MCSM: A World Unwound [OLD]

~Epilogue~

I've never managed to end a story before so I don't know how to epilogue???

Uh

This is pretty short????

And a serious a mess???????

Question mark??

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The beams of light that poured from the Atlas twisted and writhed, flowing into the doorways that would take the young adventurers home. The Authors, Blaze Rods, Orders new and old, and their other assorted friends were gathered in the Portal Network, saying their goodbyes. It had taken them awhile to get back to Beacontown from the Fallen Castle, but they managed.

They had spent the night in the Order's temple-house-building-place where the Authors had first met, taking turns reading from the book and reliving the adventure. The book provided an interesting perspective, adding details that they had left out while relating the story to each other, and was fun to read aloud. The Authors had passed it back and forth, lightly bickering over who had to or got to read each part.

Though their powers had been unlocked, none of the Authors could effectively use their abilities just yet. It would take time for their skills to develop and for the girls to get used to them, but now they had all the time in the world.

Myst, Rush, and Star had started making bets on what they thought everyone's Author power was going to be, which led a rather entertaining mock-argument. Mostly, the group was too happy and relieved to really get worked up, and let the three girls tease each other as much as they wanted.

(basically just imagining a big 'yay we saved the world' sleepover 😂)

Despite the lighthearted mood upon returning home, Jacky and Salem were not forgotten. The villainous duo and their sullen accomplice had been sent to a special prison as soon as possible, an impenetrable fortress known as Skybound. Jacky had fought all the way, yelling curses and threats that got her nowhere. Aaron seemed resigned to his fate, silently cursing his every bad decision. Minty had watched him go, caught somewhere between pity, regret, and the still-lingering traces of betrayed anger.

Salem, however, lifted her head proudly as the Skybound guards led her away. "I'm not the only one who'll see the inside of a prison. You can't always count on the past staying where it belongs."

"Yeah, we're really intimidated! Be sure to keep sending us fake prophecies while you sit in your comfortable little cell!" Petra had hollered after her.

Jesse had frowned, wondering if the cryptic message was worth paying any attention to. "Odd thing to say. I wonder what she means."

"Eh, forget it. Villains always just want to have the last word." Aiden had said with a shrug.

"Right, right. You would know." Lukas shook his head at the other boy, laughing.

"I guess this kinda makes up for not being able to stop the Witherstorm. We finally got our glory, and only three of us died in the process!" Maya joked. Marilan rolled her eyes. "Are we still on that? I swear to Notch, you all have one-track minds."

"So are you guys going back to the Sky City civilization?" Olivia asked the four Blaze Rods.

"Yeah. Hope you wouldn't mind if we came to visit Beacontown once in a while, though." Gill replied. "Of course not! You've definitely earned the right to come bother us as much as you want." Jesse grinned.

A festival was being planned in Beacontown, but the Authors didn't stick around for it. As much as they would've liked to revel in their success, they wanted to go home, to settle back into their lives. They had the mark of adventure now though, and knew that this wouldn't be their last quest.

"So this is it, huh? You'll keep in touch, right?" Cindy asked. Dawson smiled. "Of course! I'm so glad we met you guys along the way; who knows where we'd be without you."

"Aw, shucks. It wasn't that great." Lila said with a wave of her hand.

"I'm gonna miss you guys. This was a hella crazy adventure, but it was a good one. I'm almost sad it's over." Ruby sighed.

"Yeah, me too." Star said with a grin. "I don't really know. It was an interesting adventure, but it was also sad, scary, and infuriating." Minty grumbled, bitterly remembering the rougher points of the journey.

Jasmine nudged her with her shoulder. "I know you're angry about Aaron's betrayal, but you still gotta admit that this is worth the fight."

Minty just shrugged, and Kendall pulled her and Dawson into a lopsided hug. "Well I'm DEFINITELY going to miss you all! I know it'd be way too cheesy to say something like 'friends are the real reward here', so I'll just think it. But I hope that we will get to all see each other again sometime."

"Who knows? Anything could happen from here." Aranna pointed out with a happy shrug.

"Oh, I dunno." Rush said with a mischievous smile as she turned away from the group and towards her home portal. "After all, when one story ends, another one begins..."

~THE END~