They opened their eyes to see the top of Castle Frey as they had left it. The sun was rising - a new day. A truly new day. Not the beginning of another cycle, but a step forward.

Drake, Godfrey, and Sullivan Frey were picking themselves up, as were the royal three - Queen Loanna Staffon, Edmond Staffon, and Gewain. The magical, cloudy sky was now normal. All of the magic, in fact, had begun to fade from those who accumulated it - even The Bound. Alice's magic was gone, Rina's was, too. Neely's harp was now just a harp, and Phillipia's magical lance had lost its glow. There was nothing left of the gods or the devils - only souls that were now free to truly cycle as they should.
The cracks in the sky were fading, the worlds of Kay'Lend and Paradise were separating again. The portals into Niktalia were closing up, too.
Alice looked as her hands, looked up to the sky, and yelled as loudly as she could, "I'm free! I'm free to be... normal!"
Phillipia held Neely's hand, "So, Neely... do you want to just go on a normal date after this? You know, as normal as possible, anyway."
"Oh, my gods... Yes, I would love to just go on a normal date."
Rina ran up to Drake and hugged him, Godfrey bear-hugged Sullivan, picking him up off the ground.

Through a crack still closing, Rina could see two souls peering back at her: Darrian and Felicity.
"You could make one more swap," Alice said to her.
Rina looked at her friend with wide eyes, "I could... trade myself. But I can only save one of them, I-"
"I would give up what is left for me in this life... for this," Drake stood up and draped his hand around her shoulder, smiling.
Rina began to cry gently, "I would, too."
She hugged Phillipia, "Thank you... we couldn't have done this without you."
"Drake hugged Godfrey, and got a similar bear hug in return."
Rina said goodbye to Neely, "You've grown so much, and I'm so proud. You have become an amazing young woman."
"Thanks, Rina..." Neely hugged her in return.
Drake slowly walked over and shook Sullivan's hand, then gave him kiss on the forehead, "Goodbye, my old friend."
Sullivan shook his hand, and nodded - they didn't need to say more.
Then, Rina hugged Alice, "Thank you for being the best friend an Elf could ask for."
"See you on the other side," Alice responded.
"I'll miss you, my very normal friend," Rina responded as she approached the closing crack.
Rina excitedly reached out for her son's hand, Drake did the same for Felicity. She pulled him into a hug and twirled herself into his place on the other side, "It's been an honor and a joy to be your mother, Darrian Michaelis Deepcut."
He and Felicity backed away a couple of steps, Darrian's eyes began to form tears, "I love you, mom."
Rina smiled, "I love you, too, Kid."
And just like that, the crack closed.

The months following, the world was rebuilding and cleaning up what was left. Sullivan and Francis went back to ruling Castle Frey, which was severely scarred from the apocalypse. Darrian and Felicity were reunited with Sebastian Jr., who still held on to Volvagia and the Folktales of Kay'Lend. Basta'Thrope' still had its giant tree of life, and most of the survivors found a home there. The remainder of the Salt Slayers - Alejandro, Bex, and Rivo - joined up with Gunther and Marie's adventuring party, now they were the Fearsome 5, once again. Loanna stepped down as queen, finding her husband's company worth more than ruling a country. Gewain remained the Queen's loyal knight, but now he served a new queen - Phillipia. Neely and Phillipia got married on Phillipia's coronation day, and a new castle keep was built in their design. Lloyd, Blanke, and Kin all lived together and ruled over the Vorovni territory of Asmery.
At the base of Mt. Ivatim, in the small town of Youngru, Alice and Godfrey ran Godfrey's Groggs and Alice's Apothecary out of the same little building. Alice used herbs for healing, and Godfrey made drinks for the wounds that herbs could not heal. Alice finally got the normal, unlabeled life she always wanted.

The veil closed. Through tears of joy, Rina and Drake looked upon the world they had entered - Paradise. A technicolored castle similar to that of Castle Frey stood empty and crumbling. A paradise that was destroyed by centuries of war between Bolgroth and Luminus. Souls of those who remained after the war flocked to Rina and Drake, who set their sights on rebuilding paradise for those who were passing through.
The cycle was different now. All souls had a chance at paradise, and no magic could accumulate in any one person for too long. Souls still traveled through Niktalia, then those who the Shepherds saw led good lives would go straight to paradise, others were sent back to try again. But all souls in paradise had a time limit there, everyone had to cycle eventually - except those who entered into paradise the opposite direction.
Rina and Drake were not the only ones who entered this way - two others came through unnoticed.
The icy blue soul of Enoch let go of her ear and reformed into his devilish form, "Rina! Oh, thank goodness I don't have to cycle like my brothers do. It's been SUCH a pain for all these thousands of years!"
Rina hugged him. Drake shook his hand, "Feel free to stay, Agronoch, you deserve paradise as much as we do."
Khoshekh could no longer be contained by magic, so he roamed the beautiful grasslands of Paradise. He stared at all of the souls coming in from Niktalia, as if he was waiting for something - someone. A soul from Bolgroth's army sped toward him, and swapped with his soul.
"Khoshekh!" Rina ran toward him, only to find he was no longer her familiar, but he was familiar to her, "...Sebastian?"

Her late husband had displaced his soul into this small, cat-like Displacer Beast upon his death. Now that their souls were on the same plane again, Rina had her husband back.
He transformed from his cat form to his Therianthope form - looking half cat and half elf, and hugged Rina, "I missed you, my marigold."
"So... How's this going to work?" Enoch asked, noting the awkward situation.
"I think the best thing we can do is just love each other," Rina smiled. She kissed each of them on the cheek, "If you're all okay with that, that is."
The men looked each other up and down, then looked at her - and all agreed.
"You know," Enoch started, "Your soul may be bound to me, but it's also bound to my brothers. Including Xerendesh. He will come back. When he does, it will be up to you to defeat him again."
"'When' he does? What do you mean 'when'?"
"His soul and yours are the only two that can accumulate magic now. I imagine every 100 years or so, you'll have to deal with him again."
"And we will all be with you this time," said Sebastian.
Drake hugged her and kissed her forehead, "All of us."

End.