end, she will be able to at least see our successors and show them the same love she has shown us.

[ That said he would prefer his successor wait to be born for a little while longer...]

The Thunder Beast is merely the title her childhood friend possesses, however. He grew up with her in the royal palace as far as I know. [ Huffs ] sometimes he tries to pretend he is the 'Dark Dragon' but there is no such thing. He can be quite the frustrating individual.

[ HE BULLIES KIJA ALL THE TIME!! ]

2/2

[backstory]

However... I think that, probably, those two will-- they will be with each other always.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

Because he can actually live to be by her side?

Re: 2/2

[backstory]

There is that.

But I think that they-- probably, were always destined to be together. Were it not for the interference of our memories and this place, I believe. I have seen how they are toward one another in my memories, and I have seen them when they were both here, too.

They... have a very unbreakable bond.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

[Laying his head on his arms.]

You sound like you've given up harder than I have.

Re: 2/2

[backstory]

Please do not misunderstand...! For me, all I want more than anything in the world is for her to be happy. I would give my life for that without a second thought.

And so it is simply that whatever will make her the happiest is the goal that I prefer to strive for the most.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]

But giving up your life for her would make her unhappy. It sounds to me like the best way to keep her happy is to survive for as long as you can.

Re: 2/2

[backstory]

Fret not!

The princess's romantic state of affairs is separate from my dragon duties. On the contrary, because I am a dragon it is probably improper that we have been in a relationship.

However, I plan to defend her for as long as I am physically able and then some.

Re: 2/2

[bondsofsuffering]