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The Fall of Vina

A Mortal's Delusional Dream

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Epilogue

The pitter-patter of feet echoed down the large hallways of Pandæmonium as a small girl in a blue dress ran, a wide grin set upon her face. Clutching a book by her side, she managed to skid to a stop before turning into a side passage and taking off once again. Upon reaching a door, the girl slipped a small brass key from her pocket and placed it in the lock, turning it quickly before shutting it behind her.

Before her was a private sanctum for the girl's mother. The oldest part of the capitol of Pandæmonium proper was a rather small room that always was quiet. Blue flames flickered in brackets made of ethereal iron, casting a cool glow on the shadowy walls. At the same time, they were bright enough to easily see the places where dozens of stone boxes met up with the smaller brick.

To the girl, though, it was just another room that her mother had created to be dramatic. In all of her fifteen years, she had never had the chance to learn what truly lie in those walls. Her mother had never confided in her anything more than it being a place she liked to enjoy in quiet.

So, with blissful ignorance guiding her, she began to ascend the spiral stairs that lead up towards the top of the structure. While she could indeed fly up the middle of the stairs, or even around the stairs themselves, the girl had decided that instead she would run up them, skipping two or three at a time. She certainly had plenty of energy, for even after ascending the first two hundred and twenty she still was not even short of breath.

Once atop the stairs, she began prancing along the hallway, nearly blindsiding a lady in a red dress as she ran along. Immediately she turned to stop, her voice contrite but contradicting the smile on her face. "Sorry Miss Yumeko! Are you alright?"

The lady turned around to look at the girl, dusting off her apron as she adjusted the platter in her hand. "I'm quite fine, young Alice. You should be watching yourself more carefully." Yumeko attempted to give her a hard look, before it slowly melted away at Alice's beaming face. "It is not becoming to be prancing around like so."

"I know, but I finally was able to finish something, and I came to show Mamaw!" Happily, Alice presented the book to Yumeko. "I was finally able to finish every single lesson that she wanted me to learn!"

Reaching forward, the lady patted Alice on the head. "Very good. Go ahead and show her. Just do not make a mess on the way there, alright?"

"Yes ma'am Yumeko ma'am!" Giggling at the look on the lady's face, Alice took off once more, her soft-soled shoes making barely a sound as she left the hard stone and the floor became as soft carpet.

After a minute or two of running, the girl finally came to the door to her mother's room. Without even bothering to knock, Alice reached up for the giant handle, slowly pulling the latch open. Giving the door a firm push, she entered into the room as noisily as possible.

Fortunately, her mother was not entertaining any others at the moment, and instead looked up from her work as Alice entered. Giving her daughter a soft smile, she beckoned her over to her desk. "Alice, it is good to see you. What brings you hear at this hour?"

The girl didn't answer at first, instead climbing onto her mother's table and sending papers scattering everywhere. "I finally finished your book, Mamaw Shinki! I can do everything in it!"

If Shinki was annoyed at her daughter's actions, she did not show it. Instead, she smiled wider before asking, "Indeed? That is good. What did your instructors say?"

"You mean sister and sister?" At Shinki's nod, Alice began to explain happily. "Yuki said I had a small fire, but I controlled it well. Mai even seemed to not frown for a moment when I worked on the water. The other elements were good, too, but they loved it when I showed them what I could do with the dolls!"

Raising an eyebrow, Shinki tilted her head, her hair flipping to the side as she did. "Do tell me. What is it that you could do with them?"

Alice clapped her hands. "So much stuff! I could make them dance and spin and do lots of other things as well!" Once more, she giggled. "Sister and sister thought that they were alive, almost?"

As Alice spoke, the smile faded slightly from Shinki's face. "Indeed… You don't say." Recognition burned in her eyes as she rose to her feet, before walking over to her closet. "There had been something I had been meaning to give you for a while now… But I want to see how skilled you are with your control."

At the thought of receiving something, Alice's eyes lit up. "Oh? What is it?"

Shinki chuckled once as she smiled back at Alice, turning around to dig through her closet. "You will see soon enough, daughter." Hand hovering over a worn, beaten ball for a moment, the woman in a red cloak pushed aside a few of her garments before finding what it was that she searched for. "Here we go. Alice, what do you think of her?"

As she spoke, Shinki withdrew an old porcelain doll from her closet, balancing it in her hands. "She's a bit old and worn out, but she is something that I have treasured for a long time."

Alice didn't say anything as she stared at the doll. Quietly, she hopped off of the table before slowly approaching Shinki. Silently, she held her hands out, asking for the doll. Without a word, Shinki relinquished it into Alice's arms.

The girl stared at the doll clothed in blue and red for a few minutes, searching endlessly over every bit. "…She's so… pretty…" Slowly, Alice tilted her head to the side, the frill on her headband bobbing slightly as she did. "Interesting. Something smells… Smoky?"

Looking away, Shinki shook her head. "She was part of a tragedy a long time ago. Even with perfume, I am unable to cover it up with smells…" Shrugging slightly, she closed her eyes. "And I wish not to alter her with spells. So, I have left it be."

Staring at the doll for a few moments longer, Alice finally glanced up at her mother. "Mamaw? Are you alright? You look sad…"

"I am fine, Alice. I am just tired… tired and old." Shaking her head, Shinki opened her eyes, before giving Alice a tremulous smile. "Go ahead, daughter. I wish to see what you can do."

Nodding slowly, Alice sat the doll on the ground, backing away slightly. "All… alright, Mamaw. I will try." Raising her hand towards the doll, Alice breathed out before slowly opening her eyes, her gold irises flickering with power.

"Elȗ!"

The moment the word left her lips, a strand of silvery wire left her finger, floating slowly through the air. It began to snake towards the doll, sneaking underneath the short blonde hair before attaching itself to the back of the doll's neck.

The doll shuddered, its dress quivering as its body shook. The eyes began to flutter open and close for a few seconds, before the tremulous action stopped. After being still for a few moments, the doll's eyes opened up, their hard blue depths glancing across the room.

As it did, Alice let out a small gasp. "She seems so sad, Mamaw… So sad. She has been alone for a long time." Glancing at her mother, Alice's eyes began to tear. "So sad… What happened to her?" Behind Alice, the doll slowly began to walk across the floor, its joints stiff from disuse.

"Much happened, daughter. Much happened." Shinki knelt down in front of Alice, grabbing her free hand. "Trust me, daughter. I will tell you one of these days. Now is just not the time."

"But what about her, Mamaw? Will you tell me what happened to her?"

"Not… not just yet." Giving Alice a wet smile, Shinki motioned towards the doll. "What might be best is to keep her yourself, Alice. That would be best to keep her from staying lonely, would it not?"

Looking at where her mother gestured, Alice gave a small yelp of shock. Standing in front of her was the doll, holding its stiff arms up, asking to be held. Not one to deny the tiny doll, Alice swept down with her arms, squeezing the doll tight. "Alright, if you say so, Mamaw… But you will tell me one day, yes?"

The woman in the cloak nodded. "I will, daughter. Trust me."

The minutes ticked by as Alice hugged the doll. Eventually, the doll leaned back, before glancing at the girl. Alice nodded back, smiling at it the whole time. "Hi there! My name is Alice. What is yours?"

Opening its mouth, no sound escaped the doll's lips. Instead of laughing at its actions, Alice looked back at her mother. "Why doesn't she have a name? It feels like she was never given one."

Staring at it for a moment, Shinki shrugged. "I am not sure why she doesn't. The original owner did tend to be forgetful. She may have forgotten to give it one." Smiling gently at her daughter, she asked, "Why do you not give her a name?"

Pouting, Alice shook her head. "Nuh-huh, she was yours! You have to give her a name, Mamaw! You're the one that always names stuff…"

Shaking off the déjà vu that she was feeling, Shinki did her best to chuckle. "Perhaps. Although not nearly as often as I used to." She leveled her gaze at the doll, staring at it for a few minutes. The doll looked back automatically, its blue eyes as cold as marbles in its head. "You really are quite good at this, daughter. If I didn't know any better, I would think she was alive."

Alice smiled proudly at her mother's praise. "Thanks! I'm not sure how I do it, though. It just seems to come naturally."

"Indeed. Still, it is something to be proud of." Continuing her inspection for a few moments, the woman slowly nodded. "But I do know what we shall name her."

Eagerly, Alice leaned forward, holding the doll tight against her chest once more. "Really? What are we going to call her?"

With a smile on her face, Shinki walked forward, hugging her daughter closely. As she did, a tear slid down her cheek, hidden from Alice's sight. "From this day forth, her name shall be Vina."

Unnoticed by either of them, the doll smiled for a moment before its arms rose to hug them both in return.

A/N And… That's truly the end. Anything else that might be in this storyline about Makai proper will not be here. This truly will be the finale for Vina.

Now that I'm done, though, I wanted to address a few things. In case anybody was wondering, all the names that I used for Shinki's elder children, save Elis and 'Sea, were all Babylonian. The spells that she and Alice used were Akkadian, as I felt they fit best. I truly wished I could have used glyphs, but that would have confused everyone, so I desisted. Not to mention that I am unsure whether this site would even accept said script.

As for the timeline, which was never truly addressed, the basics are this. Shinki created Makai approximately one century after the fall of the Great Tower of Babel, and the scattering of the various tongues of humanity. The period of Vina lasted just over two hundred years until it fell.

From that point forth, I have no real definite timeline, except that it took decades for Shinki to start creating Pandæmonium. Once built, it took decades more to properly open the city and create all the little channels through which those worthy could enter into her realm. Once that period of time had passed, she waited an entire millennium before having children once more.

Alice herself, although not mentioned (as it has no bearing on the story, except that it was a long time after), was born in the early 1800s. So, just do the math.

Now for the parallels between old and new (at least the ones that had parallels). Alice is obviously Istar reincarnated. Kalumtum is a bit subtler, but she actually has the same soul as Medicine thousands of years later. (she and Vina-to-be had matching dresses for a reason) Shala herself would eventually be returned as Mai, although again, this has no bearing on the story.

Oh, and if you hadn't guessed, the eye was indeed YuugenMagan, although much younger. I'm curious if anyone has deciphered the reason why it was called Violet by Shala, though. I'd tell you, but I'm afraid I have no spoiler tags to hide it, so I'll let you put one and two together.

In the end, I'll probably return here some time. Yumeko needs fleshing out, as she is simply the maid to Shinki that is not her daughter. At the same time, Yuki and Mai need to have their dynamic fleshed out. Louise and Not-Louise (for lack of a better name) could be interesting in a oneshot, as well as Sara. Although, those will probably come up in other works (at least the basics)

Not to mention the unnamed midbosses which need some love. Not-Rumia from Stage 1, the midboss from stage 5, and not to mention the fairy Rengeteki, whom I am wanting to do sometime soon.

However, I think that this note is quite long enough. Any other questions, ask away! I think I tried to answer most of the obvious ones. Digressing; please read and review as always, and until next time!