Eleven: The Sequel of AlterMyth

Epilogue: Bouquet Toss

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Eleven

Epilogue - Bouquet Toss

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KA-CHAK! KA-CHAK! KA-CHAK! KA-CHAK!

All around Irys, the rhythmic snapping of camera shutters rang incessantly, punctuated by the occasional gust of sea breeze coming in from Tokyo Bay. And yet, no matter how much Irys whirled her head - no matter where she looked - she couldn't find a single 'camera'. At least, not cameras that Irys knew from her world in KW8 - or from Bae's world in KW11.

There were no cameras, yes, but there were lenses. Oh so many lenses. They were fitted onto small rectangular devices held up by a diverse myriad of people.

' Those are... 'smartphones', right?' Irys thought, ' And the people holding them are from Tokyo. '

But not the 'Tokyo' that she or Bae knew.

On that breezy afternoon, Irys and Bae stood at a wharf of Tokyo Bay - supposedly the same city where she fought Sparrowhawk the Manipulator together with the Eleventh Council, the girls of HoloMyth and a wild coalition of armed forces. And yet, the city that sprawled out across and around the bay was almost completely unfamiliar.

Only the distant Tokyo Tower and a handful of historical landmarks resembled the Tokyo that Irys and Bae even somewhat recognized, but they were lorded over by skyscrapers of glass and steel that quite literally scraped the sky. Flags of Japan flew from tall flagpoles on rooftops and on the sides of buildings, but another flag flew more prominently than they did.

Simple sky blue banners with triangular symbols.

Flags of the mythical Cover Corporation - the sovereign of that world: KW1.

In that strange, unfamiliar, ultra-modern Tokyo, Irys and Bae were otherworldly tourists who stuck out from the crowds. For one, their faces, along with the faces of the Eleventh Council, flashed occasionally on various digital billboards left and right, up and down. They appeared on the sides of the skyscrapers and on the hulls of large yet graceful solar-powered zeppelins floating along in the sky.

It also didn't help that Irys and Bae were wearing the Victorian Era clothes that they picked out from the London high streets of KW8. Bae's dapper, pinstripe suit, her golden fob chain and in her top hat oozed fanciness. Irys' maroon Polonaise dress with lace gloves, shawl and parasol were accentuated by her hair done up in a regal French braid

"T-they're all looking at us, aren't they?" Bae squeaked. She fidgeted with her top hat, mumbling about wishing that she could disappear underneath it like a magician's rabbit.

"I think so..." Irys answered. She glanced around again and laughed awkwardly, thinking, ' Why wouldn't they? We're like living, breathing relics from a century ago in their time! '

Despite their fancy get-ups, the two outworlders weren't the only Victorian-era relics that were gathered there in ultra-modern Tokyo. No, the two of them were only a drop in the bucket of the otherworldly spectacle!

Many other people on the wharf, dignitaries and guests, also wore Victorian-era garb and mingled with their otherworldly counterparts in a dizzying melange of improbable alternate history.

American President William McKinley and his Vice President Theodore Roosevelt from KW8 laughed and smoked cigarettes with President Richard Nixon from KW11, looking out to the backdrop of ultra-modern Tokyo and basking in the strangeness of it all. They were promptly joined by King Edward of the United Kingdom and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev of the USSR who tagged along with Empress Iustitia IV of Atlantis, her shark's tail swishing behind her as she wore her dazzling, regal aquamarine veil.