#Ankou

[tomotoad]

[asterparfait]

ankou

[enchantedbook]

'Ankou', illustration by Julia Shironina

[rainbowdonkee]

I need all the merch for this line up!!!

The art is based from tarot cards.

Scien: Magician

Ankou: Death

Yves: The Wheel of Fortune

Adolphe: The Hanged Man

Lucas: The Devil

Mathis: The Hermit

I can't believe Japan is celebrating the 3rd Anniversary for Virche! I don't think I've ever played a game that had me screaming in shock 🫨

[vhe]

anyone else on here play virche evermore and come out of it feeling completely normal about ankou

[lunierunie]

Watchman of death my ass he’s French!

[wildflower-otome]

[Translation] Shuuen no Virche EpiC:lycoris - Special Edition After Stories

After Stories from the Shuuen no Virche EpiC:lycoris Special Edition Booklet

No matter what it blossoms into – Yves Encore After Story

Until it’s time to face the end – Lucas Proust Encore After Story

A distance that can't be closed – Mathis Claude Encore After Story

The only one you can be crazy for is me - Scien Brofiise Encore After Story

Even if it means living as a mere doll - Adolphe Encore After Story

Salvation Without You - Ankou Despair Ending After Story

[harmorii]

Rlly liked these from the last post so im posting em seperately :]

[allmythologies]

breton mythology: ankou

ankou is the servant of death. he appears as a man or skeleton wearing a black robe and a large hat that conceals his face, or, on occasion, simply as a shadow. he wields a scythe and is said to sit atop a cart for collecting the dead, or to drive a large, black coach pulled by four black horses and accompanied by two ghostly figures on foot. in some versions, ankou is depicted as the first dead person of the year, charged with collecting others' souls before he can go to the afterlife.

[asterparfait]

ankou hours!!! again!!

[nyankocatnyan]

"姫君..."

[liricanoir]

Based on that “nothing in life matters” meme

[rainbowdonkee]

Mis esposos, los extraño <3

[dualemblems]

Absolutely sobbing; this is so romantic 😭💙

[dragondusst]

The Le Salut experience

[wildflower-otome]

[Translation] Shuuen no Virche EpiC:lycoris - Ankou - Despair Ending After Story

Source: Shuuen no Virche EpiC:lycoris Special Edition Booklet Note: Major spoilers for Ankou's despair ending below.

Salvation Without You - Ankou Despair Ending After Story

The woman who called herself Death, who I met after going back in time, acted more human than I would have expected.

She had told me that her powers had weakened after coming to the mortal realm, but she could neither fly nor use strange powers.

Rather, whenever she ate, she would say how delicious it was, and the expression on her face as she cheered me up whenever I was beset by loneliness was—if anything, not all that different from that of a normal human’s.

‘…..What kind of person was she, this woman you loved?’

One evening, late at night. That was the question the woman asked me, the fire before her.

‘…..Why do you want to know?’

‘She’s the woman you travelled through time trying to save. …..Isn’t it only natural to be curious?’

…..Hm, I suppose she wasn’t wrong there. And she had been helping me, in various ways.

Not only in the physical and mental sense—she had also given me extremely vital information - that “just” the lycoris I had brought from the past would not be enough to counter the toxins hidden within the soil.

As a result, she and I were now dividing up the lycoris between us, ingesting them in order to develop the antibodies to fight against the poison.

.....Furthermore, apparently a number of problems would be solved once I asked the Drifter, a person who would someday be washed ashore to this country, for his help.

(To think that she would know even about something like that…..she really must be a grim reaper)

Although that said, I did wonder about the way her words and movements would sometimes turn theatrical, almost as if she were imitating someone else.

Well, no matter, perhaps she was merely following the example of her compatriots in Hades.

‘…..An—Adolphe?’

Hearing her call out to me, I started. 

I remembered that I had yet to answer her question.

‘Let me see.....’

I didn’t want to speak of my memories of the dead Ceres in too much detail.

In that case—I would simply tell her of the emotions that bloomed inside my chest.

‘...............She was an endlessly kind person. Kind enough to accept a man who lashed out at her for being Death, just because of his own problems—’

‘.....So she was kind...was that all?’

‘.....No, not just kind. To the same extent, she was a person with a strong heart. She was always thinking of others more than herself—.... Compared to her, I’m just a halfhearted person with barely any will of their own.’

 ‘—That’s not true at all!’

‘!’

My shoulders jumped in surprise at her sudden loud shout.

When I looked at her, she was gazing at me with fists clenched, her expression desperate.

‘You are strong.....!  Without a doubt, more than anyone I know in this world! If not, there’s no way you would have been able to go back in time all on your own for the person you love.....!’

‘...............’

At such an impassioned a speech, I was at a loss for words.

Seeing how widened my red eyes had become, she at last came back to herself.

‘S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to get so worked up.....’

‘No, I’m sure you were just trying to cheer me up. .....Thank you. Hearing that from you did make me feel a little better about myself.’

I smiled at her as she cast her eyes downwards, apparently embarrassed.

—Although she was a rather strange woman, whose name I didn’t know, who wasn’t even human.....

‘I’m glad I was able to meet you. If I was on my own, I’m sure my heart would have broken eventually from the pain and loneliness.’

.....I was grateful from the bottom of my heart that she had been the one to be my companion on this little journey.

‘.....No. Even without me here, you definitely would have been able to see it all through for her sake.’ 

‘.....You really have too much confidence in me.’

As she smiled at me from across the fire, she looked somehow like a young girl.

‘—Well, I am an all-knowing grim reaper after all.’

‘How reassuring. .....In that case, allow me to ask for your aid once more. Please—let us continue to fight together so that I may save her.’

 In response to my wish, she nodded her head saying, ‘Of course.’

That it hadn’t been just my imagination that her smile had seemed somehow lonely as she did so—was something I only realized at the final moment.

* * * 

—That’s right, I was now able to accomplish her salvation. Saving the one who should be saved and eliminating that which wasn’t needed.

‘.....Hey-.....’

Within my arms, breathing as if asleep, was the woman I had long loved and wanted to save.

Her body’s constitution had been altered due to the malice of the mad king, and she had been on the verge of becoming an immortal monster.

In order to help her we had had no choice but to take down the deformed creature that had once been the ringleaders and retrieve its heart.

Fully prepared to sacrifice myself, I had gone to step forward, but right before my eyes—

‘—At last. I’ve finally made it this far.....’

The grim reaper who had walked with me was heading towards the monster alone.

‘Wait, stop.....!! What are you doing.....!?’

‘Can you not tell by looking?’

‘Idiot, it’s because I know that I’m trying to stop you!! Don’t be rash, if anyone’s going to sacrifice themselves, I should be the one to—!!’

‘.....No. If you come over here, then who will protect her?’

‘————-!!’

Step by step she walked the path towards destruction.

‘.....You’ve been wanting to save her all this time, haven’t you?’

‘That still doesn’t mean I can stand by and let you do this!’

‘.....It’s fine. This is my atonement for letting you die alone all those years ago.’

‘...........Huh?’

As I gazed at the grim reaper woman in confusion, not understanding what she meant—

‘Thank you for trusting me this far, my dear one. —I was truly happy to have been your compatriot.’

With a smile so bright you wouldn’t think she was just about to go to her death-

‘—Goodbye. I will be watching over you all as you become happy in a pure white future.....from the lycoris flower fields.’

—Without so much as telling me her name right until the very end. She became no more than cells of dust and vanished.

.....I had accomplished salvation.

Now that she had been saved, Ceres was smiling at my side, looking cheerful.

.....However.

Why did my chest hurt so much, despite my heart’s desire having come true?

 —Why, why?

Why were my emotions in such turmoil, becoming tears that told me I had lost someone important—?