Epilogue: By Accident Most Strange

An ISLAND.

Enter RACHEL and CHLOE, unchanged.

RACHEL: Now my charms are all o'erthrown

And what strength I have's mine own,

Which is most faint. Now, 'tis true,

I must be here confined by you,

Or sent with Chloe. Let me not

Since I have my freedom got

And pardoned both the lovers, dwell

In this fair city by your spell,

But release me from my bands

With the help of your good hands.

CHLOE: This is the part where you're supposed to clap.

RACHEL: Gentle breath of yours my sails

Must fill, or else my project fails,

Which was to please. Now I want

Powers to enforce, art to enchant

And my ending is despair

Unless I be relieved by prayer,

Which pierces so that it assaults

Mercy itself and frees all faults.

CHLOE: Seriously, she needs you to tell her

That she did a great job of telling you

About all the fucked-up shit that happened

To the three of us in all those timelines.

RACHEL: As you from crimes would pardoned be

Let your indulgence set me free.

CHLOE claps.

RACHEL: Thank you, thank you, you're too kind.

CHLOE: Wow, finally, I can talk like a regular person again.

RACHEL: You don't miss it? The iambic pentameter, the rhythm and poetry of Shakespeare?

CHLOE: I like you doing it. I've had enough acting for a while.

RACHEL: That's fair.

RACHEL and CHLOE sit on a fallen LOG.

CHLOE: Rach?

RACHEL: Yes, Chloe?

CHLOE: I have some questions.

RACHEL: Ah, I thought so. Are they about time travel? Because I still don't understand all the rules. It's not the sort of thing that even has rules.

CHLOE: Kinda. The storm was sort of caused by all the different timelines getting all tangled and fucked up together?

RACHEL: More or less.

CHLOE: And every time we made any big time travel change, the realities branched again, one where we did it, and one where we didn't?

RACHEL: Right.

CHLOE: And I made the decision to go into the portal with Max, but it worked for her and not for me, as far as this version of me knows?

RACHEL: I think so.

CHLOE: And there's another version of Max and Chloe who both made it through that portal? And then another where Max got left behind? And another where none of us made it?

RACHEL: Stands to reason.

CHLOE: Shit. That's a lot of fucking timelines.

RACHEL: There are a lot.

CHLOE: So it never really ends, does it?

RACHEL: What?

CHLOE: You know, all of this? You - or Prospera - talked about this being "the last of our sea-sorrow." Like, the last bit of time traveling shit we'd get into, and then we'd settle down and have our happily ever after or whatever. But you and I, we're still hopping around in time, trying to keep the storm from finding us.

RACHEL: You're right, I guess. There's always another Max and another Chloe and another Rachel. On and on into infinity. At least we're immortal, in a way.

CHLOE: Well if that's true, then I have an idea.

RACHEL: Go ahead.

CHLOE: In the timeline where Max and I left Arcadia Bay, something happened to me while we were lying in bed.

RACHEL: That happens to you a lot when you're in bed with pretty girls.

CHLOE: Haha, very funny. No, something, you know, Weird. Time travel powers and shit. I saw the other Max, the one who sacrificed me to save the town, and I could sort of interact with her, like...like a ghost.

RACHEL: That's...really strange.

CHLOE: Yeah. And I don't know how that fits into any of this. We can jump back in time to where our bodies were, timelines split into branches, the storm comes when timelines get tangled up, and all three of us can push us into a weird place outside of time. But this never happened again.

RACHEL: Like I said, Chloe, time is fucking weird. Maybe it was an accident, just a glitch or something.

CHLOE: Maybe. I just...it would be really cool to see the timeline where we had all our memories from all this, but the storm didn't happen.

RACHEL: The one where I died?

CHLOE: Yeah...the second door. Obviously not to live there, that was the whole point, I don't want to take over the mind of another Chloe, even if we're basically the same, but like...to see it.

RACHEL: A world where everyone was saved. Except me and your dad?

CHLOE: Yeah, that world. Not perfect, obviously. But pretty good. That Chloe is probably pretty happy, and Arcadia Bay's still around.

RACHEL sits up.

RACHEL: Then let's go try it out.

CHLOE: What? How?

RACHEL: Do I look like I know?

CHLOE: I mean, a little, yeah.

RACHEL: Well I don't. But we're beautiful, magical beings who can bend the laws of space and time, so we have nothing better to do than to try.

CHLOE: Okay...well, it worked when Max and I held hands.

RACHEL: You do that a lot.

CHLOE: I mean, it's kind of my thing. Feels nice.

RACHEL and CHLOE hold hands.

RACHEL: Alright, hands held. Now what?

CHLOE: I mean, we can try thinking about it a lot? You...um...it's the moment you...die, with Nathan, and then Max and the other me wake up, with all our memories of all this shit, and we…

RACHEL: Go to David?

CHLOE: Fuck. Probably. Yeah, we go to David, he catches Jefferson and Nathan, they go to jail, the storm doesn't come...and then I don't fucking know. I try to find a job? Max finishes at Blackwell?

RACHEL: You're not making it easy to imagine the exact world.

CHLOE: I dunno. Anything could happen. That's the fun part. Alright, I've got something. You ready?

RACHEL: Time for a little Christmas Carol ghost magic.

BLUE LIGHT swirls around them, and the Curtain falls.

The LIGHTHOUSE, perched atop ARCADIA BAY. The GOLDEN HOUR of an AUTUMN afternoon. OTHER CHLOE and OTHER MAX, somewhat older with longer hair, huddle by the lighthouse door, OTHER CHLOE hunched over, OTHER MAX keeping watch.

OTHER CHLOE: Damnit, I thought I could…

OTHER MAX: Hurry up!

OTHER CHLOE: I'm trying, I'm trying…

A lock clicks.

OTHER CHLOE: Fuck yes, nat 20, Chloe Price is a master thief!

OTHER MAX: She's pretty loud for a master thief.

OTHER CHLOE: Fuck you.

OTHER MAX: Later tonight.

They climb to the top of the lighthouse. Enter CHLOE and RACHEL, off to the distance, watching.

OTHER MAX: I'll never get tired of this view.

OTHER CHLOE: It's not bad, I'll give it that.

OTHER MAX: They're alive. This place is alive. Warren and Kate and Dana still come to visit, I can go to the Two Whales and see your mom, even say hi to Frank and Pompidou. Years later and it still freaks me out.

OTHER CHLOE: Yeah, I know. Fucking weird, but in the best way. Max, I'm really trying not to fuck this up. My life, this second, or third, or millionth chance that I've got. I want a life with you. A real life.

OTHER MAX: I believe in us. And in you - a year or two and you'll have your degree!

OTHER CHLOE: Just a bit behind Maxine Caulfield, college graduate and real adult human.

OTHER MAX: A degree in photography isn't really much. It's just some connections.

OTHER CHLOE: You had a real exhibit! I went there! It was awesome!

OTHER MAX: You're just saying that because you were the subject of like half my photos.

OTHER CHLOE: Just because that's true doesn't mean it wasn't objectively awesome. I'm very photogenic, it turns out.

OTHER MAX: Learned a lot from Rachel, huh?

OTHER CHLOE: Seriously.

OTHER MAX and OTHER CHLOE stare out the lighthouse towards the town of Arcadia Bay, filled with people and cars and the sounds of life.

OTHER CHLOE: I hope she's okay. Traveling through time.

OTHER MAX: Me too. I wonder what better world's she making.

OTHER CHLOE: Maybe she's stopped by in the best world, kept the storm from coming, and we're still in that band and you're still a hot punk.

OTHER MAX: I could bring back the hot punk look if you really wanted.

OTHER CHLOE: You said it, not me. But yeah, I think she's doing alright. Rachel always found a way. I just hope she's helping out the other Chloe's out there. We could fucking use it.

OTHER MAX and OTHER CHLOE's dialogue fades as we see RACHEL and CHLOE sit down on the bench beneath the lighthouse.

CHLOE: Rach?

RACHEL: Chloe?

CHLOE: I'm good. We can go.

RACHEL: We haven't even followed them to the town. You sure?

CHLOE: No, but...I'm happy for her. The other me. This life seems pretty good. The one they have, and the one they'll get to have. I think we made the right choice, not taking over in this timeline. Some other us gets to enjoy it.

RACHEL: You love her. Max. More than me.

CHLOE: More than you? I don't...that's not how I think of it. I've spent so many lives pushing everybody away, being angry, being...fucking sad. But you and Max made me feel like life was worth living again. Not just...you know, not just to be around you or anything, but like...having you there made me want more. Made me want to live, to fucking do anything and everything. You both did that for me.

RACHEL: Chloe…

CHLOE: And yeah, back by the tree...I chose to be with Max. But if there's anything I've learned from all this, it's that time isn't certain. We don't have one right answer out there. Now I'm sure I would've loved being with Max, for the rest of this reality. But I didn't end up there. I'm with you. And...as wild as it is to be traveling through time, as fucking scary as that storm is always gonna be...I love it too. It's the road trip we never got to do.

RACHEL: It's definitely...cooler than what I'd had in mind.

CHLOE: Fuck yeah it is. So yeah, I'm always gonna love Max. And I'm always gonna love you. I can do both. There're a lot of me, right? That'll have to do.

RACHEL: I can make that work.

CHLOE and RACHEL kiss.

RACHEL: That certainly never gets old.

CHLOE: Well, we have infinite time to practice.

OTHER MAX and OTHER CHLOE leave the lighthouse, laughing and kissing. OTHER CHLOE stops, looks up towards RACHEL and CHLOE, confused.

OTHER CHLOE: Max, do you see that?

OTHER MAX: Holy shit.

CHLOE: Holy shit.

RACHEL: They can see us?

OTHER CHLOE: Is that what you were talking about before? A butterfly and a deer?

CHLOE: Whoa.

OTHER MAX: Chloe, I think…I think the deer is Rachel.

CHLOE: Do something!

RACHEL: What, prance around?

RACHEL nods.

OTHER CHLOE: Holy shit. Then who's the butterfly…

OTHER MAX: I always thought it was you…

CHLOE nods.

OTHER CHLOE: They're here, then. Rachel and…another me?

RACHEL: I think they get it.

CHLOE: Let's go before this gets any harder.

RACHEL: Where?

CHLOE: Somewhere even better.

OTHER CHLOE: Thank you.

CHLOE: Good luck, you two. Have a good life. I love you both.

CHLOE and RACHEL hold hands and the CURTAIN falls.

THE END