DarkFoxKit: Well, isn't this a nice surprise? Uploading the epilogue on the story's anniversary? Weren't expecting that, were you?

Donfyre: Hee hee, that timing works out really well. Uploading the very last chapter of this story exactly a year after we uploaded the very first one! … Well, it was only you at the time, Fox, but I like to imagine I was there too. ^^;

DarkFoxKit: :3 I don't think we'll be answering the reviews this time as this is the very last chapter and everyone's been mostly commenting on the conclusion rather than having any questions. I did know a lot of you were unsatisfied with the ending and were begging for the epilogue, so here ya go. XP *Is playing with Fyre's head*

Donfyre: It was all amusing though, seeing how much you guys really wanted to see more, and a more fleshed-out ending at that. It helps us know that you all really liked the story! *smiles proudly* Even though I do like ambiguous endings like that, but bleh I guess all of you, including you Fox, just like your fleshed out endings. :P

DarkFoxKit: *Jumps on top of Fyre* Well yeah, a satisfying story must have a satisfying ending after all! ;P We'll see you guys at the bottom, the epilogue is quite short.

Epilogue: Life Goes On

… Black… all I see is black… I remember Master Porky telling me that he was in a black void after all the Needles were pulled in another timeline. Is this really the fate of everyone? Are we all just trapped in a state of limbo? … Wait… I hear… birds chirping… and I feel a pleasant breeze. Maybe my mind just wanted me to remember these things while I'm stuck in this void…

"... Claus… Claus, wake up! … Don't do this to me, Claus…"

A voice? It sounded like Lucas… I can feel something shaking me… Am I really dead, or…?

"Claus! Please wake up!"

"Whoa, that was really scary! I thought for sure we were going to die…"

There was another voice in the void… was that Duster…? Is my mind already going insane and making me hear voices?

"But we're alive, and I'm so happy…"

"Whoa, Kumatora I never thought I'd see you cry…"

"Hey, it's too early to celebrate! Flint and Claus won't wake up!"

A bark…? Was that Boney? I guess I really am losing my mind in this black void… I can't even move.

"Claus is definitely alright, I can feel his heartbeat. M-maybe if I…"

I felt something soothing wash over me, like some kind of restorative PSI was just used on me. Feeling washed over me, and I slowly gained slight control of… my body?

Claus began to slowly open his eyes. The boy blinked at the brightness of the sun, and the first thing he saw was his twin brother Lucas above him, smiling.

"... Lucas…?" Claus asked, worried that this might just be a dream or a hallucination.

"Claus!" Lucas embraced his brother in a tight hug, nearly knocking Claus out all over again.

"Whoa, easy there Lucas, let the boy breathe!" Duster laughed.

When Lucas released his death grip on Claus, the ginger haired boy smiled at him before looking around. They appeared to be in a forest area, no sign of a city or underground cave. Kumatora, Duster and Boney were all there beside them. Chompy was there too, sitting there, watching them and the bird on its head was tweeting a song with the other birds in the area.

"... Are we dead?" Claus asked. For all he knew this was the afterlife.

"No, we're alive, and it worked, Claus! The Dark Dragon, it… it helped bring the world back to a fresh, clean slate! The four of us just came to recently, and we saw you and Dad still out. Speaking of which…" Lucas turned to Flint, crawling over to him to try and rouse him too.

Claus rubbed his face with both of his hands, and noticed something was off with his right hand: it wasn't metallic. The boy looked at his right arm and let out a gasp of shock when he saw it was a regular flesh arm.

"Wah!? What happened to my arm!?" Claus practically shouted; he had gotten so used to his mechanical and cannon arm that having it as a normal arm was almost foreign to him.

"Looks like you've been returned to normal from your… chimera-like state," Kumatora commented.

"What?" Claus could hardly believe it. He was still wearing his Commander jacket, but his jetwings were gone as well, and he knew his mechanical eye was a normal eye since he couldn't access any data from it anymore. "Did… did the Dragon do this too?"

"That must've been one of Lucas' wish when you and him pulled that final Needle," Kumatora said.

"Hey, that's good, you're now a regular boy again!" Duster said.

Claus wasn't sure what to think, he was used to having those mechanical replacements, and yet he was also glad to have his own arm and eye back. Though he can't deny he'll miss being able to fly freely in the sky.

Boney gave a whine, "Um… Claus… Flint isn't moving…"

Claus turned to Boney, frowning, before seeing Lucas looking sadly at their father's face.

"He… h-he won't wake up. I tried using Lifeup, Healing, anything, and he just won't…" Lucas suddenly started to sniffle before hugging his father.

"What?" Claus felt his stomach drop and his blood going cold. He ran over to Lucas and their father before getting down on his knees. "You can't? Lucas… is he…?"

"I-I don't feel any life coming from him…. H-his body seems cold, and I tried using all the restoration PSI that I knew…"

Claus placed his head on Flint's chest; there was no pulse and no breathing. He looked at Lucas and frowned, "... He's… gone… he's probably with Mom right now… I… I guess… his body couldn't take what Giygas did to him…"

"NO! We barely even got to say goodbye, if I had known he would… would be gone after that fight, then…" Lucas was still hugging Flint, as if that would help to bring him back to life.

"How could this have happened?" Claus shut his eyes tightly.

"... He did it to save you two," Kumatora spoke up quietly.

"What?" Lucas and Claus looked up at her.

Kumatora looked away before she sighed, "When… when you two were fighting against Giygas… Flint spoke with me."

Setting: Past

After Lucas and Claus managed to force Giygas' spirit out of Flint, Kumatora felt herself recovering from whatever power it was using holding her down. Duster and Boney appeared to be recovering as well, and the little bird that always rode on Chompy's head.

"Lucas! Claus! We've got to help them!" Boney barked.

Kumatora looked over at the twins and saw Giygas was surrounding everything. The place became disorienting and hard to move.

"Come on, guys, they'll need our help!" Kumatora said.

"It's hard to stand…" Duster frowned.

The bird tweeted as it jumped onto Chompy's back and pushed the button, reactivating the Ultimate Chimera. Chompy gave a roar before standing up, looking unaffected by the disorientation.

"Then we'll just ride on Chompy here, it seems fine standing here," Kumatora said.

Duster and Boney looked at each other before nodding and hurried to the Ultimate Chimera.

"... Please…"

Kumatora stopped when she heard Flint's weak voice.

"Hmm?"

Flint looked up at her and said, "Giy...gas… its power… will diminish without… me… its spirit… cannot linger… too long… without a vessel… it… it can't… take over the Dragon… if I'm… gone… and my sons… Lucas… Claus… they must… end this… with the Dragon… please…"

"H-hey, don't speak, you don't look so good," Kumatora said in concern. "The boys need their father, don't even think about killing yourself!"

"I… I have… to… Hinawa… please… let us… help our sons… one last time… I have been a… bad father…"

Kumatora could feel the man's life slipping away, his heart was slowing down to a stop. She reached out to him.

"Wait a minute! Don't leave your sons like this, they still love you! Why do you think they fought so hard for you?" Kumatora shouted.

"I… I can't… live… much longer… Giygas… did a number… on this old body… And… with me gone… Giygas' power… will diminish… tell Claus… and Lucas… I'm proud of them… and I love… th… e… m…."

Flint's body went limp. Kumatora tried to feel for a pulse… nothing.

"Kumatora! Hurry up! The boys are in trouble!" Boney barked impatiently from the Ultimate Chimera, oblivious to Flint's death.

Kumatora looked up and nodded, she could mourn for the man's noble death later. She had to save the two young boys that had wormed their way into her heart.

Setting: Present

"From what I could gather, Flint said that Giygas' powers could only be diminished if he were to die, because of how deeply connected they were. And that gave the Magypsies the power to hold Giygas back when you two pulled the final Needle," Kumatora said. "If… if he hadn't done that… well… let's just say none of us would be standing here right now."

"Lucas… Claus…" Duster said softly. "I don't know what to say… I can only offer my deepest condolences. It isn't fair for you two, first your mother and now your father?"

Boney whimpered sadly as he licked Flint's face, "Flint… I promised to always protect your boys with everything I have… and I've kept that vow. I just wish you could've been alive to see it."

Lucas sniffled, trying to hold back the tears.

Claus looked at his shaking twin and said, "Lucas… it's okay to cry. No crying until the end we used to say… well, this is the end."

Lucas looked at his brother in shock before he buried his head into Claus's chest and began crying. Claus embraced his brother and lowered his own his to Lucas's shoulder; he felt trickles of his own tears falling down his cheeks. Claus was feeling all sorts of strong emotions: sad and sorrow about what happened to his father, joy about saving the world and being back to his full flesh self, happy and nostalgic that he was embracing his kind hearted brother like this and smelling the smell unique to Lucas, and relief, relief that this was finally all over.

Flint's burial went without a hitch. The villagers were all back in Tazmily Village, and Tazmily Village itself was back to its natural, rural roots before the Pigmask introduced technology and money. New Pork City itself was gone. This was Lucas's wish.

Of course, the Pigmasks themselves were still around, and while the village was still rural, they built another village close by. This village was more like how the modern Tazmily Village looked, so they called it Modern Tazmily. Now people had a choice between their rural way of life or having modern technology, or even both if they wanted. This was Claus's wish.

Surprisingly, chimeras were still around, though they were living peacefully among the other animals. The chimeras weren't hostile by nature as it was only because of Giygas' influence that made them that way. Claus decided to keep them around when he and Lucas pulled the last Needle together, but they won't be mixing animals anymore.

A year and two months had passed.

Chompy was still around, and he lived right next to Boney's doghouse. Chompy only wanted to live near Lucas and Claus as they were his first friends after all. Chompy was surprisingly helpful when it came to hurdling the sheep and farming with its strength, with Boney as its mentor. Boney, at first, wasn't so sure about Chompy since it was so big and intimidating, but after a while he's grown to see him like an eager young pup wanting to help.

Kumatora went back to the abandon Osohe Castle. Now that her mentors were gone after all their Needles had been pulled, she decided to try and revive Osohe Castle. Duster and Wess came along with her, deciding to help any way they can.

As for Lucas and Claus, they may have lost their parents but they have each other to rely on. They were both now 14 years old and continue their normal way of life together; taking care of the house, the sheep and their dog and… new chimera. It felt surreal to Claus because it felt like everything yet nothing's changed. Even without Flint and Hinawa, the twins lived a content life. They go get food when they ran out, they did their chores together, cook their own breakfast, lunch and dinner, feed the animals, play together, go to bed, wake up and do it all again.

There was no reason to fight anymore, so the boys let their training slip as they just lived peacefully. But there were a few unanswered questions, such as what happened to Porky? Claus couldn't find him anywhere and he worried that he might've gotten stuck in that void like he talked about in the last timeline. And was the entire world really fixed or was it just their island? Claus hoped one day they could go see what the world looked like now after the Dragon's awakening.

"Maybe we could go out there and see, maybe even find out what happened to Porky too," Lucas said when Claus mentioned his questions to his brother. "We could ask one of the Pigmasks in Modern Tazmily to build us an aircraft or something to get there."

The twins were getting ready for dinner, and Claus just came back with a basketful of eggs.

"Where are the mushrooms?" Lucas asked.

Claus's face scrunched up, "... Do you honestly want mushrooms? Because I never want to touch a mushroom again after what happened on Tanetane Island."

Lucas's face paled as dark memories of his own experience came back to him, "... Yeah, good call."

"We're making omelettes tonight?" Claus asked.

"Yeah, it's been awhile since we had those," Lucas said. "Not since our 13th birthday last year when Dad…" Lucas stopped.

Claus nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I get it… you want to go visit him and mother before we make dinner?"

Lucas gave a small nod.

Claus held his brother's hand. The ginger-haired boy was still not used to having both organic arms, but he was happy he could feel his brother's touch with both of his hands. They both headed to the graveyard together. Claus made sure to come while the sun was still up as he didn't want to deal with zombies again, and their battle skills were pretty rusty.

When the twins made it to their parents grave, they approach the two tombstones together. Sunflowers were around their graves.

"Flint. Husband of Hinawa. Father of the twins- Claus and Lucas. May he finally be reunited with Hinawa in peace."

Was written on the tombstone. Both boys bowed their heads in respect as memories of their parents flooded their heads. They remembered playing together outside the house all day long with Boney while their father was tending to the sheep and their mother was making omelettes. They remembered their mother taking them to the tame river at Mt. Oriander where they would dive into the water and splash each other all day. They remembered when their father would tease and chase them around by pretending to be a big scary giant. It was all too much. Lucas and even Claus never failed to break down in tears whenever they came to their parents' grave, they missed them so much. However, after allowing themselves a time to cry and mourn, they pick themselves back up, they knew their parents wouldn't want them sad.

"Forgive us, Mom, Dad, we still miss you very much…" Lucas said softly.

"Next time we'll come with more flowers," Claus said. "But you'll be happy to know that things are as peaceful as ever."

"And we pray that things will stay this way forever," Lucas said.

Claus and Lucas hugged each other before Claus said, "Come on, we should head home before it gets too dark. The last thing we need is to deal with the undead."

"Y-yeah… can that really happen?" Lucas asked.

"There are strange phenomenas in the world that can never be explained," Claus said. "That's what Dr. Andonuts told me anyways."

"Speaking of him, think he's got a lot of business with his new hospital job in Modern Tazmily?" Lucas asked.

"I would think so, especially if the Pigmasks are still eating all that greasy junk food," Claus chuckled.

When they got back home, Claus was thinking about the rest of the world. He remembered how it was all a desolate wasteland and nobody could survive out there. Now that the world was reborn, he wondered if there were still any people out there?

"Lucas, do you think we're all the people that's left in this world?" Claus asked as he bit into his omelette.

"Hmm?" Lucas looked at him, chewing his own omelette.

"I mean do you think we're the only humans left here? We may have fixed the world when we awakened the Dark Dragon, but is the rest of the world just a wild place without any people?" Claus asked.

Lucas swallowed the omelette piece in his mouth and said, "Hmm… I've never really thought about that…"

Claus gave a small smile, "In a way, we still do need to rebuild the world, just not in the way I thought we had to. The Dragon may have recreated the world, but it's still missing people on it."

"Heh." Lucas smiled. "You may be right about that, Claus. Maybe we could get some of the colony Pigmask you told me about to actually make settlements out there instead of trying to grow vegetations in a dying world."

"You know, that's not a bad idea," Claus said. "We can make that suggestion to them tomorrow after we finish our chores. And we can finally see what the world is like outside of the island."

"Sounds like a plan. I've been wanting to travel outside of our small island and see what the bigger world is like," Lucas said with an excited spark in his blue eyes.

"Yeah, and hopefully we can find out what happened to Porky," Claus said.

Claus stopped calling Pork his master and saw him more as a mentor. He wanted to find out if Porky made it or if he died in the void alone. Porky was no longer immortal after Giygas left his body, so his death seemed to be the most likely scenario, but he still wanted to know.

"I'm sure Porky's happy, wherever he is," Lucas said. "From what you told me; he's not immortal anymore, right? So even if he didn't make it, at least he can rest in peace now and not have to deal with that old body anymore."

"Yeah, but I guess I just wanted to make sure," Claus said. "I felt so bad for him when he told me his story. About how crappy his life was. I mean we may have lost our parents, but at least they loved us… Porky… he made it sound like his parents hated him and his brother and they enjoy abusing them."

Lucas cringed at that, "Yeah, I feel bad for him too. And you say he was a lot more different in another timeline?"

"Yeah, a timeline that probably no longer exist. Porky told me he was more like a child tyrant, and the chimeras were made for fun rather than necessity, and they were naturally hostile rather than because of Giygas' influence," Claus said. "There were a lot of similarities but differences between our timeline and that timeline. Like for example I was a mindless robotic chimera slave and I actually died instead of Dad."

Lucas frowned, "Wow… that's a scary thought."

Claus gave a small sad smile, "I guess one life can't be spared without another. A life for a life. I get to live but at the cost of our father's life. If Mom was still alive, who do you think would've had to die in her place?"

Lucas shook his head, "I'd rather not think about it."

"Yeah, me neither," Claus said. "Let's just focus on the here and now and our future."

The next day, Lucas was tending to the sheep while Claus went walking into town to get some bread.

I'm actually excited to talk to the Pigmasks about the prospect of leaving the island and exploring the world. I want to see what it's like out there now, and if there were any other people out there or if we're really the only ones? If it's the latter, then we have a lot of rebuilding to do. It's great that I don't have to worry about some big threat about to end the world anymore and just enjoy myself with my brother again.

Claus was smiling to himself as he was carrying a basket of bread he got from Caroline at her bakery.

Claus stopped when he felt a strange disturbance in the atmosphere. Looking around, the boy didn't see anything unusual, maybe his old paranoia was kicking up again. With a shrug, he headed back home to his brother in hope to help make a new life of peace and prosperity in this world.

Of course, I should've known that the peace wouldn't last forever.

DarkFoxKit: *still on top of Fyre* Hiya! Looks like the story's really finished now.

Donfyre: A-are we really gonna end off the story like this, with you on top of me? *sweatdrops* Anyways… here's that aftermath all of yas really wanted! It might seem slightly odd though, 'cause Fox here MAY be planning something.

DarkFoxKit: Am I? :3 *Is still on top of Fyre* And yes, I must do it on top of you, cause this is our final goodbye with this story. TwT A year, I can't believe it's been a year since I uploaded this story. Let the memories flow! *curls up on Fyre's head* And now we say goodbye and goodnight! Is there a sequel in the works? Heh, only time will tell! :3

Donfyre: Wow… still weird to think that this is the first story we finish together. And it really has been a year since this was first posted. ;A; Well… goodbyeeee readers! Maybe we'll see you at another time. :P

DarkFoxKit: And another story. -w-