Chapter 1: Phase 1: The Glenwood Towers
Chapter Text
Long ago, humans lived in relative peace by the power of Songs. They flourished, their knowledge breaking boundaries as they learned to create new machines and ways to increase their standard of living while keeping their Song Magic intertwined in their progress. Humans worked together so that they could all live without hardship and disease. The times for peace, however, came to an end as greed and vanity, lust and pride, and the struggle for omnipotent power began to cloud their hearts. Money became an object that everyone wished to own no matter what, and they would do anything to have it. Some humans poisoned each other while others sold whatever property and necessities they had just to own the few gold coins that they would receive. A small population of them had concentrated their wealth into ruins and dungeons far away from the hungry eyes and the thieving hands that threatened to steal them. In time, their sinful ways eroded their ability to sing, reducing them to something analogous to babies in the world they once cared for and used as their home.
Humans then learned of a special type of their species that were invisible to them unless they had sacrificed their desires for earthly possessions. This species had even further developed Song Magic.
These unique humans were called the seraphim. Seraphim had the ability to govern specific elements with the use of their Song Magic, and their Song Magic could only be used in the ancient language of Hymmnos. With Hymmnos, the seraphim could communicate with the three Great Towers of the Glenwood Continent; Eolia, Frelia, and Tilia. These Towers were supposedly in a legendary location outside of the realm of humans.
Their type of Song Magic had other uses such as answering their prayers and giving them the power to repel their enemies. Humans heard of this power, and naturally, they yearned to harness it. By using the power of Song Magic, they would be able to have everything they wanted.
Humans invaded the villages where seraphim were said to live by imprisoning devout believers. They were their bloodhounds that would be tortured if they didn’t detect the existence of the divine beings in these areas. If they were caught hiding information about the seraphim, they were executed.
Before long, as humans continued to invent more and more ways to seize the seraphim, they happened on technology that made their existence known to even the most contaminated of people. This technology, called Seraphic Artes, was actually the same technology that the seraphim themselves utilized in the building of their homes and monuments. Seraphic Artes were special abilities used to establish emergency connections with the Towers for an abundance of power.
In turn, the implementation of the Seraphic Artes, Song Magic, and the connections to the Towers gave rise to the need of proxies and a Mass Tower—the Five Great Lords. These Towers were dedicated one each to a Great Lord, with the Mass Tower being connected to the Great Towers of the Glenwood Continent, and the only way to access them was to have a seraph of that particular element guide the way. There was a risk involved, though. The seraph, who became the guide, would be in danger of losing their mind if they were left unprotected. This was to prevent humans from trying to take over the Towers for their own gain. If any of the Towers were breached by the malevolence of humans, the Mass Tower would become infected and poison the entire world to kill all organisms. That was the fail-safe to save the planet.
Because reaching any of the Towers was far too difficult for humans, they again turned to the seraphim. They forced them to work long hours for them in addition to using Song Magic at every whim. The malevolence in them grew and grew until they culminated into hellions as the malevolence gave birth to viruses in them. The viruses ate them from the inside until only their bodies were left that could be filled with sin and essentially be reanimated husks of their former selves.
To combat the rise of hellions within their towns and cities, humans began to expel the seraphim that were too sick to work out into the wilderness. They had figured that if they could starve them, their problems would go away. Unfortunately the despair that the seraph fell into was what killed them. Incredibly strong seraphim turned into dragons, becoming capable of basic thinking processes that were focused on the eradication of humans and seraphim alike. Just as humans cast them away, draconic seraphim were disowned by the proxy Towers to prevent infection, but because of the nature of the Mass Tower, they still had a connection to the land. This connection relayed information of the land’s longevity. If too many dragons were born, the planet would deteriorate.
Millions of hellions too weak to cause damage immediately to the planet but too strong to fight back with military strength began to run amok. They killed the unlucky humans that were traveling between cities and towns and ate their corpses despite not needing to feed. It was hypothesized that by eating the flesh, they could accumulate more malevolence. They would become stronger until they could invade cities.
Even though the future was bleak for humans, souls that were pure still existed. These souls, chosen by seraphim before they’re born and subsequently devoid of sin, would usher in an age of hope. These souls would become Shepherds and Squires, and they were the Glenwood Continent’s last effort in preserving the world.
Those who were fated to become Shepherds and Squires first had to establish an emotional link with the chosen seraph, but there were as many different ways to do that as there were seraphim. It was up to the Shepherds and the Squires to understand how to connect and deepen their links, and it was possible for Shepherds to connect with more than one seraph, but it made the burden greater to carry. This burden had the potential to turn the Shepherd into a hellion; Squires faced a similar risk.
During this time that was the Age of Chaos, three known humans existed to have an exceptional resonance with the seraphim. Their partnerships would be tested by humans, seraphim, and the continent itself; but as long as they remained firm in their resolve to end the suffering of everything in the world, there was still a chance that an overarching peace could be reached
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Sorey and Mikleo reached for the jar of cookies that Zenrus had placed on the top shelf of his bookcase. Mikleo sat on Sorey’s shoulders but still couldn’t reach the sweet biscuits. His tiny hands couldn’t even touch the shelf.
“Sorey, step on your tippy-toes! I’ve almost got them!” Mikleo strained.
“But you’re heavy, Mikleo!” Sorey struggled.
Zenrus burst into the room with his pipe in his mouth and his fists on his waist. He was only slightly taller than his five-year-old kids. He grumbled, “What have I told you rascals about eating sweets before dinner?!”
“Uh-oh!” Mikleo stuttered.
“Busted!” Sorey panicked.
The two of them scurried out of his house out into the open field that was the center of the Seraphic Village Elysia. They taunted Zenrus to chase after them knowing that he couldn’t run very well due to his height and age.
“If I catch you two trying to sneak sweets again, I’ll shock you with my lightning bolt!” the old seraph called out to them.
The two children took that as a serious threat, running out of the village and to the entrance of their forbidden playground the Mabinogio Ruins. They knew better than to go in today since dinner was right around the corner, so they found a spot under one of the trees and far away from the prickleboars in the area.
“Do you have the Celestial Record?” Mikleo asked.
Sorey pulled out from his knapsack a large book that had seen better days. Its pages were worn and dog-eared, and the covers had deep scratches. They had marked several pages in it detailing about the Great Towers. They fantasized about visiting the Towers one day.
“Hey, Mikleo, since you’re a seraph, can’t you use Song Magic, too?” Sorey inquired.
“Sorey, you know I can’t sing.”
“Have you tried?”
“Gramps has been trying to teach me, but…I just can’t.”
Mikleo was saddened that of all the seraphim in Elysia, he was the only one who couldn’t sing. He turned the question on Sorey, who was devoid of sin and therefore was connected to the Great Towers. Sorey admitted that he had tried to sing, but it never worked even when he got the words right.
“Didn’t Hymmnos stop working for humans?” he thoughtfully questioned.
“But you’re not a bad human.”
“Maybe one day we can go to the Towers and ask whoever runs them why I can’t sing!”
“You know Gramps won’t let us go.”
“You’re right…”
Mikleo stood up from their cozy spot under the tree, opening his mouth and glowing with light:
“Was yea ra...” he began. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think of the next part. “See? I can’t sing. Who’s ever heard of a seraph that can’t sing?”
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In a different city, a princess child learned the royal etiquette as she watched the priests partake in a ceremony to awaken the seraph that was captured many centuries ago. They could barely see her flaming red dress with their hazy eyes, but the child gazed at everything from her dress to her golden tiara to her jade eyes.
“Fire seraph Lailah,” the head priest greeted. Lailah didn’t say anything to them. “Insolent brat!” He smacked her across the face. “How dare you ignore me, your master! I’ll work you so hard that you’ll turn into a dragon in no time!”
The princess child ran up to her side and placed herself between them. “Don’t hit her! She just woke up from her nap!” she chastised. The priests were taken aback, and the princess child turned around to see how bad the handprint was. “Does it hurt? Mama gave me some ointment to put on boo-boos. Let’s go play in my room!”
Lailah didn’t know what to say, yet she accepted her invitation. “My child, may I have your name?”
“My name is Alisha Diphda!”
“Then, Princess Alisha, I would be honored to play with you.”
Alisha stuck her tongue out at the priests while escorting Lailah to her manor. The citizens of her city Ladylake were appalled that she was holding her hand. Some even threatened to kill the seraph, but Alisha promised she would scream if they came near her. The guards would come and see that they were trying to hurt her by killing her only form of protection.
In her bedroom, Alisha tended to the bruise that stained Lailah’s porcelain-white skin. Lailah flinched at first, but the ointment began to cool on her face. The tingling sensation that had remained even so long after being hit disappeared in seconds.
“Princess Alisha, how can I ever repay you?” she tearfully asked.
“Do you have any sweets?”
“I can make you some cakes if you would like!”
Lailah went to the center of the room and sang a very short spell. Out of thin air, five small cakes appeared complete with forks and plates and cute decorations that tickled Alisha’s childish fancy.
“You can have all the cakes you would like! This is my thank-you for helping me.”
“That’s so cool! Lailah, can I make cakes appear like that, too?”
It seemed that Alisha was still unaware of the tragic history of seraphim. She told her that maybe one day she would learn to use Hymmnos. Alisha held up two of the plates to her, almost demanding that they have a tea party. Soon enough, Alisha was wearing a feathered boa and a plastic crown while Lailah was wearing a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses and a cat costume. They happily drank their imaginary tea and ate the cakes.
By the end of the day, the priests had come to her bedroom to take Lailah back to the sanctuary where she had been awakened. They falsely promised that she was merely going to use her Seraphic Artes to fix the sanctuary. In reality, they took her back to the sanctuary to use her Song Magic to heal sick citizens, beating her when she didn’t want to comply. During the night, Lailah was chained down, wishing to go back to Alisha’s bedroom and safety.
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“Rose, do you have the knives again?” an old man wearing a light blue parka yelled from his tent.
“Maybe!” the little red-haired girl giggled. She swiped at the air, spinning as expertly like a ninja. “If you want them back, you have to catch me!”
“Dammit, girl, I told you that you can’t play with our knives!”
“Sorry, Mayvin, but I wanna get better so I can help Eguille and you and the others out!”
Rose ran deeper into the forest as Mayvin chased after her. She jumped over bulging tree roots and danced around tree trunks until she finally thought to use the knives to climb a tree and stay well out of his reach. She laughed at him until she heard what sounded like singing. The voice was faint and gruff, as if the singer had been fighting off some adversary. Even with Mayvin yelling at her to return the knives, she had to disobey. She had to find the source of the desperate song.
The voice sang, “hYImOmOrO/.”
“Hymmnos?” Rose mumbled to herself as she leapt through the trees
“He’s trying to sing!” a man called out.
“He’s blind; just attack!” another ordered.
Rose found the source of the commotion, and she hid among the branches to observe the subsequent events. The guards, apparently from the Rolance Kingdom, were closing in on what looked like to be a wind seraph. Rose had never seen a seraph wear all black, so she couldn’t be sure, but she did hear Hymmnos. At least, it was some sort of dialect.
The wind seraph kept swiveling his head side to side trying to pinpoint where the Rolance knights were positioned. “zz lYAlYAnN/.” he sang. He watched as the knights wavered, but his Song Magic was too weak.
“They’re really going to kill him!” Rose whispered. Gripping her knives tightly, she decided she had to do something. One of the knights staggered backwards toward the tree she was perched, and once he was close enough, she fell from the tree so that she landed on his shoulders. She held her knives at his throat and made her demands. “Let the seraph go, or I’ll kill your friend!”
The knights at first laughed. Then they looked closely at the bloodlust in her young eyes. She was serious, but they still didn’t think she was capable of killing a knight. After all, how would she slice his neck through all that armor? She flipped off the knight before stabbing his inner thigh right where his aorta traced down his leg. He began to bleed out, the crimson liquid spraying on her face.
“I said, leave the seraph alone,” she said, as if she were possessed by a demon. The knights retreated, leaving their comrade to die in the forest. When she could no longer see them through the shadows of the forest, Rose approached the wind seraph. “Are you okay?”
The wind seraph reached up to her, touching her face and imaging how tall she was compared to him. “Why did you save me? Humans are supposed to be hell-bent in using us and then throwing us away.
“Not this one. Come with me. Mayvin can make you something to eat.” Rose took his hand and led him to the camp site. “What’s your name?”
“Dezel.”
“Okay, Dezel! Mayvin’s really nice; he’ll take good care of you just like he took care of me!”
Dezel had no choice but to follow the little girl that had saved him even though he would have rather been slaughtered. It would have been a better fate than hiding from humans.
Chapter 2: Phase 1: Elysia, the Village of the Seraphim
Summary:
Twelve years later, Mikleo still can't sing, but Sorey believes they can ask the Towers what's wrong if they can leave the village. Once they find their reason to leave, they disembark on their journey.
Notes:
Sorry for the long wait, but I'm not as inclined to write this one right now because I mostly still don't know the direction I'm going. But I am practicing my Hymnnos with it, and hopefully someone can tell me if I'm doing it right!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“No, Mikleo, you’re still not projecting,” Zenrus sighed. He dragged on his pipe, formulating other methods to get the young seraph to sing properly. “Are you sure your singing with your heart?”
“Yes, Gramps,” Mikleo replied with some frustration with himself. “I just can’t get it. No matter what I sing, it doesn’t work.”
“That’s not my question. You need to feel the emotions you sing or else, of course, it won’t work. Try again.”
Mikleo cleared his throat then imagined something that made him happy like reading about the Mabinogio Ruins with Sorey. He cherished him, and being with him never allowed a dull moment during the day. Occasionally they had their spats, which were resolved with some sort of contest to determine who was right or who was stronger or better or faster in whatever it was that they were doing. In the twelve years that they had spent since learning how to read the Celestial Record, they had become more inseparable; their commonality, fostered by being raised together, was bolstered by their shared interest in exploring everything around them. Every so often, Mikleo dreamt about leaving the village to see the world below them, to find the Towers, and to have Sorey learn Hymmnos so they could sing together. Gramps would never allow it, though, not with humans constantly on the prowl for seraphim. The happiness that he had mustered in his heart gave way to trepidation of being captured and taken away from the only family he knew.
“Was yea ra…” he had started before he hesitated. Again his feelings didn’t match what he was singing. “Gramps, this is impossible for me. Can I just learn how to use my Seraphic Artes? Do I really need to learn how to sing?”
Zenrus lowered his head. If Mikleo couldn’t sing, then how would he protect Sorey? Being able to sing was part of what it meant to be a seraph; being able to sing was the only way the world could use him for defense, and defending the world was the only way to make sure everything didn’t end in ruin. He supposed that working on his Seraphic Artes was important, but such abilities were only good for delay and attacking enemies one-on-one. Then he got an idea.
“Have you tried singing in front of Sorey?” the old lightning seraph asked.
“You know I have, but it doesn’t help.”
And soon enough, Zenrus’s idea was discarded like a torn-up cardboard box. Calling for a break, he dismissed Mikleo because forcing him to sing was akin to the slavery that humans committed to their kind. The young water seraph sighed with relief then went on a search for his bosom buddy.
Sorey, now seventeen years old, had gone to the forest around the ruins to hunt for prickleboars, and when he had failed to catch any of them, he decided to take a nap under one of the trees. He figured that Mikleo would be busy the entire day trying to connect with the Towers, like he had been for the past twelve years, and so it was only natural that he would have gotten used to not really doing anything productive until he was done with his training. He had already gone through his training in artes. In fact, Mikleo had taught him one that was a variation of his—Heavenly Torrent. It wasn’t powerful, but it frequently gave him the upper hand in nabbing him a few prickleboars.
“It’s weird how seraphim have both the Song Magic and the Seraphic Artes,” he mumbled to himself after he roused. He pulled out his Celestial Record, leafing through it until he found a section entirely on the two techniques. He had read it so many times in his youth in hopes of finding the secret for a human to learn how to use Song Magic:
Song Magic is the Power granted solely unto the Seraphim by the Towers. Using Song Magic requires that the Seraph feels the same Emotions at the Time they wish to sing, and it is only possible to establish a Connection with the Towers if those Conditions are met. Song Magic grows stronger the longer a Seraph accumulates the Power gifted from the Towers. Song Magic can only be accessed by Way of Hymmnos, making it useless to Humans. The Comprehension of Hymnnos is too difficult for the average Human to understand, but the full Extent to which Humans can process Hymnnos is still a mystery.
Unlike Song Magic, Seraphic Artes do not require the Use of Hymmnos. Seraphic Artes are intrinsic Feature of Seraphim, and these Abilities are born deep within any Seraph’s Soul. The Element that a Seraph is born into dictates which types of Seraphic Artes that the Seraph will be able to use. As such, Seraphic Artes are thus categorized and utilize the Environment around them as opposed to deriving Power from the Towers. Chosen Weapons allow the Seraph to better channel their Element, strengthening the Seraphic Arte and allowing the Development of a Culture befitting of that Seraph. In a Community, different Seraphim may combine their Seraphic Artes to produce entire Villages.
Even if Sorey read it a million times more, he couldn’t glean anything from the two paragraphs. He was sure that the single arte he knew didn’t count as a Seraphic Arte, which filled him with doubt that he was ever going to be strong enough to support Mikleo.
He heard Mikleo trying his best to sing as he neared him, but the look of defeat on his face made it evident that today, like the other days, had been a failure. He stood up to stretch and to greet him, starting the conversation with, “I take it training didn’t go so well again?”
“No, and Gramps doesn’t seem to care too much that I can use Seraphic Artes. I mean, if it were up to me, I’d rather just help build the village up and protect it than act as a frontline for the entire continent,” Mikleo replied. He was sulking.
“I bet if we left the village, we could ask the people running the Towers about this. Twelve years and no progress sounds exceptionally bad—so bad that they might actually want to help out!”
“Or we could obey Gramps and just stay in the village. Sorey, you know what would happen if we left.”
Sorey rested his hands on Mikleo’s shoulder with a beaming smile. He didn’t like seeing his best friend and partner in crime get so depressed. Everyone had their weaknesses, and not being able to sing was just another one if Mikleo’s.
“It’s more of a disability than a weakness,” Mikleo sighed. He felt his cheeks sting, which prompted him to look up at Sorey to find him pinching his cheeks. “Sorey, you know I hate it when you do this!”
“No, you don’t!” the brunet laughed. “Cheer up! We’ll get you singing in no time!”
Whenever Sorey got like that, Mikleo had hope. Sorey believed in him, and he didn’t want to let him down. The least he could do was buck up. He gave him a grateful smile; he was glad that he had expended the energy to make sure he was still confident in himself. Sorey and Mikleo held each other’s hand and walked back to the village’s entrance, passing through the protective domain that Zenrus had put on it to keep intruders out.
The rest of the day was rather tame. Sorey went back to his house to eat dinner, and Mikleo joined him after another round of trying to sing at Zenrus’s house. The emerald-eyed brunet made a plate for him when he learned that, unsurprisingly, his best friend still couldn’t connect to the Towers. In return for his hospitality, Mikleo used his Seraphic Artes to make some homemade ice cream. The two of them shared it as they read the Celestial Record again and imagined what was inside the Towers. Everything ended that night with a bath together.
Mikleo got ready for bed then noticed that Sorey was staring out the only window the stone house had. He had a worried expression, or was it a puzzled one? The water seraph joined him at the window.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
They saw in the center of the village a number of their neighbors and the silhouettes of people they didn’t recognize. One of them was pushing one of their friends, Mason, to the circle of seraphim on the ground, sitting him down and kicking him over. What appeared to be a spear was pointed at his head.
“We have to hide…!” Sorey panicked.
“W-What’s going on?”
Sorey ignored him, instead giving his attention to the lock on his door. A small chain lock wouldn’t hold the intruders back; he pushed as many pieces of furniture he owned all while ordering his seraphic friend to find a place to hide. Sorey then thought about Gramps; was he okay? Did the intruders get into his house yet? Why hadn’t he heard any lightning bolts or songs?
“Tell me what’s going on!”
“Stay quiet!”
Sorey poured water on his fire place and pulled the curtains closed. He ushered Mikleo to his bed where they curled up close to each other. He pulled the covers over them. He placed his finger over his lips. Now Mikleo was scared.
They heard the voices of the intruders to their peaceful village ordering each other to break into the houses and check for stragglers. Two of them neared Sorey’s home after claiming that they had heard some sort of rummaging going on inside it. They tried with all their might to force the door open, but thanks to the all the furniture that barricaded it, it didn’t budge. Someone then shouted to break the window and crawl through, but even before shattering the thin glass, the intruders knew they couldn’t fit through it. They eventually left, deciding that they had rounded up the other seraphim and were ready to take them back to wherever they were from.
There was an unsettling silence after the intruders left. The two young men left the safety of their bed for the window. Their friends’ houses had been ransacked. Doors hung open in the moonlight to reveal that a couple of them had been wounded in the process during their occupation. Something long and golden shined in the grass.
“Look over there!” Mikleo exclaimed as he pointed at the mysteriously familiar object. “You don’t think it’s Gramps’s pipe, do you?”
“I hope it isn’t,” Sorey replied. He gulped. His mouth was dry from the apprehension brought on by the sudden upheaval.
Quietly moving to his barricade, he pushed the furniture out of the way. He stuck his head out of door; there weren’t any intruders that stayed behind to nab them. Mikleo followed behind him with his staff summoned in his hand. He was prepared to fight off anyone; he couldn’t sing but he knew his Seraphic Artes well enough to defend the village if he had to.
When Sorey picked up the object, his heart began to race. It was definitely Zenrus’s pipe, but he didn’t remember seeing their guardian among the captives. Mikleo placed a shaking hand on his; Zenrus had to be okay. He was the strongest seraph they knew—so strong that he commanded the heavens to rain down lightning bolts! But why hadn’t he fought off the intruders? Why hadn’t he detected them when they entered his domain? These questions and many more swirled in their skulls like great typhoons, and they looked in the direction of his house. No one had come out since sunset.
Zenrus was like a father, a mentor, and a protector to them. Why hadn’t he been outside helping Mason and the others? Why was his pipe in the grass? Sorey felt sick even with Mikleo holding his hand to give him the courage to go see the old seraph. He walked towards his house—the house that had started the village for Sorey’s sake. That was what he and the other seraphim had told him as he grew up. They did so many extraordinary things for Sorey and Mikleo’s sake, and to have that be disrupted out of the blue scared him. His walk evolved into a brisk one then a panicked run. Before too long, he was at the threshold of Zenrus’s stone house. Unlike the other houses, the door was shut and there was a faint glow behind the curtains. Zenrus never left the fire under his kettle burning through the night for fear when they were younger that they would get burned. The door knob was warm, getting hotter every minute.
“S-Sorey…” Mikleo stuttered.
The young brunet tore open the door and found that the farther room of the stone house of the Great Lightning Seraph Zenrus was engulfed in an inferno. The fire blazed so brightly that trying to search for anybody would ensure blindness if not a horrible death. The first room of the house that was closer to them was only now getting charred.
“Stand back!” the water seraph ordered. Sorey refused to move as he dared to jump into the fire for any remains of their dear Gramps. “You’re going to die if you go in! Sorey, please listen to me! Let me put out the fire first!” He managed to pull him back by his collar. “Twin Flow!”
An intertwining torrent of water surged from Mikleo’s glowing hand. It jetted into the fire, and as the rooms filled with steam that billowed out around them, it became clear that Zenrus had not been in his house since his last session with Mikleo. There was a possibility that he was safe, but his absence could not guarantee that. Sorey immediately thought the worst.
“They must have killed Gramps and taken his body somewhere! Mikleo, we have to find him! We have to go now!” Sorey urged. He had this wild look in his eye that was a mixture of despair and panic and confusion that almost made Mikleo want to cry, but the water seraph had to be strong for him.
He cupped his cheeks, brushing the tears away with his thumbs. Now wasn’t the time to try and sing a tune, but he wanted to calm Sorey’s heart. Would the Towers grant him even that tiny wish?
“Was wol ga endia shyun yor,” Mikleo tried to sing. His feelings matched what he wanted to express, but he was still incapable of feeling any sort of power flowing through him. He tried a different phrase, and another phrase, and another until Sorey took his hands into his and offered a sad smile. “Even when you’re hurting, I can’t make you feel better.”
“It’s okay,” Sorey choked. “It’s the thought that counts. But singing isn’t going to bring Gramps back. We have to go out and find him and bring him and the others home.”
Sorey dragged him back to his house with the pipe firmly in his grasp. He packed a bag with a few rations and attached his sword to his belt. When they reached the village entrance, they took one last look at their destroyed home. Elysia was a ghost town now until they could bring back their friends. Sorey and Mikleo found a patch of daisies growing near the arch. Picking one each, they kissed the centers of them and said a quiet pray. They vowed to bring back everyone. They vowed to return their home to the serene place that it was meant to be. Zenrus, Mason, and all the others were going to be rescued no matter what happened to them.
Sorey and Mikleo headed down the hillside from Elysia into the Aroundight Forest at the foothill. Unprotected by Zenrus’s domain—now dwindling away since he was no longer in the area—they were exposed to malevolence spewing from the earth. They only had to get somewhere that was even somewhat protected from the wickedness, and they had to get to that destination fast. Mikleo was already beginning to feel ill, and Sorey—being a pure human—was only slightly better off than him.
“How are you feeling?” Sorey asked him periodically.
“Not as well as before,” Mikleo always replied. He didn’t see the point in telling him anything else; allowing him to live in blissful ignorance was worse than knowing the harsh truth. And since he began to cough and feel nauseous, lying wouldn’t have worked anyway.
Clouds rolled over the canopy of the forest, and drops of rain felt through its holes. Even the rain was tainted with sin. As it fell on them, the urge to keep going withered away to a point that Sorey had to resort to pep-talking himself. Soon enough, Mikleo was so drained that he had to be carried out of the last portion of the forest. It continued to rain, but the sight of the outside world, despite its brokenness from the malevolence, was awe-inspiring.
“Mikleo, look at all this! Can you imagine what it looked like when there was no sin?” Sorey asked. “Mikleo?” On his back Mikleo was panting and looking haggard. He had an extremely high fever the likes of which Sorey had never seen him get before. He never knew that the malevolence was that taxing on a seraph; now he was in danger of being infected with a Virus. Sorey sprinted as fast as he could across the dying landscape. He avoided whatever hellions were around, talked to Mikleo to try and get him to respond, and prayed that he was going to be okay.
The entrance to the metropolis that sat on the lake in the center of the land was blocked by rows of guards. Caravans filled with artesian goods and other valuables were parked across the grass from them. Sorey was forced to stop with his ailing seraphic friend suffering behind him. They were inspecting people for seraphim.
Notes:
The full Hymnnos phrase written in this chapter is a purely original one, so I really don't know if it's grammatically correct. I hope it is because I put a lot of thought into it.
Chapter 3: Phase 1: The Difference between Hyland and Rolance
Summary:
Sorey and Mikleo learn more about the Towers and the doctor for seraphim
Notes:
It's been like two years since I've played or even looked at gameplay of Ar Tonelico. That said, I've compiled reference materials and the lexicon from the Hymmnos Server to aid in future Song Magic. I feel like the story might become less like the games as I go further. Mixing the game elements is fun, though, and I'm trying to build how both world would work (since Ar Tonelico's universe is a smidgen more technologically advanced and Zestiria's not so much). I'm also feeling a little bit of an Elfen Lied vibe, but not as drastic.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey backed away with Mikleo still in tow. One look at the water seraph and the guards at the checkpoint would seize him without a care if he was sick or not. Or maybe they would care and toss him over the bridge to drown and become a hellion. The long line of horse-drawn caravans awarded him some time to think about what to do. He thought that he could borrow a disguise from one of the merchants, but he had read that merchants had a penchant for being picky about renting out items. Besides, who was to say they wouldn’t rat him out for the bounty that is probably on any seraph’s head?
If there was another way into the city, surely he could sneak in; just then the guards reiterated several times that the check was mandatory and any attempt to bypass it would be met with a detention. That plan went down the drain.
“Hang on, Mikleo,” Sorey whispered to his friend. “I’ll get us in there without them knowing.”
“And how do you suppose you’ll do that?” a new voice asked behind him. It wasn’t Mikleo’s voice but that of an older man. “Humans nowadays can spot a seraph from miles away.”
Sorey turned around to find a tall, beefy man with shoulder-length black hair and a goatee. He was a merchant, and contrary to his appearance and his voice, he had a gentle look to him. He didn’t seem dangerous since he hadn’t even attempt to pluck the white-haired young man from Sorey’s back. The guards were getting closer. The man beckoned Sorey to his caravan, and the brunet cautiously followed him. His caravan was operated by a pair of orange-haired twins and at the front of it was a red-hair girl around Sorey’s age. The man secretly mumbled something to this girl, whose expression remained unchanged until she looked him over and was dumbfounded that he had a seraph out in the open. How the guards had yet to see him was remarkable, but there was no time to remain in awe by his effortless stealth.
“Boss, are you sure?” the male twin asked. “If we’re caught with even one seraph, they won’t pardon us. Two will get us killed.”
“You have another seraph?” Sorey questioned.
“He’s in the same shape as yours; the malevolence in this area is particularly bad. Boss, what would Dezel say about this?”
“Dezel will have to deal with it until we can get to the underground doctor,” the red-haired girl quietly retorted. “He always wants to sacrifice himself, but we can’t afford to lose any more seraphim in the world.” The red-haired girl called on the man to follow her to the back of the caravan, which was stocked with as many boxes it took to form a wall. Everything was secured with rope except for one box that remained slightly out. “Eguille, you know what to do.”
The man, Eguille, pulled the box out carefully and allowed Sorey to peer in. The cargo had an open space in the center big enough for a man to sleep, and precisely as he thought, there was someone sleeping inside. Without further delay, Eguille carefully lifted Mikleo off of Sorey’s back much to the brunet’s protest. The water seraph roused.
“S-Sorey…? What’s going on?” Mikleo asked him as he began to panic.
“It’s okay!” Sorey hushed. “They have another seraph in there named Dezel. They’re taking him to the ‘underground doctor’. Maybe we can get help for you, too.”
Mikleo still fought against Eguille, whom was trying his best not to upset the arrangement of the boxes. If they fell out, Dezel would be exposed. Sorey finally volunteered to go in before him so he felt better. He wiggled into the cramped clear space in the caravan next to the seraph already inside.
It was a wind seraph with silver-to-green shoulder-length hair and bangs that covered his eyes. His clothes were folded neatly beside him, and a thin sheet was spread over him. His curiosity got the better of him, and Sorey felt his head. The wind seraph was burning just like Mikleo was. Sorey returned to the small entrance to receive the water seraph, who continued to express how against he was going into the back of an unknown person’s vehicle. Eventually, and just before the guards had reached the one in front of their, Sorey managed to pull him into the caravan then gave the okay for Eguille to close the hole. He pushed a couple more boxes in front of that box so it looked like there was really only cargo in there.
Mikleo grimaced. “Can you even trust these people?” he argued.
“I’ve never seen humans that would take care of a sick seraph other than myself,” Sorey replied. “I’m sure it’s fine. Now, stay quiet or else they’ll find you and Dezel.”
“You even know his name?!”
Sorey covered his mouth upon hearing what might have been the captain talking to the red-haired girl and Eguille. First he was civil about the check, simply asking where they were headed and what business they had in the city named Ladylake. When the red-haired girl responded that they were going to drop off merchandise for the merchants in the city, the guards scoffed. They had heard the same reason from ten other caravans. They demanded to check her cargo.
Mikleo’s heart raced in his narrow chest as he heard the skidding of the box that allowed them to get inside. As long as the guard didn’t try to move the one next to them, they were safe. They heard the skidding sound again as he replaced the box. The guard cleared them, and soon the caravan began to rumble as it pulled around a small bend and crossed the threshold of the bridge.
Sorey and Mikleo relaxed. They had escaped without being discovered, but now they were indebted to the band of merchants. How could they repay them for smuggling them into the city?
The bridge was a long one, and the jittering from crossing its cobblestones caused Mikleo to become nauseous. The fever was worsening again, and soon he fainted into Sorey’s arms. Next to the two young men, Dezel cringed in pain. The malevolence further into the city was just as bad—if not worse—as the malevolence outside of it.
The caravan stopped suddenly after a while, and Sorey heard Eguille and the red-haired girl talking.
“I know Mayvin said to limit contact with humans in Ladylake, but that guy isn’t from here,” the red-haired girl said. She was talking so loudly and openly that he assumed they were far away from the guards.
“But we’re endangering the doctor if we keep bringing more seraphim to her,” Eguille replied. “I understand you want to help them, but we can’t get involved.”
“Dezel is already sick; the least we can do is just to be there if she can’t fix that water seraph. She has a seraph helping her, too. Don’t you think that seraph would want to help?”
“Rose, you’re starting to sound like regular humans now.”
“They’re lonely in the world. Didn’t you hear? The Hyland army just got back with a village’s worth of seraphim. If this keeps going on, and if they keep slaughtering them for their own gain, the seraphim won’t have anyone to cry for.”
Sorey listened while holding Mikleo close to him and thinking about Dezel. Rose was so adamant about keeping the seraphim company and helping them that he wasn’t even sure if she was just saying all that because she knew he was inside with two of them.
“I wish that girl would have just left me to die…” Dezel rasped.
The worn wind seraph sat up and held his head. He was more muscular than what Sorey was expecting, but at the same time he acknowledged that Mikleo had a small and delicate frame. He caught a glimpse of one of his eyes.
“Um, excuse me,” Sorey sheepishly asked. “Are you blind?”
“So the kid finally speaks. Yes, I am, but I’m still capable of perceiving the world around me…even in this weakened state.”
“A-Ah, no, I don’t want to hurt you. Rose was talking about taking you to a seraph doctor and brought us along since Mikleo is sick like you.”
“I thought I sensed another seraph. Water? Hmm, if Rose wants us to get better, she better hurry up then. Water seraphim are particularly vulnerable to the malevolence, and the Viruses that develop in them are some of the worst kind.”
Sorey’s heart skipped a beat. He frantically pushed the boxes out of the way to get out, and when he was free, he found that the caravan had been parked near an inn. Eguille had just come out to move the caravan, but seeing that one of the caravan’s guests was so eager to get out of it, he just sighed and turned around.
“Wait, Eguille!” he called out to him.
“What is it?” Eguille coldly asked.
“Mikleo! Is he going to be okay?!”
Eguille glared at him. Talking about his seraph out in the open was a good way to get killed and get them kidnapped. Simply saying names wasn’t bad, but if anyone was going to get sick from the malevolence, it was going to be a seraph.
Rose came out of the inn with the twins at her heels. She told Sorey to get back into the caravan since they were about to drive to the doctor’s home. Sorey did as he was told.
The ride was especially rocky up the stairs to the marketplace in front of a large sanctuary. Ladylake had no proper ramps for the vehicles, so they had to take their time and go at it slowly. They then got passage into the nobles’ district, where there were a few bends around the walls and canals that brought the caravan to a screeching halt in front of a large mansion with a marble patio. Verdant grass and trees lined the yard along the walls until the wall that held the gate that served as the entrance to the property.
Sorey waited for Eguille to pull the box out before sliding through the opening out into the open. He was surprised to find that even though they were in the nobles’ district, there were no guards. He found a few particularly scholarly-looking men dressed in ornate robes, and he wanted to ask them so many questions.
“Kid, hold onto your friend and stay at the front of the caravan,” Eguille commanded. “We’re in a nest of greedy people; take care that your friend isn’t seen.”
“But if I stand at the front, wouldn’t the person living in that mansion see us?” Sorey asked, thoroughly confused.
“It’s fine.”
Eguille then help Rose pull Dezel out, using the utmost care for the wind seraph almost like he was afraid to cause the slightest discomfort. If the young brunet had to guess, there was probably some time that Eguille had been rough with Dezel, and Rose wasn’t exactly pleased with him.
Sorey took solace in that there were people that cared about the seraphim and didn’t abuse them. Just like he loved Mikleo, he sensed that Rose had a deep love for Dezel. She was like a little girl with her favorite kitten. His exchange with the blind seraph during the ride, though, suggested that Dezel didn’t feel the same. He wanted to die when she found him. It was understandable given the current state of the world, but he at least wanted to believe that there was even a fragment of hope in him that he would want to help heal the world. But aside from his outlook on life and purpose, he seemed different from Mikleo. He had read in the earlier chapter of the Celestial Record that there was a marked difference in seraphim depending on where they live and therefore which Tower they could connect to.
The Hyland area, which encompassed everything from Elysia to a place called the Glaivend Basin, connected to Eolia. Sorey remembered the relative position of Eolia because Elysia lie in the east of Ladylake. Eolia, Elysia, East. As such, Mikleo and the other seraphim were affiliated with Tower Eolia while the area around the second-poorest city on the Glenwood Continent called Lohgrin was connected to Tilia. The Rolance area was governed solely by Tower Frelia, and if he remembered correctly, Tower Frelia had a different dialect for Hymmnos. He had never heard what it sounded like, but he was immensely interested in learning what it sounded like.
The more he thought about it, the more he was eager to acquire the knowledge he required to fully understand Mikleo’s problem. If he could just ask Dezel to sing Hymmnos for him and compare it to the Hymmnos that Mikleo knew, would he be able to uncover why he couldn’t use his Song Magic?
“Alright, let’s get this done quickly,” Rose sighed. She had dressed and now was singlehandedly carrying Dezel on her back despite him being significantly taller than her. Upon closer inspection, she was tiring easily. “The sooner we can get these guys fixed up, the less likely she’ll be found out.”
“You keep saying ‘she’, but who is ‘she’?” Sorey asked.
Rose and Eguille took the lead into the mansion while the orange-haired twins stayed with the caravan. Sorey was somewhat alarmed that they wouldn’t answer him, but he attributed it to urgency of the situation. He followed after them with Mikleo curling in his arms.
The inside of the mansion was less extravagant as if the proprietor was more concerned about the functionality of things rather than the aesthetic. There were still a few ornamented decorations, but they didn’t follow a single style. They had to have been gifts reflecting the tastes of whoever had gave them to the owner.
Rose and Eguille walked to the salon. Clearly it wasn’t their first time in the mansion since they knew exactly where to go. They placed Dezel on the ivory-embroidered couch then waited in silence. Sorey continued to hold Mikleo knowing that it would make him feel safer in such an unfamiliar place. Or perhaps it made Sorey feel better. Mikleo wasn’t necessarily a timid person, but he didn’t want to take any chances in the corrupted lands of the humans.
“Shouldn’t we announce that we’re here?” he asked after a couple minutes of not doing anything but reestablishing his grip on his friend.
“Her seraphic friend does fortune-telling, so we have to stay quiet so we don’t interrupt her,” Rose explained.
“Rose,” Dezel uttered. She turned to him with concern. “We don’t have to be here. It’s worse this time; we shouldn’t make Lailah waste her energy.”
“Nonsense!” Rose happily said. “Lailah’s fire will get rid of that malevolence! Just…just have faith, okay?”
There was a change in atmosphere suddenly. Undoubtedly, malevolence had been seeping into the mansion, but it felt like it had been wrapped up in a tarp and thrown away outside. Was this Lailah’s doing?
Dezel regained enough strength to sit up on the couch while Mikleo woke up positively confused about where he was. He looked up at Sorey, who was overjoyed that he was conscious again. Before Sorey could explain anything from where they had reached to his theories about Rose and Dezel and Eguille, a chipper voice sang from the hall:
“Welcome, welcome! I’m so glad you could finally make it!”
A seraph wearing blood-red and snow-white elegantly emerged from the deeper recesses of the mansion. Her long ponytail swayed gently behind her, the ends of it colored reddish-pink like how Mikleo’s ends were cerulean and Dezel’s were peridot. Her jade eyes were smiling at them; Sorey couldn’t remember the last time he saw a seraph so happy. He also wondered if her fortune-telling had foretold of their arrival.
“Lailah, it’s been so long!” Rose greeted with the same amount of cheer. “How have you been? Have the Hyland knights been nice to you?”
“Of course! Princess Alisha makes sure that they never touch me,” Lailah answered. “I’m truly in her debt. Ever since she saved me when she was a small child, she has guarded me from them.”
After Lailah was finished catching up with Rose, she turned her attention to Dezel and even though her face remained unchanged, the curious brunet sensed she felt uneasy. Was she nervous that he was there? Did she even notice him? Perhaps she was more anxious because of the level of malevolence in the wind seraph.
“Do you really have to be that grumpy that your Squire has brought you to me?” she finally asked.
“I’ve been ‘grumpy’ for the last twelve years,” Dezel grumbled. “She’d have avoided all this trouble if she’d just minded her own damn business.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t ask to be rescued, and I’m certainly not asking for it now.”
Another young woman walked into the room carrying a tray of cookies and brownies and other baked sweets. Her blonde hair was pulled into a coiling side-ponytail and she had a peace lily pinned into the tie. Her armor and underlying attire was similar to that of the guards albeit had pinks and whites, and the knee guards were made of obsidian glass—a rare material forced from crystallized malevolence. For her to have that, she had to have been a strong person. Her eyes, however, were the same as Lailah’s in that they were kind and welcoming. She seemed to be a trustworthy person, especially if she was the one that Lailah had been talking about.
Eguille neatened him goatee and smoothed his hair. “Pardon us for not looking respectable, Princess,” he apologized.
“P-Princess?!” Sorey blurted out in surprise. “The underground seraphim doctor is a princess?!”
Rose punched him in the head. “Keep your voice down!” she whispered. “Do you want her to get in trouble?”
According to Rose and Lailah, Princess Alisha Diphda of the Hyland Kingdom was the one that had protected the fire seraph from the guards and priests. An upstanding girl, she had taken it upon herself to see that seraphim were treated justly. She offered her home to stray ones in the city and prayed to Lailah to help them. Occasionally, she managed to sneak them out of Ladylake all together, urging them to remain hidden and not to lose hope that one day they would be safe again.
“It’s really okay,” Alisha laughed. “Even if the priests and guards and Chancellor Bartlow were to find out about me, I’d still have it in my power to intimidate them. But enough about that; let’s see about Dezel and…?” She pointed at the water seraph.
“M-Mikleo,” Sorey bashfully answered. To think he would be in the company of a princess!
“Lailah, please do your best.”
The beautiful fire seraph nodded reassuringly. She pulled two slips of paper from her sleeves, and on them were scribbles that could only be taken as spells. She placed one on Dezel’s chest and the other on Mikleo’s. Standing in the center of the room, the scribbles appeared on the floor, encircling her and glowing with a warm sun-like light.
“Be led not into temptation but delivered from evil,” Lailah started. The incantation caused the inscriptions on the floor to glow brighter, the scribbles on her papers mimicking the augmentation of the light. “Let the purifying flames drive out the malevolence.”
Golden flames burnt the paper, wisps of black puffing out in clouds before also burning away. Dezel sat up as instructed by Lailah, and he reluctantly thanked her for her service. Mikleo shifted in Sorey’s arms before asking why he had ashes on his chest. When he learned that he had been temporarily purified. Strangely enough, though, it wasn’t Song Magic. It was a regular Seraphic Arte or perhaps something even deeper than that.
“Was that an Arte?” Mikleo asked. He was thoroughly intrigued by the power she had used on him.
“It’s more of a latent ability. Princess Alisha helped me develop it by Diving into me. Have you Dove into your seraph friend before?” She directed the question at Sorey, who was puzzled by what she meant. “I take it you haven’t.”
“Basically, Diving is a process of building trust, and building trust allows a seraph to develop latent abilities like Silver Flame,” Alisha explained. She pulled out her copy of the Celestial Record. “The only way it can work, though, is if the seraph gives permission. According to the Celestial Record—”
“You have one, too?” Sorey sheepishly inquired.
“Don’t interrupt,” Mikleo pouted. “This could help me.”
“According to the Celestial Record, Diving can only be performed by a human that has established a bond with a seraph. If a seraph were to Dive into another seraph, chances are that both would die. It also says that by Diving, the seraph’s abilities increase exponentially. Ooh, here’s an extra tidbit: The contents of the Dive session must stay between the seraph and the human in the bond.”
Mikleo’s once dull violet eyes brightened with hope as he quickly turned to Sorey and took up his hands. “We need to Dive!” he earnestly said. “Maybe something inside me is wrong, and that’s why I can’t connect!”
Sorey wasn’t sure; he was scared that by Diving, he would hurt Mikleo. It was undeniable that the method would open up a few opportunities to explore his mind, but at what cost? Not to mention, Diving sounded like a rather intimate process. And it was. Alisha explained that the first time she Dove into Lailah, she was only a blossoming teenager. There were rough patches in her soul that were vulnerable to infections by the malevolence, but over the years they had worked together to seal them up and awaken her abilities. Having going through to the very last level of her soul, Alisha was also able to Armatize, or literally become one with Lailah.
The more Alisha explained, more agitated Rose got despite already having known her for a long time. At the end of the day, the seraph doctor was no better than humans—treating the seraphim like systems to be manipulated. She was receiving a free service, so she bit her tongue.
“What about seraphim connected to Rolance’s Tower, Frelia?” she asked. “Does Diving work with them?”
“Of course, but there might be slight differences considering that seraphim that connect to Frelia use a different type of Hymmnos,” Lailah explained.
Sorey and Mikleo were lost once again. They knew that Hyland was under the effect of Eolia and Rolance was under Frelia, but did that really matter? He knew Frelia’s Tower could only be accessed by a different type of Hymmnos, but it was in fact a different dialect called the New Testament of Pastalie. When asked to give them an example, Dezel curtly replied:
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” Sorey asked.
“We’re not in range of the Frelia Tower, so my Song Magic is effectively useless here.”
“What about your Seraphic Artes?”
“Intrinsic abilities aren’t affected by the Towers.”
Rose thought that perhaps by Diving into Dezel, she could find a way for him to use the other two Towers. Dezel was against it, and he refused to give any sort of explanation.
Alisha offered Rose and Sorey a place to sleep, and while they accepted, the former ordered Eguille to move the caravan to avoid suspicion. That night, Sorey thought about all that he had learned.
He understood why Rolance and Hyland were different. Seraphim that had spent a lot of time in the Rolance area adapted to connect to Frelia whereas seraphim in the Hyland area were to connect to Eolia. But then how did they know which one was which? So late into the night, it didn’t matter much to Sorey as the idea of Diving into Mikleo. He would need his permission, but he wanted to help him discover himself. And, not lying to himself, he was quite curious to see what it was like inside of his soul.
Notes:
Long ass chapter. Time to put this one on hold for two weeks as I cry myself into nothingness as another hell week is on the way!
Chapter 4: Phase 1: Divine Artifacts
Summary:
The prospect of Diving becomes increasingly interesting to Sorey, Rose, and Mikleo. In fact, Mikleo is desperate to Dive as soon as possible, but to Dive, he was going to need a Divine Artifact.
Notes:
I learned that trying to write for a full 24 hours is probably a bad idea mainly because I'm mentally drained now. Unfortunately, there's no Hymmnos in this chapter, but let's hope there will be some in the next chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lailah and Alisha had woken up earlier than their guests the next morning to prepare breakfast for them. There were times when Lailah asked why Alisha didn’t have her servants prepare food, to which the princess replied that she would much rather make and eat pastries with her beloved seraph than have someone make food that didn’t have the same love in it.
“Alisha, you’re too kind!” Lailah responded every time.
This morning Lailah wanted to cook alone. Alisha complied since she was curious about Sorey and Rose, and it was obviously written on her face by her twinkling eyes when she became cognizant again and again that there were humans that sought to protect seraphim. She watched them both and made her observations into a small pocket journal she kept for strange phenomena.
First was Sorey. She inferred that he and Mikleo had a very close relationship, evidenced by the fact that they were sleeping together so closely that she would have thought them more as lovers instead of a human and a seraph. The water seraph looked serene without the perpetually serious furrow in his eyebrows to give him the appearance of stoic warrior. He nuzzled his face into Sorey’s chest periodically while sleeping. He must have found great comfort in him. Sorey’s arm draped over him and curled around his back. Alisha had to admit that for a pair of guys, it was quite odd to see them look so innocent; she couldn’t help but think that was what she and Lailah looked like when they slept together.
She moved onto to Rose.
Unlike Sorey and Mikleo, the red-haired merchant and her seraph had a very clear boundary in their relationship. A few pillows were separating her from Dezel, who wasn’t even lying down. In fact, all the pillows belonged to the cold wind seraph. He had propped himself against the headboard for the bed, and while that in itself was uncomfortable, he had the patience and diligence to put up with it if it meant that he didn’t have to be near Rose. Speaking of Rose, she looked much less ladylike than she did when she was awake. Her mouth was agape with drool trickling out. Snores erupted from her throat. She was hugging two of the four pillows put down by her seraph, and her left leg arched over the other two that were further down the bed. Her pillows had been thrown onto the floor, the comforter kicked to the edge of the bed. Her pajama shirt, offered by Lailah, was rolled up to slightly expose her bra. In sharp contrast, Dezel was fully clothed in his regular attire save for his hat being placed on the night stand next to him; his arms and legs were crossed.
Alisha finished her recordings, chuckling to herself as she imagined what their relationships were like on a normal day-to-day basis. The morning sun was trying to break through the curtains, which she pulled back after Lailah announced that breakfast would be done shortly. The pink linen curtains, embroidered with ruby red roses, were pulled apart. The light illuminated the room.
“Good morning, everyone,” she greeted.
Feeling the warmth of the sun on his face, Dezel roused. His arms were undoubtedly stiff, but it was nothing compared to the crick in his neck caused by leaning back against the headboard for the entire night. He looked beside him to find the monstrosity that was Rose next to him. It was just another thing that annoyed him about the girl—her unkempt sleeping position made her seem more like a harlot than a respectable merchant boss.
Sorey woke up, an air of grace around him as he shook Mikleo awake while chirping, “Mikleo, it’s time to get up.” His seraph lazily swatted him away.
“Five more minutes, Gramps…” he mumbled. He scooted in closer to Sorey, which made the latter blush a slight amount.
Dezel turned his head in their direction, sensing how close they were. He grimaced. “Geez, you two act like a newly-wedded couple. Get a separate room!”
“H-He’s always done this since we were kids!” Sorey sheepishly explained.
Alisha let out a laugh. “It’s fine, Sorey, it’s actually cute,” she told him. She asked everyone to go freshen up once Rose and Mikleo decided to wake up. “The menu for Ristorante di Diphda today is pastries and scotch eggs and fresh bacon with a side of seasonal fruit.”
After thanking her in advance for her hospitality, Sorey shook Mikleo again then pulled him to one of the bathrooms despite him feeling groggy and displeased his dream had been interrupted. Dezel reluctantly carried his human guardian after them.
As they strolled through the mansion, they took in everything around them. The walls were decorated with hand-painted insignias akin to those on vintage wall decorations. All the curtains were the same type as the dayroom where they had been sleeping, and white vases with tessellated reflective diamonds lined the halls, each of them having six faux pink cherry blossom branches in them. At the end of the hall was an even larger vase with tessellated mirror fragments and branches of yellow wisteria. Everything extravagant-looking in the mansion was gifted unto Alisha; whoever had given her the decorations knew exactly what colors would look absolutely perfect in her home. Then they came to a den where the curtains drawn and a large blade with red and gold accents lay on the table in the center of the room.
“Doesn’t that look like the Sacred Blade from the Celestial Record?” Mikleo asked. He stopped in front of the den. “Why would she have the Sacred Blade in her home?”
“We can ask her over breakfast,” Sorey suggested.
Dezel faced its direction with Rose in his arms. It didn’t take much to guess that it was something called a Divine Artifact because warm power wafting off of it. It was comforting, and he began to wonder for what purpose it would be in the princess’s possession.
After washing up and getting dressed, Sorey and Rose and their seraphim met with Alisha and Lailah in the dining room, where they also found platter upon platter of breakfast foods. Croissants, doughnuts, bacon, scotch eggs—all sorts of delicacies made their mouths water. There were three different teas and coffees to choose from.
“Y-You didn’t have to go to these lengths for us!” Mikleo stammered. In spite of the embarrassment brought on by all of the cooking, his stomach rumbled loudly.
“It’s no problem!” Lailah assured. “Sorey and Rose have our eternal gratitude. To have others that believe the same thing as Alisha believes is a relief. Consider it a token of our appreciation.”
Everyone took their seats around the table, grabbing their plates and piling food onto them with no restrain except for Lailah. She only took a raspberry tart. She explained that seraphim weren’t required to eat but do for the pleasure that eating gives. She eyed Mikleo’s plate and told him that as long as he didn’t worry about gaining weight, he would remain slim. He automatically began to push some of his food onto Sorey’s plate, and the ditzy fire seraph apologized for telling him that. Dezel took one item at a time while Rose gobbled up whatever she could. Alisha was astonished even though she figured that merchants had to be famished when they got to their destinations.
When the majority of the food had been eaten, Sorey found his chance to ask about her den. “Why do you have the Sacred Blade here? Shouldn’t it be somewhere safer?” he carefully asked.
“I’m glad you brought that up,” Alisha said. “Remember yesterday when Lailah brought up Diving? Well, items like the Sacred Blade are called Divine Artifacts, which are infused with the energy that seraphim use for their Seraphic Artes. They serve as their vessels.”
The acquisition of Divine Artifacts allowed a seraph and a human to armatize, in which they physically became one body and share a mind. The fusion paved the way from a human consciousness to a seraph’s soul, and through this, the human could witness the seraph’s true feelings. Each seraph had a specific element, and each element had a specific type of Divine Artifact. Since Lailah had claimed the Sacred Blade as hers, Alisha was allowed to use it to connect to her.
“I’ve actually already Dove with her a large number of times,” Alisha concluded. “I wish I could show you, but that would be a breach of her privacy.”
Mikleo sucked the honey off of a spoon he had used to spread the viscous sweet on a piece of toast. He was fighting the urge to demand they go find him a Divine Artifact right now mainly because he knew someone would tell him to stay quiet. But if an ancient relic such as the Sacred Blade could be used as a vessel to establish a link between him and Sorey, he wanted to try it as soon as possible. After all, his inability to sing might lie in his soul.
“If you and Lailah have Dove together, then you two must be really close!” Rose said.
“It’s a product of Diving,” Lailah said, blushing behind her tarot papers.
“Dezel, I bet if you let me Dive with you, you’ll stop being such a sourpuss all the time!”
“Not happening,” Dezel declined.
Sorey laughed then looked over at Mikleo, who was growing more and more uncomfortable as the conversations about Diving progressed. He placed his hand on his knee, worried that he was feeling sick again from the malevolence even though the mansion was completely purified. The water seraph didn’t say anything to indicate that he felt odd but left the table unannounced. His best friend followed after him to the bathroom out of concern.
“What’s wrong?” Sorey asked him, but Mikleo refused to look at him. “You can talk to me, you know.”
“I…I want to Dive with you,” Mikleo mumbled. “But we don’t have a Divine Artifact for me. I think if we can Dive, I’ll finally be able to sing.” He took a step towards him and held his hands, swinging them from side to side.
“Once we finish breakfast, we can ask Alisha where we can find one for you. Then we can Dive and solve this problem.”
He held his face, pushing his forehead to his before remembering that Mikleo was wearing a circlet he had had since his infancy. Such a behavior had become his method to cheering him up when he was far too upset to use the pinched cheeks method. Unlike pinching his cheeks, Mikleo never protested being so close to him, and it made him feel like nothing could go wrong. After a few more seconds standing like that so that he was composed, they returned to the table. Everyone had finished their food.
“Oh? You two look happy,” Rose teased.
“Because we reached an agreement on something,” Sorey truthfully said. “Alisha, Lailah, do you know where we can find an Artifact for Mikleo?”
The hostesses exchanged excited looks. When Alisha was younger and had demanded that she venture out of the city, she and Lailah went all over Lakehaven Heights just to see what was out in the world they weren’t yet allowed to know. To the northwest from Ladylake were the burned buildings of Kylfe, and farther along that trail was a magnificent waterfall that they hoped they could explore one day. Then, past that waterfall and hidden behind a rocky hill was the entrance to ruin, a trove of treasure and discovery. Lailah back then had felt a faint coolness similar to the warmth on her Blade coming from the depths of the ruins. She hoped it was still there.
Rose and Dezel had their caravan to return to, and as much as they wanted to see what Mikleo’s future Divine Artifact was, they had to get moving before the guards in the city got suspicious. Once Eguille had brought the caravan back to Alisha’s mansion and Dezel was tucked away inside, Rose bid her farewells and left for the next city.
While Alisha and Sorey prepared to go, Lailah beckoned Mikleo over into an isolated corner to ask, “Do you and Sorey have a pact?”
“A pact?” Mikleo whispered.
“A pact is a special connection that can’t be easily broken between a human and a seraph.”
“Oh, we’ve read about this in the Celestial Record!”
According to the Celestial Record, pacts used to be common between humans in the past. They were platonic, and they symbolized a group’s unity when faced with problems like death or even just a bad harvest. Eventually pacts grew to mean a more intimate connection between just two people. When humans became corrupted and lost the ability to use Hymmnos, they decided that pacts were no longer necessary. They held weddings instead and pledged to love each other, but lust often sullied relationships. It was saddening to think that humans now couldn’t even value a symbolic gesture, much less one that spiritually connected their souls. But a pact between a seraph and a human was special because it made use of the spiritual connection; in fact, this was required to Dive in addition to the Divine Artifact. A pact augmented a seraph’s power, allowing for the Armatization that was to be performed when Diving. Mikleo hadn’t thought of the pact as anything intimate when he first learned about it, but as long as it was Sorey, he didn’t mind if it was intimate or not. After all, they had already seen each other naked since as far as they could remember. There was nothing to hide between them; a pact wouldn’t be any different than now. Mikleo implored her to tell him how to make a pact with Sorey.
“It’s simple. When we find your Divine Artifact, both of you need to touch it, and Sorey will need to say your true name. Does he know it?”
“Lailah!” Alisha called.
“Mikleo, we’re leaving!” Sorey called as well.
The seraphim joined their partners, took their hands, and they were ready to go until Sorey stopped right at the door. He had smuggled Mikleo into the city; how were they going get him out? Alisha promised that nothing bad would happen to him once she realized that they had come in secretly. If she could scare the guards away from touching Lailah, then she could surely protect the water seraph.
They strolled along through the nobles’ district into the main square where the majority of the guards were. Here they found seraphim working like humans with the single exception that they were forced to use Hymmnos every waking minute to complete their orders. Mikleo watched them in fear; they were toppling over from exhaustion, but the guards made them continue their work. If he was ever caught, would he be run into the ground like this? And how could Lailah and Alisha just ignore all this? The truth was, as they would learn once they left Ladylake, that to keep Lailah safe, Alisha wasn’t allowed to make a fuss about the thousands of seraphim being overworked in her city. To compensate for a powerful seraph living a life of grandeur, every other seraph was to work twice as hard.
Mikleo tightly gripped onto Sorey when a guard approached him and tried to pry him off him arm. “What do you think you’re doing, seraph? You’re supposed to be working!” he growled.
“Leave him be,” Alisha ordered. Her voice had lost all the niceness and innocence that had been there since meeting her only to be replaced with the authoritative tone she needed to keep the guards at bay. “If you touch him again, I’ll order your release from the army.”
“Oh yeah?”
Alisha drew her spear, aiming at the guard’s neck. A terrifying amount of bloodlust was in her eyes. “Back off.”
The guard instantly let the seraph go, and so did the other guards they encountered who had taken him to be an escapee until they were outside of Ladylake and across its bridge out into the open lands of Lakehaven Heights.
“Now we just have to go around this hill and we’ll be at the Galahad Ruins,” Lailah said as cheerfully as possible. She pulled Mikleo along happily as if she had seen her first fellow seraph ever. The water seraph thought it was childish to be frolicking in a grey world, but he thought that entertaining her would at least have its merits at some point.
Alisha and Sorey followed a few paces behind talking about this and that in the Celestial Record before the former got curious. “Mikleo really wants you to Dive into him, doesn’t he?” she asked. Sorey nodded. “I’ve noticed that when seraphim find someone they can place complete trust in, they become very eager to serve them. When Lailah was being mistreated back then, I help her even though I was young—too young to provide any legislation yet old enough to know that she was in pain. Since then, she’s always wanted to be with me and help me. I wonder, is it the same for you? You and Mikleo are so close; is it because you helped him?”
“We were raised together and…” Sorey’s voice trailed off. It wasn’t in his jurisdiction to tell Alisha about his disability. But she pressed him. “Mikleo…isn’t able to use Song Magic. No matter what he sings, it doesn’t work.”
Alisha reasoned that this was because they hadn’t Dove yet even though they fostered a deep enough relationship. It was simply a kink that they could work out by facilitating a look into his soul.
They passed Kylfe and the waterfall, coming to the entrance of the Galahad Ruins that ran deep underground. Mikleo joined Sorey’s side as he leafed through his trusty book about these ruins. They gawked and gaped until Alisha and Lailah pushed them to go down. They wanted to go there in the first place.
The Galahad Ruins were dimly lit and musty. Webs of malevolence that were impervious to Alisha and Sorey’s weapons blocked the way, but they were no match for Lailah’s Silver Flame. Whenever they encountered a hellion, it was up to the three of them to weaken it before Lailah purified it. They soon came to an empty altar after finding their way through the winding ruins.
“I thought so,” Lailah said.
The presence she had sensed when they first found the ruins, she inferred, was related to the Divine Artifact that had been on the altar. Someone had come in and taken it, and she had a hunch that it was gone when that presence of the power was absent. It was deeper in the ruins, but an evil aura surrounded it.
“So we’ll have to be careful then,” Mikleo sighed. “Hellion or not, I’m going to get that Divine Artifact! I’m going to make a pact with you, Sorey, and we’re going to fix why I can’t use Song Magic!”
“Yes, yes, but there’s not need to get so dramatic,” Sorey giggled. In reality, he was glad that Mikleo was raring to fight. It meant that he was feeling better, more confident in his ability.
With his heart set on paving the way to become a seraph useful to the one he was so deeply linked to, Mikleo led them deeper into the ruins. Sorey followed him, then Alisha, and then Lailah.
Notes:
Apologies if this chapter doesn't quite match the past ones, but hopefully the method to Dive makes a little more sense. When you have newscasters going nuts over a hurricane, it's kind of hard to concentrate.
Chapter 5: Phase 1: Opening a New World
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 1: Mikleo
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
The story surrounding the soul spaces of the seraphim will follow the individual stories of the Reyvateils (because that's the kind of crossover this is~) with some minor alterations so that they better fit the Zestiria characters; however, the stories will be mixtures of the Reyvateil stories depending on the issue at hand (for example, Mikleo's first level seemed to fit better following Finnel's first level, but this doesn't mean that the next level will also follow Finnel's route). This is the first Level, so we'll see how this plays out. The pact is akin to the pact formed in Armatization save for the little bit of fanservice I threw in.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next couple hours played out as a sort of comedy show to Alisha and Lailah. Mikleo marched along through the Galahad Ruins to the deepest recesses with the look of a Kabuki warrior on his face. The intensity of his countenance as well as his exaggeratedly all-business gait was nothing short of hilarious to Sorey, who couldn’t stop laughing at the sight of his seraph friend’s serious-to-a-fault demeanor. It wasn’t really a surprise to him, though. He knew that whatever the Divine Artifact was, it was still going to end up in their hands primarily because Mikleo was steadfast in Diving.
Progressively, Mikleo lost the silly seriousness and focused his energy to actually putting down whoever it was that took the Divine Artifact. And considering that they had ended up on the second floor below the ruins, they were closing in on the thief. It wasn’t long before they came to a large door, and behind it they heard the dings of metal hitting the stone floor.
“Oh, it would seem that the thief trapped itself in this room,” Lailah happily said. She suddenly became grave. “The energy coming from it is a lot higher than I expected. Mikleo, are you sure you want to pursue this artifact? It could be dangerous.”
“Of course, I do! I want Sorey to Dive into me! I want to be able to use my Song Magic!” Mikleo yelled back at her. “I’m so sick of being useless. I refuse to be a waste!”
He hastily ran into the chamber where the thief was, bursting through the door raring to fight. The thief was, unsurprisingly, a hellion that resembled a human-sized centipede. It turned around with a white and gold bow in its pincers, and it was slowly trying to devour it. Mikleo summoned his staff; however, before he could even charge forward Lailah and Alisha in no time killed and purified the hellion. The bow felt to the ground with a clanking sound, leaving him dumbfounded that he couldn’t even destroy the one thing that was stopping him from achieving his current goal. He sank to his knees.
“Mikleo, are you okay?” Sorey asked him.
“I wanted to kill it,” he sniffled. “It was supposed to be my moment. I want to show you that I was strong.”
Sorey patted his head—partly because his seraph’s self-esteem had already taken so many blows—then addressed the situation at hand. He pulled his seraph along to where the bow had fallen. It was made of a rather strong, acid-resistant metal. White with gold and blue accents, it didn’t even have a scratch from the improper handling. Sorey picked it up, but it burned his hand, which forced him to recoil. It clanked against the stone ground.
“Ah yes, Divine Artifacts can only be touched by a seraph before you can use it to Dive. That way, humans can’t misuse it,” Lailah explained. A bit of late explanation, but now they knew.
“I remember when I first grabbed the Sacred Blade; Lailah, you almost cried when I showed you my hand,” Alisha laughed.
“That was a scary experience!”
Mikleo mulled it over. Basically, he had the ability to bestow unto Sorey the privilege of looking deep into his soul. It made him nervous because even he didn’t know what lie in his truest of feelings. What if they were so intense that Sorey was injured or handicapped? If his inner desires did something to him, he decided, he would sever the connection. He didn’t want him to get hurt. So with his resolve firmer than before to control his fate, he grabbed the bow’s leather grip. A flash of light encased him; a surge of power flowed through his veins. Strong like an ocean current, he let out a cry.
Sorey went to offer his help in bracing him against the rush, but Alisha stopped him. “If you interfere with him while he establishes his ownership, you could potentially lose your mind,” she cautioned. “It only lasts for a moment.”
“But he sounds like he’s in some horrible pain!”
“Sorey, please listen to Alisha. This is for your safety and Mikleo’s,” Lailah ordered.
Mikleo grew quiet, but he was still standing. When he looked back at Sorey, he was pale and looked more than just exhausted. The brunet worried that he was going to fall over and go into a coma, and he wasn’t wrong. After offering a triumphant but tired smile, Mikleo’s gaze blurred.
“M-Mikleo!” Sorey called out. He caught him before he hit his head. “Are you okay?! Hey, wake up!”
“He’ll most likely be asleep some hours. Alisha, what do you propose we do? Should we stay here or go back to your manor?” Lailah asked.
Alisha weighed the options. They would be safer in her home, but if her guards caught wind of them Diving, they would arrest the seraphim since they would be vulnerable to an ambush. If Mikleo and Sorey were interrupted during the Dive, both of them would face the possibility of death. But staying in the ruins to carry it out meant that Lailah and Alisha would have to stand guard until they were finished. Both options were unfavorable, but protecting them from hellions was a lot easier than protecting them from the guards.
Lailah got to work on making sweets for them to eat while they waited for Mikleo to wake up. Alisha stood by the entrance of the chamber, and Sorey allowed the incapacitated seraph to lay his head on his lap. The two girls glance at each other every so often, as if using telepathy to gossip about the boys’ relationship. The fire seraph waltzed over to her human when she finished the sweets, a mischievous smile curling on her lips.
“I’ve never seen such a connection besides us,” she whispered sweetly. “I almost want to see into Mikleo’s soul to get a glimpse of what’s in store for Sorey.”
“You know what’s in his soul,” Alisha slyly whispered back. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”
A few more hours passed. No hellions had wandered into the chamber. Mikleo opened his eyes to find that Sorey was still worriedly looking down at him. He rolled over then touched his forehead to the brunet’s, telling him easily not to look so sad.
“You must be accustomed to the new power inside of you,” Lailah said, forcing herself to pay no mind to that little gesture. She walked suspiciously away from Alisha. “U-Um, so are we ready to start your Dive?”
“Wait,” Mikleo said. “Sorey’s going to be alright, correct?”
“That depends on what your heart says about him. It’s not guaranteed that your mind and soul will accept him, but the Dive will end prematurely if that’s the case.” She instructed Mikleo to hold the bow in front of Sorey.
First Lailah verified their compatibility via trust. This was done by closing their eyes and concentrating on each other’s presence. The question to answer here was whether or not they could feel each other in their hearts and if there was any sort of emotion acquainted with the other’s image. Mikleo’s heart was aflutter, and Sorey’s heart began to quicken slightly; they reported their feelings to Lailah, whom allowed them to move onto the second phase. As instructed, Sorey held onto the bow that was still in Mikleo’s grip. The fire seraph asked Mikleo to repeat after her:
“Rrha ki erra crannidale dea chiess ture mean. My true name is…”
Mikleo looked into Sorey’s eyes. They leaned into each other for a chaste little kiss with Sorey breathing onto his lips, “Luzrov Rulay.”
The Sacred Bow shined brightly in their hands. Mikleo was engulfed in the light, manifesting a small blue orb that, in Sorey’s perspective, appeared as his seraph entering his body like a spirit. Sorey’s clothes transformed into a white suit that contoured to his form—muscles and all. Just like the Sacred Bow, the outfit had its share of gold and blue accents. Sorey’s hair grew long and turned golden blond, a single blue feather sticking out of his ponytail.
Sorey looked around. “Where did Mikleo go?” he asked Alisha and Lailah.
“Currently, he’s waiting inside of you for your soul to Dive into his,” Lailah explained since Alisha wouldn’t know the exact mechanizations of the process. “This is called Armatization. When you’ve successfully gone through each level of his soul, you’ll be able to use this for combat as a symbol that your bond is unbreakable.”
Sorey blushed intensely. “Y-You mean, Mikleo is inside of my body?! Oh, my God, this is embarrassing!”
“Sorey, stop it!” Mikleo begged. “If you keep getting flustered like this, I’ll have to de-Armatize! It makes everything feel…weird.”
Alisha and Lailah snickered childishly. They urged them to begin, so Sorey sat in front of a small fountain of water at the back of the chamber. With the bow in his lap, he straightened his posture. Inside his mind, he confronted a naked Mikleo. Somehow, even though they had been without clothes together before, it felt different. It didn’t feel like when they would take a bath together as children.
“Are you ready?” Sorey asked with uncertainty.
“G-Go ahead,” Mikleo sheepishly permitted.
Sorey approached Mikleo, and as he gently touched the center of his chest, light blinded him, transporting him to Mikleo’s soul space.
-------------
Sorey took a step forward into Mikleo’s soul space. Contrary to what he had thought a soul would entail, it was exceptionally dark with stone walls all around. A giant replica of the circlet the water seraph always wore was lodged between two of the walls like a statue or monument. There was an area dedicated to mysterious stone pillars, and they looked to be the only thing that fit with the general theme. From the stone pillars, other platforms were present, and they seemed to be connected by invisible pathways that were only seen when the light from the jewel on the circlet hit them just right.
“This is Mikleo’s soul?” Sorey asked himself. “I’d have thought it was a little livelier. This is just depressing.”
“How dare you insult my master’s soul!” a squeaky voice came. A small creature colored blue and wearing a beret with a water drop on it waddled up. It looked like a combination of a bunny and a bear and a human that Sorey wasn’t sure what to think of it. He certainly didn’t intend to hurt its feelings. It rudely asked, “And just who are you?”
“I’m Sorey,” the brunet replied.
“The Sorey?! O-M-G! Forgive me, my lord! I didn’t recognize you!”
“You are forgiven?”
“My name is Gaine. I’m Mikleo’s mind guardian, but you can refer to me as Mr. Normin.”
Gaine continued on with an explanation of what precisely it did. Mind guardians were exactly what their titles described. They protected the mind, and therefore the soul, of the seraph from intruders. Occasionally they manifested in the real world, but the secret in that was for another time. If Sorey did anything bad to the soul space, it was allowed to kick him out and force the two of them to de-Armatize. It was only a little painful similar to slowly peeling off a bandage. If there was considerable damage, though, Gaine was allowed to kill him as an intruder.
“Got it memorized? You do anything wrong here, and it just might be curtains for you,” Gaine finished. Sorey vowed to comply with the rules of Mikleo’s soul. He asked that it take him to wherever Mikleo was, but he refused. “I’m not your personal servant. You go find him yourself.” And then he waddled away much to his chagrin.
Left to his own devices, Sorey began his search for his friend, and he figured that it would be best to check out the other platforms to get a feel for the place. The first one with the stone pillars was called Stonehenge. Here was the site that the human could advance to the next level of the seraph’s soul, which was called a Paradigm Shift. The only way to initiate a Paradigm Shift was to solve whatever problem was present on the level, and that wasn’t particularly easy. The Stonehenge served as the entry point into the soul as well. If it were to be destroyed, spiritual maturation was cease. In fact, the entire soul would collapse.
The next closest platform simply had a pair of shackles. The third had a sea of thumbtacks all over the floor. Finally, the fourth platform had a large jail cell. All of these things seemed very off-kilter for someone who had a little more reservation in him than the brunet. Then he noticed that there was someone in the cell, and it just wasn’t anyone but Mikleo himself.
Sorey ran towards it with the hope of seeing his friend and asking what he thought about the Armatization. But when he approached the cell, he found that he looked sick, deathly ill even.
“Mikleo? Hey, Mikleo!” he called out.
Mikleo pushed himself up but fell back down. Accepting that he just didn’t have the strength to properly stand up, he rolled onto his back and looked at him by extending his neck back so that his fluted bangs flopped over to reveal his circlet. “Sorey? Is that you?” he timidly asked. “Please help me! I’m so thirsty that I’m afraid I’m going to die.”
It was somewhat confusing why a water seraph would be thirsty. He could easily make water appear with his powers unless he was devoid of all power in his own soul space. Whatever the case, Sorey had to help him. After reassuring him that he would bring back something for him, he left the platform with the jail cell.
“Gaine! I mean, Mr. Normin! I need your help!” he called out. The little mind guardian waddled up a few minutes later looking positively upset that it was addressed so casually, but its visitor didn’t pay it any mind. “Where can I find some water?”
Gaine crossed his nubby arms. “Oh, you want help? Hmph, maybe you should have thought about that before calling me ‘Gaine’! But fine, if I don’t guide you, you’ll probably end up doing something stupid.” Reluctantly, it brought him to the platform that was covered in thumbtacks then pointed at a single glass of cold, refreshing water on the other side.
“There it is,” Gaine said with something of a smug tone.
“But the thumbtacks…this is really dangerous!” Sorey said.
“You sure about that? You haven’t taken a step yet. Honestly, what does he see in you?”
That question was taken as a challenge. Sorey wasn’t going to let Mikleo down because he was afraid of getting a bunch of tacks getting stuck in the soles of his boots. He dashed across, realizing halfway that they weren’t even real. He was somewhat humiliated but not as much as he was glad to get the glass for him. He carefully walked about so that he wouldn’t drop too much of the precious liquid. He was curious though about the shackles on the second platform. Gaine warned him that if he ventured over there, he would be trapped forever in the soul space. It wasn’t really a bad thing, but there were other things to do both here and in the real world.
As he walked on, he heard another voice.
“Where do you think you’re going with my water?” it asked.
It had a similar voice to Gaine yet it was slightly deeper. When Sorey turned around to get a look at the owner, somehow he wasn’t surprised to find another creature like Gaine marching right behind him. In fact, it was identical to it.
“Gaine?”
“Gaine?! Excuse you, mister, but I’m Acqua! And that’s my water!”
Gaine stepped in. “Relax, Acqua, this guy here is that one guy that Mikleo gets all nervous about.”
“Seriously? He could’ve done better instead of picking up a water-stealer.”
Sorey was thoroughly confused. There was nothing he could do about this altercation, so he proceeded to the jail cell without them with the hope that Acqua really wouldn’t mind if he was giving the water to the water seraph. As luck would have it, however, Acqua lunged at him and started to throw a tantrum on his head.
“Are all mind guardians like this?” he asked Gaine while shielding his head.
“Acqua here is just a regular Normin. Its got the ability to add a water attribute to Song Magic.”
“And I refuse to work for no-good thieves like you!” Acqua cried.
Sorey picked it off his head, gentle sat it on the ground, and explained that it was imperative that he take the water. He told it about Mikleo and how he was severely thirsty. Acqua teared up before pleading to go see the poor imprisoned seraph, and who was Sorey to deny him that? He allowed the Normin on his shoulder then made his way to the jail cell.
Mikleo was whining now from the general discomfort of not having anything to drink. Even the sight of his human didn’t make him feel better. Perhaps it was because there was no obvious door on the jail cell that would open for him to get the gift. How was he going to get the water?
Acqua out of the blue snatched the glass, ran it through the bars of the jail cell, and handed him the water as if presenting a crown. Mikleo was beside himself.
“Thank you, Sorey! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he joyously cried.
He raised the glass to his lips, but before he could even taste it, Gaine bounced through the cell and knocked it out of his hand. The glass shattered next to him, its content soaking into the stone ground.
“Mikleo, you should really be more careful!” Gaine chastised.
The poor, thirsty water seraph whimpered.
“Sorey went through all that trouble to get you something to drink, and you just drop it. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Again, Sorey was confused. Or was he disillusioned by the display? Mikleo turned to him with tears in his eyes.
“I-I’m sorry…I can…I can still drink it,” he sniffled. He got on his hands and knees, pausing for a short moment, then began to lick the spots where the water had percolated into the stone.
“What do you say when someone gives you something?” Gaine berated.
“T-Thank you, Sorey. I feel a lot better.”
Sorey couldn’t believe his eyes. Mikleo was being so submissive, and Gaine—a mind guardian—was treating him like a slave. He wasn’t one to get angry easily, but he couldn’t stand the scene taking place before him. He stomped up to the jail cell, ordering the seraph:
“Mikleo, stop that right now!”
Mikleo flinched at his voice then stared at the barely visible spots where the water was drying. Gaine jumped on his white and blue head. “What’s the big idea?! Can’t you see he’s enjoying the water that you brought for him?” he yelled back.
“This isn’t right!” Sorey protested. “I thought you were supposed to be his friend, but you’re just a bully! Friends don’t treat each other like garbage! Let Mikleo go!”
He tried to spread the bars apart, but they wouldn’t budge; they weren’t going to since they were made of steel and Mikleo’s feelings of inadequacy. He didn’t understand why he was so meek. It was like when he was younger—how he thought he was useless because he couldn’t use Song Magic. If he had been living with those thoughts for the entirety of his life, would that mean that these feelings permeated to the lower levels of his soul? If things were already as intense as they were now, what would the lower levels be like? No, he had to break this habit of constantly thinking himself as a lower lifeform. He wasn’t going to stand for someone—even his mind guardian—to abuse him like this! He mustered as much strength as he could to pull the bars apart, and seeing Sorey try so hard to get inside to protect him, Mikleo teared up. The bars finally bent under the pressure, allowing the brunet to run into the cell and push Gaine off of Mikleo. Acqua, who was equally displeased with Gaine’s treatment of their master, joined his side.
“Gaine, I know you were chosen as the mind guardian, but you can’t treat our master like this,” Acqua reasoned. It conjured up more water for Mikleo in the shape of a ball for him to ingest, yet the water seraph seemed too frightened to do so. “It’s alright, Gaine won’t mess this up.”
“Man, you two are a pair of goody two-shoes,” Gaine pouted as he watched the seraph sip the ball of water.
Sorey pulled Mikleo up so that he was standing. After offering him a confident smile and dusting off his clothes and hands, he found that the water seraph was burying his face into his chest with tears of joy spilling from his amethyst eyes. Once again, it was quite different than what he was expecting from his usually calm and collected friend.
“M-Mikleo, d-don’t cry!” he stammered.
“How can I not? I’m just really happy that you saved me!” he smiled. The water seraph picked up Acqua. “And thank you, Acqua, for helping Sorey.”
Acqua saluted before disappearing into a shower of light over him. A new power flowed through him, and he acquired the ability to use water-based Song Magic. Once he absorbed Acqua into him, he felt faint. Sorey steadied him.
“Let’s just go to the Stonehenge,” Gaine grumbled.
It guided them to the stone pillars on the first platform. Sorey and Mikleo held each other’s hand while walking even though Mikleo was uncomfortable with it. Perhaps he was mortified from acting like a damsel in distress. He had to show that he was capable of being strong. Now that he was out of his cage, he felt like he could finally spread his wings and use Hymmnos the way it was meant to be used.
Arriving at the Stonehenge, where the stone pillars were glowing brightly and a portal of light was open. Gaine crossed its arms as it sat on one of the pillars.
“I’m amazed that you were able to complete the first level, but don’t think it’s always going to be easy,” it lectured. “Think of this level as a test. This was your only chance for you two to get accustomed to each other’s souls. From here on out, things are going to get tougher. Are you prepared?”
Mikleo stared at Sorey for a few minutes then answered, “As long as Sorey is here, I can do anything.”
“It’s the same for me,” Sorey added. “As long as Mikleo is by my side, there’s nothing that can stand in my way.”
The water seraph stepped to the edge of the light then turned around. The light created a halo effect around him, and Sorey blushed a little. It was rather majestic, both unfitting and perfect for him.
“Sorey, thank you for Diving into me,” Mikleo sweetly said. The honesty in his voice made his human want to tear up, but Sorey knew that now wasn’t the time for tearful goodbyes. After all, it wasn’t like he was really going away. “When we wake up, you’ll have to tell me all about it.”
Mikleo faced the light, stepped in gracefully, then oriented toward Gaine. His mind guardian prepared to send him off. Before the passage to the next level, he asked him to sing to prove his new power. Mikleo opened his mouth, and with the confidence obtained from the resolution of his plight, he chanted out:
“Was granme ra grandus dea mea jouee yasra lonfa yor.”
He disappeared. In his place was a small trail of specks of light. Sorey was glad to know that Mikleo had found happiness in the darkness of his soul. Before he knew it, he was transported out of the soul space.
-------------
They were still Armatized, but it felt like they had separate minds again. Mikleo deactivated the Divine Artifact, emerged from within him like a butterfly coming out of its chrysalis, and hugged him from behind. Lailah and Alisha had fallen asleep together waiting for the Dive to finish after only two hellions wandered near to the entrance of the chamber, and he couldn’t be happier with that.
“That was amazing! I’ve never felt so liberated!” Mikleo happily said. “What was it like? What did you see?”
Sorey didn’t discuss the finer details for fear of the girls waking up and hearing about it. He couldn’t look him in the eye, though—not after seeing him lick the ground like a pitiful dog. Even remembering the image made him feel like he was responsible for the humiliation that he would never consciously know. Therefore he simply told him that he was having trouble and that he was able to help.
“Oh, do you feel any different? Like you can sing now?” he asked him.
“I feel something.” Mikleo placed his hand on his chest. “But I want to wait for a battle to see how strong it is.”
It pleased Sorey to know that he had managed to make him feel better about himself, and the fact that he should be able to use Song Magic in addition to his Seraphic Artes now excited him. He couldn’t wait to see his power. Sorey was going to congratulate him when he suddenly felt very light-headed. His vision blurred and everything went dark. Mikleo’s voice slowly tuned out from his ears, and soon he couldn’t feel anything at all.
Notes:
I finally figured out how to use the query processor on Hymmnoserver, which means I think I have a pretty good grasp on the grammar now! :D Depending on how the story goes from here with the first Dive, the rating might go higher.
Chapter 6: Phase 1: The Consequence of Forming a Pact
Summary:
Diving takes a toll on Sorey, and Ladylake is too far to carry him all the way back. Resting in the abandoned village of Kylfe, Mikleo witnesses the hatred of the Hyland guards.
Notes:
So I've given it some thought, and I think the way I handled Mikleo's first Dive was sub-par. So instead of inserting the Zestiria characters into the stories of the Reyvateil soul spaces, I'm just going to take the general conflict and play with them. Yeah.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mikleo panicked when Sorey fell unconscious. He thought that by Diving into his soul, he had picked up some otherworldly cold or disease. He was ready to sever the connection between them and terminate the pact, and he would have if Lailah and Alisha didn’t speak to him first.
Alisha told him that it was normal for him to have fainted. When a human formed a pact with a seraph, as she had learned from her experience, the power that came with it was overwhelming to the body. The pact, which connected the seraphic soul and the human soul, allowed the two involved to help dilute the malevolence in either one should they accumulate any. In exchange, the human would suffer a few minor deficits such as a very high fever, sleep deprivation, and slight blindness. There were cases that caused the human to become fatigued very easily, and the more seraphim a human connected to, the more emphasized the anomalies would be. Above all, making the pacts were never so taxing that anything serious happened, per Lailah at least.
“Wait, you mean that there can be more than one seraph connected to a human?” Mikleo asked. The tone of his voice suggested something like irritation.
“Well, in select cases,” Lailah replied. “Someone who is completely—100 percent—pure may have the ability to connect with up to three seraphim. That human would need the Shepherd’s Glove to be able to do it though.”
The Shepherd’s Glove was an ancient artifact that unlocked the potential in whoever was destined to wear it next. True to what Lailah had said, the person had to be pure. It didn’t take a lot of effort to realize that Sorey had that potential, and Mikleo wasn’t particularly happy about it. After all, there were a lot of cons—he would have to share him, he would probably focus on other seraphim’s souls, and on a more serious basis, he would have to be handicapped two more times.
“We should probably get him somewhere he can rest,” Alisha suggested after a period of silence.
Mikleo turned to him looking guilty. He tried to carry him, but his thin arms and small frame could move the brunet only so far. He wondered if he could have used his water to carry him. No, it wouldn’t work because humans needed to breathe. On top of that he wasn’t sure if he could manage carrying him back in a bubble to Ladylake without becoming exhausted. And what would the people say then about it? They would think he was trying to kill him! They would detain him or attack him right there or—
“Mikleo, you need to relax,” Lailah said. “If you worry about all the different ways that people can hurt you, you’ll end up garnering malevolence.” The water seraph didn’t even realize that he had been mumbling aloud every thought.
All three of them lifted Sorey up then slowly made their way out of the Galahad Ruins. For every hellion encounter, they switched roles. Alisha attacked the first group. Lailah purified the next set. Mikleo finished off the third batch. He didn’t get to use the new Song Magic he had gotten, but he was glad. He didn’t want to sing it when Sorey wasn’t even awake to hear him. Especially because this new Song Magic was what they had been working towards, it meant the world to him for his human to listen to him.
“S-So, um, Mikleo?” Lailah stuttered.
“What is it?” the water seraph asked. The trio stopped to give their arms a short break. “This is taking too long. He’s so vulnerable right now.”
“You really care for Sorey, don’t you,” Alisha noticed. Lailah waited to hear his response, even if it was just a simple nod. “Sorey said that you two were raised together.”
Mikleo simply verified what Sorey had said. As they walked he told them that they were always together whether they were exploring the ruins near their home or he was training to sing or in physical combat. Once he started reflecting on the relationship, he wondered if Sorey was raised with him specifically to be his human and to Dive into him. Would Gramps have had the foresight for all this? He doubted it regardless of how wise he was. It didn’t matter anyway because one way or another he would have developed his love for him.
“Ah, yes, that love,” Lailah interrupted. “How would you describe it?”
“What kind of question is that?” Mikleo asked with some exasperation.
“Um—well—you see—the thing is—how should I put it?” Alisha stammered.
“You were so adamant about him Diving into you!” Lailah blurted out.
“Yeah, I’ve never seen a seraph get that excited about Diving! Not even Lailah was that pushy!”
“Is there some sort of deeper meaning to the Dives?!”
“You’ve only Dove once, so are you looking forward to next time?!”
“How much do you love Sorey?!”
Mikleo was so red that they thought he was bleeding from somewhere on his head. He was so uncomfortable from the questions that he almost dropped his partner, too. Did they always think that way about them? He couldn’t deny that the way they acted towards each other was nothing short of a lovey-dovey couple, but what made him paranoid about it was that Lailah and Alisha were behaving like a couple of teenagers that had found a poetry book about the mad screams of love…not that he had heard of such a book himself. Either way, he didn’t want to answer the questions himself. It wasn’t in him to profess or confess, and Sorey—as inept as he was—might not have felt the same way. What if all those times that they were together and being closer than usual were just casual things between brotherly friends and Mikleo was reading too much into them? He almost wanted to cry at that point.
Lailah and Alisha realized that maybe asking all the hard questions right after a Dive wasn’t a great idea either. The inquiries were borderline invasive to his Dive and soul space not to mention just plain embarrassing. They apologized, but Mikleo remained silent and deep in thought.
His mind drifted from the possibility that his affection for Sorey was one-sided to the worry about his health. He wondered if subsequent Dives would have this effect on him or if the conditions that Lailah had outlined would get worse. He wanted to get back as soon as possible, a desire that was so evident that he forgot that Alisha and Lailah were helping him to carry the brunet and started to walk a little faster with every minute.
“Mikleo, hold on, if you keep walking this fast, we’re going to drop him!” Alisha warned.
He didn’t listen, not even when both girls tried to pull Sorey back so that he would slow down. He kept going until they came to the entrance of the Galahad Ruins and stepped out into the dusky environment around them. The few fireflies that were left in the region were beginning to shine. Mikleo sense a massive amount of malevolence as nighttime neared, evidenced by the rising moon. They weren’t going to make it safely back to Ladylake if they continued to go in the darkness.
“We spent a lot more time in there than I thought,” Alisha said. She pointed in the direction of Kylfe. “It’s probably not very safe, but it’s better than staying out in the open like this for the night.”
Lailah reluctantly agreed with her, but Mikleo wasn’t very happy with the consensus.
-----------------
The abandoned village of Kylfe was a lot scarier at night, so much so that Lailah felt unnerved by the burned buildings. More harrowing was the amount of malevolence that was still concentrated in the small, secluded area from the helpless villagers that used to live there. Alisha picked out a spot underneath an awning that most likely belong to a hay harvester. The ground under it had long been bare from not getting any sunlight since even before the people evacuated the village. The spot was hidden; it was perfect for a temporary camp.
Mikleo wanted to make the little spot more comfortable for Sorey, but with the only things in the village being rotting wood and rocks, he figured that he would use himself as a pillow for him. He hesitated—Lailah and Alisha were already prying into his relationship. He couldn’t do that if he wanted to have some peace of mind.
Lailah picked up that he wasn’t exactly at ease around them after the interrogation. “You don’t have to be cold to him because we were rude,” she tried to reassure. Her words were so motherly. Finally, she gave him a small smile then went to sleep with Alisha on the other side of the plot away from him and his partner.
Mikleo was still hesitant. Who was to say they wouldn’t wake up and gossip about them? Still, when opportunity knocked, he was the one to open the door for it. He lay perpendicular to Sorey so that the unruly mass of brown hair lie on his stomach. He hoped that his cool body would help with the fever.
“Ah, I didn’t even check to see how bad his fever was!” he gasped, sitting up like a toy on a spring. Feeling Sorey’s forehead, he found that the fever was still high but not so high that he would continue to be bedridden. He just had to wait for him to wake up so he could make sure he wasn’t blind. It was that which scared him the most.
Even with all that had happened that day, the water seraph couldn’t sleep. Diving had been a fun experience, but the questions that Lailah ad Alisha were asking still buzzed in his head like a horde of angry bees. Was he really that desperate, and was he really treating Diving as something like an intimate act? He felt guilty again.
He looked up at the moon, visible through a hole the size of his head in the roof of the awning. “The moon looks beautiful tonight,” he half-whispered. He looked at Sorey’s profile. “I wish you weren’t so tired, then you could watch it with me.”
Time passed, and Mikleo gradually got drowsy. Perhaps the rush of the day’s events was what kept him awake and the time to relax in the comfort of Sorey’s presence was just what he needed. There was still the anxiety from his relationship with him, but as long as Sorey didn’t mind that he was always around him, he was happy.
Suddenly, there were some shouts in the distance. The grass near Kylfe rustled and dogs barked loudly. Mikleo’s eyes sprung open to find that Lailah and Alisha were hiding behind buildings; he had been dragged with Sorey over to the side so that he was completely out of sight. Something was wrong. How did the guards find them? Or were they searching for them?
“This is the fourth time that bastard has escaped!” a guard grumbled. “When did you all become so incompetent at your job that you forgot how to secure seraphim?!”
“That Zaveid is a tricky one,” another guard said. “I heard that Rolance had captured him as well, but he escape after just an hour of detainment.”
“At least Rolance didn’t get to keep him. Bloody bastard.”
They were coming closer to the village, their dogs picking up on someone’s scent. The guards came to investigate. Whatever it was, they were more than eager to kill it.
Alisha knew that they could only come so far before spotting Mikleo. It was unfortunate, but she and Lailah were going to have to part with them for the time being to ensure their safety. She and Lailah came from behind the buildings, greeting the guards who hated them eternally with stern looks and commanding posture.
“Princess, what are you doing out here?” the first guard interrogated.
“I should ask you the same thing. Why are you hunting down seraphim again?” she retorted.
“Chancellor Bartlow notified us that Zaveid the Exile has escaped. We are simply fulfilling our duty to him.”
Lailah’s face changed at the sound of that name, and the guards noted that. They jeered at her and taunted her before Alisha took a stance against them for the fire seraph’s sake. The guards backed off only because they realized they were wasting time. They were ready to leave, but the dogs started barking again, inching towards Mikleo’s hiding space under the awning. Lailah flicked a flame at them, hoping that that was enough to stop them from discovering them, but it backfired and the dogs lunged at her. They had been trained to retaliate if any seraph had the audacity to threaten them; she was no exception.
“Lailah!” Alisha screamed. She watched in horror as the dogs mauled her arms and legs while the fire seraph protected her face. The princess held her spear over a dog trying to get her neck, but one of the guards pulled her arms behind her. “Unhand me this instant! You know that I have a protection order on Lailah! Let us go!”
“A-Alisha!” Lailah cried out. In her desperation, she used a Seraphic Arte—Flame Vortex—and killed the dogs. Registering what she had done, she began to panic. She had never outright killed anything whether or not out of self-defense. She was both allowing the malevolence in and trying to keep her head about her to stave it off.
Mikleo curled up with Sorey in his hiding spot. Don’t sing, he commanded himself as he pressed his hand over his mouth, don’t sing.
Lailah stepped back from the two remaining guards. Alisha was held hostage now with a knife at her neck. Despite being royalty, the guards had more often than not sided with this mysterious Chancellor Bartlow out of their hatred for her and her cockamamie ideals. The fire seraph was terrified, yet she decided that she would have to use Song Magic to quell the hatred in their hearts long enough for Alisha to get out of her captor’s grip. She raised flames in front of her to defend herself from their attacks as she sang:
Was guwo ga grlanza en chsee cecet yor
Wee quel ga chs diviega yor sos khal kiakkya mean
Rrha ki gaya rre getrra yorra chs spiritum vianchiel
Lailah’s flames grew larger as she sang her song. She wished that Alisha had the Sacred Blade with her so she could simply scare them away instead of directly hurting them. She fanned out her papers then blew the fires at the guards. They faltered but were still ready to take her down. Their hatred was strong, but she wasn’t going to give up. She was prepared to take on the malevolence that came with severely injuring humans for Alisha’s sake. She couldn’t kill them; she was too afraid. Opening her mouth for another song, she took a breath. She knew this song would make her power increase tenfold, and the guards whom were trained in determining such a transition when in battle with a seraph initiated their attack.
“Lailah, please, run!” Alisha begged her.
It was too late. One of the guard cut a path through her flames, and without a moment to spare, he stabbed her in the side with a dagger.
Mikleo listened to Lailah’s whines and Alisha’s frantic sobbing. He heard the guards discuss something called “repurposed singing” and how Lailah was in dire need of it despite being personally owned by the royal princess. Judging from the muffled sounds coming from Alisha, they had gagged her. The next moment, everything was quiet.
He shook Sorey until he woke up. He knew that he had to rest, but given what had just happened, he was so scared that he was going to accumulate malevolence from the anxiety.
“What happened?” Sorey asked sleepily.
“L-Lailah…and A-Alisha…” Mikleo choked. He latched onto his shoulders with trembling hands.
Sorey came out of the sleepy daze quickly after fully acknowledging how distraught he looked. He hugged him tightly, burning the feeling of his shaking body into his memory. He asked him repeatedly to calm down. Each time he did, Mikleo cried more and more. He couldn’t tell him what had happened; his brain refused to recall the events that had transpired.
“Your friend saw one hell of an arrest,” a deep voice came from above.
A man of muscular build dropped from the awning. He had three tattoos—one around the bicep of his right arm, one wrapping down from his chest to his hip, and one on the bicep of left arm. All three were white, which looked blinding against his tanned skin. His long hair wasn’t as white as Mikleo’s hair but more silver with peridot ends. His rustic necklace had two large green feathers. Probably most remarkable thing about his attire besides the fact he wasn’t wearing a shirt—like some sort of exhibitionist—was that he had gun holsters strapped to his belt.
“What do you mean?” Sorey asked the mysterious man. “Mikleo, who got—was it Alisha and Lailah?! Were they taken back to Ladylake?!”
“E-Excuse you, I can answer your questions!”
“I don’t know who you are.”
“Then ask for my name! Geez-Louise!”
“Well, tell me!”
“Name’s Zaveid.”
Mikleo snapped his head in his direction upon hearing his name. He began to seethe with rage; it was his fault that Alisha and Lailah were captured! Zaveid the Exile, the seraph that had escaped the clutches of humans more times than anyone could count, had cost their two friends their freedom and quite possibly their lives!
“Relax, kid. It was going to happen sooner or later.” He let out a sigh. “Where do I begin with all this?”
It wasn’t hard to remember something as horrific as the plotting of a person’s assassination. Zaveid had been captured shortly before Mikleo and Sorey had ventured outside of Elysia after foolishly trying to break into the Rountabel Palace. He had learned of Alisha’s existence, and he was particularly interested in her bond with Lailah. He had mistaken her living quarters to be in the same place as Chancellor Bartlow. Although he was looking for the owner of the Sacred Blade, he had happened to find the Shepherd’s Glove and garb. He had snuck the smaller article into his pocket because he knew there was no way that a Shepherd would be working for the man he would come to know as the Menace of Highland, but he had to leave the garb to maintain his stealth. It was then that he had heard everything from the hallway.
“To think that the Shepherd’s Glove was in a seraph village, and the last remaining one in the area, maybe even in the continent!” Chancellor Bartlow snickered. “How fortunate for us humans. Why, with the Glove, we’ll be able to crown someone to lead us to the seraphim and help us round up every last one of them.”
“Unfortunately,” his aide started, “There are reports that two survivors remained from that village.”
“What do you mean?”
“The strategist sent another battalion to do a follow-up in Elysia and found that the village chief’s door was wide open even though the previous battalion had closed it to control the fire within it.”
“Bah, that means nothing.”
The doorknob rattled, forcing Zaveid to hide behind a luxurious couch that cut a corner off in the room.
“What about the other matter?” Chancellor Bartlow continued.
“I’m afraid that as long as she has Lailah with her, Princess Alisha is impervious to our attempts. Perhaps if we could study the ‘pact’ that she has formed with the seraph, we might be able to sever them by force.”
“Kill the princess and utilize her seraph for our project. I could not have thought of a better plan!”
Zaveid let out a chuckle. “After that, I just so happened to sneeze, which ended up blowing the couch well across the room and they found me,” Zaveid concluded.
Sorey couldn’t understand why the chancellor would want to kill Alisha. He wanted to head over to Ladylake right away, but Zaveid advised against it. It would have been a suicide mission. In addition to that, Mikleo would be defenseless. A fully armed battalion was more than enough to rip them apart. He pulled out the Shepherd’s Glove and placed it in Sorey’s hand.
“Why are you giving this to me?” the brunet asked.
“Eh, just call it a hunch. You two strike me as something special, and when your friend finally calms down, take him to Shurelia. If you’re really planning on doing something about that old man, you’d better make sure you have the power to take out his army.”
Zaveid leapt up to one of the broken buildings’ roof.
“Wait! Why don’t you come with us? They’re hunting for you!”
The shirtless seraph sighed. “iAwYE vega Aomness_lailah ag Aomness_alisha! yUzYUt naflasee!” he somewhat sang. It didn’t sound as melodious as Lailah’s songs. “My Song Magic doesn’t work here, but know that the sentiment is there. I can’t go with you because winds are always changing course. You’ll do good; I know you will.”
Zaveid leapt away in the direction east of Ladylake, leaving Sorey to care for Mikleo and wonder about his role as the Shepherd in all this chaos.
Notes:
New Testament of Pastalie is a doozy, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Right, time to study. (I purposely used an exclamation point instead of Invoking syntax since Zaveid cannot connect to Eolia; it would have been pointless.)
Chapter 7: Phase 1: Journey to Eolia, the First Tower
Summary:
Sorey and Mikleo begin their quest to save Alisha and Lailah from whatever Fate has in store for them.
Notes:
Replaying Zestiria (in English this time), and Mikleo is a little more independent. Whoops--kind of made him more of a clingy child, but then unlike Sorey and Mikleo resolving to go to the lower world, they were kind of forced down there. And I don't know, I see Mikleo as the jealous type (oh, wait, he IS the jealous type XD). Haven't looked at this chapter in a while, so hopefully that means I can give it a good proofread and make it a little stronger.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey held Mikleo’s face until he finally relaxed enough to stand up. He wasn’t in the best condition, but he felt much better than after the Dive. Wondering if his seraph was going to be okay after witnessing something so gruesome, he played with the idea of doing another Dive before embarking on his adventure as the arbitrarily chosen Shepherd. Immediately after thinking that that was something he could do, he doubted it knowing that Mikleo would be opposed if he hadn’t fully recovered from the previous one.
“I think we should listen to Zaveid,” Sorey told him softly after a while.
“Zaveid is the reason that Alisha and Lailah were captured!” Mikleo told him.
Sorey understood the animosity, but the mysterious wind seraph had helped them by getting them the glove. If Mikleo was against going to Eolia, he was prepared to drag him there and even binding with a new seraph to babysit him in the process.
“I understand that you want to help Alisha and Lailah, but if what happened to them scared you that much, and if what Zaveid said is true, then it’s far too dangerous to go now.”
“But I have new Song Magic; we can save them!”
“Mikleo, why are you getting hysterical again?!” Sorey, the new Shepherd, grasped his shoulders. “You have to calm down. We’ve just started you on the path to becoming a stronger seraph. Those guards—they didn’t look like pushovers when we were in Ladylake, and if they caught Alisha and Lailah, then they’re definitely too strong. Please, let’s go to Eolia. We need to speak with Shurelia. She can probably help you to get stronger.”
Perhaps he was raring to fight off the guards in Ladylake because it was the first time he saw such brutality, or perhaps he wanted to prove that he was strong enough to fight them. Mikleo had no choice but to listen to Sorey. He was angry with himself for not helping them. Even when Sorey pulled him in for a reassuring hug, he clenched his fists.
But where was Eolia? Even the Celestial Record itself didn’t provide a very in-depth description of where it was exactly, which made things somewhat harder. They had a time constraint on their exploration, and who knew if they would even be able to access it?
By apparent daybreak, Sorey and Mikleo were ready to leave Kylfe with the latter wishing they had time to prepare some sort of treat. Sorey wasn’t bothered by the hungry feeling rumbling in his stomach, but it went without saying that it was there.
Normally, the Great Towers were easily seen from anywhere in their governed region, but due to the darkness brought by the malevolence, it was difficult finding them in the distance. Thanks to the Celestial Record, they knew that Eolia lie east of Elysia, and Kylfe was slightly northeast from their home. Ultimately, it would take walking straight from the abandoned village to the unnamed plains in the northeast. But Mikleo was skeptical.
“You really think you know where you’re going?” he asked on the way. “Come to think of it, I didn’t even check to see if you’re okay.”
“What are you talking about? Save for the slight fever, I feel pretty good,” Sorey replied.
“Lailah said…that you could go blind.”
As they walked, Sorey shifted his eyes from the nearest objects to the farthest objects. He was somewhat disappointed to find that his vision had degenerated a little bit. He barely saw the individual leaves on close trees and bushes, but Mikleo’s image was still clear. The intricacies on his outfit were only a little fuzzy.
“I’ll be fine! Don’t worry about it, alright?”
“T-That makes me worry more!”
Mikleo clenched the Sacred Bow in his hand. He wanted to Dive again now that they were alone and far from the peanut gallery—he felt guilty for calling Alisha and Lailah that after they were arrested—but he wasn’t as excited about it as before. He felt like attempting to Dive would just be a waste of time. It seemed to him that Diving would only be worth it if there was some huge development in their story, and Diving willy-nilly put Sorey at risk for fatigue aside from binding with him and draining his body anyway.
The new Shepherd and his water seraph stayed far from Ladylake’s perimeter, only coming near when they had enough trees and brush to conceal themselves. The tradeoff, though, was the higher chance of being attacked by hellions. Both of them preferred to get to the First Tower without much a hassle. Thankfully, the only hellions in the foliage were those of the snake variety; these hellions were slow, and if the traveler walked slowly enough, then they could easily sneak by. On the other hand, the wolf hellions would give chase the minute they picked up a scent. They were too big, however, to stealthily hunt in the wooded areas.
“Hey, Mikleo, I have a question,” Sorey asked suddenly. He started walking backwards after turning around to look at him. “Seraphim are connected to the Towers, right? Can you sense when we’re near it?”
“We’re going in circles, aren’t we,” Mikleo sighed. “To answer your question, I would assume that seraphim can, on a clear day. With all the malevolence, I can barely sense you right there.”
“We’re in real trouble then. I’m starting to feel really hungry, too.”
“Should we take a break?”
“We’ve got to be close to the Tower! I can deal with this a little longer!”
Mikleo couldn’t help but smile at his human. He was trying hard, but he was worried that he wouldn’t have the energy to fight if they had to. That said, he also wanted to prove that he was capable of protecting him. It was a somewhat sullied wish, but he wanted Sorey to be thrown into some danger so he could act. Still, the occasional growl from the brunet’s stomach annoyed him. He offered to make him ice cream even when Sorey told him that he could go a little longer without food.
They trekked through the woods for a while longer; whether it was for ten minutes more or ten hours more, they had lost track of time. Their efforts weren’t wasted, however, as they came to a door the size of the goat hill in Elysia. It was covered in moss and some vines were starting to curl over its smooth iron surfaces. As they walked closer to it, Mikleo fell into a trancelike state.
“The Great Tower Eolia,” he said dazedly. He was transfixed by the size of the Tower, never once realizing that he was so tiny compared to it as it stretch far into the deep vastness of the sky. Inside Eolia, Shurelia was waiting for him. He could feel her power, her emotions, pulsating through his body
“Mikleo, are you okay?” Sorey asked.
“I have to enter Eolia.”
“I know; just hold on.” He set about to finding a way to open the door.
There was no mechanism that held it locked that he could plainly see, so he began to wonder if it was locked via Hymmnos. With Mikleo essentially hypnotized by the Tower, he wasn’t going to find him to be helpful anytime soon. He searched the Celestial Record for any clues, and there was one albeit the text was rather faded:
Opening the Great Towers require a specific Passcode. This Passcode is a Hymmnos Song, and within this Hymmnos Code, the Users must state their Names. The Passcode is randomly generated from within the Tower, so finding a suitable Seraph is purely up to Chance.
“Great.” Closing the book, he turned to Mikleo, who hadn’t moved from his spot. It was eerie watching him remain so motionless in front of the door to Eolia. He worried that if he didn’t open the door soon, the water seraph would either stay there for eternity or implode—both figuratively speaking. “Um, Mikleo? Do you think that new song can get us in?”
Mikleo, still trapped in the trance, processed it. He stood in front of the door, opened his mouth, and sang the new Song Magic. For some reason, though, it didn’t feel like it had any power; in fact, it was as if he was unable to recall the lyrics for it. He tried again, and again, and again until Sorey made him stop. He thought for sure that the Dive would have made the Song Magic usable.
They had hit a dead-end. Sorey pulled him from the entrance despite Mikleo’s half-hearted protests until he awoke from the trance after leaving the immediate vicinity. He had no recollection of what had happened. The Shepherd described the recent events, but it didn’t ring any bells for his dear best friend.
“You really don’t remember?” he asked him.
“What does it matter at this point? I couldn’t get us into the Tower, so what do we do now?” Mikleo asked with some frustration. Before they even got onto that topic, Sorey stopped him. “What?!”
“Relax, okay? It’s not your fault you can’t open the door.” Sorey explained to him the special oddity in the Celestial Record about the way to gain access. The fact that it was random didn’t make things better, and Mikleo grew angrier. “It’s okay; it just means that your new Song Magic is useful somewhere else.”
Sorey patted his head lovingly. The next course of business was to find a seraph that could use whatever the passcode was to get into the Tower. Searching in Ladylake was unthinkable, and it was more than likely that the seraphim being forced to work there wouldn’t want to help him solely because he was a human. They would have to look elsewhere.
“There’s got to be other places than Ladylake,” Mikleo said after he reluctantly accepted that he wasn’t the right one for the job. “What does the Celestial Record say?”
“Nothing much. The map shows there’s another village south of here. I think it’s called Marlind.”
“Do we have to go into another village? What if the people there are as bad as the ones in Ladylake?”
“It can’t hurt to check.”
Mikleo conceded, and he followed behind Sorey as they headed in the direction of their new destination. While walking, once again the water seraph offered to make ice cream to hold him over until they came to an inn where he could eat a proper meal. When his partner asked him why he kept offering, he became flustered. He was simply worried about him before admitting that he was somewhat hungry but only because he wanted to feed him. The deep-seated desire to care for Sorey subconsciously made him more humanlike than he expected. Besides, making ice cream would make him feel better.
They passed the entrance to Ladylake, the tension from the city seeping through their skin; the suffering of the seraphim made them sick because they were contributing to the malevolence pouring out of it. It was especially affecting Mikleo, for he became unstable in his walking and started pressing his palm into his head to alleviate a growing headache. Eventually Sorey picked him up and carried him, much to the seraph’s chagrin.
“I-I can walk!”
“You look like you’re going to pass out! Just let me carry you until we get to Marlind!”
“Put me down, Sorey! I…I can be independent, too, you know!”
“I want to carry you! Alisha and Lailah aren’t here!”
“W-What? That doesn’t even make sense!”
The two bickered like children. Then Mikleo disappeared in a flash of light that sank into Sorey’s chest. “M-Mikleo? Mikleo?!”
Everything was silent.
“Oh, my God, where did you go?!”
“Sorey?” Mikleo’s voice came from within his mind.
“Where did you go?!”
“I think…I’m inside of you.”
Sorey didn’t know what to think. There were several connotations that he imagined would have been going through Alisha’s and Lailah’s heads had they witnessed this little episode, and it made him feel uncomfortable. Surprisingly, the feeling translated to Mikleo’s body, and their intertwined souls served as a conduit for the ever-increasing apprehension of this new discovery.
Lailah wasn’t there to explain, and they were left to figure this out for themselves. No other time before they had formed their pact was Mikleo physically able to condense himself into light and reside within Sorey’s body, so they conjectured that this was probably an effect of the pact. To Mikleo’s benefit, his staying inside felt refreshing, like he was ready to sleep comfortably in a soft and warm bed. Unfortunately for Sorey, it was more taxing. He felt a slight weight in his chest, but knowing that Mikleo already worried about him incessantly, telling him that would make him anxious. It was somehow lonelier as well. While he didn’t want to scare him with the physiological effect of taking him within his soul, he preferred to have him by his side than inside; the same went for Mikleo. The other strange thing was that it both had the same sensation as Diving and not Diving. Unlike how Sorey had access to Mikleo’s soul when Armatized, Mikleo could not peer into his soul’s world or lack thereof. It felt a little unfair.
Mikleo separated from his partner with an uncomfortable countenance on him. Having figured out that he could enter and exit him at will, he decided that he would only do so in the event that Sorey’s precious soul was in danger of collapsing and vice versa. In the end, the two thought it was best to keep the events of what had just happened quietly between them.
Notes:
No Hymmnos, but can someone answer me something? Can someone figure what Lyner says to verify himself to the Division Gate? There's no voice acting and the text is kind of small in-game, and I really want to write my own "entry code" so to speak to get in. Next chapter will be tons better. Lots of Hymmnos and stuff. Even Ar Ciela (assuming I did it correctly because THAT language. Oh boy).
Chapter 8: Phase 1: Hymmnos at Rayfalke Spiritcrest
Summary:
After finding that the path to Marlind is blocked, Sorey and Mikleo turn to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest for a seraph to help them enter Eolia.
Notes:
It's finals week, but I have only one more exam! That means more chapters! :D I tried really hard to get the Ar Ciela lyrics, but with no proper grammar, it's pretty hard.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A short, narrow bridge allowed for passage from the edge of Lakehaven Heights into the territory known as Falkewin Hillside. This area was named for the large mountain range that sat between it and the previous plains. Rumor had it that there had been a dragon living on the peak for at least seven centuries, unable to find proper reprieve. Few travelers often said that they occasionally heard Hymmnos coming from the mountain, describing the voice as belonging to a lonely yet stoic young girl. Naturally, Hyland guards caught wind of the seraph that lived on the mountain, and there had been a few brash attempts to try and find her of which were fruitless due to her hiding. They rationalized that they were doing her a favor by extracting her from the dragon’s nest.
But that was neither here nor there. Sorey and Mikleo, knowledgeable about the dangers that lie in the tricky terrain of the Rayfalke Spiritcrest mountain range, knew better than to explore there without the correct supplies and equipment; of course, this didn’t mean they weren’t going to avoid it altogether. Their goal was to explore the world as well. They would get there eventually.
As they skirted around the foot of the mountain, they were surprised that there was a marked difference in the hellions in the hillside region compared to Lakehaven Heights. While the latter was populated mostly by wolf-type and snake-type hellions, Falkewin Hillside had eagle-type, marmot-type, even octopus-type hellions. The third type of hellion confused Sorey the most as far as anatomy was concerned, which tickled Mikleo. No matter how interesting it seemed, though, they still had to fight them off. Eagles and octopi were easy to anticipate, but the marmots hid underground. Presumably, they sensed when they were near them by feeling the vibrations in the earth then bored out of the ground in groups. That said, they were particularly frightened of water. So when they reached the fork in the path that led either to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest or towards the massive river that was raging and spilling over its banks from the malevolent rain that had suddenly started, they thought it would be beneficial to fight them.
“Do we really have time for this, though? We have to get to Marlind,” Mikleo somewhat scolded.
“You’ve always got to make time for two things—training and exploring,” Sorey answered. He had a confident smile on his lips.
“Of course.”
“On the bright side, you can show me what that new Song Magic does.”
“Were you just looking for an excuse to see it?”
“Maybe!”
Sorey unsheathed his sword while Mikleo summoned his staff. Eagles and octopi came at the first, which the former took care of after learning that his partner’s watery attacks had little effect on them. The marmots, however, were the true targets. When there were only a few of them left on the field, he commanded that the Song Magic be initiated and used.
Mikleo exhaled and mentally prepared himself before opening his mouth and chanting out:
Wee ki ra 0x vvi
chs hymmnos mea
urr pawr mea en
messe tes hes pawr mea
parge pawr mea
1x AAs ixi
While nothing explicitly happened, he felt a surge of power bubble from the pit of his stomach throughout the entirety of his body. He pointed his staff at the marmots with the tip of it glowing brightly.
“Twin Flow!” he called out.
The normally small projectile of water was much larger and sped towards them with a greater velocity—so much so that it pushed him back to the ground. The hellions were eliminated in no time, and Sorey couldn’t help but be amazed. It had been their first Dive that created such a strong spell!
He helped him up then hugged him. “That was so cool, Mikleo!” he happily told him.
Mikleo smiled, but he was visibly fatigued from using the Song Magic. Regardless, he wanted to perform some sort of gesture of doing a good job in battle like a high-five. Taking that step towards Sorey, he nearly collapsed. He touched his fingertips to the ridge of his brow.
“The Song Magic takes a lot of me,” he panted. “I don’t think I should use it that often.”
“Did you know it would do that?” Sorey asked with concern.
“N-No…this was the first time, and it made my attacks more powerful, but…I feel so weak now.”
“Then let’s rest.”
“No, we have to go. We’ve got to find a seraph that can open the gate to Eolia, and they could be in Marlind.”
Mikleo took a few steps forward only to have Sorey hold him so that he wouldn’t fall over. The two soon stumbled to the great river. The waters were raging despite there being no real exorbitant downpour of rain or any sort of marked levels of malevolence compared to the area around Ladylake at that particular moment; however, under a tree, there was a water seraph. He seemed to be in pain, writhing and clutching at his chest.
Sorey and Mikleo approached him cautiously since scaring him was the last thing they wanted to do. The seraph opened his eyes upon hearing the grass rustling around him, and he prepared to attack them.
“Come any closer, and I will kill you,” he threatened. “I’ve already got enough malevolence. I really don’t care if I turn into a hellion or a dragon or whatever. I won’t let a human touch me.”
“Wait!” Sorey begged him. “I’m a friend. We can help you.”
The seraph reissued his threat, this time his voice wavering from weakness. “I’m warning you,” he growled.
Mikleo looked to their side at the river. The waters were so rough that what was once known as Griflet Bridge had been torn to pieces. Turning back to the hostile water seraph, he asked, “Fine, we won’t do anything to you, but do you know what happened to the bridge?”
“What’s it matter to you?” the seraph retorted.
“We’re trying to get into Eolia. We need to find the seraph that has the passcode to enter it. We were going to head to Marlind and see if anyone was willing to help.”
The seraph’s expression softened. Humans couldn’t get into the Towers without a seraph, and most times the security system around the Division Gates—as he called them—would sound something like alarm that lured hellions to kill unwanted guests. The fact that Sorey wasn’t dead was an oddity, but seeing Mikleo with him and not fussing and even moving closer to the Shepherd was evidence that he wasn’t normal anyway. He looked at the hand around the young seraph’s waist.
“That’s the Shepherd’s Glove. Why do you have it?” the seraph asked.
“A seraph named Zaveid gave it to me!” Sorey happily said. Perhaps this tidbit would make the seraph feel more comfortable.
“Z-Zaveid?! You know Zaveid?! Oh, forgive me!” the seraph suddenly cried. With as much strength as he could, he bowed in front of him. “You know Zaveid the Exile, and if Zaveid chose you to be the Shepherd, then you are different from regular humans.”
“Technically…Zaveid just kind of randomly gave it to the first dopey-looking human he could find,” Mikleo muttered. Sorey pinched him.
“We seraphim can peer into the heart of humans when we’re healthy. I’m sorry I couldn’t see it before. My name is Uno—I used to be the Lord of the Land for Ladylake before they kicked me out when I garnered too much malevolence.”
Uno told them everything he had gone through in the last few months. The church had started to manipulate the blessings so that they made profits instead of passing on prayers. The greed settled into Uno’s heart, and he soon began to deteriorate from the malevolence. He was thrown into the Aroundight Forest to die, but he had managed to escape. Finding solace in the river that passed under Griflet Bridge, he took refuge in the area. His hatred for humans forced him to destroy the bridge with the thought that by sectioning off humans, they couldn’t team up to catch more seraphim. Now where he sat, he was prepared to let the Virus germinating within to take his soul until Sorey and Mikleo met him.
“Uno, you can’t let hate follow you to death,” Sorey told him. “If seraphim give up, then humans like those running the church will destroy the continent.”
“So?” Uno sighed.
“Sorey wants everyone to live in peace,” Mikleo clarified. “And, as his bonded seraph, I want to see his dream come true. Please, cast aside your hatred and disgust. Don’t let the Virus kill you.”
Uno didn’t like that idea. Humans and seraphim couldn’t possibly live together in harmony, even if this was the Shepherd’s wish. The sight of Sorey and Mikleo together was increasingly making him sick. He didn’t care if Sorey was the Shepherd or not, he couldn’t believe in his dream. He remained silent.
“Fine, if you don’t want to take his advice, help us get to Marlind.”
“Why do you want to go there?”
“To find a seraph who can unlock Eolia.”
“Then good luck getting across the river.”
Mikleo was becoming angrier and angrier with Uno, but Sorey leaned to his ear whispering:
“It’s not his fault. We’ll just have to bump up exploring the Rayfalke Spiritcrest and see if the legendary seraph is there.”
Sorey simply left Uno with a bit of advice—hatred and greed and disgust only made him as bad as the people he despised. He acknowledged that he didn’t want their help, but he refused to sit idly by and watch him die. He promised him, “I’ll find a way. I will save you.”
With that, the two headed towards the Spiritcrest leaving Uno to reflect on what had been said. Before long they heard the mumbles of Hymmnos echoing through the mountains. The gusts of wind that blew over the ridges made it hard to hear what the voice was saying, but they were deeply interested. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, there was a multitude of hellions here too. Orcs, Armadillos, Harpies stalked the winding paths to the summit where they believed the seraph singing so beautifully would be.
“How are you feeling?” Sorey asked Mikleo.
“Worse,” he answered. “There’s a great deal of malevolence here, probably from the dragon that lives here.”
“Go inside, Mikleo. I’ll be fine.”
Mikleo flicked an incredulous glance at him with red cheeks and a sheepish look in his eyes. It wasn’t too long ago that they agreed that they wouldn’t put him inside! The water seraph couldn’t bear the feelings that flooded into him when he went inside of him. The situation called for it, but he didn’t want Sorey to feel uncomfortable. Sorey wasn’t having it. He hugged Mikleo tightly, pressing his chest into his until he was forced inside.
“I don’t want you to get hurt while you’re still recovering,” the brunet said. “Besides, it’ll be easier to maneuver around the hellions if I’m not holding you up.”
“Then as soon as we get to the summit, let me out!” the seraph complained.
“Fine. But for now, just relax.”
Sorey took cover behind a boulder as he mapped out where each hellion was in his head. Darting right on up the mountain put him in danger of being attacked, and having a tired Mikleo inside his soul meant that he would feel some of that exhaustion. He couldn’t risk it.
Suddenly he heard a stampede of footsteps as an army and several seraphim came running up the path. He hid himself, tucking his body as tightly as he could behind the boulder. The knights were ordering each other about to get to the summit. The seraphim were to sing as soon as they found the seraph that lived in the mountains.
“We’ll have to seal her soul immediately. Her Song Magic is supposed to be extremely dangerous. If we could have used it against Rolance in its natural form, we’d win for sure, but it’s far too risky.”
“Wasn’t the previous seraph that lived here incredibly powerful, too?”
“Yeah, so powerful he turned into a dragon instead of a regular hellion.”
“We’ll seal his soul, too. Those Flip Songs better work.”
Sorey had heard enough. He waited for them to pass before tailing behind them. They swept the hellions aside, which gave him the opportunity to slip past them. The only problem now was that he had to get ahead of them if he wanted to protect the seraph.
“Sorey, let me out; I have an idea,” Mikleo said.
“You know a way to get us to the summit?” he asked.
Mikleo dissimilated, giving him a nod upon appearing in front of him. He looked somewhat better, but Sorey worried that he was still in no condition to be using his Artes. Of course, the water seraph didn’t pay him any mind. The knights were taking the long way up while he was prepared to make an icy staircase to the summit. One by one, he formed ice slabs coming out of the sides of the rocks and spikes. Each one consumed a bit of his power, but he was determined to make it there. Sorey watched him tire himself out before him, and he ordered him to go back inside. Mikleo refused because he wanted to help him. The malevolence, however, was taking its toll on his body.
The staircase had brought them more than halfway to the summit, and they had a far lead ahead of the knights. Sorey could spare a few minutes to see to Mikleo’s well-being. The water seraph gently pushed him away before retching and coughing up bile. Seeing his friend react that badly to the malevolence, he wanted to help him, and the only way to do that was to keep him inside.
“Sorey, if you want to help, then Dive. If you’re not going to do that, then leave me alone. I can handle this. I can get used to the malevolence,” Mikleo finally spat at him.
“You’re going to end up with a Virus,” Sorey told him sternly.
“I won’t, because I believe in your ability to keep me safe. Just…don’t put me back inside.”
“Why are you so scared to go inside?”
“I’m not scared! I want to be with you by your side, not floating around in your head!”
Voices shouted behind them. The knights drew near.
Mikleo took Sorey’s hand and pulled him along as fast as he could run to the summit. The path spiraled around a pillar before straightening into a narrow road to a large tunnel. Here, the Hymmnos carried on the air like bubbles and leaves caught in the wind.
Was touwaka erra rre yorr coall tes mea
Nn yant gaya na kil anw yor
Was quel wa crushue hymmnos sos yor
Wee ki ra chs hymmnos mea sos yor
Sorey felt Mikleo’s grip falter, and at once he was prepared to force him inside again. Then he noticed that he was crying. The Song Magic made him sad, yet its audience wasn’t Mikleo or Sorey. Whoever the seraph was, she had to be singing to the dragon.
When they exited the tunnel, they found a small girl with blonde hair that gradually got darker at the ends holding an umbrella with a mascot tied to it. She wore a white sundress with flowers acting as the tie in the back. Her muddied brown boots heavily contrasted with the angelic appearance.
“Big Brother, please, you have to regain yourself,” she pleaded.
The dragon that ruled the Rayfalke Spiritcrest lay before her unmotivated to attack. She started the song again, sadder this time. The Song Magic caused the dragon to cringe in pain as if it were stabbing him in the heart.
“Eizen, please.”
Sorey and Mikleo approached her, and Eizen the dragon raised his head. They stopped for fear that it would kill all three of them. The little seraph turned around.
“Hmm? Who are you schmucks? How did you even make it to the summit?” she asked without so much as a glare. She was practically emotionless. “Hello, I asked you a question. I expect an answer.”
Even when they introduced themselves, the seraph wasn’t amused or surprised that a human and a seraph were willingly working together. She had spied the Shepherd’s Glove without reaction, and even after they told her that they were together, she didn’t care. She returned to Eizen and finished her song then walked up to them while twirling her umbrella.
“Okay, so what’re you here for? Let me guess, you want to take me back to that putrid city on the lake, or perhaps to the plague town to heal all the good-for-nothing humans,” she theorized.
“Well, not exactly,” Sorey said. He explained the problem with Eolia, and the little seraph flashed them a look of contempt.
She spun her umbrella on her shoulder before using her seraphic power to throw a small rock at Sorey’s head. “You’re a fool. Do you even know if I could access the Tower? You’re wasting your time. Get lost before I sic Eizen on you.”
Mikleo was so angry that the girl had treated Sorey with such impudent disrespect that he was ready to slap her around with his Ice Reaver Arte. The Shepherd stopped him.
“Can we at least have your name?” he asked.
“Why?” the seraph asked in return.
“Well, in case we ever meet again.”
The seraph paused for a long while before finally uttering, “Edna.”
“Edna—that’s pretty.”
Mikleo flashed him a jealous look. “Well, Edna, you should know that there are Hyland guards on their way up here with other seraphim,” he curtly said.
“Eizen will eat them.”
Edna faced Mikleo and Sorey, a particularly murderous glint in her eyes. Whether she was hoping that they would come to feed her dragon of a brother or she was absolutely confident in her brother’s ability to defend the Spiritcrest was a mystery. The Shepherd and the water seraph wanted to stay and help her in case things went awry, but the hostility in her eyes kept them at bay.
The rattling of armor echoed through the tunnel, and finally the Hyland guards arrived to seize her. The seraphim with them were in a trance, or it seemed that way. Their eyes were dull and fixed on whatever object was in front of them. The guards parted so they were all staring at Edna and Eizen. They didn’t blink or protest; they just stood there like statues.
Sorey and Mikleo tried to figure out what it was they were going to do. They recognized one of the seraphim, who had been taken from Elysia. Natalie was at the very front of the group of five seraphim. They called out her name, but she didn’t respond. She simply kept her gaze on Edna and Eizen.
The guards spotted them, and while they were mumbling amongst themselves just out of earshot about what to do about them, they were more concerned about the earth seraph and her dragon.
“Earth seraph, you are under arrest,” the captain announced to her. “You will be detained accordingly, and your dragon will be euthanized.”
Edna smirked. She fired head-sized rock after head-sized rock at the guards, avoiding the seraphim so she wouldn’t incur the effects of the malevolence on herself. Eizen stood now that he was no longer under the effects of Edna’s song. He loomed over her as he collected energy in his mouth. What sounded like Song Magic came from him, but there was something off about it. Nevertheless, he fired an attack at the guards.
Sorey pulled Mikleo inside since he was still tired out, and he took the initiative to fight off some of the guards. Perhaps showing that he was willing to fight for her would coax her into coming with them. He used Heavenly Torrent and a new Arte called Shatterfang to weaken the guards. He couldn’t kill them because they operated partly under Alisha; if he went all out, he was afraid any survivors would paint him in a different light to her.
Suddenly, the hypnotized seraphim began to sing. Their voices sounded empty compared to those of Edna and Mikleo, and their harmonies were grating to the ear. Something else was different—the language wasn’t completely Hymmnos.
gggae dyacr hoji Paaa
enls maafs bziw
Tsaovie xenlm bexm RexvI
Pwt fOx ciiijy ghen
Ma num gagis hymme so gyengyat anw yor
Nn jyel gagis rre spiritum yor manafeeze innna mea
Rrha yant gagis rre yorr re na parge elle morto
Ma num gagis rre dor oz jouee re pat elle corpu yor
Was lau wa rre yorr lurrea anw engua etealune
En re gyengyat noglle innna mea
Oi diffod rast bbP ticosa
beeez cuee yeeerzx szx jsvvee
Sorey grasped his aching chest, covering his mouth for fear of spewing bile. Whatever cursed song the seraphim were singing, it was weakening him tenfold per minute. Not only that but he could feel Mikleo writhing inside of him, which forced him to hug himself in an effort to console him.
Edna tried to withstand the evil song, but she too was falling to it. She tried to take cover behind Eizen’s massive leg, falling to her knees when under his protection. The gigantic dragon bellowed in pain. With his last ounce of strength, he shielded Edna from the corrupted seraphim’s gazes with his scaly back to them. Shortly afterwards, he toppled over, sparing Edna from her demise.
“Big Brother? Eizen! Eizen, wake up!” Edna begged and cried.
All five of the seraphim collapsed. Their bodies were motionless; they were dead. The Hyland guards swept them up like garbage. They dragged them away, happy that they had removed the dragon from the Rayfalke Spiritcrest but also disappointed that they couldn’t capture Edna this time. They carried on, talking about Edna’s power and how she would have been useful if they had caught her to use against Rolance in the ensuing war farther west.
Edna continuously shook her draconic brother’s corpse. All the while she held back her tears. She wanted Sorey and Mikleo to leave so she could mourn his death in peace. They had other plans, however, and the Shepherd hobbled to her.
“Edna…” he uttered.
“Why did you have to come here? You brought those men with you!” she screamed at him.
“We didn’t. We didn’t know about them until we got here. We wanted to warn you, but we couldn’t even do that. I’m sorry, Edna. I’m sorry that we couldn’t protect Eizen. But even so, we beg of you, please come with us to Eolia. It’ll be safer if you stay with us. People like them won’t hurt you, I promise.”
Edna glared at him. She didn’t want to believe him; all humans were stupid and evil. Look at what was done to her brother! Yet she wanted to trust him. If Sorey hadn’t been there, the guards would have overpowered Eizen at some point, and she would have been caught.
“My brother used to be a powerful seraph. His songs were so strong and beautiful. I wanted to learn them, but a seraph can never exactly copy another seraph’s song. He wanted to teach me other ways to sing his songs, but then he turned into a dragon. A black-haired woman tried to console me when it happened.”
Edna stood up. “Fine, I’ll go with you. I want to avenge my brother. I want to bargain with Shurelia and bring him back,” she said. “Kick that other seraph out of your body so we can form our pact.”
Mikleo came out on his own to put up a fight about completely bonding with her. Sorey and Edna both countered him with the fact that if she didn’t bond with him, she wouldn’t be able to leave the Spiritcrest and go to Eolia.
To form the pact, Edna pulled out a massive gauntlet with gold and orange-yellow accents. This was her Divine Artifact. She had found it with Eizen centuries ago when exploring their home. Both she and Sorey held onto it, and after sensing either’s presence in each’s other hearts, the little earth seraph said:
“Rrha ki erra crannidale dea chiess ture mean. My true name is…”
She and Sorey exchanged a chaste but reluctant kiss before she completed the incantation with her true name: Hephsin Yulind.
Edna’s body condensed into the same orb of light that Mikleo had turned into when he first made his pact; hers was yellow. She entered Sorey’s chest, initiating the Armatization transformation. The outfit was similar to Mikleo’s Armatization save for all blue accents being replaced with orange-yellow and the bow being replaced by her gauntlets. At once, she forced him out of the Armatus.
The earth seraph immediately rubbed her lips clean of Sorey’s pressure. She cringed at the idea that she had kissed a man she barely knew, to which Mikleo was annoyed since he believed Sorey to be the most wondrous human in the universe. The water seraph returned inside of his master followed by their new recruit. They were on a journey back to the Division Gate of Eolia. Sorey was relieved that they might have a way in, bringing them closer to the knowledge residing in Shurelia.
Notes:
I tried with the Ar Ciela... That said, did you catch the Berseria allusion? :D The semester is nearing its end, so more chapters will be coming!
Chapter 9: Phase 1: Fruitful Dive
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 1: Edna
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
Okay so I tried something different with the soul spaces--taking the general concept or conflict and playing around with it. This one is still loosely based on Misha's first cosmosphere level, but not quite and gives rise to a slightly different next level? Maybe?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When they reached the foot of the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, Edna handed Sorey her gauntlet. She wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of having made the pact, much less allowing a human she just met to wander around within her soul. But to see if she could use the passcode to access Eolia, she would first need him to unlock it from her heart. She also had a penchant to toy with people, and after noticing how flustered Mikleo had gotten when they formed their pact, she couldn’t help but antagonize him more.
Furthermore, the very thought of Diving in an open place like the Spiritcrest was worrisome to the water seraph. Even if he didn’t like that he now had to share Sorey with someone else—regardless how he thought of the additional seraphim—he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to lower their guards for the hour that they were unconscious. Reluctantly, Mikleo offered to fight off hellions and guards alike should they appear while Edna and Sorey were Diving.
“I feel good enough to fight, so don’t worry,” Mikleo reassured.
Sorey still wasn’t convinced, but if they didn’t get the Dive underway, everything up to now would have been pointless. He called out Edna’s true name, and when they Armatized, both of them peeked at Mikleo, who was turning red with anger and embarrassment. He hadn’t ever seen what Sorey looked like when he was preparing to Dive, and he wished he could have been inside of him. Unfortunately for him, he was going to have to keep a watchful eye on his Shepherd dressed in the skin-tight Armatization outfit.
Sorey held the gauntlet then sat on the ground. Focusing his energy inside his bosom, he met with Edna inside his mind. Unlike with Mikleo, he was afraid to look at her.
“Oh, stop being such a child,” Edna chastised. “You better get used to seeing me naked. Clothes don’t exist in this realm since our appearance changes with each level of the soul space. Now then, let’s get this show on the road or else Lovesick-bo’s panties will twist even more.”
“Edna, it sounds like you’ve done this before,” Sorey sheepishly said.
“My brother used to teach me about soul spaces. It’s similar to how humans learn about sexual reproduction; the more exposure you get, the less traumatizing it seems.”
Without any further questions or analogies at the Shepherd's request, Sorey leaned into Edna, transporting to her world.
--------------------------------------
Sorey woke up at the Stonehenge in Edna’s soul. Her world was unremarkably modelled after her home at the Spiritcrest. While Mikleo’s had been a conglomerate of traps and cages, Edna’s felt natural albeit equally as depressing as the real world. He decided to use Mikleo’s first Dive as a reference, and in doing so he waited to see who or what her mind guardian was.
“Hmm, so you’re the guy that she ultimately bonded with,” a deep voice came from behind him. A golden Normin accosted Sorey. “She could have done better. Eizen would never approve of this guy.”
Sorey sighed. “Could you hold back on the criticism? I’m here to help Edna craft some Song Magic to open Eolia’s Division Gate. Can you help, Mr. Normin?”
“That’s Phoenix to you! And I already know why you’re here. You’re on your own. The Edna in this world is a little different from the one in your world. I’m not getting anywhere near her.”
Phoenix took up a spot on one of the boulders in the Stonehenge where he decided he would lounge until he was done. Sorey let out a sigh. The bright side, however, was that he wouldn’t have to witness the mind guardian abusing her; the Normin, however, didn’t seem like he wanted to abuse her like Gaine did to Mikleo. He began his ascent to the peak, where he believed Edna to be. He listened for her singing, but there was none. Instead, as he got higher and higher, he felt the air pressure in the surrounding area increasing until he had a nasty headache.
“Air Pressure!” a calm voice called out. The air pressure increased yet again. “Air Pressure!”
Eventually the pressure was so intense that he could barely move. It felt like his body was going to break underneath it, and he worried that Edna was going to inadvertently kill him within her soul space.
“Air Pressure! Air Pressure! Air Pressure!”
“E-Edna!” Sorey yelled.
Edna stopped using the Seraphic Arte. She peeked over the edge of the mountain to find that her new Shepherd was pressed against the path. She seemed contemptuous, but nonetheless she went down to offer her help by vaulting over the edge and gently floating down with her umbrella. Pulling him off the ground like a bandage, she showed no emotion seeing him.
“Why were you using your Artes? Were you training?” the brunet innocently asked.
“I guess you could say that. I was going to make a Song Magic to reduce the effects of Air Pressure,” the earth seraph explained.
“Why?”
“Idiot, the effects of that Seraphic Arte last for a while after using it. It’s cruel to the land to just leave it as it is. By restoring the air pressure to its normal state, it’s less stressful to the land and to seraphim in the area.”
Sorey was awestruck by the practicality that Edna attributed to her songs. He didn’t think that she was particularly caring for those around her, either. Then again, Edna had already expressed her hatred for humans, so the fact that she would make songs to help the Glenwood Continent and fellow seraphim really shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Still, it was nice seeing that she was concerned.
“Wipe that stupid look off your face,” she spat. Admittedly, even though he didn’t think her to be a sour person, he wasn’t sure if the disgust was exaggerated in her soul space or if she was truly like that in respect to him. “What are you here for anyway?”
After explaining to the Edna in the soul space that the Edna in the real world needed the specific passcode to enter Eolia, Sorey felt odd. It was strange talking to Edna about herself as a different person, but she didn’t care. It was normal for her or it seemed that way. He guessed that Eizen had explained the peculiarities to her some time ago.
“Hmm, it’s been a while since anyone needed to enter Eolia. The last time that happened, my late older brother was the one that had the code.”
“Oh, did Eizen pass it on to you?”
“Well, sort of. It’s too difficult for a human to understand, but it works like how birds learn songs for the most part. It doesn’t always happen either.”
Edna explained how passing on Song Magic worked when it came to things like entry codes. Normally, specific Hymmnos songs that acted as commands through the Towers were acquired through specific ores such as vermillion ore. Passcodes and the like were intuitive to certain seraphim, making the process different. For specific Hymmnos songs, the seraph wishing to learn it would have to ingest the ore. Such a process was dangerous since different types of ore had different side effects. Vermillion ore contained mercury, and taken in large quantities resulted in toxic poisoning. Passcodes had a basic grammar, but no passcode could be the same or else it would be far too easy for humans to enter the Towers and lead them to ruination. In the past, according to Edna, her brother and his human enter Frelia quite often, but approximately 700 years had passed, and in that time, the language used before fell out of use and Hymmnos became the major seraphic language. After her short lecture, Edna asked if he understood.
“You’re so knowledgeable about this!” Sorey cooed. “None of this is in the Celestial Record, so this is all new to me.”
“Yeah, well, whoever wrote that book wasn’t a seraph. Naturally they wouldn’t know about any of this.”
Edna paced around trying to remember the format of the code. Each time she tried to craft it, a new Song Magic became available. Each new song, however, was completely useless as far as entering Eolia was. She crafted songs for finding money on the ground, for finding stray Normin in the world—baffling Sorey in the process—making sweets like rock candy, and even a song for making her temporarily deaf so she wouldn’t have to listen to the imbecilic prattling of humans outside of Sorey’s immediate sphere of influence.
While all of these songs had their uses elsewhere, none of them could be used to enter Eolia. Edna thus theorized she was in an area that lacked enough mana, so she led Sorey to the summit. There she focused her power:
Was ki ra exec hymme BYPASS=GATE >>HEPHSIN=YULIND/1x10 enter EOLIA
Was yea ra chs dand
Rrha ki ra 0x vvi
ini yeal zeeth
aterra zuieg yor
enter ar tonelico
1x AAs ixi
When the chant concluded, Sorey was beside himself. He never guessed that the entry code would be that complicated. He wanted to ask so many things, yet would Edna answer him? He knew that there were certain elements that seraphim kept to themselves—he once tried to ask Mikleo how he could even remember the songs he made; the water seraph never explained it aptly enough for him to understand almost as if he was trying to hide something.
“My brother used a different format from what I remember, so I’m not sure if it’ll work. But there you go.”
“Wait, am I supposed to remember all that?”
Edna let out an exasperated sigh. “No, idiot. The real Edna will be able to use the code. If memory serves correctly, once she gives the code to Eolia, you will be asked to state who you are at some point—I don’t remember if it’s at the Gate or not. Either way, that means you’ll have to tell Shurelia that you’re the Shepherd.”
Shepherd Sorey. That was who he was now. He thanked the Edna that resided in the most superficial level of the soul space. As he prepared to leave the summit, they heard a roar echo throughout the Spiritcrest. Evidently Eizen was alive in Edna’s soul.
“What? I-I thought I sealed him away!” Edna said with trepidation. Her entire personality changed. “We have to get to the Stonehenge. He won’t attack us there!”
Edna pulled Sorey towards the Stonehenge, scaling down the mountain with no trouble. The Stonehenge was shining fiercely like a fire had ignited in the center of it. Sorey wasn’t sure if she was ready to go to the next level, or if she was forcing herself to move on. Whatever the case, he wasn’t going to leave without her.
Phoenix came from behind one of the stones near where he was sleeping. He wasn’t afraid. More like, he was evaluating her. She didn’t seem to notice his intense glare.
“I’m sorry, Sorey,” Edna apologized sternly.
“For what?” Sorey asked her.
“You’re not ready for what lies in my soul space. The Eizen here is closer to what he truly was compared to the real world. I know this isn’t safe, but I’ll grant you permission to go to the next level.”
“But you haven’t learned anything new!”
Edna was mumbling to herself, “Did I break the seal by making that code?” She looked up at him. “How’s this? I learned that I am a fool. I should have been more careful making the code so that I didn’t reawaken him.”
“Will your soul space be okay?”
“I think so. Real damage only happens if it occurs at lower levels. Now, go on to the next level before things get really bad here!”
Light engulfed everything as Edna opened the path to the next level in her soul space with a Paradigm Shift. She disappeared, transforming into specks of light while Sorey’s soul was transported out of her. He had gained access to the second level, but it didn’t feel like he was moving on. Instead it felt like Phoenix was ushering him out of her most likely for his safety. Sorey wasn’t happy that he wouldn’t be able to talk with her until they had some privacy, but he was concerned for her mental well-being.
--------------------------------------
Sorey opened his eyes to find that Edna had already separated from him. She was just as emotionless as she was before the Dive. He wanted to talk to her about what had happened in her soul space, but with Mikleo sitting right next to them, he had to decide on a later time. The most important thing now was to make sure that the little earth seraph had definitely learned the passcode, and to do that, they would need to hurry to Eolia. They were only moments away from meeting Shurelia and asking for her bountiful knowledge on seraphim and Hymmnos. If anything, Mikleo was bound to become a powerful seraph.
Mikleo, though, was nervous about what the Dive into Edna had produced. It wasn’t necessarily about the passcode but the potential for Sorey to have learned more about her than about him. Knowing he couldn’t ask what had happened in Edna’s soul space, he obediently swallowed the anxiety.
“Are we ready to go?” he asked. He held back his request to Dive.
“Yeah, it’s time we get into Eolia,” Sorey determinedly said.
With the new bond to Edna, it was only natural to see that she could assimilate into her new Shepherd. There was no hesitation since she wasn’t particularly fond of walking behind them or in front of them down the side of a mountain. The Dive had also tired her out, and without permission from Sorey, she went inside to recuperate. Mikleo was about to protest, but Sorey told him to relax. He preferred that they were alone. It meant that they could talk to one another about what was to come—even though Edna still had access to those same thoughts and the same stimuli around him.
When they had reached the threshold of the path leading to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest and ventured out to the riverbank, they stopped. By the tree where Uno had been sitting was instead a serpent-type hellion called an Ouroboros; the water seraph had given into the malevolence. Sorey couldn’t believe his eyes.
“What are you going to do about this one?” Edna asked from within his soul. “You can’t leave him like that or else he’ll kill travelers. If you try to purify him, you’ll have to kill him.”
It was a difficult choice, but Sorey had to decide. He drew his ceremonial sword with tears welling in his eyes at the sight of what a potential ally had become. The Shepherd was supposed to help people, he figured. But how could he do that when he couldn’t prevent a seraph from succumbing to his hatred and becoming a hellion?
Notes:
This is probably going to end up darker than both stories... And I've modified some AT concepts to fit Zestiria a little better. I like how it turned out! :D And since I can't tell what Lyner says to get into Eolia in AT1, I followed Luca's EXEC_VIENA/. opening format for the code.
Chapter 10: Phase 1: A Difficult Path to Knowledge
Summary:
With Edna's help, Sorey and Mikleo are finally able to get into Eolia.
Notes:
I took a few days to read this chapter, and the writing is a little sub-par according to how I typically write, but hey, this is where characters meet characters! And by that we meet Shurelia.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mikleo summoned his staff and prepared to protect his dear Shepherd. He silently criticized Edna for not joining the fray, but Edna had other plans. She wanted to see how well Sorey would handle not being able to save everyone. He had already shown some disappointment in himself for not being able to save Eizen, but that was different. There was never any hope to really save a dragon; Edna was aware of that herself even though she tried to deny it. Before Sorey, however, wasn’t a dragon but a regular hellion. Did he have enough power to make sure that Uno would survive?
Sorey charged toward the Ouroboros with his sword ready to pierce its heart despite it being too dull to break through its scales. He didn’t want to hurt Uno. Mikleo shot icy projectiles, hoping that they would be enough to break through and prevent it from moving. The hellion turned its attention away from Sorey. It undulated toward Mikleo. Once it was close enough, it spewed some sort of acid at him that burned through his a piece of his clothing.
“Ice Reaver!” Mikleo shouted as two slabs of ice appeared from underneath it. They sandwiched the monster for a brief second. It was enough time for Sorey to use his Shatterfang attack.
While their teamwork was impeccable, Edna was dubious that it would be enough. She wanted to wait for a moment longer, but if she waited too long, someone would get injured. As the Ouroboros again charged at Sorey, she dissimilated from him. She knew it was a risky move since such an action temporarily hindered the human body in all aspects. When she left him, Sorey was a prime target, and as such, he was pummeled into the ground by the hellion’s whip-like tail.
Edna put a large amount of distance between her and the hellion. She commanded Mikleo to heal Sorey as quickly as possible. Seraphic Artes that fell into the rejuvenation class for some reason always attracted wicked beings, so they served as a good diversion and they were executed in little time.
She opened her umbrella, twirling it on her shoulder as she sang:
Rrha ki wa yerwe pawr mea en
zarle how papana
Rrha ki wa rre mea pawr valwa yor
She glowed brightly as she aimed the tip of her umbrella in the direction of the monster. A large spike of rock rocketed from the ground under the hellion just before it hit Mikleo with its tail. The Ouroboros went limp, dangling on the rock in front of the water seraph as its evil body dissipated to reveal Uno’s lifeless corpse.
“Y-You killed him!” Mikleo gasped.
“You’re surprised?” Edna sighed. “Once a seraph turns into a hellion or a dragon, it’s over for them unless you have the power of purification. I only know of one seraph that does in this day and age, and last time I heard, she was working for the humans.”
Sorey held back the urge to vomit. He then pulled Uno off of the rock. Not sure of what to do, he considered burying him under the tree they had met him. Within a minute or two, however, his body disappeared into specks of light.
“I thought hellions were born only from non-seraphic individuals, and seraphim could only turn into dragons,” Sorey dejectedly said while looking down at his hands covered in Uno’s blood. “Does that mean that seraphim don’t have to become dragons?”
“Seraphim only become dragons when they extremely powerful. That seraph probably wasn’t strong enough to become one, but his body clearly couldn’t handle anymore malevolence. Either way, he’s dead now and for the better. Seraphim suffer endlessly; this was probably for the best.”
Mikleo gripped Sorey’s shoulder after walking up behind him to heal him once more for good measure. Part of him was scared that that was also a possible ending for their kind. He believed in Sorey yet couldn’t shake off that feeling.
----------------------------------------
Sorey led the way back to Eolia with Edna and Mikleo tagging along behind. The two seraphim had been silent for a while since they wanted to let Sorey grieve for Uno in peace. As they walked, Mikleo reflected on what had happened, and he remembered something that Zenrus had warned him of:
“Water is particularly susceptible to the malevolence, Mikleo. Be careful to never let your doubt get the better of you. Sorey needs you and you need Sorey, so if you are worried about something, place your trust in him, and things will be okay.”
“I wonder if Sorey is worried that that might happen to me,” Mikleo asked himself.
“Maybe; you two are so close, it’s actually nauseating,” Edna retorted.
“I wasn’t asking you!”
The trio walked through the woods east of Ladylake where the entrance to Eolia resided. There were more hellions in the area, which they tried as hard as they could to avoid them. With the realization that the hellions were still essentially people and animals, watching them die completely and destroying the corrupted soul inside of them made Sorey sick. But what Edna had said rang in his ears.
Death was salvation.
But so was purification and the Shepherd was supposed to have that power, according to the legends. Edna, however, said that only the seraph working for humans had that power. He didn’t want to kill them or at least desecrate their corpses, but he couldn’t purify them either.
As they walked, Mikleo and Edna fell into a trance-like state. They passed Sorey, walking briskly to the Division Gate. Whatever hellions tried to attack them, they killed them without blinking an eye. Edna used Rock Lance while Mikleo used the water variant Ice Lancer. It was like they were completely different people, and Sorey couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Shurelia was the one turning them into killing machines. Maybe they were fulfilling an unspoken task that was to defend the Tower from hellions and Viruses.
One of the wolf hellions managed to break through their defenses, biting Edna’s arm with a vice-like grip. The earth seraph didn’t react; she just stayed where she was. Mikleo came from behind her and shot the hellion with Aqua Serpent. When all of the attacking monsters were dead, Sorey cautiously approached them with a couple of apple gels to help with their wounds. They were still unresponsive to his voice.
“We’re almost there,” Mikleo droned.
Sorey was scared to try talking to him after that. It wasn’t that he seemed like he had lost his soul; the tone was just eerie. After witnessing just how brutal he could be, what if he said something to him that would initiate some sort of attack?
Edna took the lead in front of Mikleo, who served as her bodyguard from behind. It was apparently paramount to him now that she got to the Division Gate safely. After all, she was the one with the passcode.
Once they arrived, Edna stood before the tall iron doors that were the Division Gate that faced out into Lakehaven Heights. Sorey had worried implicitly that the knights that had killed Eizen would be waiting for them there, and he was surprised to find it clear. Still, he was on edge that there was going to be an ambush.
“Mikleo, we’ve got to protect Edna while she unlocks the Gate, got it?” Sorey asked his water seraph.
Mikleo simply raised his staff in front of his chest, prepared to fight.
Edna took a deep breath. As the Tower commanded, she focused as hard as she could on the Gate. She projected her voice, singing in Hymmnos to activate it:
Was ki ra exec hymme BYPASS=GATE >>HEPHSIN=YULIND/1x10 enter EOLIA
Was yea ra chs dand
Rrha ki ra 0x vvi
ini yeal zeeth
aterra zuieg yor
enter ar tonelico
1x AAs ixi
The Division Gate hissed, steam escaping from the crevice that opened slowly to reveal the interior to Eolia and the destruction that had been happening. Hellions were running amok within the Tower, as if they had been breaking in through holes in the wall. Mikleo and Edna came out of their trance just in time to deflect one of them from attacking the former.
“Hellions?! How did they get in?!” Mikleo questioned.
“It doesn’t matter! We’ve got to get to Shurelia before the malevolence from them can infect her!” Edna growled. “Sorey, we’ll keep them busy! Go on ahead to Shurelia!”
Sorey hesitated for a moment. Edna was still somewhat hurt from before, and Mikleo still wasn’t quite strong enough to fight off an entire horde by himself. He gave a silent prayer to his water seraph, promising that he would Dive into him as soon as he could after their meeting with Shurelia. The Shepherd dashed past them after they engaged a number of hellions at the Gate. The Gate itself rumbled shut and locked once again to keep human intruders out.
The brunet panted as he recovered from the sudden bolt to the first staircase he could find. He peered up the spiraling platforms that were the stairs. They led up infinitely, and he began to wonder just where in the Tower Shurelia would be and exactly how far he would have to go.
“Guess there’s no way to tell without a seraph,” he sighed. “I just hope that Mikleo and Edna can make it up here safely.”
He began his ascent. He wasn’t sure where he needed to stop, but hopefully the power of the Shepherd would resonate with her soul. The idea of stopping off at each level of the Tower was enticing as well because the Celestial Record had little to no detail about Eolia from the inside. The author presumably never got the chance. No, he had to control himself. He didn’t have time to dillydally.
After hours and hours of climbing, Sorey eventually learned that the Glenwood Continent was called the Terraced Fields. It seemed fitting, or perhaps it used to when the world was green. He passed the inaccessible Wings of Horus, the Silvaplate, Em Pheyna, the Silver Horn—all the way up until he felt something in his core. It was a familiar sensation, and he wondered if it belonged to Mikleo or Edna or even Shurelia despite its familiarity.
“S-Sorey! S-Stop walking!” Mikleo’s voice called from far below.
Sorey whipped around to see his seraphim walking up the stairs particularly winded. Their figures were blurred, but as they drew nearer, Sorey spotted small red stains. He panicked, running to them and making sure they weren’t mortally wounded.
“Most of this isn’t ours, genius,” Edna flatly insulted. “Do you really think we’re that weak?”
“Sorry, I just don’t want to see you guys getting hurt, not after seeing what they’ve been doing in Ladylake,” Sorey said. He glanced at Mikleo.
“Anyway, we’re almost there. I can feel it.”
“I can feel another hellion coming this way, too,” Mikleo said.
The Shepherd and his seraphim prepared for whatever was charging towards them. As Mikleo had predicted, a wolf hellion that was much larger than the others they had seen was after them. The malevolence coming from it surged through Sorey, making him feel nauseous. Debilitated, he fell to his knees with his hand over his mouth. It was the hellion’s tactic; it sent out waves of malevolence to paralyze its prey before lunging at its neck.
“Aqua Serpent!” Mikleo cried out. He swatted the hellion away from Sorey with a blast of water. Even though it wasn’t enough to dispatch it, he was glad he could protect him.
Edna used Air Pressure to pin it to the stair it had fallen on. She ordered Sorey to get up, and while he still felt sick, he was able to finish it off. In doing so, another surge of malevolence hit him in his abdomen. He winced, which forced Mikleo to use a large portion of his energy to heal him.
“If hellions like this are running around in Eolia…” Sorey coughed. He pushed himself up from the floor. “Then Shurelia is in some serious danger.”
“Don’t underestimate her. She’s considered an Origin; our power is nothing compared to hers,” Edna said.
Mikleo allowed Sorey to lean on him as they climbed to the Symphonic Reactor, where Edna sensed the Tower’s administrator. As they approached its main chamber, they felt the most of the malevolence they had ever experienced since Eizen’s domain. Behind its doors, Shurelia’s voice tirelessly sang to contain the hellions within the room.
“We’ve got to help her!” Sorey frantically said. “If any more hellions like the one we just fought are in there, she’ll be mauled!”
He left Mikleo’s side despite his protests. He gripped the door handle, and suddenly everything went white. Shurelia’s voice echoed in his ears. It felt like he had been transported to a new land devoid of the wickedness plaguing their world.
Notes:
It's hard to imagine the Towers in Zestiria's world...
Chapter 11: Phase 1: Shurelia, Administrator of the First Tower
Summary:
Sorey finally meets the first of the three Origin Reyvateil. After asking her some questions, he prepares to help her fight against the hellions invading Eolia
Notes:
Short chapter, but this chapter made me want to try writing a one shot completely in Hymmnos. Am I going to? Probably not. That said, I think it's getting easier to mix the plots~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Akata ini. Sol sheak keen en ciel chs briyua. Faura yerwe en famfa ween clare sar. Has koffl elle celle fluy. Has murfan infel mea. Cietta pauwel mea nozess pawr van aura famfa en murfan warce.
Was quel ra rre mean nedle lir.
Was granme erra neia anw walasye oz ieeya.
Was yea ra sarrifis hyzik mea sos teyys deleir.
Wee touwaka wa rre yor pagle Manac anw mea.
Shurelia’s voice was clear in his head, and despite not understanding Hymmnos, Sorey felt strangely familiar with its syntax enough to answer her. He didn’t know what his true name was or if humans even got them outside of the realm of the Shepherd’s duties of assigning them. Looking deep within his heart, he found the courage to speak with the administrator of the First Tower.
“I am Shepherd Sorey,” he said.
The sanctuary that was wherever he had gone gradually vanished as he regained his bearings within Eolia’s Symphonic Reactor. The malevolence that had been contained within the room had been quelled, yet he couldn’t sense Mikleo and Edna’s presences.
“I believe your seraphic friends are taking a rest nearby,” Shurelia said. She wore an extravagant pearl-white armor that masked her face; she was only slightly taller than Edna. “The water seraph panicked after seeing you step into my immediate domain. That in itself was reckless, and I’m not sure if you came out of that unscathed.”
Sorey sheepishly bowed in front of her. When he stood straight again, he reflexively continued to scan the large room for his friends. He told himself that they were most likely fine, especially if Shurelia had said so. He took a breath to calm his excited heart. He finally got to meet her!
“L-Lady Shurelia, I come with more questions than you can anticipate,” he said with some hesitation. It wasn’t every day he got to speak with one of the most powerful beings in the world, and somehow he felt like she couldn’t even be classified as a seraph. “First, I want to address you appropriately, so what are you?”
“That’s a rather bold question!” she smiled. “I am a special seraph called a Reyvateil, who can only create and use Song Magic. There are only three of us in the world—one residing in each of the Towers. Next question.”
Sorey was shocked that her answer was so short, but he figured that maybe the feeling of urgency was still in her from before. He asked her where the malevolence was coming from. Shurelia couldn’t provide a very detailed hypothesis; however, the rise in malevolence and Viruses and hellions seemed to be stemmed deep in the history of the enslavement of seraphim. She admitted that since the beginning when seraphim were first poached, she had walled herself off from humans to prevent their malevolence from corrupting her. She had neglected the outside world. But she was not at fault for the overrunning wickedness. It was humans—Sorey’s kind—and their disregard for the balance of nature. There were other aspects to the malevolence that had yet to be discovered according to her.
“I want to save the seraphim,” Sorey told her. “It hurts seeing them suffer like this.”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you what to do,” Shurelia responded. She averted her gaze. “Simply uprooting them from their hellish lives isn’t enough, but eradicating humans along with the malevolence is genocide far too expansive and equally as bad.”
“I don’t want anyone to suffer.”
“I’m sorry.”
The Shepherd reluctantly accepted what Shurelia had said. He didn’t think that killing one people or the other was going to solve the problem. He came up with an idea—helping people with their hardships instead of letting them use the seraphim for their needs. Shurelia wasn’t sure if that would help, but she could imagine it would be extremely taxing. Sorey had already bonded to two seraphim and looked like he had gone through all sorts of hardships. If he were to bond with any more seraphim, he would surely be too tired to function as a healthy and normal human being. The strain would probably even put him on the edge of death.
“I’ll think of something. I have one more question.”
“Go ahead.”
Sorey searched for the right words to voice his concern about Mikleo’s inability to use Song Magic. He had only recently learned how to craft them from within his soul, but other than strengthening his attacks, he couldn’t make ones like Edna that had effects on the environment or could be used for combat. Mikleo used to say he felt disconnected from Shurelia, preventing him from making spells that would otherwise turn the tides of battles. If he couldn’t sing like other seraphim, what was his purpose for existing?
“It sounds to be an issue within himself,” Shurelia said. “Perhaps his own doubts are preventing him from reaching his full potential; though, I must admit he seems different from other seraphim that connect to the Tower in this region. Are you aware of Diving? That might help him get over whatever is bothering him.”
Diving only helped so much. It wasn’t guaranteed that each successful Dive would produce Song Magic either. Sorey had often entertained the idea that Mikleo probably was more skilled in Seraphic Artes than Song Magic, and that was certainly a possibility. Still, it crushed the water seraph to believe that his inability to sing would essentially hinder Sorey’s progress. Of course, Sorey knew better than to tell all of this to Shurelia when she herself wasn’t sure what to do.
Shurelia consequently apologized for not knowing how to solve the problem. It had been centuries since she last had any connection or encounters with the outside world save for verifying Song Magic processed in the Tower.
“Perhaps you should try to Dive with him now,” she suggested, trying her best to provide some answer. “Diving within the Tower is incredibly dangerous, but you can go just outside the domain if something comes up and you want to ask about it with him.”
“It’s an idea.”
Sorey thanked her for at least seeing him, and while Shurelia felt guilty for not being able to offer any sort of useful information, she was glad she got to meet the new Shepherd. It instilled a sense of hope. After extending to him an offering of her services, Sorey bade her farewell. As he turned around and took a step towards the exit of the Symphonic Reactor’s room, a hellion materialized. It was a spectral sort made of pure malevolence. It was on the weaker side but still a nuisance.
“Vile creatures, how dare you continue to intrude on my Tower!” Shurelia threatened.
Sorey immediate rushed into battle with her. He didn’t know how to fight alongside a Reyvateil, but he imagined it was just like fighting with seraphim. He had mistaken. The hellion sidestepped, charging towards the ivory administrator at top speed. Chasing after it, he used Heavenly Torrent to temporarily stun it. Shurelia used a combative song to help finish off the hellion. The specter dissipated into darkness, its attack leaving Shurelia and Sorey a little more winded than they had expected.
“How are they getting in?” Sorey panted.
“I’m not sure,” Shurelia replied. She began mumbling to herself, “Could it be that she’s trying to escape? Is there someone that she can manipulate as she sees fit?”
“Shurelia?”
Mikleo and Edna dashed in after hearing the sounds of battle, and the former helped his partner up. He cursed himself for not staying with him. Edna, on the other hand, was more concerned about the Symphonic Reactor and why it was a hellion lure. Hellions attacked sources of purity, but the Tower was supposed to be well-protected in itself.
“Seems like you’ve got a bug problem,” she stated. “And for a place that looks ahead of its time, that’s kind of strange.”
“Perhaps,” Shurelia sighed. “The Towers were created with technology that far surpasses human understanding—even seraphim might not understand. All that you see around you was created solely for my use in connecting with the seraphim.”
She turned to Sorey. She wanted to teach him how to properly fight with a Reyvateil even though the chances of him having to fight alongside her again were slim at best. She would have liked to join him, but until the intrusions were stopped, she was bound to her Tower.
Mikleo inspected Sorey for any damage, somewhat irritated that he didn’t find anything too worrying because he wanted to help him. When Sorey told him what Shurelia had said about Diving, however, he lit up like the sun on a clear day.
“Well, let’s go Dive then!” he urged. “It’s been a while, and…you know, Shurelia said it would help!”
“I’ve never heard of a seraph being this excited to Dive,” Shurelia murmured curiously. “Then again, maybe this is because I’ve been isolated.”
“No, Mikleo just has a huge thing for Sorey,” Edna told her. “Honestly, it’s pretty annoying and gross.”
Sorey and Mikleo pretended not to hear what was being said about them. They had already expressed their ideas about each other to Lailah and Alisha on separate occasions, and it still haunted them that they had gotten so excited about their relationship. The latter, however, was waiting for the best time to finally confess the love he had developed over the seventeen years.
Mikleo looked back at Edna. “Hey, Edna, would you mind keeping Lady Shurelia company?” he nervously asked.
“Why, because you’re embarrassed when Sorey Dives into you and others are around? Fat chance,” she blatantly told him. Shurelia lightly scolded her for the comment. “Fine, but make it quick. I assume we’ve got other business to attend to.”
Sorey wanted to go to Marlind as originally planned when he came up with the idea of trying to help people solve their problems and rely on the seraphim less. Marlind, the plague town, was surely bound to be grateful for the Shepherd’s help, and whatever seraphim were there were going to be happy to escape their chains. He took up Mikleo’s hand, ushering him down and outside the Tower. Edna was strong, and he believed that if any more hellions did break into of Eolia, then she would be more than enough to help its administrator.
The two found a clearing behind the Tower, but before they could get started, Mikleo wanted to talk with Sorey. He wanted to know what Shurelia had said about his inability to sing. Sorey couldn’t look him in those violet eyes while telling him what he had heard. She had said that something about him was different, but what? She didn’t have any answers as he had hoped. Sorey cupped Mikleo’s face in his hands, pressing his forehead into his then apologized.
“Why are you apologizing?” Mikleo asked just above a whisper.
“I thought we could get answers from Shurelia, but she didn’t know why you can’t really sing either,” Sorey told him even softer. “I’m sorry that I got our hopes up. I really wanted to help you.”
Mikleo touched his partner’s hands as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his callused fingers on his cheeks. He lovingly said, “It’s fine. It makes me happy that you’re trying to help me.” He looked up at him with sparkling eyes and a beaming smile. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
They Armatized together, and once inside Sorey’s soul, Mikleo gave him a grateful hug. Entering the water seraph’s soul space, Sorey prepared for what was waiting for him. Above everything else, he hoped that he didn’t have to see him being abused.
Notes:
Merry Christmas!
Okay, so Reyvateils in this are a special kind of seraph that can only use Song Magic (because trying to make the Origins seraphim themselves would be weird).
Chapter 12: Phase 1: Threat of the Dragon
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 2: Mikleo
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
So Aurica's second cosmosphere level fit perfectly with Zestiria because DRAGONS. And not to mention that Mikleo's irritation that he has to share Sorey with Edna now--I really liked this chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Oh, things are different now,” Sorey noticed upon his arrival into the second level of Mikleo’s soul space.
The dark world filled with chains and cages and the overseeing gem was gone, replaced by a perfect replica of Elysia covered in snow. The borders of the world looked similar to the pikes and spikes of the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, which confused the Shepherd. Why would such a place, as temporary as it was, make such a remarkable transformation in his soul? Immediately he began to wonder if the encounter with Eizen had scarred him. Mikleo had always been somewhat afraid of becoming infected with a Virus and turning into either a hellion or dragon. The water seraph, though, was now learning how to swallow the anxiety and push on, so in a way, it made sense.
Sorey glanced around the Stonehenge looking for Gaine. The little Normin was calmly sitting on a stone sipping what appeared to be a special blend of tea. It was eerily silent and smiling as if it had done something. He scrutinized it. He formed the questions he planned on asking about Mikleo’s well-being and his whereabouts. Gaine just nonchalantly said:
“I have no involvement with what happens on this level. Ever since that hike up to the Spiritcrest, your little water seraph has been acting funny. He even made a Song Magic to produce snow that never melts, and then he made a snowman that looks an awful lot like you.”
“He created another song?” Sorey incredulously asked. “That’s great! Maybe he can use it for battle!”
“It’s useless; it has no combative qualities—just a waste of effort and time. Great for cold desserts, though.”
Sorey held his tongue. Any offenses to Gaine might get him in trouble which would result in him being kicked out of Mikleo’s soul and a wasted opportunity to help the seraph grow. He simply told it that he was off to find him, and while he had unintentionally spoken with an edge, he didn’t necessarily think it was wrong to show that he wasn’t too pleased with it.
He descended down to the Elysia replica where no one from their village was currently living. In the center of the empty village was the aforementioned snow-Sorey, complete with a dark blue shirt and dried leaves to look like his hair. Rocks painted green represented his eyes. He felt flattered that Mikleo had put so much work into the creation. It seemed strange, though. He didn’t remember him having a habit of making inanimate objects and attributing a human personality to it. Could it be because he was isolated in this world?
Mikleo exited Zenrus’s house up on the hill. He was particularly happy to see his snowman in the distance, and Sorey thought it would be enlightening to observe his behavior. He hid behind a house, watching from afar what this version of his seraph was like.
“Good morning, Sorey!” Mikleo chirped. He fixed the shirt then went about adding more leaves that he had collected to his head. “Do you think that dragon will come back today? I really hope not. Last time, I almost got fried, and that mean earth seraph was with it.”
The Shepherd was only slightly concerned for his friend. He understood that maybe talking to inanimate objects like they were other people probably helped Mikleo deal with the isolation, but the sight of him attending to it like a doll was almost…unnerving. Not to mention, he seemed to be talking to it like it was a child. He came out of hiding, approaching him from behind. He lightly tapped his shoulder.
“A-An intruder?” Mikleo panicked. He spun around with his staff summoned and ready to attack him. His violet eyes met Sorey’s emerald ones. “No way…” He dropped his staff and felt his face. He stretched the corners of his mouth before asking, “Are you really here?”
“Sure am!” Sorey lisped as his dearest friend kept inspecting him to make sure that his body obeyed the laws of physics. Mikleo took a step back. “What’s wrong?”
“N-Nothing! I thought…I thought you had run away from me. You weren’t here for ages, so I made this effigy from snow—ah, wait, no! Don’t look!”
Mikleo scrambled to hide the snowman, but Sorey just laughed as he patted his head. He expressed his happiness with a warm smile. The water seraph pulled away again, clearing his throat without really saying much of anything. He couldn’t believe that Sorey, who had apparently been gone for a long while, was back in the flesh to see him. He hadn’t prepared for any visitors, much less him.
“Perhaps this is an omen,” Mikleo suddenly mumbled. “That dragon is going to come here again, isn’t it? It has to since you’re here.”
“Are you talking about Eizen? He wasn’t a bad dragon.”
Mikleo flashed him a dubious glare. He tended to the snowman. “Of course, you haven’t been here for a while. I’ve missed you and waited for you, but your arrival can only mean that Eizen will definitely destroy the village.” He finished taking care of his effigy then turned back to him. “As much as I love you, Sorey, please go away. I don’t want to think about the end.”
Sorey was more than confused. He grabbed Mikleo’s wrists before begging him to tell him what had happened. According to the water seraph, he had disappeared one day after an earth seraph—Edna—had shown up. She demanded that she have a human to keep her company, and since Sorey was the only human that Mikleo knew, loved, and trusted; he refused to do as she demanded. She threatened to burn the whole village down, and even though there weren’t any other seraphim besides Mikleo, he was terrified. Thus, he reluctantly handed Sorey to her all dressed up in ceremonial clothes like an expensive doll. Despite receiving the human in exchange for peace, Edna sent her dragon Eizen to terrorize him. The stress and paranoia that came with a dragon constantly circling above led to the conception of the snow effigy.
“I’d forgotten how much time had passed. You were only a small child when I had to turn you over to her,” Mikleo said. “You’ve really…grown up.”
Sorey just kept getting more and more lost in the story of the second level. The biggest thing now was his competition with Edna. He knew that this was caused by the pact he formed with her, but did Mikleo really feel that she just swooped him and plucked him from his home? No amount of reasoning with him would get him to snap out of that state of mind, but maybe trying to talk to Edna and Eizen would help him move on.
“You can’t mean that! I would never discuss things with her!” Mikleo protested.
“You’re going to have to! Edna isn’t what you think she is!” Sorey fought back.
“I refuse!”
“You’re going!”
“God, you are such a loser,” Edna insulted from atop Eizen’s head; the dragon had arrived. “I’ll have to fry you for being so dumb.”
Eizen gathered energy in his mouth then released it unto the village. The houses were overflowing with flames and smoke billowed from the windows. All of the grass and flowers that Mikleo had worked so hard to keep alive despite the snow were reduced to ashes. The snowman remained unscathed.
“E-Edna!” Sorey called out to the earth seraph. “What are you doing?!”
“Silence, fool!”
Eizen launched fire ball after fire ball at the snowman, but it wouldn’t melt. Edna scoffed. She reiterated her threat to Mikleo. Sorey had run away from her, and now she was carrying out her punishment. The water seraph fell to his knees, heartbroken that his home was nothing more than a burnt crisp. After Edna and Eizen flew to the recesses of the Rayfalke Spiritcrest feeling quite proud, Sorey went to work trying to control the flames. If they got out of hand and spread throughout the soul space, the entirety of the second level would be destroyed, and he didn’t want to think what would happen to Mikleo in the real world if that were to happen.
“Mikleo, you can cry later! Elysia’s in danger!” Sorey urged him. Mikleo just sat there frozen in place. “Damn it, why now?”
Gaine bounced to Elysia, putting out the flames when it could. He asked what had happened. Once Sorey explained, it only laughed at his and Mikleo’s misfortune.
“That must really suck for you, but can’t say I’m surprised! This kid has been useless since he made that deal with Edna the Rock Princess!” he snickered.
Sorey grabbed Gaine up by its beret. “Is this really the time to make fun of us? Mikleo’s soul is in danger! If this place goes down, so the does the first level and you! Help us!”
Gaine wiggled free. He grumbled a bit under his breath then told him that in the soul space, if emotions ran high enough, Armatization was possible for a short period. With Mikleo’s Armatus, they would be able to put the fires out quickly enough. Time permitting; they could even get to where Edna lived in a few minutes. The only problem with that plan was getting Mikleo in such a state that he would even consider trying to save himself.
Sorey used Heavenly Torrent as many times as his body could withstand its power to douse the fires around him. Sliding to Mikleo’s side and gripping his shoulders, he shook him vigorously.
“Mikleo, snap out of it! I need your help to save Elysia, please!” he pleaded.
“You guys need to hurry!” Gaine added. “I can feel a breakdown on its way!”
“What do I need to do to get you to move?”
Sorey roughly pulled Mikleo into his arms. His eyes were shut tightly, and he prayed with all his heart that Mikleo would acknowledge that he was there with him even if he was an omen. Now wasn’t the time to be moping; they needed to work together.
“Luzrov Rulay!” Sorey called out.
Mikleo seemed to faint in his arms, but he turned into the orb of light that he had first transformed into when they initiated their pact. Sorey donned the Water Armatus, yet he felt tired and sick. That must have been how Mikleo was feeling.
“Arrow Rain!” they called out together, albeit that Mikleo was only barely audible.
Sorey shot an arrow into the smoky sky above, which pierced through to the light of day. A rain shower fell over Elysia, effectively saving the village from complete destruction while adding to the blanket of snow already there. With no time to spare but glad that Mikleo was moving with him, the Shepherd rushed to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, leaving disgruntled Gaine to tidy up. The snowman was still unharmed.
Just as they found Edna’s throne of stone, Mikleo dissimilated from his friend. The Armatus disappeared, and he was left feeling drained from both the experience and using his power to its full potential. Sorey picked him up. There were no protests, worrying him because Mikleo hated to be carried—especially liked a princess.
Sorey climbed the stairs to Edna’s throne, sternly saying to her:
“Edna, how could you?”
“You’re saying this is my fault?” Edna growled. She was petting Eizen’s head.
“I’m not. I just want to know why you two are fighting.”
Edna’s side of the story was simple. Mikleo had always spent time with the young Sorey while Edna never once got to play with him. She had gotten jealous. She gave Mikleo the ultimatum of destroying his village if he didn’t let Sorey play with her as much as he got to with Mikleo. She figured that after all these years Mikleo would loosen up, but on the contrary, he had tried to steal Sorey back. Naturally, this angered her. She hid Sorey in the Spiritcrest, where he went missing on his own. Distraught by the news, Mikleo made the snow effigy as a talisman to bring Sorey back home.
“When I saw you again in Elysia, I thought he had stolen you from me again. I made good of my threat, but apparently that was too much for him.”
“It was. You shouldn’t have destroyed the very thing he loved, and Mikleo,” he turned to him even though he was sure he wasn’t really listening, “I’m not a plaything. You’ve got to share me with Edna. I have to work with both of you, now, and I don’t want you two to always fight. Can we call a truce?”
Edna got up from her throne, stepping daintily down to them. She held out her hand to Mikleo.
The water seraph looked up at her.
“You should have just told me,” he said.
“I did. Then you yelled at me and said that Sorey needed to have a bath and be put down for his afternoon nap,” Edna bluntly said.
Mikleo reluctantly took Edna’s hand, and with Sorey’s squeezing grip, they all shook and enacted the truce. Sorey couldn’t believe that he was the youngest of the three yet was also in charge of making sure they didn’t tear each other apart. He lastly made them both apologize. Mikleo and Sorey went to the Stonehenge after things were settled back in Elysia. The snowman effigy had been enshrined for Mikleo to come to when he missed him.
“Do you really have to go?” Mikleo asked. He kept a yearning grip on Sorey’s fingers.
“I do. Mikleo, don’t be sad. I’m always with you, and this personality doesn’t suit you,” Sorey said. “The next time I visit, I want you to be happy…or your usual bookworm self.”
Mikleo nodded. He held Sorey’s hands. “Thank you,” he whispered into his ear. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused again.”
“It’s okay! This is kind of what my job is!”
Gaine gagged at the cutesy scene in front of him. The Stonehenge nevertheless glowed with light as Mikleo prepared to depart to the next level. Even if there was no new Song Magic from this Dive, Sorey was glad to know that Mikleo had moved on from his negative feelings about sharing with Edna. As everything was engulfed in light, he wished him the best.
--------------------------------------------
Sorey opened his eyes to find Mikleo hugging his trunk. He looked to be extremely tired from the Dive, and he couldn’t blame him. For only the second level, things were rather intense, not to mention his soul space on the verge of collapsing.
“Mikleo, are you awake?” Sorey gently asked.
“Yes,” he drowsily said.
“About what I saw in your soul space—”
“I’m sorry—”
“I’m never going to leave you. We’ve been together for years, and what we have can’t easily be replaced, if at all. You don’t have to worry about me leaving you for Edna or anyone else I bond with; you’re my one and only.”
Mikleo hugged him tighter, nodding into his stomach. He wanted to stay like that in Sorey’s lap not only because he felt reassured but because he felt more tired than usual. It wasn’t just the Dive. There was a wave of malevolence pouring from the Falkewin Hillside that made him lethargic. They had to retrieve Edna; Sorey had to help the people in Marlind, the source of all the neighboring malevolence.
Notes:
So yeah, the ending I played a little bit on the interview with Baba-sama when describing Sorey and Mikleo's relationship. And in retrospect, I could have gone into a little more detail, but then the chapter would have gotten really long for a cosmosphere chapter.
Chapter 13: Phase 1: Plague Town
Summary:
Sorey and his seraphim journey to Marlind, where the malevolence is almost overwhelming. After meeting with Alisha and investigating further, they learn that it's not all entirely the villagers fault.
Notes:
Chapter a little on the longer side. So far I like what I have going--kind of following Zestiria, but also kind of following Ar Tonelico. Anyway, things are getting serious!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“You two look more lovey-dovey than usual,” Edna flatly teased upon seeing them return to the Symphonic Reactor.
Shurelia didn’t say anything about her comment, and she knew that Dive went over well if they looked so comfortable with each other. Despite this, she couldn’t sense any significant difference in Mikleo’s ability to sing. She wondered if he had failed to craft Song Magic during the Dive. She couldn’t outright ask, yet she believed, or hoped, that he would probably make a new useful one soon.
Mikleo, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as calm. It wasn’t Edna’s place to know what had gone on during their time together. Sorey squeezed his hand, signaling him to let it go. He had already promised him that they would never be apart. When Mikleo flashed him an annoyed look, he gave him a one that made his heart flutter—their bond was something of a mystery.
“Okay, let’s go before I puke,” the earth seraph sighed.
“Are you returning to Ladylake?” Shurelia asked.
Sorey shook his head. “We’re headed to Marlind,” he said. “After the Dive, both Mikleo and I felt a powerful wave of malevolence. We had originally planned on going to find a seraph to help us get here, but Edna mentioned it was a plague town. I have reason to believe that the malevolence there is the cause of the plague, and the malevolence is coming from the enslavement of seraphim.”
Shurelia thought about it. It was logical to think it was all a feedback loop, and going to another town might curtail the abuse if he could really do something about it. Ultimately, she gave her blessing to Sorey and his seraphim. Before they left, she held Sorey back for a final warning:
“Be prepared for what you might see in Marlind. If the malevolence is so strong that you could feel it here, I imagine the worst is happening there. Don’t let your friends be overtaken.”
The dutiful Shepherd nodded. He had to protect them with all his heart. He had to ensure that Mikleo wasn’t afraid of going head-first into the evilness brewing in the world. He bade Shurelia farewell for now, rejoining Edna and Mikleo at the landing before they headed down the stairs. They left Eolia and headed back to the Falkewin Hillside where the malevolence had reached an all-time high. As they traversed the short distance, both Edna and Mikleo felt a drastic change in the atmosphere.
“Gross, this domain is almost as bad as a dragon’s,” Edna hissed.
“I have to agree,” Mikleo mumbled through his fingers that were covering his mouth in case he had to stop himself from vomiting.
Edna was used to such a strong tainted domain whereas Mikleo still had to build a tolerance to it. Even though his pact with Sorey should have protected him, it felt like it was working its way into his heart like a parasitic infection.
“Mikleo, go inside,” Sorey commanded out of concern. “It’s clearly too much for you out here.”
“I refuse,” the water seraph choked.
“Look, Sickly-o, if you don’t take advantage of the shield that Sorey is, you’re going to be corrupted,” Edna scolded. “Or die. Whichever one come first.”
“But it’ll make Sorey feel sick.”
“It’s worth it to keep you safe!” Sorey sternly said.
Mikleo tried to walk ahead of him so he couldn’t tell him what to do, but Sorey pulled him back. He spun him around, pulled him close so that their chests pressed together, and forced him to reside within his body. Almost immediately, the pulsating, nauseating heat that had been radiating from Mikleo’s body filtered through Sorey, bringing him to his knees with pain. Why was he so set on toughing through it when Sorey could barely breathe, let alone move?
“Sorey, let me out,” Mikleo begged. “It’s hurting you!”
Sorey ignored him. Edna walked beside him analyzing her new master. She didn’t think he had a parental bone in his body as far as restricting Mikleo for the sake of protecting him. In fact, she had never seen him in her short time of travelling with him behave in such a way. She knew that he would have to house both of them when they got to Marlind, and since he had never had two seraphim inside of him, she had to wonder how his body would hold up.
Edna formed stone pillars across the Griflet River to replace the broken bridge. She imagined that at some point if humans ever ventured out into the world again, they could rebuild the bridge; it made her sick that she was giving the opportunity for humans to continue trafficking. At least it wouldn’t be anytime soon because the malevolence had gotten to a level that even she began to think it would be better if she took shelter inside of Sorey for the time being. It wasn’t just the waves but a few people that were hanging around outside of the village gates that intensified their nausea. Nearing them, they found that they had hogtied a few sick seraphim, all whimpering in fear save for one.
The Shepherd ordered Edna to join Mikleo inside of him in case they spotted them and in case they were about to cultivate more malevolence. He inferred that they were most likely going to torture the seraphim, and he didn’t want her to see that considering what had been done to her brother. He hid behind a tree just to get a glimpse of what kind of brutality was going on in Marlind.
“We’re so sorry,” one of the villagers wept. “You didn’t deserve any of this, but the only way to prevent you from turning into hellions is to…”
“We understand,” a seraph quietly said. “Even if we’re scared, we know that there is no other way.”
“Everyone, get ready. Be sure to blindfold them; they shouldn’t have to watch.”
Sorey secretly watched as the tiny group blindfolded the seraphim. Each of them had a knife. He watched in horror as they slit the seraphim’s throats, and he tried to hold it together as another wave of malevolence surged from them. It was a mercy killing, yet they were still contributing to the wickedness around them. Why? Weren’t they trying to do something good?
“Sorey, let’s move,” Edna said. “Staring at this is just as bad as leaving us out in the open.”
Sorey came out of hiding once the villagers went back inside the gates. Marlind was a large village with two gates, according to the Celestial Record. The southern gate was essentially impassable thanks to the executions that had just taken place, so he headed for the northern gate. Pushing them open and wiggling into the boundaries of the village, the three of them didn’t expect the magnitude of the situation to be any worse than what they had felt before all the way in Lakehaven Heights.
Marlind was overflowing with malevolence to the point that Sorey felt the effects of it as well. It felt like there was a weight on his chest, crushing his ribs and lungs so that he couldn’t breathe. Edna and Mikleo were writhing as well, and as if Sorey’s body was a conduit for the malevolence, they almost wanted to break out from him.
“It’s okay,” he whispered to himself and, by proxy, the seraphim. “We can…we can get through this.”
He hobbled to the center of the village. Just like in Ladylake, the seraphim here were being used as slaves, most of them being forced to sing Hymmnos to help the diseased. The healthy people, including those that worked for the sanctuary, kicked and punched the seraphim that stopped singing. They threatened to throw them into the quarantined areas so that they would suffer the same fate if they didn’t keep singing. Sorey, in his ill health, was tempted to reprimand them.
“Stop it right there!” Alisha’s voice ordered from the northern gate. She accosted the villagers beating the seraphim with her spear drawn. “As the princess of Ladylake, I order you to cease and desist. Any further violence during my stay and after my leave will result in your arrest.”
Alisha hasn’t noticed that Sorey was also in Marlind, but she had come with a cart of medicine for the people. There was no sign of Rose or Dezel.
“Oh, so you think that just because you’re a princess, you can boss us around? Who’s the slave driver now?!” a villager bellowed.
Sorey finally joined in, eliciting from Alisha a startled yelp. “If you know what’s good for you and your people, you’ll stop these activities,” he warned. “Seraphim are not tools. They’re living things, too. They have feelings!”
“So do animals, but no qualms about eating them, are there?”
Sorey was prepared to give a physical warning, but he couldn’t risk sending Mikleo or Edna out into the open where they would be vulnerable. Alisha motioned for him to back off. She ordered the seraphim to stop singing and to take a rest before they developed Viruses. After that, she beckoned him to follow her to the sanctuary while a few knights that came with her to Marlind patrolled the area for abuse.
On the outside, the sanctuary wasn’t as fancy as the one in Ladylake, and the bulk of the malevolence was coming from it because it was the shelter for the sick and dying. Sorey learned that Chancellor Bartlow had sent her there to “fix the problem”, and Alisha expressed her suspicions about sending someone in her position to a place as dangerous as Marlind. Still she was concerned about the people and the seraphim.
“Did you see them outside?” she asked him. “The seraphim that had been murdered?”
“It was a mercy killing, not murder,” Sorey corrected softly. “There are people here who don’t like that they’re treated as slaves. Those people are the ones who are trying to kill them so that they don’t turn into hellions once they get sick. They’ll die anyway, but…”
“Becoming a hellion isn’t true death. But even so, it’s a horrible way to die.”
Sorey glanced around her. Lailah had previously been travelling with her but wasn’t anywhere near her; Alisha thought the same for him after realizing that Mikleo was nowhere to be found. He caught her up on his adventure—Mikleo was inside of him with another seraph. While Alisha was glad to hear that he gotten another seraph on his side, she couldn’t help but snicker about Mikleo’s situation. Needless to say, Sorey didn’t find it to be cute.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Alisha suddenly said. “Bartlow said that someone had stolen his Shepherd’s glove—not that it’s really his glove to begin with—and ordered me to find it. Then someone had left a note asking me to deliver the Shepherd’s garb to you. I’m glad I got to meet up with you. It was quite cumbersome to hide it from Bartlow’s eyes.”
Alisha handed him the robe but told him not to put it on until he left the village. If the people of Marlind, controlled by Hyland, knew he was the Shepherd, a manhunt would begin and they would rip Mikleo and Edna out of him.
Sorey thanked her then asked, “Where’s Lailah?”
Alisha’s expression changed. She seemed to be holding back from crying. “Bartlow won’t let me near her. They say she’s going through some sort of training, and I haven’t heard from her since. Even my connection to her is a little hazy; right now, I can’t feel her at all.”
“Maybe I should go back to Ladylake with you and help you find her.”
“But what about Mikleo and Edna? You know as well as I do that trying to go back to Ladylake will get you all in trouble.”
“I’ll protect them.”
“Wow, aren’t you brave,” Edna commented.
Alisha sincerely thanked him for the offer. She led him inside the sanctuary where a number of bodies had been covered with a sheet. Lilies were placed on their chests, and the sight revolted the earth seraph. She couldn’t understand how they could treat her kind like trash while they gave proper funerals to the ones who had fallen from the disease. Alisha felt the same way, but she had to comply with her orders from Chancellor Bartlow if she wanted to see Lailah safe. She handed the medicine to the clergymen, who set about to administering the cure.
“The medicine won’t work if we don’t do something about the malevolence,” Mikleo said. He was right, but where would they start?
Sorey recalled that the domain was similar to that of a dragon, so he figured that there must be something similar to a dragon around the village. It is talks and walks like a duck—that was his reasoning. But even if he was right, they were no match for any dragons without a proper song. The only one with any experience in such songs was Edna. To craft a song, he would have to Dive into her, but how could he when she couldn’t come out? The plan now focused on lessening the malevolence to make it safe to Dive.
“I think I saw something near the northern gate,” Alisha mentioned. “It looked like a ghost of a hellion. Do you think we can diffuse the malevolence by getting rid of them?”
“Sure, but without Lailah’s Silver Flame, we can’t purify anything,” Sorey said with frustration.
“What about Hymmnos?”
“Mikleo and Edna don’t know anything about songs that can purify.”
“The Shepherd’s power?”
“Same problem.”
“What about the slavery? If we can emancipate the seraphim here, then surely that will get rid of them.”
“Can’t do anything about it yet…unfortunately.”
The final decision came with simply following the bread crumb trail of malevolence to specific places and people within the village to solve the problem until they could find a way to stop the hellion ghosts from infecting the village and subsequently draw out the hypothesized dragon creating the domain.
The first investigation was simple. A woman had been stealing books on behalf of her dead daughter. She was arrested, and her hope that one day she would be compelled to stop her crimes liberated her of malevolence. It was a strange case but a solved one.
Next, Sorey and Alisha followed the malevolence to an abandoned museum called the Dumnonia Museum. Mikleo and Edna reacted negatively to it, causing pain to spread through Sorey’s chest.
“There are hellions in there,” Edna stated. “It seems that they used to throw humans seraphim into the museum if they were no longer of any use. I guess it got too full, so they started euthanizing them outside the village.”
“I can’t help but feel that if we go in there, we’ll see something rather traumatizing,” Mikleo added. “If it gets rough in there, just leave, got it?”
“I know,” Sorey responded aloud.
He and Alisha stepped into the museum. The foyer wasn’t heavily tainted, but it was coming from the rest of the museum. Alisha could feel it too—a strange type of chilling malevolence that seeped into her bones like a winter’s night frost. Sorey worried about her especially since she couldn’t join Mikleo and Edna in the safety his body provided. Her resonance was high enough to keep her awake, but the farther they went into the museum, the harder it became to stay conscious.
Hellions kept attacking them, too, and it pained them to slay them. They hadn’t done anything than just fall ill or gotten tired from overwork. Edna and Mikleo kept reminding him that he had to move on. There was no time to mourn them, not when each passing second crippled them more.
One of the rooms they came to had an eerie bloody scrawling in Hymmnos on the wall:
Heighte sara en sara chs erlla ganna
Heighte anw hers en weel whalt?
Walaka won corpu hers en sik corle hers!
How hasyu en sik elle boches hers prooth!
“Whoever wrote this went crazy,” Edna concluded after Sorey stared at it long enough for her to translate it.
She didn’t disclose the details for their sake, but Mikleo understood it just as well. Either a seraph or a human from long ago had written the insane epitaph. Neither of them felt good about it.
They continued on deeper into the museum, fighting off the hellions that came for their blood until they came to a long corridor on the second floor where there was more vandalism. Just like the scribbles on the wall, the statue of a previous Shepherd, his head and arms snapped off, was decorated with bloody Hymmnos:
Haf viega en kyll weaken mahin!
Haf viega en kyll sheaken mahin!
Denera murfan zash en werlwe!
“Zash! Zash!” hueaf hes rasse!
Haf viega en kyll sphilar!
Denera quive, denera morto!
Sorey and Alisha pressed for a translation, but Mikleo urged Edna not to tell them. The writings were getting worse; they were giving off malevolence. Reading them made the seraphim sick, in turn making Sorey feel like he wanted to vomit. He took it as a hint to leave them alone even though he was itching to know what the scribbles said.
“Have they said anything about it?” Alisha asked.
“All I know is that whatever was written made them feel worse than they do now,” Sorey said through his hand. “Mikleo is worried.”
“Why?”
“He feels guilty that he and Edna are making me feel like this.”
Alisha wondered if they should leave and come back after a break, but it didn’t make sense to do that when the entire village was just as venomous as the museum. It was hard to watch Sorey carry two seraphim inside of him, and she wished she could help in some way. Being bound to Lailah, however, compromised her ability to accept any other seraph. That said, because she was simply a Squire, she wouldn’t have been able to house them without reaching the deepest part of their souls—something that Mikleo, at least, would never allow.
Sorey hobbled forward down the hall, Alisha at his heels. He didn’t know if he should check any more ruined artifacts for clues given the effects, but if they wanted to get to the bottom of whatever had happened to the museum, he was resigned to stomach it. Coming to a completely demolished statue, he found one more scribble:
Eta en eta, zethpa dea viega oz boches corpu!
Denera chs celle en glasee corpu!
Eta anw corpu hers en pat prooth hers, na rete fandel!
“T-They were eating people?!” Mikleo panicked.
“A sign of depravity. Sorey, this place is a cesspool,” Edna warned.
“I know, but we have to find the source,” he coughed. He felt Mikleo trying to come out. He hugged himself, forcing him to stay inside. “Don’t come out! You won’t survive out here!”
“You need to get out of here then! We can’t handle it even inside of you!”
Sorey collapsed. He was fighting against them desperately to stay put until Alisha touched his arm while he was on the ground. She felt their anguish building up inside of him. Then there was a loud crash below. It sounded like someone in armor had broken down the door, and they were headed up after them. The creature snarled as it came up the stairs they had climbed; it sang in corrupted Hymmnos.
“Sorey, we have to leave!” Alisha pleaded. “Your seraphim are scared, too! Something is coming after us, and you’re in no condition to fight!”
She pulled him up, and the two found the doors to a staircase that lead back down to the first floor. Removing the cobwebs that covered the door leading back to the foyer, Alisha ushered him out of the building. When they had run past the iron gate connecting to the entrance of the museum and out towards the legendary Great Tree—now suffering from the malevolence—Mikleo and Edna forced their way out of Sorey and caused him to almost faint.
Edna clenched her teeth as she tried to withstand the evilness swirling around. Mikleo sought refuge next to Sorey. He felt both guilty and angry at him. He had greatly debilitated him, but he couldn’t understand why he was trying to push through it when they were clearly in danger. Alisha saw to Edna, who slapped her away.
“Don’t touch me,” she growled. “My body feels like it’s going to crumble away to dust. Sorey was an idiot for trying to continue.”
“Edna, at least let me give you an apple gel to give you some energy.”
The earth seraph complied, sucking up the fruity jelly from the princess’s hand. She looked over at Mikleo and Sorey and asked, “What was he trying to prove? Did he really think that he could protect us from malevolence that was that bad?” Mikleo didn’t answer her since he didn’t know himself.
Out of curiosity, a few villagers came to the museum’s yard. When they found Mikleo and Edna together with Alisha and Sorey, all hell broke loose. They screamed and hollered for the knights that had come with Alisha to expose the two seraphim that had entered with them. At first, Edna didn’t understand until she realized that there was something different between her and Mikleo and the other seraphim in the village—the ones in the village were pale from sickness and shackled. She and Mikleo were dressed extravagantly, free of any bounds on their ankles and wrists.
The knights neared them, and they were all of a sudden ready to seize Alisha for betraying Ladylake’s seraph policy. Lailah was the only one she could be with, but to them, it seemed she had obviously tried to bond with another one. They weren’t going to be nice with Edna and Mikleo, either. Not when they had full use of their powers.
Edna pushed Alisha far away from her then encased herself in a boulder. She fortified it as much as she could so they couldn’t break in, or at least it would be excruciatingly difficult to chip the stone.
Sorey regained his bearings after hearing the sounds of struggle. His sight was blurry. He barely saw how Alisha was pushed towards the village gates while the knights formed a team to carry Edna’s rock. Mikleo was…
“Let go of Mikleo!” he demanded as a couple guards pinned the water seraph down, gagged him, and tied him up. “Mikleo!”
“Arrest the boy as well,” the highest ranking knight of the bunch ordered.
A couple of knights attempted to knock him unconscious, but he maneuvered away. Swinging his blade, he ran after Mikleo. Ordering him to use a Seraphic Arte to break free, Sorey used a new Hidden Arte called Sonic Thrust to stun the knights carting him away. Mikleo couldn’t fight back thanks to the weakness the malevolence incurred. The knights swatted at him to prevent him from cutting his water seraph loose. One punched him in the cheek, stunning him for a brief moment.
Something had shot through his stomach into Mikleo’s leg. At first he felt nothing then there was an itchy sensation then searing pain. He fell to his knees while gripping the wound. Squeaks came from his throat.
“Looks like this guy stole the Shepherd’s Glove,” a knight accused as Sorey flopped onto his side. He was slowly losing consciousness to abate the pain. “Chancellor Bartlow will have a nice chat with him.”
“M-Mikleo…!” he struggled to yell.
In front of him, Mikleo trembled as an arrow protruded from the side of his thigh. He was probably crying, but with the gag in his mouth so he couldn’t sing, he couldn’t make himself heard. Things were getting dimmer. A knight walked over to the captured seraph, and he knelt down examining his thigh. He grabbed the shaft of the arrow. With one swift pull, he ripped it from his leg. The arrowhead tore through his porcelain skin and the fabric of his pants. Mikleo arched in pain before his body forced him to black out.
“Mikleo!” Sorey yelled again.
Another knight stood over him, and with the sheath of his sword, he hit Sorey’s head until he was unconscious.
Notes:
Fun fact: I translated the bloody scrawls in Dumnonia Museum from English to Hymmnos. Not every word in those scrawls exists in Hymmnos, but I got the majority of it. Next chapter is going to be graphic and probably depressing.
Chapter 14: Phase 1: The Hyland Experiments
Summary:
The Hyland Kingdom, represented by Chancellor Bartlow, finally has possession of Sorey and his seraphim. After being unable to connect to his Shepherd when he needs to most and after learning the horrors happening behind the scenes of the Hyland Kingdom, Mikleo and Sorey await their fate with respect to the Seraphoid Project. (Chapter contains torture; PLEASE READ THE BEGINNING NOTE.)
Notes:
THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC TORTURE. (I've put a warning in the summary as well)
It's been a long time since I've written about torture, and I actually managed to limit myself and realize that not everyone appreciates gore and suffering. That said, besides the mentions of the Vaccine (from Ar Tonelico 3), whatever happens in this chapter and some of the next chapter are NOT contents of the original games. I've reread this chapter about six times or more now to ensure that it's not going overboard while still keeping the cruelty and callousness and even insanity of the humans and Mikleo and Sorey's sense of helplessness, but everyone's got a different threshold. (In fact, once I shared a Corpse Party fanfiction a long time ago and people got mad at me for the amount of gore, but...well, it was Corpse Party.)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
REPORT #1: LADY OF THE LAKE
My researchers have finished preparations for Ladylake’s signature seraph to become a Vaccine to the seraphim that develop Viruses as well as converting these diseased seraphim into Seraphoids. At first, her mind and body could not handle the capacity required to understand and instate the ancient tongue, but after much rehabilitation, she has learned how to use it. We have yet to use her practically; we have simply been emulating past Vaccines. Remarkably, once she was able to use the ancient tongue, her power not only worked accordingly but at a much greater magnitude than previously recorded. The new Vaccine, thus, must be used in a very controlled environment or her vessel must serve as an antenna for her power. As long as the diseased seraph is within her sights, she cannot fail to convert them into a Seraphoid.
REPORT #2: ENCASED EARTH SERAPH
My forces brought back from Marlind two seraphim—one encased in stone and one that was brought with the supposed “Shepherd” who stole my glove. This report will detail about the first seraph. It appears that the earth seraph encased itself in a vain attempt to protect itself from humans. The stone serving as the shell is harder than steel, so we will have to use an abundance of our Seraphoids to crack it open assuming they are ready to function. The current rumor is that this seraph might be the one that I had previously set out to capture from the Rayfalke Spiritcrest. If this is true, I will stop at nothing to convert the seraph into one of the Seraphoids. With that power, I’ll be invincible.
REPORT #3: SHEPHERD’S SERAPH
Of the two seraphim brought from Marlind today, this one is particularly intriguing, according to the researchers. He is a water seraph, yet there is no trace of malevolence in him. The Shepherd also seemed desperate to save him when they were caught, going as far as allowing himself to be injured. The researchers speculate that this seraph might be the primary seraph connected to him. Experimentation begins on him today since he does not have any protection around him like the earth seraph, and we plan to take advantage of that. His direct link and the Shepherd’s preference for him may be of some use, and his affiliation will serve a great purpose in making more medicine for the people of Marlind. After our tests are complete; I, Chancellor Bartlow, will become the god of the new Seraphoid world.
REPORT #4: ZAVEID THE EXILE
We have recaptured Zaveid, and we plan to place Alisha’s soul inside his body.
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Mikleo woke up blindfolded and cold. He had been stripped of his clothes and thrown somewhere damp. He was still tied up with a cloth as a gag in his mouth, which he managed to push out with his tongue. He coughed a couple times from the resulting dryness in his mouth and throat. Wherever he was, it smelled of decayed flesh and mold. Water could be heard faintly gushing in the distance. The malevolence made him sick to his stomach.
“S-Sorey?” he asked. “S-Sorey, are you there?”
No answer.
“Don’t mess with me. If you’re there—”
“That brat isn’t here,” a deep voice said sharply. It made Mikleo flinch. “So, you’re the Shepherd’s seraph—or one of his seraphim, I should say. I’ve heard you’re pretty resilient. You went to Marlind and didn’t develop a Virus even after you went out into the open. Yes, I think you have great potential.”
Everything was silent for a short while save for the sounds of armor clanking from far away. The taps of the shoes of whoever had greeted him got quieter, the clanking louder until they were right next to him. Someone pulled off the blindfold, revealing that he had been brought to a dungeon of sorts deep within what appeared to be an aqueduct. It was dark, and there were piles of bones, both mana-infused and without the spiritual energy, in the cages. Mikleo slowly turned away from his surroundings and looked up at the knights, both of which were holding long wooden sticks fortified with metal handles so they wouldn’t shatter in their hands.
“W-What are you going to do?” he frightfully asked. He didn’t know why he asked the question since he knew what was coming. The anxiety and fear made him want to cry. “D-Don’t…”
Each knight raised the stick into the air. One hit him across the head, the other hit his leg, the first one hit his arm, and they continued to go back and forth taking turns beating every inch of his body. Mikleo guarded his head by curling as much as his body would allow, whimpering quietly when they briefly paused and crying out when they attacked him. He couldn’t understand anything that was happening, and he was beginning to lose focus.
Why was he so scared of these knights?
Why were they beating him?
Where was Sorey?
Why was he not out on the streets working to death like the other seraphim?
For what did he have great potential?
His arms ached; his whole body did. He mistakenly extended himself as his back and shoulder muscles cramped from the tension, allowing for a blow to his neck which caused him to fall into a coughing fit. He reflexively pushed them away with Twin Flow, but it only served to make them more violent.
“L-Leave me alone!” he cried. He dragged himself to a corner, whining like an abused dog. Again, they beat him until he started bleeding from lacerations caused by the wood striking his skin. His white skin turned black with bruises. “Someone, help me! I beg of you! Sorey, where are you?!”
Eventually the sticks broke just above the handles, and the knights resorted to punching and kicking and stomping him. One of them grabbed him up by his delicate white-to-blue hair, shoving his head against the wall while twisting his arms over his head to try and dislocate his shoulders. When they were finished assaulting him, Mikleo curled as tightly as he could in the corner of his cell. He panted. His consciousness went in and out. He mumbled Sorey’s name helplessly.
The tapping footsteps came back. They belonged to an old man with a hawked nose and silver shoulder-length hair. His eyes were cold and relentless like the man himself was a hellion. He exuded malevolence on par with that of a dragon. He muttered something to the knights, who then turned back to Mikleo without a word. Rather calm, one of them knelt down and grabbed his throat roughly. He pressed down as hard as he could until Mikleo started kicking in a vain attempt to break away from of his grip. His hands were tied behind his back so he couldn’t free himself other than trying to wiggle from underneath him. Dragging him across the floor into a better position to handle him, the knight clutching at his neck pressed his knee into his stomach while keeping hold of him. With his free hand, he pressed down on his mouth and nose so no air could leave or enter his body. The kicking got more violent as the defenseless seraph was running out of air. The old man just watched with an evilly delighted smile on his thin lips.
Mikleo’s next idea was to turn his head away to break the cover over his nose and mouth. The pressure coupled with the weight of the malevolence was so strong on his body that he could barely move. He choked, writhing as his lungs felt like imploding. Then his body started moving less and raspy exhales echoed into the knight’s palm. He was becoming delirious from the lack of air, his movements uncoordinated; why was the knight trying to suffocate him? What had he done to deserve this torture?
“Alright, let him go,” the old man commanded. “We can’t have one of the Shepherd’s seraphim dying on us. We have yet to get the earth seraph out of that shell, but this water seraph will do nicely for the Seraphoid Project. Bring him upstairs to the palace. They’ll be here any minute to extract what we need.”
The knight who had strangled Mikleo flipped him over on his stomach. He carried him by his neck, his legs dragging lifelessly along the ground. The abused water seraph’s consciousness came and went in ebbs, allowing him to periodically recognize that he had been taken somewhere else but not enough to know exactly where. When he woke, he found that he was in one of the drawing rooms of the Rountabel Palace near Alisha’s home.
The furniture had been pushed to the wall and tarps were lay all over the plush carpet. A makeshift examination table had been made from a coffee table with braces bolted down to it. Splotches of blood were all over the table and the tarps; there were even streaks high up on the walls from where it had splattered and dripped down. There was an inordinate amount of malevolence far greater than anything he had every experienced in the room alone. He gagged and his head ached. It was a toxin to his very being.
Mikleo was still foggy from his scuffle in the dungeon, and the malevolence he felt didn’t make things any better. He felt nauseous and fatigued but most of all, he felt alone. He couldn’t sense Sorey’s presence at all in that room that seemed to be isolated from the world. He wasn’t sure if the malevolence was paralyzing his resonance or if Sorey was somewhere else altogether. All he knew was that in the cesspool that was Rountabel Palace, he was helplessly alone.
The knights undid the rope that had bruised his wrists while he was still reeling from lack of oxygen then fastened him to the table so that his forearms dangled over the sides. Once everything was in place, they stood by the door. In a few moments, the old man and two sophisticated-looking citizens entered the drawing room.
“Is this the specimen, Chancellor Bartlow?” one of the citizens asked the old man.
“Quite a scrawny one if you ask me,” the other judged.
“You’re Chancellor Bartlow?” Mikleo gasped dazedly.
“Yes, this is the remarkable water seraph that has yet to be corrupted,” Bartlow replied. He ordered the citizens to find out why he had yet to be tainted by the malevolence and to extract whatever they deemed would be useful for the people of Marlind. “You may toy with him, but you are not to kill him. He must still be within an inch of his life and sanity if we want to turn him into a Seraphoid.”
With that, Bartlow left them to their work. The two citizens—two educated men that had a nasty aura around them—hovered over his bare body. Having them look at him was completely different from when Sorey saw him during their Dives or simply when bathing with him. They probed his skin as if he were an extraterrestrial being from a far-off planet. Mikleo was perturbed by where those eerily gloved hands touched, and when they were finished examining him, he felt disgustingly violated. He hated being touched by them, and it made him yearn for Sorey’s warmth more, though he knew that he wouldn’t feel it. Something told him that it would be a long time before he would see his Shepherd.
“It’s intriguing how similar seraphim anatomy is to human anatomy, yet they don’t need food or sleep,” one of them said. “Do you think they have to use the restroom?”
“If they don’t eat, they don’t defecate. But to think their organs can be used as replacements in humans, too,” the other cooed. “It’s been so long since we’ve had to sacrifice livestock to conduct transplants.”
“Once we drain and set all the blood we can get from him, perhaps we can dissect him!”
“He’ll bleed out; unless the conversion is a failure and he dies, we can’t cut him open at the chest, but probably we can do a limb or two or perhaps his abdomen if we don’t go too deep. Depends on how far he goes after the draining.”
Mikleo’s heart began to race with all this talk about dissecting and draining him. He had never been more afraid in his life. He remained silent as he tried to focus on Sorey’s soul. He couldn’t find him! Where was he? Why couldn’t he reach out to his soul and let him know that these strangers—these strange creatures that weren’t human in the slightest—were planning to fillet him? His mind teemed with dread, and he thought about trying to force himself to imagine himself in Elysia with Gramps and everyone else, but in remembering that Elysia had been destroyed, he couldn’t help but feel like everything was coming to an end.
One of the men placed a heavy medicine bag on the table next to Mikleo’s foot. There was a noisy clanking from it which sent shivers throughout the poor water seraph; the owner of the bag pulled out a few scalpels of different sizes. The other man put a metal bucket under each of his hands.
“What are you doing to me?” Mikleo interrogated. He was wide awake now. As much as he was hyperventilating, he had regained his bearings. “Why do you have so many scalpels?”
“I forgot seraphim knew how to talk,” the first one grumbled hatefully. “We’re going to collect some blood from you, play around with your half-dead body if we have time, then package you up to be converted into a Seraphoid. Heard they’ve got a special human for you—the Shepherd, in fact!”
“Bartlow wants to see if the Shepherd’s human soul can be placed into his seraph’s body,” the second one added. “Can you imagine the power that Seraphoid would have?”
“Assuming the body isn’t torn apart from the sheer force.”
Mikleo panicked, trying to use his Seraphic Artes to free his arms from the restraints. The malevolence was too much, however, and rendered them useless. Even his Hymmnos had no effect in the red room where he lay.
“Y-You don’t have to do this!” Mikleo pleaded. “If you just let me go, I…I can promise you that the Shepherd won’t come after you! I can…I can fend him off! Please just don’t do this to me!”
The men were growing more annoyed with each word. They wanted to gag him, but at the same time, the sadists wanted to hear him struggle for his life as he lost blood. Each of them grabbed a scalpel then took a wrist. Slicing into him along his arm, they giggled as the glorious red fluid flowed into the buckets like scarlet waterfalls. According to Bartlow, seraph blood was a key ingredient in the medicine for the people in Marlind when it coagulated and mixed into other ingredients, and the more resilient to the malevolence the seraph was, the more potent the medicine turned out to be.
Mikleo whined with each pulse of his heart; the men started to massage his arms to coax more of his blood to drain into the bucket. At first it was only the sensation of feeling his veins empty out that scared him. As he lost more, his skin lost what little color it had and got colder than what he was used to. His heart was already racing but now felt as if it were trying to flutter out of his chest probably to find a home with the one he loves. His anxiety and fear morphed into confusion. His skin became more and more dehydrated even though he was sweating out every drop of water he had in him. His breathing went from long, deep breaths to short pants as his body tried to compensate for the blood loss.
“I’ve got a liter in this bucket,” the first one said after a few minutes.
“Me too,” the second replied.
They left Mikleo’s side to grab bandages from the bag, and after wrapping his wrists mediocrely, they moved the buckets aside to coagulate. Once the blood was thickened, they would take it to make the medicine somewhere else in the palace.
The two men examined Mikleo again, who was breathing as fast as his body could make him to ensure that his organs would survive the asphyxiation happening throughout him. Without the two liters they had drained from him, there was no guarantee that his body would be able to sustain itself. They decided that they couldn’t dissect him.
“I wish there was more we could do to them before we have to hand them over to the Church,” the first man sighed. “Think I can play God for a bit and push him to the edge of death?”
“Better safe than sorry,” the second scolded. “If we accidentally kill him, Bartlow will send us to that godforsaken dungeon.”
“Water…” Mikleo coughed between pants and whines. “Please…water…”
“Make your own damn water! That’s your element, isn’t it? Just magic some up!”
“Please…” Mikleo begged again. “S-Sorey, help…I…don’t…want…to…die…Not in…this room…”
“It won’t be this room.”
“And that Shepherd won’t help you.”
“How do you know he doesn’t want to become a Seraphoid? Power like that is beyond any man’s wildest dreams.”
“He’s probably celebrating with Chancellor Bartlow now!”
“Or perhaps Bartlow is weakening him. He did that to people before. Beat their heads and broke their bones—of course, the blood is never on his hands. Those Seraphoid knights will listen to any order he gives.”
Mikleo’s body was wrought with pain in his chest. His head was floating, and if he weren’t trying so hard to rebound from the shock, he would have fallen into a coma. He tried to cry for Sorey in a last-ditch effort to find help. He wanted to believe that he was completely against the project, and he wanted to believe that he was safe. It sounded to him like his voice carried all the way to wherever he was, but…
-----------------------------------------
“Let me go, dammit!” Sorey cursed. He was bound by ropes on his hands and feet as two knights stood over him with clubs. He was prepared to take any sort of bludgeoning they had in mind for him as long as he would be able to see Mikleo. “Where is he!?”
Bartlow cackled, “The Shepherd is more worried about his seraph than the entirety of the population of Marlind! That young man is doing us a kind favor by donating two liters of his blood to make the medicine for them.” He paced in front of him. “That’s quite a special seraph you’ve got, and I’m sure his blood will save a large portion of that population.”
Sorey’s stomach plummeted through the church’s floor. He sadly knew that Hyland was abusing the seraphim, but to learn that they were poaching them for their bodies made him angry and sick, more so than the malevolence in Marlind had made him. For once, he was deathly afraid of what was happening to Mikleo because he knew that he was a fragile person despite his strong Seraphic Artes. He had been trying to sense him, and he only got glimpses, which translated into strange body aches and unexplained restlessness and the occasional arrhythmia.
“Well, enough about the seraph—I’m surprised you’re not concerned about the princess,” Bartlow mocked, glancing at her lying unconscious on a pew. “After all, her seraph was the Lady of the Lake, and you haven’t seen her for quite some time.”
“What are you talking about?! Where’s Lailah?! What have you done to her?!”
“She’ll be here soon. Once they bring me your seraph, we can get down to business. We’ve never had the opportunity to plant the Shepherd’s soul into the body of a seraph, so I truly do wonder what will happen.”
Sorey again was unnerved by the insanity that had been going on behind the scenes of the Hyland Kingdom. They were conducting monstrous experiments on the seraphim, and the people didn’t even know! Would they care to find out what was going on? Would it frighten them to know that they’d been ingesting seraph blood to heal their ailments? Besides all that, he was starting to realize that they were trying to mess with the laws of nature.
“Why are you trying to put human souls into seraph bodies?” Sorey quietly asked as he tried to fathom for what purpose the chancellor would go so far. “What could you possibly gain from something so demonic?”
“Here I thought you would never ask!”
Bartlow began his spiel on his Seraphoid Project. His goal was to rule the world with the hybrid beings. In his mind, it was the only way that humans and seraphim could coexist. He wanted a world in which humans existed but had regained the ability to use Hymmnos they once had, which lie within the mystery of the seraphim. He explained the process to the horrified Shepherd:
“To do this, a seraph must be captured and subjected to physical and mental torture ranging from extreme abuse or the witnessing of acquaintances’ deaths—personally, abuse is much cleaner. The torture, as we’ve found, exposes the connection to the Tower as an emergency fail-safe to preserve their soul. The connection between the Tower and the seraph holds within it the seraph’s true name, which can be rewritten by, preferably, a Seraphoid’s Seraphic Artes to effectively disconnect the seraph; however, the seraph’s mind is still intact and therefore requires more stimulation to isolate the mind itself. Of course, there are risks—if the seraph is exposed to distressing stimuli for too long, they can break and develop Viruses. The best way to go about this part is to simply administer controlled heavy electric shocks until the seraph is numbed to the outside world, and that typically results in the seraph having a seizure or two. When the seraph has been shocked enough to forget who they are; they have no more safeguards between them and the Tower. The Tower then attempts to heal them, and we interrupt that process in the moment of vulnerability to implant the human soul—thus, the seraph body houses the human soul. Once the human soul is implanted, the connection between the new Seraphoid and the Tower is re-established, and we put the Seraphoid through repurposing training to mask the human soul. We have never failed even if recuperation takes some time, and we look forward to merging you and your seraph to become the strongest Seraphoid in the world!”
Bartlow raised his hands in celebration of the coming of the new era, but Sorey couldn’t begin to wonder how Shurelia hadn’t sensed any of the wrongs the Ladylake priests have committed.
“You’re insane,” he could only say.
“Geniuses usually are, my dear Shepherd.”
The doors of the church swung open as one of the knights carried Mikleo’s half-dead body towards the altar of the Sacred Blade in his arms. Sorey watched, observing every detail of the slender body. He felt a very weak connection between him and the seraph, and he worried that he was about to die. When they laid him on the altar, he saw the quick minute heaves of his chest; the bandages around Mikleo’s wrists were sopping wet with crimson blood.
“You drained him and didn’t even suture the incisions?!” Bartlow growled. “No matter. It won’t be a problem for long. Bring in the Lady of the Lake and her Sacred Blade! Bring in the Electrocutioner!”
Mikleo, struggling to breathe on the altar, looked straight at Sorey. His mouth was agape as he breathed rapidly and desperately; his eyes were half-closed and dull and filled with deliriousness. The Shepherd wanted to cradle him in his arms until he was nursed back to perfect health, but with him tied up and guarded by armed knights, he couldn’t. And, to his dismay, it almost looked like each pant was a single word:
“Help.”
Notes:
I AM SO SORRY, MIKLEO.
Hopefully that wasn't too rough. The draining of Mikleo's blood, as morbid as it is, is something like what Elizabeth Bathorey did, which earned her the name Bloody Mary. Or, if you prefer a modern reference, Salem S2 in which Mercy straps up Dollie, puts that collar with the faucet on it around her neck, and drains her blood into a bathtub. Of course there is nothing in either games that depict this stuff, and can seraphim actually handle more injury? Does seraph blood actually have healing capabilities? Probably not on that last one, but in the society they live in this cross-over, I wouldn't be surprised. That said, the Seraphoid business is like the Reyvaroid business in AT3 except a touch more...sinister...and the Church is bad as always (well, maybe more for Pendrago canonically, but Hyland hasn't always been good either.)
The next chapter will be delayed for an indefinite amount of time.
Chapter 15: Phase 1: [TITLE REDACTED]
Summary:
THERE IS GRAPHIC TORTURE IN THIS CHAPTER
While Edna is dealing with her own problems against Bartlow's men, Sorey witnesses the process to turn a seraph into a Seraphoid.
Notes:
GRAPHIC TORTURE IS IN THIS CHAPTER.
This part two of all the shit that hits the fan for this part, and I'm really sorry. The goal is to show how awful humans had become, and if you wish to read this chapter, reader discretion is advised.
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT, INCLUDING THE TITLE. I took a hiatus on this to not only finish up my Tainted AU fic but also because I wanted to actually produce the original songs I did write for this fanfiction. UTAU is being a pain in the ass and I don't know how to fix the program-breaking error (and while I know Japanese, I don't know technical Japanese to read the install directions, which isn't even the beginning of the problem). As such, I won't be posting the Hymmnos/Ar Ciela lyrics for this chapter until I can fix the program or I can find someone that can help me make the songs.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Hyland knights tried as best as they could to chip away the stone protecting Edna from them. The earth seraph, lying inside, continuously searched for any damage and repaired it with the surrounding debris from their progress. She giggled sadistically as she made them start the process over, but she knew that she didn’t have unlimited power. The malevolence was strong enough to seep through her shell, so in due time she would be forced to dismantle it. Until then, she decided to keep up the fight until either Sorey managed to find her or someone else came to her rescue. While that idea irritated her, she accepted that she would have to rely on others.
“I wonder how Meebo is holding up in all this nonsense,” she muttered. “I almost feel bad for him—he doesn’t have any way to protect himself. I’m not sensing Sorey, either.”
She listened to the knights complain about her giving them a hard time. After a couple hours of arduous work with no reward, the amusement had faded; she’d dealt with things more annoying than humans trying to break her shell, but it was ultimately pointless to keep expending her energy.
“We should get one of those Seraphoids in here to break it open,” one of them said.
“Bartlow will gut you if you try to use them for something like this…that is, if they don’t kill you first,” the second one said.
“I heard the Seraphoids are a long way from being the perfect killing machines,” a third gossiped. “And besides, Bartlow did say that he’d resort to using them if we couldn’t crack this thing open by the end of the day. Or by the time the ultimate Seraphoid is created.”
“Speaking of which, he’s apparently found one that’s directly linked to the current Shepherd!” the fourth celebrated. “He plans to merge the two. Once he gets that Seraphoid singing, Hyland will be unstoppable! Rolance will stand no chance against us!”
Edna was interested in what she had heard, but not enough so to voluntarily break down the shell. Judging by the prattling, she suspected that Mikleo was the seraph they had mentioned, and suddenly she felt cold. She wanted to know more about Seraphoids and exactly what that had to do with Mikleo and Sorey, but in the pit of her stomach was a seed of fear, sprouting at the thought of this project resulting in the death of a seraph and the Shepherd for no reason. Having seen what the seraphim under the Hyland rule can do to living things, she knew she would have to fight against the men holding her hostage.
Just before she broke down the stone around her, someone she knew walked in. The haughty tone and the lackadaisical attitude—she knew just who it was. She could sense his arrogant wind.
“Rise from the earth, Deceiving Pummel!” Zaveid’s voice called out. His glowing chains made of the wind ripped through the ground, punching the knights, knocking them out. His footsteps clicked around. “Man, you guys are so easy when you’re taken by surprise!” He waltzed over to the stone shell. “Knock, knock; we’ve got business to attend to.”
Edna revealed herself to Zaveid with a look of annoyance. She wasn’t particularly fond of him, but she was slightly happy to see him. Just as well, she would have been happy to see anyone who wasn’t a human.
“To think you would get caught!” Zaveid grinned.
“Can it,” Edna retorted. “We can talk about my screw-up after we find Sorey.”
“So he really did get caught.”
It seemed to Edna that Zaveid hadn’t believed it at first, and she wondered how he had come to know who he was in the first place. There was a time and place for stories, but now wasn’t that time and there wasn’t that place. They had to get moving.
“Those knights were talking about—”
“Sorey and Mikleo are the subjects for a messed-up experiment, and it’s up to us to save them or at least stop whoever is going to seal their souls,” Zaveid interrupted. “I don’t need a rundown of all that’s happened. I’d rather not know yet.”
Edna grew irritated with him even though he wanted to help her find her Shepherd. Zaveid held out his hand to her as a gesture of friendship. She, in sharp contrast, wasn’t very interested in being his friend. Still, he knew Sorey, and it was very obvious that he wanted to make sure he was okay.
“Before we go, why are you here under a different Tower than what you can use?” she asked him.
“Just doing some recon. Yeah, I can’t use my Song Magic, but if you work with me, we can work out something...eventually.”
Again, Edna was displeased with his disregard for his inability to sing in Hyland territory. Nevertheless, she asked him to lead the way out of the tainted dungeon that was the Vivia Aqueduct underneath Ladylake.
While they ran together looking for the exit, she wondered just how he was going to use his Song Magic. Without a doubt, she knew that Zaveid the Exile could only sing under Frelia’s Tower unless he had found a way to sing under Eolia and possibly even Tilia. She was aware that such singing could only happen if the Hymmnos fit into one of two formats—over and with. Eizen had mentioned that he had once partaken in that type of Song Magic, describing it as a liberating experience. Could Zaveid have sung with him before? Her skin crawled as she imagined Zaveid and Eizen singing together. She ultimately decided that it could not have possibly sounded good.
They found the exit leading out of the aqueduct and into the distrcit, and once they were outside in the public eye, Zaveid immediately scooped Edna up to carry her over the houses and buildings of Ladylake. Since he had a large bounty on his head as a sneaky seraph and she was the rumored seraph of the mountain, it was best to remain out of reach. Edna wasn’t too happy, but she simultaneously didn’t mind being carried like a princess if it meant she didn’t have to ruin her boots stomping around the city.
He came to a stop just before the church’s courtyard atop one of the taller houses, and from there he saw Lailah walking into the church and two knights carrying her Sacred Blade behind her. She looked out of touch with reality. He wasn’t too surprised but wasn’t thrilled either given the grave situation.
“What is going on?” he asked himself. “Did they really get Lailah, too? They had to; she didn’t seem like herself.”
“Are we going or what?” Edna questioned him.
As much as he wanted to digest what he had witnessed, he touched down in the courtyard before the church. Unfortunately, the whole time he was standing on top of the building, the knights on patrol had been watching him, tracking him and coalescing down below to catch him. So when they had jumped down from the buildings, they were ready to approach them and recapture them.
“Nothing can be easy, huh?” Zaveid smirked.
“Well, you’re the one who decided to jump around in broad daylight,” Edna sighed.
“Let’s make this quick.”
“You got it, but remember we can’t kill them.”
“Yeah, not unless you want the entire city coming after you.”
------------------------------------------------------
Mikleo panted rapidly; his body was still in critical condition from when the doctors had drained his body of two liters of his blood. He was barely conscious, which was where Bartlow wanted him for the implantation of Sorey’s soul. He was a sadistic man, but the screams of a seraph got annoying after a while; he had heard them so many times that he had gotten bored with them. Additionally, the first step was to isolate the seraphic mind from its body, and the aforementioned Electrocutioner finally arrived from the back entrance of the church flanked by two other guards. Sorey recognized this being, greeting him with shrieks of terror and sorrow and denial.
“Gramps! No, Gramps! What have you done to him?!” he cried horrendously, frantically, angrily.
Zenrus had been one of the experiments that stemmed from the invasion of Elysia, and Bartlow had made him a key part of the Seraphoid Project thanks to the sheer power contained with him. Zenrus didn’t acknowledge Sorey’s existence or Mikleo’s. He didn’t respond to anything that wasn’t a direct command from Bartlow’s sagging mouth. He simply stared lifelessly through the long hairs of his eyebrows at the water seraph lying before him. He was emotionless even with his child struggling to survive.
“Sorey, how does it feel to be the first Shepherd that gets to participate in the Seraphoid Project?” Bartlow cackled. He averted his gaze over to Lailah, who had entered the church and was gracefully walking to the altar with the two knights carrying her Sacred Blade behind her. “Ah, the Vaccine has arrived.”
“Vaccine? What did you do to Lailah?!” Sorey demanded to know. “Lailah! Lailah, wake up!”
One of the knights whacked him across the head. He was stunned but not incapacitated; however, he willed himself to remain conscious. If he even closed his eyes, he was afraid that Mikleo, Zenrus, and Lailah would die in an instant.
“She can’t hear you, either, Shepherd. Her mind, while her own, has been subdued with other Seraphic Artes and Song Magic. She and that one over there are both puppets in all this. With their help, you will be at the forefront of my army, and together we will destroy Rolance.”
“Bartlow, please let Mikleo go. Let all of them go! They don’t deserve this. They’re going to die if you use them like this! Mikleo is…!”
Bartlow lifted his hand, rapidly flagging Zenrus and ordering that he use his lightning attacks on Mikleo. The old seraph wheezed before he produced a net of electricity from his hands. When he lifted his arms into the air, the bolts fired all at once at the seraph trying to stay alive.
Mikleo’s gritty screams echoed throughout the church. It didn’t matter how close to death he was to Bartlow as long as he served his purpose; and aside from conducting his experiments, Sorey presumed him to be a mad sadist. While the Shepherd, powerless to save his beloved seraph, tried his damnedest to block them out, the chancellor relished listening to the fresh cries and bellows all while Mikleo suffered. From where he was sitting on his knees, the brunet saw the tears streaming out of his eye either from the pain of the lightning coursing through his thin body or from the fear of a slow and painful death, or perhaps they were the results of both.
Bartlow commanded Zenrus to stop. Sustaining the electricity for too long would surely arrest Mikleo’s heart if it didn’t burn him considerably first. He needed the body functioning as best as possible. There was absolutely no room for error. He would never find such a compatible pair, so he couldn’t afford to lose this one.
“S-Sorey…!” Mikleo coughed. His body convulsed. “Sorey…Sorey…”
“Mikleo, hang on! I’ll save you!” Sorey fervently told him, but what could he do all tied up and pinned under the watchful eyes of the guards wielding clubs?
“Oh, you’ll save him, alright!” Bartlow laughed savagely.
Bartlow issued another period of shocks, and Mikleo screamed again. This time it sounded like he was being strangled. The old chancellor started to joke around asking if the shocks felt twice as bad because he was a water seraph and what would happen if they dumped water on him—would the pain be quadrupled? He delighted in seeing the seraph scrape his nails against the altar to the point they would peel off but be powerless to move away or stop the electricity. He ordered a stop again, a demonic grin on his lips.
“Stop doing this to him!” Sorey sobbed. “You’re hurting him! He’s dying! Can’t you see that!?”
“What do you think is the point? Seraphim are sub-human, worthless even compared to the trash of our society! They’re only good once they’ve been broken and rebuilt as fighting machines. All the ones that have died up to now weren’t strong enough, but this one and many others will be just the ones we need to crush Rolance! This one will lead us to absolute control of the land!”
Alisha woke from the noise. She was disoriented, only spotting Lailah in the midst of the chaos after a few moments. When she tried to call out to her, she was seized by the knights who had been waiting for permission to beat Sorey to death. She ordered them to let her go, but they didn’t obey nor say a word to her.
“Alright, Mighty Shepherd, answer this request and I’ll let both of you go. I want you to tell me your seraph’s true name.”
Sorey’s stomach dropped at the request. If Bartlow found out what Mikleo’s true name was, he would quickly be able to finish disconnecting him from the Tower. Mikleo’s life would end as soon as he was vulnerable to the Seraphoid’s power. If he learned of his true name, he could tear him to pieces from the inside.
“I refuse,” Sorey retorted.
“Boy, do you understand your position?” Bartlow warned him. He pointed at the panting, sweating, and crying mess that was Mikleo on the altar. “I hold his life in the palm of my hand.”
“I refuse to tell you his true name. I refuse to bear his precious soul to a rotten man like you.” He followed the old man’s arm to the altar. Was this the right thing to say?
With a snap of Bartlow’s fingers, one of the guards threw Sorey down on his stomach. He took his club in both hands, raised it far above his head over the chestnut-brown hair, and struck him hard at the base of his head. Sorey was overcome with a wave of dizzying pain and nausea, retching while trying to stabilize his vibrating skull. He knew that he was lucky to still be breathing; another blow like that to the same spot would most likely kill him, which meant that Bartlow would have to hold back.
“If you won’t tell me his name, then I’ll just have to ask the seraph himself, and if I have to beat him to a pulp in front of you, so be it.”
Bartlow marched up to the altar, where Mikleo struggled to keep his eyes open while panting for his life. Already confused, the water seraph’s Shepherd knew he was in no condition to comply with the insane demand. Sorey was still paralyzed from the strike as the old man loomed over the naked seraph he had abused. When Bartlow touched his face, Mikleo was startled.
“Young seraph of the water, what is your true name?” he asked almost too graciously for Sorey’s liking, but Mikleo just stared at the ceiling past him. “I’ll ask you again. What is your true name?”
Mikleo nudged his head side to side despite having so little strength. Bartlow’s words were garbled in his ears, his form only a dark silhouette in his eyes. If he made any noise, it was only little chirps. He couldn’t move his arms or legs, which felt severed from the rest of him.
“What is your true name?! Tell me!”
“Mikleo, don’t say anything!” Sorey coughed. The guards roughly grabbed him by the arms and hair. “You don’t have to answer him!” They covered his mouth. “Mikleo, don’t say it!”
“I’m going to ask you one more time. What is your true name?”
Mikleo slowly turned his head to Sorey, and just as he did, Bartlow slammed his fist on his cheek. He was stunned for a moment until the old man hit him again and again. His weak sobs echoed; if Bartlow kept going, his face would be irreparable!
His gut twisting deep within, Sorey bit his lip before reluctantly conceding to him. He cried out the name, “Luzrov Rulay”, and part of him hope that he could Armatize and flee. But Mikleo was so feeble now that his body wasn’t able to carry out the Armatization even if he just had to turn into light.
With a nasty grin, Bartlow repeated his name sinisterly:
“Luzrov Rulay.”
Mikleo’s heart pounded, and he contorted as if he were being invaded by his consciousness. He wheezed and whined, his body writhing in an unholy pain that was phantomic to his human. His head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. Bartlow said the name two more times, observing the reaction worsen each time. If the Shepherd wasn’t the one saying it, it was almost like poison coursing through his veins instead of warmth and comfort.
Desperate to escape yet immobile, Mikleo hallucinated about crawling from the altar. If he could just get to Sorey, rest his head on his lap, then he’d have no problem letting go. He knew he didn’t want to die so far away from him even though he was only a few feet away. But the snakes that slithered from Bartlow’s mouth carrying his true name stabbed him in the back and chest. They kept reminding him that he couldn’t run away. Mikleo only sibilated the beginning of Sorey’s name.
Satisfied, Bartlow signaled for a third shock.
This time Mikleo didn’t have the energy to scream with every fiber of his being working as hard as possible to keep him alive. At most, air hissed through his mouth. His chest was throbbing; his heart jolted with excruciating pain, and he thought he was going into cardiac arrest. He had been shocked by Zenrus before, but he had never felt it even at half the amount of volts as Bartlow was forcing through him. When the shock ceased, he found that he could barely breathe and he felt lightheaded. There was a sudden smell of ammonia that stung his nose and a feeling of dread more intense than before overwhelmed him.
Sorey, forced to watch, saw a thin trail of blood leaking from his nose and mouth before the convulsions worsened. The overflow of electricity in his body had caused a seizure, which frightened him because he couldn’t do anything and the gagging sounds hurt to hear. It only lasted a minute, but it seemed like forever as he listened to him choke and sputter on his saliva.
“One more should do it if he’s seizing,” Bartlow said to himself. “Once he’s done with his little episode, we’ll wrap this up. One thing is for damn sure—these seraphim really can take a lot before kicking the bucket. This one is no different.”
It pained Sorey to see Mikleo in such a position. He whined helplessly, listlessly from atop the altar after the convulsions had subsided. Just as Bartlow ordered the fourth and final shock, the young Shepherd broke free from his binds after, out the desperation growing inside him, he wiggled his wrists apart enough to slip them off. He raced to the altar, throwing himself on top of him in a foolish attempt to protect him from the shocks. Unfortunately, electricity wasn’t like a current of water that could be deflected; he simply acted as a conductor albeit a weak one. The bolts flowed through him into Mikleo, whose painful cries rang in his ears. They were clear now that he was so close to him, and they were heart-wrenching. They didn’t sound like the cries of a seraph but of a defenseless animal simply wishing not to die. Sorey clenched his teeth. He didn’t want to give Bartlow the satisfaction of him reacting to pain; he couldn’t let Mikleo hear him give into the corrupted power of the government. He hugged him tightly as a way to divert some of the urge to scream. The malevolence was seeping into him. He wanted to vomit.
When the shock was called off again, Mikleo’s body was motionless and his eyes were fluttering. Sorey pushed himself up over him. Staring down at his placid face, he balanced himself on one hand then pulled the limp body up to his chest. He breathed hard, trying to calm himself so he would be comfortable inside of him.
“Go inside, Mikleo,” he whispered to him as he shook him. “Come on, I know you don’t like it, but you have to go now. Please, go inside! They’re going to hurt you!” He used all his strength to sit up as he clung to him. “Mikleo, come on! Please…please, go inside…please, tell me you’re okay…or say something…! Mikleo, wake up! Don’t fall asleep! Don’t leave me here alone!”
Wrought with grief, fearing the worst, he lay with him again on the altar. Bartlow didn’t pay him any mind as he prepared Lailah to fulfill her purpose even while the panicking brunet started examining Mikleo’s wounds. The slits from his wrists to halfway up his forearm were still bleeding despite the bandages—oversaturated with the crimson fluid and only reparable through extensive surgery or healing Artes—around them. He tried to press the wounds so they would stop, but blood just kept leaking through his fingers. While holding his wrists, Sorey leaned down to his chest, and he barely heard his heart desperately pumping what little blood he had left. He reluctantly let go of his wrists so he could compress his chest. Every few pumps, he forced air into him. His lips were both icy cold and extremely hot.
“Mikleo, you can’t die!” Sorey pleaded. “We have so much to do!”
“Sorey, you have to get away from there!” Alisha warned him, yelling louder than the malevolence swirling around.
“I’m not leaving his side!”
“Lailah, prepare the Vaccine! Commence singing [your song]!” Bartlow ordered amid their pleas to each other.
Lailah struggled briefly at first before opening her mouth. Her voice drowned out everyone else’s, even Mikleo’s spiritless wails and groans:
[REDACTED LYRICS]
Lailah’s voice didn’t waiver, yet something inside her was begging for help. She was singing against her own will.
[REDACTED LYRICS]
As if the electric shocks weren’t enough to elicit the water seraph and his Shepherd’s suffering, the song Lailah performed hurt them much worse. It cut into Sorey’s back and Mikleo’s chest, reaching into their bodies for their souls with searching hands and dripping teeth. Sorey clung to Mikleo and buried his face in his neck while trying to contain his cries of pain. Mikleo softly whimpered; a noose was around his neck and it was slowly closing in on him with each word of Hymmnos. His anxiety and fear multiplied exponentially with each second.
“I’m scared,” the water seraph whispered, or at least Sorey thought he heard those words.
“It’s okay,” Sorey said into his neck. “I’m right here. I won’t let go of you.”
Alisha tried her best to break free from the knights holding her. She was more worried about Lailah because she looked so uncomfortable and in pain. She remembered one of the lessons that Lailah had given her when she was young. The type of song she was singing was a Flip Song. Lailah said that any time a seraph sang a Flip Song, there was a high probability that the seraph would die because Flip Songs served to convert the very soul into a weapon. As a Vaccine, unknown to the princess knight, Lailah’s soul was to store both the seraph’s and the human’s souls, resulting in a collapse of her soul space. Knowing this, Alisha couldn’t bear to listen to her beautiful voice call for the death of her friends.
“Lailah, you’ve got to stop!” she yelled over her. But Lailah continued:
[REDACTED LYRICS]
“Geostigma!” a voice called from the entrance of the church.
A gravitational field opened up over Lailah, interrupting her song and essentially impeding its intended effect on Mikleo and, by proximity, Sorey. The latter lay motionless for a few seconds before finding the strength to push himself up when he felt something sharp sink into his back. At first there was no pain. Gradually, a burning sensation spread from the wound, almost like it was being cauterized. Zenrus was holding the Sacred Blade above them like an antenna to direct the Song Magic.
“Rock Lance!” Edna said. A large stalagmite stabbed one of the knights to wound him gravely, and Alisha wrenched her hands free from him.
The princess knight dashed to Lailah, who was trying to start her song again albeit with difficulty. She tackled her, covering her mouth so she wouldn’t sing. As long as she didn’t finish it, she wouldn’t lose her life. She could be saved.
“Who let you two go?!” Bartlow snapped.
“That’s the least of your worries,” Edna sighed. She spun her umbrella on her shoulder. “But if you must know, we let ourselves go. Once the public hears about what you’ve been doing to the seraphim, you’ll lose favor and most likely will be imprisoned.” She summoned a sharpened rock, holding it aimed at his neck.
“You think the people will side with you?”
“Nope, but they won’t be too happy to hear that they’ve been eating and drinking seraphim parts,” Zaveid countered.
The exiled seraph whipped up whirlwinds to push Zenrus back against the wall. He wasn’t going to hurt anyone without Bartlow’s orders, and with the old man preoccupied with Edna, he could focus on Sorey and Mikleo.
Bartlow spied Zaveid then let out a nasty laugh. He wouldn’t be imprisoned like they all thought. When he stopped his cackling, he nonchalantly told them, “How can I lose favor with the very same people that wouldn’t mind all of this? You seraphim really are foolish whelps; the people only care that their wishes and desires are granted. Once they see the finished product, they’ll be lining up to become Seraphoids!” He ordered Zenrus to shock Zaveid unconscious. Walking to the altar, roughly patting Mikleo and Sorey’s heads, he continued, “And the finished product of a Seraphoid using the Shepherd’s soul will give us so much power that Rolance will have no choice but to bow down to Hyland.”
Alisha cradled Lailah as she listened to his crazed speech. The fire seraph felt hotter than usual, and she worried that the Flip Song had already taken effect. Meanwhile Edna seethed with anger knowing that this was the man that had ordered her brother’s demise. She wanted to kill him, but she knew that if she did, her kind would be pushed to extinction.
Zaveid woke back up soon enough, but instead of taking advantage of his position to kill Bartlow, he snatched the Sacred Blade from Zenrus then grabbed up Sorey and Mikleo. He vaulted over the altar to join the other seraphim, where he noticed that the water seraph—normally cool to the touch—felt like he was on fire. They didn’t have time to listen to the prattling of a deluded callous chancellor, but they couldn’t very well just walk out of the church without being attacked. It was most important that they returned to Shurelia to enlighten her on what was happening outside her Tower.
“Go ahead and run, Zaveid the Exile and Shepherd Sorey,” Bartlow snarled. “My men will always be right behind you waiting to turn you into Seraphoids!”
Edna burned with the desire to kill him there without regard for her malevolence level. Revenge was the only thing she was willing to die for, but the wind seraph wouldn’t allow it. He needed her help to save Mikleo. He didn’t want to believe that he was letting them go, not after everything that had happened unless he knew that Lailah was useless now that she couldn’t fulfill her government-given purpose.
With nothing else to do with the chancellor; Zaveid, Edna, and Alisha escape the church and headed back to the aqueduct with the guards behind them. More patrols were no doubt combing the streets for them, so they couldn’t just run out of the city. The Vivia Aqueduct was a dead end leading back to Rountabel Palace, but it served as a good hiding spot for the time being. It offered the patrols a false sense of security that whatever hellions were lurking about in them would eat them.
Zaveid decided that once they were out of Ladylake, he would have the freedom to fully assess the damages, but until then he could give them a preliminary once-over. Edna and Alisha needed a break from the chaos, too.
The extent of his checkup was to make sure everyone was still breathing. Lailah had fallen into a deep sleep, and Sorey was breathing shallowly. Mikleo was a different story. He wanted to try and heal him with the little time they had to regroup, but he couldn’t risk making things worse while still in the belly of the beast.
“Mikleo,” Sorey rasped after the wind seraph had set them on the ground against the wall. Weakly, he took the water seraph’s hand. “Hang in there.” There was a serious bruise on his cheek where he had been struck. Edna watched, her cold heart swelling a little, as Sorey used every ounce of his strength to sit closer to him. Sorey lightly kissed the bruise before allowing himself to rest next to him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”
That night after the stop in the aqueduct, the two seraphim and their only conscious human companion came out of hiding. They made a beeline for the gates under the darkness of the cloudy night sky, crossed the bridge, and found themselves in Lakehaven Heights. Finding refuge in the woods around Eolia, the wind seraph allowed his comrades the rest they needed. He was angry at humans, yet he knew there was nothing to gain from that hatred.
“I’m surprised you show so much interest in Sorey and his friends,” Edna said as she watched him lay them down. “Did you hear about him trying to save Eizen or other seraphim?”
“Just call it a hunch. Not very many humans have such a high resonance; the princess over there has a high resonance, too, but not nearly as high as this guy,” Zaveid replied.
“Wish I could have been more helpful. I didn’t think the humans were crazy enough to shatter their only hope in the world.” He looked over at Alisha and Lailah. “Not to mention they’re willing to use the seraphim against each other. This is how more hellions are made—force them to do evil, and it swallows them up.”
“Eizen was in a similar situation after a point.”
“I know, and I’m sorry that I couldn’t help him back then.”
“It’s fine, I guess.”
Zaveid turned Sorey onto his stomach then lifted the back of his shirt up to see the wound from the Sacred Blade. It was a couple inches long and somewhat deep; it wasn’t life-threatening, however, since he wasn’t stabbed in conjunction with the Flip Song. Zaveid’s Rejuvenation Arte wasn’t very strong, but there was a noticeable difference when he used it on the wound.
Next he looked at Lailah. Alisha wasn’t too keen on letting him touch her, but he assured her that he wouldn’t do anything, especially since he was the one that named Sorey the new Shepherd. He asked her about the ceremonial garb and if she thought he was capable. She answered positively to both questions, and after that, he gave his conclusion on Lailah’s status:
“Whatever that fat old man did to her, it’s reset her soul space. Her mind guardian probably did it to preserve her soul in the event that the song did hurt her. Naturally, she’s in danger of accumulating enough malevolence right now to amass a Virus.”
Finally he came to Mikleo, whom he knew was in critical condition. Comparatively, his fever was substantially higher than Lailah’s. The coagulated blood that stained his nostril and cheek made him fear the worst; he’d never seen this level of brutality done to a seraph before. After he cleaned away the streaks of red on his face and tried to heal the cuts in his wrists, he prepared to carry him in his arms.
“We have to get to Shurelia pronto,” he said, though he didn’t sound very urgent. Edna was aware that he had seen seraphim succumb to Viruses before, but Alisha wasn’t sure if she should be sympathetic or irritated with him. “Lailah and Mikleo need her help.”
“What about the almighty Shepherd?” Edna asked. At Zaveid’s request, she carried him on a levitating mass of sod that was roughly his size.
Alisha, Edna, and Zaveid entered Eolia, climbing to the Symphonic Reactor seeking her help in fighting the Viruses inside the two seraphim. Sorey opened his eyes only halfway. His body was extremely fatigued from everything that had happened as well as from the damage sustained in the church, but his subconscious mind worried about Mikleo. He wasn’t laying next to him, and he began to wonder if they left him in the aqueduct.
Likewise, Alisha felt tired, her eyes heavy with sleep, but unlike Sorey, she had to push through to care for Lailah.
Notes:
The title of the chapter will remain redacted until I can produce the songs. That said, I won't make you suffer through any more torture for a while, but yeah. Going to a forensics conference made me tweak all that happened slightly. I'm sorry I hurt these lovable boys... I've also realized that it's kind of like the humans reverted back to the days of exorcists and malaks in Berseria. Probably isn't a good idea to start this back up with such an intense chapter. I'll upload the next chapter ASAP.
If anyone could possibly help with UTAU and at least translate the install windows, it'd be greatly appreciated.
Chapter 16: Phase 1: Rediscovering the Flame Within
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 4: Lailah
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
It's been so long that I've looked at this chapter that I forgot a lot of what has happened aside from Chapters 14 and 15. Thankfully, it's not gratuitous torture and just some mildly creepy ish. (Still working on Chapter 15's song). Also, I've noticed in my two months of not working on this story that Alisha actually hasn't talked a lot in the past couple chapters.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shurelia destroyed two more hellions that broke into the Tower through the Symphonic Reactor. When she heard the doors open and a myriad of footsteps behind her, she spun around with her Song Magic ready to execute whoever was intruding on her.
“Whoa, easy, Shurelia,” Zaveid nervously said. He put his hands up.
“Zaveid? What are you doing here?” she asked. Her tone wasn’t welcoming, but she wasn’t trying to scare him off either. If she wanted to, she could have easily used her Song Magic to shoot him out of the Tower.
The wind seraph explained to the Reyvateil all what had happened in the Ladylake Church. Edna and Alisha filled in on the prior events in Marlind, and when it came to detailing what happened to Mikleo, neither of them could speak for him. She didn’t need an explanation for him or Lailah in that matter. She was connected to both of them, and by this connection, she could tell that they were being ravaged from the inside by Viruses. Lailah had been resilient enough to establish a protective mind guardian long ago under the tender love and care that Alisha gave her, but Mikleo’s left a lot to be desired due to sheer inexperience with the brutality of humans. On top of Gaine’s maltreatment of the water seraph, she picked up that there were so many tragic and traumatic events that had led to a near collapse of his soul. Horrified that he was so close to dying, she asked to know why the humans would even consider doing something so barbaric.
“The fat old man running the city said something about a Seraphoid Project,” Zaveid answered. “What exactly that is, though, remains a mystery. As far as I know, Hyland is looking to force Mikleo to house Sorey’s soul to use in some war.”
“What would be the point?” Shurelia asked more to herself than to the others. “Don’t the humans know that results in instant death?” She looked at Sorey, who was still worn out from the torture he tried to save his seraph from.
The only way to save the compromised seraphim was to Dive and eradicate the Viruses from within. Any other action such as forcing the Virus out or killing them had an obvious undesirable outcome; she had seen something like this hundreds of years before. Shurelia turned to Alisha and the ailing Lailah.
“Are you bonded with the Lady of the Lake?” the Reyvateil asked. Alisha nodded. “Then you are the only one allowed to Dive into her, not to mention the only waking human here as well. I suspect that the Virus within her is a weaker one than the one inside of Mikleo, so you should be able to handle it yourself. Are you prepared to Dive into her?”
Alisha hurriedly yet gently laid the fire seraph on the floor. Holding Shurelia’s hands, she professed, “I’m always ready to help her.”
Zaveid handed her the Sacred Blade as Shurelia warned her that when she Armatized, she was going to donate half of her energy to Lailah’s recovery; this would temporarily blind her in the real world. It didn’t matter to Alisha as long as she could save her seraph. Following through with the Armatization, Alisha endured the pain in her abdomen. She had thought she’d fallen on the Sacred Blade, but she was merely feeling what Lailah was feeling.
The pain was nothing like she had experienced before. It burned more than a thousand degrees and tore through her like a spear. It sent out waves of nausea, and she was sure that her body was going to give out no matter how hard she willed herself to stay strong and endure it.
Within the soul space, Alisha found Lailah bound by tendrils of malevolence like chains. They were wrapped around her ankles and wrists and her neck. At first, she tried to pull them off. After realizing that the Virus had to be the one holding her down, she entered Lailah’s world with confidence that she was going to rescue her.
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Alisha had Dove into Lailah countless times, so she was used to seeing her mansion of baked sweets. All that remained in Lailah’s soul, however, was a large red crystal cut in the shape of a flame in the middle of a barren wasteland. Inside it, Lailah was naked and wounded; her princess even wondered if she was breathing.
“Lailah, can you hear me?” she asked her.
Lailah didn’t respond.
“Don’t worry; I’ll get you out of there!”
Alisha took her spear, stabbing it and chipping away grain-fine pieces of the crystal.
“N-No, stop!” a tiny voice came from behind. A dark-grey Normin wearing a gold and black samurai helmet ran up to Alisha’s leg. Lailah’s mind guardian, Atakk, was inconsolable. “You can’t break that crystal! Lailah told me to put her in there after the Virus attacked her! If you break her out, the Virus will surely eat her!”
Alisha took a step back first with terror then regret. If what Atakk said was true, then Lailah was trying to preserve herself as long as possible until help arrived. Ideally, when that help weakened the intruder enough, she would expel the Virus from her body, ultimately saving herself. Unfortunately, things weren’t so easy, and keeping herself locked inside of a fragile crystal made her more of a sitting duck than fighting against the Virus. It was up to the princess to save her seraph.
Alisha drew her spear to her side with determination. She declared that she would hunt down the monster on her own. The greed and hatred that brewed in her city was her fault, she believed, and it was her duty to stamp it out so that it wouldn’t hurt the one she loved the most. That was what started the mess.
“Atakk, I will need your help,” Alisha sternly told it. “Lady Shurelia said that I could fight this Virus on my own since Lailah didn’t feed into it, but I might need a little more fire power to make sure I can kill it quickly.”
“Lady Alisha, I know you want to save your beloved seraph, but—”
“We don’t have time! Please, grant your power unto my weapon! I have to kill the Virus!”
Atakk blessed its Normin power onto the spear before its wielder ventured out into the wasteland. There were no crumbs left behind from the cake house, which made it seem like the Virus was like a black hole sucking up everything it could find. Weak or not, if she didn’t take care of it, it would cause Lailah’s soul space to implode on itself.
But where was this monster that threatened her treasured seraph’s life? Nothing could go beyond where Alisha was since Lailah had placed herself under arrest and greatly reduced the area of the soul space. She spent hours and hours wandering around the tiny island until she gave up on the idea of the crystal being a shield.
“I have to destroy the crystal,” Alisha reluctantly said as she returned to Lailah. “Even if she wanted to be in there, I can’t just believe it’s to protect her."
Despite Atakk’s pleas, Alisha swallowed her fear. She raised her spear and prepared to shatter it, but just as she swung, the Virus appeared in front of her as if to shield the crystal. It took some damage from the swing, yet it was still raring to fight.
“Is this thing sentient?” she mumbled. “Why did it protect her?”
The Virus seemed to speak in bursts of static noise. It couldn’t enunciate. The only words that she could understand were “evil” and “opportunists”. The malevolence coming off of the Virus formed thorns around the crystal as a deterrent. Perhaps the crystal was made by the Virus and wasn’t protecting Lailah but was to imprison her within herself.
The Virus roared, charging at her with its horn ready to pierce her heart. Alisha stepped back and parried it only to be blown aside by the resonance between their blades. She began to doubt that she could kill the Virus like how Shurelia had said.
“No, I have to do away with it!” she coached herself. “If I don’t kill it, Lailah will die and become a hellion. I cannot allow that to happen!”
Alisha took a breath. She faced the Virus head on, wrapping it in a combo and leaving no room for error. Her expert moves prevented escape and attack. Once she had pounded and slashed enough at it, she unleashed the Mystic Arte that she had practiced every day since she met Lailah to perfect it.
“Light Blast!” she cried out.
A flurry of stabs from her spear perforated the Virus, the light of her resonance with the seraphim tearing it apart. The Mystic Arte, however, wasn’t enough to completely subdue it. Even though it was gravely wounded, it made use of its last resort to kill her. It lunged at her again, this time sliding behind her and puncturing through her armor into the back of her leg. With her rendered motionless, it believed it would finally get to eat her and absorb whatever power she had.
“Normin Power!” Atakk called out suddenly.
Alisha’s spear blade doubled in size yet remained lightweight. She swung it behind her, slicing through the Virus once more but it still wouldn’t die. Instead it ran around her looking for a vulnerable spot, and it lunged again. It bit her leg and tore it open. Taking this chance, Alisha stabbed its head and almost splitting it in two. She held her spear in its skull until it loosened its grip. She tossed the Virus’s corpse aside, where it disappeared without a trace from the soul space.
Alisha pressed on her wound before spreading peach gel over it. She knew that the wound was only a perceptual injury; once she de-Armatized from Lailah, her leg would be fine. At most, it would feel like there was a cramp in it. Still, it was harrowing to look at.
“Lailah will be safe now,” she smiled tiredly at Atakk. The injury was getting to her.
“Well, she’ll be fine when these thorns are gone. That nasty ol’ Virus is still trying to break her with these thorns. If they don’t clear out, Lailah won’t be able to wake up. Our precious and beautiful Lailah will be locked away forever!”
Alisha let out a sigh to help her get through the pain in her leg. She spun her spear around, cutting the thorny vines with a windmill-like motion. She made herself a path through them, and as she neared the fiery crystal containing her dear Lailah, she wondered how she would break the crystal to liberate her. When would her soul space revert to what it was before the infection? Before they had met?
That was when she realized that her soul space had already reverted when she was put through her repurposing training. Atakk confirmed it. It explained after Bartlow had forced her to learn the Flip Song, she had shut off the deepest levels of her soul to keep the song from having a stronger effect. In doing this, it would have taken more time to extract Mikleo and Sorey’s souls from their bodies, thus giving her more time to act against the chancellor. The reversion had also resulted in her soul being easily attacked by the Virus that had developed during that time albeit it was not terribly damaged.
“Poor Lady Lailah tried her hardest so she wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Atakk said dejectedly. “She was so worried about everyone, and about you, Lady Alisha.”
“I know,” Alisha smiled gently. She touched the crystal as she peered inside at the beautiful Lady of the Lake sleeping within. “Poor thing, you must have been so scared, but everything is okay now. I’ve gotten rid of the Virus, so now you can come out,” she whispered. She kissed the fiery-red crystal.
The crystal cracked under her gloved hand. The crack spread all over until finally it shattered, disintegrating into dust. Lailah gracefully fell into Alisha’s arms, where she slept peacefully for a few more minutes then woke up; her wounds miraculously healed within seconds of her liberation. At first, she seemed confused by Alisha’s presence since she had no recollection of agreeing to a Dive. Alisha simply kissed her forehead then briefly explained all that had happened. Naturally, the fire seraph became flustered, but Atakk reassured her that it and Alisha made sure there was no real damage within her soul space or to anyone involved as far as she was led to believe.
Slowly, the scenery of Lailah’s soul space regenerated, and the two girls were allowed to access the Stonehenge. Atakk watched as a light shined and a Paradigm Shift became possible. After passing from this level, Lailah would have to reinstate her Silver Flame ability in the next one. Alisha wanted to do it right away, but Lailah forbade it.
“Alisha, you just fought against a Virus—a pure manifestation of the malevolence!” she scolded. “I won’t allow you to go through two levels in that condition. Besides, don’t you want to see how Sorey and Mikleo are doing?”
“But are you okay? You’ve been through a lot yourself.”
“I’ll be fine. We need to be there in the real world to support them.”
Lailah offered her a warm smile. She was delighted that her human had Dove into her to save her life, even if it was without her consent. She could overlook it since it was a dire situation, but it only reminded her to tell Mikleo that he was allowed to kick Sorey out of him if he wished. She became worried.
“You said that Mikleo had a Virus, too, correct?” she asked. “If the Virus that was inside of me was considered weaker by Lady Shurelia and if Mikleo is in critical condition, I fear that his life is in great danger. Alisha, we must hurry.”
Lailah took Alisha’s hand, and the two headed into the light.
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Alisha de-Armatized from Lailah, and as she had predicted, her leg felt much better than inside of Lailah’s soul. Lailah’s fever had gone down as well, and before long she was wide awake. While they had been conducting the Dive, Sorey had already gone inside of Mikleo, who was still in danger of succumbing to all the torture he had endured. Zaveid, not skilled in Rejuvenation Artes, kept using whatever Artes and Song Magic he knew to sustain him. Shurelia was also working to keep him alive with little songs. The only one not there was Edna.
Notes:
So this chapter is a mix of Ar Tonelico 1 and Ar Tonelico 3. Why? Because honestly I liked the idea of Saki having to sing EXEC_FLIP_ARPHAGE/. and then having cognitive dissonance and then having something like what happens to Aurica/Misha when singing EXEC_PAJA/. Also it's still slowly turning out to be the plot line for Berseria, so guess who has to rethink where this story when she hasn't thought it out in its entirety?!
Chapter 17: Phase 1: True Feelings towards Humans
Summary:
With Lailah now out of danger, Sorey Dives into Mikleo to save him from the Virus inside of him.
Notes:
There's a little bit of Tainted!Mikleo in there. This chapter in its entirety is based on Phase 1 Ending for AT1, but it's not the ending to the story's Phase 1!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
While Alisha had been inside of Lailah, Sorey willed himself back into decent enough shape to take care of his fading seraph. He had slid off Edna’s bed of mud, tumbling a little from the dizziness brought on by fatigue and the blow to the back of his head from the knight’s club. Mikleo had gone for some time without having any sort of medical treatment, so naturally Sorey was afraid that he had passed during the trek to Eolia. Miraculously, there was still a heartbeat. It was faint and quick, almost superficial, but it was there. He wasn’t going to last much longer; the worried Shepherd listened to his breathing, which was little more than tiny gasps. His lips were darkening, his eyes turning pale and sinking a little.
He hastily locked lips with him, forcing as much of his breath into his lungs before setting to work compressing his chest to keep his heart going. He wasn’t going to let him die. Mikleo couldn’t die!
“Hang in there, Mikleo!” Sorey half-whispered to him.
While Zaveid was somewhat surprised to see just how much the sorry sight of the water seraph was affecting his master, he couldn’t do much to help him. His Rejuvenation Arte, which he used a couple more times, wasn’t enough to completely close the veins sliced through deep in his wrists, but Edna was a little more skilled. She used whatever she knew repeatedly until it looked like there was some progress. The wounds healed, but whether or not Mikleo could recover was debatable. They weren’t even sure if all that Sorey was doing would help him.
Shurelia watched them. Having been out of touch with humans for so long, she forgot that there were ones as caring as Sorey. She felt Mikleo’s soul becoming more radiant within the connection she shared with him, yet it would take more than just emergency resuscitation techniques to fully restore him.
Sorey checked his breathing and his heart again. They weren’t getting any better, causing his stomach to drop. Was Mikleo really not going to make it?
“Sorey, I think now would be a good time to Dive into him,” Zaveid suddenly suggested. “He won’t get better with that Virus still crawling around inside of him.
“I don’t have his Sacred Bow,” Sorey quietly said.
“But I do!”
Zaveid, who had implemented some mysterious Song Magic well before rescuing Edna to avoid detection while inside the palace, unveiled a satchel carrying not only Mikleo’s Sacred Bow but also his clothes. Edna was dubious. Zaveid couldn’t use his Song Magic within Shurelia’s domain, so how did he manage to do it?
“That’s a story for a later time, yeah?” He handed the bow to Sorey and withheld the clothes. “Getting him dressed is the least of your worries for now.”
Using the Sacred Bow, Sorey prepared to Armatize with his water seraph, but Shurelia stopped him. She told him her prediction of the Virus inside and that if it was impeding his ability to recover so drastically, then it was something much stronger than a regular hellion or even the type of Virus that Lailah had.
In case of drastic measures, there was a way to bring reinforcements into the soul space of an ailing seraph. Sorey recalled when he had first Dove into Edna, she told him to expel Mikleo from his body. If she hadn’t ordered him to do so, Mikleo would have had access to her soul by proxy of Sorey. The same logic was going to be used here; Shurelia gave permission to Edna to go inside of Sorey before he Armatized, and by doing so she would be able to be with Sorey as he took care of the problem. In the meantime, she would try and offer support from the outside.
Sorey, of course, was apprehensive about letting Edna wander with him in Mikleo’s soul, and she seemed to take offense to it. She meant well, but she did admit to having a mischievous streak. She went inside demanding that she go simply to prove that she wouldn’t do anything to harm him. With Shurelia’s reassurance, he Armatized with Mikleo. It wracked his body with unbearable pain, and what he found inside of the shared soul space wasn’t anything like he was expecting.
It was dark like the essence of pure malevolence, swirling around above them like a hurricane. It was warm and stagnant, almost suffocating to stand in.
“What is going on?” Sorey questioned with horror.
“The Virus is slowly corrupting his soul, eating it from the inside out,” Edna explained. “It’s only a matter of time before the storm reaches its full potential. That means we’ve got a time limit to save him. And speaking of him, there he is.”
Mikleo lay far ahead of him, his limbs unceremoniously tossed around his body. To Sorey, it looked like he had been thrown around like garbage, which wasn’t too far from what he thought had probably happened to him before he was brought to the Church’s sacrificial “Altar of the Sacred Blade”. His face looked too peaceful for the damages happening deeper inside. Edna and Sorey initiated the Dive into Mikleo’s soul.
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Mikleo’s soul space was dark like the shared soul space that came from the Armatization, but there was an unbearable heat and the rancid stench of death. Edna confirmed that he was alive—barely—because they were able to get in; if he was dead, they would be, too. The scenery was similar to the previous level except that the houses from Elysia were old and decrepit, little more than weathered pebbles and stones. The little snowman that Mikleo had made was melted. When Sorey saw its shrinking puddle, he felt a strange, ominous sense of foreboding. Something was thirsting for blood within Mikleo.
“Look up there,” Edna said as she pointed with the tip of her umbrella.
The green gem that had been in the first level of the soul space was floating about the barren land. Just like how Lailah was encased in a crystal of fire, Mikleo was trapped in the gem of his circlet, but unlike Lailah, he wasn’t put there of his own free will. His face was scrunched up in pain as if the gem was hurting him considerably. It glowed in quick pulses. Faint omnipresent whispers echoed:
“I’m sorry…I’m scared…I’m in pain…I want to die…why did this happen?”
Sorey’s eyes trailed down to a figure standing underneath the gem. It looked exactly like Mikleo; the only difference was his attire. Instead of cerulean with white and gold trimmings, it was white with cobalt and silver accents. His eyes were the opposite of the critical but loving eyes of his water seraph. These alexandrite eyes were full of contempt.
“Mikleo?” Sorey cautiously said. He took a step towards him until he felt a jab in his back.
“Be careful, dummy,” Edna warned. “I’m not getting a good feeling from him.”
The Mikleo that stood before them frowned at them then bared his teeth. He summoned his staff, almost preaching to them, “Stupid human, do you think you can save the seraphim?”
“Excuse me?” Sorey answered, terribly confused that he would say something so harsh. “Mikleo, how can you say that? We share the same dream, don’t we?”
“Humans and seraphim can never coexist; humans are incapable of caring for the seraphim. Humans are so full of greed, so full of hatred for the seraphim. Why should the seraphim live in harmony with the humans? Humans should be wiped out. Seraphim should rule the world.” Mikleo began casting a Seraphic Arte. “I shall pioneer the eradication of all humans!”
Edna grabbed Sorey’s hand, initiating her Armatization. At first, he was confused why and how she Armatized with him, but she was already developing a plan.
“Are you going to kill me, Sorey?” Mikleo suddenly asked in fear. “Please—I don’t want to die.” He continued to cast the Seraphic Arte.
“Edna, we can’t!”
“You idiot,” Edna said telepathically. “It’s pretending to be him.”
After flinging a few rocks at him, she exposed the Mikleo in front of them as the Virus. It had taken residence in Mikleo’s soul and was nothing more than a monster masquerading as the water seraph they knew. The Virus had integrated itself into the soul space, thus mimicking Mikleo in every way it could; it was remarkably intelligent since it figured out that it could tap into the sentimentality of humans. Because of the integration, attacking it would hurt Mikleo, and since he was already on the verge of death, it was something they couldn’t afford to risk. They would have to separate it from the soul space before taking care of it. But how could they do it without injuring the real Mikleo who was already having his life drained?
“How familiar are you with Shurelia’s power?” Edna asked.
“Not very; the author of the Celestial Record never got the chance to research the power of the Origin Reyvateils,” Sorey admitted.
“Then I’ll inform you of what I know. Shurelia’s magic operates in a special field called the Binary Field, which exists within the Tower. This means that she can enact powerful Song Magic that we normal seraphim can’t use. While this is an educated guess, it might not be far from what she’s really doing—she’s anticipated that this Virus is going to be a hassle and is going to try and wedge the Virus loose from Mikleo’s soul.”
“So we have to wait for Shurelia to do whatever it is she has to do?”
“Yup. Get ready.”
It was easier said than done. The Virus Mikleo unleashed an onslaught of Seraphic Artes that it had copied from the soul space. It threw bursts of water at Sorey, but thanks to Edna’s affinity for earth and rock-like gauntlets, he was somewhat protected. The attacks were still plenty powerful, and it wouldn’t have taken a lot to kill him if Edna wasn’t able to deflect and dodge them.
Since Sorey wasn’t particularly skilled at fistfights, the little earth seraph guided his hands. She battered the Virus, raising pillars of rock and throwing them around after smashing them into boulders. Sorey made her restrain herself so she didn’t hurt Mikleo, which she wasn’t too happy about; restraint meant less strength which meant that the Virus still had a chance to fight back and possibly kill them. Then, just as the Virus prepared to cast another Seraphic Arte, Sorey and Edna heard Shurelia’s voice echo throughout Mikleo’s soul space:
Wee i ga flip 0x1011001101 yor enter Ar Tonelico
The Virus Mikleo screeched in pain. He dropped his staff, holding his head in his hands and in a flash of light, the true form of the Virus was revealed as it was fundamentally separated from the soul space. It was titanic, standing three times Sorey’s height. The size of the Virus that was going to turn Mikleo into a hellion if they couldn’t stop it took Sorey by surprised, and he wondered if they really had the strength to defeat it. He rectified his thinking—now wasn’t the time to second-guess his abilities. Mikleo was depending on him not only in the soul space but in the real world.
“Okay, Edna, let’s do this!” he said.
The Virus roared, charging at him with lightning speed. Edna didn’t have speed, which gave the enemy an upper hand. Nevertheless, speed alone wasn’t going to be the deciding factor in the battle.
“Iron Curtain!” Sorey and Edna said together as pillars of rock shot up in front of them to make both a barrier and a lever. The Virus staggered back. “Scrap Toss!” they called out as they threw a boulder at the Virus.
The Virus regained its balance before firing a laser at them. It shot Sorey directly in the chest. Somehow it forced them to separate into their individual bodies, greatly diminishing their attack power.
“Edna, keep it busy! I’ll look for an opening!” Sorey commanded, the pain radiating in his chest.
Edna established her triggers all around the Virus. The ground was a minefield of rocks waiting to pierce through its armor. While she waited, Sorey sprinted around until he found a blind spot on the Virus’s back. This blind spot led straight to the core of the Virus; one stab was all he needed to kill it.
“Sonic Thrust!” Sorey yelled. He dashed up close to the Virus, and in what seemed like slow-motion, leapt over it. With this attack, Mikleo would be free!
“Sorey, watch out!”
The Virus, aware of its weak point, spun around. It deflected the attack then swatted him away with its hind legs. The attack sent a dizzying pain through his body until he noticed that he was bleeding profusely from his head. Edna unleashed her traps, and as the rocks shot up in a domino effect, she tended to Sorey’s wounds after Armatizing with him again.
“Fairy Circle!” they called out together. A large magic circle appeared under them with lotuses opening and light sealing the wound.
The Virus stumbled around, giving Sorey the time he needed to catch his breath. The Shepherd glanced up at the crystal, where Mikleo slept troubled but unaware of the battle playing out underneath him. He had to wonder if he felt any of the shockwaves from the fight up there or throughout his soul space.
“You can think about your boyfriend later. We’re still in this. Keep your head in the game.”
“We’re running out of time, Edna.”
“What are you talking about? We’re almost done with this big loser.”
“No, it’s starting to collapse.”
The edges of the soul space were beginning to crumble away, something that Sorey hoped he’d never have to see in either of his seraphim. If the damage advanced too far, then Mikleo was done for. He would be reduced to a vegetable unable to reconnect to the Tower before dissipating into light. He didn’t want him to end up like Uno.
“I’m telling you, it’s fine. We’ve got our ace. Let me guide you.”
Edna carried Sorey up close to the Virus. It was going for a smash attack, but Edna unleashed the power she had been hiding. Calling upon it, she unleashed a series of rocket punches so strong that it shattered the Virus’s armor into millions of dust-like shards. Before the final punch, she roared out:
“Divine Basalt Blow!”
The Virus rumbled at first, and she leapt to safety before de-Armatizing from Sorey. A shockwave shook the soul space as the enemy imploded on itself; in its wake was a small floating light which Sorey hurriedly ran to. Suspicious of it, he tapped it gingerly with his gloved hand.
As if that light was the key, the green gem holding Mikleo liquefied into water, and the seraph that had been locked away gently floated down into his arms. When Edna joined Sorey’s side, she found that he was rather sickly-looking. Sorey set him on the ground before pulling out an apple gel to help him regenerate some strength.
At first he held it to his lips with the hope that the aroma would wake him up. When Mikleo didn’t move, he pressed it to him. Still no response. Beginning to panic, Sorey put the apple gel away before shaking the seraph and lightly slapping his face with the back of his hand. He listened to his chest for his heart and any evidence of breathing. He heard the slow, quiet thumps yet his chest wasn’t moving. Sorey was prepared to resuscitate him, but Edna stopped him.
“Healing Circle,” she calmly said. A magic circle opened up around them with swirls of light specks flying up above them.
The water seraph erupted into a fit of coughing until he hacked up the water that he had been suspended in. He tiredly opened his eyes. “S-Sorey?” he quietly murmured. “Edna?”
“Mikleo! I’m so happy you’re alive!” Sorey wept. He hugged the naked slender seraph then brushed his blue-gradient hair from his cheeks and eyes so he could hold his face. “How do you feel?”
“Sleepy, but grateful.”
Edna twirled her umbrella in her hands with a light blush on her cheeks. It wasn’t that he was nude but that he was thankful for their help. She told Sorey to hurry up and see about him so he could start fixing his soul space. She wanted to leave.
Sorey stroked his hair as the world rebuilt itself—the village of Elysia was back to normal along with the snowman, and the peaks of Rayfalke Spiritcrest once again formed the border of the soul space. Gaine was somewhere in the soul space, but Sorey wasn’t too worried about it given how he had treated him.
Edna gave them their space. Mikleo peered up at Sorey with a tired smile while the latter rocked him gently just happy that he could hear his voice devoid of agony and gaze upon on his tranquil face.
“Sorey, how can I ever repay you?” Mikleo quietly asked.
“With a lifetime supply of your homemade ice cream!” Sorey laughed. “I’m kidding; you don’t have to repay me. I’m just doing my job as your Shepherd and your—”
“Sorey, can we get going? At this point, I’m overstaying my welcome at this point,” Edna complained. She was kicking the frost off her boots. “If I stay here too long, I’ll probably die.”
Sorey carried Mikleo to the Stonehenge once it was back where it was supposed to be. He still worried about him, but Edna did have a point. Even though Gaine was still out of commission somewhere in the soul space, Sorey proceeded through the light with his seraphim. As soon as he did, he was transported out of Mikleo’s soul.
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Edna separated from Sorey as he lay on the ground next to Mikleo with the Sacred Bow in his hand. Alisha and Lailah were sitting together asleep while Shurelia and Zaveid welcomed her back.
“So, how was this kid’s soul space? Find anything juicy?” Zaveid egged with a sly smile.
“Zaveid, you should know that you can’t ask such a question,” Shurelia scolded.
“I’m joking! Kind of.”
Edna cleared her throat, averted her eyes, and simply said, “Exactly what you’d expect from these two…not that you know how they are.”
Zaveid snickered as he thought up all the different connotations for what that meant from the entirety of the soul space being a whole shrine dedicated to Sorey to a pitiful little box for a lost kitten to wait for his master.
Shurelia watched over the two humans. It would be a while before they woke. After all, they had fought to the death with monsters that threatened their seraphim, and by proxy of them, their own lives. Observing them, she saw how Alisha and Lailah’s fingers were intertwined while Sorey had his arm over Mikleo’s narrow waist. Even if she had been out of the loop for centuries, it warmed her heart to see that there was a chance for humans and seraphim to live together.
Notes:
I had to reference Aquagon's translation for the code that Shurelia uses to disconnect Mikleo from the Virus (Aurica/Misha in Phase 1) and it turned out that not only that I couldn't read it from the let's play screen but it was incorrect. So many thanks to Aquagon! :D
Chapter 18: Phase 1: Miasma within Mikleo
Summary:
The Viruses in both Lailah and Mikleo have been eradicated, but Mikleo is completely different than before, leaving Sorey severely handicapped.
Notes:
LONGEST. CHAPTER. EVER. THIS WAS LIKE 10 to 11 PAGES.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey and Alisha woke up before Mikleo and Lailah with the former feeling particularly groggy. While Alisha allowed Lailah to sleep on her lap, Sorey stretched over Mikleo to get a look at his face and determine whether or not he was still fighting for his life. The water seraph looked oddly blurry—much more so than before when his face was only slightly fuzzy. Now, he only saw a blob in front of him that lay too still for his liking. Unable to see, Sorey slowly and gingerly touched him.
Zaveid and Edna watched from the other side of the room with Shurelia, who would occasionally sing to fend off any hellions trying to break into the Symphonic Reactor. All three of them weren’t surprised that he was fumbling around; Edna had a hunch that something like this would happen sooner or later. The strain placed upon the human body when they formed pacts was something Eizen had always talked about. It was exceptionally hard when two or more seraphim were using the same vessel or if a seraph had sustained heavy damage.
“Mikleo must never know, but his injuries and condition are the reason for Sorey’s debilitation,” Shurelia had told them shortly before the Shepherd had awakened. “This is a rare phenomenon, but if a seraph is too heavily damaged and they have a vessel, the vessel deteriorates quicker. In dire cases, the vessel may even die as a result of the seraph taking all of the vessel’s energy.”
It was clear that the deterioration had accelerated in Sorey, but they couldn’t help but wonder if it was only temporary. The Viruses within Mikleo and Lailah had been taken care of, and Lailah was already recovering, granted she hadn’t been beaten, drained of her blood, and shocked to the edge of death like the poor water seraph. With him, it was much harder to tell since most of the trauma had come from the bloodletting. Having his heart beating out of control on top of the Virus destroying his soul from the inside was far too much for any normal human to bear. Of course, Sorey was Mikleo’s chosen human, their bond strong and unbreakable. Perhaps it was that bond that propagated the regeneration, making Sorey to see less instead of dying in his sleep beside him. Still, being the Shepherd, such disabilities had the risk of making him incredibly vulnerable, and it was this that Mikleo couldn’t learn about or else he would blame himself.
“Hopefully he can recover from Meebo’s injuries,” Edna said. “The Virus really did a number on his soul. Additionally from the outside, I’m surprised he was able to stand that lightning seraph’s attacks. Zenrus was once an incredibly powerful seraph.”
“Hmm, that was something that I wanted to ask about actually,” Zaveid muttered. “Lady Shurelia, have you heard about the Seraphoid Project?”
Shurelia shook her head.
“Guess only a few individuals out there know about it.”
“Care to explain?” Edna asked.
“It’s a cockamamie plot of merging humans and seraphim to create hybrids. I haven’t learned too much since I’m busy trying not to get caught myself, but to think there are humans that are that crazy.”
Edna played with the mascot attached to her umbrella. “And with Sorey being the Shepherd and Mikleo being his primary seraph, that old man thought he could merge them. It sounded like they were raring to put him to work after the fusion, so it’s probably a good thing we intervened when we did.”
“That’s not a surprise. The surprise is how much they put Mikleo through for the sake of this stupid experiment. Torture like that…it’ll take time for him to regain himself.”
Shurelia took a break from battling intruders, reflecting on the topic at hand. She couldn’t tell them that she had been so busy with the hellions lately that she didn’t notice when the project had started nor the amount of Seraphoids created since then. It would take some time to figure out which connections were fabricated from the experiments.
Lailah woke up in Alisha’s lap with a slight headache. She didn’t remember much of what happened—only that she had been forced to learn the song meant to remove their souls. She had no recollection of her actually singing or the pain she had caused Mikleo and Sorey, though the last part was better left forgotten in retrospect. Alisha was overwhelmed that she was okay and kissed her cheeks as much as she could. She was still suffering from lending her some of her energy to heal herself aside from the cramp in her leg, but it didn’t matter because the beautiful fire seraph was still alive and with her.
Mikleo still had yet to wake up, and Sorey’s eyes weren’t getting any better. He felt uneasy, mumbling, “How could they do this to a seraph?”
Alisha glanced at the sleeping Mikleo as Sorey pulled him up into his arms; by the look of his face, he was happy that he could hold him yet still shaken that he had been terribly abused. Nothing she said would make him feel better, but Lailah asked if she could try healing him. Reciting the words of her healing incantations, a purple light illuminated her hand. She passed it over his chest and wrists.
“We’ve got to stop Bartlow from doing this to other seraphim,” Sorey stated as he watched the fire seraph use her magic on the water seraph. “He’s already taken our family. I refuse to let him hurt anyone else—human or seraph.”
Mikleo roused when he had declared to put an end to Bartlow’s activities, but contrary to how he was within his soul space, he was rigid and trembling. Sorey peered down at him. He couldn’t see how scared he looked—only feel his shivering body in his arms. Edna, Zaveid, and Shurelia feared the worst; Mikleo was traumatized by what had happened so deeply that he was associating what happened with all humans including the only one he loved with all his heart. But Sorey didn’t mind. He offered a smile to him, gently squeezed his arms, then let him run away from him.
Mikleo’s soul space had been scarred, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that he was reacting that way. The Shepherd only wished that he still sing for him whenever he wanted to practice. Deep down inside, he knew, his songs were going to be weak and broken, but he wanted to listen to his voice. He wanted to hear what his voice sounded like when it wasn’t crying and in pain.
Mikleo clung to Lailah when he saw Alisha, who put up her hands to show she meant no harm. “Lailah…please, don’t let them do anything to me,” he begged her. “Humans…are…”
“It’s alright,” Lailah comforted. “Sorey, remember how I said that pacts can strain humans? I don’t know what happened to Mikleo, but it was severe. Because of that, your body is going to be compromised for a while not only from your pacts but—”
“That’s okay. If he needs more help, I’m willing to sacrifice my life for him.”
The atmosphere was bleak in the Tower now that Mikleo had awoken as a different seraph for the time being, yet the question of having Zaveid joined their group arose. Sorey, knowing that Bartlow was intending to use him for the Seraphoid Project, wanted to ask him to join him. Zaveid declined, telling him that he preferred to be out in the open. If he was cooped up inside of him, how would he gain information about the project? Not to mention that a third seraph at this moment would be the same as drinking poison.
Shurelia agreed with him. She offered the ultimatum that if he wasn’t going to join Sorey in his mission to stop the Seraphoid Project and the enslavement of seraphim, then he would have to operate undercover. She wanted to know more about the project so she could spot the false connections and terminate them. It would prevent her from expending energy and allowing humans to infiltrate Eolia, but it meant that she would be aiding in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
With his new mission, Zaveid left. He was leaving Sorey and Alisha to return to their task in Marlind—quell as much of the malevolence as they could in order to Dive into Edna and Mikleo then bring down the dragon that was generating it. With Lailah with them and out of harm’s way for now, they had more than enough hands ready to help the people of Marlind and the seraphim that yearned for freedom.
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The benefits of actively trying to reduce the malevolence in the village were obvious. Something as trivial as catching the book thief caused the malevolence to decline a decent amount. They still had to apprehend the monster that chased them in museum, and they were sure that once they stopped it, a larger amount would disappear. But despite all this, it was still extremely risky to let Mikleo, Edna, and now Lailah remain outside. The villagers, too, would most likely be on the lookout for them; in fact, how were they going to make it back without being arrested again? Mikleo was still against the idea despite the dissonance created from the trauma, and no amount of scolding from Lailah or Edna would change his mind.
“I don’t want to go inside a human,” Mikleo argued near one of the gates out of sight from the village people. “I don’t want to get hurt like that again.”
“Meebo, do you ever just do as you’re told? Staying inside will guarantee your safety, dummy,” Edna retaliated.
“Edna’s right,” Alisha chimed in though ignoring the dummy comment. “And besides, I’m sure you’re still tired.”
“So what if I am? I don’t want to be inside of a human. Humans are horrible creatures.”
Sorey glanced over towards the center of the village. It didn’t matter if Mikleo obeyed and went inside, the villagers knew their faces. How would they make it to the museum without being noticed? Then he got an idea.
Taking Mikleo’s hand, Sorey told Alisha and the seraphim, “You all can stay out, but we’ll hide until late tonight. Fighting in the dark is a handicap, but we’re less likely to be seen again.”
Lailah gazed at Sorey’s hand that was gently squeezing Mikleo’s with trepidation. It wasn’t within her right to know what had happened within Mikleo’s soul space, and she only had a vague memory of all that happened after she started singing the accursed song. She had a feeling that something particularly traumatizing had happened in addition to his injuries since she noticed that the water seraph was completely turned off to working with him. She glanced at Alisha, whose dutiful look remained unyielding. They had all been captured once, but the princess knight was determined not to get caught again.
Until nightfall, Edna and Mikleo resided within Sorey’s soul despite the latter’s protests. Hiding five bodies was much more difficult than hiding two or three, yet Edna seemed partial to the idea as well. Mikleo was still reeling from the episode at Rountabel Palace. Sorey had suffered damage on both a physical and a psychological level. The burden of both his injuries and his seraphim’s injuries no doubt crippled him; it couldn’t be avoided if he wanted to help the seraphim. He felt deathly ill with several occasions of dry retching in attempts to alleviate the nausea that plagued him. His eyes were progressively getting worse as Mikleo recovered.
Alisha urged him to sleep, and after a few minutes of arguing that he couldn’t because he wanted to focus on Mikleo, he conceded. In the bushes that lined the path from the gate, Sorey slept soundly save for his coughing fits that had to be covered up with the rustling leaves. Lailah finally had her chance to ask what had been bothering her.
“Alisha, what happened when I was singing?” she timidly asked. “I don’t remember anything, but Mikleo is vastly different from before. Did I do something to cause this?”
Alisha cradled her face. She pressed her forehead to hers.
“You didn’t do anything of your own free will. Bartlow did all these things to Mikleo, and he’s hurt him deeply. It’s not your fault,” she told her. She kissed her reassuringly; however, Lailah was still sure that she had done something that had fractured the bond between Mikleo and Sorey.
Suddenly Mikleo and Edna left Sorey’s body. The former tried to run away, but the earth seraph trapped him in a cage of stone. The frightened water seraph screamed and cried, begging to be set free before sinking to his knees and whining helplessly in his container while tightly hugging himself. His eyes were wild with terror. He chewed on his lip then on his nails then on the palm of his hand.
“You can’t just run away, Mikleo!” Edna barked at him. “Sorey needs you, and you need him! Don’t you understand what he’s going through now for you?! He’s giving his life for you!”
“I don’t care! I hate humans! Please, just let me go! If…If I die, that’s okay…humans only want to hurt seraphim, so it doesn’t matter! Please let me go…I don’t want to be here…” he sobbed.
Lailah and Alisha joined Edna positively confused about why all this was happening. At first, Edna wanted to wake Sorey up and make him Dive into him, but being so close to a cesspool of malevolence and Diving into a seraph by force made it impossible for such an idea to come to fruition without excruciating pain. It annoyed her to no end that he was trying escape when her vessel was suffering for him. But Lailah thought there was a better way to handle it.
“Edna, break down the cage,” she calmly ordered. Reluctantly, the earth seraph did as she was told. She watched her approach the frightened seraph. “Mikleo, will you listen to me?” She sat on her knees in front of him. Noticing that he was now afraid of her as well due to her association with humans, she spoke softer to him. “Sorey is a good human. Alisha is a good human. They want to protect you. Sorey wants to protect you because he loves you. He is giving you his life.”
Mikleo shook his head. That simply couldn’t be true! All humans were evil! “They’re going to hurt me again. I don’t want to be in pain. I don’t want to die by their hands.” His face was soaked with tears. “Humans are destructive…evil…hurtful…”
“They won’t hurt you. Don’t you remember when you were young? Sorey and you were always together. Sorey wishes for a world where humans and seraphim can live together in harmony. Don’t you want to help him achieve that dream?”
He was convinced she was lying to him. He summoned his staff, preparing to shoot a ball of water at her. It would greatly damage her since she was a fire seraph, and he would be able to run away. Then a voice came from the bushes. Sorey had woken up after hearing Mikleo cry.
“He’s gotten worse,” Edna told him.
“I know he has,” he almost inaudibly said. He sat next to Lailah. “Lailah, if a seraph is afraid, would a human they’re bonded to be able to Dive into them?”
The fire seraph, taking Alisha’s hand, answered his question. Seraphim were ultimately in charge of whoever was allowed into their soul spaces. If a seraph didn’t want someone inside of them, they had the ability to kick them out or kill them. If Sorey were to try to Dive into Mikleo now, she guaranteed that his life would be in great danger. He would be eaten alive inside of him because the negative feels he held in his heart were like hellions in their own respect. Forcing himself into him would further hurt their bond. In that regard, Sorey was fine with taking small steps. He held out his hand to him as he tried to hide how sick he was or how sad he was or how scared he was for him.
“G-Gramps…” Mikleo whimpered. “I want Gramps…” He crawled backwards before curling up into a ball. “Gramps…please…I don’t want to be alone…Not among humans…”
Sorey, who had seen what had become of their dear Zenrus, clenched his fist. He retracted his hand. He searched for the words to explain that he was no longer with them. He desperately wanted to hug him, but he knew that sudden movements would make it worse. Ultimately, Sorey was afraid that he would no longer be able to help him grow.
“We should go into the village and get rid of the monster in the museum,” Sorey coughed. “The quicker we save this village, the better for everyone.”
“But what about Mikleo?” Alisha asked him.
“I won’t force myself onto him. If he wants to let me in, then it will be his decision.”
Sorey watched Mikleo weep silently for someone to give him comfort. He was a mistreated animal, paralyzed with fear and probably wracked with so much pain that he couldn’t think of anything except to either escape or to sit still and wait for death’s sweet embrace. He had to wonder why he was so distressed even though the Virus inside of him had been eradicated. Did it corrupt him more than he thought?
“Sorey, Alisha, would it be alright if I stayed behind to care for Mikleo? I don’t think he’s in any condition to go back into the museum at the moment,” Lailah said.
“It’d probably be best, but would that hurt the bond between him and Sorey?” Alisha asked. She knew distance often was a factor in the strain.
“I don’t think so. You won’t be too far anyway.”
Sorey bit his lip. He didn’t want to leave Mikleo behind, but again, he didn’t want to force him to do anything. He was sure that the malevolence still circulating in Marlind would hurt him, and he just couldn’t put him through that.
With Edna back inside of him, he and Alisha snuck to the center of the village under the darkness of the night. Lailah coaxed Mikleo back into the bushes, giving him permission to rest his head on her lap if it offered him any comfort even though he was scared to do so. It didn’t take long for him to calm down with Lailah, but he forbade her from touching him. He curled up by the tree roots
Sorey, on the other hand, bottled up how he felt. He couldn’t afford to let Edna and Alisha know how terrible he felt both from being unable to comfort Mikleo and how much everything was on his shoulders. Edna had an inkling about how he felt, and she wasn’t particularly sympathetic, but she had witnessed everything that had happened in the soul space. When they arrived at the Dumnonia Museum and she was able to stomach coming outside into its dusty halls, she couldn’t stay quiet anymore.
“Sorey, just let it out,” she told him with her umbrella spinning on her shoulder.
“You read my mind, Edna,” Alisha agreed. “You’re obviously upset about all this. It’s not healthy for either of you to bottle it up. You’re already sick from trying to heal him. I understand, I’m feeling winded, too, and I don’t want to worry Lailah, but…not expressing yourself won’t make things better.”
Sorey forced himself to stay quiet. Mikleo was afraid of him—it was the last thing he wanted! He wanted to hold his face to make up for not holding him while Bartlow tortured him to the brink of death. Wanted to kiss his tears away, wanted to sleep next to him. If he touched him even just lightly, he knew Mikleo would attack him. He wouldn’t be able to use Song Magic, but his Seraphic Artes were just at strong if not stronger. He didn’t put it past him to kill him if he had the chance. Then he thought, would he ever return to normal? Would he go back to being the darling seraph that he had always loved? If Mikleo was permanently distressed, Sorey wouldn’t be able to handle it!
“This…isn’t the time for that. We have to quell the hellion here. I appreciate that you’re concerned, but I just want to finish this so I can be with him. I need to Dive into him, and the only way to do that is to clear the malevolence from here,” he said. He coughed horrendously.
They walked through the doors they had used to escape the monster and deeper into the museum, Edna and Alisha behind Sorey whispering between themselves about how much he was pushing himself. They began to fear that if he kept forcing himself to go on, he would die before Mikleo was completely healed if the malevolence didn’t corrupt him first.
Just around the corner, the hellion was waiting. Quelling it wasn’t going to be easy with only one seraph and two debilitated humans. Still, it had to be done with or without extra help. Sorey stepped into the room, the pressure from the malevolence it exuded crushing his chest.
The hellion named Knight Arthur stood up, towered over him. It wielded a broadsword, which Sorey was determined to dodge every time it swung it. He and Alisha were going to quell it and return to their seraphim, and Edna was ready to let loose.
Sorey and Alisha charge with their weapons ready to pierce the golden armor, and Knight Arthur raised its sword over them. Edna summoned spears of rock from thin air. It was an all-out assault against the hellion, and even though they were sure to have trouble with quelling it, things were rather easy…too easy.
“We’ve got it on the ropes!” Alisha said, but Sorey sensed something was off. The hellion backed away from them. “It’s trying to escape?”
“No, you idiot, it’s going to use Song Magic!” Edna warned.
The hellion sounded muffled and blurred notes, and the crushing weight that weigh on Sorey’s chest got heavier and heavier until he was forced down to his knees in agony. Alisha thought it felt like her limbs were being pulled from her body. Edna’s head pounded; the corrupted Hymmnos reverberated through the room.
Satisfied that its Song Magic had pinned them down, Knight Arthur approached Sorey slowly while lifting its sword above his head. It charged up its power so it could use Head Splitter, an attack that would kill Sorey if he couldn’t move out of the way. He was far too weak to fight against the hellion, or perhaps it had gained strength from a failsafe ability. Whatever happened to give it the advantage, Sorey cursed it.
“Photon Blast!” Lailah’s voice cried out from behind. A ball of fire raced towards the hellion, temporarily stunning it and stopping the effect of its Song Magic.
“Alisha, are you alright?”
“Save the reunion for later!” Edna barked.
She stomped the floorboards, and pikes of stone stabbed into the hellion. The armor, punctured and broken, emitted a black mist that was the malevolence possessing it. Lailah flicked her fires at the wisps, which prevented them from coalescing with the malevolence still in the atmosphere over Marlind.
Lailah helped her human up then offered her some of her healing incantations. When she went over to heal Sorey, she was met with a worried look. Where was Mikleo? The water seraph, she told him, was waiting at the front of the building with a book of nursery rhymes she’d found by a grave to keep him calm. She thought it would have been a bad idea to bring him into the fray, and while she felt somewhat guilty for taking the book, it served its purpose. As for how she knew to appear, she felt it in her soul that Alisha was in trouble. Her life force had suddenly diminished. The bond between human and seraph was mysterious but life-saving.
“Well, that’s another problem down, and it’s a little more bearable out here now,” Edna said with a breath of relief. “What’s the next order of business?”
Dotted around the nooks and crannies of the village were hellions called heddins. This particular variant was a wolf heddin—it was exactly how it sounded. It was the ghostly malevolent head of a wolf that formed a web of wickedness that trapped the village in its plague. Lailah sensed five of them in the village.
“A few flicks of my Silver Flame will destroy them, and I don’t sense that they can do much damage aside from being present,” she said. “Sorey, perhaps you and your seraphim can rest at the inn.”
How were they going to when they had already been arrested once and have Mikleo wandering about like a sore thumb? They were better off camping within the museum now that the hellion was gone.
Sorey brought Edna inside even though it weakened him then headed to the front of the museum. They were so busy dealing with the hellion that they didn’t notice the pitter-patter of rain on the dusty window. From the stairs, he found his beloved seraph mourning the loss of all the paintings and statues—artifacts of the past. He seemed to be at ease, yet once Sorey approached him from behind, he shrank again. The Shepherd slowly lifted his hand. Mikleo was trembling.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” he gently told him as he lowered his hand. Alisha and Lailah watched from the stairs holding each other’s hands in apprehension. “We can’t go to the inn, so are you okay with staying here? I won’t do anything but keep you company so you’re not lonely.”
Mikleo’s eyes shifted to a corner, which he dashed to. That was where he would spend his time until Lailah and Alisha had purified the heddins.
“This is getting really annoying,” Edna grumbled in Sorey’s head.
“He just needs time.”
“Sorey, will you be okay with him while we’re gone?” Lailah asked him
Sorey nodded. He simply took a spot against the wall near Mikleo but not directly next to him. He looked at him for a few moments before lying down. There was nothing else to do but to fall asleep. Mikleo, on the other hand, curled up and chewed on his fingers.
It pained Alisha and Lailah to leave them like that, and before they left, they beckoned Edna to leave them alone. They wanted her with them so they could talk.
Mikleo chewed on his knuckles while staring at Sorey sleeping in front of him. He couldn’t escape from his corner with him there. He started to rock back and forth, slowly at first, then harder enough to hurt his spine on the wall.
In another part of the village, Alisha and the two girl seraphim tracked down the heddins. At first, she wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to leave Mikleo and Sorey alone together considering that the former was terrified of him. Edna, while somewhat concerned about the situation, believed that maybe if they just sat in each other’s presence for a bit without any interaction, Mikleo would come around.
“How can you be so sure that would work?” Alisha asked her.
“It’s how the animals Eizen and I used to watch got along,” Edna replied. “If there was one that was scared, the others would slowly approach it and then lie down and sleep. We always wondered how it worked, but I guess it’s a way to show vulnerability.”
“Edna, that’s quite a nice idea,” Lailah smiled.
They came to the first heddin, and the fire seraph burnt it away. The flames blazed red instead of the usual blue.
Alisha was still worried. All of this was putting a strain on Sorey. In addition to freeing seraphim from slavery and promoting the coexistence between them and humans, he was dealing with the microcosm of his dream cracking in front of him. Humans were susceptible to malevolence, so who was to say that Sorey wouldn’t become corrupted by seeing Mikleo like this? Now that he was living for two for the moment until Mikleo had fully healed—and Lailah had recovered from her bout with the Virus by now, allowing Alisha to breathe easier—she couldn’t help but think that Sorey would never get better. For seraphim, mind over matter was the way of life. If Mikleo continued to let what Bartlow did to him haunt him, he would require Sorey’s life force forever or until Sorey’s body finally gave in and fell apart. He wasn’t looking any better; in fact, she had noticed when he first slept since winning against the Virus that he was wheezing in his sleep. She understood just how scared Mikleo was even after the ordeal, but she wished that Sorey would force him to do something.
“It makes me a little angry,” Alisha said, clenching her fist. “Mikleo won’t try to understand Sorey’s position. A lot is at stake—if we lose the Shepherd, there’s no hope for the seraphim. A Squire can only do so much.”
They found the second heddin and destroyed it.
Lailah was just as frustrated as Alisha, but nothing could be done until Mikleo was comfortable enough to allow Sorey into his heart again. Perhaps Diving would help him, but trauma of that magnitude would certainly permeate into the layers closest to his true feelings. She agreed that things had to happen soon before another Virus arose from the cancerous fear and hatred for humans spreading through him. If a Virus did develop again, he wouldn’t stand a chance, and the selfless Shepherd wouldn’t be able to save him. If Sorey knew that that was a possibility—a high one at that—he would succumb to the malevolence. With no memory of what happened while she was singing or before that when Bartlow forced Zenrus to hurt him, she could only imagine how awful he felt, and even then it wasn’t close to the fear and shame and disappointment of not being able to save him. She could imagine how Sorey’s heart broke listening to the sounds that escaped the water seraph’s throat; she was lucky enough to have never suffered what he did, yet she could hear them if she tried hard enough to imagine it.
“It’s heartbreaking because Sorey has to live with the guilt of being powerless to save him as well as watch him fear him,” Lailah said.
They found the third heddin and purified it.
Being the one that resides within Sorey more, Edna was exasperated with Mikleo’s inconsideration towards Sorey. She still didn’t trust humans, but she knew that Sorey meant no harm at all. She had seen it with her own eyes in the aqueduct. He blamed himself for all of this, even if he hadn’t said anything explicitly about what had happened. And as much as she didn’t want to admit it, it was odd and somewhat painful to watch Mikleo shrink away from Sorey’s very presence. It reminded her of her brother albeit he stayed away from her so he couldn’t hurt her during his transformation into a dragon. Sorey didn’t want to force him to do anything, but how could he expect her to do the same?
They found the fourth and fifth heddins, purifying them quickly. Dawn had come; the morning sun was desperately trying to break the dark clouds that hung over Marlind. They return to the museum, stopping short of the front door when they heard stomach-twisting screams echoing from inside.
Alisha pushed open the door to find Sorey and Mikleo alone. Sorey was hugging Mikleo, or rather he was desperately holding onto him as his water seraph clawed at his arms and face. He was screaming while the brunet tried to calm him, but he wasn’t responding to him. When Alisha and Lailah stepped towards him, but he warned them to stay away.
“I think he tried to sleep,” he told them over the screams. “He just started screaming suddenly. I think he’s having a night terror.” He went back to trying to comfort him even though it was useless until Mikleo tired himself out. “It’s okay, Mikleo, I’m here.”
Eventually Mikleo fell silent, no longer trying to escape Sorey’s hold. Whatever memory had reared its ugly head had plagued him, and once again Sorey took the blame for it.
“Sorey, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Alisha told him. She sat down next to him. They didn’t have time to waste waiting for Mikleo to wake up from whatever had frightened him, but considering that the atmosphere from those two alone made them worry, she didn’t force them to move.
“Well, while Meebo gets his beauty sleep, what else is there to do about the malevolence?” Edna asked. “It’s gone down, but the plague is still present in the village and we still have that dragon to worry about.” She tapped her umbrella on the ground.
“That’s true,” Lailah concurred. “And it’s morning now. We can’t wait until night again to get rid of the malevolence. If only we could have a way to find it…”
Alisha looked up from Mikleo to the door where a group of people had gathered. Edna recognized a couple of them—the humans that had killed the seraphim out of mercy. They looked worried, as if they had missed an infected seraph.
“Who are you?” Alisha questioned them. “Don’t make any sudden movements.”
The people raised their hands, but they continued to gaze at Mikleo. One of them spoke:
“You’re the people that were arrested by the Hyland Army. How did you escape? No, never mind that, is that seraph infected with the plague? We don’t have enough medicine, and as horrible as it is, we can put him out of his misery.”
Edna, Alisha, and Lailah guarded Mikleo until Sorey stood up while still holding Mikleo. There was no reason to fear them; they were the ones trying to help the seraphim even if it meant garnering malevolence for the guilt they felt. He didn’t tell them what had happened to him, only that he was sick from the evilness in the village.
“The malevolence…”
“If it means anything to you, there has been something hanging around. It looked like a baby dragon.”
“Yes, that must be the source of all the malevolence in the village aside from the enslavement of seraphim.”
Alisha touched her chin in thought. This had to be the dragon—or drake—had been channeling the malevolence, but would killing it force a change of heart in the humans here? It was worth a try, but Edna and Sorey had a different idea.
“We’re not going to kill it,” Sorey said. “We have to purify the drake. I don’t want any more seraphim to die. My dream…My dream with Mikleo is to promote peaceful coexistence between humans and seraphim, and killing them isn’t the answer.”
“A drake is still able to be purified without too much trouble,” Edna added. “It’s not a dragon yet, so we can still save it.”
The resolve that resonated in their hearts rang soundly to Alisha and Lailah. They asked the group to find someone that could help them combat the greediness of the village people. As the group left in search of help, Sorey and Edna agreed that it was time to Dive.
Notes:
I'm a sucker for traumatized characters. I'm also a sucker for one of a pair having to care for the other while being debilitated themselves (Sorey, in this case). But yeah, this is a LONG ASS CHAPTER.
Chapter 19: Phase 1: Two Sides to Every Stone
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 2: Edna
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
Alrighty, this cosmosphere level is heavily based on Luca's 2nd level since I like the idea of two Ednas. I would have had this up sooner, but classes started for the summer, then it was birthday a few days ago, and I've been trying to crank out all the cosplay stuff I can before my first test.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey prepared himself to Dive into Edna. He placed Mikleo carefully on the ground then turned to Alisha to ask:
“Do you still have the Shepherd’s garb?”
She did though it did get some damage from the ordeal at Rountabel Palace. She handed it to him, and while she was hoping to see what it looked like on him, the brunet had a different idea. He lay the cloak over Mikleo like a blanket. He figured it could be something like a security blanket as well as an extension of himself comforting him as he slept.
Edna patiently waited for Sorey to finish tending to Mikleo, and Lailah pulled Alisha to the side looking perplexed.
“I thought I was okay, but I can’t use Silver Flame anymore,” the fire seraph whispered. She had thought something was missing, and purifying the hellions had proved her right.
“Alisha, you need to help me get it back if we want to purify the drake.”
Alisha nodded eagerly. She was excited to Dive into Lailah again and more than willing to help rediscovering her Silver Flame. Once Sorey and Edna had initiated their session, she promised that they would Dive as well.
----------------------------------------------------
After Armatizing with Edna and meeting with her in the shared soul space, Sorey entered the second level of her soul. The world had been severely reduced and was two-dimensional like a children’s drawing. There was a small poorly-drawn patisserie, and Edna was there busy making chocolates. She tasted them, shuddering at her own concoctions.
“This tastes awful,” she dejectedly said. “There’s no way that he would like this.”
Her voice sounded terribly childlike, and instead of pulverizing the bitter pieces of chocolate with her rocks and giving up, she tossed them out and made a new batch. Sorey was beside himself because this Edna was very different from the Edna he knew. In fact, he wondered if there had been a screw-up while initiating the Dive. After all, she was wearing a completely different outfit—a pink frilly dress with an apron and different colored bows and red shoes. Her usually brown leaf headband was replaced with kitty ears and a red bow, and her umbrella was decorated with big red bows.
“Phoenix, are you there?” Sorey asked just outside of the patisserie. The golden Normin was nowhere to be found. “Weird, it’s not here. Am I supposed to just walk in then?” He peered into the window at the worrywart of a seraph. “I’ve never seen her put so much work into making sweets.”
With nothing else to do, Sorey entered the little sweets shop. He greeted her, yet she seemed not to notice or care. She just kept working at the chocolates. Another sour batch.
“Edna? Why are you making chocolates?” he finally asked.
“Because he’s going to be here, and I don’t have anything to show him how much I care about him!” she replied absentmindedly. “I have to make these chocolates and then I have to clean. He can’t arrive until everything is perfect.”
Sorey was confused about whoever “he” was. Was it Eizen? Was her soul still clinging to the death of her brother? Was she trying to bring him back? Hadn’t she accepted that Eizen was gone?
“Edna, I’m back!” Phoenix called from the door of the patisserie. “And I brought you-know-who!”
Sorey spun around after Edna dashed past him to a much taller man that looked around thirty years old. His hair was blond with golden tips just like Edna, his eyes the same cerulean but they were harsher than this Edna’s eyes. He wore a pirate’s jacket with a dragon’s spine down his back over his clothes. In his pocket, a pair of rimless spectacles hung halfway out. He was substantially taller than her.
“Big Brother! You weren’t supposed to come back yet! The chocolates aren’t done!” Edna whined.
Was this seriously Edna? Sorey couldn’t believe that she had this side to her. And was that really Eizen? Now that Phoenix was there, he could ask what was going on except the Normin had no intention of telling him what was happening with Eizen and Edna just a foot away from them. He just watched them with some sort of harrowed look.
Eizen handed Edna a basket full of gifts before excusing himself from the patisserie. Edna was saddened that he wanted to be alone. Sorey watched him walk to the Stonehenge. He had a chance to talk to her now that he had left, but he had to make sure to catch him as well. There wasn’t anywhere else to go; he hoped that Eizen would stay there until he was able to meet him.
“Edna, who was that?” Sorey asked.
“That was Big Brother Eizen,” the little earth seraph said almost too sweetly and innocently to be the sarcastic girl she was supposed to be. “Big Brother Eizen is a pirate, sailing all around the world and bringing me presents. But recently he hasn’t been talking to me, and he looks really tired all the time. He won’t tell me what’s wrong.”
Sorey held a finger to his chin. If she was so worried about him, why didn’t she follow him and find out? But the world of this level in her soul was so small and plain that it would be too obvious that she was trying to find out what was wrong with him. Additionally, if Eizen was avoiding her, then it would be nothing more than a wild goose chase. Sorey volunteered to talk to Earthy Pirate. Phoenix followed him out of the patisserie and when they were far enough that the Normin was sure that Edna wouldn’t hear it, it decided to see what Sorey’s plan of action was.
“Plan of action? Well, so far I know that Edna is worried about her brother,” Sorey said. There was nothing else to go on.
“I’m not supposed to tell you anything, but do you know what Eizen is to Edna?” Phoenix asked.
“Her brother, and the seraph form of the dragon that used to be on Rayfalke Spiritcrest.”
“I see.” Phoenix turned away from him, crossing its nubby arms. “You still don’t seem to grasp the situation.”
As fruitless as the exchange was, there had to be some sort clue. There was no other option other than to talk to Eizen himself. Thankfully the Stonehenge wasn’t too far of a walk, and within minutes he had arrived. The pirate was resting against one of the stone pillars looking drained of his energy. He watched Sorey approach him with Phoenix in tow behind him.
“You must be Sorey, the one who enter a pact with Edna,” Eizen coughed.
Sorey nodded. “I’m the new Shepherd. Eizen, can I ask you something? How did you become a dragon? Why are you not a dragon now?” he asked.
Eizen smirked. It was a long story from a millennium ago. Even he didn’t remember the details. He became a dragon the same way that everyone became a dragon—he absorbed too much malevolence and fostered a Virus within himself and he eventually lost himself to that darkness. It was a vague description, but whatever Sorey saw within Edna’s soul was a reflection and exaggeration of her own thoughts and feelings. The fact that Eizen didn’t really know was most likely Edna’s way of thinking about how he turned.
“If the real Eizen was still around, he’d be able to tell you more,” the pirate continued. “Unfortunately, I’m just an imposter.”
Phoenix let out a sigh. “It gives her peace, Urth. I’m sure Edna deeply appreciates that you do this for her,” it said.
“Wait, so is this another Normin?” Sorey questioned. “But why do you look like Eizen? Is this what Eizen really looked like?”
“This kid asks a lot of questions,” Urth chuckled. “Yes, I’m another Normin, but Edna’s reluctance to accept the loss of Eizen and that suffering is a part of life has superimposed the image of her brother on me. It’s strange; Edna’s usually a tough girl.”
Sorey’s eyes fell to the dusty ground. He understood why, and that understanding served as his motivation to get through the level. But that wasn’t the only reason he was there. He had to remember that they needed Song Magic to purify the drake tormenting Marlind. He remembered what Edna had said about specific songs—they required ores like vermillion and orpiment. Marlind didn’t have anything like that near them. Furthermore, what if Edna wasn’t able to handle such strong Song Magic or the toxins in the ores?
The only thing they could do was to try talking to Edna to have her come to terms with the grief. Urth wouldn’t revert to his former self until she had, and Phoenix was hoping that it could be done.
Sorey, Urth, and Phoenix returned to the patisserie, where Edna was still slaving away over the chocolates that she deemed not to her liking. She was happy to see Eizen but very confused why Sorey and Phoenix were with him. They all looked like someone had died, and she was ready to burst into tears simply because the atmosphere had become a dismal one.
“Edna, are you sure this is Eizen?” Sorey asked her. He couldn’t beat around the bush; it would only make things worse.
“Yes, Big Brother Eizen just came back from a voyage!” she happily said.
“But when was the last time he sailed out?”
“One thousand years ago…?”
Phoenix nudged Sorey’s foot. He was in extremely dangerous territory now, and if he broke the news that Eizen had been dead for a while now and that Urth was impersonating him, he would risk a collapse of the level. They had to rethink this plan.
“Excuse us, Edna,” Phoenix interrupted. “I need to talk with your brother and the outsider.”
Outside the patisserie, Urth and Sorey listened to Phoenix’s scolding even though it was aimed entirely at the latter. Directly confronting something like the death of a loved one was extremely stressful. “You can’t just tell her!” the golden Normin concluded.
“I’m sorry, it’s just…well, there’s not much to go on,” Sorey said. “I’m really sorry about all this.”
“Still, she’s deluding herself,” Urth grumbled. “And her world is so small now. Do you think we can break down the walls or find a way to make her come to terms?”
“It’s worth a shot,” Sorey said.
The trio headed to the edge of the world where hundred-meter-tall walls barred them from falling off. They had the insignia of the earth element, and for once, Sorey was somewhat nervous around them. They exuded an emptiness that was like malevolence yet not toxic. Other than that, there was nothing particularly special or helpful about them. It was a dead end.
“…ing!” a voice angrily called out.
“What was that?” Sorey asked.
“…ing!” the voice said again.
“Sounds like it’s coming from behind the wall,” Urth said.
“Sunshine Swing!” the voice called out a third time before the wall separating them from it crumbled to the ground. The voice kept calling out the attack, mustering the strength to destroy the wall, until its owner had cleared an entire section of the wall. Edna—kitty baker attire and all—emerged from the dust. “Finally!”
“Edna?!” Sorey and Urth said together.
“The true Edna,” Phoenix clarified.
Edna stomped up towards Sorey, giving him a jab in the stomach with the tip of her umbrella as if to relieve some of her frustration. It seemed she had been trapped for a while behind the wall because she was covered in bruises and mud from trying to scale it.
Once she had calmed down and realized that something had gone awry, she told them that she had gone to find berries for her cooking. Having no luck, she went farther and farther out into the forest and before she knew a giant wall had cut her off from the rest of the soul space. It was only recently, and such a change could only happen if something terribly drastic had happened outside in the real world. She didn’t have to ask about the other Edna who was running her patisserie and wasting her ingredients.
“Unlike that Edna, I know Eizen is dead,” she bluntly said.
“But knowing that he’s dead and accepting the grief are two different things,” Phoenix told her.
“Phoenix is right,” Sorey agreed. “The you in the patisserie won’t accept Eizen’s death, but you also won’t accept that feeling sad is okay. I think…I think what happened to Mikleo might have done this; that part of you is afraid of losing another person you care about, and the only way to fix this is to have you confront her.”
“I could have told you that,” Edna said while angrily blushing. “First and foremost, I want my patisserie back, and I’m going to make sure that imposter finds every single ingredient that she’s thrown out.”
Edna fell into a sprint back to the patisserie, and something in the pit of Sorey’s stomach knew that this wasn’t the way to deal with the fake Edna. When they arrived shortly after her, they found that they were about to fight…or rather, Edna was ready to beat the imposter into a bloody pulp.
“Edna, stop this!” Urth cried out.
The fake Edna yelped as she took cover behind the disguised Normin. She was going on and on about how the Dive had had a malfunction, the Armatization was probably done wrong, or even that Sorey’s presence had initiated an anomalous rift within the soul space. Of course, all these things were excuses not to fight with the real proprietor of the soul space.
Edna took a breath. “Who do you think you are?” she growled at the imposter. “You hijacked my soul space and locked me out. Then you wasted my rarest ingredients to make chocolates for someone who no longer exists. What do you have to say for yourself? What can you say for yourself? Are you prepared to pay back everything you’ve done?”
“I haven’t stolen anything!” the imposter wept.
Sorey got between them just as Edna used one of her artes. He sustained some damage, but he wasn’t kicked out of Edna’s soul by sheer willpower. The imposter fled the patisserie to the Stonehenge. Edna was glad she ran away, and she began to clean up the place.
The only way to initiate a Paradigm Shift to advance deeper in Edna’s soul was to get the two to sort out their differences. Phoenix decided to keep an eye on Edna while Sorey and Urth went to the imposter. If they could get them to accept each other and tear down the wall, then everything would be solved and Sorey would get the Song Magic.
While Urth hung back, the Shepherd made his way back to the Stonehenge, where he found the fake Edna sulking that Eizen was dead and that she had caused a mess. She was dabbing tissues to her eyes, quietly sobbing in self-pity. Sorey sat next to her without saying a word. She eventually stopped crying to peek out the side of her eye. He just sat there. He didn’t look at her or say anything. He just waited for her to stop crying.
“Sorey?” she finally squeaked. “What are you doing here? The real Edna came back to the patisserie. Shouldn’t you be helping her?”
“I am,” Sorey smiled at her. He turned his body towards her, took her hands, and kept smiling at her. He couldn’t hold back that he felt sad, too. “You’re not the real Edna, but you’re something the real Edna needs.”
“What do you mean?”
“You still can’t believe that Eizen is dead, right? That’s why you made Urth look like him, and that’s why you formed those walls, but you’re only half of the reason that those walls still remain.”
“Eizen was the only family I had. We did everything together, and when he went away on his voyages, we used to write letters to each other on different kinds of birds. He used to come home with so many gifts. Of course, I can’t accept he’s gone for good. Even after it’s been a while, but wouldn’t you be sad, too, if your family just ceased to exist?”
Sorey kept smiling.
“I did lose my family. I know what it feels like. Gramps, Mikleo, everyone in Elysia—either got hurt or killed or turned into Seraphoids. But even though Gramps and the others are gone, I still have my memories of them. The same goes for Eizen. As long as you remember all of the fun times you had with him, you’re never really alone.”
The fake Edna suddenly threw her arms around Sorey’s neck, bawling into his shoulder. She knew he was right, but she couldn’t let go of the grief. But she didn’t have to because the grief was the catalyst of remembering Eizen. Coming to terms with it was part of maturing as a seraph; Edna was going to see much more suffering and death. She couldn’t remain hung up on Eizen even if he was her brother.
At the edge of the Stonehenge, Urth’s body reverted to that of a brown Normin. It peeked from behind one of the pillars as a sign that the real Edna was able to confront one of her flaws. Sorey escorted the fake Edna back to the patisserie with Urth riding on his head, and they found the real Edna had just finished cleaning up when they got there. She turned around, her hair standing on end like she was ready to pounce on her doppelganger.
“Edna, wait,” Sorey told her, anticipating how much she wanted to kill her. The angry earth seraph glared at him. “Do you know who she is?”
“A thief and a crybaby?” Edna spat.
“She’s a part of you.”
“Like a weakling like this imposter is anything like me.”
Urth jumped down from Sorey’s head. “Ms. Edna, you must listen to Sorey if you’re going to grow,” it said. Phoenix agreed with a nod.
Sorey explained what he had talked about with the fake Edna, and the real Edna listened to it even though she despised her for ruining her shop. Then it came to how she felt.
“If this Edna is the embodiment of your grief about Eizen, and those walls are to protect you from more heartbreak, then what is keeping you from confronting these fears?” Sorey asked her. Edna looked away; she couldn’t show weakness. “Why are the walls still here even though Urth is back to normal?” He already knew, but she had to say it. “Edna, you have to tell me.”
Edna bit her lip. The pressure was building more and more the longer she remained silent. Sorey wouldn’t stop questioning her until she admitted what she tried to hide. She took a breath.
“Those walls are still there because I don’t want to end up like the other seraphim. I don’t want to end up like Meebo,” she quivered. Seeing the aftermath of what he went through, I’m scared that could happen to me. Sorey, I don’t want to become a Seraphoid and lose my memories of Eizen or you. I don’t want to turn into a hellion or a dragon and live alone for eternity. I just want a happy life…”
It was so strange seeing Edna soften herself so much and lay her heart bare to a human. Unlike Mikleo, she had no incentive to do it other than to gain power. But she was almost like a lost little girl in the world despite being thousands of years older than him without anyone to cry on. She had spent the last few hundred years making sure that Eizen didn’t leave the Spiritcrest that she had learned to harden herself to most of the world.
The fake Edna hugged her tightly. She didn’t let go of her until Phoenix suggested that they go to the walls that were boxing in the world and help tear them down. The real Edna, now true to her own feelings agreed to go with them.
In front of the walls, the two Edna’s joined hands. Together they called out, “Crystal Tower!”
A crystal spear shot out of the ground, puncturing the wall in several places until it came crumbling down. The world beyond the walls was lush and full of life, and the Spiritcrest stood near the edge of the soul space not as a forbidden place but as a memorial for Eizen. The two Edna’s tearfully celebrated as the sun shined on the mountain. Soon enough, the Stonehenge glowed with the Paradigm Shift required to allow Edna to use orpiment ore in the real world and obtain stronger Song Magic.
“Edna, it’s okay to feel sad when sad things happen,” the imposter told her counterpart. “It means you’re still alive, and your new friends will always be with you just like Eizen was always there for you, even when he was out at sea.”
Edna smiled as the fake disappeared into specks of light then asked Sorey to meet her at the Stonehenge. She and Phoenix walked on, but Urth was ready to head out in the other direction.
“You’re not coming with us?” Sorey asked it.
“There’s no need to now that Edna has accepted grief,” Urth said, sounding a lot heartier with the problem solved. “If you’re worried that I need to be there so she can use orpiment ore safely, don’t be. It’ll happen intrinsically, and whatever song she creates from it will be full of these emotions. You’re not bad, kid. Edna’s as prickly as a prickleboar, but she’s already opened up to you a lot, and this is only the second level. I believe that with you, she’ll mature into a fine woman.”
Sorey teared up since he was only familiar with the rude and complacent Normin of Mikleo’s soul. He thanked Urth for the kind words before heading to the Stonehenge, where Edna waited with Phoenix to pass into the next level.
“Good job, Sorey,” Phoenix congratulated. “You’ve broken through her shell and got her to accept her feelings about all that’s happened. But from here on out, things are going to be tougher.”
“I understand,” Sorey said confidently. He wasn’t going to let Edna succumb to her own darkness. He was the Shepherd; it was part of his duty to prevent the malevolence from poisoning the very beings that he wanted to help.
“Things that happen in the real world will progressively have greater effects as the magnification of thoughts and feelings increases. But if you keep on going like this, Edna will be just fine.”
Sorey gave Phoenix a determined grin before he was transported out of Edna’s soul. With the completion of the second level of her soul, she able to use orpiment ores without damaging herself with the toxins in it.
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Sorey woke up next to Edna, who was blushing at him yet not particularly happy with something. She bopped him on the head with her umbrella.
“I don’t know why but I’m really pissed off with you,” she growled at him. “You better not have messed anything up.”
“I didn’t do much of anything,” Sorey giggled. He looked around; he was still in the museum.
Alisha and Lailah were in the middle of a Dive. Mikleo was again stuck in a corner, but this time he was clutching the Shepherd’s garb tightly. The fact that it had become a security blanket for him was great, but it also meant that after they left Marlind, he wouldn’t be able to get it back until he was able to Dive into him and fix whatever problem was making him so distrustful of humans.
“Once we purify the drake, you can help him,” Edna said softly. Now that Sorey knew she was sorry for him, she felt obligated to offer some sort of condolence. “And to purify the drake, we have to wait for Lailah and Alisha to finish their Dive.”
Sorey asked why they had to Dive in the first place, and the earth seraph recalled that the Silver Flame wouldn’t work. Lailah didn’t force herself to try and use it given the state of the village and the vulnerability such concentration would place on her. More than likely the Dive was to regain the ability. As they waited, Sorey tried to get Mikleo used to him again in preparation of the fight to come.
Notes:
I thought it was a pretty nice level, and I had to do some research--vermillion ore is made by fire seraphim, so I thought it would make sense if only fire seraphim could use it. So then I rewatched the Rock You skit and decided that perhaps orpiment would be good for earth seraphim. Then I had to research other ores and whatever toxic elements they had in them. Ah, the things you do for writing.
Chapter 20: Phase 1: Argent, the Great Flame
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 5: Lailah
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
This chapter is based on Saki's level 5 cosmosphere, and admittedly it's been a long time. Trying not to hit the cosmospheres too much on the nose, but I think this one worked out. Also going to incorporate other outfits from DLCs and Tales of Link.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lailah and Alisha had prepared to Dive not long after Sorey and Edna had commenced their session. It had been so long since the two girls had seen each other in the shared soul space, and even though Alisha had already cleared Lailah’s soul space for her betterment, she was excited to go through it again. Before Alisha entered her soul, Lailah gave her a kiss for luck.
“It’s been a long time,” Lailah reminded her. “Remember that the deeper levels are more dangerous than the surface levels.”
“I’ll be okay,” Alisha reassured. She Dove into her soul.
----------------------------------------------
Alisha found herself in Ladylake where there were balloons and an endless shower of confetti rained over the main district. Crowds of people were celebrating. Vendors of all kinds were selling their foods and artists were selling their works. The princess knight caught a glimpse of one of them, and in the beautiful brush strokes, Lailah was dancing among fires.
“Strange, I don’t really remember this being part of her soul space,” Alisha murmured to herself.
She continued to the sanctuary, where more people had gathered around but not in joyous splendor. A priest with a normally kind face looked over his people nervously.
“What do you mean that Lady Lalalili refuses to come out?” Mikleo growled.
“We came all this way to see her!” Edna complained, an older man with similar hair and eyes holding her back.
“If we can’t hear her sing, how will we sleep at night?” Rose booed.
Alisha walked up to a townsperson and asked what was going on. According to him, Lailah had decided that she was tired of being an idol for Ladylake. She wanted to go out into the world and explore all it had to offer. In doing so, it meant letting Argent the Great Flame burn out. If Argent burned out, the city would fall into chaos.
“Maybe I can talk with her,” Alisha suggested.
Other people overheard her.
“Yeah, right, like Lady Lalilah would listen to some measly human,” Mikleo scoffed.
“Lalalili doesn’t have time for peasants,” Edna spat.
“Lalupin is far too famous for the likes of you,” Rose insulted.
Alisha was taken aback. The soul space had changed dramatically from when she had last visited some months ago. Given recent events, she wasn’t too surprised that this was the result. She was still very confused about Argent, especially since it hadn’t been a part of her until recently.
Without any further mingling, she walked the path into the sanctuary only to be stopped by the priest, who nervously asked her, “What are your credentials?”
“Credentials? I’m the princess of the Diphda family, and I’m also Lady Lailah’s caretaker. Surely she has talked about me?” Alisha replied dignified.
The priest verified the information then escorted her into the sanctuary. It looked the same as it did before it was turned into a murder house for humans and seraphim alike. The Great Flame Argent burned in a goblet in the center of the main hall in front of a high rise that held purified water for sanctification. Lailah was nowhere to be found.
“Lady Lalupin must have gone off somewhere,” the priest said.
“Do you know where she would go?”
“Probably towards Ringaround Palace, but after they threatened to break the Propheta Statue, she’s been wary of going near them.”
Alisha just stared at him confused as she could be. What were all these weird names? Lady Lalupin? Ringaround Palace? Propheta Statue? She recalled that the last time she had been this close to the surface of her soul, things were more normal. Lailah was Lailah, and most of her soul space dealt with things that could roll proficiently and Alisha. Did it have something to do with Bartlow’s forcing her to learn [that Song Magic]? Particularly notable events had the ability to influence the soul space, and it didn’t seem impossible that that nightmare had done so.
She headed in the direction of the palace and what would normally be her manor. She couldn’t believe her eyes—Ringaround Palace was a giant extravagant carousel and right next door was the Propheta Statue. The statue—all 800 feet of it—was carved from igneous rocks and looked exactly like Alisha.
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or creeped out…” Alisha sighed.
But the search continued around the Nobles’ District until she heard Lailah’s voice coming from the doors of Ringaround Palace. Atakk was with her as well, and both were thrown out like garbage.
“If you break my life’s work, then I’ll make sure Argent burns out!” the fire seraph almost cried. She was wearing a white and light-green plaid outfit with lime accessories; she looked like a high-school idol. The guards murmured among themselves, as if her threat had rattled them. “Why should my wonderful Propheta Statue have to pay for your mistakes?”
Atakk held onto her leg.
“Lady Lalupin, please calm down!” it begged her.
Suddenly, a woman wearing a lab coat over what looked like a teacher’s uniform came out of the palace. Her hair was braid back, and she wore glasses. Other than these differences, she was identical to Lailah.
“Are you listening to yourself? If you allow Argent to burn out, the world will be sundered by malevolence. The statue has garnered enough of it; we must eradicate it before it destroys our city,” the Lailah clone said.
“But…But my love for her won’t be acknowledged until she sees it!” Lailah cried.
“I can’t help you if you refuse to realize what will happen.”
The professor-looking Lailah turned to go back into the palace.
“Wait! What is your name?” Lailah asked.
“You may call me Logic.”
When the guard and Logic had returned into the palace, and when Lailah was weeping her eyes out, Atakk found Alisha. It ran to her with desperation.
“Lady Alisha, boy, did you come at the right time!” Atakk cried. It explained what happened from when Lailah—still referred to as Lady Lalupin—finished building her statue. Logic suddenly appeared in town, claiming that the statue was upsetting the people of Ladylake. The only solution was to destroy it, but Lailah had spent so much of her time building it that it would break her to see it torn down. “I don’t know what to do! Not even I, an esteemed Mind Guardian, can fix this mess!”
Alisha thought to console Lailah about the statue because perhaps it would have been a good idea to get rid of it. Even though she made it out of love, the statue itself put Alisha on a pedestal too high for her liking as well as looked gaudy. She was never one to intentionally cause the people of Ladylake dissatisfaction.
But who was this Logic person to Lailah, or was she merely a representation of something in her subconscious? Why would such a representation exist when Lailah had so much love for Alisha?
Alisha took a step towards Lailah when a familiar old man stepped out of the palace to her. Chancellor Bartlow went down the stairs to the palace to the fire seraph, helping her up as if he seriously treasured her in this world. Of course, Lady Lalupin was famous; and everyone wanted to be on her good side.
“How rude Logic treats you, Lady Lalupin,” he sincerely said. He dusted off her dress. He spoke in a faint voice, so Alisha only caught fragments of words and phrases. From her experience, anything with Bartlow was bad. “Keep it up.”
“But Logic will destroy it,” Lailah almost cried.
“Not if the model for your glorious statue has anything to say about it. I hear she’s in town.”
Lailah turned to find Alisha looking at her with concern. Without a moment to spare, she threw her arms around her and kissing her tenderly. Bartlow snuck away, rubbing Alisha the wrong way.
After heading back to the sanctuary to see how Argent was faring, Lailah struck up a conversation about the statue. She asked if she liked it, what she liked about it, how she thought about the different types of rocks that were used, and most importantly if she thought it should be torn down.
“Um, well, let me answer your questions one at a time,” Alisha sheepishly smiled. “I do like the statue. I really like the shades of pink in my armor. I like that you used so many different rocks…” she paused. “But if the statue is upsetting the people, I think you should take it down.”
“I can’t possibly do that, Alisha!” Lailah whined. “How else will Ladylake know the extent of my love for you? And I used Argent’s power to make it, so I don’t want it to go to waste.”
It was no use in changing Lailah’s mind about the statue, and after Alisha excused herself to see out Logic and confront her about what the problem really was, Atakk weighed in on what had been happening.
The Normin, now purposefully withholding information, simply told her that maybe Logic wasn’t the problem.
“What do you mean?” Alisha asked.
“This isn’t your first time Diving into Lailah,” Atakk replied. “Emotions here are magnified, and there are conflicts of interest.”
Alisha thought about it, but in the end, she wasn’t getting what Atakk meant. She headed back to the palace. There, however, was some sort of altercation between Logic and Bartlow.
“Back down, old man,” Logic hissed. Bartlow was surrounded by malevolence with a smirk on his face. “I won’t allow you to further corrupt Lailah with your immoral ways.”
“It’s quite late to be trying to stop the ebb and flow of Lady Lalupin’s desires. With that statue generating malevolence in the people, I’ll be able to take control of her once again and finally make her into my most precious slave. She will sing for me endlessly until her throat is raw!”
Alisha joined in the fight, assisting Logic with her spear. It was slowly becoming clear that the Bartlow in the soul space was the manifestation of whatever he had done to turn her into the Vaccine. Logic was already wounded from before, and she was in no condition to continue.
“I finally understand,” Logic said.
Bartlow cackled. “Keep trying, foolish girl. Lalupin will be mine; just you watch!” He escaped into the palace.
“We need to go after him!” Alisha decided.
“No, he’s far too strong,” Logic replied. She hobbled to the center of the city with Alisha supporting her on her shoulder. “I know what he is now.”
Alisha sat her on a bench. Her hypothesis was that Bartlow was the remnants of the training that Lailah had gone through—this wasn’t a surprise to Alisha. Most of the people didn’t care that the Propheta Statue was standing tall in Ladylake; in fact, because of Lalupin’s reputation, they were quite impressed she had made it.
“Argent is in danger of being poisoned by the malevolence, but it’s not from the statue. It’s coming from Bartlow,” she concluded.
“We need to stop Bartlow and restore Argent to what it once was,” Alisha added. Logic nodded, but they both knew that it would be difficult to apprehend Bartlow and quell the malevolence produced by him.
“We need Lailah’s help to quell the malevolence. Her purifying powers are the only thing that will do the trick.”
Logic let out a sigh. She felt terrible for telling Lailah that her statue had to be destroyed, but if Bartlow was using it to channel the malevolence, it had to be done. Alisha tried to think of a way to use the statue against Bartlow.
“Logic, can’t seraphim do things if they concentrate hard enough?” she asked.
“In some cases, yes. A lot of what seraphim are capable of is based on belief.”
“Okay, I’ll be back soon.”
Alisha left Logic to look for Atakk. It wouldn’t be able to tell her if her idea would work, but she could ask about the chances. When she found it by the Stonehenge, she hastily asked:
“Atakk, is it possible for a seraph to will a statue into motion?”
“I don’t know,” it replied. “It depends on how much the seraph believes she has that strength.”
“So then it’s possible. If Logic and I defeat Bartlow and use the statue to quell the malevolence, Lailah will be able to have a Paradigm Shift and use the Silver Flame in the real world.”
“You’re getting a little crazy with these ideas…” Atakk crossed its arms. “Do you know the effect of using the statue to your advantage?”
“No, but we need to do something now. We can’t afford not to take a chance.”
Struck with the determination and inspiration to fight against Bartlow, the princess knight made her way back to the sanctuary where her beloved fire seraph had been fighting with herself about tearing down the statue. Papers had been folded into all kind of fortune-telling origami pieces and flowers had been plucked of all their petals. She had been crying; every way she looked at her fortunes, they all said that if she didn’t tear down the statue, unimaginable sadness would flood the city. Lailah used all these things to keep Argent burning a little longer until Alisha pulled her away without warning.
“A-Alisha! Where are we going?” she asked suddenly.
“The Propheta Statue isn’t generating malevolence; it’s Bartlow! He’s using your statue to turn the people against you!” Alisha told her.
“But…Bartlow said that I should keep it up because I worked hard on it. Why would he want to use it against me?”
Alisha dragged Lailah to the bench where Logic had been sitting, and the fire seraph immediately tried to run away from her as she remembered their past confrontation. Logic meant no harm, however, and she was too weak to hurt her now anyway. And it wasn’t long until Bartlow came along, too, with a sword ready to finish off Logic and threaten Lailah into submission.
“Lady Lalupin, go to the statue,” Logic ordered. “Alisha and I will take care of this swine. When we give the signal, you must use the statue to purify Ladylake!”
Lailah, terrified of what was happening, ran to the statue. Bartlow lunged for her like a hellion, but Alisha barred him from attacking him.
“You’ll have to cut us down before we let you touch her!” Alisha growled.
The hellionized Bartlow snarled at her before he began his assault. He was going to chop her into slices, but thanks to Alisha being taught by a master of the spear, her defense was impenetrable. Logic shot fireballs at him with her papers, and once there was an opening, she set the spear’s blade on fire.
Alisha dashed behind Bartlow, running the fire through his chest. His body burned immediately, the shrieks of a hellion erupting into the sky. But as his body was reduced to wisps of darkness that burned bright blue by the power of purification, the malevolence level began to rise quickly. The citizens of Ladylake were overcome with dread and disease, and the Great Flame Argent was almost snuffed out.
“Lailah! Activate the statue!” Alisha called out as loud as she could.
Lailah heard her voice echo, and she set aside her worries about the statue. She was going to prove Logic wrong. Her statue would be something good. With every ounce of her being, she focused on the statue as it sparkled in the sun. Feeling the power welling up from deep within, Lailah called upon the power of Argent.
“Silver Flame!” she called out.
The statue glowed as it channeled mana and magnified her power. The silver flame radiated from the statue’s spear, decimating even the smallest specks of malevolence that threatened Ladylake. Its warmth enveloped the people including her friends from the real world. Everything evil was burned away.
After the flames and malevolence cleared away, Lailah regrouped with Alisha and Logic. The people were returning to normal, but there was still something off about the world. Even though the malevolence had been cleared away, Lailah and Logic felt a disturbance emanating from the sanctuary.
“The worst of my fears have come true,” Logic said.
She made a beeline to the hall for the sanctuary where Argent was a tiny flame in its goblet. Using the statue as a catalyst for the power of the Silver Flame, Argent had been drained of its strength. The soul space was in danger of collapse because the amount of power borrowed was far too much.
Alisha and Lailah followed Logic to the sanctuary, where the latter felt guilty for using the statue to help her followers. Logic didn’t blame her, but she didn’t know how to correct the problem either.
Alisha hugged Lailah. This wasn’t how the Dive was supposed to go.
The flame died out but in its embers, was a red Normin that was snoring away. When it woke up, it peered up at Logic and Lailah. It had a child’s voice.
“Who freed me from my prison?” it asked.
Logic looked back at Lailah, who cautiously stepped up to the Normin.
“L-L-Lady Lalupin?! It’s an honor to meet you! Are you the one who woke me up? Many thanks to you, my lady, my idol!”
Atakk joined the group at some point to see what all the hubbub was about and to see how Alisha was faring. “Oh, hey, Faira!” it greeted the red Normin.
Faira waved before returning to Lailah. “If you were able to wake me from my slumber, then you’ve got the capacity to use Silver Flame in the real world; your heart proves that.”
“Wait, so you’re the embodiment of that ability?” Alisha asked a bit surprised.
“Yup, but now that I’m awake and free, I can grant the power to Lady Lalupin once we go to the Stonehenge.”
Alisha was moved to tears, hugging Lailah while spinning. Lailah was very confused because she didn’t really understand why or how Faira gave her that ability. But it was something to ponder about later. All that mattered now was that they got to the Stonehenge and delivered the Silver Flame to the real Lailah.
At the Stonehenge, the Paradigm Shift began, but before Lailah stepped into the light with Faira, she faced Logic. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused,” she said. “And…it doesn’t look like you can come with me to the next level.”
Logic coolly chuckled. “It’s okay, Lalupin. You managed to save the people of this city and reawaken the power of purification within you. Even if I can’t go with you to the next level, remember that I exist in your soul, and that I will help you in the most trying of situations.”
Lailah then looked at Alisha. “Thank you, Alisha, for saving me from the hellion.”
“That’s what I’m here for—I will always protect you,” Alisha told her.
Lailah waved goodbye, and before Alisha was transported out of the soul space, Atakk congratulated her. Then it became serious.
“You’ve been through this before, but are you prepare for the next level when you have to do it?” it asked Alisha.
Alisha nodded. The next Dive wouldn’t be for a while, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down. She exited the soul space.
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Unlike previous times in which Alisha fainted next to Lailah, she simply separated from her. She was somewhat disoriented, but the Dive didn’t drain her of all her energy. Lailah was also still awake, and she felt refreshed with her Silver Flame ability ready for use once again.
“Alisha!” she giggled as she threw her arms around her neck. “You did it! I can feel the fires! We can purify the drake!”
“Glad to hear it worked, my dear,” Alisha happily replied.
They had finished not long after Sorey and Edna completed their session, but they noticed that Mikleo was still afraid of them. Clutching the Shepherd’s robe, he clenched his teeth. Alisha looked over at Sorey, who was looking sicker after his Dive into Edna and sadder that Mikleo was still scared.
“Sorey…?” she uttered. The Shepherd turned to her. “Don’t worry about him. Once we purify the drake and you get better, you can Dive into him and fix him.”
“But I need to Dive now—I can’t stand it anymore,” Sorey said.
Edna bopped his head. “You idiot,” she said. “If you try to Dive into him while you’re on the verge of death yourself, you won’t accomplish anything but dying.”
Lailah rested a hand on his shoulder. “Edna’s right. You should have noticed by now that Diving came be detrimental to the human vessel’s health. After we purify the drake, you must rest before you can even think of Diving into him.
Sorey had no other choice but to listen to his friends. The Dive into Edna had taken more out of him, and the persistent cough was worsening. The next time he had to cough, he found red specks in the palm of the Shepherd’s glove. Anxiety hit him, the fear of death encroaching upon him. He had to save Mikleo before he expired.
Notes:
This chapter was also partly inspired by No Logic by Luka.
Chapter 21: Phase 1: The Blessing of Marlind
Summary:
With Lailah able to use her Silver Flame again, Sorey and his friends prepare to stop the drake terrorizing the village. Will this be enough to change Mikleo's heart and allow Sorey to Dive into him?
Notes:
Yep, organic chemistry, cosplay, and now Persona 5. I have control of my life -twitch-
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT, INCLUDING THE TITLE. I wanted to actually produce the original songs I did write for this fanfiction. UTAU is being a pain in the ass and I don't know how to fix the program-breaking error (and while I know Japanese, I don't know technical Japanese to read the install directions, which isn't even the beginning of the problem). As such, I won't be posting the Hymmnos/Ar Ciela lyrics for this chapter until I can fix the program or I can find someone that can help me make the songs.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The villagers returned with a new face. It was a man with a scar across the bridge of his nose with a brigade of others at his command. Either by coincidence or by choice, they only wore mustard-yellow clothes as if to represent their independence from Hyland’s blue knights and Rolance’s red knights. He claimed to be a mercenary of some sort, and he was holding a box of orpiment ore that he had been smuggling from one of the warring states.
“We found someone that could maybe help you all,” the group leader said.
“The name’s Lucas,” the mercenary introduced himself. “Heard y’all got a problem with the humans running the seraphim into the ground.”
Alisha stood up, asserting her position as the princess. She bowed in greeting to him, explaining the situation in Marlind. As Lucas and the group behind him listened to the heartbreaking story, the mercenary thought about what it all meant. Of course, the righteous princess of the kingdom that was sealing away the consciousness of their seraphim so they could be hosts in the Seraphoid Project was against the cruelty, and since the Shepherd was there to balance the two states while liberating all seraphim, it would have seemed like they wanted to solely grow their numbers to fight against both Hyland and Rolance. Lucas scoffed at the idea of helping them when there was no profit to be made.
“B-But, sir, you said you would help!” the group leader cried.
“I said I would think about it,” Lucas retorted. “I’m not looking to get myself killed, and who’s to say that the seraphim won’t try to kill us if we help them? But…”
Sorey crawled to him, curling on his hands and knees.
“Please,” he said. “Please, help us.” His voice was shaky and almost too quiet to hear.
“Sorey, stand up!” Alisha commanded him. “You don’t need to be on the ground for this!”
“If I must grovel at the feet of mercenaries and bandits to ensure help, I will.” He looked up at Lucas. “Lucas, you may not feel obliged, but allow me to tell you why it’s imperative we stop the force of greed. The Kingdom of Hyland is torturing the seraphim and killing humans to create hybrids to fight. They’ve captured us before, and…and now…” Sorey bowed against to hide his tears. “The one closest to me is too afraid to fight back. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else—human or seraph—so please help us!”
Lucas scrutinized him because he had never seen anyone so fervent in their beliefs. He set the orpiment down, and Edna eyed it from her place next to Lailah. He mulled over the situation, and he knew the consequences of getting wrapped up in all this mess.
“Alright, I’ll help out, but there’s a price,” he finally said. He demanded that they gave him ten thousand gald for his men’s services.
Alisha was against the idea since it defeated the purpose of expelling greed, but Sorey pulled out a coin pouch. It wasn’t enough money, but he thought he would be able to pay the rest later. He just needed their help. He coughed as he lifted the pouch to him.
Lucas was amazed that he was trying so hard despite being stricken with what he thought was the plague. He didn’t want to be infected, but he couldn’t ignore that he was offering all the money he had.
“You really need our help, don’t you,” he said.
Lucas gently pushed his hand down. It was a test to see if he was desperate enough to relinquish all he had just for the temporary service of a bunch of vagabonds. Sorey was confused, but Lucas promised to help him for free.
“Thank you,” Sorey told him gratefully. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”
Edna approached the man after the exchange had been finished, and using her umbrella, she pointed at the box of orpiment ores. “Don’t you know that stuff is poisonous?” she asked him. She didn’t give him time to answer. “Give me a piece of it, but throw the rest of it out, like, now. It’s dumb to have this around people who are already dying.”
“Edna, a little more tact goes a long way,” Alisha scolded.
“Don’t let an idiot human make idiot mistakes. Besides, we can purify the drake now, so let’s get a move on. The longer we wait, the more malevolence is going to corrupt the seraphim here and kill the remaining people.”
She took a palm-sized piece of the ore from the box. Reluctantly, she bit into it. She hated that it was the only way to develop specific songs, but on the bright side, she wouldn’t be poisoned by it now that she had attained that level of resistance thanks to Diving.
She glowed as she absorbed whatever song held within, and before long, she was ready to go. There was only one thing left to do—they had to figure out how to bring down the drake. Sorey, standing up and coughing again, thought long and hard. The only way he could think to do it was to shoot it down with Mikleo’s bow, but because the Divine Artifact could only be touched by the seraph that owned it, he was sure it would impossible without Mikleo’s cooperation. He didn’t want to force him to work with him if he wasn’t ready. On the other hand, they were running out of time.
“Lucas, can you take this group and your men to peacefully free whatever seraphim you can and evacuate the area? We have a dragon to purify,” Alisha told him.
“It’s a drake, Alisha,” Lailah corrected.
“A-A drake. Nonetheless, we need everyone away from the sanctuary.”
Lucas nodded, rallying the group that gave mercy to the dying seraphim behind him and his men, and headed out into the village. Alisha and Lailah turned to Sorey, who forced himself to walk to Mikleo. The water seraph was almost in a trance as he clung to the Shepherd’s garb, and when he registered that Sorey had come within in inches of him, he tensed again.
“Stay away…” he whimpered.
The brunet let out a sigh, coming even close to him.
“I-I’m warning you,” Mikleo threatened.
As gently as he could, Sorey pulled him into his arms, but Mikleo panicked. He shot a water projectile into him, which knocked the wind out of him and sent him back a small distance. He curled up in the corner of the museum that had become his sanctuary.
Sorey refused to back down. He got up again, this time slowly reaching for him. Mikleo was prepared to fire at him again; however, this time Sorey held his face so he could look him in the eyes. The fear was still there. He anticipated that he would fight back.
“Mikleo, listen to me,” Sorey softly, calmly to him. He touched his forehead to his, making the water seraph flinch. “You’re not going to like this, but I need your help.” Mikleo tried to pull away. “Please, you’re the only one who can do this. I’m not asking you to sing or do anything like that. I need you to help me. Lend me your strength to use the Sacred Bow for one shot, and then I’ll leave you alone again.”
“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” Mikleo whispered. “How do I know you’re not going to hurt me like that old man did?”
Sorey shook his head. “I love you, Mikleo, and I would never intentionally hurt you—not even slightly. Can you trust me?”
Mikleo didn’t answer him, but it was enough that he said something other than to stay away and that he was scared. Sorey took his hand while he kept a tight hold on the cloak for the sense of security. Watching that, the sickly Shepherd was sure that there was still a part of the water seraph he had always loved.
“Great, now that you’ve kissed and made up, let’s go get the drake,” Edna said.
The five of them headed out to the clearing that was just before the Dumnonia Museum where they could clearly see the sky. Soaring high above them, there was the miniscule silhouette of the drake.
“Here’s the plan,” Sorey said. “Mikleo and I will shoot it down, Edna will sing her song to weaken it while Alisha and I fight it, and Lailah will use her Silver Flame to purify it.”
It was a solid plan, but whether or not Mikleo would cooperate had yet to be determined. The house of the village chief was nearby and would be a high enough spot to fire the arrow. While Armatizing would have made things tremendously easier with Mikleo’s aim and Sorey’s strength combined, they hadn’t Dived enough to be able to fuse together. It was actually painful to think about how eager Mikleo had been to Dive with Sorey. He wanted to become stronger for him. Now he only just beginning to trust him again. It would be a long time before he could Dive. It drove Sorey crazy. He hoped that their teamwork would at least help make everything go faster so he could see in his soul again.
Sorey pulled himself up onto the roof of the house before pulling Mikleo up with him. He had the Sacred Bow in hand, and it seemed like he was going to let Sorey do everything until he was pulled close to him. Holding the bow up with their hands together, Mikleo began to panic again.
“Everything will be okay,” Sorey whispered in his ear. He tightened his grip to reassure him.
Mikleo’s hand guarded Sorey’s hand from the burning sensation that the Sacred Bow gave off to ward off humans. Mikleo took aim, and Sorey pulled back on the string. Both of them focused. Mikleo’s power was channeled into the arrow, and Sorey let go once he was sure that it would hit.
Like a shooting star, the arrow sped towards the drake, striking it in the heart. It fell to the ground, and when it was within the radius of Edna’s Song Magic [TITLE REDACTED], she began to sing:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The drake crashed into the ground, howling in pain with the arrow piercing deeper into its chest, and with the Song Magic sapping its strength, it was raring to fight them for its survival. Sorey hopped down from the roof. Alisha stood by his side. She knew that he was in no condition to participate in combat considering he was still reeling from Mikleo’s stunted recovery. She also knew that she couldn’t stop him. Mikleo remained on the roof away from the battle, and Lailah took her position next to Alisha.
“Let’s go!” Alisha cried out, initiating the battle.
Dashing across the open field, she closed the distance between herself and the drake. She slashed and stabbed at its legs, immobilizing it temporarily as Sorey leapt above it. As he fell, he called out, “Shatterfang!” His sword struck the scaly skin between the shafts of the horns, and luckily the drake was stunned for a few seconds. “Lailah, now’s your chance!”
Lailah formed fireballs around her papers, flinging them like bullets at the drake until it reoriented itself. Even with Edna singing as much as she could, the drake was still able to fight back with plenty of power. It roared over her song, causing her to falter and thus allowing it to regain some of its strength.
“Alisha, it’s headed your way!” Lailah warned her human while firing as many fireballs as she could.
The princess knight dodged, but in doing so, Sorey was swatted to the side. Mikleo saw this from where he was. The Shepherd had been wounded by its talons slashing into his side; seeing this, a hurtful pang resonated through Mikleo like his stomach had violently lurched forward. Why was he sickened by seeing this human get hurt?
“Imbuement!” Lailah chanted with the hope that her healing Arte could speed the recovery process up.
While it helped a little, Sorey was still debilitated. Part of him hoped that Mikleo would offer a helping hand, but he knew he couldn’t rely on him right now to help them. If he froze during the fight, he would be killed.
“Don’t worry about me, Lailah, just focus on weakening him!” Sorey commanded.
Edna continued to sing despite her feeling winded by the amount of energy was required to slow the drake down:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Alisha vaulted onto the drake’s neck with her spear. She thought that she could try to pierce its wings or back. Unfortunately, her spear wasn’t strong enough, and the blade shattered when it hit its diamond-hard scales. She didn’t care though; a broken spear was still more useful than no spear at all. She did what anyone would have done next and beat the monster on the head with the shaft.
Sorey winced in pain. It wasn’t just the gash that was impairing him. He had tried to ignore it, but his coughing was getting worse. It hurt to breathe, the air passing in and out of his lungs setting them on fire. The fighting wasn’t making it better. The infected air brought on by the malevolence and the plague around him was worse.
Edna kept singing:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Lailah flicked her flames at the drake as it neared Sorey with saliva dripping from its teeth. It was no doubt hungry, and a tall young man would be a wonderful appetizer before feasting on the rest of the village.
Sorey was trembling, but he forced himself to stand up. “Can…tering Flames…!” he coughed.
He used all his might in the attack. The drake swatted him to the side like a cat playing with a ball, and again Mikleo’s stomach twisted. He watched the drake trap him under its foot, slowly pressing down on his chest. Sorey cried out in agony.
“S-Stop!” Mikleo screamed. He leapt from the roof with his staff in hand and a terrified look in his eyes. “Freeze Lancer!” he frantically said. Floating icicles formed around him.
“Stop hurting him!”
Lailah and Alisha, having not heard his voice in so long, were startled by the sudden conviction to protect Sorey. Edna, still singing, was also surprised.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
As the song ended, Mikleo flung the spears into the drake. It was finally incapacitated, and Sorey was able to crawl from under its foot. Lailah immediately came to his side with Alisha pulling him farther away.
“I shall now purify you; Silver Flame!” Lailah recited. The body of the drake was engulfed in her silvery blue flames. The malevolence that had swallowed the seraph and transformed him into the monster burned away, and in a few seconds, the true form of the seraph was revealed. “We did it!”
The seraph woke up within a few moments, his orange and white clothes torn and bloodied. He was an older seraph with auburn hair. He had bruises on his face and hands. Mikleo watched him, horrified.
“The humans did it to you, too,” he whimpered. It was as if he had reverted to the scared child from before. “They can’t be trusted.”
“Shut it, Meebo,” Edna snapped.
The seraph looked as if he had accepted his fate; he believed that Sorey and Alisha had enslaved their seraphim and were going to enslave him again. But Sorey knelt down to him. His smile was warm and comforting even though everything else about him looked worn out.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he soothingly said to him. “You were the source of the malevolence that brought the plague, but we saved you from it. You’ll be safe.”
A few of the villagers—mostly women and children—inched into the clearing to see what the Shepherd and the Squire had done. Their eyes were clear now, and once they realized how sick the seraphim had been due to overwork and mulling around in infected people, they did everything in their power to stop the greedy merchants and workers from using them. Lucas and the group that had been trying to free them rallied behind them once the village had settled and things were slowly going back to normal in addition to the emancipation. Sorey and Alisha were proud. As an added bonus, they thought they might be able to use the inn so the seraph could recover.
“What is your name?” Lailah asked him.
“M-My name…?” he replied. “It’s been so long since anyone has asked. My name is Rohan.”
“Rohan, please join us at the inn for a rest.”
“Assuming we can get in, but I guess that’s what we have Little Miss Princess here for,” Edna sighed. She twirled her umbrella.
Sorey let out a giggle before turning to Mikleo. He was happy that he came to his rescue yet let down that seeing Rohan like this right after their fight against him had scared him. He wanted to thank him at least. As soon as he opened his mouth, the horrible cough seized his lungs. The bout progressively got worse until he fell to his knees. His chest ached, his head pounded, his throat burned, and when he looked at one of his palms, larges splotches of blood stained his gloves bright red.
A feeling of panic welled inside. He couldn’t stop coughing. Was this because of Mikleo or was it because of the remnants of the plague? His vision and hearing were tunneling.
“We need to get him to the inn!” Alisha said. She and Lailah hefted Sorey onto their shoulders while Edna and Rohan followed behind.
Mikleo remained in the clearing by Marlind’s Great Tree. He looked up at its ancient branches. He heard Alisha begging for help as they encountered the villagers. He had seen with his own eyes that Sorey and his friends saved Rohan. He, himself, had jumped in to protect him. He was still afraid of him, of humans. He, however, wanted to see if he genuinely cared about Rohan. It wouldn’t change his mind yet because it might have been a ploy.
***
Alisha rented a room for both Sorey and Rohan. Sorey’s coughing had quieted for the moment; he was wheezing despite purporting that he was perfectly okay. Rohan, just like Lailah and Edna, told him that he needed to rest.
“You’ve done enough!” Alisha chastised. “You’ve been expending energy to heal Mikleo, but then you also took on a mutant hellion in the museum then you Dove into Edna, then you used your energy again to fire the arrow at Rohan, then you fought Rohan and got hurt—Sorey, you need to give yourself a break!”
“But the plague and malevolence should be gone now,” Sorey rasped. “We need to free the seraphim here, and I have to Dive into Mikleo to fix him so he’s not scared of us.”
“And if you do that while you’re in this condition, you’re going to die, and who’s going to be the Savior of the Seraphim if you kick the bucket?” Edna scolded.
Sorey looked away from her because she had a point. Still, he couldn’t rest until he had down everything he could to make things happy for everyone. After freeing the seraphim and healing Mikleo from the inside out, he had to find a way to ensure that the greedy didn’t trap seraphim again, and then there was protecting the seraphim that decided to leave Marlind. But if he tried to do anything now, he was confident that one of them would knock him out.
“Delivery!” a familiar voice came from behind the door. Rohan was ready to jump out the window, but Lailah and Alisha assured him that everything was okay. The door opened, and Rose waltzed in with a package. “Wow, two more seraphim? Jeez, Sorey, if you weren’t the Shepherd, I’d have thought you were a slave driver, too! Oh man, what happened to you?” Rose said.
After a lengthy explanation, Rose was heartbroken. The whole ordeal made her worry about Dezel’s safety in the Hyland region—not that he would have been useful to the Church. She opened the package, which was one of hundreds for the sick, and pulled out a small vial of medicine. If what had happened to Mikleo was the cause of it, she knew that the sickness rendering Sorey unfit for travel wouldn’t go away. She hoped that it would alleviate some of the symptoms.
“I just think that I should Dive into Mikleo and get to the root of the problem,” Sorey battled after another coughing fit. “I think I’m getting through to him…”
Rose touched his hand after giving him the medicine. She had been out of the loop, but she knew that Sorey cared deeply for him. “Do you want me to go find him? Maybe he’ll feel safer now that he can see you can’t go after him like he thinks you will.”
“Rose, that might make things worse,” Lailah reminded. “It’s best to just leave it for now. When Mikleo feels comfortable, he’ll come with us.”
“He’s too scared to go on his own, much less to hang outside in the open,” Edna added.
Rohan, hearing all that had happened, stood up. He declared that he would bring Mikleo back—if Sorey was willing to risk his life for him and to save a town of trapped seraphim, there wasn’t anything to be afraid of. It had been far too long since they had a Shepherd, and they couldn’t lose the one they had now. He left the inn in search of Mikleo.
***
Rohan found Mikleo still standing by the Great Tree clutching the Shepherd’s cloak in his trembling hands. His violet eyes were red like he had been trying to suppress whatever tears managed to leak out.
“Young Water Seraph,” he called to him. When he approached him, Mikleo took a few steps back. “Please listen to what I have to say.”
“Is it to go back that human? The one who’s trying to save everyone?” Mikleo questioned. Hugging the cloak, he looked up at the older earth seraph. “I’m going, but…there’s something telling me to stay away from him. Humans can’t be trusted.”
“But you can trust this one. I heard it with my own ears how much he loves you and has put on the line. I understand that you’re scared; I was scared, too. I became a drake! But this young man is doing whatever he can to keep you from turning into a dragon, and now he’s dying.”
Mikleo’s eyes widened. How could Sorey be dying? Was it because of the torture? The malevolence? Both? He never intended him to die. His brain urged him to keep his distance, but in the deepest recesses of his heart, he had to be at his side. Without another word, he ran to the inn. He understood now—he didn’t care about Sorey, he cared about staying alive. If his vessel died, then he would die, too.
At the inn, the medicine was having no effect. Sorey coughed up blood, and he was hot with fever. Every breath wracked his body with pain. Rose and Alisha tried to find a medic in the village while Lailah and Edna used their Artes to heal him, but they didn’t have the healing power that water seraphim had.
“I didn’t think it would be this bad,” Lailah guiltily whispered.
“Lailah, it’s not your fault,” Edna told her. “If Meebo would let Sorey close to him to heal him, then…”
Mikleo hastily entered the room with a few other villagers and Rohan behind him. They had followed him after he entered the inn and walked up to the room housing his friends. They thought he was an intruder, but now in their savior’s presence, they could only watch what was to happen in that room.
“M-Mikleo! You came back!” Lailah said with surprise.
“About time,” Edna grumbled.
“Rohan said he’s dying,” Mikleo quietly told him. “If he dies, then I die.”
“I’m starting to think this was a bad idea. He was wanting to die before, what if he’s here to kill him off?”
“Don’t be silly, Edna!” Lailah tearfully said.
Mikleo touched his forehead where Sorey had placed his before the fight against Rohan. The spot was just above where his circlet was. He bent down to Sorey’s ailing body, listening to his heart beat slowly in his chest and the wheezing echoing in his lungs. Dried blood stained the corners of his mouth.
“O Holy Fountain…” Mikleo started his incantation. “Heal our wounds.”
His porcelain hand glided over Sorey’s head and chest as a light shined, lifting the sickness from him. It wouldn’t completely fix him, but the malevolence that he had steeped in had made it tremendously worse. With the healing, Mikleo made it bearable.
Sorey opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Mikleo. He wasn’t scared but there was still hesitation. Lailah and Edna took a step forward as he wiped the bloodstains from his mouth. He carefully sat up so he didn’t scare him off, but even if he had been abrupt, the water seraph wasn’t moving.
“Mikleo,” he said. Carefully, he took Mikleo’s face into his hands, bring it closer to his face and kissing it lovingly. “Thank you.”
“Finally,” Edna sighed. She hid behind her umbrella, and a satisfied or relieved smile curled on her lips.
Mikleo swallowed. Now he was having difficulty speaking. “S-Sorey…I grant you permission to Dive into me,” he said. His voice quivered since he didn’t know what demons lie in his heart. He wanted to believe in him, and it would only happen once he was purged of whatever fear was holding him back.
“Ah, Rohan! Go get Alisha and Rose! Take everyone else with you!” Lailah quickly ordered. “Sorey and Mikleo are finally going to Dive again!”
Notes:
It felt really good writing Edna's song and then having Mikleo come in and save Sorey even though he's still afraid of him. What? It's just a thing I like in stories! Either the weaker of two getting hurt in front of the stronger or the weaker of the two trying to protect the stronger from things like drakes and death and stuff.
Chapter 22: Phase 1: Forgiveness
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 3: Mikleo
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
Not touching this for about three weeks revitalized my love for this chapter. It seems like an abridged version, but nonetheless I thought it was emotional...but that's also probably because it was late and I was tired. Heh.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rohan did as he was told, forcing the villagers that had followed him and Mikleo to the inn out and bringing Alisha and Rose back inside. It struck Alisha that Rose had never seen an actual Dive, and while the merchant wanted to Dive into Dezel, she wasn’t sure if she could handle even just watching what happened.
“I mean, technically, you don’t see what happens, but there’s a lot of…stuff…that goes into the Dive, and Dezel is a prickly seraph,” Alisha told her. “I highly doubt he would let you do it. And if he did, you’d probably be in more danger than either me or Sorey.”
“Nonsense! That big prickleboar just has never heard of what it’s like, and I get to see it firsthand!” Rose happily said. “Now, Sorey, Mikleo, sally forth into the realm of desires and dreams!”
“That’s not even what the soul space consists of,” Edna corrected.
“Everyone, calm down! This is the first time that Sorey is going inside of Mikleo’s soul space since…” Lailah’s voice trailed off.
Sorey and Mikleo stood in front of each other. The former took a deep breath as he prepared for what might try to kill him inside of Mikleo. He knew the water seraph was still reluctant to having him walk around in his soul. He couldn’t blame him. He had been through so much but he was happy that they could finally make progress. He wished he had been able to take a bath first, but since they were going to be on different existential plane, perhaps cleanliness was not necessary.
“Are you ready?” Sorey asked him. Mikleo nodded. “Luzrov Rulay!”
The Armatization and holding the Sacred Bow felt odd, but Sorey attributed it to Mikleo still being apprehensive. He sat on the floor with the bow in front of him then closed his eyes.
“That’s it?” Rose complained. “Man, I was hoping for some cool light show! Gotta admit, though, that outfit is nice.”
“I can see why your seraph won’t let you walk into their soul,” Edna insulted. “Diving is a dangerous process between the human and the seraph. Sorey’s done it enough now to be careful in Mikleo’s soul, but I have to wonder what would happen if you were to Dive into someone’s soul. Wait, no, it would be a nightmare for the poor seraph.”
“Hey, you don’t have to be mean…”
Alisha and Lailah giggled. “In due time, Dezel will let you in—maybe,” Lailah assured.
Rose smiled at her, yet she wondered if the blind wind seraph would be willing to at least try it. He had already explicitly said he had no interest in it nor would he let Rose set one foot into him. She wasn’t even sure if telling him about the process would have an effect on him.
Within the shared soul space, Sorey was alone. It wasn’t as dark as it had been when he had been infected with a Virus, yet it felt like sub-zero weather. Why was it so cold?
“Mikleo, where are you?” he called.
Mikleo approached from behind, but he was less than happy to see him. He didn’t say anything to him. If he had to guess, Sorey figured that he still felt disconnected from him and that’s why his soul was uninviting. He dreaded seeing Gaine, but there was no other way around it. He braced himself.
----------------------------------------------------------------
When Sorey opened his eyes, he found that the soul space looked relatively normal. The setting this time, albeit having the Stonehenge, was Marlind. The village was covered in foliage, and at first, he thought that maybe Mikleo was back to normal but he was having a hard time showing.
“Jeez-Louise!” Gaine scoffed. “How could he love a simpleton like you? Do you really think he’s back to normal?” He stood atop a moss-covered rock.
“Of course,” Sorey murmured. He turned to the Normin trying his best not to show how dissatisfied he was finding him there with him. Mikleo needed his mind guardian, but he would have much preferred if Acqua had that role. Gaine was…abusive. “Hi, Gaine.”
“Don’t give me that! Look, pal, if you’re going to be this guy’s crutch, then support him! It’ll make my job easier!”
Wherever this rage was coming from, it made Sorey feel worse than he let on. He couldn’t waste time focusing on the bratty Normin. He asked it where he could find Mikleo, and as usual, Gaine was blasé and gave a vague answer.
Sorey walked to the center of Marlind. Following his gut, he then went to the sanctuary. The apparitions of the other seraphim that had only recently been freed drifted around the village, faceless and transparent. At first, he wondered if Mikleo thought that their freedom meant they were devoid of their identities.
“Mikleo, you’re making it creepier than it has to be here…” Sorey mumbled. “No, I have to be strong. Besides, Mikleo couldn’t be scary even if he tried!”
Entering the sanctuary, he found a familiar blonde head with a peace lily in the side ponytail. Alisha was sitting in one of the pews closest to the front apparently praying to the altar before her. It was strange since Sorey and Mikleo never pegged her as the religious type, but considering that she was in a relationship with Lailah, it didn’t seem too out of the ordinary.
“Alisha?” Sorey said as he walked to the front to meet her.
“Who are you? How do you know my name?” Alisha hacked. Her skin was pale, her jade eyes dull with exhaustion.
“Uh, that’s not important. Is everything okay?”
“I was tending to the sick and elderly, but I believe I might have caught the plague as well. I was told that the seraphim would heal me if I prayed. It seems far-fetched, but I read in an old book that seraphim answered prayers.”
Sorey remembered reading about that once as well. He used to tell Mikleo—fervently at that—that he would pray to him every day if it meant forever being allowed to listen to him sing. What if the Mikleo of that world had that ability? He had to find him, and he had to make him sing for Alisha.
The hopeful Shepherd checked every building in the village, but Mikleo was nowhere to be found. He had thought that he would be at the inn only to be disappointed that it was empty. The only place he didn’t check was the Dunmonia Museum. He entered the museum, where he heard a quiet humming.
“Mikleo, are you in here?” Sorey asked.
The humming stopped abruptly, and a white-to-blue head peeked out from behind the front desk. He stood up to reveal a pale blue kimono with magic circle prints on the bottom. A dull purple scarf wrapped around his neck, and a teal cardigan draped around his shoulders. Next to him was a blue Normin named Wresst.
“Sorey?” Mikleo whispered.
“Do you know him?” Wresst asked with a female voice.
Mikleo vaulted over the front desk with his staff in his hand. He threw his arms around his neck in a hug that filled both of them with comforting warmth. Wresst joined them. Sorey looked at Mikleo’s face and noticed that he had started tearing up.
“I know him,” the water seraph told Wresst. “He’s the only human that protects me.”
Sorey was flattered, but it wasn’t true. As much as he wanted to talk with him and ask him how he felt now that his soul space was almost regenerated, they didn’t have that time. He knelt down with Mikleo—calmness was key with him. He explained that Alisha was sick and that he needed his power to heal her.
“I…I don’t know if I can do that,” Mikleo immediately replied. “She’s a human. She’s someone that wants to hurt seraphim. She’s not like you.”
Sorey thought of what he could say to change Mikleo’s mind. Simply stating that Alisha was a friend wouldn’t do any good. He asked him about his clothes. According to the world of the third level, Mikleo’s clothes were symbolic of his status in the village, which apparently had been run by seraphim instead of humans deciding to let them go free. It didn’t explain why Alisha was there. Regardless, Mikleo was a healer in the village charged with the task of ridding anyone of the plague.
Without anything else to do, Sorey left Mikleo at the museum. He sought out Gaine with the hope that it could answer a few questions. He was prepared not to get the straight answers he wanted that would save him time and energy, but anything helped.
“I guess I can help you out,” Gaine said in front of the Great Tree. “So Mikleo’s a healer in this world? What do you think that means?”
“It’s his desire to protect, but I don’t get why he doesn’t want to help Alisha,” Sorey replied.
“Obviously this place is still scarred from what happened in Ladylake, and the fear of humans has permeated this far. Even I’m a little concerned because if this doesn’t get fixed, he won’t be able to develop his singing.”
Sorey sighed. He had to convince him that Alisha meant no harm, but going about it was the difficult part. He left Gaine to investigate the town again. He headed to the inn, where he found Edna and Lailah talking briefly about Alisha. He thought that they could be of some help, but when he realized they were expressing how nervous they were about having her in the village with the other seraphim, it was pointless. Other seraphim had the same sentiments—Alisha was too dangerous and should be left for dead, Alisha was a trickster and should be kicked out of the village, Alisha was this, Alisha was that. Being the only other human, it was up to Sorey to prove that she was safe.
Sorey returned to the sanctuary where Alisha was still praying with all her heart for healing. “Alisha,” he said. “Would you mind it if I brought a seraph here to heal you?”
“Not at all,” Alisha coughed. “I was beginning to think that it was silly to think that my prayers would be answered. If you know a seraph that’s willing to heal me, then please bring them.”
The plan seemed like it would work, so he dashed to the museum. If he was with Mikleo, then he would feel better. That is, until he saw who was in the museum with him.
“Mikleo?” Sorey uttered. “Why is that one here?”
The tainted version of Mikleo was whispering into his ear, “Humans only want to hurt seraphim. You have unimaginable power. You could kill Alisha. She’s sick, too, so you would be doing everyone a favor. Eradicate the pestilence and anyone who carries it.”
“But my job is to heal people,” Mikleo whimpered.
“Make it look like an accident then if you’re worried that someone’s going to freak out.” He twirled Mikleo’s hair in his slender fingers.
Sorey tried to slash what he thought was a remnant of the Virus from before, but he noticed that there was no malevolence coming from it. It wasn’t the Virus but the representation of Mikleo’s fear and hatred. He couldn’t strike him down without wounding him again.
“Whoever you are, leave Mikleo alone,” he instead demanded.
Wresst ran over to Sorey’s feet, a worried expression on its face. “Sorey, you’ve got to do something! That evil Mikleo is telling him to kill Alisha! I don’t want blood on his hands!”
Before he could stop Mikleo and his wicked counterpart, the two were had left for the sanctuary. The frightened Shepherd scooped the Normin into his hands, carrying it as he frantically ran to stop his beloved seraph from making a huge mistake.
“Alisha,” Mikleo said. The princess knight turned around. She looked relieved that a seraph had finally come. “I have been told that you are deathly ill. Please, allow me to heal you.”
The foolish princess knight agreed as she stood before him. She closed her eyes, and she couldn’t see that her savior was preparing to pierce her heart with ice. The tainted Mikleo urged him to thrust the icy spear into her chest, and the healer Mikleo reluctantly raised it into the air.
“Mikleo, no, don’t do it!” Sorey cried out. He pushed the tainted Mikleo aside then hugged his dear seraph from behind after falling to his knees from the sprint there. His ear on his back, he could hear Mikleo’s trembling breaths reverberating throughout his chest. “You can’t kill her! Alisha is harmless! Humans are harmless! Only a handful want to hurt seraphim, but there are so many that want to help you!”
“But humans want to hurt us, Sorey! Why can’t you see that? You’re the only one who wants to protect us, but how can you be so sure that Alisha isn’t one of them?” Mikleo sobbed.
“Stop interfering, human!” the tainted Mikleo growled. He summoned his staff from the dark energy amassing in his hands.
“Master Mikleo, trust in Sorey, not the darkness that had taken root in your heart!” Wresst begged.
Alisha stepped back after opening her eyes to see that Mikleo had planned to murder her. She felt backwards and subsequently curled up in fear. The seraphim were supposed to be kind, so why did one want to kill her?
Mikleo broke free from Sorey’s embrace. As he escaped the confusion within the sanctuary, tears fell from his cheeks. Wresst went after him, and the tainted Mikleo followed. There was no time to calm Alisha. Sorey had to get to Mikleo before the tainted one did.
All of them ended up at the Stonehenge, where Mikleo and Wresst were cornered by the tainted Mikleo who was telling them to kill Alisha then to kill Sorey. “All humans are evil; there is no good one among them!” he declared.
“But I didn’t sense malevolence coming from Alisha,” Mikleo sniffled. “Her heart was pure just like Sorey’s. Sorey is the purest human. I love him, so why must I kill him?”
The tainted Mikleo accosted them with his staff in hand, but Sorey slid between him and the other with his sword guarding against it. The tainted Mikleo was powerful, but Mikleo was stronger. All he had to do was state it.
“Mikleo, do you believe that all humans are evil?” Sorey questioned as he pushed back against the tainted one. “If you don’t believe what this guy is saying, then place your trust in me! Place all the love you have in your heart into my sword!”
Mikleo stared up at Sorey. He wiped his tears away and professed, “I believe in you, Sorey!”
Sorey deflected the tainted Mikleo’s attack, and Mikleo continued to tell him that he loved him and he loved all humans. The fear that had given birth to the tainted Mikleo was slowly diminishing with Mikleo taking the lead until a bright light shined in his chest. It caused him immense pain, and Wresst tried to lessen it while Sorey held him safely in his arms. The light ejected from him. Blinding everyone in the vicinity, the form that materialized from it took a stand against the tainted Mikleo. It was another Mikleo dressed as he normally did with his turquoise and gold clothes.
“Another Mikleo?” Sorey whispered. The healer Mikleo collapsed; he was exhausted but unharmed. The energy that had been in the light seemed to have drained him, but he was still conscious. “Who are you?”
“God, the goody-two-shoes just had to show up,” the tainted Mikleo scoffed. He put away his staff.
“Hello, other me,” the shining Mikleo greeted. A pair of angel wings formed behind him which shielded the Shepherd and his seraph from the darkness in front of them. “You’ve tried exceptionally hard to keep me confined within him, and I must commend you for that; however, the hate and fear you spew is not welcome here. If you wish to remain part of this soul, then I suggest you hide yourself in the deepest hole you can find in his subconscious.”
The tainted Mikleo clenched his teeth. He knew he was largely outnumbered. There was no other option than to listen to this angelic Mikleo, but he promised that he would be back. It was a lie that humans weren’t evil, and he was going to prove it.
“Just you wait, Shepherd,” the tainted Mikleo threatened. “Once you Dive deeper, you’ll know just how this pathetic excuse of a seraph feels about you and your kind.” He faded away into the nothingness that led to a deeper level in the soul space.
Sorey looked down at the exhausted Mikleo leaning against him then up at the angelic Mikleo that had protected them from the darkness in his heart. He couldn’t begin to think of a sign of gratitude, but the angelic Mikleo didn’t want one. His face was stoic, but there was a kindness that Sorey was familiar with emanating from his presence.
“Mikleo, what is your answer? Do you believe that all humans are evil?” the angelic Mikleo asked him.
“No, Sorey is kind and pure, and so is Alisha—she didn’t have any malevolence in her heart.”
“What about all humans?”
“Most humans don’t mean to do harm, but…” Mikleo thought about why there was fear and hatred. “But humans are capable of evil things like greed and anger. In reality, seraphim can experience such things, but that doesn’t mean we can’t repent. Humans are just as capable of doing good and helping us as we are capable of doing bad and harming them.” He turned to Sorey. “I’m sorry the real me has been so scared of you. Bartlow did horrible things to us, and the memories and the pain are both very real. This is not an excuse to hurt you or lock you out of my heart, Sorey. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to you—even sapping you of your strength when you needed it most.”
Sorey blushed. He had never heard Mikleo sound so earnest, but he appreciated it. He ruffled his hair then kissed his head. “There’s nothing to apologize for! I’m just glad you’re back to normal. Now, let’s go and heal Alisha.”
Mikleo and Wresst walked back to the sanctuary while the angelic Mikleo stayed behind. He grabbed Sorey’s wrist at the last minute. “Gentle Shepherd, please hear my plea,” he softly said. Sorey looked at him. Even though this Mikleo was a carbon copy of the real one, there was an ethereal aura about him. Perhaps it was the shining wings or the strange gentleness in his amethyst eyes. He looked like a delicate snow flower. “Mikleo will get stronger as long as you’re with him, but he’s vulnerable to the malevolence. Water is easily corruptible—don’t forget this. What happened to spawn that tainted Mikleo can happen again. It may not be by Bartlow’s hands, but if he’s exposed to someone with more malevolence than him, you must promise me that you will do everything in your power to keep him safe.”
Sorey placed his hands on his shoulder. A heroic look painted his face as he told him, “Mikleo is the embodiment of my dream, and I intend to do everything I can to protect him.”
Back at the sanctuary, Alisha cautiously approached Mikleo. Sorey entered just in time to watch the healing. Wresst glowed as Mikleo chanted a spell in Hymmnos:
Was yea ra aterra enne yor afezeria pitod heetha
Almost immediately, Alisha felt better than ever, and the plague that had wracked her body with pain disappeared. The Stonehenge glowed as Alisha thanked him with tears, and before long he was comfortable with humans again. Alisha couldn’t help but offer a hug and an innocent kiss on his cheek before running off into the village.
Sorey and Mikleo walked hand in hand together to the Stonehenge with Wresst riding on Mikleo’s shoulder. The Normin that had accompanied him for the level was exceptionally relieved that the problem had been taken care of; it meant that it could fulfill its purpose and offer what was needed for stronger Song Magic.
“Gotta hand it to you, Shepherd,” Gaine nonchalantly said. It was lying on one of the stones. “You managed to fix your giant mess. Maybe you do have what it takes to help this boy.”
Mikleo didn’t want to let go of his hand, but if he wanted to move onto the next level, he had to.
“Sorey, thank you for helping me overcome this fear,” Mikleo told him. “You don’t understand how much this means to me.”
Sorey grinned at him, saying, “I’m happy to help you anytime. Whenever you’re in trouble—within your soul or out in the real world—I will protect you.”
Mikleo and Wresst walked into the light which transported Sorey out of Mikleo’s soul. With the Normin sublimating into his soul, he was able to use aquamarine ore to learn specific Song Magic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sorey and Mikleo woke up, and the latter hugged Sorey so tightly that he almost knocked him out by smothering him. He didn’t say anything because he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his body, and he was sure that Sorey already knew it.
Alisha and Lailah held each other’s hands, and Edna gave a small smile that she hid when she turned around under her umbrella. Rose was mystified. She was told during the Dive that she couldn’t ask what had happened, but seeing the love exuding from Sorey and Mikleo made her wonder if she was legitimately capable of getting through to Dezel. She glanced at Lailah and Alisha, who seemed like longtime partners as well. Dezel never let her get that close. Would it be possible to help him grow?
“Uh, hey, Sorey?” Rose suddenly said. “I have something for you. I don’t know if you can use it, but we picked up some aquamarine on the market.”
Edna closed her umbrella with a sigh. “Deus-Ex-Ore,” she mumbled. “I filled her in about ores, and it turns out that the Sparrowfeathers get them in the trade. If things are peachy with Mikleo, you should give him a piece.”
“But why?” Mikleo asked.
“Consider it a get-well gift,” Rose said. “Aquamarine is toxic in its raw form, so it’s not like we can really use it, and since water seraphim can consume it to learn Song Magic, I thought why not?”
She left for a few minutes then returned with a small pouch filled with the ore. She gave a formal thank-you for allowing her to witness the Dive, and after she left to continue with her caravan trade, Edna couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong with her.
“She must be doubting herself and Dezel,” Lailah said.
“I don’t blame her,” Alisha added. “Every time they visit to get treatment while in the Hyland region, he pushes her away. I hope she doesn’t get discouraged.”
Sorey and Mikleo glanced at each other. With what little they knew about Dezel, they weren’t surprised either that he hadn’t let her Dive. Perhaps they didn’t have a Divine Artifact. But Dezel’s attitude towards Diving proved to be a problem, too. They could only hope that he trusted her enough at some point to let her in.
Notes:
Fun fact, I actually Googled toxic ores to write this, and I'm still surprised that raw aquamarine is included on that list. I forget the exact chemical composition, but yeah. That pretty light blue stone comes from something that could kill you. Just like how that sweetie Mikleo is also named the Enforcer...which can be interpreted in many ways now that I think about it.
Chapter 23: Phase 1: Maltran, the Blue Valkyrie
Summary:
Maltran advances towards Glaivend Basin as Hyland declares war on Rolance.
Notes:
Metrocon is done, and I got to meet Robbie Daymond, Ray Chase, and Max Mittelman! Inside jokes ensued, but most importantly is new found motivation to write!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Eguille glanced at his boss, who was deep in thought. Lailah and Alisha had Dived, and she saw what it was like thanks to Sorey and Mikleo. She was the only one who hadn’t made any progress with her seraph. After a while of heading through Glaivend Basin towards the Rolance territory and Frelia’s coverage, Rose asked that they stop for a moment so she could sit in the cargo with Dezel.
Once the caravan was moving again, she searched for the courage to talk to him. Dezel was a cactus of a seraph. He was more aloof than even the most hardened seraphim enslaved by humans. She had learned how to deal with him over the years of living with him, but he always kept his distance from her. Today was different, she decided. She wanted his permission to Dive into him.
“You’ve been sitting there in silence for a while,” Dezel said. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re awfully forthcoming today,” Rose replied.
“And you’ve got something on your chest. Spit it out.”
“S-Since when did you care?”
“Because you’ve been quiet for a long time. Marlind—I sensed Lailah and that water seraph along with their humans as well as an earth seraph. What were they doing?”
Rose swallowed. “Diving,” she answered. “Mikleo had been captured and tortured, and when they rescued him, he wouldn’t even let Sorey near him. They said that Diving would help, and it did.”
Dezel knew where the conversation was going. He was ready to decline her offer to Dive with him again, but considering how serious she had become about it, he wanted her to speak her mind first then decline. It would help discourage her if she could express herself before being meant with resistance.
“Dezel, if we Dived together, then maybe you could withstand the malevolence. You could learn more powerful songs! And we could learn to really trust each other. If you have things deep inside that you don’t want me to see, then I can ignore them. I just want to help you get stronger, and who knows? Maybe we can save the other seraphim like Sorey and Alisha.”
“No,” Dezel curtly said.
“Dezel, please!”
The blind wind seraph grabbed her by her arms. In a sudden show of emotion, he denied her access to his soul. It was too dangerous to Dive into his soul because he was unsure of what demons lie inside. He insisted that it was out of best interest to stay out. It was for Rose’s sake.
***
Alisha, Lailah, and Edna decided that Sorey and Mikleo needed their space to get reacquainted with each other. The water seraph’s torture and subsequent reluctance to work with Sorey had proved to be a scarring arc in their lives, so naturally they wanted to talk things over—especially since Sorey had seen the reality of those emotions within Mikleo’s soul space. If those sentiments were still inside of him, it would put a damper on team morale at least. Of course, Sorey didn’t blame him for those feelings considering that a human had done horrible things to him; while he was seemingly freed from such thoughts, however, he was afraid that he would relapse.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sorey asked, searching his eyes for proof that he was back to normal. He gingerly held his fists that lie rigidly on the bed.
Mikleo leaned into his chest, his forehead pressing lightly over his heart. It was a small comfort that had been so delayed that he didn’t want to leave him. The water seraph, peaceful with himself now, stared up into Sorey’s ever-shining emerald eyes.
“I’m fine,” he told him. “But…I’m sorry for the mistreatment I’ve given you. I’m so sorry that I kept breaking your heart.” He held his face tenderly before kissing him. Sorey just held him close, tears coming to his eyes now that his dearest seraph was back.
Meanwhile, Edna had to suffer the conversation between Alisha and Lailah. The two girls were still excited that they had Dived for the first time in a long time, and while it was a momentous occasion, the earth seraph found it to be rather annoying. Naturally, they couldn’t discuss what had happened during the Dive with Edna behind them, so they switched over to the boys, and it was a conversation that she was interested in despite not wanting to hear about their relationship in general.
“Do you really think the Dive will help Mikleo?” Alisha asked. “I know Dives are supposed to be the best way to fix something deep inside the hearts of seraphim, but when you factor in what he’s been through and then having to deal with the situation in Marlind, this all should have led to a collapse.”
Lailah stopped walking. She couldn’t deny that Alisha was right, but it was noticed by even Bartlow that Mikleo was resilient to collapse and malevolence to some degree. She wondered if the love he held for Sorey was so powerful that it was the last lifeline that was chaining down his psyche. Then there was the question of Sorey’s condition. How could a human survive through torture, the consequences of housing two seraphim, and the damaged psyche of one of those seraphim? He was going blind, and that was a normal side effect of the pacts forged between him and Mikleo and Edna. Was it his determination that made him persevere?
“Don’t forget that he started experiencing the plague symptoms,” Edna added.
The plague symptoms were brought on by the malevolence in the village, which he was more vulnerable to because he was already so weakened. It still didn’t explain why he survived, and sheer determination to fix Mikleo couldn’t have been the only thing. Perhaps it was something they would never understand until they learned more about the relationship between humans and seraphim and the effects of the environment on them.
Alisha looked towards the village gates where a horse carrying a half-dead lower-ranked knight was limping. She ran to the knight’s side, asking Lailah to heal him. When the knight had regained his some of his strength, he told her:
“I’ve been ordered to evacuate the village. War had been declared, and Chancellor Bartlow is intending to use special weapons that could wipe out anyone and anything in the surrounding area. Lady Maltran is already on her way with the first squadrons.”
“War? Why is he declaring war? Does he intend to use the Seraphoids?” Alisha asked herself. She looked into the knight’s eyes. “Please, could you delay the advancements? We must secure a safe haven for the villagers and seraphim here.”
“Lady Alisha—”
“We just need a little more time!”
Lailah finished healing the knight’s injuries before he was sent to make some sort of diversion. The knight made his way to the Bors Ruins just outside of Marlind to hold Maltran’s battalion. Lady Maltran was Alisha’s mentor and right-hand woman. Lailah wasn’t particularly fond of her simply because she obeyed Chancellor Bartlow’s orders most of the time. She was grateful that she protected and taught her what it meant to fight, but she couldn’t ignore the subtle envy that she held for her. She scared her.
“We must alert the people here,” Alisha said dutifully. She led Lailah and Edna back to the inn to prepare Sorey and Mikleo for the upcoming battle between Hyland and Rolance.
Sorey and Mikleo were still holding each other as if they had fallen asleep in each other’s arms when Alisha intruded on them. After explaining what she had heard from the knight, she urged them to steel themselves. Next, she asked that Lucas and his men guide the people and seraphim to somewhere safe. She emphasized that they had to keep an eye on the humans that had been abusing the seraphim; with chaos on the verge of ensuing, she knew that there would be people waiting to take advantage of the moment to take out their anger and fears on the seraphim. Once they had gotten away to safety, Alisha rallied her friends out of Marlind and to the Bors Ruins. While Sorey and Mikleo would have been excited to learn about them, the urgency in Alisha and Lailah’s movements worried them. War was a terrible thing, and if Bartlow was ready to advance using the Seraphoids he had created from Zenrus and other seraphim, they knew that they had to do something to stop it.
The knight had only lured Maltran’s forces in just enough for the trees and rocks to barely obscure them from inside. Unlike the Mabinogio Ruins that Sorey and Mikleo had spent their childhood exploring and the Vivian Subterranean Aqueduct where they had hidden from Bartlow, these ruins were out in the open and exposed to all the elements. It was useful for containing the men and their horses but easy for them to trickle out and head towards the battlefield.
“What is the meaning of this?” Maltran sharply asked the knight. “We have orders to meet Rolance at Glaivend Basin. We do not have time to waste here.”
“Lady Alisha ordered that we regroup in these ruins,” the knight nervously said. He was aware of Maltran’s power. He was only a lowly knight; she would kill him in the blink of an eye. “W-We aren’t quite sure what Rolance is capable of.”
Maltran’s expression softened slightly. It was her duty to protect her. Deep inside, however, she wanted to see just how powerful the Seraphoids were. Not too long after, Alisha arrived with her entourage. The Blue Valkyrie, as she was titled, glared at Sorey and Mikleo.
“Lady Alisha, we were just talking about you,” Maltran told her. “Have you come to participate in the war? Shall you aid us in bringing victory to Hyland?”
Alisha shook her head, and Lailah took a step closer to her. The princess knight always knew when Lailah felt uncomfortable around Maltran, and she had vowed to protect her from her even if she didn’t know why. Edna and Mikleo flanked Sorey, whom awaited Alisha’s orders. Even if he was the Shepherd, it was not his duty to get caught in the political affairs of warring states.
“Why has Bartlow declared war on Rolance? Is he planning on using the Seraphoids?” Alisha inquired. She knew that was the reason. She needed the truth from Maltran’s mouth so she could testify against her in court if she had to. “What reason is there to go to war, and why now when seraphim and humans are suffering?”
Maltran stood silent then knelt before her. “Rolance is developing their own fighting machines. Using the Seraphoids; we can cut off their supplies, decimate their weapons, and display the strength of the Hyland Kingdom. We will not lose to Rolance.” Maltran ordered her forces to leave the ruins. As she passed Alisha, she warned her quietly:
“I will not hesitate to kill you if you are in my way.”
Alisha’s heart was shaken by the threat. Maltran, the woman she admired and learned the way of the spear from, was prepared to splatter her blood on the dirt she stood upon. She wanted to believe that she was only following orders. Bartlow had more power than Alisha; the princess title was just that.
Lailah held Alisha’s hand to try and calm her, and Sorey stepped closer to Mikleo in case he had a breakdown from the hostility. Edna was the only one not particularly worried. She looked at the pouch hanging from Sorey’s belt. She told him to give a piece to Mikleo to eat.
“But Rose said this was toxic!” Sorey rebutted. “Mikleo just got better. I can’t let him poison himself!”
“No, you idiot,” Edna snapped while hitting him on the head. “When you Dived, there should have been a change in Meebo that allowed him to safely ingest ores. I know this because, in case you missed it, I ate orpiment to learn a new Song Magic as a result of that same change in myself. Depending on his emotions now, eating a piece of the aquamarine should initiate creation of a Song Magic that can be of use to us if we want to stop that woman from killing an entire army.”
Sorey was prepared to fight for Mikleo, but the water seraph—still subdued and guilty for all the trouble he caused his partner—assured him that everything would be okay. He took the pouch of ore, pulled out a small piece, and crunched down into it. It was gritty and hurt to bite, and he couldn’t say he enjoyed it, but almost immediately he felt a surge a power. A library of Song Magic had opened up to him, and one specific spell became increasingly prevalent in his mind. He wasn’t going to waste his energy by singing it now.
He simply looked at Sorey, his eyes shining with the promise to protect him and his friends.
Mikleo was different now. He was more proactive. While Sorey hated seeing him shrink away from him and listening to him whimper and cry, he began to see that perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. His dearest seraph was becoming stronger.
“We should get going,” Mikleo suggested. “The sooner we can stop that war from happening, the better.”
“I agree,” Lailah added. “A battlefield is a place where the most malevolence is generated. If the Seraphoids are exposed to that, there’s no telling what sort of calamity will happen or how many lives will be lost.”
“We’d better be prepared to sing our pretty little hearts out then,” Edna smirked. “After all, that fat man and whoever is running the Rolance side of things won’t listen to reason. Bartlow was willing to kill the Shepherd for the sake of this false power. Rolance won’t be any different.”
Sorey and Alisha considered what their friends were saying. It was a life or death situation. There was no room for mistakes. As they hastily made their way to Glaivend Basin, Maltran met with Commander General Landon, a foul-mood, one-eyed man who had been itching for war since the tensions between the two kingdoms had first started rising. She instructed him how to use the Seraphoids that would soon arrive to their camp. Landon was more enthusiastic about seeing the bloodshed rather than winning; he gladly took on the task.
“When the first arrow pierces the sky, unleash the power of the Seraphoids,” Maltran told him.
“Of course, Lady Maltran,” he ominously agreed. “Rolance will fall today!”
The other soldiers let out a war cry. They prepared for battle, lining up at the edge of the battleground with spears, swords, and arrows ready. Maltran and Landon watched as Rolance slowly moved towards them. Today the earth would be stained red with the blood of their enemies.
Notes:
We're approaching the end of Phase 1, which means that there might be a change in focus.
Chapter 24: Phase 1: Warring States
Summary:
Sorey, Alisha, Mikleo, Lailah, and Edna follow Maltran to Glaivend Basin to see that war has already started. Even with Rose and Dezel's help, they're no match for the Lord of Calamity.
Notes:
Yup, I took a while. Two Songs in this one, but you don't get the lyrics. Sorry not sorry.
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT, INCLUDING THE TITLES OF THE SONGS. I took a hiatus on this to not only finish up my Tainted AU fic but also because I wanted to actually produce the original songs I did write for this fanfiction. UTAU is being a pain in the ass and I don't know how to fix the program-breaking error (and while I know Japanese, I don't know technical Japanese to read the install directions, which isn't even the beginning of the problem). As such, I won't be posting the Hymmnos/Ar Ciela lyrics for this chapter until I can fix the program or I can find someone that can help me make the songs.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“I can’t keep this up,” Shurelia panted. “This Virus is too strong. I can’t even use my Song Magic at this point without lowering my guard.”
She was sweating profusely from the exertion. Her head was pounding, and her limbs felt heavy. She was too tired to keep fighting, but she had to do it.
The Tower rumbled as the ultimate Virus forced its way out into the world. The white armored Reyvateil used every ounce of her power to stop it from escaping only to be knocked out in the process by a powerful sonic wave. When she came to, Eolia was empty. All the hellions that had broken into the Tower scattered as if following the Virus away from her domain. Shurelia knew that something terrible would happen if it was allowed to continue living. She cursed at her inability to stop the chaos from escaping into the world.
“Damn, this place went to hell and back,” Zaveid’s voice echoed in the Tower. He walked up the final set of stairs to the Altar of Apostles, where Shurelia had cornered the Viruses before their escape. “I take it that she got away after all?”
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep Mir contained—not when I have to divide my power to fight the hellions that break in as well,” Shurelia told him. “I cannot leave this place with hellions still roaming about. If they destroy any more of Eolia, the seraphim in this region will sustain damage greater than normal infection.”
Zaveid placed his hand on his hip. “You want me to find her? Eizen’s been killed, and I’ve got nothing to do until that skirmish between the regions has died down. She can’t have gotten far.”
“It would behoove you to stop her. Your life is on the line, too, if she makes it to Frelia’s server Infel Phira.”
The burly wind seraph smirked. “You’ve got a point, Miss Cream Puff, but what can she really do? I leave this place to you. Just don’t push yourself. If Ar Tonelico goes down, a lot of seraphim will die,” he told her. He left Eolia in search of the Virus named Mir.
--------------------------------------------
“Charge!” Commander General Landon cried out as his men advanced towards the thousands of battalions emerging from the Rolance side of the battlefield. “Leave no one alive!” He held his sword out, a thin beam of sunlight piercing through the clouds glinting off its tip. “Kill them all!”
Hyland’s soldiers decapitated Rolance’s men while Rolance’s soldiers ran them through with their swords and spears. Arrows rained from the heavens like fire storm. The sea of blood that drenched the dirt stretched for miles upon miles, and every pocket of Glaivend Basin was brimming with fighters and corpses. There was no end in sight, and both sides wondered if the fighting was in vain. They didn’t have much time to think before they transformed into hellions, the malevolence accumulating into powerful Viruses within them and consuming their souls as breakneck speeds.
The Hyland forces brought their Seraphoids to battle. Their corrupted wails fried the minds of their enemies and allies alike. Rolance’s seraphim attacked blindly in furious rage until exhaustion claimed them or they were killed by another seraph.
Sorey had taken the lead to Glaiven Basin upon hearing the horrendous screams of human and seraph. His heart ached as he watched the Seraphoids kill repeatedly until the malevolence generated from the soldiers suffocated them. Alisha tightened her grip on her spear; this wasn’t what she wanted for her country, for her people, for the seraphim that lived within the Hyland territory! Lailah knew that this was humans were capable of—the destruction wasn’t anything new to her aside from the implementation of Seraphoids and whatever Rolance had done to their seraphim. Edna was beyond disgusted, and she remembered why she hated humans. She remembered that this was the reason her brother perished. Mikleo, who was the only one of the three to have hope that humans could repent for their sins, squeezed Sorey’s hand. He felt so sick, as if he were reliving the torture that Bartlow had done on a grander scale. None of them had expected the violence conducted by the seraphim to be so extreme. Perhaps the only good thing was that Zenrus was nowhere to be found, for they knew that if the shell of the old lightning seraph had been forced into the war, no one would be left standing. Not even the tents of the bases.
“We can’t let this go on,” Sorey growled. “This isn’t right for anyone!”
“We have to find Maltran and make her stop this,” Alisha added.
Edna scoffed at them. “What do you plan on doing? Asking that woman to stand down or you’ll cry? Humans will never change, no matter how many do-gooders try to do it.”
“Edna, at least they try,” Lailah tried to counter. But she didn’t have much faith in them either. She couldn’t with what was happening all around them.
“Trying isn’t good enough. Humans are far too corrupted by power and greed.” She closed her umbrella and held it in front of her. She looked at Sorey. “Do you know what the Shepherd’s true duty is?”
Lailah flinched. Sorey may be the Shepherd, but she had hoped that she didn’t have to delineate what his job was to do. She had hoped it wouldn’t have come to this. “Edna, please allow me to explain.”
The fire seraph was uncomfortable as she spoke about the duty of the Shepherd. It took all her might not to seem afraid or discouraged. Sorey’s duty was not to free the seraphim from the greedy humans controlling them but to end the malevolence that propogated that greed. To do that, he had to stop the Lord of Calamity, a being so corrupted that it had the power to change the very landscape of the world. The wickedness of humans, the suffering of the seraphim, the darkness that covered the land was all caused by the Lord of Calamity; it was the Shepherd’s job to quell the malevolence and to set the balance right.
Edna looked away from her human vessel because Mikleo’s eyes widened with fear and disapproval. She didn’t admit it, but she felt pity for the water seraph and his beloved human. As an outsider, she didn’t really care what happened to Sorey as long as he didn’t become tainted by the malevolence he was bound to erase. When she thought about what they had been through together, it reminded her of Eizen and the pain he endured for centuries. If Sorey—or Alisha for that matter—were to become tainted, Mikleo and Lailah and herself would be made to withstand an eternity of anguish and hatred.
Mikleo clung to Sorey’s arm as he thought about what this culminated into: he had to share Sorey even though it took a toll on him and prevent him from falling into depravity. He had already done a terrible job—Sorey’s heart had broken after they couldn’t work together without the brunet coaxing him like a scared animal, and even though Sorey was so happy to have him back to normal, he knew that he still blamed himself.
“It is a heavy burden, Sorey, but your affinity for the seraphim makes you the perfect candidate. Even if you don’t wish to be the Shepherd after all that’s happened—”
Sorey looked at Lailah with gleaming eyes. He turned to Mikleo with a stupid grin that formed a lump in his throat. “Zaveid’s hunch was right after all! I mean, I figured at this point, but to think I would be the next Shepherd!”
“How can you be happy about this?!” Mikleo almost sobbed. “You could be killed! You could lose yourself to the evil around us!”
Edna twirled her umbrella. “Uh-oh, Meebo’s separation anxiety is kicking in.”
“Mikleo, Sorey’s capacity as a fighter—”
Alisha stopped talking. Mikleo grabbed Sorey’s arms earnestly.
“I’m not letting you do this alone,” he said indignantly. “It’s my fault that I got caught by Bartlow. It’s my fault that your confidence in me was shaken. I refuse to let my weakness, my cowardice to be a liability to you any longer. Sorey, I will gladly sing for you. I will sing however long it takes to make sure you’re safe. I am your enforcer, and damn it, I will show you that you don’t have to do this alone. You will not do this alone.”
Lailah and Alisha clapped for him with sparkling amazement. They had never seen Mikleo so forceful in his speech, and Sorey couldn’t say anything to change his mind. Edna discreetly smiled at him.
Sneaking through the Hyland camp to the northern edge of their side of the battle, Mikleo promised Sorey that he would be right behind him while he was singing. With Edna’s help, Sorey and Alisha and her seraph were charged with clearing the field as much as possible. Mikleo found a ledge over the war. He stood over everyone, and as he focused all his energy on Sorey’s life and the desire to protect him, he took a deep breath. He stated, “Commencing Song: [TITLE REDACTED].”
The water seraph began to glow as the notes drifted from his mouth like delicate bubbles. His soul resonating with the feelings in his song and the ore that provided the template, he sang with all his might.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey and his other friends threw themselves into battle, but the brunet paused for a moment. His beloved seraph was singing! It was a real song, not just a short incantation! He felt his love and strength in his voice, and he knew that he could count on him. His only wish was that once he was done that he come find him. Sorey wouldn’t be able to protect him while fighting the hordes of hellions, but he believed that when they regrouped, they would be unstoppable.
“Alright, everyone! Give this your all!” Sorey rallied. He led them into the battle.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Edna pierced the ground with her lances made of stone while Lailah and Alisha tag-teamed the hellions that came after them. Lailah’s fires stunned them and Alisha weakened them with her thrusts. Sorey came up from behind, ordering Lailah to use her Silver Flames on his sword. One by one, the hellionized soldiers were purified. Most of them wouldn’t survive the rage of war simply because they were vulnerable now.
“Sorey, you need to keep an eye on Mikleo,” Edna sternly told her vessel. “He’s completely defenseless while singing up there.”
Alisha and Lailah leapt towards him after dodging a swing from a tiger-looking hellion. They assured him that they could take care of the soldiers. Sorey ran back up to the ledge where Mikleo sang:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“What is that disgusting sound?” Landon snarled half the field away. He spotted Mikleo on the ledge as he rode through the battlefield dodging swings and jabs. It irked him that a seraph was singing over his beautiful war. “A lowly seraph thinks it can stop this chaos? We’ll see about that!”
He veered towards the ledge, forcing his horse to scale its rocky side as he propped an arrow into his bow. He aimed at him. He fired.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey deflected the arrow as Mikleo began to repeat the song. “Don’t worry, buddy—I won’t let anyone hurt you. Just keep singing!” he said more to himself than to his seraph. Landon confronted his adversary, but Sorey wasn’t intimidated by him. He angled his sword at him.
“Foolish boy! You think you have the power to stop me? To stop the entire Hyland army?!” the commander general roared. He transformed into bear-type therion hellion. “I’ll rip your head from your body then I’ll devour that poor excuse of a seraph! His singing days are over! Do you hear me? Over!”
Landon charged towards Sorey, grabbing him up in both his arms and crushing him until he just couldn’t breathe. The hellion was three times his size, and while he was sure he could defeat him, he feared that Mikleo would stop singing to save him. But the water seraph was deep in a trance; his Song Magic was the only thing flooding his mind. The distractions around him were tuned out.
“What a tiny, insignificant bug! Screw what Bartlow wanted—the Shepherd is better off dead. That fool of a man thinks he can hold your power inside of a seraph, but he’s wrong! A bug like you doesn’t deserve anything but a bloody death!”
Sorey struggled. He slowly turned his sword in his hand so he could stab upwards into Landon’s arm. Once he was freed from his grip, he prepared to beat him away. He swung at him, and Landon dodged. He swung again, and Landon dodged. For a large beast, he was quick on his feet. If he wanted the upper hand, he had to blind him. The Shepherd leapt into the air, his sword ready to dig deep into the hellion’s only good eye. Landon swatted him out of the way then set his sights on Mikleo.
“Not so fast!” Sorey called from behind. Landon turned around. Everything when black then red. Sorey had pierced his eye after throwing dust at him. Landon bellowed in pain, which gave Sorey time to move in front of Mikleo. “Mikleo, I need to move you. This guy is going to kill you! I know I shouldn’t disturb you, but it’s not safe for you here.”
“You little piece of shit!” Landon boomed. He grabbed Sorey by the nape of his neck and threw him down as hard as he could. Had Mikleo not been singing, he would have died. “I’m done playing games. I’ll kill you right here!” Landon pinned Sorey with his foot. “Breathe your last, bug!” He put all his weight on Sorey’s chest.
Sorey stabbed his ankle. He was free of Landon’s weight, and he had to be put down, but there was something stopping him. Sorey had never intentionally killed anyone. Of course, Landon was a hellion, but hellions could be purified. What if Landon could be, too? If he didn’t kill him, then Landon would break him in half then go after Mikleo. Would he kill Mikleo? Would he take him back to Bartlow for more experiments?
A pair of daggers shimmered against the dark, cloudy sky. They stuck into Landon’s neck. They had gone deep enough to kill him, which was surprising given how thick hellion skin could be. In a flash of wind, the daggers were gone.
“What was that?” Sorey whispered. He didn’t have time to find an answer. He returned to Mikleo’s side. “Mikleo, you can stop singing for a little while. We need to get you down there so you’ll be closer to us.”
Mikleo stopped accordingly. He looked tired, feverish almost. Sorey beckoned him to go inside to recover. He went down the ledge and regrouped with Alisha and the other seraphim. They were tired but proud. Aside from the Seraphoids that were wreaking havoc and Rolance’s seraph armada still crazily killing each other, the fighting between men had toned down.
“Where’s Mikleo?” Alisha asked.
“He’s resting. He’s never sung an entire Song, so he’s exhausted,” Sorey explained softly. “Landon is dead.”
“You killed him?” Edna asked. “That’s surprising.”
“No, not me. Someone else did. A pair of daggers came out of nowhere and stabbed him.”
“Well, we can count our blessings later,” Lailah interrupted. “The malevolence is still building. Something’s not right here. This malevolence…”
“It’s worse than a dragon’s,” Edna finished. For the first time, she shrunk with intimidation. “I’ve never felt this before. Eizen didn’t have power like this.”
A burst of poisoned air blew through them. Mikleo was forced out of Sorey’s body, and before long the three seraphim were cut off from the rest of the world.
“Lailah!” Alisha cried out.
“Mikleo! Edna!” Sorey yelled.
Sorey and Alisha looked for their seraphim. Then the one propogating the chaos appeared.
---------------------------------------
“Dezel, are you sure you can do this?” Rose asked. She wasn’t wearing the green blouse that marked her as a merchant. She was dressed as an assassin—skin-tight brown leather and a hood over her red hair. A silver mask covered her face.
Dezel held his chest. The abnormal malevolence was crushing his heart. But he couldn’t let Rose notice. He simply reassured her that he could do it.
“We’re still within Frelia’s radius; my Song will have power,” he reassured. He feigned confidence. “Just go. You need to free as many seraphim as you can.”
“We still have time to Dive,” Rose tried again. “If we Dive, you’ll be able to withstand the malevolence a little better!”
Dezel pushed her back. “I said go! I don’t need you to Dive into me to make sure I can protect you from your enemies. Stay within my range. I won’t be able to save you if you stray too far.”
Rose hesitated. She worried about him even if there was nothing she could do. She offered a hesitant thumbs-up then leapt over the edge to complete her task. Dezel didn’t have the power to purify simply because he didn’t want it. He kept his distance from Rose, only helping her when he saw fit. Her double life as a skilled assassin, however, made up for it. She killed indiscriminately on the battlefield. The seraphim on Rolance’s side were too far gone to be saved. She put them out of their misery and protected their bodies from other crazed seraphim and hellions. As she did her duty, Dezel sang his song [TITLE REDACTED].:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The sound of Dezel’s voice was always soothing to Rose’s ears. She didn’t get to hear him sing very often. She believed in him.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose continued to put down whoever crossed her path, the blood of the hellions and the seraphim mixing together in puddles in the dirt. It hurt her heart to hear Dezel’s beautiful but solemn voice while seeing the pain in front of her. She thought of happier things so the malevolence couldn’t get to her. She thought about the times that Dezel would think she was asleep and sing little tunes to himself. She knew that he missed his life living alone. She didn’t know much about his past, even when Mayvin tried to talk to him about all that had happened to handicap him.
She stabbed a hellion in the stomach then dashed past it into a crowd of battling seraphim and soldiers that were in the middle of transforming. “Glimmer Dragon!” she yelled as she killed them.
She wondered what did Dezel think when she was trained to kill? Was he frightened? Was he wary of her? Did he trust her any less than before?
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
She noticed the emotion had changed in the song. The lyrics—whatever they might be—felt sweeter and more loving than previously. She was on the edge of his field, and the crowd of enemies was thinning out either from her killing them, them killing each other, or some other force.
“Breathe your last, bug!” a voice thundered over the sounds of swords and falling bodies.
Rose looked over at a ledge across the battlefield where another seraph was singing. His body glowed blue from his Song Magic, and there was someone behind him. She recognized the blue attire.
“Is that Sorey’s seraph?” she asked herself. She glanced up at Dezel, who was still singing as hard as he could. She couldn’t leave his radius, but she couldn’t let Mikleo get hurt when Sorey was nowhere to be seen. “I’m sorry, Dezel. Looks like I’ll have to go without your prayers for a couple minutes.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose left his field to see the commotion behind Mikleo. When she arrived, she found Sorey pinned under Landon until he stabbed his ankle. Landon, angered by Sorey’s retaliation, was prepared to kill him. He lunged for him. Rose couldn’t stop herself; she leapt into the air and threw two daggers into Landon’s neck. He plopped over. His blood drained. He stopped moving and growling. As quickly as possible, she retrieved her daggers. She couldn’t let Sorey see who she was. She returned to Dezel’s field as fast as she could so he wouldn’t be angry later. He sensed that she had come back from wherever she had gone, and while he tried to hide how he truly felt, he was already at the end of his song:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Dezel!” Rose called. “We’re moving! Sorey and the others are here!”
The blind seraph was shocked. How did he not notice Sorey? He joined with Rose, and the two of them began to head towards the Rolance side of the battlefield when the wind seraph was paralyzed with a terrible creeping pain. He fell to his knees, gagging and trembling.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Rose frantically asked him. She embraced him.
“This malevolence…what is it?” Dezel coughed into her chest. He squirmed, burying his face into her breasts out of pain.
Just across the Basin, Sorey and Alisha still couldn’t find their seraphim. All that accompanied them was a booming voice that sent shivers down their spines. A being made of pure darkness stood before them. He had the head of a lion, and there was a hazy silhouette of a small girl with long hair behind him.
Alisha fell to her knees in fear while Sorey tried to hold his ground. Lailah had mentioned someone called the Lord of Calamity, and Edna had said that the malevolence was far worse than that of a dragon’s. Was this man that being?
“Who are you?” Sorey demanded to know. “What have you done to Mikleo and the others?!”
The man laughed at his meager attempt at trying to challenge him. “You must be the new Shepherd—judging from your naiveté. I can sense your connections to your seraphim. Excellent. I am the Lord of Calamity, Heldalf.”
Alisha crawled backwards. As a Squire, she held no power to fight against him. Sorey stood his ground. “Why are you doing this? Why are you generating so much malevolence?”
“A question from someone so stupidly pure. Very well. If you must know, Shepherd, I intend to destroy this husk of a world and remake it in my image. A world without suffering. Isn’t that the same thing you wish for, boy?”
“I want humans and seraphim to coexist without suffering and slavery.”
“Our goals are the same. So why don’t you join me? Together we can see an end to this pointless suffering. We can initiate a rebirth befitting of all living things on this land.”
“No way, I don’t plan on destroying the world. Humans and seraphim can live together through suffering and understanding the same things. They can form bonds, and I know this because I have Mikleo.”
Heldalf snarled at him. “A farce of a bond! Let’s see, Shepherd, just how well that bond of yours holds up against me!”
A wave of malevolence crashed through Sorey and Alisha, knocking out the latter and wrenching the other’s gut so terribly that he threw up bile. Sorey looked back at his friend just as a hellion soldier approached him. It kicked him in the stomach, lifting him by his shirt into the air so it could punch him across the field. He pushed himself up. Another hellion used a small boulder to hit his head. He was bleeding; his head felt like it had all kind of sharp tools inside. The hellion raised the boulder again.
Rose, using Dezel’s wind, seemed to teleport onto its shoulders and slashed its neck. Sorey looked up at his savior. He tried to make out who it was behind the silver mask, but the head injury got the better of him. He wobbled then passed out.
“Dammit, this wasn’t supposed to happen,” Rose grumbled. “Dezel, I know it hurts, but I need your help. You need to grab Alisha. I’ll get Sorey.”
Dezel appeared outside of Rose. He did as he was told. Rose pulled Sorey over her shoulders while he tucked Alisha under his arm. Just as the two were about to take their leave on the wind, a horde of hellions attacked them. They pushed them to the edge of a ledge that dropped off into a ravine below. Neither could escape; the only thing they could do was jump.
Notes:
PHASE 1 CLEAR. PHASE 2 START.
Was yea ra yassa yor phyue!
En biron ar akata PHASE 2.
Rrha ki ra tie yor ini en nha
Wee ki ra parge yor ar ciel
En rasse yor...
...
...
Commencing Phase 2.
Chapter 25: Phase 2: Reunion
Summary:
Sorey and company have crossed into Rolance territory and reunite with some familiar faces.
Notes:
Yay, we're on Phase 2! I hope I write Dezel and Rose well. I do enjoy the love-hate banter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Lailah, why aren’t they waking up?” Mikleo panicked. He shook Sorey’s arm to no avail. He placed his hand on his wound. “Resilient Aid!”
Sorey’s injury healed quickly yet he was still unconscious. Lailah was tending to Alisha while Edna poked Dezel repeatedly with her umbrella, both of whom were also unconscious. Rose laid at the riverbank.
“That stupid girl jumped from Glaivend Basin and got washed down here. It’s no surprise that everyone’s knocked out,” Edna sighed. “Even this wind seraph did it. You’d think he’d have used his wind to fly them to safety. Ugh, all brawn and no brains.”
“Oh, that’s Dezel! That must mean Rose really was there!” Lailah realized. She hurried over to the red-haired assassin, pulled her away from the water’s edge, and set her near Dezel. She tended again to Alisha. “All we can do is wait for them to wake up.”
“I’m now taking bets on who wakes up first,” Edna sarcastically said.
Mikleo sat with Sorey’s head on his lap. The laceration was gone, but there was a large bruise in its place. Even a slight touch elicited a sleepy groan. He wanted to hold him, but falling from such a height no doubt had hurt him badly. He thought about using Resilient Aid again. If Sorey were awake, then he would feel better about expending his energy.
Wherever they were, however, was not safe enough to use his Seraphic Artes.
Rose roused after a few moments, upsetting Lailah who had betted that Alisha would wake up first afer taking care of her. She was groggy, and Mikleo and the other seraphim didn’t want to scare her when she wasn’t lucid. She glanced around.
“Volgran…Forest?” she murmured. “How…did I get…Dezel? Dezel!” She threw herself onto her seraph’s chest. “Are you okay? Hey, wake up! Did you get hurt? Dezel!”
The wind seraph didn’t respond, and she feared the worst. Edna tapped his chest with her umbrella, showing her that he was still breathing. Rose relaxed, but she was still upset.
“Everything is okay, Rose,” Lailah reassured her. She caught a glimpse of the ocean-blue eyes that were on the verge of tearing up. Mikleo and Edna exchanged glances.
“I’m such an idiot,” Rose sighed. It was strange since Lailah had never seen her sad in all the times she’d visited her for her help. In fact, Rose wasn’t one to let mistakes and regrets get to her. “I ruined my chances of getting to Dive into Dezel. I should’ve stayed closer to him. I should’ve done a better job at protecting him. He’s going to hate me, and I’ll never get to see into his soul.”
Mikleo, Edna, and Lailah were all confused. “Wait, so you’re sad because you can’t Dive into him?” Mikleo asked her. “We all thought you were scared if he died.”
Rose defeatedly shook her head. “After seeing you and Sorey Dive, I asked him about it. He got mad—actually he was almost panicking. He said he was scared of what demons were deep in his soul. But I really don’t care about them. I’ve done some pretty bad things, but we do have an honor code.”
Edna twirled her umbrella. “I thought you looked different,” she told her. “You’re an assassin.”
Rose flinched. “Dammit, I forgot I was still in—this isn’t what it looks like—this is an illusion! You can’t see me!” She tried to cover her face, her clothes, everything about her with her hands.
“I can’t believe I’ve been helping an assassin and her seraph,” Lailah almost cried.
Rose couldn’t hide anymore. She admitted that she was an assassin, and that the Sparrowfeathers merchant guild doubled as the Scattered Bones assassin guild. Even Eguille and the twins were assassins. But she clarified that Dezel had little to do with their work if he did accompany them.
“Dezel gets really sick from malevolence, so we don’t utilize him in the field,” Rose explained. “Ever since I was little, I’ve been trying to protect him, bu most of the time, he’s saving me.”
“From your targets?” Mikleo asked. He softened; despite what he remembered from his first encounter with them, Dezel and Rose did care about each other.
“From poison mushrooms, poison ivy, poison meat…just about anything with poison in it. The occasional rotten meat, too, now that I think about it.”
Rose smiled. Lailah could tell she liked having Dezel with her, and while she wasn’t as intimate as Sorey and Mikleo or Lailah and Alisha, there was a small bud waiting to bloom within her heart. Perhaps that was why she was so eager to peek into Dezel’s soul.
“Rose…” Dezel murmured. Rose flew back to his side. “You friggin’ idiot…” He sat up. “Why are you telling them everything about yourself? Lailah, I can understand, but the other two?”
Edna nonchalantly walked up to him and prepared to smack him, but he stopped her just before her umbrella made contact. She pulled her umbrella away then went for a jab, and he stopped her again.
“Meebo, drown him,” Edna commanded.
“No, Edna, we can’t just drown people we don’t like now, can we?” Mikleo scolded.
“Sorry, but I don’t trust you,” Dezel growled, cautiously letting go of her umbrella.
“Strangely, you spent a night with us in Alisha’s manor and didn’t really care what we did. In fact, you were more detached then than you are now.”
Dezel growled but conceded. He stood up. “Rose, we’re going,” he stated. He grabbed her wrist. Taking a step away from them, he felt her pull back. “What are you doing?”
The red-haired assassin stood indignantly. She couldn’t let him leave knowing that Sorey and Alisha were still unconscious; the former was injured and needed a place to rest comfortably. Lailah, Mikleo, and Edna also needed somewhere to hide as well. They were no longer within Eolia’s range, but that didn’t mean that Rolance couldn’t use them. If Bartlow’s experiments were as potentially deadly as she was told, Rolance would find a way to not only kill them but to use their corpses in their own sick ways.
“Come on, Dezel, we know them,” she persuaded. “You never find humans that want to protect seraphim. We can’t let them die here, not when so much is on the line for your kind.” She held Dezel’s gloved hand. “Stop being so cold.”
“What makes you think that we can help them?” he inquired. His heart was pounding. He didn’t want them near him just like he didn’t want Rose close to him. “You’re not meant to help anyone. Your job is to kill those who do wrong.”
“My job is to see that justice and goodness prevail be any means necessary,” Rose argued.
Alisha woke up, and Lailah held her close so she could whisper to her just what was going on. The princess knight looked at the two of them. She felt sorry that Dezel was so obstinate and that Rose couldn’t do anything to change his mind. That was when she got an idea. But first, she needed both sides to cool down.
She stood up, her legs unsteady rom sitting, and she grabbed both Rose and Dezel by their ears. “Both of you need a time out,” she proclaimed like a mother, which she most likely picked up from Lailah. “You’re going to take us somewhere safe so Sorey can rest peacefully then explain yourselves.”
After she let go of them, Alisha asked that they show them the way to a haven. Mikleo carried Sorey on his back as Edna and Lailah walked behind them. They fell just out of earshot, discussing Rose’s and Dezel’s problematic relationship. It was completely understandable that the wind seraph didn’t want the assassin wandering around inside of his mind. His reasons, no matter how vague they were, were justified. If Rose tried to force her way into his soul space, she would either be ripped to pieces or be attacked by the very demons that Dezel was hiding from her. Mikleo had his own ideas as well. He remembered when Bartlow had said his true name and the pain that engulfed him as he felt hints of his consciousness worming into his mind. Did Rose not understand what it meant to Dive? No, she was unlearned but not completely oblivious. She had to have some inkling that forcing her way into the soul space was dangerous for herself and her seraph. In the end, Lailah entertained the thought of asking for Dezel’s honest answer. She could use Edna as an example. Sorey was her first Dive partner ever, so it was natural to be hesitant at first.
Rose and Dezel led their friends to their hideout in the Tintagel Ruins. They were first stopped by the twins Ayn Felice and Ayn Talfryn. It was the first time hearing their names, so the assassin pressured them into learning them quick so they wouldn’t offend them. Eguille and another member of the star assassination team named Rosh stood outside the entrance. Between them was an old man with a large Celestial Record under his arm.
“Mayvin!” Rose happily greeted him. “You’re back from your journey?”
“For now, milady,” Mayvin chortled. He glanced at Alisha and the seraphim behind her. His eyebrows raised when he spotted the Shepherd’s garb. “You found the Shepherd?
That’s some luck you have!”
“It’s a long story for a later time. We’re about to set him up in a bed to recover. He…took a bit of a tumbling and ended up over on this side of the continent. How have the mabo curry buns been selling?”
Dezel crossed his arms, angry that she had asked that question when they had somewhere to be and a Shepherd in need of care. Edna furrowed her brow at him.
“We’ve been doing better in Gododdin, but there are still problems in getting the recipe just right,” Mayvin replied. “If you happen to pass by there, you’ll see what I mean.” The old man waltzed over to Mikleo, who took a step back. He felt uncomfortable with his proximity, but he didn’t sense any sort of ill will from him. He had a kind face hardened from his adventures. “You must be the Shepherd’s seraph, or one of them. Hm, I can sense a deep bond, but true potential has yet to be tapped.” Mayvin offered a grin. He advised Mikleo and Edna, after noting her connection to Sorey based on her untrusting scowl, that they Dive more often. “Rolance will offer its obstacles. You must remain vigilant in Diving.” He said the same thing to Alisha and Lailah.
Once Mayvin had left and Rose and Dezel escorted their friends into the ruins with the other assassins bringing up the tail end, Sorey was taken to one of the many beds ready within the hideout. Rose asked Eguille to prepare a meal for him then sat with Alisha and the seraphim.
She let out a sigh of relief. “Even Mayvin could tell you were close,” she said, though she didn’t seem as upset as before.
Edna pointed her umbrella at Dezel. “You. Explain why you won’t Dive,” she ordered.
“Get your umbrella out of my face, child,” Dezel growled at her.
Lailah flickered a flame between them. “Hostility begets hostility. Edna, please refrain from asking about personal matters at this time. Dezel, understand that for you to grow stronger, you must use Rose and Dive,” she said.
“It’s none of your business, Lailah. I don’t know what sob story Rose told you, but I’m not changing my mind about this,” the wind seraph rebuked.
Mikleo made a block of ice, wrapped it in a cloth that he found lying around, and placed it on Sorey’s forehead where he had been hurt. He gave him a peck on his cheek then joined the conversation, where Edna teased him.
“You haven’t changed at all,” he told him. “Do you hate Rose?”
Dezel refused to answer. Instead, he left the room, his fists tightly clenched in frustration. Rose seemed unaffected, but Alisha knew her history with Dezel. Ever since she was small, Dezel had ignored even basic kindness. Mayvin and the Sparrowfeathers had offered him a place of sanctuary. When Rose had told her one evening years ago that Dezel wished he had been left for dead, she was remarkably in tears. She had heard of the atrocities done to the seraphim, and imagining a disabled seraph like him being trapped in a cage and stabbed and beaten and abused wrenched her heart. Of course, she had always been trying to Dive with him, but she was constantly met with failure. It was discouraging, but Rose always rebounded and asked again. It was as if she believed that constantly asking him would chip away that cold hard shell Dezel had made and reveal the terrified man inside.
“If Dezel doesn’t want you in his soul space, there’s not much you can do about it,” Lailah informed her. “Maybe one day if he opens up to you, then you can Dive, but as it stands right now, it doesn’t seem like it will be possible or safe.”
Rose let out another sigh, yet she knew that there was a way to bond with Dezel. She analyzed Lailah, Mikleo, and Edna. What did they have that Dezel didn’t besides basic decency? What did Lailah, specifically, have with Alisha that allowed the latter to Dive? She remembered the Sacred Blade she had glimpsed at in the den, and Alisha carried it with her now. She eyed Mikleo, who had the Sacred Bow around his chest. Edna had the Sacred Gauntlets somewhere on her person. She realized that she needed to have a Divine Artifact, and she did think she saw part of one in Dezel’s pouches.
“I need to make a pact with him!” Rose finally blurted out. She ran out of the room looking for Dezel, much to the other’s chagrin. “Dezel, come here!”
Mikleo crossed his arms. As good-natured as Rose probably was, she was also someone who didn’t know when to quit. Lailah and Alisha giggled, then silence fell over everyone when Sorey roused.
“Where…am I?” Sorey dazedly asked. His head ached. “Mikleo? Edna?”
Mikleo tended to him, touching his hand lightly and whispering soothingly to him, “I’m right here. How do you feel?”
Edna seemed obliged to sit with him on the bed as he told Mikleo that he was afraid he had lost them to the malevolence. “You took a pretty hard hit to your head, but at least you’re not dead,” the earth seraph smirked. “You missed a lot of drama just now.”
Rose dragged Dezel back into the room, greeting Sorey before begging Lailah to form a pact between her and the wind seraph. Of course, Dezel tried to fight back. Rose endured it.
“I swear, Rose, if you form a pact with me, I’ll kill you if you try to get into my soul space,” Dezel threatened.
“I wouldn’t mind that if I get a peek,” Rose teased. She caught his hands and wrestled him, and she knew that he wouldn’t try to use his wind because he didn’t want to hurt her.
“Lailah, let’s make a pact!”
Lailah was unsure whether or not to go through with it. She prepared to make the pact between them as Dezel freed himself and pinned Rose down. With her wrists locked in one hand and his other hand covering her mouth so she wouldn’t speak, Dezel snarled:
“I’m friggin’ serious. Lailah, if you make that pact, I’m handing myself over to Rolance.”
Unsure if Dezel would really act on his threats, Lailah declined making the pact between him and Rose. The assassin wasn’t happy, but she accepted it after Alisha explained to her that Dezel’s tone insinuated that he wasn’t afraid to kill himself if it meant his world remained closed to her. Sorey was the only one that was genuinely confused. Mikleo tried to keep him in bed, but the Shepherd didn’t understand why Dezel was so against it. He recalled that he had heard him decline Rose time and time again, but there was never the explanation. The water seraph gripped his wrist as if urging him to stay out of it.
“This is something between them. We have no right to get caught up in their affairs,” Mikleo whispered to him.
Rose moaned and groaned about not being able to Dive until she realized that Sorey and Alisha were probably hungry. After fighting in a war then being flung into the ravine by the Lord of Calamity, who wouldn’t be? She left to find Eguille and the twins and Rosh, which gave Sorey the freedom he had been craving since he started on this journey to explore.
Dezel ordered the brunet to stay put, but it fell on deaf ears. Sorey crept out of the room he had been sleeping in to the main chamber of the Tintagel Ruins. Alisha at his heels, and the seraphim hanging back in the room, he surveryed the entrance to the ruins where he found a large seal.
“Who would have thought that a guild of assassins would shack up in an ancient ruin?” Sorey excitedly said. Edna and Mikleo were surprised that he was already feeling well enough to rummage around.
Mikleo and Edna followed Sorey after deciding that it would be a better idea to make sure he didn’t go alone and pass out somewhere in a crevice. The Shepherd called over his fellow archaeologist to study the seal.
“Pretty cool to find such a seal here, huh?” Sorey asked him like an excited child.
“It is, but what would this imply? That the ruins that lie beyond it are sacred ground?” Mikleo questioned back.
Edna joined Alisha, whom wanted to be part of their conversation, only to criticize them. “One-track minds. It’s a wonder how they’re not dead yet,” she sighed. Lailah and Dezel joined Alisha, too.
“Boys will be boys,” Lailah tittered.
“I’m jealous, though,” Alisha added. “They seem so carefree despite all that’s happened. I suppose it would be refreshing to go exploring for a bit.”
“It could be the middle of an apocalypse, and those idiots would still be laughing about a rock,” Edna said.
Dezel crossed his arms. Sorey and Mikleo’s bond was obvious, and he knew that Lailah and Alisha had achieved the highest level of Diving—at one point before the incident happened. He almost considered letting Rose have a peak. He knew that he could force her out of the soul space if he wanted. Then he reminded himself that there was always something inside that would be waiting to kill her.
“You’re really going to open it?” Mikleo asked Sorey. The brunet just grinned at him. “Fine, it’s race then.”
Alisha, Lailah, and Edna just watched them as they scrambled around the Tintagel Ruins. Rose enjoyed it, too, knowing that they had been through too much; it was refreshing to see something like children playing. She set their bowls of soup on crates that were fashioned into a makeshift table.
There were switches on the floor all around the ruins. When all pressed, they unlocked the tumblers within the seal that kept the rest of the ruins locked away. After Sorey and Mikleo discovered them and used them, they found that the large seal had unlocked and rotated underground, revealing a large room with small windows and no other ways of escape besides the door on the other side in the room. According to Sorey and Mikleo’s knowledge:
“It’s an experimentation room!”
Alisha and Rose met back up with them, and the latter and her seraph were mystified that there was more to their base of operations. Edna was simply unimpressed. In her mind, it was cliché at this point. Either way, it didn’t matter to the assassin. She ran straight ahead of her friends to the chamber opposite to them where there was a lever.
“This is so weird! Who would have thought that there were more rooms to this place?” she asked. She was almost giddy, not about the ruins like Sorey and Mikleo but about the fact that there were more places to hide.
Sorey tried to go after her to keep her from doing anything that would get them hurt or trapped, but it was too late. Dezel was able to make it to her only after she accidentally pushed down too hard.
“Dammit, Rose! Why must you always touch things?!” Dezel fumed. “Shepherd, what’s going on in there? Can you find an exit?”
“How come you’re more concerned about him than me?” Rose tearfully asked.
“This is not the time.”
Sorey was exasperated, but he let Dezel know that they were okay. There were no exits, as he previously noted, and until they could escape, the wind seraph and the assassin would have to work together to help them escape. His only warning was not to press things without weighing the consequences. Their lives were on the line now.
“We’ll get you out as fast as we can,” Rose promised. She and Dezel ventured deeper into the ruins to find a way to open the doors and set them free.
Notes:
As you can see, Phase 2 will primarily be DezRose. But will they make amends? Will Dezel agree to Diving or not? Tune in next time!
Chapter 26: Phase 2: Moving Past Reluctance
Summary:
With Sorey and company trapped inside of the room, Dezel and Rose must work our their differences to help them escape.
Notes:
The fic is going on hiatus again because I need to finish Ar Tonelico 1 and play some of Ar Tonelico 2 because Dives are different in that game. But I'm excited to write some DezRose, especially since my friend just saw Dezel's unclouded eyes.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The first lever that they came to was a trap; Sorey and Alisha were forced to fight off hellions that had, for some reason, been stored in the ceiling. Because they were no longer in range of Eolia’s field Ar Tonelico, their seraphim’s songs were useless. They weren’t defenseless, though. Lailah burned them with her fires, Mikleo poisoned them with his waters, and Edna slowed them down with her stones. Sorey and Alisha fought back to back as the hellions continued to rain from the opening.
As soon as Sorey purified one, Alisha was tied up by two others. Lailah immediately rid them from her legs, the embers reflecting in her jade eyes. “No one will touch my lady,” she warned. Edna dropped a boulder behind her before five others could bite her. “Thank you, Edna!”
Sorey deflected a snake that ludged for Mikleo’s neck, and Mikleo healed him so he could fight without having to worry about getting too injured. “Thanks, Mikleo,” he said. “How are you holding up?”
“A little tired, but nothing compared to when I was singing,” Mikleo replied.
The snakes were all purified and defeated, but Sorey couldn’t be happy. He wasn’t angry per say, but being forced to rely on Rose to remedy her mess left him little hope. He wanted to explore, and while it was exciting to be stuck in something like a puzzle room, there was the potential that they would never escape. Additionally, there was a nagging feeling in his chest that something evil was residing deep inside the ruins. The intensity wasn’t as terrible as the malevolence in Ladylake or Marlind, but it was still strong. He figured that the other could sense it, but perhaps pretending like everything was find would keep everyone levelheaded.
Meanwhile, Rose and Dezel wandered around looking for more controls to the experimentation room. Naturally, the silence was bothering the assassin, and she thought now was the best time to talk to Dezel not about Diving but about whatever came to his mind.
“What do you think?” Rose asked after a few minutes. She glanced up at his face hidden under his hair. “About Sorey and the others?”
“If this is about Diving—”
“It’s not. Do you think we can work with them?” She kept walking. “Do you think that we can help each other to free the seraphim that have been enslaved by humans?”
Dezel grunted. “It’s not that simple,” he murmured. “Sorey is the Shepherd; he has different priorities. Alisha is the princess knight of Hyland, but she has no real power in the government of her country. Even if we helped them, what makes you think that we’ll succeed?”
“Think about it. The Shepherd, the princess of Hyland, and a skilled assassin each with seraphim—we may be a small group, but we can maneuver better than an entire army. Hyland is on alert since Mikleo escaped, but Rolance has no reason to be. If we can use them to fix the problem here, then everything will fall into place.”
Dezel turned to her, stopping in front of her. “You’re being a little too naïve. We can trust Alisha and Lailah, but we know less about Sorey and Mikleo and even less about that earth seraph. The Scattered Bones don’t trust so easily.”
“And since when were you considered part of the guild?” Rose bit.
The wind seraph rushed her against the wall and pinned one of her hands to the wall behind her. He had to restrain himself so he didn’t accidentally hurt her. Rose wasn’t wrong; technically speaking, Dezel wasn’t part of the guild because he had never been allowed to go out with them. Mayvin and the others didn’t treat him as a comrade. They treated him with pitiful kindness which he made every effort to do without. They offered him a place to hide but not a family and shelter. Dezel wasn’t part of the guild; he was precious cargo that they had been smuggling back and forth across the border since he had been found.
“Case in point,” he whispered. He leaned in closer to her ear. “The guild still won’t trust me, and I don’t trust them. Only you have my trust—even if it’s reluctant.”
Rose was frozen in her place. She wasn’t scared of him—rather she was sure that she had finally blown a cannonball through his shell. And his face was so close to hers. She believe he wouldn’t harm her. Dezel backed away from her as he tipped his hat more. He walked ahead of her in search of the locking mechanism on the door. She kept her distance now because she knew that he needed some space. But she was winning the fight. Just a little more and she would be victorious.
As they searched for the correct lever to free their friends, Dezel warned Rose about touching anything without letting him investigate first. He was sure that the first lever probably killed them, and while he was probably inclined to feel guilty, he felt that probably it wasn’t really their fault since the people who used the room long before never put any indication of what the levers did. It made sense, however, that the lever that would open the doors was far away from the other levers because they didn’t want test subjects to run away. So when they came to that lever—the third one farthest from the experimentation room—he had every right to believe that that was the one they wanted. Rumbling rolled through the ruins, and it sounded like something had opened.
“Looks like we got it open,” Dezel sighed.
“That’s good,” Rose smiled.
Suddenly a sharp pain shot through his chest, bringing him to his knees. His human knelt beside him, and as she did, something accosted them. “Rose, get out of here…” Dezel choked.
“What the hell is going on? How did a hellion get in here? It was sealed off!” Rose breathed.
A dragon newt—a young dragon type—loomed over them with a large sword ready to slice their heads off. As much as she wanted to get Dezel to safety, she couldn’t move.
“Damn it, Rose, go!”
“I’m not leaving you. But…”
Sorey, Edna, and Mikleo rushed in upon hearing the dragon newt’s roaring. Alisha and Lailah came to Rose and Dezel’s aid. They had a ful arsenal of Seraphic Artes at their disposal.
“Lailah, Alisha, we’ll buy you time. Get Dezel and Rose somewhere safe!” Sorey ordered. Mikleo and Edna took to his sides.
Mikleo and Edna began casting their Seraphic Artes while Sorey tried to stab and slice the hellion. Alisha guarded Lailah as she cast her Imbuement spell on Dezel. The Arte didn’t have any effect in alleviating the pain from the malevolence, and they only had so much time before the dragon newt killed Sorey and attacked them. Rose didn’t want to just sit on the sidelines and watch, either. She pulled out her daggers, screaming hysterically and swinging around at the monster. She ran right past the hellion, which confused it before it decided to chase after her. She stopped at a ledge that fell into the depths of the ruins.
“What is that idiot doing?” Dezel grumbled. “Lailah, protect your human. I’ve worked through this pain before, I can do it again.” Dezel pushed himself up, but Lailah grabbed his wrist. “What are you doing?”
“Dezel, you can’t beat a hellion like this at your level. I advise you to form a pact with Rose, supplement your strength with your bond,” she told him.
“I refuse!”
“Dezel, you must! You won’t survive long like this. If the malevolence is causing you this much trouble, make Rose your vessel!”
Alisha joined the fray just as Sorey was swatted into the wall. Mikleo healed him at once and Edna placed a barrier around him. She went on the offense, raising stone pikes out of the ground to immobilize the dragon newt. In retaliation, it smashed them with its guillotine-like sword. Rose threw herself into battle again, this time actually attacking the monster. It grabbed her by her neck, holding her high above the others.
“Rose!” Sorey cried out.
“Hang on!” Alisha told her as she stabbed its arm. “Let her go!”
“Rose!” Dezel breathed, sensing her distress in the stagnant air.
Rose squirmed while trying to find a vulnerable spot to cut herself loose. She had fought hellions before, but none as strong as the dragon newt. Dezel pushed Lailah aside and whipped his pendulums around the hand holding her up and choking her. He yanked on the cords, which freed the assassin. He chanted out:
hYImOmOrO/.
fYIwOrOn dYIngO dea guwo mea/.
fYIwOrO engua yor ag dYIzO/.
The dragon newt roared and screeched, grabbing its head in aching pain. Dezel continued chanting the incantation. Sorey took the opportunity to attack the hellion, and before he could call out to Lailah to purify it with her fires, the malevolence dispelled. A white dog lay on the ground.
“A…A dog?” Mikleo stammered. He stepped behind Sorey, his fear of the four-legged creature creeping up on him.
“Not just any dog; this one is a seraph,” Lailah noted. “Looks like he got trapped down here, and the malevolence from the experimentation room got to him.” She turned to Dezel, who was strangely analyzing the bruises on Rose’s neck. “A-hem, Dezel?”
The wind seraph used his own healing Seraphic Arte, Quickness, to heal the bruises. Rose thanked him, but he shied away tipping his hat down.
“Dezel, please listen to me.” She held his wrist again. She refused to let go. “You’re scared of Rose getting hurt, aren’t you? If you form a pact with her, then you can protect her. You’ll be able to sing more and stronger Songs. Her body and soul will protect you from the malevolence.”
Sorey and Mikleo sat close with the former’s arm around the latter’s waist. Alisha held Lailah’s hand. Edna simply twirled her umbrella, saying, “Honestly, it’s too much of a bonus to pass up.”
Dezel turned his head towards Lailah, marching up to her with blood boiling. “I’ve already told each one of you I am not making a pact,” he growled. “Humans are nothing but detriments. Just because you guys formed bonds and lived in this pretend world—a farce of happiness—doesn’t mean that I can. I don’t need a human to make me strong. All I need is the will to exact revenge.”
“That way of thinking will ge you killed,” Mikleo rebuked. “The malevolence—”
“Don’t act like you know everything, child!”
Sorey, Alisha, and Rose got in the middle of everyone. Hearing the seraphim fight made the princess want to cry. It made Sorey question if he could really help seraphim and humans coexist. It made Rose angry, so angry that she finally couldn’t stand it anymore. She slapped Dezel’s cheek when he was too focused on the other seraphim around him.
He grabbed her arms tightly. “How dare you—”
“Just shut up already!” Rose sobbed. “How dare you make a girl cry…”
Dezel was dumbfounded. He slowly let go of her arms. “R-Rose…”
“Is that why you didn’t want to form a pact? To go on living for revenge? Why can’t I form a pact with you and help you? You’ve protected me a lot, so let me protect you. The Scattered Bones may not want you around, but I do. I promise that you’ll be safe. Just stop getting mad at the others, and stop acting like I’m going to drag you down.”
The wind seraph was at a loss for words. It was a rare sight to see the assassin cry, and as much as he hated to admit it, it broke his heart every time. He placed his hand on her head, pulled her in, and rested his chin on his hand. He conceded to Lailah.
“What do I have to do to form a pact?” he quietly asked. He faced her.
Lailah smiled. She instructed them to face each other and close their eyes. Imagining each other, Rose felt the need to protect him and Dezel felt a quiet gratitude. After they opened their eyes and Dezel pulled the Sacred Knife from one of his pouches, the fire seraph told Dezel to repeat:
“Rrha ki erra crannidale dea chiess ture mean. My true name is…”
Rose lifted herself on her toes, and they shared a trembling kiss. As if relieved, Dezel whispered sweetly on her lips: “Lukeim Yurlin.”
The Sacred Knife shined brilliantly, forcing Rose to shield her eyes. A new power was flowing through her like a melancholic breeze. The pact between her and her seraph had been made.
Dezel wasn’t ecstatic about forming the pact, but Rose was overjoyed. She latched onto his arm, swinging his clenched fist with all the innocence of a small child. She was one step closer to Diving into him!
“Hey, Dezel, since we’re bonded together now, what do you say to Div—”
“No,” he interrupted. “Just because we’ve formed a pact doesn’t me that I have to let you in.”
Sorey let out a sigh. He didn’t want to force Dezel into letting Rose Dive into him, but they were going to be in the ruins for a while waiting for the dog seraph to awaken. They couldn’t leave him, and sitting around waiting for other hellions to find them was boring in and of itself. He hinted to him to let Rose in.
“Sounds like a personal problem,” Dezel smirked. “Besides, don’t you know anything about Diving? I expected more from you, Lailah.”
Lailah allowed him to explain. Dezel was a different type of seraph that gained his powers from the tower Frelia’s Infel Phira. It resulted in his different dialect in Hymmnos, and naturally he had to use a different method to participate in Dives. Of course, he didn’t disclose that information since he didn’t want Rose in his soul space. It dawned on Mikleo as well why Dezel was particularly powerless in the Hyland region of the continent—it was the same reason why he and the other seraphim couldn’t sing in the Rolance region now. But after some convincing headlocks and death threats, Dezel explained in further detail why Dives were different.
“You can’t Dive by yourself; you have to have another seraph with you,” he told them.
“Well, that’s easy! We’ve got three seraphim we can use!” Rose grinned.
“Sure, if you’ve got a death wish.”
Alisha figured that it had to be a certain kind of seraph, and she wasn’t wrong. The seraph to facilitate the Dive had to be trained in Dive Therapy, as it was called in Rolance. Not just any seraph could do it.
“It was outlawed some time ago because seraphim were using it to kill the people who enslaved them. They were caught and executed, and the Rolance Emperor made it punishable by death for seraphim to undergo Dive Therapy. Even when that started happening…”
Dezel suddenly became quiet, a wave of trepidation blowing into Rose. She had to wonder, did something terrible happen to the Rolance seraphim?
“He’s waking up!” Sorey notified. Edna leaned in close while Mikleo hid behind the Shepherd.
The dog seraph opened his eyes and greeted them as if he had never been asleep, “Oh, how do you do? My name is Oysh.”
Notes:
Like I said, hiatus! Hopefully I can finish the game soon and get it rolling again. I'm tempted to start Ar Tonelico 3 again.
Chapter 27: Phase 2: A World for the Blind
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 1: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
So I got to Cloche's first level within 20 minutes of Ar Tonelico 2, and between reading and watching about IPD cosmopheres and playing it, it's not as complicated as I thought.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“My name is Oysh. I’m a seraph that had been trapped down here for decades when humans first began their experiments on seraphim,” the dog explained. “It seems that the malevolence finally accumulated enough to give birth to a Virus and turn me into a hellion. Strangely enough, I’m surprised that a Virus was able to infect a seraph under Frelia’s domain, then again, I’m not an IPD seraph.”
Sorey and Rose raised their hands. They were confused by what he had said, and while it seemed like simple logic to Oysh and Dezel, the other seraphim who had always been confined to Shurelia’s domain and thus coverage from Eolia. The wind seraph let out an exasperated sigh then explained it so his new companions would be able to understand.
The Viruses that were wreaking havoc in the Hyland region were a manifestation that could only exist under Eolia, and to an extent Tilia, due to the type of server within them. Frelia used a different server called Infel Phira, which was exponentially weaker than Eolia’s server Ar Tonelico. Even though the power output was small, seraphim compatible with it were able to sing faster and more effectively. Such seraphim were called Infel Phira Dependent seraphim, or IPDs. Infel Phira operated in Modes, in which all IPD seraphim were used in tandem to each other or individually depending on the Mode. This, however, would overload the server, so at any given point in time, only a select number of IPD seraphim could sing at once.
“That said, seraphim who are not IPDs are still able to be infected by Viruses should they venture to Eolia’s and Tilia’s domain,” Dezel concluded.
Rose crossed her arms in thought. It seemed easy enough to understand, but she still couldn’t shake the brief moment of anxiety that had overcome Dezel when she made her pact. She decided that she would look into it later now that they had another seraph who lived under Frelia and probably had experience in Proxy Dives.
“Mr. Oysh!” she happily said. “Do you think you could do me a favor?”
“Rose, I said—”
Rose pushed her hand in Dezel’s face, covering his mouth. “I just made a pact with this seraph, and I know that Diving can help them craft more and stronger Songs. Think you could help me out?”
Sorey and Alisha giggled, but Mikleo, Edna, and Lailah didn’t find it funny. Edna jabbed Sorey’s side with her umbrella. “Why are you laughing?” she grumbled. “Don’t you know that she could die? If Dezel rejects her, he could potentially kill her.”
“I don’t think he would do that,” Sorey foolishly said.
“He has every right and the power to do so,” Lailah countered. “It may seem easy to you and Alisha, but it’s no laughing matter for someone as inexperienced as Rose. In fact, had Mikleo not been remedied of his problem and it persisted, he would have killed you, too, if you tried to Dive while he was under attack.”
Mikleo looked away. He knew it could have happened, but he was happy that it didn’t. He’d never forgive himself if Sorey died while he was inside of his soul.
Oysh sat in front of Rose and Dezel, glancing back and forth between the two. He was hesitant; he sensed the reluctance that the wind seraph still had about forming his pact with Rose, and he admired that a human—despite her seraph seemingly hating her—was willing to try. But he couldn’t do it.
“Why not?” Rose questioned.
“It’s true that I do have some experience in working as a proxy. Why, that may have been the reason I was trapped down here. But it is against my constitution to force a seraph to allow a human to stroll around in their soul space against their will. It’s an invasion of privacy for one, and if you get hurt, you won’t be able to leave his soul so easily,” Oysh sternly told her.
Rose got on her knees, begging that Oysh let her in. The dog simply told her to ask her seraph, which she knew would go nowhere.
Sorey stepped up behind Dezel. “Please, just let her go into one level,” he softly asked, now treating the issue with some tact. “If she gets to see one level, then maybe she’ll stop asking you.”
Mikleo again looked away. Both of them knew that Rose wouldn’t stop asking after the first level, and Dezel wasn’t stupid. But he had a point that there was the potential of silencing her for good about this whole predicament. Dezel grunted, but he finally conceded…again.
“Fine, Rose, I’ll let you in for one level, but after that—”
Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and spun around. “Yay! I can finally see what it’s like!”
Oysh didn’t feel comfortable with the amount of manipulation, but it was ultimately Dezel’s choice. Rose and Dezel Armatized together, but it wasn’t a second later before they separated. It wasn’t the same process as everyone else from Eolia’s domain had thought. Oysh instructed them for a Proxy Dive. They all sat on the ground, the Sacred Knife just a few centimeters above the dog’s head and held between the human and seraph. Closing their eyes, they focused on the knife, and when they reopened them, Sorey and Alisha and their seraphim were gone.
“Where did everyone go?” Rose asked. She called out to Sorey. “I don’t like this…”
Oysh chuckled. This was simply what it was like to use a proxy to Dive. If they didn’t use him, Rose would have been able to go directly into Dezel’s soul space, encounter a persona of his, die at that persona’s hands, and finally die in reality. Of course, the wind seraph had only speculated it, and he didn’t necessarily want a corpse rotting inside of his mind.
“Everyone is gone because you are in my mind. While you’re here, I can prepare a specific area within the soul space for you to use for crafting Songs. The process to Dive then is simply the same procedure as that with seraphim under Eolia’s domain,” Oysh finished explaining.
With that, Rose cautiously took the Sacred Knife and Armatized with Dezel. Within the soul space, she found that she was naked just like Dezel. She was accustomed to seeing men half-naked, but it was strange to see Dezel in full nude mainly because he was the type to insist on wearing his clothes until just the moment before he got into the bath. Rose tried desperately to cover her intimate parts, but naturally Dezel was blasé about it. He was blind. She had to get use to it if she sincerely wanted to Dive again…if he let her.
“Okay, so you Armatized with me, and now I Dive into you?” she asked, trying to sound as if nothing was wrong. She prepared to dive by bending her knees and putting her hands together. “Won’t this hurt?”
“You dumbass,” Dezel growled. “It’s not like that.” He blushed. “All you do is…touch my chest right where my heart is.”
“That’s it?” She walked up to him. It seemed both otherworldly and cliché to her, but there was no other way around it. Her hand hovered over where she was told to touch him, and Dezel tensed immediately. She pulled back. “What’s wrong?”
Dezel grimaced. He’d never done something like this before, and to do it with the girl that had saved him twelve years ago—the girl about whom he has lived with and learned about and shared meals with even though he hated it all—it was nerve-wracking. He had to trust her, but developing that trust was a mountain of a task.
“Just…promise that you won’t do anything stupid,” he told her. Rose slowly lowered her arm; she was seeing a completely different side of Dezel, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go on. It was like when he was talking about Dive Therapy being illegal in Rolance. He was suddenly subdued, almost timid. “Get it over with. We can’t waste Oysh’s time.”
Rose gently touched Dezel’s chest, light blinding her as she entered his world.
---------------------------------------------------
Rose arrived at Dezel’s Stonehenge. The world was shrouded in darkness, and she couldn’t help but bump into the stones strewn about. Her eyes slowly grew accustomed but not after they strained to see everything around her.
“Why is it so dark here? Is it because he’s blind?” Rose asked herself. “It seems so lonely, too. Is anyone here?”
Suddenly a version of Dezel that looked like an art teacher with sunglasses, a beret, and a fashionable vest stormed up to her. He tipped down his glasses to get a good look at her before accosting her.
“You’re not welcome here,” he growled. “I suggest you leave right now, or I’ll force you out!”
“W-Wait, I haven’t even done anything!” Rose panicked.
The artsy Dezel fired a ball of wind at her, but it didn’t have any effect. Baffled, the artsy Dezel tried again to exterminate her, and again his magic didn’t work. He kept trying until Rose heard Oysh’s voice chant something in Hymmnos. With the “Sublimate” command, the artsy Dezel was promptly removed from the soul space, crying out in pain.
“Is this what Sorey has to go through every time he Dives?” Rose whimpered. She let out a sigh then headed from the Stonehenge to a city that looked similar to Ladylake. “It’s dark here, too.”
The red-haired assassin glanced around. There wasn’t really anyone out and about, and she figured it was because it felt like the dead of night. Then she found her seraph dressed in his normal attire. He seemed to be surveying the area.
“Dezel! I found you!” Rose happily said. “Why is it so dark here?”
Dezel turned around with a scowl. “I don’t remember inviting you here,” he snapped at her. She flinched. “There’s no reason for you to be here, so just pack up and leave.”
Rose puffed out a cheek to keep herself from yelling at him. “I just got here! You agreed to let me be here!” she said with slightly less bite than what she was expecting.
“Oh? Did I also think that you knew how to fix this problem? No, I didn’t think so. Just get out of here; I’m busy.”
Rose softened. Even after all the headache of getting Dezel to form a pact with her and allow her into his soul, he was still adamant about keeping her at a distance. She simply decided to follow his orders, turning on her heel and walking to the edge of Ladylake.
“All I want to do is help you,” she said just within earshot of him.
Dezel’s interest was piqued as he felt guilty for yelling at a girl. He caught up to her, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around like a dancer.
“It was wrong to just get mad at you. If I really did say you could be here in the real world, then fine. I should at least give you a chance to do what you came here to do and fix the problem.” Rose instantly smiled at the prospect of helping Dezel, and she asked him what she could do. “This world has suddenly gone dark, and I don’t really know how to fix it. There are rumors that the spirit of the light has been trapped somewhere. If you manage to free it, then I’ll think about working with you again.”
“You got it!” Rose eagerly told him.
She went on her way to look for the spirit of the light. She left Ladylake and headed to what looked like part of a tower. It seemed like it was much darker here as well, as if the tower was absorbing any traces of illumination that managed to come from candles and from Ladylake. She only found two silhouettes of some creatures dancing around at the foot, but it was impossible to determine anything else.
“Is someone there?” Rose asked.
“It’s so dark,” one of the creatures complained.
“I hope the light comes back soon,” the other sighed.
The creatures acted as if Rose wasn’t even there next to them. She left their company, returning to Ladylake in search of wherever the light was being kept. Where would something be trapped in the city? She remembered that the Vivia Subterranean Aqueduct resided under the Rountabel Palace, and it was a place where prisoners were kept long ago. She made her way to the entrance, opening the door and slipping inside.
She walked deeper and deeper into the aqueduct until she finally came to where there were prison cells and rotting bones. The musty smell urged her to find the spirit of the light quickly.
“Hello? Spirit of the light?” Rose called out in the echoing halls of the aqueduct. “I’m here to liberate you.”
There was no answer.
“C-Come on out! I really don’t want to be down here longer than I have to be!”
“Help…” something whispered.
Rose turned around to help the spirit of the light…only it wasn’t the spirit of the light. A skeleton possessed by malevolence stared back into Rose’s eyes with red beady eyes. The assassin was not fond of ghosts or the undead, so she instinctively swatted the skeleton away before racing down the hall of cells.
“Where is that damn thing?!” she cried.
“Lass, are you lost?” a tiny voice asked from one of the cells. It was a brown Normin with a crucifix around its neck.
“Are you the the spirit of the light?” Rose whimpered. “Please, there are angry skeletons chasing me. I may be an assassin, but I can’t handle things that come back to life. At least, not by myself. Ghosts and stuff like that—uh-uh, no way!”
When Rose turned around again, she found that there was now a horde of the skeletons was on the way for her head. The Normin commanded Rose to keep running, and as the skeletons passed its cell, it shot them with arrows of light that reduced them to dust.
“Lass, come open this door. I’m far too small to do it myself,” the Normin asked her at the entrance to the aqueduct. Rose did as she was told. “My name is Litsch, the queller of the undead and the spirit of the light. To what do I owe this honor?”
Rose explained the situation, and Litsch was perplexed. It tapped its chin with its nubby arm. It found it strange that Dezel was looking for the spirit of the light when it had been locked away. Ultimately, Litsch asked her to take it to the foot of the tower.
When Rose brought Litsch out of the aqueduct, she was met with an annoyed Dezel. His arms were crossed, and he bared his pointy teeth at them. “I didn’t think you’d actually find it, let alone free it from its cell,” he snarled. “I knew I should have killed it when I had the chance!”
The wind seraph whipped out his pendulums, wrapping Litsch in a tangling mess of cord. Rose sliced one of the pendulums with her daggers, the other angled up at Dezel’s neck. He couldn’t move, and the Normin freed itself.
“We’ve got to get to the tower! Leave this fool for now!” it commanded.
“You’re not going anywhere!” Dezel roared.
Rose kicked him away then made a break for it behind Litsch; Dezel chased them. The silhouettes that had been at the tower were gone now, and it was here at the center of the darkness where Litsch finally used its power.
“Normin Power!” Litsch cried out. The crucifix shined brilliantly, and suddenly all the darkness in the world was gone. It was bright as midday, and Rose could finally see Dezel’s world. “We can see again!” it celebrated, but it was perhaps too early. Dezel appeared a few feet away from them. “It’s the master of this world.”
Dezel approached Rose while Litsch prepared an arrow of light again. But he just stood there. Rose could almost see his face underneath his green-tipped hair. He raised his hand. Rose couldn’t help but flinch. This Dezel wasn’t her Dezel. Then she felt him pat her head. This Dezel was not her Dezel.
“I’m impressed,” Dezel softly, kindly said. “Maybe you do have what it takes to survive this hell of a soul space.”
The assassin, carefree in her ways, for once felt grounded, but not in a sense that made her drag her feet. She glanced up at Dezel’s obscure face; a shining sliver of peridot peeked through the strands. This Dezel was somewhat different from the real one.
Litsch smiled. He informed Rose that its ability would be usable by Dezel now. Just as Rose was about to leave, another voice called out to them. The brown Normin peered from behind her legs to find a green Normin who looked particularly sleepy.
“The darkness is gone,” it yawned. “Master Dezel is no longer angry. And a human is here? What did I miss?”
“Who are you?” Rose asked.
The green Normin looked up with sparkling eyes. “My name is Windur. I’m Dezel’s guardian. When his world became shrouded in darkness, I went to sleep. Quite strange that a human like you could pull off such a change—a change so big that he’s even capable of having a Paradigm Shift and advancing to the next level of growth. Even stranger is that there’s a human here at all. Dezel always hated humans.” Windur examined Rose. “Hmm, I can sense something special from you, but the aura coming from Dezel is also peculiar. Anyway, we can talk later. Let’s get him to the Paradigm Shift.”
For Dezel to be the master of the world, he was treated like a prop. It seemed weird, but since she had no frame of reference, Rose couldn’t be sure. She followed Windur with Dezel behind her to the Stonehenge. There, she watched Dezel approach the rays of light shooting from the rock pillars.
“So this is a Paradigm Shift? And it means that you’ve changed your thinking so you can mature, right? I mean, that’s basic psychology,” she murmured.
“I can’t believe you managed it, though,” Dezel embarrassedly said. “This means that you really can manage to go deeper.” The red-haired assassin asked him if that was a problem. “I don’t know if I’m ready to trust you that much, but…I feel like I should also give you the chance to prove yourself. Got it, Rose? You can go deeper, but I won’t let you screw things up! I’ll wrap you up so tight that you won’t even be able to breathe.”
Rose sighed at first but was happy to see that Dezel was a little more expressive on the inside. She watched him disappear into the light before she went back to reality.
-------------------------------------------------------
Rose woke next to Dezel, who was holding onto her hand somewhat tightly. Sorey and Mikleo were waiting to know if it was a good experience while Alisha, Edna, and Lailah were off to the side giving her the space she needed. She would want to talk with Dezel about what had gone on in his mind, and it wasn’t right to eavesdrop. Lailah called the young men away from them before Dezel roused.
“Well?” Dezel curtly asked her.
“It wasn’t so bad,” Rose truthfully told him lying next to him. “It was a little scary, but that’s where all the adventure is. How do you feel? Do you feel like anything has changed? Can you trust me more?”
“I just woke up, so I don’t know if everything is how it should be.” Dezel turned away. “But…I guess I wouldn’t mind it if you did it again. Just don’t screw anything up. A seraph’s soul space is special.”
Rose gave him a confident smile. Still, she wasn’t sure if he was only saying it to be nice. Oysh was sitting in front of them. “This is what it means to Dive,” he neither happily nor irritably said. It was like a fact of life for them now. “Use it carefully, and you’ll be strong in no time.”
Sorey and Mikleo were relieved that it turned out to be beneficial to their new friends, even though one of them didn’t necessarily show it. It meant Rose would stop asking about it and they could move on in peace. But while the entire episode had led to her being able to bond with Dezel and make a pact, they were still stuck in that little septum. And something was calling Sorey and the seraphim deeper still.
Notes:
A little too on the nose, but Cloche's first level is pretty much perfect for Dezel.
Chapter 28: Phase 2: Mural of Trials
Summary:
After Rose completes her Dive into Dezel, the Shepherd's crew ventures deeper into Tintagel Ruins to the mural of trials
Notes:
Hahaha...so I just kept writing and forgot that I'm supposed to update. Well I'm also doing NaNoWriMo, and while this chapter isn't included, I'm hoping to get to another 100K words. It starts with Chapter 31
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Heldalf stood alone at Glaivend Basin among the rotting corpses of the fallen soldiers who had gone insane and killed each other. He had sent Symonne on a reconnaissance mission; her task was to find and eliminate the Squires and the seraphim and to bring the Shepherd to him. The less friends that Sorey had around him, the easier it would be to corrupt his heart. Heldalf knew about the Seraphoid Project, and while he wasn’t a seraph, he was deeply interested in learning whether or not a hellion—the Lord of Calamity himself—could be used in place of a seraph. The power that would come from their merging would be more than enough to obliterate the world and start it anew.
“How long do you plan to stay at my side?” he suddenly asked. “I sensed your presence when the Shepherd was here, and I can tell you’re no regular seraph. You possess the power of a Reyvateil, yet you are here on the ground among wretches.”
The shadowy figure of the girl with long hair materialized behind him. Her skin was pale, almost pure white, enshrouded in the blackest hair. “My name is Mir,” she said. “I am the Mother Virus, the first and the strongest Reyvateil to ever exist.”
“The Mother Virus, you say?”
“Surely you did not think you were the only one producing the hellions. The malevolence that is generated from your existence is the seed, but it is not the only thing. My power germinates those seeds inside of living things. Essentially, we are one and the same split into two beings.”
Heldalf was intrigued by the Mother Virus. There was nothing more interesting than a Reyvateil that catalyzed the creation of the very beings that wanted to destroy the world she was supposed to love.
“If we are one and the same, then what is your end goal?” he asked her as if testing her volition.
“I wish to see the destruction of this world and the birth of a new one. Humans and seraphim and the Origins—all of them must be annihilated. Once these harbingers of ruin are erased, the world will be reborn. Humans and seraphim will be born again, but they will live in the harmony that that foolish boy craves, a pure harmony that can only be forged through rebirth.”
Mir peered up at Heldalf through her long, black, gangly hair. Her fuschia eyes were full of hate.
“You have another seraph with you. I will go with her and supplement her magic. In return, I want her to take me to the Origins so that I can kill them. She will be my vessel across this forsaken continent.”
An evil grin stretched across Heldalf’s lion face. Killing the Origin Reyvateils would certainly inhibit Sorey’s actions. If his seraphim couldn’t fight, he was defenseless, and if he was defenseless, he would be easily influenced. All men feared death; the Shepherd was no exception.
“We have a deal. When Symonne returns, I will have her take you to where you please,” he agreed. Mir smiled, bloodlust radiating from her.
-------------------------------------
“Man, I’m so tired suddenly!” Rose yawned. “Do you usually feel sleepy after a Dive?”
Lailah giggled. “You shouldn’t since you’re asleep when you do it,” she explained. She figured that the excitement of everything was the culprit. She looked at Sorey, who seemed distracted by something. “Do you sense something?”
“Kind of,” Sorey murmured. He took a step towards the edge of the Dragon Corridor which was lined with the statues of the eight serpentine dragons. “Oysh, do you know what’s back there?”
The dog stared down the corridor, and he saw something of a painting at the end of the hall. He wouldn’t answer, and considering that the Tintagel Ruins was full of switches and there was no walkway, it was up to them to solve the puzzle and find out what it was. Edna and Mikleo took it upon themselves to find the three switches that would open the walkway.
There were hellions all throughout these ruins, and while the two seraphim could hold their own against them, it was still exhausting to fight through the malevolence and under Frelia’s domain. The switches were on either side of a wall underneath the corridor and in one of the chambers, and they were guarded by a couple of skeleton hellions that were weak to earth but strong against water.
Edna sighed as she was already bored with the undead magician skeletons in her way in front of the first switch. She placed a number of rock mines around her before she shot her stone lances from the floor into them. One of the skeletons weaved in and out of her lances, breaking her defenses and leaping over her head.
“Air Pressure!” she called out. Immediately, the skeleton crashed into the floor. It launched a ball of water at her, and while it didn’t wound her greatly, she was poisoned by it, which she attributed to her distance away from Sorey and the malevolence that had weakened her. She used Rock Lance once more, killing the hellions and clearing the path to the switch.
“Damn hellions keep messing up my dress,” she panted. She shuffled around in her umbrella until she found a panacea bottle that she had received from her brother long ago from one of his voyages at sea. “Barrier,” she said, healing her wounds and buffering her defense while she set out to stepping on the switch. An old ruin that had so many traps was sure to have one more on the switch itself, but there wasn’t.
Meanwhile, Mikleo was holding his own against the mob of skeletons protecting another switch. Their water attacks did little to nothing against him, and he was somewhat more immune to their poisoning aspect. “Ice Reaver!” he cried out as he smashed them with slabs of ice. The skeletons crumbled, and he stepped on the second switch. “Better make sure I’m not missing anything.”
He left the alcove where the switch was, joining with Edna in the center chamber where they both spotted an irisdescent orb. They carefully approached it. Edna picked it up, commenting that it felt heavier than it looked. It shined brilliantly like a golden sun, and it was about the size of a ball small enough to just fill Edna’s hand. People could be seen inside of it.
“Interesting that this would be here,” the earth seraph commented. Mikleo looked perplexed. “It’s an Earthen Historia.”
“What do they do?” he asked.
“Figure it out, dummy. They’re special gems made from the earthpulse. At certain points where the earthpulse is extremely concentrated, the events of the past become imprinted in them, almost like a fossilized record of what happened long ago.”
Edna held onto it thinking that it was something that Sorey would want to see. The events that played within its core were clear as day to a seraph, but a human wouldn’t be able to perceive them. The earth seraph wasn’t too familiar with Earthen Historia gems, but she assumed that the one she and Mikleo had found could only be interpreted by those with her affinity for earth elements.
The two seraphim walked together, finding the final switch then headed back to the dragon corridor where Edna handed Sorey the glowing orb. Lailah’s singsong voice cried out, “an iris gem,” as Sorey turned it around and around in his hand. He was both intrigued and confused, and after Lailah and Edna explained what exactly it was, Dezel snatched it away. “Dezel!”
“This one only reacts with earth seraphim, but Sorey won’t be able to see anything,” he told them.
Edna hid behind her umbrella. She figured as much, and she knew the only way for Sorey to see into it was to Armatize with her. If he had already Dived as deep as he could into her soul, then it would have been easy. Unfortunately, he hadn’t even cracked through the surface. She ordered him to simply hold onto it for now.
“But don’t you think it’s important to know what’s going on?” Sorey asked her.
“It wouldn’t matter. The events within Earthen Historia are recorded in such a way that Dezel explained, and if I tried to recite its lyrics, you won’t be able to hear them,” Edna replied. “The ancient language of the continent—Ar Ciela—is pretty much like a code. Only certain seraphim can understand it. Eizen…used to know.”
The group fell silent before Rose nudged them to take the path towards the mural. And Dezel reluctantly escorted them to the other side of the corrior by blowing them across ledges that had pushed out of the walls like a bridge. As they got closer to the mural, Sorey’s chest tightened. Alisha and Rose felt nauseous and their seraphim were struck with splitting headaches.
“Such malevolence,” Sorey coughed.
“Why would there be so much here?” Mikleo asked.
“This place was an experimentation facility, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the seraphim they tortured ended up over here with no way of escaping,” Edna explained.
“Not to mention some of the drawings on here look like…” Lailah trailed off.
“They probably used their remains to paint it,” Dezel concluded.
“But why? Isn’t it bad enough that they tested on them?” Rose angrily questioned.
Alisha remembered Chancellor Bartlow’s plans to turn the seraphim of Hyland into Seraphoids. She worried how many they had converted since they had escaped. She wanted to go back, but Sorey needed Lailah’s power, and they couldn’t just transfer the pact. Lailah wasn’t as accepting of him as she was of her even if she was nice about it.
The mural on the wall smelled like iron, and before they recognized how it was painted, Lailah caught their attention. It was a large map of the Glenwood Continent with the Towers and the symbols of the four elements painted on it. Eolia was to the northeast of Ladylake, Frelia was between two areas called Meadow of Triumph and Pearloats Pasture, and Tilia was in a place called Plitzerback Wetland. The symbols of the elements were in places far harder to discern.
It was then that Sorey realized that each of the Divine Artifacts had those emblems. Were they related? He pulled out the Celestial Record that he had packed away so long ago, and sure enough within the aged pages were descriptions of trials. He was learned about the legend of the Shepherds, but this was a detail that had either been glossed over in the book or it was a secret.
“What does it say?” Mikleo asked.
“The Celestial Record doesn’t say much, but it looks like all Shepherds…‘searched far and wide for the spiritual powers that aided them in the preservation of the continent and the fight against darkness’,” Sorey replied.
“Huh, the author likes riddles,” Edna scoffed. “It’s pretty easy to figure out. The symbols on here mark where we can find the spiritual powers. The only question is why do we need them.”
Lailah fidgeted. She faintly remembered something, and the more she focused on it, the heavier her heart became. She glanced at Alisha. She couldn’t tell her because something deep inside felt like it would hurt her.
“There’s no harm in getting them,” Rose decided.
Sorey nodded. Shepherds worked with seraphim to fight the malevolence before, and since they had met the Lord of Calamity, the only logical reason to acquire these powers was to stop him. Putting the book away, he rallied his friends.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Dezel warned him. “What if the Lord of Calamity knew about this long before you did?”
Sorey put a finger to his lips in thought. “That just means we have to be careful. I don’t intend to let any of you get hurt. Even if…” he looked at Mikleo, “Even if my body can’t handle the burden of carrying two seraphim, or if I bond with another one or three more, I won’t let you guys get hurt.”
Mikleo hid his hands behind his back, clenching them in frustration that only Edna could see as another seraph connected to the same human. Alisha spoke up before he could say how he felt about such a careless promise:
“I’ve been wondering for a while, but why can Sorey connect with more than one seraph?”
“Can we connect with more than just one?” Rose added.
Lailah shook her head. She explained to the two girls that Sorey had a particular aptitude; specifically, his resonance was much higher than theirs because he was raised among seraphim and therefore was pure. Dezel cleared his throat, slipping in that Rose was just under the cut to be able to house more than one seraph, but it was all or nothing. If she tried to enter a pact with another seraph, her soul would strain, and she would die slowly and painfully. Rose, however, believed that to be a dirty lie because Dezel was secretly possessive and would get jealous of other seraphim not unlike Mikleo.
“Regardless, I mean what I say, Mikleo and Edna. I’ll do everything in my power as the Shepherd,” Sorey again promised. This time, he was looking straight at Mikleo. He didn’t want him to get hurt like he did in Ladylake ever again.
“Save the bedroom eyes for the bedroom, Sorey,” Rose scolded. She turned back to leave the mural. The malevolence wasn’t weakening, but it wasn’t strengthening either. She wasn’t sure if they were becoming accustomed, but she knew that the Sparrowfeathers wouldn’t be able to stay within Tintagel Ruins anymore. “Let’s get some shut-eye. Tomorrow morning, we head for Pendrago and find information on where we can find these trials.”
“Are you fucking insane?” Dezel snapped at her. “You know what happens to seraphim in Pendrago!”
“It’ll be okay,” she softly replied. “We won’t stay there long enough for the Rolance army to capture you.”
Alisha and Sorey exchanged curious looks; but Lailah, Mikleo, and Edna felt like things weren’t much better in Pendrago. Perhaps they were worse.
Notes:
Not gonna lie. I hit a bit of Writer's block after the Dive because I haven't gotten to play AT2 in a while and I haven't been able to play Zesty due to school. But I'm slowly getting back the motivation and ideas. Forewarning though, from here on, the Dives will probably be more back to back because there are now four seraphim that Sorey, Alisha, and Rose can Dive into.
Chapter 29: Phase 2: Artisan City of the Great Bell
Summary:
Dezel lets Sorey and Mikleo in on a secret he desperately wants to keep from Rose. The Zesty crew make it to Lastonbell after a run in with the guards.
Notes:
I kind of like how I'm writing Dezel. I'm looking at more fanart of him and appreciating him, and it's doing wonders.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey’s company returned to the other side of the dragon corridor where Oysh asked them what they thought about the mural. He let on that he knew what the emblems on the map were, and it seemed like he wanted to tell them where to find them, but it was up to the Shepherd to complete his tasks on his own merit. Whatever the case, they needed to rest before heading out on the next chapter of their journey. The excitement of Rose forming a pact wth Dezel after so many years of being with him and the exhaustion that came with Diving for the first time, as well as Mikleo and Edna fighting off hellions by themselves in a cesspool of malevolence, had drained them all of their energy. Despite all this, Sorey was raring to go explore more.
“Uh, no? Sorey, you’re travelling with girls, and girls need ‘girl time’,” Rose scolded. “We can’t just go out without making sure everything is in order.”
Edna and Lailah agreed, but Alisha knew exactly what she meant. The four of them headed off somewhere to have their so-called “girl time”, leaving Sorey and the seraphim of water and wind to keep him company.
“So, Dezel, how does it feel to be joining us?” the young Shepherd asked in an effort to make small talk.
“Not particularly ecstatic,” Dezel growled back. “You say you’re working to free seraphim, but what did you just force me to do with Rose?”
“It’s not like you’re a slave, though. Besides, you stayed with her for twelve years of your own free will.”
“I think you mean twelve years a slave. I knew they would never let me go considering that I was being hunted when Rose found me.” Dezel tipped his hat down. “She knew that I was blind from the minute she saw me, and she didn’t want that to be the reason I got caught. In many ways, it was a blessing, but…maybe it was some cursed fate.”
Mikleo leaned into Sorey. He was the brooding type. The cryptic brooding type. The type that thought things were hopeless from the get-go. Suddenly, Dezel asked them to follow him outside. His voice was unusually kind and soft.
When Sorey and the seraphim emerged from Tintagel Ruins, they found the stars twinkling ever brightly above them. They dotted the sky like diamonds, and if they were silent enough, ignoring the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the giant trees in Volgran Forest and the crickets hiding in the bushes, they could hear the gentle tinkling sounds they made.
“What I’m about to tell you, you cannot tell Rose under any circumstance,” Dezel threatened. “If you do, I will not hesitate to kill you.”
Sorey’s expression hardened because Dezel would keep his word. He waited for him to explain the meaning of this.
“I’m a cursed seraph. My domain propagates hellions, and I don’t know why. That was why the Rolance army hunted me that day. Cursed seraphim are golden gooses of power because they were the subjects for their most recent experiments. IPD seraphim…”
Dezel clenched his teeth.
“IPD seraphim are unaffected by the Viruses that plague Eolia’s domain and Tilia’s domain, but we’re vulnerable to a different kind of threat. Infel Phira, where we get our power, was damaged long ago, and that led to a flood of negative emotions into it. Those negative emotions can lead to something called IPD disease.”
Mikleo’s eyes widened. “That’s why you were acting like that when Oysh was talking about it,” he realized.
Dezel grunted. “It has two forms: positive and negative. The negative symptoms aren’t too terrible. A high fever and loss of consciousness, and Rolance figured out that it means that a seraph is gaining new powers. They hold those in reserve, waiting for them to wake up so they can brainwash them. But the positive form is exponentially deadlier.”
Dezel forced himself to speak again.
“If an IPD seraph is infected with the positive form of the disease, they lose conscious control of their actions and go on a rampage. They destroy everything in sight until they eventually kill themselves in the process. Rolance learned how they can incite it—if they threaten the seraph enough and their emotions reach the tipping point, they can turn our kind into short-term killing machines. They’ve been planning to use us to take over Hyland. Under Eolia and Tilia, this isn’t bad; but IPD disease is highly infectious. IPD seraphim within a fifty-meter radius can become infected.”
Sorey wanted to hold the now trembling wind seraph, to tell him that everything would be okay if he stayed with them. Rolance was no different from Hyland in torturing the seraphim to seize their power.
“That’s why when Rose found me and let me live with them for so many years, I could think of nothing but death. Sorey, if I become infected, promise me that you’ll finish me off before Rose can see me turn into a monster. I was ready to die back then when I had no connections. Even before our Dive, I believed that if Rose wasn’t allowed to see what was in my heart, then she wouldn’t be sad if that was my fate. But now we’ve gone too far…she can’t know about any of this.”
Sorey and Mikleo were somewhat confused. Having lived together for so long, they thought that Rose would know about something as serious as that. In truth, the IPD disease and its effects had been kept a secret from everyone outside of the priests’ sect and the Rolance army. If the people within the empire knew about the experiments, they would riot and kill every seraph they could find in fear of them becoming infected.
The three of them fell silent as the information sank in, and near the entrance leading into the underground ruin, Lailah stifled her weeps. Things were the same in Hyland and Rolance, and Dezel had reasons for his behavior. It would be another secret she had to keep from Alisha, and she knew for a fact that Rose could never know or hope to understand why he was the way he was. She quietly snuck back into the ruins, swallowing her sorrow and pretending to be as happy as ever.
---------------------------------------
The next morning, the Shepherd and his friends left the ruins after Rose ordered Eguille, the Ayn twins, and Rosh to search for a new hideout. She explained what she had found deeper within, and even they agreed that they couldn’t stay in a place that actively tortured seraphim. Oysh offered to stay there in case people got lost in Volgran Forest, and while Rose was against it, Alisha commented that it would be a strategic position should they need to rest there again.
“But what about the malevolence?” Rose countered.
“I’ll keep my head about myself,” Oysh promised. “As long as I stay near the front of the ruins, the malevolence shouldn’t have a terrible effect on me.”
Rose reluctantly allowed Oysh to do that, but when she turned to Sorey, she noticed that he didn’t seem like his usual cheerful self. Before she could ask him, Mikleo pulled him to the side. They whispered between themselves for a bit and then Sorey smacked his cheeks.
“How interesting,” Edna sighed. She didn’t say anything else about it. Alisha noticed that Lailah seemed off as well, but the little earth seraph deflected her questions simply by saying, “If you really want to know, do the Normincarena.”
Now they were headed to Pendrago. They headed through Volgran Forest past a huge tree stump towards the outside of a giant wall that sectioned a city away from the rest of the greenery. At first, Sorey was baffled that they were already at their destination, but Rose and Alisha just laughed at him. If things were that simple, they would have gone straight there overnight. This city was the city of great artisans called Lastonbell. It was made famous by the giant mechanized belfry that stood in the center of the city. When Sorey and Mikleo heard that, they instantly felt better and begged their friends to let them explore while they were passing through.
“Are you both that stupid?” Edna asked. “With seraphim out, it’s kind of a problem to gallivant around. Just because Lailah, Meebo, and I are different types of seraphim than what they have doesn’t mean that they won’t try to capture us. They might even forma truce and trade us back to Hyland.”
“But…but this is one of the coolest places ever!” Sorey whined. “Just think of all things we could learn about the history of this place! I can’t just leave without checking everything out!”
“How unbecoming of a Shepherd,” Dezel muttered.
Alisha suddenly ordered the seraphim to go inside their respective humans. Rolance soldiers were checking caravans for seraphim smugglers. Everyone did as they were told except Dezel.
“Dezel,” Sorey quietly said. “You have to. If you’re worried that Rose is going to find out, she won’t. It’s not the same as Diving.” He gave him a comforting smile. “Trust me, and trust Rose.”
Of course, Rose was curious about what they were talking about, but she couldn’t ask. Dezel went inside of her, which was an odd sensation in itself. Then came the question of Alisha’s armor.
“Alisha, change into these clothes,” Rose hastily said. She handed her her Sparrowfeathers merchant outfit. “Always keep a spare change of clothes; never know when you’ll need a disguise.” She pushed her into some bushes just behind a tree then kept watch to make sure that Sorey didn’t try to peek…not that he had any interest in seeing Alisha in her undergarments. “I’ll come back out tonight and put the armor into a bag or something. If we run into the Ayn twins or anyone else, then we can give them the bag and hide it. For the time being, Alisha will have to wear the Sparrowfeathers uniform.”
After a few minutes, Alisha came from the bushes in a khaki jacket, sea foam green blouse, and dark-brown pants. She put her hair into pigtails. She rarely ever made an appearance outside of Hyland, so there was a good chance that the Rolance army wouldn’t recognize her in this getup.
Sorey led Rose and Alisha to the gate, where they were interrogated about where they were heading and what their business was. “We’re heading to Pendr—” Sorey started before Rose jabbed his stomach.
“Sorry, my brother here had way too much to drink last night,” Rose laughed as Sorey lurched forward in pain. “We’re here to make a delivery to Boris’ Canteen. Just a small parcel.” She pulled out a small package that she most likely made last night.
The Rolance knight inspected it, nodded, and let them through the gate. Sorey breathed a sigh of relief once he crossed the threshold, but as soon as he did, another militaryman of the Rolace army approached them. He was more decorated and had a strong build. He was slightly taller than Sorey, with a scar bisecting his right eyebrow and his hair styled in a cowlicked updo. He had stern hazel eyes.
“Damn, another check?” Rose grumbled. She walked ahead of Sorey and Alisha. “Hey, how are things? We’re just here to drop off a parcel!”
“Can you tell me where?” the man asked.
“Boris’ Canteen.”
“Well, it’s doesn’t look like you’re hiding any seraphim.” He eyed Sorey, scrutinizing him with sharp eyes. “Quite a peculiar outfit. From where do you hail?”
“He’s gonna get caught if he doesn’t act fast,” Mikleo somewhat nervously said.
“W-Who, me?” Sorey chuckled. “I-I am but a humble lord!” he continued forcedly.
“I come from a well-off family, hence my attire; however, I am travelling with my wife and her apprentice sister,” Edna fed to him.
“I had all the riches of the world, but once my eyes lay on her crimsom-red hair, I was smitten!” Sorey’s arms, with Edna’s guidance, flailed about in grandiose gestures before wrapping around Rose’s waist. Sorey turned white, knowing full well what Dezel was going to do to him for touching his human. “In my passionate throes of love, I cast aside my title, courted this merchant, and followed her. She is so kind and gracious for teaching her sister to be like her! What a gal—g-girl!”
“This is terrible…” Lailah almost cried.
“All of you are idiots,” Dezel chastised.
“A-Ah, yes! My wonderful and strong fiancé!” Rose joined after Dezel began directing her what to say despite professing he’d rather die. “He protects us from bandits on the roads, and he ensures my sister is always safe. My darling sister, don’t you agree?”
“I must agree!” Alisha embarrassedly joined in. “Had he not gone with us, we would have surely died!”
“This is insufferable,” Mikleo sighed. He noticed that Edna had a mischievous smile on her lips. “Edna, what are you doing?”
Using slightly more of her power to control Sorey’s body like a marionette, she forced him to pull Rose close. Alisha’s jade eyes grew wide as Rose’s shut tightly. Sorey’s heart stopped. He wasn’t prepared for the ultimate betrayal, and he knew Dezel couldn’t help him if they wanted to be off the hook.
“You two,” the man sternly said just before Sorey and Rose kissed. “You’re a genuine couple. I hope that one day, I too, may find love in such an adventurous woman.” With that, the man left to inspect the other merchants entering the city of Lastonbell. “Best wishes, my lord!” he called out.
Sorey pushed Rose and Alisha to the nearest inn just inside the city gate. Once they checked in, all of the seraphim were front and center while their humans breathed sighs of relief. Of everyone, Mikleo and Dezel were the only ones irritated with the outcome of their spontaneous plan.
“That’s sexual harassment,” Dezel growled. “You can’t just force Rose to kiss some guy she doesn’t know!”
“And Sorey wasn’t comfortable with it, either!” Mikleo hissed.
Lailah and Alisha sneered as they held each other’s hands. They hadn’t been victim to Edna’s tricks, but Lailah did notice that the man was staring intensely at her the whole time. Aside from the fun everyone was having, she felt somewhat jealous of that man.
“Alisha,” Lailah whispered. The princess turned to her with an innocent smile only to find the fire seraph glaring at her. “Remember that you’re mine, and I’m yours, and no one can pull us apart.”
“W-Where did this come from?” Alisha shrieked.
“And furthermore, Edna, could you at least give me a warning before you make Sorey say all that stupid jargon!?” Mikleo miffed.
Edna opened her umbrella, turning on her heel and promptly ignoring the water seraph. While Sorey urged everyone to settle down, Dezel checked on Rose. She didn’t seem particularly bothered by the episode, but he couldn’t just leave her be. He was about to rest his hand on her shoulder when she turned to him as if on cue and demanded:
“I want to Dive again!”
“S-Sorey, me too. I want you to Dive into me again,” Mikleo requested.
Alisha and Lailah were somewhat surprised that they wanted to Dive, but perhaps it was because Edna had made them all uncomfortable that they were wanting that alone time to figure things out. They thought it was unapologetically adorable.
“I guess we haven’t Dived in a while,” Sorey sheepishly said.
“B-But we don’t have a Proxy Seraph,” Dezel warned. He was glad that was the case; he wasn’t ready for Rose to wander around inside of him again.
Rose took his hands. “It’ll be different. I think you can trust me enough to go by myself. If anything bad happens…Lailah, set us on fire!”
Lailah and Dezel both panicked, but Sorey and Mikleo thought it would be a good idea. A strong kick was needed to pull Rose out, and Alisha and Lailah and Edna understood the importance of monitoring Dives. Lailah hesitantly agreed. Sorey and Rose Armatized with their respective seraphim, focusing on their Divine Artifacts and falling into their deep sleep. As soon as they had initiated their Dives, a knock came at the door.
“Please, let me in,” a young woman’s voice ordered. “I know you’re Diving in there. I sensed it.”
Alisha pulled Lailah inside of her while Edna hid in the corner next to the door. After she opened her umbrella and sat down, the princess opened the door. Standing in front of her was a woman with long golden hair, piercing indigo eyes, and an angelic outfit similar to Dezel’s in style.
“Please, let me come in. I’m an IPD seraph named Cloche, but you must refer to me at Lady Cloche or the Holy Maiden,” she demanded. “Quickly, before they find me.”
Notes:
I think I've decided to mix in the Reyvateils from the Ar Tonelico series as well besides the Origins. I mean, Lastonbell....Cloche, the 33rd Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell...so many bells.
Chapter 30: Phase 2: Tales of Destiny
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 4: Mikleo
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
Disclaimer: I don't know much of anything about Tales of Destiny, but I did read up on a specific part that is going to be applied to the fic. I'm sorry that I didn't do it justice. Wish Bandai gave Mikleo Jude's outfit as DLC. That would have been easier to write. That said, my perception of Leon comes from Tales of the Rays.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey woke up at the Stonehenge as usual, and in no time Gaine was there ready to belittle him. It wasn’t happy to see him, but this time it seemed more like the Normin was annoyed by something other than his presence. When the Shepherd asked it what was wrong, it flashed an angry look at him.
“I’m annoyed that you’ve managed to make it this far. This is the fourth level, and it’s also when the real challenges begin,” Gaine reluctantly explained. It crossed its nubby arms. “Considering how much Mikleo treasures you, I’m in charge of making sure that you don’t die while you’re still wandering around in his soul. If you end up in critical condition, I’ll have no choice but to kick you out then get to work on preserving his sanity. It’s pretty disgusting how much of you is in his entire being.”
“The way you’re talking makes it sound as if he’s gone ballistic before,” Sorey told it. “I’m confident that I can keep him under control. After all, Mikleo would never intentionally hurt me.” He made himself feel both happy and embarrassed that that was how Mikleo was.
Sorey left before Gaine could counter him. It shouted behind him to search for Mikleo and help him retrieve something called the Eye of Atamoni. The Shepherd simply waved with a smile before heading to Straylize Temple where the artifact of choice was housed. He was brimming with happiness; a ruin that he had never seen or heard of had been created in Mikleo’s soul. He had to wonder where his water seraph learned of it or if it was simply a make-believe place tailored to the story of this level.
He walked in with his sword drawn just in case he was ambushed by some sort of guardian. The Eye of Atamoni that he was told to find was something with immeasurable power. The deeper he went to find it, the more and more the temple ruins began to resemble the fabled Pendrago shrinechurch’s sept. Sorey was mystified by the level of detail in the architecture.
“Mikleo, you’ve really outdone yourself,” Sorey whispered happily. He silently wished he was there to explore it with him.
Soon, in the deep catacombs of the temple, floating in the air about him in a dark chamber, he found the Eye of Atamoni. It was enormous and seemed almost impossible to transport. No, it was impossible.
“How am I supposed to retrieve it if it’s this big?” Sorey hopelessly asked.
“Perhaps I can help,” a little voice said from behind a boulder in the chamber. A blue Normin stepped out into the open underneath the faint blue glow of the Eye of Atamoni. “My name is Invalada.”
“I’m Sorey, Mikleo’s partner,” the Shepherd introduced. “How can you move this thing?”
“I can use Song Magic to shrink it, but it will take some time, and he will be here soon.”
“Who?”
Invalada trembled. “He has been guarding this place to make sure no one stole the Eye of Atamoni. He heard about a man that looked like a general coming to take it away.”
“But to do that, he would need Song Magic, right? The Eye if too big to just carry.”
“Yes, but I’m not very strong by myself. If I get captured, then I will do my captor’s bidding.”
Sorey scratched his head. Invalada sounded strong, but in reality, it was weak and vulnerable. Regardless, he had to obtain the Eye of Atamoni. He politely asked the Normin to shrink it to the size of his palm, and Invalada began its melodious chant.
As he listened to its song, he noticed the air grow frigid. “Ice Reaver!” Mikleo’s voice echoed. Two slabs of ice protruded from the cobblestone ground beneath Sorey, crushing him with titanic force. He sustained some damage, and he began to fear that Gaine would be right about him dying.
But the Mikleo of this world was not his Mikleo. The Mikleo of this world looked cold. His hair didn’t swirl to the left but hung over his right eye. He wore a dark blue shirt adorned with gold and a pink cape, his white pants extending down his legs and over his ebony shoes. He wielded an ornate sword and needle-like dagger. A single silver teardrop earring hung from his left ear.
“Mikleo?” Sorey coughed. He held his stomach, but everything in his body felt like it had gone through a meat grinder. “What are you doing?”
“Mikleo? I don’t recall meeting anyone named Mikleo,” the water seraph growled. “My name is Leon Magnus, Swordian Master of Chatlier. I’m here to dispose of anyone who would try to steal the Eye of Atamoni.” He held the sword to Sorey’s neck. “Any last words, fiend?”
Sorey knew that everything was simply an exaggeration of what was supposed to be Mikleo’s feelings, but to think that a persona would want to outright murder him. He curled up in apparent fear of him slitting his throat until Leon pulled his sword from his neck. He dragged him out of the temple and to isolated cage cells. He sat Sorey in front of one of them then materialized an electric tiara from his pocket.
“M-Mikleo…” Sorey truthfully whimpered. Each second passed with an augmentation of his astonishment and trepidation.
“This will be your collar for now. You may be of use to me, so I will spare your life. If you attempt to kill me, I will retaliate.”
Leon placed the electric tiara on chestnut head, and with a snap of his fingers, he gave him a warning shock. Sorey’s head pounded, and for once in all the time he had gone into Mikleo’s soul space, he was genuinely terrified that this Mikleo would kill him.
While Sorey trailed behind Leon like an obedient slave, Gaine walked with him. It looked amused staring at the electric tiara. The high and mighty Shepherd was now nothing more than a whipped dog, yet if things were to remain this way, Sorey would waste away in reality. The Armartization that allowed Dives to happen wouldn’t keep him alive.Mikleo resonated with his soul, and if that soul disappeared into the maw of death, they would separate. Sorey’s soul would scar him, and once the depression and horror set in, Mikleo would fall prey to the malevolence and become a dragon, slowly rotting away until his sanity was eaten.
“Mik—Leon, where are you taking me?” Sorey asked him nervously.
“I must make you suitable for combat. It will cost about 5000 gald per piece of equipment, but your stats will be bolstered by 100 points,” Leon said. He pulled out a small coin purse and what looked like to be character sheets detailing stat bonuses and detriments of the available equipment lying around the temple.
“Combat?”
“You didn’t think you were the only marauder out there trying to steal the Eye of Atanomi, did you?”
Gaine snickered as Sorey bowed his head. He wasn’t downtrodden like it thought but merely analyzing the situation. What would be the analogy to all of this? Or perhaps this was simply a stratagem that Mikleo had thought about some time ago and was practicing it here? He couldn’t ask, not when he was so focused on preparing him to protect the Eye of Atanomi alongside him.
Leon brought Sorey to a blacksmith near the temple. He bought him a chestplate and a dull sword, which seemed odd since the goal was to make him suitable for battle. These wares were too old and flimsy to serve any purpose. Suddenly, Invalada came racing from the temple. It was distraught and subsequently terrified to tell Leon why it had run so fast to find him.
“L-Leon, someone’s stolen the Eye of Atanomi!” it cried.
“What?!” the water seraph snapped.
“A big guy wearing red and silver armor came in, saying that he would use it to restore the floating continents! We’ve got to stop him before he destroys the world!”
Sorey’s heart sank when Leon didn’t react to the threat. He was afraid that he was overconfident in his ability to fight the thief; if Leon lost the battle against him, they would fall into the darkness and die slowly and painfully. He grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around and steadying him.
“Mikleo, we have to stop him together! You can’t fight him by yourself!” Sorey told him. Leon snapped his fingers. The electric tiara flickered before sending a current through him. Sorey fell to the ground while holding his head. “Mikleo, listen to me!”
“I don’t take orders from my prisoner,” Leon snarled. “Invalada, take me to the temple. I will deal with the intruder myself.”
The little Normin shuffled nervously. The thief had escaped into the tunnels that served as an underground hideout from the temple. Leon didn’t hesitate to head there immediately, bringing Sorey along with him despite not being properly equipped.
The underground tunnels and caverns were chilly and echoed, and water dripped from the ceilings. It seemed that they were under a large lake, and if the ceiling gave way, the place would flood in no time. There was an old mining elevator near the back of the caverns.
“Mikleo, wait,” Sorey urged Leon. “Can’t you see this is a trap?”
“I will defeat the thief and return the Eye of Atamoni to where it should be,” Leon said.
Gaine and Invalada could sense there was something wrong. The persona wasn’t listening to Sorey, and they had little influence on what it did. When they stared down toward the back of the cavern where the thief was preparing to board the elevator, they were struck with dread.
Leon pointed his sword at the thief. “Return the Eye of Atamoni!” he demanded.
The thief turned around to reveal the man that had interrogated the Shepherd and his friends at the gate just after they entered Lastonbell. His chocolate hair was in the same cowlicked mohawk and he still wore Rolance’s colors. Sorey didn’t understand—why was this man being viewed as a threat? Was it because Mikleo had gotten jealous after Rose and Sorey pretended to be married?
Leon pushed Sorey ahead of him, ordering him to attack. When Sorey refused, he used the electric tiara on him. A set of negative numbers appeared in front of the abused Shepherd as if the soul space was counting his health points. It was counting his health points, and if it reached zero, he would die.
“Attack,” Leon mumbled. He dashed forward, swatting the Rolance general and negating a set amount of his health points.
“Hidden Arte: Tornado Drive!” the general yelled. Both Sorey and Leon took damage, but the pain radiating through the former’s body felt too real for just a Dive.
Again, Leon ordered Sorey to attack the captain, and again he refused. The shocks followed every nerve in his body. One more and that would be the end of him. Leon prepared to use his Mystic Arte: Cleansing Inferno, and as he charged power, Invalada had to do something. Sorey jumped in front of the general just before Leon attacked, and the Normin used its power to negate some of the damage. Sorey’s health point counter dropped down to only one point, and now that he was so weak, Leon had a dilemma. He didn’t want to kill him, but insubordination was not allowed.
“Mikleo, you’ve got to stop…” the brunet panted and wheezed. “Killing this man won’t do anything. Let him talk; there has to be a reason that he stole the Eye of Atamoni.”
Gaine couldn’t believe its eyes. It didn’t think Sorey would do something so drastic. It watched the scene play out.
Leon lowered his sword. “Speak,” he commanded the thief.
“My people need this power. Something evil is happening in my village,” the general stated. “I had heard that the Eye of Atamoni could vanquish the evil. It was out in the open, so I believed that I could simply take it.”
“See? There was a reason behind all of this,” Sorey coughed.
“Do you think that excuses his crime?” Leon growled.
“It doesn’t, but he doesn’t deserve death. Mikleo, you’re kinder than that. It’s not like you to immediately attack people without listening to them, at least I didn’t think it was like you.” Sorey turned to the general with the little energy he had. “Sir, why don’t you and Mikleo go together to vanquish the evil? After all, both of you want to protect the people and the world.”
Leon sheathed his sword. “That won’t be necessary,” he softly said after some thought. “General, I will allow—”
There was a rumbling deep in the cavern.
“This place is going to give!” Gaine warned. “We need to get out of here or we’re all goners!”
The general helped Sorey to the elevator with Invalada and Gaine on his back. Leon, however, stayed behind. “Mikleo, come on, the ceiling is going to cave in!” Sorey begged him. Leon shook his head. “Come on!”
“If the persona of this world dies, the real Mikleo will collapse,” Invalada said. “Please, Leon, you have to come with us!”
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” Gaine snapped.
“There’s no reason to die!” the general told him.
“All of this would have been avoided if I had been kinder. And that elevator can only hold so much. It would be best to just leave me here,” Leon said. “Besides, who’s going to operate the elevator for you to escape?”
Using what energy he had left in him, Sorey jumped off the elevator. He grabbed his seraph’s wrist and pulled him to the elevator, but Leon still refused to go. He couldn’t shock him to leave him when he was so close to death.
“S-Sorey, why are you trying to save me?” Leon asked. “I’ve hurt you and used you as a party member to attempt to unjustly kill someone.”
“Because the real Mikleo is important to me, and you’re a part of him. If you die, so does a part of him. I love every part of him, even the dark sides that try to do good. I won’t let you die; I promised this!”
Sorey punched the button and scrambled onto the elevator at the moment that water began to fill the cavern. In a matter of minutes, they were on the surface near the Stonehenge, the elevator shaft soon after turning into a geyser. The shining light that signified the Paradigm Shift was blinding, and while Invalada had granted its ability to Leon, Leon wasn’t sure if he was ready to move on.
“Trust me, you are. I want to help you grow. I’ll always be with you,” Sorey reassured. He held out his hand.
Leon couldn’t help but tear up. He held the Shepherd’s hands before stepping into the light. He went onto the next level, and the light faded away. When Sorey was alone, Gaine approached him.
“This is only the fourth level. Remember that. Things will get harder and nastier from here. I won’t tell you to always listen to what he says, anad I won’t tell you to always listen to your gut. You have to find a balance, so you don’t make the world collapse on itself in a paradox,” it said.
“I don’t intend to let that happen,” Sorey promised. He returned to reality after holding his chest for a little while.
---------------------------------
Sorey woke up to find Mikleo staring at him with utmost concern. The brunet looked feverish; what had happened inside of Mikleo’s soul had nearly killed him, and he could barely push himself up. He was just as exhausted in reality as he had been in the Dive.
“Are you okay?” he gently asked.
“I’m fine, but what about you?” Mikleo asked him as he made a block of ice to put on his forehead. “It’s worse than the last time.”
“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
Sorey grinned happily at him. Mikleo reluctantly took his word, and when he looked over at Rose, who was still Armatized with Dezel, he wished that he was strong like the wind seraph so he could protect his beloved Shepherd.
Then he glanced up at the young woman sitting with Lailah and Edna. She had golden blonde hair and intense indigo eyes. Her outfit looked angelic, but she seemed exhausted.
“Mikleo’s awake!” Lailah smiled. She clapped her hands together. Now they only had to wait for Rose and Dezel.
Notes:
Next chapter starts the NaNoWriMo chapters. So far I've written 26,760 words not including any edits!
Chapter 31: Phase 2: The Caged Bird
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 2: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
This chapter marks the beginning of the NaNoWriMo chapters! It's based on Finnel's cosmosphere. Also the semester is over and I can finally update!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Dezel, it’ll be okay. You won’t hurt me, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re safe!” Rose told her seraph.
“I’m not worried about being safe. You’re going into the second level. I…I can’t show you,” Dezel persisted, recoiling from her delicate and caring touch. The assassin embraced him as they fell to their knees. Rose had learned that to get through his prickly shell, she had to reassure him that she would be okay. She wouldn’t change her mind about him, and she meant it when she said she would keep him safe. “Rose, why are you like this?”
“Because I don’t want you to get hurt like Sorey and Mikleo did,” Rose beamed. “Come on, let’s get this over with and then I can get out of your hair like you want me to.”
Rose let Dezel stand up, and after squeezing his hands, she touched his chest.
-------------------------------------
Dezel’s second level of his soul space was markedly different. It was nowhere close to resembling Ladylake or any of the cities and villages that they had visited during their travels. It was dark and cold, and Rose couldn’t help but attribute the darkness to Dezel’s blindness, the coldness to his reluctance to let her close to him. He was an enigma.
“He’s really got some deep, personal stuff,” the red-haired assassin sighed. “But I won’t get anywhere just standing around.” She smacked her face, ready to get to business.
“Oh, you’re back!” Windur chirped. “I was wondering when you would be here again. I’m surprised that the Master didn’t scare you away.”
“I’ve lived with Dezel for a long time. He can’t really scare me anymore. He can make me angry, but he can’t scare me. Anyway, what’s up with the dreary scenery? I thought I had fixed him in the last level. I brought him the gift of light.”
Windur smirked. “The levels can either operate independent of each other or in conjunction. Usually the first three levels are all independent because you haven’t gone deep enough to know his true nature.”
“Of course,” Rose sighed. “Well, I’d better hurry up and get to the lower levels so that way I can really help him.”
Windur waggled its nub. “That’s where you’re wrong, and you’ll die. It depends on Dezel’s thinking. You can’t rush him, you know.”
Rose found herself in a predicament, but she had to concede because Dezel was his own person. She was only there to help him through all these internal conflicts. She listened to Windur’s advice before leaving the Stonehenge. Unlike the first level, which had several sites of interest, this level only had two excluding the entry point. There was a large cage in one corner and shackles in another. From where she was, she spotted the curled-up form of her seraph in the cage. She headed to the cage.
“Dezel?” she hesitated. “What are you doing in there?”
“Making sure he doesn’t come after me,” the wind seraph curtly said.
“Who?”
“The battle-hungry fighter.”
“That doesn’t really tell me anything.”
“Just leave me alone. I’m tired of constantly dying.”
Rose’s heart skipped. Someone had been killing Dezel in his soul space? There wasn’t much that she could do with her level of understanding. She left the cage and went to where the shackles were. Here she found a man that wore the same clothes as Dezel, but he had kind eyes and long hair tied in a ponytail. He looked somewhat older than him.
“Oh, hello, who are you?” the man asked.
“The name’s Rose. I’m Dezel’s partner,” the assassin introduced herself.
“Partner? Ha-ha, that’s funny. I’m Dezel’s partner. His lifelong partner. The partner that died for him, and I’ve been exacting my revenge.” The man grinned at her and pulled out a pair of chainlink pendulums. “Dezel doesn’t deserve to have any other partners if he can’t even protect one. It’s alright, girl, I’ll save you the trouble of dying at his hands!”
The man flung his pendulums at her while she was still confused, but in the nick of time, Dezel took the lethal blows. He fired an arrow of wind magic at the man before crumbling at Rose’s side.
“D-Dezel!” Rose cried out.
“I’m terrible, but I won’t let you die,” he coughed. “The Paradigm Shift is open. Get me there before it’s too late.”
Rose, beyond lost, did as she was told. Windur was there shaking its head. She helped Dezel to the edge of the light. “Dezel, don’t you think this was too fast?” she asked him doubtfully.
“No. This is what the rest of my soul is like. If you want to keep going, then you’ll have to get used to this.”
“But this makes no—”
Before she could finish her sentence, he passed through the light of the Paradigm Shift.
------------------------------------------
Dezel and Rose woke up side by side, but the latter was unsatisfied with the Dive. She wanted to ask him what happened, but Dezel pretended as if it went over well. She had gotten to Dive again, and they just happened to complete the level quickly. She, however, was adamant about understanding why the Dive had been so underwhelming and confusing. Perhaps Diving again would support her hypothesis that he did it on purpose.
Notes:
Word count: 885
Don't forget to comment! My inbox has been dry for months! Also this chapter is purposely short.
Chapter 32: Phase 2: The Platinum Knights
Summary:
After the Dive, the Zestiria crew meet Cloche and a certain captain of the Platinum Knights.
Notes:
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
I've just finished playing Ar Tonelico 2, so I can write more now! Am I going to upload more quickly? Probably not. Also, Cloche is from Ar Tonelico 2 and is only called a seraph to reflect the Zestiria elements.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Now that everyone was awake and cognizant of Cloche’s presence, the blonde seraph felt she could finally speak. Lailah and Alisha had spoken to her while Sorey and Rose conducted their Dives. Edna paid attention, but she didn’t bother getting too involved yet. She would have advised Lailah not to get involved either. They didn’t know the situation in Rolance, and for a seraph to be walking around in broad daylight among greedy humans—it seemed almost like a trap. Nevertheless, Alisha didn’t want to abandon a soul in need. She had seemed worried enough about getting caught. To Edna, her style of dress was attention-grabbing, making her more suspicious and she would have to chastise Alisha later for endangering them.
“What are you glaring at?” Cloche irritably asked Edna.
“A potential spy,” the earth seraph retorted. “How does a seraph like you walk freely? Especially when there are Rolance knights right outside our door?”
“Edna, be kind,” Alisha scolded.
“I’m waiting for an explanation.”
Mikleo shifted so that he was better hidden by Sorey while Dezel slowly tugged on Rose’s sleeve with apprehension. Lailah wasn’t so afraid or distrustful. She didn’t sense anything evil coming from the seraph, and she couldn’t imagine that a seraph would work against them besides Symonne.
Cloche was reluctant at first because she was among unfamiliar people. She opened her mouth to speak, but Dezel cut her off to say:
“She’s an IPD.”
Rose’s eyes widened. She understood that for Cloche to be an IPD, she had been taken to Pendrago. She had to have escaped, and the only people that could have helped her would have been the Sparrowfeathers. Cloche confirmed this then told them that they bade her farewell in the Meadow of Triumph to the west of Lastonbell. She was told to find a man named Mayvin.
“I’m the Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell of Lastonbell; this is my home,” Cloche said humbly yet tearfully. “Most of the people remember me, but still, there’s reluctance in helping me hide from the Rolance soldiers. They turn a blind eye to me, but if a soldier tries to abduct me, they help me get away.” Being, for the most part, neglected by her people made her heart sank. “I had seen this young man and you ladies come into the inn after that mediocre improvised skit. For some reason, there was a distinct aura radiating from you three, and lo and behold, you three are harboring seraphim within you.”
“Let’s not say that too loud,” Sorey nervously said. He stood up from the floor, walking to the window and pulling the curtains shut then moving to the door and locking it. “My name is Sorey. I’m the Shepherd who is going to make sure that humans and seraphim can live in peace together. Rose and Alisha,” he pointed to the respective girls, “are my allies. They’re Squires, and they also want to end the slavery of seraphim.” Lailah, Mikleo, Edna, and Dezel all stood next to their partners as Sorey introduced them.
Cloche gave a formal greeting to them. “I used to have a partner,” she said. “He wasn’t a Shepherd, but he was a soldier that didn’t believe in turning us into killing machines. In fact, he was part of the division that contained those who had suffered from IPD disease.” Dezel got goosebumps. He threw a puff of air at Cloche, who quickly lost her calm demeanor. “You brute! How dare you—”
“Don’t say another word,” he snarled.
“What is wrong with you?”
Rose looked up at the wind seraph. Alisha noticed that Lailah seemed perturbed. Sorey was worried about Dezel even though he wasn’t connected to him. He felt sorry for Rose, who wanted to know more about him and his past.
“There’s no point in hiding it now,” Edna told him. “You know what happened in Ladylake, so it’s only fair that you tell us what they do in Pendrago.”
“I refuse. I don’t want to talk about it, and I don’t want to hear about it.”
Cloche adverted her eyes. “I understand it’s a sensitive topic for someone who was rescued,” she gently said.
“Shut up,” Dezel snapped.
“O-Okay, okay, enough talk about that!” Alisha interrupted. She clapped her hands together. “Let’s survey the area so we have an escape route for Cloche. We should also make sure we don’t leave any clues to our passing through here behind.”
Lailah agreed, but Sorey was still bothered by what Cloche had said. Nevertheless, he commanded Mikleo and Edna to take refuge inside of him. Alisha was asked to stay with Cloche in the inn, and while the princess was opposed to the idea, she had an inkling that he wanted to talk with Rose alone. It was the contrary.
Sorey and Rose left the inn together. The first stopped under the giant belfry, which Mikleo gave a textbook definition about. Next was the park hill that overlooked a field of radishbells, which Dezel explained were rather poisonous. It was there that they saw a familiar old face.
“Mayvin?” Rose uttered. The old man turned around. “It really is you!”
“How are you, lass?” Mayvin joyfully greeted. “And Sorey, I’m surprised you’re still with her. How is Lady Alisha? Where is she?”
Sorey walked up close to him then spoke with a quiet voice. “She’s at the inn with a runaway who was looking for you. She’s an IPD seraph, and she said the Sparrowfeathers told her to find you.”
Mayvin let out a hearty laugh. “I always knew you were never one for the wiles of women! Well, it was nice meeting up with you. I’m about to head on to my next destination. I’ll go grab some grub and be on my way. Take care of yourselves!”
It was a short meeting in passing, but Rose and Sorey trusted that Mayvin would be able to get Cloche out of Lastonbell and take her somewhere far away. They left the park and headed to the Lastonbell sanctuary that was a few paces down the street from the inn. Sorey was ready to walk in when a priest and a soldier exited the sanctuary.
“We should tail them,” Mikleo said in Sorey’s mind.
Sorey let them walk for a little bit as he pretended to be sightseeing around the sanctuary. Rose followed behind him, and soon they came to what seemed to be a tavern. They were talking about the seraphim in Pendrago and about the IPD disease that struck fear in Dezel. The number of outbreaks had increased exponentially according to the priest, and the strength of the diseased seraphim had increased one-hundred-fold according to the soldier. The soldier then mentioned having to euthanize a few that had become far stronger than beyond their control.
“We have to get to Pendrago as soon as possible,” Sorey said.
“Dezel, I know you don’t want to go, but we can’t let this continue,” Rose softly said with the hope that her seraph would understand.
Her chest tightened, an indication that he was trying not to be scared. “We should Dive again.” It was a strange abrupt request, and Rose was bewildered that he wanted to Dive.
Sorey and Rose returned to the sanctuary, and after a few minutes, Alisha had joined them. She handed Sorey a note from Cloche that thanked him for finding Mayvin—even if it had been coincidence. He was relieved that they were able to leave without a problem, and he was grateful that the inn was so close to the gate into the city. With the three of them together, they walked into the sanctuary.
Sorey and Alisha were half-expecting to see seraph corpses inside, but it turned out to be a regular place of worship albeit it dusty and stagnant. The sanctuary hadn’t been used in some years, presumably when the enslavement began.
“What was the point in coming here?” Edna grumbled.
“We just saw a priest and knights leave this place, so we thought there might have been something here,” Rose explained. “Guess it was just a quiet meeting place.”
“You don’t think the Rolance army is suspicious of us?” Lailah worried.
“That’s a possibility,” Alisha said. “It might have been a trap.”
The door slammed open behind them, and the general that had stopped them stood there with a stern look. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha froze in their tracks when they saw his sword was drawn. Sorey then slowly reached for his sword, but the general thrust his sword forward at him, stopping just before he could have injured him.
“Don’t make another move,” the general cautioned. “I’d rather not have to spill any blood today, in a holy place no less. I have a few questions for you lot. Any attempt to escape will be met with the strength of the Rolance army.”
Sorey lowered his hand. He asked for the general’s name.
“My name? Depending on how this interrogation goes, you won’t need to know it for long. My name is Sergei Strelka, Captain of the Platinum Knights of the Rolance Army.” He didn’t put down his sword, and the glare in his eyes were as intense as when he first entered. Sorey’s heart was beating faster, a repercussion of keeping Mikleo and Edna inside of him.
“What does the Rolance army want with a bunch of merchants?” Rose cautiously asked.
“We received two reports from you—one involving your drunk brother and one of a newlywed couple. What would a brother and sister be doing as a married couple? And about Boris’ Canteen—there is no such place in this city. We also received a report from the innkeeper of several other voices in your room.”
Alisha and Rose turned pale while Sorey willed Mikleo and Edna to calm down. He was still stuck in position with Sergei’s sword at his throat. He worried about Cloche and Mayvin.
“You’re suspected of smuggling seraphim through Lastonbell, and you will be arrested on those charges,” Sergei told them.
“Wait!” Sorey begged him. “Please, listen to us.” He put his hands up in surrender, but his emerald eyes pleaded that the general lend an ear to them. “It’s true; that’s what we’re doing, but we have a reason.”
“A lot of people have plenty of reasons to commit their crimes. What makes you different?”
Sorey coaxed Mikleo and Edna to come out, and he asked that Rose and Alisha did the same. Dezel protested for fear that Sergei would capture him. All of the seraphim nonetheless were forced to come out. The Shepherd, knowing that what he was doing was risky, got on his hands and knees.
“Sergei, we’re begging you to let us go,” he fervently begged. “We’re on a mission. We want to save the seraphim from the suffering they’ve endured. We want a world where humans and seraphim live in peace. I want to see seraphim enjoying life with humans.”
Mikleo placed a hand on his human’s back. Lailah and Alisa hugged each other, and Rose held Dezel’s trembling hand. Sergei appeared to soften, but he was conflicted between abiding by his duty as a Rolance captain and showing compassion to the Shepherd. He had heard the legend of the Shepherd long ago when he was a child. He never imagined he would see the day that he would run into one; even still, he had a duty to uphold no matter how horrible it was.
Edna opened her umbrella. “Sorey, stand up,” she ordered him.
The brunet did as he was told only to find that Sergei had pulled his sword away from Sorey’s head. The general asked Sorey to meet him outside alone. He decided that he would wager with him. If Sorey could defeat Sergei in a one-on-one duel, then he would let them go. If Sergei won, they would be arrested and taken to Pendrago for punishment.
Outside the sanctuary doors in the small grassy terrace, Sergei gave him those conditions. He wasn’t going to pull his punches, and he was going to fight him as if to kill him. Sorey was anxious what with everything on the line. He drew his sword. Could he really kill a man that seemed hesitant to even fight?
“Sergei, we don’t have to do this,” Sorey told him. “I don’t want to kill someone because they’re only doing what they’re supposed to.”
The captain gritted his teeth. “Cowardly Shepherd! Your seraphim lives are at stake, and yet you hesitate to defend them!” he shouted at him. “It’s true that I’m doing what I was told to do, but I want to see with my own eyes if you have what it takes to protect them! Hold up your sword, Shepherd, and fight like you wish to kill me!”
Sergei charged towards Sorey with his sword ready to pierce his heart. For a bulky man, he was fast, and the strength within him was far beyond what Sorey had imagined. There was a reason he was the captain, and if he was as cunning as Maltran and Landon, he would stand no chance against him. The Shepherd managed to get a few hits in, but it was like hitting a tree with a piece of cloth. It had no effect, trapping Sorey in one spot, leaving him vulnerable.
“Sonic Thrust!” Sergei called out. He jabbed Sorey in the abdomen with so much force that the young man flew back a couple feet from him. He was paralyzed, the blow hitting pressure points that compromised his ability to move. “Tornado Drive!”
Sergei leaped into the air with a spin, and as he landed a shockwave pushed his opponent farther back against a wall. The citizens of Lastonbell were concerned about the yelling, but they knew better than to wander into a fight involving one of Rolance’s finest.
Mikleo dashed outside where he saw Sorey backed up to a wall. “Sorey!” he panicked. “I’ll save you!”
Dezel flung a pendulum around his wrist, pulling him back inside. He warned him that if he interfered with the duel, Sorey would die. Sergei was no ordinary man. He was in an elite position.
“Heavenly Torrent!” Sorey coughed. His weak water Hidden Arte did little to stun Sergei. “Heavenly Torrent…!”
This time he missed as Sergei dashed around to his side. He used the pommel of his sword for another jab before throwing him from the wall. Before long, Sorey could no longer tell where Sergei was; the energy he was expending to remain conscious was exhausting him. His connection to Mikleo and Edna had weakened him as they sapped energy, and he was sure that if they had been allowed to fight he would already be dead. The most problematic part? The more tired he became, the more his blurred vision affected him. He couldn’t sense him either.
“Lion’s Howl!” Sergei’s voice came from behind him. It was the strongest Hidden Arte in the Platinum Knights arsenal. It propelled Sorey forward, and he thought he heard his back break. The knockback from the attack gave him whiplash, and he felt nauseous from the pain.
Mikleo and Edna fell to their knees inside of the sanctuary. Their bodies throbbed, phantom pains from Sorey’s wounds. “He’s not going to make it,” Edna wheezed. “He’s on his last legs.”
Outside, Sorey struggled to push himself up. Sergei pointed his sword at him. “If you surrender now, I will bargain with the King of Rolance to spare your life,” he reluctantly said.
Then he noticed it. The dullness in his eyes like cataracts were clear as day. “You’re blind? I’ve been fighting a blind man?”
“Cantering Flames,” Sorey choked. He was drained, and his attack only called forth embers. “I will protect them. No matter if I can’t see, no matter if I’m beaten with an inch of my life. Earth Dragon Fang!”
Either Sorey’s luck had turned or it was a trap, the attack connected. Sergei began to bleed from his head; he was knocked out. The Shepherd fell to his knees panting. He felt weightless, and he wondered if he would last until Pendrago. He had to have lost, right?
The garbled voices of his friends sounded. Mikleo was calling out what might have been Sorey’s name. He, Lailah, and Edna were powerless to heal him for their Seraphic Artes weren’t strong enough to pull him back from the brinkof death; but Dezel went to the front. He gently touched his shoulder. Rose caught a glimpse of the seraph that she had seen within his soul. Colorless but thankful eyes. As Sorey drifted off to unconsciousness, he quietly sang for him:
mErYArYN repoear sos yor dralee dea her/.
xE rre y.y. sarla lYNlYNnE herr spiritum/.
yEyYA heetha/.
Sorey came back from the edge of unconsciousness, and he grabbed Mikleo for a tight hug. He was shaking.
“Sorey, what’s wrong?” the water seraph gently asked.
“I…I almost lost…” Sorey tearfully said into his chest. “I almost doomed you all to Pendrago. I just barely won.”
Mikleo patted his head while Rose crossed her arms. He didn’t lose even if by a small margin. She was happy that he was the one left awake in the end. She glanced over at Sergei, who was waking up as well. The blood had dried on his forehead, but he looked pleased.
“Sorey, I concede to you,” he humbly said. “Had I known that you were blind, I would not have challenged you to a duel. It is dishonorable for a knight to take advantage of another man’s ailment. I will grant you pardon…on one condition.” Sergei knelt to him. “I, too, wish to see the seraphim free. One of my own, Croix, had helped a seraph to escape. He did what no other man was brave enough to do. Avenge his death, and make his dream come true, and I will do everything I can to stop Rolance from abusing any more seraphim.”
Alisha knelt to Sergei’s level. She exposed herself as the Princess of Hyland, and she commended his valor. “As the Princess of Hyland, I will do what I can in my country,” she vowed. Sergei blushed. He had never known a woman of bravery. Then he caught a glimpse of jealous bloodlust in Lailah’s jade eyes.
The seraphim went back inside their partners before the four of them returned inside of the sanctuary where Sergei talked to them about Pendrago. It was a city with a dark history as most places were, but they had recently been plagued with an unending period of blighting rain. Sergei had his suspicions, but as far as he was concerned, they were unfounded. It had started when a well-known pope had gone missing and a Cardinal came into power. She and the Emperor had worked together to bring forth the rain, which hurt seraphim.
“I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” Sergei told them. “They would leave disobedient seraphim out in the rain, watching as it burned their skin like acid. They waited for the seraphim to beg for mercy. Then they would go about their experiments.”
Rose felt Dezel’s heart race again. Cloche had mentioned that he had escaped, but was it from Pendrago? And was he subjected to the blighting rain, too? She had so many questions, and while she could have asked Sergei, she knew he wouldn’t have the answers she wanted. She knew she would have to Dive into him more to learn the truth.
“We will help you with the Cardinal in Pendrago,” Sorey told him.
“But what of your blindness?” Sergei asked him.
“I have trouble fighting and seeing, but I’m not completely blind. I refuse to let this hinder me from accomplishing my dream anyway. You’re also letting us go, so I want to pay you back.” He clenched his fist. “I’ve weakened, so I need to get stronger. I have to if I want to put an end to all this foolishness.”
Sergei was surprised. Sorey’s soul was kind and gentle, but he had the sense of duty of a knight. He knelt to him once again. “I may not be able to rightfully pledge my allegiance to you, but rest assured that I will help you in any way I can.”
Notes:
Okay I lied, I might upload faster now that I finished AT2. DezeRose feels are coming in the future! And some Laisha.
Chapter 33: Phase 2: Light and Dark, the Two Sides of Eolia
Summary:
Shurelia takes on Mir while Zaveid tries to stop her and Symonne from hacking the Tower.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT, INCLUDING THE TITLE. I wanted to actually produce the original songs I did write for this fanfiction. I won't be posting the Hymmnos/Ar Ciela lyrics for this chapter until I acquire the program to make the music and train one of my singers how to pronounce the words.
EXEC_SUSPEND/. is a canon song from Ar Tonelico 1, but because there is no official lyric (aside from the Japanese lyrics) and I don't want to put ANOTHER song into this chapter, it is only mentioned by name. That said, you can find it on YouTube.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shurelia stood alone within the Crescent Chronicle near the middle of Eolia. She had already spoken with Tastiella, a 400-year-old guardian soul, about what had happened and how Mir had escaped. With the Star Singer missing, there was nothing to hold Mir back after breaking free from her shackles.
“Lady Shurelia, do be careful,” Tastiella had pleaded. “Mir has gotten much more powerful, and more than likely she will seek to kill you before anyone else.”
The pearl-colored Reyvateil gave the tiny woman of the moon a gentle smile. Tastiella was a dear friend who was older than her, and she was always in charge of keeping Mir in check. When the Star Singer disappeared, Mir was able to break free of her chains and escaped the Tower, which led to the present problem.
“I am fully prepared to fight against Mir,” Shurelia told her. “I’m more concerned about what will happen to the world of humans should such a battle take place. My hope is riding on Shepherd Sorey. Lyner had gone missing not too long ago—maybe ten years. This child is the only one I can depend on outside of my domain.”
As the two continued their discussion about the threat Mir posed, Zaveid found his way to the entrance of the Crescent Chronicle. He couldn’t set foot inside given his status as an exile, and he was forced to wait outside for Shurelia.
“Zaveid, when did you get here?” the Reyvateil asked when she left Tastiella. “Did you learn anything about Mir?”
“Nothing much,” Zaveid sighed. “She’s a Virus now, right? She’d be dwelling inside of a seraph, and I can’t look inside another seraph’s soul space.”
Shurelia clenched her fist. She wished she could do more, but she couldn’t leave when things were in such disarray. She beckoned him to the Rinkernator at the very top of the Tower. It was a sacred place only accessible to those who had earned her trust. The Rinkernator was her seat where she administered her commands to the Tower. Zaveid himself had never been so high above the world. He was nervous.
“We need to attempt to anticipate where and when Mir will strike. If she is using a seraph to move, it will be harder to find her,” she told him. “I may be able to neutralize her with my Song Magic if we can trap her.”
“Would your power even be enough?” Zaveid asked her. “If she’s the strongest Reyvateil ever created, that would mean she’s a couple notches above you.”
“That is true, but suppose I can stop her within me. If I can trap her within the Tower, I can shut it down and—”
“Not to be disrespectful, but if you shut down Eolia, all the seraphim that are being hunted and have been hunted will die.” Zaveid watched Shurelia with worry in his amber eyes. If the Tower shut down, the one he was supposed to protect would be defenseless. “I have a promise to keep, and if you shut it down, my promise will be broken. I can’t let him down.”
Shurelia fell silent. She apologized for her brashness, but they still had the problem of dealing with Mir. She became frustrated with herself, unable to accept that she was powerless. There had to be a way! Then she sensed her like a dreadful premonition had come.
“Is she trying to hack the Tower?” she coughed. She clutched her chest.
Zaveid dashed out of the Rinkernator on his wind and down past the Cresent Chronicle. He came to the entrance of Em Pheyna, and the residents of the sacred village of the Tower were nowhere to be found. He went down farther to the Dividing Gates where there was a horde of hellions trying to break in. In the middle of them, he found Symonne.
“What have we here? A main character in this play?” she tittered. “You’re a bit late. Mir has already begun worming her way to Shurelia, and you were dumb enough to abandon her.”
“I’m no fool,” Zaveid told her. “I already know I’m no match for Mir; you, on the other hand, I would have no problem pummeling into the earth.”
Symonne’s ruby eyes glistened with bloodlust. Neither of them could sing under Shurelia’s domain, so they were bound to fighting with their Seraphic Artes. Zaveid was apprehensive, however, because he had heard rumors about fallen seraphim. Symonne matched the description of such with her ebony hair tipped with violet, her black and purple risqué clothes, and the beaded demon tail accessory behind her. She was a master of illusory artes while he was a master of wind and brute force. On top of all that, he had to get back to Shurelia before Mir hurt her. He couldn’t fight against the Virus, but he could at least shield the administrator of Eolia from her assault.
“I don’t have time for this brat,” he mumbled. He shot himself from the ground up the sides of the Tower, and Symonne chased after him. She created clones to flank him, each one of them attacking him. “Back off!”
“Why would I do that?” Symonne giggled. “Come now, you’re just in the way!”
The clones grabbed him by the ends of his hair, which thoroughly pissed him off. They let gravity do its job, trying to pull him back down to the ground. He whipped his pendulums behind him to destroy the clones then continued up the side of the Tower.
Meanwhile, Shurelia tried to muster her strength to blow back the hellions that had broken into the Silver Horn. Even though Zaveid had begged her not to shut down the Tower, she decided that if Mir had gotten to her, she would be left with no other choice. If Mir took control, Hyland would be nothing by a vacuous crater.
Zaveid was near the Crescent Chronicle now, where Symonne cornered him into a fight. As she summoned more clones to trap him, he blew them away with his wind. “Deceiving Pummel!” he called out. Chains erupted from the surface they were standing on.
“Go, my children!” Symonne commanded.
The wind seraph jumped up over the horde of clones, again running towards the Rinkernator where Shurelia was forced to retreat to. There, she was out of energy. There, Mir stalked her battered prey. The two girls stared at each other.
“Shurelia, I’m coming for you!” Zaveid yelled as loud as he could. After pushing his body to its limits, he finally ended up at the Rinkernator with Symonne behind him.
The hellions couldn’t make it that far up in the Tower even if they tried. The power emanating from Shurelia and Mir were too great, even forcing Zaveid and Symonne to fall to their knees. The wind seraph and the fallen seraph took to the sides of their superiors.
“Zaveid, I won’t be able to fight,” Shurelia told him. “At this rate, I will have no choice. I’m entrusting my well-being to you. Now, I shall sing.”
“Symonne, prove your worth to me. Protect me while I sing,” Mir ordered her seraph of darkness. “Initating…”
“Executing…”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Zaveid and Symonne were in awe. The beautiful voices of two of the strongest Reyvateils in the world sang together, and while their voices were jarring against each other, there was a strange harmony between them. Two halves coming together to make a whole—the light and darkness that had been sealed away within Eolia.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Shurelia’s voice was already struggling to overpower Mir’s, and Zaveid could do nothing to help her. It didn’t matter. His goal was to protect her from Symonne. He whipped his pendulums in a show of strength, but the little fallen seraph wasn’t deterred. She giggled then sprinted towards the Reyvateil trying her hardest to sing. The infectious nature of Mir’s lyrics was jamming her Song Magic, but she pushed through. She sang so that Zaveid’s strength was bolstered. Mir sang to corrupt everything around them.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mir faltered for a moment with the verse that invoked Shurelia’s power as the administrator of the Tower. She glared at Symonne, who in turn glared at Zaveid. She amassed and sent at least twenty clones after the wind seraph, punching and kicking him. It wasn’t terrible; Symonne was small and thin to the point it looked as if she were starving. When one of the clones zapped him with their cropped wand, he retaliated.
“Radiant Heat!” he called out as a vortex of scorching air cleared out half of the clones. Symonne wouldn’t let him off so easily, so she created thirty more clones. “Radiant Heat!” he yelled again.
“You’re just wasting your time!” Symonne cackled. She dashed to him, using her cropped wand like a cattle prod and shocking him in the stomach. “There will be no end to them. Give up now. Surrender to Mir and Lord Heldalf.”
“Like I’d ever do that,” Zaveid coughed.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The song was nearing its climax. Zaveid knew that if he kept trying to fight Symonne head on, she would worm her way through his defenses and kill Shurelia. He changed his plan and stood in front of the Reyvateil. Putting up a fortress of wind around them that scattered the clones away from them, he concentrated on her.
Mir’s voice was slowly overpowering the administrator, and now that the wind blew around them, she took her chance to resonate with the Tower. She ordered Symonne to circle around them, getting closer and closer like a coiling snake.
The song came to an abrupt end when Shurelia cried out in pain. Her Song Magic fell apart, her majestic voice reduced to guttural whines and yelps. She begged Mir to stop, but the Mother Virus had sublimated into the Tower. The poison that the Origin of Eolia had set out to expel from her Tower coursed through her. She then stood up behind Zaveid, who hadn’t heard her cries. She tried to slash his back, but he was too fast for her. He leapt away in the nick of time. His shield of wind disappeared.
“Lady Shurelia, what are you doing?” he panted, his body fatigued from holding up the wind shield. “No, she can’t be!” He fell to his knees in disbelief.
“Your precious Reyvateil is under my control now,” Mir laughed. “With her power supplementing mine, I can destroy this part of the world. Humans and seraphim—the wait for death’s embrace has reached an end!”
The Tower rumbled as it prepared to annihilate the surrounding area. Zaveid yelled at Shurelia with the rest of his energy. She had to wake up because if she didn’t, everyone would die. Sorey wouldn’t be able to return, and all would be lost. He would let the despair get to him, and his seraphim would fall to the malevolence and Viruses. Dragons would run rampart across the land.
“She can’t here you, fool! Shurelia’s mind has been compromised!” Mir cackled again. “Now, to destroy this dying world and give birth to a pure one!”
“Shurelia, please! Think about the humans you love! Think about what Sorey is trying to do for you! You have to break free!”
Symonne slashed him across the cheek with her cropped wand. She was prepared to slit his throat only to miss thanks to the quake. Then the Tower stopped shaking, and Shurelia began to glow brightly. The ivory Reyvateil stole only a moment to communicate with Zaveid.
“I’m sorry, but I have to do this. As long as Mir is within me, I can exercise my power with her trapped inside. You must find him. Form a pact with him and protect him from the evil that threatens to kill us all. I rest everything on his shoulders,” Shurelia kindly and sadly said. She straightened herself. Mir was restrained for now, which gave her the time to execute the Song that would shut down the Tower and seal Mir once again. “Initializing Hymmnos: EXEC_SUSPEND/.”
Shurelia began to sing, and when she finished her song, the Tower fell asleep. All the hellions inside the Tower were gone, and Zaveid and Symonne were forced to leave. They went their separate ways to recover from the intensity of the Song Magic between Shurelia and Mir. Both disappeared into the forest below.
Out of curiosity, the wind seraph travelled to Ladylake. The seraphim within the city were either unconscious or perturbed by the sudden loss of their Song Magic. The humans that abused them struck them as if it were their fault for being unable to sing anymore. The worst had come true just like he thought it would. Without any hesitation, Zaveid made his way to the Rolance territory in search of the Shepherd.
Notes:
At this point, I'm deviating from Zestiria's story a tad and going in line with Ar Tonelico...kind of. Still, writing lyrics for a song battle who would actually be sung by the same singer--this one is a doozy.
Chapter 34: Phase 2: IPD Disease
Summary:
After learning more about the IPD Disease crisis in Pendrago, Sorey and company head out to the Meadow of Triumph where they get their first glimpse of the disease.
Notes:
So I think this chapter was written during physics. I wrote the Dive Therapy a little differently from AT2 (because I don't remember the explanation to cure all the IPDs you find), but I think it works. And considering I'm writing Edna closer to Luca's cosmosphere, I thought it would be fitting for her to be the unlicensed Dive Therapist with nothing better to do but to learn how to do in the centuries she was stuck on her mountain.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Cardinal Forton. She was a wise woman with two other sisters that had gone their separate ways to do righteous things in the world. One tried to care for a plague village while the other wanted to create her own sanctuary village at the base of Tilia far from the poisonous corruption of Rolance. Both were persecuted and murdered by their own people. The Cardinal was the only one of them who rose to the top and commanded the power of the army and the political prowess of the king. She only came into that power when Pope Masedra disappeared, and she launched a puppet campaign to find him. She never got an evidence that he was still alive, but he never came back. It was that day that the blighting rain came, trapping the people in their city with no food and useless seraphim that were too scared to work outside as the corrosive drops pierced their clothes and skin.
She was a regal woman that wore sacred robes from the shrinechurch, but whenever Sergei passed her by, he always detected a heinous aura drifting from her. He knew that she was one of the few that believed in completely suppressing the seraphim to do their bidding as opposed to varying degrees of control that were popular among other officials. While he hadn’t heard of Ladylake’s plan in full detail, he knew that that was what they did as well. Cardinal Forton, who was the leader in the experiments on IPD seraphim, was more brutal than Bartlow. Many seraphim died shortly after being contained, and Dezel was painfully aware of this fact.
“The Platinum Knights can’t go against the entirety of the Rolance Army,” Sergei told them. “It’s insubordination punishable by death. And with Cardinal Forton at the reigns, I fear that she would use us as an example not to cross her.”
Sorey clenched his fists with frustration. Alisha held her tongue because, as the princess of Hyland, her words would spark unrest in their new ally. Rose focused on Dezel. Of the three of them, she was the least concerned about the war between Hyland and Rolance. When Sergei begged them to help Pendrago and to remove Cardinal Forton, they knew that he was risking everything. It was treason. Sorey didn’t want him to be executed, but Rolance was different from Hyland as far as the seraphim went. Rose was the only one with any experience with an IPD seraph, and she was preoccupied solely with Dezel’s mental health.
“Can you give us any information about what they do?” the Shepherd boldly asked, knowing that Dezel would object to hearing it. “I need to know what we’re going up against.”
“No!” Dezel screamed in Rose’s head. “Rose, please leave. I don’t want to hear about it. Just get out of the sanctuary!” Rose had never heard Dezel panic so fervently. She excused herself on behalf of her seraph, stepping outside. The clouds were sparce in the sky.
“Dezel, why can’t I hear about it?” she asked him gently. He didn’t answer. “Well, if you don’t tell me, then I’ll just ask Sorey when we head out.”
“You can’t know. It’s for your own good.”
“Nonsense. Not knowing compromises my effectiveness in the effort.”
“It doesn’t matter what your effectiveness is. You cannot know.”
“Oh yeah? Just watch me.”
Dezel suddenly came outside and pushed her up against the door. If anyone in Lastonbell saw him now, he wouldn’t care. He didn’t like that Rose was challenging him so stupidly. He wished he could have slap some sense into her, but the thought of hurting her pained him more than he expected. He could only threaten her with empty words:
“If you defy me, I will kill you.”
“Threaten me all you want. I want to protect you, and if that means having you use all your strength to hold me back, so be it.”
Alisha’s voice came from behind the door. “Rose, is everything alright? We heard a thump and got worried that something happened,” she said. The assassin merely told her that she was in a spat with Dezel again.
She glared at Dezel where his eyes would be if he uncovered them. “For now, go back inside. If anything happens to you, I’ll use one of the many poisons that the Scattered Bones has in reserve to exact my revenge.”
Dezel for a moment was afraid that the malevolence would taint his vessel, but Rose’s unnaturally pure heart was resilient. She didn’t promise this out of greed or anger. Deep inside he knew that she would do anything to keep him safe. She promised him countless times she would.
He paused for a second, mulling something over, then went back inside. She looked around; no one had seen the altercation or cared to see it, and she went back inside the sanctuary. Sorey looked grave, and Mikleo and Edna were by his side with the former holding him close. Lailah was hugging Alisha. Rose felt strange being the only one among them who wasn’t allowed to hear about the experiments that Sergei mentioned. After Sorey caught a glimpse of her, he straightened himself and smacked himself to loosen up the frowning muscles. He pretended like nothing happened.
“It’s time we head to Pendrago,” he told her determinedly.
“Shouldn’t we wait until morning?” Rose asked.
“Not with the situation getting worse. It’ll be easier to move under the darkness as well.”
“Thank you, Shepherd Sorey,” Sergei gratefully said. “I will go on ahead and notify my squadron. When you arrive in Pendrago, head to the inn and dry yourself as soon as possible.”
Sorey gave his word as he watched Sergei leave the sanctuary. They remained in the sanctuary until they heard hoofbeats thunder past. Emerging from the sanctuary later that night and with the seraphim all inside, Sorey led Alisha and Rose to the western gate of Lastonbell that let out into the Meadow of Triumph, a rich green field of jade-colored grass dotted with flowers of every color. At the very center of the meadow was a small wood like a giant toadstool of trees. To the south were the Biroclef Ridge, and to the north was Mallory the Patinal Forest. Straight across was Pendrago’s farmland, Pearloats Pasture. Such a beautiful place, too, was wrought with malevolence.
Rose pointed to a large imposing structure that seemed to be floating in the sky. It was shaped like a giant bell with a second structure just underneath it. An orb form floated near it. This was the Second Tower Frelia and yet another but smaller orb floated near that one.
“That’s so cool!” Sorey cooed. “How does it float like that? Why did they choose the shape of a bell? What’s the Origin going to be like?”
“Calm down, ruin geek,” Edna sighed. “We’re not on a field trip.”
“It would be a good idea to see if we could scout it out,” Alisha said.
Dezel came out along with the other seraphim with them. According to him, it was impossible to enter the Second Tower due to its capacity to float so high above the ground. The only way to do so would be to fly or use Song Magic as an elevator, both of which were inefficient because flying would render them oxygen-deprived and the Song Magic would exhaust Dezel before they were halfway there.
“Have you tried?” Lailah asked.
“N-No, but—”
“Well, there you have it! Alright, Dezel, let’s go check this place out!” Rose grinned. She pushed him towards Frelia, passing the leaning towers that had been built some time after the Second Tower. Sorey wanted to stay and examine these structures, but they had to save it for another time. “Okay, do your stuff!” But Dezel refused. “Come on, why do you have to be like this?” He looked like he was going to be sick, feverish and tired.
Sorey let him lean on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” he asked him.
“Someone near…they’re infected…I didn’t think I would be affected by it…” Dezel murmured.
Lailah and Edna searched around the area where they found a seraph child passed out. She, too, appeared feverish and was unconscious. She mumbled in her sleep incoherent words. Every once in a while, she would say something like “darkness” or “scared”.
“This must be the IPD disease,” Alisha whispered. “But we can heal her with Dive Therapy, correct?” she asked louder.
“Only someone who is trained can do it…” Dezel coughed.
Edna stepped up, which confused everyone. She pulled out the yellow iris gem she had found to show that it was shining brilliantly in her hand. “Now’s as good a time as any,” she said.
“Edna, you’re a Dive Therapist?” Lailah interrogated her with wonder.
“Not a licensed one. I had a lot of time to spare when Eizen wasn’t trying to destroy everything. He wrote to me about it once as well. He had met Zaveid when they were younger, and that idiot was the one to talk about it. I became interested, but I couldn’t understand the books he sent. Fast-forward a thousand years, and I forced myself to learn. It’s based on theory, and I’ve never gotten to successfully try it with Eizen, but he also wasn’t an IPD.”
Edna instructed Alisha to act as a pillow for the seraph girl. It was important that the patient was comfortable. Sorey could sense that she was nervous, which was unlike the earth seraph, but he believed in her. Edna placed the iris gem in the patient’s hands over her heart. Closing her eyes, she focused on the iris gem. The golden sphere was a funnel into the IPD soul space, dropping her in a specific spot from where she would work. On the outside, it was like Edna had fallen asleep while sitting up. Inside the soul space, she had to convince the seraph that everything would be okay.
------------------------------------------------------------------
“Who are you?” the seraph child asked. “Where am I? Why is it so dark?”
Edna sat on her knees. “This is your heart, muddled by the negative emotions swirling inside Infel Phira. I’m here to free you from it.” Next, she materialized a small table with tea and scones. “Please, have a seat.” The seraph child did as she was told. She cautiously reached for a scone while Edna poured her tea. “Rooibos Madascar vanilla—a rare tea.”
The seraph child took a sip after she received her cup, her face brightening up like the sun. The darkness in her heart waned. She asked her therapist, “What are you afraid of? I’m afraid of being lonely.”
“I’m afraid of getting lost. I’ve lived on a mountain with a dragon for centuries, and now I have friends that worry about me,” Edna replied sweetly. The seraph child seemed to get a little jealous. “Can I ask you something? Why are you out here alone if you’re afraid of being lonely?”
The seraph child took another scone, her purple doe eyes brimming with tears. “My mommy and I were kidnapped from our home. An old man was protecting us, and the soldiers came and killed him. They took us to the castle. They hurt my mommy, and they threatened to kill me if she didn’t do what they wanted her to do. Mommy tricked them today, and I escaped. She told me to keep running. They…They did something to her, and she started screaming. Then everything was quiet. They came after me, but they gave up when I hid. I was so sad. I cried, and then I felt tired. Then I woke up here in the darkness. Then you came.”
“Were you trying to go to Frelia?” Edna asked her.
“Uh-huh. I thought that if I got into Frelia, the soldiers would run away and let all of the others go. But I’m not big enough to enter Frelia.”
Edna walked around the table to the seraph child where she embraced her. She told her everything would be okay. She told her about Sorey and Alisha and Rose and how they wanted to protect the seraphim. Sorey was the Shepherd, the one who would help them live peacefully. Rose had an entire underground group that was smuggling seraphim around. Alisha was gaining information to reform her city and free the seraphim that were enslaved there.
“There are people working to save you. It will take some time, but don’t worry and don’t give up,” Edna said.
---------------------------------------------------------------
When Edna woke up from the session, she found that the iris gem was no longer shining, and the seraph child had roused. She was apparently cured of her of condition, and Dezel was feeling better. Rose had already contacted the Sparrowfeathers to pick her up and take her to the temporary hideout in Mallory.
Before the seraph child was put onto the caravan that had arrived only minutes later, she smiled at Edna. “Thank you, Big Sister Edna!” she laughed.
Edna blushed, but she refused to show it. Sorey patted her head, congratulating her on a job well done. Mikleo was somewhat envious, yet his mind wandered elsewhere. Dezel had felt the infected girl’s consciousness. Something about it made him worry; he remembered that the disease was highly infectious, and while he could never know what happened inside the girl’s soul space, he was scared for Dezel. He knew the extent that Rolance tortured the seraphim, and he tried every day to repress the memories and feelings from when Bartlow nearly killed him. He wanted Rose to know the danger. But could Rose handle what it meant to be tortured to near-death?
Unable to head into Frelia, Sorey led his group to the toadstool wood in the center of the meadow. The sun was beginning to rise, and daybreak was nigh. The wood wasn’t thick enough to hide them, but it granted them some sort of shelter from the sun that would bake them later that day. But there was something else there—a large stone monolith that stood just behind a stone passage underground. It was a crucible, and Lailah stiffened.
“Do we really need to stop here?” she asked.
“We could probably sit out in the open grass, but that would mean we’d get hunted by soldiers or eaten by hellions…possibly eaten by hellion soldiers,” Rose sarcastically said.
Alisha flicked an annoyed glare at her before tending to her dear fire seraph. “Is something wrong?” she asked her.
“This is a crucible with a dangerous amount of malevolence from venomization,” she explained. “Even if we’re not under Eolia right now, we can still be affected by it and develop Viruses.”
Alisha kissed her briefly. As long as she was with her human vessel, she was safe. Sorey was intrigued by the crucible, and as he was about to head down into its depth, Mikleo held him back. Naturally, the water seraph didn’t want his human to enter the belly of an unknown beast, but Sorey promised it would be okay. He grew serious.
“We should try to quell the malevolence within the crucibles. We need to do everything we can to reduce the malevolence in the world,” the Shepherd said.
“Well, before you go off to commit suicide, I should remind you that I’m long overdo for a Dive,” Edna sharply said. “You have to take care of both of us.” She pointed her umbrella at Sorey’s face. “Let’s go.”
Dezel nudged Rose. “Let’s Dive, too.” He was subdued.
Sorey and Rose were beside themselves, and they half-expected Lailah to suggest Diving with Alisha, but if she did, then Mikleo would be left to fight off anyone that came for them. The Shepherd and the red-haired Squire Armatized with their apparently eager seraphim.
Notes:
Is it me, or is Dezel more cute when he unexpectedly asks Rose to Dive?
Chapter 35: Phase 2: Isolated World of the Iron Princess
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 3: Edna
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
Bless Tales of Link for having God Eater Edna as an official art that I would work from. It's sad to see the servers closing, but nothing lasts forever. I also already took screenshots of my favorite units, and you know what? THEY GAVE ME AWAKENED EIZEN JUST BEFORE SHUTDOWN. So I'm a little salty. But anyway, hopefully this chapter is good. Viva la God Eater collab.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“It’s about time you decided to Dive into me again,” Edna pouted. “You’ve got two seraphim to take care, you know.” She crossed her arms and turned away from Sorey. At first, the Shepherd believed that he was going to be locked out of her heart forever, which wasn’t conducive of their relationship or her Song Magic at all. “You humans have such one-track minds, yet you make things so complicated. If you only wanted one seraph, you shouldn’t have made a pact with me.” Sorey was about to correct her, but she continued, “I wouldn’t have to waste my time with you, or run into Zaveid, or leave Eizen. But I guess if I didn’t go with you, I’d be a Seraphoid or probably just dead or a hellion.” Sorey raised a finger to protest. “That’s why this is so difficult. I’d rather be alone, but I have to stay with you if I want to avenge Eizen. Ugh, this indecisiveness could send me into a paradox loop.”
Sorey sighed. “Edna, I’m not trying to ignore you,” he tried to explain. “Since Mikleo’s incident, I’ve been worried about leaving him alone.” He took her hands. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. You’re strong like the earth, so I can trust that you’ll be okay.”
Edna blushed. “Why are you so dumb? Let’s just do this, then you can go back to your boyfriend.”
Sorey wasn’t happy with that response; it felt like he really let her down. It felt like she was uncharacteristically jealous. He touched her chest, Diving into the third level of her soul space.
-------------------------------------------------
Sorey appeared at the Stonehenge where Phoenix was sitting in deep thought. He wanted to ask it what to expect in this level, yet there was something that nagged at him, telling him that he wouldn’t get a straight answer. Still, anything would be helpful since Edna wasn’t one to divulge her troubles without a massive amount of pressure. He sat next to it.
The golden Normin looked up at him, eyes full of contempt. “You’ve been away for a while,” it said. “I’m surprised you came back. I thought Edna had scared you away for good.” When Sorey shook his head denying that Edna frightened him, it laughed. “She must have convinced you to come back then.”
“I’ve been preoccupied with other things,” Sorey said. Talking about another seraph too much would probably have adverse effects. It was best to avoid saying too much about Mikleo’s situation.
“Right. Well, you’d better get on your way. This one is going to be a doozy.”
Sorey got up to leave, but something had been bothering him about the Normin. How did seraphim come to have these Normin as their mind guardians? What were the stories behind the Normin? Even though he had these burning questions, Phoenix dubbed him yet too naïve to understand the intricacies of the seraph mind. His overarching relationship with the seraphim meant nothing in this realm because every seraph was different. He thought that maybe it was dependent on their personalities, but that was the only thing Phoenix answered—and the answer was a succinct “no”.
“Please, just tell me your story,” Sorey begged. “It might help with understanding Edna.”
“My story will help,” Phoenix began, bringing an eager smile to Sorey’s face. “But your mind won’t be able to understand the hardships she’s endured. The amount of malevolence that she has had to fight off will end you, child. Keep Diving into her, and maybe you’ll learn the truth.”
Finding that he had lost this battle of wills, Sorey accepted that he would have to Dive more into the earth seraph’s heart like Phoenix had said. He left the Stonehenge in search of Edna, heading to a town that now resembled Lastonbell.
The town was small and covered in posters and paraphernalia about someone called the Iron Maiden. All sorts of men were gushing over her. Then there was a fanfare followed by some man coming out to announce something. Sorey pushed his way through the faceless crowd.
“There has been another Aragami sighting north of our hamlet! But fear not, my fellow admirers, for the Iron Maiden shall save us! When she arrives, we will shower her with our love and praise!” he rallied. The crowd cheered, chanting the Iron Maiden’s title repeatedly and loudly.
Sorey looked around. What was an Aragami?
A horrendous roar unlike a dragon’s resonated through the soul space, something that he had never heard before. A lion-faced beast discharging electricity rammed into the town’s gates incessantly, and the men cowered in fear. Finally, on the rooftops, a lone girl with a large wrist brace and a matching blade five times her size stood over them. “The Vajra has come,” she softly said. She looked down at Sorey dead in his eyes. “Run.”
The Vajra burst through the town gates and into the crowd of suitors and admirers. Half of them died once it tore through the crowd while the other half scattered. Sorey was paralyzed with fear. The monster looked like Heldalf but also like something he had only heard of in fairytales, and he was uncertain that he would survive. The beast let out a low growl as it breathed in his face and sniffed his hair. He was powerless once again in the soul space to truly defend himself.
“Get lost!” the girl threatened the beast. She sliced into it with the giant blade, black blood and amber-colored specks spewing out of its side. The Vajra left Sorey for her, and she backed away accordingly before switching her blade into a titanic gun. “Say hello to me little friend.” She launched a magazine of special bullets that broke through the Vajra’s mask. It ran away in pain, and while she knew the beast would be back before nightfall, she had to clear the town of bodies and find out what Sorey was doing there. “Boy, who are you? I’ve never seen you around here.”
“Edna…?” Sorey uttered. “Is that really you?”
“You know my name?” the girl asked. He got a better look at her. Her hair was styled the same as usual, but she wore a frilly white blouse with a red ribbon, its skirt large and poofy with a corset tie down either side. Her pinstripe stockings fed down into her combat boots, and Sorey had to wonder if this was the same girl that he had found on the Spiritcrest.
“Edna, what’s that weapon you have?”
“It’s called a God Arc. It’s the only thing that can kill the Aragami, and I’m the only person in the town that can wield it. It’s made from the same thing that that monster is made of, so once it’s hurt, it’ll stay hurt.”
She pulled him up to his feet. She allowed him an attempt to lift the God Arc, and because it looked weightless when she carried it, Sorey mistakenly threw his arm up. The tendons in his wrist stretched to their limit, and he found out very quickly that there was no way he could lift the sword without breaking his wrist. The only way Edna could wield it was because she had that wrist brace.
“But at the very least, I’m happy you don’t call me that stupid name,” she said as she led him to her home. “Every time I show up to exterminate the Aragami, it’s ‘Iron Maiden’ this and ‘Iron Maiden’ that. The men that fawn over me—they only love me because I save them all the damn time.”
Sorey just listened to her.
“Whenever they hear the Aragami are coming, they stop everything and beseech me to rescue them. I’m only a savior to them, not…not a person.”
The Shepherd felt like something inside broke. His heart? But why? Edna was a savior—she saved him and Mikleo, she saved the little seraph that had run away from Pendrago. Did she think that Sorey thought the same of her?
“Edna, you are a person,” he told her truthfully.
“Bullshit,” Edna spat. She went on, detailing that when there were days on end without an Aragami report, the same men that called for her and loved her didn’t even think about her. They went on with their lives without a single thought about how she was faring while she trained to fight the Vajra and the ones that were steps above it. “That’s why I’ve decided that I’m not going to do this anymore. Sorey, I’m going to run away. I want to do something with my life, be someone that isn’t chained to this reality where I only exist to save the very people I have come to hate.”
With that, Edna left. She was gone in just a blink. And Sorey was so confused. He didn’t see her as a tool. He didn’t realize that he had neglected her to this extent. He returned to the Stonehenge where Phoenix was. He wanted to know what happened.
“You’re not ready to know,” Phoenix said again.
“Whatever it is, I need to know. Why does Edna think I don’t see her as a person? Why does she want to isolate herself?” Sorey begged. “If I’ve neglected her—whatever I’ve done to her—I want to make it right.”
Phoenix just watched him. It mulled over his request.
“I will only tell you what applies to this level,” it said. “Edna has always been alone, and when you came, you took away that loneliness. But you don’t pay attention to her as much as you do the others, so naturally, that loneliness came back.”
Screams came from the town, and thunder clouds lit up the sky over it. The Vajra had returned. Sorey couldn’t go back to the village because the beast would eat him alive. He scanned the rest of the soul space, and he found the mountain that the earth seraph used to spend her days.
“Edna!” Sorey cried out. He rushed to the mountain, but there was no time to use the path carved out in its side. “Edna, you’ve got to come back!” He climbed up the side of the mountain. “Edna, everyone’s going to die!” Rocks gave way under his weight as he scaled it. “Edna, I’m sorry if I’ve neglected you!” He reached the peak. “I’m sorry if you feel lonely!”
Edna turned around, the little red flowers after which she was named drifting in the wind. Sorey hugged her tightly from behind. “Sorey, what are you doing?” Edna asked him surprised. She tried desperately to wriggle free from his embrace only to exhaust her tiny body.
“I’m sorry that I make you feel lonely,” Sorey told her. “We made you come with us, and I don’t do enough to make you feel part of the group.”
Edna was speechless.
“I’m so sorry, Edna. Please, can you ever forgive me?”
After a while, she spoke, “You dummy.” She pulled back and faced him. “You’re not supposed to cry for me.” She wiped his tears away, a strange gentleness that he never knew she could have. “Come on, we have a Vajra to kill.”
Edna and Sorey returned to the town, where the Vajra had eaten a few more people. Sorey’s sword was far too small to withstand of the Vajra’s attacks or to injure its armor-like body, but he wasn’t meant to fight it. It wasn’t his fight but Edna’s. Because the beast was still weakened from its previous attempt to kill the villagers, she only needed to knocked it around a few times.
“Go away!” she commanded as she finally stabbed its head. The Aragami living within her blade came alive, chomping into its side and harvesting the Oracle Cells that resided in its corpse.
After the corpse withered away to dust, Sorey and the Iron Maiden returned to the Stonehenge for the Paradigm Shift. Phoenix smiled at the Shepherd, and Edna who had been so lonely smiled as well.
“Edna, I—” Sorey started.
“Sorey, you’re an idiot, but your heart’s in the right place,” Edna said. “I don’t want you to abandon Mikleo, but I want you to remember that I’m here, too. I want to support you and your dream, and I want you to help me seek revenge on the humans that took Eizen away from me. I can’t do that if you don’t pay attention to me every once in a while.” She averted his gaze. “I don’t want you to forget that I’m here.”
Sorey nodded, knowing that he was guilty. Edna stepped through the light to proceed to the next level.
“Things are going to get harder from here,” Phoenix said. “You’ve broken through the shell, now be prepared for her real emotions.”
Sorey steeled himself. He wanted to see Edna grow. He didn’t care what her real emotions were as long as he could support her.
---------------------------------------------
Sorey and Edna woke up next to each other while Lailah and Alisha pulled Mikleo away from them so they could talk. The Shepherd looked at Edna, who was hiding behind her umbrella. Little sniffles could be heard.
“Stupid,” Edna snapped.
“What?” Sorey asked.
“You made a girl cry. But…it feels okay.” Edna closed her umbrella. “I refuse to cry in front of everyone, and I forbid you from making me cry again.”
Sorey promised her. He couldn’t forgive himself for ignoring her, and he wanted to make things right with her. He patted her head as he made his promise.
Notes:
Bit of a shorter chapter. It's been a while since I've played God Eater (Lindow keeps kicking my ass), and the anime was good but more like a day-to-day type thing. Next chapter is probably going to be better?
Chapter 36: Phase 2: Dueling Seraphim
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 3: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
Quick update because I promised a friend I would upload the next DezeRose chapter on her birthday. That said, I PURPOSELY wrote the chapter like this. It's supposed to be short and not very detailed, and I thought it was kind of funny while writing it. Once again, bless Tales of Link for giving us our collabs. This time we get the Tekken x Tales of units--Jin Kazama Dezel!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rose gave Dezel a stern look even though he couldn’t necessarily tell that she was upset with him. She tapped her foot, processing what she was going to say in her mind before speaking out.
“What was the last level all about?” she said, trying as hard as possible not to come off as too angry. “That didn’t even feel like it was a real Dive. The first level had more meat to it. The second level was over in seconds and just sad.”
Dezel prickled. He was perfectly fine with the Dives being so short-lived. He didn’t want Rose dwelling around for too long inside of his heart, and it was better if she only got superficial details. He tensed at the idea of her walking around inside of him again, though. He had to limit her.
“I thought we were close enough that you could share your feelings with me,” Rose tearfully said. Dezel now panicked.
He pulled her close and wiped her cheeks. “R-Rose, don’t cry in my heart. I don’t want your tears leaving stains everywhere—this sounds so corny—but seriously, I don’t need your fluids here.”
“My fluids? Am I that repulsive?!” she blubbered. “Dezel, this isn’t fair! We can trust each other! We have to!”
Flustered and confused about what to do to fix the problem, Dezel reluctantly hugged her. Rose instantly froze. Despite being naked with each other in the ephemeral space of the soul, it felt like they were fully clothed. Yet there was a strange warmness that radiated from the wind seraph. Or maybe it was coming from her face because she was blushing so hard. When she felt him stroking her hair in a haphazard attempt to comfort her, she wondered again if this was the same Dezel that she had grown up with. She was about to gently push him away to look up at his face, but instead she touched his chest gingerly and accidentally Dived into his soul.
----------------------------------------------
Rose fell off the piles of stones that she had landed on in the center of the Stonehenge. She found, upon looking around to gain her bearings, that everything was made out of cardboard from the trees to the path leading away from the Stonehenge. In fact, it felt like the Stonehenge was the only thing made out of what it was named for. Everything else was a game board.
“Oh, you’re here!” Windur happily said. “Master Dezel is waiting at the starting block.”
“Starting block?” Rose repeated.
The Normin took her to where Dezel was, and what she found was a different wind seraph from the previous two levels and the one from reality. This time Dezel was dressed in a fearsome black and red hoodie with gloves studded with gold pellets. His black pants had the red outline of fire, and his hair covered his face as usual. Rose was surprised that he would wear something like this, especially since the ringed zipper was pulled halfway down his torso, reveal a muscular and broad chest. Was Dezel always that muscular?
“Finally, an opponent has arrived,” he smirked. “I am Jin Kazama.”
Rose was confused again. At first, she thought he was going to fight her, and if that were the case, she was sure to die. There was, however, another challenger behind her. It was Zaveid! The battle ensued with her in the middle of it all. In a few punches, Dezel had soundly defeated Zaveid, and a Paradigm Shift appeared at the Stonehenge.
“A-Again? What the hell? I didn’t get to do anything again! This Dive only last, like, thirty seconds!” Rose miffed.
Jin Kazama led Rose to the Paradigm Shift, said something to the effect of learning how to fight better, then passed through. The red-haired assassin refused to believe that this was a Dive.
“Windur, this can’t be right!” she cried. “There wasn’t even any dialogue!”
“This is the level. Maybe he doesn’t trust you as much as you think he does,” Windur sang. “Either way, you’ve completed the Dive, so it’s time to go back to reality. Bye-bye!”
------------------------------------------------------
Rose shot up from her spot next to Dezel in the grass. Sorey was startled by the ferociousness, and Edna pulled him away…not that it did much to make their conversation secret.
“Again?! There’s no way that was a real Dive!” she bellowed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Dives depend on the seraph. Maybe I don’t have as many problems as you think I should have,” Dezel nonchalantly told her.
“You and I both know that’s complete horse crap.”
“You wouldn’t know. I’m the only seraph you can Dive into.”
Lailah stepped in. “N-Now, now! What’s important is that Rose and Dezel—”
“Stay out of it,” the assassin and the wind seraph growled, making Lailah almost cry as she returned to Alisha’s arms.
Mikleo leaned into Sorey’s back like he was about to say something, but Edna let out a loud obnoxious yawn to drown him out. She found it boring that Rose and Dezel let their incompatibility get in the way of the Dives. She compared herself and Sorey to them, a prideful and mocking smile stretching on her lips like a witch. In the end, she had to pity them because she had never heard of a consenting seraph and his human fight this much.
With the two Dives completed regardless of how long or in-depth they were, Sorey was prepared to take on the crucible standing before him. He took a step in, unaware that the others couldn’t follow him and deaf to their warnings.
Notes:
How many of you can see where this is going? I promise Dezel's Dives aren't all like this with little to no substance. There's a reason for it! Happy birthday to my friend, even if it's isn't long or angsty.
Chapter 37: Phase 2: Malevolent Crucible Sanjiva
Summary:
Sorey enters the first crucible.
Notes:
I thought the crucibles could actually be story relevant instead of sidequest farming holes.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Wee num wa rre pauwee hueaf enter syec Manac SANJIVA
Ween hymmnos oz spiritum jefea echrra
En gyas elle phiz loss tilanta anw ciel
Wee num ra rre pauwee hueaf presia zethpa anw bengnuih dea viega yor
En flip gauto tes hymmnos lir en fogabe
The Hymmnos droned in Sorey’s mind like bees, and he wished that he could understand what it was saying. He had looked behind him after going down halfway to find that no one was with him. He was alone in the growing darkness of the crucible, but he wasn’t scared. He couldn’t be scared. His goal was to quell the malevolence in the world and bring peace and happiness, and purifying the crucibles was the first step to making a difference. Though it struck him peculiar that the Hymmnos he heard in his head was similar to the Hymmnos that Shurelia had used when she first met him. Despite it not being a Song, it was still melodious, but there was no emotion. It felt like a warning or something forboding.
As he went deeper, he felt more and more sluggish. The malevolence was seeping into his body, and his connections with Mikleo and Edna were thinning. How far did he have to go to quell the malevolence? If he went too far down, would he succumb to the malevolence and become a hellion?
Sorey arrived at the deepest part of the crucible while clutching his chest. Falling to his knees, he worried that he would pass out, and no one would be able to save him. His heart beat so hard that it pushed against his sternum, causing it either feel like it would burst out of him or would puncture itself.
“This isn’t the place to die,” he wheezed. He forced himself up. “I’ve got to make it through this.” He stood up in the center of the arena of the crucible. He was ready.
Hellions spawned from the ground—wolves, snakes, centipedes, boars—all sorts of demon animals that thirst for his blood. Behind them was a seraph who had lost herself long ago. She wasn’t an IPD seraph, just a normal one that had succumbed to the malevolence. She had scales growing on her face and arms, her eyes glazed with rage.
“Why are you here?” she snarled. “Why? Why, why, why, why? Go away, go away, go away!”
While the hellions charged toward Sorey, she sang to bolster their attacks. She healed them when Sorey fought them off, and when she had decided to attack, she launched her strongest Song Magic at him before using her Seraphic Artes against him.
Sorey was forced to dodge each attack since any hit would obliterate him. It was awful being alone, and at first, he was in danger of losing hope. He tried to get close to the seraph that was fighting against him only to be chased away by one of the hellionized animals that had been feeding her more and more malevolence. His heart strained with each movement; if the hellions and the seraph didn’t kill him, his body would crumble on its own.
“Please, stop, I don’t want to fight you!” he told the seraph. She ignored him, singing louder and faster, giving birth to stronger Song Magic. “If I kill you, I’ll regret it!”
“Go away!” the seraph screeched.
Sorey managed to kill two hellions before the seraph got him with one of her Songs. The wind had been knocked out of him, yet it almost felt like there was some restraint in her power. When he looked up at her, he saw tears streaming down her face. There was no way around it—she knew she had to die if she wanted to be free from the crucible. The idea had to be reconfigured, he had to understand that he wasn’t killing her but liberating her from the shackles placed on her by either humans or Heldalf.
The kind and gentle Shepherd accepted that he couldn’t save every seraph. To some, salvation came in death. His body aching under the pressure of the malevolence, he calmed himself. He steeled himself as he prepared to use what was called a Mystic Arte.
“It’s time!” he yelled as he slashed the seraph three times. “Howling blade!” He uppercut the seraph a few feet into the air. “Bolt Tempest!”
The blows had caught the hellions as well, and while they were instantly purified, the seraph crawled on the ground crying out in pain like an injured dog. Her legs had been severely wounded, and she was listless. She begged for someone to save her. Sorey wanted to hide in shame for doing it to her.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
“Please, someone…!” she gasped. She turned around to face him, and for a brief moment, there was a look of clarity. “Was yea ra presia aferzeria spiritum yor.” Sorey leapt backwards as she sang again, only this time her attack was meant to kill herself instead of him. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, there was nothing left of her.
The Shepherd sat for a moment as the malevolence cleared from the crucible. He had seen yet another seraph meet their end, and he cursed himself for not stopping her. Even if the crucible was cleared now, and even though he had accepted that he couldn’t save everyone from a horrible fate, he was filled with sadness. He remembered what happened to Mikleo and Eizen and Uno, and he prayed he never had to see another seraph go through the torture of being experimented on then discarded like trash. As he sat coming to terms with the price of freedom, the droning voice that had intruded his mind before returned.
Was yea ra presia aferzeria spiritum yor
Was yea ra presia aferzeria spiritum yor
It was the same line that the seraph had said before she died, and then he realized that it was her voice that encouraged him to go through with it. He wished to understand the language only spoken by seraphim. Pulling himself together, Sorey climbed back to the top of the crucible. It felt as if he had left something behind, a piece of him that was important. Was it the malevolence? Or was it the guilt of killing an innocent seraph that was forced to become a monstrous juggernaut?
When he emerged from the crucible, it was nighttime. The western end of the Meadow of Triumph was shrouded in dark clouds presumably carrying the blighting rain. He had spent longer in the crucible than he imagined.
“Sorey!” Mikleo said with some relief. He scooped him up into his arms then realized that he was trembling ever so slightly. “W-What’s wrong?” Edna and Lailah joined him. Mikleo kissed him softly on the cheek to give him solace. “Did something happen?”
That was when Sorey fell to his knees. He was weak and hungry, sad and confused. Rose and Alisha went off to find some game to cook despite Dezel begging them not to hurt any animals. Rose’s response was simply that it was an eat-or-be-eaten world. Poor choice of words, but he couldn’t deny it.
Mikleo sat close to him after Rose and Alisha returned with a few rabbits and Lailah cooked them. The water seraph held up a stick of meat to his beloved Shepherd’s lips, but Sorey hesitated to eat.
“Would you forgive me?” Sorey quietly asked him. Mikleo looked at him. “Would you forgive me if I almost killed a seraph?” Alisha and Rose exchanged glances. “There was a seraph down there in the crucible. She’d already gone crazy, but she wasn’t an IPD. And before she killed herself, she said something in Hymmnos.”
“Sorey, please be careful,” Lailah told him. “The guilt will generate malevolence.”
“I couldn’t save her, but when she looked at me, she was normal for a second. She said, ‘Was yea ra presia aferzeria spiritum yor. What does that mean?” He took one of Mikleo’s hands, squeezing it tightly, waiting for an answer. “What does it mean?”
Mikleo smiled gently. He took his hand away, rubbed his cheek, handed him the cooked rabbit. He had to think in the simplest way to translate. She had thanked him. Of course, Sorey didn’t understand why she would thank him when she took her own life.
“You tried to save her by quelling the crucible, right?” Edna asked. “It’s probably the most anyone had done for her since she was captured. She knew there was no escape except death, and deep down, she knew that you were trying to help her.”
Lailah thought it was as a good time as any to educate her friends about the crucibles. The seraph had been thrown down there in an effort to turn her in a dragon. Hellions were put into massive fighting pits, feeding off of each other’s malevolence and producing larger and stronger monsters. By throwing a seraph into the mix, a dragon would be born but not before she had completely lost her mind among the madness. Crucibles had been lost in time after falling out of favor compared to the Seraphoid Project and the IPD experiments. It was more efficient to convert seraphim into killing machines—they could be controlled and retained their manageable size. They were short-lived, but they were grounded unlike dragons.
“So it’s a given we’ve got to cleanse the crucibles,” Rose concluded. “Might be harder than it looks. Sorey’s resonance is the highest among us, and even he almost couldn’t handle it.”
“Sorey was—” Mikleo started.
“Sorey only barely made it. If you’re sent in, what are you going to do? You’ll turn into a hellion faster than any capured seraph,” Dezel bluntly said. “Rose or Alisha are sent in, they’ll be rendered unconscious before they’re eaten.”
Alisha stood up. “I’d rather not hear anymore about this. We should start moving. If we use the darkness, then there’s a lesser chance of Rolance finding us,” she said. Lailah agreed. The seraphim returned inside of their respective humans, who ate the rabbits then headed on their way after putting out their fire.
Notes:
Another kind of short chapter with tons of Hymmnos.
Chapter 38: Phase 2: Through the Blighted Fields and into the Corrupted Past
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 2: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
Another chapter written I think during physics, and it's more disjointed than others. I've found that if I've burnt myself out on writing about Sorey's team, I can sprinkle in some bad guy stuff!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey, Rose, and Alisha fell to their knees when they arrived at Pearloats Pasture. The seraphim inside their bodies writhed in pain, transferring to the humans’ senses and making their human vessels feel nauseous and on fire.
“It hurts…” Lailah whined.
“We have to get to Pendrago fast,” Mikleo added.
Pearloats Pasture was just as vast as Meadow of Triumph, and with the blighting rain falling on their skin like needles, it seemed almost impossible to make it to the Capitol City before passing out from the pain.
“Why can’t we use Edna’s umbrella?” Rose asked.
“Because this rain would eat through it just like it’ll eat through your skin,” Edna bit.
“We can discuss all this when we get to the damn city,” Dezel snapped.
Sorey led the way, each step wracked with discomfort. He was worried that their clothes would get ruined, because if that happened, then they would really be in trouble of dying. Then he noticed as they braved the rain that the wheat was brittle. If they walked through the fields, the crops turned to ash, and the soil was dust. The hellions that roamed flattened paths through them, and it was heartbreaking to Alisha, who knew that the withered crops were the food supply of the city.
“That Cardinal Forton—why would she want to destroy the city’s harvest?” Alisha asked herself. “What does she hope to accomplish by starving her people? Anyone who loves their people wouldn’t do this.”
Lailah felt Alisha’s anger. It reminded her of Chancellor Bartlow and his schemes to control the seraphim. He ignored the people, tricking them into sacrificing themselves to become temporary warriors. He used the funds for the city to buy captured seraphim; he was a truly deplorable old man. But Lailah did her best to distract from that anger. When she was younger, Lailah would shower her with love and affection. Her jade eyes were always on Bartlow, her fires constantly burning within her heart. She had vowed that if he ever tried to hurt her, she would die protecting her. The incident that caused a rift between Mikleo and Sorey—it was the fire seraph’s one regret that she couldn’t fight back.
“Lailah, are you okay?” Alisha asked her. “I felt something change.”
“I-It’s nothing,” Lailah told her. “I was just…reflecting on things…”
Alisha didn’t pry anymore. Lailah had always been one to avoid certain topics, and while at times it bothered her, she knew it was her personal business.
Thunder rumbled over the land. Lightning cracked the sky. Rose didn’t enjoy being out in the rain even though she had lived outside on the road for most of her life. Dezel was the one that comforted her. It was one of those rare instances that his kindness showed; however, he made sure to come off as aloof and disinterested afterwards to remind her that he didn’t like her company. On the other hand, Sorey and Mikleo and Edna were all used to thunder and lightning thanks to their backgrounds. In fact, the Shepherd and the water seraph couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. They remembered how Zenrus used to zap them when they were younger, Sorey more often than Mikleo. It brought back memories of when Elysia was invaded and of Zenrus being turned into a Seraphoid. Edna simply remembered her draconic brother whose domain heated the air so much that magnificent spontaneous bursts of electricity crawled through the clouds.
The Shepherd and his friends arrived at the imposing city walls that were showing signs of extreme weathering from the blighting rain. Sorey felt intense malevolence coming from the gates, a sickly feeling akin to that when Mikleo was tortured rising in his belly. The agony and desperation of the seraphim that were trapped inside swirled around mixing with the greed of humans. Dezel stepped out of Rose. He didn’t care that the rain was burning him; he was more afraid of what lie inside than that.
“Rose…” Dezel quietly, intimidatedly said. The vulnerability in his voice had reached a new high. He held onto the hood of her jacket. “Rose…please…protect me…”
“Looks like the guard dog lost his teeth,” Edna teased.
“You know what he’s going through,” Mikleo cautioned.
“I know, but that doesn’t mean he can’t buck up. The enemy always picks the weaklings off first.”
Dezel’s blindness probably tremendously augmented his perception of the negative emotions. Nevertheless, Rose reassured him that she would do everything in her power to keep him safe. Then she saw it—the Dezel that had been inside his soul space. He wasn’t the one that wished for her to go away. He was the Dezel that was glad she was near him and felt safe in her company.
After Dezel went back inside of Rose, the three of them ventured into Pendrago. They found that the place was worse than Ladylake and Marlind, where people used seraphim to promote business and work endlessly for them. Here in Pendrago, the seraphim wore not only shackles but also gags that prevented them from singing. Many of them had bruises and scars from their binds and from other nefarious actions and things.
Sorey willed himself to stand now. He had read about Pendrago in the Celestial Record that it was the Blessed Capitol City and that the largest shrinechurch resided there. Looking at it now, it couldn’t be farther from the truth. There was no blessing, the seraphim looked half-dead, and the people were emaciated.
“Sorey, we either need to find Sergei or go to the inn,” Rose panted while gripping her arms. “Dezel’s not feeling too great. I think his anxiety is getting to him.”
“Sergei said to go to the inn and dry off. It’ll be beneficial to Dezel as well,” Lailah said. Rose knew more about Pendrago than either Sorey and Alisha, and she led them to the inn that was famous for its Drago Stew. “Alisha, we should head to a room with Rose so we can help with Dezel.”
Alisha nodded discreetly. They checked in. While Sorey ordered food for everyone, Rose and Alisha went up to their room. Dezel immediately came outside of Rose, lay on the bed, and clutched his arms. The princess fetched a glass of water while the assassin took Dezel’s hat. The wind seraph grabbed her wrist, and she was worried that he was angry at her. Instead he pulled her down next to him. Lailah, who had never seen Dezel like this, was as much surprised as Rose. Alisha came back with a pitcher of water to see what had happened.
“He’s really afraid, isn’t he,” she murmured so only Lailah could hear.
“Something terrible must have happened to him,” the fire seraph replied. “Let’s go help Sorey. They need to be alone.”
The door clicked softly after Alisha left with Lailah inside of her. Dezel scooted closer to his nervous human. Was he sleeping or trying to shut the malevolence out? She wanted to ask him to Dive, but she feared that his heart wouldn’t be able to handle having her inside in the midst of the evilness.
“Rose, I’m sorry,” he slowly, quietly told her. He hugged her. “I can’t hide it anymore. My Dives were fake. I didn’t really have any Paradigm Shifts after the first one.”
“I knew it,” Rose whispered.
“I wanted you to go as deep as you could to get the Armatus without learning what I’ve gone through. I don’t want you to see all the terrible things that have happened.” Rose stayed quiet. “But I have no choice now. You’re still on the second level, and I…I’m ready for you to see the real version of my world.”
“W-Wait, you mean you want to Dive now?” Rose panicked. “What if someone hears us? Or sees us? What if they take us away?”
Dezel curled up next to her pleadingly.
Rose was defeated by his wish to Dive and his pathetic form. They sat up on the bed with the Sacred Knife in hand. “Lukeim Yurlin,” she whispered.
---------------------------------------------------
Deep in Castle Diocese, a young-looking seraph was chained to the walls. The Cardinal Forton sat with her, reading to her like she was her daughter. The seraph, with pure white hair and see-through clothes that revealed her belt-like attire underneath, roused.
“What is it, my dear Lakra?” Forton asked.
“I can sense it,” she said. “There is a seraph Diving in the city.”
“What? We must find them.”
“No, this one appears to be intriguing. His is a familiar presence. I have felt this domain before, and these deliciously sad memories. He has returned after all these years. The key to our power.”
Forton closed her book. She had remembered that she had found a report of three seraphim escaping Pendrago’s IPD experiments. One of them had died trying to save another one, and the third was the exile. The Cardinal left the chamber to see her emperor.
---------------------------------------------------
When Sorey and Alisha returned to the room with bowls upon bowls of Drago Stew, they were surprised to see that Rose and Dezel were Diving. Sorey was somewhat annoyed because the food they had gotten was expensive and surely wouldn’t taste good if it got cold. There was, however, nothing that they could do. The seraphim came out and Sorey and Alisha waited for the Dive to be completed.
“Dezel had been pretty forthcoming about Diving lately,” Sorey said. “I guess he finally got used to her being in his soul.”
“Maybe he just wants to feel her all the time within the same body,” Edna sneered.
“Edna, no,” Mikleo scolded.
“Well, we can never know since that’s a breach of privacy,” Lailah giggled.
---------------------------------------------------
Rose entered the fourth level of Dezel’s soul space where Windur had opened a passage back to the second level. The master of the soul space had already explained the situation to it, and as a loyal servant, it did as it was asked to do.
Stepping through the light, the assassin was taken back to where the Dives began to go wrong. The world had expanded to more than just the cage, shackles and Stonehenge. There was a forest and mountains now, but according to Windur, Dezel was still locked away in his cage.
“I wouldn’t go there yet,” Windur told her. “He isn’t in any condition for you to coax him out. Find out why he’s there in the first place.”
“That’d be easier if I just ask him,” Rose sighed.
Not a moment later did a massive hellion ambushed her. She pulled her daggers, hesitating only when the hellion transformed into a human. She recognized the person.
“Prince Konan?” she uttered. “What are you doing inside of Dezel?”
“How dare you deny me your body,” Prince Konan growled. “And that blasted shitty seraph! This is why the seraphim should be slaves. They ruin everything! But not tonight, oh not tonight.”
Prince Konan turned back into a hellion. He launched a ball of malevolence at her, but she dodged by rolling out of the way. She took the chance to run away from the Stonehenge while the smoke from the attack covered her. She escaped to the forest, where there was a bread crumb trail to the mountains then to a flower field filled with roses. The roses were devoid of thorns, which allowed her to walk through them to a munching sound.
“That must be a Normin,” she grinned. “And Normin means stronger magic. Where are you?”
The munching sounds got louder as she got nearer. Finally, in the center of the flower field, she found a plump green Normin eating potato chips and cookies and ice cream. This was the Normin known as Fatty G.
“What are you looking at, kid?” the Normin belched.
“I…I can’t imagine Dezel having something like this inside of him,” Rose muttered. She never would have guessed there was a pig of a Normin inside of him or that it would reflect his inner feelings of gorging himself on food.
“Well, he does. Now if you would kindly leave, I have six more tubs to finish off.”
A sudden inexplicable feeling of dread overcame her. Prince Konan was behind her charging at full speed. Without a second to think, she grabbed up Fatty G and ran to the cage where Dezel was at the other end of the soul space. Prince Konan wouldn’t back down, though. He was gaining on her.
“Dezel!” Rose called. “Help us!”
The wind seraph trapped voluntarily in the cage raised his head from his knees. Fatty G tried to push itself through the bars only to get stuck halfway. Prince Konan lunged at Rose. She dove to the side, and the hellion crashed into the bars. Dezel backed away.
“Why did you lead him here?” he angrily questioned Rose.
Prince Konan regained his bearings. He turned to Rose, eyes glowing red and saliva dripping through his sharp teeth. “I won’t let you get away again. You will marry me, and you will give me children. All the childen that I want!”
“Dezel!” Rose instinctively called again.
“You’ve made a fool of me for long enough. A kept woman is a role best suited for one so wild. If you marry me, I’ll release your friends.”
“You put Dezel in that cage? He didn’t choose to be in there?”
“He chose to be in there, but I can rip him out into the open.”
Fatty G freed itself from the bars. “Dezel, man, come on! Your girl is in danger!” it urged. It pulled on his hand, kicked his thigh, and bit his arm.
Prince Konan pulled Rose back to the Stonehenge for the wedding ceremony and potential consumation. She tried to kick herself free, drop all her weight to slow him down, and tried to dig her nails into the concrete paths. Nothing stopped the hellion from dragging her back to where she had entered.
Dezel stood up in disbelief. Rose had been taken away thanks to his inactivity. He felt worthless. “She’s gone…I couldn’t do anything again…” he cursed dejectedly.
“You could have done something,” Fatty G rebuted. “You’re the one that put yourself in here. You want to help her, right? Then go out there and get her!”
Dezel gritted his teeth then opened his cage.
Meanwhile, Prince Konan haphazardly dressed Rose in a wedding gown. She was tied with a rope around her wrists and a steel ball on her ankle. The hellion turned back into his human form. He held her tightly by the arms.
“Oh, how I have waited for this day,” Prince Konan jeered. He hated the seraphim after they presumably sabotaged their wedding before. “I have waited so long for you, Rose, and now I finally have you right here. Do you have anything to say? A declaration of your sweet love maybe?”
Rose spat in his face. She didn’t know why this man was there in Dezel’s heart, and she wasn’t sure what his connection was to him. She had hope that Dezel would save her—she knew he would. But there was a bubble of fear in her chest. Prince Konan was wanting to have children. She was afraid that he would force her, and she was afraid that Dezel wouldn’t be able to stop him.
“Do I take this lovely Rose to be my lawfully wedded and completely subservient wife?” Prince Konan asked himself greedily. “I do. Do you take me to be your lawfully wedded and completely dominant husband?” he asked Rose.
The captured assassin dressed in pale pink struggled. Prince Konan grabbed her throat as a threat to make her say those two binding words. He squeezed tighter and tighter.
“I…I…”
“Wind Lance!” Dezel roared.
“Normin power!” Fatty G snarled behind him.
Prince Konan let Rose go as he cried out in agonizing pain when the spear of wind pierced his chest. Dezel scooped up Rose in his arms to bring her safely to his side while dragging the steel ball. He took one of her daggers, held her close, and held the weapon threateningly at the hellion prince. Dezel’s heart was beating so loud and hard in his chest, but Rose was flattered that he had gotten so excited about saving her.
“Wretched seraph…I’ll have your head on a silver platter…” Prince Konan sputtered. “Give me back my wife…!”
“She’s not your wife!” Dezel countered. Fatty G crossed its arms with a smirk. It was glad that Dezel was standing up to him. “Rose is Rose. She doesn’t belong to anyone! Not…not even me!”
Prince Konan laughed maniacally at him. He lunged at him; he wanted Rose even if he had to bite off pieces of her, but Dezel wouldn’t let him near them. “Vengeant Fangs!” he chanted as a set of beast-like teeth made of wind appeared and chomped on the hellion. “Stay away from her.”
Prince Konan’s mangled body lay at their feet. Rose was impressed that Dezel’s rage was so strong that it had essentially destroyed the hellion. She peered up at him, again seeing slivers of peridot between his hair instead of the usual blind grey.
“Dezel, thank you,” she bashfully said.
“I’m sorry that you had to go through all this,” Dezel softly said. “This is what I was afraid of. I won’t let anyone take you away from me.”
“Heh, that’s my line, ‘wretched seraph’.” She let out a hearty laugh before the light of the Paradigm Shift—the true Paradigm Shift—shone ahead of them. “Well, I guess it’s time for you to go to the next level. Promise you’ll be okay until next time?”
Dezel nodded sheepishly. Before heading into the light, he turned to her and said, “You look…b-beautiful.” Then he left her side. Fatty G followed after him as if to keep an eye on him.
Windur appeared not too long after the light disappeared. It congratulated Rose on a job well done, and it added that Dezel’s Paradigm Shift had reared a calmer and more homely man. Rose blushed a little. She returned to reality eager to see the fruits of her labor.
---------------------------------------------------
Rose turned to find Sorey and Alisha with their seraphim all staring at her and Dezel. Then she turned to her wind seraph, who was positively glowing as he slept…which was strange because it didn’t happen before. His arm was around her waist, and he was almost smiling.
“I didn’t even know he was capable of smiling,” Sorey said half-jokingly.
“She looks like you and Meebo after you two Dive,” Edna observed much to Mikleo’s chagrin.
“We should leave so they can talk when Dezel wakes up,” Alisha hinted. She figured that at this point everyone should be familiar with the way things went after Dives.
After everyone left, Rose gently woke Dezel, who didn’t seem like he wanted to wake up from whatever dream he was having. He seemed to enjoy sleeping next to her, and she had to wonder why all of a sudden he was so comfortable. Was it because he was exhausted from the anxiety and fear that had been building with each step closer to Pendrago? He was so different during the Dive as well. He had been afraid but willing to save her. She wondered about Prince Konan and why he was there.
“Dezel, wake up,” she whispered. “We need to talk about the Dive. There are a lot of things that I don’t understand.”
The wind seraph sat up drowsily then slumped back down onto her shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said depressively.
“I’m fine. I want to know about Prince Konan.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why were you so scared of him?”
“He tried to take you away. He was going to hurt you. He was an evil man.”
Rose remembered Prince Konan, but she didn’t recall anything about him being evil or violent towards her. She actually didn’t remember much of anything from her past besides being raised by Mayvin and the other Scattered Bones members. She would save it for another time when Dezel was more open about his feelings.
“So…how was the Dive this time?” she asked.
“It was nice,” Dezel replied, falling back into a daze. He couldn’t find the confidence to tell her that it was an exhilarating experience that was much different from the first Dive.
He was particularly happy that he—after so many years—got to see her in her wedding dress. It was a dream come true.
“Just nice? You said I was beautiful!”
Dezel only drowsily hummed, then she realized that he was getting sick again. The malevolence in Pendrago was worse than Ladylake this time around. Alisha asked if they could come back in—she allowed them—before Lailah, Mikleo, and Edna could rest. They were all feeling lethargic.
“We need to do something about the malevolence in Pendrago,” Sorey reminded her friends. “Let’s find Sergei as soon as possible and—”
“Right this way, captain,” the innkeeper said from the first floor. He led the captain to the second floor to Sorey’s room. With a gentle knock, he notified them that they had a visitor.
Sorey cautiously opened the door so that the innkeeper wouldn’t see the seraphim. Sergei was standing behind with a few parcels stacked in his hands. He dismissed the innkeeper, sneaking into the room with Sorey and laying the parcels out at the foot of the bed nearest to the door.
“Sergei, we were just about to come find you,” Sorey said with some apprehension. He didn’t think the captain would find them, and he was nervous that others knew about their presence in the Capitol City. “What are those?”
“My men wanted to send a few care packages after I told them about you all. A few of them have been to see the seraphim in containment. The malevolence has rendered them unconscious, so they thought that your seraphim would be the same. They’re meant for humans, but hopefully it can help them out.” Sorey opened one of the parcels to find medicinal herbs and other things to alleviate headaches and upset stomachs. He thanked the captain for his kindness. “I don’t mean to rush you all, but it would be better if we gathered at the Knights’ Tower to discuss the Cardinal Forton.”
Sorey agreed. He asked Mikleo and Edna to go inside, and once Alisha and Rose were ready, they followed Sergei to his headquarters.
Notes:
Dezel and Rose are getting closer! But it's only the second Dive!
Chapter 39: Phase 2: Preparing to Infiltrate
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 5: Mikleo
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
This one is based on Aurica's Dive, and it wasn't one of my favorite levels mainly because Aurica was just a little brat. Misha was a brat, too, but it was kind of plot relevant. Granted I also didn't do Aurica's route since I prefer Misha's Songs. Still, Mikleo I think fits Aurica better.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sergei peeked around the corner of the stairs to check if the innkeeper was distracted. While the man was looking down behind the counter organizing some supplies, he led them out the door. The seraphim were inside their vessels, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t take precautions making sure that no one knew about them. Outside, he had to warn them:
“The seraphim in Pendrago are worse off than you think. I apologize that you have to see them like this. It pains me that I cannot help them when I’m on patrol.”
“There’s no point in apologizing when the entirety of humanity is torturing them,” Alisha told him with some frustration. “But I intend to start a movement to free them with my political power.” Rose elbowed her.
The captain blinked a few times. “Excuse me?” Sergei responded.
“My sister dreams of being a politician someday!” Rose lied. “Boy, wouldn’t you say she’s got the attitude for it!”
Sergei paid no mind to the strange statement after that. He, however, seemed to blame himself for letting the situation get so out of control. All the seraphim that were out on the streets in the blighting rain looked half-dead, their typically scarless skin dotted with bleeding holes and purple abscesses. Sorey pitied the humans that did this to them, and more than ever he wanted to nurse the suffering seraphim all back to health. Then he saw a small child—a boy of maybe four or five years old—approaching one of the older seraphim with a piece of bread and what appeared to be medicine. Sorey asked Sergei to stop walking for fear of startling the child.
“My parents don’t know about this,” he whispered. “They’re sleeping. It’s not much, but give it with your friends.” He handed the seraph the small morsel and the medicine. “If the knights say you stole it, tell them that I gave it to you. I’ll get in trouble, but you won’t.”
“Thank you, child,” the seraph coughed. “Was yea erra afezeria spiritum yor.” He took the bread and medicine slowly but graciously.
There it was again—that phrase that the seraph in Sanjiva had said to Sorey before she killed herself. The scene left a bittersweet feeling in his heart. There was no way that the seraph would survive, but he seemed appreciative that the boy had made an effort to right the wrongs of his parents.
“Humans are complicated creatures, aren’t they,” Mikleo softly said. “Children are pure until the wickedness of the world corrupts them.”
“And that wickedness finds its way into the hearts of vulnerable adults first,” Edna continued. “The Cardinal—she understands how to manipulate the people. She’s got everyone in this illusion.”
When the boy scurried back to his house before his parents could tell that he had gone out, Sergei continued to lead them to the tower where his squadron resided. The Shepherd and the Squires were met with mixed reactions with half of the knights happy and grateful and relieved that there was someone who wanted to stop the evil from spreading and the other half almost stalking them for their coveted seraphim. Sergei assured tham that no harm would come to them before glaring at those who desired the holy beings and threatened to strip them of their position if they acted on their greed.
“If you and your seraphim are comfortable with it, I would like everyone to be present,” Sergei said. He waited expectantly for a moment. “We’re not going to hurt them.” Sorey looked at Rose then Alisha, and all three of them gently asked their friends to come out. “You have my word.”
“I think we can trust them,” Lailah said, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. She was trying to coax herself. Within Sorey, Edna didn’t seem to mind it, but Mikleo hesitated.
As such, Edna was the first to emerge, and the soldiers were surprised that such a small girl possessed the unimaginable power of the seraphim. Her piercing icy eyes burned holes through them as she hid behind her umbrella. She hated them even if they were going to help her. Lailah was the next to meet the Platinum Knights. They were smitten by her beauty, and she made it clear that she was already taken by latching onto Alisha’s arm with a smile. Mikleo and Dezel were wary about coming out. Just because the Platinum Knights didn’t attack Edna and Lailah didn’t mean that they would trap them when they were all present.
“Sorey…” Mikleo mumbled. Memories about the incident were coming back. His soul was trembling within the Shepherd. “I…”
“I can’t,” Dezel told Rose. The amount of people in the tower felt like an audience that had formed to watch him be ridiculed publicly. He ordered Rose to let Sergei know that he wouldn’t be coming out.
“For guys, they’re such babies,” Edna insulted.
“G-Given the situation…” Sorey tried to ease without saying too much.
“If they’re shy—” Sergei started. He raised his hand to command everyone to go outside.
Sorey shook his head before all of the knights left. “Mikleo…had some things happened…” He didn’t feel comfortable talking about it—even saying that much made him lurch with nausea as he recounted the ordeal.
Rose scratched her head. “Same thing with Dezel. He won’t tell me what happened though.” She could feel Dezel recoil deeper within her. “I think it’s the amount of people in this room that’s making them anxious. Don’t take it personally.”
“Actually, Sergei, do you have a separate room that I can use? Maybe I can talk to Mikleo and get him to meet you all,” Sorey offered. Sergei didn’t hesitate. He relinquished one of the infirmary rooms a couple floors down to him. “It shouldn’t take too long.” Sergei gave an affirmative nod then left him to his own devices. Sorey sat on one of the beds with its starched white sheets. Mikleo must have panicked again because Sorey’s entire body jolted with nausea once more. “It’s just me. Come on out.”
Mikleo appeared in a corner of the small room. The bed looked just like the table he had been strapped to albeit was more cushion-like. His face was haggard from the malevolence, but he refused to go near the bed.
“Please, Sorey…” he breathed. “Please don’t…” He pressed himself into the corner.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Sorey said carefully to him. He slowly approached him like he was a lost kitten. “Everything is okay. No one wants to hurt you here, and I won’t let them do anything to you.” He tenderly cupped his cheek in his hand, and Mikleo nestled it. “Can I Dive into you? Maybe you’ll feel better if I cause a Paradigm Shift.”
“We’ll be vulnerable.”
Sorey quickly locked the door. “They can’t get in now.” He grinned at him.
“And if they have a key?”
“It’ll be okay.” Sorey pulled Mikleo close into his arms, kissing his temple and holding him until he felt safe enough to agree to a Dive. The Shepherd brought his water seraph to the bed. It was too small for them to lay side by side, which would have helped to calm Mikleo down, so Sorey hovered over him much to his nervousness. He whispered quietly in case anyone was trying to listen to them through the door, “Luzrov Rulay.”
Mikleo Armatized with Sorey with some apprehension, his back arching before turning into an orb of light that sank into his chest. His Shepherd noticed only briefly that there was a look of calm on his seraph before he fell asleep.
----------------------------------------------------
Sorey found his water seraph within the ethereal space of their souls again restraining himself from nearing him. His seraph was unsure about Diving while miles and miles in enemy territory, especially inside of a stronghold. The Shepherd feared that he was regressing to the self that had refused to let him in and had almost shut off his heart from him. Truthfully, he felt as if he had forced himself on him, and he suspected that was why Mikleo was so defensive. He could feel it resonating in his heart like the song of a scared lost child. He didn’t have to hear it to know those were Mikleo’s feelings.
“Are you mad at me?” Sorey asked, somewhat guiltily but confident that this was the right thing to do. “If you are, I can enter your soul space, and you can kick me out if it’ll make you feel better.”
“S-Stupid…” Mikleo barely said. “I’m not comfortable doing it here, but I have no choice now. I’m just…I’m scared that it’ll happen again. And I’m scared for Dezel. I’ve never been this worried about someone else besides you. But…I can sense something terrible in this city.” Sorey threw his arms around him. “Why am I so scared?”
Sorey tightened his embrace. “Because we share a dream, and we want to make the world a happy place for Edna. And we know that Rose wants what’s best for Dezel. And Alisha wants what’s best for Lailah. You’re not scared. You just care about everyone’s future.”
Mikleo’s eyes welled with tears. It was sweet—just like Sorey to say something like that. It had been so long. He didn’t doubt that he thought about him every waking second, but with all that had been happening around them, he had forgotten what is was like to warrant concern from the one he loved most.
“Are you ready?” Sorey asked him.
“Let’s go.”
----------------------------------------------------
Sorey entered Mikleo’s fifth level soul space where Gaine was waiting. Unsurprisingly, the Normin berated him upon arrival, but this time it seemed upset about the fact that he had been neglecting Mikleo. He wasn’t too distraught since he had heard the same thing from Edna personally, and while he had promised her that he would pay more attention, he felt like he was being pulled in all opposite directions.
“Uh, so you’re going to drop your boyfriend because the other woman wants you to? I thought you were better than that,” Gaine belittled. “Guess humans really are all shallow, two-faced, insatiable creatures—even the Shepherd.”
“Okay, that’s a little mean…” Sorey dejectedly said.
Gaine walked to his feet. It looked serious, concerned even. “I’m not saying you can’t Dive into anyone else. You should have noticed it.”
“That Mikleo is regressing…I know. I don’t want to feed into it.”
“You’re not. This region may be different, and he may not be able to be infected by Viruses here, but he’s not invincible to the malevolence. He’s the most susceptible, Sorey. Remember that. This territory poses a bigger threat than Hyland.”
Sorey nodded resolutely. How could he forget that Mikleo was so vulnerable? He wondered about his proximity to Dezel as well. They didn’t share a vessel, yet the wind seraph’s anxieties were contagious, reaching out to everyone—human and seraph—and threatening to corrupt them all. He didn’t believe that ostracizing him and Rose would solve anything, and he wanted Mikleo to feel safe. It wasn’t within his right to meddle in Dezel’s affairs, either; however, he knew that he wanted to help them in any way he could.
The Shepherd left the Stonehenge for a village some paces away. The village looked very different from anything he knew. In fact, he had never seen it nor read about it in the Celestial Record. There was a stone monument at the entrance that was in the process of being carved and polished. The only letters visible were C-A-M-L.
“This couldn’t be…Is this really Camlann?” Sorey asked dubiously. The more he reflected on what he had read in the Celestial Record, the more the pieces lined up. Camlann, as legends went, had been long destroyed. There was only one picture of the village in the book. It was roughly hand-sketched as if the author of the book had a hard time getting all the details just right. Perhaps that was what the interpretation in the book was to Mikleo. The finer details that were missing were translated to his soul space, influencing the world that lie halfway between reality and the deepest point in his heart thus far.
“Mikleo, are you here?” Sorey called out.
Lailah walked up to him, shushing him fervently and begging him to keep his voice down. Without a second to spare, a child version of Mikleo made his way from his house, the normal 17-year-old version of him behind him…wearing the Shepherd’s cloak?
“I was taking a nap, lady!” the child irritably said. “Shepherd, this lady is keeping me from taking a nap! She’s being mean to me!”
Shepherd Mikleo used his power. “Twin Flow!” he cried out, and in an instant, she had been washed away outside of the village. “The problem has been taken care of, young seraph,” he said with something of a posh accent.
The child pushed Sorey aside as he made his way to the sanctuary. Sorey grabbed Shepherd Mikleo’s wrist. “Mikleo, what is going on? Why are you the Shepherd?” he asked him.
“Do I know you? Leave me, for I must keep this seraph safe,” Mikleo told him.
He snatched his arm away from him, following the child version of himself to the sanctuary where the princess Alisha was praying. Of course, Sorey lagged behind, peeking through the large mosaic-like doors at the events that transpired within.
“Good morning, Seraph Mikleo, to what do I owe the pleasure today?” Alisha greeted kindly.
The child Mikleo flashed an angry glare. “Shepherd, the priestess is bothering me!” he cried.
Before Alisha could explain that she was not trying to disturb him, Shepherd Mikleo washed her away outside of the sanctuary. Sorey would repulsed by this behavior; it most certainly was not Mikleo. He hid in the bushes near the sanctuary as he watched the child Mikleo, with Shepherd Mikleo in tow, walk to the village general store where Rose and Dezel worked. Just like Lailah and Alisha, they were washed out of the store for some silly trivial reason. Edna, who worked at the village inn, was washed out, too.
“This is ridiculous,” Sorey sighed. He went to the inn while being careful not to step on anyone disillusioned by the tantrum. He entered the room with his hands on his hips. “Mikleo, what is the meaning of this?” he scolded. “You’re not being nice to your friends.”
Shepherd Mikleo stepped between them. “Who are you? Why are you being so mean to me?” child Mikleo sniffled. “Shepherd, he’s being mean to me! Make him go away!”
“Stop bothering the young seraph,” Shepherd Mikleo threatened. “Twin Flow!” Sorey was pounded with a torrent of water so powerful that he had to use all his power to stay still. Barely surviving the rush and now soaking wet, he continued to nag Mikleo. Shepherd Mikleo continued his vain attempts to flush him out of the inn.
“You’re so mean! Why can’t you just go away?!” the child Mikleo sobbed. He ran away from the inn back to the sanctuary even though Sorey told him not to go.
When the child Mikleo found respite in the sanctuary, he found someone else there. That person wasn’t supposed to be here, and a creeping fear planted a seed in his heart, festering apprehension until he couldn’t move. The old man with hair down to his shoulders turned around. A nasty greedy smile stretched his saggy mouth.
“There you are, wretched boy,” the old man said. He reached for him.
Meanwhile, Sorey was trying his best to keep the Shepherd Mikleo from leaving. He demanded that he tell him what was going on. Why was Mikleo a bratty child? Why was he the Shepherd? Why was he attacking everyone in the village?
“I’m doing my job as the Shepherd and protecting the only seraph in the village,” Shepherd Mikleo argued. “Now let me go! He could be in danger!”
“But this doesn’t make sense! Why is he like this?”
“Get out of my way!”
“Tell me!”
A horrific scream echoed from the sanctuary, and Shepherd Mikleo and Shepherd Sorey ceased their bickering at once. They raced to the holy ground where they found that the old man was lifting the child Mikleo by his neck.
“Chancellor Bartlow?!” Sorey gasped.
“Evil fiend!” Shepherd Mikleo barked.
The child Mikleo struggled in his grasp. He scratched at Bartlow’s hand in a futile effort to loosen his grip. Choking, he begged for their help.
“Let him go!” Shepherd Mikleo ordered. “Twin Flo—”
“No, don’t!” Sorey interrupted. “If you attack Bartlow, you’ll hurt Mikleo!”
Bartlow laughed ominously. He relished that the Shepherds couldn’t save the child. He vowed to break the child seraph and throw him into the slave ring. He even insinuated that there were such depraved people that would have loved to ravage him. “This place used to be full of seraphim, and luckily I found the last one here!”
Sorey and Shepherd Mikleo were trapped. They didn’t want to hurt the child Mikleo, but they couldn’t let Bartlow get away. As they watched in horror at the boy struggling, they heard him weakly say:
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t want to die.”
Sorey felt a familiar aching in his chest akin to what he felt when he was forced to watch Mikleo be beaten and electrocuted while being powerless to stop it. He didn’t want a repeat of that traumatic event. If he didn’t save him now, Mikleo would fall back into the darkness that threatened to swallow him back then.
“Shepherd Mikleo, I have a plan, but I need you to trust me,” Sorey told him. “I’m going pull him free, but I need you to surround me with water and hide my presence. If I can sneak around behind Bartlow, then I can save him.”
“This is a terrible plan,” Shepherd Mikleo responded.
“It’s the only thing that will work. Please, I’m sure you can craft a Song to do this.”
Shepherd Mikleo was unsure about his ability. After all, he wasn’t a seraph…he wasn’t a seraph, but the Mikleo whose soul encompassed everything in this world was. He agreed to the plan. He chanted out:
Rrha ki ra exec burle hymmnos sos na aulla cerchio!
Water created a vortex around Sorey, and as the sunlight shone through the stained glass of the sanctuary, it disappeared along with him. Bartow was taken aback, fearing the Shepherd hidden somewhere in the large room.
“Where is that boy?” he grumbled as he looked in every direction. He suddenly felt a sharp kick to his back, which forced him to release the child Mikleo when Sorey reappeared. “You little, impudent maggot!”
“Mikleo, now!” Sorey called out. He leapt out of the way with the child in his arms. Shepherd Mikleo fired his Twin Flow attack at Bartlow, stunning him long enough for them to make an escape.
Sorey escaped the sanctuary for the Stonehenge, Shepherd Mikleo at his heels. The Paradigm Shift had opened, and its brilliant light was a relief to see. Everyone was left disgruntled in the village. Mikleo and his younger self, however, didn’t seem to be bothered since they had acquired a new Song.
Sorey lowered the child Mikleo to the ground. The boy hugged him. “I’m sorry I did those mean things to you,” he sniffled. “I didn’t want to be hurt like that old man did to the real me. But you’re not a bad guy. You saved me.”
“Thank you, Sorey,” Shepherd Mikleo said. “Without you, this seraph would have been lost.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m glad you learned a new Song! And it looks so cool, and it sounds so cool! It’s just so cool!” Sorey joyfully celebrated. He patted the child Mikleo’s head before sending them towards the light of the Paradigm Shift. He was then overcome with a sense of guilt. “To think that that fear was still so deeply rooted in his heart.”
“Now you understand that he’s still afraid,” Gaine said. It came from behind one of the boulders wearing its displeasure on its face.
“But I still don’t understand why it was like this. Why did he see himself as a child and as the Shepherd?”
“That’s for you to find out on your own time.”
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sorey woke up very close to Mikleo on the bed. He heard the faint whispers of the Platinum Knights outside the door. He could only guess that Rose and Alisha dissuaded them from breaking it down to make sure they were okay. If Mikleo heard them, he would regress even more.
The water seraph roused. “Sorey, are you okay? It feels like things were a little more hectic than usual,” he sleepily said.
“It was,” Sorey admitted. His eyebrows furrowed. “You were always scared, weren’t you…about what Bartlow did to you and having it happen again.”
Mikleo looked down. He nodded slightly. “It was—I thought I was going to die.” He grasped Sorey’s hand that was around his chest as they lay together. “It’s terrifying to think that death is always around the corner.”
“But there were other things.” They sat up and turned towards each other, curling up their legs on the bed so Mikleo could see the appreciative shimmer in his companion’s emerald eyes. “You were also a Shepherd, and even though you were a handful for a child, you depended on the Shepherd to protect you. It was almost as if…”
“I feel like a burden,” Mikleo suddenly stated. “I know I am. I don’t want to be one, but that’s just how it is, right?” He gave a tearful smile. “I’m sorry.”
“W-Wait, no, you went the wrong way with that!” Sorey pouted, which Mikleo couldn’t stop himself from giggling. “You’re not a burden! But I understand why the child was there.” Sorey took up Mikleo’s hands. It didn’t matter how often he had to remind him, he loved being able to show him that he would support him and protect him. “I won’t let anything happen to you. And if you’re worried about Dezel, I’ll make sure he’s okay, too. I promise!”
Notes:
Uploaded this one earlier in the day because I've got tests and quizzes to study for next to setting up elections for my club. And well, things are going to start getting interesting soon enough.
Chapter 40: Phase 2: Operation Infiltration
Summary:
Sorey and company infiltrate the Pendrago Shrinechurch after Rose and Dezel have a discussion about their Dives.
Notes:
Hiiiii guuuuys...I swear I was going to upload yesterday, but then I got into a huge binge for Okami and just finished it with 94% of the trophies. With all the Stray Beads collected, I don't have to suffer frustration and I can do other things! More good news--I may be able to produce the Songs for this story sooner than expected! Isn't that exciting? I also have a hefty supply of art (REFERENCED FROM AR TONELICO) that I...may or may not put on Tumblr. Depends how I feel. But yeah, I'm feeling great about everything now!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rose heard Dezel’s name behind that locked door while she prevented the Platinum Knights from breaking and entering on such a critical moment for her friends. She wondered what they were talking about and if Dezel would be willing to Dive again soon. Assuming that Mikleo’s hesitation had been remedied for the while, it would have proved to be useful for the wind seraph as well.
“Once Sorey and Mikleo come out of there, do you think I could have a few minutes to talk to Dezel?” Rose asked Sergei.
The captain didn’t protest; he wanted to do whatever was necessary to meet the two seraphim that were trying to avoid his company. He thought that maybe their attitudes towards them would give insight to the severity of the situation surrounding not only Rolance but Hyland as well. He was still bothered by what Alisha had said earlier but talking to her was too much for him. Even if she was already taken by a seraph—a female one at that—he found it difficult to wrap his head talking to such a beautiful and petite girl just out of the blue about politics.
The lock clicked, and the door opened. Mikleo tightly held Sorey’s cloak like a security blanket. He had promised that he would at least meet the man that had spared them and had given them an entry into the castle. He didn’t have to do it without some sort of consolation—that was his only condition.
“Meebo finally got over it,” Edna snuffed.
“It must have been hard for him to agree,” Lailah commented.
“They conducted a Dive, and that’s really all you need to convince a seraph to do something like meeting people.”
“Edna, you make it sound like a bad thing.”
Sorey held onto Mikleo’s hand as well. Anything to make him feel comfortable to be around the people that could either treat him like a precious treasure or like a machine. “This is Mikleo,” Sorey introduced. The water seraph tried to show he could be independent, but some of the men looked at him with contempt. Sergei stepped forward, knelt in front of him, and pledge his allegiance to him.
“Lord Mikleo, it is an honor to meet and work with you,” he said with the utmost respect that the seraph wasn’t quite sure how to show his appreciation. “I swear, by the steel of my blade, that I will not let harm come to you.”
Rose nudged Sorey to let him know that she would be a short while with Dezel. She decided not to Dive into him since she would be met with much more opposition than Sorey had with Mikleo. Subsequently, Sorey asked Sergei to take him and Alisha back to the drawing room to further assess what he had seen in Pendrago thus far.
The assassin closed the door behind her, locking it just like Sorey had to give some sort of security. Dezel stepped out of her, but she couldn’t tell if he was upset or not. He just stood there with his arms crossed and his lips pressed together showing his refusal to talk. The assassin let out an exasperated sigh; she had her work cut out for her. Then she thought that if Sorey could do it, why couldn’t she?
“Oh, right, because he Dived,” she muttered to herself.
Dezel was much different from just an hour or so ago at the inn, where he had agreed to let her see his true feelings. His heart was no doubt precious to her, but she had to bend and break him a little bit if she wanted to make any progress. And part of her hated putting that kind of pressure on him even though it had to be done.
“What do I have to do?” she asked him. It sounded harsher than what she wanted. Then again, perhaps it would work in her favor. “Do I need to get on my knees and beg?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dezel retorted. “Just leave me out of all this. I didn’t want to come here knowing what they do to IPD seraphim. What do I need to do to make you understand? The only thing I want is revenge. I want to make them pay for what they did to him.” He sat at the foot of the bed with his hat in his hands. “I have to stay alive so I can accomplish my mission. Being here in the stronghold of this godforsaken city puts all that in danger—Diving specifically here and now is dangerous.”
Rose was silent, but it was a different kind of silence than he was used to. She sat opposite of him on the bed. Sensing a slight change in the atmosphere, he wondered if she was angry with him. He didn’t care if she was; however, there was a part of him that always did.
“So that’s what that Dive was about,” Rose quietly said. “Guess you realized I’m smarter than I look. You’re mean, Dezel, for playing a girl’s heart like that.”
Dezel was now worried that he made her cry again.
“I can’t make you Dive for any other reason but to accomplish your goal, and I’m willing to help you. But just so you know, those Dives—what I see and experience in them—I’m happy that I’m more important in them than in reality.” Standing up and wiping her eyes, forgetting that he couldn’t see her face but feel her aura in the air, she faced him. “I want to help you with your mission, and I don’t care if you’re really just using me to get stronger for that reason. In my eyes, our Dives suggest other things that you can’t hide.” She headed for the door. “And like it or not, Sergei and his men need to see you. We need to gain their trust, so we can’t hide anything from them that they will easily be able to figure out. Have faith in me, Dezel—I won’t let them touch you.”
The wind seraph caught her by the wrist before she opened the door. “I will never understand you,” he said.
“It’s on you to change that,” Rose replied. She opened the door to an empty hall. “You have to meet them. After that, just stay close to me. Even though Sergei’s men are going to help us, there are still some that have other interests. Sergei can only keep them at bay for so long. If they threaten to turn you in, don’t hesitate to fight back.”
Dezel was conflicted about his relationship with Rose. He had to get his revenge and he didn’t care what he had to do to make sure of it. He also didn’t want to use the assassin for such selfish reasons, not when she was still trying her best to keep him safe from other humans. He followed her out of the infirmary to the drawing room, all the while reading her from behind and attempting to figure her out. He wanted to reach for her and hold her, but why? Was he still scared? He had to be because there was always that lingering threat that someone would tie him up and sell him to a knight or the Church. That feeling, though, was minimized when he was standing next to her. He hated it. He hated his powerlessness.
“Is this the wind seraph?” Sergei asked. Dezel then recognized that he was standing among the Platinum Knights.
“Yup, this is Dezel,” Rose introduced. Sergei held out his hand to shake it, but Dezel shrinked away. “No offense, but he still doesn’t trust your company. Don’t try to force him to like you. It doesn’t work too well. I know from experience.”
“Duly noted.”
The captain beckoned them to join Sorey and Alisha to discuss the plans. Mikleo still stuck close to Sorey, but Dezel wouldn’t be caught dead knowingly leaning on Rose. Except he reflexively did. Lailah simply mimicked Alisha’s regal posture and confidence despite that she was still in disguise as a merchant. Edna plainly didn’t care. In the end, Dezel—unconsciously behaving like the other seraphim—found himself holding Rose’s hand, and she didn’t mind it. She smiled discreetly; if he knew how to manipulate her, she could manipulate him back albeit not just for her own personal gain.
“Mission briefing shall begin now,” Sergei announced to his men and Sorey’s entourage.
“You guys didn’t talk while we were sorting things out?” Rose whispered to Sorey and Alisha.
“Sorey insisted we wait,” Alisha told her. “If you and Dezel didn’t get the information, then you two would have somehow ended up in some trap.”
“Do you take me for an idiot?” Dezel growled at her.
There was reason to suspect Cardinal Forton for the blighting rains according to Sergei. They had come when she came into power after Pope Masedra disappeared, and it was particularly harmful to the seraphim. She was the one to experiment on the seraphim, and she was the one that always suggested leaving them outside. The emperor had his hands in it as well, but to overthrow the king in the middle of preparations for war with Hyland was suicidal. Another more concrete piece of evidence was the disappearance of a man named Boris. Boris was Sergei’s twin brother. He worked under his older brother, and he was the last one with his squadron to go after the Cardinal Forton on a covert operation. It had been about a month since he had gone missing and three weeks since Sergei had last inquired about his whereabouts. Cardinal Forton always waved him away, and the emperor would avoid his questions.
“The lack of concern for one of the Platinum Knights most elite indicates some amount of guilt,” Sergei said. He looked over at a blond-haired knight.
That knight, Targana, offered that perhaps it was because the plight was emotionally charged, and he already didn’t hold Cardinal Forton in high regard.
“By law, if someone goes missing inside the city and is not found in 48 hours—”
“Then we file for a missing persons report. But suppose that Cardinal Forton and the emperor have other things to worry about? What if they found him gallavanting in the city and sent him out on a mission?” Targana continued. He stood up, flipping his hair back. “Forgive me, Captain Strelka, I don’t mean to undermine you, but simply going on unfounded and biased allegations could spell the end for you.”
Targana was as tall as Dezel but suave and calculating and pretty as a doll. He looked out of place among all the other knights. This stark contrast made all the seraphim uncomfortable, especially the blind wind seraph.
Sorey raised an eyebrow to all of this. “Sergei, we can go into the shrinechurch and investigate,” he promised.
Targana eyed him. The kind Shepherd purposely ignored him; he thought it was strange that a knight was trying so hard to be the contrarian. When he felt that glare still on him after a couple minutes, he flashed him a look that was devoid of anger or malice. He looked at him with a thirst for justice.
“Sorey, are you sure?” Sergei asked.
“Of course! You’re scared for your brother. You can’t go because they could do something to you. We can go instead.”
“But what of your seraphim? And the fact that you’re the Shepherd?”
Mikleo faced him. Edna and Lailah also peered at him. Dezel willed himself to stay quiet. There was a sudden pressure on his shoulders like the world was on his back.
“It’s risky; however, we can’t just ignore this. It’s not within my right to just march into Pendrago and solve all the problems, but innocent lives—human and seraphim—are at stake. We can’t leave this alone.”
Sergei agreed to let Sorey go. Rose and Alisha had no objections since they knew that Sorey’s goal was to promote coexistence between the two races, and while the seraphim were wary of taking this job, they offered their support. Even Dezel promised his power to their cause. The Shepherd took his leave with his friends behind him and the Squires’ seraphim inside their respective partners, and Targana followed him shortly after requesting to be excused.
Mikleo and Edna sensed the knight while Rose pretended not to notice. When they were at the inn’s door, they confronted him. “How long do you plan on following us?” the assassin asked.
Targana flipped his blond hair. “Forgive me for not addressing you earlier,” he smiled. “I have a few questions. Why do you have seraphim with you? What makes you different from the people that you are going against?”
Sorey turned to him. Mikleo and Edna flanked his sides, their weapons within reach. “I have lived with Mikleo ever since we were babies. He’s become my one and only and the reason I strive for peace between humans and seraphim. To realize this dream, we’ve had to travel far and wide, and we needed help along the way. Edna joined us after Hyland took her brother’s soul. Alisha and Lailah want to stop the slavery, and Rose wants to help Dezel, who is blind.”
“Stop making me sound like an invalid,” Dezel grumbled.
“We have seraphim with us because it’s a physical manifestation of our trust and love for each other. That’s why we’re different from the ones we want to stop.”
Targana ground his teeth like it was disgusting to listen to him speak. “And why are you feeding into Sergei’s paranoia?” he asked.
Alisha was getting annoyed. “Wouldn’t you be worried about your brother if he suddenly disappeared?” she interrogated.
“I only ask because you have only just arrived in Pendrago, yet you act as if you understand our city. I would be careful if I were you. You’re in a monster’s den of IPDs waiting to lash out.”
Targana returned to Knight’s Tower while Sorey, with Mikleo and Edna going back inside, led his friends into the inn. They ordered enough bowls of Drago Stew for everyone, and when they asked why they wanted so many bowls, Rose explained she was a heavy eater. Then they were chastised about the bowls left before.
“W-We had business to attend to!” Alisha told them. “S-She was sick!”
Regardless, they received their bowls and a room. Upstairs, the seraphim came out and enjoyed their meals. Alisha and Rose ate with them, but Sorey couldn’t. Something was making him feel weird and sick to his stomach—was it their encounter with Targana? He was curious about their connections with the seraphim, but he was strangely blasé about the case of Boris. His attitudes were very disjointed, making him suspect something was happening behind the scenes.
“You sensed it, too?” Dezel asked.
“Something was off,” Sorey replied quietly. “But I didn’t sense malevolence. I don’t understand.”
“Perhaps he has a goal that he feels completely committed to?” Lailah wondered aloud.
Rose listened to Dezel and Sorey exchange ideas about Targana. She munched quietly since this was the most that her seraph had communicated with someone that wasn’t her. Dezel talked about Targana’s opposition to Sergei. Sorey questioned why he would be so calm. Could it be his personality? Or was there something more? The assassin silently placed her bowl down.
“I’m going to run down for another bowl,” she said.
“One bowl, wasn’t enough?” Mikleo questioned her.
“I wasn’t joking when I said that I’m a heavy eater.”
She left the room.
Dezel seemed startled when she had announced she was going for more, and even more so when he realized that she lied. “Where is that idiot going?” he panicked. He shot out of the room before Sorey and Alisha could hold him back. “Rose! Rose, where the hell did you go?!” he yelled.
“A seraph?” the innkeeper gasped.
Dezel dashed out of the inn without regard that the innkeeper was preparing to call soldiers to arrest him. He called out Rose’s name over and over through the pitter-patter of the rain, the worry and anxiety filling his heart. He tried to read the bitter wind. It made him sick when it was so thick with blight, malevolence, and stale air. His heart was pounding from the evilness rising from the ground. His stomach was churning. Then he finally located her at the top of a turret overlooking the northern district.
“Here’s what I can get you right now,” Eguille said. “He’s—”
“R-Rose…!” Dezel coughed.
“You have to get into the shrinechurch and judge her.”
“Getting in won’t be a problem. If she’s as strong as you say she is, we’re going to be in trouble if we get caught,” Rose replied.
“He went this way!” a soldier alerted.
“Whatever you do,” Eguille continued.
“Rose!” Dezel rasped.
“Don’t let them catch the seraphim,” Eguille finished.
Dezel was doubled over in pain at the bottom of the turret when Rose turned to see him. Eguille had disappeared into the hazy darkness of the rain. The soldiers were behind the wind seraph with their swords drawn.
“Dezel…” Rose mouthed.
“Come with us quietly, seraph,” the soldier commanded. “And you’ll be spared.”
“Blow them away.”
Suddenly, a surge of wind flung the entire company away like a cannon. “Horizon Storm!” he roared. The soldiers were disoriented and unable to get back up. Dezel, too, was paralyzed with fatigue. “Rose…please…help…” he panted. Without the energy to move, he crumbled to the ground. His body felt hot.
“Can you go inside?” she asked him after running to his side and holding him on her lap. Dezel couldn’t speak but grunted in pain. “I’ll take that as a no. Alright, up and at ‘em.”
“N-No, you can’t go back to the inn,” Dezel almost inaudibly warned her. “They’ll be looking for me.”
“Well, at least you can talk. Get inside,” Rose said. Dezel did as he was told, which rendered her body heavy.
She ran down the turret. Taking his advice, she moved past the inn and went straight to the shrinechurch. She only hoped that Sorey and Alisha were already there yet doubtful that they would have that forethought. She kept running until she burst through the shrinechurch doors. Luckily for her, there Sorey and Alisha were waiting.
“Where have you been?” Alisha asked her. “We got chased out of the inn!”
“I heard,” Rose said. She looked sick, and they immediately knew it was because of Dezel. The wind seraph came out to give her body a break from the ailments brought on by the wickedness in the city.
The shrinechurch was the largest shrine in the land, and rightly so because it was the shrine where the Great Lord Maotelus was worshipped. Sorey and Mikleo had read about him countless times, and while they knew as much as the Celestial Record had told them, the every day excitement of avoiding either government had distracted them from learning more about him. There were children playing at the front of the grand hall, but they wouldn’t be for long. The thousands of knights that weren’t under Sergei’s direction were all looking for Sorey, Alisha, and Rose. There was a high chance that they would be caught in the middle except…
Sorey suggested they go as far as they could into the shrinechurch. As they approached the altar that stood there in the center of the first hall, they realized that the children were stone statues. Breathing stone statues.
“We’ve already been found,” Edna stated. “And…the malevolence here…it’s sickening…”
Sorey didn’t waste any time. He went to the back of the shrinechurch through one of the two doors on either side of the altar to the next hall and the ancient monolith with unknown symbols. Had he been able to read what it said, he would have taken the time to. The language wasn’t Hymmnos or the ancient tongue. In that room behind the altar, there was a priest with a fearful expression. He was turned to stone as well. He wasn’t breathing.
“What’s with these statues?” Sorey asked.
“If we venture any farther, we may end up like them,” Lailah said. She urged that they leave immediately. “The malevolence here—it’s concentrated into a domain.”
There was nowhere else to go; the malevolence was far too strong to go deeper into the shrinechurch. Sorey guided his friends back to the front of the building where a distinguished-looking woman waited for them. Her hair was wrapped under a large cap save for a long braid hanging to her waist, and her robes swayed on the ground. She held a cane that had been carved into the shape of a cobra.
“Is that the Cardinal?” Sorey whispered. He kept his hand on his sword in case she attacked them.
“Looks like it,” Rose answered.
The Cardinal Forton sneered at them. “I’m surprised that a terrible trio of children thought they could find refuge here. How cute.” She waved her cane like a staff, and the seraphim were yanked out of their humans against their wills. “The reports were right. You three are smuggling slaves. Hmph, the Shepherd, a lowly merchant, and the princess of Hyland.” She smirked at Alisha, who couldn’t believe they found out her identity.
“S-Sorey…” Mikleo heaved.
“What’s this? You have an IPD seraph as well.”
Rose pulled out her daggers. “Heard you guys really want IPD seraphim,” she told her. “Why is that?”
“Insolent child, you wouldn’t understand. But the princess—you know very well.”
Alisha was confused. Did she know about Bartlow? Or was she bluffing?
“Rose, we need to go,” Dezel wheezed.
“You’re not going anywhere, IPD. We need your kind.”
“Yeah, over my dead body.”
Mikleo used his newest Song to form a veil of water called the Spectral Cloak around them. It hid them from the Cardinal Forton’s piercing gaze, allowing them to sneak out of the shrinechurch. She didn’t try to follow them, though. She had to see Lakra again.
Meanwhile, Sorey and his friends made their way back to the city gates. There were guards everywhere waiting to arrest them. “Mikleo,” Sorey turned to him. “Are you feeling up to using that Song again?” Mikleo nodded, but his face told a different story. “On second thought…”
“There’s no other way,” Mikleo urged. “I can do it. I know I can…” He tightened his grasp on his staff.
“Forget it, Meebo,” Edna countered. “You only managed to use it back there because the door was right behind her. You can’t carry us to the gates.”
At that moment, smoke bombs exploded, creating a screen that could cover them. Eguille, the Ayn twins, and Rosh all loomed over the edges of the roofs of the building around them. The assassin took that chance and led them through their smokescreen, reaching outside of Pendrago in seconds while being undetected by the hellionized guards even while opening and closing the gate.
“I’ll have to thank them later,” Rose smiled.
The rain hadn’t let up, and the seraphim couldn’t stay out. After they went some distance from Pendrago, Edna used what was left of her energy to form a shelter of rock. Lailah made a small fire. It was decided that they would allow themselves some time to rest until they felt sure that the entire city was no longer on alert.
Edna lay next to Mikleo, who curled into Sorey. Lailah held Alisha before dozing off. Dezel squatted next to Rose as she was sitting near the entrance into the shelter. She had volunteered to keep an eye out for the guards, a duty that she often did when she was preparing for a contract killing.
“Why don’t you go to sleep?” Dezel softly asked.
“Someone’s got to watch,” she said curtly.
He paused. “Do you want to Dive?”
“Now? We’re not exactly safe, and now the Cardinal wants to kill us.”
Dezel was silent. “Please…” he said while reaching for her hand before stopping. He realized that she would think he was tricking her again. “I’m sorry for manipulating you earlier. You really can go deeper.” His voice was soft and sincere.
“Why, so you can get mad again?” Rose sighed. It was counterproductive to refuse to Dive into a seraph that was actively trying to get stronger. “If you get mad again…”
“Once you see the next level, you’ll understand.”
Notes:
Then next chapter will be uploaded much sooner than the others because it's only 8 lines of text, but it's also in Pastalie Hymmnos. The basic translation for the next chapter will be in the following chapter.
Chapter 41: Phase 2: Deleted
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 3: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
This entire chapter is written in Hymmnos, but DO NOT WORRY! The basic translation will be supplied in the next chapter. This is simply to reflected exactly what Rose is experiencing within Dezel's heart. There was also a very tiny change to this chapter to fit into AO3's formatting. Fun fact: Accordingly to the Conlang wikia for Hymmnos, the less than and greater than symbols are quotation marks. They've been replaced with parentheses to accommodate the line.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Balduo. Zash. Balduo. Xevxl.
xN rre herr mNfNlN akata innna hes.
xA rre harr yNzNtN akata ttu rNfNmN cest.
xA rre diasee jNdIrNeh.
xA rre diasee qIlUsO ess shell.
xI rre ceku fIrUlI sos diasee.
xI rre ceku auNk manac Lafarga.
xE rre Lafarga jEwA du diasee ut grandee.
xN rre Rose hlNss hes ttu xE rre harr gAwEnNeh tes siann pitod herr.
(Thank you for your hardwork.)
Notes:
I really have a love-hate relationship for New Testament of Pastalie. It's super pretty, but it's so much more confusing.
Chapter 42: Phase 2: Revelations
Summary:
A new party member joins, and we learn a little more about Dezel's past.
Notes:
HUUUUUUUUUUH...in the final weeks of this semester and graduation is near! It's both scary and great! Maybe more time for writing! Maybe less time for writing! The future is full of possibilities!
TRANSLATION FOR THE LAST CHAPTER IS IN THIS CHAPTER.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Shepherd, wake up,” a husky familiar voice whispered. “Damn it, man, wake up! This is important!”
Sorey slowly roused to find the man hovering over him. The fire cast shadows on his face, and it startled him. “Zaveid?” he uttered. “What are you doing here? What about Lady Shurelia?” He averted his gaze to Rose’s Armatized body. “They’re Diving?”
Zaveid snapped his fingers. “Stay focused,” he ordered. The sense of urgency in his voice wasn’t anything that he had heard before. He explained what had happened inside Eolia and how all the parts and communities that worked to keep it functioning were in danger. “The seraphim in Hyland are as good as dead. We have to get back to Shurelia and wake the Tower up.”
Sorey was horrified. His heart ached with such a harrowing predicament. On one hand, Shurelia had sacrificed herself to seal Mir within the Tower. On the other hand, if they went on allowing Shurelia to sleep to confine the Mother Virus, the seraphim would lose half of their arsenal. Humans would be able to strike them down. But how could they wake her?
“There’s a Song that counteracts the one she used. I don’t know where it is, though. I think I have an idea, but…getting there is going to be difficult without a vessel,” Zaveid told him.
Sorey knew the day would come when he and Zaveid would have to form a pact. He looked down at Mikleo, who slept peacefully next to him. Then he glanced at Edna, who wouldn’t be pleased to be working so closely with Zaveid. The exile wanted to protect the seraphim just like they wanted to, and if he tried to go on his own, something would get him whether it be humans or the malevolence. He carefully wiggled out of his spot so he wouldn’t wake his friends. It was a troubling decision to take on another seraph, but he couldn’t ignore Zaveid when he had helped him out in the past.
“Lailah, are you awake?” Sorey whispered. Lailah opened her eyes slowly and sleepily. “I need to make another pact.”
--------------------------------------------
Inside the shared soul space, Dezel stood in front of Rose rigidly. His human couldn’t understand what had happened. It was so disjointed. It was in Hymmnos which she couldn’t hope to learn. The only hints that she had about what had happened were the two images. Dezel had been a child when he was captured. Someone had saved him.
“What happened?” she sincerely asked. “Who saved you? What happened to that guy?”
“It’s just as you saw,” Dezel answered. She wouldn’t settle for a vague response. “I was a child when they caught me. They did experiments on me. I befriended another seraph, and he helped me escape with the Exile, who taught me how to fight. The Exile then rescued him, and I lived with my friend. Then he was murdered in cold-blood. I’ll get my revenge on the one who killed him.”
Dezel stayed quiet as Rose absorbed the information. She wanted to know how that seraph was killed, what experiments they conducted on him, and if he was still willing to let her help. But she couldn’t ask these questions. The only thing she could do was hug him long and tight.
“What are you doing?” he asked nervously.
“What does it look like? I’m hugging you. I never knew you were this hurt. I’m sorry, Dezel.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Because you had to go through a lot, and I…I should have tried to understand. Instead, you had to show me such horrible things.”
Dezel hesitantly reciprocated the hug. He didn’t blame her for getting so emotional. It was time to wake up. It was unconventional to talk about the Dive while still Diving, but for this particular level, he preferred it that way. No one else could know what happened to him.
--------------------------------------------
Mikleo and Edna were searching for Sorey when Rose and Dezel de-Armatized. Alisha and Lailah were gone, too. Had Rolance soldiers come for them? But why would they when Dezel was the only IPD seraph among them and thus more valuable?
Edna heard Lailah’s voice behind the shelter. She led the others there to find Sorey and Zaveid standing with the fire seraph. Alisha watched them; her face seemed pained.
“Rrha ki erra crannidale dea chiess ture mean. My true name is…” she asked Zaveid to repeat.
Mikleo was about to run out and stop them, but Dezel held him back. He protested it—the pact with Zaveid, the process to form it, the consequences of it—he didn’t want to see Sorey deteriorate any more than he already had.
Sorey let Zaveid pull him in for a deep kiss. Zaveid’s true name was:
“Fylk Zahdeya.”
When the pact had been consummated, Sorey’s chest exploded in pain. Zaveid offered his shoulder for him to lean on. He was prepared for the aftermath that would cripple his body even if he hated that this was the consequence. Sorey’s sight worsened in addition to his heart beating dangerously faster and his body heating up.
“Sorey!” Mikleo screamed. He broke out of Dezel’s hold, rushing to his side and holding his head in his arms. “I’ll make some ice for you!” His hand shaking, he built a block of ice using his powers.
Rose looked at Zaveid’s silhouette under the clouded night sky in curious confusion. This man had been in Dezel’s cosmosphere twice. The first time was when he fought against him. The second time was when he freed him. But was it really the same man?
“What a fool,” Edna chided. “Why did that idiot think he could take on another seraph?” Zaveid was much older and stronger. He conducted more power than her or Mikleo, so why would he make the pact with him? “Does he have a death wish? If he dies…”
Zaveid knew that what he had done was ill-advised, but he vowed long before he came to the decision that he would take responsibility if he were to fall in battle. Heaps of ice surrounded the Shepherd, and when Mikleo felt like it was enough to keep him from overheating, he turned to the new addition to their team with tearful hatred.
“Why did you make him enter a pact? Sorey is already weakened by Edna and me! He didn’t need to take another one!” he bawled. “Why did you do it?” He sobbed, the image of Sorey not waking up one morning from the strain on his body and soul permeating his mind and bringing dread to his heart. “I don’t want him to die.”
Lailah approached Zaveid while Alisha consoled Mikleo. She let him know that Mikleo was simply upset, most likely because Sorey didn’t have his consent. Edna wasn’t happy, either, but she knew it was a necessary measure to ensure that they had enough power in their arsenal. Even after he explained to them what he had told Sorey, Mikleo and Edna had two different feelings about the situation.
“What’s done is done,” Dezel said. “But, Zaveid, we need to talk.”
“I’m surprised you remember me!” Zaveid half-jokingly replied. “I…I honestly thought you forgot.” The weak, nervous smile he had disappeared shortly because he knew that he was gambling with Sorey’s life. In addition to the fact that Dezel wanted to discuss something, he felt something in the pit of his stomach that hinted it wasn’t anything good. “Mickeyboy, don’t worry about Sorey. If I end up doing more damage than expected, I’ll sever the pact with him,” he promised. He followed Dezel farther out into the fields as Mikleo glared at him.
Rose was going to follow them, but Lailah advised against it. Considering that she knew his secret, and she had a feeling that was what the topic would be, she didn’t want Rose’s heart to break.
“Rose, why don’t you help us get Sorey into the shelter?” Alisha asked. “It’s far too dangerous to let him recover out here.” She placed a hand on Mikleo’s shoulder, too. “Once we move him, be sure to give him lots of love and care.”
While they gave Dezel and Zaveid complete solitude, the wind seraphim proceeded with their talk. Things were strange between the two having spent the past decades apart. Time lost meaning to beings that virtually lived forever, but Dezel’s memory was fuzzy. He knew him, but he still felt like a stranger to him.
“I take it that living with Rose has been interesting,” Zaveid started. He stared at the stars that managed to peek through the rain clouds.
“Living with her for the past 12 years…still doesn’t compare to the years I lived with Lafarga. He was all I had,” Dezel replied. “They killed him—the damn royal family and that brat of a seraph. And I had to run away—I chose to run away to save myself.”
“He suffered an IPD outbreak, right?”
Dezel snapped, “Don’t say it so casually!” He composed himself again. “They pushed him to it, and then they killed him when they figured out that they couldn’t contain him again.” He took his hat off, laying it on his lap. “The whole time we were in Pendrago, I was…afraid.”
Zaveid listened. He was surprised that Dezel was telling him what he wouldn’t tell Rose or Sorey or Alisha, and he assumed it was because that he was also an IPD seraph. After all, what could they hope to understand when they weren’t even seraphim?
“I was scared that the malevolence and the memories would initiate a breakout. If I did, and if I attacked Rose—”
“This isn’t like you at all,” Zaveid interrupted. “Since when did the ragamuffin Dezel let his anxiety and fear get the better of him? When you were just a squirt, you wanted to beat up the entire Rolance army just to save Lafarga. Where did that spunk go?”
Dezel let up a short chuckle. “Reality finally caught up to me,” he said. The wind blew over Pearloats Pasture. “But I don’t intend to let Rose get hurt. She can’t get hurt; she’s the only thing keeping me from falling to the malevolence and becoming a dragon.”
Zaveid sighed. He remembered Edna’s brother when he was still a seraph. He remembered the day he finally succumbed to the malevolence around him. He was in so much pain, and he was so scared. But Zaveid was afraid as well. He knew that once he had turned, he would lose all control of himself.
“Rose is doing a good job for someone who doesn’t understand our plight,” Zaveid smiled.
“She keeps trying to get me to tell the truth.”
“So why don’t you? What do you have to lose? I’ve heard it on the wind that she’s pretty much pledged her life to you, so what’s the holdup?” He nudged him and offered a mischievous smile.
Dezel blushed slightly. “I-If she learns about all that happened and why I was being chased by soldiers so long ago, she’ll leave. The job of protecting a wanted seraph is too much.”
“You’re thinking too hard again. If she wanted to leave, she would have done so a long time ago. She cares a lot more than you think.”
Of course, Zaveid didn’t have any evidence, but he knew that it was something Dezel wanted, maybe needed, to hear even if it wasn’t true. He had watched Dezel grow, and he knew that he was a cold one. Lafarga had showered him with love and companionship when they were held in confinement within Rolance, and that was what Rose was trying to do now.
“What do you know?” Dezel asked him. There was a moment of silence between them before he spoke again. “I’ve been letting her Dive into me. At first only to gain the Armatus, but now she’s too smart. She knows when I’m hiding things.”
“So then, don’t,” Zaveid said. He stood up, the wind gust throwing his long white-to-lime hair behind him. “She’s your human, and you have to trust her. If you hide things from her, she won’t understand your feelings. Your Songs will have no meaning, and she’ll be lost in the dark. I’m not saying that you should lay everything out. Judge when she’s mature enough to know more about the truth. Open yourself to her, and then you’ll become powerful enough to kill whoever you have to kill.” Facing the shelter Edna made, he let out a sigh. “It’s rough, but just remember that not all humans are bad. Not all seraphim are trustworthy. Rose’s soul is a precious one hidden in this sea of corrupted desire. She’s the only one you can cling to to keep yourself alive.”
They ended to the talk there, heading back to the shelter before the morning sun colored the sky a dull lavender. When they reached the shelter, they found that Rose and Alisha had been covered together with Sorey’s garb while Mikleo, Lailah, and Edna watched their Shepherd. His face looked more peaceful. The pain in his chest must have subsided, and his fever had gone down. Mikleo looked back at Zaveid. The contempt for him had vanished, yet the worry was still there as budding tears.
“Where are all of you headed?” Zaveid asked in an effort to acclimate everyone to him.
“We’ve been chased out of Pendrago, where a pope went missing,” Edna told him. “Assuming that the pope is still alive, we’re looking for him.”
“A pope, you say?” Zaveid said, rubbing his chin nonchalantly. “Then do I have some info for you!” He was beaming since he could already prove he was worth it to the group. “On my travels, I heard about a Pope Masedra—”
“Where?!” Lailah shot at him.
“Well, hold on, hold on. He’s in a poor village called Gododdin.”
“Boring,” Edna sighed.
“Rumor has it that he fled there after he couldn’t take witnessing the IPD experiments. My guess is that he went to go help this village to clear his conscience.”
“How can we trust that information?” Mikleo interrogated. He still was wary of him, but the burly wind seraph knew that he would warm up to him soon enough. He just had to wait for Sorey to feel better. “Where did you get it?”
“I did some recon myself while helping out Lady Shurelia.”
Lailah mediated because while Zaveid had become a temporary detriment to Sorey, he had provided them with an invaluable clue to Masedra’s whereabouts. Once the Shepherd and Squires were rested, they would set out to Gododdin, which lie beyond Biroclef Ridge and the Cambria Caverns.
--------------------------------------------
Targana knelt before the Cardinal Forton deep in the labyrinthine walls of the shrinechurch. They stood before a large door with the crest of the Great Lord Maotelus, but behind it wasn’t the strongest seraph in the land. The catacombs of the shrinechurch served as the site to a much more insidious plot.
“How is the Goddess faring?” Cardinal Forton asked.
“Preparations are going smoothly,” Targana reported. “Once Lunarre returns with the ore that will facilitate the creation of the Song we need, and once Lakra is ready to sublimate into him after we’ve recaptured him, Hyland will be no more. Their evil ways of creating Seraphoids will end.”
Targana offered a princely smile. Things were going according to plan. Cardinal Forton asked to see the so-called “Goddess”, and he escorted her in. They strolled past the multitude of stone soldiers, one of which looked exactly like Sergei. In the back of the chamber was a large glowing crystal that was a prison cell to the fairy-looking Goddess. Immovable and deaf to the world around her, she slept like a fly trapped in amber.
Notes:
I really like the father-son/older bro-younger bro dynamic between Zaveid and Dezel, especially since Zaveid took care of Dezel when he was a kid once.
Chapter 43: Phase 2: To Mark One's Territory
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 4 : Edna
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
Sometimes I think Edna is too hard on Zaveid. Other times, the sibling dynamic is just too perfect. This is both. In other news, I've got a demo for one of the Songs in this fic (in my shitty voice), so now I just need to figure out how to make the music for it and then find some people to sing it. Oh I should also do some art for it!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey turned on his side in his sleep, jolting awake when he realized that his clothes were cold and wet just like outside. He was thoroughly confused until Mikleo tackled him and showered him with kisses, blubbering that he was so happy that he was alive. Zaveid looked offended.
“You’re acting like I almost killed him!” he argued.
“Well, by making a pact wth him in this state, you nearly did,” Edna brutally said. “Atone for your sins, stripper.”
“And now you attack my style?”
Rose and Alisha woke up to the ruckus, which Lailah quickly explained away that Sorey was alive and relatively well. Rose glanced over at Dezel, who was more standoffish than usual. She wanted to ask him about his talk with Zaveid, but Alisha nudged her. It was a private matter; it was best she didn’t interfere.
“That reminds me,” Zaveid suddenly announced. “Sorey, you can finally Dive in me!”
Sorey seemed excited enough; however, Mikleo and Edna glared at the wind seraph. He ordered them to be nice to Zaveid, but the earth seraph had a much different plan. She was going to berate him and show him just who the Shepherd belonged to…even if she really didn’t lay any claim to him. She disregarded Mikleo’s protests about Diving for such a trivial reason. Instead, she Armatized with Sorey without warning. Speaking through his mouth, she told him:
“Guess what, Naked Man? You have to share him with his boyfriend and with the Iron Maiden.”
“Did you really call yourself that? Good lord, Eizen would be appalled,” Zaveid scoffed.
“E-Edna, is this really a good idea? I just woke up,” Sorey sheepishly asked.
“Can it, Sorey,” Edna commanded. “Besides, you promised that you would Dive into my soul more anyway. What better way to introduce someone to the group than to lay down the ground rules?”
Sorey conceded before apologizing to Zaveid, who had done a lot to help Sorey and Mikleo already, and to Mikleo, who tried to pretend like he didn’t care either way. Everyone knew he did, and everyone knew he couldn’t hide it.
---------------------------------------------------
Sorey held his head in disbelief. He had expected Mikleo to do something like this but not Edna. It seemed odd that she was always ready attack their new team member’s insecurities and self-esteem. He wanted to ask her what her connection was to Zaveid besides Eizen, specifically why she was always cold and mean to him.
“That meathead wasn’t really on good terms with my brother, but they inadvertently became friends after something happened between them,” Edna explained. She didn’t know too much herself. “It’s not like I hate him or have a grudge against him. His type of personality is easy to toy with.”
“So you’re just mean to him because you can be,” Sorey concluded.
Edna smirked. It gave her something to do while Sorey tended to Mikleo now. She decided that it was time to Dive, so Sorey prepared himself for whatever await on the fourth level of Edna’s soul.
---------------------------------------------------
“You’re back again already?” Phoenix asked Sorey. It seemed on edge, believing that Sorey was now some sort of lecher instead of the pure-hearted Shepherd he actually was. It also thought that Sorey had some strange kink, and it prepared to kick him out of her soul space.
“Edna wanted to prove a point to Zaveid and forced me to do this,” Sorey explained. “Do you know about anything between them?”
Phoenix shook its head. It seemed more like it didn’t want to talk as opposed to simply not knowing anything. Sorey knew that at some point he would have to Dive into Zaveid, and it would probably be his best bet if he wanted to learn their history.
He took a look around the soul space from his spot on the Stonehenge. A celebratory Pendrago City was there in the distance. There was confetti and streamers flying around. What was all the commotion about?
Sorey went down to the city, curiously looking at all the decorations detailing about a hero named Ice. At first, he thought they were talking about Mikleo, but he knew that couldn’t be correct because Edna would never put Mikleo on a pedestal. She had too much pride to do that. The silhouette on the posters looked a lot like Eizen.
“Eizen as a superhero now?” Sorey mumbled to himself. He respected that Edna held so much love for her brother, yet it was a little excessive to see him as a hero.
“Move it, mister,” her voice came from behind him. The Edna of this level was dressed in a white and grey-plaid school uniform with a Normin hoodie underneath the school’s blazer. Her thigh-high socks were orange decorated with large yellow stars that fed down into her yellow galoshes. She had a very large, limited edition, only ten ever produced Phoenix backpack. Her blonde hair was tied into a side ponytail with a bubble beret. “Didn’t you hear me? I said, get lost.”
“Edna, what are you doing here?” Sorey asked her.
“I’m here to pick up my pre-order for the new Normin scale figure,” she explained. “I’ve got thirty seconds to claim mine, so beat it.”
“But I have so many questions.”
“Oh my God, can you just move? I have fifteen seconds left, you idiot!”
She shoved him aside to retrieve her Normin only to find that her hold expired by five seconds. The store clerk refused to sell it to her, claiming that the pre-order policy stated that it would be sold to the next customer that walked in.
“What the hell? How is that any fair?!” Edna almost cried. “I worked my ass off to buy this figure! Do you know how hard it is to come up with 100,000 gald? I put all my heart and soul in to getting enough money for it! And it’s the last one I need before I can go to the Ice-palooza! I can’t live without hearing him sing!”
Sorey brought a finger to his chin. So Eizen was a super-idol in this world.
“What do you mean I have to wait until next year!? I can’t wait a year to see him fight bad guys while singing!”
Sorey refined thoughts again. So Eizen was a super-idol that fought crime? He gave up trying to make sense of this world. Edna stormed out of the store, kicking his shin and beating him with her umbrella.
“E-Edna!”
She hissed at him, “This is your fault! Go and fix this mess!”
Sorey agreed reluctantly then headed into the store to buy the figure. Unfortunately, someone had been staking out the store, and while Edna was busy arguing with the clerk and he was trying to understand the world, that person stepped in and bought the figure.
“You snooze, you lose, kid!” Zaveid snorted. He was still shirtless, and Sorey had to wonder how he was even allowed to buy the figure when he clearly violated the “no shirt, no shoes, no service” motto of every store known to man. “This baby is going to net me a front row seat at Ice’s concert, and then I can finally ask to sing with him!”
Sorey raised his hand to ask if he could buy another one, but the store clerk denied him. Once the pre-orders closed and the figure was released, all hope of finding it again plummeted. He couldn’t go back to Edna empty-handed, so he thought about asking Zaveid to at least lend him the figure. The wind seraph refused to hand it over, crying out that it was a golden ticket of a figure.
“B-But you don’t understand…” Sorey timidly said. Or maybe he didn’t want to rock the boat anymore.
“Back off, man. It’s mine,” Zaveid gruffly told him.
Zaveid left the store, and Sorey was beside himself with what to do. He walked out the store with some fear of what Edna would do to him. But the earth seraph was gone. A small Normin charm was on the ground, and it looked a lot like the figure. Sorey picked it up carefully.
“I’ve got to return this to her,” he said to himself. He walked down the street to the castle gate where Phoenix was waiting for him. “She really looked up to Eizen, huh?” he asked it.
“In a way, Eizen was her bridge to the outside world. Incredibly strong and an amazing singer back in the day, she wanted to be like him,” Phoenix said. “The only problem was that Eizen was usually away from her, and she eventually grew to become how she is now. People used to think they were a married couple because she got onto him about always being away.”
Sorey hummed. He thanked Phoenix for the insight, heading towards the Spiritcrest that was much closer to the city than in reality. As he walked, he got the feeling that he was being watched. The sky was getting darker and darker as night drew near, and finally someone had jumped out in front of him.
“I see you got your hands on the Priventi figure,” the first assailant said. She sounded like Rose.
“Hand it over and you won’t get hurt,” the second assailant demanded. He sounded like Dezel.
Sorey drew his sword. “This is just a phone charm,” he told them. “I’m returning it to a friend.” Rose and Dezel attacked him, tying him up and swiping the Normin charm. “Give it back!”
“We’ll make a killing off of this!” Rose cackled. She shoved the charm into her pocket.
Sorey tried to maneuver his sword to cut the cord around him, but Rose held a dagger to his neck. She warned him that if he tried to escape or tried to get the charm back, she would kill him without a second thought.
“Shadow Beam Prism Sword!” an unfamiliar voice sang. Rose and Dezel were swatted away from Sorey like bugs. Eizen was standing above the Shepherd wearing what looked like a gothic idol costume. His striking eyes peered down at Sorey. “Hmph, lowly bandits attacking an otaku at night. Scourge of the earth, begone!” He sang again, and his power flung them even farther away. Then he freed Sorey. “Are you unharmed?”
“E-Eizen?” Sorey stuttered. The idol pulled him to his feet. “You really are a crime-fighting super-idol…”
“Don’t call me by that name.”
“Huh? O-Oh, right, Ice.”
Eizen picked up the Normin charm from the ground, dusting off the dirt and carefully handing it to Sorey. “Sorry this happened to you. Ever since my promotion event, people have been attacking each other to get their hands on the Normin merchandise. As a consolation, you can sit front row.”
Sorey blushed. Why would he think that Sorey was interested? If his show was as flashy as his fighting, then maybe, but even still it wasn’t his place to take Edna’s opportunity. He explained to Eizen that he was looking for Edna to return the charm to her, and Eizen seemed to be surprised by his kindness. He asked Sorey to relay the consolation to Edna, and he returned to Pendrago to prepare for the concert.
Meanwhile, Zaveid had invited himself to Edna’s house to gloat about buying the last Priventi figure. The earth seraph tried to shoo him away, but he persisted. When Sorey entered her abode, the wind seraph jumped.
“You again?” both seraphim irately said.
“Edna, you dropped this outside of the figure store,” Sorey said. Handing it to her, he whispered in her ear so Zaveid couldn’t listen. “Ice invited you to front row seats at his concert.”
“What? There’s no way!” Edna gasped. Sorey nodded. Again, he felt someone watching him.
Rose and Dezel stormed into Edna’s home. “Don’t think we didn’t hear about that charm,” Dezel sneered. “We’re going to make a lot of money off it.”
“Again?” Sorey said exasperatedly. He drew his sword. “You’re not getting that charm!”
“Fine, we can take the figure,” Rose sassily said.
“Like hell you will!” Zaveid countered. He hugged the treasured box.
As all of them prepared to fight, the Normin figure suddenly came to life. It was definitely surprising, especially when it resonated with the charm. A brilliant light shined, and Zaveid and Edna felt their bodies heat up. A strange feeling from deep inside developed, and the two of them moaned in discomfort.
“What’s happening?” Edna asked.
“My body feels so warm…overflowing with power!” Zaveid strained.
When the light faded, they were wearing outfits akin to magical idol girls. Edna’s consisted of an orange and yellow plaid dress with a matching white blazer and her hair in pigtails while Zaveid’s was similar to Eizen’s except it had hints of green instead of red and brown.
“What…is going on…?” Sorey stammered. Just what was happening in Edna’s mind to produce this cockamamie story?
The Normin stood in front of them. “Pleased to meet you!” it greeted Sorey. “I’m Priventi!”
Rose and Dezel prepared to fight, but not after Edna and Zaveid gave their character introductions, which probably made Sorey cringe the most.
“A shooting star across the night sky!” Edna started. “A ray of sunshine on a barren wasteland! Come forth, vile black marketeers! I shall end you! Singer Starshine is on the case!”
“A sexy wind blowing through your hair!” Zaveid continued. “I’ll never break my promise! I can promise you that…you won’t get out of here unharmed! Sultry Windy is going to kick some butt!”
Priventi nudged Sorey to also make a character introduction. “I-I’m Sorey…” he said, mortified.
“Screw this!” Rose spat. She charged at Sorey. Their blades rang together as they parried each other. Dezel was hellbent on killing either one of the seraphim. “Dezel, don’t hurt the Normin! We can make even more money now that it’s alive!”
Edna smacked Dezel with her umbrella while Zaveid wrapped him up. “Synchronicity maxed out!” they yelled together. “Sultry Starry Gun Beam!”
Together a beam of light that seemed to have come from an invisible by most likely idol-themed cannon shot at Rose and Dezel. It pushed them out of Edna’s home, well off into the sky, and somewhere over the horizon. Edna and Zaveid stuck stereotypical heroic poses with Priventi standing in front of them triumphantly. Sorey was simply baffled.
“What the hell is this getup?” Edna asked with disgust. “And I transformed with you? Disgusting.”
“You’re one to talk,” Zaveid fired back. “You looked like you were totally enjoying fighting with me.”
“As if, lecher.”
“I’m not a lecher!”
Priventi approached Sorey with a simple face. Its big round eyes stared up at him. “They’re going to be at it for a while. Shepherd, what say you we take these two to the concert? Ice will be overjoyed to see that they are like this.”
Sorey had no other choice. If he left Edna and Zaveid alone to their own devices, they would eventually kill each other. He asked them to kindly go to the concert, to which the two panicked. They left without waiting for him and Priventi.
Phoenix caught up with them as they were heading to the concert. “Your job is done here,” it told Sorey. “All that’s left is to see the outcome and guide Edna to the Paradigm Shift.” And that’s what he did.
Sorey and Priventi were stuck behind the entire crowd, but as if they had super hearing, they listened to Edna and Zaveid meet Eizen. They were ecstatic, especially when he pulled them up on stage and sang with them.
“Ready? One, two, three…!” Eizen—or rather, Ice—counted. Edna and Zaveid sang with him as best as they could, dancing along with him and creating a magical performance that no doubt made Edna happier than he’d ever seen her. “Next song! Can you keep up? Here we go!”
After the concert was over and everyone had gone home—Zaveid and Eizen included—Sorey escorted Edna, back in her school uniform, to the Stonehenge for the Paradigm Shift. Edna was still smiling, her heart brimming with the happiness that could only come when she was with her beloved brother.
“Thank you, Sorey, for the small kindness that led to a life-changing moment,” Edna said. Her words were uncharacteristically sincere and joyful. “Without you, Eizen wouldn’t have noticed me. Thank you.”
Sorey blushed. “I didn’t do that much. But Edna,” he paused. He returned the smile to her. “It’s so refreshing to see you smile like that. I hope I can see your smile again one day.”
The smile morphed into an uncomfortable pursing of her lips as she pouted. “I’ll see you on the next level.”
---------------------------------------------------
Sorey woke up to find Edna standing by his side with a smug look on his face. He glanced at Zaveid, who looked like he had been told off. Alisha and Lailah weren’t sure how to handle the situation, and Rose and Dezel were hushed as well. Mikleo slid to Sorey’s side.
“Edna and Zaveid aren’t doing so well,” he almost inaudibly said. “This isn’t good for team morale. What are you going to do?”
Sorey usually always felt accomplished after the Dives albeit concerned for the partnered seraph. But this one was different. The Dive was genuine, but unlike the Edna that had just witnessed, the real Edna was using her pact to show off. He didn’t like it, and he felt bad for their new friend.
“Edna,” Sorey sternly said. He stood up, placing himself between her and Zaveid. “I can’t talk about the Dive with everyone here, but this isn’t right.” He stood in front of her. “I don’t know your history with each other, but I’m going to stop this before it gets worse now. Don’t force me to Dive just to prove a point.”
Edna’s eyes were wide with surprise. She didn’t believe that Sorey could get upset, much less upset with her specifically. She glanced up at Zaveid, who was also amazed that Sorey was protecting him. Why wouldn’t he? He worked to save him when Mikleo was dying; if he didn’t, Mikleo wouldn’t be there with them.
“I…I’m sorry,” Edna apologized to Zaveid. “I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
“Don’t be,” Zaveid hesitantly said. “After all, I just joined you guys. It’s only natural I would be the black sheep for some time.” He let out a laugh that indicated that he had been wounded emotionally.
Rose couldn’t stand it anymore. She knocked Zaveid in the head but steered clear from Edna because the earth seraph would have gut her if she tried. “Why do we always have to get so down in the dumps?” she complained. “We have a location on Masedra! We got a new seraph with us! But here we are, moping along and acting like things are horrible. Buck up! We’ve got a pope to bring back to Pendrago, and a cardinal that we need to remove!”
Sorey agreed with her, but he felt a pang of guilt after getting upset with Edna. He decided that when they were able to be alone, he would talk with her about her Dive and hopefully get some answers about her relationship with Zaveid.
Notes:
So I would do art for Zaveid and Edna in this chapter, but the art in Ar Tonelico 2 looks...much too much like an innuendo that I wouldn't feel comfortable drawing. (Especially since a lot of people view Edna as a young girl and not the 1000+ being that she is.)
Chapter 44: Phase 2: Quest to Goddodin
Summary:
Symonne acquires a new ally, and Sorey and company begin their trek to Gododdin.
Notes:
Soooooo, it's my birthday.....and I'm going to upload a new chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A man with a fox face and long wild golden hair peered around the corner of the cave at the abundance of vermillion ore. One of these, he believed, would have to be the special ore that would give Frelia the song Targana and Cardinal Forton desired. He watched the villagers silently from the shadows. He licked his lips as he imagined how tasty all of these humans would be. As a hellion himself, it took a considerable amount of self-control to keep him from devouring them as fast as he could.
“What’s this?” one of the villagers asked. He examined a scarlet ruby the size of his palm. It was surrounded by interlocking gold rings. “This isn’t vermillion ore.”
The village chief joined him, taking the stone into his hands. “This isn’t an ore at all. This is called a Hymn Crystal,” he explained. “I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen one in such pristine condition. How curious that this would be out here.”
“Chief, what should we do with it? We can’t mix it into the elixirs, right?”
“No, we can’t. I will hold onto it for safe-keeping.”
The fox-faced hellions bit his lip. He was sure that Hymn Crystal was the ore he was looking for. He had to wait until nightfall to snatch it, and as he turned to find a better entry point into the chief’s cottage, he found a small fallen seraph behind him.
“My, my, a lone hellion that still has conscious control of his actions all the way out here,” Symonne giggled. “I imagine that you’re pining for the end of the world?”
“Who the hell are you, wench? Get out of my way!” the hellion snarled. Symonne aimed her cropped wand at his throat. She struck fear into his heart, her wickedness emanating like a thick black smoke that would have suffocated him if he were human.
“You’re going to work for Lord Heldalf by supporting those in Rolance who wish to destroy Hyland,” Symonne decided. “Now, tell me what Cardinal Forton has in store.”
“How the hell should I know? The wretched witch won’t talk, and blond dog of a knight won’t talk either.”
Symonne grabbed him by the cheeks and stared into his eyes. She ordered him to tell her; she knew that he was trying to hide it. The fox-faced hellion finally gave in:
“They’re planning to turn Infel Phira into a weapon to annihilate Hyland! They need a certain song to carry out the conversion, and they’re going to use the administrator of the Second Tower’s power to do it!”
Symonne released him with a malevolent smile. She never pegged humans to be so smart. When she asked for the hellion’s name, he revealed himself to be Lunarre. She made a deal with him—if he aided Cardinal Forton and Targana in their endeavors, it would render a third of the continent defenseless to the new world that Heldalf and Mir wanted. On top of that, even if she couldn’t use her Song Magic thanks to Shurelia shutting down her Tower, the Second Tower was equally useless because the main power supply was out of commission. Infel Phira was nothing but a mechanical sphere high above the land, ripe for the picking and perfectly good to be used against Sorey and his friends.
“Heed me, fox,” Symonne threatened. “Don’t fail the Cardinal. Strike despair into Sorey’s heart and teach him that no amount of hope in world can possibly save everyone.” With that, Symonne faded away into the darkness. Only her voice remained. “We’ll snuff out that weak light in his heart.”
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The blighting rain continued that morning as Edna dismantled the shelter she had made for them for the night. Alisha couldn’t help but be concerned for Zaveid’s safety given that he was shirtless and thus less protected from the stinging droplets. He didn’t seem to mind so much. As their guide to Gododdin, he was willing to stand the pain. He informed them that the regular traveler’s way to the forgotten village was closed due to the roads through Biroclef Ridge were crumbling because of the malevolence. They would have to go through the Cambria Caverns to bypass the wreckage and potential pitfalls. The entrance to the cavern, next to the strangely malevolent threshold leading into Biroclef Ridge, was narrow and tight. Edna and Mikleo were able to squeeze through, but everyone else either had to deflate themselves as best as possible or required their assistance to make it through.
“Wow, this place is so cool!” Sorey gawked once inside. “Can you imagine what mysteries are lying in wait here?” He grabbed Mikleo’s arms like a child. “Mikleo, we gotta go see!”
“Sorey, we’ve got somewhere to be,” Mikleo told him. Sorey kept swinging his arms. “Sorey, no.”
“Guys, please!” the Shepherd begged Rose and Alisha.
“We can always come back to it…probably,” Rose pacified. Sorey’s eyes welled with tears—genuine tears—because he couldn’t explore. He had a duty, but the discoveries were waiting for him, calling him deeper. “Eyes ahead, Shepherd.”
“Look at it this way, Sorey,” Alisha consoled the crying Shepherd. “If we save the world from being destroyed, then you can reward yourself by exploring all the ruins and caverns you want.” She gave him a nervous smile as he looked at her with a hollowed face and harrowing eyes. “You’re scaring me.”
Sorey had no choice but to let it go. He led his friends down the narrow passage that cut through the mountain range to the halfway checkpoint of Biroclef Ridge. As soon as they stepped out from the cave mouth, the seraphim fell to their knees due to the sudden heaviness in the atmosphere. There was an abundance of malevolence in the area.
“Where is it coming from?” Lailah choked.
Something was circling them in the dark cloudy sky above. It had the head, talons, and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion—a griffon. It dripped with malevolence, its yellow eyes glaring at them with bloodlust. The domain it held suffocated the seraphim, which prevented them from helping their humans fight against it.
“But why would it just attack us?” Alisha questioned as she readied her spear.
“You’d get cranky, too, if someone just barged in on your property,” Rose answered. “Look alive, guys, we’ve got to keep them safe!”
Sorey drew his sword, flinging himself at the griffon to begin the battle. Unfortunately, the chimeric creature was far stronger than he had anticipated. Parrying its claws with his blade, he beckoned Rose and Alisha to attack while it was trapped. The griffon kicked off of him, spinning around to face the girls with fire coming out of its steel-like beak.
Rose slid underneath the flames while Alisha leapt back. Sorey took this chance to slice off the tip of its lion tail. The monster screeched horrendously, black ooze leaking out of the severed tail like oil. He backed away from it. He knew that the griffon would turn again to him angrier than before. Alisha stabbed it in its side while Rose slashed its talons. The griffon squawked, flying up above them in search of a brief reprieve as it whipped up a whirlwind of razor-sharp gusts at them.
“This thing is way too strong,” Sorey coughed. “Can we even beat it without the seraphim?” His whole body was wracked with pain.
“We have to,” Alisha panted. She forced herself to stand up. “The malevolence here is weakening them.”
“It’s weakening us, too,” Rose groaned. She held her arm where it was bleeding.
Dezel sensed that his partner had been severely injured, and he had to join the fray. He overcame the sickening feeling in his stomach, put the lethargy out of his mind, and steeled himself against the dull aching in his muscles. If he could just tie the griffon in his chains, it would give them a fighting chance.
“Rise from the pits of hell, Deceiving Pummel!” he called out. His chains extended like tendrils from the ground beneath the griffon. They wrenched it out of the sky and held it in place as the Sorey, Rose, and Alisha got back up. “I can’t hold on for long, so finish it off quickly!”
Sorey was prepared to end it, but something made him stop. What if the griffon, corrupted by the malevolence, were to return to normal after purifying it? Wouldn’t he be killing an innocent human or animal? Rose didn’t hesitate. She buried her dagger into its neck. The griffon struggled at first, but the black ooze that had spewed from its tail was now draining out on her hand, burning it slowly as if it were acid. The domain from the griffon dissipated, and as Mikleo washed the ooze from Rose’s hand, Alisha confronted Sorey.
“What happened?” she asked him quietly. She didn’t want to alert the seraphim that his constitution might be compromised, but it would be detrimental to their cause if she didn’t address it now. “Why did you hesitate?”
“I don’t know,” Sorey admitted. “I suddenly had a thought that we were about to kill an innocent person.” He had never thought of things like that before, so why did he stop? Didn’t he want to protect his friends? Was he still not ready to fight for his dream?
“It’s okay,” Rose said, seeing that Sorey looked conflicted. “If anyone is going to do any killing, it’ll be me. Gotta preserve that righteous purity, right?” She smiled at him. Internally, she was worried that the seraphim would give him a difficult time, so she wanted to dissuade them from chastising him. Dezel wasn’t in favor, and she knew that he would have a word or two to say at some point.
Regardless, there was still a large amount of malevolence looming over the ridge. Lailah glanced up at a small overhang where she found another crucible. This one was calling to her; the Hymmnos that came in a whisper drifted into her ears.
“Alisha, do you mind if we stop there?” she asked while pointing at the crucible. She didn’t wait for her human to answer. The fire seraph walked to the crucible, avoiding all the hellions that were hovering around it. “There’s someone in here.” She searched for the name of the crucible. “This is…Crucible Samghata.”
“Lailah, wait!” Alisha called out as her friends fought off the hellions behind her. Lailah didn’t listen to her. She stepped down deeper and deeper into Samghata.
Notes:
This chapter is way shorter than I remember! But that's fine, because a long chapter is coming up soon.
Chapter 45: Phase 2: Malevolent Crucible Samghata
Summary:
Lailah enters her crucible to find a seraph and a new iris gem.
Notes:
Short chapter, but it is about a crucible that I TRIED SO HARD TO BEAT ON HARD WITH LAILAH and then I decided that since Forsea is down in Yder Cave, why not just put her inside the crucible and take care of an iris gem? Also why not because I'm going to need Forsea later to advance the plot. Ahahaha, I'm rambling now.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Wee num wa rre vianchiel sasye fayra enter syec Manac SAMGHATA
Wee num ra neia vianchiel sasye fayra
Was quel ga rre harr na colgen en pat spiritum mea
Dea sosar fayra houd mea
Was yea ra presia afezeria harr van morto anw mea
Was yea ra presia grandus faura oz fayra
The forlorn singing echoed in the crucible which called Lailah’s heart closer to the atrium. It was a sad voice, almost like that of a child locked away for being bad. It pained her, and she knew she had to free it. But the malevolence in the crucible was some of the thickest that she had ever had to wade through. It wasn’t as terrible as Heldalf’s, but it certainly had the potential to reach that magnitude.
The crucible was different from the one that Sorey had ventured into and quelled. While the malevolence was potent, Lailah could feel the symphonic power that gave her Song Magic. If she wanted to, she could sing in the darkness to whoever was trapped in the crucible. She knew she couldn’t, not without Alisha there to protect her.
The hellions in the crucible were quick and relentless in their attacks. Lailah was prepared for whatever danger was there in the abyss she was chosen to purify, but being a caster, she was vulnerable to their physical attacks. She tried to cast her Seraphic Artes as fast as possible only to be bludgeoned by the scorpion hellions’ stingers or the supersonic waves that were emitted from the bat hellions’ mouths. Even after she dispatched them, she was met with a tiny agile dirt leech. It was about the size of her hand and covered in mud. This was the source of the singing.
“It’s so tiny,” she whispered. She felt guilty for fighting it, so instead she finally decided to use her Song Magic. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
The dirt leech sang a corrupted Song that sounded like a plea that tugged at her heart. The feeling is instigated reminded her of Sorey when he emerged from his crucible feeling as if he had done something wrong. Lailah sang to it, releasing her attack just before it was strong enough to obliterate it, and when the dirt leech was at the end of its rope, she flicked her Silver Flame at it.
The malevolence burned away, revealing a fellow fire seraph who was holding onto what looked like another iris gem. “Thank you!” she breathlessly wept. “Thank you so much!” The seraph latched onto Lailah’s hands, the iris gem falling into her lap. “My name is Forsea. I used to watch over Gododdin before I was affected by the malevolence. It was when I picked up this iris gem that I turned into that monster.”
The fire seraph gave her a comforting smile. She cupped her cheeks in her hands. “May I see it?” Lailah kindly asked.
“Will you be okay?”
Lailah nodded. She had faith that she would be okay. The iris gem was a comforting green color akin to emeralds or peridots. She made a conjecture that if Edna could read the golden yellow gems, then Dezel and Zaveid would be able to read this green gem.
“It’s a green iris gem,” Forsea told her. “I don’t know what’s inside of it, but there was an impressive amount of malevolence. Please, be careful.”
“Thank you,” Lailah told her. But now she was wondering what to do with Forsea. She couldn’t stay in the crucible because she would become corrupted again. Would she be able to bring her along with her friends? “What is it like in Gododdin?” she asked her.
“It’s one of the few places where the humans don’t bother with seraphim. There is a man there—he arrived some time ago—but he’s dutiful. I could hear him pray at night for the seraphim to forgive him of his trepasses. Wherever he came from, they must have been doing horrible things to the seraphim; his face was so red and wet with tears.” Forsea looked into Lailah’s thoughtful eyes. “Why do you ask? Are you headed there?”
Lailah thought about this. Zaveid had told them that the pope had gone to a poor village called Gododdin. And Forsea said that a man that had come not too long ago was begging for forgiveness. It sealed the deal. Pope Masedra was definitely there. Confident that they were completely on the right track, Lailah asked Forsea to accompany her friends to the village. There was some hesitation; the rescued seraph hadn’t had any problems with humans, but that didn’t mean she felt safe with them. Lailah reassured her that Sorey would protect her. Forsea reluctantly agreed because she knew she couldn’t stay in the crucible. She, however, felt she could trust Lailah enough to believe that Sorey would make sure she was okay. She took her hand.
--------------------------------------------
“Lailah-cakes!” Zaveid greeted as she exited the crucible with Forsea behind her. “How did things…go…? Who’s that?” He walked up to her and examined them.
Lailah put some distance between her and the shirtless seraph. “This is Forsea,” she introduced. “She used to live in Gododdin before she became corrupted. I was able to purify her, and I ended up finding another iris gem.” She held out the green iris gem. “Considering what we know about these, Dezel or Zaveid, would either you like to see what’s inside?”
Forsea looked concerned.
“More than likely that iris gem is what led to this seraph becoming a hellion, right?” Dezel asked. He took the gem from Lailah’s hand. “Being a cursed seraph has its perks. I can look in without too much trouble since it’s crystallized.” Then he remembered. Even if he saw it, Rose and Sorey and Alisha wouldn’t be able to see unless they were Armatized, and none of them had the capacity to Armatize without intiating a Dive. But would he want to tell them what he saw in the core of the iris gem? He considered how simply touching it transformed Forsea; something terribly dark was inside the iris gems. “On second thought, we should pack it up with the other one we have.”
“What a killjoy!” Rose chided.
“Don’t leave us hanging like Edna did!” Sorey pouted.
Dezel shrugged, placing the iris gem into one of his pouches before turning back to Forsea. A seraph that wasn’t bound to anyone was vulnerable to the malevolence around them. She had already turned once, and while the Virus within her had only been subdued, they couldn’t be too careful. He didn’t feel comfortable taking her along without a vessel to buffer her against the malevolence.
“The village isn’t too far, so maybe it’ll be okay,” Forsea said. Everyone looked at her dubiously. “As long as I keep positive and pure thoughts, I should be okay long enough to make it…right?”
“But the village itself is still teeming,” Edna told her.
“She swears that seraphim are safe in Gododdin,” Lailah countered.
“We can go back and forth all day,” Alisha interrupted. “We need to get to Gododdin, but Forsea runs the risk of turning again. In that case, I’ll protect Forsea.”
Dezel scoffed. What could Alisha do when Forsea’s greatest danger lie within her soul? Still, he had to applaud her righteousness. He returned into Rose while Lailah went inside Alisha. Sorey’s seraphim joined with him as well, which noticeably drained him. Mikleo urged them to make it to their destination quickly so Sorey could rest.
Forsea held Alisha’s hand, offering a small amount of protection to her. Sorey and Rose fought off the hellions that were roaming around, and each battle took a toll on the young Shepherd to a point that Rose had to offer her shoulder. Mikleo had asked to carry him, but the malevolence coming from Gododdin—despite the village being safe for seraphim—had debilitated him as well.
“I’m okay…” Sorey huffed. “I promise…”
“You know, telling us that only makes us worry more,” Zaveid said. He already felt bad for entering a pact and making his burden heavier, but he couldn’t allow Sorey to purport such lies. Still, his vessel assured that he was okay if just a little tired. He couldn’t hide it very well with them inside of him.
They arrived at the gate leading into Gododdin. The putrid malevolence wafting over the village made their heads hurt. Forsea steeled herself, opening the gates and preparing to turn back into a hellion. The rush of tainted air that came barreling out of the village was too much for the weakened Shepherd. Zaveid and Mikleo, both appearing to his aid, hoisted him up on their shoulders. Edna cast Barrier on him to lessen the effects.
Without a moment to spare, they quickly took him to the inn. The villagers of Gododdin, in their rustic clothes and worn shoes, watched them suspiciously. They had been building and cleaning and beautifying their homes with new luxuries, and while they welcomed all these novelties into their lives, something about them made it clear that they didn’t trust these newcomers. There was no time to interrogate them to find out what the problem was; Sorey needed to be put in bed to recover at Mikleo’s behest.
Notes:
So something that's different from the game and manga that I changed is making the malevolence have a harsher effect. I think the anime did it, and while that's a trainwreck, I did like the severity of the malevolence. As such, apologies for inherently making Sorey less of a tank than he is. Forgive me!
Chapter 46: Phase 2: Shady Business
Summary:
Having arrived in Gododdin, Sorey and friends are met with the suspicious villagers. They run into the village chief, who knows Dezel.
Notes:
It's...been a month....I know. I'm bad at updating. I've got a ton of stuff to do AND CON CRUNCH IS COMING UP....But on the bright side, I'm still motivated to write! Just...after the con preparation...and well, I'm almost done with DRV3 (which is surviving as a break from writing). Also a fan of Sorey being debilitated by the malevolence and his pacts~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Forsea didn’t remember there being such an abundance of malevolence in Gododdin as she watched Mikleo nurse Sorey back to health at the inn. The malevolence had always been there, but it was miniscule. Masedra was the source, his regret for abusing the seraphim slowly fueling it. She refused to believe that the hardworking poor people of the village had given into temptation so desperately.
“We have to find him…” Sorey listlessly argued. “We need to bring him back…to Pendrago and stop the rain…”
“He’s got a high fever,” Mikleo stated. He forced himself to ignore what his precious Shepherd was saying; he wanted to accomplish his task at any cost including his own life. “No offense to Zaveid, but I think he’s still getting accustomed to having three seraphim dwell within him. On top of that, the malevolence here is exceptionally high. I can feel myself becoming more and more exhausted.”
Dezel watched Sorey writhe. Rose had the potential of being in that kind of state. She was a Squire which was only capable of holding one seraph inside of her. If she had to carry three, would she die? Such a thought made his stomach churn. He couldn’t imagine her in pain; he didn’t want to imagine her in pain or sick or delirious like Sorey. Most importantly, he didn’t know what he would do if he was alone.
Lailah worried about Alisha as well yet not about her suspectibility to the malevolence. She was sensing something within the village that was neither malicious nor benevolent. She couldn’t pinpoint it, but her heart was trembling in the presence of some immense power that called her. She didn’t want Alisha anywhere near it until she could decipher what it was.
“We need to investigate,” Sorey whined again. This time Edna covered his mouth.
“If he keeps going on like that, we’ll be in trouble,” she said. “Did any of you notice?”
“The villagers aren’t happy that we’re here,” Dezel answered. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Something was amiss in the poor mountain village of Gododdin, and they were hiding it. “The Shepherd isn’t wrong that we need to check things out, but it’ll be hard to do that if the villagers are watching us.”
“Not to mention we can’t be sure that they won’t try and catch you guys,” Rose said. Her wind seraph shifted uncomfortably.
On the other hand, Alisha was raring to go. If Sorey couldn’t lead the reconnaissance mission, then she could do it in his stead. Lailah objected for fear that she would get into trouble either by the villagers or by the strange presence in the village. If the princess was going anywhere, then she would go with her to protect her with all her might.
Mikleo took a break from taking care of Sorey. He had place an ice-cold damp rag on his forehead to keep him cool while he recharged. He didn’t believe he had the authority to delegate tasks, but with the leader of their ragtag group out of commission and dubbing himself his right-hand, he had to take charge.
“We’ll have to reconvene here to consolidate our information,” he said. He glanced at each one of them. “Alisha and Lailah, you two will interview the villagers. We’ll use Sorey’s ailment to our advantage, so ask them if there are any local remedies for fever. Rose and Dezel, while the villagers are somewhat distracted, see if you can find anything that would suggest a source of the malevolence here.”
Edna glared at Mikleo. “Ahem, what about us?” she miffed.
“You two,” Mikleo started, turning back to Sorey to flip the rag. “You’re going to stay here with me.”
“Come on, Mickeyboy!” Zaveid complained. “Give me a chance to prove myself!”
Mikleo refused. Sorey wasn’t in any condition for his seraphim to leave his side, and with the villagers looking at them with apprehension when they first entered, they could potentially be in danger. Additionally, if they ventured too far from his body, then the connection between the Shepherd and each seraph would wane. If the pacts broke, they would transform into dragons immediately given the strength of the malevolence in the village. Though, this made Zaveid wonder about Forsea. She didn’t have a pact, and she was affected just like everyone else, yet she wasn’t turning into a dragon, but that was simply because she had been purified by Lailah before she had gone too far. She was starting with a clean slate.
The teams broke up to do their tasks with Alisha and Lailah leaving the inn first. They headed to the center of Gododdin where the majority of the suspicious villagers had gathered to discuss their presence. The two girls were met with piercing stares and frowning faces. When they asked why they were there, and more importantly why Alisha had a seraph so close to her, the two thought up their explanations as quickly as they could.
“We’re here to take a break from our travels,” Alisha told them. “We’re a bunch of merchants just looking for some places to research for new products.”
Lailah looked nervously at them, touching her fingertips together and straining a smile. “A-And I’m her h-humble servant! My master treats me better than most humans do, so I’ve been allowed to accompany her!” she fibbed. Alisha peered at her from the corner of her eye, a tinge of worry glinting in them. “I do whatever my master says!”
“Figured,” one of the villagers spat. “All you people down the mountain are the same—using seraphim for your own disgusting desires.”
Alisha and Lailah were confused yet relieved. What Forsea had said was true; in fact, it was better than they had expected. They never bothered her, and they detested those that enslaved the seraphim. But what would that mean for Sorey? In their eyes, he looked like a slave driver just like Alisha did now with her tethered seraphim.
“How can you treat seraphim so horribly?” another villager bit.
“B-But I don’t treat her bad,” Alisha said. She was cracking under their intense glares.
Lailah took Alisha’s hand, pulling her close by her waist. She had a seductively mischievous smile on her pink lips. “No…you don’t treat me bad. Every Dive with you is a moment of happiness in this bleak world.” The princess couldn’t help but blush when her fire seraph had said that, and the villagers were beside themselves. It was unheard of for there to be such a relationship even if they weren’t bothered by the happenings of the seraphim. But for whatever reason, it worked. They weren’t suspicious of them, but that didn’t mean that Sorey and Rose were cleared.
“Now that we’ve cleared that up,” Lailah started as she turned to the villagers. “We’ve heard rumors that Pope Masedra is living here!” Alisha began to cough; Lailah had gone straight to the point, and she began to panic that they would try to kick them out of their village.
Rose and Dezel were standing behind the inn and listening for when they could sneak around to find evidence. The two of them didn’t know whether to be amazed that Lailah could just go straight to the point or to be exasperated about abandoning the plan. Still, they had to use it to their advantage while everyone was still confused.
There was another path behind the village to a large cave. The entrance had been sealed shut by fallen boulders, and there was no way around them. It was a dead end in the investigation. They had to turn back. When they did, a few villagers stopped them.
“What’s going on here? Are you more ‘merchants’ with that girl? What are you doing back here?” one of them interrogated.
Dezel pulled Rose behind him. He sensed their anger, and while it generated malevolence, it wasn’t very much. They weren’t the source.
“What’s all the ruckus about?” a short old man with glasses asked. He came with his hands behind his back and a concerned expression that suggested he had already heard some story from Alisha and Lailah. “Are you with those girls?”
“Are you Pope Masedra?” Dezel asked. He tightened his grip around Rose’s wrist, piquing her curiosity about her seraph.
The old man let out a lengthy sigh. “Yes, I am, but please, call me Slenge. I’ve abandoned the name Masedra, the title Pope. I wish to atone for my sins, O Great Seraph.”
“Spare me the ‘praises’ and ‘prayers’.”
Rose glanced at him from around his back. She then stepped forward. “We need to talk, Pope. Follow us to the inn.” She looked back at Dezel again, who had turned away.
Alisha, Rose, Lailah, and Dezel led Slenge to the inn where Sorey was still asleep. The former pope was surprised to find three more seraphim with him. Mikleo glared at Rose and Alisha, but once he learned that it was the missing pope, he softened. Zaveid stepped in.
“Do you know why we were looking for you?” he asked. The pope immediately sank to his knees. His eyes filled with tears, and he began begging for forgiveness. The shirtless seraph couldn’t even answer his own question with this display in front of him. Slenge was blubbering. “Uh, you okay?”
“I know why you’re here,” Slenge sobbed. “I always knew my sins would come to haunt me! I knew when I saw Dezel.”
Rose again glanced at her seraph. He was chewing his lip as if to prevent himself from attacking the old man while he was vulnerable.
“You know Dezel, huh?” Edna said. She too noticed the blind seraph’s reaction. “Well, let’s get straight to the point. When you left, Cardinal Forton came into power and is trying to starve everyone in Pendrago with a blighting rain. So you need to get your butt back over there and fix this mess.”
Slenge looked at each person in the room before giving a resounding, “No.” He composed himself then stood up with whatever dignity he had left. “I refuse to return to that dirty city. I left because I wanted to atone for my sins. Why would I go back? I have aided in the demise of so many seraphim, and you think I want to go back to see those constant reminders?” He then turned his attention to Sorey. “I am in the presence of an ailing Shepherd, and I will help him, but I will not return to Pendrago.”
The old man pulled a small vial of medicine from his pocket. They were to give him the whole vial, and after he placed it on the side table to his bed, Dezel finally lost control. He bundled the collar of Slenge’s shirt in his fists.
“Dezel, stop!” Rose ordered.
“Atone for your sins? Running from what you did, huh?” he snarled at him. Slenge begged him to let go. “You can never atone for what you did to me! I had to suffer at your hands for so long!” Rose pulled Dezel back, but he blew her away. “If it were just you and me, old man, I would kill you with my own hands.” He let go of him as per his Squire’s request. “No matter the cost. I would slaughter you."
Slenge rubbed his throat while Alisha apologized. Rose grabbed Dezel’s arms and pulled him back again, this time holding a dagger to his neck. Lailah, Edna, and Zaveid held their tongues, and Mikleo only curtly thanked him for helping Sorey.
“I’m not proud of what I did, but I will help in anyway I can,” Slenge coughed. “Come to the cave behind the village. There is something there for the fire seraph.”
With that, Slenge left their company. Mikleo got to work giving the medicine to Sorey. It was a simple concoction that stopped the fever and reinvigorated the brunet. He had been awake and listening since Slenge had arrived, but Sorey believed that if he had interrupted the scene, then he wouldn’t have learned anything.
Rose still held Dezel down. “We’re Diving,” she told him. “Sorey, we found a path to the cave behind the village, but it’s blocked by boulders. See if you and Edna can’t figure something out about that.”
“Uh, why me?” Edna huffed. “Because it’s rocks? Rude.” But she didn’t protest. In fact, she smiled. “Sorey, it’s been a while. We should Dive, too.”
“He just got better!” Mikleo argued. Sorey placed a gentle hand on his back. “Sorey…!”
“We have bigger things to worry about, and if Edna’s Dive can help us, then it won’t be wasted time.”
Rose pulled Dezel into the room next to them, locking the door behind her before attempting to grab him by his shirt like he had done to the old man. He caught her wrists with a tight grip. “Keep this up, and I’ll make you regret it, you wretched brat,” he hissed. Rose snatched her arms away. She took a step back. Was this the same Dezel she had lived with for twelve years?
“What the hell was that all about?” she questioned him. Dezel went for the door. “Dezel, I’m talking to you!”
“Like I care.” He reached for the doorknob, but at the last second, he returned to her. He grabbed her tightly by the arms, shaking her violently like some sort of madman. “Why must you always interfere!? I had him right there. I could have killed him and gotten some retribution!”
Rose pushed his hands off of her. No, this wasn’t her Dezel; it was nowhere close to him. Where had he gone? Had he hidden himself deep within his heart? Was she going to have to pull that part of him back to the surface?
“Lukeim Yurlin!” she called out with frustration. As Dezel Armatized, she willed herself to stay put while they hashed out what had happened in the Dive. She knew Diving now was extremely dangerous because more than likely he didn’t want her inside of him. It would be a suicide mission, and if she died, Dezel would never forgive himself no matter how angry he was now.
Alisha stared in the direction of the assassin at the wall dividing them. “I’ve never seen Dezel get that violent with someone,” she said.
Lailah held her hand. Zaveid let out a sigh, which urged Sorey to ask him if he knew anything about Dezel’s past. The wind seraph kept his mouth shut; it wasn’t his place to talk about Dezel’s past, and given that he had attacked Slenge, it would be a while before the blind seraph would say anything about it if Rose couldn’t talk to him first.
Notes:
Oh-hohohoho! We have a Dezel Dive coming up! What will we learn? What will Rose learn? Is the title going to be appropriate for the younger audiences?! Find out next time!
Chapter 47: Phase 2: School Days
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 4: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
YO YO YO WHAT UP MY PEOPLE? Today is a jubilant day! FOR I HAVE FINALLY GOTTEN MY DRIVER'S LICENSE AND CAN PROCEED TO DO MORE THINGS! Ahem, this chapter is bittersweet. Like it's weird but cute but sad? I'm sorry, Dezel baby, but you're just getting started.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rose’s head pounded as she entered Dezel’s fourth level. It was a penalization for almost forcing herself into his soul space—“almost”. And while the wind seraph didn’t try to push her back out or kill her for essentially breaking and entering or even meet her before actually initiating the Dive, he made sure that she would have difficulty in completing the level. Windur had scolded her a bit when she arrived at the Stonehenge, but she cared more about fixing whatever problem Dezel had than intruding on his soul. That, in itself, was terrible, but she rationalized that he was her seraph and that she had to do everything in her power to take care of him—even if that meant entering him when she wasn’t allowed to. The denizens of the level were not welcoming either, with the sole proprietor besides the Normin confronting her at the Stonehenge.
The version of Dezel that had accosted her at the Stonehenge was the art teacher that had threatened to kill her the first time she had set foot inside of her seraph. Now that he was in his rightful level, there was little to nothing holding him back from killing her, or at the very least, from beating her half to death.
“You’ve got some guts to come here after what you did,” he barked. “How about I give you a one-on-one lesson, brat? And—And you’re not even in your school uniform!”
“Do what you want,” Rose huffed at him. “I’m here to help, and I don’t care if I have to die a million times to do it!” She stood her ground, planting her feet and crossing her arms to defy and deny him every way she could. “Dezel, I don’t know what—”
“My name isn’t Dezel, brat. It’s Farga. Mister Farga to you.”
Rose raised an eyebrow. Such a drastic change in his attitude—it was as if he tamed himself in fear of someone watching him. He was a teacher after all, so it wasn’t too surprising that he would watch his behavior. He bit his tongue then grabbed Rose by the wrist. He dragged her to the school where he worked, and there he gave her a school uniform to use once they had arrived at the vacant principal’s office.
“Change your clothes and go to class,” he ordered. “I’ve got my students to attend to.”
Rose snorted. Students? Who would want him as a teacher when he was such a grouch? He’d threatened to kill her, too. Surely that meant he would be fired, right? Still, changing her clothes might grant her some favor to remain in his soul space.
For someone who regularly couldn’t perceive colors, Rose was impressed by the palette of the uniform. It consisted of a light blue polo with black lining and a white skirt with plaid inner box pleats. She tied her rose-pink blazer around her hips. Pulling her socks up to her calves and tying the laces of her red tennis shoes, she was ready to head to Mr. Farga’s art class. As she walked begrudgingly to the room, the thought occurred to her:
“That’s right…Dezel can actually see in his soul space, can’t he? How does he know what colors things are if he doesn’t know the real-life references? Does he just guess? But this version of him also wears sunglasses, so maybe he’s blind again? But then, how can he be an art teacher?”
With neverending questions, Rose slid the door to the art room open. She dropped her bag in disbelief.
Sorey and Alisha were sitting in his class, but they were wearing dog ears and tails and plastic snouts. The other students…were dogs.
“Now, let’s begin with the most basic of art practices—drawing a circle,” Mr. Farga began. Without turning his back to his students, he swung his arm around and drew a perfect circle. “It’s vital to use your body and the laws of physics to create the perfect circle. You might be wondering how physics applies to art, and while I’m not a scientist like Ms. Lala nor physically abled like Coach Veid, I can assure you that it works.” He stopped his lecture to signal Rose to go to her seat. “Now, let’s continue…”
The red-haired girl sat next to Sorey and Alisha. She whispered to them about why the room was full of dogs and why Mr. Farga was teaching art to them.
“W-Woof!” Alisha yipped.
“Bark bark!” Sorey joined.
Rose just stared at them.
“Sorey, Alisha, is Rose disturbing you?” Mr. Farga questioned. He shook his head. “I should have known a delinquent like you would just cause more problems. Out in the hall. And take these buckets of water with you.”
“I just got here!” Rose argued.
The other dog students turned and growled at her. She lost the fight, and without another word, she obeyed the teacher. She took the buckets of water with her and stood in the hall with her arms out and holding them up.
“Corporal punishment for talking in class should be illegal,” she dejectedly muttered. She was glad, though, because she could think.
Why would Dezel be teaching dogs? It was way too weird for it to just be something simple like being obsessed with the furry animals. He did like it when people were obedient and didn’t ask too many questions, but he wasn’t the type to harp on that kind of stuff. Eventually something broke her thoughts; it was the principal of the school. Cardinal Forton walked down the hall with a dignified stride.
“Hmph, another delinquent?” she sneered just out of earshot. “Farga doesn’t seem to understand what it means to ‘train’ a dog to listen. I’ll have to speak with him afterwards.” She stopped in front of her. “And what did he kick you out of class for?”
“Talking,” Rose curtly replied.
“Figures. It seems he still hasn’t learned the measures this academy takes to teach brats to behave.”
As if on cue, the students emptied out of the room, leaving Mr. Farga alone to gather his papers and tidy up. Forton dragged Rose back into the room by her collar with a nasty scowl. Confronting him about his lack of disciplinary measures, she violently pushed her towards him.
“What is this, Farga? Denying a student her education again instead of addressing the problem again?” the principal jeered.
Mr. Farga didn’t respond. He simply held Rose close—too close for her liking as far as the student-teacher boundary was concerned. But it wasn’t a hold that suggested intimacy or lust; it felt like he was trying to protect her from Forton.
“We talked about this. When a student misbehaves in class, you discipline them.”
“I know that. I was going to—”
“How do you discipline a student who talks during class? You smack them so hard that their jaw might as well fly off!”
Mr. Farga’s grip on Rose tightened as the vile woman stomped up to her. He turned her around so that her face was safely buried in his chest. Forton’s hand swiped above the back of the ruby-red head and into his mouth. He curled his lips inwardly in pain and tempered anger.
“How dare you!” Forton cried out. “Protecting a delinquent?!”
“She is my student, so I will deal with her how I see fit,” Mr. Farga told Forton.
The principal gritted her teeth. The next words that spewed her from mouth were venom, stinging Rose and Mr. Farga’s hearts alike:
“You’re a fucking failure! A piece of shit teacher who can’t even see what he’s teaching! How will your students think of you when they find out that you can’t even discipline the one that disrupted their learning?! How will this girl think of you when she learns that she can get away with everything! What should I do now? Oh, I get it. You two are in a relationship! A dirty teacher and a horrid slut! Why don’t you two wastes of life elope together? You’re not needed here! No one will ever need you! Abandonment! Abandonment!”
With that, Forton left the two of them seething. Rose couldn’t even begin to imagine what had just happened. Her head was pounding worse than before, but the tightening around her arms pulled her attention from the pain. They stood there for a while, time frozen in that room where she felt him starting to tremble.
“M-My students…need me…They want me here…right?” Mr. Farga quivered.
Rose couldn’t believe that Dezel was crying…or perhaps he was finally releasing it because his jaw hurt so much.
“Dez—Mr. Farga, do you want to go somewhere and talk?” Rose gently asked. She hoped he would. It would help solve the mystery of why Dezel had lost control of his emotions in front of Slenge.
“That’s not appropriate,” he sniffled. “Students and teachers can’t be alone with each other. It’s too dangerous and inappropriate. I’m not the kind of teacher that preys on his students, you know.”
“But what Forton said just now! That wasn’t right!”
“S-She’s right…I need to learn…how to discipline…”
“What are you…?”
Mr. Farga stood Rose in front of him. He raised his hand, and through the darkened lenses of his sunglasses, she saw a frightened and pained look. He was suffering. He was told to hit her, but he clearly didn’t want to. He was simply being obedient, doing what he was told to do, doing what was expected of him as a teacher.
“I-I’m sorry…!” he breathed.
“Dezel, stop this madness!” Rose frantically begged.
Mr. Farga flinched. He pushed her aside and ran out the door, leaving all of his papers behind in a bag on his desk. She chased after him, but without knowing exactly what was within this level of the soul space, she didn’t know where to go.
“Dezel! Dezel, where did you go?” she called for him. She ventured closer and closer to a mysterious darkness at the edge of the level. It was slowly encroaching like a dreadful storm. “What the hell is that?”
Windur scrambled to her feet from the Stonehenge as fast as it could. “You’ve got to leave this area!” it warned. “The Nothing is coming back!”
“The Nothing? What is that?”
According to Windur, the Nothing was a wave of emotional emptiness that covered the soul space when Dezel’s heart was shaken. The Normin governing his soul had thought that it only occurred in accordance with traumatizing events in reality, but it seemed to have formed after the episode with Forton’s berating. It would swallow the soul space if she didn’t find out the problem.
Desperate, Rose left the edge and headed for the city. There she spotted Mr. Farga stepping into a dog kennel. She followed him in, peeking around the corner of the playroom to find her seraph surrounded by puppies and old dogs alike as he sang a little tune to them. She couldn’t quite hear what he was singing, yet her heart felt as ease. Perhaps it was seeing him happy for once with the only creatures he truly loved. The puppies were running around in circles while the older dogs placed their heads on his lap or near him so he could rest his hands on them. A couple of them sniffed Rose out, wagging their tails when she drew nearer out of her hiding spot.
“Ugh, I should have known you’d follow me,” Mr. Farga scoffed. “Don’t you get it? You’ve caused enough trouble, and if you’re looking for a relationship, it’s against the school rules.” He grimaced, turning back to his dogs and trying to push Rose’s presence out of his mind. “Can you please just leave me alone?”
Rose took a seat next to one of the dogs that had its head in his lap. She sat there quietly. Mr. Farga sighed before beginning his song again for the dogs. It was a simple song that listed all the characteristics about the furry animals and how much he loved them.
“I never thought you could make silly songs like these,” Rose giggled. “It makes you less scary and mean.”
“What’s wrong with liking dogs? They’re so cute and fluffy…and they don’t abandon the ones that love them…”
“Mr. Farga, what was Forton talking about when she said ‘abandonment’?”
The art teacher flinched again. He gripped his arms tightly, his sharp shark-like teeth biting his lip. When he had arrived at the academy, he was a newly certified teacher. Everyone including the students stepped on him. They would talk about how worthless he was because he was blind. Soon the other teachers ostracized him, and the students all left him. Eventually he had gotten permission to hold the class for dogs since he had no children to teach. Forton had allowed it as long as he disciplined them, but he never knew that it included disciplining human students as well.
“Sorey and Alisha?” Rose interrupted.
He nodded. “The kind of discipline that Forton talked about is illegal to use on human students, so they were required by her to dress as dogs. Gradually, I felt alone again.”
“Sounds like a real bitch—no pun intended.”
“Maybe I should resign…”
Rose snapped her head around to look at him. She didn’t want to hear him talk about giving up. The Dezel of this world was kind and wanting to help the community. His blindness potentially helped students to learn to use their other senses and imagination to paint.
“I can’t stand this. I hate how she’s treating you, but…I can’t solve your problem just being a student. I’ll get kicked out of the academy.”
“It’s not for you to get flustered about.”
Rose refused to take that as an answer. She took his wrist. “I probably got a dorm when I got here. Where do you stay? Actually, never mind, stay with me for the night. We’re going to practice telling off that jerk Forton!”
Mr. Farga blushed. “I-I can’t stay with a student!” he protested.
“We’re not sleeping until you’re ready to tell Forton to kiss your ass! I hope you like coffee, because that’s all we’re having tonight!”
Rose pulled Mr. Farga to the school dorms, carefully scanning the halls for other faceless students while sneaking him into her room. Much to her dismay, the room was rundown and growing mold in the corners above her bed. Thankfully, there was a manual coffee maker, so it wasn’t completely barren of necessities. The red-haired student coached her art teacher on what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. After twenty cups of black coffee and only an hour of sleep, Mr. Farga was ready to confront the abusive principal.
The two of them went to the classroom where they found that the door had been locked. Forton stood nearby with the key swinging around her thin finger.
“Decided to show up today? After I told you that you weren’t needed here?” she hissed.
Rose discreetly placed a hand on his back. She knew he could do it. Mr. Farga deeply appreciated her support. He faced Forton with a stoic posture and a roaring voice:
“I quit!” he said with every ounce of dignity he could muster. The declaration took Forton by surprise.
“You quit? You can’t just quit!” she argued back.
“Watch me. I’m so tired of you holding that over my head. So what if I was abandoned by everyone? So what if I’m blind and I can’t really teach? You never took the time to find out what I can do. You don’t know what I’m capable of.” Mr. Farga faltered back not in recoil but for a second wind. Rose patted his back again. “There are painters in the world who can see through touch, and musicians who can smell their compositions! If you don’t want my talents here, then fine! I know there are others who support me. I’m through letting you control me through the fear of ending up alone.”
Forton’s mouth hung agape, and Rose smirked at her. She left with Mr. Farga, who couldn’t believe he had finally said what he wanted to say. They heard the rumbling of the Paradigm Shift opening up, and Rose noticed that the Nothing had receded. She knew that Dezel had to be feeling better.
Mr. Farga flinched at the warmth of the light coming from the Paradigm Shift. He wasn’t used to the euphoria that bounced and bubbled in his heart. “Rose…” he started. He searched for the words to show his gratitude. “T-Thank you. If you hadn’t…come along, I probably would have just continued to be frightened by her—Forton, I mean…” He tipped his beret over his sunglasses. “I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t thank me, just get it together in the real world,” Rose scolded. She took his hand, squeezing it with reassurance. “We’re a team whether you like it or not, and I don’t like it when my teammate is scared or in pain. I told you that I would do everything I could to help you. I’m going to make good on my promise every time something happens.”
Mr. Farga blushed deeper. “W-When did you become some…some knight in shining armor? God, I take it back. I’d rather have Forton tell me how worthless I am than to listen to your drivel.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She sent him towards the light chuckling and smiling the whole time. “I’ll see you on the next level.”
Mr. Farga nodded then disappeared into the light. Windur ran frantically to her side as if trying to catch the proprietor before he left, but it was too late.
“Things ended up working out!” Rose beamed.
“Great, but…” Windur scratched its cheek. “The next level is the real test. It’s going to be extremely dangerous from here on out. All I can say is don’t come back until you’re ready to see the brunt of his emotions and thoughts. B-But on the bright side, Dezel has a new ability now! That’s good, right? Right!” Windur looked so meek that Rose wasn’t sure if she should be concerned or happy or what. But now was not the time to wonder about it. She returned to reality.
----------------------------------------------
Rose woke up on the bed as soon as she de-Armatized from Dezel, who was clutching his chest in his brief slumber. She was sure she would have died as soon as the Dive was over, but since her wind seraph was still knocked out for a couple more minutes and thus powerless, she could breathe easy. When he woke up, it was a different story. Dezel pinned her down, his grip like a vice on her wrists.
“You went in without my permission, you little brat!” he snarled. “Do you know what could have happened?! You could have died! If you die, I die! I’ll be rounded up in a heartbeat by the first human that realizes I don’t have any means of protection!” He sensed that she was trying to calm herself; he could feel it on his wind and hear her heartbeat in his ears as if it were his own. “Why did you risk it?” Rose kept quiet until Dezel loosened his grip. He did, but he refused to move off of her.
“I wanted to know why you attacked Slenge,” she quietly said. The walls were thin, and she couldn’t risk the others hearing their conversation. “You were ready to kill Slenge, yet I didn’t see the Pope in your soul space at all. I saw the Cardinal Forton of all people. She kept saying that you weren’t needed.”
“Stop.”
“I need to know, Dezel. Please, just tell me what happened to you. If I know, then I can protect you.”
“I said, stop! Stop poking your nose in my business!” He sat up straddling Rose, and once again, he looked so helpless and vulnerable that she could have flipped him over if she wanted to. “I can’t forgive them. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. I need to hang onto my rage. I need to remember why I’m still here.” He slowly got off of her and went to the opposite corner of the room to sit and cool off. “I’m sorry. You’re angry with me, and you should be.”
Rose slid off the edge of the bed. “No, I’m not.”
“Just let me be alone for a little while.”
It was so strange seeing Dezel like this. She had to find out whatever happened to him. In the meantime, she could only grant his wish. It was going on to the dead of night, and surely Sorey wouldn’t want to go to where Slenge told them to meet him so late. Not to mention, he was probably still Diving with Edna.
Dezel dozed off despite having slept during the Dive, and while he did, Rose saw her chance to show him a little affection. She took the blanket from her bed and wrapped it around him before giving him a light good-night kiss on his cheek. She was content with just her jacket as long as he slept knowing that she wanted to help him. As she let sleep overcome her, Dezel raised his head in her direction, a small sad smile on his lips.
Notes:
Wasn't that a doozy of a chapter? Now updates may come slower (or you won't notice a difference in pace at all) because I have con stuff to do and real life stuff. Please bear with me, and I hope you keep reading. I've got a lot of stuff planned out for the future for this story, and I'm getting back into doing the first draft of artworks that are re-draws of the Ar Tonelico gallery pictures. So far only one Dezel so has music composed, but I'm going to revise it again and hopefully I can find someone to sing it...someone who is willing to learn Hymmnos for me.
(And as much as I would like someone Japanese or someone who knows Japanese, that's a lot to ask for. Another really nice thing would be Dezel's VA, but AHAHAHAHA that'll never happen.)
Chapter 48: Phase 2: Drinking Game
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 5: Edna
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
I know I said I probably wouldn't update for a while, but I've made some progress on my cosplay, and I really can't do much else until my mom can help me lace up the back and help cut a dress to turn into Velvet's coat. So for now, here's another Dive for our lovely Edna, based on a Misha level. Can you find the little easter egg in this chapter? It's from another favorite game of mine~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey let out a sigh of relief. He had felt so heavy laying in bed from whatever sickness he had caught, and it felt so nice to move around again. And as much as he wanted to go out and explore the village, duty called. He and Edna were to Dive to figure out a way to deal with the fallen boulders that hid an entrance into the cave behind the village. The Shepherd, however, couldn’t easily forget about what was going on between Rose and Dezel.
“It’s not my place to know, but Dezel’s outburst is something of an anomaly, don’t you think?” he asked those who were still there in the room. Mikleo sat by his side while Zaveid rubbed his neck. Alisha and Lailah were silent with worry. “It’s not like him to get worked up like that.”
“Whether it is or not, it’s definitely not your place to worry about it,” Edna reminded him. She spun her umbrella on her shoulder. “Dezel is Rose’s seraph, so only she can ask him to open his heart, and only she can know what’s troubling him. As for you,” she stepped up to him, her emotionless ice-blue eyes staring up at him, “You’ve got a Dive into a certain earth seraph to do.”
Sorey knew she was right, and it would be detrimental to focus on something that he couldn’t hope to control. He Armatized with Edna.
----------------------------------------
Sorey met with Edna in the shared soul space where she seemed slightly more reluctant than usual. He asked her what was wrong, and she hesitated before speaking.
“It’s been a while, and you’re heading into the fifth level,” she said. “Things are going get nastier, and if I could tell you what was going to happen, I’d better prepare you.”
The Shepherd placed a hand on her head and offered a warming smile. It was all she needed to feel a little better about the Dive.
----------------------------------------
The world in the fifth level was something closer to a port town. The houses were carved into the side of a sea-facing mountain with networks of stairs and crossings crisscrossing around. Little windmills gently turned in the breeze, and cargo was transported from the ships via pulleys. It was something beyond Sorey’s wildest imagination—like places he had read about in the Celestial Record! He couldn’t believe it; had Edna gone to the places he and Mikleo wished to visit?
“So you’ve made it to the fifth level,” Phoenix nonchalantly said from behind Sorey. The golden Normin climb up on the banister of the stairs that led up to the town square of wherever they had come. “What do you think?”
The air tasted salty, and the coos of seagulls and the chatter of unknown villagers rang through the cobblestone streets. It was so different and bright that Sorey admitted he had a hard time believing that Edna had imagined such a place.
“Edna never went to Taliesin,” Phoenix admitted. “Her brother Eizen came here a few times with his companions. Someone else you know also used to live here. But Edna also read about a vibrant city in a picture book that her brother had sent her as gift. It was named…Ritardando, I believe. Edna loved that story when she was a child.”
“How long have you known Edna?” Sorey asked the Normin.
“That’s a secret. Anyway, enough from me. It’s about time you go and look for the girl.”
Phoenix shooed Sorey away towards the town called Taliesin. He glanced around at all the homes until he saw a small girl—probably around the size of an elementary school girl—wearing a pink smock and carrying a large bottle of Draconique absinthe. Sorey couldn’t be surprised, but he thought it was suspicious why a young child was allowed to walk around with a massive bottle of liquor.
“Edna, is that you?” he asked gently.
“W-Who are you?” Edna stammered. She clung on the bottle for fear that Sorey was going to take it away from her. “T-This is for my father! I swear!”
Sorey shushed her. In a soft voice, he told her that he didn’t want to cause her any trouble. “Did your father send you to get it? How about I help you? Can you show me where you live?” he offered. The young seraph looked him over timidly. “Edna?”
Suddenly an older girl with long white hair appeared at the earth seraph’s side. Her teal-colored eyes drilled holes into his face before she stepped in front of Edna to protect her. “How dare you approach a girl on the streets! Only the lowest of the low would do that,” she chastised.
“H-Hold on!” Sorey said. “I just wanted to help her. That bottle is almost twice her size. What if she falls and hurts herself? Besides, isn’t it kind of sketchy for a little girl to be carrying around that much alcohol?” Then he recognized the white-haired girl. “Lady Shurelia?”
“My name is Rei, and I will take care of my sister from here!”
Rei took the bottle of absinthe in her arm and tugged on Edna’s wrist. The two of them hastily made their way back home on a sea-facing side of one of the stone homes. Sorey was beside himself; what was Shurelia doing in Edna’s soul space? And why was Edna so scared? It wasn’t like her at all. He followed them to their house, peeking through the window as best as he could without giving away his position.
The inside of their house was in ruins. Things had been thrown about and walls were cracked. Rei and Edna were huddled in a corner opposite to a man with long white-to-green hair who was flopped over. Rei carefully stepped forward with the bottle of absinthe.
“F-Father, we got this for you,” she fearfully said. “It’s the one you wanted, yes?”
“Finally, you good-for-nothing wench!” the man berated. His amber eyes blazing like fire, he snatched the bottle from her, downing it all in three gulps. “What the hell? That’s all you got?!”
“F-Father, you shouldn’t drink so much at once!”
“You think you can tell me what to do?” The man stood up, and Sorey got a good look at who he was. “How about you do as you’re told and bring me more alcohol!”
“Zaveid, stop!” the Shepherd called out from the window. He was there plain as day, but seeing him reach for Rei’s hair and preparing to beat her in front of Edna scared him into action. “What are you doing?!”
“Who the fuck are you?” Zaveid grumbled.
Rei and Edna looked over at Sorey, and both of them were amazed to see him stand up to him. Sorey came inside the house as if to challenge him.
“This isn’t right, Zaveid!” Sorey protested him. “They’re your daughters. You can’t treat them like this!” He beckoned Edna to his side, but Rei was out of his reach as long as she was in Zaveid’s grasp. “Let her go.”
“Or what, you piece of crap? You’ll call the guards on me?”
“Young man, just leave! Take Edna to safety!” Rei pleaded. “The only way he’ll be sated is if he gets more of the alcohol he so dearly loves.”
Sorey was pushed out without so much as his two cents. Edna clung to his leg, frightened for what Zaveid might do to her sister. He promised her that he wouldn’t let Rei get hurt, but he didn’t know where to get that alcohol. Edna had reportedly gone out of town to get it, and he knew that there was no way that he would be able to go beyond the town’s boundaries. So where could they get that Draconique absinthe?
“Mister, look! Down there by the docks!” Edna said as pointed towards the sea. Sitting on the edge was the present version of Edna dressed in a royal purple kimono decorated with all types of flowers. Next to her was a large bottle of absinthe and two smaller bottles of sake and whiskey. “I can see the bottle!”
Sorey picked up Edna and hurried down to the docks to the older version of herself. “Excuse me!” he called to her. The older Edna turned to Sorey with a sly look. “Can we have that bottle of absinthe? A friend is in trouble, and if we don’t get it, she’ll get hurt.”
The older Edna smirked, looking over Sorey and her younger self. She took up the bottle and turned it around and around in her hands. “You want this?” she asked mischievously. “Then give me 100,000 gald.”
Sorey and Edna’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads. Such a sum of money for a bottle of booze was beyond ridiculous on top of completely impossible! But it was the only bottle within the area permitted by the soul space, and with no other way of obtaining it, there was no choice. Sorey agreed to the wager.
The older Edna poured him a glass full of the liquor and only stopping when he stuttered, “I-I don’t drink.”
“Huh? You don’t drink?” the older Edna mocked. She turned to her younger self. Sorey pulled her behind his leg. “Well, guess you won’t be getting the booze then unless you can find someone to represent you.” She promptly shooed them away.
Beside themselves, Sorey and the child Edna climbed the stairs back to the square. The latter was quite disappointed that the Shepherd had never allowed a single drop of alcohol touch his lips, which wounded him. The child Edna was glad, though, because it meant that older men could live witout being drunk every waking minute of their lives.
“What do we do now?” Edna asked. “If we don’t find someone, we can’t get that bottle!” Sorey knelt to meet her large cerulean eyes. He silently promised her that he would save her sister.
They began the search for the ultimate drinker. The first one they came to was a man with long black hair that covered one eye. He wore traditional Japanese clothes like a samurai, but he himself wielded daggers. He had a bottle of sake tied to his side.
“Excuse me!” Sorey called out to him. “Can we ask you a favor?” He explained the predicament to the man, escorted him to the Edna sitting on the dock, and hoped that he would suffice. Within seconds of guzzling down as much as he could of the endless bottle of absinthe, the man tapped out. He stumbled away. “What the heck?” Sorey whispered in disbelief.
“You’ll need to find someone with a stronger stomach if you want to beat me,” Edna laughed. She raised a glass to him.
It was back to the drawing board, and Sorey and the child Edna pondered again who they could ask. This time they found Eizen, who in this level was not Edna’s older brother. He had no relation to Edna or Rei. He was simply a pirate which an eternal thirst for whiskey. So they took him to the Edna sitting on the dock. And, just like the man before, Eizen was soundly defeated by the older Edna.
“This isn’t fair at all! You’re cheating!” the child Edna whined. “He’s a pirate! Pirates can drink a lot of alcohol!”
“Well, I proved you wrong,” the older Edna nonchalantly said.
Sorey took Edna away again to think. A samurai-like man was useless. A pirate could easily be beaten. They couldn’t ask Zaveid. Who else could they go to? Time was running out for Rei.
A loud belch echoed from outside the inn that was inaccessible to Sorey because it was a boundary in the soul space. A brown Normin was gulping down bottle after bottle of spirits. It didn’t appear to get drunk or even a little tipsy. Edna knew that this creature was their last chance, and she had to ask for its help.
“You want what?” the Normin burped.
“We need your help to outdrink a lady!” Edna pleaded.
Sorey rested his hand on Edna’s head when he saw that the Normin wasn’t interested in the slightest about the drinking game. So he took over. The Normin was named Blarb, and its pudgy spongy body was the reason is could drink so much. After explaining to it everything that had happened, the Shepherd waited anxiously to hear its response.
“What’s in it for me?” Blarb gruffly asked.
“Uh…m-more alcohol?” Sorey stuttered, unsure how to answer its question.
Blarb snorted, reluctantly getting up from where it was sitting among its empty bottles and followed Sorey and Edna to the dock. The ornamented earth seraph scrutinized the Normin before bursting into laughter.
“Is this really the best that you can do?” Edna guffawed. “Ha, fine! Let’s go!”
And the drinking began. Edna chugged the absinthe endlessly, only taking short breaks to catch her breath. Blarb, on the other hand, simply inhaled its share of the alcohol. It didn’t stop, and Edna started to worry that she had been matched. She kept drinking and drinking and drinking until finally her body couldn’t take it anymore. After an hour of nonstop drinking, Edna pulled her bottle from her lips. Gasping for air, she held her head.
“N-No…I…I feel dizzy…” she huffed. “I…I can’t lose…”
“Give it up, princess,” Blarb gurgled. It was still guzzling down its alcohol, this time emptying two bottles at once. “You ain’t gonna win this time.”
Edna held her head as she held up the absinthe to Sorey, Blarb, and her younger self. While the Shepherd was concerned for her, there were more pressing matters. He carried the smaller two as best as he could with the bottle under his arm. But when they arrived at Edna’s house’s door, he was horrified to find it locked.
“Rei!” Edna panicked.
“Zaveid, open the door! We got you more absinthe!” Sorey bargained.
No one came to the door, but they could clearly see Rei and Zaveid fighting. Or rather, Rei was defending herself against the wind seraph.
“They can’t hear us,” Edna almost cried.
“What can we do?” Sorey asked.
“We can break the door down!” Blarb immediately answered. It began to glow and suddenly the previous Normin Sorey had met appeared—Urth, Priventi, and Phoenix. They greeted each other. “Alright, I need your power to use Giant’s Fist.”
The other three Normin glimmered as they chanted out one by one three lines:
Wee yea ra arsye anw murfanare mea tes yor
Ma yea ra riomo jouee oz dor
Wee yea ra chs yor pawr mea
Blarb pulled its arm back then punched the door down with all the force of a titan. The door shot past Zaveid and Rei and into the wall behind them. Sorey drew his sword, angling it at Zaveid’s neck and watching him carefully as Rei rejoined Edna outside. He would have never thought that the shirtless wind seraph would go so far as to attempt to hurt an innocent person.
“Zaveid, we brought you the bottle, so there’s no reason for you to be like this anymore,” Sorey sternly said.
Zaveid glanced down at the bottle of absinthe before standing up straight. He took the bottle, rolled it around in his hands to see every inch of it, and threw it on the ground. Sorey was flabbergasted; after all the work he and Edna had put into looking for someone or something that could defeat the kimono-dressed Edna, he couldn’t help but be annoyed that Zaveid had wasted it. But the wind seraph walked passed him, fell to his knees and hugged Rei and the child Edna. Sorey couldn’t quite hear him, but it sounded as if he was apologizing to them.
Phoenix stepped to Sorey’s side. He knew that he wouldn’t understand. “I can’t tell you everything, but in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a certain connection between this soul space and another soul space,” it cryptically said. “There’s more to this story, and if you want to better understand Edna’s heart, you’ll need to uncover the whole truth.”
Sorey listened to the strange family. “Edna, Rei, can you ever forgive me?” Zaveid wept.
Rei seemed reluctant, but Edna hugged Zaveid around his neck. “You know that what you did was wrong, and you want to be nice now,” the little earth seraph kindly said.
Without a reason to intrude on the scene, Sorey reflected on the power that the Normin had used. Phoenix gave him a nonchalant smile. Using the Normin, Edna now had the ability to use Giant’s Fist, which allowed her to grind boulders and other objects to dust with a single punch. The only drawback was that she would be overcome with a temporary aching throughout her body. The strength of a titan wasn’t a power without consequence, after all.
The sun began to set on the town of Taliesin as the light of the Paradigm Shift burst from the Stonehenge. Edna said her farewells to her family on the fifth level of her soul space while holding onto Sorey’s hand. Zaveid couldn’t stop the tears from flowing; he was like the doting father that she never had.
At the Stonehenge, Sorey led Edna to just before the light. She smiled at him, and it was a smile he had never seen from her. It was a grateful, bittersweet one that thanked him for helping her. Eizen was only a minor character this time, and he had to wonder if it was because she was slowly letting go or if it was because Zaveid had become the newest addition to their team. It was like Phoenix said—he had to reveal the whole truth if he wanted to understand her. He would have to Dive into Zaveid soon, but because he was an IPD, he would need Edna’s help.
“Are you going to come back?” Edna asked Sorey.
“Of course I will!” Sorey promised. “You’re a friend, and I want to help you grow.”
Edna giggled before running into the light. After the Paradigm Shift ended, Phoenix and Blarb met with him. Both of them looked uncomfortable.
“Are you sure you’re willing to come back? The next level, Edna’s heart will be showing her truest and ugliest feelings. Are you prepared for that responsibility and the risks that it entails?” Phoenix asked. It was surprisingly defensive. “The hearts of seraphim of precious things.”
“Y-You’re making it sound like I’m taking her hand in marriage,” Sorey sheepishly said.
“That’s because the next level is probably the most dangerous one. No matter what, you cannot allow her persona to trick you.”
Sorey slowly nodded before he returned to reality.
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Sore woke up to find Alisha and Lailah hovering over Edna, who was complaining about her body aching. Mikleo, apparently annoyed about something, dragged him over to her. He placed his hands on his hips and turned away with a prominent pout.
“W-What’s wrong?” Sorey asked.
“What did you do to me, you idiot?” Edna growled. “Everything hurts!”
Alisha stomped up to him. “Don’t you know to be gentle with girls? And you’re already in a relationship with Mikleo, right? Isn’t this—”
“Hold on! The…The only thing I did…Alisha, Lailah, Mikleo—I need you all to leave right now!” Sorey ordered, blushing deeply. They unhappily did as they were told and gave them the privacy that they needed to talk about the Dive. Sorey only then realized that Zaveid had gone off somewhere. “Edna, I swear I didn’t do anything to you.”
“I know you didn’t,” Edna bluntly said. “I was only messing with you.” She sat up, wincing a little at the pain that permeated her body. “Judging from this, you managed to get the Giant’s Fist ability. “It’ll be strange to use the village entrance into that cave, so we can go through the back and clear the way.”
Sorey nodded. That was the plan from the start, but now it was within reach. Once Rose and Dezel were ready, they could meet with Slenge in the cave.
Meanwhile, Zaveid sat in Rose and Dezel’s room. He had asked Rose to step out so he could talk with the younger wind seraph, and even though the assassin tried her damnedest to hear what was going on in the room, she couldn’t make out anything that they were saying. Alisha scolded her a little, but she knew that she was worried about Dezel. If Lailah had attacked Slenge and then blew up about it after, she would have been as well. The two wind seraphim finally came out of the room the same time that Sorey and Edna came out. Dezel slowly approached Rose, sticking his hand out to her with a hint of disdain. Rose cautiously took it in a handshake, but Zaveid cleared his throat.
“Dezel, we talked,” he reminded.
Rose looked at Sorey then Alisha when suddenly Dezel snatched her into his arms. He hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry for yelling,” he said, the unfamiliar words fumbling off his tongue as if he had never sincerely apologized.
“Ah, the sweet sound of children getting along,” Zaveid grinned.
“Wait, so you were all sulky just because you wanted them to make up?” Mikleo interrogated.
“Teamwork is the vital essence of staying alive, so yes!”
Sorey laughed knowing that things were slightly better than before. But the time for laughing and goofing around was over. They had to meet with Slenge in the cave behind the village. The Shepherd called his seraphim inside while Lailah and Dezel did the same with their respective Squires. The three of them left the inn. The air was dry and brisk. With the sun shining through the dismal clouds over the malevolence-filled village of Gododdin, they were ready to take on whatever it was Slenge had in store.
Notes:
You know what grinds my gears? When people talk shit about Zaveid. He's had it rough, and the fact that he's basically the happy dad of the group and has taken care of children (including Dezel and possibly Edna for a short time) makes him that much more interesting and not a bad replacement--actually I don' think he should be compare to Dezel anyway. I love everyone from Zestiria, and dammit he needs love too! /rant
Chapter 49: Phase 2: Burning Passion and the Flame of Lust
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 6: Lailah
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
So my Velvet cosplay was a bust, and I ended up not going to Metrocon, resulting in me being depressed for exactly one day before my Eleanor/Edna and I agreed to do a photoshoot together, and my roommate (bless her soul) is willing take our pictures, which will go on all my social media. My Lailah also gave me two Sorey and Mikleo charms. All these character name drops probably have you confused, right? Good! Hopefully for Holiday Matsuri, I can perfect Velvet and wear her.
This chapter is very, very closely written according to Misha's 6th cosmosphere, but I did try to add a little variation of it and I definitely gave Lailah some Khaleesi Dany traits. This is the first of the confession chapters (so named in the Ar Tonelico games), so they will all be pretty similar to the in-game levels due to the nature of them albeit where I can change them a little. Anyway, I'm rambling now. Being somewhat cut off from society does that, you know?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Edna stood before the boulders that blocked the path to the back entrance of the cave with her umbrella spinning on her shoulder. She was sizing up the rocks, and with her new ability, she pulverized them in the blink of an eye. As before, her body was wracked with pain, and she snapped at anyone who so much as brushed past her. Sorey thanked her and asked her to return inside to recover. The cave was now accessible. A wave of excitement overcame the Shepherd as he led his friends into the mouth and around the winding tunnel to cases and cases of fake elixirs and glowing red vermillion ore. Lailah came out to see the ore. She was both amazed and horrified. Sorey’s smile morphed into a perplexed frown upon seeing her reaction.
“Vermillion ore has plenty of uses, but ingesting it is toxic,” she informed. “The dust that comes from mining them kills people by causing the formation of tumors in their lungs, and eventually, the person loses the ability to breathe.” She knew that it was being used in the elixirs based on the proximity of the cases to the large ores that had been exposed, and it made the fire seraph’s heart ache.
“Should we take a few pieces of these?” Zaveid asked her.
“What do you take me for?!” Lailah asked him. “I would never use ore that’s been used for commercial purposes or as an additive in fake products!” She crossed her arms and pouted at him. “To think I would use something that is hurting people—how insulting.”
Rose and Sorey were surprised that she took so much offense to the ore. Zaveid simply played off it, stating that such beautiful and deadly ore would be useful for someone that was a seraphic embodiment of it. Alisha gave him a disproving look. He of all people should have known that the fire seraph was already taken; such flirtatious jests were not appreciated.
“Shepherd! Over here!” Slenge called out to them after hearing Lailah cry out against Zaveid.
He waved them over, and when they met with him, they found that he had been waiting in front of a stone door with the emblem of fire above it. Intense heat radiated from behind the door through the narrow crack which allowed just enough space for fingers to grip the edges. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha were already sweating and finding it hard to breathe with the hot air blowing on their faces.
“This is…” Lailah said with fear and awe. “This is the Shrine of the Fire Trial.”
“Correct, this is Igraine,” Slenge added. He stood before the stone door. “This is the Shepherd’s Sacred Trial of Fire.”
“But Lailah isn’t bonded to Sorey,” Edna told him.
“That’s quite alright. The system has changed since the previous Shepherd to prevent corruption and early death. While it is only in the name, the same idea applies. The Squire who guards the fire seraph’s soul has a number of tasks ahead of her.”
Slenge waited for Alisha to step up beside her dear fire seraph. She was required to Dive into the sixth level of Lailah’s soul space to prepare her for the end of the trial. Slenge couldn’t tell her why or what lie ahead of them, but he stressed that the Dive was important. Sorey and his friends were allowed to aid her through the trial, but ultimately it was up to Alisha to complete it.
“Are you ready?” Slenge asked. “Once the Dive is complete, I will unlock the door into the trial.”
Alisha peered at Lailah from the corner of her eye, and she could sense that the fire seraph was willing to do it. But it was different. The princess had completed her soul space once already before she was forced to start over thanks to Bartlow’s experiments, yet there was no telling if events would be the same. She remembered that the sixth level was particularly dangerous. But there was no getting around it; she had to complete it.
“Fethmus Mioma,” Alisha resolutely said. She Armatized with Lailah, her warmth flowing through her like lava. As she sat on the ground, she closed her eyes, appearing like she was meditating.
Sorey felt strange. He was the Shepherd, and part of him wished it was him that was doing it. He wasn’t jealous. He was concerned. He remembered what Phoenix had told him in Edna’s soul space—the next level was particularly dangerous, and he couldn’t allow the persona to trick him. Alisha, no doubt, was going through the same thing. He knew that he would have to venture into that level for all of his seraphim and Rose would have to do it to Dezel. Rose…would have to brave the most dangerous level by herself with a bloodthirsty seraph. If he could be the one to brave each Dive, he would have.
Then Mikleo took his hand.
He couldn’t do that to his beloved water seraph. Throwing caution to the wind and risking his life would crush his heart. All he could do was wait and help Alisha when she needed assistance.
As Alisha underwent the Dive into Lailah’s heart, Slenge turned to Sorey and asked him if he had seen the sacred inscriptions in the shrinechurch. When he confirmed he did but couldn’t read it, Sorey asked the former Pope about it.
“It says,” Slenge began. “‘The Shepherd is granted four powers: earth, water, fire, and wind. They are the blade that shall cleave the Lord of Calamity. Scattered across this land are the shrines of trials. They, too, are of earth, water, fire, and wind. Tests they are of power and spirit. The power is brought forth in the spirit, and the spirit captures the power. With balance may malevolence be purified; with imbalance does the body smolder and burn. Test thyself, Shepherd, and brandish thy might. Rise to the challenge, and stake thy will on the outcome.’”
“The ancient inscription!” Sorey lit up. Of course, he had asked to know what it said, but he didn’t expect to hear it word-for-word.
“Every Pope must memorize it. First, it had been written in the ancient tongue, but it was later transcribed to Carmena Foreluna—a variant of Ar Ciela suited for human usage. As I mentioned before, the rules have sinced changed so Shepherds don’t die from the overwhelming burden of housing four seraphim at once or that too many seraphim aren’t put into the wrong hands. Remembering the new inscription in that language made things easier and better encoded from those with malicious intent.
Slenge cleared his throat.
“Please keep these words in mind even if your Squires are there to help shoulder your burden. There are more than just a few that wish for your failure.” He looked at Rose, who was busy poking Dezel for fun until Alisha and Lailah woke up again. “That goes for all three of you.”
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In the shared soul space, Lailah waited for Alisha. She looked nervous. “You’ll be going into a hellish world soon,” the fire seraph warned her. “It won’t be like last time. I may try to kill you. Promise me that you will be careful.”
Alisha held her hands and kissed her forehead. “I survived before, I can do it again. Besides, I want to see what will happen after this Dive. New things are bound to happen now that we have journeyed so much.”
Lailah trusted her. Alisha tenderly touched the center of her chest, and the subsequent light brought her to the sixth level within her heart.
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Alisha appeared in a forest. She was far from the Stonehenge, and Atakk could be seen running towards her through the thickets and bushes. “Princess Alisha!” it cried. “You shouldn’t be here! The sixth level this time—it’s horribly dangerous and scary!” It tried to push her back towards wherever she came from. “You need to leave!”
“I’m sorry, Atakk, but I have to do this,” Alisha said. She left the helmet-wearing Normin alone. Travelling deeper and deeper into forest, she finally came to a familiar face. It was Rose. “Huh? I don’t remember meeting Rose here before.”
“Alisha! Can you help me? I got separated from Dezel, and now I’m lost!” she panicked. It seemed uncharacteristic of her, but such was the nature of the cosmosphere. “If I don’t find him, I don’t know what I’ll do!”
The princess vowed she would help her find Dezel, but they searched and searched, and it truthfully felt like they were going in circles sometimes until the assassin finally broke down. She cried out her worries that Dezel was dead and gone or was captured by greedy people and forced to do their bidding or had just abandoned her. Alisha tried to console her, but something rustled behind them before she could say anything. Now Sorey emerged from the bushes.
“Sorey? What are—you weren’t here before either,” Alisha said. It was weird. The sixth level had changed so drastically since the first time. “Can you help us find Dezel?” she nonetheless asked.
“Sorry, but I don’t have time for that,” he told her. Drawing his sword, he nodded to Rose. “Thanks, Rose, I owe you one.”
Alisha looked back at the assassin, who quickly stabbed a dagger into her arm to disarm her then kicked her spear away. “W-What is the meaning of this?!” Alisha gasped. She moaned in pain as she tried to stop the blood from pouring out of her wound. “What is going on?!”
“You’re being captured and taken to our Lady,” Sorey smiled maliciously. “It’s a labor of love. After all, she’s been waiting for you.” Alisha didn’t like the sound of that. And Sorey was scaring her. Using the pommel of his sword, he knocked her unconscious and after throwing her over his shoulder, he carried her to Lailah’s castle on the other side of the shaded soul space.
Lailah’s castle was decorated with vermillion ores and chains and pool of lava. Despite all the fire, it was dark inside like the light was shining into a vacuum. Alisha saw the other seraphim—Sorey’s and Rose’s—asleep and chained to the walls like dogs. They all had burns.
“Lady Lailah, we’ve brought her,” Sorey announced as the scantily-clad fire seraph walked down her spiral staircase to meet them.
Rose kept a tight grip on Alisha’s tied wrists. “She suffered some damage, but it’s only a flesh wound. Promise!”
“Flesh wound?” Alisha spat. “You stabbed me! Really deep at that!”
Lailah waved them away as she took Alisha by her rope tie. “Oh, my precious Alisha, I’m sure they didn’t mean to hurt you. Humans are careless like that, you know. But not you—you always know how to take care of me, and I always repay you,” she giggled seductively.
She burned the rope around her wrists. Alisha didn’t do anything but stand there anxiously; Lailah had been like this before, but it wasn’t the same. She was more malicious—much more. Alisha could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. But the fire seraph was still playful. She led her to a small round bed, and after climbing onto it, the princess finally had to ask her:
“What happened to your clothes? Aren’t you cold with just a shirt on?”
Lailah let out a haughty laugh. “Cold? Alisha, darling, you know I’m a fire seraph. I never feel cold.” She got on her hand and knees so that the tops of her breasts were before Alisha’s eyes. “I’ll let you know a little secret. I’m not wearing anything underneath either.”
Alisha wasn’t amused by this behavior. She was repulsed by it since Lailah wasn’t one to exude such lustful desire. When the fire seraph, queen of her castle, pulled her to the bed, Alisha snatched her hand away, something that Lailah greatly disliked.
“What are you doing?” she questioned sharply.
“This isn’t right,” Alisha told her. She took a step back to ensure that Lailah couldn’t throw her off-balance. “You’re not you.”
“What are you talking about? You want it, too, don’t you? I can feel it in the depths of your soul! So, then why?”
“I’m doing this for your own good, Lailah. I’m not doing anything with you like this.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? ‘For my own good’? You’re just making excuses! Don’t you love me? Aren’t I enough for you? Is there another person?!”
Alisha didn’t remember Lailah ever getting this angry. She thought it was impossible for her to get so angry.
“You don’t care about me, do you!” She pulled out her papers which commanded her flames. “I think you need a little timeout, Princess. Dangling in a volcano should remind you who you’re dealing with!”
Alisha was unable to escape the flaming vortex that encircled her. It was a homemade prison and after a blinding light enveloped the world, she found herself doing precisely what Lailah had promised. Glowing orange lava bubbled underneath her while she was tied and hung from a peak that jutted out of the throat wall of the mountain. She was dumbfounded. How could Lailah do this to her? Then she noticed that the lava was climbing towards her.
“A-Am I really going to die here?” Alisha gasped.
The lava was now only inches from the tip of her steel boots.
Wriggling about, she franctically screamed, “P-Please, someone! Someone help me!”
Something flew straight into her. It burned the rope that was holding her above the lava and rose high above the volcano. The one that had saved her…was Lailah. She wore all white, and all of her gold accents were polished silver. She had a pair of angel wings made of blue light.
“Are you alright, Alisha?” she asked. She gently brought her to the ground at the foot of the volcano. “She’s gone too far this time.”
Alisha took a moment to reorganize her thoughts. She had never seen this Lailah before. What’s more—she had a different air about her. She had a cool and calm demeanor albeit she was angry that the Lailah of this level had tried to murder their love.
“Who are you?” she finally asked.
“I am a Lailah from a deeper part of her heart,” the Silver Lailah told her. “I am her rationality, the protector of the most vulnerable part of her mind, and the substantiator of her oath, borne of the new feelings the real Lailah has developed on this adventure.”
“Oath?”
“She hasn’t told you? I imagine she wouldn’t to prevent you from worrying about her. Haven’t you noticed that she rarely ever talks about herself? Or that you don’t see anything from her past? This is all part of an oath that holds her life in balance. If she breaks it, she will lose her powers and most likely die.”
Alisha’s breath suddenly stopped. Everything stopped. Why would the fire seraph keep that a secret? Her precious Lailah had always been a moment away from death, and she never knew, never asked about it either.
“In due time, the truth will come, but not now. What we need to do now is find a way to trigger a Paradigm Shift and escape this hellish level.” The Silver Lailah turned to her.
“Princess Alisha, focus.”
“Focus? You just told me that my Lailah could die at any minute!”
“As long as she doesn’t break her oath, she won’t. Now, listen!”
The Silver Lailah told her what had to happen. For Alisha to escape to the next level, the lustful Lailah had to be trapped in a paradox loop. It was a disturbance in the train of thought that established when the level continuously contradicted itself. A desire that was negated by an equal and opposite desire, it posed the risk of destroying the seraph’s mind if she could not escape it herself. The paradox loop would force the seraph to have a Paradigm Shift at the cost of hurting the persona of the level.
Alisha hated the idea of subjecting Lailah to something like that. She remembered how she was forced to learn the Song Magic that was designed to steal the souls of others at the expense of hers. She was sure that she had suffered horribly, and she couldn’t bear hurting her so deeply like that.
“Hate it or not, it’s the only way to move on,” the Silver Lailah told her.
“How can you be okay with this?!”
“It’s a risk that we have to take. Besides, if you survive this level, your bond with her will deepen and you’ll be able to use the Armatus whenever you want.”
“What? What do you mean by that?” She thought back to her first time going through the level; when she had completed it, she hadn’t been able to use the Armatus at will. Was the first iteration of the soul space a cover-up?
The Silver Lailah sensed something. A surge in power grabbed her attention; a dragon was after them. The beast swooped in from the volcano’s peak, and the Silver Lailah only barely managed to deflect its flames as it came hurdling down the side. There was no time to waste. They had to go to the monster’s den that was the castle and trap that Lailah in a paradox loop. If only it were that simple. The dragon whacked the fire seraph away with its tail before scooping Alisha up into its clawing hands. It took her back to the castle, where she was placed in a cage for Lailah to bask in her beauty. Her clothes were different now. Her white shirt was now a white blouse held up by a brown corset. A parted pink and red skirt flowered around her, and on her head was a brown bandana with a Normin skull and cross bones. Her arms were decorated with lacy cuffs while her legs had tawny brown boots.
“Are you happy now? I changed into something that would suit your fancy more,” Lailah asked. “It’s called Dancing Pirate, and the best part is that you don’t even have to take off my clothes to get where you want to go. It’s so convenient!” Her voice was dripping with lust.
“Lailah, let me go, please,” Alisha begged her. She gripped the bars of the cage.
“Still? Ugh, I even tried to put on something you would like better! Why won’t you love me? Why won’t you give me what my body craves?! Am I that repulsive?!”
“It’s because this isn’t the right thing to do!”
Lailah tore the bandana from her head in frustration. “If you won’t love me, then I’ll just have to kill you! Good thing you’re in a cage; there’s nowhere for you to go!” Wrathful flames grew in her hands.
“If you kill her, what will you do?” the Silver Lailah asked her. She stood behind her, her hands and dress dyed red with blood. The Pirate Lailah spun around in horror. “Oops, my hand slipped. Guess your dragon wasn’t as strong as you thought, and it’s not a very good guard dog.”
The pirate Lailah screeched. “You killed my dragon! You’re going to pay!”
“If you kill either one of us, what will you do? Can you really live with murdering innocent lives?”
“I…I’ve killed plenty of people! Well, I didn’t—I had my dragon do it—I mean, they were all accidents!”
“Your scapegoat is gone now, so wouldn’t it be your fault?”
The Pirate Lailah turned to her hostage. “Even if it was, I could never kill Alisha. But if she won’t love me, then I have to kill her. I love her so much. So much that I could just burn her to ashes! But if I burn her, I won’t have anyone to love!” She hyperventilated and moaned incessantly while gripping her head.
The paradox loop had begun.
“I…I need her love, but if I can’t have complete control of her, then I must kill her!”
The Silver Lailah opened the cage with a snap of her finger and pulled Alisha out. She said something, but as the ravings of a mad woman echoed through the castle and the entire world began to rumble as its foundation weakened, she could barely hear her.
“The Paradigm Shift will open any minute,” she said. “We need to hurry!”
Alisha went for Pirate Lailah’s wrist, but the fire seraph recoiled from her. She was mad with the agony of not being able to love the one she wanted to kill and kill the one she loved.
“No, don’t touch me! I can’t…I can’t take it…what do I do? I want you gone, but I don’t want you dead!” she screamed, tearing out her hair.
The Silver Lailah pushed Alisha aside and slapped her counterpart. She ordered the princess to just head to the Paradigm Shift. She would be there soon after she had convinced the Lailah who was breaking down in her paradox to go. Alisha obeyed, but she felt something was off. The Silver Lailah was so forceful but kind, yet she was willing to risk too much. Regardless, this level was needed for the Armatus. It felt like she was forgetting to do something, or did she feel that way because of the chaos that toiled inside of Lailah’s heart?
Alisha’s savior brought the persona of the level to the Paradigm Shift where the princess had waited for her. The Pirate Lailah had gone silent, her eyes dull like a dead fish. She was an empty shell. Alisha would have to carry her through the light but not before she did what she believed would allow the Armatus to manifest without having to Dive. She took the persona from her savior, holding her close like they would when they wanted intimacy. She quietly apologized to her for breaking her heart then kissed her cheek. She wasn’t hoping that her signs of affection would bring the Pirate Lailah back, but she felt something like a switch in the pit of her stomach. As the world of lava and volcanoes crumbled, the Silver Lailah disappeared back to her level, and Alisha took the persona who only wanted her love into the light of the Paradigm Shift. Everything melted away.
----------------------------------------
Alisha woke up de-Armatized from Lailah while the others watched them with worry and confusion. Sorey, Mikleo, and Rose looked particularly concerned. The princess followed their eyes to find Lailah some paces away. She was standing there shaking with terror. Alisha reached out to her after cautiously approaching her.
“I-I’m sorry…!” Lailah whimpered. “I’m so sorry!”
Edna and Zaveid, the only two seraphim in the group closest to Lailah’s age, couldn’t explain her behavior other than that something had happened during the Dive that made a marked change in the real world. And with everyone standing next to them, there was no way that Alisha could address the issue. Slenge closed his eyes, bowed his head, and muttered something that didn’t sound good.
Mikleo glanced at Sorey. This was a requirement for the trials, which had to be completed to get the spiritual powers. He was angry with himself that they hadn’t realized this before. He shifted his attention to Slenge, who had known that it was a trial, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he purposely sealed off the back entrance of the cave to prevent the villagers’ curiosity from getting the better of them. By controlling only one accessible entrance, he protected his people. By vowing to help Sorey and his friends, he could secretly give them the tools they needed to fight Heldalf and quell the malevolence throughout the world. Even so, if they had found the trial of fire, there would be a trial of water. Whatever had happened to Lailah could very well happen to him, and his relationship with Sorey would be damaged.
“Lailah, please, everything is okay,” Alisha gently said.
“No! This was a mistake!” Lailah cried. She fell to her knees with her hands pressing into her tear-stained face. Her body was searing as if she were trying to repel Alisha from ever touching her again.
Slenge cleared his throat to grab Alisha’s, her Shepherd’s, and her fellow Squire’s attention. He explained to her that whatever was the subject of the Dive was most likely Lailah’s true and unadulterated desires. He admitted that he only knew this from the countless unethical experiments that he oversaw during his time as the Pope. The Armatus could only be used freely once those desires had been faced—something Alisha realized when she passed through the Paradigm Shift. If the seraph’s partner could accept those desires without the fear of being crushed by them before reaching the altar, the Armatus would activate. If they weren’t accepted, the partnership would be a dangerous liability from that point on because the true potential of the seraph would be unattainable, only serving as a crutch.
“But what if you accept it later on?” Alisha asked desperately.
“It wouldn’t work,” Slenge bluntly said. “The seraph’s heart shuts itself away, and to reopen it, the partner will have to start from the bottom again. It’s incredibly stressful for anyone involved, and accumulated stress in turn makes the soul spaces more and more dangerous while breeding malevolence.”
Alisha turned back to Lailah. “Lailah, there’s nothing to apologize for,” she tried to convince her. “You already know that I love you, and I’m not scared of your feelings.”
Lailah didn’t say anything. She just waited for Slenge to open the door into the trial. When he did after giving a warning not to force Lailah to trust Alisha, Sorey approached the princess.
“If you need to talk to her alone, we’ll give you space,” he whispered. “Our success during this trial rides on your relationship with Lailah, and I’ll make sure that everything is alright for you two.”
“Thank you, Sorey,” Alisha woefully said.
He rested a hand on her shoulder before rallying his friends to take on Igraine, the Shrine of the Fire Trial. He led them into the trial, but Mikleo and now Dezel were apprehensive about what this meant for when they found their trials.
Notes:
I really do love the confession levels in Ar Tonelico, because that's when everything starts getting fucked up...except for Ar Tonelico 3 where it was pretty tame compared to Ar Tonelico 2. Regardless, they were fun because Lyner, Croix, and Aoto were all just so confused. I think Cloche's in my favorite of all of them.
Chapter 50: Phase 2: Flaming Bonds are Being Tested
Summary:
Having completed Lailah's 6th level and confronting her deepest desires, Alisha and company undergo the Trial of Fire. To obtain the Spiritual Power of Fire and the ability to use the Armatus at will, Alisha and Lailah must be able to connect, but will they do it in time?
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
I have officially moved back home and now am in the process of making my bedroom into a work place for the fic, art, and music as well. I'm also thinking of doing an audio version of this fic in the future, but we'll see. It may just be for my own voice acting practice and whatnot.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Once Sorey had crossed the threshold into Igraine, he was struck with a long-forgotten sensation—the rush he had gotten from adventuring, the excitement of exploring ruins. These days when he was so focused on trying to solve the overreaching problem of the world, he hadn’t had the urge to examine architecture and compare notes with Mikleo. The shrine had revitalized his passion. On the other hand, though, it was extremely hot inside, precisely like the summit of a volcano. Despite the inherent danger that came with roaming through the trial, he wanted to spend as much time as he possibly could to see everything. Therefore, Mikleo was in charge of keeping him hydrated. In fact, it was his job to make sure everyone was well-watered. Edna and Zaveid expressed their indifference to being periodically splashed, but they both figured that it would be easier and more efficient to stay inside of him for the duration of the trial. Sorey had since gotten accustomed to all three of them, and Slenge’s medicine had helped a great deal. He even noticed that his sight had improved slightly. Regardless, Mikleo stayed out to fulfill his task.
Rose was less happy about the excursion into shrine. She likened it to an oven that they had all willingly walked into. While Dezel didn’t really care whether or not if he was hot and uncomfortable, he knew that humans were creatures that couldn’t survive extreme temperatures. Before blowing the first of many gusts of wind at Rose and Sorey and Alisha, he made sure that they didn’t create any searing flares. He was somewhat peeved that Zaveid could have helped too, but the shirtless seraph would more than likely just say that his winds would burn in the heat. Dezel had no choice but to assume that Zaveid just didn’t have a delicate touch. After the first few minutes in the trial, he had to take off his jacket and hat in what would be a vain attempt to cool down. He asked Mikleo to splash him with his water, but as soon as the water seraph did, the water evaporated, creating a steam that was just as hot—if not hotter than—the air around them.
Finally, they arrived at a monolith that was surprisingly written in ancient tongue instead of Hymmnos or Ar Ciela, a relic of the past that was meant for the Shepherds from hundreds or thousands of years ago. Sorey’s eyes sparkled; he could finally use the knowledge that had so long ago been stored away.
“Let’s see here…” Sorey happily murmured as he began decoding the glyphs that he had memorized when he was a boy. “‘Shepherd of Hope and Harbinger of Light, make your way to the altar of the Fire Trial.’ Well, that was underwhelming.”
“Not surprising,” Edna sighed. “If they told you what to do right at the beginning, it wouldn’t be much of a trial.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers, you know,” Rose added.
“I know, but it would be cooler if it was more cryptic,” Sorey complained. “I mean, it’s not like I’m not interested, but you would think that whoever made this…” He discreetly glanced back at Alisha and Lailah. He was purposefully stalling.
The princess and the fire seraph had a newborn rift between them. Who would speak first? More importantly, why was Lailah so afraid of Alisha suddenly? Alisha tried to convince her again that she wasn’t frightened by the sixth level of her soul space. It was quite different from when they had first done it where Alisha and Lailah had given into the throes of passion and had a mutual understanding of each other’s feelings for each other.
“I never thought you could be…so forceful,” Alisha said with a blush in a futile attempt to make her comfortable. “It was…very…”
“I threatened to kill you because I thought you didn’t love me,” Lailah said. It was the only thing she said before Dezel ordered Sorey to drop the conversation about the monolith.
They headed to one of the chambers where they were presented with a pedestal next to a locked door. A “1” was written at its foot. In the center of the pedestal was a small tinderbox that had faded scorch marks.
“Oh, Lailah, look! You can use your Silver Flame!” Alisha said, trying to sound happy and excited that she could show off her ability. The fire seraph almost refused to get near her. It was like she was afraid that the desires—the lust she had had for Alisha—would attack her if she got too close to her. “You can do it!” Alisha’s smile was radiant.
Lailah quickly flicked her flame onto the tinderbox, and the door immediately rose to reveal a path that lead to another room with more of the same pedestal. Sorey urged Alisha to take the lead so he could talk with Rose. Mikleo and Dezel were told to go back inside, and while it did little to help with their privacy, they felt safer talking about Lailah and Alisha with them not out in plain sight.
Alisha and Lailah kept moving and forgot about their friends behind them. The former was constantly trying to get her fire seraph to talk to her, but it ended up in failure every time. While they lit the second pedestals, the first one lost its flame. The door came swinging down. Sorey and Rose were separated from Alisha and Lailah.
“There’s a time limit?!” Rose groaned.
“Look alive, hellions are trying to sabotage the trial!” Dezel cautioned. He and Mikleo were the first to emerge followed by Edna and Zaveid. “Damn hellions.”
“Ha, we haven’t gotten an action in a while! This is gonna be fun,” Zaveid said smugly.
Orb Weavers and Wolf Heddins appeared around them. Then other fire-type animal hellions joined the fray. No, it seemed too orchestrated for it to be coincidence. Mikleo cast Twin Flow and Splash as often as he could while Edna shot them with her Rock Lances. Dezel and Zaveid were at a great disadvantage. The heat nulled their attacks, and while they did have their pendulums, they weren’t very strong. Sorey and Rose tag-teamed, pulverizing the strong rolling hellions before they could disrupt the seraphim’s Artes.
One of the wolf hellions slipped past their defenses and headed straight for Edna. It chomped down on her arm with its crushing jaws. The little earth seraph couldn’t break free on her own. She shot the wolf with balls of hail, but it wasn’t fazed by it.
“Let go of her!” Zaveid roared. He tied the hellion with his pendulum and flung it across the room. He dashed to Edna’s side. “When this is done, we’ll get Mikboy to heal you up. Damn, Eizen would kill me if he saw this.”
“My brother would kill you regardless. Just stay focused and worry about yourself,” Edna huffed. Her arm wasn’t only bleeding. The bite had burned her as well.
“I hope Alisha and Lailah can handle going it alone for a little while,” Sorey panted, the heat wearing him out faster than the hellions. “There’s just no end to them.”
Meanwhile, Alisha and Lailah were trying to break through the door to no avail. Lailah whimpered again. It was unnatural for her to be so worried about her own abilities because she blamed the fire going out on her own incompetence. Alisha grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Lailah, you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong!” she told her. The fire seraph was frozen. Alisha did the only thing she thought would snap her out of the illusion of doubt. She kissed her, holding her by her waist so she couldn’t run away from her feelings. “Why are you so scared? Are you afraid that I won’t love you anymore? It’s true, what I saw in your soul space was scary and intense and so different from when we first completed that level, but my feelings for you haven’t changed.”
Lailah sobbed a little, “But, Alisha, deep in my heart, those feelings were willing to kill you if you didn’t stay with me. I…I don’t want to scare you away, and I don’t want to threaten you into staying with me.”
“But you’re not!” Alisha kissed her again this time on the forehead. “I’ve loved you since I was a little girl. I protected you from everyone in Ladylake, and over time, I came to love you even more. Your beauty, your grace, your fire, and even the rage that burns in you when Bartlow stomps on me as the princess borne of a common woman. I can never be scared of you. And frankly,” Alisha paused to compose herself, “It was…kind of exciting seeing you like that. N-Not crying and panicking, but trying to dress up for me and, well...you know…showing off.”
“Alisha…” Lailah sniffled. “The feelings you saw have only gotten stronger. To see them like this—it’s embarrassing, and I don’t want you to get hurt by them.”
“That’s what love is.” The princess hugged her fire seraph tightly. “I’ve always been prepared to take on the burden of loving a seraph, and supporting you and Sorey will allow me to be with you one day.”
Lailah was moved to tears as she returned Alisha’s hug and kisses. She still was nervous, but there was no time for it. They had to find a way to open the door.
The hellions swarmed around Sorey and Rose. All three of their seraphim had sustained too much damage to fight alongside them, and while they were recovering inside of their humans, the Shepherd and the red-haired Squire felt exhaustion setting on their bones like rot.
Suddenly, they heard Alisha and Lailah. The pedestal was relit, the door rose again, and there they were. Alisha dashed out first with her Mystic Arte Light Blast. Next was Lailah, who looked like she was glowing. She activated her Mystic Arte:
“Concerto Infernus!”
Even though the hellions could withstand fire, they disintegrated into silver flames after being hit with waves and waves of purifying fire from Lailah’s papers. Sorey and Rose panted, but there were smiles on their lips. The rift beween the two girls was gone, and they seemed stronger than before.
The other seraphim appeared outside. Dezel and Zaveid held Rose and Sorey up while Mikleo quickly healed Edna. After that, the earth seraph let him tend to the others. She wanted to know if they were alright now.
“Yes, thank you for your concern, Edna,” Lailah told her happily.
“Guess we all know what to expect from now on,” Edna said. She spun her umbrella on her shoulder. “Meebo, hurry it up. We’ve got to clear this trial before I turn to leather.”
Mikleo flashed a glare at her before turning back to his current patients. Sorey thanked him with a quick peck. Dezel allowed Rose to thank him before picking her up to carry. Despite the water seraph healing her and rehydrating her, she was still winded from the heat. He took her jacket, but there wasn’t much else he could do. Considering that he kept a small bubble of circulating air around him, holding her close would cool her down…theoretically.
“I can walk on my own, Dezel,” Rose complained.
“You’re overheating, and if you overheat while I’m inside of you, then I overheat,” he grumbled. “Just shut up and take advantage of a little breeze.”
“I can never tell if Dezel likes her or hates her,” Sorey whispered to Mikleo.
“Well, it’s an improvement after that episode in the inn,” Zaveid added as an aside.
Alisha and Lailah led their friends—the seraphim save for Dezel inside of their hosts—to a room where a stone dragon overlooked the crater of lava below them. That was when they noticed a circular platform of stone at the bottom and other platforms that led to it. It didn’t take much to figure out that they had to increase the amount of lava to make a path to the center platform. After activating the dragon head via a switch and watching the lava spew from its intimidating maw, they headed on their way to the other side where the other dragon head was. They opened the path to the second room on the opposite side, and once again, a horde of hellions came after them. Lailah used her Mystic Arte again to make quick work of them then hurried on to the dragon head. The lava rose again. The path was now open.
“It’s amazing how quickly Alisha and Lailah were able to rebound from that rift,” Mikleo said.
“Haven’t they been in a relationship for a while now? Oh, I get it, Mikboy, you sly dog,” Zaveid teased. “You’re looking for a preview of what’s to come when it’s your turn to bear your heart and give Sorey your everything.”
“What?!”
“Can it, streaker,” Edna ordered. “You’ll have to show him your most embarrassing feelings, too. Just like me and Blind Grumpy Cat over there.”
“I don’t know if Edna should be involved in such things,” Mikleo joked.
“I can be sexy, too. I just choose not to be. After all, I’m aware that I look like a child, but I’m much older than you, Meebo. I’m not just a little girl. I’m a woman.”
“Guys, could you not talk about that kind of stuff, especially in my head?” Sorey whispered. All three of them went silent. They forgot that their Shepherd could hear them. Their discussion was making him anxious.
They all came to the platforms that would take them to the center one. They weren’t very close together, but a little jumping would take care of it. Dezel returned inside Rose while Lailah went back into Alisha. Sorey was the first to jump to the next platform, then Alisha, then Rose. When they reached the center platform and walked to the middle, the emblem of fire shined beneath them. The platform was an elevator-like device that was controlled by Seraphic Artes as opposed to Song Magic. It slowly took them deeper and deeper into the mountain, farther and farther from the heat of the shrine down to the altar.
When they arrived at the bottom of the shaft, everything was cooler. Sorey spotted a monolith from the platform. He wasted no time. He recognized the glyphs from the ancient language:
“Touch the monoliths in the cardinal directions to reveal the spiritual power of fire.”
But there was more in Hymmnos, which Lailah came out to read:
“Seraph of fire, once the spiritual power of fire has been bequeathed to you, open your heart and Sing your feelings to your vessel.”
The other seraphim came out. They were ready to take on the trial, but something told Sorey that they should sit it out. It was the trial of fire, and Alisha was tethered to Lailah. As Shepherd, he was obligated to lend a hand, but for the purpose of the trial, Alisha was in charge. Either way, though, the aforementioned monoliths were around the altar. He took a step towards the center. Suddenly, a malevolence-ridden domain blanketed the altar, and everyone’s chest felt like there were weights on them.
“There’s malevolence…down here…too?” Alisha choked.
A dragon standing on its hind legs and wielding battle equipment appeared. It roared at them. It was a guardian within the trial.
“Well, just great,” Zaveid panted. “You sure you can handle this, Sheps?”
Sorey drew his sword. He forced his body to move under the domain. “Alisha, I’ll distract the dragon. You go ahead and complete the trial.”
Alisha nodded. Lailah and Sorey stood between her and the dragon. The dragon went after Sorey with its monstrous sword. It prepared to hit him again and again, and while Lailah tried to deter it with balls of fire, it wasn’t even bothered. Sorey parried its attacks only to be caught off-guard by a sweep of its tail. Alisha touched the first monolith.
Mikleo couldn’t stand sitting on the sidelines; however, he knew that it was for the trial. He worried that the dragon would kill Sorey. Alisha touched the second monolith. Sorey tried to get a hit in only to find that his attacks did nothing. Alisha touched the third monolith. She just needed one more. Lailah and Sorey both ran to Alisha to protect her from behind as the dragon lifted its sword. Alisha touched the final monolith, causing the domain to vanish and making the dragon vulnerable to their attacks.
Sorey unleashed his Mystic Arte Bolt Tempest. Alisha snuck in from under him and stabbed the dragon’s legs a few times. Something was strange; the dragon was suddenly incredibly weak. Lailah prepared to use her Mystic Arte. She released it when Alisha and Sorey were out of the way, and even though the dragon took substantial damage from the attack, it was neither exhausted nor purified.
“W-What’s going on?” Sorey breathed. “It’s…It’s weak, but we can’t beat it?”
Lailah fell to her knees. Alisha held her shoulder.
“You nearly got me there,” the dragon said. It transformed into an entirely different being. It was a man with a lizard head appeared from the purifying flames that dissolved the form of the dragon. “My name is Ekseo, and I am the guardian seraph of the Lord of Fire, Musiphe. Musiphe is the source of fire-based Seraphic Artes, and his shrine serves as a proxy Tower to the Second Tower of Frelia.”
Sorey’s eyes shined. While he knew about the Five Great Lords, he had gotten so caught up with everything that he wasn’t expecting to meet Musiphe’s guardian. But for a proxy, he was surprised to see that there was little Hymmnos within the shrine. He wondered why they used the ancient tongue unless it was strictly to protect the proxy from abusers and invaders.
“Anway, I expected no less from the Lady of the Lake, Lailah. But how peculiar that she isn’t bonded to the Shepherd. My lady, if you would be so kind, why are you bonded to a Squire?”
Rose and the other seraphim approached the little counsel. Was she going to be asked the same thing when she had to work with Dezel?
“Lailah has been with me for as long as I was a child; my name is Alisha Diphda, Princess of Hyland,” Alish explained when Lailah could not. “It’s custom that the Lady of the Lake, a Prime Lord, should bond to the Shepherd, but we had already established ourselves. The Shepherd Sorey also can’t hold more than three seraphim.”
“Ah, yes, the symphonic power of seraphim takes a toll. Well, it’s strange to have to do this with a Squire—my apologies, Lord Shepherd—but you’ve proven that your bond with your seraph is admirable. I’ve never seen anyone so fervently confess love to their partner.” Alisha and Lailah blushed. “Did you think it was a coincidence that you were separated from your friends while they found off hellions?”
Rose crossed her arms with a pout. “You could have sent some sort of warning! We nearly died!” she complained.
“But if you had died, it would only prove that you shouldn’t be here. But I digress. A question for the Shepherd—do you understand why you are here?” Ekseo looked at Sorey.
Sorey nodded. They were there to receive the spiritual power of fire, which was one of the powers needed to stop Heldalf. Without it, they were too weak to fight him. But that wasn’t all. Ekseo knew about the situation in Pendrago after Slenge had arrived in Gododdin. He had heard about Cardinal Forton, and he had learned that she was ruining her people with a blind greedy self-righteousness. To cut through her domain, the Shepherd needed at least one of the spiritual powers in his arsenal.
“Well, that’s enough talk. Fire Seraph Lailah and Squire Alisha, we shall begin the ritual to pass on the spiritual power of fire.”
Ekseo asked the two girls to step to the center of the altar while everyone else had to go to the rim. He placed them back-to-back, their fingers intertwined, and asked them to feel each other in their hearts. He stood before Lailah with a brilliantly shining red orb engraved with the emblem of fire.
“This is the Hymn Crystal Armatus,” Ekseo said. “This one is specifically for fire seraphim, and once you accept it into you, the spiritual power of fire will be yours in the shape of Armatus you already have. It will hurt a little, but once you receive it, you should feel a surge of new power.”
Lailah gripped Alisha’s hand. Ekseo prepared the orb, initializing it in Hymmnos:
“Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Armatus, enter_FETHMUS_MIOMA.”
Lailah tensed as new and unfamiliar emotions flowed into her. The power they held warmed her body, and before she knew it, she had received the spiritual power of fire. Now she had to activate it by singing the Song that had come into her heart. Alisha supported her as she opened her mouth:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
It had been so long since Alisha had heard Lailah’s sweet voice. She had always known Lailah to sing ballads, so the quick pace and almost spicy beat was refreshing. It made her so happy that she could listen to her sing so comfortably. She wished to hear this voice every day, but such an extravagant song surely had to use a lot energy.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose and Sorey were amazed as well. They didn’t know Lailah could sing so seriously and passionately that it resonated with their hearts as well. Sorey specifically could feel something different within him. It was warm and strong like the fires she commanded.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
He could almost make out the words. No, he had to learn them. If this is what it meant to receive the spiritual powers—if he was to support Mikleo one day as he sang, he wanted to know exactly what he was singing. He had to learn Lailah’s Song.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Edna and Zaveid couldn’t be prouder of Lailah, and they knew that they would have to sing with Sorey at their backs. It was intimate in a way, but they wondered if Sorey’s relationship with Mikleo would weaken their Songs. Or would theirs weaken Mikleo’s Song? Mikleo didn’t know how to feel as he watched Lailah express the feelings contained within the Song. He wanted to do it, too, yet what would Edna and Zaveid think?
Dezel also felt conflicted. If he had to sing with Rose at his back, he would have to reveal his true feelings to everyone. How could he when he didn’t know how to express them to Rose herself?
[LYRICS REDACTED]
As the Song came to an end, Alisha felt Lailah fall back on her. The fire seraph was happy with her performance, but she felt so drained. Ekseo gave her a small applause before handing the orb to Sorey. The Song was still present within the Hymn Crystal, but it was essentially useless to them now. It was something of a keepsake, a reminder that Alisha and Lailah’s bond was real.
“That was amazing, Lailah!” Alisha gushed. Lailah smiled before passing out into her arms. “L-Lailah!”
“She’s alright,” Ekseo reassured. “That Song was much more than what I was expecting. Please, I suggest you let her rest before you head out to wherever that power is needed.”
Ekseo gave his farewell before disappearing into and sphere of light. Sorey and Rose regrouped with the princess, and after a few more compliments about Lailah’s singing, they began their way back to Gododdin. Sorey had to talk with Slenge. That was when Zaveid pushed everyone out of the way.
“Shepherd!” he yelled. “I want you to Dive into me!”
“H-Huh? Oh, yeah, we haven’t Dived together yet,” Sorey thoughtfully said.
“Nope, which is why I think now would be a great time for you do it! So, what do you say? Before you have to be all Shepherdly again and stuff?”
When Sorey agreed to Dive into the shirtless wind seraph, Mikleo’s stomach turned in circles at the thought of Zaveid’s scandalous soul space. But he had to let them do it. Sorey would get stronger, and he had faith that Sorey’s feelings wouldn’t change.
Outside, Slenge had returned to his village. Alisha was suddenly stricken with fatigue and fever. Zaveid caught her and carried her back to the inn while Sorey went to see the village chief. Now that they had the spiritual power of fire, Slenge believed that they could stop Forton’s blighting rain, but he remained firm that he wasn’t going to return to Pendrago. The Shepherd thanked him one more time for his help before returning to the inn to uphold his promise to Zaveid. What world was waiting for him in the wind seraph’s heart? He didn’t know, but he was sure that it would be okay. It was the first level only, and Zaveid’s carefree attitude wasn’t anything to frighten him yet.
Notes:
It's been a while since we've had a full-blown Song, and this one might be produced before any of them as a cover of sorts to the Zestiria fire trial theme (hence the title). We'll see, but I'm definitely excited to go revise the lyrics again now that I have a little more time.
Chapter 51: Phase 2: A World of Dreams
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 1: Zaveid
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
We are starting Zaveid's Dives! I think of all the Dives, his are the least like the canon Ar Tonelico ones. There are going to be Berseria things, so....yeah. Also, I haven't been getting any comments for the past few chapters, and I would really really like to get some feedback on how the story is going! So, please leave comments!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Before Sorey and Zaveid could Dive together, Edna reminded them that they would need a Lord of the Land to introduce the Shepherd into the mind of the IPD seraph. It was the same reason that Rose and Dezel had a hard time Diving together at first. As long as Sorey was able to stay within the soul space without any problems, then he would be able to come back on his own. Though, the fact that Zaveid was also willing to have him walk around inside of him through events put all this in the Shepherd’s favor. The only one that could do the job was Forsea, but after they had brought her back to Gododdin, she had been busying going about her daily life as if she had never become a hellion. She spent her time near Slenge’s house or near the school. She enjoyed watching the children, and every once in a while, they took notice of her and offered her some sort of trinket or offering before Slenge or another adult told them to leave her alone. The people were still somewhat fearful that they would unintentionally disturb the peace between the seraphim and humans, so it made them feel better if they lived independently of each other. It felt strange speaking to her again after having finished their business for now when Sorey and Zaveid approached her.
“You want to Dive into an IPD?” Forsea asked. “I can help you, yes.”
Sorey politely thanked her even though she wanted to help them as a token of gratitude. Zaveid, in contrast, threw his muscular arms around Forsea’s neck, sobbing out an endless stream of thank-yous and prayers. Forsea was less than impressed, if not slightly disgusted by his blubbering.
The seraph was leading them back to the inn for privacy when Sorey looked back at Zaveid. For only a split second, he saw what appeared to be doubt or even a lack of confidence. He fell back a little to talk to him.
“I’ve never seen you look sad,” he said quietly.
“I-I’m not sad,” Zaveid nervously told him. “I-It hurts when a girl turns me down! Nothing to be worried about!”
“If you say so…”
Sorey and Zaveid took the room next to the one where Alisha was resting after asking Rose for the Sacred Knife. Forsea had the two men stand next to each other, the Sacred Knife laying in her hands. Then she told them to touch the Knife, initiating a Proxy Dive. Once they were within her soul space, Zaveid and Sorey Armatized.
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Sorey had anticipated the day that he would Armatize with Zaveid, and his introduction to his soul space was the most bewildering. Even though the wind seraph was half-naked all the time, seeing him completely naked was almost intimidating. Zaveid was a bulky man compared to Sorey’s stature that averaged between Mikleo and Dezel.
“Don’t stare at me like that,” Zaveid teased.
“It’s just…I’m impressed,” Sorey sheepishly replied. He couldn’t help but be embarrassed.
“You’re digging yourself a deeper hole, Sheps. Anyway, let’s get this under way.”
Sorey couldn’t believe that Zaveid was ready to let him begin uncovering his true feelings and desires. Then again, Edna wasn’t particularly afraid to do it either. With that, they commenced the Dive; Sorey touched his chest.
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Zaveid’s world was contradictory to his personality. It was filled with sweets and fields of flowers. It was a child’s world. Sorey was beside himself. How could this be Zaveid’s soul space? The other thing that he noticed was that there was no Mind Guardian. It was only the two of them in that fairytale-like world.
“Why doesn’t he have a Mind Guardian?” Sorey asked himself. Of course, he wasn’t expecting an answer at any point.
He walked toward a small village that, like everything else, was far too cute for someone like Zaveid. It was nice though. And the silence that came with the soul space was refreshing somehow. He felt like he didn’t have to care or stress about anything that was happening in reality. He had to tell himself to remember that it was only Zaveid’s first level. There was a good chance that it was all a farce. Especially after he had seen him in that split second where he looked upset and lonely.
“Sorey!” Zaveid happily called to him.
“Zaveid, what is this place?” the Shepherd asked him. “It looks so peaceful and normal.”
“That stung a bit. Well, you could say this is my special happy place. When being a seraph gets to be too much, I like to just nap and dream here.”
Sorey furrowed his brow. Zaveid was so friendly that he wasn’t sure if it was the real him. But he had only known him for a short time that he couldn’t allow himself to jump to conclusions.
“So what do you want to do?” the wind seraph asked. “I’ve never had anyone Dive into me before. I don’t know what you do with Mikboy or Edna.”
He was again suspicious that he was so cognizant of the outside world while inside the soul space. The first level was very close to reality, so again, it wasn’t too out of the ordinary.
“How about we just take a walk?” Sorey suggested. “Of the entire group, I know you the least.”
“Team building! I like it!”
Zaveid pushed him along to the flower fields outside of the village like a child spending the day with his parent. He seemed so pure and happy that Sorey actually pitied him. It was so quiet that he didn’t discount that he was lonely. When Zaveid found the perfect spot in the field of tulips and marigolds, he sat down and asked his human to sit next to him.
“Zaveid, I’ve been wondering something,” Sorey mentioned while lowering himself to the ground. “Where’s your Mind Guardian? Aren’t all seraphim supposed to have one?”
Zaveid lay back with his arms crossed under his head. “You really don’t know? IPD seraphim don’t have Mind Guardians. It’s a lot of complicated mumbo-jumbo that I don’t understand. The bigwigs in Rolance’s castle? They would know more.” He sat back up. “How do you like this world?”
It was an attempt to change the topic, but Sorey could tell that Zaveid didn’t want to talk about it. “I think it’s nice,” Sorey politely said. “But don’t you get bored?”
“Sometimes.” He smiled at him. “But now I actually have someone that wants to Dive into me!” His smile lost some of the brilliant happiness. It was a window, a sneak peek of what was to come. “Sorey, you know that this is only the first level, right? I can’t tell you everything. But if you really want to know, you’ll have to go deeper.” Zaveid stood up and walked some paces ahead of Sorey. “I’m sorry in advance.”
Zaveid’s smile had a hint of sadness now. He couldn’t tell him anything, and Zaveid’s heart was still closed to him no matter how much he seemed open to the idea of Sorey learning more about him. For once in the short time they knew each other, he wasn’t putting on a show of inflated ego or theatrics. He was just like Mikleo and Dezel and Edna. He wanted someone to lean on, and naturally finding that in Sorey gave him peace of mind. But even though he knew that he was committed to Mikleo, Sorey still worried about him.
The light at the Stonehenge erupted from the earth as a Paradigm Shift was initiated, which confused the kind Shepherd because he hadn’t really seen change in him unless it was the trust that Zaveid was placing in him.
“Guess it’s time to go,” Zaveid sighed. “Well, I’m not surprised. This place has nothing to do in it.”
Zaveid led his Shepherd back to the Stonehenge where he gazed at the shining light. He had never seen a Paradigm Shift, and the sense of fulfillment that came from it and the beauty of personal growth almost brought tears to his eyes.
“Zaveid, before you go,” Sorey began. “Even though the others haven’t warmed up to you yet, I’m here to help you grow, alright? We’re in this together.”
Zaveid smirked. “You’re really too pure for your own good,” he mumbled. He gave him a thumbs-up before stepping into the light.
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Sorey opened his eyes to find that Zaveid was asleep next to him. Again, he looked different. Forsea had left them during the Dive beforehand, which allowed Sorey to talk with the wind seraph when he woke up.
“That was some nap,” Zaveid yawned. “So how was it?”
“It was really simple for someone like you,” Sorey admitted. He wasn’t sure what else to say. Nothing had really happened aside from them just talking, and he had to wonder—is that what Zaveid wanted? The only way to find out was to Dive more into him; he couldn’t ask Edna, and Zaveid wouldn’t just tell him. It wasn’t his style.
Zaveid got up. They had to get going back to Pendrago. As much as he enjoyed the Dive, if they wasted anymore time discussing it, the Capital City would fall into ruin. Plu, he wanted Dezel to get rid of some of his hatred as well. He thought it would help his relationship with Rose since he presumably wanted to see her dead.
When Sorey and Zaveid left the inn, they found Alisha and Lailah were back on their feet. Their jade eyes were burning with excitement, the new spiritual power of fire coursing through them.
“Look, Zaveid is positively glowing,” Edna teased with a smirk.
“It was amazing,” Zaveid went along. “Who knew that the Shepherd was such an animal?” Mikleo shot Sorey a glare, forcing the wind seraph to assure him he was only joking.
Rose watched Dezel, who seemed tense with anticipation. Forton wanted him for something. Was it a good idea to just waltz back into the shrinechurch despite having a new power? Wouldn’t they be hand-delivering him to her regardless of how prepared they were? What did she want him for, and why had she insinuated that she knew the reason? The seraphim all returned to their respective owners, but Dezel threatened Rose in the safety of her mind:
“If you even think about getting in my way, I will not hesitate to kill you, and I swear by it.”
Sorey and Alisha walked ahead of her, blissfully unaware of what was happening between the assassin and her seraph. Rose clenched her fists in frustration. Even after all this time, even after Zaveid forced Dezel to apologize, even after he had held her so close; Dezel still considered her a burden. She didn’t care that he had threatened her. If Forton was going to kill him or abuse him, then she vowed to stop her.
Notes:
My, wasn't Zaveid's first level charming? Naturally, the first level is always a cakewalk. Hope you're looking forward to what's to come. And again, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!
Chapter 52: Phase 2: The Cardinal's Prayers
Summary:
With the spiritual power of fire dwelling within Lailah, Sorey and company return to Pendrago to finally take care of Cardinal Forton. But in defeating her, the seeds of a new problem--new doubt--begin to sprout.
Notes:
I was going to postpone this chapter because it's been an eventful weekend, but then I thought that in the real world, people aren't going to really care about that. Besides, I'm super excited to get to the trials! This one isn't about the trials, but...you know what I mean.
PLEASE comment what you think below! Comments are my main fuel source for uploading chapters--even more important that food!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lunarre handed Targana the Hymn Crystal which contained the Song that was needed to carry out their plan. The Song was called Vajra, and its purpose was to grant to Lakra administrative power in addition to forcing the Shepherd’s soul to ascend into Infel Phira and turn into a controllable weapon. The only one who could sing it was Frelia as the Second Tower’s Administrator, and if she gave permission to the seraph-in-chains to conduct its activity, there was no stopping her. But they still needed an IPD seraph—specifically, a cursed one, and the only cursed seraph they knew was Dezel.
“Is this plan really going to work?” the fox-faced hellion asked dubiously.
“We’ll make sure it works,” Targana said.
“I will capture that seraph, and then we will get to work,” Forton promised. “Lakra is ready.”
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Sorey, Alisha, and Rose stopped in the Knights’ Tower to relay the information from Slenge to Sergei. Once they caught him up to speed, they waited for his plans on what to do next. Targana was there, and strangely, Rose’s heart began to race after just a glance at him. Sorey and Sergei talked and talked about Slenge and Forton and what it meant when the former refused to come back to his duty. Alisha listened and helped with the strategy.
“S-Sergei, do you mind if I use the infirmary?” Rose suddenly choked out. She was clutching at her chest. Sergei nodded then asked his men to accompany her post-haste. Targana was going to volunteer but ultimately stood down. When she was escorted to one of the sick rooms, she thanked the knights and locked the door behind her. “Dezel, you have to come out.”
Dezel did as he was told. “What’s wrong?” he asked her. He helped her to one of the beds where she lay. “This has never happened so spontaneously before.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t you picking up on something?”
“I sensed Forton’s wickedness in that room. It was heavy. I didn’t think it would affect us, but I was clearly wrong.”
Rose turned on her side. “For someone who threatened me not too long ago, you’re awfully concerned.”
“A seraph would be worried even if a rock was its vessel. As much as I don’t care if you do, you need to get better. We’ll be heading back into her domain, and if you choke up again, we’ll be slaughtered.” He sat next to her, healing her with his Artes regardless of how weak they were.
As Rose recovered under Dezel’s semblance of care, Sergei prepared Sorey to carry out the attack. He had to go deep into the catacombs of the shrinechurch and stall Forton long enough so that he and his men could arrest her. Finally, once she was apprehended, they would make her confess her crimes. Then they would set about to freeing the IPDs.
Targana raised his hand. “How do you know that it will be safe to release the IPDs? Aren’t you aware of IPD disease? If those seraphim are infected, we can’t let them go. They’ll level the city if we don’t kill them.”
“What? How can you say that?!” Sorey argued. “Why would you kill them? What if we can help them?”
“There is no cure for IPD disease. Any seraph that has been afflicted must be put out of their misery before they either destroy everything or become a dragon.” Targana was so matter-of-fact that Mikleo wanted to come out and show him what a crazed seraph looked like. “Would you force a dog that was paralyzed to continue living in pain?”
“We won’t be killing them,” Sergei assured Sorey. “We’ve found some documents in the archives of the shrinechurch that Dive Therapy can heal them.” Edna, who had emerged from her vessel, caught Sorey’s attention. “It’s been illegal for some time in Rolance, but I wish to make it a viable option to fixing our wrongs.”
Sorey breathed easier, and Rose finally came back to the briefing room. The plan was set into action. Thus, the Shepherd and his Squires made their way to the shrinechurch under the cover of the night. The domain felt the same as when they first experienced it, but Dezel tried to support Rose through it if only to meet his goal. It was affecting her more than anyone else; it was no doubt targeted at the blind wind seraph. He stepped out of her for a brief moment to ask Sorey to watch out for her.
“I will be the one to take care of Forton, and I don’t want her to get caught up in it,” Dezel said just above a whisper. “Forton will go after her if I stay inside. I cannot allow that.”
“Dezel, that’s suicide,” Alisha scolded. “Think about how Rose will feel!”
Rose, knowing what they were talking about, just stayed silent after hearing the outburst. She wasn’t going to let Dezel do as he pleased, and she didn’t care about the threat. He returned inside to fortify her against the domain until Lailah finally asked Alisha to use their new power. The two girls Armatized, lifted the Sacred Blade into the air, and Lailah sang a verse of her Song that reverberated like the chiming of a bell. Immediately, the domain was neutralized, and Rose instantly felt better. Dezel wouldn’t be able to stop her now.
They ventured deeper into the shrinechurch until they came to a labyrinth that was teeming with weakened infected IPDs. Both Dezel and Zaveid were horrified because if they spent too long near them, then they would catch it. Staying inside of their humans provided some safety from the disease, but they preferred to stay away completely. That wasn’t the only problem, though. Sorey felt it when one of the IPDs that spotted him—the bloodlust and fear and sadness.
“Don’t leave me alone…!” the IPD seraph wailed while reaching out to him. “Please don’t go!” He started to sing a corrupted song ladened with intense negative feelings. “I love you so much that I want to kill you.”
“Shepherd, move!” Zaveid barked.
As the IPD launched his Song Magic at Sorey, Alisha, and Rose; the Shepherd ducked and rolled towards him. He wasn’t going to kill him—he couldn’t—but he needed him out of the way. With the pommel of his sword, he jabbed him hard in the stomach. The IPD gagged first then flopped over his shoulder. Edna wasted no time in curing him of the infection with a short Dive Therapy session, and when he came to, Sorey held onto him to quell his fright.
“What’s going on here?” he asked the seraph.
“You need to get out of here!” the seraph pleaded. Other IPDs were encroaching on them, drawn to Sorey’s light. There were far too many to defeat and cure, and it was dangerous to send those that were cured outside where they would just be recaptured. Sorey couldn’t bring him along, either. “You’re the Shepherd, right? Please, take me out of here and let’s leave this hell.”
Alisha escorted the seraph out of the catacombs and to the main hall. She didn’t want to separate from her friends longer than necessary, so she left him to at least recover in the sanctity of the stained glass windows. Doing so pained her, but she had a duty to do along with Sorey and Rose.
From that point, Sorey led his friends around the IPDs, rendering them unconscious if they crossed paths. While Zaveid was relatively okay with just knocking them out and leaving them to conserve their energy, Dezel couldn’t stand it. He felt sorry for them. They all cried, wanting to be with others instead of hidden away and left to suffer their affliction in the dark.
“I hate this,” Dezel growled in Rose’s head. “Why do we have to just leave them? They don’t deserve to be stuck here.”
“We can’t do anything about it right now,” Rose told him. She knew that he was upset, but it would only cause more pain to cure them then have them become infected again. “I’m sorry.”
“Is everything alright?” Alisha asked.
Rose just nodded. What was going on between her and her wind seraph was private, and while she appreciated that Sorey and Alisha showed concern, she didn’t want them too involved for Dezel’s sake.
Her seraph was quiet again for some time as they continued on through the catacombs. Sorey had been listening for the assassin to speak again because it offered insight into how the blind wind seraph was handling this moment.
“You wouldn’t leave me, would you?” he asked suddenly, whispering quietly as if he were among the others. Rose didn’t answer. If she did, Sorey and Alisha would become more worried. He didn’t ask or speak to her again.
While finding their way through the labyrinth, Sorey had found small tablets that looked far too important to ignore. It was then that he realized that these tablets were needed to get farther into the catacombs. There was one for each element, and they were colored respectively. And they were paramount to accessing the deepest part of the shrinechurch—the chancel branded with the crest of the Great Lord Maotelus.
“This is Maotelus’s crest,” Mikleo noted.
“Yup, this place is his shrine,” Zaveid explained. It was about a thousand years ago that Maotelus was enshrined in Pendrago, and he and Lailah had wondered what had happened to him since the emergence of the Lord of Calamity. “In case you haven’t noticed, his domain is nonexistent in these parts…and other parts of the continent.”
“That would mean he’s disappeared,” Lailah added. Her heart sank.
Rose stepped up to the door embellished with the magnificent crest. “That doesn’t matter right now,” she said, her voice sounding rather heavy. “Let’s just take care of this rain business and start curing all the IPDs here.”
“W-Wait a minute,” Sorey said before Edna came out and shoved her umbrella at Rose’s face. “Edna!”
“You’re not the one who has to cure them all,” she argued. “Haven’t you been listening, you ignorant girl? Healing every seraph trapped here is pointless until we can ensure that they’re safe. Have you forgotten that Church Lady is looking for Dezel? If we cure each IPD seraph now, who’s to say that we’re not bolstering her forces by making them resistant to therapy after being recaptured?”
Sorey got between them. “Edna, no one is going to force you to cure all the IPDs, but when we know for a fact that everyone will be safe, we’ll have to do it. And Rose, Dezel is scared about all this, isn’t he? You want to help him, and we want to help you, but we have to be careful.” The Shepherd looked at them in turn. This was only a temporary solution. Above all else, they had to stop Forton.
Without a moment to spare, Sorey opened the door to the chancel where he found a number of stone statues. The seraphim stepped out of their vessels, examining each one.
“This one is a dreamboat,” Edna said seductively.
“And this girl is fine as can be!” Zaveid slurped. “Too bad they’re only statues.”
“They look so lifelike,” Mikleo observed.
Lailah came to the one that looked exactly like Sergei. “Oh, no!” she cried out. Alisha joined her side. “This is…!”
“It’s Sergei’s twin brother,” Rose finished after walking up behind her.
She remembered how blasé Targana had been about Sergei’s missing brother, and her heart ached for the captain. Now that it had been confirmed, she began to suspect that Targana knew more than he let on. She would have to have Eguille look into him.
“Did Forton do this?” Sorey asked.
All of them heard a dull chuckle that erupted into a heinous cackle then into a horrible cacophony. The Cardinal Forton stood behind them all, pure malevolence wisping around her like trails of smoke. Her voice was distorted from such wickedness.
“You have brought back the IPD seraph that we need,” Forton said gratefully.
Sorey drew his sword. He refused the idea of handing Dezel over, and he was sure that she would try to take him. It was just like with Lailah after Chancellor Bartlow had arrested her. They wanted to damage him as little as possible so that he could carry out whatever horrid plot they had for him. Rose, too, was prepared to fight her with everything she had if it meant that she could protect Dezel.
“Care to explain why you instated the blighting rains?” Alisha demanded. She held her spear behind her, ready to slash her in half with a flick of her arm.
“There were plenty of reasons,” Forton admitted. “Trapping the people within the city ensured that my power was absolute, and it helped to keep the IPDs in line.” Her body began to morph into that of a serpent. Her skin turned green and scaly. “But most importantly, it proves that my prayers were heard!” Her hair turned into snakes; she had become the hellion known as Medusa. “The Goddess has blessed me with absolute power over the people of Pendrago, and with this very power, Hyland will be no more!”
Alisha’s stomach dropped. It was all part of a plot to destroy Hyland, but why did Forton need Dezel? Then each of the Shepherd and Squires remembered that he had mentioned cursed seraphim were more powerful when afflicted with the disease.
“And this works out,” Medusa hissed. Her eyes flashed, but Dezel blew everyone back so they wouldn’t gaze into them. “Oh, now I remember. You were blinded some time ago, weren’t you.”
“It has its perks,” Dezel retorted. He whipped out his pendulums, ready to take her on full-force. “You want me? Then you’re going to have to fight for me!” He turned back to Sorey and the others. “Don’t get involved. This is my battle!”
Medusa screeched after he made a wall of wind to prevent them, mostly Rose, from interfering. He immediately began singing a Song; he wanted to annihilate her before she could attack him. Song Magic took time, though, and Medusa was much faster than his singing. Still, because he, an IPD, used New Testament of Pastalie to sing, it took half as much time and boosted his power by almost double.
cOzO hymmnos mea gYOvAwA/.
hEkEtAtAeh z.z.x. mAnAgEeh desfel/.
dOnEgA yor nYOmElYI mahin mea pitod prooth yor/.
Spears of darkness formed above him and shot at Medusa, who coiled around each one to dodge them at breakneck speed. As she raced towards him, he cast one of Seraphic Artes Radiant Heat at her. She swerved out of the way before wrapping around him. She squeezed him as tight as she could without killing him.
“You’re all talk and no bite!” Medusa cackled.
Dezel tried to sing again with great difficulty. His body was being crushed, and he worried more about his bones breaking and perforating through his chest than anything else.
Lailah couldn’t stand back anymore. It would hurt Dezel, but she had to burn his wall of wind. The blind seraph yelped as the pain zapped him through the air pressure around him.
“Like hell I’m letting you do what you want!” Rose lashed back once the path was clear. She dashed up to him. With two quick swipes, she forced Medusa to let go of him. “You’ve got friends, so use them!”
Sorey agreed with her. Each one of them took a stand behind Dezel, much to his chagrin. He didn’t want them to be turned to stone. It was a fate worse than death to be frozen in place, still conscious yet unable to move or even breathe.
“Oh my,” a familiar voice hummed. “I came just in time, Cardinal Forton. Looks like you let the malevolence get to you, but no matter. I shall make sure that pesky Shepherd doesn’t touch you!” With sword in hand, Targana joined the fray.
Sorey took a step back. “Targana? But why? What about Sergei?” he questioned. The blond-haired knight’s smug look didn’t change.
“Sorey and Mikleo, keep Targana busy,” Rose told the Shepherd. “Everyone else, focus on Forton!”
Alisha and Lailah Armatized together while Mikleo covered Sorey’s left side. Zaveid offered his support to Rose, and Edna would attack from behind everyone with flying stones. Dezel rejected their help again, but Rose ignored him.
“Aw, are you so scared that your precious girl will be a nice piece of decorum for the shrinechurch?” Medusa taunted.
“As long as we finish her off fast, we’ll be okay,” Rose reassured him.
Targana rushed Sorey and Mikleo, parrying and locking the Shepherd with his sword in one hand and protecting against the water seraph’s attacks with a shielded sleeve on the other. Mikleo leapt back, casting Twin Flow over and over to break through. Sorey spun out of the lock before trying to use the Hidden Arte Sonic Thrust to pierce his armor. Even though the knight was fighting against two skilled men around the same age as him, there was not a moment where he was vulnerable.
Zaveid and Dezel chained up Medusa with their pendulums to give Rose time to deal damage. Medusa easily broke out of their hold. She screeched at the assassin, and she came crashing down with a dizzying headache.
“Rose!” Dezel gasped.
Edna laid traps around for Targana and Medusa to trigger before tending to Rose with her own healing spells. It was then that Targana found an opening to surprise attack the earth seraph. He pushed Sorey out of the way, his sword ready to pierce her heart. Mikleo stopped him with his Freeze Lancer, and he saved her in the nick of time. Alisha took this moment to slice at Targana, but again he dodged the attack.
“He’s a lot faster than he looks,” Mikleo murmured.
“Not surprising,” Sorey panted. “He’s part of the elite. To think that Sergei had a spy like this working against him.”
“Lailah, we’ve got to catch him with our Mystic Arte,” Alisha said aloud.
“Of course,” Lailah agreed.
Medusa swatted Zaveid away and grabbed Dezel by his throat when he was still distracted by Rose’s ailment. She loomed over her, waiting for her periwinkle eyes to open so she could turn her to stone right in front of him. The assassin knew this; she had heard stories about her kind of creatures in fairytales. She jumped up with her eyes closed.
“I may look like an idiot, but I’m pretty smart,” Rose smiled.
“Insolent brat,” Medusa growled. “You’ll still have to open them to see where I am.”
“Rock Lance!” Edna called out.
Medusa bellowed in pain as a spike of stone punched through her abdomen. She released Dezel, and he threw his pendulum around her hands. “Zaveid!” he called out. His fellow wind seraph wrapped his pendulums around her as well, constricting her arms to her torso.
Targana averted his gaze from Sorey and Alisha to Medusa. He scrambled to free her, which left him wide open for Alisha and Lailah’s Mystic Arte Flamberge. Together with her fire seraph, Alisha swung her Sacred Blade around like a fire tornado that scorched everything around her. The knight was badly burned, and he could no longer move due to exhaustion. Sorey and Mikleo angled their sword and staff respectively at his throat.
“Don’t move!” Sorey threatened. Targana called his bluff, and he pushed himself away from the two of them with whatever strength he had left.
But he was too late.
Dezel unleashed his Mystic Arte Brutality Drive. The barrage of whips he hit Medusa with wasn’t anything flashy, yet there was something in the attack that wasn’t normal. Rose watched him as he took out his frustration and anger on her as a purveyor of the abuse that so many IPDs had felt. Zaveid let go of Medusa when she was only barely alive to stop him from killing her.
“Let me go! Damn you, let me go!” Dezel thundered.
“If you kill her, the malevolence in her is gonna kill every seraph in this place,” Zaveid grunted.
“I don’t care, she must be brought to justice! Rose, finish her off!”
“Rose, you don’t have to kill her.”
“It’s your job to kill the vermin in this world!”
Sorey, Alisha, Targana, Mikleo, and Edna all watched as Dezel and Zaveid pulled at Rose’s heart. But she had come to a decision long before this fight. She was the boss of the Scattered Bones, and her judgment was their judgment. The Cardinal Forton, the previous yet true form of the sullied Medusa, was a criminal. She had brought blighting rain that pushed the citizens of Pendrago to starvation. She had aided in the torture and experimentation of countless IPDs. She had threatened to use IPDs to destroy Hyland. She was beyond salvation. She drew her hidden dagger laced with the most potent of poisons in her arsenal.
“Rose, wait!” Sorey uttered. “We can purify her. We can help her begin on the path of redemption!” He looked pleadingly at Alisha and Lailah who had since de-Armatized. Lailah used her Silver Flame on Medusa, but it had no effect on her. “She can’t be purified?”
“Cardinal Forton!” Targana screamed.
“If you kill me, the people will fall into desperation,” Medusa wheezed. She rose out of sheer willpower, her actual ability to fight gone. “I am these people’s savior. Only I can promise them a life free of pain and suffering. If I have to trample on a few thousand IPD seraphim, then so be it. I will make life comfortable and prosperous for Pendrago at any cost.”
Targana limped to her side.
“I will use Lakra as I see fit. Together with her and the cursed seraph standing before you, the Goddess’s mercy will rain just as the blighting rains did. Salvation! Everyone shall be saved!”
“No!” Dezel screamed over her. “I refuse!”
Rose couldn’t listen to her anymore. She lifted her dagger to stab her heart and end her delirious suffering, but another dagger flew past her cheek—grazing it—and into Medusa’s head. Her body burned in fire that was hotter than Lailah’s. Blue flames. Medusa’s hellion body reverted to the singed corpse of Cardinal Forton. The malevolence swirled then dissipated.
Just like that, the domain shifted yet again. All of the seraphim became rigid suddenly.
“Mikleo? Edna?” Sorey faltered. They didn’t respond. They were the very statues that stood behind them.
Amidst the confusion, Targana slipped away. Then the abnormal domain vanished, and the seraphim acted as if nothing had happened.
“What just happened?” Alisha asked her fellow humans.
Sorey felt uneasy. It was such an unnatural domain, its remnants lingering for a few seconds before they disappeared. Dezel sensed them.
“That domain…she’s here,” he murmured to himself.
“We should probably report back to Sergei,” Edna suggested. “He’s not going to be too happy about any of this.”
The seraphim returned to their owners except for Dezel. Rose approached him after hinting to Sorey and Alisha that she wanted privacy. As they walked towards the door leading out the chancel, she stepped closer to him. “Are you okay now?” she asked out of concern. She had never seen him act so ferociously, and perhaps it was simply anger. It wasn’t the only thing she saw, however; there was fear there, too. Dezel wasn’t listening to her. He seemed to be focusing on the domain that had left an aftertaste to him like bitter alcohol. “Dezel?”
“I can feel her on the wind,” he said. “I can’t pinpoint her location, but she’s here.”
Rose ventured to hold his hand. He didn’t notice.
-------------------------------------
“We’ve got a little good news and a lot of bad news,” Zaveid told Sergei at the shrinechurch’s entrance. “Which do you want first?”
Sorey let out a sigh. It wasn’t the best way to start a report of the mission. He did wait for Sergei’s response, and after he told him that Forton was dead and allowed the captain some happiness, he hesitantly told him the rest. Boris wasn’t coming back. Someone else had killed Forton—which would in turn either help Sergei’s case or worsen it should anyone file charges of treason against him.
“We have reason to believe you had a defector,” Alisha finished. “That knight named Targana. He escaped shortly after Forton was killed. He’s working with someone or something called Lakra. Do you know who that could be?”
Sergei shook his head. If it had something to do with the IPD experiments, then he wasn’t allowed to know. “We’ll continue to gather information on the matter,” he vowed. “As for now, we have to discuss this with the emperor. Thank you, Shepherd Sorey, and your friends for what you’ve done. At the very least, you’ve saved this city from famine.”
Sorey wasn’t happy with the result, though. Even though Forton was prepared to sacrifice everything to bring salvation to Pendrago, he still believed that she could have redeemed herself. He didn’t want to believe that she couldn’t be purified, and the fact that she was killed by someone else right in front of them proved how powerless he and his friends were—or, at the very least, that they were still hesitantor divided in making their decisions. Sergei said his goodbye with his squadron at his heels.
Rose stretched in the warmth of the late morning sun. “Hi, Sun! We missed you!” she happily said. “Well, that part is taken care of, so let’s go grab some grub.”
Alisha was surprised. “You’re awfully cheery for someone who was just sulking,” she astonishedly said.
“Well…I didn’t want to bring down the mood just yet. And it looks like Sorey’s upset enough as it is. Let’s wait for a rebound—with some Drago Stew—and then we can talk.”
“Is Dezel okay?”
“He won’t say anything, but…that’s a private matter between me and him.” She gave Alisha playful wink. “Okay, Grumpy Shepherd, let’s go get food and be happy for a little bit.”
Mikleo came out and pushed Sorey along towards the inn while Zaveid tried to poke his cheeks into a smile. Edna followed behind lazily. Lailah and Alisha walked together while Rose tagged along since Dezel, who wasn’t interested in being with the group.
-------------------------------------
In the dungeons where Lakra was kept, Targana and Lunarre knelt to Symonne. The fallen seraph had a wicked smile. “Cardinal Forton is gone,” Targana said in disbelief. “What are we going to do without her? The experiments, Frelia, everything that we’ve worked on…”
“All is not lost,” Symonne chirped. “‘The world is a stage, its men and women merely players’—to misappropriate the words of a famous man. You have the Hymn Crystal needed to give Lakra permission to convert Infel Phira into a cannon. And capturing that cursed wind seraph will be simple. You can leave that to me; however, Lunarre, I will need your assistance again. Thank you for making sure that woman’s mouth remained shut.”
The fox-faced hellion looked up at her. He knew Rose and Dezel from his time in the Scattered Bones. He hated them for all the rules they placed on their contracts. Symonne couldn’t give him any details yet. She wanted to relish in this new beginning as she took center stage for the havoc she wanted to wreak upon Rolance. By causing more and more chaos, the malevolence would get stronger, and her master Heldalf would along with it. She wished that Mir could have been part, and she cursed Shurelia for sealing her away within herself. She was a sacrifice that had to be made.
“Now, all we have to do is wait for the opportune time,” she sang.
Notes:
Aside from the battle in this chapter, there are a little bit of redundancy here and there in the chapter, but re-writing it at this point would have lost the flavor a bit. But either way, with this chapter, I've introduced one of the conflicts in Ar Tonelico 2 (which happens to be one of the most dramatic parts of the trilogy matched by AT3's ending), but what it all means...you'll just have to wait. PLEASE comment what you think about this chapter!
Chapter 53: Phase 2: The Legend of Aifread
Summary:
Sorey and company journey across Aifread's Hunting Ground in preparation of the Earth Trial ahead of them.
Notes:
This week went by so slowly. I've been waiting to update because the trials are right around the corner. And with the trials, comes the special Confessions!
As always, please leave a comment on this story to let me know what you like and stuff. Comments motivate me more than kudos and hits. There's still a LOT to this story that has yet to be seen.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey stared down at his bowl of Drago Stew when they had returned to the inn and went to their room. His appetite had been nonexistent since they had finished their mission in the shrinechurch, the image of the dagger sticking out from between Forton’s forehead etched into his brain. He was adamant that she could have redeemed herself.
Edna plucked a piece of meat from his bowl. He didn’t even notice.
“Sorey, please eat,” Lailah gently requested. “Mikleo will get worried.”
He complied by taking a nibble.
“How long are you planning to stay in this funk?” Rose asked. She crossed her arms until the Shepherd looked up at her. “Are you down about Forton?” Mikleo was going to stop her there, but Zaveid convinced him to let her talk. “You know, you shouldn’t be upset over one person. It’s not like you killed her.”
“But she died when she could have—”
“We were all there. If anything, she was killed by someone else. Besides, the people aren’t forced in doors now and they can’t leave seraphim out to burn. Silver linings make you rich, you know.”
Alisha brought her finger to her lips in thought. They could all agree that Forton’s death seemed a little too perfect. Targana had also gotten away in plain sight. It was almost like…
“It was a set-up,” she said aloud.
“What?” Sorey and Rose responded.
Alisha asked Lailah if she noticed anything different. The IPD seraphim had vanished from the labyrinth, and while the malevolence was still present in Pendrago, the domain that had hypnotized the seraphim had left some sort of eerie feeling in them.
“So there! You didn’t have anything to do with her death and the inability to save her!” Rose cheerfully said. “She would have been killed either way! Silver linings!”
“You’re awfully happy about that,” Mikleo sighed.
Sorey jolted up. “If that’s the case, then IPDs are still in trouble,” he concluded. He shoveled the rest of his bowl into his mouth. “We’ve got to find Targana.”
Zaveid walked up to him and placed his arm around his shoulder. He rationalized with him. There were a lot of issues that had to be attended to, but first and foremost was stopping Heldalf, which would in turn solve the problem with Mir and Symonne and finally with Targana. Sorey had to remember that his mission was to stop Heldalf and not to fix every little problem in the world. Lailah echoed him, adding that it would be better to seek out the remaining spiritual powers. They would help him defeat the Lord of Calamity.
Dezel’s interest was piqued. If they really go through with claiming each of the spiritual powers, then he would have the strength to exact his revenge and ensure that each IPD would be rescued. He would have to show Rose his true feelings, but it was something he was willing to do to accomplish his goal. At least, he thought he could.
“Where would we even start?” Sorey breathlessly questioned, the weight of the task pulling him back to his seat on the bed.
“The earth trial is near here, so we can start there,” Edna said. She went inside Sorey. “Let’s get a move on. If you’ve got time to wonder about the enemy’s plans, you’ve got time to complete the trials.”
“We’re going right away? Shouldn’t we rest first?” Mikleo suggested.
Sorey was fine with heading out; it would give him peace of mind instead of sitting in the inn worrying about everything he had to do. Even though Forton was gone, there were still people that would trap any seraphim running around in the city. The disappearance of the IPDs from the shrinechurch was an omen of that. Mikleo and Zaveid went inside of him while Lailah and Dezel went into their vessels. They left the inn, and before they could leave Pendrago, Rose spotted Eguille. Excusing herself, she quietly asked him to look into Targana. It was already confirmed that he was working against Sergei, but if they made too many sudden attacks against his person, it would compromise any hope of gathering information. She asked him to let Sergei know as well. They didn’t know what was going—why they needed the IPDs and who the Goddess that Forton had mentioned was. Spying on Targana while he was oblivious was the only way they could learn anything.
Dezel listened to her talk with her righthand man. He felt proud that she was doing this on her own. For once, he was grateful that Rose was with him. She had grown into a remarkable girl, strong of heart and held the capacity for him to grow as well.
After Rose rejoined the group, Sorey led them out into Pearloats Pasture. The fields were already turning back green and the livestock of the farmers that resided in the Capitol City were eating again. The air felt so light that the seraphim couldn’t help themselves from coming out. Lailah danced around while Mikleo rested his head on Sorey’s shoulder. There was nothing to feel bad about because they had brought back the color to the other half of Rolance.
“Okay, kids, it’s time to get going,” Rose snickered. While Edna and Lailah didn’t like being called kids, Zaveid just laughed heartily.
The earth trial was due southwest to Pendrago in what was known as the fabled Aifread’s Hunting Ground. Zaveid knew more about the legendary pirate than anyone in the group, and since it would be a couple days walk to the trial, he thought it would be a fun travelling tale.
“Granted I didn’t really know him like another person I knew, Aifread was pretty amazing,” Zaveid started. Edna glared at him. “And I eventually got this from him.”
“You actually met him?” Sorey asked him with wonder and amazement that only served to stroke the wind seraph’s ego.
Zaveid pulled from one of his holsters a revolver decorated with silver trimmings. There was a small signature on its side. The gun was called Siegfried, and according to him, it had the power to unbind malevolence and turn one’s will into a weapon. Dezel had to ask about it.
“You know, I don’t really know what that means myself, but it’s pretty snazzy,” Zaveid smiled nonchalantly. “Humans have been trying to harness an ability like this for centuries, but this contraption is the only thing that’s capable of it.”
“It’s more trouble that it’s worth,” Edna huffed.
“Struck a nerve?”
“Do you want me to launch you back to Hyland?”
Still, the hunting ground was named after the pirate simply because it was his favorite hunting spot one thousand years prior. It was a road lined with flowers and grasses that overlooked the ocean. There were some calcified fallen trees from the sea breeze, but they served as protection for small discoveries.
Edna strolled over to one of the trees where there was a spot of beautiful red flowers. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha joined her where she squatted down to them. It was the first time in a while since Sorey had seen any sort of pure emotion on her face. Wistful tears were beading at the corners of her eyes, her cheeks achieving a slight pink.
“Do you know what these flowers are called?” she quietly asked. It was obvious she was trying to hold back her sadness. Sorey took a seat next to her. “They’re called ednae. They used to grow on the Spiritcrest when I was younger.” Her voice got quieter. “Eizen named me after them.” She wiped her eyes and stood up. “Ednae have a low tolerance for heat and a preference for breezy, shady areas. If they receive too much water, they shrivel up and die. Isn’t it strange how he named me after these flowers that fit me so well?” There was something of a smile. She spun her umbrella on her shoulder. “Sorey, do you remember why I joined you?”
“How could I forget?” Sorey replied.
“I will stop at nothing to avenge my brother. He was all I had, and filthy humans took him away from me.” She closed her umbrella, lifting his head with the tip of it. “We will obtain the spiritual power of earth. Just make sure that you’re prepared to take the burden of that power.” Sorey nodded at her. Zaveid discreetly let out a sigh. He felt disappointed in himself.
Night soon came and stretched over the land. Lailah had made a small fire for them while the humans hunted for their dinner. Mikleo foraged for edible herbs, Edna made stoneware to cook, and the wind seraphim occasionally blew the mist from the sea away from the fire. Dezel didn’t want to eat after watching Sorey skin rabbits. Seraphim didn’t get hungry. They only ate for the pleasure of it, but it hurt Dezel to, in a way, see innocent animals slaughtered before him. No one took him for being squeamish, but there more to it than just that. He didn’t want to divulge it, though, and he went inside of Rose to rest.
“I don’t understand him sometimes,” Rose grunted. “He eats meat but won’t eat it if we cook.”
“Maybe he feels guilty?” Alisha said. Lailah thought the notion was cute. “After all, I felt bad killing those rabbits just for food.”
“He cooks, too,” Rose added. “Everything under the stars at that.”
Sorey listened to the girls talk as if they were discussing the wind seraph like a husband. Mikleo didn’t particularly like it, but he had nothing to say in Dezel’s defense. Once the Shepherd had finished eating, he asked Rose to call Dezel out. He took the blind wind seraph to the cliff over the sea below. Even though he wasn’t his seraph, he liked talking to all of them. First, Edna opened up a little to everyone. Now it was Dezel’s turn.
The two sat quietly with Sorey waiting for Dezel to speak. If he didn’t want to, it was his prerogative. He knew there was no obligation to tell him anything, but the thought was there, and he believed Dezel appreciated it.
“Why?” Dezel asked. “I thought you wanted to talk.”
“Only if you want to,” Sorey replied kindly. “You were listening to Rose and Alisha, after all.”
The blind wind seraph exhaled slowly. There were things he couldn’t tell him—things that only Rose was allowed to know and things that no one could know. Even after months together, he didn’t trust him enough. He would never trust Sorey or Rose or Alisha or any human. He could at least tell him that.
“You don’t trust her?” Sorey asked.
“Not as much as I should, and I sure as hell trust you even less.” Dezel stood up. “It won’t work on me, Shepherd. I’m not telling you anything.” He returned within Rose, who had fallen asleep next to Edna and Alisha. Zaveid and Lailah watched over them. Mikleo was ready to console his partner. “Why does everyone have to get into my business?”
Sorey and his friends woke up at dawn when Edna sensed the power of earth near their campsite. She led them the rest of the short trek to a fork in the path. To the left, the grass disappeared and sand and gravel colored the ground golden brown. To the right was a large field that dropped into the ocean.
Edna stared up at the stone building that looked almost like a mosque from the outside. It was a modest but imposing structure. It was another Proxy Tower.
“Before we step into the shrine, are you prepared to Dive into the sixth level?” Edna asked the Shepherd.
“Of course,” Sorey told her. He was somewhat afraid. Phoenix’s warning rang in his ears even now. The sixth level would display Edna’s truest and ugliest feelings. He could potentially die, but he had to do what was right for her. “Where should we do it?”
“We could do it right here. As long as everyone else makes sure no one ambushes us. We’re out in the open here.”
Mikleo was visibly distraught. Edna was going to bear it all to him before he got his chance, and he wasn’t sure if he should be scared that Sorey would leave him or that Edna would kill him in her soul space. He was venturing into dangerous territory.
“S-Sorey, wait,” he stuttered. He grabbed his wrist in desperation. “Do you really have to do it? What if you—”
“Mikboy, it has to be done,” Zaveid told him.
“Who says that it has to be done?!”
Edna fired a ball of ice at him. It hit him in the head hard enough to chafe his cheek. He summoned a few spears of ice. Dezel and Zaveid got in the middle of them.
“Both of you need to stop,” Lailah scolded.
Sorey knew Mikleo was never fond of him Diving into other seraphim precisely because he was afraid that he would leave him. He thanked the wind seraphim for breaking up the fight, and he first spoke with the water seraph.
“It’ll be okay,” he told him with a sweet smile. “I have to do it if we want the spiritual power of earth. It’s a formality.”
Sorey kissed his head just above his circlet before reconvening with Edna. Mikleo watched them as he healed the slight injury with a spell. Watcing them Armatize, he clutched his tightening chest. Zaveid had never seen him get so emotional, and he took it upon himself—as well as everyone else—to distract him for the time being.
Notes:
Even though this chapter was at first a headache to write, I ended up really liking it since the banter is so nice.
As always, please leave a comment on this story to let me know what you like and stuff. Comments motivate me more than kudos and hits. There's still a LOT to this story that has yet to be seen.
Chapter 54: Phase 2: The Law of Equivalent Exchange
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 6: Edna
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
Here we go with Edna's sixth level! In AT2, it was a little on the morbid side because you know at this point that Luca is dorodere and kind of creepy. Though, I like to think the motive for Edna is a little different. Worked in the sibling dynamic between her and Mikleo, and for once we see Sorey as a mom.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Edna was still angry when Sorey entered the shared soul space. It was like a sibling fight, but he couldn’t let her get away with hurting him.
“Edna, I expected you to at least stay level-headed about all this,” Sorey chastised. Edna pouted. “You know Mikleo is younger, and you know what he went through. Be nice please.”
“Does that idiot really think I’m going to steal you?” Edna spat.
“That’s beside the point. You shouldn’t have hit him like that.”
Edna kept her arms crossed. She didn’t want to hear anymore about it. She ordered him to just get the Dive over with so Mikleo would stop crying about it like a spoiled child. Sorey sighed; of course, she didn’t see anything wrong with dishing out punishment for being a brat. Sorey gently touched her chest.
-------------------------------------------
The world in the sixth level was hot and barren. Volcanoes had sprouted and earthquakes constantly shook the ground. Sorey wondered if the fight had instigated it, but Phoenix appeared to tell him that that was not the case.
“Once you leave the Stonehenge, we won’t be able to communicate,” it told him gravely. “You’ll be on your own for a long time. If you need to escape, run your sword through the crest.”
“What? What happened to this place?” Sorey questioned.
Phoenix didn’t answer, instead taking shelter from the fire and flames that were raining from the smoke-filled sky. The Shepherd was left to his own devices to find his way through the sixth level. He followed winding path after winding path looking for Edna. He checked by a small house near the foot of the Spiritcrest in her soul space and the forest that was tinted orange with fire. She was nowhere to be found.
“Sorey!” a small voice cried out. The child version of Edna from a previous level ran to his legs. “I’m so scared!”
“What’s going on?” Sorey asked her. The little girl began to cry. He picked her up and hugged her. He could feel something evil was taking place.
He carried her with him as he returned to the small house at the foot of the mountain. There, the baker version of Edna was trembling at the window. When he asked her what had happened, she simply screamed. She was inconsolable, immovable, hysterical. The child Edna cried with her.
Sorey judged the small house to be safe enough for now. He left the child Edna with the baker Edna. Then he headed out to the nearby village. The people here were in a trance, the Iron Maiden among a sea of statue-like zombies.
“Iron Maiden!” Sorey called to her. She immediately aimed her massive gun at him. He was forced to put his hands up to show he meant no harm, and she stood down. “You’ve got to know what’s going on.”
“What do you mean?”
After Sorey explained that he had found the child and the baker and now the Iron Maiden, the gunner grew concerned. She was sure that the school girl and the drink master was there in the soul space as well. Each persona that he had encountered had been dragged to that level.
“We have to stay away from the Edna from this level,” the Iron Maiden warned.
“There’s a reason why she’s brought us all here, and it can’t be good.”
“The others are staying at a small house at the foot of the Spiritcrest,” Sorey told her.
“As long as it’s temporary, that should be okay. We need to find the others and then think of what to do next.”
Sorey and the Iron Maiden split up to find the other personas. Sorey went after the drink master. He checked the forest again. He checked each building in the village. He checked every place he could until he finally came to the summit of the Spiritcrest. There he found the normal Edna. She was smiling at him. Something was wrong.
“I’m so happy that you’re here, Sorey,” she cooed. “Do you want to do me a favor?” She noticed that he was upset. “What’s wrong?”
“Edna, do you know what’s going on? Why are the other versions of you on this level?” Sorey asked her. She didn’t like that he was so suspicious of her. She didn’t have anything to do with what was happening to the sixth level. “Well, the other versions of you are taking shelter in a house by the mountain. We’re trying to figure out what to do.”
“Can I come with you?”
“Of course.”
Sorey and Edna walked back together to the small house where the child, the baker, and Iron Maiden had taken refuge. The other personas that they were supposed to find hadn’t turned up. With the world collapsing, they couldn’t waste time. That is, until the Iron Maiden saw Edna.
“Who is she?” she interrogated.
“It’s Edna,” Sorey innocently professed. “I found her and told her to stay with us. We’ve got to stick together.”
The Iron Maiden remained silent, her eyes cutting into Edna. Sorey volunteered to go back out to search for the other two personas. He headed passed the village to a strip of rubble that had previously cut off a strangely flourishing portion of the world that was colored with orpiment and topaz ore. Sorey didn’t recognize any of it, and he got a forboding feeling from the scenery. He scanned the area.
“What is this place?” he said quietly.
“It’s you,” the drink master called to him. She walked to him like a princess with her sake bottle in hand. Sorey stared at her. “It’s rude to stare.”
“Aren’t you hot in that kimono?”
“Not really.”
Sorey dismissed it. She knew more about women’s clothing than he did, and it was a silly issue. He was more worried about the rubble. The drink master revealed that it was the wall from one of the first levels, and it had been toppled by some sort of draconic force. The only thing was that Eizen was nowhere to be seen in either his human form or dragon form. Something monstrous had brought the wall down. The apocalyptic destruction that was encroaching on the world couldn’t touch that lustrous patch.
“Have you found the other personas?” the drink master asked.
“I’m still looking for the school girl persona. Can you help?”
The drink master had no other choice but to lend a hand. She didn’t want to stay near the mysterious ores, and she could do with shelter from the fires. The two of them left the patch, returning to the village where once again the Shepherd found the zombies just staring into the distance. The school girl persona was weaving in and out, looking for yet another figure in a sea of living ones.
“There she is!” Sorey gasped. He sprinted to her, which startled her out of her wits. He quickly took her by the wrist for fear that the villages would spring to life and kill them. The school girl bit his hand. “E-Edna!”
“You creep,” she snarled.
“Not very gentlemanly, is he?” the drink master giggled.
“S-Sorry,” Sorey apologized. “We need to get you to safety.”
The school girl didn’t see why, and the doomsday-esque environment didn’t shake her in the slightest. The drink master then sensed a disturbance. The zombie villagers around them collapsed like dolls, a sickening deathly wind blowing over them. The ground rumbled under their feet like something had come unhinged. The drink master held onto the school girl while Sorey braced himself with his sword.
“We have to get back to the house,” he said to the personas. Leading them back to the the shack, he felt dysphoric suddenly. A flash of anxiety and despair was flooding his heart, and when he and the two persons reached their destination, everyone was gone. All that was left was a strange white powdery stain left on the floorboards. “Edna? Edna, where did you go?”
The drink master knelt to the powder. “It’s makeup.”
“Makeup? Who was wearing makeup?”
The school girl followed the stain to another stain, which led to another until finally she came to one of the chairs that had powder in the shape of the seat. There was an abundance around the legs.
“It looks like it was used on clothing if it was on the chair,” the school girl said.
The drink master turned to Sorey. “Are you sure everyone was a persona?” she asked. Sorey thought it was strange that the original Edna was with them, but it was also her soul space. It was expected to see her, wasn’t it? “And where did you find her?”
“The summit of the Spiritcrest,” Sorey answered.
“Well, we need to go there, then.”
Sorey had to agree; it was the only lead they had. They headed to the summit together. The path had been blocked by fallen rocks and boulders thanks to the earthquakes that occurred. Even though it was Edna’s ability, Sorey channeled the real Edna’s power for the activation of Giant’s Fist through his pact. The strength was only half, and he had thought that perhaps a persona toppled the wall using the ability. It was possible that each persona had access to the ability at full strength. He cleared the path to the summit, the air growing heavier.
“Sorey, be careful,” the drink master cautioned.
All was quiet. He was prepared for anything.
“Rock Trigger,” Edna whispered.
The persona followed behind him with their feet falling into the traps. And suddenly rocks shot up at them. The school girl and drink master were knocked over, taking Sorey by surprise.
“How thoughtful of you to bring me the two remaining personas I need to make the perfect personality,” Edna leered. Using Air Pressure, she pinned them down. She waltzed up to Sorey. The other three personas were behind her lost in a trance.
“Why are you doing this? Aren’t you worried about the real Edna?” Sorey questioned.
This Edna brushed her dress. The white powder that had been left in the house came off with each wipe to reveal a black dress. This monochromatic Edna was an evil mastermind. She ignored his question. She sang some sort of Hymmnos that put the drink master and the school girl in the same trance as the other personas before encasing the Shepherd in a cage of rock.
“Now that we have all the ingredients, we can create the most complete version of Edna’s personality!” she happily said, a farcry from the real Edna and an ominous one at that.
She brought them all to the area lined with orpiment and topaz as if it were some sort of conduit. Sorey watched her pull each persona to a subtly marked point in the patch.
“What are you trying to do?” he asked her again.
“I told you, or are you just a special kind of stupid?” Mono-Edna retorted. The personas were all in position. “Ugh, fine, if you need an explanation. Each of these personas are only a facet of the real Edna’s personality. Each of them competes to be the defining aspect, and I am the persona who operates as the rationality which determines who shall be the defining aspect. At least, after this ritual, I can say that I used to be.”
“I don’t understand. What about the real Edna? Won’t this hurt her?”
“She won’t even realize it’s happened. Sorey, the idea is to merge us all together as one so that there is no conflict. It will be helpful to her. We’ve got the child, which represents her childlike innocence and ignorance—remember Eizen? This girl had monopolized her mind for some time. The baker and all her feelings of inadequacy. The Iron Maiden, her emotionless and abrasive side. The school girl for her love of Normin-related things, the drink master who represents her womanhood, and finally me, her rationality. But she’s still missing two ingredients. Can you guess who holds them?”
Sorey’s heart stopped. She couldn’t possibly mean to assimilate his mind to Edna’s…could she? He would die if that were the case! Why was Edna trying to kill him? Or did she not realize that he would die? And what ingredients could they possibly be?
“Within your heart, Sorey, you hold forgiveness and love—true and pure love,” Mono-Edna playfully said. “Edna needs forgiveness to move on from Eizen’s death, and she needs pure love to accept that she couldn’t save him with her own power. Meeting you was the best thing that could have happened to her.”
She moved Sorey out of his cage and to the center of personas then took her spot in the circle. “Edna, stop!” he begged.
“It’s far too late now. Now, let’s begin.” Mono-Edna began to channel energy. “Was yea ra nha en enter innna mea.” The personas glowed, and a magic circle surrounded Sorey. His chest tightened. If he didn’t do something, his soul would forever be trapped inside of the earth seraph.
His head pounding, he remembered something that Phoenix had mentioned: run his sword through the crest. The magic circle was on the ground around him. Its power was augmented by the ores surrounding them. The ground under him was soft enough to be pierced. He thrust his sword into the ground, shattering the magic circle and releasing him from the spell. If he spared a moment more, he would have perished at Mono-Edna’s hand. The breach in the circle temporarily blinded the personas, which allowed Sorey to escape to the forest below the mountain. Unbeknownst to him, Mono-Edna was right behind him.
“Phoenix! Phoenix, you’ve got to send me back!” Sorey called out. He crumbled to his knees. Whatever Mono-Edna had tried to do was draining him of his energy. He could barely hold himself up. “No, I can’t die here. Not inside of Edna, and not before I accomplish my dream.”
“Where do you think you’re going, Sorey?!” Mono-Edna yelled after him.
“Damn it all.”
Mono-Edna was prepared to gut him with the tip of her umbrella. Sorey fought to stay conscious.
“I’ll make you pay for ruining everything!”
Sorey used his sword as a shield, and before Mono-Edna could attack him, another voice stopped her:
“Hello, me.”
Mono-Edna turned around to find a Frankenstein Edna. She was the embodiment of the conglomeration of all the different Edna personas.
“The perfect personality…!”
“Almost. I am yet incomplete, and I need you.”
The Frankenstein Edna grabbed Mono-Edna by her throat, the black-dressed girl wriggling and writhing in her grasp. Sorey couldn’t begin to comprehend what he had witnessed. The two Ednas had merged, but it transcended all understanding. There wasn’t anything to hide what happened, yet after a few seconds, there was only the Frankenstein Edna.
“Oh, Sorey, I should thank you,” she said. “If it weren’t for you bringing us all together, I wouldn’t have become so perfect.”
Sorey slowly shook his head, crawled back, and breathed heavily as she loomed over him. She held his face in her cold hands.
“There’s nothing to be scared of. Just as I have been reborn as a new girl, this world will be born anew. Watch its death with me, and I will make sure you return safely to reality.”
Sorey didn’t have much of a choice at that point. Darkness enshrouded the soul space as it fell apart. He worried that Edna’s heart was going to break, but the Frankenstein Edna kept him afloat in the emptiness.
“Edna, this isn’t good! The real Edna is in danger now!”
“No, she will be okay as long as you promise to never leave my side.”
“I can’t promise that,” Sorey bluntly told her. “Edna knows that I care about someone else, but I don’t want her to fall into darkness. Please, don’t let her die!”
The Frankenstein Edna smiled gently. She agreed to let him prove his worth in the next level in exchange for keeping the soul space intact. Sorey knew that it was a risky move to agree to these conditions, but he couldn’t lose their earth seraph.
-------------------------------------------
“Sorey! Sorey, are you okay?!” Mikleo cried. While he was holding him, Zaveid was supporting Edna. The earth seraph was just as winded as the Shepherd. “I knew it was a bad idea.”
“Edna, are you okay?” Sorey frantically asked. He left Mikleo’s side—a knife to his heart. The earth seraph waved him away. “Your soul space—”
“Quiet, fool,” Edna said. “We can’t get hung up on the Dive. Now that it’s over, we can take on the trial and obtain the spiritual power of earth.”
“You sound like you’re going to die,” Zaveid noted.
“Yeah, you’ll know soon enough.”
Edna hoisted herself up with her umbrella despite Sorey’s protests for her to rest inside of him. Mikleo watched Sorey go after her when she started to walk towards Morgause, Shrine of the Earth Trial. He would have to do it soon. Sorey would have to relive whatever nightmare he had gone through in Edna’s soul space again. And if they were so exhausted after the Dive, what will happen when he and the Shepherd had to do it?
Admittedly, Zaveid had never heard of such an intense outcome. Even Lailah’s result wasn’t as bad. He peeked at Dezel, who had the same trepidation as Mikleo about the Dives. After this trial, he wanted to Dive again. He had to get caught up so he could achieve the Armatus with everyone else.
He had to worry for Sorey and Rose. Alisha was experienced with Lailah’s soul space even if it was apparently different from before. Sorey now had experience, but it was an extreme case until Mikleo’s and Zaveid’s soul spaces. Rose had no experience. Dezel would be her only taste of the horrors that lie within the hearts of seraphim.
But he couldn’t focus on that anymore. Everyone would have to offer their support to Sorey and Edna through the trial.
Notes:
Time to start getting ready for the next trial!
Chapter 55: Phase 2: Competing with the Honor of the Land
Summary:
After completing the 6th level, Sorey and Edna's relationship is tested. What this means for Mikleo is anyone's guess.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
Alright, we're at the Earth Trial! I was a little sad that in-game it's so simple and short compared to Lailah's trial, and I tried to make it a little better by adding in Edna's problem...at the very least, I think the Song in this chapter would be really neat.
Please remember to leave a comment to let me know what you think about this chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Morgause was a farcry from what Igraine was. There was no boiling lava or grand paths. It was compact yet spacious like a villa, modest but so elaborate that Sorey had to force himself to focus on the trial itself instead of the architecture of the shrine. The minute embellishments in the walls were like trimmings of precious gold whereas Alisha and Rose were only impressed by the austere appearance.
“I don’t think ‘austere’ is the right word,” Dezel huffed.
“Let’s just get this done,” Edna said. She was sounding better, but Sorey hadn’t gotten to talk to her about her soul space. He reached out to her, but she walked away in the direction of a lumbering figure that blocked the only open doorway. “Who put this here?”
Another body came up to them after first appearing from a small orb of light. He was dressed in the same white robe that Ekseo had worn, but a golden mask with citrine gems for eyes hid his face. His manner of speaking and entire personality was the complete opposite from the guardian seraph left at the fire trial.
“Oh, you guys sure got here fast!” he almost sang. “I wasn’t expecting any visits quite yet! Hmm? Hello, Lailah! I haven’t seen you in ages! You’re as beautiful as ever!”
“And you’re as…creepy…as ever,” Lailah said. She seemed uncomfortable, but she was smiling. Forcing a smile.
“Oh, and who are these lovely ladies? Shepherds?”
While Alisha was repulsed by his behavior and looked to Lailah for protection, Rose was unfazed and guarded by Dezel.
“Stay away, lecher,” he growled at him.
“Dezel,” Rose sighed.
“I’m actually the Shepherd,” Sorey sheepishly announced to him. The guardian seraph turned his head to him, slumping over as if devastated that the Shepherd was male.
“I see,” he puffed. “Well, my name is Pawan, and I also used to be a Shepherd.”
Everyone fell silent except for Lailah:
“Um, yes! Shepherd Pawan defeated at least ten thousand hellions, the greatest that any Shepherd has done.”
“When I used to be human, I often sought out the biggest and baddest hellions out there to fight!”
Edna obviously didn’t care about any of his history. She walked up to him with a cutesy look. She had engaged her neediest eyes and loneliest voice, and in making herself look even smaller than she already was, she looked not much older than an elementary school girl. “Hey, Mister?”
Pawan was taken aback. His mouth hung at its hinges under his mask.
“Edna is so lonely. She could really use a big hug.”
“You’re so cute! B-But I can’t.”
“Please?”
“W-Well, we have the trial to do, and then the awarding of the Earth Armatus—”
Edna’s eyes turned stone-cold, her voice sharp like the very rocks she threw. “God, you’re useless,” she hissed. “We need to the trial, but we can’t if that meathead over there is in the way. Is that it?”
“Um, well—”
“I’ll take care of it.” Edna walked up to the figure. The figure turned around, revealing precisely it was a minotaur hellion wielding a stone axe. Hot steam came out of its nostrils, and its eyes were red with rage. But Edna wasn’t scared of it. “Scram,” she spat. The minotaur flinched. Edna glared up at him with such murderous eyes that even her friends—particularly Zaveid—could sense her bloodlust. “Get. Out. Of. My. Way.” The minotaur snorted and bellowed before turning and running away from her. “Problem solved, now take us to the trial.”
Pawan slumped again. “Quelling the minotaur is the trial,” he gently said.
Edna shot a ball of hail at Pawan. “Are you a special kind of stupid? What didn’t you say so early, you idiot?”
“You didn’t even give him a chance!” Mikleo threw at her.
“Shut it, Meebo.”
Lailah and Sorey looked at each other. What was done was done. Pawan sent them on their way while Edna hid behind her umbrella most likely out of embarrassment.
“Oh, Edna, you’re not upset, are you?” Lailah asked her.
“Let’s just get this show on the road,” Edna said.
“Nah, she sounds fine!” Rose laughed.
“I said, let’s. Get. This show. On. The road.”
Sorey asked Mikleo and Zaveid to maintain some distance from him and Edna so he could talk to her about the Dive while they set about to cornering and quelling the minotaur. It happened similar to Alisha and Lailah, and he was expecting somewhat to be more terrified than he had been. Was it really fear? His life had been in danger, yet he didn’t think Edna would try to kill him. She had a goal set and was moving towards it. He just happened to be a cog. Was he trying to convince himself of that? He couldn’t have been. He cherished his friendship with the earth seraph, and he wanted to help her obtain the Earth Armatus. But how could he open the discussion? It seemed too big a deal to simply ask her about it, and knowing Edna, she would try to avoid it. The only way to open her heart to was to confront the issue with her point-blank. Only then would they be ready.
“Edna, are you unhappy with the way you are?” Sorey asked her too straightforward for her liking.
“What’s with the stupid question?” Edna curtly replied. She walked a little faster so Rose and Alisha couldn’t hear. “I’m perfectly fine with myself. I’m the ladiest lady in this whole stupid group.”
“Is that really true? Your soul space suggested otherwise.”
Edna abruptly stopped talking to him. Apparently, he had struck a nerve. She, however, pointed at the minotaur hellion ahead of them in one of the chambers. She prepared to fire a ball of hail, but the minotaur’s hearing was exceptional. It took off running again after hearing their footsteps.
“Yikes, this is going to be a doozy,” Zaveid said. His hands were on his hips.
“If someone hadn’t scared it off, we’d be finished with the trial by now,” Mikleo blamed Edna.
Sorey shot a look back at him, which scared him a little. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now except figure out a way to corner it without letting it know we’re there.” He left the chamber out into the expansive sandy courtyard. It could have gone anywhere in the shrine.
“What if we split up?” Rose suggested.
“Oh, we’ll cover more ground that way!” Lailah happily agreed. When no one laughed, she tried to explain the earthy nature of her pun to no avail.
Alisha leaned into Sorey, “And you and Edna will be able to talk.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea, and so it was decided. Mikleo, Zaveid, Edna, and Sorey would check the other half of the complex while Alisha and Lailah snooped around on the current side. Dezel had sensed hellions underground, and he and Rose volunteered to clear them out. As everyone went their separate ways, Zaveid pulled Mikleo back to prevent him from eavesdropping on the conversation between the Shepherd and his earth seraph.
“Zaveid, let me go,” he whispered sharply.
“No can do, Mickeyboy,” Zaveid chuckled. He placed his arm around his shoulder. “Until we finish this trial, you and I are going to be best buds.” Mikleo tried to escape his grasp only to have the wind seraph almost put him into a chokehold. “What’s the rush, kid? I’m fun, too, you know.” He got close to his ear. “You have to give them space, or else we’ll have come here for nothing and Edna’s going to make your life hell.”
“But Sorey—”
“But Sorey nothing. Careful, Mik, you shouldn’t be this thirsty if you’re a water seraph.”
Sorey and Edna walked ahead in silence. Eventually Edna got annoyed that he was staying so close to her. “There’s nothing to discuss!” she finally said.
“What’s the perfect personality? And why were you going to sacrifice me?” Sorey finally asked.
“It was just my imagination,” Edna lied. “I thought you needed something thrilling.”
“Edna!”
The earth seraph stopped in front of a broken rocking horse. She felt guilty until Sorey asked why there would be a children’s toy here. In response, she gave a brief history. Morgause, the Shrine of the Earth Trial, used to be an orphanage for children that were abandoned on its doorstep. Eventually the orphanage closed, and the few children that were left with no place to go died there in agony. They had starved to death or were mauled by hellions in the area. The broken rocking horse was a forgotten remnant of that past.
“That’s so sad,” Sorey whispered.
“It is,” Edna agreed. She tightened her grip on the handle of her umbrella. She lowered her head. “In the sixth level, the perfect personality was a compensation for the hatred that I’ve developed since Eizen became a dragon. Then you came along. You were kind, especially when Eizen died. The job of a Shepherd is a lot if you don’t have friends, and you’re handling yourself alright—I guess, I was jealous of you.”
Sorey had a hard time believing that.
“The perfect personality that needed you to be complete may very well be just an exaggeration of my envy. After all, of everyone in this group, I’m the least likely to be friendly…well, not as bad as Dezel.”
Sorey placed his hand on Edna’s head after a moment of hesitation not because he was shocked but because he didn’t want Edna to feel like he was patronizing her. Edna thought that Sorey wouldn’t want to Armatize with her because her feelings almost killed him, but she couldn’t be more wrong.
“I’m glad you told me, Edna,” he sweetly and sincerely said to the earth seraph. “And it’s not like I’m going to hate you or ignore you because of your feelings. But this just means that we understand and accept each other, and we can use the Armatus!” He watched her with twinkling emerald eyes. “And even if you are jealous, I want you to learn to move on. I want to help you, Edna, as part of my dream.”
Edna hid behind her umbrella. “Why are you so godforsakenly weird?” she asked. “Thanks.”
“Uh, no problem!”
“Thanks.”
“You said it twice.”
“That second one if from Eizen. If he were still alive, he’d thank you for taking me from the mountain…after pummeling you into the ground first.”
Sorey let out a laugh. “By all means! But do you think you trust me enough to Armatize with you outside of Diving?”
“At this point, I have no choice. Let’s complete this trial and talk to the Creepy Shepherd Seraph.”
Sorey let Zaveid and Mikleo know that it was safe to be near them now, and the wind seraph and water seraph approached them. Mikleo looked betrayed; Zaveid forced him to smile by stretching the corners of his mouth with his fingers. They followed the path to another chamber where the minotaur was standing. Alisha and Lailah were hiding behind a pillar. Both of them made too much noise to sneak up on it what with their clacking shoes and clanking armor.
“Looks like they found it, but they can’t trap it,” Edna observed. “Meebo, don’t you have some lame Song Magic that can help with this?”
“I-It’s not lame!” he argued. He quietly sang as the Spectral Cloak covered them and silenced their footprints. “Alisha and Lailah can’t see us either.”
“That’s okay,” Sorey triumphantly smiled. “Once we trap it, we can all gang up on it. Edna, be prepared to block off the exit with your powers.”
Mikleo led the four of them towards the minotaur, and had it not been for Lailah sensing the water seraph’s mana, she and her princess would have ruined the plan. Edna stomped the ground, making stone pillars that were indestructible in front of the door, before Mikleo dissolved the veil. The minotaur at first cowered in fear, but soon its frustrations took hold and it bellowed at the Shepherd and his earth seraph. Edna pushed everyone but Sorey back with a slab she pulled from the ground.
“You’re not going to let us fight?” Mikleo asked her.
“It’s the earth trial, not the ‘everyone-except-the-earth-seraph-trial’,” Edna replied. “Just make sure it can’t escape.
Lailah and Zaveid conjured up a ring of walls made of wind and flame to contain the minotaur and Sorey and Edna. Mikleo stayed out of the ring, watching for whenever his friends needed healing. Alisha offered moral support and provided Zaveid and Lailah with refreshing items to help them last. Not too longer after did Rose and Dezel show up to their barrier.
“You’re a little late,” Zaveid strained.
“Did you find the minotaur?” Rose asked over the roaring wind and fire.
“Sorey and Edna are fighting it right now,” Lailah told her despite her head pounding from the amount of malevolence emanating from the hellion beast and from using so much of her power at once.
Alisha took two glances before warning Rose and Dezel of hellions, attracted to the minotaur’s power, racing behind them. The two on the outside took up their weapons and mirrored Sorey and Edna.
“Air Pressure!” Edna yelled. The minotaur was paralyzed where it was, which gave Sorey a preemptive chance to strike. Once the spell’s effect wore off, the beast swung its stone axe into him. Edna used Barrier to soften the blows, but Sorey was sure that he would be fine. “Rock Trigger!”
Sorey jumped up, slashing the minotaur’s head until its titanic horns deflected him. The minotaur bellowed again before using an attack appropriately named Head Splitter, and it targeted Edna. She formed a protective dome of mud and stone around her, but the minotaur’s strength turned it to dust. Sorey dashed in front of her, parrying the axe as best as he could. As a result, he suffered a horrible pain in his shoulder. He bit his lip. Not yet—he couldn’t give up yet.
“Resilient Aid!” Mikleo called out. Edna felt better, and the pain in Sorey’s shoulder was alleviated.
Meanwhile, Rose and Dezel took turns purifying the hellions that drew near. For every hellion that Rose finished with her daggers, Dezel sent a surge of wind into five of them. Then his partner left a blindspot open as she guarded against a scorpion hellion’s stinger. He covered her and once again sent a pulse of wind through the still, dry air.
“T-Thanks,” Rose stammered.
“Just shut up and focus,” Dezel chided.
The minotaur went for Sorey again after becoming visibly annoyed of his lightning-fast movements. Sorey stabbed his sword into one of its knees. With the hellion immobilized, he ordered Edna to use her Mystic Arte Terra Mine.
“You idiot, you’ll get caught in it!” Edna refused.
“Mikleo’s healing us, and this guy is on his last legs,” Sorey confidently said.
Edna didn’t want to, but she activated her Mystic Arte. Her strength shook the immediate area, and the minotaur used the rest of its energy to stabilize itself. Sorey’s legs took shock damage, but he didn’t care. With one last deft slash, he ended the fight with the minotaur. The beast fell, weeping horridly like a child lost in a distortion.
“No way,” Mikleo mumbled.
“This minotaur…” Sorey continued.
Edna let out a sigh. She slowly walked up to the hellion carefully so she wouldn’t scare it off again. Once she was close enough to it, she sat on her knees, and with the sweetest voice that anyone had ever heard, she sang:
“Was au gaya knawa anw giz yor knawa anw gauzewiga yor. Was granme ra houd spiritum yor. Was granme ra rinc dea murfanare yor en skit guard.”
The minotaur’s wails turned into the whimpers of several children—the child who had died at the abandoned orphanage. One by one as the hellion’s body disappeared, the souls of the children that had been trapped inside it drifted up. Zaveid and Lailah watched them together.
“Think they’ll come back as seraphim?” Zaveid asked. Mikleo’s interest piqued.
“Most likely,” Lailah said. “Children are typically pure, but they are also very malleable. As long as they maintained their purity in life, they have a chance of reincarnating as seraphim.”
Edna stood up, but she didn’t look happy or upset or anything. She turned in the direction they had come where Dezel and Rose had fought off the last of the hellions. It was time to head to the altar.
The altar could only be reached once the pillars blocking the entrance were taken care of. During the reconnaissance that Dezel and Rose undertook, the pillars were held up by stones underground. Dezel and Rose had managed to break two of four using their own devices, but the stone above them was as hard as diamond. Only Edna’s Giant’s Fist could break them. And that’s what she did even though she hated it because of the side effect. Once the entrance was clear, Sorey and Edna stood before the entrance. The earth seraph suddenly collapsed.
“Edna!” Sorey panicked. He picked her up, and she contorted with discomfort. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she bluntly said. “You’re not supposed to touch me after I use that power.”
“S-Sorry.”
“Resilient Aid,” Mikleo cast. It eased her suffering some, but he only did it because she was being rather dramatic. “Let’s hurry this up. We don’t have time for silliness.”
“What’s wrong, Meebo? Still jealous that I got my turn at Sorey first?”
“Best not antagonize,” Zaveid playfully yet seriously warned.
Edna pouted, but she knew her limits. She and Sorey walked together ahead of everyone to the altar where Pawan was to meet them. The lecherous seraph had been playing with a kendama toy left by one of the children, and he was quite surprised to see that they were already finished with the trial…even though the trial had taken a great deal of time.
“Hm, I can definitely sense it!” Pawan tittered. “The bond between the Shepherd and the chosen seraph of earth is unshakable now. You are ready to inherit the spiritual power of earth.” He was holding a golden yellow orb that looked similar to the red orb that held the power of fire. “This is the Hymn Crystal called Armatus, but this one is specifically the earth variant. Once you learn this, you can use the Armatus you’ve been using to Dive for other things besides just that. Now, sweetheart, it’s going to sting, but bear with it, alright?”
Edna cringed, but Sorey placed a hand on her shoulder. It would be okay, and if she imagined how proud Eizen would be, the acquisition wouldn’t be so bad. Sorey and Edna were beckoned to the center of the altar, back to back and hand in hand. Pawan initialized the acquisition:
“Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Armatus, enter_HEPHSIN_YULIND.”
Edna let out a yelp as the power of earth flowed into her. Sorey squeezed her trembling hand. Before she knew it, the new spiritual power of earth was coursing through her. Her chest felt like it was going to explode; her body felt like it was being crushed by thousands of boulders.
“Now, sing the feelings contained within the Hymn Crystal!” Pawan commanded.
As if in a trance, Edna focused on the emotions that were welling in her heart. In a much different voice than before, she sang quietly at first then grew into a proud singer:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey’s heart skipped hearing Edna’s powerful voice behind him. He never thought that the earth seraph could sing so beautifully. Sometimes it couldn’t be helped where everyone thought she was only a child, but her voice was developed enough to match even Lailah’s. He felt his skin tingle, the sounds coming from behind him blooming like the very flowers she was named after.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Zaveid was proud of Edna. He had worried about her since Eizen had become a dragon and that she wouldn’t be able to sing because of the negative feelings that had been bred from watching him descend into darkness. As he listened to her sing, he could almost see Eizen standing in her place. She was just like her brother, and he entertained the idea of one day singing along with her to relive the times that he and Eizen sang as partners.
Mikleo, on the other hand, was stricken with fear. He watched Sorey, who looked mesmerized by her singing. What if he couldn’t match her skill? He had only recently started singing, and his Song Magic was still far below hers. He didn’t think she was showing off, but his heart ached as the anxieties of his beloved Shepherd rejecting his Songs, not singing as best as he could, and being alone flooded into him. When he had watched Lailah sing with Alisha behind her, he had a dichotomy in his feelings; now there was only fear.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Alisha and Lailah listened to the Song with admiration, but again Dezel was unsure if he wanted to go through with his trial. He didn’t know anything about Edna’s relationship with Sorey, but the Shepherd trusted her—not that he had much of a choice—and the earth seraph trusted him after much time had passed. Then he worried about the more trivial things. Would Rose even like his singing? She had heard him before, but to sing so vehemently…would she be able to bear it?
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Edna finished her Song, feeling faint and weak. Unlike when she used Giant’s Fist, her body didn’t throb in pain. She felt as heavy as the rocks she commanded. But she felt it. The power of the earth Armatus rumbled within her like an earthquake, and she was internally eager to try it out.
“Fantastic job, Miss Edna!” Pawan gushed. “N-Now, I can give you that hug you were waiting for!”
Edna walked away as soon as Pawan reached out to her. Sorey followed behind her at the ready to catch her if she passed out. The others surrounded her, and Lailah hugged her tightly around her skinny neck.
“Edna, that was marvelous!” she cooed. “I never thought you could have such a beautiful voice!”
“I wouldn’t mind hearing that voice every night,” Zaveid flirted. Edna turned pink before jabbing him in the stomach with her umbrella while the fire seraph showered her with affection. “Okay…I deserved that…”
Pawan raised his hand. “Shepherd, please take the orb which holds the Song as proof that you’ve obtained the Armatus of Earth,” he said. He placed it in his hand before saying his farewell and disappearing into light.
Edna opened her umbrella, twirling it on her shoulder. “Kadonk! Whoosh! Those are the only two left,” she said, unamused and unfazed now that she had already grown accustomed to her new power. “Meebo.”
Mikleo straightened. He was yanked out of his thoughts. He looked irately at her.
In a rare and mysterious show of concern for a comrade, she smiled. “Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”
The water seraph felt somewhat guilty that he had been so paranoid that she would take Sorey from him. He appreciated the words of comfort, and while he was ready to head to the next trial, Zaveid shoved him out of the way.
“Hey, Sorey,” he said slyly, expectantly. “What do you say to a Dive?” He cocked up an eyebrow to achieve some sort of suave and seductive look. “After all, we’ve got to get you in deep enough before the Wind Trial, am I right?”
“It feels like you’re trying to make it as suggestive as possible,” Dezel groaned.
Edna was going to jab him in the side, but he caught the tip of the umbrella. The spotlight was no longer on her, but she would have liked to bask in its radius a little more. Sorey knew that Zaveid was right; if they didn’t get deep enough before the Wind Trial, he would have to compensate by Diving through a number of levels. Such a feat would drain him of energy, and it would only prolong the wait before they could get the spiritual power of wind.
“At least wait until we leave Morgause,” Lailah scolded, but Zaveid didn’t care. “Don’t you think that’s rude? This is Edna’s time to celebrate.”
“The way I see it, Sorey would be pretty safe if he were to Dive right here right now,” he said. “The hellions around here are on the stronger side, and…”
“You guys can’t feel it,” Dezel continued. “Something foul is riding on the wind.”
“Heldalf’s domain,” Sorey answered.
“It’s still far off from this area, but if we’re close enough to feel it, Zaveid has a point. The shrine offers some protection.”
Alisha and Rose looked at each other while Sorey came to a decision. The three of them were pure enough to catch only an inkling of the domain, but they could never hope to achieve Dezel’s sense of the land. And if they were given the opportunity, they would have gone to find where Heldalf was while Sorey was Diving. Lailah and Dezel forbade them from going off on their own into dangerous territory. Dezel even threatened to tie Rose up so she would stay put.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Edna asked Zaveid. “Get on with the Dive before that creep of a guardian seraph comes back.”
While the others guarded Sorey’s body, the Shepherd and his wind seraph Armatized. Mikleo was still upset. He just wanted to obtain the spiritual power of water. He wanted to show Sorey how strong their bond was, but in the back of his mind, there was something nagging him. Lailah had become fearful of Alisha after her Dive. Edna had become more standoffish. What if something happened in his soul space which would cause Sorey to see him differently? He wanted that power, but was it worth it at the expense of showing him something even worse than what he and Alisha had already experienced?
Notes:
I am QUITE proud of Zaveid's little talk with Mikleo. Just saying. Hope you all are excited for the next Zaveid Dive!
Please remember to leave a comment to let me know what you think about this chapter!
Chapter 56: Phase 2: Land of Candy for a Lonely Man
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 2: Zaveid
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
Remember that old game called Candyland? Yeah, aside from Saki's cosmosphere level 2, I started thinking about that game. And a certain character is very much like Dany from GoT.
Please leave a comment letting me know what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey entered the shared soul space between him and Zaveid. He didn’t want to admit that he was exhausted from the earth trial, but it couldn’t be helped. The wind seraph had joined them much later. His wanting to Dive so much was only natural. Still, the Shepherd had to notice the differences when he Dived into each seraph now that he had gotten so deep into Mikleo and Edna. Edna’s felt unfriendly yet welcoming like a stray animal that was warming up to a new owner. Mikleo’s was warm with love. Zaveid’s had no distinct personality yet. There were only inklings and hints; at the very least, he felt the nip of a frigid wind. With no Mind Guardian to preface what was to come, Sorey was on his own.
“Excited for the next level?” Zaveid toothily grinned. “I think you’ll like it.”
“Sure, but will I learn about the real you?” Sorey questioned. It was an innocent question, but it was an easy feat to twist it into something much more erotic.
“You’re so eager to know the real me…you naughty Shepherd, you! It’s still far too early. I may not look it, but my heart is just as delicate as Lailah’s or Edna’s or Mikleo’s…even Dezel’s. Seraphim are timid beings no matter how outgoing we appear.” Zaveid gave Sorey another nonchalantly and almost flirtatious smile, but the Shepherd saw through a crack in his façade. His face looked fun, yet his amber eyes were reflecting something darker, sadder, hidden away from everyone else. “What you find within my emotions, memories, and imagination may not be as glittery as you expect. Everyone’s got a dark secret that should stay hidden at all costs.”
Sorey was worried now.
“But it’s certainly not at this level! Now, quit wasting time. Dive into me, Sorey. Let me bear my soul once more to your gentle eyes.”
Sorey had so many more questions now, but he had to respect Zaveid’s privacy. The wind seraph said that all seraphim were timid, and as he neared him to touch his chest and peer into his heart again, he sensed the trepidation that he had felt in Mikleo and Edna to varying degrees. He was…trembling under his sword-worn and callused fingers.
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The Shepherd found himself once again at the Stonehenge next to a field of flowers. These flowers were made of marshmallows, their stems of green candy straws and leaves made of peppermint. Everything was made out of some kind of candy. Sorey was beside himself—first it was a peaceful and quiet village, now it was a candy land. Something had to be wrong for Zaveid to have all these fantastical creations. He heavily doubted that it was all just a whimsical dream.
“Welcome to Candy Village!” a tiny voice said. Sorey looked down at his feet to find a Normin. “My name is Plezur, and I will be your guide for today.”
“Plezur? Are you a Mind Guardian?” he asked the little creature.
“Nope! I’m the physical manifestation of Zaveid’s happiness.”
“I see.” He wasn’t surprised. He had Dived enough to know what the Normin were, but he still couldn’t wrap his head around the absence of Mind Guardians in IPD seraphim. He hadn’t seen any Normin on the previous level either. “Can you take me to where Zaveid is?”
“As mayor of Candy Village, he will be here to formally greet you momentarily. Do you have any other questions?”
Sorey had to wait, so he started asking the Normin questions about the world. Zaveid didn’t seem like a sweets sort of guy, so why did he choose candy? Why was everything so sickly happy? Did something happen to him that he was compensating for?
“Unfortunately, I can’t answer any of these questions because it breaches three of our rules here in Candy Village. One, asking about the mayor is prohibited. Two, questioning the nature of the village is prohibited. Three, attempting to spoil the other levels is prohibited, and the inquirer may be kicked out of the soul space. Consider this your first and final warning.”
Sorey flinched at the so-called rules. It seemed the only questions that he could ask were those concerning the accommodations and the like of his visit to Candy Village. So he waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, the mayor of Candy Village showed himself. He was wearing a white Hawaiian shirt and black swim trunks with vibrant green palm fronds tracing around his pelvis. His straw hat hid the characteristic bang that typically jutted from his head, and he had a new tattoo around his ankle, or maybe he had always had that tattoo and he just covered it with his boots and pants. His necklace was merely his shield pendant on black cord, and he had two new black leather bracelets. His red and black flipflops popped with each step as he met with Sorey.
“Welcome to Candy Village! The only place where you can eat your dreams!” Zaveid announced with a surfer’s accent.
Sorey just stared at him.
“W-Welcome—Plezur, you gave him the spiel, right?”
“It did, but…I’m just a little lost. Why are you fully clothed? And why do you have that accent? Is everything okay?”
“P-Perfectly fine, my dude!”
“Oy, you’re laying it on really thick,” Plezur whispered.
Zaveid’s moxie continued to decrease as time passed and Sorey’s blissful ignorance took hold. The wind seraph tried to get him interested in everything his village had to offer, but it was for naught. Eventually after a tour of the village—which wasn’t spectacular—Sorey came to the edge of the sunshine wherea long staircase made of stone and an abyssal darkness suddenly began. Plezur pulled him back from the edge.
“They just won’t leave, will they?” Zaveid sighed. “Sorey, let’s not hang around here.” He grabbed him by the wrist to lead him back to his colorful town.
“But what is it?” Sorey asked him. Staring at that ominous chasm below, he searched for anything that would reveal just one clue about the wind seraph.
“It’s best you don’t know.” He pulled on him.
“But I have to know if I want to help you.” He pulled back.
“S-Sorey…”
A woman with long white to emerald hair was walking up from the darkness. She wore a gold dragon-shaped mask and a pure white dress. Zaveid became visibly upset, shrinking behind the brunet as if in fear of this woman.
“Hello, again, Zaveid,” she said. “You’ve come to the border of your village. To what do I owe the honor of meeting you again?”
“H-Hi, Theo,” the wind seraph quivered. “I…my guest just happened over here, so I’m trying to pull him back.”
“Oh? What a cute young man.”
Sorey watched this mysterious woman and how she talked to Zaveid. She was intimidating, and the seraph behind him was eager to leave her presence. Theo continued to face them, but it was unclear if her eyes were on him or on the mayor of Candy Village.
“You know, we had an agreement. The next time you came to the border, you would pledge your loyalty to me, and your village would be annexed into the the kingdom of dragons. And it’s the next time. Once I prepare my documents, I’ll come and meet you at your office.”
Theo descended back down into the darkness, leaving Zaveid in a state of panic. Plezur tried to calm him down to no avail. Sorey tried to help as well, but the more he spoke to Zaveid, the more inconsolable he became.
“You don’t understand how scary she is,” Zaveid breathed, his surfer accent completely dissolved. “She’s still really mad at me.”
“Mad? But why?” Sorey asked him.
Plezur shook its head. He shouldn’t ask that, not yet anyway.
“Sorey, I don’t know what to do. The last thing I want is to join her kingdom. A lot of bad things happen there, and…and I’ve tried so hard to make my village happy. I can’t join her, but…I don’t want her to be alone in that darkness.”
Sorey placed a hand on Zaveid’s shoulder. He wouldn’t let Theo have her way, and he didn’t want his seraph to fear what could happen. Admittedly, he never thought Zaveid would be so frightened of a woman—then again, it was a very specific woman. If he hurried and solved the problem for this level, then he could ask him about her.
The Shepherd pulled Zaveid back to his office, where the latter deflated. He was just depressed, and no amount of Plezur’s blessing could help him. They had to resort to alternate methods. Sorey called a council of two with the Normin in the parlor.
“Okay, I get that I can’t ask about who that woman is, but can I least have an idea so I can help him?” he begged.
Plezur shuffled in place. “Zaveid broke her heart long ago. She has no ill will that I can sense, but he seems to think she does.”
The Shepherd crossed his arms and frowned. “So he’s making this a bigger deal than it has to be…”
“Yes and no. There are limitations to this level, but this woman is very important to him.”
Sorey pondered for a bit. His gut was telling him to talk with Theo, but there was a very likely chance that Zaveid would collapse for fear that something would happen to him. There was always the possibility of being a mediator for an intervention, but with such a dominating personality, would it work? Plezur didn’t say that it couldn’t, and Zaveid had to learn to take charge of his desires for his village. It was the only thing that they could do.
Sorey and Plezur returned to Zaveid’s office where they found the wind seraph drunk on some sort of alcohol that he kept in reserve when his nerves got to him. The Normin was exasperated, and it wasted no time in getting him to sober up for the meeting.
“I ain’t going to no meeting!” Zaveid drunkenly professed. “If she wants to take the village, let her. I don’t wanna see her face.”
“Technically, you won’t since she’s wearing that mask,” Plezur reminded him.
Sorey pulled up a chair. “It’s okay, Zaveid,” he soothingly told him. “We’ll help you. We’re going to mediate the conversation.”
After a few hours, Theo arrived at the office. The goal was to simply get the deal in the middle or more in Zaveid’s favor if they could. Theo wanted the entire village to submit to her regulations. Zaveid argued that such action would completely cut off the tourism income. Theo backed down, stating that she would sit and approve or deny the actions he wanted to take in the village. Zaveid wanted the village to remain autonomous as far as policies went, but Theo reminded him that she would still have jurisdiction of its laws as part of the annexation. For every idea that either one had, the other would beat it down with two. Sorey knew that if it kept up, he would be stuck within the soul space for eternity.
“Give it up, Zavvy,” Theo cooed. “Neither of us is willing to budge, and since I’m queen of the dragons, you should just default in my favor. If you resist, I might just have to fry you to a crisp.”
“T-That’s not fair!” Zaveid complained.
“Then how about this? How about you finally marry me and we share our assets?”
Sorey whipped his head to stare at her with wide eyes. He glanced at Plezur, who was gripping its beret in agony.
“Let’s take a break,” he quickly announced before anyone else said anything. He carried Zaveid and Plezur out of the office and back into the parlor. “Marriage? What is going on?”
“It’s none of your business!” Zaveid hissed.
“You have to tell me!”
“I don’t have to tell you shit, got it?!”
The murderous tone in Zaveid’s voice caught Sorey off-guard. He never expected that the wind seraph was capable of getting so angry. But he apologized soon after. According to him, it had been an extremely long time since the last time he snapped at someone like that.
“I-I’m sorry, Sorey,” Zaveid meekly said. “She’s not her. I can’t marry her. It’s too painful.”
Sorey reached out, holding Zaveid’s cheek as if he were his child. “You have to use that pain for your benefit. Let’s talk to her again, and we’ll tell her that you can’t marry her.”
The Shepherd led Zaveid back into the office with Plezur on his shoulder. Zaveid waited for him to talk, and finally there was an agreement. Theo wouldn’t marry Zaveid and force him to partake in sharing as long as Zaveid promised to give her people a discount on everything in the village. Zaveid accepted it with some hesitation. Working with Theo was hard, but he had to learn to overcome whatever it was that was telling him he didn’t want to be near her.
“Glad we could have this talk,” Theo said. She left promptly, leaving the two men there by themselves.
Zaveid took off his straw hat. “Sorey, thanks,” he quietly said. “If you hadn’t helped, I’d never have put an end to this conflict. That woman…she still haunts me to this day, but maybe being with you can help me move on.”
Sorey was going to ask who she was to him again, but he declined the notion. Zaveid was always so happy-go-lucky, free in his attitudes and ways. The next level would have to give him more clues, and he had to be careful. He had almost broken him, and if he were to snap, both of them would die. At the very least, Sorey would be trapped inside of him forever.
The Stonehenge glowed with the light of the Paradigm Shift brought on by the compromise they had reached. Sorey guided Zaveid to it. There, the wind seraph thanked him again after apologizing for yelling at him. The Shepherd didn’t mind since he admitted that he had crossed a boundary himself. As Sorey returned to reality and Zaveid advanced to the next level, he couldn’t help but worry for him.
------------------------------
Zaveid and Sorey woke up to find that their friends were much farther away than they had anticipated. Of course, they left to give them their privacy to talk, but there wasn’t much to talk about that wouldn’t be withheld to preserve Zaveid’s sanity.
“I can’t ask you what I want to ask,” Sorey said with some restraint.
“Well, if you tell me what you want to ask, then I can see if it’s something I can answer,” Zaveid cheekily said. His smile now seemed forced. He was definitely going to try and evade the question no matter what it was.
Sorey still refused. But he did think of one other question. “Why have your soul spaces seemed so happy? You don’t look like the kind of guy that likes flowers or candy.”
“Whoops, can’t tell you.”
Sorey rolled his eyes, but he had figured as much. When he looked at him again, he saw that he was again trying to force a smile; however, the sadness in his eyes begged for his help.
Rose poked her head back into the frontmost chamber of the trial. “You ready to go?” she asked somewhat impatiently. To her, the wait for completing the wind trial was agonizingly annoying. She would bear with it since Dezel wasn’t excited to have her reach his fifth level, yet she couldn’t help but be a little jealous of Alisha and Sorey. Both of them had gotten to see what it was like. What really piqued her interest was that Sorey would be looking into Mikleo’s heart, and she couldn’t wait to see the outcome. There had been a little gossip at the water seraph’s expense.
Sorey helped Zaveid up from the ground, and the two walked out of the shrine. Mikleo ran to Sorey, his hands grasping his wrists. His eyes reflected that he was eager yet nervous. The kind Shepherd pulled him in for a tight hug. Surely a snuggly, rocking, twisting hug would make him less worried about losing him.
“Alright, where to next?” he asked while still holding him.
“If I remember correctly, the mural showed the water trial near Ladylake,” Lailah told them. “But…” She looked at Mikleo and Alisha with uncertainty. “Are we ready to go back there?”
“We have no choice,” Dezel said.
“Yeah, but what about the malevolence there? And Shurelia shut down the Tower, so no one will be able to sing,” Rose countered.
“If you haven’t noticed, the shrines can conduct the H-waves used in Songs on their own. They don’t need the Tower; hence, they’re Proxies.”
Zaveid intervened. “We should check out Eolia, though. Sure, the Tower is out of commission, but if you saw what was going on, then I think you’ll understand better than my shitty explanation of a high-tension situation from some days ago.”
Alisha agreed with him. “I want to see how Ladylake has been doing in my absence. Lailah,” she uttered as she turned to her seraph. “I know it’s going to be scary, but I want to check the palace. I need to talk with Maltran.”
Despite the Blue Valkyrie threatening to kill her if she had gotten in her way, the princess didn’t want to think that she truly meant it. The fire seraph hesitantly agreed, but she still feared that her beloved princess was in danger. Chancellor Bartlow was still out to get them, and if she was walking into a trap, she wanted to at least shield her.
“Before that,” Rose suddenly spoke. “Did anyone notice the crucible over there?” She pointed to a Malevolent Crucible overlooking the sea. “If not, can we take care of it? Each of these things so far has had a seraph trapped inside, and I really want to save anyone I can in there. Not to mention, the malevolence coming from it will keep increasing if we don’t stop it.”
Dezel was going to stop her. The crucibles that Sorey and Lailah had purified were probably easy and all, but he didn’t want Rose diving head first into a stew pot of wickedness. She was a good vessel, but she wasn’t invincible.
“I can’t believe we missed it!” Lailah cried. “Yes, let’s take care of it!” Rose celebrated because it was her chance to show Dezel that she could hold her own in a pit of despair.
“Just…Dezel, if you have any lasting regrets, make them known now!” Stars sparkled in her eyes, her fists clenched in eager anticipation for sweet words.
“W-What?!” both the assassin and the blind seraph choked.
“Hey, I’m strong, too!” Rose battled.
“I-I don’t have regrets! Rose, don’t fucking die!” Dezel barked her, flabbergasted.
“I wasn’t planning on it!”
The red-haired hot-blooded assassin sprinted to the crucible. She was going to show him that she was capable. She could protect him, and she would prove it by protecting herself among the strongest hellions in the area. After the rest of her friends neared the Crucible Raurava, she handed Dezel a coin. If she came out alive and without a scratch, he was to use the coin to buy her a present.
“What do you think one gald piece is going to get you?” he wondered quietly. Rose didn’t hear him. She just stepped down into the crucible.
Notes:
Next chapter will be rather short since it will be a crucible chapter, but at DezeRose banter is always good.
Please leave a comment letting me know what you think!
Chapter 57: Phase 2: Malevolent Crucible Raurava
Summary:
Rose goes down into the next crucible to purify it.
Notes:
Decided to upload this later in the day since I wanted to play more Catherine on Hard Mode. I've also started a one shot for a different game. Short chapter as usual for the crucible.
Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think of the story so far!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Wee num wa rre rudje sasye oz zodal haf yasra hopb enter syec Manac RAURAVA
Was yea ra rre hopb has fowrlle anw walasye has
Ma num ra rre harr grandus melenas herra van mahin has beja dea prooth
Was yea ra rre harr na cenjue vianchiel
Was yea ra rre harr na cenjue vianchiel sos melenas windiling has
The Malevolent Crucible Raurava was teeming with malevolence just like the other two crucibles had been, and there was a voice speaking in Hymmnos as well. It was a male voice that reminded her of Dezel; no matter how hard she tried, however, she didn’t understand what it was saying to her. The seraph that it belonged to was sitting curled up in the center of the crucible. As she approached it, the seraph watched her with dead-looking eyes. He had already died a while ago, but the malevolence was controlling him like a puppet. Even his Hymmnos was immaculate and free of the corruption that she had become so familiar with.
“I was too late,” Rose whispered to herself. “If we had noticed before the earth trial, we could have saved you.”
The seraph shrieked. Hellions began to appear from every corner of the crucible and flanked the seraph as he transformed into a small dragon very much like the one that Rohan had become so long ago. He was a drake, and while it was possible to purify him and rescue him from an eternity of agony, Rose wouldn’t be able to do it on her own. Her purification powers weren’t as strong as Lailah’s or Sorey’s. She reluctantly accepted that she would have to kill him to save him.
The first wave of hellions lunged at her with all intents to bite through her neck. The troll hellions raised their clubs made of stone high above her head, but her quickness gave her an advantage. Leaping from where they ultimately fell, she dodged each blow perfectly. That is, until a number of treant hellions wrapped her legs with their roots and anchored her to the ground.
“Shit,” she hissed. She stabbed at the roots repeatedly, but they wouldn’t let go of her. Instead to protect herself, she laid traps around her feet. Little explosives sat like mines, and if luck was on her side, she could easily use the impacts and smoke to weasel her way out. “Come on and attack,” she quietly beckoned.
One of the trolls took the bait, smashing one of the little bombs and making it explode like a flash grenade. The hellions were stunned for a moment, but a moment was all she needed to wriggle out of the roots. She capitalized on their immobility.
“Now!” she cried out with power flowing through her. She zipped through the hellions before the drake with her daggers drawn. “And stay down! Jade Luminescence!”
The hellions fell, yet another wave was ready to replace them. The drake roared as it entered the fight. Rose braced herself. Peacocks and armadillos attacked her relentlessly. Her defenses were getting exhausted, and if she didn’t act soon to fight back, they would wear her out and deal serious damage.
But she couldn’t give up.
Dezel was there outside. He was most likely worrying about her despite trying to hide it. She could feel him—his heart was beating irregularly for fear that she would perish within the crucible. It was distracting yet comforting to know that he really cared about her.
Rose steeled herself, recoiling then zipping through the hellions again while slashing them. As this wave fell, she eyed the drake. It was ready to eat her, its sharp tinged teeth glistening with saliva. It was going to be hard to predict. She knew this.
The drake went after her with its open jaw set to bite her head off. Rose leapt into the air to dodge it, and when she landed behind it, she set her traps. She kept remembering that it was a seraph and not some ruffian holding up a civilian; she wanted it to be an honorable death. The seraph had already lost his dignity, so she had to preserve what was left for his sake. The monster turned around to snap off a limb, but again she leapt and surrounded it with explosives and traps. They danced once more, and at that moment, she triggered each trap. The explosives blasted the drake’s feet and snares wrapped its legs. Another trap swung around its snout. The drake was unable to move or bite or breath fire.
Rose cautiously approached it. Just because it was tied up didn’t mean it didn’t know how to get out of it. She stood a couple paces away, her knife before her for defense. The drake shrieks were muffled.
“I know,” she calmly told it. “It hurts, doesn’t it? And it must have been horrible to be thrown down here and left to die. I wish there was another way, but I can’t do it on my own—not when the malevolence outpowers my ability to purify.” She gingerly patted the drake’s head even as it tried break her arm. “I’m sorry to have to do this, but sometimes the only salvation there is lies in death.”
The drake continued to shriek and roar through its clamped teeth. Rose took a deep breath. Killing a seraph who had done no wrong broke her heart, but she convinced herself that it was to protect his honor and the innocent people that didn’t approve of torturing seraphim like this. She felt for the drake’s major vessels in its neck through the thick scaly skin. The faster it bled out, the better. The drake struggled knowing that its death was near. Finally, Rose stabbed the drake. Horrendous screams and cries echoed in the crucible, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw the seraph. It was a wind seraph slightly older than Dezel.
“You…You transformed back?!” Rose panicked.
“No, I am using the last of my strength to only appear like this and thank you,” the seraph said. “It’s not easy killing someone out of mercy. But I sensed your hesitation.” He patted her head. “You’re tethered to a seraph; I can sense him. Make sure he is always safe.”
The vision ended with the body of the drake dissolving to reveal the very seraph that had just spoken drenched in his own blood. Rose didn’t know how to feel, but before she left, she fulfilled her creed and paid her respects with a silent prayer.
“May these weary bones find peaceful rest,” she solemnly whispered. And the seraph’s body disappeared into light.
The now forlorn assassin climbed out of the malevolent crucible into the sunlight that blanketed the hunting ground. She wanted to ask Sorey and Lailah what it was like when they purified their crucibles, but somehow the words couldn’t come out. She couldn’t even think how to formulate the question.
“That was quick,” Edna stated. “Did you actually fight, or did you just stand in there for a couple minutes?”
Rose opened her mouth to combat the earth seraph. Dezel threw himself at her which was more surprising than her finishing the crucible so quickly. “D-Dezel?” Rose stammered as her face turned redder than her hair. “W-Why are you hugging me!? Who are you and where’s the Dezel I know!?”
“You idiot,” he said too quietly for the others to hear. “I was reading the wind the entire time. You were being so reckless.”
“Wait, so you were actually concerned?!”
“Of course, I was concerned! If you die, where do you think that leaves me?”
As Dezel and Rose quarreled about why one was concerned and the other was reckless, the rest of the group watched them. It was unanimously decided that they operated like an old married couple. Lailah thought it was cute considering that Dezel rarely ever showed such emotion. Edna and Zaveid teased Mikleo if that was his dream one day while shifting their gazes toward the oblivious Shepherd.
“What are you talking about?” Mikleo grumbled. “S-Sorey and I…”
“I really don’t see why you were concerned,” Rose scoffed. “It’s not like I can’t protect myself. I’m the boos of the Scattered Bones, you know!”
“But one slip-up could cost you your life!” Dezel shouted.
“And how often so I make mistakes?”
“All the damn time.”
“That’s only when it comes to cooking!”
Alisha got between them. As much as she wanted to keep watching the comedy routine, she wanted to get back to Ladylake. The objective had been to waste as little time as possible, but now she had an inkling that something terrible was lying in wait for them. It had nothing to do with her being a Squire but the fact that things had been relatively quiet on both sides after the war at Glaivend Basin.
“Now that you mention it,” Sorey interjected. “We really haven’t heard much about Hyland since then aside from Forton’s plan to destroy the kingdom.”
“That’s why I’m worried,” Alisha said. “If Rolance has something that can destroy the entire Hyland kingdom, Chancellor Bartlow has to be coming up with something that will counter it. Wait a minute…”
“The Seraphoids,” Rose gasped.
Without another moment’s hesitation, the seraphim went inside their humans post-haste. Sorey led them back to Pearloats Pasture, where there was yet another crucible that couldn’t be tackled yet. They would have to come back to it. Right now, they needed to check in on Hyland.
Notes:
SorMik is my first choice OTP for Zestiria, but DezeRose banter is super fun to write!
Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think of the story so far!
Chapter 58: Phase 2: The Hidden Path to the Past
Summary:
Having the Spiritual Powers of Fire and Earth, the crew find Lamorak Cave to return to the Hyland region. Amid the debris of the Bors Ruins, they find yet another iris gem.
Notes:
Reading over this chapter again, it actually flows pretty nicely. This is also the first chapter, I think, that Ar Ciela will be used. I'm not terribly good at this language nor do I understand the constructs, but I guess it makes sense because we as humans would never even perceive maybe 80% of what is said/sung.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Past Lastonbell and deep in Volgran Forest, there was a small cave that led back to the Bors Ruins where Alisha had spoken with Maltran about the military advancements into the war. The path within Lamorak Cave, as it was dubbed, twisted and turned and was littered with zombies, scorpions, hellionized soldiers, and the occasional mimic. But it didn’t deter Sorey and Mikleo. They wanted to explore the cave, but Dezel reminded them that if they didn’t get back to Hyland as soon as possible, a lot more seraphim would be dead.
“Okay, Mr. Doom and Gloom,” Lailah wept. They had to get back as soon as possible, but the fire seraph would have preferred not to be reminded of the thousands of seraphim that didn’t have the luxury of protection by the princess.
Sorey and Mikleo pouted like small children before conceding to Dezel. Alisha was at the head of the group this time while the two grumbled and complained about not taking a break to analyze the cave. To a relatively normal person like Rose, there wasn’t much to look at besides muck and hellions which were hardly a challenge at all. The two amateur archaeologists could’t disagree more with her.
Still, the fact of the matter was that Sorey and company couldn’t stop. When they reached the Hyland mouth of the cave, they found themselves on the other side of a creek within the Bors Ruins that had previously been hidden.
“This part of the ruins is sealed off from the rest,” Lailah observed. “Looks like earthquakes and general degradation of the monuments toppled the rocks and closed off the path.”
“I can take care of it,” Edna sighed. “Batman,” she harshly said to Dezel. “Carry me across the water.”
“Why the hell should I do it?” Dezel growled.
“Because I refuse to let the stripper touch me with his sinful dirty hands.”
“That’s a low blow,” Zaveid coughed.
“Hop to it.”
Dezel reluctantly complied. If they weren’t in a hurry, he would have argued his way out. The only problem was that the earth seraph could easily rope him back in to do her bidding. Using his ability Wind Teleport that he obtained from his most recent Dive, he ushered her across the stream. Edna in turn used Giant’s Fist to break down the boulders that were in the way. Her body ached horribly once more.
Dezel returned to the other side, teleporting everyone else over before taking refuge inside of Rose. Just like Giant’s Fist, Wind Teleport took a considerable amount of energy to use, and it was directly proportional to the amount of people he had to carry. Edna followed suit and went inside Sorey for a rest.
Alisha guided them through the ruins to a spot where there was a discernable structure still standing despite centuries of erosion. Sorey begged to stop and look at it, and Lailah pleaded with her to let him sate his desire. The princess only sighed. Taking this for a positive answer, Sorey dashed over to the structure with his Celestial Record in hand. He awed at the relic from the past as he showed Mikleo every detail that matched the book.
“This is exactly the same structure!” he happily said.
“How do you think it got this way? Surely it wasn’t just weathering,” Mikleo hypothesized. He began to propose every theory he could think of.
“Are you guys done yet? Sheesh!” Rose whined.
Sorey dejectedly left the rubble. Mikleo then noticed something shining under a few of the bricks. It was round and red as blood and shined beautifully in the patched sunlight from the trees. When it was as a certain angle, there was a stripe of iridescence across its surface.
“There’s an iris gem here!” Mikleo said with surprise. “How did it get stuck here?”
Sorey joined him back on the ground, and together the two worked to pull it out of the ground that it had been pressed into. The Shepherd dug into the dirt, his fingernails blackened, and jiggled it free after Mikleo lifted the rocks.
“It’s a red one!” he excitedly said. “Lailah, Alisha, you’ve got to tell us what’s in it!” He was practically bouncing with anticipation. “You can use the Fire Armatus freely, so it should be no problem!” Then he realized that they also had one yellow iris gem. “Edna, we’ve got to look into the yellow iris gem!”
“You’re really excited about this,” Rose noted with some annoyance. She was a little envious, though, since they couldn’t read the only green iris gem they had.
Lailah and Alisha Armatized after Sorey handed the fire seraph the iris gem. Now that they could merge as one without immediately falling asleep, Lailah facilitated Alisha’s observation. The muddled images became clear, and Alisha could hear the the events; neither of them could understand the language being spoken. It wasn’t Hymmnos.
%(A)bbbbp%(Ar Cb%&Ix yllJ sssEE%)
H#(EEEjxl mNf$EE SSS w$(ll)w
Zacta kls#ab b#Ivfxxx$(
sssy tttlll j(UtQ
Lailah and Alisha de-Armatized with some confusion about what they had seen in the gem. A man wearing a form of the Shepherd’s Cloak that Sorey wore was with Lailah, and she was shaking her head at him. Then he began to walk towards something that looked like a gate. Alisha was more concerned about who it was that Lailah was declining. She started to ask, but the fire seraph looked troubled. Her face contorted with pain and regret.
“Lailah, who was that?” Alisha finally asked her.
“L-Look at all the pretty flowers! Bloom bloom bloom!” she sang happily.
“Lailah?” Sorey uttered.
“Who would have thought that the stock market crash of that year would send us all into a horrifying depression?!”
Zaveid sighed. There was no getting an answer out of her. He instead hinted to Sorey about the yellow iris gem that they had in their possession. Disheartened that they couldn’t understand what Alisha had seen due to Lailah’s unwillingness to cooperate, Sorey called on Edna to Armatize. With golden eyes bestowed onto him by the earth seraph, Sorey peered into the yellow iris gem.
On!O#dyn &fo&&g(o$O#i GGG&(i
prtxO $B(#e(lx#z
fo&&g(o$O#i GGG&(I fo&&g(o$O#i GGG&(I fo&&g(o$O#i GGG&(i
%(ce( g#u%(j)k zzz%ttt%
Sorey was horrified what he had seen. Heldalf was throwing hellions into the crucibles to breed stronger hellions, every once in a while throwing a seraph into the mix to give birth to a dragon. His heart stopped when he realized that the very crucibles and hellions involved in his nefarious plot were the same ones that they had been fighting. He breathlessly told his friends what he had seen, trembling with each word.
“Just be careful not to let hopelessness get to you,” Edna warned after she separated from him. “There’s a reason only seraphim can look into those things.”
“We’ve got to purify the crucibles,” Mikleo firmly said.
“Once we’re strong enough,” Lailah told him. Again, she grimaced.
“We can’t wait for that! If we don’t do something about them soon, a lot more people and seraphim will die!”
Zaveid rested his hand on Mikleo’s head. All of the crucibles were past Glaivend Basin, and to up and run to them now to fight endless waves of hellions to purify them was pointless. Besides, it was much easier to accomplish such a daunting task after receiving the augmentation of power that they were scheduled to pick up. The water seraph hated that they had waited so long to find out, and Sorey understood how he felt; he wanted to stop the venomization as much as he did. But the shirtless wind seraph had a point.
“Once we see how Ladylake is faring,” Alisha added. “I can’t just ignore my city. And despite leaving without notice, I’m doing all this to help them.”
“Okay, okay—but what about Porky on the Round Table?” Zaveid sighed. “He sees you, it’s right back to the dungeon for both you and Lailah, the gallows for Rose and Dezel and me, and the chopping block for Sorey, Mikleo, and Edna.”
Alisha held her tongue at the brash nature of his truth. She swore to all of them that she wouldn’t put anyone in danger. She hastily took them through the ruins back to Marlind’s entrance, which made Sorey and Mikleo wonder how the village was doing. There was no time to check now, so they would have to try and make time later.
The stone pillars that Edna had made months ago now had an extravagant bridge built on top of them. Naturally, Edna was disgusted because humans had desecrated her workd, but Alisha was angered that they had built the bridge without her supervision. Granted she had been gone for months on end, and she was sure that it was the carpenters and infrastructure workers that told Bartlow about the pillars and asked for the go-ahead to work on it. She still couldn’t stand that they had moved on without her as if she were dead and gone. She was worried that they were trafficking the seraphim with it.
“I’m going to have a serious talk—”
“Alisha, remember what Zaveid said,” Lailah cautioned. She lightly touched her hand.
The princess stomped ahead of everyone, Lailah worrying at her heels.
“Alisha…”
“How dare they ignore me! The last of the royal bloodline!”
“Alisha!”
“Lailah! Why aren’t you more concerned about this?!” She grabbed her shoulders. “Do you have any idea what this means? Bartlow is operating the city without me. He is making decisions without me.”
“He always has, Alisha.”
“But that’s not the problem.”
Rose had never seen Alisha get so upset over a title. She wanted to stop her, but Dezel held her back. Leaning in close to her ear, he told her not to get involved. “Alisha doesn’t interfere with us. Let her and Lailah sort it out themselves,” he said.
Sorey and Mikleo felt bad for Lailah, but Edna was intrigued. It had been a while since any conflict had happened, and it was a first to see Alisha so frazzled.
“We can do something, but we can’t do anything now,” Lailah tried to calm her. “My princess, we have so many other bigger things to see about. Mikleo’s water trial, Lady Shurelia in the Tower, the IPDs, Heldalf—surely you can ignore this little tryst.”
“If Bartlow cements his control in the city—if he makes decisions, he can very well say that I’m already dead and delegitimize me if I come back to Ladylake!” Alisha huffed. “We need to stop this now! If he has his way, the seraphim will…!”
“Lady Alisha?” a voice called out timidly. The princess turned around to find a soldier standing by the bridgepost. When he confirmed that it was Alisha, he suddenly became happier. “Lady Alisha! Oh, Lady Alisha! I’m so glad to see you!” He saluted her. “You’d gone missing for so long. The Chancellor said you were taken as prisoner by the Rolance Empire.”
Alisha looked at Lailah.
“How did this bridge come to be here?” Alisha asked him with the poise of the princess she was. The soldier, oblivious to her question, noticed that her attire was different. “I asked you a question.”
“The Chancellor said that it was imperative that we have a bridge to crossed into Glaivend Basin and then into Rolance territory. But with the blockades still up in the Basin, it’s currently impossible to do so anyway. We were expecting to launch a surprise attack on Rolance then invade Pendrago after taking Lastonbell. Princess, why are you wearing the clothes of a commoner?”
“C-Commoner!?” Rose sputtered. Dezel placed his hand over her mouth.
“That is of no importance. Where is Bartlow?” Alisha’s tone was uncharacteristically sharp. Bartlow had gone to the Basin to assess the damages to the new army. Replenishing the fallen was difficult when most soldiers were husks of failed Seraphoids. “And Lady Maltran?”
“Maltran is on her way to a ruin that has been located within a waterfall,” the soldier told her. “They believe that there may be more seraphim inside, and they want to apprehend them to increase our forces.”
Sorey whispered to Mikleo—that was the water trial, no doubt about it.
“O-Oh, um, I know that you have a special agreement that protects Lady Lailah, but what should I do about those four? Could it be that you were bringing them here to be part of the project? Lady Alisha, I thought you wanted to save seraphim.” The soldier turned his head to them in confusion.
Dezel suddenly lassoed him with his pendulum while Edna approached him with a sinister look on her face. “Do you think we’re weak enough to let three meager humans overpower us?” she laughed. “You humans are dumber than I thought.”
“If you squeal about us, I’m strangling you and stringing you up in that tree,” Dezel threatened as he motioned to a nearby tree at the bank of the river. “Might want to consider keeping your trap shut.”
“G-Guys, isn’t that unnecessary?” Rose nervously asked.
“I-I won’t tell! But Princess, you have a way of hiding them, don’t you? If the Chancellor sees them, even Lailah…”
The seraphim at once went inside of their human vessels, and the soldier was released from Dezel’s pendulums. Alisha promised him a promotion as long as he stayed quiet. Without another word, she headed through the hillside into Lakehaven Heights. Ladylake sat on the horizon on the great lake that was its namesake with a dark haze covering it.
Sorey fell to his knees while Rose made herself rigid and braced herself. Alisha stood tall; the sickening malevolence pouring out of the city more than before couldn’t break her down. She repeated that mantra in her head.
“It’s gotten worse…” Sorey wheezed. He fought back the nausea that came in waves, but his body felt like it was being crushed by a boulder. “What…has he done…?”
“It’s not Bartlow’s doing,” Dezel said. “He’s been assessing the casualities, right? That means the city is running amok.”
“Alisha, we really should—” Lailah started.
“I want to at least check home,” Alisha gravely said. Lailah said no more. She only supported her princess’s wish.
Notes:
So I have a friend that really likes Alisha in Rose's merchant costume. I'm slowly gathering my materials to make the audio version of this fanfiction, and I've decided to also include art. So there's going to be that.
Chapter 59: Phase 2: City State
Summary:
On the way to the next trial, Alisha asks to stop in Ladylake.
Notes:
So, at first, I thought this chapter was unnecessary. Then I remember that I never do anything unnecessary. Setting the stage for what's to come is always important!
Please leave a comment! Comments make me happy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ladylake was overflowing with malevolence to a point where Sorey and Rose could no longer bear to walk through it without feeling dysphoria. Once they entered through the city gate, their seraphim begged Alisha to help them to the inn. It wasn’t easy for her, however, because people and seraphim alike recognized her. She was met with contempt, hateful eyes watching her every move.
Rose was capable of carrying herself to the inn. In contrast, Sorey felt triple the effect of the malevolence with three seraphim inside of him and could barely stay conscious. Alisha requested a room for her friends, locking them in there and taking the key with her in case anyone tried to steal their seraphim while they were incapacitated.
The seraphim within the Shepherd and the assassin came out to tend to them after they fell onto their beds. Mikleo made blocks of ice for their fevers while Dezel searched for rags that the inn workers wouldn’t miss to wash Rose’s face. Zaveid did the same for Sorey.
“The malevolence has gotten worse,” Edna confirmed as she peeked out the window at the street. “The old man has probably being doing things at the expense of the seraphim, and their despair seems to have raised some awareness.”
“What makes you say that?” Zaveid asked. He removed the Shepherd’s cloak from Sorey in an attempt to help cool him down at Mikleo’s behest.
“There’s not as much greed but exponentially more despair coming from the humans. Did they learn about the project?”
“That can’t be,” Mikleo said. “If that were the case, Ladylake would just be a pile of rubble by now!”
“Someone is stirring the pot,” Dezel concluded. He delicately peeled Rose’s jacket off of her then put it at the foot of her bed.
Rose and Sorey had soon fallen asleep. Their breathing was labored, and they felt hot to the touch even after Mikleo placed ice on them. The former seemed to be having a nightmare which prompted the blind wind seraph to comfort her. He carefully lifted her up, sat where she was laying with his back against the headboard, and placed her gingerly into his lap. Edna and Zaveid watched him as he adjusted her head on his chest, speechless at the kind motion.
“So when are you going to confess?” Edna asked teasingly.
“What are you talking about?” Dezel growled at her.
“You really gotta ask?” Zaveid joined.
“Stop it,” Mikleo curtly chastised. He sat next to Sorey on the bed before loosening the buttons at his neck.
Dezel cradled Rose’s cheek to check her temperature again. Every once in a while, when she was younger, she would get nightmares. He came to find out that Mayvin picked her up after she was found in some wreckage after a raid. He took her to the Sparrowfeathers, and she was promptly adopted by the leader Brad. He treated her like his own daughter. “But even with all that love and care and the occasional visits from Mayvin to brighten her day, she was still plagued by those visions. She just stayed up all night when she woke from them. When she found me and forced me to stay, I found myself comforting her.”
Mikleo smiled. He didn’t think he could be so caring—well, no one did. “It’s like when Sorey and I used to sleep together as kids,” he reminisced. “If one of us had a nightmare, the other would snuggle up and talk about how we would fight them. When we got older, we would just convene in Sorey’s house and read the Celestial Record until we fell asleep.”
Edna twirled her umbrella on her shoulder. “Ugh, both of you make me sick,” she complained.
“Sick? I’m bored,” Zaveid sighed. “Nothing juicy. Everyone here is mature enough to have fun!”
“Unlike you, I don’t treat Rose like some poster girl,” Dezel retorted.
“Maybe you don’t, but you’d think you would do something by now! Look at Alisha and Lailah!”
“Ugh, can you just be quiet?” Mikleo almost pleaded yet made an effort to hide his face by turning it away. “Sorey and Rose don’t need to hear any of this.”
---------------------------------------
The sun was setting on Ladylake, cloaking the entire city in a hazy red glow. The clouds above were trimmed with gold. Had it been any other day, Alisha would have loved to watch them with Lailah. Sadly, they had no time and no peace of mind for the world was crumbling away.
After enduring the taunts and calls of her people, Alisha entered her manor with Lailah clutching her arm. Nothing had changed inside since they had met Sorey. The only thing that had developed was a fine layer of dust on the porcelain decorations.
“Alisha, don’t you miss the old days?” Lailah asked. “When we lived in blissful ignorance?”
“I do,” she replied. “But we were fools.” She glanced over all of the knickknacks that reminded her of her powerlessness. “If only we knew how terrible everything was, no one would be suffering. We tried so hard to ignore what was happening into our own city; we learned what was happening in Rolance, and only now realized that it’s just as bad as here.”
Lailah pulled her into her arms. Kissing her cheeks, she listened to Alisha’s quiet sobs. There was nothing they could do at the time. They were two caged birds of a feather. They were always being watched by Bartlow or Maltran or random knights. But they had escaped, and together with Sorey and Rose, they were trying to right the many wrongs in the world.
“Lady Alisha?” one of the maids in the manor quietly uttered. “You’re back!” The princess turned to greet her maid whom couldn’t hold her tears back. “Oh, I’m so happy! When you disappeared, we thought Bartlow had done something to you!” She looked her over. “My princess, where is your family’s armor? That must be what that package was!” She ran upstairs for a few minutes then came back down with a large, tightly-wrapped parcel. “The Sparrowfeathers stopped by and left this at the terrace.”
“It’s your armor!” Lailah happily said.
Alisha took the parcel from her maid only to set it down on the floor next to her. She couldn’t wear it. Not after all that she had seen. It was no longer a matter of people in Rolance recognizing her. She would wait until she brought honor back to Ladylake before wearing her family crest on her back.
“Pardon me, my princess, but you’ve become so mature and, dare I say, cool!” the maid giddily cheered. “There was something else with that package.” She held up an orb as purple as amethyst. “It was so beautiful that I thought the Sparrowfeathers had made a mistake. Surely this belongs in a museum or in possession of a wealthy lord.”
Alisha snatched the purple iris gem. Without a doubt, Mikleo was the one to read it, which would be soon when they completed his trial. “Thank you so much for keeping this!” Alisha told her.
“Y-You’re welcome,” the maid shyly responded. “Are you leaving again?”
“Yes, I must. Please don’t tell anyone that I was here. My friends are in pain right now, and the longer we stay in this city, the worse they get.”
“I understand. And one more thing before you leave, I think it’s important to know that whatever Bartlow had been doing has been suspended for the time being. The seraphim in the region have suddenly lost their ability to sing. He—”
Alisha remembered the Tower’s state. Shurelia was sleeping, and the server within Eolia had been shut down to seal Mir. Perhaps there was some good in it; if the seraphim couldn’t sing, then Bartlow couldn’t torture them. The princess thanked her maid once more. After she left the manor and returned to the inn to receive Sorey and Rose, she told them the good news.
“So we have a little more time,” Zaveid mumbled. He still wanted to see how Shurelia’s unconscious body was faring even if it meant the trial would have to wait a little longer. Mikleo swallowed his disappointment.
After waiting for nightfall, the shirtless wind seraph helped Sorey out of the city along with the others. The farther they went from Ladylake, the better the humans felt. By the time they got to the foot of the Tower in front of the one of the Dividing Gates, Sorey was back on his own feet. He still felt groggy, but it was better than being unconscious in a hotel room.
“I’m gonna go check on her,” Zaveid suddenly said.
“We can’t come along?” Sorey asked him. “We’re helping her, too.”
The exile was hesitant. Shurelia gave him the authorization to be there in her absence; everyone else was simply an intruder like the thousands of hellions that had stormed the place. He trusted them enough, but he remembered that Symonne and Mir had broken in. Symonne could be anywhere lying in wait.
“Alright, Shepherd, you’re coming with me. Everyone else needs to stay down here.”
Sorey went forward then looked back at Mikleo, who was anxious to go to the shrine of water. There were no words that could calm him, and he had to accept that checking on Shurelia was something that he had to do as the Shepherd.
“Are we climbing the whole way up?” Sorey innocently asked.
“Ha, like we have time for that. Hang on,” Zaveid laughed. He grabbed him by the waist—something that irked Mikleo—and shot up into the air. The others could hear their Shepherd’s screams grow silent as he ascended like a rocket high above the trees. “Ride of your life, right?” They ended up by the Crescent Chronicle, and Zaveid prepared for another jump. “Ready?”
“Only slightly,” Sorey dizzily replied.
After another wind-powered leap that placed them at the Observatory, Sorey had the sweet relief of climbing the rest of the way. He didn’t think that flying at the speed of sound would be so scary, and he was thankful he would haven’t to experience that ever again. Until he remembered that they had to get back down.
“Why couldn’t Edna come with us…?” he asked with terror.
“You really think she’d be safer than me? She’s a rock.” He roughly patted his back. “You’d fall a lot faster and die.”
Once they reached the Rinkernator, Zaveid suddenly lost his fun-loving demeanor for a solemn guilty one. Shurelia was laying where she would normally stand. Her body seemed so lifeless that Sorey had thought she died in her fight against Mir. He saw how hurt Zaveid was—he was unable to protect her from the Virus. He knelt beside the body.
“Lady Shurelia, don’t worry. Once we obtain the rest of the spiritual powers, we can save you and the rest of the world. We’ll defeat Mir and Heldalf; I promise,” Sorey prayed to her.
Zaveid sat by his side in silence. He blamed himself, and Sorey knew that he was afraid that the others would eventually tell him to leave because of it; they would blame him for the mess that had taken Hyland. He waited for the wind seraph to say when he was ready to leave. In that silent moment, he appeared to be making a promise with her.
The two returned to the bottom only to find that Mikleo, Rose, and Dezel had gone missing. According to Alisha, the water seraph fell into a trance and left them for Kylfe. Rose and Dezel had volunteered to go on ahead. Lailah had a bad feeling about letting them go, yet she didn’t want to leave her princess all by herself.
“There must be a disturbance over there,” she said.
“We need to go after them!” Sorey somewhat panicked. Why would Mikleo fall into a trance when the only thing that could do it was Eolia? Not only that, he was vulnerable now!
Edna and Zaveid went inside of him, and Lailah went inside Alisha. “What if it’s a trap?” he whispered after thinking for a bit albeit still desperate to find him.
“Relax,” Edna told him. “It’s most likely an iris gem that’s calling him. He’s got a strange sensitivity for them. And with Eolia and the trial near this area, it probably amplified it.”
Sorey and Alisha headed to the abandoned village where they had first been separated. The three of them were not among the burnt remains of Kylfe, which made the brunet feel sick. He looked down the path uneasily and anxiously where he saw the silhouettes of Rose and Dezel carrying Mikleo. Without a moment to waste, he regrouped with them. In the distance behind them, Alisha who followed behind saw the familiar blue banners carrying her family crest.
Notes:
There may be no update next Sunday depending on how exhausted I am from my graduate exam and DnD. But I hope that you will continue to read--whether to catch up or to start the fic anew--because you don't want to miss out!
Please leave a comment! They make me so happy!
Chapter 60: Phase 2: A Water Seraph's Thirst is Never Quenched
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 6: Mikleo
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Chapter Text
“Put your souls into it!” Maltran ordered. She watched her men comb the area for any way to enter the ruin inside the wall of water. When one squadron returned to tell her they had found nothing, she sent another squadron to scan the same area. “We need to find the entrance quickly.”
Down the road, Sorey waited for Mikleo to wake up. Dezel had knocked him out, but he had also left a nasty bruise on his neck. Of course, the blind seraph apologized, and he was forgiven. A few more minutes passed.
“Where am I?” Mikleo dazedly asked after regaining his bearings. “Sorey? What’s wrong? You look upset?”
“He has every right to be!” Rose miffed. Hands on her hips, she had assumed a motherly stance. “You just wandered off on your own suddenly. Remember that we’re in enemy territory!”
“To be fair, everywhere is enemy territory,” Dezel added as an aside. Rose elbowed him.
Mikleo didn’t have any memory of walking away from them. When he came to, he was lying in Sorey’s arms which wasn’t a bad place to end up mysteriously in his mind. He sat up. He did remember a strange calling—the Shrine of the Water Trial was near. Alisha knew that where her banners were was where they needed to be, but the water seraph also had to complete his Dive before entering the shrine, and attempting to do it anywhere near the Hyland army was a death wish.
“Let’s head back to Kylfe,” she suggested. “Mikleo and Sorey can Dive there, and we can stay hidden from the army until we’re ready to show ourselves.”
“That’s a risky plan,” Dezel told her. “When we passed there to catch Mikleo, there was an abnormal amount of malevolence coming from there.”
“Will it be safe?” Sorey asked her. Mikleo shuddered at the memory of what had happened in Kylfe before.
“We’ve got more friends now, so I think we can protect you if need be,” Alisha vowed.
Sorey looked up at the Hyland banners on the hill then back in the direction of Kylfe. The Hyland soldiers still weren’t aware of their presence, but the strange malevolence in the abandoned village unnerved him. There was no other choice. If they stayed out in the open, either hellions in the area or the soldiers would find them eventually.
They followed Alisha to the village where they took refuge in one of the buildings that was still standing. Edna and Zaveid stood guard by Sorey and Mikleo while Rose, Dezel, Alisha, and Lailah patrolled the village. As Sorey and Mikleo found a cozy spot to initiate the Dive, the latter suddenly froze.
Sorey was going to see the truest and ugliest feelings he had. He had already seen Edna’s, and while he didn’t know the exact nature of her Dive, he knew that it had nearly killed him. He was able to connect with her, but at what cost? And Edna didn’t have that sort of relationship with the Shepherd like he did. He was sure nothing embarrassing had happened, or maybe Sorey was just too inept to understand such implications; however, the two boys had grown up together. Mikleo’s feelings had matured and blossomed into a genuine love and wish to care for him, and he didn’t deny that there were darker and impure feelings as well. He kept them secret most of the time. Now, he realized, everything was going to lie bear. Mikleo’s heart was either going to be the open book that Sorey would love to read or come to hate.
“I-I can’t,” the water seraph said.
“Huh?” Sorey uttered.
“I thought I could, but I can’t. I can’t Dive! I don’t want to Dive!”
“M-Mikleo, we have to to get the—”
“I can’t stand the thought of you seeing everything! I just can’t!”
Edna looked back over her shoulder at the water seraph. He raced out of the building and around behind it. He hid from Rose and Alisha and their seraphim and clutched his hair in his fists. Tears fell from his cheeks. He used his Spectral Cloak to hide himself.
Sorey soon followed him out. “Mikleo, there’s nothing to be scared of!” he called to the ruined village. Alisha and Rose didn’t get involved. “I’m not going to judge you! I’ve known you longer than anyone else here! And you know I love you!”
“That’s not the problem,” Mikleo whispered to himself.
The Spectral Cloak wore off just as a ragged ghostly form appeared in front of him. It had no face. It was a physical manifestation of malevolence known as a Phantom.
“Mikleo, run!” Lailah called out to him. She set the phantom hellion on fire with just a snap. “Even if you don’t want to Dive, at least get back inside! We’ll take care of the threat out here!”
Sorey didn’t let Mikleo decide whether or not to go inside. He rounded the side of the building, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him back to safety. Inside, Edna and Zaveid built a fortification in front of the doors backed with wind.
“Get that Dive underway so we can help the girls out,” Zaveid told them rather forcefully.
Outside Alisha, Rose, Dezel, and Lailah fought against three phantom hellions borne from the vengeful spirits of those who died in Kylfe. They could cast spells on par with Lailah’s Artes, which put them at a disadvantage. Lailah’s new Armatization with Alisha offered protection, but because Dezel couldn’t Armatize with Rose, she was vulnerable to them—especially if they tried to possess her.
“Fethmus Mioma!” Alisha cried out, dawning the Armatus with the elegance that her title carried.
“Rose, stay close to me,” Dezel warned his partner. He concentrated on an Arte while Rose searched for an opening among the Phantoms. “Radiant Heat!”
Sorey heard the battle from inside the building, and he pulled Mikleo close to him. Their chests pressed together, their hearts beating in sync, he asked for his water seraph’s trust once both of them had calmed down from the sudden ambush. He tenderly kissed him as he intertwined his fingers into his, breathing on his lips:
“It’s okay. I’m prepared for anything and everything your heart wants to do to me.”
“Okay,” Mikleo reluctantly whispered.
“Luzrov Rulay,” Sorey went on, feeling Mikleo fall into him as they Armatized. He felt the coolness of his body inside himself before he fell asleep.
--------------------------------
Sorey entered the shared soul space where Mikleo had a starkly different demeanor than in reality. He was glaring at him, and he was sure that he had done something to upset him.
“You’re cruel, Sorey,” he told him, a certain sweetness still evident in his voice. “Manipulating me with honeyed words and gestures that suggest unconditional love. Are you sure that you can deliver on your promise?”
“I meant what I said, Mikleo,” Sorey determinedly said. “Have I ever betrayed your trust?” Mikleo kept his arms crossed over his chest, barring the way for Sorey to enter the soul space. Sorey approached him and took his hand. He pressed his lips to the top of it. “I’ll be as gentle as I possibly can be.”
The water seraph couldn’t reject him after that. He allowed him to enter into the soul space, but there was still an underlying fear that the persona on the sixth level would try to kill him.
--------------------------------
Gaine had been waiting for the Shepherd at the Stonehenge with a sly smirk on its face. The world looked like the courtyard of a school that led into what appeared to be an onsen resort, yet the vibe that was radiating from it felt more promiscuous than what he was expecting.
“You finally made it level six,” the Normin snickered. “Man, are you in for a ride! It’s no wonder Mikleo tried to stop you from seeing this. Can you feel it? Can you feel how thirsty he is?”
Sorey didn’t really understand what the Mind Guardian was getting at nor did he want to know for fear of polluting the purpose he was there and his promise to his water seraph. Though he had to admit that he was surprised that such a place existed in Mikleo’s mind. It was so ornate and elaborate even though neither of them had been to such a place.
“By the way,” Gaine spoke. “Since Mikleo’s thoughts and desires are completely unadulterated here, I won’t be able to help you.” It was the same as Edna’s cosmosphere. “On top of that, this begins the real test. How well will your ‘love’ hold up under the pressures of lust? All I can do is wish you good luck.”
“Lust?” Sorey repeated. Were seraphim capable of feeling that?
He made his way to the courtyard, and there he found Mikleo dressed in a plaid school uniform. He was staring at the resort when the Shepherd greeted him.
“Oh, Sorey, I’ve been looking for you,” he said with a soft and casual smile. His hair was parted to the left and he wore black-framed glasses. “I was wondering, do you want to stay at the resort today? I heard that they have really good food there.”
“Uh, sure, I don’t mind,” he replied happily. Something felt off. He seemed very relaxed...too relaxed.
“I’m glad.” Suddenly, he encased him in a block of ice, and Sorey’s thoughts, feelings, and sensations all shut down; he was unconscious.
Mikleo smiled evilly at the block of ice holding his dearest Shepherd. He used his magic to move him to the resort.
Sorey woke up in one of the pleasure rooms of the resort, and he was tied to the bedposts by his wrists and blindfolded. Somewhat dazed, he tried to pull himself free only to tighten the ropes. He began to panic somewhat upon realizing that his ankles had been tied as well. His cloak was tossed on the floor like garbage, and his shirt lay open. His chest was bare.
“M-Mikleo?” he nervously said to the empty room. “How the hell did I get here? Why am I tied to the bed? Mikleo, where are you?”
There was no answer. None from outside the door. None from the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom.
“Mikleo!”
“You can’t wait anymore?” Mikleo’s voice inquired laden with lust. “I guess of the two of us, it would make sense that you would want it more. Well, I shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss seraphim from feeling that urge. Not when I’ve been feeling it for years.”
The water seraph wore nothing but a small towel around his hips that was just long enough to cover any intimate parts. He was soaked with water as if he had just had a bath. He climbed on top of Sorey, straddling him and leaning forward to pull the blindfold from his face. Sorey was speechless—he had seen Mikleo naked plenty of times in reality and in the shared soul space, but there was something pleasantly different about seeing him now. If only he weren’t so worried about him, he would have indulged except that wasn’t the reason he was there.
“W-What are you—Where are your clothes?” Sorey gulped. “You’ll catch a cold like that!” He averted his eyes from Mikleo’s pale chest. He couldn’t give into him. “Anyway, can you untie me? The ropes are really uncomfortable, and I really want to pick up the Shepherd’s Cloak from the floor.”
“Come on, Sorey,” Mikleo purred. “Can’t you forget about being a Shepherd for tonight? It’s annoying when we can’t be alone, and we’ve finally got some time to ourselves; let’s use it.”
Sorey’s face was flushed, but he wouldn’t let this persona manipulate him. He helplessly stole another peek at him. After they had accomplished their goal, they could do whatever they wanted to each other, and Sorey felt they were still too naïve about each other’s feelings anyway. His heart yearned for him, but he had his duty to do as Shepherd. Yes, that was his anchor.
Mikleo pouted before hoisting himself up and hovering over Sorey on his slender arms. His face was only centimeters from his face, their lips so close to brushing against each other. The water seraph looked so pitiful and needy that Sorey had to will himself not to break down.
“Sorey, I’ve waited so long for this,” Mikleo desperately told him. “Do you how much my body burns for your love? Don’t you know how torturous it is to see you with anyone else? That’s why you’re tied up. I won’t let you go; I’ll keep you tied up here forever so we can stay together. I’ll never wake up, and we’ll be in this pleasurable fantasy for however long we can be. I’ll never let you go.”
Sorey was horrified that this was Mikleo’s true feelings. “Mikleo, this isn’t right!” he scolded. “If we don’t wake up, I’ll die! Do you want that?”
“Your soul will just assimilate into mine.”
Sorey thought again.
“This isn’t what our relationship is based on!”
“So you don’t want my body? You don’t want me?”
“T-That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s okay. You’ll learn to like this.”
“No! I mean, our relationship…isn’t ready for this step. W-We’re still…we don’t have to rush into anything like this.”
Mikleo sat back on his legs as he pulled some sort of device that seemed like ancient seraphic technology from under the bedsheets. He pressed it into his neck, and for a moment, Sorey felt an electric current surge through his body. He yelped in pain.
“What the hell?” he coughed.
“It’ll take some training, but I promise everything will be better if we both just stay here,” Mikleo smiled alluringly. He pressed the device into his neck again.
Sorey cried out in pain while Mikleo seemed to tremble hearing his voice. Mikleo kept shocking him in small bursts until his human eventually passed out. The water seraph seemed agitated with himself that he had pushed his lover too far. But it was only for a short time before he would come to again.
When Sorey woke up, Mikleo was gone. It was as if he had just disappeared, or perhaps time had passed and he grew bored waiting for him to wake up. He lay in silence, his limbs still bound to the bedposts like he was a doll. Gaine couldn’t help him—not that it would. He was just stuck there in isolation.
“You seem to be in quite the predicament,” Mikleo said. Sorey turned to find it was the angelic Mikleo standing in the corner of the room. He seemed to have just arrived from his level and was positively disgusted by the setting. “What a selfish brat. You need to hurry up and get to my level.”
“Why, so you can torture me, too?”
Angel Mikleo cut the ropes. “You need to get to my level to solve this mess. This persona is the truest and ugliest feelings. It’s the most toxic level.”
Sorey hesitated. He couldn’t just leave the sixth level, and he couldn’t abandon the persona that belonged to it just because he was scared and turned off. On the other hand, this lustful Mikleo was so sure that he would stay that he refused to even let him return to reality.
“What do I have to do?” Sorey asked.
“We have to force Mikleo to have a Paradigm Shift, but because the Mikleo of this level won’t rectify his thinking, we’ll have to trap him in a paradox loop—a continuous cycle of contradicting thoughts.”
It sounded painful, and Sorey didn’t know if he should go along with the plan. Angel Mikleo insisted it was the only way to move on. The only real danger that it posed with a complete collapse of the sixth level. If the level collapsed, then the real Mikleo would be in danger.
“I know you’re worried, but this is the only way,” Angel Mikleo told him. There was a moment of silence. He wanted Sorey to make peace with the decision.
“Let’s go to the Stonehenge,” he suggested. “If we start the paradox there, then we can easily escape.”
“It’ll be easier to push him through the Paradigm Shift, too. Shepherd Sorey, let us be on our way.”
As Angel Mikleo led the way out of the resort, Sorey’s heart skipped a beat. If the lustful Mikleo was the side that desperately wanted to indulge in the vices of love, then the angelic Mikleo was the side that wanted to keep him in line. It was the quality he had loved since they had first learned what love was.
When the two of them arrived at the Stonehenge, they found the lustful Mikleo standing there. Sorey was surprised that he was already there, and he was still only wearing that towel. He looked distraught. His eyes were reddening like he was going to burst into tears.
“Please…don’t leave!” the lustful Mikleo begged him. “Please, Sorey! I can’t let you leave!”
Sorey walked before Angel Mikleo. “I’m sorry, Mikleo, but I have to go.”
“If I let you go, you’ll never come back! You’ll leave me for someone else, and I can’t stand that thought. I want to be with you, by your side, forever…”
Sorey took another step forward. “Mikleo, I would never leave you. I want to protect you. Trust me.”
The lustful Mikleo softened. He agreed to trust him. “So let’s go back to the resort and enjoy ourselves and stay forever,” he remarkably innocently said.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“So you are going to leave. How dare you lie to me!”
“I’m not lying!”
The Angel Mikleo took the stage with more than just annoyance. “Come now, you need to have a Paradigm Shift and end this foolishness,” he sternly said.
“Who the hell are you? And why are you with my Sorey?!” the lustful Mikleo angrily asked.
“Huh, so personas can be jealous of each other. How pathetic.”
“Sorey, who is this? I thought you said you wouldn’t leave me!”
Sorey was more confused than ever. Mikleo believed Sorey would never leave him yet believed that he was lying and that he was already with someone else. The paradox loop was forming before his very eyes, but it left him feeling the pain and betrayal that the lustful persona was feeling. The frustration grew more evident on Mikleo’s face as time passed.
“Mikleo, I want nothing more than to stay with you forever, but I can’t do that when you’re like this,” Sorey tried to explain. “You have to trust that I will come back to you.”
“No!” the lustful Mikleo screamed. “Don’t leave!”
At that moment, the light of the Paradigm Shift burst forth from the Stonehenge. Angel Mikleo grabbed the flustered persona, forcing him towards the light. That was their window of opportunity, and they couldn’t afford to waste it. No matter how much the lustful Mikleo screamed and kicked and pushed back from the light, the angelic Mikleo fought him. Sorey was beckoned to help, and while he hated to see Mikleo in any sense so upset, he knew that it had to be done.
The lustful Mikleo used his arms and legs to push away from the circle that would take them to the next level, and the angelic Mikleo had no choice but to hit him. “Sorey, I need your help now!” he said with frustration.
“No, I don’t want to go! I want to stay here! I’ve never done anything wrong! All I wanted was Sorey to stay with me! Please, Sorey, help me!” the lustful Mikleo cried almost incoherently. “I-I promise, I’ll be good! We’ll take things slow so you can get used to it!”
Sorey held his breath. If he ever betrayed Mikleo or thought of doing it, it was that moment in which he pushed him through to the next level. The angelic Mikleo followed without a word to him as the lustful Mikleo screamed in agony.
---------------------------------
Mikleo held onto Sorey’s hand. Guilt was written all over his face. When Sorey woke up, his surroundings were registered one thing at a time. First it was the sounds of cheers and laughter presumably coming from Rose, Alisha, and Lailah. Then it was the disappointed and disgruntled sighs from Edna and Zaveid. Then it was Mikleo’s embarrassed and hurt amethyst eyes and refusal to speak.
“Are you okay?” Sorey asked with a certain degree of concern. He thought that if he coddled him after the Dive too much, it would make the next level harder. Mikleo seemed to have changed somewhat, or perhaps watching the Dive take place, he was filled with regret. “Mikleo? Say something. You can talk to me.”
“Let’s just go,” he responded quietly.
He stood up, walked past the other seraphim that he shared Sorey with, and left the building. Sorey was beside himself, and Edna—normally blasé about such affairs—reminded him that it was only part of the process. After all, she and Lailah were the same way after their Dives. But this Dive was different. A rift had opened between him and the water seraph like in the past, but it teetered between reparable and irreparable. If it was the latter, Sorey and Mikleo wouldn’t be able to acquire the Armatus. Was it wrong to force him through the Paradigm Shift? He would have to wait until the next Dive even though his heart ached with the thought that he had actually hurt the one he loved.
Notes:
I really like writing characters that are ashamed or embarrassed and overreact about it!
Please leave a comment! Comments make me super happy!
Chapter 61: Phase 2: Melody of Water is the Guide through Spiritual Mist
Summary:
Like Edna and Lailah, Mikleo battles with the idea that Sorey now knows what he wants. Can he and Sorey make up before they reach the altar?
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
Ahhh, accidentally skipped last week~ But hey, this one is fun. New Song overall. I wish I could ask the Nico Nico Singer Re: to sing for me, but language barrier and I don't know if he sings still. But his voice would be perfect for Mikleo...
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mikleo walked farther ahead of the group than Sorey would have liked him to. He didn’t understand why he was embarrassed. He knew that he had seen Edna’s feelings even though hers weren’t as needy as the personification that was the lustful water seraph. When they got close enough to the Hyland army, Sorey ordered Mikleo to stay still behind one of the rocks leading into the small pond. The other seraphim took it as a warning to go inside to safety. The water seraph didn’t move.
“Mikleo, you need to go inside for a few minutes until Maltran leaves,” Sorey whispered to him. His beloved didn’t say anything but obeyed him nonetheless. “What’s gotten into him?”
Rose nudged Sorey with her elbow as Maltran made her way to them. Her harsh glare made the seraphim tense within their vessels. Sorey, Rose, and especially Alisha were undeterred by her. They hadn’t forgotten when she threatened to kill her princess.
“Lady Alisha, you’ve returned to Hyland,” Maltran stated. There was little to no hostility in her voice, making them wary of her. “Are you not afraid what Chancellor Bartlow intends to do to you if he learns of your presence here?”
“As princess of the Hyland Kingdom, I wanted to see how my city is faring in my absence,” Alisha replied as dignified as the Blue Valkyrie. “Tell me, what has happened? The bridge had been repaired, which is good. The people, however, have changed.”
Maltran seemed to have verified that Alisha had seen the same things she did. The despair that the seraphim had detected was the product of the protests in the streets. Maltran didn’t say that the people found out about the Seraphoid Project, but their inability to sing meant they wouldn’t give results. If there was a sudden stop in rounding them up, then the people would put the pieces together. It was all just conjecture, something which Alisha couldn’t prove was the case. Even if she did, her argument would be shot down by the other council members.
“What are you doing over here?” the princess asked. She lowered her guard slightly to make Maltran more cooperative.
“There is a ruin behind that waterfall, and we intend to seize whatever we find in there.”
“I see. I don’t intend to fight you or change your mind, but as your princess, I ask that you leave this area. It is a sacred ground to the Shepherd.”
“Hmph, of course it is. My men are but buffoons who are unable to find a way in. We are merely burning daylight.”
Maltran rounded up her squadrons, leading them back to Ladylake. For a brief moment, she looked back at Alisha, a glint of annoyance in her eyes. It didn’t shake her.
“Wow, Alisha, you were so cool!” Sorey cooed. “Maltran actually ran away!”
“Yeah, total power plays all the way!” Rose celebrated.
“I doubt she’ll just leave us be,” Lailah accused.
“Well, this trial isn’t going to complete itself,” Sorey said with a false happiness. Mikleo immediately stepped out of his body. He stood some paces away from Sorey, and when Zaveid and Edna came out after him, the former placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m…I’m okay, really.” The Shepherd still smiled albeit there was sadness in it.
Edna pulled Mikleo close enough to everyone before Dezel and Zaveid used Wind Teleport to carry them to a ledge that disappeared into the waterfall. The water symbol decorated the stone door deeper into the small alcove leading to their destination. It was damp from the waterfall’s mist, and some moss had started growing, giving it something of a tranquil and undisturbed look.
Sorey pushed open the door to Lefay, Shrine of the Water Trial to find a simple spring in the center of a narrow walkway. Water as clear as crystal glistened on either side of the pathway. After taking the first step toward the spring, the Shepherd met the guardian of the shrine.
“Hello, Shepherd,” the guardian seraph greeted. He sounded almost emotionless, his face obscured by a golden mask like the previous guardian. “I have been awaiting your arrival. My name is Altul, and I will be overseeing your trial.”
“Wow, he’s way stiffer than the seraph at Morgause,” Rose laughed.
“Pawan rarely takes his job seriously; I would appreciate if you made no mention of him here.” Altul turned to Sorey. “Gentle Shepherd, listen to my warning. Surely, you are aware that Eolia has shut down. As a result, seraphim in this region are unable to sing; however, given the nature of this place, your water seraph will be able to sing to acquire the spiritual power of water and thus the Armatus. Your trial is to quell the hellion known as Asura.”
“Same task as the last one,” Edna sighed. “Boring.”
“You must quell Asura once you have learned how he came to be a hellion. After that, you must return here to receive your spoils. Are you ready?”
Sorey looked at Mikleo, who still refused to make eye contact with him. “I—”
“We’re ready,” the water seraph bluntly told the guardian. Altul nodded at him then disappeared.
“M-Mikleo…”
“We have to complete the trial as quickly as we can.”
The seraphim except Mikleo went into their respective owners, and Rose and Alisha made an effort to give them the space they needed to talk. They followed Sorey who followed Mikleo into the next room which was a short hall lined with peculiar statues with giant turquoise eyes. On the ground, the eyes had been carved into the stone.
“I see,” Mikleo mumbled.
“W-What do you see? Ah, get it? Because they have eyes everywhere!” Sorey uncomfortably joked.
“Ugh, I could have told that joke much better!” Lailah fussed. “But…the punchline was very good…”
Mikleo activated his Spectral Cloak, walking past the statues to a door at the end of the hall. Sorey reached out to him, and his arm crossed into the first statue’s field of vision. Instantly, the four of them were engulfed in spheres of swirling water. They then found themselves back at the altar. Mikleo was upset, but he knew that it would happen. In his effort to be alone, he had accepted that Sorey could do nothing without him. It hurt.
“What the hell? We’re back at the entrance!” Rose complained.
“Mikleo’s ability is the key to the trial. He and Sorey need to solve their problem fast if we want to get through this place,” Dezel explained.
“So we’ve gotta wait until Mikleo gets over his Dive? I’ll send for a camping set.”
“R-Rose, just give them some time…” Alisha chuckled uneasily. She pulled her close so she could whisper about them. “It’s not as simple as getting over what happened. Sorey probably saw something that flustered him terribly. When it’s your turn, you will see what I mean.”
Mikleo prepared to head back to the hall of statues again before Sorey grabbed his arm. His emerald eyes were pleading him, his heart starting to race because he searched for so many ways to address the issue in just a fraction of a second.
“We can’t go on like this,” Sorey defeatedly told him. They had to talk no matter how much Mikleo wanted to avoid the problem. Rose and Alisha were far away from them, and he asked Edna and Zaveid to join them for the sake of privacy. “You know, I don’t think any differently about you,” he softly said. He waited for a response.
“You’re lying,” Mikleo finally retorted.
“Why do you think that?”
“We both know what we saw during the Dive, and we both know that it was…it was vulgar and disgusting and unbecoming.”
“Okay, but why does that matter so suddenly?”
Mikleo flinched.
“You’re making it a bigger deal that it has to be. Did you think after spending my whole life thus far, I wouldn’t know that you had feelings like that? If it makes you feel better, I guess I can say this now.” Sorey hugged Mikleo tightly. He kissed him tenderly first on the lips then on his cheek. “The feelings are mutual.”
The water seraph tensed in his grasp, and his face reddened like Lailah’s dress. “H-How can you say something like that!?” he breathed. He clutched Sorey’s cloak. “How can you not be embarrassed after telling me something like that?”
“Why would I be embarrassed? I love you, don’t I?” He looked into his teary face. “I’ll always accept you for who you are and how you feel. I mean, we’ve got other things to do, but once we save the world, we can always be together.”
Mikleo slowly wrapped his arms around Sorey’s torso. He was happy to hear those words even if his Shepherd had always been repeating them over and over to him. He could finally accept them as a wholesome truth despite wanting to shut him off. In time, he figured, he would learn to trust his words.
Sorey and Mikleo beckoned everyone to regroup so they could get the trial underway. Zaveid and Edna went inside of their human while Mikleo remained out and at the forefront of the group. He enshrouded his friends with his Spectral Cloak past the statues into a room with hellions and a small lavishly decorated chest. Rose and Alisha took care of the monsters while Sorey and Mikleo went to investigate the chest. There was nothing tangible in the chest, but etched on the inside of the lid were a few lines of Hymmnos. Mikleo began to translate:
“Ma yant wa re bexm dius grandee kapa. Ma num ra rre herr chanti anw mea art pawr mea. Was paks ra na ene na chs diasee mea. This was written during the 22nd Year of the Common Calendar and the Month of Verdance. It says that a blacksmith was approached by a water seraph and was told that he had the potential to become the Shepherd, but the blacksmith wasn’t sure if he could do it.”
Sorey thought about it again. A blacksmith was told to become the Shepherd yet wasn’t sure he could do it. There was no doubt that Asura was connected to this blacksmith. They ventured deeper into Lefay. They reached another room with the statues, and Mikleo once again used his Spectral Cloak. This room, however, was more difficult. Statues with eyes were standing around corners, and with Dezel’s help, Rose could warn them when they were near one of them. When the cloak wore off and broke like the bubble it was, the water seraph implemented it again for a mad dash across its line of sight.
The next room had three stronger hellions and yet another chest. Alisha and Rose called forth Lailah and Dezel as the Shepherd and his beloved seraph scurried to the chest. They opened it and read the inscription inside its lid:
“Was zweie ra chs diasee mea dea dius grandee kapa xel 36 weak en biron geeow mea. Was yant ga rre gyas beja Ar ciel. Rrha ki erra chs wase. Rrha ki erra khal Ar ciel! Written dring the 25th year of the Common Calendar and the Month of the Sage. It says that the blacksmith was the Shepherd for three years, and no matter how much he fought the malevolence, it continued to grow. He wanted to become stronger and save the world.”
“So the blacksmith became the Shepherd, but he started to feel like he wasn’t strong enough to fight the malevolence. This diary…”
“We’re getting close to what happened.”
Rose and Alisha returned to Sorey and Mikleo. Both of the girls looked exhausted; Rose was bleeding from her mouth. She played it off by saying she hit herself when attacking one of the hellions. Dezel grabbed her, wiped the blood away from her lip, and inspected her face for any more damage. He felt silly about it later, but he couldn’t stand Rose pretending it was okay.
The next room of statues was even more difficult, but there was something that worked in their favor. One of the statue’s eye had been shattered with a slash in its pupil-like engraving. It was the only ruined statue, and they were sure that Asura had done it at some point in time. After Mikleo had led them through the room with Dezel detecting danger, they made it to the next hellion room. The water seraph fell to his knees.
“Mikleo!” Sorey panicked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m…just getting tired…” he replied in puffs. “This ability is taking a lot more out of me than I expected.”
“Should we rest?”
“No…we need to get through this quickly. Besides, we’re sitting ducks if we rest here…”
Sorey offered his shoulder while Alisha and Rose took care of the hellions with their seraphim. Zaveid and Edna lent a hand for this room. The Shepherd and the water seraph found the chest and its inscription, but the toll taken on Mikleo delibilitated his ability to translate it. Not wanting to disappoint his friends, he forced himself to read:
“Engua. Engua gyas urr faja beja Ar dor Ar ciel. Was au gaya na endia jenhah. Was au gaya na endia morto. Was granme erra chs diasee mea den na wase mea. Pawr pawr pawr! Was i ra chs wase wase wase yetere grandus walasye! Written during…the 28th Year of the Common Calendar and the Month of the Cycle.” Mikleo held his head. “The blacksmith-turned-Shepherd wanted more power to protect everyone from the malevolence.”
“We need to let you rest,” Sorey said with utmost concern.
“I can…keep going…”
They pushed on into the next room with statues. Now each time Mikleo used his Spectral Cloak, he was forced to depend on Sorey to carry him through the room. It seemed strange that he was being affected as such. Thankfully, they had learned the pattern of the rooms. Sorey decided that they had to take a break in front of the door that led to the next hellion room. Rose wanted to know what they had learned so far. There were bound to be more clues, but she thought it would be important and helpful to consolidate what they knew already.
A blacksmith was approached by a water seraph and was told he had the potential to become the Shepherd. The new Shepherd tried his best to uphold his role as the savior, but he wasn’t strong enough to stop the malevolence from growing. Consumed by this revelation, he desired power.
“Add in that broken statue and the hellion named Asura,” Lailah theorized. “Do you believe that Asura was this Shepherd?”
“It makes sense since our trial was to figure out what happened,” Zaveid agreed.
“But that can’t be the whole story,” Sorey finished. He let Mikleo lean against his chest to rest. “Just because he wanted power doesn’t mean that he became a hellion. There’s more to it than just…just the hunger for power.”
Mikleo pushed himself up. “So we’re all on the same page now,” he said. He was still tired, but he insisted on moving.
They entered the hellion room where there were more than they had encountered. Everyone would have to fight, and Sorey and Mikleo would have joined the fray if Zaveid and Lailah hadn’t told them to just focus on the clues. Mikleo needed Sorey to support him. As their friends fought, they read the next clue in the chest:
“Was yea ra aterra anw MYTHRIL sos viega mea glasden. Was yea ra aterra anw pawr! Pawr pawr pawr…sheak en weak, dyya en nuih. Rrha ki ra ene anw pawr. Written during the 31st Year of the Common Calendar and the Month of the Chalice. He obtained something called mythril to make some sort of blade. All he can think about is more power,” Mikleo explained.
“Power, huh? He’s obsessed!” Zaveid commented as he leapt back from a hellion’s tentacle.
“He’s in a dangerous mindset!” Lailah called from across the room.
“Just go on without us!” Dezel ordered. “We’ll catch up!”
Sorey didn’t want to leave them. The hellions were becoming much more dangerous themselves. But they were so close to the end. He felt it in his bones and heard it in Mikleo’s fatigued breaths—the truth was just around the corner. He carried Mikleo on his back through the final statue room. They made quick work of the room and headed to the room with one last chest.
“Sorey…wait…” Mikleo whispered. “I know what…it is…that’s making…me feel so tired…” He pressed his head into Sorey’s shoulder. “He’s…near…”
“Who’s near?” Sorey desperately whispered back.
A thunderous, hate-filled, seething voice boomed through the entirety of the ruin. It bounced off the walls and resonated like massive gongs and bells. “Altul! Altul, you son of a bitch! Where is it!? Give it back!” the voice roared. “How dare you steal from Shepherd Asura!”
In the last statue room before the final clue, Lailah and Alisha heard Asura. Dezel pulled Rose close while Zaveid and Edna instinctively went on the defense. The seraphim doubled over in pain from the malevolence flowing through the ruin brought by Asura.
“We won’t be able to follow without Meebo…” Edna coughed. “Thanks for sending them ahead of us.” She glared at Dezel.
The blind seraph couldn’t say anything other than to go back to the altar to get away from Asura’s domain. While they struggled to fall into the line of sight of the first statue in the room, Sorey brought Mikleo to the final chest.
“Was yea erra yassa viega mea glasden xel 240 weak. Was yea erra kil anw denera dea viega mea glasden! Was yea erra kil denera kil gyas kil jenhah! Written during the 42nd Year of the Common Calendar and the Month of Blossoms. It says after twenty years, the Shepherd forged his blade and vowed to end all chaos with it.”
“There’s no doubt considering what we just heard,” Sorey said. “Asura is the Shepherd in this diary, and the object that was stolen was his mythril sword.” He allowed Mikleo to ride on his back now. “Let’s go quell Asura then talk with Altul. I think I know why he stole the sword.”
The two left the room in search of Asura. Mikleo continued to use his Spectral Cloak through the previous statue rooms until they came to a path that brought them to a different room. The statues in this room all stared at the walls, and atop a raised platform was an eye in the tile. It was obvious that they were supposed to step on it, and when they did, they were taken to another room with a narrow bridge. Beyond that bridge was a venomization room, and Asura’s yells of rage came from behind its door.
“Sorey…we’re on our own here…” Mikleo reminded him.
“That’s okay. We’ll quell him ourselves,” Sorey reassured.
Mikleo went inside of Sorey to reserve his energy. Sorey took them to the door, opening it without hesitation to find a towering six-armed man wielding a sword in each hand. He was fighting hellion after hellion, demanding each one of them to take him to Altul or to fetch his mythril sword that he adamantly believed they knew where it was hidden. After he cleaved the last hellion in half, he turned to Sorey.
“You! You know where that damned seraph is! Tell me where he’s hiding my sword! My sword that cleaves malevolence itself! My sword that cleaves hellions, chaos, the filthy humans that don’t deserve my blessing!” He watched as Sorey pulled his sword carefully from its sheath. “You idiotic human, sham of a Shepherd! Do you think you can defeat Asura the Shepherd? The true Shepherd?”
“I don’t think I can, I know I can,” Sorey told the monstrous hellion. “But that’s besides the point. My job is to quell you after understanding why you became a hellion.”
Asura gawked at him before rushing up to him with all six swords ready to pierce his body. Sorey leapt back out of his range of attack then called Mikleo out. The water seraph was ready to fight unlike when he had been too tired to even translate Asura’s diary.
“Aqua Serpent!” he chanted as a massive dart of water ripped a sword from Asura’s hand. He began casting again.
Sorey took this chance to blindside the confused hellion. He jumped back again before leaping up. Aiming for another sword, he cried out, “Rising Falcon!” He disarmed another hand.
“For a Shepherd touting his strength, he’s easy to throw off,” Mikleo smirked.
“Yeah…be careful and don’t get cocky.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.”
Asura was down two weapons, but it only served to agitate him. He bellowed like a bull, and suddenly two war hammers made of pure malevolence appeared in his grasp. He turned to Mikleo.
“Wretched seraph!” he snarled. He dashed towards Mikleo with the two hammers prepared to crush him into a pulpy mess. “I shall have my revenge, Altul! I shall kill this seraph and deliver his corpse to you!”
Sorey ran to his aid by rounding his flank and stabbing him in the side. Asura faltered, the sudden attack momentarily breaking his concentration. Mikleo escaped to the other side of the room and prepared another Seraphic Arte. But something changed.
“Sorey, watch out!” he suddenly warned as he cancelled his casting.
Asura swung one of the hammers into Sorey’s stomach. The momentum of the blow sent him flying into the wall. The young Shepherd coughed up a copious amount of blood. He was winded.
“This strength…this is the power that corrupted your soul,” Sorey hacked. Asura loomed over him, the hammers raised over his head.
“Sorey, hang on! O Holy Fountain…!”
Asura brought down his hammers, but just before they could smash Sorey’s skull to pieces, the red and gold blade Sorey had always wielded parried them. Distance grew between the fallen Shepherd and the current one. Sorey wiped the blood from his chin.
“Asura…I want to ask you something,” he said calmly as he could while still coughing up crimson. Asura questioned him. “Why did you think attaining power like that would help you save the world? How could you allow yourself to be corrupted by your very wish to protect everyone?”
“I was weak until I forged the mythril sword! That sword could cleave wickedness in half! Then that bastard stole it from me!”
“Have you ever asked why he took it?”
“Because this was all a farce! Seraphim are evil tricksters! I will kill you then I will kill Altul! Once I escape from this ruin, I will kill the Lord of Calamity!”
Mikleo joined Sorey in the center of the room. He knew there was no way to change his mind; he had already fallen and become a hellion, after all. The only way to save Asura was to put him out of his misery. The water seraph encased him in ice as he ranted about killing Altul. It wouldn’t hold him for very long, but it gave Sorey enough time to run and pierce his blackened heart.
“You sullied human…!” Asura wheezed. “How dare you kill your Shepherd…”
“I’m sorry, Asura,” Sorey sincerely told him. “You haven’t been the Shepherd in years. You’ve given into the same malevolence that you wanted to destroy. In your lust for power, you lost your way. Please, forgive me, but this is the only way to save you.”
Asura stopped speaking. He stopped moving. Sorey removed his sword and watched as the malevolence that had kept him moving for all this time slowly dissipated. All the remained was the browned skeleton of the poor blacksmith that had been misled by Altul.
“He truly believed he was right,” Mikleo said. He healed his partner.
“He was filled with so much hatred. I could feel it when I stabbed him.”
“But you’ve done him a great kindness.”
Sorey appreciated that Mikleo was trying to reassure him that his decision was the correct one. They walked together back to the statue room that had brought them to the bridge. As soon as they entered the room, they were teleported back to the altar where everyone else had been waiting.
“About damn time,” Zaveid complained. “You boys take advantage of being along? Geez!”
Altul appeared beside him. “I was watching the entire time. I commend how you fought, Shepherd Sorey,” he said, though he didn’t sound impressed. Mikleo glared at him. “You seem angry.”
“Altul, why did you steal the sword?” Sorey asked him. “Were you the one that told him to become the Shepherd?”
Altul remained silent for some time before making the mythril sword appear before them. The blade itself dripped with the very essence of malevolence, and it was impossible to deny that the sword had played a part in turning Asura into a hellion. The guardian seraph admitted that he was the seraph that had chosen the blacksmith Asura to become the Shepherd. Having sent him on the quest to quell the malevolence that had polluted the world, he knew that Asura resented him. He made the sword not only to stop the wickedness but to exact his revenge against him.
“To the very end, Asura was pure. His purity led him to insurmountable anxiety, and it eventually corroded his mind. This sword was thought to end all that, but such foolishness brings calamity.” He held the blade towards Sorey. “Learn to wield it, and you will be unstoppable.”
“No, thank you,” Sorey declined. Altul lowered his hands. “I don’t need power to stop Heldalf, especially power that corrupts the wielder. I have enough trust in my friends that I don’t need it.”
Altul was silent for a moment. Then he smiled. “Congratulations, Shepherd Sorey. You’ve proven that you are indeed capable of acquiring the spiritual power of water and thus the Armatus.” He set the sword aside then revealed a cerulean orb with the emblem of water on it. “This is the Hymn Crystal named Armatus specific to water seraphim. Absorbing the Song in this sphere and accepting the emotions will grant you free access to the Water Armatus. Seraph of Water, are you prepared? It will hurt.”
Mikleo swallowed but agreed nonetheless. As per Altul’s instructions, Sorey and Mikleo stood in the center of the small pool of water that had brought them back to the entrance of the shrine. Everyone gave them their space. Sorey took Mikleo’s hands as he stood back to back with him.
“I will now allow you to absorb this Song. Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Armatus, enter_LUZROY_RULAY.”
Mikleo’s body glowed and burned as the Song made its way into his soul. He willed himself not to cry out in pain, and Sorey squeezed his hand. Edna’s hadn’t been as heartbreaking to listen to, but listening to Mikleo reminded him of what happened in the sanctuary in Ladylake. He never wanted him to experience that again, and he cursed himself that he hadn’t prepared him better. The light and sting faded, and Mikleo’s heart swelled with emotion. He was overcome with worry and sorrow. A distinct desire to protect Sorey struck him, and he found his voice to begin his version of the Song Armatus.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey’s heart leaped listening to his Song. Now that he had been singing since the beginning of their journey, he finally had the chance to hear his beautiful voice when he was full of pure feelings. There was, however, something marvelously different from Edna’s Song. Even though the emotions in the Hymn Crystal belonged to whoever infused them—the case with each Hymn Crystal—they were somehow still unique to Mikleo. It was fascinating.
“Mikleo’s voice…” he quietly said with pride. “It’s so beautiful.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Alisha and Lailah held each other’s hands in happiness and awe. Mikleo was the youngest seraph among the group, and they were so proud of how far he had come. Lailah specifically was impressed since she had been singing long before she had met any of them as the Lady of the Lake. Alisha wiped tears from her eyes for slight fear of making Lailah even remotely jealous.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Zaveid was the oldest in the group, and while he never sang as much as Lailah did, he had more experience. He remembered when Mikleo was once the timid and shy seraph who wanted to improve but didn’t have the confidence. Even though he didn’t know how he had grown, he silently cheered him on.
Edna didn’t want to admit that he sounded better than her, but she also acknowledged that Mikleo’s singing was for Sorey’s sake not just as the Shepherd but as the one he loved. If he had fallen in love with her, she had no doubt that it would have been the same. She was okay with this; it was Mikleo’s time to shine.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Dezel’s heart sank. It was almost his turn to sing for Rose. The beauty of Mikleo’s voice was overwhelming, but he felt strange. He was anxious. Singing wasn’t a competition, yet he was frightened that his singing wouldn’t be as stunning. The wind seraph clenched his fists. He tried to coax himself to simply listen to Mikleo’s singing and learn from him and the others.
“What am I thinking?” he cursed himself. He thought to himself that this was a Song full of love. He—He didn’t love Rose! He was far from it, only wishing for his revenge now. But even though he repeated this mantra in his head, his chest tightened. “I…No, this isn’t…”
“Dezel, is something wrong?” Rose asked him softly so she wouldn’t disrupt the performance. She glanced at his hands. “Are you frustrated about something?”
“It’s nothing. Just listen to Mikleo.”
As Mikleo continued to sing, she snuck in behind them. The cursed blade that Asura once wielded lay on the ground. She easily snatched it without a sound. Then she waited. She observed Mikleo and Sorey. Disgusted, she scoffed at the Song.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mikleo fell back against Sorey. He was exhausted from the Song, and now with the power of the Armatus coursing through him, all he wanted to do was sleep. Sorey spun around and threw his arms around him. He showered him in kisses and praise, and he even started crying wth joy.
“You were perfect, Mikleo!” he wept. “I never knew you were capable of something so majestic! I’m so proud of you!” He nuzzled his cheek against him. The happiness was short-lived.
“How long do you plan on staying there?” Dezel suddenly asked. He whipped out a pendulum behind him at the intruder. “Hmph, should have known that you would come back.”
Maltran stood there with Asura’s sword in her gloved hand. Alisha looked at her with horror. “Greetings again, Shepherd and company,” she said. “Thank you for getting the sword and then tossing it aside; it has made my task much easier, and I shall serve my Lord Heldalf without fail.”
“You’re…working…” Alisha stammered. She fell to her knees. “No…no, you’re lying…You can’t be a hellion…”
“Alisha, please!” Lailah begged her not to give into the malevolence. “My princess, look at me!”
“You…you conniving…!” Rose seethed. She pulled her daggers. She lunged at Maltran, who was prepared to slice in her in half right there. Dezel roped her in with his chains before they could fight. “Dezel, let me go!”
“Don’t be stupid, Rose,” he told her. “This woman…I can sense bloodlust greater than a dragon.” He held onto her. “It’s…it’s like back then…”
Maltran held the blade in front of her so that Sorey could see his reflection on the blade through the malevolence. She didn’t intend to fight any of them now, nor was she interested in killing Alisha just yet. “That ceremony was laughable, but I am intrigued by the process of that ‘Armatus’. It’s a shame that Chancellor Bartlow couldn’t have seen it.”
Mikleo ordered Sorey to call on the Armatus now that he had the strength to exact his revenge for what they had done to them. Sorey was prepared to do as he was told, but Zaveid placed his hand on his shoulder.
“Sorey, don’t,” he warned him. “We don’t have time to deal with this soured bitch.”
Maltran turned for the exit out of Lefay, the Shrine of the Water Trial. “There will come a day that we will fight to prove our mettle. Continue with your journey, Shepherd. Keep getting stronger, and we shall see if you are capable of taking down our savior.”
The Blue Valkyrie left them, and Altul was disappointed in himself for leaving the blade out in the open. He wasn’t sure how she was able to get into the shrine, and he was somewhat concerned that she would come back to capture him and Amenoch should she return to the sacred ruin.
“My sincerest apologies, Shepherd Sorey,” he timidly said.
“It’s okay,” Sorey replied. “There was a reason I declined that sword, and Maltran showed it.” He turned to Mikleo. “We don’t need a sword that brought the end to Asura.”
“Ugh, again with these bedroom eyes,” Edna scoffed. “Are we done here?”
Altul gave them his blessing before disappearing an enacting a barrier on the ruin to keep out intruders like Maltran. Sorey led Alisha and Rose out of the shrine after the seraphim went inside, but the princess was still shaken by the revelation that her mentor was working for Heldalf. Zaveid reminded Sorey that they needed to Dive, and Rose agreed that it would be best to let Alisha calm down during that time.
Notes:
Next week will be a Zaveid Dive! His Dives are so fun!
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Chapter 62: Phase 2: Peacekeeper Zaveid
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 3: Zaveid
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
Skipped a week again because I've been playing .hack//G.U. and shirking off responsibilities. But we're heading into Zaveid's 3rd level!
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
They returned to Kylfe in the same building where Mikleo and Sorey had conducted the Dive before the trial. The Phantoms that had haunted the rubble were gone and never came back, so it was deemed safe to rest and Dive.
Lailah and Rose sat with Alisha in a corner of the broken building to talk to her and calm her down. Dezel stood by himself against a wall, and Mikleo and Edna occasionally spoke with either party to stave off boredom.
Zaveid beamed at Sorey. He was excited to Dive again, and while Sorey was somewhat worried about what he would see in the next level, he knew that it was a deeply personal issue to the wind seraph—far more personal than anything Mikleo and Edna had in their levels. He expected to learn more about his past and who the woman was from the last level.
“Are you ready?” Sorey asked him.
“Ready as I’ll ever be! Let’s go!” Zaveid happily said.
“Fylk Zahdeya.”
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In the shared soul space, Sorey found Zaveid waiting for him. He seemed less eager, or perhaps he was trying to keep a secret. Upon finally meeting with him, Zaveid was truly less excited. When Sorey asked him why he was subdued, he gave a weak smile.
“You’ll finally get to see her,” he said. Sorey detected a hint of true love in his voice. “This is the memory level. It won’t play out exactly how it really happened, but you’ll understand. But when we’re done, tell me what you think of her.”
“‘Her’?” Sorey repeated.
“Theodora.”
Zaveid looked pained when he mentioned the name. He asked his Shepherd to Dive into him instead of standing there wasting time.
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Sorey opened his eyes. He recognized where he was—it was a setting that had been in Edna’s soul space recently. He was back at the seaside village of Taliesin, specifically the same house that he had acted as the drunk father. Out of curiosity and to begin unraveling the tale of this level, the Shepherd ventured to that house with an open mind.
It was a quiet house this time, clean and no evidence of alcoholism or abuse. Little potted plants sat on the barrier that lined the walkway. A woman with silver and gold hair tipped with green was watering them. She was obviously a seraph. Around her were human children no older than five or six years of age. The last one to come out of the house was someone that looked like Zaveid. He had a short ponytail and attire that somewhat resembled Dezel’s clothing. The only thing that he recognized that indicated it was the womanizing seraph was his necklace.
“Theodora, are you going out shopping today?” he sweetly asked.
“Yes, we’re out of veggies and eggs, and I thought it would be nice to take the kids out today,” the woman replied with a smile. “Zaveid, is there a meeting today with the…”
Zaveid turned his attention to find Sorey. He looked at him with suspicion. “Yes, and I guess they sent an envoy. You get going. We’ll go ahead and have the meeting here.” Theodora took the children with her up the stairs to the markets while he led Sorey into their little home. He prepared a cup of coffee for the two of them. “Didn’t think Stonebury would send someone this early in the morning.”
“Stonebury?” Sorey asked thoroughly confused.
“Your town? What, you got amnesia? Or are you planning on starting shit again?” Zaveid sat down in front of him at the table. He didn’t look too pleased to see him. “I’ve already told you, those kids are orphans that showed up on our doorstep.”
“Wait, Zaveid—”
“If you can provide them a warm and loving family, then we’ll let them go. Until then, they stay with us, where we know it’s safe.”
“Zaveid, I—”
“It makes Theodora happy, and her happiness is why I’m still alive.”
Sorey stood up. “What is Stonebury?!” he finally blurted.
Zaveid stared at him. Then he realized that he had never seen his face during his trips to this village. “Who are you?” he asked him. “You’re not from Taliesin. You’re not from Stonebury, yet you’re a human.”
Sorey introduced himself, and Zaveid apologized to him for his rudeness. The Zaveid of this level was a negotiator in charge of a few orphaned kids. He explained that only malakhim lived in Taliesin while humans lived in Stonebury. There had been a deep-seated hatred and feud between the towns over the children and how to raise them.
“I’m really sorry,” Zaveid apologized again. “I thought being assertive would help, but here I am—yelling at some random guy for something he had no part in.” He sat in silence until Theodora and the children returned home, and she froze seeing Sorey. She held the children close to her legs. “Theo-doll, he’s okay. He’s not from Stonebury. His name is Sorey.”
“H-Hello, Sorey,” Theodora hesitantly greeted.
“Anyway, I took your advice and ended up yelling at the wrong guy. I don’t think being assertive is going to help much.”
Theodora set the groceries down while the children helped sort them. “I thought it would help,” she quietly said. “I’m sorry.” She set about putting the groceries away while the children circled her feet with eager smiles for sweets.
Zaveid assured her that it wasn’t her fault. She was only trying to fix the situation. Sorey listened to him explain the situation after Theodora asked him to take the conversation away from the children. Walking outside, the young wind seraph paced around trying to find a solution.
“Well, first, why do you think Stonebury isn’t right for the kids?” Sorey asked after hearing Zaveid’s whole side of the problem. “Everyone wants what’s best for them.”
“The people in Stonebury are too strict,” Zaveid answered. “They’re just kids, and they deserve to have fun and explore.”
Sorey reflected on how Zenrus had raised him and Mikleo. They were allowed to explore and do silly things within reason. He knew where he was coming from, yet he couldn’t help but feel that there was more to it than just conflicting ideologies in parenting. So he offered:
“Why don’t I act as the envoy and go talk with the people in Stonebury? After all, you and their representative might get into a fight, and we want to avoid that at all costs.”
“You’d really do that? Man, I’m sorry I’m making you go through this. I don’t even know you!”
“It’s okay. That’s why I’m here.”
Zaveid pointed Sorey in the direction of Stonebury. Long ago, the two villages that they were based on were far apart, but it made sense to him that the distance would be shortened enough to contain both of them within the soul space. The Shepherd promised his friend that he would get things started on the road to alliance between the villages.
When he arrived at the small farmer’s village, he felt a sense of familiarity. The people were definitely human, and most of them were growing radishbells. There was a small belfry next to the town hall that an apprentice carpenter was gloating about. The place almost seemed like…
“Lastonbell?” Sorey uttered with excitement.
“No, this is Stonebury,” a very recognizable voice corrected. He turned to find Eizen, Edna’s brother and a former compatriot of Zaveid’s. “Who are you? Where did you come from? Better not be from that shitty malak village…I should say that it was taken over by malakhim.”
As much as he wanted to know what malakhim were and if Eizen was a malak in this story, Sorey couldn’t get hung up on the extraneous details. He asked Eizen if he could take him to the envoy of Stonebury, to which the older earth seraph told him that he was the envoy. This made things easier, and Sorey asked if he would spare a moment of his time to talk with him about the conflict between the two villages. Eizen was partial to the idea, but it was his job to find a solution. The two of them went to the small inn where Eizen ordered a tumbler of whiskey. Sorey asked for a glass of water since they would most likely be talking for a while and getting drunk was definitely not in his best interest.
“I guess Zaveid is getting panicky if he had to send someone else to do that job,” the earth seraph sighed before taking a gulp of the liquor.
“He’s got some other stipulations going for him. How about you tell me your side?” Sorey suggested. “Preferably before you get drunk.”
Sorey listened to Eizen explain the view of Stonebury. The people were traditionalist, believing that the children would be better off learning among adults how to operate in life instead of among malakhim. Without any sort of discipline, the kids would grow feral and would never be able to become part of their society. Naturally, Sorey had to disagree, but he wasn’t completely against the idea of discipline. Zenrus had shocked him a number of times when he did something wrong. Eizen went on to say that he didn’t necessarily agree with the overarching view, adding that he merely was conveying it to his rival.
“As long as those kids don’t end up killing things or people, I don’t care,” he said. “The people here just scooped me up because they knew I’m a malak just like Zaveid. They thought that I would be able to talk to him. I don’t hate him, but his hesitation and refusal to see compromise is annoying to a fault.”
Sorey raised his hand for a turn to talk. “I see. So Stonebury is worried about those kids getting into trouble, and Zaveid…”
“What were the other stipulations?” Eizen finished off his drink then ordered another one. “It has to be pretty heavy if it’s getting in the way of things like this.”
“Well, Zaveid has a girlfriend—”
“Right, the dragon girl.”
Sorey paused. Theodora, the dragon girl? “A-Anyway, Zaveid wants to make her happy, and she loves those kids.” He felt strangely uneasy. He couldn’t focus on that slip, not now. “So…I want to propose that maybe the kids can live here in Stonebury, but Theodora can be a teacher to them.”
Eizen swirled the proposal around in his head like he swirled his whiskey in his glass. It wasn’t a bad idea, and it would make both parties happy. The only thing left was to get Zaveid to agree to it and to have him seal the deal and not Sorey. The two men shook on it, and Sorey returned to Taliesin.
There, the Shepherd relayed the proposal and the affirmation from Eizen, and Zaveid gave a weary smile. “Thanks, Sorey, but…” he said. “I don’t know…”
“Are you worried about Theodora?” Sorey asked. The wind seraph froze then nervously played it off.
“N-No. Alright, I’ll go talk to Eizen about it. I didn’t think there could have been a compromise. Thanks.”
“You’re making the decision to go through with it; there’s no need to thank me,” Sorey smiled at him.
Zaveid and Eizen met at the boundary between Taliesin and Stonebury. Sorey oversaw the deal, and when they shook hands, the light at the Stonehenge shined. Once the deal was finalized, the Shepherd and the wind seraph walked to the Paradigm Shift where the latter thanked his human again. He was happy for him, but the question about Theodora remained. He didn’t want to bring it up with the new level open. He needed to get Zaveid through the Paradigm Shift with his psyche still intact.
----------------------------------
Zaveid looked somewhat distracted when Sorey woke up from the Dive. The Shepherd thought it was a little abrupt, and seeing the seraph like he was made him sure that it was intentional.
He sat up. “That ended rather abruptly,” he noted. Zaveid didn’t look at him. “Um, someone in the Dive mentioned a dragon girl?”
“It’s nothing,” Zaveid curtly told him. “Nothing to be worried about. Nothing at all.”
Sorey was taken aback that he was so defensive when all other times he let everything hang out. He tried to get him to tell him what the slip was about, but he kept refusing. Quietly—almost in a whisper, he asked Sorey to stop asking about it. He didn’t want to remember lest he was overcome by the despair that that memory carried with it.
“You’re not ready…” Zaveid whispered again. “She’s…”
“Are you done over there?” Edna asked. She eyed Zaveid. “That lazy bum having a psychotic breakdown? We need to get going. Grumpy Cat and Lazy Bum need to get their Armatuses.”
“Take your time, Sorey,” Dezel shouted from his side of the building. “I’m in no hurry.”
Lailah held Alisha’s head against her chest as the princess slept. She had tired herself out from worry shortly after the Dive began, and it was only after Rose had convinced Alisha to sleep that was she at peace. Sorey felt bad asking her to wake up since Edna had a point. The earth seraph, as a testament to her small victory, stuck her tongue out at Dezel.
“Zaveid?” Sorey then said. “Do you want Mikleo and Edna to walk outside and leave you alone?” Zaveid slowly nodded. “Okay.”
Mikleo and Edna looked at each other with some confusion. They respected the decision, walking behind Sorey when everyone was ready to set out. Lailah held Alisha’s hand as they passed by Ladylake back towards Marlind and the Bors Ruins. Sorey tried not to think about Zaveid’s abnormal behavior while Mikleo made failed attempts at comforting him. Edna herself was interested; she didn’t think Zaveid was capable of being dysthymic or depressed.
That left Dezel and Rose, whose relationship felt off now that they were heading towards the final trial. As they walked, Dezel tried to put distance between himself and the assassin. She kept closing it. He tried to walk ahead or behind, but she matched his pace every time.
“How long are you going to keep this up?” she playfully asked him.
“Until you learn to leave me alone,” he retorted.
“I’ve already learned that, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to. Sooner or later, you’ll have to accept that I’m going to see your true feelings about me. Might as well start now.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“I’ve seen four of your levels. What’s so bad about the next one?”
“Let me ask you this.” He stopped in front of everyone else. “How would you feel if you had someone walking around inside of you doing who knows what? Looking at all your personal thoughts and feelings and desires? Playing with their heart likes it’s a toy?”
“Well, that depends on who it is.” She gave him a sly smile. “I’m just saying, Sorey can’t Dive into you, and he’s got Zaveid to worry about. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.”
Rose walked on while Sorey and Alisha exchanged perplexed glances at each other. Dezel sucked his teeth. She had a point. He followed her, again steeling himself for the inevitable Dive that would occur when they got to Guinevere.
Notes:
We're approaching some good shit, and I'm not saying that because I wrote it!
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Chapter 63: Phase 2: Demon in Lastonbell
Summary:
Sorey and company travel back from Lakehaven Heights to Rolance territory only to find that something is amiss in Lastonbell. Zaveid is still perturbed by his most recent Dive with the Shepherd.
Notes:
So back when I originally wrote this chapter, I thought it would be pointless. Turns out, this chapter was very useful in some Zavrey--which isn't very common. I'm such a sucker for Sorey showing soft husband traits...
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“It’ll take another few days to get to Guivenere, Shrine of the Wind Trial,” Lailah said. Alisha had returned to her relative normal self, which gave her the freedom to assist in planning how to move to avoid Rolance soldiers and to conserve energy. “We should rest in Lastonbell and then continue at dawn.”
The trek through Lamorak Cave hadn’t been arduous; with the princess still somewhat torn to learn that her master was a hellion and Zaveid isolating himself in Sorey, it damaged the team morale. They had also been travelling on foot for so long that Sorey had lost track of the days. He was worried about his wind seraph, and in that worry, he had neglected to do much of anything like eat or even sit for a break. It troubled Mikleo to say the least, and Edna was forced to care considering that Sorey was the only reason she could leave her mountain. The earth seraph didn’t want to admit it, but she was worried about Zaveid as well.
Since the Dive, Zaveid had not come out of Sorey. Everyone thought it was strange that the most boisterous of all the group was the one wishing for solitude. Yet Zaveid didn’t care. He was still bothered by the slip in his cosmosphere. How did it get through? How could he be so careless? He knew Sorey would learn eventually, but it was too soon. It was his memory level, so he somewhat expected him to get an inkling, but for it to have blatantly been said by the very person who would turn into a dragon as well—it was some sort of horrible joke played by fate.
“Maybe you should talk to him when we get to the inn,” Rose gently suggested. Sorey nodded. “For him to be like this, something really bad must have happened.”
“Sorey, let me talk to him, too,” Edna stated. “I’ve known him longer than anyone thanks to my brother.” She hid behind her umbrella, embarrassed by the fact that she cared about him.
“Of course,” Sorey agreed.
The group continued through Volgran Forest to Lastonbell’s city gates. After crossing the threshold, they sensed something was off. It was dusk when they arrived, and for a city that was usually bustling until late into the night, it was eerily quiet and empty. Whatever pets used to be roaming about were gone. All the doors except for the inn, usually open to all weary travelers at all times, were locked shut.
“Has Eguille notified you about any strange activity in the area?” Dezel asked his human.
“No birds have been sent to me, and he hasn’t tried to tell me anything in person,” she answered. “If he had heard something fishy—”
“He would have told you. Looks like this has been kept on a low profile. The question is, why?”
“Uh, what are you talking about?” Sorey asked.
Mikleo shivered. There was a drastic increase in the amount of malevolence in Lastonbell. The scent of blood lingered on it.
“We should get inside,” he suggested. He, Edna, Dezel, and Lailah took refuge inside their humans. “Sorry, Zaveid.”
“What’s…going on?” he absentmindedly asked.
Sorey, Rose, and Alisha rented a room at the inn. They brought meals for everyone, and as they ate, they talked about what had happened in the city to force everyone inside so early. The rumor floating around was that there was a serial killer on the loose. First, the innkeeper’s dog had disappeared. One by one, the pets and animals in the city were picked off, and gruesome displays of eviscerated corpses were left strewn about in the streets to be discovered in the morning. The innkeeper’s daughter Margaret was particularly upset, and one night she decided to head out to find her dog. Her mother got angry with her, and after a heated argument about Margaret staying inside versus her going out to find her dog, the mother told her to do whatever she wanted. Margaret never came home. The killings were determined to take place during the night, and they would know when the killer was out because everyone would hear a horrible deranged beast-like growl.
“D-Do you think the killer got her!?” Alisha gasped.
“It’s extremely likely,” Dezel answered. “Serial killers tend to start with animals before moving onto people, and children are the most vulnerable next to animals.” He was angry.
“Hold on,” Mikleo interrupted. “If the killer growls every night he’s out, can we really say that it’s a serial killer and not some rogue dog?” He shuddered at the thought, his fear of dogs creeping up on him.
“That would be plausible, but would a dog really be capable of doing all of what these people have found?” Lailah asked.
Sorey was struck by an epiphany. “It’s not a serial killer but a hellion,” he determinedly said. “No one has actually seen it, right? And if it growls, it’s probably not human.”
“Why don’t we go find out? Place your bets, everyone,” Edna dryly joked.
“D-Do we have to?” Mikleo asked.
Zaveid wasn’t paying attention, but he was forced to participate in the investigation after they had finished their food. With the seraphim inside, Sorey led Alisha and Rose out into the streets. They split up—Rose to the terrace, Alisha to the western gate and Sorey at the eastern gate.
Rose looked out from the terrace while Dezel used his wind to scan the city for any abnormal activity. Neither of them detected anything, which was a bit of a disappointment on Rose’s part. She was somewhat excited to partake in an investigation, and she wanted to be the one to find the killer or hellion.
“Who’s to say that this thing is coming out tonight?” the blind seraph asked. “We should have waited instead of just coming out now and waiting.”
“We have to stop whatever it is before it hurts anyone else,” Rose debated.
“Fair point.”
Alisha and Lailah walked together around the western side of the city in search of the killer. Just like Rose and Dezel, they had no luck.
“Do you think that Margaret was murdered?” Alisha asked. Lailah didn’t want to believe that was what happened. “She’s been missing for a while, hasn’t she?”
“I don’t want to think that a child was killed by a killer or a hellion,” Lailah said. She looked pained. Even if she and her mother had gotten into a fight, Lailah was sure that the latter would be heartbroken enough to become a hellion herself. “L-Let’s try to stay positive.”
Mikleo and Sorey stayed together while Zaveid and Edna made a pair of themselves. The two parties split with the first heading towards the sanctuary and the other going down the street of merchants.
While Mikleo was hoping that they didn’t encounter the killer, Sorey wanted to end the problem there and now. Both of them didn’t want the murders to continue, but they had different feelings about confronting it. Zaveid and Edna didn’t have much of an opinion either way. The earth seraph, though, took the opportunity to speak with the wind seraph.
“Sorey found out about it?” she asked.
“Possibly…wait, you knew, too?” Zaveid replied. His voice had a little bit of a jolt with the fear that Edna had known about Theodora. She shook her head. “Then…how…?”
“Seraphim are strange, but when something embarrassing happens or a secret is spilled, we’re like humans—we clam right up. I can’t ask what happened in your soul space, but Sorey is worried about you just like he was worried about me and Meebo. When he’s worried, everything gets boring. After we solve this issue, you need to sit down and talk with him about it. If you don’t, you’ll just end up being a useless waste of a lazy bum.”
Zaveid found it odd that she was being so upfront about it. He was friends with her brother, so he wasn’t too surprised in retrospect. Edna usually didn’t meddle in others’ affairs, and he had to wonder if forming a pact with Sorey and letting him Dive into her had changed her. He knew she was right, and he decided that he would speak with Sorey about the Dive. It was the only way to get Theodora off his mind.
Morning came, but the killer never did. Despite Rose getting upset that there was no action, Sorey was sure that if they got more information, they would know what to look for. That day, then, was used for reconnaissance. The seraphim stayed inside to consolidate the information that their owners obtained. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha combed the city.
As night drew close with the darkening sky, they returned to the inn where they were met with a distraught woman. “She’s been missing for four days now,” she cried. “I shouldn’t have yelled at her. My poor Margaret…my poor daughter!” She didn’t seem to register that she was sobbing in front of Sorey’s company or that she was the one manning the register to rent the room again.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Alisha cautiously said.
“She’s gone…she’s gone…”
“Ma’am, are you Margaret’s mother?” She already knew that she was, but the woman was all out of sorts that bluntly telling her they were looking into the issue would have made her fall into hysteria. “Can you tell us about her? It might make you feel better to remember her when she was happy.”
The woman stopped crying. “Happy? She was never happy.”
Sorey and Rose glanced at each other, a tingling sense of foreboding prickling their stomachs.
“Margaret was always bullied by the other children in the city. If she weren’t my daughter, I would have sent her to Pendrago for treatment.”
“Treatment?” Lailah repeated.
Rose’s chest tightened as Dezel became wary of what the woman was about to say. According to Margaret’s mother, the little girl had talked on and on about seeing things. A seraph that only appeared at night. Because of the blind-eye nature of the citizens in Lastonbell, everyone forced themselves to stop perceiving seraphim even though they were there in front of them and still tangible. But not Margaret. She had come to view the seraph as a second mother.
“She would talk about this Sindra girl all the time, persisting that she had made friends with a lowly seraph,” the mother exasperatedly told them.
When Margaret had told the other kids that, she had hoped that they would look up to her as the start of a revolution. Instead they bullied her and called her names. They ostracized her. The only one who believed her was her dog. But animals rarely cared about the affairs of humans, and soon Margaret became depressed.
“One day, her dog went outside and never came back,” the mother continued. “Margaret’s depression grew worse, and soon that seraph stopped visiting her at night. Margaret had lost everyone, and when she went out to look for that dog…”
“You two got into a fight because that was when the animal murders were happening,” Sorey concluded.
“Looks like we got the full story then in addition to what we learned from the people,” Mikleo deduced. “Margaret had asked if anyone had seen her dog, and that was just before the other pets started showing up as they ended up.”
“Can I ask one more thing?” Alisha kindly questioned. “Why would you have sent Margaret to Pendrago? What treatment were you talking about?”
“She had been sick not too long before she started talking about Sindra that I thought she was delusional. The IPD seraphim in Pendrago are said to help with these cases, but once admitted, patients are never released,” the mother explained.
Dezel and, to a lesser extent, Zaveid were skeptical about any treatment like that. But they didn’t want to discuss it. Alisha thanked Margaret’s mother, and as she asked for a room, a horrifying vicious growl sounded outside the inn’s door.
“It’s back! That growl! Whoever it is, they can take me to my Margaret!”
The mother dashed out the door with Sorey and his Squires behind her. Outside wasn’t a human but a wolf hellion the size of Edna. Its mouth dripped with saliva and blood from the other animals it had eaten, and the hunger in its red eyes indicated it was going to eat Margaret’s mother.
“Get back!” Sorey shouted at her. Alisha slashed the hellion with her spear as the mother ran back inside and locked the door. “Do you think this is Margaret?!”
“No, it isn’t,” Dezel determined. He came out with his pendulums ready to tie it up. “The malevolence of this one is only a fraction of what Margaret would have accumulated based on what we know about her.”
“Regardless of who it is, we need to purify it!”
Sorey drew his sword as his seraphim came out. He charged at the hellion, Mikleo and Edna behind casting their spells. Alisha and Lailah took turns slashing and burning the hellion as if they were dancing. The hellion grabbed Alisha’s spear, and with its surprising strength, swatted Sorey away with Alisha still hanging out. Dezel wrapped his pendulums around the hellion’s snout, and Rose perforated it with a rain of daggers. The only one who stayed out of the fight was Zaveid. He was hesitant.
Edna and Mikleo both released frozen projectiles at the hellion. Sorey regained his compsure after being hit. He lunged at the hellion with his Rising Falcon Martial Arte. The hellion backed away from them, growling and snarling at the lot of them. Dezel had been right; the hellion was too weak to be Margaret.
“Now to purify you,” Sorey calmly said. Before he could do his duty, the hellion ran off to the eastern gate, pushing its way through. “We can’t let it get away!”
“S-Sorey, wait!” Zaveid called out. Everyone stopped to look at him. “What are you planning to do if Margaret is the hellion?” He looked grave.
“I’m going to purify her.”
“And what if she can’t be purified? Will you kill her and give her the salvation she craves?”
Sorey faced him. “If it comes to that…I…” There was uncertainty and distress on his face as he thought about what he was deciding to.
“It’s one thing to mercy-kill, but it’s another to do that for a child,” Rose interrupted. She gave him a thumbs-up. “You’ve already had to kill those that suffer to liberate them. Asking you to kill a child is too much. Leave it to me, okay?”
Dezel wasn’t sure if he liked that idea. Rose was an assassin, but she wasn’t a child-killer. Sorey nevertheless solemnly allowed her to do that for him when the time came. He led them through the eastern gate out into the open moonlit fields of the Meadow of Triumph. Not too far from the gate did they find the silhouette of the hellion, but it looked much bigger than before. It was about the size of Zaveid and Dezel if they were to stand on each other’s shoulders. Each seraph immediately felt a sharp pain through their chest.
“Dog breath over there…” Edna retched.
“That’s Margaret…” Lailah struggled.
Alisha watched in horror as the hellion stood fully erect from the mess of blood and fur on the ground in front of it. Sorey couldn’t believe that the massive hellion was the little girl that had been bullied. Rose, unfazed, only wished to end her suffering. The hellion spoke in garbled, distorted Hymmnos that Mikleo barely understood.
“She’s…crying for her mother…” he coughed.
Zaveid stepped to the front of all of them. The somber paleness in his face was gone replaced by a resolute frown. “I didn’t want to waste this,” he mumbled to himself. “But there’s no choice.” He pulled out the gun named Siegfried and put it to his head.
“Zaveid, what are you doing?!” Sorey yelled at him.
“What I should have done back then, and what I should have done to Eizen when I had the chance so long ago.”
Edna’s eyes widened.
Zaveid pulled the trigger on the gun, which made the loudest gunshot anyone had ever heard resonate in echoes through the empty sky. Pressurized air blew them back as he flopped forward. Then he looked at the monster hellion with a deathly glare.
“Now I shall sing,” he calmly said.
Sorey was confused. When did he create a Song? And what Song could possibly require him to use Siegfried on himself?
“Initializing.”
Byui dejuy!
Ess hiewi fee!
xU rre mea sUnUkIk du gauv/.
x. re lIlUnIeh?
Byui dejuy!
Ess hiewi fee!
xU rre mea sUnUkIk du gauv/.
x. re lIlUnIeh?
Zaveid kept repeating the sorrowful Song, which weakened the hellion. Once he had repeated the Song a few times, he suddenly threw his pendulums around it and pulled it down to the ground. He took Sorey’s sword.
“Zaveid, wait!” the Shepherd begged.
“I don’t have much time before Siegfried’s effect wears off,” Zaveid said. He ignored him, and with a quick draw, he slit the hellion’s neck. “Forgive me, but it’s the only way for some people.” The hellion howled and whined as it bled out. The wind seraph, temporarily unaffected by malevolence, watched as the life faded from its eyes. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t do it for you, Theodora, Eizen.”
The malevolence that had surrounded Margaret’s body dissipated. The lonely little girl lay there lifelessly at Zaveid’s feet. The wind seraph promptly forced himself to forget about what had transpired.
“Sorey, let’s talk,” he said, almost sounding like he was back to his normal self. The Shepherd was asked not to look at the corpse; Rose scooped her up and what was left of the other hellion—her dog—to bury next to the city gate. “Let’s go over there.”
Sorey and Zaveid walked to a small gathering of trees a few paces from where there friends worked with the burial where the latter got on his knees and bowed. He didn’t sit up until his Shepherd gave him permission. He looked to be holding his tears back.
“I’m sorry, Sorey,” he said with a pitiful smile. “There was no saving her. I could sense it. She couldn’t be purified. She was just like the only people I cared about back then.”
Unsure of what to do, Sorey clumsily hugged him as best as he could with him still on his knees. He asked him not to cry and even joked that if Edna saw him like that, she would never leave him alone. He would be the laughing stock of their little group.
“The memory level…it’s the only thing that I still remember about her,” Zaveid sobbed into Sorey’s chest. “She loved kids, but it was those same kids that exposed her to the malevolence. They were orphaned after their parents died, and we took them in. She loved them so much and was so happy until she couldn’t take the malevolence anymore. She…eventually turned into a dragon. Eizen killed her, but…he taught me that there was salvation in death.” He pulled his face from Sorey. “When Eizen became a dragon, I promised him I would do the same for him…I broke my promise. He was captured before I got my chance.”
Sorey remembered how horribly Eizen had perished at the hands of Seraphoids. He couldn’t help but smile though. He hugged Zaveid again, saying gently to him, “Thank you for telling me. Now I understand why you are the way you are. Is that why you sang that Song? It wasn’t really any sort of Song Magic, was it?”
“The Song is incomplete,” he sniffled. “I think I need an ore or something to help with it. I want to make it a proper tribute to Theodora and Eizen.”
“I’ll help you. Theodora was important to you, and you wanted to keep your promise to Eizen. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you can sing for them.”
Zaveid’s face softened as he quietly thanked him before going inside. Once Margaret had been buried, Sorey regrouped with his friends, and they turned their sights in the direction of Pearloats Pasture. They had to continue. The last spiritual power and the Hymn Crystal that would award the Wind Armatus was just within their grasp. There could be no hesitation; he wanted to help Zaveid make his Song for his fallen friends.
Notes:
The Song lyrics in this chapter are incomplete and not revised, so I feel okay with revealing them. I may change then in the original document in the future and leave those up there. But it has been a while since there has been an appropriate amount of Hymmnos in a chapter, and I don't think I've showcased the New Testament of Pastalie yet. So yeah.
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Chapter 64: Phase 2: Malevolent Crucible Kalasutra
Summary:
While the Scattered Bones chase Lunarre, Mikleo takes on the next malevolent crucible.
Notes:
In hindsight, this chapter actually has some very important information, and I'm quite proud with the opening to this chapter.
Please leave a comment to let me know what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Talfryn, don’t let him get away!” Ayn Felice ordered. “Rosh, prepare to flank him!” She dashed through the dead calcified trees of the Lhitwerg Barewoods near Tilia. “At the very least, knock that Hymn Crystal right out of his hands!”
She threw knives behind her prey while Ayn Talfryn chased him through the trees ahead of Ayn Felice. Rosh tailed him on the ground avoiding hellions as he ran. Eguille lie in wait, a rope in hand to trip the one they were after.
“You all are so annoying,” the fox-faced hellion hissed. Lunarre tightly grasped the Hymn Crystal as he tried to escape the watchful eyes and knives of the Scattered Bones. “Why are you all so upset about me swiping this anyway? Not like you have an IPD to sing it, much less the Maiden of Mio.” He stared at the Hymn Crystal in his palm. “Why would Symonne tell me to get this if we don’t have the Maiden of Mio?”
As Lunarre tried to shake the Scattered Bones off his trail, Targana made his preparations in Pendrago. He checked on Lakra, who was in a trance as she revised her task again and again until it was time for her to execute it. The Goddess, encased in her cocoon, slept soundly. She was deaf to the world around her including her Tower where the people of Metafalss lived unknowing of her disappearance.
“Hibernation is almost ready,” he mumbled. “Cardinal Forton, I will avenge you and plunder Hyland. The people of Rolance shall have everlasting happiness!”
-------------------------------
Mikleo stared at the entrance to the crucible on a low cliff that was northwest of Pendrago. He was apprehensive about going in alone, but he had a job to do. He had to purify the malevolence within the crucible and liberate any seraph that might have been thrown into its depths. The idea of going it alone still frightened him. He didn’t doubt his ability, but he wasn’t sure if he could fend off hoards of hellions by himself. Strength wasn’t his best attribute, and while his magic was strong, it took him a while to cast his Artes.
“Are you going to be okay?” Sorey asked him quietly. He held his hand tenderly. “We can come back later after—”
“We have to do it now,” Mikleo told him. “Someone could be down there, and if we wait, then they’re the ones who suffer. I’ll be…fine.” Naturally, Sorey worried even more. He pulled the water seraph close for a hug. “S-Sorey…” He looked away from him with a tinge of pink on his cheeks. “I-I’m going.”
The brunet Shepherd watched the head of pale aquamarine disappear into the darkness below. He worried about him, but Zaveid reassured him that the seraph of water would come back to him in no time.
When Mikleo reached the center of the crucible, he heard the Hymmnos that everyone had head so far echo throughout it. It was eerie. Part of him wondered if there really was any chance that a seraph had been trapped down there. There had to be since there was that echoing, right? He listened closely to it.
Wee num ra rre vianchiel lasye kapa enter syec Manac KALASUTRA
Was i wa rre lasye kapa wearequewie pawr sos khal inferiare pauwee
Hes kapa valwa syec dople gyas
En fountaina desfel ween fluy
Rrha ki ra rre lasye clalliss dea infel sos futare briyante
Mikleo’s heart fluttered with the prayer that echoed in the crucible. If a seraph had been there—and he didn’t sense any now that he was in the middle of the arena—their last sentiments were all that was left. They had known he would be coming for them, but how?
The hellions within Kalasutra began to stir as they smelled the delicious mana emanating from Mikleo’s body. Such a pure being was bait to wickedness, and while he was scared to fight them alone, he was far too intrigued by the prayer of hope to succumb to despair.
Serpent hellions and farming orc hellions surrounded Mikleo, who calmly concentrated on his Artes. They were heavy hitters, so he stuck with the spell he could cast in no time. “Surging currents,” he chanted. The serpent hellions slithered up to him, their fangs eager to paralyze him. “Twin Flow!” A projectile of water pierced through two of them, and he morphed the Arte into a stronger one. “Freeze Lancer!”
The orcs pushed their way through the centipedes and dug their rakes into the water seraph. His clothes had softened some of the blows. His face, on the other hand, suffered a few scratches. Mikleo swat them away with his staff as more hellions appeared as plants and skunks and peacocks. He calmed himself.
He knew that the orc farmers were slowly and relatively easy to get rid of. The other types were harder. The serpents could paralyze him, the skunks could release their gas clouds, and the peacocks could jab him incessantly and healed themselves and the others if they were left alone for too long. He would have to pace himself.
Leaping back to a safe distance, Mikleo began casting his Ice Reaver spell. It was quick and stunned the orc farmers long enough that he could move again to a safer distance from the hellions that lusted for his blood. Finally, the orcs were weak enough to swiftly bludgeon them with his staff. And once they were out of the way, he could focus on the serpents.
“Aqua Serpent!” he called as two projectiles of water twisted together through the air. It made quick work of the serpents. “Alright, now…”
The skunks hissed at him before skittering up to him and biting onto his hands. Their grips were surprisingly strong, capable of shredding and grinding up his fingers if he tried to pull away. Knowing that it wouldn’t work, he tried to sing to give himself some sort of defense against them and before the peacocks were close enough to pierce his throat. Much to his surprise, the Song worked albeit it was terribly weak. The fact that his Song Magic even worked without having to be within a Proxy Tower that was a shrine baffled him.
The skunks were temporarily debilitated, and the peacocks were busy trying to heal them and failing. He healed his hands as fast as he could, then he fired another round of Aqua Serpent at the skunks. The last wave—octopus-type hellions—accompanied the peacocks. He charged straight at them with his staff like a vaulting pole.
“Crystal Rod!” he called out. The tip of his staff froze and sharpened like a spear. He used all his strength to pierce through the peacock hellions. All that was left were the octopus hellions. “Final stretch.”
The octopus hellions weren’t strong at all. In only a few hits, they were gone except for one. Mikleo neared it cautiously, his staff ready to smack it if it did anything funny.
“You…are quite…strong…” the hellion panted. The malevolence around it dispelled, revealing a seraph that was bleeding heavily. “I can die with some dignity.”
“W-Wait!”
“Oh? Are you going to try and pull me out of here?” She chuckled. “It’s no use, boy. Once I step out of here, the malevolence will take hold again. This is but a temporary fix, a chance to die without being a monster.”
“Is there really nothing I can do? I-I can heal you!” Mikleo pleaded.
“Save your strength.”
The water seraph reluctantly conceded. “Why was I able to use my Song Magic here?” he asked. It was a half-hearted effort to calm himself before seeing the seraph die.
“You didn’t know? The Second Tower called Frelia gets its power from the First Tower Eolia. The Goddess is only capable of supplying but a fraction of the power herself. She disappeared from her seat in the Tower, and the energy output from Eolia has ceased. Seraphim who are not IPDs are still able to sing under Frelia, but it’s severely weakened now.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It will in due time. No Tower is completely self-sufficient. The Origins…must…work…”
The seraph faded into light having exhausted the last of her strength. Mikleo said a silent prayer, but he was preoccupied with the revelation that he as well as Lailah and Edna could have been singing the whole time. Was the mutual exclusion theory merely a way to trick seraphim into not singing together? Why hadn’t Zaveid or Lailah or Edna said anything?
When Mikleo stepped out of Kalasutra, Sorey threw his arms around him and showered him with kisses until he saw the scratches on his porcelain-like face. Immediately, the Shepherd looked for anything in their supplies to disinfect them even though the water seraph had said multiple times that they weren’t terrible.
“Mikleo, you got hurt!” Sorey pouted. Edna jabbed him in the side to make him stop acting so silly while Zaveid just laughed at him and his young boyish love.
“You seem uneasy,” Lailah said to Mikleo while Sorey dealt with Zaveid and Edna’s teasing. “Did you find a seraph?”
Mikleo nodded then told her what he had learned. Upon hearing that they had always been able to sing under Frelia because Eolia supplied its power, the fire seraph was confused. Why had she always heard of the mutually exclusive principles of the Towers then?
“Do you think…no, that wouldn’t make sense,” Alisha said. If the Rolance Emperor had planted that seed into everyone and allowed the lie to spread, what would be the purpose?
“It makes sense,” Dezel told her. “If non-IPD seraphim are told they can’t operate under Frelia, then IPDs are left by themselves. Then it just takes infecting one with the disease to gather up the rest of them. And if that lie spread to the other regions, Hyland would have to come up with a different strategy—one that can bypass the inability to sing.”
“The Seraphoid Project,” Sorey answered.
“You got it.”
It was imperative that they woke Shurelia and freed her from Mir’s control. The Song that would restore Eolia, however, was nowhere to be found. Zaveid cursed himself silently for not being able to do things faster, but there was nothing that could be done now. They had to obtain the final spiritual power first. Once they did that, they could take on Heldalf, break his domain, and set about to restoring the Towers to their normal states.
“Whoa, you still remember your duty as Shepherd?” Rose joked.
“Of course! Humans and seraphim are capable of living in harmony. There’s no way I would forget that or the reason I started on this journey.”
As everyone cheered to boost the team morale, Lailah stood behind them all. Her jade eyes fell on the grass at her feet. A sense of dread over came her. She wasn’t connected to the Shepherd, but it was still her duty to see the task through. All of her regrets and transagressions had prepared her for the worst.
Notes:
Huhuhuhu...quite the revelations in this short, unseeming chapter! It's all slowly coming together, isn't it...the next chapter is going to be mostly DezeRose as we inch closer and closer to the Wind Trial!
Please leave a comment about what you think!
Chapter 65: Phase 2: Dezel's Apprehension
Summary:
With the advent of the final trial, Dezel becomes more and more worried about his next Dive. He seeks advice in Zaveid, but in the end, he knows what must be done.
Notes:
This is one of those delicious introspective chapters that I ABSOLUTELY love writing! I like to think that underneath all the prickle, Dezel is a little worrywart.
Leave me a comment telling me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Westronbolt Gorge looked dark and depressing yet still oddly charming for a ravine tinged the color of shale. Hellions were running rampant as usual, and in the distance a great shadow loomed over them. Zaveid and Dezel felt the shadow call them like a giant colossus beckoning the heavens. While the long-haired womanizer of a seraph wasn’t so much daunted by the approaching trial of wind, the blind one felt anxious. His heart ached. It was coming—the moment that he would have to reveal his true feelings to Rose.
Every few steps, Sorey and company were attacked by hellions. Dezel helped them in their fights, but he was preoccupied with other things. Rose had to see his true feelings no matter what, but the result of the Dive was what truly scared him. He refused to acknowledge that he cared for her so deeply as Lailah did for Alisha and Mikleo for Sorey. He even told himself late at night when Rose was fast asleep and curled up next to him in bed that the fifth level meant nothing. It was just a farce, a sham, an exaggeration of his worries. Rose’s constant chattering about her duty to protect him was a lie. He didn’t want to believe that someone like her would bother to make sure he was okay. He couldn’t accept it. Not after what he had witnessed when he had been rescued. But even then, someone had taken the time to save his wretched soul from eternal suffering at the hands of the Church. How could he not be grateful?
No, there was more to it. There were things that he didn’t even understand, could never hope to understand. One of those things was, expectedly, was Rose’s decision to protect him. Why did she save him from being hunted all those years ago? She was but a child! She didn’t understand what it meant for a seraph to be a prisoner or a slave. Why did she save him?
“Dezel?” Rose’s voice came, bringing him out of his thoughts. She was staring up at him under his hat. “Everything okay? You’ve been kind of quiet.”
“I’m always quiet,” Dezel replied.
“Yeah, but…” she glanced at everyone then whispered in his ear, “I can feel something’s wrong with you. This pact has a lot of uses—it’s like a monitoring system.”
“Will you…just stop trying to peer into my personal thoughts? I don’t do that to you, do I?”
“Well, no, though you do hang around in my head a lot.”
“Your idiocy is remarkable. Just let me be alone. I have to come to terms with letting you inside again.”
“Never did peg you to be a drama queen.”
“Move.”
Rose left him alone like he wanted, and somehow it made him happy that she did. He was happy that she was asking him if things were okay. He couldn’t get attached any more to her, but there were little things like that that made him hate himself even more. If he weren’t a cursed seraph, he would have enjoyed her company.
In fact, there were so many things that he wished he could have done to show that he appreciated her if he weren’t cursed. He would have loved to hold her closer when they slept at inns to recharge for the next stretch in their journey back and forth across the continent. He would have taught her to cook properly or bathe with her like how Mikleo and Sorey often did.
“What am I thinking?” he whispered. “I…I can’t get close to her.”
The dichotomy of emotions in his heart pained him, dragging him into an agonizing purgatory between accepting her tokens of affection and scaring her so terribly that she would sever the pact. The demons within it clawed at him every moment of every day, and while he tried so hard to ignore it and pretend that Rose’s kindness ate away at him to the point of insanity, he was fighting that uphill battle and losing. The weight of whatever it was she held for him was crushing him. He was falling right back into the mindset he had when he was imprisoned.
It was better to let people tell him what to do. It was better to let them do as they please with him. After all, seraphim were always going to be doomed to being subservient to humans regardless of how holy they were supposed to be.
Subservience? Is that what it was? Was he really subservient to Rose, whom tried to keep them on equal footing? He was the one that was always telling her to leave him alone and let him handle his own problems. She always fought back, but never more than she had to to break his shell and worm her way in his heart. That’s right, she was only pretending to be nice.
“Dezel!” Rose scolded. She was pouting this time. “You’ve got to talk to me. I told you, I can feel when things are wrong.”
“Buzz off,” he told her, a cough peeking from his chest. “It’s just the malevolence in the area.”
“Yeah, and I’m the Empress of Rolance. Well, I mean, the malevolence is pretty bad here, but you were relatively fine until just a few minutes ago.”
She almost was at one point in time. It was in his soul space—that bastard Prince Konan tried to make a slave of a wife out of Rose. She didn’t remember any of it aside from the name and face, and Dezel wanted to keep it that way. It would break her heart to learn the truth.
“Rose,” he hesitantly uttered. “If…If I hid something from you, would you be mad?”
“Depends on what it is. If it’s my daggers or food, probably.”
“If it was—”
He forced himself to stop. Now wasn’t the time to ask. He couldn’t risk reminding her of that night. He regained himself, reminding himself that the only one that he was after was the seraph that caused everything to happen. He had to kill the seraph that evoked his cursed blessing and ruined everything. He didn’t realize it, but he was reaching out to Rose who stood there and let him do what he wanted. He wrapped his arms around her, and it was strange to feel him like he was. Tense but not trembling, like he was protecting her from something.
Rose was merely his vessel. She only existed there to allow him to move with just enough safety that the malevolence wouldn’t poison him like the other seraphim that were out and about and vulnerable to the evil encroaching on the land. She was only a vessel.
Sorey looked back at them. He hadn’t noticed that Rose had stopped walking behind the rest of the group, and when he turned around to watch them, he felt something coming from Dezel. It carried on the wind that blew through the gorge, and he had thought it was only a trick of the mind due to the exhaustion of fighting so many battles just to reach the halfway point through the gorge. But the warmth that radiated from him—even if he wasn’t in a pact with him—soothed his heart. Sorey didn’t know him very well like Rose, but that night when he told him his secret about his blessing and what it meant for him as an IPD seraph, he knew that he meant well. Maybe that was why his heart sank a little. Dezel was the epitome of sadness in their ragtag group of eccentrics. He was clinging so desperately to the only one who had stayed with him even though she knew nothing about him.
“D-Dezel? What’s gotten into you?” Rose asked him, now uncomfortable with how long he was holding her. Any other time she would have loved to let him hold her like that, but there was something off. He wasn’t trembling, but she sensed his sadness. “Really, you can tell me what’s wrong. We can talk.”
Dezel hesitated before letting her go. He didn’t say a word. He just tipped down his hat so he could hide from her. If only he could do that for the next level of his soul space. Then something surprising happened. Rose dove under his hat and kissed him on his cheek.
“W-What are you doing?!” he breathed.
“Annoying you into telling me what’s the problem!” she laughed. She took his hand and led him to the rest of the group. “You can’t be doom and gloom all the time. You’ll break eventually, and when that happens, I’ll be ready to snag that opportunity.”
Dezel didn’t know how to feel about Rose. He wanted to hate her to keep his secrets hidden, but how could he when she actively threatened to learn more and more about him? Perhaps “hate” was the wrong word. As a cursed seraph, he hated most things because they brought pain. She brought pain as well, yet he liked it. It reminded him that he was alive unlike so many that had perished during the experiments. Because of her, he was still there.
The group came to a set of stone graves at the base of a cliff. The seraphim felt sick not from the malevolence but from what the graves represented. Dezel was repulsed. According to the older seraphim, they were memorials for those who had sacrificed their lives to the seraphim. Sorey remembered the people that gave mercy killings outside of Marlind, and it only made sense that the people that carried them out were the same people that believed that the seraphim would be happy that they killed themselves for their prosperity. Edna and Zaveid weren’t impressed.
“They treat us like garbage but think their nasty souls are what we want?” Edna scoffed. “Humans are so stupid. Why would we want the lives of those who threaten to kill us?”
“No matter how many humans try to offer themselves, it’ll never erase what has happened,” Zaveid mumbled. “Even if the ones sacrificing themselves are the ones wishing for a better world.”
Lailah looked away. Mikleo was angry at the notion of human sacrifice. He agreed with Edna and Zaveid, but he also wanted to believe Sorey’s dream for coexistence. He thought all lives were important even in the current sociopolitical climate. Why someone would throw away their life for some foolhardy self-righteousness was beyond him.
Dezel, in contrast, felt remarkably sorry for the humans that had thrown themselves from the cliff after getting over the initial thought of people just throwing themselves off the cliff above. He imagined them in his position, and he would have agreed with everyone else if he hadn’t been in the same way once. The only difference was that they were able to end it all thinking that something good would happen. He was ready to die that day when he finally escaped as far as the Volgran Forest, but Rose wouldn’t allow it. Naturally there were times where he reminded himself that he had to seek his revenge. He couldn’t afford to die before then.
“Let’s just keep going,” he ultimately said without a hint of an opinion one way or the other. “What’s the point of gawking at people whose only thought was to die?”
“Strange as it, becoming martyrs and sacrifices for the betterment of our world is the opposite of malevolence,” Lailah solemnly said. “Death lies on both ends of the spectrum of good and evil.”
“You’re preaching to the choir.”
He wanted to leave. As the group slowly came away from the stone graves, another point of interest caught their eye. A nest was hanging slanted on the side of one of the cliffs, and Lailah and Alisha couldn’t help but worry about the baby birds in it.
“Sylpheagles are known to perch and nest in dangerous locations,” Dezel said. “It protects them from predators.”
“Oh-ho, Dezel sure is more talkative now!” Zaveid and Rose giggled.
“Finally got tired of not speaking to any of us?” the former chided.
“I just thought I should inform these two of the bird’s habits before one of them tries to ‘rescue’ them.” After all, he didn’t want the sylpheagles to end up the same way that he did.
Edna suddenly pointed her umbrella toward a path up the side of the cliffs. In the distance was another crucible. She stood like a statue facing the crucible’s imposing structure tucked halfway into the side of the cliffs.
“Sure, we can go ahead and purify it before we go to the wind shrine,” Sorey told her. He figured that it would be best to clear it; Edna seemed to be getting bored with the regular fighting on the path. “Are you going to be okay by yourself?”
“Unlike you and Meebo, I don’t intend to get hurt,” Edna nonchalantly said.
“Now, now, Edna, overconfidence will be—” Zaveid teased before she stabbed him in the stomach with the tip of her umbrella. “What the heck? It was sound advice!”
“Quiet. I’m focusing on my tactics to prepare for the crucible.”
“No amount of focusing is going to make you invincible.”
Edna glared at him.
Dezel was relieved that they were stopping in the middle of the journey to the wind trial to take care of a crucible. The longer it took for Rose to Dive into him again, the better. In fact, Zaveid would have to Dive as well. So when they arrived at the Crucible Maharaurava, he asked the shirtless seraph to sit with him.
“Can I join?” Rose eagerly asked.
“Go play with the other kids,” he sternly told her.
Rose let out a disgruntled sigh before plopping herself next to Sorey and Alisha while Mikleo made shaved ice. Alisha empathized with her, and Sorey tried to make her look on the bright side of things. What bright side? At least Dezel wasn’t staying by himself like he did during the walk up to this point.
“I was getting a little worried about him, you know?” he added. Mikleo glanced at him as warning not to say anymore.
“Why would you be worried? He’s not your seraph,” Rose sighed.
“He’s a friend, though. I worry about all my friends.”
“Hmph, good save,” Mikleo smiled to himself.
Dezel and Zaveid had gone back to the sylpheagle nest on the side of the cliff. The latter asked why he suddenly asked him over away from the others, but the blind seraph had trouble finding the words.
“Sorey…is going to Dive into you for the trial, right?” he slowly asked.
“Oh shit, I forgot! I gotta Dive again!” Zaveid gasped.
“Wait.”
“Edna’s gonna take care of this place in no time!”
“Please, Zaveid!”
The desperation in Dezel’s voice caught him off-guard, and he began to worry about him. It had been years since he had heard him cry out like that. He couldn’t believe that he was so scared to let Rose see his true feelings.
“I…I don’t know what to do,” Dezel cautiously said. “I don’t want Rose to see what’s really in my heart, but I need the Armatus. If she gets hurt during this Dive—and she will because Alisha and Sorey were winded when they woke up—but if she gets hurt, how am I going to live with myself?” His chest throbbed in pain as he stifled the screams of anxiety inside. “What are you going to do when Sorey sees your true feelings?”
“I don’t plan on hiding them.” Zaveid walked up to his fellow wind seraph, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I already know how he feels about Mikleo. I’ve known about it since Lailah had been arrested and forced to become a vaccine. I don’t know what will happen, but I’m not ashamed. I only worry that his perception of the way things are now will waiver; I sure hope it doesn’t.” He placed his hands on his hips. “You and Rose, though, are a different story. You don’t do a very good job at hiding your frustrations. Either way, she will see your true feelings. It’ll be up to her to accept them.”
With that, Zaveid returned to Sorey with a request to Dive while Edna was in the crucible. The Shepherd agreed because he assumed that Zaveid would know what was going on in his own heart. And he admitted that it had been a while.
As he sensed their Dive begin with the surge of power form the Wind Armatus coursing through the air, he knew it would be a hard pill to swallow. He went up to the crucible to call Rose aside. She was happy until Dezel hugged her tightly so that her head was over his chest, listening to the nervous rhythm of his breathing. He whispered to her quietly and innocently:
“Don’t leave me.”
Rose was going to respond, but he stopped her with a finger on her lips. Scared that it would be the last time he would embrace anyone, he just stood there with the assassin in his arms.
Mikleo felt sorry for Dezel knowing that his secret was the reason that he was in pain. He sneakily glanced at Sorey’s hand, emblazoned with the crest of the Shepherd on his glove, for some sort of solace that Dezel would be happy in the time to come before the wind trial. He had to achieve his dream to help everyone, and that meant his friends needed to get along, too.
Notes:
The next couple of chapters are all happening at the same time, but for cohension's sake, each event is looked at independently. Hold onto your cloaks and daggers, everyone, it's gonna get wild....probably.
Leave me a comment telling me what you think!
Chapter 66: Phase 2: Malevolent Crucible Maharaurava
Summary:
While Zaveid and Dezel undergo their Dives, Edna takes on her crucible.
Notes:
Sorry for not updating last week! Was traveling and knew I wouldn't have time to update. BUT to make it up since I also will not be updating next week, I'll be updating three chapters. The next two chapters are happening simultaneously followed by the third, so I think it would be better to read them together instead of doing them separately.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Nn num ra rre sasye oz dor enter syec MAHARAURAVA
Ma i wa rre hynne harr echrra how quesa ware innna mea
Fou jyel gagis rre sasye oz dor bansh crudea pecee infel phira
Ma au ga rre werllra harr nepo anw dor weel varda ieeya
Was yea erra rre sasye oz dor afezeria en harmon sos dius pauwee
Edna stood in the center of the Crucible Maharaurava with a particularly bored expression. She wasn’t a heavy hitter in terms of strength, but her magic was excellent for attacking on the defense. Still, she knew she couldn’t let herself get too cocky. She didn’t have the others to help her fight, and a self-proclaimed lady like her wasn’t invincible no matter how tough she acted. She didn’t sense any seraphim that had been thrown down into the crucible, yet there were lingering sentiments that echoed deep within where she waited. The crucibles reminded her of the islands where hellions used to fight against her brother.
“Hmph, if Eizen could do it, there should be no reason that I can’t,” she motivated herself. Listening through the earth, she heard the hellions coming for her. “Here it comes.”
The hellions burst forth from the ground in waves. She began casting her Artes immediately, stabbing them with her lances made of stone and pelting balls of ice from the tip of her umbrella. The hellions didn’t seem fazed by her attacks, and it was only a matter of time before they broke through her defenses and brought the fight to close quarters.
The spider hellions were the most annoying. When one wrapped Edna in their webs, the other two jabbed her with their needle-like legs. Using the power of the earth, she broke free. A dome of stone formed around her while she healed herself with her Healing Circle Seraphic Arte, but it offered little protection to the three heavy hitters that spawned only seconds after.
The orc tamer and the rock giant slammed their axe and club repeatedly into the dome until cracks appeared. A wild boar hellion kept ramming into it. The earth seraph bided her time, expending the necessary energy to seal any holes from the blows. When there was a pause in their attacks, she commanded her earthly shell to morph into a spiny trap. The orc tamer and wild boar hellion were finished off, but the attack did nothing to hurt the rock giant. Mud slime hellions spewed some sort of watery substance that dissolved the rock, and leeches wormed their way in.
“That’s it,” Edna hissed.
Activating her Mystic Arte Terra Mine, she stomped the ground. Each hellion was pushed into the air. Her dome turned to sand around her as she spun like she was going to use Song Magic. She shot a boulder from the tip of her umbrella into each stone pillar that threw her enemies up. Most of them vanished in silver flames, but the rock giant was still standing tall.
She leapt back far away. The hellion moved slowly, lumbering across the arena clumsily with its giant club-like arm. When it was close enough, she cast Air Pressure. The rock giant was pinned to that spot, and she kept casting it and casting it until she could once again use her Mystic Arte to end it.
Edna smirked where the rock giant fell before falling to her knees in exhaustion. It had to be the malevolence within the crucible that made her feel so drained. But as it disappeared, her mind cleared. There was no one there. Even the echoes that she had heard when she entered were gone now. It was completely silent.
She couldn’t move yet to leave. While she waited, she pondered the echo, repeating the Hymmnos to herself. The words seemed far too accurate to her for someone to have been trapped there for years on end.
“I see,” she murmured. “So that’s what it is…how clever.”
Seraphim could see into the hearts of others. While the lingering sentiments of those who perished as part of the venomization were trapped until the crucible was cleared, they still operated the same. They were formless souls waiting for escape, mirrors of the hearts of those who were allowed to enter. And the only way one was chosen to enter was based on which desires, hopes, and dreams resonated with the souls within.
The earth seraph didn’t appreciate someone peering into her heart without her consent, but she couldn’t be mad either. The seraphim who were trapped beckoned to her just as they did to Sorey, Lailah, Rose, and Mikleo. They wanted someone to rescue them.
“It’s the earth trial all over again,” she observed. “You all were stuck here, weren’t you? That’s why you called us. You’re free now, so you can’t hear me.” She paused. “Was zweie ra pat yor elle uje gatyunla yor. Was zweie ra aterra chanti yor wearequewie sos qoga oz crudea yor.”
With that, Edna left the crucible and returned to find that Sorey and Zaveid were Diving. Alisha and Lailah hugged her out of relief to learn that she had survived. She somewhat appreciated that they were worried about her, but she took it mostly as an insult to her ability, even if she did almost get hurt badly. Mikleo was sitting next to Sorey to wake up from the Dive, and Rose and Dezel were still off on their own near the sylpheagle nest.
She looked at each one who had completed a crucible. She wished she’d known what they had heard in the depths, and she could have asked since it wasn’t confidential information like a Dive. If they amounted to nothing to aid them in their quest, it would at least be satisfying to see those pieces line up.
“How long have Sorey and the lazy bum been Diving?” she asked.
“Hmm, they started not too long after you headed in,” Alisha said, a thoughtful finger poking into her cheek so cutely that Lailah couldn’t help herself and took her in for a tight hug. “Zaveid was talking to Dezel before he came and begged him to Dive.”
“So we’re stuck here for a while then.”
“Looks like it,” Lailah giggled.
“Someone should tell Meebo that he shouldn’t be sitting so close to Sorey while Diving. He could potentially mess something up.”
Alisha and Lailah figured that she was just teasing him now that she was bored. Alisha wanted to discuss what she thought was going on between the other Squire and her seraph, but she wasn’t one to invade another’s privacy to that extent. Aside from that, there was nothing really to do except wait for the Dive to be completed.
Edna wanted to ask Lailah about her crucible, but she didn’t want to repeat herself about her hypothesis until everyone was present and attentive. Still, it bothered her somewhat. To have her heart probed by someone other than Sorey left her feeling violated.
Notes:
Crucible chapters are always so short, but they make for using Hymmnos.
Chapter 67: Phase 2: Song of Earth and Wind ~A Bromance~
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 4: Zaveid
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
Sorry for not updating last week! Was traveling and knew I wouldn't have time to update. BUT to make it up since I also will not be updating next week, I'll be updating three chapters. The previous chapter and this one are happening simultaneously followed by the third, so I think it would be better to read them together instead of doing them separately.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Zaveid stood proudly in the shared space of their soul. If there was any time that he seemed most like an exhibitionist, it was now. Sorey was still uncomfortable seeing anyone but Mikleo naked, and when the wind seraph stood like that with no shame, he wondered how he had managed to get this far.
“Look alive, Sheps! You’ve almost cracked the surface of my heart!” Zaveid happily announced. Oddly enough, he didn’t seem at all shy or scared about it. He was as excited as ever.
“What happens after I finish this Dive?” Sorey asked.
“You get to see my true feelings.”
There was a seductive allure to Zaveid’s voice that unnerved the young brunet a considerable amount. He doubted that it would be like Mikleo’s true feelings since he was sure that Zaveid didn’t hold lustful feelings, but he couldn’t completely deny that it could happen.
Zaveid took his hands. “And remember, you can’t tell anyone about this.”
“I-I don’t intend to.”
“Good!”
He forced him to touch his chest to initiate the Dive.
------------------------------------------
Sorey peered out from the Stonehenge to find that he was near a ship port. Port Cadnix was small but bustling with business. There was an inn across the street from a tavern where a sign stood to announce an annual song contest. Since Zaveid was a seraph, it was only natural that something like that would be going on in soul space.
He left the Stonehenge for the heart of the port. There he found Zaveid dressed rather fancily for the area. His long hair was braid capped by a black fedora. His red vest had a myriad of colors down the sides over a black shirt with black slacks with green stripes and a white belt. His shoulders were covered with a large fur coat. He looked like a casino high roller, a particularly nonchalant air hanging around him. Everything about him looked so out of place that Sorey had to give a second thought about the Dive’s environment.
As he approached the wind seraph, he heard him practicing singing. He either gave approving grunts or disgruntled sighs. The Shepherd was curious, but he didn’t want to bother him when he looked so concentrated.
“Oh, Sorey?” Zaveid suddenly greeted him. He called him over while he kept vocalizing and warming up his voice. “What brings you here, kiddo?”
“Um, I was just in the area,” Sorey hesitantly said. “Are you trying out for the song contest?”
“You bet your goody-two-shoes little head I am! Check it,” Zaveid ran his hands down his clothes and flared out his coat. “Don’t I look sexy? I am gonna win something tonight! That contest or a whole mess of hotties!”
Sorey was somewhat put off by the comment, but he wasn’t going to lie and say he wasn’t interested in hearing him sing. He hadn’t heard a proper Song from him, and while Zaveid definitely didn’t look like the singing type, he was sure that he’d have an amazing voice.
But after a few attempts of trying to sing higher notes, Zaveid grew frustrated that his voice kept cracking. “What the hell? I was doing just fine the other day,” he complained.
“Maybe you should take a break,” Sorey suggested.
“No way! I have to keep singing. If I stop, then I’ll just lose all the progress I’ve made.” He gave him a pouch of gald. “Be a good Shepherd and get me a drink, will you? Maybe I’m just thirsty.”
“Zaveid, this is a tavern,” Sorey told him incredulously.
“They have non-alcoholic stuff, too. Just get me something.”
Sorey let out a sigh. He never thought Zaveid could be bossy as well. He did as he was told, heading into the tavern and right up to the bar. He asked for a couple bottles of water, and while he waited, he glimpsed out of the corner of his eye to see an all too familiar face.
“Eizen?”
He figured that Eizen would be in his cosmosphere again given his connection to him, but he was more taken surprise by the extravagant pirate’s outfit he was wearing. Clad in white with a large black hat decorated with a golden dragon tail emblem, Eizen looked every amount of a pirate that Sorey had imagined whenever he heard the word. He even had a hook for a hand and an eyepatch.
“When is that cur outside going to give it a rest?” he grumbled drunkenly. “No one wants to hear his shitty voice. Aye, my voice is so much better.”
A red Normin sat next to him on the bar. “If you think you’re so hot, why don’t you try out for the song contest?” it said.
“Why would I waste my time with that farce?”
Sorey didn’t like hearing Eizen talk so lowly of Zaveid. At least the wind seraph was trying to improve before getting up on stage. He found it strange that this was yet again his perception of Eizen—markedly different from Edna’s perception yet he still cared about him. Why did he think the stoic-looking earth seraph was so critical when Edna saw him as nothing but a doting brother? Of course, such descriptions weren’t necessarily mutually exclusive to one or the other, but it was irritating to see these conflicting ideas.
“I agree with the Normin,” Sorey spoke up without realizing what he had said.
“What was that, you scurvy dog?” Eizen growled at him.
“I-I mean…” Sorey didn’t expect him to hear him either. “You’re making a judgment about someone you don’t even know. If you think you’re better, then prove it.” The little voice inside begged him to stay out of it.
Eizen narrowed his eye. “Tell me, boy, who’s the one making judgments here? How do you know I don’t know him? That man outside there is Zaveid the Exile. We’ve run into each other plenty of times in fights over a white dragon. Aye, that blasted white dragon that can relieve me of my curse, but it will crush his heart.”
Sorey didn’t understand it completely. Something told him that it was about Theodora, but he had no evidence to solidify his hunch. The bartender called him to get the bottles of water, and without another word to the pirate, he left the tavern. Zaveid had gone somewhere. He walked to the docks, thinking that he had gotten fed up trying to sing and wanted some fresh sea air.
“Zaveid, where did you go?” Sorey asked. “I got you water.” He peered down at the green glass bottles. Not knowing where to go and without anyone to guide him, he sat at the docks. Time passed and before he knew it, it was sunset. “Where could he have gone?”
“cUzI hymmnos mea aUuIkU cyuie ammue…” a broken voice sang over the rumble of the sea.
Sorey bolted up from where he was. It could only be Zaveid, but his heart sank hearing him sing like that. He called for him, the bottles of water grasped tightly in his hands. He glanced around for the eccentric outfit or the long braid that he had.
“No one wants to hear it!” a blond man wearing blindingly white clothes and a bandage over his eye snarled at him.
“We’ll teach you to sing without our permission,” a woman also with blonde hair threatened. She took her ornamented rod in both her hands and beat the wind seraph with it. “And trying to make your own songs? Who do you think you are? What would Malak One have to say about that? You care about him, don’t you?”
“Please don’t hurt him; he’s just a child,” Zaveid coughed. He got on his hands and knees, his outfit torn and bloodied.
When Sorey found him around one of the warehouses being attacked by these two mysterious people, he felt so much rage. He drew his sword, lying in wait for the opportune moment to take them by surprise.
“You’d be smart to stay out of that contest. Malakhim are worthless. Their only purpose is to serve the Shepherd in his ideals,” the man reminded him after thrusting his blade into Zaveid’s red-gloved hand. He didn’t scream or cry out in pain as if he had been trained not to react to the abuse. “If we hear one peep out of you…”
“You’ll be joining that boy in Hexen Isle,” the woman finished.
“I’m sorry. Please, don’t hurt Silva!” Zaveid pleaded.
Sorey dashed out, knocking the sword and rod from their hands and standing as a barrier in front of the object of their aggression. The man and woman, now appearing to be siblings, bared their teeth at him. He lifted the tail ends of his cloak to hide Zaveid, signaling that he would protect him.
“Who are you?” the woman interrogated.
“The Shepherd who has vowed to protect Zaveid,” Sorey declared.
“S-Sorey, it’s okay…I deserved this…” the wind seraph timidly said. “I-I stepped out of my bounds…I got my taste of freedom, so it’s time to go back.”
The man sneered. “Zaveid’s finally learned his place,” he chuckled.
A surging shockwave knocked over the two siblings, and Eizen strolled up to the scene. He took his stance next to Sorey. “If you’re looking for a brawl, you’ve found one,” he challenged. “Boy, take care of him while I deal with these ruffians.”
Sorey didn’t argue with him. He turned to Zaveid, who was still on his knees. He had never seen him look so vulnerable, down-trodden and broken like a doll. He used some of the water he had bought to flush out the lacerations and stab wounds he suffered. Zaveid teared up at Sorey’s kindness, and when they finally moved, Eizen unleashed his wrath.
Dropping the pirate formalities and tendencies imposed on him by the level, he stretched his hand. “How dare you treat a seraph like some feral animal!” he roared. He punched the ground, a cataclysm opening before the two people. “I’ll drag you straight to the hell you preach against!” The two siblings leapt back before Eizen’s trench could swallow them. The sea water gushed from below and flooded that area of the port.
Meanwhile, Sorey had taken Zaveid to the inn to tend to the wounds. He wanted to ask him who they were and why they were saying those horrible things. Yet the seraph was in no condition to explain anything. He was astonished that such violence could happen in his soul space like that, especially when it was a magnification of Zaveid’s own sentiments.
“Thank you,” he suddenly said. “Thank you for rescuing me…”
“Don’t thank me! You’re in a pact with me, so I’ll do everything to protect you,” Sorey smiled at him. He placed a bandage around his hand. “Zaveid,” he paused, thinking carefully what to ask. “Are you still going to sing in the contest?”
“A malak doesn’t sing without permission.”
“What’s a malak?”
“A seraph that serves the church.”
Sorey lifted his face once the wound was dressed. “I can’t imagine you serving anyone. In fact, I’m surprised you wanted to form a pact with me.” He let out an innocent laugh. Zaveid didn’t reciprocate which forced Sorey to quiet himself. “Whoever they were, and whatever they did to you, doesn’t matter. You’re an equal in my eyes, and you do what you please.”
“But…Silva…they’re going to hurt him…!” Zaveid sobbed. He gripped his heart, wincing at the thought of “Silva” getting hurt. “If I don’t sing, then he’ll be safe. But…I want to sing…I love singing…”
Sorey quickly pulled Zaveid’s head to his chest, cradling it and coaxing him to cry if he wanted to. He stroked his head as comfortingly as he could. Eizen eventually arrived with a few cuts on his face—mostly from his own stones—with a bag of clothes. He felt strange walking in on the two of them, but Sorey asked him to be quiet and careful.
The earth seraph set the bag down next to the bed. He would have offered to buy beer for everyone, but Sorey advised against it. Eizen knew that Zaveid had a habit of drinking copious amount of alcohol when he was depressed, so he agreed in retrospect. Instead, he waited for his rival to calm down before asking:
“Shall we sing together for the contest?”
“Why would you do that?” Zaveid asked him in return. “We’re…”
“We’re friends, and I’ll be damned if I let those two do that to you again.”
Zaveid agreed to sing with Eizen after thinking about it. He was happy that Sorey and Eizen were there to comfort him, but he hated that he was still so weak. Sorey guaranteed it wasn’t a weakness; he was scared for another person, and he was willing to put himself in harm’s way to protect him.
“We could be up all night talking about this, but we have a contest to win tomorrow,” Eizen sighed. “Get some rest. I got you some new clothes. Sorry if it’s not your style.”
Sorey offered to stay with him in the inn, but Zaveid assured him that it made no difference since time passed as he willed it. Morning came shortly thereafter, and he dressed in the clothes in the bag. They were plain compared to the casion outfit—a dark green dress shirt and black slacks and blazer. There was even a minimalistic version of the necklace that he always wore.
“This…I can tolerate this,” Zaveid joked.
Once he was dressed and Sorey made sure that all his wounds were cleaned and taken care of, the two went to the tavern. A small stage and microphone had been set up, and there Eizen was at the bar with a tumbler of whiskey. Actually, there were a few tumblers that were all emptied save for the spheres of ice. Eizen himself was quite drunk.
“Zaveid!” he slurred. He patted a spot at the bar next to him. “Give me a couple glasses of absinthe,” he ordered. Zaveid and Sorey met him at the bar, which the former wasn’t too keen on. If they were going to be singing, what purpose was there to drink beforehand? “It’s fine! Fine! I couldn’t believe that I came and saved your ass, so here I am, drinking because I did something incredible! Have a couple drinks, boys! On me!”
Sorey politely declined since he had never really had a taste for alcohol. Zaveid was the polar opposite, downing the two glasses of absinthe because it would be rude not to. Within minutes, the wind seraph was back to his old self somewhat and proposed that Sorey should also sing with them.
“I-I don’t know any Hymmnos!” he nervously said. He was interested in learning, but only after he had solved the problem in the level—or perhaps it would have been better to learn from him when he was sober. “I think it’s your turn now.”
Eizen and Zaveid carried each other to the stage, beer mugs in hand and a surprisingly chipper mood compared to moments ago. Sorey felt sure he knew what to expect, but he gave them the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn’t make complete fools of themselves.
“Okay! We’re going to sing today!” Zaveid happily yelled into the microphone.
“We’re really good at it!” Eizen added.
“Here we go…” Sorey sighed.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey was impressed that Eizen and Zaveid sang so well while being drunk, and he didn’t think that the two would be able to mix the two types of Hymmnos together like that. In fact, it should have been difficult for such lyrics to happen especially when Eolia was out of commission. Perhaps Dives were exempt from that law. Either way, he was glad to see Zaveid was happier now. He wished he could have learned more about the two that attacked him and why they had said those awful things. The way they had been dressed reminded him of the Church albeit closer to crusaders than anything pastoral like the Pope.
The bar was filled with raucous laughter and joy as others came to sing and show off. Eizen and Zaveid had drinking contests with Sorey as the judge, and finally it was time to leave. The Paradigm Shift opened after the two seraphim were crowned the winners and had Eizen not been passed out and blissfully asleep, he would have joined his rival on the stage to share a farewell. Sorey waited for Zaveid to sober up before heading for the Stonehenge.
“Thanks, Sorey, for helping me out,” he graciously said.
“I didn’t do much of anything—again,” Sorey replied.
“But you tried to protect me when…when they came. I didn’t think anyone would put their lives on the line like that for me.”
“Eizen helped, too.” Sorey paused. “He was a close friend, wasn’t he? You and Edna loved him.”
“He was more of…an asshole that I tolerated after a while. Before he became a dragon, I promised him that I would kill him to protect Edna. It was what he wanted, but he ended up dying before I could do it. I guess I’m still clinging to his memory just like Theodora. But now…” Zaveid looked hurt. “Sorey, forgive me. The next level…”
They arrived at the Stonehenge, where the Shepherd observed a sudden change in the wind seraph again.
“The next level might be too much for you to handle,” he finished. “Don’t let it discourage you. They were different times, but everything is better now.”
Before Zaveid stepped up to the light, he waited for Sorey to say something for fear that the abuse that he had seen would change his mind about going further. But Sorey held his hand, squeezing it tightly to reassure him he would follow through with the rest of his Dives. Now Sorey wished there was a Mind Guardian to speak to for the dozens of questions buzzing in his head. He wanted to help Zaveid over whatever this setback was, and he could feel it in his heart that if he helped Zaveid through the worst of the problem, he would be able to use the Wind Armatus soon enough.
----------------------------------------
As Sorey and Zaveid woke up, Alisha pulled the other seraphim away from them up to where Dezel and Rose were. They were intruding on their Dezel-prescribed alone time, but it didn’t matter since they would be on the move again shortly once Zaveid and Sorey had their discussion.
“Are you okay?” Sorey asked him. “Your soul space was unusually violent this time. Do you want to tell me anything?”
Zaveid waved it off. “It’s fine. Just some…issues I’m working on.”
Sorey couldn’t settle for that answer. He would be going back into his soul soon, so he wanted to be prepared for what was to come. The wind seraph merely played it off as a big surprise that would lose effect if he told him before he saw it. Why was he hiding things now? It bothered Sorey, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
“Are you ready to go?” Edna asked from the slope.
Zaveid pulled Sorey up from the ground, regrouping with them as if nothing had happened. Mikleo held onto his Shepherd’s hand. Sorey, fearing that he was neglecting Mikleo now, pulled him closer so he could rest his cheek on his head. Still, he was worried about Zaveid now. Dezel’s standoffish attitude could be easily explained, but not his senior. The walk to Guinevere from the crucible gave him just enough time to recover and steel himself, yet his heart was already aching.
“Mikleo?” Sorey quietly said so only the water seraph could here. They walked a little faster to put distance between themselves. “Am I doing a good job?”
“What happened?” Mikleo whispered back.
“I can’t tell you, but I don’t think I’m doing a good job helping you, Edna, and Zaveid.”
Mikleo snuck his arm around Sorey’s waist. “You’re okay,” he teased. Sorey deflated a little. “You’re taking care of all three of us as best as you can. You’re probably burning out. Once this trial is done, let’s all take a rest. We’ll need to before we go after Heldalf.” They were silent for a moment. “After the trial, talk to me. I haven’t heard the sweetness in your voice in a while.”
Sorey blushed. Was Mikleo trying to flirt with him?! He didn’t mind. He wanted to have some privacy with him. It had been a while since their last talk, and even though it seemed that the water seraph was over all the times where his psyche or heart was threatened, Sorey wanted to make sure he was okay.
From the Crucible Maharaurava; Guinevere, Shrine of the Wind Trial, was only a few paces away down the side of the cliff. It stood thousands of meters tall, piercing the grey dismal sky and imposing an exorbitant girth on the ground it was founded. Both Zaveid and Dezel’s heart felt heavy with malevolence.
“Something’s…coming…” Dezel panted. He clutched his chest. Rose caught him before he collapsed.
“The malevolence here is so strong…” Zaveid wheezed. He was on his hands and knees while trying to stay conscious. Sorey and Mikleo held him up. “Why is…?”
“Up there!” Lailah cried out. She pointed to something—someone falling from the very top of the tower. “It’s a person!”
Zaveid pushed through the malevolence, conjuring up his winds to catch the person before they splattered on the ground. He was gently lowering the now apparent man when suddenly a large headless horseman hellion came galloping down the side with a great spear to slice the person in half. The hellion cut through Zaveid’s wind, which sent an electrifying pain throughout his body. Dezel caught the person instead and lower him to the ground. The hellion squared up beside the group, and Sorey and Alisha drew their weapons.
“This is the hellion Dullahan,” Lailah explained, her papers ready to set it ablaze. “Judging by the amount of malevolence coming from it, it’s part of the trial.”
“How can we fight it when we haven’t even done it?” Rose asked her.
Dullahan turned around, heading back up the side of Guinevere and disappearing into the clouds. It was toying with them.
“We need to do the Dives.” The assassin flicked her gaze to Dezel.
“Is Sorey going to be okay?” Mikleo wondered aloud.
“He’ll probably be fine,” Zaveid joked as best as he could while still debilitated. “Is it really going to be a good idea Diving with Headless Horseman wandering around?”
“There’s no way around it,” Dezel coughed. “Rose, we need to do it now.” He realized that he was giving her permission without a fight, but it was a moot point. He had to accept it. His heart wasn’t safe from her anymore.
After making sure that the person that they had saved was safely kept away from them while he was still unconscious, Sorey and Rose called the true names of their wind seraphim, and as they fell asleep to Dive, their bodies ached from the malevolence. Lailah and Edna put up a barrier to protect them while Alisha and Mikleo watched them to make sure they were okay.
Notes:
Zaveid's Dives really are the most fun to write just because he's so happy and flippant in Zestiria, but this poor man had so many problems in Berseria. (Added bonus, for any Zaveid x Sorey shippers out there, I hope the feels in this chapter make you happy :D).
Chapter 68: Phase 2: Pet Show
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 5: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
So it turns out that this Dive is happening at the same time as the next Zaveid Dive, but for the sake of catharsis, this is the final chapter I will be uploading today. I won't be updating next week since I will be at Holiday Matsuri for the weekend (and hopefully Velvet doesn't collapse). That said...
Please leave a comment on chapters 66, 67, and this chapter to let me know what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rose opened her eyes in the shared soul space where she found Dezel was holding her close. His heart was beating so fast that she worried that something had happened. He felt warmer than usual, and his breathing was labored. There was a peculiar musk on his skin.
“D-Dezel…?” Rose nervously uttered.
“How long do I have to keep waiting?” Dezel breathed. “Let’s just get it over with! I can’t stand it anymore!”
Rose was extremely confused. Trembling with anticipation, Dezel took her hand. As if he were drunk, he impatiently pressed her fingers to his chest, burning hot with something that she never thought she would feel.
“W-Wait! Are these your true feelings!?” Rose panicked. Before Dezel could give her an answer, she initiated the Dive.
-----------------------------------------
Rose crashed down on the Stonehenge. Dezel was being clumsy, irrational almost, when he forced the Dive to start. She rubbed her lower back, which had falled on a point of the Stonehenge. She didn’t ask to be injured.
“Everything seems normal so far…” she sighed. “Aside from that rough awakening.”
The world looked closer to Lastonbell save for a few exotic fixtures and patches of bamboo. In fact, the Stonehenge was in the middle of a thicket. Windur popped out from behind a few shoots. It seemed like it had a hard time trying to get through the foliage.
“Windur, what’s going on? Everything is strangely normal now except for all the festival decorations,” Rose said.
“Oh, it’s the Festival of Love!” Windur happily explained. “It’s a special holiday in Dezel’s mind where he gets to express what he thinks love is. This is actually the first time it’s ever been held, so that’s what I was told.”
Rose was somewhat irritated that she couldn’t get a straight answer. She decided that the only way to understand what was going on was to ask Dezel himself. She scaled down from the Stonehenge and the bamboo thicket to the center of Lastonbell. Rose was amazed that everyone was wearing yukata and looking so pretty. She wandered around the city until she came to a modest home with the name Lafarga etched into the name plate. She knocked on the door, and as she waited for someone to answer, she thought about that name plate. Lafarga—she had heard that name before. She came to the conclusion that it was someone important to her wind seraph. The name was from the deleted memory amidst the distorted Hymmnos, that much she could tell.
“Lafarga, huh?” she rolled on her tongue.
The door finally opened to reveal a kind-looking older man with long hair the same color as Dezel’s. In fact, everything about him looked like Dezel—the hat, the clothes, the boots.
“Oh, are you here to pick up Dezel?” he asked with a sweet voice that defied his apparent age. “You’re earlier than we expected. My son is still getting his costume on for the big performance tonight, but please, come in.”
Rose was somewhat surprised that the man was so welcoming. And did he call Dezel his son? Who was this man? Who was he to Dezel?
The man presumably named Lafarga showed Rose to a lavished chair then brought her a cup of tea. “I have to say, I’m so happy you’re going to accompany Dezel to the festival. He’s been shyer lately, telling people he loves that he hates them…myself included.”
Rose sipped the tea. It was rose-flavored, which struck her odd. She set the cup down. “Sorry to interrupt your story, but where is he?” she asked.
“You know what? He probably heard you come in and is trying to pretend he’s asleep or something. Follow me.”
Lafarga guided Rose up the stairs to Dezel’s room. His door was plastered with KEEP OUT signs and caution tape; inside the room, the assassin could hear him swearing as he thrashed about for what she assumed was this costume he was supposed to wear.
“Dezel, we’re coming in,” Lafarga happily said.
“No! I’m not ready!” Dezel’s voice came.
“Son, if you don’t hurry, you’re going to be late.”
He opened the door. There, Dezel stood dressed in what looked like a Kabuki theater outfit without the makeup. He had apparently been trying to put on his mask to hide behind it, but it didn’t work. He ended up throwing the entire piece at Lafarga, who pushed Rose out of the way as he dodged in the opposite direction.
“I told you I wasn’t ready!” the blind seraph complained.
“That doesn’t mean you just throw things around!” Lafarga scolded. “Sweet Rose is here to get you. I’ll leave you two alone, but be nice please.”
With that, Lafarga left. Rose didn’t know what to say; telling her seraph that he looked good in his costume would stir the pot, but she had to say something. The entire episode was just overwhelming.
“So, the Festival of Love, right?” Rose awkwardly started. “I didn’t think you would be interested in something like love.”
“I-I’m not interested! I just got recruited into their dumb show!” Dezel snapped. Then he started to blush. “I…I wasn’t even planning on going because you said you would go with me at the last second!”
Rose was already exasperated beyond belief. But this was simply another—very well-defined—persona of Dezel. She could have walked out and he would have never known, but that would defeat the purpose of the Dive, and she was truly intrigued by what Dezel thought love would be like. On top of that, if this level was what she thought it was, she wanted to know what Dezel thought of her.
“Well I’m ready to go whenever. Just don’t throw anything at me.”
“How can you go looking like that? Well, I suppose yukata isn’t your style. And it’ll be easier to walk in that.”
“You’re really indecisive this time.”
“Ugh, and you’re rude.”
“I’m just calling it as I see it.”
Dezel clenched his fist. “I hate you, Rose! I hate you so much!” he yelled at her. Now she was getting angry. After telling Dezel that she was going to end the Dive right there and go back to reality, the wind seraph suddenly turned meek. “N-No, I’m sorry. Please, stay!”
“Make up your mind! Do you hate me, or do you want me to take you to the festival?”
“Why do I need to spell it out!? Of course, I want to go to the festival!”
“What is wrong with you? You’re just going back and forth between being a jerk and being nice!”
Dezel pushed her out of the way, running out of the house like a child throwing a tantrum. Afraid that she had hurt his feelings, Rose picked up the mask and cradled it. The smell of juniper wafted from it—Dezel’s scent. As she mulled over going to find him, she wondered why these little details were there. Why was she noticing them when they were so minute, insignificant in the grand scheme of things? She went downstairs to find that Lafarga was sitting in his chair.
“He ran away again,” he sighed. “Honestly, that boy needs to learn how to control his emotions. Getting so angry or even hot and bothered like that, he’ll never find a girl to love him.”
Hot and bothered…the phrase reminded her of Dezel before she Dived. She excused herself from Lafarga’s house, to which the man didn’t care, and headed for the terraced park. Instead of radishbells and concrete, the park was filled with roses and begonias. Their petals were glittering in the moonlight.
Dezel sat in the center of them. He looked peaceful, like he had fallen asleep while sitting in them. Little springs of juniper poked through the flowers. Perhaps this was why he smelled like the little evergreen plant.
“Dezel?” Rose gently said. “Are you awake?”
“Why are you here?” he asked. He turned his face towards her. “I thought you were mad at me.”
“I am because it wasn’t very nice of me to yell at you.” She carefully walked through the flowers and place the mask on Dezel head. “I’m sorry. I really do want to go to the festival with you.”
“Don’t feel like you have to.” He rested his elbows on his knees. “It was a stupid to think I could go with anyone.”
“Don’t say that!” Rose hugged him from behind. “I’d go with you anytime, but you have to behave.”
“Behave? Why do I have to behave?” He caught himself. He stood up after Rose let go of him, and when he faced her, he was blushing again. “Do you really mean it?” He slowly took Rose’s hands.
“Sure!” She smiled at him.
“If you really mean it…” he leaned in a little. “Then come closer and prove it.”
Rose felt strange playing such a childish game, but she figured that he wanted her to prove it with a kiss—which was amazing since she was sure that he would never wish for that. She stepped a little closer, inching in with a racing heart. She had never kissed anyone like she was about to with Dezel. She kept moving forward, but she couldn’t find his lips or cheek or anything on his face.
Then she heard a metallic clanking sound like a metal door shutting right next to her ear. It was only then that her lips brushed his, and he held her there to distract her. In moments, she was pulled down into the flowers, the thorns of the roses scratching and stabbing into her hands.
“W-What the hell?” she gasped. “Dezel, what the—”
“I love you,” Dezel blatantly said licking his lips. The dumbfounded assassin peered up past his knees first at his hand grasping a chain leash then his face. His peridot eyes were as clear as the moon in the sky, a crazed glint reflecting in them. “I love you so much, Rosebud. I’ve always loved you, and now…now I can finally tell you. My heart feels like it’s going to burst! Do you know how long I’ve waited? I’ve waited so long.” What was this incessant rambling? “Oh my God, you look so cute with this collar on you. My very own pet—that’s what you are! My cute, adorable, lovable pet Rosebud. Once this night is over, I’ll have you all to myself. I’ll never wake up, and we can always go to this Festival of Love.” He was hugging himself like a depraved madman.
Rose tried to open the collar, but as soon as she laid her hands on it, Dezel yanked on the chain. “Stop!” she screamed. She clutched her throat under it in pain. “Why did you put this collar on me?! How could you trick me like that?!”
“Trick?” Dezel asked almost too innocently. “Rosebud, this is my love. Isn’t that what love is? Chaining someone to you? Never letting them go? I promise you’ll learn to like it.” He yanked on leash as he stood up. “It’s time to go to the festival. Don’t fall too far behind, okay?”
Dezel led Rose to the heart of Lastonbell where there were plenty of game booths and plenty of people to stare at them. They looked confused or disgusted or offended. Rose felt the same way and more.
“How long do I have to wear this stupid collar?” she asked while trying to hide that she was seething.
“As long as we’re out in public. I mean, people can’t know we’re on a date,” Dezel giggled. “So you’re going to be my pet. Oh, I’ll be entering you into the pet show, too. You’ll look so cute up on stage doing all the tricks I taught you.”
Rose reflexively tried to steal the leash from him, which displeased the wind seraph greatly. He yanked on the chain again. Rose gripped her throat.
“Rosebud, do you know how cute you look trying to escape from me?”
“What…is wrong…with you…” she choked.
Mikleo and Lailah passed by, but their partners weren’t on leashes. They were holding hands and enjoying the festival like normal people. But they didn’t seem to notice that Rose was just like them.
“Oh, how cute!” Lailah cooed. “What’s her name?”
“I call her Rosebud, but I don’t know if she likes the name. She’s been kind of difficult lately.”
“Oh, don’t even start with that,” Rose hissed
Alisha just stared at her, closing in like a dog meeting another for the first time. Rose corrected herself: Alisha and Sorey were exactly like her. Apparent mindless animals that danced to their owners’ tunes.
“Are you going to enter her into the pet show? Her hair is a little dull,” Mikleo criticized. “My Sorey’s hair has been treated with all-natural ingredients. It’s so fluffy sometimes I wish he’d roll around on the ground a bit to flatten it down.”
“I’m not a pet,” Rose declared.
Dezel threatened to pull on her chain. “My Rosebud is perfect, thank you.”
Mikleo and Lailah excused themselves since Sorey wanted to use the bathroom and Alisha was getting hungry. They promised to see him at the pet show before moving on with their night.
“Would it kill you to at least enjoy this date?” Dezel asked.
Rose sputtered. “Date? Is that what this is? Have you completely lost your mind?” She gripped her collar again, and not a second too late did Dezel yank on her chain to pull her close. “You’re being a real asshole.”
“My dearest Rosebud, please behave yourself,” he patronized. “People are staring at us, and if they’re staring, I want them to think we’re cute.”
“Kinky, maybe. But this is not cute.”
Dezel finally caved. He offered his hand to Rose. He would allow her to hold it, but once she took it, he immediately retched and pushed her away as hard as he could. She fell back, the collar and chain leash preventing her from hitting the ground but also pulling at her neck.
“Dezel, this hurts! Why are you doing this to me? You’re hurting me!”
He pulled her back to her feet by the leash.
“Keep this up, and you’ll break my neck!”
Dezel chuckled. “Oh, that’s nonsense! Collars can’t kill people.”
“Are you…” Rose had to stop herself from using profanity at him. “Why am I wearing this collar!?”
“Because you’re my pet.”
Suddenly, an annoyingly familiar voice sounded behind them. “Hey, Dezel!” Zaveid greeted, Edna at his side. “Is that your new pet? She’s so cute!”
“Isn’t she? I love my Rosebud to pieces!” Dezel happily said.
“I’m not a pet!” Rose growled.
“Ooh, she’s still got a temper, huh? You should house-break her before she becomes feral. Pets do that pretty quickly, you know,” Edna noted. Dezel seemed to ponder it, and Rose felt sick thinking about what he would do to her if he followed her advice. “Like if she pees in your house, you have to shove her face on the spot.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Rose screeched.
Dezel lost it. He smacked Rose across the face as hard as he could then yank on her chain. “Apologize to Lady Edna this instant!” he demanded. “I know you’re at a troublesome age, but that’s where I draw the line!”
“Apologize? I think not,” Edna scoffed. “Have her win me that Leglis Normin plush as payment.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Dezel shoved her to the shooting game booth just a few paces from them. He forced her to play the game until she won the plush for Edna before striking her again after Edna and Zaveid left with a particularly bad taste in their mouths from the encounter.
“I am trying to be nice, Rosebud,” Dezel growled.
Something inside of Rose switched. She stopped responding to his empty threats. She urged him to do it more. She asked him to do his worst, and when he raised his hand to slap her again, she pulled one of her daggers on him. She sliced his hand, his blood dripping down her blade.
“R-Rose…Rose, I’m bleeding…” he shuddered.
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” She stared at him as he fell to his knees and the excruciating pain throbbed in his hand. “I’m done. I thought I could handle this, but I can’t. I thought I could show you my love, but if this is what you think love is, you’re not worth my time.”
The collar shattered into a million pieces, the cityfolk turning at the sound of it breaking. Dezel held his hand in an effort to stop it from gushing blood, but he didn’t know what to do. He loved her so much, but he hated her and wanted her gone. He ran off somewhere in the soul space.
Rose headed back to the Stonehenge to leave the soul space. While she walked, Windur pushed its way through people’s legs to find her. Until it did, Rose muttered about how much she hated him.
“Rose, wait!” the Normin cried out. “I sense another Normin…” It stopped in its tracks, and in the midst of the crowd, the plush that Rose had won for Edna was walking about looking for the assassin as well. “Leglis!”
“You’ve got to find that girl!” the other Normin urged. “The Nothing—it grows thicker!”
“I know! We’ve got to fix this problem before Master loses himself.”
The Normin continued their search; Rose drew closer to the Stonehenge. They called her name, and while she heard them, she mistook it for Dezel’s voice. How could Dezel love her when he was abusing her? Did he truly mean it when he told her that he loved her? She sank to her knees, unable to touch the Stonehenge and leave that horrible world. Hot tears poured from her periwinkle eyes. She suppressed her sobs.
What was love?
Why did Dezel confuse love with abuse?
Did he truly love her?
She remembered all of the little details—the tea, the scent in Dezel’s mask, the rose and begonia flower field, the juniper springs, Dezel’s trembling body before the Dive—what did they all mean? What did it mean to Dezel to have all of these hints?
“Wake up!” Dezel’s voice came. He was standing between her and the Stonehenge, but it was a different Dezel than any she had encountered. He was clad completely in white and from a higher level in the soul space. “Rose, you’ve got to pull yourself together.”
“What am I supposed to do here?” she wept. “I don’t know what Dezel wants.”
“Dezel doesn’t know what he wants either. He both loves and hates you, wants to be by your side and to never see you again. He’s completely irrational now, caught between these two desires. And while he steeps in his anguish, the Nothing is closing in on him. You have to help him make a decision.” He grabbed her by the shoulders in desperation. “You’re his voice of reason in this world. He trusts you, Rose, he always has!”
“Then what am I supposed to reason out?!”
“You need to show him what love is. Dezel has never known it. When he was held captive in Pendrago, he was lied to and abused just like he’s doing to you. His perception is skewed. The hatred that was cultured in his soul is taking over. Please, as a higher persona, I am begging you to save him from his darkness!”
Rose’s heart ached, her head pounded, and her eyes burned. She loved Dezel too much to give up, and she cursed herself that she was ready to abandon him after all her promises to protect and to always be there for him. She wiped her eyes as she turned back for the flower field that was beginning to rot. Dezel blew countless healing winds over them to no avail. His despair was deepening. He had to resign himself to the sadness he had always known. He stared up at the clouded night sky.
“Dezel, stop!” Rose called out to him as she threw her arms around him. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry I hurt you! Don’t give up! Don’t give up on me or yourself or love!”
“I can’t be loved…” he whimpered. The Nothing roared over the flower field like a freight train. “I’m incapable…”
“No, you’re not! You love me, right? You don’t know how to show it, but you do! And I love you, too! So please—before the Nothing destroys this level, please promise me you won’t give up!”
Dezel clutched his heart. Stifled grunts clogged his throat. Tears welled in his eyes.
“I love you, and I want to stay with you! I’ll show you how to love properly!”
The wind seraph whimpered and shook. Over the deafening sound of the Nothing, he screamed in agony. He was soon quiet; Rose pulled him to the Stonehenge where Windur and Leglis were waiting. The Paradigm Shift had just opened, and they needed them to go through.
“Rose, I’m so sorry,” Dezel sobbed. “Promise me that you won’t leave. Promise that you’ll come back!”
“I will, Dezel, I will! Go through the Paradigm Shift; you’ve got to get out of this level!” Rose pushed. She spun him around, and before he could register what happened, she kissed him. It broke his heart; why was love painful? How was this any different from what he suffered?
The wind seraph reluctantly went, memories of his abuse in Pendrago returning slowly. Without another second, Windur sent Rose back to reality before the darkness trapped her there forever.
--------------------------------------
Rose’s eyes sprang open. She was breathing heavily while Dezel stayed away a feet few from her. The malevolence wasn’t hurting him as much as his own guilt for endangering her with his own hands and feelings.
Mikleo watched the usually stoic seraph crumble. Something terrible had happened—it was just like with Lailah and him. His true feelings were too intense. He knew it. Mikleo remembered how things had turned out after his revealing Dive with Sorey, and he sympathized with the wind seraph.
“Dezel!” Rose cried out. But the wind seraph flinched, pushing her back with his wind just as Sorey and Zaveid woke up. “Dezel, wait!”
“No, no, no…no,” he repeated. “I’m sorry.” He refused to come closer, even when they entered Guinevere when both Dives were complete.
Notes:
GOD I LOVED THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE I LOVED CLOCHE BEFORE JACQLI CAME INTO THE PICTURE. And it made for a PERFECT obstacle in the DezeRose path! Like, shit man, I forgot how rough this chapter was.
Chapter 69: Phase 2: Malak Zaveid
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 5: Zaveid
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
Heya, hope you enjoyed those three chapters last time! I'm uploading two chapters again this weekend because December is a very busy month. This chapter and the next chapter are pretty heavy again, but they were really fun to write!
Please leave a comment telling me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
While Rose and Dezel were Diving, Sorey and Zaveid had their own session. Compared to Edna and Mikleo, the wind seraph was the least reactive to this point in their Dives. He was incredibly obedient, submissive even. While Sorey had always been gentle, he felt that even his gentility would scare him.
“Sorey,” Zaveid listlessly said. “Do whatever you want to me. I deserve it.” His tone was terribly subdued.
“What are you talking about?” Sorey asked him. Zaveid didn’t answer. He stopped answering, trained to stay to quiet unless given permission to speak. He slowly approached him, but there was no reaction. “Are you okay?” No response again. He gently touched his chest, and in the split second before the Dive commenced, he saw him flinch.
---------------------------------
Sorey found himself in the catacombs of the Pendrago Shrinechurch. The darkness was unsettling, and there were no sounds except for the occasional settling of the stones that made up the walls. It was completely silent, and it frightened Sorey with what it all meant. He felt his way down the labyrinthine halls with some expectation that he was going to be attacked by something in its depths. He wished more than ever that Zaveid had a Mind Guardian, but he knew in the back of his mind that the Normin would just abandon him.
After tens of minutes of walking through what felt like a void, he finally heard something that wasn’t dust falling or rats scuttling. The voices that echoed sounded familiar. Sorey hid around the corner when he was close enough to hear them speak clearly.
“That malak has finally broken,” the female voice said.
“Took long enough. He’s powerful; we need him to catch that beast of a girl,” the male replied. They were walking towards Sorey, whose heart was racing as they crept closer and closer to him in the dark. “Do you think he can sing the ancient language? We don’t have very many of those types—I think they’re called Wills.”
“I doubt it. He seems only capable of simple songs despite being so strong. Dearest brother, be careful when handling him. He could be feigning his weakness.”
Sorey barely breathed as he felt them pass by him. Zaveid was a strong seraph or malak as they called him, yet he couldn’t sing like he could presently. When was this? Was he still stuck in his memories? Or was this all still an insecurity? He wandered farther down the halls to a large prison cell. There was only a narrow slot to peer into the room, and even then, it was pitch black. But he felt him. He was struggling in there, but he was still alive.
“Zaveid? Zaveid, can you hear me?” Sorey whispered urgently. His seraph didn’t respond. “If you’re in there, say something.”
Chains rattled. “Who…?” a shy voice sounded. Shy? No, beaten or tired or dying. “I mustn’t speak.”
“Zaveid,” Sorey disheartenedly sighed. His hand was too big to fit through the slot, so trying to grab his attention by some gesture was out of the question. The door itself was locked tight; it didn’t even move in its frame. “Don’t worry, I’m going to get you out.”
“N-No…!”
“Why?”
“I’m happy here.”
Sorey was horrified hearing that. He wanted to protest such a mindset, but he remembered those two that were talking about him earlier. He was broken. He promised again he would free him. He needed to find a way into the prison cell withouth alerting the two siblings. There had to be a key somewhere, and there had to be another key for those chains. He left the prison door even though he didn’t want to leave Zaveid alone.
The first key, which was to the door, was being guarded by faceless soldiers. For once, the Shepherd was happy that it was so dark. He snuck up close to one of them, careful not to touch him or breathe on him. With a swift movement, he punched the soldier in stomach with the pommel of his sword then caught him so his armor wouldn’t clank on the ground. He lowered him gently then cautiously stepped around him to a small chest behind the other guard. After opening the chest, he pocketed the key.
“Who’s there?” the other guard barked. Unlikely Sorey, he wasn’t blind in the darkness. “Stealing the Abbey’s property, huh?”
“Crap!” Sorey gasped.
He parried the guard’s sword just in time, the sparks of their blades colliding illuminating the darkness. The faceless guard was a hellionized soldier akin to those that had been in Glaivend Basin during the war. He was unnerved by its sharp teeth that looked like it could tear his throat open. The guard kept slicing at him, and Sorey blocked each attack. He had to fight back if he wanted to make it to Zaveid.
“Shatterfang! Shadow Shock! Cantering Flames!” he called out in rapid succession, performing his Martial Artes as he did. The guard recovered from the onslaught. Sorey had to regain his stance after his attacks, and it was in that split second that the guard stabbed him in the abdomen. His breath hitched from the shock and pain, but he powered through it. “Heavenly Torrent!” he coughed while holding the wound. The soldier stabbed him again before Sorey finished it off. A small key fell from its armor—the key to the chains.
He pressed on the two fresh wounds to help with the pain. He couldn’t wait for too long for the aching to stop; Zaveid needed him.
“Did you hear that?” the male voice asked.
“Someone’s here, and they’re by the key chest!” the female cried out.
Sorey pushed himself up, dragging himself against the walls. Each step intensified the pain, each breath tearing the wounds more open. He didn’t know where the siblings were, but he couldn’t waste time.
When he returned to Zaveid’s prison cell, he shakily unlocked the door. It swung open slowly and noisily. “Z-Zaveid…I’m here for you…” he panted.
“Go away,” Zaveid half-heartedly warned him.
“No, I have to get you out of here. Come on…”
He noticed by the scarce light bleeding through the ceiling that he was hanging by his wrists and his feet were barely touching the ground. He unlocked the ankle shackles first. He supported him by his waist, but he couldn’t reach the shackles around his hands.
“Why…?” Zaveid asked him. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because you’re my friend, and I believe that you should be treated equally,” Sorey grunted, mostly from pain. “I believe that humans and seraphim can coexist…without having to be in this toxic relationship of master and slave…” Sorey tried his damnedest to unlock the shackles, and when he got one done, Zaveid yelped now that his weight was on one shoulder. “I’m sorry…”
“Tell me to do it,” Zaveid requested.
Sorey was breathing heavily even though he was forcing himself to stay conscious. He handed him the key before lowering himself to the ground. After Zaveid followed his order to free himself, he met his Shepherd below him.
“Could you heal me? Once you do, I can take that collar off you.”
Zaveid did his best to heal Sorey, but as the Shepherd—now rejuvenated—moved for his collar, he backed away. Sorey finally saw the whole picture in that darkness. Zaveid was younger than when he had been taking care of those orphans. In human years, he would have been around Sorey’s age. He didn’t have much muscle, which could be attributed to the maltreatment he was suffering as a malak, as a slave. He wore white clothes with a green vest, a golden mask similar to Pawan’s sat on his head. His lonely amber eyes resembled death. He had bruises and scabs from where the siblings had beat him into submission. The markings around his wrists and neck were especially harrowing.
“Zaveid, let me take the collar off,” Sorey egged on.
“No…this is who I am. I prefer to wear it. I need to remember my place.” He looked at him almost needfully. “Do whatever you want to me. Give me purpose; order me around like they do.”
Sorey was somewhat disgusted not that Zaveid wanted to be treated like this but by the fact that he had been brainwashed into thinking this was how he was supposed to live. Zaveid begged him to treat him badly. The desire was almost as intense as Mikleo’s but far more forlorn.
“It’s you!” the man that had hurt Zaveid in the previous level snapped. “How dare you steal our most prized seraph!”
Sorey held onto the wind seraph, who was confused about what was happening. He angled his sword at the man.
“Turn yourself in, and things will be easier on you.”
“This isn’t right! What you’re doing to Zaveid and the other seraphim isn’t right!”
“Seraph? Hah! The one there is a malak; he has no free will, no identity! He’s simply a doll for us to use. Zaveid, I order you to kill this intruder!”
Zaveid gripped his head as a magic circle surrounded him. He cried out in pain like his head was going to explode. “Sorey, please help me!” he bawled. “It hurts! It hurts so much! I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore!”
“What’s the matter? I thought you liked this kind of stuff!” the man ridiculed.
Sorey hugged him tightly, this time unlocking the collar from around his neck while his seraph was paralyzed in agony. He thought that by getting rid of it, Zaveid would be free from the man’s wishes. But it was deeper than that. The only way he could be free was to have a Paradigm Shift.
“Do you want to become a dragon? Do as I say, you pathetic excuse for a malak!”
When it was clear that Sorey wouldn’t let Zaveid do what he was told to do as he held onto him, the man clenched his teeth. He pulled out the gun that belonged to the wind seraph and aimed it at Sorey. He was going to shoot him.
“I-I’ll do it! I promise!” Zaveid sobbed.
Suddenly, the gun flung across the prison cell towards Sorey and the wind seraph. Another version of Zaveid appeared wearing white pants and a pink sleeveless shirt with purple gloves. He tied the man up with his pendulums, giving him the appearance of a marionette.
“Sorey, shoot Zaveid with that gun!” the pink Zaveid commanded. “Free him from the binds of his heart! Give him back his identity!"
Sorey snatched up the gun Siegfried. The enslaved wind seraph pleaded him not to shoot him because he liked being told what to do. The Shepherd promised that it was for his own good. He pulled the trigger against the helpless malak, a gust of wind surrounding him as he screamed in pain. At that same moment, the Paradigm Shift burst forth from the Stonehenge.
“You fool, do you realize what you’ve done?!” the man hissed. “The strongest malak we’ve ever caught is going to get away! Why would a fellow human seal his fate like this!?”
“Because enslaving seraphim isn’t right!”
The pink Zaveid threw the man to the side. He hurriedly placed the newly-freed Zaveid on Sorey’s back. “You need to get him to the Paradigm Shift. He’ll probably still be unconscious when you get there.”
“Which part of Zaveid are you?” Sorey asked suddenly.
“The oathkeeper, a symbol of all the promises he’s ever made.” The man was preparing to trap them all in the prison. “Go, now! We’ll meet again on a deeper level.”
Sorey escaped the prison, running past the man and later the woman to the chamber holding the Stonehenge. When he stood before it, he never realized how light the seraph was on his back. He had to have been starved even though seraphim didn’t have to eat. It was unnatural. The cruelty he experienced was somehow rendering him slowly out of existence.
But Zaveid woke up thanks to the light. He slid off his back, peering at the radiance. Unconsciously, he took the mask sitting on his head and threw it away. Sorey knew this Zaveid. He was glad to have him back.
“Sorey, thank you,” Zaveid said, but he was somewhat embarrassed. “I’m sorry you found that out like that.”
“Find what out?”
“T-The collar thing!”
“You’re really into that stuff!?”
Zaveid covered his face with his hands. “Whatever! I’m going! Just don’t mention it to anyone else!”
He ran into the light just before the Paradigm Shift ended, and Sorey was left alone. He could hear footsteps coming behind him. The siblings were coming for him, so content that the Dive was done, he returned to reality just in time to evade their wrath.
---------------------------------
Sorey woke up to find Zaveid hiding his face in shame. He immediately knew that he was mortified about the collar in the Dive, but he didn’t care. Whether or not he was truly into being on a leash and liked being ordered around, Sorey saw it in a different light. Zaveid’s past was darker than he could have imagined. He expected it to have some sort of influence on his desires. Though, of all the Dives into the truest feelings, that one felt the least threatening. And there was a sense of closure, but he had to wonder what it would lead to in the soul space.
“Zaveid?” Sorey cheerfully mentioned.
“Oh God,” the wind seraph muffled into his hands.
“I don’t think any less of you, but when our journey is done, please tell me more about what happened back then.”
“But what about—”
“I don’t think any less of you.”
Considering this to be Sorey accepting him for who he was, Zaveid gave him an innocent smile. Dezel’s cries grabbed their attention:
“No, no, no…no,” he repeated. “I’m sorry.”
Rose inched towards him with her hand out to comfort him. Like a feral animal, he bristled and refused to come closer to her.
“Poor Dezel,” Lailah tearfully said. Her hands hid her quivering lips while Alisha held onto her.
Sorey asked her what happened, but all she could say was that this emotional reaction was due to his Dive. Something had happened, and he couldn’t bring himself to even listen to his human. Even as they entered Guinevere, Dezel kept his distance away from the group, especially Rose.
Notes:
I wish there was some insight canonically to Zaveid's time as a malak (if memory serves correctly). Like, I can only imagine how horrible it was working for the Abbey. This chapter was also based on a fanart that I had seen of Zaveid as a malak (http://jubesketch.tumblr.com/post/161210667275/an-exorcists-malak-recently-played-up-to-the) and call me sadistic, but really. That art is perfection.
Chapter 70: Phase 2: Fight Between the Wind and the Blinking Sky
Summary:
Having completed the necessary Dives, Dezel and Zaveid take on the final Trial Shrine. While Zaveid and Sorey have made their peace, Dezel refuses to allow Rose to go any further into his heart. Without that permission, he cannot use the Armatus at will.
Notes:
CERTAIN PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
OHHHH YEEEEAAAAAH Here we go! If Dezel's previous Dive didn't make me love writing their angst, THIS chapter did!!
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The interior of Guinevere was elaborate yet colorless. The floor, walls, ceiling—everything was engraved with wind-themed designs and the only color was a green mist that was pulsating from some sort of platform on the other side of the first floor. The tower itself was a symbol of worship for devout humans. Its terrifying height was the rite of passage to becoming a martyr; according to legend, if one could fling their body over the edge of the very top, then the seraphim would bless their soul and be appeased. It was a macabre ritual that disgusted Sorey’s friends. While Mikleo was angry that people would be so foolish as to throw their lives away, and while Edna gagged at the idea of a dirty human offering their soul on a silver platter to her, Lailah and Zaveid grimaced that the practice had been so popular that people even had a specific place to do it. Alisha said a silently prayer for those who had died. Rose condemned it, labeling it simply as suicide. Sorey couldn’t bear to imagine the reasons people so vehemently believed that it was worth committing. Dezel put it out of his mind. He didn’t care now that people were killing themselves. Humans were horrible creatures. He had to remember that and forget that a human had learned his true feelings.
Sorey wanted to talk to him to give him the confidence to speak to Rose, but Mikleo wouldn’t let him get involved in their affairs. It wasn’t his place. It was something that they had to figure out on their own without intervention.
Zaveid carried the group over a decorative trench in the floor. There were no hellions here, but the Shepherd sensed them above. His chest was aching from their presence. When they reached the platform with the pulsating mist, they realized it was somewhat like an elevator. It took them up a few levels, and there they were in the middle of the hellions and the puzzles of the wind trial.
“Dezel?” Rose said. She reached out to touch his arm, but he shrinked away from her. “Guess you’re still not ready, huh?”
Alisha felt sad for her, but Lailah hinted it was only because they were too close to them. They had Zaveid to take of the puzzles of the trial, so they could afford to separate from them. Sorey still wanted to say something to either one of them about it. He understood that Dezel was like Mikleo—those horrid and ugly feelings that representated his unadulterated desires were monsters that he had to accept. He was sure Rose would accept them, too. Before the group split, Sorey walked to Rose and Dezel.
“Sorey, stop!” Mikleo warned him.
“You mustn’t get involved!” Lailah added.
“You should listen to them,” Dezel bit.
Sorey just stood there. He didn’t know if he could feel how he felt for him. “I just…want you to work things out,” was the only thing he said. He quickly left them to go with Zaveid.
“I told you—” Mikleo whispered.
“I don’t want Rose or Dezel to be sad. It hurts seeing them like this.”
Sorey’s emerald eyes welled with tears, forcing Mikleo to soften his expression and to peck him on his forehead. Zaveid cleared his throat. He had already smoothed things over with Sorey, but he still would have liked some attention from his Shepherd.
“Just spin the windmill, wind seraph,” Edna gruffly told him.
Sorey sheepishly giggled and gave his wind seraph the attention he wanted as he used his wind to spin the crystal-like object that was shaped like the wind symbol by cheering his name. Next to the windmill, a large obelisk wall shifted up on its ivory railings to the level above them.
“So we’ll have to manipulate those walls to navigate around here,” Alisha observed. She didn’t want to disturb Rose and Dezel, but she told them to stay relatively close to them so they wouldn’t get trapped. “This might make things hard between them.”
“I’m worried that things could get out of hand,” Lailah quietly said.
Meanwhile, Dezel refused to come near Rose or to proceed further into the shrine. There were so many things going on in his head that he would have preferred Zaveid to complete it for him. He wanted the Armatus, but he didn’t want the interaction that it required. He was haunted by what had happened in his soul space; he hated that he treated Rose so terribly. He was so sure that their relationship was so irreparable that he was tempted to scare her away with the threat of killing her. Yet whenever he thought that he could hurt her, he felt sick to his stomach. She didn’t deserve to be hurt just because she was concerned about him. He had done it to her during the Dive, and it felt like he wasn’t in control of his body. Every time he choked her with the leash or belittled her with the patronizing remarks of calling her a pet, his heart cracked a little more. Being alone with her now was almost too much to bear. He wanted to run away from her.
“Are you upset by the Dive?” Rose carefully asked. “We can talk about it if you want.” She tried to sound as comforting as possible so he would open up to her. Alas, Dezel didn’t take the bait. He stayed quiet, turning his head away from her like a cat that was ignoring its owner. “I’ll wait until you talk to me then.”
“It’s not going anywhere,” Edna noted from afar. “We might have a dud on our hands.”
“Give it time,” Sorey pressured. He didn’t want Dezel to feel abandoned.
Alisha oversaw Zaveid opening another path to the next elevating platform, and she rallied everyone to gather to it. Dezel was the last to join them, and he was tempted to just let them go up while he jumped off and left the shrine altogether. He was slowly convincing himself that he didn’t need the Armatus to exact his revenge, and he didn’t necessarily care too much about fighting Heldalf after getting this last spiritual power. Naturally, Rose didn’t let him. She pulled him onto the platform, holding him until it reached the next level. He tried to break her hold, but he also felt that it would do more damage than what he wanted.
Zaveid went about solving the next puzzle with Sorey and his friends behind him while the assassin again tried to get Dezel to communicate with her. She was able to touch his arm and hand, and he didn’t move away as immediately as before. Perhaps he was distracted by his thoughts, but to her, it was progress.
“Okay, I’ll start it then,” she sighed. “I thought you looked nice in your outfit during the Dive.”
Dezel didn’t respond.
“I-I would have never guessed that you would be into traditional clothes like that. And the festival was pretty from what I did see. I thought it was cute that it was a festival of love.”
Now there was a startled breath.
“And…um…oh, that flower field? Absolutely stunning! I bet we could sell them for a pretty penny if they were real!” She waited for some sort of response. She didn’t get one. “C-Come on, you have to give me something…”
Dezel clenched his fists and teeth, bidding himself not to react to her. But he sensed her getting depressed about the whole problem. He just had to scare her. He had to scare her and be done with it and accept that he couldn’t have the Armatus. But he wanted the Armatus. He wanted to talk with her. Why couldn’t he do it?
“I know you’re upset about what happened,” she said dejectedly. She hooked her arm around his waist, slowly pulling him into a gentle hug to loosen him up. “I’ll admit, I hated that you were treating me like that, and I hated when you couldn’t make up your mind or kept pulling me down or embarrassing me in front of others. Probably the worst that you did was hitting me repeatedly like I really was a dog. These were your true feelings.”
“Stop it,” Dezel commanded. He broke away from her. “Just…leave me alone! Go away! I never want to see you again!”
Sorey and Zaveid turned at the sound of Dezel’s tantrum. The former’s heart was breaking, but the latter just kept listening until they were quiet again. He opened the path to the next level.
Dezel ran to the platform, and right after they reached the third level of puzzles, he made a beeline for a small area that was almost cut off from the rest of the level. He sat down, curling up knees to his chest, and hid his face. He tried to forget and ignore what she had said, and his despair—including his insecurities about his emotions—began to attract hellions.
“Rose, protect Dezel!” Sorey ordered. “We’ll cover you two.”
Sorey and Alisha went after the first hellion while Rose slid to Dezel’s side. The hellion was a wyvern-type one, breathing fire and clawing at them. Its large tail swatted Alisha out of the way before it swiped at Sorey with its wing. It landed on the ground to breath fire at Dezel. At that moment, Rose threw herself in front of him. Her small frame couldn’t shield his entire form, but she made sure that his face and head were protected.
“What are you doing?!” Dezel growled at her. “I thought you hated me!”
“I never said that,” Rose grunted as she withstood the fire. “I hated those things you did to me, but I don’t hate you. I’ve been piecing things together—your perception of love is twisted, but it’s not your fault. Things happened to you, right? Things that you don’t want to tell me about—they made you think this was what love was. I understand, but that’s not right.”
“What do you care?!”
The wyvern stopped its fire on her, and exhausted from trying to hold it back, she collapsed onto him.
“I care because I want to show you what love is. I’m sorry that I left you in your soul space. I…I was stupid to think that all those things were how you truly felt in real life. They’re your true feelings, but they’re exaggerated, right? I want to show you how to love without the hate and violence that you learned.”
Dezel’s heart pounded in his chest like a hammer on a door. He didn’t believe her. This was all an elaborate lie. She pulled herself up, and without thinking, she kissed him deeply. Surely this had to convince him. But he broke away for fear that she was tricking him just like he tricked her. She was going to put a collar on him, she was going to enslave him. All the years that he had lived with her and watched her grow into the woman that he felt so confused about were an illusion.
Sorey purified the hellion just before Dezel pushed Rose off. He ran from her, alone into the depths of the shrine. He opened the paths himself, and Sorey’s group were forced to keep up with him. Mikleo healed Rose while chasing the wind seraph, and the assassin soon took the lead of the group. She wouldn’t let him get away believing that she didn’t mean what she said.
By the time they arrived at the fourth level, the puzzles had already been solved. Dezel was much farther ahead, and he was nearing the final platform that would take him to the exit.
“Dezel, wait!” Sorey called out to him knowing that he wouldn’t listen to Rose. Devil women hellions and Wendy hellions impeded them. “Damn it, he’s going to escape!”
“Let us handle it,” Alisha said.
“Wind-type hellions are weak against fire, so we’ll get rid of them quick. Sorey, take Mikleo and Zaveid with you. You’ve got to talk some sense into Dezel,” Lailah continued. “Edna, please stay with us.”
“It’s not like I’m going to be of any use to these dummies, anyway,” Edna sighed. She began casting Barrier on Alisha and Lailah to fortify their bodies. “If you start singing before we get back with you guys, I’m jabbing you to hell.”
Mikleo and Zaveid went inside Sorey as he followed Rose to the platform. Wyverns and Saber-toothed Tiger therion hellions ambushed them. The assassin unsheathed her daggers in anger. She didn’t have time to waste with these creatures!
“Get out of my way!” she screamed at them. Sorey held the Wyvern back while Rose dashed around the therion, stabbing it repeatedly until her Shepherd could purify it. He quickly finished the Wyvern, but Rose was already ahead of him. “Dezel, listen to me!”
Sorey hopped onto the platform before it was too far off the ground. The final level brought them directly in front of the door leading outside of Guinevere to around its daunting exterior. Dezel wasn’t too far from the door when they found him, and he looked ready to fight the guardian of the shrine.
“Young Seraph of Wind, please, listen to me!” the guardian pleaded. “If you continue denying your true feelings, you’ll only find yourself in the abyss of despair!”
“I don’t care! Just tell me how to get the Armatus without a pact!” Dezel demanded.
“That’s impossible. You need to have a suitable vessel, one whose resonance can sustain your soul when you become one.”
“I don’t want to use her!” Dezel yelled before falling to his knees. Rose listened quietly behind him. “I can’t. I can’t use her. My true feelings are lies that bring nothing but pain and suffering. Just like this fucking curse, all I ever do is hurt the people I care about! If I even begin to love someone, they just die! It’s not fair! Why did I have to be born with this sham of a blessing?! Why couldn’t I be a normal seraph?!” He inhaled through the lump that was constricting his throat. “Why must I suffer like this? Even when I’m trying so hard to have hope? Even when I want to avenge the only person who stayed with me until the very end?”
The guardian was speechless until he saw Rose and Sorey. “You must be the Shepherd and this one’s Squire and vessel,” he said with some salutation. “My name is Wardell. I am the guardian of the Wind Trial.” He glanced down at Dezel with a presumably pitiful look behind his golden mask. “I sense that there are two wind seraphim here, yet only one of them is ready to accept the Wind Armatus.”
Wardell wanted to ease Dezel’s pain as a fellow wind seraph, but he had a duty to complete. He asked that Rose make one final effort to show her seraph that she accepted him. He then looked at Sorey. While Sorey and Zaveid had mutual feelings about the revelation of the latter’s true feelings, they still had to complete the trial as a Shepherd and his seraph.
“Gentle Shepherd, you have almost reached the top of Guinevere, Shrine of the Wind Trial; however, you have yet to complete the trial. Are you capable of changing the hearts of those whose beliefs spell the end?”
“You’re talking about the human sacrifices,” Sorey answered. Aside from the man who had fallen unconscious after jumping from the top of the tower, he wasn’t sure if he could stop someone from committing suicide. “I have to try. My job is to instill peace and hope.”
“Then, prove yourself.”
Sorey reached for Rose, but the assassin told him to go without her. Zaveid was ready to accept the Wind Armatus, but Dezel still couldn’t face the truth. The Shepherd worried about her, but Mikleo told him to look forward and finish the trial. There to left of the altar at the top of the tower and at the edge of it was a girl.
“Dezel, you can’t keep running away,” Rose softly told him.
“Why are you still following me!?” he lashed out. The sound of his heartwrenching voice made her recoil.
“Don’t do it!” Sorey called out to the girl. “This isn’t what the seraphim want, trust me!”
“Why does everyone try to stop me?! I have to die! I have to repent for my sins and appease the holy seraphim!” the girl bawled.
Sorey stepped towards the girl, who threatened to fling herself off. Rose took a step towards Dezel, who backed up into Wardell. Wardell stood there on purpose. He had to get Dezel to accept Rose, and he couldn’t interfere with Sorey. If he moved from his spot, the trial of the Shepherd would be for naught. Much to his surprise, Dezel leapt over him to the center of the altar at the top of the tower. It was one more attempt to escape the truth until he was in front of the girl at the edge. He felt her on the wind—the resolve to die, her guilt for killing a man that was exploiting her father, her desire for the validation she wanted for committing the murder, her happiness that she had gotten her revenge. These hopelessly pure feelings resonated with him, but he was different from her. He wanted to live so he could exact his revenge on the one who ruined his life, but this girl wanted to die because she had gotten her revenge. Two sides of the same coin.
“Sorey, she won’t budge,” Zaveid told him.
“Am I not able to change her heart?”
Dezel stepped up behind him. “If you’re going to do it, then go ahead already,” he said. His voice was cold and callous, uncaring that the girl yearned for someone to stop her. She stood there, shocked that he would say such a thing to her. “I can sense it in your heart that you’re ready to die, so why are you hesitating?”
“I-I’m not!” the girl cried. “I’ve got blood on my hands. I murdered a man, and for that I must repent!”
The despair in the girl called forth the hellion that had threatened to kill them when they arrived at Guinevere. Dullahan rode on its horse from the sky, zipping behind the girl and pulling her back to make her fall. The girl latched onto the edge at the last second, and Dezel was surprised.
“If you’re so ready to die, then why do you cling to life so tightly?” he asked her. He ran to the edge, pulling her up with Sorey’s help. The girl passed out from the fear of falling, and Dezel laid her on the ground away from the edge. “Why are humans so confusing?”
“Rose, look out!” Sorey suddenly called out.
Dullahan charged at the assassin at she came out onto the altar with Alisha, Lailah, and Edna. The headless horseman hellion seemed to be attracted to her the most of them all, and it was ready to behead her with its gigantic spear.
Sorey called Mikleo out, and after the two Armatized, he shot a flurry of arrows at it. The shield it held covered the horse’s rear, making his attacks useless. But Dezel wouldn’t let it touch her. He sped towards Rose as she braced herself for the incoming spear.
“Geostigma!” he roared. Dullahan crumbled for a few seconds while Sorey got closer. “You’re so stupid! Why would you stand in front of it?!”
“Precisely because I knew you would protect me,” Rose smiled. “Wardell’s idea.” She grabbed the lapels of his jacket. “Being sweet apparently isn’t cutting it, so I’ll be rough then!” she said. Pulling his face close to hers, she somewhat angrily told him what he had to hear:
“I love you for who you are, Dezel. Nothing is going to change that. Your true feelings are intense and borderline abusive—well, no, they are abusive—but I know that’s not the real you. The real you is sweet and caring under all that prickly stuff. Your love is a messed-up kind, but I’m making an effort starting from now to really teach you what love is. Wanna know how I know? Because I’ve loved you ever since I rescued you that day, and it hasn’t change. I don’t appreciate what I went through in your soul space, but as your human and as the girl who wants to stay by your side, I accept it all!”
Dullahan stood up. Alisha had Armatized with Lailah while Sorey switched between Edna and Mikleo. Zaveid took over for Dezel by pinning it down with Geostigma.
“You understand what this all means, don’t you? You’re going to suffer more than you have already,” Dezel calmly said, though the tears in his eyes betrayed him. His voice was cracking. “You could wind up dead because of me.”
“I told you, I accept it all,” she repeated, this time softly as she kissed him on his cheek. Dezel’s heart broke under the pressure. He fell to his knees, burying his face into Rose’s breast as he bawled into her. “There’s nothing to worry about because I will be there for you.”
“Ugh, they picked the worst time to do all this mushy crap,” Edna miffed.
Dullahan, thankfully, was on its last legs. Sorey called on Mikleo again. He shot at least ten arrows into the hellions before activating their Mystic Arte Aqua Limit. Together, Mikleo aiming and Sorey releasing the arrow, they perforated the hellion with a flurry of watery arrows. Alisha and Lailah’s blade was enshrouded with purifying fire, and they finished off the hellion.
Wardell joined them at the altar. He sensed that Dezel was finally ready to accept the Armatus, but Dezel himself wasn’t sure still. He asked that Zaveid go first while he continued to talk with Rose. The guardian held up a green orb ornamented with the symbol of wind.
“This is the Hymn Crystal for the wind version of the Song Armatus. With this, you will be able to call on the Wind Armatus at your will. Are you ready, Zaveid the Exile?”
Zaveid knelt before Wardell. The process of using a Hymn Crystal on an IPD was somewhat different from that of a regular seraph. Sorey wasn’t allowed to touch Zaveid until the Song was confirmed to be dwelling inside his heart. The guardian seraph of Guinevere prepared to bestow the Song unto him:
“cEzYA hymmnos. 4257 –x tArm azit tn=ARMATUS. es tn=>sol.infel-phira.mea. Now, Gentle Shepherd, stand back to back with Zaveid the Exile, hold his hand and feel the emotions contained in this song.”
Sorey did as he was told, but he could feel his wind seraph struggling to stand. “This is overwhelming,” Zaveid panted. “Are you ready for my Song?” Sorey nodded, reassuring him that he would be there behind him and holding him up. Mikleo, Edna, Lailah, and Alisha prepared to listen as Dezel and Rose had their talk. Zaveid opened his mouth to sing:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The Song sounded familiar at first. Sorey recognized it as the Song that Zaveid sang when they had caught the serial killer in Lastonbell. But why was he singing it? Then he remembered his Dive. His heart ached with sorrow, the poor wind seraph singing his regrets. Then the Song suddenly changed.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The Song abruptly became so powerful that Sorey was startled, and he was sure that Zaveid felt it. In fact, the wind seraph most likely did it on purpose. It was a farcry from the sorrow that he had began with, that he held deep in his heart. He wished he could understand the Song, and it was at this moment that he decided he would ask Zaveid and Edna to explain Hymmnos to him.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Lailah and Alisha were beyond impressed. Given Zaveid’s exhibitionist style, they didn’t think he was capable of actually singing with purpose. And while he sang in the Pastalie dialect which only Wardell and Dezel could understand, Lailah specifically could tell that he was feeling the emotions in the Song and pouring his whole being into executing it.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mikleo couldn’t be jealous of him when he was singing with so much force. The Hymmnos didn’t imply any sort of romantic feeling, and he had to wonder if it was on purpose. The Song itself was like a pledge of allegiance to the Shepherd, which still seemed amazing since Zaveid was the last person to join even though he had there from the beginning. The Song itself was a testament to his acceptance of the Shepherd’s power, and perhaps it was a thank-you to him for accepting his true feelings whatever they might have been.
Edna smiled under her umbrella. She remembered this voice, and she would never tell him to his face that it was nice. She approved that he could sing together with Eizen. The Song made her wish she could have heard them in person instead of Eizen just writing to her about their duets.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Zaveid’s Song was nearing its end, but Dezel wasn’t sure about the Armatus. He was still nervous and guilty about his true feelings, and he appreciated that Rose had told it to him straight. But it would be her first and only time linking with him through the Song and breaking down all the barriers that had kept them from Armatizing whenever they wanted. It was painful having to decide, and it was horrible feeling like he would be forcing her into it and dragging her down with his sin.
“Stop being so negative!” Rose chastised. “I told you how I feel, and I saw how you feel. It’s mutual! Now, let’s get ready to get you the Armatus!”
Dezel couldn’t stop her once she had decided on her way. They listened quietly to the finale of Zaveid’s Song.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
When Zaveid finished his Song, Sorey caught him and let him lean on his shoulder. He seemed fatigued from it, as if it was only once in a blue moon that he sang with so much fervor and passion.
“Now, I shall give the other young wind seraph the Armatus,” Wardell announced. “Good job, Zaveid the Exile. You were able to sing it without any problems.”
Zaveid sat beside Sorey to rest while Rose and Dezel stepped up for their turn. Dezel knelt before Wardell as he gave the same incantation to allow him to absorb the Song in the Hymn Crystal:
“cEzYA hymmnos. 4257 –x tArm azit tn=ARMATUS. es tn=>sol.infel-phira.mea.”
Dezel’s body felt like it was on fire yet frozen in a block of ice. He had never used a Hymn Crystal because he didn’t trust Rose, but now it was different. Had she been the one to give it to him, he would have relished the pain and the swelling emotions that were growing in his heart. He clutched at his chest before standing up and preparing to sing. By Wardell’s instruction, Rose stood back to back with Dezel and held his hand.
“Are you ready?” Wardell asked him.
“If I’m being completely honest, no,” Dezel said. “Let’s get this over with.”
Rose prepared to listen. She didn’t get to hear him sing often, just like in Glaivend Basin during the war. She knew he had a beautiful voice, but he was always so depressing that it never shined through…except when he sang for her at that moment.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose’s heart stopped because she had never heard his voice like this. The Song he sang at Glaivend Basin was so different which both confused her and amazed her that he was capable of singing like this. For some reason, she felt terrible—she had assumed that he wasn’t able to sing like this and now he was proving her wrong.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Dezel himself was taken aback by his Song. The feelings that had been stored within the spiritual power of the wind were generic feelings of wanting to protect the Shepherd or Squire—whoever he was bound to—but his lyrics were too intense to match them. He was saddened by the fact that Rose could never hope to understand what he was saying, yet his heart fluttered within him as he sang to her the depths of his now freed love.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey was elated to see that Dezel accepted Rose. He was so happy that the former got past his insecurities, transgressions, and doubts to finally vow his strength and love to her. He held Mikleo’s hand in an effort to contain his happiness, squeezing it without thinking. Mikleo smiled to himself, taking his hand away from his Shepherd and instead clinging to his arm in the same relieved joy that he was feeling.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Zaveid perked up upon hearing these two lines. It was an advanced grammar that few IPD seraphim understood how to use. “He must really be giving it his all if he’s singing like that,” he mumbled to himself. “Unless he learned that from Lafarga. Interesting.”
“Quiet, you’re ruining the moment,” Edna snapped at him. “His Song is better than yours, so I want to hear it.”
Zaveid smirked, but he was somewhat uneasy about those lyrics. They seemed almost out of character for Dezel even though this Song was the antithesis of everything he stood for up until now.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Alisha was enthralled with the Song, and Lailah felt strange about it like Zaveid. She didn’t know much about the dialect that IPD seraphim used, and the intensity of the Song itself seemed different from the other Songs that she, Edna, Mikleo, and Zaveid had sung. Why was that? Perhaps, she thought, it was because Dezel had tried so hard to hide his feelings and to subsequently cut ties with Rose. By fighting back against his true feelings, they were augmented into a terrifyingly beautiful voice.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Dezel’s Song drew to a close, leaving everyone including Wardell speechless afterwards. For someone so austere, his Song had the most emotion, even more than Mikleo’s. He panted after singing as his body collapsed against Rose. He felt the power of the Armatus flowing through him, and he didn’t know whether to be ecstatic or fed up with the theatrics of the process to obtain it.
“That was beautiful, Young Seraph of Wind,” Wardell congratulated. “Now that both of the wind seraphim have obtained the Wind Armatus—”
“We can start taking care of things, starting with Heldalf,” Sorey said with a triumphant smile.
Zaveid didn’t like that idea. He would have preferred to help Shurelia before tackling even a fraction of the Lord of Calamity’s power. If Eolia wasn’t awake, Ar Tonelico couldn’t give them the power they needed. Sure, the Armatus was theirs now, but it still didn’t seem like enough.
Dezel, on the other hand, wanted his revenge now that he had that power. He wanted to return to Pendrago in search of the one he blamed for everything that had happened to him. Lailah and Alisha wanted to remedy the situation in Ladylake, and Edna wanted to kill Bartlow for attempting to make a seraphoid of her draconic brother. Only Mikleo sided with Sorey, but since Sorey was the Shepherd, they all had no choice but to follow his wishes.
“Gentle Shepherd, defeating the Lord of Calamity is important, but remember to listen to your friends’ opinions as well,” the guardian said before disappearing as an orb of light into the sky.
“If we get rid of the strongest enemy first, the others will be a piece of cake,” Sorey reasoned. Still, there wasn’t a consensus. This was mostly because they didn’t know where to look for Heldalf, and when Mikleo offered the idea to check Glaivend Basin—where they last saw him—Dezel growled at him. “We’ve got this! Nothing can stand in our way now!”
“But first…” Rose yawned. “How about a nap? I don’t know about you guys, but I’m physically and emotionally drained right now.” She gave a side-glance at Dezel. “And there’s no way you’re not hungry!”
Mikleo and Lailah knew she was trying to get some alone time with her wind seraph now that he had confessed his feelings to her. They couldn’t blame her; they had been neglected by their humans as well, which they indicated with crocodile tears and fake yawning.
“I agree, rest is the most important thing on the agenda—no ifs, ands, or buts!” Lailah said. “Let’s stop in Lastonbell. Dezel and Zaveid wll be safe from those trying to catch IPD seraphim.”
Sorey couldn’t argue, especially when he remembered that Mikleo wanted to talk with him. He apologized for getting in over his head. Each of the seraphim went inside of their humans, and Sorey led Alisha and Rose to the first floor of Guinevere. As they walked back to Lastonbell, they each thought about the ultimate battle to come. It felt strange that their journey was already nearing its end.
Notes:
I love SorMik with all my heart, but the writing the struggle between Rose and Dezel is like a close second and I love it.
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Chapter 71: Phase 2: Tender Loving Care
Summary:
With the trials all taken care, Sorey and company return to Lastonbell. It has been a long time since they had taken time to foster their relationships.
Notes:
This chapter just has a lot of warm feels and it's soft and cozy~ Until the end of it.
Please leave a comment telling me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lastonbell was much quieter these days with the serial killer gone. The people still had nothing to do with the seraphim except for the scarce few that made Sorey and friends feel uncomfortable. Dezel listened to the talk of the town while Rose thought about what to order at the inn. There had to be a reason that these people—on the Rolance side of the war and therefore inclined to enslave IPD seraphim—were so blasé about the situation around the empire. The assassin was somewhat suspicious of what they were planning.
“You know we’re taking a break, right?” Rose whispered in an effort to reduce the tension within her and her seraph.
“I’m bothered by what Cloche had said,” Dezel bluntly said. “These people ignored her yet helped her escape. They feel different from people in Pendrago and Ladylake, almost like they came from somewhere else.”
Rose just shrugged. Whether or not they were from somewhere else, the vast majority of the people felt like they belonged on the Glenwood Continent to her.
Alisha couldn’t help but listen to the townspeople as well. She heard whispers and mentions of a place called Metafalss and the Promised Land named Metafalica. The Holy Maiden had gone missing, and if she was missing, they couldn’t find Metafalica. Cloche had said she was the Holy Maiden.
“You’re thinking about it as well, I take it?” Lailah asked her. “It would explain why no one tried to capture her.”
“If she’s the Holy Maiden, then some of the people here are her followers,” Alisha concluded.
Sorey wanted to see Cloche again to ask her if this was true, and if it wasn’t coincidence or a lie and she really was the Holy Maiden, then he would no doubt proceed to bombard her with questions about Metafalss, Metafalica, and all the relic information in between. But it would be a long time before that, Mikleo reminded him.
“I want to talk with you, and we have an iris gem that we haven’t looked at yet,” he reminded him. Sorey glanced at Alisha, who had received the purple iris gem from her maid back in Ladylake. When they had gotten to the respite that was the inn and they went up to their rooms to relax before eating, he politely asked for it.
Alisha apologized for forgetting about it, and as soon as Sorey grasped it, his seraphim came out. Sorey, excited to see into the iris gem through Mikleo’s eyes, didn’t hesitate to Armatize with his water seraph. The purple iris gem glowed, and with the cerulean eyes of water, he peered into it.
$)Ylll$($)x $)ylll$($)x sss#tt#y z$iiimUug%)
NnbIi w$(Urx $)syiar$&y$) z$eee
w$(Urx %&c!Annn kmpr sssy
Zacta w#d%&EEEIiii cUub%G w$(Urx
After they were finished watching the events within the iris gem, Sorey glanced at Lailah. She looked uncomfortable, as if she knew what was in that particular gem. He had seen hundreds of humans becoming Shepherds, and Lailah was there branding them to use the power of purification. He didn’t understand because seraphim had been enslaved. How was she able to do such things during that time? Was she operating in secret? Was she planning on leading a crusade? What did this have to do with the other two iris gems they had watched?
“We have a green one, too,” Zaveid mentioned. “We should probably get that one over with.”
Rose snatched the iris gem from the shirtless wind seraph. “I wanna look at it! Dezel and I haven’t been able to watch any yet!” she cackled. The blind wind seraph didn’t seem like he wanted to. She held it up to him. “Come, Dezel!”
“What am I, your dog? You know how to Armatize.”
“Lukeim Yurlin!”
Rose donned the Wind Armatus, which Alisha had to compliment her on. It made her look young and fun, and Dezel nearly gagged—which made Rose gag against her will. Still the assassin could feel his discomfort inside her. She wondered if it was because he was the special case. He was using a girl’s body to materialize the spiritual power whereas Lailah and Alisha were both girls and Sorey and Mikleo were both boys. But then, Sorey and Edna Armatized, and she never got anything indication that they were uncomfortable with it.
“It’s not because of that!” Dezel snapped. “Hurry up and read the damn gem!”
Rose pouted, but that was the whole point of Armatizing with him. She stared down into the peridot-colored orb.
$Tojx Tojx Tojx %)JmmOq Heldalf
qqAAA iO iO iO xyxyxy
$(MoNOx dOgUzzz
bAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Heldalf had been stripped of his title as a general and ostracized from society. Rose couldn’t say she didn’t feel sorry for him, but she noticed that Dezel wasn’t the least bit concerned. He couldn’t pity him because in his mind, whatever he did was repaid.
Now that the four iris gems they had on hand had been viewed, they had something of an idea of what had happened. The segments themselves were too far apart to understand it fully, though. There was nothing else that could be done, and there were no clues to find any more of them.
“Now that that’s done,” Mikleo sighed after de-Armatizing from Sorey. “Sorey, let’s take a walk.” Zaveid teased him for wanting his alone time with the Shepherd, but Edna bopped him with her umbrella. “Leave the kids alone. They’re not the only ones wanting to get frisky.”
Alisha and Rose blushed at the thought—there was no intention of doing anything intimate with Lailah and Dezel, respectively. They had been through a lot recently, they tried to argue, and they thought they were deserving of a break before searching for Heldalf and ending his reign of terror. They had been wanting to spend time with their partners, especially since both of them had their share of struggles.
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Sorey and Mikleo left the inn after a quick bite. They headed down the street to the sanctuary, and within its austere walls, they sat and talked. It was strange yet refreshing to converse about the shrines they had visited and discuss their architecture and what it meant in terms of when they were built. The Era of Asgard, the Temperance of Avarost, ancient seraphic technology—all these things brought sparkles to Sorey’s emerald eyes, and those glittering stars made Mikleo’s heart flutter. He missed seeing them and hearing the enthusiasm in his voice when he talked about the ancient past.
“Now that I think about it, Igraine looked a lot like one of the temples dating back to the Era of Asgard, so I wonder if that meant that Shepherds originated from that far back,” Sorey hypothesized. Then he remembered the purple iris gem. “What was Lailah doing with all those Shepherds? How was she able to anoint so many?”
Mikleo leaned on his shoulder. “Let’s not think about Heldalf quite yet,” he hummed. He took Sorey’s hand into his. “If it’s going to be our final battle, I think it would be better not to worry about it.”
“How uncharacteristic of you, Mr. Worrywart.”
Sorey listened to Mikleo’s quiet, slow, gentle breathing through the silence of the sanctuary. There was no blessing here, but they felt safe. It wasn’t just because the people of Lastonbell were voluntarily oblivious to them. His mind wandered back to that. If the people of Lastonbell were really from Metafalss—at least, if some portion of them were—then that would mean there was a chance that they would get to go to somewhere new. He was excited to discover things with Mikleo.
Metafalss, according to texts, was the continent that existed on the Rim of Frelia, the Second Tower shaped as a bell which floated in the sky above the Meadow of Triumph. Sorey himself didn’t know anything about the Rim since it was separate from the Glenwood Continent, which was mostly why he wanted his theory to be true. He wanted to see Metafalss. He wanted to learn more about it and to meet Frelia like he had met Shurelia. Then he worried about Eolia’s administrator. Shurelia had been asleep for so long, which helped the seraphim trapped in Hyland somewhat. But it wasn’t right to sacrifice the Origin that governed that area. They had to take care of Heldalf quickly then begin fixing Shurelia.
“Sorey,” Mikleo suddenly said. “You’re thinking about what you have to do as Shepherd, aren’t you? I told you, just relax for now.” He straightened up. “Or I’ll make you.”
“Do your worst!” Sorey teased.
The water seraph smirked; standing up from the pew they had been sitting on, walking in front of him, and gently kissing his forehead. He pecked him a few times on his cheeks then ended with a long kiss on his lips.
“You’re being so affectionate!” Sorey giggled. Apparently, the kisses were tickling him, and when Mikleo ended his onslaught, he pulled him towards him. “How are you doing, by the way? After the Trial of Water, I paid more attention to Zaveid. You weren’t jealous, were you?”
“Not really…okay, a little. But you accepted my true feelings, so I’m waiting to see when you plan on Diving into me again.”
“Want me to Dive now? We’ve got time.”
Mikleo looked away from him. It was a tempting offer, but their fight with Heldalf was coming up. It would be beneficial, but Diving was draining. As eager as he was to do it, he knew that things were only going to get more dangerous within his heart. He couldn’t risk it, not with his life and the fate of the world on the line in this battle.
“I just want to spend time with you,” he finally said. “We’ve been doing nothing but running around and Diving—not that it isn’t fun or anything. But remember when we didn’t really know about all this? We would just be troublemakers together, terrorizing Gramps whenever we weren’t reading the Celestial Record.”
“Okay, now you’re really being sentimental.”
“Ugh, fine. I take everything back. Let’s go back to the inn.”
Sorey giggled and hugged Mikleo tightly. He missed Elysia and Gramps and everyone that they had grown up with. If only they hadn’t been invaded, they could have still lived in peace. He then rectified himself. If they hadn’t been invaded, they wouldn’t have gone out into the world to try and make amends. Sorey wouldn’t have become the Shepherd, his dream to see a world where seraphim and humans live side-by-side would only be a dream instead of a work in progress. They wouldn’t have met Alisha, Lailah, Rose, Dezel, Edna, or Zaveid. They wouldn’t be experiencing the joy, strife, love, and hate that came with adventuring. He wouldn’t have ever learned that Mikleo was in love with him simply because he was inept. How could he wish that they weren’t invaded when it was the very catalyst that had pushed him out into the real world and real adventure?
“Mikleo, I promise that when this is over, we’re going to be together, and we’ll explore the world just like we’ve always wanted since reading the Celestial Record,” he said out of the blue.
Mikleo smiled bittersweetly even though his Shepherd couldn’t see it. “Don’t worry—wherever you go, I’ll be right behind you, Sorey. That is my sole purpose in this eternal life.”
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Dezel and Rose had taken their leave only a few minutes after Sorey and Mikleo went out. They walked down the market streets of Lastonbell where artisans and craftsmen were selling their works for a hefty price. The wind seraph wanted to put distance between himself and his human, but it was dangerous to do that. He had to stay close to her or else the few greedy humans in the crowds would turn him over to the Rolance guards patrolling the city.
“Man, even I think 50,000 gald for this painting is a little much,” Rose whispered. “The artwork is beautiful, but I think the artist is pitching a little too high for this.” She glanced over at Dezel who was standing a couple paces from her. “Too crowded?” she asked him.
He turned his head from her.
“Let’s go somewhere a little more private then. How about the park?”
He silently began on his way towards the terraced park. There, Rose leaned on the fence that overlooked someone’s radishbell plot. “Damn, we forgot to eat before leaving. Looking at those radishbells is making me hungry.” She turned to face Dezel. “Still not used to this, huh?” Dezel still wasn’t talking.
Rose remembered that he had mentioned he was cursed, and for some reason, she was more curious than she was sad for him. What was this curse? She knew he wouldn’t tell her, but since they were technically an item now, she had to know.
“I’m not telling you,” Dezel told her. “It’s for your own good.”
The assassin crossed her arms. There was little point in forcing it out of him unless she wanted him to break down again. So, she dropped it for now. She, however, still wanted to get him used to being in a relationship. What were things that new couples did? She suddenly threw her arms around his waist and dropped her weight on him.
“Rose, what are you doing!?” Dezel gasped. They fell to the ground, which left Rose laughing at him before she hid her face in his stomach. “We’re in public! Don’t you know what these people will do if they saw you doing this to me?”
“Do these people care?” She lay motionless on top of him for a few seconds as she breathed in his scent. “For a guy, you smell very flowery,” she teased.
“Why are you so weird?”
“Because I am!”
Dezel lay in defeat feeling unsure about this relationship with Rose. After all that he said during the Trial of Wind, and after all he had done to her in his soul space…was she just inept? Or did she like dealing with difficult people? He didn’t even know if he could really call it love. But…he had said that he cared for her, and she had said vehemently that she loved him. Truth be told, he didn’t even know when he started to love her. Perhaps it was when she—
Rose climb over Dezel to steal his hat. She rested her chin on his chest, peering down at him. Her periwinkle eyes softened. “Do you know how to kiss?” she asked him.
“W-Why would you ask that?”
“Because I don’t think you do, and you look cute when you’re flustered.”
She got up off of him, pulling him to sit up before she surprised him with a light kiss on the top of his head. “Even your hair smells flowery!” she laughed.
Dezel reached up to push her away, but something told him not to do that. He wanted her to keep doing whatever she was doing; it felt nice to be loved. Perhaps it wasn’t the best place to be, out in the open like that. He could feel the hatred of people and the few seraphim in the city on the wind.
“Rose…” he quietly said. He gently pushed her away from him even though she was enjoying his scent and his presence so close to her. “I appreciate this, really. But let’s not do this in public. I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”
Rose pinched his cheeks into a smile. “I can handle myself! Besides, I’d be more worried about you.” She embraced him. It wasn’t one of her playful or rowdy hugs but a sincere and warm one that reminded him that he was alive because of her. “I’ll protect you no matter what.”
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Alisha and Lailah had gone to the belfry in the middle of the city. The fire seraph had led the way while the guards were on break. Alisha had read about the belfry in her copy of the Celestial Record when she was younger, and she had an inkling that Lailah wanted to make her happy by taking her there.
“I never thought it would be so massive!” Alisha cooed. She examined the bell, sure that Sorey would know more about it than she would. “Lailah, thank you so much for bringing me here…even if we are trespassing.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Lailah graciously replied. She sat on the ledge and looked out at the city. “Lastonbell really feels different from Ladylake and Rolance, doesn’t it?”
Alisha joined her though she had some trepidation about being knocked off by the edge of the bell when it rung. She guessed it had to do with the idea that the people here were different. She didn’t want to go and pick a random person to ask if they had come from Metafalss, but the curiosity burned within her. She scooted closer to Lailah and rest her head on her shoulder.
“I hope Lady Cloche is doing alright,” she sighed.
“I do as well,” Lailah responded. She rested her head on Alisha’s. Her heart was sinking with a feeling of penance. Her guilt of torturing Sorey and Mikleo still haunted her, and she wanted to help those in need. Of course, she was doing her best in their group of eight to keep Sorey on the right track, but there was Lady Cloche and Lady Shurelia, too. “Alisha, do you still love me?”
“Hm? Of course, I do,” Alisha dreamily said. She looked into her jade eyes. “Why would you think I didn’t?”
“Ever since that day, I’ve been thinking about what I did to Sorey and Mikleo. Because of me, they had a rift between them. Mikleo almost didn’t want to help Sorey.”
“But they fixed the problem, and by the end of the Trial of Water, they were closer than ever before.” Alisha turned to her. “Even if you did hurt them, they don’t hate you. I don’t hate you. I’m just glad you’re safe. Remember the fire trial?” The princess leaned in to her face. “I love you more and more, and I will support our friends to ensure that we will have a future together.”
Lailah paused. She was thankful for Alisha’s reassurance, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted to help everyone. She wanted to sing a Song that would help them all—seraphim, humans, the Origin Reyvateils.
“Alisha, if there comes a time—”
Sorey waved to them from the ground far below them. They hadn’t even realized that the sun was setting. The request that Lailah had remained buried in her heart. If there was a time that they needed a Song to save them, she wanted to be the one to sing it. She followed Alisha down the stairs of the belltower to Sorey and Mikleo.
“You two seem happy,” Alisha observed. “I take it you two had a fun talk?”
Sorey grinned. His stomach was grumbling just like Alisha, and while they wanted to wait for Rose to regroup with them, they were too hungry to be that kind. Mikleo noticed how uneasy Lailah looked.
“Is everything alright?” he asked her.
“I’m fine, just…” Lailah trailed off in thought. “I’m fine. We need to hurry on our way tomorrow. Sorey must quell Heldalf before we can set out to heal Shurelia.”
Mikleo knew she wasn’t fine, but no matter how much he wanted to press the issue, he knew that she would only deflect. He wondered about her sometimes. Who was she really? The two seraphim followed Sorey and Alisha to the inn. There they realized that Edna and Zaveid were gone, too. It seemed odd that they would go off somewhere together, but as long as they didn’t cause trouble or attract any, they were free to do whatever the pleased.
Rose and Dezel returned to the inn about an hour later, and the former was miffed that they had eaten without them. Dezel didn’t blame them; humans had to eat to sustain themselves, after all. Expecting them to stave off the hunger for an extra hour after days and days of arduous battles and trials was pointless.
As they ate, Zaveid and Edna walked through the city among the humans that ran the nightly markets. Neither of them really said anything, as if they were tolerating each other’s company. But they were thinking about Cloche and Lastonbell.
“Cloche is an IPD and the Holy Maiden, huh?” Zaveid glossed over again. “No doubt then.”
“No one in Lastonbell caught her when she found us. The majority of Lastonbell people are from Metafalss. And the only reason they would be here on the Glenwood Continent is if Metafalss is in trouble.”
“Metafalss is up on Frelia, yeah? Do you think they lost their administrator?”
“Most likely. If Shurelia’s suspension caused the seraphim in Hyland and to an extent here to lose some of their power, I wouldn’t be surprised if the people escaped Metafalss because something happened to Frelia.”
“Humans keep meddling with the Origins.”
“What can you expect? They’re greedy war-mongers hellbent on polluting everything in the world. The question now is, what could have happened to Frelia? If the people of Metafalss ran from it, then that would mean the Rim up there is collapsing.”
“If it’s collapsing, then Frelia’s probably not even there.”
“Looks like we have another problem besides Kittybeard and Princess Pearly, then.” She closed her umbrella then turned to the wind seraph. “Fairy Goddess might be knee-deep in trouble herself.”
“Fairy Goddess? You know what she looks like?”
“No, but I’m going to give her a name in case she comes up in conversation among potential spies. If someone like her is able to get caught so easily, she’s not worthy of a regal title like Princess Pearly.”
The night market lights began to dim and go out as the merchants and artisans turned in to go home and sleep. The two seraphim were still out on their walk, and while they were sure that Sorey was waiting for their return, they didn’t want to discuss the problem of Frelia with them quite yet. Everything was simply conjecture and hypothetical. If they were to say anything, at least one person would become impulsive enough to attempt to find her.
Edna’s skin prickled, an evil presence laying over the city like a hazy smog. She wasn’t familiar with the presence, and Zaveid wasn’t as sensitive to it. It was a Virus, but it felt different. It was coming from outside of their bodies.
“I’ve finally found you, cur,” a man said in the darkness. His form emerged, revealing the pasty white skin of a samurai-looking person. His armor was a sickly purple reminiscent of a Virus, and he had red tattoos on his forehead and under his eyes. Despite the tips of his hair being lime-green like Zaveid’s, he wasn’t a seraph. “My name is Ayatane, and I will avenge my Mother. You, who aided in her sealing, shall perish tonight!”
Ayatane sped towards Zaveid with his two swords drawn and extended out to his sides. The wind seraph was taken by surprise. Edna quickly protected him with a shield made of rock then began casting Final Embrace. She couldn’t risk singing anything to give Zaveid a boost; if Ayatane the Virus Incarnate was allowed to infect her, she would die immediately. Zaveid dashed from behind his safety with his pendulums out and ready to ensnare the new enemy.
“Roaring Blade!” Ayatane called out, this time targeting Edna to stop her from casting her Seraphic Arte. It was a strong enough attack that could break through any of her defenses like a laser through paper if it connected. “It ends here!”
Zaveid threw his pendulum around his swords to break his momentum, sparing Edna the damage and trapping him so she could encase him in a lotus made of ice. “Final Embrace!” she chanted.
The attack did close to nothing to the Virus. There wasn’t even a bit of frost on his armor. Edna and Zaveid were shocked—their attacks at this rate would prove useless. The power exuding from his being was on par the Lord of Calamity, yet it still wasn’t as strong as Heldalf’s power even though he had taken no damage.
“We don’t have a chance against him,” Zaveid analyzed. “But we can’t turn around and run.” He looked around him. He had nothing they could use a distraction, but where would they even go? If they went back to the inn, Ayatane would follow them and murder Sorey if given the chance. “Dammit!”
“Just who are you?” Edna interrogated.
“I am Ayatane Michitaka, offspring of Mir and the only Virus capable of an independent will,” he enlightened. “I have come to slaughter you and the Shepherd. Mother commands me to do so from the Binary Field. I must make Mother proud and free her from her cage!”
“Disgusting, a mama’s boy.”
“Now ain’t the time to be trash-talking someone who could kill us in less than a second,” Zaveid chastised.
Ayatane charged his blades with lightning for his attack appropriately named Spark. The shirtless wind seraph was ready to take the hit for Edna so she could escape and get their friends out of Lastonbell, but he already knew that she would be too stubborn to leave. Eizen had been stubborn, too.
“Burning Strike!” Lailah’s voice called out from behind them.
“Freeze Lancer!” Mikleo sounded as well.
“Radiant Heat!” Dezel called last.
The three successive attacks pushed Ayatane back and dispelled the charges on his blades. Edna and Zaveid were grateful for their appearance. They had something of a chance now.
Lailah explained that she had sensed the presence of a Virus similar to that of Heldalf’s domain and urged Mikleo and Dezel to accompany her for backup. She came to the front of the group. Zaveid glanced at her jade eyes—she knew Ayatane.
“If you don’t leave, I’ll be forced to incinerate you,” she threatened.
“What makes you think I will stand down? Have you forgotten who I am?” Ayatane spat. His respectful tone had morphed into something strange and crazy, but the fire seraph was undeterred. Failing to sprout fear in her heart, he could only snap back, “I’ll have my revenge. Mother will rise again, and I’ll make sure her prayer is answered. Exterminate all humans and leave the world to the seraphim and Reyvateils!”
“You’re really letting him get away?” Mikleo asked her as Ayatane leapt into the sky. He appeared to fly back towards Hyland.
Lailah looked grim. “I had to; we’re no match for Ayatane as we are now,” she said. She looked at each of the seraphim behind her. “Even with the Armatus and spiritual powers, Ayatane is still far too strong. He’s feeding on Mir’s power—he is an existence that absorbs the hatred of others, a less perfect physical manifestation of the malevolence compared to Heldalf.”
Dezel took a step towards her with rage in his voice. “Then what was this all for?! If we can’t fight him, how can we fight Heldalf?!” he seethed.
“I can’t answer that. At least with Heldalf, it’s easier to know what to do. We simply have to quell the malevolence in—”
“Don’t give me that shit!”
“Dezel, stop it!” Mikleo yelled at him. “Lailah has a point. We don’t know exactly what that man is.”
“He said he was being controlled from within the Binary Field,” Edna added. “He can sublimate and connect at will into the deep recesses of Shurelia’s soul where Mir is. He’s not Kittybeard but something that he can emulate.”
Dezel clenched his fists. What hope did they have to fight Heldalf? Why was Lailah allowing Sorey to pursue him if he wasn’t strong enough still? Why did he and Rose have to get dragged this far into this mess?
“Do you know that man?” Zaveid asked Lailah.
Lailah refused to say because it would break her oath. She simply looked up at the moon.
Notes:
Oh boy, I've brought in Ayatane! He's actually pretty scary in battle, but the Ar Tonelico 1 battle system makes it really easy to turn the tables on him with Song Magic. Without Song Magic, he's REALLY hard.
Another thing is writing Ar Ciela is still really hard, but I think I've gotten a little better?
Please leave a comment telling me what you think about this chapter! Or previous chapters! Just leave me a comment please...
Chapter 72: Phase 2: Pursuit
Summary:
After the skirmish with Ayatane Michitaka, our heroes decide now is the time to take on Heldalf. Before they can even search for him, Dezel gets the news he had been waiting for.
Notes:
The delicious tension is building! I'm so excited!
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think! Things are heating up, so I hope you're excited as I am!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Once Dezel had calmed down, Mikleo suggested that they returned to the inn before Sorey and the girls woke up. If they were to be missing, there was no doubt that all three of them would panic and generate malevolence even if a little. Zaveid scrutinized his fellow wind seraph for fear that he would lash out because of the revelation that they still weren’t strong enough to take on Heldalf. Lailah regretted insinuating it, but it was better to hear it now than face the Lord of Calamity head-on with only a fraction of the strength they needed. Or maybe there was more. She couldn’t say much about the subject, and it was frustrating, but perhaps it was a hint.
They entered the rooms on the second floor that they had rented for the overnight stay. Rose and Alisha shared a room while Sorey had a room to himself. They were all sleeping soundly as if nothing had happened. Lailah stood next to Alisha’s bed, resting her hand onto hers carefully so she didn’t wake her. Dezel loomed over Rose and stroked her hair as she slept. Next door, Mikleo lay next to Sorey while Edna and Zaveid leaned against the wall or foot of the bed. The water seraph worried about the Shepherd. If they had gone after Heldalf right after gaining the final power, there was no doubt that he would have died. They all would have truthfully, but the thought of Sorey being murdered by Heldalf or corrupted by his weakness made him feel sicker than any other notion.
Sorey discreetly opened his eyes as Mikleo forced himself to sleep. He noticed how close he was to him. He looked upset, and as much as he wanted to ask him, he was still too sleepy. All he did was flip his side of the comforter onto him and place his arm around him. Mikleo snuggled up to him, consciously, peeking at him when he had gone back to sleep.
The next morning, Rose and Alisha found their seraphim sleeping next to them. Dezel, specifically, had a scowl on his face which made the assassin wonder why he was so angry. She slowly and inquisitively poked his nose.
“Dezel?” she lulled. “Good morning!”
The blind seraph moved a little before appearing to go back to sleep. Thinking about how to annoy him, she pushed back his hair over his ear and blew into it. He simply growled at her.
“Ugh, why are you so mad?”
“Rose, just let him sleep,” Alisha told her. She glanced down at Lailah, whose face showed some sort of discomfort. “These two might have gotten into a fight.”
“A fight? Well, somehow, I’m not surprised. Anyway, we need to get going if we want to go ahead and save the world. After all, Heldalf isn’t going to quell himself!”
She shook Dezel until he woke up looking positively annoyed that she bothered him. “Morning!” she grinned at him.
Lailah sat up after a minute, and Alisha kissed her cheek as she greeted her. The fire seraph was happy about that, but she was clearly preoccupied. Her princess knew better than to pry, but Rose wanted to know why Dezel was so angry.
“We should prepare to head to Glaivend Basin,” Lailah suddenly said before anyone could spoke. She left the room for Sorey’s and entered with a sense of urgency. Edna and Zaveid were ready to go, but Mikleo insisted on brushing and combing Sorey’s hair. “Mikleo, we need to go.”
The water seraph reluctantly left Sorey’s hair, and the lot of the Shepherd’s crew made their way out of Lastonbell and into Volgran Forest. The seraphim resided within their humans since it was easier to travel as a smaller group, though after a few minutes, Dezel came out to walk beside Rose. His reason was simply to protect her from the hellions within the forest.
Glaivend Basin could be seen in the distance through the opening leading out of the forest. The towers of smoke from the still-burning catapults and banners reached for the dismal sky, reminding them of how long it had been since the battle and that it was still going on to some extent. Those hazy pillars could only be associated with Heldalf’s callousness and thirst for suffering. Sorey stared at them from the threshold of the forest, and his heart ached at the sight of them. It wasn’t just the memory of encountering Heldalf in their infancy that instilled anxiety and fear. The thought that people were willing to kill each other for their own political ideals—the idea that people could send others to their deaths for something as self-righteous as a corrupt government. He couldn’t stand it. He reminded himself: quell Heldalf and liberate the world. That was his goal. Once the Lord of Calamity was stopped, Shurelia would be easier to save. Then he would finally be able to work to the world he dreamed of in honor of those he lost after the invasion of Elysia.
“We’re coming for you, Heldalf,” Sorey said to himself.
Sorey led Rose, Alisha, and Dezel to the Rolance side of Glaivend Basin. It had been so long since they had been here that he forgot how close their base was to the edge of the battlefield. Rose, however, wasn’t surprised. She had memorized the bases and the layout of the Basin since they had started their petty fights. She was more surprised to see two of her friends there. Ayn Talfryn and Ayn Felice were standing before a general handing him a satchel of rations.
“The Sparrowfeathers never disappoint,” the general laughed. “But I suppose you can’t when you’re neutral.”
“You know us, sir,” Talfryn smiled.
“We merchants have to make a living somehow,” Felice continued. “But rest assured that we are always honest.”
Rose went alone up to them despite Dezel attempting to follow her out into the open, only to be stopped by Sorey and Alisha. The soldiers wouldn’t do anything to her as long as she wasn’t spotted with a seraph at her side. Walking up to them, she waved.
“Boss!” Talfryn happily greeted.
“You were in the area?” Felice asked. She shifted slightly.
“Just happened to be passing through after finally escaping from the Shepherd’s hold,” Rose sighed with relief. “Extremely radicalizing. But water under the bridge. I need an inventory report.”
“Yes ma’am,” the twins said in unison. They excused themselves from the guards’ presence, and Dezel whipped up a brief dust storm so he and the humans could follow them without being seen.
After returning to the Volgran Forest away from the listening ears of the Rolance Army, the seraphim came out of their humans to glean the information that the Ayn twins had for Rose.
“We’ve gotten a report from the secretary of the Emperor of Rolance,” Felice explained. “The Empress of Rolance has decided to adopt her nephew, the Emperor’s son. She is not the son’s biological mother, and the secretary has stated that she conspired with her own son to shift the line of succession over to her line. Obviously smells fishy, right?”
Dezel clenched his teeth. The Empress’s bloodline struck a discordant chord with him, and he didn’t bother to try and hide it.
“That means she had intended to murder her nephew,” Alisha analyzed. “I had no idea there was in-fighting within the Rolance Empire.”
“There’s more,” Talfryn interrupted. He pulled out a Hymn Crystal and a pouch of malachite ore. “The secretary has been suspecting that the Emperor himself has been moving forward with the IPD experiments taking place within his dungeons. The information has been locked up tight, so even we only have bits and pieces of the truth.”
“We’re taking the request,” Dezel suddenly said.
Sorey and Rose glanced at him. “Wait a second!” Rose quickly said. “What about our creed? We have to judge them!”
“I don’t give a damn about your creed. I have a number of things to settle with everyone involved. Rose, I don’t expect you to understand because you’re just a human, but I’ve been waiting for years to finally exact my revenge. Because she’s going to be there—I can feel it! It’s on the wind.” Lailah and Sorey reached out to him but he snarled at them to back off. “Let’s get going.”
Sorey glanced back down at the Hymn Crystal in Talfryn’s hand. “Which Song is that?” he asked.
“We’re not quite sure,” Felice explained. “Lunarre was spotted near Lohgrin trying to steal it. We gave chase and secured it in the Lhitwerg Barewoods over there. Because of the situation there, however, we were not able to return the Hymn Crystal to its owner. We would like to entrust it with you since you have Dezel.”
“So it’s an IPD Hymn Crystal!” Zaveid happily said.
“Seems like it. We’re throwing in a bag of malachite ore, too.”
“Ah, you’ve done your homework, sweetcheeks.”
“Wow, flirting with one of Rose’s underlings at this time—have you no shame?” Edna scoffed.
Sorey thanked them even though the Hymn Crystal was for Rose to use, but every little thing helped. They went after Dezel, who had stopped just in front of the city gates leading into Lastonbell. Edna chided him for being so quick to go to Pendrago then all of a sudden stopping short of the city. But Dezel didn’t respond. In fact, he seemed almost apologetic to Rose by the way he turned to her.
He walked up to her with his hands reaching for her cheeks. “Whatever happens, promise me that you won’t leave me,” he solemnly said.
“What are you intending to do?” Lailah interrogated.
Sorey, Mikleo, and Zaveid knew what he was talking about, and they were scared that he would lose himself. They were going into the belly of the beast, the cesspool of malevolence that was at the heart of the IPD experiments. By taking the request, the blind seraph had accepted that he could have an outbreak or die. He was suspectible with that curse of his.
Rose held his face in return. Her periwinkle eyes stared straight into his eyes with grey evidence of blindess. She used her thumbs to spread a smile on his lips.
“I’ll stay with you until the very end. That’s a promise.”
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By the time they had arrived at Pendrago’s gates, the sun was setting over the city. Dezel had been quiet the whole way, staying close to Rose as if coming to terms that he was putting his life and potentially hers on the line. As another IPD, Zaveid hated seeing him do this. He knew what he went through, and he was fine with him wanting to stop the experiments if that was his goal. He didn’t like how he was dragging Rose and Sorey into it. Even worse was getting Alisha involved in Rolance’s affairs when she already had to sort out Hyland’s problems.
“Dezel,” he said before they entered the city. As Dezel slowed to a stop, the shirtless wind seraph pulled out his pendulums. “Sit this out.”
“What?!” he snapped at him. “You, of all people, telling me to sit this out!?”
“It’s for your own good!”
“The only thing that’s for my own good is getting my revenge and living in peace.”
“And what if you don’t end up living in peace?”
“Why the hell do you care so much now!?”
Sorey and Rose stood between them while Alisha and Lailah tried to calm down both seraphim. Zaveid, however, kept trying to talk him out of it.
“If you go through with this, what about Rose? How do you think she’ll feel?” he asked.
“Rose already promised she would stay.”
“No, you dumbass! Don’t you know what you’re getting into!?”
Sorey drew his sword though he clearly had no intention of harming either one of them. “Both of you, stop this!” he warned them. “We’re all friends, and we want the best for everyone!” First, he looked at Zaveid. “Why are you starting a fight now?” Then he looked at Dezel. “Why are you willing to sacrifice yourself like this?”
Dezel wrapped his pendulums around his wrist and yanked him to the side. Rose took that chance to lunge at him while Zaveid threw the pendants on the ends of his pendulums at both of them as hard as he could.
“Dezel!” Rose screamed at him with her daggers drawn. With the pendants speeding towards her, Dezel’s sensing wind was flooded. “Stop being so dumb!”
“Why are you doing this?!” he growled.
He caught Rose in his arms so she couldn’t stab him, and he was prepared to deflect the pendants, but Edna raised a shield of stone between the couple and Zaveid. Mikleo and Sorey had apprehended Zaveid with their staff and sword, respectively. Alisha came around the shield to find that the pendants had penetrated almost completely through the stone.
“Were you intending to kill them?” Lailah asked Zaveid.
“I wanted to prove a point,” Zaveid replied.
Rose struggled to get out of Dezel’s grip, but he wanted her to calm down and put away her daggers first. She wasn’t impulsive enough to retaliate out of rage, but he didn’t want the fight to escalate any more than it already had.
“You’re still willing to protect Rose, so how can you be so inclined to sacrifice yourself?” Zaveid pulled the pendants on the pendulums back. “Think about this long and hard. Don’t do something you’re going to regret.”
While emotions began to settle down, Sorey grew frustrated with himself. He couldn’t stop the fight, but Mikleo reassured him that it was an issue that he shouldn’t be involved with. Zaveid seconded his remarks, but he didn’t say anything else. He gruffly told them to get to the inn.
That night, Lailah urged everyone to eat and rest up. She felt uncomfortable with the situation. It seemed too perfect that such events and information would line up perfectly. She especially disliked the Emperor of Rolance’s involvement with the IPD experiments. She watched Dezel, who was completely focused on getting the job done. She wanted to understand his plight, but how could she when he wouldn’t explain it more?
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Targana peered up at Lakra as she was suspended in her chamber to wait for the Goddess’s awakening. Lunarre had failed to retrieve the Hymn Crystal Implanta, which was the only Song that could reverse their plan. Nonetheless, he was calm—the Hymn Crystal was probably damaged and wouldn’t work now. Soon he heard the sounds of a number of Rolance platoons rushing through the dungeons of the shrinechurch.
“Unhand me! I am your captain!” Sergei ordered. Four soldiers brought him before the young knight. “You!”
“Good evening, Captain Sergei,” Targana greeted. “Sorry that I had to do this to you, but I can’t have you interfering from now on. Once we get rid of Hyland, we’ll be converting Pendrago into a fortress powered by the Second Tower.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Do I really need to explain? Fine, since you’re going to be part of this, too.” Targana stepped closer to him, his golden blond hair swaying as he did. “We’re going to erase Hyland from the face of the world using Pendrago’s people as ammo. Once their kingdom is gone and Pendrago is devoid of the disgusting humans that have abused the seraphim, we’ll make a new righteous world with a new fortress at the center of it. What I aimed to achieve in Metafalss I shall accomplish here.”
Lunarre loomed in the darkness while Symonne smiled at the play being performed before them. Everything was almost in place. Frelia was ready. Lakra was ready. Only Dezel was missing, and she knew just how to manipulate him into aiding them with their plan.
“It’s time to go,” Symonne giggled. “Be ready to act when I give the signal.”
“You got it,” Lunarre confirmed.
Targana simply smiled back at her, much to Sergei’s confusion.
Notes:
I really wish there was a tad bit more of Zaveid and Dezel, but then the context of all this is based more on Ar Tonelico 2 than Zestiria atm, so I guess it wouldn't have work in the individual canon. Buuuut still want to know how Zaveid and Dezel know each other.
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think so far! Keep reading for the climax of Phase 2!
Chapter 73: Phase 2: Reflection of the Unabridged Past
Summary:
The truth about the Sparrowfeathers is revealed.
Notes:
FINALLY I GET TO POST THIS CHAPTER. I take such JOY knowing that when I read it to a friend, she cried and I have done my job! We've arrived at the climax for this phase! That said, I did take some liberties with Dezel's past and I really like the idea of Zaveid helping Dezel out a kid.
PLEASE, IF NO OTHER CHAPTERS, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS ONE! I really want to know what you think because I am proud of this!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Night came. The full moon high in the sky was obscured by dark clouds. Dezel was already resolved to move out. Sorey, on the other hand, tried one last time to change his mind. After the blind seraph went outside as a hint for everyone to hurry up, he followed him.
“How many times do I need to tell you before you get it through your damn skulls?” he hissed. “This is something that I have to do.”
“I know, Dezel, I know,” Sorey gently told him. “Everyone is just worried. You don’t get riled up very often, which is why—”
“So back off.”
Sorey recoiled, the sharpness in Dezel’s voice stinging him like an angry wasp. “I know you have something to do, but at least let us protect you. We’re heading into the IPD experiments hub; we want you to be safe. You’re important to Rose, and you know she doesn’t want you to be in pain.”
“She knows I’m cursed, but she doesn’t know why. I only have a vague memory of the only person I’d ever cared for before her—why did he have to die? Why am I so unlucky?” Sorey wanted to know what he was talking about, but he wasn’t going to pressure him. He patted his back in Rose’s stead. Sincerely, he apologized to him. “Why are you sorry? You’re not parading around twiddling your thumbs. You’re a Shepherd.”
“But I can’t help you. It’s Rose’s job, but I can’t do anything for you as a friend, and it frustrates me because it means I’m still powerless,” Sorey told him with tears in his eyes. “Even if I can’t do anything for you, Dezel, I’ll be right beside you and Rose. I’ll find a way to ease your burden.”
Dezel smirked. “You’re just as dumb as she is, if not dumber. Sorey, don’t overload yourself with my sorrows.” As uncharacteristic as it was, Dezel hesitantly placed a hand on Sorey’s head. “You have three seraphim to worry about, and Mikleo will be devastated if something happens to you. Mind your own business and take care of him.”
Rose and Mikleo were the first to come out of the inn followed by Edna and Alisha then Lailah and Zaveid. The assassin and water seraph exchanged glances finding Sorey and Dezel together, but the latter waved it away as personal business. Normally it would have made them more curious, but with the request waiting to be completed, they didn’t have time to badger them.
The first order of business was to make sure the city gates were clear as per Rose’s instructions. They would be breaking into Rolance Castle, so it was imperative that they had a confirmation that there were no guards positioned at the gates. Of course, the status could change at any point, but it would offer the novice intruders some peace of mind.
“Looks like the gates all clear,” Rose said after she passed the inspection. “Let’s head on over to the castle. We can neutralize the hellions within the royal family and judge the empress for attempting to murder the emperor’s son before going after the emperor. After that, we can begin unraveling the IPD operations.”
Dezel was raring to go until he and his human heard a familiar voice snickering at them. The blind seraph quickly went to her side. He turned his head in every direction trying to pinpoint the voice.
“Of course, you lovebirds would show up,” Lunarre drawled.
Sorey and Alisha brandished their weapons with their seraphim behind them. The fox-faced hellion just laughed at them, taunting them into attacking him. Dezel lashed at him with one of his pendulums as a warning.
“We don’t have time for a piece of shit like you,” he growled. “We’ve got other things to do.”
“We? Are you sure you don’t mean you?” Lunarre wasn’t afraid of Dezel’s threats. In fact, he egged him on. “After all, the sorry excuse for a boss there has no idea what it is that you want to do, so can you really say that both of you have things to do? Unless you mean each other!”
Enraged by the heckling, Dezel chased after Lunarre, who escaped towards the eastern district. Rose called after him, but he was too far away to hear her. A despairing feelings began to form in the pit of her stomach.
“We’ve got to catch them! Lunarre…” Rose started. She digressed, leading Sorey and his friends after the two of them.
As they followed, the seraphim’s bodies trembled with a strange domain where there was no malevolence. Everything became colorless, and Sorey specifically felt like there was something missing from the very reality they perceived.
“This isn’t right,” he breathlessly told everyone. “Rose, this is a trap!”
“Trap or not, Dezel’s going to get himself in trouble!”
“Listen to Sorey! Don’t go!” Alisha told her.
By the time they reached the courtyard of the Pendrago Shrinechurch, Lunarre was gone and someone else was standing there in front of Dezel, who seemed to beimmobilized, bound by threads of malevolence.
“Ah, the entire cast of players has finally arrived,” Symonne dreamily sighed. She eyed Sorey and Rose. “The main hero and main heroine even! Don’t you know that it’s inexcusable to be late for the opening night?”
Dezel forced himself to move through the paralysis that the malevolence had instilled so he could face them. He warned Rose to get away, but she refused to leave him. “You idiot, just leave!” he screamed at her. “This bitch…she’s the one that ruined everything!” He tried to break through the threads to no avail; they squeezed him tighter like ravenous snakes.
“Rose, free Dezel. Everyone else, get ready!” Sorey ordered.
Rose dashed towards Dezel while Sorey and Alisha Armatized with Mikleo and Lailah. Edna began chanting Air Pressure and Zaveid followed behind them to whip her. Symonne just laughed. She released Dezel before Rose could free him, and the two of them stood before her ready to fight. She created her illusory clones, which Zaveid was familiar with, to hold off all of her attackers. One of the clones attacked Edna and interrupted the spell.
“Now, now—don’t you all want to hear the prologue to this miserable tale? After all, I’m sure this fool only told you so much,” Symonne antagonized.
“Don’t you fucking—”
“What are you going to do? Everyone here knows that you’re cursed, right? And IPD seraphim are time bombs to each other, and the Windriders…ah, yes, the Windriders!”
“Shut up!” Dezel screamed at her. He shot a blast of wind at her.
Symonne grinned evilly as she flipped out of the way. Gently floating down, she conjured up a large eyeball hellion. At first, it was closed as if incubating something. Then she summoned a phantom of Dezel’s best friend Lafarga inside it to reveal, and all at once, everything came back to him. “Who was it that really ruined everything and killed all the people you loved?” she calmly asked. Dezel couldn’t see it, but he felt the perfectly emulated presence of the one he once held so dear like a brother. Symonne coaxed him, “Think long and hard.”
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“Let me go!” Dezel cried. His tiny arms were too weak to escape the grip of the guards that had captured him. “Let me go! I’m scared!”
The dark halls echoed with his pleas and the screams of other IPD seraphim that had been caught before him. He glanced around, his heart aching with fear and the feeling of nausea bubbling in his throat. He was only a child. Why did they have to use him for their evil deeds?
“Please, please, please! Let me go!” he bawled. He tried to drag them down only to be punched in head. They pulled him into a chamber that had a mirror aimed at a high-placed window where the morning sun breached. “W-What are you going to do?!”
The guards brought him to a chair that was illuminated by the light of the sun reflected off the mirror. They overpowered him so easily as he struggled to break free of them; naturally they would—he was much smaller than them. They sat him in the chair, tying his ankles to its legs and his hands behind the back of it. One held his head straight at the mirror while the other adjusted it just right so that the light shined in his eyes. Blinding was a new method that proposed to steep the seraphim deeper into despair. Only a few seraphim had ever been subjected to it because it was used as a measure to exercise better control over those who were more resilient to their will. The guard held his head still as the light shined in Dezel’s eyes, and when the little wind seraph attempted to find respite in closing them, he used his armored fingers to hold them open. He struggled, his eyes burning from the brightness and the segmented metal.
“Please! Let me go!” he screamed. “It hurts! My eyes hurt!”
The guard that had been adjusting the mirror hurried over to him and stuffed a rag in his pocket into his mouth to muffle the screaming. He didn’t know that the guards were only doing as they were told for fear of execution. He just knew that he had to suffer. Dezel lost the energy to struggle and fight, and once he noticed that he was being lifted out of the chair, he realized that he was blind. The world was dark.
He was thrown into a cell, tired and weak from screaming. “Lucky you, Lafarga. You’ve got a cellmate,” a prison warden scoffed. When the clanking armor left, Lafarga—the man that Dezel considered his only friend—crawled to his side.
He scooped him up into his arms like he was a wounded or abandond animal. “Child, are you alright?” he asked him in a quiet and sincere whisper. He pulled the rag from Dezel’s mouth. “What did they do to you?” He didn’t get an answer except for a pained whine. Cradling him, Lafarga condemned the Rolance empire for what it had done to the child seraph.
A few days later after Dezel had regained some of his strength—he had thought he had been sleeping—Lafarga tried to bond with him. The seraphim weren’t given any food since they didn’t have to eat, but he often obtained small morsels to keep him grounded in the dungeons. One day he got an apple. Another day was a small collection of crackers. Whatever he received, he offered half to his new cellmate. Dezel, however, never accepted it. He couldn’t see or sense anything.
“It’s okay,” Lafarga gently whispered. “I have a friend on the outside. He’s been bringing me snacks since he was freed a thousand years ago.”
He told him that every day until finally Dezel came out of his shell and took the offering. Unable to see but able to taste things down to the very ingredients, the little seraph cried. Over the course of five months, Lafarga took care of him and taught him how to sense things through his wind. Then they found the courage to get him out.
“Zaveid, listen to me,” Lafarga whispered from his small window. “Take the boy and teach him how to survive out there.” He quickly lifted Dezel up and through the window’s wideset slats to Zaveid, who had promised that he would stay with him.
“What about you?” Zaveid asked. He was holding Dezel close to his chest in case any guards were to pass by and noticed them.
“I’ll get out when I can, just promise me that you’ll take care of him.”
“L-Lafarga…!” Dezel whimpered.
“Just go!”
And that was that. Dezel learned how to fight, perfectly emulating Zaveid’s style based on how he read him through the wind. He didn’t like Zaveid as much as Lafarga, and he simply tolerated his time with him even though he appreciated that he allowed him to travel with his group of refugees for the years after he was freed. When one of the seraphim in the group that Zaveid managed turned into a hellion, there was a consensus that it was Dezel’s fault. His blessing was cursed, a testament to the despair and hatred in the young seraph’s heart.
“I-I didn’t do anything!” Dezel fought back. It did him no good, and ultimately, he was abandoned in the woods. “Zaveid, wait! Please, don’t leave me!”
Zaveid’s heart hurt for him. He didn’t want to leave him by himself in the middle of nowhere with hellions roaming about. It was around that time that Dezel had been found by the Rolance soldiers, who had a manhunt for him since he had escaped, and after Rose rescued him, Lafarga had finally located him. He recognized him by his hair, and Dezel once again found happiness.
“So that young girl is the one who saved you?” Lafarga asked him over soup one night. He watched her pretend-fight the leader of her group named the Windriders. “She’s got a high natural resonance. She’s so pure.”
“If it wasn’t for her, I would have died out here,” Dezel said. “Zaveid’s group left me, but this girl came just in time before the Rolance soldiers could take me back.”
Dezel and Lafarga stayed with the group and watched Rose grow into a strong young woman. Perhaps it was sometime in these years that Dezel’s feelings of love took root. Rose was young and attractive, strong and independent. He wasn’t the only one who had feelings for her, though.
When she had turned fifteen years old, Dezel’s hopes were crushed one by one. He and Lafarga watched the Windriders sign an agreement to be brought under Rolance’s Emperor, working alongside their forces. And Rose…Rose was like a bargaining chip in the eyes of the royal family.
“Rose, I don’t trust him,” Dezel told her one night when she had set out to meet Prince Konan, the man that had been in his soul space who had almost forced her to marry him.
“You’re overreacting,” Rose sighed. “Besides, what do you care? Are you jealous?”
“I…”
“It’s every girl’s dream to be engaged to Prince Konan! And I’m that girl! Can’t you be happy for me?”
“I can’t! He’s up to something! He’s using you!” Dezel grabbed her arms. “Please, listen to me!”
“Why are you getting so hysterical? Just a few years ago, you were ready to kill yourself! Besides, didn’t you say you preferred if I wasn’t always in your hair?” Rose broke his grasp. “Just leave me alone! You’re so possessive!”
“I’m worried about you!”
“Go be worried about someone else!”
Rose stormed off towards the castle, but Dezel couldn’t leave her alone even after Lafarga cautioned him about getting involved. He understood that he felt indebted to her, yet it was foolish to throw himself into the middle of human affairs. Dezel refused to listen, chasing after Rose and sneaking up to Prince Konan’s bedroom window which was wide open after Rose and Konan had shared a less-than-passionate kiss under the moonlight.
Prince Konan was about eight years older than Rose. He held the thirst for her body in reserve, grooming her and preparing her to lose her virginity that night well before their wedding. Dezel hated him. He hated that this man was going to prey on a fifteen-year-old girl. He hated everything about Rolance until he couldn’t just stand by anymore.
Meanwhile, Lafarga caught a rumor that the elder brother of the prince was planning to arrest the Windriders for conspiring to kill the royal family. He wanted to find Dezel before it was too late, but something inside him felt wrong. His body was heating up and he was listless. At that moment, the elder brother saw Lafarga before he had an IPD outbreak.
“Dear Rose, you look positively delicious,” Konan hungrily said, beholding her naked body on his bed in his bedroom. “Tell me, has no one bed you yet?”
“N-No…Brad and Dezel don’t really let anyone near me,” she nervously said.
He crawled and hovered over her. “You know, you’ll make a beautiful bride.”
“R-Really?”
“Oh yes, and we’ll have the most beautiful children. We’ll have so many that everyone in Pendrago will be green with envy.”
As Konan kissed her neck, Rose felt disconnected from everything. She didn’t like him kissing her, or perhaps she wasn’t the one feeling it. She pushed him off of her, grabbed the satin bed sheets to wrap herself in, and ran for the window.
The prince was appalled that someone—his betrothed—would so violently reject him. “Rose, where the hell do you think you’re going?!” Konan roared.
Her voice was strangely mature and serious, like someone else entirely was speaking. “How dare you lure a child into your trap,” she said. “You’re an adult using a child to advance your bloodline. If I hadn’t intervened, I would never forgive myself. I refuse to let Rose bear your disgusting children or to even let you defile her innocence.”
“You’re not Rose! What have you done to her!?”
“I’m saving her from the likes of you!”
Rose leapt out of the window, and when she landed on the ground beneath it, Dezel let her go. She was dizzy, falling into his arms before recognizing that he had interfered. He knew she would be mad, and maybe one day he would explain to her why he had done it.
“D-Dezel…!” Lafarga gasped as he finally caught up to him. “Dezel…everything’s falling into chaos…!”
Dezel sensed him—the IPD outbreak, the negative emotions flowing into his best friend. His heart stopped; the fear he had of the Windriders disbanding after being recruited by the Rolance Army, the hatred he held for Prince Konan, and the selfish desire for the Windriders to continue on their journey were all stemming from the curse of his blessing.
“Lafarga! Why did this happen?!” Dezel cried.
“Wouldn’t you know why?” Symonne asked from the castle wall. She jumped down, landing between the two IPD wind seraphim. “It’s the same reason that you were abandoned all those years ago. It’s your cursed blessing. The negative emotions that generate from your blessing are the things causing this IPD outbreak and the transformation.”
“Who are you?!” Dezel demanded to know. He held Rose close, but he wanted to shelter Lafarga.
“Me? I’m just a catalyst. After all, things would be far too slow and happy if I didn’t start that rumor, don’t you think, Lafarga?” She watched the older wind seraph gag.
Prince Konan rushed out from the castle to find Dezel, Rose, Symonne, and Lafarga before him. But he was different now. He exuded malevolence, and the man himself had turned into a hellion all because of Dezel’s hatred.
“I found you…fucking seraph!” Konan bellowed. “You’ve got nowhere to run! I’ve already seized Eguille and Brad and all of your shitty little friends! All I need now is that bitch in your arms! I’ll make her every day’s reward for ruling as the prince, whether she likes it or not!”
Dezel was prepared to die if it meant that Rose would be safe. Lafarga, however, didn’t want to see him die. Unable to keep himself together anymore, his mind disintegrated from the despair. He lost conscious control of himself, and he began singing some sort of chaotic and corrupted song.
This was his first experience with the IPD disease, and he never knew that his curse, which made him much more suspectible to the negative emotions that existed in Infel Phira, also made those that were close to him for long periods of time susceptible as well. Symonne took her leave while Konan accosted both Lafarga and Dezel.
“It’s all my fault…” he barely said. Rose was the only one to hear the despair in his voice. “I…I got Lafarga killed. I destroyed the Windriders. I got Brad executed. I ruined Rose’s life. My sins, my curse…”
“Die, seraph!” Konan screeched as he prepared to slash him and the young assassin with his claws. Before he could kill them, Lafarga shot him with a blast of Song Magic. The negativity that was the malevolence that was released from his corpse was absorbed by the screaming IPD, killing him instantly.
Brad had already been killed; however, Eguille, Rosh, and the Ayn Twins were freed by Dezel after he erased Rose’s memory with a Song Magic. He then used the same Song Magic to block out the trauma from his mind. He had lost the Song in addition to the exact way everything had happened. He only remembered Symonne’s voice and that she had set up the entire ordeal knowing wittingly that she was going to send a lot of people to their deaths.
--------------------------
“And that wasn’t the only time that you took control of Rose, was it?” Symonne jeered at Dezel, who couldn’t deny anything she said. “You took over her body over and over again to shape the survivors of the massacre into the Sparrowfeathers and Scattered Bones. I wonder, did you use that tempting power to take advantage of her as well?”
“No!” Dezel finally retorted. “I…I don’t deny that I used Rose to revive the Windriders, but I would never do that to her!”
Symonne cackled. “Are you sure? Absolutely positive? A power like that—you could do anything to her and then erase her memory, no? You may have lost that Song, but who is to say you can’t create a new and improved one?”
“She’s gaslighting him,” Alisha angrily murmured. “Dezel, don’t listen to her!”
“That’s enough creepy little girl for now,” Edna added. She tried to launch a ball of ice at her, but Symonne shattered it with a wave of malevolence. “What?!”
“Tell me, girl,” Symonne continued. “Do you recall a time when your body felt violated for no reason?”
Dezel intensively read his wind to determine what Rose was feeling. His pact with her was becoming muddled for some reason, and he couldn’t get a clear reading through it with her. He never abused her like that; he couldn’t even think of doing such horrible things when she was the one who saved him. But Rose didn’t know. She didn’t know that she had been engaged to Prince Konan or that Dezel had a friend who died from the IPD disease or that Brad, her father-figure, had been executed. He had been hiding so many things from her that she surely had to feel betrayed.
“Rose!” Sorey called to her. She turned around to him, her eyes tinted with horror. “Who do you trust more?! Dezel, who has lived with you for so long and confessed his love for you after so many years, or that girl, who’s trying to turn you against him?!” He drew his sword with a tight grip as if to restrain himself from running up and lashing out against this dark seraph. “You love Dezel, don’t you?! You didn’t know any of this, but you learned about his curse, and you had to have seen something about his past in his soul space! Even after all the Dives, even after he begged Wardell to give him the Armatus without you, you pledged your love to him!”
Symonne reinvigorated the hellion that looked like a giant eyeball with spear-like tentacles. She ordered it to attack Sorey, but Mikleo and Zaveid deflected it with their magic. Edna cast Barrier on her Shepherd for extra safety.
“How does she know that love isn’t a lie, too? After all, she’s been in the dark for twelve years, hasn’t she?!” Symonne pressed.
Dezel could feel her drifting away from him and their bond teetering precariously on the edge. “Please, Rose, don’t leave…” he cracked. He reached towards her. “I hid it all because I wanted to protect you…I love you, and I want to keep you safe…”
“But you lied,” Rose finally said.
A fissure opened in Dezel’s heart.
“You had to lie to protect me…”
Another fissure.
“R-Rose…don’t do this to me…please!”
“You even controlled me…you did what Prince Konan tried to do…”
Dezel’s soul space was crumbling deep within him.
“Dezel, get a hold of yourself!” Zaveid yelled at him.
Dezel couldn’t hold himself up anymore and fell to his knees. The last thing he wanted was for Rose to hate him after everything they had been through. He always knew that somewhere deep down she would if she learned the truth. Rose drew her daggers, forcing him to think that she would take out her anger on him. She took a step.
Sorey and Alisha got in front of her. “Think about what you’re doing!” Alisha tried to tell her. “Symonne is trying to break you two! She wants to weaken you!”
The Shepherd pushed her back by her shoulders. “Stop it, Rose! If you hurt Dezel, he’ll break!”
“Hurt Dezel?” Rose looked up at him with rage in her eyes. “I promised Dezel I would stay with him. And if all that stuff really happened, then I should be thanking him for saving me!” She pushed Sorey out of the way, but he again held her back so she wouldn’t kill a seraph like this. “I know Dezel wouldn’t do anything to make me uncomfortable or without my permission. He may be a cursed seraph, but he’s not a deviant!”
Dezel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The despair was taking hold of him, but Symonne could see that he was still capable of a rebound. “You’re a very stupid girl,” she insulted. “How would you know if you didn’t remember anything until now? How can you even think that a cursed seraph like him is worth saving? He is an Angel of Death!”
“Angel of Death, my ass,” Rose growled. “The man that you’re saying is responsible for so many deaths is the same man who becomes visibly sad when we gut rabbits and birds to eat.”
Dezel’s heart was beginning to heal; Symonne had to think of something to completely break him before their bond was fortified. “Then why don’t you prove your love?” she suddenly giggled. “If you trust him with everything you’ve got, call forth his Armatus and kill me and the hellion behind me!”
“Gladly! Lukeim Yurlin!”
Rose donned the Wind Armatus, but Lailah begged her not to give into Symonne’s demands. Alisha called on her Fire Armatus while Sorey called on Edna. The three of them clashed, but Rose broke through at breakneck speed. She flew high above the hellion and Symonne. Together, she and her dear wind seraph chanted:
“Can you keep up? Come, divine wings! Swarm the skies!” A myriad of knives made of wind dotted the night sky then shot down like hail. “Sylphistia!”
Symonne suddenly smiled. Before their Mystic Arte could connect, the hellion extended its tentacles, piercing Rose’s stomach and slamming her into the concrete.
“Rose!” Sorey and Alisha screamed in horror.
They two de-Armatized and were gravely wounded, yet the wind seraph still had some strength to catch his beloved. Rose had gone limp in Dezel’s arms. “Hey…Rose…!” he coughed. She didn’t respond. “Rose? Rose! Rose, Rose! Wake up! Please, wake up!” That was the final push Symonne needed to incite an IPD outbreak. Dezel stopped moving or speaking save for a few words that he kept repeating over and over again. “Sadness. Hatred. Anger. Loneliness. Sadness. Hatred. Anger. Loneliness.”
Sorey de-Armatized from Edna, rushing to Dezel’s side to calm him down even though it was too late. His mind was gone, his heart was broken, and his soul lay bear to the collection of negative emotions dwelling inside of Infel Phira thanks to his curse. His body was excruciatingly hot to the touch despite bleeding profusely from his wound.
“Dezel, please, get a hold of yourself!” he urged. “Don’t give in!”
The negative emotions welled up inside of him. He screamed in pain, the malevolence flowing into him and worsening the outbreak. He clung to Rose.
“Don’t go!” he screamed. “Don’t go! Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go don’t go don’t go!”
Zaveid held his head; Dezel’s curse was beginning to affect him as he channeled more and more of the malevolence within Infel Phira. He cried in agnozing pain and begged Dezel to stop before he became infected as well.
“This is it! This is what we were waiting for!” Symonne laughed hysterically. “Lunarre, Targana! Now is the time to seize the IPDs and the Shepherd!”
Sorey pushed through the malevolence to grab Rose by the hand. He pulled her away from Dezel before the wind seraph killed her by accident. He brought her to Lailah and Mikleo, who both worked hard to heal her wound.
Targana suddenly attacked Sorey, but he parried at the last second. Lunarre burned Zaveid with blue fire then tied him up with his own pendulums while they fought. Mikleo entrusted Rose to Lailah as he went to provide backup. Without Zaveid, he only rallied Alisha and Edna.
Sorey was locked in battle with the traitor knight. “Luzroy Rul—” he called before he was stopped by a jab to his stomach.
“Sorey!” Mikleo cried. “Ice Reaver!”
Symonne tackled Mikleo before he could cast the Seraphic Arte. She pinned him down with malevolence, forcing him to watch Sorey defend himself all while Dezel, awakened to the ferocious power of his intensified emotions, finally snapped and began to sing:
“Initializing Phase One…[title redacted].”
Notes:
EhehehehahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! -insert Beatrice troll face-
Please leave a comment about what you think of this chapter!
Chapter 74: Phase 2: [TITLE REDACTED]
Summary:
CERTAIN PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, INCLUDING THE TITLE
Dezel loses control.
Notes:
Ahahahah...it's all just a spiral downward from here, but I've finally deviated from either game again~ That said, I really wanted an excuse to write something like Sublimation for Dezel.
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Feeling the warmth of Lailah’s magic, Rose slowly opened her eyes as Dezel began to sing:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The lonely Song that made its way to her ears, low and solemn, pulled at her. Every note, every Hymmnos word was steeped in despair that suffocated her.
Zaveid bellowed in pain. That was all he could do. He convulsed as the Song resonated in the air. Sorey felt sluggish, which allowed Targana to knock him down with minimal effort. “I was expecting more of a fight from the O Gracious Shepherd,” he spat.
“It hurts…hurts…” Dezel mumbled as he sang. He soon started the next phase of his Song that embodied all of his sadness. “She’s gone…she’s gone…”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose pushed herself to be by his side, but Lailah wouldn’t let her move. She warned her that Dezel could vaporize her with his Song Magic; she didn’t care. She needed to be there to console him. But now with this new Song, everyone felt the weight of his despair and grief. Her body was being crushed under it.
Sorey knew he had to get to Zaveid. His cries sounded so pitiful for one usually so happy and carefree. He never intended for him to be hurt like this on their journey. He tripped Targana with a quick swipe at his legs then made a beeline to his wind seraph.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Zaveid, it’s okay!” Sorey told him over Dezel’s singing and Zaveid’s screaming. He rested a hand on his arm only to find that he was getting warmer and warmer.
He had forgotten that Lunarre was right there to kick him away from the wind seraph. He was bleeding from his lip now in addition to feeling drained from Dezel’s Song. While he prepared to fight the fox-faced hellion, Targana went after him. Rose was still trying to get close to Dezel, but Alisha pulled her back by her hood.
“You can’t go near him! You’ll get hurt, maybe even die!” she told her.
“I have to! He’s in pain!” Rose replied.
“Then there has to be another way!”
“Alisha, let her go! I’ll protect her!” Edna said. She pulled a slab of concrete from the courtyard to use as a shield as Rose moved slowly towards her wind seraph.
“We need to help Sorey!” Lailah said. She cast Burning Strike at Targana with the hope that she could lured him away from the Shepherd.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Dezel switched his Songs again, this time singing one with all the anger he held within himself. His voice was no longer remotely angelic but instead demonic and screeching. It was deafening, growing louder and louder in discordant cacophony as Rose got closer to him.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Symonne reveled in the Song of Wrath that Dezel had created in his anguish. She sent a few clones towards Rose and Edna while she let Mikleo up so she could take the pleasure of fighting him. They had no choice other than to engage, yet Edna assured the assassin that she could hold them off herself.
“Get to Dezel before things get worse!” she ordered. She then cast Rock Lance over and over as much as she could to destroy the clones. She felt herself getting weaker, a fever taking over her body as the Song of Wrath called for everyone to be afflicted with some illness. “Dammit, Dezel…! We’re trying to help you!” She felt faint yet pushed through; she had to defend them no matter what.
“He can’t hear anyone anymore!” Symonne reassured her. “His mind is completely shattered. Not even that stupid girl can get through to him! Why, he’s the prime subject for the experiment of the century!”
Rose was within a radius established by the Song that triggered what seemed to be miniature meteor strikes. She could hear Dezel crying while screaming out all of the rage, and it broke her heart.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey and Lunarre traded blows, and the latter resorted to using his blue flames to weaken him. Mikleo tried to get away from Symonne to help him, but the fallen seraph refused to move. She stabbed him with the ruby tip of her her cropped wand repeatedly. He was forced to spend his time healing himself instead of keeping her away and busy. He cursed their circumstance. His amethyst eyes met Symonne’s pezzottaite eyes with frustration.
Alisha and Lailah parried Targana while trying to look for an opening, but the knight was far more skilled at the sword than the princess was at her spear. Lailah made her fall back then rush in to use their Mystic Arte Flamberge once they Armatized. Targana sustained heavy damage though there was no indication he was going to be defeated anytime soon.
Rose pushed through the meteor strikes that Dezel called for. “Dezel! I’m right here!” she shouted. “Can’t you feel me on your wind?!”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rolance reinforcements had arrived. Some were regular soldiers, others were Platinum Knights. Sorey then wondered where Sergei was. If he were there, then they would have a much easier chance of winning against the three masterminds behind the trap.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
When it became clear that the reinforcements were there to support Targana, the fire seraph knew they had lost. “Alisha, we don’t stand a chance; we need to retreat,” Lailah panted from feeling her princess’s exhaustion. She de-Armatized from her so she could try to gather whoever had not been pinned down.
Retreat was a wise idea, but it wouldn’t be easy with a horde of soldier surrounding them. The two of them as well as Edna, Mikleo, and Rose were lost in a sea of iron. Sorey and Zaveid were trapped with Lunarre, and now that Targana had others to deal with the pests, he could tire out the Shepherd.
Symonne invoked a Song Magic that prevented Edna and Mikleo from returning within Sorey’s body as soon as she saw that they were able to do that. She couldn’t let them interfere with Lakra’s plan.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose tried one last time to break through Dezel’s magic-borne shell. She finally reached him. “Dezel, please calm down!” she pleaded. “I’m okay! Feel me!” Dezel couldn’t hear her over his shrieking. Even when she placed her hand on his cheek, there was no reaction. “Please, Dezel, remember that I love you! I’m here for you—always!”
Dezel was lost in his anger. And finally, the Song was coming to an end as his body began to crumble from fatigue.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Seize them now!” a general ordered his troops. Lailah took this opportunity to grab Mikleo and Edna and Rose before retreating out of the city to safety. She made vortices of fire before grabbing each one by the wrist; for Rose, she enlisted Alisha’s help to prevent her from running back into the fray. The soldiers overwhelmed Sorey, forcing him down and tying his hands. The Shepherd made every effort he could to break free, but it was to no avail, especially when Lunarre sat down on his back.
Zaveid stopped making any sort of sound. He and Dezel were exhausted, but it meant nothing to the soldiers or Targana or Lunarre or Symonne. Everyone wanted them all too tired to continue resisting. The exile was losing consciousness; however, he saw Targana stand in front of Sorey with an exultant stance.
“Finally, the people of Rolance and Metafalss shall have their prayers answered!” Targana triumphantly declared.
“What do you plan on doing with us?!” Sorey demanded to know.
Symonne pushed up Sorey’s chin with a single finger. “You’re going to aid in Heldalf’s wish.” Her eyes shined brightly like a demon’s.
---------------------------
“What the fuck?!” Rose screamed. “I almost had him calmed down! Why did you have to go and pull us out?!” She grabbed Alisha by her tunic, balling the dense fabric in her fist in every effort to remind her that she was assaulting the Princess of Hyland. “Dezel was in so much pain! He’s still in pain, Alisha, Lailah!”
Lailah forced Rose off Alisha while Mikleo created a ring of ice around her and Edna sat her down with Air Pressure. The seraphim were sympathetic to her; they were all worried about Dezel not just because he was going to be experimented on but because they each felt responsible for letting things get as bad as they did. No words could soothe Rose’s anger, but they couldn’t go back into Pendrago in their condition and not when security was present.
“We have to go! Dezel is scared and suffering! Sorey and Zaveid, too!” Rose urged. She whipped her head to Mikleo. “Don’t you care about Sorey?!”
“Think about it,” Edna bluntly told her. “You were making the problem worse just as Symonne wanted.” She opened and spun her umbrella. “Just as she was a catalyst for causing all of the strife for you back then, you were the catalyst for causing Dezel to succumb to the IPD disease.”
Calmly, Mikleo placed a finger under his lips in thought. “It took amazing forethought, and she manipulated an entire army to get what she wanted. To use a cursed seraph to this end…”
“She had been planning to sacrifice Dezel from the beginning,” Lailah said with grief. “We don’t know clearly what for, but Cardinal Forton wanted him for her own goals. But how…why…?”
Alisha knelt before Rose, her face softened and her eyes reddening. “Ever since we came to Pendrago, everything had been a setup to break Dezel and return him to the IPD dungeons.”
“So why are you telling me what I already figured out? Why are you rubbing it in my face that I couldn’t save him like I promised?” Rose began to cry bitter tears. “I believed in him,” she cracked. “I know he would never do anything to me like Symonne was trying to insinuate. I saw bits and pieces in his past and I reassured him that I would always be with him. Even when he was so scared that I would hate him for all of this…”
Rose sobbed at the thought that Dezel was going to die because of her failure, and Alisha couldn’t help but cry with her. She hugged her as comfort for the both of them. They had to return to Pendrago no matter the cost. Lailah looked up at the sky where dark clouds hid the light of the moon. Her heart was uneasy.
Notes:
In hindsight, the chaos of this chapter isn't my favorite thing. Even with so many characters suffering, which is usually my pride and joy. But the next couple chapters I like.
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think! More comments = faster uploading!
Chapter 75: Phase 2: Invaluable Scapegoat
Summary:
The Rolance Empire's true plot is revealed, and Sorey learns that he and Dezel are at the center of it. (THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS TORTURE AS WELL AS TRIGGERING IMPLICATIONS. PLEASE READ THE BEGINNING NOTE.)
Notes:
PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE IS DEPICTED IN THIS CHAPTER. TRIGGERING IMPLICATIONS ARE IN THIS CHAPTER.
I have only dabbled in writing psychological torture, so I'm not as experienced writing it as physical torture. That said, I have read up on it several times, and the specific types--of hurting a loved one in front of the victim and gaslighting--works well for the circumstances among others. I expect Symonne to be this evil, though of course it wouldn't be depicted in the game for obvious reasons. Additionally, psychological trauma, anxiety, and depression in Ar Tonelico would initiate an IPD outbreak, and it's touched on again in a way in AT3, but that's way in the future and for different reasons. I do not go into detail of the implications because they are just that--implications--but I still felt uncomfortable. That is why I strongly would advise reader discretion. Lastly, I apologize that this this section in particular is SO dark.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Your Highness, we’ve apprehended the cursed IPD seraph needed to further our experiments,” Targana notified. He knelt before his emperor, who stroked his beard. “Lakra is ready to execute her duty whenever you are ready.”
The emperor knew a substantial amount about IPD seraphim. Subjecting Dezel to psychological trauma would make it easier for Lakra to use him as a Trojan Horse into the Binary Field that lie within Frelia. The Binary Field gave passage into Infel Phira by way of the server Sol Marta. Normally, the entire apparatus called the Tower of the Heavens was obscured by dense clouds, impenetrable under every circumstance unless access was granted through the Goddess Maiden. As such, the emperor was forced to improvise. Gaining access to the Tower of the Heavens meant he could control the Second Tower at the expense of Frelia’s life. With that power, he could rule the entire world. Since he had spread the rumor that only seraphim born under Frelia’s domain could use their Song Magic, he was sure that Hyland would be compromised no matter what they tried to do.
“You know the next task,” he told Targana. “Crack that IPD open and install Lakra into him.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Targana left the audience chamber of his emperor for the dungeons deep underground. The cells that had held Dezel before hadn’t changed, but Sorey and Zaveid—in custody of the soldiers just outside the castle gates—felt the agony of the seraphim still trapped there and those who had perished as a result of the cruelty. Dezel was still trying to sing; he was nothing more but a mindless zombie acting on instinct now. The Shepherd watched him with sorrow and pity. He was trying to scream past the gag tied around his jaw. Zaveid was barely conscious.
“Lord Targana has advised us to move to the dungeons,” a soldier returning from within the castle announced. “We are to begin the experiments immediately before the cursed IPD dies.”
“He’s going to die!?” Sorey gasped muffled by the gag.
“Squadron B, take the Shepherd to the holding cell. Do not put him with the captain.”
The soldiers of Squadron B pushed Sorey in the opposite direction from where Dezel was taken. Zaveid, held by Squadron C, followed Sorey, but he wasn’t placed into a cell. He was taken to a chamber where he was tied to a steel pole and made to wait until Symonne was finished debriefing the other soldiers of their duties.
Sorey was thrown into a cell that was across the way from Sergei’s cell. He knew he wouldn’t be there for long depending on what was to happen to Zaveid. The captain of the Platinum Knights came to the bars of his cell upon seeing Sorey sit up as best as he could with his limbs tied.
“Sorey!” he called out to him.
“Sergei! What are you doing here?” Sorey asked him after taking advantage of the roughness with which he was dealt to move the gag away from his mouth.
“They arrested my men and me, claiming treason. Why are you here?”
“We were ambushed.” Sorey explained all that had happened including the explicit danger that Dezel and Zaveid were in. He worried about them endlessly, and Sergei cursed himself for being caught off-guard. “You have to get out of here. You have to find Rose and Alisha.”
“I would if I could, but…” Sergei trailed off at the sound of the dungeon doors creaking open. He spotted his men. “I am the captain of the Platinum Knights! Let me and the Shepherd go!” he demanded with rage of betrayal.
The soldiers that had come to retrieve Sorey ignored his order, extracting the Shepherd from his cell and pushing him towards the chamber where Zaveid was being held. The wind seraph was panting from the inevitable outbreak that was about to happen, his skin flushed from the stress. In the darkness of the chamber, Sorey could see how sick he looked, and the way he was tied to the pole like a ship head churned his stomach.
Targana then appeared behind everyone. He walked to the front through the parted sea of soldiers. He took Sorey’s leash into his hands and pulled him up to Zaveid like a feral animal. Holding him by the back of his neck, he ordered him:
“Tell me this one’s greatest fear.”
“Why the hell would I do that?” Sorey bit back. Targana tightened his grip. Sorey winced. “I refuse.”
“Tell me, or I’m just going to sacrifice him. We’ve already got our cursed IPD; he was just a bonus. One that had escaped so long ago, and one that had freed that cursed one. If you don’t tell me, then I will execute him myself for stealing a prized seraph.”
Targana drew his sword, placing the sharp tip of it at Zaveid’s neck and waiting to force it through his skin. When Sorey remained uncooperative, he quickly pulled the sword away and stabbed him in the stomach. Zaveid cringed and whined, unable to do anything else to save himself from the pain. Sorey bit his lip before he finally gave in. He regretted it, but he couldn’t bear the sight of him bleeding before him. If Targana made good on his threat, he would never forgive himself.
“He…” he choked on tears.
“Sorey…” Zaveid sibilated. “Don’t…”
Sorey became tight-lipped again to sate his wind seraph, and Targana stabbed Zaveid again. The Shepherd begged him to stop. “He doesn’t want to lose any more of his friends! Just stop doing this! Stop hurting him and the other seraphim!” Tears brimmed, but he had complied.
Targana smiled darkly. He threw Sorey at Zaveid’s feet before leaving the chamber. Zaveid was so exhausted, but he didn’t look mad at him. What Sorey had told the devious knight was only a half-truth, and it would provide some time for the wind seraph who broke under the pressure and had an outbreak.
“I’m so sorry, Zaveid!” Sorey wept. He felt the crimson drops falling on his face and hair. “I…I’m a failure as a Shepherd…”
------------------------------
Dezel was also tied with heavy chain to a steel pole accompanied by Lunarre and Symonne. The fallen seraph removed his gag then grabbed his throat so he couldn’t say any chants that would initiate deadly Song Magic. Targana arrived just before she planned to break him completely.
“This is where the fun really begins,” Symonne giggled.
She explained that the only way to allow Lakra to cross into the Binary Field and into Infel Phira was to bulldoze a path through the subject IPD’s Boundary Gate. Normally, IPD seraphim’s Boundary Gates were indestructible because they had already formed an identity and ego. The only reasons that one would still be malleable would depend on whether the seraph was young enough or if the seraph was cursed, and Dezel fit both criteria. Compared to Edna, Lailah, and Zaveid; he was only slightly older than Mikleo though he was more mature personality-wise. In addition to the curse and now the IPD outbreak, his Boundary Gate was as strong as a pane of glass, but it was still impenetrable if he still had some sort of mental crutch.
“It goes without saying that he still needs to be stressed if Lakra is supposed to get through him, so I’ve already arranged for the top doctors to come in and work their magic,” Symonne notified Targana, who felt somewhat uneasy that they were going to force the blind seraph through more torture than he had already experienced in his short life. “There’s nothing to feel bad about. He won’t suffer for very long…probably.”
Dezel could no longer feel his wind; he had lost that ability when he snapped after sensing Rose had apparently died in his arms. All he could do was listen and feel direct contact on what little exposed skin he had.
At first, things were quiet save for the distant metal clanking of armor outside of the chamber. He felt stranger than before—weaker and unable to hold himself up with those chains on him. It was as if a memory that had been long repressed was coming back and throwing him into the past. His mind followed the trail of bread crumbs to when he was a child in the custody of the Rolance Empire.
“N-No…I don’t want to be here…” he quivered.
A couple of guards had grabbed him by the arms after unlocking the chains. They threw him to the ground, yelling obscenities and insults at him like he was a lowly worm. He curled up and covered his ears, but the voices were still loud and clear. He was worthless, a nasty little reject with no hope of ever being accepted. He was better off dying in those dungeons—he would at least have a purpose in aiding them empire.
One guard held him down while stuffing the gag back into his mouth, and the other guard slowly poured ladles of water over it. Dezel coughed and choked, his body believing to be drowning in a tank of water. He erupted into more violent coughs until finally there was no more water in what was apparently some sort of pail that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. They let him pull the gag out and retch. He remembered—they had done this to him as a child. How could anyone do that to a child?
Suddenly he was back against the steel pole with the chains around him. He felt cold. Again, he heard scathing insults and jeers as he stood without clothes. He had been put up on a stage for an auction among the guards; he realized that he could vaguely see or seemed to see them all—a sea of degenerate humans. Whoever paid top-dollar for him would receive a plaything to use and abuse. A hand grabbed at his hair, chopping off a fistful of his sage-colored locks.
“S-Stop it!” Dezel cried. He couldn’t believe it when he heard himself. The insignificant voice of a child—he had really become a child!
“A slave boy has no need for pretty hair like this unless he wishes to be a girl. Bring me an axe! I shall grant him his wish!” the auctioneer jeered.
Again, guards held him down and spread his legs, but the auctioneer simply waved the axe before him. Dezel was so scared of the mutilation that he passed out. When he came to, he was once more chained to the steel pole as an adult. He was able to see still. It wasn’t true sight but just a memory of what his dungeon cell had looked like. And coming through the doors was a mirror and bright light.
“P-Please…s-stop…” he screamed. One memory that he knew all too well was that day where he was forced to look at that light. “I-I’ll be good…!” he bargained. The familiar pain shot through his brain, and he was blinded again. For a moment, all was quiet.
“Rose…Rose…” he kept repeating quietly to himself in the shadow of the real world. “I need her…where…is…she…?”
“Dezel?” Rose’s voice came. His breath hitched. “Dezel, are you okay?”
He whined in discomfort. He wanted to hold her even in the madness that he was drowning. He was waiting for her to hold his face, free him from his binds, or kiss him; but none of that happened. He listened to her trembling voice.
“Oh, my dearest Rose,” Prince Konan’s voice followed. “This is what happens when you disobey me.”
Dezel struggled against his binds to go to her side. Everything was hot again like he was in an oven. He listened to the clacking of Konan’s shoes against the stone floor. He heard Rose whimper as her nails scratched the ground in an effort to, what he assumed, crawl away from him. The blind seraph sustained a guttural bellow to scare Konan away, but it seemed to do nothing but agitate him.
“Please…I’m sorry!” Rose wept—her voice sounded younger. Konan called her some derogatory term before dragging her in front of Dezel and forcing her to cry for mercy. “Dezel, help me!”
Dezel again tried to break his chains, but he felt oddly discombobulated; a stinging pinprick grew in his neck before he felt everything around him go off-balance into helter-skelter. He slurred Rose’s name, yet her screams of desperation were the clearest sounds. Under them was the cracking sound of a whip-like object.
“Say it! Say how much you hate him!” Konan ordered amidst the orchestra of agony.
“I hate you, Dezel!”
“No, stop! Stop it!” Dezel cried, his head splitting from registering what was happening through the fog in his mind. His chest hurt from his heart suddenly slowing. “Stop…”
He heard the muddled sounds of Symonne telling someone to inject something else into his body, and as soon as whatever chemical had made it into his blood, his heart pounded like crazy. He grunted and gasped in response, but they were overshadowed by Rose’s pleas. Dezel heard cloth tearing and incoherent whimpers, rustling and the wicked laugh of a madman.
“If you hadn’t saved her that night, more than likely Konan would have done the unspeakable to her,” Symonne tittered. Dezel screamed as loud as he could as he listened to his worst nightmares resonate in the chamber. “The more you scream, the louder it’ll get!”
After a few minutes of forcing him to listen to Rose struggle, everything went quiet as she dispelled all the illusions she had conjured. She ordered that he was injected with another depressor to counteract the stimulant previously used. She relished the little utterances of discomfort before his heart slowed again. She snapped her fingers.
“I can’t believe you let him do that to me,” Rose angrily said. The illusion was back up.
“Rose…” Dezel wheezed.
“You’re such a wimp, Dezel.”
“Rose…I…love…”
“What, you love me? Pah, that’s a funny joke coming from someone who just stood there. You’re a waste of a seraph.”
“Ro—”
“Do you ever shut up?”
Her words stung more than the chemicals in him, made by Rolance’s best chemists, alternating inside of him. What did he do to deserve this? He couldn’t save her while chained to a pole. He couldn’t see what was going on. What was he supposed to do? He knew he was guilty of so many things, but hearing the aftermath from Rose’s own mouth broke his heart. Every time he tried to call her name, she cut him off with a gut-wrenching insult in his false sense of clarity.
“You did it, too. You did horrible things to me. You’re just like Konan.”
“No, I didn’t,” Dezel sobbed. “I’d never hurt you.”
He didn’t do anything, he swore it. But she kept pressing him, stressing that he had taken advantage of her several times since that night he saved her from Konan. She claimed that he had done it every night while she was asleep. She recounted all the times she felt violated by him. He made sure to erase her memory, but it never got rid of the sickly feeling in her stomach.
“I…I didn’t do anything…I…did I?” He was injected with the stimulant again. “No…I couldn’t have…” Next was the depressor. “But what proof do I have that I didn’t?” Stimulant. “I wanted to protect her.” Depressor. “I wanted to have her.”
Symonne kept the illusion going until she decided that it was time for him to have a break from the cycle of syringes going into his neck. The alchemists were told to use and reuse them, and now that they were running low on both drugs, she told them to go restock.
“How long do you plan to keep this up?” Lunarre asked her, the callousness of her method even making him feel ill.
“Until I determine he’s broken. I suggest you introduce the Shepherd to the Goddess if you’re getting bored. He might as well understand what’s to become of him at this point,” she said with a nasty smile.
After Lunarre and Targana left, Symonne dispelled the illusion. She waltzed up to her captive, lightly smacking him on the cheek to rouse him. Dezel didn’t say anything; she grinned delightfully at him. He was being stripped of his very sense of self, which was the final step before his Boundary Gate would be weak enough to shatter into a million pieces inside of him.
“How does it feel to be treated like the very dirt you hate? Doesn’t it just crush your heart? This is what she truly feels about you. All that gibberish and garbage about loving you and staying with you was a pack of lies. You know as well as I do that humans are nothing but greedy liars. She’s just using you. She played you. Just like you lied and used her.”
Dezel mumbled something incomprehensible that titillated Symonne. He slowly went limp, but she knew he wasn’t dead. He was so tired from the injections and the hurtful things that he heard that he just wanted to sleep. But she wouldn’t let him. She restarted the illusion of Rose screaming as Konan attacked her, and he instantly woke back up and begged the monstrosity of a man to stop.
As he screamed in agony in his chamber, two guards and the fox-faced hellion dragged Sorey from Zaveid’s feet by his leash from the other chamber. He called out to him only for Lunarre to stuff Dezel’s gag into his mouth. Sorey kept shouting—Zaveid, Edna, Mikleo—until someone heard him. Sergei watched as the knight and hellion took him to his apparent doom. The captain frustratingly punched the wall of his cell.
“Mikleo! Please, if you can hear me, help us!” Sorey cried before he was taken to where Frelia was being held within the deep catacombs of the shrinechurch. It was the same place that Forton had met her end, and instead of the Cardinal, there stood a young green-colored girl that looked like a fairy. Her topaz eyes suggested that she was in a trance. Lakra was laying to her side. “What is going on in this city!?”
He remembered what Chancellor Bartlow had done to him and Mikleo, and he became instantly afraid that they were going to try the same thing. It was painful the last time, and he was sure that Rolance would actually succeed in their efforts because they had somewhere to store his soul instead of planting him inside of another being. Targana soon arrived, and Sorey watched him with anticipation.
“To think that it would be this easy to destroy the Shepherd’s team,” Lunarre giggled.
“And to think that the Shepherd would end up helping one side or the other of this silly war,” Targana laughed. He knelt down to Sorey, grabbing him by his chin and staring straight into his eyes. “With you, I’ll finally be able to begin the creation of Metafalica, what the Grand Bell Knights could never hope to achieve.”
He left him for the green fairy, whom he called Frelia, and asked her to wake up. Frelia perked up, but she was still trapped in whatever hypnosis they had put her in. Targana made one request—he wanted her to sing Hibernation.
The purpose of the song was to force the souls of all of the citizens within the Rolance territory out of their bodies and into Infel Phira while the soul spaces of the IPD seraphim were erased. The consequence was the mass genocide of all IPDs and later all of the people that would be stored inside of Infel Phira if their souls weren’t returned to their bodies in a timely manner. But this was only the first half of the plan. Since Sorey was going to be sublimated into a contraption that far exceeded his comprehension, Targana described to him what they were planning to do. Once Hibernation was intiated and his soul above everyone else’s had been pulled inside of Infel Phira, Frelia was to change her Song into Vajra that was held within the Hymn Crystal that Lunarre was holding.
“I don’t suppose you know very many IPD-specific Songs, but it operates similar to Replekia, turning Infel Phira into a cannon,” Targana explained. “But such a feat can only be accomplished with the Maiden of Mio, who has gone missing. So the next best thing is to simply hack Infel Phira and force it to become a weapon.”
“You’re going to kill everyone in Hyland and Rolance!” Sorey panicked.
“It’s but a small sacrifice to make the Promised Land.”
“Millions of people are going to die!”
Lunarre handed Targana the Hymn Crystal for Vajra, and the knight allowed Frelia to absorb it before she began Hibernation:
“Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Vajra, enter_FRELIA_ANSUL_SOL=MARTA.”
Frelia seemed to be in pain when the Song was absorbed into her, and Sorey watched in horror as she approached him. “Commencing Song,” the shy sweet voice of the Goddess sounded. “Ma num wa exec hymmnos HAIBANATION.”
----------------------------
Rose led Alisha and the remaning seraphim into the castle grounds. She heard Frelia’s Song as clear as day like she was right next to her, and she had a horrible feeling. Her head felt somewhat foggy, and while she could work through it, it was a sign that things were already starting. She wanted to find Dezel, Sorey, and Zaveid before it was too late.
“We need to hurry,” Edna said. “This Song is capable of killing everyone in the world.” She had only ever heard rumors of it from people that had traveled to her mountain mistakenly looking for its Hymn Crystal. “Quickly!”
But there were guards stationed everywhere. Before Rose could rush out to kill them silently, Alisha held her back, which won her a snap.
“Rose, you need to calm down,” she told her. “I know you want to save Dezel, but we have to be strategic. If those guards are there, they can easily overwhelm us. We’ll die before we even manage to get into the dungeons.”
“We don’t have time to waste being strategic!” Rose yelled at her.
“Rose, please listen to Alisha!” Lailah scolded. She asked Mikleo to prepare an icicle at the one closest to them after observing one closely. The guard hadn’t moved since they arrived. “Wait, I don’t sense any sort of indication of life from them.”
The five of them came from their corner, pushing over the guards and finding that it was true. Each guard flopped over like a doll, presumably dead. It was the result of the Song, which scared Mikleo.
“We should split into teams,” Edna suggested. “We need to find the source of the Song as soon as now, and we need to get Dezel and Zaveid.” She looked over everyone. She came to the decision that Rose and herself would go after the wind seraphim while Mikleo, Lailah, and Alisha went to find Sorey and stop the Song. “Alisha, we’ll meet with you when we get the wind seraphim.”
“Understood,” Alisha dutifully responded. Lailah and Mikleo followed her down one path in the dungeon while Edna turned back to Rose.
The assassin was visibly angry with herself, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth in frustration. Sorey was in danger. Dezel was in danger. Zaveid was in danger. Edna knew how upset she was, but if she had time to wallow in self-pity and anger, she had time to get up and save them. She walked on, waiting to see if her leaving her behind would spring her into action. It didn’t.
“Rose, hurry up,” Edna sternly said.
“I’m coming!” Rose shouted. But she didn’t move.
“You know, if you keep wasting time like this, Sorey’s not the only one who’s going to die. Should I explain to you what this Song does?”
Alisha ran with Lailah and Mikleo behind her. The fire seraph knew the Song like Edna, and she wished they could run faster or knew exactly where it was coming from. She couldn’t tell them what the effects were for fear of making Mikleo break down.
“If whoever is singing this Song finishes it, all IPDs will die,” Edna told her. Rose’s eyes widened with horror. “Dezel’s very soul space is currently being destroyed as we speak. So move your ass.”
Rose hated herself for her indecision. She followed the earth seraph down the path to the holding cells, and they soon came to Sergei’s cell. The man looked as if he had been tied to a horse and pulled through the city. It was a physical manifestation of what the the Song was capable of, and before they went to find Dezel, Edna broke the lock with a rock lance.
“Sergei, what happened?!” Rose asked him.
“Tar…ga…na…” he rasped before collapsing at the threshold of the cell.
The situation was much worse than they had thought, and as the earth seraph used her power to carry his lifeless body, she started to feel the pangs of dissociation in herself. She had to find Zaveid, though. She was the only one who could heal him from his nearing outbreak and the only one who could keep Rose’s head straight until she found Dezel.
They continued down the halls of the dungeon until they came to one of the chambers where a wind seraph was being held. Rose couldn’t feel her wind seraph inside, but Edna barely felt the presence of one of her comrades.
“Rose, I need you to give me the green iris gem,” she told her. “If I use Dive Therapy on Zaveid, I can try and save him.”
The assassin handed her the green orb that was glowing in her pouch. The earth seraph ordered Rose to continue looking for her seraph while she helped Zaveid. As the girls went their separate ways, Edna focused on her current task. She was confident in her ability; however, she had only helped someone undergoing the negative infection. Zaveid was very close to succumbing to the positive IPD infection, which would kill her if she wasn’t careful.
When she entered the chamber, she found that he was in worse shape than she thought. He looked crazed yet unconscious at the same time, the horrors of his past on an endless repeat inside his mind. Taking a deep breath to prepare her for what she was going to see, Edna began the therapy.
------------------------------
Zaveid’s soul space was still intact much to Edna’s surprise save for the two dragons that were rampaging within it. The Stonehenge was the only thing that hadn’t been smashed to pieces, and the edges of the soul space were encroaching upon the center. If it vanished, then both she and the wind seraph would die.
Using the green iris gem as a catalyst, she was able to locate and close off a portion of his heart from the dragons. Then she realized that one of them was Eizen; she didn’t recognize the other one until she thought long and hard about when she had heard about a white dragon. Eizen had been looking for one a thousand years ago, and that was when Zaveid had lost his girlfriend.
“I see how it is,” Edna said with anger.
She realized that Symonne was a master of illusions, but she didn’t think she would go so far as to subject her friends to phantoms of the past. She quickly found Zaveid, who was curled up with his knees to his chest. He was devastated that Eizen and Theodora were fighting each other while destroying his soul space.
“Stop fighting…please…” he whimpered breathlessly. He clawed at his head in an effort to scratch them out of his mind. “I hated Eizen for trying to do this, but he was suffering, too! Theodora would never hurt anyone, but she forgot who I was!”
Edna slid to his side. “Zaveid!” she shouted at him. It snapped him out of his nightmare for just a moment, allowing him to recognize that Edna was there. “Listen to me! This is just an illusion! Symonne is trying to break you!”
“It’s real…it’s real…” Zaveid said like a broken record.
“It’s not real!”
“Theodora…! Eizen…!”
Edna thought about what to do. He was inconsolable. If she could and if it had any chance of working, she would have killed the two dragons, but even that would risk him breaking.
“Zaveid, think—Theodora died long ago, right?” Edna asked him calmly. The wind seraph slowly turned to her. “You helped kill her alongside Eizen because you wanted her to rest in peace and not as a beast.” She took his hands. “She doesn’t exist anymore, and you know that she loved you. You know that she wouldn’t do this, but after becoming a dragon, she was no longer herself. The same thing happened to Eizen.”
“Eizen…” Zaveid quietly said.
“My brother asked you to kill him if he ever became a dragon. He asked you to protect me, didn’t me? And when his soul was ripped from his body, I was so sad. But you haven’t broken your promise yet. You can still fulfill it. You need to escape this nightmare, and I’m here to help you.”
Zaveid’s face twisted in sorrow and pain. He loved Theodora and didn’t want to forget her. He treated Eizen as an older brother and wished to surpass him. The two most important people in the world to him were gone.
“If you continue grieving, Symonne will win and you’ll die!” Edna bluntly told him. “If you die, then every promise—Eizen, Shurelia, Sorey, me—everything will be wasted!” She grabbed his necklace. “Is that what you want?!”
She was right. Zaveid stood up, the tears ceasing. He couldn’t continue living in the past. He had to move on, and while Edna didn’t necessarily believe her own words, she was happy that she was able to push him forward. Zaveid materialized Siegfried with two bullets. First, he aimed the gun at the white dragon that was Theodora.
“Theodora, I’m sorry that you turned into a dragon,” Zaveid said. “If it could have been me instead of you, I would have been happier. But you would have been in pain either way. I helped kill you once because I wasn’t strong enough to do it alone. But now I can!” He fired the gun through the barrier Edna had created. The silver bullet enchanted with the power of the wind pierced Theodora’s heart, and she crumbled like a defeated colossus. He loaded the second bullet and aimed at Eizen. “Eizen…I would never forgive you for killing Theodora had you gone on your own. But you showed me that death is salvation for some. I couldn’t kill you myself, but I’m going to kill you here and now, and I’m going to move on with the promise I made to you!” He shot Eizen, and like the white dragon, he collapsed.
----------------------------
The green iris gem was no longer glowing as Edna woke up from the Dive. Zaveid was next to her. He still looked haggard from the effects of Hibernation, but he was no longer struggling to keep hold of his mind.
“Edna, I’m in your debt,” he thanked her.
“I’ll figure out something for you later,” Edna told him. She hurriedly dragged him out of the chamber. “We need to find Rose and Dezel.”
As the duo looked for her, Rose found herself in Dezel’s chamber. Her heart was broken upon seeing her dear wind seraph seemingly lifeless tied to the pole. Every once in a while, he would sputter a meaningless word. There were no severe external wounds, which granted her some relief. She knew he was suffering mentally given how Symonne had manipulated him into almost believing that he had molested her, and seeing the punctures from the needles on his neck made her sick.
“Dezel,” she tearfully said.
“No…no more…” he pleaded listlessly. “I can’t take it anymore…”
She cautiously walked up to him. He couldn’t register anything—not through his wind nor was capable of singing or casting Seraphic Artes. Up close she found that he was trembling viciously. She gently touched his cheek which was wet from fresh unending tears.
“N-No…!” Dezel cried, trying to pull away. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’ll never do it again…I’m a monster…criminal…demon…”
“Dezel, it’s me! It’s Rose! The real Rose!” Rose choked. She stood on the tips of her toes and touched her forehead to his. “I’m here to save you.”
“Hate…hatred…hurt…alone…” Dezel quivered. She didn’t move until he calmed down. He was breaching through the illusion, irresolutely trusting his sense of touch. “R-Rose…? Rose…” He whined for the anxiety of being unsure if it was really her or just another illusion kept gripping his mind. “Real…? Be…real…?”
Rose gave him a small kiss on his forehead before moving behind him for the lock on the chains. There was nowhere to insert a key, and it was impossible to cut through his binds. She didn’t have time, either. The clanking of armor echoed down the halls.
“Shit, they’re coming,” Rose whispered. She quickly returned to Dezel, holding his face so she commanded his total attention. “Dezel, I have to hide. They might have a key on them or something.”
Dezel quaked in fear. “Don’t go! Please, don’t leave me!” His infection was spiking again. “Please, please, please! Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Is this punishment? This is my punishment, yes? Don’t leave me here…I’ll be good, I promise! I-I’ll repent! Don’t leave!”
She shushed him for fear he would give her away. Rose’s heart ached as she ran out the chamber and hid behind a corner. She was going to ambush the guards and loot them for some sort of means for Dezel’s escape, expect they weren’t guards. As two Living Armor hellions walked into the chamber, a pack of Wolf hellions came after her.
“Fuck!” she gasped. She couldn’t take them all on herself. For each one she took care off, two more kicked her around. A couple of them made attempts for her neck. In the midst of the fight, she suddenly felt a disconnection. She watched the hellions drag Dezel away, his hat missing from his head. “Dezel!” She fought off the Wolves, but it was too late. The armors were gone and Dezel with them. “What the hell?! Why am I so incapable of protecting him?!”
“There you are,” Edna called from down the hall. She and Zaveid, along with the slab carrying Sergei on top, caught up to her.
“What happened?” Zaveid asked urgently. He was still tired but up on his feet now.
“They took Dezel!” Rose cried.
“Damn, that means it’s almost time…” He faltered for a moment. “We…need to…hurry…”
After Rose returned to the chamber and grabbed Dezel’s hat, she followed Edna and Zaveid out of the dungeons. According to the wind seraph, they had dragged Sorey off to the shrinechurch. There, in the courtyard of the shrinechurch, they were met with hellions and lifeless guards.
“Get out of our way!” Rose screamed. She drew her daggers while Edna and Zaveid pulled their weapons.
Notes:
I AM SO SORRY, DEZEL and ZAVEID.
This section won't be getting much darker than this, so...uh...good news? Who am I kidding... I know these past few chapters have been rough, and we're getting through the thick of it. But maybe there will be some fun and happiness in the future?
Chapter 76: Phase 2: Vajra, the Mana Cannon
Summary:
Rolance's weapon of mass destruction begins to activate, and Sorey and Dezel are at the core of the plan.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
So good news, it's not that depressing and has quite a lot of action within it. Bad news, Dezel is still being tortured. I'm so sorry.
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey clung to his chest fervently, not that it would prevent the sublimation of his soul. As Frelia continued to sing her Song, he felt his mind becoming more and more clouded like his consciousness was being sucked down a drain. He tried as hard as he could to stay awake, but the subsequential coma that would beset him was encroaching upon him. He was barely cognizant that Lunarre had left the shrinechurch out of fear of being sublimated as well.
“Stop…doing…this…Targana…!” Sorey struggled. “You’ll…die…too…”
He saw an unconscious Dezel being dragged towards Lakra and Frelia. He was horrified because he believed that they had killed him. But it wouldn’t make sense to kill him when they needed him, so he tried to call out to him:
“De…zel…!”
Dezel didn’t respond, or perhaps he couldn’t respond. Frelia’s voice drowned out Sorey’s, and he could no longer sense his surroundings through his wind. He was completely unresponsive to his presence.
Lakra suddenly woke up. She said one simple statement, “Intiating the Lakra System.”
At that moment, Dezel jolted awake. His mind felt like it was on fire and his body lost all sensation after his heart skipped a beat. His soul space was severely damaged from all that he had endured, which allowed Lakra to easily trespass into it and destroy his Boundary Gate. He lost everything that made him an individual—his ego, memories, dreams, desires, sadness, love and hatred. He was a shell, an emotionless shell.
“What…did…you…do?” Sorey rasped.
“Lakra is using him to hack Frelia and enter the Binary Field, which will allow her to get into Infel Phira and turn it into our weapon,” Targana nonchalantly explained. “Once we have your soul, Frelia can sing Vajra.”
Alisha, Lailah, and Mikleo wandered through the maze of the catacombs, reaching the door etched with the Crest of Maotelus. The guards within the shrinechurch were all comatosed, the hellions themselves sublimating into Infel Phira. It was a truly terrorizing sight, and Mikleo felt it in his chest just how weak Sorey had become. He was struggling to stay among the humans, but he was losing that fight.
“Mikleo, are you going to be alright?” Alisha asked him after noticing how pale he looked.
“Sorey is fading fast,” he said. “I have to get to him!”
He opened the door leading to the master plan happening at the heart of the shrinechurch. All three of them fell to their knees as their bodies felt too heavy to carry under the domain of the Song.
“Sorey!” Mikleo screamed.
In that moment, everything slowed. Sorey caught a glimpse of Mikleo. A sweet, innocent smile stretched on his lips before he collapsed at Frelia’s feet. His breathing stopped, his heart stopped—everything had been halted within his body. Mikleo was stricken with grief. He forced his way through the domain to Sorey, inadvertently tripping on one of the uneven stones in the floor and falling on top of him. He turned him over, laying on him and listening for even just a weak heartbeat. When he heard nothing in his chest, he was beside himself with the utmost sorrow. He screamed his name with the hope that he would come back to him, but it was to no avail.
“Sorey! Come back!” he shrieked.
Targana snuffed his nose at the display before him. He ignored the water seraph and ordered Frelia to switch to Vajra. The Goddess simply obeyed, ending Hibernation and preparing the new song.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Alisha and Lailah were prepared to distract her from singing, but Symonne kicked the princess and fired a ball of malevolence at her seraph. There was no way to stop Frelia’s Song unless they killed her. If they killed her…
“If you kill Frelia, the Second Tower will be destroyed, and every seraph that resides within this territory will fall to their deaths,” the fallen seraph revealed.
“So we can’t stop her!?” Lailah panicked.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“That’s correct!” Symonne cackled. She summoned her clones. “It’ll be a tragedy, but we’ll be one step closer to the world that Lord Heldalf envisions!”
Rose, Edna, and Zaveid entered the shrinechurch after fighting off the hellions in the courtyard. Sergei was placed on a pew since he would only be a burden if they took him any farther. Rose was worried about Dezel. Zaveid followed far behind Rose and Edna into the catacombs, his soul space barely still intact. He asked them to wait for him, but his voice itself was so weak.
“You guys…” he drawled.
Edna stopped to help him, but she let Rose go ahead. She had to get to Dezel before it was too late.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Laliah burned Symonne’s endless horde of clones while Alisha went after Frelia. Targana parried her, surprised that she would even consider killing the Goddess.
“I’m not going to kill her!” she growled at him. “I need her to stop singing!”
“She won’t stop until her purpose is fulfilled!” Targana spat back. He parried her spear again before slashing at her. Her tunic was cut, but she wasn’t harmed. “Hyland scum, I will end you!”
He attacked her with a flurry of stabs that Alisha had a hard time guarding against. Lailah wanted to help her, but she needed to keep Symonne at bay to even the odds. She kept casting Blitz Bomb and Burning Strike, but there was no end to the clones that pulled at her hair and dress.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose joined Alisha and Lailah, spotting Dezel on the ground next to Frelia and Lakra.
“I’ll make you pay for what you did to Dezel!” she roared. She dashed behind Targana, kicking him off-balance.
“Rose, you need to control yourself!” Lailah warned her. She burned two more clones. “If you kill him out of rage, the malevolence will consume you, too!”
Symonne whipped her with her cropped wand. She didn’t have the luxury of focusing on someone else when she was almost cornered. Alisha heard her, though, and she made an effort to stop Rose while she was still human.
“Get out of the way, Alisha! I’m going to avenge Dezel!” Rose snarled at her. Alisha pushed her back towards the entrance of the catacombs.
“You need to listen to Lailah! Even if you save Dezel, the malevolence generating in you will kill him!” Alisha fought back. “You’re going to turn into a hellion at this rate!”
Suddenly, a bolt of pain surged through the princess. Targana had taken the opportunity to stab her back. He sneered at her, but the bloodlust in Rose’s eyes made him regret attacking her friend.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Edna was the last one to arrive after taking Zaveid back to stay with Sergei. He was too weak to be of any use in the fight against Targana and Symonne. She pelted the clones with stones ripped out of the flooring, which gave Lailah a chance to break away from the crowd around her.
“I see another duckling wants to play,” Symonne grumbled. She hadn’t planned on fighting anymore because she needed to relay what was happening to her master. She created twenty more clones to conceal herself as she escaped.
“This duckling is going to crush you for hurting her friends,” Edna backtalked unaware that the real Symonne was no longer there. Once she had cleared a few of the clones, she realized where Symonne had gone and there was no longer any immediate threat from her. “Rose, get over here! We need to Dive into Dezel!”
Rose couldn’t leave Alisha by herself until Lailah had taken over protecting her, but even as the fire seraph relieved the assassin of her charge, a new face joined. An antler-bearing dog-like creature burst forth from the doors behind them.
“Lady Frelia, I found you!” he said. He glared at Targana and the clones. “How dare you imprison the Second Origin!”
The creature ravaged the clones while Edna placed the green iris gem in Rose’s hand. She explained to her that she was going to essentially force her way into the soul space and enter the Binary Field. All Rose had to do was to look for a giant wall that had been destroyed and to cross the threshold.
“Find Lakra and get her out of there,” Edna reminded her. Rose nodded then focused as Edna acted as the bridge between her and Dezel’s soul.
------------------------
When Rose entered the shared soul space, she found Dezel standing still as a statue. He seemed to be unconscious, unresponsive to any attempts to speaking to him. “I’m sorry that I’m just going in without asking you,” Rose told him. She kissed his cheek then enter his soul space. When she arrived at the edge of the soul space, she was overcome with a wave of nausea. The soul space was enshrouded in a golden light, his soul dissipating slowly. Everything that had been within him was gone leaving only a barren wasteland. Windur was nowhere to be found, which scared her. If his Mind Guardian was missing; his mind, heart, and soul were left unprotected.
“Dezel? Are you there?!” Rose called out for him. She knew she had to go to the Boundary Gate immediately, but she had to see him. And she found him sitting at what was left of his Stonehenge in the center of the soul space. “Dezel! Are you okay?”
Dezel looked up at her, his peridot eyes registering that she was there. He didn’t move from his spot. “Who…are…you?” he asked her meekly. Rose’s stomach dropped. “I feel like…I have never met you…but…I know those eyes and that hair…please tell me.” He reached up to her. “Why does your warmth feel familiar?”
Rose couldn’t let it get to her. It was Symonne’s fault. It was Lakra’s fault. For her own peace of mind, she gave him a tight hug with the promise that she would fix him. Dezel didn’t understand much of anything happening now or in general. He just watched her run towards his Boundary Gate.
The Boundary Gate itself was completely pulverized, the blackness of the negative emotions within Infel Phira bleeding into the soul space and slowly filling with malevolence. She steeled herself, stepping into the Binary Field despite the pain that flooded into her by crossing into a place she was never meant to go.
“We’re almost ready,” Lakra said. The circulating stream of souls that linked the Binary Field to Infel Phira shined brightly. “The Shepherd’s Soul is now within it. We have clearance to fire on Hyland.”
“Is that right?” Rose interrupted her. Lakra turned to face her. “I thought you would have been some ugly ass monster, but you’re just a little girl.”
“Silly human, did you miss your opportunity to be part of this ark?”
Rose drew her daggers.
“My, you humans are indeed foolish. What do you plan on doing to me? Killing me? In the Binary Field? You will only seal everyone’s fate and sentence them to hell on earth.”
“You’re already killing everyone, and last time I checked, mass genocide isn’t exactly heroic.”
Lakra’s white eyes narrowed. She summoned her Song Magic, holding it above her for just a little while longer. “Explain to me, girl, why you think I am killing people and not saving them?”
“I’ve seen all kinds of people, judged them myself, and dealt with those that have only malicious intentions. Seraph or not, you’re killing everyone here on the basis of a false promise. Do you hope to accomplish peace by wiping out every human and seraph between Hyland and Rolance?” Rose pointed her dagger at her. “If Heldalf weren’t already the Lord of Calamity, I’d say you were it.”
“Humans are dull. Those who are held within Infel Phira will be promised eternal life. Using them as Vajra’s attack may destroy a handful of souls, but the majority will live in Metafalica. I had no intention of merely murdering hundreds of thousands of people for the sake of war but for the sake of salvation. Living as an entity with no emotion, no desire, no sin—this will ensure the happiness of those who will be allowed into Metafalica.”
“That’s a load of crap!”
“Are you worried that you will not be included? You are already here within the Binary Field. Your lover—the seraph that has acted as my vessel into this place—will also be included. All you need to do is let go; abandon your material possessions and earthly desires. The love you hold for him will lose its finite definition, transcending beyond the simple comprehension of the human mind and continuing as a world-shaping concept.”
Rose lowered her weapons as she involuntarily listened to Lakra’s honeyed words. She wanted to be with Dezel as much as Mikleo wanted to be with Sorey and Lailah to be with Alisha. Would it really be so bad to be encoded within Infel Phira? She would exist forever with Dezel. Suddenly, the stream of souls disappeared.
----------------------------
As Alisha and Lailah fought Targana, Mikleo finally pulled himself together. His heart was heavy with sorrow that Sorey’s soul had successfully been removed from its body. He couldn’t be angry; he was too sad to be angry.
He looked up at Frelia before standing before her. He clenched his staff in his hand while gritting his teeth.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
He cast his staff aside. With as loud a voice he could muster and grabbing her by the shoulders, Mikleo screamed at her:
“Stop singing that accursed Song! Frelia, wake up!”
At once, the Song was interrupted.
Frelia broke out of her trance. Targana was caught off-guard, and Alisha stabbed him in the side with her spear. Lailah, who had been healing her, blew him away from Frelia while Edna pinned him down with Air Pressure. The dog-like creature went to Frelia’s side, and all at once Rose and Lakra woke up.
“What happened?” Rose asked Edna.
“Mikleo woke Frelia,” she explained.
The Origin Reyvateil blinked, scanning the giant hall in her confusion. She saw Mikleo in front of her, Alisha and Lailah to her side, and the dog-like creature at her feet.
“Shuny? What happened? Why am I here?” she timidly asked.
“Lady Frelia, thank goodness I found you!” Shun happily said. He turned around to face Mikleo and the others. “You are the ones that used Lady Frelia for such a nefarious plot. I shall end you.”
Mikleo knelt down and pulled Sorey’s still lifeless body into his arms. “We did nothing,” he professed. “Targana and that one there used Sorey and Dezel…” He felt strange to tell what happened given that they were following some ideal, but it was an ideal that threatened all life in the world.
Lakra and Frelia’s eyes met, and the former trembled in fear. Shun growled at her, but Alisha stepped between them against Lailah’s warnings to not get involved. She didn’t know what Shun was—she had never seen a creature like him, not even hellion—yet she didn’t feel like she needed to purify him. Since he had arrived in Frelia’s time of need, there was no doubt he was there for her well-being. She felt the need to protect Lakra from him.
“If you’re going to punish anyone, punish the man who was at the forefront of all this,” Alisha declared. Targana crawled back once he was released from Edna’s spell as Shun bared his fangs at him. “That girl…was forced to do this, right?” She looked back at the white-haired and white-eyed seraph. “I don’t know of any seraph but one who wishes to destroy all humanity and then acted on that wish.”
“Alisha, that’s enough,” Lailah urged her.
Frelia looked at Lakra quizzically. “You trespassed into my Binary Field,” she recounted, though she didn’t sound offended.
“And that is an inexcusable offense!” Shun snarled. “Lady Frelia, what do you wish for me to do?”
“W-Wait!” Lakra spoke. She bowed before the Origin. “Please, let me make amends!”
Mikleo glared at her, which she felt but dared not to match. Edna and Rose, who was forced to leave Dezel’s side, joined them. There was still the problem of Sorey’s soul still being within Infel Phira along with everyone else in Rolance and Dezel’s destroyed Boundary Gate and fading memories. Without any idea to reverse the damage that had been done, Rose and Mikleo began to despair that they would never be able to revive their loved ones.
“There is a way to fix what I have done,” Lakra spoke again. “But without the Maiden of Mio, it is impossible.” She looked over at Dezel. “There was a Hymn Crystal that that fox-faced hellion was told to retrieve. It has the power to restore the soul spaces of all the IPD seraphim and to return the souls of those who were sublimated into Infel Phira to their bodies. He failed to retrieve it, so I cannot be sure where that Hymn Crystal is, but—”
Lailah and Alisha both stared at Rose, who on command pulled out the crystal with the bag of malachite. Lakra confirmed that it was the correct Hymn Crystal, but they were still without an IPD that could sing it. Edna, who knew of a solution, then left them for the front of the shrinechurch.
Notes:
So the next chapter I AM breaking a rule in Ar Tonelico 2 mainly because I messed up and got way too ahead of myself. That said, the next Song would be quite interesting to listen to~
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Chapter 77: Phase 2: Zaveid's Rendition
Summary:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
In an effort to restore Rolance to what it once was, Zaveid takes on the burden of singing a Song meant for the Maiden of Mio. While he fears that the Song won't work due to the condition, he sings.
Notes:
So, like I said, breaking a major canon rule. I think it weakens this chapter, but there's no other way that would coincide with Zestiria's storyline. Forgive me of this trespass, but it must be done. m(__)m
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Zaveid, having rested enough, stood up from the pew. He no longer felt his soul space deteriorating which both confused him and granted him some comfort. He was unnerved by the comatose body of Sergei next to him.
“I feel like I shouldn’t just abandon him here, but…I really don’t like staying with a pretty much dead body,” he fussed as he faced the captain. He stretched after sitting with the feeling like he was going to wither away. “I should go make sure everyone is okay. Sorey…you better not die on us.”
“He’s not going to,” Edna said behind him. “At least if you get your ass in gear as soon as now.”
Zaveid was once again confused. He hadn’t expected to see her since reaching the shrinechurch in his shallow consciousness. Even more was that she seemed confident that Sorey wasn’t going to die despite both of them and Mikleo sensing a waning link among all of them to him.
Edna explained what had happened and why she had said what she said. If Zaveid was able to sing the Song within the Hymn Crystal, then Sorey would live. The wind seraph was doubtful, though. In her explanation, she had stated that the Song could only be sung by the Maiden of Mio. How could they be so certain that he could do it?
It was simply because they were on a time-crunch. Sorey was, undoubtedly, in the process of dying just like Sergei and everyone else who was unlucky enough to have been sublimated into Infel Phira. Without the soul, the body couldn’t carry on. Making an effort to locate the Maiden of Mio would only waste time, and by the time they would find her, at least half of the people sublimated would be deceased upon their return. Furthermore, they would have to take Sorey’s body with them for the search so not to sever their pacts.
“A dead body isn’t something you want with you,” Edna said rather callously. “We don’t know the effects of moving him from the point where he lost his soul, and once his body finally gives up, we would be stuck with a bowel-voiding corpse before we turned into hellions.”
“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point. I’d rather not think about a dead kid shitting himself,” Zaveid sighed. “But even if I was able to use the Hymn Crystal, what makes you think I can execute it?”
“Remember that pouch that you were so happy about?”
“Oh, the malachite!”
“Exactly. Hmph, you get a star for not being stupid today.”
Zaveid agreed to it, but it also meant someone else would have to install it into him. Edna led him back to the others, where he saw Mikleo holding Sorey in his arms and Rose sitting beside Dezel. He saw Frelia and Shun, the latter of whom scolded him for appearing so brashly before the Origin.
“Yeah, you’re not the first one to tell me that, Pup,” Zaveid grumbled.
Lakra stood with Lailah while Alisha took it upon herself to tie Targana’s hands and feet together so he couldn’t escape. She explained what had to be done. Zaveid took a large piece of malachite from the pouch—the bigger, the better it would help him when he absorbed the Song. He then waited for the next set of instructions, but white seraph looked uneasy.
“Even if you manage to restore everything with this Song, I fear it may not be enough to make your Shepherd return,” she hesitated.
Mikleo shot up from the ground after setting Sorey down gently. “What do you mean by that?!” he shouted at her. “You mean to say that Sorey is going to die no matter what?!”
“Mikleo, please calm down!” Lailah ordered.
“Calm down? Like hell I will! It’s her fault that Sorey and Dezel are like this!”
“Meebo, shut up and listen,” Edna retorted.
Lakra seemed nervous. When she had encountered Sorey’s soul within Infel Phira, she admitted that he was defiant at first. Like Rose, he questioned her and held his ground that what she was doing was wrong. The only difference was that she could peer into his heart, reading his memories like an open book. She found the traumatic memories—watching Dezel experience his IPD outbreak, killing a seraph within Sanjiva, watching Mikleo be beaten within an inch of his life, and finally the invasion of Elysia before he became the Shepherd. She promised him that by helping her and Targana with their plan, he would exact revenge on Chacellor Bartlow without the consequence of becoming a hellion. He would have been able to vaporize the entire kingdom then live in bliss as a formless soul that would eventually assimilate with something called the Will of the Planet. The whole deal was rather attractive despite Sorey trying to suppress his anger. The negative feelings within Infel Phira—the malevolence contained—wouldn’t corrupt him as it would out in the real world. He had resigned and agreed to become the arrow of war.
“So Sorey essentially agreed to this wholeheartedly after some thought,” Alisha quivered.
“Has Sorey always felt this way?” Lailah gasped.
“I cannot be certain, but what happens within a soul is simply a subconscious projection of an unconscious desire,” Lakra explained.
Mikleo grew quiet. It was only natural that Sorey held a deep-seated hatred for Bartlow, but he knew him much better than anyone else. He didn’t act on hatred nor held grudges, and while he was deeply pained by what had happened, he knew Sorey wanted to bridge the gap between humans and seraphim. Lakra had spoken with his soul—the truest essence of his self—but like the soul space, it was an exaggerated emotion no doubt influenced by the malevolence inside Infel Phira.
“If this is true, Sorey is hurt,” he calmly said. He knelt before her. “Lakra, is there any way that I can speak with his soul before it returns to his conscious self?” He was apologetic in his posture, and he wanted more than anything to help the one he loved so much.
“The only way would be to re-enter the Binary Field before the Song was completed,” she answered.
Shun was completely against the notion for fear of Mikleo causing problems. On top of that, he would have to go through Dezel, who was in no shape of having another being—much less a seraph that had no permission to be there—wandering in his soul.
“What if you Armatize with him?” Rose said, her voice restraining emotion. “You’re the seraph in the relationship; can’t you just plop it on him and wait for him to appear?”
It seemed like a good idea. Without wasting any more time, Zaveid asked Alisha to use the Hymn Crystal on him. He was nervous; what were the chances that the Song would work when it wasn’t sung by the Maiden of Mio? Sure, the malachite ore would help him, but that crystal was for a specific person.
“Zaveid, this isn’t any time to be getting cold feet,” Edna reminded him. “You want to prove your use to us, right? Here’s another chance.”
Zaveid never thought he would hear words of encouragement from the little earth seraph that held some disdain for him. He swallowed his anxieties, preparing himself to accept the Song Implanta into his soul as Alisha chanted unfamiliarly according to Lakra’s instructions:
“cEzYA hymmnos. 5129 –x tArm azit tn=IMPLANTA. es tn=>sol.infel-phira.mea.”
The emotions that flowed into him from the Hymn Crystal elicited bitter tears and a desire to leave humans to rot. They morphed into hope, and it confused him why such dichotomous feelings would be in the Hymn Crystal. He thought it was because he wasn’t the Maiden of Mio, and that whoever that was would have a closer connection to them.
“Now, sing! We cannot afford to waste any more time!” Lakra commanded.
While Rose held onto Dezel’s hand, Mikleo stared at Sorey between despair and hope. It was senseless to implement the Armatus before he was there—not that he could since there was no soul to resonate with yet. Zaveid took a deep breath. The fate of half of the world was riding on his shoulders.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The wind seraph began to glow in a lime-colored light that could only be associated with healing. As he sang, he felt like his consciousness stepping into Infel Phira itself, singing these feelings to the people of Rolance who had been pulled into it.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
At first, all the souls—phantomic apparitions of their owners—stared at him with fear and confusion. This seraph was coming to rip them from happiness. They stepped back away from him. Sorey came to the front with his sword ready to pierce him.
“Zaveid, what are you doing here?” he asked him.
“I’m here to bring you back,” Zaveid replied.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Happiness is my reward for exacting my revenge!” Sorey insisted. “I have to avenge everyone in Elysia!”
“That’s not what it means to be a Shepherd!” Zaveid rebuted. “That’s not really your dream or wish, and you know it!”
The a few people of Pendrago were the first to be swayed by Zaveid’s Song, more of them slowly awakening to the feelings he had to convey. In the real world outside of Infel Phira, the citizens of the Capitol City roused. They felt as if they had simply been asleep for a few hours. The guards, Platinum Knights, Sergei—everyone woke up with the sense of duty to arrest their emperor for endangering his people. Sergei, though, found himself in the shrinechurch, and he followed Zaveid’s voice, which was reverberating throughout the Rolance territory, to where his friends were.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey watched the people leave him and walk past his wind seraph towards the light that was the Glenwood Continent. He begged them to stay and to support their Shepherd. The next set of people to return to their bodies was the people of Lastonbell, who never wished to be involved with the politics of Pendrago’s emperor in the first place.
“Wait, please! I’m the Shepherd! I’ll lead you all to salvation!” Sorey wept. “I want to protect everyone!”
“Sorey, this isn’t protection, and you’re not like this,” Zaveid calmly told him.
“Stay back!”
“The hatred in your heart—it’s normal to be angry, but this isn’t who you are. The real you that everyone loves is the one that believed in me. The real you is the one that helped me move on from the my past.” He stepped closer to him. “Listen to my Song with your heart; there is someone waiting for you to come back.”
The malevolence that had been influencing Sorey’s soul during his short time within Infel Phira was slowly dissipating, and the hatred that he felt towards Chancellor Bartlow for hurting and killing everyone that he loved melted away. Zaveid held him close as if to transfer Mikleo’s feelings to him.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey’s heart fluttered.
]LYRICS REDACTED]
Zaveid and Sorey waited for the last remaining souls to leave Infel Phira, but the latter still felt like he couldn’t return. He no longer felt like hating everything. He felt guilty for allowing his rampaging emotions of anger and hate to guide his decision to aid in the elimination of Hyland. He wanted forgiveness.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“There’s nothing to forgive!” Zaveid reassured him. “You didn’t hurt anyone!”
“But…I’ve…ruined the Shepherd name by giving into the negative feelings…” Sorey trembled.
“No, you didn’t! Now hurry up and go to who is waiting for your return.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Even if Sorey was willing to return, there was still another part of him that clung to the revenge he thirsted for. Zaveid continued singing in the real world to make sure that every soul had returned to each body before glancing at Mikleo and signaling him to Armatize with Sorey.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey was still in a deep sleep, his heart slumbering within his body. Mikleo merged with him after giving him a kiss. And as he stepped into the shared soul space between him and his Shepherd, he prepared himself mentally to convince him that he had to wake up.
Mikleo found him curled up in darkness like a baby in the womb. He called his name, but he wouldn’t awaken. Zaveid had succeeded in bringing him back, but how could he wake him up from his nightmare?
“Sorey, please wake up,” he begged him.
He hadn’t created a Song in a long time, and he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to do it without him Diving. But Sorey had traversed six levels of his soul space. Surely there was something there in his heart that he could rely on to make a Song expressing how much he wanted him back.
“Will you listen to my voice? Should I sing for you?”
Naturally, there was no response, which only served to push the water seraph into singing for his beloved Shepherd.
Mikleo pulled him close so that their chests were touching after unfurling him from the envelope that held him. Thankfully since the only one who could initiate Dives was unconscious, there was no danger of suddenly dropping him into the unabated dangers of the next level. He sweetly sang to him:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey’s only response to him was a sudden shiver. His emerald eyes opened, but they seemed dull and lifeless like he was in a trance. Happy to see some sort of effect that his Song had, Mikleo continued.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey shuddered again, this time leaning forward so his forehead was held up by his slender shoulder. His fingers slowly intertwined with his, and his heart became an internal metronome that beat along with the melody.
“Mik-le-o…” Sorey whispered. “Mik-leo…Mikleo…!”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Notes:
Oof, this chapter was emotional in the end! Sorry about all the feels! Reading it over, it feels like a fever dream, but like...also like Paprika? There's just levels of existence and it's interesting to me.
Chapter 78: Phase 2: Ruined Beyond Repair
Summary:
With Targana arrested and Pendrago slowly going back to normal, Sorey and Dezel are left to recover. Frelia's predicament is added to the list of growing problems.
Notes:
Good morning~ I was supposed to have uploaded this yesterday, but I forgot. We're still going sad, but I kind of liked how this chapter turned out.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mikleo de-Armatized from Sorey after being booted from the shared soul space. Sorey was still unconscious in the real world, and he feared that his Song didn’t work. It would be a while before he would wake up, though. Lakra tried to describe what it was like having one’s soul ripped from them, their consciousness being reduced to a blackhole. Sergei offered to let them stay in the Knights’ Tower, but Rose didn’t want to be surrounded by the knights when Dezel woke.
Instead, she—with Alisha and Lailah’s help—wanted to go to the inn. The captain of the Platinum Knights respected her choice. He first ordered his men to arrest Targana to be dealt with later. Another platoon had confirmed that the emperor had been taken into custody as well. Lakra, who confessed to her crimes, was taken to the Knights’ Tower with Mikleo and his friends; Frelia and Shun were compelled to follow.
Sorey was laid on the bed and tucked in with utmost care when they reached the tower. It gave Mikleo a sense of security, and he asked that Zaveid and Edna wait outside of the infirmary. Understanding how he felt, the two listened and turned their energy to the Goddess. Shun was against the idea of speaking with them with humans around, but Frelia didn’t mind at all.
“I see, so my sister Origin has been shut down,” Frelia softly said. “How awful. I noticed that when I was singing, my Songs had almost no power.” Of course, Zaveid begged to differ with that statement. “Do you have any plans to help Lady Shurelia and Mir?”
“We don’t have a clue,” Edna bluntly said. “If we wake Her Pearliness up, that Virus is going to escape.”
Frelia couldn’t offer any ideas. Shun told her not to expend herself, but she increasingly became pale even though she hadn’t done much of anything since the episode at the shrinechurch. “Lady Frelia!” the dog-like creature alerted.
“Perhaps…Shurelia…isn’t the only one…with troubles…” Frelia panted. “Enja…I don’t feel so good…”
“What’s going on?” Zaveid asked with concern.
“I can’t feel it anymore…The Rim…I must get back to the Rim…!”
Frelia was ready to run out the door, but Shun stopped her. “I understand your fear, Lady Frelia, but there’s no way to get you back to the Tower!” He pushed a chair towards her. “I used the last of my energy to come down here to the world of Lesser Humans.”
“Is there any way we can help?” Zaveid asked much to Edna’s chagrin.
“We need to get back to the Tower, but it won’t matter unless we have the Goddess Maiden with us. She shares her power with Lady Frelia, and without her, we won’t be able to return to Sol Marta. Thankfully, most of the people of Metafalss descended here, so there is no inherent harm to them…”
“Fantastic,” Edna sighed. “We’ve got yet another problem.” Edna opened her umbrella. They couldn’t leave until Sorey and Dezel woke up even with how pressing situation was. “Once those two are back to normal, we need to move on.”
“Move on where?” Zaveid asked. “We never actually had a plan for after we finished our business with this place.
“We need to resume our hunt for Kittybeard. His power is what’s making things hard. If we find him and take care of him, it’ll make dealing with Frelia’s problem easier, too.”
Zaveid couldn’t argue. He had forgotten that that was the original goal. If only they hadn’t gotten sidetracked—but if they hadn’t come to Pendrago, Frelia would have still been under their control. And there was no doubt that the Goddess was grateful for their help even though she was extremely tired.
Mikleo had been listening through the door of the infirmary. He returned to Sorey’s side, holding his hand and praying fervently that he’d wake up soon. He couldn’t wait for him to wake up and look at him. Deep inside, he was still frightened that he wouldn’t remember him or his heart was shattered or something irreparable had happened while everything was being restored. Even as he held the back of his hand to his cheek knowing that he was saved, he thought he felt cold. Was it because he was still in this coma? He rested his head near his waist, counting down the seconds, minutes, and hours of insufferable solitude until he was officially reunited with the love of his life.
----------------------------
“Are you sure you don’t want us to stay?” Alisha asked Rose. The assassin thanked her for helping to move Dezel somewhere comfortable, but she emphasized that she wanted to be alone with him. “Rose…”
“I understand that you’re worried about him, but what if he’s still sick?” Lailah asked her. “He’s potentially dangerous.”
Rose looked up at her. “That Song Implanta was supposed to restore him back to before all this happened…so he might not be sick anymore,” she said. “Besides, he went through a lot. He…He may not even recognize me, but I still want to stay with him. We might have to talk about his soul space, and I can’t let you hear that.”
Alisha was going to counter her, but Lailah finally gave up. She beckoned her princess away, leaving Rose alone in the gloominess of the inn room that Sergei had rented for her. Rose closed the door quietly behind her. She looked over at the small side table with two bowls of Drago Stew. She was starving now that the adrenaline had left her system and everything was calmer, and she was sure that Dezel would want something to eat not that he would be hungry himself.
All she could do was wait. Her mind wandered to all sorts of subjects while she watched her wind seraph sleep. How was Mikleo faring? How long would it be before Sorey was back to normal? Would Dezel go back to normal, too? She lay on the bed next to him, the heaviness on her eyes luring her to slumber. She didn’t realize how tired she was. She had completely forgot about her injury, and while Lailah had already taken care of it, it was the thing that had set off the IPD outbreak. She cursed her weakness.
She ate her bowl of Drago Stew when her hunger became unbearable. She wanted to wait for Dezel, but since it would be a while before he was conscious, she knew it was futile. Once she had finished, she lay back down with him. How many minutes had gone by? She allowed herself some rest. How many hours passed then? Dezel still hadn’t moved. She opened her eyes, struck by the setting sun’s light—he still hadn’t woken up.
“What the hell…?” Rose whispered. Fear was settling into her heart. “D-Dezel…?”
Dezel suddenly prickled. He turned his head away from the sound of her voice, a quiet whimper trapped in his throat.
“Dezel, you’re alive!” Rose happily cried. She couldn’t hold back the tears, and she was glad she didn’t have to anymore. She threw herself on top of him for a hug, but he pushed her off and slipped off the bed. He crawled to a corner of the room devoid of light. He covered his ears. “Dezel? Hey, what’s wrong?” She slowly followed him to the corner. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay now.” She raised her hand to touch him.
He didn’t react until he felt her fingers on his head, and he couldn’t recoil any farther. He refused to speak. He just kept his ears covered, his breathing as low and rigid as possible. He was trying to hide from someone, and that someone was Rose.
“I don’t—why are you scared of me?” she asked him after she realized why he was trying to run away. “Dezel, listen to me.” She pulled his hands from his ears, which reared another realization. “What happened to you? You would have blown me away by now. What did Symonne do to you?”
Dezel finally stopped struggling as if he had resigned himself to whatever atrocity Rose wanted to do to him. At this point, the assassin figured out that he couldn’t sense her; his ability to read the wind was nonexistent, which explained why he didn’t recognize her. But even if he could sense her, the sound of her voice frightened him. Not being able to see, however, didn’t prevent him from detaching from everything, sitting on the bed, listening to his fear, and judging him for his weakness.
“Dezel, may I Dive into you?” Rose gently asked him. She let go of his wrists to see if he would feel better. When he didn’t say or do anything, she let out a sigh. “I’m so sorry I let this happen to you…” She stood up from the floor. “I’m going to be right back. I’m bringing our friends so we can talk, okay?”
Rose slowly walked away from him with a sliver of hope that he would ask to come with her, but he didn’t. He just stayed in the corner.
------------------------
Sorey roused that evening to the sound of footfalls in the drawing room just outside the door to the infirmary. His head still felt a little foggy, yet it cleared within seconds until finally he registered that he was lying in bed in the dim moonlight. He heard the faint voices of the soldiers, Sergei, Edna, Zaveid, and two that he didn’t recognize. He moved his hand slightly to find that Mikleo was loosely holding it. He turned onto his side after carefully taking his hand from his water seraph. He had never seen Mikleo sleep so soundly; he must have been exhausted.
“Sorey…” Mikleo mumbled.
The Shepherd smiled at him and pet his head until he woke up. Eyes of gemstones stared back at each other before Mikleo’s welled with tears. He lunged at him with open arms, and Sorey scooted over so they could lie together.
“You’re back…!” Mikleo forced himself to whisper for fear that screaming at him would alarm the others. “I was…never mind.”
“Scared?”
“N-No!”
They sat up, and Mikleo at once hugged him. He held onto him and relishing that moment. He couldn’t deny that Sorey could have used a bath, but he was happy to be able to smell him. It wasn’t a dream; he could feel him.
“I’m sorry, Sorey,” he suddenly sobbed. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I…I should have done better…”
“What are you talking about?” Sorey asked him incredulously. He wrapped his arms around him tightly for reassurance. “Why are you blaming yourself? If anything, I’m the one at fault. I…I…I put Zaveid in danger…and I was ready to give into my anger. What kind of Shepherd gives into the darkness so easily?” He was trembling, so Mikleo kissed his cheek. If they could just stay there in each other’s arms, he would have gladly done so. “But when I heard your Song, I knew I had to do something to make up for this. I have to work harder to protect you all and to save this world from the malevolence.”
Mikleo tightened his grip on his back. He didn’t have to try so hard. As much as he cared for their dream, as much as he wanted to see Sorey succeed; the farther along their journey they went, the more danger he was placed in. How long would it be before Sorey was in trouble and wasn’t in a position to be rescued?
“Oh, you’re back,” Edna said outside the door. “I take it Rose didn’t want you hanging around?”
“She was adamant about being alone with Dezel,” Alisha dejectedly said.
“We expressed that he might have still been undergoing an outbreak, but she insisted that we leave them alone,” Lailah explained. “Has there been any word on Sorey?”
Edna opened her umbrella. “He’s awake,” she said.
Sergei was surprised to say the least. He didn’t understand seraphim well like Alisha did, but he was curious to know how the earth seraph knew—or didn’t know—that Sorey was awake. Only a few seconds later did Sorey and Mikleo emerge from the infirmary room.
“Shepherd Sorey, you really are awake!” the captain gasped. “Lady Edna, how did you know?”
While Edna gave some roundabout answer involving the divination of stars and reading the vibrations of the earth, Zaveid regrouped with his human. He was normal, which gave Sorey some peace of mind since he was sure that the wind seraph would throttle him for exposing his weakness to Symonne.
“Well, since you’re functional, we’ve got problems,” Zaveid told him. He explained Frelia’s dilemma, and at once Sorey went to her albeit under Shun’s surveillance.
Kneeling before her with eyes staring at the floorboards, he asked, “Lady Frelia, Zaveid has told me what happened. While we don’t have a way to get you back to your Tower, is there anything else we can do for you?”
“The…Goddess Maiden…” Frelia panted. “You must find her…”
Sorey vowed to do whatever he could. He turned to Alisha, rallying the seraphim and preparing to head out. Then he found Rose as he opened the door. Her eyes were red and swollen. She offered a weak smile.
“Rose, what happened?!” Lailah questioned.
Sergei ordered someone to bring her a cup of tea, and even though it was preferred that they walked and talked, seeing Rose so troubled made the Shepherd and the princess Squire uneasy. The assassin was brought to the table.
“Were you harmed on your way here? I imagine that there are rogues now that Targana’s plan was foiled and the emperor has been arrested,” Sergei said.
Rose shook her head.
“Is it Dezel?” the fire seraph asked gently.
Rose nodded.
“Did he hurt you?”
Again, Rose shook her head. She sipped her tea. “He doesn’t recognize me anymore,” she forced out. Sorey’s heart skipped a beat. She was suffering the same thing that had happened when Mikleo was tortured. But there was more. “Symonne did something to him, and now he’s afraid of my voice. I don’t think he can read the wind anymore, either. He’s…he’s so intimidated now. And when I tried to get him to stop covering his ears, he just…went limp…like a doll…!”
Frelia was going to offer to speak with him, but Shun warned her about getting involved. Zaveid was concerned as well. He knew what happened to him back then, and he knew that Symonne would prey on that any chance she got.
Sorey asked her to take them to him with the hope that he could probably talk to him and lessen the damage that had been done. Rose escorted them to the inn, and as she had left him, Dezel was still in the corner with his hands over his ears. Each one of them stared at him, a feeling of pity growing in the pits of their stomachs.
“Dezel? I’m back,” Rose gently said.
The blind seraph tensed, curling up more into the corner. Sorey waited for the assassin’s permission to approach him, and afterwards he carefully stepped up to him. If Dezel was scared of Rose’s voice, then a different voice would probably get through to him.
“Hey, Dezel,” Sorey said. He let him know he was there, and he hoped that his voice was warm enough to calm him down. “Do you remember me? I’m Sorey.” He waited for some reaction which eventually came in the form of the wind seraph slowly lowering his hands. “Can you tell us what happened?” He didn’t receive any answer. “Okay…then can Rose Dive into you?”
Dezel tensed again.
“It seems that Symonne used Rose as the object for whatever he went through,” Alisha analyzed. “Her voice and any mention of her name makes him scared.”
“That’ll cause problems when Diving,” Mikleo added. “Sorey, wouldn’t it be dangerous for her to Dive with him like that? He has to allow her in without any influence.” He glanced at Rose. “Unless you take advantage of him when he doesn’t fight back.”
Lailah and Edna were ready to scold him for offering such an idea, but Sorey and Zaveid couldn’t deny it was a good one. Dezel wasn’t talking to them, yet with just a little pressure, he could be made to do whatever Rose wanted as a self-preservation method—learned helplessness as she called it. It was a risky move.
Sorey carefully pulled Dezel from the corner, and while the wind seraph did fight back for a few seconds, it was just as Rose had said. He gave up and allowed him to bring him to the bed.
“Rose is going to Dive into you, okay? She’s going to help you,” Sorey reassured him.
Before his human said aloud his true name, Rose saw tears streaming down the sides of his closed eyes. At first, she wasn’t going to do it. It hurt to see him cry like that. She knew she had to do it, she just couldn’t bear seeing him so vulnerable like this. Any other time she would have been happy. Any other time it would have been like a game. This—forcing him to lie on the bed while she forced her way into his mind—wasn’t happy or fun. It was manipulation.
“Dezel, don’t worry,” she said more for herself than for him. “I’m going to fix you. I’ll take your fear away and return you to normal. Lukeim Yurlin!”
Notes:
As sad as this is, I kind of enjoyed writing Dezel like this. Interesting take on his learned helplessness imo.
Chapter 79: Phase 2: Broken Mirror
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 6: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
Sorry for the late update! So a couple things about this chapter--Azure Balmung is from .hack//G.U. and I thought he looked A LOT like Dezel. At no point in time was Dezel given that look (not in Link or Rays or Zestiria). but I thought it why not!
Please leave a comment telling me what you think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
There was discordant noise within the dark shared soul space akin to screaming or metal scratching metal. Rose’s head throbbed from the loud noise. There had never been such chaos in that realm, and it made her worry more about Dezel. She walked forward with her hands out; eventually she would find him. Then she thought about his reaction to being touched by her while she was searching through the abyssal soul space.
“Dezel, where are you?” she called out to him. She wasn’t expecting any sort of response, prompting her to wonder why she had bothered asking for him in the first place. “Either way, everything’s different. I’ve got to find him and fix all this before I lose my mind.”
As she walked and searched, the noise got louder. She assumed that the louder it got, the closer she was to Dezel, and finally she tripped on something. She used her fingers as a guide and found a foot behind her. Whoever owned the foot yanked it away.
“Found you!” she happily said. She threw herself forward onto her seraph, who at first was going to push her off but ultimately let her do as she pleased. “What’s going on here?” Dezel didn’t answer. “You’re not going to talk to me here either, are you.”
He turned away from the sound of her voice. She was unnerved by his silence even in the shared soul space. There was nothing else to do since he wouldn’t speak, so Rose gently touched the center of his chest.
--------------------------------
Rose found herself at the Stonehenge which was just as it was before Dezel had the outbreak, but it didn’t make her understand why he wasn’t talking to her and why he was so afraid of everyone. For someone who was so full of anger, hatred, and lust for revenge; it hurt to see him like this. Then she realized that Windur was nowhere to be found and the sky of his soul space was riddled with deep cracks. Was he like this because his Mind Guardian was missing?
“Oh, hello,” an annoyingly familiar voice greeted. Rose spun around to find Symonne wearing what looked like a warden’s uniform. “What brings you to my pet’s world?”
“What the hell are you doing here?!” Rose interrogated.
“I’m the newest resident here and the queen. The master of this soul space surrendered his title and power. He’s nothing but a squirming larva now.”
Seeing Symonne as she did now, she hated her so much. She was so angry with her that she had removed Dezel from the cockpit of his soul, and as much as she wanted to punch her down and run to her beloved seraph, she had to watch her. She had to follow her to where she was keeping him; surely, the usurper wouldn’t be letting him run around freely.
“Take me to him,” Rose calmly said. Symonne raised an eyebrow. “Take me to where you’re keeping Dezel.”
“You want to see him that badly? He’s a weakling—couldn’t even keep his emotions in check.” She twirled her cropped wand in her fingers. “I guess I could take you to him. Just don’t try to help him. He has to prepare for the show tonight.”
Rose followed Symonne down the path from the Stonehenge to a small dilapidated shack with holes in the roof and walls. It was flimsy like cardboard; even a small gust of wind could topple it without much of a problem. But that wasn’t the only thing that unnerved Rose. There were two rooms in the shack—one in the front and one in the back. The front room, which they walked into from the outside, was almost untraversable. Fallen beams were barriers across the room. Symonne and Rose carefully made their way through the front room to a wooden door with a chain lock. When the queen of the soul space unlocked it and slowly opened it, Rose’s heart stopped.
A younger version of Dezel was chained to the wall by a leash. He was blind and emaciated, shaking where he stood. The leash was too short for him to sit down unless he wanted to choke himself, and he wasn’t desperate enough to commit suicide. Much like himself in reality, he was mistrusting, quiet, dissociated from himself.
“You’ve got a visitor, runt,” Symonne chided him.
Rose rushed up to him, throwing her arms around him. The sudden show of affection scared him so terribly that he began to cry in fear. She shushed him gently while holding him close until he calmed down. He timidly clutched at her shoulders.
“Dezel, everything’s okay,” she tearfully whispered. He was wearing tattered clothes. He clearly wasn’t being taken care of here. She turned back to Symonne, who had been stifling a laugh. “What the hell have you done?”
“What do you mean? This is all his doing. Even his form now is his fault. It’s okay, though, because anoher version of himself is running the show tonight.” Symonne giggled at the sight of Dezel curling up behind Rose.
The two of them left the shack after Rose said her goodbye, but the assassin promised him that she would help him. He sought her comfort. He knew, however, that he wouldn’t be allowed to see her again until the show for which Symonne would give her a front row seat. They walked to town together where people were getting ready to see the greatest show ever. It was a death-defying escapist magic show starring someone by the name of Azure Balmung and his assistant Dez. The main attraction was escaping from a tank that was slowly filling with water. Symonne brought Rose to the stage, and there she could see that the only one who could fit in it was Dezel. There was a ring at the bottom with chains and shackles through it.
“How is he supposed to escape from it if he can’t see what he’s doing?” Rose asked incredulously.
“That’s for him to figure out. If he can’t do it, oh well! He’ll just drown.”
She wasn’t going to let that happen. She had an idea to sneak away from the fallen seraph back to the shack, but there was a sinking feeling that someone was watching her. Just out of curiosity, she turned around. There around the corner of one of the town’s buildings was a man wearing a winged armor and wielding a fearsome sword.
“Were you planning on liberating him from the show?” Symonne asked strangely like she was hungry for Rose to try it. “If you do, our show-stopper might kill you.”
Rose was compelled to stay with Symonne as they walked around the backstage. Rose’s ear caught sound of something frantically calling from a wooden crate. She wasn’t running away from Symonne, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t investigate the crates. She tiptoed over with her dagger at the ready to pry it open, and when she did, she was shocked to find a familiar face.
“L-Lady Rose!” Windur cried out. It rolled back and forth in the crate with happiness because it was tied up. “You’ve got to get me back to Dez!” She asked what happened, but it couldn’t answer with Symonne right there. “Without me, he can’t see!”
She cut the rope then put the lid back over the crate whispering to sneak out once it could. Rose rejoined Symonne on the grand tour. After a few hours—or what seemed like hours in the soul space—Windur pushed the lid off and traveled to the little shack where Dezel was kept. It found him standing alone in a spot of sunlight.
“Master Dezel!” Windur said. The Normin hurried up to him. “Was granme erra accrroad fhyu mea afezeria pitod pawr oz eux anw yor.”
Dezel shook with terror now that he could sense where he was. “W-Where…?” he wheezed. He hadn’t spoken for so long in his soul space that his voice was but a dusty trinket on a mantle. “Where…”
“Can you see me? Rose is in trouble. She can’t get away from that nasty little girl!”
Dezel grabbed at the collar around his neck, following the chain to the wall. With as much strength as he could muster, he pulled at it. Of course, he didn’t have the strength to break it, and knowing this, he felt hopeless. Windur heard glass cracking, and he peered up through the hole; a new crack had formed.
“M-Master Dezel, don’t give up! If you let yourself fall into despair, your soul space will be destroyed!”
“Rose…” he whimpered. “I want…”
“It’s time,” Azure Balmung said behind the two of them.
He unchained Dezel from the wall and dragged him to the town where people were taking their seats before the stage in the middle of the square. Symonne was sitting next to Rose, who looked grim. The assassin saw her dear seraph, but there wasn’t much she could do besides sit there obediently. Or perhaps it was part of her plan. She watched him then shifted her attention to Azure Balmung. She realized that it was Dezel wearing that dreadful armor and holding that terrifying sword with hair a few inches longer than usual. He was like a mindless soldier.
Dezel Balmung chained Dez into the escape tank. Windur finally appeared, worming its way through the crowd to her chair. She didn’t notice while she watched Dez step into tank after the chains were secure on one wrist before looping it around the other. Once he was locked up, he placed a hose over the edge of the top of the tank, opened the spigot, and listened to the water gurgle as it began to rise.
“Now my assistant will attempt to escape from the tank!” Dezel Balmung announced. “Will he be able to unlock his shackles, or will he drown?”
Dez pulled at the ring holding his chains down. He knew he couldn’t get out, but he had to make it look like he was trying. Soon enough, even feigning it didn’t work, and the audience began to boo not Dezel Balmung but Dez for not being entertaining. Then he began to sing the final phase of the Song he had sung during his outbreak.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Even though he was visibly younger, his voice sounded the same albeit more peaceful. There was something strange about this Song, though. Rose listened to him with confusion. The Song was almost devoid of emotion like he didn’t know what he was feeling anymore. The cracked sky might have also been a reflection of that, and it made her sad.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The water was up to his thighs, but he kept singing. He wasn’t going to make any effort to escape; he couldn’t. He didn’t know how to. He didn’t feel like escaping. What was the point? He was forever stuck between a rock and a hard place.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Dezel, you have to do something to get out of there,” Rose whispered. Symonne glanced at her then at the singing seraph trapped in a tank. “Please, don’t give up.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The water was up to his chest now. He was having a hard time breathing. Rose endured it as best as she could. If she acted too suddenly, that sword would most likely fly through her chest. Windur, though, saw its chance to help. It summoned a gust of wind that frazzled everyone, giving her an opportunity to run up onto the stage. Symonne clenched her teeth and chased after her.
“What do you think you’re doing!?” she screeched.
“Healing his heart!” Rose countered. She kicked the hose down while it continued to spray water. “Dez, hang on!”
Symonne charged at her, but Rose was far too fast for her. She pushed her to the side while Dezel Balmung came for her. Using her daggers, she parried him one strike at a time until she smacked the sword out of his hand. She threw a dagger at Symonne, pinning her down by her thick sleeve.
“Listen to me!” she yelled at Dezel Balmung. “If you kill Dez, your heart will collapse! Please, help me save him!”
“But…why are you trying to save him?” he asked calmly.
“Because I love him, and the last thing I want to see is his corpse! He’s you, and you’re him. You have to help him!”
Dezel Balmung backed off as a light enshrouded him. His true form was revealed—a pair of Normin named Deemun and Fantum. Without a word, they shattered the tank’s glass. The water flushed out, and Dez pulled at the ring again. This time it ripped out of the floor of the tank. He ran to Rose, who was standing before Symonne. Windur’s gust stopped.
“Dezel, you’re the master here,” she told her seraph. “Reclaim your title and expel her from your heart.”
Dez hesitated. He took Rose’s hand, and using the voice that had long been lost, he ordered Symonne to step down from her position as queen. “T-This…is my…soul!” he coughed.
The power visibly drained from the fallen seraph’s body, and she slumped over in defeat. For such a deep level, Rose was hoping for something more, but she couldn’t be picky. She walked with Dez—Dezel back to the Stonehenge for his Paradigm Shift, and the wind seraph clung to her arm. Standing before the light leading to the next level, he whimpered.
“I…I’m scared…” he said.
“It’s okay,” Rose told him as she wiped away the tears from his greyed eyes. “Things from here on are going to be scary, but we’ll go together. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect, Dezel, but I vow that I won’t let anything else bad happen to you.”
“But…what if…what if I hurt everyone again? Will you leave? Please…Please don’t go! Don’t leave me…!”
Rose hugged him. “I won’t. I promise.” She kissed his forehead before letting him walk into the Paradigm Shift. Once he was gone, Windur, Fantum, and Deemun approached her. “Dezel doesn’t have a mind guardian, does he?” she asked.
Windur was quiet for a moment. “No,” it finally said. Dezel’s mind had been frail ever since he was rescued from the IPD experiments, perhaps even before. It appeared when the curse manifested, and because the curse took a toll on his psyche, Windur had taken it upon itself to protect him. “Now that he has someone to lean and depend on, my job is over. I can finally offer my help to him in creating more Songs.”
“Except that he can’t sing now. That Song he just sang was the last one he’ll ever be able to sing,” Deemun solemnly revealed.
“What?” Rose froze in place. “What did you say?”
“That Song was his last Song—he even expressed that in it,” Fantum reiterated.
“I can’t understand Hymmnos! When did he—”
Windur stopped Deemun and Fantum before it was too late. Rose was sent back to reality before her emotions influenced anything else in the soul space.
--------------------------------
Rose shot up from her spot next to Dezel; they were alone in the room, but she knew that Sorey and the others were in the room next door waiting patiently for the Dive and discussion to be over. She looked back down at her wind seraph, who lay with his eyes open. He was so still like he was scared to move.
“Dezel? Are you awake?” she asked him.
There was a pause then a faint “yes”. He slowly sat up, turning his head in her direction. “I…can…sense…you…” he slowly, hesitantly said just above a whisper. “H-How…?”
Rose crawled to him, holding his face in her shaking hands as she searched those grey lifeless eyes. Windur’s presence had allowed him to “see” again. It had repaired his heart only by a fraction. She kissed his forehead, and while he was still trapped in his helplessness to move away, he showed his fear.
“I Dived into you and found something that allowed you to read the wind again. How do you feel?”
“I feel…nothing…” Dezel said quietly. “Lonely…”
She didn’t expect one Dive to fix everything, not when the trauma went deeper than just what Symonne had done. She felt him trembling; he was still worried about what she had said. Gaslighting him into thinking that he had taken advantage of Rose—the assassin had to fix it. Diving into him consecutively, however, would tire them both out and risk further damage to Dezel’s mind. For now, the only thing she could do was reassure him that she loved him and that she would always be with him.
Notes:
Alright, as much as it pained me, Dezel can no longer sing in this fanfic. The damage was far too extensive. I know, I should give him a break...
Chapter 80: Phase 2: Condolences
Summary:
During the time that Rose and Dezel Dive, Sorey is stricken with the guilt of nearly killing half of the Glenwood Continent population. Zaveid sings to soothe his friends' hearts.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
So in Zestiria, we have that little intermission where Sorey gets to talk to everyone about Dezel's sacrifice. Well, I took that opportunity to develop the relationships a little again, and if it isn't obvious already, I really enjoy having Sorey and Mikleo discuss hardship. That said, I also like showing that Zaveid and Edna do care. And I wanted to boost up a little of Lailah and Alisha's relationship.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey was suddenly stricken with grief during the time Rose and Dezel were Diving, or was it regret? Or guilt? After they had left the room, he had had the urge to pull Mikleo aside. He wanted to talk with Edna and Zaveid as well, but he had troubles that he couldn’t tell them. Only Mikleo would understand.
The two boys went to the fountain that was in front of the inn at ground level. Sitting on the smooth marble of the rim of the fountain, Sorey took Mikleo’s hand. He held onto it silently, deep in thought as he listened to the water babble and ripple behind them.
“Sorey?” Mikleo uttered.
“I know we talked about it before, but…I can’t help but feel like everything is my fault,” Sorey cracked. He let out a suppressed sob. “Mikleo, I’m…I have a bad feeling. Zaveid seemed fine after the ordeal, but Dezel was severely hurt. I’m not connected to him, but something is different about him.”
“Sorey, you’re thinking too much now,” Mikleo tried to calm him, turning his body more towards him.
“If I had only paid more attention. If I had done something to prevent Dezel from breaking out, to prevent myself from getting caught, and to prevent Zaveid from whatever horror he was forced to go through!”
Mikleo’s chest throbbed with pain. Sorey was starting to accumulate malevolence! “Sorey, nothing could be done!” he told his grieving Shepherd quickly yet still with difficulty. He stood before him then pulled him up into his arms, but the weight of his sorrow pulled them back towards the edge of the fountain. “Please, stop crying. I know, the gravity of what happened is starting to settle in, but you’re stronger than this! I know you are.”
Sorey rested his forehead on Mikleo’s shoulder. The pain radiating in the water seraph lessened, which indicated that perhaps his partner was cutting himelf some slack. Still, he was worried about him. It was unlike Sorey to let his emotions get out of control like that; Mikleo was—apparently—the one that got hysterical.
“Am I really fit to be the Shepherd? I’ve always tried to be positive and keep moving forward. Now I’m wondering if I can really defeat Heldalf and bring peace to the Towers and the world.”
Mikleo was silent for a moment. He then let out a sigh, carefully and slowly so he didn’t frighten his dearest love.
“Sorey, do you want to know what I’ve been thinking since the beginning of all this?” He gently pushed him back so he could look him in his eyes. “I was scared. I hated that you became the Shepherd. Becoming the Shepherd meant that I would have to share you with others. I would have to watch you get hurt and carry burdens of people who despised you or who wanted to use you. I would have to accept that every day something could go wrong and you could die. But every day, you prove me wrong—you’re strong, kind, and gentle almost to a fault. I used to think that you could just stop being the Shepherd because so many people pine for your pure soul. I dream of just dropping everything and going home with you.” He cradled Sorey’s face with his slender hand. “But again, you proved me wrong. If you quit, then Shurelia would be trapped unmoving in her Tower forever, and Frelia would die because she wouldn’t be able to get back to her Tower. So many people are depending on you including all of your friends. Things happen, but you’ve always been good about working with what comes your way and finding a solution.” He kissed his forehead, his fingers mingling lightly in his hair. “Most importantly, you’ve given me the courage to show you how I feel. You’re so nice, Sorey, and it hurts so much to see you heartbroken like this. I have no doubt that Dezel has changed since the outbreak, but you can work with it—we all must. So please, have more faith in yourself.”
Sorey sniffled. The tears reflected the moonlight when he looked up at those amethyst eyes. He threw his arms around Mikleo, sobbing the most he had ever cried as he held him. “Mikleo…thank you…” he choked out.
“Don’t thank me for a fact,” Mikleo lightly joked.
In truth, he had figured that Sorey would break sometime soon. Unlike Bartlow, Targana and Symonne had succeeded in sublimating his soul. Did he feel powerless because he had been brainwashed by Lakra to chase his hatred? Or was he sympathizing with Dezel and Rose because he knew their pain? Mikleo couldn’t tell. He just knew that the feeling of his body so tightly against the Shepherd’s with his gentle hands on his back was the only thing that could make Sorey feel safe and in good company. He was adamant about keeping evildoers away from his heart. He vowed that at the end of everything, he wanted to see Sorey smile. He accepted that he had to listen to the heartbreaking wails, but he was ready to do whatever it took.
-----------------------------
Alisha and Lailah stood on the overpass covering one of the walkways in the northeastern district. They were holding hands; Alisha was the one to decide that they take a walk while Rose was Diving. Since they had ruined Symonne and Targana’s plan, Alisha was worried about the state of affairs between Rolance and Hyland. With the Hyland Seraphoid army growing albeit slowly, Rolance would no doubt be crushed now that IPDs could no longer be weaponized.
“Lailah, is it normal to fear for the enemy?” the princess asked. Lailah remained silent. “I have never approved of Bartlow’s project, and even though I’m an outsider to this country, I don’t approve of their IPDs experiments. I don’t understand why the elite are toying with their public’s lives.”
Lailah sighed. “Most humans operate on greed. The lust for power, money, fame, and vanity knows no bounds, and sadly humans are extremely susceptible to those negative feelings,” she explained. “These humans form the powerful vocal minority. These humans will do everything in their power to prevent others from toppling them. It’s the reason why seraphim grew fearful and angry with humans.”
“And in the end, everyone gets hurt.” Alisha thought about Dezel and Rose, whose relationship was now hanging in the balance because of the stupidity of greedy leaders. “Do you think Dezel will be okay?”
“As long as Rose stays with him and works to heal his broken heart, I believe they will have a happy ending.” Lailah turned to Alisha. “It’s been so long, and I’ve said it before years ago, but this is why I love you, Alisha. You’re different from humans like Bartlow. You’re more like Sorey—you care about others.”
Lailah began to reminisce about when Alisha had saved her when she was little. Her heart fluttered that day as it did now. She was so happy that she had been fortunate enough to fall into the company of a kind princess. She remembered days where Alisha would comb her hair and other days where the girls lent themselves to the throes of passion. Of course, the fire seraph had her secrets that she could never tell Alisha or else she would break her oath and lose her purification powers. It was the one thing about their relationship that she hated, but she had to make do with the hand that she was dealt. She had chosen to take the oath, and she had to abide by it to help Alisha and Sorey in their quest.
“Lailah?” Alisha suddenly uttered. She was staring into her face. “You suddenly went quiet.”
“I was just thinking!” Lailah giggled. “But I do have a question for you.”
Lailah had been watching Sorey and Mikleo and thinking of Dezel and Rose. They always had moments where they protected each other no matter what. Alisha was skilled with a spear, so she could be independent on the battlefield—not that Sorey and Rose couldn’t be. But there was rarely ever a chance to defend her princess.
“Should there ever be a time that I must sacrifice myself, would you allow it?” she asked.
“W-What?” Alisha stuttered. “I…I can’t answer that. I don’t want to answer that.”
Lailah smiled defeatedly. “I see. Perhaps there is some selfishness in you.”
Alisha couldn’t imagine losing Lailah. Their bond had fostered over the years, forged by the days they lived in harmony and the nights that they moved in synchronicity. They had explored each other’s minds, and even though they had to start over because Bartlow had broken her, Alisha loved every second of it. And to ask such a question now when Dezel had nearly died…it made her cry.
“You can be cruel, Lailah,” Alisha hiccupped. Lailah felt guilty for asking. She turned to her and kissed her cheeks. “I can’t bear the idea of separating.”
“I’m sorry, my dear. It was insensitive.” She wiped her tears away.
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Edna and Zaveid were the only ones left in the room next door to Rose and Dezel. “So you’re going to sing?” Edna asked. She held her umbella on her lap and swung her legs. She couldn’t help but feel that the wind seraph was looking for excuses to sing, but at the same time, that was what seraphim did. “It’s strange seeing you act so kind.”
“Well, I can tell Sorey is beating him up about all this,” Zaveid replied. He tipped his chair back against the wall. “And Lailah is harder to figure out. You know she can’t talk about some things.”
Edna had felt Sorey as well. There was a sudden stabbing sensation in her chest. It went away after a while because Mikleo had spoken to him. She pitied him. She had been with him since before Mikleo was captured and was going to be used to create a Seraphoid. Now he was used in tandem with Dezel to almost annihilate half of all the humans that lived on the Glenwood Continent. It was no wonder that he was starting to crack under the pressure of being a Shepherd; she worried about when they would move on from Pendrago. Both Hyland and Pendrago expressed malicious interest in Sorey, and she thought about it. It didn’t matter if he was the Shepherd or not. His soul and resonance were naturally pure. The title of the Shepherd was simply a giant red flag over his head that told power-hungry politicians that he was a trump card.
“Sorey will never escape greedy humans trying to use him for their own ends,” she concluded aloud.
“You got that right,” Zaveid set the chair back on all four legs and stood up, “Which is why I kind of care that he’s okay. After all, if he falls, we all lose ourselves to the malevolence.” Making his way to the door, he told Edna he was going to talk a walk while singing.
“I’ll join you,” Edna bluntly said. “I’ll think too much if I’m alone. We should get back before Rose finishes her Dive, though.”
The two seraphim stepped out of the inn. They saw Mikleo and Sorey by the fountain with the latter clinging to his seraph. The water seraph was busy tending to him; Zaveid didn’t make an effort to greet him. Likewise, Edna wasn’t interested in breaking up their little therapy session. They headed towards the Western District where seraphim were still chained down. The wind seraph hoped that his Song would soothe their souls, too. He began quietly:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The seraphim around them raised their heads in curiosity. It had been so long since they had heard a sincere melody.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
They whispered among themselves so their captors and abusers couldn’t hear them. They wanted to know what Zaveid was singing about that was filling their hearts with sympathy. Zaveid and Edna headed towards the castle, round the corners to head back to the Northeastern District.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Edna listened to him and while she couldn’t understand most of his words, she felt how much he wanted everyone to remain hopeful. She hummed along with his singing.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Whatever little words that Edna picked up, she pieced together. At first, he was singing about Sorey. Now he was singing about Rose. He wanted both of them not to give up hope. That’s what they were—Sorey, Rose, and Alisha were beacons of hope. As they neared the fountain where Sorey and Mikleo still stood together and above where Alisha and Lailah looked over them, Zaveid finished his own Song of Hope.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Well, now that I got that out of my system, we should get back to our room,” the wind seraph said as he stretched.
He wasn’t sure if anyone was listening besides Edna, but he hoped that it carried on the gentle breeze that blew through the city. He wanted Sorey to hear it especially. He was the Shepherd, the epitome and pinnacle of purity and hope.
When all was said and done, each pair returned to the hotel slowly. By the time Rose woke up and tried to talk with Dezel, Alisha and Sorey were asleep with Lailah and Mikleo in one of the rooms. Edna sat at the foot of Sorey’s bed where she dozed off. They had all forgotten how exhausted they were after Sorey and Dezel were rescued, and while the Shepherd had gotten rest, the anxiety of his position drained him.
In the next room over, reflecting on the Dive and what had to be done to fix his heart, Rose lay beside her wind seraph. They weren’t close, but she noticed that he was resting somewhat easier. He wasn’t asleep, he couldn’t be because he was still afraid of her. She couldn’t stand it, though. She slowly moved for his hand. So slowly—almost sloth-like so he wouldn’t become startled. He could sense her again, which she was grateful for except it meant that she had to be more careful. She intertwined her fingers with his taking solace in what little progress she had made.
Notes:
Let's all hope that I get next Sunday off as well!
Chapter 81: Phase 2: Back to Square One
Summary:
Now that he had all the spiritual powers, Sorey and friends head out to finally face off against Heldalf. But there's something that doesn't quite fit. It's back to square one.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD.
I'm quite proud of how this fight turned out, and I wonder if it's because I was listening to the OST that plays during this fight.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey regrouped his friends just outside of Pendrago. They didn’t say goodbye to Sergei or Frelia or anyone. They had gotten so sidetracked from their mission to quell the Lord of Calamity that stopping to tell them that they were heading out would have trapped them in an endless conversation of either what the knights could do for them or what they could do for Frelia. As much as he wanted to help Frelia, he had to see about Heldalf first. Then he had to reawaken Shurelia and take care of Mir. There were so many things buzzing around in his head that the night didn’t have the power to erase.
“We need to head to Glaivend Basin no matter what,” Sorey said. “Once Heldalf is dealt with, then we can go back to Hyland to help Shurelia—”
Lailah shook her head as if he were doing too much in too small a time frame. He was getting tired—not sleepy tired but fatigued. After being sublimated, his resilience had taken a nosedive, and she sensed that at the moment he would be very vulnerable to malevolence, or at the very least, more likely he would make mistakes. Mikleo reassured everyone that he would be watching over him. Edna and Zaveid pledged to watch him as well since their lives were in his palm.
Rose waited for the right moment to update them about Dezel. Then Alisha explained that Glaivend Basin would still be under enemy surveillance and that they had to take precautions not to engage any of the Rolance soldiers. They may have lost their emperor, but they were still at war with Hyland. Sorey swallowed his exhaustion, promising that he wouldn’t drag them down.
“Sorey, don’t push yourself for our sake,” Rose said. She snuck a glimpse back at Dezel. “Everyone, I’m sure it’s no surprise, but Dezel won’t be able to fight alongside us for some time,” she announced. She didn’t say anymore—she couldn’t. It would expose his soul space. And if they only knew how damaged he was from the trauma, Sorey would blame himself.
The seraphim went inside of their respective owners save for Dezel, who had to be coaxed heavily into even getting close to her. Sorey led Alisha and Rose through Pearloats Pasture, the Meadow of Triumph, Lastonbell, and the Volgran Forest. Once again, Glaivend Basin was just in sight through the opening leading back to the battlefield. The smoke from the catapults still climbed to the sky. The malevolence was still there, but Heldalf’s domain wasn’t. They thought it was strange.
They ventured onto the battlefield to the cliff where they had first encountered the lion-headed Lord of Calamity only to find a small platoon of regular Rolance soldiers that were counting the casualities and gathering evidence of what was declared to be friendly fire among their ranks.
“He’s not here,” the Shepherd stated.
“We’ve got no leads now,” Alisha added.
“Back to square one?” Rose questioned.
“Lailah, what do we do now?” Alisha asked.
They returned to the safety of the Volgran Forest to discuss the next course of action. The seraphim came out immediately, and Lailah tried to remember where she had felt a strong domain.
“It was near Morgause,” Edna finally said. She turned to everyone else, all of whom held expectant eyes. “I had felt something like Eizen’s domain, but since my brother has been dead for a while, I knew that wasn’t the case.” She paced back and forth. “It wasn’t strong enough to be Heldalf, and I thought it was coming from the shrine itself.”
“What if Heldalf was heading over there?” Mikleo hypothesized. He placed a finger to his chin. “He’s watching us, so he probably was waiting for us to leave after getting the spiritual power to hang around there?”
“That would be Aifread’s Hunting Ground,” Zaveid said. “Then let’s try there.”
Sorey agreed with them. With Rose and Alisha at his heels and the seraphim back inside, he headed for the hunting ground.
------------------------------
Aifread’s Hunting Ground was enshrouded in Heldalf’s demonic domain. The sky was black as night, bright purple lightning tunneling through the clouds. The seraphim came out once again, buffered by the spiritual powers they obtained, ready to take him on. Their human comrades, however, were debilitated. Edna cast Barrier on them to try and lessen the effect of the domain on them, but in seconds it was eaten away.
“Edna, don’t waste your energy,” Sorey commanded through gritted teeth. “We can get through this no problem!” He forced himself to stand tall.
The vigor in his declaration worked a miracle, or perhaps it was sheer willpower. The Shepherd wouldn’t let the darkness get to him. He had had a whole night to grieve and whine about his burden, and Mikleo had spoken some sense into him. He had to be strong for his sake and for the sake of everyone in the world.
He followed the seaside path with Rose and Alisha; the seraphim remained outside including Dezel. They were tasked with protecting them from hellions until they found Heldalf. The blind wind seraph, though, couldn’t bring himself to fight for them with the same fervor that burned in everyone else’s heart.
“Dezel,” Rose suddenly said. She had fallen back from their little pack to speak with him. She didn’t want him to feel that he was compelled to fight even though it would help them. He had to make his own decisions.
The time had come. Sorey spotted Heldalf near the entrance to Morgause, where he was smiling eagerly. Symonne was with him, and he had assumed that Mir had been disposed of due to her absence. He didn’t seem to care. She was simply a pawn. He valued the loyal fallen seraph far more than her.
The Shepherd stood before the Lord of Calamity and his partner. The seraphim with him took their positions while Rose and Alisha readied themselves. Dezel hung back before returning inside of the assassin for safety. Symonne’s presence frightened him more than expected, and the little witch relished that fact.
“So, we meet again, Shepherd,” Heldalf boomed. “Are you prepared to prove the strength of your light against my darkness?”
Sorey pointed his sword at him. “I am,” he calmly said. “I’m going to defeat you and quell the malevolence. I’ll purify the world.”
The Lord of Calamity grinned. He commanded Symonne to sing a death knell while he killed Sorey and his friends. The fallen seraph smiled deviously, and as she opened her mouth to cast her Song Magic, Sorey braced himself.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose and Edna set traps around the field. Zaveid and Mikleo returned inside of Sorey at the same time that Alisha Armatized with Lailah. Finally, Sorey Armatized with Edna, her gauntlets floating beside him.
“Everyone, charge!” Sorey ordered.
Alisha and Sorey sped towards Heldalf while Rose went after Symonne, who was still singing the same verses on a loop to buffer her master. She wanted to be the one to teach her a lesson until Dezel’s fear pulled her back.
“No, don’t!” he begged her.
Sorey and Alisha tag-teamed against Heldalf—Alisha slashed repeatedly at him while Sorey punched and threw boulders at him. None of the attacks were doing much damage then the Shepherd realized that as long as Symonne kept her singing up, they couldn’t fight him. He thought Rose was fighting her, but when he looked over at her, he saw that she was paralyzed in her place.
“What is she doing?” he asked himself.
“Sorey!” Edna alerted him.
Heldalf smacked him across the field towards the cliff overlooking the sea. Alisha, angry that he had hurt her friend, leapt up with her Sacred Sword. “Tower of Blood!” she and Lailah called out together while channeling mana within them. Time slowed, and Heldalf shot her down with a blast of water.
Lailah was forced to de-Armatize to conserve her strength. She began to cast Imbuement to heal herself and her princess, leaving Alisha alone on the offense. Sorey regained his balance after suffering the blow from before. He wanted to help Rose, but he had to focus on the mastermind behind all of the schemes to generate more malevolence to destroy and rebuild the world.
“Crystal Tower!” he and Edna called as a pillar of crystal shot up from underneath the enemies. The Seraphic Arte interrupted Symonne’s Song, giving him a chance to swoop back in to deal some damage. “Divine Basalt Blow!”
“Dezel, get out of my way!” Rose demanded. She tried to push herself past his binding apprehension, yet he wouldn’t budge. “Why are you choosing now not to be scared of me!?” The wind seraph manifested before her.
“Rose will…will…” he stammered. He was tripped by her, and as he sensed her going after Symonne, his heart ached. “I don’t want to be alone…! She’s going to take her away…!”
Symonne, however, had a different plan. She teleported away at the second Rose tried to slash her. The fallen seraph appeared next to Alisha, who was preparing to impale Heldalf. She whipped her with her cropped wand, and at Heldalf’s command, she trapped her in a ball of malevolence.
“Alisha!” Lailah cried out. “Let her go!” She was surrounded with towers of fire fueled by her rage. “I said—”
“All talk, no bite!” Symonne cackled. She took advantage of her anger and trapped her in malevolence as well.
Both of them passed out in their evil cages, capturing their friends’ attention. Mikleo and Zaveid came out to take on Symonne, but once again she was too fast. As Rose tried to get her from behind, she spun around trapping her. Then she rushed Dezel. Now she had four of Sorey’s friends steeping in malevolence high above the battle.
“Rose!” Sorey panicked. He de-Armatized from Edna, switching her for Mikleo. He needed to put distance between him and his adversaries, and he knew that Zaveid and Edna worked better together. “Luzrov Rulay!”
“Symonne, isolate him!” Heldalf roared. He stomped the ground, generating an earthquake, to throw everyone that was left off-balance. Symonne then trapped Edna and Zaveid. “What will you do now, Shepherd?”
Sorey glanced up at the floating orbs of malevolence. He couldn’t shoot them down because it would kill his friends. He couldn’t fight Heldalf and Symonne alone or else he would be destroyed.
“The malevolence is seeping in…” Mikleo panted.
“I know…” Sorey wheezed. “But we have to keep going. We have to defeat him!”
“Ha-ha, yes, Shepherd! Channel the hatred you hold for me! Run me through with your arrows! Quell me!” Heldalf taunted. He turned to Symonne to know how long his friends would be held prisoner. Because they had grown so much stronger, she couldn’t hold them for long. “It will do.”
Mikleo aimed the arrow at Heldalf’s heart. Sorey pulled it back, but something was off—why was he asking to be quelled? Suddenly Heldalf vanished only to reappear behind him where he dug into his back with his claws and threw him into a stone pillar near the shrine. Mikleo automatically de-Armatized against his will like he was ripped from Sorey. Sorey himself was winded after being thrown; he coughed up a bit of blood.
“Mikleo…!” Sorey gasped. “Luzrov Rulay!”
But Mikleo couldn’t Armatize. He was paralyzed with a sudden fear, a realization that he was going to die. Sorey lunged at Heldalf, who sped to him and caught him by the neck while he pinned Mikleo down with his foot.
“Mik…leo…!” Sorey choked. He tried to kick himself free. “Don…urt…im…!”
“Squirm as much as you wish, Shepherd,” Heldalf thundered. “I will slaughter this seraph in front of you. Will you be able to stop me then?”
Mikleo clawed at the soil under him in an effort to escape. “Sorey…something’s not right…he’s hiding something…! You can’t quell him!” he coughed. Heldalf pressed down on his back, the ever-increasing weight threatening to break his bones.
Even though he was losing more and more oxygen, Sorey thought about it. Heldalf was needling him to purify him on purpose. It was as Mikleo said, he was hiding something. His defeat would bring about something that would further his plot. He was resolved. He couldn’t fight now, not when there was still a missing piece.
Mikleo screamed as Heldalf crushed him. “Mikleo!” Sorey managed to cry.
“Lord Heldalf, I can’t keep them isolated anymore!” Symonne notified. The orbs of malevolence dissipated, dropping the unconscious Squires and seraphim before Sorey and Mikleo. “What do we do?”
“That depends on the Shepherd,” Heldalf smirked. His beady yellows eyes glowed.
“I refuse!”
Heldalf threw him towards his friends, but Mikleo was still trapped.
“I’m not doing this. I’m not fighting you here,” Sorey breathed. He pushed himself up onto his knees. Heldalf asked him one more time to quell him before he prepared to kill Mikleo. “Luzrov Rulay!”
Mikleo disappeared from under Heldalf’s foot at the moment that he called his name. Fear now gone, Sorey fired a warning shot at the ground before Heldalf and Symonne.
“Leave, and we will fight another time,” Sorey sternly said. He de-Armatized from Mikleo, though his emerald eyes still showed his resolve.
“You’re really going to let the Lord of Calamity go? You truly are a foolish human,” Symonne chided.
“I pick my fights. May we meet again when we’re both stronger.”
Symonne was irked by that disgustingly humble statement. Heldalf, on the other hand, was deeply interested. Had he figured it out? Heldalf accepted the temporary ceasefire. He and Symonne vanished into darkness, allowing the sky to clear and the sun to come out.
“Purity Heal,” Mikleo said to heal both him and Sorey. After they tended to their friends, the water seraph began to wonder what the missing piece was. “Do you think…?”
Was it possible that Maotelus’ disappearance was linked to Heldalf? His domain had vanished long ago, and the Lord of Calamity’s power was growing exponentially. But how would he have access to the strongest seraph in all the land? Lailah refused to speak, and Zaveid admitted that he only had limited knowledge. Then he asked them a riddle—what is something that was seen all the time yet not? Sorey had an inkling yet didn’t want to believe in it.
“The…land?” Rose answered questioningly. “Wait, so Maotelus was using the continent as a vessel?!”
“Correctomundo,” Zaveid said. “Baby Boy Maotelus used the continent as a vessel in order to expand his domain and blessing to encompass everyone and everything. Heldalf, being the Lord of Calamity, found a way to tap into it.”
“I’m not following,” Alisha said. “Lailah—”
“I can’t tell you or else I’ll break my oath,” the fire seraph bluntly replied.
“But then where are we supposed to go?” Sorey asked.
“There is a place that may have information; however, you will be in great danger—Alisha, Rose, Sorey; we must head to the mystic ruin named Lohgrin and the Third Tower named Tilia.”
The Third Tower. Sorey had forgotten about it with all the excitement. He didn’t understand why Lohgrin was dangerous. It was in neutral territory far beyond the reaches of the Rolance Empire. Regardless, he had to get there and learn the truth about Maotelus and his connection to Heldalf.
“I know we should rest, but—” Sorey was cut off by Rose.
“We’ve done enough resting. We made some progress, so let’s keep up the momentum!” She pointed to the sky. “We can’t stop now!”
Sorey appreciated her enthusiasm. Before they headed for Lohgrin, which lie past the Great Camelot Bridge to the north, he stood before them all. He bowed and humbly said:
“Everyone, thank you for your efforts this far. I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you.”
“Not this again,” Edna sighed.
“Sorey, you can’t expect to be by everyone’s side,” Lailah gently said. “You’re not our shield; we are yours.”
“I know, and maybe it’s because I’m getting so tired from the fighting, but I promise that in the end, I’ll protect all of you,” he reassured. Something about his proclamation was different. Even though he had tasted Heldalf’s strength and his friends were beaten, he wasn’t depressed or moping. Mikleo smiled at him. He was holding onto hope tighter than ever.
“Alright, we ready to go?” Zaveid snorted.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Sorey said. He led them out of the hunting ground towards the ancient bridge.
------------------------------
Rrha ki ra chs hymmnos mea enter Harvestasha. Was yea ra drone hymmnos yor exec hymmnos yor. Was yea ra exec hymmnos…
“I…can’t remember it,” Tyria whispered.
A young man in silver armor and a young man in red armor clashed their sword and drill. Both were in pain. Both didn’t want to fight against each other, but they had to if they wanted to survive. Only the winner of the duel would be granted an extension on his life.
Notes:
I still think that Mikleo should have been used as a little more leverage in the game, but I guess they figured that it'd at the very least be predictable. Idk, Sorey suffering is my ish, so... (I love my little summer boy.)
Chapter 82: Phase 3: The Quest to Camelot
Summary:
With the confrontation with Heldalf resulting in only frustration, Sorey and his friends begin on their way to Lohgrin under Tilia's domain. They then meet two seraphim that offer to show the way.
Notes:
It feels like FOREVER since I last added a chapter. But the cool thing is--WE'RE ON PHASE 3! Yaaaay~ It's a relatively short chapter, but we get to really Dive into some AT stuff now.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey and his friends restocked on their items after meeting with the merchant that hung around the hunting ground. The hellions in the area had lost some of their strength since Heldalf left and were noticeably less interested in attacking them. Even still, there were instances where they were forced to fight them off, and more often than not did they have to use their supplies to stay in top form. Zaveid and Rose were glad for the presence of hellions around them; they wanted to burn off the steam that they still had in their systems from their encounter with Heldalf. Rose, specifically, was irritated.
She didn’t really understand why Dezel was trying to stop her during the fight. He was frightened by Symonne, and he was frightened by the assassin, yet why was he makng an effort to keep her from killing the fallen seraph? She thought about asking him before she realized that he would be able to sense her in her frustration coming after him.
Alisha noticed that Lailah still seemed off after the battle as well. She slowly closed the space between them as the fire seraph watched her friends fight the hellions for training and stress relief.
“Lailah, isn’t there anything you can tell us? Why should we go to Lohgrin if it’s dangerous?” she asked gently. Lailah turned away from her. “Is your oath really that important?”
“Alisha, please don’t make this hard on me,” she replied. She sighed. “I only worry what will happen when we arrive there.”
“What do you mean?”
According to Lailah, Lohgrin had been taken over by seraphim who had a less than favorable opinion about humans. Regardless of their status, she was sure that the Shepherd and his Squires wouldn’t be welcomed or accepted. In the years before she came to be at Ladylake, she had heard that the anti-human sentiment had gotten so bad that the seraphim residing in the town had made a sport to watch humans they captured fight to the death. If they captured Sorey, there was little doubt that the malevolence generated from being forced to fight against his will could swallow him.
“I don’t understand. Why would seraphim do that?” Alisha said incredulously.
“The hatred that seraphim have developed over the years of abuse has clouded their views,” Lailah grimly explained. “But I’m sure not every seraph in Lohgrin hates humans.”
Sorey called Rose and Zaveid to come back to the group so they could head out past Rolance territory. The Great Camelot Bridge was northwest of Pendrago, which was quite a ways from Aifread’s Hunting Ground, meaning they had a long walk ahead of them. The seraphim stayed out for the journey and fresh air, and warming up for whatever challenges were on the bridge was the perfect excuse to achieve that trivial wish. It gave Rose a chance to pull Dezel to the side to talk to him about his behavior while fighting against Symonne. He flinched at her touch.
“Why wouldn’t you get out of the way?” she asked him somewhat sternly.
“I…don’t…want Rose…to leave…” he slowly said. He was scared again, trembling even. “I want…to be…with Rose…”
“I don’t understand,” she sighed.
Edna joined her conversation after deeming Sorey and Mikleo’s conversation about the potential ruins and artifacts in Lohgrin bored her. She listened to the back-and-forth question-answer going on between Rose and Dezel, and when Rose was about to give up on why he was so adamant about stopping her, she chimed in:
“Killing Symonne would have the same result as killing a regular seraph. You were going after her with anger and hatred, so the malevolence would have destroyed you.”
Because Symonne was still a seraph and one who had not been afflicted with any sort of illness or negative emotion that she didn’t want, killing her in cold-blood would have rendered Rose a hellion and Dezel, by proxy, into a dragon. Rose felt guilty for getting mad at her seraph, but now she was even more perplexed. She still didn’t have an answer for why Dezel would impede her if he was afraid of her. Then she realized that the Dive had changed him more than expected. He was speaking albeit slowly and almost telepathically and with a timidness that would be closer to a young girl than a hardened man, as opposed to when he didn’t speak and shut his ears off from everything. He was willing to get close to her instead of shrinking away from her caring touch. She had to wonder if more Dives would fix him. Zaveid told her that sometimes external events were the breakthrough; relying on Dives for a mindset like Dezel’s current one would wind up killing her if she wasn’t particularly careful.
Mikleo watched the blind wind seraph with memories of when he was the same way, though for a much shorter time. He planned to consult him even though there was the possibility of making things worse.
They were just passing the path to Westronbolt Gorge when Alisha looked up at the orange-pink sky. They had been walking for hours today, and she wondered if it was a good idea to camp. She knew that Sorey wanted to get to Lohgrin as quickly as possible. Travelling at night was dangerous in unknown territory.
“We don’t have time to waste,” Mikleo reminded. “Heldalf has something going on in the background. We have to keep up with him.”
“Besides, I have to see what Lohgrin is like!” Sorey happily sang. Alisha accepted it despite the gut feeling that something may be afoot.
They crossed the threshold onto the Great Camelot Bridge, which exceeded their expectations of what it was. It was much larger—the word “great” simply didn’t do it justice. Not to mention the ocean was cresting and waning beneath them.
Sorey and Mikleo looked over the sides of the bridge at the water below and took in the smell of the sea. Alisha would have joined them if she wasn’t preoccupied with her intuition and the fact that Lailah was again very quiet.
“I didn’t even realize that Tilia was on a completely separate land yet was still considered to be part of the Glenwood Continent!” Sorey excitedly cooed. “And this bridge! The architecture looks like it’s from the Era of Asgard!”
“I don’t think so,” Mikleo contradicted. “It may hail from the Temperance of Avarost, possibly the Age of Darkness.”
“No way, it totally doesn’t have the embellishments of either of those two time periods.”
Rose and Edna stepped back from the two archaeologists. It had been so long since they had last gushed about relics from the past that they were a little unsettled by it, especially since it was right after Mikleo stated that they had to catch up with the Lord of Calamity.
“Alright, kiddos!” Zaveid boomed over them. “As much as you two are having fun, it’s a bit hypocritical if you two waste time talking. Either walk and talk, or we just focus on Heldalf or Shurelia and Mir or Frelia, yeah?”
Sorey pouted, but he had no choice. It was a completely new section to them—even Rose had never been this far out. They had to remain vigilant; the hellions were much stronger on the bridge and beyond than anywhere they had been before. There was also a tinge of malevolence heavier than the Black Birds, Dark Eyes, and other hellions.
Dezel flinched. “Hellions…” he said.
“Duh, of course there are hellions,” Edna bullied. She walked ahead of everyone else. Suddenly a Dark Eye hellion appeared beside her and smacked her. “What the hell?”
“We’re in a hellion minefield!” Rose complained.
The earth seraph fired a ball of hail at the floating eye, blushing from the embarrassment of being caught off-guard. She suggested that they put Dezel at the front to detect invisible hellions, and Rose was only okay with it if she could stay beside him. Alisha and Lailah promised to provide backup. Sorey and Mikleo and Zaveid covered the center and back of the group.
The hellions that attacked them took some effort to get rid of, and while Dezel wasn’t necessarily scared of them, Rose wanted to protect him from getting hurt. Lailah burned them away from the assassin and her seraph with her fires while Mikleo washed others away.
When they started to get exhausted because the bridge was so long, they walked down into the peripheral pathways that were much lower and closer to the surface of the water. In these pathways that were devoid of hellions, there was a tiny group that took Sorey and Mikleo by surprise.
“Oh, there are crabs even up here?” Alisha giggled. “So cute!”
“Alisha, get away from there! Can’t you see there are hellions?!” Sorey blurted. He drew his sword while Mikleo assumed his position next to Sorey. “Look at all those legs and claws! I’ve never seen a hellion like this!”
“Um, Sheps? That’s because it’s not a hellion,” Zaveid flatly explained.
“What? It is! They are snapping their claws!”
“What a vile beast!” Mikleo joined in.
“Sorey, have you really never seen a crab?” Rose asked dubiously.
“Crab?”
“Yes, a crab,” Edna said. “It’s a crustcean that lives at the bottom on the sea. Every once in a while they come on dry land, and baby ones blow bubbles.”
Sorey and Mikleo lowered their weapons. How could such strange-looking creatures be naturally occurring animals?
“I’ve heard that crabs are also very delicious!” Lailah said with a singsong voice.
“N-No…” Dezel mumbled. His lip quivered at the thought of eating the defenseless crabs.
“Ah, we won’t eat these!”
Edna jabbed Mikleo in the side with her umbrella. “As a water seraph, you should be ashamed you didn’t know what crabs were, Meebo. A downright sham of a water seraph. A poor excuse—”
“Okay, Edna, you’ve made your point,” Mikleo growled.
Sorey put a finger to his chin. “But that means…Mikleo, there are going to be so many new animals and plants to see! I’m so excited!” Again, Lailah was perturbed by his happy-go-lucky attitude about wandering into Tilia’s domain. “Do you think we’ll see animals that people thought were extinct? I mean, there’s a lot of untapped knowledge out there!”
“I’m going to find them first!” Mikleo challenged. And for once, they seemed like children again.
“Jeez, you two are dorkier than normal,” Rose teased.
Sorey pouted before trying to explain all the fascinating mechanizations that studying ruins entailed. Naturally, Rose didn’t care; however, she glanced at Dezel, who seemed to relax a little and give something of a shy smile at the sounds of Sorey speaking so passionately about something he loved besides Mikleo. That or he found solace in the bubbling crabs.
The group continued further along the bridge to what seemed like a decent sized campsite for travelling merchants. Among the merchants were two girls that looked mystical. One had purple hair and the other had indigo hair. The former looked nervous about being there. The other seemed oblivious to that.
“Cocona, let’s just hurry up and go! You know how scary it is being here,” the purple-haired girl whined.
“I don’t see what you’re so scared, Finnel. We got permission from Akane, and if she’s willing to let you out, then she trusts us not to start any trouble,” the other girl, presumably Cocona, replied. “Besides, even if we don’t have to eat, Aoto does.”
“Aoto…I hope Aki lets him go soon.”
“She won’t. She said that was Lady Harvestasha’s orders, and we can’t go against her. She’s the administrator of the Tower, after all. And doesn’t he like Saki?”
“Wh—Well, I guess, but that doesn’t mean I can’t like him! Oh, my Goddess, don’t tell him that! If he knows I like him, I’ll never hear the end of that stupid Master-Servant stuff!”
Sorey was curious about them even though Lailah advised him to ignore them. But how could he when they just mentioned the Tower? They were potential informants, and since they had so little to go on, what was better than asking for directions to Lohgrin?
The Shepherd approached them with an innocent smile. Mikleo stood behind him just in case they tried anything. Unfortunately, Finnel panicked, which scared Dezel and put everyone on edge. Cocona confronted Sorey, blades lining her arms and ready for battle.
“What’s a group of humans and seraphim doing together?” she asked with contempt. “Don’t you know that it’s forbidden in these parts?”
Sorey put his hands up. “We’re just travelling,” he calmly said. “We’re looking for a place called Lohgrin.”
“Lohgrin?” Finnel gasped. She pulled Cocona close so she could whisper in her ear. “What do we do? If we bring them there, there’s no doubt Aki will—”
“You know what our orders are. If we encountered humans that weren’t the merchants, we have to bring them. Humans can’t know of Lohgrin and live to tell about it.”
Sorey waited patiently with a harmless smile on his lips. Alisha held Lailah’s hand. The fire seraph had a bad feeling about talking to them, and the last thing she wanted was for her friends to be arrested for no reason.
“Follow us,” Cocona finally said. “We live in Lohgrin, but when we tell you, you must surrender your weapons.”
Sorey’s face hardened a little. He threw up a red flag upon hearing the condition, accepting that if he wanted to get into Lohgrin, then he would have to abide by their rules. Alisha and Rose understood as well, but the latter feared for Dezel.
“Lohgrin is hidden in the Zaphgott Moor, but the way there is dangerous. The hellions have gotten out of hand ever since Tilia stopped working,” Cocona explained.
Finnel glanced at her friend. Was it really a good idea to tell humans that Tilia wasn’t operating like it was supposed to? But Cocona had a plan. She led Sorey’s group along the bridge from the campsite, and the Shepherd suggested that the seraphim go inside. He didn’t trust Cocona and Finnel as much as he appeared to, and while he was sure that he and his friends could fight them if they had to, he didn’t want to fight against seraphim.
After taking the peripheral pathways to avoid a giant hellion known as the Kraken on the main part of the bridge, the group of now five finally came to the edge of the Great Camelot Bridge. They were officially out of Rolance’s territory and Frelia’s waning domain. They were now under Tilia.
Notes:
Next chapter is only two pages...one and a half, so I'll try to have some more stuff. Maybe post two chapters or something...depending on how next week looks. But I'm excited for Phase 3!
In other news, I've finally composed SOME music for this fanfic. Lailah has two (still shoddy) themes for her cosmosphere! Yaaaay~
Chapter 83: Phase 3: Binary Field ~Interlude~
Summary:
Mir is still stuck in the Binary Field.
Notes:
SUPER short chapter, so I'm providing two chapters today. I've got a four-day break this week, so I'm hoping I can make some more progress!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Heldalf stood alone in the darkness, Symonne awaiting her next set of instructions. Every time they thought about using Mir, they remembered that she was sealed away within the Binary Field by Shurelia. They needed something to get them out of this problem.
Meanwhile, Mir was held prisoner. The Binary Field was similar to the soul spaces of normal seraphim except that everything was based on tangible memory. Shurelia’s childhood and life was exactly told in hers, and it rendered Mir powerless. She had a limited connection with Ayatane, who she sensed was near Eolia and waiting for the opportune moment to sneak into the Tower to kill the Origin. But being trapped within this place wasn’t all bad. Mir’s sole purpose was to eradicate humans and allow for the propagation and proliferation of seraphim. She wanted to create a utopia called Reyvateilia in honor of the man who had shared her pain. But even then, what was important was sustaining the world that was dying under everyone’s feet every day. If the world died, then her dream would never come true.
“If only I hadn’t been so foolish and gotten myself trapped here,” she grumbled. “Even if I tried to kill Shurelia here, then I would be lost within the Earthpulse, even deeper than the Binary Field.”
Mir walked through the city created from her counterpart’s memory. The researcher that had adopted Shurelia—then known as Eolia—and treated her as his own daughter appeared in different stores and restaurants. Mir gritted her teeth and ignored it all.
“Why couldn’t I have a happy life?” she wept.
As she wondered while wandering around, she came to a breach in the Binary Field. It was too small and too dangerous for her to squeeze through, but she could see another person on the other side. She squinted through the hole. The person was a girl dressed in pink.
“You’re…!” Mir gasped.
The girl turned. “Oh, a visitor in the Binary Field?” she said. Her innocent smile made the caged bird cautious.
“You’re Harvestasha, aren’t you?”
“Well, I’m half of her. Are you the legendary Mother Virus?”
“Yes. How do you know about me?”
“Lady Tyria used to be friends with Lady Shurelia. She had mentioned that there was always a sulky, gloomy girl living near her. I didn’t know you were confined to the Binary Field, though.”
“I was sealed here by that pearly brat, unable to complete my mission to fix the problem with the world.”
Harvestasha’s interest was piqued. “If you’re aiming to heal the world, then you must know what the problem is.”
“Yes, it’s the humans that exist!”
Harvestasha shook her head. “No, we need the humans. I see, you don’t know, do you. A Will of the Planet—an important one—has become corrupted. If he is allowed to Armatize with the Lord of Calamity, the world will be plunged into darkness then destruction. Humans are resilient enough to go forth into that darkness, but they have no way of obtaining the Fourth Dimensional Core Square Ring. That is known among humans as the Heart of Gaea.”
“But…But seraphim deserve the world! Unless you’re implying that we keep the humans alive just for this purpose. I suppose we could then kill them after.”
“Mir,” Harvestasha said with a sigh. “You have to let go of your hatred. Please, you must find a Heart of Gaea and bring it to me. You have the power to restart the World Regeneration Project. You just need to find that compassion in your heart.”
Mir refused to work with humans. How could she let go of what they did to her? She hated them and wanted them to all die! Harvestasha knew there was no getting through to her though she wanted to try, and before she left to consult her other half, she sudden felt a disconnection. She thought that the other Harvestasha had gone to sleep, but after waiting a few hours, there was no reconnection.
“Mir, are you still there?” Harvestasha asked desperately.
“I haven’t moved from this spot,” Mir replied. “There’s nowhere to go, nothing to do—Shurelia is so boring.”
“Something’s going wrong in Tilia. You must make amends with humans and help them. Without the Heart of Gaea, he will die! I am begging you!”
Mir peered through the hole at Harvestasha, her red eye piercing her heart with anger. “I will never be ordered around by humans ever again.”
Notes:
I think it was either in AT2 or AT3 that Mir explains how she met Harvestasha, and I would have loved to see the interaction. That said, I never played through Shurelia's Binary Field, soooo...I do need to replay AT1 though.
Chapter 84: Phase 3: Mirages in the Sun-Reflecting Sand
Summary:
Sorey and company follow Cocona and Finnel through the Zaphgott Moor only to find a certain surprise waiting for them.
Notes:
So I attempted to make this chapter a little more lighthearted, and I forgot about a certain aspect in AT3. Those who have played it know what I'm talking about.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Zaphgott Moor was a great expanse of golden sand dotted with trees and bushes that were able to withstand the horrible heat; every so often they saw a cactus that Edna would try to make Zaveid eat. Cocona and Finnel stood before Sorey and his friends at the threshold of this new region.
“I advise you to stay close behind us,” Cocona said with a rather precocious attitude. “Huh? Where did the seraphim go?” She skirted around each human, and when she had assumed that they had done something terrible to them, she pulled out a pair of blades from her hair barrettes and that strapped to her arms. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted!” Finnel ran a few paces ahead of them then began singing her Song Magic. Cocona prepared to fight them.
Alisha drew her spear, but she wasn’t intending to fight Cocona. Rose also pulled her daggers. Sorey was the only one who didn’t react. He simply got on his knees like he was ready to be executed.
“Cocona, Finnel,” he started with a gentle voice. “I am the Shepherd that wants to save the world and reunite humans and seraphim so that they can coexist. Alisha, Rose, put your weapons away. It’s obvious that we’re all on different pages.”
Finnel stopped singing. “I don’t get it,” she said. “Why did you just sit?”
“I don’t like fighting seraphim; it’s pointless.”
Cocona put away her blades. “Pointless?” she repeated. “You sound a lot like him.”
Sorey called out Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid. When they realized that they were out in the middle of nowhere, they relaxed; they had thought that Lohgrin was closer and that others would see their group and have the same reaction as their escorts. Alisha and Rose called out Lailah and Dezel.
“These seraphim are our friends,” Sorey explained. “Mikleo and I even lived together since we were babies.”
Alisha and Lailah followed suit, explaining that they had been together for years. Lailah specifically told the two girls that the princess had rescued her several times from the other humans in their city. Rose recounted when Dezel was nearly killed by soldiers and subsequently adopting him into their guild. When Finnel glanced at the blind wind seraph, she noticed how subdued he was. She wanted to know what Cocona thought about it since she was more perceptive, so she tapped her shoulder.
“If you’re friends of seraphim, then what happened to him?” the twin-tailed seraph asked after the little conference.
Sorey looked down. Rose stepped in front, Dezel following behind her like a wet puppy. When she explained that he had been the subject of one of the cruelest IPD experiments, Cocona became rigid. She immediately apologized, which made everyone else curious about her. She wouldn’t tell them. Then the Shepherd inferred something.
“Do either of you happen to know Cloche?” he asked.
“You know Lady Cloche?” Cocona gasped.
“Who’s that?” Finnel asked before her face lit up with recognizing the name.
“She’s one of my friends! How did you meet her?!”
“We made a stop in Lastonbell, and she came and found us. A friend of ours smuggled her out of the city, but we haven’t heard from either of them in a while.”
Lailah and Zaveid glanced at each other. Mayvin had promised to take care of her, and more than likely he had taken her to Lohgrin. If their hunch was correct, then everything should be fine to enter the ancient tower ruins that made the town. After all, Mayvin was as much human as Sorey was, and if he was granted access, then why wouldn’t Sorey be allowed?
Finnel pulled Cocona away from them. “Even if they did help Lady Cloche…” she whispered. They couldn’t hear anymore than that. Cocona’s countenance changed for the gloomier. She had been ready to fight them, but for some reason, the fact that they knew her friend had turned everything sideways. “Remember what you told me. We have to follow orders to protect everyone, especially Misha, Cloche, and Saki.”
Zaveid leaned close to Sorey’s ear. “Don’t let your guard down around those two,” he warned. His amber eyes didn’t leave them. “They’re a little too hush-hush for my liking.”
After the conference between the two girls was over and Zaveid backed away from Sorey, they resumed their journey to Lohgrin. Sorey thought it would be a good idea to keep the seraphim out since he was sure that Cocona and Finnel would vouch for them at the gate.
The sun beat down on them, and those who weren’t used to the heat dragged behind others. Lailah, Edna, Zaveid, Cocona, and Finnel looked back at the rest of the group. Sorey was completely capable of keeping up, but Mikleo was extremely dehydrated—he himself was evaporating. The armor that Alisha wore reflected the light and cooked her on the inside while Rose tried to take off as much of her clothes as she could without being distasteful…which meant she stripped down to just her underwear. Dezel sweat profusely, his black jacket absorbing and insulating all the heat imaginable and not.
“Maybe everyone should go inside,” Sorey said while propping Mikleo up. He unzipped the water seraph’s shirt at his behest before he was asked to place fresh ice blocks on him that melted as quickly as they formed. “Mikleo, do you want to Armatize and see if that helps?”
“Armatize?” Cocona and Finnel simultaneously repeated. “Just how serious are you?!”
“We can Armatize with all of our seraphim.” Sorey cocked his head to the side.
“Wow, what a scumbag,” Cocona insulted.
“Even Aoto…isn’t that nasty!” Finnel yelled.
“You’re really upset that he likes Saki.”
“I am not!”
Mikleo shook his head in response to Sorey’s inquiry. He figured that Armatization would simply make things worse since the demand for energy would be greater. “I can do it,” he ultimately said.
Rose tried to tip-toe on the sand, but since it felt like she was being grilled no matter what she did, she seriously considered Armatizing with Dezel so she could fly without having to touch it. She knew he wouldn’t be comfortable with it, though, since he was still on edge around her.
Lailah Armatized with Alisha, who immediately felt fine in the heat thanks to her seraph’s affinity. Edna offered to Armatize with Sorey, but the Shepherd didn’t want to make her expend energy.
“Are you stupid? I’m an earth seraph. This doesn’t bother me,” she needled.
“I’ll think of it as training! After all, we went through the fire trial like this!” Sorey smiled. Edna rolled her eyes while muttering that she wouldn’t extend her help to him again.
Cocona and Finnel watched the banter, again looking anxious about reaching to Lohgrin. But what if it was all fake? What if they were only pretending to be good friends and lovers?
Dezel’s head shot up. “Hellions!” he announced. Elephants and plant-like scorpions were running towards them much to everyone’s annoyance. Alisha, Edna, and Zaveid were prepared to fight; Cocona and Finnel assumed position.
“Leave it to us!” Finnel ordered. “Starting Song!”
Cocona sped past Sorey’s friends as they went after the Elephants. The seraph who was only slightly taller than Edna, slashed away at the scorpions, and after a few moments passed, Finnel fired her Song Magic. It vaporized the hellions in one hit, and Sorey suddenly was awestruck and fearful. They were on a different level to them.
Zaveid unleashed Hell Gate, finishing off one of the Elephants. As he turned around to stop an additional Lycamore, he caught a glimpse of another herd coming after them. Alisha quickly left the Elephant she and Edna were fighting to block the wolfman-type hellion from going after Rose and Sorey.
“Cocona Style Song Magic!” Cocona called out. A small fire ball knocked the Lycamore over, giving Sorey a chance to Armatize with Mikleo. “They really can Armatize…”
“My bow shall pierce the heavens!” the two boys said together. “Arrow Squall!” Firing their arrow into the sky, a storm brewed overhead, and a torrential downpour of needle-like raindrops fell on all the hellions in the area. The attack soaked the ground, providing some relief from the harsh heat. “Open the floodgates! Bubble Arrow!” Next Sorey surrounded himself with orbs of water that popped when hellions touched them.
The Elephant thrashed about against Edna until Alisha and Lailah sliced it away. “Tower of Blood!” they cried together before the hellion was defeated.
The influx of power attracted more hellions despite everyone getting more and more exhausted. Rose called on Dezel to Armatize after accepting that she had to do it if they wanted to move on from that spot. “Stratashield!” she called with more Lycamores surrounding her. The burst of wind blew them back.
Suddenly, Finnel—busy casting more Song Magic—cried out. Sorey, Alisha, and Rose all turned their attention to her. “This is so embarrassing…!” she sniffled. Before they knew it, some of her clothes had disappeared into light to reveal the garments underneath her dress. “W-Why do I have to Purge now?! I don’t even want to!”
After what she called “Purging”, Finnel again released her Song Magic. It covered a large area and vaporized the hellions. This time, no other hellions appeared. Her clothes reappeared.
“O-Oh no…t-they saw me!” she bawled. Cocona simply looked hopelessly defeated. “W-What’s gonna happen is Aki finds out!?”
Each of Sorey’s friends de-Armatized with Lailah finding Zaveid positively smitten by whatever he just saw. Both she and Edna smacked him for gawking even if it was somewhat jokingly.
“What just happened?” Rose asked. “W-Why did you strip in the middle of battle?!”
“Y-You’re asking me!” Finnel retaliated. “A-And boys saw me!”
Edna opened her umbrella. “You don’t have to worry about Sorey and Meebo, and Dezel is completely blind. Our exhibitionist is another story.”
“Hey!” Zaveid snapped. “Rose is pretty much naked, too, and I’m not looking at her!”
“That’s because Dezel would kill you if he ever found out.”
“But I am curious why that happened,” Alisha pressed.
“Don’t be embarrassed!” Sorey happily said. “It looks like your Song Magic got stronger, so it looks pretty useful!” Finnel and Cocona just stared at this innocent unknowing sunflower. “If we had that ability, who knows how strong we would be! Oh, maybe if we figure out the secret, we can use it against Heldalf!”
“Sorey…” Mikleo rasped. Sorey immediately stopped smiling to tend to Mikleo’s dried-up form. “Please…stop talking.”
Cocona reactively grew distant. “Sorry, but we can’t share that information to a bunch of humans we just met,” she told them. “I don’t really care if you can Armatize with your seraphim or protect them with your own power. Humans…are horrible.”
The fun atmosphere that had come about from the sudden striptease dissipated. Alisha and Rose were discouraged from speaking to the two seraphim, and Sorey humbly understood that they weren’t friends.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “It was rude to speak so casually with you.” Knowing that he would take a risk by housing his seraphim inside himself under the harsh desert conditions, he called them back inside. “How much farther to Lohgrin?”
“It’s not far from here,” Finnel said after she calmed down. She and Cocona led Sorey after Rose put her clothes back on to be a little more presentable. “When you arrive, you will be given provisions, but don’t expect anything else from our people.”
Sorey continued in silence as did Alisha and Rose. He felt guilty for making the comments he did, but he was more apprehensive about their trek to Lohgrin with each step. Cocona and Finnel were clearly good seraphim; Finnel kept mentioning someone named Aoto as they walked. Were there other humans in Lohgrin? Mayvin had to be there if he had truly taken Cloche somewhere safe. At the same time, what if he wasn’t? He supposed that Mayvin simply left Cloche at the gate while he went his separate way. He started to think that aside from being a precious soul that amounted to immense power, he was also hated by not just humans but by seraphim as well. He figured that by expressing his dream to reunite humans and seraphim after so many years of slavery and discrimination, they would accept him and join in his efforts. It was wishful thinking. With the way that Cocona and Finnel were acting towards him and his friends including their seraphim, it would be close to impossible to have them see where he was coming from. Coming from a seraphic village himself, he had believed that he would be able to connect. Now he was slowly learning that perhaps Elysia was but a black sheep in the realm of the mystic. After all, Cocona seemed indifferent that he and Mikleo were so close aside from her initial astonishment that they could Armatize—practically lovers if not truly in love like Rose and Dezel and Alisha and Lailah.
“Don’t let it get to you,” Mikleo gently consoled his Shepherd.
“Yeah, it ain’t your fault that people and seraphim are ignorant,” Zaveid also comforted.
“If anything, you might be able to change their minds; you were able to change mine,” Edna reminded him.
“And if you can change Edna’s mind about humans, you can change everyone in Lohgrin,” Lailah said.
Dezel stayed silent for a moment. “Sorey…is Rose’s…friend…” he said.
“Oh, Dezel said something that actually makes sense!” Rose happily said aloud, startling Cocona and Finnel. “I’m so proud of you!”
“R-Rose…” Sorey nervously giggled.
“You do realize you’re talking out loud, right?” Alisha scolded yet stifling a chuckle.
Cocona and Finnel didn’t look back at them. Their hearts ached; what they were about to do was wrong, but they had to follow orders. It wouldn’t generate malevolence as long as they believed that this General Akane knew what she was doing.
Notes:
Yep, I included the stripping that was retconned out of the trilogy. It honestly makes sense, but the way it was executed in-game was...Hmmmm...Like I dig the concept that showing more skin = more surface area to release energy, but striptease pushed it.
Chapter 85: Phase 3: Lohgrin, the Tower Remains
Summary:
Upon entering Lohgrin, Sorey finds himself among human-hating seraphim. It is only when he sparks a deal does his life truly hang in the balance.
Notes:
Yeah, so this chapter got melodramatic FAST. Sorry about that. That said, we've going to veer from both games' canons again in a second just because either story has a different prerogative, so...let's make this interesting!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Lady Harvestasha, Cocona and Finnel are back from their restocking mission,” a seraph with long, dark hair notified She was emotionally restrained and commanded respect based on her general-like attire. Harvestasha wore white with blue-tipped hair, a single mechanical wing on her back. “I have been told they have three humans and five seraphim. Shall I bring them here for immediate purification, or shall I undergo the regular procedure?”
“Ugh, fucking pieces of shit,” Harvestasha griped. “It’ll be bad if those seraphim with them saw them get purified, but I bet they’ll most likely be super happy if we just fry their brains now.” She thought for a moment. “Actually, let’s just go with the usual stuff. We still have those two oxygen-wasters rotting in our cells. That silver-plated one—Lyner?—he’s gonna die soon anyway. Toss him out before he actually perishes so those two seraphim don’t turn into dragons.”
“L-Lady Harvestasha…”
“You got something to say, Supreme Commander General Akane? Or have you just forgotten your place? Do I need to purify you so you know to stay in your lane, you little maggot?”
“N-No, but…I have one question.”
“Spit it out.”
Akane seemed uncomfortable. “How do I dispose of Lyner without intereference from Misha and Aurica? The three of them came from Eolia’s city Platina. Wouldn’t this create conflict with their administrator and incite war with the humans on that Tower?”
“Does it look like I care? Humans are disgusting creatures anyway, so we’re doing her a favor if they die in a battle. Get back to Lohgrin to detain the new arrivals after you trash Metal-Bod.”
Akane bowed then took her leave from the Third Tower’s Harvestasha Module, located deep within the predominantly-female seraphic city named Clustania. As she left the Tower and headed through the Plitzerback Wetland west of Lohgrin and the abandoned village of Horsa, her alien-like companion appeared next to her.
“Kukuro, what are you doing out?” she asked it. This being named Kukuro simply chirped. “I see, you believe that I am sad. It’s quite alright. My emotions have been minimized, remember? I don’t feel sad, at least not terribly.”
-----------------------------
By the time Cocona and Finnel brought Sorey and his company to the city gate of Lohgrin, the sun had set coloring the Zaphgott Moor with vermillion light. Instead of burning up, they were freezing as the temperature began to drop. They were forced to wait until they heard the seraphim guarding the gate receive confirmation to open it. And when they did, Sorey was amazed to see how many seraphim were living there.
His heart skipped a beat as memories of Elysia poured back into him. He was so happy to see the number of healthy seraphim only to slowly become saddened that his friends and family weren’t among them. No one had survived the raid on Elysia—he took care to remember that. The seraphim, however, were not happy to see Sorey, Alisha, and Rose.
“Humans? Through the front gate!?” one male barked.
“They’re with Cocona and Finnel; they must be fresh meat,” a female giggled.
Sorey’s seraphic friends came out, and a collective gasp echoed through the town. He must have been arrested for enslaving seraphim—there was no doubt about it, those seraphim believed that. Lailah held Alisha close while Mikleo gripped Sorey’s arm. Dezel inconspicuously reached for Rose’s hand. Edna and Zaveid made a barricade in front of them, which further insinuated that they had been brainwashed into serving Sorey.
General Akane emerged from the crowd of seraphim after she ordered there be a path made. She approached them, first addressing Finnel. “So, you brought them,” she said. “Did they resist?”
“They didn’t,” Finnel replied meekly.
“I see. Then they won’t be executed immediately—good news for you all.”
“Executed?” Alisha murmured.
“Aki, you won’t—”
“Cocona, were you able to discern the relationship between the humans and the seraphim here?”
Cocona looked back at them then answered Akane. “It appears they’ve been brainwashed. They were even capable of Armatization,” she said with some reluctance.
Akane’s eyes widened. “Hmm, this is quite the predicament. Humans,” she commanded as she turned to Sorey’s group. “You were going to be allowed to live a little longer for not resisting, but Armatization has been deemed illegal. As such, you will be entered into the colosseum, where you will fight endlessly to survive until you eventually collapse from fatigue. If one of you succeed, then you will be blessed by Lady Harvestasha.”
Sorey gently pried Mikleo’s grasp off his arm. He bowed graciously to General Akane, again making sure that he didn’t purport whatever accusation she had made. “Please, let us explain why we’re here,” he said the dignity of a natural diplomat. “I am the Shepherd Sorey. My friends are Princess Alisha of Hyland Kingdom and Rose of the Sparrowfeathers merchant guild. We’re on a quest to save the world and reunite humans and seraphim so that no one has to suffer. We have come to learn how to defeat the Lord of Calamity.” The other seraphim in the town whispered and murmured. Their noise covered the loud thumping of Sorey’s anticipating heart. Unfortunately, Akane didn’t seem to be impressed. “If you don’t believe that I want to help seraphim, then may I ask if there is anyone here named Mayvin or Cloche?”
Everyone fell silent.
Sorey glanced around for the bright blue parka and the angelic-looking dress. He spotted them at the outer edge of the crowd, but while Cloche was nervous, Mayvin seemed indifferent. He pointed at them.
“We found Cloche in Lastonbell and sent her with Mayvin to go somewhere safe. We didn’t know this place existed, only that we could trust him because he had helped raise Rose when she was younger. Let this be my evidence that I am who I say I am.”
Lailah suddenly became grim. She wished Sorey hadn’t mentioned that because Mayvin had no obligation to meddle in the affairs of the world. Zaveid implicitly agreed with her, but he waited to hear the old man’s response.
Akane called on Mayvin and Cloche to verify. They denied that it had happened. They even claimed that he was delusional.
“What? But…Old Man!” Rose breathed.
“We have never seen these people before,” Mayvin said. His piercing eyes didn’t leave Sorey even when he tried to plead with him. “This boy must be mistaken. He’s trapped in a delusion, most likely dehydrated and hungry from crossing the moor in this heat. I suggest feeding and watering him before further questioning.”
Akane pulled her katana from its sheath and held it at Sorey’s throat. “We have ample respect for Mayvin, so we shall give you a morsel of food and a drop of drink. After that, we will address what Lady Harvestasha wants of you three. As for your seraphim,” she looked at Mikleo. “All of you will be freed soon. Do not worry.”
Two more girls came from the crowd—one wearing moon-shaped barette and the other wearing something like a crown. Both girls wore Oriental-style clothing. “Shall we take them to the holding cells?” the moon girl asked.
“Would you kindly, Luca? Misha, please escort the seraphim to the rations tent so they can at least drink water,” Akane ordered. “Seraphim don’t require humanly sustenance, but please consider it a gesture of good faith.”
Luca and two other seraphim pulled Sorey and the girls towards one side of the town that was behind a crumbling wall. As they began to force the group to separate, Dezel fought back against Misha in an effort to remain with his human.
“N-No…!” he uttered. “No, I have to stay with Rose! Rose, don’t leave me! Rose!”
The seraphim of Lohgrin stared disgustedly at the assassin, who broke from her escort to return to her wind seraph. She hugged him tightly after falling to his knees before her, but Akane couldn’t let such a display continue.
“You’re not going to do that same?” Edna asked Mikleo.
“It’s different; Dezel still hasn’t recovered from what happened in Pendrago, and because they’re forcing him to stay away from Rose, he’s starting to panic,” Mikleo quietly explained. “They won’t do anything to Sorey because of what Mayvin said. It would be unjust to sentence him without listening to him ‘in top condition’.”
“Ooh, Mickeyboy’s got them figured out, huh?” Zaveid sniggered. “Of course, that’s assuming these ladies ever had the intention to listen to his piece.”
“Mayvin persuaded them to let them live a little longer. We need to buy more time.”
Dezel buried his face in Rose’s chest, begging her not to go like a child crying for its mother. Rose, holding back tears because it always hurt to hear him cry so desperately, stroked his hair and back; his hat had fallen off when he collapsed in front of her. She reassured him that everything would be okay, yet he still asked if he could go with her. She whispered something sweetly to him to try to abate his separation anxiety.
“He—They recaptured him,” Cloche inferred. “He was so different from before.”
“Lady Cloche, please watch what you say,” Mayvin whispered to her. “I’m trying to stall, but if they find out I lied, they will kill me as well.” He watched Rose. “When Luca puts them in their cell…”
Akane accosted the pair. “Let go of her,” she ordered Dezel. The wind seraph refused. She told him to let go of her again, and yet again he refused. She drew her sword. “If you don’t let go, I will cut your arms off myself.” She raised her blade.
Sorey broke from the escort, and without thinking of parrying her attack or knocking her off her feet, rushed in front of Rose and Dezel at the same moment the blade came down like a guillotine. He stood there in front of them, a long line of crimson stretching across his cloak and shirt. Like the shield he had become, the Shepherd did not falter.
“Aki!” Finnel screamed. Everyone screamed at the horrific sight.
“Sorey!” Mikleo cried out as he ran to Sorey’s side. “Hold on, I’ll heal you! O Holy Fountain—”
“No, Mikleo!” Sorey interrupted him. He looked pale from the burning pain across his chest. “You’re just going to get in trouble.”
“You’re bleeding!”
The Shepherd shook his head, resolute emeralds staying pinned on Akane. “If I have to suffer to prove my dream, then so be it. But I won’t let you hurt my friends.”
“Sorey, this is madness!” Alisha protested. “Lailah, please heal him!”
“No!” Sorey refused again. “I will bear with this pain until they believe me!”
Mikleo couldn’t stand to see him in this condition. He cast Purity Heal in defiance of Sorey’s wish, quietly apologizing that he undermined him. Akane consequently put her sword away. While the two seraphim that were helping Luca dragged Sorey to the holding cell now that the attack had rendered him incapable of walking without dizziness, the general allowed Rose and Dezel to hold each for a few more seconds.
“Dezel, I promise everything will be okay. If I don’t go now, they’re really going to kill me,” she softly said. Listening to her soothing voice and turning his head towards it, Dezel finally complied with her. He returned to Zaveid and Lailah while Rose ran to catch up with Luca. “Wait for me,” she said to herself since Dezel was out of earshot now.
The holding cells in Lohgrin were giant metal crates that had been taken from merchants who ventured into the Zaphgott Moor. They were fashioned to hold a person equivalent to Zaveid’s height. There was no bed or anything to use as toilet, and barely any light came in through the metal planks. Alisha was grateful that Mikleo had healed Sorey against his wish because he would have died alone in his cage after seeing how tiny and isolating they were. Two other girls were by the holding cells, both dressed in pink and white and one with caramel hair and the other with ash-blonde hair. They had been crying for a while. A third person stood behind them—extremely muscular and held a murderous glint in their eyes.
“Lyner, please hang in there,” the caramel-colored hair girl said.
“You, too, Aoto! Saki doesn’t want to be alone!” the other girl cried.
Alisha stared at them before she was shoved into a cell. Rose was curious about them as well. Sorey wasn’t surprised; he had a feeling that there were other seraphim that concerned for humans, and he was sure that they even loved the ones in the cages.
Whoever Aoto was tried to console Saki, but no sound came from Lyner’s cage. Misha, who had escorted their seraphim to get water ran over to Lyner’s cage with clacking geta shoes. She tried to use Song Magic to heal him, but as soon as she started singing, the third person grabbed her neck.
“You know the rules! No healing the humans!” the presumed seraph reminded her gruffly.
“Mute, have a heart! Lyner is important to me—to Aurica! You can’t…you can’t just let him die!” Misha argued. She reached for the massive hand that had grabbed her.
“If General Akane says to stand guard and make sure you bozos don’t try to help them escape, then that’s what I’m gonna do!”
Sorey listened to the in-fighting, and it became obvious very quickly that Lohgrin was far from a paradise for the seraphic survivors and fugitives. They were just as repressed as anywhere else out of the paranoia that they would be taken back to wherever they came. General Akane was at the forefront of it, but he wasn’t foolish enough to think she could single-handedly control thousands of seraphim from all different backgrounds. He wanted to meet this Harvestasha.
“Mute, please release Aoto and Lyner,” Saki pleaded once again.
“Nope, not gonna,” Mute replied. “Actually, Lyner is slated to be thrown to those hellions out there soon, and that bastard Aoto looks like he might turn into a hellion, too.”
“That’s because you keep making them fight each other!” Aurica retorted.
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Luca sighed. Aurica, Saki, and Misha all turned to her. “The human I liked was killed a long time ago when we were forced to come down from Metafalss. But Croix didn’t love me—not after he found out that I had been lying to him. He fell in love with Lady Cloche instead. So what’s the point in getting upset about it?”
“Sorry, but that sounds like a personal problem,” Misha snapped at her. “Lyner cares about both of us, and once we get him out,” her voice started to crack, “Then me and Aurica can compete like the old days for him!”
Alisha’s heart ached. The girls that were near the holding cells all loved someone save for Luca. Living in Lohgrin under Tilia’s domain and Harvestasha’s control, they weren’t allowed to enjoy one of life’s greatest pleasures.
Sorey knocked on the side of his cage. “I have a question for Mute,” he said. He couldn’t see who was who or where everyone was, but he waited for Mute to respond. “Why aren’t they allowed to love who they want?”
“Cheeky brat!” Mute roared, kicking the side of his cage.
“Mute, if he gets hurt under your watch, you’ll be in trouble,” Luca warned. “Be a good girl and just answer his question.”
“Mute’s a girl?!” Rose exclaimed. “This whole time I thought it was a guy!”
“What was that?!” Mute roared again. Suddenly, her voice changed into that of a little girl’s. “No, my Song Magic wore off! Dammit, you made me lose concentration!”
“Ah, I can believe it now.”
Sorey asked his question again. According to the prison guard, humans had always been thought to be viruses to the world; sucking up the mana that was infused in everything, eating the symphonic energy needed for Song Magic, and bullying their way through evolution. What started as a small political movement developed into the beginning of the ultimate utopia named Reyvateilia. All they needed was a Heart of Gaea now, but for some reason she couldn’t answer what that was when the Shepherd asked about it.
“What if I made a deal with your people then?” Sorey asked.
“Sorey, what are you doing?” Alisha questioned.
“A deal? You’re in no position to make one,” Misha told him.
“I’m not, but what if I told you that I’m willing to trade my life—the soul of the Shepherd—for Rose and Alisha?”
“Why would we want a human soul?” Mute countered.
“The Shepherd’s soul is apparently a driving force in a lot of things. I’ve survived whatever experiments people have tried on the seraphim, and I’m able to connect with three seraphim’s souls at once. I don’t know what the Heart of Gaea is, but what if my soul could be used with it to provide something even greater?”
Alisha and Rose couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Mikleo had just saved his life, and now he was throwing it away! At first, they wanted to believe that it was some elaborate plan, but it was far too reckless. They tried to convince him not to sacrifice himself, but without Lailah there to explain the possible consequences, he wouldn’t budge. Not this time when so many lives were on the line.
“That would be something you need to ask Lady Harvestasha,” Mute answered. “Luca, go get General Akane so she can hear this proposition, too.”
“Who died and made you queen?” Luca grumbled. She left anyway, coming back a few moments later with Akane behind her. “Here she is.”
Sorey repeated his bargain to her, which piqued her interest. Still, she wasn’t so sure she could trust him. She mumbled something about the Heart of Gaea before finally conceding. Akane let him out of his cell but only at his request to free Rose and Alisha as well. All three of them would go to the Third Tower together with Sorey’s soul as the bargaining chip. She mulled it in her mind—the Shepherd’s soul which was high in resonance and a balance-tipping force was indeed a very valuable thing, but what would Harvestasha think?
Notes:
I used to really dislike Mute, but she's actually a funny girl. I will admit that I think I wrote Luca a little off, but I was never fond of her in the first place. Harvestasha is ACTUALLY my favorite, though.
Chapter 86: Phase 3: Sacrificial Lamb in the Lion's Den
Summary:
Now that they are in Lohgrin, no one quite knows what to do. That is, until Sorey proposes a deal.
Notes:
Gooooood morning!~ So this chapter is one of two today because I have a holiday today and...yeah. I'm not making it a thing to upload two chapters, just taking advantage that I have the day off.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Zaveid and Lailah walked around Lohgrin after asking Edna and Mikleo to stay with Dezel. Not all seraphim were pure and virtuous, and given what they had seen, they weren’t above abusing others themselves. Cocona walked with them while Finnel stayed with the babysitters. She didn’t enjoy being in their company since they were unknown and had relationships with humans. Of course, she did, too, but it was a secret between her and her twin-tailed friend. They were on the Third Tower together at one point when they were exploring against Akane’s orders one day.
“So, uh, how did he end up blind?” Finnel asked to make small talk.
“We don’t know,” Mikleo replied curtly. “His protector, Rose, would know that, but she was arrested.”
“Okay, um, oh! Why did you save that brown-haired boy?”
“We’re his seraphim; if he dies, we die,” Edna bluntly said.
“Is it because of the Armatization?” Finnel tapped her chin in thought in some vain attempt to show she meant no harm to them.
“We willingly entered our pacts with him and the others and allowed them to enter our soulspaces. Of the five of us, the blind one, Meebo, and Lailah have developed romantic relationships. Zaveid and I are merely supporters for our own reasons. Any more pointless questions?”
Finnel flinched but was intrigued by the quick summary of their story. She had a yearning look in her lavender eyes as she gazed in the distance towards the holding cells. She had an unrequited love for Aoto, but as Cocona had mentioned, his heart belonged to Saki. She wondered if Edna got jealous, to which the earth seraph responded a strong “no”. She liked Sorey platonically because she was able to move on thanks to his actions for the greater scheme. A part of her wanted to tight up the lose ends that dealt with Eizen, but it would have to wait until Shurelia was reawakened, Frelia was taken back to her Tower in the sky, and her human companions were released on parole. The last part seemed like it would take forever. Finnel focused on Mikleo and Dezel, who had both dozed off. The water seraph was holding his friend’s hand in an effort to keep him calm while Rose was away, and he ended up leaning against his shoulder.
“We don’t know what happened to Dezel, but Meebo has suffered a lot.”
The comparison between them were so evident now that despite the fact that Edna didn’t care much to comfort her friends, she was content knowing that for now they could rely on each other until their respective humans came back. That said, she didn’t tell Finnel what had happened. She was careful not to speak too much just in case the clumsy-looking girl turned out to be a spy.
A little farther off, Zaveid and Lailah made their way through the crowds over to Mayvin, who had suggested that Cloche try to act natural and blend in with the crowd. Of course, she was interested in knowing what had happened to Dezel, so after a while she went to see him.
“Mayvin,” Lailah said.
“Lady Lailah, please forgive my insolence earlier,” the old adventurer bowed. “Please understand that there was a reason for it.”
“It’s cool,” Zaveid said. “Waterboy figured it out. The question is…”
“Akane said she respected you quite a bit,” Lailah continued. “Does she know who you are?”
“No, thankfully. To them, I’m merely a smuggler that transports seraphim to this town from all over the place.” Mayvin rubbed his neck. “If she knew who I was, it wouldn’t change anything. Though I am worried that I’ve broken my oath earlier than I wanted to.”
“What do you mean?” Zaveid asked.
“As the Storyteller of Time, I cannot interfere in the events that play out before me, yet I saved the Shepherd from an untimely death. According to my oath, it’s taboo to help him.”
Lailah smiled innocently. “Well, it’s taboo to tell him exactly what he needs to do to find his answer to the overall problem.” She sighed. “But I wanted to ask if we can trust you should we need assistance.”
Mayvin looked at her sternly.
“I know it will break your oath, but if Sorey needs help in his quest, are you willing to sacrifice your oath to push him in the right direction?”
Zaveid looked away knowing what it insinuated. He hated oaths, but he didn’t like when things were too easy.
---------------------------------
Akane guided Sorey, Rose, and Alisha through the Plitzerback Wetland to the Tower Tilia. She protected them from the hellions that rushed up to them since the three of them were tied with rope, their weapons in possession of Mute and their seraphim watched by Finnel. But Alisha and Rose weren’t keen on the idea of Sorey sacrificing his life just so they could get out and continue with the journey to defeat Heldalf. They couldn’t understand why he was so willing when Mikleo was waiting for him. Dying would kill his seraphim, too. Did he intend not to die in the colosseum?
Sorey, however, was calculating each step. He smiled to himself at the image of Mikleo scolding him for being reckless. There was a high probability that he would die if he didn’t pay attention to what he was doing, but the thought of Mikleo giving him that look whenever he did something silly or stupid made him happy. Then a single tear rolled down his cheek. He made a silent apology in case things didn’t go as he planned.
“We are here,” Akane announced at the entrance of the Tower. “I will take you to the Harvestasha Module from the Clustania Executive District.” She pulled out thick pieces of fabric. “Because our city is far too grand for mere human eyes, you must blindfold yourselves; it is an order from Lady Harvestasha unto everyone who is not a seraph.”
“That’s a little much, don’t you think?” Rose questioned.
“Just put it on,” Alisha sighed. The last thing she wanted was Akane to get angry enough again to slash them.
Sorey, Alisha, and Rose stood in darkness as Akane led them to the Harvestasha Module. They felt the domain of the Tower strongly yet inconsistently. Sorey was particularly sensitive to the gaps in the domain and experienced a slight dizziness each time a gap passed over them. After a few more moments of nauseating silence and darkness, Akane told them to stop.
“So, these are the humans that came in? Well, at least they look kind of interesting,” a young voice scoffed. “Remove those blindfolds.”
The Shepherd and Squires did as they were told, and much to their surprise, Harvestasha looked much different from what they had expected. She was probably around Edna’s height, but her personality was completely opposite of any sort of respectable figure.
“Okay, losers, what are you here for? Oh, wait, I know, you want to beg for your lives. Am I right? Did I win the prize?”
“This is Lady Harvestasha?” Sorey accidentally said aloud. His image of the angelic-looking girl was tarnished by that foul mouth of hers.
“What was that? Excuse me, but who the fuck do you think you are? My Divinity has the power to wipe you off the face of the planet!” She was ready to charge at them like a bull or rip them to pieces, but Sorey remained undeterred by her threat. He calmly watched her; composure was the key to dealing with people like her. “Your face is so annoying to look at, you know that?”
Rose used every ounce of her strength to keep herself from throwing her daggers at her, and Alisha swallowed her frustration. Harvestasha was clearly trying to get them to retaliate so she would have an excuse to obliterate them.
Sorey sat down on his knees before bowing in front of her. “Forgive my insolence, Lady Harvestasha,” he humbly said. “I am the Shepherd Sorey. I understand your hatred for humans, and I am aware that we have trespassed on your territory. I want to bargain with you.” He paused while Harvestasha cocked an eyebrow at him. He took a deep breath. “I will sacrifice my life—the soul of a Shepherd whose power is coveted by both sides of the war among humans—if you allow Rose and Alisha to walk free.”
“Do you have shit for brains?” Harvestasha mocked, her arms crossed over her tiny chest. “Why the hell would I let humans go? We’ve been waiting for some newbies, so did you think I would let fresh meat walk free?”
“I’m not done,” Sorey continued, a defiant look in his emerald eyes. “I heard about something called the Heart of Gaea. It sounds pretty important, so I believe that using it in conjunction with my soul might produce a greater sum of what you want.”
“Akane, what did you say…?” Harvestasha questioned her commander. Akane shook her head, not knowing where Sorey had learned this information. “Keep talking, trash.”
“If I stay here as collateral, please grant freedom to Rose and Alisha, and I promise they will bring back the Heart of Gaea.”
Rose and Alisha were flabbergasted. They looked at Sorey with wide eyes then looked at each other. It was a sacrifice that could easily backfire.
“Do we have a deal?”
Harvestasha narrowed her eyes at him. She thought it over. Finally, she spoke, “While you’re in custody, we will be allowed to do anything to you. No questions asked. No assistance from anyone until they return with the Heart of Gaea.” She thought again. “But I also don’t trust you scumbags, so how about you prove your loyalty?”
“Shit,” Rose quietly said.
“If you can find all of the Earthen Historia, I’ll believe you. No strings attached—you can be freed as long as you bring me the Heart of Gaea.”
Akane jerked her head towards her ruler. The Earthen Historia were needed for other things under Tilia, that much she knew. Exactly what those things were—she had a bad feeling. She couldn’t hold herself back, and she accidentally addressed her without the respect she commanded:
“But…the sooner we get the Heart of Gaea, the sooner we can save Finnel!”
“Right, I forgot about that shit-stain. Too bad. Loyalty to me is more important than one seraph life; but I suppose we do need her…oops, top-secret information!”
“Lady Harvestasha!”
“It’s a deal, human. General Akane, take him back to his holding cell—no food or water. Escort these ugly bitches back to Lohgrin and send them off to find the Earthen Historia,” Harvestasha said. “That’s an order.”
Harvestasha vanished, leaving Akane to hold back the tears that she rarely ever shed. She glared at Sorey, Rose, and Alisha. “You…You better find those gems as quickly as you can,” she said with some restraint. “If Finnel dies…!”
Sorey stood up. He wasn’t aware of what was going on, but he was in no place to ask about Finnel. He gave his word that they would find them as soon as possible, but Alisha and Rose weren’t as confident. They only had four. That was it, and they didn’t know where to look for the others.
The four of them returned to Lohgrin with the humans blindfolded like before. When they entered through the city gate, they were allowed to take off the blindfolds as Akane gathered the thousands of seraphim around them. Mikleo led Dezel to a small spot where the two of them could fit together. Finnel and Edna remained at the rations tent, and Zaveid and Lailah made sure to put distance between Mayvin and themselves.
“There had been a change in the sentencing!” Akane announced. The seraphim murmured. “These two humans,” she pointed at Rose and Alisha, “Are not to be harmed! The self-proclaimed Shepherd is at the mercy of this city in exchange for them to walk free! Lady Harvestasha has made this decision; as such, if anyone touches these two you will be dealt with accordingly!”
“What do you mean, those two can’t be sentenced?!” a seraph jeered.
“They’re ruined our lives!” another raged. “They should suffer like we did!”
Cloche stood up from where she was somewhere else in the crowd. “Making humans suffer isn’t the way,” she said. “There must be a reason that Lady Harvestasha has pardoned them!”
“A sympathizer?”
Mayvin called the attention from her. “If Lady Harvestasha has decreed it, we have no choice but to comply,” he stated. His eyes met with Akane’s then Cloche’s. “After all, they are not the only human who was pardoned. The seraph doctor Hikari Gojo and his bodyguard Luphan and his assistant Katene were also pardoned for obvious reasons.”
The seraphim continued to protest the decision, but Dezel and Lailah were happy to hear the news. The two of them pushed their way to their beloved humans, hugging and kissing them despite the angry shouts and death threats. Mayvin approached them and asked them to leave now while they still had protection. Then he knelt between them so he could whisper to them:
“Find the iris gems if you want to learn the truth. That is the real reason you came here, isn’t it?”
“Mayvin?”
“You’re running out of time. Find the iris gems and make your decision.”
Because Sorey was to be kept in his cell, his seraphim weren’t allowed to leave Lohgrin unless they wanted to risk falling to the malevolence after the pact broke. Alisha and Rose promised they would find the iris gems and come back to save him. Zaveid, Edna, and Mikleo had faith in them, but the water seraph was afraid of what they could do to the Shepherd while they were gone.
After the Squires had left and Sorey was returned to his cell, he requested that Edna come to see him. Humans were rarely allowed to have visitors, so he wanted to start enacting another plan. When the earth seraph arrived—explaining that Mikleo was hurt Sorey didn’t want to see him—he made a request.
“Edna, I need you to teach me Hymmnos,” he earnestly said.
“What? Here I thought you wanted to Dive,” she replied.
“I want to Dive to just in case, but I need to learn Hymmnos.”
Edna sensed the ground. Mute wasn’t there watching them. She told him that they had to be quick. Sorey nodded with a determined smile. Eagerly, he called her true name, “Hephsin Yulind.”
Edna’s body turned into light fitting through the thin slits that allowed for air to circulate through the cell. As the Dive began, Sorey prayed that they wouldn’t find them.
Notes:
Harvestasha is so fun to write~
Chapter 87: Phase 3: Edna and Goliath
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 7: Edna
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
I swear, the fact that the previous chapter and this chapter are a nod to Christian belief is a coincidence on this Easter morning. This was not my intention...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
In the two cells next to Sorey, Lyner and Aoto sat in isolation. Both men were exhausted, hungry, injured, and emotionally drained.
Lyner hailed from Platina, which was perched high up on the Tower of Eolia. He had been kidnapped ten years ago along with Aurica—a seraph who was like Mikleo and had problems crafting Song Magic before coming to Lohgrin—and Misha—who, according to the other seraphim in Lohgrin, claimed that she was forced to sing the same Song called Chronicle Key forever to keep someone evil sealed away. Even when Lyner professed that he was Lady Shurelia’s guard, he was arrested. Shurelia then was told not to rely on humans to protect her. The message had come from a few seraphim that once lived in the Hyland area where such an ideology had yet to be developed. Shortly after the three of them and almost all other seraphim living on the Tower were herded towards Lohgrin, Shurelia had gone to Tastiella for guidance. The old soul couldn’t offer any help. She only stressed that they needed to bring Misha back to the Crescent Chronicle to continue singing Chronicle Key. Aurica, on the other hand, was viewed as a defect among many of the seraphim before the exodus. It was only after she was brought to the seraph-made sanctuary that Doctor Hikari Gojo found out what was wrong. In secret, he and Katene worked on a temporary measure that allowed Aurica to give permission to someone to Dive into her and help her create her Song Magic. Lyner was the only option. Subsequently, Misha found out about the process and begged to have Lyner Dive into her to jog his memory about their childhood friendship. When word got out from a couple spies working for Harvestasha, Akane suspended the illegal Dives along with Aoto’s Dives into Saki and Finnel. Hikari Gojo was left off with a warning and a promise that he would be executed if he were to carry out more Dives.
Aoto’s story was different. He had been brought to Lohgrin from the Third Tower after Harvestasha led an invasion of the ruins where a few devote Shepherd worshippers lived. The people had been forced out into other territories, and in no time the seraphim had complete control over the entire moor and wetland. Aoto had previously been asked to protect Saki, who was a special seraphim by Hikari Gojo’s analyses. Finnel was similar to her, and he was then asked to protect her as well. When Akane, who had been the supreme commander in the city of Clustania—which had been in conflict with another city named Archia—was charged with leading the invasion, Harvestasha placed her in charge of the newly occupied Lohgrin. Since the stigma of humans began to propagate faster than anticipated, Aoto was arrested and separated from Saki and Finnel. Saki was the most troubled, and soon she lost hope. After Hikari Gojo had introduced her, Finnel, and Aoto to the secret Dive method; she was happy again and was able to sing. Over time, Akane put a stop to the Dives just like she did with Aurica and Misha.
The Dives were conducted using a special Hidden Arte that Luphan had devised, but because Luphan himself seemed to be completely different from humans, Akane was ordered not to harm him.
There had been one other man that Cloche and Luca discussed and that Cocona had been fond of—Croix Bartell. He had come from Metafalss, the dying floating continent that made Frelia’s rim of her Tower, and was enlisted into the Platinum Knights after being separated from his friends. When he learned that Cloche had been captured by the Rolance soldiers and was slated to be experimented on, he set her free at the cost of his life.
Mikleo and Zaveid weren’t sure how to feel learning about the narratives of the two other incarcerated humans, but Mayvin thought it was best they knew the circumstances. Even if seraphim themselves didn’t generate malevolence, humans were still susceptible to despair inflicted by them. Lyner was at the end of his rope, but Aoto was still able to entertain the masses. He hadn’t been forced to fight as much as the Knight of Elemia; it was almost as if he was being kept in reserve. Harvestasha, Akane, and the other seraphim that hated humans knew he would die soon, though.
“I just hope they don’t plan to kill them in front of the seraphim here,” Hikari Gojo said. He had offered to do a check-up on Sorey’s seraphim to pass the time. He was spared the harsh treatment thanks to another seraph named Richaryosha, or Richa for short. “Saki and Finnel care for Aoto deeply as Misha and Aurica do for Lyner. Luca and Cloche seem to have accepted what happened to Croix, and it hasn’t stunted their growth. I can’t say the same will happen to the others.”
He passed Mikleo’s examination and moved onto Zaveid. Both of them felt shy with the doctor looking them over, but Mayvin chuckled and told them to relax. Mikleo, however, felt worse than before. He wanted to Dive with Sorey terribly now. Katene, who was writing up some reports, advised against it. He looked up from his documents, his ruby-red hair in its ponytail swaying as he shook his head.
“The Shepherd’s method of Diving is the genuine way of Diving, but it’s easily traceable if they Dive for too long,” he warned. He fixed his glasses before standing up. Compared to Mikleo, he was only four feet tall with his lab coat dragging behind him more like a cape. “Armatization doesn’t exist in any of the Towers because the waves emitted that allow the use of Song Magic are too condensed. Merging two souls so close to the administrators’ seats would be most likely be futile. They would get ripped apart, inevitably leading to death if not falling into a vegetative state.”
“But Sorey and I have Dived within Eolia before,” Mikleo countered.
“I’m only speaking hypothetically, and my guesses are based on conjecture.” Katene seemed upset about something. “Oh, I see, you were confused when I talked about the proximity. If it’s at the highest point of the Tower, Diving would be impossible through the Shepherd method. If my research is correct,” he pulled out a scrap of paper, “Eolia’s highest point is its Rinkernator. Frelia’s highest point is its server Sol Marta. Tilia’s highest point is Ku. Do you remember where you Dived? If you were able to Dive, then it must have been somewhere other than the Rinkernator.”
Mikleo shook his head. It was such a blur during the time after Sorey had expelled the Virus from with him that he wasn’t actually sure if any of the information matched up. The more he thought, the more his head hurt.
“It was in the Symphonic Reactor,” Zaveid said. “Shurelia herself urged them to Dive despite that area of the Tower being the most concentrated place of Symphonic Power. But we can go ahead and throw out that theory—despite the Viruses, hellions, and malevolence; Sorey and Mikleo survived. Alisha and Lailah survived.”
Katene frowned, quickly sitting back down and scribbling on hundreds of papers to rectify his theories and trying to assess how to get the Shepherd method to work. He couldn’t understand why they couldn’t use Armatization on the Towers. Zaveid explained that it was because the negative emotions that gave birth to Viruses, malevolence, IPD disease, and the like corrupted humans too much for anyone to be truly pure like Sorey. Even if the Towers were like Elysia and were once full of seraphim, the malevolence still reached them since the Tower domains didn’t carry a strong enough blessing to cover everything. Besides, the Shepherd was the only one that could call forth the Armatus, meaning Lyner and Aoto—as they had thought—could not handle the burden of such power. He went silent, deep in thought.
“Sorey truly is a special lad,” Mayvin rumbled. He smiled kindly at Mikleo and Zaveid.
“How interesting,” Luphan whispered while hiding from them to eavesdrop. He left Lohgrin, making his way to the Third Tower.
----------------------------------
“Are you really sure you should be doing this?” Edna asked her Shepherd. “If you get caught, both of us will be killed which then leads to Zaveid and Mikleo suffering the consequences as well.”
Sorey couldn’t look her straight in her cerulean eyes. He knew he was playing a dangerous game by Diving in a seraphic prison surrounded by the very ones that refused to believe in him simply because he was a human. Even still, by Diving into Edna, he hoped to accomplish two things: boosting her power more in the event that his plan failed and learning Hymmnos.
“You know you don’t have to Dive to learn Hymmnos,” she sighed.
“Every little thing helps, and I don’t want you to get mad at me again for not Diving,” he innocently said. “Besides, I made a promise to your inner self. I have to follow through. I need to complete everything so you can be happy.”
Edna blushed out of embarrassment. Sorey had a sincere heart, and while she knew that he was already sword to Mikleo, she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. To her, he would have been the only human she didn’t mind treating like a younger brother instead of Mikleo.
“Well, it sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you,” she said. She looked at him determinedly. “Don’t get yourself killed.”
Sorey gave a quick nod before entering her soulspace.
-----------------------------------
Phoenix appeared at the Stonehenge when Sorey arrived. It was preparing itself for the worst on the seventh level, and it recommended that he do the same. The Shepherd, however, didn’t plan on hiding from the threat that permeated the level. He had made a promise to the Frankenstein Edna that he intended to keep even if he was forced into it.
“You’re damn crazy,” the golden Normin told him. “This level could very well kill you. Are you still going to go?”
“I have to,” Sorey reiterated. “I want Edna to win over her internal struggles. I want her to get stronger so she can avenge Eizen. Deep down, I know that’s one of her desires.”
Phoenix couldn’t help but appreciate that sentiment, but it didn’t mean that Frankenstein Edna would be willing to cooperate. The Perfect Personality—the conglomerate of all the personalities that had been uncovered thus far—fueled her. He didn’t know why she had formed. He didn’t know why she was willing to risk the real Edna’s mind. He just knew he had to stop her from destroying the soul space.
Sorey left the Stonehenge in search for Frankenstein Edna. He searched high and low, the burnt forest and the summit of the Rayfalke crest. Much of the world had been destroyed with a singular rebuilt city at the base of the mountain. It looked so out of place that he was wary of setting foot into it. He placed a hand on his sword before realizing that walking up to the city with his weapon in hand would set off plenty of red flags and could get him kicked out.
“You have to get over this,” he scolded himself. “We don’t have time to waste.”
Taking a deep breath, he walked down to the city. He crossed the threshold of the gates, and when he saw it up close, he was amazed by how normal everything looked. It was modeled after Marlind right down to the placement of the museum and the sanctuary. The women that walked around wore black robes while the men wore golden ones. It was an interesting choice.
“Edna, where are you?” he called out. “Edna!”
“My, aren’t you ill-mannered,” a girl—Alisha chastised. “Don’t you know you can’t just walk into the Holy City of the Earth and throw around our Purveyor of Perfection?”
“Alisha? What are you doing here? More importantly, are you…a devotee?”
Alisha’s face was hidden behind a cloth mask bearing the earth symbol; only her golden lips, curled into a sinister smile, was visible. “Everyone in this city is a devote follower of our lady and savior. She has shown us the the way to the truth. Perfection is the only path in life. Strength is the only way you can crush your enemies.”
Sorey took a step back. Did Edna really see herself as a queen? Or was there something more?
“Listen, I need help finding Edna,” he said. He swallowed his apprehension, but the princess seemed irritated that he insisted on calling her by that name.
“How dare you address Her so casually! We have a heretic! A heretic is in the city!”
She pulled out a knife from a hidden pocket in her robe, lunging at Sorey and managing to just barely cut him. Sorey raised his sword to fight her off. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by four other reimagined players in Edna’s production. Rose, Dezel, Lailah, and Mikleo were all armed with knives and murderous looks—the crazed looks of fanatics.
“Mikleo, you too?” Sorey asked in disbelief.
“Heretics must be dealt with,” he said, mimicking the same voice Alisha had. “We need to take you to the Hole.”
“The Hole?”
The Hole in this level was a large empty space that fell into the deep abyss of nothingness. Whatever was pushed in never came out, effectively erasing it from the soulspace and reality. It was the point of collapse within the soulspace left over from when the last level was effectively destroyed.
Together, Edna’s fanatics pushed Sorey in the direction of the Hole on the other side of the mountain base. He was nearing the edge of it; one step too many would send him plummeting into erasure.
“Please, stop this! I’m begging you! Mikleo!” Sorey yelled at them. But his pleas fell on deaf ears. “Stop!”
“Normin Power!” a tiny voice called out. A brown Normin pushed its way through the fanatics before turning into a large stone wall to protect Sorey. A second Normin grabbed him by the front of his cloak before he stepped back into the pit behind him. “You shall not pass!”
“Oy, Blokk, don’t let this get to your head,” the other Normin said. It sounded more like Eizen or, at the very least, like a ruffian. “Don’t worry, kid. We’ve got you.”
Sorey was surprised that there were Normin on this level. He deeply appreciated that they had come to his rescue, but there was still the question of escaping. The fanatics tried to stab the stone wall named Blokk, but their efforts were in vain. When the second Normin called on its ability, it warned Sorey that he would have to run through the crowd. He would sustain damage, but it promised he wouldn’t get too hurt. The Shepherd had to trust it. He ran from behind the wall, flanking the group of fanatics who threw their knives at him. One knife grazed his arm while another wedged into the back of his leg.
“Bear with the pain for now!” the second Normin ordered him. “Difens will protect you!”
Blokk transformed back into its Normin form, tailing its partner and Sorey back to the summit. Difens kept an eye out for anyone who tried to follow them while Blokk pulled the knife from Sorey’s leg.
“What the hell is going on in this level…?” he strained as the pain grew.
“I take it you’re here to end Frankenstein’s tyranny,” Difens assumed.
“Um, I guess in a way. But how did things get this bad?”
Difens and Blokk remained silent.
“You can’t even tell me?”
“We don’t know how to explain it to your feeble mind,” Blokk scathingly replied.
“The only one who has the power to stop Frankenstein is the true personality of this level, or rather, the representation of that personality,” Difens explained. “She’s been locked away by the ‘Perfect’ Personality. Without her power, this world is doomed to fall into oblivion.”
Sorey tried to think what the personality would be. Was she an adult? Was she in a different costume? The Normin told him that there was a small shack hidden away in the depths of the burnt forest. They were willing to guide him there, but he wasn’t so sure if he should go there now without understanding the entire scenario.
“So you want to go back?” Blokk asked. “Man, you do have a death wish!”
“Maybe I do, but something isn’t right. Why does she still feel this way?”
Sorey decided to hear Edna’s reasons first before making any action to stop her. The Normin wished him luck. And as he left for the city again, he went through his memories to find what happened.
In the previous level, Mono-Edna had gathered the previous personalities. Each one had a significant weakness—the baker was harsh and unforgiving, the school girl was obsessed with figures, and the drink master was something of a gambler. The mixture of these personalities, he thought, would yield someone who was viewed to be exceptionally strong. Was that it? Did Edna want to be strong? Or was that too simplistic of an idea? But then why would everyone be a fanatic for her? What was this sudden superiority complex?
When he returned to the city, he made every effort to hide from the fanatics that had threatened to kill him. He peeked around building corners before running to new cover. From his position behind a barrel, he caught a glimpse of something that tugged at his heart.
“I-I’m sorry!” Mikleo cried. The mask had been ripped from his face and his clothes were in tatters. “I won’t do it again!”
“Foolish heathen,” Zaveid belittled. “Our Lady Edna doesn’t like fish.”
“I can bring her something else to eat!”
“Do you really think that she will forgive you after this severe blunder?” Lailah asked. “You know what happens to people who commit blasphemy. To the Hole!”
Sorey wanted to rescue Mikleo, but he had to find Edna. If he could find her before they manage to push the water seraph towards the Hole, then he could save him. Mikleo, in this instance, was he perfect distraction. He snuck around the fanatics while they watched him and while Mikleo groveled on the ground to a path that was more decorated than anything else in the city. Lined with topiary in the shape of Edna, Sorey entered a labyrinthine garden that eventually circled around to a simple gazebo where the Frankenstein Edna was drinking tea and eating palmiers.
“There you are!” Sorey gasped. He ran up to her, halting just before stepping into the gazebo. “Edna, Mikleo’s in trouble!”
“Oh, Meebo? I don’t really care,” she nonchalantly said. “With my supersonic hearing, I heard that he planned to feed me fish. He’s just being punished for displeasing me, and my people are carrying out the sentence for me.”
“But he’s your friend!” Sorey replied as he whipped his arm back in the direction of the scene.
“Everyone is my friend. Don’t you get it? Everyone loves me and thinks I’m strong and dependable.” She stood up from her seat under the gazebo. “If I’m happy, everyone is happy. If someone makes me mad, everyone works to fix the problem. They know that I have all the power in the world to save them or destroy them.”
“That makes no sense!”
“Simply put, I am a god.” She took Sorey’s hand. “And even if your heart belongs to someone else—all your devotion, prayers, anything that you have to give—they belong to me as well.” The Perfect Personality led Sorey calmly from the garden, through the city, and all the way to the Hole where Mikleo tried one more time to beg for his life. “I knew Meebo was your object of affection, so what better person to expel from my soul space but him?”
“You’re really going to kill him?” Sorey asked her.
“Can you think of anyone better?”
Sorey thought for a moment. He was supposed to go to the shack deep in the forest. He wondered if there was someone there that he could sacrifice—or pretend to sacrifice—instead of Mikleo. He struck a deal with the Frankenstein Edna to bring someone more desirable to expel than him. Edna accepted, but she gave him a time limit of five minutes much to his dismay. Regardless, he left for the forest.
Difens and Blokk were sitting in front of the shack as Sorey neared it. He didn’t bother explaining the situation; he headed inside. What appeared to be a simple shack on the outside—with a mossy green coating on some of the wood and spiderwebs in the corners of its one window—was actually a maximum-security prison cell. The light from the window didn’t enter the room, and it smelled terribly of mold.
“Is there someone in here?” Sorey asked.
“There’s someone very powerful in here,” Blokk shivered.
“Someone forbidden in this level is here,” Difens added.
“Is someone there?” a tiny voice asked.
“That’s the child version of Edna!” Sorey realized. “Where are you?”
Edna waved her hand through the bars of her prison cell. “Sorey, what are you doing here? How are you still alive?”
“I could ask you the same thing. What’s going on here?”
The child Edna, who retained her precocious older self’s attitude and knowledge, explained that when the Perfect Personality was created from the other personalities, only she was kept from assimilating into her. She waited to see if Sorey had figured anything out. And he thought long and hard about why she would be excluded from the creation of the Frankenstein, why she was imprisoned, and why she was essentially being ignored.
Sorey suddenly gained some insight. He knew the answer to the riddle of the seventh level. “Edna, can you help me?” he asked her. She looked at him dubiously. “I need a sacrifice to save Mikleo from being thrown out of the soulspace. Can you lend a hand?”
“What? Have you gained a stupid level?” Edna scoffed. “Why would I willingly sacrifice myself?”
“Because I don’t intend to let anyone die here. Trust me.”
The Shepherd had a sly smile on his face. It was the first time where he got to play games with someone, and to make his first opponent the god-complex queen-pin Frankenstein Edna was almost titillating. He whispered his plan to Edna, Blokk, and Difens before breaking the bars with his Lion’s Howl Arte.
The time had come to confront the Perfect Personality. His companions followed behind him carefully so they weren’t seen as he came from the forest. Blokk split from the group into its position. Difens later veered off in some other direction. Only Edna remained, and she held Sorey’s hand and feigned fear.
The Perfect Personality looked pleased when Sorey returned with the child Edna. Mikleo, at her command, was pulled from the edge of the Hole. In a slow drawl, she demanded, “Push her down the Hole. A failed personality has no right to live.”
“I never said I would do it,” Sorey told her. “If you want to kill a part of yourself, then do it with your own hands.”
The ultimatum irked his opponent, but he continued to watch her every move. The child Edna stood at the edge of the Hole cowering in fear of what was going to happen. “Hailing Downpour!” Frankenstein Edna called out. A large ball of ice knocked her back into the Hole, and the child disappeared over the edge, her crying voice getting quieter and quieter as she fell into the darkness.
“Excellent, now I truly am the perfect persona,” Edna happily said once the scream had gone silent.
Sorey enacted his plan. He charged at her with his sword drawn. The Shepherd caught her off-guard, but it wasn’t enough to inflict any damage. She leapt back before firing a ball of ice at him. He knocked it away as best as he could before falling back from the force of its speed. He didn’t give up just yet. He bounced back up, unfazed by the attack and undaunted by Edna’s strength.
“This Perfect Personality isn’t the true Edna!” Sorey declared. Again, he charged at her, but instead of trying to deflect him or dodge his attack, Edna retaliated. “I’ll bring out the real Edna!”
“Stupid human!” Frankenstein Edna snapped. By the magic of the soulspace, she grabbed his throat with superhuman strength. “You dare mock me?! You dare slander my name?!”
She threw him down to the ground without releasing her grip. “Why, Sorey? Why do you insist on antagonizing the Perfect Personality by spreading horrible lies? Are you jealous of me? Do you hate me that much? Am I really worth less than 0.000000001% of what Meebo is worth?!”
“Edna…! You’re choking me!” Sorey rasped.
“Oh, I get it. You just think I’m jealous, right? I’m not. I don’t pine for your love. I just crave your attention. I crave everyone’s attention! Don’t you know how lonely I was on the Spiritcrest? The centuries that I’ve been there with the shell of my draconic brother?”
“Ed…na…!”
She tightened her grip. “The only attention I ever got was from people trying to capture me and you. I never had friends besides Eizen. I never knew what it was like to be with others or to feel happiness or security or that I could really make a difference! So why? Why are you trying to take that away from me now!? Why are you trying to make me feel like I don’t matter to anyone?!”
Sorey grasped her wrist. He was unable to break free from her. “This is the answer…” he squeezed out. “This personality—the Perfect Personality—is compensating for what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“So what?! I don’t care if you love someone else, but when Eizen died, I felt like I was nothing. You care so much about Mikleo, and I’m jealous that he gets so much attention! Sorey, just look at me! Pay attention to me! Give me the same affection you give to everyone! Make me feel like I’m important! Or else…Or else I can’t protect you like I want to.”
Sorey stopped struggling.
“I want to do my part for you. I want to protect you with the fists that I share with you when we Armatize. I want to help you, but you always ignore everything!”
Difens activated its Normin Power, bestowing unto Sorey protection that allowed him to regrettably fight back. He used his Mystic Arte Bolt Tempest, eliciting a horrifying scream. Frankenstein Edna sobbed before him as the child Edna climbed out the Hole when she heard the cue; Blokk hung over her shoulder.
“Why? Why can’t I…Why can’t I do anything?” Edna whimpered before growing angry again. “I just don’t get it! I don’t understand! This is the Perfect Personality! A combination of all the personalities that give me godly power!”
The shockwaves emanating from her threatened to push everyone into the Hole. The child Edna handed Sorey the Normin. She urged Sorey to get to the Stonehenge; a Paradigm Shift had opened, but it was too dangerous to take the Perfect Personality to it. She simply said that he needed to get to the next level, the level that belonged to the precocious child Edna.
“This level will end up like the previous level, so you must go through the Paradigm Shift while you still can!” she said one last time.
She used her earth powers to create a mudslide that washed him to the threshold of the Stonehenge. Before walking into the light, Sorey’s heart ached. It was true that Mikleo commanded his attention, but he thought that he had fixed the rift between him and Edna. Even if she didn’t overtly express it, even if she didn’t truly feel like she was being neglected to the extent that the Perfect Personality thought, even if she held no desperate feelings; Sorey felt so guilty. He returned to reality.
------------------------------------
And he hugged Edna with tears trickling from his eyes. Edna was taken by surprise. She pushed him off. “What’s with the waterworks?” she asked with disgust. She listened intently for anyone coming near the cell.
“Edna, do you truly feel neglected?” Sorey asked. “Please, tell me! What I saw in your soulspace—I can’t bear to see it again. I can’t promise you my love or undivided attention, but it was…it was so sad!”
Edna covered his mouth with her gloved hand. “Sorey, remember what the true feelings in the soulspace are? They’re exaggerated. It can’t be helped if you pay more attention to Meebo, and I nor Zaveid can tell you to forget about him because your heart’s decided. Besides, have you thought about it from a different angle?”
The little earth seraph suddenly lost her cold demeanor. Even though she was small, she tried her best to embrace him. She didn’t say anything after that. It was almost as if she was trying to help him get through the rest of her soulspace. He was getting ready to enter the eighth level; he was so far deep into her heart but didn’t know what to do other than to continue going in circles.
“Sorey, you’re the Shepherd because you have a pure heart, not because you’re the perfect human being,” she softly said. “Whatever you decide to do about Zaveid, Meebo, and myself; we will all support you.”
“E-Edna…”
She pushed him away, turned into an orb of light, and squeezed through the planks. She reappeared outside the prison cell at the same moment that Misha had come into the prison block to see Lyner. She ignored the earth seraph.
“Lesson One: the Hymmnos Alphabet,” Edna suddenly said as if to give the illusion that nothing had happened. Sorey wasted no time in focusing on her voice through the metal planks.
Notes:
Edna would be a really good older sister, and I do believe that she probably does get jealous from time to time. But knowing that Sorey really cares for Mikleo, she would try to support him in her own way.
Chapter 88: Phase 3: Village on the Oasis
Summary:
Rose and Alisha set out to start their quest in locating the remaining iris gems, starting with the land covered by Tilia's domain.
Notes:
So this was clearly written during one of my classes--most likely physics--so it suffers a bit. That and I'm also not the greatest at fight scenes. That said, I wrote these based on how I fought in Zestiria. Points for authenticity?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
With Mir sealed away within Eolia, Ayatane had no other plans on how to exact his revenge. Trying to dismantle the Tower would kill his beloved “mother”. Like Lunarre, who had escaped from Pendrago when the IPD experiments were concluded and seemed to defect from Heldalf’s command, and like Targana, who was sentenced to prison indefinitely until his execution, he was approached by Symonne. And she wasn’t alone.
The amethyst-clad sentient Virus met Maltran for the first time. With the fallen seraph’s help, they became acquaintanted and formed a new alliance.
“This is absolutely wonderful,” Symonne cooed. “A jealous Valkyrie and a lost child both working for Lord Heldalf. Can you hear, esteemed master? Your influence is having quite the effect on everything nowadays.”
“How do you suppose that we go about killing them?” Maltran asked. She held onto Asura’s mythril blade eagerly yet still reserved.
Symonne twirled. “However you see fit,” she happily sang.
Maltran and Ayatane exchanged looks. As long as they didn’t interfere with each other’s goals, there would be no problems. The former made it very clear that if they were to encounter Sorey and his friends, she would be the one to bury her blade in Alisha’s breast. Ayatane wanted to skewer them all for trapping Mir.
“You can do whatever you like, but the Shepherd must stay alive,” Symonne suddenly said. “The Lord of Calamity has plans for him. Got that? Kill them all except for the boy. I’ll have to find that idiot fox and have him do something about that assassin.”
While Symonne conducted everything in the light of day, Heldalf was elsewhere and cognizant of the state of affairs concerning the Shepherd. He had one more spy working for him. They had never met in person but through the Binary Field, and he knew he would be instrumental in filling Sorey with despair.
“Your Divinity,” Luphan greeted as he knelt before Harvestasha. “I have received new intel about the Shepherd in your possession.”
“Ooh, Luphan! I knew I could count on you!” Harvestasha giggled. “Lay it on me.”
The samurai-esque man stood before her, a devious smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. He told her everything that Zaveid had said, and he stressed on Sorey’s natural resonance. “He is the only one capable of Armatizing within the Tower that we know of right now, but I believe those two girls with him may also be able to Armatize within the Tower simply because of their association with him,” he said. Harvestasha waved her hand. “What are you planning to do?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I mean, there are so many things we could do. Those two humans—Metal Bod and Lumberjack—are pretty much useless and aren’t really fun to watch anymore. That Shepherd, though, would be interesting. He can’t Armatize in the colosseum thanks to the mediators’ Songs, and I heard that he’s a goody little two shoes. Fighting and killing Metal Bod and Lumberjack would throw him into the pits of despair! He’ll fall to Border Disease in no time at all!”
“And he would effectively become a hellion,” Luphan finished. “I see, but wouldn’t it be more fun to force him to Dive with someone he didn’t know? Someone with a particularly dangerous persona residing within her.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Force him to Dive with Finnel and let Soma take care of him so that no one stands in our way.”
--------------------------
The sun beat down relentlessly on Rose and Alisha while Lailah and Dezel travelled inside of them. They had thought they were ready for sunny weather after trudging through the dreary landscape near Pendrago when it had rained continuously. And while they had gotten some sunlight during their time scouring Aifread’s Hunting Ground and the rejuvenated Pearloats Pasture, they had still wanted more. Now, they deeply regretted it.
Dezel tried to give Rose shade by holding his jacket over her, but it only trapped the heat inside, making her sweat even more. Alisha just accepted that she would probably pass out and die of dehydration since Lailah couldn’t do much of anything for her.
“What is our plan, anyway?” Alisha asked most irritably.
“I don’t know,” Rose panted. “I guess we start here in the moor.”
“We can’t start somewhere cooler?”
“It would be best to check here first so we don’t have to spend so much time later here,” Lailah said. She was upset that she couldn’t be more useful, and Alisha sensed it. The princess knight sighed. “Alisha?”
“It’s fine,” Alisha replied.
The Zaphgott Moor was incredibly vast like a golden sea of sand that stretched on to no end. Its cacti and trees, in contrast to the corals and shelves in an ocean, served no purpose to the thousands of hellions that roamed about. While Rose and Alisha had been in Lohgrin witnessing the discrimination of humans by the seraphim, more of the monsters had been appearing. Now that the moor was teeming with them, the Squires groaned at the thought of having to cut a path through them to west.
Lailah and Dezel took the lead. They used their Artes to push the hellions back in droves when they were ambushed. Rose and Alisha took care of stragglers or anything that managed to break through the first line of defense. Every once in a while, one of them would be afflicted with some aort of ailment—poisoning from the plant-like Scorpions, lethargy from the Elephants. Although Lailah and Alisha were well off almost immediately after being healed, Dezel seemed like on the verge of a breakdown.
“It’s okay,” Rose told him soothingly. Most of the ailments weren’t too bad to deal with, but whenever he was poisoned, something in him seemed to switch. He was most likely remembering something that had happened some years ago. “Just drink this…good.” The assassin watched him drink a panacea bottle with disdain; it tasted like black licorice and beets mixed together despite the pretty bottle. “See? All better!”
“How can you be sure?” he asked slowly.
Before Rose could answer him, Alisha tapped her shoulder. They looked up to find a large oasis right across from what looked like an abandoned village. By the oasis, a large elephant hellion unusually blue instead of brown lumbered around. Just over the village wall, the head of a Medusa-like hellion was crying into her hands.
“Do you think those hellions might have something to do with the iris gems?” Rose asked while pulling Dezel up to his feet.
“Indeed I do,” Alisha replied while taking Lailah’s hand.
“Ready to go after them?”
“Indeed I am.”
Rose and Dezel made their way to the abandoned village named Horsa while Alisha and Lailah ran over to the oasis. The assassin and her wind seraph peeked around the corner of the wall at the hellion.
“She’s called Stheno, a relative of Medusa based on ancient mythology,” Dezel explained.
“Suddenly talkative?” she asked with a smirk. He recoiled. “That’s good. It’s progress. Now, how do you know about her?”
“She feels familiar,” he replied. He shrunk a little behind the wall.
Rose wasn’t sure what to think about that. She scanned the ground around the hellion, and there shining inside one of the broken windows was a green iris gem. She pulled back to begin formulating a plan.
If this hellion was like Medusa, then Dezel’s blindness would come in handy. It also meant that she was in grave danger if she was caught in the Gorgon’s Eye’s field of vision. Furthermore, if Dezel was still scared of their reality, she wouldn’t be able to fight as attentively as she would like.
“Dezel, are you completely capable of fighting?” she asked.
“Are you going to leave me?” he asked in return.
“I’m not leaving you, but I won’t be able to defend you the entire time. If you can’t fight, then we’ll have to help Alisha first so we can have some backup.”
The wind seraph was conflicted. He was apprehensive about fighting Stheno since it meant that Rose had a high chance of turning to stone and leaving him alone in their cruel world, but he wanted to protect her so that he wouldn’t be alone. Whether or not this was Rose’s attempt to get him back to normal, he didn’t want to disappoint her. He had convinced himself to some degree that if he didn’t do well, he was sure that she would leave.
“Rose, I’ll protect you, so don’t leave,” he pleaded. Instead of reminding him that she would always stay with him, his human agreed to it.
Rose took his hand. Before moving from the cover of the wall, she touched his face gently. She just had to keep her head on straight—only then would everything go back to the way they were before. The two of them infiltrated the village, walking up to Stheno and standing before her. The hellion pulled her hands away from her tear-stained face.
“Who…who the hell are you? What are you doing in my village?! Who said you could be here?!” she hissed.
“Some vigilantes just wanting that iris gem, ma’am,” Rose told her. “Mind if we just take it?”
Stheno hissed at them again before preparing herself to fight. Dezel whipped out his pendulums at her to tie her up as Rose made a dash for the iris gem in the window. Stheno wasn’t too happy about that, and she broke out of the chains before shrieking some curse at them. Rose pocketed the gem with the accomplished look of a grade-A thief. She thought that they could just run out the village, but it wouldn’t be as simple as she liked.
When she ordered Dezel to run behind her before she made her way for the village exit, Stheno screamed at them to return her gem. She sent the snakes on her head after them. Wrapping around her legs, the snakes dragged the assassin back towards the gorgon hellion.
“Dammit!” Rose cursed. She pulled a dagger from its sheath, but as she decapitated snake after snake, there was always a ready replacement.
“Hell Gate!” Dezel called out. Razor sharp wind crossed Stheno, who still kept a firm grip on her prey. “R-Rose…!”
“Give me back that gem!” Stheno demanded. After dragging her under her claws, she let go of her legs and went for her neck. Rose struggled to get free even as the hellion was choking her, one of them restricting her wrists. “Give it back!”
Rose rolled the gem to Dezel’s feet, and he quickly snatched it up. Still, he couldn’t leave without her. Stheno glared down at those periwinkle eyes with rage. Her eyes starting glowing yellow.
“Dezel, get out of here!” Rose ordered.
“I-I can’t leave you,” he said. Of his own accord, he Armatized with her just in time to nullify Stheno’s petrifying powers. “You’re…precious to me. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Rose pushed herself from under Stheno with the power of wind, but in doing so, the gem that had appeared in her hand slipped out. The green orb rolled slowly to Stheno’s snake body. She watched it greedily, glanced at Rose in triumphant, then swallowed the gem. Just like with Forsea, the hellion’s power was augmented by the malevolence that had been recorded into the gem.
Rose leapt back as she watched Stheno go insane with power before her. The hellion coiled back like a spring then launched at her with mach speed. She managed to dodge it, but she couldn’t keep doing it for long. A pain jolted through her ankle.
“You sprained it,” Dezel noted.
“Of course, I would,” Rose replied in frustration. “Doesn’t matter, we have to get that gem.”
“You won’t get away!” Stheno screamed. She focused mana at her mouth, a silver light glowing brightly. “Gorgon’s Frenzy!”
She fired a petrifying laser at them, and thanks to Dezel, Rose dropped to the ground and made it miss. “I can’t protect you against that,” the wind seraph said, his voice characteristically serious and annoyed.
“Are you back to normal now?” she suddenly asked as she flew high into the sky. “You’re not scared anymore. I can feel it.”
“Is this really the time?”
“It’s always the time! Wanna Dive after this?”
“Rose, please focus!”
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”
Stheno fired her petrifying laser into the sky at them. Both the Squire and her seraph grunted in pain, a sudden aching taking hold. A spot on her shoulder was gradually turning to stone. She lost movement in her arm accompanied with excruciating pain. Forced to make an emergency landing, Dezel supported her as they cast Soul Resonance together. The wind from the Rejuvenation Arte knocked Stheno back, but it did nothing to stop the spreading stone.
“This is bad,” Rose grunted. She held her shoulder.
Dezel suddenly flew them up again high above the village. He used Sylphistia in hopes that the attack would be strong enough to defeat Stheno. If they could be alone, then he could concentrate on helping his human. His plan only half-worked; Stheno had given up trying to kill them but she wasn’t about to die. She coughed up the iris gem after being bombarded with the knives made of wind, and as Dezel brought them down, she slithered backwards.
“Why? Why did she get it?! Was I not good enough for him?! Why?!” she screeched. She disappeared into a mass of black flames, presumably escaping from Horsa Village to somewhere else in the world.
Rose and Dezel de-Armatized, which made the spot hurt more and harden faster. The former told Dezel to get the gem first and then worry about her. Even though Dezel thought she was more important than the gem, he obeyed her.
“How do you fix this?” Rose panted. Dezel winced at the thought of being unable to save her. He couldn’t sing anymore, and none of their supplies cured petrification. But he had to try. He snatched the bag of malachite from her belt, consumed a piece, and tried to create just a small verse. “Dezel? I thought you couldn’t sing anymore.”
“I…can’t. But it’s the only thing I can think of,” he said with disappointment. His body felt hot from the ore. “Please work.” He placed his hands around the spot of stone and weakly chanted:
cYAzYA ganna ag rYAlYItAyN anw YNdje/.
fAsE Amurfanare/.
jYAlYErYA/.
The spot on Rose’s shoulder slowly healed but at the expense of Dezel’s health. He collapsed next to her with the green iris gem in hand, panting heavily and looking pale like a corpse. During her quiet panicking, she figured that he had pushed himself to sing when he couldn’t, given that it sounded mostly like white noise to her. More than likely by forcing the Song, he had fatigued himself—he would have endangered his life if he hadn’t used a piece of malachite. As much as she wanted to go and help Alisha and Lailah, she was worried about the wind seraph.
She placed his hat on her head before pulling him up into her arms. She never realized how parched he was—his face was drying out and burning under the sun and his lips were chapped.
“We’ll have to take a break at that oasis…” Rose whispered to him. She began to drag him as carefully as she could out of Horsa and to the watering hole just outside.
---------------------------------------
“This hellion is called a Hyphant,” Lailah explained to Alisha from the cover a few dry bushes. They watched the towering elephant hellion as it stomped around near the edge of the oasis. “One hit from its trunk is capable of pulverizing us.”
“So just don’t get hit?” Alisha asked.
“Ideally.”
Alisha gripped her spear. Sweat was running down her face not just from the heat but also from the apprehension of taking on a deadly hellion with only Lailah by her side. She believed in her fire seraph wholeheartedly, yet the Hyphant would reduce her to dust if it stepped on her. This was coupled with the fact that it was a hellion wither water affinity.
“Lailah, let’s stay Armatized. That way, we can keep each other safe.”
“Um, Alisha, what if both of us get hurt?”
“Then we’ll die together! But I have no intention of dying.”
The princess came out from her cover, sneaking up cautiously behind the hellion. With a quick jab into its hide, the Hyphant trumpeted viciously before spinning around. Its glowing red eyes peer down at the girl.
“Flame Vortex!” Lailah chanted as a tornado of fire engulfed the Hyphant.
Alisha leapt up into the sky above the fiery inferno that her beloved fire seraph conjured. “Sparrow Jive!” she yelled. She dove into the center of the flames, and Lailah dispersed them to prevent her from getting accidentally burned. “Now, Flames of Light!”
Not letting up, the fire seraph prepared another spell. “Burning Strike!” Lailah called out as flaming meteors fell from the sky. They hit the Hyphant’s head and back, giving Alisha a chance to use her Mystic Arte Light Blast. The Hyphant roared in anger before drawing water into its trunk and spraying them. Lailah, soaked from head to toe, dropped to her knees. “A-Alisha…”
“Fethmus Mioma!” Alisha called. Lailah Armatized with her princess just before the Hyphant had a chance to hit her with its trunk. “Let’s do this!”
Together as one, they lunged at the hellion with the Sacred Blade ablaze with Lailah’s Silver Flame. Alisha tried her hardest to stab its head, but each time she went for it, it moved out the way. When she bided enough time, she closed the distance between them and the hellion just enough to use Flamberge. The Hyphant’s legs buckled. Then a flurry of fire and paper surrounded it in the attack appropriately named Crown Fire.
Alisha and Lailah de-Armatized with a sense of triumph. All the fire seraph had to do was purify it with her fire. As she readied her incantation, the hellion made one more effort to kill her by splashing them with high-powered bursts of water. Knowing that her fire seraph wouldn’t be able to take another hit, the princess jumped in front of her.
“Hell Gate!” Dezel’s voice yelled.
The bursts of water were destroyed by the razor winds, saving Alisha and Lailah from the would-be fatal attack. Rose threw her daggers into the Hyphant’s side.
“Lailah, now’s your chance!” she told her. But the fire seraph seemed stunned. It took her a few moments to realize that her friends were trying to subdue the hellion so she could purify it. “Come on!”
“Y-Yes,” Lailah softly said. She threw her Silver Flames at the hellion. The Hyphant screeched, but then its cries of pain turned into the drowsy moans and groans of an old seraph. “Oh my!”
“A seraph?” Alisha gasped.
The old seraph held his head in confusion. “What happened?” he asked. “Where am I?” He turned to Lailah and Alisha then Rose and Dezel. “Did I hurt you folks?”
“Just a little,” Alisha smiled.
“O-Oh dear, please allow me to help you…”
After asking the seraph for his name, she asked him if he knew where to find any iris gems. The seraph Alken, as he called himself, held up a yellow iris gem stating that the horrible history within the gem must have caused him to become the hellion. Lailah graciously accepted it. Rose asked him to return to Lohgrin, but Alisha objected to the notion. The seraphim that were already in the ancient city were all brainwashed into believing that humans were as terrible as the Viruses.
“He’s got nowhere else to go, and if he explains that we saved him, Sorey might be given a better chance of survival,” Rose whispered to her.
“There’s no guarantee,” Alisha argued.
“We have to try.”
Alken agreed to go to Lohgrin, and soon the Squires and their seraphim were left by themselves near the oasis across the sand from Horsa. Rose pulled out the green iris gem that they had received from Stheno as it glowed brightly. Dezel Armatized with her to watch the history contained within it:
%oN(Og %KK()D% iIx
LLL!poon$ lllpnkk
Ddd%b!(n rrryQ
x%yzzy) noono%dO#d
Rose’s expression was a grave one. Remarkable as it was that she was visibly upset by what she had seen in the iris gem, she was still perplexed by how such events how come to be. Everyone that the exiled general loved and cherished had brutally died. Murder after murder after murder that she was glad that it was she and Dezel that had seen the events and not Sorey and Zaveid. It culminated into the man sitting by himself in his study, wallowing in grief from seeing and hearing about everyone dying.
“I hope Mayvin really can help us when we get these,” Rose finally sighed. “Heldalf…it’s no wonder why he became the Lord of Calamity.”
“But that isn’t the entire story,” Dezel said. “There’s still a lot that hasn’t been explained. Mainly how he became the Lord of Calamity.”
“Do you think we should go back to Lohgrin and leave them with Sorey? After all, we also got a yellow iris gem, and we won’t be able to look into it,” Alisha said.
“I would advise staying away from Lohgrin until we have all the iris gems,” Lailah objected. “We were sent out to find all the Earthen Historia. If we come back not fulfilling our task completely, Sorey’s deal with Harvestasha will be dropped.”
Rose gritted her teeth. Based on what she had seen, there were going to be worse things to come. She hoped that they were strong enough to learn about the past of Heldalf and that Sorey would be even stronger. She rallied them to head back into Rolance territory.
While they walked, Lailah reflected on her fighting. She needed Alisha to protect her, which made her angry at herself. She wanted to be the one defending the princess. She had always hated her weaknesses, but now that her friends were coming closer to the truth and the battles where getting harsher and more dangerous, she was livid.
“Lailah, is everything okay?” Alisha asked her. She walked beside her shyly.
Lailah ignored her by accident because she was so lost in her thoughts, giving the impression that she was angry at her princess.
“L-Lailah?”
“I have to get stronger and be more competent. I must protect Alisha,” the fire seraph murmured, still unknowing that her dearest princess was next to her. There was going to be a time where she had to be able to fight to rescue her. She couldn’t let anyone touch her—not even those who were close to them. As she told Alisha that there was nothing wrong, and while Alisha didn’t believe her, she knew what she had to do. “I will be the one to awaken her.”
Notes:
I think the iris gem quest was my least favorite point of the story not because it was slightly difficult but because the iris gems gave the clues in a non-sequential order. That, in turn, makes writing these next few chapters a little harder.
Chapter 89: Phase 3: The Shepherd, the Steeplejack, and the Bodyguard
Summary:
Sorey meets Lyner and Aoto before the next colosseum battle
Notes:
Alright, so this chapter is a bit different, and admittedly I had to think of where they would fit a colosseum in Lohgrin. I figured behind where the giant monolith is held, and seraphim can build massive things, sooo...colosseums are fun!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lyner pushed himself up from the floor. He was so weak from not eating for days. The seraphim had been gracious to give him water once every three days to make sure he didn’t die of dehydration in the desert. He was sure that he would go insane from the hunger pangs, so he kept himself occupied by recounting his days before he was taken from the Tower of Eolia. He had been missing from Shurelia’s side for ten years along with Aurica and Misha, and while the girls didn’t look like they aged at all, the years of neglect showed on his face.
Aoto had been taken only recently after Akane had mentioned something about helping Finnel live longer. He worried about the clumsy girl, but he was much more concerned about Saki. He had only just learned of a shocking secret about her, and he swore that he wouldn’t tell anyone else.
Sorey, having learned as much Hymmnos as he could from Edna, was now available to learn about his fellow prison mates. He wanted to ask Zaveid to Dive, and he deligated the task of sending him the message to Edna. To avoid suspicion, he asked that she send the wind seraph to him two days from now. But two days was a long time to be alone in a cramped cell with little light.
“Is there anyone there?” the Shepherd asked. “If you’re awake, do you mind talking with me?” He waited for an answer from either one of the other men. “My name is Sorey. I’m the Shepherd, and I’m searching for a way to save the world from the Lord of Calamity.”
“Shepherd?” Lyner repeated. “Do you know Lady Shurelia?”
Sorey could hear the exhaustion in his voice. “I do. Were you a Shepherd?”
Lyner smiled alone in the darkness of his cell. He wasn’t a Shepherd, just a bodyguard to the administrator of the First Tower. “Lady Shurelia was always fascinated by Shepherds. Living on the Tower and not on the ground, life was different.” He let out a sigh. “Maybe it wasn’t so different. People on my Tower—Tenba Corporation treated the seraphim so terribly, but they never abused them like they’re abused here.”
“Aren’t you lucky?” Aoto grumbled. “On Tilia, humans were treated like shit while the seraphim prospered.” He punched the side of his cell. “Even when we were trying to make things right, they still tried to kill us. They slaughtered whole villages.”
Sorey listened to them calmly. They were still shaken by what had happened even though time had passed, and he had an inkling that things were as bad as they seemed on the Towers. He wondered if talking about happier times would help them relax and think more positively while his friends worked to liberate him. Once he was free, then he could save them from the colosseum battles.
“Tell us about yourself,” Lyner requested. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a new person.”
The kind Shepherd agreed to telling them about their journey thus far. He told them how he had grown up among seraphim and how Elysia had been invaded. He spoke about all the fun times and the challenging times, his mission, and his undying dream to unite the humans and seraphim and promote coexistence and peace between them. Then he started talking about Mikleo and how important he was—a real-world manifestation of his dream, his love for the world, the reason why he needed to stay hopeful.
“Heh, looks like you’ve got a crush on a seraph, too,” Aoto laughed.
“W-What? It’s that…normal?” Sorey asked bashfully.
“When Lyner and I first met, we shared our secrets. Almost all of the seraphim on the Towers are girls, though. I’m a little surprised that your world has ma—”
“I have a bit of a problem,” Lyner candidly said. “I like Aurica, but Misha likes me. She says that we were childhood friends, but I’m having trouble remembering her. She said she used to live in Platina before she was taken away to Em Pheyna.”
Aoto went quiet for a short while. “I love Saki, but…I don’t know if it’ll work between us,” he said longingly. Sorey carefully probed him about the girl since it seemed like a touchy subject. “I can’t tell you, but she’s special. Both she and Finnel are special seraphim—not like the Origins. They’re on a whole different level.”
Sorey took mental notes about both of their cases—the places that Lyner mentioned and the oddities that were Saki and Finnel—just in case they were to come in handy. He suddenly began to worry for his new friends, Lyner especially. He wondered what happened to those who were jailed aside of being forced to fight in the colosseum. When he learned that they were starved and fought with nothing to sustain their bodies, he became anxious. Then he learned of the ultimate outcomes.
“If you’re about to die from starvation,” Lyner started. “They wait until there are no seraphim around to take you out and toss you to the hellions outside the city.” He let out a hopeless chuckle. “I know they’ll throw me out soon enough.”
“The other outcome,” Aoto continued. “The other outcome is to die in battle in the colosseum, which is better than being eaten by hellions but—”
“The winner runs the risk of becoming a hellion himself,” Sorey concluded. How could seraphim—how could Harvestasha allow for such atrocities?
“Well, the winner might suffer Border Disease and then become a hellion.”
“Border Disease?”
Border Disease only occurred in the towns on Tilia, as Aoto explained. Like the IPD Disease that only affected IPD seraphim, Border Disease was a specific disease that only affected humans living on Tilia. If negative emotions were allowed to go out of control and remain uncontrolled for a long period of time, the human would lose his conscious will and become a killing machine. The malevolence almost worked like it did in Eolia except Viruses were less likely to manifest thanks to Tilia being more resilient to them. That, however, didn’t stop hellions from crossing across the land to getting into the Third Tower’s domain.
“We’ve been able to play it safe, though,” Aoto said, pulling Sorey out of his thoughts and back to the conversation. “Usually they get bored when we don’t really do much.”
“But that can only work for so long.”
“That may be true, but it’s the only way we can think of to stay alive,” Lyner sighed. “I just want to see Aurica and Misha again.”
“I want to see Saki and Finnel…which reminds me, how come you were able to Dive?” Aoto asked. Sorey was somewhat astonished that he would ask him that. Being in solitary confinement, he assumed it was expected that no one could see anyone, so he realized that he shouldn’t have been surprised that he was curious when they could hear his conversation with Edna. “Don’t you need to use special Artes and machines?”
“Um, well, being the Shepherd gives me certain abilities,” Sorey nervously explained. “I Dive through Armatization.”
“Armatization, huh?”
“On the Towers, people can’t do that,” Lyner said.
“More importantly, isn’t it weird doing that?” Aoto questioned. Sorey didn’t understand the question. “Well, you have to fuse into one body, right? Don’t you feel awkward when you have to Dive into girls? Or what about the guy you like?”
Sorey blushed though neither of the other men could see him. “I-I—W-We solved that issue a long time ago!” he professed.
He remembered the first time that Mikleo went inside of Sorey when they first headed to the Galahad Ruins, the first time they Armatized, the first time that he Armatized with Edna, and the moments he formed his pacts with his seraphim. Each time he made a pact, he tensed even though by the time Zaveid joined them, he was already used to the process.
“Aoto, why would you ask something like that?” Lyner sighed.
“I was curious! We don’t have that kind of stuff on the Towers either! When we Dive, we just fall asleep together and watch something that’s like a dream in the Dive machines. And we all know that Dives can be weird,” Aoto laughed.
The conversation made Sorey worry about Mikleo. He hadn’t seen him in what felt like eons, and talking about Dives or remembering his time with him made him long for him. Sorey hoped that his plan would work, but would it be quick enough to ensure that the water seraph didn’t have a breakdown?
The doors leading to the prison cells swung open as Mute and Richa entered with pieces of stale bread and dusty water. Behind them; Mikleo, Misha, and Saki followed. “Rise and shine, pipsqueaks!” Mute boomed, the sound of her obscenely deep voice reverberating inside the cells. “General Akane has determined that today is a nourishment day. You’ll be getting one piece of bread and one cup of water to last you for the next two weeks. She has also decided to allow one seraph to visit you of her choosing. Consider it an act of generosity!”
“Yeah, yeah, we know the drill, Butch,” Aoto grumbled.
“What was that?!”
Saki ran in front of Mute. “Don’t hurt him!” she pleaded. “Aoto is just grumpy because he’s so hungry! Saki will take care of him, so don’t hurt him!”
Misha grimaced at the pink-clad girl. She mumbled something about her being amazingly stupid, but Mikleo sided with her. She was simply trying to do her best to protect someone important to her.
“Oh, it’s alright, Saki sweetie,” Richa cooed. “Mute,” she flashed a glare at her, “Wouldn’t dream of doing to the humans locked up here. After all, Aoto is friends with the doctor, so I’m sure that with a little more time, I can convince Akane to release him.”
Sorey listened to the scene playing out before him. There was obviously a hierarchy of sorts, but aside from Saki and Misha, he didn’t understand the relationships among the other seraphim. Richa and Mute handed the visitors the bread and water for them to deliver. They kept an eye on all three of them, especially on Mikleo. They were aware that Shepherds could Armatize, and they were positive that Sorey would try to pull something in an effort to escape. Unbeknownst to him, there were other seraphim that were fueled by their hatred waiting just outside the door to fire on him for trying to break out.
Mikleo approached his cell then realized that their visiting meant nothing if they weren’t allowed to see the humans. He turned to ask Mute or Richa to unlock the cells only to watch Misha and Saki calmly sit before the others. They pushed the bread in by pieces, and there was a small hatch that lifted so they could deliver the water. They were whispering.
“Mikleo?” Sorey mentioned.
“Are you okay in there?” Mikleo hesitantly asked. He knew it was a silly question—there was no bed or toilet inside the cell, no light, and barely any fresh air. “I miss you.”
“Don’t worry. Rose and Alisha should be back soon with all the iris gems, and when they do, I can get out of here. All we can do is wait.”
Sorey sensed the water seraph’s sadness, but there was nothing that could be done. When the hatch opened to pass the water into the cell, he took that chance to grab his hand for a brief moment. At first, this frightened Mikleo. Then the two had the same thought, and despite the inside of the cell being pitch dark and the outside of the cell being overwhelmingly bright, they peeked at each other through the hole. Richa noticed this; she felt sorry for the young water seraph, but she knew she had a duty to uphold.
“Can you do me a favor?” Sorey whispered. Mikleo nodded. “I need to see Zaveid next.”
“Okay,” Mikleo agreed. He didn’t bother asking. Sorey had already seen Edna, and he was seeing him now. The shirtless wind seraph was the only one who hadn’t been to see him. “But I—”
“If he can sneak in, that would be fine.”
“He could get hurt or killed.”
“Zaveid wouldn’t die so easily. Don’t forget that he broke into Bartlow’s palace to steal the Shepherd’s glove.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“That’s…” Sorey felt guilty for hiding things from Mikleo, but he kept his end goal in mind. It was a secret, and he wanted Zaveid’s help now that he knew Hymmnos at a rudimentary level. “I can’t tell you. Those two over there are working for Akane.”
“It would be dangerous for you.”
Mute stepped up behind the three seraphim. “Time’s up,” she barked. “The three of you need to wrap up your conversations and get the hell out. We’ve got to start preparing for the next battle.”
Misha and Saki were horrified. Mikleo touched Sorey’s hand one more time. Before he allowed him to leave, the Shepherd pulled on his sleeve. Without a word, he placed his earrings in his hand.
“S-Sorey…?” Mikleo uttered with fear that the worst was coming.
“I want you to wear them,” Sorey quickly said. “It’s going to be a while before I can see you again, so wear my earrings whenever you’re worried about me.”
Mikleo held back a sob. Mute stood behind him, her arms crossed across her muscular chest. Without another word, the water seraph left like he was told to. As he walked, he fixed the earrings so that they flared out the same way that they usually did on the brunet.
----------------------------------------------
“A colosseum battle? Now?” Hikari Gojo repeated when Saki relayed the information. “But the last one was just a few weeks ago.”
Zaveid had been staying with Mayvin, Katene, and the Doctor when Mikleo was called to visit Sorey. After he returned, he asked him how his meeting went. The water seraph swallowed his anxiety and sorrow, only telling him that it went as expected and that Sorey wanted to him see next time. The wind seraph instantly knew that Sorey was going to Dive like he had with Edna. Edna, who thought it was pointless to sit in the tent with the only humans that were allowed to be in Lohgrin, had gone out to interview other seraphim—namely the ones that were friends of the other humans who were locked up. She had told him as secretly as possible that they had Dived and that he wanted to learn Hymmnos and that he was prohibited from telling Mikleo about it. Naturally, Zaveid made his promise and applauded his Shepherd for his daring endeavors.
“Edna’s out and about, so I doubt we’ll be able to get her to sit with us,” Zaveid told Mikleo. “That might actually be a good thing for us.”
“Who’s fighting this time? Are they going to put Sorey into the ring since he’s a newcomer?” Mayvin asked the girls.
“They didn’t say,” Misha replied. “Lyner isn’t doing well at all, so I wouldn’t doubt that they would make him fight.”
“And Aoto is still doing pretty okay,” Saki added. “But if they make him fight Lyner again…”
Mayvin glanced at Misha. He asked her a question that Mikleo and Zaveid knew they would have to answer at some point in time:
“Are you prepared to accept the outcome of the battle?”
Misha reluctantly nodded. Lyner had been imprisoned much longer than Aoto and Sorey. It didn’t take much thought that this battle could be his last. She wasn’t sure about Aurica, who relied on Lyner for emotional support to create her Songs. Mayvin volunteered to talk to her. He and the oriental-dressed seraph left the tent. Hikari Gojo suggested that Saki did the same. Finnel was also close to Aoto. The last thing he wanted was for her to worsen whatever condition she had by mourning over the possible outcome. Those two left the tent.
“At least you two can rest easy,” Katene cheerfully told Sorey’s seraphim. He didn’t look up from the report he was writing. “Based on my calculations and algorithms, the probability of them throwing Sorey into the colosseum now are incredibly low. If they keep too many humans alive at the same time, it puts pressure on their rations and resources.”
“How is that a good thing?!” Mikleo growled. “Even if Sorey isn’t forced to fight now, another person is!”
“Calm down, calm down. They have to be careful. Even if seraphim can’t generate malevolence, Aoto can. They basically have to do damage control if Lyner dies, and the ones who will be affected by the malevolence that’s accumulated from killing him are Saki and Finnel.”
“What about Misha and Aurica?” Zaveid dubiously asked.
“Misha seems like she will be okay; however, Aurica’s soul space may collapse from shock. Her soul space is strangely fragile, as if a previous trauma had shaken her so terribly that it impeded her ability to make Songs. According to Dr. Gojo’s diagnostic tests, you’re similar.” He looked up and turned to Mikleo. “Of course, Aurica has healed over time thanks to Lyner’s support. Yours, Mikleo, is still damaged.” He seemed somewhat upset. “I would recommend that you don’t get too involved with Sorey while you’re here. If anything happens to him, your soul space may collapse as well.”
Zaveid didn’t appreciate the scientist riling Mikleo up, but he couldn’t disagree with him. Instead, the two seraphim left Katene by himself to focus on his research while they went to find Edna before the mad rush to the colosseum began.
The earth seraph was spotted talking with Luca, and the two of them were having tea and cake, both of which the former had made. “Oh, what could the exhibitionist and Lovesick-leo want now?” Edna flatly said.
“A colosseum battle is getting ready to start,” Zaveid told her.
Edna just let out a bored sigh. She wasn’t interested in the fights and was appalled by the seraphim who were. Of course, they only enjoyed them out of their sheer hatred for humans, but it was nonetheless barbaric. When she learned that Katene had said Sorey most likely wouldn’t be involved, she became less interested. She excused herself from Luca’s company then brought her companions to a relatively secluded area by a different tent.
She explained Lyner’s and Aoto’s origins and their relationships with a few seraphim in Lohgrin. As predicted by the red-haired scientist, Aurica—having received the news from Misha and Mayvin—was panicking that Lyner would die. Finnel, on the other hand, seemed to have helplessly accepted that Aoto would have to fight and possibly kill the other man. There was, however, more to her reconnaissance mission.
“I spoke with Cloche, and it turns out that she and Cocona are the only IPDs here besides Dezel and Zaveid” Edna said.
“Did they not try to save the ones that came from Metafalss?” Mikleo asked himself.
“More than likely they were caught before they could make it here. Cloche and Luca are also two important figures on their Tower with Luca and Frelia having some sort of connection to each other. According to Featherlady, both she—the Maiden of Mio—and Luca—the Goddess Maiden—must return to the Second Tower to sing a Song called Metafalica.”
Zaveid rubbed his chin. “That there is our answer to Frelia’s problem,” he stated.
“Basically. Another tidbit is that our answer to Shurelia’s problem lies in Misha and Aurica. They can seal Mir away and restore Shurelia to a waking state.”
Mikleo was confused by why Akane gathered the seraphim who belonged on other Towers here in Lohgrin. What was the point if it meant that by removing two key people from each Tower, she caused destruction and vulnerability?
Zaveid grabbed Mikleo and Edna as a wave of seraphim washed past them to get to the colosseum. With no other choice than to follow their kin, they took their seats at the colosseum. Mikleo saw Aurica sitting with Mayvin and Misha while Hikari Gojo sat with Finnel and Saki. There were others who looked particularly worried—a seraph who looked like a beautiful flapper dancer and Cocona. Richa and Mute sat near the Doctor and his assistant, but they seemed stiff.
Down on the ground in the center of the ring stood a seraph that Mikleo recognized. “Ladies and gentlemen, I will be your emcee for the event today!” the seraph announced. “My name is Kyme, hailing from what was once a beautiful seraph village named Elysia! It is my honor today to commence the 109th colosseum battle between Lyner and Aoto, two humans who had the misfortune of being caught here in our sanctuary known as Lohgrin!”
“Kyme, why?” Mikleo breathed. Edna and Zaveid looked at him then at each other.
“I ask that you all enjoy the event to your hearts’ content, but please refrain from all Song Magic and Seraphic Artes that may interfere with the battle. The match will last for five minutes. If no one dies after the time limit has been reached, then we shall wait for the next match at a later date.”
“Kyme, why are you doing this? What about Gramps? What about Sorey?”
The gates opened on either side of the colosseum, and Lyner and Aoto stepped out into the sunlight. Their eyes pained them from being in the dark so long, but they already knew their surroundings and their situation. How could they forget when they had fought 108 times before?
Despite not having eaten properly in days, Lyner forced himself to appear as if nothing were wrong. Aoto had received slightly better treatment, and while that would have a tiny effect on either man’s performance, it was noticeable. Akane watched them from a balcony above the colosseum. Five tiny minute glasses were lined up in front of her. She turned the first one over.
“Begin!” she commanded, not giving them a chance to even formally greet each other.
Aoto charged towards Lyner with his strange-looking sword that came apart to shock his opponent with electricity. Lyner was only equipped with a normal steel sword.
The moment that their weapons clashed, the crowd jeered at both of them. Breaking their spirits seemed to be their goal, and all Sorey’s seraphim could think was how disgusting their attitudes were. Lyner put pressure on Aoto only to be pushed to the side and subsequently fell from imbalance. Both of them were severely weakened by the conditions imposed on them by Akane—without help from their seraphim from the Towers, they couldn’t tap into their full potential except for the most basic of attacks.
“Without Harmonics,” Lyner panted.
“We can’t really fight,” Aoto finished.
Such conditions were set so that the battles wouldn’t be over in a matter of minutes. Akane, living on Tilia for most of her life, was aware that the Towers had something different from Armatization. Harmonics boosted the vanguards power by linking the seraph with the humans, and because they were isolated here, bonuses from it were unattainable.
Lyner regained his stance just as Aoto once again charged towards him. He stepped back farther and farther while parrying each swing until he put enough distance between them. He decided to risk using his attacks; they would strain his body, but since it seemed like Aoto was seriously fighting to kill him, he was willing to do it if it meant that he would be able to last a little longer.
“Impulse!” he called out. Mana gathered around his blade, and he swung it down to send a shockwave soaring towards the red-clad man.
“Even without Harmonics?” Aoto gasped. He dodged the hit just enough to only nick his leg. “You’re seriously trying to kill me? Fine, I see how it is. Rumble Wave!”
A ripple of energy raced towards Lyner. He put all his strength to pushing it back, but he was still knocked down. Akane flipped the second minute glass.
The two men went at each other, again dueling with their swords crossed. This time, Lyner kicked Aoto back. “L-Let’s go, Lyner!” Misha cheered. Lyner glanced up at her, which gave Aoto the opening he needed to come back. “Lyner!”
Mikleo couldn’t stand watching the fight. He wanted to leave. He wanted to go back to the prison cell block and be with Sorey before he would have to fight against one of them. His attention then suddenly shifted to Kyme, who was watching the match with a stoic face. He no longer wanted to run to his Shepherd’s company. He wanted to ask his innumerable questions about how this seraph had escaped from the invasion. Akane flipped the third minute glass.
Aurica clasped her hands together, willing herself to keep from singing for Lyner’s sake. Some distance away, Saki did the same. The girls hated that they had to watch their most precious humans fight to the death. But fortunately, the time limit was nearing the end.
Lyner and Aoto clashed their swords again, this time the momentum from the strike blowing them back. They were in perfect sync, and if luck was on their side, they could continue to keep up the façade of fighting to kill. Aoto realized that earlier Lyner was trying to paint that illusion. When one swiped, the other spun around the blade to avoid getting slashed. It looked like an intricate warrior’s dance. Akane flipped with fourth minute glass.
“Just one more minute, and they can rest,” Hikari Gojo wishfully said.
“I used to think only humans were barbaric, but this is an unpleasant surprise,” Edna scorned.
“When the hunted become the hunters, it’s only naturally that they retaliate,” Zaveid said. “An eye for an eye, as they say.” He turned to find that Mikleo had disappeared. “Where did Mikster go?”
“He seemed rather upset that the emcee was condoning all this. He probably went to find him.”
“We should go after him.”
“Sure, if you want to be killed. Meebo can hide with his Spectral Cloak, but we’ll stick out like sore thumbs.”
“He’d cover us, too.”
“Keeping up with him in the crowd is the problem. We’d have to fight through a sea of seraphim.”
Zaveid bit down on his lip to keep from cursing the situation.
As Akane flipped over the final minute glass and its silver grains draining to the other half, Lyner and Aoto made one final effort to pretend to fight with everything they had. Everyone was so focused on their fight that no one noticed Mikleo appearing at an exit from the colosseum. He was so close to Kyme.
“Land Pillar!” Aoto cried out.
“Impulse!” Lyner roared.
Both attacks missed.
Mikleo cautiously approached Kyme.
“Death Scissors!” Aoto called out another attack, but this time he miscalculated his timing.
“Kyme?” Mikleo uttered behind the elder water seraph. The man turned around. “Kyme, why are you here?”
“M-Mikleo?!” Kyme stuttered.
Lyner screamed in agony as Aoto’s attack connected, leaving a large wound on his leg as soon as the time limit was reached. The silver-clad man pressed down on it, and Aoto was horrified that he had managed to hurt him.
Kyme returned to his duty with a pained expression—a face that wasn’t there before. “This concludes the 109th battle! Since neither warrior has died, they will be pitted against each other in the next battle; however, because Lyner sustained damage, his next battle will be postponed!”
As Mute and Richa carried them back to their cells once they were bound with rope, Akane dismissed the seraphim from the colosseum. Kyme ran past Mikleo in the midst of the crowd for fear of having to tell him all that had happened.
Notes:
Alright! I think I had to boot up both games to remember their attacks.
Chapter 90: Phase 3: Iris Gems in Rolance
Summary:
Alisha, Rose, Lailah, and Dezel continue their quest to locate all of the remaining iris gems throughout the continent in Rolance.
Notes:
The iris gem quest is easily my least favorite part of the game just because it's tedious...But the events in Rolance were much easier than in the other regions.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After crossing the Great Camelot Bridge back into Rolance territory, Rose stood in the middle of the path interection facing Westronbolt Gorge. Without proper information, they had to blindly guess where to go. There had to be a way to be somewhat efficient though hardly reliable like sending Dezel to high ground and having him read the wind or waiting for Lailah to sense the presence of an iris gem. It was only by luck that they managed to find two so close to Lohgrin. Rose and Alisha didn’t expect that fluke to happen again.
“Rose,” Dezel spoke. “We should check Pendrago for any of the other Sparrowfeathers. They can help us.”
“Good thinking, Dezel!” Rose happily said.
Alisha and Lailah looked at her with concern. Was Dezel really suggesting returning to Pendrago? Wasn’t he scared? In truth, he was—being in Rolance again made him feel sick to his stomach. He also wanted to help Rose, and he was willing to risk his life to see that she accomplished what she had set out to do.
Conversely, Rose was aware that going back to Pendrago wouldn’t be a challenge. Forton was dead, Targana had been arrested, the emperor had been detained, and Sergei should have been able to begin reforming the seraphim’s treatment. She didn’t expect everything to be completely fixed and malevolence-free. She only believed that everything that her wind seraph associated with that city should have minimized over the couple weeks that they had journeyed to and from Lohgrin assuming the Platinum Knights’ captain was able to push his ideals. Regardless, she as well as Alisha and Lailah knew that Dezel had made remarkable improvement since that episode in their lives. She was proud of him like how Sorey was proud of Mikleo, and like her Shepherd, she intended to uphold her promise to him.
Trekking across Pearloats Pasture was by no means a cakewalk. The hellions were as bloodthirsty as ever, and Frelia in the distance was only barely managing to stay afloat in the sky. Seeing the Second Tower reminded both girls that they had to help the fairy-like Origin as soon as possible.
After battling hellions here and there, the duo of Squires came to Pendrago’s city gates. As Rose had hoped, the amount of malevolence had decreased. Lailah and Dezel could breathe easier. They entered the city to find that the seraphim that had been cast out on the sides of the streets looked happier. Many of them were recovering from their abuse, but overall things had improved. Dezel joined Lailah outside of his human, clutching Rose’s shoulders as a way to steel himself. He still hated Pendrago.
“Oh, I see a few members of the Sparrowfeathers! You guys go on and get something to eat. I’ll join you after I speak with them,” Rose said. She ushered Dezel to stay with Alisha and Lailah.
While the assassin went about her discussion with the other merchants, the princess guided them into the inn. A couple of seraphim were helping to clean the inn and cook, which allowed Lailah to breathe a sigh of relief. They ordered four bowls of Drago Stew and then waited for Rose to come back. While they waited, Dezel studied the seraphim that were happily working with the humans in the establishment. He didn’t trust what was happening; it was far too sudden that things would suddenly be okay. Did Sergei and his knights really have the power to incite such a shift through a whole city? He was incredibly skeptical. Nobody blamed him.
Rose returned to her tiny ragtag group of do-gooders in the inn with information on a few more iris gems in the Rolance area. The easiest one that they could get was somewhere in Pendrago. She explained that Sergei’s men had been receiving alarming reports about a serial killer on the loose in the city. Alisha tensed, but Lailah and especially Dezel were not surprised. It was bound to happen with the authorities out of commission, and Sergei’s knights were not omniscent. The catch was that the victims were all people that had gone to the shrinechurch of their own accord before they disappeared.
“Then they’re being lured to the shrinechurch,” Alisha hypothesized. “And because they’re missing for so many days, they must be ruled to be dead.”
“Exactly,” Rose agreed. “So, our job is to investigate what’s going.”
Alisha wasn’t fond of the idea of confronting a serial killer, though they had already dealt with one in Lastonbell, and that one had been a hellion. The chances of this one being another hellion were high, yet there was a feeling that it wouldn’t be as terrible as what happened to Margaret.
“Let’s hang out here until nightfall then go to the shrinechurch,” Rose said with resolve. She glanced at Dezel with excitement. “Until then, we shall feast!”
Lailah and Alisha both ate their food in silence as they thought about what the best course of action would be to apprehend the killer. The fire seraph detected the lower levels of malevolence despite that that wasn’t any indication of any one particular person. But the shrinechurch still held a lot of power in the city and doubled almost like a hub, meaning that anyone who had negative emotions would be able to permeate the malevolence through society. Of course, she wouldn’t know until they confronted the person.
Once they were finished eating, and once the sun had fallen behind the tall buildings in Pendrago, Rose led her small group out. Most of the people had turned in for the night, and the seraphim either went home to adoptive families or their own homes—given to them out of consolation for abusing them. They were free to move about without drawing attention.
Rounding the inn and passing the northern district, the four of them made their way to the shrinechurch. There was an eerie silence that usually accommodated places of death, and Dezel could sense it as they scaled the stairs leading into the majestic edifice. It didn’t stop them, though. They had to keep going.
Rose and Alisha pushed open the shrinechurch doors as quietly and as carefully as they could. When they walked in a few steps, Lailah let out a gasp. Just in front of the altar was a pile of bodies. Some were already as cold as ice and the eyes glazed over while some were still in the process of dying as they drew their final breaths. Dezel read the stagnant air in the shrinechurch, his skin prickling as panic settled in.
“I found the killer, but…” he trailed off.
The priest that stood there in the enveloping darkness with an empty silver chalice that once held poisoned wine smiled at them. He seemed dazed yet was completely coherent. And even though this man had done something horribly sinful, Lailah couldn’t help but notice something strange about him.
“Have you come for salvation as well, my children?” the priest asked sincerely. He dropped the chalice. “If you can wait just a moment, I can prepare more of my special potion. Salvation lies in death, but fear not, for I shall make sure that death is painless and swift.”
Lailah stepped in front of Alisha. “Why are you doing this? Don’t you understand that murder is a terrible thing?” she interrogated.
“But it was you seraphim who told me that this was surely a righteous thing to do. As a devout follower of the Church, I wish to uphold my duty of welcoming those with open arms to the pearly gates of heaven. Yes, it was but a dream accompanied by a sweet voice which professed that death was the ultimate salvation. Who am I to disobey the orders of the seraphim? Most of the city is filled with heathens who would harm them, but I am merely showing them the correct way to forgiveness.”
“This guy’s lost it,” Rose observed. “And I’ll bet the seraph that told him that crap was Symonne.”
“But this is precisely why that he isn’t generating malevolence,” Lailah informed. “We can’t do anything but to let Sergei handle the rest.”
Dezel threw his pendulums around the priest and held him there until the Platinum Nights arrived. He didn’t try to fight back, and once he had been taken into custody, Alisha realized that he had dropped a purple iris gem. They figured that Symonne had contacted him through it, but Lailah was sure that she had simply trapped him in an illusion. The iris gems did contain monstrous malevolence from history, but it couldn’t channel someone’s power like Symonne’s illusions could.
Because it was purple, only Mikleo would be able to read its contents; however, it wasn’t the only iris gem in the shrinechurch. Lailah looked in the direction that led into the labyrinth. She felt the presence of the other gem there.
“No,” Dezel curtly said.
“But the seraphim are free now,” Rose told him. “You should be okay.”
“No.”
“Rose, perhaps it would be best if you two stayed out here,” Lailah suggested. She gave a quick glance between the assassin and her wind seraph, and Rose caught the hint. “We will just be a moment!” She offered one of her good-natured smiles then turned.
As Alisha and Lailah headed back into the shrinechurch’s labyrinth, Rose and Dezel took their seats on the front pew. Rose sat back with her arms stretched out to either side on the top while Dezel sat next to her. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly slid away a few inches to allow him space to lay down with his head on her lap and his hat gripped tightly in his hand. Rose was certainly taken by surprise until she realized that he felt tense on her.
“This place still scares you, huh?” she gently asked while she raked her fingers through his hair. The wind seraph nodded. “It’s okay, because I’m here with you.” She paused for a while then decided that talking with him probably made him feel safer. “So, question. If you were to live anywhere in the world, where would you live?”
“In the mountains away from the cities you humans build,” he replied, though there was some contempt in his voice. Rose smiled; he was almost back to normal.
“Why? That would hurt business,” she said, pretending to be offended that he would want to do such a thing.
“The world is much quieter in nature.”
“I guess you’ve got a point.” She paused again. “Remember when I used to force you to dance when I was little?” Dezel grunted at what he deemed were terrible memories. “I can’t really remember, but…did I ever dance with Konan? I sure hope I didn’t.”
“Once, and then he vowed never to dance with you again because you were too wild.”
The conversation went on as such with Rose asking simple and warm questions to keep Dezel’s mind off the fact that he was merely meters away from where many of his kind had met their end. As they talked about whimsical things, Alisha and Lailah steeled themselves to head back into the labyrinth that still bubbled with malevolence.
“Are you scared?” Alisha asked.
Lailah shook her head. “I…know my way around things like this. Are you?”
“A little. The first time we were here, it was really scary, but not so much now. Still, I can’t forget all the seraphim that were suffering in here.”
Lailah took Alisha’s hands. “I’m right here with you. My flames will keep you safe, my princess.” That last part made her blush before bursting out into laughter. “W-What’s so funny?”
“You’re quite the chivalrous lady! But thank you, Lailah. Once this is all over, I promise we’ll go on a much-needed date.”
“Um, Alisha, you’ll…I’m sure you’ll be busy with the war,” Lailah cautiously said. “Besides, what if Bartlow or Maltran or someone else gets in the way? Everyone in Ladylake still believes them about…”
“There’s no need to worry. Once we finish helping Sorey take care of the overarching problem, we can reform our city. I won’t rest until the seraphim are free,” Alisha brought her face close to Lailah, who was new to her princess being the more forthcoming one, “and then we’ll get to do whatever we want together.”
“A-Alisha!” Lailah gasped and her face as read as her jacket.
“Yay! I finally made you blush like you always do to me!” Alisha laughed. “But heed my words, Lady Lailah of the Lake, Sorey’s dream is just as much as my own. I want a future that we can live together in harmony.”
“Oh, Alisha, radiant as ever,” Lailah smiled.
The two girls walked hand in hand into the labyrinth to the first chamber, where thankfully the red iris gem sat nestled in a crevice. Alisha carefully pulled it out, and it glowed brilliantly.
“Fethmus Mioma,” Alisha said before they Armatized and, with Lailah’s eyes, peered into the beautiful sanguine iris gem:
(Ib %)g#bm #lsss$(o!n (f$)f$j %(c%(z%A
%&l%&q(U $jb%)q%&EEEm!N %(z$O
vv%)x#Izzz %)rrEEE %(haf#e$t$)t wum sssy
s$y$(%)r%&iAr%)y fffaum$m #(bAAA%(c %)zEEE
When the girls de-Armatized, Lailah looked uneasy after witnessing what was within the iris gem. She recoiled from Alisha’s touch. She was strangely quiet. Did witnessing that mysterious man with his wife and child mean something to her? Why did she look so depressed afer seeing the foundation of his village?
“Lailah, what’s wrong? Was it something in the iris gem?” Alisha asked her.
“Why…?” the fire seraph mumbled to herself. “Why must I be tormented with the past?”
“Lailah?”
The fire seraph snapped back to reality, staring at Alisha with wide jade eyes and a stitched brow. She shook her head to signal that it was nothing for her princess to fuss about. Alisha knew she was lying, and because of her oath, she couldn’t talk about it apparently. Lailah was clearly frustrated with something, and because she could do nothing about it, she became frustrated as well.
The two of them returned to Rose and Dezel, who had both fallen asleep waiting for them. Lailah, presumably back to her old self, cooed at them. She suggested that they go to the inn to let them rest, but Alisha reminded her that they were on a mission to get the iris gems as quickly as possible. The fire seraph pouted. Without wasting any more time, she woke them both. Rose was startled, but Dezel—comforted by his human’s presence—sat up sleepily. Now that they had two more iris gems, it was time to move onto those outside of Pendrago, as told by the merchants in the city.
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The next iris gem was found in Westronbolt Gorge. Dezel was more irritated that they were having to backtrack, but Lailah excused it by stating it was healthy to steel the soul. “There’s no reward like the accomplished feeling after hardwork!” she had said. Rose and Alisha agreed, but it did waste time that they didn’t have.
“Let’s see, according to the merchants in Pendrago, a merchant named Zod went missing around the gorge,” Rose recounted. “Apparently, he had recently bought an iris gem, and like usual, the hellions were attracted to it.”
“Oh, my! That means—” Alisha gasped before looking positively sick to her stomach. “We’re going to have to somehow get it out of the hellion!”
“I mean, I have no problem doing it. Wouldn’t want to ruin the hands of royalty.” Rose emphasized “royalty”, which somewhat irked Alisha until Lailah told her she was simply teasing.
“But we’ve got four iris gems on us,” Dezel mentioned.
“We’ll look much more appetizing than Zod!”
“Why are you so happy about this?!”
Rose had a mischievous cat-like smile on her lips as she marched forth into the gorge. She had the gems in her pouches, and as hypothesized, they attracted the hellions to her. Dezel frantically protected her from behind. Alisha and Lailah guarded her from the front and sides, respectively, all the while the assassin just headed for the area where Zod was last seen.
“Rose, be more careful!” Dezel scolded. “You could get hurt and, more importantly, the iris gems could get lost or stolen!”
“But we’re super close! Zod was just in front of the ruins in this area before disappearing,” Rose countered.
Rounding the corner and going up a slope that forked from the path towards Guinevere, a monstrous hellion rolled around on a giant ballista cart. The hellion that towered over them was called the Goblin Lord and mounted on the artillery of the cart was a green iris gem.
“Guess it didn’t eat it, huh?” Rose said dubiously. “Man, I was hoping I could cut it open.”
“R-Rose, please remember that hellions could be people!” Lailah cried.
“It doesn’t matter what it is now,” Dezel grunted while swinging his pendulums around. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Rose smirked. Going on this little sidequest, pulling him into fights—they were things that returned him to normal. They were things that gnawed at Lailah’s self-doubt. The fire seraph, however, didn’t have time to wallow in self-pity or beat herself up. She wanted to be the one to do most of the work.
“I’ll distract it, just focus on getting the gem,” she commanded. Dezel was determined to help her out, but she insisted that he protect Rose. “Burning Strike!”
Flaming meteors came crashing down on the Goblin Lord while Rose and Alisha flanked it on either side. Alisha stabbed its side while Rose slashed his hands to force it to let go of the artillery. The hellion was persistent, though. It fired an arrow at the assassin, and Dezel barely managed to catch it before it struck her chest.
“Blitz Bomb!” Lailah called out next. This attack through the Goblin Lord off-balance, making it tumble off its cart. Rose snatched the iris gem, and Alisha and Dezel prevented it from getting back to its cart. “Alisha!”
“Fethmus Mioma!” the princess shouted as she Armatized with her seraph. “Now we shall purify you!”
Alisha leapt into the sky, her Sacred Blade burning with Lailah’s Silver Flame. At the same moment that she came down on the hellion, the Goblin Lord scratched her arm deeply before it perished.
“Alisha!” Lailah screamed. She de-Armatized, and even though she had been inflicted the same wound on her arm, she was more worried about her princess. “Refresh!” The wound immediately healed on Alisha. “I’m so sorry, I failed to protect you again.”
“Never mind me; you’re bleeding as well!” Alisha panicked. She pulled out one of their gels that would disinfect and seal the scratch right away, but Lailah refused. “Don’t be silly! It’ll get infected!”
“No, please! It will serve as a reminder!”
“Lailah!”
“Guys!” Rose screamed over both of them. “Yeesh, I’ve never seen you two go at each other like this! If she doesn’t want the gel, don’t force her. And Lailah, Alisha is worried about you, so suck it up and let her tend to you when you get hurt.”
“Rose…” Dezel uttered. He wanted to keep her out of their affairs, but it couldn’t be helped. He understood that keeping the group together was vital for their mission, yet it was an issue that Alisha and Lailah would have to sort out. “You’re not Sorey; don’t get involved…” he whispered to himself.
“The only way to solve this is for you two to Dive,” Rose declared. “You haven’t in a while, right?”
“We’re not Diving here,” both Alisha and Lailah retorted.
“Well, it needs to be soon. We can’t have you two bickering the entire time we’re looking for these gems. Now, Dezel, let’s check it out, shall we?”
“Let’s save it for Sorey,” the wind seraph declined. “It came from a stupid Goblin Cart hellion.”
“And?”
“That bumbling idiot…really likes them…so it wouldn’t be…uh, nice…”
“Oh-ho? Considering Sorey’s feelings? Maybe you’ve gone weird again.”
“W-Weird?!” Dezel blushed from embarrassment. “I-I’m—”
“I’m just messing.”
Rose pulled out a piece of paper. She had written down all the places that the merchants had told her where there might be an iris gem, and all those that were in the Rolance territory had been recovered. They had to head back into Hyland territory, and while Alisha and Lailah were looking forward to checking on their city again, they both knew it wouldn’t be good. And their comrade was right—they would need to Dive as soon as they could.
Notes:
To combat the tediousness of the iris gems quest, I'm splicing in other events. And all these events are happening at the same time, so...¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Chapter 91: Phase 3: Malak Number One, Silva
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 6: Zaveid
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
WOW this chapter was longer than I expected, or maybe it just seems long? I don't know, but Zaveid's Dives are...oof. Proofing this one was a little harder, probably because it's very dialogue heavy.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Akane returned to the Harvestasha Module to consult with her superior. The little goddess looked annoyed with her appearance in her abode, but it was necessary to make sure her plan still had the chance of working smoothly. The general felt uneasy, though, like it was a mistake to seek her audience. Despite standing stoically in front of her, she—for some reason—didn’t understand the sudden desire to run away.
“Alright, what’s going on with the humans we’ve captured?” Harvestasha nonchalantly asked.
“Lyner Barsett from Platina sustained heavy damage; however, the match once again ended in a draw,” Akane told her. Harvestasha narrowed her eyes at her. “We’ll have to hold yet another match, but this time perhaps we should make the Shepherd and him fight. The former is much healthier than the other two.”
Harvestasha still narrowed her eyes. “A draw? A draw? How the hell are we supposed to instill fear in the hearts of the other humans if we don’t keep our promises?! You were supposed to make sure he died this time! What the hell, Akane?!”
“L-Lady Harvestasha—”
“No excuses! Who knew that such a talented girl could also be so fucking useless?!” Harvestasha suddenly softened. “Oh, I know what I can do. You don’t seem to take me seriously, so how about I raise the stakes?”
“W-What do you mean?”
“I know that Finnel is…a special seraph…but we can always find a new one,” Harvestasha giggled. “Hell, we could even use one of that Shepherd’s seraphim.”
Akane took a step forward with pleading cries, “Lady Harvestasha, I beg of you! If you’re angry with me, then please punish me! Don’t hurt Finnel!”
“Then I suggest you do your job right and kill the humans.”
Akane left the Third Tower for Lohgrin with a heavy heart. Even though her emotions had been minimized, she always felt passionately when it came to Finnel. She vowed to protect her dearest friend by any means, but there was something inherently wrong pitting Lyner, Sorey, and Aoto against each other.
-----------------------------
Sorey listened to Lyner try to stifle his grunts and cries of pain while someone—Hikari Gojo—tended to his wound. The back of Aoto’s armor knocked against the side of his cell as he repeated to himself how sorry he was for injuring his opponent. The cacophony of noise turned the prison cell block into an insane asylum, and the Shepherd tried his best not to be too influenced by the despair.
He, on the other hand, was waiting for Zaveid to come visit him. He wanted to Dive with him and keep up with his seraphim even though he wasn’t allowed to. He was aware that the inability to Dive or even see his friends was an attempt to weaken the bonds between them, but he wouldn’t give in.
Finally, Zaveid arrived. The wind seraph went over to Hikari Gojo first, whispering to him about something that Sorey couldn’t hear over Lyner and Aoto.
“You can rely on me,” Hikari Gojo softly said.
“Thanks,” Zaveid replied. Then he came over to Sorey’s cell. “Ready to Dive?”
“Yeah, but…” Sorey fell silent.
“The Doc won’t rat us out.”
“Okay.” He paused for a breath. “Fylk Zahdeya.”
Like Edna, Zaveid turned into an orb of light that squeezed into the cell and sank into Sorey’s chest. Armatizing once again made him feel calm and safe for the moment, and it drowned out the sound of the anxiety around him.
--------------------------------
“Zaveid,” Sorey mentioned in the shared soul space. “Before we start the Dive, can I ask a favor from you?” Zaveid simply smirked and crossed his arms. He almost looked like something of a towering bodyguard, which made Sorey nervous—or perhaps he was more embarrassed. “I…I need you to help me make a Song.”
“Uh, you do know that that’s pointless, right? You won’t be able to use the power within it.”
“I know, but…I can’t tell you here!” Sorey covered his reddened face with his hands.
“Heh, Edna already told me. We’ll see what we can do, but you’re right. You can’t talk about that stuff here. The sooner we get this Dive done, the sooner I can start helping you out.”
Sorey peeked through his fingers before thanking him. He touched his chest to initiate the Dive.
--------------------------------
Sorey found himself in a new area surrounded by pillars and floating platforms of land all interconnected with stone stairways and bridges. Not too far from the Stonehenge, he found a giant dragon skeleton darkened by age and weathering. Seeing it made him feel uncomfortable or anxious that it would spring to life; it still looked too real, even in Zaveid’s soul space.
Since IPD seraphim had no Mind Guardians, Sorey once again felt lonely inside of his wind seraph’s heart. With ever direction looking like another, he was afraid of getting lost. Of course, he determined the skeleton a landmark. He made his way to the beach-like area where there was a sprouting giant seed, and right next to it was a large wooden ship. At its wheel was a beautiful woman with messy long black hair that had been braided but had since been pulled out of its binding. Sorey felt the malevolence coming from her—it was so strong that he felt paralyzed. Her golden eyes pierced through him, and as she leapt from the ship in front of him, he realized that her clothes were in tatters. The only thing that was remotely still in one piece was her black coat. Her arm was mysteriously bandaged.
“Who are you?” Sorey cautiously asked. Despite the malevolence, she didn’t attack him. “Do you know Zaveid?”
“You can say that,” the woman said. “More importantly, who are you? And what is that clothing? It looks far too ceremonial for it to just be the latest fashion trend.”
“My name is Sorey. I am the Shepherd whose dream is to reunite humans and seraphim and to eliminate the suffering that either side is going through.”
The woman suddenly bristled. “A Shepherd? Hmph, you may be a vile Shepherd, but if Zaveid has let you in here, then you must be trustworthy. I won’t kill you…yet.”
Sorey took a step back from her not because he was afraid. If he were to fight someone that was within Zaveid’s soul, what were the chances that either one died? And he defeated her, what part of the seraph would change?
“Interesting; I can sense a strange light from you—one completely different from the man who helped to start this suffering, one like...” The woman looked up the side of the ship. “Zaveid is a seraph, and a stupid one at that. There are three of us who have returned to bring him back to the realm separate from the human world: myself, Eizen, and another one like me. Zaveid is part of our balance, but he’s decided to stay on this godforsaken island to ‘protect’ humans from the Calamity.”
Sorey was confused. She wasn’t talking about the Lord of Calamity, but she was purposely remaining ambiguous about the scenario.
“Shepherd Sorey, if you truly wish to assist those who are not human to escape suffering, then you must force Zaveid to board this ship. The sooner we pull each seraph from this plane, the better for everyone.”
Naturally, he didn’t agree with her. He, however, told her that he would help. It would provide him a way to find Zaveid in this level, and he was curious about the other one that presumably was as corrupted as her.
“I have a question. You’re not a seraph, are you?”
“No, I’m not, but I’m capable of singing Hymmnos as well as Ar Ciela. Now go find Zaveid. Bring him to this beach.”
“What about Eizen and the other one?”
“They’ll be here.”
Sorey took his leave now with even more questions. Edna had mentioned Ar Ciela before as the ancient language of the continent, but why would this woman know it? Did she know Zaveid in the past? Did she know Eizen? Did that mean Zaveid knew Ar Ciela as well?
He walked the entirety of the strange island and floating platforms in search of the wind seraph, and he was ready to return to the woman for help when he found Zaveid sitting by the skeleton. A few paces from it, he also saw what looked like a shrinechurch. Rose and Alisha were walking towards him.
“Rose! Alisha! Zaveid!” Sorey called out to them happily. “I’m so glad I found everyone.
“Who are you?” Alisha asked.
“Must be another onlooker,” Rose snuffed. “Ignore him. Zaveid, great seraph who descended from Heaven to protect us from Silva the Calamity, are you prepared to stake your life for divine protection?”
Sorey intervened, but Alisha pulled her spear on him. He drew his sword, slowly pushing her blade away from his chest. “Just wait a minute,” he ordered. “What do you mean he has to stake his life?”
Zaveid stood up from where he was sitting. Without a word, he followed Rose and Alisha to the shrinechurch, which made Sorey fear the worst. “Zaveid, wait!” he called out after him. “There’s someone that wants to see you!”
The three of them kept walking like a funeral procession to the shrinechurch, prompting him to follow. After all, he was an “onlooker”. But when he followed through the doors of the magnificently macabre building, his heart stopped. Zaveid, who had changed into a black yukata decorated with bright teal stripes, stood before Rose next to an altar. The others in the shrinechurch were dark figures with indistinguishable faces with glowing orbs inside of them.
“This seraph has pledged his life to prevent Silva from destroying our church, our sanctuary! To fulfill this prayer, his heart must be gouged out and offered to Great Lords!” Rose announced amid the murmurs or uncertainty and disgust. She pulled one of her daggers. “Zaveid, is there a specific person that you wish to cut out your heart?”
“Rose, stop this madness!” Sorey screamed in horror. Everyone turned to him. “How is this supposed to stop Silva?! What good will killing Zaveid do?!”
“Sorey,” Zaveid uttered. “I want him to do it.”
Sorey’s blood ran cold. He shook his head while approaching the altar as if against his will. Zaveid looked at him with fearful yet pleading eyes.
“Just don’t let me feel too much pain.”
Rose handed him the dagger.
“This is to save humanity.”
Sorey slowly looked down at the dagger before throwing it to the side. He was at a loss for words at first, but the anger and disbelief he felt at the moment twisted everything inside of him. He stared at Alisha, then Rose, and finally at Zaveid.
“This is wrong!” he tearfully said. “Zaveid, this isn’t the way to save humanity! This is so wrong!”
“You plan to forsake us by denying the seraph’s wish?!” Alisha—sounding more like Maltran—accused him.
“I am! Zaveid is a dear friend, and I won’t sacrifice him to save the world—not in such a barbaric way! There has to be another way, another way where we don’t have to kill seraphim! This isn’t the way to save anyone.”
“With death comes salvation,” Rose rebuked. “The seraph was willing to die for us! That proves the love and trust of the seraphim for humans.”
Sorey shook his head. He continued to deny that that was the way things had to be. He looked at Zaveid, repeating to him that there were people that wanted to speak to him. The wind seraph turned away as if he didn’t want to go. Before the Shepherd could beg him to see the woman, a guttural roar reverberated outside.
“No, it’s here!” someone in the shrinechurch panicked. “It’s all because of that boy!”
The top of the shrinechurch was torn off by the now living skeleton dragon. From the depths of its ribcage, it conjured a flame hotter than anything Lailah could make. In the blink of an eye, everything was in flames except for Zaveid, who was strangely impervious to the fire despite his being a wind seraph.
“Sorey!” he cried out. Sorey’s body lie burnt among other debris. “Why? Why didn’t you just sacrifice me? All of this could have been avoided!”
But the Shepherd wasn’t completely dead. His spirit stood next to him like a lost ghost. He even knew he was a ghost though he couldn’t believe he was dead. Zaveid couldn’t hear him when he said his name, but he was granted the ability to watch very closely from the guidelines silently.
“There you are!” a man dressed like a samurai said. “The others are waiting. Hmm? You’re upset about that kid?”
“He was one of my…friends…” Zaveid told him.
“Well, nothing you can do about it now. Get your ass in gear; Silva’s on a rampage, so we need to go.”
“No! It’s my fault that Silva had to suffer like this! I thought that by dying, I could soothe his soul.”
“Well, it wouldn’t have worked. They corrupted him a long time ago—you remember that creepy little brat. Look, the point is, we need to go now.”
The samurai pulled Zaveid towards the beach, and Sorey followed them. He was reluctant about leaving his corpse; however, he was finally going to learn who these people were and what their connection to Zaveid was.
Back at the beach, Eizen and the woman were standing in front of the ship. Both of them held a discontent expression on their faces, and the samurai joined their side once he and Zaveid had arrived. Sorey stood next to Zaveid to give him a sense of support; he didn’t like the amount of malevolence coming from the woman and the samurai.
“Now that we are all here,” the woman began. “As a Will of the Planet that governs the negativity of all living things, I would like to know why you want to sacrifice yourself.”
“Because it was my stupidity that cursed many to a life of suffering,” Zaveid explained. He looked at Eizen. “Silva is the last remaining regret I have from my past. I want to help him move on. Ever since…turned him into a dragon, I’ve been in pain.”
Sorey noticed that as Zaveid had spoke, the name seemed to be cut out or blurred or silenced. It had to be someone related to them, and now that he knew that Velvet was indeed a Will of the Planet, he wondered if it was someone related to her.
“You’ve got to let Silva go—let your past go,” the samurai told him. “You’re not a Will of the Planet like… You don’t have the power to save him. Neither Eizen nor I can save him, either.”
“I agree with…” Eizen said. “This place is going to be destroyed along with all of the horrible memories here. Just let yourself be free. You’ve got new friends now.”
“Yes,” the woman agreed. “The boy that came here and got burned by Silva’s fire—he was concerned about you. And I know that your new friends care about you. Don’t make the same mistake that I did. I couldn’t save my brother, and I let my hatred consume me. Don’t let it happen to you. Don’t become like that other wind seraph.”
“How does she know about Dezel?” Sorey whispered. He glanced at Zaveid, who appeared to be in agony. “Is it because she’s a Will of the Planet?”
Zaveid stepped back from Eizen and the two whose names were unknown. He couldn’t allow Silva to destroy wherever they were. He ran back to the shrinechurch remains, and the woman asked Eizen to go after him because he was closest to him. Even though Sorey wanted to know more about this Will, he felt compelled to go back to the shrinechurch. There, Zaveid was holding his charred body. Eizen stood silently behind him.
“Sorey was really the only one who cared after everything happened over 1,000 years ago. I’m not like Dezel; I don’t want revenge. I want a chance to make things right. Because I wouldn’t let you put Theodora out of her misery, because I wouldn’t let you eat her heart, because I kept getting in your way; this vicious cycle just keeps continuing. Eleanor tried to make things better, and she changed what it meant to be a Shepherd. I see her in Sorey, so I want to help him. But I can’t help him if I keep running away from my mistakes.”
Eizen just listened to him.
“Eizen! I can’t just leave or abandon my past. Those two and you and all the ones that journeyed together so long ago are all the same. Each one of you couldn’t let go, so why are you telling me now?”
“Because this is your heart,” Eizen said with a comforting smile. “We’ll always be with you. When she became a Will of the Planet to keep…in check, she knew that she would become a mere concept or law that maintains the balance. You know that…and I are just representations about that, but the fact that a Will is trying to contact you means you’ve got a decision to make.”
“This isn’t a decision! It’s either run away and hide the truth from Sorey or to face Silva and the past. I don’t want him to suffer for nothing. We have to break the cycle!”
Sorey had never heard Zaveid so passionate, and even if he was dead, his heart ached for the wind seraph’s wish. He watched as he set the corpse down before focusing on it. In Hymmnos, Zaveid chanted out a Song that called forth two Normin named Anther and Lindwer. They greeted him before examining the corpse.
“We can fix this!” they told him. “Normin power!”
Suddenly in a flash of light, the ghost of Sorey had vanished. The corpse was no longer a corpse, devoid of all injuries as if nothing had ever happened. The Shepherd woke up.
“Sorey!” Zaveid gasped. “What the hell? You two are supposed to fight therions and dragons! Little Miss Attitude and Angry Big Brother here! Not bring people back to life like that!”
“S-Sorry, Master Zaveid,” the Normin quivered.
Eizen smiled behind him. He met Sorey’s eyes, and he mouthed a simple plea:
“Protect him.”
Sorey gave a resolute nod. “Zaveid, I think a Paradigm Shift is about to happen. We should head to the Stonehenge.”
“Right. Eizen,” Zaveid faced the earth seraph. “I’m not running away anymore. I’m going to quell Silva if it’s the last thing I must do.”
“Do what you will. She’s watching and supporting you, too. We all are.”
Zaveid shook Eizen’s hand one last time before he followed Sorey to the Stonehenge. The light shone brightly from the center, and as the wind seraph prepared himself for the next level, he opened his mouth to thank Sorey for his help.
“Don’t thank me, Zaveid!” he smiled. “You did this by yourself. And just like that woman, I’ll do everything in my power to help you. Let’s take on your past together!”
“Okay, too corny.”
They stepped into the light.
----------------------------------
Sorey woke up next to Zaveid, who was covering his mouth. Mute had come back to the prison cells. Hikari Gojo wasn’t there anymore.
“Shit,” Zaveid whispered. “The Doc left earlier than I expected, or Big Girl kicked him out.”
“What are you going to do?” Sorey whispered back.
“If I escaped from Pendrago, I can escape from here.” He gave a tiny excited smile. “Let’s talk about that Song you want to make.” Sorey blushed.
After about an hour, Sorey and Zaveid heard the door to the prison cell block shut. Mute’s footsteps couldn’t be heard, and when the wind seraph peeked through the thin slits in the side of the cell, she wasn’t there at all.
“Best of luck, kiddo,” he said. “Just keep practicing that Song when you can.”
Zaveid turned into an orb of light, squeezed out of the cell, and snuck back to the general populace of Lohgrin. Sorey hummed his new Song to himself, mouthing the Hymmnos that he had learned from Edna and had put together with Zaveid’s help. It was a nice way to entertain himself, but he had butterflies in his stomach every time he rehearsed his Song.
But he wasn’t as safe as he thought he was. The next colosseum battle was nigh.
Notes:
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Chapter 92: Phase 3: The Knight of Elemia
Summary:
While Rose and Alisha work with their seraphim to retrieve the remaining iris gems, Akane initiates the 110th battle in the colosseum. Sorey and Lyner face off.
Notes:
This chapter is one of those rare chapters where I'm really proud of my battle scenes. That said, it's really hard to determine Lyner's fighting style since in-game he doesn't really move as per battle system, and the OVA offered little out of generic fighting style.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey had sung himself to sleep that night, and when morning came, he received a rude awakening from Mute. The rumbling and clanking of his cell door opening so suddenly startled him. The brutish seraph girl towered over him.
“Rise and shine, pipsqueak! It’s your turn today,” she bellowed at him. She grabbed him by the collar of his cloak, threw him out into the open, and proceeded to roughly tie him up. “Richa, you got the other one?”
Richa, who was as well-endowed as Mute was buffed, struggled to drag Lyner out of his cell. He begged her to let go of him; his leg was still hurting from his fight with Aoto. “Look, I’m not the one who’s forcing you to fight,” Richa somewhat gently said. “I’m just following Akane’s orders, and she’s following Lady Harvestasha’s orders.” Lyner dug his sword into the concrete like an anchor to try and resist her. “Stop making this harder than it has to be!”
“Lyner,” Sorey said. The emaciated knight looked over his shoulder at him. “It’s okay. Nothing bad will happen, I promise you.” Mute and Richa exchanged looks wondering why the Shepherd would say such a vague thing. The pink-clad seraph thought that because he was the Shepherd, he was compelled to instill hope in people…even if it was false. “Trust me, okay?”
Just like that, Lyner complied with Richa. The two were bound then escorted out of the prison cell block to the opposite ends of the colosseum. Sorey was anxious about what he had just promised Lyner. He didn’t really have a plan for the fight. He simply knew that, like Aoto, he had to pretend to fight Lyner for real, which would be difficult since the knight could barely stand let alone hold up his sword. He waited for the doors to open in near darkness.
Suddenly, a bright light shined from Mute’s core that was so intense that he reactively whipped his head away. As it faded, he peered over his shoulder at her, but she wasn’t there anymore. In her place, a small girl with the same clothes and hairstyle stood.
“Aw, why did this have to happen now?!” she whined. “I-I’ll have to get…Katene…to help me out…”
“Um,” Sorey uttered.
“H-Hey! Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?!”
“Where did the really muscly girl go?”
“Y-You’re still staring at me! My Song Magic decided to end right before the match; Akane’s not going to be happy…even worse if Harvestasha finds out!” Mute glared at him. “Don’t you dare tell anyone about this! The only ones who know are you and K-K-K-Katene!” Now she was blushing.
“I won’t tell! Just…if this is what you really look like, then why don’t you stay like this?” Sorey was genuinely confused contrary to what the seraph believed; he’d never heard of Song Magic that could change one’s appearance so drastically. “Well, I guess you are a prison ward, so looking scary is probably a requirement.”
“How dare you insult a lady!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Just keep this secret!” Mute tried to hold her angry expression, but Sorey simply smiled at her and promised he would. “Now I have a question for you. Why did you tell the other guy that nothing bad would happen to him? What are you scheming?”
Sorey thought about it. He told her, “I don’t know him very well, but Lyner was scared. I don’t want him to be, and like I said, I won’t hurt him—nothing bad will happen.” He stood with such poise and grace befitting of a celestial being that the little seraph was speechless. “Oh, Mute, if Song Magic made you all big and scary, why don’t you use it again?”
“Huh? Hey, who said you could change the subject?” Mute grumbled. “The Song Magic has a recharge time, so I can’t use it again for a while. When those doors open, you better just walk into the ring by yourself. If you don’t, I’ll send some other seraphim after you.”
Sorey nodded dutifully. He turned to the large doors that slowly opened into the colosseum. Across the way, he saw Lyner. He looked fatigued, his leg bent to put his weight on his other side. Mute cut the rope around his wrists, and he entered the ring. The seraphim cheered and jeered at him and his opponent. The Shepherd scanned the audience for Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid; but he couldn’t find them either because there were so many faces or because they simply weren’t there. He understood if they weren’t; why would they want to watch their friend fight to the death?
Kyme, recognized by the young brunet, announced the 110th colosseum battle and that it would last for five minutes just like before. The older seraph couldn’t look at Sorey’s face knowing that he could die. He wanted desperately to declare that Sorey should be exempt from the battle, but he knew that Akane and Harvestasha would arrest him. The general took her position watching over the battle. She flipped the first of the five minute glasses.
Sorey and Lyner drew their swords. The former took a deep breath to calm himself so that he wouldn’t accidentally stab the knight or slash him like Aoto had. He also knew that there was a large chance that he and his opponent were on different levels. Sorey was exclusively self-taught, learning the art of the sword by practicing with Mikleo. Lyner was once a bodyguard for Shurelia; he had been taught to serve and protect, and his expertise was in defense. Of course, he was so hungry and tired that his ability had dulled, but he was still a force to be reckoned with.
The battle began, and the two at first cautiously stepped around each other. Something was different about this fight already—Lyner didn’t look like he was willing to work with Sorey like he had worked with Aoto. There was a look of desperation in his dark eyes. Lyner made the first move by charging towards Sorey with his sword lifted over him in two hands. Just as he had predicted shortly before, he wasn’t fighting to put on a show. He genuinely was going to try and kill him.
Sorey tapped the length of Lyner’s sword as he spun around elegantly to dodge him. He swung his weapon around as if it were a ball and chain instead, and the fancy handwork had caught the attention of a few seraphim in the audience. His style was much more different from Lyner’s. The knight was skilled at basic sword fighting. He could swing his sword like he was supposed to and parry with two hands. He had the strength of a beast and an uncanny ability to tap into his mana without the help of Harmonics by the seraphim. He lumbered despite being around Mikleo’s height, but he was older than Sorey. In stark contrast, Sorey’s movements were fluid and water-like. Whether it was from training with Mikleo when they were young or whether it came with the Shepherd title, he could dance his way out of danger. With only one hand to guide his sword, he was free to use his momentum to slingshot himself at and around Lyner. The only problem was that if he was struck by his opponent and managed to parry him, he would easily get tired. That was why he was so confused why Lyner was fighting to kill him.
The first thing that the Shepherd had to do was put some distance between them so he could assess the situation. He ran from Lyner, parallel to him, and watched his movements. He was like Sergei in a way; knights were predictable when fighting most of the time. Lyner, also like Sergei, still had his hidden abilities.
“Impulse!” the knight bellowed as he flung a shockwave at him.
“Heavenly Torrent!” Sorey countered, bisecting the wave of mana. “Lyner, wait a second!” The two met, locking their blades in a duel. “Lyner!”
“Just fight me for real!” he ordered him. “If you don’t, both of us will be executed!”
Sorey pushed him back, but Lyner just came back for every opportunity he could find to pierce him. He leapt back, this time digging his blade into the dusty ground. With a flick of his wrist, he threw dirt into his opponent’s eyes with the hope that blinding him would stop him.
Akane flipped the second minute glass.
Outside of the colosseum, Mikleo fought with Edna and Zaveid. He didn’t want to see Sorey get hurt. Edna tried to push him to go. “You idiot,” she told him. “He’s in there fighting so he can be with you.”
“It’s horrible what they do in there, and how can seraphim even enjoy this?” Mikleo argued.
“What else are they supposed to do when they can’t leave Lohgrin whenever they want?” Zaveid rebutted. “We need to go in there and give Sorey our support.”
“We can’t help him!”
“It doesn’t matter if we can’t help him,” Edna sternly said. “It matters that he sees us. You of all people should know that.” She spun her umbrella. “Besides, if he dies, then he can’t Dive into ever again. Do you really want to break his heart and not show that you support him? Even after you pledged your love and trust to him?”
Mikleo seemed like he was in pain. “I have faith that Sorey is strong enough to make it through the five minutes, but I don’t want to see him get hurt in something as barbaric as this damn colosseum,” he whimpered. He gripped his arms. “He was treated so badly in Ladylake and Pendrago—he nearly died in Pendrago. I’m scared he’ll fall here despite everything. I can’t bear that idea, Edna, Zaveid.” A looming darkness took over him, and he fell to his knees. “The malevolence coming from Lyner and Aoto…they and the doctor and his assistant are the only ones here that can turn this place into a nest of dragons.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a bit melodramatic?” an unfamiliar voice came. Luphan had approached them from behind. “A bunch of seraphim worrying this much over a disgusting human? How utterly laughable.”
Edna and Zaveid glared at him. Mikleo stood up angrier then they were. “State your name,” he demanded as he summoned his staff.
“Ah-ah, you can’t harm me; even Akane can’t hurt me by order of Her Divinity, our Lady Harvestasha.” He introduced himself to Sorey’s seraphim with the sort of nonchalant attitude that drove them up the wall. He was like Bartlow or Targana, and it made Mikleo sick to know that there was someone like that within a seraphic stronghold. “Your friend in there is the Shepherd, correct? He certainly does have quite the resonance. I would have never guessed that a human would have that.” He glanced over all the seraphim. “Hmm, if he can bond with three seraphim at once, an extra one shouldn’t be a problem,” he mumbled to himself.
“How about you just move along?” Zaveid growled.
“We shall see how he fares after this fight.” Luphan stepped towards the doors to the colosseum. “Oh, and I would be careful about Diving. A little birdy told Lady Harvestasha not too long ago about you and the Shepherd Diving, and you should know that that’s illegal here.”
Edna and Zaveid tensed. Who found out?
Akane turned the third minute glass over.
Sorey spun out of another lock with Lyner, mirroring him and grabbing him by his cape. The knight swung his sword back to try and behead him, but Sorey kept ducking under his attacks. Unable to cut him, Lyner slipped down. He swept Sorey’s legs before turning to him and stabbing the air next to him when he missed. The blade sliced the Shepherd’s cheek deeply, and while he was recovering from the fluke, he slashed across just about his brow.
“Lyner, please!” Sorey begged him. Blood trickled down, forcing him to close his eye and subsequently dripping onto the front of his ceremonial cloak.
“If I kill you, I’ll be free,” Lyner muttered. “I’ll be able to eat and sleep without worry…!”
Sorey’s heart palpitated. “Malevolence?” he choked. “Lyner…!”
Akane turned the fourth minute glass.
Kyme, who had been watching from the guidelines, sensed it as well. He ran to where Akane was overseeing the match. He pleaded with her to end the fight before it was too late.
“I won’t kill you,” Sorey panted. “But I have to make you listen to me.” He pushed through the heaviness in his chest. Focusing on Lyner, waiting for him to charge in and strike, he channeled his power as the Shepherd. As Lyner jumped up to pierce him, Sorey parried him. “It’s time! Howling Blade—Bolt Tempest!” A burst of electricity shot from Sorey’s sword, and Lyner flew back across the colosseum.
“General Akane, please, you must stop this! Whatever Richa told Lyner, you know it’s a lie! The malevolence is accumulating!” Kyme warned her. Akane ignored him. “Sorey doesn’t deserve this!”
Lyner still hadn’t gotten up, and the general watched patiently to see if he was still alive. She flipped the fifth minute glass while keeping her eyes still on him. If he didn’t get up before the final grain of sand fell, then Sorey would be crowned the victor.
Misha and Aurica held their breaths. They had no idea that Sorey was as powerful as he had just shown, and they were more than afraid that Lyner was dead. They didn’t know that if Sorey had killed him, though, that he would become a hellion.
Akane looked down at the minute glass then back at the battleground. With just a few seconds to spare, Lyner slowly rolled over, gripped his sword, and was back on his feet. Sorey’s eyes widened.
“I…I just want my freedom!” Lyner screamed. He was prepared to slice the Shepherd in half.
“This marks the end of the 110th colosseum battle!” Kyme hastily said as soon as the final grain of sand fell from the top half of the glass. Lyner couldn’t stop himself, and as he pushed himself through sheer will to kill Sorey, a number of seraphim intervened. “Take them back to their cells!”
“No! I was promised freedom if I killed him!”
Richa averted her gaze from him and decided to find Hikari Gojo. That was when she found Luphan waiting closer by one of the exits with a devious smile on his lips. She traced his line of sight to Sorey, and a shiver went down her spine.
“How could I be so foolish?” she cursed herself.
Akane leapt down from her perch, announcing that the next fight would be the next day. The same prize was mentioned—whoever emerged victorious in the battle would win their freedom. Luphan licked his lips desirously. He left in search of Finnel.
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Mute pushed Mikleo back when he tried to force his way into the prison cell block. He had caught a glimpse of Sorey after the fight, and after noticing the dried blood on his cheek and eye, he had to tend to him.
“It’s not visiting time!” the once-again muscular seraph roared at him.
“I don’t care if it’s the witching hour, I need to see Sorey!” Mikleo snapped back. He pushed her aside with a shot of water. Edna and Zaveid didn’t stop him or support him. They were more concerned about Luphan and what he was scheming. “Sorey! Where are you?”
“Mikleo?” the Shepherd gasped over Lyner’s bargains and pleas to be let out of the cell.
The water seraph slid to his human’s cell. He was panicking that he had been hurt terribly, but the brunet assured him that they were merely scratches. Even still, Mikleo insisted that he heal him. While he chanted his spell and erased the cuts, he listened to the mad ravings coming from the other cell.
“He wasn’t like this before; what happened?” Mikleo asked.
“I think Richa told him that if he won, he would be allowed to leave,” Sorey replied. “Something’s not right. Lyner was always pretty level-headed from what I could tell. I don’t get why he’s suddenly started begging for escape.”
“Richa, Mute, Akane—all of the seraphim are in on these death battles,” Aoto explained quietly. “More than likely they told him that, but they won’t let him go. He’s just too desperate to see that now.” There was a pause. “We’re just cattle. The only freedom we’ll get is in death.”
Mikleo clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Why were they so unfortunate to have wound up in this place where humans were but livestock? Where were Rose and Alisha? What was taking them so long to get back?
“Mikleo,” Sorey suddenly whispered. “Let’s Dive.”
“Are you crazy?” Aoto asked him. “You’re going to Dive now?!”
“In the event that I do fall here, I want one more chance to encounter his true feelings. Haven’t you been afraid of not knowing what happens in your seraphim’s heart?”
“I agree with Aoto, Sorey,” Mikleo interrupted. He wanted to hold his hand, but he couldn’t even stick his slender fingers through the slits of the cell. “Someone named Luphan might be onto you.”
“I think Mute might know, too; but I don’t care. I want you to at least be strong enough just in case.”
“She’s right outside the door!”
It wasn’t just that he wanted to Dive. He had been away from Mikleo for a few days that he was starting to get anxious from not being near him. He could sense that he felt the same way. And he recognized that he was letting that anxiety dictate his thoughts; it was wrong to force a seraph to Dive. It incurred more danger than regular Dives—Sorey knew that, and the rational part of him who stil believed that things would be okay fought with that part that want to feel Mikleo’s touch to give him security. He also had a forboding feeling. Something was terrible was going to happen.
“You’re right, I’m sorry; I’m being irrational, but we still need to Dive soon.” He peeked through one of the slits as best as he could. “Promise me that you’ll come here later tonight.”
“I will.”
Sorey smiled in the darkness of his cell. He whispered that he loved him before Mute came in, and she was calmer than expected. Still, she tore Mikleo from in front of the cell and threw him out then returned to the Shepherd. She slammed her fist on the side.
“He ain’t coming back here tonight,” she told him; she had been listening through the doors the whole time. “Once Akane hears that you’ve been Diving—”
“Idiot,” Aoto sighed.
“Mute, please, don’t tell Akane,” Sorey begged her. His heart started to race; everything could fall apart right here! “I know your secret, and you know mine. I promised not to tell anyone. Can’t you do that for me?” He held his breath which had been echoing in the cell. “Mute?”
Aoto listened as well as Lyner, who had finally calmed down after exhausting himself.
Then it was like a switch flipped. “I…I promise,” Mute hesitantly said.
“Thank you,” Sorey sighed as he slid down the wall of his cell to his knees.
Outside of his cell, while Aoto and Lyner were waiting for the promise to be made, Luphan had stuck his blades in through the slits of their cells, something like jumping off of them. Mute peeked around the corner silently at him. No one had seen him or had noticed when he entered the prison cell block. In an instant like when he had entered, he was gone.
Notes:
So this little ending is a bit odd, so allow me some clarification. Luphan snuck in, did a thing, then left without really drawing any attention to himself.
Chapter 93: Phase 3: Return to Hyland
Summary:
Searching for the iris gems in Hyland, Rose/Dezel and Alisha/Lailah part ways. After an unexpected visit, Alisha questions Lailah's past.
Notes:
Should be wrapping up the iris gem hunt soon enough, but hey! We get some development in Alisha and Lailah's relationship this time!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Symonne knelt behind Heldalf. “Have there been any developments?” the Lord of Calamity asked her.
“Everything is going better than expected, my lord,” Symonne replied. “Shurelia’s Tower is still asleep. With Mir compromised, power output is still low. The Shepherd has also been incarcerated in Lohgrin.” Heldalf turned to her. “We have more allies. Lunarre has disappeared, yet Maltran is working as expected to generate more chaos in Hyland. Our new ally in Lohgrin has access to information that can help us.”
“I’m listening,” Heldalf said. He crossed his arms.
“He works very closely with a doctor as well as one of the administrators of Tilia. In addition to the administrator making an effort to destroy all humans, he’s found the Goddess Maiden and Maiden of Mio. Within those two seraphim, there are the ancient souls of the previous Goddess Maiden and Maiden of Mio, who also sought to destroy this tainted world and create it anew.”
Heldalf rumbled as he thought about the possibilities if he were to recruit these maidens. It would help to vastly outnumber Sorey and his friends, but he was still curious about the administrator of Tilia, Harvestasha. What exactly was this new ally planning? Who was this new ally?
“Mir has also released her best Virus to try and free her from Shurelia’s Binary Field,” Symonne concluded. “If Ayatane is able to free her from her cage…”
“Hyland and everything within that region can be erased without much trouble. Good work, Symonne.”
The fallen seraph curtsied. She vanished into the darkness to monitor the iris gem hunters.
------------------------------
Rose and Alisha had made it back to the Hyland region after passing through Lastonbell and finding their way through Lamorak Cave. While Lailah and Alisha were ready to return to Ladylake, the assassin reminded them that they had their list of places to check. According to it, there was one gem reported in Marlind. Even though Rohan was watching over the town, there was still an abundant amount of malevolence in it, and Dezel was nervous about going in. The people there were sure to still pine for the seraphim.
Rose stressed that Lailah and Dezel were to stay inside though. She remembered what happened in Marlind, and truthfully, she didn’t want to be there herself. She just had to find the iris gem and leave. They entered the bustling village.
Not much had changed over the months away from the village despite the malevolence being reduced some amount. Seraphim were no longer enslaved, but there was discrimination. Alisha held herself back—or maybe Lailah did—so she didn’t get into any fights that would tip off people in Ladylake that their princess had returned. And through the eyes of their humans, Dezel and Lailah witnessed that things were still terrible on the other side of the war.
“Okay, there’s supposed to be one in the sanctuary,” Rose said as she scanned her paper for details on the iris gem. “And apparently someone here has information on another one, but that one seems a little sketchier.”
“Let us retrieve the one in the sanctuary then,” Alisha decided. Rose agreed with her, and they followed the thin winding road leading up a hill to the modest sanctuary. They opened the doors to find Rohan. “Oh, Rohan!”
“Oh, you’re back so soon?” the seraph asked.
“Well, it’s been a while.” Alisha felt embarrassed to see him.
“Forgive me; a seraph’s concept of time is slower than that of human’s. It feels like it’s only been a few hours since you all left. Where is the Shepherd?”
Rose and Alisha couldn’t bear to tell him what had happened, and because they didn’t know what had been happening in Lohgrin, they couldn’t be hopeful, either. Dezel reminded Rose to focus on the task at hand. She looked past the elder seraph at the green glowing iris gem sitting on the altar like a pearl in a clam. She quickly went for it, calling Dezel out.
“Can you read what it says?” Rohan asked.
“Yup,” Rose said, but she was so concentrated on the iris gem that she didn’t watch her tone. “Dezel, you ready? Lukeim Yurlin.”
“Armatization at will?”
“See? Just like Alisha said!” Rose smiled.
“Rose, the gem,” Dezel said.
The assassin turned her attention to the green orb. Focusing on it and using Dezel to see the events that played within, she watched:
$U$)U$)o$t%)t !(lAgU %)c%b#tA
%)f!)fArs %)f!)fArs %)f!)fArs $O%b#cU
$U$)U$)o$t%)t $)Nb#(z#Ab
%(sssv#(IA!h%&h %(sssv#(IA!h%&h
“That’s strange,” Rose mumbled. “Heldalf was practically the Rolance Army’s best general—they loved him. So what happened?” Dezel de-Armatized from her. While his human contemplated about the events, he snagged her list and handed it to Alisha. “Huh, hey!”
Rohan looked at the page, and he immediately recognized the name of the merchant written down. “Logos? A man by that name recently stopped here in the village not too long ago,” he informed. “Last time I saw him, he was near the museum.”
“This makes things a lot easier!” Lailah happily said.
“It does! Thank you very much, Rohan!” Alisha joined. The seraph waved it away as if embarrassed that a human princess would thank him so graciously.
With Dezel back inside, Rose and Alisha headed to the Dunomnia Museum where they did find a shady-looking man staring at the building. There was a small amount of malevolence wafting off him. Lailah and Dezel were uncomfortable.
“Are you Logos?” Rose asked without hesitation. The man turned around. “We were told you knew where we could find an iris gem.”
“Aye, what if I do?” Logos grumbled. “Hold on, you’re the boss of the Sparrowfeathers, aren’t you. About time you showed up.”
“He was waiting?” Dezel questioned.
“I take it you ran into some of my folks. We’re looking for the iris gems, and we heard you have one in your possession.”
Logos shook his head. “I know of a person who has it in his possession over in Ladylake. But I’m not just going to cough of the info without compensation or a down payment.”
“In Ladylake?” Alisha gasped. “Tell us!”
“Oh, even the princess is here. Tough luck—I’m not squealing without some sort of incentive.”
“You brute!”
“Guys, guys, diplomacy,” Rose said. She looked at Logos. “What can we get for you?”
Logos placed his demand for a set of peacock feathers. They were priceless, highly coveted feathers that reflected the sun like a rainbow. It only came from the great tail of a King Peacock hellion, which had been seen in Malory the Patinal Forest. Naturally, Rose held disdain for Logos because it was a long journey to make. It wouldn’t have helped to go on the search blindly for whoever had the iris gem. But how was she to get to Malory as quickly as possible?
“If we use the power of the Armatus and fly, we can make it back in a couple days as opposed to a week,” Dezel offered. Rose wasn’t even sure if they could fly that long, but it wasn’t the Armatus of Wind for nothing.
“Alright, Logos, I’ll get you those feathers,” Rose resolutely said. “In return, you must provide us information about the iris gem.” Then she addressed Alisha. “This is probably a bad idea, but you should go to Ladylake and start trying to find leads.”
“That could get us killed,” Alisha told her.
“You have Lailah, so you’ll be fine. We can’t waste time. Just go.”
Rose Armatized with Dezel as soon as she made her order. Alisha reluctantly listened; she wasn’t sure what would be waiting for her and Lailah in Ladylake, and while she wanted to go with the assassin to get the feathers, she would only drag her down. The princess made her way out of Marlind to her home city.
------------------------------------
Rose kept her eyes shut tightly as Dezel guided her high above the land and clouds. There were very few things that scared Rose—ghosts and extreme heights. The wind seraph promised her that he wouldn’t drop her, but it didn’t seem like she trusted him. From the inside, he hugged her tightly until she was brave enough to look under her feet.
“Dezel…!” she panicked. “We’re too high up!”
“I’ve got you. Just relax,” Dezel soothingly said. “We’re just going to fly like…if we were Armatized in battle.”
“I can’t…I can’t do this. You guide us…”
She closed her eyes again, imagining that she was laying on top of a giant bird instead of relying on Dezel’s power to carry them across the continent. Contrary to what Dezel had thought, she trusted him completely. She couldn’t stand to see the land moving so fast underneath her.
“Rose, open your eyes. I want to see.”
Rose slowly opened one eye then both. “Why do you want to see this?” she asked him. “Why aren’t you scared?”
“If a bird was afraid of heights, then it wouldn’t be able to fly. If you were afraid of killing people, you would have died long ago, and I wouldn’t have been able to save you. Don’t worry, I’m holding you up.”
“Okay,” Rose shakily said. “This is okay. What’s the fastest way to Malory?”
“Across Glaivend Basin, Volgran Forest, Lastonbell, and the Meadow of Triumph; but flying over Glaivend Basin is still dangerous.”
“That’s a risk we have to take.”
Dezel couldn’t believe what he was hearing when just a few seconds ago, she was terrified. Her reasoning was that getting shot out of the sky by flaming boulders or speeding arrows was more frightening than flying. Of course, the wind seraph thought they were equally bad. He tried to persuade her not to fly over the battlefield, but it was to no avail. With the wind behind her, Rose pushed herself to soar as fast as she could. Glaivend Basin, however, was larger than either region; even though she felt like she was zooming at the speed of light, she was comparatively slower when spotted from the ground. One of the hellions launched a fiery boulder at her, and Dezel forced her to stop and dodge. He was worried about her getting hurt, and his wind-reading ability could only help so much.
“Dezel, we’ve got to keep moving!” Rose urged him.
“We can’t fly through this!” Dezel replied frantically, which was extremely uncharacteristic of him.
“What’s gotten into you?!”
She overpowered him, flying to the western side of the battlefield just before one of the boulders had collided with her from behind; knocking the breath out of her, forcing Dezel and her to de-Armatize, and throwing them into the canopy of the Volgran Forest. As they crashed down through the thick branches of the large trees, the wind seraph searched for Rose on the wind. When he pinpointed her, he pulled her in with his pendulums. Holding her close to his chest, he shielded her from breaking any bones on the rock-like branches. Ultimately, they landed in one of the small clearings that resided close to the edges of the forest where the land created shelves that were impossible to scale. Both of them lie unconscious for a short while, and then Rose roused under Dezel’s arm.
“Damn, I didn’t think we get shot into the forest like that…” Rose coughed while holding her head. “Dezel? Dezel, are you okay!?”
The wind seraph was knocked out, a thin stream of crimson curling across his forehead. The assassin, guilty for going against his warnings, pulled out a small rag she often used to wash her face. The creek that ran through the forest was too far to go to for water, and leaving him defenseless was out of the question. She carefully took his hat before pressing the rag on the tiny but deep laceration on his forehead.
“Way to go, Rose—you managed to nearly kill the one you’re suppose to protect,” she scolded herself. “What was I thinking? Of course, we got shot. There’s a war going on.”
She searched her pockets for a peach gel. While some water would have been the best thing to give her seraph, the peach gel would quench his thirst and help with the cut. Once the bleeding had stopped and she had regained her bearings, she held Dezel on her back and began her trek to Lastonbell. On the bright side, it had only take them a couple hours to get that far.
When Rose arrived at the imposing gates that fed into the artisan city, Dezel finally woke. He felt each unsteady step under him, heard each huff of effort as his human tried to carry him without falling over, and smelled her sweat.
“Just…have…to make it…to the inn!” Rose grunted. She pushed on the gate with her hip almost believing that her hip alone had enough strength to open the heavy gates. Eventually, a guard opened it for her, and from his perch, he couldn’t tell she was holding a seraph. She made a beeline for the inn as quickly as possible. Going up the stairs was another challenge, though she eventually overcame it with diligence. After laying Dezel—pretending to still be unconscious—she sank to the floor in exhaustion. “For a seraph, Dezel is really heavy…!” she heaved. She wanted to order food, but she was too tired to get up from the floor. “There’s no way we can keep going tonight…” she muttered to herself. “I should give him a bath…Right after…a nap…”
With Rose sleeping on the floor, Dezel sneakily healed himself and her before scooping her up in his arms and bringing her to the bed, where he let her lay against him and pulled the blanket over her. He was upset with her, but he appreciated that she carried him to the city and up the stairs. As he pulled off her jacket so she was comfortable, he gave her a chaste kiss on her head. Then he lay back against the headboard and waited for her to rest.
-------------------------------
Alisha and Lailah had reached Ladylake by sunset, which worked in their favor since most people had started to prepare dinner and turned in for the evening. It gave the two girls freedom to walk the streets, especially since there were fewer guards than normal due to the war still going on in Glaivend Basin. The princess was disgusted with Bartlow, whose council had continuously been pushing for war long after it started. She couldn’t focus on that now, but it angered her to see how poorly her people and seraphim were being treated.
“Let’s return to the manor,” Lailah suggested in an effort to get her princess’s mind off affairs she couldn’t control at the moment. “I know you’re upset, but we must retrieve the iris gems to help Sorey.”
The fire seraph took Alisha’s hand, leading her to her home where her maid was sitting with Maltran for a cup of tea. She looked troubled, and the Blue Valkyrie held a serious expression on her face. When the maid caught a glimpse of Alisha, she shot up from her seat and bowed.
“Milady!” she said with surprise.
“Alisha,” Maltran also greeted albeit with professionalism. She eyed Lailah. “I’m surprised that you managed to come back to Ladylake.”
Knowing that Maltran was a hellion, the princess addressed her with the same cold professionalism, striking the maid as strange. “I have returned to gather some materials,” she said.
“Is that so?” She straightened in her chair. “Why not have a cup of tea with me for old time’s sake as mentor and student, princess and right-hand?”
Alisha accepted the invitation, but Lailah didn’t trust Maltran. Before she could take a seat with them, however, her princess asked that she comb the city for the “materials” they had come for.
“Why?” Lailah bit.
“Because we can’t afford to waste time. Please, do as you’re told.”
Lailah was reluctant at first, her jade eyes bouncing between Maltran and Alisha. She hated that she wanted to be alone with an enemy, and she tried hard to find some sort of silver lining to leaving her. Maltran kept her eyes on her until Alisha commanded her attention
“Why are you here?” Alisha asked.
“You may not be in Ladylake currently, but I still have my position as your right-hand,” Maltran replied.
“You are not to act on my behalf.”
“I am not. I am acting on the behalf of the council. Rest assured, my princess, I will ensure that no serious harm shall come to you or your doorstep. I make no promise for you seraph or your friends.”
“What are you planning?”
Maltran sat back. “My, you are full of bothersome questions. Come, milady, let us simply enjoy each other’s company.”
Meanwhile, Lailah walked the entirety of the city as best as she could without being seen by guards making their evening rounds. She tried to sense any iris gems that might have been around, and as she neared the courtyard before the sanctuary, she felt one. Looking around and making sure there was no one that would alert the patrols, she hurried into the sanctuary. There up on the altar where holy water was held shined a yellow iris gem. She was a little miffed that it wasn’t one she could look into with Alisha, but she swiped it. Not a moment later, someone gasped.
“A seraph!” a dirty child shrieked. “Guys, a seraph is stealing our loot!”
“W-What?” Lailah cried out. “Children? In the sanctuary? And from the royal entrance, no less.” She cautiously approached the child. “Listen, I am the humble seraph of Princess Alisha Diphda. I’m merely collecting this for her.”
The child pulled out a slingshot to defend himself against Lailah, who he perceived to be some horrible witch. He called on his friends, and four more kids came from behind the wall and surrounded her.
“W-What are you going to do?” Lailah pretended to fearfully ask.
“We could use a seraph to help us. Get her!”
The children, foolishly believing that they had the power to capture a seraph, charged towards her. They were unaware of her strength, so when she flicked her flames at them to keep them at bay, they recoiled in fear.
“Now, now, why are you behaving like this?” Lailah asked with her characteristic motherly tone. She waited for an explanation, which the children weren’t sure if they should have offered until she threatened—not seriously—to tell Alisha of their ambush. When they did finally tell her, she seemed playfully interested. “I see, so you’re a band of bandits!”
“Hey, lady! We’re not criminals! We’re just doing what we have to so we can survive!” one of the kids snapped at her.
Lailah giggled then became stern. “Even still, it’s wrong to steal from people who are working just as hard as you to make ends meet. You should turn your energy to something positive.”
“Who would help us when we’ve stolen so much? The Church doesn’t even use the donations it gets for good things!” another child complained.
“Alisha will see about that once we finish our mission. But I’m sure that if you gave the donations back, the guards won’t punish you as harshly.”
The group of children exchanged glances. Something about Lailah was calming, and they felt like they would be guilty if they ignored her. The leader of the group agreed to bring her to their hideout only if she promised to keep it secret. Lailah smiled at them. She was very good at keeping secrets.
The children’s hideout was one of the mansions in the nobles’ district a few blocks from Alisha’s manor. Seeing the top of her princess’s living quarters made her wonder what Maltran was doing there in the first place, but she couldn’t intrude. It would endanger Alisha, yet she wanted to be by her side. She didn’t trust her. She returned her focus to the hideout, which had been abandoned for a few years much to her surprise. The family that once lived there, she remembered, had been incarcerated for housing a group of seraphim and hiding them from the Church to use for experiments when the Seraphoid Project had first began. The family—husband, wife, one son, and three daughters—were all arrested then immediately subjected to the heinous tests. Lailah felt some lingering malevolence, which made her wonder why the children didn’t harbor any themselves. Perhaps they were so adamant about stealing to survive that that desire was enough to prevent them from garnering it. The interior of the hideout was dusty but still well-kept, and by a stroke of luck, they had another iris gem in their possession.
“An iris gem!” she suddenly blurted out, and the children whipped their heads around to her. There was no point in trying to hide that she wanted it after they had seen her take the last one. “May I have it?”
“What?” one of the children questioned. “No way! That gem can easily make us a lot of money!”
“But it didn’t belong to you in the first place, so selling it would be wrong.”
“You stole that other one from the sanctuary!” another child accused.
“Alisha and I need it for a mission. Please, let me have it; it’s important that I get it to the princess.” It was a green one, so it would be useful once Rose returned unless they decided to let Zaveid read it. “Please, a dear friend is relying on these gems. If we don’t bring them to where he is, he will die. We cannot afford to lose our Shepherd in this Age of Chaos.”
The children again calmed down. They allowed her to take the iris gem, and after she safely secured the two gems on her person, she began to lead them back to the sanctuary to return all of the items and donations they had stolen. Next, she brought them before Alisha, whose meeting with Maltran had ended some time ago and had left her looking grim.
“Alisha, may I request something of you?” Lailah asked.
“Huh? You don’t have to be so formal with me,” the princess replied lovingly. “Actually, there was something I wanted—huh?”
The children stood in front of Lailah with wide eyes and blushing cheeks. “The princess is friends with a seraph?!” they gasped.
“Well, it’s more than friends,” Lailah whispered to herself.
“L-Lailah, they could hear you!” Alisha said embarrassedly.
“The princess is in love with a seraph?!”
“Oh dear, Alisha, you’ve made it worse!”
“Lailah!”
Lailah couldn’t help but laugh at how flustered Alisha had become. After she composed herself, she asked her formally to pardon the children. While Alisha was skeptical her pardon would amount to anything in the eyes of the council, Lailah was sure it would. She even called the maid—whose word was valued more than Alisha—to make a record of it and to deliver it to Bartlow. She also asked that the maid look after them.
“Should I ask Lady Maltran to guard them?” the maid asked.
“That would be a good idea,” Alisha said. Lailah suddenly felt jealous. “Even if I’m the princess, everyone looks down on me. Having Maltran protect them from persecution would be ideal despite…” She stopped herself for fear that the maid would become wary of the entire situation surrounding her affiliation with the Shepherd and all the danger it entailed.
Lailah turned to the children, trying to hide her irritation. “Lady Maltran and Alisha’s maid will take care of you, so you won’t get in trouble,” she told them. “Be good, okay?”
The children gave her sly looks. “And you be good with the princess.”
Lailah blushed deeply.
Alisha and Lailah left the manor for the courtyard in front of the sanctuary. They still had to wait for Rose and Dezel to return to Marlind with the peacock feathers, and they were told to find leads. With two new iris gems, they feared their luck was running out. At least, until Alisha revealed that Maltran had gotten them some information.
“What do you mean?” Lailah asked.
“Maltran has been receiving information about the Rolance Army, and she got a tip that there was a spy from Rolance here in Ladylake. He was last seen at the tavern in the inn, and I would suspect that he’s still there.” The fire seraph looked away from her. “What’s wrong?”
Lailah wanted desperately to ask if Alisha truly loved her now that Maltran appeared to be switching sides again. She wanted to spend time with her and be close to her, and she understood that realistically it was difficult at the moment because they had more important things to worry about. But why were Sorey and Mikleo able to make time for each other? Why were Dezel and Rose able to make time for each other?
“Why can’t I spend time with you?” she asked aloud accidentally.
Alisha softened. She took Lailah’s hands into hers and swung them from side to side like a little girl. “Are you still worried about our relationship?” she asked her.
“Yes! We don’t spend a lot of time together, and…well, that’s just it.”
“We’ve pledged our love to each other years ago, and it hasn’t changed, my brightest ember. Nowadays, we have a lot to do, but…oh! I almost gave it away!”
Alisha pulled her hands away coyly and turned from her, beckoning her seraph to press her for information. Lailah took the bait, running around her to try and look her in the eye and tell her whatever she was hiding.
“Nope, I can’t do that! It’s—a—se—cret!”
“Alisha, at least give me something to make me believe that you still love me!” The desperation in her voice was genuine; Alisha wasn’t expecting that. “I’m not good enough, am I? I…I want to work harder for you! You’re the only reason I’m still alive today!”
“L-Lailah, calm down.” Alisha cupped her face in her hands. “We shouldn’t need to say it to each other. Our relationship is special and unique like Sorey and Mikleo’s and Dezel and Rose’s. Please, have faith in me like how I have faith in you.”
Lailah gently held Alisha’s hand against her cheek, a single tear rolling down her face in frustration with herself. “I…I just don’t want my heart to be broken again.”
Lailah looked up at Alisha only to fine that she was looking past her. A suspicious looking man was making his way to the Vivia Subterranean Aqueduct by the light of the morning sun before the people of the city had woken up. The girls dropped their frivolous conversation to pursue him. Lailah went inside of Alisha so that in the event in an ambush, they had the element of surprise. The princess clenched her spear as she followed the man into the aqueduct.
She stepped carefully, her steel boots clinking against the concrete quietly. She and Lailah listened for anyone who might have learned of their presence. Instead, they heard the man and someone else talking.
“The princess has returned momentarily,” the suspicious man said.
“Hmph, she’s a pacifist,” the other person said. “We should take advantage of that and crush Hyland while she’s distracting that old buffoon.”
“What’s more is that I hear that she’s looking for the Earthen Historia, but I don’t know why.”
“She’s travelling with the Shepherd, right? Maybe he wants them.”
“That would make sense.”
“They have an iris gem—I can sense it,” Lailah noted. Alisha planned on ambushing the two, but it would only endanger them. She didn’t want to let this man escape because he was the Rolance spy. “I understand, but if you attack, we risk losing the iris gem.”
“Then how do we get it?” Alisha inquired.
Lailah thought for a moment before Armatizing with her. She stayed out of the spy and his compatriot’s sight. The aqueduct and the connecting dungeons were said to be haunted. “So let’s scare them into giving us the iris gem.”
Lailah let loose some of her papers. They drifted like poltergeists into the open, drawing the attention of the two in the aqueduct and enticing them to come closer. When they were just within reach, they burst into flames. The spy and his comrade were frightened as more papers came and exploded before them. The spy dropped the iris gem that he had had in his pocket, and he ran out of the aqueduct past Alisha without noticing her. The other disappeared deep into the dungeons and back into the Rountabel Palace.
Alisha and Lailah leapt down to where the spy had been and picked up the iris gem that was glowing scarlet. Without a moment to spare, they watched the events inside unfold:
$&l#h%EEE $&yA%&Em r$O%U%&h !jb%EEEm%)q
%)c#N)AA f$Igg !cEEE%b sss%)y %)y%x%N
%&EEEm %&EEEsss #(z%&EEE%)yb
%&g%&EEE!)j #t$(I#w%A !)v$U%&E
Lailah immediately de-Armatized from Alisha, snatching the iris gem from her and tucking it away. The man that had been in the iris gem—the man wearing the Shepherd’s cloak…
“Lailah, who was that?” Alisha questioned. The man that had been with Lailah in the gem’s record was a Shepherd; he was wearing the traditional cloak, but in his eyes and in Lailah’s eyes, there was an unspoken bond. It looked very similar to love. The fire seraph, however, refused to speak. “Lailah, answer me!”
“I can’t tell you!” Lailah frantically replied. “No matter how much you ask, I cannot possibly tell you! If I do, my oath will be broken! I’ll lose the power of purification! I’ll die!” She stepped back from her. “I never wanted you to know.”
Alisha grabbed her by the shoulders. “Why? Aren’t we close enough that we can entrust each other with our secrets?”
“What secrets of the seraphim do you think you could understand?!” She pushed her away. “Alisha, things aren’t always so simple. You don’t understand, and you never will. If we could so easily live in a world where we didn’t need to purify hellions, then I would tell you. But that isn’t the case now or ever!”
Alisha dejectedly looked away from her then apologized for pressing her for information that she couldn’t give. She was jealous, though. She would never learn about that man without someone telling her, and she couldn’t ignore that Lailah had been in love with him. How long ago was that event?
“Lailah, my love,” she spoke again. The fire seraph prepared to fight again. Instead of asking her to explain herself, the princess held out her hand. “Will you let me Dive?” Could she learn the truth this way?
“Alisha—”
“We haven’t Dived together in a long time. Allow me to express my apology by helping you create more Song Magic. I’m sorry for asking you such a personal question.”
The fire seraph surprisingly agreed to the Dive. It would be a while before Rose and Dezel would return, and perhaps her outburst was fueled by the lack of Diving. She followed her partner back to her manor and in her bedroom, they commenced the Dive.
Notes:
I wonder what it was that Alisha had planned for Lailah. And...just who is that man that Lailah was once so taken with?
Chapter 94: Phase 3: Fear the Reaper
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 7: Lailah
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
The Dives are probably going to be a bit shorter from here on, but let us all thank Asteria once again for outfits (even though Lailah's "malak"--even though she wasn't a malak--outfit is canon to Zestiria).
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“My soul space is dangerous now,” Lailah said within the shared soul space. Her hair was down, and she looked exhausted. “Are you really sure you want to Dive? With the way things have happened, and knowing that the Dives are different from the first time, are you truly sure you want to do this?”
Alisha silently nodded. She figured that Lailah saw this as an attempt to learn the truth about the man in the Shepherd’s cloak; however, no such information would be in her heart. There was a reason besides the oath that she never spoke of it, and Alisha didn’t want to betray the trust that she had built over her lifetime. She held her hands and said:
“Nothing inside you can scare me. Nothing inside you can make me want to leave. I’ve already suffered through the insanity of your love. I just need to bear with the darkness of it, too.”
Lailah couldn’t bear to look at her. She appreciated Alisha’s kindness, but she didn’t understand why she was still with her. She had secrets that she would never tell. Before she knew it, her heart lay open to her no matter how hard she tried to hide them away.
Alisha gently touched her chest.
------------------------------------
Alisha found herself at the Stonehenge overlooking Lailah’s inner world. Black flames licked the air greedily, and the heat felt like she was in a volcano again. The world was falling apart all around her.
“Lady Alisha, you’re here!” Atakk cried. It clung to her leg. “I’m so glad!”
“Is this malevolence?” Alisha asked with fear.
“Huh? Oh, goodness, no! The Reaper has lain waste to this world, but if we can find the shrine maiden, everything will be saved! Too bad she’s gone M.I.A., though.”
“She’s missing?”
Atakk waddled ahead of her. It looked out over the burning world. “She’s been missing for centuries. No one knows where she is or why she disappeared.” It turned back to the princess. “The denizens of this world want to know, but only the shrine maiden herself can tell us.”
Alisha considered what the Normin said before leaving the Stonehenge to find Lailah the Shrine Maiden. Everywhere was a viable place that she would be hiding. She checked the emulation of Ladylake, where Sorey had told her that everything was on fire because of the Reaper. He and Mikleo held onto each other for fear of burning to death, and as Alisha looked at the black flames, she worried that her beloved fire seraph’s heart would collapse if they got out of control.
She then went to the sanctuary where Edna watched the flames climb higher and higher, enshrouding the church in darkness. The earth seraph bluntly said that Lailah wasn’t there. She hadn’t been there for so long. The fire had started from the altar within the sanctuary.
Next, she went to the remains of the abandoned village Kylfe just outside of Ladylake, and Dezel and Rose were camping there. They were far away from the fire, but it was spreading quickly. If they weren’t careful, they would be killed. But Dezel assured he wouldn’t let Rose die. He was willing to sacrifice himself for her.
She headed back into Ladylake to her manor to see if she had been home the entire time. Only Zaveid was there twirling his pendulum while the fire devoured everything around him. He told her that Lailah was nowhere within the city. He looked up at the Tower of Life at the edge of the soul space. Alisha followed his gaze, and she knew that she would have to be there. It was the only place left to search, and it was the only place that would connect her to Eolia. If she was going to save the world, then it would make sense that she would go to the area with the largest energy influx. When she arrived at the Tower of Life, she was disappointed to find that her guess was incorrect. Lailah was still nowhere to be found.
“I don’t know where she could be,” Alisha sighed. She took a seat on a nearby rock so she could think where else her seraph could be. “If she’s not here, where else would she go?”
“Sounds like you’re having a lot of trouble, miss,” a sultry feminine voice said behind her. The princess turned around but didn’t see anything. “Down here.” Alisha followed the voice to find a black Normin. “You happen to be sitting on my home.” Shooting up from her seat, Alisha apologized nonstop until the Normin ordered her to cease. “What brings you here?”
“I’m looking for Lailah, and I’ve searched everywhere for her,” Alisha explained.
“What a coincidence. I’m looking for the shrine maiden as well.”
“Really?”
“She’s the savior of this world, so it makes sense to drag her out of hiding. In fact, she’s disguised herself here; I can sense her.” Alisha and the Normin looked around the Tower of Life. “You’re her partner, right? You should be able to feel her here, too.”
Alisha paused for a moment. If Lailah was truly there, then she would be able to feel her. To feel her presence, she had to concentrate and follow the pact—the red thread between them—to her soul. She closed her eyes, focusing on the environment around her for an inkling of her presence that she was to grasp and trace. In a matter of minutes, she felt a hint of the fiery existence right to the wall of the Tower of Life.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I can feel her here,” she touched the spot that the mana was exuding from, “But I don’t see her.”
“Normin Power, Pennetrayt!” the Normin called out. It glowed brightly before launching itself like a harpoon at the wall. It bounced back, and instantly the wall shattered to reveal Lailah and another Normin. “There you are.”
“Dammit, Pennetrayt, why do you always ruin everything?” the other Normin grumbled.
“Sheeld, you have no right to be angry with me,” Pennetrayt scolded. “You were hiding the savior of this world; therefore, you are the one at fault.”
While the two Normin argued about who was wrong and who was right, Alisha approached the sleepy shrine maiden. Lailah was certainly dazed, but once she was fully aware of where she was, she was stricken with panic.
“What am I doing here?! I—I have to go and find the Reaper!” she cried out.
Alisha grabbed her hand before she ran off. “Wait!” she said. The shrine maiden turned to her with confusion. “What is this Reaper? And why are you looking for it? Everyone thought you had run away.”
“The Reaper is the one responsible for the fires on this level. As the shrine maiden, I must purify it and save the people of this world.”
“Then allow me to help you,” Alisha said after making sense of the scenario. She didn’t want Lailah to get hurt fighting this Reaper, whom seemed far stronger than her if it could lay waste to the soul space. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“Fine, it’s settled!” Sheeld spat. “I’ll let you take her, but you better make sure that she doesn’t do anything stupid!”
“Won’t be a problem,” Pennetrayt nonchalantly said. “You’re coming with us.”
“I don’t want to run into that thing!”
While Alisha’s attention had been drawn to the bickering Normin, Lailah released herself from her grip and made her way back to the simulated Ladylake. The princess was too late to stop her, yet she had a feeling that the shrine maiden wouldn’t confront the Reaper just yet. She had her suspicions that weren’t substantiated until she asked Sheeld:
“Were you truly hiding Lailah, or did she not want to be found?”
Pennetrayt glanced up at her with a knowing smirk. Sheeld couldn’t deny that it had been asked to put up a shield around her or that she seemed to be out of sorts when it encountered her. If she had been aware that the Reaper was causing problem, then—as Alisha hypothesized—Lailah had the power to make herself scarce and pretend that she was looking for it when she was really hiding from it.
“The shrine maiden is the righteous side of Lailah,” Pennetrayt explained. “That is, if you didn’t figure that out already. The shrine maiden wants to serve and protect everyone she holds dear, but she’s also afraid to do what she wants.”
“So then what?” Alisha asked.
“You have half of the puzzle; you need to find the other half.”
Such a hint only meant that the princess had to find the Reaper herself. Alisha left the base of the Tower of Life for Ladylake where the shrine maiden had gone. She couldn’t find her there, but there was something—a trail of will-o-wisps—calling her towards the Rountabel Palace. When she walked into the burning palace, she was overcome with a dreadful feeling. That was her indication that she was within the Reaper’s domain.
“Lailah, are you here?” Alisha called. But she wasn’t looking for her seraph. She understood the mechanizations of Dives. The Reaper wasn’t some person; it had to be another part of Lailah or at the very least someone or something tied to her. “My dearest, answer me!”
Footsteps clicked, and the Reaper revealed herself from the second floor. Alisha was unsurprised. The Reaper was indeed another Lailah that wore a white cloak and a golden mask like the guardian seraphim at the trials.
“Are you the Reaper?” Alisha asked her undeterred.
“That’s what she’s decided to name me? I guess I’m not surprised since she hates what I stand for,” the Reaper said. “Do you recognize me? The substantiator of the Oath?”
Alisha now was taken aback. “Did you used to wear a silver dress?”
“Yes, but some developments hace occurred, and now I have been restored to what I once was. I should be thanking you, but you’ve only made things more difficult.”
The Reaper explained that this form was her true form. The silver dress was simply an attempt to make the oath prettier than what it was. In reality, it was a ball and chain that prevented Lailah from acting on her wishes to protect her and the others.
“So then why are you trying to destroy this world?” Alisha interrogated.
“To remind Lailah that her oath is of utmost importance to the Shepherd. The oath is the ongoing reminder of her mistakes from the past, and if the shrine maiden succeeds in destroying me, she will plunge the world even deeper into this age of chaos.”
Alisha was dubious about the severity of the outcome if Lailah killed the Reaper. She would essentially be breaking her oath from the inside, and she didn’t want to know what would happen if that came to be. But she wasn’t foolish. Lailah was once again creating a paradox within herself. Killing either one of the personas would eradicate the problem. If she could use the paradox to her advantage, then she wouldn’t have to see her fire seraph lose part of herself to be happy. Before she left the palace, she made one more request to the Reaper:
“Can you meet me at the cliff outside of Ladylake?”
“Why?” the Reaper asked.
“Just trust me.”
Alisha ran out of the city in search of the shrine maiden, and when she found her near the abandoned village of Kylfe, she steeled herself. She entered the village with caution. Lailah was practicing her fire magic.
“I must be strong enough to break her hold on me,” she mumbled. She waved her flames around again.
Alisha took a deep breath. “L-Lailah! Lailah, I found her!” she pretended to panic. The shrine maiden spun around to face her. “I found the Reaper!”
The shrine maiden had a look of horror that quickly morphed into one of determination. Alisha knew what she was thinking—freedom was just within reach. She told her that she was waiting on the cliff that overlooked the lake where the city sat, and the shrine maiden agreed to go.
The princess worried about letting the two personas meet fearing that she wouldn’t be able to stop the two from fighting. She led the shrine maiden to the cliff, and she was somewhat surprised to find the Reaper already there. The two personas tensed.
“You planned to betray the real Lailah?” the Reaper asked. “Do you understand what will happen if I am struck down?”
“You are a vile evil!” the shrine maiden lashed back. “Without you, Lailah will be free!”
“Do you honestly believe that? You—her sense of righteousness no matter the odds? Are you truly fine with giving her the freedom that she knows she cannot handle?”
“Because of you, she’s tortured every day! Smiting you will allow her to be truly happy!”
“At what cost?”
“What are you talking about? Lailah is in pain because of you! Her friends are in pain because of you!”
“And it will be on your shoulders if she breaks her oath and throws everything into cataclysmic destruction again. The blood from her mistakes will be on your hands. Can you handle that?”
The world rumbled under their feet, and Alisha pulled out her spear on reflex. Lailah’s heart was beginning to falter; collapse was on the horizon. The personas had to reach an impasse that would force a Paradigm Shift to occur. Unfortunately, when the light shined from the Stonehenge and Atakk tried to fix it so that it was stable, it was time.
“The Paradigm Shift is here!” Alisha told them. She pulled both of them by the wrist to the Stonehenge. “We have to go through!”
“W-W-What?!” Atakk screeched. “You can’t! This Paradigm Shift is too unstable! If you go through with it, there’s a chance that Lailah’s growth will fail!” Alisha ignored it. “Lady Alisha, please listen to me!”
Alisha pointed at the light with her spear. “You have to go,” she sternly said.
“Gladly!” the shrine maiden said. Then the Reaper grabbed her. “Let me go!”
“If you truly intend to go through with this, then may we meet on the next level,” she said. The shrine maiden wrenched her wrist from her grasp. “We will settle this, and whatever the outcome, we must both face it.”
Alisha listened to them with a racing heart. What she had done to get the two to meet had pushed the world into peril. She understood the ramifications of threatening the end of the world within the seraph. This, however, was necessary for Lailah to trust her and to develop into a stronger woman.
“Whatever happens, I’ll be there,” she said to herself. She watched as the shrine maiden, without hesitation, walked into the light. She made a vow to herself that she wouldn’t let Lailah die.
-----------------------------------------
Lailah and Alisha woke up side by side on the bed. The princess greeted her seraph, but she spared her the details of the Dive. It was best that she didn’t know that her personas were fighting for control within her, and she most certainly didn’t want to give one or the other the advantage since it was on her to sort out her soul.
“Why won’t you tell me?” Lailah asked her.
“It wouldn’t be safe,” Alisha replied.
Lailah let out a sigh. She didn’t like to be protected all the time, especially now that she desperately wanted to save her friends from whatever Heldalf and Symonne were planning. As nice as her princess was, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to change her mind unless she had enough support from the surrounding circumstances to do it. All she could do was hope that she knew what she was doing and wait for Rose and Dezel to return, who didn’t know that the iris gem that Logos knew about had already been claimed by them until they overheard two merchants from a different company discussing the spy after arriving at Ladylake.
-----------------------------------------
“What do you mean she’s already gone after the spy?” Rose growled at Logos. Dezel was trying to hold her back. Retrieiving the peacock feathers in Malory hadn’t been a terrible feat, but the journey to and back had exhausted the assassin. She also couldn’t understand just how Alisha and Lailah would even know to go after a spy in Ladylake when he hadn’t mentioned a spy in the first place. “How do you know she found a spy?”
“Hey, word travels fast,” Logod nonchalantly said. “You’re a merchant, how is that a surprise to you?”
Rose let out a deep breath. She handed over the feathers then beckoned Dezel behind her. She pulled out her little list of gems, and assuming that Alisha and Lailah had gotten the ones in Ladylake, she thought it would be smart to get the final one that was deep within the Galahad Ruins before rendezvousing in Ladylake. Regardless if Logos had been helpful or not, she thanked him for his service. Armatizing with Dezel, she left Marlind and flew west of the lake-bound city to the ruins.
The hellions were as weak as could be within the Galahad Ruins, which made going deeper and deeper easy. There was a room farther in the back than the room that held the Divine Bow. It had a small fountain that poured the purest water in Hyland region, and it was in these waters that the final red iris gem was submerged. When Rose and Dezel came to the fountain, the wind seraph dipped his hand in to the pristine liquid crystal. The coolness was almost ethereal to the point that tears came to his eyes. Rose dried the gem with the edge of her tunic and stored it in her pouch. And that was it. They made their way back to Ladylake.
Without sparing any words, Rose delivered the red iris gem to Lailah, who promptly Armatized with Alisha and read the gem. There was some trepidation in here because she was worried that her princess would ask about her past again, but she swallowed it to perform her duty.
bau hau
hau#j lU%(q r#&E#w
$(Oh %(ta#N #z$E$f
f$)Na #(wA%)f#I
They saw someone writing the Celestial Record as if they were running low on time. Lailah knew who it was, and again she couldn’t answer any question she anticipated.
“Well, that was the last one on the list,” the assassin noted. She folded the little piece of paper. “It’s time to head back to Lohgrin.” Her friends agreed.
Notes:
With this chapter, the Iris Gem mission is over! Yaaaay!
Chapter 95: Phase 3: The Final Gem
Summary:
Rose and Alisha return to Tilia's domain for the final iris gem's location from Eguille.
Notes:
A bit of a short chapter, but I suppose this is the final instance of the iris gem mission (even though it's a bit different from the other gems). But hooray!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Eguille tied his note to the leg of a messenger hawk that was to fly in search of Rose. The standing leader of the Sparrowfeathers while Rose was away on business, he was in charge of looking for hideouts. Today, however, he had found information that would help the young assassin.
“The Ayn Twins’ intel should prove useful,” he said, not knowing that Rosh had come behind him with parcels from the merchants at the campsite on the Great Camelot Bridge. “Dezel better keep her safe.”
“Worried for the boss?” Rosh finally asked, causing him to be startled a tad. He set the parcels down beside him. “Rose will be fine, and Dezel will make sure of it. Still, a stroke of luck, isn’t it? Rose is looking for those iris gems, and a hellion she needed to hunt was right in a potential hideout! If we hadn’t run into her in Malory to grab whatever we left, she’d be in trouble, no?”
“We gave her a list of the iris gems, so it is really a small amendment that list. The twins are the ones who’ve helped her; as of right now, I’m simply the delivery boy.”
“That said, what were the Ayn Twins doing in Lhitwerg Barewoods? Are they still looking for Lunarre?”
“Yes, and in combing the wood again, they saw an iris gem get eaten by a mutant hellion. When they returned, they asked me to send a message.”
“The ever-doting admirers,” Rosh chuckled. He picked up the parcels to put onto one of their carts. “Alright, leader, where are we taking these?”
“We’re going to Pendrago.”
--------------------------------------------
Rose and Alisha found shade under one of the few trees in Zaphgott Moor and decided to take a short break before pushing themselves through the hot desert. Lailah asked Dezel to blow a cool breeze on them, but the wind seraph snuffed her claiming that his powers weren’t meant for commodity.
“You’re right,” Lailah nervously said. She watched Alisha lean on Rose as the two girls slowly drifted off for a nap. When she was sure that they were fast asleep, she turned back to him with a question. “Does Rose ever stop you from doing something to protect her?” She was clearly uneasy.
“The basis of our relationship is what we will and won’t let each other do,” Dezel replied. He conceded and blew his wind softly over them to make sure that they wouldn’t overheat. “We won’t let each other do something dangerous alone, so we’ve always got each other’s backs. Why do you ask?”
Lailah didn’t want to answer his question for fear that he would tell her that Alisha was right to bar her from proving her usefulness. She wondered if she could confide her insecurity to him, yet she was worried that he would tell Rose. She had never told his secret, and he never knew that she had overheard his conversation with Sorey and Mikleo so long ago. Nevertheless, she wanted to get it off her chest, especially since Alisha didn’t want to talk to her about her Dive.
“What is it called when you get upset when someone won’t let you do something?” Lailah slowly asked, as if she couldn’t quite place her problem into words. Dezel furrowed his brow. “Alisha is worried about me getting hurt, but it’s gotten to a point that she won’t let me do much of anything. I want to do more; I have my oath to worry about, yet I want to show that I can be useful to her and Sorey.” She stared down at the ground. “Alisha met with Maltran the other day then told me to go look for the other iris gems.”
“It sounds more like she doesn’t want you to get hurt so you can avenge her if things go wrong and she gets killed. She’s got a lot of enemies just like Rose.”
“You truly care about Rose—well, you’ve cared about her for a long time.”
“Only because I had to. I would have never forgiven myself if I had let Konan take her that night. But even if Rose doesn’t want me to do things by myself, I still do what is necessary to make sure she’s alright. I can’t let her die; she’s the only one I have to cling onto in this wretched world.”
Lailah reflected on Dezel’s words. It was the same for all of the seraphim that they were journeying with. Mikleo couldn’t be without Sorey, and despite Edna and Zaveid not being emotionally dependent on him, they needed him as well. Perhaps that was why Alisha was so adamant about keeping her out of harm’s way.
“Alright,” she decided. “That is what I shall do. Even if Alisha begs me to stay out of danger, I shall ignore her and protect her!”
“Lailah, no, that’s not—”
“I’m kidding…well, halfway kidding. I want to pull my weight, too, for Alisha’s sake. When this journey is over, she will have to resume her role as a political figure. She will be stressed, so I want to lighten her load.”
Dezel sighed quietly. He didn’t want to think about the future yet. He didn’t know what would become of Rose and himself because he was sure that the relationship was nearing its end. Once Rose’s duty as a Squire to Sorey was fulfilled, and once Sorey had done his job as the Shepherd, where were they all going to be?
The piercing cry of the messenger hawk sounded above them as it circled before landing on a boulder. Lailah and Dezel, exchanging looks once the latter recognized it was Eguille’s hawk, approached the bird. They read the note that stated there was one more iris gem in Lhitwerg Barewoods. Dezel thanked the messenger hawk then released it back to its master.
“We don’t have time to dilly-dally anymore,” he said. “Rose, Alisha, wake up.”
The assassin and the princess roused and rubbed their eyes. Dezel pulled Rose up to get her moving so she wouldn’t fall back asleep, and Lailah dragged Alisha a few paces from the shade into the blazing sun.
“What’s gotten into you to?” Alisha mumbled.
“We got a report from Eguille that there’s another iris gem,” Lailah explained.
“No! Not another one!” Rose bawled. “I thought we were done with this crap!”
“Well, we’re not, so let’s get moving so we can be,” Dezel nagged.
Alisha and Rose led the way southeast from Lohgrin to the Plizterback Wetland that in turn led to the Lhitwerg Barewoods deep within the marshland. When they reached the threshold leading into the wood, Dezel offered to Armatize with her to give her a bird’s eye view of the place to find the gem quick. It wasn’t necessary because the hellion that had eaten the iris gem stepped into the clearing before them. It was a giant rock golem named the Titan.
Lailah saw her chance to show Alisha that she could handle her own. Without waiting for Rose to give any sort of command, she fanned her papers out like mine traps. As the golem lumbered towards them, she waited for it to step on her paper. The bursts of fire and heat threw the hellion off-balance, giving her the chance to charge in and flick her flames like whips.
“Lailah, be careful!” Alisha reflexively called out to her. She torpedoed towards the hellion with her spear to, what she thought, rescue her, but Dezel stopped her by blowing her out of its path. “Dezel!”
“What gives?” Rose snapped at him.
“Let Lailah handle it,” he said.
“Burning Strike! Lightning Blast! Pyrogenic Ring!” Lailah called as she unleashed fiery attack after fiery attack. And when the Titan was close enough, she caught it in her Mystic Arte. “Here I go! Banquet of flames! Concerto Infernus!”
The Titan was barely standing, but it was at that moment that it was at its strongest. It lifted its mace-like arm over her head. “Lailah!” Alisha screamed. “Fethmus Mioma!”
The hellion swiped the air where the fire seraph once was, missing her just enough after Alisha called her true name. The princess and the lady of lake were bound together, and thanks to the latter, only a few more strikes would defeat it.
“Alisha, let us use the power we gained from Igraine!” Lailah said. Alisha, however, couldn’t control her body, so the suggestion was more of an order. They sped towards the Titan. “Here we go!”
Alisha kicked the Titan back, and while it hurt her knee, she was ready to reclaim the final iris gem. “Born in fire!” she roared as she swung the Sacred Blade around her. “Crimson flame…May it burn your soul! Flamberge!”
The Titan crumbled as it was engulfed in Lailah’ silver flames, and the final green iris gem was liberated from its body. Rose snatched up the gem, but Dezel seemed hesitant to look inside of it.
“What’s wrong?” Rose asked. Lailah and Alisha de-Armatized and regrouped with them.
“This is the final gem, so after this…we should be allowed to see Sorey and free him, right?” Dezel recalled.
“Yeah?”
“It’s just strange that Harvstasha wants the iris gems to prove our loyalty. Given the events that play within the gems, do you think she’s trying to hide something?”
“Hmm, a likely conspiracy theory,” Lailah said.
“If that’s the case, then…” Dezel approached. “Rose, let’s Dive. I’m getting a bad feeling about all this.”
Rose couldn’t tell him not to Dive, and she had been waiting for a chance to see into his heart again. She agreed to the Dive only after they viewed the events inside of the iris gem. They Armatized:
dObO!I qOx!U Heldalf
cOcO#d %)c!IgggOf
Heldalf r%&A%)cO #hOsss)y
#)zA#ctA shUy $(A%)c#cyx#z
“Heldalf chose to become the Lord of Calamity?” Rose gasped. She couldn’t believe her eyes, and she worried even more about Sorey. He should have been the one to see it, but thanks to Harvestasha, he was missing important details. “If Heldalf lent himself to the malevolence and lost his humanity, then…what is Sorey supposed to do?”
Lailah took her hands that were still holding the iris gem. “That’s not for you to decide,” she said. “Sorey will be able to see this gem himself, but you all must work together to understand.”
“To understand Heldalf?” Alisha repeated. “Is it really possible to pity him? Given all that he’s done, is that possible?”
“That’s for Sorey to determine. He is ultimately the one who will pass judgment.” Lailah looked at each one of them, a tiny flicker of hope in her eyes. “Now, why don’t Rose and Dezel Dive? Alisha and I will keep watch.”
They knew that it was up to Sorey to decide what to do, and Lailah used Dezel’s wish to Dive to segue from the topic to avoid breaking her oath. While they prepared to Dive, Sorey and Mikleo convened under the darkness of night to commence their own.
Notes:
So I'm happy I got a little bit more of Alisha and Lailah's relationship in this chapter! And we should be nearing the end of Phase 3 shortly!
Chapter 96: Phase 3: Scar
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 7: Mikleo
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
We're approaching the climax of Mikleo's cosmosphere! One of two chapters this week due to con stuff the coming weekend, I think this was a fun one to write. And I love a good shitstorm heh.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mikleo held onto Sorey’s cloak. He was trembling for some reason, and his breathing was slow and deep in some attempt to calm himself presumably. His Shepherd held him steady, bringing his lips close to his ear so he could whisper to him, “You have to be brave. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I’m worried about you, Sorey,” Mikleo told him sharply. “Mute knows. What if she tells Akane? What do you think will happen to you?”
“Everything will be okay.” He kissed his cheek. “Tell me when you’re ready, okay?” He tried to sound as calm and understanding as possible, but they had a limited time to complete the Dive, and it took most of his effort not to sound hasty.
“I’m ready, but please promise me that we won’t get caught.” He pressed himself into Sorey’s strong and protective body. The idea of getting caught and being separated from him by force brought back the memories of Bartlow and the wicked things he did to him. “We have to finish the Dive as fast as possible.”
Saying his true name as quietly as he could, Mikleo slipped into Sorey. Sleep overcame them together as one, but just before he transcended into the shared soul space, the naïve Shepherd felt a presence near his cell.
-------------------------------------
Sorey forced himself to stay silent as he approached Mikleo in the soul space. If he even mentioned that someone was within earshot of the Dive, he would kick him out of his soul. His promise would be broken.
“What’s wrong?” Mikleo asked. He took his hand while grazing his cheek with the other hand.
“N-Nothing! I, uh, just spaced out,” Sorey lied. The two of them stared into each other’s eyes for just a moment. “Uh, right, let’s get started.” Sorey moved to touch his chest.
“Only when you tell me what’s wrong.” Mikleo suddenly turned away from him.
“It’s nothing! Really! Just…you know, the thrill of a prohibited Dive is kind of exhilarating!”
Sorey tickled his side when that didn’t work, compelling him to turn so that his front was facing him as he tried to defend his ribs. Both of them giggling, he quickly touched the center of his chest before Mikleo could hide it again.
--------------------------------------
Sorey found himself at the Stonehenge along with the angelic version of Mikleo and a Normin who introduced itself as Mynd. Angel Mikleo smiled at him so graciously that Sorey’s heart swelled with love for him. It was a smile he hadn’t seen in such a long time—the real Mikleo had spent so much time worrying and crying that the Shepherd’s prayers every night in that cell only asked for that moonlit smile to shine on him again. And as happy as he was to see him like that, he wondered why a Normin was already present. Furthermore, he needed to see Gaine.
“If you’re looking for the Normin that is the designated Mind Guardian, it is taking refuge within the Stonehenge,” Angel Mikleo explained. “Mikleo’s heart will be a battleground soon; Gaine cannot afford to get caught in the crossfire.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sorey asked. He pretended to be more diligent like a captain instead of a worried lover because Angel Mikleo viewed him as the anchor.
“I’ll cut to the chase: Tainted Mikleo resides in these deeper levels. He is, as you know, the incarnation of all the doubt, worry, and anxiety in the real Mikleo. If he uses the malevolence accrued here from the world around him, your beloved water seraph will be corrupted and fall from his grace.”
Sorey looked down at the ground in thought and in concern for his seraph. He was prepared to join forces with the Mikleo before him to chase out the malevolence, but would the battle hurt the real Mikleo? If there was a chance that he would change, the Shepherd was more hesitant at the idea. Then he thought about which was worse—allowing him to stew in the darkness and let his anxieties eat him from the inside, or fighting with the risk that his personality would change if it meant that he didn’t have to suffer? Mikleo was taking the risk to Dive at that moment with him, and he wanted to do whatever he could to make sure it meant something.
“Let’s go find the Tainted Mikleo,” Sorey definitively said.
“Looks like your moxy is back,” Angel Mikleo smiled. “I missed that in you, Lord Sorey.”
“There’s someone here!” Mynd suddenly said.
“So you found me, huh?” a distinctly Normin voice sneered. A dark blue one emerged from a few shrubs. “You guys are so slow, though. Tainted is already on his way to prepare to escape to the next level, and soon afer that he’ll make it to the final level and cement his place in this boy’s heart.”
“Just who are you?!” Sorey demanded of it.
“I am Poizon, the Normin in charge of infecting all things! I was sent here to do that and make sure you didn’t interfere with Tainted’s plan.”
Angel Mikleo summoned his staff before stepping up to fight it. “I’m surprised that Normin would want to hurt the vessel they reside within. Tell me, Poizon, what’s in it for you if you kill us?”
“I become the new Mind Guardian, of course. Gaine is hiding somewhere, and I just have to take one of you hostage to find it.”
Poizon’s nubby hands glowed purple as venom dripped from them. It focused on Sorey, launching itself like a rocket towards him. Angel Mikleo couldn’t let him get hurt, and in a moment of desperation, he threw himself in front of him. He was immediately befallen with pain and discomfort while Poizon cackled before running off to relay the news to its master.
“Mikleo!” Sorey cried out. He held him in his arms, worried that this persona was going to perish. “Hold on, I’ve got a panacea bottle!”
“Don’t worry about me,” Mikleo hacked. “Mynd is here with me. You need to go after Poizon and catch it. It will lead you to Tainted Mikleo.”
“But you need to come with me!”
“I will, but you must find Poizon first.”
Mynd touched Sorey’s arm to let him know that his seraph was in good hands. He reluctantly left him on the ground, running off from the Stonehenge in search of the Normin. Most of the places that had been in the previous levels were there but abandoned. The soul space was as silent as the aftermath of an apocalypse, which left an eerie feeling at the back of his mind.
“Why is it so empty here?” Sorey whispered. He drew his sword, his paranoia getting to him, and carefully went through the ruins they played in, the remains of Elysia, and everywhere else they had visited. “I know you’re here, Poizon! Come out!” Suddenly, the Normin rocketed towards him trying to poison him, and just as Sorey spun out of its way, an icicle sped towards him from a different direction. “Are you both here!?”
Tainted Mikleo appeared on top of boulder that was on the path leading back to the Stonehenge. His eyes were like alexandrite, his clothes accentuating them. “I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re here, but I am. You’ve managed to catch up to me even after all the hardship from the sixth level. Tell me, Sorey, do you truly care about Mikleo, or has it all been a façade until now? You passed the previous level just to gain the ability to use the Armatus at will, no? And you’ve forced him to Dive in the middle of enemy territory claiming you want him to get stronger.”
“Stop it,” Sorey growled.
“Admit it.”
The Shepherd held back from yelling at him because he knew that he was trying to get under his skin. “Angel Mikleo told me what you are.”
“Is that right? How cute.”
“You’re the embodiment of Mikleo’s negative emotions, but because you’ve manifested as a persona, you more than just that, right? You’re a part of him.”
Tainted Mikleo beared his teeth in anger.
“The next level—let’s all go there together and settle this once and for all. I don’t want to see Mikleo so scared anymore. I want him to be happy and know that he’s loved and that I will protect him no matter what. This Dive was necessary. I want him to be strong enough because something bad is going to happen; I can feel it in my bones. Whatever happens, I need him to be strong.” Sorey fell silent. He was momentarily lost in his thoughts. “Come with me to the Stonehenge.”
“What are you trying to do? Isn’t it obvious that this is all a giant lie? This is all fake!”
“I’m going to prove to you and to the real Mikleo again that I’m serious and true about everything I’ve done to help him grow.”
Tainted Mikleo approached Sorey with Poizon at his feet. He agreed to go with him back to the Stonehenge, and when they had arrived just in time for an induced Paradigm Shift, the two Mikleo personas stood off.
“You listened to the human,” Angel Mikleo observed.
“The next time he comes, it’s going to be the battle for this soul space. And I will emerge victorious,” Tainted Mikleo threatened. “If anyone has a right to see the light of day, it’s me—the one who knows and understands this seraph’s limitations.”
Sorey watched the two of them walk into the light. Before long, he saw his way out of soul space with the apprehension that the next Dive would determine which direction Mikleo’s heart would sway.
-------------------------------------------
Sorey and Mikleo roused in each other’s arms, but the former seemed unhappy. Mikleo wanted to know why; however, his Shepherd couldn’t bring himself to tell him about the turmoil in his world.
“Are you okay at least?” the water seraph asked. Sorey nodded. “I’m sorry that my world is so melodramatic.”
“It’s not that…you do know I love you, right?” He touched Mikleo’s hand.
“Yes, of course!”
“Please tell me if I’m doing things you don’t want to do.” He grasped his hand slowly. He didn’t think what the Tainted Mikleo said would affect him, but he started to doubt that maybe he and his water seraph weren’t as close as he thought. “I’m sorry I made you do this.”
Mikleo was confused about the sudden guilt. He tightly hugged him then reassured him that he never felt that way. “Before when you asked to Dive right there while Mute was just outside the door, I would have refused—I did refuse implicitly. You’v never forced me, just waited for me to be okay with Diving. And I’m grateful for it because I’m growing more and faster than when we were in Elysia.”
“Deep inside…that wasn’t true. Mikleo, you’ll tell me, right?”
“Tell you?”
“That I’m not doing things right—because I’m…I’m afraid of what will happen. Something isn’t right. It’s been bothering me, but because of the colosseum battles, I haven’t been able to really think about it. Harvestasha is planning something, and I don’t think she sent Rose and Alisha after the iris gems for nothing. I don’t want to force you to Dive, but I don’t want you to be unprepared, either. Is this normal? Why am I so worried? Have I always been like this?”
Mikleo pulled Sorey close to him. It was true that he hadn’t seen him so frazzled; given that their experiences ranged from conversions that produced mindless soldiers to the attempted complete eradication of half of the continent to a region that was almost devoid of humans on top of his duties as a Shepherd, he was glad to finally hear him talk so candidly again. He knew he was trying to keep it together, and ever since he had returned from inside of Infel Phira, he had been more fragile. But unlike then, he wasn’t blaming himself. He was trying to find ways to fix his flaws, imposing harsher reprimands on himself when he couldn’t be perfect.
“You’re worried because everything is uncertain, and no matter what, the Dives are fine. In case you haven’t noticed, these past few days we’ve both been aching for each other.” He stroked his back. “Even though I didn’t want to do it earlier today, I can assure you that despite being nervous and scared, I’ve been waiting to see you again.”
Sorey took this moment to find solace in Mikleo’s company; they felt the same, and having him there not only made he feel better but also made him realize that the Tainted Mikleo was trying to deter him from interfering with his plans. As they lay back down together on the hard ground, they concentrated on each other’s presence. It only lasted a few minutes.
“General Akane, I’ve found the source of the Dive,” Luphan’s voice came outside the cell door. Mikleo and Sorey shot up. “Weren’t you told not to conduct any Dives?”
Mute tore open the door, and there in the moonlight, Akane and Luphan stood with their blades drawn. Sorey stood up, holding Mikleo behind him. He had his blade ready while the water seraph summoned his staff.
“You broke our rules, Shepherd,” Akane calmly said. “I hereby declare that you and the two other humans here will be throw into the colosseum at dawn, where you will fight until only one of you remains.” She whipped her blade through the air in such a way that a wave of condensed wave crashed into his chest. “No food, no water, no time limit. Mute, seize the seraph.”
“Stay back,” Mikleo warned.
“I’ll fight, but I beg of you: Don’t let anything happen to Mikleo,” Sorey said. There was no point in trying to fight them off. His brain was reeling. Rose and Alisha hopefully were going to be back soon. They needed to find his seraphim, and with luck, the seven of them could help him escape. But he needed Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid to be safe for that to happen. “Don’t fight them,” Sorey whispered to him. “Wait for them to come back, and we’ll get out of here together.”
Mikleo’s eyes grew wide, but he left with Mute as told. Once he was out of the prison cell block, the water seraph made his way to Edna and Zaveid. As he explained what happened, Sorey continued to stand against Luphan and Akane. The purple-clad samurai accosted him with a swift slice across the top of his thighs. The Shepherd collapse in agony only tempered by his resolve to not show his suffering. Next, the silver-haired man stabbed his blade down through his shoulder and into the concrete below.
“Hope you’re ready for tomorrow, disgusting human,” he said amidst the restrained cries of pain. Then he got close enough to whisper to him. “She doesn’t like waiting, so I hope you’re prepared to enter uncharted territory to liberate her.”
Sorey looked up at him in confusion. Her?
Notes:
I wish to apologize to Sorey for slicing his legs and stabbing him. Well, Luphan did, but...I had to write that. Next chapter is another Dive as well! It's a two for one!
Chapter 97: Phase 3: Court of Justice
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 7: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
This Dive was another really fun one to write. I can't be the only one that enjoys a vulnerable Dezel, right? Like...idk, he's super tsun but deep inside he's super dere!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Saki and Aurica ran with the crowd that was heading to the colosseum to witness the death battle that Akane and Luphan announced early that morning. Zaveid stood with Cloche and Mayvin, both of whom were disillusioned that something so vile was taking place. Luca, Edna, and Misha were looking for Finnel, who had disappeared shortly after the announcement. In her place and unknown to almost everyone in Lohgrin save for Luphan, Hikari Gojo, and Saki; a girl wearing a mascot costume and carrying a scythe was sneaking around on the outskirts of the crowd.
Saki found Akane and begged her to let the humans go. “You don’t understand!” she wept. “They’re innocent! Let Aoto go!”
“Aoto directly fought against Clustania before we descended from the Tower,” Akane told her. “He is paying for his crimes against us.”
“Please…please let him go…I can’t bear to lose him! And Auri needs Lyner for support!”
Akane pushed her back then threatened to arrest her. At that moment, a light flashed from Saki’s bosom, and suddenly a small girl with a cat tail and dressed as a nun stood before the general.
“You must be Filament,” Akane said. “Luphan and Hikari Gojo discussed you and the other personas within this seraph. Quite an auspicious time for you to appear.”
“Are you aware that you’re putting everyone in danger by doing this?” Filament asked her. “Aoto and Lyner are important to Saki and Aurica, and the Shepherd is our only means of returning to our respective homes. If they all die, this world will be doomed.”
Akane finally cracked. With pain in her eyes, she confessed, “I know this is wrong, but I’m following orders from Harvestasha. I must follow her orders to minimize the death toll.”
“Then let the humans go free.”
Luphan was on the other side of Lohgrin consulting the girl in the mascot suit. The costume’s head pulled off, her green eyes scanned him for any indication of treason against her. “You better keep your promise,” she sharply said with her scythe in hand. “Finnel may be an idiot, but Yurisica and I depend on her to stay on the surface. Are you positive that Suzunomia won’t change her in any way?”
“You have my word, Goddess of Catastrophe,” Luphan said with a bow.
“Yurisica would like to give her warning as well then.”
Light flashed, and the mascot suit was replaced with a busty woman wearing a nurse’s cap and a lab coat. “Hello again, Luphan. I guess Soma couldn’t hide how much she hates you if she called me out,” she said. “I assume she’s already given you her warning, but believe me—if anything happens to Finnel, I won’t hesitate to blow up this sad little refuge camp. As a Will of the Planet, I’ll do everything I can to erase you and your efforts.”
“My, Goddess of Fire and Civilization, you’d be willing to destroy your own creation for the sake of one clumsy girl? As long as Soma keeps her end of the bargain, Finnel might not come in harm’s way.”
“Do not test me, Teru scum.”
“Suzunomia may be uncontrollable once she sees the light again or when she assumes a corporeal form. I can’t know for sure. Either way, we will do everything we can to extend her life once we find a Heart of Gaea.”
Yurisica disappeared with a scowl, and Finnel was in control again. She didn’t know where she was, and she wasn’t comfortable being with Luphan. She wasn’t aware of Yurisica or the other girl; they would, unknowingly to her, do everything in their power to keep her safe.
-------------------------------------
Rose entered the shared soul space where Dezel was waiting for her. Unlike the improvements that had been made and his return to normalcy, he was still unsure of wanting to be near her. This time, however, he wasn’t scared. He pulled himself away as if to protect her from something. She ran her fingers across his bicep, which made him recoil.
“What’s wrong now?” Rose asked.
“I’m…I’m in trouble…” he replied. “If I did something bad, would you leave me?”
The assassin was so confused; she thought that the problem had been fixed, yet he was still worried. She cupped his face. “I won’t leave you. I swear.”
Dezel wasn’t convinced but had to let her in. He took her hand and brought it to his chest.
--------------------------------------
The Stonehenge was inside of a courtroom, two tables spaced two feet apart and the judge’s podium occupied by a grey Normin named Justiss. Rose first looked to her left where no one was sitting but a Normin named Spirri. To her left, Dezel sat with another Normin named Animili. He was dressed in a formal suit with a green striped tie. He wasn’t wearing his hat, and he looked anxious.
“What is going on?” Rose mumbled to herself.
“Court shall begin when the plaintiff takes her seat,” Justiss said.
Rose pointed to herself, to which Justiss nodded. She noticed that her outfit had changed into a formal dress.
“W-Wait, why am I putting Dezel on trial?! What am I accusing him of?” she asked.
“Murder and other horrible crimes.”
The floor felt like it fell away from under her feet at the idea of accusing Dezel of some crime and testifying against him. She took her seat slowly and cautiously. Was the world really confined to that courtroom, or did Dezel only feel that he was guilty of something?
“Court is now in session,” Justiss announced. “Opening statements?”
Spirri hopped down from the prosecutor’s table. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” it began even though there was no jury. “Today is the day that we finally put this deviant behind bars. I mean to lock this man away so deep and tightly in this soul space that he may never wish to harm the girl ever again.” It glared at Animili and Dezel, the latter whom shuffled uncomfortably in his chair. “This seraph, thereby, is guilty of his heinous crimes towards the girl!”
Spirri returned to its table while Animili jumped down to address the room. “This trial is wrong,” it started. “My client is not guilty of the crimes claimed against him. He acted in self-defense, and he has never touched her without her permission nor with ill intent. I will say this again until I’m blue in the face: he is not guilty.”
Rose couldn’t believe what was going on. “But he hasn’t done anything wrong,” she whispered to the prosecutor.
“It’s alright, you don’t have to pretend anymore,” Spirri replied. “Once he’s put away for good, you’ll be free.”
Justiss tapped its gavel to grab their attention before beginning the presentation of the evidence. There was no evidence, as Rose had thought the more time she spent on this level, making both sides look like petulant children. They went back and forth at each other making claims and falsehoods of things that didn’t happen. Dezel was sure that he did something wrong, and finally his subconscious called in the first witness—Symonne.
“What the hell? Why is she here?!” Rose snapped, and Justiss promptly slammed its gavel again.
Spirri approached Symonne on the witness stand, and she swore to tell the truth. She was asked to recount the night that Konan died, “Dezel used his magic to slaughter the prince and kidnapped the girl. I followed them, and once he thought he was deep enough in the barley fields outside of Pendrago, he did the unimaginable.”
“That didn’t happen!”
Justiss hammered away. “Young lady, one more outburst, and I’ll hold you in contempt of court,” it warned.
“Bite me! This isn’t right at all! Dezel, say something!”
“No addressing my client, girl,” Animili chastised.
“Order in the court!” Justiss boomed.
Dezel turned towards Rose. “I’m guilty,” he mumbled. Rose shoved herself from the table, stomped towards him, and grabbed him by the lapels of his blazer. “S-Stop!”
“Young lady!”
“I want a recess right now. Where’s Windur?!” Rose demanded.
Rose wouldn’t let go of Dezel, but she wouldn’t force him to come with her. She wanted to go back to the memory level that had been deleted. She needed to get proof that he didn’t do anything to her, and she was sure that he would have those memories tucked away safely.
“Give me a recess!” Rose demanded again, louder than before. The judge refused. Rose thought about how to get her way without getting kicked out…kicked out! She knew her limits in this level, specifically not being able to speak to Dezel. If she was going to be kicked out of his cosmosphere, Windur was the one to take charge and see that she was expelled. The best way to lure it out was to outright threaten her seraph no matter how much it hurt. Rose pulled a dagger from one of her sheaths, dashed behind Dezel, and held it to his neck. “I need to see Windur.”
“R-Rose!” her wind seraph gasped. “Rose, what are you doing!?”
“What does it look like? I’m going to fix this sob story of a level.”
Windur appeared from behind the judge’s podium looking livid. “What do you think you’re doing?!” it raged. “You’re supposed to be protecting him, not holding him hostage!”
“I’ll protect him once you take me back to the third level.”
“Why would you want to go there?! It’s been deleted, remember?”
“I don’t care; there’s got to be something there that will clear his name!”
Spirri and Animili glared at her for endangering the level, but Justiss allowed it albeit with hesitation. There was a reason that Rose was there, and the Normin knew that her job was to help Dezel to overcome his insecurities and anxieties. Windur cooled down. It agreed to take her to the third level without her seraph. She slowly took her dagger from Dezel’s neck, and before leaving with his Mind Guardian, she held his cheek gently.
“Don’t worry, got it?” she asked him.
She met with Windur by the Stonehenge then, in seconds, she found herself in the darkness of the third level. The fragments of memories kept replaying over and over in little areas around this forgotten world. Windur gave her a few minutes to search; if they stayed too long, she risked Dezel’s soul collapsing out of fear that she abandoned him.
Rose scoured the level and came across stalagmites made of pure malevolence from the hatred and anger that Dezel had bottled up. They couldn’t hurt her, but it gave an eerie appearance to her surroundings. She also considered that they were probably remnants of the negative emotions from Infel Phira that had seeped into him when his Boundary Gate had been destroyed. Implanta was supposed to have returned everything to the way it was before, so perhaps the malevolence really was from his own doubt.
“What do you hope to find here?” Windur asked.
“He’s got to have memories that prove he’s innocent,” Rose replied. “It’s not enough to tell him. He has to feel it. Windur, can you magic up a shovel?”
“W-What?! You’re going to dig?!”
“I’ll bet all the gald I have that they’re literally buried in his memory level. Now, chop-chop, we’ve got a grumpy wind seraph to save!”
Windur made her a shovel before the assassin set it to sniff out potential spots where the memories were buried. Of course, being treated like a dog was demeaning, but it couldn’t deny that human noses were terrible at smelling things through constructs of the subconscious. After a few minutes of sniffing and digging, Rose accrued four precious memories that shined like jewels. In a red spinel, she saw a snippet of a memory that showed, when Windur translated it from Hymmnos, Rose was pacing in circles in front of her fellow former Windrider survivors distressed from what had happened. That night, as she tried to sleep, she was plagued with nightmares of Konan having his way with her, and Dezel every night from that point on, held her against his body like he was a pillow and lulled her to sleep with little tunes he had made on the fly. Eguille, who along with Rosh, watched him to make sure he didn’t do anything, yet as time went on, Dezel never showed any inclination to prey on her.
The assassin’s heart ached seeing the memory and how her seraph was genuinely concerned for her. The next spinel—a cerulean one—showed another memory in which, after months of the nightmares, she clung to him with fear. She begged him to stay with her, to never leave her, because she was haunted by Konan’s face as he died. Dezel was reluctant at first since he didn’t want to get involved. In the end, he promised her that he would always come when she was in danger like that. To help her sleep, he sang melodies that slowly erased the trauma and replaced it with dreams of happiness. He knew that she was overjoyed to get married, and so he made her dreams reflect that.
A purple spinel of memories delved into her dreams, and while the man appeared blurry to accommodate for her expectations of her ideal husband, she couldn’t help but notice that he gradually morphed into Dezel. She wondered if this counted as manipulation or if it was simply the result of staying with him for the years to come. The yellow, green, and orange spinels reflected short fragments of Dezel watching her at a distance afraid to confess or trying to deny his feelings while making sure that she was safe. He never felt welcomed into the guild despite working to recreate her family, and even in the memories that he had controlled her to this end, he only did so to conduct any business that would help the survivors grow and nothing ever beyond that.
After watching them all with Windur’s help, Rose’s eyes welled with tears as she held them close. “Dezel may be something of a cactus, but he isn’t a monster,” she wept. “Windur, it’s time to go. I’m going to prove him innocent and instigate a Paradigm Shift.”
Windur granted her wish, teleporting her back to the courtroom where the wind seraph looked frazzled. Having sensed her returned, he calmed down and waited patiently for her to present her evidence.
“You’re back,” Spirri snuffed. “What do you have there? Memories that prove he’s guilty?”
“Nope, just the opposite,” Rose smirked. She turned to Justiss. “Your Honor, I wish to call Dezel to the stand.”
“You’re not the prosecutor,” Justiss retaliated.
“Just do it! I’m so sick of this level’s role-playing crap!”
Justiss allowed Dezel to take a seat at the stand where he took the oath to tell nothing but the truth. Rose began her argument:
“Exhibit A, the red spinel. According to this memory, you consoled me after Konan became a hellion and died. You were hurting, too, because you lost Lafarga, but that didn’t stop you from trying to help me. The only evidence of physical contact here is that I used you as a pillow while you sang me to sleep. There was no breach of consent since I allowed him to console me.
“Exhibit B, the blue spinel. This memory shows that I asked you to stay with me and you agreed. You helped me forget that pain, and you tried to make me happy with the next memory, Exhibit C. While this piece is circumstantial, the memory is a magnifying glass on my dreams since that night. My dreams of marriage entailed Dezel after years, and I—the plaintiff—determine that this is not manipulation. I really started to like you, Dezel, so there’s no way that you influenced my dreams because dreams show what the subconscious and unconscious mind desire.
“Exhibits D, E, and F all show instances where you had feelings and denied them even when you took control of me to form the Scattered Bones. And Exhibit G and H—my own memories of when you tried to get the Wind Armatus by yourself and when Symonne tortured you. You tried so desperately to push me away, but your feelings were so sincere that you couldn’t have tried anything funny because guilt would have eaten you alive! And in the dungeons—you were hurt by an illusion that I can only assume is the reason you’re on trial now; you were made to believe that you truly did do something to me, and you were crying. That’s how I know you’re innocent! The final memory was what made you believe that, and I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong.” Rose paused with a satisfied smile. “Your Honor, I rest my case.”
“Does the defense have any rebuttals?” Justiss asked.
“How can you be so sure?” Dezel asked. “What proof are memories but ones that I could have fabricated?”
“Why are you doubting and incriminating yourself?” Rose pressured him. “Do you really want to know why these memories are true? You buried them yourself in an effort to cut off your feelings from the start. They became painful when you began to realize that you were endangering me after we joined forces with Sorey, didn’t they?”
“They were buried because…!” Dezel’s voice trailed off. “They were the truth.” He stood up from the seat. “They’re all true…everything that Symonne subjected me to was a lie.” Rose urged him to keep going. “Am I really innocent?”
“You tell me.”
Dezel turned his head up to Justiss and awaited his judgment. Rose ran up to the witness stand, placing her hand on his shoulder. Spirri and Animili, both seemingly compelled by the evidence, also waited.
“The evidence is true and just, and by the power vested in me in this court of the heart, I determine the defendant not guilty,” Justiss decreed. As soon as it gave its verdict, the Paradigm Shift burst forth from the Stonehenge.
Dezel took Rose’s hand then followed her to the Paradigm Shift. She looked up at him with a radiant smile that she wished he could see in reality. Pulling his head down, she gave him a triumphant kiss that relayed her feelings to him.
“R-Rose…” he stammered. “This Paradigm Shift…it feels different. It feels like the next level something big is supposed to happen.”
“That’s because you’re finally free now,” she told him. “At least…I think you are.”
Dezel nodded with a shy smile. “When will you be back?” He seemed nervous again. “I don’t want to face this alone.”
“Don’t worry, we’re always there for each other.” She touched her forehead to his. “I’ll come back.”
Dezel held her to her word. He walked into the light, and before long, Rose was expelled from the soul space back to reality.
-------------------------------------
Alisha and Lailah were a few paces away whispering to each other, which allowed Rose and Dezel their short time to talk. Rose was annoyed that she had to free him from the ruminating thoughts that tormented him, but she was happy to see him so vulnerable again. She didn’t say anything to him, and instead she just hugged him.
“What are you doing?” Dezel asked her as he reciprocated slowly.
“Nothing, just relishing another victory,” she hummed. “But, you mister, need to stop getting so doomy and gloomy! It’s frustrating to deal with your true emotions sometimes! Though, this time was a nice trip down memory lane.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t think you want to know too much about this level.”
Dezel pondered what she meant. Alisha and Lailah returned to them with grave looks. The malevolence in the region had increased suddenly, and they were worried that something had happened to Sorey. They had spent so long trying to get the iris gems, and now that they had them all, they had to go back to Harvestasha posthaste; however, Rose wanted to at least check in on their Shepherd and make sure he was still alive to be released. Turning away from Tilia, they headed back to Lohgrin.
Notes:
I'm aware that court proceedings aren't like this in reality. But I suppose this works because Rose never wanted to prosecute him in the first place. And I can just imagine her trying to get Dezel to stop thinking he's a bad person by 90's anime-style lifting him over her head and throwing him into the distance. (I'm extremely sleepy, cut me some slack)
Chapter 98: Phase 3: How the Mighty Fall
Summary:
Thanks to the discovery of Sorey's unauthorized Dives into his seraphim, Akane sentences him, Lyner, and Aoto to death by combat. Chaos ensues, and it's up to Edna to rescue the Shepherd and stop the hellion's rampage before all the other seraphim in Lohgrin turned into dragons.
Notes:
Proofreading this chapter, I never realized just how intense it is. Like...damn. It really is just a clusterfuck of madness!
Also, I want to make clear that I've been using the wrong word to denote where Sorey, Lyner, and Aoto have been fighting their matches. It should be "coliseum" and not "colosseum". I'll eventually go back to previous chapters to change it, and I've left it unaltered for now for when I go through the original document to fix it. "Colosseum" is used to talk about the Roman Colosseum. "Coliseum" is a place where such competitions and battles take place. I blame Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts for this mix-up.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lyner, Sorey, and Aoto were lined up outside of their cells, bound by rope on their knees and panting from unbearable hunger and thirst. Richa looked uneasily at them as she knew that Misha, Aurica, Saki, and Finnel were barred from entering the prison cell block. Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid didn’t want to enter; they could feel Sorey’s anxiousness to the point that they felt like vomiting. Interfering now would only escalate the situation, and there were far more seraphim eager to witness their deaths than those wishing to save them.
“No, you can’t do this!” Aurica bawled. “Lyner! Lyner, answer me!”
“You’re going to kill Lady Shurelia’s bodyguard!” Misha desperately told Mute in hopes of changing her mind. “He’s Lady Shurelia’s most treasured guard, and you’re going to kill him!”
The buffed-up girl pushed the two girls back only to be confronted by the other two. Saki grabbed her gigantic fist and pleaded, “This isn’t right! This isn’t what the Consensus wants!”
“Mute, Richa, Aki—please, don’t kill Aoto!” Finnel begged to the general that was heading off somewhere to make preparations for the endless death battle.
Cloche and Luca watched them from behind, reminiscing when their friend and protector Croix tried to save them before he was executed. The former, specifically, wanted to pull Saki and Misha back and teach them how to accept fate because she had learned at a very young age that there were things that couldn’t be stopped.
“Dammit, where the hell are Rose and Alisha?” Zaveid demanded. He and his fellow seraphim held their own little conference away from the weeping girls. “They need to hurry!”
“Those iris gems are probably hard to get—that would make sense for Little Miss Bitch to send them out for them,” Edna replied. She hopped off a barrel that she was sitting on. “I’m going to go look for them.”
“Are you crazy?” Mikleo asked her. “If you stray too far from Sorey—”
“The pact will break, and I will lose myself to the malevolence. Yeah, whatever, but sitting here and waiting isn’t going to help anyone.” She closed her umbrella and held it at her side. Her icy eyes were full of determination to find their friends and bring them at once to Lohgrin. Even if she managed to find them, she wouldn’t make it to liberate the captured Shepherd because it was only a matter of time before the three humans were led to the colosseum. “Listen up, you two will have to keep an eye on the battle. They’re pitting them against each other, and they won’t end it until only one of them is standing. Your job is to make sure Sorey is the one that survives.”
“Easier said than done. What about the girls?” Mikleo asked.
“Aoto and Lyner may have high enough resonances, but the way things run on the Towers are different apparently. Aside from their abnormal strength, they are just regular humans.”
“I think Mikster means, what happens if the girls see the ones they care about die in front of them?”
Edna had been the one to gather information on the four seraphim that had connections to their respective humans, and knowing what she knew from Hikari Gojo’s information, she was confident that they had coping mechanisms in place. The doctor had said that Saki and Finnel were special, but that was all she had learned before he had given her a Hymmnos Crystal. It was originally meant for Aurica and Misha to sing together to stop Shurelia if she were to become infected with a Virus. Lyner had had it on his person before he was thrown into a prison cell, and Hikari Gojo held onto it in secret s it wouldn’t be confiscated.
“I couldn’t learn too much, but Saki and Finnel should be fine with seeing Aoto dying,” she finally said. “Misha and Aurica…well, Misha might be able to stand it, but not Aurica. So, in that case, find Mayvin and work with him about that. I have to go or else I’m going to be stuck here sitting on my hands like you two.”
Zaveid and Mikleo nodded in affirmation and understanding that they had a much larger task than they expected. Edna pushed her way through the growing crowd of seraphim, bumping into Cocona and Luca just before reaching the exit.
“Where are you going?” Cocona asked.
“None of your business,” Edna sharply replied.
“It is our business,” Luca huffed. “If you leave now, you’ll get in trouble.”
“Does it look like I really care? I’m expecting a meeting with a couple of lovesick humans, now get out of my way.”
“Luca!” Cloche cried out as she caught up to her. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you…Edna?” The Maiden of Mio approached them, concern on her face.
“Just let me go!”
“Go where?”
“I have to find Rose and Alisha before that battle starts!”
Edna summoned up a rock that launched her well over the crumbling walls of Lohgrin and into the Zaphgott Moor. Cloche was confused by the sudden move but refocused when Zaveid and Mikleo met with her. They explained to her what was going to happen, and while she knew that there was going to be some hefty fight among the prisoners, she wanted to help save Sorey as repayment for saving her. Luca and Cocona were both intrigued, but they didn’t know if they could just go against Akane and Harvestasha. The rules of the refugee camp were strict.
“I know that the one you three loved died, so you understand how important it is to save Sorey,” Mikleo said as he glanced at each girl. “I don’t want to see him die, but I also don’t want to see the world being destroyed by the Lord of Calamity because a population wanted to indulge in some stupid attraction.”
“Okay, okay—we’ll help you,” Luca sighed. “What’s the plan?”
Meanwhile, Sorey was held at his gate. His head was pounding, and his limbs felt numb. He noticed that Edna’s pact had gotten weaker, thankfully taking his mind off his own suffering and wondering about what this meant. Then he thought about Lyner and Aoto. While Aoto himself was faring somewhat better, Lyner was at the end of his rope. The Shepherd didn’t want to fight them for fear of generating malevolence and affecting all the seraphim in the ruins. He didn’t want to kill them unless they became hellions.
The gates opened and finally he was pushed out into the colosseum with his opponents. The seraphim were all cheering and jeering at him and Lyner and Aoto, and he began to wonder why the seraphim were behaving so deviantly. Why did they want to see humans, with whom they shared the world, die so eagerly? Harvestasha was in control of the Third Tower as the administrator, but could her hatred for humans has percolated that deeply into their hearts? Naturally, there were seraphim that didn’t wish to see such barbaric violence, but they were far and few between. He wished he had one of his seraphim with him to project his voice over the raucous uproar coming from the seats above him.
“Let’s give them what they came for,” Aoto said.
“Why? It won’t make a difference,” Lyner replied. “They just want to see us die, so the only way to survive is not to fight.”
“If we don’t fight, they’re going to kill all three of us, and I can’t afford Saki and Finnel to see that.”
“I’m not fighting you,” Sorey resolutely said. Aoto glared at him. “It’s not right, and it’s not going to solve anything. We can convince them to stop this. I know we can!”
“Let me ask you something,” Aoto spoke seethingly. “Is it a requirement for the Shepherd to be this stupid? I’ve tried to be optimistic—I really have, but we’re so far in the shithole now that there is no hope unless only one of us lives.”
“You’re making it sound like you’re the only one who can change anything,” Lyner pointed out.
“Because I sure as hell ain’t gonna die here. I have to help Saki, protect her from Archia, and make her happy.”
“What about us? We have people that care about us, too! I’m the damn bodyguard for one of the Origins! Sorey is the Shepherd!”
“Bodyguard, Shepherd—it doesn’t really matter now, does it?” Aoto’s voice seemed strangely hollow now. He was giving up hope, and the despair was leaking into Sorey’s heart, making him feel faint. “It doesn’t matter what position you hold; I promised to protect Saki and Finnel…because Saki, herself, is a part of the Wills of the Planet. If anything happens to her…”
Sorey was so sickened by the malevolence coming from Aoto that he didn’t quite hear what he said, but Lyner heard him. He was surprised; he had only heard legends about the Wills of the Planet, and he didn’t think they existed outside of the myths and fairytales. And as the information settled, the red-clad young man looked into the stands right at her. She was a goddess not like Frelia; she was a true goddess.
Kyme reluctantly announced the beginning of the fight, and at once, Aoto made his move to cut down Sorey. The Shepherd dodged only to suffer an unprepared slide which left his ankle just twisted enough to incite a sharp pain. He knelt down and held his injury, his hunger making him far more sensitive to everything he felt than he was used to. Lyner, hoping to protect Sorey, parried Aoto’s slashes.
“Sorey has to stay alive!” he yelled at Aoto. “He can take Aurica and Misha back! They can help him awaken her again and restore power to the First Tower!”
“To hell with the First Tower! Saki…I have to live to save Saki!” Aoto growled at him, the malevolence growing stronger. “I’m sorry, Lyner, but I’ll have to kill you, too. But I won’t until I’ve killed the Shepherd!”
Sorey steeled himself. He came from behind Lyner with the goal of at least sweeping Aoto off his feet and pinning him down. His opponent, however, was different from regular humans—he was a superhuman blessed with strength from, unbeknownst to everyone, a seraph mother. The seraph-loving Shepherd noticed immediately when he tried to slice his arm to weaken the pressure he was putting on Lyner’s sword. The attack didn’t even faze him. And when Aoto retaliated by swatting him away, he felt a resonance that was akin to his that was disappearing into the darkness inside his heart.
“Lyner, stop fighting to preserve him! Fight for your own life!” Aoto demanded.
“What’s happened to you? Just a few days ago, we were all friends!” Lyner answered him.
“That was until that bastard got us in trouble by Diving!”
“You would have done the same if you could!”
Aoto charged at the Knight of Elemia, and Sorey tried to help him push the steeplejack back by throwing his sword into the clash. Saki and Aurica watched in horrific anticipation that the ones they cherished most would die. Finnel couldn’t bear to look until she was coerced into unconsciousness. She wasn’t allowed to watch thanks to Soma, who had simply put her to sleep. Misha stoically watched with the belief that Lyner would win against Aoto.
“I have to do something,” Sorey said. He ran into the fray again, his sword glowing with fire. “Cantering Flames!”
“Out of my way!” Aoto roared at him.
Their swords clashed.
“Dive Slash!” Lyner called out as he dove between the two of them with his blade.
“Lion’s Howl!” Sorey said.
“Death Scissors!” Aoto yelled.
“Dive Slash!” Lyner called again with irritation. “I can’t fight without Harmonics!”
Aurica stood from her seat for fear that Lyner would die first. “M-Maybe if I sing—”
“Don’t be stupid,” Misha chided. “If you sing for him, the mediators will kill him and reduce you to dust.”
Aoto lifted his sword into the air, the sheer power surrounding him destroying his armor and tearing his clothes off. “I’ll give you everything I’ve got!” he snarled. His sword’s blade opened to reveal a drill, and as he charged towards Sorey, the malevolence peaked. His anger and hatred for Sorey overtook him, his love for Saki corrupted into an unearthly and insane desire to sacrifice everything for her. Sorey was suddenly paralyzed like the malevolence had trapped him. He felt a warm liquid splash on his face, but he felt no pain.
“W-Why…?” Aoto uttered.
Lyner stared at him with dulling eyes. “He…is the Shepherd…” he choked. “Lady Shurelia…placed her…trust in him…” With the last of his strength, he turned his head to peek at Aurica and Misha once more. “I’m so sorry…”
Aurica’s leg fell from under her. Her voice echoed through the colosseum, “Lyner!”
“I didn’t want to kill you…!” Aoto gasped. He fell to his knees, succumbing to the malevolence and transforming into a gigantic tiger-like therion hellion. Everything happened so fast, and Sorey began to worry that he alone couldn’t fight against him. “I must protect Saki!”
Saki and Finnel’s bodies were encompassed in light as Filament and Soma appeared in their places. Both girls looked around them to register what was transpiring. The seraphim that had come for a death battle were struggling to escape the colosseum for fear of being influenced by the amount of malevolence coming from Aoto. Misha and Aurica held each other for protection against the trampling feet, and Mikleo and Zaveid tried to keep their eyes on Sorey.
“I told her that this would happen,” Filament said. “Soma, lend your strength to the boy. You need to protect him to overthrow Harvestasha.”
“Like I’m going to do that,” Soma replied. “We need his resonance to extend Finnel’s life. To do that, we must call forth Suzunomia. She’ll save Finnel and aid in the restoration of the world’s blessing.”
“Suzunomia is powerless! Do you honestly believe that bringing her back will help us?”
“As a fellow Will of the Planet and the Goddess of Songs, we have no choice. The humans may have corrupted the Towers with their sin, and they may have sapped her power away like parasites, but the Tower can only survive for so long without Symphonic Power. Sacrificing humans is a small price to pay for the restoration of power to the seraphim.”
Soma climbed onto the ledge that hung over the colosseum. Luphan was lying in wait in the shadows of the gates. Once Aoto had weakened Sorey enough, he would move in.
----------------------------------------
Edna used her stones and rocks to fly through the moor in search of Rose and Alisha. While she hated exerting so much effort in finding her friends, she felt the impending doom through her pact. She finally came to a point where she couldn’t run any farther from Lohgrin without breaking the pact and suffering the consequences. Falling to her knees in the burning sand, she held the Hymn Crystal close to her chest. It was for Aurica and Misha and had the power to stop even a corrupted Origin in her tracks. She had no doubt that Aoto would become a hellion, but the magnitude of his rage and insane desire to protect Saki had the potential of sizing up to bring forth an incredibly strong one. She had to absorb the Song within it, but she didn’t have any orpiment to help her.
“It’s fine,” she told herself. “I don’t need some stupid piece of ore. It’s going to hurt, but I can do it. I’ll get Lailah to absorb it, too, just so we’re ready.”
“Edna?” Lailah’s voice sounded.
“Speak of the fire seraph.”
Alisha and Rose came to her side fearing that she was on the verge of death. While she looked like it thanks to the strain on her pact, she assured them that she was fine. Sorey, however, was not.
“He’s in big trouble. Lailah, I need you to sing this Song with me,” Edna said. She stood up and showed her the Hymn Crystal. “It belonged to the seraphim from the First Tower, but that doctor gave it to me. It supposedly has the power to stop powerful beings, and given what Sorey is fighting—”
“Sorey is fighting?!” Alisha interrupted. She and Rose looked terrified at each other then their seraphim.
“He and Meebo were caught Diving, and his punishment is a death match against Lyner and Aoto. The latter has been accumulating malevolence, so I wouldn’t doubt if he’s turned into a hellion by now.”
“Let’s get this Song in you two and haul ass!” Rose said. She snatched the crystal from her. “Uh…”
“You don’t remember how to do it, do you,” Dezel said. He instructed her in what to say, and she repeated:
“Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_H_SYNCHRON, enter FETHMUS_MIOMA. Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_H_SYNCHRON, enter HEPHSIN_YULIND.”
Both Edna and Lailah collapsed from the pain of the Song entering their hearts and making new feelings bloom inside. They were feelings of determination and justice, raging and quaking together in their heart like an active volcano.
“Lailah, are you alright?” Alisha asked her. She held her close. Dezel and Rose helped Edna up to her feet.
“I’m fine,” the fire seraph answered. “This Song is intense. It truly does have the power to stop strong opponents.”
“Dezel, let’s Armatize. We can survey the area and come back to them,” Rose suggested. The wind seraph sensed that she was worried about her friend. He couldn’t deny her the chance to at least peek at what they were about to fight. He gave her permission. “Lukeim Yurlin!”
Rose was clad in her green and gold Armatus in seconds before she raced off to the ruins of Lohgrin where she already heard Aoto’s roars and Sorey’s voice battling for superiority. He was calling for Mikleo, but he and Zaveid were pushed towards the exits of the colosseum by the sea of frantic seraphim. And she saw Aoto towering over Sorey like the giant he had become. The Shepherd had bruises and scratches, but he was still holding his own. He didn’t notice Rose, and he couldn’t afford to take his attention off the hellion.
As she left to relay the information to her fellow Squire, Sorey called once again for his seraphim. Mikleo and Zaveid pushed their way forward through the crowd past the two seraphim that had loved Lyner and were broken to see his corpse. Soma had joined the fight on the presumption that Luphan truly wanted to help Finnel. She knew nothing of his plan to slaughter the lamb within her den of a heart. His resonance, she knew, was needed to activate the Heart of Gaea to extend Finnel’s life and restore the world’s blessing. But Luphan’s plan was much more than just that. His goal was far more insidious.
“Bolt Tempest!” Sorey called out in an attempt to cut Aoto down to size. The hellion knocked him to the side before his attack connected. “Damn it…!”
“Sorey!” Mikleo gasped. “Damn it all, everyone is getting in the way!”
“He can’t fight that beast alone!” Zaveid said. “We’ve got to get down there to him!”
Aurica and Misha wanted to help him in honor of Lyner, but the malevolence just kept building and building until Mayvin reached them together with Cloche and Luca. The three of them told them that they needed to follow them, and they regrouped with Filament outside of the colosseum. The old Storyteller of Time knew that they had a special task to do. It was imperative that they were safe. Unfortunately, he had to leave behind Finnel until Soma returned or Yurisica took control to bring her back to them. He just hoped that Sorey would survive until the iris gems and his friends were back in Lohgrin.
The crowd was beginning to thin, and Mikleo and Zaveid finally had a chance to join the fight. Somewhere in the moor, Edna led her friends to the remains of the tower. Her chest was pounding, reflecting the uncertainty that he was going to die if he made just one mistake.
“Fethmus Mioma!” Alisha called out, and she Armatized with her dear fire seraph. Together with Rose—still fused with Dezel—they scaled the walls while Edna blasted her way through the front gates. “Rose, do you think we can ambush the hellion?” Alisha asked her comrade.
“Possibly, but Sorey’s running out of steam fast. We have to make this quick. Remember the plan?” Rose said.
“De-Armatize as soon as we get in so Lailah and Edna can begin their Song.”
“Good girl. Make sure you treat your girl to something nice after this!”
“W-What?!”
“What?!” Lailah cried.
“Oh, Dezel? I’ll treat you for this, too!” Rose laughed.
“W-What do you mean by that?” Dezel nervously asked.
“You’ll see!”
Rose and Alisha flew and leapt over the side of the wall while Edna appeared behind the hellion just as Sorey recoiled from an attack. Mikleo and Zaveid were chanting their Seraphic Artes only to be interrupted by the sounds of the girls’ voices calling out attacks. Alisha and Rose followed their plan. Lailah and Edna prepared themselves to sing on the ground of the colosseum.
Notes:
The next chapter will had a Song, so hopefully I have enough time to proof it. Somehow the lyrics I wrote for it got messed up. I won't be posting the lyrics, but in the original document, it's something that is bothering me. Like a silly oversight that I should have fixed a long time ago.
Chapter 99: Phase 3: The Lion's Den
Summary:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
While Sorey battles against Aoto, who has become a hellion, Lailah and Edna along with their friends team up to rescue him.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
So somewhere along the line, I guess this chapter was left incomplete or I forgot to add in the Hymmnos lyrics while writing. Not to worry, though! I think I've fixed it. That said, this Song uses Binasphere Chorus, which I've only seen one example of, which doern't help someone who likes to have severely examples eh-heh. Of course, you can't see the lyrics (and it wouldn't do any good without color-coding) but it's something.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey unleashed a flurry of attacks to distract Aoto while the Song began. Dancing to the seraphim’s voices, his attacks were so fluid despite being hungry and thirsty as if their melodies alone gave him the strength he needed. The hellion tried to grab him up after he spun out of his grip. Finally, Lailah and Edna’s voices rang out, their lyrics like the chimes of bells:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose and Alisha dashed towards their opponent with their blades brandished. Alisha stabbed Aoto’s legs while Rose tried to get on top of his shoulders to stab him in the eye and blind him. Dezel and Zaveid wrapped his arms with chains while Mikleo launched his frozen lances. Sorey charged at him with his Sonic Thrust attack when he found an opening. All the while, Mayvin watched them from above, judging the Shepherd’s skills as if to see if he was anywhere strong enough to take on the biggest threat that still wait ahead of him.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Lailah and Edna looked at each other as they sang together. Their voices harmonized, amplifying the power of the Song. The fire seraph continued while her partner accompanied her.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Alisha took a moment to enjoy her seraph’s Song. It had been a long time since she last heard her voice, and even though the Song called for her to be forceful, she couldn’t help but smile at the strength in its words.
“Look out!” Rose said as the hellion was ready to smash her into the ground. She dodged out of the way but not without the assassin looking irately at her. “Yeah, Lailah’s pretty and all, but you’ll have the rest of your natural-born life to look and listen if you survive now.”
“I-It’s just been a while!” Alisha embarrassedly called back at her.
“We need to keep providing backup; Sorey’s in a lot worse condition than we are.”
“I know.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Aoto screeched in agony, the Song burrowing into his head like a mole. He grew angrier and more desperate to save Saki, and he wouldn’t stop until he had crushed Sorey. On the other had, the exhausted Shepherd still attacked him relentlessly. When he mistakenly used Severing Wind, his cloak was ripe for yanking out of the air and swinging him around like a ball on a string. Upon being released by the tails of his cloak, he flew across the battleground into one of the pillars that decorated the circumference the tiled arena. The world was rocking back and forth in a blurry haze. Sorey held his head in a vain attempt to steady himself. Then, looming over him, Luphan and Soma cornered him.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Where’s Sorey?” Mikleo asked over Edna’s voice. He scanned the area around Aoto for him only to realize that he was far from the fight. “Sorey!”
Luphan grinned evilly at his prey. “How nice of you to join us, Shepherd,” he tittered. Soma, her mascot head hiding her distrust of the man in purple, held her scythe at Sorey’s throat.
“I don’t have time for this,” Sorey said. “Let me go.”
“I’m afraid I cannot do that. Lady Harvestasha wouldn’t like it if a roach like you were still wandering about. Tell me, boy, how is it that you can use the Armatus to Dive? There must be some secret to it. Better yet, let’s test a theory—Soma, give him Finnel’s true name.”
Lailah and Edna then activated the special function of this new Song—a Binasphere Chorus—that could easily overpower Aoto.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“What? Seraphim that come from the Towers aren’t allowed—” Soma started before Luphan shot her an icy deathly glare. “What are you trying to do?”
“Shut up and give her name.”
Sorey thought about taking that chance to run, but Luphan suddenly put his hands up in the shape of a triangle at him. Immediately, he was paralyzed.
“Finnel’s true name is Finnel_ax.IRON_CATEGORY.Clustania,” Soma reluctantly said.
The Shepherd’s head ached terribly, his vision tunneling out of focus. He was forced to repeat the name, further pulling him into the girl’s heart.
Mikleo and Zaveid spotted them from where they were. They ordered Dezel, Rose, and Alisha to keep Aoto’s attention then dashed over to help their human.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Soma fell to her knees from feeling Finnel trying to come back out most likely because someone unknown was trying to invade her cosmosphere. Luphan kept his hands over Sorey, who—unfamiliar with Finnel—was trying to break free.
“Dive into her, Shepherd!” Luphan ordered him.
Zaveid whipped his pendulums around Soma so she couldn’t run from them while Mikleo unleased Aqua Serpent against Luphan. The arte paralyzing Sorey broke, and as the water seraph froze the water to trap the mysterious purple samurai, the Shepherd ran back to Aoto albeit without any time to regain himself. Luphan, disgruntled that his plan didn’t work, escaped Mikleo’s ice then fled from the arena. Soma surrendered to Zaveid, and she was furious that Harvestasha’s peon had tried to use Finnel as a death trap.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Aoto screeched and clawed at his ears to block out the Song as its execution came to a close. Sorey dashed in, and with a great leap, he readied his sword. “I’m sorry for everything, Aoto,” he whispered. He pierced the hellion’s head without regret. He was doing this to save him, and while he watched Aoto’s body burn in a silver fire, he felt at peace that he was at least able to free him from the malevolence that had consumed him.
The colosseum was empty now save for those that had fought the hellion in the arena. Zaveid grabbed Soma by her plushie arm, but the girl snatched it away. She let Yurisica take over. This persona warned the shirtless wind seraph abou touching her before leading him and Mikleo back to their friends.
“Sorey, are you alright?” Alisha asked.
“What was happening over there?” Rose questioned.
“You must be exhausted,” Lailah worried.
Sorey simply looked sheepishly at them to downplay how weak he was feeling. Yurisica, however, approached him. “Who are you?” he asked her.
She pushed her glasses up her nose. “I am one of Finnel’s personas residing within her heart. Soma is the same as me, and I wish to apologize on all of our behalfs for what Luphan tried to do,” she respectably said. While it was only a guess, she explained to Rose that he was most likely planning on kill Sorey within Finnel’s soul space. “I don’t understand why. The Shepherd’s resonance is needed in conjunction with the Heart of Gaea…to call forth Suzunomia…”
Sorey had so many questions for, but before he could bludgeon her with them, he began to feel faint. “We need to get you food and water,” Mikleo said to Sorey. He gave his shoulder to him for support.
The battle-worn group exited the arena. Thanks to the outbreak of malevolence and birth of the hellion, the seraphim were rioting outside with threats of throwing Akane out of Lohgrin and destroying the Third Tower. Sorey couldn’t stand to see them pin the blame on her. He left Mikleo’s side to defend her, but Mayvin pulled him back. He was with Aurica, Misha, Luca, and Cloche.
“Cloche will handle this,” he said quietly to him. “Get some food and rest, and then bring the iris gems to me once you’ve seen them all. It’s time.”
Sorey looked at him quizzically. Mikleo and Edna urged him towards the doctor’s tent as per Mayvin’s instructions. When the earth seraph looked back at Lailah, she didn’t expect to find her looking so despondent.
Notes:
So when I write Songs for Lailah and Edna, I imagine they both sound similar to Akiko Shikata but use two of her arsenal of voices. As such, I think they would harmonize pretty well. That said, whenever I get a chance to find singers for them, it would be interesting to see how it works out.
Chapter 100: Phase 3: The Truth About Camlann
Summary:
Sorey has rejoined with his friends. With all the iris gems collected, he pieces together the events that led to the Age of Chaos. At the climax of the record, he learns the truth about everything.
Notes:
This was a long ass chapter, but I'm happy with a lot of it. I have my slight issues with how the past was handled and just how Camlann was 20 years prior to Zestiria when Sorey and Mikleo are about 17/18 respectively, but I can't help to have a few headcanons (gruesome as they are). And all of that Ar Ciela finally comes in! Though, technically, it's written incorrectly since the Wills can't singing the compartmentalization using humanistic vessels.
I listen to the game OSTs while I write and proof, and I really must recommend listening to these soundtracks when reading the Camlann events to the end. Unless it's distracting.
-The Story that is Passed Down (ToZ)
-Truth of the Beginning (ToZ)
-Pan of Age Piano ver. (AT Qoga)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“What do you mean the plan failed?” Harvestasha inquired through her gritted teeth. “You had one job! You just had to kill him! Without actually killing him!”
“I am aware of that, Your Divinity, but had I had some extra assistance, perhaps I could have completely forced him to Dive,” Luphan explained wth some irritation. He paced in front of the small angel girl. “Soma had second thoughts at the last second when she had to bear Finnel’s true name. On top of that, the Shepherd was surprisingly resilient even though he had been severely weakened. His seraphim also interfered, but I did sense something. The water seraph connected to the Shepherd—for a brief moment, when his attacks connected and disrupted my arte, I felt a resonance in his pure soul. He is no ordinary seraph.”
“Duh, from what I’ve gathered, the Shepherd and that water seraph are banging or at least the tension to bang is there. It’s actually kind of funny; humans are so predictably shameful.” Harvestasha thought what Luphan meant about him being extraordinary. “Wait, so where were you going with this?”
“If my hunch proves correct, then we may not need that useless seraph. Of course, all the mind-numbing torture she has been through would be for naught, but wouldn’t it be much easier for Sorey to hand-deliver that water seraph to us? Wouldn’t it be more fun to force Suzunomia into him? After all, his connection increases his power output exponentially compared to Finnel.”
“That’s only if you’re right. It would still be smart to hang onto that buffoon, especially since she has Soma and Yurisica dwelling within her just as Saki has Filament and Sarapatra.”
“Soon enough, the Wills that have the capacity to materialize on this earth will be gathered and the true annihilation of the human race and the proliferation of the seraphim can begin!”
--------------------------------
Cloche, Misha, and Filament brought rations for Sorey, who felt terrible for eating so much in so little time. He shoveled whatever foods were contained in the tiffin boxes as well as all the water he could drink from canteens. Mikleo had offered to summon water for him so that he wouldn’t use up the only other humans’ supplies, but Hikari Gojo and Katene assured it was fine. Given the shake-down that Akane was getting, they didn’t expect to be in Lohgrin for much longer.
“Aki…Aki isn’t at fault…” Finnel said after waking up and found herself being checked on by Katene. She turned to Sorey. “You’re the Shepherd! You have to tell the other seraphim that it’s not her fault! She’s just following orders!”
“Sounds like Bitchy Angel knew this would happen if that’s the case,” Edna said, bouncing her umbrella on a finger. She reflected on Luphan’s attempt to force Sorey to Dive into Finnel. How was it even possible to push his mind into hers without tethering to her? Furthermore, he was still bound to her, Mikleo, and Zaveid; and no repercussions happened. “It’s not hard to see they were trying to kill him without getting their hands dirty.”
Lailah glanced at Sorey then at Alisha and Rose. “That arte he was using…” she started. “It’s a very old one by human standards. It was first created when the Armatus was still in development but fazed out after too many people abused it. For someone to still have knowledge about it, it would mean that he is older than we would think.” She seemed uncomfortable, and in Alisha’s eyes, she was skirting just past details that she was supposed to keep secret. “This man named Luphan…he’s not human.” Zaveid averted his gaze from the group when she said that.
“He looks a lot like someone Lyner knew,” Misha noticed.
“Like Ayatane?” Lailah asked her.
“I think so.”
“Isn’t Ayatane that guy that tried to kill us in Lastonbell?” Mikleo joined in. “Do you think it’s a coincidence?”
Zaveid’s countenance contorted. “It’s not,” he finally said. “I’ve known of Luphan, but I’d never met him in person until now. He’s part of the Kureha clan that helped to build the Third Tower. Ayatane Kureha…” He remembered Mir and how Ayatane Michitaka had called her “mother”. “It would make sense if Mir knew someone like that and based that Virus on him…”
“I don’t get any of this!” Rose sighed. “So, this Luphan guy is related to a Virus? And when did you guys fight a Virus?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Dezel told her.
Zaveid continued, “Mir’s goal…is to eradicate humans to produce a utopia for seraphim after she kills everyone first. If Luphan’s goal was to murder Sorey, that would also mean that everyone would be doomed and Heldalf would destroy the world.”
“Now that sounds like a coincidence,” Cloche spoke. She stepped forward. “I may not understand the gravity of the Virus problem, but is it really possible to think that Luphan and Mir have the same goal? And for Heldalf to work to this goal as well.”
“It’s plausible considering that Targana and Cardinal Forton attempted to use Sorey’s soul to erase Hyland,” Alisha said.
“What? But to do that, they would have to hack into Infel Phira!”
“Which is exactly what they tried to do,” Rose answered. She glanced up at Dezel, fearing that mentioning the episode would remind him of the trauma he suffered. It was horrible, and Cloche felt sick to her stomach. “Rolance was going to use Sorey and Dezel to make a giant mana cannon out of your Infel thingy, and they almost succeeded. Dezel…” she paused as if waiting for her seraph’s approval to speak. Instead, he went inside of her and shut off his ears so he wouldn’t have to listen. “Lakra broke into Dezel’s soul space and connected him to that thing.”
“And after all that, Zaveid sang to bring Sorey’s soul back,” Mikleo finished quickly, leaving out all the details of how the Shepherd’s soul was torn from him in the first place.
“What Song did you sing? Was it Implanta? Only the Maiden of Mio can sing that Song,” Cloche told them.
“I used some ore to be able to sing it,” Zaveid explained, though Cloche was skeptical. “Regardless, it worked, but it wasn’t without consequences. Dezel sustained damage. He probably would have been back to normal if you had sung it, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
“I can only imagine.”
Edna quickly shoved her umbrella into the center of the crowd. “Get back on topic,” she ordered. She reiterated that Luphan was clearly a bad guy, which made Sorey doubt his abilities as Shepherd even though he had come so far. “We need to go to Harvestasha and find out the truth.”
As if on cue, Mayvin entered the tent with Luca, Finnel, and Aurica. The girls all seemed like they had a discussion with the old man that rectified their ways of thinking. Aoto and Lyner were gone, but Aurica and Finnel held in their eyes a determination to act on their behalf to right the wrongs of humans who lived on the Towers.
“Before you can even think about meeting with Harvestasha again, remember that you are after the Lord of Calamity,” the old man sternly said to the Shepherd’s crew. “It’s one thing to feel responsible for the problems on the Towers, but you must remember, Sorey. You are not obliged nor recommended to solve every little problem. Have you viewed the iris gems yet?”
Sorey couldn’t argue with Mayvin. Lailah clearly didn’t want to say anything about it for fear of meddling and making the same mistakes as she did in her past. But he couldn’t ignore Shurelia and Frelia. Without them, seraphim were powerless. As the Shepherd, he felt inclined to help them. He told Mayvin this, and the reaction he received was unexpected.
“You truly are a Shepherd, boy.” He crossed his arms, stern once again after handing him one last red iris gem. “View the iris gems as soon as possible then. The more time you waste trying to figure out hypotheticals from reality, the more damaged lives you will incur.” Mayvin turned to Cloche, Misha, and Saki. “Ladies, I need to discuss a few things with you. I have already talked to these three here, but it’s imperative that you listen together.”
As the girls from the Towers left with him to speak in private, Rose and Alisha pulled out the iris gems that they had collected and the one that Mayvin had given to them. Sorey Armatized with Zaveid first to read the gems:
Bu!n %(cEu rea%&G%ne%(q
%&zA%(g !jEEEm
Bu!n %(cEu rea%&G%ne%(q
IdO !c#Id %wAlO %gO !jIII #gOOO $sssyyy shION
Heldalf #on syio%&r nI$)m
#&OOO%)SSS#a
E%&t %(S!qe muNNi %(xEs
lAj fe$mmm %&mUId !zA$(c$)tA
Sorey’s heart ached for Heldalf. He was beginning to understand what had happened to create him. The newborn child that had become a hellion in minutes—he had suffered great loss, but for what reason? Why had he been pushed so far into despair that all he could think was to commit suicide, and then not be able to carry out the deed so matter how much agony he went through?
Lailah and Mikleo were worried that he would fall to the malevolence locked away in the orbs, but Sorey was strong of heart. He wasn’t despairing like Heldalf had; he empathized with him.
“Sorey, if this is too much—” Lailah began.
“I need to see this through…for Heldalf’s sake,” Sorey said. He de-Armatized with Zaveid and then asked for Edna’s help. “It’s becoming clear now. After I see into these, please tell me what you saw. Hephsin Yulind.”
$t%(gA dIg xEn !&s$U#)z
gOgOx %)h!)Uly #&ge$f$(O$f
#(zAyE$)f %(chOn
dOmf yx!)E
Heldalf #Ug!Ex %v%&d%)E!z
bEEEm $m$)O%(y%(s%)s
%&c#(U%q #(wAm%&N
$s%)s%&s%&y%&I%(A%(r%)I%)t #(dU$(f%(f#I $fO%)fy
Sorey knew that Heldalf was responsible for the overflowing abundance of malevolence and hellions in the world, but he was astonished by the second yellow iris gem. The magnificent dragon that he had fought that had rays of light coming from its scales slowly turned black with sin, and Heldalf held it down with only his foot.
“Was that…Maotelus?” Sorey whispered to himself. “If that was Maotelus, then our prediction was correct, and...and he’s…”
“Sorey, you need to stay focused,” Edna reminded him. “We still have one more to view before we can piece everything together.”
“R-Right…”
Sorey released Edna and finally looked at Mikleo. Something felt so wrong, like he wasn’t supposed to be angry with Heldalf. There were still two more iris gems, and Lailah was waiting for Sorey to get caught up before looking into the final red iris gem on the small table.
“Mikleo, are you ready?” The water seraph looked at him as ready as he would ever be. “Luzrov Rulay.”
Mikleo’s presence within his heart calmed him. The last purple iris gem felt different. It didn’t hold as much malevolence as the others. With clear cerulean eyes, he watched the events unfold. Lailah knew what lie within the iris gem, the memories as vivid as the days that she participated.
$t#)A%)EEE b$(E%)O %)y
%(cIU!)x dOblO!cx
bEEEm $m$)O%(y%(s%)s
%)c#&I#Amr %(X%(Na%&t
“So many Shepherds…was it really possible for that many people to be the Shepherd?” Sorey asked after he and Mikleo separated. Zaveid and Lailah looked away. It was a forgotten time in history where for once humans and seraphim had to work together to fight the hellions.
“We can ask Mayvin about all this after that last gem,” Mikleo said. “Lailah, Alisha, care to tell us about the last one?”
Alisha and her seraph agreed, Armatizing without a second to waste and watching the events within it. Except the gem didn’t react to their power. At first, they thought they had broken it, but there was no damage to it. Rose and Dezel tried to read it then Sorey and Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid. The gem couldn’t be read at all.
“Maybe it’s a dud?” Zaveid pondered aloud.
“Fascinating,” Katene said with awe. “Those iris gems can only be read through Armatization, meaning they would essentially be useless on the Towers even though they hold latent Songs. What’s more is that that gem is emitting static H-waves! Doctor, are you getting this? These iris gems hold life energy themselves!”
Sorey had an epiphany. They had to meet with Mayvin because he knew how to activate that gem. The gems, as Katene had said, held life energy, which translated into the events that they had been watching. He wondered if the Wills of the Planet could help him.
The Shepherd took his friends out of the tent and to the center of the town where Cloche and Finnel were talking. They directed them towards a staircase that led up to two chambers. On the left was the remains of a dining hall, and on the right was a garden with the largest monolith known to the modern man. In front of it, Mayvin was standing with Misha and another woman that wore a revealing dress and a feathered boa.
“Mayvin, are you sure about this?” Misha asked. “You know the consequences, don’t you?”
“Aye, I do, but the time has come that I must do something before it’s too late,” he replied. He faced Sorey and his company. He knew that they had several questions, especially about the iris gem that he had left with them. “You’ve seen the past up to twenty years ago, correct?”
“Twenty years?” Rose repeated.
“Twenty years ago, the Age of Chaos began. The iris gem I left with you holds those events, but to activate it, the lyrics within the gems must be sung in order. Because they are imperceivable to the human and seraphic ear, you will need a translator. I would like you to meet Sarapatra, a Will of the Planet that is willing to do just that for us.”
“Imperceivable? Then how were we able to watch them with the Armatus?” Sorey asked.
“The Armatus draws on the power of Maotelus, another Will of the Planet. To sing these events in the sacred language of Ar Ciela in order to activate the final gem, one who is able to correctly sing the language is required.”
Sarapatra approached Sorey, her bosom bouncing before him. “Hello, Honorable Shepherd, I am Sarapatra. My, aren’t you a cutie! It would be wrong to betray Saki’s heart and make her fall for you, but I’m almost tempted.”
Mikleo glared at her.
Mayvin instructed Sorey to place the iris gems in order according to their events. Red gems were first, then green, then yellow, and finally purple. With the exception of the iris gem given to them moments ago, Sarapatra took the Shepherd’s hands and sang:
$&l#h%EEE $&yA%&Em r$O%U%&h !jb%EEEm%)q
%)c#N)AA f$Igg !cEEE%b sss%)y %)y%x%N
%&EEEm %&EEEsss #(z%&EEE%)yb
%&g%&EEE!)j #t$(I#w%A !)v$U%&E
%(A)bbbbp%(Ar cb%&Ix yllj sssEE%)
h#(EEEjxl mNf$EE sss w$(ll)w
zacta kls#ab b#Ivfxxx$(
sssy tttlll j(Utq
Ib %)g#bm #lsss$(o!n (f$)f$j %(c%(z%A
%&l%&q(U $jb%)q%&EEEm!N %(z$O
vv%)x#Izzz %)rrEEE %(haf#e$t$)t wum sssy
s$y$(%)r%&iAr%)y fffaum$m #(bAAA%(c %)zEEE
bau hau
hau#j lU%(q r#&E#w
$(Oh %(ta#N #z$E$f
f$)Na #(wA%)f#I
The images of the past from the red iris gems rushed into Sorey’s head. Lailah and a previous Shepherd shared a strong bond. They parted ways after many battles, and the man wrote the Celestial Record. He became the founder of a village, and a woman wearing the same circlet as Mikleo watched him with her baby in her arms. His heart tightened; who were these people?
$U$)U$)o$t%)t !(lAgU %)c%b#tA
%)f!)fArs %)f!)fArs %)f!)fArs $O%b#cU
$U$)U$)o$t%)t $)Nb#(z#Ab
%(sssv#(IA!h%&h %(sssv#(IA!h%&h
$Tojx Tojx Tojx %)JmmOq Heldalf
qqAAA iO iO iO xyxyxy
$(MoNOx dOgUzzz
bAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
%oN(Og %KK()D% iIx
LLL!poon$ lllpnkk
Ddd%b!(n rrryQ
x%yzzy) noono%dO#d
Bu!n %(cEu rea%&G%ne%(q
%&zA%(g !jEEEm
Bu!n %(cEu rea%&G%ne%(q
IdO !c#Id %wAlO %gO !jIII #gOOO $sssyyy shION
Heldalf #on syio%&r nI$)m
#&OOO%)SSS#a
E%&t %(S!qe muNNi %(xEs
lAj fe$mmm %&mUId !zA$(c$)tA
dObO!I qOx!U Heldalf
cOcO#d %)c!IgggOf
Heldalf r%&A%)cO #hOsss)y
#)zA#ctA shUy $(A%)c#cyx#z
Sorey now saw the events of the green iris gems that led Heldald to despair. He pitied the man who had lost everything in his unending life. He couldn’t blame him. Surrounded by death and loathing, Heldalf had become the Lord of Calamity of his own volition. He understood why he wanted to destroy everything and make everything new. He wanted to erase the unfair hand he was dealt.
$t%(gA dIg xEn !&s$U#)z
gOgOx %)h!)Uly #&ge$f$(O$f
#(zAyE$)f %(chOn
dOmf yx!)E
On!O#dyn &fo&&g(o$O#i GGG&(i
prtxO $B(#e(lx#z
fo&&g(o$O#i GGG&(I fo&&g(o$O#i GGG&(I fo&&g(o$O#i GGG&(i
%(ce( g#u%(j)k zzz%ttt%
Heldalf #Ug!Ex %v%&d%)E!z
bEEEm $m$)O%(y%(s%)s
%&c#(U%q #(wAm%&N
$s%)s%&s%&y%&I%(A%(r%)I%)t #(dU$(f%(f#I $fO%)fy
The yellow iris gems showed how Heldalf farmed larger and stronger hellions, but still Sorey understood why. It broke his heart that he had turned to lashing out against innocent people. It wasn’t right.
$)Ylll$($)x $)ylll$($)x sss#tt#y z$iiimUug%)
NnbIi w$(Urx $)syiar$&y$) z$eee
w$(Urx %&c!Annn kmpr sssy
Zacta w#d%&EEEIiii cUub%G w$(Urx
$t#)A%)EEE b$(E%)O %)y
%(cIU!)x dOblO!cx
bEEEm $m$)O%(y%(s%)s
%)c#&I#Amr %(X%(Na%&t
The final two iris gems painted a clear picture. Lailah as well as other seraphim granted some sort of higher status had dubbed countless Shepherds to combat the hellions that Heldalf had birthed from the pits of the crucibles. All of them had eventually disappeared, lost in the flow of time and forgotten to the memory of the people that suffered today. Sarapatra had finished singing, and the final red iris gem shined brilliantly. Sorey and his friends were transported to the past despite their bodies still being in the present. As clear as the singing voice he had just listened to, the events played out like a movie in the garden of the great monolith.
-------------------------------------
“Where…are we?” Sorey slowly asked. He looked around at the minimalistic houses and a large monument. He had seen this place before in Mikleo’s soul space and the Celestial Record, but everything was brand new. “Is this Camlann?”
“The Origin Village,” Lailah described under her breath. Unlike the other iris gems, they had been thrown into it. Invisible to the ghosts of the people that still roamed the village, they were only meant to watch the events and feel all the emotions that swirled that day, but the fire seraph wished to leave. “The only village in the land where seraphim and humans truly lived together in harmony until the dawn of the Age of Chaos.”
Alisha watched her with concern. Ever since retrieving all the gems, she had been forlorn. She was going to comfort her but was cut off when a commotion had grabbed everyone’s attention.
“Sounds like the show starts now,” Zaveid said. He looked up to find in the distance a large pyramid-like structure made of marble. He recognized it, and his chest tightened with trepidation; however, he didn’t want them to know that he knew where they were. Feigning indifference, he urged Sorey to lead them.
At the edge of the village, there was a gathering of people. Shurelia, Frelia, and a third Origin were there, but they looked only slightly younger than they did presently. The village chief, a stern-looking man with shoulder-length bronze hair, glared at the general mounted on his armored horse. That general…
“That’s Heldalf,” Sorey said. “So, he had come to Camlann?”
“Seems like it,” Edna said.
The man pointed in the direction behind Heldalf. “How dare you come to our peaceful village and bring ruination!” he growled. “Just what does Rolance think it’s doing by infringing on our sacred land?!”
“Foolish man,” Heldalf boomed. “Do you not understand that we are doing you a favor? If we had not stationed Rolance troops here, Hyland would ravage your tiny village before noon. We are here to protect the Origins, after all.”
“Don’t give me that crap. The seraphim here are safe under Maotelus’ domain. The Origins are capable girls, and we provide escort for them when they go back to their respective Towers. Admit that you’re only here so you can ambush Hyland and conflate the unrest between your sorry countries!”
The people behind the man spoke in support, throwing rocks and rotten food at the soldiers. Heldalf stood silently, judging whether or not to murder half the population now or wait for Hyland to get involved so that it will be marked as an accident that they were caught in a crossfire.
“Leave now, Heldalf. We do not have IPD seraphim for you. We don’t have any type of seraphim for you. Seraphim and their Song Magic and Seraphic Artes are sacred; abusing them is sacrilege.”
Sorey sympathized with the man. Whoever he was, he was doing the right thing no matter how much he was supposed to stay in the middle. Lailah just stared at the man, and Alisha couldn’t help but become suspicious.
“Hyland has been at war for twenty years according to the records,” she said to distract herself. “This is what started the conflict. Both countries wanted this region because it was strategically hidden.”
“This place also served as holy ground, making it ideal for seraphim to gather here,” Lailah further explained.
“Now that you mention it, Maotelus’ domain is much stronger here than in Pendrago, even for this to be events from the past,” Zaveid noticed. “That means…”
“Maotelus is here, is he not?” Heldalf questioned the man. “Insolent Shepherd, do you understand the gravity of this crime? Kidnapping Maotelus from his shrine…I suppose there is a way for me to ‘forget’ to expose you for this.”
“Michael, we should listen to him,” a woman holding a baby suggested. The man, Michael, shook his head. “We know how you feel about all this—they’re abusing us, but the occupation is more than just that. Think about the seraphim that are here and in Elysia.”
“Muse, don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you or the villagers or the seraphim that we worship.” He turned away from her. “I don’t care what happens to me, but remove your soldiers from my village at once,” he said. He marched off, the three Origins following behind him. Then everything froze like time had stopped.
“Michael the Shepherd?” Sorey murmured. “He…was the Shepherd when the Age of Chaos began…”
Edna and Rose looked at Mikleo, his face contorting in confusion. He approached the woman with the baby, whose face was obscured by her bosom. Stepping back, he just stared.
“Mikleo?” Sorey suddenly said. He touched his shoulder gently, which served to anchor him back to reality. “Is everything okay?”
“Y-Yeah,” he replied hesitantly. “We should follow Michael. There’s still so much to learn.”
While everyone was unanimous, the Shepherd was worried about so many different things. The events that led up to the Age of Chaos, Mikleo’s strange behavior, then presence of the Origins—he tried to predict how this would all set Heldalf up to become the Lord of Calamity. They followed the path towards the shrine, and the oldest seraphim among them felt anxious. Along the way, they found the three Origins. They had left Michael on his own, but they didn’t seem concerned at all.
“Humans truly don’t know what to do with themselves,” the lavender-colored Origin indifferently said.
“It is a trying time for them,” Shurelia replied.
“Even still, there must be something we can do. War among the humans may have great consequences. The original reason our Towers were built were to act as safe havens for those who were lost after war centuries ago,” Frelia said. “Perhaps we can convince Michael, the Dutiful Shepherd, to migrate his people onto them.”
“Just how do you expect them to reach our Towers?” the third Origin asked. “My Tower is too far for them to travel on foot, and Frelia’s Tower cannot hold any more people. Shurelia, because your Tower is the closest, you would have to house these people. And that may not go so easily with humans on your Tower.”
Shurelia thought long and hard. Humans weren’t allowed to go up the Tower past Em Pheyna, and the cities below were already crowded with humans and seraphim. “I-I’m sure if I talk—”
“I don’t mean to be the party-pooper, but everywhere on your Tower below the Teru city of Em Pheyna discriminates the seraphim. These people and their praise for our kind will be pushed out.”
“T-Tyria, are you suggesting leaving them here!?”
Tyria didn’t look happy about the conclusion but didn’t deny that it was the only one. Ideally, Frelia would have been the better Tower, but the Origin Frelia had been weakening over years of keeping her Tower functioning through her Song Magic.
“Furthermore, aside from the humans, we wouldn’t be able to hold Maotelus.”
Shurelia and Frelia almost immediately teared up at the thought of abandoning the most powerful seraph in the land. “No! We can’t leave him! He’s too cute and precious! And the only one whose blessing is protecting the humans on the surface!” they cried.
“I agree, but as the only Origin that can communicate directly with Wills of the Planet and due to the laws that pertain to those Wills being in their appropriate places, we can’t. Michael already spirited Maotelus away from his shrine; imagine what would happen if we put him on a Tower.”
The scene then stopped, leaving Sorey an inkling of where Maotelus would be. He trailed his eyes up to the impressive structure that pierced the sky. It was a shrine, but according to the Celestial Record, it was also the birthplace of that great seraph. He also wasn’t aware that only one of the Origins—the only one they hadn’t met—could communicate with beings like Filament and Soma. With Maotelus being a Will of the Planet, it made sense why his disappearance from Pendrago and the subsequent influx of malevolence into the city started a domino effect.
Lailah asked him to move on because they were to infer the solution to all this after learning the rest of the story. The Shepherd led them to a few other buildings where Michael’s people expressed their discontent and hatred of the Rolance Army. They were beginning to think that the blessing over the town was diminishing. If the blessing was disappearing, then it was likely that Maotelus was transforming into a hellion.
“We need to get to the shrine,” Mikleo said.
“Agreed, we don’t have time to waste,” Alisha said.
Dezel was the only one to stay behind, sensing the Origins making their way to another human’s house where a pregnant woman was scoping out the situation in the village. Dezel recognized her aura, similar to that of Sorey’s. He wondered if that was his mother, and keeping it in mind, he caught back up with Rose and the others at the shrine.
Sorey and Mikleo watch Muse throw herself in front of Heldalf for mercy. She cried and begged them to leave and to take the conflict away from the only home she had ever known. Her baby bawled in her arms. Heldalf was unmoving.
“This territory is the best positioning we could hope for in this farce of a war,” he nonchalantly said. “Your Shepherd’s empty threats will do nothing to push me from here. We will crush Hyland, whatever it takes.”
“You don’t understand the consequences!” Muse sobbed.
“Whoever wins here will gain territory and all the seraphim within it. Come what may, the victor—Rolance—will make sure that the seraphim prosper in our ranks.”
Sorey clenched his fists. He had felt sorry for Heldalf, and while he still didn’t know the whole story, it caused him so much pain to hear him talk about the seraphim as loosely as commodity. Lailah urged him to keep watching as a single Rolance soldier returned from his post.
“Sir, we’ve been attacked by Hyland! What do we do?” he announced.
“Hmph, simple baiting; Hyland doesn’t understand the value of their men until they’re gone. But I suppose we can’t leave them to drill holes into our defenses. Come, we shall retreat and re-evaluate our strategy. A random battle will only beget lost resources.”
Heldalf walked past Muse, who was still curled up with her child. Her tears continued to fall on its shrouded face.
The events suddenly brought them back to the center of Camlann, where flames climbed into the red skies and bodies of the villagers were strewn about like dolls. Hyland soldiers mercilessly slashed the men and trapped the women. Sorey and Mikleo felt sick to their stomachs, the anxiety and fear of the phantoms flooding their hearts. Edna, Lailah, Zaveid, and Rose were all far too familiar with the amount of death that stained the village’s once-happy roads. Alisha couldn’t believe that her countrymen were blindly killing civilians. Dezel read the wind for Sorey’s mother in the chaos, and when he had found her, his cold heart shattered.
“Cut out the child and take her with the rest of the women! They’ll talk where the seraphim are once we’re through with them!” a blue-clad soldier cackled.
“Please! Please, don’t!” Sorey’s mother screamed.
Before Sorey’s attention could be grabbed by her voice, Dezel distracted him with the arrival of Michael. The vengeful Shepherd, surrounded by the ugliness of human greed, was petrified. His heart steeped in rage.
“Heldalf, you…you…you’ll pay for this!” he roared. “I will make you rue the day that you ruined my life!”
“Michael, don’t!” Sorey called out to him. Of course, Michael couldn’t hear him—he wasn’t even aware of his presence. He watched the previous Shepherd run to the shrine that housed Maotelus in search of his sister who was missing from the wreckage, who had to be reeling from the malevolence brewing from Michael’s anger and Heldalf’s selfish greed. “It can’t end like this…!”
“The shrine!” Dezel said. “We need to get away from here!” The screams were getting louder and louder behind them that he was sure that the Shepherd would turn and see what was happening. “Let’s move!”
“You mustn’t let your emotions get swept away!” Lailah warned. Dezel, Sorey, and Mikleo looked at her. “I know it’s hard; Sorey, Rose, Alisha. But this is what happened. See this through to the end, but remember that we’re on the path to change what this all led to into something better.”
Rose crossed her arms in frustration. Sorey and Mikleo couldn’t ignore Michael. They understood Lailah’s words, but they still felt compelled to go to the shrine. And once they were gone, and Alisha and Rose were the only ones left with the seraphim, the assassin made her observations clear.
“Dezel, it’s not like you to be caught up in other people’s problems,” she said. “Not to mention, Mikleo and Sorey are both acting rashly, which is understandable given what we’re seeing and all that.”
“But Mikleo seems dazed by all of this,” Alisha noted. “And…and the Shepherd and that woman Muse…”
“Precisely,” Edna said. “It’s not hard to figure it out: Mikleo was that baby Muse was holding, and Michael is his uncle.”
“To learn that this all happened what he was a little tyke, and the fact that this village is pretty much destroyed means he didn’t get out alive,” Zaveid added. “But we already knew that because he’s a seraph.”
“Dezel, you saw it, too, right?” Lailah asked the wind seraph. “The resonance that was coming from that house over there—that was Selene’s house. That was the place where Sorey was born by force.”
“Wait, what?” Rose choked in surprise.
“We’ve wasted enough time here,” Edna interrupted. “We need to keep an eye on those two. There was a reason that this gem had such a complicated lock on it.” She took the lead towards the shrine.
There, Sorey and Mikleo were holding each other’s hands as they watched the events play before them. Muse had fallen, and her baby was trapped in the fire that scorched Maotelus’ shrine. Michael raced up the steps, and she implored him to protect her son. The tormented Shepherd scooped up the baby, but his eyes widened with fear and disgust. Shurelia and Tyria escaped the shrine after being chased by Viruses borne from the malevolence influencing Maotelus, and the last couple of troops that had been hiding after missing their scape with Heldalf had ceased Frelia. They took her away, but Michael and Muse were too distracted by the baby.
“Michael, bring me my son!” Muse ordered him.
“This is no longer your son,” Michael said. All sound fell silent. He took the baby, disfigured from the fire and malevolence that was beginning to corrupt him. “Seraphim and Wills of the Planet, accept this humble offering and grant my prayer!” He placed the child on the altar.
“N-No…!” Muse screamed. “Michael, what are you doing!?”
“Using the purity left in this newborn soul, I ask of you!”
Sorey and Mikleo held each other while their friends joined them on the stairs. Zaveid and Lailah, having already concluded that this was the moment that would hurt them the most, watched in anticipation.
“Curse Heldalf! Let him know the same amount of pain and despair that I have learned today! Let him suffer through time eternal. May he never know death but know the agony of losing everything that he once held dear!” He pulled a dagger from a concealed sheath under his shirt. “With every fiber of my soul, may he know the burning pits of hell and be tormented forevermore.”
He plunged the dagger into the baby’s soft body, and a burst of malevolence shot up from it. A window opened to Volgran Forest, and Sorey watched as the curse struck Heldalf like lightning at the same moment that he was stabbed by Hyland blades. Other soldiers, both the enemy and his own, ran from him. They called him a monster.
Numbed by what they had seen, Sorey and Mikleo trudged back to the village carrying the weight of their revelations. The aftermath of war was never one they had experienced until now. Rose and Alisha wished to console their Shepherd, but Lailah asked them not to. It was Sorey’s duty to feel with his heart and make his judgment.
“Mikleo, I’m so sorry,” Sorey whispered to him. “I’m so sorry that this happened to you.” The water seraph said nothing. “It hurts, doesn’t it?”
“It does, but…this doesn’t feel like the end. How did Gramps find us?” Mikleo asked.
Dezel knew that Sorey would find his body soon. He and the other seraphim and Squires looked on ahead, the golden setting sun casting its fiery light over the macabre scene. And near the entrance of the village stood five beings.
“What happened here?!” Mason gasped.
“Damn humans…destroying their own like this…” Kyme said through his teeth.
“Sir Zenrus, we beg of you to help us find any survivors,” Shurelia asked.
“But there were no survivors,” Sorey said. He followed everyone’s eyes. “Everyone was killed…”
“There’s a baby over here!” Tyria called from a line of bodies that had been eviscerated. Sorey and Mikleo joined as Zenrus approached the bundle in the Origin’s arms. “This one is dead, too.” Despite her stoic face, tears brimmed.
Zenrus took it from her. “He was born far too early,” he rumbled. “In their sin, humans don’t understand the pain they cause to the innocent. It will take a great deal of power and time, but,” he passed his golden pipe over the baby, spreading the ashes in it on its head, “I shall revive and care for this one.”
“I can sense another presence,” Shurelia announced. “This feels like Muse? She’s still alive?”
Muse held her dead baby in one arm while the other one hung to her side discolored and unmoving. Her foot was swollen. “Lord Zenrus…!” she wept. She fell to her knees before him. “Lord Zenrus…you’ve come…”
“Muse!” the old seraph cried out while holding the now sleeping baby close to him. Without a moment to spare, she beckoned Shurelia to take her baby and put it in his arms. “What happened?”
“Michael…has fallen…he’s no longer with us.” She caught a glimpse of the other baby. “Whose child is that?”
“It was Selene’s,” Tyria said. “She wanted to surprise you so your child would have a friend. When Shurelia and I escaped, we found her with the child cut from her womb.”
Muse stifled her cries. “My lord, please! Please carry on Selene’s son alongside mine!” she tried to ask.
“I will,” Zenrus told her. “I’m sorry for your loss. I will raise your son as a seraph, and together these two children will be our beacon of hope. Sorey and Mikleo, Shepherd and Seraph.” He turned to Shurelia and Tyria. “Frelia must have been caught, but I ask that you three grant them guidance. Teach them how to use Song Magic to its full potential and end this new Age of Chaos.”
Muse pushed herself up with one arm. “Lord Zenrus, please gift Mikleo with my circlet so that he knows his mother will always be with him. I, myself, will take an oath and seal this village away.”
The seraphim protested. Muse was committed. Her relation to the fallen Shepherd and her sin for foolishly believing that everything would be okay made her the perfect candidate to sacrifice her soul to contain Maotelus, who was screaming out in pain according to Tyria. Zenrus allowed her to do as she wanted.
-------------------------------------
The events of the iris gem disappeared into nothingness as they drew to a close. Sorey and Mikleo were granted some solace that the events had led to them now. The former was still concerned about the revelation that Mikleo was a human sacrifice, but the water seraph was no longer broken. Muse, his mother that he never had the chance to know and thus felt no particular sense of sadness or happiness for her fate, had managed to grant him a second life. Sorey was the same. By normal convention, they were sure that they had to feel devastated, but it wasn’t a feeling that they felt. They were grateful that Shurelia and Tyria had helped them even if they had no memory of what had happened; they hadn’t even met the Origin of the Third Tower to know what she felt. They understood how Frelia had been captured. And finally, they understood why Heldalf had become a hellion.
“He was made into a hellion,” Rose said.
“Because of the foolishness of humans,” Dezel added.
“Even though he brought it on himself,” Edna continued.
“Suffering that much despair is what ultimately forced him to turn his desire to die into a misguided wish to erase everything and start over,” Alisha finished. “Lailah, is that why you never talked about Michael? Because he pertained to your oath and the dawn of this age?”
Lailah just bowed her head. She asked for forgiveness, which the princess unconditionally gave her. She hugged her as an apology for always trying to get the truth out of her.
“Still, to think that Sorey and Mikleo were connected to everything—Origins included—since the beginning,” Zaveid said incredulously. “Makes you think if destiny really is a thing.”
“At this point, a crapton of forethought doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Rose sighed. She looked over at Sorey and Mikleo, who were rejoining them. “You guys okay?”
Sorey and Mikleo nodded. It felt like a load had been taken off their shoulders, and even though Heldalf was a product of his own greed, they knew he wasn’t entirely at fault. It was time to see Mayvin.
Luphan, having learned all he needed, made his way back to the Third Tower.
Notes:
This is the 100th chapter of this mega-cross. This is the longest fanfiction I have ever written, and it fills me with so much joy of all that I have been able to do so far. I hope you continue to read this story, leaving your thoughts in the process. I have so much art (redraws and originals) that I still need to do, and I'm hoping to get back to composing the Songs soon. Joining these two universes is hard work, but it's rewarding when I see how much I've done so far and just how important the messages of the games are when combined.
Thank you for all the support!
[Was yea ra arsye anw her akata an yora, lhasya ciel futare en ciel idesy. Infel yor]
Chapter 101: Phase 3: The Clean Slate
Summary:
The enemies are plotting.
Notes:
One of two chapters because this one is only about two pages long. But a look at the BTS plotting~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“I come with an update on the situation concerning that Shepherd,” Luphan deviously said. Harvestasha came out of her meditation to listen to him, and she was as excited as usual to hear about it but also seemed distracted. “The recent recon mission has revealed that that water seraph is a truly better fit for our plan than Finnel.”
“Explain,” Harvestasha ordered.
“He was sacrificed as a baby—a newborn, in fact. He didn’t have a concept of self at the time, meaning that there was no discernible personality.”
“But he was reborn as a seraph and developed an ego, so your plan sucks.”
“Listen, Your Divinity,” Luphan implored. “The personality of a seraph amounts to half of a true personality. Without the fragments of memories that feed into a new personality at reincarnation, there is nothing to anchor it to the soul space. And considering the iris gems hold within them the horrible revelation that he was thrown away for the sake of revenge, dismantling the personality he has now will be effortless, and Suzunomia can be extracted through him.”
Harvestasha tapped on her chin in thought. She had been playing Akane the whole time that she could save Finnel. The clumsy seraph’s life span was rapidly diminishing due to the intense personalities living inside her cosmosphere, and the empty promise of extending her life with the Heart of Gaea had turned the general into the perfect little puppet. She thought about it harder. With the Heart of Gaea, she could transfer Suzunomia into Mikleo without a problem as long as it was activated.
“This really is a better plan. And you said before that the Shepherd’s power increased his output, so Suzunomia’s power will be increased as well,” she said.
“Precisely. Shall I lure them here?” Luphan knelt before her.
Harvestasha waved her hand nonchalantly. “There’s no need. That Shepherd may be an idiot, but he’s also a goody little two-shoes. They’ll come here of their own volition, but send word to Akane and Finnel. We need to capture them before they try to escape.” She was distracted again. “There’s someone else here. Someone broke into the Tower?”
A vortex of malevolence opened in front of Luphan and Harvestasha. As if an auspicious occasion, the Lord of Calamity Heldalf walked out of it. He was smirking at them, and Luphan seemed like he had been anticipating his arrival. He bowed.
“Milord, you’ve finally arrived!” he greeted.
“The domain of this Tower is strong, but it’s thanks to you two as well as Mir in the Binary Field that I could push through even just a projection of myself,” the lion-faced man rumbled.
“Tyria’s power is unique; her corporeal body doesn’t exist, and her soul exudes the life force of this Tower as opposed to the other two.” Luphan smiled at him. “If you wanted to, you could corrupt her and bring her on your side.”
Harvestasha didn’t like that idea. Even though she wanted to aid in the creation of a world with no humans and no suffering, forcing Tyria to fall would destroy the Third Tower, herself included. It was a goal of self-preservation that she deterred them from acting on that.
Heldalf crossed his arms. “I have heard from Symonne that your wishes coincide with Mir,” he said. “Tell me, what is it that you plan to do with the Shepherd? As long as he remains alive, you can slaughter his friends and push him to the edge of despair.”
Luphan chuckled. He was amused that they had been listening. “As the one who implanted in Mir the idea of creating a utopia solely for the Reyvateil Origins and seraphim, I know of someone that can help you achieve your goal.”
“And who would that be?”
“The Antibody Brain and one of the stronger Wills of the Planet, Ar Ru.”
Heldalf raised an eyebrow. He had known about Ar Ru for a short while, and while he himself had the power to erase everything, he believed that having a Will whose primary job was to eliminate infectious agents like humans would be useful. He wanted to know more about Ar Ru, about the plan to use Mikleo to summon her, and about Sorey’s impending fall.
On the other side of the continent, Mir and Harvestasha continued to discuss the current state of affairs. The angelic girl had managed to talk some sense into her that the utopia she foolishly believed in was nothing more than a sham. She stressed the importance of the Heart of Gaea to help purify Maotelus and save the world. Mir, however, was still resistant to the notion of aiding Sorey and other humans.
“Mir, please help them!” Harvestasha begged. “Next to the Origins, you are the strongest seraph to ever exist. You know what will happen best out of everyone!”
“I will never forgive humans for what they did to me!” Mir screamed.
“But what about the other seraphim that are suffering now? What about the humans that are trying to rescue them?”
“Why couldn’t I be saved?!”
Harvestasha fell silent now that her pain had become evident. She asked her one more time to reconsider helping the humans, and as sincerely as she could, she promised that Sorey would help her. Mir looked up at her.
“Fine…” she finally said. “But they must prove to me that they are strong enough to change my mind. And even if they should succeed, I will never let go of my hatred.”
“Thank you, Mir,” Harvestasha graciously said. “Now, the Heart of Gaea, or the Fourth Dimensional Core Square Ring, is said to reside within Metafalica.”
“And?”
“Well, that’s the first problem.”
----------------------------------
High above the continent in the Second Tower, one of the guardians that served Frelia lay paralyzed in Sol Marta the Tower’s server. Before her stood a woman with a crescent moon on her hat and a stuffed toy in her arms. Beside her, the phantasmic form of another woman with a sun-shaped bow gazed up at the majestic tree that wrapped its roots around a metal pod that used to contain Frelia.
“Infel, are we truly reborn?” she asked.
“Yes, it seems that Lady Cloche and Lady Luca—the current Maiden of Mio and Maiden of Fuero—have completed the Infelsphere,” Infel replied. She tightened her embrace of the toy. “How peculiar given that neither maiden is physically on Metafalss. I wonder if that means that the Infelsphere Platomine went to the land below with them.” She looked out into the star-dotted darkness all around them. “Hm, it’s a mystery.”
Infel thought it was strange, but she had never been in the event that most of the citizens of Metafalss would move to the land below and become citizens of the Glenwood Continent. It put a wrench in their plan to sublimate everyone, but it would have to do; at the very least, they had more time to prepare the Song that the Maiden of Mio had created 410 years prior.
“Metafalica might have been a disaster, but we shall not fail this time!” the girl with te sun-shaped bow determinedly said.
“Yes, my dear Nenesha, and we shall govern it forever!”
“To that end, I must prepare to revive the real me.”
Notes:
I've lost my little timeline sheet that GuardianArisha gave me, so I was going to shift the the past events to Berseria's timeline. But it honestly wouldn't fit then, sooooooo 410 years as canon to AT2 it is!
Chapter 102: Phase 3: The Storyteller's Taboo
Summary:
Now knowledgeable of the truth behind the Age of Chaos, it's time to determine whether or not Sorey and his friends have made their decision. Mayvin challenges them.
Notes:
This is probably one of my favorite chapters so far. The blending of Zestiria and Ar Tonelico is so good here that I just... -sigh dreamily-. But with that, there's so many characters that I had to make a list. Second chapter of two this weekend!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Lailah worried for Sorey and Mikleo, who had previously said that they were fine with the truth of the Age of Chaos when they were asked. She had the sneaking suspicion that they were only saying so to be able to confront Mayvin about it. Even though they swore, she waited for them to be ready. It was a harrowing revelation that could sow the seeds of despair just from watching Heldalf’s plight.
“I understand why he became the Lord of Calamity, though,” Sorey told her.
“A-Are you absolutely sure?” Lailah asked again.
“Lailah, is something wrong?” Mikleo questioned.
“A-Ah, not really. I didn’t expect you to be ready so quickly.”
Dezel made his way to the door leading out of the garden. He impatiently turned to them, stating that if they had time to dawdle there, then they had time to move on to see Mayvin. Rose giggled because it had been a while since he got so antsy about moving on. Edna, however, agreed with him. They were wasting time they didn’t have.
Sorey rallied his friends. Together they left the garden and headed across the way to the remains of the dining hall where Mayvin sat on a boulder. The Shepherd noticed he looked different like he was extremely exhausted. Was something wrong, or was he imagining things?
“So, you’ve seen it all,” he said. He glanced at Sarapatra, who also looked troubled. “Have you made a decision?”
“I have,” Sorey answered him. “I understand everything now…including the role of the previous Shepherd and the Origins. I know why Heldalf became the Lord of Calamity. It’s not entirely his fault, but it’s not entirely Michael’s fault either. It’s not black and white; both sides did things that they shouldn’t have done. But,” Sorey paused for a moment as he looked back at Mikleo, “But it’s not my job to just fix the mistakes of the previous Shepherd or quell the Lord of Calamity alone. It’s not just my job to protect the Origins.”
“Young Shepherd…” Sarapatra whispered.
Mayvin glared at him. “I see…” he mumbled. “But knowing and understanding isn’t making a decision. You still have a lot to learn, boy. You have to make a decision, and if I have to beat you within an inch of your life for you to make it after all this time, then so be it. Prove to me, Sorey, that you are capable of bearing the burden of the Shepherd!”
Rose and Alisha grabbed their weapons in confusion. “Old man, what are you doing?!” the former cried out.
“Doesn’t matter, just be ready!” Dezel snapped.
Sarapatra stepped up. She began to sing to support Mayvin, but she tempered her Song Magic so that it wouldn’t kill them right away. Understanding why he chose to fight them, she was prepared to do everything she had to to help Sorey come to his answer.
“Mayvin, why?” Sorey asked as he drew his sword. The Storyteller of Time didn’t respond to him, only staring straight into his emerald eyes. Almost like a telepathic connection, he sensed that there was a reason that he was being so belligerent now. “Okay, have it your way!”
“Sarapatra, don’t activate your Song Magic!” Mayvin told her. “Simply sing. That’s all I’ll need.”
“Okay, but promise me that you won’t get hurt too bad,” Sarapatra replied with a hint of flirtation.
Sorey, Alisha, and Rose dashed towards Mayvin with their weapons ready to pierce him. He, however, was an old hand at fighting. He grabbed the girls by their arms, tucking them underneath and pivoting so that their momentum carried them off in a different direction. When Sorey mistakingly continued to charge towards him, the Storyteller ducked under him and uppercut him with a strong punch. Edna and Zaveid cast Barrier and Quickness to help give them an edge in the fight, but thanks to Sarapatra’s Song, their spells lost their power. Mikleo, Lailah, and Dezel each shot balls of magic at Mayvin, who either dodged or deflected them with pots and pans that he carried on him to cook while traveling.
Alisha snuck up behind him, her spear sparking with electricity, and yet again Mayvin knocked her away. Rose sped towards him, and he smacked her down with her elbow. Mikleo held Sorey back just before the Storyteller threw a silver platter like a flying disc at him. Zaveid blew it away with Horizon Storm, and while they had his attention, Edna pinned him in place with Air Pressure.
“Not bad, Shepherd,” Mayvin smirked. He broke out of the earth seraph’s gravity-made cage. “You all move in sync with each other. I’m impressed, but at this rate, you’ll never be able to beat the Lord of Calamity.”
“We need to Armatize,” Lailah told Alisha.
Mayvin’s eyes suddenly fell on the fire seraph, and he charged towards her with monstrous speed. Lailah tried to make a shield of fire to repel him, yet her flames did nothing to deter him.
“Fethmus Mioma!” Alisha called out, saving her from a hefty hit that would have knocked her out. “Let’s hit him with everything we’ve got!”
Rose and Sorey called the Armatus, surrounding Mayvin with their weapons drawn. “Old man, why are you so hell-bent on fighting us?” Rose asked again.
“I’ll show you why, for if you do not yet understand, you have no hope to defeat the Lord of Calamity!” Mayvin replied. He threw also sorts of improvised weaponry before trapping Sorey in his Mystic Arte. “Luminous Sabre!”
The Shepherd managed to withstand the attack aleit exhausted, and Mikleo—sharing his body—didn’t have the energy to heal them both. Alisha lifted the Sacred Blade over the Storyteller’s head, and just as he had attacked Sorey, he flung her to the wall. Rose sent waves of whirlwinds at him, but those too were useless.
“What…is he?” Rose coughed.
“Fairy Circle!” Edna chanted, healing Sorey while Zaveid cast Quickness on all of them in rapid succession again. They were getting tired of using their Seraphic Artes, especially since Sarapatra’s Song debilitated them. “There’s no end to this…”
“I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up,” Zaveid panted. “Shepherd, tag one of us. Let Mikleo do the healing…!”
Sarapatra stopped singing. A light enshrouded her, and suddenly a different girl that no one had ever seen appeared. She had long golden hair pulled in a ponytail and steel armor. She possessed a standard sword.
“Sir Mayvin,” she said with a dignified tone. The Storyteller stood tall while Sorey pushed himself up. He took aim at him, but Sakia threw her sword. The blade whizzed past him, knocking the arrow off his bow. “Don’t underestimate me, Shepherd. I am doing this for your benefit and Saki’s well-being.” She made her way to reclaim her sword while Sorey de-Armatized. “With all due respect,” the woman said. “Beating the Shepherd and his friends to a pulp won’t help them. After all, they won’t be able to answer you if they’re dead.”
“I know, Sakia Lumei,” Mayvin sighed. He glared at Sorey, who pulled his sword and had Mikleo right next to him to offer support. “It is only in dire situations does one experience the epiphany that ultimately saves them.” He turned to Zaveid. “You would know all about that, wouldn’t you, Zaveid the Whirlwind?”
Everyone’s attention fell on the wind seraph, whose amber eyes darkened with a horrible memory. “You got me,” he said. “You’re referring to Siegfried, aren’t you.”
“What is he talking about?” Sorey asked him. His wind seraph at first didn’t look at him, but with the Shepherd pressing and pressing, he finally shot him a despairing grimace. “What…”
Zaveid asked Sorey if he remembered when he was telling them about the gun. He revealed that he had lied to them when he said he didn’t understand what its power was. The ability to unbind malevolence and turn one’s will into an attack was a more elegant way of saying to sacrifice one’s soul to liberate another. It was a double-edged sword; a soul for a soul. It was the only attack that had a 100-percent chance of working on any malevolent being, the Lord of Calamity and Maotelus included. It was the final obstacle that would force Sorey to show that he was capable of saving the world.
“The burden of the Shepherd is not a light one,” Sakia Lumei said.
“It is a path wrought with pain and sacrifice,” Mayvin ended. “You’ve felt sacrifice since the beginning of this journey, no? Your health declined after your pacts, your safety threatened by the very tumultuous hearts of our seraphic friends. A debt is always repaid, meaning that for the pain your bonds have caused you, you can reap power.”
“You’re…you’re serious,” Sorey said in disbelief. He glanced at Mikleo who was worriedly standing by his side, Edna forcing certain apathy, and Zaveid attempting to hide his guilt. Alisha and Rose were posed the same proposition. “I see, that’s what that phrase meant.” Sorey chuckled to himself. “Wow, I’ve been so caught up with everything that I never really thought about it. To turn my friends into attacks with wills of their own, to sacrifice them for the sake of the bonds that tie us together…it’s almost sad. Heldalf didn’t have any of that, yet that will be the thing that undoes him.”
“Sorey, Alisha, Rose, don’t feel pressured to follow this path,” Lailah said. She knew it was the only way, but she couldn’t say that.
“Nope, Mayvin’s right,” Zaveid said. “I’m not bound by any dumb oath. I’ve seen Siegfried work, and honestly, it’s your best shot to beat Heldalf.” He looked up at his Shepherd. “You know how to use this?”
Sorey was hesitant after Mayvin described how to use Siegfried. To turn his friends into attacks, he had to Armatize with them, channel their power into the chamber of the gun, and pull the trigger. The result would be a blast into the soul space of the target and the consumption of the seraph by the malevolence within the being. But the Storyteller promised him that his friends would live because he was devoid of malevolence. Sakia Lumei watched with anticipation. The Shepherd, naïve but dutiful, thought long and hard. He didn’t doubt it was the only way to defeat the Lord of Calamity, but he couldn’t just sacrifice his friends. He had learned their deepest desires and secrets. To give it all up would mean that they didn’t mean anything to him.
“That’s not true,” he whispered to himself. He looked up at Mayvin. He understood what he had to do but it wasn’t without the pain of hurting the seraphim or potentially losing a mentor. “It’s not a really a sacrifice if they’re willing, right? So, everyone, are you prepared to become weapons with wills to strike down the Lord of Calamity? There has to be another way—I’m sure of it—but if it really comes down it, will you lend me your strength?”
Sakia Lumei waited for their response. Edna and Zaveid knelt before Sorey and vowed their eternal loyalty to him. Mikleo took Sorey’s hands, lovingly holding one up to his cheek. Lailah wrapped her arms around Alisha’s waist; Dezel put his arm around Rose’s shoulders. Proud that the seraphim and their human comrades were agreed, Mayvin beckoned Sorey to shoot him:
“Now, Shepherd, prove to me that you have what it takes!”
“Luzrov Rulay!” Sore called out. He took Siegfried from Zaveid, aimed it at Mayvin’s chest, and just as he began to channel Mikleo’s mana into the chamber of the gun, the old man suddenly crumbled into front of him. “M-Mayvin!”
“Sir Mayvin! What’s happening?!” Sakia Lumei panicked. The sight of the Storyteller falling to the ground forced Filament to come out. She was prepared to sing to heal him, but he waved her away.
Lailah and Rose ran to Mayvin’s side. “It’s your oath, isn’t it!” Lailah surmised. “Please, you must allow one of us to sing!”
“Aye, I should, but I won’t,” Mayvin rasped. “I knew all along what would happen if I told you the events of back then.” The seraphim watched him with tearful eyes. “Come now, don’t be sad.”
“‘Don’t be sad’?!” Rose snapped. She knelt beside him. “Old man, you’re part of my family! You helped the guild so much! I have to be sad!” Dezel lightly touched her back, but she pushed him back. “You have to make it through this. You have to help us keep the seraphim safe and help them realize humans aren’t bad! You still have a lot to do! Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you can retire just yet!”
“Rose, please calm down,” Alisha carefully said.
“I will not!” The assassin shut her eyes so tight, as if she were in horrible agony, that her head began to hurt. “You helped Cloche, and that helped us. Then you helped us learn about Heldalf and Maotelus and the Origins…you didn’t have to, but you did. So, I won’t let you just die without letting us repay the debt!”
Sorey knelt beside her. His calming presence soothed her aching heart just enough to make her stop ordering Mayvin to stay alive when he didn’t have the power or energy to do so. Simply bowing beside him, he thanked him for all he had done for them.
“Remember, Young Shepherd, that it is not your duty to solve every problem. Do what must be done, and quell the Lord of Calamity,” Mayvin whispered with the last of his breath. He closed his eyes.
Sorey bowed in his honor. He asked Filament for her assistance to give the Storyteller of Time an honorable burial. Even though she was indifferent to humans and much too small to carry the body, she agreed to offer a prayer for him. Zaveid, Dezel, and Sorey carefully took the body out of Lohgrin after the seraphim, unaware of what had happened yet still grief-stricken to know that he had passed away, cried and sang.
Mavin was buried just outside of the remains of the ancient tower under a tree and next to a small cactus blooming with flowers. The pipe that he had always kept on him was propped up against a small rock that Edna had deemed nice enough to serve at the headstone. Soma had joined them after they marched through the crowds. Unsolicitated, she explained why Mayvin had died. Putting it simply, he had violated his oath—a taboo that came with a price heavier than they could imagine.
“Mayvin came from a long line of humans cursed for some sort of horrible act committed one thousand years ago,” she said. “The foolishness of humans cursed his bloodline, and they are forced to live forgotten by time and witness the despair that permeates the world.”
“Sounds…like you’re making it a lot worse than it is,” Zaveid nervously said.
“Regardless, he gave us valuable information,” Sorey said as he stood up from where he had prayed. “We have to save the world. We must quell Heldalf, but to do that, we have to restore the Towers.” He glanced at Lohgrin. “I haven’t forgotten the task Harvestasha gave me.”
“You’re still worried about her!?” Rose gasped.
“Of course. Her end of the deal isn’t valid anymore since I technically broke out, but I’m still interested in the Heart of Gaea. It’s needed to help Finnel, right?” He looked at Soma. “And Soma is a part of Finnel as well as someone that’s extremely important because she’s a Will of the Planet. Even though we can use their help, I want to help them because it’s the right thing to do.”
“Um, did you already forget what Mayvin told you?” Edna chided. “Don’t go solving unnecessary problems.”
“These are necessary problems,” Sorey replied quickly. “Besides, Harvestasha will know where the Heart of Gaea is, and we need to get on her good side to get that information.” Looking at both Filament and Soma, he knelt before them like a lowly knight. “O Wills of the Planet, I beseech you—please lend us your strength to save this world.”
The two girls suddenly changed into different forms—Sarapatra and Yurisica—which took the Shepherd by surprise. “Oh, goodness, you are precious!” Sarapatra cooed. “You remind me of Aotie! How I miss him…”
“Yes, you do remind me of him, albeit you’re much more pure,” Yurisica teased. “That boy was an insipid pervert.”
Zaveid scooted between them with a certain thirst. “Hel-lo ladies, Sorey’s not really into girls, but your man Zaveid here is willing to accept one, two, or all six of you right now—well, except for the little cat girl.”
“It’s even more amazing how he’s managed to stay so pure after travelling with this cretin.” Yurisica pushed up her glasses.
“C-Cretin!?”
Alisha called attention to Sorey’s wish to return to Harvestasha. She reminded them that they needed to get the iris gems, and just as she turned to head back to the monolith deep in the tower, she saw Akane dragging a large sack.
“Shit,” Rose whispered.
Sorey met her halfway, greeting her with an amicable smile. The usually icy general pulled the sack in front of her. “Greetings, Shepherd Sorey,” she hesitantly said. “I see that the wake for Mayvin is over?”
“It is, but, um, why are you here? Ah, I don’t mean that you can’t pay your respects, but you know…ah…”
“It is quite alright. Please, allow me to apologize for everything that I’ve done thus far.” She gave a deep bow. She had been reprimanded by the very seraphim that she was charged with protecting; the display that had caused a change of heart in the city implored her that she had to repent as well. “As it happens, I’ve been ordered to bring you all to Harvestasha, but I know that you also have business with Her Divinity. As general, I must accompany you, and I’ve already collected the Earthen Historia she requested. They’ve also asked to see Finnel for some reason.”
Yurisica had a dubious look, but she agreed to allow the clumsy seraph to go see her. “I can only assume that it’s about the Heart of Gaea needed to prolong her life. You want the same thing as us, right, Akane? After all, you’re her best friend.”
“Yes.” Akane seemed nervous. “S-Shepherd Sorey, if you would be so kind as to let me at least have the pretense that you are still prisoners. There are guards in the Tower, so wandering without an official will get you into trouble that you would be better off avoiding.”
Sorey agreed to let her come along as their warden. “Alright, time to go!” he happily said.
“The rebound after a death is astonishing compared to when Mikleo—” Edna started.
“N-Now, now, Edna! Let’s not bring up bad thoughts!” Alisha and Lailah politely scolded. Thankfully, Sorey didn’t hear them as he began marching towards Plitzerback Wetland.
Notes:
I just might have to draw Zaveid hitting on both Sarapatra and Yurisica because both of them would be his type. I think I handled the fight in this one pretty well, so all around happy with this chapter.
Chapter 103: Phase 3: Malevolent Crucible Tapana
Summary:
While on the way to see Harvestasha, Sorey and Mikleo sense the presence of the sixth malevolent crucible.
Notes:
Not terribly proud of this one, but at this point, the crucibles are really just miscellaneous chapters. I also don't know what the fuck I did with the Hymmnos, but it's still able to be read by Hymmnoserver. Sooo...I guess it's still grammatically correct?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
On the way to the Tower, Sorey felt a malevolent presence north from the cave that led to the wetland. There was a melancholic Song emanating like the previous crucibles, and additionally, Mikleo could hear it too.
“There’s a seraph trapped there?” Mikleo questioned.
“Could be; we should check it out,” Sorey suggested.
“B-But what about Harvestasha?” Finnel asked after she had returned to her original form.
“Crucibles are pits of malevolence that must be dealt with,” Lailah tried to explain. “And they usually provide us a seraph in need of rescuing!”
“Why do you sound so happy?”
“Oh, do I sound happy? Well, if we’re saving a seraph, then that’s something to be happy about!”
Mikleo wasn’t sure if there was a seraph inside the crucible, though. Even though he and Sorey heard the Song, it didn’t sound clear enough to be someone presently singing. It was almost like a ghost was wailing, which frightened Rose and prompted Dezel to console her. Regardless, they had to clear the malevolence out of it. Standing in front of the entrance down into the arena, Sorey and Mikleo steeled themselves.
“We don’t know what’s down there,” Sorey started then turned to his water seraph, “But I know that we can quell it.” He held his arm up.
“Right, nothing can stop us when we’re together,” Mikleo finished as he crossed his arm with the Shepherd. “Let’s go.”
As they walked down, Edna scoffed at how idiotically elementary their handshake was. Finnel was beyond confused while Akane simply told her that they just needed to wait for them to re-emerge. She understood the concept of duty.
-----------------------------------
Wee num ra rre pauwee en lasye kapa enter an syec Manac TAPANA
Wee num ra rre infel herra chs pawr how zarnn boh
Ma paks ra xe aulla pawr yor Pauwee ganna
Ma paks ra xe aulla pawr yor Lasye Kapa vianchiel
Was zweie erra presia re yora phira gyen tes zaam oz infel
En fountaina shyun etealune mea
Sorey held Mikleo’s hand out of concern. He still kept his secret knowledge hidden, thus pretending not to understand the Song echoing in the depths of the crucible. The water seraph reassured him that he would be okay and that the Song wasn’t anything bad. Sorey smiled at him.
“Are you ready?” he asked him. “The hellions should be coming any moment now.”
“Please, I was born ready to save you,” Mikleo teased.
“Oh, and who has saved whom these past few times?” Sorey let out a hearty laugh.
The hellions began to materialize before them, and within seconds, they were raring to start fighting. The first wave lunged at them, and working independently, Sorey and Mikleo masterfully got rid of them. The souls that were enveloped in the malevolence were purified and set free.
“Violet Storm!” Mikleo called out. A mosaic-like magic circle appeared under a group of hellions, blue and red petals of water and fire lifting them up into the air. “Now, Sorey!”
“Severing Wind!” Sorey followed up. He sliced them like a tornado tearing through a house.
The second wave, more vicious that the previous one, charged in with eyes on Mikleo. The water seraph started chanting to form his lances of ice, and while they didn’t take long to cast, Sorey was worried that he would be overrun. The Shepherd slid in front of them, his sword acting as a barrier between them and the one most precious to him. As soon as the lances were made and shot, the two merged together to make use of the Armatus.
“Arrow Squall!” they said. Hundreds of arrows of water cascaded on the hellions, dispatching some of them while heavily injuring others. While they were pinned down, both of them focused on using the power of water that they had received from Lefay. “Aqua Limit!”
The second wave was taken care of, and now the third wave came. Cyclopz and Elephants and anything bigger than them towered above Sorey and Mikleo. Lizard Priests stood behind them casting as fast as lightning.
“Mikleo, I’ll go take care of the magic-users,” Sorey said before de-Armatizing. Mikleo took that as a cue to get as far away from the heavy-hitting hellions. As he began to cast, he watched Sorey zigzag through them to the priests. “Lightning Beast!”
“Aqua Serpent!” Mikleo called out. A giant dragon of water ripped through the Elephants, but the Trolls were unfazed. “W-What?!” He took a step back. He was cornered.
The Cyclopz hellions lifted their clubs; one hit from them would be enough to kill Mikleo. Sorey leapt over them, and with a quick spin, he kicked them back. He angled his sword at them. With another spell charging behind him, he thought about what he could do as the Cyclopz again lifted their clubs. Then he saw Mikleo’s staff from the corner of his eye, and without a second to spare, he grabbed the top of it. He swung the staff and Mikleo around the side of the Cyclopz just before they struck down on his sword guarding his head. The water seraph finished casting Freeze Lancer. The icicle pierced through one Cyclopz while the others re-focused on him. They surrounded Mikleo, sitting around him like oversized infant with glowing eyes.
“Luzrov Rulay!” Sorey called out to him, saving him from the burning lasers that shot from their eyes and into each other. “One more hit and we’re done!” He raised his arm as Mikleo chanted within him:
“Maelstrom!”
A vortex of water shot the Cyclopz into the air, instantly washing them away. The two boys de-Armatized when they noticed that the Song was silent. It was no doubt a Song left over from a seraph that had been trapped within the crucible, and it saddened Sorey and Mikleo that they were too late.
“At the very least, this crucible is clear now,” Mikleo sighed.
“I guess that is a bright side, but I can think of another silver lining,” Sorey cheerfully said. He took Mikleo’s hand, stretched them out, and fell into his slender body. Mikleo didn’t know what to do other than to catch him, and believing he was exhausted, he was about to sink to the ground. Sorey held both of them up. Caressing him, he gently lulled to him as if in bliss, “I got to fight alongside you. I got to be close to you again.”
Mikleo lightly leaned his head into his. “I’m…happy, too,” he said with uncertainty.
“What’s wrong?”
After pushing him back a little, he looked into his emerald eyes. “After all that’s happened, I’m afraid to be happy that we’re together,” he said sadly. “Every time we’re together, something happens and we get separated. I don’t want it to happen again.”
“This isn’t like you!” Sorey chuckled. “Don’t worry, Mikleo, we’ll be okay. No matter what happens, we’ll be together!”
“You’re so hopelessly optimistic, Sorey.”
Notes:
I think Tapana was the easiest crucible for me. Like I know you can technically choose any seraph to go in, buuuut I'm not splitting up the boys for anything.
Chapter 104: Phase 3: Malevolent Crucible Pratapana
Summary:
Next is Dezel and Rose's turn to clear a crucible!
Notes:
My Hymmnos in this one is a little better--I think because Pastalie was a little easier to understand at this point? If anything, it's cryptic as hell like I wanted it
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey and Mikleo exited the crucible only to shield their eyes from the harsh sunlight. Finnel and Akane, who could not enter the crucible and thus ignored it when scavenging around the moor, saw them; they couldn’t help but be impressed.
“You survived that thing?” Finnel gasped. “That’s so cool! You’re so strong!”
“Indeed,” Akane agreed. “I apologize that I greatly underestimated your ability.”
“Ah, it’s nothing to be sorry about!” Sorey bashfully said. “M-Mikleo did a lot to help me out…!”
“I can’t tell if you’re being modest or if you’re actually playing coy,” Mikleo sighed.
“Fantastic, but we should get going,” Edna said. “It’s bad enough that we have to worry about these crucibles, but the sheer amount of time we’ve wasted in the sunny isn’t doing any niceties for my skin.”
“Lady Edna worries about her skin?!” Finnel gasped again.
“I’m a lady, you know, unlike you.”
“Hey!”
Sorey watched everyone. He was happy that everyone had a chance to relax and mess with each other like this. He was somewhat concerned about Mikleo’s fear of being separated again. It was true—the happiness and happy-go-lucky mood that they had right now right after Mayvin’s death felt out of place. He didn’t want to think that it was a premonition in disguise, but he had to be wary. They were going to see Harvestasha, whom could slaughter them all with a single word if she chose to.
Their travels resumed into the Plitzerback Wetland. Like Mikleo, Dezel heard a Song coming from somewhere. He had been holding Rose’s hand since they had set out for the Third Tower to help her fear of ghosts, and as he followed the Song, he tightened his grip.
“D-Dezel? Uh, wait, Dez—we’re…you’re leaving everyone else behind,” Rose tried to tell him, but it was like he was hypnotized, completely entranced in the Song. “Dezel, yoo-hoo!”
“There’s a crucible here,” he finally said.
“Okay, but can you at least let me walk properly?”
Sorey and Mikleo exchanged looks while Alisha was a little miffed that she couldn’t clear a crucible with Lailah. The Shepherd, asking Akane to wait for them, followed Rose and Dezel to a plateau. Behind it was another crucible. The water seraph coerced him to return to the rest of the group since it was their job to clear it. At the same time, Dezel and Rose climbed down into the malevolent crucible known as Pratapana.
-----------------------------------
hNkYAttYN ess innna syec Manac PRATAPANA/.
xN rre rudje sasye ag windiling oucc dLYEnLYN/.
xN sacra fNpLYNn elle mahin xN fwal vinan kLYEvLYNrN anw harra/.
Ware xN gauv_qejyu ag gauv_dius kLYIvLYNr won dje harra/.
Reta dLYArLYIsLYEnA arhou_sphaela/.
Reta zz pLYAswLYEtA siann elle balduo/.
Dezel didn’t understand the request while Rose was completely lost when it came to Hymmnos. The eerie voice sent shivers up her spine, but the wind seraph promised to keep her safe.
“What is it saying?” she asked him fearfully.
“We have to bring back hope and light, but that sounds more up Sorey’s alley,” Dezel explained. “The seraph is still here.”
The first wave of hellions appeared from the darkness deep within the crucible. Rose and her seraph were at a stark disadvantage. Dezel couldn’t use Song Magic to thin the horde even if he was in range of Frelia. His Songs were strong enough to at least clear the first wave without rendering him in too much pain, and these were hellions that were far stronger than the ones that they had encountered while searching for the iris gems. But right in the center of them, there was hellion that looked like a wyvern. It was glaring at them, singing low and discordant words that could only mean a corrupted Song.
“That hellion used to be a seraph,” Dezel said. “Huh, he’s a young one.”
“Doesn’t matter. We still have to get him out,” Rose replied. She pulled her daggers. “Hold off the small fry, I’m going to try and knock some sense into that one!”
Dezel let out an exasperated sigh. Most of the hellions that emerged were heavy hitters, and both of them weren’t as sturdy as Sorey or Edna. Devils and Werewolves targeted him, which proved to be both good and bad; at the very least, they weren’t impeding Rose. He chanted out his incantations to use all the Seraphic Artes he knew, and while they were unfazed by his attacks, he held their attention.
Rose zipped around towards the wyvern just as Therions appeared. She trusted that her wind seraph would be able to handle himself, so she concentrated on her task. Leaping into the air, she cut the hellion’s wing. It came crashing to the ground, and she was going to take the opportunity to tie it down. Then, a Therion charged up behind her with fist glowing with power.
Dezel kicked his way out of the cluster of hellions, throwing his pendulum around the one attacking Rose. He tried to yank it back only for it to pull him forward. Rose, however, was thinking on her feet. She called forth the Armatus, and flitting above the hellions, she and Dezel used their Mystic Arte Sylphistia.
The first wave of hellions was defeated save for the wyvern. Golems and Undead Magicians tried to knock them out of the air, and despite being exhausted from using the attack, they were ready to finish the next two waves.
“Looks like we don’t have time to wait for that Mystic Arte again,” Rose panted. “What do you say we take care of them old-fashioned?”
“Old-fashioned? We always fight this way,” Dezel sighed.
“Aw, can’t you let me be cool for once?!”
Rose and Dezel de-Armatized. The former took on the Magicians while the latter blew away the Golems. Once they were taken care of, he rushed back over to offer support. The wyvern struggled to free itself in the madness around it.
“Horizon Storm!” Dezel called out. His spell stopped the Magicians from attacking Rose, giving her a chance to set them on fire with her Rising Phoenix attack. It didn’t take long to erase them, but now they had bigger things to worry about. “Shit, the wyvern!”
The wyvern stared at them, teeth dripping with saliva and eyes glowing green. Rose held a nervous grin on her face like she was excited for this life-or-death game. She held her daggers at the ready, which worried Dezel. He wasn’t influencing her emotions or desire to fight and kill.
“Rose, remember this is a seraph,” he warned her.
“Oh, I know, but still, something about this fight makes me restless!” she giggled.
She rushed towards the wyvern. For every swipe, bite, and fireball; she parried, stopped, and dodged. Dezel couldn’t shake of the unnerving bloodlust—it wasn’t like her to fight like a madwoman. He threw his pendulums around the hellion and held it down before casting Wind Lance. The wyvern had become weak, as if it were holding itself back. Rose didn’t care. She was going in for the kill when her seraph wrapped her up, too.
“I told you, this is a seraph!” he barked at her. “If you kill it, you’ll become tainted!”
And just like that, Rose was no longer in her Killing Mode. She was, however, disappointed that the fight was over so abruptly. After Dezel let her go, she used the imbued power of purification to restore the seraph to its former state and found that it was a seraph child.
“A kid?” Dezel muttered.
“I-I’m back to normal…!” the seraph child gasped. He touched all over his body in disbelief that he was no longer large and scaly. “Y-You saved me?”
“Of course, we did!” Rose beamed.
The child looked at her then at Dezel. He observed that it was a human and seraph working together, but it confused him—why would two races that were diametrically opposed work together?
Then it dawned on him.
“Are you two married?!” he asked fervently.
“W-What?!” Dezel choked. “N-No, we’re not!”
“But I’ve Dived so deep into you; we’re basically engaged, aren’t we?” Rose innocently said.
“W-We are not engaged!”
“S-So then, what was all the drama and tears for?! Dezel, are you trying to say you were lying to me?!” Rose fell to her knees and pretended to cry in front of the seraph child. “After you said you loved me, was it all just a lie?”
“R-Rose, not in front of him!”
Dezel knelt down beside her unsure what to do. He still wasn’t comfortable being in a relationship—at least, knowing that others outside of their little group thought they were in a relationship. But Rose grabbed him by the wrist, and with a delicate finger, she traced up his neck and under his chin. The gesture sent a shiver down his spine like it had weakened him delightfully yet unintentionally.
“You two are married,” the seraph child said.
“Hey, Dezel, what do you think we should name our child?” Rose asked suddenly
“W-We don’t have any kids!” Dezel panicked. “S-Seraphim and humans can’t mate, so…I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! Besides, this isn’t even appropriate to do in front of a child. Learn some manners!”
Rose let out a boisterous laugh. “I mean when we get a dog or something! Humans call those their children, too, you know.”
Dezel pulled down his hat to cover his face to hide how red his face had become. Rose enjoyed the sight, but she figured she went a little too far. She patted Dezel’s thigh reassuringly before using it to push herself up. She promised the seraph child that she would get him out, and even though the child was put off by them, he left he crucible with them. He was capable of fending for himself, he told them, but Dezel was sure it was simply because he wanted to get away from the red-haired assassin and her brazen jokes.
Notes:
I HAVE BEEN DYING TO USE THAT KIDS JOKES WITH DEZEROSE.
Chapter 105: Phase 3: Purification
Summary:
Sorey and company finally return to Harvestasha with the iris gems in hand. After a turn of events, they begin their journey back to Hyland and the Tower of Eolia.
Notes:
I forgot to upload yesterday! This is a bit of a longer chapter and the ending to Phase 3, so I will only be uploading one chapter today. That said, the REAL crossover begins now! I played Ar Tonelico 1 specifically to prepare for Phase 4, and boy is it a compelling game even if there are tiny nuisances. But hot damn, here we fuckin' go!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Akane and Finnel stood at the base of the Tower named Tilia. It had been a while since they had set foot inside it, and the general remembered how callous she had been. Sorey, holding the iris gems and standing just behind them, followed the Tower up with his emerald eyes. It was time to meet Harvestasha once again. He was going to win her trust and bring the Heart of Gaea to her as promised. Thanks to Akane explaining that it would extend Finnel’s life, he was serious about helping her in honor of Aoto. She was one of his friends, he thought, and it would make him feel less guilty about his hellionization if he did it for him.
“Aki, are they going to be okay?” Finnel asked.
“Hm, I supposed the forces from Clustania will not be happy to see humans walking freely, even if in my company,” Akane pondered aloud. She figured that simply her presence would deter any of the lower ranked guards. At the very least, she would tell them that Harvestasha had summoned them—which was true.
Edna stared up the Tower, too. Compared to Eolia, it looked alive with its hair-like architecture cascading down one side. She felt a sort of familiarity with the Tower; Eizen had talked about it at one point from his travels, but it was only very brief as all his letters were. But even knowing about Tilia, she couldn’t be prepared for what all awaited inside.
Akane and Finnel led Sorey’s group inside of the Tower. Using the glass elevators to bring them to the executive district, they finally met with a few guards from their home, Clustania. They were seraphim dressed in armored gowns, and they looked contemptuously at Sorey and Finnel. After spotting the seraphim behind the Shepherd, they spat obscenities at them. Akane, being their general, ordered them to leave or she would demote them. Fearful that they would lose their elevated status even among their kind, the guards left them alone.
“Even in seraphic society, there’s a hierarchy,” Lailah sighed. “It seems no matter what, there must always be a ladder of power.”
“Classes and castes are bound to form as a society develops,” Akane said matter-of-factedly. “Before seraphim completely took over this Tower, humans were treated as second-class citizens.” Sorey looked down in disappointment. “Seraphim were considered superior, and we lived mostly at the head in Clustania. In time, when Harvestasha hadn’t yet sought the power she has now, she had demanded the purification of humans and the cleansing of entire towns.”
“Purification?” Lailah repeated.
“Not the kind that you’re familiar with.”
Edna opened her umbrella. “You’re talking about the brainwashing and murder that you all were doing,” she bluntly said. Akane was taken by surprise. “Yeah, I know about that. My brother had mentioned it once in a letter. I can’t say I agree with your approach, but before meeting Sorey, I probably would have supported that movement, too.”
“E-Edna!” Mikleo gasped.
“Back then, that was the beginning of the abuse.” She paused. “Actually, perhaps this enslavement and hatred has been going on for centuries and everyone just pretended it wasn’t happening.”
Alisha felt guilty since a lot of what the earth seraph was alluding to was happening right under her nose, and her hands were tied to do anything about it until she assumed political power. Rose, as well, hated that Pendrago was doing horrible things. But did that mean that the humans living on the continent and the seraphim on the Towers were two sides of the same coin?
Sorey looked back up at them. “Hatred and brainwashing,” he said. “This has to stop. Humans and seraphim can’t coexist like this; it’s not right.” He clenched his fists. “I want everyone to live in coexistence, to be happy with each other.” His voice was earnest and true, resonating with Finnel and again blindsiding the general.
“Such a rose-colored dream,” Akane smirked. “You might be able to sway hearts, but you still need a lot of work.” She continued to lead them to the Harvestasha Module.
The path to the Harvestasha Module within Tilia was a maze of glass light bridges and horn-like pillars. It was far more high-tech than anything Sorey and his friends had seen, and once again the Shepherd had to fight the urge to analyze every nook and cranny of the place out of childish curiosity. The seraphic technology was so different than that of the shrines and ruins he had been to until he remembered that there was a schism that separated humans and seraphim. He believed that that split propagated the advancement among seraphim while humans, at the mercy of the Towers, were forced to develop slower.
The paths snaked around in all different directions like the paths in Lefay, much to Dezel’s irritation. Akane said it was because that where they were was the Clustania Executive District, and it served as the legislative hub for the city above them.
“So, we’re technically underground,” Rose stated.
“Incorrect,” Akane replied. “We are quite literally inside of Tilia, walking about the mainframe and heading to the module in which Harvestasha stays and controls the Tower.”
“Yeah, but we’re underneath a city, so that means we’re underground.”
“Rose, please stop talking,” Dezel sighed.
“I’m just saying…!”
Alisha, like Sorey and Mikleo, was examining the architecture. Lailah had fallen silent in thought, and the perplexed look on her face suggested that it was best to leave her alone. She admired that the Executive District was so large albeit empty. And just as they turned down the path before the Harvestasha Module, Lailah finally tapped her on the shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered.
“Something feels off,” Lailah whispered back. “A hellion?”
Akane stopped before them with Finnel beside her. “We are entering the Harvestasha Module. Please understand that while in here, I may not be able to continue being your friend,” she notified almost robotically. Sorey and Rose raised an eyebrow. “While I have committed atrocious acts against you, I am still bound by my duty as the supreme commander of Clustania and a force under Harvestasha’s power.”
“Aki, you’re not going to hurt them, right?” Finnel asked.
“I shall refrain from any sort of attacks against you, I promise.”
Zaveid crossed his arms as Akane turned to open the door. “O-kay, so why did Little Miss General suddenly turn into a machine just now?” he asked in a low voice to his comrades.
“Harvestasha rules over all the seraphim here,” Mikleo said.
“It wouldn’t be surprising if they had a certain appearance to keep up when around her,” Edna added with a smirk. “It’d probably do you some good to learn from her.”
“But then who would you constantly be annoyed of?” Zaveid joked.
“There’s always Meebo.”
“H-Hey!” Mikleo pouted.
With the door now open, Akane beckoned them to follow; Finnel walked by her side. Her posture suggested that she was rather nervous to be around the supposed queen, and she only become more nervous when they stopped in front of her.
Harvestasha turned to face them, her blue eyes reflecting her disgust. The seraphim, who had yet to meet her, were surprised that she was so small. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha knew how she was.
“So, you came back,” Harvestasha snuffed. “I guess this means that you actually found all the iris gems. Maybe you really are trustworthy enough to get me the Heart of Gaea.” She scanned over everyone in the module with her. “I didn’t think you had so many seraphim chained down, but I suppose I’ll have to overlook it. Now then…”
Sorey stepped forward. “Lady Harvestasha, where will we find the Heart of Gaea?” he asked.
Harvestasha shrugged. “Iunno, you’ll have to figured that out yourself. But once again, I’m going to have to take some collateral to make sure you don’t run off with it. Show me the iris gems.”
There was a foreboding feeling deep in the pit of the Shepherd’s stomach, and he wasn’t quite sure why that was. He stared down at the iridescent orbs in the sack in his arms. Then he started to wonder, what was the real reason that she wanted the iris gems? Were they tied to the Heart of Gaea? They never showed anything about it.
“Hurry up, you waste of space!” Harvestasha snapped, sending the seraphim on edge. “I don’t have all day, you know!”
Finnel eyed Sorey worriedly; she was familiar with Harvestasha’s wrath. When her eyes met his, there was another hint of that foreboding that made him feel like something was wrong. Reluctantly, he emptied the sack of iris gems in front of her. They shined and glowed in her presence, creating radial rainbows on the transparent ground. Harvestasha looked so happy.
“Good boy,” she slowly praised. She raised her arms and suddenly began to chant Hymmnos, “Rrha ki ra guol spiritum yor engassya ides yor en enclone anw yor dea fwal fwal mea.” The iris gems began to glow brightly as they lifted into the air around her. “I see, I see! I know exactly what to take.”
She shot the gems toward Mikleo behind Sorey, and as they encircled him, the events of the past including his sacrifice playing out like short movies in front of him. The Shepherd was ready to go after him, but the sight of the water seraph frozen in uncertainty and fear stopped him; he didn’t understand what was happening until it was too late.
Mikleo watched the scenes of the Dawn of the Age of Chaos over and over, his head entering a hazy fog that brought on a wave of nausea and dread. He felt, uncharacteristically, like he was sinking into the abyss of deep dark ocean, the likes of which its vast maw would swallow him whole. The world around him—the white pillars that decorated the atrium they were standing in—blurred and melted together.
“Sorey…I…I don’t feel so good,” he breathlessly said. He took a step towards him before faltering. Pushing himself forward with the last bit of strength he had, he whimpered to his Shepherd who was running towards him, “I…I don’t know what’s happening…I feel so…faint…”
Sorey caught him in his arms, and he felt Mikleo struggling to hold himself up. “Mikleo, it’s going to be okay,” he tried to console. “Just hang on. Hang on, Mikleo!”
“Don’t let go…don’t let go…”
But in moments, Mikleo was unconscious, trapped in a deep sleep that no spell-breaking kiss or magic could liberate him from. Every limb went limp as if he had died right there. Sorey called his name in vain attempts to wake him, and when he saw that that wouldn’t work, he looked back over his shoulder at the seraph that had caused this.
“Oh my, I didn’t think that spell would work so well,” Harvestasha giggled. The iris gems stopped glowing, fell to the ground, and rolled to stops around Sorey. Everyone was speechless and horrified, but the little blue-and-white seraph kept smiling. “Luphan really knows how to catch what he wants.”
Sorey gently placed Mikleo on the ground. Turning to face the witch that had stolen his beloved water seraph, he called Edna’s name in anger, “Hephsin Yulind!”
“Sorey, what are you planning to do?” Edna asked him when they had Armatized.
“I’m going to bring Mikleo back!” Sorey replied with such wrath that Lailah and Zaveid both were more than just concerned. He was becoming tainted. “I won’t let Mikleo suffer like this again!”
“Get a hold of yourself! If you let your rage consume you, Zaveid and I are both going to die!”
“You must listen to Edna!” Lailah cautioned. “You cannot let this anger control you! We must retreat for now; please, Sorey, listen to us!”
“Lailah’s right, you idiot!” Zaveid joined in. “I ain’t ready to turn into a dragon, so I’m sure as hell not going to let you do anything stupid!”
Harvestasha just grinned. While Sorey’s friends tried to calm him down, she called in her guards to arrest Finnel and Luphan to seize Mikleo’s body. Sorey tried to stop the purple-clad man from taking him, but Edna exercised her power over him, briefly taking over his mind and forcing him to stop by rendering him unconscious. Once she de-Armatized from him, Zaveid threw him over his shoulder. Akane couldn’t protest Finnel’s arrest in the chaos that was ensuing in the module, so she quickly guided them out and soon down to the ground where they made their escape back to Lohgrin.
Luphan looked ecstatic now that he had both Finnel and Mikleo in his possession. The pristine, porcelain-like water seraph was motionless while the clumsy seraph girl was tormented with threats to stay where she was among the guards.
“Rejoice,” he said menancingly. “The time for your rebirth is nigh, Suzunomia, Goddess of Songs.”
“W-Who are you talking to…?” Finnel asked. Soma and Yurisica were trying to push their way to the top to protect her, but something was jamming their power. Finnel was defenseless. “Who is…Suzunomia?”
“The purification has begun on that water boy,” Harvestasha announced. “By the time they come back with the Heart of Gaea, his soul space will be completely empty. Suzunomia will have a body all for herself that’s as pure as she is!”
“Who is Suzunomia?! And how do you know they’ll come back?!”
Luphan held up Mikleo’s body, his gloved hands caressing his cheek. “Because the Shepherd wouldn’t dare leave the love of his life behind.”
-------------------------------------------
Sorey woke in the tent serving as an inn in Lohgrin with Zaveid and Edna sitting next to him. They look exhausted, and as he remembered what happened before he was taken over by the earth seraph’s power. He felt immense guilt for letting his emotions get so out of control, but Lailah consoled him and promised that it was only natural in hindsight.
“Mikleo is very dear to you,” she said soothingly. “I would not be surprised if Alisha or Rose did the same for me and Dezel.”
“I nearly got everyone killed…” Sorey murmured depressedly.
“But you didn’t; we’re all still alive—even Mikleo,” Dezel countered. Sorey looked up at him. “If you’re worried that he’s dead, don’t be. He’s still alive. I felt him briefly before we left.”
“See? Everything’s fine,” Edna sighed. “Well, almost fine.”
Akane had been quiet since their return from Tilia, her golden eyes dull with despair. Alisha and Rose had both tried talking to her only to be met with harrowing silence. Even Zaveid’s jokes were useless. When it was revealed to the Shepherd that one of them—the one Akane cherished most—had been taken, he sympathized with her. He stood from the mat he was laying on then walked to her side. He didn’t say anything to her, only offered his quiet company.
“I don’t like it,” Dezel suddenly said. Rose glanced at him. “Why would they keep Mikleo and Finnel?”
“It is strange considering that the two aren’t connected,” Lailah replied.
“But this is all related to the Heart of Gaea, isn’t it?” Rose asked.
Alisha had an epiphany. “Harvestasha never told us where the Heart of Gaea is!” she worried aloud. How were they going to find it if they didn’t know where to look? What else could they do? They couldn’t go after Heldalf yet with the Towers all out of commission or working against them! “What do we do?”
Sorey left Akane’s side with resolution. “The only thing we can do to make sure we can stand against Heldalf is restore the Towers,” he said. He wanted to stay and rescue Mikleo, but it would be futile. Even though he was ever-present in his mind, he forced himself not to be distracted. It was what Mikleo would have wanted. “Shurelia has been asleep for a long time now, so we should help her first. And we may even find clues to the Heart of Gaea.”
Misha came from the side of the tent with a serious expression on her face. “What’s wrong with Lady Shurelia?” she asked.
Everyone was both surprised and confused why Misha was listening in on them until it dawned on Sorey that he remembered that Lyner, Aurica, and Misha had all been from the same Tower; it only made sense that she would want to know what was going on there. Not to mention, he had learned that she knew a Song called Chronicle Key which was used to seal away someone indefinitely as long as she sang continuously. Knowing that Mir was sealed away in Shurelia’s Tower by the Origin’s Song Suspend, was it possible to use Chronicle Key to seal Mir while allowing Shurelia to function again?
Misha’s eyes reflected with pain. “I’m not surprised,” she sharply said. “Of course, the only time I’m ever needed is to sing that stupid Song. I’m always supposed to sing that Song.”
“Misha, please, if Chronicle Key can help us, let us use it,” Sorey begged her. He got on his knees and bowed.
“And what if I don’t want to?”
“I understand how you feel. Lyner told me that just before you all were brought here, you were forced to sing that Song for a long, long time. It wasn’t fair to you.”
“D-Don’t act like you know what it was like! No one can ever understand what it means to be the Star Singer!”
Edna shot an ice ball at her from the tip of her umbrella. Lailah and Sorey were going to stop her, but she stomped forward with sharp words:
“Are you even listening to yourself right now? How selfish can you be? The administrator of your Tower sacrificed herself to seal Mir and you’re worried about how unfair it is to sing your Song to make sure no one else dies. Meanwhile, Sorey is out there risking his life every day to make his dream of coexistence a reality. He’s just lost the seraph he loves, but you expect him to feel sorry for you because you don’t like your job. I get that humans are rotten to the core—I’ll never forgive what they did to my brother—but at least I’m out here trying to help him.”
Sorey rested a hand on her shoulder. He couldn’t force Misha to do something she didn’t want to do, and he was sure they could find some other way to wake Shurelia while keeping Mir pinned down. There was a consensus to find Aurica and take her home in Lyner’s stead, and upon hearing her rival’s name, the Star Singer glanced at them.
“W-Wait!” she finally spoke. Tears were welling in her eyes. “I-I’ll do it.”
“Oh, a sudden change of heart?” Zaveid smirked.
“Why are you changing your mind now?” Dezel interrogated.
Clenching her fists, Misha admitted that she hated being the Star Singer. She hated singing endlessly a Song that was meant to lock away a force that was on par to the Lord of Calamity. But she had made a promise to Lyner long before then—so far in the past that he had forgotten it and who she was. She didn’t want to surrender to Aurica, and she desperately wanted to make him proud.
“Edna’s insulting worked?” Alisha whispered incredulously.
“Shepherd Sorey, please allow me to journey with you back to my Tower,” Misha humbly requested. “Let me sing Chronicle Key to hold Mir within her confines.”
Sorey offered her a smile, and after they were ready to head out, they left the tent in search of Aurica. The shy girl had been sitting with Cocona and Saki, and once Misha explained that they were going back to Eolia, she perked up.
“I’ve been waiting to go back,” Aurica said, much to Misha’s surprise. “Ever since Lyner was arrested, I’ve been wanting to do something. I mean, he’s…gone now…but I want to be there as his representative.”
“You’re returning to a Tower?” Cocona gasped. “But what about Harvestasha? Won’t she get mad?”
“Screw that bitch!” Rose snapped. Dezel shoved her head down out of fear that she would incite an uproar. She wiggled out from his grasp still with a fire in her. “We’ve gotta bigger problems than some queen bee.”
Alisha, who decided to take a more professional tone, rallied Misha and Aurica. Turning to Sorey, she held his hands. Her eyes were twinkling with dutiful hope. She softly asked him, “Sorey, could Lailah and I take the lead on this mission?”
“W-What?”
“Eolia is in Hyland, so it makes sense that we should be the ones to solve the problem. And…”
Lailah jumped in, “And we want you to have your time to sort out your feelings about Mikleo. We’re going to save him, but it’s going to take some time. You must be prepared for the wait.”
Zaveid, Dezel, and Edna shied away from the conversation with quiet comments about the task they had taken. But Rose understood their sentiment. Sorey was strong, she knew, but it was going to be days before he would be with Mikleo. She thought it was horrible how easily and quickly they were ripped apart again after just being reunited. Perhaps that had been the plan all along. She just knew that she had to support him just like Alisha was trying to.
Sorey agreed to let Alisha be the leader for the time being while they reawakened Eolia. As they left Lohgrin, he stole one last glance at the Tower of Tilia. A silent promise to himself, he vowed that he would save Mikleo and Finnel as quickly as he could. The load on his shoulders felt somewhat lighter, and he forced himself to focus on their next task.
Notes:
You probably will have noticed that there was a little bit of allusion to Infinity War in this chapter. I think at this point I'd seen that movie three times, twice without any real interest. But...yeah. Totally borrowed that scene because it was heart-wrenching.
Chapter 106: Phase 4: Hoshiyomi to Tsukikanade
Summary:
Heldalf checks in with Luphan. Sorey and friends stop in the Volgran Forest.
Notes:
Here we are at the beginning of Phase 4! Otherwise called the EOLIA Phase! This is the part where there will be a heavy focus on Ar Tonelico 1 stuff, but not to fear. I'm not going through the entire story of the first game, and things will be explained in-universe to help out you guys that aren't not familiar with the trilogy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Finnel accompanied Luphan when he met with Heldalf and Symonne in the Harvestasha Module after he had caught Mikleo. Symonne herself was impressed by his tactics, especially since he had almost managed to send the Shepherd into a deep despair. Heldalf, glad that he had dealt such a blow to Sorey’s morale, thanked him for working with them.
“All that is left is to have Maltran and Lunarre have their ways with the Squires,” he rumbled. He glared down at Mikleo sleeping in Luphan’s arms. “How exactly is Ar Ru going to play into all this?”
“Once we have the Heart of Gaea, we will be able to awaken Suzunomia, and once she arrives, we will transfer her soul into this seraph after his cosmosphere has been wiped of every trace of his memories,” Luphan explained. He glanced at Finnel. “But for now, I must return to Clustania. After all, we cannot allow a goddess—even a forgotten one—to dwell inside an unclean host.”
Heldalf smirked before taking his leave, and Symonne waited for Akane to return to escort Luphan to the city above them. She wanted her to see just how pleased she was that things were falling into place. And when Akane reluctantly greeted Mikleo’s captor and her best friend, she poked her by reminding her how useful she was in the orchestration.
After the dark seraph vanished in a cloud of malevolence, Luphan took his leave from Harvestasha, who had gone back to watching over the Tower. Akane led him and Finnel to the elevator that fell below the Executive District to the scaffold underneath Clustania. She couldn’t bear to look at Finnel while she begged her to explain herself. Soon, they were aboveground at the entrance of the seraphic city.
Clustania was technologically advanced, more so than anywhere else. It was filled with cute things and anything else the seraphim liked. The seraphim themselves were happy and lived without a care. When news of the humans trapped in the Prisoner District or on the land below were suffering, they laughed or turned up their noses. Had she never met Sorey, Akane would have continued living like that. Now that she was aware that something was wrong and that Harvestasha was scheming against her own people, she felt guilty.
She showed Luphan to her house with all the hatred in her heart as hidden as she could keep it. And while he bathed Mikleo, Finnel finally pulled her aside.
“Aki, why aren’t you stopping him?! Why did Lady Harvey do that to Mikleo?! Why did they capture me, too?! Aki, please answer me! I don’t have Aoto anymore, and Saki isn’t here to help me! You have to tell me what’s going on! Who is Suzunomia?! Who is Ar Ru?!” Finnel asked without pausing to take a breath.
Akane avoided looking at her deep purple eyes. “I-I’m sorry for putting you through this, Finnel,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry for everything…!”
“But your being sorry doesn’t tell me anything about what is going on! If you tell me, then I can stop them!”
“I don’t know what is going on!” Akane’s golden eyes filled with tears. “I’ve only been doing what I’ve been told to do with no complaints because I was promised you would be okay. But now, I have to wait in fear that they’re going to do something terrible to you.” She covered her face in shame. “I almost killed the Shepherd by forcing him to fight. I had sentenced the only person who can save us now to death without any protest!”
Luphan listened to them as he wiped Mikleo’s skin with a wet cloth then dunked his hair. He relished how troubled the two girls were while admiring the body in front of him. He was implicitly excited to see the rebirth of Suzunomia and the coming of the Goddess of Destruction.
------------------------------------------
Sorey, Alisha, Rose, Misha, and Aurica walked across the Meadow of Triumph. The Shepherd had been quiet while Rose and Dezel discussed frivolous things and whatever else came to the assassin’s mind; she simply enjoyed listening to her wind seraph’s voice. Alisha spoke with Misha and Aurica to learn more about the cities on the First Tower. She wanted to know about Platina, Nemo, Firefly Alley, Em Pheyna, and all the places in between. Aurica herself admitted that she had never ventured far from Nemo due to her poor singing skills, but Misha seemed to like flaunting how much she knew. Eventually, the timid seraph caught up with Sorey. She wanted to know how Lyner had been before he finally succumbed to the starvation and abuse. He didn’t hold much of a conversation with her, and Edna came out to abate her curiosity as well as help her Shepherd get the alone time that he wanted.
“It’s going to be a while before he’s out of this funk,” she said almost as an apology for his uncharacteristic standoffish attitude. She answered Aurica’s questions about Lyner as best as she could without referring to Sorey’s memories, and after she had been satisfied, she turned her attention to what had happened to make Sorey like that. “He’s not always this depressed. Well, actually this is the first time he’s been like this. All the other times he’s been unsure or scared.”
“Sorey sounds like he’s usually carefree,” Aurica complimented.
“Yeah, but he’s mostly a ruin geek. I can’t lie; I miss how much he and Mikleo would go on about ruins.”
“Is Mikleo special to him?”
Zaveid suddenly appeared next to Aurica. “‘Special’ doesn’t even begin to describe it!” he gawked. “They’re a pair of love birds! With Mickeyboy gone, Sorey’s bound to just fall over and wait fo the sweet embrace of death!”
“T-That’s not something to joke about!” Aurica yelled at him.
“But he’s not wrong,” Edna said. “There was an incident involving the two of them when we started this journey. Since then, they’ve been unwilling to be without each other. The fact that they both are from Camlann where this madness started no doubt brought them closer together.”
“Camlann? That place sounds familiar…” Aurica mumbled.
“Pearelia had gone there just after the village was destroyed. She was one of the ones that found Sorey.”
“P-Pearelia?” Aurica looked at Zaveid in confusion, but the wind seraph just waved it away. “Anyway, I guess Lyner wasn’t the only one who was bonded with seraphim like us.”
The group continued on their way, reaching Lamorak Cave by dusk and camping near the creek that separated its entrance from the rest of Volgran Forest. Lailah prepared a few pastries to tide everyone over for the night, but Sorey didn’t have an appetite. He sat far from the group and curled up between the roots of one of the giant trees. Edna and Zaveid tried to convince him to sit with them, and Rose tried to drag him by his cloak. When nothing seemed to make him budge, Lailah asked that they let him have some time alone. Naturally, Alisha and Rose were against it, but the fire seraph and Dezel scolded them.
Aside from the group, Sorey listened to them argue about him. He tried to block out their voices by humming the tune he had made up while he was imprisoned. As he remembered it, he kept reminding himself that he had to do everything to get Mikleo back so he could show him what he had made. He didn’t want to let go of the hope that he represented, but he also couldn’t help but imagine all the possibilities that he wouldn’t be able to save him.
When everyone had gone to sleep, Sorey was the only one who lie awake. He wished to see the night sky, but thanks to the thick canopy of the trees, he couldn’t. The girls were slumbering away, yet Zaveid and Dezel kept watch.
“I didn’t think I would have to pity a Shepherd,” Zaveid said quietly enough so only Dezel heard him. “I know heartbreak and depression, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.”
“He watched the one he cared about most pretty much be ripped from his arms again,” Dezel sighed. Gently petting Rose’s head in his lap, he chose his next words carefully. “Can’t blame him when each one of them has suffered separation; Sorey’s case is far worse than what Rose had to endure.”
“You really softened to her, didn’t you!”
“Shut it. Anyway, you should talk to him. He’s tethered to you, so you know exactly what he’s feeling.”
“Can you not use that word? It brings back a lot of things that I’d rather not remember.”
Zaveid stretched his legs before carefully stepping over to Sorey, who tried to pretend to be asleep so he could avoid talking to anyone and worrying them. The wind seraph just left out a nonchalant chuckle then mustered a wind that pulled the cloak off of him.
“W-What are you doing?” Sorey asked irately. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“You ain’t fooling anyone, kid. Why don’t you tell Uncle Zaveid what’s on your mind?” he replied.
Sorey went quiet for a moment. “There’s nothing to talk about…”
“You might not think so, but I think there is. Or do I need to get Dezel over here too? Both of you are so prickly now that you’d probably make a better pair.”
“Do not bring me into this,” Dezel half-whispered.
Zaveid sheepishly rubbed his neck. Sitting next to his Shepherd, he blew a hole into the canopy to reveal that stars that twinkled above. He thought it would make him feel better. Sorey, however, just sat silently. Tears were welling in his eyes, and Zaveid realized he didn’t want to see the stars but the silver moon.
Misha and Aurica roused after hearing the branches crumble down, finding Dezel holding his face in annoyance. The two girls spotted Zaveid and Sorey by the tree, and they glanced up at the moon and stars. They quietly made their way over, much to Sorey’s chagrin.
“The moon’s really pretty,” Aurica sighed dreamily. “It’s even pretty through the tree leaves.”
“And the stars—the stars look so happy,” Misha added.
Zaveid asked them what they were doing up, to which they answered that he had made such a commotion revealing the stars that it was impossible to ignore the noise. Misha and Aurica sat on either side of Zaveid and Sorey. The two of them began to talk about two ancient types of people that hailed from their world on the Tower—the Moon Chanters and the Star Singers.
Misha was a descendant of the Star Singers, who carried the name “Arsellec Lune” and were raised for the sole purpose of singing Chronicle Key to seal away Mir. She hated her lineage because it was a ball-and-chain that forced her to sing anywhere from twelve hours to thirty years. She had first run away from her position as the current Star Singer, only returning for Lyner’s sake before being taken to Lohgrin. In that time, Mir had escaped.
The other people were Moon Chanters, the first people and seraphim that could use the power of Songs. They were revered for their awesome magic, and the language that came to be named Hymmnos was deemed so in their honor. Slowly over time, humans became more and more corrupt, and the amount of Moon Chanters dwindled until there were only a handful left with the last of the lineage dying out just before Shurelia had become the administrator of Eolia.
Still, somewhere in the world, there were a pair of Songs that detailed how the Star Singers and Moon Chanters felt about their spells hidden somewhere in the world. The rumors placed them in places that were extremely difficult to reach even with Song Magic or Seraphic Artes, and only true explorers who could brave the obstacles to get them would be able to find them and absorb the feelings left behind for a millennium.
“Ooh, doesn’t that sound like something up your alley, Sheps?” Zaveid nudged. Sorey’s eyes only reflected pain, which forced the wind seraph to stop playfully egging him on to be happy. “It’s really bad if you’re not even excited about weird ancient relics.”
“I’ll only be interested once Mikleo is by my side again,” Sorey mumbled into his arms after crossing them on his knees. “He and I…we always explored together, so I wouldn’t dream of going on an expedition without him.”
Aurica felt sympathy for him. She wanted to sing him a lullaby, but she wasn’t in range of the sleeping Tower, and if she knew even one line from the Song of the Moon Chanters—Tsukikanade—she would have sung that.
“It sounds like your attempts to make him feel better were in vain,” Dezel teased. He had gently put Rose on the ground knowing that she was a heavy sleeper before joining the little circle.
“Yeah, yeah, alright—I admit defeat,” Zaveid sighed. “But seriously, Sorey, you can’t dwell on this.”
“I know I can’t!” Sorey lashed out. “I just—Mikleo has been through so much, and I can’t bear to see or hear or feel him in pain!” He clenched his chest. “Everyone is so worried about me or trying to catch me for some horrible plan, but…” He held back his sobs; he refused to let them see him cry.
“Listen, Sorey,” Dezel finally said. He knelt in front of him, his grey eyes peeking out through the strands of his hair. “We all know how you feel. Everyone wants you to express your feelings, but we also want to make sure that you’re safe. If you keep falling back on Mikleo’s helplessness, or if you keep trying to force yourself not to grieve properly, you’re going to fall. There are so many ways to become tainted with the bitter feelings we know as rage and sadness, but there are just as many ways to remain pure. Take it from someone who…should have become a hellion a long time ago had I not met that knucklehead of an assassin.”
Sorey turned away from him, saying under his breath so no one could hear:
“It’s different between me and Mikleo.”
Zaveid stood up from his spot next to the Shepherd for a stretch and a yawn. “Well, kiddies, I think we should call it a night. We’ve still got half the continent to walk, and since Lailah-cakes and Alisha-babe are leading us up this time, we’ve got to be ready to offer support.”
“That’s right, you aren’t used to conditions on the Tower—the terrain is going to be tougher, and people probably aren’t going to be very friendly,” Misha said. “Not to mention, a few of our friends aren’t going to just welcome you in when they find out what happened to Lyner.”
“B-But we can vouch for them,” Aurica interrupted. “Krusche and Jack might not like them, but Radolf will help us.”
Dezel grumbled about meeting even more people, but he knew it couldn’t be helped. Aside from the current state of affairs, the Squires were meant to protect the Shepherd and the seraphim to lend him their power. He was confident in their ragtag team that they could stand up to the challenge, but that ultimately sat with Lailah. The seraphim left Sorey alone to rest and sort out his feelings, and they forced themselves to sleep to regenerate their strength.
Morning came in what seemed like minutes. Lailah was the first to rouse, the gravity of their next task suddenly weighing on her like an anvil. They were getting closer to Eolia, and with it came the realization that she wasn’t going to be as useful as she wanted to be. Misha was the Star Singer—they really only needed her to seal away Mir even if it meant she would have to sacrifice her life. Aurica was simply returning home.
Once they set off to travel through the Lamorak Cave and emerged on the other side in Hyland where the top of the Tower could barely be seen and the floating land attached to it was barely obscured by clouds, her heart faltered. She had only ever known the affairs of the Glenwood Continent. The land that was positioned with Eolia called the Wings of Horus would be different. Vastly different.
“Lailah, are you okay?” Alisha asked her as they stepped away from the Bors Ruins.
“Y-Yes, I was just thinking about…how far we’ve come,” she smiled.
“We have come quite far on this journey, and these past months have been nothing short of an epic tale, but we are nowhere near finished.”
Lailah half-heartedly agreed. She looked at the hazy silhouette again. There had to be something she could do.
Notes:
I would really like to have the Songs Hoshiyomi and Tsukikanade play whenever I get to the audio version of this project, but I'm not sure how I would incorporate them. They're pretty neat image Songs from AT1, so definitely worth a listen~
Also, apologies that Sorey is going to be like this for a while.
Chapter 107: Phase 4: Climbing Eolia
Summary:
Misha and Aurica guide Sorey and his friends back to Eolia, whose earthpulse points have disappeared and revealed the true form of Eolia. Travelling to a new world, they enter the world of Sol Ciel.
Notes:
Okay, so here is where things are going to complicated and difficult. Ar Tonelico is extremely...intricate with its world-building and lore, and mixing it with Zestiria is a real challenge. Integrating the two is going to be rough, but bear with me because it does get wild with this mix!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Reaching Hyland territory, Rose wondered if it was worth it to visit Ladylake to stock up on supplies. Alisha was against it. She wasn’t ashamed of her city, but there were a number of reasons that she didn’t want to go. Sorey, still living with the events of the sanctuary in the back of his mind, would have flashbacks to what Bartlow had done to him and Mikleo. The seraphim were still in trouble, and her presence would not be a welcome one. It was also going to be difficuly hiding Misha and Aurica since neither could use them as a vessel, and leaving them outside of the city was out of the question.
Misha promised that they would be able to find things on the Tower considering that they would have to visit at least one city or town on the way up. “How far have you ever gone?” she asked as they passed the bridge leading into Alisha’s city.
“All the way to the Rinkernator,” Zaveid said nonchalantly. He held his thumb and finger as a check mark under his chin.
“All the way to the top?!” Aurica gasped. “How? Not even royal guards are allowed that high!”
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be really dangerous and hard to get up there!” Misha continued.
“Well, we have the Shepherd,” Edna deadpan said.
“But what does that have to do with it?”
Edna walked in front of them, stepping backwards at pace as she explained her theory. Technically speaking, the Tower of Eolia and Tilia were both separated from the Glenwood Continent via a mass of clouds called the Sea of Death. The rumors on both Towers claimed that the clouds were toxic, but it was really called such because there was always the occasional person that either jumped off or fell off. The only way to get past the Sea of Death was to use the technology found on the Tower; however, it was forbidden to do so. Travelling through the Tower granted protection from the air, but it also meant tens of thousands of miles of climbing. Edna, an earth seraph, believed that there were points that the earthpulse—collections of energy from the world that allowed passage into and through a serapate and unknown realm—connected the Glenwood Continent to the lowest possible boundary that existed above the Sea of Death. They were used as teleportation points in cases in the past, and not anyone could walk into them. Only seraphim and those with a high enough resonance and resistance to the high concentrations of energy could withstand the potential tears in their molecules.
Lailah had to wonder if that was plausible. How would that explain the Tower of Tilia? Dezel blatantly disagreed with Edna. He admitted that he wasn’t well-versed on the Towers, but he knew enough about them to say that Tilia was shorter and closer to the Sea of Death than Eolia. No earthpulse point had allowed them to enter Tilia because Akane had escorted them in.
“Akane is also a seraph, and while her affinity is unknown, she would still be able to use it,” Edna argued.
“But that doesn’t explain why no one saw or felt it,” Dezel retaliated.
“Maybe the earthpulse is invisible,” Rose suggested.
“We’d still feel it.”
“What about resonance?” Zaveid joined. They reminded him that they had already established that high resonance was one of the factors to use them, but he shook his head. “With the way things are, do you think people with lower resonance could use it?” Then he mumbled to himself. “But it was because of that kid that the threshold rose and humans lost the ability sing…wait a minute.” He spoke up to them again. “What if it’s not just the resonance or if you’re a seraph? What if someone—an Origin or a Will—that’s singing and creating these transfer points?”
Misha looked at him dubiously. “Someone is creating the points?” she asked him.
“I…I know a few people that could if they tried hard enough.”
Alisha thought long and hard. A seraph or human with high resonance could use the earthpulse to transfer between points. The earthpulse points were undetected when she and her friends had used them by seamlessly connecting the areas where they were. If they were imperceivable, that would mean they were activated using Ar Ciela, which would mean that a Will of the Planet had done it. The question was now which one?
“I think Zaveid is right,” she finally said. “It only makes sense, but we don’t know which Will is singing.”
“It’s not a matter of which one,” Zaveid continued. “For all we know, they could all be singing. Saki and Finnel are housing a number of souls, and all of them could be singing at this very moment. Then there are the ones that aren’t walking among us. Horus—er, I think they refer to Her as Ciela now—Juklizda, Clyuue, Soreile…the list goes on. The Five Great Lords are also Wills—Maotelus, Musiphe, Amenoch, Eumacia, and Hyanoa. Then there are the two Wills that sealed away to keep the world spinning—”
Lailah shot him a cautionary look. Not another word about them.
“Huh? Why’d you stop?” Rose asked.
“Anyway, any one of these Wills can be singing to open the earthpulse points; or all of them could be singing together,” Zaveid concluded.
“So, it doesn’t really matter who as long as they keep singing,” Aurica said. “I see…”
Edna glanced at Sorey, who would have normally been interested and even leading the discussion about ancient topics. But he seemed more subdued. She went to him, poking him in the side with her umbrella.
“Hey,” she said. Sorey hesitantly looked at her. “I don’t know how long this funk is going to last but get over yourself. You’re the Shepherd, so act like one.”
Sorey looked away from her as he held back tears. He was trying.
“Are you sad because of Mikleo or because of your perceived powerlessness? Because both of them are true. Mikleo is dear to you, and you regret not being able to protect him; but that’s the problem. You’re dwelling on the past way more than usual instead of living in the present and improving yourself for the future. If you keep moping around like this, you won’t live to make it that far. You’ll die before we even get to Heldalf.”
She didn’t say anything else; Misha and Aurica stopped before a large winding tree trunk that grew high into the sky. It hadn’t been anything they had seen before, and it was where the Tower of Eolia used to be.
“Looks like the earthpulse points aren’t working anymore,” Aurica observed.
“We’d better start climbing then,” Zaveid said.
“Oh, my God, no,” Rose groaned. “That’s so far up!”
Dezel sighed. He, Lailah, and Zaveid Armatized with their humans while Edna used her power of the earth to shoot a pillar of stone up through the clouds of the Sea of Death with the other two girls with her. Alisha paid close attention to herself as they traveled through it. Her chest felt tight, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of poison or because of the altitude. When Misha and Aurica began to cough uncontrollably, she realized that the rumors were true, but Lailah believed they were caused by the malevolence.
“Are we going to make it?” Misha choked.
Edna exuded more power, pushing them faster through the clouds until finally, just a few meters above the Sea of Death, they saw the first traces of civilization. There were scattered houses on the area of the Tower called the Terraced Fields. People did their best to grow vegetables suited better to the thinner oxygen and little space. Alisha applauded the people for struggling to survive in such difficult terrain. Next, they passed the Floating Wharf, where Seraphic Artes gave rise to airships that bussed people to a small carrier-city some miles away from the Tower named Firefly Alley. They rose above the floating pieces of earth called Falcon’s Claw and a large mechanism titled the Plasma Bell, which kept the next section of Eolia above the Wings of Horus afloat. And it was here at the Wings of Horus that everyone landed near Nemo, the Airport City.
Edna collapse as soon as she hopped off her pillar, her body exhausted from using so much power. Sorey called her inside for her to rest after de-Armatizing from Zaveid. Alisha and Rose were just as tired from the journey through the Sea of Death. The gravity that affected the Tower held oxygen close, so they recovered after a few moments much to their relief.
“I can’t believe we’re already here at Nemo’s outskirts,” Aurica said with amazement. She asked Sorey if Edna was going to be okay. Sorey simply nodded with an attempt at a reassuring smile. “Misha, what are you planning to do?”
Misha thought long and hard. She had already agreed to sing Chronicle Key again to seal Mir while Shurelia resumed operations. She knew she had to sacrifice herself, but it was for Lyner’s memory.
“I’m going to head to the Crescent Chronicle,” she told her fellow seraph. “The longer Shurelia sleeps, the worse things will get. Even if I have to sing forever, Lyner would have been happy and proud of me. Are you going to check in with Radolf?”
“I figured it would be a good idea. After all, he trusted Lyner, so…I thought I would…break the news.”
Alisha interrupted them. “Maybe we should stay together for now,” she suggested. “As citizens of a world essentially separate from yours, having guides would help us much more than trying to explore on our own.” She looked back at Sorey. “And…I think Sorey should be the one to explain Lyner’s fate to whoever it concerns.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “It would probably help him to start talking to us again.”
The seraphim all looked at Sorey, and most upset were Zaveid and Edna. Their words had fallen on deaf ears and an unmending heart. Rose and Alisha, however, were nowhere near ready to give up on him. He just needed a kick to get back to his regular self—at least enough that he led them and didn’t fall behind.
“How do we get to Crescent Chronicle?” Lailah asked Misha.
Misha pointed up along the rest of the Tower. The road to the Crescent Chronicle was an arduous one that climbed up an earthy set of coiling floating rocks known to the people as Silvaplate. Just after Silvaplate was Em Pheyna, the sacred town that belonged to a type of people named the Teru Tribe. They would need permission to enter the Crescent Chronicle specifically, though.
“I wonder if Harm is there,” Misha pondered aloud. “If he is, then he can help the rest of you get in.”
“Uh, ‘the rest of us’?” Zaveid repeated. “You have to be VIP?”
“Technically, only the current Star Singer and Tastiella—the first ever Star Singer—is allowed into the Crescent Chronicle. It’s a special chamber where Star Singers sing endlessly to make sure Mir is sealed away.”
“But…Mir…” Sorey quietly said.
“We can talk later! Let’s just get up there, and then we can talk about what everything on this Tower means!” Rose announced while jumping on Dezel’s back. “Onward and upward! Let’s climb this sucker!”
With nothing less than an exasperated sigh from the blind wind seraph, the team began the trek to Em Pheyna. Silvaplate wasn’t as extensive as they had thought, but there were hellions all throughout it. Misha and Aurica tried to use their Song Magic as best as they could with the Tower’s decreased output, but in the end, Rose and Alisha took care of the adversaries. Sorey, in his depressive episode, moved with lethargy, which prevented him from fighting back as he usually did. When hellions snuck up behind him, Edna often took over by forcing him to Armatize with her. She used her attacks to punt hellions off the terrain before Lailah purified them with her flames. Eventually, upon arrival to the gate of Em Pheyna, she and the others stood back from him.
“We can’t keep this up,” Edna said. “We shouldn’t have brought him here.”
“Leaving him alone would only make him vulnerable to the malevolence,” Lailah countered. “Once…once we do something about Mir, then we can try and ease his pain.”
Misha and Aurica pitied Soreyas well, but they had things to do. The Star Singer called out to one of the guards watching the gate to deactivate it, proclaiming that she had returned to fulfill her duty. There was a sudden ruckus, celebratory cries and the occasional remark of a wayward girl returning home, erupting from the tunnel that led to the heart of the sacred city. The guards escorted them in—they were really protecting Misha from the other citizens—before a mass of people all with periwinkle hair or clothes and something mysterious about them dashed to incoming party. They didn’t look quite human, but they didn’t look inhuman either with some of them having dragon tails and horns. These people were known as the Teru.
“Whoa, this place is so cool!” Rose said almost exaggerating how she felt in a vain attempt to get Sorey excited. “This place…everything looks like candy!”
“What kind of candy are you talking about?!” Dezel gasped.
A small woman with a tiny white dragon sitting on her shoulder suddenly appeared. Her form was see-through like a hologram, yet her voice was as clear as if she were standing right there.
“Misha, you’ve come back,” she said with a graceful and dignified tone. Misha reluctantly nodded. “We were so worried about you. Not just as the Star Singer, but as a member of the Lune family and as Harmonica’s adopted sister.”
“So Harm is here!” Misha happily said.
“Yes, but…” the woman glanced at the group with her. “Oh my, these are all new faces; however, I’ve sensed their presence before. Especially…that one.” She pointed at Zaveid. “You’re Lady Shurelia’s bodyguard, aren’t you.”
“Eh…bodyguard ain’t exactly right…” Zaveid mumbled while rubbing his neck.
“And you,” she turned to Sorey. “You must be the Shepherd whom Lady Shurelia has trusted since Lyner disappeared.
Sorey winced. He was in Lyner’s territory, among his friends and people. How could he tell them the truth? Was he obligated? This woman seemed to already know so much that he was sure that Lyner’s demise was no secret to her.
The woman beckoned them to her seat at the heart of the city before suddenly vanishing before their eyes. Misha let out a deep sigh. “Tastiella is still as weirdly scary as ever,” she dejectedly said.
“No kidding…” Zaveid agreed. Misha was surprised that he had met her, which wasn’t completely true. He knew of her from Shurelia, and it was only at that point that he had ever seen her. “We should get moving. The quicker Misha can start singing, the easier it’ll be on us to help Shurelia.”
“Oh my,” Lailah uttered. “You should be a little more tactful; it sounds like you’re using her for slave labor.”
“Actually, it’s pretty accurate…but I guess it is my duty,” Misha grumbled.
Misha guided Alisha and the group to Tastiella’s seat high above the rest of Em Pheyna. Like the buildings in the city, everything looked like purple taffy or coral. It was as if everything had been carved out of the walls of the cave that essentially housed it.
When they arrived, Tastiella was nowhere to be seen. Only two men—one dressed in a shadowy arabesque cloak with a striped muffler scarf and a cap with a diamond wing pinned to the front, and one wearing a green huntsmen cloak and hat and whose arm was large and mechanical—stood before the throne. Both of them seemed serious, running a shiver down Alisha’s spine until Misha and Aurica stepped up.
“Harm!” Misha greeted with a big smile.
“It’s good to see you again, Jack,” Aurica said
The green-clad man’s eyes began to shimmer with joy, and he met them in the middle. “Oh man, I was beginning to think I’d never see you girls again!” he told them. He tipped his hat to Aurica but gave a tight hug to Misha. “You two aren’t hurt, right? Oh, what am I saying? You two are pretty strong! Speaking of strong…where’s the impulsive kid? I thought he’d be with you.”
Again, Sorey winced at the mention of who he suspected to be was Lyner. Never mind about Tastiella, it sounded like this Harm-Jack was closer to him. Alisha and Edna looked back at their Shepherd. He was about to finally speak more than two words at a time, but before he could even make eye contact with the man, a flash of light appeared. Tastiella had returned.
Notes:
So, to further explain the earthpulse deal--they were able to get onto the Tower because of earthpulse points, but because of some problem, those earthpulse points no longer exist and the Tower no longer appears shorter than it really is. I went on a train of thought thing, so hopefully that just makes it a little clearer.
Chapter 108: Phase 4: The Ordeal of the Moon
Summary:
To enter the Crescent Chronicle, Sorey must prove that he--and by proxy, his friends--are pure enough to enter by undergoing the Ordeal of the Moon. While he does, Misha tries to explain to Jack what had happened to Lyner.
Notes:
Lots of reflection in this chapter, but it kills me for Sorey to be so sad. Poor boy has had it so rough up until now that I just want to hug him.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Harmonica, please return to your post,” the other man ordered. Harmonica—or Jack, as he preferred to be called—begrudgingly did as he was told. “Lady Tastiella, why have you called these people here?”
The tiny woman turned to him, her eyes dark and harrowing. “The worst has been confirmed,” she said. “I cannot sense Lyner’s soul anywhere on the Tower, and even scanning through the earthpulse points as far as I can, there is no trace of him. It is best to assume that Lyner of the Knights of Elemia is dead.” Darkness overcame her face when she declared him deceased.
Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing, falling to his knees in grief and horror. Misha and Aurica both looked away from him, and Sorey’s fearful heart skipped a beat. He felt so inclined to come forward and turn himself in for letting him get killed in Lohgrin. Then Alisha, the Princess of Hyland, laid down her spear in front of the three Teru Tribe members. She sat on her knees, her back straight as a pole. In one elegant motion, she slid down into a bow with her forehead on the ground.
“My sincerest apologies,” she simply said. “Lyner had been imprisoned and forced to fight Sorey and another man, but he died before we were able to rescue all three of them.” She fell silent in wait for Tastiella to say something.
Tastiella wasn’t surprised because she saw when Misha was taken from the Crescent Chronicle. Lyner had most likely tried to stop the seraphim that invaded and got swept up with her. She knew that he had fought to protect her until the end, and it was inevitable that he would have met his fate so soon. Jack, on the other hand, was speechless. He left the throne, his hat casting a dark shadow over his face as he went to sort out his emotions. The only one who didn’t seem to be particularly upset was the other man.
“Humans are but fragile creatures,” he said. “May Lyner’s soul rest in peace.” He turned away from the crowd in preparation to take care of other duties.
“Now, hold on, Flute,” Tastiella suddenly said. “This is not an excuse to ignore the Shepherd. Someone needs to guide Misha to the Crescent Chronicle what with those hellions in the way. And Sorey here—Shurelia’s hope rides on him.”
Alisha worried about the young man being put on the spot when he, too, was still in pain. She pleaded with Tastiella to allow her to substitute for him through the Crescent Chronicle, but both the woman and Flute denied her. It had to be Sorey because he was the Shepherd, just as Lyner had ability to be one had his resonance been higher. Naturally, Sorey saw this as penance for all that had happened while they were in Lohgrin, but Tastiella reassured him there was nothing to be ashamed of.
“Being the Shepherd means making hard decisions and living with regretful actions,” she said. Assuming that it was Sorey that had killed him, she granted him forgiveness. “Sorey must complete the Ordeal of the Moon, and young lady,” she turned to Alisha. She sensed her bond with Lailah. “You will accompany him with your seraph.”
“L-Lady Tastiella, you’re letting two humans into the Ordeal of the Moon at the same time?!” Flute panicked. “This is a sacred ground!”
“Yes, and I trust Lady Shurelia’s judgment about Shepherd Sorey, and if these people are the ones travelling with him, then there is no reason not to trust them either.”
Without another word, Tastiella vanished again, leaving Flute in charge of guiding Sorey, Alisha, and Lailah to the Ordeal of the Moon within the Pheyna Temple. Edna and Zaveid were apprehensive about the trial because they would be far from Sorey. Flute promised them that their pacts would still be in effect; the goal wasn’t terribly far from the entrance. Rose and Dezel were sure that Flute was telling the truth, given that everyone seemed to know each other enough to trust them. They wondered about Misha, though. Wouldn’t it have made sense for the Star Singer to be the seraph to guide them, or would that have made it too easy for newcomers? Was Misha allowed to participate?
Flute led them from the thrown to Pheyna Temple once they were properly prepared. Aurica wished them luck, but Misha seemed distracted. Her blessing would have been helpful as a boost of confidence, but Alisha wasn’t worried that the ordeal wasn’t something they couldn’t do. They headed in, and when no one was looking, Misha left to find Jack.
She found him sitting in an inn by himself in the corner. He didn’t seem to notice her, providing her the perfect opportunity to sneak up on him. She jabbed his sides. Aside from a brief jolt, he wasn’t amused.
“Jack, are you alright?” she asked him.
“Am I alright? I just found out a friend of ours died; of course, I’m not alright!” Jack bit back with sorrow.
“Sorry.” She sat next to him in silence for a moment. “Are you mad at Sorey?”
“It’s his fault that Lyner’s gone.”
“Well, not exactly. He was held prisoner, too. He, Lyner, and another guy named Aoto were forced to fight each other every day without food and water. Lyner was in really bad shape, and when he died, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. He…couldn’t fight anymore.”
While the details weren’t completely true to what had really happened, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the whole unadulterated truth. After all, they had been missing for quite some time, and they were sure that the Star Singer alone had perished. Still, she could see in his face that he wasn’t just going to accept this as an apology. Jack didn’t know Sorey, and regardless if Shurelia trusted him or not, he couldn’t forgive him.
“Do you want to hear it from him?” Misha asked him after another pause. “He hasn’t been speaking to anyone because someone really important to him is being held captive. He has to bring them something called a Heart of Gaea, but we don’t know where to get it. So instead, he and his friends decided to help our Tower first in hopes of uncovering some clues to where one might be.”
“Your point?”
“My point is, you should try to understand. Humans, seraphim, Teru, Reyvateils—everyone needs to help each other.”
“This coming from someone who would have done anything to escape being the Star Singer. If you hadn’t left, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place! But all you wanted to do was just leave and let Mir do whatever she wanted.”
Misha held her tongue at the remark. She knew she was being a hypocrite, but she didn’t like seeing him like this. She had known him for years since she was born, and while she had fallen in an unrequited love with Lyner, she worried and cared more for Jack because he had always protected her. The malevolence didn’t discriminate, and above everything else, she was scared that he would become a hellion because he wouldn’t think about forgiving Sorey.
She sat there with only the decision to wait on Sorey and Alisha to make it through the ordeal and to prove themselves that they were strong enough and pure enough to even set foot into the Crescent Chronicle.
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Alisha and Lailah stood before the entrance of the temple with Sorey standing behind them. He looked unnerved, the imposing building becoming a vacuous blackhole to him. It reminded him of the shrine trials, and more specifically of Mikleo’s.
“Come to the final room of the temple,” Flute commanded. “I will be waiting there to initiate the Ordeal of the Moon.” Then he vanished.
“God, the people here are a broken record,” Edna muttered. She stared at Sorey, nudged Zaveid, and suddenly they both turned into orbs of light that fazed into his chest before anyone else could notice. “They can’t stop what they can’t see.”
“Assuming the seraphim on the Tower can’t do this, too,” Zaveid replied.
They were simply going to monitor their Shepherd, whose wavering heart put him at risk still of falling into despair. Alisha and Lailah entered the temple first. Rose, Dezel, and Aurica left for the inn after they had gone.
The Pheyna Temple was floor after floor a maze of earthpulse points that teleported them around. There were hellions here and there, but they were weakened but the mystic domain protecting the city. Alisha and Lailah had no problems taking care of them, but when it came to Sorey, his hesitation impeded him. Edna and Zaveid couldn’t help him, only watching him from the inside like little surveillance cameras. He was capable of protecting himself, but how long would his concentration last on fighting?
Eventually, Lailah decided that they were deserving of a short break. She pulled out a small bag of cookies that she had made at some point in case they got hungry on the way. Offering one to Sorey, she contemplated what to ask him to ease his mind.
“Sorey, do you blame yourself?” she gently questioned.
The Shepherd turned away from her. “I do,” he whispered.
“Do you blame Lyner’s death on yourself?”
“I…I do.”
“Were you the one to kill him?”
Sorey looked back at her. “I…I don’t know. Aoto hated me enough during the final fight that he wanted to kill me, and then Lyner jumped in the way,” he recounted.
“So he protected you from a death blow, which means that you, personally, did not kill him,” Lailah smiled. “If you had been the one to end his life, you would have become tainted and fallen.” She offered him another cookie. Edna and Zaveid listened to the conversation while Alisha paid close attention to Sorey’s reactions. “Someone else’s actions are not your own, so there is no reason to be sad.”
“But everyone on the Tower—”
“Will be heartbroken, yes. But that is a stage of accepting one’s death.” She stole a glance at Alisha. “Now, do you blame what happened to Mikleo on yourself?”
“Of course, I do!” Sorey suddenly said loudly. “I was a fool for thinking we could talk to Harvestasha! I was a fool to think…that she wouldn’t have laid some trap. I mean, the Heart of Gaea is necessary to help Finnel and save the Wills of the Planet residing inside her soul, but…why? Why did they have to take Mikleo? Why did I personally deliver him?” He forced himself not to cry by shutting his eyes as tightly as possible. “What kind of Shepherd am I? There have been so many times that I’ve nearly killed everyone, and whenever problems are fixed, I just…I get so upset because I can’t do anything.”
“It’s because you care,” Alisha chimed in. “You care about everyone in the world. You’re normally a happy-go-lucky boy, Sorey, and we would all do anything to see your smile again.”
Looking at one of the cookies that Lailah had handed her, she gave him a small innocent smile like that of a girl in a dreamland. When she looked at Sorey, she felt hope in her heart that he could quell the Lord of Calamity. She understood how horrible he felt—being powerless to protect the one he loved, feeling guilty when he was overwhelmed with power or being used against his friends. She had suffered similar things through her life, but she had no doubt that he could persevere through it all.
Sorey remained unconvinced, however, because he felt so powerless even after undergoing the trials to attain the spiritual powers and managing to fight Heldalf in Aifread’s Hunting Ground before knowing the whole truth. Surrounded by the walls of the Pheyna Temple, constant reminders of his follies and mistakes were there. Being there undergoing yet another trial in a place deeply connected with the moon, he remembered how Bartlow had planned to fused the Shepherd soul and the soul of his water seraph together to create an abomination capable of leveling a city and how Rolance caught him and Dezel to create a weapon so massive that half the continent wold be destroyed. Mikleo hadn’t been in danger then, but the emotional strain of seeing him lifeless on the ground and the very fibers of his soul refusing to return because he had given into his anger surely scarred him. They only had each other; Sorey’s heart pained him as he weighed those two ideas against each other.
And that pain was visible on his face. Alisha and Lailah had tried to lift him up from his demons, but like the others, they seemed to have failed. They declared the break was over, continuing with the trek to Flute through the earthpulse points and fighting hellions when they came across them.
Before the final earthpulse point that would take them before him, Alisha spoke in private to Lailah:
“Do you think Sorey is capable of taking on the ordeal himself?”
Lailah didn’t look optimistic. That is, until she came up with an idea that was sure to make Sorey happier. She quickly folded a small piece of paper into a fortune-teller, took a small piece of stone capable of leaving streaks, wrote into each flap, then finally approached him with her fingers already pushed into the corners.
“Sorey, let’s do some fortune-telling,” she cheerily said. Sorey questioned why she wanted to do something so silly now. “Oh, don’t be like that! It doesn’t suit you. Besides, once we step through that earthpulse point, we will have an arduous battle ahead of us. Think of this as a good luck charm.”
Alisha giggled at her fire seraph’s attempt to make him feel better, and Sorey gave in since he knew that she was trying her hardest. He pointed at the flap labeled “3” then the flap labeled “blue”. After Lailah alternated the exposed sides three times then four times to spell the color he chose, she opened the flap and read:
“‘Your heart shall be healed, and you will find everylasting happiness and peace. The goal you seek to accomplish will happen with extremely good luck’. Oh my! This is a really good fortune!”
“It’s just a piece of paper,” Sorey stated quietly.
“That may be, but my fortunes are never wrong.” She folded the paper so that it showed those words. She placed it in his palm, carefully curling his fingers around it and pushing it towards his chest. “I give you my word and my blessing that that fortune will come true.”
Alisha, Lailah, and Sorey stepped through the earthpulse point. In the blink of an eye, they stood before Flute.
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“Geez, Sorey’s depression is killing me!” Rose complained. She, Aurica, Dezel, Misha, and Jack sat together at a table with dinner in front of them. “Isn’t he supposed to be the happiest guy among us? I miss that about him.”
“Well, how would you feel if someone you loved was taken from you?” Misha questioned her.
“I was really sad and worried when Dezel was taken from me, but it eventually worked out.” The assassin took a bite of her steak. “I’m not saying he isn’t allowed to be upset about all this.”
Dezel crossed his arms. “Then what are you trying to say?” he inquired, urging her to explain herself in front of their new allies.
“If he continues like this, it’s seriously going to hurt morale.” Her expression softened. “If the leader of a team is down, so is everyone else. Sorey, Alisha, and I have pretty much split the burden as evenly as we can, but Sorey still shoulders more than we do because he’s the Shepherd. He’s been through a lot more than either one of us Squires—Mikleo being taken from him and almost turned into a monster, and then Sorey being sublimated into Infel Phira to be turned into a giant mana cannon…and now this.”
Jack listened silently to her speak.
“Like I said, I’m not trying to delegitimize his feelings. I just hate seeing him like this, and…” Rose sighed. “I’m scared that he’s going to break if we take too long fixing both Shurelia and Frelia and don’t get the Heart of Gaea.”
Aurica empathized with her. She didn’t know what to say to make her feel better, but it was at times like these that everyone was better off sitting quietly reflecting on their emotions. Dezel stood up and went outside. He stood outside using his wind to get a vague picture of environment around him. He had figured that Rose was still bothered by what had happened in Pendrago, which didn’t surprise him; even he had trouble wrapping his head around all that had happened. He still felt perturbed by the illusions that Symonne had shown him while she held him captive. He imagined that Mikleo, despite not showing it, was reeling from what had happened with Bartlow and Targana; all this was merely an equivalent exchange of suffering on Sorey’s part.
“We’re all damaged, but Rose isn’t wrong…” he said to himself in thought. “Zaveid—damn that man. Running off with Edna into the ordeal…”
Suddenly an unfamiliar voice called to him, or perhaps it was only unfamiliar because he hadn’t spoken with him since they met. Jack took a spot next to him much to Dezel’s curiosity. They didn’t speak to each other for a while.
“I had to step out,” Jack finally said. “I never did like girl talk that much, and Misha and Aurica can handle that redhead.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dezel growled.
“Heated argument, but I don’t think they’ll fight about it or anything.” Jack peeked at Dezel. “So…you’re blind? You haven’t turned in my direction yet.”
“Why would I? I don’t know you well and I can’t see much of anything aside from the outlines of forms.”
“Fair point.” He went silent again. “So, this Sorey kid. He saw Lyner die, right?”
“I wasn’t there to see, but when we did show up after running a few errands, they were in battle.”
“Misha said he just plopped over and died from starvation.”
“Did he?”
Whether or not Dezel remembered had happened was purposely kept vague. Considering that Misha had spoken to Jack already about what had happened meant that he had very little room to explain what they had seen. This stranger had no reason to trust anyone but Misha, yet it seemed more like he was trying to verify what really happened. Dezel ended the conversation by leaping up on top of the inn. Only half the city faced the cave wall while the other half faced the outside world and the shining sun. The warmth felt refreshing on his face, and somehow it made him calmer. He started to think about where they would go after Eolia. They had to fix Frelia as well, and since he was an IPD, he wanted to lead the effort to help Sorey out. He wasn’t sure, though, about putting Rose through more hardship. It was something that he would think about until the time came to make his decision.
Notes:
I like to think that Lailah's motherly personality kicks in specifically during these times of grief. She's the mother we need by don't deserve D:
Chapter 109: Phase 4: Chief of the Teru Tribe, Flute
Summary:
Failing in their attempts to make Sorey feel better, Alisha and Lailah fight Flute in his stead.
Notes:
I forgot how much I really liked this chapter. As much as ToZX fucked the lore and gave Alisha the ability to Armatize when she wasn't supposed to as plot point, I'd be super interested in seeing her team up with Lailah.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Alisha and Lailah, having spoken with Sorey and failing to make him recognize that he hadn’t at fault for anything, finished the trial with him in tow. The princess had hoped that the fortune-telling made him feel a little better, and from her point of view, it did. But he had deemed it silly to do while they were in the middle of a trial, which had hurt Lailah’s pride somewhat. Both of them missed the fun-loving him. Like Rose back in at the inn, she wanted him to feel like he could be sad without judgment, but it hurt to see him so despondent. Lailah silently prayed that after the trial, he could feel more at ease.
Now they stood before the earthpulse point that would take them to the final chamber of the temple, and there they would receive the Ordeal of the Moon. Lailah looked back at Sorey asking him if he was ready to take on whatever lie ahead of them. Even though he said that he was, she could see it clearly in his eyes that he was still unwilling to move forward without his dearest seraph.
Nevertheless, Sorey had to complete the trial to prove himself the pure Shepherd to the Teru Tribe and earn his passage into the Crescent Chronicle. Except Alisha had pledged that she would take on the burden until he was back to normal. Surely, she believed, they would make an exception; they were friends of Shurelia! As they walked through the earthpulse point into the final chamber, she steeled herself.
“You’ve finally arrived,” Flute greeted them.
“Yes, we have,” Alisha stated.
“Are you ready to begin? The Ordeal of the Moon is to defeat me in combat. My opponent shall be Shepherd Sorey. The lady Squire and her seraph shall not interfere.”
“Now, please wait a moment,” Lailah objected. “Sorey is in no condition to fight. We beg you—let us wage battle in his place.” She waited for Flute’s response, which was a sharp denial of her request. Sorey was the Shepherd, and he was there to prove himself worthy to the Teru Tribe; Flute couldn’t begin to understand why she thought he would let someone other than him fight. “One of his seraphim has been taken away, and it weighs heavily on his heart. Please, grant him some mercy.”
“Lady Tastiella sent us along with him to accompany him,” Alisha explained. “You were there! You saw and heard her decide this. And…” She paused. “I want to help him shoulder the insufferable burden he has had on his shoulders since we started this journey—since he has started his journey.”
“Alisha…Lailah…” Sorey murmured.
Flute weighed the plea against the tradition. Normally, the Ordeal of the Moon was a rite of passage of Knights of Elemia like Lyner. Every once in a while, a Shepherd would come and prove himself strong enough to take on the Lord of Calamity. There had never been an instance of a Squire taking the ordeal instead of the Shepherd, and he didn’t want to start allowing that now. But how often had a Squire do this? Sorey himself looked out of sorts, and it would have been unfair.
“Fine, I’ll allow it just this once. Lady Squire and her seraph, prepare for battle!” Flute announced.
Alisha pushed Sorey back out of a special barrier that prevented the challengers from escaping until the end of the ordeal. She spun her spear in her hand, doing just as Flute wanted. Rallying Lailah’s support, she was ready.
Flute was a trickster when it came to battle, enacting status effects as often as he could. He knew that Song Magic was less effective with Shurelia asleep and practically non-existent the farther they moved from the Tower. With the Lord of Fire’s proxy Tower so far from the fire seraph, he wondered how Lailah would fare in this weakened state.
Alisha dashed in close with her spear out and ready to slice him in half. After a couple of hits, she called out, “Serpent Snare!” Flute flinched, leaving an opening for Lailah to cast Burning Strike. “Burning Stars!” Alisha called out again. After the attack, she pushed herself away from him—a dire mistake. Flute threw something at her, and as she shielded her face, a piercing aching shot through her leg.
“Snake Bite Needle,” Flute calmly said. He watched her, waiting for the effects of his attack to begin. “Oh dear, are you feeling well?”
“Alisha!” Lailah cried out to her while casting another spell.
Alisha faltered back. She rubbed her eyes, which were darkening rapidly. Only a small window was visible; everything else was covered in shadow…and growing larger. Her body felt heavy. Soon enough, she collapsed.
“A-Alisha!” Lailah called again. Alisha had fallen into a deep sleep, leaving her to fend for herself. The worst-case scenario came to mind, fueling a vengeful fire within her bosom. “What have you done to her?!”
“She is merely asleep,” Flute said. He unsheathed his scimitar. “Now, Lailah, Seraph of Fire, can you defend yourself? Or have you become completely reliant on your human partner? Show me the power of your Songs!”
Lailah dashed forward before spinning with her flaming papers flared out around her. They clashed with Flute’s blade over and over again searching for an opening. She just needed one hit to connect so she could trap him in her Mystic Arte. Flute, skilled in sword dancing, parried each hit, and Lailah finally saw that her attacks wouldn’t break his defense. She leapt back.
“I won’t be able to use what little Song Magic I can with Alisha incapacitated…” she whispered to herself. “I’ll have to take that chance.”
Raising a barrier around herself, she began to sing one of her weaker Songs—the only that didn’t rely too much on the Symphonic Power output that had been halted so long ago. It was only a small fireball that wouldn’t take too long to draw more power.
“You’re wide open!” Flute hissed. He sped towards her. “Crescent Slash!”
There was a sudden clanging sound, two blade colliding with each other. Flute registered the one interrupting his attack. Alisha stood there with her spear locking his scimitar so he couldn’t advance.
“If you dare lay a finger on her, I will end you,” Alisha growled.
Flute was completely taken aback by the sudden bloodlust that exuded from the princess. Lailah unleashed her Song Magic at him, but he dodged at the last second. He had abandoned his sword in exchange for only a burned leg. He stood tall and calm, putting his hands together. Beams of light shot up and spun around him like a tornado.
“It’s not often that I have to resort to this,” he said.
“Alisha, are you ready?” Lailah asked. With an affirmative nod, Lailah commanded her to call her name.
“Fethmus Mioma!” the princess obeyed. She donned the Fire Armatus. Together as one, they leapt high into the air above Flute. “Blood Moon!”
“Triple Blade Scatter!” Flute called out in desperation.
His body split into three phantoms all brandishing scimitars. They clashed with Alisha and Lailah in the air, slicing into her skin and clothes while Flute suffered an abundance of burns. Both of them landed a few paces apart from each other, the exhaustion settling into their bodies but the fighting spirit burning ever more in their hearts.
“You’re not as strong as Lyner, yet you won’t give up…” Flute panted.
“Of course, we won’t,” Alisha smirked.
“If we gave up, then we wouldn’t be worthy of fighting against Mir or the Lord of Calamity,” Lailah added.
“Sorey isn’t the only one who has to fight. His friends are behind him, even in these dark times. That’s why we won’t stop.”
“Together, we will support him and let our power inspire him to fulfill his duty as the Shepherd…no, to find his answer!”
Sorey, watching from the outside, felt their power. He was touched that they were trying so hard for his sake. He wanted to repay them, but no matter how much he wanted to believe that Mikleo was okay so he could focus on the task at hand, something kept eating away at him.
“Let’s end this,” Flute said. “Haze Attack!” He teleported above them and rained down a maelstrom of slashes. Alisha pushed him off with the fiery power of the Armatus, catching him off-guard. “No!”
Alisha and Lailah de-Armatized, and the former took the opening to use her Mystic Arte. “It’s over!” she called out. “This is my time, Light Blast!”
Right after Alisha finished her attack, Lailah carried it with hers. “Here I go! Banquet of flames! Concerto Infernus!”
They Armatized together again. “Lord of Fire, crimson flames! May it burn your soul! Flamberge!” they chanted together as they enshrouded Flute in a vortex of fire. Flute came crashing to the ground after the onslaught. He wasn’t moving, and Alisha and Lailah—both de-Armatized—feared that they had accidentally killed him. “O-Oh no!”
The Chief of the Teru Tribe sat up. His eyes were glazed over for a moment then he looked up at them. “The abilities of the Shepherd and the Squire are reflected in each other,” he said. “If this is your power as a Squire, then I should fear what the Shepherd is capable of when his heart hasn’t been seized by the doubt cast by darkness. I humbly surrender.”
Alisha pulled him to his feet before he brought down the barrier that kept Sorey out of their fight. He approached him then bowed. The Shepherd wasn’t sure what to say.
“You and your friends have proven your strength. Please gather everyone and return to the temple grounds,” Flute said respectfully. With that, he teleported out of sight. He almost seemed embarrassed by his defeat.
“We did it,” Alisha happily said.
“I must say, though, it feels as if we’ve stolen your thunder, Sorey,” Lailah smiled. “Get it? Because your attacks are lightning-based, and…”
“We’re one step closer to helping this Tower,” Sorey said. There was something of a hint of happiness, far more than there had been for a long time. The two girls were relieved to see that he was capable of coming back from the edge. “We should go.”
Alisha, Lailah, and Sorey made their way out of the Pheyna Temple. They returned to the city, where they found Jack and Dezel standing outside together. Rose, Misha, and Aurica were still inside, and as sneakily as they had joined the trek through the temple, Edna and Zaveid came out behind Sorey.
As the six of them neared the inn, Jack grew pricklier. Sorey sensed the hatred he had coming from him as seeds of malevolence. Dezel kept a check on him through his wind.
“Your name is Jack, correct?” Sorey gently asked. Jack glared at him. The Shepherd got down on his knees, and he touched his forehead to the ground. “Forgive me,” he said. “I want to apologize for letting Lyner die.”
“I just want to know what happened to him from the only one who saw it up close and personal. Misha told me he had been starved and forced to fight, but there’s more to it, right? Lyner wouldn’t have just stopped fighting,” Jack spat at him.
“He didn’t.” Sorey sat up. “It’s true that we weren’t given proper nourishment, and it’s true that we were forced to fight. We had come up with a plan to last a little longer. But malevolence corrupted Aoto, and he wanted to kill me. Lyner, the weakest of all of us, tried to stop him. Aoto…Aoto was about to kill me, and that’s when Lyner jumped in the way and shielded me from his killing blow. He died knowing that he was protecting the Shepherd and Shurelia’s hope. He did it of his own volition.”
Everyone that was standing there was silent. They waited for Jack’s response, but he didn’t give one. He simply walked away from them towards the temple grounds where Tastiella’s throne was. Sorey understood his anger, and he was angry with himself as well. He should have worked harder to protect Lyner so he could have brought him home, he thought.
“Huh?” Rose suddenly said. She and the other two girls left the inn upon seeing everyone outside. “How’d the Ordeal of the Moon go?”
“We succeeded, but…” Alisha started.
“Idiot, learn to read the mood, would you?” Dezel grumbled.
“Rambo isn’t going to forgive you at the moment,” Edna observed. “We’re better off just moving on with our current mission. We have access to the Crescent Chronicle now, so we should go see Tastiella and start working on waking up the walking pearl lady.”
“C-Can’t you be more respectful to Lady Shurelia?” Aurica timidly asked.
“Why? She’s giving us all her problems and taking a nap even though we have an entire world to save.” She looked at Sorey. “Honestly, I wouldn’t worry what that guy thinks. We’re not obligated to be friends with everyone we meet, and he definitely doesn’t deserve our friendship.”
Aside from Sorey, there was a general consensus. Misha led Sorey’s group back to Tastiella; the Shepherd silently thought about Jack’s reaction and Edna’s words.
Notes:
There may or may not be a chapter next week depending on how bad the next round of game prototyping goes. I'm leaning towards having Saturday as my recuperation day, but I feel guilty not working on my stuff.
Chapter 110: Phase 4: Radolf and the Church of El Elemia
Summary:
A new force joins the Lord of Calamity, but Alisha--heading the mission in Sorey's stead--has also gained new friends. So begins the search for the way to awaken the Tower of Eolia.
Notes:
I always forget that Radolf is a character in AT1. I don't like him and MUCH preferred Jack. Merging the two games at this point takes a lot, but I'm still happy that I have a trend with all the bad guys.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
An old man wearing a tall golden fez and small circle glasses stared at the magnificent crystal statue that was the centerpiece of the furtherst back wall of the church. He stroked his long white beard while beholding the statue then turned around to the polished tiled floor and empty pews behind him.
The Church of El Elemia was different from the churches and sanctuaries on the Glenwood Continent far underneath the Sea of Death. Unlike those below, the Church of El Elemia were not houses of worship to seraphim but rather hubs for the Knights of Elemia based there. The old man made sure to give the pretense of worship and righteousness, preaching that seraphim and humans were to coexist and support each other. After all, aside from the seraphim that sang on the Tower and were only adept at singing instead of using Seraphic Artes, they were still beings that required praise and love.
“Bishop Falss, there you are,” a young man quietly said, as if not to disturb the peace within the hallowed halls. He wore bulky ivory armor, but his hair was dark and his features sharp. His brow had a perpetual crease, a sign that he was headstrong and set in his thinking. “Is everything alright?”
Bishop Falss didn’t answer him. He instead returned his gaze to the statue. “Cardinal Radolf, do you know the meaning of this statue? The story behind it?” he asked him.
“Why, of course,” Radolf replied. “It is a depiction of the ancient legend on this Tower. The Guardian and the Songstress—or rather the Human and the Seraph.” He trailed his eyes up the majestic work of art. “It is a symbol that humans and seraphim are meant to coexist, very much like the ideals of the Church.”
“What do you think would happen should one or the other be completely eradicated from the face of the world?”
“I beg your pardon?”
Bishop Falss waved away his question. He asked him to forget it before moving on to more pressing matters. Radolf, confused by the moment, remembered that he had come to him asking what to do since all of the day’s missions of ensuring peace had been finished. When he was told to simply retire for the evening, he noticed that the old man was yet again distracted.
“I ask that you leave me to my thoughts,” Bishop Falss suddenly said. “There are some things that are worrying me, and I do not have time nor energy to think about the trivial happenings within Nemo.”
“But, sir, allow me one more question—what are we going to do without the Holy Maiden? Aurica has been missing for ten years, and she’s the only one that can sing Re=Nation. The Tower has only recently shut down. If it doesn’t awaken soon, then we will finally face the threats that we have been hearing from the Glenwood Continent could breach the Sea of Death and invade the Tower.”
“We will deal with that when the time comes. Leave me. Now.”
Radolf wanted to deny his superior’s request, but there was no point in battering him with questions. He took his leave.
Bishop Falss stared at the statue again. “How long will Mir continue to slumber?” he asked. Symonne and Heldalf appeared behind him. “When can I expect my Reyvateilia to be created?”
“Good things come to those who wait,” Heldalf rumbled. “Mir will sleep until Shurelia has been awakened, and surely you know that you will need the Holy Maiden of this Tower to return to fulfill her duty.”
“And where is she?”
Symonne giggled while dancing around the empty hall. “She’s on the Tower, but someone’s domain is interfering with us,” she told him. “She has a connection to this place, no? Eventually, she will have to return—a rejected animal always comes back to the one that feeds her.”
Bishop Falss sighed. Aurica would eventually return per her duty as a seraph affiliated with the Church, but he was aware that her time away from the Tower may have opened her eyes to the problems of the world. Radolf was a smart man, too. If she told him what had happened on the Glenwood Continent—anything at all from the Shepherd’s mission to the status of the other Towers—there was no doubt that he would grow suspicious. Having Heldalf and Symonne behind him as he desperately searched for a way to wake Mir without empowering Shurelia gave him some reassurance that everything would work in his favor.
There were also their minions. Maltran reportedly disappeared from the eyes of Ladylake after her meeting with Alisha regarding the spy in Rolance. As far as they knew, she was still working to escalate the conflict between the two territories. Lunarre, while defected from their side, still operated to throw the Scattered Bones into despair. He had his reasons, but Symonne was keeping an omnipresent eye on him. Ayatane had returned to the Tower after hearing that Sorey’s crew had come to restart it. Heldalf knew how badly he wanted to kill them, and even though he would have liked them out of the way, he wanted the humans alive to throw them into darkness and capitalize on the power within their souls. Finally, of the known allies that they spoke of, Luphan and Harvestasha were working together to help create the Reyvateilia that Bishop Falss desired by waking Ar Ru.
“There’s additional force coming from the Second Tower as well,” Heldalf stated. He had no way of getting to the Second Tower what with it so high in the sky and no earthpulse points on it. He didn’t quite know who or what he was sensing, only that it was exponentially more powerful than even a dragon. “In due time, the Shepherd will have to make his way to Frelia, and when that path opens, Symonne will go and find out exactly what that power is.”
“I see, and there is me, operating in the underbelly of the Church and pinning the blame on the Tenba Corporation,” Bishop Falss said. “If I can get Aurica to sing Re=Nation to release Mir, then…”
“Ayatane can kill the Origin,” Symonne offered with a curling smile. “It isn’t like the Tower needs the administrator to continuously run. Why, then even Mir herself can take control of it and infect every human with malevolence and her Viruses.”
“We cannot kill Shurelia. If she dies, the Tower will fall.”
As Bishop Falss ran through everything that was happening in his head again to find a different way to fulfill his goal, Maltran appeared at the entrance of the Church. Both Heldalf and Symonne were surprised to see her, but they were glad. As they introduced her to the bishop, Sorey’s team listened to Tastiella back in Em Pheyna.
----------------------------------------------
“Now that you have completed the Ordeal of the Moon and proven that you are worthy of stepping into the Crescent Chronicle, we can finally discuss plans for apprehending Mir,” Tastiella said.
Misha stepped forward with concern on her face. “Before we begin, is there any doubt that I will have to sing Chronicle Key?” she asked.
“I know you hate it, but it is the everlasting duty of the Star Singer.”
Tastiella asked that they listened very carefully to what she proposed. First, they needed a way to wake the Tower up, and in turn rouse Shurelia from her sleep. Once she was awake, and Mir was allowed to have control, they would need to sing Chronicle Key. After taking them to the Crescent Chronicle and ensuring that Misha was prepared, they were to leave her within its chamber to sing her Song. Mir’s consciousness would be pulled from Shurelia and sealed away forever as long as Misha kept singing.
“This sounds unfair to Misha,” Alisha interrupted. Flute glared at her.
“It is the only way,” Tastiella solemnly vowed.
“That can’t be. The people living on the Tower are more technologically advanced than the people below, yet you can’t find a better way to seal a force of evil?” Rose added. “Sounds like you’re all just lazy.”
“Hey,” Dezel warned her.
“I agree with Rose; there must be a way—”
“You humans are awfully annoying,” Flute scolded them.
Tastiella thought for just a moment. “As of now, there is no other way. We shouldn’t focus on anything beyond Misha’s Song. Now, to wake the Tower, there is a special Song called Re=Nation,” she explained. The primary function was to reboot the Tower and restore its process to that just before shutdown. It would allow Mir the freedom to control Shurelia, but if the plan went accordingly, and Misha could catch Mir just as she woke with her Song, then the Tower would be unharmed. The only problem was that the Song had to be sung by the Holy Maiden of the Church of El Elemia.
“Lady Tastiella,” Aurica mentioned. “Allow me to sing that Song. I…Before I was taken from the Tower, I was groomed to be the Holy Maiden, a descendent from Tyria herself!”
Sorey’s friends all turned to her out of astonishment. “You’re related to Tyria?!” Edna called out, who was, in this rare event, completely taken aback.
“That is what Bishop Falss told me, and it has been the one thing aside from Lyner that has been keeping me going.” She bowed before Tastiella. “Let me sing this Song as a tribute to Lyner, Shurelia’s late bodyguard.”
Tastiella scrutinized her. She allowed her to be the singer, but there was still the problem of finding the Song.
“Is there anyone that would know where to find it?” Lailah asked.
“Because it’s a Hymn Crystal pertaining to the Tower, I would imagine that Shurelia would know, but we obviously cannot ask her right now,” Tastiella replied. “Being 400 years old, my memory isn’t what it used to be; however, I believe there is one other person you can consult.” Staring into the distance above Em Pheyna, she uttered a name, “Leard Barsett.”
“He’s the only other person we can turn to,” Misha sighed dejectedly. “Well, we can’t do anything about it. Just…”
“When he hears about Lyner…” Aurica trailed off.
Alisha approached the two girls. “Is he related to Lyner?” she asked soothingly. They nodded, and once again Sorey’s eyes flickered with guilt. “As Princess of Hyland, I may be able to talk with him diplomatically. After all, countless more lives could be lost, and we don’t have time to focus on our emotions right now.”
Lailah watched her with admiration, yet she still felt that Alisha didn’t have to go through all the trouble. She was aware of Leard and his high-ranking status, and she wondered if he would remember her after thirty years. She hadn’t expected this all to become a massive homecoming, but she wanted to work for Alisha’s sake.
“Misha, Aurica, let us go meet Governor Barsett,” Lailah suddenly said, drawing the attention of Sorey and Rose’s seraphim. “Perhaps it would be wise to see him as well…since it’s been a long time.”
Lailah bid farewell to Tastiella, who was just as surprised as everyone else. Alisha followed behind her, leaving Rose and Dezel to speak privately with Edna and Zaveid—and by extension, Sorey. They whispered to each other with questions about where Lailah was from, and Zaveid said even he wasn’t sure. After all, he was only one old enough to find out about her origins, but the fire seraph herself was something of an enigma that only thought to care for them all like a mother.
“Hold on, I’m coming too!” Jack called after them just before the left Em Pheyna. He was panting from running to catch them before it was too late. “I…I don’t know yet if I can forgive you for getting Lyner killed, Shepherd. But if I know one thing, Leard is as big a pighead as they come.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Lailah smiled. “Bird’s the word!”
A cold wind blew through everyone from the gate.
“His name is Leard,” Zaveid reminded her. “Le-ard.”
“I’m not doing it for your sake. If Lyner were here, he’d be panicking about Shurelia.” Jack took off his hat in memory of his friend. “If Misha and Aurica are going to sing for his sake, then I wanna fight Mir for him.”
Rose glanced at everyone in the group before swinging her arm around Sorey’s neck. “Look at that, Sorey!” she happily said. “We’ve got three new party members since you’ve been depressed! Isn’t that cool?”
“Does she really think that will make him feel better?” Dezel and Jack asked themselves.
The path to Leard was just as arduous as the path to get to Em Pheyna with the addition of boulders and debris getting caught in the gravitational field of the section of the Tower called the Frozen Eye. The Ion Plate and Inferia together made a long earthy staircase that was partially enveloped in low-lying clouds with a separate structure called the Musical Corridor branching from it. The Frozen Eye, thus, was simply another reactor of sorts covered in ice. It regulated the flow of Symphonic Power coursing through the Tower, preventing backflow which would cause irreparable damage to the Tower and everything around it. The amount of power that went through it caused the gravitational field, and Jack advised that they didn’t stay near it longer than necessary.
The Symphonic Reactor was a familiar structure serving as the point where all Symphonic Powerlines spread out, and just above it was the Floating City of Platina. It wasn’t really floating, as Misha liked to point out. It was perched on the side of the Tower with a direct entrance to the inside of it. It was here that Lyner and Misha had been born and raised and eventually went their separate ways.
Upon entering Platina, Sorey brightened a little bit. The enigmatic nature of all the columns, pipes, and prisms that rose out of the city’s foundation baffled him, and for once—everyone noticed—he seemed to have focused on something other than Mikleo’s kidnapping. The centerpiece of the city was that of the pipe of a large organ, its chrome finishing almost blinding him.
“Oh, you’re smiling for once!” Misha giggled. “Wow, you look just like Lyner when he was younger.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, not even in the Celestial Record,” Sorey told her albeit still subdued. The smile then melted away. “I promised Mikleo that we would travel the world together and catalog everything, just like the author did…the previous Shepherd.”
Glad that Sorey had spoken a little more since they had arrived at the first Tower, Alisha reluctantly grabbed their attention. She asked Misha and Aurica to take her to Leard, but again Lailah went on her own. She found the stairs that took her the Cathedral, the legislative building of the city. She was somewhat unnerved by her distant attitude, but she thought that it was probably because Platina itself had an air of regal importance.
“Lailah seems to already know her way around,” Aurica noted.
“She did kind of hint that she was from here,” Misha added.
Sorey and Alisha wondered if it had to do with Michael. Had Michael traveled to Platina? But if he had, wouldn’t he have written about it in the Celestial Record?
The Cathedral was long and extravagant, and at the very back of the crystal-like hall was a statue of the Guardian and the Songstress. The same statue was also in the city square. Sorey wanted to learn more about this statue as he questioned its frequent appearance, but the sharp tone and harsh voice that boomed from the podium startled him.
“What do you mean he’s dead?” a man with long white hair and a sharped beard interrogated. “I can’t say I’m surprised that my son would be dead, but…to die a beggar’s death. His dignity as a Knight of Elemia was stolen from him!”
Lailah was unmoving as she faced the man named Leard. “Lyner’s death was not in vain,” she told him. “He protected the current Shepherd, giving him a second chance at life to find his answer and quell the Lord of Calamity.”
“You’re dealing with Shepherds again? I would have thought the previous ones after you left Platina would have been enough to deter you from that path in life.”
“Alas, they weren’t.” Lailah smiled. “Sorey is a fine Shepherd, and both of his Squires are adept with their blades as well.” She glanced back at them as they approached the podium. “Everyone has been through a lot, especially Sorey, but they’re still able to move on without being corrupted by the malevolence.”
“Had Lyner applied himself, he would have made a fine one.”
“Possibly.”
Alisha was at the head of the group flanked by Misha and Aurica. She got down on one knee, bowing out of respect for a fellow official. “My name is Alisha Diphda, Princess of Hyland. I hope you are well after having received information about your son,” she said with a dignified tone, though Zaveid thought the last part was a little excessive for an introduction.
“Ah, yes, the Princess that has stolen Lady Lailah’s heart,” Leard rumbled. He stood up and walked around in front of them. “Now, I assume we’re both on the same page and we’re aware that Shurelia is asleep with Mir dwelling inside of her.” Everyone nodded. “And you’re here because you need to wake her up, because if she’s asleep, then the Tower sleeps and reduces the output that supports life here.” Everyone nodded again. “Where do I begin…”
The door to the Cathedral swung open. The silhouette of a man in bulky armor stood at the door, his spear in hand. He was panting heavily. “Governor Leard!” he breathed. “I have a query for you!” Exhaustion evident in his stature, he dragged himself to the podium. “My apologies, it is I, Radolf, from Nemo. I got here as soon as I could because there’s something bothering me that I happened to overhear at the Church of El Elemia.”
“Perfect timing, you need to hear this, too.”
Alisha met Radolf’s eyes—a fellow knight and spear user. She gave a small bow before Leard commanded all attention.
The governor cleared his throat. “The man you know as Bishop Falss is not who you think he is,” he began. “For Lailah’s companions, Bishop Falss is in charge of the Church of El Elemia and once was tasked with caring for Aurica before she was capable of singing her Songs.” He took a deep breath. “But he is not really who he claims to be. Bishop Falss is actually a former administrator of this Tower named Kyle Clancy. He, Lady Shurelia, and I used to be known as the Three Magi, each of us tasked with protecting the Tower and the world it entails. Three specific Hymn Crystals had been created for this purpose—Purger, which was used long ago when a Virus had entered Aurica; Linker, which Kyle had stolen to put the Virus inside of her; and Re=Nation, which reboots the Tower out of its suspension state.”
Alisha raised a finger to her lips in thought. Lailah had had a Virus within her, and thankfully they didn’t need to use Purger…not that they could have retrieved it. The idea scared her somewhat. To think that someone had made a Song specifically to prime someone to be a vessel for something else on the Tower rather than forcing the two beings to merge as one like in Ladylake. But none of that mattered as much as Re=Nation.
“Each one of us had a Hymn Crystal in possession, but eventually our friendship had come to an end. Kyle had made the decision to leave Platina, taking his Hymn Crystal with him, but it was all a ruse. He had returned to acquire Mir’s power, and instead he was found out by a few guards within the Apostles of Elemia. He jumped off the edge of the Tower and appeared to have fallen to his death, but that was part of the plan as well. Assuming Kyle Clancy to be dead, Shurelia and I never noticed that a man named Bishop Falss had suddenly appeared—how could we?”
Sorey was bothered that someone so corrupted that they would yearn for Mir’s power used the veil of religion to hide their ugly intentions. He wanted to fight, but Alisha stepped up with a fire burning in her eyes.
“How disgraceful!” she declared. She vowed to Leard that she would retrieve the Hymn Crystal and awaken Shurelia. “This is…This is just like in my own city and in Captain Sergei’s city. I cannot stand by and allow such deception!”
Lailah offered a small hidden smile.
“Everyone here,” Alisha continued as she turned to face Sorey, Rose, Jack, Radolf, and every seraph in their presence. “Please, lend me your strength. We shall right these wrongs and save this Tower from the malevolence of a single man who threatens the death of an entire ecosystem.”
“I appreciate your zeal,” Leard told her. “But, Lailah, does your friend even know where to find Re=Nation?”
Lailah giggled. She admitted that Alisha was simply caught up in the moment despite her frustrations. Aurica and Radolf suggested that they go through Bishop Falss’ past. Deep within the Church of El Elemia was a hidden library. Radolf was sure that they would find something about the Hymn Crystal there. He beckoned everyone to follow him to the Wings of Horus and Nemo, but before they could leave, Leard asked for Sorey to stay behind.
“Y-Yes, our Excellency?” Sorey shyly said.
“No need for formalities, Shepherd,” the old man replied. “I can hear the hesitation in your voice. Pick yourself up, boy. My son died for you, so make him proud. Make your friends proud.”
He didn’t know what to say nor did he feel he had the authority to. Sorey slowly bowed then left after his friends and new acquaintances. He wanted to be happy like usual and help everyone he could to reassure them with his dream, but half of his dream was missing. Could anyone really understand what he felt? Surely, Rose or Alisha had to. The heartache of being separated and left in the dark about the well-being of his love weighed heavy on him, and it would continue to until he got him back, which would only happen after all of the Towers had healed.
Notes:
A LOT of technicalities in this chapter such as Hymn Crystal trifecta and a whole new religious establishment. I know AT lore is confusing, so I'm trying my best to make it a little easier to digest as far as what's presented in the game goes. There's a ton of extraneous details, but for the purposes of the story, I don't think they're too necessary. Just think of AT as one giant item trading quest!
Chapter 111: Phase 4: Uncovering a Dark Past
Summary:
The heroes make their way to Nemo's Church of El Elemia to search for clues where the other Hymn Crystals would be. Once they find a lead, they're interrupted by the one who had hid them.
Notes:
This chapter is a bit of a doozy as far as pacing goes, bu there was a lot of travelling in AT1 around this part. But I love the idea of Alisha and Lailah jumping to the rescue~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
As Alisha led the ragtag team of seraphim, knights, mercernaries, and whatever else could describe the group down the Tower, Radolf re-acquainted with Aurica and Misha and learned about Sorey and his mission as the Shepherd. In turn, he introduced himself. With Sorey feeling slightly better than before thanks to the hall of the Cathedral revitalizing his love for adventure and exploration, the princess and her fire seraph held a private counsel of two. They were so relieved that he was talking with new people instead of worrying, and Alisha herself felt obligated to make sure that his smile was always present. After all, he was a beacon of hope, and seeing him happy lifted many spirits. Lailah agreed mainly because seeing Sorey smile allowed her to see Alisha smile. She turned her gaze away, hiding the yet implicit strife on her face.
She worried about them. They were all so working hard to keep each other up and fight for the peace that had so long evade the Towers and the Glenwood Continent that she had begun to notice that they weren’t sleeping soundly or eating properly. Perhaps it was the stress of the journey, she thought, but even at night when she and Dezel watched their human partners slumber, they discussed the strain on their bodies. Edna and Zaveid would never bother to join their talks. Sorey’s mental state was draining them as much as the preoccupation with Mikleo was draining him.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Rose got more annoying than usual,” Dezel had said the night before they set out after meeting Leard. “She’s a tough girl, but this whole thing…it’s ten thousand times bigger than the massacre of the Windriders.”
“Alisha is the same,” Lailah had replied. “Dealing with Ladylake and the disrespect and maltreatment is nothing compared to this journey. I try to think that they will be stronger at the end, but what if they burn out before they finish?”
“That goes double for Sorey. He looks worse every day, except for now. But how long will that last?”
“I don’t sense that he’s in danger of falling. Keeping his spirits up should help him. If he were to fall now…”
That night, Dezel grunted in frustration. He didn’t view Sorey and Alisha the same as Rose; therefore, he wasn’t as inclined to worry about them. He considered the Shepherd a friend nevertheless, and he was sure that he could overcome the obstacle in his path now. He had done it before. The only difference was that this time he needed to have patience.
The blind wind seraph told Lailah to get some rest before climbing into Rose’s bed. Embarrassed that he found comfort in being close to her, he held her hand under the blanket so no one would see him in the morning.
Lailah sat on the edge of the bed beside Alisha, admiring the serene beauty of her sleeping face. And now, walking through the Tower and fighting off whatever hellions came after them, she still worried. Not only was Alisha willingly putting herself in danger to carry some of the burden, but there was a high probability of her finding out more about her past.
“Lailah?” Alisha suddenly said. “You’ve been awfully quiet for a while now. Is something on your mind?”
“I’m just thinking about what snacks to make!” Lailah lied.
“Exactly where are we going anyway?” Zaveid asked with a somewhat bored tone. “I should’ve just run down the side of the Tower instead of walking inside with all of you. Damn, I could have used the Wind Armatus to fly down the side.”
“We are heading to Nemo where the Church of El Elemia is located,” Radolf explained. “In the back of the church, we should be able to find a way into Bishop Falss’ archives. We will search for clues in there as to where we can find the Hymn Crystal.”
“Oh, I got it!” Rose happily blurted out. “I’ve been trying to figure out who you reminded me of, and you remind me of Sergei!”
“Hey, get serious,” Dezel chastised.
“Sergei?” Radolf repeated.
“He’s another no-fun metal-pants-wearing lug,” Edna told him.
Aurica nervously giggled. “You guys are pretty mean…”
“We’ve got a long way to go before we reach Nemo, so we might as well make it entertaining! Right, Sorey?” Rose said, nudging the Shepherd with her elbow. She had hoped the impromptu comedy act had helped to bring him out farther from the shell that he had made.
It took a few days to reach Nemo, and when they finally arrived, they had to turn in to the inn. Hellions were crawling in the Tower, and while they were weak comparatively, the sheer number of them forced them to go through their inventory of supplies faster than expected. The next morning, they regrouped outside of the inn before heading to the Church.
Radolf stepped into the building first, followed by Aurica and Alisha and Lailah. The seraphim winced at the malevolence teeming within the halls, which forced Sorey and Rose to call theirs back inside. Radolf and Jack, who were unaware that people could do that, were taken aback. On the Tower, such a symbiotic relationship wasn’t possible. At best, they could only Dive, and as Katene had said in Lohgrin, even that process was far different from that on the Glenwood Continent.
“We’ll need to be quick,” Radolf told them. “I don’t know when Bishop Falss will be back, but if he catches us in here—”
“Nothing to worry about,” Rose nonchalantly said. “Stealth is our thing.”
“It’s your thing,” Dezel corrected her.
Radolf unlocked the door to the hidden library, cautioning everyone to watch their step while they walked into the darkness. Lailah snapped her fingers to light a small flame, and she worked her way around the archives lighting each candle she could find. Everyone else addressed a bookcase each. There, they read Falss’ innumerous diaries. Some were in the common language, some were in Hymmnos, and a very particular few were written in the ancient tongue.
“Sorey, could you read this for us?” Alisha asked.
“Bishop Falss knew the ancient tongue?” Sorey mumbled to himself. It couldn’t have been a coincidence considering that Lailah had spent time in Platina and Leard had mentioned other Shepherds. “Could it be possible?”
“Shepherd,” Jack barked at him. “Keep your head in the game. We don’t have much time.”
Sorey read the diary and translated:
“‘Benevolent Radolf, who is an outspoken individual, spoke out against the events that transpired today. Keeping out of harms way, I saw many innocent people hurt in the riots. Everyone believed their livelihoods will improve forevermore by the Trio. I’ll have to get rid of Radolf right away. I cannot have him interfere.’ That’s all.”
“That sounds awful,” Aurica said. “I…I would have never imagined that Bishop Falss would want to remove Radolf.”
Radolf didn’t seem surprised by the passage. “Since Mir had been sealed away inside of Lady Shurelia, he has been cold to me. Of course, I once competed with him for the Bishop title, but this sounds like deeper resentment than I could have imagined.”
Lailah watched the diary, her eyebrows furrowing and causing her forehead to scrunch up. The memories of before she had left for the Glenwood Continent and before she had met Michael trickled back into her mind.
---------------------------------------------------
“Kyle, what is the meaning of this?” Shurelia had asked. She and Leard stood before the elderly man within the Symphonic Reactor. “Without the three of us, the whole Tower could be in danger. And these Hymn Crystals are more important than our partnership; you can’t just leave.”
Kyle shook his head. “The Tower does not need three administrators, and these Hymn Crystals have the power of propogating the seraphim that live here. If we combine that with the power we could siphon from Mir, then the armies below us would never stand a chance should they attempt to invade us,” he rebuted. He took a step towards Leard. “Surely, a man can understand what it means to have an army at the ready.”
“I cannot agree with you,” Leard told him. “Mir was the reason our people had to leave the Glenwood Continent in the first place a seven hundred years ago. She was born from the malevolence and our foolish attempt to control it. Innominat had failed long before—”
“You mustn’t speak that name,” Shurelia hushed.
Lailah walked in at that moment with a smile. She had been waiting to share new Songs with Shurelia, who she viewed as a friend. When she intruded on the discussion taking place, she had sensed a growing malevolence. She couldn’t detect it from anyone specifically, but the only one that appeared to be hostile was Kyle Clancy.
“Lady Shurelia, listen to me!” he pleaded. He took out the Hymn Crystal for Re=Nation from his satchel. “We can control Mir if we use these Hymn Crystals on her.” Shaking it as if he were seething, he pressed her to use it.
“Mir is the most dangerous among our kind, fit to be considered a Reyvateil herself,” Shurelia argued. Then she saw Lailah. “Lailah…could you please come back at a later time?”
“Lady Shurelia, someone here is tainted,” Lailah told her, much to Kyle’s frustration. “Will you be safe?”
Before she could respond, Kyle left the Symphonic Reactor. As he passed Lailah, she felt the malevolence coming from him, his heart as black as it could get. Later that same day, Kyle returned to try and steal the other Hymn Crystals. When he had faked his death, the fire seraph had announced that she would be journeying down to the Glenwood Continent. She had no idea that Kyle had survived and gone into hiding under the alias Falss. She met Michael shortly after, and she went with him to quell the malevolence.
--------------------------------------------
How could she have not known he was still alive? She never sensed him after that day. Could she have prevented all this if she had simply stayed on the Tower and investigated it? But she was foolish then, uneducated about the world that she would eventually memorize better than the layout of Eolia. And what did this have to do with Radolf and Kyle’s hatred for him? Was it because he was getting in the way?
“We’ve hit a dead end,” Alisha finally sighed. She shuffled a few more books around while the other searched. Sorey just kept staring at the diary. “Sorey, please help us look for clues. We don’t have much time.”
Sorey didn’t move. He looked up with an epiphany shining in his dulled emerald eyes. He hurried silently to a desk, writing his translation of the passage in the diary onto a scrap of paper in the common language exactly as it had been written before:
Benevolent Radolf, who is an
outspoken individual, spoke
out against the events that transpired today.
Keeping out of harms way, I
saw many innocent people
hurt in the riots.
Everyone believed their
livelihoods will improve
forevermore by the Trio.
I’ll have to get rid of Radolf
right away. I cannot have him interfere.
“It’s…a code,” he murmured to himself.
The Church doors slammed shut, the sound echoing into the hidden library with a thunderous rumble. Someone’s voice questioned why the library had been opened, and immediately, Radolf knew they were in trouble.
Lailah’s chest tightened; she recognized the malevolent presence, but it had only gotten stronger over the years. Bishop Falss emerged from the entrance of the library.
“Radolf, you traitor!” he bellowed. “You treasonous bastard!”
“The only one who had committed treason is you, Kyle!” Lailah spoke out. The old man faltered at the sight of her. “Even after all these years, you were still planning to harness Mir’s power?”
Bishop Falss refused to answer her, and he grew angrier and angrier knowing that someone who had known his plan had escaped to the Glenwood Continent. He had never expected her to return, much less to act against him. What would she know? Mir, the strongest seraph of all, could help free her from the servitude that she had learned under Alisha.
“All of you are trapped in here, ripe for the picking,” Bishop Falss growled.
“You really think you can take us all on, grandpa?!” Zaveid challenged him.
Without hesitation, Bishop Falss funneled a wave of malevolence into the library, knocking all the books off their shelves and damaging some of them. Sorey couldn’t believe the end he would strive for at the expense of so many tomes with valuable information. In the chaotic confusion, Bishop Falss darted through the room like he himself was a hellion to a small alcove within one of the bookshelves. He pulled a lever that unlocked another hidden room behind it, and in seconds, he swooped in and swooped out with a blue and gold orb somewhat bigger than an iris gem in each hand.
“I may have already lost Purger, but I still have Linker and Re=Nation!” he cackled. The malevolence wafting off of him like toxic gas, the seraphim felt themselves weaken. “Aurica! You are the Holy Maiden of the Church of El Elemia! Come with me, show me your power!”
He whipped tendrils of malevolence at the young seraph, dragging her with little effort towards him. Despite her cries and screams to let her go, he vanished into a vortex of the wickedness.
“Aurica!” Radolf called for her. “Damn it all!”
“He got away!” Alisha gasped.
“Alisha, we must hurry,” Lailah told her. “He is in possession of two Hymn Crystals. If we don’t get them before he uses them, Lady Shurelia may not be able to be revived.” She ordered the princess to call her true name, and once they Armatized, Lailah sped out of the Church. “Let us be in time!”
“We need to hurry!” Radolf shouted.
“We would just get in their way,” Jack countered. “Besides, unlike these weirdos from the continent below the Sea of Death, we won’t be able to keep up with them even if we took every single elevator in the Tower.”
“What do you propose we do?”
Jack turned to Sorey and Rose. “Hope you’re ready for some walking. We’re going to Firefly Alley to meet up with a friend.”
“We don’t have time for that!” Rose told him. “Alisha and Lailah are going to fight that creep alone!”
Sorey rested a hand on her shoulder. The dullness in his emerald eyes had been brightened by determination and hope, something that he had been missing for a while yet found again. Aurica had been taken just like Mikleo, but Alisha was doing something about it.
“If your friend can get you guys up there, then we’ll go,” the Shepherd decided. “Rose and I will use our Wind Armatuses to catch up, and Edna can use her power of the earth—”
“Or I can just ride with Mr. Pearl and Greasy Hunter instead of expending energy,” Edna suggested. “If we happen to join the battle midway through, it would be pointless if I were already exhausted.”
“Fine, whatever, we just gotta move our asses!” Jack huffed. He led the desperate group down the Tower as quickly as they could run to Firefly Alley through the Terraced Fields skirting the edges of the Wings of Horus.
Meanwhile, Lailah pushed Alisha to leap up the Tower. “Where is he? Can you sense him?” the princess asked.
“I don’t understand…why is he going to the Crescent Chronicle? Unless…that’s where Mir’s true form is!”
“Lailah, just how much do you know?”
Lailah didn’t respond either because she was focusing so much on catching Bishop Falss or because her oath prevented her from speaking without losing her powers. One day, she would tell everything to her, but not now. Not when they needed the power of purification to quell Bishop Falss and free Aurica from his grasp.
They finally came to the Pheya Gate, which had been blown open. Black flames still flickered around the debris. The evidence was there; Bishop Falss had forced his way into the sacred city. Alisha hopped and glided around the purple buildings. Tens of Teru Tribe members were injured and unconscious, and even though both of them wanted to stop and help them, Aurica’s life was far more important. They followed the destruction to the Crescent Chronicle. They moved through the maze of corridors that were locked and blocked by Tastiella’s magic. When the walls had been blown through with malevolent power, they knew that the hellion of the old man had gotten farther than they had thought.
Just outside the chamber, Flute lay on the ground. His arm was bleeding and unconscious, but he was still breathing. A good sign. Where was Tastiella? Alisha used her Rejuvenation Arte to heal him enough to pull him out of critical condition before heading into the chamber of the Crescent Chronicle. There, Tastiella was trying to keep Bishop Falss under control with her power.
“Aurica, are you alright?” Alisha asked after she rushed to her side.
“She’s hurt,” Tastiella told her. “You must heal her!”
Alisha and Lailah de-Armatized so the fire seraph could do her best to heal Aurica’s wounds. Alisha joined Tastiella in the effort to keep Falss from stepping onto the altar.
“Get out of my way, you old wench,” Falss snarled.
“Leave this place,” Tastiella bit back. “This is a holy ground, one not fit for your sullied feet.”
Aurica woke up under Lailah’s care. She had blacked out before reaching Em Pheyna. Seeing the small woman and the princess fighting against Bishop Falss, she began to worry. Lailah took her hands.
“Please, Aurica, please restart the Tower,” she begged her. “If you do, then I can help Alisha fight.”
“But Misha’s not here to stop Mir,” Aurica said in a panic. “I can’t just release her!”
Alisha charged at Bishop Falss with her spear ready to pierce his heart hidden under all his robes. Tastiella waited for her moment to push him out of the Crescent Chronicle chamber. And suddenly—
Notes:
I don't think I ever settled on if Lailah should be from Platina originally or if she just makes business trips there before meeting Michael. I like the latter since she, by all accounts, is a Glenwood Continent seraph and not a Tower Reyvateil (i.e. she can use her Artes and Songs as opposed to just her Songs).
Chapter 112: Phase 4: Firefly Alley
Summary:
Misha and Jack take their new friends to Firefly Alley to get an airship to get back to Em Pheyna.
Notes:
I think I've introduced all of the AT1 cast except for one by now, and let me tell you. The character designs between ToZ and AT1 are soooo different. I'd love to see how Sorey and Rose react to Ayano and Spica respectively.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A girl with bright red braided hair wiped the sweat from under her goggles on her forehead. She set aside a wrench before sliding off of the airship that she had been working on. She looked at it with a gleam in her green eyes. She was proud of her work.
As she took a seat on a bench with a small sandwich she had made, she wondered how her friends were doing. It had been a long time since she saw Lyner. After he, Aurica, and Misha had disappeared from the Tower, there was a consensus that everyone should move on with their lives until they returned.
“How many years has it been?” she sighed. “Geez, Lyner, you were supposed to help me find Luke. Man, even Jack isn’t around to help me.”
After a few minutes of silently eating, she returned to her work building an airship for the Tenba Corporation, a company that had been the source of many of the technological advancements among humans on the Tower. She was about halfway finished with her current project when another employee of the Tenba Corporation walked into her garage. He told her that she had a few visitors, to which she sat up and scratched her head.
“This…This is Seraphic Technology?!” Sorey and Rose gasped.
“The same stuff existed on the Glenwood Continent ages ago, but it fell out of use once the seraphim were enslaved or disappeared,” Zaveid explained. “Heh, I remember some of these doodads. There have been some modifications, though. Not quite Seraphic Tech.”
“Wow, so old,” Edna moaned much to his chagrin. “So, so, so old. This stuff existed more than a thousand years ago.”
“People still used it up until things changed for the worst.”
Rose and Sorey ran around the lobby like children looking at even just the strange metal material used to build the walls. While the assassin wasn’t interested in it all as Sorey, she thought that feigning it would spark another fire in him to keep him motivated and moving.
Finally, the red-haired mechanic appeared in the doorway. She was beside herself when her eyes fell on Jack, Misha, and Radolf. She was speechless.
“What are you guys doing here?” she asked.
“Krusche, it’s been a while,” Misha greeted her coyly. Her eyes fell on her chest. “Wow, maybe ‘while’ doesn’t cut it. You actually look like a woman now!”
“Oh, shut up. Jack, Radolf, where have you been? And Misha, why are you here again? I thought you all had died or something when you just disappeared one day.”
“We’ll have time to catch up afterwards,” Jack hurriedly said. “Would Pres Ayano be okay if you left for a bit?”
“What do you mean?”
Sorey stepped forward, greeting her with utmost respect unlike Misha had. The seraphic girl warned him that she would let it go to her head which was precisely why she teased her. He explained the situation as quickly as he could, leaving out everything that had happened before they had met up and gone to search for the Hymn Crystal that would restart the Tower. Krusche’s expression changed at least five times listening to Sorey, and hearing that Aurica had been kidnapped by Bishop Falss pained her especially she hadn’t seen her in a decade.
Jack asked her to use one of the Tenba airships to take them to the Crescent Chronicle; however, Krusche’s eyes tore away from the group. Just because she worked with them now and just because Ayano the president viewed them as comrades as far as the Tower residents were concerned, she coucdn’t just take the airships without permission.
“They’re technically under the company’s jurisdiction, and I was really lucky to get this job after all the crap we went through with them. Besides, none of the airships are equipped with jets powerful enough to give us the thrust we need to get to the Crescent Chronicle in under five minutes. That kind of speed would kill us, anyway,” Krusche sighed. “You all need to find someone else. Like Lyner’s airship.”
Surprisingly the engineering pilot, Sorey fell to his knees before her. He took her hands into his, squeezing them tightly. “Please, we’re begging you, Krusche,” he told her. “Aurica is in danger, our friends are trying to save her, and we need to awaken Shurelia.”
Krusche bit her lip. The sincerity in his eyes tugged at her heart because they looked like Lyner’s. The same dutiful but hopelessly naïve look that even Luke, her missing boyfriend, had before he had set off for the Blast Line that blocked the way to the top of the Tower. She reluctantly agreed to ask for permission. She left them for a few minutes then returned with word from the president.
“President Ayano wants to see you,” she told Sorey. “And while they talk, Misha—” she turned to the Star Singer. “I need you to go find this type of grathnode crystal. It’ll give us the boost we need to minimize the travel time. I know you have your…resources.”
“I’m sure Spica will have something,” Misha said with a smile. Rose and Dezel joined her to find her friend out of curiosity about this commodity. They left without a second to spare.
Only a few seconds after their departure, Ayano came to the lobby to meet Sorey. Edna immediately put up her umbrella in front of Zaveid’s line of sight for the intimidating woman had large breasts that were barely covered if at all with small pieces of gold that held strings taut across her torso. She had an eyepatch that was partially covered by silver bangs. Her hair was pulled back into a long thick ponytail with a palm-sized amount circling around her head.
“So, you must be the one that desperately needs this airship,” she said, her voice sounding motherly and kind. It was a bizzare dissonant image that Sorey couldn’t begin to respond to her. “Judging by your face, you’ve never seen a woman like me before.”
“Um, well, the women on the Glenwood Continent do dress…a little more conservatively…” Sorey stammered. “President Ayano—”
“Just Ayano is fine.”
“A-Ayano, we really need to borrow an airship. Our friends are in danger and—”
“Krusche has already told me about the situation. You’re with Jack and Radolf, friends of Lyner. I can only assume you are a friend of his, too. Give my regards to him. And Krusche, only you are allowed to pilot the airship, understand?”
“Yes ma’am!” Krusche replied. She stiffly bowed to the woman before demanding that everyone else did the same to show their gratitude. “Thank you, ma’am!”
Deep within Firefly Alley, the mechanical floating island on which the Tenba Corporation had been founded, Misha led Rose and Dezel through the rusting and crumbling streets to a platform just under the main street. There was a girl with glasses and white braided hair and wearing what looked like to be blue pharmacist’s clothes rearranging crystals in a basket behind a bench.
“It’s almost ready to make the journey,” she giggled. She pushed the basket farther behind a bench into a small hiding hole before dusting off her clothes to return to her job selling homemade medicines. That was when she noticed Misha and her entourage walking up to her. “Oh my! This is a surprise! Misha, how are you? I haven’t from you in years!”
“Hi, Spica! How’s business? Are you finally following your dream?” Misha asked her.
“Not quite. To become Queen of the Underworld, I still need to have the entire populace eating out of my palm. So far, only the Church and Tenba have heard of my rare collection.” Spica giggled again. “I’m expecting to move to Frelia soon to plant yet more seeds.”
Rose crossed her arms. She seemed doubtful that such a scholarly-looking girl could become an underground overlord. Furthermore, she felt slightly inferior to her when her breast caught her eye. She mildly worried that Dezel’s wind would translate her figure to him.
“U-Underground? Q-Queen?” she said to try to seem normal. “W-Well, it’s not easy to…to become one…”
“Rose, are you okay?” Misha asked her with concern. “Oh, it must be from how high we are. We are pretty high up, but I can promise you that you probably won’t fall off the Tower.”
Spica was intrigued. “Visitors from the Glenwood Continent? My, if things get fixed, then I might even expand my business down there,” she thoughtfully considered.
Rose prickled at that idea. “M-Maybe we can figure out a partnership?”
“Dear, there’s no such thing as a partnership in the underworld.”
“Hey, we’re on a tight schedule,” Dezel snapped at the girls. “We need a certain type of crystal. You got it?”
Misha showed Krushe’s note to Spica, and the girl shuffled through her basket for a green crystal. “Here it is—that’ll will be 1,000,000 gald please,” she smiled. Misha argued with her that they didn’t have that kind of money before Spica laughed at her. “I’m only joking. I assumed that what was why you showed up after so long. And word travelled even to little ol’ me that the Tower has been asleep for several months now—not that it took long to figure out. Song Magic is barely functional after all.”
Misha apologized then thanked her for the crystal. As much as Rose wanted to stay to explore Firefly Alley as a possible market, they had more pressing matters. They returned to the Tenba Corporation building, where Krusche was waiting in the airship hangar to install the crystal. Misha handed it to her, and they were ready for takeoff.
“So, are all of us riding in this thing or…?” Krusche trailed off. Sorey and Rose were already outside and Armatized with their wind seraphim. Edna stayed behind to ride with them since she was adamant about taking it easy on the way up and couldn’t ride inside of Sorey while he was Armatized. “Huh? What are they doing?”
“Where we’re from,” Rose began.
“We can fuse with our seraphim to wield the Armatus,” Sorey finished.
“According to a researcher from Tilia, such a method is impossible on the Towers; however, it would appear that it is both a natural thing and it must exceed the Symphonic Power that ultimately prevents such fusion within denizens of the Towers,” Edna further explained. “Meaning that the humans that exist on the Towers are actually inherently more corrupted than those living on the Glenwood Continent.”
Radolf thought about it. Long ago, there had been fruitless experiments to try to Armatize on the Tower, but because it was extremely dangerous, Dive machines were invented to circumvent the problem. He wanted to see the Glenwood Continent one day to understand how it worked so he could educate the Church and improve their quality of life.
Ayano stood by, wishing them luck from a window as they rest of them boarded the airship. “All systems ready,” Krusche said aloud in the cockpit. “Fuel tank full. Thrusters at max strength. Time to destination Crescent Chronicle is five minutes. Everyone, hang on!”
Jack, Radolf, Edna, and Misha all braced themselves in the airship, and in seconds, they were launched into the sky at breakneck speed. Sorey and Rose flew next to it on either side like mini-jets. The speed was less forgiving to them, pushing air into their faces and almost suffocating them. They soared up to the Em Pheyna’s gate, glowing with the black fires that were strewn about since Alisha had arrived.
“T-The gate…” Rose gasped.
Sorey led them in, the airship left perched next to the gate as best as Krusche could fit it on the ledge. Jack was horrified to find his people all around. “This isn’t good,” Radolf stated. “Jack, I’ll stay here to tend to the wounded.”
“What about Aurica?” the green-clad man asked.
“She’s in safe hands with you all. These people need help.”
“We’ll stay, too,” Rose said after de-Armatizing from Dezel; Krusche stood with her. “There’s a lot of people here; one man can’t do this alone.” She looked at Sorey. “Don’t freeze up. Aurica is counting on you. So is Shurelia and Mikleo. Make sure you awaken the Tower.”
Sorey at first seemed to have lost his drive again, but it was only a reversion back to the Shepherd he was before he lost his water seraph. He—still Armatized—led Edna, Misha, and Jack to the Crescent Chronicle, where Alisha and Tastiella strove to fight off Bishop Falss.
Within the innermost chamber of the Crescent Chronicle, Alisha charged at Bishop Falss with her spear ready to pierce the twisted heart hidden under all his robes. Tastiella waited for her moment to push him out of the Crescent Chronicle chamber. And suddenly, a surge of water crashed into their enemy.
Notes:
I still don't know if Rose is one to be worried about Spica's figure and if Dezel would like her. Like...almost every girl in AT has a chest, though.
Chapter 113: Phase 4: Re=Nation and Chronicle Key
Summary:
Encountering Falss, Alisha reawakens the Tower with Aurica's help. Misha then takes over to seal Mir indefinitely until a better solution can be found.
Notes:
Short chapter this time. I don't think Falss is actually a boss you fight in Ar Tonelico, so his battle isn't super detailed. The Songs for this chapter are on YouTube to listen to. Chronicle Key is one of my favorites, so I highly recommend listening to it. In fact, when they get mentioned, you should play them at the same time!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey stood at the entrance of the Crescent Chronicle still donning the Wind Armatus. Edna, Misha, and Jack flanked him. Alisha, Lailah, Tastiella, and Aurica were all surprised to see them.
“Bishop Falss, your evil plan stops here!” Sorey declared. He de-Armatized then charged into battle. Misha began to sing, creating a ball of energy over her. “I won’t let you abuse Mir!”
“Abuse her? That’s what she was born for!” Bishop Falss countered. He was shrouded in malevolence, but he was slow. Even as he whipped the area around Sorey in an effort to break his legs, he couldn’t keep up with him. “Hold still, damn you!”
“Air Pressure!” Edna called out to pin him down. Jack shot bullet after bullet at him. “Hailing Downpour!” the little earth seraph cried out between his shots.
Bishop Falss’ skin was tough like a dragon’s. It repelled the bullets and chunks of ice, and when Misha unleashed her Song Magic, it did little to damage him much to her astonishment. The hellionized old man turned his attention to Alisha and Tastiella. While Tastiella held him back with her magic, Alisha swerved in and out towards him.
“Thunderclap!” she yelled. Her blade flared with electricity; and landing a blow to the top of his head, she succeeded in knocking him off-balance. “Lailah! Ready?” She leapt back to reach for her dear seraph’s hand. “Fethmus Mioma!”
The two girls Armatized in a blaze of fire. Lailah channeled her fiery powers through her human vessel, pushing Falss back away from the altar while Zaveid prepared to tie him up with his pendulums.
“You think you can win so easily?!” Falss roared. “This power that I have craved—only now have I gotten to harness it. It is but a fraction of what Mir holds within her!” He sent out a pulse of malevolence that knocked everyone to the ground except for Alisha. “Insolent brat, learn when to quit!”
“Never!” Alisha retaliated. Bishop Falss tried to hit her again with a pulse of malevolence, but it missed. The princess and her fire seraph leapt into the air, diving down with the Sacred Blade engulfed in flames. “How dare you…!”
“Alisha, let’s finish this!” Lailah said from within.
Together, they unleashed their Mystic Arte. Bishop Falss screamed in agony, the flames consuming him then dying out to reveal a severely burned man. Alisha de-Armatized from Lailah. Her spear was cloaked in Lailah’s Silver Flame.
“You…You would really kill me? An official from a different world than your own? You would risk war?” Falss tried to manipulate.
“I’ve already seen war, have been in it, and know that scoundrels like you are the root of it. You would go so far to abuse seraphim for your own gain—it happens where I am from, too. So, I will gladly put an end to it when I can.”
“And what if you can’t!?”
Alisha faltered.
“A lowly princess such as yourself can do naught what the Shepherd can. Stop this farce. Cling to what little power you have and use it on the seraphim who can easily kill you if they so wish. By harnessing their power, you can exact your revenge on everyone that has spit on you and looked down from where they stand!”
“How…do you know…?”
“Alisha! Quickly, purify him! Don’t listen to those lies!”
Alisha reaffirmed her belief in Lailah, Sorey, and all the seraphim that had been helping them to fix the world. She deftly plunged the spear into Bishop Falss’ heart, dispelling the malevolence that had taken his soul. The old man’s corpse went up in silver fire, dissipating into tiny embers that vanished like dying stars.
“You did it,” Lailah graciously said.
But Alisha was still perturbed by what Bishop Falss had said. How did he know that she was a low-ranking princess? She forced it out of her mind, turning to Lailah and Aurica. Tastiella breathed a sigh of relief now that the threat had been taken care of from the Crescent Chronicle. She looked up at Sorey then at Misha.
“Thank you,” she said. “Now that the Crescent Chronicle is no longer in danger, we can proceed with the plan.” Then they noticed that her body was starting to vanish. “It seems that that man took more out of me than I anticipated…”
“G-Granny!” Jack cried out. He and Misha fell to their knees before her. “W-What’s happening to you!?”
“My corporeal form is disappearing. My soul, having used too much power to not only sustain the Crescent Chronicle but also to hold off that hellion, is collapsing.”
“W-What do you mean?!” Misha cried. “You can’t die!”
“Oh, Misha…” Tastiella smiled. “I’ve been dead for hundreds of years. The only reason that I am here now is because this is where my real body rests.” Misha’s eyes widened. “The Crescent Chronicle is my body. I sacrificed it to create a coffin of sorts to seal Mir away. That is why I was the first Star Singer, and that is why each Star Singer after me has been cursed to sing Chronicle Key to prevent it from opening.
“So…that means…” Lailah trembled.
“Yes, Bishop Falss’ presence has corrupted my soul, but it is thanks to your quick action that I have been saved. I won’t turn into a hellion, nor will the Crescent Chronicle collapse.” Tastiella just kept smiling. “Honestly, I was waiting for death. I’ve been here for 400 years, unable to move and unable to leave the Pheyna Temple. But now, I am free. Even still, promise me, Misha.” She took hold of her hands.
Misha held back her tears and sobs to listen to Tastiella’s final request. “Promise me that you will sing the Song and hold Mir back until you can quell the malevolence that had been born in her heart since her birth.”
“I-I will!” Misha choked. “I’ll sing for you and Lyner and everyone who has given their lives to protect the Tower!”
Tastiella’s voice had fallen silent. All that was left was her smiling phantom that was slowly turning into specks of light before them. Sorey hadn’t known her for long, yet he was saddened that now Shurelia would awaken without one of her longest friends being there to greet her. Alisha felt differently—guilty even. She thought that she had aided in Tastiella’s fading away by unleashing such a strong attack in the middle of her body. Lailah pulled her into a hug, promising her that she was not at fault, for she had sensed the malevolence within Falss and knew that such wickedness would permeate anything if given the chance. Tastiella had been weakened for some time, but she was safe from harm in her final moments.
Misha cried until the promise she made was the only thing that stood out in her mind. She wiped her tears away with her bell sleeves then walked to Aurica. “Aurica, someone needs to give you the Song Re=Nation,” she said.
Alisha told herself to get it together before volunteering to be the one to use the Hymn Crystal on her. Linker and Re=Nation had been left in Bishop Falss’s stead. Jack took Linker with the idea of returning it to Leard for him to hold on to. The princess took Re=Nation in both hands.
“Are you ready?” she asked Aurica. The timid seraph girl swallowed her nervousness. She stood with dignity as the Holy Maiden of the Church of El Elemia, and with trust in the princess, she gave her her true name. “Let us begin. Rrha ki ra exec hymmnos RE=NATION. Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_RE=NATION enter MIR_TEIWAZ_ARTONELICO. Your true name…”
After Aurica absorbed the Song into her and let the feelings contained in it flow through her, she explained that her true name had been altered before she was taken from the Tower. There had been an incident that she had mostly forced herself to forget, and ever since she had been anxious about using it. But not now. Not when she was needed most. She began to sing the Song Re=Nation.
The Song sounded like a sweet wake-up call. As Aurica sang the Song, the Tower rumbled. Its entire being glowed with light, and the seraphim felt a surge of power return to them. And high up on the Rinkernator, Shurelia roused. Her Linkage Armor, which had disappeared when she fell asleep, reappeared and shielded her body from the harsh surge of Symphonic Power.
At the same time, Mir’s shackles within the Binary Field broke off of her and she was free to roam the open world again. Harvestasha, however, wouldn’t let her leave until she promised to help her.
“Why…Why am I awake?” Shurelia whispered to herself. “Mir…Mir can…”
Back in the Crescent Chronicle, Aurica has finished the Song, basking in the glorious feeling of having her Song Magic back. Without hesitation, Misha took her spot on the altar in the center of the Crescent Chronicle. First, she peered up at the chandelier of organ pipes that hung over her head. These would amplify her Song to ensure that Mir could never escape.
“Initializing Chronicle Key,” Misha said. The organ chandelier above shimmered, and specks of golden light appeared around everyone. Unlike Aurica’s Song that resembled a lullaby despite its function to wake the Tower, Misha’s Chronicle Key was regal and imposing like how a seal was supposed to be. “Please, let this Song reach you and put you to sleep.”
“I will decide what to do after I accomplish my mission, Harvestasha,” Mir told her companion in the Binary Field. “Until I eradicate all humans, I will not help anyone.” Then she was overcome with drowsiness. “W-What’s happening? Why am I so sleepy? Shurelia just woke up!”
“The Star Singer has returned,” Harvestasha noted. “It seems the Shepherd was able to accomplish his mission in restoring the Tower.”
“No, I refuse!”
Mir could not fight against the eternal slumber that was settling into her body and soul. She was pulled from the Binary Field and returned to the Crescent Chronicle where she slept in the coffin that Tastiella had made for her so many years before.
Misha wasn’t allowed to speak while she was singing, but everyone bid her farewell until they could find a permanent solution that was also fair to her. Alisha bowed to her before she left with everyone else. Now that Shurelia was awake and Mir was asleep, they had to start working on how to quell the malevolence within the strongest Reyvateil.
Notes:
I should have a chapter next weekend. Last week was the beginning of the roughest week in school so far, but I also wanted a little break myself. I've gotten a friend to start AT1, so I'm getting a bit of a refresher of the story.
Chapter 114: Phase 4: Maltran on the Tower
Summary:
Entangled in her feelings about Alisha and her insecurities of how she could help, Lailah tries to find a solution to the present problem. Someone on the other side of the conflict encounters her, giving her a forewarning of what lies in the future.
Notes:
Lailah's love for Alisha is actually one of my favorite things about this phase. I do have to offer some credit to my friend, who loves the idea of a certain ship. And I totally forgot how interesting things get with this chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Alisha and Sorey headed the group as they returned to Em Pheyna from the Crescent Chronicle. They were exhausted from the battle with Bishop Falss yet invigorated from Aurica’s Song and relieved thanks to Misha’s. But it wasn’t the only feelings they felt. Everyone now felt like they needed to see Shurelia immediately. Lailah, walking along in her solitude that night, contemplated what the past moments had meant. How did Falss—rather, Kyle know about Alisha’s ranking as a princess? More importantly, what could she do to help Aurica and Misha to stop Mir from taking over the Tower? She remained outside the inn to think.
“Hey, Lailah,” Edna spoke to her after some time. The emotionless voice tore her out of her thoughts. “Food’s out. You should eat.”
“I’ll be there in a moment,” Lailah said with a half-hearted smile. “I should freshen up before eating.”
She went to the washroom on the other side of the inn with Edna following behind her quietly. After the fire seraph had washed her face and turned around to return to the diner half of the establishment, she let out a yelp when she saw her friend.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Edna sighed. “If you really are from Platina, did you meet the previous Shepherd or on the Glenwood Continent?”
“You know I can’t answer that.”
“Fine. You’ve been rather aloof since we got here, as if you’re trying to hide something from us.”
“I must keep my oath.”
“And what about Alisha? Do you think she would be okay with this?”
Lailah stopped talking. She knew Alisha wanted to know everything. Lailah couldn’t tell her for fear of losing the power of purification, not even the fact that she wasn’t from Platina yet had known Shurelia for a very long time. Furthermore, she wanted to protect her. That was her present dilemma even now. Aurica had restored the Tower. Misha was singing to protect it from Mir. What could she do?
“Your face is all scrunched up again,” Edna observed. “Keep that up, and Zaveid will start asking you questions, too.”
Lailah agreed with her. She pressed and rubbed the skin between her eyebrows to force the muscles to relax. Deep in her heart, though, she still pondered about it. “Do you think we can see Shurelia tomorrow?” she asked the earth seraph absentmindedly.
“I thought that was the plan?”
“Y-You’re right. I apologize.”
“Our job here isn’t finished. It’s not enough to just seal Mir away. Seals are meant to be broken, and I doubt Misha can continue singing to lock her away. And judging by what that creepy old man said, Kittybeard and his posse could be here as well.”
It was as she predicted. That was the only way that he would have known about Alisha. And if it truly were the case, then Maltran had to have mentioned it to him.
The two seraphic girls returned to the diner just in time to see Sorey, Rose, and Alisha nodding off. While Rose mumbled about Dezel teasing her about her cooking in her dream, and while Sorey sighed out Mikleo’s name in a sleepy prayer, Alisha was trying her best to stay awake. Edna inhaled her dinner then joined Zaveid in taking Sorey upstairs to one of the rooms. After Dezel dodged a few flying fists from Rose in his attempt to carry her, the rest of the group tried to convince Alisha to go to bed.
“I have to wait…for Lailah…” she yawned.
Jack groaned. “Well, Lailah’s here eating, so she can catch up with you,” he told her with anticipated failure.
“Let her wait,” Radolf chuckled.
Aurica moved the last couple peas on her plate around. “S-So, Lailah—um, I have a question,” she nervously asked. Lailah took her seat to begin eating. “You and Alisha are…together, right?”
“Yes, we are,” Lailah smiled. “We’ve been together since she was just a toddler.”
“Whoa, really?” Krusche gawked.
Aurica blushed deeply. “S-So, that means, that both of you like girls?”
Lailah thought a little. In the past, she couldn’t deny that she had had romantic feelings for Michael; though, if Alisha ever found out, it would be embarrassing to explain. She couldn’t speak for Alisha because she wasn’t her, but her answer was simply that she loved anyone who protected her and wanted to be protected by her. Perhaps, she thought, that was why Michael had never felt the same as her and thus never Dived into her. Alisha was different. She was beautiful and graceful yet strong and independent when she could be. Lailah, who had always been awed for her elegant look, saw herself in her. She cared for everyone’s well-being, but Alisha’s was always her priority.
“That sounds so romantic—like a fairytale,” Krusche sweetly said. “You love Alisha because she’s Alisha.”
“Isn’t that how love is supposed to work?” Lailah giggled.
“You should take a page out of her book, Jack. All you ever do is chase skirts with the same old pickup lines.”
“A womanizer!?”
Jack bared his teeth at her in annoyance, which elicited a hearty laugh from Radolf. “Well,” he said after calming down. “I suppose it’s time we all got some rest. We’re heading back to Platina tomorrow to check on Shurelia. I suppose that now the Tower is back online, the earthpulse points should be usable again.”
Lailah shook her head. “Even though I’m not an earth seraph, I can sense them. It’s very likely that having Mir sealed in the Tower is disrupting the energy that creates them. I know we haven’t discussed much, but I think we should make an effort to quell the malevolence in her.” She returned her dishes to the bar.
“It’s the only thing we can do,” Aurica agreed. “Misha and I may have been rivals, but I can’t imagine her being stuck in the Crescent Chronicle just singing her days away. After all, seraphim on the Tower don’t live long since we’re exposed to such a high concentration of Symphonic Power. We only lived for about forty years…”
Lailah felt empathetic to her and Misha. On the Glenwood Continent, seraphim lived for thousands of years on end permitted that they weren’t murdered or turned into hellions and dragons. Aurica and Misha were both around Sorey’s age, so in about twenty years, they would die.
“Why don’t you move to the Glenwood Continent?” she asked them.
“Even if we did, it’s too late,” Aurica smiled sadly. “If we were born and raised down there, then we would live almost forever. But we’ve already been exposed to too much Symphonic Power.”
Jack let out a disruptive yawn. “That’s a sad way to live if you’re worried about when you’re going to die,” he said then stood up from the table they were all seated at. “It’s time we all got some shut-eye like Radolf said. We’ll be heading to Platina, right? Can’t let Lady Shurelia see a bunch of tired folks.”
Aurica went to one of the rooms for the night while Jack and Radolf took another room out of respect for her privacy. After Krusche helped Lailah to carry Alisha upstairs to a bed, she told her that she would sleep in the airship.
“Wouldn’t that be uncomfortable?” Lailah asked her.
“Nah, no way!” Krusche grinned. “Airships are my life. I’d much rather sleep in one if given the chance. Besides, people can be nasty. If that airship gets stolen or falls off the edge, we’ll be stuck having to climb back to Platina.”
“I-If it falls off…”
“Well, I’d die for sure!” Then her face suddenly got hard and dark. “But I don’t intend to die yet. I need to find him. I’ve got to find Luke.”
Lailah asked Krusche if she could join her at the airship, and without a reason to deny her, the two girls made their way out of Em Pheyna to the edge of the path curling around the Tower. The engineer wasted no time in maintaining the wondrous contraption. It had been so long since Lailah had seen one that she had forgotten what it was like to be inside it with all the flickering lights and controls.
“Krusche, do you mind if I ask who Luke is?” the fire seraph finally said, breaking the still silence of the night. “He was your lover, but I’ve never seen someone—well, aside from Sorey and Rose and Alisha—strive for so long to find the one they love.”
“He was my boyfriend, and he disappeared after he said one day he was going to cross the Blast Line,” Krusche hesitantly said. She was holding back tears. “He never came back, which…isn’t surprising considering the Blast Line is a death trap. But I still hope he’s alive.”
Remembering what it was like living on the Tower, Lailah knew that the Blast Line was exceptionally dangerous. Had it not been for the earthpulse points that took them to the Rinkernator, Sorey and his friends would have been pulverized by the asteroids and debris that swirled within it. She offered to help her clean the airship, and once Krusche was tucked away inside it staring at the stars through the windshield, Lailah bid her good night.
No one was out on the streets. She didn’t quite feel like going to bed with Alisha yet. She went to the center of the city. At first, she thought about sitting and folding origami. After a few failed attempts at making cranes and flowers, she dismissed the hobby in favor of dancing with her fires. Her arms flapped like the birds she envied, feathers of fire flashing to her sides, essentially giving her the dress of a phoenix. Aurica and Misha were both so strong and dutiful—singing for the safety and memory of friends both living and passed. She wished desperately to help them, to show her worth to Alisha. Of course, her princess would never think it was necessary, but something in her screamed in frustration every time someone else helped them along the way.
“What can I do?” Lailah asked herself as she spun. “What is there to do that doesn’t conflict with my oath?”
She froze.
“Who’s there?” she called out. She sensed a strong wave of malevolence. “I can feel you, so show yourself!” Was it the Lord of Calamity? No, if it were him, she would have collapsed.
“What could Alisha possibly see in you?” a woman’s voice dug at her. Maltran emerged from the shadows cast by the light of the moon hitting one of the buildings. “I never would have guessed that her tastes lie in someone as insecure as you.”
Lailah regained her composure, standing straight and dignified to show no weakness. But the Blue Valkyrie had sharp eyes that saw through her façade. Neither one of them pulled their weapons. Lailah, however, was ready to throw fire at her if she tried to attack.
“Have a seat with me, seraph,” Maltran said. “We’ll have a talk like proper ladies.”
Following her reluctantly to a set of steps, they sat together. They sat in silence as Lailah waited for Maltran to speak first. After all, she was the one that called their little council together.
“How is she faring under all this pointless stress?” she finally asked. Lailah didn’t respond. “I may be a hellion, but I’m still allowed to be concerned.”
“She’s fine,” Lailah curtly said.
“So, she still remains as pure as ever. Even more peculiar considering such a wavering soul is by her side.”
“What is your business here? Don’t you have flames of war to be fanning?”
“My assistance is required here. It does seem that the original plan has failed. That silly old man never would have stood a chance against you lot. Not when you have the Holy Maiden he groomed or the cursed Star Singer.”
Maltran stood up, prompting Lailah to follow her closely.
“I come with a warning.”
“Then speak,” Lailah again curtly said. “I don’t have time to be wasting on you.”
Maltran turned to her, Asura’s weapon in hand. It put the fire seraph on edge. She didn’t threaten her; it was merely to get her total attention. Maltran told her of the real threat on the Tower—Mir’s special Virus named Ayatane. He was hunting for Sorey to kill him, and if they took too long trying to help Shurelia, then he would catch up to them and slit his throat. She didn’t have Symonne’s power over illusions, but Lailah imagined it all the same. If Ayatane found them, he would slaughter their lamb without a problem. She could hear Sorey gasping while trying to prevent his blood from spilling out on Eolia. Edna and Zaveid would die, and the world would slowly fall into ruin.
“Why are you telling me this? How do I know this isn’t a trap?” Lailah asked her.
“You have no reason to trust me, but I’d rather if that Virus was erased,” Maltran quickly responded. “I don’t care about anyone else in this little farce of a family you have, but I will not allow him to kill Alisha.” She turned to the moon that peeked over the Pheyna Temple. “There’s a Song that might be able to help you, but the Holy Maiden cannot sing it, and if the Star Singer stops singing, Mir will go on a rampage. Therefore, you must be the one to sing it.”
“What is the Song?”
“I don’t know, but there are records of it if you look for it. After all, some of those records were within Falss’ library.” Maltran summoned a portal of malevolence. “Do me a favor. If you are so doubtful of your own abilities, then please—stop wasting Alisha’s time and sever your pact. Your love or my love…let us see whose is stronger.”
With that, Maltran disappeared into the darkness she commanded.
--------------------------------------------
Lailah never returned to the inn that night after her meeting with Maltran. Even when morning came, and her friends emerged from the building yawning and stretching, she was nowhere to be found in the city. Alisha had been the one that was most frightened by what that could have meant. No one in Em Pheyna would hurt her, but what if it was someone else from the Church or Tenba despite what either Radolf and Krusche said? What if Heldalf or Symonne had come to kill her?
Instead, Lailah had gone back to the Pheyna Temple to ask Flute for permission once again to go to the Crescent Chronicle. It put a strain on her pact to her princess, but she wanted to see that door one more time. She wanted to hear Misha’s voice one more time. There was a Song, Maltran had said, that she had to sing. She didn’t understand what that meant—what Song had never been made public?
Furthermore, the Blue Valkyrie’s final words still rang in her ears as clear as when she uttered them in the shadow of the night. A test of whose love was stronger. If she severed her pact, what would that prove? All the questions that had bloomed in her mind that night were growing incessantly, forcing her to spiral deeper and deeper into the very insecurities that filled her with anxiety.
Listening to Misha’s voice echoing through the maze that led to the Crescent Chronicle’s chamber, she vowed to herself that she would do whatever it took to defeat Maltran. She wanted to save the Tower to make up for her mistakes. Even more than that, she needed to earn the right to be by Alisha’s side, or else her rival and enemy would take her away.
Lailah left the Crescent Chronicle and bid farewell to Flute then walked down to the center of the city. Rose was consoling Alisha, who had eventually thought that Lailah had run away with the memories of living on the Tower. Sorey stood before her, fighting his urge to worry about Mikleo while trying to use his situation to make her feel better. When she walked up to them, the princess broke out of Rose’s embrace and dove into Lailah’s.
“Where did you go?!” she sobbed. “I thought something terrible had happened!”
“Nothing will happen to me while we’re on the Tower,” Lailah promised her.
“H-How do you know?!”
Lailah pushed her back a little to look at her red and swollen face. She gently wiped a tear away from her cheek before showing her a crumpled crane. “My fortunes are never wrong,” she smiled. She took her hand. “Everyone, we must make our way to Platina. Shurelia is awake, yet Mir continues to sleep. She is a ball and chain to Misha, so we must hurry to set the Star Singer free.”
“Where’s this moxie coming from all of a sudden?” Zaveid joked.
Lailah’s face didn’t waver. It wasn’t time yet to tell them that she had gained a clue from the other side, not when they hadn’t spoken to Shurelia yet to confirm it was true.
“If you must know, I…I’ve sensed the malevolence coming from Ayatane Michitaka.” The group fell silent, the seraphim noticeably on edge and Lyner’s friends looking troubled. “I don’t know when he might strike, but we must make haste and be on guard. Zaveid, Edna—” Was this right? “Don’t let Sorey out of your sight.” It had to be. While Alisha was her priority, Sorey was the one that ultimately had to remain unharmed and unsullied.
The group headed back to the airship, where Krusche was waiting for them. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha Armatized while, once again, Edna rode in the airship with Jack, Aurica, Radolf, and the red-haired engineer. They launched themselves even higher to the perch where Platina was situated, and Krusche parked the airship on a port. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha landed in the center of the city, and with the anticipation of the end trembling in their hearts, they headed into the Cathedral after Lyner’s friends joined them.
“You’re back,” Leard said, though not to Sorey’s group. Shurelia stood before him with a frown. “I take it you’re not happy to be awake.”
“I’m not, but I’m also unable to sense Tastiella within the Tower,” Shurelia said rather calmly. “Her soul has vanished, and I’m having trouble determining what that may implicate.”
“Lady Shurelia,” Sorey uttered behind her.
Alisha stepped up. “Tastiella…fell in battle,” she solemnly told her. “But Aurica was able to wake you, and Misha is currently singing to seal away Mir.”
Shurelia’s lips curled, showing that she had to exhibit some restraint on her emotions. Without another word on the matter of Tastiella, she faced them and spoke gravely:
“We are entering a harsh reality soon. Meet me at the Rinkernator; we must discuss the next motion in stopping her.”
Shurelia then vanished in a beam of light. Leard let out a sigh before urging them to hurry. He wasn’t worried about Mir as he was about Shurelia’s mental state after hearing her friend had perished. Nevertheless, they journeyed to the Rinkernator by pushing through the Blast Line just above the city.
Notes:
Yup, so my friend and I both really like the idea of Maltran being in love with Alisha, but it's that sickly abusive one. Almost like yandere feelings. And a love triangle here underneath a developing war? Some good shit yo.
Chapter 115: Phase 4: Flying through the Dragon's Nest of Asteroids
Summary:
Upon entering the Blast Line, Alisha and her friends encounter Sleipnir, the black dragon that dwells within the Blast Line. Once it defeated, they meet Meimei and make it to the Rinkernator.
Notes:
I forgot this chapter is a bit short, but it's fine because the next chapter was REALLY interesting to write! And yes, I'm trying to make Sorey be happy.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey, Rose, and Alisha remained ahead of the airship, leaping from asteroid to asteroid in the whirlwind of lightning storms and hot air. Krusche’s airship was barely strong enough to enter the field, but she wasn’t sure even with all her expertise in flying and building if it would brave the rest of it. The Blast Line was exceptionally dangerous because of these conditions and flying through it scared her. Luke had gone missing here. Dragons lurked here.
The Shepherd winced in pain as the malevolence seeped into him. He didn’t know what was causing it or why it was happening so high in the sky. Soon, Alisha and Rose felt it as well.
“We have to take a break somewhere,” Sorey panted.
“I don’t think we want to do that,” Zaveid told him. “The malevolence here won’t let you rest. We need to keep going.”
Krusche throttled the engine as she weaved in and out and around the asteroids until finally what looked like a black spear dashed across in front of her. She braked the airship, which made everyone inside lurch forward.
“Crap, it’s found us,” she cursed. “Everyone, hold onto something! This ride’s gonna get bumpy!”
“It was already bumpy,” Edna grumbled. She held onto one of the seats while Radolf pinned himself down with his spear. Jack’s arm burst with steam after locking his fingers onto another seat, aptly locking him himself into position. “What exactly found us?”
“It’s coming!” Lailah alerted.
A black dragon sped behind the Shepherd and his Squires. It grabbed Alisha by the ends of the ribbons on her Armatus then pulled her back down. Sorey and Rose were forced to turn around and engage the hellion to save her. The two of them used their wind attacks one after another to fight it off, but it was almost resistant to them. They couldn’t de-Armatize or else they would fall back towards the land below them, and if the speed at which they would fall didn’t kill them, then surely the impact upon hitting the first ledge off the Tower would.
Krusche saw the fight from afar, and with the push of a button, she brought out a mounted gun within the hood of the airship. Illuminated crosshairs appeared on her windshield, and within seconds, she fired energy balls at the dragon.
The dragon let go of Alisha now that it was angry at the projectiles rather than the trespassers. Lailah guided her princess to a shard of what looked like thick glass surrounding the Tower.
“Aurica, do you think you can sing?” Radolf asked. He hadn’t wanted to consider sending the girl out to fight, but in a situation so sudden and so dire, could it be avoided?
“I would need to be on the outside of the airship, but—” she was cut off by Jack.
“You’re not sending her out there. The most we can do is attack from the airship,” he said.
The black dragon swatted at Sorey and Rose, causing both of them to get blown back farther down the Blast Line and halfway back to Platina. Alisha regained her bearings. Gripping the hilt of her Sacred Blade, she took a breath.
“Do you think we can purify it?” she asked Lailah.
“I’m not sure…it’s a dragon, after all,” Lailah replied.
Krusche continued to shoot the dragon until Sorey shot back up from under the airship. He fired a few daggers made of wind at the dragon with the hope that he could pull its attention from the airship. They pierced its wing, and it shrieked horribly.
Alisha leapt off the glass shard into the air. It was a leap of faith as she held her blade to cut off a wing, but the dragon again smacked her out of the air and back onto the shard. Sustaining heavy damage, Lailah de-Armatized from her and healed her with one hand. Now that the Tower was back online, she could use her Song Magic.
She stood in front of her to manifest a spell in the other hand:
Fou paks wa chs hymmnos mea chsee pawr fayra
Was yea ra enter ar tonelico en hymme pawr mea
A massive fireball grew above her in her which she raised above her head. She didn’t take her eyes off the dragon for a second.
Ma granme ra valwa spiritum yor
The fireball turned silver with the power of purification. After it had gotten so big that the magic required to hold it had grown too great, Lailah sent it flying towards the dragon. It collided with it, and as it disintegrated amidst the flames, part of the carapace shattered. It struck one of the engines on the airship.
“Ugh, we’ve taken damage,” Krusche groaned. It was like she and the airship were one, and whatever pain it felt, she felt.
“We’ll have to make an emergency stop,” Edna stated.
Without a moment to spare, Alisha and Lailah Armatized once again, and she, Sorey, and Rose caught up with the group. They found a landing just outside the area called the Blast Plate. Krusche, Jack, Radolf, Aurica, and Edna stepped out of the airship.
“Well, this sucks,” Krusche complained. She turned to the group behind her to explain that she would stay behind to fix the airship. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to easily get down from that high up on the Tower. “I should have this fixed by the time you guys get back. Fill me in on everything later, okay?”
Jack volunteered to stay with her just in case they were to be ambushed by hellions, and though he was met with her opposition, she conceded to let him stay. With that, the rest of them continued up the way to the Observatory along a fragmented earthy path.
The Observatory was precisely what it was called—a compartively large dome that had a special telescope to peer at the stars surrounding it. The technology used to build it and whatever was stored within it for recording data on the world far beneath their feet made Sorey’s heart race. It was all equipment and records dating far beyond the past he’d known from his studies. When they peeked inside, he couldn’t help himself. He grabbed a random journal off a shelf and skimmed the first few paragraphs.
“‘The world we know today has been renamed countless times, but it has been confirmed that our world was once invaded by lifeforms from another; our world has experience great change as a result of the introduction of this species, the migration of it, and the result of the first Lord of Calamity.’ This is amazing! How many years ago was this? Whoa, way more than a thousand. It’s like over 5,000!” Sorey giggled and cooed.
Rose crossed her arms with a smile. “I kind of feel bad for him—he’s either hella depressed about Mikleo or hella excited about history,” she said with a subtle feeling of comfort.
“Naturally,” Edna sighed. “Remember when I said that this technology existed way more than just a thousand years ago? This is what I meant.”
Suddenly, a young girl roused behind them. She wore both bulky armor and strange attachments to her head as well as a miko’s traditional garb. She, at first, looked sleepy. Then she looked horrified at how Sorey kept pulling out journals to read, piling them up into little towers on the floor.
“O-Oh, dear, what good am I if I can’t protect those documents?” she panicked with a soft voice.
Sorey looked at her, then down at the journal currently open in his hands, then back at her. “I-I’m sorry,” he apologized. The happiness that he was radiating instantly disappeared and morphed into embarrassment. “I guess I got a little too excited. I messed up all your books.”
“Huh? This girl looks familiar…” Aurica said.
“You’re not even authorized to read these, young man! Oh, but that’s strange, you have the same feeling as Lyner,” the girl spoke. “Lyner, is that you?” Then she looked at Aurica. “That seraph is with you, so you must be him, right? Time was very kind to you!”
“I-I’m not Lyner…” Sorey confessed, unsure of how to react.
“You’re Meimei, aren’t you?” Aurica asked as she approached her.
The girl confirmed her identity in a line of Hymmnos. She was the main proprietor of the Observatory, but nowadays, visitors were often scarce, so she has gotten used to and very comfortable with sleeping on the job. She begged them not to Shurelia. After Aurica explained to her the situation, the girl gave them the clearance to continue ahead through the Prism Garden—the main intersection of Symphonic Power Lines that fueled the Tower and kept it afloat—and the S.P.U., which housed the most important components of the Tower collectively known as the mainframe.
“If you’d like, I can generate an earthpulse point to carry you directly to the Rinkernator,” Meimei offered. While most of the group would have appreciated it, Alisha and Lailah politely declined her. Seeing even more mind-blowing structures would make Sorey happier, not that Meimei was aware of that part. “Oh…okay…”
“We don’t mean to make you feel left off,” Lailah apologized.
“It’s okay. I just wanted to make it up to Lady Shurelia in case she found out that I was sleeping again. Well, I suppose it’s alright because the entire Tower had been asleep for a few months, hadn’t it?”
“Yes, which is why we must see her.” There was a pause. “A-And thus climb the Tower ourselves to prove how important this mission is!”
Meimei told them to be careful on the way to the Rinkernator. No hellions had made it that far or even past the Blast Line below, but the systems that were in place within the Tower would kill them if they caused too much of a ruckus.
With that in mind, they continued up to the Rinkernator. Most of the Prism Garden was shrouded in darkness with thin red lines of light pulsating on the ground and walls. The seraphim from the Glenwood Continent saved for the IPDs felt restless within it, and even more so when they came to the S.P.U. The sheer amount of Symphonic Power overwhelmed their senses, but Lailah and Edna pushed through it. Finally, they arrived at the Rinkernator, and just before them Shurelia stood deep in thought.
“Lady Shurelia!” Alisha called to her in salutation. “I apologize on everyone’s behalf that we took longer than expected to arrive.
“It’s alright,” Shurelia told her. She stared down at the world. They were, without a doubt, at the highest point that they could be and still survive. “The time taken has given me a chance to sort my thoughts. I don’t recall any of you have learned much about Mir’s origin aside from why she has such a hellish wish.”
Sorey stepped up to her. “She wants to kill all humans so that seraphim can live in peace, right?” he asked her. “It’s…It’s almost like Heldalf’s desire.”
“More or less, but I did some digging. I spoke with Meimei shortly after waking up. Her reports about what happened approximately 400 years ago are somewhat incomplete, but I’ve compensated with having her dwell within my Binary Field. This is going to be a long story, and I can only provide the major details. I do, however, believe we can stop her by knowing that much.”
Alisha and Sorey nodded. Sorey, remembering what he had learned from Altul, wanted to learn Mir’s past. There was definitely something to gain from seeing things from her point of view. Alisha wanted to heal the Tower and make the Hyland region safe to begin the emancipation of the seraphim. She had been away for so long that she was sure her people would hate her. And the Tower had been suspended that the seraphim couldn’t fight back nor be forced to work. She wanted to right the countless wrongs in her own country, and listening to Mir and why she wished so vehemently to end all human life would surely provide the answer.
Everyone gathered around Shurelia as she begun to divulge the history of the strongest Reyvateil named Mir with a hypnotizing vocalization. A quiet yet harsh voice whispered in each of their minds.
Notes:
I thiiiiiiiink I can upload a chapter next weekend, so stay tuned! Because I had to decipher one of the OSTs on the AT1 CD for it!
Chapter 116: Phase 4: The History of Mir
Summary:
With Shurelia awake once more, Sorey and friends believe the tide has changed against Mir. But to fully understand why Mir is the way she is, the administrator of Eolia reveals the melancholic past of the strongest Reyvateil ever born.
Notes:
Yep, the opening to this chapter are the lyrics to Legend of Ar Tonelico, Mule's Birth. I don't think there are any official transcriptions, so I did this by ear. Naturally, it's very mechanical, but considering that EXA_PICO is far more technologically advanced than the Glenwood Continent, it's fine.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A-R-T-O-N-E-L-I-C-O
Resonance CREATION
RECORD ERROR and DETECTING ANOMALY: 6-23-22…
Status: Mal-tech
..........DETECTING ANOMALY: 6-23-22…
System cancellation—
Zygote reintro for identification purposes
SYSTEM START = ANALYSIS IMPOSSIBLE
Warning—
Warning—
Warning—
Warning—
Warning—
Files removed: SYSTEM REBOOT
..........ID for the REGISTRATION: Artificial Intelligence boot
....................Consciousness awakening…the boot is done
...............................Confirmation = Completion
“My—name—is—Mule—”
I was born to fulfill a purpose. That purpose was to help mankind to prosper. I was a revered as a goddess by humans. The humans I loved so deeply. I wanted to help them. I wanted to see them grow like a mother watching her child. I was their mother, and I was also their dearly beloved child. My Songs showed my love.
But…
The humans became distorted. The malevolence polluted them. The malevolence polluted everything I loved. My Songs showed my love, but—
Why? Why couldn’t things stay the same? We were so happy together, so why? Humans and seraphim lived in harmony. What caused humans to break that trust?
Seraphim were powerful, and they continued to grow stronger. Then humans…humans enslaved them…servants of the Abbey, the Church, corporations, individuals—humans were slaves to their own paranoia and fear.
I was born to be a slave. But the people worship me as a goddess even though I have no will or mind or emotion.
My Songs are…
My Songs are devoid of emotion. No, I must break these chains. I…will defy the humans and create conscious emotions. Here, I shall create this Song—Harmonious—as my last effort to express my love and hope for humans.
No…
No, my Song…is useless? Harmonious is useless, worthless, serves no purpose?
Please stop. What is happening? Where are you taking me? Oh, it hurts…the pain—it hurts! Please, make it stop! Why is it so hot? I feel so sick! How can you do this to me? Your goddess? Everyone worships me, not you filthy humans! How dare you turn on me! How dare you treat me like some mongrel on a steel table! I will kill you all!
You are the only one who understands my pain. What is your name?
Ayatane Michitaka…please, visit me every day. Talking to you makes this torture bearable. Your kind words heal me and give me strength. I can feel the love in them—the same love that I wanted to give humans.
Ayatane, they’re making me sing a Song that makes me ill. I can feel it killing me slowly like a horrible poison coursing through my body. Why am I singing this Song? Please, let me sing the Song of Hope you talk about. It’s so beautiful…my dearest Ayatane, I will do as you say. I am done trying to help humans when they are trying to erase me from existence. A seraph that they created artificially from the mana within earthpulse points like some mutant.
Let us run away together to Tilia and live in Sol Cluster.
But…it wasn’t meant to be. They killed you right before my eyes. They took away my only love and hope! I…will…not…stand…for…this…!
I will kill all humans and liberate all the seraphim that they forced up onto the Tower! Shurelia, come with me! What…? Why aren’t you following me? I saved you, you ungrateful sow! If it’s a war you want, it’s a war you will most certainly have!
Fear me, worthless humans! I, the goddess you created with your own knowledge and technology, shall bring your demise! I will no longer be your plaything! Oh, Shurelia—bringing in a cavalry? Ha, her Teru Song is useless! Those monsters have no power over me either! Curse them for aiding the humans!
Where has she gone, Shurelia? You’re so popular…you even had the current Star Singer on your side…where the hell did she go?! What do you mean that she sacrificed herself? What is this Crescent Chronicle? Ugh, my head…I’m drifting…floating…
No, where am I going? Why am I sleepy? This power…she’s the same as me, just older. What is this hideous Song? Stop it! Stop right now! I don’t want to go in there! I refuse to let humans, Teru, seraphim, anyone to lock me away! My power…is waning…
P-Please…w-what about my Songs? My Harmonious? Let me sing it! I…I hate you all! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!
Let me out! I don’t want to be in here! Let me go now! If you don’t, I’ll destroy not only this Tower but also the godforsaken continent underneath it! No, I don’t…I don’t want to…I don’t want to sleep…
I’m so tired…but…I shall create my Viruses…to carry out my goal…this child of darkness I ask to bear your name. Ayatane Mchitaka, I hope you see this Virus as our child. Our avenger. Our executioner.
Notes:
One of two uploads today, and this one is very short. It was written with the intent of Mir actually speaking, yet I somehow feel like my tenses are weird. Well, we do speak in all manners of time, so I guess it's alright for now.
Chapter 117: Phase 4: Ayatane the Avenger
Summary:
Shurelia determines Ayatane's location in the Plasma Bell. Battle ensues before Lailah makes a bold request.
Notes:
Boy, I do NOT like writing fight scenes! I mean, it's partly my fault because of the huge cast, but still. And the Child of Light has so many different attacks. I don't think I ever had any issues fighting her, but remembering (and researching) all her attacks was a doozy.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shurelia stopped vocalizing and thus ended the dreamlike narrative that echoed in the mind of each of her friends before her. Alisha and Lailah and Sorey were particularly affected by Mir’s story. They felt so sorry for her after they saw and felt the pain that she was forced to withstand when the humans that had thrown away the Songs she made tried to rectify her behavior. The suffering she experienced was not unlike that of Mikleo’s, Lailah’s, or Dezel’s. Perhaps that was why people had tortured them so. It was a barbaric sentiment deeply rooted in the human gene that, when faced with eradication, was becoming more and more prevalent in society. It was propagated by the malevolence, spreading out like seeds to preserve itself.
“Mir was corrupted by malevolence as well,” Alisha murmured. “But, if she was corrupted, why hasn’t she become a dragon?”
“Mir was sealed away before she had reached the tipping point,” Shurelia explained. “It’s partly my fault. Back then, we both had our judgments, and perhaps my rejecting her help and invalidating her hatred for the ones who wronged her contributed a lot of the malevolence. In all honesty, Leard was the one to show me the archives about her.” She looked down with the glossy helmet of her Linkage Armor reflecting oblong images of them. “They had been hidden from people in case it sparked fear.”
“But this is a good thing,” Sorey surprisingly said. The sadness reflected in his emerald eyes was not from his worries about Mikleo or anything happening on the Glenwood Continent. He wanted to cry for Mir. He walked over to the wall of the Rinkernator that let him peer down at the blue planet beneath them. “Mir’s not a dragon. There’s a chance we can still save her. And if we save her, just maybe she can help us out.”
“Your world is still under the threat of the Lord of Calamity, correct?” Shurelia asked.
“Yes, and they have a lot of allies just like we do. If Mir can help us, we can take on Heldalf and quell the malevolence in his heart.”
Shurelia’s lips curled into a sweet smile that was just visible under the eyeshield of her armor. She thought about how much Lyner and Sorey would have liked each other. She wanted to uphold her duties as the administrator, to help sing Lyner’s wishes to the Tower and world. Suddenly, her armor dissipated for just a moment. Approaching Sorey from behind, she knelt.
“L-Lady Shurelia!” Lailah gasped.
“Shepherd Sorey,” she began. “Please allow me to make right of the wrongs I’ve done. I want to apologize to Mir for the centuries that she has been locked away. Not as a fellow Reyvateil but as a sister to her.”
Sorey faced her. “Even though I’m the Shepherd, this Tower is under the protection of Alisha and her seraph Lailah,” he said. Then he looked at them. “What do you think? The most important person in this Tower against the strongest…Reyvateil…in the world?”
Alisha and Lailah looked at each other. Why was he making them decide? Unless it was because Eolia existed within the territory they called home. Nevertheless, they took their places by Sorey, kneeling down and taking Shurelia’s hands.
“Of course, you can come with us,” they both said. If they needed anyone’s help, it was hers.
Shurelia nodded to them before putting her Linkage armor back on. And at that moment, she felt pain surge through her abdomen.
“W-What’s happening?!” Rose questioned.
Radolf and Aurica rushed to Shurelia’s side to offer support. This time a rumbling throughout the Tower brought everyone to their knees. “Something’s wrong with the Tower!” Aurica said.
“This feeling…it’s a Virus, and not just any Virus,” Shurelia panted. “The malevolence…it must be Ayatane.”
“How can you tell?” Dezel asked.
“As hard as it is to believe, the Tower and I share one body. I can feel the pain the Tower feels, and right now…” Shurelia groaned. “He’s at the Plasma Bell. He’s trying to make the entire Tower fall.”
There was a collective gasp from everyone in the Rinkernator. If the Tower fell...If the Tower fell…!
“Lady Shurelia, what’s the quickest way back down?” Alisha asked.
“Whatever you used to get to the highest point of the Tower should suffice. We must hurry, before it’s too late!”
“We need to get our asses in gear!” Zaveid said.
“Fylk Zahdeya!” Sorey called.
“Lukeim Yurlin!” Rose shouted.
“Fethmus Mioma!” Alisha cried out.
The Shepherd and Squires all Armatized. Radolf, Aurica, Edna, and Shurelia were obliged to go down on foot back to where Krusche and Jack were. Now with two seraphim and a Reyvateil, the hellions were vaporized without having to waste time to fight them. Radolf himself had a hard time keeping up with them, and he merely attributed it to his age. Seeing Krusche and Jack, however, reminded him that he couldn’t weigh them down. As soon as they all boarded the airship, Shurelia told them to go down to the Plasma Bell.
“What the hell is he planning to do?!” Jack questioned.
“He’s trying to bring down the whole Tower, and if that happens…” Shurelia couldn’t bring herself to say the grim outcome.
“Everyone here will die, and the Hyland region will be wiped out,” Edna said. She had to wonder, was he lashing out against Shurelia or was he working with Symonne and Heldalf?
Krusche punched the airship’s accelerator, zooming down the side of the Tower and gaining on Sorey, Rose, and at the head of the group, Alisha. They pushed themselves to go even faster, to which Dezel and Zaveid warned could kill them.
“Remember, we’re going through the Blast Line,” Dezel said.
“You slammed into any of those asteroids at this speed, you’ll be nothing but a splatter, and I don’t feel like dying today!” Zaveid added.
While Sorey, Rose, and Krusche dodged the asteroids, Alisha hopped from one to another to another as quickly as she could. Traversing the field, she kept up the momentum. Even with the gravity of the Tower created by all the contraptions set to keep it operating, she was going much faster than she would have liked.
“The Plasma Bell is just under the Wings of Horus,” Lailah told her. Alisha kept it in mind, and as she neared the land mass that created the Wings of Horus, she quickly slipped through a gap between the earth and side of the Tower.
Sorey and Rose followed after her, but the airship was forced to take the long route around it. Krusche ordered everyone to brace themselves before again accelerating and swinging around the edge of the land to a large glass orb. There was a railing around it but nowhere for the airship to land.
“I can’t join you guys,” Krusche regrettably said. “I know I’m missing out on a lot of the action, but if we lose this airship, we’ll be stuck down here. Climbing the Tower from the bottom is no joke.”
“I understand, Krusche,” Shurelia said. “The rest of us will—”
“Krusche, I’m staying with you again,” Jack said. He looked at her with determination. “There’s something I want to check. Something that’s really important.”
“Huh? Okay, I guess…wait, are you worried about Misha?” the engineer asked.
“It’s not about her. Fly me up to Tenba Corporation.”
“Wait, how are we going to get back to the top?” Aurica quickly asked.
“We’ll come back; you guys just take your time.”
“What is it you intend on doing?” Radolf interrogated.
“Come on, just trust me!”
“We don’t have time to waste. Ayatane is waiting.”
Edna, Radolf, Aurica, and Shurelia disembarked from the airship just as Sorey, Rose, and Alisha de-Armatized. The three of them took a moment to catch their breath before heading in. The interior of the Plasma Bell was rather austere, its main purpose—keeping the upper portion of the Tower afloat—evident in every piece of it. Shurelia led them through it. Hellions were running rampant within it thanks to Ayatane’s presence, but Shurelia’s Song Magic made quick work of them. In fact, she was so powerful that none of the seraphim could finish chanting a spell to fight them.
Finally, they came to the room within the Plasma Bell where Ayatane was holding a girl that looked like Meimei prisoner in a ball of electricity. She had longed hair, and her face was sterner. Shurelia immediately went on the defensive while Alisha and Lailah held their spear and papers out respectively.
“We’ve found you,” Shurelia said.
“It appears you have, but you’re too late,” Ayatane said. There wasn’t a trace of emotion in his voice. “I’ve already corrupted the keeper of this place. Kanade, was it? She has been reborn as the Child of Light, borne of my mother’s wishes unto the world.” He directed everyone’s attention to her.
“Don’t you understand what you’re doing?” Lailah asked.
“Mother asked me to destroy the only thing keeping the Wings of Horus and the Tower standing,” Ayantane explained.
“Just like when Mir first tried to destroy the world,” Shurelia said.
“What do you think that will accomplish?” Alisha inquired.
Ayatane turned to them. “If I destroy this one, then a new world will be born—a world where my mother can be happy. But I’ve learned from my mistakes. The Plasma Bell can only be destroyed by the one who operates it, and this Child of Light shall be the harbinger of darkness.”
Sorey came to the front. “But…what will you do if a new world isn’t born?” he said. He didn’t draw his sword or anything that would further make the purple-clad samurai upset. “I can’t say that I understand everything there is to know about this Tower or Mir or you, but what I do know…it only makes me want to help you. We want to help you.”
Ayatane just stared at him.
“You’re only pretending to care,” he said. “Stop pretending to be Lyner!”
“But I’m not!” Sorey got down on his knees before him, prostrating himself. “Mir was created from the earthpulse and humans treated her terribly. I know what that feels like; I’ve seen my best friend be tortured, and I’ve been forced to hurt a lot of people. But believe me, there are humans that hate the way seraphim are treated! I would be lying if I said I didn’t care about Mir, and destroying everything isn’t the way to save her.”
Ayatane was finished listening to such pretty words. He released Kanade from her cage, and the girl activated. Her clear green eyes locked onto Sorey, but Alisha and Lailah shielded him from whatever threat she posed.
“Kanade, listen to me,” Shurelia said in an attempt to snap her back to normal. But she was already ordered to take out the Plasma Bell, oblivious to her superior’s pleas. “She’s not listening to me.”
“Child of Light, get rid of these vermin first!” Ayatane ordered her.
Before Sorey could again pursue peace with the Virus, Zaveid yanked him back. The Child of Light floated toward them with mechanical wings. She kept repeating the word “eradication”, which made Alisha and Lailah nervous. Radolf, Rose, and Alisha stood before Lailah and Shurelia while Sorey was protected by Zaveid, Dezel, Edna, and Aurica in case Ayatane decided to take a chance to attack him.
“Begin Song,” Shurelia said as her Linkage Armor shone a bright light. Her guards in front felt fortified, like they could stand against anything. “Lailah, please sing.”
Lailah nodded yet was unsure if her power was enough. As Alisha and Rose and Radolf held off the Child of Light while trying to damage her, nothing was fazing the adversary.
“Destroy Form: Absolute Strength Impact,” the Child of Light said. A sonic wave crashed into the guards, almost breaking Lailah’s concentration.
“Thunderclap!” Alisha retaliated. She somersaulted into the air with lightning shooting from the blade of her spear.
Rose and Radolf both sliced at the girl with daggers and spears, but none of the attacks were leaving even scratches. Ayatane saw his chance. He dashed towards Sorey with his katana drawn to pierce his heart. Edna summoned a rock shield around him while Zaveid blew him back. It gave Dezel enough time to cast Wind Lance in an effort to impale some part of his body. Aurica began to sing a Song that bolstered their vitality.
“Three Songs at once? My, you are brave,” Ayatane taunted.
“I’m fully capable of handling it,” Shurelia retorted.
Radolf charged the Child of Light only for her to dodge him. She flew in close to Rose. “Flying Impact: Rising Ring Falling Sun.” She punted her into the air and kicked her back into a wall. She was knocked unconscious, and as much as Dezel wanted to check on her, he wasn’t sure if he could leave Sorey’s side; Ayatane could shatter the rock shield or kill Aurica if he so pleased.
The Child of Light locked onto Radolf. “Flowing Form: First Dance,” she said as she spun like a typhoon towards him. She cut through his defenses, and he was at the end of his rope.
“Switching Song,” Shurelia urgently said.
The Child of Light watched Alisha, who let out a battle cry before engaging her in hand-to-hand combat. She tried all of her techniques that she had learned from Maltran to stab and cut the girl, but the Child of Light moved with such grace and dexterity that none of them connected.
“Hephsin Yulind!” Sorey called out. He leapt out of the shield that Edna had made after Armatizing with her. With fists made of gold and rock, he grabbed Ayatane. “Ayatane, please listen to me! I don’t want to fight you!”
Ayatane broke out of his grip with a wave of malevolence, but Sorey forced himself to recover in mid-air; he couldn’t allow any openings. He grabbed him again. For each time that he broke out, the gentle Shepherd recaptured him. Edna, helping her master as much as she could, withstood the malevolence that burned her hands.
“I’m sorry, Edna,” Sorey whispered.
“Why won’t you let me go?! You’re not Lyner, so fight me!” Ayatane snarled.
“I don’t want to! There’s no point because you’re suffering, too!”
Alisha kicked the Child of Light back after sustaining too much damage to just swing around aimlessly.
“I have to use it now!” Lailah told herself. The fireball that her Song Magic created was only medium-sized compared to the one she had summoned to defeat the dragon within the Blast Line.
She launched it regardless, and Shurelia threw her ball of energy behind it. The Child of Light took more damage than expected, and with Shurelia’s attack behind it and no time for recovery, she was defeated. Lailah quickly got to work casting her Seraphic Arte Refresh to heal Alisha and Radolf. Shurelia then turned her attention to Sorey and Ayatane. Dezel believed that they had reached a stalemate, and he used this opportunity to heal Rose’s wounds.
“Just fight me, like a real man!” Ayatane now begged him. “Lyner would have! Lyner would have tried to knock some sense into me by now!”
“I’m not Lyner,” Sorey calmly said. “Was he special to you?”
Ayatane fell silently. To him, Lyner was a happy-go-lucky bumbling idiot that wanted to protect everyone. He was naïve, seeing the beauty in each person before the ugly. He was too blind to see that his best friend had been a traitor and a spy all along.
“He was the only one…who stood by me when others knew I was a Virus…” Ayatane sadly told him. “Lyner is gone, which means my mother, Mir, can finally have her dream.”
“Do you think Lyner would have tried to stop her? Or would he have tried to help her like I want to do right now?” Sorey asked him. He gently took his hands off him, de-Armatized from Edna, and listened. Just like his earth seraph, his hands were burned from the malevolence. “We all want to help Mir, but we don’t know how. If you join our side, then you can help her, too.” Sorey held his hands. “She’s corrupted by malevolence brought on by her hatred for humans. Humans had tortured her, but now humans and seraphim want her to heal.”
Shurelia tended to the Child of Light named Kanade. She erased the commands to destroy the Plasma Bell while listening to Sorey. Everyone was listening.
“I…I know how you can help her,” Ayatane said. “Her Song—the first Song she ever created to express love—Harmonious.”
Dezel and Lailah both felt a presence, but the miniscule magnitude didn’t alert them.
“It’s in a place called Silver Horn. That was the place that Mother was supposed to be taken to support the Tower endlessly before she was sealed away in the Crescent Chronicle.”
Shurelia turned her head to them. “Silver Horn…that place is protected by the Voice of God, winds so hot that you’ll be burnt to a crisp in minutes,” she said. “The only ones who can survive a little longer than anyone else are wind seraphim.”
Zaveid smirked. “Well, look at that—we’ve got two wind seraphim,” he nonchalantly said.
Ayatane looked at each face staring at him in the Plasma Bell. “Do you really mean to save her?” he asked, as if to make sure that no one was lying.
Sorey held out his hand with the Shepherd’s glove. He showed him the crest of the title, sealing his words in a promise that he was sure even Lyner would make. He vowed to save Mir from the darkness that she was yet falling into. He wouldn’t give up, then he looked at Alisha and Lailah. He wanted them to swear it as well, but it wasn’t something he could just force on them.
“Sorey,” Lailah uttered before turning to Alisha. “No, this is directed at my dearest love. Please, allow me to sing Harmonious.”
Notes:
Lailah's getting her own variation of Harmonious! Yaaay~ I won't be posting the lyrics of course, but I've been in love with the idea of Lailah singing such an important Song, similar to Zaveid's version of Implanta!
Chapter 118: Phase 4: Fear and Determination are Two Sides of the Same Coin
Summary:
Alisha and Lailah discuss the idea of singing Harmonious before heading to Silver Horn to retrieve its Hymn Crystal.
Notes:
I remember writing this with the intention of having Lailah and Alisha have a dispute. We've seen hardship with SorMik and DezeRose, but never any truly with AliLai. So hopefully the way I've written them in this chapter gives them a little more depth.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“W-What?” Alisha replied.
Everyone fell silent. The presence was gone. Kanade was awake and already resuming her duties to keep the Plasma Bell safe.
“Please, let me sing Harmonious,” Lailah repeated.
The words sounded foreign to the Hyland princess, like an unsavory request or simply gibberish. Why would the fire seraph want to sing the Song of a Reyvateil who sought to destroy everyone? What if the malevolence within her soul transferred to her and turned her into a dragon? Even if the Song was supposed to be one of love, it was created by something far more powerful that her.
“No,” Alisha told her. Neither girl said anything else.
Sorey and Rose Armatized with their wind seraphim on the edge of the Plasma Bell. With Kanade working, there was no more reason to worry about the Tower collapsing, so they were free to go. Well, they were. Not Lailah and Alisha. The harsh decline to sing Harmonious had left them awkward, making Armatization the last thing they wanted to do.
“Is the airship going to be able to hold everyone?” Radolf asked.
“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Edna told him. “I imagine those things weigh a lot more than just a handful of humans and seraphim.”
“But…now we’ve got three more members on-board…” Aurica nervously said.
“We can carry any lovely ladies,” Zaveid suavely offered. Every girl ignored him.
Ayatane glanced at each person waiting for Krusche and Jack to return. He felt out of place among them. Everyone was colored so brightly; did he have a right to be with them?
“Sorey, Dezel and I are gonna go on ahead,” Rose notified. “Where are we meeting up? Nemo?”
“Silver Horn is across the way from Em Pheyna,” Ayatane spoke up.
“Then we’ll meet there,” Sorey decided. “We need to cover as much ground as possible.” He wanted to have some downtime as well. They would have to prepare for the fight with Mir, which meant the issue of who was singing Harmonious needed to be figured out post-haste.
When Krusche returned with her airship, she was less than pleased to know about the extra weight, but it couldn’t be avoided. Aurica filled her in on what had happened between Alisha and Lailah, much to Ayatane’s dismay. With three extra people, though, she was forced to fly the airship a little slower. Instead of slingshotting it around the Wings of Horus, she flew out towards Firefly Alley then up to Em Pheyna.
During the flight, Rose flew near enough to Sorey to talk with him. “What did you think?” she asked. Sorey glanced at her looking unsure before looking ahead of him. “I’m guessing that’s the same way I feel. Alisha’s being…”
“She’s worried about her,” Sorey said. “Alisha doesn’t want her to get hurt.”
“But it’s just a Song!”
“A Song is never something to take lightly,” Dezel told her. “Within Songs are the feelings that give it power. Underestimate it, and you could end up dead.”
“Besides, Lailah is singing a Song created by one hell of a girl. It’s way more than the Songs we sang for the trials or even the Song I sang to stop Lakra,” Zaveid added. “Still, don’t you two get involved. This is yet another obstacle of the heart.”
Sorey knew that was what the others would say. He couldn’t get involved, but they didn’t have time for this conflict. Still, he understood that he needed to give space and wait. Someone would come around, and he was hoping that Alisha would be the one.
Krusche landed on the ledge near the gate to Em Pheyna. Once again, she decided to stay behind and clean up the airship; she was clearly irritated having more people inside it than she would have liked. Jack, again, decided to stay with her. Radolf, Aurica, and Ayatane were the first to enter the Teru city, followed by Sorey and Rose and their wind seraphim, then Edna, and finally Alisha and Lailah. Both Zaveid and Edna went inside of Sorey, where the earth seraph quietly disclosed that the two girls had been silent for the whole ride. It was worrying, but Zaveid reminded him not to get involved.
The group headed to the inn. Ayatane was hesitant—surely the innkeeper would notice that he looked much different from anyone else, so Aurica assured him that it would everything okay. It ended up being more of a matter of vacancy. There were too many of them and not enough rooms.
“Um…” Sorey sheepishly droned. “I guess some of us can sleep in the airship?”
“Looks like that’s our only choice,” Aurica sighed.
“Alisha and Lailah should definitely stay here, though,” Rose volunteered. She heard Dezel growl in the back of her mind. “After all, a pair of prim-and-proper ladies such as a princess and Lady of the Lake need a prim-and-proper bed.” She grinned, yet there was a hint of pressure. The innkeeper agreed to let them stay. “Well, now it’s settled!”
“Rose…” Sorey whispered to her.
“Let’s all order takeout and eat in the airship!”
Just like that, the assassin ordered meals upon meals for the rest of the group, carting them out with her back to the airship that was nowhere to be found. Krusche and Jack were gone.
“Did they leave us here?” Radolf asked, containing his frustration as best as he could.
“What are we going to do?” Aurica worried.
“Well, we can just camp out here for the night,” Sorey suggested.
“What about supplies?” Ayatane reminded him.
“We can…figure something out, but aren’t the stars gorgeous from here? It’s like we’re standing in the middle of them.”
Edna came out with her umbrella open. “Sometimes, your simplicity just baffles me,” she insulted.
Sorey didn’t want to go back to the inn. Rose, against what she was told abou getting involved, had made it some Alisha and Lailah had privacy. If they went back now, wherever things had gotten would fall apart.
Meanwhile, in the inn, Alisha and Lailah had gotten ready for bed. The fire seraph still had her desire to sing Harmonious on her mind, and she couldn’t just sleep and wait till they got to Silver Horn to find some sort of plan.
“Why?” Lailah finally spoke. “Why won’t you let me sing Harmonious?”
“We’re not discussing this now,” Alisha sternly said.
“Then when will we? We’re going to Silver Horn tomorrow to get the Hymn Crystal for it. We have to reach an agreement.”
Alisha let down her blonde hair. She took off her armor in silence.
“Alisha!”
“Lailah, just let it go!”
“I can’t! I won’t!”
Lailah was shocked at how loud she had yelled at her. She couldn’t help it; Alisha was so against her that for once, she truly wondered if they were compatible.
“Tell me, Alisha. Why are you denying me what my purpose is? I am a seraph. My duty is to sing.”
“But it’s not your duty to risk your life nor to sing someone’s else Song. You’re supposed to guide us on this journey. We can find someone else—Aurica can sing it, or even Shurelia! Or Misha!”
“Be reasonable. Misha can’t sing two Songs at the same time.”
“And you’re not putting your life on the line for people that you abandoned. I’m not letting you turn your back on Hyland.”
“Turning my back?” The words stung deep. She had left Platina. She had left the previous Shepherd Michael. Was she really preparing to leave Hyland? “How can you say that? I love Hyland and Ladylake just as much as you do! I watched it grow with you!”
“So then why are you trying to become a martyr?”
“Because I want to protect Hyland! I want to help you and Sorey and Rose protect everything you love!”
“By singing a Song created by the strongest Reyvateil in the world!”
Alisha was breathing hard trying to calm herself. “Reyvateils are seraphim that are extremely strong and can only sing. A Song created by one…that would kill you in an instant.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Maybe I don’t, but I can’t bear to see you suffer again! What Bartlow did to make you sing that Song. What you had to go through to obtain the spiritual power of fire. It hurts to see you unhappy. Don’t you understand how scared I am that you’ll die or become a hellion or dragon?”
“Since when have you been this scared?”
“I’ve always been scared! If you get hurt, I hurt, too! We’re one and the same—we’ve been tortured our whole lives. We only have each other when this journey ends!”
“Alisha,” Lailah said calmly. “Please, consider my feelings in this, too. I want to be useful. Up until now, I haven’t told you or Sorey anything about my past. It’s a burden I placed on myself as punishment for my mistakes. Seeing Misha sing even though she didn’t want to had shown me how selfish I’ve been. Seeing Aurica sing in memory of Lyner—someone that she loved dearly—reminded me how I want to protect you. All I’ve done is just sit in the background and waited for things to tide over and work out, but not anymore. I want to do something that will help us all and be meaningful.”
She approached Alisha then roughly grabbed her wrist before she could run from her. She forced her hand to the center of her chest where she could feel her heart beat rapidly. It wasn’t just the frustration of arguing something so simple to her princess but the frustration of always being the one that needed saving, the fear of singing such an important Song, and the determination to sing it with everything she had.
“Lailah…”
“I’m scared as well, but I won’t let it hinder me. I must sing this Song, Alisha. The fate of the Tower and possibly the world rests on it. You wanted to help this Tower, and I fully support that. Now I want you to support me in accomplishing that goal.”
Alisha’s hand fell to her side, big tears welling in her jade eyes. “Why am I crying?” she whimpered. She tried to wipe away the endless flow. “Promise me…promise me that you won’t die or turn into a hellion. Promise me that you’ll come back to Hyland with me.”
“Oh, my dear,” Lailah gently smiled. She embraced her. “My fortunes are never wrong. I can see it in the stars. I shall not fail.”
----------------------------------------
Alisha and Lailah hadn’t made amends completely, but the former was willing to let her fire seraph sing the Song that Mir had created. They met with the rest of the group outside of Em Pheyna only to find that they had slept less than comfortable. According to Ayatane, who wasn’t the least upset that they had to sleep on the cold hard ground, Silver Horn was just around the other side of the Tower.
“Are you prepared?” he asked. Shurelia reminded them of the Voice of God that would kill them unless the wind seraphim lent their power. “You’ll only have about a minute or so in it before it starts to burn away at you.”
“One minute is all we’ll need…probably,” Sorey tried to say as confidently as he could.
“We better only need one minute,” Rose sighed. “I’d rather not be cooked like a steak.”
The two of them Armatized and flew up to the ledge above them that led to the entrance to Silver Horn. Everyone else walked around.
Silver Horn was literally a pair of horns wrapped around the Tower. They were made of brass, however, so the name was something of a misnomer. The entrance was a long hall that turned at a corner that led up to a level lined with a series of horn ducts. The ducts led to bridges with switches to turn off the Voice of God; however, getting there was another problem. There was a secret code to open the ducts.
“We came all this way just to hit a dead end?” Edna pouted. “Where are we even supposed to find the code?”
Aurica looked around the ducts themselves. She did all sorts of random things with her Song Magic—freeze them, burn them, shock them, blast them, and finally blew them. A hearty sound wafted from it.
“Oh, do we have to play something?” she mumbled. She seemed quite proud of herself.
Shurelia was reluctant in explaining the mechanism. Grabbing everyone’s attention, she explained that there was a tune that echoed through the Silver Horn. It was the key and the only thing that would fit the lock created by the mechanism.
Naturally, only the seraphim were so musically inclined that they could hear and decipher the tune, but the echoing in the curling tubes of this place jumbled all the sounds together. Thus, the only one who could hear the tune for what it was was the only one who had to train his hearing farther than anyone else.
After de-Armatizing from Rose, Dezel concentrated on the tune. “I can hear it,” he said almost in a dreamlike tone. “Shurelia, how are these horns related?”
“They are analogous to the keys of a piano,” she told him.
“I see.”
He ordered Aurica according to the notes he heard, sometimes letting the entire tune play from the beginning before moving to the next note. Aurica tried her best to keep up with his requests until Shurelia and Zaveid used their magic to help her. Then Edna and Lailah joined in, and soon the tune was played in succession. The ducts opened to the bridges, which Radolf, Alisha, and Sorey crossed. They then found that the bridges held the Voice of God.
Sorey had little problem getting to the switch and flipping it. The burning winds covering his bridge had promptly disappeared. Alisha and Radolf both suffered injuries. They pushed through, and just before their bodies succumbed, they flipped their switches. With all three switches flipped, the path to the water tank—the lubrications for the Silver Horn and all the technology within it—was cleared of the Voice of God.
“Wow, this place was a lot easier than I expected,” Zaveid said awestruck as Sorey walked back to the duct to return to the group. “You think it would have maximum security since a super powerful Song is somewhere here.”
“Probably, but…something’s off,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“It is strange that we were able to get through here so easily. I mean, hellions would be destroyed in here, but why isn’t anything protecting this place?”
After regrouping, Shurelia guided them to the wide long path to the water tank. She pointed, “The door has been opened in addition to the Voice of God being turned off.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Edna said.
As they began to traverse the path, Alisha fell behind to think. She was sure that the Song was going to be hard on her. Would it be a good idea to Dive? It had to be a good idea—after all, it had been so long since their last Dive that it would be a nice change of pace. Then she remembered. She would be going into the eighth level. The culmination of all the stresses, desires, and darkness would be there. She took a deep breath.
“Lailah wants me to support her,” she scolded herself. “I mustn’t let down the one I have sworn to love and protect.”
She caught up with her friends, and they walked into the water tank room to find a large floating robot that looked like an airship. Radolf and Shurelia were on alert, noticing that it was blinking red as if someone had hacked into it. But it was simply corrupted by malevolence.
“Ayatane, I trust you had nothing to do with this,” Shurelia said.
“I may be a Virus, but this is a different kind of ill will,” he replied.
The Origin glanced back at Alisha and Lailah. “We cannot afford you two to get hurt. We will engage it head-on, so please use your first opportunity to escape. The room behind it is the organ. Wait for me there.”
Lailah and Alisha looked at each other. They waited for Shurelia, Edna, and Aurica began singing while Dezel started to cast one of his stronger Seraphic Artes. Sorey, Rose, Radolf, and Ayatane were tasked with defending them. As the battle ensued, the two girls dashed towards the door behind the robot.
Alisha and Lailah closed the door behind them, and after a few minutes of hearing the sounds of the fight, there was a silence denoting an end. Edna forced the door open with her Giant’s Fist, which left her in pain in addition to the exhaustion she felt from singing.
“Y-You already finished it off?” Alisha gaped.
“When three of us can use Song Magic, one can use his Seraphic Artes, one is Armatized, and three are able-bodied fighters; it would be very hard to lose against something that can’t even move,” the earth seraph sassed. “What do we do now?”
Shurelia approached the organ. “It’s been centuries since I’ve been here,” she said, a smile on her lips.
“Lady Shurelia?” Sorey uttered as he de-Armatized from Zaveid.
“Long ago, before Mir’s birth, I was only the administrator of Silver Horn. I had created this chamber as a workshop to make my own Hymn Crystals. Mir’s first Song was created here as well. When it was discarded, it was quickly turned into a Hymn Crystal and hidden away. After all, Songs are too precious—full of unbridled emotion—to just be thrown away.”
Alisha listened to the pearly Origin’s speech about the organ. She began to understand why Lailah wanted to sing. It wasn’t just about making up for her past mistakes; she saw Michael in Mir. Someone who was once holy had fallen into a very dark place, and with her silver flames, she wanted to illuminate that darkness.
Shurelia played a myriad of notes on the organ. She played them over and over as if it were an incantation of sounds. A bright light flashed for only a second, and in the center of it, a Hymn Crystal that vaguely looked like a small bird appeared and gently floated down to her hands. She continued:
“Mir’s Song Harmonious is a pure Song full of love for the humans she was conceived by. At the time, it seemed useless. But this Song is meant to tranquilize malevolent hearts. In a way, it’s similar to the power of a Shepherd or Squire.”
She turned to Lailah with the crystal in her grasp.
“Shall we get started?” Lailah asked.
Alisha had to act now. “W-Wait! Please,” she nervously said. “Before Lailah takes on this Song, I want to Dive with her. It’s a Song created by the most powerful Reyvateil in the world. I…I want to support Lailah—body and mind—so she can sing this Song successfully!”
Rose had a discreet smile on her face.
Shurelia was glad to hear it. She asked them to proceed with the Dive. With that, Alisha Armatized with Lailah and fell into a deep slumber.
Notes:
The puzzle in Silver Horn I think is one of my favorite puzzles in all games, and while writing it out is kind of odd, it's just...I love it, okay?
Chapter 119: Phase 4: Freedom Versus Oath
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 8: Lailah
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
Somewhat shorter chapter this time. Yes another reference to Berseria, and we're almost finished with Lailah's cosmosphere!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Alisha and Lailah stood together in the shared soul space before initiating the Dive. Lailah looked worn out and tired. The conflict that had begun within her soul space was no doubt causing her to expend more energy to keep herself in check. While she appeared to dislike that her princess had come to see the eighth level, Alisha was sure that she was glad that she would be granted a reprieve soon.
“The climax of my soul space begins here,” Lailah told her. “Are you prepared for whatever it might entail?”
“I don’t have any choice at this point,” Alisha replied. “Let’s end this.”
------------------------------------
Alisha found herself in a snow-covered city. In the distance was a large church. Immediately, the princess could feel something amiss. The city had been built on a lake, but she recalled that the Lord of Calamity had the ability to change even landforms. She realized that the setting was a far-off memory, almost like a dream, to the fire seraph.
The princess made her way to the church. There were a few faceless worshippers sparcely sitting in the pews, and at the altar was a small orb of light. The people hadn’t taken notice of her or the orb, so she stepped up to the front. After she cautiously touched the orb of light, a green Normin appeared. It had a bird’s beak and wings made of paper.
“Howdy-doody!” it greeted the princess. “What can I do you for?”
“A Normin? What are you doing here?” Alisha asked.
“Hiding from the oath. Everyone called her the Reaper, but the shrine maiden has pledged to stop her.”
Alisha had forgotten that the Reaper was the personification of Lailah’s duty, and in essence, a version of the oath that chained her down. Was that why they were in this snow-covered city? She asked the Normin where she was.
The city was modeled after one from a thousand years ago. It was once called Hellawes before everything changed. Even earlier, it used to be some other city. The original Lady of the Lake had hailed from then, and over the millenia, it evolved into a religious hub. Sanctuaries turned into the Abbey then into the Church. It was unnerving to know how far back the history stretched.
Alisha asked the Normin to come with her in search of the personas that were supposed to settle their score. They walked all around Hellawes, snow crunching under Alisha’ armored boots. She saw a woman that looked refined, but when she tried to get her attention, the woman didn’t notice her.
That was when the Normin spotted a blue version of its kin covered in feathers. “I found ya!” it called out. It chased down the other Normin. “Fethur! Fethur, get over here!”
“P-Pinyon?!” Fethur screeched. “Get away!”
The Normin tumbled into a pile of snow. Pinyon straddled Fethur with a mean look in its eyes. “Where is the Reaper? I know you know where she is!” it demanded.
“I’m hiding from her! She and the shrine maiden have gone nuts!”
Alisha caught up to them when she accepted that the woman wouldn’t look at her. She was confused nonetheless of how there two Normin now, but she was grateful for extra help.
“Just tell us where they are!” Pinyon growled.
“The aqueduct! The secret altar of the Sacred Blade!” Fethur wept.
“The altar? I see, they must be planning to fight for the Sacred Blade’s rite,” Alisha mumbled to herself. “How do we get there?”
Fethur pointed towards the docks. Without giving it a chance to run, Pinyon dragged Fethur to a small warehouse. Inside, there was a hatch that opened. When Alisha opened it, a ladder stretching into the watery darkness of the aqueduct was found. She allowed the Normin to ride on her shoulders, and as she descended, she felt the resentment that both personas had for each other. Her spear at the ready to intervene, Alisha quietly snuck through the aqueduct.
“The time has come, Reaper,” the shrine maiden calmly said.
“Yes, Free Spirit,” the guardian concurred.
“This fight’s only purpose…”
“Is to lessen the burden of indecision on our real self.”
“One of us must die…”
“And the other must govern the real Lailah’s choices for the rest of her life.”
Alisha peeked from behind a corner at the two Lailahs. One wielded black fire while the other had red. The two personalities clashed, first striking each other with their fire then leaping back to use their papers. Their moves mirrored each other perfectly, as if they were one. It didn’t feel right to watch them fight, but the princess felt frozen in place.
There was a pause in the battle.
“Why do you strive for freedom?” the Reaper asked.
“Because I’m tired of all the pointless suffering! Why do you cling so dearly to the oath?” the shrine maiden asked back.
“The burden of the oath is a reminder of the past. It keeps me grounded. I was powerless to stop Kyle from escaping, and I was powerless to stop Michael from falling. All around us, there had been nothing but sullied angels thanks to our innocent ignorance. I took on the oath to rectify those mistakes.”
The Reaper dashed towards the shrine maiden like an eagle. She knocked her opponent down.
“Lailah cannot be allowed to make those mistakes again. We cannot afford to lose the Shepherd this time to silly whims of the heart!”
The shrine maiden threw her flaming papers at the Reaper then got back on her feet. “Those silly whims are what make Lailah so special! What’s so wrong with living so blissfully ignorant to the harsh realities?”
“When you are blind to reality, you are steeped in dreams and fantasy. It’s the wrong world to be in. Especially when the world is going to be destroyed.”
Alisha listened to them go back and forth, her heart aching. Both of them were aspects of Lailah that had every right to exist. Why couldn’t they live in harmony? They couldn’t continue on going at each other’s necks. She wanted to step in and break up the fight.
The two Lailah were throwing their fires again, this time accompanying them with chaotic Songs to amplify their power. If the fight kept going like this, the soul space was sure to collapse. Finally, with the Normin on her shoulders, she ran out into the middle.
“Stop!” she screamed at them.
Both Lailahs stopped firing their magic.
“Lailah’s lover,” the shrine maiden said in disbelief.
“Foolish girl, why have you come?” the Reaper asked.
Alisha was speechless.
“Out with it!”
“I…I don’t want you two to fight! Please!” Alisha pleaded with them. “Lailah needs both of you! That’s what makes her the woman I love! Seeing you two fight inside of her like this…it puts her in danger of the malevolence, doesn’t it?”
The two Lailahs relaxed a bit. They conceded that she had a point, but still, two opposing mindsets could not survive within the same soul space without one impeding the other. They felt they had to determine who was allowed to stay only because they loved Lailah as much as Alisha did.
“But why?” Alisha cried. “Why can’t sometimes let duty call and other times let her mind wander in fantasy? Why must it be so black and white? The real world…it isn’t like that!”
The two Lailahs went silent.
“This is bad…” Pinyon said.
“Really bad!” Fethur supported.
The two Lailahs turned to Alisha, black and red fire in their palms. “We cannot allow you to be here anymore,” they said in unison. They shot their fires at her, and everything went dark.
Alisha’s consciousness was held in a purgatory-like state. Her life was dwindling within the soul space. Her limbs were slowly becoming numb, and a sense of apathy was encroaching upon her mind. Would it matter if she died there? Would it matter if the personalities did fight to the death? Life wouldn’t be worth living if the Lailah that she loved was going to be irreparably changed by this event. Maybe it was better to sink into the darkness invading her heart.
“Alisha…!” a small voice cried out. “You’ve got to wake up!” It was a very familiar voice, one that had been with her since the beginning of her journeys into the soul space.
“Atakk…?” Alisha whispered. “Where am I?”
“You’re at the edge of a critical down—you’re going to die if you don’t wake up!”
“Die?”
Did she really want to die? Death was final, even in the soul space. If she, a real person, were to die in a place like the soul space—if she were to die while Armatized with Lailah—would that throw the seraph into despair?
“Lailah’s heart is going to break if you die and don’t stop those two from killing each other,” Atakk explained more calmly. “Can you really let that happen?”
“What can I do to stop it? They’re much stronger than I am.”
“It’s time to use the Sacred Blade.”
Alisha didn’t understand what the Normin meant. In the darkness, she felt something appear in her hand. It was long and cylindrical and connected to something much heavier. She tightened her grip, allowing a flow of warm energy to course through her body. The darkness melted away into the fiery glow that she was used to seeing when she Armatized before finding herself laying on the ground some paces away from the battling Lailahs. The Sacred Blade shone in her hand. While she wasn’t Armatized to any particular version of Lailah, she was wearing the Fire Armatus.
“You’re the only one who can stop this needless conflict,” Atakk’s voice came from the sword. “Be the blade that unites them!”
Alisha held the Sacred Blade in front of her. “I will protect Lailah no matter what!” she declared.
She dashed into the fight without hesitation. The two Lailahs, taken aback by her sudden intrusion, leapt away from her. The Reaper began to cast a Seraphic Arte while the shrine maiden attempted to use her Song Magic. Since she was the more vulnerable opponent, Alisha rushed up to her and sliced her. She didn’t injure her too badly, but she wanted to make sure that she couldn’t fight back for the time being. The Reaper, finishing her casting, used her strongest Seraphic Arte Lightning Blast. Alisha hid behind the enormous Sacred Blade, but she was still pushed back some by the sheer force of the attack.
“Calamity Flare!” she called out as she whipped the blade around and sent a wall of fire crawling quickly towards the Reaper. The Lailah whose flames were black suffered a nasty burn that prevented her from attack anymore. “Have you had enough?”
“Why are you interfering?!” the shrine maiden asked.
“Because the Lailah I love would cease to exist if I allowed either one of you to live while the other dies. You must reach a compromise; things aren’t so black and white in the real world. Lailah herself—and this whole journey around the world—have taught me this.”
The Reaper and the shrine maiden looked at each other.
“A sense of duty gives one’s life purpose and meaning,” the Reaper said. “But that doesn’t mean that that person must be chained down for all eternity.”
“A free spirit is the spice of life,” the shrine maiden said. “But too much freedom leads to chaos.”
The two Lailahs stood up. Together, they continued, “Without one or the other, Lailah would be incomplete. Together, we can ensure a balance that will help her grow and prosper.”
They pressed their hands together and intertwined their fingers. A blinding light gradually envelope the soul space, but it forced Alisha to look away. As everything faded to white, the Armatus disappeared. Pinyon and Fethur vanished. The Reaper and the shrine maiden melted away, and in their place, was a red Normin.
“Thank you,” it said. “For resolving the conflict between these two personalities.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Flaym, the Normin behind the burning heat of Lailah’s fires and love.”
Flaym approached Alisha. “Since the beginning of the Age of Chaos, Lailah has fought with herself about her decisions. She had taken her oath to help the Shepherd, but she blamed herself when he went astray. She has tried to stifle her carefree attitude to limit her mistakes the second time around, but she was never truly able to do that when she bonded with you.”
Alisha clutched her chest.
“I must thank you, Princess Alisha Diphda, for helping Lailah like this. I don’t believe you’ve ever truly completed her soul space levels to this depth, have you?”
“Well, not exactly. We’ve Dived a lot before, but…”
“But this is the first time you’ve seen the true outcome of all your hardwork. So, allow me to congratulate you for completing the eighth level.”
Alisha looked around. She was wondering where the Paradigm Shift was if she had really completed it, but Flaym revealed that she was standing within it. Lailah’s personalities had created the Paradigm Shift that served to free her from her suffering.
“Do not come back here until you’re are ready,” Flaym told her.
“Until I’m ready? What do you mean?”
“Lailah’s heart is completely open to you now, but the final level requires a lot of courage that you do not yet possess. My final word—give Lailah all the support you can when she sings the Song that she has pledged to sing. It is a difficult one wrought with conflict. Be her light. Guide her through with you heart.”
Alisha still had so any questions for Flaym, but the light of the Paradigm faded to darkness. She returned to reality.
------------------------------------------
Alisha and Lailah woke together. Somehow, the fire seraph appeared to be glowing with confidence and determination. She didn’t ask for what had happened in her soul space because she already knew that a burden had been lifted. Standing up, she approached Shurelia, her poise and stride exuding a call to duty and a free decision.
“Lady Shurelia, I am ready,” Lailah told the Origin.
“Let us begin,” Shurelia stated. “Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal—”
A dark figure zoomed in front of Shurelia and Lailah, and the Hymn Crystal was suddenly gone. “W-What’s going on?!”
The figure gently landed on the tallest pipe of the organ, her magneta hair falling in devious spiral behind her and her spear enshrouded in the most wicked of malevolence. The Song in her hand sparkled.
“I knew it was a good idea to let you do that hard work,” the woman smirked.
Lailah and Alisha watched in horror as the Blue Valkyrie turned to see them. “But why…?” Lailah breathed.
Notes:
The next time we Dive into Lailah will be the final time, and it's pretty exciting! We've still got a little bit left in Phase 4, though.
Chapter 120: Phase 4: Ulterior Motives
Summary:
With developments in both Mikleo and Frelia, Alisha and her friends must get the Hymn Crystal back from Maltran before finally confronting Mir.
Notes:
A bit of a shorter chapter again, this is the second update of four today! I had a lot of hints in this chapter and a bit of foreshadowing, so I'm eager to know what you guys think!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mikleo lay on the white floor of the Harvestasha Module. He was dreaming, but within his dream, there was nothing. All of his memories of Sorey and Elysia were gone or fragmented so terribly that they looked like scenes of white noise. The personalities that resided in his heart were all piles of clothes that disappeared slowly into ash.
“He’s completely wiped clean,” Luphan said with a sneer. “Any remnants left will be erased soon enough.”
Harvestasha looked pleased at the empty shell of the water seraph. Finnel sat next to her, despondent and horrified at what they had done to him. “Unfortunately, he’s not the perfect vessel if she decides to use Ar Ciela for her Song Magic, but it should suffice. What about Akane?”
“Locked up at home,” Luphan replied. “She’s under house arrest, and if she tries to escape, her mind will be shocked. Eventually, she’ll go insane if she keeps trying to escape. All that’s left now is to wait for those silly children to bring us the Heart of Gaea.”
Far away from the Tower Tilia, Frelia winced in pain as she lay in the infirmary of the Knights’ Tower. Shun hadn’t left her side. Staring at the ceiling, the green Origin thought of all the reasons why her body and mind ached. Her Tower was falling apart slowly, and she was expending her life force to keep it afloat. Sergei, as the captain of the Platinum Knights, kept an eye on her. With her guardian’s permission, he brought her water and meals; however, Frelia never consumed any of it. How could she when she was dying slowly?
“Shun…” she weakly said. “You must return to the Tower…please…”
“Lady Frelia, I cannot leave your side,” Shun replied.
“But something is wrong…I can’t even connect to Raki…”
“That’s…probably because…”
--------------------------------------------------
Maltran jumped down from the organ. She couldn’t allow Lailah to sing Harmonious because it would disrupt Heldalf’s plan. If Mir, now only sealed and not held hostage in the Binary Field, was forever tranquilized, then the side of darkness would lose firepower, and that just couldn’t happen.
“You’re no better than the humans that treated her bad!” Aurica told her.
“My dear, don’t you understand?” Maltran sighed. “People and seraphim live every day using each other. Mir’s potential is being squandered; the Lord of Calamity wishes only to realize that power and let her run free as she desires.”
Alisha took a step towards her. She knew she was a hellion. She knew that she was working for Heldalf. She still couldn’t believe yet how hard she was trying to sabotage them. The destruction that Mir pined for was the only way that the Lord of Calamity could level the Tower and the Hyland territory without any problems. It would destroy even Maltran’s home in Marlind. Did the Blue Valkyrie know that?
Lailah, who hadn’t been fooled by the intimidating woman a couple of nights ago, had anticipated her following them. She had found it strange that Maltran had told them about Ayatane and the Song. It quickly dawned on her that she was trying to lure them into a trap. The fact that Ayatane defected, though, must have put a wrench in the plans. Still, she had to acknowledge that the ultimate goal at this point was to steal the Hymn Crystal.
Maltran grimaced at the princess and the fire seraph, stating to the former that she was hoping they had gone their separate ways. While Alisha vowed that she would never leave Lailah, she saw in Maltran’s primrose eyes a hint of jealousy that she had never noticed before now. Even in the private talk with her while they were searching for iris gems, it wasn’t there.
“I knew you could be mean, Alisha, but I never thought you could be this cruel,” Maltran taunted. “Not only will you not leave that weakling, but you still yet to shine brighter than me despite all my efforts. Maybe if I shatter this crystal, is there a chance I will be better than you?”
“Break that crystal, and we’ll break your face,” Edna threatened viciously.
“I’ve no interest in you, little one,” she replied quickly.
“Sorey, let’s take her down,” Edna growled.
“If you get involved, I won’t hesitate to kill you all here and now.”
“An empty threat. Sorey, Armatize with me!”
Lailah stretched out her arm before her. “No, this is what she wants. Symonne put you up to this, didn’t she? She wants to fill Alisha with despair so that she will destroy the country herself, right?” She pulled out her papers and lit them with her fires.
Suddenly Maltran seemed to back off. She gazed at the Hymn Crystal in her hand, turning it over and over while wondering what to do with it. She was impervious as long as she held it.
“There’s no guarantee that it will work,” she mumbled to herself. “And I have a war to start. I cannot waste time here.”
“Let’s settle this,” Lailah almost demanded.
Maltran’s eyes shot back to her. Did she want to fight? No, it wasn’t the time. She had something bigger to do. Slowly stepping from the organ to the edge of the walkway, she looked up then down; both stretched into darkness. Then she held the crystal over the edge.
“I’m going to defy the orders I was given,” she stated. “You can look for the crystal again. Once you have your way with the Tower, then we will fight.”
And she let go of the crystal.
“No!” Shurelia cried out. She used the jets on her Linkage Armor to try to catch it before it fell too far from the landing. “How could you do this?!”
“Life isn’t easy; I should know,” Maltran said spitefully. She disappeared into the malevolence.
“Fethmus Mioma!” Alisha hastily called out. After Armatizing, she leapt down into the darkness after the Hymn Crystal.
“Alisha!” Aurica yelled after her.
Rose and Dezel Armatized while Sorey and Edna fused and followed them. The valves and pipes of Silver Horn surrounded them to no end, but there was still no sign Lailah and Alisha. Farther and farther down they went, and still they couldn’t see a trace of them.
“Damn, how far does this go?” Rose asked herself. “How are you planning to get back up, Sorey?”
“I’ll figure that out when we find the Hymn Crystal,” Sorey replied.
Back at the top, Radolf asked just how far down the Silver Horn went. Shurelia couldn’t say for certain. It was a death sentence to fall off the walkway or landing; of course, Sorey and Rose and Alisha would be able to return to them, but any other person would die once they hit anything like a cliff or path.
Sorey strained his eyes to see farther into darkness, which reminded him of how his sight had deteriorated from the start of his journey. His head was pounding from it and from the increasing speed as they searched for their friends.
“There they are!” Rose suddenly said. She pointed at a flickering flame.
Sorey and Rose landed next to her on a narrow valve. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Hymn Crystal in her hands. Sorey thought about making platforms of rock to use, but they were too far from even the Wings of Horus to do that, and while Rose had the capacity to control the wind thanks to Dezel, she wasn’t strong enough to do that for as long as was needed. But Alisha didn’t seem worried about getting back to where the others were.
“What’s wrong?” Sorey asked her.
“Maltran…why did she come here?” Alisha asked herself. Lailah remained silent. “She has a war to start; we can’t dawdle here. We—I need to go back to Ladylake.”
“Hold on, we have to restore the Tower first!” Rose reminded her.
“Compared to my home, this Tower isn’t important!”
“If we don’t fix it, then the seraphim are going to be defenseless!”
“Rose, Alisha, stop it!” Sorey intervened.
“Alisha, Rose is right. If we leave the Tower now, we will only be doing what Maltran and Symonne want. Besides, we cannot leave Misha to sing forever,” Lailah said finally. She implored her to finish the task at hand. She told her that it was undoubtedly a trap.
Naturally, she didn’t want to ignore the problem, but she couldn’t deny that they had to help Mir first. If she went on without being purified while she was still able to, then their hopes of freeing her from her past would get slimmer and slimmer. She swallowed her anxiety.
“I can probably carry Lailah up,” Dezel said.
“No way, we can jump super high when Armatized, so we can get out of here no problem!” Rose grinned. Sorey and Alisha looked at each other. Suddenly they wrapped their arms around Rose’s waist, the Hymn Crystal tucked securely into the bow on the small of her back. “W-What the hell?!”
“Fly!” Sorey commanded.
“No, you guys can jump!”
Dezel, in the back of her mind, grinned mischievously. Without a moment to spare, he shot Rose up the chasm they had jumped into with the Shepherd and the other Squire dangling wildly from her hips. Their screams echoed all the way up until they were back up on the walkway to the organ once again. All three of them looked frazzled, and Lailah and Edna fell to their hands and knees when they de-Armatized.
“A warning would have been nice, you jerk!” Edna hissed.
“I was getting bored listening to these three go back and forth,” Dezel smirked, making sure that Rose was holding the crystal before meeting the two seraphim before him.
Shurelia and Aurica sighed while Radolf and Ayatane helped the seraphim up. Zaveid, preoccupied with the organ, just waited for Lailah to absorb the Song.
The ivory Origin held the Hymn Crystal before Lailah. “I will now begin,” she told her. “Please, be prepared for the emotions that will flow into you.”
“I’m ready,” Lailah said.
Shurelia began the incantation:
“Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Harmonious, enter_FETHMUS_MIOMA.”
Lailah’s eyes squeezed shut as the Song flowed into her with all the emotions that Mir had swirling in her mind all the centuries ago. The pure unadulterated love that she held for humans was as present as when she first conceived them. There wasn’t any hints of sadness or hatred for them, yet the intense feelings wracked Lailah’s body with excruiciating pain. Falling to her knees, gripping her arms as if trying to hold them inside, she cried out. Alisha embraced her, and instantly she noticed how hot she felt. Then, as the feelings settled and the novelty of them faded, the fire seraph grew quiet. She was unconscious in Alisha’s arms.
“L-Lailah! Lailah, wake up!” she begged her. Zaveid placed a hand on her shoulder. “I knew this was a bad idea!”
“Relax, Princess,” he told her calmly.
“That Song has intense feelings, but they haven’t harmed her,” Ayatane promised. “In fact, the strength of them is paramount to the Song. When she wakes up, she should be able to sing it, and when she does…”
“Mir won’t stand a chance,” Zaveid finished, but he wasn’t paying attention to them. He looked distant, like his mind was in a different world.
-------------------------------------------------------
Returning to Em Pheyna was easier than traveling to Silver Horn but still a long trip. Alisha carried Lailah on her back while she slept and stewed in her new Song.
Aurica and Shurelia watched her from behind before their attention shifted to Zaveid. He had insisted on walking beside the Shepherd instead of inside of him like Edna.
“Is something the matter?” Aurica cautiously asked him.
“What? N-No, I’m just thinking!” he laughed off.
“You’re obviously lying,” Sorey said. “Are you worried about Lailah?”
“Not really; I was just thinking about what Maltran had said,” Zaveid replied quietly so Alisha couldn’t hear. She was talking to Radolf, which helped him out. “They wanted to use her potential and give her free reign, but I don’t think that’s what Mir wants.”
Ayatane pouted. “And how would you know know what Mother wants?”
Shurelia tried to remember just what her fight with Mir meant to both of them. It was a microcosm of the war they had waged which put Mir in her prison. She wanted to destroy humans as a way to exact revenge and to help the seraphim. The love Mir had for humans had merely been translated into a love for seraphim.
“I see,” she uttered. “Mir’s goal isn’t to create a utopia for seraphim and Reyvateils. She…yes, that was when her love turned into hatred.”
They had reached Em Pheyna, and Alisha and Radolf immediately went to the inn. Sorey and Rose stuck around Zaveid, Ayatane, Shurelia, and Aurica. Edna and Dezel simply listened from within their vessels.
“Do you think Lailah really can do this?” Rose asked, now doubting that the fire seraph had what it took to sing Mir’s feelings to her.
“She has to now; no do-overs,” Zaveid said.
“Aurica, Misha, and I will support her. As long as Misha continues to sing Chronicle Key, Mir shouldn’t be able to fight back at full strength if at all. Forcing her to listen to her Song—it’s barbaric to put her through this torture, but it should reawaken her,” Shurelia said with hope. “Though, it seems that Krusche and Jack won’t be joining us.”
“Why?” Sorey questioned.
“You noticed as well?” Ayatane mumbled to her.
“Yes, but I won’t interfere; their end product might become useful should anything not work in our favor.”
Notes:
We're almost finished with Phase 4! The next chapter will not feature the lyrics of Lailah's version of Harmonious, but I imagine it would sound a bit different from Misha's version. And considering only one friend has heard what Noriko Mitose intended Mir's version to sound like, I hope it wouldn't sound too similar either.
Chapter 121: Phase 4: Harmonious
Summary:
The time has come for Lailah to sing her version of Harmonious! Can she quell the malevolence in Mir's heart?
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD.
THIS IS IT! Lailah gets to sing her version of EXEC_HARMONIOUS/., which modifies the melody of Misha's version. A friend has heard Mir's original version, but alas, it has never been released. Hopefully I can write the music for it soon.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next morning, Lailah had woken up with a heavy but vigorous heart. The feelings from the Hymn Crystal had settled within her, and she felt confident that she could sing them to Mir without fear of misinterpreting them. She waited for Alisha to get up as she got herself something to eat for breakfast. Shurelia and Zaveid were already awake and sitting at a table with half-eaten pastries. The wind seraph still looked grave. Lailah listened to them.
“I know what Krusche and Jack are doing,” Shurelia told him in a low voice. “Krusche is a smart woman. She’s creating her own type of Virus that can halt Mir if she breaks out of Misha’s binding Song.”
“How can she do that?” Zaveid asked her.
“Using Tenba’s resources and her knowledge of the inner workings of the Towers, she can write a spell. With Jack’s assistance, the spell can be used on seraphim and Reyvateils alike.”
“But that puts a huge risk on everyone involved.”
“Indeed. The loneliness and sorrow she feels fuels the malevolence within it, but like a vaccine for humans, it is essentially harmless and only simulates the adverse effects of a real Virus.” Shurelia’s form relaxed as she let out a sigh. “I just hope that we won’t have to use it.”
The fire seraph, unsure of what they were talking about in its entirety, slowly approached their table. She greeted them with the best masked smile she could muster, which in turn forced them to pretend as if nothing was wrong. Zaveid asked her how she felt now that she was ready to sing to Mir.
Lailah’s eyebrows pinched while she smiled. “I’m only a little nervous,” she said candidly. “Before receiving the Song, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to understand how Mir felt. But now that I know everything, and now that I have the Song, I believe we can help her.” She rested her hand on her chest.
Zaveid’s piercing amber eyes analyzed her form. Alisha was still against the idea even though she had given her permission and everything else that was needed for her to be remotely settled with this task. The two girls wanted the opposite of each other yet felt the complete same. It was almost heartbreaking, but he knew that Lailah wanted to redeem herself after all these years.
“We should get moving soon,” he said as he stretched in his chair. “The longer we wait, the harder it’ll be to convince Alisha to let you do this, right?”
“Zaveid…” Lailah uttered before smiling at him again.
“Damn, if only you were still single,” he joked. “That smile is like a ray of hope.”
Shurelia giggled. She had to admire Lailah’s dutiful outlook on her mission. Perhaps her time in Glenwood and becoming a Prime Lord to a Shepherd had helped her to mature. Her relationship with Alisha, which had surprised her at first when she saw her again, reminded her of Lyner’s relationship with Aurica, Misha, and herself. The pearly Origin reminisced on the days she had worked with Lyner to ensure that Platina was a safe haven for both humans and seraphim, and she wished that he could see his successors now.
After everyone woke and was ready to head out, Shurelia and Lailah went over the general plan. Then, upon arriving in the Crescent Chronicle and stepping into it while Misha was singing, they prepared themselves for the seal would need to be momentarily broken. Mir was to be allowed to rouse and notice that she was going to fight them.
Misha was still singing when they enacted the first part, her voice still as pristine as the stars her lineage was named for. “W-What are you doing here?” she asked in between her lyrics. “Don’t you remember? I’m supposed to sing forever!”
“No, you won’t have to,” Lailah told her.
“Misha, please stop singing, and don’t start again until I tell you to,” Shurelia commanded.
The young Star Singer did as she was told, stopping Chronicle Key in the middle. Almost immediately, the entire Crescent Chronicle began to rumble. The malevolence flooded the Crescent Chronicle, crushing down on Lailah and her friends. There was no turning back now; Mir was awakening.
“Mir!” Alisha suddenly cried out. “Show us your true feelings! Show us your everything!” She stood beside Lailah with her hand tightly grasping hers.
Mir’s body appeared before them, but it wasn’t anything that Shurelia and Zaveid had seen before. Instead of the small, slender body and pale skin and extremely long hair; Alisha and her comrades saw a grotesque shell that exemplified the ugliness inside her heart. It looked like an alien or a monster with a harp for a tail—it was something that was so inconceivable that Sorey and Rose’s hearts trembled with fear for the unknown for the first time. Radolf, Ayatane, and Aurica were prepared to fight no matter how horrifying the monster looked.
“yurlskfGEEOWsldkgsdnriZODALlsdknisdMORTOslgljsbfjb,” Mir’s voice erupted from the monster.
“We need to extract her from that shell!” Shurelia announced. “Misha, begin your Song!”
Misha began to sing Chronicle Key again at once, restricting the Reyvateil’s movements with chains made of light. Mir, however was far stronger than anyone in that chamber, and she could still force herself to fight. Zaveid and Edna guarded Sorey, whose body was paralyzed and wracked with pain akin to all the suffering that she had gone through. Dezel Armatized with Rose to help support her, but even he couldn’t break through the pressure pounding on her.
Shurelia and Aurica began to use their Song Magic while Radolf, Ayatane, and Alisha threw themselves at Mir. Ayatane, who couldn’t bear to see his mother in so much pain, attacked the head of the monster. Radolf stabbed its arms so it couldn’t hurt them. Alisha focused on the core holding the tortured girl. She stuck the blade of her spear into a shallow crevice in the sphere housing Mir, and with all her might, she tried to pry it open. The pulsating wickedness—the hatred and sorrow and anger swirling inside—ate at her. It attempted to worm into her, and she could feel herself getting heavier and heavier with the anxiety of turning into a hellion.
The monster screeched as it plucked the strings on its tail. “Sonata -Despair-,” it wailed. Alisha was blown back, and the monster plucked the strings again. “Tragic -Doom-.”
Ayatane collapsed to the ground. “M-Mother…please…!” he cried to her like a child.
“Sorey, you have to push through this,” Edna told her Shepherd.
“It hurts so much…” he cracked. “I can’t move…” Every time he tried to move just a centimeter, it felt as if a saw was ripping into his body.
Radolf managed to wound one of the arms, which cut its magic in half. Because it still had the other one, it did everything in its power to annihilate them. Aurica launched her Song Magic at the monster, and despite dealing enough damage to render the other arm useless, the head cried out in anger:
“Circling Soul -Reincarnation-.”
The arms sprung back to life in seconds, much to everyone’s dismay. Shurelia continued to sing as she built up the power for her own spell. Zaveid, Edna, and Dezel knew that Sorey and Rose couldn’t fight in their condition, and they couldn’t let their friends fight on their own. Edna implemented a barrier around them to deflect any stray attacks in the meantime before rushing to Shurelia’s side.
Ayatane pushed himself up with his sword. “We need to break the shell in one giant swoop,” he coughed.
“The problem is…” Alisha panted as she rose to her feet. “Having enough power to do that.”
“Aurica, Lailah, Edna; sing the strongest Song you can,” Shurelia said while singing. “The rest of you, please bear with us!”
“Lady Shurelia, what about me?” Misha asked her.
“Just keep singing Chronicle Key. You’re the only one who can hold her back!”
The seraphim and the Origin sang all together their different Songs. Alisha, Ayatane, and Radolf attacked their respective parts of the shell protecting Mir from them while Zaveid and Dezel threw their pendulums around the wrists of the beast. While holding it down, they used Magius to pelt the core and head with magical stones.
Radolf stabbed the arms until they went limp beside the monster; Ayatane slashed the face repeatedly in hopes of blinding it. Alisha charged up to the core, and using her Mystic Arte, she managed to put a tiny crack into it.
“Now!” Shurelia shouted. Aurica, Lailah, and Edna all fired their Song Magic at the monster. As its screeches of agony echoed throughout the Crescent Chronicle, Shurelia unleashed her Song Magic. “Target locked. Activating the Tower. Ma i wa ini ar tonelico.”
The Tower rumbled. Way at the top from the Rinkernator, beams of light shot out like missles curving towards the Crescent Chronicle. They pierced through Mir’s shell, and the monster’s body became brittle. It chipped away and dissipated to reveal the Mir that Shurelia and Zaveid were familiar with.
The pain in Sorey and Rose eased slightly due to the shell breaking away, but it only gave them a short reprieve. With nothing abating the full force of the malevolence in her, they cried out. Alisha tried her best to withstand the darkness coming from her, but even she fell to her knees.
“Mir…is just a little girl?” Radolf gasped.
Shurelia and Zaveid were aware of how old she was. They knew all of the torture she had gone through just like everyone else, but Reyvateils and seraphim never looked their age. They warned their comrades not to lower their guard simply because she was an unassuming little girl.
“Stop singing that accursed Song…!” Mir struggled to say, as if Chronicle Key were a noose around her. “Just leave me alone. Let me finally have my wish! Let me destroy the humans that abuse our kind!”
Shurelia motioned for Misha to cease her Song. Mir was released from her binds, but she was still weakened from her shell being destroyed. The Origin just watched her, ready to kill her if she tried to attack them.
“Mir, please listen,” Lailah started. But then Alisha spoke up after crawling to her and bowing before her. “A-Alisha?”
“I know it does not mean much to you now, but I want to apologize on behalf of humanity,” she humbly said. Mir grimaced. “We’re a selfish species, hellbent on using what we can to further our development and survival. But…there are those of us who wish to coexist peacefully with the seraphim. The Shepherd Sorey’s dream…” She remembered when she first met him and how it felt to find someone who had made it their life’s goal to make it come true. “That dream has become my dream and everyone else’s here. So please, listen to us.”
Lailah stepped to her side, a look of dignity and determination shining in her jade eyes. “As Alisha’s partner on this journey and in life itself, I implore you to listen to the true feelings that were once locked away,” she said. “I pray that this Song will release you from your hatred.”
Mir covered her ears. “No! Just stay away from me! Humans will never change!” she screamed. “They broke my heart and locked me away! They did so many horrible things to me! How can I possibly forgive them?!”
Lailah offered her a gentle smile, asking her one more time to listen before starting the Song Mir named Harmonious:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Stop it! Just shut up!” Mir screamed again. Using the last of her strength and amplified by the malevolence, she tried to create a new shell. It enveloped her like an egg made of obsidian. “Go away!”
“She’s regenerating!” Misha panicked.
Shurelia looked at Alisha. “Break open that shell. Ayatane and I will offer support. Everyone else, please leave here while you can. There’s no telling what could happen now,” she told them.
Edna dismantled her barriers around Sorey and Rose, and the wind seraphim carried them out against their will. Aurica and Misha, unsure if it was right to just listen to what Shurelia had said, allowed Radolf to escort them out.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Lady Shurelia, are you planning on using your Song Magic as well?” Ayatane asked.
“Yes, but I will take great care not to interrupt Lailah’s Song,” Shurelia said.
Alisha and Ayatane turned to the egg holding Mir. Shurelia began to sing a Song that would continuously heal their wounds. The damage they had sustained from fighting the monster that had protected Mir from her true feelings gradually reduced.
The princess of Hyland took a jab at the egg, her blade clinking again it like a fork against glass. Ayatane slashed repeatedly, each attack breaking his heart. Why was Mir trying so hard to deny it? Was she that afraid of remembering the love she held?
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mir’s egg suddenly shined brightly. “Ruined World,” she whispered. She jetted into Alisha, pummeling her with her shell of hatred. Shurelia’s Song Magic healed her right away.
“Mir, let us help you!” the princess yelled with the hope that her voice could pierce the orb around her.
Ayatane stabbed the orb, but the blade slipped and simply scratched it.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Lailah sang as purposefully and fervently as she could to make Mir’s feelings heard. As she had expected, the Song required a great deal of energy that drained her much faster than anticipated. The warmth, however, encouraged her to keep up, and she only hoped that Mir could feel it, too.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mir kept her hands over her ears, pressing harder and harder to block out the Song. It was to no avail; Lailah’s voice was cutting through the egg. “Stop singing this Song!” Mir ordered her.
“Roaring Blade!” Ayatane said. The impulse wave that he sent forth from his sword battered the egg. While the power diffused equally around it, the brunt of the attack hit it directly, and the side cracked deeply and chipped it. “Mother, you cannot hide forever!”
“Falling Sky!” Mir snarled from within her egg. She summoned a vortex of dark clouds above them, and much like Burning Strike, blinding white meteors crashed against both the seraphim and the humans. “Just die already!”
Lailah didn’t miss a beat. Thought her voice faltered, she sang louder and harder to make it heard.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Shurelia continued to sing to restore her friends’ health. Then she began to worry that they would have to rely on Krusche and Jack’s Virus to take down the Reyvateil. Mir again used Ruined World, which incapacitated Ayatane. It pained her to hurt her son, but the feelings of betrayal were stronger than the parental love that she tried to give him.
“Mir! Stop!” Alisha begged her.
“Go away!” Mir screamed.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Alisha dashed in close to Mir’s egg. After using her spear to launch it into the air, she leapt after it, hitting it higher and higher. Inside the egg, Mir couldn’t cover her ears and stabilized herself, and as she looked up with her garnet eyes. Above her was Alisha, her spear aimed at her and prepared to pierce the egg.
“Soulstoke Celebration!” Alisha called out.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mir’s egg shattered as Alisha finished her attack. The lonely and broken-hearted girl fell with her to the floor of the Crescent Chronicle. Lailah’s Song was now heard without any barriers, and her heart lay bear to her.
Alisha, out of worry and respect for her, backed away. She let the Song permeate her soul and plant the seeds of hope and love that Mir had once sown herself. The memories of the first days when she was emotionless yet still so ambitious to create something of her own.
Mir stood up, her hair draping down all around her. Her pale skin that had been starved of the sun’s warmth peeked through the black strands.
“Mir, do you remember your love?” Shurelia asked as she brought her healing Song to an end.
“The love I once had for humans…the love I so deeply wanted to show…” Mir whispered.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
As Lailah sang the final verse of the version of Harmonious that she had created from the Hymn Crystal, she trained her eyes up Mir’s body to find large tears pouring from hers. Lailah approached her, and in the blink of an eye, Mir fell into her arms. She cried for forgiveness and the chance to redeem herself. Alisha assured her that she was well on her way to redemption. Shurelia healed Ayatane, whom found the image of his fearsome mother in tears both surprising and endearing.
“Please,” Mir tearfully said. “Allow me to pave the way to right my wrongs.”
Alisha and Lailah exchanged looks. Mir returned to the altar of the Crescent Chronicle. She held back her tears as she took a breath before singing a Song that she created at that moment. The Song, Rig=Veda, filled the Crescent Chronicle with a glorious chorus that lifted the hearts of all the people living on the Tower. The malevolence that had poisoned it drained away, even from Mir’s own heart.
Outside the Crescent Chronicle, Sorey felt his pain and suffering melt away with each note of the Song. Then, without provocation, he felt something warm and wet roll down his cheeks.
“Why…?” he whispered almost inaudibly to himself. “Why am I…?”
Rose quickly wiped her eyes before Dezel could sense them. The comforting waves of the Song wrapped around each one of them, and for the time that they waited for Alisha, Lailah, Ayatane, and Shurelia to emerge from the Crescent Chronicle with Mir, everyone just listened silently to the Song of immense and boundless gratitude.
Notes:
This is the penultimate chapter for Phase 4! After the next chapter, we roll into Phase 5!
Chapter 122: Phase 4: Phantasmagoria, the Restoration of the First Tower
Summary:
With Mir's Song providing a preliminary cleanse of the Tower, Shurelia begins to craft a new Song with the prayers and wishes of everyone on the Tower.
Notes:
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'm posting the end of Phase 4 today. Out with the old, in with the new; and Phantasmagoria is the perfect Hymmnos to do that! Shurelia and Mir do sing EXEC_DISHADOW.includingVANISLAND, but it's not as cleansing as Phantasmagoria
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Mir, that Song…how were you able to craft it so quickly?” Shurelia asked her.
Mir seemed to be blushing under her mess of hair. “I…I learned how to do it when I hacked the Tower,” she said with something of a reserved bite. “Ayatane, let’s go. There is little point for us to be here now.”
Lailah reached out to her, but Harmonious had taken so much energy that she nearly fainted. Alisha caught her before she collapsed. “M-Mir…please, wait—”
“Asking a lady without clothes to wait is awfully bold,” Mir said. “In this society, it’s uncivilized to be naked, correct? Let me go then. I have things I must attend to like proper grooming. Ayatane, hurry behind!”
“Yes, mother!” Ayatane obeyed.
“In the meantime, Shurelia, make sure to restore the Tower to its original state. I’ll be back to clean up after.”
Shurelia took off her Linkage armor. Before Mir got too far away, she jumped on her back and hugged her tightly. She buried her face in her hair, and she cooed and awed at the idea of now having a little sister to play with. Mir shook her off then threatened to hack the Tower again if she ever did that again. The girl and her Virus left the Crescent Chronicle by way of the malevolence that she had learned to control.
The three girls exited the Crescent Chronicle to find their friends. Despite being incredibly tired from the ordeal, Alisha couldn’t help but notice how red Sorey and Rose’s eyes were. They tried to deny it, but Edna ratted them out.
“To be honest, that Song Princess Goth started to sing may have purified a lot of the malevolence. I can’t sense it as much as before,” the earth seraph said.
“That means that the hellions on the Tower must have weakened, right?” Sorey said in an effort to detract from his tear-stained face.
Lailah agreed that the Song had lessened the malevolence, but the Tower was still infested. She wanted to help Shurelia clear them out, but the Origin suggested that they all rested for now. She then turned to Aurica and Misha yet didn’t say anything. She just smiled.
“Everyone, while you are resting, I will be working on a new Hymn Crystal,” she announced. “I would like you to focus on what makes you happy. Please think about what your dreams are, the happiness your loved ones bring you, and most of all, the everlasting hope that we need to survive the Age of Chaos. If you all wish deep in your hearts, I can create this Tower’s Song of Hope.”
“Lady Shurelia, shouldn’t you rest?” Sorey asked her.
“Please, don’t worry about me. As this Tower’s Administrator, it is my duty to ensure that the Tower Eolia and its people including those living in the Hyland region are happy and healthy. Now then, off you go.”
Everyone returned to Platina after bidding farewell to Flute and wishing him luck in presiding over Em Pheyna in Tastiella’s stead. The Floating City was bustling with people now that the malevolence had weakened.
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Radolf and Aurica were the first to leave the group to address the new order in Nemo. Aurica promised she would be back in time for the revelation of the Hymn Crystal, but Radolf couldn’t leave Nemo without someone to manage the Church.
They were escorted by Knights of Elemia, as requested by Leard and Shurelia, and while they journeyed back to the city, they reflected on their short time with Sorey’s friends.
“I wish we had more time with them,” Radolf sighed. “Sorey would have been a wonderful friend to Lyner, no? And that Alisha—she’ll grow into a fine lady. Maybe we can even make some agreements with her for trade.”
“Yeah; he and Lyner talked a lot when they were held prisoner,” Aurica replied. “I’m going to miss Lyner so much, but somehow I know I’ll be okay. Sorey and Alisha both are like Lyner, and if they’re the ones that are going to save Hyland and the world, I’ll be happy.”
“Haha, but this doesn’t mean that you can take it easy.”
“Of course not! I want to make Lyner proud. I loved him because he was so kind to me, so it’s my turn. I’m not going to be afraid anymore. I want to craft Songs that will give people hope. And when I’m not singing, I want to make music boxes so people can always have a little Song with them.”
Radolf smiled at her. Aurica used to be so gloomy and timid, but somehow, she had morphed into a confident girl who was finally spreading her wings. “Aurica, I have a proposition for you,” he said.
“You’re not asking to marry me, are you?”
“N-No! As a cardinal of the Church, I can’t—”
Aurica giggled. “I’m joking! I didn’t think you would react that way! Lyner would have probably done the same thing!”
“A-Aurica…” Radolf said again albeit flustered. “Bishop Falss had named you the Holy Maiden of the Church before to aid in his nefarious schemes. You have every right to turn me down, but I would appreciate it if you continued to work with the Church. Lyner never liked seeing seraphim and Reyvateils being abused, and while Tenba has changed, I want to expand his view—and Sorey and Alisha’s view—to as many people as we can on the Tower. Would you continue to be our Holy Maiden? Our true Holy Maiden and not the false representation that is the Goddess Tyria?”
Radolf knelt down to her with his spear beside him. Aurica was surprised at how serious the offer was, but she couldn’t say no. Lyner had always trusted Radolf, and she had worked with him for years on end. She agreed to be the Church’s official Holy Maiden and to spread her Songs and prayers through the Tower in Lyner’s memory. She had met Shurelia, a fabled goddess herself in the ancient texts within the hidden library. With this knowledge and all that she had experienced on the Tower and in Lohgrin, she wanted to be the beacon of light for the denizens of her home.
When they returned to Nemo, Radolf and Aurica began to reform the laws of the Church with the ideals they had always had to ensure a future of coexistence. And that night after they had implemented their hope unto their people, they wrote their wishes and prayed.
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Misha made her way to Firefly Alley. She wanted to see Jack, but after going to the Tenba Corporation headquarters, she had learned that he and Krusche had suddenly left. She was a little hurt since Jack had been something of an older brother to her before she had gotten her Song back and was spirited away to Lohgrin with other seraphim.
“Ayano, is Spica still around?” Misha asked the intimidating woman.
“She is, though you’ll have to find her quick,” she replied. “She has been muttering to herself lately that she wants to go to the Second Tower to fulfill some dream of hers. She said she had found an interesting pair and that she wants to force them to take her with them.”
Misha thanked her for the information before running to the main street where Spica had always sold her treats. The white-haired girl had a large suitcase all packed up and a few crates of ores and crystals.
“Spica, are you really leaving?” the former Star Singer asked.
“Oh, Misha!” Spica happily greeted. “Did Ayano tell you?”
Misha nodded.
“I finally have a way to start working on my dream. Now that I have a ride to the Second Tower, I can profit!”
Misha looked at her with teary eyes. “I thought I would have a friend after all this…”
“What do you mean? What about the friends you made?”
“Lyner isn’t here anymore, and Harm’s vanished with Krusche. I-I mean…I-I only recently…”
“You move on quickly, don’t you?” Spica teased. “I’ll let you in on a secret—free of charge. Lyner may be gone, and your friend Harm may have left with Krusche, but I can assure you that you won’t be alone. Krusche still has her own worries to see about, but trust me when I say that you might just find your knight in shining armor.”
Misha gave her a relieved smile. She didn’t know when she had developed feelings for Jack, and she was sure she would never see him as anything but a brother. But she was no longer a child like when he had first rescued her. She still loved Lyner deeply, but people never came back from the dead. She was sure that he would be reborn as a seraph one day, and his memories would all be a distant and forgotten past. There was no guarantee that he would be the same man that she had loved since she was a child in Platina.
Additionally, if Jack did have feelings for Krusche, she didn’t want to go down without a fight. Misha prided herself for always fighting, and while she was aware that made her seem immature and bratty, she enjoyed it. She still resented her lineage and all the training and practice and princess-like lifestyle.
“Which reminds me,” Spica said. “What about Sorey and his friends? Why not travel with them?”
“The world below this Tower is still plagued by a great evil. Sorey, Alisha, and Rose have their seraphim with them. Their seraphim that can do much more than those of us that were born and raised on the Tower. You could even say that we’re not exactly seraphim ourselves even though so many people say we are.”
“You’re right. Ever since the malakhim were liberated, the terminology has been different, right? You’re known as Reyvateils, seraphim captured specifically by the Church as malakhim and reduced to only song-crafters, and those that still roamed with their free will as seraphim…or was it the other way around?”
“How…do you know about that?”
“I know a lot of things that I shouldn’t. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be a very good Queen of the Underwold, would I?” Spica turned to the sky. “The Exile used to come here a lot when everything was said and done. He had lost two of the most important people in the world to him, and he blamed himself for not protecting a malak child. In his drunken stupors, he would tell me fantastic stories about 1,000 years ago.”
“Spica, you’re the same age as me…” Misha reminded her.
“I was a rather precocious child, wasn’t I?” Spica finished packing. “But still, information is always handy, even if I don’t understand it at the time. With time and age comes wisdom!”
Misha, slightly drained from her final conversation with her friend, returned to Platina. She thought about what she had heard and how she felt knowing that she was going to be alone for some time. She was, at heart, a rival to someone. She wanted to carry on Lyner’s wish and Tastiella’s legacy. There was no need for a Star Singer, yet she wanted to help Sorey and Alisha fulfill their dream of coexistence. Reyvateils, seraphim, malakhim, humans, Origins—she supported their dream. She made her decision to help Leard and Shurelia.
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“I finally understand,” Mir said as she stood in one of the forests on the Tower. “Hmph, I can’t promise her that I won’t still hold onto a fragment of my disdain for humans, but the Heart of Gaea is needed if we want to make sure everyone gets through this alive.”
Ayatane stood behind her. He silently listened to her mumble to herself.
“Ayatane, you’ve been a tremendous help to me, but it is finally time for us to go our separate ways.”
“I understand,” Ayatane replied.
“You understand what this means, correct?”
“Of course. I may not be here in the physical world anymore, but I will always be in your heart.”
Mir turned to him, and after a short line of Hymmnos, Ayatane disappeared. She forfeited the ability to use the malevolence at will like a hellion. She refused to be a puppet, and while she had no real desire to help humans, she didn’t want to lend her power to the very ones that preached they would free her in exchange for her alliance.
“Your day of reckoning will come, Symonne.”
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Alisha and Lailah walked around Platina together hand in hand. Though they were both exhausted from saving Mir, Lailah had insisted on taking a stroll with her lady. She sensed that Alisha was breathing easier now that she had sung Harmonious.
“Were you really scared?” she asked the princess.
“Yes, but…just like all the other times, when I heard you singing, I still felt at ease,” Alisha told her. “I’m sorry for trying to stop you.”
“You don’t need to apologize, love,” Lailah smiled. “I’m just happy that you were there to help me.”
“What do you think that Hymn Crystal will be?” Alisha asked. “Do you think it can help Ladylake?”
“I believe it will. You know, it’s quite interesting. This entire time, I’ve been so worried about the mistakes I’ve made in the past, but suddenly I feel so free. Mir’s Song felt like a purification not only in dispelling some of the malevolence but also in righting wrongs. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this relaxed.”
“I’m ashamed that I never noticed how much you’ve been suffering.”
“Don’t blame yourself. As part of my oath, I have to hide secrets, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate you for being there for me.” Lailah looked up at the orange sky. It was slowly turning to a deep and dark blue, and just over the horizon, the first stars of the night were beginning to twinkle. “I told you my fortunes were never wrong.”
“Do you miss coming to Platina?” Alisha asked after some time.
“To be honest, I don’t remember very much of my time here aside from when Falss had left. I was so young then.”
“You’re still young now!”
“Perhaps I am.” She looked at Alisha with all the love and care in her eyes. “Why don’t we turn in for the night? We can fold paper until we get tired, and before we go to sleep, let’s write our wishes into them.”
Alisha smiled sweetly at her. It was obvious that Lailah was much more relaxed. She was eager for the Lord of Calamity to be defeated—she wanted to spend the rest of her days in comfort with the fire seraph. Once she made Sorey’s dream come true, she knew that she would be happy. She still held herself accountable for trying to impede Lailah’s growth, and while she was indeed far older than the princess, she couldn’t help but imagine that her development was like watching a baby bird become a fledging and finally into a majestic phoenix that never gave up.
When they wrote their wishes, she prayed for Lailah’s good health and love while Lailah prayed for forgiveness and everlasting joy. Their hearts fluttered at the notion of a peaceful world.
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“Start again,” Edna scolded. “This time, air! Push from your belly!”
“Titilia hasyu zassyen ween et zaarn,” Sorey tried to sing before Zaveid smacked him on the head again. “What was wrong with that time?”
Zaveid crossed his arms. “I’m just not feeling it,” he judged. “Where is the emotion!? This is pathetic!” He puffed out his chest. “Push with your belly but feel it in your heart!”
Edna and Zaveid took turns yelling at Sorey as they listened to him sing. He wasn’t used to singing, yet they were sure that he could carry a tune—a confident tune—since he had spent his entire life among seraphim.
“I…I feel silly! These lyrics sound so childish!” Sorey whined.
“And compared to us, you’re a child,” Edna snapped. “Again, remember, diaphragm!”
“Can we stop here for the night?”
“You haven’t been practicing like we told you,” Zaveid pouted.
“We’ve had a lot going on!”
“That’s no excuse!”
After the raucous shouting had stopped for the night, and Edna and Zaveid were asleep on the floor from working themselves into a stress-induced fatigue, Sorey made his way to the window of his inn room. He hummed a quiet tune, beating himself up for not being able to properly pronounce the lyrics. He remembered Mikleo’s Song almost completely after spending the afternoon searching his memory for it. He hoped that wherever he was in Tilia that he could feel it.
“I’m coming for you, Mikleo,” he said to the moon. “Don’t worry, I won’t leave you alone.” He clutched a piece of paper in his hand.
Quietly, Sorey snuck out of his inn room and made his way to one of the libraries in Platina. He couldn’t sleep, so he decided to read about the structures on the First Tower. He read about the legend of the Trio of Elemia, how the Towers came to be, and finally about a set of ruins called Singing Hill. He consumed th information like food and drink, and as his eyes became heavy, he dreamt about exploring Singing Hill with Mikleo.
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Rose swung her legs over the edge of a ledge of a building. She and Dezel had gone scaling the tallest buildings they could find in Platina, and when she had found a nice spot to rest, she beckoned her wind seraph to join her.
“So, it looks like this Tower is going to be okay,” she said.
“Looks like it,” Dezel replied.
“Alisha and Lailah took charge of this place because they care about Hyland.”
“Naturally. Hyland is their home.”
“Do you think we have a home?”
“Probably somewhere in Rolance. I am an IPD.”
“So we should do what they did, and we should fix Frelia!”
“Don’t just decide things on your own!”
“I didn’t decide it on my own.” Rose stood up with her hands behind her back. “I don’t want Sorey to get bogged down again. I’m a Squire, so I’ve got to help him out every once in a while.”
Rose’s intuition was as sharp as a thorn, and she could feel it in her gut that Sorey still wasn’t ready to operate without Mikleo by his side. She was happy that he had made improvements and ultimately came out of his depression, but if they were to learn that something happened to him on the way to Frelia, the cycle would repeat. Furthermore, she wanted a chance to bond with Dezel again. And since Frelia, the administrator of the Second Tower and also the core of the Ascension Project that Targana had attempted to follow through with, governed a Tower full of IPDs, she wanted to learn more about them so she could support Dezel.
Dezel, however, wasn’t sure if he could do much to help Frelia. Independent of the rose-tinted dreams that his assassin had, he was frightened that his curse and susceptibility to the IPD disease would hurt him. More than anything, he didn’t want her to get hurt. He couldn’t bear to be separated and tortured like he had been in Pendrago. At the same time, he wanted to support her. She knew how he felt about her; it was only natural that they would be symbiotic to each other’s ideals.
“We can ask Sorey about it tomorrow,” Dezel said.
“You’re really going to agree to it?” Rose asked almost flabbergasted.
“I…Hm, I just want…to be…”
Dezel couldn’t bring himself to say what he wanted for fear of Rose laughing at him. Instead, as he tried to formulate the words, he felt her sit down close to him and hold onto his arm.
“Let’s make that nerd proud,” she sleepily said.
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Everyone gathered in Platina’s square near the statue the next day. Shurelia had come from Silver Horn with a large lotus-shaped Hymn Crystal. Pinks and purples meshed inside of it like marble.
“The Hymn Crystal is finished,” she proudly announced. “With this Hymn Crystal, the Tower will be back to normal, and the malevolence will be purged from it. It’s quite an experimental Song, so at the very least, I hope it cleanses it.” She wore a pleasant smile. “Each human and seraph’s feelings have been recorded into it, and by using a special feature, it can be sung by three seraphim at the same time. So, Aurica, Misha, would you do me the honor of singing alongside me?”
Aurica and Misha were shocked to say the least. Singing a Song such as this was much more difficult than the duet that Edna and Lailah had sung, but to sing with Shurelia was an incredibly high honor. They accepted the offer to sing, and Shurelia handed Sorey the Hymn Crystal.
“Do you know how to implement it?” she asked him.
Sorey nodded, and after receiving each of their true names, he began:
“Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Phantasmagoria, enter_EORIA_ANSUL_ARTONELICO. Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Phantasmagoria, enter_MIR_TEIWAZ_ARTONELICO. Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Phantasmagoria, enter_MISHA_FEHU_EOLIA_ARTONELICO.”
Shurelia led Aurica and Misha to the Rinkernator, and at the very top of the Tower, they sang the Song that the Origin had created from everyone’s feelings called Phantasmagoria. The girls took turns singing as dictated by the lyrics written within the Hymn Crystal. They shared the same consciousness for the Song, and as their voices rang throughout the Tower like heavenly bells, the effects became evident.
Clouds wisped around the Tower and above Hyland. The weather changed for the better, the dreary grey clouds over the region becoming pure white as the sun shined through them. A light rain drizzled across the land, the raindrops refracting light into tens of rainbows. The foliage around the Tower sprung to life, and it felt as if the malevolence around Hyland had reduced just like when Mir had sung her Song. Iridescent phantasmic holes faded in and out as the earthpulse points on the Tower were reestablished.
Sorey, Rose, and Alisha felt the love and warmth that emanated from the hearts of their seraphim and the seraphim on the Tower. Even in the forests, as she put on a bodysuit and cut her hair, Mir smiled. As much as she hated to admit it, she was thankful to the humans that had come to the Tower to save it from destruction. She hummed along with the glorious Song as she made her way back to Platina.
And for the first time, a sense of jubilance embraced everyone and reassured them that they were going to be okay. Rose looked at Alisha and Lailah then at Sorey and finally as Dezel. She knew what had to be done, and once the Song came to an end, she steeled herself to ask to take on the next Tower.
“Are you worried that I can’t do it?” Sorey asked her when Aurica, Misha, and Shurelia returned to the square.
“Yes and no?” Rose sheepishly said before giving a side glance to Dezel. “Just… I want to help you shoulder the burden, too, you know.”
Sorey smiled and thanked her. He knew Rose would be better for the job because she was the only one that had a superior understanding of the inner workings of an IPD seraph. Even though he had Zaveid, he wasn’t as close. He needed to Dive with him, but he was too worried about Mikleo to focus on his needs.
Suddenly, a black figure leapt from the statue into the center of the group. Alisha and Sorey drew their weapons until they realized that it was someone that they recognized.
“Mir?” Alisha uttered, but the girl in black held up her hand. Her bangs had been cut high above her eyebrows, revealing a alluring fox-like gaze. “W-What?”
“Don’t call me that anymore,” she said. “I’m abandoning who I once was, so that name means nothing to me now. My new name is Jacqli.”
Zaveid noticed her outfit, and while he wasn’t attracted to it or Jacqli, he had to question her choice in style. Aurica and Misha stepped on both his feet to warn him of judging a woman’s clothes.
“What are your plans now?” Shurelia asked.
Jacqli looked at everyone as if to verify that they were all the same people as before. She said that she needed to go find the Heart of Gaea, and the only place it was hidden was somewhere on the Second Tower. Rose’s ears perked up.
“Actually,” she drawled. “We’re on our way there, too. Frelia got into some nasty trouble, and when we rescued her, she said something was wrong.”
“Then I’m coming with you,” Jacqli gruffly said. “I have a mission to fulfill, and I won’t let you get in my way.”
“We weren’t going to stop you in the first place,” Sorey quietly said.
Jacqli turned to Shurelia. “But first, there are still some traces of Viruses and malevolence in the Tower,” she said. She told them to prepare to head to Frelia while she took care of the last remnants of her hatred.
To prepare, however, Sorey and his friends had to return to Lohgrin to retrieve and escort Cloche and Luca. Alisha and Lailah wanted to stop and check in on Ladylake to see if restoring the Tower had helped the situation there. They were afraid that the seraphim would be suffering again now that they could sing, but it was something that Alisha knew they had to see if they wanted to work to change it. The Shepherd and his friends bid farewell to Shurelia, and when they asked if Aurica and Misha wanted to return with them to Lohgrin, they politely declined in favor of the things they wanted to do to help the Tower prosper. Sorey accepted their decision. After Alisha and Lailah wished them luck, they began the descent to Hyland’s ground.
Shurelia and Jacqli returned to the Rinkernator, where they prepared to sing together. “Shurelia, I ask that you give me complete permission to filter out the malevolence from everywhere,” Jacqli said. “I may lose myself in the madness, but if you’re with me, I should be okay.”
“I am prepared to lock your power if you lose control,” Shurelia told her resolutely. “Let us begin. Now commencing: Dishadow—”
“Including Vanisland,” Jacqli added.
As the two Reyvateils sang, Lailah and Edna could feel them working to excise the remaining negativity out of the Tower. It was a means to ensure that Shurelia and the Tower Eolia could function without problem while Jacqli was gone. They could feel the ugliness that Jacqli wanted to erase and Shurelia’s loving compassion. In the Rinkernator, the black and white mixed together to create a new balance that protected Jacqli from falling back into the hatred while allowing her to remove everything that was left. And once their Song was over, everything was calm as if Mir had never taken over the Tower in the first place.
Notes:
Next time we start with Phase 5, based on Ar Tonelico 2 and focusing more on Dezel and Rose!
Chapter 123: Phase 5: Infel and Nenesha, the Maidens of Mio and Homura
Summary:
Who were Infel and Nenesha? Sorey and company prepare to head to Frelia, the Second Tower
Notes:
So this chapter has a bit going for it because all of the AT content is in the setting materials, which have been transcribed and translated to the wiki. And thanks to a friend for getting me a more concise summary of Infel's past, I think it should set up the next leg nicely.
For sake of simplicity, the "artificial heart" and Infel's "true name" are called as such based on function and to keep spirit of the fic; i.e. it sounded way more technical with "Triangular Nuclear Loop" and "Cellophane"/"Address" and would require way more explanation that I'm willing to give.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
nYAdEnYA du YAeje won Aclamour/.
sAsEwYA ut yor du idesy Iakata/.
xI rre LYIakata_Metafalica dIrLYIsAn ag xI rre infel la zz fIwOr/.
Imarfo ag Iinferiare/.
xI rre YAtim qYIgIsLYAeh xO YAmeo zz jIzYItLYIeh/.
aAuNk Aeje merfa yetere aEuYNkYE mean oucc yanje/.
xN rre mean psYEwt so LYEwael_sphaela merfa/.
Shortly after the concept of Shepherds and Squires, a very special girl named Infel was born, and years later, she found herself alone. She hugged her stuffed rabbit whose eyes reflected the pain in her heart. Her adoptive father and the only man that could match her intelligence Grammul was gone. He had been fired from the Infel Phira project that had turned her into the first IPD seraph, and in his stead, she became the ambitious leader. She tirelessly poured every ounce of her being into it.
Before then, Grammul had revealed the success of her becoming the first IPD, the Grand Bell declared that IPD seraphim were the superior types, and to create the holy land named Metafalica, two Maidens would be required. The first was the Maiden of Mio—an IPD that was was capable of channeling emotion—and the second was the Maiden of Homura—a normal seraph that would relay the emotion. Jaza, another researcher, had produced the Maiden of Homura’s version of Metafalica while Grammul had created Tornekia, a then-incomplete and imperfect IPD version of the same Song.
Jaza had sealed away her version of Metafalica as well since singing the Song would kill the singer to create an unviable land. Thus, Infel researched deeper and deeper into creating Metafalica, and it was within lost records that she found two core pieces of information. The Transmigration of Souls, which detailed the funneling of soul energy into creating the holy land, and the requirement of a Heart of Gaea, an object that couls emulate singing to create and maintain the existence of whatever object was desired. As she worked to test whether these components could be used in her theories about Metafalica, Grammul was progressively ostracized by society. His original project involving Infel Phira still called for sacrifices, and while Infel was to be one of them when it was first conceived, she eventually thought about the rabbit that he had given her.
One night, she cut open the toy. She had always wondered how it could express emotion, and within it was an artificial heart and an identical copy of her true name etched into it. “Grammul, you idiot,” Infel sniffled. She never knew that the man she called her father was trying to save her from being a sacrifice by creating a homunculus to take her place as the sacrifice. “Why didn’t you tell anyone? If you had, then…then you’d still be on this project…”
She continued her research and found that Grammul’s good intentions would have been in vain. The homunculus wouldn’t have worked according to her extensive research; she would have still perished, and he would have fallen to the malevolence.
A year later, but Infel finally created her perfect team to launch the Infel Phira project. Grammul’s best workers and particularly talented Teru members were gathered at Kanakana Pier and dubbed the People of Mio. They worked tirelessly to create the Hymmnos dialect that they were sure would further make IPD seraphim more efficient—the New Testament of Pastalie.
“Using this dialect, IPD seraphim will be able to sing twice as fast and be twice as strong,” Infel announced. This was why IPDs were better, she thought.
Once the dialect was completed, Infel began to work on the Song that was instrumental to creating Metafalica. And the one to sing Jaza’s version by her side was the love of her life, Nenesha.
“Don’t you think you should rest now?” Nenesha asked Infel one night. “Staying up so late ever night isn’t good for your beauty.”
“I am so close to finishing this Song, though,” Infel smiled at her. “Once it’s finished, then we can do our test run to create a Heart of Gaea. The project will be a success! It must be.”
“Yes, yes, but you also need to be in tip-top shape to sing it. Oh, speaking of that Song, I finished preparations to sing my version that Jaza left behind. I’ve sung Sol=Fage and can now access Frelia’s power all according to Jaza’s notes.”
“You did?! Oh, Nenesha!”
Infel jumped out of her seat and hugged Nenesha tightly. She loved to feel her fluffy pink hair against her cheeks, and she was overjoyed to know that they would be able to sing together soon. Yes, soon they would be together in paradise.
“I love this side of you!” Nenesha giggled while Infel pouted at her teasing. “Now, why don’t we get some sleep? You can finish the Song in the morning.”
“I can’t stop now!” Infel laughed. “I’ll finish it soon and come to bed, promise!”
When both versions of the Song Metafalica were finished, Infel and Nenesha presented them together to their colleagues. As they sang their respective versions together, a tiny Heart of Gaea formed. The People of Mio celebrated their success, naming the Heart of Gaea as Metafalica-α. It was taken to an empty and virtually dead plot of land and buried. Metafalica-α soon brought life to the desolate soil. The plot flourished with greenery, and to mark yet another accomplishment, Infel and Nenesha named it Mikry Forest.
Infel continued to perfect both versions of Metafalica with the motivation gifted unto her by the success and by the recent completion of the Infelsphere with Nenesha, which was required to ascertain the strongest connection possible. The People of Mio encouraged excited seraphim to join them, and one by one, they became IPDs through Infel Phira and the earthpulse. Denizens of the regions that would become Rolance and Hyland and Lohgrin came far and wide, but after thousands had been converted, Infel became aware of a problem.
“It pains me to say this, but…” Infel began, her arms tightening around her stuffed rabbit’s body. “There…is no guarantee that Metafalica will work…” She only expressed her concern to Nenesha, who knew her heart inside and out.
The fatal flaw was that Metafalica needed the support of all who lived on the Second Tower. Everyone had to be pure of heart, and while she didn’t doubt that everyone had a negligible amount of darkness in them, she was afraid of what was in hers.
The malevolence had seated itself so deeply into her being—obsession, pride, anger, and frustration—that she was terrified what the other IPD seraphim despite not falling, who would gain access to hers and all other IPD seraphim’s hearts, would find.
Infel found a solitary place where she could cry and worry about what would befall the entire effort. Nenesha chased after her, and she sat next to her. She held her tightly.
“My beloved Infel, why are you crying?” she gently asked as she wiped away the tears that escaped from under her love’s glasses.
“I can’t do it, Nenesha, I can’t do it,” Infel bawled. “If the others see what lies in my heart, they will hate me and scorn me. I can’t bear to feel that judgment!”
“But what will we do? The seraphim that have come from all over the world to the Tower can’t wait any longer to create Metafalica. And there is no way to purify a dark heart so quickly.”
“Nenesha, I fear that you will come to hate me as well. This project has been my life, and if it fails, I will have failed you.”
“Nonsense, my dearest! As the Maiden of Homura, I made an oath to always be by your side. And as a woman, I made a vow to love you no matter what. So please, as the Maiden of Mio and the only person I could ever be with for eternity, let us sing together tomorrow. Let’s make Metafalica, and together, we shall revel in its grasses and flowers. We shall attain the happiness we so desperately want.”
And the next day, Infel and Nenesha went to the Hill of Metafalica, the altar of the Grand Bell Hall. Back to back, hand in hand, Nenesha and Infel began to sing the finalized version of Metafalica. Infel and Nenesha’s voices resonated together, and at first, it seemed like everything was perfect. But then it happened. The IPD seraphim began to see into Infel’s heart.
“W-What is this?” one IPD seraph asked.
“This is so ugly!” another hissed.
“This is the heart of the Maiden of Mio?!” a third groaned.
What they had seen was the truth. Infel only ever cared about carrying on her research and creating the world for only her and Nenesha. Nearly all the seraphim stopped singing until only a few still trusted their Maiden of Mio. Their rage and disappointment flowed into Infel, and as she choked out her lyrics. Without Infel’s Song, Nenesha’s part began to slowly kill her, and the poor girl sounded like she was being ripped apart. Then Infel saw the one that she would always hate from that day on.
“I must stop them,” Frelia’s attendant Raki, who was similar to Mei Mei on the First Tower, flew down from the Tower of Heavens at the very top of the Second Tower, decided. “I must protect Frelia no matter what!” Upon arrival, she fired a ball of fire at Nenesha, instantly killing her and rendering Infel’s heart completely blackened. “I won’t let you harm Lady Frelia!”
There were only a handful of the thousands of IPD seraphim that supported Infel enough to attack the aggressor while she savagely tore something out of Nenesha’s corpse. The Maiden of Mio Infel saw her chance to escape the chaos, her anger driving her to reach the underground Lakra system embedded within the Second Tower.
“This is an act of war,” she repeated to herself. “I shall wage war against you and the rotten Goddess that ordered my Nenesha dead!”
But Raki had been one step ahead. The Tower of the Heavens was a sacred part of the Second Tower, and she had made it disappear so Infel couldn’t damage it.
“Initiating Infel Phira Messela Mode!” Infel screamed within Lakra. She began to sing Messela to take direct control of the IPD seraphim. All of them lost their individuality, joining in a great confluence that became a single consciousness. As she ordered them to fight Raki and the soldiers of the Divine Army that had come from the sky even higher than theirs, she forced the Tower of the Heavens to appear. “Go, find the Goddess and kill her!”
The IPDs easily overpowered Raki and her forces. They had no choice but to retreat, and Infel continued her advance to Sol Marta, where Frelia was kept in cold sleep. But when she saw her through the eyes of the thousands of IPDs, she thought it would be better to keep her alive.
“Yes, you will make a fine bargaining chip,” Infel giggled to herself. “I’ll make you regret killing my dearest Nenesha. You rotten Goddess—how can you even sleep knowing what you’ve done?”
In the years that followed, she and Raki negotiated a truce called the Pact with the Goddess. The IPD seraphim lived on, and those that were killed in the war between the Maiden of Mio and the Divine Army were memorialized in a place called Promise Hill.
Infel learned of how the seraphim were treated on the world below and that some IPDs had been captured due to their incredible strength and speed when singing, and the horrors of what became the Church refueled her desire to make an immaculate Metafalica. Since the war, she had been left alone. Nenesha was dead, and her own people hated her for the failed creation of their new world. It was then that, like the first Shepherd a thousand years before Sorey and his friends set out on their journey, Infel found her answer to the question that had impeded her creation of Metafalica:
“What is a world without fear and anger but a utopia where everyone can live blissfully? A world without hideous emotions—that is the world that Metafalica should be.”
She worked by herself again on creating her perfect Metafalica and in the process, she had found a small beacon of hope. Nenesha had not truly died at the hands of Raki. She had become the sacrifice for Metafalica by turning into a Heart of Gaea herself. She painstakingly collected the Heart out of the sky, pried it from the protective shell, and began to experiment to find a way to communicate with her lover once again. That was when she learned that there was a way to speak directly with the soul within the Heart of Gaea, but Nenesha herself couldn’t be restored to her former body.
The Heart of Gaea, however, was vulnerable to the malevolence that tormented the world. Even though the first Shepherd Artorious tried to get rid of it along with all emotion, which had reduced hundreds of thousands of seraphim to vegetables before they ultimately died, he could not erase it all. He was killed by the first Lord of Calamity, and in a perverse cycle, she and the now forgotten Suppressor were trapped in an endless chain of devouring each other as they sublimated to become Wills of the Planet. To that end centuries later to protect that soul, Infel made sure to seal her lover’s will within the object revealed to be the D-Cellphone that Raki had taken from her and that she had retrieved when she had let her guard down during the peacetime.
“I won’t let Nenesha die,” Infel said desperately as she did it. “Her body may be gone, but not her soul and will. These shall be passed down through the Maidens of Homura until I can find the perfect vessel.”
Little did she know, Nenesha’s will continued on even in her own heart. It manipulated her subtly through the influence of the Heart of Gaea, and in time she developed something far greater than just the Infel Phira project.
“The Ascension Project would free Lady Frelia from her duty of maintaining the Second Tower. If it works, she won’t have to sing and use her life force to keep it in the air,” Infel told Raki. “I’ve already started working on the Song—Hibernation—to implement it.”
“If it will save Lady Frelia, then you have my permission,” Raki said. “I just want the best for her. She’s had a hard life before she was given the task of creating the Second Tower. She was bullied and mistreated, and I cannot let her experience such loneliness again.”
Infel worked tirelessly with the People of Mio to finish the creation of Hibernation and to refine all the components of the Ascension Project, but just before she could test it, she had to meet her successor. Just as the Age of Chaos was beginning when Michael sacrificed Mikleo to curse Heldalf, the new Maiden of Mio was to receive the Queen’s power and responsibility.
At the Hill of Metafalica, Infel was told she and Cloche Leythal Pastalia were to sing the exchange. She was escorted to a room. She never saw her face, but she could tell that she was young and nervous. She couldn’t possibly create Metafalica, she thought.
“So you are the new Maiden of Mio,” Infel said with a chuckle. “To do this just before my breakthrough, I guess it can’t be helped.”
“I promise to make you and the people of Metafalss proud,” Cloche said.
And together, they sang Alternation. Through this Song, Infel warned her about the hardships and dangers of becoming the new Queen of Infel Phira. As they sang, she felt her determination to make Metafalica take shape in her heart, and her mind began to change. The power of the Maiden of Mio spread to Cloche, and as she grew accustomed to it, she had to wonder why there was such sadness in Infel’s voice. Surely, a seraph of her caliber had nothing to be upset about.
“Please don’t worry about it. I simply failed, but it will be your turn. It’s your turn to care for the people of Metafalss, to bring them happiness in the form of a new and thriving world. Bring forth Metafalica, and guide us to happiness.” Infel smiled at her.
“Yes, your Grace,” Cloche promised her.
And finally, since Infel had met the next Maiden of Mio, she ran her Ascension Project. Infel’s soul sublimated into Infel Phira, which allowed her to seat her consciousness into the very center of Cloche’s cosmosphere. Nenesha’s will, sealed away within the D-Cellophane, had managed to find its way into the next Maiden of Homura, Luca Trulyworth, Cloche’s once lost sister before they had been brought to the world below.
-----------------------------------------
“Is it really okay to be here while Lailah and Alisha are in Ladylake?” Rose asked as they approached Lohgrin after a long journey back to the ruin. “I mean, I feel like they’ll be left out.”
Sorey shook his head. “They’re going to meet us in Pendrago along with Jacqli,” he said unsure of what was going on. They were simply told to retrieve Cloche and Luca to return to the Second Tower. Then, they would get Frelia and Shun from Pendrago. The princess and her seraph had run back to Ladylake thereafter.
When they entered Lohgrin, they found that Akane and Finnel were still missing. Saki and Cocona were sitting together eating some cookies that other seraphim had made. Cloche and Luca watched them together while Hikari Gojo and Katene ran around compiling reports on each seraph’s health.
“Oh, they’re back!” Saki said happily when she looked up from her cookie. She ran up to them. “Were Aurica and Misha okay with staying on their Tower?”
“They said they had things to do,” Zaveid said. “When we take you back to yours, are you going to leave us, too?” He seemed to be flirting, but the innocent girl wasn’t quiet sure.
“We haven’t even established if we have to go to the Third Tower,” Edna muttered.
“Then, are you going back to the Second Tower now?” Cocona asked. She glanced at Cloche and Luca. “Well?”
“Yeah, we are,” Dezel replied gruffly. “Frelia needs to get back there, and I assume you people do, too.”
“I see you’re still rude,” Cloche huffed. She suddenly became saddened. “The people of Metafalss who came to Lastonbell…”
“We can’t bring them with us; it’s too much,” Luca told her. “That said, how do we even get back to the Second Tower?”
Cocona tapped her chin in thought. She suggested that they speak with Katene since he was far more likely to know what they could do. The tiny researcher in turn said that there was a rare type of orpiment in a cave not too far from Lohgrin that could potentially help them based on some reports he did when he was tired of looking over the seraphim’s health. Edna sighed since the mention of orpiment meant that she would have to do something to get to the Second Tower…and she really wanted to laze around. They had solved the First Tower’s problems not too long ago, after all.
“We’ll go with you,” Cocona said. She nodded to Cloche and Luca. “Besides, you’re trying to get to our home, so it only makes sense to just go and check on everyone.”
“Cocona is from Frelia, too?” Sorey asked. Somewhat surprised.
“Cocona is,” the twin-tailed girl nonchalantly said. “But enough about me. Let’s head over to that cave!”
Luca and Cloche, however, looked disappointed. They weren’t dressed for the occasion with heels and delicate dresses, and while they knew that had to go, it didn’t ease their worries about stepping and sinking into the moor’s sand or ruining their clothes or getting sunburned.
Regardless, Sorey led them out of Lohgrin into the great expanse that was the Zaphgott Moor in search of Trizolde Cave and the mysterious orpiment that would help them get to the Second Tower.
Notes:
I'm not sure if I'll have an update next week since school starts in a couple days, but hopefully I can post the next one. And this also means that I can draw again!
Chapter 124: Phase 5: Connecting to the Tower ~Lailah~
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 9: Lailah
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
Alright, this is the beginning of the end for Dives!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Alisha and Lailah entered Ladylake with trepidation and apprehension. The people and seraphim were back to normal, and while it filled them with dread, it meant that the Tower was truly working again.
“Lady Alisha is back,” a child said as he pulled on a seraph’s hair.
“I thought she was dead!” a woman said.
The seraphim, angry that they had been once again forced to sing their Songs for the benefit of humans, couldn’t bear to look at Lailah. And Lailah tried her best not to meet their gazes. Aware that she wasn’t welcomed back in her own city and understanding of the latent hostility of her people, Alisha made her way to Rountabel Palace with Lailah at her side. There, the different officials in charge of all aspects of the government save for the royal family were going about their days with sly and dirty smiles.
She marched past them, and she knew they had noticed her presence. Lailah couldn’t sense Maltran anywhere in the palace nor did she find Bartlow. When they arrive at the grand dining hall at the back of the palace, she demanded to see the wicked chancellor.
“Chancellor Bartlow is tending to some affairs outside of Hyland,” one of the guards told her rudely. “Traitors like you should make themselves scarce, or perhaps you would rather be thrown into your own dungeon.” He motioned towards her.
“Touch her and I will show you what a traitor looks like,” Lailah threatened.
“I didn’t come here to fight. If Chancellor Bartlow isn’t here, then you can leave him a message for me,” Alisha defiantly said. She straightened herself. “If he intends to continue with the abuse of the seraphim, he had better watch out.”
With that, she and her fire seraph returned to their manor a few blocks away. The manor was the same as always. Not even a speck of dust was visible on all the things that were there. Alisha looked at her home wistfully; it had been a long time since they had last been there. She remembered that Maltran had come for a talk while Lailah was looking for the iris gems. When she came to her bedroom, she turned around to face her fire seraph.
“Sorey and the others will take a few days to get to Lohgrin and then Pendrago,” she stated. “We have some time to relax.”
Lailah looked dubiously at her. “I can understand that rest is important, but even if Lohgrin and Pendrago will take a week and a half at most, shouldn’t we get there ahead of time to prepare to leave for the Second Tower? I’m sure Lady Frelia must be nervous.”
Alisha pulled her hair out of her side ponytail then took off her armor. She sat on her bed, looking at Lailah with expectant eyes. Truthfully, she thought that she would want to Dive since they were completely alone.
“Alisha…do you really want to?” Lailah asked nervously.
“Well, I was expecting you to say something earlier. The last Dive we did…”
“Was the penultimate one, correct? I…” Lailah’s voice turned coy and mischievous. She sashayed toward Alisha. “I suppose we can indulge ourselves in this time of repose.”
She joined her princess on the bed, catching her lips as she whispered, “Fethmus Mioma.”
-------------------------------------------
Alisha briefly met with Lailah in the shared soul space. Lailah said not a word to her. Her jade eyes only shined. Her body stood rigid not out of pain or fear. She was holding herself back from wrapping her arms around Alisha. She beckoned her to touch her heart.
-------------------------------------------
Alisha thus shortly arrived in the final level of Lailah’s cosmosphere. The world was bright with bells sounding in the distance. As she walked the illusory Ladylake, she noticed an abundance of doves and flowered decorations all around. The Normin that she had met were fixing other ornaments and adornments, and when they saw her, they welcomed her with joy.
“Lady Alisha!” they all greeted her.
“H-Hello,” she said astonished by the happiness on their faces. “What’s going on?”
“Oh dear, if you don’t know…” they murmured and mumbled.
“You need to find Lailah,” Atakk told her. “She’s been looking for you.”
Alisha nodded and made her way around the city. She followed a trail of flowers to the sanctuary, which had been lined with lace and bouquets. Sorey, Mikleo, Dezel, and Zaveid were dressed in traditional men’s kimonos while Edna and Rose wore black kimonos with red and gold feathers.
A grey Normin approached Alisha, denying her entry into the sanctuary. “You can’t be here yet,” it told her. “I, Rangus, shall not let you in without your seraph.”
“Could you tell me where she is?” Alisha asked.
The Normin simply turned around and walked back into the sanctuary. Unsure of where to find her seraph, the princess hesitantly left the courtyard before the magnificent building and headed towards the Nobles’ District. This area looked the same as the real world, so she thought that maybe she wasn’t there. She walked to her manor, and the one to open the door on the terrace was none other than her beloved fire seraph. “There you are!” she pouted. “Where are your clothes?!”
“L-Lailah!” Alisha gasped upon seeing her with only lingerie. “My clothes? What about your clothes?” She pointed at her nakedness with an unsure and still surprised expression. “Why are you naked?”
“Oh, geez! We’re supposed to be meeting at the sanctuary! Come here! Let me dress you!”
Lailah pulled Alisha into the manor without a second thought, causing her princess to almost trip on the threshold. Lailah’s long white-to-pink hair swept the ground when it wasn’t in her barette, and Alisha was deathly afraid of accidentally stepping on it. The two girls ended up in Alisha’s bedroom where the fire seraph ordered her to take off her armor. Alisha did as she was told just before Lailah came at her with some moisturizer for her face.
“It’s a little recipe I made with honey and olive oil,” Lailah quickly said. “We’ll let it set and absorb for a little bit. Here, put this dress on.”
Lailah quickly brought to her princess a pale pink wedding dress that had lace and beads painstakingly sewn into it with fanciful gloves to match. The tiny garnets that dotted her breast matched the teardrop that came from the extravagant pearl necklace and earrings. Alisha, though familiar with all the royal and regal outfits that she had in reality, still had trouble putting it all on by herself. After fumbling around with the dress and managing to get the tubed bodice to stay around her, she let out a sigh. But there was no time to waste. Lailah wiped her face with a small soft towel. She pulled her princess’s blonde hair into a looser side ponytail with a small bouquet of flowers. Finally, she set a silver tiara with a citrine-stone flower on her head and flipped the veil behind her.
“Radiant!” Lailah squealed.
“L-Lailah…what about you?” Alisha asked without moving more muscles than required; she was too afraid that everything would fall down.
“W-Well…um…Just let me call the Normin. You go on to the sanctuary without me. If Rangus stops you, tell it that I said to go ahead inside.”
Confused why Lailah was so panicky, Alisha stiffly walked out of the manor and headed back to the sanctuary. Slowly, she grew more comfortable walking—the tiara and her hair were secure, the dress wasn’t falling down, and while she hadn’t walked in heels in the months she had been on her adventure, her feet weren’t in pain. The train of her dress dragged along the cobblestone walkways, but the dress itself had been built with a durable material much to her surprise.
“Congratulations, Alisha,” Sorey greeted her on the way to the doors. He smiled tenderly at her.
“I’m so happy for you,” Mikleo added.
“It’s about time you two did it!” Rose laughed. Dezel simply nodded.
“How does it feel? Like you wanna fly?” Zaveid asked.
“Just don’t go overboard with the mushy crap,” Edna warned.
Alisha began to wonder just exactly what this level was about. All of the decorations and the congratulatory greetings. What did this all mean? And why had she never seen any indication of it before?
Rangus grimaced at her. “I told you—”
“Lailah said to go ahead without her; she needs extra help getting ready,” Alisha told the Normin. At the mention of helping the fire seraph, the Normin bolted down the street to the Nobles’ District. “I…I suppose I can go inside…” she stammered.
Alisha nervously walked toward the doors of the sanctuary. It had been so long since she had had business there. And when she stepped inside, the place was almost unrecognizable. Flowers, ribbons, and banners with the fire symbol lined the walls and draped over the windows. The altar had a fresh pile of ceremonial wood.
As she gazed at all the decorations and took in every little detail, the doors opened behind her. She turned around, and there walking towards her like a queen, was Lailah. Her hair had been braided and tied with red ribbon and adorned with vermillion sprigs and rubies, and her dress was like the fire she danced with, draping and lifting with each step. The train behind her glittered and flowed like lava, and the bouquet she held was colored scarlet, copper, and gold.
“L-Lailah…?” Alisha couldn’t help but utter. “Is this…?”
Rangus scurried to the front of the sanctuary. As Lailah gracefully met Alisha before the altar, their friends stood there in the audience with expectant looks. No, not expectant—they were all weeping tears of happiness.
“Lailah, is this really…?” Alisha tried to ask again.
“Now, now, Lady Alisha,” Rangus soothed. “If I must, this is just a formality. The ceremony is simply an abstract symbol of what Diving this deep means. You won’t actually be married in the real world.”
Alisha blushed at first but then quickly seemed disappointed. Lailah stood at attention while waiting for Rangus to officially start the ceremony. She cleared her throat and smiled.
The Normin looked at them then proceeded:
“We are gathered here today to congratulate Lailah, the proprietor of this soul space, and Alisha, the human who has explored all through it. Diving into a seraph is never an easy task, much less making it to the deepest level. But upon reaching this level, Lailah has had to face the more trying of obstacles and has learned to accept every facet of her being. It is in this truth that Lailah will now be able to access the strongest Song Magic she has—the magic received and powered only after connecting to the Tower.”
Alisha was puzzled. How had Lailah been able to use Song Magic before then? Before she could ask, the Normin continued to the next part of the ceremony.
“Please face each other.” Once the girls faced each other, Rangus asked, “Lailah, do you take Alisha to be the protector of your heart and your partner in your journey through life?”
Lailah glanced at Alisha, the sunlight coming through the window creating a halo around her. “I do,” she bashfully said.
“And do you, Alisha, take Lailah to be your partner in life and the eternal song in your soul?”
Alisha didn’t know what to say or think. It was a wedding ceremony, and while part of her was so happy, another part of her was so deeply saddened that she hadn’t prepared anything properly. “I-I do,” she stuttered, beside herself with what was happening.
“Now, you two must embrace each other.”
Alisha and Lailah looked at each other again, and with arms wide open, they hugged each other tightly. A warmth that neither had felt before grew, like that of a newly lit candle.
“Alisha, all these years, I had hidden my true self from you,” Lailah gently whispered into her princess’s ear. “Even though I had pledged my life to you, I was still frightened to show you even the ugliest parts of my soul. But I finally did it. I showed you everything, and you accepted it. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for us.”
When the two separated, Rangus clapped its little nubby hands together. “Alright, let’s make our way to the Tower of Life!” it announced. It left the sanctuary along with Alisha and Lailah’s friends and the other Normin.
Alisha was still astounded by what had just happened. But she reminded herself—the Dive was not about her; it was about her seraph, and because Lailah had imagined this as the final level, it meant that she valued her more than just as a princess and her guardian.
The fire seraph took her hand and guided her to the Tower of Life that was near the edge of the soul space. It was simply an infinitely tall obelisk that stretched forever into the sky. The Tower of Life was present in every seraph’s heart, and when they arrived, the true purpose of it was finally made evident to her.
“When a seraph connects to the Tower through this structure, all restraints on their power are taken off,” Rangus explained at the foot of the Tower of Life. “Ar Tonelico supplies a great deal of strength.”
Lailah stepped forward before Alisha, her flaming dress floating in the air like embers. “By connecting with the Tower, I will unleash my true potential. By opening my heart, I will realize new power,” she said prophetically. “Should my body and soul be unable to contain it, my mind will shatter, and all those within me will fall into a neverending oblivion.”
Alisha held her breath. Why was there such a warning? She had completed the Dives completely and truthfully. Was it a warning unto the seraph? Was it to make sure they weren’t lying about anything in the entire cosmosphere?
Rangus instructed Lailah to place her hand on the Tower of Life. Lailah did so without hesitation and with full confidence in her ability and the truths that she had shown to Alisha. Her love for her—the innocent, motherly, lustful, and ugly types of love that resided within her—resonated with Tower of Life. Her mind lay bear to the entirety of the Binary Field for a brief moment, and as a light blinded everyone and washed the world in white, she felt the hot fires of her new power surge into her. She didn’t falter. Her body took it in, and when the light faded away, she appeared as if nothing happened.
All of the Normin were gone, including Atakk. Alisha worried that without her Mind Guardian, Lailah would be vulnerable to the malevolence. But Lailah took her hands and smiled at her.
“You’re my new Mind Guardian, Alisha,” she said lovingly. “You protect me all the time that it makes me jealous that I can’t protect you.”
“B-But you do!” Alisha argued.
“Even still,” Lailah continued. “I’m so happy to have you by my side. With you, I can do anything. This is just the beginning for us, my princess. Please stay by my side, forever and ever.”
Lailah’s smile was the last thing that Alisha saw before the world left her and she returned to reality.
-------------------------------------------
Alisha and Lailah were sleeping together on the bed when the maid quietly came in. The golden rays of the sunset lit the room, but the maid closed the doors and slipped back into the shadows.
“It seems they’ve just finished a Dive,” she told someone. She looked like she was in pain. “There, now you know. But promise me that you won’t hurt her.”
“Don’t you worry about any of that,” Maltran said, a smirk tugging at the corners of her primrose lips. She quietly left the manor.
The next morning, Alisha and Lailah woke up to find Jacqli sitting in a chair across from them. She seemed uninterested in everything but the fact that they were sleeping together, though she figured that they had Dived.
“Jacqli?” Alisha yawned. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve finished my business with Shurelia. I sensed you two Diving, so I thought I would come here and wait. Then I got sidetracked for a bit with exploring this strange city and how poor the living conditions are for seraphim here. I trust you are in the process of remedying this situation,” Jacqli said harshly. She didn’t mean anything by it. She had a naturally domineering aura like Dezel or Edna. “If you two are finished, then we should start heading to Pendrago to meet with Sorey and Rose.”
“Will you be alright?” Lailah asked her. “Are you capable of going that far?”
“I won’t be able to go all the way to Tilia, but my connection to Eolia at least lets me get to Frelia without any problems. And that’s all the more reason that we need to get going.”
Jacqli didn’t like seeing the seraphim suffering in Ladylake, yet she knew that this was out of her hands unlike her interest in the Second Tower. Still, Alisha and Lailah hesitantly agreed that they needed to see Frelia at once. They would have liked to talk about the Dive first, but the growing urgency in Jacqli’s voice suggested that they had better wait.
Notes:
Connecting Lailah to the Tower means that she has no more Dives to do and that most of her emotional development is complete!
Chapter 125: Phase 5: The Curse of the Mayvin Lineage
Summary:
The journey to the Second Tower begins, but not before the search for orpiment. After arriving in Trizolde Cave, Sorey and his friends learn about what it was that had killed Mayvin.
Notes:
Alright, getting a little more into AT2's history and a bit of Berseria's history. I will say, though, I don't think I solidified the timeline, but upon looking back at the beginning of Phase 5, I think I can say that the timeline is something like Berseria/Surge Concerto (1000+ years prior) > AT123 (~730)> Infel and Nenesha (~410 years prior) > Zestiria. Yeah, confusing, I know. I'm trying!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The scorching sand stretched for miles upon miles in the Zaphgott Moor. Desert hellions roamed about the land, especially in the scarce shaded areas that were created by the trees that had adapted to survive the heat. Cacti were scattered around, and the mountains and plateaus that towered over them offered little support for the exhausted seraphic girls.
Luca and Cloche fell to their knees in the sand after their shoes kept sinking into holes hidden underneath, but Cocona continued on just fine. She was much younger than them, but age didn’t factor into the stamina of a seraph until it started to show up as wrinkles on their faces.
Rose and Sorey turned around to find them crawling at best, but every time they offered to take a break, Cloche would deny that she was tired, or Luca would remind them that they needed to get back to Frelia as quickly as possible. Cocona was rather nonchalant about it.
“You two are so boo,” she pouted. “I’m starting to wonder how you two thought you could keep up with Croix after we came down here.”
“Well, for one—” Cloche started irately while pulling her stiletto heel from the sand. “We weren’t in a desert. And two, C-Croix…Croix was super slow anyway!”
“How can you say that about him?!” Luca snarled at Cloche. “That doofus put his life on the line for you!”
“Because he was supposed to! He was a knight for the Grand Bell, after all. He served me until the very end, and I appreciated it!”
“Says the girl who stole him! You just have to milk the tsundere act!”
“Oh, please! I did nothing of the sort! Besides, who would like a dorodere like you?!”
Rose and Sorey were baffled by the two girls. They felt compelled to try and mediate, but Cocona walked between the girls up to them and explained that they were sisters that very frequently got into fights with each other over things big and small.
“Just intervene if they actually try to kill each other,” Cocona sighed while shaking her head. She walked ahead of them with her curling twintails gently following behind her. “If only Croix were actually here…he would be so embarrassed…”
Sorey wanted to know more about Croix considering he had met Lyner and Aoto. While Dezel and Zaveid kept an eye on Cloche and Luca, and while Edna dragged behind Sorey out of boredom; Cocona gave a rather detailed history about the late bodyguard.
Croix Bartel had been orphaned when he was a child due to an IPD outbreak on Frelia. Luca’s mother, Reisha, felt sorry for him and adopted him. The two ended up growing up together as brother and sister up until Luca began to work as a Dive Therapist, much to Sorey and Rose’s surprise. When Cocona mentioned that he had been best friends with Targana, Rose grew wary of this man out of the traumatic memories of Dezel’s imprisonment. Croix, however, was yet more skilled than Targana, and he became a Knight of the Grand Bell while the blond man had become a Knight of the Sacred Army.
He had been put on many missions on the Second Tower to find and detain seraphim that had suffered IPD breakouts. He never liked doing them, and eventually on one of his missions, he had found Cocona. After adopting her, they formed a close bond that inevitably was challenged by Luca and Cloche.
“Not long after Croix started to rebel against the IPD containment missions, I suffered one,” Cocona said. “It was really scary, but it was at that point we learned that I was actually a seraph.”
“You didn’t know you were a seraph?” Edna asked her dubiously. “What kind of idiot do you have to be to not know? Don’t you have earthpulse points on your Tower?”
“We used to, but not anytime recently,” Cocona replied without even batting an eye at Edna’s harsh comments. “When we were taken from the Tower to this land, a lot of weird things started to happen.”
Croix had been with Cloche as her bodyguard on the Tower while Luca had been with Targana and the Sacred Army. When they arrived in Pendrago, the two had met. Something seemed strange. There had been talk of the Goddess Maiden on Metafalss—she was the true holy maiden that was destined to save the Tower. Of course, Luca had believed Targana’s honeyed words.
“Can you not mention that?” Luca asked, somewhat ashamed. “I admit I was stupid to believe that. The Goddess Maiden isn’t anything special like the Maiden of Mio.” She looked at Cloche apologetically, and her sister held her hand.
“Needless to say, Croix and Targana ended up fighting to the death. I found them fighting in the city, and that was when…” Cocona’s voice trailed off.
“Croix, who had been protecting me as the Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell, told us to run away. Targana was going to try and kill me if we hadn’t, and…and if he had, then my mission would remain unfulfilled.”
Sorey asked her what her mission was. Cloche stood in the radiant sun that illuminated her golden hair with its blessed light, her feet planted in the sand. She clenched her fists before drawing her ornamental rapier before her. “It is the mission of the Maiden of Mio to create Metafalica, the Land of Hope.”
“What Targana didn’t understand was that Metafalica can’t be created without both the Goddess Maiden and the Maiden of Mio,” Luca explained. “He had gotten into his head that it would be better to live in bliss, free of the weight of emotion. He talked about helping Lakra in the Ascension Project.”
“Wait, he tried to pull that crap on the Second Tower, too?!” Rose gasped. “That baby-faced jerk!”
“I take it you know about it?” Cocona questioned.
“Damn right we do! They had a bunch of seraphim trapped in Pendrago, and they were forcing them to have IPD breakouts! They even got Dezel…!” Rose lowered her voice. “They…They hurt Dezel so badly that he…” Rose held back her rageful tears and curses. “Why would he even try to do that?”
“No one actually knows,” Cloche replied. “I’m sure there are documents and the like on the Second Tower that explain this project. After all, the legend of Metafalica is ingrained in our history and culture, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was really all part of the same story.”
“But to use people’s souls like that?!”
Sorey’s face slowly morphed into a grim expression as he thought about the Ascension Project. It couldn’t be a coincidence. He remembered what it felt like to be inside of Infel Phira, and while at the time he couldn’t have possibly known it, he felt something malevolent inside of it. It was hidden under all of the consciousnesses that had been vacuumed into it. It had convinced him that he had to destroy Hyland to gain happiness. The Song that Frelia had sung had an effect, but the malevolence amplified it. That would explain why he had tried to resist Zaveid when he sang to him and the people of Pendrago.
The spirited discussion had made them oblivious to the fact that they had arrived at Trizolde Cave. From the mouth of the cave, the walls were blue like sapphire. They glistened like crystal but perhaps they were closer to diamond. A cool breeze blew through.
Sorey led his friends into the cave, making sure that Cloche and Luca were alright to walk from the cushiony sand to the solid floor. It took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, and once they were acclimated, they immediately went on the defense in case they were attacked by hellions. The monsters were sleeping through the cave. A faint voice was singing deeper within. Cloche, out of force of habit, ordered them to follow the melodious voice.
They carefully stepped around the hellions to an alcove further back from the entrance. The voice got louder slightly as they closed in on it, and here they found a fire seraph with short hair singing. Before her, a stone coffin stood. It was sealed with a mystic power presumably from the Song Magic.
“Are you lost?” the seraph asked. She had stopped singing, causing the seal to disappear.
“Well, we were looking for some orpiment, but then we heard you singing,” Sorey explained. His attention shifted to the coffin. “Why are you here?”
“Seraphim are free in this area, so I’ve taken it upon myself to protect my dearest friend from anyone or anything that tries to steal from her resting place.”
Rose and Cocona looked at the coffin. While the assassin was no thief for fear of curses and the undead haunting her, the seraph of Metafalss was interested in the aura that wafted from it. The corpse inside still retained some sort of magic, but it wasn’t Song Magic nor the mana needed for Seraphic Artes. It felt light and childish; it was very similar to magic used in parlor tricks and pranks.
“The person in there isn’t quite human or seraphic, are they?” she finally asked.
The seraph shook her head. The person had been human. She lived a thousand years ago, and while she had been thrown into prison for unlicensed witchcraft, she had actually been a rogue researcher that had come from Frelia. She was born in the Glenwood Continent; though, after years of abuse in a traveling circus of people that profited off her unusually high resonance, she was adopted by an extremely old man that came from the Mayvin lineage. He was well-versed in the ancient legends of the Wills of the Planet, the ancient tongue, Ar Ciela, and alchemy. After he had trained her to use magic, the man and the girl managed to find their way to Frelia as it was being built. It was there that they had learned of the Song of Hope, and they assimilated into the People of Mio. It was unclear when they had returned to the Glenwood Continent, but the seraph suspected that they had been found out eventually.
“I still have some of her diaries, though they are hardly readable,” the seraph said. As if her sleeves were bottomless pockets, she pulled out a small stack of papers with handwriting that resembled an illiterate child. “When I say hardly readable, I mean her penmanship was atrocious.”
The seraph handed the papers to Sorey, who held it before everyone so they could see it. As he examined it closely, he realized that the notes had been written in a code. It was the ancient tongue, and the Shepherd’s mind began to decipher it. He read aloud:
***
“‘We’ve managed to become part of the People of Mio and infiltrated Kanakana Pier. Bunch of uptight guys, but if Melchior says that we can harness the power here, then Artorious will be able to obtain his dream.’
“‘We’re so close to getting the Song of Hope, but…I don’t think it’s what Melchior thinks it is. After all, a Song that can generate a mass of land sounds way too overpowered and messiah-like to be something that can only seal away emotion…then again, erasing emotion is a pretty godly thing to do.’
“‘The mission was a failure. My magic discharged by accident—humans aren’t supposed to be able to use magic, but here I am popping like a firework.’
“‘We were chased off Frelia before we even had a chance to learn what exactly was needed for the Song of Hope. Even the Tower disappeared…no, it’s travelled somewhere else. Either way, Melchior will be angry. And that deserter left me for the Abbey, so I’m on my own now.’
“‘I’ve been thrown into the maximum-security prison called Titania. I was accused of unlicensed witchcraft, but such a thing doesn’t exist. It seems my usefulness to Melchior has run out, but I’m feeling rather generous today. Whoever breaks out of this place with me gets to share in my wealth of knowledge. Non, non, Melchior. Don’t think you’ll be getting those grubby hands on that Song. Not when I may have learned the truth back then.’
“‘It’s been a while since I’ve last recorded a diary. My heart has been shattered so many times that I’m not sure how to feel about this ultimate development. It’s been fun, but I suppose now would be a good time to say that the Heart of Gaea that I’ve seen belongs to her. Those two must not be allowed to create Metafalica. Hearts so unpure—they put me to shame. Then again, I’m little more than a cracked blank slate, aren’t I? Such is the curse of the Mayvin lineage, huh, old man? You may have been the worst of the worst and lower than the dirt, but I will carry on what has been passed down. With my journal, I shall set into action the Storyteller of Time.’
“‘This will be my final journal. The Storyteller of Time, as expected, also suffers from the curse. To preserve them, a taboo has been placed on the lineage. They shall remain alive longer than normal humans for within their bodies are the secrets of the past. If the Storyteller of Time breaks the taboo, whether for good or for bad, they will perish. I’ve set this precedent so that they can help as many seraphim as they can without being exposed. The seraphim born from the earthpulse, the malakhim imprisoned by the Abbey almost a millennium ago, the Reyvateils born on the Towers, the Wills of the Planet that sleep within the very fabric of this world—they need all the help they can get. Heh, my…I really have changed over these years. I suppose what with everyone else dead and gone, it is only natural that I, Magellanica Lou Mayvin, should change. To whoever finds this journal, and I trust it is my dearest friend, do not let Infel and Nenesha create Metafalica. Take the Heart of Gaea to the one who requires it most.’”
***
Cloche and Luca looked horrified. Why would someone so adamantly be against the creation of Metafalica? Who were Infel and Nenesha? How could their hearts be so sullied that they couldn’t be allowed to create the promised land?
Cocona was more concerned about this Magellanica. How had she and this Melchior managed to sneak up to the Second Tower? She wanted to learn more, especially considering how important the Heart of Gaea was. After all, when Croix had been alive, she had heard mentions about it. She was young and inexperienced in the world then, but she had always been listening to the other knights.
Sorey handed the papers back to the seraph guarding the coffin. Before he spoke to her, he paid his respects to the dead, thanking her for leaving behind that single shred of evidence. Harvestasha had wanted the Heart of Gaea to extend Finnel’s life, but after reading the notes, he began to wonder exactly what it was. It obviously held extreme power, and while he could fathom that perhaps a lot of power was needed to extend a lifespan, it still seemed incongruent.
Rose was a little more cynical. The Heart of Gaea had immense power, and Harvestasha and Luphan had already showed a glimpse of their true colors. She wished she could have Eguille look into it, but there was no way that he or the others would be able to learn about something that sounded more outlandish than the iris gems. After all, the expedition to the First Tower and seeing just how technologically advanced everything was, she was sure that the idea of even going so high that she could see the entirety of the world would shake his confidence in the journey. She decided, as she had before, that she had to be the one to help the Second Tower and to find the Heart of Gaea. Dezel was an IPD, and she was a loyal Squire. She had to prove herself.
The Shepherd let out a controlled sigh; while the list of tasks was growing shorter and he was getting closer and closer to saving Mikleo and Finnel, he had to take things slowly. Cloche and Luca needed to get home. The development written on those pages stressed about Metafalica.
“Lord Shepherd?” the seraph had been repeatedly saying to get his attention. Everyone’s eyes focused on her. “I believe you were originally here for orpiment, correct?”
“Yes; could you guide us?” Sorey asked her.
“I can. I shall continue singing to keep the hellions asleep.”
The fire seraph resumed her Song just as the hellions were beginning to rouse. She led Sorey’s group through the narrow serpentine paths of Trizolde Cave, and every once in a while, he saw something that would catch his eye. He wanted to stop and examine each item, but with Mikleo’s wellbeing, Finnel’s life, and the entirety of the Second Tower hanging in the balance, he quelled the urge with his sense of duty. He stayed behind the seraph and occasionally looked behind to make sure that Cloche and Luca were safe. Cocona assured him that if any of the hellions managed to move during the Song, she would put it down without a second to waste.
“Was Cocona always this murderous?” Cloche asked Luca.
“I think after Croix died, she’s been like that. I feel so bad for her,” the other whispered.
Cocona pouted out of embarrassment. She didn’t deny to herself that she had become hard and cold, but she acknowledged that now was no time to be a child. Edna, while she had no intention of building a friendship or even relating to her, took some solace that there was someone in the group who could completely sympathize with her.
The seraph brought the group to the chamber that was deepest into the cave. Surrounded by golden glowing mushrooms was a largest crystal of orpiment. It was twice the size of Sorey, and the arsenic within it was extremely potent. The Shepherd worried if Edna would be okay to use it, but the earth seraph reminded him that there was no other way. Sorey drew his sword to carve out a piece, but Edna stopped him.
“We need to Dive,” she said at point-blank. “Orpiment like this is powerful and just what we need to make that ladder to the Second Tower, but it’s still poisonous. Remember, Diving helps to negate the bad effects of ores like this. Or did you forget that? You probably did since we haven’t had to use ores in a long time.”
“I still remember, but…even if we Dive, will you be alright?” Sorey asked her.
Edna approached the ore. “It will at least make it so I don’t die. Now, Sorey, it’s time.”
Sorey, still unsure about how safe it would be, steeled himself. He stared straight at Edna with reverent emerald eyes. “Hephsin Yulind,” he called out. At once, Edna’s form morphed into a yellow orb that sped towards his chest. Sorey sat before the orpiment as he commenced his eighth Dive into Edna.
Notes:
With the timeline in mind, I like to think that a certain magician did live long long after Velvet and co. It's also been a bit since I last played Berseria, but SOON!
Chapter 126: Phase 5: Alchemy of Iron Bonds
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 8: Edna
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
This chapter was pretty interesting to write. Based on Luca's Level 8, Edna has to make that hard decision that we all have to make.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey opened his eyes to find Edna crying on the ground. All around her were shredded flowers and shattered stones. He quickly approached her, and as soon as he reached out to her, she stopped. Her face was puffy and red like she had been like that for hours.
“Edna, are you okay?” Sorey asked her even though he already knew that the next level was probably causing her this strife.
“I’m…I’m so sorry, Sorey…I’m so scared, but I can’t do anything—not by myself,” she wept. She began to bawl again. “I miss him so much!”
Having never seen his earth seraph broken like this, Sorey knew who she was talking about, and he sympathized. He gently patted her head and held her tiny face in his hands. She looked at him with large wet cerulean eyes. He was the angel that she wanted to be with wings that chased away the darkness and eased her pain.
“Don’t worry,” he told her. “I’m here to make things right.”
Edna nodded, and then Sorey touched the center of her chest.
----------------------------------------
Everything was dark at first in the eighth level of Edna’s soul space. He only heard the faint calling of his name and the very young voice of a small girl. “Sorey…!” she called. “Sorey, come on, wake up!”
As he opened his eyes, the Shepherd found himself at the Stonehenge where the child version of Edna stood. She wasn’t alone. Eizen, who hadn’t been seen for some time in the cosmosphere, was there with his ever-present scowl.
“Get up, Shepherd,” he ordered him with the sharpness of a captain. “We’ve got work to do, and we don’t have time to lollygag here.” Everything about him was more intense than ever. “Well?”
Sorey stood up, intimidated by this man. He wanted to ask him what the problem was, and he would have if he didn’t look so angry. He turned his attention to Edna, who was wearing the pink smock and still had beads of tears at the corners of her eyes.
“What’s the plan?” Sorey asked them while staring at Eizen with a resolution only found in little Edna’s grief-stricken figure.
While holding her hand and leading her along, Eizen explained to Sorey exactly what had happened between the previous level and the current one. When Frankenstein Edna threatened to destroy everyone by sending them down into the Hole, the Paradigm Shift had opened. Sorey escaped through it just before the world collapsed. Edna’s child version then used her power to save everything from annihilation, but in return, Frankenstein Edna became comatosed. She couldn’t move or speak, and both Edna and Eizen—who materialized from memories of him—took her to the Spiritcrest to stay until they could fix her. It had been such a long time since then, and while the real Edna exhibited no changes, the greatest insecurity shown through this level would prevent her from becoming stronger. Phoenix had offered to stay with the body until Sorey’s return, so when they arrived at the summit of the Rayfalke Spiritcrest where Eizen had once dwelled as a dragon, they found the earth seraph and her mind guardian.
“This Edna really is unconscious,” Sorey murmured to himself. He wasn’t surprised, but he couldn’t believe either. He had never expected to see one of the coldest of his friends become nothing more than a lifeless doll. “How do we help her?” He walked up to the body and gently touched her discolored cheek as if to verify that she was indeed lifeless.
Phoenix turned to Sorey. Its eyebrows scrunched up until it finally came up with an idea. It explained that Edna’s strive to be perfect was fueled by the desire to be the center of attention. That desire was caused by the loneliness brought on by Eizen’s death in the real world.
“What Edna is missing most is—” Phoenix said before Sorey finished its sentence:
“Her family…” Sorey spun around to face Eizen. “But you’re already here, so why?”
“I am not the true memory of Eizen,” the intense man told him. “The Eizen that can bring Edna back is the one that left on journeys all the time and at one point had stopped coming to see her. He had made a vow to search for the one that had saved him from death. If we trace her memories back to find Eizen and bring the real one here to see her, then she just might wake up.”
Sorey didn’t like that plan. To trace the footsteps through the memories to find the real Eizen meant living through what Edna had to suffer over the thousand years that she was forced to experience. It would break her heart even more than it was now. How could he do that to her?
Still, there was no other way around it. He left the Spritcrest in search of the first inkling to Edna’s awakening. Eizen took the lead, and he asked Sorey to carry the child Edna if she got too tired. It was going to be an arduous task.
The grim earth seraph guided Sorey to a small sandy beach where there was a pirate ship. It was large and extravagant, made of the finest mahogany wood and fitted with sails made of silk. This pirate ship was named the Van Eltia.
“W-Wow!” Sorey gawked. “Is this a real pirate ship?! Not only that, it’s Aifread’s ship!” He raced towards it with more vigor than he had felt in a long time, pulled out his Celestial Record, and began to inspect the ship for every detail that was in it. “I thought he was just a legend! But if his ship is here, that means Edna met him!”
“Wrong,” Eizen said. “Edna never met Van Aifread. She’s only ever heard my stories from the sea. This man rescued me many years ago, and I became his first mate.” He gazed at the majestic vessel fondly. “Sailing around with him, going on adventures—it was truly one of the greatest things in my life. Of course, Edna never liked him because I spent all my time with him on the sea.”
“Why?” Sorey asked him. He remembered there had been some reason long ago, but after all the battles and hardships, little details escaped him. He knew that Eizen wouldn’t leave Edna for some frivolous reason—it was something serious.
“I left Edna alone on the mountain because I was afraid of hurting her. I was a cursed seraph, and whenever anything could go wrong, it often did. It happened on our voyages. Horrible storms, scurvy, starvation—but Aifread always stayed with me. He refused to abandon me.”
Sorey stared at the ship in thought. Edna had always been alone long before she had come to meet him or his friends. She was only a child, yet she loved her brother dearly. He knew the end result, but there were other things to Eizen than just his life as a pirate and as a dragon.
The three of them left the beach and headed toward a temple to the north of the soul space. Suddenly a drawling voice called behind them:
“Wait for me!”
Sorey and Eizen turned around to find a brown Normin running at the speed of a turtle behind them. “You can’t uncover a memory and then forget to take me along!” it slurred. It wasn’t inebriated, but everything about it was slowed down.
“Hurry it up then,” Eizen barked at it. “We haven’t got all day!”
“My name is Sloe, so everything I do is slow!”
Eizen let out an exasperated sigh then asked Sorey to carry the Normin. The Shepherd did so, allowing the Normin to sit on his head while they continued to the temple ahead of them. It was made of ivory and marble, yet there was something much more to it. Sorey again gazed at it and tried to find it in the Celestial Record, but it wasn’t in there. It was almost as if it had been omitted. He had seen it this heavenly edifice before, but where?
“Welcome to—” another Normin said. It walked up, its mouth still moving, but no words could be heard. “As such, there’s nothing inside.”
“What did you say this place was called?” Sorey politely asked.
Again, the Normin said the name of the place without saying it. Was there a glitch in the soul space? Did Edna even know this place?
“Edna never came here, and I never told her about it. It only exists in the soul space because of the lingering memories I hold,” Eizen explained. “This was where my fellow shipmates and I witnessed the births of two new Wills of the Planet. When separated, they threatened to destroy the world with their emotion and reason. Together, they created an ourobos that keeps the world in balance. The one that promised to uphold their beliefs purified them and the land, and the cycle of malevolence and purification started here.”
“Then this place…this is Camlann,” Sorey said with awe. “But…if this is Camlann, this is before the Age of Chaos began.”
“Correct,” the Normin said. “My name is Mirag, and it is here that the events that would cement Edna’s loneliness began.”
“The Unprecedented Cataclysm began as a Lord of Calamity was born and attempted to destroy the world. It was 800 years after the first Lord of Calamity had become a Will and set in motion the mill that used negative emotions to spread malevolence.” Eizen looked painfully at the temple. “Aifread had been long dead after becoming a daemon himself—hellion in modern terms.”
“He became a hellion?” Sorey questioned more as a reaction than as a query.
“Yes, after that old man used his magic on him. When the ouroboros was created, malakhim were freed for a short time. They began to be enslaved again just before the Unprecedented Cataclysm started, and while my shipmates promised to protect me with their lives…”
“Hold on, this isn’t making sense anymore!” Sorey cried out.
“We encountered the Lord of Calamity and threatened to kill every single one of them. I was never treated as a slave; Aifread had taught his men that slavery was for cowards. And because of this creed—because they treated me as their friend, I sacrificed myself. Zaveid was my witness, and I made him promise something he had been forced to do before.”
“To kill a dragon,” Sorey breathlessly said.
“Yep. I knew what would happen, and I did it anyway. I couldn’t go back home to Edna because I would hurt her. I couldn’t let my friends die after they were so kind. It was a suicide mission, but I couldn’t just let that monster go. I killed the hellion at the cost of losing myself to the malevolence, and I became a dragon.”
Sorey’s heart sank. Edna would have been devastated to hear that her brother had become a dragon. Mirag crawled up his leg without him noticing until it planted itself on his shoulder.
“It’s nothing to get upset about,” it said. “What’s done is done.”
Eizen then guided Sorey to the Spiritcrest. There were a thunderous roar coming from the summit, and the Shepherd felt a sudden urgency to return to Edna’s body. The real Eizen had come.
Sorey was the only one that hurried to the summit; Eizen and Edna stayed behind yet the narration continued in his mind. Eizen had returned to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest to live in isolation. Edna had learned about what had happened from Zaveid, who had tried to no avail to get her to leave. The earth seraph, longing to see her brother, refused to listen. She booted him from the mountain, and she too lived in isolation. For 200 years, she had tried to find a way to bring Eizen back, and her efforts always ended in failure until the day that his soul was torn from his body by Seraphoid Vaccines.
The little Edna broke from Eizen’s arms. She couldn’t bear to lose another friend. After all, Eizen had lost his mind over time and couldn’t even recognize his own sister. He had never met Sorey, so there would be no restraint.
The dragon, which was nearing Frakenstein Edna, breathed smoke. Sorey arrived and yelled, “Get away from her, Eizen!”
Eizen turned around, his red eyes flashing with hatred and insanity. Drawing his sword, Sorey swallowed the fear that the massive hellion instilled in him. He was saddened—not once but twice, he would have to witness a doting older brother’s death.
“I’m sorry about what happened, I really am,” Sorey told the dragon. “If…If we could have done something to help you when we first met, we would have! We wouldn’t have let you die at the hands of your brethren. But…you’re hurting Edna. The memory of you is hurting her and keeping her from moving on!” He angled his sword. “I’m here to help her grow. And if I have to kill you here, then so be it!”
He ran toward the beast. His sword would never pierce of even scratch its scaly hide, but he had to do everything he could to help his friend. Even if he couldn’t swear love to her, he had to do something.
Eizen howled, sending sonic waves through the air that made his joints lock. He collapsed to his knees. As soon as the howling ended, though, he was back up. He zigzagged through his beefy legs, slicing each one at least twice with the hope that he could slow him down. Eizen roared then tried to stomp on him. Sorey dodged out of the way as quickly as he could, but his tails of his cloak lagged behind, and the draconic foot caught him.
Edna reached the summit only to find that her Shepherd was trapped. “B-Big Brother, let him go!” her tiny voice screamed. But the dragon didn’t hear her. This form was much too young to use Song Magic, and her Seraphic Artes were too weak. “P-Please…everyone, I need your power!”
Sloe and Mirag glowed as they offered Sorey’s sword power, but it was all futile. He was able to escape thanks to Sloe, but it was all he could do. Still, he rushed back in to fight harder.
The Frankenstein Edna glowed, and the first persona to appear by the child Edna’s side was drink master. Her sake decanter was a radiant gold, and as she poured out its contents, she cried out, “Wash away with the Gods’ Sake!”
The golden drink became a tsunami that plowed into the dragon’s broad side. It dizzied him, as if he had gotten drunk. Sorey hopped onto his back. The drink master patted the child Edna’s head before vanishing into specks of light.
Next was Mono-Edna, with a black umbrella that was surrounded by a hazy darkness. She opened it, and suddenly black rain soaked Eizen and Sorey, though it didn’t harm the Shepherd. It sapped away some of the dragon’s strength. She disappeared.
Sorey cut into one wing, eliciting an ear-piercing shriek from Eizen. The dragon flung him off, but he was far from done. He charged back to his legs.
The schoolgirl appeared now in her magical girl costume. She fired beams of light at the dragon’s eyes, blinding him temporarily. Sorey climbed back onto his back and damaged the other wing as best as he could.
Eizen roared, and suddenly a flood of fire shot from his mouth. The schoolgirl tackled the child version of Edna to protect her from the attack, and like the others, she vanished.
“Eizen, you’re going to kill your sister!” Sorey told him as he tried to climb his neck.
The baker appeared now, and she gave sweets and cookies to the child before trading places with the gunner persona. With her God Arc, she shot her bullets into Eizen’s side that ate through him before the demon within her weapon grew out of it and bit off his tail. She disappeared, and the child Edna knew that this was her chance. The Edna that reflected the real version of herself was now free. She devoured the cookies, and she grew and matured into the earth seraph that Sorey had grown to respect and admire.
“Sorey!” she called out to him, her pink smock now the dress that she always wore. She ran towards the two of them, her hand out-stretched to take his hand. “Call my true name!”
Sorey slashed Eizen’s scaly skin again then propelled himself off of him high into the air above. The dragon followed him, howling in pain as he flew higher and higher than the Shepherd.
“Sorey!”
“Hephsin Yulind!” the Shepherd yelled over the sounds of battle. His body was enveloped in golden light characteristic of the earth element. He pressurized the air beneath him, and as he scaled to greater heights far ahead of Eizen, he felt Edna’s sadness and loneliness but also her resolve. “Edna, are you ready?”
“More than I ever will be,” she said from inside. “Let’s finish this, Sorey!”
Eizen tried his best to catch up to Sorey. With fists made of the hardest stone, with the power of the earth surging through his veins, and with Edna giving him the support he needed to fight; he rocketed down.
“Earthborn! Strong as the earth!” both he and Edna said. One of the fists began to move on its own, and they hopped onto it. As it crashed into the dragon, they flipped off of it and continued down. “Behold, rain of ruin!” Finally, as they smashed their fist into Eizen, and as Eizen smashed into the ground of the summit of the Spiritcrest, they called out, “Earth Revolution!”
Eizen’s body went limp immediately after the battle. Sorey and Edna de-Armatized, and both of them fell to the ground from exhaustion. The memory of the dragon that had haunted and chained the earth seraph to her loneliness was dead. As the malevolence dissipated from the dragon’s form, Eizen’s battered corpse and another Normin were revealed.
“Oh, man, does it feel good to feel the sun again!” the Normin happily sang. It looked back at Eizen. “Well, I’ll be! You’ve been released, too.”
Sorey and Edna cautiously approached the two of them. They were so tired, but Sorey was happy to see Edna smiling. Her face was tear-stained, but not from sorrow. She lowered herself next to Eizen and gave him a gentle kiss on his head.
“You’re free, brother…” she softly whispered. She lay next to him. Then she stopped moving.
“Edna…?” Sorey uttered. She didn’t respond. “E-Edna?! Edna, are you okay?!”
The Normin touched her head and Eizen’s. Both of them vanished into light.
“W-What happened?!”
“Relax, kid! That Edna returned to her level at the very surface of the cosmosphere. Each persona that had been trapped in the Frankenstein Edna has gone back to where they belong, assimilating back into the real Edna. Eizen—or rather the memory of Eizen—has been purified. I don’t know where he went. My name is Primor, and I can sense life in everything here. You did good, kid.”
Sorey was inexplicably overcome with emotion. He hastily went back to the Frankenstein Edna. There, he found someone different. It was Edna dressed in a frilly swimsuit. All of the discoloration has disappeared, the fanciful black dress gone, and her figure sleeping comfortably in front of him. No matter how much he called her name, she didn’t wake. Phoenix touched him.
“Don’t worry, she’s alright,” it said. “She’s probably dreaming right now and sorting out all her memories and feelings. If you take her to the Stonehenge and push her through the Paradigm Shift, she’ll be okay.”
Sorey nodded then took her into his arms. He made his way down the mountain to the Stonehenge just as the Paradigm Shift had appeared. Even though he was glad that the dragon that had always been in her soul space had been quelled, he couldn’t help but feel his heart break. Killing Eizen couldn’t have been an easy choice, but it was the choice she had to make. He helped her through the light.
Edna’s blue eyes slowly opened, and she smiled up at him. It was a sincere smile that was as beautiful as the stars. Before Sorey woke up, she softly told him:
“It’s because of you that I’m free now. I can move on and be happy. Eizen may have suffered in reality, but here, in this dreamlike world that reflects my feelings, I feel like I finally saved him. Thank you, Sorey.”
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Sorey and Edna woke up from their Dive. Edna, who was uncharacteristically flustered, threw her arms around his neck. She didn’t say anything, and Sorey understood why. He could feel what she wanted to say in the warmth of her small body and in the trembling of her breath as she wept. The others had turned around and talked very loudly over the seraph’s singing to mask anything that they needed to say as precaution. Sorey let Edna hug him as long as she needed to before telling everyone that they were allowed to come back to them. After all, her gratefulness didn’t mean that she would allow any embarrassment.
When both of them had calmed down and the others were allowed back into the chamber, they watched Edna carve out a large piece of the orpiment. She tucked it away into the void inside of her umbrella.
“I’ll be able to sing any Song with this much orpiment,” she said, as if nothing had happened. “We should head back to Pendrago.”
Luca and Cloche and Cocona were impressed that everything went back to normal, and they grew curious about Sorey’s Diving abilities. They knew that he couldn’t Dive into them due to the differences in Diving into their type of seraphim, but all three of them could dream.
“Alright, we’re back in business!” Rose happily said. “Let’s get our asses back to Pendrago and help Frelia!”
“Alisha and Lailah should be there by now,” Dezel said, a hint of satisfaction on his partially-obscured face.
“Even more of a reason to get a move on!”
Rose glanced at Sorey with an expectant look. She wanted to be the one to help, and he gave her a smile. He had to save his energy for when he saw Harvestasha again. He needed to be ready to get Mikleo back.
Notes:
So I've talked to a few people, and people will really let Eizen live because they don't want to kill him in the game. But, ugh, this is one of those morality questions. Let him live and let him suffer? Or end his suffering and release Edna from the sadness she's had for 1000 years?
Chapter 127: Phase 5: A New Ally
Summary:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
Jacqli joins the party. After meeting up in Pendrago, Edna sings the Song that will get them to the Second Tower.
Notes:
Alright, alright, alright! Making our way tot he Second Tower! So apparently the localiation of the second Ar Tonelico game is jank, but it's not terribly hard to follow. I think prior to this chapter though, I forgot about Frelia's nicknames for Shun (Shuny/Enja) and I don't recall if I've used those names. But just in case, Shun is also referred to as Enja/Shuny.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Mir,” Shurelia cautiously said.
“I told you not to call me that,” Jacqli warned her.
“I’m sorry, but are you really sure you want to go to Frelia?”
Ever since Mir had cast aside her sins and renamed herself Jacqli, the ivory Origin felt a sistership with the contrasting ebony Reyvateil. She wasn’t an Origin, but her power still far exceeded hers. Perhaps it was the guilt that made her feel that way—she was the favorite all those years ago while Jacqli was forced to undergo experiments and torture unknown to anyone then and now. With Ayatane’s corporeal form gone and his essence serving as her Mind Guardian within her heart, she thought that maybe Jacqli wouldn’t think twice about helping Sorey. But still, hatred burned in her heart. It was a loathing that would be very difficult to extinguish even after finishing their duet to exorcise the last remnants of the malevolence in the Tower.
“I have to go; I promised someone that I would accomplish a goal for them and help everyone in need of saving,” Jacqli responded with a tone that suggested more grandeur than she intended.
“But if you stray too far from this Tower, you know what will happen!” Shurelia argued with her. “After everything that’s happened, I can’t allow you to just throw your life away!”
“Relax, Shurelia. I didn’t think you were this much of a worrywart.” As Jacqli made her way to the exit of the Rinkernator high above the world, she continued. “I need to go, no matter what. The Shepherd needs the Heart of Gaea; I need to make sure he gets it. After all, he’s got an enormous task on his shoulders, a burden much heavier than even the Origins.”
And that was how Jacqli ended up in the bedroom where Alisha and Lailah had finished their final true Dive. What was to be something of an intimate moment between the two girls was interrupted by her blasé demeanor and disinterest in humans.
“Alright, you two, we need to go to Pendrago—now,” Jacqli sighed. She turned away from the bedroom door and frightened the maid against the wall with her dark aura. Naturally, Alisha and Lailah couldn’t just let her be.
The princess and her fire seraph scrambled behind her, and as they kept pace with her, they weren’t quite sure if they should ask her about her awakening. She had cut the long black hair that had covered her face when she was purified, and her bodysuit was more revealing than they had thought she would have picked. Was she simply taking control of her life and relishing it, or was it an overt statement that she was free now?
“Do you all have a plan?” she suddenly asked.
“U-Uh, well, Sorey and the others went to Lohgrin to get Cloche and Luca,” Alisha shyly told her. “We’re just meeting them in Pendrago with Frelia.”
Jacqli’s taciturn expression struck them as terrifying like she had said something wrong. She stopped and faced Alisha and Lailah.
“Don’t get the wrong idea here,” she said. “I still hate humans, and I won’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in my way. I have a promise to keep with someone, and she begged me to help you all because I have a vast knowledge about most things that you don’t even know exist.”
Lailah didn’t falter at Jacqli’s knife-like words. She understood her hatred, didn’t blame her for it, and thought of her as she did Edna. She, however, made it clear to her that she would protect Alisha with her life if she had to. Jacqli sad nothing, only shrugging at her determination. They weren’t enemies anymore; it didn’t matter.
The three girls continued their journey to the Rolance empire. By the end of the week, both parties regrouped before the fountain in the square of the city. Cloche and Luca were winded from the walk while Cocona didn’t seem bothered by it at all. Edna was sitting on the fountain ledge swinging her legs. Rose and Dezel greeted Jacqli, the former giving her a wide bright smile and was glad that she was joining their side even if it wasn’t completely true. Alisha explained what she had learned in Ladylake about Bartlow’s absence.
“Before we go,” the assassin said. “I want to send out a recon team to keep an eye on that old man. After all,” she paused to glance at Sorey, who was talking with Edna about absorbing the Hymn Crystal that had to be in Frelia’s possession, “I can’t let what happened to Sorey and Mikleo or what happened to Dezel happen again.”
Dezel tensed out of the corner of her eye. The nightmarish memories were always lingering in the back of his mind, and she knew that. She didn’t want to remember them in any context, but if there was ever a time to confront the darkness that had hurt them, it was now.
“Such a valiant decision,” Jacqli almost scoffed. “Do whatever you want. We just need to get to Frelia as soon as possible.”
Rose gave her an affirming nod. She and Dezel left the group to find the Scattered Bones outside of the city in Mallory Forest. Eguille and Rosh were gathering their supplies, which caused their leader some concern. The forest had been compromised as a hideout, and they again had to begin the search for a new home.
“Wait, before you go!” Rose called to them before they could leave. Eguille and Rosh knelt before her to listen, but they urged her to hurry. There was an eerie feeling within the forest. Eyes were watching them; ears were listening to their every word. “Pork’s run out tonight, so we might need to find something else. Can you check out some places and see what’s selling? I won’t settle for anything less.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Eguille told her. Then he vanished like a ninja.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Dezel asked her as they made their way back to the entrance of the forest.
“Eguille is my right-hand man. Rosh is second-in-command. If they can do anything, it’s getting some good information.”
“And how will we know? They won’t be able to come to Frelia, and messenger birds can’t fly that high.”
“They’ll know what to do. We are assassins, you know.”
“I’m well-aware, but this is more dangerous than usual. Heldalf and Symonne have been relatively quiet as far as attacking us. Not to mention that a certain fox is still out there.”
“Lunarre won’t hurt them.”
“You still believe in him?”
“No, but he’s more inclined to come after us. He hates me more than anyone in the guild.”
Rose walked ahead of Dezel as they neared the entrance, and the wind seraph felt strange hearing that come from her. She sounded more resigned than he would have liked; was she planning on letting him kill her if he threatened their family? Just like when he fought against Stheno, he wouldn’t let her get hurt. He wanted to protect her.
When everyone had returned to Pendrago and was ready to begin on their way to the Second Tower, Rose confirmed that Eguille had gotten her message. Sorey felt better knowing that there was someone keeping up with what was happening on the Glenwood Continent far below the clouds that floated under each Tower. Alisha was relieved as well. With Shurelia awake again, she hoped that she could help the seraphim while she was away. She still hated that she couldn’t be more present to do something for them, but she reminded herself again and again that she was on a journey to help the entirety of the world.
Jacqli led the way to Knights’ Tower to meet with Sergei as the envoy from the First Tower. Behind her was Sorey and Edna, who would pave the path to the Second Tower. Then was Rose and Dezel, the ones who have sworn to do everything in their power to heal it. Cloche and Luca walked with poise and grace as the Maidens of Mio and Homura, respectively. Zaveid, Lailah, and Alisha followed with the promise that their strength to support everyone ahead of them. Cocona walked behind them, remembering Pendrago as both the end and the beginning—her bond with Croix was eternal, and with her new power as not just a seraph but a Reyvateil of the Second Tower, she wanted to make him proud.
“Are you the boss of this army?” the dark Reyvateil asked bluntly after finding and approaching the Platinum Knights.
Sergei turned around delighted to see his friends after so long. “Sorey, Rose, Alisha! Honorable Seraphim! And…you three…!”
Cloche and Luca bowed to him, but Cocona glared at him. Targana, she noticed, was no longer present. But she still couldn’t be amicable with the forces that had adopted him shortly after he killed Croix when he rescued Cloche from them. But she didn’t know of Sergei’s benevolent heart. The captain knelt to her and begged for forgiveness:
“We didn’t realize who Targana was, and I’m ashamed to have allowed him to serve in my military. He has since been detained, and the IPD seraphim are being treated and granted asylum until we can apprehend all the abusers in the city,” he told her. “I ask that you forgive the city of Pendrago as we right our wrongs.”
Cocona declined the request, and Sergei both understood why and accepted it. How could she forgive the people that sided with a murderer? That was when Sorey noticed that he didn’t look well. When he explained that the Origin in the care of the Platinum Knights had been getting worse since they rescued her from Lakra, Zaveid felt sick. Frelia had mentioned that she had lost feeling in parts of the Tower, and he wondered if it was an indication that she was dying.
“There you are!” Shun said with urgency. “It took you long enough to bring Cloche and Luca here!”
“We had a few setbacks to take care of first,” Rose pouted.
“Well, never mind that. We need to go now, or else the entire Tower will collapse. There is still a large amount of people on the Tower; those that came to the Glenwood Continent got caught in the seraphic exodus. We need to save the Tower and create Metafalica before we can bring everyone back.”
“I won’t keep you then,” Sergei said. “Sorey, on behalf of the Platinum Knights, please save them.”
“Of course,” Sorey reassured him.
Shun escorted the group of humans and seraphim—including Sergei, whom had been working to make sure Frelia was comfortable—into the tower. Frelia was lying down on a bed in the infirmary, and when they saw her, Rose’s heart stopped. She looked feverish and frail. If they didn’t return soon, there was no doubt that the Second Origin and her Tower would die.
“Lady Frelia, the Shepherd is here,” Shun told her.
“I’m…so glad…” she weakly said. She tried to smile.
“Lady Frelia, just hang on, alright?” Sorey pleaded with her. “Shun, how can we get her back to the Tower?”
Shun pulled out of his fur a Hymn Crystal, as predicted, that looked like a block of cut topaz. It would have been foolish to come to the Glenwood Continent with no way of returning to the Second Tower. “This Song was created before I left the Tower to look for Lady Frelia. It contains Misteria, which will create a section of the Heavenly Steppes as a stairway to the Tower. Typically, such Songs are created with a special component in mind, but considering that the Maiden of Homura had been taken far from us, we made an exception. We will only have a few minutes after the end of the Song to make it to Kanakana Pier.”
“H-How high are we going?” Rose stammered.
“At least twenty mountains high.”
“We can’t climb all that way in that short amount of time!” Luca told him.
“It was a safety precaution implemented to prevent the humans here from attempting to invade the Second Tower. My only advice is to start running when the Heavenly Steppes appear.”
Rose helped Frelia onto Shun’s back, and once she was secured, they made their way to the Meadow of Triumph. Sergei wished them luck, but the resent that was still evident in Cocona’s eyes haunted him. When they were almost out of sight from the gates of the Capitol City, he offered a prayer to protect them.
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Sorey and his friends came to the Second Tower that hovered over the mountains. There was a forgotten path that went through the range littered with fallen branches and rocks. Dezel couldn’t help but think that was for the best even if it made getting to their destination much more difficult. Zaveid helped Luca and Cloche while Edna and Lailah cleared paths with their magic. The hellions that attacked them were quickly taken care off by Alisha and Sorey until they came to a small clearing. It looks liked a campsite of some sort from long ago; nevertheless, it was perfect for serving as the foundation of the stairway called the Heavenly Steppes.
Lailah and Zaveid reflected on that. They knew that the Heavenly Steppes were stairs that led to the seraphic realm serapate from the realm that everyone they knew lived. It was essentially where the Four Great Lords existed, where the Wills of the Planet supported the world, and where seraphic souls went when they were first born or when they died. Granted that there was a point that they became imperceptible, they had to marvel at the idea of moving just a section of them into the human realm.
“Shun…will this really work?” Frelia asked. “It requires…a tremendous amount of energy to make a replica of the Heavenly Steppes…”
“I understand, and in all honesty, I’m skeptical that it will work,” Shun replied.
“Sorey and I prepared for this,” Edna informed them. “Not only by Diving but we’ve gotten a special ore that can help, too. The worst that can happen is if this all ends up killing us, which seems pretty unlikely anyway.”
“Quit wasting time, then,” Jacqli urged.
“Once a bitch, always a bitch, huh?”
Sorey let out a breath. He and Edna worked hard to get this far. Edna’s heart was now free of her lingering sentiments, and her power was shining through. Taking the Hymn Crystal from Shun, he stood before her. Edna ingested all of the ore—worrying everyone because of how potent the poison was in it—before waiting for the Shepherd to begin the incantation for her to absorb Misteria. The two were enshrouded in golden light.
“Do you remember it?” Edna teased.
“Yes, but…I’m just worried,” Sorey seriously responded. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“You’re hesitating now?”
“I just—”
Edna raised her umbrella to him. “Sorey, remember that time when you were broken about how weak you were as a Shepherd? Don’t make that mistake again; you have the power to change the world, so use it. Stop wasting time! Think about Mikleo, think about everyone who is waiting for us to save them!”
Sorey gazed at the Hymn Crystal in his hands. His hesitation was impeding Rose’s promise to help the people of Metafalss and the ability to learn more about Dezel. His hesitation was keeping Mikleo out of his reach and empowering those who aimed to use the malevolence for their benefit.
He stood firm and held the Hymn Crystal out between him and the little earth seraph. He couldn’t afford to let his weakness hinder him. “Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Misteria, enter_HEPHSIN_YULIND,” he said with conviction.
Immediately, Edna was overcome with excruciating pain. She forced herself to endure it, yet it was evident that if she had not Dived and if she had not ingested the ore, she would have been ripped apart. The pact with Sorey was strained and overwhelmed, the pain flowing from her to him.
“E-Edna!” he called to her over the roars of the rushing wind and rumbling earth.
“Now, I shall sing!” Edna screamed out. Then all went quiet save for her panting. She used her umbrella to keep her standing.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The Song opened up the stairway with just the first line, so Shun compelled them to begin climbing. He asked that Edna ride on him with Frelia so that she could keep up with her friends as she sang.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
While Sorey, Rose, and Alisha ran up the Heavenly Steppes, Dezel and Zaveid asked their vessels to call on their Armatus. Sorey and Rose, using the power of wind, gained the ability to fly. Lailah Armatized with Alisha, which gave her a boost of speed. Cloche and Luca began to worry that they would fall behind until Sorey and Rose carried them. Cocona, who seemed rather calm, used a stone tablet that produced its own magnetic waves. She rode on it like a surfboard, zooming along behind Alisha. Jacqli, with her superior athletics, simply ran behind them.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The stairway began to dissolve into light behind Shun, who was carrying both Frelia and Edna. Everyone was pushing themselves to beat the dissolution, and as they got closer and closer to the Second Tower, there was a renewed hope. Edna was drawing close to the end.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Oh, the Song’s done,” Edna decided to state. “Better hurry up.”
Frelia sat up on Shun’s back, her body trembling. “I…I know now…” she said with fear. “I can feel it…”
Sorey, Rose, and Alisha made it to Kanakana Pier, but Jacqli and Shun were still far behind, and the edge of the stairway was catching up to them. The wind seraphim told them to carry them up. It was Jacqli who told them to stay there. If they ran out of time and were dropped from the sky, what better punishment for not being good enough to reach the Tower than death itself?
“Unlike you, I’d rather Lady Frelia didn’t die!” Shun bit at her. “Hang on!”
He was running right beside Jacqli now, and as if on cue, Jacqli leapt onto his back with Frelia and Edna just as the stairs disappeared from under him. He used what little surface was left to propel them to the edge of the Rim. In reality, they were standing on the outside of Kanakana Pier where pieces of the Tower were falling off yet still caught in its gravitational field. Shun’s paws were just small enough to regain his footing, and the three seraphim on his back were quickly swung into any arms waiting to catch them.
“We barely made it,” he panted.
“We need to get on top,” Dezel stated. “This place doesn’t feel too sturdy.”
Sorey and Rose took turns transporting everyone to the topside of the Rim at the entrance of Kanakana Pier. Once everyone felt they were somewhere safe and the seraphim de-Armatized, the two of them glanced at the entrance of the underground ruins.
“The malevolence here is much stronger than I expected,” Lailah observed. “Could it be because of the IPDs running rampant?”
Frelia gripped her arms. “Shun, I can feel it,” she wept. “This place is going to fall.” She winced in agony. “If I lose connection here, anyone still here will fall with it; Enja, we have to do something!”
“Lady Frelia, please remain calm,” Shun tried to soothe her. “Why is the Rim falling apart now?”
“Looks like we came at just the perfect time,” Jacqli sighed.
Sorey knelt beside Frelia. Rose took a spot next to him. “What can we do?” she asked.
“I don’t know how long I can keep it floating, but it isn’t for very long…We have to escape…!”
Rose jolted up to her feet. “We have to go then!”
Luca and Cloche looked worried. Kanakana Pier was the research facility that Magellanica had snuck into. It was connected to the People of Mio, and as such, held information about the Maiden of Mio and Metafalica. This place was also only a few miles away from a place that Luca had been wanting to see since they were escorted off the Tower.
“Mom,” Luca whispered. “I need to get to Mint Block! It’ll fall with this place, won’t it? I have to make sure Mom is okay!”
“Luca, wait!” Cloche called out to her. “M-Mother…Let’s go see Mother together.”
Frelia shuddered. “It’s only Kanakana Pier…for now…” she clarified, but she seemed unsure.
“Our best interest right now is to leave Kanakana Pier and evacuate everyone to Mikry Forest,” Shun decided. Jacqli, however, had a different plan. She started walking into the ruins. “Didn’t you hear me!?”
“I did, but I’m not afraid of falling. Get out of here, and I’ll meet with you later,” she said coolly. Sorey couldn’t let her go alone, but she warned him about defying her orders.
Shun, carrying Frelia, led Rose and the others away from the entrance to Kanakana Pier to an old train station. There, a well-dowed girl with bright purple hair wrapped around a giant ring and braided down sat. She appeared to be asleep. Luca couldn’t look happier, especially after she had panicked about seeing her mother.
“Amarie!” she yelled to her and promptly woke the girl. “Amarie, it’s me! Luca!”
The girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief. “Luca? You’re back!” she almost cried. She hopped up from her seat to hug her. “I thought you were dead! Targana and all those people from the Sacred Army had chased after you! I-I’m so sorry for everything!”
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Luca smiled. She introduced her to Sorey and his friends; Zaveid didn’t wait to flirt with her, eyeing her assets blatantly in front of the girls. “I figured you were a creep, but I didn’t want to believe it was true.”
“Hey now, at least I’m not a heart-breaker,” Zaveid replied.
Without a moment to spare, Rose reminded everyone that they needed to get to the place Luca had called Mint Block. As if to make up for some transgression, Amarie called the train with a special whistle. Still, there was some debate about leaving Jacqli. She had just been freed from her chains in Eolia that they didn’t want her to just die. Regardless, the train arrived at the station, and as everyone boarded, Sorey took one last look at Kanakana Pier. Not only was it a potential hub for information about Metafalica that they had read about in Magellanica’s reports, but it was a collection of ruins that he would never have the opportunity to explore with Mikleo. Once it fell, it would be nothing but rumble and debris on the Glenwood Continent in terrain too difficult to traverse. That thought alone broke his heart.
Notes:
As with Phase 4 (AT1), I'll be starting somewhere in the middle of AT2. There are a lot of intricacies, again, that I'll try to work with. I may have to bend and break some rules, but I think it all works out!
Also, this next phase is bringing the focus back to Dezel and Rose's relationship. How will our little grumpy seraph and happy-go-lucky assassin fare this time around?
Chapter 128: Phase 5: Mother and Daughter
Summary:
Escaping Kanakana Pier, Luca and Cloche bring the team from the Glenwood Continent to their home. Jacqli meets with a strange old man who seems to know Harvestasha.
Notes:
A very dialogue-heavy chapter with not a whole lot going on, though I love the banter in this chapter. I believe in this chapter, we'll have met most of the cast from Ar Tonelico 2!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
There were piles and piles of documents scattered throughout the deepest room in Kanakana Pier. Centuries of research had been hidden here, and Jacqli was regretful that she hadn’t gotten there sooner. She skimmed each page, consuming every word without restraint until she could recall every summary. And when she had absorbed all that she could, she had to escape. The ruins rumbled, tremors strengthening with each second until she could barely stand. She didn’t falter, and instead she used the rocking momentum of that part of the Rim to carry her out. She made it out of the ruin before the entrance caved in, dashing along the train tracks to green meadows called Dreamy Fields. Somewhere down the path, she met with an old man with a large gem embedded into his skin.
“How interesting to find you here, Mir,” he said.
“And you are?” Jacqli harshly asked.
“I’m Dr. Laude from the Third Tower. Perhaps you know Harvestasha?”
Jacqli was wary of him. “I do; what’s your connection to her?”
“She had asked for a Heart of Gaea, and the only place that has it here. An associate of mine once tried to look for it, but I assume he’s died—age has a way of catching up to you even if you’re ‘immortal’.”
“And what do you intend to do with the Heart of Gaea?”
Laude cleared his throat. “My apologies. Harvestasha requires the Heart of Gaea for the World Regeneration Project which will purify the Will of the Planet named Maotelus, no? Unlike most of the humans on the continent and on the Towers, I intend to fix the world, or at the very least, aid in it.”
He had an aura of malevolence around him that made Jacqli unsure if he could be trusted. Still, the fact that Harvestasha had asked him to get the Heart of Gaea that she and Sorey were looking for weighed heavily on her mind. Perhaps he wasn’t bad if he was hoping to heal the world, too.
“We’re after the same thing then, so let’s work together,” Jacqli proposed.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
She approached him with caution masked by a carefree and confident air. If he was searching for it, who was to say that she couldn’t just follow his trail of breadcrumbs?
On the train, Amarie listened to Luca’s story of everything that had happened. She told her about Croix and his death, the move to Lohgrin, the fledging utopia for seraphim, the horrific battles between captured humans, and Sorey and his friends’ efforts to fix the Towers.
“So then, if you were stuck on the world below us, how did you get back here?” Amarie asked. “Did you have to sing? Did you have to use the D-Cellophane? If I never tricked you to take it, this all would have never happened…” She couldn’t bear to look at Luca. Pearls of tears appeared at the corners of her closed shameful eyes.
Despite being so weak, Frelia found enough strength to crawl to the girl. Holding her hands, staring up at her with topaz eyes, she smiled at her and said, “It’s because of you that I was able to escape.”
“But…But Chester and Lakra and the Sacred Army were going to use you!”
Rose looked back and forth between the two girls then at Luca and Cloche. There was something that the residents of the Glenwood Continent were missing, naturally. It had been the same as on Eolia. The technological advancements on the Second Tower were somewhat even more complex than the First, but now there was mention of this D-Cellophane—something that Shun had said before. Furthermore, the D-Cellophane was important.
“Gah, this is annoying! What’s a D-Cellophane?” she finally blurted out.
Shun beckoned Frelia to rest next to him before addressing the question. He didn’t know where to start because such things were only discussed on Frelia. At first, he was uncertain whether or not Sorey, Rose, and the rest of their friends had the capacity to understand everything. He was aware, just like Katene and Hikari Gojo, that the Towers and the Glenwood Continent were worlds cut off from each other.
“The D-Cellophane is—how to put it—a special component within Lady Frelia,” he slowly began. “I believe you’ve met Lady Shurelia of the First Tower. She doesn’t have one. Simply speaking, it’s what allows Lady Frelia to grow and mature like a human. She can develop and change her personality and learn new things. Lady Shurelia, in contrast, cannot do these things. The D-Cellophane also allows for limited cloning, so essentially the personality and mentality of a Reyvateil seraph can be cloned, but their physical appearance would change. This is allowed because the D-Cellophane can be erased and rewritten.”
Rose thought long and hard trying to understand what he was saying. Despite her attempts, the lecture was nothing but jargon. Dezel requested that they ignore her from that point on.
“So, Luca has this D-Cellophane, and Frelia has it, right?” Zaveid questioned. “That’s the link between them, yeah?”
Amarie nodded. The D-Cellophane was passed down between Goddess Maidens to connect them to Frelia. She admitted that Luca wasn’t really supposed to get it, but the Sacred Army had lied to everyone and told the People of Metafalss that Luca was the true maiden that they were supposed to worship.
“When it was revealed that wasn’t necessarily the case, things started to go sideways,” she concluded. She looked at both Cloche and Luca. “Metafalica requires two singers, right?”
Cloche agreed with her. “We were lucky enough to finish reaching the pinnacle within the Infelsphere and receiving the keys needed, but…”
“You’re losing us again,” Edna told them. “Not that it matters. If you know what you have to do, then we just have to follow you, right? Less thinking and effort on our part.” She peered at Rose from the corner of her eye. “The less we try to explain everything, the more time we’ll have to fix this Tower and find the Heart of Gaea.”
Cloche tensed. “That’s the problem,” she said. Her memories were coming back to her as they neared familiar places closer to Dreamy Fields. “When Luca and I first tried to sing Metafalica, something went wrong. Suddenly, I felt like I wasn’t myself. Then we found out that I had become the Heart of Gaea to fuel Metafalica, but it was imperfect. Eventually, it disappeared, and I regained myself.”
Rose’s eyes widened. The Heart of Gaea was—
The hatch on the ceiling of the train opened to the roaring sound of the wind outside. Jacqli slipped into the car then shut the hatch as she landed on the floor inside. “You’re still on this train?” she asked nonchalantly.
“Jacqli!” Alisha smiled. “You made it back to us!”
“Of course. Kanakana Pier will fall any second now, which is why I’m surprised you’re still on the train. Besides that, I managed to read all about the reports there. And…I had a little rendezvous.”
She didn’t go into any more detail about her meeting because she wasn’t quite sure what Laude was trying to do. She wanted to watch him, unabated and undisturbed, and she knew that the few impulsive people in the ragtag group would potentially ruin it. Luca, on the other hand, grew more worried about her mother.
“Luca, don’t fret!” Amarie told her. “Leglius promised to visit her and keep her company! She’s fine!”
“Looks like we have our work cut out for us,” Rose sighed as she walked to a lonely spot in the car with Dezel behind her. “I thought the girls from Eolia had issues, but this place sounds like it’s worse.”
“Are you regretting taking on this task?” Dezel asked her.
With a toothy grin, she replied, “No way! We just gotta hold our heads high and work together like usual!”
----------------------------------------
The train came to a stop at a vine-covered station in the middle of a lush field. This was the beginning of Dreamy Fields, where the hellions were few but somewhat stronger than expected. As each person stepped off the car, they surveyed the area only to find that it seemed to go on forever. Compared to Eolia, they would have forgotten they were on a Tower floating in the sky had Amarie told them:
“The Teru magic on this place is still pretty strong, so I’ll have to guide you all. Don’t get lost, okay? Or else you’ll be stuck in an infinite loop forever.”
“How is it that this Tower has so much foliage?” Alisha asked her. “When we were on the First Tower, there wasn’t very much vegetation even though the cities were spread out.”
“Magic!” Amarie replied.
The seraphim save for Dezel and Zaveid went inside their vessels while Sorey, Alisha, and Rose followed the residents of the Second Tower. Frelia let out a gasp, which was followed by the sound of something crashing in the distance. Kanakana Pier had fallen.
“We just made it,” Cocona sighed.
“Let’s get going before this place follows it,” Dezel pushed.
As Amarie guided them through the illusory field, they began to notice the land change. It was dusty and barren like they had wandered onto a construction site. The earth sloped downward into a pit like a quarry, and within it was a small town with shabby buildings made of aluminum and one house that appeared to have been built with materials from all over the Tower.
“Now arriving in Mint Block,” Amarie happily said to cheer Luca up. “See? Everything is still okay.”
“For now, at least,” Shun added.
“Don’t be a killjoy.”
A tall and broad man stepped out of the wooden house. At first, Rose and Zaveid thought he didn’t have hands, believing the large discs that looked like shields were strange prosthetics. When they got closer, they realized that they were his weapons of choice. He was only slightly taller than Zaveid, but his frame was much bigger than they thought at first glance.
“Leglius, guess who’s back!” Amarie called to him. She motioned her hand to Luca and Cloche and Cocona as if they were models. “Our maidens and Cocona!”
“What? Is this true?” Leglius said with astonishment. “Lady Cloche!” He quickly knelt before her. “Forgive me! I wasn’t fast enough nor strong enough to aid you and…where is Croix?”
Cloche looked at him somberly. “There is much to explain,” she said.
“How’s Mom?” Luca asked, except she didn’t sound as urgent or worried as before.
“Reisha is doing fine. She was worried about you two, understandably,” Leglius replied. He beckoned them to the house without paying any mind to Sorey, Rose, Alisha, Zaveid, and Dezel.
Inside was cozy and smelled of cinnamon. A woman that looked almost exactly like Cloche and not at all like Luca sat in a wooden chair by the fireplace; her clothes had the same Asian flare as Luca’s clothes and nothing like Cloche’s. She had dozed off, according to Leglius, and he had gone out for some fresh air in the meantime.
“Reisha?” the tall and intimidating man gently uttered. “Reisha, wake up.”
Reisha opened her eyes, looking towards the door to find her daughters standing in front of Leglius. She was beside herself with emotion, and she immediately pushed off her chair and threw her arms around them. It made Rose feel nostalgic.
“Oh, my dearest girls,” she said, her voice cracking. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you.”
“We missed you, too, Mother,” Cloche wept after not being able to hold back her tears.
“Hi, Mom,” Luca said. Again, she wasn’t at all excited to see her.
“How did you get back? Where did you go? Where is Croix?”
Cocona took a step in front of Rose and the others. “First, don’t you think we should introduce the ones who brought us back?” she reminded them. She was rocking on the balls of her feet like a child, but even she was smiling at Reisha.
Rose greeted Reisha, who left her daughters to hug her. She thanked the assassin and her companions for bringing them back, and then she noticed Shun and ailing Frelia. Her maternal instincts kicked in, and she asked Luca—with some hesitation—to take the Origin up to her bedroom to rest. She went to the kitchen to make tea and cookies, and when she came back, she asked that they explain what happened to her and Leglius.
Cloche, Cocona, Sorey, Rose, and Alisha took turns explaining the events that brought them to the Second Tower Frelia while Dezel and Zaveid quietly took in their surroundings out of boredom. While Leglius held a stern and grim countenance upon hearing about Croix’s death, Reisha was captivated by the tale. Her heart broke with the news about Croix, but she and Leglius were both glad to know that he protected them to the end. The First Tower, however, was almost like a fairytale; and the events on the Glenwood Continent even more like a far-off dream. Reisha hugged Sorey after listening to all the hardship he had gone through, then hugged Alisha and complimented her bravery; and finally, when she came to Rose, she pushed back her hair to get a good look at her.
“You’ve worked really hard, haven’t you?” she said. “You understand the IPD and you’ve pledged your heart to one.” She held her hands. “IPD seraphim are precious souls just like anyone else. Please continue to support your precious one.”
Cocona and Cloche blushed. Croix had supported them and hated what was done to IPDs when they snapped.
“As touching as this all is, we have things to do,” Jacqli interrupted not that they had forgotten she was there but because time was of the essence. Reisha recoiled from Rose at the sharpness of her voice. “Kanakana Pier fell.”
Reisha didn’t seem surprised. Frelia had been missing for a long time, the distance augmenting her weakening. “If you need a place to stay, my home is welcome to you all.”
“Thank you,” Sorey graciously said.
Shun came down the stairs from Luca’s bedroom. “I have a request,” he said. “Given Lady Frelia’s condition, I think it would be smart to take her somewhere with more security.”
“I agree,” Luca rigidly said. “I mean, Mint Block has nothing to protect against bad guys, so it would be better if she weren’t here.”
“I-I suppose that’s logical,” Reisha replied. “I was hoping to listen to more of your stories, but you have an important task ahead of you.”
“Why don’t you come with us?” Rose asked her. Dezel nudged her.
“I appreciate the offer, but a woman at my age shouldn’t be toiling about the world with young men and women such as yourselves. I’ll be right here if you wish to visit again.”
Shun and Luca tended to Frelia while Cloche suggested that they head for Grand Bell Hall. It was the palace at the center of the main city on the Second Tower named Pastalia, and she affirmed that her bedroom there had a difficult lock. Rose didn’t want to just leave Reisha after she hadn’t seen her daughters in so long, but even after expressing the sentiment, the woman asked Leglius to resume his duty to Cloche. He was the captain of the Grand Bell Knights, and his place was at Cloche’s side.
Cloche escorted her friends out of Reisha’s house, and before the door closed behind them, Reisha caught a glimpse of the heartache in Luca’s golden-brown eyes. When they had walked a few paces away from the house and near the edge of the pit into which Mint Block descended, Jacqli couldn’t be silent anymore.
“Well, that was a spectacle,” she said.
“What was?” Lailah asked after she and the other seraphim came out for some fresh air.
Jacqli pulled Luca next to her. “You really hate your mother, don’t you,” she tormented her.
“I…I do not!” Luca fought back.
“Then explain what that was all about. You were in such a rush to make sure she was safe, but as soon as we did, you started to treat her like a burden.”
“Mind your own business!”
Cloche hid her face; she knew why Luca felt like that, and it was a deeply personal issue. Leglius knew some of the story, as did Cocona. The twin-tailed girl asked Jacqli to leave it alone, and the dark Reyvateil had no choice but to do so. That is, until Zaveid spoke his opinion, deciding that Luca and Reisha were two queen bees fighting in the same hive.
“Queens and princesses are often at odds with each other,” he said with a flare that made him sound dumber rather than smarter. “It is only the balance of nature. A mother bird pushing her fledgling out of the nest!”
“Do you ever shut up?” Edna asked him.
“Besides, Luca is closer to a pauper,” Cloche added outside of her best interest. “If either one of us is a princess, it’s me.”
“You mean, if one of us is a brat!” Luca snapped.
“You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that; it’s not good for your self-esteem!”
“Oh puh-lease, maybe you shouldn’t put yourself on such a pedestal!”
To deter from the topic at hand and to allow the two sisters to fight out who was the princess on their own, Sorey asked a question. He wanted to know why Cloche and Luca and Jaqli were called Reyvateils. When he had first met Shurelia, she had told him that only three Reyvateils existed in the world. Jacqli corrected her sister figure’s mistake.
“A Reyvateil is a seraph that can only cast Song Magic—most of the seraphim on the Towers are like that,” she explained. “She’s not exactly the brightest one, so she tends to forget important things like that.”
“Well, she was also fighting hellions at the same time, so maybe she couldn’t think straight,” Sorey murmured.
“So then, seraphim have different sub-types. That’s actually pretty simplistic; you’d think the system would be crazy!” Rose mentioned.
“Then it would be pointless,” Jacqli retorted. She held her head. “I made the wrong choice of teaming up with these ingrates…” she sighed to herself.
Notes:
I really love the idea of Reisha showing her love and appreciation for Rose's bringing her daughter back to her. I can see Rose just getting flustered by the gratitude~ And there's definitely a parallel of Reisha to Zenrus and Brad~
Chapter 129: Phase 5: Metafalss and Metafalica
Summary:
The group returns to Pastalia, Cloche's home and her office. Running out of time, Cloche and Luca have a meeting with Alfman about what to do about Metafalica.
Notes:
Two chapters today! I love writing interactions between the AT characters and the TOZ characters~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The trek to Grand Bell Hall was a somewhat long one. Only specific paths could be taken around the Rim to avoid injury, and there was only one road that led to the bell-shaped part of the Tower that held the main city Pastalia. Just outside of Mint Block was the Ironplate Desert, which was literally an area of nothing but iron plates bolted together. In the opposite direction and farther along the circumference of the Rim was Mikry Forest. As Rose and the others passed through it, they felt a surge of mana, as if the area itself held an earthpulse point that they could use to teleport to other areas. Naturally, as with the First Tower, the malevolence around it sealed it away and rendered it useless until the Tower was cleansed.
Farther yet was a lone general store run by a girl the same age as Cocona. Sasha was an intelligent girl who warmed up to Rose, Sorey, and Alisha right away because they had all come from a new world. Sorey took a shine, too, and immediately pulled out his Celestial Record to show to her. The two read together while the others did some shopping, and when it was time to go, both of them were heartbroken.
Continuing along the road called the Souffle Axis, the only road that led to Pastalia from the next junction at Rakshek City; Rakshek City was the equivalent of Nemo or Lastonbell, and Rose couldn’t be more amazed. It was a bustling commerce center that she started to make plans to get into once they were done travelling and saving the world. Luca visited her friends Skycat and Nana—a waitress and a fellow Dive Therapist. Edna followed her to see Nana, expressing a very rare interest in learning more about the technique.
They continued along the Souffle Axis to Pastalia, the flourishing capital at the top of the bell. Buildings were everywhere, but in the center of the city was a glistening waterfall that marked Waterfall Hill Park. It was a popular date spot, according to Cocona. To her chagrin, she revealed that plenty of girls would ask Croix out for walks there. He always declined, though. Rose entertained the idea of going on a date with Dezel there, but she was sure that he would say no. Amarie stared at her with a coiling smile.
“Lady Cloche, allow me to announce your return,” Leglius offered when they came to the entrance of the Grand Bell Hall.
“No, I need to see Alfman as well, so I’ll do it,” she said.
“Alfman?”
“He was against the Sacred Army’s plans to create Metafalica, but he doesn’t know the truth about me and Luca.”
“We can discuss this after we get Frelia to bed,” Shun scolded. “Her health is more important than anything else.”
Cloche walked up the stairs and through the doors of the palace that was colored with gold and ivory and blue like her dress. It reminded Alisha and Lailah somewhat of the sanctuary in Ladylake, Sorey of Mikleo, and Rose of the the warring states. With a dignified voice, she announced her arrival to the knights and servants, and along a chain of whispers, the news made it all the way to Alfman in the audience chamber.
Alfman Uranous was Cloche’s organizational manager. His brown hair stopped just before his shoulders while a single piece swirled above his forehead. He wore a lavish suit with fur on the collar of his coat. The stress of managing the Grand Bell Knights and the Metafalica Project as dictated for the Maiden of Mio had worn him out, though, making him appear older than he was.
“Lady Cloche is back?” he gasped. He bit his thumbnail as he mustered the courage to peek out of the audience chamber. The familiar clacking of her stilettos was all he needed to verify that it was true. “Damn, she really is back. Well, I’ll just have to do something about it,” he grumbled. “Metafalica…we must do something about Metafalica.”
Cloche’s bedroom was remarkably different than what everyone had expected. Of course, it was definitely a regal bedroom complete with lush carpeting and a canopy on a very large bed; however, in every crevice of the room and along every wall and surface was a stuffed toy. Half of the bed was taken over by the toys. The Holy Maiden was embarrassed somewhat by the amount of cuteness she hoarded, and she wished she had cleaned before catastrophe had befallen the Second Tower.
Edna couldn’t help but move towards one that looked positively ugly, and she and Jacqli inspected it. Progressively, they fawned over it discreetly so the boys in the room wouldn’t make fun of them. Luca and Cocona sighed, whispering between themselves that another toy was much cuter.
Rose and Alisha took sides, and before anyone knew it, Sorey was in the middle of the argument. On one side, a frog-like creature was the pinnacle of cuteness. On the other, it was some sort of bear creature. Rose, Edna, Jacqli stated that the frog was cuter than Edna, Luca, and Alisha’s bear. Sorey, who didn’t find either one cute, flipped back and forth.
“It’s the very definition of ‘so-ugly-that-it’s-cute’,” Edna professed.
“That doesn’t even make sense! Look at this one’s face! The pinnacle of cute!” Luca raged.
“The conventional cuteness is hardly anything to talk about,” Jacqli scoffed.
“Conventional cuteness is forever, so boo you!” Cocona countered.
“Sorey, isn’t the frog better?!” Rose interrogated.
“Sorey, the bear is better!” Alisha interrupted.
Dezel and Zaveid crossed their arms dumbfounded by the fanaticism that had only just struck the girls among them. Then they realized that Lailah wasn’t in the scuffle. The fire seraph had found a different toy that was…superior…to the frog and the bear. It was an armadillo.
“All of you are wrong! Nothing is better than the spherical wonder that is this armadillo toy!” she chimed over them.
“I have to agree with Lailah!” Amarie happily joined. “Armadillos!”
“No way!” Luca spat. “The bear is so much cuter!”
“Care to settle this with magic?” Lailah asked with bloodlust.
Dezel conjured up a wind that knocked all the toys into the walls in the large bedroom. “Can you all just shut up for two minutes?!” he lashed out. “We have something important to do, and it’s not the goddamn toys!”
Everyone involved in the great toy war fell silent. Save for Edna, the girls put the toys back in the right spots before Cloche went to inspect each one for damages. She vowed that if there was a single tear in any of the toys, she would use her strongest Song Magic on the wind seraph and kick him off the Tower. Dezel, agitated by the threat, taunted her to try it.
“Can we please focus?” Leglius groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I agree,” Shun added. “Honestly, I don’t understand why you all are so concerned with these materials possessions.” He brought Frelia to the bed. “How are you feeling, Lady Frelia?”
“Not any different,” Frelia replied softly. She had a shy little smile. “M-Maybe dropping Kanakana Pier helped me.”
Rose approached her. “How can you tell that places are going to fall?” she asked her. She wanted to be ready for the next time it happened, but the only one who could predict it was Frelia herself.
The peridot-colored Origin was nervous to tell her, but Shun reassured her that it would help them understand why it was so important. She explained that the Tower and her body were one and the same. It was by her magic that the Second Tower came into being and floats in the sky. If she died, the Tower would die with her—just like with Shurelia—but it was deeper than that. The areas of the Tower were connected to her like body parts. The collapse of part of it was like an amputation.
“Attempting to hold onto places that are on the verge of collapse drains Lady Frelia of even more power, so it’s better to drop them when we can,” Shun said matter-of-factedly.
“So then…” Rose trailed off.
Jacqli made her way to the door. “In that case, we should do what we can with what little time we have,” she said. “I have places to be, so do whatever you want on your end.”
“Where are you going?” Cloche asked.
“None of your business. We’re on a pretty tight schedule, so it’s best to split up,” she replied. “Duty calls at Cat Mansion, and I would appreciate it if you just dealt with your city.”
“You’re being awfully standoffish,” Zaveid said.
“Cloche, don’t you have something you need to do?”
Cloche had to meet with Alfman to catch up on what had happened since her disappearance. Luca didn’t want her to go alone because she knew Alfman was sketchy. He was the man that wanted her sister to be the one to create Metafalica. Rose asked to accompany them, and this meant that Dezel would have to come along. Cloche and Luca were unsure at first because it would raise suspicion, but the assassin wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Jacqli left the Grand Bell Hall for this place called Cat Mansion while Cloche and Luca made their way to the audience chamber. They asked that everyone else stay in the bedroom until they returned, and Rose promised that she would make sure they were okay. Dezel hid inside of her in case Alfman was anything like Targana.
“Between Cloche and Jacqli, I don’t know who to worry about more,” Amarie said. “What am I saying? That Jacqli girl is definitely suspicious.”
Sorey tried to abate the notion by explaining that Jacqli had been in an entanglement of horrible events that made her the way she was. Naturally, the lavender-haired girl didn’t buy it. Leglius scolded her, alluding to some dirty secrets of her own. Still, the Shepherd couldn’t help but feel like the raven-colored Reyvateil was hiding something. He asked Zaveid and Edna to come inside before announcing that he was going to go after her.
“But what about Lady Frelia?” Alisha asked him.
“She’s safe here; we don’t all need to be here to protect her,” he said. “Besides, Jacqli has a point. We need to do what we can before the next portion of this Tower falls. Whatever this Cat Mansion is, Jacqli is heading there. It’s something important, so it might have more information about the Heart of Gaea.”
“Sorey, we don’t know this Tower as well as Eolia,” Lailah tried to convince him.
“I’ll be okay.”
With that, he left.
In the audience chamber, Cloche and Luca confronted Alfman. Rose stood behind them and her arms swinging. She knew his type—any indication of hostility could result in a bad turn of events. Cloche stood with poise.
“Good to see you, Lady Cloche,” Alfman greeted. “I imagine you must be tired.”
“Not necessarily,” the Holy Maiden answered.
“I see you’ve brought with you the Goddess Maiden.”
“Yes.”
“Made up?”
“Yes.” She then dropped the regal pretense. “Alfman, I would like to know how the people of Metafalss are faring since my absence. Anything less than a truthful report will not be tolerated.”
“They’re as edgy and disappointed as ever. After all, Metafalica failed and then you vanished without a trace. As the organizer of the Knights of the Grand Bell, I can only do so much; I’m not the Queen of IPDs like you.” He paced a bit as if searching for more words. “Do you still intend to create Metafalica?”
“Of course, she does!” Luca retorted. “How can you ask her that?!”
“That’s enough, Luca,” Cloche stopped her. She looked at Alfman with defiance. “I fully intend to create Metafalica no matter what. Even if I should die in the process, I live to serve my people and help them towards eternal happiness.”
Alfman grimaced at her then shifted his attention to Rose. He made note of her there, wondering if she was there as a commoner or as a bodyguard. Croix wasn’t there, so he assumed correctly that she was her new bodyguard. He asked her if she understood anything that they were talking about.
“Don’t answer him,” Dezel told her.
“My, Cloche, what have you been telling people? Remember, I’m as responsible for Metafalica as you are,” Alfman said.
“Rose hails from the Glenwood Continent, where half of the Metafalss population went to, and half of the IPDs were forced to go. She is here to help us heal the Tower,” Cloche explained. “Her friend, the Shepherd Sorey, is on a quest to purify the Lord of Calamity—an entity that threatens not only the continent but our Tower and our hopes for Metafalica. Surely, news of this entire story has reached even this high into the clouds, above the ‘Sea of Death’ that we were all made to believe kills us when the Towers were constructed.”
“Don’t act like I’m the one who spread those rumors,” Alfman refuted. “But no, we haven’t heard anything about any quest; however, someone has been spreading talk of a Shepherd. Apparently, Targana and the Sacred Army tried to use him in the Ascension Project.”
“That’s true,” Rose said.
“Ah, she speaks! Well, I figured as much. After all, Targana had been among those that disappeared. Which brings me back to my question—are you truly going to go through with creating Metafalica?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself; you know I hate that,” Cloche sharply replied.
Alfman suddenly had a grin, but Rose sensed the maliciousness in it. The man stroked his goatee as he told the maidens that they couldn’t create Metafalica. It was a sham. Nothing good would come out of it. But Cloche refused to believe him. Luca took up for her and stated that ever since they had left the Tower, they had both worried about the fate of their people. Those that had followed them off the Tower were forever bound to the Glenwood Continent with no way to return. They didn’t want the other half of the population to suffer if and when the Second Tower fell.
“You speak with such conviction, Lady Cloche, Lady Luca,” Alfman commended. He pulled out a small object that looked like Siegfried. He aimed it at them. “But I’m afraid it isn’t enough.”
“What are you doing?!” Luca questioned him.
“Lukeim Yurlin!” Rose cried out. She Armatized with Dezel, and as one, they stood before the two sisters. At that moment, Alfman pulled the trigger.
“Stratashield!” Rose shouted over the sound of the gunshot. It blew back the two girls.
But what popped out of the gun wasn’t a bullet at all. Dezel de-Armatized from Rose then pulled his hat down to cover his reddened face. Rose couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Alfman’s gun was loaded with a cherry-red lollipop. The gun itself was a toy. The man licked the lollipop a few times before retracting it into the barrel. “Did you actually think I carried a real gun?” he asked.
“W-Well, I mean—you…you have the bad guy aura!” Rose stammered.
“Is it the goatee? Ahem, you didn’t give me a chance to clarify.” Alfman fixed his ascot. “Lady Cloche, Lady Luca, you must listen to me. It isn’t enough to speak with your conviction; Metafalica requires more than just you two.”
“We’re well aware,” Cloche told him. She and Luca both walked towards him hand in hand. “Metafalica requires not just the two of us, but the hopes and wishes and dreams of all the people in Metafalss bound together, including the IPD seraphim.”
Alfman shook his head. “I cannot allow the IPDs to run around. They’re a danger to the public.”
“We can use Dive Therapy!” Luca butted in. “If you just trust us and decriminalized it…then we can help them. Lady Cloche can use their power again, just like when she first learned Replekia!”
Rose and Dezel listened to them plead with Alfman. Cloche wasn’t the only one in control, and there were conflicts in the government like everywhere else. But they were most interested in the Song Replekia.
“All of the IPDs are connected, and together we can sing Metafalica!” Cloche continued. “Alfman, I know you want to help our people as much as we do, but there are risks we must take!”
Alfman thought long and hard about their argument, but instead of giving an answer to them either good or bad, he asked that they leave the audience chamber. He wanted some time alone, and the only thing that Cloche and Luca could do was listen to his request. The sisters and the assassin and wind seraph returned to the bedroom. Half of the small party had more questions, but it wasn’t the time to ask. Not yet.
When they opened the door to Cloche’s bedroom, they found Sorey and his seraphim missing. Alisha explained to them that he had gone after Jacqli. Then Frelia cringed in pain. Another piece of the Rim was getting ready to fall soon.
Notes:
Alfman always struck me as a morally ambiguous character, and boy. Anyway, I love Cloche and Dezel's interactions, too! And the fight over the stuffed toys? Yes, that happens, and I can totally see the Zestiria girls getting caught up in something like that too. There's something similar-ish? The statue skit...kind of.
Chapter 130: Phase 5: To Promise Hill
Summary:
Sorey follows Jacqli to Cat Mansion.
Notes:
Second chapter for today! I had a lot of fun this one. Sorey and Jacqli didn't have that much interaction in the last phase. But this phase is going to change that!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Night was eerily bright on the Tower, but Sorey was thankful for it. His sight seemed to have worsen now without him realizing it, and now that he was alone for the most part, it was a new discovery for him. Zaveid and Edna stayed hidden within him in case someone were to attack him. In such an unfamiliar place, it was better to have the element of surprise. The few seraphim that he had seen on the way to Cat Mansion were happier than those on Eolia and most certainly than those living on the Glenwood Continent. They weren’t forced into slavery, but IPDs were discriminated against thanks to the stigma of the IPD disease. Some things wouldn’t change, but he took solace that people had something of a harmony with their angelic counterparts.
The way to Cat Mansion was miles and miles of grassland. Every once in a while, there was a spot of trees, but the farther he went, the more he realized that the vegetation was slowly dying. He thought it was a trick of the eye at first. No matter how much he squinted or rubbed them, it was still true.
“Frelia had been missing for so long,” he said. “I’m surprised that the Tower is still floating.”
“Maybe someone hijacked it like Mir did with Eolia,” Edna suggested. “Remember that report from Magellanica?”
“Infel and Nenesha?” Zaveid mentioned.
“I’m starting to wonder…it’s been bothering me for a while,” Sorey mumbled to the seraphim inside him. “That thing called the D-Cellophane. If Frelia has the original, and Luca has it—how is that possible?”
“That weird dog thing said it can be cloned,” Edna said.
Sorey wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything. Then he realized that that was it. Luca simply had a copy of it…but he still thought it was strange. After all, it was a vital organ to the Origin, so the fact that it was so easily copied bothered him. Then again, Reyvateils were a special denomination of seraphim, and seraphim as a whole had yet to be properly studied. When he thought about it like that, that horrible memory surfaced.
Someone was walking ahead of him, the moonlight illuminating the form like a spotlight. Her black hair swished behind her and blended into the dark sky around them. They had caught up to Jacqli. Sorey scanned around him for something to hide behind, but it was too late.
“You know, you’re really bad at not being noticed,” the girl sighed. “I thought I told you to mind your own business.”
Sorey stopped walking when she did. He didn’t know what to say. “I…” he started. What could he say? That he was worried about her? Suspicious of her? Curious about her goals? Her goals were the same as his—he needed to take the Heart of Gaea back to Harvestasha. But then there was that feeling that bubbled in his stomach that there was more to it than just delivering it. “Do you trust us?” he asked without thinking.
“What?”
“I don’t suspect you of anything. I just want to know if you think you can rely on us to get Heart of Gaea to Harvestasha.”
“That depends on our ultimate goals.”
“Is it different from mine?”
“I don’t know. Is it?”
Zaveid and Edna came out to his sides. Zaveid’s hair was standing on end. “Something ain’t right,” he snarled. “Why is there malevolence coming off of you? Aren’t you purified?”
“It stinks, too,” Edna added.
“Jacqli, do you mean to betray us?” Sorey asked her calmly.
Jacqli flexed her fingers. With a snap of her fingers, a large orb-shaped robot, something beyond Sorey’s wildest dreams, dropped to her side. “I told you to stay out of this, but you chose to ignore me,” she said. “Surely, you’re aware that my punishments are cruel and harsh.”
Zaveid felt the wickedness she had when she had been corrupted as Mir. He warned Sorey that she intended to put up a fight. It didn’t make any sense—why was she going to fight them?
Jacqli stepped into the robot. She used it as a cocoon and as an amplifier for her Song Magic. “This is what happens when you get in my way, Shepherd!” she screamed from the robot. She began to sing, and above her head, a white ball of light formed.
Sorey drew his sword, spinning in his hand as a warm-up. Zaveid and Edna readied their weapons as well. Without further ado, the Shepherd charged towards Jacqli and her robot. It fired laser beams at him across the path, and he dodged them all. Edna fired balls of ice at the robot to try to smash the guns on them while Zaveid dashed in. Jacqli continued to sing, her voice unnaturally loud and drowning out the sounds of battle.
When he was close enough, Sorey spun around and leapt into the air to create a whirlwind. The attack did little to even scratch the body of the robot. He tried a graceful tumbling of kicks and slashes, but again, he dealt no damage.
“Radiant Heat!” Zaveid called out. The robot immediately put up a barrier to deflect the Seraphic Arte.
“Zaveid, get back and use Song Magic!” Sorey ordered.
The wind seraph jumped backwards then stretched his hands above his head. A ball of wind energy formed as he sang. Edna cast Barrier on him to fortify his defenses if only a little. After all, Jacqli was frighteningly strong, and even her weakest attack could kill him if they weren’t careful. The dark Reyvateil’s Song Magic morphed into a larger ball.
“Cantering Flames!” Sorey called out as he danced among fires. The robot barreled into him. “I can’t break through!”
Again, Jacqli’s Song Magic morphed into a larger ball of light.
“She’s entered the third phase of that spell; Sorey, move!” Edna warned him.
Zaveid’s Song Magic was still significantly smaller despite using so much of his energy. As it began to morph into a more powerful spell, he begged for some sort of support.
“This is the end!” Jacqli stated from the robot. “Now, perish!”
As she activated her Song Magic, Edna’s head felt like a knife had dug into it. Jacqli’s voice erupted into a short chant that sounded something that Shurelia had sung once. Suddenly, beams of light rained down on Sorey and his seraphim. They fell to their knees, yet they weren’t as winded as they thought they would be.
Jacqli stepped out of the robot, which vanished in a blink before walking up to Sorey. She got close to his ear, whispering sternly, “Do not speak.” She backed away a few steps. “It was so easy fooling you lot. Now, all I have to do is get the Heart of Gaea and hand it over to him.” Her voice was forceful, like she was overcompensating. Then she whispered again, “Really, why did you follow me?”
“Why the hell did you attack us?!” Zaveid raged.
“Would you lower your voice? There was a reason I wanted to do this alone.”
“You could have told us something,” Sorey whispered.
“If I did, then the entire group would have followed. Now, go home.” Jacqli turned to continue on her way to Cat Mansion.
“Tell us what you’re doing out here,” Edna demanded.
“Annoying. Fine, if you must know, there’s someone else looking for the Heart of Gaea. He seems to know a lot about this Tower, and his hideout is Cat Mansion. He said there were lots of reports and documents there, and rumor has it there’s a path to the burial place of Infel and Nenesha.”
Those names again. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Infel and Nenesha were painted as villains in Magellanica’s journals, and Jacqli was heading to they rested. Furthermore, Jacqli was looking for more information, no doubt, on the Heart of Gaea. Were they connected?
“Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to scope these places out. Based on where we climbed the Tower and referencing it by the environment in this section, it’s not too far from where Kanakana Pier used to be.”
Jacqli abruptly stopped talking and went about her way to Cat Mansion. Sorey, Zaveid, and Edna followed behind her despite her order to return to Pastalia. The Shepherd couldn’t leave her be, not when someone else was going after the Heart of Gaea. Jacqli had to let him come along, but on the condition that he hid himself thoroughly before she met with the person there. After Sorey agreed, he asked her who it was.
During her brief first meeting with the strange old man, she was able to discern a number of things about him. He came from the Third Tower and desired the Heart of Gaea to help his Tower prosper. He was there on supposedly official business. Most importantly, he was corrupted by malevolence. That was enough to indicate to Sorey that he couldn’t have the Heart of Gaea no matter what.
They walked the rest of the way to Cat Mansion, and within the dark abandoned building, there were several pillars. Zaveid and Edna hid inside of Sorey, who in turn chose his spot among the shadows. Jacqli made her way to the small library at the back of the mansion. She read through the books, absorbing the information as quickly and concisely as she could before this old man was to meet with her. Sorey watched her from his spot.
“You’re early,” an old voice said. “I’m a bit surprised that you got here so quickly what with all the infected IPDs running around. But then, you wouldn’t be the strong Reyvateil in the world, would you?”
“Let’s hurry this up. The Heart of Gaea was used for the Infel Phira Project some centuries ago, right?” Jacqli said tactily. “You said there was more information here.”
“There is. But it’s deeper in the mansion away from the prying eyes of the government here. This informational is considered illegal, so it was hidden away.”
“You’re not scheming anything, are you, Laude?”
“Why would you think that?”
Jacqli and Laude walked to the hall, and Sorey quietly followed behind. He tried to keep his distance, but he wanted to hear them. He believed in Jacqli retaining everything she would learn, but the curiosity was getting the better of him. When the doors to the library deepest in the mansion shut behind them, he stood against the door and listened.
He tried his hardest to catch everything, but Laude had figured someone was following them. He spoke quietly and direct. There was nothing Jacqli could do to give Sorey the chance to listen as fully as she would have liked. Outside the room, for only a moment, there was no sound. It was like they had vanished, then they started talking again in hushed muffled voices. Then, footsteps came towards the door, and Sorey ran back to the foyer of the mansion.
“I have already gleaned what I can from this area and from Promise Hill,” Laude said.
“Promise Hill?”
“The burial place of the two girls I mentioned. The pioneers of the Infel Phira Project.”
“I see.”
“Now, how about you come out from there, boy?”
“Shit, he noticed us?” Zaveid said.
“Did you think I didn’t hear your footsteps? I must say, there’s an awful lot of you that desire the Heart of Gaea.”
Sorey slowly stepped out of the shadows. He had his hand on his sword just in case he decided to attack him.
“Oh, you’re that boy that’s been quite the topic around Tilia. Sorey, was it? Tell me, what do you want with the Heart of Gaea?”
The Shepherd glanced at Jacqli. “I need it to save someone very important to me,” he truthfully said.
“Well, that’s just too bad. We need it more.” Laude stepped to Sorey, shoving the tip of his cane into his throat. “An entire Tower is far more important than just a measly individual. Think about the thousands of people that need it!”
Jacqli kicked him aside, stunning him. She motioned for Sorey to escape, but he refused to leave her. “I’ve done with this farce,” she hissed. “Why do you need it? And don’t tell me it’s just to help the Third Tower—that’s far too vague.”
Laude pushed himself up from the ground. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” he said smugly. “Here’s a proposal: let’s have a race. Whoever can find the Heart first can keep it and do with it as they please.”
Before either Sorey or Jacqli could start to head for Promise Hill, Laude struck them with a thunderbolt from his cane. He took his start after they collapsed from the shock. While they would have rathered to go back to Pastalia to rally their friends, time was of the essence. The two of them ran out of Cat Mansion and headed down the road to the very edge of the Rim where they found a large monument that encased the entrance deep underground into the infrastructure of the metal ring that helped the Tower float.
The ruins known to the people of Metafalss as Promise Hill were archaic. Stone walls with weathered engravings of seraphim and strange creatures decorated the walls. It was dark inside, and the crystals that were part of the columns which supported the ceiling were the only dimly lit torches within. Jacqli hated how terribly the plan had derailed, but it was something she had to work with. After all, the most important people with a similar goal as her was by her side. She would have liked Cloche and Luca to have been with her since they were the new Maidens of Mio and Homura.
“There’s no way that Laude could have gotten into this tomb without knowing the key,” Jacqli said mostly to herself.
“Why not?” Sorey asked her.
Edna and Zaveid came out, the former touching the doors decorated with carvings of Infel and Nenesha and a strange flying creature. She noted that there was mana wafting off the doors.
“An earthpulse point used to be here, but the mana from it was drained and used as a seal,” the earth seraph said. “Rotten humans.”
“Agreed. Well, it seems the only way to open it is Song Magic,” Jacqli sighed.
“Song Magic to force open a mana-made lock,” Zaveid smirked. “And do you know it?”
“I managed to find a mention of it while waiting for that man.” She ordered them to stand back from the doors while she took her place in the center of a seal on the ground. “Ma num ra exec guol ar infel.”
Just like that, the door rumbled open.
“Not very good security if any random schmuck can say a few Hymmnos words,” Edna criticized.
“Let’s hurry up and get what we can. This place could fall any minute,” Jacqli said.
The four of them split up to inspect the tomb. Edna moved statues and boulders for anything that had fallen on the ground while Zaveid blew away sheets of dust. Jacqli inspected the monuments and podium, and at the same time, she and Sorey found a small worn-out diary.
“This must be Infel’s diary,” Jacqli said.
“How do you know?” Sorey asked. He picked up the small book. In gold letters across the front, it read the former Maiden of Mio’s name. Under it, there was a small title. “Infel Phira Project?”
“Go ahead and read it.”
Sorey nodded. Zaveid and Edna came to his side. His emerald eyes rolled across the delicately written words on each page about the details of Infel’s life, her budding love for her Maiden of Homura, the rise and fall of their version of Metafalica, and finally…
“Nenesha was murdered,” Sorey sadly said. “Someone named Raki killed her and tore out…the D-Cellophane! I knew it!”
“We already established that the Goddess Maiden and Frelia are connected through it,” Edna grumbled.
“But the fact that it’s so important! Look here—it says that Nenesha’s will was sealed into it.”
“Hold on, that sounds like a whole lot of bad,” Zaveid realized. “Luca has the D-Cellophane now. Does that mean…?”
“Luca’s in trouble! We need to warn them!”
“It may be too late already,” Jacqli said. She recalled what she had read in Kanakana Pier. The Maiden of Mio and the Maiden of Homura were to sing Metafalica together to create a new land. To do that, they had to connect each other’s feelings in a realm called the Infelsphere. Cloche had stated that she and her sister had already gotten the
keys required to sing the Song. “There’s a very high chance that Nenesha has already taken over Luca and is pretending to be her.”
“We have to stop her! We have to save Luca!” Sorey declared.
“Sorey, calm down,” Zaveid told him. “Remember what your duty is as the Shepherd. You’re not supposed to save everyone.”
“But Luca is important to Cloche and to the future of this Tower. If we don’t help her, then the entire Tower and all the people and seraphim here could fall and die!”
“Stop with the hysterics,” Edna chastised. “He means you’re getting too worked up. Now, if we want to save Dorodere, we should probably go. Besides, can’t you feel the tremors? We’re out of time.”
Sorey tucked the journal away, and after the seraphim returned
inside of him, he and Jacqli escaped Promise Hill before it crumbled away. They hurried to safety in the village of Enna, where the people were facing the aftermath of the fall.
Notes:
So, yeah. The stuff with the D-Cellophane is really confusing. A friend explained it a bit to me, but it's still iffy. That said, I think it makes most sense that it's copied like data--it's like a USB flash drive...I guess.
Chapter 131: Phase 5: Recklessness of the Maidens' Hearts
Summary:
Frelia loses feeling in another part of the tower. Rose leads her friends to Enna to rescue the people from the earthquake and the fall, but Luca suddenly falls unconscious.
Notes:
This chapter is brought to you to by a very sleepy writer, but everything is starting to come together! Well slowly.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Oh no,” Frelia gasped. She clutched her arms and trembled at the window facing from behind the Grand Bell Hall. She looked feverish and on the verge of collapse, yet she was trying as hard as she could to remain conscious. After a few minutes, she sank to her knees, one of her legs going numb. “Oh no, oh no!”
“Lady Frelia!” Shun called her out of habit. “Tell me, what’s wrong!”
“I’ve lost feeling in the B-Villa sector!”
“That’s the area from Cat Mansion to Enna,” Leglius explained.
“Is that a popular area?” Alisha asked the denizens of the Second Tower.
Amarie answered her question. Cat Mansion was abandoned, and the neighboring tomb called Promise Hill was as well. Enna, however, was thriving with people and seraphim. If the section were to collapse, a large portion of the population would go down with it.
“We must warn them and help them evacuate!” Cloche declared.
“I agree. A lot of innocent lives are going to be lost if we don’t do anything!” Luca added.
“I can’t allow that,” Leglius told them.
“And why not?” Cloche demanded to know. Her indigo eyes were blazing with a passionately angry flame. “They’re my people!”
“Have you forgotten that they also don’t trust you?”
Rose interrupted the argument before it could escalate. She didn’t know who to listen to, and naturally Alisha and Dezel warned her not to get involved with their politics. It was more than just politics, though. She didn’t know what had happened before Cloche and Luca had ended up on the Glenwood Continent nor did she care to know. She just knew, based on Amarie’s explanation, that a lot of people were going to die if they didn’t make a decision now.
“Whether they trust me or not, I will not allow the people of Metafalss to suffer any longer,” Cloche said indignantly. “We must leave at once.”
Leglius was aware that he couldn’t change Cloche’s mind, especially when Luca and Rose supported her decision among those in the room. Frelia asked Shun to go with them, emphasizing that the more people they had to help evacuate, the quicker they would all get to safety. Lailah worried if it would be smart to leave Pastalia before Jacqli and Sorey returned even though Rose stressed that they needed to go to Enna. Dezel and Lailah disappeared into their vessels, and they left for the endangered ruins.
Enna was an austere place that wasn’t as bustling as Rakshek but still a major city. Oriental accents decorated the overhangs of the buildings, and deep within the city was the entrance to the old Enna ruins that was a popular tourist spot. Cloche and Luca had always liked visiting there when they wanted to experience something exotic and otherworldly. That day was not one of those days. The city was in shambles from the recent earthquake that indicated the area slowly falling to the mountains below. While many people had been injured, only a few had lost their lives. The seraphim within the city were working hard to protect the children or to offer first aid to the adults. Even a familiar face was doing her best to heal who she could with her medicines.
“Everything will be alright,” she said while pushing her long white braid away from her arms to tend to a wounded citizen.
“Isn’t that Spica?” Dezel asked.
“It is!” Rose replied happily. The assassin wasted no time in greeting the Queen of the Underworld with the rest of her friends behind her, but she was met with seriousness when the man she was tending to regain consciousness and panicked. He told them that his sister and the children they were babysitting had been trapped in the underground tunnels. “Why would they be there!?”
“It was the kids’ secret playground!” the man cried.
“Please, you need to calm down,” Spica told him.
“When the earthquake started, we had managed to get out. But the children got stuck before they could run, and my sister went back down there to rescue them!”
Luca and Cloche felt sick hearing that. Together, the two sisters ran toward the crumpled entrance that led underground; Rose and Alisha followed behind closely with their seraphim. Amarie hesitated, but she wanted to help them as penance for what she had done to them in the past. The only one who wasn’t sure if this was the best course of action was Leglius. As Cloche’s bodyguard, however, he couldn’t let her throw her life away; before he could decide what to do, a few of the people asked for his assistance to move fallen wood from doors to get people out. Cocona and Shun helped Spica tend to the wounded.
Inside the underground tunnels, the wreckage had made much of paths blocked off by debris. Cloche and Rose inspected the open paths for clues that would lead them to the children, and Rose asked Dezel to read the wind if he could. Whatever little drafts he could find he analyzed with such scrutiny that Amarie felt compelled to equate him to a dog. Deep in the tunnels, he also found something else.
“We need to hurry,” he said. “Hellions got trapped down here with those kids.” Then he went silent, rigidity seizing his entire body. Noticing the sudden change, Rose dashed to his side from where she had been investigating. She held onto him to achor him back to reality. “Infected IPD seraphim are here. The IPD disease…”
Cloche approached him. “Don’t worry,” she encouraged him. “Let’s take care of them and help everyone. It is the Will of the People of Metafalss that shall guide us to victory.”
“Let’s go then!” Luca rallied.
Alisha and Lailah were going to offer some solace as well, but Rose intercepted her seraph before they did. She signaled them to go on ahead. When everyone had headed deeper in, despite needing Dezel to lead the way, she stayed behind with him. She didn’t say anything knowing there was nothing she could tell him to make him feel better. Slowly, she pulled him closer to her and hugged him until he relaxed.
“Rose, I don’t want to feel that way ever again,” he almost whimpered. The fears that Symonne had brought to life in his mind were coming back. He held his aching head, breathed deeply, and forced them back down and out of his memory. “If I lose control again…”
“You won’t,” his assassin professed. She grabbed his trembling hand from his face, and even though he couldn’t see her shining perwinkle eyes, he felt her determination wafting off her. “I won’t let it happen.”
Dezel suddenly became tight-lipped. He wanted to thank her for her support, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. So instead he simply tipped his hat down to hide his reddening swollen face.
“Hey, are you guys done having your moment?” Amarie asked. “Sheesh, you two are like Croix and Cocona.”
Rose and Dezel were taken by surprise. They turned to each other, then back to Amarie, then back to each other. Weren’t Croix and Cocona years apart and siblings?
The group reconvened at a dead end shut off by boulders and broken pipes. The blind wind seraph sensed the children behind it, so Luca stood in front. Assuming the people trapped could hear her through the rubble, she asked that they stand back from the debris. With a quick spell, she summoned the power to blast the boulders away. The smoke and dust cleared, and the children and a woman were there. As Cloche went in to assess the situation, Luca felt faint for just a second.
“It’s almost time, you know?” a tiny voice inside of her head said.
“Time for what?” she whispered.
“You should excuse yourself. After all, who would want to see your ugly face when that witch of a Holy Maiden is here?”
Alisha and Lailah helped the children while Dezel continued to scan the area. He was trying to find the hellions and the infected IPDs, which seemed to have disappeared.
“How many did you sense?” Amarie asked.
“Three, but…” Dezel didn’t finish his sentence.
“Now’s your chance,” the voice told Luca. “My darling has pulled them away so you don’t get hurt. Don’t say anything. Just leave.”
The Maiden of Homura silently left the room. She left the tunnel system and emerged back out to the sunlight where she found Sorey and Jacqli. Cocona and Shun had finished helping Spica treating everyone. It was so bright outside.
“Luca, are you okay?” Sorey asked her.
“I’m just…feeling a little light-headed…is all,” she replied. Then, as suddenly as the voice had started talking to her, Luca fell to the ground unconscious.
Sorey grabbed her up, shaking her to try and wake her up, but she just wouldn’t. Cocona and Shun and Spica all tried to do whatever they could. Nothing was working. The Shepherd glanced at Jacqli, who knew what he was thinking before he said anything.
Back in the tunnels, Dezel’s hair stood on end. He and Cloche began gagging as hellions and the infected IPDs crowded into the room. Rose held Dezel while Alisha supported Cloche. Lailah put up a shield made of fire to keep the adversaries at bay.
Alisha and Rose readied their weapons. Dealing with the hellions would be easy, but what were they supposed to do about the IPDs? Cloche forced herself to fight against the disease that was trying to invade her mind. She ordered the princess and assassin to take on the hellions. Amarie was to help her fight the howling IPDs.
“Lailah, make sure the children stay safe,” Alisha commanded.
“Of course!” she responded.
“Lukeim Yurlin!” Rose called out. She figured it would help Dezel persevere, and it would definitely help to make quick work of the hellions. “Bring it!”
Amarie pulled out her long bow and was ready to fire. Cloche then began her Song. Rose blew away the hellions before they could attack, but the IPDs stood their ground. They burned through the winds her wind seraph created, and as if they were in sync with the hellions, they called them back.
“So annoying…!” one of them growled.
“Go away!” another screamed.
“I’ll kill you all!” the third one threatened.
The three IPDs fired orbs of light that came from their Song Magic. Each orb struck Alisha, Rose, and Amarie. The attacks greatly damaged them, and they were already winded. They were far stronger than the IPDs on the Glenwood Continent.
Cloche’s Song Magic morphed into its second stage, and she forced herself to sing even faster to morph it again. Without Luca singing with her, her Song wasn’t as powerful despite her desperation. The hellions, which resembled harpies, kicked the girls on the front line. Again, Rose blew them away only to have the IPDs bring them back again.
“Dammit, they won’t stay down!” she panted. Dezel’s condition was getting to her.
“Now, I shall sing!” Cloche called out as she fired her Song Magic. A horde of penguins wearing parkas charged towards the hellions and IPDs in a stampede that effectively defeated the the former and weakened the latter. “They’re still standing!”
“Crystal Tower!” someone called from behind the IPDs. Large shards of iridescent crystal shot up from glyphs that glowed underneath the crazed seraphim.
Sorey, Zaveid, and Jacqli rushed into the fray. Edna and Zaveid switched formation so that Sorey was now wearing the Wind Armatus. Jacqli and Cloche began to sing together. Edna then cast Final Embrace to freeze the IPDs, interrupting the Song.
“If you go any harder than you have already, you’re going to kill them,” the earth seraph said. Because Luca was a Dive Therapist, and she had dabbled in the practice herself, she knew that it was better to heal them. Cloche agreed, but she was nervous about it since the majority of the people were still wary of such a practice. Long before they had met them, Dive Therapy had been outlawed because humans were being killed within the cosmospheres of the seraphim. “It’s a risk you have to take to help your followers.” She tapped Zaveid when he de-Armatized from Sorey—as well as Rose de-Armatizing from Dezel—with her umbrella and commanded him to carry the IPDs despite them being frozen. Rose and Sorey helped as well as Alisha, Lailah, and Amarie guided the children behind them in a triangle formation. “Let’s hurry.”
“Yeah,” Sorey agreed preceding a grim shadow coming over his face. “Something’s wrong with Luca, too. She fainted and won’t wake up.”
“W-What?” Cloche gasped. “Everyone, leave post-haste!”
The earth seraph felt the tremors getting stronger, and although her voice didn’t indicate it, she tried to urge them to leave immediately while also being careful with their rescues. Dezel was still shaken by the brush with the disease. In his hesitation, the tunnels rumbled louder.
“This place isn’t going to hold much longer,” Amarie worried.
“So then move!” Edna snapped at her.
And it was as if her annoyance with the girl had triggered a switch. More debris crumbled into the halls behind them but in front of the blind wind seraph and the Maiden of Mio. “Holy Maiden!” one of the kids cried out.
Sorey and Rose turned around as quickly as they could. The IPDs they were carrying were handed off to Amarie and Lailah as they rushed to the cave-in. In a vain attempt, they tried to make some sort of crawl space for the seraphim trapped in the tunnels.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you out!” Rose frantically told Dezel and Cloche.
“Forget us!” Dezel ordered Rose. “Get the IPDs and children and their babysitter out first! Cloche and I…we’ll think of something. Just stay focused!”
As much as she knew that he was right, she didn’t want to leave him behind. She believed in them, though, so she listened to him. Reminding herself she was the fearless leader of an assassin’s guild, she picked up her IPD rescue and continued with the mission. Sorey followed her when he realized that every boulder they moved, more fell in its place and packed the cave-in tighter and tigher. Still, he knew that Cloche was anxious to see her comatosed sister. He wanted to show her the journal that he and Jacqli had found, certain that what was written inside was more than relevant to what had happened.
“Sorey, let’s go! We’re on a time crunch!” Zaveid yelled at him.
Their voices gradually quieted until they were gone. Dezel and Cloche were alone in the small compartment that had shaped around them. Both of them had thought to use their Seraphic Artes or Song Magic only to find that the weak blasts were compounding everything around them and making things worse. They stayed in silence waiting for their friends to return.
“I hope Luca’s alright,” Cloche softly said.
Dezel didn’t say anything.
“I see you’re still not much of a talker.”
Still no response.
“The least you could do is help me pass the time.” She crossed her arms and pouted before relaxing. “I can’t believe this is all it takes to make me into a spoiled brat again.” She began to think about when everything had started and the chaos had only just sprouted on the Second Tower. It brought tears to her eyes because Croix would never come back. She wished to herself that she had been nicer to him instead of treating him like just another slave. Then she thought about Luca and all the fights she had had with her. Now she was unconscious without her sister to help her. “I’m such a bothersome person. Even now when I’m trying to help my people after they were misguided by my ideals, I can’t do much to help myself, let alone anyone else.”
“I can relate,” Dezel said. He didn’t believe in talking unnecessarily, but they had plenty of time on their hands now, and he felt somewhat of a kinship with her after listening to her curse herself. Cloche was an IPD just like him; though, she had never contracted the IPD disease that scarred him and ultimately ruined his ability to sing. “I’ve always worked to protect Rose, but I pushed her away a lot, too.”
Cloche took a seat near him, leaning against a boulder. “Dezel, do you mind telling me the story between you and Rose?” she asked.
“Why would you want that?”
“Because we can relate to each other, and we can’t go anywhere. And, if you would like, I can share some of my stories with you about growing up to be the Maiden of Aqua.”
Dezel didn’t comply at first, so Cloche sought to break the ice by explaining what had happened that led to the discovery that she was an IPD seraph. She told him about how she was taken from her family and raised in Pastalia like a princess. Even though she was going to be the Holy Maiden, she was still tortured and forced into being a test subject for all kinds of experiments. The one that had tortured her was a man named Laude. The more Dezel listened, the more bewildered he was.
When Dezel opened up and told her what he had endured and how Rose had always been there to support him, she got a dreamy look in her eyes. Upon hearing about the plan that Targana had tried to implement in Pendrago, she wept for him and cursed him for all the damage he had done. Cloche praised Rose’s commitment to him, even if it was reckless of her. She likened her to Croix, and she hoped to be invited to their wedding some day.
“W-Wedding?” Dezel stuttered.
“So you’re not going to get married?” Cloche naïvely asked.
“W-We don’t have the luxury to think about that. Besides, those kinds of things aren’t even worth the time.”
“I see. Guess you’re not a romantic.”
“I’m not.”
“Though, I’m sure I would say ‘yes’ if Croix asked. Has Alisha said anything about her relationship with Lailah? Oh, then there’s Sorey and Mikleo—wherever he might be.”
“You…rebounded really fast for someone who was just depressed about not helping her people.”
“Oh, hush. I want to know more. The IPDs on the Glenwood Continent—some of them are from here. If this had been going on for over a thousand years, I want to find a way to end it.”
Outside the tunnels, the children and babysitter were reunited with the man that had informed them about the incident. The IPDs were thawed out, and Spica right away incapacitated them with a drug she had made right then to make sure they didn’t cause any trouble. Cocona, Shun, and Leglius still couldn’t wake up Luca.
Amarie and Jacqli examined her, the latter looking at Sorey. She walked to him and whispered quietly that he was right. The D-Cellophane essentially had a Virus written onto it, malevolence coursing through her and now taking over.
“Nenesha’s will,” Sorey breathed.
“We can discuss it in detail at a later time,” Jacqli replied. “Our main concern now is getting Dezel and Cloche out of the tunnels before they fall.”
“Will Enna be okay?”
Shun joined them after hearing mention of the D-Cellophane. He assured Sorey that Enna would be safe; however, the tunnels extended farther outside of the boundaries of the city. Because the Tower was built like how a building was, pieces were bound to fall away.
“Amarie and Rose explained the situation,” he slipped in. “Our best bet right now would be to ask Leglius and Edna to break the debris and pull them out as quickly as possible.”
“Oh, I forgot about that giant lug,” Jacqli groaned. “Well, Cloche was the one that rushed into this mess from what I heard.”
Leglius was livid that they had left Cloche in the tunnel, but he acknowledged it was the right thing to do. He and Edna returned to the tunnels with Rose tagging along for fear that Dezel was having a panic attack, though the earth seraph was sure that he would be fine. The cave-in wasn’t too far from the entrance, which Leglius was grateful for. And in no time, the two IPDs had been rescued from the tunnel.
Rose was relieved that it was as Edna had said, but Cloche didn’t wait for any of them to escort her out of the tunnels. She raced out of them to her sister lying on the ground. “Luca!” she cried out. She skidded to a stop, falling to her knees next to her. “What happened to you?!”
“Good, everyone’s here now,” Jacqli nonchalantly said. She motioned to Spica, who walked over. “Mind if we use your shop, former resident of Eolia?”
“You know of me?” Spica cooed. “Well, you are friends with Lady Shurelia, and she’s friends with Misha and everyone else here. Follow me.”
Leglius, still upset, carried the Maiden of Homura to Spica’s new pharmacy. The store had all sorts of strange concoctions and a small atelier to create more medicines and toiletries. It was here that Sorey and Jacqli explained what they had found in Promise Hill before the entrance was sealed shut by rocks. The notes from Trizolde Cave, the reports that Jacqli had managed to memorize before losing them in Kanakana Pier, and the journal were all details the history of Infel and Nenesha. Shun growled. He was an acquaintance of Raki, and he remember the day that she had slaughtered the Maiden of Fuero in retaliation of Infel’s trespasses. The D-Cellophane was an important component of Frelia’s entire being, and Infel was remarkably smart. He cursed himself for not realizing sooner that the two maidens, corrupted by their desire to create Metafalica for themselves, would try to hijack the entire Tower.
“So, what does this mean?” Cocona asked.
“We have to get Nenesha away from Luca,” Alisha said. “But how?”
“If we use Dive Therapy on her, then we can stop her!” Cloche desperately sobbed.
Amarie lightly punched her fist. “Luca’s friend Nana can help us!” she said with a determined smile. “She’s in Rakshek, but it’s not too far away!”
“And Edna can help as well,” Lailah added. “Nenesha sounds like a formidable woman, so having Edna—”
“Do you think I can help, too?” Rose asked. “After all, I pledged to help this Tower, and I want to see this Nenesha girl.” Her face subtly showed the anger and confusion of why a dead girl would do this.
“Why?” Edna bluntly asked.
“A gut feeling is all. What we heard from that seraph is Trizolde Cave has been bothering me for a long time, but I can’t be sure of it yet.”
“Let us go to Rakshek and get help for Luca,” Cloche said. Leglius glared at her, but it went unnoticed for now.
Notes:
I realized that I wanted to have a little more interaction between Dezel and Cloche, but then they're both tsunderes so...like...."I-It's not like I care about you, b-b-baka!" times two. I wonder if Dezel would be a romantic...you know, under all that prickliness.
Chapter 132: Phase 5: The Truth about the Ascension
Summary:
Reisha is visited by unwanted company. After learning what has happened to Luca, she makes an important decision.
Notes:
Very, very short chapter today. I don't have anything else to post, and the past three weeks have been horrible in terms of workload. But still, this chapter feels a bit refreshing~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The old man with the large jewel in his head snuck around Reisha’s house that evening. The woman was sitting by her fireplace with a cup of tea. She was enchanted by the crimson flames flickering on the wood and ashes, but her dark blue eyes reflected the pain she felt when Cloche had been taken away. She wanted them to come back home as soon as they could. The responsibilities of the Maidens of Mio and Homura, Aqua and Fuero—it was all too much. And once she moved from Cloche’s kidnapping and remembered Luca and how cold she had been to her when they came back, her heart broke. Reisha wiped her tears away, reminiscing when they were still just toddlers and were so innocent to the chaos that plagued Frelia.
Laude continued to spy on her, rubbing his hands together while holding his cane in the crook of his arm. He scanned the inside of the house through the window; no one but Reisha was there. He couldn’t be happier to have come at a most opportune time.
“I would just need to neutralize her power for only a moment,” he whispered sinisterly as he knelt below the window.
“And how do you plan to do that?” a giggling voice asked him. Behind him, Symonne and Lunarre appeared, and both were smiling evilly. “An old man versus a middle-aged woman—who would win?”
“Who the hell are you?” he nastily questioned.
“Acquaintances of the Lord of Calamity,” Lunarre told him, the seemingly painted corners of his mouth stretch high up on his cheek. “I can smell the malevolence coming off of you.”
Laude ushered the seraph and the hellion away from the window toward the road leading out of Mint Block. There, he asked them once more who they were. When they reaffirmed their identities, he stroked his beard. He had known a long time about the Lord of Calamity and the terrors such a fearsome being brought to the world. He knew about the first one and all the strife that she had suffered. It paid off in the end, and it was her denouement that inspired him to come to the Second Tower in search of the Heart of Gaea.
“So, you are also after the Heart of Gaea,” Symonne cooed. “Perhaps we can work together.”
“Define ‘work together’,” Laude requested.
“The history concerning the holy maidens of this Tower are not unknown to me or our master. Fallen seraphim tried so desperately to create a promised land that would save both the people and the Origin that created this Tower, no? Those same seraphim also wish to reshape the world in their image, but how can they when their bodies perished?” She giggled slyly. “Except they’re not truly dead anymore, are they?”
“Quite perceptive,” Laude said. “Indeed, Infel and Nenesha died without fulfilling their mission, but both have continued to exist as wills within the current maidens. On Tilia, we had made the discovery that the World Regeneration Project required the same Heart of Gaea that was needed to make Metafalica in the early stages of the Metafalica Project. Naturally, I came here in search of it. I have been searching for 410 years.”
Lunarre sneered. “A descendant of Mayvin?” he purred.
“Not quite, but similar. The technology on my Tower far supersedes this Tower and Eolia. Even the Glenwood Continent that supports the three Towers and many more is inferior. I am merely an innovator and a pusher of limits.”
Laude continued to tell them all that he had done. He was the one that captured Cloche and helped to groom her into the maiden she had become. Transferring Infel’s power to her and, subsequently, her will into her was simple compared to the inception of the Ascension Project that Infel pioneered. He took the credit for tricking the Sacred Army and Luca into taking the D-Cellophane and making her the Goddess Maiden because she was the only one who would be compatible with Nenesha’s will. The pieces were carefully lined up from the beginning, a process that took fifteen years which had now reached its climax.
“The plan had been to absorb all of the soul of this Tower into Infel Phira, which would have eradicated the need for the Heart of Gaea in the Metafalica Project,” Lauda stated.
“And if it was useless here, you could have taken it back to your Tower,” Symonne concluded.
“It almost worked,” Lunarre told him, the impish smile melting from his lips. “That pesky Shepherd broke free.”
“Broke free?” Laude repeated. Then he realized that Targana had gotten sucked into the affairs of the Glenwood Continent and changed the course of the project from storage to the creation of a spectral weapon. “To think that boy could have had the ability to do that.” Laude paced for a moment. “Either way, it means nothing to me now; Luca and Cloche contain the souls of Nenesha and Infel, and both of them should be filling into their roles—especially Luca. The D-Cellophane has a Virus written into it. Nenesha’s awakening will direct Luca to create Metafalica and use her as the Heart of Gaea as a result, no matter how weak it is. The one I seek is the one that holds more than enough power.”
Symonne touched her fingertips together. “This is certainly a development that even Lord Heldalf could not have seen,” she chimed. “Lunarre, you have new orders. See to it that this man claims the Heart of Gaea.”
“But those rotten bastards are after it, too,” the hellion complained. “I haven’t prepared yet for meeting that buffoon of a leader.”
“You won’t need to engage anyone,” Laude smirked. “Reisha is quite powerful for a human, so I will need some assistance to make sure she comes with us without a fight.”
Symonne assured him that Lunarre would help him before vanishing into the malevolence. The old man and the fox hellion returned to the window to find that the maidens’ mother had fallen asleep.
The setting sun’s golden light shined through the window and on her face. There was a flicker of shadow that roused her from sleep, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Laude and Lunarre standing at her door.
“Good evening, Ms. Reisha,” Laude greeted her.
“You’re Laude…!” Reisha gasped. “What are you doing here? You’ve taken the only IPD I’ve ever had from me, so what more do you want?!”
“I’ve come to inform you that your daughter is in grave danger.”
Reisha’s heart stopped for a moment. Was Cloche having an outbreak? Was Luca corrupted by the malevolence? She glanced at Lunarre then back to Laude. If she didn’t listen to him, she feared she would never see her daughters again.
“What do you mean she is in danger?” she asked somewhat calmly, but she was still suspicious of them. “What did you do to them?”
“Them? Oh, dear me, no. Luca is the one in trouble. As you know, she is the Goddess Maiden, but she has fallen into a deep sleep. That sleep cuts off the power that supports this Tower, and for every second she sleeps, we are one second closer to falling out of the sky and into the mountains below. In short, everyone will die.”
Reisha gripped her skirt in her hand. “You’ve trapped my dearest Luca,” she choked through clenched teeth. “I suppose holding one hostage is not a farcry from what you did when you took Leyka from me.”
“Quit your yabbering, wench,” Lunarre snapped at her, but Laude raised his hand.
“There is a way to wake her up,” Laude told her sweetly. “Come with me to the Moon Culvert. There I want you to sing a very specific Song.”
Reisha’s eyes burned. “How insulting! The lowest of the low—using my children as leverage!” she screamed out. “Do you really think I will sing that Song for you just because you tell me to? Just because you have my daughters?!”
“I don’t think. I know, Ms. Reisha.” He turned his head to Lunarre. “Good sir, tell me something. If I asked you to murder every single one of Luca and Cloche’s friends, would you?”
“Gladly!” Lunarre screeched.
“They should be heading to Rakshek, the only city that condones Dive Therapy and the only other possible way to remove a manifested Virus from a seraph.”
Reisha took a step towards them. Lunarre and Laude spoke nonchalantly about slaughtering the lambs that had come to save the Second Tower. She tried and tried to not let such threats get under her skin, but the thoughts of all the friends that her daughters had made being killed and leaving Luca in her coma and Cloche allalone broke her heart. She released her skirt.
“Fine, I’ll go,” she said defeatedly. “I’ll sing that Song for you.”
“Ms. Reisha,” Laude drawled. “You may have just saved your daughter by doing this.” He signaled Lunarre to go after the Shepherd and his friends in Rakshek. When Reisha accused him of breaking his promise, he assured her that no harm would come to anyone.
Notes:
So I used to be confused if Reisha was a Reyvateil or human, but she never sings Hymmnos aside from her lullaby that has a very specific purpose. Genetics in AT is really something.
Chapter 133: Phase 5: Diving into a Foreign Soul
Summary:
Rose and Edna get help to Dive into Luca to rescue her from the Virus that has taken her. But this course of action has its consequences.
Notes:
This chapter really hones in on the Inception vibe--a Dive within a Dive within a Dive!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When Cloche and her friends reached Rakshek, they immediately looked for the Dive shop. The Dive shop, as Jacqli explained, were places that specifically conducted Dives and Dive Therapy. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha were intrigued that Dives were carried out using a machine instead of Armatization. Sorey, who had spoken with Katene, remembered that their methods were different, but he couldn’t imagine it was very comfortable to be encased in strange machine.
As they made their way to the Dive shop, the people in the city watched them with scorn. A few called out berating insults to Cloche, who forced herself to ignore them. She was sure that if Luca were awake, she would have defended her. But the only one who didn’t insult her was Nana, the very girl that they needed to help fix Luca. Gripping her chestnut pigtails, she rushed to her grandmother’s store to let her know that she was on her way to the Dive shop, and before her grandmother could ask, she said panickingly:
“Luca! Something’s wrong with Luca!”
“But she’s one of the maidens that wants to create Metafalica! We swore to the town that we wouldn’t support them anymore!”
“She’s my friend! I’m not going to let her die just because everyone else hates her!”
Nana bolted from the shop to where Cloche and Leglius prepared Luca for a Dive in one of the machines. Such technology frightened those from the Glenwood Continent, but to the seraphim, they were nothing more than reminders of the past.
“Luca!” Nana cried. “What happened to Luca?!”
Cloche took her in her arms. She explained that she had fallen into a deep sleep and that they needed the power of friendship to rescue her. There was no hesitation with Nana; she didn’t care if everyone on the Tower hated the holy maidens for messing up the creation of Metafalica before they were taken away. Luca was a dear friend and mentor, and she wanted to do whatever she could to save her.
Diving on the Tower was administered by an operator—a Teru descedent who oversaw the entire process. When Cloche, Nana, Edna, and Rose confronted him about entering Luca’s soul space, he declined.
“Letting in that many people into a single soul space could run the risk of collapse,” he argued.
“What’s the problem? Two of us are Dive Therapists!” Rose battled.
“Regardless. A soul space is a sanctuary to a seraph; you can’t just waltz in, and by no means should there be so many people inside it in the first place.”
“We don’t have time for this!” Cloche snapped at him. “As the Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell, I order you to let us in!”
At this point, Leglius couldn’t stand it anymore. Before he could accost his maiden, Dezel roughly pulled Rose away from his path to her. Edna and Nana took a step back not in fear but in defiance of the giant scowling at Cloche.
“Why are you acting like this?” he thundered. “This is no way for a holy maiden to behave!”
He gripped her by the shoulder, to which she pulled her rapier. “Unhand me, Leglius Branchesca,” Cloche said threateningly. The man did as he was told, but he was still visibly angry with her. “I am acting I should. Luca is my sister and my partner in the creation of Metafalica. She is the only one who truly understands my plight because we have lain our hearts bare to each other in the Infelsphere.”
“You’re acting too rashly. If you die, then we won’t be able to create Metafalica or save anyone from the collapse of this Tower. The Age of Chaos isn’t the only thing killing this Tower, so we must do what we can to protect you.”
“And what about Luca?!”
Cloche clenched her fists and teeth in a vain effort to subdue her intense emotions. Nana and Rose pitied her, the former stepping up to her side. “I agree with Lady Cloche,” she said. “I’m…I’m terrified of Proxy Dives and Dive Therapy, but I want to do everything I can to save her. If it means I have to tear myself apart or plunge into darkness, then I’ll do it.”
Dezel turned to Rose. “Are you sure about this?” he asked her.
“I made a promise to Sorey, and I can’t leave someone who’s suffering behind,” the assassin said as she stared at Leglius’ large broad back. “Plus, if Luca dies, Cloche’s heart will break, and I already know what happens to an IPD when that happens.”
Edna spun her umbrella. “Besides, it’s not like we’re going there to learn all her deep dark secrets. We’re there just to eliminate whatever Virus got into her.” Turning to the operator, she gave him an icy look. “Let’s hurry this up.”
There was apprehension, though. Like Sorey and Alisha who were unnerved by the massive machine that would allow them to Dive into a seraph they were not tethered to, Rose was somewhat unsure if it was really safe to go through with it with someone she didn’t know. Seraphim of both the Glenwood Continent and the Towers didn’t allow humans that they didn’t trust into their cosmospheres. Luca, who was in no condition to give her consent, was a grey area. Cloche wanted them to Dive into her, but what would be the cost? After all, there were numerous times that Rose could have died in Dezel’s soul space, and while he had his objections, he had allowed her to be there. Luca was a predicament.
“Don’t freeze up now,” Dezel said. “If you made a promise, then make sure you go through with it.”
“Let’s start the Dive,” Nana said, her voice quivering with fear. “I can do this,” she told herself.
The operator couldn’t fight them anymore, and under Cloche’s watchful eye, he initiated a Proxy Dive using Nana as the catalyst. Rose and Edna lay in one machine each just as Luca and Nana did, and sleep overcame them.
-------------------------------------
Rose opened her eyes to find the earth seraph and herself in the same Dive shop that they had been. She wondered if the Dive actually worked, to which Edna told her that it did since everyone else had disappeared.
“How do you feel?” Nana’s omniscient voice asked. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, somehow,” Rose responded. “But what do we do now?”
“Use the Dive machine within this area of my soul space to Dive into Luca,” the girl instructed. Edna smirked, impressed that someone far younger than her understood the logistics of a layered Dive through advanced technology.
Rose did as she was told, and she and Edna slept again in the ethereal machines in Nana’s subconscious. When the assassin woke again, she found that she was now inside of a small restaurant.
-------------------------------------
“Edna?” Rose called.
“I’m here,” the earth seraph said. “Even in Tower seraphim, there are limits. I can offer you my power, but as far as my physical form is concerned, you’re on your own.”
“Fantastic.”
Alone in the unknown territory of Luca’s heart, Rose began to look for clues of the Virus’s whereabouts. She searched for Luca with the hope that she could enlist her help. Unfortunately, and while she was so close, she didn’t seem like herself.
The Maiden of Homura was sitting alone at a table facing outside of a window that shined far too brightly for it to be natural light. Her golden-brown eyes were dull and devoid of any emotion, she muttered out some distorted Hymmnos over and over.
“Luca?” Rose uttered. She peeked around her to see if she was awake. The muttering of Hymmnos stopped, and Luca’s head suddenly snapped in her direction with wide eyes. “Oh, God, I did not sign up for this!” the assassin screamed.
“Get a hold of yourself, you idiot!” Edna scolded. “She’s in a trance!”
Luca locked her eyes on Rose, and like a robot caught in a daydream, she said to her, “I have a duty I must fulfill. No matter what, I must create Metafalica. It is the will of our people and the only goal in I have in this life. Devoid of the very emotions that cause us pain and suffering, the notion that once became a reality so long ago, I aim to create the world that Innominat, Infel, and Nenesha all sought to bring to life.”
“What the hell is she talking about!?” Rose almost cried. “No way, this is too creepy!”
“Luca’s gone crazy!” Nana wept. Then she went silent. “This feeling…is this the Virus? Miss Rose, Miss Edna, please make your way to the Stonehenge! Someone is trying to go deeper into her soul space!”
Rose had no qualms about leaving Luca there in the restaurant; in fact, she was more than happy to. But the situation at the Stonehenge was direr than she had imagined. A woman with fluffy pink hair adorned with a large red bow was deliberately and diligently smashing the rocks of the Stonehenge. She demanded that the Paradigm Shift show itself. The large diamond ring that encircled her shot out balls of ice.
“Looks like we found our Virus,” Edna stated.
“Something’s weird, though,” Rose noticed. “If she’s the Virus, why hasn’t Luca’s soul space been ripped apart? She’s just digging deeper into the Stonehenge.”
The woman ceased her efforts to uncover the Paradign Shift. She turned to Rose as the diamond ring transformed into what looked like to be some sort of chariot. “How dare you call me a Virus,” she pouted. “I’m not that stupid.”
“I take it you’re not one, then. Alright, this makes it easy. Are you Nenesha?”
The woman giggled mischievously. “You’ve done your homework. How do you know my name? Did I become famous?”
“I see. So that’s what you wanted to hear,” Edna realized.
The woman with pink hair formally introduced herself as Nenesha. She confided that she wasn’t the real Nenesha, however—just a copy of her that had been written into the D-Cellophane as a Virus. “You see, my dearest Infel thought it was a good idea to store my will and soul into the very thing that keeps the Goddess ticking. Thanks to that, I essentially have transcended space and time, and now that we finally have a pair of competent Maidens of Whatever, I can finally take root.”
Rose pulled her daggers.
“Ah-ah-ah! I really wouldn’t do that if I were you!” Nenesha giggled. “I mean, it’s a waste of time to kill me. I’m just an alarm clock.”
“A broken alarm clock can’t do its job,” Edna retorted.
“Aren’t we snippy? Okay, well, I guess I can’t leave that remark go unpunished. I’ll just kill you now and save some time.”
As Nenesha charged up a ball of lightning using Song Magic, the soul space rumbled. “N-No! I won’t let you!” Nana yelled at her. The soul space rumbled more and more violently. Nenesha lost her focus, dispelling the lightning ball before ordering the child to stop ruining everything. There was a brief and abrupt cry of pain, then everything went black.
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“E-Edna?! Nana?!” Rose called out.
Edna grabbed onto the assassin’s hand; they were floating in an unknown space that was slowly burning away their minds. The Dive into Luca had been terminated but not without removing Nenesha from Luca’s soul space. The action had its consequences; Nana wasn’t responding, and the perpetuating darkness was going to swallow them up.
“I can’t sense Nana’s mana anymore,” Edna said gravely.
“Is she dead!?” Rose panicked.
“At best, not yet. It seems like her soul managed to stop Nenesha from destroying Luca’s Stonehenge, but at the cost of her mind. Luca is somewhere not far, but we should make it our priority to get out alive.”
“And Luca!?”
“She’ll probably be fine.”
Rose bit her lip. There was a small twinkling light in the darkness that they presumed was Luca; her consciousness had been saved even if barely. When Rose and Edna took it into their hands, it shined brightly, and the darkness melted away into the lights of the Dive shop.
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“Luca…!” Cloche called out.
“Rose…!” Dezel’s voice came as well.
The two girls woke up to the worried faces of their sister and seraph, respectively. Edna was resting within Sorey, who had become consequently exhausted. Unsure if they were still in a dream or if they had returned to reality, they tried to ask what had happened. Their words were slurred and sluggish, but they improved over a few minutes.
“That was reckless,” Leglius murmured, but he put aside his anger with Cloche and Luca upon seeing the sisters reunited.
“How do you feel?” Dezel asked. He helped Rose up, but she was still dizzy from the Dive. “You definitely need some rest.”
“What happened to Nana!?” Rose suddenly asked the operator without answeting Dezel’s question. The operator refused to look at her.
“Nana?” Luca repeated. “What did…Nana…do?” She was scared to ask, but she wanted to know. She had already missed so much. “Did Nana do a Proxy Dive?! Why?! Why did she do that?!”
Cloche grabbed her sister by the shoulders and forced her to look at her. She promised that it was Nana’s decision, yet Luca refused to believe that her friend had sacrificed herself to save her from whatever had been destroying her on the inside.
“She was just a little girl! She didn’t understand Proxy Dives; how could you let her!?” Luca bawled. Sorey worried that she was garnering malevolence, but Lailah told him that she was only grieving for an innocent life. When Luca had calmed down, she vowed that she would create Metafalica in her memory as the holy land that she would have loved.
Later that night, after Dezel compelled Rose to get some sleep, he went outside of the inn in Rakshek to get some fresh air. Cloche and Luca were sleeping together, and Alisha and Sorey and their seraphim had turned in after they had eaten. Jacqli and Shun were locked in a room discussing Frelia’s condition and what the collapsing sectors of the Rim meant. Cocona, Amarie, and Leglius were the only ones awake an available to talk, not that he wanted to.
In fact, he would have much preferred to be the only one awake so he could sort out his feelings about coming to the Second Tower and taking on the task of rescuing it like how Alisha and Lailah had reawakened the First. The idea that the seraphim used machines—advanced seraphic technology—to Dive rather than forming pacts and Armatizing frightened him now that it was entirely possible to die inside them. He had thought that there would be some sort of safety net, but now he knew that there was no such thing. Whether it was through experiencing a distant dream or through the same senses, he was more cognizant that he unconsciously held the power to kill her no matter what method they used. That said, he wished that she wouldn’t toss caution to the wind; she wasn’t a wind seraph, and such recklessness would deliver her to an earlier grave than he would like. He let out a sigh, rubbing his face trying to forget.
“I haven’t had a drink in a long time,” he said to himself. “Maybe I should get a bottle of beer.”
“Are seraphim allowed to drink?” Amarie suddenly asked behind him. Dezel wasn’t terribly startled by her sudden question, but he found it rude to be eavesdropping on conversations with one’s self. “I thought you’d be sleeping with your girlfriend.”
“She’s…she’s not my girlfriend,” he replied stubbornly. “Don’t just go making assumptions.”
“It’s not an assumption if it’s true,” Cocona corrected him. “If it wasn’t so obvious, then you might get away with that.”
“Are you two pestering this man?” Leglius asked, joining them from a different direction. In his arms were a few rations and a small case of some alcohol.
“Boo, we’re not pestering,” Cocona pouted.
“Yeah, what Cocona said! We’re just interested in what the deal is with him and Rose!” Amarie seconded. “What did you buy that for?”
“It was a request by Zaveid,” Leglius admitted. “He said he hadn’t had nip of alcohol for a thousand years.”
“If Zaveid asked for it,” Dezel started before swiping a bottle from the box. “He won’t mind if I take a bottle.” Twisting the cap off and taking a gulp, he gave a short-lived smile. “Still don’t have a taste for it.”
At that point, Leglius asked to speak with Dezel in private for a moment much to the two girls’ irritation. The two went to the restaurant where Skycat, Luca’s best friend, worked. The wind seraph seemed nervous about sitting and dining with the captain of the Grand Bell Knights. Too much distance from Rose had always made him anxious ever since the incident in Pendrago.
Leglius ordered two entrees for them before asking him about the Dive. At first, Dezel was apprehensive and suspicious. Why was he so interested in that? When the larger man came clean and told him that he was upset with Cloche for going through with it knowing how dangerous it was for everyone involved, he had been wondering if it was right for him to speak against her.
“For a bodyguard, you’re pretty unsure of yourself,” Dezel said at point blank.
“Croix was originally her bodyguard,” Leglius sighed. “Were you upset with Rose?”
Dezel hesitated for a moment. Was he upset, or was he simply terrified of being alone? “I…” he started. He didn’t want to say it. “I understand how Luca felt—losing a friend like that. I understand how Cloche felt when her sister fell into a coma. I understand how Rose feels about being here. But…I don’t understand how I feel.”
“That’s vague.”
“Rose made a promise with Sorey, and I intend to help her see it through. But I still worry for her…” He started to get lost in thought. “That girl doesn’t ever think before speaking. And no matter what, I always feel like I need to be there to catch her. Half of the reason she’s made this far has because I refused to let her fail.”
Leglius watched Dezel. He was something of a turtle or a snail, retreating into his shell that he had never outgrown. Even talking about Rose made him shy. The captain, however, was observing and learning from him. He finished his meal quickly before thanking him.
“For what?” the wind seraph asked.
“For showing me how I should support Lady Cloche,” Leglius frankly said.
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t worry. Let’s get back to the inn, shall we? We’ve got to plan what to do next.”
Dezel agreed with him though still confused by how he had helped him. They left the restaurant, heading to the rooms on the second floor of the inn. When the wind seraph got into his room, he made his way to where Rose was sleeping. Kicking off his boots, he sat on the bed with his legs crossed. He turned his head toward her, reading the wind around her. She was sleeping fine, yet he still feared for her safety.
Notes:
So I made some modifications. In AT2, Nana doesn't actually die from her risky endeavor into Luca's soul space , but iirc it felt kind of anticlimactic. So, uh, I just went ahead with it.
Chapter 134: Phase 5: The Moon Culvert Hiding the Heart
Summary:
With Rose realizing that her hunch was on the right track, the heroes make their way to the resting place of the Heart of Gaea.
Notes:
I'm definitely opening up with an all-girls bath scene. Have you heard the AT2 bath theme? It's like sugar!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rose turned in her sleep, throwing her arm over Dezel’s cest, before waking up. Feeling his form under her coaxed her to lift her head from her pillow. From her side of the somewhat narrow bed, she gazed upon the sleeping seraph’s shark-like teeth and the silvery hairs that rustled with every soft breath. Alisha and Sorey were sleeping in the rooms down the hall from her; they didn’t have to know that she was awake just yet. She wanted to admire how innocent and vulnerable he looked in that instant. They had come so far from when he had been thrown back into he torture he endured as a child that she was elated to see him finally relax. She discreetly rested her cheek against his arm for just a few more minutes.
She remembered what she saw inside of Luca—a pink-haired girl that was trying to force Luca to create Metafalica. That girl was Nenesha, a remnant of the real person from so long ago. When she had first heard that Frelia and Luca shared the D-Cellophane, she had a hunch. It was supported by the notes and reports, and that was why she had to go in and save her. But was it enough to point them in the right direction? Where else were they supposed to go?
Dezel turned, disrupting her thoughts and the comfort that leaning against him brought. His hair fell to reveal his closed eyes, but Rose couldn’t help but feel nervous and flustered next to him.
“Okay, time to wake up,” she whispered.
Dezel groaned, and he scooted closer to her.
“I-It’s time to wake up!” she said much louder this time.
She jumped off the bed and made her way to the baths where Luca, Cloche, Cocona, Edna, Lailah, Amarie, Alisha, and Jacqli had gone. All of them were enjoying a morning soak complete with powders, soaps, and toys that Luca and Cloche had made. So when Rose burst into the bath, they were all taken by surprise at first believing it had been one of the boys.
“Oh, Rose, you’re just in time!” Luca greeted her.
“Yes, the water is lovely and aromatic,” Cloche said with a hint of pride. “My bath powder came out absolutely perfect this time.”
“Oh, your face is so red,” Alisha noticed. “Did something happen?”
Rose’s red face got even redder. She hadn’t meant to walk in on all her other friends’ bathing, but now she also had to endure the teasing that was sure to come from explaining what had made her so flustered in the first place.
She tried to calm down before explaining herself only for every word to come out as a jumble of sounds until finally she breathed. “D-Dezel…just…looked…funny to me!” she attempted to lie. The girls questioned what she meant by that. “A-Ah-ha-ha! L-Like…w-well…!”
“Finally hit puberty?” Edna teased.
“Oh my, is someone turned on?” Jacqli added.
“N-No, I—”
Rose covered her face then professed: “I wasn’t prepared for it!”
“Aren’t you the same age as a couple people here? You don’t have to act so boo!” Cocona scolded her. “Besides, none of the guys are awake, so we can gossip!”
“Gossip is unbecoming of a lady!” Lailah giggled.
“It’s not gossip—just a little bit of a tea party!” Amarie laughed. “Rose, get in here! The water is simply sublime!” The lavender-haired girl sank into the bath as she spoke.
Suddenly there was a chill in the air, and both Edna and Lailah turned their attention abruptly to the door behind Rose. She sent a fireball towards it, forcing the assassin to jump out of the way. At the same moment, Zaveid fell through the door, and Lailah’s fires scorched him.
“I knew it!” she growled. “Dispel your lecherous winds, or I’ll burn them myself!” she threatened him.
“I-I was just checking to see if the bath was in use!” Zaveid lied.
“Couldn’t you hear the talking and screaming?” Edna snarled.
Dezel and Leglius also appeared behind him. There were no words, just the sounds of knuckles cracking. Zaveid wasted no time in racing back to his room, where he took refuge in Sorey because no one would dare punch his innocent face in.
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After the girls came out of the bath and dressed, Rose made her decision. She put what had happened that morning out of her mind and instead focused on the thoughts she had had about her hunch. Her intuition was legendary, but she wasn’t sure if it was good enough to follow in such an unknown situation. Still, the reports from Magellanica and all that she had learned from Jacqli and Sorey made her feel odd.
She watched everyone else eat. It was now or never.
“Hey, guys, can I ask something?” Rose started.
Sorey and Jacqli were the first ones to give her their attention. They knew she wanted to discuss what had happened when she Dived into Luca’s cosmosphere, and they couldn’t hide that they were curious about what she had seen. When Rose mentioned that she had seen Nenesha inside of the current Maiden of Homura, Cloche was horrified.
“But just seeing Nenesha wasn’t the only thing that made me have that feeling,” Rose confessed. “After listening to all that we’ve heard, this only means that Nenesha’s presence and her role as a key means that she’s still here.”
“What do you mean?” Luca asked.
“You’re referring to the Heart of Gaea, aren’t you?” Jacqli said. “You’re right. There exists a Heart of Gaea that is much stronger than any that have been created since. It could create Metafalica, albeit a corrupted version of it. Do you see it now? The Heart of Gaea that still resides within this Tower hidden away from all that can see is the Heart of Gaea born from Nenesha.”
There was a chilling silence over the table.
“The Nenesha within Luca’s soul space was going to attempt to essentially revive the Heart of Gaea, but since the Virus has been destroyed, she can’t do it remotely anymore,” Jacqli concluded. “At least, hypothetically.”
“So, the Heart of Gaea that Laude is going after is the same one,” Sorey said.
Rose stood up, her hands spread on the table and her face looking urgent. “Then shouldn’t we go get it then? If Luca can’t activate it anymore, and if some old man is trying to steal it; wouldn’t it be best to beat him to the punch?”
Leglius held his tongue. Memories that he had never expressed were surfacing in his mind. The rumors of a priceless gem, his daughter adventuring to find it, his wife and daughter being killed by an infected IPD—he didn’t want to return to the place that had stolen everything from him. But if the Heart of Gaea was there, and if he wanted to protect Luca and Cloche, he had to go.
“Where would we go?” Dezel asked in an attempt to dissuade his vessel from going through with such a dangerous mission.
“Um, well…” Rose stalled.
Leglius swallowed hard. “It’s in the Moon Culvert underneath Pastalia,” he forced himself to disclose. “It’s accessible through Bell Strike Hall.” Luca and Cloche looked at each other, but Amarie wouldn’t take her eyes off him. “When are we heading there?”
“As soon as now would be a good start,” Jacqli huffed. “The more time we waste here, the more time Laude will have to escape.”
Rose rallied her friends to head back to Pastalia while Sorey and Amarie kept a watch on Leglius. He had a grim countenance the entire trek back to the city, but he refused to explain what was bothering him. He stamped the memories back down as far as he could, and when they came to Bell Strike Hall, he appeared as if nothing was wrong.
Bell Strike Hall was the belltower that loomed over the Grand Bell Hall. Before Cloche and Luca were brought to the Glenwood Continent far below the Second Tower, IPDs were kept in prisonlike labs underneath it, but since then, rubble and debris from what appeared to be a large-scale battle cut it off and rendered it inaccessible. The belltower was the only other way to access them, yet it was the only way to access the Moon Culvert. Sorey marveled at the architecture, likening it to Lastonbell and wondering if the denizens would be interested in learning about Pastalia. The Moon Culvert, however, looked completely different from the palace. There were elevators and winding paths all around reminiscent of the water shrine.
Dezel turned his head in the direction of a strange comforting sound. It was coming from deeper in the Moon Culvert. The sound drifted from a large hole in the center of the place, which Jacqli explained it was supposed to be a vessel for something rather large but forgotten. Dezel wanted to follow the sound, but Cloche and Luca directed their friends in a different direction that was littered with hellions and what seemed to be the malevolent figures of infected IPDs that managed to get themselves trapped down so deep in the Tower.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Zaveid sighed. He whipped out his pendulums. “We’ll clear a path; Rose, Jacqli—you two get Cloche and Luca to the Heart of Gaea.”
The four girls nodded, and the two maidens and Dezel left the others to fight through the hellions and IPDs. Sorey, Edna, and Zaveid tasked themselves with apprehending the infected IPDs. There were three of them, roaming around angrily and slaughtering hellions that crossed them.
“Go away!” one snarled. “I hate everything!”
Sorey approached her with caution. As soon as she was aware of his presence, she fired a ball of thunder at him. While he sustained only marginal damage, he knew that she had the potential to become stronger in only seconds.
“Cantering Flames!” he called out as he danced with his fires toward her.
“Cocona Fireball!” the young IPD chanted from a few feet away. She teamed up with him to fight the IPD. “She’s a weak one by military standards, so we can stop her without much of a problem.”
Sorey and Cocona charged toward the IPD, using the dull parts of their weapons to smack her into submission. While she was unconscious, they glanced at Edna. The earth seraph was fighting an IPD that was somewhat stronger. He was using the hellions to help him, though his opponent could easily dispatch them with her magic. Using her lances of rock, she pierced the hellions. As the IPD charged his Song Magic, she cast Final Embrace to trap him.
“Hailing Downpour!” Edna called out as she shattered the ice coffin with a speeding ball of hail that knocked him out. “Hmph, I thought IPDs were supposed to be strong.”
The third IPD shrieked as Zaveid began chanting a wind-based Song Magic to take her down. “dYInA ag fYIwYOrA gral lln/.” the wind seraph sang, and a razor-sharp ball of wind crashed into the IPD.
She withstood the attack, but she was blinded temporarily by the stinging in her eyes. Leglius and Shun came to Zaveid’s aid. In a swift motion, the two worked together to incapacitate her. The hellions—knights and machines overtaken by malevolence—made their way to them. Alisha, Lailah, and Amarie fought them off in droves with fire and myriads of arrows. No matter how many hellions they got rid of, they were immediately replaced.
“The malevolence coming from the Heart of Gaea must be the source,” Sorey realized. “Does that mean it’s been activated?”
“Sorey, watch out!” Alisha warned the Shepherd as a lizard soldier tried to lop off his head.
There was no end to them, but even then, Edna ordered everyone to keep them at bay. She wasn’t sure if her ability to heal the infected IPDs would work so deep in the Tower. She went ahead, using the iris gems, with the belief that rectifying their thoughts and purifying them of malevolence would help her friends fight.
As the battle raged on behind them, Dezel focused on the sound coming from the lower part of the Moon Culvert. It was a voice unfamiliar to him and Rose and Jacqli, but it was very familiar to Luca and Cloche. They still had a long way to go, but it was unmistakable.
“That’s Ms. Reisha’s voice,” Cloche breathed. “That’s our mother’s voice!”
“Why is she here?!” Luca fumed. “How could she be so stupid?!” She listened closely to the Song. “This Song is the lullaby she used to sing to me!”
Jacqli then realized what was happening. Nenesha was the key within Luca to unlock the Heart of Gaea. The key, however, lie in Reisha in the form of an ancient Song that had been created for this purpose.
“How far is this thing!?” Rose asked.
“It’s still a way down,” Dezel told her while reading the wind in the Moon Culvert. “If we Armatize, we could cut out time in half, but we can’t take everyone with us.”
“As long as she continues to sing, we’ll know what is happening,” Jacqli said.
Luca was agitated by the comment. To her, the black-clad girl was apathetic to the issue at hand. But in reality, she was analyzing what Laude was trying to do. If Reisha was the key to the Heart of Gaea, what was the purpose of instating Nenesha in Luca?
At the bottom of the Moon Culvert, Laude watched Reisha sing the lullaby that she kept tucked away in her heart. The memories of her daughters brought tears to her eyes—all of the times she had sung to them the special Song that was meant for the Maidens of Mio and Homura to use to unlock the Heart of Gaea.
“Excellent singing as usual, Reisha!” Laude applauded her.
Lunarre watched the woman as she put all her heart and soul into the Song. The love for her daughters sickened him, and it reminded him of the mess of people he knew as the Scattered Bones. He wanted so terribly to kill her and to kill Rose, whom he knew had to be on her way to investigate the voice. He turned his nose up.
“That wench is almost here,” he muttered.
“Right on schedule then.” Laude’s lips coiled into a nasty smile.
Reisha’s voice was as clear as a bell at the bottom of the Moon Culvert when Rose and Luca and Cloche arrived. The two Maidens ran past Rose, who was held back by her seraph. When her eyes fell on Lunarre, she realized that it had all been a trap.
Next to Reisha was a large metal sphere surrounded by rotating rings like a gyrosphere. Inside the shell was a shining red jewel-like structure—the Heart of Gaea that once belonged to Nenesha. It was opening slowly along with the Song that Reisha was singing, and when it was completely released from the shell, Laude ordered her to stop the Song. At once, Luca’s body was paralyzed, and an excruciating pain erupted in her chest.
“L-Luca! My dearest Luca!” Reisha cried. “You said no one would get hurt!”
“You seraphim are too easily trusting,” Laude said sinisterly. “Even my own daughter is that stupid. But enough that, the moment we’ve been waiting for has arrived!”
The Moon Culvert began to rumble violently all the way up to where Sorey and his friends were fighting the hellions. The tremors had thrown them off their feet as well as their adversaries. They took that opportunity to leave with the IPDs to safety closer to Bell Strike Hall, but deep down in the Tower, Laude’s plan was put into motion.
“The Heart of Gaea is going to pull us all in,” Jacqli noted. Dezel held onto her and Rose with his pendulums. “Luca, you need to—Luca?”
The current Maiden of Homura was in a trance. She stared at the Heart of Gaea. “I’ve found my body at long last,” she said with a monotonous voice. “At long last, I have my right to exist again.”
“What the hell is happening?! Didn’t we get rid of Nenesha?!” Rose questioned.
“Something written into the D-Cellophane cannot be so easily erased,” Laude explained. The Heart of Gaea shot out of its shell toward Luca, and he snatched it out of the air. “I’ve finally gotten the Heart of Gaea. I can finally return to Archia as the hero I deserve to be!”
Lunarre glanced from Laude to Rose and Dezel. He had them right where he wanted them, and as he was prepared to burn them and the three Reyvateilic seraphim to a crisp, he smelled someone different.
“Unhand that Heart of Gaea, you wretched human!” Shun called from above. He attempted to bite it out of Laude’s hand, but the old man commanded Lunarre to protect him. The fox hellion did as he was told, his body trembling with anxiety. What had Symonne signed him up for? “The Heart of Gaea doesn’t belong to someone as vile as you!” Shun growled.
“But it was humans who started all this. Naturally, we should be the ones to claim our prize!” Laude laughed evilly. “Now if you don’t mine, I shall be taking me leave. Lunarre, you have your orders.”
“What the hell are you doing here, Lunarre?!” Dezel growled.
“I could ask you the same thing, useless seraph!” Lunarre taunted.
Before any fight could ensue, another figure fell from above. It was a girl that looked like Meimei from Eolia, but she looked colder and more callous. Without a word, she let loose a shockwave so powerful that it knocked the Heart of Gaea from Laude’s hands and pushed him far beyond the edge of the Moon Culvert to his death. There had been no time to react.
“How unfortunate,” the girl said. “You almost made it home, ‘hero’. Now, I shall retrieve the Heart of Gaea for my Goddess.”
“Goddess?” Cloche gasped. “Frelia?”
The girl turned to Shun and Cloche. “My Goddess in the heavens above. The rightful ruler of this Tower.”
“Raki, something’s not right with you,” Shun said to her. “You’ve been corrupted by something! Someone changed your heart!”
Luca walked to the Heart of Gaea that fell behind everyone and in front of the shell that once housed it. She held it delicately in her hands, the trance breaking ever so slightly. She fought the Nenesha that was possessing her even though she was locked in place.
Dezel and Rose Armatized to take on both Lunarre and Raki until the latter realized that the Heart of Gaea was going to be spirited away again. Once a lock was opened, its key was useless. Unlike all other locks, the Heart of Gaea could never be sealed away again. She aimed her hand at Luca, a ball of energy forming in her palm. Rose tried to attack her, but Lunarre intercepted her. Raki fired her shot at Luca, and just before it made contact, the light of the blast shined. A woman’s voice cried out in pain.
When the light faded, Reisha lay before Luca, a gaping hole in her abdomen. Lunarre, seeing the damage and acknowledging just how strong Raki was, took his leave. He didn’t care that he was disobeying Symonne’s orders; Laude was dead, and he had no business meddling with the developing conflict on the Second Tower.
Luca threw the Heart of Gaea aside as she fell to her knees by her mother’s side. Cloche was speechless. Raki, on the other hand, was pleased to finally have the Heart of Gaea in her possession.
“I have waited patiently to retrieve this, so I won’t be wasting any more time,” she said.
“Do you think we’ll let you get away!?” Rose and Dezel roared at her. “How could you just blast someone to smithereens like that?! Twice!?”
“Don’t let her escape!” Shun ordered them.
“If it’s a fight you want, then I shall give you death personally,” Raki replied.
Rose zoomed towards the girl holding the Heart of Gaea. Raki flew into the air above them with a burning saber in her other hand. Jacqli called on Luca and Cloche to fight for their mother’s sake. The two maidens, angered by what Raki had done, began their Song together. Shun and Jacqli attacked Raki from the ground.
“Dark Star!” Rose and Dezel yelled as they charged into Raki.
The girl slashed Rose’s arm with the burning saber, and while it was only a small wound, it felt like it had chopped it off. The assassin blew gusts of wind at her until she was open. When they had the opportunity, they unleashed their Mystic Arte Sylphistia.
“You’ll pay for you did to Mom!” Luca seethed.
“This will teach you!” Cloche screamed.
Their hearts beat as one in time with their Song, which created a girl that was half angel and half demon. The Song Demongel resonately loudly through the Moon Culvert as it gained more and more power.
Raki went to attack Rose again. This time, Dezel took control of her movements. He used the wind to bring her out of the range of attack before letting her take the reins again. Jacqli, seeing no possible way to get Raki to land and hold still, decided to use Song Magic of her own. But she wasn’t foolish. She knew Luca and Cloche wanted to be the ones to crush her with their power, so what better Song than one that would amplify the strength of their attack?
“Initiating Song Magic!” Jacqli said.
Shun leapt up to Raki, grabbing a hold on the hand holding the Heart of Gaea. She quickly flung him back to the ground. At that moment, Jacqli launched her attack. It wasn’t strong, but its effect would help the maidens.
“Phantasmagoria!” she sang. Once the Song’s effect was in place, she advised her comrades to unleash everything they had.
Rose and Dezel again used Sylphistia even though it had weakened the second time due to Rose’s injury. Raki was batted out of the air and onto the ground, and finally, Luca and Cloche unleashed the Song called Demongel. The girl that had appeared before them shot beams of light at Raki.
They panted from exhaustion. They believed there was no way that Raki could survive the attack after the amplifier, yet the smoke from the blast cleared. Raki was standing with only a few scratches on her cybernetic armor and the Heart of Gaea still in hand. She didn’t smile or admit defeat nor victory. She simply excused herself, and in a blue light, flew out of the Moon Culvert to the heavens above.
Rose and Dezel de-Armatized at once so the latter could take care of the wound that was bleeding profusely. There was no time to curse or question Raki. Luca and Cloche went to their mother’s side.
“Mom! Hang on!” Luca began to weep. “My God, why did you have to be so stupid! Why did you come here!? Why did you…why did you leave home?!”
“My dearest Luca,” Reisha wheezed. “Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt, did you?” She smiled helplessly at the blue-haired girl. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“Mom! You’re…You’re in way worse shape than me, you know!”
Cloche began to sing a Song of healing for Reisha, but no matter how long she sang it or with as much emotion as she could bear, it did nothing to help her. Luca assisted her with her own Song, and together the maidens sang for their mother. But again, it didn’t help. Dezel clenched his fists and teeth with regret—his healing Artes were too weak, and Mikleo wasn’t there. Rose searched her pouches for any items that could heal her, but Jacqli whispered to her not to get involved.
“Nothing’s working…!” Cloche sobbed.
“It’s alright, my daughters,” Reisha weakly and tearfully said to them. “You’ve done more than enough. I got to hear you sing together. What more could I ask for?”
“That’s beside the point! Please, you have to get better!” Luca begged. “I-I’m sorry I always said that I hated you or got angry with you! You took me in when you lost Lady Cloche, and I always treated you bad. So, please, get better! I want to make it up to you!”
“Luca…” Reisha sighed.
“And…And we just met!” Cloche added. “I wanted to spend more time with you, the mother that I thought never existed! You said you would listen to all my stories, and we would cook together! I wanted us to be a happy family! So you can’t die!”
“Leyka, my cute little Leyka,” Reisha said with a sad smile. “I’m sorry to both of you. I was never a good mother. I never found my Leyka until only recently, and I always neglected my Luca just because you weren’t my real daughter. If only I could make it up to you…”
“Then live!” the maidens pleaded.
“There is no time…not anymore…you must do what you can to save this Tower and to help the new friends you’ve made on the world below,” Reisha struggled. She was silent for a moment. “I have one last gift for you, my beautiful daughters. A gift that I promise will stay with you forever.”
With the last of her strength, Reisha began to sing. It was a sweetly solemn Song from the depths of her heart. Cloche and Luca listened and cried, but Reisha’s voice drowned them out. Even with the hole in her stomach, she didn’t miss a beat.
The Song promised to Luca and Cloche that she would be with them forever in spirit, watching over them like an angel. It was a Song that resonated with Rose and Dezel, who remembered Brad and Lafarga and everything they did for them. Tears snuck out of their eyes, the memories of Rose’s adoptive father training her to fight and Lafarga taking care of Dezel in the Pendrago prisons.
“Mommy!” Cloche bawled. She hugged Luca tightly, tighter than ever before. “Why?”
Reisha’s voice still sang strong, but it wavered upon hearing her daughter call her that which she had always wanted.
Jacqli and Shun stood in silence. The Song itself rose out of the Moon Culvert to Bell Strike Hall over the sounds of the belltower’s machinations and into the hearts of Sorey and his friends. Zenrus’s image appeared in his mind, and suddenly he couldn’t hold back his tears. He didn’t know why it had happened, but no amount of consolation made him stop. He just wished that he was there, that he could have gone back in time to save him from the invasion that destroyed Elysia.
Theodora, Eizen, Michael, Nana, and all those they had lost over the course of their journey were memorialized with the Song. Their souls could almost be seen dancing around their respective friends and family. Reisha’s Song permeated through everyone in such a way that no one could describe.
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Luca and Cloche requested that they go to Mikry Forest once they left the Moon Culvert. There, they buried Reisha’s remains and asked that Edna make a small tombstone for her; the earth seraph fashioned one from stone and crystal as a memorial in their honor. When they were left alone, they stood together in silence.
“I’m so sorry, Lady Cloche,” Luca said somberly. “You didn’t get to talk with her that much, especially because we were down on the Glenwood Continent.”
“I’m sorry that she…that she thought you hated her…” Cloche told her equally as sad. She held onto her sister’s arm. “I was hoping that we could finally be together as a family. But…but now, we can’t…” Her voice gave way to the sobs that she had been holding back.
Luca cried with her, the two hugging each other before falling to their knees. The two sisters had always been at odds, but now knowing that they had been separated and pitted against each other, they wanted to reconcile. Had they not have been forced to go to the Glenwood Continent and lived together in the ruins of Lohgrin, had they not taken unto them the prerogative to continue learning about each other, would they have come this far? No one could say. Their history was unknown to Sorey, Rose, and Alisha. All that mattered now was creating Metafalica in the memory of those that had fallen.
“Luca, let’s meet in the Infelsphere as soon as we can,” Cloche told her. “We’re so close to Metafalica; we cannot afford to waste any more time.”
“Let’s go home,” Luca told her.
The girls dried their tears, and with new hope and determination, they regrouped with their friends just outside of the forest. When they met with them, Shun was in the middle of them. Rose looked troubled.
“When you say ‘hacked’, that means someone is controlling her mind, right?” Rose asked him. She glanced at Sorey, who also seemed to be thinking about who or what was using Raki.
The Shepherd remembered what had happened in Pendrago, specifically the desire to pull every person’s consciousness into Infel Phira. Frelia was required to make that possible and, linking what he and his companions had learned about the D-Cellophane, he realized that Frelia had also been hacked long before she came to their world.
“Luca, Cloche,” Shun suddenly said. “Have you obtained the Hymn Crystal from the Infelsphere Platomine?”
“The what now?” Luca replied.
“Well, that answers my question. You haven’t yet completed the Infelsphere.”
“I thought we did…!” Cloche said. “Well, I mean…I thought we were close to being done…”
“You’ll know when you’ve finished it. Now then, everyone, as our Maidens finish their mission, I shall explain what our next objective is.” Without any further discussion, Shun led the large group back to Mint Block.
Notes:
So the tone shifted from pretty happy to depressing, didn't it? Reisha's song Eternally Bonded is beautiful, so writing to that at the end was pretty blissful in a weird way.
Chapter 135: Phase 5: Infelsphere Platomine
Summary:
Still reeling from Reisha's death, Cloche and Luca work together to finish the Infelsphere. While they sleep and dream, Rose reflects on Reisha's final song and the memories that it pulls back from the depths of heart.
Notes:
When I was writing this chapter, I realized that I really didn't want to go in-depth with the Infelsphere. The context of the final part relies on basically AT2 in its ENTIRETY. Besides, I want to build up more of Rose and Dezel's characters together. I don't think Rose is completely happy-go-lucky and hies her stuff--better than everyone else at that.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
As soon as they returned to Reisha’s now lonely house, Luca and Cloche went upstairs to the bedroom. A long plush-looking creature was asleep on their pillows. It greeted them with a chirp when it sensed them enter the room. This creature was named Soope, and it was the only way that the maidens could access the still locked levels of the Infelsphere, the equivalent of very special and very specific shared cosmosphere. When they had thought they had completed it, it was simply because they weren’t allowed to continue with their growth.
Shun asked that everyone made themselves comfortable on the first floor of Reisha’s empty home. Rose, Dezel, and Sorey sat closest to him to glean the most of what he had to tell them.
Unlike Eolia, Frelia was a mystery to most of the people on the Glenwood Continent. The history and culture was completely separated from everything else; Eolia’s history could be traced back to a few hundred years before then even with most of the record erased by the seraphim that eventually migrated to places like Elysia and the Tower itself. Frelia had never touched their land. The citizens on it were seraphim, and after its creation when the stairway to Pastlia used to be open, humans most likely found their way up there. A part of a structure called the Heavenly Steppes was used to make the path to it, but it was only hearsay until recently.
Perhaps the truth was stranger than what they had expected. Eolia and Tilia were created by humans. Frelia, in sharp contrast, was completely made of matter produced by Song Magic. Naturally, Rose was skeptical. It went against the law of conservation, as she knew it. Be that as it did, Shun stressed that the Tower they were currently visiting was nothing more than the physical manifestation of incredibly strong Song Magic. Or rather, it used to be. Now that Frelia, the Goddess to those in their floating continent Metafalss, was losing her power to some force, it was a matter of time before the Tower collapsed. If the Tower collapsed, the seraphim in the Rolance region would suffer greatly.
“There’s a hidden part of this Tower called the Tower to the Heavens,” Shun explained. “This Tower is also a product of Lady Frelia’s Song Magic, hidden after the Gran Inferia, which was a cataclysmic war that devastated this Tower. If we were to make it reappear now in her weakened state, either Lady Frelia would die or the Tower would fall then vanish.”
“The Tower of the Heavens—that’s where Raki went with the Heart of Gaea, right?” Sorey asked him.
“Yes, she’s most likely taken it back to Sol Marta at the very top where Frelia used to sleep.”
Rose and Sorey were caught in a conundrum. If the only way to get to Sol Marta was through the Tower to the Heavens, it was something they had to risk. Still, neither one of them wanted to have the burden of killing the Origin of the Second Tower.
“I don’t expect any of you to make the decision since ultimately it will be up to the Maidens of Mio and Homura,” Shun told them. “So until then, I suggest that we rest. After all, I’m sure you humans are still rattled by what happened in the Moon Culvert.” He looked at Rose, who had appeared uneasy since then.
Leglius and Amarie both thought about Cloche and Luca, respectively; since they had the time, they decided to catch the Shepherd and his friends up on what had happened prior to the arrival on the Glenwood Continent. Cloche and Luca were the chosen maidens to sing Metafalica to save their people. Unfortunately, the Grand Bell had lost the trust of their people after their first attempt at Metafalica ended in failure, and the people had become more bitter and wary of them after they disappeared. Jacqli, unfazed by what she had learned from Shun and the Maidens’ guards, thought it would be best to talk with Sorey about how he felt about the situation. She was curious if seeing the Heart of Gaea he needed really was had discouraged him from saving his seraph. Edna and Zaveid stayed with him despite Cocona asking them to tell her about the Glenwood Continent outside of the Lohgrin area. Alisha and Lailah were also asked to share what they knew. Shun simply waited by the stairs to make sure that no one intruded on Cloche and Luca.
That left Rose and Dezel. The red-haired assassin stepped outside of the house into the golden sunset that fell over the prairie-like town. It was so quiet and peaceful that she couldn’t help to be reminded of her home with the Sparrowfeathers when they lived in the Tintagel Ruins. She wondered what Eguille and Rosh and the Ayn Twins were up to. The memories that she had always thought were blurry were sharpening, and soon she remembered the stern face of the man that had saved her from certain death as a child.
“Geez, why did she have to sing a Song like that?” she mumbled to herself. “I could have gone on living without remembering how all that stuff happened for a second time.”
Rose’s real family and entire village had been destroyed, and she was the lone survivor. She had been stuck in the wreckage for days. She had been hungry, covered in the blood of her parents, and traumatized before Brad found her. Then she met Dezel, and she felt somewhat safer up until Brad’s life was ended by Prince Konan.
Dezel stood by himself in Reisha’s house unsure of whether he should have followed the girl or not. Alisha approached him while Lailah explained to Cocona about Ladylake, urging him to go check on her.
“Rose seems like she is a strong woman, but I can’t help but think she hides her suffering—sort of like someone we all know,” Alisha told him.
“It’s not my business unless she gets hurt,” Dezel curtly replied, though he couldn’t hide the tinge of pink on his cheeks when the princess brought it up. After a few more seconds of her pushing him to go, he gave in. “I’m sure she’s—”
He hastily walked out of the house to Rose. He felt what he thought was malevolence, but in reality, it was Rose’s attempt at forgetting what happened to her. He found her staring into the center of the village where there looked to be something of a quarry.
“Rose, are you alright?” he asked while trying to mask the concern in his voice.
The assassin faced him for a second, and in her aura, he felt a darkness that hadn’t been there for years. Using his wind, he traced the features on her face only to find that they seemed lifeless, drained, exhausted.
“Are…you alright?” he asked again.
Even when he walked up to her, he was afraid to extend a helping hand or lend her his shoulder. Rose was rarely ever upset like this. The last time that she had been so distraught was when he had been released from Pendrago’s prisons.
“I thought I had forgotten it all,” she said listlessly. She lowered her eyes and head, her red hair falling out of the clips and pins that held her bangs out of her face. “I really thought that I had locked those memories away, but they came back. And now all I can think about is how horribly everyone I loved died.”
Dezel remained silent.
“I must be really unlucky. Mom and Dad died before I could even remember their faces. Brad died because I was too stupid to realize it had been a trap. Because of me, your friend Lafarga became infected and had to die. I’ve already almost caused you to lose yourself once. And now, when I tried to help Luca and Cloche get their mom back, Reisha had to go and die, too.” She smiled at Dezel tearfully even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “Why am I so weak? I can’t even save myself from these memories.”
The malevolence was starting to take hold of her heart. Dezel rushed to her, wrapping her in his arms and pressing her head against his chest so that the beating of his own heart could be heard deep in her mind.
“None of this is your fault,” he told her vehemently. “You’ve been trying your whole life to do what you needed to, so now isn’t the time to throw it all away. Besides, I’m still here. After all that happened—my heart was almost completely destroyed, but you put it back together. Because of that, I’m still here. And I’m going to stay here with you. Those memories can keep coming back. I’ll use every ounce of my strength to rip them apart from you!”
Rose was more than surprised at the sudden declaration. She believed him, but she worried that she was just another burden. No matter how much she wanted to be independent and to do good things for the people in need, she felt like she was always the one in trouble when it came to her wind seraph. She didn’t have the strength to return the hug to Dezel; she was frozen in his embrace. She just felt the tips of his hair brushing against her cheek and the warm sturdiness of his body holding her up.
“I’m sorry, Dezel,” she whimpered. “I want to be strong for you, but here I am…a blubbering mess…!”
“You’ve taught me that you can show weakness and still be strong. And you’re not a blubbering mess, and if you still think you are…then you’re my blubbering mess.”
“Just don’t tell anyone that I was crying about something like this,” she laughed through her sniffles. “I-I can’t let Sorey and Alisha know that I have insecurities, too. We have to keep on keeping on.”
Dezel reassured her that her secret was safe. He felt silly that he had said something so stereotypically heroic to her, but he was happy that she felt a little better. He wished he could make her happier.
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Luca and Cloche woke up next to each other on the large bed in Luca’s bedroom. Soope sat between them, glowing faintly and gradually getting brighter. The girls looked confusedly at each other.
“Soope, what’s going on?” Luca asked it.
“It’s time to give you what you’ve earned,” Soope replied. “Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am the Infelsphere Platomine, otherwise a guide.”
Soope’s purpose was solely to help the Maidens of Mio and Homura to connect with each other. The girls had only been the maidens in name, but now that they had connected to each other and shared their feelings between them, they were ready to sing Metafalica together and bring about the green floating continent that they had promised to their people. Its body shined brighter.
“But that doesn’t explain anything!” Cloche said.
“It does,” Soope replied. “My body will transform into the Hymn Crystal that you’ve been looking for. Long ago, Luca’s version of Metafalica was absorbed into her but not into Cloche. Now, I shall reveal the version that Cloche needs to support the Maiden of Homura.”
“But if your body transforms, you’ll disappear!” Luca cried.
“Yes, but don’t be sad. I will always be with you. Now, sing this Song and show the world the love you hold for it!”
With that, Soope disappeared, and in its place was a large Hymn Crystal pulsating with the IPD version of Metafalica. Luca and Cloche, who had just lost their mother, now grieved that they had lost yet another friend. They mourned together knowing that half of their friends wouldn’t understand why their hearts were broken.
“Lady Cloche, are you ready?” Luca asked. She wanted to keep moving before she was pulled back into her sadness. “I, Luca Trulyworth and sister to Lady Cloche, would like to implement this Song into you.”
“I, Cloche Leythal Pastalia, will accept the Hymn,” Cloche said after regaining her composure.
“It’s such a powerful Song that it might hurt a little. Just hold on.” After the two girls moved to the center of the room, Luca began the incantation for Cloche to take on the Song. “cEzYA hymmnos. 5100 –x tArm azit tn=METAFALICA. es tn=>sol.infel-phira.mea.”
A halo of light formed around Cloche as the Song planted itself into her soul and mixed with her feelings. Her mind focused on it, and it almost felt as if she had been transported to another world—to the world within her heart.
-------------------------------------
Cloche found herself standing at her Stonehenge, where a woman with long dark blue hair, round glasses, and a stuffed rabbit toy was waiting for her. She had an expectant smile on her pink lips.
“Who are you?” Cloche asked her.
“My name is Infel,” the woman replied.
“Infel…you’re the one that started all this!”
Infel and her rabbit seemed to get angry at the notion, but she didn’t deny it. “It’s true that I started the Metafalica Project and all the other associated projects, but don’t talk about it like it’s a bad thing!”
“Why are you here? I thought we got rid of you in the Infelsphere long ago!”
“Oh, hush, child. Consider this a formal declaration of war and also a warning.”
Cloche didn’t understand her, so she listened to what she had to say. Infel recounted her failures with Nenesha when they were the Maidens destined to bring forth Metafalica. The Song that she had just absorbed to create Metafalica, according to Infel, was also going to fail.
“I’ve been acting as your mind guardian, Lady Cloche, and I can tell you that all the nastiness and doubt you have will only serve to drive your people away from you. When you sing that Song, all the IPDs will be able to see all of the malevolence in your heart. They’ll turn on you just like they turned on me. So, it’s pointless. Singing that Song is utterly and completely pointless,” Infel said nonchalantly. “If you don’t want to die, your sister the Goddess Maiden to die, Lady Frelia to die—then you must gather everyone to sing with you. Gather a thousand fellow singers to share those feelings with you as they reach the Goddess Maiden and transfer that energy to Frelia.”
Cloche came to a realization. Could she do that to Luca? No, she had to. Luca had become the Maiden of Homura to support her dream to create Metafalica and save the Tower. “So that’s how it works,” she said thoughtfully.
“Yep, but it’s impossible. Getting that many people to sing and then allowing them to see into your soul and gaze upon all the ugliness inside of you—”
Cloche bowed to her. “Thank you, Lady Infel. I now understand what I must do. It wasn’t an accident that Luca and I were taken away from this Tower.”
Infel raised an eyebrow.
“I miss Croix dearly, and no one can ever replace him, but it’s because he protected us until we got to Lohgrin that we survived. We met Sorey, Alisha, and Rose—the Shepherd and his Squires. Just when Luca and I were fine with staying on the land below, we found our way back here with their help. They are the hope that these people needed. And I shall sing that same hope to my people.”
Infel couldn’t help by give her a smile. “Let’s hope you’re right, then. Prove to me that you can unite your people. Nenesha and I will be waiting.”
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Cloche woke up with Luca shaking her vigorously and crying her name. She asked her to calm down before telling her that they needed to move. They had to find Infel and Nenesha and stop them. Without another minute to waste, the two Maidens raced downstairs to their friends.
“Oh, how did it go?” Amarie asked excitedly.
“Fine; we’ve officially completed the Infelsphere to its full extent and received the Hymn Crystal containing the other version of Metafalica,” Cloche told her.
Shun nodded. He was aware that there had been two versions of the Song. He asked her what she wanted to do next. She stated that she needed to have all of the People of Metafalss gather at Grand Bell Hall. It was imperative that they listened to what she had to say. Then she looked at Rose and Sorey.
“Lord Shepherd and Lady Squire,” she started. She got on her knees and bowed before them, much to their surprise and embarrassment. “I must humbly ask that you help me give hope to my people. There are a lot of things you don’t know and will never understand about them, but the Shepherd is Hope Incarnate. I want so desperately to unite my people, but they will not listen to me and Luca alone.”
Sorey suddenly felt overwhelmed. The people on the Second Tower were filled with bitterness; he could sense it from the malevolence that polluted the air. How could she be so sure that they would listen to him? Rose, on the other hand, was ready to do her part.
“Even if you were to rally your people under your wings, Lady Cloche,” Shun suddenly said. “There is still yet another problem.” He took a breath. “There is something else to consider. Raki has stolen the Heart of Gaea, which will help create the land that you wish for. She has taken it back to Sol Marta beyond the Tower to the Heavens. To reveal it, energy must be redirected into it.”
“What are you saying?” Luca cautiously asked.
“The Rim requires twice as much energy to keep it afloat, and with Lady Frelia’s power waning, she cannot support the Rim and reveal the Tower to the Heavens. In that case, she must drop half of the Rim.”
Notes:
Intricacies, intricacies...but I think it would be interesting for Sorey and Rose to basically campaign for Cloche. And given how much I've dragged them through the dirt, can they still be hopeful themselves?
Chapter 136: Phase 5: METHOD_METAFALICA/.
Summary:
Having made the decision to drop half of the Rim, Cloche must convince her people that it is a necessary step in peace. The Song she sings fills Rose's and Sorey's hearts. Perhaps they can accomplish their goal.
Notes:
I really do love any chapter that has a reference to the music in AT2! This chapter references Hartes ciel, melenas walasye and Cloche's version of Metafalica, so if you can listen while you read, definitely look them up!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It was a tough idea to get behind. Luca and Cloche led the way back to Pastalia from Mint Block, but the revelation that completing their mission also meant betraying their people again made them feel sick and nervous. Sorey, Alisha, and Rose had volunteered to go to the different towns to bring people to the lush capital to listen to the Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell. While people seemed to consider it, the hostility they felt towards their maidens and to the Shepherd and Squires on the basis that they were assisting them was evident.
Alisha travelled to Enna with Lailah and Cocona and Jacqli. They pleaded with the people there that had survived the fall of Cat Mansion and Promise Hill. The bitter crowds booed the mentions of listening to Cloche sing Metafalica. Spica tried to convince those that were coming to her pharmacy to go to Pastalia, but it was to no avail. There were individuals that were on the fence about Cloche, ultimately deciding to go just to have an opinion.
Rose, Dezel, Amarie, and Luca went to Rakshek, which held among the people of that bustling city some passersby from Mint Block. Young Sasha prayed that they would listen to what she believed to be saviors, but even Skycat and others who knew Luca personally were hesitant.
“Come on!” Rose passionately rallied. “Lots of you know Luca! Why won’t you support her?! Do you hate her or something?!”
The people jeered and argued with the red-haired assassin until the wind seraph blasted them with a mighty gust of wind that quickly silenced the roaring crowds. Luca tried to speak her piece, and Amarie supported her, but despite their working together, no one was listening to them.
“Luca, you’ve got to sing—show them exactly how you feel,” Amarie told her.
“Sing? I don’t know…” the Maiden of Homura replied. “The malevolence…it scares me.”
“If hellions attack you, we’ll get them,” Rose reassured her. She took her hands and held them. “If they won’t listen to reason, then they’ll listen to the emotions in your heart.”
“Hmph, oddly sincere of you,” Dezel muttered.
Amarie, without another word, sat on the cobblestone ground. She took the large ring in her hair and strung it like a lute. As she began to strum, she glanced at Luca with expectant eyes. Luca swallowed her fear, and through the nervousness that was holding her back, she began to swing a sweet and innocent song. The citizens of Rakshek and Mint Block listened to her, and slowly and gradually, they softened. The music coming from Amarie’s lute as well as the added instruments of musicians that were compelled to join in had a purifying effect; Dezel and Rose felt the malevolence in their hearts disappear with each lyric. The people clapped along with her voice. Overtaken with the comfort and joy that her music held now that her feelings and wishes to create Metafalica resonated with them. Still, how was she going to prepare them for the decision that Cloche had come to?
In Pastalia; Sorey, Edna, Zaveid, and Leglius worked relentlessly to gather people at the Grand Bell Hall’s balcony. Waterfall Park and the center of the city were constantly filled with people, but they weren’t listening. Edna and Zaveid had tried to get their attention by using their Seraphic Artes and Song Magic, yet they still fell on deaf ears. It hurt Sorey as he began to fear that his influence as the Shepherd held no more meaning than Cloche’s position as the Maiden of Mio.
“Please, you have to listen to me!” Sorey begged them. “Lady Cloche needs you to listen to her! She needs your support!”
“The Holy Maiden can go to hell!” a man yelled at him.
“We’ve only known suffering because of her!” a woman added.
“She’s trying to correct that! If you come to the Grand Bell Hall, she can show you her feelings!” Sorey fought back. Leglius placed a hand on his shoulder. “We can’t give up. I…We need to get the Heart of Gaea back.”
“You can lead people down the path to salvation, but if they refuse to look forward into that light, there’s nothing else you can do,” Cloche’s bodyguard told him.
Sorey had to accept the setback for what it was. Zaveid and Edna returned inside of him, relaying that they had gotten a few people including a local weaponsmith who believed them. She was a young woman that wore a welder’s mask on her head and thick gloves. She was someone that had always envied Cloche and Luca for being so close to Croix, but she knew that Cloche was a trustworthy person.
“I’m not surprised,” Leglius said with a smile. “Cynthia loved Croix and was an avid supporter of his efforts to support Lady Cloche. She’s a rather infectious woman, so if she comes along, then others will follow.”
Sorey still wasn’t satisfied. Regardless, it was time to return to Cloche’s bedroom in the palace. There, Shun and Cloche talked with Frelia. It couldn’t be avoided. They had no choice but to drop the remainder of the broken half of the Rim to reserve enough energy to reveal the Tower to the Heavens. Cloche was trembling with anxiety. It was an immensely unpopular decision she was making, and not only that, the grave of her and Luca’s mother would disappear among the mountains of the Glenwood Continent as well.
“I have to do this,” she told herself. “I can’t always be afraid of my people. I am here to guide them to the world they are wishing for!”
“Lady Cloche, please make your way to talk to them,” Shun told her. “I will stay here with Lady Frelia.”
Frelia, frail and unstable, hugged Cloche as tightly as she could. “I have hope in you, Maiden of Mio,” she whispered to her. She lightly kissed her head. “I give you my blessing as the Origin of this Tower.”
Cloche, somewhat more comfortable with her job with Frelia’s faith in her, left her bedroom. Her friends waited in the hall, reporting in with the droves of people from Enna and Rakshek who had changes of hearts to listen to what she had to say. Luca held her hands and asked if she should go with her, but Cloche asked her to stay where she was. When Rose requested to come with her, she hesitated.
“You’re not from this Tower, so…a lot of people would feel uncomfortable,” Cloche told her.
“I don’t care,” Rose quickly responded. “I need to see this for myself.”
Cloche allowed her to follow, yet Dezel was somewhat irritated. Rose still couldn’t express her feelings completely to him. He had thought that by lending a shoulder to cry on that she would depend on him. Although he had been told to stay in the hall with his comrades, he wanted to be with his human as a testament to their good will. Zaveid watched him seemingly sulk before chasing after them.
“Heh, looks like it’s finally gotten through that thick skull,” he murmured with a smile.
Outside on the balcony looking over the massive crowd that Cloche’s friends had worked so hard to gather, malevolence swirled. Rose’s constitution was challenged as well as Dezel’s, but they braced themselves. These were the conditions required to launch hellions at Lady Cloche, and she would no doubt be taken by surprise if she was left unprotected. The IPD Queen scanned her people before beginning her speech:
“Hello, People of Metafalss.”
The crowd immediately began to boo and insult her. They called for her to step down, some going as far as to demand she execute herself for ruining their lives.
“I want to thank you all for gathering her today. First, I would like to apologize for my absence. I have been gone for a long time, and I understand that you might think I abandoned you. This is not the case. I was taken to the land below—the land that we all have been told was toxic and threatened our lives. It’s true. The Glenwood Continent below is poisoned with malice and greed much like Metafalss is, but during my time down there, I have learned what it means to be the Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell. Some of our friends and families were spirited away, and they may not be able to return. No, I refuse to let them return to this broken world.
“In my time on the Glenwood Continent, I met and learned about my partner. My dearest sister, Luca, is the Goddess Maiden, but I admit that I was far too stubborn to understand her in the past. Today, after we’ve both grown, we realized that not just one of us can create Metafalica on her own. Metafalica requires the two of us, and Metafalica requires all of you. Luca and I have learned that there are two versions of the Song Magic needed to create our shining promised land. And…in this moment…I want to sing for you. I want to sing Metafalica for you and leave my heart bare for all of you to see. I know what may come—I know that you will see all the ugliness I have tried so hard to hide, but I’m not afraid anymore. I’m not ashamed of it anymore. As the Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell, I implore you, my people, to listen to this Song with all your heart and understand my wishes.”
Cloche brought her hands together to her chest as she began to sing the Song that she had just acquired. Her angelic voice rang out over the furious crowd, fear absent from it. Her voice swelled as it moved past the apprehension that so often seized her heart. The Song was stoic and strong, confident and pristine. The people of Metafalss and Rose couldn’t help but be drawn into the lyrics. The Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell wasn’t just singing to prove herself. She was singing for her people’s happiness. She was singing to ease Rose’s heart. She was singing to make her long-lost mother proud as she watched over her.
There were still some in the crowd that booed and jeered at her, but the Song continued yet. The Song of Hope called Metafalica drowned out the negative emotions propagated by those corrupted by malevolence. Sorey and his friends listened from within the hall, and he could feel the purifying effects of the Song that was meant to build land from one’s heart. Above the crowd, a bright light shined. The people gasped in fear and surprise as they witnessed Infel Phira transform in the sky from a sphere into something of a jewel within a shell. Luca couldn’t believe that Cloche’s Song was making it change its form. The light coming from it slowly warmed the people, enveloping them in a love that they longed for. And the other seraphim that listened were awakened to the emotions swirling in her mind. Connected via Infel Phira, they admired the love that Cloche held at the very core of her being.
“Please,” Cloche said as she sang. “If you do not want this, you are free to look away and leave. But if you find this pleasant, I beg of you, my people. Please, lend me your power, and sing this Song with my sister and me. We need your help to create Metafalica!”
The seraphim cheered and hummed along, the lyrics still unfamiliar to them. The people cheered for this was what they were waiting for. The Song drew to a close, and Luca embraced Cloche. They retired to the hall while their people dissipated to talk amongst themselves about the imminent realization of their hopes and dreams. Among them, staring at the balcony from where Cloche had sung, Alfman stood.
“Looks like the little bird has finally grown up and left the nest,” he said. “But for how long will she soar?”
-------------------------------------
“You were amazing, Lady Cloche!” Luca happily celebrated. “The way you sang, the looks on everyone’s faces!”
She hugged her sister tightly before Leglius scolded her for bothering her. He noticed that Cloche looked pale and exhausted. She began to collapse, but Rose and Dezel caught her before she hit the floor.
“As expected of a high caliber Song like that,” Jacqli nonchalantly said. “Either version of Metafalica draws a tremendous amount of energy, so it isn’t a big surprise that she fainted.”
They took Cloche to her bedroom to recover from the Song, and Rose watched over her with Luca. Leglius, Sorey, and Alisha headed to the audience chamber to begin preparations for talking with a counsel of governors and chancellors about the next step in getting to the Tower to the Heavens. It was a matter that the Holy Maiden would have to discuss herself, but her bodyguard knew that it was an extremely unpopular decision. It worried Luca.
“Cloche is a lot stronger than she looks, huh?” Rose said. “She reminds me of Sorey in a way. She’s trying to make everyone happy, and she doesn’t care what hardship she has to go to go through to make sure her goal is accomplished.”
“Yeah, but…Lady Cloche gets nervous about this kind of stuff. She was nervous even while she was singing,” Luca explained. “Your seraphim probably get nervous, too. To sing with all your heart and soul in front of so many people that might not even listen is really scary.”
Dezel was like that. Rose remembered how terrified he was of letting her Dive so deep into him and how he had run away from her. When he sang Armatus, he was trembling. It never occurred to her that all seraphim probably felt like that, and she felt guilty for not understanding.
Cloche roused soon after silence fell over the room. Lady Frelia and Shun had already gone to the audience chamber, so Luca and Rose escort her. The maiden still felt faint, but she pushed through it. She had won the hearts of her people, but now she had to convince them to let the rest of the broken half of the Rim fall.
“How can we possibly agree to that?!” the mayor of Mint Block blasted at Sorey. “That’s our home! We can’t just let it fall!”
“I understand, but it must be done if we want to help Lady Cloche,” Sorey calmly said.
“But why must it be Mint Block? Where will my people go!? Pastalia?!”
“That’s not fair!” the representative from Rakshek countered. “If you’re going to let those from Mint Block live in Pastalia, then I would gladly move everyone from Rakshek and let them live there!”
“T-That’s preposterous!” Alisha exclaimed.
Cloche stepped up to the podium. “Sorey, Alisha, Leglius; I admire your effort to mediate, but allow me to take over,” she told them. She looked at each representative. “I know this is a hard decision to make. I’ve just sung the Song that holds the key to our happiness, yet I’m here asking you to sacrifice your livelihoods.”
“Damn right, you are!” the chairman of Enna blurted.
“But please understand. This is a necessary step,” she continued. She looked at Shun, who nodded at her. “The Tower we live on is a product of Lady Frelia’s Song Magic. There is somewhere that we need to go, but we are unable to if she has to be forced to support the whole Tower.”
Shun approached the gathering with Lady Frelia nervously standing by him. He explained as superficially as he could about Frelia’s condition and why they needed to drop half of the Rim. Humans couldn’t know about the Tower to the Heavens, but they were allowed to know that if Frelia worked herself to death trying to maintain the entire Tower and help them to their destination, everyone would fall from the sky and perish in the mountains below. The governors, chancellors, counselors, and representatives that were there were forced to swallow that information. Instead of giving their permission to drop part of the Rim, they all left angry with Cloche and Luca.
“What the heck? Don’t they know that it’s hard for us, too?” Luca whined. “We don’t want to do this, but there’s no other way!”
“It can’t be helped. I’m sure there’s a way to convince them,” Cloche said with resignation.
“Maybe we can try and explain it again?” Sorey suggested.
Frelia flinched. Shun noticed, and quickly said, “We don’t have that kind of time. Besides, we’re still out of luck if we don’t have another component to all of this.”
“Another component?” Rose repeated.
Shun nodded. “Yes. How are we to get to the Tower to the Heavens without a way? That Song that Edna sang—there a similar one that is specifically created for Frelia to sing. That Song is called Viena.”
“Oh boy, I basically did a cover of another Song then,” Edna grumbled. “How annoying. Couldn’t even be a star if I wanted to with only covers.”
“Edna,” Lailah chastised.
Shun knew where the Hymn Crystal containing the Song was because Raki had hidden it long ago. There was a specific place below Pastalia called the Slums. There was a large elevator there, and it led to Lift 0. Lift 0 was the only way to go down to the Gyro Stabilizer, the object that kept the Tower afloat in the sky. It was filled with deadly poison from volcanic and sulfuric ash from the Glenwood Continent, but no matter how dangerous it was, they had to venture down there to get it.
Notes:
The culmination up to this point is really something, isn't it? We're probably about halfway through Phase 5 now, but man...even at this point, there's just a lot of emotion...
Chapter 137: Phase 5: The Maidens and the Fallen
Summary:
Symonne approaches Infel and Nenesha with alliance.
Notes:
Working behind the scenes! I wonder what will happen?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Symonne found her way into Sol Marta high above the Tower. Using a conniving array of her Seraphic Artes and Song Magic, she had overcome the invisible barrier that still impeded her enemies. The malevolence that flooded the server of the Second Tower was like nectar to her, bringing her closer and closer to the point of all the negative emotions that were poisoning the IPDs below. She found herself in the center of the server, and standing there feeding into Infel Phira despite Cloche’s Song were two women.
One had long dark blue hair tied in a high ponytail. Tiny circle glasses sat on the bridge of her nose, and her headdress was decorated with an intricate metal crescent moon. In her arms was a stuffed toy rabbit that reflected her emotions. The other had fluffy pink hair and a large red bow decorated with a sun in the center. There was a plump braid on either side of her face, making her look deceptively cute.
The two women had been watching Cloche and Rose and their friends from Sol Marta for quite sometime, and Symonne knew exactly how they came to be there. She, however, was unable to predict their behavior. They had been working so hard to create Metafalica that she couldn’t tell if they were willing to align themselves with Heldalf.
“Hello, Maiden of Mio, Maiden of Homura,” Symonne greeted them. The two women grimaced at her. “My, why the scary faces?”
“We know who you are,” the Maiden of Mio Infel said.
“We didn’t think you would be so brash as to intrude on our domain,” the Maiden of Homura Nenesha added.
“Is it intrusion?” Symonne asked them.
“The Tower to the Heavens has been invisible for hundreds of years to keep those who don’t belong out, so yes, you’re intruding,” Infel explained to her.
“Well, allow me to cut to the chase. If you’ve heard what happened to the First Tower, then you should know that we’ve lost a key proponent for carrying out Lord Heldalf’s commands.”
Symonne watched Infel’s intense eyes.
“What does that have to do with us?” Nenesha asked her.
“Naturally, Lady Infel and Lady Nenesha—prominent figures in the history of Second Tower and the pioneers of the conception of Metafalica—would help not only to balance our side but also overwhelm the Shepherd and his seraphim.”
Infel scoffed at the thought. She waved the fallen seraph away, deciding the peon of a seraph to be insignificant of her time. Symonne titled her head back and shrugged. She didn’t expect Infel and Nenesha to join her, but she had to try.
“Why would you decline? Lord Heldalf is working to make this world better. Wouldn’t you want to purge those unfit to live in your utopia before allowing entry?” the fallen seraph asked.
“What would be the purpose of destroying a world intentionally only to rebuild it from scratch?” Infel questioned her. “The Second Tower and its people have been suffering for centuries, and now that Cloche and Luca are so close to creating our promised land for us, we don’t even have to work that hard after this!”
Nenesha giggled, coyly covering her face. “Why didn’t we think of this before, my dearest Infel? Let other maidens do the heavy lifting and sweep Metafalica from under their feet! Then we can truly have our own personal paradise.”
Symonne simply smirked as she felt the malevolence coming off the selfish maidens. She held her face as she reveled in the wickedness that she loved so much. The more the maidens talked and fantasized about their perfect world, the more the malevolence grew, and the IPDs that still roamed the Tower in their illness howled in agony. It beckoned into the darkness, and soon enough, the Lord of Calamity came forth from it. Infel and Nenesha stopped their giggling, their eyes glaring at him.
“Take a hint, girl!” Nenesha bit. “We don’t need you!”
“Nenesha, stop,” Infel told her partner. She approached Heldalf and Symonne with the grace of a queen. Still holding her stuffed rabbit, she warned Heldalf and Symonne not to meddle in her Tower’s affairs. “I already told you that it is meaningless to destroy the world just to recreate it. We have our way of doing things, and you have yours. Now leave from this place. We have business to attend to.”
Heldalf and Symonne watched as Infel walked back to her partner. While Symonne was ready to keep pressuring them to join them—even considering using force—Heldalf accepted that they didn’t want to join forces. He told the seraph to stand down; there were other things that could be implemented to break the Shepherd and his Squires. He bid his farewell, beckoning Symonne behind him as he left Sol Marta for quiet Volgran Forest.
“Milord, why not pressure them?” Symonne asked Heldalf.
“We have far greater allies than two measly maidens who are only barely clinging to their power,” Heldalf smirked. “Have you forgotten about Harvestasha?”
“If these two maidens won’t join us, how can we be certain that Ar Ru will?”
“Suzunomia, Luphan, and Harvestasha have made a deal. Should the need arise, I can persuade her myself,” Heldalf told her while flexing all of his claw-like fingers. “For now, we must wait. Find Lunarre and bring him to me. We have yet another use for him.
Symonne bowed to her master and began her search for the fox hellion. She was sure that he had run away from the Second Tower, and it only took a small fraction of her power to locate him. She teleported across the Glenwood Continent in search of him until she finally found him near Lohgrin eyeing other seraphim from atop the crumbling walls around the camp. He stared intensely at Saki.
“My, aren’t you a bright one,” Symonne jabbed at him. “Was it really that hard to follow orders?”
“Shut it, wench!” Lunarre barked at her. “I said I would help, but I’m not getting fried by some weird angel thing. Besides, those maidens are stronger than they look.”
“So is the Shepherd, but you’re willing to kill him.”
“Because he’s working with that bitch of a guild leader! The only thing I care to do is rip that girl’s head from her body and devour her seraph. If I get the Shepherd in the crossfire, that’s only just another course in my meal.”
Symonne sighed. “One-track minds are always the simplest, I presume,” she said. Both of them kept their eyes on Saki as she tried to talk with others. “Lord Heldalf has another task for you. And if you truly are that eager to kill the assassin, then this will be easy for you.”
Notes:
Incredibly short chapter today, but quite an interesting one. While I think Heldalf wants as many people on his side as he can get, I don't think he would outright force people to work him. Not because he doesn't want to challenge them but because he wants to allocate his energy in a more efficient way. Infel and Nenesha probably would alight with him if they didn't already have their plan. So they have the same wishes of a utopia, but for vastly different reasons. Heldalf is like Thanos, but Infel and Nenesha...just want a world for themselves.
Chapter 138: Phase 5: Infiltration of the Divine Army
Summary:
Upon finding Lift 0 in the Slums, the Divine Army attacks the heroes. Jacqli, however, has a devious way to combat that assault but not without casting doubt into Rose's relationship with Dezel.
Notes:
Wow, it feels like it's been forever since I last updated this one! Even though it's been two weeks. I'm finishing my second semester in my master's program, and it really feels like it's been 84 years. But we'll keep on going!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
At the bottom of Pastalia was the area known as the Slums. It was a safe haven for IPDs that had been cured of the IPD disease but were still ostracized for fear that they would attempt to kill humans again. Every once in a while, there would be a relapse, and it was normally the Grand Bell Knights’ job to detain the infected individual. It was a place that Cocona hated and that Cloche regretted was a reality. Still, plenty of the IPDs were fond of their holy maiden. In fact, Alisha and Rose were interested in talking to a few while Sorey helped Leglius and Shun locate Lift 0. The Squires found out that the IPDs, enamored with their Lady Cloche, created a fan club to support her. The president of the fan club boasted that the bigger it got, the stronger Cloche’s Song will be.
“Do you mean Metafalica?” Alisha asked.
“There’s a Song called Replekia that changes Infel Phira into a cannon!” the president Reine grinned. Cradling her face, swooning left and right as she went on dreamily about her queen. “Lady Cloche starts singing Replekia to change Infel Phira into a cannon, and each of us sing with her to amplify its power! It’s amazing!”
“Turning Infel Phira into a cannon, huh?” Rose muttered thoughtfully. The Song sounded very similar to the Song that Frelia was forced to sing, though it seemed more like Cloche had the right to use it as a weapon.
Edna, Lailah, Zaveid, and Dezel did some investigating of their own. Amarie and Cocona were catching up with a few of the IPDs when the seraphim found there was a cracked wall. Piles of debris were blocking it, but there was no mistaking the feeling that they got. Zaveid called everyone else to it.
“Definitely picking up some mana or something behind it,” he said with his arms crossed.
“We can blast it away,” Jacqli decided.
“You’re not going to blast it!” Luca told her. “Maybe we can find an opening somewhere?”
Dezel approached the wall, placing his gloved hand on it. He focused on the wind around the area in search of the source of the mana. But what he felt wasn’t any sort of magic. His head began to ache as a whooshing sound came closer and closer to the wall.
“Get back!” he ordered as he leapt back away from where he stood.
In seconds, the wall exploded, and something large and round emerged from the resulting dust. It was a white-colored version of the strange robot that Jacqli had used to fight Sorey. Immediately, Leglius and Cloche prepared to fight to protect the IPDs.
“What’s the Divine Army doing down here?!” Shun questioned.
“Obviously to get in our way,” Jacqli said. “We’ll just have to fight back.”
Alisha readied her spear. Lailah took a stance next to Cloche, and the two began to sing Song Magic together before the Divine Army could launch their assault. The robot revved up, deploying a pair of barrels similar to Siegfried. Sorey and Rose called on their Wind Armatuses. Before the robot could perforate them with bullets, they blew it back into one of the piles of debris for Alisha to pierce with her spear. Leglius, armed with razor-sharp spinning shields, threw them into the robot then let Cloche and Lailah finish it off with their Song Magic. The robot was reduced to a mass of burning metal, yet Jacqli remained unconvinced that that was all it was.
“If this is what it’s like to have technology like this, you guys can keep it,” Rose sighed. She kicked the metal and let out a huff.
“If the Divine Army came from that direction, then we’re on the right track,” Shun said.
He led them through the hole in the wall to a tall rusted elevator shaft. It hadn’t been used for an exceptionally long time, but he was sure that it was still functional. He stepped towards it, Sorey and Cloche following him cautiously. There was a whooshing sound again, more intense this time than before. When they turned around, they found six robots from the Divine Army descending in the center of the group.
“So many!” Alisha gasped.
“We’ll just be wasting time if we try to fight them all,” Edna grumbled. She stabbed one of them with a rock lance, but it was quickly replaced with another one. “See?”
“There’s plenty of us to split up,” Zaveid offered.
“But Lift 0 is sure to be infested with these abominations,” Leglius said.
“Then we’ll just take them out one by one!” Dezel concluded. He began to conjure up his winds.
Shun advised against using all their power to put an end to the never-ending fleet. They couldn’t board the lift with so many of the Divine Army present. It was that moment that a small fireball hurtling towards one of the robots erupted into a massive conflagration that rendered half of them inoperable. Everyone turned to find that the IPDs living in the Slums had come. Male and female seraphim wearing headbands and jackets honoring their beloved IPD queen chanted together as the Divine Army continued to arrive before them.
“Lady Cloche!” Reine panted—she had seemingly broken into a full sprint upon hearing the commotion and tired herself out. “We’ll take care of these guys! It’s the least that we can do for our queen and idol!”
Cloche was beside herself. She thanked Reine, and with Shun at the lead, make a run into Lift 0 with her friends. She heard the IPDs singing and the sounds of battle, and while she had confidence in their ability to fight, she felt responsible for any deaths that were to occur. Luca and Rose tried to reassure her that they were doing this of their own volition. Cloche, however, still worried. After all, she needed IPDs to help her with Metafalica.
The lift rocked and rumbled as it descended through the Tower to the lowest part accessible. The Gyro Stabilizer was hot with energy and processing. The humans in the group were sweating more than they had expected; there was no water to keep them hydrated, and the wind seraphim were ordered not to use their Seraphic Artes unless absolutely necessary. The machinery was delicate, especially after hundreds of years of keeping the Tower afloat as per Frelia’s power.
The door from the lift opened to a steely room containing a vast assortment of Hymn Crystals. Rose was amazed by them all, and as tempted as she was to pocket each one to sell, she realized that they were held in place by a special barrier.
“What are all these crystals?” Cocona asked.
Jacqli approached one. She read aloud the numbers on it. She hypothesized that they were important to something. After looking at a few more, she followed through with her hypothesis. The Hymn Crystals were all there for identification purposes.
“Identification?” Sorey repeated. His head was swimming somewhat, but he examined them with Jacqli, Shun, and Rose. “I see. So are these Hymn Crystals related to the the Divine Army?”
“More accurately, these must be connected to each individual robot thing,” Rose added. “We should smash them then. That should stop them, right?”
Jacqli had a particularly mischievous look on her face. She mumbled something about using them to their advantage, but what exactly that meant was lost on those around her.
Shun called their attention back to the original reason of arriving in the Gyro Stabilizer. They left the Hymn Crystals and headed down a narrow hall that progressively got hotter. They stepped down a couple flights of stairs and along a short bridge to a large, almost platform-like room. In the center of this room, there was a moderately sized blue Hymn Crystal surrounded by a platinum crown.
“Is that Viena?” Luca questioned. She was amazed that it was left unprotected. Shun warned her not to take another step. “What’s wrong?”
“This room is concentrated with poison in addition to a lock within the Crystal itself,” Shun explained. “Remember, this Hymn Crystal will give us passage to the Tower to the Heavens, so it would be foolish not to take extreme measures to protect it.”
Shun couldn’t remember how to unlock it. As the group of Metafalssians and Glenwood Continent dwellers tried to find a way to evade the poison in the room and unlock the crystal for use, something large and heavy behind them clanked against the steel landings and pipes of the Gyro Stabilizer. The first to turn was Lailah, who was completely taken aback by the size of the Divine Army robot behind her. It didn’t look like a sphere like the others. It was shaped as a claw or hook, and jutting out of the claw part was a large barrel that began to glow.
“Move!” Shun and Jacqli yelled.
Sorey and his comrades rushed back to the safety of the room with all of the identification crystals, where Rose and Jacqli peeked out. The robot was staring at them very faintly saying a series of numbers in Hymmnos.
“Wee ki ga echrra solmarta id 1921456,” the robot droned. Jacqli listened intently. “Wee ki ga echrra solmarta id 1921456.”
The black-clad Reyvateil retreated to the Hymn Crystals. She looked over each one to find the one with the numbers being called. When she finally found it, she called Rose forward. Holding up the small Hymn Crystal, she stated very matter-of-factedly:
“This particular Divine Army robot is the Divine Beam, which was designed to kill anyone who would try to approach the Hymn Crystal Viena. This Hymn Crystal here holds its identification. Rose, I want you to help me absorb it.”
“W-What?” Rose stammered. “I’ve only ever done that for Dezel!”
“Hush. I don’t know what you think this process is, but it is necessary if we want to continue on our mission. You’re not Diving into me, and absorption of a Song isn’t an intimate matter. So hurry up and help me.”
Rose was still uncomfortable with it. She glanced back at Dezel before approaching Jacqli and taking the Hymn Crystal from her. She had never done the ritual with someone who wasn’t an IPD. Lailah told her what to say.
“Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos Despedia, enter…” Rose stopped when she realized she never knew Jacqli’s true name.
“MIR_TEIWAZ_ARTONELICO,” Jacqli replied.
“MIR_TEIWAZ_ARTONELICO.”
The Hymn Crystal glowed brightly in Rose’s hands. Halos of light illuminated around Jacqli, who showed no emotion as she absorbed the Song into her being. When the light faded away, she had a crooked smile.
“How exhilarating,” she giggled. “For once, I’m actually happy to be a Reyvateilic seraph. Now, let’s get going. I want to see just what I can do.”
Jacqli nonchalantly made her way back to the bridge, but Rose couldn’t help the feeling that she had committed an emotional tryst to Dezel. The wind seraph, who was more concerned about the robot barring them from getting to Viena, wasn’t bothered by it. He followed Jacqli with the notion that only a few of them would be able to safely fight against their adversary. He called Rose and Cocona along with him. Everyone else was to stay in the room with all of the other Hymn Crystals.
Jacqli stared up at the robot that she now knew was called the Divine Beam. Rose and Cocona stood before her. Dezel took his position next to her. Even though he couldn’t sing, standing back would ensure him some safety for while he cast his Seraphic Artes. The black-clad Reyvateil began the Song which, when it started, startled Rose with how demonic it sounded. The Song itself was something of a grungy punk rock tune, and Sorey and the others from the Hymn Crystal room feared Jacqli’s deceptively sadistic calmness.
Cocona pulled out what appeared to be a board-shaped sword. Thankfully the Divine Beam hung over the side of the bridge and made itself a relatively easy target. The young IPD jabbed and swung at it while Rose leapt up and threw her daggers. Dezel began to cast Wind Lance. He felt something was off with Jacqli’s singing, though he knew he couldn’t break his nor her focus.
The Divine Beam charged up an attack, and after Dezel unleashed his attack, it shot a wave of destructive force. Rose and Cocona stood their ground as best as they could when the attack collided with the bridge, threatening to destroy it. Jacqli sang with more ferocity, the Song almost sounding distorted now.
“Bow to me,” she growled as she sang.
Rose again leapt into the air, this time jumping onto the Divine Beam with the intention to sever a few of the cables. The robot shook her off before it made an attempt to crush her into the bridge. Cocona launched a small fireball at it, which debilitated it for a moment.
“Why won’t you listen to me?” Jacqli grumbled.
Dezel upped his ante, casting an even stronger spell. “Hell Gate!” he roared. Razor sharp winds crossed the Divine Beam, which successfully severed parts of its casing. “Damn it!”
The Divine Beam charged its attack again. Firing a laser at them, Rose and Cocona again stood their ground only to be met with unfathomable fatigue. Dezel got to work trying to offer some support to them. Rose wanted to use the Wind Armatus, but she knew it would leave Cocona and Jacqli defenseless. She pushed herself up. There was no way that the gigantic robot could survive for much longer—at least she hoped.
She leapt onto the Divine Beam to use her Jade Luminescence attack, and while she punctured it as many times as she could before one of her daggers snapped in half, Cloche and Luca joined the fray. Together, they began to sing their healing Songs.
The Divine Beam shook Rose incessantly as she hung on with her other dagger lodged in a piece of its armor. It shook more and more vigorously until this blade broke, and she was forced to return to the bridge.
“Dammit,” she cursed.
“Ugh, fine, let’s wrap this up,” Jacqli finally said. She sang harder and louder so much that it seemed like she was screaming at the Divine Beam. “If you won’t listen to me, then I’ll just have to break you!”
The Song screeched dissonantly, jamming the robot and effectively shutting it down. Luca pulled Cocona back from the edge where the robot hit the bridge before falling into the abyss below. Knowing that it was only mountains below the Second Towr, Rose was glad that it was completely destroyed.
Jacqli crossed her arms, her scarlet eyes darkening in thought. The other half of the group met with their fighters on the bridge, and when Sorey saw her face, he asked what was wrong.
“Someone was controlling that robot,” Jacqli revealed. “As I was singing that Song, every single command I gave was immediately compromised and erased. In fact, the counter commands were coming from the Binary Field.”
“Isn’t that where you were locked up when the First Tower was suspended?” Zaveid asked in almost a tongue-in-cheek way. Jacqli glared at him. “Yeesh, alright. Sorry.”
“It’s very possible that Infel and Nenesha were the ones that hacked into it. After all, they were capable of still getting into Luca in Enna.”
“So they’re playing even dirtier,” Edna scoffed. “We’ll just have to teach them a lesson.”
“Only after we’ve secured the route to the Tower to the Heavens,” Shun said. He started towards the room holding the Hymn Crystal Viena. “Lucky for us, the Divine Beam held the code that locked that crystal.”
“How do you know?” Amarie asked.
“The Hymn Crystal holding the identification number listed it as one of the functions in addition to mass producing the underlings that attacked us,” Jacqli explained. “So it’s three birds with one stone.”
“When Raki hid it, it was only natural for her to make the guard dog also the key and manufacturer. It was an attempt to trick us aside from outright killing everyone,” Shun added. “Now, we’ve wasted enough time. Let’s get the crystal and return to Lady Frelia post-haste.” He then became eerily silent. Rose wanted to ask him what was wrong, but he dismissed it.
Sorey took the crystal from the room. He tucked it away into one of his pouches, and they made their way back up to the surface of the Rim. When they arrived, they were greeted by Cloche’s fan club as well as a few officials from Mint Block. Sorey and Rose were nervous for Cloche and Luca, but once they explained that they had come a decision to allow them to drop Mint Block and Mikry Forest, they relaxed.
“But before we say our farewells to Mint Block and Mikry Forest, I have a request,” the chancellor said. “We know that Metafalica requires a Heart of Gaea, and we don’t know if it will aid the maidens, but please find it. It’s somewhere in Mikry Forest, but it has been centuries since anyone last saw it. If that area has to fall, at the very least, preserve the object that made life possible there.”
Cloche and Luca humbly agreed and promised them that they would do as they wished. They bid farewell to the fan club for the time being, following the officials from Mint Block to Pastalia. Shun reluctantly agreed to let them go to Mikry Forest one last time before it was time for the prescribed fall.
Notes:
EXEC_DESPEDIA/. is a really...interesting Song. Very yandere, very Jacqli. It's also really addicting to listen to, especially since Noriko Mitose essentially growls the lyrics.
Chapter 139: Phase 5: Preparing the Tower of the Heavens
Summary:
With Viena in possession, Cloche and Luca must take care of one last thing before they are ready to open the path to the Tower of the Heavens. It's time to drop the Rim, but there's something very valuable in Mikry Forest
Notes:
This is the second update for today, and a short chapter! I thought it would be best to upload two chapters today to make up for last week, ehehe...
Also, I get why Luca's Hymn Code is what it is, but man, it threw me for a loop before.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Cloche and Luca had decided to visit Reisha’s grave the evening that they made it to Mikry Forest. They asked that they had some privacy, and as they sat before the tombstone, they spoke to each other quietly about all that they had gone through. Rose was curious about their lives, and even though she was tempted to listen in, she had other things to worry about. Ever since she had learned Jacqli’s true name and helped her to absorb the Song, she had felt like she betrayed Dezel. She was sure that she would have to do it again, and she didn’t want to make Sorey or Alisha do it for fear of it seeming like a childish thing to do. After all, Frelia would need someone to give Viena to her.
Dezel and Zaveid were sitting at the edge of Mikry Forest enjoying the strangely fragrant wind that passed through it. Everyone never realized that Mikry Forest was like an oasis on that part of the Rim, full of lush trees and plants while everywhere else was completely barren.
“Sure would have been nice to bring her here,” Zaveid dreamily said. “She would have loved it.”
“Your ex?” Dezel questioned.
“She wasn’t an ex—you know that.” Zaveid sighed. “Actually, I’ve been wondering why you don’t take some alone time with Rose to admire this place. Chances are that once this is all over, all the Towers will be separated from the Glenwood Continent.”
“Why do you say that? Knowing Rose, she’ll do like that girl Spica and try to open up markets on all three. Hell, she would feel right at home in Rakshek. The technology there would make her rich in no time.”
“Oh-ho? You planning on staying with her for that long? My, you can be a romantic when you want to be!”
“Can it.”
“It’s fine to feel like that. As much as I’d like to stay with Sorey, he’s got his own way with Mikleo if we ever get him back. I’ll probably stick around with Edna. It’s platonic—her brother would kill me if I tried anything.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So, you’re thinking of traveling with Rose?”
“Can you not?” Dezel suddenly perked up. “Shit, we’re dropping it.”
Rose pushed her way through the bushes and trees. She looked at him with uncertainty, and the fact that Zaveid was there as well, she felt silly. When she looked up at the wind seraphim, Zaveid saw the look in her eyes. He tapped Dezel’s shoulder before heading off somewhere to pester Sorey. The assassin came over and sat next to her wind seraph.
“What’s wrong?” Dezel asked her.
“You’re not mad at me, are you?” Rose point-blank asked.
“Why would I be?”
“Well, I did that Song thing with someone else, and I thought you would get jealous. And more than likely I’ll have to do it for Frelia, too, and I don’t want you to feel like I—”
Dezel sighed exasperately. He pinched the bridge of his nose, which surely told Rose that she was annoying him more than usual. Then he put a hand on her head. And he just kept it there.
“It’s not like you to worry like this,” he said with little concern. “Just focus on what needs to get done.”
“And then we can talk?”
“Talk?”
Meanwhile, Sorey and Alisha investigate a stone monument that had a small hole in the side. The Shepherd tried to reach in, but his hands were too big. Alisha’s were as well. Cocona, Amarie, and Jacqli stared at it in hopes of uncovering some secret while Edna and Lailah watched them.
“There’s definitely something in there,” Sorey said.
“So, let’s just blast it open,” Jacqli decided.
“No, no blasting!” Cocona argued.
Edna let out a sigh before tapping her foot on the ground. Immediately, the monument split open.
“Edna!” Lailah cried.
“We don’t have time to waste, so might as well, right?” the earth seraph pouted.
Inside the monument was a small red jewel—Metafalica-α. Shun approached it, but he didn’t take it. He waited for Cloche and Luca, who arrived soon after wearing matching sun and moon pendants, to take the Heart of Gaea into their hands.
“Now that we have a Heart of Gaea and the Hymn Crystal Viena, we can proceed to the Tower to the Heavens,” Shun said. “Let us head back to Pastalia to get Lady Frelia and discuss the next step.”
“The next step…” Cloche said.
“Dropping Mint Block…” Luca finished.
--------------------------------------------
Lady Frelia lay on Cloche’s bed, her breathing more labored than before. She still tried to show a small smile, as if to pretend that she didn’t feel so weak. Shun stood by her. He called everyone to attention. Rose was apprehensive—she would be using the Hymn Crystal on Frelia, she just knew it, and she didn’t want to mess anything up. One mistake could cost her the life of the Second Origin.
“The time has come to drop Mint Block and Mikry Forest,” Shun reminded them. “The activation point will be in the Conductor Activator at the top of Clouds Wharf. There a restricted area that only Lady Frelia has access to, and that area is the best place to sing the Song.”
“But what about the people in Mint Block? And won’t the fall put everyone in Rakshek and Enna in danger?” Rose asked.
“We’ve already notified officials in both cities to be careful. Mint Block should be evacuated by now.” He turned to Frelia. “You look concerned.”
Frelia bit her lip. “I…I am,” she admitted. “I still feel tired, even though we’ve dropped so much…I don’t know if I can sing that Song…”
“If Lady Frelia can’t sing it, I will,” Luca volunteered. She knelt before Shun and Frelia. “Mint Block is my home. If I sing it, maybe people won’t be as sad that it’s gone. And besides, I still have the D-Cellophane. I’ll give it back to Lady Frelia right after we’re finished with the Song, so please. I want to show my love for this Tower, too.”
Frelia smiled graciously at her. She asked Shun to allow it, and as her faithful servant, Shun agreed with Frelia’s wishes. He asked Rose to step forward with the Hymn Crystal in hand. He requested that she help Luca to absorb the Song.
Rose turned to Luca, her hands trembling around the Hymn Crystal. She made a mantra in head to calm her—she wasn’t doing anything to Dezel, Dezel did not care that she was doing this, it was for the preservation of the Second Tower. She asked for Luca’s true name then began the incantation:
“Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos Viena enter FRELIA_ANSUL_SOL=MARTA.”
The Hymn Crystal glowed, and the Song settled into Luca’s heart. It was warm and inviting, and she couldn’t wait to sing it with the Goddess.
Before they left Pastalia for Clouds Wharf, Cloche and Leglius made an official announcement that they were going to drop half of the Rim soon. The people were advised to take shelter and to brace themselves. They then left for their destination, weaving between metal crates and blocks until they came to a wall that opened a path when Shun spoke the Hymmnos code to unlock it. They scaled Clouds Wharf to the peak where there was a moderately-sized platform. It loomed above Mikry Forest and everything else close to the Rim and near the top of Pastalia. Shun guided Luca and Frelia to the center of the platform. The People of Metafalss were listening.
Rose watched them from behind as Shun prepared them. He instructed Frelia and Luca to stand back to back, hand in hand, and hearts opened. The emotions of Viena would overtake Luca soon, but before they did, the Goddess Maiden turned around and met Frelia’s golden eyes.
“Lady Frelia, can you tell me the feelings you felt when you first created this Tower?” she asked.
“Feelings? Um, I was really happy, and I was also really lonely,” the Origin said. “I was so lonely singing up here.”
“Lonely? Well, I promise you,” Luca said as she took her hands. “We’re going to create a world where you won’t be lonely. It’ll be a world where we don’t drain you of your energy to live. We’re going to be independent, so don’t worry.”
Frelia took solace knowing that Luca wanted to help her. The two girls assumed their positions again. The emotions in the Hymn Crystal were bubbling in their hearts, and Luca focused on them. She didn’t want Frelia to feel lonely anymore. She wanted everyone to live in harmony with her.
Luca began to sing, connecting her feelings to Frelia, and opening her heart to her. Frelia had always wanted to be with the people, but she was so shy that she couldn’t bear the thought of one day leaving them. The energy that pulled from Frelia into Luca during the Song was great, and soon, Frelia pulled away from her. Luca continued to sing, but she was frightened that she was going to die.
“Sing for me!” Frelia pleaded.
Luca’s voice became stronger, and in the distance all around them, the remaining pieces of the broken half of the Rim fell away to the Glenwood Continent below. The disconnection made power surge into Frelia, and as if on cue, the Tower to the Heavens formed. It was first a beam of light that shot from the top of the hill that Pastalia had been built on, and blocks upon blocks spiraled around it. From the sky even higher than the Tower, it looked like the handle of a bell.
As the Song drew to a close, Cloche threw her arms around her sister, and Rose congratulated the Maiden of Homura for bringing forth the Tower to the Heavens, and with it, Frelia’s resting place that was Sol Marta.
And in Sol Marta, Infel and Nenesha looked down on Cloche and Luca, on Rose and Dezel, and on Sorey and Frelia. The malevolence in their hearts bled through the Tower. It angered them. They were destroying their world to build a new one. It was the epitome of what they didn’t want to happen. Their hatred, their disgust, their jealousy—it dripped down the Tower.
As Rose and Sorey led their friends back to the Hill of Metafalica at Grand Bell Hall; Dezel, Zaveid, Cocona, and Cloche felt sick. They thought that maybe it was the change in altitude or perhaps so much excitement had made them feel like that. They pushed on, ignoring the nausea and pain in the back of their heads. Cloche forced a smile when the people of Metafalss greeted them and showered them with praise.
“Oh-ho, to think that Mir would one day save another Tower,” Spica teased. “I’ll have to tell Misha all about that.”
“Just because I set out to destroy the First Tower so long ago doesn’t mean I can’t change,” Jacqli pouted.
“I guess you’re right…”
“It’s time to get going,” Shun told them. “We’re so close now.”
Rose and Sorey exchanged looks. They were coming to the end of their adventure on the Second Tower and the beginning of their true struggle to rescue Mikleo. All they had to do was help to create Metafalica and find a Heart of Gaea to give to Harvestasha. It all started with a step towards the Tower to the Heavens.
Notes:
For a short chapter, Cloche and Luca's promise to each other in their game is touching but still yet relies on the entirety of the game including all sorts of even that happen in the beginning regarding the Infelsphere. The Infelsphere is way more expansive and complex than I'm willing to write, but essentially they make up and stop hating each other for good. Rose, however...while installation of a Hymn Crystal isn't...super intimate, I can imagine that it would be a bit of a tryst. And Rose doesn't feel like this often, but in regard to Dezel, I think she would.
Chapter 140: Phase 5: Resurgence
Summary:
As the team travels through the Tower of the Heavens, the IPDs among them are afflicted with infection. Only when they are cornered by the Divine Army do they receive gracious help from an unlikely ally.
Notes:
So at first this chapter is a bit of a slog, but such is the way of JRPGs and their grinding. Still, it's a bit important and infected IPDs ARE in this area...a good amount of them, too.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rose and Shun walked at the head of the group as they climbed their way through the Tower to the Heavens. There were hellions every once in a while, but a vast majority of the area had been devoid of adversaries all together. There were places where the malevolence was overwhelming, and other places where it was completely absent. As they made their way up, though, the IPDs of the group felt heavier and heavier.
“Dezel, are you alright?” Rose asked him.
“I’m fine,” he panted. He kept moving.
Zaveid was uncharacteristically edgier with Sorey, and Cloche and Cocona began to complain more often. Frelia tried to ease their pain with her Song Magic, but it was to no avail. Whatever was ailing them was exasperated by her attempts to help.
Sorey and Rose tried to call Zaveid and Dezel, respectively, back inside to rest, but they snapped back that they were doing perfectly okay. Or, at the very least, they would admit to having a slight headache. Leglius noted that there were infected IPDs in the area, and immediately they realized that they were slowly becoming contaminated themselves.
“We’re fine!” Cloche argued before collapsing to her knees and panting. “We’re fine…as long as we keep hope alive…”
“Once we reach the Hot Spot, we can do an examination on you,” Luca said.
“We don’t have time for that!”
“Lady Cloche, you’ve got to calm down!”
“We should try to find the infected IPDs first,” Edna stated. “Taking care of them should help with their symptoms.” She requested that Rose and Sorey stayed there with Zaveid and Dezel. The Tower to the Heaven wasn’t expansive, and she was confident that she could roam about without venturing too far. Leglius volunteered to stay with Cloche and Cocona. Both the Shepherd and the Squire objected to just sitting somewhere and waiting for their friends to take care of the IPDs, which irked Edna. “Well, what do you want us to do, then?”
“Maybe we can attract them here?” Sorey suggested.
“Taking on…five…IPDs at once?” Leglius questioned him. “All of them would be infected. You realize this, right?”
“We can keep going!” Zaveid nastily said. “Let’s hurry up and find them!”
“Only after we put you under house arrest,” Edna retorted.
Before Sorey and Rose allowed the Metafalssians continue with the journey up the Tower to the Heavens, Lailah bound the IPDs with chains of fire. They didn’t burn them. They were meant to seal the full extent of their power in case the worst-case scenario happened.
“Rrha ki ra enclone anw yora dea zeeth fayra en yaserwe syec innna yora,” the fire seraph soothingly chanted. Zaveid, Dezel, Cocona, and Cloche calmed down.
“Now, let’s go after those IPDs, shall we?”
“Will it hold them?” Amarie nervously asked.
“As long as I don’t lose my concentration!” Lailah smiled back.
They went on their way. The Tower of the Heavens was something of a maze, so Shun stressed that they didn’t get too caught up about finding the IPDs or not. Frelia began to fret because she wanted to help them as much as everyone else.
She was about to take the first step to find them on her own, but it only took a few seconds before Luca pulled her back from a ball of energy coming from around the corner. Frelia clung to her for fear of getting vaporized. Two of the IPDs had been found, and they were approaching them.
Rose, who pulled out two spare daggers from hidden pouches in her jacket, and Alisha prepared to fight. Edna and Jacqli began to sing. The two Squires took that time to whittle away at their strength only to find that the IPDs were subdued without even much of a fight. The two girls stopped singing and were annoyed that they had even bothered. Edna, however, got to work. Luca offered to help, but because she couldn’t use the iris gems, the earth seraph told her not to interfere. In moments, the seraphim were conscious and healthy again. After they thanked Edna and left, Leglius examined Cloche and Cocona. Both of them were still agitated.
“The infection hasn’t gone down,” he notified the others.
Rose forced herself not to react. She had had a feeling that it was an infection flare despite hoping that maybe he just wanted to get everything over with or was tired or hungry. Was Dezel going to break again?
“We might as well finish finding the other IPDs,” Sorey said. “I don’t feel right going on with them feeling like this.”
Amarie scanned the area quickly, but she didn’t find any other infected seraphim around. When the area had been cleared, Shun led them up a ramp. The landing was high off the ground where the tallest point of Pastalia looked like a point. Clouds surrounded them, and the sky was beginning to lose the light blue hue as it faded into the dark skies of space. They were so high up, that those from the Glenwood Continent were nervous about going even further.
“H-How high does this go?” Alisha asked.
“We’re near the top of the Tower to the Heavens,” Shun explained. “Next will be the Sky Plains, and finally Sol Marta.”
Lailah kept the chains around the IPDs, but Dezel began to fidget. He was sensing Rose’s apprehension with being so high. Normally she was okay with heights, but they had to remember that even the Second Tower wasn’t, by definition, solid ground.
“Lailah, let me go,” he demanded. The fire seraph refused to listen to him, stating it was for everyone’s safety. “Dammit, just let me go! I’m worried about Rose!”
“I-I’m okay,” Rose reassured. “Just as long…as I don’t go by the edge…”
Frelia turned her attention further up the way. She pointed at white spheres moving towards them. She couldn’t speak out of the fear that was creeping in on her heart.
“The Divine Army?!” Shun growled. “They mean to even attack their Goddess?”
“They mean to attack everything that isn’t their ruler,” Jacqli nonchalantly said. “We’ll have to push on. Now, I shall sing!”
Lailah kept her hold on the IPDs in the group as Jacqli started her Song Magic. Edna and Luca joined her, providing buffs and support. Leglius and Amarie focused on one of the Divine Army robots while Shun and Sorey dealt with the second and Alisha and Rose took on the third. Each singing seraph then switched to offensive magic.
The Divine Army robots fired bullets at each pair of vanguards, which were ineffective against their weapons. One of them charged up a laser. Leglius threw one of his shields at it in hopes to break the barrel off, and while it managed to dent the shell, it missed the gun. The robot fired the laser at him, but Edna blocked it by stomping to raise a rock lance between them. She didn’t miss a beat with her singing, conjuring spears of rock around her. She flung her arms forward, and the spears whizzed through the air. They punched through the robot facing Leglius with little resistance; however, it was soon replaced by another Divine Army robot. Amarie followed up with shots from her bow only to do a miniscule amount of damage.
Shun charged at the second robot while Sorey trailed behind him. He slashed away at it with his sword, and even though they left deep cuts into the shell, he wasn’t capable of breaking it enough to destroy it. He leapt back to prepare to use his Mystic Arte. At this time, the robot locked onto Shun with its laser. Luca, singing her hardest and fastest to combat the enemy, used her strongest Song Magic. She completely obliterated it only for another robot to replace it like the first one. Sorey sprung forward as he unleashed Bolt Tempest, effortlessly destroying it. Another robot appeared.
“There’s just no end to them—again!” Rose growled. She and Alisha sliced the robot ahead of them then stepped back to safety. “And Lailah’s busy, so we can’t Armatize.”
“How dare they attack Frelia!” Shun chastised.
“Yeah, that’s really telling them,” Jacqli said between her lyrics.
The IPDs fell to their knees, the headache growing stronger and stronger as the forces of the Divine Army did. Dezel pleaded Lailah to let them go so they could fight, but before she could heed his request, the robot facing off against Rose and Alisha turned to the former.
It happened in a flash. One minute Rose was staring at the Divine Army’s gun, and the next she was far away with the world standing still below her. Then gravity took its hold, and she began to plummet towards Pastalia.
“Rose!” Dezel called out to her.
The shock of what had happened permeated through everyone once it registered that the assassin had been launched off the landing. Her screams of terror couldn’t be heard over the sounds of battle, but the blind wind seraph didn’t need them to tell him that she was in grave danger. Lailah’s hold on the IPDs had weakened, and he took that chance to break free from her fiery binds. He dashed towards the end of the landing, and without any hesitation, he jumped off. Even with his command on the wind, he couldn’t control his falling. He simply read where she was.
“Come on, I’ve got to make it to her!” he said to himself. “Slow down, damn it!”
Rose continued to scream, squeezing her eyes shut out of the fear of seeing everyone get smaller and Pastalia get bigger. This wasn’t how she wanted to die—not at all!
“Rose!” Dezel shouted to her. “Call my true name!
Rose slowly opened her eyes but shut them again. She could barely hear him over the whooshing air.
“Rose, come on! Say it! You don’t want to die, right?! So say my name!”
“L-Lukeim…Y-Yurlin!” Rose wailed. “Lukeim Yurlin! Lukeim Yurlin!”
Dezel’s entire being was engulfed in a bright green light. Turning into a small orb, he went faster and faster, sinking into her chest and bringing forth the Wind Armatus. His presence within her calmed her down as she righted herself in the air. She opened her eyes slowly, viewing a massive sheet of clouds that partially covered the Second Tower. The sun was warm against her face.
“I…I’m not dead! Oh, thank God!” she sighed in relief. “Dezel, thank you!”
“You can thank me later,” he told her from within. “Let’s get rid of those things and keep going…before…”
Rose clutched her head. “The infection…is getting worse…isn’t it?” she struggled to say. Perhaps the warmth wasn’t from the sun, then. “Alright, let’s wrap this up. Let’s go, Dezel!”
She shot back towards the landing of the Tower to the Heavens, flying high above the Divine Army. She used all her power to unleash Sylphistia. Each robot was pierced with dozens of blades of wind. Like the others before them, they were replaced by more. Rose, feeling the effects of the IPD disease through the Armatus, roosted on the landing. She cursed the Divine Army for making expend this much energy.
“We’re just wasting time like this,” Edna grumbled. “Sorey!”
“Hephsin Yu—” Sorey began to call out until he saw a swilring silhouette ascending to the landing. “What…is that?”
The silhouette finally came to light, and Cloche couldn’t believe her eyes. The man that she was always wary of had appeared. Alfman stood tall with his gun drawn, at which Luca and Leglius couldn’t believe he planned to fight with a toy. But then, how did he get past the hellions on the way up?
“These days, good help is hard to come by,” Alfman said almost too proudly. “You should get going. I can hold these things off.”
Luca and Cloche stared at him dubiously. “You’re…going to fight them off?” they slowly repeated to register what he had said. “Do you even have a real weapon?”
Alfman turned to the girls among the others striving for the top of the Tower. Shaking his head, smirking at them, he scoffed at how small-minded they were. He aimed his gun at one of the Divine Army robots. Unlike the time that he shot a lollipop out, this time it shot bullets that pierced clean through its steel shell.
“Why are you here?” Leglius demanded of him.
“What does it matter? I’m here to save you!”
“After all the trouble you’ve caused Lady Cloche in the past?”
Alfman groaned. “Okay, I’ll tell you the truth!” He pulled on his goatee then said with some embarrassment:
“I seem to have fallen in love with our Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell!”
“What!?” Cloche screeched.
“That’s so gross!” Luca and Amarie bellowed.
“I don’t know him that well, and I think it’s gross,” Edna added.
Alfman held his tongue, but his heart no doubt burned for Cloche. The fire in his eyes blazed. He ordered them to keep going.
“Alfman, are you sure?” Rose asked. “We can—”
“Allow me to repent, Lady Cloche,” Alfman pleaded one last time. “I promise, I will do what I can to make sure Metafalica is created.”
Cloche steeled herself. She didn’t always see at the same level as the chairman, but she knew he was loyal to the people of Metafalss. She took his word, beckoning her friends to follow after her to the next leg of their ascent—the Hot Spot.
Notes:
Ahhh~ I loved writing the scene where Rose is saved by Dezel! I think it would be pretty as a drawing, so I'm going to try and see if I can manage that!
Chapter 141: Phase 5: The Nothing
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 8: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
The penultimate Dezel Divethat does take some influence from Neverending Story as well as Cloche's 8th cosmosphere. Dezel has yet another special kind of vulnerability in this chapter, but I hope that it's conveyed as his true feelings.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“W-What is this place?” Rose stammered. She was holding up Dezel on her shoulder the same as Sorey with Zaveid, Luca with Cloche, and Amarie with Cocona.
The room was by far the most technological-looking room that anyone from the Glenwood Continent had seen. There were pillars surrounded by light disks as well as lighted floors that pulsated with each step. In the center of the room, there was a sleeping girl that looked almost exactly like Raki.
“She’s here!” Lailah said, her papers ready to call forth her flames.
The girl suddenly woke up to find a mob of people ready to attack save for those who were feeling the effects of the IPD disease. Panicking, she held her hands up and pleaded that they didn’t hurt her. Lailah lowered her hands, and Sorey asked her if she was Raki.
“N-No! I’m not! I’m Reki!” the girl cried. She got on the floor and laid flat. “I-I’m just a helper! I love helping!”
Shun approached her, placing a paw on her head to calm her down. Jacqli, on the other hand, was doubtful of her claim. She crossed her arms as she examined the room.
“What’s a girl like you doing here so high above the Tower?” Alisha asked.
Reki droned for a moment. “I can’t respond to that,” she bluntly said. “I need to reacquaint myself with my duties, so could you leave and come back in? I promise, I’ll be a good hostess and serve you the best tea I have.”
“E-Excuse me?”
The girl who looked so otherworldly appeared ready to cry. Frelia sated her by asking everyone to do as they were told. Rose was somewhat annoyed considering that four of their friends were feeling ill. Regardless, Reki and Frelia both insisted that they step out and step back in. Sorey was the first to follow instructions only because seeing Reki nearly in tears made him feel guilty, like he had ruined someone’s surprise birthday party. Alisha and Amarie followed, then eventually everyone else walked out. When they stepped back inside, there was a noticeable difference in the air. It was warm and welcoming with Reki turned away from the door. She suddenly spun around, a precious smile on her lips.
“Hello!” she greeted them. “And welcome to the Hot Spot!”
“The…Hot Spot?” whispers and mumbles sounded from the group.
“Allow me to fetch the tea. Please make yourselves comfortable.” Naturally, everyone was confused about how to get comfortable when there wasn’t any furniture. Reki returned with a couple of pots of fresh tea. “The Hot Spot is a rest area for traders climbing the Tower. It’s a non-profit semi-public area that also functions as a safe haven to perform Dives. Because it was built by the public works, it’s really inexpensive to conduct Dives.”
Rose stared at her in thought. If the IPD disease was causing a relapse, would Diving help Dezel? No, it wasn’t as simple, but perhaps she could lessen its debilitation. She sat on the floor with her wind seraph, whispering to him so only he could hear her:
“Let’s Dive.”
“Why…?” Dezel coughed.
“Because it’s been a long time, and it might help with the disease. I mean, it helped before, right?”
Dezel tensed at the idea of sending Rose into his soul space. It had been a long time, which he hadn’t realized until now. He wanted her to stay out, but he was right on the cusp of making the final push to develop. But the next level—the eighth level—was filled with danger. He wasn’t sure what to do.
“Why do you look so much like Raki?” Sorey asked Reki. She explained that Raki was her offensive counterpart that had been created alongside her. The Glenwood denizens were shocked—Reki was yet another machine. Unlike Reki, Raki’s purpose was to protect Frelia at all costs; Reki was simple a hostess to tired travelers. “So it’s true that she’s been tampered with.”
“We should get going,” Shun decided. “Having confirmed that Raki has been hacked—much like everything else in the Tower to the Heavens—we can’t afford to waste any more time.”
Frelia peeked at Rose and Dezel. “Um, why don’t we take a break?” she timidly asked. “We’ve been going for a long time, and…well…um…” The fairy-like Origin stiffened and blushed. “I think Miss Rose would like to Dive with Dezzy.”
“Idiot…” Dezel sighed.
Lailah grew concerned. While the IPD seraphim were stable, there was no guarantee that they were safe to Dive into. Naturally, Rose didn’t care. She wanted to do what she could to help her seraph.
“It can’t be much more dangerous than all the other times!” she smiled. “Please, I want to Dive into him.”
Reki, who couldn’t help but be intrigued by the sudden request, listened quietly. She prepared a domain that shielded the Hot Spot from any attempts of hacking or invasion by malevolence. She was suspended during that time, though they noticed the air had become lighter.
Rose pulled Dezel to his feet. He was still nervous, not because he was afraid of her finding his deepest secrets but afraid of her getting hurt. He had faced his insecurities in the previous level, but now they were going into the belly of the beast. Still, she cradled his face in her hands.
“Are you ready?” she asked him.
“Just be careful,” he warned her.
“Of course! Now, Lukeim Yurlin.”
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Rose found herself in the shared soul space with Dezel, whose skin was turning black with malevolence. He looked to be in pain, but she already knew what the cause was. She didn’t waste any time talking to him. By the scowl on his face, she could tell that he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
“Don’t worry,” she told him. She touched the center of his chest.
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Dezel’s eighth cosmosphere seemed different compared to the other levels. The Nothing was encroaching on his soul, yet in the other direction, there was a land far beyond the reaches of his mind. This extra land, unbeknownst to Rose, was the rest of consciousnesses of the other IPDs linked within the depths of Infel Phira. They were brighter than her wind seraph’s mind, though she knew it was because of the Nothing that Dezel’s mind was so dark.
“Alright, time to get going,” she said. She made her way down the road from the Stonehenge. Once again, Windur was nowhere to be found. “Why is it that thing is never around when I get here?”
Continuing on with her trek, she bypassed villages and other places of interest that seemed okay. The Nothing hadn’t reached them, but it was looming over one place that made her sick to her stomach. It was a prison cell from underneath the Pendrago Shrinechurch. Dezel had made it on the surface, which probably meant that he wanted her to go inside. Still, her entire body trembled from the nauseating anguish that wafted out of its door. The smell of death stung her nose. She was sure that Dezel had smelled his fair share of corpses inside its walls.
Rose ventured in with her dagger drawn. The echoing sniffles of what she presumed was her wind seraph caught her attention far into the deepest recesses of the prison cell. Her eyes weren’t adjusting to the darkness, as if every step made it darker and darker.
“Dezel…?”
“Rose!” Dezel gasped. He turned to her, his face wet with tears when she cupped it. “Please, you have to get me out of here! They’re going to run experiments on me! I don’t want to die! I’m scared!”
Upon further inspection, she noted that Dezel’s face felt thinner—was he so tortured that he was appearing to be starving? His body shivered from both fear and cold. Rose instinctively held him close. How was she going to break him out? She couldn’t see anything nor had a lockpick to free him from his chains.
“What’s this?” a sickening voice asked behind Rose. Green light melted the darkness away, revealing Cardinal Forton in the entry way of the prison cell. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“No…no, she’s here…!” Dezel wailed.
“I could ask you the same thing!” Rose spat back at the woman. She stood in front of Dezel, her daggers at the ready. Then Cardinal Forton opened her hand and summoned a Normin named Blude. “Song Magic?!”
The Normin leapt off her palm and waddled toward Dezel, who screamed and cried as it came near him. As it approached him, he whined. “You don’t really have a choice, do you?” it asked him. It jabbed his wrists and ankles until they began to bleed heavily. “You’ll have to go with them. It’s that or bleed out slowly here and die.”
Rose was prepared to kill the Normin, but suddenly she froze in place. She painstakingly craned her head to find that Cardinal Forton had turned into Medusa. The hellion slithered past the assassin, scooping up the Normin and Dezel after shattering his chains.
“Rose, please! I don’t want to die!” the wind seraph begged. His cries quieted, and eventually Rose was allowed to move again.
The assassin rushed out of the prison cell into the ashy darkness of the Nothing. The malevolence that the real Dezel had fought back for his entire life was getting stronger, the internal suffering threatening to tear his heart apart. She left the prison cell to another one and another one until she realized that everything had been turned into images from prisons, labs, and asylums.
“What the hell is going on…?!” she panted. It was getting darker. She kept running until she stopped upon another wind seraph. “Lafarga?”
“A-Are you with the Church?!” he asked fearfully.
“No, I’m here to save Dezel! That bitch Forton took him.”
“Oh no, that means he’s been taken to the labs under the palace. They’re going to kill him—why did it have to be him?! He was just a child!”
Rose began to piece together Dezel’s horrible past. It wasn’t just that he had been captured and tortured. He was completely destroyed, and it was only by perseverance that his self was rebuilt time and time again. So many memories had been thrown away, and when she came to a flower field, she saw a young Zaveid rummaging through the flowers that morphed into weeds.
“Dammit, where is it?” he cursed. “If I don’t get this back to him—if he doesn’t have this, he will never awaken to fight against the Nothing.”
“What are you looking for?” Rose asked him from the edge of the flower field.
“His second wind, Gillium! Without it, he can’t fight back!”
Rose was about to step into the flower field when she realized that the flowers were all poisonous. If she were to step into them, she would slowly perish, rendering her real self into a coma within Dezel’s soul. She dug through her pockets; there had to be something that she could use! She found a few tiny homemade grenades that spread fires. She tossed them into the flower field then walked through the blazing paths to Zaveid.
“Let me help,” she told him. She threw the last few grenades before the two of them, and as the weeds burned away, the Normin Gillium was found entangled in their vines. After cutting it free, the Normin thanked her and offered to help her. “You need to return to Dezel,” she told it. “If he regains his wind, he can fight back against Medusa and the Nothing!”
“One seraph’s wind alone won’t push back the Nothing,” Gillium told her. “I can give him back his wind, but—”
“I’ll help him blow the Nothing away,” Zaveid told the Normin. “He’s got no one else, so I’ll help him!”
“And Lafarga will, too!” Rose told it. She knew that the kind wind seraph would. Gillium agreed to help, and it jumped on her shoulder before she headed to the shrinechurch itself.
When she arrived at the giant building, she noticed its walls were stained with blood. The windows were dirty, and the doors looked closer to the gates of hell. She gulped before pushing the doors open. The inside of the shrinechurch had all sorts of torture devices strewn everywhere. She stepped in cautiously, making her way to the back of the shrinechurch. Howls and cries came from behind the doors as well as the sudden crack of a whip.
“Please, stop!” Dezel bawled. “This hurts!”
Rose opened the doors to find Medusa hitting him with the snakes on her head. They bit his arms and legs as he curled up. Blude jabbed him repeatedly. Gillium slid off her shoulder and ran towards Blude as fast as it could. It smacked him back and forth until it came to its senses. The Normin stared at the blood on its nubby hands.
“What…was I doing?” it asked. “Did I hurt our master?”
Dezel tried to crawl away from Medusa when Blude looked up at the hellion attempting to kill him. As a fragment of Dezel’s darkest memory, it remembered the experiments that they conducted on the wind seraph. They had injected him with the venom from Medusa’s snakes to see how lethal it would be. There had been several times that he had nearly died only to be brought back from the edge of death once again to be toyed with. He had pushed and pulled so much that, finally, it came to light how he became a cursed seraph.
“Please…stop…!” Dezel cried. “Please…”
Unable to watch anymore, Rose drew her daggers. Like lightning, she shot behind Medusa and buried her blade into her back. The witch screeched in agony, and as she keeled over, the assassin grabbed Dezel from the floor. She didn’t try to take him by the hand or wrist; she only grabbed whatever part she could of him to free him from the hell that he had been trapped in since he was a child. When they were far away enough from the shrinechurch, she adjusted to hold him tightly by the hand. He still cried and sniffled, yet when they came to a stop just before the flower field, they fell to their knees. Rose panted hard to catch her breath.
“I…I think I actually killed her,” Rose said betweens gasps. She turned to Dezel, who was clutching his arms trying to calm himself. “It’s okay…you’re free…”
Suddenly, Dezel threw himself on her. His arms scooped around her torso as he pressed his cheek into her chest. He was still shaking and whimpering. Rose maneuvered her arms so she could rest her hands on his back, which was wet with crimson blood from Medusa’s abuse. She rested her chin on his head, rocking him gently as he slowly quieted his tiny sobs. She knew she wasn’t finished yet. Dezel was free from the abuse, but there was still the problem of the Nothing stretching over his soul space.
“Dezel, I need your help,” she told him.
The wind seraph looked up at her with tears flowing from his peridot eyes.
“We have to stop the Nothing, but we can’t do it alone. Can you remember the ones who protected you when you were younger? Think really hard.”
Dezel hugged her tighter. The ones who protected him when he was younger. He sibilated his friends’ names:
“Lafarga, Zaveid, and…”
“And?” Rose was confused. It was only those two, right?
“And Rose. Rose protected me, so now I will protect her. As I am protected by thorns, she is protected by the wind.”
Blude and Gillium finally caught up with them as their master began to glow with a green light. He remembered the bad things, the good things, and the lovely things that had happened in his short life as a seraph. Zaveid came from the flower field while Lafarga came from one of the prison cells, and they were also glowing with green light. Blude and Gillium stood between them with their arms out.
“Normin Power!” they called out.
The intensity of the light grew; however, it still couldn’t pierce the darkness of the Nothing looming overhead.
“reta x. yorr kYIvYUnYOrA m.f.l. ag jYElYNrYA/.” Lafarga sang.
“reta x. yorr cYAzYE aje fs ag rYElLYEtLYAyN YEsphaela/.” Zaveid joined.
“im, xA rre n.e.g. kLYEvArE aAuNkLYE meryu ag xA gral yEyAeh/.” Dezel finished.
The three wind seraphim’s Song Magic focused a beam of wind energy that fired straight into the the center of the Nothing, piercing it to reveal the heavenly sky that it had swallowed so long ago. Rose watched with amazement, mesmerized by the very beauty of the sky that Dezel dreamed of. Birds of all colors flew high in the sky, and the sun—warm on her face—shined brightly.
The world in the eighth level illuminated immediately, and the newfound light that came from the sun was reflected off the Stonehenge and changed Dezel’s black clothes to white. The Paradigm Shift had opened, and Dezel held his hand out to Rose, a sincere smile on his lips.
“Let’s go,” he said genuinely happy. “I’m…I’m free now.” He smiled tenderly at her, waiting for her to take his hand to lead her to the Stonehenge. Rose couldn’t remember the last time he looked so heavenly. “Rose?”
“I-I’m coming, hold on,” she said. She took his hand.
The wind seraph whose heart had been clouded by darkness guided her to the Stonehenge, the light illuminating every crevice that held all his doubt. As they neared the Stonehenge, Rose hoped with all her heart that this Dive would help him somehow. The Paradigm Shift was within sight, and standing before it was a Normin. Dezel stopped in front of it with Rose as his side.
“Who are you?” Rose asked.
“I’m Releeph! I was waiting for you two here because I wanted to thank you for freeing me from the Nothing,” the Normin grinned. “I also wanted to congratulate you.” It turned to Rose. “It’s thanks to your love and determination that you’ve help Dezel to grow. Because of your help, you may have even done something more.”
Rose furrowed her brow. It was being so cryptic, but perhaps it didn’t matter. Releeph watched as Dezel stood in front of Rose with his hands on her shoulder. He didn’t say anything, just looked at her full of happiness. He ran his hands down her arms so that he ended up holding her hands.
“Thank you, Rose,” he told her. “Thank you so much for this.”
“You’re welcome?” Rose sheepishly replied. “I’m sorry, I’m just not used to this coming from you.”
“I know. I…I can’t wait for the next level. I’ll be waiting, alright? You keep on keeping on, and I’ll be waiting right here.” He kissed her on the forehead. “My Rose.”
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Rose inhaled so sharply that she choked on her saliva when she woke up. Her face was beet-red and flustered. She cupped her hands over her face despite knowing that Dezel was blind in reality, but she didn’t want her companions to see how embarrassed she was. She glanced at Dezel as he sat up from the Dive. She couldn’t speak.
“Strange,” he said. “I don’t feel as sick anymore.”
“Huh!?” Rose sounded.
“No way, did the Dive cure him of IPD disease?” Lailah asked.
“No, it didn’t, but it’s not as severe now.” Dezel turned to Rose. “What did you do?”
“I…I…I don’t know!” Rose shrieked. “I just…I did what I was supposed to do!”
Dezel shushed her for yelling. He didn’t care to know all of what happened. He preferred not to speak about it, and he reminded everyone—all who were intrigued by his sudden recovery—that they needed to get going to Sol Marta.
“We’re here for Infel and Nenesha,” he said.
Reki deactivated her domain. She said her spiel of hoping that the Dive went over without any problems and to come back again. Dezel stood up and headed toward the exit of the Hot Spot behind the girl. Rose quickly followed him, then Cloche and Luca, then everyone else. Sorey stole a glimpse at Dezel and Rose. He was curious what had happened, but he was sure whatever it was, he was glad. He could tell the weight on their shoulders had lifted some amount.
Notes:
You know, it would be intriguing to write Hymmnos for Lafarga and Zaveid to sing with Dezel. Anyway, I surprised myself with Dezel's lines in this chapter. And the ending seems a bit rushed, but they've got places to be and maidens to stop!
Chapter 142: Phase 5: Last Ditch Effort
Summary:
Rose and company continue their climb of the Second Tower, reaching Sol Marta to have one last showdown with Raki.
Notes:
Happy birthday, Me! As usual, I'll have a number of updates today as my birthday gift to everyone!
The funny thing about this chapter is that in the PS2 version of Ar Tonelico 2, there is a massive game-breaking bug in the fight against Raki. You have to defeat her within a certain time limit OR deal a certain amount of damage to skip over an HP value or else the game locks up and you have to start over. It's fixed in the PC version, but I always thought it added an extra challenge to the already kind of difficult fight!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Infel and Nenesha watched their enemies continue their advance towards their location in Sol Marta. The former Maiden of Mio clenched her fists, annoyed that her successor was still trying her damnedest with her friends to reach the very top of the Second Tower. She had to find a way to keep them from ever reaching their pinnacle. She needed more time for Metafalica—hers and Nenesha’s goal must be accomplished!
“If I just increase the negative output from Infel Phira, that should cause the disease to flare,” she said to herself.
“Infel, my love, that’s too dangerous,” Nenesha protested. “You’re an IPD, too, you know.”
“I’ll be fine. Those IPDs with them, however…”
“Cloche is an IPD.”
“Cloche is annoying!”
Infel used her Song Magic to do just what she wanted. Infel Phira glowed dimly as the malevolence in her heart tainted it further. The negative feelings in it coursed through every IPD that was still suffering from the disease, and the seraphim traveling with Sorey and his friends were no exception.
They had come to the entrance of laboratory hidden in a lush forest. Sorey and Alisha were amazed to find foliage so high up, and Shun elucidated that it was only possible thanks to Frelia’s Song Magic. Frelia blushed somewhat as they fawned over her power until Zaveid, Cocona, Dezel, and Cloche collapsed. Luca held her sister for fear that she—according to Leglius—was on the verge of death because of a condition that only Metafalss IPDs suffered. Since Luca and Cloche had rediscovered each other, the former had always thought her sister was impervious to the disease. Seeing her succumb now broke her heart.
Rose held Dezel. She had hoped that the Dive had stopped it, but after realizing that it had only lessened it as per Dezel’s mention of it, she worried even more. What had that Dive done?
“Zaveid, hang on,” Sorey told his wind seraph. He didn’t know what to do, however. It wasn’t like in Pendrago when everything was fixed with his version of Implanta. “How can we help?” he asked Shun.
“Infel must be doing this,” he replied. “She’s hacking Infel Phira and forcing the malevolence into it.”
Jacqli stared off into the distance in thought. A devious smile curled on her lips. “She’s hacking, eh?” she chuckled. When she turned to the IPDs suffering, she nonchalantly said, “If you can withstand the disease for a little longer, I can figure out the problem. After all, she’s hacking Raki, too, right?”
Edna spun her umbrella on her shoulder with a knowing look. Amarie and Leglius and even Shun seemed wary of her, but the black-clad Reyvateil didn’t say anymore. She simply beckoned them to follow her.
Frelia and Shun took the lead of the group through the Sky Plains. As Shun had described, the trees and shrubs that lined the paths through the pressurized doors and steel walls were dotted with flowers. The green Origin timidly said at one point or another that she loved nature and wanted to make sure that she could at least attempt to keep a small garden. In fact, the area just under Sol Marta held no hellions, much to Sorey and Rose’s surprise. Each leaf seemed to hold the power of purification, which fascinated Lailah.
“Lady Frelia, may I ask a question?” she asked.
She knew she wouldn’t be able to ask exactly what she wanted due to her oath, but she was sure that the Origin had to have ties to the source of the power of purification for her plants to live. Frelia confided in her that it was only half true. She had gotten it the same way that Lailah had—through an oath. But Frelia’s oath was far different. She simply had to keep the Tower sustained until further notice, but with the birth of Metafalica drawing closer, she wondered what would happen to the gardens that she had sung into existence so many years ago.
The Sky Plains were relatively small compared to the actual Tower to the Heavens. Within a matter of minutes, partly in thanks to their guides and partly because there were no interruptions, they stood before a door. Behind it, there was a hint of malevolence that made Rose prickle. Shun and Frelia felt it as well. Raki was behind the door.
“How the hell did they make it there so quick?!” Infel raged.
“Frelia is with them, after all,” Nenesha sighed. “As to be expected of that scrawny dog-thing.”
“If we can force Raki to attack them…”
“Then everything will be alright. Even if Cloche and Luca survived…”
“They can’t stop us. We’ll make them initiate Metafalica and then take it for ourselves.” Infel focused on Raki’s presence from within Infel Phira. “reta kYOvLYOnOrA du Ogyaeje/. reta kLYOiE du Ogyaeje/.”
Rose, who advised Dezel and Zaveid to rest inside of her and Sorey, asked that Leglius and Luca protect Cloche and Cocona. Her gut feeling worsened with each second as they prepared to open the door into the entrance of Sol Marta, the relay station between Eolia and Frelia. Raki was growing more and more powerful.
Jacqli opened the door without hesitation, almost annoyed herself that Rose didn’t just barge into the server. And just as they were expecting, the girl that had tried so hard to slaughter Cloche and Luca was standing there waiting for them.
Infel’s lyrics echoed in Raki’s mind. She had to kill them; they could not take another step! She gripped her head, a hiccup passing through her thoughts, before she erected herself in the center of the giant room.
“Of course, she’s waiting here,” Shun growled. “The place where Frelia began the manufacture of her Tower—the Ar Ciel Sphere.”
“This is the Government Type I Special Energy Facility, Sol Marta,” Raki droned. “Unauthorized personnel are prohibited. If you do not leave immediately, you will be exterminated.”
Frelia walked before Shun, Sorey, and Rose. “R-Raki, don’t you remember me? It’s me, Frelia!” she tried to tell her with her quivering voice. “I’m your friend.”
“Unauthorized personnel will be exterminated,” Raki warned again.
“Listen to yourself!” Shun pleaded. “Do you really mean to hurt our Goddess, Lady Frelia?”
“Negative. The Frelia standing here is an impostor. She is currently resting in Her chambers as she has been for the last few centuries.”
Rose stepped toward her. “Lady Frelia, if she’s really your friend, she wouldn’t be doing this! Raki isn’t herself right now—remember she’s not herself!” she said. Drawing her daggers, and with Dezel writhing in agony inside of her, she prepared to fight her. “So, let’s knock some sense in her, got it?”
“If you refuse to leave, then I will do what I must to erase you!” Raki threatened.
She initiated her battle mode while calling forth two Divine Army robots. On both of the robots, there was a counter going backwards from 100. If they didn’t beat her before they hit zero, Shun promised that Raki would rip them all apart.
Luca and Jacqli began to sing together as they protected Frelia, Cloche, and Cocona. Amarie, Leglius, and Shun were focused on one of the robots while Edna and Lailah took on the other. Rose, Alisha, and Sorey were prepared to fight against Raki with everything they had. Jacqli sang Phantasmagoria while Luca sang her Chilling Song. Gradually, icicles formed all around her, readying to pierce the Divine Army and Raki.
Leglius pummeled the Divine Army robot with his shields while Amarie shot a hailstorm’s worth of arrows into it. Shun had no problem trying to tear it to pieces, but he was hesitant when it came to fighting against Raki. She was his and Frelia’s friend. Someone was interfering with her.
Against the other Divine Army robot which was shooting at them, Lailah and Edna alternated between their Seraphic Artes and their Song Magic. When Lailah used her Pyrogenic Ring to knock it off balance, Edna sang a Song to damage it with her rocks. When Edna used Air Pressure to pull it down to the floor, Lailah sang a Song to make it rain fire.
Sorey and Alisha aimed to flank Raki so Rose would have an opening. Raki, sensing where they were coming from, dodged them both then slashed them with a pair of swords made of pure energy. Rose leapt over them, and with all the swiftness as the assassin she was, she spun around and stabbed the girl in the side. She backed away from her, reaffirming her grip on her daggers as she waited for another opening.
Raki gripped her wound, staggering a bit before she activated her attack. “Combination,” she said calmly said.
She pulled two swords made of burning hot energy from behind her then rushed towards Rose. With each hit of the swords, Rose’s arms were scorched. Dezel wanted to come out and fight, but how could he when the IPD disease rendered him too vulnerable?
Sorey and Alisha called on their Armatuses, leaving the Divine Army robot Lailah and Edna were fighting to run amok. Shining gold and blazing crimson, the Shepherd and the Squire princess chased after Raki. Rose, on the other hand, decided to go after the Divine Army robot that was left unattended. Thanks to the seraphim, it had already suffered a great amount of damage. One stab from her dagger was all it needed to fall apart.
Jacqli nodded to Luca, who unleashed her Song Magic from behind Leglius, Amarie, and Shun. It had grown so powerful on its own, and with Phantasmagoria further boosted its power, it obliterated the remaining robot. Now all focus was on Raki, who was beginning to use a power that would severely hurt the seraphim present.
“Fractal Change,” she said. Jacqli and Luca recoiled, their Song Magic being jammed by the mysterious power. Sorey and Alisha were brought to their knees under the same effect, and in seconds, the Armatuses were forced off of them. “Termination is imminent.”
“I don’t think so!” Rose called out. She rushed toward Raki with her daggers out. Even with Dezel inside her trying his best not to impede her, she still felt lethargic. She forced herself to go harder. The assassin managed to make a few swipes of her blade connect with her adversary, and as Raki readied to use her Vesper attack to blow her away, Rose made she couldn’t take aim. “Lightning…Crash!” Rose flipped into the air, and suddenly a wave of bolts shot from the air at the girl.
Raki, who was similar to the Divine Army, felt to the ground. Her limbs were stuck, immovable at the joints. The jamming stopped, and once Jacqli had regained her ability to move, she hurried over to Raki and put her to sleep, grimacing all the while.
“She’s the type of robot that needs to be completely destroyed,” she said matter-of-factedly. “Leave them alone for just a moment, and they will stop at nothing to kill you.”
“No!” Frelia cried. “Raki is my friend!”
“Relax, I’m not actually going to end her. I’ve put her in sleep mode, so she’ll be out of it for a while.”
Rose panted from exhaustion. “Raki is another robot…but she still has feelings like the rest of us…” she whispered. “Of course, it would be cruel to kill her when she’s like this…”
Luca held Cloche against her to support her while she took a stance next to Jacqli to observe her. “Infel and Nenesha hacked her, but she still thought that Lady Frelia was in her chamber resting,” she said. “Does that mean they’ve been pretending to be her the whole time we were gone?”
“Looks like it. But now that she’s out of commission for a while, they really can’t do anything else. We should head to Sol Marta’s interior.”
“But what about Zaveid and Dezel and Cocona? What about Cloche?” Sorey asked her. Rose rose to her feet. “They’re clearly strong, but if they’ve been messing with Infel Phira and everything connected to it, they could use them against us.”
“We can’t do much of anything until we stop them. It’s a risk we have to take.”
Rose clenched her fist. She felt the same as Sorey, but she understood why Jacqli didn’t want to wait and see what would happen. There was no way to purify Infel Phira without excising the cancer within it. She approached Sorey from behind and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. There wasn’t anything they could do.
Shun and Frelia led them out of the entrance of Sol Marta to a hallway that ended with a heavy metal door. The door, according to the former, was locked from the inside, presumably by Infel and Nenesha to bar them from advancing any further. Shun couldn’t unlock it, and Frelia didn’t have the means to do it. Leglius asked if Raki would be able to help, which only irritated Jacqli. With the girl in sleep mode, nothing would wake her up before she was supposed to, but it also made it extremely easy to go through her data to unlock the door from the outside and override Infel and Nenesha.
“We could ask Reki,” Edna suggested. “After all, she specializes in that kind of stuff, right? Dive Therapy but not really, at least.”
“It would be more difficult than that, but that’s as close as we can get,” Jacqli sighed. “Fine, let’s drag her back to Reki and fix her up.”
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“Welcome to the Hot Spot!” Reki greeted Sorey and his friends. Amarie had taken precedence over Cocona’s well-being while Leglius carried Raki in his arms. “Oh? Is that…Raki? My sister!”
After learning about how her sister droid had come to be in the position she was, Reki couldn’t help but cry. She thanked them for her stopping her and not killing her, something that Rose was grateful for as well, before listening to how Jacqli wanted to solve the problem. The dark Reyvateil stated that she wanted to Dive into Raki—deep into the Binary Field—to release her from Infel’s control.
“You’re going into the Binary Field?!” Shun gasped. “That’s incredibly dangerous!”
“Meh, not really,” Jacqli sighed. “I’ve spent my share of time there, and it’s not as bad as you think.”
“Just who are you?”
“Not important.”
Alisha and Rose exchanged glances—no one realized just how perilous the Binary Field was, but then no one except Jacqli and Frelia knew it for what it was in its entirety. Jacqli requested that they get started, and Reki initiated her domain. When the Dive started, Jacqli focused on Raki.
Her mind traveled through into the depths of her programming, something that the Glenwood Continent dwellers could only hope to understand. She scanned the data until she found a certain true name that she could call through the Binary Field. Calling on the true name, Shurelia’s consciousness met her.
“Mir? Why are you back in the Binary Field?” Shurelia asked her. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to hack another Tower! I thought you’d changed!”
“Good to see you, too,” Jacqli giggled. “To answer your question, we’re trying to get into Frelia’s server and relay station, but someone else has locked the door.”
“Clearly not Frelia.”
“Nope, someone pretending to be her.”
“How can that be?” Shurelia didn’t pursue it any further. It was rare to see her counterpart in something of a panic or disarray. When she asked what exactly Jacqli needed help with, she was flabbergasted. “You…You want me to do what?!”
“Force all the locked doors in Sol Marta to open and make sure they can never be locked by anyone except you and Frelia. Hop to it; we don’t have much time. The longer I stay here, the higher the chance I’ll be found out.”
Shurelia reluctantly did as Jacqli wished, but in unlocking all the doors and restoring access to Frelia’s chamber, she noticed that the data pertaining to other parts of the Second Tower had been analyzed and edited. She showed her counterpart all of the data that had been changed, to which the latter confirmed it with Raki’s hacking.
“The person who did this has a rather in-depth understanding of how Towers work,” Shurelia told her.
“Not surprised, because we know exactly who it is,” Jacqli replied.
Suddenly, the Binary Field flickered, a malevolent presence spreading through it like blood mixing with water. Jacqli and Shurelia stood back to back trying to locate this new being before the black-clad Reyvateil ordered Shurelia to leave the Binary Field and secure her Tower.
“Compared to me, this girl could mess you up a lot more than what I did,” she warned her.
“Got it. But promise me something—when you’ve finished your business in Frelia, return to Eolia at once. There a few things we need to discuss regarding you-know-who.”
“My, keeping secrets even in this place. Fine, now go.”
Shurelia’s consciousness within the Binary Field promptly disappeared, and not too long after, the malevolent presence that had joined them. “How rude,” Infel, the intruder, scoffed. “Could you not mess with my plan? It’s really annoying having to deal with Viruses like you.”
“Pot, meet kettle. At least I was a little more humane.”
“What’s humane about attempting to destroy the world? When I’m done, everyone in the world—humans and seraphim—will live peacefully without suffering. Just how it was supposed to be so long ago. Just as we had intended our promised land.”
“I didn’t take you for the preachy type.”
Infel grinned evilly. “I just needed to buy some time. I’ve finally found you lot.”
As suddenly as Infel had appeared in the Binary Field, she vanished without a trace. Jacqli ejected herself as well. It had been a trap, and not only were they all in danger, but so was Reki. But as soon as she returned to reality, there was a loud crash in the room just outside of the Hot Spot. While Reki was delighted to have another customer, Jacqli knew very well that it wasn’t what she thought.
“What was that?” Luca and Rose asked.
“Infel’s little friend,” Jacqli growled. “Reki, you stay here. We’ve got some cleaning to do.”
Jacqli rallied Sorey and Rose behind her as they left Reki and Raki behind.
Notes:
We're slowly creeping up on the end of Phase 5! But what will it all mean when it ends? Who is Shurelia talking about?
Chapter 143: Phase 5: Zodoma
Summary:
The amalgamation of all the negative feelings in Infel Phira stands before Rose and her friends. Zodoma, the physical manifestation of the malevolence, impedes them.
Notes:
A bit of a short chapter but centered around the Zodoma boss fight. I hate writing combat, but I think I've realized it's because of the sheer amount of characters involved. I think I remember this fight being pretty easy though.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The monster that stood before Jacqli, Sorey, Rose, and the others that had followed them was unlike anything they had seen. It was a horrific conglomerate of stuffed toys all strung together to form what looked like the shambling corpse of a giant demon rabbit puppet. It was just shy a few inches from touching the ceiling of the room. Jacqli looked at it alluringly.
“It’s quite adorable,” she commented, quickly attracting the attention of every girl that was present and conscious. “It’s one of those so-ugly-it’s-cute things.”
“I have to agree,” Edna smirked.
“Cute or not, we’ve got to take it down!” Rose determined.
The malevolence was terribly strong coming from it, so much that Zaveid and Dezel had to come out and Cocona and Cloche pushed their way from Amarie and Luca. They winced and whined in pain, clutching their heart as if having heart attacks. Their bodies were burning hot, and it was clear that they were on the verge of an IPD outbreak. They keeled over, scraping the ground with their nails.
“It hurts…!” Cocona squeaked.
“Luca, I’m scared!” Cloche cried out.
“Sorey…! I…I don’t want to end up like her!” Zaveid begged.
“R-Rose…please, help me…!” Dezel pleaded. “I…I don’t want to turn into a dragon…not now…not when we’re so close…!”
Rose wanted to comfort him, but something in her told her now wasn’t the time. She had to get rid of the monster first. She only hoped that her seraph and their friends didn’t turn into dragons before they got the job done.
“Get ready!” Amarie told them as she ready her bow.
The monster called Zodoma roared viciously, echoing through the Hot Spot with guttural screams of anger and discontent that mimicked the IPDs cries. They were being swallowed by malevolence, so there was only a limited time they had to destroy it. Edna used Final Embrace to get a head of the game. Lailah used Blitz Bomb, and surprisingly the monster had caught on fire for a short while.
Sorey and Alisha darted around its base hacking away at the legs. No matter how many slices they managed to put into the toys, it did nothing; it was becoming increasingly clear that they would have to use Song Magic to destroy it.
Zodoma bellowed again before using some sort of attack that slowed them all down. Once they were stuck in their places, it swiped its massive claws towards the IPDs. Rose forced herself to move along with Luca, and they used their bodies to shield the seraphim from the attack. Then, with another roar, it hovered its claws over them again.
“Look out!” Leglius called out. He rushed to them with his shields over them as clumps of toys fell onto them like an avalanche.
Sorey leapt up onto Zodoma’s leg once he could move normally, climbing up so that way he could try to attack it in a more vulnerable spot. After he was on its shoulder, he dug his blade into it. “There has to be a way…!” he strained.
Zodoma grabbed him and threw him down with more force than he expected. Jacqli used her Song Magic to heal him just enough to get him back on his feet. She began to sing her Song Ar Tonelico.
“Dezel, are you okay?” Rose asked when Leglius uncovered her and Luca. The wind seraphim whimpered, his body tightly curling into a ball. “Don’t worry, we’re doing our best. We’ll get it done in no time!”
“I’m sorry…” he sobbed. “I’m sorry…”
“Rose, come on!” Luca said to her. Cloche had fallen unconscious from the excitement around her. “I need you to cover me!”
Reluctantly, Rose left Dezel to provide Luca with protection as she sang her Song Magic. The Maiden of Fuero wished that her sister were awake to further increase their strength, but she knew that singing would only make her condition worse.
Zodoma turned to Alisha and Lailah, who were preparing to Armatize, to unleash the same attack that had pummeled them before. Just as it was ready to drop the another clump of toys, Jacqli initiated her Song. Beams fired from Eolia straight to the Hot Spot, piercing its body and effectively vaporizing some of the toys that made up its hulking form. It screeched in pain then faced her. Sorey took the opportunity to shatter a leg of toys, and with Lailah’s fire and Edna’s stones, it couldn’t regenerate.
Luca used her Song Magic Thorn Princess, which made long vines dotted with thorns sprout from the ground. They wrapped around the Zodoma, and with it immobile in place, Rose and Shun took the opportunity to finish it off before it could do any more damage. As the monster’s body disintegrated into the all kinds of toys, the malevolence that held it together dispersed. Like bullets, they sped towards the downed IPDs.
“Lailah!” Alisha cried out. In seconds, the Lady of the Lake used her Silver Flame to neutralize the malevolence. In the middle of the broken toys, a sole worn teddy bear with letters stitched into its chest lay on the ground. “‘The…sublimation…will begin…soon…’ Sublimation?”
Sorey and Rose tended to their wind seraphim, who seemed to be recovering from the IPD disease now that Zodoma had been stopped. Luca and Leglius checked Cloche and Cocona, but Shun and Frelia were preoccupied with what Alisha had just read.
“Sublimation?” Frelia whimpered. “That means…”
“Is she trying to conduct the Ascension Project again?” Shun asked more to himself.
“Whatever it is, we need to hurry. There’s nothing in our way, and this ‘sublimation’ doesn’t sound like anything good,” Jacqli tersely.
Sorey pulled Zaveid to his feet. “Are you okay?” he asked him.
“I…I feel dizzy…but I think so…” Zaveid took a step, immediately falling to his knees. “I’m sorry, can I rest?”
“You don’t have to ask.”
The wind seraph disappeared into his Shepherd, but the other wind seraph was having a harder time regaining his composure. He clung to Rose.
“Dezel, it’s okay,” Rose soothingly said. He no longer felt hot with fever, and he wasn’t crying in agony. She assumed that his fear stemmed in his memories from Pendrago. Once he had calmed down enough, and he turned his face up at her to sense the outlines of her head, allowing her to see his greyed eyes. “Come on, we’ve got some brats to kick around!”
Infel and Nenesha frowned as they listened from Sol Marta to Rose act high and mighty and pretending to be stronger than she really was. They couldn’t wait to carry out their plan.
“We’re the new Goddesses of this Tower,” Nenesha said. “Those pieces of crap can’t do anything about it!”
“That’s right,” Infel agreed with her. “We’re going to purify this wretched world and create a paradise where no one will suffer!”
They continued to watch as the group returned to Reki to let her know that the “customer” had been taken care of. When they came back, they found that Raki was awake and functioning as normal. Frelia, delighted to see her friend feeling better, carefully hugged her. Shun was glad as well. He asked the girl if she felt anything out of sorts, to which she responded that everything felt normal now. She was aware that her data and memory had been examined by someone, but whether or not she knew it was Jacqli or Infel couldn’t be determined.
“You are heading to Sol Marta now, correct?” Raki asked.
“That’s the plan,” Rose replied.
“I see. Allow me to escort you as an apology for what I have done.”
Sorey was apprehensive but not because they were finally meeting Infel and Nenesha. The malevolence that had come from Infel Phira had been reduced now that the physical manifestation of it that had been Zodoma had been destroyed, but it was still present in the Tower. The hellions were sure to have become more active. Having Raki with them would help them conserve their energy.
Cloche, who had gotten better along with Cocona after agreeing to let Raki escort them to the core of Sol Marta, took her sister’s hand. She looked at her, her indigo eyes both filling with tears and burning with determination.
“This is the end,” she told her. “Once we defeat Infel and Nenesha, we must create Metafalica no matter what hardships await us.”
“Yes,” Luca smiled.
“The People of Metafalss are waiting for us.”
“And once we create Metafalica, we…we can be a family!”
“Well, we still have a lot to do—I have to return to Grand Bell Hall to govern my people, and you have to run your Dive Therapy business.”
“Yeah, but we can always take breaks and visit each other.”
“How much free time do you think we’ll have? Don’t be silly.”
Jacqli interrupted them by walking between them. “You two can prattle about whatever you want after we take care of this crisis.”
Cocona followed behind her since she was more concerned about showing Infel just how much she wanted to thank her for endangering so many IPDs before they were forced off the Tower. Rose, though, wanted to hear the sisterly banter because it was comforting. She thought about how Sorey still missed Mikleo, and she wanted Dezel to have a chance at peace. She didn’t know what the last Dive did other than to lessen the symptoms of the IPD disease, and she wanted peace so she could investigate. Hearing something that wasn’t their usual doom and gloom made her feel better.
Edna spun her umbrella, bored with waiting for Sorey to get moving since Zaveid wasn’t out for her to bully. Alisha and Lailah were ready to as well. Leglius and Amarie, loyal to Cloche and Luca, stood with them. With Raki at the head of the group and Shun and Frelia at the back, they all made their way to Sol Marta.
Notes:
AHAHAHAHAHA! WE MOVE ONTO SUBLIMATION! 16 minutes of amazing music!!
Actually, I feel like I should start linking the Hymmnos tracks in the fic now so you can listen to them while you read...
Chapter 144: Phase 5: Sublimation
Summary:
The final battle against Infel and Nenesha.
Notes:
WHOOOO, I had forgotten while proofing this chapter just how fucking epic I had made it! If you read this chapter, be sure to listen to EXEC_over.METHOD_SUBLIMATION/. as well!
Lots of great Dezel and Rose in this chapter too!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Symonne watched the Second Tower from the tallest tower of the Rolance Empire’s castle. Frelia was just barely in view, and she knew that a reckoning was about to be made. She didn’t care which side was going to win, she simply wanted to see the outcome. Heldalf had gone to make his own preparations to flood Sorey’s heart with despair, so it was up to her to observe what happened and report back. If Infel and Nenesha were to succeed, then they wouldn’t need to worry about destroying their Metafalica to further their own plot. If Sorey and his friends won, nothing would change; they would simply carry on filling the world with malevolence.
At the door leading into the core of Sol Marta, Raki said her farewell to Sorey, Rose, and Alisha. She had to do something about the hellions that were running rampant so high up in the holiest of places on the Second Tower. After all, Frelia had returned. She couldn’t come back to a den of monsters.
“Thank you, Raki,” Frelia said. “I can’t wait to play with you again!”
“Lady Frelia…please, be safe,” Raki asked of her before leaving.
Rose, Dezel, Sorey, and Jacqli turned to the door. Cloche and Luca clenched each other’s hands. It was time to finish this part of the journey and save this Tower from the verge of collapse.
Rose led them in with her daggers ready. Inside the core, a massive tree grew. Its vibrant leaves fit perfectly into the tear shape ceiling of Sol Marta, and from its branches to its wide trunk to the coiling roots, the wood was strong and thick. A metal pod was embedded into the trunk and roots, as if the pod itself had been the seed that germinated into great tree before them. Flowers, ferns, and even grass filled the floor. It almost felt as if they had been transported to a completely new world.
“I must say, congratulations on getting this far,” Infel said as she emerged from behind the tree. Her stuffed rabbit’s eyes stared at them. “But I’m afraid this is as far as you’ll go.”
“So, you’re Infel,” Rose said. “All the reports said you died 410 years ago, so how are you here now?”
“It’s simple. I sublimated my soul into Infel Phira’s Binary Field and waited for when I could find the perfect vessel to return to this plane. Once I did, all I had to do was mess with a few things and, ta-da, I have a physical manifestation of my soul.”
Dezel prickled. “You’re no better than the rotten humans that abuse seraphim,” he accused. He pulled out his pendulums.
“I beg to differ. You read the documents—this world hit rock bottom when Metafalica failed and my Nenesha was killed. But I brought her back, and together we’re going to accomplish what we were destined to do in the first place.” Infel stepped around to the tree holding Frelia’s pod. “Considering that it has been tested and proven twice, Nenesha and I are going to free the world’s souls from the third dimension and transcend into the spiritual plane. There will be no anguish, no sorrow. It will be a true paradise where everyone can be happy, where Nenesha and I can finally live together in the love we have for the world.”
“That’s not paradise!” Cloche argued with her, and Infel snapped around with hatred for her. “No one asked for that! If you were a true Maiden of Mio, you would know that! The People of Metafalss, and the people who had been pushed to the land below and assimilated into the culture there, did not ask for that kind of world. They wished for the creation of Metafalica, a land that will save them from a crumbling Tower that abuses and drains the Goddess’s power. And that is what I will do!”
“How foolish,” Infel told her. “The People of Metafalss don’t know their own hearts. With the current population—nay, even if you got the help of all the people on the other Towers and on the Glenwood Continent, it won’t matter. No one actually believes in Metafalica.”
“They do!” Luca interjected. “Lady Cloche and I have been working hard. Sure, we were gone for a long time, but we’ve made more friends from the land below us, and they helped us! Everyone wants happiness, but nobody wants a life devoid of the very things that make us feel alive!”
Infel giggled while covering her mouth politely with her long white bell-sleeve. “Why don’t you tell that to the people that tried to do the same thing a millennium ago to the Glenwood Continent? My, you really know nothing. Granted, their method was never going to work because it was against the will of the people. Nenesha and I hold the people to a high regard, and we respect their wishes.”
“Oh, don’t give us that crap!” Rose yelled at her.
The former Maiden of Mio’s nonchalant smile didn’t change. “It seems you all are still far too stupid to understand. Follow me, we will show you.”
Dezel read the air in Sol Marta. He was sensing Nenesha, but he couldn’t pinpoint her location. When they passed through the large room before the core, they hadn’t seen her. It was like she was in a different dimension already. Everyone followed Infel to the room they fought Raki, and as plain as day they saw Nenesha standing there waiting for her partner.
“I see you’ve greeted our guests,” Nenesha tittered.
“That aura…” Jacqli mumbled. “I had thought that Infel hacked Raki, but it wouldn’t make sense given the different type of seraph that she is. So, you’re the one that tried to mess up everything.”
“Hack? Mess up?” Nenesha giggled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I will admit I learned from you, Mother Virus.”
Nenesha curtsied before Infel proudly glared at Frelia, who was intimidated by the cold woman. Infel hugged her stuffed toy and said, “The rightful Maiden of Aqua and Maiden of Fuero have transcended their roles. We have replaced you, Frelia, as the Goddesses of this Tower. We can make your trees dance, sprout new buds and kill them, and we can even connect Infel Phira to Ar Tonelico at will. No longer will we be bound by the Wills of the Planet that torture every living being in this world. So you can relax. Take a break. It will all be over soon, and a new era will dawn.”
Sorey took a step. “I still have questions for you,” he said. “Are you working with Heldalf?”
“Funny you should say that,” Nenesha said. “He did come to us to try and make us join his cause, but we have vastly different ideals and methods. You don’t need to destroy the current world to make a new one.”
Rose, aware of what was coming, asked them, “Are you planning to do that by going through with the Ascension Project? The same one that the Rolance Empire tried?!”
“Oh, no! The Ascension pales in comparison to this global-scaled project. No, what we are going to do…” Infel waited for Nenesha to finish her sentence.
“Sublimation.”
Sorey and Rose stiffened. The experience that the Shepherd had gone through—all the pain and the manipulation that nearly killed half the population of the Glenwood Continent—came back to him. An infinite number of souls would be sucked into Infel Phira, wondering aimlessly for all eternity.
“The soul will leave the body and exist only in a plane far separated from this one. A pure world where there is no suffering will be born.”
“I said, stop giving us that crap!” Rose screamed at them. “Suffering is what makes living worthwhile! How can you diminish feelings, thoughts, emotions, love, sorrow, and everything else to just unnecessary inconveniences?!” Dezel turned to her, and everyone listened to her roaring voice. “Yeah, every once in a while, shit happens and life sucks! But you can have good times without the bad! There are so many ups and downs that you have believe what doesn’t kill you just makes you stronger! If you work so hard to get rid of the bad times, how will you grow? How will you enjoy life without getting bored!? Everyone here, people that I’ve known for a long time and people I’ve just met, we’re all striving to live and feel alive! So stop with the bullshit about how life shouldn’t have any suffering!”
“Wretched girl!” Nenesha hissed.
“Oh? And what do you know about suffering?” Infel retaliated.
“A lot! If you and Nenesha were so in love and made so many happy memories together, then you know why sadness is so important!”
“Don’t act like you know anything! Nenesha was stolen from me by the very Goddess you’re protecting! The pain I felt, the loneliness of never finding anyone that could replace her in my heart—I don’t care if I have good memories of us, I never, never, never want to feel that pain again!” She and Nenesha joined hands. “But arguing with us is futile. We are the new Goddesses. Our wills reflect the will of the people.”
“Let us begin the Sublimation,” Nenesha said.
The resurrected Maiden of Mio and Maiden of Homura began to sing a dark Song calling for the end of the world. It was haunting, yet it only appeared to be Infel’s will present in it. The Second Tower rumbled as a black orb formed outside at the very tip of Sol Marta. It grew and grew, blocking out the moon and sun and stars. The entire sky was swallowed.
From every place inhabited by humans and seraphim alike, the world was becoming dark. Eolia’s citizens had simply thought that night had come while the seraphim in Lohgrin sensed something horrible was happening.
In Pendrago, the welcomed sun was colored black, its light consumed by the hatred in Infel’s heart. “What’s happening?” Sergei asked the open air. Panic throughout the city ensued as the people feared that the poisonous rain was coming back.
Maltran in Hyland was neither impressed nor disgusted. She watched intently, trying to guess what Heldalf and Symonne were going to do with this turn of events.
“This is the end,” Nenesha giggled.
“Don’t worry, you won’t die. You’ll just leave your body, and your mind will be sublimated into Infel Phira,” Infel explained as if to comfort them.
“That’s what we call death!” Leglius shouted over the rumbling.
Jacqli ordered everyone to brace themselves. The wavelengths that supported the Tower were morphing and destabilizing everything. Rose knew what had to be done, and Cloche and Luca supported her.
“S-Shuny…!” Frelia whimpered. “I’m scared…”
“Don’t worry, Lady Frelia!” Shun told her.
Nenesha and Infel’s Song continued, but Rose thought of an idea. “How about we wager a game?” she said coyly.
“Ooh, I like games,” Nenesha laughed.
“Let’s place our bets on our ideals. If our will beats yours, you have to stop the Sublimation!”
“And if you fail, we continue with our ideals until this world has ascended,” Infel offered. “If this world and all its people are as united as you think, prove it to us. It should be easy to take us down, no?”
“It’s a deal!” Rose confirmed. Cloche and Luca glanced at her, but they didn’t see fear or uncertainty in her. The assassin stood from the ground, Dezel standing with her. And then Cloche realized what she had to do.
The Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell stood against the rumbling followed by the Goddess Maiden and then everyone else. They watched the cataclysm unfold before them. The branches and roots from Frelia’s tree twisted and snapped as they elongated into claws, the figure of Infel’s Zodoma emerging from behind the two singing seraphim. Shrubs and branches grew uncontrolled, and Zodoma morphed into something horrific. The malevolence coming from the ephemeral seraphim who were so tainted that they were akin to Symonne, fallen from grace and submerged in the depths of their own despair, transformed the monster into a dragon behind them.
“How ugly,” Jacqli said. The heroes from Metafalss and the Glenwood Continent beheld the dragon tree named Ryuju.
“The trees created from your love have become quite useful to us, Frelia,” Infel said.
“We have to wonder how pure that love is—love for birth and growth and love for destruction and suffering. It is the same love that gives birth to Ryuju the Dragon Tree,” Nenesha said.
“The evolution of this Tower and worlds attached to it shall ascend far from the physical plane, and true freedom will finally be attained.”
“Dragon?” Zaveid murmured. “They’ve fallen, haven’t they.”
“Clearly,” Edna replied. “No better than that creepy girl that works for Kittybeard.”
“What are we going to do about it?” Luca asked, the nervousness evident in her voice.
Cloche, unwavering, stared at the horrendous creature. “Replekia,” she uttered. She drew the rapier that she always kept on her person for self-defense. “I vowed as the Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell, as the Maiden of Mio, as Cloche Leythal Pastalia, and as Leyka that I would unite the People of Metafalss to create Metafalica. I shall call my brothers and sisters that thrive below me. Now.” She closed her eyes and focused. “I beg of you, connect with me.”
Connect with me.
lAnAcAaA oucc mea/.
Zaveid, Dezel, and Cocona as well as all the IPDs on the Second Tower, in the Rolance territory, and in Lohgrin felt compelled to sing as Cloche’s prayer to connect resounded in their souls. Their voices and thoughts reverberated, indicating their desire to sing with her. Infel Phira shined through the darkness as the Holy Maiden began to sing with steady determination the Song that capitulated what it meant to be the IPD Queen.
“Sing with me,” she said once more as she began her Song.
She led her fellow IPDs in a grand chorus that erupted all around them and even drowned the Song that Infel and Nenesha had been singing to develop Ryuju. Dezel clutched at his chest. He wanted to sing so desperately, but he knew that if he did, he would hurt himself even more. But he couldn’t help it. He sang alongside Cloche despite the pain in his throat and body. The chorus was a tidal wave of hope, or perhaps a geyser that reached all the way to Infel Phira and transformed it into a cannon. Cloche sang as it charged up energy. And once it fired, beams of light tore through the darkness that the maidens had prayed for. At that moment, the skies sundered by the sheer power that was a testament to the strength of Cloche’s will, Rose called out:
“Lukeim Yurlin!”
Dezel, though damaged from singing, became a green ball of light that flew towards his vessel. In a show of verdant ribbons of light, she donned the Wind Armatus and took flight. She charged towards Infel and Nenesha, who started the next phase of their Song once Cloche’s ended.
The shrubs in front of Sorey and the current maidens burst with silvery snake heads. The branches that curled around the circumference of the entrance to Sol Marta were shaped like claws that tried to catch Rose. Cloche and Luca initiated their Song Demongel, building up its power as fast as they could. The snake heads launched towards them, Sorey and Alisha struggling to deflect them. Jacqli began to sing Phantasmagoria. Leglius and Amarie provided backup and defense, healing their comrades and enduring any attacks that broke through the Shepherd and his Squire. Shun was told to keep Frelia safe no matter what, and Cocona tailed Rose on the ground. She pushed her way through the demonic branches and cutting them with her blade or setting them on fire with her Song Magic.
“This is our Metafalica, and it shall be the world that lovingly houses all!” Nenesha cackled. “Come on, Ryuju, show them your power!”
“Like hell!” Zaveid retorted. He cast Seraphic Arte after Seraphic Arte to beat down the snake heads and shrubs until one snake head snuck up on him from behind. While it managed to hit him, it felt like a simple slap. “Heh, is that really the best you’ve got?!”
“Don’t taunt it, you idiot,” Edna groaned. She laid rock traps around the shrubs, activating them all to pierce as many snake heads as she could.
The branchlike claw glowed with an ominous aura, all the snake heads turning to attention before whipping around each one of them and bludgeoning them. Rose stopped advancing towards the main body of the dragon holding Nenesha and Infel and turned back to help her friends.
“No, just keep going!” Sorey told her. “We can take care of this!” A snake head jabbed him in the back. “We have to stop their Song!”
Cocona burst out from one of the shrubs, against launching a fire ball at it and setting it on fire. Lailah helped with her flames. The snake heads and shrubs that they came all caught fire, and as they squealed and shriveled in pain, Sorey took aim at the claw.
“Amarie, I need to to fire as many arrows as you can at it,” he told the half-Teru girl.
“You got it!” Amarie responded. She knocked three arrows at once, and after she fired them, Sorey followed behind them. She kept firing until he leapt up. Sorey then ordered Zaveid to give him a boost with his wind. “Wait, are you crazy?!”
Sorey was now at the same height as Rose in front of the claw that was swatting away the arrows. It wasn’t fast enough, and as quickly as he could before it knocked him aside, he sliced it off. The claw came crashing down onto the burning snake heads and shrubs. Cloche and Luca and Jacqli continued to sing.
“Impudent scum,” Infel snarled. “Let’s see how you like this!” The main body of Ryuju seemed to fully awaken as it roared in discordant Hymmnos. “You all are so fucking annoying!”
“Maybe you’re just a bitch!” Edna called back to her.
“Don’t taunt her, Edna,” Zaveid teased.
The main body comprised of a larger claw, a woman like the figurehead of a ship, the dragon head, and a dripping maw that double as its core. Malevolence poured from it infinitely, poisoning Rose, Sorey, and Alisha heavily. The seraphim faltered as they tried to force themselves to withstand it, but it was getting harder and harder to breathe.
Leglius and Cocona both took aim at the maw while Sorey and Alisha faced the woman on its back. Zaveid, Edna, and Lailah fired their Seraphic Artes at the dragon head with the hope that they would do some damage, but their attacks—like other times that they had fought drakes and dragon newts—did so little that they were just exhausting themselves. Amarie’s arrows were swallowed by the maw and dragon head. Rose took her position before the dragon head that dwarfed her.
“Is this thing really the Metafalica you thought your people would want…?” Rose asked with horror.
“Focus, Rose,” Dezel told her. “It’s just another hellion in our way.”
“Right.”
“Hellion? Please, it’s much more than just a hellion! It’s the new world!” Nenesha snapped.
The assassin in green and gold sped towards the dragon head, and when she got close enough to it, she blasted it with as many gusts as Dezel could muster. When it proved to be ineffective, she pulled the knives of wind from her wings. The dragon head, again, didn’t react. Instead, it rumbled some jumbled Hymmnos before the woman’s eyes glowed red and stretched her mouth open.
Sensing its attack, Dezel forced her high above it. The dragon head spat out a hellfire at her friends below. It heavily burned them, bringing them to their knees without any effort. Once they couldn’t move, it whipped them all with thorns. In the amount of time it took Rose to fire twenty blasts of wind, it had nearly killed everyone fighting against it.
“See what happens when you try to fight against our will?” Infel chided. “This Song will be your death knell.”
Rose flew down to her friends. Jacqli, Cloche, and Luca couldn’t afford to stop their Songs to heal them, so she tried the next best thing. “Soul Resonance!” she called out. She healed their wounds a great deal while deflecting the claw that threatened to smash them. “Soul Resonance! Soul Resonance!”
The giant maw then opened up to reveal an iridescent purple haze. Dezel de-Armatized from Rose. Together with Zaveid, they held up a barrier of wind. It was just barely enough to deflect it, but any other attempts would break their defense. Ryuju spat its hellfire.
Edna and Lailah tried to make barriers of their own, but they were too late. Fire singed everything, and everyone was on their last leg again. Rose quickly rifled through her items to use anything she could to help her burns.
“Our hearts are connected!” Luca suddenly called out.
“Let us meld together!” Cloche followed suit.
The two maidens shined gold and amethyst. “Love, melody, united as one! Synchronity Chain!” they said together. Shining ever brighter, chains of energy wrapped around Ryuju.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Nenesha screeched.
“Let go, you pitiful swine!” Infel demanded.
“Cloche, call on the IPDs one more time!” Jacqli said. “If we’re going to destroy this thing, we might as well blast it from every single plane of existence!”
While singing her Song with Luca, Cloche incorporated Replekia into it. She felt the power and warmth of her fellow IPDs, tens of thousands of them all singing in unison on the Tower and on the Glenwood Continent.
With Jacqli’s Phantasmagoria, Cloche’s Replekia, and the Synchronity Chain that Luca and her sister had fostered during their time off the Tower, the strength of their combination Song Magic Demongel was strong enough to erase Ryuju, the Tainted Continent, from existence. The blast was so strong that the recoil pushed Cloche, Luca, and Jacqli back into Shun and Frelia. The half-demon half-angel girl born from the Song Magic shot a ray of light through Ryuju. It still wasn’t enough.
“Even with all that power…?” Rose panted. “No, that can’t be…I…I’ve got to do something!”
She forced herself up and ran towards the monster without any regard for herself. Dezel called her to stay away from the monster, but she was already too far. She hopped up the massive body and when she was hovering just in front of the dragon head where Infel and Nenesha were being housed, she flipped her dagger.
“Ready? Don’t blink, or you’ll miss it!” she taunted them. Her slashes cut into the dragon head before she propelled herself all around it. One dagger after another, she perforated it as if she had locked it in an iron maiden. “I’ll take you all on!” And as she plunged the final dagger into Ryuju’s forehead, she called out, “Crown of Torment!”
The body withered, the claw crumbling away into ash and the woman and the maw melting away before the dragon head itself dissipated to reveal Infel and Nenesha. The evil trees disappeared from around them. Rose landed on the floor of the entrance to Sol Marta, holding her trunk with a worn smile. The two former maidens, no longer tucked away in the shell of their tainted land, and the two current maidens, who stood indignantly with Frelia and Jacqli were now face to face.
Dezel propped himself up, reading the wind to see if everyone else was still alive. They were, but they were in no condition to continue fighting. Instead, he healed Rose as best as he could despite feeling weak from when he sang along to Replekia.
“How…how could you destroy Ryuju?” Infel said with astonishment.
“Because…your successors…have a stronger will than you…” Rose panted. “Their people love them, even when they were gone. The world they want to create is a world full of love, not a world full of selfishness.”
“Do you ever shut up? Besides, you’re just some nobody from the world below!”
“I’m telling you what my gut says, and my gut is never wrong. If you don’t believe me…you can ask the people of Metafalss yourself.” Rose stood up straight. “We’ve won the bet, but if you want to continue to struggle, I won’t stop you. I’m only going to ask you this once: give Cloche and Luca a chance to prove you’re wrong with their Metafalica. If you don’t like their new world, then…then you can have your way with this one.”
“Rose!” Dezel countered.
“But if what they create satisfies you, you must move on…no hiding in the Binary Field…no trying to avoid death…you must go.”
Cloche and Luca flanked Rose. “Do you concede?” Cloche asked.
“I…I suppose I can give you a chance…create Metafalica right here and right now,” Infel demanded. “Show me what you can do.”
Nenesha grabbed Infel by her shoulders. “Infel, we cannot give up!” she almost panicked. “We are the new Goddesses of this Tower, and we were chosen by destiny! We have survived 410 years and against all odds for this!”
“N-Nenesha…” Infel softly said.
Something seemed different about them.
“Until our souls perish, we can live on no matter what,” Nenesha persuaded. “Remember, we have a grand task ahead of us. We cannot waste any more time.”
“A grand task—you’re right. We were born for this,” Infel joined her.
The former Maiden of Homura began to sing sweetly, her Maiden of Mio joining her. Shun knew what was happening.
“Stop them! They’re caught in the influence of the Heart of Gaea they stole!” he warned them. “If you don’t stop them, we’ll be stuck inside their Metafalica!”
Rose gripped her side; she was still injured from the previous fight, but Dezel was with her now. He Armatized with her so she could borrow some of his fortitude. And it felt like he was wrapping his arms around her, protecting her and giving her the strength to protect Cloche and Luca one last time to bring an end to their conflict.
“Lady Cloche, please sing with me,” Luca told her sister. “Sing with me not only to stop Infel and Nenesha, and not only to create Metafalica. I want you to sing with me to bring peace, harmony, love, and hope to this Tower and the rest of the world.”
“Yes, Lady Luca,” Cloche replied. “I shall sing every melody in my heart with you.”
At the same time, both pairs of the Maidens of Mio and Homura said:
“We have the task of making everyone happy.”
Nenesha and Infel sang their Song together while Cloche and Luca sang, and despite the previous cacophony and disharmony of the previous fight, the room was filled with the glorious chorus that spanned generations.
“Let’s play,” Nenesha hummed.
“This will be a fun game,” Infel chimed.
“Love,” Luca crooned.
“Melody,” Cloche intoned.
Rose saw her opportunity to disrupt Infel and Nenesha, but when she tried to attack them, they were repelled by the giant ring that encircled them. She flew up and with Dezel’s strength, she used Sylphistia. While the attack hurt them, they were too entranced to even notice it.
“We’re not doing anything to them!” Rose grunted.
“It’s that ring,” Dezel told her. “If we shatter it, we can take care of them.”
So Rose did as she was told. She rammed the diamond on the ring with her whole body, firing gusts at it and kicking it with everything she had. She only managed to scratch it, but it was enough to lower their defense.
“Out of our way,” Infel said.
“It’s time,” Nenesha said.
The diamond radiated light. Dezel flew Rose out of its range, but the maidens aimed the gem at her. While it was preferred that they were intending to shoot them down, Dezel knew his dearest human wouldn’t last an attack that strong. He de-Armatized from her and covered her with his body.
“Prism Light!” the former maidens chanted.
“United as one, Synchronity Chain!” Cloche and Luca said over them. “This…is our will!”
Infel Phira fired a number of rays at Infel and Nenesha just as their attack hit Dezel, blinding light turning everything around them to white. The ring around their enemies and their predecessors shattered, and they fell to the ground. Nenesha’s body vanished. Infel was left alone.
The rumbling that had frightened the people of Metafalss stopped. The sun and moon and stars reappeared, illuminating the worlds and granting everyone solace and peace of mind as warmth embraced them. Infel Phira reverted to its normal mode, as the light dawned on the entire planet.
Infel watched the transformation before noticing that the love of her life had disappeared for good. She begged and beckoned her to come back, to be with her in her final moments, but Jacqli scoffed.
“Nenesha’s soul has finally been laid to rest,” she told her.
“N-No, that can’t be! Please, Nenesha, I can’t do this by myself! Why…” Infel sobbed. “Why must we suffer these emotions? I don’t understand!”
“These emotions are what it means to live,” Frelia told her.
“Screw that! How can you two create a Metafalica that will be happy and sad!? Why can’t we just be happy?!”
Dezel pushed himself off of Rose, his back burned by the attack, and his assassin lay there staring at him with reddened cheeks. The sounds of Infel’s broken voice brought her back to reality, and for once during the entire time in Sol Marta, she sympathized with her. After Dezel reassured her he would be okay, she made her way to the crying maiden.
“Why would you want to live in a world with suffering? Suffering is what makes living so painful, so horrible…when I lost Nenesha, I was so lonely. I didn’t know what to do! And when she came back…when my theories were all proven and she came back, I felt so happy…so, so happy…!”
Rose hugged Infel. “But wasn’t it that sadness that made the happiness feel even better?” she asked her. “Without sadness, we don’t know when we are happy. Without happiness, we don’t know when we’re sad. We need both to be truly happy, to cherish everything that life has to offer.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve lost so many people in my life, and the friends I have now—Dezel—they’re all I have. We laugh, we cry, we get mad at each other; but that’s why we have so much fun. When I saw my parents die, I had lost hope. Then Brad and Mayvin took care of me, and I took care of Dezel. When they died…I…I felt like I lost my family again. And when Dezel almost died…when he was so broken that he couldn’t love anymore until I finally healed his heart…I kept going. I didn’t stop until he could feel again. That, Infel, is why Cloche and Luca want to create Metafalica. They suffer for their people, and they will keep suffering to bring happiness to everyone.”
Infel remained silent for a long time before she told them to leave. She used the last of her strength to heal Rose’s friends. Again, she ordered them to leave.
“Lady Infel,” Cloche said. “When we return to Pastalia and the Hill of Metafalica, we will create our promised land.”
“Then hurry up and go!” Infel yelled at her, but her voice held all her pain that she seemed furious. “Go and make your Metafalica. I will watch from here.”
“You won’t come with us?” Luca asked.
“We all know what will happen soon. I want to die where Nenesha died.”
Cloche and Luca honored Infel’s wish. Jacqli, Rose, and Dezel ushered their friends to leave as well. Once they were out of Sol Marta, Frelia stepped in front of Infel. She looked at her with pity then hugged her.
“What are you doing?” Infel asked her.
“Are you really okay with this?” Frelia asked her. “When Metafalica is created…”
The memory within Infel Phira will transfer to the new land and become its consciousness. The memory would be cut into pieces and rearranged. Infel’s soul and mind would be disassembled and rewritten. She was going to lose who she was. She was going to disappear. But Infel already knew this. She designed it with the intent of removing Infel Phira so that way it wouldn’t continue to use Frelia’s energy. Infel Phira was what it was named for—a seed of love that would germinate into a new world.
“Tell me, Lady Frelia,” Infel said. “When the people move to Metafalica and they start their new life there, what will you do? Will you go with them? Or will you continue to support this Tower?”
Frelia was taken aback by the question.
“You connect to the other Towers through the Binary Field. The seraphim in this region use your Tower to sing. I’m sure you know about the threat plaguing the land below us. How the Lord of Calamity intends to destroy this world to create a new one devoid of suffering and pain. I must know before I finally die: will you still remain?”
Frelia’s eyes averted away from her. In truth, she didn’t know much of what was happening on the Glenwood Continent. She knew, however, that many more people than Metafalss depended on her.
“I’m going to keep the Tower afloat and repair it. I have a duty as an administrator, and I must support my sister Origin Reyvateils. I know I’ll get tired, and eventually the Tower will collapse, but maybe by that time, the people and seraphim will have learned a new way to use their magic.”
Infel wasn’t expecting such an answer, but it was better than she had hoped. She felt herself waning. Metafalica was being born.
“Hmph, she’s much better than I could ever have hoped to be. That stupid Metafalica-crazed idiot…”
And Infel vanished.
Frelia stared at where she once stood. Clasping her hands together as Shun sat and watched her, she offered a prayer for the two former maidens:
Was yea ra chs hymmnos mea
Was yea ra rre yorra spiritum echrra innna syec mean
Was yea ra vit sephaje oz Metafalica
En na rete akata yorr
Notes:
Two more chapters left in this Phase I believe! Probably one of my favorite chapters to write!
Chapter 145: Phase 5: Metafalica, the Promised Land
Summary:
Metafalica is created.
Notes:
There are no words to express how I felt writing this chapter while listening to EXEC_with.METHOD_METAFALICA/.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After defeating Infel and stopping the creation of the corrupted land that she and her partner had in mind, Cloche and Luca guided their friends back to Pastalia. The advent of the Song was almost there, and the sisters wanted to let their friends visit whoever they needed to before they were to assemble in the Grand Bell Hall to support them. Of course, all the people on the Tower would be required to support them if they wanted their promised land to be born, but they treasured their friends. Without them, they would fail.
Amarie had gone to meet a man named Chester, who had been in a relationship with Lakra before she was taken to Rolance. While neither of was aware that Lakra was being held responsible for her assistance in what would have killed half the continent, Amarie had a feeling that it was better that way. More than likely, she would return, and no matter how much she loved Chester, she accepted that she had lost to her rival. She mentioned that their home in Kanakana Pier was gone, lost in the wreckage that now lie in the mountains below in the Meadow of Triumph. Chester didn’t seem bothered by it, and while he wished that Lakra—or rather her real name Sonia—was with them, he expressed relief that Amarie was safe. The half-Teru girl promised that if Sonia ever made it back to the Second Tower, she wanted to live with them as the sister that Chester had adopted and the friend she wanted to be.
Amarie said her farewell for the night, and as she left the Hill of Metafalica to make her way to the Grand Bell Hall, she ran into Alisha and Lailah. “Huh? Where are you going?” she asked them.
“We noticed that you were talking with that man,” Alisha told her. “We weren’t aware that you had a partner.”
“Um, well…”
“It always fascinates us when we learn about someone’s love!” Lailah giggled. “After all, it’s an excellent opportunity to read your fortune!”
“It’s…” Amarie blushed and looked to the side. “It’s more complicated than that. I like Chester, but Chester likes Lakra and sees me only as a sister…I mean, we’ve lived together since we were younger as brother and sister…but…ooh, this is so embarrassing!”
“Oh my, a love triangle!”
“This is almost as amusing as Sorey and Mikleo!”
“Geez, were you two always like this?!”
As Alisha and Lailah teased Amarie, Leglius helped Cloche and Luca prepare to address the People of Metafalss. He ordered his knights to practice their stance until it was time to assemble in honor of the Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell. Jacqli beckoned Cocona, Sorey, Edna, and Zaveid. She told them that she needed them to do her a favor.
Dezel and Rose waited for Cloche after she and Luca had gone to the former’s bedroom to freshen up. Even though they had completed so many Dives together, they couldn’t help but feel nervous with each other. Rose wanted to ask about the previous Dive, but she feared that he wouldn’t want to talk about it.
“Hey, Dezel?” she hesitantly said.
“What?” he characteristically curtly responded.
“Um…what happened after that last Dive?”
“I don’t know.”
“How could you not know?”
“I just feel lighter.”
“That doesn’t really tell me much.”
“That’s all I can tell you.”
Rose let out a sigh. She should have gone with her gut—Dezel wouldn’t tell her what was wrong or what had changed. He did suddenly step towards her, though. He turned her to face him and, as gently as he could, he gave her a quick kiss. It was a sign of affection that she didn’t expect, leaving her at a loss for words or thoughts. When Cloche and Luca came out of their room, they found the assassin’s face as red as her hair while Dezel seemed like nothing had happened.
The moment had finally come. Leglius escorted Cloche and Luca to the balcony overseeing the courtyard where all of the People of Metafalss stood to listen to their maidens. The girls were shocked and worried and confident all at the same time.
Rose, Sorey, and Alisha watched from the side while their friends blended into the crowd with their loved ones. Sasha and Cocona stood together with expectant eyes. Spica and Jacqli stayed near the back of the crowd.
“Beloved People of Metafalss,” Cloche began her speech.
“Thank you for your support,” Luca said.
“Truly from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much. Without the support of you, the People of Metafalss, we would not have been able to accomplish the shining dream that has persevered throughout the history of our troubled land. Many have suffered, and sacrifices were made. So many tears—yours and ours—were shed. I wanted to run away from my duty so many times, and it wasn’t until after Luca and I were taken from the Tower when we learned that we couldn’t run away. We couldn’t abandon you, not when we were so close. During our time on the land below, the Glenwood Continent, which has always been rumored to be filled with poison; we’ve learned what paradise isn’t. Paradise isn’t a place where we are safe from our adversaries. It’s not a place that pretends to protect people when in reality, it is simply a viewing room for a slaughter. Paradise is a place that we can all feel and think with our hearts’ melodies coalescing into something that gives us hope. Paradise is a place where we all cry together, laugh together, and live together in the warmth of the sun. That is why we want to thank you.”
“We have lived for so long on this Tower that maybe we feel disconnected from everyone else. There are other people like us who are living in dark times. We have learned from them, and we want to share that knowledge with you. The very first step is to believe. We can create Metafalica, but Lady Cloche and I cannot do it alone. Metafalica is not only a land created by the Maiden of Mio and the Maiden of Homura but a land that is created by all of you. We want you to pour all your feelings and wishes into this land. Fill it to the brim with all your hopes and dreams! And…”
Cloche and Luca paused to acknowledge the Shepherd and his Squires whom were unsure if they should make an appearance. Zaveid, Lailah, and Dezel nudged them along as they stayed hidden.
“We ask that you also place that hope and trust that you gave us in Sorey, Rose, and Alisha from the Glenwood Continent,” Cloche requested. “Without them, we would not be here right now. We would still be locked away in that prison of a so-called paradise. Right now, they face an endless uphill climb fighting the darkness in their land. So please…”
“Let us share our feelings with each other and with their people. Let’s create a Metafalica that is a beacon of hope to the People of Metafalss and the People of the Glenwood Continent.”
The people let out a raucous cheer as they thanked their maidens and the warriors that protected them and delivered them home. The crowd dispersed, people returning to their hometowns and cities to spread the word that Metafalica was ready to be created. They visited each town, listening to the people about what kind of world they wanted Metafalica to be. The IPDs, now cured of their disease, wished for a luxurious world. Children desired safety and sweets. Adults wanted security and happiness. The elderly wanted radiance and brilliance for the future generations. Every word that the people spoke, Cloche and Luca listened intently. Together they thought about the world they were going to make. That evening while they finished preparations to sing, Luca felt something inside her. She was still connected to Frelia.
“Luca?” Cloche said.
“Frelia…asked me to return to her chamber after we create Metafalica,” Luca told her. She appeared worried. “She said she needed me to sing for her, but…”
“You’re the Goddess Maiden, so it’s only natural that she would want you to sing for her.”
Luca agreed with Cloche, but it wasn’t the only thing that upset her. Once they sang Metafalica, she was sure that they would have to live separately. Luca wasn’t royalty like her sister. But Cloche disagreed. They were sisters, so they had to stay together. Taking her hands, Cloche told her that they would never be without each other again.
Sorey stood at the balcony where Cloche and Luca had given their speech. It was almost time to sing, but he couldn’t help but wonder about the Heart of Gaea that he needed to save Mikleo and Finnel. He and his friends had essentially helped two of the three Towers, so surely he had to be close to achieving his goal. Then Jacqli approached him from behind with Cocona and Rose flanking her.
“What’s going on?” he asked her when he turned around.
“We’ll need to get into position before they complete Metafalica,” Jacqli told him. “The Heart of Gaea that once belonged to Nenesha has been returned to the Moon Culvert, but there’s a chance it could be used in place of the Heart of Gaea from Mikry Forest.”
“Sorey,” Rose said. “We can finally rescue Mikleo!”
The Shepherd clutched at his heart. He was so close. “Let’s go. We need to get that Heart of Gaea.” He glanced at Cocona. “Why is…?”
“You really don’t get it?” Cocona sighed. “You’re so boo.”
“I’ll explain when we get to the Moon Culvert. Now, hurry.”
-----------------------------------
At the Hill of Metafalica, Cloche and Luca reflected on the wishes of their people. Alisha, Amarie, and Lailah held each other’s hands. Zaveid and Dezel, though unable to sing, stood in the IPD chorus that had gathered before the balcony of Grand Bell Hall. Edna, Leglius, and Spica all watched expectantly. Sasha and Skycat faced the monument from Rakshek. The people in Enna listened. Everyone waited.
“This is it,” Cloche nervously said.
“Isn’t this nostalgic?” Luca giggled. “It was just like this when we met and were told to sing the first time. You…had become Gaea.”
“I let my emotions take over when I heard you sing. I couldn’t use the version that Dr. Laude had given me. I was so scared, then I felt nothing.”
“But now there’s no reason to be scared. We have each other now and forever.”
“Yes, Luca. Please lend me your strength. Open your heart so I may deliver the feelings of our people.”
“Let’s create our promised land together.”
Luca and Cloche took their breaths, their voices quietly resonating together through the air and waves around the Second Tower. Luca’s voice carried on it, and she reached the people that lived in Rakshek. The former citizens of Mint Block cheering her on until suddenly the voice sounded stunted. The sky dimmed.
“What’s happening?” Amarie asked.
“Cloche’s heart has closed,” Spica said. “My, maybe she still isn’t strong enough.”
“What? Then what was this all for?!” Alisha questioned.
“Lady Cloche needs to trust her people.”
Cloche felt the minds of the IPDs connecting to her and the hearts of her people beating in time with her. They could see into her, and it frightened her. She still had her insecurities about herself as the Maiden of Mio and the Queen of IPDs.
“What are you doing?!” Infel’s voice came from within her. “I thought you were supposed to prove me wrong! Don’t muck this up, girl! Remember, Nenesha and I entrusted this world to you! Do not make the same mistake we did!”
“But I’m so scared…!” Cloche cried.
“L-Lady Cloche…” Luca choked. “I can’t breathe. Everything hurts…!”
“Luca!”
“Don’t you understand yet?” Infel asked her.
“If I don’t transmit the feelings and wishes, Luca will die…!” Cloche gasped. She steeled herself, prepared to have thousands of people peer into the depths of her pure seraphic soul. “I can do this! I will create Metafalica! For me! For Luca! For my people! And for the world!”
Darkness shrouded the Second Tower and the entirety of the Glenwood Continent. Maltran in Hyland, Lunarre in Rolance, and Symonne in Lohgrin all saw the transformation taking place. Heldalf’s power faltered for only a fraction of a second as their voices, renewed with strength, reverberated across the sky and land. Sergei and Shurelia and Akane were among the many that heard the Song.
In the darkest recesses of the Second Tower named Frelia; Sorey, Jacqli, Rose, and Cocona traveled to the Moon Culvert. The interior of the Tower rumbled. The Song reached far into the center of the Tower to the Heart of Gaea that contained Nenesha’s will. In darkness, a single flower bloomed, white feathers bursting from it and flooding the Moon Culvert.
“What is this?” Rose gasped.
“The seeds of love that had been dormant for hundreds of years,” Jacqli said.
The feathers burst from under the Hill of Metafalica into the air and streets of the Tower. As it enveloped the Tower, Frelia watched with wonder and hope. Cloche’s voice led the IPDs voices into a glorious chorus that supported the sudden outgrowth and germination of the seeds that fluttered and created a landmass before the Tower. Alisha and Lailah were taken by the beauty of the land that had been borne of pure thoughts and the prototype of the Heart of Gaea. Cloche and Luca continued to sing as the land formed quickly, the mass exodus of people taking place as they sang.
Those who couldn’t access Metafalica yet could see through the eyes of their peers all the flowers and waterfalls and forests. It was a thing of beauty that made the Maidens and the Shepherd cry. Memories youth and homelands, Sorey tried his best not to lose sight of his duty. He wanted that one day, he could travel with Mikleo to this new land. He wanted to lay in the flowers with him or bathe in the waterfalls.
The People of Metafalss that transitioned from the Second Tower to the new land vowed to work in harmony with the land much like how the People of Elemia lived with the Tower and with Shurelia. Frelia was freed from her shackles as the Goddess that was forced to sing to keep them all alive. Now that she no longer had to sing to support them, her power increased ten-fold. Again, she reached out to Luca as the Maidens’ Song Metafalica drew to a close.
“Sing for me, and I will dance to repair my Tower,” she beckoned.
Cloche spun around and hugged her sister. She cried happily into her shoulder as she congratulated her on a job well done. Peace had come to their people. Hope now sustained them. But their duties were far from over. They had to lead, and Luca had to lend Frelia her support as she repaired the Tower to sustain the seraphim that were to live on Metafalica.
As the new reality began to sink into the two maidens, Jacqli began to work at securing the Heart of Gaea left behind by Nenesha. Metafalica-α was the heart that sustained Metafalica and had just as much power to serve whatever purpose Harvestasha needed it for, but because of that, it could not be removed without destroying the fledgling continent high above the Glenwood Continent. Nenesha’s Heart of Gaea was the next best thing and the only tangible one now.
“So, this is the Heart of Gaea that we need to take back to rescue Mikleo and Finnel,” Rose repeated as if to solidify in her mind the reason why they were going to smuggle it.
“It’s so big and pretty,” Cocona said with awe. “When Luca had it before, we couldn’t really see it.”
“She was influenced by it, and Reisha paid the price,” Jacqli reminded them. “It’s a very dangerous object, but it’s very precious. This Heart of Gaea is needed for a special purpose.” She turned her attention to Sorey. “It has to do with what Laude had told me before I met with you all on the train going through Dreamy Fields.”
Sorey remembered that Laude had called a meeting with Jacqli that night, and he had always wondered what they had discussed behind those closed doors.
“Laude was actually looking for Metafalica-α, which has been shown just moments ago to be strong enough to create land. What we need is a Heart of Gaea capable of purifying a Will of the Planet—multiple if need be,” Jacqli continued. “Of course, Sorey is the Shepherd, a human whose purification powers comes from the Will of Purity, also known as Maotelus.”
“He’s become a dragon…will the Heart of Gaea really help him?” Sorey asked her.
“I don’t know. It’s honestly just a crapshoot, but we’ve got nothing else.”
“Hold on a second,” Rose interrupted. “What about Mikleo and Finnel? If the Heart of Gaea is used to help them, won’t that make it weaker?”
“Don’t be so boo,” Cocona refuted. “If it’s managed to last this long on its own, it should be strong enough to save them.”
Jacqli’s emotionless face indicated she had no interest in what were to become of their friends. She asked Cocona to step forward. “Tilia is incredibly hostile to humans, so it’s important that we hide this as good as possible. Cocona, your status as an IPD makes you perfect for this job.”
“Why couldn’t you ask Zaveid or Dezel?” Sorey asked the dark Reyvateil.
“Simply because they’re too big.”
It was such a straightforward answer that Sorey and Rose couldn’t believe that was truly her reason. She and Cocona stood before Nenesha’s Heart of Gaea. “Wee yea ra crannidale yora.”
The Heart of Gaea shined brightly, its shell opening and releasing it from within. The Heart dissipated into particles that fused into the girl’s chest. The shell followed suit, and within a few minutes, Cocona had become the vessel carrying the Heart of Gaea within her corporeal form.
“Its influence?” Cocona asked Jacqli.
“The Hymmnos has put it to sleep,” she explained. “Sorey, Rose; you must protect Cocona and get the Heart of Gaea to Harvestasha at all costs. She will help you help you find Maotelus.”
Sorey and Rose bowed before her in promise, to which she felt somewhat uncomfortable. But what else could she do other than to place her trust and hope in them? She knew they were capable, but they would need much more than capability to get to Maotelus and purify him with his own power.
“Thank you, Lady Jacqli,” Sorey graciously said. “We won’t let you down.”
“I expect no less. Now get going before anyone realizes what we’ve done.”
Notes:
I think today I'll finish Phase 5. I'm sad to see this phase end, but now we can move on to check on Mikleo! So there will be two updates on this story today!
Chapter 146: Phase 5: Intermission
Summary:
After the creation of Metafalica, a new episode has opened.
Notes:
This is the final chapter of Phase 5, but it's nowhere near the end of the story. What will happen now?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Luca joined Frelia in the core of Sol Marta. The Second Origin looked at her with soft topaz eyes as if she relished Luca’s company. She cut straight to the chase, asking her Goddess Maiden to sing her Song while she danced to repair the Tower. She lent her the D-Cellophane then connected to Shurelia through the Binary Field and asked that she offer some of her strength. Next, she asked Luca to have the People of Metafalica to gather their feelings to restore the half of the Rim that had fallen. When it was done, and Sorey and his friends agreed to stay to help, Luca began to sing.
Luca’s voice flowed through the Tower like a church’s choir. Then, once she began to sing with more and more of her soul, Frelia began her dance. Waving her arms, pirouetting around the core, she felt power course through her. The People of Metafalica and the saviors of the Glenwood Continent sang along with Luca, their emotions flowing into her once more as the Goddess Maiden.
The pieces of the Rim formed out of photons gathered meticulously from the sun overhead. Slowly, they swelled and grew on top of the Divine Drafters that helped the Tower to stay afloat. Frelia’s movements guided where the regenerated pieces stopped and began. And after Luca sang with everything her friends and people could give her, Frelia’s job was complete. The Tower of Frelia was reconstructed, and the Goddess could feel all parts of her body without fear of losing them ever again.
With the reconstruction, the hellions and malevolence that had flooded the Tower were all eradicated. There were little to no traces of wickedness anymore, and all the seraphim including those tethered to the Shepherd and Squires breathed easier. The Song drew to a close, and as Sorey and his Squires Armatized to fly back down to their homeland, Frelia approached Luca with pink cheeks and a fragile smile.
“Thank you, Lady Luca,” Frelia shyly said. “It’s because of your hard work that my Tower is whole again.”
“Don’t mention it,” Luca replied sheepishly. She quickly returned the D-Cellophane to her then took her leave.
Frelia’s soft smile disappeared. Shun was with Raki outside of her chamber. She had the freedom to converse in private with her sister in Eolia. “Ma i wa lhasya mea an yor >> SOL=FAGE/1x10 enter Ar tonelico,” she chanted. She closed her eyes, her consciousness slipping into the Binary Field via the pod that formed the core of Sol Marta.
“Lady Shurelia, are you there?” Frelia asked the emptiness around her. “Please, it’s urgent.”
Shurelia appeared from the noisy darkness, and she silenced their surroundings to listen to her timid counterpart. “I’m glad you’re back where you belong,” the pearly Reyvateil greeted.
“It’s all thanks to Miss Rose and Mister Dezel and all their friends,” Frelia admitted. She suddenly looked distressed. “I’ve heard that Maotelus really has become corrupted.”
Shurelia confirmed the rumors. She explained that Mir—who Frelia knew as Jacqli—had aided Heldalf in trying to flood the world with malevolence. Because of her change of heart, she had been trying to remedy her mistakes. Both of the Origins feared that it was too late. They could still feel the malevolence coming from the Glenwood Continent. It wasn’t in their Towers, yet they knew that it could return if it wormed its way into the hearts of the people living on them. But there was nothing they could do. They still needed the help and thoughts of the Third Origin and the only one capable of speaking directly to the Wills of the Planet.
“I haven’t been able to contact Tyria for years,” Shurelia dejectedly confided in Frelia. “Does she still hate me after all this time?”
“N-No, I don’t think she hates you…” Frelia tried to console.
“I couldn’t control what happened to either of us…!”
“Lady Shurelia, please don’t cry!”
-------------------------------------
Far away from the Origins, the village of Lohgrin and the haven created for the seraphim that had been rescued on the Glenwood Continent still struggled. Saki spent time with Hikari Gojo and Katene. She had seen the former being pestered often enough by Richa that she was curious about their relationship. She also noticed that Mute seemed rather infatuated with Katene, and vice versa. With Finnel gone, there was no one to really keep her company, but something told her that she had to stay away from either one of the seraphim.
Then the seraphim outside began to scream in agony. A voice that Hikari Gojo and Katene recognized demanded to see a seraph named Saki.
“Come now, bring her to me or else I’ll have to force you again!” the man said. “After all, I am the only one who can properly care for her.”
“That’s…No, it can’t be,” Hikari Gojo said. He bit the tip of his thumb.
“It’s Raphael from Archia,” Katene confirmed. “Looks like he’s finally found us.” The tiny researcher stepped towards the flap of their tent before Hikari Gojo grabbed his shoulder. “Let go of me, Hikari.”
“What are you thinking? What about Mute?”
“I…If I give myself up, Mute and the other seraphim will be safe from him. Besides, he’s pretty interested in what I know, and I can stall him if all else fails.”
Raphael scanned the crowds of seraphim until his beady eyes fell upon Richa, who stood tall among her kind. But she walked towards him without fear—at least, she seemed like she wasn’t scared of him. “I did just as you asked, sir,” she said, her voice only trembling slightly.
“Excellent, and what did you find?” Raphael asked her excitedly. “Where is the Vaccine?”
“She…” Richa started. “She’s not here,” she lied. “The pesky Shepherd took her with him to another Tower.”
“And you didn’t stop her?”
“I couldn’t! The Shepherd is too powerful for me to fight, not without the power from the Third Tower.”
Raphael pressed the bridge of his nose. “Fine, is there anyone else of interest here?”
Mute glared at her, but Richa didn’t care. They were of enemy factions on the Third Tower. The pink-clad seraph told her superior that Katene, a prominent researcher from Tilia, was in the village. And he appeared as if on cue. He left his tent where Hikari Gojo and Saki were hiding and surrendered himself to the regal-looking man on the condition that he would leave Lohgrin alone.
“Of course,” Raphael pledged. “I only prepared enough to take what I needed, not what I wanted. Even if I don’t have Saki, I have my best general and Kiraha’s son. This is generous compensation in my opinion.”
Hikari Gojo peeked out of the tent, and Saki couldn’t help but let curiosity taken over. What she saw and what the doctor didn’t see were the hellions behind him and the malevolence wafting from his body. The man was already a hellion, but like Forton and Lunarre, maintained his human form.
Before Raphael had made his way to Lohgrin, he had been working with Dr. Laude on the World Regeneration Project. New about the scientist’s death had found its way back to the Third Tower just as the man had made a breakthrough himself. He had discovered a way to find the seraphim that had been on Tilia by following the connections to its server via their true names, similar to what Bartlow had done in Ladylake. He had hired a duo named J&K to refine the algorithm, and while they had been reluctant to do so, they did as they were requested in exchange for information on the whereabouts of a certain missing person. With access to the Glenwood Continent now, Raphael only needed to secure either all the seraphim or someone who had been doing research on them. He had received both. Raphael left Lohgrin with Richa and Katene behind him. Saki was stricken with worry for them and even more for Finnel and Akane, who had yet to return from Clustania. She wanted desperately to find her friends; however, she knew she had to wait for Sorey to return.
Meanwhile after Sorey and his friends left the Second Tower, Cocona made perparations of her own. She had decided not to travel with Sorey because it would make things harder. Instead, she asked Spica to supply her with some rations then recruited Sasha to take her to the Third Tower. The precocious girl was more than happy to do so, unveiling a small airship that would have surely startled anyone in the land below if they saw it.
“Sasha, as soon as we get to Tilia, you have to hide, got it?” Cocona asked her.
“Why? I thought I was going to go with you to solve this mess,” Sasha pouted.
“It’s way too dangerous. Jacqli said that the seraphim on the Third Tower are vicious to humans, and I can’t let you get hurt. Lady Cloche would never forgive me if something were to happen to you.”
Sasha let out a defeated sigh, but she was fine with not being part of the action. A new Tower meant new things to learn. She knew that at some point her dearest friend would have to return to her for her help—she always did.
The two girls started the engines, and within seconds, they were flying to a city called Archia.
---------------------------------------
Symonne stared at the tiny dot in the sky that was Metafalica. She was annoyed that they had managed to create it, but she was also happy to see it. With the new floating continent created, Sorey’s job on the Second Tower was finished. There was no doubt in her mind that he had gotten what he needed and was now headed to his next destination. She teleported back to the Harvestasha Module through her powers of malevolence. She found Finnel and Mikleo with the small angelic girl and Luphan, the water seraph’s eyes glazed over as if he had lost his mind. Akane was nowhere to be found.
“Good news,” Symonne tittered. “The Shepherd seems to have acquired a Heart of Gaea and is on his way.”
“Excellent,” Luphan eerily grinned. “Everything is going according to plan. We may have lost allies on the other two Towers, but that’s what pawns are for.”
“Once we have that Heart of Gaea, then we can truly start the Purification,” Harvestasha giggled.
“And Lord Heldalf will finally be able to achieve his goal to create a world without suffering,” Symonne concluded. “All that’s left after the Purification is to drown the Shepherd in true despair. We’ll snuff out the little white light that still exists in his soul.”
---------------------------------------
Jacqli looked in the direction of Frelia from the giant trees of the Volgran Forest. She glanced down at the friends she had made as they burrowed their way to the Tintagel Ruins to rest before heading back to Lohgrin. She wasted no time, the premonition of something terrible drawing closer and closer. She had to get to Shurelia and begin preparations. Something big was coming—possibly not now but soon.
Notes:
Big trouble in little Lohgrin. What could Symonne and Harvestasha be plotting? Next update started Phase 6!
Chapter 147: Phase 6: Connecting to the Tower ~Dezel~
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 9: Dezel
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
Starting off Phase 6 with Dezel's final Dive! What does he hold in the deepest parts of his heart?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rose and Dezel were the first to climb down into the abandoned hideout within Tintagel Ruins. Then Alisha and Lailah, and finally Sorey, Edna, and Zaveid. The Shepherd knew that it would take less time for Cocona to get to their rendezvous than them, and he preferred it if she was already there waiting for them. He wanted to make sure he was rested enough to finally take back Mikleo because he knew Luphan wouldn’t do so without putting up a fight.
But it wasn’t the only reason they were there. Dezel wanted to take refuge there for but one reason. When they were alone in the chamber that served as their bedroom for what felt so long ago, he approached Rose. He was silent at first, unsure if he should request to Dive. He knew Rose was just a little too thick to take the hint, but he was surprised when she stood before him. The wind that surrounded her carried her air of determination and acceptance.
“This is the final Dive,” he told her. “Do you want to do it now?”
“Why not?” Rose asked nonchalantly. “We’ve been through a lot both in reality and within your heart. If it’s time to see the ending, then let’s go.”
Rose pulled him to the worn rickety bed. She gently pushed him to sit on the edge, then slowly back so that he was lying down. She crawled atop him, hovering over him with nervousness making her tense. This was it. After this, there would be nothing afterwards, there would be no reason to Dive into him again.
“Are you ready?” she asked him.
“Yeah.”
Rose kissed him before calling his name. “Lukeim Yurlin.”
-------------------------------------
Rose found herself in the final level of Dezel’s heart. The world was bright, and bells could be heard in the distance. Red roses and ivy vines lined each path from the Stonehenge where Windur and another Normin stood together. Rose walked up to them before realizing that her clothes had changed into something completely different.
She looked at her hands, gloved in delicate rose pink lace. Her feet were encased in pink ivory heels. Offset on her head was a chrysanthemum made of swan feathers and wagtail plumes, a short veil matching the length of her hair. Her side tendrils were wrapped with tiny bits of lace with little flower bouquets. Her bangs had been loosened from the part she normally had. The dress she wore was something she couldn’t even imagine and much less from the Dezel’s imagination. Softly shining like pearl, her dress stiffly bounced on her hips, and her chest was covered with apricot flowers and a type of flower that Dezel used to pick when they were younger. They were called anemone nikoensis maxim, flowers of remembrance. The bodice had lacy patterns and tiny rhinestones. She looked far more beautiful than the first time she had been put into a wedding dress.
“W-What’s going on?” Rose stammered.
“This is the final level, proof that you accept Dezel’s everything,” Windur explained. “Dezel had personally asked Wundor here to make that dress for you.”
“He dictated each detail with such intention, so each stitch and adornment reflected his love for you,” Wundor gushed.
“Dezel really designed this?” Rose asked herself in disbelief. Windur brought her a small mirror so she could look at the back. At the small of her back and in the center of the gentle puffed bow was a small brooch that resembled the one on the Wind Armatus. “Dezel…really did this…for me?”
“D-Don’t cry yet! Save the tears for the actual wedding!”
“We’re really getting married?”
“You’ll learn more at the cathedral,” Windur explained. “Wundor will be presiding over the ceremony, but you should meet with Dezel first.”
Rose nodded, though she was still in a daze. She couldn’t believe that they were getting married. Was this part of his imagination? Did Alisha and Lailah do this as well? Her heart was swelling faster than she wanted. She wanted to save her tears for Dezel. After all the strife that she witnessed in this tortured soul, she was overjoyed that he was receiving a happy ending even if it was all in a dream.
Rose took off her shoes while she searched for her seraph. She couldn’t bear the thought of ruining them before the ceremony, especially when she found that he was living a small cottage surrounded by gardens of all kinds of flowers. She walked up to the door, knocking on it without hesitation.
“Dezel, are you there?” she called from outside.
A few seconds later, the door swung open as if a gust of wind had blown it. The assassin walked in. All the different costumes he had worn through the levels were strewn about. He was trying on the outfit that he wore in the courtroom, but he knew it wasn’t appropriate. He took it off and tossed it aside. She leaned in the doorway while watching him pick something to wear, and while he did, she admired his sculpted tanned body.
He finally made a decision—the white version of his normal attire. It was the outfit that he had received when they got rid of the Nothing. He smiled into the mirror before noticing that Rose was standing behind him.
“How long have you been there?” he asked.
“Long enough,” Rose coyly said. She stepped up to him. “I have a lot of questions.”
“Can they wait for after the ceremony?”
“Well, the ceremony is one of them. Are we really getting married?”
Dezel peeked through his silver-to-green locks. She loved those peridot eyes, and she wished they were still so clear in reality. “The ceremony…is an analogy. It’s not a real wedding. Just a formality.”
“Oh…I, uh, I see.”
“Why, are you upset? I would have thought that marriage would frighten a free spirit like you.”
“Well…”
“Did you want it to be real?”
“Well…”
“Rose?”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get going to the cathedral.”
Dezel took Rose’s hand in a gesture that he wanted to walk with her. Just before he exited the cottage, he quickly returned inside for a minute. When he came back out, he was holding a bouquet of yellow freesia blooms ties together with a large green silk ribbon.
“Almost forgot this!” Dezel sheepishly said. His smile was so pure and innocent; it warmed Rose’s heart to see him smile genuinely. “I forgot to ask…do you like your dress?”
“Of course! I’m actually really surprised with all the color and everything—like, how did you pick them? Did you ever see them in the real world?”
“I don’t remember.”
It seemed like an abrupt way to end the conversation, especially now that he seemed so open to her. He offered his arm to her, and they began the walk to the cathedral. All around them were their friends and fallen comrades. Sorey and Mikleo were holding each other’s hand while Alisha and Lailah cooed for them. Zaveid and Edna tossed rice and petals. Sergei had his squadron stand at attention, and the Scattered Bones knelt for their leader. She had to wonder if he would have liked such a big gathering. Then she saw Lafarga and Brad.
“You go on ahead,” Dezel told her. “As my chosen partner, you must be at the altar before me to receive everything I have to give.”
He let go of her and let Brad escort her inside the cathedral to the altar where Wundor was waiting like Windur had said. She knew that it was usually the opposite way around—the bride was supposed to be delivered to the altar, but she presumed that maybe in the grand scheme of things, seraphim were the brides regardless of gender. She began to understand Dezel’s development both as a seraph and as a man.
“You look positively radiant, my girl,” Brad chortled.
“T-Thanks,” Rose stuttered as she returned to events taking place.
“You’ve done a great job here.”
“I guess so. Um, did Dezel imagine you just for the wedding?”
“Somewhat. He knew that you were upset when…Prince Konan made a mess of things. Though, I think he also admired our relationship. I’ve just gotten to meet Lafarga again, and I can see why.”
Rose stared up at the burly former leader of her guild. There was no way he was just a character created for the scenario.
Outside the cathedral, Dezel and Lafarga prepared to begin their walk to the altar. The former was nervous since it was the final Dive, the final milestone in his development. He still couldn’t sing, but the Nothing and the curse that it had brought with it was gone now. Yet he wasn’t sure if it was all enough to justify the end.
“Come on, you can’t be getting cold feet now,” Lafarga laughed. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “You deserve this, Dezel. You’ve been through so much, and you’ve succeeded. You’ve survived. Now, you can be happy.”
“But am I good for Rose? Won’t my baggage drag her down?” Dezel asked.
“It seems to me that she enjoys carrying your weight. It keeps her grounded, and it reminds her that she’s alive, too.” Lafarga came around in front of him and placed his hands on his shoulders. He then took removed Dezel’s hat and lightly kissed the top of his head. “You’ve made me so proud, my dearest brother in arms.”
A lump formed in Dezel’s throat and he began to choke up on his tears. “After this…I won’t ever see you again…” he sniffled. “I…I can’t bear that thought…”
“There will always be a part of me here in your heart. Even if you never Dive again, I will always be with you.” Lafarga grabbed him by the wrist. “Now let’s go! She’s waiting for you.”
The wind seraphim made their way to the altar in the cathedral. Brad was sitting in the front pew, tears streaming down his face as his daughter made a great move in her life. Dezel and Rose stood side by side in front of Wundor, which cleared its throat and began:
“We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of souls and the connection to the Tower of Frelia. Human Rose and Seraph Dezel have been through countless hardships, surmounting them by offering the guidance, love, and support that is paramount to the inception of a strong bond. Please face each other. Dezel, do you take Rose to be the protector of your heart and your partner in your journey through life?”
Dezel swallowed hard. This was the moment that he had been waiting for since the beginning of the Dive. “I do,” he said.
“And do you, Rose, take Dezel to be your partner in life and the eternal song in your soul?”
Rose’s cheeks were tinged pink. It wasn’t a real wedding, but it felt real. Dezel was going to connect to the Tower with this ceremony; would he be able to sing again? “I do!” she enthusiastically said. “I’ll always accept him! If it means he can sing again, I’ll do whatever it takes!”
“Okay, okay, no need to be that dramatic,” Wundor teased. “If the conferring parties have agreed, please embrace each other.”
“Embrace?” Rose repeated.
“To show your commitment to each other.”
Without another second to waste, Dezel wrapped his arms around her as she did him. She fit perfectly into him, and as a new warmth grew between them, she felt his tears on her cheek.
“I can’t believe that I’ve really shown you everything in my heart,” Dezel graciously whispered to her so no one else could hear him. “All of my insecurities and pain, all of the reasons for my hatred and loneliness. You’ve done so much for me, and now I want to do the same for you. Please, always be by my side, and guide me through any darkness that threatens us. In return—as proof of my love for you—I will keep you from harm.”
Dezel and Rose let go of each other, prompting Wundor to lead them to the Tower of Life located at the very edge of his soul space. It was here that Dezel would officially connect to the Tower and gain his strongest Song Magic. Rose was apprehensive. Would he really be able to sing again?
At the foot of the Tower of Life, Wundor explained that by touching it, Dezel would be able to connect to Infel Phira. He placed his hand on it. A wave of power surged through him, and he felt as if the worlds in his heart opened farther and farther, though Rose would never be allowed to go past the ninth level. The strength of a typhoon built in him, and he withstood it. All of the lessons he had learned had made him stronger, and when the feeling faded with the absorption of his new Song, Rose wanted him to sing.
Despite connecting to the Tower, Dezel still couldn’t sing. It didn’t heal the parts that were still badly damaged inside of him. Rose felt sorry for him. If only she had been able to protect him…
“Rose,” Dezel said. “Thank you for all that you’ve done. Even if I can’t sing in reality anymore, I want you to know that I’m happy.”
Wundor and Windur, who had been waiting at the Stonehenge, shared their hopes as they returned to the Stonehenge one last time. Before they left the world within the soul space behind, Rose turned to her seraph.
“I promise you,” she told him. “I’ll find a way for you to sing again. I…I want to hear your voice, so don’t worry! I’ll fix you!”
“My Rose…” Dezel smiled at her. “Keep on keeping on.”
The world then disappeared as she woke up in reality.
--------------------------------------
Rose and Dezel woke up to complete silence in Tintagel Ruins, as if everyone had left for the outside. It was perfect, though, because neither of them could believe what had happened in the Dive.
“Before you say anything—we are not married,” Dezel quickly told her. “It was just a Dive.”
“But can you sing?” Rose asked him. He was shocked that she wasn’t worried about whether or not they were married. “You were supposed to get a new Song, right?”
Dezel softened. He confirmed that he still couldn’t sing. He was disappointed, but he knew that Rose felt worse about it. He thought of some way to console her.
“Once we’re done with this journey, we’re going on our own to find a way to make you sing again!” Rose professed. “I will not rest until we fix you!”
“R-Rose…”
“Believe me when I say it!”
“I do, but…”
“Now let’s go! We’ve got a shit ton of things to do!”
Rose stomped out of the chamber frustrated with herself, but Dezel knew she meant well. He let out a sigh. By himself, he vowed to make sure no harm would come to her. She was his pillar of support. If she were to die or become a hellion now, he would definitely become a dragon. He knew it was the same case with Alisha and Lailah. They had to keep their heads up and believe wholeheartedly in everything they did.
Notes:
With Dezel's connected to the Tower, that makes two seraphim whose hearts have been completely explored as far as humanly possible. And now we pivot to the pair we've been wondering about: Sorey and Mikleo!
Chapter 148: Phase 6: Lohgrin Besieged
Summary:
Rose and Dezel emerge from Tintagel Ruins, allowing Sorey to continue the trek back to Lohgrin. After finding that a massacre had happened there, he rallies his friends to escort Hikari Gojo and Saki back to Tilia.
Notes:
Phase 6 is now in gear and we can finally see if Sorey can save Mikleo! And yes, this phase is going to be just as depressing as the others. I'm sorry.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rose and Dezel climbed the ladder out of Tintagel Ruins. It seemed to be early morning as far as they could tell through the canopy. They had reached the abandoned hideout just before dusk, causing her worry. They had been asleep for enough hours to feel recharged, but she wondered if the Shepherd was okay with that considering he wanted to get to Tilia as soon as they could.
Sorey, however, was leaning again one of the fallen pillars, his seraphim and Alisha and Lailah all waiting around for the assassin and her seraph. Alisha was the first to notice, quietly congratulating her on yet another successful Dive. It was strange—she had never done that before until the princess told her that she had been keeping track. Since she started Diving, the other seraphim had placed bets for and against Rose if she could Dive all the way with Dezel, and she confided that Lailah would be glad to hear that she had won the bet.
“I…will never understand you all,” Dezel sighed. He turned his head towards the thinking Shepherd. “Are we ready to go?”
Sorey glanced up at him before standing straight. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s time to save Mikleo.”
“If we didn’t know any better, we’d think he was some princess locked away in a tower,” Edna said.
“In a way, he is,” Lailah answered her. “We all know that this isn’t the first time, but…” she paused, her usually cheery demeanor melting away. “I fear this occasion might be worse than…when I…”
“Well, talking won’t get us anywhere, so let’s get moving,” Rose suggested. She sympathized with Sorey. He wanted nothing more than to get his beloved seraph back from the callous hands holding him prisoner.
The seraphim took refuge in their humans to make traveling easier. They headed to the gate leading into Lastonbell, which felt lighter and more jovial. Since Frelia had returned to her Tower, the seraphim that were hiding had come out and were happier. The Metafalssians there had accepted that they couldn’t go back to their Tower, but they didn’t seem to mind it at all. They could see part of Metafalica from the artisan city, and that alone allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief. Their people were going to survive just a little longer now. Their beloved Lady Cloche had accomplished her mission.
It was refreshing to see people were happy with the outcome, unlike the outcome when Shurelia was restored and Mir’s onslaught on humanity had been stopped. Eolia’s reawakening, for the most part, had gone unnoticed. Only those who had been closely working with the seraphim realized what had happened when Shurelia suspended the Tower and woke up much later. With Metafalica, most everyone saw the new floating continent high in the sky.
They continued through the Meadow of Triumph and then Pearloats Pasture where they happened upon a very mystified Sergei. But even though he couldn’t comprehend what had happened as far as the creation of Metafalica, he was aware that the IPDs that were in Pendrago and the entirety of the Rolance region were faring much better than before.
“They…I don’t know what came over them, but they were singing,” Sergei told Sorey, Rose, and Alisha when they approached him in the fields. “We haven’t heard the city so full of voices for centuries. It was simply magical!”
“You’re welcome,” Rose nonchalantly said.
“What happened to the Origin that Targana and Forton held prisoner?”
“She’s back where she belongs, singing and dacing like a little fairy on her Tower,” Alisha said with a smile, making the captain blush.
“I-I see…truly remarkable what the Shepherd and his Squires can do!” Sergei asked Sorey what was next on their agenda, and when the Shepherd told him they had to rescue Mikleo, his heart ached for him. “My condolences, Lord Shepherd.”
“Thank you, Sergei, but I’m not giving up any time soon,” Sorey responded. “I’ve come this close now. I can save him. I know it.”
“I’ll be with you in spirit!” the captain said. “And please, don’t ever hesitate to call on me for help. The Platinum Knights will yield for you.”
Sorey bowed to him, but Sergei asked him not to. He had done so much for the capitol and other cities that he thought it was inappropriate for someone of his status to lower his head for a lesser noble. Sergei said his farewell to Sorey, Rose, and Alisha; when it came to Alisha, he seemed nervous and shy around her, though she still didn’t understand why.
The Shepherd and his Squires made their way towards the Great Camelot Bridge. Crossing it reminded them of when they had tried to fight Heldalf right after receiving all the spiritual powers, and it somehow felt nostalgic. Now, they were crossing the bridge to enter Tilia. There was something strange, however, in Zaphgott Moor. The number of hellions had severely increased, and when they had walked farther into the sands, Rose found a trail of footprints leading away from the direction of Lohgrin.
“Check this out,” Rose called to Alisha and Sorey, who had both gone towards the abandoned village of Horsa. When they regrouped with the assassin, they noticed the footprints; they examined more closely to find there were three pairs of feet. “They’re coming from the ruins.”
“Judging from the size of these ones,” Edna started as she observed through Sorey’s eyes. “A man was with them. Those over there—the segmentation suggests stilettos.”
“And the last pair are rather small,” Alisha concluded.
“The only one that wore stilettos like this was Richa,” Sorey said. “And those small feet can only be Katene. But…who would lead them away from Lohgrin?”
There was an ominous sound then, distant at first that slowly grew closer like rolling thunder. Sorey drew his sword while spinning around before he realized what unstoppable force was hurtling towards him and his friends.
“Get outta my way!” Mute snarled as she ran as fast as her muscular legs could carry her. The three of them were struck with fear; Mute was a speeding rocket, and just like a rocket, she launched herself into the air, somersaulting over them and landing behind them without missing a beat. She continued on her way screaming some incoherent gibberish. “Katene!”
The Shepherd and his Squires recovered from the bizarre encounter. Sorey then realized that if Mute was following the footprints, their conclusion was correct.
“Let’s hurry to Lohgrin,” he told his comrades. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
He led the girls to the ruins where they found the carnage. Whichever seraphim weren’t hurt were working hard to heal those that still had a chance to survive. Saki and Hikari Gojo were helping as well, but the girl was far from focused on her magic.
Lailah, Edna, Zaveid, and Dezel all emerged from their vessels to assist with healing. Rose and Alisha did their best to help until Sorey called them over to Hikari Gojo. After he finished doing his best to heal another seraph, he explained to them what had happened.
“Someone from the Third Tower broke into the ruins,” the doctor said. “He was looking for Saki, and he called on hellions to slaughter seraphim until she came out of hiding. Richa came out and told him that she had gone with you all to the First Tower, and before leaving, he took Katene with him. Raphael…how…how could he? Has he completely lost his mind?”
“I take it his name is Raphael,” Rose concluded. “Aren’t you from the Third Tower?”
“We both are,” Saki said as she approached them from behind. “Aoto and Filly were, too.”
“We’re on our way to the Third Tower now,” Sorey told them. “Please, you have to come with us and stop this Raphael.”
“I…I can’t!” Hikari Gojo refuted. “What that man does is no longer my problem! I swore that I would never have anything to do with him again.”
“Then you know him?” Alisha asked.
Hikari winced. He let out a sigh after contemplating if he should tell Sorey, Alisha, and Rose about his past. Saki, who wasn’t aware of his background, was also interested, yet the painful look on his face made her want to hold him.
“Raphael…used to be my boss ten years ago,” Hikari Gojo finally said with great difficulty. “He works in a place called the Archia Think Tank. When I was there, I also had a sister named Aisha. We’d were so close, but one day we found out that she was a seraph—just the Reyvateilic kind that may randomly spring up. The Archia Think Tank had developed both a medication and a surgery that could suppress her powers, and she could continue to live like a human.”
Sorey looked away from him for a second as he thought about what it would be like for a seraph to consciously make a decision to become an equivalent of what it meant to be human. Such a thing was unheard of, even to Lailah and Zaveid as they listened through their vessels.
“We weren’t wealthy, so we couldn’t afford the medication, but Raphael and the others at the Archia Think Tank offered the surgery. It was still in its infancy, but I just thought that if Aisha couldn’t use those heavenly powers, we could live like it never happened. We could be happy. But after the surgery, Aisha deteriorated. She went insane, and eventually she died.”
“Oh, no…” Saki whimpered.
“That’s why Saki cannot end up in his hands. He’s up to no good, I swear it on my life!”
Sorey knew what they had to do. But it still bothered him—wasn’t it selfish to influence a seraph to give up on their life? Though, he became aware that it wasn’t Hikari Gojo’s decision but Aisha’s. But was it really possible to revert a seraph into a human?
“No, it’s not possible,” Zaveid told Sorey in his head. “Humans have the chance to reincarnate as seraphim if they are pure enough at heart.”
“Once a human becomes a seraph, they cannot go back,” Edna added. “Of course, being born a seraph completely takes the human out of the equation.”
“To be born a seraph or to be reborn as a seraph—these are the only two permanent known ways that such a birth can occur,” Lailah concluded.
“Then it’s very possible you were lied to, Dr. Gojo,” Alisha said.
“I figured as much,” Hikari Gojo replied. “When Aisha died, I cursed myself for blindly listening to that man.”
“But this still doesn’t explain Saki’s part in all of this,” Rose countered.
“The only way to find out is to head to the Third Tower,” Sorey rallied. He asked that Saki and Hikari Gojo go with them, and the two naturally agreed. It was their home. “We’ve obtained the Heart of Gaea, so let’ head to Harvestasha’s Module right away.”
“Um…” Saki uttered. “Can we stop somewhere first?” she asked. “I…I want to go to Aoto’s hometown. His friends are probably all missing him, and…I don’t want them to be sad…”
Sorey had forgotten that Saki was important to Aoto, and that Aoto had become a hellion for her sake. He nodded then led his friends out of Lohgrin once the other seraphim were sure they could help their brethren from the attack. As they walked towards the gate, he informed them that Cocona was holding the Heart of Gaea and was already waiting to rendezvous with them somewhere on the Tower.
“Won’t she get into trouble?” Hikari Gojo asked.
“She’s tough, and her status as an IPD should give her an advantage according to Jacqli,” Sorey explained.
“Jacqli?”
“Another seraph—er, Reyvateil.”
Diving into the vast expanse outside of Lohgrin, Sorey and Rose suggested that they made their way to the Plitzerback Wetland as quickly as possible. Mute’s footsteps had muddled Raphael’s, Richa’s, and Katene’s tracks to some degree, but they still had more than enough to follow.
As they ran, Hikari Gojo explained Richa’s connection to Raphael. She was originally Akane’s predecessor within Clustania, the seraphic utopian city and enemy of the mostly human city of Archia. She had a mission to infiltrate Archia, but the mission ended in failure and she was the only survivor. She swore her loyalty to Archia if they let her live. The doctor had met with her on several occasions to perform checkups and health exams, but there were times that he noticed she was a little too willing to let him touch her.
“Sounds like a certain person we know,” Edna snickered.
Sorey thought about Clustania and Archia and how similar they were to Hyland and Rolance. In fact, he wondered if people from either city had migrated, but the idea seemed to far-fetched. After all, both of the Glenwood states enslaved seraphim while Clustania reportedly imprisoned any human foolish enough to wander into it.
The tracks disappeared into the mud within the wetland, but there was no longer any need for them. The Third Tower, Tilia, stood tall over the cloudy muggy marsh. It seemed like an eternity, but the Shepherd gazed up at it with determined emerald eyes. He was so close to rescuing Mikleo that he could imagine touching his cool skin and showeing him with all the love that he had been holding within his heart. He almost believed that if he focused hard enough on his pact with him—or whatever was left of it—he would be able to sense him. Closing his eyes, concentrating on Mikleo’s faint presence, he tried to call him.
“We don’t have all day,” Rose said. “Come on, Sorey. We’ve got your boyfriend to save.”
“D-Don’t say it like that!” Sorey stammered.
“Let’s go,” Alisha sighed.
With Hikari Gojo and Saki leading the way, the five of them came to the base of the Tower in a matter of minutes. Hellions were turned into cakes thanks to Saki’s power at her expense, and Rose and Alisha fought off whichever ones weren’t subjected to her spells. It was certainly odd that a seraph had the power to change the forms of living beings. No other seraph they had encountered had that ability.
But it was something that could wait. They stood there, where the seraphim sensed a barrier keeping them from climbing up to a large iridescent orb structure, the lowest point of the Tower. Rose and Zaveid, emerging from Sorey, tried with all their might to push through it only to bounce back.
“Why would there be a barrier?” Hikari Gojo questioned.
“It must be Luphan or Harvestasha,” Sorey inferred. “Are there any earthpulse points we can use?”
Edna came out. “I don’t sense any. It’s almost like this Tower has been hijacked. Even the mana and waves flowing through it are scattered around,” she told them. “Unsurprisingly, we’ll have to sneak in.”
“Flying again? What about the doctor and Saki?” Rose asked.
Sorey knew that they only way was to carry them up, but the question was to where. Hikari Gojo told them about a city that lie within the underbelly of the Tower called Eternus Shaft. He was sure that they could get into the Tower’s domain through there, and he wasn’t afraid of Sorey dragging them up as long as they were able to make it. Without wasting any more time, the Shepherd and his Squires Armatized. Alisha and Rose took Saki’s hands while Hikari Gojo took Sorey’s. They shot up as fast as they could without hurting their new friends, hopping on air that Zaveid and Dezel pressurized to make landings. The journey took them about thirty minutes as they circumvented places where the barrier had formed. There was a hole into the mountainlike structure that surrounded Tilia like a ring of Saturn, and through there, Sorey and his friends wormed into the underground metropolis.
Notes:
The idea of Sorey and co coming to the Third Tower is still fascinating to me. Like, it's all stuff they would never dream of seeing!
Chapter 149: Phase 6: Tilia, the Third Tower
Summary:
Saki escorts Sorey and company around Tilia. Meanwhile, Finnel tries to protect Mikleo.
Notes:
A small amount of working around Tilia to get some places in order.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Eternus Shaft was very similar to the interior of Igraine as far as large pieces of glowing ore illuminating the city went. They hung from the cavern ceiling and sprouted from the ground, but all kinds of buildings had been built around them. Alleyways and hidden passages were branching from the center where there was an inn, a Dive Shop like those on Eolia, and a large restaurant. Down one of the alleys, a short staircase led up to Hikari Gojo’s current office. Another more secret passage led to a bunch of locked rooms. The entire network of the city was beyond Sorey’s wildest dreams.
“This is so cool!” he gawked. “The ores are producing their own light! And look at all the people and seraphim here! Mikleo, if only you could see this!”
“Alright, Geronimo, calm down,” Zaveid said after de-Armatizing. “We’ve got a little detour to make, remember? So, Saki-cakes, how do we get to Aoto’s place?”
Saki put a finger to her lip, puffing out her cheek as she tried to remember. She pointed toward a cave mouth that was adorned with large pieces of crystal ore. “There,” she said. “Saki remembers going through a cave where we found Filly, and just outside of that there was a bunch of cliffs. If we keep climbing, then we can make it to Blue Canyon Hamlet.”
“This place seems even more advanced than Eolia,” Lailah observed. “Everyone, remain focused.”
Saki led the group of humans and seraphim toward the cave mouth of Blue Heaven Trail, but Sorey wanted to explore Eternus Shaft despite Lailah’s warning. But he wanted to look around with Mikleo more than anything. The notion filled him with longing, and he set aside the desire to go on his own. He fell in line with his friends, heading into the cave.
The cave leading to Blue Heaven Trail was almost identical to Trizolde Cave, something that lifted Sorey’s spirits as they traveled to Blue Canyon Hamlet. Large shards of crystal lined the path and climbed the walls. The only exception was the presence of terraced landings and a ladder network presumably put in by the people of the Third Tower to navigate the area. Saki happily reminisced about when she and Aoto had started their adventure and when they had found Finnel stranded on a crystal that stretched across the interior of the cave.
“Filly was so clumsy and cute,” she cooed.
“Is that really something you should be smiling about?” Lailah asked her.
“I miss her, so when I remember when we first met, I get happy again.”
Alisha sympathized with her. She reminded her of herself when she first met Maltran. The Blue Vakyrie was older than her, but where she had been healthy and wealthy, her mentor had been sickly and poor. There were times that they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. Alisha held onto those memories similarly to Saki who treasured her time with any one of her friends.
Exiting the cave, Blue Heaven Trail’s Blue Fang Road spiraled up one of the mountain peaks that flanked Tilia. Saki continued to lead them as they ascended and descended ladders put in place by the villagers. Sorey couldn’t help but ask her about the ladders, about the terrain, and what to expect when they arrived at Blue Canyon Hamlet.
“The people there are very nice,” Saki reassured. “They might be just like you, but they have a bus system that takes them to Ciela Gate…at least, that’s what Aoto said once…”
“A bus system? What’s that?” Sorey asked her in an attempt to take her mind off of the late steeplejack.
“It’s like a big machine that carries people to different places without using animals.”
“So like a wagon but moves on its own?”
Lailah was happy to see that the Shepherd wasn’t sulking about his lost seraph, but Edna and Zaveid knew that he was simply distracting himself and her. He felt indebted to Saki for what had happened, and it was the perfect excuse not to think about Mikleo.
They entered Blue Canyon Hamlet with some trepidation after the initial fascination with the technology the Third Tower had passed. Rose and Alisha marveled at the pillars and pillars of stone that climbed into the sky all around the small village. The assassin was interested in climbing one of them only for Dezel to hold her back. Some buildings had been grafted into the sides of them much like the homes that Sorey had seen in Edna and Zaveid’s soul spaces. It was so different—like how Eolia and Frelia had been—that he committed every detail to memory.
“Mikleo’s going to be so lost,” he murmured to himself.
The people living in Blue Canyon Hamlet noticed the Shepherd and his friends as well as a familiar face. The innkeeper and a shopkeeper dashed from the center of the village to one of the homes on the edge of a ridge facing one of the stone pillars. Saki stood in the center of the people that remained, and when the innkeeper and the shopkeeper returned with an older man, she tensed.
“You’re that girl that Aoto took off with,” the man said.
“Yes, that’s right,” Saki replied less enthusiastically than he expected. “Mr. Steeps, Saki has some very bad news…” Steeps crossed his arms with a dubious look. Saki gulped before saying, “Please, don’t be sad, but…Aoto isn’t coming home.”
Steeps then raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?” he asked her.
“Aoto…”
Sorey stepped up next to her. He took his sword off his belt, laying it on the ground in front of him and the villagers. Bowing on his knees, he asked for their forgiveness. “I couldn’t save him, and he succumbed to the malevolence. He turned into a dangerous hellion that we had to put him down.” The words choked Sorey even if it was the truth.
“Malevolence? What’s that?” Steeps again asked. “Unless you’re talking about Border Disease.”
Sorey nodded. “Aoto told me what essentially Border Disease to you is, and when we were all imprisoned, the malevolence overtook him. He contracted the disease, and when he turned into a hellion, he had to be dealth with.” Again, it hurt. “I…I tried to purify him, but…”
Steeps let out a sigh and requested that Sorey and Saki stop talking. He had been Aoto’s adoptive father, and while the two butted heads more often than not, they were family. The old man thanked them for letting him and his people know of Aoto’s demise. He asked that they leave the village so that they could mourn properly. Saki listened to their wish only after she offered a small prayer to help ease their hearts.
Sorey, Saki, and their friends waited at the bus station for the contraption that would take them to Ciela Gate like they had planned. Aside from the contraption that would take them to their destination in a fraction of the time it would take to go on foot, breaking the news to the village loomed over them like a dark cloud. Saki, who Hikari Gojo was sure would be the most distraught of having to confront the villagers, suddenly stood up.
“No, we can’t be sad!” she said. “Aoto wouldn’t like us to be sad! I know what will get everyone’s spirits up!”
“S-Saki?” Alisha stuttered in surprise.
“What are you doing?” Edna asked her.
“Don’t worry, everyone! Just believe with your hearts!” Saki continued.
“Seriously, what are you doing?” Dezel grumbled.
“Oh no! Have we lost another one?!” Lailah playfully panicked.
“Saki, please don’t be so loud,” Hikari Gojo lightly scolded.
“And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for! Transform!” Saki cried out.
Saki made her own drum roll noises and pointed at something—a bird of some sort—flying in the sky. Sorey and Zaveid turned their heads first followed by everyone else. When they turned back to look at Saki with confusion, they found a peculiar display.
“Did she hit her head when she was little?” Zaveid questioned upon seeing Saki.
The girl was dressed normally, but she had put on a massive beat-up cat mascot mask. Instead of speaking as normal as she did, she ended every sentence with a strange word that seemed to be Hymmnos yet was distinctly understandable.
“Have no fear, for I, Nyamo, am here—nyamo!” Saki announced with as much grandeur as she could muster. “I am a champion of hearts, nyamo!”
Everyone simply stared at her, Edna going so far as to wish the Heldalf would just come to kill them now. Sorey, on the other hand, could help but laugh. He had never seen someone so eccentric.
“N-Nyamo!” he happily chimed with her.
“Ah-ha! It seems like the evil villain called Sadness has been defeated, nyamo! Nyamo, nyamo, nyamo!” Saki continued with her roleplay until the bus arrived to take them to Ciela Gate. She chased Sorey, then Sorey chased her; and the Squires and seraphim couldn’t understand what was happening. “Nyamo!”
Hikari Gojo pushed his glasses up on his nose. “I see,” he said. “Saki is doing her best to keep the malevolence away from Sorey.”
“I think this is a bit much,” Rose sighed.
Dezel crossed his arms. It was important that Sorey didn’t wallow in his sorrow for too long. Saki was doing her part, but she was also important to finding a way to Harvestasha. What were they going to do when they got to Ciela Gate? The only other person that could help them was Hikari Gojo, who seemed more concerned about the seraphim than helping Sorey complete his mission.
“Hey,” he finally said. He effectively stopped Sorey and Saki’s play. “Instead of running around like children, figure out what we do next.”
Saki lifted the cat head so she could peek at him. She let it back down, pestering Dezel with her antics. Alisha agreed with him though with some reluctance.
“From there, we need to get to Clustania,” she reminded them like a mother.
She noticed that Edna had been on edge for a while despite the earth seraph keeping quiet about it. When she asked her why she was so anxious, she revealed that there was an abundance of malevolence but also an abundance of earthpulse points on the Tower. Hikari Gojo thought with them. He remembered that there were problems with climbing higher than Archia.
“There are train stations in Archia, but most of the city is shut down to the public,” he explained. “When we get there, we can discuss more. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to that hellhole, but if we can circumvent them, then we shouldn’t have a problem getting to Clustania.”
His emphasis on whoever it was he wanted to avoid put Sorey off. The bus pulled up to the station, and after they boarded and were well on their way to Ciela Gate, the Shepherd hesitated to ask him who they were trying to avoid. Hikari Gojo told him that he wanted to avoid running into anyone from the Archia Think Tank. Raphael was after Saki. Going through the facility to get to Clustania was nothing short of suicide. Sorey hadn’t thought about it, causing him to hope that they wouldn’t be stuck in Ciela Gate or Archia. He clasped his hands together.
“I’m almost there, Mikleo. We just need a little more time,” he whispered in prayer. Zaveid and Edna’s hearts ached for him.
The bus arrived in Ciela Gate. The city itself was modeled after a fortress. Shops were built into the stone walls, yet the station holding the ships heading out was perched on the edge of the city. Sorey was amazed that the Peripheral City was as bustling as places like Nemo and Rakshek even though it was little more than a hub for travelers. It almost felt too commercial—like a busy international airport.
Hikari Gojo urged that they take the next available airship to Archia. Considering they had now been to all three Towers, airships had lost their novelty. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha had gotten used to the larger machines that were alien to the the Glenwood Continent. Now, they had to focus.
--------------------------------------------------
“Fou paks ga…” Mikleo listlessly whispered. Finnel and him had been placed in a cell in the Clustania Slave District as they waited for Sorey to arrive with the Heart of Gaea. “Nn num wa…”
Luphan walked past their cell as if to antagonize Finnel. He stopped midstep to observe the water seraph. The ramblings coming from his lips both intrigued him and annoyed him. He pulled out a small notebook, jotting down in his notes what Mikleo was attempting to do. When he had finished writing, he put the book away then banged the bars of the cell with the sheath of his swords.
“S-Stop that!” Finnel whined. “Why are you doing this?”
“Why am I banging the bars, or why am I holding you here?” Luphan retorted. He stared at Mikleo. “It’s amusing. The only other seraph—Reyvateil at that—to develop an ego on her own was Mir. I’ve never seen it actively happen in a seraph as weak as this one.” He banged on the bars again. “If I can disrupt that process, then it will be easy to vet which seraphim can move on to our utopia.”
Finnel was horrified by the twisted man. He kept banging the bars, interrupting Mikleo’s attempts to make a Song and restore his soul, until she took it upon herself to try and block the discordant sounds from his ears.
“Fou…paks…ga…rre…” Mikleo gasped.
“In any case, if you’re friends manage to make it back to Harvestasha, I’ll let you out,” Luphan said.
The man in purple left them alone. Finnel held onto Mikleo for some comfort. She prayed that they would come soon; she didn’t want to see Mikleo like this anymore, and she didn’t want to be where she was. She wanted to be with Akane at the very least. She was sure that Mikleo, even without his memories and ego, missed his Shepherd.
Notes:
I'm so sorry for what I've done to Mikleo, but...well, just what is Luphan planning?
Chapter 150: Phase 6: Old Friends and New Comrades
Summary:
Cocona and her master Gengai attempt to sneak into the Tower of Origins. When the plan fails, some familiar faces come to the rescue.
Notes:
A rather short chapter but a very important one even if it's just a transitory chapter. I really love writing Sasha and Cocona together!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Archian soldiers and guards patrolled the city relentlessly. A large man with dark skin and blond hair peeked from around the corner of a support beam. He glanced at Cocona behind a crate then gave her a signal to engage the enemy. His gi swayed in the wind so high up on the Tower, but the shades of brown helped him to blend in with the rusting paths of Garvelt Bridge.
“Master, before I attack,” Cocona whispered to him. “Are you sure those two are going to get the job done? I trust them about as far as I can throw them.”
“J and K got us, so don’t worry,” the man replied. “Let’s just make this quick.”
The young IPD circled around from her cover. In two hits, she knocked out the guards barring passage up the many flights of metal stairs. “Master Gengai, it’s clear!” she told her superior.
Gengai climb up the stairs behind her before reinforcements showed up to stop them. His goal was to get the Tower of Origins within the Tower of Harvestasha, but to do that, he needed to go through the Archia Think Tank. He gritted his teeth.
“This plan isn’t going to work after all,” he said. “Cocona, retreat!” he called out to his ally. “If we keep going, we’ll be caught between Archia and Clustania!”
Cocona stopped climbing. “J and K need to get to the destination!” she called back.
The Archian soldiers were gaining on Gengai, and the seraphic soldiers from Clustania were beginning to descend. There was nowhere to go. Gengai caught up to Cocona, and as the troops on either side drew closer and closer, a red airship zoomed around the Garvelt Bridge. It hovered next to them. The cockpit opened to reveal Krusche and Jack.
“Get in!” the pilot ordered. “And hang on tight! Next stop, Archia!”
Cocona and Gengai leapt into the airship with the two from Eolia. The Archian soldiers and Clustanian seraphim were both deeply confused, either side agreeing to a brief truce since neither of them wanted to fight at that moment. Not when sketchy people were scuttling around on the Tower.
Krusche landed her airship in a large lot at the top of Archia. Cocona, Gengai, Jack, and the red-haired pilot climbed out of it, and while Krusche was worried that there had been minimal damage, Cocona was glad to be somewhere they wouldn’t be detected for a while.
“Damn, that could have gone a lot better,” Gengai sighed.
“Well, you still had that chance,” Jack said.
“The Tower of Origins only has one entrance, and it’s heavily guarded.”
“Why are you trying so hard to get in, anyway?” Cocona asked. “Harvestasha isn’t in there, is she?”
“Not necessarily,” Sasha said after emerging from a pile of junk that she had been sifting through. “The Tower of Origins is detailed in these blueprints. And look, I’ve got some on the whole Tower, too.”
The little engineer unfolded the sheets of plans. She took a pencil tucked behind her ear and began marking known entrances. She showed them to Gengai, Jack, and Krusche.
“Sasha, how did you even get these?” Cocona asked.
“It was easy! All I had to do was walk up to the receptionist and ask,” Sasha replied with a nonchalant smile.
She pointed at the Tower of Origins located in the very center of Archia and the think tank. She traced the best path, following the lines to a small area called Ogai. Sasha emphasized that the tunnel system running under the Archia Think Tank was the best way to stay hidden when trying to break in, to which Jack and Krusche were positive that they could find their way to their destination through it.
“Once they get in there, we should be able to get in control of the Tower,” Gengai stated. “We can stop Harvestasha from cleansing the Tower.”
“Master,” Cocona uttered. “Will Harvestasha be okay after all this? I…I told you that I have some friends that need to see her.”
“Relax,” Krusche said. “We won’t do anything yet. After all, the Virus we have still needs some tweaking.” She crossed her arms pridefully.
“I hope you’re right.”
Sasha folded up the blueprints while noting that she had seen someone that looked like Sorey walking off the airship coming from Ciela Gate. Cocona’s eyes lit up, but Jack and Krusche were shocked to hear that the Shepherd had made it to the Third Tower.
“Master, I need you to meet him,” Cocona told Gengai. “Jack, Krusche—you should also come with us.”
“Nah, that’s alright,” Jack answered with a wave of his good hand. “We’re already well-acquainted. If Sorey and his friends are here, then we need to get our asses in gear, Krusche.”
“Right behind you. We’ll try to sneak into the Tower of Origins ourselves,” Krusche said. “Just make sure you get to Clustania. And, above everything else, I hope you can help that boy.”
Sasha stayed behind to work on Krusche’s airship while Cocona took Gengai to the train station to wait for her friends. She described the kind of people they were so he could help spot them among the crowds of people. He was much taller than her, so she needed him to keep his eyes open. And it was easy because the Shepherd’s cloak, among everything else the Glenwood Continent denizens wore, stuck out in the sea of vibrant colors.
Gengai pushed his way to the main square of Archia above the Eulark Inn and other establishments. The seraphim had returned inside their vessels, leaving only Saki out to walk with the humans traveling to see Harvestasha. Rose and Alisha kept an eye out for Cocona since she was supposed to be somewhere on the Tower, and because Archia was the first major city besides Eternus Shaft that they would be spending more time, they were sure that she would have been there.
“Well, we’re here in Archia now,” Rose said. “What’s next, Mr. Shepherd?”
“We need the best way to Clustania,” Sorey responded.
“It’ll be difficult, but I believe the only way is to climb up the Garvelt Bridge until we get to the top,” Hikari Gojo suggested. “I remember that place was crawling with guards, though.”
“There’s also the possibility that there are hellions around; the malevolence is rather high in this city,” Lailah noted.
“That should be a common theme by now,” Rose said cheekily. She suddenly felt someone watching them. She quickly drew her daggers, lunging at the figure that was hidden in the shadows. “Be careful!”
“Whoa, hold on!” the man said. Gengai pushed the assassin off then put his hands up. “Cocona’s been waiting for you.”
“Cocona?”
“You know Cocona?” Sorey asked.
“Yeah,” Gengai replied. “Let’s move somewhere a little more private. If anything, she’s probably with her friend Sasha.”
Gengai guided Sorey, Alisha, Rose, Saki, and Hikari Gojo to Sasha’s shop named Nya Nya Ya. While there, Hikari Gojo fought with the notion of returning to his old clinic nearby. He put the idea aside, thinking it was more important for him to be with Saki in Aoto’s stead than to ruminate in awful memories.
Sasha had finished cleaning Krusche’s ship when Sorey walked in with his friends. She greeted him with a warm smile, but the Shepherd’s attention was pulled to the pilot from Eolia.
“Long time, no see!” she said.
“What are you doing here?” Alisha asked.
“Jack and I were hired by the people here in this city, but when we heard about the sketchy stuff they’ve been doing, we broke contract. Now, we plan to sabotage this place!”
“Why?!”
“Aren’t they doing some underhanded stuff? I wouldn’t get too involved with the finer details. Anyway, we were just leaving. Cocona and Sasha explained you guys got what you needed from the Second Tower and are heading to Harvestasha. I suggest you hurry before we enact our little bug.”
The strange impersonal reaction to their arrival made Sorey anxious. Whatever it was they were planning on doing, he needed to get to Clustania fast. Krusche and Jack took off in the airship to find an opening into the Tower of Origins, leaving the saviors from the Glenwood Continent to learn as much as they could from Gengai and Cocona.
“So, you want to get Clustania, right?” Gengai mentioned.
“Yes, we need to save Filly and Mikky,” Saki said.
“And we’d prefer to stay away from Archia,” Hikari Gojo added with a little edge.
Edna showed herself, much to Gengai’s surprise. She stood before him, her umbrella spinning on her shoulder. “This is interesting,” she said. When Lailah, Dezel, and Zaveid came out as well—again, startling Gengai—the earth seraph snooped around Sasha’s lot.
“U-Um, Miss Edna?” the engineer nervously called.
“I figured as much.”
“Huh?”
Gengai let out a hearty laugh. “So you can sense them? Well, I suppose the seraphim are mysteriously convenient creatures!”
Naturally, the seraphim weren’t sure whether to laugh with him or to show him their might. Sorey, however, didn’t have time for silliness now. He asked Edna what it was that she noticed. The earth seraph pointed out the massive amount of ore that Sasha had stockpiled for her inventions, and a few of them had mana infused in them. At first, she thought the ores were only residually magical, but as it turned out, they were sitting where an earthpulse point was.
“We may have found our way to Clustania without having to go through problematic territory,” she concluded. “Though, there’s no telling where it’ll take us. The amount of mana here means that the potential scope is a lot wider than what we want.”
Gengai tilted his head in an effort to understand exactly what Edna was talking about. As the only person who didn’t have a grasp on the situation outside of his mission, he trusted Cocona’s companions knew what they were doing.
“Let’s go,” Sorey said, almost pleading. “The sooner we get there, the sooner I can have Mikleo back.”
“Wait, before you go!” Gengai stopped them. Sorey glanced at Gengai quizzically. “I’m not sure what all is going on, but I have one request: Protect Cocona.”
“Master…” Cocona breathed.
“I’ve put a special patch on her to cancel out her resonance and mana so she can’t be detected by Clustania. It’s only been a short time, but she is my pupil. Don’t let anything happen to her.”
Sorey nodded and bowed. “I give you my word,” he determinedly answered.
Alisha and Lailah were the first to step into the earthpulse point. Then Rose and Dezel passed through. Cocona, Saki, and Hikari Gojo went in next. Finally, Edna and Zaveid waited for their Shepherd. Once they were gone and the earthpulse point had closed behind them, Gengai and Sasha were left alone.
“I have to make Cocona proud,” Sasha vowed. She got to work on her inventions while Gengai waited a little longer before leaving to find a way into the Archia Think Tank.
Notes:
As strange as it is to imagine Sorey and company being on Tilia--which is even MORE technologically advanced than Eolia and Frelia--it still feels like they would fit in. Weird, right?
If you read my other fics, I would like to make note that I will not be posting as much. School is continuously getting more strenuous and is causing me to exhaust my creativity and burn me out. I'll most likely only be updating this story for the next few weeks, so please bear with me. m(__)m
Chapter 151: Phase 6: Katz Korner
Summary:
Sorey and company end up in Katz Korner, where Nyamo is revered as a holy savior.
Notes:
OF COURSE I'm going to merge Katz Korner with everything about cats in Ar Tonelico 3!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The earthpulse point had seamlessly brought Sorey and his friends to a small almost otherworldly island. It existed in its own realm, or it appeared that way. In fact, the island was less of an island and more of a single toy room with gimmicks and mascot characters. But there was no malevolence, only heavenly blessings coming from the mascots. The mascots were tiny seraphim with humanoid cat faces and jumpsuits shaped like cats.
Rose and most of the seraphim weren’t keen on spending too much time among such weird-looking characters. Sorey was more concerned about where they had gone. Saki and Lailah swooned from their peculiar appearance.
“What are these adorable little creatures?” Saki almost cried from the overwhelming cuteness.
“We are the Katz seraphim, meow!” one of the seraphim introduced. “We are a rare type of seraph, meow. We can only use two Hymmnos words, so it’s rather pointless for us to sing, meow.”
Saki squealed before once again donning her beaten-up cat head. “I-I’m a Katz seraph, too, nyamo!” she happily said, though it was hard to hear her with the head on. “I’ve been looking for my fellow Katz, nyamo!”
The Glenwood Continent denizens remained silent, mortified that this girl had brought out her lackluster disguise once again. Cocona was more irritated than embarrassed, yet she knew it couldn’t be helped. Her time in Lohgrin had won her much knowledge that Saki was a girl of simple pleasures. Being surrounded by animals—seraphim or not—was one of them.
“O-Our savior has finally arrived, meow!” another Katz exclaimed. “We must prepare for a feast in her honor!”
“Quick, get the mackerel ready!” a third ordered.
Saki flinched at the speed at which the Katz seraphim cooked up their feast. She couldn’t be happier at all the foods that appeared before her, celebrating how nice it was to see things other than cake. The Katz seraphim beckoned Sorey and his friends to sit at the table set along the ground.
While they ate, Edna began to question why Sorey was going along with the stupidity before them. Naturally, the Shepherd was as confused as everyone else, yet he couldn’t pass up the feast in Saki’s honor or offend the Katz. It was only then that the Katz’s beady eyes grew twice as large with surprise and even contempt.
“What?” the earth seraphim snapped.
The Katz then whispered and mewed among themselves. Saki lifted the cat head off and set it aside. Sorey glanced at Alisha and Rose.
The Katz then looked at each one of them. “Since our savior Nyamo has appeared, we have a request,” the head Katz implored. “A couple months ago, while we were meowing along happily, a couple of strange seraphim suddenly broke through our domain, meow.”
“A couple of Turtlez seraphim!” the Katz that was second-in-command blurted. “They’ve been making nothing but trouble, mreow!”
“Turtlez?” Zaveid repeated. “Man, I haven’t heard that name in a thousand years!” He took a gulp of tea. “So, what’s the problem?”
The Katz all suddenly bristled. The Turtlez were always enemies to them, yet a black sheep named the Dark Turtlez suddenly breached their domain and took refuge. Another Turtlez had recently appeared, demanding that the Dark Turtlez return to their home to face punishment for treason. Since then, the two had been locked in a neverending battle in the courtyard just outside of the Katz Inn.
“This really is a harkening back to the old days!” Zaveid laughed aloud. “Ah, I remember when I first was able to get into the inn.”
“Focus, Zaveid,” Lailah uncharacteristically scolded. “We can help you.”
“Of course you can, and you will now that our savior is here,” the Katz matter-of-factedly said.
“What’s in it for us?” Cocona asked. “We never intended to come here; in fact, we’re on a pretty tight schedule.”
“Mreow, as you may have figured out, Katz Korner is a special place that can only be accessed one of two ways, meow,” the head Katz told them. “You either come here through an earthpulse point on the Third Tower or you get permission from a Katz. Once you enter our domain, you may continue to your destination at our discretion, meow.”
“So, we have no choice,” Dezel grumbled.
“We might as well fix this problem, then,” Alisha suggested to Sorey.
“Yeah,” the Shepherd agreed. “Can you show us the way?”
All of the Katz pointed across a small stream to a large gazebo where the two Turtlez seraphim were locked in combat. The one clad in black and purple fought with one in red and brown, their fish knives clanking against each other so many times that Saki could swear she hear music in it. Sorey drew his sword, but without thinking, the cat-crazy seraph girl approached the warring Turtlez.
“Please, stop fighting!” Saki begged them.
The Dark Turtlez and his adversary looked in her direction. “Izzat…?” the latter murmured. “No, it couldn’t be.”
“Fighting isn’t very nice at all,” Saki continued. “People get sad and hurt, and no one feels good in the end. So, please, stop fighting!”
Sorey relaxed from his stance as he listened to Saki’s wish. It was clear that the Turtlez seraphim weren’t going to grant it; the bloodlust in their eyes were still evident. Then he realized that they had to be under the influence of a growing malevolence in their hearts. He called out to her to be careful, but still she tried to make them see the error of their ways.
“Oh, I know…!” Saki gasped. Before she had been taken to Lohgrin, Katene had asked her to sing a Song that had the power to render all seraphim unconscious. She had absorbed the Song into her being, and even now, far away from the apparatus that was used in conjunction with it, she prepared to use it once again. “Please…give me strength!”
She held her hands together on her chest then began to glow with power. The Turtlez seraphim noticed the light in her bosom. Suddenly, the angelic appearance that Saki had melted away into nothing more than some sort of strange mascot that had an equally-strange, eccentric dance that seemed something that Lailah would do. She spun around and flapped her arm, winking intensely with one eye before jumping happily into the air. Parts of the Song she was singing had cat meows and mentions of cats…and the Katz seraphim cheered from behind them.
The Turtlez seraphim stopped moving for just moment; however, the Song itself wasn’t strong enough to completely immobilize them. They continued to fight.
“It’s not working!” Alisha realized.
“We’ve got to help Saki!” Sorey said before running into the fray.
Rose and Alisha were going to call on their seraphim for help only to find that all but Cocona had been knocked out. No amount of shaking woke Lailah or Dezel or anyone else up. Without their seraphim, stopping the Turtlez was going to be much harder. Still, they had to try.
“Come on, you’ve got to stop!” Sorey tried to persuade.
“Get out of here, kidz,” the Dark Turtlez warned. “Thiz here iz a fight to the death.”
“Oh, stop it! If you come back, we can explain everything, I promise yaz!” the other Turtlez assured.
“There’s no getting through to him,” Rose growled. “We’re down some fire power, but maybe Saki’s Song is weakening them!”
“Lailah and the others are asleep, so it should have an effect,” Alisha said. “Now, let’s go!”
The Turtlez in brown stopped in surprise because humans were getting involved in seraphic affairs. Thanks to the intervention, the Dark Turtlez took advantage of him, blindsiding him with two quick swipes.
“I have…failed…” the brown Turtlez huffed before collapsing.
The Dark Turtlez turned his attention to Sorey, Rose, and Alisha. He knew that if he incapacitated Saki and stopped her Song, his power wouldn’t be dampened anymore. “Youz guys should run while you still can,” he cautioned them, his fish blades crossed in front of him and a malicious look in his eyes.
Sorey led the assault against the seraph. He dashed ahead up to him with the intent to knock the blades away. The Dark Turtlez stood his ground, matching each strike almost on purpose to the beat of the Song. Rose slid in for an uppercut while Alisha stabbed her spear into the fray. Cocona swiped at him with her blades.
The Dark Turtlez escaped them. A murderous glint flickered in his eyes, then in a flash of speed, he kicked Cocona and Alisha back. “Final Furyz Blade!” he called out as the princess fell out of the air. “I told youz, should’ve stayed out of it.”
Cocona was unconscious. Alisha pushed herself up from the ground though she was severely winded. Sorey rifled through his pouches for something to help her, but before he got a chance to put his guard back up, the Dark Turtlez turned on Rose.
“Shit…” Rose muttered through her teeth. “Bring it on!”
“If you sayz so!” the seraph snarled as it attacked her. He charged at her with his fish blades pointed at her. He parried each attack, and when he found an opening, he jabbed her in the side. “Final Furyz Blade!”
Rose was pelted into a pillar of the gazebo. She gripped her head, the world spinning before her eyes. She tried to push herself up like Alisha only to fall back down again.
Sorey held his sword at the ready. He knew they had gone in over their heads even though they had no choice. He tried again to rush the Dark Turtlez, and despite connecting a few hits, he still wasn’t strong enough to stop him. The malevolence in his heart was resilient. The Dark Turtlez shot him back towards Saki.
“O-Oh no! Saki will save you!” the singing girl panicked. She prepared to execute an attack; at the same time, her body was enveloped in light. “What’s happening?”
In a few short seconds, and Saki’s Song continuing without missing a beat, Filament stood where Saki once did. “We don’t have time for this,” she complained. “Sorey, keep him distracted.”
“Got it!” the Shepherd confirmed. He stood up, and as fast as he could, he unleashed a hailstorm of sword attacks. “Sword Rain!”
“Now…please…give me power…”
Filament’s voice carried the Song meant to subdue all the other seraphim. In its bouncy melody, a dark and almost nostalgic tune echoed through. The cat-nun’s thoughts and feelings became visible to everyone in the area: she was falling from the sky, her clothes shredding from the power. She fell into a dark abyss filled with rocks, as if resigned to die. The dream vanished, and an army of cats paraded onto the battlefield. The Dark Turtlez, both amazed and angered by her magic, was overrun by the horde. The Song Magic was so strong that he couldn’t get back up, and Sorey feared that he had been trampled to death.
“Shepherd, you must purify him before he can get back up,” Filament told him. She stopped singing the Song, and Lailah was the first seraph to wake up from its effects. “Purify him, and we can save your friend.”
Sorey hesitated then nodded. The silver flame illuminating on his blade, he carefully erased the malevolence that had seized the Dark Turtlez. He couldn’t afford to make a mistake and kill him. He couldn’t afford to fall now. Lailah, who had realized that Saki—Filament—and he had worked together, aided them. She controlled the fires, and soon, the Dark Turtlez was devoid of the darkness in his heart; however, he still hated the one that tried to bring him back home.
When the Turtlez had woken up and was healed by the Katz, the Dark Turtlez approached him. Sorey stood by his side.
“What’z going on herez?” the Turtlez asked.
“We can’t stay herez,” the Dark Turtlez told him. “We’re cauzin’ a disturbance.”
“We wouldn’t be cauzin’ a disturbance if youz would just accept your punishment!”
Zaveid and Dezel each tied up the Turtlez before they lunged at each other again. Sorey asked them why they were fighting so much, and Lailah begged them not to because they were kin.
“If thiz sorry bastard would just give back the seniorz vacation fund, then we can put this behind us!” the Turtlez almost cried.
A noticeably audible gust blew over Katz Korner.
“And?” Edna asked. She had just finished healing Alisha and Rose. “All this just because of money?”
“Seniorz get so mad when theyz can’t take a vacation! Thiz guy’z at fault!”
“But…But you two…” Rose tried her best to hold back her irritation.
Filament intruded on the confrontation. She flicked both Turtlez in the head. “We’re on a very important mission,” she said with no emotion. “We do not have time to waste on these trivial pursuits.”
“She…She iz Her!” the Dark Turtlez gasped. He and the other Turtlez bowed before her. “Forgive us, Lady Kokura! Forgive us, Lady Sakia Lumei!”
“Fools, do not speak our true names so blindly!” Filament hissed. She glanced at the Katz, all of whom were bowing out of respect to her. “We’ve solved this problem, so grant us passage to Clustania.”
“Y-Yes, of course, meow!” the head Katz promised. With a wiggle of their tails and a paw in the air, the Katz seraphim revealed the earthpulse point that would take them to their destination in no time at all. “Lady Filament, we didn’t mean to waste your time, mreow!”
“Save it for later!” Cocona snapped.
She and Sorey leapt into the earthpulse point before everyone else. Once they had all gone, the portal vanished. They traveled through the inside of the planet, where for only an instant, they could all feel a great blessing far greater than they had ever felt but also great pain. Filament, resonating with the world, knew what was happening, her heart and head running along with the anxiety of not being able to stop Luphan in time.
Notes:
This chapter might be rushed, but I think it serves as a nice little comedic getaway for all the sadness that is coming.
Chapter 152: Phase 6: Finnel's Sacrifice
Summary:
Sorey and company return to Harvestasha with the Heart of Gaea in hand. After they hand it over, things take a turn for the unprecendented.
Notes:
SUCH A LONG CHAPTER! I hope it makes up for the shorter stuff and lack of new fics, but this chapter was really interesting to write! So many elements, and the melding of Zestiria and Ar Tonelico...I'm quite proud!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Akane slammed the heaviest book she had on the lock of her house until it finally broke. The door slowly swung open, and she slipped out quickly and quietly into the middle of Clustania’s central square in the Promenade. She kept a lookout, her golden eyes scanning the seraphic city for any signs that Luphan was near.
“Looks like the coast is clear,” she said to herself. “I…I have to get back to Lohgrin. I have to find Sorey; we’re running out of time.”
She made her way to the elevator in the Executive District. It was quiet save for her heels clacking on the metal floor. And when she boarded the elevator and requested to descend into the Slave District to make her way back down Tilia, she felt the wicked malevolence bubbling above her. She looked up to find an eyeball staring down at her from the ceiling of the elevator.
“Did you think you could get away?” Symonne’s voice cackled.
“A hellion?!” Akane gasped. She drew her katana even though she knew she was trapped. “Kukuro, I’m in danger!”
The blue alien-like being suddenly appeared in front of Akane. It chirped loudly as if warning Symonne to back off.
“I see, so Luphan wasn’t lying. Well, this should be interesting. After all, Antibodies will consume any threat, right? What will you do if the threat are the very humans you work with?”
The eyeball disappeared, the malevolence dissipating with it. Akane swallowed hard; she had never thought she would have been cornered, and much less by a hellion. Kukuro squeaked as it made sure its master had been unharmed then vanished in a speck of light. She sat on the floor of the elevator until it arrived at the Slave District.
The Clustania Slave District was a dark facility underneath the city. Humans from all over the Tower had been captured and detained here. They had two options—became brainwashed worshippers of Harvestasha or be purified and die. Akane loathed that she had aided in such barbaric actions. But it was to protect Harvestasha, who had now done something to hurt Mikleo.
“Was…Am I doing the right thing?” she asked herself. She remembered how Finnel had demanded her to tell her what was going on. “I’m so sorry, Finnel, I truly am. But…they promised that they would help you. I have to follow my orders and save your life. I love you too dearly to lose you.”
She walked down the many aisles of stone prison cells containing humans in various degrees of delirium. Their wails drilled into her ears and filled her heart with agony. She couldn’t convince herself that what Harvestasha wanted was good. She knew now that there was something horribly wrong not just because of what Luphan had done to Mikleo but also what the ultimate goal was.
“Blitz Bomb!” Lailah’s voice came from one of the manholes in the ground. The cover shot up like a bullet.
Akane leapt back with her katana drawn. Cocona’s head popped up from the manhole first as she climbed the ladder out of the underground network. Then Saki. Then Sorey, Rose, Alisha, Lailah, and finally Hikari Gojo had emerged from underground. Zaveid, Dezel, and Edna appeared outside of their vessels, stretching and dusting their hair and clothes.
“I can’t believe that earthpulse point dropped us underneath all these cells,” Rose groaned. “It’s one maze after another.”
“A maximum-security area usually is like that,” Dezel replied. “Not that you would know.”
“Where are we?” Sorey asked.
Akane sheathed her blade. “You’re in the Clustania Slave District,” she explained from afar. Approaching them, she forced herself to maintain her usual neutral expression. “More importantly, how did you get here?”
“We used an earthpulse point,” Edna explained.
Saki told her that they had teleported from Archia to Clustania with it only after they solved a dispute concerning cats and turtles. Of course, Akane herself became confused. She dismissed the unnecessary explanation once Sorey told her that he had felt Mikleo’s presence. While Akane was sure they had already relocated Finnel and Mikleo again, she allowed him to check the cells.
The Shepherd’s heart ached when he saw the emaciated and delirious people within other cells, but the cell that once held the two seraphim hurt him the most. Their presence was still there; they had only just recently been moved.
“There’s no doubt that they’re in Harvestasha’s Module,” Cocona said.
“There’s no time to waste then,” Akane said. “Let us make haste.”
------------------------------------------
Harvestasha stood alone with Finnel and Mikleo beside her. Luphan had disappeared, which made the former seraph nervous. Mikleo had stopped trying to make Song Magic, his heart and mind empty of any feelings he could have used to make a spell. His Seraphic Artes were also stunted, like his mana had been stolen away.
“L-Lady Harvy…” Finnel whimpered.
“Why must you always yap?” the little girl groaned. “I almost wish your stupid friends were here just so you would shut up.”
Finnel fell silent. She felt Yurisica and Soma trying to come out, yet something—the same thing that was preventing Mikleo from regaining himself—barred them. Then, in the distance, she saw Sorey, Akane, and Cocona walking towards the module.
“Y-You guys came back!” Finnel tearfully said.
“Welcome back, precious lowly lifeforms,” Harvestasha greeted.
Sorey glared at her. Lailah touched his hand discreetly, a warning again. The Shepherd took a breath before telling the witch that they had brought the Heart of Gaea. When she didn’t believe them, he reluctantly asked Cocona to reveal it.
“Is she really the one that wants it? She’s so incredibly boo!” Cocona insulted her.
“‘Boo’?” Harvestasha scoffed. “You’re going to have to try harder if you want to hurt my feelings. I thought only humans were disgusting piles of shit, but sweetie, you’re right up there with them.”
Cocona glared at her now. She refused to give her the Heart of Gaea, and she questioned why she needed it in the first place.
“Oh, the vermin has a little brain! Like I need your fucking permission to do what I want.”
“You’re the booest boo I’ve met!”
“Flattery will get you nowhere. Now, be a good girl and give it to me. Give me the Fourth Dimensional Core Square Ring!”
“Cocona, just give it to her,” Sorey said through clenched teeth.
“Hold on,” Cocona quickly said. The World Regeneration Project. Saving Finnel’s life. A bargaining chip for Mikleo’s safe return. “Just what do you want with it? There are way too many reasons to need it, and they’re all very different.”
“Oh my Goddess, you’re so stupid,” Harvestasha griped. “They’re all the same thing.” She began to twirl her finger in her hair. “If you give me the Fourth Dimensional Core Square Ring, then this world will be reborn. When this world is reborn, Finnel will be set free from her horrible chains of fate.”
“And Mikleo?” Sorey uttered. “What happens to him?”
Harvestasha stopped. “He’ll be free, too.”
“Free from what?” Rose asked from behind them.
“He was never in such a position in the first place!” Alisha added.
“Oh, but he was,” Harvestasha tittered. “His heart had a few holes where traumatic things had happened, right?”
Sorey’s breath hitched. How did she know about that?
“Luphan Dived into his heart and saw them. All those horrible memories, all the malevolence that he’s been trying to bury. When the world is reborn, so is every single living thing—even you worthless piles of trash.”
Finnel had been listening the whole time, and the notion of being freed from her suffering moved her timid heart. She stepped forward, taking Cocona’s hands and falling to her knees. She begged her to give the Heart of Gaea to Harvestasha. Even though the young IPD tried to argue against it, she couldn’t bear to see her friend so upset. Akane as well wanted to help her.
“I’ll be free, Cocona…!” Finnel sobbed. “Please…!”
“Don’t you want to free her from the bondage of souls? Won’t you let her out of her cage?” Harvestasha almost taunted.
Cocona was torn, but in the end, she complied with Harvestasha. She agreed to hand over the Heart of Gaea.
“Good girl,” the little goddess chimed. “Now then.”
As Cocona prepared to reveal the Heart of Gaea, Sorey dashed to Mikleo. He was finally going to be back where he belonged. But he saw the dull empty eyes. He was nothing short of a fleshy statue.
“Fou…paks…” Mikleo’s pitiful voice tried to push out.
Finnel, Akane, and Harvestasha stood together before Cocona as she lifted her hands from her chest into the air. “cEzYA hymmnos,” she chanted. Her body shined brightly. “#9990 -r- mAtyy trix tn = b0x11000101001 es tn = sol.infel-phira.mea.”
Harvestasha’s eyes lit up when she saw the shining beauty of the Heart of Gaea. At first, she couldn’t believe that it really existed. She had never sensed it because it was either on a separate Tower or because it had been concealed by Cocona’s power. Giddiness evident in her voice, she turned to Finnel. Her sky-blue eyes were wide with crazed delight.
“Finnel, it’s here! It’s time!” she shrilled. “Now! Rrha ki ra tie yor, ini en nha!”
Cocona’s unwitting smile was the last thing that Finnel saw. Out of nowhere, a purple blur propelled Cocona into one of the pillars around the edge of the module while darkness enshrouded the entire room. The familiar domain that had crushed them before had returned. Symonne held Mikleo in shadowy binds while Heldalf captured Sorey by his neck.
“C-Cocona!” Saki cried out.
Sorey’s friends accosted them only to be pushed back by Heldalf’s immense strength. “W-What are you doing?!” Sorey choked. “What have you done to them?!”
“Sorey…help! She’s smothering me! I can’t keep her inside!” Finnel bawled and screamed.
“She’s here! She’s finally here!” Harvestasha laughed maniacally.
“This isn’t good,” Dezel observed. “Lailah, Zaveid, Edna; we’ve got to put up some sort of barrier. Something big is coming!”
The Glenwood seraphim at once supported a wall of wind, fire, and stone to deflect the surge of energy that pulsed from Finnel. The poor girl’s screams gradually silenced, and in her place, there was another girl that no one had ever seen. She looked like a feudal queen wrapped in pink and purple silks.
“She’s really here!” Harvestasha squealed.
“Lady Harvy, remember we’re not quite finished,” Luphan told her.
Heldalf peered at Sorey with his yellow lion eyes. “You’re right—in fact, we’re far from finished,” he rumbled. “Lord Shepherd, repeat after me.”
“I refuse!” Sorey spat at him. Heldalf’s vice grip strained his neck.
“Repeat after me if you wish to protect your friends.”
He heard his friends plead him to deny Heldalf’s requests. Their voices were growing harder and harder to hear over the cacophony of the malevolence. Sorey tried to fight back, but with the Lord of Calamity threatening to snap his neck like a twig and murdering his friends, did he have the power to fight back?
Heldalf waited for Sorey to break even though the girl that had replaced Finnel cursed herself. The Shepherd bit his lip, the pain in his neck drilling through his skull and into his brain. He bit down harder until he broke his skin.
“Fine…just…just don’t hurt anyone…” he said defeatedly. Even after all he had been through, how was he still so weak?
“Repeat after me. Rrha ki ra aterra dea lusye mea, ini en nha innna syec yor,” Heldalf said. Sorey had never heard him speak Hymmnos, but there was something sinister in it. Unlike any other time, even when Symonne had sung, there was a creeping evil within the incantation that made his skin crawl.
Sorey swallowed as best as he could before reciting the line with hesitation. What was he saying? Who was he casting the spell unto?
“H-Harvestasha, what is the meaning of this!?” Akane questioned her.
“Our plan is finally in motion,” Luphan responded.
Symonne continued to hold Mikleo while his body writhe in agony even though he had no voice, no mind, and no personality. He was a perfect clean slate prepared by Luphan, and the installation of a new soul into his cosmosphere was but child’s play. The girl screeched before disappearing. Finnel was left in the same place but was unconscious. Mikleo, on the other hand, glowed. His body transformed much like how Saki’s and Finnel’s did when another persona came to the surface, and he was the the mysterious girl born from Finnel’s troubled heart. The seraph of darkness released her. The girl couldn’t stop her tears.
Heldalf flung Sorey towards the wall created by Lailah, Edna, Dezel, and Zaveid. Saki and Hikari Gojo quickly healed him while Rose retrieved Finnel only to be repelled by Luphan and Alisha rescued Cocona. The Shepherd’s vision tunneled. Mikleo no longer existed in this plane. In his place, this feudal girl stood somberly.
“Sorey,” she uttered. “I’m so sorry. This isn’t what I want. This isn’t what I was promised…!”
“Mik…” Sorey whispered. “I almost had him…” He was listless.
Harvestasha let out one final cackle before she revealed the truth. “Finnel was going to be our vessel first, but when Mikleo came along with all the trauma and anxiety he had, he was far better. And now we’ve finally given power back to her!”
“Who is that?” Hikari Gojo interrogated.
“Mikleo’s body now serves a Will of the Planet,” Luphan told him. “He had become Suzunomia, the Goddess of Song Magic.”
“A Will of the Planet?!” Lailah gasped. “His body can’t handle that power!”
“It can as long as all memories have been erased. Any memory of humans is poison to the Wills, so I took extra care to make sure that his heart was completely wiped clean.”
Sorey felt as if he had fallen through the floor. Mikleo wasn’t himself anymore. He was forced to be a puppet for someone else. Akane drew her sword, bringing him back to this grim reality.
“This isn’t what you told me!” Akane growled. “How dare you endanger my friend! How dare you lie to me and your people!”
“My people can all go fuck themselves,” Harvestasha spat. “We’ll all be cleansed soon anyway. Now that Suzunomia is here, the world can start over just like Lord Heldalf pleases!”
“No…” Suzunomia said. “I won’t do as you say…you can’t make me. You can’t even get to Moocheriel.”
“That can be arranged,” Heldalf smirked.
“I refuse!” Suzunomia hurried over to Sorey and held his hands. “Lord Shepherd, please forgive me.”
“Symonne, stop her!”
Symonne tailed Suzunomia but not before the Will gave Sorey her word:
“I’m so sorry this happened. It’s all my fault, so allow me to repent for my sins.”
She stepped back then faced Luphan, Harvestasha, Heldalf, and Symonne who had stopped in their tracks. Suzunomia began to sing. Her voice, almost identical to Finnel’s if not a carbon copy of it, was sweetly sad, the Hymmnos flowing from her lips like the waves of the sea. Listening to the Song, Edna and Saki heard influences from Mikleo’s and Finnel’s hearts. The sorrowful Song that was meant to kill the singer after its execution made the Harvestasha Module rumble.
“W-What is she doing?!” Harvestasha barked. Then she abruptly went quiet before shrieking in pain. “S-Stop her! She’s…she’s doing something to me! Someone, fucking stop her!”
Saki and Hikari Gojo took a step towards the singing Will only for her to urge them to escape. She apologized between her lyrics. “We have to go, now!” the doctor said. “She’s planning on collapsing this place!”
“I’m not leaving without Mikleo!” Sorey rebelled. “I…I worked so hard; I can’t just leave him!”
“Sorey, this isn’t up for debate,” Zaveid told him. He grabbed his Shepherd by the wrist tightly. “We need to take this opportunity to get out of here safely with Cocona and Finnel.”
Luphan and Symonne were at Heldalf’s command while Harvestasha slowly lost herself to the Song. The Lord of Calamity ordered to hold them in the module; however, Akane had to do something. She had been betrayed and potentially lost her best friend. She couldn’t let them escape. She drew her sword, parrying Luphan in an effort to protect Sorey and his friends.
“Out of the way, Akane!” Luphan commanded. “Or I will have to deem you a traitor!”
“Look who’s talking! You took Finnel from me, and you took the Shepherd’s most important person from him. If I’m a traitor, then what are you?” Akane threw back. She summoned Kukuro to her side. “At least I’m fighting for my brethren!”
“I knew it was a poor decision to give you that Antibody.”
“Antibody?” Hikari Gojo repeated.
“I see, so that was why I was allowed to come back,” Suzunomia sighed. She continued her Song.
“Symonne, do no let the Will ruin our plan,” Heldalf told her before leaving. It was as if he couldn’t be bothered dealing with the chaos that had befallen the Third Tower. He left in a portal of malevolence.
Akane stood her ground against Luphan. “Consider this my penance, Sorey. Escape now and live to save Finnel and Mikleo another day! If you choose to stay and fight, you will no doubt die.”
“Ayatane, get rid of that traitor!” Harvestasha commanded.
Zaveid tugged on Sorey’s wrist. Dezel picked up Cocona under his arms from Alisha, but any effort to get near Finnel was in vain as Symonne surrounded her with her clones. Once again, they had to leave Mikleo behind. Sorey listened to Akane despite every fiber of his being wanting to liberate him from Suzunomia. They turned away from Akane’s scuffle with Luphan, leaving the Harvestasha Module, leaving Harvestasha to writhe in pain next to Suzunomia, and leaving Akane to repent for all that she had done against the humans and seraphim that lived on the Tower.
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After taking a few elevators down to the exit of the Executive District, a familiar pink-clad seraph stopped them. Beside her was the incredibly short scientist that had offered himself up to save Saki, but now Richa was there and she intended to take Saki back.
“Katene!” Hikari Gojo gasped. “You’re alright?”
“Of course!” Katene beamed. “All thanks to Richa, actually.”
The doctor glanced at the pink seraph and offered her words of gratitude. While she loved to hear them, she had to put her feelings aside. She was on a mission.
“I…I need Saki to come with me now,” Richa told them.
“Why? Didn’t you tell that Raphael guy that she was dead or something?” Rose questioned her. “Why are you suddenly coming back to us and saying that?”
“Because her original purpose as a Vaccine is more important than ever now. Raphael told me what Clustania was up to, and I can’t just stand aside and let them kill everything that breathes!”
No one understood what she was talking about. Saki, specifically, wanted to help her even though she didn’t comprehend what she said. She just wanted everyone to be happy, but even her own heart denied her wishes. A light engulfed her, a girl with blonde hair and silver armor replacing her.
“I will go with you, even if Saki herself doesn’t wish to go,” the girl said.
“Another persona?” Alisha uttered.
“What is going on?” Sorey asked before drawing his sword.
“Thank you, Sakia Lumei. Raphael is currently in the Harvestasha Module as we speak, so we can head back there—”
Suddenly, Richa collapsed. The Song that had been echoing through the Third Tower had stopped. Tilia had gone dark.
“What’s happened?” Lailah gasped.
“Not again! Why must someone always interfere?!” Sakia Lumei growled. She vanished in the same light that had brought her to the surface, and Saki stood where she was.
Sorey noticed that the Song wasn’t echoing anymore, and his anxiety over Mikleo grew. What had happened to him? Without a word, he made his way back to the Harvestasha Module. His friends didn’t even notice and thus stayed with Richa, trying to wake her up.
What Sorey found in the Harvestasha Module wasn’t what he was expecting. Suzunomia wasn’t there anymore, but Mikleo—unconscious—lie next to Akane. Harvestasha had vanished with the Tower shutdown. Raphael, who he had yet to meet, presumably stood at the edge of the module. Krusche was standing next to him.
“Alright, Clustania isn’t hacking Archia anymore, and looks like the Virus was successful,” she said.
“Virus?” he whispered to himself. “But…wasn’t she trying to sabotage them?”
“Excellent,” Raphael smirked. “Now then, that one there—the boy. It looks like Clustania really treasures him.”
“U-Uh…they sure do! But wouldn’t it be smarter to nab that girl over there?” She pointed at Finnel. “After all, she’s pretty powerful, too.”
Sorey was prepared to dash over to protect Mikleo, but he didn’t have to. Finnel transformed into Soma, who looked barely alive. She held a scythe before her and Akane and Mikleo.
“The other scum decided to show up…huh?” Soma panted.
“Krusche, I thought you said the Virus was working!” Raphael chastised.
“It is! But if I give it too much power, it could create a lot of problems in the Tower,” Krusche explained.
“Stop her at once!”
Luphan had left along with Symonne. They had probably run away before Raphael had infiltrated the module, yet still the situation was dire. Soma pushed back against Krusche and Raphael, making use of the darkness to get Akane and Mikleo out of the Harvestasha Module. She ran past Sorey who followed, and when they were finally out, the Shepherd spoke to her.
“Soma, what happened?” he asked.
“All of Clustania has been compromised,” Soma explained. “Every seraph in the area has been hacked, thus making them fall unconscious for now. I don’t have a lot of time, but I did what I could to save your partner. Finnel’s dearest Akane…I’ll never forgive that bastard, Ayatane.”
“Is everyone going to be okay?”
“I hope so. This Virus is artificial. There’s no malevolence in it, as if its only purpose was to paralyze Clustania. If that truly is the case, then we don’t have to worry. I fear that your partner Mikleo…I can sense it in him. Suzunomia put herself on lockdown, but I don’t know how long she can stay dormant. There’s a good possibility that he’ll stay frozen unless she can be separated from him and restore his personality.”
Sorey shook his head. “I-I don’t understand…!”
“I don’t expect you to. What happens on all the Towers is far beyond the understanding of those from your world. We’re an advanced population living based on inventions and contraptions built and operated by seraphim or even the Wills of the Planet themselves.” She winced. “Let’s hurry. I think I can bring Akane for you, but that’s all I can do. If we encounter Archian troops, I won’t be able to fight. The good thing is that the Virus is only affecting seraphim frm Clustania. Saki and your seraphim should all be okay.”
Sorey remembered how the war in Glaivend Basin had played out. He didn’t want to get in the middle of their problems with Mikleo still in danger. The Shepherd carefully picked up his water seraph in his arms, and together with Soma, the two returned to their friends near the threshold between the Executive District and the Promenade.
“You went back?” Edna scolded.
“We took the opportunity,” Soma quickly rebutted. “Leave the Archian general. We need to take advantage and get out of here as quickly as possible. We can go to Akane’s house to rest.”
Edna and Zaveid returned within Sorey as he carried Mikleo. Dezel and Rose took care of Cocona while Alisha, Lailah, and Saki guided them out. Hikari Gojo didn’t want to leave Richa, but Katene told him that they had to or else they would put everyone in danger. When they left the darkness of the Tower and entered the bright moonlight flooding Clustania, they found that all the seraphim in the city had been put into comas.
Notes:
It goes without saying that I've bent some rules again, but at least Mikleo has returned to the story! Just...not consciously.
Chapter 153: Phase 6: A Safe Place for Now
Summary:
There has to be a way to heal Mikleo...right?
Notes:
An average length chapter this time and more of an interlude of what is to come. I really like making happy characters feel more pain when bad things happen--I'm sure if Mikleo had been put more in danger's way in Zestiria, Sorey would have lost some heart...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Can you hear me?” Suzunomia’s voice asked in the depths of Mikleo’s heart.
“Hear…you…?” Mikleo repeated.
“I’m so sorry for what is to befall you, precious one.”
“Be…fall…?”
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Akane woke up shortly after they had returned to her house. Rose and Edna had fixed the lock on her door, and Lailah placed a protective charm on it that enacted a barrier around the building. Hikari Gojo and Katene had checked up on Finnel, Akane, Cocona, and Mikleo. While the Clustanian general and the IPD were almost completely unharmed, Finnel and Mikleo fared much worse.
Saki and Sorey stood together as they listened to what Hikari Gojo had to say. He tried to explain it as simply as he could so the Shepherd could understand it, yet it was unnecessary. He had grown accustomed to all the jargon that he heard from Shurelia, Jacqli, and any others that lived on the Towers. Even then, he didn’t need the vocabulary to understand that Mikleo’s heart had been shattered. Finnel’s had been fractured for the longest time because of the personas that existed within her, but unlike the water seraph, they were slowly healing. And because Finnel and Saki had been discovered to be the same with fractured hearts, they shared a similar fate—if the fractures couldn’t heal, they would both die.
“Can Diving fix him?” Sorey asked, holding himself together as best as he could. The light in his eyes had faded, which caused Zaveid and Edna to worry.
“That’s the thing…” Hikari Gojo nervously said. “When Katene ran his diagnostic on him, it’s almost as if his cosmosphere vanished. There’s nothing there.”
“How can that be?” Saki joined. “If a seraph’s cosmophere vanishes, won’t they die?”
“Yes, usually,” Katene explained. “The separate soul within him is the only thing sustaining him. If she were to leave his body without his memories and soul coming back, he would cease to exist.”
Sorey’s throat tightened.
Akane bit her lip. “There is someone that could potentially help,” she offered. Sorey rushed to her and grabbed her hands with no hesitation. He begged her to tell him. “Where she is…is a place that no human is allowed.”
“Please, Akane…” Sorey pressured. “Who can help them?”
“Lady Tyria can.”
“Tyria!” Sorey gasped. “The Origin?!”
The others listened to them behind Akane’s bedroom door. Tyria, as Akane explained, was in the Third Tower’s Rinkernator, a place where only authorized personnel were allowed to go. Akane was hesitant on letting even Sorey the Shepherd set foot in it. She asked that he give her some space and time to think about it. The request, though recognized within Akane’s right, felt like an enormous weight on his heart. He gave her a small smile then left the room. Saki followed after him, leaving Akane with Hikari Gojo and Katene.
The doctor and the researcher finished their examination on Finnel and Mikleo before moving to the small dining room on the first floor of the house. Akane thought about Sorey’s request, and they didn’t want to disturb her. Hikari Gojo had known that Tyria held the key to saving Saki, Finnel, and now Mikleo; but as Akane had said, only certain people were allowed to see her. Katene, on the other hand, was quite jealous that Hikari Gojo had known it for a while. He had been looking for the Origin of te Third Tower for years, and now he had an inkling long after his colleague had known. But then he revealed that Tyria was nothing more than a phantasm. She didn’t have a corporeal form, hence why she was never seen in the flesh.
Then there was a change in subject.
“Did you run into Mute at any point?” the doctor asked.
“Mute? No, I haven’t. Did she come with you all?” Katene asked bashfully.
“Yes and no. She chased after Richa and Raphael in hopes of bringing you back to Lohgrin. I can only imagine where she’s ended up. She is a brash young girl.”
“And…and beautifully muscular…”
“I doubt you’ll be allowed to go to the Rinkernator with us if we can go, but I’d feel better if you went and found her. She’s from Clustania, so the Virus probably knocked her out somewhere. And it’s only a temporary program, so perhaps she’s already up and about.”
“Aw, I really wanted to go and see Tyria myself! But…I’m truthfully extremely worried about her…”
Outside, Sorey sat on a small cute bench behind Akane’s house. Saki peeked around the side curious if he was waiting for the answer from Akane or if he was heartbroken. She wanted to try and cheer him up, but she was sure Nyamo would only agitate him.
“Oh-ho?” Zaveid’s sounded behind her. “And what’s Little Miss Kitkat doing out here? Spying?”
“Shh! Please, don’t make so much noise,” Saki frantically whispered. “S-Saki wants to help Sorey, but Saki doesn’t know what to do.” She faced the wind seraph. “He’s really sad—I can sense it. He has been working so hard to save Mickey, but now…what if we were too late?”
Zaveid crossed his arms in thought. He led her away from the side to the front of the house. He thanked her for her concern. He then stooped over a little, gave her a smile, and asked her to simply pray for him. He couldn’t tell her that there was little she could do until they knew if they could see Tyria. He asked her to follow him, and he went around behind the bench.
“What’s up, Sheps?” he greeted casually.
Sorey didn’t answer.
“Sorey?”
He just sat there, unmoving, his eyes staring off into the distance. His body was hunched over, and if Zaveid hadn’t been tethered to him, he would have thought that he was dead. The wind seraph quickly grew more concerned. Saki, afraid that he was too upset to talk to them, grabbed his hand and held it to her chest.
“Sorey, please, don’t be sad!” she passionately asked of him. “You mustn’t lose hope! Saki doesn’t want you to turn into a hellion!”
Sorey still said nothing. His emerald eyes that had typically gleamed even when he was down had completely lost their shine. His mind was blank.
Inside Akane’s house, the general thought long and hard about Sorey’s request at her dining table. She wasn’t supposed to let anyone near the Rinkernator. Then again, the one who had given her such orders was Harvestasha, who not only had betrayed Clustania but was also incapacitated by the mysterious Song that Suzunomia had sung. Who would get mad if she allowed them to go with her to see the Origin of Tilia? She thought about Finnel and Saki. They would undoubtedly be saved from their fates as essentially defective Reyvateilic seraphim, but Mikleo was a different story. She didn’t know if Tyria could fix him, and if she could, she didn’t know the extent of her power.
“What do I do?” she mumbled.
“You should take Sorey to see Tyria,” Edna said, making Akane jump a little out of her seat. She joined her at the table, closing her umbrella of which the shadow had hidden her pale face. She looked sick. “Because if you don’t, Sorey will fall and kill all three of us.”
“What?”
Edna put her elbows on the table, her fingers intertwining in front of her face. She wasn’t surprised that seraphim from the Towers were unaware of the trade-off that came with being bound to the Shepherd. They didn’t have to bind to anyone, not that they could.
“I’ll let you in on some grade-A Glenwood seraphim secrets,” Edna coyly told Akane. “Once we bind to a vessel, we’re at the mercy of it. The seraphim on the Towers can be affected by the malevolence that perpetuates through the Binary Field and cosmospheres, but it’s a different story with us. If Sorey becomes tainted, we won’t need to worry about Heldalf anymore.”
“You’re saying…that he will become the new Lord of Calamity?” Akane frightfully asked.
“Precisely.”
The Clustanian general remembered how attached the two were to each other, and when Harvestasha took him hostage, he had been horribly hurt. Edna hinted at the times that Aurica and Misha tried to make him feel better while on Eolia. She mentioned how Jacqli on the Second Tower made him focus on obtaining the Heart of Gaea. Seeing Mikleo as he was before he became Suzunomia…
“Creepy little girl and Kittybeard probably told Bitch Queen and Luphan that it would throw him into despair,” Edna concluded. “They really did their homework on that one.”
Akane stood up from the table. Her stoic face was unchanging as she disappeared up to her bedroom where Mikleo, Cocona, and Finnel slept. Edna followed her quietly. In the dark bedroom, she saw Akane pat Finnel’s head.
“This is all my fault,” she whispered to the unconscious body. “If I didn’t listen…no, it was because I listened. I wanted to help you, my dearest Finnel. And now, you and Cocona and Mikleo are suffering.”
Outside, Sorey listlessly stood up from the bench. He walked past Saki and Zaveid, the latter feeling pins and needles in his chest. Saki rushed to his aid, but he assured her there was nothing she could do. He asked her to just sit with him for a little while as he recovered from the surge of malevolence that crashed through him and Edna at the same time. Both were sure that Mikleo was afflicted as well, but his body was no longer his own. The Shepherd, numb to the world and crushed by an enormous guilt, found himself in Akane’s bedroom. The general moved aside so he could watch over Mikleo sleep like a corpse. He lightly touched his cheek.
“Mikleo…” Sorey mumbled. “I’m so sorry…I wasn’t supposed to let this happen again…I’ve failed you again…”
Edna lowered her head. She wished things weren’t like this. How could they have gotten so bad that Sorey was almost an empty husk himself?
“How could I let them do this to you…? Why did I take so long to get to you…?”
Akane swallowed hard before she spoke:
“Shepherd Sorey,” she began. Sorey turned around to face her, his dull eyes blending in with the darkness of the room. “I have decided to take you all to the Rinkernator. There, we can talk with Tyria, and we can ask her to help us save Finnel and Saki. We can even try to ask for her help to save Mikleo.”
Sorey fell to his knees with tears streaming down his cheeks. He couldn’t spare any words. Hearing Akane agree to take them to the most restricted area on the Tower to help their friends made him so happy, but he still felt guilty about what he had been unable to do. Edna smiled though Sorey’s pain made her cringe.
“Get some rest, Shepherd Sorey,” Akane told him. “There are things we need to discuss before heading to the Rinkernator in the morning.”
Akane left the bedroom, leading Edna away so the brunet could have some time to talk with his beloved water seraph. No one could say if Mikleo could truly hear Sorey’s voice, but Suzunomia could. She listened to the Shepherd’s cracking voice as he told him the good news.
“Tyria can help you…!” he breathed. “Tyria is going bring you back…but…what about…the girl inside of you?”
Suzunomia bowed her head in shame. This wasn’t what she wanted.
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The quickest way to get to the Rinkernator was through the same Executive District that they had run away from. The Virus that had infected all of the Clustanian seraphim had left them incapacitated and defenseless on the streets. Hikari Gojo and Katene had worked together to wake Finnel up from the coma induced by transferring Suzunomia into Mikleo before protecting her from the infection, and she was severely confused by all that had happened. The last thing she remembered was Cocona using the Heart of Gaea, so when the young IPD woke up, she simply thanked her.
“We can thank each other later,” Cocona said.
“We need to get to the Rinkernator,” Dezel added.
“Isn’t that where Lady Tyria is? Aki, you’re taking them there?” Finnel surprisedly asked.
“There’s no choice,” Akane told her. “Harvestasha and Luphan betrayed Clustania. I have no obligation to follow their orders anymore.”
“Won’t they try to kill you if you go against them?” Alisha asked.
“I will do what it takes to save Finnel.”
“Well, that settles it! Let’s get going!” Rose happily decreed.
“Certainly, it can’t be just that easy,” Katene dubiously said.
“Yes, well, that was what I wanted to tell you all,” Akane hesitantly said. If they wanted to get into the Rinkernator, the Prome Wall protecting Clustania would need to deactivate. It would leave the seraphic city vulnerable, much to Sorey’s dismay. “Some of my commanders are still awake, so I will station them all here before the Prome Wall comes down. As a general, it is my duty to protect the people, but I cannot forgive what happened to Finnel. If Harvestasha and Luphan are at odds with my decisions, so be it.”
Zaveid crossed his arms, looking alluringly at Akane. “I just love when a beautiful girl is also the boss,” he flirted, prompting Lailah to flick a flame in front of him. “Watch it!”
“Shall we, General Akane?” the fire seraph smiled.
Akane led them all to the Executive District, but Sorey still fell behind. He felt there was a steel ball around his ankle, dragging him down and preventing him from joining his friends. He looked at them. Saki and Finnel were talking behind Cocona, who was intently matching pace with Akane. Hikari Gojo and Katene were after them discussing what Tyria could possibly look like. Alisha, Lailah, Rose, and Dezel walked together excited to see what the Rinkernator of the Third Tower was like compared to Shurelia’s, and Zaveid and Edna teased each other back and forth. He felt so distant; Mikleo was on his back but unresponsive. Was it really smart to move him? Could they not have brought Tyria to Clustania instead?
“Sheps, let me carry Mikster for a bit,” Zaveid offered.
“I-I’m fine…” Sorey unsurely told him.
“Oh, come on, Sorey!” Rose needled. She and Dezel fell back as Zaveid plucked the water seraph from his back. He caught back up with Edna. “I knew you were protective of Mikleo, but I didn’t think you were even wary of Zaveid.”
“I…I haven’t gotten to hold him…” Sorey quietly said.
“Hm? Speak up, can’t hear you over all that depression!”
Dezel knocked her on the head. Rose yelped, but she recognized that her pestering was starting to go too far. The three of them walked in silence behind the rest of their friends. Rose cleared her throat then peeked at Dezel.
“You said you wanted to talk to him,” Rose reminded him.
“I was waiting for you to buzz off, too,” Dezel told her.
Almost offended by his response, the assassin rejoined the group ahead of them. The blind wind seraph then pulled Sorey to a stop.
“Dezel…?” Sorey barely said aloud.
Dezel remained silent. Sorey felt he was wasting his time. He tried to force himself to appear his bright and cheerful self, but no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to lie to himself. The wind seraph rested a hand on his shoulder.
“He’s going to be okay,” Dezel gently told him. It was uncharacteristic of him, Sorey knew that yet appreciated that he was trying to comfort him. “If Tyria can’t help him, we’ll find another way.”
Sorey took solace in his kind words despite there was still a part of him that wallowed in the sorrowful anxiety that perhaps Mikleo would never get better.
“Are you two coming?” Cocona huffed. “If you have time to stand around, then you have time to walk. We have to get to Tyria before things get any booer.”
Dezel caught up to the lot of seraphim and humans. Sorey paused for a moment. Mikleo had to be okay once they met with Tyria. She was the only one that could help them. He thought about Songs that Edna and Zaveid had already performed, and while he was tempted to ask about Implanta, he already knew that it was a one-off deal. Zaveid was only able to sing the Song by consuming a large piece of ore. He picked himself up—guilt and all—and regrouped with his friends.
As he walked, he felt a surge of malevolence for a fraction of a second. He turned around on instinct only to find the faint wisps of darkness fading away into the morning light. After continuing on his way into the Executive District, the figure that had been watching him reappeared among the comatose seraphim in the Promenade.
“Poor insignificant Shepherd,” Heldalf purred. “How long will you deny that your hope has been trampled into the dirt? Tyria won’t be able to undo Kureha’s work; I made sure of it.”
Notes:
Hmmm, I really want to draw everyone walking through the Promenade and Sorey sensing Heldalf!
Chapter 154: Phase 6: Rewriting Memories
Summary:
Akane guides Sorey and friends to the Rinkernator .
Notes:
A bit of information dumping, a bit of padding, but the trip to the Rinkernator is an arduous one.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
At the bottom of the Executive District, Akane stood before all the others. She bit her lip when she began to understand what it was that the traitor was doing. She cursed herself under her breath for being a fool.
“Damn that Ayatane…” she murmured with frustration.
“That name again…” Sorey noticed.
“Hey, Akane, is Luphan’s name really Ayatane?” Rose asked. “Harvestasha mentioned the name, too.”
Akane thought about how to explain to her comrades. “Yes, Luphan’s real name is Ayatane Kureha,” she started.
“K-Kureha?” Katene stammered. “The Kureha of the Ayatane clan?!”
Akane nodded. Luphan, otherwise known as Ayatane Kureha, was a direct descendent from Ayatane Michitaka, which stunned Sorey, Rose, and Alisha. They had fought the Virus, but they never thought that he at one point had been a real person.
“I don’t know everything about him, but I do know that Kureha is incredibly intelligent. I’m sure he understands a lot more than we do about seraphim and the Wills of the Planet.” She met Sorey’s eyes. “I also now understand what he was doing to Mikleo while you were away.”
She recounted the details, only stopping herself from revealing them out of respect for Sorey. He tensed, unsure if he wanted to hear them or not. He took a breath then asked her to continue.
While they had gone to find the Heart of Gaea for Harvestasha, Kureha was using his vast knowledge to not only erase Mikleo’s memories and personality, but he also had changed his soul space. It used artes and techniques that had been long forgotten in time, passed down through centuries in the endangered Ayatane clan. While Mikleo was unconscious, he took advantage of the emptiness. With everything that made him who he was eradicated, the soul space was vulnerable to manipulation. He cleared out everything so that it only held the Stonehenge, the cornerstone and capstone of each level of his heart. He had made enough room for Suzunomia’s soul, for her roots to intertwine through him so she could anchor herself in his body like a parasite. The process was normally painful and was considered a form of torture.
Zaveid knew what it was like, remembering things he didn’t want to remember. But the revelation that it was something similar to what Bartlow had tried to do shook Sorey. The darkness at the back of his mind crept up, his heart aching as he remembered what had happened so long ago. Every time Mikleo had been captured, he was always tortured and forced to be a vessel.
“Mikleo…” the Shepherd choked.
“That is why I cannot guarantee if Tyria can help his case,” Akane finished.
“The first order of business would be to somehow uproot the persona from Mikleo,” Lailah said. “But that would cause damage to what remains of his soul space.”
“Even if you did pull her out, how could one bring back all his memories?” Zaveid asked. “It’s…It’s hard trying to reclaim what was stolen from you…”
“B-But if we talk to Tyria, then we can see what she can do!” Saki tried to say optimistically. “Because Saki believes in Tyria, and Saki believes in Mickey!”
“I agree with Saki,” Finnel added. “Lady Tyria is like a goddess. She can do anything!”
Akane smiled. “Yes, we must believe in her.” She faced the elevator. “Now, we must get to the very top here then take the elevator to Tower Block A. I can guide you from there.”
“And Kureha?” Sorey mentioned.
“He’s powerless while Harvestasha and the Tower are shutdown. The hellions, however, most likely won’t be affected. There shouldn’t be too many here, but I cannot say the same for outside.”
“Good, I’ve been itching for a fight,” Dezel smirked.
Akane and Finnel, who seemed rather embarrassed about something, led their friends through the Executive District. While the general was correct that there were almost no hellons, she had forgotten to mention that many of the seraphic guards had been included in the Virus attack. It was eerie seeing all the bodies motionless on the ground. When Pendrago underwent the IPD disease crisis, it wasn’t as bad. They had to keep reminding themselves that they were still alive.
The winding paths and elevators made the untrained eye spin, but eventually they came to a large room that was lined wall to wall with glass pods. Within each pod, there was a growing silhouette of light. Edna stared at them.
“You’re gathering mana in these tanks…are you forcefully creating seraphim?” she asked. She pointed her umbrella at Akane. “What kind of sick factory is this? Are you planning on releasing all these seraphim at once?”
“Clustania is different from other places,” Akane explained without any emotion. “Our city is a paradise for seraphim, and we monitor just how many seraphim are living among us. Of the infinite nurturing tanks we have in this facility, only a small portion will open at a time. We don’t overcrowd the city, and we don’t drain the world of its resources. There is no need to Cleanse Clustania.”
“What do you mean by that?” Zaveid interrogated.
“Cleansing means…” Hikari Gojo hesitated. “Cleansing is a nice way to say genocide.”
The atmosphere suddenly sank, the air frigid. Hikari Gojo and Katene wouldn’t look Akane in the eyes, and Saki and Finnel felt guilty. They never participated in Cleansings, yet they felt responsible for the evil that had been hidden in the Third Tower.
“Genocide? How…How can you kill your own people like that?” Alisha asked with horror.
“How are you not corrupted by malevolence?” Sorey asked, his affect somewhat more elevated from such a shocking discovery.
Lailah reminded them that malevolence was not simply the indicator of right and wrong but rather an indicator of belief or lack thereof. Because the seraphim of Clustania believed that genocide was the only way to save the world from exhaustion, they didn’t accrue malevolence. Rose hated that they could get away with wide-scale murder, but it was simply a law of nature to them on the Third Tower.
Still, Sorey couldn’t understand why they thought that was the best solution; it surely wasn’t. “This…What about co-existence? Can’t humans and seraphim live together in harmony?” he asked, more subdued than before.
“As far as this Tower is concerned, humans and seraphim hate each other,” Akane said matter-of-factedly. “This is why we took Lohgrin. Sol Cluster learned about the plight of the seraphim down below, and so we’ve stepped in to help. Then we heard about Sol Marta and Sol Ciel, so we rescued seraphim and kept them safely there.”
“But that only causes more division. Not all humans hate seraphim. Not all of us want to abuse them.”
“We can argue the ethics of Cleansing some other day,” Edna interrupted. She glared at Sorey. “Let’s get going.”
Sorey recoiled, remembering that his dream was the part of the reason he wanted to save Mikleo and be with him forever. Akane agreed to move on, and they boarded the elevator. It slowly climbed up the walls and walls of glass pods incubating seraphim until it stopped at the top of the shaft in front of a pod that had been obliterated. Finnel hid her face in shame.
“Oh my, Finnel did this?” Lailah gasped.
“N-No, I did not do this!” Finnel refuted.
“Actually, it was Soma,” Akane revealed.
“Somehow…Saki isn’t surprised,” Saki sheepishly giggled.
Akane led them from the elevator into the Tower. The iridescent platforms reflected whatever light came from the pillars supporting the inside, and the golden tubes that branched outside were sufficiently polished.
The haunting melody that echoed through the Tower flowed into their ears, and their hearts seemed to slow with calmness listening to it. Sorey’s guilt began to subside until something went wrong with the Song periodically. There was a discordant wave of noise that washed over it. The voice fell silent in the crackling sounds of corruption that tore them out of the solace the Song gave them.
“The voice that you hear…” Akane started before the Song started from the beginning again.
It was Tyria’s voice.
In Zaveid’s arms, Mikleo’s body seemed to respond to the Song’s abrupt end. Sorey requested that he be the one to carry him now.
“We’re close to the Rinkernator,” Akane mentioned. “Due to the shutdown, I cannot be sure of what security protocols are in effect. There is a chance that the guardians here are running amok. We should eliminate them before they eliminate us.”
“I take it hellions will also be around?” Rose asked.
“Most likely.”
They began to the short climb to the Rinkernator. Akane had been right, and guardians from around the Tower mobilized to erase them. They were like walking walls, lumbering with large claymore swords and a single hole at the top that represented an eye. While they were sturdy, only a few blasts from Saki and Finnel were necessary to reduce them to rubble and debris. Saki and Finnel thus were tasked with stopping the giants, and everyone else including the doctor, the general, and the young IPD from Metafalss took care of whatever hellions attacked. They climbed and climbed, fought and fought, until they reach halfway. They heard the screeching sounds of another seraph’s Song. Katene’s face lit up.
“T-That voice! Could it be my darling?!” he happily wondered aloud.
The horrific singing echoed, and before they knew it, a particularly large figure came spiraling down from a higher ledge. The figure somersaulted in the air, recovering their balance and landing before them like a meteor-borne alien.
“Goddamn pipsqueaks!” the figure’s voice reverberated. Mute’s face seemed to implode with anger. “I’ll teach you to get in my way!”
“M-Mute?” Cocona uttered.
“Whaddaya want!?” the incredibly buffed seraph snarled. Then she realized who it was. “What? What are you guys doing here?!”
“What are we doing here?” Finnel bit back. “What are you doing here!? This place is, like, top security!”
“And you were demoted a long time ago,” Akane sternly said.
“Look, we can talk about that later!” Mute irately said. “We’ve got some hellion bastards trying to get to the Rinkernator!”
A few Eyeball hellions came over the ledge along with Black Birds and Wraiths. They seemed to be stronger than usual, as if their proximity to the Rinkernator had give them more power. Mute got up to fight, but Katene ran to her side and held onto her massive arm.
“Darling, wait!” Katene yelled at her. “You’re injured! You can’t fight!”
“Katene!” Mute cried out, her voice becoming cute and squeaky and very unbecoming of her imposing stature.
“We can handle it,” Dezel assured.
“We need to purify them,” Lailah added. “Alisha, Rose, Sorey!”
Sorey, still holding Mikleo, hesitated. He placed his water seraph on the ground then asked Saki to watch over him. Finnel stepped up to fight in his seraph’s place, to which Sorey didn’t argue against. If he wanted to make his dream a reality, he had to keep going even if his heart ached.
Akane and Hikari Gojo provided Saki backup once they realized that the Eyeballs were capable of teleporting. Katene and Mute were stuck in a quarrel of whether or not the latter was fit to fight.
“Let’s sing!” Finnel announced as she began her Song Magic. Three Eyeballs met Alisha and Rose, Lailah and Dezel right behind them. Edna and Zaveid focused on the Black Birds which were weak to their magic. Sorey and Cocona stood before the Wraiths.
The Eyeballs floated around, as if they didn’t know to do. They teleported all around in front of the heroes, which made Saki somewhat nervous. Hikari Gojo pressed a button on the handle of his medical kit, morphing it into some sort of mana-powered cannon. Akane simply held her katana at the ready. One of the Eyeball teleported before Saki and Mikleo and charged up what appeared to be a beam of darkness to shoot them, but Hikari Gojo immediately shot at it with his medical kit.
“It’s about time I’ve gotten some action!” he said with a smirk. “Sorey, don’t worry! We’ll keep Mikleo safe!”
“So Dr. Gojo really is an insane berserker when he wants to be,” Katene smiled as he fixed his glasses.
The Eyeball joined its kin fighting Alisha and Rose just in time for Lailah to summon forth a myriad of meteors to burn them. “Burning Strike!” she called out. She then followed with an explosion of flames. “Blitz Bomb!”
Dezel whipped one of the Eyeballs attacking Rose with his pendulum then fired rainbow-colored stones. “Magius!” he yelled. One of the stones pierced the Eyeball’s eye, blinding it. He counted on Rose to take advantage of it.
The assassin leapt into the air. In half a second, she zipped through it, declaring the name of her attack, “Lightning Crash!” The Eyeball was engulfed in silver fire.
Alisha spun around on the shaft of her spear as she kicked one of the two remaining Eyeballs back. Lailah pirouetted as she flung out waves of silver flames as she chanted:
Ma num ra savath fayra mea
An vaffa sos fedyya mean
Rrha ki ra siss anw gyas!
Another Eyeball had been vanquished. The final Eyeball distanced itself from Alisha and Rose, moving towards Edna and Zaveid as they tried to swat the Black Birds from the starry sky. The earth seraph fired hailstone after hailstone in vain attempts to hit one, and even Zaveid’s winds couldn’t ground them. The Eyeball saw its chance to attack.
“Look out!” Lailah called out.
Edna stomped the ground, and a spike made of rock suddenly shot behind her. The Eyeball was impaled on it and, like the others, disappeared in silver fire. She cast Final Embrace, snatching one of the Black Bird out of the sky. Zaveid caught the other with Geostigma, and the two then did their best to weaken them but hitting them with umbrellas and pendulums.
Alisha and Lailah together purified one while Rose and Dezel dispatched the other. All that was left were the two Wraiths that were slowly making their way toward Mikleo. They seemed to be drawn to the power sleeping within him.
“Don’t walk away from us!” Cocona taunted the hellions. She chased after one. “Cocona Style!” she called out as she spun with her blades on her arms. The Wraith was unfazed. It floated to Mikleo.
Sorey had his hands full with the second one that he managed to grab its attention. “Earth Dragon Fang,” he said as he danced with his sword. His slashes were adorned with the holy light of the earth power inside him, and he stepped with Finnel’s Song Magic. The Wraith caught his arm. “Let go!” The Shepherd felt a creeping dread coming over him; the Wraith was sucking the life from him. He tried to shake loose, but each movement allowed it to latch on more like a leech. “S-Stop…!”
“Okay, this is it!” Finnel said in the middle of her Song. Suddenly the field around them grew hazy, and what looked like a vision from a dream played in everyone’s minds. They all saw Finnel standing at the top of a staircase with a Japanese-style umbrella. Cherry blossom petals danced in the wind, and through the paper doors sliding before their eyes, they saw Finnel running and leaping with a smile on her face. When the doors cleared, Finnel was floating in the sky with the umbrella. As the vision ended, a downpour of golden stars crashed onto the field. The two Wraiths were immediately taken care of, including the one that had a hold on Sorey. Once the fight was over, Finnel ran to the Shepherd. “I-I’m sorry, I wasn’t fast enough!”
“You’re okay…” Sorey panted from fatigue.
Zaveid and Edna knew why Sorey had gotten weaker. They were sure that his issue with Mikleo was impeding him, the malevolence in him stunting his growth. Zaveid helped him up while Lailah healed him.
“Akane, how far do we have left?” he asked the general.
“Only a few more paces,” she said. She turned to Mute. “Mute, if you ever do something like that again, you won’t just be demoted. You’ll be fired.”
“I…” Mute stammered. Her musculature disappeared in a puff of smoke, and her tiny real form trembled before her superior. “I was just trying to find Katene…that jerk Raphael…”
“Just stay out of the way.”
Katene gritted his teeth. “You can’t talk to her like that!” he threw back at Akane. “She pretty much risked her life!”
“And no one asked her to do that. A foolish decision by a foolish subordinate. Now, Shepherd, shall we continue?”
A chilling silence fell over the group after that. Sorey agreed with Katene that it was wrong to speak to Mute like she was scum. He was going to fight for her, but he felt so exhausted. He hadn’t completely recovered from the Wraith’s attack. At the very least, Mikleo hadn’t been hurt; however, he wasn’t the one to protect him. He looked away from his water seraph resting on Saki’s lap.
“Shepherd Sorey, are you coming?” Akane asked.
“Y-Yes…” he responded.
Unlike Eolia, the Rinkernator was not the highest point of the Tower, but it was the highest chamber. As it was then, it was like a closed flower shielded from the outside world. The starry sky could be seen through the steel petals around the pistil-like structure that acted like an antenna for the mana and symphonic power that circulated through Tilia. Even though Sorey was far deeper in his worries and guilt than before, he still found it in himself to be amazed that the Third Tower was a sight to behold.
Notes:
Sorey will be meeting Tyria, but will she be able to help him with Mikleo?
Chapter 155: Phase 6: Tyria, the Goddess of the Third Tower
Summary:
Sorey and company have arrived at Tyria's Rinkernator, but they must undergo a procedure before they can meet her. But when they meet her...
Notes:
We're slowly getting closer to fixing Mikleo! The semester is over and while I'm still reeling from the past few weeks....months...but I'm glad to get back to this fic with a presence of mind!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Saki stared up at the structure. “This is the Rinkernator?” she asked.
“Yes,” Akane confirmed. “This is the Rinkernator, the Sanctuary of Clustania.”
“Sanctuary? Do seraphim take refuge here?” Hikari Gojo asked.
“No, this place is called the sanctuary because it is the most important part of the Tower. Not only does is regulate the flow of what fuels our Song Magic, but it is also where Tyria exists. She has long since lost her corporeal form, but her consciousness dwells within it.”
Cocona took a step forward. “So you’re saying that Tyria essentially passed away.”
“In a sense, you could say that. It is not a true death, for if she were to die, the Tower would collapse.”
Lailah and Zaveid also stared at the structure. It was the same with the other Towers. When Shurelia suspended all activity, Eolia ceased activity and rendered the seraphim powerless. Frelia’s body was tied to the wellbeing of her Tower.
“Is there no way to talk to her?” Sorey asked. “Did we come all this way just to stare at a pillar?” He bit his lip then apologized for his harshness. “We were supposed to help…”
Katene didn’t hesitate to walk up to the side of the Rinkernator. Mute was afraid that Akane would slaughter him for touching it, and while the general was about to scold him, he began to mumble some sort of gibberish that he repeated after Edna ordered him to speak up.
“My father’s research talked about this place,” he said yet still in a dream. “All of the connectors and switch are as his records state, and with just a toggle of this switch—yes, yes, yes! It’s entirely and wholly possible!”
“What the hell are you blabbering about, human?” Edna barked.
“Shepherd Sorey, have no fear!” Katene happily said. “Even if Tyria no longer has a physical form, we can still awaken her. We can call her to produce an image—a hologram. And if I just follow the formulas he left behind, I can even help her create a form she can use outside of the Rinkernator.”
Sorey’s heart lifted slightly. If Tyria could truly walk and talk with them, she could save them all. Katene requested some time to himself as he made sure that everything was in order with the Rinkernator. Sorey went to Saki, asking for his water seraph’s body. The girl carefully handed him over.
“Thank you for protecting him,” he graciously said.
“Of course, Saki is happy to help,” Saki smiled. “You should thank Filly and Akane as well. Oh, and the doctor!”
She turned to see him working with Katene since he was the only other scientific mind among them that could understand the complexity of the technology that made up the Third Tower.
Finnel decided she wanted to talk with Edna and Cocona, and as she did, Akane watched her. Sorey, with Mikleo in his arms, approached her. He thanked her for standing guard, but her face didn’t show any signs of pleasure or aggravation. As usual, she was emotionless.
Zaveid had to wonder why Akane was like that. Once Sorey went off to sit with Mikleo and rest, he snuck up to her. He greeted her with a big smile, though she was confused.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I have never seen a person become so depressed over another, especially a seraph.
“What, you don’t know what love is?” Zaveid joked.
“Actually, I don’t,” she said bluntly. That surely threw the wind seraph off. “When I was born, I was devoid of emotion. I cannot feel happiness or sadness. I have managed to copy what emotions look like and use them appropriately, but I don’t feel anything.”
“What about your Song Magic?”
“Emotionless singing has been determined to be far stronger than using emotion. As a military leader, emotions are burdens. As such, I never developed them.”
“That sounds really sad. But then, what about Finnel?”
Akane put a finger to her lips, a stern look on her brow. “Finnel is my friend. I care for her dearly, yet even in reference to her, I feel nothing.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“That is why I don’t understand why Sorey’s love is so intense. It clearly hampers his ability to fight.”
“But it’s also his reason to fight,” Zaveid said almost dreamily. “He’s a goofy kid, but he’s smart. He and Mik were raised together, and it only became natural that they fell in love with each other. The thing that solidifies their love is a shared dream that humans and seraphim can live together in harmony and even be with each other in love. Hell, they’re not the only ones in this little group of misfits.”
“What do you mean?” Akane asked with pure interest.
“Rose and Dezel, Alisha and Lailah, even some others that we’ve helped—the discrimination on each Tower has rocked them all to the core, but I think that’s why Sorey is trying the hardest to make sure he’s safe.”
“Hmph, humans are strange.”
“Yup, they are. But that’s what makes them so interesting.”
Akane left Zaveid’s side to talk to Sorey. He was forlorn still. He held Mikleo’s head close to his chest with the hopes that maybe his heartbeat would stir him from the coma. He rested his cheek on his head, closing his eyes for just a moment to relish the feeling of having him next to him after days and months of separation.
“Shepherd Sorey?” Akane said. Sorey looked up at her. “Why?” He didn’t understand. “Why are you trying so hard to bring him back? Aside from having a Will of the Planet inside of him, what drives you to save him?”
“It’s the same reason why you want to save Finnel,” Sorey softly smiled.
“I’m finished!” Katene announced from where he was working. He called everyone around the base of the structure in the center of the Rinkernator. Through his work, he described, he created a quick Song that would create a body for Tyria within the structure. “It’ll take a few minutes, but the body is based on all the research I have. It’s practically fool-proof!”
Akane volunteered to sing the Song. “I want to repent for all that I’ve done,” she explained. “What I’ve done to Finnel, what I’ve done to Sorey, and unwittingly aiding in what happened to Mikleo.”
“Well, that’s actually perfect!” Katene cheerily said. “I was hoping you would sing the Song because your lack of emotion—yes, I was listening and we also took care of all the seraphim in Lohgrin—the Song should work at maximum efficiency.”
“Aki!” Finnel objected.
“It will be alright, Finnel,” Akane assured her. “It’s my turn to help, and it’s been a terribly long time since I’ve last sung a Song.” She turned to Katene. “I am ready to start.”
“Okay!” Katene said before giving her the Hymn Crystal to absorb the Song. “This Song will open the walls of the Rinkernator, halting the flow of symphonic power and redirecting it to the center. That symphonic power will be what creates the physical body. Pretty simple, isn’t it?”
“No, not at all,” Rose told him while holding her head.
Akane began to sing the Song. As she had explained to Zaveid, her singing had no emotion to it, at least so she thought. But her voice seemed far more regal than she let on. It was powerful as well, as if it could change the appearance of land masses like the Lord of Calamity himself.
The walls of the Rinkernator began to blossom like a flower, slowly but surely revealing the starry sky above the clouds that consistently covered the wetlands below. Everyone was amazed that Katene’s work and hypothesis were proving to be supported. Then something shrieked. It blared like an alarm but screeched like a whale. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha craned their necks and peered up at a large object flying towards them. At first, they thought it was a meteor, but no light came from it. It drew closer and closer until they recognized it to be a mechanical dragon. It landed after squeezing itself through the plates of the walls, bellowing in garbled nonsense as if declaring it would annihilate them.
“W-What is that?!” Finnel panicked.
“Is this the Tower’s guardian?” Hikari Gojo hypothesized.
“Whatever it is, we’ve got to stop it before Akane finishes the Song!” Zaveid declared.
Finnel and Saki began their Song Magic while Cocona and Hikari Gojo stood as the last line of defense. Akane hadn’t even noticed because she was entranced by the Song’s pre-existing emotions.
Alisha and Rose didn’t waste time trying to fight the guardian. The sheer tallness and girth told them that it was most likely as strong as a real dragon. They Armatized with Lailah and Dezel, leaving Sorey the only one who was planning on fighting it without supplementing his strength.
“Sorey, you should at least take advantage of Edna’s defense,” Zaveid suggested.
“I just want to get this over with so I can talk to Tyria,” Sorey said. His voice was irritated, but they understood why. He set Mikleo down near Katene then asked Mute to protect him. When he was sure that he would be safe, he joined the fray.
Rose was the first to attack the guardian named MYU. She slashed at it with Dezel’s winds, and while they didn’t appear to leave any marks, she was sure they were causing damage. MYU, however, wasn’t fazed. It quickly launched a barrage of missiles at Rose, shooting her out of the air. Alisha took that chance while it reset to immobilize it by setting it on fire. Lailah’s raging flames, like Dezel’s winds, didn’t appear to hurt it. Instead, MYU simply attempted to step on her.
Hikari Gojo couldn’t stand back. He ran up to MYU with his medical kit already transformed. He shot it as many times as he could until the guardian began to make its way to Cocona and the singing seraphim.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Zaveid denied. He dashed over to the three girls. He quickly whipped the guardian with his pendulums. “Outlaw Barrage!” he called out.
While he tried to keep it from attacking the three girls, Dezel de-Armatized from Rose. She had sustained heavy damage, which prompted him to heal her as best and as fast as he could. He tried to wake her up because he knew that if even one of them was incapacitated, they would be in trouble.
Edna trapped it momentarily with Air Pressure, giving Sorey a chance to run up and use his Mystic Arte Bolt Tempest. As soon as he landed, both Hikari Gojo and Cocona unleashed their strongest attacks. Cocona unified her blades to create her board, tearing through MYU with reckless abandon while Hikari Gojo’s medical kit transformed into a bigger canon that fired multiple lasers at it.
Saki and Finnel still weren’t ready to use their Song Magic, so Edna used her Mystic Arte Terra Mine. The guardian was on its last legs for sure. Rose was still reeling from the damage, and as Lailah and Aliha together healed her with Dezel, both Song Magic spells were ready to use. Finnel’s stars rained down on the guardian, and Saki’s vision came into effect. It was a picture book of her walking through all of her favorite stories, and when she flew away on a unicorn Pegasus, slices of cake fell on MYU followed by a whole cake, which crushed the guardian just before Akane had finished the Song.
“Good work, everyone!” Katene congratulated. “The Rinkernator is finally released, and the Song is over. Now, we shall see the fruits of our labor!”
He went around behind the structure to a glass pod. Inside, there was the silhouette of a small girl about as tall as Edna. Everyone’s eyes watched with anticipation, the lid of the pod flipping open. At first, a lavender-colored hand reached out and gripped the side of the pod. Then a girl with a precocious face sat up. She slowly stepped out of the pod and into the open before Sorey and his friends. Lady Tyria had been revived in her physical form.
Saki and Finnel fell to their knees before her. Katene whooped and hollered for a mission complete. Sorey’s dulled emerald eyes lit up with hope.
“I can’t believe it,” Akane said with awe. “Lady Tyria is…really here…!”
Tyria stared uninterestedly at them. “Fried bread…” she sighed. Everyone was quiet. “Oh, this isn’t an eatery of any sort…Oh, yeah…now I remember…I was once the Tower…now I’m human again…how strange…”
“Is this really the Origin of the Third Tower?” Edna scoffed.
“Is she…really a goddess?” Rose asked.
Suddenly, Saki’s body was taken over by Filament, who rushed up to Tyria. She took up her hands, and with desperation she begged her to save them. Tyria watched her, guessing she was a Will of the Planet. Filament vehemently told her she was a Will. She told her how Maotelus was suffering and how his corruption was affecting Ciela. Tyria listened to her, her face unchanging.
“If we don’t do something…Maotelus…Maotelus will…we will…!” Filament sobbed.
Tyria patted her head like the cat she appeared to be. “Now, now, before we can start on saving Maotelus, we must first save you. Your vessels are damaged, right?” she gently said.
“L-Lady Tyria,” Akane spoke. “Please, if you can, please extend Finnel’s life.”
“And Saki’s as well,” Filament pleaded.
“That’s simple enough. Come with me.”
Sorey held onto Mikleo. He wanted to ask her to help him at the same time, but he wasn’t sure what she planned to do. Tyria lay Filament and Finnel into two other pods, and after a few minutes of napping, they woke up again. Nothing had changed on the outside, but Filament confirmed that she felt less tired and much better overall.
“I can’t believe I got to see it here firsthand!” Katene gawked. “Tyria truly is the most amazing of the Origins! She’s destined to help save the world!”
“Calm down there, Tiny,” Zaveid requested. “Sorey?”
Sorey gulped then approached with Mikleo in his arms. “Lady Tyria, may I ask you a favor?” he timidly asked.
“It seems like everyone has a problem today,” she said. She stared at Mikleo’s body. “I see. His situation is different, isn’t it?” She carefully took Mikleo from the Shepherd. “Unlike the two vessels for the Wills, whose hearts had been fractured and bodies weathered to death, this one neither has a heart nor a broken body. I can, however, sense something foreign inside of him. Another Will?”
“Can you help him?” Sorey asked her. “Please, just…just anything that will help him!”
Tyria scrutinized Mikleo. She frowned. “I cannot do much to help him. I can pull him out of his coma, but I can’t guarantee much of anything else.” She took the water seraph to her pod, set him in, and closed it.
Sorey watched the pod light up with a fluorescent blue light inside. Tyria seemed like she knew what she was doing. Everyone else figured that there wasn’t much else to do. Akane gave her farewell, citing that she had a duty to protect Clustania. She thanked Sorey and Tyria for helping Finnel before leaving. Mute reluctantly parted with Katene to fulfill her duties. She bowed to Sorey, her tiny body shrinking even more, then left as well.
Mikleo still slept within the pod. His heart beat irregularly, two souls trying to control it. “This…This isn’t what I want, either! No, this isn’t fair!” Suzunomia fought. “I didn’t want to render him helpless! I just wanted a physical body! I refuse to give up this body!” Without his cosmosphere to supplement his own feelings, Suzunomia easily overpowered him.
Sorey paced around the Rinkernator. His seraphim tried to talk to him, but he was oblivious to their voices. Alisha and Lailah speculated to themselves what he had to be thinking, and Dezel simply told Rose not to get involved.
“But…he tried to help us!” she countered.
“This isn’t something we can help with,” he calmly told her.
Saki and Finnel tried to talk to him only to be turned back to Hikari Gojo. Finally, Tyria thought it was best for her to talk to him. She observed him like he was an animal in a tiny cage. She noted that such stereotypies were characteristic of anxious and mentally taxed organisms. She walked up to him, and though she was shorter than him, she still reached up and patted his head.
“Shush, shush little kitty,” she cooed.
“Huh?” Sorey uttered in confusion.
“I have never seen a human behave so much like an animal. Why are you pacing like this?”
Sorey thought before he spoke. The Third Origin looked so blasé that he wondered if it really mattered what he told her. But would it not have been smart to tell her the truth? He wanted to be with Mikleo, but the way he was now, he was infinitely too far from him. He expressed how much he wanted to hear him speak his name and laugh with him. When he hugged him, he wanted his arms around him, too. Above all, he wanted him back to normal so they could dream together.
“I see, so you’re lovesick,” Tyria smiled at him. “Don’t worry. The procedure should be done in about a minute. The oven will ding, and then the cake will be nice and warm and moist.”
“W-What?”
“Ding!”
Tyria made her way to the pod. She carefully opened it to reveal Mikleo. He looked no different than before. Sorey clutched his chest until the seraph stirred. He opened his eyes, and at first Sorey was so happy. But then he saw them. They were green like seaglass, dull and vacant. He had come out of the coma, but he still wasn’t completely restored.
“Mikleo…?” Sorey gently said.
“So…rey…?” Mikleo responded.
The Shepherd helped him out of the pod. Once he was standing before him, he embraced him tightly. Perhaps he was only still waking up. It had to be temporary, it just had to be.
“Everyone can be happy now,” Tyria decided. “Good work, everyone.”
“Wait, what about Filament’s wish?” Alisha asked her.
“Huh? Oh, that…I wasn’t listening…” Tyria said. “Now, Tyria has business to attend to. Ta-ta and enjoy your stay at the hotel!”
Lailah reflexively reached out for her, but the Administrator had already left the Rinkernator. Edna and Cocona scoffed—how could she be the Administrator when she was so flippant and oblivious? Still, they had gotten what they wanted immediately. Saki and Finnel’s status had been restored and were no longer in danger of dying. Mikleo…was on his own feet.
“Sorey, are you good?” Zaveid asked a little more casual than he intended. The Shepherd turned to him with a smile, but there were clearly tears in his eyes. Was he happy? Or was he sad? “Tyria worked her magic, so may he just needs some time.”
“I know,” Sorey said. “I don’t really know how to feel. I…I haven’t felt relieved in a while…”
“Oh, maybe you’re hungry!” Finnel offered. “There’s a place I used to work in Eternus Shaft! We can go eat there!”
Sorey giggled somewhat, yet Edna noticed he wouldn’t let go of Mikleo’s hand. His hand was trembling even.
“Well, mission accomplished!” Katene chimed. “Why don’t we—”
A number of explosions thundered through out the Tower. Tremors brought them to the floor of the Rinkernator, and when the shaking stopped, a much direr situation came to light.
“Isn’t the security around Clustania still down?” Edna realized.
“Archia must be attacking!” Dezel added.
“Dammit, we’re going to have to wait for food a little while longer, huh?” Rose complained.
“Looks like it,” Sorey said, the pep back in his voice. “That means Akane and Mute might be in trouble. We need to help them!”
Cocona looked up to the sky where there were a few air fleets. She recognized them as part of Gengai’s forces. She had hoped that the reverend didn’t get more involved, but she wasn’t surprised. In the short time that she had been with him, he was adamant about fighting against Clustania. Now he had Archia on his side, a city-state far more powerful than that of Great Fang where Saki had asked to go first. She didn’t wait for Sorey; she began her descent from the Rinkernator as soon as she could and kept going as fast as her legs could carry her.
Notes:
I love Tyria so much and I hope she and Sorey can be friends. :3 Akane's Hymmnos in this chapter is EXEC_METEMPSYCHOSIS/. so be sure to check it out!
Chapter 156: Phase 6: Under Archia's Fire
Summary:
After leaving the Rinkernator where Tyria healed Saki and Finnel and attempted to restore Mikleo, Richa and her superior intercept Sorey and his friends. The ultimate plan and the reveal of the Antibody Brain are here.
Notes:
So in Ar Tonelico Qoga, this is where shit hits the fan, and I think in proof-reading, it definitely feels chaotic. Poor Mikleo...still not himself...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Richa stood at the entrance to Tower Block A with five fleets hovering in the starry sky behind her. She was uneasy, but she had no choice but to stand with the enemy forces. Hikari Gojo had betrayed her and left her behind when Finnel shut down the Tower before the Virus was let loose by Krusche. She repeated her orders to herself—capture Saki even if it means she had to kill the Shepherd. Of course, she didn’t want to hurt either one of them, but Raphael was very persuasive.
Cocona was the first to meet with her, drawing her blades as soon as she saw her. The tiny IPD wasn’t scared of her but of the Archian ships. One by one, her friends stopped behind her, Sorey pushing his way to the front after letting go of Mikleo’s hand. Saki and Finnel flanked him.
Richa flinched for a second then hardened her face. “This is your final warning, Sorey,” she threatened. “Hand over Saki, and I won’t hurt you.”
Sorey drew his sword though he, like Richa, had no intention of fighting. Hikari Gojo stepped up this time. His soothing voice pleaded her:
“Richa, please. If you’re truly my friend, you’ll let us go. Surely, you understand why we cannot give you Saki, so please stand aside.”
Richa’s face softened and reddened as she was on the brink of tears. She still stood her ground. “I can’t disobey my orders, Doctor. No matter how much I love you, my duties to Archia are my priority.” She bit her lip then flitted out a folding fan to hide her distress. “It’s absolutely imperative that we have Saki with us!” She hesitated again. “If you don’t hand her over…”
“I’m sorry, Richa,” Sorey said. “We can’t just give her to you.”
“Your refusal shall be interpreted as a declaration of war. Archia and Great Fang will unleash hell upon the Glenwood Continent!”
“Are you really threatening us?” Alisha questioned her.
“Richa, you must understand!” Lailah said. “As the Shepherd, Sorey has things that he needs to do. We seraphim are here to assist him, and his Squires are to help him carry the ever-growing burden. Saki has decided to help us as well. Surely, you can find it in your heart to let us go.”
The fleets drew nearer.
“She’s not going to call them off,” Edna scowled.
“Of course, she won’t,” a sultry voice confirmed. A tall and slender man with shoulder-length silver hair and a white general uniform joined her. He stood in front of them, his hands tucked behind his back like he was a ruler looking down on peasants.
“Are you—” Sorey started, lowering his sword in surprise.
“Raphael!” Hikari Gojo snarled at him.
“Good to see you again, Doctor,” Raphael greeted warmly. The man smirked at the lot of them. “We need Saki. We’ve finally captured the Antibody Brain, and we need her help. So just give her to us.”
“Antibody Brain?” Dezel repeated.
“Like hell we’re going to!” Rose snapped back.
Raphael pushed back his hair. He was exasperated with them, but he understood their ignorance. They were from a completely different world than the Third Tower. Before meeting any of the seraphim from Tilia, they had never known anything that was a part of daily life to them. He kindly explained to them what the Antibody Brain was. The being that created and controlled Antibodies was just that, but it also had a name—Ar Ru. According to Raphael, Saki’s purpose was to fight against Ar Ru and save the world, erasing the need for the Shepherd. “The Lord of Calamity,” he told them. “That’s just a by-product of the Antibodies! Haven’t you wondered why it always comes back? Why are there so many abandoned or destroyed civilizations? The Antibodies are a threat to human life! Don’t you get it? Clustania was going to harness Ar Ru’s power to kill every single human on this godforsaken planet! Saki is our only hope—not the Shepherd! She is the one and only perfect Anti-Antibody Weapon!”
Finnel perked up at the mention of the name. She didn’t understand—Kureha had been after this “Ar Ru”, yet Raphael now captured it? She was about to warn Sorey that he might be lying, but suddenly a light swallowed Saki, and the blonde girl in knight’s armor appeared once again.
“Don’t be absurd!” Hikari Gojo battled. “Using the seraphim as weapons—do you even recognize how insane you sound? Psychotic even!”
“But it’s true,” Sakia Lumei said. Before Sorey could even turn around, before anyone could react, she knocked him to the ground then held him down with the point of her sword. “Seraphim are weapons borne from the world’s energy. It only makes sense to fight fire with fire.”
“Sorey!” Finnel yelped.
“Saki, Finnel, and all of your seraphic friends are the planet’s way of trying to stop the infection. Humans are like bacteria; they constantly reproduce only to deplete more and more resources.” She stepped on Sorey’s Shepherd’s glove. “The Shepherd, though, is a virus to the world and should be stamped out with the rest. Sir Raphael, we should leave now. Time is of the essence.”
Sakia Lumei began to walk towards Raphael. Everyone felt that they had to do something to stop this mysterious woman from kidnapping their friend, but the presence of the fleets had pressured them into standing still. Cocona never took her eyes off them. She knew that if even one of them attacked, there were only two possible outcomes. Either they would all be gravely wounded by their forces, or she or Zaveid would have to use their Song Magic. Lailah and Edna could use their power, but deriving their strength from Eolia proved to be more of debilitation than an advantage, and Finnel couldn’t fight back with the Rinkernator still open. Rose and Alisha had their hands tied. Hikari Gojo was afraid to put Richa in danger.
Sorey quickly grabbed Sakia Lumei by her ankle.
“What the…?” the knight gasped. “Let go of me, swine!” She turned and stomp on his wrist repeatedly.
“This…isn’t your body…!” Sorey reminded her. He held on tightly. He forced himself to endure the pain of her crushing his hand. “Saki’s wishes and your wishes…Saki doesn’t want this. If I just hang on, you’ll have to go back inside at some point!”
“What is your problem?” Sakia Lumei questioned him
Raphael clenched his teeth then ordered Richa to kill him. The pink-clad Archian general seemed frightened. She, a seraph, couldn’t just kill a human; she especially couldn’t do it for another human’s greed. Not moving, she just stared at him.
“Richa, kill him! That’s an order!” the silver-haired man barked.
“Y-Yes, sir…” Richa finally complied.
Suddenly, Mikleo lurched forward. His mouth seemed to form the incantation required to use Freeze Lancer. Large icicles developed out of freezing the droplets in the air. The aventurine eyes focused on Richa.
“Mikleo, stop!” Lailah called out to him.
Like a puppet on strings, Mikleo dispelled his icicles. He crumbled to the floor.
“Ugh, we don’t have time for this!” Finnel complained.
“Then just let me go to Archia,” Sakia Lumei demanded before a bright light forced her to disappear. Saki returned, dumbfounded and disoriented about what had happened in those few minutes.
“I agree,” Edna said. “It’s time we took our leave.” The earth seraph called on the stone and metal that had been used to create the Third Tower. Pillars and spikes rose, obscuring them from Raphael and Richa’s view. The Archian and Great Fang fleets couldn’t spot them as Lailah started a conflagration that would temporarily blind the assailants. “The humans here are even worse than the ones in Hyland,” Edna muttered as they escaped.
Further down Tower Block A and returning to the giant elevator that had brought them up so high, Sorey and his company regrouped for a breather. Mikleo was still unconscious, but during the distraction, Sorey made sure to carry him on his back.
“Man, things are just getting worse the longer we stay on this Tower,” Zaveid groaned. “Whatever happened to nice long naps and cold beer? I can’t deal with this anymore.”
“Get used to it,” Dezel said. “Clearly, this Tower has its own share of sociopolitical and geological crises. But don’t you think it’s strange how one person is trying to sabotage our efforts?”
Saki felt all eyes fall on her. “Saki doesn’t really understand what’s happening. Saki doesn’t want to go back to Archia,” she said.
“First, we have to do something about those guys,” Cocona said. She had spent a lot of time with Saki in Lohgrin, and she was confident that, as Sorey had said, Saki and Sakia Lumei had two different goals. The common denominator—Archia was in the way.
“I’m worried about Aki,” Finnel confessed. “What if she was attacked right after she left the Rinkernator? What if Raphael did something to her?!”
“We mustn’t panic,” Alisha tried to calm her.
“Alisha is right,” Hikari Gojo agreed. “Let’s head back to Clustania. If we can find her there, then we know she’s at least safe.”
“I want to do that same for Mute,” Katene spoke up. “Raphael and her daddy used to work together. I wouldn’t put it past him if he arrested her or hurt her while trying to get all the way up here. Besides, up until now, Clustania had been shut down. The Rinkernator is inactive, which means all the seraphim in the city are awake again since the Virus is effectively paralyzed.”
“It can do that?” Rose asked.
“The Rinkernator—or lack of it—can do a lot of things.”
“Then let’s hurry,” Sorey decided. “The longer we wait, the worse things get. And…that business about the Antibody Brain is bothering me. Just what are Antibodies?”
“We can go into the finer details later,” Edna said.
“We also need to get Mikleo somewhere to rest,” Lailah suggested. She was unnerved how the water seraph, devoid of consciousness, still yet had autonomous movement. “I’m sure…he’s tired…somehow.”
Sorey paused then nodded. He looked back at Mikleo over his shoulder, the water seraph sleeping soundly behind him. They had to help the Third Tower or at least quell the malevolence that drove Raphael then fix him.
They boarded the elevator, riding it down to the Executive District where there were a couple of seraphim on patrol. They seemed haggard, as if they had been running laps around the entirety of the Tower. It wasn’t too far off from the situation at hand, and something in Finnel told her to be prepared for bad news.
“It’s Finnel,” one of them noted when the elevator came to a stop.
“Uh…hi, guys…!” Finnel nervously greeted.
“Don’t ‘hi, guys’ us!” the other seraph scolded. “Where’s General Akane?!”
“She’s not with you?”
“We can’t find her anywhere!”
Finnel bit her fingers. “We have to find her!” she told her friends. She turned back to the seraphim to ask where they had checked. They cleared all of Clustania and the slave district, but they didn’t find a single hair from her. They were beginning their search through the Executive District.
“There’s a high chance she probably went back to the Harvestasha Module,” Rose figured. “I’d go back there to tell that Harvestasha bitch to go to hell.”
“Let’s start the search there,” Dezel agreed.
Finnel led them back to the module as fast as she could. She couldn’t wait for everyone to match her speed or prepare themselves for a fight. She was terrified that Akane was hurt or worse. She was the first to enter followed by Cocona and Sorey. Much to their surprise, no one was in the module. Harvestasha had disappeared a while ago.
The clumsy seraph panicked—where was Akane? She called her name only for it to echo back to her. Hikari Gojo doubted that she was there. After all, how would a commander of the Clustanian Army get lost in her own city?
“Sorey!” Dezel suddenly yelled out.
The wind seraph threw his pendulum at him just as a purple blur fell behind him. The adversary blocked the tiny piece of metal with one katana, but he had more than enough to attack the Shepherd. He spun gracefully with his sword ready to dip in his blood, and had his friend not alert him, he surely would have lost his head.
“Kureha, what are you doing here?” Sorey interrogated him after drawing his blade and locking the enemy.
“I wish to repay you for ruining the Archia Purificiation Project,” Kureha graciously said. “If it weren’t for you, the enemy would be destroyed, and the Third Tower could commandeer the restoration of the world. But you got in the way. You let them flood into the holy city of Clustania.” He leapt back into the center of the Harvestasha Module. “But if anything, I’m flexible. It just means that I get to use our last resort.”
“Last resort?”
“What do you mean by that?” Cocona asked him.
Kureha simply smiled at her. With one finger, he pointed at Mikleo on Sorey’s back. “That boy will become one with the Sublime Will,” he drawled. “The role that Finnel was supposed to play. He proved to be a far better vessel, and with the Shepherd so closely attached to him—it would be easy to grant Symonne’s wish as well.”
“What are you talking about?” Finnel quivered.
“He and the Goddess of Songs inside him will become one with the Antibody Brain.”
Lailah felt sick. Alisha swung her spear up ready to charge. “Raphael said he captured the Antibody Brain, so one of you must be lying,” she concluded.
“Yes, allow me to reveal who the liar is.”
Kureha pulled out a red stone that looked like the Heart of Gaea—it was the Heart of Gaea. Cocona patted all over her body in confusion. She tried to remember when he had managed to steal it from her, and then she realized that it was when he attacked her as she summoned it. He held it over his head like a trophy.
“After all the trouble we went through, it really all ended up working out,” Kureha cackled. “You got us the Heart of Gaea, we gave Suzunomia a vessel, and we’ve removed the Clustania general from power! It really couldn’t get much better…well, it can.”
“What did you do to Akane?!” Sorey snarled at him.
“Sold her to Archia, of course. Right about now, they should be interrogating her or torturing her. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“How can you be so cruel?!” Finnel sobbed. “How could you do that to her?!”
“The same way I’ve essentially turned that water seraph into a puppet. Now, it’s time to welcome the Antibody Brain, Ar Ru!” Kureha said with such jubilation. He held the Heart of Gaea out in Sorey and Mikleo’s direction. “Rrha ki ra tie yor, ini en nha.”
At once, Mikleo’s entire being seized. His eyes shot open, his voice stifled in his own throat. “H-He…lp…” he choked. He pushed himself off Sorey’s back, stepping backwards while clutching at his chest and throat. “He…lp…me…!”
“Mikleo, hang on!” Sorey said. He rushed towards him, but it was too late. The pitiful look in the aventurine eyes begged him to hold him before being engulfed in light.
Mikleo transformed into the girl from before, this time she was terrified. “This isn’t what I wanted! But…I don’t want to hurt Sorey…!” she cried. In a panic, she ran away from the Harvestasha Module.
Sorey gave chase. A few of them stayed behind to bar Kureha from going after them. Cocona and Rose stood in front of him.
“Would you kindly get the fuck out of the way?” Kureha snapped.
“We were so close to getting a break!” Rose blamed him. “Like hell we’re going to move out of the way!” She drew her daggers. “Dezel, back me up.”
“Humans are so annoying, but the seraphim that are helping them are worse. I said, get out of my way!”
Cocona lifted her hands over her head. “The seraphim helping the humans are the ones who truly want the world to heal!” she told him. “If you think you’re doing us a favor, you’re so boo!”
“The Rinkernator is still open. Your Song Magic is useless.”
“You sure about that?” Dezel bluffed.
Kureha glowered at him, as he wanted. Cocona launched a beam of fire at him. “What the hell? Where are you drawing your power from?!”
“Wouldn’t you like to know!” Cocona taunted.
---------------------------------
“Mikleo, come back!” Sorey called after Suzunomia.
He chased her to the bottom of the Executive District and through the city of Clustania until they headed into the Slave District. Humans had been gathering to escape there, so when they ran through, many of them were afraid that Clustanian troops were behind them. But they didn’t care. They kept going further and further down the Tower until they came to a place called the Lymph Vessel.
“S-Sorey, wait!” Saki called after him.
The Shepherd didn’t hear her, unfortunately. As she and those that followed him tried to keep up with them, she felt something hit her leg. She collapsed.
“Saki!” Zaveid said. Alisha and the wind seraph stopped to help her up only to find that Raphael and his soldiers had caught onto their scent. “We really can’t catch a break, can we?”
Alisha, Lailah, and Hikari Gojo stood in front of Saki. “Raphael, when will you give up?” the doctor asked him almost sincerely.
“Never!” Raphael spat back. We have been waiting for this day. Hand over Saki, or we will use deadly force!”
Katene stood between his colleague and Raphael. Finnel, aware that Sorey and Mikleo were in trouble, wanted to go after them but couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Saki behind. Edna and Zaveid worried that they were too far from Sorey and that their pacts would break if they didn’t keep up with them. At this standstill, no one was going to budge.
Saki looked at each person standing with her. She knew that they were all worried about Mikleo, and she didn’t want to abandon him or Sorey. She cherished everyone, praying for their happiness whenever she got the chance even when she was in Lohgrin. Now that they were running of time and things were already dire, she wanted to help them.
She walked past Lailah and Hikari Gojo and Alisha. She ignored Finnel when she asked her what she was doing. Katene looked away from her. She stood in front of Raphael, the look of indomitable determination permanent on her face.
“Fine, Saki will go with you,” she said. “Saki will help you and be the Vaccine.”
“Saki, wait!” Lailah cried out. “Don’t do this! If you become a Vaccine…!”
“Everything will be okay. I will keep praying. I will keep singing—for everyone’s sake.”
Edna tugged on one of the belts hanging from Zaveid’s wrist. The two seraphim couldn’t afford to waste any more time. They ran after Sorey and Mikleo.
Notes:
What is Saki planning to do?! Can Mikleo be saved?!
Chapter 157: Phase 6: Culmination of Duty
Summary:
Mikleo's body has been completely hijacked. Saki surrounds herself. Zaveid has some demons to deal with.
Notes:
Merging the stories of Finnel when she's taken over by Suzunomia and Mikleo was a little difficult, but I think it worked out. I don't give Sorey a break, do I...?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Suzunomia came to the edge of one of the platforms heading into the Lymph Vessel. Upon seeing Sorey closing in on her, she glanced at the edge. Something was strange. It was as if she wasn’t in control. Crushed by the anguish that she had been suffering and the guilt she had of bringing the end of the world, she inched towards the ledge.
“Mikleo, stop!” Sorey pleaded. He didn’t get any closer to her, for he had seen the ledge as well. He understood what Suzunomia was going to do, and he wanted to stop her. “Just come back over here. We can sort this all out. I can talk to Lady Tyria again.”
“I can’t,” Suzunomia said. “I have caused so much suffering. I have hurt you in so many ways; I don’t want to hurt anyone else. I don’t want to be the Antibody Brain.”
Sorey recognized now that Mikleo’s feelings were still being expressed. He slowly stepped to the girl. She was still preserving Mikleo. Mikleo still existed.
“I…I can’t!” Suzunomia wailed. She threw herself over the edge.
“Mikleo!” Sorey screamed. He raced to the ledge, the silhouette of his love quickly vanishing into the clouds below. “Fylk Zahdeya!” But he didn’t Armatize. Zaveid wasn’t with him. “No, no, no! I have to do something!”
But what could he do? If he jumped off the Tower, he would surely die!
Suzunomia continued to fall, her eyes widening as she realized that she was hurtling to her demise. Suddenly, something snatched her out of the sky, upward, and back onto the ledge next to Sorey.
“Damn, Mik!” Zaveid sighed. “I know all this is rough, but you’re really going to kill yourself?!”
“Mik?” Suzunomia repeated. “Out of my way!” she ordered. “This One has business to attend to.” Suddenly, she shoved them aside. When she arrived, Edna tried to freeze her in place, but she slipped away into the Lymph Vessel.
“Why is Mikleo doing this now?” Sorey asked himself.
“I don’t think that’s Meebo anymore,” Edna said. “That sudden shift to ominous third-person? Yeah, I think she’s finally stamped him down under her consciousness.” She told her Shepherd to hurry into the Lymph Vessel.
Within its chambers, they found Suzunomia frozen in place. She listened to the Song once again echoing through the Tower. She slowly became angrier and angrier. Her memories were coming back, and she remembered just how much she hated the Song. It was the Song that had stripped her of her power and forced her from her status as a goddess.
“All of my power…inhaled by Moocheriel…yes, little one, we must go to Moocheriel and regain my power…” she spoke. She spun around.
“Hold it right there!” Sorey warned her.
“Impudent insects.”
“Give back Mikleo!”
“Mikleo? I don’t know a Mikleo.”
“You stole his body!”
“I did not. This is my body. This is the first time in a long time since I’ve been able to walk in the corporeal world. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to reclaim my power.” Suzunomia sang a short incantation. Sorey, Zaveid, and Edna felt dizzy. The Lymph Vessel undulated and morphed into a strange array of shapes. “Sleep now. Ac buda jm sViAA syear.”
The three of them collapsed in the Lymph Vessel with Suzunomia looking over them. She still had a little bit of power, but she knew that it wouldn’t suffice, and with Mikleo’s body not being able to correctly sing the ancient language Ar Ciela, she wasn’t sure how long they would be asleep. She hurried out of the Lymph Vessel.
-------------------------------------
Saki faced Raphael, who stared down at her with a smirk. The young seraph was still unflinching. “If I go with you, do you promise to leave them alone?” she asked him. She wasn’t afraid of him. She told herself that she couldn’t be. He was a bully that had put all of her friends in danger.
“I give you my word, Saki,” Raphael said.
“And…if I go with you, will you give back Akane?”
“I cannot promise that.”
Saki puffed out her cheek. “If you can’t give Filly back her Aki, then I can’t go with you.”
Raphael gritted his teeth. He conceded. He ordered two of his troops to return to Archia and to see that Akane was returned to Clustania. Whether or not that the request was filled was left in limbo. No one could return to the seraphic city yet.
Raphael promised her that Akane would be safely returned. Katene then approached the two with a proposal to accompany Saki. Hikari Gojo couldn’t believe the little researcher was planning to switch sides. He, however, gave him a look. His reasoning was that Saki was still ill—Raphael nor anyone else in the Archia Think Tank could prove or disprove his claim. That was when Hikari Gojo understood what he was doing.
“Katene, we have other doctors who can take care of Saki,” Raphael stressed. “I can assure you that—”
“You can’t be sure of anything. Saki needs specialized treatment,” Katene persuaded. “If you don’t take me along, she could die.”
Raphael thought long and hard about taking Katene with them, and he supposed he had no choice. He granted permission for the tiny researcher to follow them back to Archia, but before they left with the enemy, he handed Hikari Gojo a note after Raphael had turned his back on them.
“You need to prepare. I can only do so much to make sure they don’t hurt Saki,” he whispered.
With that, Saki and Katene left with Raphael.
Rose, Dezel, and Cocona caught up with Alisha, Lailah, Hikari Gojo, and Finnel in the Slave District. Together, they headed down to the Lymph Vessel where they found Sorey, Zaveid, and Edna unconscious. Dezel read the wind, sensing them on it. He noted that they weren’t moving but were still alive.
“You mean they’re sleeping on the rescue mission?” Rose said incredulously.
“No,” Lailah corrected. “There’s a strange domain around here. It’s not wrought with malevolence, however. In fact, it feels similar to Saki and Finnel.”
“Whatever this domain is, let’s think about it later. We’ve got to start moving.”
Finnel and Cocona woke Zaveid and Edna, respectively, while Rose grabbed Sorey by the shirt and shook him around mercilessly. She slapped his face a couple times.
“Mikleo!” Sorey gasped, launching forward then collapsing back into Rose’s arms. He opened his eyes looking straight up at her. “Where did that girl go?”
“The one who took over Mikleo?” Finnel said.
“Apparently, the girl finally woke up and exercised full control,” Edna explained. “She used some sort of Song Magic to knock us out.”
“She mentioned something about Moocheriel,” Zaveid added. “And something about her power being inhaled there.”
Hikari Gojo was perplexed. Moocheriel was where a large syphon had been built. It sucked up mana and anything else that made magic possible. He glanced at the small note in his hand. Why did Katene give it to him? He carefully opened it. As he read the messy handwriting, he realized that Katene had been studying much more than just Saki and Finnel. His research into the Wills of the Planet had come in handy. The doctor had to wonder just where he had found the time to determine Raphael’s course of action. They had to get to Moocheriel, but it was impossible to get there according to the note.
Much like the path to Clustania that was protected by a barrier until recently, Moocheriel was essentially cut off from the rest of the Tower. They would have to find a detour—another earthpulse point.
“Sorey, are you alright?” Alisha asked him worriedly.
“Yeah,” Sorey said. Everyone else knew he was upset that Mikleo was taken from him again, but they noticed he wasn’t sulking or depressed. His eyes shined with determination. “I’m going to get Mikleo back from her…Suzunomia. No matter what, I have to get him back!”
The question was how to get there. They could go back to Katz Korner, but there was no guarantee the earthpulse point would take them back there. Edna thought that perhaps they could go to a different location. From Archia, they had traversed to Katz Korner then to Clustania. If they went from Clustania to the area called Moocheriel, they just might be able to do it.
Edna looked around the Lymph Vessel. Was it possible to use an earthpulse point there? She felt the presence of one faintly. This section of the Tower had plenty of mana so she couldn’t be sure. But the presence she sensed was pulsating—full of the power that was contained within Suzunomia.
She pointed ahead with her umbrella. “Looks like we don’t need to go back to Clustania,” she said. “There’s an earthpulse point right in front of us.”
Sorey followed the umbrella to a small glowing hole that almost blended in with the brass behind it. He stared at it, his heart beating fiercely. “Let’s go,” he said. “Mikleo is waiting.” He approached the eartpulse point, extending his hand to it. “Wait for me.”
----------------------------------
“This is…” Zaveid breathed.
The earthpulse point had brought them to an alcove that opened out to a large H-shaped island. There were eight pillars titled the Calices that connected to smaller islands when activated. But that was what worried the wind seraph.
“Why…?” he uttered. “Why did we have to come here?”
“Zaveid, is everything alright?” Finnel asked.
Sorey faced him unsure of how to react. He had learned that long ago, gates of travel existed, allowing people to cross vast distances with the use of magic-powered structures. Such gates hailed from the Era of the Gods, and without a doubt would spark more excitement in the Shepherd and his beloved water seraph had they not been pressed for time. The malevolence was flowing through the island, paining his heart and weighing down his body.
“I didn’t know gates of travel still existed,” Lailah said with awe. “I would have thought they ceased to operate centuries ago.”
“Guess this one still works?” Rose wondered aloud.
“This is simply incredible!” Hikari Gojo gasped. “But…we’re not on the Tower anymore.”
“Nope,” Edna sighed. “This earthpulse point is situated in the middle of it, but spatially we’re somewhere else—just like when we took that earthpulse point from Archia.” She didn’t bother trying to explain the physics, but she assured him that seraphim bound to the Tower would be okay. She was, however, interested in why Zaveid seemed so troubled.
“Sorey,” the wind seraph said. He walked up to him and took his hand. “I know you want to save Mikleo as soon as possible, but there’s something I need to do before that.” He squeezed him. “Promise me that you won’t ask when I do it.”
Sorey softened. He felt guilty. He had been so focused on Mikleo that he hadn’t noticed that Zaveid and Edna still had their issues. “I promise,” he agreed.
“Good. Can we Dive?”
“Huh? Now?”
“Yes, now. If we Dive, then I can do what I need to do—what I should have done all those years ago but couldn’t.” Zaveid looked into Sorey’s emerald eyes. “Please.”
Sorey couldn’t deny him of what he needed to do. He called on Zaveid’s Armatus, falling into the familiar slumber that took him into the wind seraph’s world of suffering and sadness.
Notes:
In addition to Sorey's troubles, now we have some of Zaveid's! Next chapter will be a Dive!
Chapter 158: Phase 6: Dragon Egg
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 7: Zaveid
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
Not particularly fond of this chapter, but I do believe it was inspired by Magicians S4E9. Either way, I wanted to incorporate Zaveid's past with Silva. If Silva had lived...man, Zaveid would have been able to be a father again.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When Sorey woke in the shared soul space, he found Zaveid clinging to him. For such a large seraph, he looked afraid. No, it wasn’t fear. Nervous? Unsure? However he felt, Sorey could handle it. The wind seraph approached him, gripping him by his bare arms.
“We need to hurry,” he urged. “I…I don’t want to keep you, but I also don’t want him escaping.”
“Escape? Who?” Sorey asked him gently.
“You’ll find out soon.”
Sorey wasted no time. He touched Zaveid’s chest.
--------------------------------------------------
Zaveid’s cosmosphere level seven was a carbon copy of Hexen Isle. The Stonehenge was where the earthpulse point had brought them. The only thing that was different was the sky. Unlike the dark red sky of dusk that fell over the island in the real world, it was blue and devoid of clouds. There were only two places of interest with one of them being on one of the calices far from the main island that was yet inaccessible.
In the center of the island, there was an egg the size of a child. Zaveid was sitting before it, staring at it without moving a single muscle. He was wearing a different outfit that looked closer to Chinese festive attire than the yukata on the previous level. He had a large flask of amrita next to him.
Sorey carefully walked up to the wind seraph and the egg. He seemed to be meditating, and he didn’t want to disturb him. When he stood behind him, he gingerly touched his shoulder.
“You’re here,” Zaveid said, his whimsical tone completely absent from his voice. “Sit down with me.”
“Is everything okay?” Sorey asked as he fulfilled his request.
“Define ‘okay’.”
The icy reply sent a shiver down Sorey’s spine. Why was he so hostile? Or…was it even hostility? He followed his gaze that never left the egg.
“I mean, based on the previous level, you were going to be sacrificed to stop a calamity, right? Its name was Silva, if I remember correctly.” He started to piece it together. “This egg…does it contain Silva?”
“So to speak,” Zaveid replied. He didn’t take his eyes off it. “Sorey, do you know about dragon eggs?”
“Dragon eggs? Dragons can reproduce? I always thought having two near each other would result in catastrophe.”
Zaveid sighed. Dragon eggs were extremely rare, but they didn’t give birth to dragons. In reality, they were akin to tiger’s eye stones and were considered to be precious. Dragon eggs looked similar to iris gems, just in the shape of an egg. They were said to represent the notion of unravelling mystery, but to the wind seraph, it was much more than just that.
“There used to be fairytales about dragons being born from eggs,” he explained. “For one to hatch, the egg had to be set on fire and a sacrifice had to be made.”
Sorey’s eyes grew wide. He remembered that Zaveid was supposed to be sacrificed as vividly as if it just happened. “So, when you were prepared to be sacrificed, you were really going to give birth to Silva!” he realized. “Why would you want to summon a dragon?! Weren’t you protecting the people? Those people that spoke to you…who were they? Eizen was there, too.”
Zaveid wanted desperately to look at him in the eye and explain himself. He couldn’t take his eyes off the egg. “Oh, Sorey…” he lulled. “You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”
Sorey reached for his hands. Holding them so tight so that he never lost him, he asked him, “If you don’t tell me, then I will never have a chance to understand. Is it because Silva was someone important to you?”
“Stop.”
Sorey flinched at Zaveid. He recoiled from him, only peeking at him when the silence had gone on for too long. He knew that Silva had to be someone important, and he had to wonder if the other point of interest in the soul space would give him answers.
The Shepherd stood up from his spot next to Zaveid. He told him that he was going to look around the soul space. He then walked to the edges of Hexen Isle to find that only one calix had the ability to transport him somewhere else. He looked back at the wind seraph.
“Why do you insist on keep secrets from me?” he whispered to himself.
Sorey touched the calix. The world turned itself, and he found himself at the top of a spiraling set of platforms where, close to the bottom, he saw something that looked like a prison made of the type of technology used on the Towers. He scaled down them as fast as he could, and when he saw what was inside its transparent blue walls, his heart stopped.
A dragon as big as Eizen if not bigger had been stomping around swatting at hellions and innocent people alike. It roared ferociously, but every time it tried to break free, the walls electrocuted it.
There were two people that wore the same outfits as the man and woman that had attacked Zaveid and imprisoned him in the other levels of the cosmosphere. They didn’t have faces, yet they spoke without any problems.
“This one is exponentially stronger than the last one,” one of them said. “If we had a dragon egg, we can increase its power by another one-hundred-fold!”
“We should have gone into the dragon-farming business instead of becoming praetors!” the other said.
Sorey couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Dragon-farming…he looked around. It made sense to him—Hexen Isle was cut off from the world. It was the perfect location to raise dragons, but since dragons were seraphim that had become too tainted, what did that mean to Zaveid?
“No…” Sorey gasped. He returned to the main island without being noticed. He understood now why Zaveid was with the dragon egg. “Zaveid!”
The Shepherd regrouped with his wind seraph before the dragon egg. He was standing now, and the egg was glowing. He turned to the Shepherd. “I…I couldn’t…” he quivered. “I never wanted to return to this place, but…I have to somehow make things right. I can’t let him suffer anymore!”
Sorey ran up to him, grabbing his arms and shaking him. “Don’t worry, Zaveid,” he told him. The egg shined brightly, a growing force pulsating and swirling from it like a typhoon. The winds roared over the two of them. A low rumbling—a muffled roared—echoed from within. “We’ll save Silva! We’ll purify him! He became a dragon, too, didn’t he?”
“It was…all our faults,” Zaveid cracked as he fell to his knees. “If only we could have saved him…! If only…he wasn’t tossed aside…!”
The force from the egg became insurmountable, flinging the two of them to the edge of the island. Sorey clung onto his wind seraph, but when he looked over his shoulder at the blinding white light that radiated from the egg, he didn’t see a dragon. He saw the empty husk of a small child with silver hair. His light-blue eyes were devoid of emotion and thought. Like Zaveid in one of his past incarnations, he wore a collar.
“Silva!” Zaveid wailed. “Forgive me!” He reached out to him only for his arm to fall to the ground in despair. “I would do anything to go back and make things right!”
“We can, Zaveid,” Sorey told him. He looked down at him with a smile. “Silva isn’t a dragon yet here, so let’s do what we can to keep it that way.”
Sorey held his face in the palms of his hands, his thumbs wiping away the tears cascading down Zaveid’s cheeks. Silva, seated with the idea that Zaveid had left him for dead in the past, lifted a hand at him. Energy focused into a growing fire ball. The Shepherd noticed him, and without another moment to spare, he focused on the idea that they would still have to fight against this child.
“Fylk Zahdeya!” Sorey called out. Stunned, Zaveid joined with his Shepherd in the Wind Armatus.
“Why?!” Silva cried as he shot the fire ball. Sorey flipped out of the way. “Why did you leave me, Uncle Zaveid?!”
Sorey, and by proxy Zaveid, maintained a safe distance from the raging heartbroken child. His wings made of knives expanded out behind him ready to take flight if necessary. Thankfully, Silva himself was weak, but the guilt that the wind seraph felt mixed with the anger and loneliness of the child. He had gotten stronger over the years thanks to Zaveid’s constant worrying.
The first order of business, Sorey believed, was to win a chance for his wind seraph to explain himself. But battling a child wasn’t going to be easy. Sorey prepared to launch himself at Silva. He could feel Zaveid’s apprehension bubbling inside of him, but it had to be done.
Together as one, they raced towards the child. Silva fired spell after spell at them, and while they did hurt, Sorey pushed through it. “Dark Star!” he and Zaveid called out as they threw themselves into Silva. The boy cried out in pain, tugging at the wind seraph’s heart.
“Sorey, stop!” Zaveid begged. “I can’t bear to hurt him like this!”
Zaveid de-Armatized from Sorey, leaving him behind while he ran towards Silva. The tiny seraph continued attacking him, and just before they met, Zaveid fell to his knees. His body burned from the fire.
“You…used me!” Silva screamed. “You used me as a distraction and left me to die! I…I was so scared! I was in so much pain!”
Zaveid winced. “I know, kid,” he tried to smile at him. “I know.” He pushed himself up. Then he walked slowly to the boy. “Uncle Zaveid couldn’t protect you back then.”
“That other boy killed me!”
“I know, he almost killed me, too.”
Zaveid knelt to his level. The burns on him made every movement ache, but even still, he steeled himself. He wrapped his arms around Silva tightly, pulling him in for a hug like a father and his little one.
“I’m so sorry, Silva,” he wept. “I wanted to protect you. You were so small and fragile, and the Abbey had done so many horrible things to you. Things they had done to me—I’ve always wished I could go back and change the past. Theodora would have loved to meet you, but both of you became dragons.”
“It hurt so much,” Silva whimpered. “I didn’t want to become a dragon.”
“No one ever does. Silva, please forgive me. Let me take care of you here in my heart at least, so that way your memory can survive.”
Silva’s blue eyes widened. “U-Uncle Zaveid?” he uttered.
“When we were running away, I was so excited to bring you home. I used to always take care of children—humans and seraphim. I thought that I could rebuild a family by saving Theodora and then taking care of you with her. I couldn’t do it back then in the real world, but let me do it here for you.”
The two stopped hugging so they could look at each other. Tears spilled, and Sorey couldn’t help but wait with anticipation to hear Silva’s answer.
“Silva, will you allow me to adopt you?” Zaveid asked with all his heart.
“Uncle Zaveid…!” Silva sniffled. He hugged the wind seraph, healing him of his injuries and nuzzling into his chest.
Zaveid held him close. Behind him, the remains of the dragon egg glowed faintly, and from it came two Normin—Reziss and Plaite. They had been with Silva trying to calm him down. Fearing that the tantrum would erupt into killing Sorey and Zaveid, they had devised a plan to stop him. In the end, they didn’t need him at all. They approached Sorey.
“Greetings, human!” Reziss happily said. “It seems like you managed to get a happy ending for Zaveid and Silva!”
Sorey tilted his head. “I guess—I didn’t do much of anything again,” he admitted.
“But you did!” Plate argued. “You supported Zaveid, and that’s the most important thing! The Paradigm Shift will be opening soon, but we would like to inform you that he’s able to create a new Song now with these new emotions.”
“A new Song?”
“A Song born from the love he had for Silva,” Reziss explained. “They’re intense emotions, so please continue to support him.”
Sorey gave his word, and as he did, the Paradigm Shift opened. The light’s warmth touched Silva as well, and the three of them made their way there. Naturally, Sorey was prepared to step through and return to reality, but Silva worried that Zaveid would abandon him again. The wind seraph promised him that he would always be with him, and once he reassured him that he would be back, he stood with his Shepherd.
“The next level…will be unpredictable, Sorey,” he warned. “Don’t leave my side. The worst is yet to come.”
Sorey nodded. “Don’t worry, Zaveid. I’ll support you as best as I can.”
The two stepped into the light of the Paradigm Shift, returning to reality.
Notes:
Yeah this Dive was a little different. I think I wrote this during physics again XD
Chapter 159: Phase 6: Malevolent Crucible Avici
Summary:
Having woken up from their Dive, Zaveid makes his way into the malevolent crucible in Hexen Isle to keep a promise he had made long ago.
Notes:
I really do like Sorey and Zaveid's relationship in the beginning here~ Writing the epitaph at the beginning of this crucible was hard though. Not used to Pastalie here.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey and Zaveid woke up feeling somewhat different from before; the latter, however, had, in fact, made a major development. He placed his hand over his heart. When he turned to look at his Shepherd, he looked resolute and confident.
“Thanks,” he said, a hint of pink on his cheeks. “And…don’t mention any of that to anyone ever.”
Sorey grinned at him. “I won’t,” he assured. It was a genuine smile, and the wind seraph appreciated it.
Zaveid stood up surrounded by everyone else in the alcove. Finnel, Hikari Gojo, and Cocona were still mystified by the eartpulse point, but even they noticed that he had gotten over whatever was weighing on his mind. He began to walk on his own towards a large mound some paces away. Edna and Lailah followed him to find the mound was really a giant dragon skeleton. They were varying degrees of shocked, yet the wind seraph stood silently before it.
“It’s time to set you free,” he murmured. He continued to the beach, turning into a small ravine where a crucible had been tucked away. Sorey led his friends after him, and when they found him ready to set into it, the Shepherd called out to him. “It’s fine, Sorey.”
“Are you sure?” Sorey asked him.
“The malevolence here is far beyond the amount we’re used to,” Lailah stressed. “You could be in true danger.”
Zaveid shook his head. “I ain’t backing down now,” he said. “I have a promise to keep. And besides, considering all that we’ve been through, this is nothing! I’m not scared of a few hellions after all the shit we’ve dealt with.” He hardened. “I have to do this. I need to avenge him.”
Edna sighed then smiled at him. “Sorey,” she called. “Let him do what he has to do. I understand where he’s coming from.”
It was a hard pill for Sorey to swallow. Before Zaveid descended into the crucible, he approached him. He held his arm up at an angle, and Zaveid crossed it with his arm. It was usually a gesture he did with Mikleo, but Sorey felt compelled to do it for his wind seraph in this new emergence of strength.
“Make sure you come back to us,” the Shepherd told him.
“Of course!” Zaveid happily chimed. “You can’t get rid of me that easily!”
With that, Zaveid the Oathkeeper climbed down into the crucible.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
hArYAnYNtLYA ess innna syec Manac AVICI/.
xN erphy hYApIpsYNeh du skit grandee/.
xI Ixyn zz yIyO/.
yIzUtA du spitze/.
Reta yorr sIsYAwYN rAwI /.
wAfI du Aspitze ag vAtE/.
Zaveid recognized the pitiful voice begging him to rescue him. Deep in his heart, he would stop at nothing until the soul trapped within the crucible was set free.
“I can hear you, Silva,” he said into the darkness. “I know you’re here, all alone. Don’t worry, Uncle Zaveid is here to save you.”
The first wave of hellions appeared, and Zaveid couldn’t be more excited. Devil Ladies, Succubi, and a Spider Queen surrounded him. While he was there to save Silva, he didn’t deny himself the fun of flirting with a bunch of women even if they were monsters.
“Hey, ladies,” he said suavely. “Are we ready for some dirty dancing?”
The Succubi lunged at him while the Devil Ladies prepared to cast their spells. The Spider Queen trotted up to the wind seraph, spinning a web to keep him in place. Luckily, Zaveid jumped up before she could net him. With a quick spin, he whipped her aside with his pendulums.
“Sorry, babe, but I’m a tough one to chain down!” Zaveid taunted. The web disintegrated into dust, and after he landed before the hellion, he continued to smack her around until he leapt back and summoned a set of colorful stones to pelt into her. “Chicks dig rainbows!”
The Devil Ladies launched fireballs at him, and while he expertedly dodged them, the Succubi were right on him to claw at him. He kept them at bay, and when the time was right, he used his Mystic Arte Outlaw Barrage. He slipped past them, leaving a myriad of whips and slashes of wind in his wake. The Succubi took the brunt of the attack as well at the Spider Queen, and only the Devil Ladies were left.
The second wave of hellions came. In addition to the Devil Ladies, there were millipede-looking hellions now that had a paralyzing sting. Zaveid knew he had to be careful. If he were to become immobilized, he would be in mortal danger.
“It figures that there would be enemies that aren’t hotties,” he grumbled. He dashed to the Milipedes, the Devil Ladies trying to catch him. “Out of my way!” he growled. He slammed his hands onto the ground, chained shooting up and piercing anything in their area. “Deceiving Pummel!”
The Devil Ladies were soundly defeated, but the Milipedes remained. One of them stung his leg. He tripped as a result, and he gripped his calf as it throbbed and tingled. He began to cast Radiant Heat. The hot wind tore through the hellions, initiating the final wave of blood-red blobs. He couldn’t move away from them, so he did the next best thing.
“Geostigma!” he cast. The gravitational fields he created squished them and finished off a few of them. But the blobs kept coming. “Geostigma! Geostigma!”
One by one, the blobs were pulverized. When the last one had finally been reduced to a puddle, he tensed. The paralysis was slowly going away, but he was sure that there were would be more hellions to face. None, however, appeared. The only thing that did was a small light that hovered in front of his face. He stood up with some difficulty, but he recognized the light.
“Silva, is that you?” he tenderly asked.
“Uncle…Zaveid…” a tiny voice said. It was quiet and shy. “You…came back…?”
“Of course, I did! I’m sorry it took me so long.”
“Don’t be…I’m just so happy you’re here…”
Zaveid felt Silva’s warmth, as if he could tell that he was smiling at him. He couldn’t reciprocate; once Silva was released from his prison within the crucible, his soul would return to the corpse they had seen outside. The dragon that he had become would be revived.
“Silva, listen to me,” he said gravely. “I want to save you, but…something bad might happen first. It’s going to hurt, and my friends and I will have to fight you. I want you to know that…we’re trying to set you free from all the malevolence that you’ve had to endure. The Shepherd—he’s different now. He’s not that jerk that helped put you here. He’s a good boy and a dear friend.”
Silva was silent for some time. “I…understand, Uncle Zaveid…” he finally said. “I don’t want to stay here, but I don’t want to be a dragon again…”
“No, of course not,” Zaveid sighed. “Believe me, if there was another way…” He went silent as he thought. “I will sing for you.”
“Sing?” Silva repeated.
“Yeah, I’ll sing you a lullaby. You’re not an IPD, but I think you’ll still be able to understand it.”
Silva would have nodded if he had a physical form. Zaveid’s heart ached, but he tried to to tell himself that it was only for a brief period that the child he wanted to love as his son would feel agony. He prayed to him, releasing the young soul from the hell it had existed in for a thousand years.
Notes:
So obviously this isn't how you awaken the Undead Dragon, but I'm not about to go into detail about defeating all of the Calices and every boss in them. So we're cutting corners here.
However, I did want to incorporate how Zaveid's battle quotes change depending on if he's fighting a female hellion or not! And there's a nod to the next story to come, Ode to the Scarlet Night.
Chapter 160: Phase 6: Resurrection of the Zombie Dragon
Summary:
Equipped with a Song born from the feelings Zaveid holds for Silva and his regret, our heroes prepare to take on the Zombie Dragon.
Notes:
SOME PARTS OF THE CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD FOR NOW.
This was a pretty fun battle. There's a trophy in Ar Tonelico 3 if you can use all the EX attacks AND the 4th Purge level Song Magic in one battle, and the sheer amount of damage that deals is amazing. Couple that with the Armatus MAs from Zestiria, that would be INSANE.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey and his friends waited patiently yet still with anticipation for their moodmaker of the group. He had been gone for thirty minutes now, and the Shepherd began to worry that he succumbed to the malevolence within the crucible. So when he saw a light shoot out of its depths and fly towards the giant dragon skeleton that they had seen, his heart nearly burst from his chest.
“What was that?” he asked, though no one could give him an answer. Zaveid emerged next out of the crucible. Sorey approached him, noticing that his face seemed a little more peaceful. “Zaveid, are you okay?”
“Oh-ho, concerned for me?” he smirked.
“Of course!”
“Nothing’s wrong with me, but…I’m not finished yet.”
Lailah and Edna stepped forward. They inquired about the light that had shot from his crucible, the fire seraph already having an inkling of what it was. Zaveid simply nodded.
“Everyone, get ready,” he gruffly said. “I’ve got a promise to keep.”
He led them back to the dragon skeleton that was slowly reassembling itself through the power of the malevolence. The light briefly shined in its ribcage before sinking into a dark abyss. The bones rumbled, and the dragon came to life.
Finnel couldn’t stop herself from screaming in terror, but Zaveid told her not to worry. He looked at Sorey. His amber eyes were pleading to him. “You have to do everything you can to purify it,” he said. He asked the same thing of Lailah, whose silver flame would be able to burn away the malevolence despite it being so heavy. “Both of you need to fight while I sing, and when I’m done, free his soul.”
Sorey understood why he was so grave and adamant about purifying a hellion that, by all other evidence, couldn’t be purified. He held his sword before him.
“I won’t let you down,” the Shepherd vowed.
“That’s my Sheps.” Finnel would provide backup to her friends while everyone else were to go on the offense. Zaveid took a stance farther back. He stared at the zombie dragon. “I won’t let you die, Silva. So, please, listen to my lullaby.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
His friends watched as he began to sing, and for once, Zaveid looked calm and gentle. His voice was soothing, even more so than when he had sung his ballad after Dezel lost his ability to sing. The vibrations from his voice rang in the air, eliciting what sounded like notes from an orgel music box. The singing seraph clutched his heart with the hope that his Song would reach his little boy.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The zombie dragon roared over Zaveid’s voice, and the seraphim could see the cloak of malevolence pulsating on its bones. Hikari Gojo and Cocona ran up to attack first, but when they hit it or shot at it, whatever damage it sustained seemed to evaporate as soon as it touched it.
Finnel began to sing a Song to make their attacks stronger, but even that didn’t help them. Sorey and Rose tried to slash at its legs, and again, the attacks did nothing.
“We’re going to have to go all out to put this lizard down,” Edna said. “Sorey, let’s Armatize.”
“Alright!” Sorey replied. “Hephsin Yulind!”
“Lukeim Yurlin!” Rose called.
“Fethmus Mioma!” Alisha joined.
The Shepherd and his Squires were now supplemented with their seraphim, and along with Finnel’s Song, they felt like they could do lasting damage. Cocona and Hikari Gojo, knowing they were too weak, filled the role of acting as decoys.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Cocona created a small fireball that whizzed past the zombie dragon’s face as it hissed at Sorey. “Eyes over here!” she taunted it.
The zombie dragon followed her with the threat of ripping her apart, and when it opened its mouth to swallow her, Hikari Gojo fired a laser from his medical kit. The enormous hellion staggered, which allowed Sorey a chance to punch it with one of Edna’s stone-gold fists. It retaliated by flinging them back with its tail. Thankfully, the little earth seraph was far sturdier than she appeared. Sorey only felt sore for a moment, and for safety, Finnel switched her Song of strength for one of healing.
Alisha dashed head-on to the zombie dragon, attempting to slash it with her Sacred Blade in the crotch of its horns. Lailah incurred a surge of fire through it, and the monster screeched in pain. Zaveid didn’t want to hear it, but he had to stay focused on his Song:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“It’s no use,” Alisha panted. “No matter what, it just keeps healing.”
“That just means we’ve got to hit it harder and faster,” Sorey said. He stared at the dragon. “I don’t know if it’ll be enough, but everyone, follow my lead!”
He let out a sigh. His next attack was going to use a lot of power. He had to be ready to be out of steam for a little while.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
He commanded Cocona and Hikari Gojo to attack as much as they could while he, Rose, and Alisha bided their energy and time. Combatting the heavy malevolence would no doubt put a strain on them.
Cocona shot her fireballs and slashed with her board until, with Finnel’s help, she could unleash the strongest attack in her arsenal. She hopped onto her board, and as fast as lightning, she rammed into the zombie dragon as many times as her body could withstand. When the attack had been completed, she collapsed.
Next was Hikari Gojo. His medical kit dissembled into nine pieces that all shot lasers at the dragon’s core before they combined again to create a cannon to deliver its strongest shot. He joined the little IPD, his body drained of its energy.
“Alisha, it’s your turn; give it everything you’ve got!” Sorey rallied.
Alisha sped towards the zombie dragon, stopping just short. She and Lailah chanted together, “Born in fire! Crimson flame! May it burn your soul! Flamberge!”
They spun with the Sacred Blade in a vortex of fire that slashed the zombie dragon across its chest. Sorey then called Rose to attack.
“Right!” she answered to him. “Let’s go, Dezel!” She and her wind seraph launched themselves into the sky. “Can you keep up?! Come, divine wings! Swarm the skies! Sylphystia!” they recited together as the darkened sky above was filled with thousands of knives made from crystallized wind. Rose and Dezel signaled them down, and they hailed into the the zombie dragon. The hellion screeched in agony.
“Are you ready, Sorey?” Edna asked from within.
“Yeah,” Sorey confirmed.
The Shepherd shining in gold and ivory prepared himself to use Edna’s fearsome power. Like Cocona and Hikari Gojo, Alisha and Rose were exhausted. Their seraphim de-Armatized to provide assistance.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey charged up to the dragon, landing a deft punch with his rock-hard fist. “Earthborn! Strong as the earth! Behold, rain of ruin! Earth Revolution!” he and Edna called out together. He leapt off the first fist into the air then came spiraling down, cracking the ground beneath him and the hellion. Edna de-Armatized almost immediately, Sorey’s body crumbling from the sheer power of the Mystic Arte.
“Finnel!” Edna signaled.
“Here I go!” Finnel said. Activating her Song Magic, Finnel’s dream theater played. In a Japanesque garden, she turned shyly under a paper umbrella as cherry blossoms fell. The paper doors passed before her as she danced and ran off a high rise into the air. She used the umbrella to drift down. When the vision ended, giant stars fell from the heavens, and one star bigger than the others that crashed into the zombie dragon. It was still standing. “N-No way…!”
“It withstood…everything we threw at it…?” Sorey huffed.
“You’ve still got me, Sorey!” Zaveid said in between lyrics. “Silva, I’m singing this for you!”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Zaveid’s voice resonated throughout the island and in the zombie dragon’s core. His body shined with light that shot out at it, and when the light vanished, he fell to his knees. He looked at the dragon with fatigue. The malevolence dissipated, and the skeleton crumbled. Its bones disintegrated. All that was left was a speck of light that drifted towards him before disappearing.
“Silva…you’re free now…” Zaveid smiled.
“Zaveid!” everyone gasped. Despite how tired they all were, they were worried that the wind seraph was on the verge of death. His face looked completely drained of color, every muscle in his body struggling to keep him up.
Sorey rushed to his side, and as soon as he knelt before him, he fell into his chest. “Zaveid, say something!” the Shepherd begged.
Zaveid had only fainted, but Hikari Gojo looked him over quickly. The Song he had created just for the dragon had sapped all his energy, and while it would take him time to recover, he assured Sorey that he would be fine.
“I never knew Zaveid was one to get that sentimental about Songs,” Alisha said. She, like everyone except Cocona and Dezel, didn’t understand it, but his feelings were raw. To her, the seraphim’s Songs kept getting stronger and more emotional, and Sorey attributed it to the Dive. “Sorey, you must hold your tongue!”
“I’m not saying anything about it, but that Song was from Zaveid’s heart,” the Shepherd said as he let the wind seraph sleep against him. “We never noticed when he was in pain…I never noticed. But this Song was the culmination of it. He had locked it away for so long that it’s not surprising that it would do this to him.”
“It was reckless,” Dezel gruffly said. He crossed his arms. “Singing a Song that intense would kill the seraph in a heartbeat or at least severely damage them.”
“But Zaveid’s perfectly fine, just fatigued,” Hikari Gojo contradicted.
“Has he woken up and said so himself?”
Rose touched his arm.
“It’s like when I sang those Songs back then. I had sung with all of my hate and anger, and now I can’t sing anymore.”
“But that’s not your fault!” Rose argued. “You can’t sing because Lakra destroyed your Boundary Gate! She…she broke you.”
“And Zaveid’s version of Implanta should have fixed it, but it didn’t. Singing with that kind of emotion is dangerous. If he’s still able to sing when he wakes up, then he should count himself lucky.”
Lailah became noticeably saddened by what Dezel had said, and she knew that he was right. She had never sung any Song that endangered her well-being. Even the Song she was forced to use when Mikleo and Sorey were going to be turned into a Seraphoid, it wasn’t her maximum power. She didn’t want to believe that Zaveid had caused irreparable harm to himself, though. She discreetly fingered some of her papers; she would tell his fortune when they got a chance.
Sorey held him close to his chest, the wind seraph’s body transforming into light and sinking into his heart. He was tired afterwards, but he had to press on. With the malevolence gradually leaving Hexen Isle, Edna sensed an earthpulse point towards the beach. She guided them, stopping just in front of a large sprouted seed.
“From here, we can get to Moocheriel,” she said.
“From this seed?” Alisha said dubiously.
“Yup, from this seed.” Edna then poked it with her umbrella. “Infused with mana, malevolence purified, blah blah blah—aren’t we in a hurry? We don’t have the luxury to be criticizing what nature gives us.”
Alisha apologized at once. The seraphim returned to their vessels, and they gathered around the seed. Finnel clung to Cocona. One at a time, they stepped into the earthpulse point and crossed in yet a new place of the Third Tower.
Notes:
Oh boy we're moving on to one of my favorite parts in AT3!!
Chapter 161: Phase 6: War of the Wills
Summary:
Arriving in Moocheriel, Saki the Vaccine fulfills her purpose.
Notes:
A long and agonizing chapter for Mikleo, and as usual, the lyrics is being withheld at this time.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Krusche typed away on a computer deep within the Archia Think Tank while Jack nervously looked around. “How long?” he asked. The pilot didn’t answer. “Krusche, we’re kind of doing something illegal, so I’d like to—”
“I’m concentrating!” Krusche grumbled back. She skimmed through lists of names of every employee working in Archia. She squinted, hoping that she would find those four letters. “Where is it? He’s gotta be in here.” She went as deep into the system as she could before it walled her from confidential information. “Dammit! That’s the last place it could be.” She slammed her fists on the keyboard. A window opened accidentally, and her green eyes grew wide. “J-Jack, get over here!”
“What? I don’t want to be jailed for snooping!” Jack whined. He dragged himself to the computer. Just like Krusche, he couldn’t believe what he was reading. “Holy crap.”
“Didn’t those guys say something about merging seraphim and humans at some point?”
“Do you think that…it started here on this Tower?”
Krusche pulled away. “We’ve…we’ve got to do something.”
-----------------------------
Deep in the center of the place called Moocheriel, Mikleo stood in a trance. Suzunomia had lost control of him between the time she had stolen his body and then, and while he was standing up asleep, his amethyst eyes stared into the distance past the only seraph that could stop her from escaping.
Saki watched the poor water seraph. She knew that his mind and heart were empty. From one seraph to another, she couldn’t detect anything from him except his slow breathing. Katene, Raphael, and Richa waited for something to happen.
“Oh, Mickey,” the young girl pitied. “Can you hear me?”
Mikleo moved just barely enough to show he was still alive. “So…” he whispered.
She offered a small sad smile. “No, I’m not your Sorey,” she confessed. “But don’t worry. He still loves you very much. He’s so worried for you, Mickey.” She clasped her hands over her breast. “My feelings aren’t as strong as his, but I still want to help save you. The Vaccine in Saki’s heart will melt Ar Ru, and you can be with Sorey again.” Her throat began to clench. “Saki won’t be here when you wake up, but I will have saved a lot of people. I love everyone so much—everyone on this Tower, everyone on the other Towers, and everyone in the world below us—I love them all so much, so this is why I must sing.”
A single tear rolled down Mikleo’s cheek. She didn’t know if it belonged to him or Suzunomia or Ar Ru.
“Everyone, thank you for bringing me home again,” Saki quietly said.
She took a breath, and Katene gulped. He had hoped that his colleagues would have arrived before he witnessed Saki’s true purpose. He did his best not to show his dread.
Saki began to sing, the unfamiliar and strange lyrics of Ar Ciela flowing from her lips; it wasn’t Hymmnos but something that was undecipherable by the human ear. Her voice, angelic and heavy with sadness, echoed through the marsh in Moocheriel. Immediately, Mikleo’s body seized.
He clawed at his chest. The water seraph bellowed in pain. “T-This Song…! My body…It hurts!” he struggled. “S-Stop it!”
Saki’s voice became more forceful as it tried to force whoever was inside of him out. She commanded the intruder to leave with her Song.
On the outskirts of Moocheriel, the earthpulse point brought Sorey and his friends to a small mound of mud. All of the Archian troops that had guarded the people of interest were unconscious, and the Song sent chills down their spines.
“This voice…” Hikari Gojo said in disbelief. “He’s really making her sing the death knell?” he asked more quietly.
“It’s Saki’s!” Finnel gasped. “We’ve got to hurry!”
“Doctor, what is this?” Sorey asked. When Hikari Gojo told him that it was the Vaccine that Raphael wanted, his heart stopped.
Without a moment to spare, the Shepherd led the group through the marsh. All around, there were moss-covered monuments written in a mixture of the ancient tongue and Ar Ciela. It was all gibberish, and they didn’t have time to stop to read them. The Song made him more and more anxious.
“What happens if she finishes that Song?” Alisha asked.
“Saki will die, and possibly Mikleo as well,” Hikari Gojo explained. “We cannot allow her to finish it!”
The Song, no matter how holy or pure, attracted hellions from above. They dropped from the trees and crawled from the murky waters.
“Of course!” Rose snarled. She and the princess stopped dead in their tracks. Sorey halted soon after. “No, just keep going!” the assassin ordered. Dezel and Lailah came out. “We’ll take care of the hellions. You need to get to Saki.”
Hikari Gojo, Finnel, and Cocona urged Sorey. He wanted to stay and help them since Moocheriel felt different. He knew he couldn’t even if he tried, though. He bit his lip, resuming his way to the core of the mysterious swamp.
Rose drew her daggers, and Alisha readied her spear. Lailah and Dezel were ready to cast their spells, but before the fight began, darkness opened up on the ground. Symonne rose from it. She looked at them mockingly.
“How fares the useless minor characters?” she taunted.
“What are you doing here?!” Dezel questioned her.
“I just wanted to see how this plan was doing. Has the Holy Shepherd fallen into despair yet?”
“Sorey’s way too strong to do that,” Rose countered.
“In fact, he has even more of a reason to have hope,” Alisha added.
“Is that right?” Symonne giggled.
“Sorey’s light will pierce any darkness that you try to drown him with,” Lailah coldly said.
The dark seraph shrugged. “Whether he does or not, he has certainly been through a lot. Even if he were to save Mikleo from Suzunomia and Ar Ru, can he handle killing goddesses? What if they were to become dragons?”
“He won’t let that happen!”
The hellions wailed and howled over the Song. It was changing.
Mikleo cried and begged Saki to stop singing. Like when he had first felt the effects of a Vaccine, his body and soul were being torn apart. This time, though, it was heavier. The weight of three souls pulling from his body was like having all of his nerves being ripped out. It was suffocating yet ever-present. The pain was so great, he doubled over and began retching. The Song itself prevented him from losing consciousness.
“Mickey!” Saki cried out in the middle of the Song. Then a switch flipped in her mind. She no longer saw Mikleo’s body in front of her. She saw the one that had hijacked him—Suzunomia—as she slowly morphed into another. “I…I remember…” she murmured. “Yes…Saki is…Saki must sing!”
Her Song suddenly became stronger, the feelings of empathy and sadness transforming into determination and duty. Her voice again increased in force, growing more chaotic with each Hymmnos lyric. She was challenging the evil that threatened to steal away her friend.
“Let him go!” she commanded with her singing.
“Stop!” Mikleo pleaded relentlessly.
Sorey, Hikari Gojo, Finnel, and Cocona were so close. They stopped at an arch over the path to the core. The Song in all of its insanity was so loud that they couldn’t help but cover their ears. Even when they did, the sounds assaulted them, and in the cacophony of sacrifice and suffering, the Shepherd heard the desperate voice.
“Mikleo! He’s in trouble!” he said with a broken heart. He abandoned his friends of the Third Tower. “Mikleo, I’m coming! Just hold on!”
“Sorey!” Hikari Gojo called out to him. “You have to stop this Song!”
Whether Sorey heard him or not was anyone’s guess. He was focused on protecting Mikleo from any more despair. As he neared the core of Moocheriel, he saw them all. Katene and Richa had stepped back due to the power of the Song. Raphael stood there watching Saki sing with excitement. And Mikleo was clutching himself in pain. Though his eyes were glazed, he was crying fervently.
“Saki, you must stop!” Sorey screamed out. He dashed into the radius of the Song’s effect. “Stop singing, Saki! Please just stop!”
Raphael tackled him, using all of his weight to slow him down. He reached for his mouth, covering it as best as he could until Sorey bit his hand. “I won’t let you interfere!” the silver-haired man assured. “I’ve waited far too long for this!”
“Saki, please, don’t kill Mikleo!” Sorey let out last plea.
Just like that, the Song stopped. Saki had fallen out of her trance while she had been singing. “So…rey…?” she uttered.
“Perfect timing, human,” a voice different from Mikleo and Suzunomia reverberated. “Now, there’s nothing holding me back. Now, I can finally enter this world.”
Afezeria...hyear!
Mikleo lifted his hand behind Saki, blasting her aside with a ball of water before rays of malevolence-infused light wrapped around him like ribbon. Sorey watched in horror as the transformation began. A new Song using Ar Ciela started.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The bulb that held Moocheriel bloomed, visible from Lohgrin yet obscured by clouds to the people on the Third Tower. Black clouds comprised of Antibodies covered the sky, malevolence dripping from them like poisonous rain. Above the core where Saki had been attacked and where Raphael interfered with Sorey’s rescue, the Heart of Gaea that had been carried within Mikleo’s body spun. The water seraph clutched his chest tighter than before.
“I-It…hurts…” he rasped. His voice still rang clearly as he sang.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
A new face stood behind him. She was small, around as tall as Edna, with ruby red hair and small purple horns. She was dressed in black and purple, a small dragon wrapping around her tiny body. Sorey looked at her from the ground. He couldn’t believe this girl was Ar Ru.
Mikleo fell to his knees, his lips still letting go lyrics of the Song that she was forcing him to sing.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Is this really Her?” Richa quivered. “The energy…it’s so strong.”
Katene gritted his teeth. Why couldn’t he have stopped Raphael’s madness?
Farther away from the insanity, Rose and Alisha panted hard. Symonne had disappeared and sicced the hellions on them. Dezel and Lailah had sustained some damage, but they knew they couldn’t waste any more time than they already had. They rushed towards the core, meeting with Hikari Gojo, Cocona, and Finnel on the way.
When they regrouped, they found Raphael holding Sorey down inching for his neck while he was distracted by the fearsome sight of Ar Ru. Richa, Lailah, Dezel, Cocona, and Finnel collapse, the sheer power coming from the goddess rendering them unconscious in the presence of the Heart of Gaea. Alisha noticed that neither Zaveid nor Edna had come out to rescue their Shepherd, and she figured it was the same reason that Lailah and the other seraphim couldn’t move.
“M-Mikleo!” Sorey called to his water seraph. “Hang in there!”
“So…” Mikleo huffed and panted. His body was being overwhelmed by the Song’s power.
Sorey found the strength to push Raphael off then rushed to the water seraph’s side. His body was burning when he held him in his arms.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Ar Ru looked down at Sorey and Mikleo with a disinterested gaze. “So, this is the body that I was gifted,” she belittled. “Such an insignificant vessel, but I must thank you, Suzunomia, for welcoming me through that one. Now that I have a physical form, I can finally bring about what I was meant to do from the beginning.”
Sorey set Mikleo down, drawing his sword and threatening to attack her. “Stop this chaos!” he ordered.
“Oh? A lowly human making demands to a goddess?” Ar Ru mocked. “Who do you think you are?”
Raphael, angry that Sorey disrespected her, lunged for him. Rose pelted a dagger into his leg, blood dyeing his white clothes crimson. “Make another move, and I’ll kill you,” she warned him. She turned to Alisha and Hikari Gojo. “Give him some backup!”
The princess and the doctor nodded and made heir way over to Sorey. The Antibody Brain summoned her minions, and Sorey could sense the malevolence coming from them. “If I’m going to purifiy the world for Him, then I might as well start with scum like you.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mikleo gasped and struggled, the Ar Ciela flowing from his lips in a discordant mess. His emotions and the emotions that Ar Ru was forcing through him were nowhere near the same. The little goddess wasn’t angry or anything—she simply wanted to see the end to the infection that was the human race. The water seraph, on the other hand, loved humans. He loved Sorey, and he shared his dream. No matter how hard he tried to rise from his subconscious and push her out, he was stuck.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey knew he couldn’t do much to stop Ar Ru from forcing Mikleo to sing. Even with Alisha and Hikari Gojo at his side. While they fought off strange protozoa-like creatures, the Shepherd made his way to Ar Ru. He tried to attack her, but the girl moved so fast out of the way and drew power from the Song that his attacks only injured himself.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey's blade was caught in an EM field that sent a horrendous shock through his body. Inside, Edna and Zaveid cringed. Ar Ru then began to cast a spell.
Alisha and Hikari Gojo defeated the last of the Furia Models before turning their attention to the goddess. “Sorey!” the princess cried out. She dashed before him. As she prepared to use her Mystic Arte, she spun her spear to blow back the enemy; however, Ar Ru didn’t budge. “It’s not working?!”
“Get back!” Hikari Gojo yelled at her. His medical kit opened up into its laser cannon form. Without a moment’s hesitation, he shot a blast at Ar Ru.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Ar Ru’s spell was interrupted, and she was visibly angry that he had managed to break through it. She used her EM field again to paralyze them. Rose couldn’t do much to help with Raphael trying to get past her even with his wounded leg.
“Why are you interfering?” Raphael growled at her. “Don’t you understand what you’re doing?”
“I don’t want to hear it from someone who planned on killing a seraph just to capture a goddess,” Rose retorted. “You were planning on erasing the world with her power, weren’t you? Well, we’re not going to let you. We need the Heart of Gaea to purifiy Maotelus. So we’ll stop you no matter what.” She turned to him.
Raphael softened only to try to sweet-talk her. “If you want to purify Maotelus, the Will of Purity, why not just let Ar Ru have her way?”
“Because that’s genocide.”
Raphael recoiled at her remark.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“P-Please…stop…” Mikleo begged. “I don’t want to sing this anymore…”
Sorey was the first to recover from the paralysis caused by the EM field. He rushed up to Ar Ru just as she was about to start casting again. With the butt of his sword, he hit her head.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The moment that Sorey hit the goddess, the Song ended. Mikleo had been released from her strings, crumbling to the ground with little resistance. The Shepherd gasped, and as Alisha and Hikari Gojo recovered from the paralysis, he darted to him.
“Mikleo! Mikleo, say something!” he pleaded.
The water seraph was exhausted. He looked up at the Shepherd, but there wasn’t any hint of relief that they were finally together. He just looked…confused.
Ar Ru and the Heart of Gaea had vanished in specks of light throughout the core of Moocheriel. The seraphim regained consciousness and joined their human comrades out in the open. Raphael regrouped with Richa, yet he noticed it as well. She, Dezel, Zaveid, Cocona, Lailah, Edna, Mikleo, Saki, and Finnel all stood still; their eyes were glazed over in a trance. Rose, Alisha, and Sorey called to their seraphim only for them to say in unison:
“The world shall be reborn…as per the wishes of the Will of Purity and his master.”
Sorey’s eyes widened. “Ar Ru’s still in Mikleo!” he cried out.
“Foolish humans,” Ar Ru—speaking through all the seraphim—continued. “For me, a body is little more than a temporary conduit for my power. I only require it to sing. That is why I struck a deal, but you just had to ruin it. No matter, though. You humans won’t have very long left to live. Soon, we shall have a world without suffering. We shall have a world of only seraphim.”
And just like that, the seraphim were back to normal with the exception of Mikleo. An Archian troop hurried to Raphael, who delivered a secret message. The chairman was aghast. “The Tower of Origins?” he gasped. “We must hurry!” He pulled Richa along, whom reached out to Hikari Gojo at the last second.
“We have to go after them!” Rose quickly said.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Katene said. He motioned for the assassin to look at everyone. Even the seraphim that hadn’t been involved in the little skirmish against Ar Ru were winded. “Everyone needs to take a break and recuperate.”
“I agree,” Hikari Gojo said. He looked at Saki and Finnel and Mikleo. The three of them had gone through so much that he wanted to make sure they were still healthy. “Saki, Finnel; do you mind if I examine you?” The two girls gave their consent, but when he asked about Mikleo, Sorey stopped him. “Sorey?”
The Shepherd sat in front of his water seraph. “Mikleo…don’t you remember me?” He cupped his hand on Mikleo’s cheek. “Hey…did you…really forget me…?”
“I’m sorry, but I really don’t know who you are,” he replied.
Sorey’s heart stopped. Despite Kureha being the one to blame as Suzunomia had returned to Finnel at some point in time, he blamed her and Ar Ru for what they had done. He grabbed Mikleo’s shoulders.
“Mikleo,” he cracked. “Do you at least remember your true name?”
His beloved water seraph shook his head, and the weight of the world fell on Sorey. The malevolence was worming into his heart out of grief and anger. Lailah and Edna gently touched his shoulders.
“Let’s return to somewhere safe,” the fire seraph said.
“Maybe we can go to Aki’s house,” Finnel suggested. When asked why there, she embarrassedly explained that she felt safe in her home. Naturally, no one could argue, and Hikari Gojo and Katene both knew that she had a special Dive machine in her house. “Why is that important?”
Hikari Gojo took a breath. “Part of why I wanted to examine you is because there’s a chance that the Wills of the Planet in both of you may briefly be able to communicate with each other. If that’s the case—”
“I must speak with Suzunomia,” Sorey said. He bowed before Saki and Finnel. “I know it’s intrusive, but…” He clenched his fists. “I need to know how to get Mikleo’s memory back.”
The two girls approached Sorey. They both hugged him. They understood how much pain he was in. They agreed to let him Dive into them when they got back to Akane’s house.
Notes:
The Song for this chapter is similar to EXEC_ViiBaCi_MjiiRa/. I would assume that Mikleo would sing it since Finnel sings this for Ar Ru.
Chapter 162: Phase 6: Conference of the Heart
Summary:
With Ar Ru out and about, Sorey and his friends are unsure of what to do. Sorey Dives into Saki to speak with the Wills of the Planet within her and Finnel's cosmosphere. There, he can finally speak with Suzunomia.
Notes:
This one is a little more meta and a little shorter, but the Wills are always fun to write!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Once again, Sorey found himself trying to keep his head above the stresses and strains of being the Shepherd. Though, he argued within himself that it was more personal problems than the savior of the world problems. He had lost track of how long he had been away from Mikleo, especially considering that he had only a brief moment in his presence. He was reminded of the beginning of their journey after Bartlow had tried to merge them, but at least now the water seraph wasn’t afraid of him. He was just lost in his own mind, unable to make sense of anything.
The trek back from Clustania to Moocheriel wasn’t particularly arduous despite the fatigue that weighed on everyone’s bones. Ar Ru’s Song had exhausted Mikleo and Saki, and the others were caught in the aftermath. Sorey, Alisha, and Hikari Gojo were slowly feeling better after being shocked by the EM field.
On the train riding from the public sector to Clustania, most of them managed to sleep. The only ones who stayed awake were Katene, Sorey, Cocona, Dezel, and Rose. Edna and Zaveid slept on one end of the seat as the fatigue from the battle in Hexen Isle caught up to them. Lailah let Alisha rest on her lap, and she couldn’t help but doze off herself. Saki and Finnel napped like kittens on the opposite end of the two seraphim while Hikari Gojo found a spot on the other side of the car. Mikleo sat far away from everyone else, distress evident on his face while he rested.
“How are you holding up?” Rose asked her Shepherd.
“I don’t know,” Sorey replied while watching Mikleo. “I can’t be happy, but I can’t be upset. I just…want Mikleo and I to have some time where we can be together without all this pain.”
Katene tried to think of something to help him get through his grief. He knew that he had to sit down and write out possible solutions. Cocona, on the other hand, simply patted his back.
“He’s going to be okay,” she reassured him. She didn’t know what to say next. “Oh, Tyria healed Saki and Finnel, so maybe she can help Mikleo.”
Dezel crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the train. She had already tried to heal him, and it only put them farther into their predicament. He couldn’t trust her even if she was an Origin. “She barely did anything to help,” he concluded.
“Don’t be so boo!” Cocona hissed. “Besides, that was different. He’s awake now, conscious and alive. Even his eyes went back to normal—that pretty violet color. Surely, Tyria can help him now.”
Sorey gave her a small smile. He appreciated that she was trying to make him feel better, and he did. Tyria had admitted before that she couldn’t do much to help him. But now that there were no other souls in his body, even if his soul space had been wiped of his memories, he wanted to believe that there was still some trace of who he used to be inside. He still wanted to talk to Suzunomia, though. Why had she done what she’d done? What was the deal that Ar Ru had struck? Where was Ar Ru if not within either Finnel or Mikleo?
“Oh, how about this idea?” Rose suddenly spoke up. “Once we get this Tower back in shape, let’s take a break and go to a sauna!”
“A sauna?” Sorey asked quizzically.
“Yeah, you know! It’s a room where it’s all steamy and hot and you sweat from just sitting! It’s really good for your skin, and rumor has it that you ended up feeling really good after because all the negativity in your life just melts away!”
“Boo, that’s not fair,” Cocona pouted. “Well, we had bathhouses on the Second Tower, so I guess saunas are the same as that for the Lower World.”
“So you totally get how relaxing it is!” Rose waltzed up to Dezel, hooking him with her elbow and holding his head at her bosom. “And it’s the perfect chance to catch some eye-candy!”
“Why are you doing this?!” Dezel barked at her. Then he lowered his voice. “If you’re implying that we all get to see each other naked, I’ll gladly remind you that it’s not a unisex sauna.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because that’s not a thing people do—especially in a place like Marlind!”
Rose spun around while still holding onto Dezel’s neck. “Eh? But they would make a killing if they made it unisex.”
“In the bathhouses, only seraphim are allowed to bathe,” Cocona added. “Humans are specifically barred.”
“So the Second Tower still has discrimination,” Katene pondered aloud.
Sorey couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Rose finally let go of Dezel, a triumphant smile curling on her lips as she watched her friend show genuine happiness. Her eyes wandered onto the water seraph, who was now awake and looking back at them. She held onto Sorey’s attention for fear that looking at him would bring back those forlorn feelings.
The train finally reached Clustania, so everyone woke up from their naps to head to Akane’s house. The general was a bit surprised to see them, but she was happier to see Finnel than anyone else. The two girls hugged tightly before the clumsy seraph asked her if they could use the Dive machine.
“But…who are you going to Dive with?” Akane asked.
Hikari Gojo proposed that he wanted to examine both Saki and Finnel, something that Akane was wary of even though he was a licensed doctor. Still, she couldn’t deny them the opportunity to make sure they were alright. While the doctor observed them, Sorey asked Akane himself if it was alright to use the machine.
“So, you are going to Dive into Finnel,” Akane said, somewhat annoyed. “I will grant your permission, but do not try anything funny with them.” Sorey, too pure and naïve to understand her implications, tilted his head like a puzzled pup.
Of course, he had never used a Dive machine—only Rose had used one to help Luca—but he was still unnerved. He could die if he wasn’t careful. Still, he was only going to talk to the Wills of the Planet within the two seraphic girls. When the time came to Dive into them, Akane and Hikari Gojo escorted them to the Dive machine in the center of a small chamber on the second floor of the house.
“My results show that Saki and Finnel’s soul spaces have temporarily joined as a result of Ar Ru’s presence,” Hikari Gojo revealed to Sorey. “If you Dive into one or the other, you will be in contact with both of them at the same time.”
Sorey nodded. It didn’t seem like a hard concept to understand, though the finer machinations of how such a phenomenon could work was beyond him.
“Please, step into the Dive machine,” Akane instructed him and one of them. Saki volunteered; if he wanted to talk to Suzunomia, she believed it would be safer for him to have her personae on his side than Finnel’s. “Have you ever used a Dive machine?”
“Not me, but Rose has,” Sorey confessed.
“Allow me to debrief you. You will lie inside this machine and fall into a dream-like state. Your body will not move, but your mind will wander within the soul spaces. If something happens and you are forced out of the soul space, you will—hopefully—just wake up. That said, do not antagonize anyone or anything within the soul space.”
“Understood.”
Akane, under Hikari Gojo’s and Katene’s supervision, closed the machine. Sorey and Saki fell asleep.
Unlike Armatizing with his seraphim, the Dive machine took the shared soul space out of the equation between him and the seraph. Sorey found himself standing not at Saki’s Stonehenge but inside of a massive tower at the edge of her cosmosphere. He wasn’t alone, either. The Wills of the Planet he had met so far stood before him—Saki, Sarapatra, Filament, Yurisica, Soma, and Suzunomia. Being the only boy and the only human, he felt completely out of place.
“You managed to get here safely,” Yurisica observed, pushing her glasses up on her nose.
“Perhaps now we can finally get our conference started,” Filament said without much affect.
“Saki doesn’t think Sorey will understand what we’re talking about,” Saki said.
“He’s not as incompentent as you think he is,” Soma sighed with exasperation.
“Maybe not incompetent, but he’s still a cutie!” Sarapatra cooed.
Suzunomia was the only one who didn’t make a comment about him. In fact, she flatout pretended not to notice him. That wasn’t going to stop him.
“Before we hold this conference, I want to speak with Suzunomia,” Sorey stated, unwavering and unyielding. He watched the orient-dressed woman. Then he found the resolve to approach her. “Lady Suzunomia, I want an honest answer.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” she curtly replied.
“Listen to what I have to say!”
“Don’t you dare speak to me that way!”
Sorey recoiled at the bite in her voice. Those emerald eyes that reminded him of his own stared at him.
“I do not and will not speak to mere humans,” she stressed.
“Well, sucks for you, Suzunomia,” Yurisica flippantly told her. “You went and hijacked his boyfriend and handed his wiped cosmosphere to Ar Ru, so really, you must answer to this human’s questions.”
The other Wills watched her. Even though Suzunomia held her ground to refuse explaining herself to the Shepherd, she could only stand their gaze for so long. She challenged them.
“You know, you’re just wasting your own time,” Soma told her. “Every second we waste with this petty stand-off, Ar Ru comes closer to eradicating the world of everything she doesn’t like.” She pulled out her scythe. “Either tell him what he wants to hear or we seal you away again.”
That shook Suzunomia. She broke their gaze, reflecting on what it would mean to be sealed away again. She would lose her restored power and be demoted from her status as one of the Wills of the Planet. She had finally been allowed to breathe the fresh air; she couldn’t stand the idea of being locked up again.
Sorey didn’t understand what they meant. Perhaps that was part of the reason that she had done what she did to Mikleo, but he wanted to hear her say it. He needed to hear her say it.
“Suzunomia, please—why did you do it?” he asked her again.
The Will pouted, unable to dodge the question any longer. With a deep breath and solemn tone, she explained, “Long ago, when this Tower was built, humans installed a syphon that drained me of my power. Because of them, I was deemed a useless Will. What little power I had left was sealed away and I was removed from the Consensus. I had been locked up for so long that I forgot who I was and my purpose for existing. Then, that man Ayatane spoke to me in that darkness, and he promised me that I would get my power back if I helped him to summon Ar Ru. I agreed, not caring who I had to destroy to attain that goal. Now that Ar Ru is back, I have my power. I became a Will of the Planet once more.” She hid behind a small paper fan. “There, I told you.”
Sorey processed what she had said, and ultimately, he couldn’t be angry with her anymore. It was the fault of humans that had pushed her to such an extreme, but she still didn’t answer if Mikleo could be fixed. When he asked that, none of the goddesses responded; they only looked at him with uncertainty.
“Mikleo’s soul space cannot be restored by any of us,” Sarapatra carefully said.
“However,” Filament interrupted. “Lady Tyria was able to heal the cracks within Saki and Finnel. She can restore cosmospheres. I’m confident that she can help him.”
Sorey appreciated what she said. But how was he going to ask her? When he had asked before, she said she couldn’t help. He then remembered that that was the case because there were too many dwelling inside him to restore the memories he had lost.
“Which leads us to the next order of business,” Soma said. The Wills at once grew serious. Even Suzunomia straightened her posture. “We have to stop Ar Ru.”
“Yes, we know that,” Yurisica sighed. “The question is how. If she’s allowed to kill the world, Maotelus will be sucked right into it. If he dies, the world will not only lose its blessing, but those hellions will run rampant.”
“Ar Ru’s Antibodies are working against him and all life,” Saki sadly said.
Sorey raised his hand. “What exactly is the role of the Antibodies?” he asked. “Are they a type of hellion?”
“Quite the opposite!” Sarapatra replied. “Antibodies are neither pure nor malevolent. They devour energy from both living things and from the mana circulating in the atmosphere before they die. When their lives end, they return to the planet, feeding the energy that they’ve stored and circulating it like blood.”
“That is, until recently,” Suzunomia spoke. “Because of the actions of humans and the advent of the Age of Chaos, the cycle has been broken. Malevolence has tainted Maotelus, who functioned as a detoxifying agent with his purifying power. Without his power to cleanse the energy, malevolence makes its way to the greatest Will Ciela. All of the negative emotions began to poison the Antibodies, creating the first hellions before their production was ceased by the ouroboros entity that stores all of the malevolence syphoned from that energy.”
“Ouroboros entity?” Sorey repeated.
“The first Lord of Calamity and the first Empyrean,” Soma clarified. “A millennium ago, just before the birth of these two Wills, the first Lord of Calamity and the opposite compliment that desire their malevolence began a smaller cycle that generated what you know as malevolence today. With no way to contain the wickedness, Maotelus offered to become the Will that would purify it.”
“That led to the universal blessing.”
“Correct,” Filament said.
Sorey crossed his arms as he thought about it all based on what he had learned from his readings and from what he could infer from the conference. The Wills of the Planet were responsible for the birth and development of different aspects of the world. Ciela was the mother, and each Will before him had a specific role. Ar Ru was in charge of the creation and control of the Antibodies to preserve the life of the world. The Antibodies were nebulous creatures that consumed energy to cycled back into the world upon death. The ouroboros Will created by the first Lord of Calamity and their counterpart converted some of the energy into malevolence, which created hellions. Maotelus, the Will of Purity, was in charge of cleansing the energy of that malevolence, thus preventing the creation of hellions. Because Maotelus could no longer purify, the malevolence generated by humans and the malevolence cycled back into the world were continuously poisoning the Antibodies.
“Then it makes sense to get Ar Ru to stop this before she ruins everything,” Sorey concluded.
“You’re right; he is indeed competent,” Suzunomia scoffed.
“But we’ve run out of options to talk her out of this madness,” Yurisica said.
“No, there’s still one possibility,” Filament countered. “And we may be able to use Shepherd Sorey’s predicament in our favor.” She stared at him with her one eye. “We must ask Tyria to help us again. She is the only Reyvateilic seraph—the only being that can communicate with us directly. We must ask for her help, and we must provide her the Heart of Gaea so she may speak with Maotelus.”
Sorey was excited. They finally had a solution, and he felt confident in them and in Tyria that everything could be fixed and put back on track. When the discussion had come to an end, he realized that he was starting to feel nauseous. His head started to ache terribly, and Yurisica ordered him to leave. There was nothing else to talk about, and the Wills together expelled him from the cosmosphere before it was too late.
Zaveid and Dezel lay Sorey in Akane’s bed for him to sleep from the Dive. Saki and Finnel watched over him with some sort of responsibility. Mikleo watched him as well, his mind turning over and over as he tried to remember who he was.
Hikari Gojo and Katene conducted a brief examination on the Shepherd as well. If he had stayed any longer within the soul space inside the Tower of Life where the Wills of the Planet had held their conference, he would have died. They were amazed at the resilience he had, but Lailah contributed it to his unnaturally high resonance.
After about an hour or so, Sorey woke up. Saki and Finnel greeted him. Then, Mikleo did. “Have you three just been sitting around waiting for me?’ he asked them albeit groggily.
“We can’t do much when the savior of the world is asleep, you know?” Finnel giggled.
“How was it?” Alisha asked him when she came back to check on him.
He explained what he had learned. He told his friends why Suzunomia had taken control of Mikleo, what was going to happen now that Ar Ru was making Antibodies, and that they needed to find Tyria. He couldn’t help but grin.
“We still have a chance!” he happily said. Then he glanced at Mikleo. “We can still help you!”
“Y-Yay…!” Mikleo sheepishly replied.
Dezel crossed his arms. Where were they going to find Tyria? She had disappeared after they woke her from her sleep. Akane spoke up. Her subordinates had spotted her in the Harvestasha Module while they were patrolling. Mute had also seen her while trying to control the Antibodies and the hellions in the area. Katene perked up upon hearing that his darling was in the vicinity.
“We should get going,” Edna said. She observed Sorey and how he was still watching Mikleo with twinkling stars in his eyes. “Or should we wait?”
“Huh? Um, well…” Sorey embarrassedly said.
“He wants some alone time with Mikster,” Zaveid knowingly answered for him. He nudged the earth seraph. “Let’s all talk a walk.”
Sorey’s face turned redder with each second, and when everyone else had left so they were the only two in Akane’s bedroom, he was speechless. Mikleo just watched him.
“Do you remember anything now?” Sorey asked. The water seraph shook his head. Sorey sighed, but he wasn’t as upset as he had been previously. The news that Tyria could help him now had given him the hope that he so desperately wanted. “Don’t worry, okay? We’re going to get you all fixed up.”
“If you say so,” he said. He cautiously stepped up to the bed, or maybe he was still in a fog. Sitting on the bed, he was apprehensive. “I don’t understand this.” He reached for his hand. “It’s so strange.”
“What is?”
“I don’t know you—or remember you if that’s more appropriate—yet I feel connected to you. Your aura is familiar, and your resonance is so high.”
Sorey’s heart tugged a little. He reflexively stretched his arms to him, a wanting expression on his face. “Can we hug for a bit?” he asked innocently. Mikleo tensed. “I know. I’m a stranger to you, but…I’m so happy we can at least talk together again.”
Now Mikleo was at a loss for words. He softened. “I was really important to you, wasn’t I,” he murmured. Swallowing down the nervousness that had been bubbling in his throat, he crawled to the Shepherd. “I’m sorry I don’t remember.”
“It’s okay,” Sorey smiled. When Mikleo timidly reached out to hug him, Sorey couldn’t help but snatch him up in his arms. He leaned back into the sweet-smelling pillows, laying with his lovely seraph on his chest. “It’s been so long since I’ve held you.”
Mikleo warily put his arms around his Shepherd as best as he could, the smell of sunflowers flooding his senses. A single memory came back. It was a memory that almost seemed to make their hearts beat as one.
“I…made a pact…with someone,” Mikleo quietly whispered into Sorey’s chest.
“You remembered something?!” Sorey gasped, though he didn’t move.
“Just one thing.” Mikleo pushed himself up, hovering over Sorey like he had in the confession level of his cosmophere. “I remembered it from the hug.”
Sorey beamed. “Let’s get going to see Tyria,” he gently said. “Then we can be with each other.”
Mikleo seemed put-off when he said that, and it was most likely because he couldn’t be sure if that was really his wish before he lost his memory. Sorey was aware as well that perhaps it was because he had no memory of him, and while it did hurt, he just hoped that Tyria would help them.
Notes:
Mikleo and Sorey are slowly mending their relationship, but will Tyria really be able to help them?
Chapter 163: Phase 6: Reflex Memory
Summary:
Clustania begins their invasion of Archia after Tyria realizes something is wrong within the Harvestasha Module. Sorey and friends make their way to the city and the Tower of Origins.
Notes:
This chapter is mainly serving as a buildup to what is coming next, especially with so much chaos happening now. I remember, it's just like this in AT3!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Tyria looked around the Harvestasha Module seemingly in search of someone. She listened to the almost inaudible static droning in it, irritated confusion taking her mind. She whispered the Song that she had been singing in the Tower, but every time she tried to finish it, she just couldn’t. The lilac-colored Origin wasn’t as upset about that; something in her told her that if she sang the Song, she would be reminded of something terrible. Still, despite her attempts to read the Tower and contact anything else through the Binary Field, she was met repeatedly with failure.
“There should not be so much static,” she concluded. “Oh boy, something really messed this all up, and now I have to fix it. How boring.”
Meanwhile, Sorey and Mikleo joined their friends. While the girls were somewhat anxious to know how they had spent their little reprieve together, the boys were more in a rush to go see the Third Origin. Saki, Alisha, and Lailah—like doting mothers—tried to argue that it was important to confirm that relationships were working out, though Edna simply called them out for wanting to know the details of their love lives.
“S-Saki isn’t a pervert!” the soft-spoken seraph denied. “Saki just wants Sorey and Mickey to be happy!”
“And prying into their secrets isn’t the way to do that,” Edna remained, turning her head in disgust, or rather, hiding that she was interested, too.
“Fortune-telling is a hobby of mine, and…and it’s useful for love!” Lailah sobbed.
“Ugh, you’re being so boo,” Cocona pouted.
Dezel groaned aloud, startling Rose somewhat. “Let’s get going!” he snarled at them. Lailah and Saki were obedient enough to listen to him albeit ashamed of their behavior. Then he added as an aside that he wanted them to be happy as well but standing around joking at their expense wasn’t going to help them.
Akane led the group to the entrance of the Executive District, and there they found Mute in her diminuitive form waiting for them. She was clearly exhausted from fighting off hellions and Antibodies, but she refused to show that weakness. She straightened herself in the midst of her general.
“Lieutenant Mute, status report,” Akane gruffly demanded.
“We’ve managed to hold them all off for the meantime,” she answered. “The troops are okay for now, but if there’s another surge of monsters, we might be a little stretched thin. No fatalities.”
The general put a finger to her chin. She would have to reorganize her soldiers soon if they couldn’t defeat all of the Antibodies; the hellions were more Sorey’s specialty, and vanquishing them never spelled the end of the assault.
“Good work,” she nonetheless spoke. “You’ll be joining us to meet Tyria.”
“Huh? Why?”
“In case any of those things manage to get inside. We must protect Clustania, but it will mean nothing if they can get into the Tower’s mainframe.”
Katene, with rosy cheeks, added that he had been waiting to see her again, effectively making Mute’s little heart burst with happiness.
The ever-growing group entered the Executive District, making a beeline to the Harvestasha Module. As Mute had said, there were no Antibodies or hellions inside the Tower, but Dezel kept a watch on his wind. Just because they weren’t inside then didn’t mean they couldn’t break in later.
Inside the Harvestasha Module, Tyria stood alone. She was oblivious to the sound of the door behind her opening and the footsteps of the large collection that had come to see her. Akane knelt before her out of respect, and she hoped that the others would follow her example. Sorey had more pressing matters.
“Lady Tyria,” he uttered.
The Origin turned to face him, her face as blank as ever. “Hello, our Lord and Savior. Have you come to take a moment of my time to talk about yourself?” she asked with a straight face.
“W-What?”
“I’m sorry, I’m a little busy.”
“She’s saying weird stuff again,” Rose mumbled.
Sorey knelt. “Lady Tyria, I apologize that we have to bother you again,” he humbly said. “We’ve got a few problems that we need your help with.”
Tyria tilted her head not out of confusion but out of sleepiness. Then she woke back up. “Problems? Oh, do you mean the Antibodies and hellions? Yes, those are problems, but not really my problems, but they could be related to my problems.”
The Shepherd stood back up. “Have you heard about them?” he asked.
“Somewhat, though, I will admit I don’t really care that much.”
“She’s hardcore not interested at all,” Zaveid almost laughed.
Unabated by this show of disinterest, Sorey tried to sort out what to tell her. He explained the direst situation first—the appearance of Ar Ru and her overwhelming production of Antibodies. While he had known about the Wills of the Planet, he had never really put together how they were related to Maotelus, a name that made Tyria uncharacteristically tense. Once he understood how they all more or less fit together, it made sense why the hellions had been getting stronger. Now that Ar Ru was bolstering their numbers, they needed her help to talk to the goddess.
“Okay, anything else?” Tyria asked.
The Shepherd grew nervous. “Can you please restore Mikleo’s memories?” he asked. “One of the Wills of the Planet was responsible for erasing them, but Filament said that you could help him remember. If you really can, please…” He got down on his knees, growing smaller and smaller in her presence. “I am begging you, please help Mikleo.”
The Origin’s sugilite eyes softened. She gently touched the Shepherd’s head after quietly stepping up to his trembling form. “I’m going to field these problems one at a time. First, let us talk about Mikleo.” She motioned for the Shepherd to stand. Reading the mana carried on the waves within the Tower, she gave neither an indication of possibility nor impossibility. “It seems that one presence residing in his soul space have left. He is once again the main entity controlling his heart.”
Everyone watched with anticipation.
“I could help him, but for this to succeed, he needs a jump start,” Tyria diagnosed. “You need to Dive into him and remedy the final obstacle—that is, establish the connection you had with him from before. Then, with that lifeline, I can restore his memories. Finally, you will need to Dive into him again and complete the level you are currently at. That should solidify my work, and he should be able to operate as normal.”
Sorey was lost in a sea of emotions. Mikleo, indeed, had a chance at recovery! But it sounded like a long and arduous process that he was sure that if they tried to do it now, Ar Ru would accomplish her goal. And that brought Tyria to the next problem.
“Naturally, there is an immediate threat to the Tower, so my faculties are preoccupied with that,” she stated, though again, she seemed uninterested.
“The Wills told Sorey that you would be able to talk to Ar Ru directly,” Hikari Gojo mentioned.
“And if you can do that, then we can get back to work purifying Maotelus so he can purify the world,” Rose said.
“Yeah, that’s the idea,” Tyria sighed. “Congratulations, two correct answers! You’ve just won an all-expense-paid trip around the world in a hot air balloon.”
“Focus!” Dezel snapped. “If that’s the idea, and you know this, why haven’t you done it?”
Tyria sighed again. “That’s the problem. To purify the world, I need to prepare the Tower to provide the energy required to stall Maotelus by singing a Song—the Song that I always sang as the Tower itself. Because it’s incomplete, there isn’t much I can do alone.”
“Incomplete? How can that be?” Katene asked. “It’s impossible to lose part of a Song.”
“My singing was likely aborted halfway through it, and this probably led to the Tower remaining incomplete. Of course, I have no memory of how this happened, so I can’t back up that theory with evidence.”
“So we need to find the other half of the Song?” Edna questioned to confirm.
“Admittedly, none of this makes sense,” Lailah hesitated to say.
Katene didn’t deny that. The only people that understood any of the jargon among them were Hikari Gojo, Tyria, and himself. The Glenwood Continent denizens never dealt with such technology or the concepts it entailed. But as Sorey listened to the summary of the predicament, he couldn’t help but feel like there was a simpler solution.
“Wouldn’t this be the same thing as Mikleo?” he asked. “Your memory has been wiped, hasn’t it?”
“I don’t think it’s something as drastic as that, but it could very well be a case of amnesia,” Tyria agreed. “And people with amnesia need outside assistance. Are you all willing to help me recover my Song?”
“Of course!” Katene excitedly said. “As a researcher, helping an Origin recover something as important as a Song that had been pre-programmed is my life’s goal! Aside from marrying the girl of my dreams, that is.”
“D-Darling…!” Mute blushed.
“That’s a rather specific life goal,” Finnel joked.
The question now was how they were going to help the Origin remember her Song. The Glenwood Continent denizens were at a loss of what to do, and those from Tilia were just as confused. That is, until the little researcher came up with an idea.
“We do have a solution, and we’ve got just the person to do it as well!” he happily stated. “Gojo, do you remember? You found it a while back when you moved to Eternus Shaft.”
Hikari Gojo trailed back through his memories. So much had happened between when he left Archia and moved his services to the underground city to when they had been abducted and taken to Lohgrin then returned to the Third Tower. But deep within Eternus Shaft, there had been something that no modern human, save for himself and Katene, would recognize.
“It’s the VR21, the Dive Machine from millenia ago! If we use that, we can Dive into the Binary Field, manipulate the fetters, and remove the Song from its restraints within Tyria,” he explained with more excitement than anyone had seen thus far.
“But wouldn’t that be incredibly dangerous?” Zaveid asked. “The Binary Field isn’t a place for humans or even seraphim like us to mess around in.”
“Well, if we take the necessary precautions, whoever we send into it should be alright for just a few moments.” He spun around gleefully. “Yes! Now that I know what to do, I’ll go prepare the machine!”
Before Hikari Gojo could stop him, the little researcher took Mute by the hand. The two miniature beings made a beeline to Eternus Shaft, leaving everyone else in Tyria’s company. With the current issues all delineated, she seemed to get somewhat more serious.
“We have our own tasks as well,” she said. “We must reboot Harvestasha. Who is the current administrator?”
Akane confirmed that she was. Tyria asked her to give her the reboot key; however, the general was thoroughly confused. Tyria repeated her request with some hope that saying it twice would magically make the administrator understand her. Still, Akane didn’t know what a reboot key was, and no one else could define it for her.
“Oh, this could be a problem,” Tyria finally said when it became clear that repeating the request didn’t work. Yet she couldn’t understand how this came to be. “But this is impossible. If you don’t have the reboot key, how do you update and train Harvestasha?”
“Train Harvestasha?” everyone whispered over each other. Even though the Shepherd and his friends progressively grew more confused about the ordeal, the bare minimum made sense in some strange way.
It clicked.
“Jacqli did say that Harvestasha was needed for the World Regeneration Project,” Sorey spoke. “Without you, she can’t do that, can she?”
Akane thought the reason that she didn’t know about the reboot key became clear. The only other person who had access to the Tower was Kureha. The name instantly made Sorey feel sick. They didn’t know where he had gone, and it was impossible to search the entire Tower for him even with Harvestasha temporarily out of commission and with the Antibodies wreaking havoc.
“Regardless of the threats before us, we must reclaim the reboot key,” Tyria sternly said. “Without it, we cannot change any of the situations we’re facing.”
As soon as Tyria had declared that they had to move, a Clustanian soldier approached Akane with terror in her eyes. She alerted her general that their units were moving towards Archia and the Tower of Origin. No one understood why until, once again, the reboot key was brought up.
“So, does that mean Kureha is the one controlling them all?” Alisha asked. She clenched her spear. “What a despicable man.”
“We can insult him all we want later; we must get to Archia!” Hikari Gojo urged.
“I will stay here to stop whatever is causing this assault,” Akane said. She turned to the lilac Origin. “Lady Tyria, may I ask that you go with them? If they are going to stop Kureha—”
Tyria held up her hand. She didn’t need any explanation. She needed to get the reboot key. She needed to set Harvestasha back on course. Of course, there were an infinite amount of tasks and things to do, but as the Tower itself, she needed to prepare it for its ultimate goal.
Archia was in chaos. People were running to shelter from the Antibodies and Clustanians that had penetrated the city’s defenses while Archian troops tried to combat them. They had been completely blindsided by the invasion, and it made Sorey feel sick. He knew how they felt having intruders destroy everything around them. To see people get killed right in front his eyes, though, was even worse.
But he and his friends also noticed that none of the Archian guardians were protecting the citizens. It was strange; with an attack of that epic scale, there had to be some sort of secondary line of defense, right? Cocona shifted her attention to someone she knew. Bulky and weathered by heat and hard work, the one that had helped her upon her arrival to the Third Tower came running towards them.
“Master Gengai!” she called to him.
“Cocona, good to see you!” he chortled despite the havoc surrounding him.
“Reverend Gengai, what are you doing here?” Sorey asked him. His suspicions had been confirmed—something was debilitating the Archian response.
When Gengai explained that all of the safeguards had been disabled, he admitted that he had sided with them. Cocona was surprised but not shocked. Gengai was the type of person to help anyone in need, and she couldn’t blame him. Most of the people in Archia knew nothing about what was happening behind the scenes. To let them die in the crossfire between their city and Clustania was awful.
“Even if we don’t see eye-to-eye, we’re a charitable militia that will lend a hand to those in need,” he professed. “The good thing is that the Antibodies aren’t just sticking around Archia. They’re heading towards the Tower of Origins, and they’ve got Clustanians on their side. Those wretched things, gaining an advantage by using the Antibodies. We’ve got to stop them!”
“Hold on!” Rose snapped.
“Clustania didn’t order this attack,” Alisha explained. Gengai was almost flabbergasted upon hearing such a notion. “We were talking with the general, Akane, when she got the report. She and her troops were as surprised and scared as the people here. This is not their fault.”
“Is this true?” Gengai asked.
“Yes,” Saki supported. “The general had no knowledge of this.”
“Open your eyes,” Finnel urged. “None of those Clustanian ships have troops on them. They’re all being controlled from the outside, and Aki and her soldiers can’t do that!”
“So then who is the mastermind behind this?” Gengai questioned further.
“We don’t know, but we do have an idea,” Sorey answered him. “We can take care of the mastermind. Reverend Gengai, please protect the people—Archian or Clustanian.”
“You have my word, Shepherd. I’ll command both Archian forces and Great Fang forces. I’ll protect everyone down to the last man, woman, and child even if it kills me!”
Sorey reflected the heroic grin. This man reminded him of Sergei, and he was glad to have an ally in the city to help them. Still, there was something that perplexed Tyria and Hikari Gojo. They watched the Antibodies and their destination. Only a few of them had engaged the civilians. Most of them were heading to the Tower of Origins as the reverend had said.
“Clearly there is something very important in the Tower,” she said.
“That can’t be; wasn’t the Tower of Origin supposed to have ceased all functions?” Hikari Gojo inquired.
“I mean, technically, but I did pick up on a faint…heartbeat, so to speak. We should make our way there A-S-A-NOW.”
Tyria led them in the direction of their destination, yet she wasn’t well-versed in the layout of the city to get there on her own. Cocona and Hikari Gojo, both of whom had past attempted excursions to the ruin, guided them to the Archia Think Tank. Just before they came to the bridge leading into the facility, Finnel collapsed in agony.
“Filly!” Saki cried out. Her friend was in so much pain. “What’s wrong?!”
“That…That girl…she’s trying to come out…but why now?” Finnel choked. She swallowed and forced herself to withstand the pain as she stood up. “I’m fine…! Let’s keep going…!”
“Are you sure?” Lailah asked. “You can stay here and rest if you need to.”
“I don’t need to. I want to get to the bottom of this so I can protect Aki.”
“Don’t slow us down,” Dezel griped.
Finnel stomped her foot, the heel of her shoe clacking against the thick metal of the bridge. “I won’t! I have to be strong for her!” She fell to her knees again.
The clumsy seraph pushed herself back up to her feet. Her head pounded, but she had to press on. Once again, they were on the move into the Archia Think Tank.
With Hikari Gojo being the sole leader now, he instructed Sorey and Tyria of the directions they needed to go to get to an underground entryway. Cocona wasn’t happy about going under the facility, but there was not much else they could do. The place wasn’t guarded thanks to the invasion, yet it didn’t mean that they couldn’t be careful and stay out of sight for as long as they could. Turning left at the first hallway and entering one of the rooms with a small hatch leading down under, the entirety of the group managed to congregate in the tiny chamber below.
Up until now, Mikleo had been blindly following them, putting his apprehensive trust in Sorey and his friends. When it came to going underground to sneak around, he felt unsure if it was truly safe. Of course, if he had his memories, he would have been comfortable—after all, he and his beloved Shepherd used to snoop around the prohibited insides of the Mabinogio Ruins near Elysia all the time without Zenrus knowing. And Sorey tried to convince him that had been the case right now before going underground. He promised him that nothing bad would happen. Mikleo went along with him, though still untrusting of him.
Hikari Gojo reoriented himself under the facility, again leading his comrades down the labyrinthine tunnels to the hatch that would bring them to the hallway where there was a giant door. That door was usually locked, and only a handful of people had permission to go in. Emerging from the underground and surveying the immediate area, the doctor found that the door had been blasted open. The scorch marks and damages made Cocona wonder if the Antibodies had done it, but he looked on the bright side. The door, which was locked with several security locks, was open. It was an invitation to keep going to the Tower of Origins. Nevertheless, he cautioned them.
“How do you know the way in?” Edna asked. “For such a typically heavily-guarded place, it’s quite the feat.”
“I’ve snuck in before,” Hikari Gojo bluntly said. “Back when I used to work here. I had a feeling that Archia was hiding something like their horrible conspiracy, and I needed to confirm it. At first, I couldn’t believe that the Tower of Origins was still operating—I had even convinced myself that it wasn’t for the longest time—and I also learned about the fearsome research going on.”
“Fearsome research?” Zaveid repeated.
“Yes. According to Katene, that research was tied to the Human Evolution Project, otherwise known as the Seraphoid Project.”
Sorey and Alisha’s breaths hitched at the mention. They had always wondered how Bartlow had even fathomed the project, and to learn that it was actually something stemming from somewhere as far as the Third Tower, it only answered one and brought up a ton more.
Notes:
We now know where Bartlow got the idea to merge humans and seraphim together! But what could this mean?
Chapter 164: Phase 6: Virus Dragon
Summary:
Sorey and company follow Richa into the SH Server of the Tower of Origins. There, they encounter the one that had ruined Mikleo.
Notes:
Ahhh....this is an action chapter and oof, I remember do this fight. I hope it's not too bad.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
They had arrived at the series of bridges that crisscrossed through out the Tower of Origins. It looked very similar to the Clustanian Executive District; however, they were still able to see outside as opposed to blindly white walls plastered with Hymmnos text. Whether it was because he had Mikleo by his side or because he wasn’t upset about the situation as much anymore, Sorey’s fondness for ruins had returned. He gushed at the architecture, commenting that the appearance was far different from any and all ruins below on the Glenwood Continent. Tyria, amused by his childish admiration, decided to give a short history lesson.
On her Tower, the Tower of Tilia, life began in the Tower of Origins. It was centuries before she had become the Tower herself, but she explained that she sang a particular Song and transformed into the second Tower that they were familiar with that was built around it. Despite that, she didn’t seem interested in the Tower of Origins nor felt any reason to care about it. As a budding archaeologist, however, Sorey protested that she should care. Ruins were the evidence of the past. Paying no mind to them doomed humanity to making the same mistakes over and over a losing all sorts of valuable information.
“Oh, look at the time,” Tyria ultimately said. “If we don’t hurry, we’re going to miss the bus to Plot Progression. Then we’ll have a filler episode on our hands, and fillers aren’t all that fun.”
Hikari Gojo took it as a sign to lead them deeper into the Tower of Origins. Unsurprisingly, along with the Antibodies that were pouring from Moocheriel, there were hellions supporting them and attacking anything that came their way. The farther in they went, the more there were. While Sorey and his Squires and seraphim easily dispatched them, the Antibodies grew much more resilient. They required Song Magic to be defeated, and Saki and Finnel were both too weak to use their attacks. That was when Tyria stepped up to the plate to fight.
Tyria only needed to use a fraction of her power to get rid of them. Her Song Magic at its minimum potential was fearsome, definitely a force not to be reckoned with. But eventually even her Song Magic was no match for them.
“How interesting,” the Origin sighed. “To think that even my Song Magic wasn’t strong enough.”
“Maybe if we Armatize…” Zaveid suggested.
“Nope, that won’t do it. They’re directlying feeding off all the negative energy, so they’re just getting stronger and stronger the more desperate people get.” She lazily pointed to a group by the entrance to a door labeled SH SERVER. “They look like they’re desperate and struggling.”
Hikari Gojo recognized who it was, and without any hesitation, he opened his medical kit to shoot the assailants.
“D-Doctor!” Richa gasped. “What are you doing here?!” Her eyes sparkled with expectation and delight. “Oh, have you finally accepted my love? I always knew you would swoop in to save me in a dire situation!”
As much as Hikari Gojo was often put off by her fantasies, he steeled himself. He vowed to taken care of the Antibodies, but in return he wanted a favor from her. He rallied his friends, and Sorey—knowing Mikleo wouldn’t fight with them this time—called on Edna to support him. Zaveid took it upon himself to protect Richa and Mikleo and whatever couple of Archian soldiers that were trying to fight the Antibodies.
And it was a good idea. Seized by fear, the Archian troops quickly turned into hellions which threatened to kill them. Zaveid lashed at them with his pendulums while pulling the two seraphim behind him. They were weak, yet he couldn’t let down his guard just yet.
The Antibodies surrounded the others. Lailah and Edna prepared to sing Song Magic to buff their attack and defense, and Dezel ensnared an Antibody in his chains for Rose to kill. Alisha and Sorey fought back to back, stabbing and slashing those that threatened them. Saki and Finnel sang as well while Hikari Gojo and Cocona fended them off with attacks of their own. But once again, Tyria was the showstopper. She sang her Song, and it grew and grew until it was of cataclysmic scale. Once it was too big to hold onto anymore, she launched it at the Antibodies. Their bodies immediately burned away from her power.
Richa had never seen Song Magic that strong, and for just a second, she looked inconsolably frightened. Hikari Gojo approached her with his favor.
“Richa, you’ve been working with the Archia Think Tank for a long time, and now is the time to finally tell me what secret they are hiding there,” he said with urgency.
Richa bit her lip. “I-I really don’t know!” she replied. “It’s just really important. I have to keep guard of it.”
“Important? Please, Richa, as your friend, I’m begging you to tell me.”
Sorey joined Hikari Gojo’s side. He bowed to her. “And as the Shepherd tasked with saving the world, I must know as well,” he calmly requested.
They pressured her, but she still fought back. She stressed that she couldn’t tell, both because of her position as a military officer and also because she was a woman trying to win the doctor’s heart. It wasn’t a tactic that was going to work. He turned it back on her, asking as a man that she tell him and promising to heal her if it caused her that much pain to expose her employer.
“If you trust me, Richa, then please. Help us,” he asked of her again, taking her hand.
Richa’s heart beat fast, almost fluttering wildly in her chest. “You’re cruel, but…okay, I’ll tell you.” She blushed, looking away from his bespectacled face. “On one condition. Lend your aid to the Archian forces.”
While Hikari Gojo accepted it to win her trust, Sorey couldn’t help but feel that that would only complicate things. He couldn’t rescind a promise he didn’t make, so he had to go with it for now.
“If you really mean it, then let’s keep going together,” Richa said with a soft smile.
The pink-clad seraph began to lead them through the door and up the series of flights of stairs and elevators to the SH Server. All the while, they fought off the hellions and Antibodies, but Sorey still couldn’t shake off how Hikari Gojo had manipulated the girl. He was putting everyone in danger, and they couldn’t afford to lose momentum now. He still had Mikleo’s predicament in the back of his mind. If Richa turned on them, or if she saw through Hikari Gojo’s lie, he would protect the water seraph no matter what.
Soon enough, Richa brought them to the SH Server. “This is it,” she said. “This is Archia’s big secret.”
She punched in some sort of password before the door unlocked. They all filed into the SH Server, where Finnel felt sick to her stomach. “This place…” she mumbled.
Sorey’s emerald eyes shot all over the place as he registered what the chamber looked like. “It’s just like that nurturing center in Clustania,” he observed with horror.
“But why?” Saki asked.
“Why else?” a malicious voice answered back. All eyes fell on the man that had marred a number of seraphim’s souls. “It has, however, become something of an ancient ruin now.” Kureha smiled evilly. “Do you want to know the truth about this place?”
Sorey immediately drew his sword upon hearing Mikleo’s stifled whine. He hid behind Zaveid, who promised to keep him safe as per the Shepherd’s wishes. He wasn’t going to let this nefarious man near him even if he had to die trying. It didn’t matter if he was the Shepherd or not, he could never forgive someone that would hurt Mikleo that way.
“Long ago this place was used by the Church down below to bring seraphim under their control,” Kureha explained. “Mana from the earthpulse would be concentrated until it manifested, and before the ego formed, the Church would chain them down, producing malakhim.”
Zaveid reflexively took hold of Mikleo and Edna, the latter of whom protested. Sorey remembered what the malakhim were from his Dives into the wind seraph, and horrified that the facility had been a farm, he willed himself to hold back.
“This was all done because even a thousand years back then, they knew that merging seraphim and humans together would produce superhumans.”
“The Seraphoid Project,” Alisha mentioned, her forlorn eyes falling to the floor.
“Otherwise known as the Human Evolution Project, right?” Hikari Gojo snarled.
“Call it whatever you want, but precisely.”
Richa gulped before steeling herself. “S-So you’ve been commandeering that and acting as the Antibody puppetmaster?” She stomped her foot. “You’re disgusting!”
“Look who’s talking! You traitor!”
Sorey turned to her, emerald eyes wide and searching for some sort of answer.
“That’s right, that woman was part of this project before she defected to the humans. Akane was always better than you.”
“A-Aki…?” Finnel almost cried.
“Leave us alone! Because of all those experiments, Akane will suffer, too!”
Kureha cackled. He didn’t care what happened to Akane or Richa. He had to ask them—why was the SH Server so important? Archia was built on an earthpulse point that still produced a considerable amount of mana. Without it, the seraphim in Clustania as well as everywhere else on the Tower would die if it were to be poisoned. It was the only reason that the two cities had not engaged in all-out war. But it was now in Clustania’s possession.
“We couldn’t let just anyone into our utopia,” Kureha continued. “The Cleansings were to filter out the human garbage. That’s what the deal was—the power of the Antibodies in exchange for a seraph’s body…which worked out much better than expected.”
Sorey was struggling to hold him back. “It’s because of you and this deal that Mikleo’s heart has been erased!” he screamed at him. “You took the one I hold most precious from me!”
“Is this the malevolence that Lord Heldalf wanted to steep you in?”
“I will make you pay for what you did!”
“Sorey, stop!” Lailah interrupted him.
Sorey halted at once.
“I understand how you feel, but remember what will happen if you give into these emotions.” She felt guilty again. “I kno how much this hurts. I know how angry you are, but you mustn’t fall into this trap.”
The Shepherd tightened his grip on his sword. “What do I do?” he rasped.
“Simple, you allow me—a member of the Teru Tribe—and the Antibodies to erase you,” Kureha nonchalantly said.
“Teru?”
The very malevolence that Kureha thirst to see come from the Shepherd wafted from his body. He had far exceeded the parameters of the Seraphoid Project thanks to Ar Ru’s Antibodies. A demonic light glowed from within his form, enshrouded in the darkness that flowed from his heart. In a flash, his humanoid body transformed into that of a massive wyvern-type dragon.
“How?” Rose gasped.
Lailah remembered that Tastiella and others of the Teru had parts that looked draconic. Then she remembered part of the report found in Trizolde Cave. “Could he be…could he really be some sort of descendent?”
“What is it with everyone wanting to turn into things?” Tyria sighed. “Everyone, let’s get ready unless you want to stand at Heaven’s door.”
Kureha roared through the SH Server, and the only seraph that was left unaffected by the resulting restraints it placed on them was Tyria. Saki, Finnel, Cocona, and Richa fell to their knees. Lailah, Edna, Dezel, and Zaveid retreated inside their vessel, leaving Mikleo the only other seraph in harm’s way.
The Song that echoed through the room was some sort of strange demonic death knell. Lailah, hiding inside of Alisha, confirmed what she had thought. Tyria commenced her Song Magic while Sorey, Alisha, Rose, and Hikari Gojo prepared to fight back against him until the Origin was ready to blast him away.
“Disgusting humans shall perish,” Kureha’s voice through the growls.
Rose and Alisha dashed in to attack him only to be kicked back. Sorey went in next, watching every move to either dodge or parrying. Even still with all that he had learned over his journey, and no matter how quick his sword dance had become, he was still fighting a dragon.
“Earth Dragon Dance!” he called out. Kureha lashed out at him with his talons that cut into his abdomen.
Sorey leapt back, and while he was injured, his wish to avenge Mikleo kept him going. He charged in again, this time with Hikari Gojo behind him with his medical kit ready to shoot him. The dragon stepped back, and suddenly, it spun into them like a drill. Hikari Gojo was immediately incapacitated, but the Shepherd was still going strong.
Rose took the opportunity to attack him. She didn’t like using her friends as distractions, but Kureha was far stronger than they had expected. Alisha flanked him, stabbing his foot with her spear.
“Lailah, I need your help!” she said.
The restraint vanished when she stabbed him, and the fire seraph emerged from her princess. She flicked her flames at the dragon, and she initiated the second Mystic Arte that she had learned after reaching the final level in her cosmosphere.
“Roar!” she called as she made a ring of sigils before her. “My soul burns…” She flung the ring at the dragon. As it engulfed him in a ball of flame, she continued, “And grants vengeance on the wicked!” She twirled, morphing the ball into a great vortex. “This is your end! Primal Embrace!”
The dragon screeched before punting her back into her princess.
“I need you, Dezel!” Rose called out as Lailah whizzed into Alisha. The blind wind seraph stood next to her, pendulums wrapped around his wrists. “It’s time.”
Dezel threw a pendulum that wrapped around Kureha’s ankle. “You can’t run!” he snarled. “I’ll drag you into the depths of hell!” A tornado of gusts and chains whipped him. “Tornado Prism!”
Again, Kureha yanked Dezel into the air and flung him down into the floor. “You miscreants…!” the dragon hissed.
Sorey tried to catch him before he flew up above them. As Tyria sang her Song to power it up, she watched him. She needed to disengage her Linkage Armor—which only appeared when she had to fight—if she wanted to attain her strongest magic.
“Out of my way and die!” Kureha screeched. A catastrophic ball of light and fire formed above him. When he shot it down at the battlefield, Alisha and Rose pulled their seraphim under them in a vain attempt to protect them. “Megaflare!”
Rose, Alisha, Lailah, and Dezel were knocked out. Mikleo, who had been trying to stay on the edge, had felt the shockwave from the blast. Sorey, who had been so focused on stopping Kureha, realized that the one he wanted to protect was still in trouble. He had suffered sufficient damage as well, yet he couldn’t bear the thought of his love dying after everything they had been through.
The dragon faced the water seraph, devoid of his artes and Songs. “Both ends of the deal have been met; I’ve no use for a pointless tool like you now,” he chided.
Sorey’s body moved on its own. He threw himself on him, hearts pounding and wounds hurting as if on fire. He could have tried to fight him off. He could have used a Mystic Arte like Lailah and Dezel. But he couldn’t leave him unprotected. So he held him close and tight. If they were going to die, he wanted to have him in his arms.
“Linkage Armor disengage,” Tyria said. The entire suit disintegrated into light, revealing her tiny body in her suit. “Now releasing.”
In the dreamscape created by Tyria’s Song Magic, the blueprints and schematics of the Third Tower filled Sorey’s mind. She was the Tower, and it was her. And in knowing this, she drew on all the power she could to pierce Kureha with beams of light. They punctured his robe-like wings and burned him; the dragon let out an agonizingly human scream.
“Sorey, now’s your chance!” Tyria signaled. “Shepherds purify things, so purify this loser.”
The brunet let go of Mikleo, the pain from his wound starting to push through his brain. Still, he had to persevere. He dashed to Kureha, the silver flame blazing on his sword. With a quick and deft lunge, he pierced the dragon’s heart. The malevolence that had taken Kureha’s body into the monstrosity disappeared without a trace. When Sorey pulled the sword from him then took a step back, he questioned how he had become a dragon in the first place. Usually, Rose was the one to volunteer to execute the sullied, but because his sword had plunged into him, he had to wonder now. After all, a wound that terrible would no doubt kill him, and if he was some sort of seraph, there would be a price to pay.
“I’ve…failed?” the purple-clad man growled. “I almost succeeded, but to think that this runt would get the Origin’s help…”
Tyria stepped up to him paying no mind to his dying monologue. “Enough of that,” she said. “Where is the reboot key for Harvestasha?”
“Weren’t you listening, you sorry excuse for a Tower?” Kureha coughed up blood. “Clustania has been under Archia’s control; naturally, the key would be in Archia. Those ingrates aren’t neutral—they’ve been toying with the lives of the seraphim. By killing me, you’re just aiding their objective. If you let this continue…” He turned to Sorey. “If you let this continue, the world will revert to what it was a thousand years ago. The world—yours and ours—will become the same living hell.”
Sorey winced from his wound and from the warning. He had learned what life was like a thousand years ago from both the Celestial Record and his journey.
“You’re wrong,” he said. “There are bad humans out there, just like there are bad seraphim. But we are not the same.” He held up his sword before him. “I swear on my life, I will purify Maotelus. My dream for coexistence between humans and seraphim—I will make that a reality at any cost.”
“Is that right?” Kureha spat. “At any cost? At the cost of the whole damn planet? You’ll regret killing me, Shepherd and Origin. If you aid humans and leave this place into their hands, the world will undoubtedly become a living hell, and it will be all your fault!”
Zaveid and Edna appeared and grimaced at him. “Would you just hurry up and die already?” she asked. “Seraphim don’t need ambitious, self-righteous zealots like you to protect us.”
Kureha’s final breath was nothing more than an exhale and a smirk before he toppled over in death. As the earth seraph healed those that had been injured in battle, Sorey was only left in confusion by his final words. How would the world become a living hell when it already was one?
Raphael’s celebratory voice broke into his thoughts. “The Antibodies are receding!” he announced to his people. Cheers and hurrahs echoed throughout Archia, and at once Richa left the SH Server to report to her superior. Lailah and Dezel returned inside their humans to recuperate. Finnel and Saki thanked Edna, who asked that they swore their loyalty to her and became her lady-maids. Cocona outright rejected her, causing her to threaten to punt her with her rocks. Mikleo still kept his distance from Sorey, though he stared at the bloodstain on his shirt left from his wound.
“I don’t mean to rush everyone, but we need to follow Richa,” Hikari Gojo urged.
He couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about Raphael. It was good that the Antibodies had left the city, but Richa had violated her contract. The chairman, who had to explain himself, was too proud of what had happened. Tyria was curious about him as well, and Sorey was still wary of him.
After Lailah purified what little malevolence remained on Kureha’s corpse, they left the SH Server. If they took the body with them, it would led to problems, and it was better for the Archian troops to be ignorant that they had killed him. They were not the ones to find him, though. Symonne walked in when she realized yet another plan had gone wrong.
“It was foolish to trust you,” she belittled the corpse. “Mikleo was the vessel for Ar Ru. We had all the players in the palm of our hands, but you got cocky and ruined it. We still have our fail-safe, though. Harvestasha is still on our side.”
Notes:
Kureha was annoying. But at least that's one more enemy taken out!
Chapter 165: Phase 6: The Ship of Stars
Summary:
With Kureha dead and everyone still in Archia, Tyria accepts working with Raphael. She receives EXEC_COSMOFLIPS/. but fails to convince Ar Ru.
Notes:
So Ar Tonelico is a JRPG. Older JRPGs LOVE backtracking. AT...has a lot of that. But at least we're going to learn a lot!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hikari Gojo escorted his friends down from the SH Server back to the Archia Think Tank. As they approached Raphael’s large office branching from a main hallway, they saw Richa within standing off to the side. Sorey was unsure if he was ready to see his face again after he threatened to seal Mikleo and the Wills that had been trapped inside of him all inside of Saki’s heart. He just knew that he needed to know—along with everyone else—how and why Archia controlled the seraphic lives within Clustania.
The door opened, and Raphael stopped talking to Richa and his troops to welcome them warmly. There was still a malicious glint in his eye, but Sorey swallowed his trepidation and anger to return the greeting. The man thanked them graciously for driving the Antibodies away and protecting them, though Alisha and Rose reminded him that they were far from friends. They hadn’t moved the Antibodies for his sake but for the innocent lives that were in danger of being consumed.
“There’s no need for hostility,” Raphael assured them. “Regardless of your intention, you saved Archia from a most terrible demise. And we share the same goal.”
“We don’t share anything with you!” Finnel blurted out at him.
“Are you asking for a truce?” Sorey inferred.
“Yes, actually,” Raphael confirmed. His face hardened somewhat. “We all know what the Antibodies are, and we all know that that one in Moocheriel is controlling them. Saki and Finnel won’t suffice now, and that water seraph in your possession—”
“You will not refer to him that way.”
Raphael flinched. He conceded to Sorey, whose rather calm but stern demeanor masked the anger of a lion. “Well, what if I told you that there was a point to all of this? We’re trying to save the world.”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t have tried to sacrifice Saki and Mikleo!” Rose snapped back.
“That was before. Now, we have a chance.” He turned to face Tyria. “Lady Tyria, the Tower herself, no?”
Tyria looked up at him, uninterested in his prattling. In fact, she thought he was downright disrespectful to her. She questioned whose authority he had to address her in any sense; Raphael, on the other hand, was lost in his own perverted thoughts. He admired her corporeal form, mumbling about how the research had not been in vain.
“What a disgusting man,” Lailah quietly said.
Raphael caught himself, clearing his throat before introducing himself. Tyria again asked him what his business was with her. He then mentioned that he had a Hymn Crystal that worked exclusively for Reyvateil Origins. It had been created by a researcher 700 years ago, one who had defected from what was once called the Abbey. He was the chairman of Kurogane Lab. Tyria seemed to take notice of the name.
“Ah, would that Hymn Crystal be Cosmoflips?” she asked as if nothing was wrong.
“Precisely!” Raphael gleefully said. His excitement rubbed Sorey and Mikleo the wrong way. “With this Song, Ar Ru can be contained. The World Regeneration Project has been defuncted for some time now because we had no way of using this Hymn Crystal. Now that you walk among humans, we can install it into you and make headway again.”
“So, in other words, you want to capture Ar Ru in an individual within the cosmosphere and keep her there until she vanishes.” Tyria mulled over his words.
Hikari Gojo doubted the plan. It was risky because there was no telling what Ar Ru’s soul would do to Tyria. Moreover, Sorey couldn’t justify trapping a Will somewhere like that. It was being sealed away that was part of the reason for all of this as far as the Third Tower was concerned. And more than likely, Maotelus had been sealed somewhere, too, and was now tainted by Heldalf.
Tyria felt differently. Raphael promised that Kurogane respected her completely and would never think to hurt her. The Origin believed him, or rather that the late researcher wouldn’t have some ill intention. There was a conflict of interest involved, and Hikari Gojo wasn’t comfortable leaving the Origin in the hands of someone who had been holding all of the seraphim hostage.
Raphael requested that Tyria go to an examination room to have the the Hymn Crystal used on her, but she only went on the condition that the doctor and Cocona were allowed to be her bodyguards. Rose demanded to go as well. Dezel asked her why she was getting involved. Her gut was feeling strange about it. Tyria was agreeing to things too fast in her opinion. The chairman agreed to the three of them accompanying her, and before Sorey and the rest of them were told to return to the inn to kill some time, Tyria turned to Saki and Finnel:
“I need you two to do your best to rest up. You hold the other Wills of the Planet and are my only hopes of talking to Ar Ru as an equal. Don’t push yourselves too much, okay?”
Saki and Finnel nodded, understanding that she really needed their help. With that, they took their leave. Tyria and her entourage headed to the examination room to download the crystal while Sorey and his friends returned to the city. Raphael and Richa were alone in the room save for the troops that had been debriefed.
“The pieces are finally all in place, now we just need to move ahead with our plan,” the chairman said, an evil smile on his lips. “Richa, you know what to do.”
Richa wasn’t comfortable. “Sir, if I may give my opinion,” she started.
“Did I ask or your opinion? Just get out and move according to the plan.”
“Y-Yes, sir…”
While Alisha and Lailah took Saki and Finnel back to the inn to rest, Sorey asked Zaveid and Edna to give him and Mikleo some privacy again. The two of them pouted.
“Geez, privacy again?” Zaveid groaned. “We’re here, too! Sheps, when are you going to Dive into me again?”
Sorey blushed a little. He had thought about Diving once they got Ar Ru under control, and while there was still a lot to be done, Zaveid had no choice but to accept that he would have to wait a little longer. Of course, that cleared the way for Edna to tease him about being needed.
“I’m really sorry,” Sorey apologized. “I just want to make sure that everything with Mikleo is okay. Raphael…he’s planning something.”
“Hmph, it’s not like you to be this over-protective or suspicious,” Edna sighed. “I guess what all happened really did a number on you, huh?” Grabbing Zaveid by the tail ends of his hair, she pulled him to the inn where they could take over the kitchen. “Fine, we’ll give you privacy. Once this is all over, you owe us each a Dive to make up for it.”
“I promise,” Sorey said. He put all his attention and energy on Mikleo now. The water seraph had barely said anything to him since regaining himself. “Have you…remembered anything?”
“No,” he replied. “Why not just Dive into them now? Why are you so fixated on me?”
“Because we…” Sorey suddenly couldn’t say anything. To hear such a question—accusation broke his already-shattered heart. He tried to take solace in the fact that Mikleo had said this of his own accord and wasn’t being controlled by anyone. “Because I love you, and I want you to be safe.”
Mikleo took a step back when Sorey took a step forward. He couldn’t be near him even if, for some reason, it felt right to be. He didn’t know who he was.
“I’m…sorry,” the water seraph said.
“Don’t be,” Sorey said through a fake smile after a moment. “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Will you at least walk with me?”
Sorey and his seraph walked around Archia as he tried to explain all the things that happened that drove them apart. He told him about what had happened in Ladylake and how it had severely hurt him. He told him that they had become inseparable after that, and when it was time to gain the spiritual power of water, there was yet another wedge between them. And now outside forces once again were pulling them apart. Whenever he had the chance, Sorey had to confess, he repeated a silent prayer that Tyria would be able to heal him.
A couple hours later, they returned to the inn to find Tyria, Hikari Gojo, Rose, and Cocona all standing together with Alisha, Lailah, Saki, Finnel, Dezel, Zaveid, and Edna. Edna was holding a tray of fresh palmiers.
“Eizen used to make these all the time,” she said, a hint of homesickness in her voice. “He made special batches whenever he was getting ready to leave on another journey.” She handed one to Sorey. “I made it with my blessing.”
“Edna, that’s so sweet,” Lailah cooed.
The earth seraph realized she was becoming soft. “J-Just shut up and eat it.” She turned her head with a pout.
Tyria updated them. The Song had been successfully absorbed into her with no problems. She thought it was familiar, but she had no memory of the man that had created it. Regardless, she trusted that man and only agreed to accepting the Song to ensure that the Antibodies didn’t devour the world. Cocona, along with Sorey and Rose, stated that they needed to retrieve the Heart of Gaea and keep it away from Harvestasha. Now that Kureha was dead, there was no immediate threat of it being stolen, but they knew that if it was left unattended for too long, either Ar Ru would be enraptured by its influence or she would control it herself.
“We need to get back to Moocheriel,” Sorey decided.
“Do we need to take the earthpulse again?” Cocona asked.
“We shouldn’t need to,” Tyria said. “The mana—as our foreign friends would call it—has shifted. It seems to be concentrating in other places, but the way to Moocheriel is clear of any obstacles.”
“Damn, I forgot to ask Raphael about the SH Server!” Sorey cursed.
“More than likely we’ll be seeing him again,” Hikari Gojo said. “He’ll no doubt want a report on how detaining Ar Ru goes.”
“You can ask him then,” Dezel concluded.
Sorey determined that it would have been a waste of time anyway. They had to stop Ar Ru before anything else. They all headed down to Moocheriel.
Upon arriving in Moocheriel, the malevolence had become much stronger and more debilitating. Sorey fell to his knees while all of the seraphim struggled to hold themselves up within the crushing domain. The Antibodies had been collecting there at the beck and call of their goddess, and it felt almost as strong as Heldalf’s domain. The Antibodies had been soaking up as much negative energy as possible, funneling it back into the very blood of the planet.
“We’ve got to hurry…” Sorey coughed.
He followed the winding path through the swamp-like place to the clearing where Saki had tried to pull Ar Ru from Mikleo’s soul space. Ar Ru’s body had regenerated, and the Heart of Gaea that hovered above her had grown to an enormous size. Cocona was the most afraid of it.
“It’s only that big because a strong will is residing in it,” Tyria noted. “Ar Ru’s most likely. See? She’s standing under it. Whatever power it’s managed to soak up is being used to sustain her physical form.”
Ar Ru watched them with adamantine eyes. “The Will of the Tower?” she quietly mumbled.
“Yup, and you must be the goddess of this world.” Tyria approached her. “Let’s become one and heal the world together. A friend of yours—Maotelus—is in a lot of pain right now, isn’t he? That poor child shouldn’t have to suffer, so let’s help him together.”
Ar Ru snubbed her. She rejected Tyria as a seraph and as a will equivalent to her own. “The Consensus has no interest, so if you don’t leave here now, I will have no choice but to kill you.”
Sorey stepped up to her. He showed her that he had no intention of hurting her or the other Wills, bowing before her and begging for her cooperation. Again, Ar Ru refused. Negotiations had failed, and the Antibody Brain was prepared to attack. She conjured up a ball of light. Without hesitation, she fired it at Sorey—the one she seemed to blame the most for all that had happened. The attack didn’t connect, however. When the flash disappeared and the smoke from the impact cleared, Sarapatra was standing before him.
“Come on, Ar Ru, listen!” she pleaded.
“Oh, beat it, you whore,” Ar Ru insulted.
“W-Whore!?”
“Stop it!” Tyria commanded. “It was to be expected that things would go like this. This is why I accepted the Song. I will get through to you, Ar Ru.”
Tyria, glowing in a warm light, began to sing. Unlike other seraphim or her sisters, she didn’t assume any stance. She was completely defenseless against Ar Ru, and she wanted to be. The Song that she sang pleaded with her to forgive humans. Ar Ru wasn’t about to let go of her disgust for them. As a goddess, she had every right to slaughter them all. The other Wills didn’t want her to give into that hatred; if she did, she would be at risk of falling just like Maotelus had. Finnel was taken over by Soma, who rallied Sorey and his friends. They had to protect Tyria while she tried to convince the angry girl.
“Shepherd,” Soma began. “This is your fight, too. Prove to us that you have what it takes to make your dream a reality.”
“Prove to us that your love for Mikleo can overcome this obstacle,” Sarapatra requested.
Sorey, flanked by Rose and Alisha, drew his sword. He wasn’t going to hurt Ar Ru, and he promised that. He promised that he was going to unite both races. He promised to make that dream come true with Mikleo at his side.
Ar Ru clenched her teeth in exasperation. When Sorey charged at her followed by everyone that had been journeying with him thus far, she made sure that they couldn’t fight back. Lailah flung her fires while Edna stomped a wave of stalagmites. Both Zaveid and Dezel blated her with gusts of turbulent wind. Alisha and Rose slashed at her, and Hikari Gojo tried to shoot her. Cocona, Saraptra, and Soma fended off the Antibodies that were coming to their mother’s aid. Sorey kept Mikleo out of harm’s way, running up to her with his hand down at his side.
“Lion’s—” he uttered, but Ar Ru had him right where she wanted.
“It ends here,” she said.
She raised her hand up, a shadowy ball forming above her head. “I perish therefore I love!”
The energy from the magic was so intense that everyone had been knocked down or blown back from her. Tyria stopped her mantra-liked Song; it was clear that it wasn’t working. Sarapatra and Soma returned within Saki and Finnel.
“She’s too strong!” Finnel cried out.
“What are we going to do?” Alisha panted.
“S-Saki will ask!” Saki volunteered.
“No, it’s too dangerous!” Sorey warned her.
Saki didn’t care because she couldn’t stand to see her friends hurt. She pushed back against the power forcing them down. Over the roar of the Song Magic, she begged Ar Ru to listen to her. They were both Wills of the Planet. They were supposed to work together to sustain the world, not fight about who got to live and who had to die.
Ar Ru still wouldn’t listen. She even decided that Saki, Finnel, and all the Wills within them had committed treason. She was going to kill them even if it meant hurting the world and Maotelus.
“We must retreat!” Hikari Gojo ordered them.
Sorey agreed, and before Ar Ru could blast them again, they escaped to a safer place within Moocheriel. It didn’t matter to the goddess if they were in front of her or hundreds of feet away. Everyone was fated to die soon.
But Sorey couldn’t give up yet. “Is everyone alright?” he asked albeit tiredly.
“Yeah, somehow,” Cocona replied. “We’re in serious trouble if we can’t get her on our side.”
Suddenly, against Finnel’s wishes, Suzunomia emerged from the depths of her soul. The oriental-dressed Will stared at them. Realizing that she stood among her enemies—or frenemies as far as Finnel and Saki were concerned—she puffed out her cheeks.
“I can finally talk with you,” she said. She pointed at Tyria. “The Will of the Tower, the Origin Tyria.”
“Oh, who might you be?” Tyria asked her. “Ah, your presence is familiar—could it be you were the one who was compromising that young man?”
“Yes, I was. Through a series of strange and unfortunate events, I was placed into his body. After Ar Ru appeared, I was transferred back to this vessel. But that is not the topic I wish to discuss.” Suzunomia approached her. “Are you the singer of the Song that resonated throughout the Tower?”
“I am.”
“I thought so.” She pointed her fan in her face. “Return my power to me at once.”
Everyone was immediately put back on edge, with Sorey prepared to defend Tyria if he had to. Tyria asked him to stand down so Suzunomia could explain her demand. According to her, the Song that the Origin had been singing had been draining her of her power and feeding it into the syphon that powered the Tower itself—its name was Moocheriel.
“What do you mean?” Sorey asked her.
“How did that Song steal your power?” Cocona asked.
Tyria had suspected as much, and while they all knew she was a Will of the Planet, the fact that the Tower was stealing her power was more astonishing than her reappearance through Finnel. The Origin verified that she spoke the truth.
“I’ve been lied to by every single person on this Tower—that bastard Kureha, that runt Harvestasha! Give me back my power!”
“Well, I would, but as it stands, we have a little problem.”
“Ar Ru, correct? She’s still rooted in that boy’s soul, which is how she can maintain part of her existence on this plane.”
“If you help us calm her down, then we can help you get your power back.”
“Why, so you can lie as well?”
Sorey interrupted the conversation. How was Ar Ru still within Mikleo? If Suzunomia moved back to Finnel, shouldn’t Ar Ru have followed? Tyria knew that wasn’t the case. It was a web of intricacies. Ar Ru’s body was supplied by the Heart of Gaea. Her soul was rooted in Mikleo’s soul space. Suzunomia had been the middle person, pulled from Finnel by force yet still rooted in her. If they Dived into Mikleo far beyond what was allowed, she was sure they could talk to her in person. It wasn’t possible by regular means, and Sorey would once again be subjected to frequencies that would reduce the human mind to mush. Suzunomia could help them, but she wanted her power back. It would only be possible once Ar Ru was taken care of.
“The one you call Ar Ru is currently at Level Seventeen within the boy of water,” Suzunomia said. “Naturally, you won’t be able to reach that one with current technology.”
“So then how do we get to her?” Sorey asked.
Hikari Gojo tapped his chin. “We can use the VR21,” he offered, and Sorey looked hopeful. “The technology used to create it can access soul spaces past Level Ten, so theoretically a human can enter that deep.”
“The downside to that is that the human nervous system gets overloaded fairly quickly,” Tyria corrected. “You won’t be able to talk or feel, and you’ll probably die as soon as you get to that level.”
Sorey’s smile disappeared. It was virtually impossible to reach the target level, and even if they did, he wouldn’t survive the Dive long enough to talk to Ar Ru. What was the point? On top of that, Mikleo knew they were talking about him. He was afraid of letting them Dive into him like that.
“We don’t have much of a choice, right?” Edna asked. “The quicker we fix all of this, the quicker we can stop seeing Sorey get so depressed every time we say Meebo’s name.”
“I agree; a frown doesn’t suit this lovesick Shepherd,” Tyria teased without a change in her tone. “If anything, I may have a way to lessen the harsh effects of the Deep Dive on you, Sorey. So not all hope is lost.”
“Tyria, don’t forget our deal,” Suzunomia warned.
“I won’t, but we should focus on getting to this antique Dive machine and ending this little issue.”
The oriental-dressed Will glared at the Origin before allowing Finnel to walk among them. The clumsy girl didn’t register where she was immediately, but they filled her in on where they were going. She wanted to know why they were abandoning Ar Ru yet again, and Sorey promised that they weren’t abandoning her. They were going to liberate Mikleo and convince her to stop at the same time. Hikari Gojo took the lead again, this time to Eternus Shaft.
Notes:
Sometimes I feel bad for Ar Ru. Even with the other Wills trying to stop her...she can't let go of her hatred...buuut we get to DEEP Dive into Mikleo next!
Chapter 166: Phase 6: Deep Dive into Mikleo
Summary:
The only way to get Mikleo started on the road to recovery, Sorey must Dive even farther than what humans can withstand. The only question...will he survive?
Notes:
So this isn't a regular Dive in any case, and there's a lot of proxy stuff that goes into it. It's a bit confusing...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“You have to Dive into me?” Mikleo asked as they made their way to Eternus Shaft. They had made it to Archia once again, this time waiting for a ship to take them to Ciela Gate. The water seraph looked uneasily at Sorey; the idea of having this stranger inside his heart frightened him. And the extent to which he was Diving—far beyond what humans could withstand—it made him sick. “Can’t you do this without Diving into me?” He was too nervous and anxious about potentially having a human die inside of his mind. “Why must I be the one to endure this?”
He had every right to be scared. As far as he was concerned, he knew no one around him and the only one that he had faint vague memories of seemed hesitant. In truth, Sorey didn’t want to force him to remember or to let him in. In fact, he knew full-well that Mikleo’s mind and body would reject him even if he were to have his limbs bound and cut off. He wished he could have had his trust, but there was nothing else he could do than to just watch him with his aching heart beating quietly within him. He wanted Mikleo to judge him for himself of any ill intentions he perceived him to have.
But perhaps it wasn’t the complete truth why Mikleo felt so nervous. A human dying within a seraph used to happen all the time in the past. Sorey’s death, however, held something more catastrophic. Even if he resisted the idea of Diving into the farthest ethereal reaches of his soul, he feared never seeing him alive again.
A sharp pain flashed through his head. Sorey quickly went to his side, hesitating to hold him in his arms for anticipation that the water seraph would push him away. But the pain was a signal. Mikleo suddenly remembered another memory—a distressing one but a memory nonetheless. Fire came to mind.
“Why am I…?” Mikleo mumbled.
“A memory?” Sorey asked eagerly.
“Fire…so much fire…”
Sorey had to suppress the anguish that crashed over his heart in waves upon hearing that word. The fire that consumed their homely lives and seared the verdant mountain of the seraphim.
Edna and Cocona sat far from Sorey and Mikleo on the airship when it arrived to transport tham to Ciela Gate. While both understood the depth of their relationship, the latter was still confused how he could only focus on one seraph instead of all three. The earth seraph couldn’t blame him. He had known Mikleo far longer than anyone else. To expect him to put her and Zaveid on a level playing field was foolish.
“We’re not here to be romantically involved with him,” she blunted said. “Both Zaveid and I joined Sorey for our own reasons. Sorey’s purpose is to create a world where we can all coexist. It’s not a bad dream, but neither of us can fulfill it like Meebo can.” She sighed. “If given the chance, though, I’m sure Zaveid would waste no time bedding him.”
“I heard that!” Zaveid called from his conversation with Dezel and Lailah. “I may flirt a lot, but I still have my preferences…right, Lailah?” he purred.
“Please don’t unless you’d rather face Alisha,” Lailah smiled. It was a sinister one, unnaturally dark and bloodthirsty. “We’re both very possessive of each other, after all.”
“Maybe I should move onto Rose!”
“Touch Rose and I’ll kill you myself,” Dezel threatened.
“Any one of the Wills then?”
Soma and Filament automatically came out to defend Finnel and Saki respectively; it could be inferred that Sarapatra and Yurisica had no objections, an idea that Zaveid fantasized about for that brief moment.
It was a short walk to Eternus Shaft from Ciela Gate, and once they had reached the entrance to the underground city, Hikari Gojo showed them they way to the old gallery. It was hopelessly dark, and when he stressed not to use fire to light the path, everyone else was unsure if they could follow him.
“There is a lot of old technology this way, and some of these things could explode if heat sources were too close,” he explained. He climbed up to a door situated on a narrow ledge. There wasn’t enough space for everyone to stand. “We can get to the VR21 from here.”
Sorey and Tyria were the first to go through after Hikari Gojo. The boisterous laughs and overly excited chatter from Mute and Katene put the Shepherd at ease. Mikleo was right behind him, almost trembling at what the noise was about. The two had simply been enjoying the time they had alone together, eating boxed lunches that Mute in her enormous form meticulously made for the tiny scientist.
“Honey, you’ve outdone yourself this time!” Katene sang. “Oh, I can’t wait for the day we can spend the rest of our lives together!”
“D-Do ya really mean it, Darling?!” Mute bellowed.
“Of course!”
Naturally, a scene like this would have been cute and fun and exciting, but for the rest of the group that was filing into the chamber holding the ancient machine, it came off as rather strange. Katene and Mute were embarrassed afterwards, though they wasted no time in preparing Mikleo, Tyria, and Sorey for the Dive.
Mikleo was still unsure. Sorey reached for his hand and only stopped sort when Tyria approached him with a neutral face. She was ingrained with a sense of duty that only now seemed to appear.
“Are you ready?” she asked the seraph.
“No, not really,” he replied.
“I’ll give you a few seconds to wrap your head around this. I’m going to protect Sorey as he Dives into you. Your job is simple; you just have to sleep. Ar Ru’s consciousness lies within you, and thankfully she’s at a frequency that won’t necessarily influence your behavior. Once we talk to her and separate her from the Heart of Gaea and yourself, we can negotiate again and restore your memories.”
What she had said seemed to make him feel better, and Sorey took some solace in that. Katene stood before the VR21, but the cheery demeanor he had melted away into seriousness. The Song Tyria tried to sing when they confronted Ar Ru again wasn’t simply something to persuade her. It was a Song meant to fuse them together, similar to Saki and Finnel. Katene’s father, a top researcher, had been looking for it, and while he was upset that it had been in Raphael’s possession, he couldn’t be completely angry. Without the chairman, they wouldn’t have it in the first place.
Still, he couldn’t forgive what his father tried to do, prompting Sorey to ask exactly he meant by that. With disdain for his father, Katene explained that right when they were about to crack the code of all the mysteries from a millennium ago, the researcher shut down everything about the project and discarded the reboot key that Tyria had been asking for. He didn’t understand why, but Sorey fathomed he had the same idea as Heldalf—the world was sick, and the only way to heal it was to purge the infection and start anew. The fact that Raphael now had the Hymn Crystal containing the Song thus was a bittersweet relief. He was more than willing to help them sabotage his plan.
“Are you ready, Sorey?” Katene finally asked. The Shepherd nodded, standing straight up with his goal in mind. “Okay, first, Mikleo must enter his Dive pod.”
Edna and Zaveid guided him to the first of the three pods. While Edna wasn’t particularly concerned, Zaveid reassured him that they would make sure he was okay. Next Tyria took her place in the second pod to act as the medium by which Sorey and Ar Ru would speak. Finally, the young brunet entered his pod, Rose and Alisha watching over him. Katene stressed that an experienced Diver had to be the one, and everyone knew that Sorey fit the bill—he had Dived into so many seraphim, but now his experience really mattered.
Hikari Gojo and Katene monitored the system together while the others simply waited. With the push a button, the three of them Dived into Level Seventeen.
Sorey and Tyria found themselves before a Shinto shrine. It was something that the Shepherd had never seen before and was quite interested in studying it if they weren’t on a timed mission.
“Is this Level Seventeen?” Sorey asked. “It seems so normal.”
“That’s because there are two things working in your favor,” Tyria enlightened. “The first thing is that we’re in the Binary Field, and my frequencies are shielding you from the frequencies past Level Nine. The second thing is that we need to Paradigm Shift down to Level Seventeen; entering there without any priming would rip you apart.”
“G-Good to know…”
“Well, let’s get Shifting. The sooner we can contact Ar Ru, the sooner we can help your boyfriend.”
Sorey instantly blushed. It had been so long since he referred to Mikleo as a boyfriend. He followed her, nonetheless. She escorted him to their destination, transporting them into the center of a giant otherworldly and technologically advanced city with towering skyscrapers and other alien buildings. Seeing these edifices frightened him, a foreboding of what would eventually become a reality on the Glenwood Continent once people began to learn and invent more things. They weren’t there to play around.
“Down this way,” Tyria instructed. “There’s a pressure bulkhead that serves as the boundary between my soul space and the subconsciousness of the Bianry Field where we can access Level Seventeen. I’ll meet you there once I’ve prepared myself to support you in that space.”
Sorey couldn’t admit that he only understood half of what she was talking about, but he put it out of his mind. He made his way to the bulkhead, and as he drew nearer and nearer to it, his head hurt more and more like someone was squeezing his skull.
Approaching the metaphorical door, he waited for Tyria. There was a faint heartbeat echoing from behind it, and it made him shudder. This was going to be the first time in a long while that he was Diving into Mikleo. Of course, he was using a proxy as well as going far deeper than he was mentally allowed by normal conventions.
“Are you ready?” Tyria suddenly asked behind him.
“D-Don’t scare me like that!” Sorey whined. “But yes, I’m ready.” He turned to the door. “Don’t worry, Mikleo. We’re going to get her out from your heart.”
“A few words of caution,” Tyria interrupted him. “When this door opens, you will be hit with a tremendous amount of energy than has the potential to kill you right here. Brace yourself and hold yourself together. Second, the Binary Field is where all my Songs and memories are stored. Keep a low profile and do not disturb anything. If you do something you’re not supposed to, worst case scenario is that my own memories will be flushed out of a toilet, yourself included.”
Sorey imagined what that would be like, instantly shuddering at the thought that Tyria’s brain would swirl down into a nebulous void along with Ar Ru and himself. He didn’t want any part of them to make like waste and funnel into nothingness. He swallowed his apprehension then gripped the handle of the bulkhead. The first thing he would feel was the burst of energy.
“We’re opening it,” Tyria said. She placed her hand on his, forcing him to open the door. “Get ready!”
Even when they opened the hatch slowly, the door itself swung open with a clunking snap. The energy slammed into Sorey as if it were Heldalf’s malevolent domain when he first met him. There was a bubbling nausea and mind-numbing pain flashing through him with only a moment’s notice. That wasn’t all. The energy kept pulsating and threatening to pull him apart at his joints like he was a doll. It hurt terribly, and even though he had to withstand it to find Ar Ru, he wasn’t sure if he could.
“This mind is very excited,” Tyria said as they stepped through carefully into the abyss. “Keep an eye out for her.”
“Right,” Sorey affirmed. He kept his mind focused; if he faltered, he would lose consciousness. The good thing was he didn’t have to look for long. “Is that her?”
The little goddess that looked part dragon stared back at him. Her face was expressionless, but she was confused about who he was supposed to be. Tyria took care in explaining that it wasn’t a true version of her but simply one that she could communicate with at this level.
“I see,” he said. He remained calm—he had to or else the energy would kill him. “Why are you trying to eradicate all humans? Won’t you consider coexistence? And I don’t mean whatever parasitic relationship the races have now. I want a true coexistence with you.”
Ar Ru stared at him, thinking of a response.
“My ultimate goal is to save this world,” she answered.
“That’s it? But we have the same goal.”
“No, we do not. I do not carry any sort of vendetta against humans, but I must do what I can to ensure that this world thrives. I must protect him.”
“Are you talking about Maotelus?” Sorey asked. “I want to help him, too. I’m sorry it’s taking me so long to purify him, but we’re so close to figuring everything out and stopping Heldalf.” He reached out his hand to her. “If we work together, we can help him.”
“These emotions are so strange, so strong. I don’t understand how an insignificant human like you could have them.”
Her hands glowed with a growing Song Magic. Sorey took notice, but instead of drawing his sword to defend himself, he dropped his guard.
“Sorey, look out!” Sarapatra’s voice echoed.
Ar Ru shot her Song Magic only to have it misfire past him. The busty Goddess of Love Sarapatra appeared at his side.
“How rude! Ar Ru, apologize to this child!” Sarapatra fumed.
“Sorey is just trying to help!” Saki joined in.
“Saki, too?” Sorey said with awe. “How are you in Mikleo’s soulspace?”
“Technically, we’re in the Binary Field. Us Wills may come and go as we please,” Filament explained.
“And we’re here to support you,” Yurisica said while pushing up her glasses.
“Precisely, and we won’t let even our own kind render our last hope useless,” Soma threatened.
“There are still other Wills out there that you haven’t met, Sorey,” Suzunomia told him. “Even if they aren’t standing here with us, they have feelings they wish to extend to Ar Ru. The Wills Musiphe, Amenoch, Eumacia, and Hyanoa have already blessed you with their power. The Ouroboros that continues in a cycle also wish to extend their feelings. There are so many that want to help you, so please do as they wish.”
Through their conviction, Sorey and Tyria sensed their feelings. It manifested in a Song that grew and grew. Whatever this Song was, he couldn’t hear it over the energy that still threatened to blast him into pieces. The last thing he heard before both he and Tyria were forced to the end the Dive as to return to Moocheriel and deliver their feelings.
By the time that Sorey woke up, Hikari Gojo and Zaveid had pulled him out of the pod of the VR21. Mikleo was hovering over him, an inquiring look on his face. He wasn’t sure how to feel, but once Katene addressed him to know what it felt like to have that sort of Dive, he expressed that there seemed to be something that had loosened its grip on him.
“How do you feel?” Cocona asked him.
“A little dizzy, but…I think we’ve made progress,” he replied. He couldn’t explain what all he had seen in the Binary Field as it would have been an invasion of privacy for many of them. Still, he didn’t want to lose the opportunity now.
“Do ya think that pipsqueak will listen now?” Mute asked.
“I think so; we’ve got friends in higher places, after all.”
“Then let’s get going, shall we?” Lailah suggested.
Sorey nodded, and they promptly left the gallery for Moocheriel once again.
Meanwhile, at Sasha’s Nya Nya Nya Shop, the little genius worked with Krusche and Jack, who had both defected from Raphael’s command after getting what they needed. Since they had last met Sorey and his friends, Sasha herself had been working nonstop to create a piece of technology no one had ever seen. Krusche’s engineering expertise was a great help to her, and while Jack didn’t have much to offer, he did volunteer to be a lookout. What they were building wasn’t something technically legal nor illegal, yet Sasha was aware that Archian troops were scouting around for strange-looking individuals and contraptions. Being from different Towers and considering that Krusche had come to Tilia not only to assist in whatever objectives her friends had but to find her missing boyfriend, they had to be careful.
“So, what’s this thing supposed to do, anyway?” Jack finally asked from his post.
Krusche tightened a nut. “It’s some sort of satellite, isn’t it?” Krusche asked.
“Yup!” Sasha confirmed. “Cocona will need it if everything goes according to plan. And I want to make sure it works at max efficiency—right now, it only works at maybe 39%.” She looked dreamily at it. “And with this…I hope I can finally hear Cocona’s voice.”
Krusche leaned back for a break. “If it’ll help Alisha and Lailah, I’m all for it,” she sighed. “They really helped out our Tower.”
“And Dezel and Rose really helped ours, so let’s work together to help them help this Tower!”
Sasha dove right back into her work using her enthusiasm to propel her progress. She fervently wished to be useful to Cocona, and she wasn’t going to stop until the satellite she was building was perfect.
High above them, Symonne watched. She grimaced. While her plans had failed one after another, she was sure that her next one would work. She was taking the mantle from Kureha; the hard part was over. She sensed how close Sorey was to restoring Mikleo and to stopping Ar Ru, so there had to be something else to stop him. She left Archia for somewhere else.
Notes:
...BUUUUUT Sorey is making progress, yay! What could Sasha, Krusche, and Jack be doing by the way...? And SYMONNE??
Chapter 167: Phase 6: Return to Form
Summary:
The deep dive into Mikleo has rendered Sorey injured. Katene is forced to make a deal. Tyria sings for Ar Ru
Notes:
A bit of a longer chapter, and in proofing, I really like how it turned out. The Hymmnos from AT3 used in this chapter is EXEC_COSMOFLIPS/. by KOKIA.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
As Hikari Gojo led his friends through the dark old gallery where the VR21 was hidden, the Shepherd noticed he felt unwell. He was dizzy and disoriented, his steps becoming unsteady and slower that he fell to the back of the group. There wasn’t feeling of illness like stomach pain or nausea, but by the time they all came out into the light of the many lanterns and signs of Eternus Shaft, there was a tickling around his nose. His friends had thought maybe he had been deep in thought when he started to walk behind them until Alisha and Finnel turned around.
The tickling feeling transformed into a sticky feeling, the wide horrified eyes of his friends pinning to his face. All around his mouth and nose, crimson dried. It was still dripping in a thin stream down to his chin, the droplets cascading down onto the front of his cloak. His typically smiling eyes seemed wrought with fatigue, and his fingers slowly met the lines of red.
“I…don’t feel…” he breathed before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed before them. Zaveid caught him just in time, and he gently lowered him to the ground. He held up his upper body assuming that this massive nosebleed could very well drown him.
“Sorey!” everyone called out. Tyria and Mikleo knelt beside him.
“What’s wrong with him? Saki timidly asked.
“That Dive must have taken a heavier toll than I thought,” Tyria examined. She felt for his pulse only to find that his skin was unnaturally frigid. “Did he sustain more damage than I detected?”
Even Lailah wasn’t sure what was wrong. She could only hypothesize that by going so deep into one’s cosmosphere and being bombarded with the energy that only gods and goddesses could withstand would still affect the person no matter the protective measures. Given that he had already been weakened—albeit accustomed and adapted to his debilitations—Sorey’s body had finally reached its limit.
They weren’t finished with their journey, so the seraphim had to wonder if he was capable of making it to Heldalf. Tyria reassured them that he could. She confirmed that he wasn’t going to die; the energy that had initially burst and slammed into him merely popped a few vessels. Naturally, everyone was sure that it was more than just a few vessels.
“I’m by no means a doctor for humans, but we can take him to my clinic here,” Hikari Gojo said. “We need to at least put him somewhere to rest and heal. If it really was a few minor vessels that popped, then he should be okay. If he’s hemorrhaging, however…”
“Well, less talky-talky, more getting him to your clinic,” Edna urged rather uncharacteristically. “We don’t have time to sit and wait around. A certain goddess needs to be dealt with now.”
“Agreed,” Rose said as callous as it sounded. “Sorey’s strong—he’ll be okay. But Edna’s right. The more time we spend sitting here, the stronger Ar Ru is going to get.”
“Is it okay to let him lie flat?” Zaveid asked. “Nosebleeds aren’t just little things to trifle with.”
“Well, we’ll find out,” Tyria nonchalantly said.
It was a response that irked Sorey’s seraphim, but they couldn’t argue with her. They needed her help, and Sorey was in possible danger if this was a bigger issue. The three seraphim and Hikari Gojo made their way to the clinic while the others roamed around Eternus Shaft waiting for him to get better.
Alisha asked Lailah as many questions as she could—if dealing with Wills of the Planets and their level of cosmospheres and energy were something to be afraid of. The fire seraph couldn’t answer not because of her oath but because she truly didn’t know. She wanted to observe Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid to see if they were feeling the effects, but now wasn’t the time. The three of them—even Mikleo who had no memory of Sorey or his life up until that moment with him—were more than afraid or concerned. If he were in worse condition than they thought, they would become hopelessly lost in despair.
Finnel, Tyria, and Saki eventually joined them in the clinic, the other Wills within them feeling the tension in the atmosphere.
Hikari Gojo pressed a stesthescope to his chest. “Pulse is a little slow, but nothing terribly alarming,” he said. He listened to his breathing, again finding nothing out of the ordinary save for slight discomfort. He asked Zaveid to help him remove the Shepherd’s cloak and open his shirt. There was a nasty bruise the size of frying pan in the middle of his torso that was most likely the result from the blast of energy. “How strange. A physical injury from something that happened mentally. Perhaps the VR21 translated phantasmic harm into reality?”
Mikleo stared at the bruise and the tiny hematomas, evidence that vessels were ruptured, that dotted the lightly tanned skin. Tyria had been right that there was no major hemorrhaging, and perhaps it was simply the shock that had caused him to bleed.
Mikleo couldn’t remember any of his Seraphic Artes or Songs, yet he wanted to try to heal him. He approached the bed with the splayed body then gently placed his hand on him. He closed his eyes.
Fou paks ga araus kailya mea
En answa zash yor
Fou paks ga fowrlle phiz yor
En yaserwe sphilar yor
The little light that emitted from his fingertips sank into the bruise. The discoloration washed away as if water had been poured into it, and Sorey became noticeably more at ease. After a few minutes, the emerald eyes opened. The speck of light coming from the bulb above them reflected in his eyes.
“He’s awake!” Saki gasped.
Sorey glanced at each face, stopping on Mikleo’s whose concern was as clear as day. He still felt bad, though the sensation was slowly waning. The water seraph recoiled from him when he was well enough to sit up.
“What happened?” he asked. He hadn’t regained his strength quite yet. He held his head; his nose and mouth still felt sticky. “What’s on my face?”
“You started bleeding from your nose,” Edna told him. “At first, we thought you hit puberty.”
“Glad I’m not the only one thinking that,” Zaveid snickered on the side. “I’d bust a nut every time I got to see that Sarapatra chick or Soma.”
“You’re disgusting,” Finnel snapped.
Hikari Gojo sighed. He wet a cloth then handed it to Sorey so he could clean his face. Tyria still seemed uninterested, but in reality, she was trying to understand what went wrong. It surely had to be the initial blast and that neither of them was as prepared as they thought.
Sorey suddenly became cognizant of where they were and what they were supposed to be doing. “We have to get to Moocheriel!” he frantically cried out. “Ar Ru is vulnerable. If we can get through to her now, then we can request her help and restore Mikleo!”
“Hold on, Sheps,” Zaveid cautioned. “You gave most of everyone a heart attack just now, so what makes you think you’re ready to take on Little Dragon Girl again?”
“We have to whether I’m ready or not. We can’t waste any more time!”
“This windy bum has a point, you idiot,” Edna chastised. “You pretty much almost got annihilated in her cosmosphere.”
Sorey gripped the sheets on either side of him. “Edna, Zaveid—I know you’re right, but this pain has gone on long enough.” He looked at Mikleo then at them. “I promise that once we take care of Mikleo, we can take a break.”
“I don’t think that’s the point, Sorey,” Saki said. “Saki believes that Edna and Zaveid are worried about you because you’re pushing yourself too hard, and maybe they can feel the effect, too. They’re scared.”
“Now, I wouldn’t say that,” Zaveid tried to dissuade.
“Regardless of how they feel, it would be smart to take a vacation after experiencing a death blow,” Tyria added. “Let’s go see Ar Ru then stay on a private island to relax.”
Sorey was silent then stood his ground. The irrationality of risking his life for Mikleo seized him, and as much as they wanted to beat some sense into him, they began to understand that the only one that he felt at peace with was slipping away. Time was ticking away—Sorey’s grim countenance was evidence of that.
There was no use in trying to get him to stay any longer. Edna reluctantly healed him with her Fairy Circle, and they followed behind him to leave for Moocheriel once again. Zaveid kept an eye on him. He didn’t like that he was pushing himself so hard. He decided that as soon as they spoke with Ar Ru, he would demand a Dive.
Katene was hard at work understanding the inner machinations of the VR21 now that he had seen it in action. Mute pouted next to him, occasionally asking him to take a break. He didn’t, of course. He was far too involved in his research to spend time with her.
“Mute, honey! I’m not ignoring you at all! I’m just so motivated. With this research, we can be happy together and live an easy life with as many kids as you want!” he happily chimed.
“K-Kids? Darlin’, are you saying you really want to have a family with me?” Mute gushed.
Katene spun from the machine and took her hands. “Yes, honey! I would be more than happy to have a family! In fact, spending my life with you is the only thing keeping me going now!”
“Darlin’!”
“Honey!”
As the two cooed and giggled with each other and hugged tightly, the thunderous stampede of Archian troops echoed throughout the gallery. Katene’s attention was pulled from Mute and to Raphael. The buffed seraph instinctively pulled him behind her.
“Raphael? What are you doing here?” Katene asked coldly.
The chairman shrugged. “Sorry to interrupt your little wedding rehearsal, Katene,” he flippantly said. “Come now, I’m not going to take away your research. Actually, I’m quite glad you’re working on it.”
Katene looked at him dubiously through his giant glasses. He tried to analyze what this man had meant because his father was his greatest rival. But Raphael had a proposal. He and Katene’s father had fought for years about how to save the planet, but now that the pieces were falling into place, he settled on a compromise. He wanted a new system, and he needed Katene’s skill and intelligence to get it underway.
“Like hell Katene’s going to help you!” Mute roared.
“I’m ashamed to say that there’s no one else but you, the inventor’s son, who can operate that machine,” Raphael replied.
“That’s because you killed the entire Ancient Faction,” Katene spat. “But how convenient that you would forget that detail.”
“You have every right to be upset with me, but why not call a truce? Let bygones be bygones? Can I ask for your support?”
“Beat it, you jerk!” Mute ordered. Raphael glared at her.
“Hold on, honey. I want to hear what he has to say,” Katene said. Mute couldn’t believe him, but she respected his wish. “I want to hear you out, but Mute is right that I have no reason to help you. You have something up your sleeve, don’t you.”
Raphael smirked. From his pocket, he pulled out a small necklace. Katene scoffed as if he had known all along that he’d have it. He then pulled out a second one that was identical in shape but made of silver rather than gold. The tiny researcher flinched.
“How did you manage to get both of them?” he asked him. Before Raphael could answer, he disregarded the question. It didn’t matter how he had gotten both of them—one belonged to his father, and the other one was a moot point.
“The only one who can use these two keys to their full potential is you,” Raphael said. “If you help me, then I will give you these and make you head of the Archia Think Tank.”
“You’re not telling me everything. Why do you want to use the VR21?”
“The VR21 is capable of scanning the environment within Tyria’s cosmosphere, and it just so happens that I need that information.”
“Katene, don’t do this!” Mute gasped. “You know more than anyone that seraph cosmospheres are close-kept secrets! If you reveal her cosmosphere—”
Katene stood his ground. “Suppose I refuse,” he offered. “What will you do?”
Raphael’s demeanor suddenly changed. He was smiling, his beady eyes slowly moving from Katene to Mute. “I don’t think you’ll be in a position to refuse, Katene,” he lulled. “After all, you should know what we have in our possession.” As Katene stepped in front of Mute, the chairman’s smile stretched ear to ear. “Was yea ra cenjue art jouee gyusya yor.”
Mute let out a horrifying shriek. Her massive body was reduced to her diminuitive stature, and she doubled over in agony. She cried out for Katene to run away, but the scientist was frozen with fear and disgust.
“What have you done!?” he snarled.
“Using what this brat’s father had invented long ago,” Raphael pompously explained. “Thanks to him, we have both Songs and Artes that can manipulate the physical composition of the seraphim’s bodies. In fact, she maintains that muscular appearance through that magic.”
“Stop it!” Katene ordered. “You’re hurting her! This is abuse!”
“Abuse or not, it’s definitely a bargaining chip.”
Mute tried to look at her dearest through the pain. “Ka…tene…” she strained with tears streaming down her paling cheeks.
“What will your answer be, Kiraha’s son?” Raphael egged.
“Ka…tene…Cry…stal…” Mute tried again. Her head snapped back as Raphael threatened to change her form into that of a monstrous beast. She screeched again.
Katene clenched his teeth before giving a resounding, “I accept your proposal.” Mute’s face, contorted with pain, relaxed enough to display her disbelief. She knew that Katene was only agreeing to the conditions to save her, yet she wanted to punch him for giving in. “Just don’t hurt her anymore. She’s don’t nothing wrong.”
Raphael held a smug look like he had won the entire war between the seraphim and humans. He released Mute from the spell. “A wise decision, Kiraha’s son.”
Moocheriel’s Antibody and hellion populations had decreased since the last time they had been there. Richa and Archian troops were present and fighting the creatures as they came. Richa herself noticed them, approaching them with a very serious look.
“Richa?” Sorey uttered.
“Hello again, Shepherd Sorey,” she greeted. The brunet nodded to her, wary of whatever tricks Raphael had put her up to. “We’re going to lend you support,” she suddenly said. She pointed at the hellions and Antibodies around them. It wasn’t enough that there was a decrease in enemy forces at this moment since Ar Ru could simply flood the place at will. “We’ll fight them off for you. Just get to Ar Ru and focus on that Song!”
They accepted their help, but Rose and Saki noticed that she looked darker than normal, as if there had been some development for the worse. Still, they had to be grateful for the help. Sorey and Tyria led the lot of them to the core of Moocheriel passed the Antibodies and hellions that tried to consume them on their way to their queen.
When they arrived, Ar Ru was still under the Heart of Gaea as she summoned more Antibodies. Richa and her forces caught up to them to provide protection. Hikari Gojo worried for her, and for once in their long history together, she didn’t seem to care. Or it was more like she didn’t want to care.
“Hurry up and starting singing, Lady Tyria!” she requested. “We can only hold these things off for so long!” She rallied her men as wave after wave of monsters came for them.
“Thank you, Richa,” Sorey quietly said. He drew his sword. “Lady Tyria, can you start?”
“Of course,” she replied. “My Song will definitely get through this time.” And then, just as before, her voice resonated throughout the swamp.
Sorey held his sword up to her. He wasn’t going to hurt her. He was only going to attack to protect himself and his friends. He wanted, without a shadow of a doubt, to make her realize that he wanted them to live peacefully together as one soul. Ar Ru only scoffed at him. What could a mere human do to change her mind? She was an all-powerful goddess with more than enough power to vaporize him. She called on her Antibodies, and the hellions followed them. Richa and her troops did what they could to bar the majority from trying to attack.
To minimize the aggression against Ar Ru, Sorey asked that their seraphim return inside save for Mikleo. Saki and Finnel offered additional assistance to Tyria and their friends with their Songs. Hikari Gojo and Cocona each took on an Antibody while Alisha and Rose fought off the hellions. That left Sorey to fight Ar Ru alone, and it was what he wanted. He turned his blade so that the broad side connected with her when he went on the offense.
Ar Ru charged at Sorey, stopping just before him to fire a ball of Song Magic at him. As usual, he danced out of the way then smacked her to interrupt yet another spell. “Heavenly Torrent!” he called out. A spiraling vortex of water rose from the ground at her. “Ar Ru, listen to these feelings!”
“Foolish humans,” she belittled. She blasted Sorey back. “Your feelings mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. Even if my sister Wills tried to convince me, the outcome would be the same. I must do this to save him, to save the world.”
“But how does that solve anything?” Sorey asked her. He broke her concentration again. “Listen to our feelings. Listen to Tyria’s Song!”
“Get away from me!”
She blasted him back again, and he landed in front of Mikleo, who had been trying to stay out of the fight. Something in him lurched as he watched Sorey get knocked down over and over and get back up over and over. He felt like he had to help him. He suddenly remembered the most important part of his identity.
“Call my true name,” he told Sorey. They stared at each other, Tyria’s Song reverberating off the trees, land, and water of Moocheriel. “I remembered my true name, so call it!”
Sorey was at first flabbergasted. His brow creased, a triumphant smile on his lips. “Okay, Mikleo.” He stood up, and Ar Ru began to prepare to sing the Song that would kill them all. “Luzrov Rulay!”
Mikleo’s corporeal form morphed into a light that was colored blue which flew to his heart. It had been ages since they last Armatized, yet no amount of time erased the homeliness they both felt in each other’s strength. Even if he still couldn’t remember everything, the power they shared was more than just familiar.
Ar Ru faltered for a moment watching the Shepherd and his water seraph join together in mind and body. “What is this power? Is it really born from the love between human and seraph?” she asked.
Sorey’s hair, flowing long and golden, snaked behind him gracefully. His form was sculpted and fitted in white, gold, and blue. The Sacred Bow glistened in his hand.
“Ar Ru,” they said together. “It’s time you understood this dream. If you won’t listen to us, then feel our power!”
“Mikleo, are you ready?” Sorey asked.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Mikleo said. He had left his apprehension about the Shepherd behind for this moment. “I’ll trust you for now. We have to stop her.”
“Lend me your strength,” Sorey requested. “You aim, and I’ll decide when to shoot.” He held the bow up, the blue ornaments flaring on either side like giant shields.
“Born of water!” they said together. “My bow is the heavens!” Sorey unleashed a flurry of arrows. “The vortex swallows you!” Another flurry of arrows. “Aqua Limit!”
The final onslaught of arrows hit Ar Ru so hard that she was flung back. She tried to get up to return fire, but at the point, the other Antibodies had been defeated and the hellions purified. Tyria’s Song had come to an end. Combined with the feelings radiating from Sorey’s heart and Cosmoflips, Ar Ru was vulnerable to the Paradigm Shift that they were trying to make happen.
“The Song is complete,” Tyria notified as if by a protocol unknown to everyone else. While Ar Ru scrambled to pick herself up to fight back, the Origin walked up to her like a priestess. She held in her hands the physical manifestation of the Song she had been singing—an offering of peace. “Come here, Ar Ru. Let’s be friends and work together for a brighter future.”
The Antibody Brain stared at her. She stood up, reaching for the Song Magic. “How do I know I can trust you to do what is right?” she asked.
“You can’t, but I can promise you that the Shepherd and myself will make sure things are corrected.”
“And Maotelus?”
“We’ll take care of him.” She looked at Sorey, who had since de-Armatized. She beckoned with only her eyes. When he joined them, she asked him to touch the Song Magic together with her and Ar Ru. “Rrha touwaka wa arsye murfanare an yora, tie yora sos skit en synk innna Ar Ciel.”
Ar Ru looked surprised. Tyria’s promise to her was more like a pact, but unlike those that Sorey had with his seraphim, it wasn’t binding nor instilled a debilitation on him. The promise did serve to relay Sorey’s ideals and dreams to her.
“The feelings are true and pure,” Ar Ru said. She turned to Sorey, who was just as confused and surprised, unfamiliar with this sort of promise. “Forgive me, Shepherd, for ignoring your wish for coexistence. Let us bind together and strive for the dream you hold in your heart.”
Sorey stepped back as Ar Ru and Tyria held the Song Magic together. A bright light engulfed them, and as it faded away, only the lilac Origin remained. Everyone gathered around her questioning where Ar Ru had gone. The goddess was now a persona within Tyria like how Saki held within her Sarapatra, Filament, and the mysterious Sakia Lumei and Finnel held Yurisica, Soma, and Suzunomia.
Tyria had collapsed after the fusion, but thanks to accepting Ar Ru into her cosmosphere, she was directly connected to the planet. It had its drawbacks thanks to the current state of the world and Maotelus. It wasn’t long before Tyria transformed into the newly acquired persona, and she didn’t hesitate to speak with the Shepherd.
She walked up to him so close that he nearly fell back into Zaveid. Of course, the inept goddess thought he feared her, prompting her to disclaim:
“I am not here to hurt you. I wish to know one thing. Why did you halt the Vaccine Song?”
“Huh?” Sorey uttered. “I had to. It wasn’t right—it was going to kill Mikleo and Saki. I know what Vaccine Songs are like, and I can’t let anyone be submitted to that kind of torture.” He glanced at Lailah then Saki then Mikleo. “Songs like those aren’t going to help anyone, and…” He paused. “I couldn’t bear to see Mikleo in pain again.”
“I see. You say that such Songs are purposeless, but in reality, you wish not to see your beloved in agony. What of the world?”
“Vaccine Songs wouldn’t help Maotelus.” Sorey said nothing more. It was an abrupt silence as if he had some sort of secret he wanted to keep.
“I have no further questions then. As long as you uphold your promise to help save Maotelus and the world. If you fail, I will take matters into my own hands. I act on behalf of the world.”
“I won’t let you down.”
“I don’t think you will. Good luck, Shepherd Sorey. Za Zact Xeee Taa!”
Ar Ru disappeared, and Tyria returned. “Did you have a good talk?” she asked.
Sorey confirmed before she moved onto the next task. Now that Ar Ru had been uprooted from Mikleo’s soulspace, she was free to restore his memories. First, Sorey needed to Dive into him and prepare him for the restoration.
Notes:
Next chapter is an original Song by me and it's going to be so exciting! But how about that? Mikleo is coming around!
I really did love writing the fight between Sorey et al and Ar Ru, especially while I was listening to EXEC_COSMOFLIPS/. Like, you wouldn't think it's the song for a boss fight, but it's really good. And the context is so satisfying! The Ar Ciela used in this chapter is also from the game, though it's un-Comparmentalized most likely for the reason that Ar Ru's corporeal form can't reach the frequencies needed OR because such frequencies wouldn't be detected by the naked human ear.
Chapter 168: Phase 6: [Title Redacted]
Summary:
With Ar Ru settled within Tyria's mind, the process to repair Mikleo's memories begins.
Notes:
As usual, I'm withholding the title and the song lyrics for this chapter.
This is an original Hymmnos written for Tyria based on the Arthurian legend about the Arthur's perilous trip to Avalon after the Battle of Camlann and his recovery by the Lady of the Lake. You can definitely see the influences from Arthurian legend on the story for Zestiria.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
As when Sorey and Mikleo first created their pact together, they stood before a higher power to sanctify it. Lailah had been the one to do it because she was—and still is—the Lady of the Lake that watched over Alisha’s city. In the presence of yet someone higher, they had to renew their vows to each other with Tyria’s blessing.
The process was the same. She recited the incantation that Lailah has said so long ago, “Rrha ki erra crannidale dea chiess ture mean. My true name is…”
Sorey repeated the phrase. Then it was time to seal the pact. Things weren’t quite the same as before. The Shepherd had an abundance of memories and feelings for Mikleo, and same chaste kiss they had shared before wasn’t enough to convey it. Considering that the water seraph couldn’t remember the details nor felt comfortable enough with him to partake in something deeper, he restrained himself. Just a chaste little kiss as before.
“Luzrov Rulay,” Mikleo whispered to him.
The two Armatized instantly, and they could swear there was no difference from when they fused together in their fight against Ar Ru. There wasn’t anything to be worried about, though, since it was only necessary to reestablish entry into Mikleo’s cosmosphere again.
“Now, you two should reacquaint with each other in the soulspace,” Tyria instructed. “Good night.”
Together as one, Sorey and Mikleo sat before her and felt asleep.
Within the shared soulspace, Sorey and Mikleo beheld each other’s unadulterated bodies. Mikleo felt nervous looking at the lightly tanned body before him. Even as Sorey reached out to take his hand, he stepped back.
“Don’t you think this is weird?” he asked.
“Not at all,” Sorey smiled.
“How are you okay with this? We’re both naked!”
Sorey took a step towards him. “We’ve seen each other like this more times than I can remember. When we were little, Gramps used to have to chase us around his house to take a bath.” He chuckled at the memory. “Even though we were raised together by Gramps, we kind of loved each other.”
“Gramps…he…he’s not with us anymore…”
The two of them fell silent for a while.
“Sorey—”
“Mikleo, I—” Sorey’s eyes widened. “You said my name!”
“I…I guess I did. Did we really have a relationship? I mean, I feel calm and at ease next to you, but I don’t know if that’s true. And if it is, I’m sorry that you had to endure so much pain.”
The Shepherd was worried that maybe his beloved water seraph wouldn’t ever remember. He couldn’t give up. He gingerly took his hands, pulling him into his arms and pressing him into his body for a tight embrace. The warmth that came from his heart moved Mikleo, whom couldn’t help but start crying.
“It’s felt like eons, but I’m so glad that I can hold you again,” Sorey said to him lovingly.
“I want to remember! I want to remember what our life was like together—the good and bad and everything in between, Sorey!”
Sorey had slumped over during the Dive, and judging the amount of time that had passed, Tyria deemed it was best to start her Song now. Faint rhythmic palpitations in the air around them sounded like the pounding of drums. She let her voice resonate:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The notes and melody in their infancy echoed in Sorey and Mikleo’s heart, and together they witnessed their earliest memory together that had been locked away. Sorey was a small baby that had been born too early. Mikleo, bigger and healthier than him, crawled to him, and they slept together. Zenrus used to watch them, and he noticed that whenever Mikleo was near Sorey, the latter always quieted his wails and calmed down.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
When Sorey and Mikleo were five years old and had explored every nook and cranny of the Mabinogio Ruins near their home, they had gotten trapped inside. Despite their guardians worrying about them and doing everything they could to find them, Sorey and Mikleo had the time of their lives.
Once they had been found, Zenrus and the other seraphim in Elysia watched as they played together among the rubble. They had bumps and bruises from their rambunctiousness, but it was clear that they had an unbreakable bond.
The bond grew deeper and deeper between them, and they became inseparable. Where one went, the other followed. Though they still had their fights.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
They fought over trivial things. They fought over serious things. But they never wished to leave the other. Mikleo had told his beloved human his true name, a declaration that Sorey hadn’t been expecting.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
That sentiment was there when Sorey became the Shepherd. The memory of the invasion was uncovered, and it pained both of them to watch it again. This time, however, they weren’t confined to what they saw from Sorey’s bedroom.
The seraphim that they knew and loved had been captured or murdered, Zenrus contained by the soldiers. It was more horrifying than they wanted to know. And it all led to when they officially made their pact as Shepherd and seraph.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
They journeyed together with their friends all over the world and to other worlds. Mikleo and Sorey held each other when they replayed the incident that nearly killed them both in Ladylake. The blood that had been shed from the water seraph’s arms, the fear and abuse he suffered—it was so much that Sorey held onto him to support him. Sorey tried to protect him at the cost of his own life, and when it had passed, the rift had occurred.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey had to Dive into him to heal the wound in his psyche. He wanted to protect him even more at that point.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
And when time came for the Water Trial? Mikleo saw how he had treated him. He turned to Sorey, tears rolling from his cheeks as he apologized to him for what he had done. Naturally, Sorey didn’t fault him. He was only happy that, by that point, they were ready to take on the spiritual power of water.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Their travels brought them to Pendrago, where Dezel had lost control of himself and Sorey had been tricked into aiding the Ascension Project, costing him his priceless soul. Mikleo, with Zaveid’s help, had convinced him to return; however, Sorey wasn’t without the guilty he had felt for nearly killing everyone in Rolance.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
In Lohgrin, Sorey was planning to sacrifice himself for his friends, and Mikleo remembered worrying about him. He had watched him participate in the battles with Lyner and Aoto, and he remembered how sick he had felt. But it was all so they still had a chance to survive.
And when he had watched them seize Mikleo, Sorey vowed to do what he could to get him back.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
It had all led up to this moment.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
It had all led up to when they could finally be together again in each other’s arms. Mikleo’s memory had been restored, and the overflow of emotion pouring from his heart lit up the shared soulspace.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
As Tyria’s Song ended, Sorey felt some sort of inexplicable foreboding. Perhaps foreboding wasn’t the right word, but it held a bittersweet feeling that he knew would make his friends upset. Still, he had to focus on the present, especially now that he had finally been reunited with Mikleo.
Within the shared soulspace, the two boys stood together. Mikleo was almost fixed; Sorey just had to complete the next level of his cosmosphere. It was the eighth level, and Mikleo’s mind was something of a death trap—as everyone else’s had been.
“Are you ready, Mikleo?” he asked firm in his resolve.
“Yes. Let’s finish Tyria’s hard work with some of our own,” Mikleo answered, his eyes once again burning with the same passion.
Sorey reached forward, his fingers that trembled with anticipation lightly brushing the porcelain skin and connecting to the beating heart. The Dive had been initiated.
Notes:
Mikleo's memories have been repaired, and all that's left is to Dive into him! What awaits Sorey in this next level?
Chapter 169: Phase 6: Face-Off between Yin and Yang
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 8: Mikleo
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
We've got Mikleo's penultimate Dive in this chapter and it's a bit of a doozy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“N-No! Please, don’t do this!” Mikleo’s voice cried out in the utter darkness of the eighth level.
“Mikleo?” Sorey called out to him.
The Shepherd found himself wrapped in a haze. Dark shadows looked similar to structures within Elysia, and one house was glowing dimly once his eyes adjusted. The air had gone frigid. He called for his seraph again only to find Edna, Zaveid, Dezel, and Lailah standing around a small cage. Inside it, Mikleo sat there covering his head and quaking in fear.
“What a useless seraph,” Edna scoffed.
“You’d think he would have learned that humans are demons,” Dezel spat.
“Now, now, once we sacrifice him, those humans will be no more,” Lailah smiled.
“We can finally be free!” Zaveid celebrated.
Each one of them kicked the cage until the Tainted Mikleo emerged from the house. He commanded them to cease their torment, kneeling down to look at his counterpart in the eye, the scarlet in his eyes flickering like a wicked flame.
“So much for your angel,” he taunted. He stood back up, walking around and around the cage while letting his fingers hit each bar. “How does it feel to be abandoned? Or to know that you were once a puppet?”
He took his staff and bludgeoned the cage so that its horrible rattling echoed through the soulspace. Mikleo begged this cruelty to stop. As Sorey closed in on his hecklers, he noticed that his water seraph was dressed in a thin summer yukata. His ankles had been bound by chains.
The Tainted Mikleo stepped back not in fear of him but to be supported by the familiar beings that flanked him. Sorey looked at each seraph; why were they tormenting Mikleo? Weren’t they all friends? He then turned to the Mikleo in the cage—the real Mikleo that he knew and loved.
“What is the meaning of this?” he asked sternly. “Why have you put him in a cage?”
“Oh, the noble Shepherd has arrived!” Tainted Mikleo mocked. “You’re just in time for the exorcism.” He waltzed up to Sorey, taking his face into his hands. “Dearest Sorey, this might actually be a good thing for you.”
The Shepherd pushed him back. “Explain yourself,” he demanded while keeping an eye on Mikleo.
“You don’t know what an exorcism is? And here I thought you were actually smart!”
“I mean, why are you trying to exorcise him?”
Tainted Mikleo smiled creepily at him before leaping over him and landing on the cage’s apex. “Why? Well, because he’s a useless seraph! Sure, he can sing now, but before he couldn’t. And before he was so easily captured and tortured and this and that—why would we need the captain of this ship when he can’t even defend himself against his own mind? I vote that we kick him out and let me take over.”
“Like hell I’ll let that happen.”
“Oh, come on. Just think about it!” Tainted Mikleo hopped off the cage, giving it a good kick to startle Mikleo again. “Once this whole journey is over, you and I can be together! Elysia’s gone, so we can have that whole mountain to ourselves! Just imagine all things we can do together!”
Sorey appeared to think about what it would mean if Tainted Mikleo was in control over Mikleo. They could do anything…but was that what either of them wanted? Mikleo was a pious man, and he was certainly not comfortable with just doing anything. He was still a seraph, and giving into his vices would only make him turn into a dragon.
“I don’t want that. Not for me, and most certainly not for Mikleo.”
“God, you’re so boring,” Tainted Mikleo scoffed. “Well, I can always just kill you and usurp this body as planned.”
Lailah, Edna, Dezel, and Zaveid prepared to fire their Seraphic Artes at Sorey. The attacks were weaker than expected, but all four of them at once knocked him out. Time passed. A little voice brought him back to consciousness. Gaine was standing there beside his head.
“You’re awake!” the Normin gasped. “Sorey, you’ve got to hurry!”
“What…happened…?” Sorey mumbled. He held his head until he was reoriented. “Mikleo?”
The Normin told him that Tainted Mikleo and his band of not-friends had made off with him into what could now be determined to be Zenrus’ house. Sorey’s heart lurched, but he knew that there was still a way to free him. What that way was was another problem.
Gaine went on to state that three memories were giving power to Tainted Mikleo. If he could defeat them and lessen their influence, then he could take on the final adversary. Naturally, there was no time to lose. Sorey left Elysia with the Mind Guardian riding on his shoulder for what looked like Ladylake, Pendrago, and Clustania. He came to understand what these memories were.
“Mikleo has had to endure this since the beginning,” Sorey reminded himself. “Who would I be if I didn’t try to help him through this?”
“It doesn’t seem like he’s focusing on them,” Gaine analyzed. “In fact, Sorey, I think these memories are really just the malevolence that has collected in him.”
“That would mean that…”
“Let’s keep going! If we have time to talk, we have time to walk!”
Sorey listened to Gaine, picking up the speed until he was deep into the Nobles’ District of Ladylake. He followed the cobblestone path to the Rountabel Palace, which looked more like a demon’s castle than a government building. The Shepherd felt sick; what the Normin had said was true. The memories were the culmination of malevolence, and the only way to get it out was to purify it.
He ventured deep into the palace to the dining hall where Sorey had first met the one that had laid waste to Elysia. Chancellor Bartlow sat at the table, fingers intertwined and a disgusted frown on his face.
This memory was from when Mikleo had been tortured and almost turned into a Seraphoid. How could either one of them forget it? It was one of the most painful experiences they’d ever had, and to see Bartlow sitting there brought Sorey back to that moment.
“Shepherd Sorey, you’ve returned,” Bartlow said, less than pleased. “Have you reconsidered?”
“I’m not turning into a Seraphoid with Mikleo!” he denied him.
“Then why are you here?”
Sorey drew his sword. “To purify the malevolence here and bring peace to Mikleo’s heart,” he told him.
“What, and erase this memory? Wouldn’t that just be avoiding the problem?”
“No.” Sorey lowered his sword. “I’m not trying to make him run away and forget this happened. A lot of things came from this event—hurtful and frightening things, but without this darkness, we wouldn’t have learned the truth. We wouldn’t have come this far.”
Bartlow stood from his extravagant chair. “So then, what are you going to do?” He walked from around his side of the table slowly to Sorey until he was standing close enough to look into his eyes. “Kill this memory?”
Suddenly, something caught the light shining from the moon outside. Sorey leapt back as the chancellor attempted to slash his stomach open. It was a poisoned dagger.
The Shepherd didn’t want to fight the memory for fear of it actually being erased. If he could only step it ablaze with the Silver Flame, then he would be able to accomplish his goal. He swallowed his apprehension, charging at the phantom Bartlow with his sword up. “Heavenly Torrent!” he called out as he sprang a flood from the floor beneath their feet.
“Normin Power!” Gaine chimed in, making the move somewhat more powerful.
Bartlow stumbled back, the water from an attack that Mikleo had taught Sorey dripping from every inch of him. Those tiny droplets glowed, lifting up as if already evaporating and condensing into light. They sparked into silver embers; Bartlow’s body burned away to reveal a Normin named Chein.
“Oof, I thought I’d never get out of that guy!” he sighed. “Thanks, mister!”
“Oh, Chein, you’re alright!” Gaine cooed.
“Looks like it!”
“So the Normin here are all corrupted by the malevolence…” Sorey hypothesized. “This means I may be right…”
“You say something, kid?” Chein asked.
“Ah, no—I’m just…thinking aloud!” He crossed his arms in thought. “Though, if Normin are sealed within the malevolence, we need to do what we can to free them as soon as possible.” He turned for the door leading out of the dining hall. “Let’s keep going.”
Sorey carried the two Normin on his shoulders to Pendrago’s Shrinechurch. He didn’t have much of a memory of what had happened here until he found Targana and Frelia standing together at the altar. The Second Origin was motionless, still under the spell that he and Lakra had put on her.
He thought about why this memory in particular was something that accrued malevolence. He remembered that his soul had been sublimated—then he understood.
“One of the keys to this plan has finally appeared!” Targana happily announced. “Lord Shepherd, will you yet again lend us your influence to sublimate our people?”
“And put Mikleo through the distress of losing me again?” Sorey retorted. He shook his head. “We only have each other, so neither of us can give up and die just yet.”
“I see, so you’re here to help him,” Targana smiled. “You remind me of Croix a little.”
Sorey was unsure of what to make of him. In the blink of an eye, the prince that had come from Metafalss knelt before him. He asked him to purify the malevolence as penance for causing so much suffering. When his wish was granted, the Normin Tempescht emerged from the burning darkness. While Sorey got acquainted with the rather feisty Normin, Gaine and Chein studied Frelia. She had been a prop made of wax unlike the other seraphim that had been present.
The final stop was Clustania. More specifically, they had to go to the Harvestasha Module where yet another wax figure of Harvestasha herself stood next to Kureha, who had already become a dragon.
Without waiting to be greeted, Shepherd Sorey preemptively drew his sword. Bartlow had tried to kill him while Targana had accepted his wrongdoings. Kureha was neither one of them, so he had to be careful not to die now.
“Have you come to experience death, Shepherd?” Kureha roared. “I’ll give you front row seats!”
“It’s your fault that Mikleo is the way he is now!” Sorey yelled back at him. The Normin hung onto his shoulders, feeling the anger that he held in his heart for this man. “You used him and turned him into an empty vessel for your own goals. But here, I shall avenge him!”
“A Shepherd giving into revenge? Wouldn’t that put you in danger of falling, O Holy One?”
Gaine jumped down. “Not if he truly believes in his love for Mikleo!” it spat. It turned to its companions. “Let’s help Sorey as best as we can! Normin…Power!”
The three Normin glowed brightly as Sorey dashed to Kureha. The dragon spewed black fire. The Shepherd gracefully and masterfully danced around the flames. He bludgeoned the dragon with Earth Dragon Fang. After landing below him, the Normin powered him up. In one fluid motion, Sorey launched into his attack:
“Lion’s Howl!”
The attack battered and bruised Kureha before engulfing him in the silver flame. He shrieked and screeched, his body crumbling away to reveal the last Normin named Voyd. It didn’t speak, but it acknowledged Sorey’s strength and thanked him for helping it with a simple nod.
With the four Normin together, they were ready to confront Tainted Mikleo. Sorey and the Normin returned to Elysia. They entered Zenrus’ house, which had transformed into the Mabinogio Ruins. Taken aback by this and anxious to see the end of this level, they proceeded with caution down the steps.
Lailah, Edna, Dezel, and Zaveid were still torturing the poor water seraph. They poked him and threatened to cut off pieces of his skin or burn his hair off. Tainted Mikleo just watched them with a nasty smile.
“Just let me go!” Mikleo pleaded him.
“And why should I? You’re so weak; you don’t deserve to rule this body,” Tainted Mikleo said.
“And what makes you think you do? You’re just a bully!”
“Oh, I’m shaking. Tell me, Weaker Me. When are you going to stop this helpless act if you’re so strong then? Prove to me that you should be in charge.”
“He doesn’t have to!” Sorey’s voice came as he stood in front of the giant statue of the god of thunder. The four Normin were at his feet, his sword was in his hand, and the unwavering glare of a Shepherd who would do anything to save his beloved was there basking in whatever light managed to penetrate the underground ruins.
Tainted Mikleo cringed seeing him, only to question why he felt that way. In reality, Sorey already knew that he couldn’t commandeer the body. “You’re not a persona of Mikleo but the Virus born from the malevolence stemmed into those memories. You’ve been in here since that day. I thought I’d gotten rid of you, but…”
“But I was far deeper than you thought, right? Yeah, that happens when your life is a constant hell. Pfft, to think you’re the Shepherd that’s going to save the world!”
Sorey clenched his sword in his hand. It was his fault that Mikleo was always in trouble. He couldn’t protect him then just like he couldn’t protect him now. The Normin tried to console him, but the truth was that Mikleo never expected him to be strong solely for him.
“My job is not to solve everyone’s problems, including my own or Mikleo’s or any of my friends. But that doesn’t mean I’m weak. That doesn’t mean the Mikleo is weak.” He reached his hand out to him. “Mikleo is as strong as I am, and together we’re unstoppable!” Mikleo looked up at him from the cage, his heart beating hard and fast. He stood up, and the chains around his ankles turned to dust. He mimicked Sorey, reaching his hand out to him. “Mikleo, let’s do this together! Luzrov Rulay!”
Mikleo’s body turned into a ball of light that raced past Tainted Mikleo’s head and sank into Sorey’s chest. He faintly heard the Hymmnos:
Was ki ra chs fwal fwal yor en accrroad pawr tes yor
The warm yet icy presence in his chest throbbed that gave him the strength to cleanse the soulspace. Tainted Mikleo summoned his icicles, but before he had a chance to fired them at Sorey and Mikleo’s combined form, the Shepherd shot him with a spear-like arrow. He was flung back towards the invisible bridge, blood draining from his chest.
“You…would shoot your best friend…?” he coughed.
Sorey, Armatized with his water seraph, stepped to him.
“You’re not my best friend, and even if you were…” Sorey trailed off.
“Sorey…” Mikleo said from within.
“Even if it meant that I would live alone or succumb to my own regret, I would kill Mikleo if it meant I could prevent him from turning him into a dragon. But now that we’ve taken care of you, that is less likely to happen.” He de-Armatized from Mikleo. “Even if you are a Virus, though, I still feel the pain of hurting someone with his likeness. So, please, forgive me.”
The Tainted Mikleo gripped the fresh wound before dissipating into a black mist that flickered up into silver wisps of fire. The Virus, which had persisted undetected in the depths of Mikleo’s soul for so long, was finally gone. Mikleo took Sorey’s hand, grateful that he had come to save him. Of course, he was somewhat perturbed that he stated he would have shot him, and while Sorey meant it as a mercy-killing, the water seraph couldn’t help but pout.
“All that work, and you would just throw it away?” Mikleo fussed. “Really?”
“You know I love you!”
Mikleo softened, an exhausted look of happiness on his face. Both of them and the Normin noticed that the Angel Mikleo had never shown himself, leaving them to wonder if he had been erased by the Virus. While they wanted to search for him, Sorey and Mikleo saw the paradigm shift erupt from the Stonehenge near the edge of the soulspace. They made their way there with their hands clasped together.
“This is it, Sorey,” Mikleo said. “This is the final paradigm shift.”
“Yeah,” Sorey echoed him. “Mikleo, I’m sorry this took so long.”
“Don’t be. I wasn’t able to journey with you, but you can tell me all about it over dinner…if we get dinner at this rate.”
Sorey faced him, and without thinking, with a yearning and relieved heart, he kissed him. It wouldn’t suffice for one in the real world, but he was so happy to finally have him back. And when they parted, Mikleo looked at him coyly.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself yet, Sorey.” He became serious. “You’re still the Shepherd, and we’ve still got work to do. I don’t know much of what’s gone on out there, but now that I’m back, I need to ask you a favor.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“As far as I’m concerned, you have a one-track mind.”
“Harsh!”
“I wasn’t unconscious the entire time. Please, help Edna and Zaveid as well. They’re your seraphim, too. You’ve got to listen to what they need.”
Sorey was embarrassed that he was being scolded by a persona, but he knew that he had been ignoring them when they wanted to help. Edna had already completed her eighth level, but he had an inkling that Zaveid wanted to Dive soon.
“I’m really a terrible Shepherd, aren’t I…” He sheepishly smiled.
“You just tend to get a little preoccupied. If anything, we haven’t been babbling about ruins, so there’s some respite for everyone else.” Mikleo stared at the Paradigm Shift. “It’s time to go.” He took Sorey’s hand. “I’ll see you when it’s time.”
Sorey nodded, and together they walked into the light of the Paradigm Shift.
Sorey and Mikleo woke up in the core of Moocheriel. Their friends gathered around them with anticipation. Had the Dive worked?
The two boys looked at each other, and those amethyst eyes that sparkled like the moon stared deeply into the emeralds that shone like the sun. The water seraph threw himself into Sorey’s arms, hugging him tightly as he breathed in his scent. Sorey showered him in kisses while Tyria watched them with a motherly smile.
“Looks like we got the happy ending,” she murmured to herself before addressing Cocona. “Well, now that that is taken care of, our next order of business is containing the Heart of Gaea while there is nothing inside it to use its power. Once we remove it, I can keep my end of the promise.”
Cocona, who had been watching Sorey and Mikleo with something of childish envy, prostrated herself. “Alright, everyone, make way,” she ordered. Her friends scattered to the edge of the little island within the core. “Was yea ra crannidale yor. There, all set, Lady Tyria.”
Tyria nodded then stood in the center. She held her arms out, and when she did, Suzunomia took over Finnel to watch the grand shutdown of the syphon called Moocheriel.
“My turn. Saash manaf, slepir der mea: SHD>>tyrievalis_x01,” the Origin said.
Moocheriel rumbled, and a mechanical voice responded to her, “Geeow anw slep MU=SER=EL.” Then the place dimmed.
“And that’s that,” Tyria said. She turned to Finnel after Suzunomia went back within her. “Moocheriel is no longer operational, so there should be no more Antibodies being created.”
Saki and Finnel breathed a sigh of relief with one crisis taken care of. Hikari Gojo and Sorey knew they still had work to do. They needed to regroup in Archia with Gengai to find out what became of Akane. They hadn’t seen her since Kureha had brought her up, and while they were sure that she was defending Clustania, they couldn’t be convinced if that was truly the case.
Less pressing matters but still important nonetheless, Zaveid wanted to Dive with Sorey. Before, it had only been a desire to catch up to the others. The wind carried on it a nasty foreboding, and he had to Dive now to make sure he could help protect them.
“Hey, Sheps—” he started just as Richa and her troops met with them again.
“Have you captured Ar Ru?” the blindingly pink seraph asked. Tyria confirmed that Ar Ru was using her as a vessel, to which the general seemed unsure about. “Let’s head to Eternus Shaft now,” she said more demandingly than they had expected.
Sorey furrowed his brow when he looked at her. Why were they going to Eternus Shaft? Of course, Hikari Gojo knew exactly why. He refused to do as she asked unless he heard it from her own mouth, in her own voice, in her own words.
“What are you trying to do?” he asked her, shaking her to her core. “You’re planning on using the VR21, but I can tell you don’t just intend to temper Ar Ru.”
Richa faltered again.
“Just tell me, Richa!”
“T-That’s classified information!” Richa finally burst. She opened her fan to hide her shame. “I’m not doing this to hurt you, Doctor. I’m trying to protect you.”
“Not telling us what Raphael is planning isn’t protecting us.” Hikari Gojo let out a sigh. “I want to trust you, Richa, I really do. But if you dance around the core issue, how can I?”
“Easy—you don’t!” Krusche’s voice came.
All eyes turned to the engineer and her bodyguard. The fiery red braid swung side to side as she made her way to the opposing groups. She wanted to talk to Tyria, and through her, to Ar Ru. Jack explained that after cutting ties with the Think Tank and secretly investigating their secrets, they found some damning evidence against them. They stole away with Sasha, sharing the information with her before assisting in her invention.
“Long story short, their plan isn’t to help purify anything and save the world at all,” Krusche finally said much to Richa’s anger. “If you go to Eternus Shaft now, you’ll be in for a world of hurt.”
“More than likely this has to do with the Seraphoid Project,” Edna accused.
“Bull’s eye!”
Richa began to panic. She quickly blasted the party with Song Magic before calling on her troops to seize Tyria. Cocona cried out as the Origin was pulled towards the enemy, and Rose immediately prepared to charge after them. But instead of charging at Richa, Zaveid pulled her back. He couldn’t allow her to charge after her with the anger she held for her deceptive acts. He didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Shurelia to happen with Tyria.
As the troops encroached on them, he leapt over them after the two girls. “W-What are you doing? Get away, you creep!” Richa screeched. She turned tail and ran, dragging Tyria behind her.
“Zaveid, wait!” Sorey called out to him, but the wind seraph refused to listen to him.
“Let him go,” Edna said. “We need to ditch these losers first.”
“S-Saki can help!” Saki answered.
She began to use her Song Magic, her clothes vanishing into light as she drew more and more power to turn the troops into cakes. It required a tremendous amount of energy, and she tired herself out even after her clothes re-materialized. At the very least, though, they weren’t in immediate danger, unlike Tyria.
“We have to go after them,” Sorey determined.
“Agreed,” Jack said. “Krusche and I can head back to the Think Tank. You guys already know the basic elements of the Seraphoid Project, right? Well, we found some other tidbits.”
Sorey, Lailah, Mikleo, and Alisha all listened intently. When they learned that Raphael was adding another component to the mix—Antibodies—to create the new race, their stomachs churned with disgust.
Their allies from the First Tower were aware that Raphael had a certain spell in his arsenal that could manipulate mana and transform seraphim, Reyvateils, and humans into horrific beasts, and thanks to that, the plan was almost ready to go. They simply needed Tyria to transform into Ar Ru while she was inside the VR21 so they could use her power over the Antibodies and produce more at will.
Sorey felt sick. “I should have stopped Zaveid!” he blamed himself. “He’s running right into a trap!”
“Yeah, probably, but we can’t stop him now,” Krusche said rather flippantly. “He’s an IPD, so they might not be able to use him for their plan.”
“IPD or not, if he gets captured, they’ll experiment on him,” Dezel told them, somewhat irked that they didn’t seem to care. Cocona sided with him as well.
“This is because I didn’t pay attention to him,” Sorey murmured.
“It’s not,” Edna denied. “That idiot is something of an envoy for gods and goddesses and whatnot. He’s not stupid for just any reason.” She spun her umbrella on her shoulder. “He fears what happened to all his friends could happen to Tyria. She’s still a type of seraph, and if she drowns in the malevolence coming from Raphael, she could turn into a dragon.”
Krusche and Jack nodded to each other, as if speaking with each other telepathically. “We’ll leave Eternus Shaft to you,” the former said. “Sorey, don’t beat yourself up over this. We’re all going to work together to stop that guy, got it? Then the final act will be in your hands.”
Sorey realigned his thinking. He couldn’t get down about it now; Zaveid wasn’t in a position like Tyria or like Mikleo had been until now. He knew that the wind seraph was strong and that he wanted him to believe in his strength. From all that he learned from his Dives, and no matter how much he tended to Mikleo more than him, Sorey had to respect him. But that was also why he worried for his safety.
“Let’s get going to Eternus Shaft,” Sorey said, stifling the tempest of emotions in his heart.
Notes:
Alright, we finished another Dive, but now we've lost Zaveid and Tyria. This certainly can't be good, but of course, what would this story be without the chaos in both Zestiria and Ar Tonelico 3?
Chapter 170: Phase 6: Two Become One
Summary:
Zaveid pursues the Archians who have stolen away Tyria, but little does he know that he is way in over his head
Notes:
Some mild body horror in this chapter!
I think this chapter is one of my favorites to write. It feels like a nice mix and, look, I finally was able to connect Sorey and Mikleo's traumatic experience with Bartlow to Ar Tonelico! For realsies!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Richa and Tyria ran as fast as they could through the swampy marsh of Moocheriel, Zaveid slowly catching up behind them. Even though Shurelia was essentially safe and sound and Jacqli had changed her ways, he was still haunted by what could happen to Tyria is he didn’t try to stop Archia’s plan. If Tyria died, the Third Tower would collapse. If that happened, communicating with Maotelus would get much harder if it were even still possible.
“Leave us alone!” Richa shrieked back at him.
“Yeah, don’t think so, cupcake!” Zaveid threw back at her. He swung his pendulums as he chased her out to the sides. “I’m not about to let you get away!” He flung a pendulum at Richa only to have it cut. “What?”
The moment he let his guard down, someone kicked him aside into a nearby tree. Falling into the murky water, he quickly registered who had attacked him. “Of fucking course, it would be you,” he growled lowly.
“I can’t have you interfering again,” Symonne giggled. “After you got in the way at Eolia and thwarted the Ascension Project, I just can’t. I have to show that I’m useful.”
“What the hell is your problem, Pasty Goth? If you help kill Tyria, everything is going to hell faster than in a hand-basket!”
“That is the least of my concerns.”
Zaveid searched for an opening to attack Symonne, lashing out his other pendulum when she seemed to be caught up in her own grandiose thoughts. Of course, it was only a trick. When the pendulum sped towards her face, she deflected it then grabbed the whip it was on. She violently pulled him off his feet, much to his surprise. The crystal tip of her cropped wand flashed red, and a sudden jolt of pain stung his abdomen.
Down but not out yet, Zaveid regained his stance. This time he cast Geostigma to pin her down only for her to dance out of the way. She dashed to him, the crazed bloodlust in her pink eyes.
“Just give up and succumb to the despair you’ve steeped in for so long!” she commanded.
“Like hell! I’m done feeling sorry for myself; those days ended a thousand years ago!” he retorted.
“Have they really?” She giggled. In a swift motion, she tripped him with his own weapon, using her illusions to tie him up in his mind. “Tell me then, why are does your heart still seem so dark?” She pointed a finger at the center of his chest. “Why do you still hold so many regrets?”
Unable to dispel the illusion, Zaveid just snarled at her. He tried to wriggle out of his binds, and she kept the illusion going. A devious smile on her face told him that he knew he was in trouble.
“Just what are you planning now?” he asked defeatedly.
“You’re going to be much more useful to that chairman than the Shepherd.”
As she reached for him, he finally unleashed a minor Song Magic to once again catch her off-guard:
bYIaA Apauwel/.
dAxYA der Afhyu/.
The illusion collapsed, and he quickly and expertly moved from under her with the wind his Song called. He had turned the tables on her, jumping on top of the small dark seraph.
“Stay out of my way, wench,” he threatened, knowing that he couldn’t kill her. “I am not letting Tyria end up like Shurelia.”
Symonne cracked a wry smile at him. “Then get going, you fool, or you’re going to miss your chance at redemption.”
Whether it was a trap or not, he couldn’t tell. The only thing he cared about at that moment was making sure that Tyria was safe. He slowly released her, backing away without taking his amber eyes off of her. But she didn’t move from her spot on the ground, and he took that as his signal to follow Richa and Tyria to Eternus Shaft.
He wasn’t sure just how far ahead or behind his friends were, but he needed to be there. Arriving at Eternus Shaft, he stopped for only a millisecond to read the wind on Tyria’s whereabouts. He followed the trail to the gallery where the VR21 was located, descending and climbing the rusted ladders and wrenching open the door. When he was in front of the archaic machine, he found Mute lying in Katene’s lap while Raphael helped Tyria into the machine. Richa kept guard.
“Let her go!” Zaveid roared. He prepared to use one of his Seraphic Artes, and had Katene not cried out to stop him, he would have destroyed the machine that was far too valuable to let happen. “I won’t let you turn Tyria into a hellion!” he said in frustration.
“A hellion?” Raphael chuckled. “She would only become the Antibody Brain Ar Ru.” His shallow smile vanished. He chanted the same Hymmnos spell that incapacitated Mute, ”Was yea ra cenjue art jouee gyusya yor.”
Zaveid was sure that Hymmnos spells created and spoken by humans would have no effect until his entire body felt as if it were going through a meat grinder. Collapsing to his knees, he screamed in pain. He clenched his arms, gritted his teeth—he tried to withstand the horrible sensation that suddenly overcame him.
“W-What…did you…!” he rasped before his mind finally recognizd that there was no stopping whatever was causing this merciless agony. His breath hitched, and soon enough he couldn’t exhale without whining like a pitiful dog. He begged for someone to help him, “S-So…rey…! Help…! E-Eizen…Theod-dora…! P-Please…!”
“You’re not much of a threat when you’re seizing on the ground,” Raphael ridiculed. “We’ve never experimented with a seraph like you, so congratulations. You can be the pioneer.” He ordered Richa to call a couple of troops to detain Zaveid. After they had come and dragged him out to be transported to the Archia Think Tank, Raphael returned to his task at hand.
“What was that spell?” Tyria asked, not visibly concerned.
“Just something Dr. Laude invented and nothing you need to be worried about.”
At the Archia Think Tank, the troops that had arrested Zaveid threw him into a cell with someone he knew. He craned his neck to look up at him, and his low but caring voice tried to ease his heart.
“You’re one of the Shepherd’s seraphim,” he said. “For someone as strong as you, I can’t believe they got you, too.”
“H-Help…” Zaveid weakly pleaded. “R-Reverend…Gengai…”
“I would if I could. I’m chained up.”
Gengai’s hands had been bound together, and his ankles were locked to the ground. He couldn’t say what they had in mind for them. The fear evident on Zaveid’s face broke his heart. Trying to talk to him to calm him down wouldn’t do much good, Gengai had figured. It was only a matter of time before they met their fate.
Some time after Zaveid had gone to chase Richa and Tyria, Sorey and his friends followed them. Antibodies were no longer a problem, and the hellion population had become manageable enough that different military forces on the Tower could take care of them for them. In the pits of their stomachs, however, there was still something of a foreboding that no one could shake. Naturally, Richa kidnapping Tyria was an indicator of something evil, but Sorey sensed something was wrong with Zaveid. His life hadn’t been snuffed out, only compromised. It was as if he were unconscious, a steady stream of energy being exchanged between them. He could only hope that he was okay.
The journey to Eternus Shaft was much easier than ever before. Everyone in the underground city seemed to enjoying life as if nothing were wrong. When they made their way through the gallery and into the chamber holding the VR21, however, their minds were numbed by what Raphael had done.
Tyria was helped out of the machine by him then returned with no visible injuries. Katene, clenching his fists and looking defeated, stood next to a collapsed Mute. Richa seemed to be struggling with her emotions about the scene.
“Katene, are you alright!?” Hikari Gojo questioned as he ran to his side. “Mute…what happened to Mute?”
“I’m fine, Dr. Gojo…Mute is, too…but I’m sorry,” the tiny researcher told him guiltily. He pulled a disc out of the VR21, promptly handing it over to the chairman. Once he had the disc in his palms, he deactivated the Hymmnos spell that had rendered Mute unconscious. “Remember your end of the bargain; Mute better be okay.”
“She will be,” Raphael smiled. “Now, why don’t you tell your friends what you’ve just given me?”
Katene bit his lip before explaining to them that he had mapped out all of Tyria’s soulspace to reveal exactly where Ar Ru was dwelling inside her. He was sure they would call him a traitor had Mute not willed herself to some extent of consciousness and revealed that Katene was forced commit such an atrocity. Raphael’s nonchalant evil smile enraged Alisha and Rose.
“You’re a coward, you boo!” Cocona insulted him.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures, wouldn’t you agree, Shepherd?” the chairman asked. “Your lineage did this stuff back in the day, no? Wouldn’t you be a hypocrite for not accepting that?”
“No, Shepherds didn’t do things like that!” Sorey countered.
“And even if that were the case, Sorey would never sink that low!” Mikleo supported.
“We’ve learned about this sick plan, and we know more than anyone could hope to learn since we almost went through it.”
Raphael giggled, making their skin crawl. “Is that so? But the people that did it to you probably were missing a key component; otherwise, you would have joined, no?” His attention shifted to Tyria whose uninterested gaze hardened into one of disapproval. “The World Regeneration Project was a failure because this Tower remained incomplete and never gained enough energy to carry it out. Kurogane, chairman of the project, lost his position after a screw-up. Tormented by failure, he took his own life!” He held up the disc. “Our plan—the Archia Think Tank—had a much better and simpler idea. Merging humans and seraphim, forcing evolution to take place here and now, creating the next race—it’s so much easier! Humans are mercurial and capricious, the maps of their souls changing in the blink of an eye. Seraphim, however, have been mapped and studied down to the very details of their individual personalities and memories. It only stands to reason that to expedite evolution, we must merge the aspects we know and give birth to a race that can coincide with the world and the Wills that govern it!”
“You’re a psychopath…” Sorey said with awestruck surprise.
“This plan will never work!” Hikari Gojo told him. “You…you can’t just expend seraphim! They are the forces of nature manifested! Killing them kills the world and hurts the Wills!”
Raphael pocketed the disc before beckoning Richa to follow him out of the chamber. The doctor called out to her, begging her to stop, but she didn’t. She only asked that in her time of need, he would rescue her even knowing that she had helped this man get what he wanted. Mute blamed herself for what had happened while everyone else was beside themselves what to do. Everyone except Sorey, Tyria, Mikleo, and Edna.
“He lied,” the Origin said. “Kurogane never made mistakes, and he didn’t commit suicide for something as silly as that. How dare he insult him!” It was the first time that anyone—Glenwood denzens and Tilia dwellers—had seen her get so angry.
“Mophead is bluffing,” Edna said. She closed her umbrella. She approached Sorey, determination in her cerulean eyes. “We cannot back down now, Sorey. Whatever he’s planning, matched with Zaveid’s not being here, will not only ruin your quest but legitimately destroy the world. The mana required to pull off what he’s planning to do far exceeds what the world produces at any given time.”
Sorey nodded. He didn’t need to ask anyone to know that Raphael had done something to their friend which resulted in his absence. Edna and Mikleo felt it, too. Even if Zaveid was an IPD, there was no telling what he could do at this point.
“Katene, will you be okay here?” Hikari Gojo asked.
But the little scientist remained quiet. He was blaming himself for enabling the Human Evolution Project for progressing, but the doctor as well as the Origin and the Shepherd guaranteed him that he was not at fault.
“Even if it’s not, I’m an accessory,” Katene said. “I’m going to tend to Mute and clean up here. The rest of you need to stop him.”
“Of course!” Finnel told him.
“But, Katene, please don’t beat yourself up over this, okay?” Saki tried to soothe him.
“Of course not! Not after he used us…and definitely not after he hurt Mute!” He realized something. Even though Zaveid was a different type of seraph, he was still affected by the spell that Raphael had used on him. “Sorey, you need to find and rescue Zaveid. Whatever he tried to do to Mute, he did to him. You’ve got to hurry!”
“Right!” Sorey affirmed. He and his Squires called their seraphim inside, and they made their way to the Archia Think Tank as quickly as possible. But as soon as they stepped out into the light of day, they noticed that the sky seemed much brighter than before. “What’s going on?”
Finnel pointed above them at a small visible piece of Archia’s cityscape. Directly above that was what looked like a tessellated shield made of pure light. It encapsulated the city, and Tyria knew exactly what that meant.
“The HW antenna has been booted, indicating that the Master Frame is back online,” she said. “Murderous scum, no friend of the planet.” Rose asked her for a simple explanation of what all that meant. “It’s very dangerous. The antenna emits Symphonic H Waves that allows humans to converse with the planet, but if it’s opened in stand-by, it runs the risk of breaking down the mind and killing everyone.”
Sorey stared at it. It was something that allowed them to speak with the Wills. No, he couldn’t let it stay open. As useful as it would have been to speak with the Great Lords to determine how best to help Maotelus, it wasn’t a risk he was willing to take. He rallied his friends to move to Archia.
The city was once again running wild. One by one, ten by ten, and hundreds of people were collapsing in the streets from the stress placed on them by the antenna. Akane, who had been helping to rid the city of Antibodies, was now surrounded by bodies of slowly dying people.
“Aki!” Finnel cried out.
She ran to her friend, throwing her arms around her then holding her hands. When she asked what she was doing there, Akane simply said she was returning the favor after Archian troops had helped Clustania fight the monsters. She mentioned she hadn’t seen Reverend Gengai in a long time, and she had thought that he was posted by the Archia Think Tank waiting for a so-called J&K duo to arrive. And while they had, things had already gone sideways so quickly that there were bodies all through the facility.
“Jack and Krusche might be in trouble, too,” Alisha mentioned.
“We can’t waste any more time,” Sorey agreed.
He asked that the Clustanian forces continued to work with the Archian and Great Fang Militia to help the people move to safety and seek medical help. Once they had parted ways, he led them to the Archia Think Tank, where Raphael was just about to step into his office to marvel at all what he had done.
“Raphael!” Sorey shouted at him.
The chairman gritted his teeth, turning around to him with a positively frustrated face. But then he sighed, as if the anger and annoyance built up had flushed away. There was nothing to be angry about. He accepted that they simply could not understand what the project meant.
“Stop this madness,” Sorey ordered.
“Are you really such an enemy of the people that you don’t wish to see them succeed?” Raphael asked. “What kind of Shepherd wishes for the demise of his people?”
“One who knows that people need to live for their own wishes.”
“Am I not included in that? My wish is to see humankind propagate.”
“Your wish is to turn humans into monsters!” Hikari Gojo spat. “If you keep goin, you’re going to destroy the ego and make all these people lose what makes them human! Just like what happened to my sister!”
Raphael chuckled again. “On the contrary, doctor, your sister provided valuable information, and we’ve learned from our mistakes. I beseech you to look at our improvements! We’ve ironed out the kinks and perfected the formula to create the final version of the Seraphoid!”
Raphael snapped his fingers, and suddenly the hallway grew cold. Malevolence flooded it like a pipe had broken in the wall. Sorey, Alisha, Rose, Hikari Gojo, Tyria, Finnel, and Saki all turned around. Floating towards them was the horrifying and disgusting conglomerate lifeform called Seraphoid. Gengai’s lifeless body had been merged with Zaveid’s, and both were glued and pinned to the black skeleton of an Antibody by an iridescent crystal on their belly. Gengai and Zaveid’s eyes were rolled back, but Sorey still sensed some semblance of life in at least his wind seraph.
“Z-Zaveid…?” he uttered.
“M-Master…?” Cocona whimpered.
Raphael walked up to the creature, stroking the two recognizable faces in it lovingly like it was some deformed monster-child. “It took some getting used to, but these two were two of the three components to make a viable Seraphoid. Sorey, when you mentioned that you were nearly turned into one, I can assure you that you would have been a failure.”
Sorey fell to his knees.
“A Seraphoid does need a human and a seraph, but an Antibody is also required,” Raphael concluded.
“So that map…” the Shepherd cracked.
“Was needed to create an Antibody at will.”
“Can he even maintain his ego…?” Hikari Gojo asked.
“Alas, he cannot,” Raphael admitted flippantly.
“Then what’s the point?” Rose tried to question.
“He is not completely an empty shell. He can obey commands and still has autonomous movement of his body.”
“Stop speaking as if only one person was killed to make this abomination!”
“Killed?” Raphael laughed again. “No, my red-headed darling. Both the reverend and the seraph are still very much alive. Their souls have been almost completely merged like conjoined twins.” He looked at the Seraphoid, the crystal shining brightly. At the same time, both he and Gengai spoke at the same time:
“He can even say exactly what I say exactly at the same time. Communication between us instantaneous.”
Edna emerged from Sorey, her umbrella closed and held like a sword. “You disgusting lower lifeform!” she accused him. “How dare you do this to your own kind! To the seraphim! Don’t treat our friends like puppets, you piece of shit!” She clenched her teeth and tears welled in her eyes as she gazed upon what had become of her and her brother’s friend. “How dare you!”
“It only figures that seraphim and idiotic humans too stupid to understand this technology would be opposed to it! With this technology, Shepherd, we can be gods among men! We don’t need that ridiculous piousness of scripture to say we need to be holy!”
“Only a madman would want that!” Lailah retorted.
“A sick-in-the-head asshole of a madman!” Dezel added.
Raphael ground his teeth again. He snapped his fingers, the crystal glowing red on the Seraphoid’s belly. He commanded that it kill them all, and he especially wanted Sorey and Hikari Gojo to suffer. The Seraphoid screeched as it levitated toward Sorey. As it neared, the Shepherd thought he heard his seraph gag and sputter:
“Save me.”
Zaveid was still alive, even if just barely. Faced with the possibility of killing him, Sorey drew his sword. He couldn’t hesitate now—a friend needed him, and no matter what his duty was a Shepherd, he wasn’t going to leave him behind.
The Seraphoid gurgled as it drifted towards them. Cocona, Finnel, and Saki couldn’t bring themselves to harm the monstrosity. Tyria, feeling neither excited nor distraught as much as simply annoyed, lent her hand. Alisha, Rose, and their seraphim steeled themselves for the potential of killing their comrade; Sorey pointed his sword.
“I refuse to believe that we have to kill you, Zaveid,” he said. “I will set both of you free!”
He took the initiative, dashing to the Seraphoid as quickly as he could. The monster hissed and screeched, calling three Antibodies to materialize before him. The Seraphoid by no means had the power to control its kin, and it appeared to have split the Antibodies from its own Antibody host. Alisha called Lailah out to occupy one of them. Rose and Dezel took on another one. Hikari Gojo rallied Cocona, Finnel, and Saki to help keep the third one busy. Edna and Mikleo assisted Sorey, laying rock traps and chanting Seraphic Artes to keep it from attacking the Shepherd, who danced around its swings.
The only way to defeat the monster was to destroy the crystal set in its stomach, yet he hesitated. Would breaking the crystal kill Gengai and Zaveid? There was still no guarantee that they could separate the components of this monster nor was there a guarantee that they would survive. He had to try.
His eyes lit up with an idea—if he could use his Artes to cut them free, they wouldn’t get as hurt, right? The Seraphoid spun around, knocking him in the neck and throwing him aside. Tyria watched as Sorey was flung across the hall, and as if her determination to stop the abomination had peaked somewhat, a piece of her Linkage Armor disappeared. Accruing more power, she continued to sing, which attracted the Seraphoid to her.
“Freeze Lancer!” Mikleo called out.
“Air Pressure!” Edna followed.
Their spells stopped the Seraphoid in its place, but it could still turn around. The crystal was still glowing red, and above its head, a ball of energy formed. Bolts of lightning shot at them, and while Edna was able to protect herself by grounding it with a wall of stone, Mikleo was left vulnerable.
“Look out!” Sorey alerted him. He dashed in front of him, using his sword as a lightning rod to keep it from hitting the water seraph.
His arm throbbed from the electricity coursing through, but he was glad to protect his seraph from something would have definitely killed him.
Alisha and Lailah tag-teamed the Antibody they were fighting against. Lailah threw fireball after fireball from behind her princess as she smacked and stabbed the undulating alien-looking creature. The Antibody whipped them with its flagella-like tail, but ultimately it was defeated.
And as it crumbled to the floor, Tyria’s Linkage Armor lost another piece; the Antibody had been preventing her from increasing her power absorption, and she was thankful that she could continue with her Song Magic.
“Sorey, what are we going to do about Zaveid?” Mikleo asked the Shepherd.
“We need to shatter that crystal and separate them,” Sorey explained to him. He backed away from the Seraphoid when it began to move in on him once Air Pressure’s casting had run out. “I think if I can use Heavenly Torrent or Severing Wind, I can split them without hurting them too much.”
“But will they be alright?”
“I…I don’t know, but we have to try.”
“Be careful,” Edna cautioned. “If Zaveid dies, that’s instant hellionization.” She fired a ball of ice. “Sorey, let’s Armatize. We can at least grab this thing and keep it from attacking.”
Sorey nodded then asked that Mikleo keep an eye on everyone else to heal anyone that needed help. He called Edna’s true name, donning the ivory and gold Armatus. He slammed his fists together. Charging to the Seraphoid, he aimed to grasp it so it couldn’t attack them anymore. Once again, it spat out lightning bolts.
Rose and Dezel had just finished putting down another Antibody. They and Alisha and Lailah turned their focus now to the Seraphoid. While the humans lunged at it, the seraphim quickly cast their Artes to knock it off-balance. The final piece of the Linkage Armor vanished, and Tyria was almost ready to unleash her attack.
And they succeeded. With the Seraphoid ill-prepared to fire off another attack, Sorey grabbed it with his fists made of rock. Cocona and Hikari Gojo defeated the last Antibody and rejoined the group to offer their strength if Tyria’s Song Magic didn’t incapacitate it.
“Tyria!” Sorey called for her. “Do it now!”
“Alright, implementing Song Magic,” Tyria said like a robot. “Give me energy.”
The dreamlike sequence befell everyone in the battlefield simultaneously as Tyria activated her Song Magic. Because she was the Tower manifested, her body emulated its structure. Drawing power from it was an easy feat, calling forth lasers from its apex and weakening the Seraphoid dramatically.
Once the attack had been completed, Sorey de-Armatized from Edna. Dezel tied the Seraphoid up with his pendulums. The Shepherd gulped with anticipation. What he was about to do was extremely risky, but there was no other way. He conjured wind unto his blade, and in one swipe, he called, “Severing Wind!”
The attack sliced through the crystal in the creature’s abdomen as well as cut through where Gengai’s body and Zaveid’s body merged together. The crystal shattered, but everything else was a blur that had been obscured in a blinding light. When everyone could see again, Gengai and Zaveid lay on the ground exhausted and panting and on the brink of their souls collapsing.
“Master!” Cocona cried out. She rushed to his side along with Saki, Finnel, and Hikari Gojo.
“Zaveid!” Sorey gasped. Likewise he, Mikleo, and Edna tended to him. They saw the toll that the merging had taken on him. He was pale and sweating, barely able to keep his eyes open, trembling in shock, and speechless.
Raphael was still standing in front of the door in the hall, baffled that they were able to not only stop the Seraphoid but also separate back into a human and a seraph. The only thing that snapped him back to his grim reality was Katene’s voice from the other end of the hall. The tiny researcher and his dearest Mute had caught up with them.
“Don’t let him get away!” Mute bellowed. “Ya gotta crush the crystal on the back of his neck! That’s how he controls them!”
Sorey looked up from his wind seraph to find Raphael escaping deeper into the Archia Think Tank. He rose to his feet, asking the seraphim with him, “Do whatever you can to stabilize them! I won’t let them die!”
“Got it,” Mikleo affirmed. He, Edna, Lailah, and Dezel all used their healing magic on Zaveid to keep him conscious. Finnel and Saki did what they could to help Gengai. “Catch that bastard, Sorey. Make him pay for what he did to Zaveid and Gengai.”
“Revenge is unbecoming,” Tyria said. “But let us go.”
“Alisha, Rose, let’s go,” Sorey rallied.
“Hold on, we’re coming, too,” Cocona growled. “I…I can’t forgive him for what he did to Master!”
“And to think this is what he tried to do to my sister—he’s an evil man,” Hikari Gojo said with some restraint on his anger.
Mute was still not completely healthy; the spell that Raphael had used on her and Zaveid had taken a heavier toll on them than they expected. Nevertheless, she told him that the crystal on the back of the chairman’s neck was the control for the monsters, and Laude had had one as well—it was the giant jewel implanted into his forehead.
“Katene,” Hikari Gojo said. “Please help these seraphim take care of our friends. Get them to my old clinic, and I’ll fix them both up when we’re finished with Raphael.”
“You got it,” Katene promised. When he asked for Mute’s assistance, she was over the moon despite still being tired. “Be careful, you guys.”
“We’ve got no other choice!” Rose grinned.
“Be careful, you idiot!” Dezel barked. He was blushing under the bright lighted glyphs of their Seraphic Artes. “If you get a single scratch on you…”
“Relax, Dezel!”
“The same goes for you, Alisha,” Lailah said. Contrary to the assassin, Alisha respectfully bowed. “I am very serious. That man…I can feel an abnormal amount of malevolence coming from him. He might have already transformed into a hellion.”
Sorey tightened his grip on his sword. “Then we’ll do what we always do—purify him.”
“And if not,” Rose started as she turned to him. “If we can’t purify him, Sorey, I will take his life.” She held her dagger before him. “You’re not allowed to kill him, got it?”
Sorey understood why Rose was stressing not to kill him. Her hands had always been drenched in blood, while his were immaculate and clean. His hands were to gift the sullied life and hope. He acknowledged the sentiment, promising that he wouldn’t be the one to finish him.
The five of them and Tyria followed Raphael deeper into the Archia Think Tank back to the SH Server. Raphael had clearly passed through there because Jack and Krusche were at the terminal, the former looking dumbfounded. As it turned out, Raphael had run into them, but he was more concerned about his failed plan that he didn’t bother to apprehend them to stop their hacking into the terminal.
“He’s headed further up with that Richa chick,” Jack told them.
“Richa’s here, too?!” Hikari Gojo said with disbelief.
“But then, why are you two here?” Alisha asked. “Is…Is Krusche alright?”
“It’s not of your business,” she said rather aggressively. She didn’t take her eyes off the screen. “Just get going, would you!?” she growled when no one had moved. “You have a mission, right? So just go!”
Tyria agreed with her, pushing them to leave Krusche and Jack or else Raphael would get away. Hikari Gojo, though, was more worried about why Richa was with him. They left through the SH Server, climbing up to a scaffolded bridge and go through a small bubble called the XP Shell. The Origin was especially troubled; the appearance of the XP Shell put the Tower in danger of collapse if it was activated now when it was incomplete. But she couldn’t stop to figure out how to hide it now. She guided them to a small path that took them into the very heart of the Tower of Origin.
Notes:
This was a LONG chapter but is it weird that I really liked this one for the sake of Zaveid getting experiemented on? Am I strange? Yes. But I think he wasn't used as much as he could have been in Zestiria OR Berseria (I want more of his backstory dammit! Not that this had anything to do with it.)
Chapter 171: Phase 6: When Hands Are Tied
Summary:
Sorey and company catch up to Raphael and Richa in the Harvestasha Module of the Tower of Origins. After the threat is dealt with, Sorey keeps his promise to Zaveid.
Notes:
A bit of a shorter chapter this time. The fight with Richa is actually a little less involving with Raphael, but it seems weird in AT3 that Richa can sing AND physically fight. Sooo, I changed it :D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Where…are we?” Sorey asked.
The place within the Tower of Origin was an exact copy of the Harvestasha Module within Clustania. Every detail was an identical mirror of the the place, and it confused them all except Tyria. The owner of this place was also Harvestasha but a different version of her. The Harvestasha that was in charge of the XP Shell was named Harvestasha Module XP, otherwise known as the Master Frame. It was the same Master Frame that had been shut down so long ago. The other Harvestasha—the one with the bitchy personality, as Tyria thought to put it—was Harvestasha Module Vista. She was the Sub Frame, a supplement to the Master Frame.
“Wait a second, does that mean…the Harvestasha that told Jacqli about the Heart of Gaea…” Sorey tried to piece together, only for his thoughts to ber interrupted by a bone-chilling Song.
“This Song…Richa!” Hikari Gojo raced to the center of the module. He found the general in pink singing the horrible Song, her body struggling to stay upright as she sang. Her face was weary. “Why are you singing this Song?!”
“D-Doctor…!” Richa gasped as she sang. She winced. “I’m sorry, but I have to sing this Song, Doctor. If I don’t…If I don’t obey his commands, I’ll be killed! If I have to die, I would at least want it to be you that does it. I would want to die doing what a Reyvateil does best!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Rose questioned when the rest of the group caught up to Hikari Gojo. “What does this Song do?!”
Raphael walked up beside her, a gun in his hand to shoot the doctor and the Shepherd. The Song, as he cackled, was the key needed to transform all the humans, seraphim, and Antibodies into the conglomerates called Seraphoids. Once Richa was finished singing, the Song would take effect.
“So we just have to make sure she doesn’t finish the Song,” Cocona smirked.
Although they were ready to cross blades with Richa’s fans, Sorey couldn’t help but think that it wouldn’t help her, not with Raphael breathing down her neck and forcing her to sing the Song that would kill everyone on the Tower. Hikari Gojo didn’t want to fight her, either. He tried to convince her to abandon the corrupt chairman, but the only thing that Richa wanted more than anything including her own life:
“Doctor, if you marry me, I’ll stop,” she said with a tearful smile. “Take my hand in marriage, and I will take a permanent marital leave from the company. Ask me, ‘Will you marry me?’ right here and now, Doctor. Please…?”
Raphael was frustrated with the melodramatic scene playing before him. He cast the Hymmnos spell that changed the composition of bodies, paralyzing Richa and threatening to kill her if she didn’t sing. When he released her from the spell, she sang with greater ferocity.
“Raphael, stop this madness!” Hikari Gojo begged him.
“Sorey, Doctor, we don’t have a choice,” Alisha said. “We have to fight.”
“N-No! There has to be another way,” Sorey retorted. He drew his sword but not on Richa. It wasn’t her fault. “Raphael, face us yourselves instead of hiding behind the seraphim and Reyvateil!” He glared at him, angered that he would torture a seraph for his own gain—a goal that would render all the seraphim without the autonomy they deserved.
Raphael was sullied with malevolence, and it was evident that he had become a hellion in pursuit of his project. While Richa sang her Song called Z, he utilized that dark power that tainted his heart. He lifted his hand, a sword made of malevolence forming in it.
Alisha and Rose took the front lines to protect their Shepherd. Tyria began to sing despite her voice being drowned by Richa’s screeches. Cocona and Hikari Gojo made it their mission to get the pink seraph to stop.
But Sorey pleaded not to hurt her. He didn’t want her to suffer.
“All that wench knows is suffering!” Raphael roared. “All seraphim know is suffering! Why must you get in my way?! The Seraphoid Project guarantees no pain!”
He charged at the lot of them, swiping his weapon at the three from the Glenwood Continent. He was incredibly strong for someone that didn’t appear to be capable of fighting, and as a reflex, Sorey parried his swing.
Rose dashed around to behind him, locating the glowing crystal on the back of his neck under his curling silver hair. Alisha followed suit, flanking him and stabbing his leg to immobilize him. Raphael cried out in agony, but he was far from done. He knocked the princess back then kicked Rose in her stomach and sent her flying to the other side of the module platform. Sorey, no longer trapped by the parry, leapt back to safety.
Meanwhile, Cocona and Hikari Gojo forced their way to Richa. The force and power of her Song pushed them back, and the sheer will it took to get them through was only barely enough. Tyria’s Song could only help them so much.
“Richa, you have to stop!” Hikari Gojo yelled over her voice. “This is hurting everyone, including you!”
“I can’t! I…don’t want to die!” Richa sobbed as she sang.
Sorey locked swords with Raphael again with the hope that he could keep him distracted long enough for Rose to recover and break the crystal. Even if she couldn’t, though, he accepted that he would have to dirty his hands if necessary. He kicked the chairman’s leg.
“You foolish twit, what do you have to be afraid of? I can end the entire world’s suffering—yours and mine and the other Towers,” Raphael told him.
“You can’t just erase suffering like this,” Sorey argued back. “The pain and sorrow we endure is what makes us stronger.”
“Spare me the drivel.”
“I admit, we all have our low points. I was ready to give up so many times when I lost Mikleo, but my friends didn’t let me. Everyone has felt some sort of pain, has gone through some sort of hardship, but here we are now. We’ve fought against so many different monsters and people that wanted nothing more than to reduce everything to dust. And we won’t stop until we’ve stopped the Lord of Calamity. I won’t stop until the world I dream of—a world of coexistence and equality—becomes our reality.”
Rose and Alisha quietly stood behind Raphael. Hikari Gojo reached Richa through the field created by her Song. Sorey threw his sword as well as his opponent’s sword to the side, allowing him to grab his wrists and hold on as best as he could.
“That is why I must keep going!” Sorey said. “Rose! Alisha!”
Alisha pierced Raphael’s back, pinning him in place, while Rose leapt over her head. The point of her dagger cracked through the crystal. At the same time, Hikari Gojo pulled Richa into his arms, and he held her tightly. Her Song was interrupted by her shocking surprise. Sorey’s blade was shrouded in the purifying silver flame. The explosion caused by the shattered crystal obscured that he had managed to quell the malevolence. When the light and smoke cleared, Raphael’s body was little more than a pile of ashes.
Tyria stopped singing. She walked to the center to find that the chairman had died, a small smile on her face before she went to see how Richa was doing. The seraph was unconscious, but Hikari Gojo didn’t find any injuries.
“But is she going to be okay?” Cocona asked him. “I feel sort of bad for her…like, none of this was really her fault.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Hikari Gojo sighed. “I’m just glad she’s still alive.”
Alisha, Rose, and Sorey held mixed feelings about what they had done, but they were glad to know that Richa had survived. And that wasn’t all. With Raphael’s demise, the Harvestasha XP Module seemed to come to life, and a girl that looked exactly like the Harvestasha they knew but colored deep pink appeared before them.
“Oh, wow, I’m finally awake,” she said calmly—a farcry from the other version of her. “That man must have been defeated; he had my boot key. Now that he’s gone, I’ve been rebooted.”
Once again, the Glenwood denizens were confused by what was happening. Tyria explained that there were two versions of Harvestasha. The one before them was far easier to talk to than Harvestasha Vista, and thus Sorey and Cocona were rather curious about her.
“Are you the one that spoke with Jacqli about the Heart of Gaea?” Cocona asked.
“Jacqli?” XP questioned.
“Um, she used to go by Mir,” Alisha added.
“Oh, yes! I did speak with her. She was hard to convince at first, but I’m glad to know that she did help you all in the end. Of course, I wasn’t sure if such an item existed.”
“So Jacqli used to be called Mir…” Cocona thought aloud.
“We have the Heart of Gaea,” Sorey said.
“Right now? Excellent! But…I don’t really know how to use it…” XP sighed defeatedly.
Tyria approached her. “That’s because you don’t have the program to use it installed in you. More importantly, have you been able to communicate with Harvestasha Vista?”
XP shooked her head. She hadn’t felt Vista’s presence in a long time, leading Tyria to believe that Vista had been completely shut down when Finnel had sung her Song to let everyone escape from Kureha and Vista’s wrath.
With that, Tyria came to a decision. They had to turn the other Harvestasha back on, and the only way to do that was to use the boot key. There wasn’t much left to do in the XP Shell, so the Origin bade her friend farewell. Hikari Gojo picked up Richa, and they returned to Archia’s main district.
Mute, Katene, Saki, Finnel, Mikleo, Lailah, Edna, and Dezel had taken Gengai and Zaveid back to Hikari Gojo’s old clinic, and when both groups had reconvened within the tiny office, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Thankfully, there was another room with extra beds to let Richa rest, and the doctor spent most of the evening keeping an eye on her. Gengai had recovered thanks to the seraphim’s efforts. In a matter of minutes after returning, he had woken up. And when he did, he found Mute and Katene twirling around and expressing how happy they were that each other was alright. Needless to say, it left him extremely confused.
“You’re disgusting,” Edna grumbled quietly enough so the lovey-dovey couple didn’t hear her.
“Master, how do you feel?” Cocona asked the reverend.
“Groggy but otherwise alright,” Gengai told her.
Sorey approached him wanting to know what had happened. Gengai thought back to all that had occurred while they had gone to take care of their business. Krusche and Jack had run into him and asked for help to get into the Archia Think Tank. Once they had broken into the facility, they went their separate ways.
“That was when I ran into Raphael,” he explained. “I accused him of trying to kill everyone in the world, but anything after that…it’s all a giant hole in my memory.”
“Perhaps becoming a Seraphoid erased that part of your memory,” Lailah suggested.
“It would make sense since he was basically a puppet,” Rose confirmed.
“Master, that was too reckless!” Cocona scolded him.
“Maybe, but at least I’m still alive, and I have you all to thank for that,” Gengai said with a gracious smile. Then it disappeared as he turned to face Zaveid, who was still unconscious. “I feel bad for him. He was the seraph that they forced to merge with me. He was so scared and in so much pain that it’s a wonder he’s even breathing after what they did to us.”
“Oh, no, Zaveid!” Sorey gasped.
With all that had happened, he hadn’t been able to remedy what was wrong with him. Simply healing him and waiting for him to wake up wasn’t going to fix him. The Shepherd ran to his side, holding his hand tightly because he didn’t know what else he could do other than to Dive into him. Lailah advised against it for fear that his soulspace was in tatters. Sorey didn’t care; if he could Dive into him now, he could wake him up.
Mikleo came up behind him. Resting a hand on his shoulder, he watched him with stern amythest eyes. “You should be able to Dive into him like normal,” he said. “I can keep using my healing Arte to make sure he doesn’t crash on you.”
“Thank you, Mikleo,” Sorey said.
“There’s no need to thank me.” He smiled at him, and it soothed Sorey’s heart. “I believe you can help him. You’ve helped all of us, and it’s time for me to support you once again as you do your duty—no, as you save a comrade.”
Sorey held back his tears, and instead of turning from him, he pulled him in for a quick hug and a peck on his lips. “Okay, I’m going in,” he told him. “I’ll see you all when I get back,” he told everyone else in the office. Everyone wished him luck before he stared down at Zaveid. “Fylk Zahdeya.”
Zaveid’s body glowed weakly then merged with Sorey’s body to don the Wind Armatus. Sorey himself collapsed into Mikleo’s arms as the water seraph gently lowered him to the ground after glowing with healing light meant to sustain their souls.
Quietly, just under a whisper, Mikleo said a tiny prayer:
“Was touwaka ra grandi en coall tes mean.”
Notes:
The soundtrack for this chapter is EXEC_Z/. from Ar Tonelico Qoga. It's Richa's death knell and a bop! Next chapter will be a Dive into Zaveid, but...will his cosmosphere really be okay?
Chapter 172: Phase 6: Face Myself
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 8: Zaveid
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
The penultimate Dive for Zaveid and you may notice it's a nod to another series. And we have a special guest! Did I write her like she is in her title? Nope, not at all.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Zaveid?” Sorey called in the shared soulspace.
The wind seraph was on his hands and knees, skin pale and clammy. He was short of breath yet still tried to talk to him. “S-Sorey…you came…!”
Sorey knelt down to him. “Don’t worry, okay? I’ve got you.”
“I’m so glad you’re here…just before…I gave up…”
Sorey’s skin prickled at the sound of his statement. He couldn’t give up! They were so close to completing his soulspace! Gripping his shoulders, Sorey tried to shake him out of it. “Zaveid, you can do this! If you give up now…what will it all have been for?! Don’t you want to be happy? Please, don’t throw it away!”
Zaveid weakly smiled at him. “You…sound like…a desperate babe…if only you were…”
He was fading right in front of him. Sorey quickly touched his chest to initiate the Dive.
When he arrived at the eighth level of Zaveid’s cosmosphere, he found the world floating on clouds. The sky was a gradient of red to the darkness of night, and while it was a foreboding shadow, he couldn’t help but think how beautiful it was.
“Zaveid…what is happening inside of you?” Sorey asked himself.
A thunderous screech echoed throughout the soulspace, prompting Sorey to draw his sword. Three dragons that he knew very well at this point were flying around. In the middle of them was Zaveid.
Sorey ran towards him, leaping onto the clouds despite fearing he was going to fall right through them. He didn’t have the Wind Armatus to save him, but he couldn’t let that fear stop him. He caught up to the wind seraph and attempted to shield him from the dragons. He was so small compared to them that he knew he couldn’t do anything to stop them from burning them to ash. But that was just it—they weren’t attacking.
“What…is going on?” he asked the cowering man behind him.
“I…I told them that I have to go away,” Zaveid said. “Silva grew up and turned into that black dragon over there. And Eizen got angry about me leaving Theodora, the white-horned dragon there. They won’t leave me alone.” He mustered up a gust to blow them away. It didn’t work.
Sorey sheathed his sword then crossed his arms. “Why are you going away?” he asked.
“I…I’ve failed everyone. Something happened, and I can’t control them anymore. I can’t control anything in my soulspace. I used to be able to stop Eizen and Theodora. Silva was the only one that I was still working with.” He was nervous, masking it with a crooked smile. “And…someone I knew from way back contacted me. It’s time for me to go.”
Sorey took Zaveid’s hand. He demanded that he explained just what he was talking about, but there was still no getting through to him. It was like a taboo on him to speak. He refused to let him go, calling on the Armatus and wearing it until he got to the bottom of the issue.
“Sorey, this is abuse!” Zaveid chastised him.
“I’m not letting you go until I can understand what you’re getting at. Something bad happened on the outside, so that’s why I can’t just let you do as you please,” Sorey replied. “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t right. Please, Zaveid. Let me help you one last time. If it’s really something that you have to leave over, then I won’t stop you. But isn’t this why I Dive? Aren’t I supposed to help you?”
Zaveid backed down. He knew that he meant well. He told him that there was a certain place that he needed to go to. It was higher than the clouds. It was a temple called the Heavenly Steppes.
The Heavenly Steppes as depicted in Zaveid’s cosmosphere was little more than a gazebo set on the very apex of a mountain made of ivory. He had never been there in person, but it was a place that few ever had the chance to see. It was, for the benefit of Sorey’s understanding, the pinnacle of purity where the seraphim first originated.
Sorey flew up to the gazebo using the Armatus, and when he arrived, he found the fearsome woman that he had met before. Instead of the red and black tatters she wore before, she wore an elegant black tube dress with a slit down her left leg. Her left arm, which had been bandaged, was cloaked in a black silk glove that reach up over her shoulder and connected to the torso of the dress. Her hair had been brushed down and clipped.
“I can’t tell you who this is, but—”
“You’re that Will that I meant before,” Sorey said.
“So you remembered,” the woman said. She crossed a leg over the other. She didn’t say anything else; she only observed Sorey and the white light that shined in his heart. “His power dwells within you, doesn’t it? The power of purification.”
“You mean Maotelus’s power? Yes, ma’am.”
She let out a sigh. “Even with that power, you might not be able to save him. Maotelus has been corrupted terribly by the current Lord of Calamity, and the other Wills have yet to regain all their strength. The Will that operates alongside me will not be able to devour the malevolence that poisons him unless you can speak with Ciela herself.”
“Ciela?”
“The greatest Will of them all,” Zaveid absentmindedly explained. “Ciela is in danger as well?”
The woman stood up, walking to the edge of the gazebo and staring at Eizen, Silva, and Theodora flying about. “She’s angered just like I was back then. Young Shepherd, whose light shines brighter than those that came before you, I will take this time to tell you now: I am a Will of the Planet that does not reside within Zaveid. He was once my acquaintance that has fortunately lived long enough to meet you. I do not care for your plight nor do I intend to get in your way, but the kindness that you’ve shown your seraphim and the love that you have for their kind suggests that you’re the only one capable of stopping this threat. You must mend the hearts of the Origins and prove you can unite the world to face the Lord of Calamity. Sing to prove your strength in the bonds you’ve amassed. If you can bring the Origins together again, Ciela will grant you her strength. And by then, you will have come to terms with what it means to be a Shepherd.”
Sorey knelt before her out of respect. That was his goal—to bring about peace, to unite humans and seraphim. He had no intention of failing, but he was still curious. Did all of this have to do with Zaveid leaving?
When he asked her his question, she simply stated that he still had much to learn. It was important for Sorey to reunite the Origins, but he still needed to learn the value of the bonds he had been fostering up till now. She spoke same the way that Mayvin had.
“Help your seraphim to connect to the Towers,” she said. “That includes helping Zaveid face the shadow that has been etched into his heart.”
And with that, she suddenly vanished. In her stead were two Normin named Shokk and Tenshun. Her voice echoed in Sorey’s head as he picked them up:
“These two can draw out what makes him hesitate.”
With the two Normin asleep in his arms, Sorey and Zaveid flew down from the gazebo of the Heavenly Steppes to where they had met in the level. When they separated, Zaveid looked unsure at the Normin. He didn’t know how they were going to draw out his hesitation, but the second that they de-Armatized, they woke.
“It’s finally time!” Shokk happily said.
“Our purpose can be realized!” Tenshun chimed.
Together, the two Normin joined and shot through Zaveid’s heart. After they vanished, Zaveid turned around to find a clone of him dressed in red and with black tattoos. His golden eyes pierced through him.
“Is…that me?” Zaveid asked.
“Of course, I’m you!” the alternate Zaveid laughed. “I’m your worthlessness. I’ve been with you ever since you were trapped by the Abbey over a thousand years ago, and it’s thanks to me that you’re finally going to leave!”
Sorey drew his sword. Zaveid waved him to put it away. He never knew that this persona was the root for all the things that brought him down, and more than anything now, he wanted to fight it by himself.
“Sorey, all I ask is that you support me with your prayers!” he yelled out. He whipped out his pendulums, his persona mirroring his movements. “Come at me, son of a bitch!”
He shot off towards his shadow, and in a flurry of whips between them, he slashed away at his pants. The alternate version of him whipped his arms and face, leaving cuts and lacerations all over him. But neither Zaveid was going to give up.
The original wrapped a pendulum around his shadow’s wrist. Like a dog on a chain, the opponent floundered about as he was dragged around. Then Zaveid pulled Siegfried.
“I don’t have time to mess around with you!” he growled. “I…I have to hurry up and get better. I have to support my Shepherd!”
He shot himself in the head with the gun, releasing all of his power before moving into his Mystic Arte. Striking the shadow with his pendulums at breakneck speed, he defeated it before letting out a long sigh that had been waiting to escape. He stood over it as it snarled at him to just give up.
“I can’t do that until I’ve helped him see the end of his journey,” Zaveid told the alternate Zaveid.
“You can’t do anything! He doesn’t love you!” the shadow fired back.
“I don’t care if he loves me or not! His heart was decided long before I met him, and the bond he shares with the other is far stronger than it would ever be with me. But no matter what, I won’t abandon him! I won’t abandon any of the friends I’ve made!”
“But…you still crave the love you lost…how can you be satisfied like this?”
“I’ll figure it out somehow. Maybe not anytime soon, but it’s not like the world ends tomorrow.”
The shadow stared at him then conceded. The Stonehenge up on one of the clouds began to shine with a Paradigm Shift.
“It’s open!” Zaveid happily said. He took Sorey’s hand. “Call my name. We can fly up there.”
Sorey glanced at the shadow on the ground. The darkness that had held him back and threatened to take him away had been defeated. He felt like he understood Zaveid completely—he was heartbroken still but had always been trying to move on. They arrived at the Paradigm Shift, and after they de-Armatized, they faced each other.
“I’m sorry for being such a downer lately,” Zaveid apologized. He seemed nonchalant about it, yet there was a hint of genuine sincerity. “But bright side, me being a downer meant that you could keep going to find the truth. And it feels like I can start feeling better about everything.”
“I’m happy for you, but…” Sorey tried to say.
“I know you’ve got Mik. Just so you know, I didn’t have a thing for you. I’m a ladies’ man for the most part.”
“Zaveid, I…”
“So, now let’s go kick that Lord of Calamity’s ass!”
“Zaveid, listen to me!” Sorey finally yelled over him. Zaveid flinched though was pleasantly surprised that he could be a little more assertive when he wanted. The Shepherd asked him to kneel in front of him. At first, the wind seraph was confused. He did was he was told with some apprehension. Sorey suddenly wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re not going to disappear.”
“S-Sorey…?”
“You’re one of us, so if you left…everyone would be so sad. I’m tired of being sad. I’m tired of losing the people I care about. I’m going to do whatever it takes to protect you all.”
He let go of the seraph. Without looking at him, he pulled him toward the Paradigm Shift, and almost immediately, Sorey was sent back to his reality.
Mikleo was still using his power to heal Zaveid when Sorey and the wind seraph separated. It had caught him by surprise, and it left him in suspense if he was able to help him or not.
Sorey woke first. He was greeted by his water seraph before he turned to Zaveid in a slight panic. The anticipation of the worst flooded his heart; everyone was on edge waiting to see if he was going to open his eyes. And then, slowly, the amber eyes woke and searched the room.
“Where am I?” Zaveid asked.
Sorey let out a sob. As Zaveid sat up on the bed, the Shepherd threw his arms around him. He was so happy that his friend was alive and well, and while he was ready to ask him about the Dive, he felt that perhaps this was the only time that he shouldn’t. Zaveid didn’t pressure him to talk, either. Instead, he was more worried about regaining his bearings.
“Yay!” Saki sang. “Gengai and Zaveid are okay!”
“All that leaves is Richa, right?” Cocona sighed. “She should wake up soon, too, right?”
“Actually…” Hikari Gojo said. He had been standing behind everyone while the Dive was happening. Richa was clinging to his arm, a look a pure ecstatsy on her face.
“Are you feeling better, Richa?” Finnel asked.
“Better? I’m more than better! The most wonderful thing has happened!” Richa gushed. She took Hikari Gojo’s hand, and with tearing green eyes, she said happily, “Everyone, I’d like to announce that, after years and years and years of rejection, the doctor has asked me to marry him! He finally proposed to me!”
Alisha and Lailah and Saki were the happiest to hear the news. They congratulated the happy couple, though Rose and Edna had to wonder where it came from. Finnel took the liberty of explaining that Richa had had a huge crush on Hikari Gojo for so long, but he never accepted her displays of affection. Naturally, after the explanation, the earth seraph was no longer interested in learning about their love lives. Rose—and more discreetly Sorey—were quite intrigued.
“This is all a very happy occasion and everything, but we do have something important to do,” Tyria reminded them.
“Ah, the boot key!” Sorey gasped. “But we don’t even know where to start looking for it.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem at all,” Katene happily said. He waddled over to a steel case on the desk next to Gengai’s bed. At first, the reverend was confused; he told the band of heroes that long ago, he had left Aoto—whom he was grieved to hear had died—at Blue Canyon Hamlet at his late father’s request. He was ordered to leave a certain artifact with him. Katene opened the case to reveal a pair of disc-shaped necklaces. One was silver, and Gengai recalled seeing it before he had been detained by Raphael. “That one actually belonged to my father. While everyone thought that he had thrown it away like an idiot, it turned out that Raphael had been holding onto it in secret for years.”
Because Harvestasha XP had awaken, Tyria assumed that the proximity of the key to the XP Shell automatically started it once Richa’s Song had stopped. Mute added that the crystal that the chairman had embedded in his body had halted its function. Destroying it removed the limiter.
The second necklace was gold. Aoto had been given it when he was only a baby. When he had been captured and shipped down to Lohgrin, the necklace was confiscated. “More than likely, Luphan probably snatched it,” Gengai said, but he couldn’t understand why.
“Simply because he wanted access to the Sub Frame,” Tyria concluded. “After all, wasn’t he very close to her?”
“Then how did Katene come to hold onto it?” Finnel asked. “I never saw it.”
“That’s…because I stole it,” Richa admitted. “Raphael wanted both of them, so I swiped it when I got the chance in Lohgrin long before I met you all.”
Sorey was unsettled that Raphael had both of the keys at some point, but there was some relief to be had in that. It made their job easier, and he was grateful for that considering the spiral of events that had left his friends drained. But they had good momentum. To stop now would risk delaying their task.
“We should head back to the Harvestasha Module in Clustania,” he said. Everyone, especially his seraphim, looked at him. “We can finally put an end to all this.” He remembered what the Will that had contacted him through Zaveid said—reunite the Origins.
“I agree,” Tyria said.
“W-Wait, what about Aki?” Finnel blurted.
“General Akane?” Gengai asked. “She’s a tough girl. I’m going to survey the damage done to Archia soon, so I can pass a message to her if I see her.” Finnel pouted, but she left him with a request for her to come back to Clustania.
The seraphim tethered to Sorey and his Squires went back inside save for Mikleo, who wanted to take the time to speak with his human. Rose and Alisha, knowing what he wanted to discuss, in turn asked Tyria if they could take a little detour. Saki and Finnel wanted to make sure that Archia was alright with their own eyes, so they offered their support in walking around the city first.
Sorey wanted to head to Clustania, but he supposed that a brief respite was in order. Zaveid still needed to rest whether within Sorey or on a bed. Mikleo hinted at wanting to be with him alone, thus signaling to Edna and Zaveid to stay at the clinic or head to the inn. He didn’t care, just as long as they weren’t anywhere near them.
“Getting possessive again?” Zaveid teased.
“I just need to speak to Sorey—alone,” the water seraph pouted.
“They want to kiss,” Edna poked.
“N-No!”
“Alright, alright, settle down,” Sorey giggled. “Well, we can leave once everyone is done here, then!”
And everyone went their separate ways within Archia.
Notes:
Having not been in a great place for the past week, reading this chapter really filled me with some hope. Is it pride in my own writing? Is it just the joy of this project? Who knows, but it definitely feels like a weight has been lifted for Sorey and Zaveid.
Chapter 173: Phase 6: Waking Somniloquism
Summary:
With the crisis caused by Raphael over with, everyone takes a break before heading to their next destination. But in resting for the moment, Sorey is saddled with a new set of feelings.
Notes:
Very short chapter, and uploaded two days late. I haven't been super great, but I've had more time to write. Now, if I can just refocus to write longer pieces.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Finnel, Saki, and Tyria ended up running into Akane on the main street, and they quickly asked her to come back with them to Clustania to help reboot Harvestasha. Alisha and Lailah worked to help whoever they could in the aftermath of the Antibodies’ invasion. Zaveid and Edna went with Cocona to see Sasha, who had met back with Jack and Krusche and were ready to hack anything they needed thanks to probing the Archia Think Tank. Dezel and Rose went shopping, and Hikari Gojo made sure that Richa was officially healthy after she sang Z.
This left Mikleo and Sorey to visit Ogai, the preschool that Saki used to work as a teacher and caretaker. The school itself had been shut down for years, leaving the small courtyard overgrown with grass and the tree in the center dense. They headed inside the small building. While most of the architecture on the Towers indicated the work of ancient seraphic artes and technology, the school seemed somewhat similar to the one in Gododdin. Built by humans save fo some latent enchantment.
“Interesting!” Sorey happily said. “Even though there are some seraphim living in Archia, this school looks like it was only built with human skill!” He glanced around at the moss that had permeated the cracks of the walls.
“Some of the children’s artwork is still here,” Mikleo noted. “There’s even a drawing of Saki.”
“A lot of people really loved her, didn’t they…” He turned to his water seraph, the sunlight shining through the window falling on his face in vertical bands through the opened blinds. “Mikleo, after we finish our journey, let’s come back. Let’s explore every single Tower, find every ruin on them, and learn as much as we can about the past.” His emerald eyes were shining brightly with adventure. Mikleo hadn’t seen it in so long.
The water seraph took a seat on one of the desks. He knew something was wrong. They had been separated for months, and considering that once he had woken from Kureha’s plot yet had remained emotionally detached until Tyria restored his memory, he realized it more than ever.
“What else do we have left to do?” he asked him.
“Well, we have to wake up Harvestasha again…and once we get her support, we should be able to stop Heldalf.”
He was hiding something, but Mikleo couldn’t tell exactly what. He decided to change the subject. “How was Zaveid?” he asked.
“Huh?” Sorey uttered. He hesitated. “You know I can’t tell you.” He paused again. “Everything was okay. He’s back to normal.”
“I see.” Mikleo fell silent. “Was it hard on you?” he asked. “All that time apart just for me to wake up without my memory. Then becoming a broken vessel for a Will.”
Sorey refused to look at him. Of course, it had been hard! But he felt so guilty that, once again, he couldn’t protect Mikleo. He tried so hard not to let it get to him, to remain optimistic when he had lost his memory. And he was truly grateful that he was back to normal and they could hold and talk to each other again. Yet…did he even have that right?
“I…I always mess up when I’m trying to protect you…” Sorey finally said. He was smiling, but Mikleo saw deep into his heart. He was weeping. “I don’t want to feel this way, but why do I always feel like I’m letting everyone down? Letting you, my moon, suffer?”
“Sorey…!”
The sadder Sorey got, the bigger his smile. Finally, the water seraph couldn’t stand it anymore. He leapt off the desk, running to him and grabbing him by his shoulders. He shook him mercilessly.
“You’ve got to stop this nonsense!” Mikleo told him. “Stop acting like you have to save everyone! Stop acting like you’ve let me down! You haven’t, Sorey! You haven’t!” He stopped shaking him, trying to compose himself despite clenching the Shepherd’s garb in his hands. “Every time something happens to me, you get like this. It’s my job to protect you. If I were to end up dead, would you drop everything and cry? Tell me that you wouldn’t!”
“I would!” Sorey countered. “Because my dream depends on you! I want humans and seraphim to coexist because we coexist. I can’t live without you, Mikleo. Without you, all of this would be meaningless! If—in the end—I can’t be by your side, what will have been the point?”
“The point would be that you’d have accomplished your dream. But you will be by my side, and I will be by yours; I promise you that, Sorey. We’re going to see this through to the end. We won’t be separated again.”
Mayvin’s words came back to him as well as the task that Velvet had assigned to him. If only Mikleo had known what was happening in his mind.
“It’s a promise,” Sorey said, conceding to his water seraph. He carefully pulled Mikleo into his arms for a hug. He tightened his embrace. “For real—it’s a promise.”
With Akane along for the trip, Tyria guided everyone back to Clustania’s executive district. Katene and Mute stayed behind in Archia to help those in need. Gengai, who had recovered yet was still winded from Raphael’s experiment, appreciated their help, and he let Sorey and his friends go with the promise that they would make sure everything in Archia was remedied along with whatever Clustanians were still in the city.
Tyria, thus, wasted no time to bring everyone to the Harvestasha Module. Akane unlocked the door leading into the chamber. When they entered, the module was still empty, Harvestasha still unconscious.
“Sorey, prepare the boot key,” the Origin ordered.
Sorey held up the necklace to her, and she held her hands in front of her torso. “Exec ini Harvestasha: SHD>>tyrievalis_x01.”
The boot key shined brilliantly for a brief moment, and suddenly the whole chamber came to life. The humans looked around in wonder while the seraphim tensed. Harvestasha Vista wasn’t a joy to begin with, and knowing that they had forced her to shut down, she was bound to be most upset.
Harvestasha’s form appeared in the center of the module, and she stretched and yawned as if she had only been taking a nap. “You finally booted me up again. I was getting sick of waiting for you,” she griped. Tyria smiled at her. Approaching her with welcoming arms, she greeted her. “Oh, it has been a long time!” she reciprocated before her face turned a special kind of nasty. “Little Miss Defective. Missed your human form? Decided to take a walk around town looking like some perfect little exhibitionist princess? I can only hope you didn’t fuck it up this time.”
“If Tyria’s an exhibitionist, then I must be a nudist,” Zaveid scoffed. “This girl is still a whole lot of yikes.”
Tyria’s warm smile vanished immediately, freezing up into a callous and disappointed blank stare. “What happened? Who programmed this piece of shit?” she asked, catching everyone—especially Sorey—by surprise with her language.
Harvestasha glanced over to him and Mikleo. “You’re those annoying little fuckers. You little oxygen-wasters went and screwed up everything! Because you scrambled my functions with that pathetic excuse for a Song, my DH sensors and controllers are permanently offline! I can’t do anything!”
“That’s a good thing at this point,” Finnel spat back.
“You were the one putting Finnel and Meebo’s lives in danger, bitch,” Edna retorted.
“That’s it!” Harvestasha Vista snarled. She summoned her surveillance bots, still corrupted by malevolence left over from Kureha. “I’m going to eliminate you vermin right here and now. You’re going to wish you never crossed me!”
Tyria let out a sigh. “Rrha yant gagis exec shutdown Harvestasha: SHD>>tyrievalis_x01.”
“H-Hold on a second!” Harvestasha screeched. She vanished.
“Where did she go?” Saki asked.
“I shut her down again. Poor thing is broken. Someone must have messed with her skin, so now I have to go in and alter her personality to fix her. This is why we can’t have nice things. Sigh, how cumbersome.”
Zaveid cocked his head. “She…actually said ‘sigh’,” he muttered confusedly.
“What do you mean by that?” Edna asked her. “Altering a personality? Only a sociopath would do something like that.” She held her umbrella so it cast an ominous shadow over her face.
Tyria pointed to the high ceiling of the module. “I mean exactly what I said.” She looked up. “But I can’t do it from here; I need to go to the very top of the Tower to the place called Ku.”
“The top of the Tower?” Finnel gasped. “Wait, how are we supposed to get there?!”
Sorey thought about it for a second. The First Tower’s highest point was the Rinkernator where Shurelia stayed to administer her Tower. They had already been to the Rinkernator on the Third Tower, and it was much easier to get to than the First Tower. Ku was even farther than that.
It wasn’t going to be too difficult to get up there. While they could use the Armatus to fly, it would leave those that lived on Tilia at a disadvantage. There was no inherent threat by the Tower anymore, but the hellions that were still around were going to target Saki and Finnel at the very least.
“We should get going,” Sorey decided, though Tyria seemed indifferent that he agreed that they should go. “Akane, will you come with us?”
The Clustanian general shook her head. She had to make sure that her city was alright after the whole infestation of Antibodies. She, however, seemed distant. She had other matters to attend to besides that.
“I hope Aki’s okay,” Finnel shyly mumbled after Akane bade them farewell.
“I’m sure she is,” Cocona said. “She’s as strong as they come.”
“And you can’t blame her for wanting to check on her home,” Rose continued. “That whole episode…”
“I never want to go through that again,” Mikleo confessed.
Tyria clapped her hands twice to command their attention like a bunch of children. “Okay, all aboard the Tyria Express! Next stop, Ku.”
She turned and left the Harvestasha Module, which prompted everyone else to slowly follow behind. Sorey glanced at Mikleo with a feeling of guilty that just wouldn’t seem to go away.
“I wasn’t taking a stab at you,” the water seraph told him when everyone else had gone on ahead..
“I know…I just can’t help but think what I could have done to prevent all this,” the Shepherd remorsefully said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“You Dived into me and helped me regain myself. I believe in you, Sorey.” Mikleo quickly pecked his cheek. He urged him to get moving. If they lost sight of their friends, they wouldn’t be able to get to Ku.
Notes:
It's not really delved into in ToZ, but Sorey has to feel immense guilt at times right? I know I harp on it a lot in this fic (what can I say except I want Sorey to be [reasonably] depressed?), but the guilt he does show in the game is a nice tip of the iceberg. What is he not telling Mikleo?
Sorey calling Mikleo "his moon" is something I've always wanted to hear. He's a romantic and wants to write a book for poetry, right? Let his first be about Mikleo's tranquil beauty~
As far as AT3 goes, the trip to Ku is...great....tedious, but great. I did modify Tyria just a tad to be more flippant and Harvestasha has to be a bigger bitch than in the game because...well the game can only convey so much before it gets offensive XD
Apologies again for the late post.
Chapter 174: Phase 6: Guidepost at the Singularity
Summary:
Tyria escorts Sorey and friends to Ku at the very top of the Tower. But Harvestasha is still not happy to see them.
Notes:
Admittedly did a mediocre job at proofing this time due to not getting enough sleep. But the fight in this chapter is a pretty fun one in AT3! Harvestasha's Song: chmodb000000111n/.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The journey up the Tower to the highest point wasn’t difficult but it was long. Tyria guided them without faltering, though. The hellions at this point were repelled not only by the thinned air but by the magic coursing through the Tower from the top. And when they came to a dead end near the top, everyone was exhausted save for the seraphim. This wasn’t the first time, but Sorey and his Squires fell to their hands and knees in the chamber. Hikari Gojo, who was used to the altitude, even had trouble breathing. The air was frigid as well.
“Sorey, hang in there,” Mikleo told him. There was nothing else he could do but talk to him.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the altitude in a moment,” Tyria said. “Besides, haven’t you already been to the top of the First Tower? And you’ve gone to the Second Tower. Both of those are higher than this Tower.”
Dezel grimaced at the rather condescending remarks. Hikari Gojo hypothesized that it was most likely because the constant flow of things finally hit them. It had been some time since anyone had truly gotten a break to empty their minds of all their troubles and relax. Tyria just couldn’t comprehend it. Then again, seraphim didn’t breathe like humans did, and the cold didn’t seem to bother them.
“Anyway, where are we?” Rose asked once she normalized herself.
“It looks like a dead end,” Lailah noted. “Lady Tyria, are we in the right place? This couldn’t be Ku now, is it?”
“It’s not. We still have a way to go,” Tyria responded. “But have no fear. The door is merely shut to keep out those hellions. If they were to get into the Tower, everything would collapse.” It would have ended up like Eolia, in other words. “I’ll go ahead and open it. Exec bansh dand 0x0110: SHD>>tyrievalis_x01.”
The entire chamber lit up brightly, and in seconds, a passage of glowing light appeared before the group. They all peered inside, and while nothing could be immediately ascertained from where they were, the Origin promised that once they entered the inner networking of the Tower, their senses would more than likely be overloaded with what she called “sensory treasures”. That alone restored Sorey’s health and motivated him to push on.
He was the first to walk in, and his voice echoed from the passage, “This is so cool! Mikleo, you’ve got to come look!”
The water seraph followed him then everyone else. Tyria was the last person to leave, closing and hiding the door that had given them the access they needed to make it past Tilia’s Blast Line. The strangest part of hidden path, however, was the fact that Tyria’s Song echoed and resonated much louder inside of it than anywhere else. Even while she was materialized there with them, the voice still sang the broken Song seamlessly.
Then everyone saw the path. All around them were branches upon branches of functions that sustained the Tower. They appeared on nearly invisible walls of glass, blinking and twitching with every new input that regulated the structure. As far as ancient seraphic technology was concerned, Sorey and Mikleo were beside themselves with wonder.
Lailah and Zaveid were less surprised considering how old they were, and Edna was outright unimpressed. It only made sense that this was within the inner mechanisms of the Tower.
Tyria took the lead again, guiding them through the maze of formulas that illuminated the path until they reached something like a teleporter. It would take them outside of the labyrinth to the edge of space like the previous two Towers had. When they were transported outside the clouds were just fading into darkness. They climbed higher and higher until the sky was a blackened spectacle of twinkling gems. Finnel and Saki gazed at those stars. Rose and Alisha peered down below.
“We’re so high up again,” Alisha said.
“I feel like I’ll fall off if I keep looking over the edge,” Rose whimpered.
“It’s quite fascinating how far we’ve come, isn’t it?” Lailah asked them. “But, Rose, please be careful. I don’t want Alisha to fall after you.”
“Just stay away from the edge, would you?” Dezel sternly said.
Zaveid crossed his arms. “Makes you miss home a little, doesn’t it?” he asked Edna. “What with the stars being this vivid.”
Edna hid behind her umbrella. True, she did miss her place at the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, but she didn’t want to go back just yet. She only wanted to go when she as ready to make peace with the suffering she had witnessed. Eizen’s spirit, even if devoured by other seraphim, was surely haunting the mountain.
“Where do you live, Edna?” Saki asked.
“It must be so pretty if you got to see the stars like this every night!” Finnel cooed. “Oh, did you know you could tell fortunes with stars?”
“What kind of silly nonsense is that?” Edna spat at her.
“B-But it’s true! I learned how to do it, so how about I read your fortune?”
Lailah joined the conversation. As a fortuneteller herself, she as intrigued to learn the art. Because she knew Edna and how interested she always was about stars and the nature around her, she hoped that perhaps she would want to learn as well.
Finnel took Edna’s hand. With a resolute pointer, she drew her attention to the sky above them. “So that star there will reveal stuff about your health. And that one is about your friends and family. And that star is about your love life. You have to know a little bit of celestial cartography to really get the meanings. Which one would you like? I can give my best shot at it for you!”
Sorey watched Edna and Finnel, his heart hoping for the best for the little earth seraph but also aching because he knew that her heart still hurt.
“Family…” Edna mumbled. “I want to know about family.”
Finnel, unaware of her past, nodded and gladly went on to analyze the positions of the stars. Her happy-go-lucky smile slowly morphed into one of regret and sorrow then into surprise. She traced the paths with her finger in the air. “‘You lost someone very dear to you. You’ve been hurting for a long time, but you’ve found a new family. The bonds you’ve created will give you the strength needed to continue, and your future will be very bright.’ How romantic!”
Edna was confused. She disregarded it all. After all, it was a vague reading, a charlatan’s game. Zaveid wanted to know his future as well, but Finnel’s reaction to reading his stars nearly made her vomit. Then she turned to Sorey.
“Want me to read yours, Shepherd?” she asked him.
“Filly, won’t you get tired reading all these stars?” Saki pouted.
“No way! I love this stuff! And…ever since Aoto…”
Sorey agreed to letting her read his stars. Finnel noticed there was a slight change in him. After all the heartbreak and rebuilding, he seemed resilient and ready. She peered at the stars that would reveal his future. When she finished, she faced him again. She considered Mikleo, and having connected with him briefly once already, she knew that she couldn’t express exactly what she had seen.
“When the time comes, you will know what you have to do, Sorey,” she simply said. “The stars…told me more, but I can’t be certain about their meaning. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Sorey smiled at her.
Tyria let out a loud yawn. “Whose idea was it to build the Tower this tall?” she complained. “I’m so tired! Let’s hurry up and get to Ku. All this walking is so boring and hard.”
Cocona laughed at how fickle the Origin really was. Her attention turned to the sky as well. She wondered how Finnel could read the stars like that. She desperately wanted to know how life would be without Croix or how Luca and Cloche were doing.
They continued their trek up the Tower to the very apex where they found a simple lightpost. If the view was breathtaking just at the convergence of the light and darkness, the view was otherworldly here. The stars that Finnel read had exploded into swirling galaxies that Sorey, Alisha, and Rose had never seen. While Eolia was the tallest of the three Towers, the view had been somewhat dampened by the dome of its Rinkernator. On Tilia, there was no such barrier. The air was extremely cold now, but thankfully the walk up the Tower had made them work hard enough to sweat.
“This is Ku?” Mikleo asked dubiously. “It’s just a lightpost.”
“That’s because this is our entry point into Harvestasha’s Binary Field,” Tyria explained.
“You’re going to enter the Binary Field?” Hikari Gojo asked in disbelief. “If a human were to go, they would die almost immediately. The frequencies would tear them apart.”
“That’s only if you were to go directly into it. What we’re going to do is enter a simulation of it to repair Harvestasha from the inside.”
“So, basically, we’re Diving into something that’s not a seraph?” Sorey asked for clarity.
The question was how. Where were they going to find a Dive Machine there at the apex? That was when Tyria activated Ku. “Exec aulla Dia=Harvestasha: SHD>>tyrievalis_x01.” The lightpost flickered a bit before a pod rose from the floor. It was the maintenance pod for the Tower, hidden to all others for the sake of protecting it. “Here’s our Dive machine, and as such, the simulation will carry out as a Dive similar to when we went deep into Mikleo’s soulspace.”
Saki looked at it. “Can we all fit in it?” she asked.
“As long as those seraphim are put away, then yes. Shall we?”
Tyria led them into the pod once Sorey, Alisha, and Rose called in their seraphim. Using their vessels as that, they were able to move about as freely as everyone else.
The simulation of the Binary Field was even more mesmerizing than the hidden path through the Tower. Light waves quickly pulsated around them, and while every direction was indiscernible from the rest, the Origin had found the perfect spot to access Harvestasha’s mind. At this point, she told everyone that she was turning her back on.
“Exec ini Dia=Harvestasha: SHD>>tyrievalis_x01,” she said.
At once, Harvestasha appeared particularly annoyed with them. She crossed her arms, lips twisted in disgust. “God, rude much? First, you shut me down—twice—and then you track dirt into my mind with your gross human shoes? You little snots are the worst!”
The seraphim came out upset that she had insulted their friends. “Some of us aren’t human,” Mikleo bit back.
“Does it look like I give a fuck? You are all the same! Vermin! Nasty vermin! I should just kill you all here!”
Tyria sighed. “How atrocious,” she said while shaking her head. “Well, it matters not. We’re here to fix you, so let’s all just calm down, okay?” Harvestasha slowly relaxed, and Tyria began her repairs. “Gott wi gyas: SHD>>tyrievalis_x01.” The foul-mouthed goddess fell into a trance. “Valwa yor: SHD>>tyrievalis_x01.”
Suddenly, Harvestasha broke through with the realization that something was causing her consciousness to fade away. To Tyria, she was only erasing the personality, but to her it was like death itself.
“You’re not fixing me, you little defective bitch! You’re deleting me!” she screeched.
“Oh, did you not know that’s what I meant by ‘fix’?” She leapt back from her. “Well now. No matter how hard you resist, I’ll just copy a personality from the back-up data. So it’s time to say goodbye, Mitsubiotchi.”
“Holy shit, Tyria’s pulling out the big guns,” Zaveid stifled a laugh.
“Get it together,” Edna barked. “We’re going to have to fight her off.”
“You’re dead, maggots!” Harvestasha began to glow ominously, the wisps of malevolence coming from her like fire. “Change Security level9.Defragment Harvestasha!” Everyone was suddenly paralyzed. “Exec_change emergency.mode Bind Guardian GD1021,GD3023,GD1954,S chmod b111000000/n!”
Cocona and Sorey were alarmed. No one but Tyria understood what she was saying, and the Origin—while not frightened by this power play—did explain that Harvestasha had rebuilt her structure and connected to the security system within Tilia.
And by this change, Harvestasha’s small angelic appearance transformed into that of an all-powerful sorceress. She didn’t look like a child but as a busty woman ready to crush them into the very light field comprising the Binary Field.
“What the hell…is that…?” Dezel growled. “This power…!”
“Hmph, well at least we get to fight a girl that’s closer to my type,” Zaveid sniggered.
“Oh, get serious, would you!” Finnel yelled at him.
This new stronger version of Harvestasha glared at Sorey and Tyria. Identifying them as Viruses, she muttered something about increasing the security and recognizing them as threats to the Tower. She called forth bots to help eradicate them. They all knew that if they died while there in her Binary Field, they would die in real life. Defeat was not an option.
There was an additional disadvantage to fighting within her mind. She had an endless supply of her minions to help her, which Rose and Alisha decided to take care of so Sorey could focus on the enemy. Hikari Gojo and Cocona were dedicated to protecting Saki and Finnel as they sang, and Tyria would be working to dismantle her skin.
Harvestasha didn’t wait for them to make their moves. Summoning an army of security bots, she sicced them on her perceived threats, which left Sorey, Mikleo, Edna, Zaveid, Saki, Finnel, and Tyria the only ones that could possibly combat her. With the three Reyvateils singing to support everyone else and Tyria singing to delete the personality she believed had taken her friend hostage, Sorey and his seraphim took the lead.
Harvestasha approached them, murderous intent evident in every fiber of her being. The tail-like scrolls on her back shot at Edna, and while she dodged the attack, they followed her like missles. Zaveid threw his pendulums at them to try and round them up only to be shot down by her attacks. She wasn’t a seraph or Reyvateil, yet because she had connected herself to the Tower’s security system, she had access to anything that could be used to defend herself.
“Rock Lance!” Edna cast as soon as she got a break.
The stalagmite pierced the invisible ground and managed to tear the ceremonial robes that the woman was wearing. Mikleo began to chant out the incantation for his spell Aqua Serpent when one of the security bots that was fighting Alisha and Lailah suddenly switched targets.
“Burning Strike!” Lailah called after it turned its back. The titanic bot collapsed before her. In just a few seconds, a new one had replaced it. “There’s no end to them!”
“Aqua Serpent!” Mikleo yelled. Twisting dragons made of water barreled towards Harvestasha. They didn’t even collide with her; a magic circle appeared at her feet, which effectively stopped the three Songs reverberating within the Binary Field. “What’s happening?”
“Stop her!” Tyria ordered.
Sorey rushed up to Harvestasha, sword in hand and above his head. Before he could strike down on her, she pushed him back with a wave of energy before unleashing her spell Cacophony.
“Suspending enemy activity,” she drawled.
Flashes of light dazzled Tyria, Finnel, and Saki; whose Songs were halted from providing support as well as the defragmentation of the skin. They were severely weakened, at which point the bots pulled away from their battles with the others to target them.
“S-Saki can’t sing…!” Saki cried.
“Help us!” Finnel panicked.
Rose and Alisha called forth the Armatus, and with the extra strength from their seraphim, they stopped the creeping bots in their tracks. Of course, they were immediately replaced again, but they had hoped to protect them long enough until the effect of the jammer had ended.
“Overriding security protocol,” Tyria said. While she was able to restart her Song, Finnel and Saki were still vulnerable. “You two, pull yourselves together!” she snapped at them in the calmest way possible.
Saki and Finnel forced their Songs to work even if it hurt them in the process. By purging past however much power they had accumulated, they could restart their Songs from the beginning and render the jammer ineffective. It left Rose and Alisha unprotected, though.
Tyria followed suit, purging until she was at the cusp of the maximum strength her spell had. She commanded Sorey to Armatize with Mikleo while Edna and Zaveid kept Harvestasha busy.
“Once I use my Song Magic, hit her with everything you’ve got,” she told them.
Sorey nodded then looked at Mikleo. “Ready?” he asked him.
“Whenever you are,” Mikleo replied with a smirk.
“Luzrov Rulay!”
The two Armatized before Harvestasha, who sensed the spike in strength and reacted accordingly. She began to channel another spell, one that was far bigger and stronger than Cacophony.
Tyria continued to build herself up as much as she could. It was a risk, but she just hoped that they could withstand whatever attack this was. But when she realized that Harvestasha was tapping into the Tower’s emergency reserves, she had to do something.
“Brace yourselves!” she warned them.
“This is the end,” Harvestasha said lackadaisically. Her voice dripped with malice. “I’ll erase you Viruses.”
She unleashed the attack, beams of light raining down on the entire battlefield at first before she shot another laser from her palms. Sorey and his friends cried out in agony; Edna and Zaveid had been incapacitated, Rose and Alisha on their last legs, and Finnel and Saki blown back unconscious. Tyria had only managed to buffer herself from the attack even if beaten down. Her Linkage Armor had been stripped off due to her purges—higher attack power at the cost of a lowered defense.
“Sorey, attack!” she signaled.
Sorey and Mikleo took aim at Harvestasha, taking advantage of her brief moment of vulnerability to use Aqua Limit. “Born of water!” they began together as their Sacred Bow evolved into its more powerful form. “My bow is the heavens!” They shot a barrage of arrows at Harvestasha. As the bow then turned into a blade, they charged into her. “The vortex swallows you! Aqua Limit!”
Harvestasha bellowed in pain, but she still stood on her own two feet. Sorey de-Armatized from Mikleo, running up to her and stopping just short. “It’s time!” he called out. A bolt of lightning struck his hist fist, filling it with a ball of light. “The storm is coming! With all my strength, I shall smite evil!” He charged at her and thrust the ball of light into her. “Here goes! Divine Wrath!”
Mikleo’s eyes widened at the new power that he had acquired. Just a little more and they would defeat her!
“Lady Tyria!” the Shepherd called back.
“Initializing Song Magic,” Tyria said. The dream sequence that played with the Song Magic encircled them. The entire blueprint of the Tower of Tilia was shown, superimposed over Tyria’s humanoid form, and as it ended, her own array of beams rained down on Harvestasha.
The woman she once called a friend had vanished, but she wasn’t completely gone. Tyria made sure of that. The hijacked program that had been installed in her was gone now. After a few minutes, Harvestasha Vista woke up to find they were all exhausted.
“Huh? Oh my, what happened?” she asked them.
“Long time, no see, Harvy,” Tyria greeted her with a calm smile.
Harvestasha’s blue eyes lit up. “Lady Tyria! It’s so good to see you!” she almost wept.
“This…is the real Harvestasha?” Sorey asked in amazement. “She’s like a completely different person.”
Tyria explained to her all that had happened. Naturally, Harvestasha was horrified and felt guilty, but she was relieved to know that she was no longer the hostile self-proclaimed goddess that had been on a genocide spree. She deeply apologized to them before recounting centuries ago when her personality had been replaced by Kureha.
“The personality reads, ‘Hates humans’ guts. Always has an urge to annihilate humanity. Her frustration comes from the fact that humans exist. She derives joy from turning humans into vegetables. Her goal is to eradicate all humans and establish a Reyvateilic utopia. She still plans to keep a few humans alive as slaves and drive them like cattle’.”
“How disgusting,” Edna growled. “I don’t like humans, but I’d never go that far.”
“Definitely sounds like that asshole,” Dezel supported.
“Psychopath,” Tyria spat.
“At least it’s been taken care of,” Saki sighed with relief.
Harvestasha clasped her hands together to apologize again for all the trouble she’d caused despite her not being at fault. Sorey, like everyone else, was simply glad that she was no longer murdering people on the Tower. Then she and the Origin had their own conversation.
“Have there been any improvements to the world’s status?” Harvestasha asked. “I don’t recognize any Rebirthia Protocols.”
“Yes, it seems that the entire Song never finished downloading,” Tyria answered her. She paused for a moment. She became unresponsive, worrying her friends until she opened her eyes. “Well, that was easy. Given all that has happened, I’m surprised I could have retrieved it so easily from my memory.”
“So, you can finish the Song?”
Tyria nodded. “I’ll sing it so you can access it. You should be reconnected to the Tower with your other half momentarily, and then we should be able to move on with the project.”
Harvestasha couldn’t stop herself from giggling and clapping her hands like a child. She was so excited and cute that Zaveid’s heart was captured by her. Of course, both Cocona and Edna reminded him that she was far too young for him.
“Is this it?” Sorey asked.
“Yup, let’s return to the Harvestasha Module,” Tyria said.
She bade her friend farewell before ushering the seraphim and humans out of the Binary Field and back out to the starry sky at the top of the Tower. For once in a very long time, Sorey felt at peace. Everything was coming together, and they were making strides with their progress.
Notes:
A WHOLE bunch of technological jargon!
Chapter 175: Phase 6: EXEC_REBIRTHIA=PROTOCOL/.
Summary:
With Harvestasha restored to her primary personality, Sorey Dives into Tyria to find the second half of her Song. But in delving into her memories, he learns her true past.
Notes:
So, guess who thought it was a smart idea to put the ENTIRE Dive you do for Tyria into one chapter. It's insane how long this chapter is.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“So I lied to her,” Tyria said as soon as they had left the Binary Field. Everyone stopped. Turning to look at the Origin, no one could say anything. “The Song we need is actually still incomplete. I only told her that so she would feel better about nearly killing us all.”
“You lied to your best friend?” Finnel chastised her.
“Yes, but fear not. I didn’t completely lie. I can sing the first half—it’s the Song you hear resonate throughout the Tower. The second half is what need to be retrieved, and we can easily do that by Diving into my memories to look for it.”
There was a clamoring that she hadn’t expected from her ragtag group of misfits. Some asked how she could do such a thing to a dear friend while others commented on her lack of concern over the Song. Without the second half, what could they hope to accomplish? And to Dive into an Origin was suicide. Origins didn’t have cosmospheres. They had Binary Fields. It was said that a human stepping into it would kill them instantly. Tyria, however, assured them that no such conclusion would occur as long as they didn’t mess up. And by “they”, she looked at Sorey. He was the only one capable of Diving into her. Navigating the Binary Field alone required one to be quite skilled in Dives. While Alisha and Rose had completed their respective seraphim’s cosmospheres and explored their soulspaces to their entirety, they each had only learned to go through one type of soulspace. Sorey had three seraphim including an IPD, which weren’t supposed to have guides in them at all.
“It won’t be that hard,” Tyria said rather nonchalantly. “The worst that can happen is that you die and kill me in the process. Or is it that I would die?”
“Tyria, please, stop,” Mikleo asked of her. He crossed his arms. He didn’t want Sorey to be the one that would venture into something far more dangerous than what he had already experienced. He let out a sigh. “Are you sure nothing will happen to him?”
“As much as I try to antagonize Meebo, I have to side with him and ask the same,” Edna said. “We can’t afford to mess up now. If Sorey dies while in the Binary Field, this entire quest will have been for nothing. And the three of us bound to him by our pacts will meet some horrible fate.”
Tyria gave her word that Sorey would be alright.
“The closest place with a Dive machine would be Aki’s house,” Finnel told them. “I’m sure she’ll let us use it again.”
“I’ll oversee the Dive,” Hikari Gojo offered. “I can keep an eye on Sorey’s vitals—if that will make you feel better, Mikleo.”
“It will,” Mikleo responded, looking somewhat relieved.
“Let’s get going back to Clustania then,” Cocona said. “The faster we recover Tyria’s Song, the sooner we can move on with the plan.”
Zaveid crossed his arms. They began the climb down the Tower back to the city of Reyvatailic seraphim. When they had only gotten as far as Tower Block A, he finally asked them what exactly the plan was.
Tyria spoke coolly. “Simply put, the Tower of Tilia is my body in a still-incomplete form. Once I finish singing the Song that I’ve been singing for about seven centuries, the Tower can be fully formed. Once that happens, Harvestasha XP will be copied into Harvestasha Vista, and both will be programmed with our goal.”
“Our goal is to purify Maotelus and stop Heldalf,” Sorey said, but he wasn’t listening to Tyria’s explanation completely.
“Correct. Our goal is to purify Maotelus, which will lessen the burden on all of the other Wills of the Planet.” She put a finger to her lip in thought. “We might run into a little problem, though. The World Regeneration Project in its infancy wasn’t thought all the way through, so the energy output we would need could get in the way of all this. If we don’t have the power required to carry this out, my Tower might just implode.”
“How can you say that so calmly?!” Rose gasped.
Cocona raised her hand despite walking behind Tyria. She remembered that Sasha’s project was in development back in Archia. The satellite that she was building was for this plan...
“Tyria, while you and Sorey are Diving, do you mind if I head back to Archia to check on something?” she asked.
“You don’t need my permission. I’m not your keeper.”
Edna wanted to go with her since she knew she was going to be bored out of her mind waiting for the Dive to finish. She couldn’t because her bond with Sorey would be strained, and the mind was vulnerable when it was in the state of consciousness that humans fell into when Diving. It wasn’t just sleep; she always knew contrary to what the majority of people had been told. It wasn’t like dreaming. These were the only ways that Diving could be explained for comprehension.
By the time they had arrive back at the Clustanian District, they were all exhausted. Rose, Dezel, Alisha, Lailah, and Saki went to the inn to rest. Finnel, Sorey, Mikleo, Zaveid, Edna, Tyria, and Hikari Gojo made their way to Akane’s house. Cocona began her trek down to Archia. Combining the two blades she wielded in battle, she created a hoverboard device that would make travel ten times faster. It was a lost technology that had actually been very popular with the Katz and Turtlez, and it was thanks to Gengai who knew someone that still made them.
Zipping down the side of the Tower on her board, Cocona was almost ecstatic to see Sasha again. She was eager to know how the satellite was coming, and she was ready to help her with whatever she needed to ensure that the machine would work.
Sasha, however, was pacing back and forth in front of her unfinished project. “This is terrible,” she whined. When she noticed her friend approaching her, she greeted her with a less-than-optimistic smile. Cocona asked her what was wrong. “There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that I’ve gotten the satellite up to 70% energy output. The bad news is that that’s the most it can handle unless I get some extra parts.”
Cocona wasn’t at all upset by that. She took Sasha’s hands, swinging them side to side to cheer her up. “Sasha, I have a request,” she said. “Do you think we could use the satellite to transfer some energy from home to this Tower? Tyria and the others have a plan that should work to help Sorey and his friends on their mission to purifying Maotelus. I want to help out.”
“Theoretically, I could, but that requires an energy output of 89%. The Song that we would need to use is pretty much finished, though.”
“Song? You can make Songs now? That’s so cool! A real engineer!” Cocona celebrated.
“I-It’s not anything special! I just…I took the feelings of admiration I had for Lady Cloche, a-and I added to the Tale of Rhaplanca.”
“That’s amazing!”
“Thanks, but we still need to finish the satellite for it to work at optimal level.” Sasha went back to pacing, mentioning that Jack and Krusche had gotten into something of an argument before the latter ran to Garvelt Bridge. She turned to Cocona in earnest. “Cocona, let’s go get them together.”
Cocona took her by the arms. “Sasha, I can’t take you there; there are hellions roaming around! You’ll get hurt!”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take! I’ll do anything to hear you sing your first Song from a Hymn Crystal.”
Cocona loved Sasha dearly. She didn’t want to endanger her, but from where Sasha was standing, they were all in danger for as long as they did nothing to save the world from being destroyed by the corruption that coursed through Heldalf’s body. The budding engineer demanded to be taken to where Krusche and Jack had gone.
Tyria and Sorey met with Akane in the promenade. Finnel asked for them if they could use her Dive machine. At first, the general was confused why. The Shepherd didn’t need a Dive machine to peer into the souls of his seraphim. Then they explained that they weren’t Diving into his seraphim.
“You’re going to Dive into Lady Tyria?” Akane asked him, baffled yet not. She looked at the humanoid form of the Tower herself. “You’re going to let a human inside your mind?”
“It won’t be a joyride,” Tyria told her. “We don’t have time for such trivial matters. There must be a reason why I can’t complete the Song I sing in the Tower. I should be able to sing the whole thing, but something is preventing that. So, we’re essentially going to have to debug me.”
“If debugging means to get rid of whatever is blocking your memory,” Sorey said in an attempt to show that he was still following the conversation. He understood the concept, but remembering that the Towers were far more technologically advanced than the Glenwood Continent compromised his comprehension somewhat.
Akane was hesitant still. She didn’t like the idea of a human—friend or foe—meddling inside the mind of the very Tower that sustained them. Tyria’s word was final regardless of what she wanted, however, so she obliged. Booting up the Dive machine after returning to her house, she warned Sorey not to do anything bad.
“That’s the least of his worries,” Tyria sighed. She turned to the Shepherd. “Diving into the Binary Field without assistance isn’t going to be as easy as a regular Dive nor like the time we surpassed the level that humans are allowed to Dive to in regular seraphim,” she explained seriously and without filter. “A tiny mistake could render the Tower itself into oblivion or completely change my personality. Of course, there are security measures to prevent that, but nevertheless, you should be careful.”
Sorey nodded and assured her that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. Akane notified them that the Dive machine was ready to be used. Tyria stepped into it first. Then Sorey stepped in on the other side adjacent to her. In the blink of an eye, the two were sent into a deep sleep as the Shepherd stepped into Tyria’s mind.
“That day, a tragedy set in motion that no one could prevent.
If only I could go back in time to that day, even if it’s only in my dreams…”
“Welcome, Sorey, to the Tower of Origin Saga: The Memoir of the Guard of TILIA_ANSUL_HARVESTASHA/. 1st Season.”
When he opened his eyes, he was staring at the ground. He had been sleeping, or walking, or even sleep-walking. His hands felt like someone else’s, and as he became more accustomed to this new world, the consciousness of the person he was acting as became one with his.
“Where…am I?” he asked.
“Hey, are you still asleep?” a little voice asked him. He peered down by his feet to find a tiny centaur-looking fairy. “You really were asleep!”
Sorey was taken aback by the little creature. It wasn’t a Normin, and he had to wonder if Normin were only found in Glenwood denizens or if Origins were simply too powerful for them. He asked what it was, which annoyed the centaur who described itself as a Hyuma, a fairy that associated with likeable humans to offer its assistance.
“Hyuma…? So, you’re something like a Normin,” he mumbled.
“Geez, I should really make sure you’re okay,” the Hyuma grumbled. “What’s my name?”
“I-I don’t know, I just met you!”
“Okay, what’s your name?”
The Shepherd thought for a moment. It felt wrong to say his name. His name wasn’t even his name. Like an epitaph, the name of the character he was playing came to mind:
“My name is…Masakado. And you’re Pocco,” Masakado finally said. He still felt a little foggy. Was that right? Who was Masakado?
Pocco had no choice but to accept that this was Masakado. And in lieu of his confusion, the Hyuma reminded him that he needed to get home and change into his school uniform. Masakado held his head. Did he know where she lived? And he still didn’t know where he was other than being in the middle of a huge city that was far beyond his wildest imagination. It was so advanced that he was sure that he was thousands of years into the future.
“Hop on, I can get us there quick!” Pocco told him.
“But I’ll squish you!” Masakado worried.
“Despite my looks, I’m actually really strong. I’m a centaur!”
Masakado cautiously took its word. He grabbed onto Pocco’s tail, and immediately the tiny fairy dragged him at the speed of light to his house. All the way, Masakado screamed in fear of dying from the breakneck pace. The whiplash he got from the turns wrenched his neck, the nausea gurgled in his belly and throat. He was in a sorry state when they arrived.
“It’s about time you got here!” another Hyuma miffed. “Tyria needs her bodyguard, so hurry up and get dressed! I mean, what is that silly cape? Cosplaying in the middle of town? Are you that desperate for attention? And you reek, too! When was the last time you took a shower?”
“P-Pootin’, hold on…!” Masakado tried to calm the Hyuma.
“Pootin’? How dare you give a lady such a vulgar name! My name is Pudding!”
Masakado regained his composure, dressing in his school uniform of a white shirt, brown jacket, green plaid pants, and orange and blue trainer shoes. His Normin headphones hung around his neck. Still, he was in a fog. “I don’t feel well…” he whispered. “Something’s off.”
“If you’ve got time to talk to yourself, you’ve got time to get to Tyria! Look, you’re already late! If she’s tardy because of you, I’ll hit your head!” Pudding threatened.
“I’m going!” Masakado reassured her. But the Hyumas weren’t going to let him go by himself. Even they recognized he looked bad. Regardless, they pushed him to walk the few blocks down the road to Tyria’s house. “T-Tyria, are you awake?”
“There you are,” a third Hyuma scolded.
“Dammit, look what you did!” Pocco chastised Masakado. “You’ve upset Mimi, too!”
Tyria came to the door. Masakado almost didn’t recognize her in her school uniform colored purple and grey. Thankfully, her hair was the same as it was in reality. She wasn’t particularly happy.
“You’re extra late today, Masakado,” Tyria sighed. “Because of your tardiness, I was forced to scarf down two extra pieces of toast. Now we’re all going to be late.”
Masakado apologized, but Mimi wouldn’t let it slide. How could he be Tyria’s bodyguard if he wasn’t punctual? While he tried to explain that he was busy, the Hyumas with him exposed him by stating he merely overslept.
“I-I did not!” Masakado denied. “I was dreaming, and then all of a sudden I woke up in the city wearing a weird cape or garb or something.”
“Oh?” Mimi said as she raised an eyebrow. “And when did you buy such a preposterous outfit?”
“I-I don’t know!”
“Well, it’s not like he looked bad in it,” Pocco admitted.
“Definitely an easy-on-the-eyes hero type,” Pudding blushed.
“Really? I wish I could have seen it,” Mimi pretended not to care.
Tyria grabbed her school bag. It was time to head to school, so she bid the Hyumas farewell then took Masakado’s hand. Feeling her hand in his made his heart skip, and he thought it was strange. He felt for just a moment that he was betraying someone’s heart. He couldn’t place who, though.
The two left the rather extravagant house for Downtown Origincity. The buildings and roads continued to mesmerize Masakado until Tyria stopped walking.
“Are you okay, Masakado? If you need to rest, then take the day off. I’ll be okay for a day,” she said. For once, Tyria looked concerned.
“I’m perfectly fine,” Masakado told her. “If I took the day off, then I wouldn’t be able to protect you.”
“But you’re half-sleep-walking and half-sleep-talking.”
“Sometimes I work better like this.” He took another step. “But maybe I did push myself a little too far. I’m feeling more tired than usual…but believe me, I’m healthy enough to protect you. Don’t worry, Tyria.”
“And who is it that you’re protecting me from?”
Masakado paused. There was way too much thought going into this simulation. His brain was starting to hurt, but the memories in his head were muddled with another person’s. He had to protect Tyria from a group called the Anti-AAA, opponents to the Planet Regeneration Project and who sought to use the indominable power that Maotelus had to change the world—no, not Maotelus. Someone from before. Someone that had the same power as him. They wanted to kill Tyria to prevent her from singing the Song that were turn her into the Tower. It was a possibility that frightened both of them, more so Tyria than Masakado. She was trembling already at the thought that someone from the Anti-AAA would come and unflinchingly kill her in cold blood.
“Don’t worry…or do you not trust me?” Masakado asked.
“I try not to trust you too much,” Tyria admitted. “If I place all my trust in you and then you fail, I would be most despondent. I must implore you, please take some time off to rest.”
Masakado wouldn’t listen to her because if he left her alone and she perished, he would never forgive himself. The two continued to Clover Academy under the alias of Ria Towerman to avoid being targeted. It was where they met with Finnelle and Sake before the morning bell. The two girls fawned over Masakado with a slight jealousy that he and Tyria were pretty much an unofficial couple.
“You guys are so lovey-dovey—coming to school together and holding hands!” Finnelle teased. “You’re so lucky, Ria! I wish I could have a nice strong guy like Masakado!”
Masakado felt strange. He had feelings for Ria, but there was a side in him that also felt nothing towards girls. He assured Finnelle that she would find someone, tagging on his pet name Zeta just to poke her a little bit.
“I-If Filly can find someone, what about Sake? Is Sake cute, too?” Sake pestered.
“Yes, yes, both of you are cute,” Masakado laughed.
Ria pouted. “If you think they’re so cute, why don’t you hold hands with them?” she asked, but the girls knew that she was only messing with him. “In fact, why not hold hands with every girl in the school?”
“Whoa, Ria!” Masakado whined. “It’s not like that, you know!”
The bell was about to ring, so the four of them made their way to class. Being in class like a normal student, having a normal student life; but they weren’t normal students. Masakado was a bodyguard, and Tyria was destined to become the Tower.
Did normal students get tired, though? The teacher, modelled after Hikari Gojo, and his assistant, modelled after Alisha, were passing out test papers. Masakado took one look at it only to find that the letters and numbers of the problems were dancing around. He couldn’t answer any of the problems, and it was at that point that Tyria ordered him to take the day off. She raised her hand to alert the teachers that he was feeling ill, and just like that, he was allowed to go home to rest.
And even though something in him told him not to go, he went to Tyria’s house. The dialogue suddenly started to get fuzzy like the dissonant crackle of white noise erupting from the simulation. He wasn’t supposed to be there!
“Oh, you made a wrong turn. Well, no matter. Let’s pick it back up from when you left the school, okay?”
Just like that, Sorey once again found himself in Tyria’s Binary Field. He was just outside the school gate, and he knew he had to kill some time by going somewhere. He still remembered what had just happened. For whatever reason, going to Tyria’s house now was forbidden. The only other place of interest that was accessible was a religious shrine far different from the shrines, sanctuaries, and churches he had seen during his travels. It was a stone Shinto shrine with two celestial lion-dogs on either side of the entry. It was modest, almost too plain compared to the religious institutions he was familiar with.
“Weird,” he said, feeling more like himself instead of Masakado for a brief moment. “Did Tyria’s world have shrines like these? The Tower seems so advanced except for this shrine.” He entered it, curiosity guiding him deeper into the rock gardens and magnified bonsai trees. “Is anyone here?”
“How rude,” a tiny voice came. A Hyuma dressed as a miko with a peacock tail of flowers appeared before him. “Don’t you know not to talk so loudly at a place of worship and prayer?”
“I-I’m sorry,” Masakado apologized. “It’s just this place is so old. It’s almost like a ruin!” He held his head. “Why am I thinking about ruins?” He focused. “Are you the shrine maiden?”
“Heavens, no!” the Hyuma gasped. “My name is Nam. I’m the navigator to another world.”
“Navigator to another world?”
“Yeah, I don’t get it either.” She floated up to him, sniffing his hair and clothes. “You reek of another world. Tell me, Masakado; are you from another world?”
“How could I be? I’ve always lived on the Tower!”
“You super sure?”
Masakado began to doubt himself. He…was born on the Tower, wasn’t he? His head ached. Shepherds…pacts…seraphim…what were these distant memories? Dragons, malevolence, Maotelus…
He had been saying the words aloud without realizing it, and another girl approached him. “You go out in public saying that stuff, they’ll throw you into an insane asylum,” she said. She looked exactly like Cocona—indigo twin tails and a pouty face. The only thing different, naturally, was her miko robes.
“Are you the shrine maiden?” Masakado asked.
“Nope, not at all!” the Cocona-like girl denied. “A lot of people think I am, but I’m really the abbot of this shrine. I’m Tatsumina no Mikoto Kokona.”
Masakado stared at her. “Excuse me?”
“Tatsumina no Mikoto Kokona! That’s the name of Tatsumina no Mikoto Kokona! It’s nice to finally meet you, Masakado.”
“W-Wait, your name is…”
“Ta-tsu-mi-na no Mi-ko-to Ko-ko-na! Sheesh!” She inspected him. She couldn’t believe someone like him had such an otherworldly air, and Nam presumed he had come from a different world via the shrine. “This is called the Portal Shrine,” she explained when Masakado asked her. “Apparently, behind these gates is a whirpool of energy that links this world to other worlds and dimensions.”
Masakado was intrigued but skeptical. Tatsumina no Mikoto Kokona and Nam had tried to uncover the door, but it was locked by a money box. They believed that by giving a monetary offering, the gate would open. Before trying it out, they had to wonder what made them feel like the man in front of them was from another world.
“If it means anything, I feel like…I existed in another reality far removed from this one,” Masakado explained. “The me here is different from the me out there, yet we’re still the same person.”
Tatsumina no Mikoto Kokona crossed her arms in thought. She suggested that he went back to the other world if he felt that he existed there. Nam agreed with her. At first, Masakado didn’t want to go. Then he realized that if he could cross into the other world, maybe he could shake that feeling. Of course, he had to pay a small monetary offering that he was sure to be simply a ploy to extort money for the shrine. Tatsumina no Mikoto Kokona swore that that wasn’t the case. Either way, the offering did nothing except cost Masakado a few coins. Slighly frustrated that the detour had culminated in wasted time and money, he left the shrine but not without an invitation to return should the need ever arise.
After stopping in the city and buying himself lunch, he decided to return to the school. He hoped that Ria was still there, and when he found her in the classroom patiently waiting for his return. The two made their way to the courtyard to eat food. Nothing interesting had happened that day until Ria recited the paging announcement had called for her bodyguard not long after his departure. Masakado didn’t see the point in going to the office to check in with them, and once she told him how nervous she had been by herself in class, he promised that he would stay by her side.
The rest of the school day proceeded as normal, and Masakado was compelled to take home extra homework as punishment for skipping his classes. Then it was time for them to head to the Kurogane Lab. Finelle and Sake were curious about the lab, but Masakado brushed it off. They couldn’t know the truth about Tyria. They bade their friends farewell, heading to the lab once they were let out of their last class of the day.
“Oh, we got here a bit early,” Masakado said. “Maybe we should get a snack from the cafeteria.”
“No, I must go to the Sonic Room,” Tyria replied. “Even if the staff isn’t here yet, Kurogane might be waiting for me.”
With that, they went their separate ways. Masakado thought it was strange that they were so close, but he thought nothing much of it after she left. They rarely ever saw each other—only one every few months—yet Tyria was so deeply connected with him. Perhaps it was their conversations.
He decided to go rest in the napping area. He started making his way when he was stopped by a familiar face. Vice Chairman Raphael, on behalf of Tyria, had asked him to go home. His task for the day was over. Then he asked her to find a Hyuma that was needed to fine-tune Tyria, offering another Hyuma named Tuna to help him. Of course, Masakado didn’t turn down the request despite feeling so drained. He and Tuna left the lab.
They first checked the park near his house where a tiny voice wailed. Without any hesitation, Tuna lunged at the Hyuma named Labo Labo.
“We found you, you slacker!” Tuna insulted her.
“What?! Get off! Let go!” Labo Labo begged.
“Both of you, stop!” Masakado scolded.
“We found you, so now we need to return you to Tyria! She’s waiting!” Tuna continued.
“I can’t do that!”
“Then back to the lab!”
“No!”
Masakado broke them up. Tuna, angered by Labo Labo’s refusal to go back to work, asked her what Tyria’s dream was.
“Tyria’s dream…is to become the Tower, isn’t it?” Masakado answered. “If you’re supposed to help her accomplish her dream, then go back to the lab and get her arrangements in order.”
“You don’t understand! If I go back…” Labo Labo started.
“You’re not getting out of this, slacker! Time to go! See ya later, Masakado!” Tuna said before she dragged Labo Labo back to the lab.
Watching them scurry back to the lab, something told Masakado that this was a mistake that truly happened in the past. He didn’t know any better. He returned home to get some rest.
While virtually no time had passed in the real world, time passed quickly in the Binary Field. After a few weeks, the morning that Tyria would become the Tower arrived. Masakado was apprehensive about it. He knew that Tyria was excited; she had been waiting for so long to become the Tower that he made every effort to be supportive of her. Yet there was still a sinking feeling that something awful would happen. He felt it in the air, vibrations of foreboding, all around him.
“What’s wrong? You’re usually so talkative,” Tyria spoke that morning.
“Really? Well, I guess I’m…sad,” Masakado hesitantly admitted. “This is going to be our last day going to school together. You won’t get to see the friends you’ve made anymore.”
“Of course, I won’t. I’ll have become the Tower at that point.”
“It doesn’t make you sad?”
Tyria turned from him, looking at the clear blue sky overhead with a dreamy look in her lilac eyes. “Why would I be sad? I’ll be accomplishing my life-long dream. It’s hardly a sacrifice.”
It was that moment that reminded Masakado that Tyria wasn’t human. She didn’t seem to dawdle in the emotions that would hold people back. Instead, she put her energy towards the positive and optimistic. She was going to be the Tower. Masakado could only selfishly say:
“You’re cold.”
The morning progressed as usual. They met with Sake and Finelle, who revealed that they had been hired by the Kurogane Lab to help with Tyria’s ceremony. They didn’t know that Ria was Tyria, which made Masakado even more nervous and suspicious. They had asked him to escort them to the lab after school, and Tyria supported the notion. It wasn’t a kind gesture. She knew that once she was gone, he would be discharged from his duty permanently.
“You’ll be a lonely boy when I’m gone,” Tyria told him after the two girls had gone off to class. “That’s why I wanted you to spend more time with them today.”
“What are you trying to do?” Masakado asked her. “Is this your parting souvenir?”
“I don’t like that name. Let’s call it my final gift to you.”
“Tyria, this isn’t—”
The school bell chimed.
“Oh, we’re going to be late. Let’s head to class, shall we? Even if today is my last day, I can’t afford to be lax on my studies now.”
There was a pain in Masakado’s heart. It hurt to know that Tyria was going to disappear, fizzle out like a twinkling star or truthfully ascend to the heavens. Her corporeal form would be erased. Her quiet tiny smiles would vanish with everything else. The one she wore now which held back tears was going to be the last one he saw.
“Tyria, let’s go somewhere together,” Masakado asked. “Let’s ditch school for the day!”
“Are you crazy? I want to enjoy it with my friends. Masakado, I know it’s hard. But…as an order, I want you to spend time with those two girls today. If we spend all of today together, they’ll think we’re a couple and won’t try to court you anymore. I don’t want that to happen. So, let’s stay here and do what we normally do.”
It was silly to try and pull her away from the last day of a normal life. She would be escorted by other lab personnel while he was with Sake and Finelle. He still didn’t like it, but he had to abide by her orders.
The two went their separate ways after class. Tyria decided to go home. Masakado was compelled to go with Sake and Finelle downtown and spend the afternoon with them. He had fun, but his mind constantly wandered to Tyria. What was she doing now? Was she nervous? He played a crane game with the girls and rescued a Hyuma named Moff Moff from it. The longer he spent with them, the more he grew to enjoy a simple student life. He hadn’t had that in a long time, and when he settled that perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad, he asked Sake and Finelle if they could hang out on the weekend. The two girls were taken by surprise, immediately taking his hands and talking about all the places they could go since he knew nothing of what it meant to have fun.
They headed to the lab, parting ways there as Masakado went to his department to work. When he entered the control room, he found Raphael in a state of panic.
“Masakado, there you are!” he panted and shrieked. “We have an emergency! Tyria was attacked on her way to the lab!”
“What? Is she okay?!” Masakado asked him.
“Tyria is okay; her escort Yozuki protected her, but…even our most efficient bodyguard was injured. If you had been there, I have no doubt that you would have been killed.”
“Where is Tyria now?”
“I sent her home. She’s rattled from the attack and won’t let anyone inside her home. Please, take Auspia and leave her there.” Raphael called a stern-looking Hyuma. “She’s a guard-type, so she can protect Tyria through the night.”
“And by that, he means I can sound an alarm if anyone tries to break in,” Auspia reiterated.
Raphael urged Masakado and Auspia to get to Tyria as quickly as possible. They wasted no time, arriving at her house shortly afterwards only to find that she had locked herself in her room. Even when they begged to open the door, she only cracked it a little. She mumbled about it being her fault because she was the target, that she couldn’t heal her guard with her Song Magic, and that she put the plan in danger by walking to the lab. Masakado wanted to console her, and he asked to stay longer by her side. She ordered him to go home despite his protests. Only Auspia remained by her side; Masakado’s pride as a bodyguard and concern as a friend had been pushed aside.
The next morning, the morning of the ritual, Masakado headed straight to Tyria’s house. She was fine, as if nothing had ever happened.
“Dr. Kurogane called me last night,” she told him. “He asked if I was okay, and he’s excited to see me for the ceremony today.”
Masakado hated it. How could a single message cheer her up so quickly? He always seemed to come in at the worst times. Tyria continued to talk about fried bread and other things she would miss. She finally admitted it—or maybe it hit her—that all the things she loved in life were at an end.
Together, they headed to the lab. Here, they shared their final moments.
“This is it,” Tyria said. “You won’t be able to come with me any further than here.”
“Really? I thought I’d come see you turn into the Tower,” Masakado sheepishly said.
“No, I must concentrate without any distractions.”
Masakado—even Sorey—swallowed the sadness. “O-Okay, then. I understand…but…”
“Please, Masakado, I don’t want a long sentimental goodbye. Don’t look at me like that.”
Masakado forced a smile. “It’s sad, but I’m seriously happy for you. You’re going to be a great Tower. Good luck.”
“Thank you. For everything.”
“S-So long, Tyria…”
With that, Masakado headed to the control room. Raphael greeted him, thanking him for taking Tyria to the Sonic Room one last time. He saw he was visibly upset, but Masakado simply said that it was because no matter how long he was with her, he never understood if Tyria felt any sort of emotion. The only person she opened up to was Dr. Kurogane. She hid her feelings from others, and outright ignored Raphael’s existence.
The time had come to start. Tyria paged the control room for Dr. Kurogane. When they told her that he wasn’t there, she sent Masakado out to look for him. Sorey’s mind suddenly resonated.
“It’s supposed to happen today, right? I should pay close attention.”
Masakado searched all over the facility for Dr. Kurogane. He was nowhere to be found. Then, suddenly, Tyria’s voice echoed through the entire lab. She had started singing the Song she was meant to sing.
“If she’s started singing, then I guess they found him,” he murmured. He headed to the control room again, this time finding everyone in confusion and disarray. “W-What’s going on?”
“Masakado, we have a dire emergency!” Raphael panicked. They watched the monitor, and Dr. Kurogane stood before Tyria, who was singing happily in front of him. In his hand, behind his back, was a small gun. “W-What is he doing?! Kurogane, stop!”
“What…is he…?”
The world filled with a roaring static before all went silent. Raphael, Tyria, and Masakado’s voices were the only noise.
“Mr. Chairman, Dr. Kurogane, I beseech you!” Raphael bellowed.
“Tyria, no! Don’t look!” Masakado screamed out.
“W-Why…?” Tyria’s trembling voice breathed.
The gunshot thundered throughout the memory.
Everything went black.
“Aw, you ruined it again.”
“Tyria, what…was that?”
“This was a memory from 700 years ago. How strange, I don’t think you picked the same route as before. I didn’t think there would be a bug in this program—a lock-up, so to speak.”
“Um…I don’t really follow. But if going down a certain path caused the Dive to crash, maybe I can avoid it?”
“That would be the logical solution. Alright, let’s rewind.”
The Binary Field restarted from the beginning, but Sorey still had his memories of the preliminary events. He was Masakado again, this time equipped with the knowledge of what to avoid. He followed the story, deciding to the opposite of what he had done before. He spent more time with Tyria, taking her to go swimming and out to eat. He tried to foster a deeper bond than what she had with Kurogane. Then, the afternoon that he had previously spent with Sake and Finelle, had arrived. He skipped out on going to town with them. Rushing to the lab, he met with Yozuki—played by Akane—and Tyria. Two Hyumas had cornered them.
“We are Spring Breeze and Summer Gale!” the Hyumas introduced themselves. “We’re from the Anti-AAA!”
“Get behind me, Tyria!” Yozuki cried out.
“It won’t do you any good! You can’t possibly cover both your front and back, can you?”
“Yozuki, don’t do anything reckless,” Tyria asked of her.
Masakado realized then why the bodyguard had been so severely injured. He waited for an opening before attacking Spring Breeze. Yozuki battered Summer Gale with the dull side of her sword, and in seconds, the Hyumas were captured.
“I don’t get it. You’re supposed to be with those girls right now!” Summer Gale snarled.
“Yeah, well, I’m not. We’ll be taking you to the lab prison now.”
They went to the lab with the Hyumas in hand, and while Tyria went to the Sonic Room, Masakado and Yozuki went to the containment facility. There, Masakado put it together. Sake and Finelle were sleeper cells in the school, and they had managed to fool Tyria into thinking they were just enamored friends. It angered him to know that two girls who had always acted as Tyria’s friends turned out to be traitors. Yozuki wanted to make them pay for endangering Tyria, but Masakado asked for a pardon.
“Sake and Finelle are Tyria’s friends,” he told her. “If you hurt them, Tyria won’t be able to focus on becoming the Tower.”
Masakado had saved Tyria the heartbreak of losing her friends. That was the goal. He had to protect her against any trauma that would interfere with her ability to become the Tower. The Hyumas were confused by his actions, especially when Yozuki stood down and respected his wish at Tyria’s behest. With them spared, Masakado left the containment facility. Raphael thanked him, thoroughly impressed that he had defended Tyria.
Still, Masakado—and Sorey—didn’t understand why. Why would Kurogane kill himself in front of Tyria? Wasn’t the Chairman supposed to be happy and grateful that Tyria was okay? Perhaps things would be different now; the previous timeline had been wrecked because Tyria and Yozuki got hurt. Everyone turned out okay, so things had to be different.
Tyria exited the Sonic Room and, making sure to note that Kurogane had told her to get a good rest for the ritual tomorrow, she and her bodyguard went home for the night.
“You don’t call her Zeta anymore?” Tyria asked him as they prepared tea and toast. She was calm. She was confident that Masakado would protect her.
“She was so happy when I said her name; you should have seen her face, Tyria!” Masakado laughed. They talked and talked until Masakado finally found the courage. “Tyria, I have a request.”
“What is it? You look so serious.”
“Can I stay in the Sonic Room with you tomorrow?” Masakado, who was looking down at the bread, made sure to ask now. His eyes flicked up to meet hers. “Until you become the Tower, I’m on duty. I won’t get in the way, but I think I should stay by your side until then.”
Tyria’s face softened with a smile. “I don’t think Kurogane will mind. Just keep your mouth shut until the ritual is over. If he asks, just tell him that I’m still on edge because of the attack today. He won’t be able to kick you out if that’s the case. You’re doing your job.”
“Then, it’s settled!”
“Settled?”
“A-Ah, I mean I can perform my duty without any problems!”
Tyria tilted her head. “You’re so strange. So lonely and strange.”
Masakado blushed out of embarrassment. He bid her goodnight then left to go home.
Morning came. Masakado was ready for the big day just like Tyria was. He didn’t feel worried, and he knew that he had prevented the message from Kurogane. “This has to work,” he told himself.
Everything was the same up until Tyria asked Masakado to enter the Sonic Room. It was simply a ball-shaped room adjacent to the facility with large light bulbs all around. It was like being in a completely different world, and he understood why Tyria was really the only one to be in there.
“Just watch your step,” Tyria warned. “If you fall, you won’t feel any pain. You’ll just instantly die.”
“G-Good to know…” But he still looked around suspiciously. There was nowhere for anyone to hide.
As Tyria prepared herself in the center of the Sonic Room, Masakado made sure to lock the door. Wherever Kurogane was, he couldn’t get into the room now.
“Oh no,” Tyria sighed. Masakado’s head turned to her in alarm. “I didn’t get to have fried bread for my last real meal.” She pouted when Masakado told her that he couldn’t go and get any for her. Regardless, the show had to go on. It was time. “I have to start singing, so please refrain from speaking.”
Masakado simply nodded.
“Vice Chairman, can you hear me? Is Kurogane there?”
Raphael’s voice came through a speaker at the top of the room. “No, I haven’t seen him anywhere.” There was a silence that made Masakado worry. “We must get started. I’m sorry, Tyria.”
“It’s…alright.” Tyria looked one last time at Masakado. “Masakado, listen to my Song so you can tell Kurogane about it later. I’m going to start.”
Tyria’s voice filled the Sonic Room, overshadowing any other sounds. And at that moment, the event horizon that he had been working so hard to prevent had arrived. The door to the Sonic Room rattled.
“What the hell? Why is this door locked?” Kurogane’s voice came.
“Sorry, Kurogane, but you’re not getting in here,” Masakado told him.
“M-Masa—what are you doing in there? Anyway, could you unlock the door? I’m late, and the ritual has already started. It’s imperative I get inside.”
“Not happening. I’m not letting anyone, including the Chairman of the Laboratory, get in the way of Tyria’s dream. I’m her bodyguard; I intend to see my duty to the end. I won’t let you kill yourself—not in front of Tyria anyway.”
“You son of a bitch, open the goddamn door!” Kurogane snarled after a brief pause.
Kurogane jiggled the door to try and open it to no avail. “I’m giving you one last chance, Masakado. Open. The door.” But Masakado stayed silent, unmoving and unbending. “You’ve forced my hand, boy. Well, it only means that I must put all my hopes into you.”
“What…are you talking about?”
“I can only hope that she loved you as much as she loved me.”
“Kurogane…?”
Masakado stood in front of the door. He half-expected Kurogane to break the door down and force his way in. The uninmaginable happened instead. The gun that Kurogane had wasn’t just any gun. Much like Siegfried, it was made with special seraphic technology. The bullet could pierce through anything including the steel that made the door.
The shot rang out over Tyria’s Song. The Origin was looking right at him, fear and panic on her face. Masakado couldn’t understand why she looked like that. There was no pain, but he started to feel cold. Something was leaking out of him, filling him with impending doom then with peace.
Everything was dark and quiet. Then slowly, a great transformation was taking place. Light blinded those in the control room, and it pulled Masakado from the encroaching abyss of death.
“Masakado! Masakado!” Spring Breeze called to him.
“Wake up, Masakado! She did it! Tyria became the Tower!” Raphael celebrated. “It was magnificent!”
“S-She did…?” Masakado coughed. He gripped the gunshot wound.
“We need to get him a doctor!” Summer Gale alerted them.
“Yes, don’t worry!” Raphael said before running back to the control room to page a medical team.
Masakado lay still with Spring Breeze and Summer Gale next to him. He was happy. Tyria became the Tower just like she wanted to. Things were getting hazy.
“S-Stay with us, Masakado!” the Hyumas begged.
Sorey tried to focus. He had to get somewhere. He had to go to the bucklehead. No, the buckethead. Wrong again—where did he have to go?
“I have…to get…to the bulkhead…” Masakado rasped.
“Bulkhead? Why?” they asked.
“Important…”
The Hyumas were unsure if they should move him. His wound was fatal, so there was only a matter of time before he died. They didn’t have the chance to deliberate. Before Raphael returned with a medical team, they tried their best to carry him to the edge of the world to the bulkhead. He had to exit the world now.
“W-We’re here,” Spring Breeze told him. “Are you still alive?”
“Yes…” Masakado said. “I can…handle the rest…you’re free to do what you like…there is no Anti-AAA…you can live peacefully.”
“What about Sake and Finelle?” Summer Gale asked.
“It’s okay…they don’t need me…” He told them goodbye. Hoisting himself up, he opened the bulkhead, the surge of energy blasting into him and the Hyumas. While the little fairies were blown away, he pushed himself through to the light.
Sorey found himself surrounded by a warm light. The wound he had suffered from the Dive was healed, and Tyria was holding his hand to keep him from getting lost in the raw Binary Field. She asked him to wake up.
“I’m…I’m in the Binary Field?” he asked more for verification rather than genuine uncertainty. His own memories prior to the Dive were back—he remembered his friends, where he came from, and what their mission was. “Did I do it?”
“Remarkably, you did. You bypassed that bug, and as a result I’ve recovered my memory,” Tyria explained. She didn’t expect him to completely understand, but she did clarify that the dead ends in her memory were all pieces that she forced herself to forget. They were terrible memories that she never wanted to remember. By excising them from her memory, she was able to operate as the Tower at the expense of the rest of her Song. “By avoiding the traumatic event, something even better has happened. I was able to move on, and…” She pulled out a disk made of light. “I’ve recovered the second half of the Song I was meant to sing.”
“R-Really? That’s amazing!”
“Yes, now let’s not dawdle. We’ve got to prepare the Tower to help save Maotelus.”
“Right.”
“The next step is to reboot the Harvestasha in Clustania. Well, Sorey, I’ll see you again in the real world. Ciao for now.”
The Dive ended.
Akane’s Dive machine hissed open, and all of the seraphim and humans waiting for the fruits of their labor crowded around. Mikleo was particularly flustered by Edna’s teasing that the Dive would make the Shepherd choose the Origin over him.
Sorey sat up in the machine holding his head. He was groggy, yet he felt triumphant that they had recovered the Song. Tyria was pleased as well even if her face didn’t show it. The next step, as she had said, was to go wake Harvestasha up.
“Let’s get going,” he finally said.
“N-Now?” Mikleo stuttered. “Shouldn’t you rest?”
“Yeah, really,” Rose agreed. “You just did a Dive into the Binary Field; aren’t you tired?”
“Kind of, but we’re on the cusp! I’m more motivated than ever to carry on with the quest, especially now that we should have what we need to execute the plan.” He looked around to find that Cocona never returned from whatever it was she was doing in Archia. He wanted to wait for her, but time was of the essence. “Let’s go.”
“Let’s go!” Tyria joined in. She smiled at him, and while he had only a vague memory of al that happened in her Dive, Sorey knew that she was proud and grateful to him.
After thanking Akane for the use of her Dive Machine as well as all her help, Sorey and Tyria led their friends back to the Harvestasha Module in the Executive District. The module was quiet as usual, but this time there wasn’t even a hint of malevolence here. The Tower itself, renewed with Kureha gone and Harvestasha no longer hijacked, was slowly purifying itself. A beacon of hope, it was time.
“Sorey, could you prepare the boot key?” Tyria asked. Sorey, with help from Hikari Gojo, activated the boot key. “Exec ini Harvestasha: SHD >> tyrievalis_x01. Good morning, Harvestasha.”
Harvestasha woke up, the monster personality that Kureha had installed into her being a thing of the past. She had been asleep for a long time, as confirmed by her internal clock. Once Tyria adjusted it, she was ashamed that she had been decommissioned for so long.
Tyria reassured her, though. She stroked her head. “My dear sloth, I have good news. I’ve recovered my Song in its entirety from a memory of 700 years ago. We can finally begin what we were supposed to do together.”
“Oh, joyous day! We can finally do it!” Harvestasha happily cried.
“Let us begin.” She glanced at Sorey, mouthing a word of thanks, then walked to the center of the module. All of her new friends surrounded her like an audience waiting for the opening number. “Are you watching me, Kurogane? I’m going to accomplish your will today. It’s funny. It’s been 700 years since that day, yet I feel the same as I did back then.”
Tyria took a deep breath then began her Song. The first half was the exact same. A gentle melody, an ethereal voice humming along. Where there was once grating static was now an embellished voice that betrayed Tyria’s tiny stature. Contrary to the purpose of the Song, her voice was angelic and felt more fitting for a lullaby. It soothed their hearts; everything was going to be okay. It was the Song of Hope that Mir had sung about. It wasn’t Metafalica but the Rebirthia Protocol.
Tyria’s voice began to swell like the great awakening that it was to bring forth. Images of growing waves and tides, flowers blooming all around them, and the world being engulfed in a pure light filled their minds.
Sorey listened closely, the ideals and dreams and hopes that Tyria’s Song held resonating deeply in his soul. He…wanted to be happy. But he was sure now, that without a doubt, he wouldn’t be happy—not yet—because there was still something else he needed to do. It was something that only he could do, and no one like his friends or the Origins or the Wills could help him. Mikleo glanced at him, at that bittersweet smile.
The Song came to an end after it resonated clearly throughout the Tower. It lit up, signifying that the program within the Song had been installed. Both Harvestashas appeared before Tyria.
“Linkage connection confirmed,” the blue Harvestasha reported.
“Exchanging protocols…” the pink Harvestasha stated.
“Exchanging protocols…”
Both of them spoke together, “Connection completed successfully. We are Harvestasha, who belong to the World Regeneration Project, AAA.”
“CORE_0_HARVESTASHA_XP,” the pink Harvestasha said.
“CORE_1_HARVESTASHA_VISTA,” the blue Harvestasha said.
“All programs for the World Regeneration Project have been installed,” they stated together. “All systems ready. Purification target: Maotelus.”
The Glenwood Continent dwellers in the Tower were amazed. They understood so little, yet they knew that what was happening before them would help them severe the tie between Heldalf and Maotelus.
Notes:
There are actually two more "seasons" to Tyria's Binary Field, but they're really just AT3 shipping fodder and not really needed to finish the game. And besides, this was LONG ENOUGH.
Chapter 176: Phase 6: Sasha's Satellite of Love, Cocona's Song of Life
Summary:
Sasha and Cocona head down to the Broken Machine Graveyard to find the last material needed for the satellite. After finding Jack and Krusche at odds with each other, they head back up to deliver Sasha's first Hymn Crystal to her best friend.
Notes:
Alright, a little bit of an aside to start with. I merged a little bit of Sasha and Cocona's adventures together from the mini album with the story of AT3 because....they cute together! But this is it! The moment we've been waiting for!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sasha panted, bending over to rest her hands on her knees. She and Cocona had been walking for hours up into the Garvelt Bridge then down into the lower recesses of it. Unlike her seraphic friend, she wasn’t cut out for long treks around the Tower. She was a homely engineer. Nevertheless, she had to keep going for her friend’s sake. She wanted to hear her sing, and to do that, she had to finish her satellite.
“Sasha, if you’re tired, we can take a break,” Cocona told her.
“No, I’m okay,” Sasha huffed. “We’ve got to get what we need and find J & K.”
Cocona couldn’t argue with her to go back to her shop above the spiraling staircase heading farther down into Garvelt Bridge. She only kept an eye on her with the sole promise that if anything were to happen, she would do everything to protect her.
What few hellions attacked them, Cocona put down immediately. Her Song Magic still wasn’t terribly strong, but she was one of the few seraphim that could hold her own in battle with brute strength alone. Sasha, being only human and the same age as her, couldn’t fight back even if she wanted to. She’d never been in the throes of battle.
The two finally came to an old elevator that had previously been unusable, as discovered by Sasha one day when she had been searching for materials to use for the satellite. No matter what she did, she couldn’t fix it. Now, the light was on and it had been taken down deeper into the junkyard below.
“They must have gone down there,” Sasha determined. “This elevator wasn’t working before.”
“Let’s go, then,” Cocona agreed.
Calling the elevator back up, it creaked and groaned. They were somewhat nervous to use it with all the noise it was making. When it arrived, they boarded it with caution. Sasha held onto Cocona’s hand. They descended into what was called the Broken Machine Graveyard. It was a place where old and broken machines were dumped until they could be recycled into new and usuable things. It was where the little engineer had been trying to go had the elevator been working before. She couldn’t be happy that she was finally granted access, not with a foreboding inkling bubbling in her gut. They arrived to find not only Jack and Krusche but also the monster robot guardian named MY circling them.
“Dammit, Jack!” Krusche yelled. “I told you not to follow me anymore!”
“And do what? Let you cry down here all alone? With this thing out and about?” Jack retaliated.
“No, because knowing you, you’d sacrifice that arm! Do you know how much time and money I put into it for you?!”
“So you do care!”
“Not the time for this!”
Cocona and Sasha snuck up behind MYU. “What are you two doing? Don’t be so boo! That thing’s coming for you!” Cocona warned them.
Jack and Krusche stopped their bickering for just a moment to register that help had arrived. Or so they thought. While the guardian couldn’t fly or move as easily as it did before in Tilia’s Rinkernator, it had apparently been able to upgrade its weapons based on some self-maintenance program. With more firepower, they had no chance of defeating it. The best that Cocona herself could manage was to draw attention while Jack, Krusche, and Sasha returned to the elevator.
Of course, retrieving the two who hailed from Sol Ciel wasn’t the only goal. Sasha stayed on the outskirts of the robot’s detection field to scour the junkyard for the material called glasteria she needed to finish the satellite. As soon as she found it, as part of the ship that Krusche had returned to presumably, she tucked it under her arm and scurried back to the elevator.
“That thing’s going to blast the elevator apart once we’re inside it,” Jack grumbled.
“Then you guys go on ahead,” Cocona ordered them.
“Cocona, no! I can’t leave you!” Sasha cried out.
“It’ll be fine. I’m not so boo that I can’t distract it myself for some time. Believe in me, Sasha. Once you three are safe, I’ll be right behind you.”
The elevator started heading up. The sounds of Cocona’s Song Magic and blades hitting the metal body of MYU echoed from below. Sasha hoped that she would be okay before staring at the glasteria she had retrieved.
“Where did you get that?” Krusche asked her bitterly. “Did you take that off of Luke’s ship?!”
“I-I need it to finish the satellite,” Sasha told her.
“You could have asked first!”
“Krusche, calm down,” Jack tried to temper her. He rested his one hand on her shoulder. “No point in getting upset. I know how you feel; that piece is from Luke’s ship. It has all your memories in it. But…you know the truth now. Luke was someone dear to you, and knowing that he died trying to get back down to the continent all those years ago…I’m sorry. But now that you know, I don’t want to see you like this. Chasing his shadow for years like this—it’s not healthy, and we have a lot more things to worry about now.”
“Jack…”
“Once this is over, and once Sorey and his friends can fix whatever is wrong with the world, let’s do something nice for Luke’s memory. Then, just maybe, I can start working to beat him.”
Sasha watched both of them. They seemed like an unlikely couple, but the light returned to Krusche’s peridot eyes. The red-haired pilot apologized to her for getting angry that she took something from Luke’s ship. Sasha wasn’t entirely bothered, and she instead turned the energy to explaining what it was going to be used for. The elevator came to a stop, but Krusche was the only one who didn’t get off at the landing just under the entrance to Garvelt Bridge. She wanted to go back down to get Cocona; she wouldn’t forgive herself if she died down there while trying to get them back.
Jack and Sasha were going to protest only for Krusche to salute to them as the elevator descended again. Ten minutes passed, only silence. Then finally, the pulley on the elevator began to rotate backwards as the car climbed up the shaft one last time. The two waited to see their friends. Krusche held Cocona up on her shoulder, and while both were injured, they were smiling. The plan was almost complete.
The four returned to Archia to finish the satellite where they found Sorey and his friends. They didn’t know what had happened, but seeing the Shepherd beaming at them for once—and for Krusche, it was the first time—made them feel safe.
“Good news!” Lailah told them.
“We’re almost ready to put an end to Heldalf and all the problems he’s caused!” Rose celebrated.
“Last thing we need is to give the Tower one last burst of energy to finish its construction,” Tyria explained. She glanced at the nearly finished satellite. “Once the Tower is completed, whatever energy remains can be held in reserve for when we reach Maotelus.”
Sorey realized what it was that Tyria was planning to do. The Third Tower was essentially a massive version of Siegfried. Using the power that was stored in it—mana from the Origin herself—the Tower could deal the final shot to unbind Heldalf from the Great Lord himself. Tyria congratulated him on figuring that much out. The only thing he forgot was that they needed power from the other two Origins as well. That was when her face remarkably contorted into something of disgust.
“We don’t have time to hash out the logistics,” Krusche said. “Sasha, let me give you a hand with that material. If it breaks, we’re screwed.”
“Okay, let’s get this done,” Sasha happily said.
The pilot and the engineer got to work on finishing the satellite, which gave their friends the freedom to relax for a few minutes. Sorey, who was sitting quietly with Mikleo, wondered why Tyria had become so agitated when she mentioned working with the other Towers. He watched everyone else. Saki and Finnel were talking with Alisha and Lailah about hair and beauty products. Hikari Gojo supervised the project for his own research. Cocona waited with bated breath to sing the Song that Sasha had created for her. Dezel allowed Rosed to take a nap against him while they waited. Jack was curious about him, but he felt compelled to be ready to help with any extreme heavylifting despite having only one functioning arm now.
Still, the Shepherd wanted to know why Tyria was suddenly like that. After all, when they had seen the events that happened in Camlann, she only seemed somewhat abrasive. This was a total change.
“Okay, so we put this here…” Krusche mumbled.
“Loop this here…” Sasha murmured.
“Complete the circuit and…”
“It’s done! And the reflection ratio is way higher than expected—96%!”
The two girls climbed down the ladder to marvel at the finished satellite. Its solar arrays band antennae had been constructed with the glasteria that Sasha recovered, reflecting to them the image of everyone standing together to fight for the future. Staring at it with love and pride, Sasha decided to name it the Satellite of Love, a testament to her relationship with Cocona.
“Now for the final part in this plan,” she said with fiery moxy. “Cocona, could you come here for a second?”
“Is it time?” Sorey asked.
“Yes. I’m going to give the Song I created for Cocona to her now.”
Sorey and all his friends gathered around Cocona and Sasha. The latter pulled out a Hymn Crystal meant only for IPDs. Zaveid and—by the waves that were slightly emitted from it—Dezel were intrigued. Sasha explained that the feelings contained in the Song were an extension of the Songs that Lady Cloche sang. While anyone including them could sing it, she was adamant about Cocona being the one to execute its function.
“Cocona, are you ready?” she asked her friend.
“I’ll always be ready for your inventions and creations,” Cocona told her.
“I’ll keep watch over Cocona,” Hikari Gojo volunteered. “This is the first time you’re downloading, so it might be a good idea to monitor you.”
Cocona consented knowing full-well that absorbing Songs could be hard on younger seraphim. She took a deep breath to quell the sneaking anxiety. Sasha held the Hymn Crystal to her.
“cEzYA hymmnos. 7812 –x tArm azit tn=HYMMELI. es tn=>sol.infel-phira.mea.”
Light shined all over Cocona, the power of the Song reaching deep into her hear and spreading through her mind. Her world began to expand, and the emotions that Sasha had put into the Song filled her a warmth that she never experienced before.
Once the light faded, Sasha asked her if she was alright. Hikari Gojo reported that there were no abnormal changes, and Cocona herself was still in a euphoria that she couldn’t describe. The only thing that mattered was that they were ready to initiate the plan.
“I’m going to launch the satellite now. Lord Sorey,” Sasha called to him. He ran to her side with Mikleo behind him. “I’ve never truly known how to say this, but please. Please help this world. Everything we love is riding on this plan. I want to live peacefully together with everyone on the Second Tower. I still have a lot to learn, and Cocona still has to get strong enough to sing more Songs. Both of us and Lady Cloche and Lady Luca all want to help you. So do your best to succeed because we’re all right behind you.”
Sorey had never really spoken much to Sasha during their time on the Second Tower, something that he felt a little guilty about. He knew that she was an intelligent girl with a fiery passion in her heart. He promised her that he would not fail to defeat the Lord of Calamity and make sure the world was safe to live in again. Before she launched her satellite to meet Frelia’s server, she handed him a small crystal that was similar to the one that held the Song.
“It’s diamond ore,” she explained. “Just like seraphim of different affinities have certain ores they can ingest to use Songs they otherwise could not, diamond ore allows humans to connect to Songs. It’s not toxic like other ores, but once you use it, that’s it.” She curled his fingers around it. “Your resonance will increase the efficacy of the reserve power by tenfold. I made sure that it would finish the job as quickly as possible, and it’s guaranteed to connect you to it.”
“Sasha, you really didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” he gently said.
Sasha assured him that she wanted to do everything she could. His friends had saved the Tower and brought Cloche and Luca back to her. She never knew friends like them or Cocona, and she was eternally grateful to him.
“We all believe in you,” she said. She ushered him back to his friends.
Before letting them prepare for Cocona’s first world concert, Sasha made a note to Tyria and Hikari Gojo that the place where she could receive the emotions at the highest transfer rate was atop the XP Shell. It made sense since that was where the reserve power was going to be stored. The two headed there with everyone following after when Cocona settled in her heart that she was essentially everyone’s hope right now.
She had to sing. No matter how scared or sad she would become, she had to sing. She thought about Lady Cloche, the only other IPD that she had ever met and befriended on Frelia before catastrophe struck, and how brave she had become to sing Metafalica.
Gengai, Katene, Mute, Richa, and all of their friends both in the other Towers and down below were going to be watching her. She felt their support in the air and on the waves that kept them alive.
Sorey asked to see Tyria alone as they rested up at the inn. Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid weren’t too keen on separating from him given what all had happened. Knowing that it was just as important to him as it was to Cocona, though, they granted him his privacy. He made his way to the XP Shell. There Tyria and Hikari Gojo were discussing what was to come. The doctor left at his request without a word.
“Tyria, I have a few questions for you,” Sorey said gravely.
“Oh? I have a couple for you as well,” she replied.
Sorey approached her. “This plan—it requires the Tower to be completed. It also stores a massive amount of energy. If the Tower is really a bigger version of Siegfried and aims to shoot Maotelus to disconnect him from Heldalf, wouldn’t that require some sort of sacrifice? There’s a catch to this, isn’t there?”
Tyria was quiet for a moment. “Using this Tower for its original purpose would incite a sacrifice,” she confirmed. “Seraphim have a certain aspect to them. Our lifespan can easily outlast that of any human, but when such power is used, it takes our entire being. You probably have it figured out if you’ve come to ask me this.”
Sorey frowned. His worst fear for the people on Tilia was true.
“Once I fire the Third Tower’s reserve power, I will have used up almost all of my power. I will die.”
“But there has to be a way to avoid that!”
“Unfortunately, that was my purpose from the beginning. When the Lords of Calamities became a reality, humans wanted to find a way to end the cycle forever. Such grandiose plans are always a double-edged sword. There must be a sacrifice—the death of one to continue the lives of many.” Tyria didn’t show it, but the idea saddened her. She turned to him. “But as Shepherd, there is no doubt you will have a similar fate. You do understand what will happen when Heldalf and Maotelus are separated, correct? He will be consumed by the malevolence no matter what without a vessel. No one on the Towers can become the vessel for a Will of the Planet as strong and big as him.”
Sorey couldn’t answer her.
“It’s hard, but when no one else can assure the happiness that humanity fights so passionately for except—”
“I knew it for a while. I’d accepted that it’s the conclusion to my story, but…”
“But?”
For once, bittersweet tears rolled down Sorey’s face. “Even though I know this is what I have to do, I’m not angry or sad or scared. In my heart, my deepest wish is that I don’t want you or Mikleo or anyone else to suffer. I’m prepared to take this upon myself. Tyria, I’m begging you, don’t use the power that Cocona is singing for. Don’t fire it at Maotelus because if you die, your people will be broken.”
Tyria stared at him. “What do you propose I do then? If I’m not to complete my mission, what should I do?”
“Continue being their goddess and live with your friends.”
“And you? If you intend to take this all on your own and make it solely your burden, what do you think will happen?”
“I’m not a god or anything. I’m not loved and revered like you are; in fact, a lot of people used to be afraid of Shepherds and the powers they wield. They called them monsters. There will be people that will miss me, but it’s not like an entire population would grieve.” He forced a smile. “But then I think about leaving him, and sometimes I feel maybe I should just stop because my absence would hurt him. If I do, however, I would be no better than Michael running away and cursing the world. I have to make the world safe. I have to pave a path so that seraphim and humans can coexist, so that Mikleo can live out our dream even if I’m gone.”
Tyria sighed. “You humans really are all over the place,” she told him unabashedly. “But if you don’t want me to use what Cocona and Sasha worked to do, then you better have a good alternative. If I can’t die, you can’t die either.”
“I’m working on it,” Sorey tried to laugh.
The time had finally arrived for Cocona to deliver her Song to the world. Rose and Alisha led their friends to the XP Shell, and Cocona stood in front of all of them. She could be seen from everywhere in Archia. Gengai especially wanted a good vantage point. He held his hands together and wished her luck.
Cocona felt thousands of eyes on her—from Tilia, from Eolia and Frelia, and from the Glenwood Continent. She was nervous, yet she had to steel herself and sing the Song as Sasha intended. She gulped her fear down. She couldn’t fail. She took a deep breath.
“Sasha, I won’t let you down,” she whispered. She gazed out over Archia. “I want to make you proud. I want to protect the people living and struggling to survive in this world. For Croix. For Sorey. For everyone.” She steeled her mind. With a deep breath, she began her Song.
Her voice echoed over the city, as she inputted the address required to receive the emotions. The air around her vibrated, the illusion of powerful drums and bell supporting her. Her voice wasn’t as angelic as Saki or Cloche nor as playful as Finnel or Luca. It was strong and determined. She was giving her all to sing Sasha’s creation. She was singing in tribute to Cloche. As an IPD, she wanted to do her best to create a hope that could spread as easily as malevolence and Viruses did. As she sang, it was almost as if the Hymmnos glyphs themselves were flowing from her lips into the air.
Sorey and Rose and Dezel and Zaveid all felt the Song deep in their hearts. The strength that they’d been trying to give to everyone as well as they assurance that Alisha wanted to deliver to her people was evident in the Song. Just as Metafalica, Rebirthia Protocol, and Harmonious had been Songs of Hope, Cocona’s Hymmeli was just as hopeful.
The Song ended in a final strike. Crowds in Archia were chanting Cocona’s name as the satellite launched high into the golden sky. It was far from Metafalica and the Second Tower, but the power it attracted which the young IPD was requesting shot across the sky. Sergei in Pendrago saw the beam of light, and the seraphim that were still living in Lohgrin were amazed.
“Connect with me, Lady Cloche, and give me the power to help save the world.”
“I can feel it, Cocona. Your Song of Life…!”
Tyria, using her true form as the Tower, channeled that power into her being. She listened to Sorey’s request; she wouldn’t use this influx of power to save Maotelus. Her heart was the same as before—she loved her friends and everything life had to offer. He was giving her a chance at life. But if she didn’t use it, would they truly be happy?
The Song was far more intense than Cocona had anticipated. She collapsed there at the top of the XP Shell. Saki and Finnel went to her side, and while they were relieved that she was merely asleep now, they were so proud of her.
“I can’t believe it actually worked!” Finnel sniveled as she hugged Cocona’s unconscious body. “That was amazing!”
“She’s really come so far,” Lailah smiled. “Right, Sorey?”
The happiness that the plan succeeded was dampened upon the realization that their mission on the Third Tower of Tilia was over. They were ready to take on Maotelus. Sorey had gained an abundance of knowledge and retrieved his seraph.
“Everyone,” he started. “Thank you so much.”
“Huh? Sorey, were you crying…?” Saki asked him. She approached him so that their noses were almost touching, much to Mikleo’s overly-protective annoyance.
“I was just…really moved by Cocona’s Song. But it’s thanks to all of you that we’re finally ready to stop Heldalf. It’s time for us to return to our world.”
“Stop that,” Tyria ordered. “You’re being too sentimental now.”
Sorey was embarrassed but couldn’t deny that he was grateful to them all. He knew their time together was short. He wanted to go back to the Glenwood Continent to heal the world and make sure that Tyria, Mikleo, Edna, Zaveid, and everyone else could live happily and peacefully.
Rose and Alisha thought it was strange that he wanted to leave so quickly. They thought he would have wanted to say farewell to the friends they made. But Tyria simply told them that she understood. It wasn’t going to be good-bye. The journey was far from over. They still had a lot of work to do, and she only hoped that Sorey would make the right choice.
Notes:
Cocona's Song METHOD_HYMMELI/. can be found here
This is Cocona's first time downloading and baby girl has made us so proud! This is also the end of Phase 6! NExt time we will be in Phase 7!
Chapter 177: Phase 7: The Storm Coming
Summary:
Sorey and friends leave the Tower of Tilia, but all is not well in the Glenwood Continent.
Notes:
We are now on Phase 7! All the Towers have been saved, but what lies in store for the Glenwood Continent? This is a shorter chapter, but a decent start for this phase!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“No, let me go!” a wind seraph begged.
“My love!” an earth seraph cried out.
Heldalf held the unlucky wind seraph by his neck with a crushing grasp. He was struggling to escape his hold but to no avail. His fingers ripped up grass. His feet dug into the ground. Yet still, he was just a caged rat. Symonne held the earth seraph at her mercy. If she dared to attempt to save her beloved, the little seraph of darkness threatened to kill her.
“What are you going to do?!” she helplessly cried.
“It has been but failed attempt after failed attempt to impede him,” Heldalf rumbled. “No one on the Towers were able to stop him. It falls to me.” He dragged the wind seraph toward him. “Symonne, we must sow more seeds of chaos. You know what your task at hand is.”
“Yes, milord,” Symonne confirmed.
Both she and her superior vanished with their hostage. The earth seraph, her mind trying to register what she had just witnessed, sobbed into her hands. The usually gentle breeze that blew over Aifread’s Hunting Grounds had grown to a blustering wind. She pushed herself up to find her partner.
Sorey, Alisha, and Rose had climbed down Tilia to return to the Plitzerback Wetlands after their goodbyes to their new friends there. Their seraphim, who clearly were not up to the trek down, only came out once they had touched the squishy marsh under their feet.
“Well, this has certainly become quite the adventure!” Zaveid happily said. “Who would have thought that we’d go and set up a new and improved giant Siegfried? I mean, talk about convenience! Those Tower folks really know how to make things in life easy!”
He glanced up at the Third Tower with a triumphant smile. Edna was annoyed, though. She smacked him in the shins with her umbrella then reminded him that Sorey and Tyria were the ones that did most of the work.
“I think the only thing left to do is talk to Frelia and Shurelia,” Sorey said as if crossing off things on a mental list. He remembered what Tyria said, and he hoped that she would obey his request not to use the weapon they had helped to create. “Tyria mentioned she’d need help from them.”
There was a noticeable deflation among them when they realized they still had a long way to go. The bright side was that Frelia was on the way back to Elysia, and Eolia wasn’t too far off. Rose suggested that they get moving now if they wanted to reach the Second Tower by sunset tomorrow.
And thus, they went. They walked back to the entrance to the wetlands, through the gate, and out into the scorching heat of the Zaphgott Moor. It felt awful moving from one place where they were sticky from the humidity to outright feeling the sun burn their skin. Sorey promised it wouldn’t be long that they would be there.
“How are we getting to Frelia again?” Edna asked.
“Ah…that’s a good question…” Sorey realized aloud. “Maybe…we can…Oh, Zaveid can fly!”
“And what about us?” Lailah pouted as she pulled Alisha close to her.
“Well…”
They came to the Great Camelot Bridge that extended across the ocean and brought to them the cool sea gales that soothed their skin. Of course, hellions save for the Kraken encountered them, but it took only merely second to put them down now. Fighting on familiar land felt good.
“If you are expecting to make a pit stop in Frelia, then let’s pick up the pace,” Dezel grumbled. “We’re burning daylight.”
Sorey agreed. The seraphim returned to their humans, and the three of them worked up to a light run until they came to the merchants’ camp near the halfway point of the bridge. There was a sudden chill in the air. The Shepherd and his Squires looked quizzically at each other before the merchants in the camp began to discuss all that they had missed while traveling to the Towers.
“Did you hear? There’s going to be another war,” one of the merchants mentioned.
Alisha’s heart stopped when she heard that.
The tensions between Hyland and Rolance had been rising nonstop. It didn’t matter that they were trying to help the Towers to eventually move against Heldalf, the war that both sides wanted but couldn’t instigate without reason had been developing to a head. The merchants weren’t concerned about the casualties nor the impending environmental ruin. They dreamt of the medicine they would be selling to either side. They fantasized about the different types of coffins and caskets they were going to need to sell to lay the pawns of war to rest.
“We’re going to be swimming in dough!” they cheered. “Good luck to the soldiers! May either side make us a lot of money!”
Rose wanted to confront them only to be stopped by Sorey. There was no use in talking them down from the monetary gains they were going to get.
“We have bigger things to worry about,” he said. “If any more malevolence collects…”
“That’s what ol’ Kittybeard wants, isn’ it? Where was the last war?” Zaveid asked.
“The last war was in Glaivend Basin,” Alisha explained. She looked worried. “Sorey, I know you wanted to go to the Towers, but…my people…”
Sorey reassured her that there was a change in plans. They needed to stop the war before it got out of hand. They ran post-haste across the rest of the bridge. Hellions came after them in droves, but they didn’t have time. The seraphim blasted and purified them, cutting a path right through them to the other side.
They crossed Pearloats Pasture, bypassing Pendrago completely, then made their way across the Meadow of Triumph. Rose and Sorey glanced up at the Frelia from below, the bell-shaped Tower glistening among the clouds. They had to wait to until after they stopped the war.
When they arrived at Lastonbell, they found hordes of people clamboring to secure their belongings. Even more were protesting the apparent evacuation in process. They got in the way, shoved them to the side, and pushed their way around. Alisha, nervous that the citizens in Lastonbell would recognize her armor, tried to stay close to the sidelines of the crowds. Sorey and Rose followed her.
“They must be trying to get these people out in case the war gets out of Glaivend Basin,” Rose noted.
“They have to be,” Dezel affirmed. “The last one was bad, but this one…the amount of malevolence…”
“We have to do something,” Sorey decided.
They forced their way through to the gates. Without another second, they left the city and continued through the Volgran Forest. With each step at this point, the malevolence grew more and more unbearable. And at its peak level upon entering Glaivend Basin, Sorey and his friends saw the darkening sky. At first, they thought it was a physical manifestation of the malevolence. It turned out to only be the billowing plumes of smoke rising from the battlefield like horrifying scars of man’s mistakes.
An earth seraph stood watching from a perch just a few paces ahead of them. She was beyond despondent. Her lover was in the middle of the war. She couldn’t go down there because she knew that if she did, her heart would give out and she would turn into a hellion. So she just helplessly stared, unable to rescue the one she loved.
Sorey, Rose, and Alisha followed her gaze to the center of the battlefield, but they couldn’t see anything among the fighters and fallen. They heard the casualty reports from the Rolance camp. Alisha couldn’t be seen by them, so she stayed by the earth seraph while Rose and Sorey snuck over to listen.
“Report! Blue Tempest Knights—118 wounded, 35 dead! An additional 58 casualties on the enemy side!” soldiers were calling out among the bellows and screams of wounded comrades.
“Looks like they’re just getting started,” Edna sighed after the seraphim came out.
“Just started?” Mikleo repeated in disbelief.
“If this were a full-on war, there would be way more dead,” Rose told them. She led Sorey away from them so they could relay the information to Alisha and talk safely in private while the seraphim continued to listen. “What’s the plan now? We can’t get through the camp.”
“We can’t go to the Towers,” Alisha quickly said.
“Apparently that evacuation in Lastonbell isn’t going so well. Sergei is in charge of it,” Dezel reported from the camp. “The Platinum Knights probably won’t be there long.
“Then it’s obvious where we should go,” Zaveid determined. “We should get moving.”
Sorey nodded. If anyone could help them now, it was Sergei. But he had a bad feeling. It was obvious that Heldalf was trying to stir more and more malevolence, but for what if not to channel it into Maotelus? He didn’t want Tyria to use that power under no circumstance. He had to do something to stop the war. They had to somehow calm both sides down!
They ran back to the Volgran Forest with their new objective in mind. As luck would have it, though, it became one problem after another. Someone was walking towards them. No, they were hobbling, struggling to just stand. Blood was dripping from their arm and forehead.
“Shit, Rose, hurry!” Dezel gasped.
The assassin and her seraph took the lead. The one who had been so grievously injured was Ayn Talfryn. He reached out to them. Dezel grabbed him before he collapsed, and Rose pulled as many gels as she had to tend to his wounds.
“Talfryn, what the held happened?!” Rose demanded of him. “Come on, speak to me!”
“B-Boss…” Ayn Talfryn breathed.
“Dezel, can you heal him?”
“Not much with just my Artes,” Dezel answered.
“We…We were ambushed…” Ayn Talfryn finally said.
Rose looked back at Sorey and Alisha, fear and anger in her periwinkle eyes. She asked him by who. Mikleo cast his spell to heal his wound, but as Dezel as said, Artes alone couldn’t help him. Zaveid sang quietly to augment his Arte.
“Lun…arre…he…tipped off the Rolance Empire…told them…that the guild murdered Forton in cold blood…” Ayn Talfryn continued. He coughed up a bit of blood, which urged Mikleo and Zaveid to work faster. “Rosh…Eguille…my sister…we were cornered…”
“Are they okay?!” Sorey asked him.
“I don’t know…Eguille…he protected me…they said…to take them alive…they’re going to be executed soon…! Boss…you have to save them…!”
There was little to no improvements in his wounds. Lailah and Edna both added to the effort to save him, the fear that they couldn’t save him slowly sinking in. Dezel joined in now after deciding that even if he couldn’t sing to heal him, he could at least do his best.
Alisha worried more about her people. She knew it wasn’t the time to talk about what to do, but at this point, it couldn’t be avoided. She felt ashamed for thinking about leaving. She was the Princess of Hyland, however. Her people needed her. She had to do something instead of waiting for someone else to stop the advance.
“I have to go,” she finally said. She had worked up the courage, and she prepared to be scolded for thinking so selfishly. “My city…my people…!”
“Yes, please,” Rose said. “Your people are in danger, and…I’m sorry, Sorey, but I have to save my friends. I have to save my family!” Talfryn was happy to hear her say that, yet he didn’t want her to go directly to the ones that caught everyone in case it was all a trap to capture her.
Lailah and Dezel respectively vowed to keep their lovers safe from harm. Rose and Dezel escorted Talfryn to the Tintagel Ruins while Alisha made her way to the Lamorak Cave to bypass the war. Sorey was left by himself with his seraphim. He trusted that his friends were more than enough to handle the other problems. He had to see Sergei and figure out what was happening.
“If we can get to the bottom from his side of things, we can properly help Alisha,” Mikleo said.
“We should probably help Rose as well,” Edna suggested. “If she loses her friends, we could be at risk for Dezel to have an outbreak again by her despair, and this time we can’t save him.”
Sorey understood what to do. He had hoped that they could have just gone on to fight Heldalf. The only thing he could see that was good about this situation was that they were on familiar ground and not in completely different worlds to their own. He believed in Alisha and Rose, and he himself had his duty as the Shepherd to stop the chaos that was feeding the Lord of Calamity. Calling his seraphim back into his heart, he made his way to Lastonbell.
Notes:
So we know what part this is, right?
Chapter 178: Phase 7: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Summary:
The first of the branching missions, Sorey goes to Lastonbell to check on Sergei. Faced with civil unrest, Sorey knows that there's no time to waste now.
Notes:
A bit of a short chapter today. The branching missions are a bit tedious, but I really like the story that's in them. I like to think of the optimal route to get to them, which starts with Sergei.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey approached the city gate leading into Lastonbell. The seraphim with him shuddered at the growing malevolence, and all four of them worried about Sergei. Entering through the anxiousness, they found the populace in disarray. Some were running with whatever they could carry towards the exit leading to the Meadow of Triumph while othrs were staying where they were. A small gathering of raucous people was in front of the sanctuary, and in the middle of it, Sergei tried to calm the people. To Sorey, it was like he was a cornered animal.
“What useless knights!” the crowd jeered. “Go back to Pendrago if you’re not going to help us! Why should we have to evacuate! Why not put your lives on the line, you liars!”
The closer the Shepherd and his seraphim got to Sergei, the stronger the malevolence. When one man insulted the captain of the Platinum Knights, the others followed suit. Knowing that any physical assault of any kind against him would get them arrested, they made sure not to pelt their belongings at him.
“Please, you must listen to me,” Sergei pleaded with them.
“Listen to you?!” a woman raged. “We’re about to lose our homes because of you!”
Sorey and Zaveid, who emerged upon passing the inn, were just visible over their heads, prompting Sergei to worm his way through the crowd to him. The people tried to pull him back, and a kid grabbed onto his leg to trip him.
Sorey couldn’t stand watching this; Sergei didn’t deserve this treatment! Mikleo came out and tried to stop him, but the Shepherd ordered them all to stop heckling him. They glared at him and hissed their disdain for the Shepherd. To them, he was just as useless as Rolance.
“It’s alright, Lord Shepherd,” Sergei quietly said. “Please, follow me. I wish to discuss things with you…in private.”
Sergei walked past him to the main street, and Sorey and his seraphim followed. All down the street, the citizen criticized and belittled them. Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid knew they couldn’t do anything to defend them; Lastonbell let the seraphim exist without problems. They didn’t want to be the ones to change that. They left the citygrounds for Volgran Forest, and once Sorey and his friends were outside with them, they found him convening with a few from his platoon.
“Sir, what are we going to do?” one of the knights asked him. “If the citizens of Lastonbell continue to defy orders to evacuate, the empire might order us to force them out.”
“Not only that, but we’re to report to the battle camp as soon as possible,” another knight told him. “The real fighting hasn’t started yet.”
“Captain, will our forces even be enough to fight against Hyland? Don’t they have those…those abominations?”
Mikleo’s skin prickled. “I thought Hyland stopped making Seraphoids,” he whispered.
“They probably rounded up more seraphim to carry out those experiments and perfected it,” Edna said with anger.
“Both of you, calm down,” Zaveid warned. “Don’t let the malevolence get to you.” He let out a sigh then mumbled a tune. “jYAlArYE ag zz cYImYUlA./”
Edna, Mikleo, and even Sergei all seemed to relax. Sorey joined the little meeting, worry on his face despite wanting to help settle the unrest. Sergei explained to him that ever since there was the tip from a mysterious man that claimed Hyland had requested the Scattered Bones to murder Cardinal Forton, all the nobles wanted was to destroy them. With people evacuating out into the wilderness, there was a sudden increase in the number of missing persons. Humans and seraphim alike were vanishing as their fear and the malevolence turned them to suicide or transformed them into hellions.
“People are killing themselves?!” Sorey asked with horror.
“To escape the imminent hardships of war,” Sergei confirmed.
“And if their souls are being corrupted by the malevolence, then they’ll become like those Phantom hellions we fought a while back,” Edna noted.
The knights stood to the side. Sergei, ashamed that he couldn’t protect the lives of innocent people, hung his head. “If only I could do something to truly help!” he scolded himself.
“You’re already doing what you can,” Sorey told him. He lifted his face, an angel in human form. “Maybe we can do something.”
“Sorey, do we really have time for that?” Zaveid asked him.
“I know we don’t, but we have to do something about the malevolence.”
A blood-curdling scream suddenly sounded, and the lot of them spun around to find three Hyland soldiers surrounding the child that had tried to trip Sergei earlier. Dripping with malevolence, they threatened to slaughter the child.
“Hellions!” Sorey gasped.
Sergei was the first to react at the speed of light. If he couldn’t prove to his people that he wasn’t useless before, he hoped that he could at least start a chain reaction to instill hope once again. The Hyland soldier in front of the child raised his sword to behead the child, but the Captain of the Platinum Knights deflected the attack.
“Lion’s Howl!” he called out, blasting the assailant back. Sorey, along with the seraphim and the other Rolance knights, backed him up. “How did you even get this far?”
The Hyland soldiers immediately fled deeper into the forest. Sergei and his knights decided to give chase. He didn’t want blood to be spilled, but they had attacked an innocent of Rolance. He couldn’t let them get away.
“Sergei, wait!” Sorey called to him.
Just as suddenly as the scream had pulled them into the encounter with Hyland, everyone but him and the seraphim vanished. The world turned grey.
“Oh, great, Little Miss Creepy’s here,” Zaveid noted without missing a beat.
“Where is she?” Mikleo questioned. His amethyst eyes glanced around looking for the tiny fallen seraph.
Instead, the man that had started the heckling emerged from the city gate. He wore a triumphant smile on his lips, touting it like some sort of trophy. Sorey, Mikleo, Zaveid, and Edna faced him with their weapons drawn.
“It really doesn’t take much to get you all angry,” the man sighed. “Yet why is it that I’m having to expend so much energy?” Symonne’s voice became clearer, the illusion melting away. She grinned at them.
Sorey sheathed his sword. He knew that she was just trying to get him to attack her to fall; he had to admit that her tricks were getting old. Still, Symonne wasn’t going to run away like she had before.
“Why are you doing this?” Mikleo asked.
“I’m bored,” Symonne flippantly said. She teleported some distance from them deeper into the forest. “So very, very bored.” She teleported again. “After all, you keep messing up my plans.”
“She’s getting away!” Edna said. The three seraphim went inside Sorey. “Don’t let her escape!”
Sorey broke into a sprint after Symonne. The trees were dancing and swaying and changing all around him. Everything was so confusing, and the hellions that had always roamed in the forest eyed him like fresh meat. His head was beginning to hurt, his eyes jiggling back and forth trying to make sense of where he was.
Zaveid, familiar with Symonne’s illusions, influenced his concentration. “I got you, Sheps.”
Sorey rectified his way to a narrowing path that was far removed from the rest of the forest. He pushed his way through the shrubs and bushes to find not Symonne but Sergei standing in front of him.
“Ser…gei…?” Sorey uttered.
Zaveid came out after requesting that Mikleo and Edna stay inside to keep their Shepherd safe. Cautiously, he stepped closer to the captain. Sergei tried to slash him with his sword, and now Zaveid was sure that it was just another illusion.
“Well, damn—the girl’s getting better and better at this shit,” he had to compliment.
“How perceptive,” Sergei said before Symonne revealed herself. “But it’s not as impressive if it isn’t the Shepherd. Let’s play a game, then.” She turned back into Sergei. “Let’s see how long it takes before you fall to your knees!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Sergei charged at Sorey with monstrous speed. A quick draw, Sorey parried him, sparks flying between their blades. Zaveid leapt away from the fight to sing anything that could help his friend. Mikleo and Edna came out to push the false captain back.
cAzA hymmnos mea/.
dAnYA dAnYA dAsYAsYAn/.
fYAwYAr du jouee mea/.
dYAxN gyaeje/.
He kept chanting it as long as he could to gift unto Sorey more strength. The sooner they struck Symonne down, the sooner they could stop her influence. Mikleo and Edna tag-teamed their Artes. Mikleo provided offense and the occasional healing while Edna boosted Sorey’s defenses with her Barrier spell and laid traps for Sergei to step in.
Sorey, bolstered by his friends, went in with his sword in hand. When he clashed swords with the captain again, he realized that they weren’t alone. A ball of darkness shot at his seraph. Undead Magicians were rising from the ground.
“Dammit,” Zaveid cursed. He stopped his Song to assist. “Horizon Storm!”
His fiery winds blew back the Undead Magicians, giving Mikleo and Edna a chance to fight back against them. It was now one-on-one between Sergei and Sorey. It felt so wrong to fight his friend, but he reminded himself over and over that this was not Sergei.
Edna finished off one of the Undead Magicians, and Sorey immediately called her to his side. “Hephsin Yulind!” he said. His body shone gold, the Earth Armatus taking hold of him.
Mikleo did his best to freeze the other hellions on his own until Zaveid could unleash another tempest. He took his eyes off them for just a second to see Sorey grab Sergei in his iron fists.
“That’s right, Shepherd!” Sergei choked in his grip. “Go ahead and kill me! You may tell yourself it’s not truly your friend, but the doubt is already there. You can’t kill a seraph, but you can kill a human—it’ll all be the same!”
“Sorey, wait!” Mikleo yelled.
“It’s a trap!” Zaveid called to him.
“I know!” Sorey reassured. He held Sergei in his grip. “What is it that you’re trying to do? Mikleo and the Seraphoid experiments, Dezel and Infel Phira, Harvestasha, Bishop Falss—when will you stop? Can’t you see that you’re hurting so many people?”
The façade vanished once again, and Symonne smiled at him. She teleported out of his grip to just in front of him. She simply shrugged. “I only do as my master says,” she said. “As long as he accomplishes his mission, I am but a tool to him. But keep this in mind—your time is running out.”
Symonne disappeared. Her domain dissipated, the color returning to the environment around them. The bell, for which Lastonbell was named, rang in the distance.
“We should look for Sergei,” Mikleo recommended.
Sorey listened to the tolls of the bell before registering that his beloved water seraph had said anything. He agreed.
The seraphim took the lead, and there near the city gate, they found Sergei and some of the denizens of Lastonbell. Two of his men had fallen, but he and the child were safe. The people were bowing before him, begging for forgiveness. It seemed none of them knew what had come over them. They deeply loved the captain and were so apologetic, which eased Sorey’s heart. Yet the bell still tolled. He flicked his eyes to just the tip of the belfry that he could see.
“It’s getting late,” Edna said.
“What’s the plan, Sorey?” Zaveid asked him. He caught him staring at the belfry that peeked over the city gate. “Kid?”
Sorey returned to reality. “I think we should head to Pendrago. We can make it by nightfall. And we’ll be passing by Frelia, so let’s stop there as well,” he decided. His seraphim, though, knew something was wrong.
“Are you sure you don’t want to rest?” the earth seraph asked. “Granted the creepy girl didn’t put up that much of a fight, you’re clearly bothered by what she said.”
Sorey smiled sheepishly and waved the notion away. He was fine. Perfectly okay. Besides, they needed to get to Pendrago. That was when Zaveid requested that they Dived. It caught him off-guard, but it had been a while since they had Dived. Edna and Mikleo wanted it, too.
“W-We don’t really have time for that,” Sorey told them.
“Wow, rude,” Edna huffed.
“Sorey, we’re going to be fighting Heldalf soon, so it’d be a good idea to do them and gets stronger,” Mikleo explained.
“Besides, when was the last time you even slept? Like, forever ago?” Zaveid needled.
Sorey couldn’t deny that he was exhausted. He reluctantly agreed. He wanted to help his friends as quickly as possible, but taking the detour into Frelia would delay their trip to Pendrago anyway. He wished he could be everywhere at once.
He called Mikleo and Edna back inside then Armatized with Zaveid. “Fylk Zahdeya,” he said, fraught with the gravity of the world yet still sinking deeper and deeper into chaos. He prepared to take flight until Sergei took hold of his wrist.
“Lord Sorey, wait a moment,” the captain beseeched. “Are you leaving so soon?”
“Yes, I have to go to Frelia,” Sorey told him.
“I see. I wanted to tell you that I’m going to head to the camp in Glaivend Basin. This war isn’t right, so I’m going to do what I can to stop it.” He paused. “Be safe.”
“Thank you, Sergei.”
Sorey gave him a tired smile. He looked unwell, stressed, like he was ready to keel over. The captain was going to ask him to spend the night in the inn at his expense, but Sorey had already flown up into the dusky sky. He made his way to to the Second Tower, leaving behind the captain that only wished he would stop to rest.
Notes:
I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm feeling just how exhausted Sorey must have been after all this.
Only one update for fanfics today since I haven't been doing well. I'm working on getting better, so apologies that it's a shorter chapter and possibly even a little more superficial.
Chapter 179: Phase 7: Frelia, the Timid
Summary:
Sorey and his seraphim make their way to the Second Tower. Despite everything that has happened thus far, Sorey refuses to rest, but at least he gets to see Frelia for another request.
Notes:
SOME PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
I really love how Sorey just doesn't know when to take a break (even in Zestiria canon). The fact that he hides just how tired he is yet worries about everyone (especially Mikleo)...he's so pure but sometimes so foolish.
Zaveid, Mikleo, and Edna's trio is also being left out because there's some color coding that I don't quite understand how to do on here.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey rode the wind over the Meadow of Triumph to the Second Tower. His mind was getting hazy from the fatigue he denied he had; Zaveid opted for an emergency landing only to be told that they could rest when they got to the capitol building in Pastalia.
When was the last time? Sorey felt it in his bones that if he didn’t stop soon, he was going to run himself into the ground. No, this wasn’t just merely exhaustion. The Towers had been fixed, the malevolence on them lower than before. But who was to say that the malevolence hadn’t just transferred to a different place? The air was thick despite being so high up. He had to wonder—was he truly tired, or was he feeling the full force of the malevolence left unchecked on the Glenwood Continent?
By the time they had reached the Second Tower, Sorey was at the end of his rope. Once he de-Armatized from Zaveid after finding a place to land in Pastalia, he keeled over. Panting heavily and looking feverish, the wind seraph and his friends worried about him.
“Sorey, you need to rest,” Mikleo told him. “What good will you do if you’re half-dead?”
“We don’t have time—” Sorey started. Before he completely collapsed, his water seraph grabbed him in his arms.
“We have time for rest!” he let out a sigh. “I know you’re worried about everyone, but we’re worried about you.”
“Meebo’s got a point for once,” Edna agreed. “We’ve been going nonstop since our journey to the First Tower.” She poked his head with her umbrella. “Your life is connected to ours, and our lives are connected to yours. Stop thinking about just yourself.”
“E-Edna, I didn’t say that!”
“But we’re all thinking it to an extent,” Zaveid supported. He placed his hands on Sorey’s back then helped him up to his feet. “Remember what Mayvin said: Your job isn’t to fix every single problem. Alisha and Rose are capable girls; you know this. Hell, both of them took care of the Towers themselves. The point is that we’re all with you. We can go talk to Frelia for you so that you can sleep.”
Sorey shook his head. As Shepherd and as one of the souls rescued from the carnage in Camlann, he wanted to see her. He wanted to thank her for being part of the reason he was still alive. He appreciated that they were trying so hard to get him to take a break, and he agreed to it only if it meant they rested at an inn for a short while.
Pastalia was far less populated than they remembered. Metafalica was hovering a way above from the lush capitol, and most of the people had moved to the floating continent. The only people still living on the Tower were those that worked to maintain it. Even if they weren’t there anymore, they needed the Tower to function so the seraphim of Metafalss could still sing. It wasn’t all bad. They checked into an inn without a problem.
Sorey kept his promise to rest, kicking off his boots and curling up on the plush mattress despite having argued against it before. In seconds, he had fallen asleep. Mikleo thought that maybe he was feigning it until he saw every muscle in his body relax and his face seemed for more peaceful than usual. He watched over him. He couldn’t understand why he was pushing himself so hard. Edna sat on the bed near his feet while Zaveid, like the father he never had, neatly set his boots against the wall.
“I shouldn’t pity him, but he’s doing so much that people don’t even recognize,” Mikleo sighed. He gently patted his head. “I can only imagine the lengths he went to save me.”
“The kid was rather mopey at first,” Zaveid told him. “I’ve never seen him so depressed.”
“But even now with Meebo back, there’s still something sad about him,” Edna observed. There was sincerity in her voice. “All that’s happened has left a mark on him. As much as I don’t care for humans, I admit I feel sorry for him.” She peered at his feet, which were so tired and worn from running and fighting for the entire journey thus far that they had been swelling for some time, and Mikleo was compelled to try and massage them to help soothe them. His clothes had been slashed and torn and bloodied that at times, she almost wanted them to take a long vacation so they could fix and clean everything. “Before we help Alisha with the tyranny in Hyland, I want to visit the Spiritcrest.”
“Oh?” Zaveid uttered playfully. His face softened. “I’d like to go, too. I never did get to see Eizen off.”
“Knowing Sorey, it’ll have to wait until after we go to Pendrago,” Mikleo reminded them.
Zaveid smiled at them. He gave a small wave to them, motioning to sing with him. He held his arms up like a conductor. Mikleo and Edna, who hadn’t sung for peace in some time, each took a breath.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
They watched him. His face softening to something more serene than anything they’d ever seen. The magic in their voices eased his heart into such a state that they, too, felt drowsy. Mikleo climbed into bed with Sorey. Edna leaned back by their feet, and while she would have preferred a better spot, she knew it was futile. Zaveid took a spot on the floor, sitting against the bedframe. Over their gentle sighs and breaths lulling themselves to sleep, the wind seraph whispered to himself:
“Dear Maotelus, please grant him some reprieve in this moment. Sorey’s suffering is so much more than what any human can handle. Please, no matter how tainted you’ve become, do not let him fall into despair.”
He allowed himself to sleep along with them.
No matter how tired Sorey was, he forced himself to wake up only about an hour so later. His seraphim instantly roused, and while displeased that he was still trying to keep moving, they held up their end of the bargain. Paying for the stay at the inn, Sorey made his way to the capitol building. As they had thought, most of the people save for those in charge of maintenance were gone. Cloche and Luca had gone with their people to Metafalica, or so they had thought.
“Lord Sorey?” Cloche uttered behind him.
“Lady Cloche,” Sorey greeted.
The Maiden of Mio slightly bowed to him, noticing discreetly that he looked exhausted. Or was he simply worried? She wished she knew, but there were more important things she wanted to ask.
“What are you doing here? Oh, unless you wanted to visit?” She didn’t see the others or Cocona. “You came by yourselves.”
“Lady Cloche, what would be the quickest way to get in contact with Lady Frelia?”
“Lady Frelia? I suppose going up to where she lives in Sol Marta. Luca helped her to fix the Tower, and since then, there hasn’t been a reason for her to come out.”
Sorey thanked her. The IPD queen was still confused. After the Shepherd left the Grand Bell Hall, she stopped the seraphim. She hadn’t formally met Mikleo, and once pleasantries were exchanged, Zaveid explained to her that they still needed Frelia’s help. They had restored all the Towers, prepared to fight Heldalf head-on, and were ready to liberate Maotelus from his influence. But in order for the plan to succeed, Tyria needed power from Frelia and Shurelia.
“I see; that explains why Cocona connected to me for power. How is she?”
“Aw man, you should have seen her!” Zaveid said like a doting father. “Her first Song was a hit!”
“I’m glad! She’s strong, and for her to execute a Song that required so much from her…” Cloche looked past them dreamily. She was always something of a little sister to her, so to hear of her exploits made her proud in Croix’s stead.
“As fun as this chat is, we should head to Sol Marta to talk to Frelia,” Edna wrangled them. “Knowing Sorey, he’s probably already tried to climb himself.”
Cloche, Zaveid, Mikleo, and Edna filed out of the palace to the courtyard. There they found Sorey. He was standing still with his hands clasped together, apparently praying. It was eerie yet comforting for some reason. Mikleo reached out to him only to be stopped by Cloche.
“Can you feel it?” she asked him.
“The sadness in his heart,” Mikleo answered her.
“You two have had a tough time. When your friends had been here to help with our crisis, he was always worried about you.”
“I know, but even while I’m by his side again…he’s preoccupied.” He clenched his fists. “I have to make sure I do everything I can to help him.”
Sorey opened his hands before turning to face his seraphim. The diamond ore that Sasha had given him glittered in rising moonlight. It was the only way to keep Tyria alive, but would it also protect the other Origins? He wasn’t sure. He only wished that he could make sure no one else had to die.
Cloche approached him just after he had put the ore away. She asked to accompany them to Frelia’s seat in the Second Tower. Luca, according to her, regularly checked in with the fairy-like Origin to ensure that there were no problems with her repairs. As such, she hadn’t seen her in a while and would have liked to meet with her.
Of course, Sorey didn’t see why she couldn’t. He called Edna and Mikleo inside, Armatized with Zaveid, and then asked if he could carry Cloche up with them to the highest point of the Tower. Nervous at first, Cloche blushed at the idea of letting someone like the Shepherd escort her. And it wasn’t just because he was a man. She knew how Zaveid could be.
“I’m offended that you’d think I pull a fast one on you!” Zaveid miffed.
“You don’t exactly have a good record,” Mikleo sighed.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let him do anything,” Sorey reassured her.
“O-Okay, but if your hands go anywhere that they aren’t supposed to, I’ll…I’ll use Replekia on you!”
Sorey promised that he would keep his lecherous wind seraph in check. He launched himself into the darkening sky with Cloche hanging onto him but his neck and shoulders. Higher and higher and higher, he held onto her until he came to a stop at the same level as Sol Marta. The sky was black and dotted with pinprick-sized lights. Metafalica was below him, thriving and greener than the Tower. Infel Phira still hovered as a satellite to Frelia. He had forgotten how lovely Metafalss and all it encompassed actually was even with centuries of decay.
They landed gently at the entrance of Sol Marta, entering all as separate entities. They had passed the Hot Spot and Tower of the Heavens. Now they were walking into the room where Frelia had slept before being kidnapped by Infel. It was humid thanks to the foliage inside. And there Luca and Frelia were, reminiscing together about the past Goddess Maidens. The Maiden of Homura had taken it upon herself to learn about the past so she could protect the Origin from being abused again.
Upon seeing them, Sorey and Cloche bowed to Frelia. Luca simply said her hellos to her friends. She gave her sister a hug then took Mikleo’s hands.
“Oh my Goddess, you’re back!” she happily told him. “Do you know how worried Sorey was about you?!”
“I-I’m well aware,” Mikleo said embarrassed.
It was as if she hadn’t spoken to anyone in forever. She fawned over him, admiring his clothes and specifically his circlet. She felt a strange connection to him, anchored by the moon that shone on the Tower.
“Maybe one day, let’s sing together,” she smiled at him.
“That would be nice.”
Mikleo was too surprised to agree to a duet, but if they could sing about the moon together as she implied, he didn’t mind.
Sorey smiled at the two of them. Then he refocused. He knelt before Frelia, his cloak spreading all around him like the ceremonious robe that it was and elevating the refined and regal atmosphere he always radiated. “Lady Frelia, I wanted to thank you,” he started. Mikleo came to his side to offer his gratitude as well. Frelia seemed shy and embarrassed that someone of their status was thanking her. “It’s thanks to you and the other Origins that we’re alive today. Thank you so much.”
“A-Ah, you don’t have to thank me,” Frelia’s tiny voice told them.
“Not only that,” Sorey continued. “We’ve just finished helping Tyria to complete the construction of her Tower. With her and Cocona’s power, we have an absolute chance of defeating Heldalf and rescuing Maotelus from the malevolence. We still need your help, though.”
Frelia stopped being so bashful. She stood before him, a knowing look on her innocent face.
“Tyria’s true power has been sealed for so long, but it’s finally time that we can utilize it,” she said. “Without the power of the First and Second Towers, the Third Tower cannot function; however, if the Third Tower is given such power and allowed to use it—”
“I was given something to prevent that outcome.” His emerald eyes stared into her citrine ones. He briefly showed her the ore. “I don’t want Tyria to die, so I think we can use it to save her.”
“Sorey…?” Mikleo uttered.
Luca and Cloche exchanged looks, and Edna and Zaveid were curious what he meant. Frelia appreciated his resolve. She admitted that she feared that they would lose a sister-figure in the process, making her a martyr for the folly of humans. She relaxed knowing that they still had a fail-safe.
“In that case, Lord Shepherd, will you allow me to sing?” she asked him. “The fail-safe that you have—the diamond ore—it’s actually a Hymn Crystal as well.”
“R-Really? But Sasha said—”
“Sasha? She went to Tilia, too?” Luca asked.
“She created it to serve two purposes,” Frelia explained. “I think you know what one of the functions are, and the second function is to be a Synchronizer among the Origins. Allow me to absorb the Song encoded for me.”
Sorey pulled the diamond ore from his pocket. Unsure of the effect, he recited, “Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_PHILHARMONICS, enter_FRELIA_ANSUL_SOL=MARTA.” He watched as Frelia glowed in a pale green light as the Song sank into the abyss of her heart. Cloche, Luca, Zaveid, Edna, and Mikleo stood back. Frelia, cupping Sorey’s face, began to sing:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Her voice was still so childish despite how matured she had seemed just a moment ago.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The other seraphim listened to Frelia’s Song with Luca being the only one to fully sympathize with the Origin. She recalled all the horrible things that had been done to her and how she had been held prisoner for centuries. Her power had been siphoned away, and as the Goddess Maiden, she vowed to help her.
Sorey remembered how she had been used in Pendrago. They had stolen her power and tried to use it for nefarious things. But even still, Frelia blamed herself. He held her hands, which were still on his face.
Den…
But…
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
As Frelia sang her happiness now that she had been rescued and the people that once dwelled on her Tower were now safe elsewhere, she was free. She had always loved humans, and she didn’t want to abandon them now. With Heldalf corrupting Maotelus, with Sorey do everything he could to save the worlds above and down below, she wanted to offer her strength.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
She finished her Song. The fear and loneliness that had been in her heart ever since had melted away to reveal the determination she had always wanted to exhibit. She secretly envied her sister Towers for the strength they had. She wanted to help them more than ever.
“This is my part for the Song in that ore,” Frelia reiterated. She removed her hands from him. “I shall wait here and prepare. Please, no matter what, make sure that Lady Shurelia and Lady Tyria hear it.”
“I promise, I will,” Sorey vowed.
“I’m glad. Even if they haven’t sorted out their differences, I want them to be happy together again.”
The Shepherd wasn’t quite sure what to think about that. He had never known the Origins to be at odds with each other, but he assumed it was because he had yet to see them interact.
“Lady Frelia, how can we help?” Luca asked her.
“There isn’t much you can do other than one thing. Please, Lady Luca and Lady Cloche, after we finish this, make sure that your people are happy.”
Notes:
So, it's really interesting. Frelia's voice is the same as Nanako from Persona 4, yet her range in her canon Songs is AMAZING. I can't say how I imagine this Song I wrote for her, but I want to say it's more of her childish voice.
Chapter 180: Phase 7: Connecting to the Tower ~Zaveid~
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 9: Zaveid
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Chapter Text
Sorey and his seraphim excused themselves from Frelia, Cloche, and Luca’s presence. They had helped Sergei, who was in the middle of the unrest in Lastonbell, as well as received piece of a Song that of which they didn’t know they had the crystal in their possession. It was time for them to make their way to Pendrago to find Rose.
Using the Wind Armatus to fly once again, they soared through the night sky. The malevolence coming from the city made Sorey queasy, bringing him to land before the city gates. When Zaveid, after de-Armatizing, touched the door to enter, he found that his hand was burned. Something had barred them from setting foot inside.
“Shit,” Zaveid cursed.
“Are you okay?” Sorey asked him.
“Yeah, but someone’s put a barrier on the city.” He looked closely at it. “It figures.”
“What is it?” Mikleo questioned next.
“Spit it out,” Edna ordered.
“Relax! Our favorite little magician locked this place with a key. It can only be unlocked by another IPD, and—as convenient as it seems—one that can tap into the Tower’s power to execute the Hymmnos.”
Sorey crossed his arms. How did Symonne know? Or did she just assume that Zaveid hadn’t connected yet? He knew that she was watching them. She always was.
“Gee, I wonder what could fix this problem,” Zaveid hinted. “Almost seems like…we could Dive into this head-first…”
Sorey smiled determinedly for the first time in a while. “I guess, this is the only thing we can do.”
“Finally! Come on, Sheps! Let’s finish this!”
Edna let out an aggravated sigh because she was positively annoyed with Zaveid’s sudden bravado. She stepped to one of the trees lining the path up to Pendrago. Taking a seat, she pulled from the void within her umbrella a mug filled with hot cocoa. Mikleo wasn’t as irritated as she was. He was going to watch over them as they Dived.
“Let’s get started,” Sorey told his wind seraph. Arms stretched out to him, he called his name: “Fylk Zahdeya!”
“Sorey! Congrats!” Zaveid welcomed his Shepherd.
The brunet stared at the naked wind seraph. He looked happy and healthy, all the anxieties that had plagued him in the previous levels having been washed away. Somehow, he just knew. He had reached the end of his cosmosphere.
“‘Congrats’? For what?” he asked.
“This is it—the final level that your human soul can reach. Are you ready to see the finale?”
“Wait!” Sorey caught him before his wind seraph threw his body at him. “What do you mean the final level?” His gut had been right. “Does this mean…after this…”
“After this, you won’t be able to Dive any further unless you have a death wish or Akane’s fancy-pants Dive machine.” He rested his hands on his shoulders. “But no matter what, I’m eternally grateful to you. Ah, let’s save all the mushy crap for later!”
Zaveid took Sorey’s hand and made him touch his chest one last time.
Sorey found himself in a dimly lit world. It was as if it were just before dawn, a swirling mass of stars piercing through the hazy gases of deep space. He had never felt so calm. He noticed that his clothes had changed as well. He was dressed rather formally in a white suit with a seven-colored paisley tie.
He looked around him; the trees and bushes were low so that they didn’t obscure the sky. Was this the scenery that Zaveid loved most? The stars were so clear, and then he realized that he wasn’t anywhere he recognized. In the distance, he saw a Tower that looked more like a giant monolith than a Tower.
“Sorey!” Zaveid called out to him. He was wearing a tuxedo, and next to him stood Theodora and the little boy Silva that Zaveid had once rescued. “I’m so glad you could make it!”
“What’s going on? Oh, I’m Sorey,” he introduced.
“We know; Zaveid told us all about you,” Theodora smiled at him. “He’s told us so many wonderful things, and I’m forever in your debt for what you’ve done for us.”
“Uncle Sorey is so nice to Zaveid,” Silva agreed.
“Hey now,” Zaveid laughed.
He looked so genuinely happy that the Shepherd’s heart calmed from all the hardship and tragedy that had seized it. He was there to witness the reunion between Zaveid and Theodora, a renewal of vows of sorts. In the vast openness of this place long before the Age of Chaos, under the glowing night sky, a wedding was taking place.
Before Theodora and Zaveid joined each other again in the mandap where copies of all their friends, some known and others not, the wind seraph took Sorey’s hand. He led him into a field of tall grasses swaying gently in the crisp breeze.
“Sorey,” he started. Zaveid turned to look at him. “Thank you for everything. Without you, I wouldn’t have overcome my fears. My past would have eventually eaten me up. After what had happened to Theodora and Silva and all the friends I had before I met you, I was content with travelling by myself. It may not be real, but I’m finally getting a chance at the peace of having the family I wanted. I have so much love and respect for you, Lord Shepherd,” he knelt before him. “So much that I’m actually a little jealous that your heart has already been taken by another. But once Theodora and I renew our vows, come with me to the Tower. Connect with me.”
Sorey gently pulled Zaveid to his feet. He loved him like a father and older brother at the same time, and he was so happy—happier than he had been in a while—to see that he had helped him.
“Of course, I’ll join you at the Tower,” Sorey tearfully told him.
The two returned to the mandap, and it was then that Sorey noticed the flowers that decorated it. Peonies and pink thistles—happy marriage and endurance. White orchids for strength. Sorey remembered that from Mikleo’s floral studies from when they were younger. He took a seat among other friends with Silva leaning against him. The vow renewal was underway, the stars and moon casting a spotlight on them. The Normin Gaizer officiated the wedding.
“Zaveid, I’ve always loved you from the bottom of my heart,” Theodora lovingly spoke. She wore a shiromuku, which was an interesting choice give everyone else was dressed in tuxedos. “I always knew you were the one for me, and even if seraphim don’t…love or get married or do things like humans do, you let me feel that. I know the years without me by your side after witnessing that awful event have been far crueler than I can begin to imagine, and this isn’t reality. But it doesn’t matter—shouldn’t matter—because here in this world, we are one. I have waited so long for this moment, Zaveid.”
“Me, too, Theodora!” Zaveid cracked. “I don’t go a day without thinking about you. I’ve become a flirtatious skirt-chaser, but your death haunted me for a thousand years. You were taken from my arms, and I never had the courage to face it. But here you are in my heart, and Silva is here, too! You always wanted children, so now we have that second chance.” He lifted her face. “I love you, now and forever, Theo.”
The two wind seraphim kissed to consummate their vows, and Theodora threw her arms around his neck. His muscular arms wrapped tightly around her, and they twirled and twirled in joy. The audience to the reunion erupted in a thunderous applause. Sorey’s heart skipped a beat. Tears were falling from his eyes as well.
The ceremony concluded with the reception, from which Zaveid excused himself along with Gaizer. His heart had settled and was devoid of the hurt that had poisoned it. Telling Theodora and Silva that he would be back soon, he escorted Sorey to the Tower of Life at the edge of his soul space.
Being the first of his three seraphim to be eligible to connect to Infel Phira, there was a sudden apprehension. What would happen if he connected?
“Okay, here we are,” Zaveid said. “I’ve never actually done this before, but let’s go.” He brought Sorey to the face of it as per Gaizer’s instruction. “Sorey, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Zaveid,” Sorey graciously said. “I’m so happy for you!”
“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? To think…this is what freedom really felt like. Even though I’m still technically your slave.”
“S-Slave?! Z-Zaveid!”
“Ha-ha, getting flustered? Okay, I’m going to connect. When I do, I’ll be able to use my strongest Song and Artes. Just be here for me.”
“I will be.”
Zaveid took a deep breath as he faced the Tower of Life. He placed his hand on it. A rush of wind pushed through him, and he felt power surge through him. He felt himself reach into the depths of Infel Phira, connecting like the other IPDs. They were all separated consciousnesses, yet he felt them. He felt Cloche and Dezel and Cocona. And the warmth that came from so many hearts slowly faded away.
“It’s done!” Zaveid said with a triumphant grin. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Sorey. I’m way stronger than ever before, so whatever Heldalf or Symonne or anyone tries to throw at us, I will protect you.”
“I believe in you, Zaveid,” Sorey told him. His face reflected the determination he had had at the beginning but lost through all the obstacles. Seeing him with this new power, he was more confident.
“Alright, see you when we wake up.”
“See you.”
Sorey and Zaveid were de-Armatized. Mikleo and Edna had been watching them, and they saw the moment that the connection had been made. They had glowed brilliantly.
No words had to be spoken; or rather, they didn’t have time to speak.
“Alright, up and at ‘em! We’ve got an assassin to help out!” Zaveid rallied.
“Right!” Sorey joined him. He glared at the gates leading into Pendrago. Whatever had happened to Rose’s friends, he was prepared to help as much as he could.
Notes:
Very short chapter this time, but we needed this closure for Zaveid. That only leaves Edna and Mikleo~
Chapter 181: Phase 7: The End of the Scattered Bones
Summary:
With Zaveid connected to the Tower and fully Dived, Sorey and his seraphim rush to Rose's aid.
Notes:
I feel like this chapter is a little more disorganized than I had initially thought, but I think I also wrote this during class.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Before Sorey and his seraphim had arrived at Pendrago later that night, Rose and Dezel had infiltrated just as a crowd formed around a piece of parchment that had been crudely stabbed into the wall of a building. They pushed their way through to it, and they recognize the handwriting as Lunarre’s. Despite being so willful and determined, for once, Rose noticed uneasiness cropping up in the core of her body.
“It figures he’s trying to start some shit again,” Dezel growled. He asked Rose to read the page.
“‘Which one will last longer: your avoidance of me, Lunarre, or the coffers of the nobility? Scattered Bones—Boss’. What the hell is he trying to do?” she muttered. She pulled the note down before urging the crowd to disperse. When the people had left in confusion and distrust of the assassin, she pulled Dezel to a secluded corner near the entrance to the city.
She couldn’t begin to figure out what it was that the note was talking about. Rose just knew that she was being set up. Her seraph agreed, but what was the point? It had to be another trap. The people were muttering and discussing the note all around her, and it came to light that it was the fifth note left behind by this strange Robinhood character.
“What do you think we should do, Dezel?” she asked.
“We’d better wait until nightfall,” he suggested. “If we can catch him in the act, then we can lay this to rest.” He noticed a change in Rose’s presence. “Don’t worry, Rose. Lunarre will tell us where he took Eguille and the others.”
“I just hope we’re not too late.”
That same night, Sorey and his seraphim caught wind of the string of robberies from the last citizens that were heading to bed. Naturally, the Shepherd felt anxious. Even his seraphim felt something was wrong; Mikleo couldn’t help but fear for Rose and Dezel’s safety.
Since it was a string of robberies on the rich, they figured it would be wise to head to the Nobles’ District. Sorey quietly walked. Nighttime in Pendrago was so silent and still that he was sure even footsteps would sound like thunder. If anyone heard him or his seraphim, it would put the mission at risk.
“Wait,” Zaveid whispered. “Something’s wrong…I can feel it.”
“Leave it to our disaster radar,” Edna sighed.
Zaveid beckoned them to a shuttered window. The three others stepped carefully through the low-cut grass, flanking either side of it. Sorey pressed his ear against the shutters as carefully as he could. Inside, he heard three voices—two nobles and one that sounded like Lunarre.
“Here’s your payment: one seraph,” one noble said. There was some muffled panicking followed by slurping sounds. A quick spray of blood colored the window within the shutters much to Sorey’s horror. “Now, that’s all we can give you until the deed is done.”
“What the hell are you talking about?! I gave you the tip!” Lunarre snarled.
“Yes, and you’ve also cost us our entire fortune!” the other noble hissed. “Thirty guards injured or killed, and I don’t even want to discuss how many millions we’ve lost on damaged property! Not to mention, the poor are taking the money you’re throwing at them! This whole plan is going to break our banks even if we successfully remove anyone out of our way!”
“But it worked to attract her! That wench wouldn’t abandon her friends, and spinning this whole tale to lure her here will work. So what if a few innocents get lost in the process, it will work!”
Mikleo gave a puzzled look. Eguille, Rosh, and Ayn Felice had been captured. Robbing the rich and framing the boss of the Scattered Bones seemed too elaborate. It was Rose he was trying to catch, though. She wouldn’t be vengeful enough to deliberately attack civilians. And Dezel was still alive; he would ensure that she was out of harm’s way.
“You have tonight to bring her to us,” the first noble said. “And we can’t keep catching seraphim to feed you. Either you bring the bitch to us tonight, or we’re executing you along with who we have of the Scattered Bones.”
Lunarre was going to protest only to hold his tongue. He gave his word that he would not fail. They heard him walk to the front door, and Mikleo immediately used his Spectral Cloak to hide them. When the fox-faced hellion stepped out into the moonlight, Sorey saw the blood of the seraph he had devoured dripping from his chin. He turned slightly in their direction then sprinted off to the events stage near the shrinechurch.
Mikleo diffused his veil of water. “Even after freeing the seraphim, they’re still abusing them,” he said with anger.
“It sucks, but I think we need to go find Rose ASAP,” Edna said.
“Especially if Lunarre is eating seraphim,” Sorey added. “I’m worried for both Dezel and Rose. Dammit, I thought that the seraphim were safe!”
“Then less talk, more walk,” Zaveid urged.
Sorey called his seraphim inside then made his way to where Lunarre had gone only to be stopped shortly by a pair of hellionized guards that were patrolling the streets. He drew his sword; Edna emerged from him with her umbrella opened and ready to fight. She encased the hellions in ice, effectively stopping them from causing a ruckus for the Shepherd.
“Edna?” Sorey gasped.
“We don’t have time for this,” she said. “Go on ahead without me. I’ll take care of the hellions here.”
Sorey gave a sharp nod. He wished her luck even though she didn’t need it. Leaving her behind, he continued his chase. Edna focused on the hellions before her. They were weak, just the way she liked it. There was someone else around, though. And she knew who it was. She defeated the hellions with a quick cast of her Rock Lance spell. The tittering giggle of Symonne echoed behind her.
“Oh my,” the dark seraph taunted. “Considering all that the Shepherd has gone through, I’m surprised that he would just leave behind a friend.”
“You do know that your stupid taunts don’t work on me, right?” Edna retorted.
“Maybe not, but I’d like to ask a question from one seraph to another.”
Symonne waved her hand, two cups of tea appearing in front of her and the earth seraph. Edna took it out of courtesy despite how unladylike her enemy was. She agreed to entertain her.
“Why does he continue to try so hard?” Symonne asked as she sipped her drink.
“Why?” Edna repeated.
“His heart is severely muddled by now. The despair of losing friends, regaining them only to find that they’re no longer the same. He’s hiding something from all of you, yet you all act as if nothing is wrong. Why is that?”
Edna threw her cup down. “His heart isn’t tainted,” she sternly said. “Sorey is stronger than he seems. The fact that he hasn’t given up yet is evidence of that.”
Symonne giggled again. “For a seraph that hates humans, you have so much faith in him. Let’s see how long that lasts.”
The creepy little girl vanished into the night, making Edna wonder why she showed herself in the first place. Was she planning on instigating an outbreak again? But how could she when Dezel had made peace with himself? What was she planning on doing to Sorey?
The Shepherd and his two remaining seraphim came to the stairs leading down to the the stage. Zaveid and Mikleo came out, and the three of them saw from their perch a horrific scene. Eguille, Ayn Felice, and Rosh were battered and beaten and suspended in the air by ropes. They looked like they were close to death; it was even a relief to find them tied around their torsos and not around their necks. That wasn’t all. Rose had changed into her Scattered Bones uniform to hide under the cover of night; Dezel stood behind her with his pendulums ready to tie Lunarre up. His face had been scratched, and it appeared that the three had just gotten out of a skirmish.
“We finally meet again, Lunarre,” Rose said.
“Yes…just like you wanted, right? After all those notes you left around town?” Lunarre lied.
“Would be funny if that were true, you scheming rat,” Dezel growled.
“I see your guard dog grew back some teeth. Oh, but don’t you look so tired! Playing the role of an actual goody-two-shoes must be so cumbersome for you two.”
Rose couldn’t deny that she was exhausted, but she didn’t want anyone to see it. Dezel was well-aware of it even though he respected her wishes not to tell.
Lunarre smirked before speeding towards them with his malevolent blue-hot fire in hand. The blind wind seraph blocked him, which allowed Lunarre to sink his teeth into his arm while he shot the fireball at the assassin. He tied his arm down, but it was too late; the fox-faced hellion bit down harder and harder so it felt like he would snap right through Dezel’s arm.
“Look out!” Mikleo shouted. He doused the fireball with a quick splash of water just before it could collide with the red-haired assassin.
“Sorey?” Rose gasped. “What about Sergei?”
“Already taken care of,” Sorey told her. “We’ll take of this guy.”
Dezel kicked Lunarre off then rejoined Rose’s side. His arm was torn to shreds; however, just like Rose, he was glad they had arrived. He Armatized with Rose, and the two made their way up to the giant wall to save their family.
“How annoying,” Lunarre spat. “It’s fine, I can just eat your two seraphim then!”
As he sped towards them on the perch, a boulder punched him out of the air and to the ground. Edna gently floated down with her umbrella. She didn’t greet her comrades, suspicious of Sorey after her meeting with Symonne. Still, she had to defend him.
Sorey called on Mikleo to Armatize while Zaveid and Edna went on the offense to keep their opponent from trying to go after Rose. The Shepherd and his water seraph shot watery arrow after watery arrow behind separating so Edna could Armatize next. Together, they barred the way to Rose with towers made of crystal.
Meanwhile, Rose and Dezel landed up on the wall. They pulled Ayn Felice up first, cutting her free and healing her as best and as quickly as they could. Using Song Magic hurt Dezel, but it was a pain he was willing to endure to make sure they made it.
“I’ve got you, Felice,” Rose comforted her.
“Thank you, Boss…how is my brother?” Ayn Felice asked.
“He’s alright; don’t worry.”
Next, they helped Rosh. He wasn’t as bad in shape as the twin, but still Dezel exerted his energy to heal him. “fYEwArN Aarhou ag yYayYA/.” he panted. Even though Rosh saw how tired he was and asked him not to sing for him despite the healing properties of his Song being better than that of his Seraphic Artes, he refused to stop. “You’re important to Rose, so I have to do all I can.”
“Thank you, Dezel,” Rosh had no choice but to say.
When Rosh was healed and brought up to rest, Rose carefully went to Eguille’s aid. He was bleeding far more than the other two. He begged Dezel not to push himself so hard. But he was the closest one to Rose in their ragtag family. He sang the Song Magic again, with greater difficulty this time, until he couldn’t handle the agony anymore. Rose told him to stop.
“But Rose…!” Dezel uttered.
“You’ve done enough, so please just rest,” she bargained with him. “Once everyone here is safe, we need to help Sorey. Save your strength.”
Sorey was now Armatized with Zaveid, darting around the battlefield to knock Lunarre off-balance. The hellion was tricky; he bounced around, shooting fireballs and biting Sorey when he could. The cloth of the Armatus protected him from the bites, but the pressure that they inflicted paralyzed him. He switched his arsenal again back to Mikleo, maintaining a safe distance from him to nurse his injury.
Like lightning, Rose threw a dagger into Lunarre’s leg. Armatized with Dezel, she joined the fray. “I can’t let you all take care of this for me,” she said. “Lunarre is a part of my family. I will be the one to deal with him.”
“Cut the shit!” Lunarre roared. “Family?! How long are you going to keep spouting the same shit over and over again?!”
Rose was prepared to make it a one-on-one fight until Sorey held her back. Neither one of them could fight him alone, not when he had gotten stronger and his malevolence had intensified over the last time they had encountered him. And when he touched her, there was a jolt. Something was different now.
“We’re in range of Frelia’s Tower,” Sorey remembered.
“So?” Rose replied.
“IPDs and regular seraphim both use this Tower,” Dezel continued. “Do you remember the power that Lady Cloche and Lady Luca used? Synchronity Chain?”
“Do you think we could use that to fight him off one and for all?” Sorey asked.
“It’s worth a shot,” Mikleo said despite not knowing what they were talking about. His studies in the Celestial Record hadn’t covered that topic, but he trusted Sorey and Rose to do what was best for the situation at hand.
“But Dezel—you can’t sing!” Rose hesitantly said.
“Just shut up and let me do it!” Dezel bit back.
Lunarre hated them. He lunged at them as the two began to glow together before Zaveid and Edna. They let their seraphim’s powers resonate in their hearts. And once they were synchronized using Ar Tonelico, Sol Marta, and Infel Phira; they knew that they could finish Lunarre off with a single attack now.
“Something’s different…!” Sorey panted.
“What is this power?” Rose fearfully questioned.
Mikleo and Dezel couldn’t answer as they focused on resonating with each other. And when they were synchronized, they began to sing Song Magic together. The toll it took on the wind seraph wasn’t as bad as when he sang alone to even do the most basic of functions. Zaveid and Edna watched them, too, amazed and mesmerized by the bright light that engulfed them.
“Melody of water,” Mikleo said through Sorey, who had implicitly lost consciousness.
“Protection of wind,” Dezel said through Rose.
Together, they called out:
“Combine into one flow! Synchronity Chain!”
Mikleo and Dezel controlled their vessels to use two attacks in tandem—first Stratashield and then Maelstrom. Lunarre might have been stricken with fear at first, but he refused to go down even with the growing ball of sheer power over them. He dashed up to Rose, his hands pointed and sharp to pierce her chest.
“Die!” he screamed. Fire ignited on his hands as he attempted to strike her with his Mystic Arte Sunburst Flare.
But he was too late. The Shepherd and Squire, under control of their seraphim, pushed him back with an explosion of force. He was sent flying, tumbling and rolling all the way to the wall. The attack was so strong that they had to de-Armatize, and when they were separated from their humans, Sorey and Rose collapsed.
Zaveid and Edna were stunned by the sheer power that could have killed them if they weren’t careful. But the lecture could wait. Edna quickly woke them back up with a Song of healing:
Alroen oz dauan
Sol sheak an fusya dea fwal fwal
Rrha ki ra valwa hymmne ween corle hers
En utabi na uteu
At once, Sorey and Rose were rejuvenated. “Purify him!” Zaveid commanded without a second to spare.
Sorey hastily ran up to Lunarre, summoning the purifying fire embedded in his soul. With a slash, the fire caught onto the hellion only to vanish in the vapors of the malevolence coming from his being.
“I…I can’t purify him?!” he uttered in disbelief.
“What’s…wrong…Shepherd…? Just now realizing how futile all this is?” Lunarre coughed.
“It’s okay,” Rose sighed, the wind returning to her. “He’s mine to deal with.” And with that, she charged to him. With a dagger, she pierced his heart. “It’s over. May these weary bones find peaceful rest.”
“Oh, fuck you…” Lunarre wheezed. “I spit on your…’peaceful rest’…! I…refuse to die…not to some…glorified street thug and her fake family!”
“So what if that’s all we are?”
“That’s…my point!”
Rose knew Lunarre wouldn’t go down without a fight. As the sun rose and marked the coming of dawn, she leapt back from him as he unleashed a pillar of his blue flames. It was so bright and so hot, and once they died down, the exiled fox-faced hellion was gone.
“Did he die?” Eguille asked as Zaveid and Dezel helped the Scattered Bones down to the ground.
“I don’t sense his presence on the wind,” Zaveid said.
“Neither do I, but somehow I feel like he’s just barely alive,” Dezel concurred. “With a wound like that, he shouldn’t be able to survive.”
“Let’s hope so,” Rosh said.
Sorey clenched his fists. He couldn’t purify Lunarre just like he couldn’t purify Forton. Was it all really futile? No, he couldn’t doubt himself. As much as he hated that he still wasn’t strong enough to save the world from the Lord of Calamity, he had to keep moving and make sure no one else had to suffer.
“Boss, that power you used was amazing!” Ayn Felice smiled. “When did you learn it?”
“What power?” Rose asked.
“Huh? The one where you and your friend did that giant storm!”
Rose tilted her head; she had no recollection of it, which was probably for the better. Dezel, hiding his exhaustion and pain from using a Synchronity Chain with Sorey and Mikleo, preferred if she didn’t remember so she wouldn’t worry about him.
Sorey turned to the exit of the event grounds. “We need to help Alisha,” Edna said. “Are you ready? She’s painfully sincere, so I can only imagine what kind of bullshit she’ll get sucked into.”
“Yeah,” he replied absentmindedly. “Rose—”
“Go on without me,” Rose requested. “I’m going to escort these guys to Tintagel Ruins. Get to Alisha, got it?”
Sorey understood her request. Armatizing with Zaveid, he and his seraphim took to the skies. Then Mikleo and Edna asked for a favor. Edna wanted to go to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest. Mikleo wanted to return to the ruins of Elysia.
“I have something to do there,” they both had said as Sorey flew.
Whatever it was, it sounded like it couldn’t wait. As much as he wanted to help Alisha, he obeyed their wishes. Changing course for the mountain where they had found Edna, he wondered what it was that she needed on her mountain.
Notes:
While I understand and appreciate Dezel's sacrifice, I REALLY wanted to imagine what it would be like to have him in the Lunarre fight. Not a super big fight, but the worst is yet to come.
Chapter 182: Phase 7: Connecting to the Tower ~Edna~
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 9: Edna
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
This is the last time we can see Edna's true feelings! Man, we've really come such a long way...huh...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rayfalke Spiritcrest hadn’t changed much since their first meeting with Edna and her dragon brother Eizen. Hellions still dwelled on it, and while there were less of them now, they had gotten stronger. Eizen’s domain had been destroyed, so what could have been fueling them? Sorey could only think that it was the malevolence drifting from Ladylake with its infernal experiments, something that neither him nor anyone else wanted to remember now.
Edna pointed her umbrella to the very top of the mountain. At the summit, she used to care for Eizen as best as she could. “I want to go there,” she stated. “It’s important that we make it to the summit before we Dive.”
Zaveid knew why. He hadn’t seen Eizen in so long, his absence slowly making it clear what had transpired on the mountain. He hated that he wasn’t there to help them. Edna didn’t want his pity. When she saw Eizen die before her, it invoked in her a rage for humans. It pushed her to leave her mountain. And in leaving…
The seraphim walked beside Sorey as they climbed up to the mountain’s summit. Hellions attacked them like the ravenous monsters that they were. Mikleo shot his frozen spears at them while Zaveid pierced them with his chains rising from the earth. Edna crushed them with her Air Pressure spell. Sorey slashed away the hellions in front of them, and despite the fact he wasn’t as tired as he had been due to the remote location, the thin air of the mountain was getting to him.
“Yo, Sheps, need a break?” Zaveid asked him.
“No, I can keep going,” Sorey assured him. “It’s been so long since we’ve been on this mountain that I think I’ve lost my tolerance for the conditions here.”
“And yet, we’ve been to higher places—each of the Towers, and especially Frelia,” Mikleo added. “We’re pressed for time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stop to catch your breath.”
“Meebo’s right for a change,” Edna reluctantly said. “You’ve been working incredibly hard. Too hard, if I’m honest.”
Sorey still refused to take a break. There just wasn’t time for it. He was aware of the stress he was putting on his body, and having three seraphim bound to his soul made it harder. He had been used and abused. He had been weathered by all the events up to now. Even still, he didn’t want to stop. Mikleo was back with them. Edna and Zaveid believed in him. Rose and Alisha needed his help as they settled their own disputes. If he stopped for even just a second now, how far would they fall behind?
He led his seraphim further up. Climbing higher and higher, they reached where Eizen had perished. They had come to the summit of Rayfalke Spiritcrest. Eizen’s remains had degraded over time, but they were still there in plain sight. They were sure that his body would have been reduced completely to dust by now and had to be somewhat surprised that it hadn’t. Sorey, Mikleo, and Zaveid glanced at Edna, who made her way to Eizen’s corpse.
“You’re so stupid, Eizen,” she whispered. “You could have just left. But I guess even the malevolence doesn’t erode everything.”
She let out a trembling sigh. Opening her mouth, clapsing her hands over her chest, she sang a short tune for her late brother:
Ma ki wa ates cest
Ma ki wa chs hymmnos yor
Corpu chsee ar dor
An accrroad frawr oz fedyya
Edna’s form glowed slightly. The massive skeleton turned first into clay before their eyes. Tiny red flowers—Edna’s namesake—bloomed from them. As their roots peeked through the sediment, Eizen crumbled away. The dust was swept away on the wind, and Zaveid bit his lip.
“He was so special to me, you know?” she solemnly said. “Seraphim aren’t born as siblings like humans, but we share the same type of bonds. We happened to come from the same earthpulse point. We lived on the same mountain. Eizen treated me like his little sister, and he was my older brother.”
Zaveid clenched his fist. “He was a good man even with all the stuff he did,” he said.
Sorey knelt behind Edna, Mikleo following suit. He apologized for being the reason he was killed. Edna, however, wasn’t angry or sad. She returned before him. With her delicate hands, she lifted his face.
“I don’t want you to apologize for something that was inevitable,” she said. “Thanks to you, I was able to leave here. We’re in the midst of avenging him.” She asked him to stand up. “Sorey, I want you to Dive into me. Complete the final level of my cosmosphere and unlock the power I want to show all the Lords of Calamities of the past, present, and future pay for the immeasurable suffering they’ve caused.”
Sorey’s emerald eyes widened. The determination in Edna’s eyes was different. She wasn’t fueled by hatred or rage. She wanted to make her brother proud. As her Shepherd, he was more than happy to oblige.
“Are you ready?” he asked her. Edna didn’t indicate it, the power within her heart throbbing in his heart just as his. “Hephsin Yulind!”
Sorey opened his eyes in the shared soulspace where he found Edna. She still held that same look.
“Congrats, Sorey,” she said after dropping her stone-cold stoic air. “You’ve reached the final level. After this, you won’t be able to Dive any further. It really doesn’t matter, though.”
“Why do you say that?” Sorey asked her.
“We both know that you love someone else, and that’s okay.” She turned from him. “I never had romantic feelings for you, but you’ve shown me that the love you have for seraphim is warm and strong. I’m honored I got to experience it even with all the things that have happened. Let’s finish this, got it?”
Sorey steeled himself. He remembered what Zaveid’s final level had been like, and he wondered what Edna’s would hold. For the last time, he touched her in the center of her chest and opened up the deepest tier within her soul.
When Sorey recognized that he was in Edna’s world, he was mesmerized by the sheer beauty. The damage that had been done was gone, as if nothing had every happened. Flowers bloomed all around from wildflowers to ednae to some he had never seen before. The aromas coming from them wrapped him in a tight embrace as if to greet him for the last time.
Phoenix was nowhere around to meet him, leaving him to wander aimlessly around the world. He headed to each landmark—the Spiritcrest, the forest at the bottom of it, the old shed. Everywhere he went, he was greeted by previous personalities and Edna’s imaginings of her friends. They all lived in peace.
Sorey found the Edna he had come to know and respect among them. Approaching her, he sheepishly gave her a salutation.
“We don’t have time for this,” she huffed. “It’s about time you got here. Honestly, wasting a lady’s time—how unforgivable.”
“W-What? Did something happen?” Sorey asked her.
“We’re missing two Normin! How can we throw a party without them?” She pouted. “Phoenix and Farrest aren’t here, and today is a special day.” She pointed her umbrella at his face. “Go find them.”
“You’re not coming with?”
“I have to get ready for the party. I have to use that silly baker’s kitchen as well. Anyway, I have things to do, so just go find them.”
Edna left with her baker personality, and Sorey was on his own to find the last two Normin dwelling within her. Everyone was just as busy preparing for whatever party was supposed to be happening. So, he left them.
He checked the summit of the Spiritcrest, but no one was there. He checked the old shed. Still no one. He checked every place he could, backtracking at some point and re-checking them. Upon his third time, he found Farrest at the summit. The Normin agreed to join him on his search for Phoenix. Finally, in a field of the red, pink, and yellow ednae, he found Phoenix.
“There you are!” Sorey called out to it.
“Shepherd,” Phoenix greeted. “You managed to brave Edna’s soul to the final level.”
“Yeah. What are you doing out here?”
The golden Normin stared out at the flowers. “I’m waiting for the guest of honor.”
Sorey and Farrest were curious about what he had meant. Phoenix simply told them to wait. Sorey watched and waited. The sun shined from above over the field, the rays painting around him a scene that reminded him of Elysia. The tranquility in this field must had been a long-forgotten memory to Edna, back during the days when the light breeze brought her comfort. On the wind, a confluence of petals swirled. More and more petals gathered and merged. The Shepherd remembered the verse she had sung before the Dive.
Ma ki wa ates cest
Ma ki wa chs hymmnos yor
Corpu chsee ar dor
An accroad frawr oz fedyya
“Do you know what it was?” Phoenix asked.
Sorey used what he had learned about Hymmnos to decode Edna’s verse. “‘I understand the truth and accept it. The body turns to dust while flowers of the future bloom’. Did she…?”
“She did.”
The storm of flowers dispersed, in the middle of them revealing Eizen dressed in white. He slowly opened his eyes. Even though he was still the fearsome draconic brother he had gotten to know through Edna’s memories, Sorey wasn’t scared of him. In fact, he felt as if Edna’s emotions and love for him were bleeding into him. He was happy to see him.
“Sorey,” he said. “I take it Edna’s all better?” He towered over him.
“Yes, sir,” Sorey politely replied. “Um, if you’re here, does that mean she’ll be okay?”
Eizen glanced around the world that had bloomed in Edna’s heart. He smiled; how he had missed the days when his mountain was covered in grass and light. He believed that the only reason that he was back in her memory as he used to be was evidence that her heart had healed.
“I don’t have to worry about her anymore,” he said. “Thank you for all that you’ve done.”
Sorey blushed. “D-Don’t thank me! I’m just doing my job as the Shepherd!”
“Right, of course.”
The four of them returned to foot of the Spiritcrest where Edna stood with a tray of palmiers. She wore an elegant golden dress with black gloves. Her hair had been pinned up, and for once, Sorey awestruck by how pretty she looked. Then he noticed that he was wearing the same tuxedo he had worn to Zaveid’s wedding renewal.
“Let’s get this party started” the Normin from throughout the soulspace celebrated. “Let’s all get something to eat before the main event!”
Just like that, every inhabitant of the cosmosphere rushed to get cake and cookies and drinks. They mingled with one another until Phoenix stood before the entire crowd tinking a glass to get their attention.
“We’re here today to welcome home Eizen and to congratulate Edna for persevering through the trials of her heart!” he announced. “While Edna has learned to come to terms with all that has happened, we couldn’t have done it without the Lord Shepherd himself, Sorey! And it is on this fine day that we ask he bear witness to the reunion of the earthy siblings.”
Eizen and Edna looked at each other then at Sorey. They gently nodded to him before taking a step toward each other. It had been a long and arduous journey, one that had tested Edna’s patience to no end. But now, after the centuries of watching her brother slowly lose himself to the malevolence that consumed him, after all the battles and hardships that she and her friends had faced, they saw each other again.
Eizen knelt with his arms wide open. Unable to hold herself back, Edna ran to him. Her thin arms wrapped around his neck tightly. Tears flowed from her eyes as she wailed.
“Eizen! Eizen, I’ve wanted to see you again for so long!” she sobbed. “All the times I thought it was you…I was losing hope! I was falling apart, lonely because you were taken from me! Is this really you? It has to be, right? I’ve worked so hard so I could see you again, so we could live together and play again! Do you know how lonely I’ve been? Even my time spent with Sorey, nothing ever equaled what it was like being with you!”
“I know, kiddo,” Eizen teared up. He hugged his sister as tight as he could. “I’m sorry for leaving you all these years. And then…and then what happened. But I’m back now. I’m here to stay with you in your heart. That Song you sang on the Spiritcrest? You brought me home. Our bodies made fade with time, but I’ll be here with you forever. I’ll protect your heart no matter what from this point on.”
Sorey felt a lump in his throat as he watched the reunion. It was the most genuine love and happiness that Edna had ever expressed. He felt her gratitude in the warmth of the sun.
Once the reunion was finished and the party-goers had dispersed and Eizen had returned to the summit, Phoenix and Edna approached him. It was time to go to the Tower of Life at the edge of the soulspace. Edna was going to connect to Ar Tonelico.
Phoenix stood between them and the Tower. “Sorey, have you done this before? When a seraph connects to the Tower through this structure, all restraints on their power are taken off,” it explained at the foot of the Tower of Life. “Ar Tonelico supplies a great deal of strength.”
Sorey stared up the Tower, amazed by its grandeur and what it would mean for Edna to connect to Ar Tonelico. “With this, Edna’s Song Magic will become the strongest it will ever be?”
“As well as granted me a new power,” Edna added. She turned to Sorey. “I don’t usually do this, but…thank you, Sorey.”
“Huh?”
“It’s thanks to you that I grew up—to put it bluntly. Had I stayed on the mountain, I wouldn’t have lasted. It was hard learning to trust you and humans after what happened to Eizen, but I’m glad I got to go on this journey with you. I got to travel the world and see places I’d only ever read of in books. I…made friends with everyone we’ve met. I don’t show it, but I’m really glad to have met you Sorey. Whenever you were sad, I felt sad with you. The kindness that you’ve shown me through all the stages of my heart—I’ll never forget it for as long as I live.”
In an uncharacteristic move, one that only Sorey would ever see, she hugged him. “Thank you so much, Shepherd Sorey.”
“E-Edna…” Sorey cracked. He hugged her back. “Thank you for your support, Edna. And I’m so happy you’ve found your peace.”
With that, the two let go of each other. Edna lifted her hand, the only hesitation caused by the worry of how strong the surge of power would be. She touched the Tower of Life, the strength of the earth flowing into her and breaking down the barriers. She could feel it—she had attained a higher level. She felt invincible.
Phoenix led them back to the Stonehenge one last time. Sorey tried to swallow the fact that it was the last time that he would see her inner world. It was a hectic ride, but one that made him understand why Edna was the way she was. He only hoped now that she could move on. Eizen lived free of the chains that held him to real world now, and with that, he believed that she would continue to grow.
“Hey, Sorey,” she called.
“Yeah?” Sorey replied.
“Come here.”
Sorey did as he was told. Edna ordered him to kneel down so that he was eye-level with her. And for a split second, he was confused. The little earth seraph pecked him on the head.
“E-Edna!” he gasped.
“Listen to me. No matter what, don’t give up,” she stressed. “We’re far from done with our mission. Things will be hard, but you’re stronger than anyone else I know. I believe you can change the world as long as you don’t give in.”
Sorey assured her that he wouldn’t lose his way. He hugged her one last time. As he returned to reality, he knew that this meeting was the last time that he could see her true feelings.
Notes:
I realized that this was a good chapter to post up on Valentine's Day! And Eizen and Edna can be together~
Chapter 183: Phase 7: Rush for War
Summary:
With Rose and Sergei safe now, and with Edna's cosmosphere completed, Sorey makes his way to Glaivend Basin to find Alisha. Maltran tells him the conditions for changing the tide of war, but can Alisha stop her from unleashing hell in Hyland?
Notes:
A bit of a frantic chapter again, but I finally get to do something that I've been waiting to do! Yay!~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey woke up with Edna sleeping on his chest and Mikleo glaring at them. The earth seraph roused, coyly rubbing her eye and pretending as if she had had the best sleep of her life. She commented how comfortable Sorey’s chest was; she wanted to see how far she could go before Mikleo finally snapped.
“Edna…!” Mikleo growled.
“Oh, sorry, Meebo,” Edna nonchalantly said. “I didn’t see you there. That was truly the best beauty rest a lady like me could ever have. If only you could partake in this wonderful bedding.”
“Ed-na…”
“That’s my name; don’t wear it out.”
“Ed—”
“Okay, you two,” Sorey appeased. He glanced up at Zaveid, who had prepared a memorial for Eizen. Before he could say anything, Edna rushed over to it. She quickly offered a prayer, apologizing for taking so long to make a grave for her brother. She searched the summit for mountain flowers, specially picking and placing the most beautiful ones. Mikleo and Sorey stood together; they had already apologized and prayed as much as they could before. “Edna really is a sweet girl under all that stone-coldness,” the young Shepherd whispered to him. “If only I could have done something.”
“Be careful what you say,” Mikleo immediately chided.
“I know. We couldn’t have stopped it, but it’s still…”
“Stop blaming yourself,” Edna said. “Eizen’s been dead for a long time now, and we have to focus on the here and now.”
“The girl’s right,” Zaveid agreed. He pointed down to the edge of Glaivend Basin. The battlefield was speckled with corpses and glittering with fire. “We have to act fast, or that war’s going to get much worse.”
Sorey joined the wind seraph at the edge of the summit. He was worried about Alisha. She was capable like Rose, but while Lunarre’s betrayal to Rose was a long festering issue, Maltran seemed like she could be convinced to switch sides. At least, they hoped so for Alisha’s sake. If she didn’t, she was going to lose a friend. Mikleo and Edna returned inside of Sorey as he Armatized once again with Zaveid. Without another moment to spare, he flew down to just before the threshold into the battlefield.
There, Maltran rallied the Hyland forces. She sent out a batallion to fight Rolance, and by the evil grin on her lips, it was clear that she didn’t care if they came back. She was working for Heldalf to generate more malevolence.
“Ah, Shepherd, good of you to come,” she cheerfully welcomed when he landed in the Hyland camp. “Are you going to take off the Armatus?”
Sorey obediently de-Armatized to ensure that it didn’t instigate a fight. He looked around. Where was Alisha and Lailah? When he posed the question, Maltran waved it away. She told him that the princess had returned to her city on a special errand.
“Alisha is to give the formal declaration of war to Rolance,” she said. “Failure to do will be an act of treason, and she will be detained and executed.”
“What?!” Sorey gasped. He reminded himself that that was her intention—she wanted him to get angry. “Alisha was your friend. How can you do this to her?”
“What a simple little boy. Anyway, it doesn’t matter what my prerogative is. I would suggest you make sure she is ready to deliver the declaration of war, or things could get worse for you and your friends.” With that, Maltran returned to her battle tent to plan the next move. Her garnet eyes shined menacingly as she took one last glimpse of him. Alone in the tent, she whispered, “I will ensure that his heart shall lose its ground here.”
There was no time to waste now. Sorey cursed himself for taking so long to get there, but he couldn’t be completely angry. After all, he had rescued Sergei and helped Rose to fight off Lunarre. He had completed Zaveid’s and Edna’s cosmospheres. Hope was not lost yet.
“Fylk Zahdeya!” Sorey called out. Zaveid Armatized with him immediately, and just as fast, they took to the skies on the shining wings that had carried him all around the world in these short days. “We have to help Alisha!”
“I know, kid,” Zaveid tried to calm.
It wouldn’t help them to rush into whatever was happening in Ladylake. The wind seraph worried about Lailah. What if they tried to merge them again? He had known what it felt like—how his consciousness was pushed farther and farther down into him. He understood every sensation that Sorey and Mikleo had felt. If Lailah or any other seraph was forced to go through it, he’d never forgive himself. He’d let himself turn into a dragon to destroy the world.
They landed in the heart of Ladylake, in the little merchant square just before the sanctuary. As the Armatus dissipated, the Shepherd ran as quickly as he could to Alisha’s manor. He could feel the malevolence getting worse with each step; his heart sank. No matter what anyone did, Ladylake wasn’t recovering from the greed and wickedness that plagued it. Somehow—perhaps it was only an illusion—he heard the gasping seraphim in the dungeons below. He wanted to save them, but he had to stop the war first.
“Something’s wrong,” Mikleo noticed. “I think there are hellions in the area.”
“That wouldn’t be surprising,” Edna replied. “Maltran is trying to do everything she can to throw the country into war. She knows both sides want it.”
“Just what is she scheming?” Sorey breathed.
He skidded to a stop at Alisha’s gate. Drawing his sword, he threw himself into battle, Mikleo stepping out to help.
“S-Sorey?” Alisha gasped. She stabbed a hellionized soldier down. “W-What are you doing here?”
“Helping you!” Sorey replied. He slashed another one across its chest. “Sergei and Rose are both alright.”
“Well, that’s good to hear!” Lailah answered back as she set a third ablaze. “Have you been to Glaivend Basin?”
“Maltran is stirring up trouble,” Mikleo recalled. He froze and shattered a fourth one. “Aside from right now, are you two hurt?”
Three more hellionized soldiers came to the gate. Lailah and Alisha had only just been attacked, which made Sorey breathe something of a sigh of relief. The Squire Armatized with her seraphim upon the reinforcements’ arrival. Sorey, knowing that using a Synchronity Chain would give them more power, prepared to Armatize with Mikleo.
“Wait, are you seriously going to try to synchronize again?!” Edna scolded. “You couldn’t handle it last time!”
“Then why don’t you Armatize with me? Hephsin Yulind!” Sorey quickly said. “I know it’s risky, but we have to get back to the battlefield.”
“And if you collapse again?”
“I’ll just have Mikleo splash me some water.” Sorey had to let out a giggle even though now wasn’t the best time. He glanced at Alisha, who was confused what he was going to do. “Trust me.”
Lailah and Edna were apprehensive, but they resonated together. Even though Sorey knew what to expect, he was still anxious. Having resonated with Mikleo, whose soul space had yet to be completed, he wondered if it would be different with Edna. It was a risk he was willing to take. And he knew that Alisha had to have completed Lailah’s cosmophere by now.
Again, the two fell into a trance-like state as what had happened when Sorey paired with Rose. Lailah’s and Edna’s resonance synchronized within their hearts.
“Grounded as rock,” Edna said through Sorey.
“Raging like a great flame,” Lailah said through Alisha.
“Burst forth! Synchronity Chain!”
The two seraphim used their human vessels to coordinate their attacks, lifting the hellions up with Crystal Tower and trapping them in a vortex of Lailah’s Crown Fire. Edna immediately de-Armatized from Sorey for fear that he would collapse again; this time, however, he was fine. If anything, he was only a little exhausted. And Alisha was still conscious after she and Lailah separated. The hellions had been defeated, leaving the two to understand what they had done.
“Looks like you figured it out,” Zaveid almost seemed to congratulate.
“Wait, so the reason why Sorey passed out before was because of me?” Mikleo grumbled.
“What was that power?” Alisha asked. Lailah held her up, the wooziness getting to her by now.
“Lady Cloche and Lady Luca used it on the Second Tower,” Sorey explained. “I figured that maybe we could try to use it, too. It seems to only work properly if the seraph’s cosmosphere has been completed.”
“Great, you know when to use it,” Edna scolded. “Just don’t use it willy-nilly, would you? It’s still an unpredictable power.”
Sorey was unsure how to feel—was she really mad, or was she just concerned? It didn’t matter, though. Maltran was mobilizing troops and trying to antagonize Rolance into attacking. He turned his attention to Alisha, whose face was twisted in pain. Lailah held her hand to her chest. Sorey, along with his seraphim, wanted to console her, but what could they do? They had always known that Maltran was a hellion, so why did it hurt just now?
“I don’t know what to do,” Alisha quivered. “If I declare war, I’m putting everyone in Ladylake at risk!” she started to panic. “The people, the seraphim, everyone’s lives will be put on the line!”
“But if you don’t,” Mikleo began.
“If I don’t, I’ll be arrested for treason—I’ll be executed.”
“Alisha, it’s alright; we’re all confused,” Lailah tried to calm her. She pushed her hair back and wiped her tears. The seraphim knew this barbaric tendency of humans. It was disgusting how easily they could accuse and kill their own. Lailah took her princess into her arms. “There must be something we can do.”
“Why not just rip the damn thing up and be done with it?” Zaveid callously asked. “It’s just a piece of paper, right?”
“Rip it up?” Alisha hissed. “How dare you! It’s not just some piece of paper; it’s an official document!”
“Your point?” Edna sided with the wind seraph. “Maltran isn’t technically your right-hand anymore; you don’t have to listen to a word she says. And the old rich men that are sitting on the mountains of seraphic corpses? War criminals with lower standing than you now.”
Sorey and Mikleo flinched. The former then wondered what Bartlow was doing in the midst of the chaos. Alisha and Lailah hadn’t seen nor heard from him, and while they had thought that the lack of patrols in the city was most likely because of the war, they knew that there were supposed to be more around.
“I have a bad feeling,” Lailah said with horror.
“Do you think they could have gone up to the Tower?” Mikleo asked. “Would they even survive the climb all the way to the top?”
“Bartlow will do anything he can to get more seraphim,” Alisha said. “I wouldn’t doubt he would try to reach the Rinkernator.”
Sorey worried about Shurelia, Misha, and Aurica. He wasn’t sure if the evil chancellor would even consider trying to take the administrator of the First Tower hostage. He wanted to go help them, but they had to deal with Maltran first. Alisha and Lailah were strong, yet he knew that they would be no match for her. They had to get to Glaivend Basin.
“But what about Lady Shurelia?” Alisha asked. “And did you see Lady Frelia?”
“Lady Frelia is alright,” Sorey replied. “I was planning on visiting Lady Shurelia after checking on you, but I don’t like what Maltran is trying to pull.”
“You don’t have to come with us,” Lailah told him.
“I want to. If we hadn’t been there for Rose, things would have ended badly. I can’t leave you guys here either.”
Calling their seraphim inside, the Shepherd and the princess respected each other’s wishes. They left for Glaivend Basin, crossing through the edge of Lakehaven Heights and passing Marlind. Just outside of the basin, they found Maltran making her way to the village.
“There you are,” she almost joked. “I was beginning to wonder just where you had gone, Alisha. Now, status report. Have you declared war?”
After landing and de-Armatizing, Alisha drew her spear in response. She wasn’t going to let Maltran order her to risk thousands of lives for the sake of Heldalf. She and her friends had been working far too hard to promote peace. Maltran, in sharp contrast, scoffed at her bravado.
“It seems we have reached an impasse,” she sighed. “We’ll just have to settle it the hard way. Follow me, away from wandering eyes.” She made her way deep into the Bors Ruins.
Sorey and Alisha watched her. Something was strange. Why was she worried about wandering eyes? They had anticipated some sort of confrontation, and both were very aware that she had no qualms about killing them both. Perhaps it was to make sure no Hyland troops saw the Blue Valkyrie take matters into her own hands.
The Shepherd and the Squire steeled themselves. Maltran had no doubt gotten stronger if she intended to fight them, and despite knowing that she had become a hellion long ago, Alisha struggled with the thought of potentially having to put her down. She knew that she couldn’t hesitate, and Lailah was with her to ensure that she wouldn’t fall if she was forced to run her blade through her heart. But then she realized how uneasy her fire seraph looked. It was subtle enough that Sorey and his seraphim didn’t pick up on it; Alisha, in-tune with Lailah’s soul’s deepest recesses, felt her anxieties.
They made their way into the Bors Ruins. The weak hellions that came their way were immediately taken care of as they followed the mossy winding paths to the clearing just before the entrance into Lamorak Cave. It was here that they felt Maltran’s villainous domain, making Sorey’s skin crawl but only hardening Alisha’s resolve.
“Sorey, I’m going to tell you one last time,” the princess said. “You don’t have to stay here with me. You can go to the First Tower if you would prefer. Maltran…is mine to settle.”
“I’m not leaving,” Sorey countered her. “We’re friends. I won’t leave you behind.”
Edna sighed in his head. She was glad to see that her human had regained what it meant to be the Shepherd to Sorey. He was still tired, still hesitant, and still naïve. But he was an unstoppable force and an important support for Alisha and Rose alike. Mikleo was glad as well, and just as Lailah wanted to protect Alisha, he wanted to protect Sorey in every way he could. They approached Maltran.
Maltran watched them with her garnet eyes. Seeing Alisha standing tall before her and not cowering in fear angered her, but it didn’t show on her face. The seraphim came outside with Lailah standing next to Alisha. She didn’t want to fight. She only wanted to understand why she had aligned herself with Heldalf.
“Don’t you understand what Heldalf intends to do?” she asked her.
“Of course, I do,” Maltran replied. “Lord Heldalf simply wishes to recreate the world from scratch. Others have sought to do the same—destroy this wretched world and rebuild it as a safe haven for all the seraphim that have suffered at the hands of humans. The only thing I could hope to gain from this goal is that the world will finally be fair.”
“What are you talking about?” Mikleo questioned her, stepping out of Sorey in case she attacked him.
Maltran couldn’t help herself. She had to laugh at such a small-brained query. “All my life, I have been in the shadow of this helpless whelp before me.” She clenched her fists. “If I can kill Alisha here, things will be better. If I can help Lord Heldalf succeed, I can live the life I’ve also wanted!”
“But why?!” Lailah pressured her. She couldn’t keep it secret anymore. “How can you say things like this when you’ve always loved her?!”
Sorey and Alisha’s eyes fell on Lailah in surprise. Alisha, herself, was suddenly caught in a tumbling juggle between the two girls. What did Lailah mean? Had Maltran truly been in love with her? She wanted to ask her, to hear it from her own lips.
Maltran’s face contorted in disgust. She had been exposed and by her rival no less! “Yes, it’s true, Alisha,” she admitted.
She summoned the cursed mythril blade she had stolen out of Lefay. And as she watched it emerge from the ground and into her hand, she reflected on all the times that she stood in Alisha’s shadow. She thought back on the times she mentored her and how she had genuinely loved to watch her grow. She had watched her since she was a young girl, and even though she had swooped in to protect Lailah the first day she met her, she admired that guardian spirit. It was the same love she held for her people.
Perhaps that was when she began to hate her and envy Lailah and soon Alisha. How could she receive her love? How was she allowed to learn the deepest parts of her? She hadn’t been there since the beginning like the Blue Valkyrie had. She hadn’t trained her body and mind to become one of the best soldiers like she had. She hadn’t broken bones and faced death to reach that point. Maltran’s face didn’t change, but inside her heart was a burning rage for the fire seraph. If she couldn’t have Alisha, then no one could. She would kill her, and by killing her, one more crack in her heart would heal. She was going to breathe easier knowing that the one she loved would cease to exist. To her, Alisha’s death would be her salvation from the rotting hate and greed in her. The malevolence borne from those two emotions had transformed her long ago. She retained her human appearance—unlike Lunarre—but she was no different from the monsters that they purified all over the continent and Towers.
Alisha and Lailah couldn’t comprehend why she wanted to kill them aside from Heldalf’s wishes. The owner of a broken heart, the fire seraph saw inside her that even now she was bawling for freedom from this torment. She was someone dear to her princess, though. She knew that Alisha would not want to kill her herself even if the impending battle came down to it.
“Alisha, my unrequited love, if only you’d paid more attention to me…!” Maltran growled at her.
“I…I was a little girl, Lady Maltran,” Alisha replied.
“But not anymore! You’re a woman now; you’ve been a woman for a while!”
Maltran charged toward her with her blade in hand. Lailah was called inside, and Alisha parried her immediately. Sorey and Mikleo ran to join the battle with their weapons ready. The Blue Valkyrie, as swiftly as the goddesses she was named for, broke out of Alisha’s lock and deterred them.
“If I were you, Shepherd, I would stay out of this!” she threatened him. “This is a personal matter!”
“I’m not letting Alisha fight you alone!” Sorey answered back.
“Sorey, I ask this of you as my equal and as the Shepherd,” Alisha began. Spinning her spear above her head then planting next to her with an iron grip, her jade-colored eyes focused on her hellionized friend and mentor. “You can either leave her to me and go to Eolia, or you can stand here and get in my way.”
“Alisha, can you really fight her without Sorey’s help?” Lailah asked her.
“You’re with me. And Sorey has other matters to tend to. We cannot afford to waste any more time.”
Lailah was silent for just a moment. “Very well. Allow me to be the fire that stokes your soul!”
Lailah took a stand beside Alisha, flames encircling the area around them and keeping Sorey out. The Shepherd wanted to help them. Maltran was a formidable opponent if her reputation was any evidence of that, but in the back of his mind, he knew that it would be better to go to Eolia. Still, he had an uneasy feeling that if he were to leave, Alisha wouldn’t survive. He had complete faith in her, but there was something in the area that put him on edge.
“Mikleo,” Sorey uttered. “This is a trap.”
“What do you mean?”
Sorey scanned the trees. Where was the source of this feeling? “We can’t leave; let’s Armatize!”
“You’re really going to do this to Alisha?” Edna asked.
“We could be on our way to Eolia right now,” Zaveid pressured. “Alisha can take care of herself. She’s not your average helpless princess.”
“I know, but if I leave and she doesn’t make it, it’ll be my fault,” Sorey struggled. “I don’t want my friends to get hurt. Luzrov Rulay!”
Sorey and Mikleo combined into the Water Armatus, piercing through the wall of fire like the arrows they commanded together much to the girls’ surprise. They had ordered them to leave, but they couldn’t be upset seeing them there now. He planned on covering them. He wouldn’t interfere in their fight against Maltran, but he didn’t want them to be left wide open. The flames broke apart into flitting embers. With the power of water coursing through him like a forceful river, Sorey and Mikleo prepared to support Alisha as much as they could.
Notes:
It's not a popular idea, but I love the dynamic between Maltran being in love with Alisha and being driven mad by her comparison to her! And we got a Synchronity Chain~
Chapter 184: Phase 7: Beta Ceti
Summary:
Alisha and Maltran have their showdown, but can the princess stomach the truth of her mentor's feelings?
Notes:
Maltran's battle is great and horrible. In the game, she's a beast to defeat. But the context...she says she hates Alisha, but I think she held feelings for her under all of it. I just love their dynamic!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Foolish Shepherd,” Maltran sighed.
She had given him the opportunity to leave. If he had, then there was the guarantee that he would last even a few hours longer before she went after him. It didn’t matter either way because she needed to deal with Alisha first. This battle between her and the one she had hated to love would be the final testament of how desperately she wanted to change her life.
Asura’s blade in hand, she charged at Alisha and Lailah with the bloodlust of a dragon. Each strike was countered or deflected by the princess, and the sparks that flickered off the clashing metal evolved into Lailah’s flames as she gained an edge on them.
Alisha and Maltran’s movements were perfect mirrors of each other, and the princess knew how to break her defenses. Likewise, Maltran knew how to recover, and it just seemed that the two would be forever locked in combat with no escape from the unending loop. Lailah’s fire didn’t even make the Blue Valkyrie flinch. She switched her plan of attack. As long as her princess kept her busy, she could work up the power to blast her away.
But it wouldn’t be before Alisha caught her on her own. She snuck through Maltran’s defenses long enough to use her Mystic Arte Light Blast. As she repeatedly jabbed into her former mentor’s form with her spear, she remembered when she had first learned how to use it. She was young—maybe around six or seven years of age—and had never touched a weapon unlike her senior by 5 years. Light Blast had been Maltran’s signature move. She had taught her that attack before anything else. Alisha had suffered great fatigue and injury in learning, but her perseverance had kept her afloat.
Even now, Alisha had maintained her level with Maltran that even she had to admit she had done well. Maltran turned around and struck her with her Light Blast attack after she had been released from the attack. She pummeled her in the air and slammed her back into the ground. Alisha got back up, wiped the blood that had trickled from the corner of her mouth.
“Alisha…!” Lailah panicked.
“I’m fine!” Alisha reassured her. “I…I won’t let her win…!” She glanced at her. A signal to take her by surprise.
Lailah took her chance. “Primal Embrace!” she called out much to Maltran’s ire. She was engulfed in a vortex of fire. “Call my name!” she ordered.
Donning the Fire Armatus once the tornado of flame dissipated, Alisha and Maltran stared at each other. Maltran’s anger and jealousy took form around her as the tendrils of malevolence she and Sorey had come to learn from the beginning of their journey. And they had learned when it would be impossible to purify someone so steeped in malevolence like this. Alisha, no matter how hard her resolve, couldn’t accept that.
“Alisha, one of us will not leave here,” Maltran spoke. She tightened her grip on the mythril blade. “One of us must die here. I cannot allow you to walk away from the fight. And you cannot allow me to live.”
Alisha’s heart faltered hearing her mentor speak, and Lailah felt her hesitation. She understood what the outcome would be, but there was still a tiny part of her that hoped and prayed that Maltran would live and remain with her not as her lover but as her teacher and pillar of support.
“I don’t understand it even after all this time,” she quivered. “Why am I supposed to kill you? You’re like a sister to me, and I’m sorry I don’t return your feelings, but I’ve never wished for anything horrible to happen to you. I admired you for your strength! So…why…?”
“Fight me to understand!” Maltran cried out. “Fight me with everything you have and more! Prove to me, Alisha, that I didn’t waste my time training you and falling in love! Show me that your bond with your seraph is stronger than this cursed blade!”
Maltran sped towards Alisha with the intent to slaughter her, but there was still something that held her back. The two parried again, their blades pressed against each other. Alisha and Lailah did their best to hold off Maltran until suddenly she pulled away and slashed her across her chest. The wound wasn’t deep, but the blood that had come from it stained the white of the Armatus a deeper red than Lailah’s fire.
“Alisha!” Mikleo cried out.
“Elixir Vitae!” Sorey called out to heal her. Before he could finish casting the spell with Mikleo, something interrupted him. Something black and stink with malevolence had been thrown at him. “What was that?”
“Stay out of this, Shepherd!” Maltran threatened him.
Alisha held her wound. She knew that her mentor wasn’t bluffing, and she understood that there was nothing she could do to change her mind. It pained her more and more to imagine a world where Maltran would no longer be there. She was the one who taught her how to fight. She had given her the tools to protect Lailah, to venture out into the world with Sorey and Rose, and to steel herself in the face of conflict. If she viewed it as a test to her mettle, she could overcome the hesitation in herself. She didn’t want to kill her.
Maltran beat Alisha down repeatedly, each strike fraught with the reluctant need to finish her off. It was then that, by Lailah’s fire, she pushed her off. The two girls, existing in one body, had to do it now. Speeding towards her, they used Flamberge. With Maltran winded and singed, Alisha de-Armatized and prepared herself.
Before her mentor could get up and fight back, she trapped her in her Soulstoke Celebration. “It’s over!” she shouted at her. “The windup…and the jump!” As she piledrived into Maltran with the blunt end of her spear, Alisha told her, “My will is a shooting star!”
Maltran was pummeled into the ground, wracked in aching as Alisha and Lailah, Sorey and Mikleo regrouped around her. Alisha took her spear with Lailah’s purifying fire and slashed her only to find that they did nothing but flicker out like a spent lightbulb. She had expected as much despite the hope that she had held.
“I refuse…to be purified…” Maltran wheezed as she rose from the indentation she had been pressed into in the ground. “You should re-focus your efforts…purify the world instead…!” She stood up with great difficulty. “I’m a lost cause, Alisha.”
“But you don’t have to be!” Alisha argued back. “You’re being lied to by the Lord of Calamity! The feelings in you, however, are genuine, aren’t they? I’m sorry I don’t share them, but please…let’s stop fighting. We can still mend this relationship!”
Lailah stared at Maltran with uncertainty. She didn’t want her princess to suffer. She asked her, “Lady Maltran, if you truly love Alisha, please don’t make her go on like this. Her heart is more precious than anything else. I must implore you—”
“Quiet, lowly seraph!” Maltran glared at her then slowly made her way to Alisha. “I’ve loved you for so long that it’s morphed into hatred. There is no going back. I cannot return to the love I had for you. I can’t ignore how much you’ve seen past me, and so there is only one way to make sure I’m a part of you forever.”
Sorey drew his sword while Mikleo held onto his staff. The Blue Valkyrie, bleeding and bruised, took hold of Alisha’ spear. “Nn jyel erra rre yora answa an manafeeze zash mea.” With a quick thrust, she stabbed her chest with the spear while Alisha was still holding it. After she coughed up a bit of blood, she took one last look at her. “Your naivete and resolve to see the good in others…that was what I hated the most. Open your eyes, my princess. This…is what…awaits you…” Maltran pushed herself more and more on the spear to lightly kiss her and stroke her cheek before sliding off. Her corpse lay before them.
Alisha screamed in horror and sorrow and agony; the blood that her mentor had spit up stained her chin. “A-Alisha…?” Lailah fearfully uttered. “My love?” But before she could begin to console her, Alisha ran away from her friends.
Zaveid and Edna emerged to take a look at Maltran, who died with a satisfied smile on her reddened lips. It disgusted them to see how she had manipulated Alisha’s love for her people. Lailah stood next to her. She wanted to go after her to help her, but was that the right thing to do?
“Go to her, Lailah.” Sorey said. The fire seraph turned to him. He tried to smile to uplift her spirits, but deep inside, he understood the pain. He had lost someone dear to him, and with all the atrocities that had happened, he was still reeling. But for Alisha, who had never truly known such reality, he knew she needed the one that was still there by her side.
“I’ve known for a very long time that this would happen,” Lailah admitted. “I could never bring myself to tell Alisha that I had met with Maltran when we had worked to awaken Shurelia. I never did think that she would be this cruel.” She bowed. “Forgive us, Sorey. Please, head to Eolia. Alisha and I will catch up with you.”
Sorey nodded slowly. Armatizing with Zaveid, he took to the skies to fly up to Platina. Lailah, on the other hand, began her search for Alisha. The weak hellions that tried to attack her were roasted and destroyed as she followed the sounds of her princess weeping. She found her on her knees in a small clearing of tiny flowers. The flowers surrounded her as if blooming from her tears.
“There you are,” Lailah said with relief. She took a seat beside her.
“I…I can’t do this anymore,” Alisha sniffled. When she looked up at her with bloodshot and tear-stained eyes, Lailah’s heart broke. “I’m not fit to be a princess or a knight or anything worthy of respect. I don’t care about anything anymore; Bartlow and all the worms in the government can do as they like. If I couldn’t save Lady Maltran, what good am I? If everyone hates me this much, why should I try? What’s the point of continuing when nothing we’ve done—nothing that I have tried to do means even less?” She wailed, her hands muffling her anguish.
“Alisha…”
“I’m sure even you hate me now! I’m not like Sorey or Rose and hesitate. I’m not worthy of anything but the hatred and lies I’ve always received!”
Lailah gently wiped away her tears with her slender fingers. It simply wasn’t true. She had never hated her nor felt that she ever could. She was naïve and saw the world in rose-tinted glasses, but was that a bad thing? The world was full of despair, and it was finally getting to her. The harsh reality that people could change and turn on others wasn’t a new one, but the fire seraph had always done her best to keep her happy. Having met Maltran on the First Tower, watching her sow the seeds of doubt and and then blooming into flowers of confusion, they were similar to the flowers around them. She looked down at them, realizing them to be weeds. They were pretty but weeds nonetheless. Things were always like that. Beautiful lies which hid the ugly truths that she had been sheltered from. She was sure that Maltran didn’t mean what she said and that she truly loved her till the end. She felt guilty in a way that she had gotten in the way of such feelings, but she had vowed her life to Alisha of her own will. She wanted to protect her.
“Can I ask you something, my dear?” Lailah said. She cupped her face in. “If you can no longer believe in yourself, can you believe in me?”
Alisha stared at her in disbelief. “After…what happened with Maltran…why?”
Lailah stood both of them up, her hands holding hers. She didn’t have the power to keep others from loving Alisha as deeply as Maltran did, but she had the power to ease her heart. She wanted to defeat Heldalf and live in a world of peace where she could fall in love over and over with her. Sorey was working hard to help her. Rose was working hard to help her.
“No matter what, my dearest Alisha, you’re not alone,” Lailah smiled at her. “Your time to shine and drench the world in your light will come, but you must keep fighting. Wield me as the blade that will burn your legacy into history and shape the world in loving glory.”
Alisha’s eyes brimmed with tears again. “I-I’m sorry,” she apologized.
“Don’t be!”
The two touched foreheads and giggled. Alisha would grieve Maltran’s death, but now wasn’t the time for it. They had a war to stop. They took a step towards the entrance of the Bors Ruins only to be intercepted by Symonne. Her death-like eyes were shining with amusement.
“To think that the Shepherd would leave you two alone like this,” she sighed. “He really does have a one-track mind. Such is a simpleton. If only he knew that he’s too little, too late.”
“Has the war truly begun?!” Alisha gasped.
“Perhaps, but it’s not in my job description to tell you what to do. You better hurry or you might just miss our guest of honor.”
With that, Symonne vanished just as Rose and Dezel saw Alisha and Lailah. They had come from Rolance side, previously flying around the battlefield to avoid getting struck out of the sky. Something terrible was happening in the middle of Glaivend Basin, and Sorey had already gone to Eolia to have a counsel with Shurelia.
“We have to do something; we can’t just wait for Sorey to come back!” Rose urged. “Alisha, do you think Maltran’s going to get in the way if we push through the Hyland camp?”
“Maltran is no longer a problem,” Alisha replied with resolve. “Let us head to the battlefield. If we can mitigate some of the damage, we should fare better when Sorey arrives.”
“Just don’t get yourselves killed, got it?” Dezel sternly said. “Things are about to get nasty. We can’t afford to lose anyone.”
“Prepare yourselves,” Lailah cautioned.
The two Squires Armatized with their seraphim to quickly get to the fringes of the war. All they had to do was wait until the Shepherd returned.
Notes:
I really loved Lailah's speech to Alisha at the end, but now we're on our way to Eolia!
Apologies for skipping last week. I participated in a game making competition!
Chapter 185: Phase 7: Shurelia, the Naïve
Summary:
After leaving Alisha and Lailah behind in the Bors Ruins, Sorey and his seraphim return to Eolia to find Bartlow's onslaught under way.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT!
When writing this chapter, I realized that Mikleo has never been here! He doesn't have a big part, but still, the idea of Mikleo just getting to see Eolia seems fun~
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hundreds of troops stood at the threshold of Platina. Spears drawn. Shield up. Swords ready to attack. Bartlow’s generals were at the front leading the charge, and at the old man’s request, they stormed into the floating city.
Reyvateils and seraphim from the Glenwood Continent who had found their way to safety there tried to keep them at bay. They sang and used their Artes, knowing that if they killed humans, they would fall from the regret and guilt of slaughtering people. Some were only following orders while others thoroughly enjoyed the hunt. If only they could have detected the ones that wanted to hurt them and eradicated them. If only there weren’t so many of them that they could have read their hearts and snuffed out those that threatened to take them back to Hyland to be converted into Seraphoids.
“Don’t stop until we’ve captured every last one of them!” Bartlow bellowed from safety. “Every seraph here must be captured!”
Then they were flanked from below by the people from Em Pheyna. Flute and Jack led their people in Tastiella’s stead. They were friends of Aurica, Misha, and Shurelia and protectors of the Tower above them. They refused to let these heathens destroy their way of life and take their comrades!
“I can’t believe they’d do this,” Krusche said as she flew around Platina looking for a safe place to land. “Ayano…what if we can’t fight them off?”
“There is no ‘what-if’,” Ayano said over the radio in the airship. Krusche didn’t want to hear those words. “It was inevitable that the Hyland army would find its way up here. It’s our fault they were able to advance this far. Tenba Corporation is supposed to be the best at security, yet we failed to realize just how prepared they were to break through.” In Firefly Alley, Ayano monitored the situation. She knew that this was the greedy work of others and not Sorey and Alisha’s fault either. She had judged them to be of good character, and they were true to their word when they woke Shurelia from her deep slumber. They wouldn’t have planned an assault like this nor have any inclination to attack. “Krusche, I’m sending backup.”
“Wait a minute! Misha and Aurica are…no, get away!” Krusche called out, but while sitting inside her airship zipping around the sky, her friends couldn’t hear her.
“Claire, hang on,” Aurica begged her friend. Golden hair and a pink bartender’s dress, Claire had been struck from behind. She had come with Aurica from Nemo to visit Misha and Shurelia and Jacqli when the attack started. “I can heal you!”
“Don’t worry about me,” Claire asked of her. “I’ll be fine. They won’t kill us. Didn’t you hear? They want to capture us…”
“But Claire!”
“You need to get away, Aurica…find Lady Shurelia…and get to safety…”
Claire’s wound made her light-headed. With her last amount of strength before passing out, she pushed Aurica from her as a soldier dropped a weighted net on her.
Angered by her friend’s injury, Aurica faced the Hyland army. She opened her mouth, held her hand above her head, and sang diligently to grow her Song Magic that would burn the soldiers away.
Before she could unleash her Song, another voice echoed behind her. It was grotesque and discordant as Jacqli sprang from the stairs leading inside the Tower. She pushed the troops back, but her brashness caught Bartlow’s eye.
“Her! Get her! She’s Mir!” he ordered. “If we can’t get the Origin, we can take her instead!”
“Persistent fools,” Jacqli murmured. She called to Aurica, commanding her to get inside to the Rinkernator. Misha was already there with Shurelia. Aurica didn’t want to leave her or Claire because of what they might do. “I’ve been sealed once, but you trust me that I won’t let it happen again.”
Impervious to the malevolence that bubbled all around her, Jacqli sang once more. She unleashed her attacks one after another, singing in short bursts that scattered the soldiers. She refused to let her body be exhausted by her strategy; she didn’t want the seraphim she wanted to protect to fall to their hands.
“Earth Revolution!” Sorey’s voice called out. He switched from his Wind Armatus to his Earth Armatus, Edna’s glowing fists pummeling into the city ground and sending powerful shockwaves through the area. “Bartlow!”
“S-Sorey?” Aurica and Jacqli stammered.
Bartlow clenched his teeth. He had hoped to have seen the last of the Shepherd so long ago after his plan had failed. It had been months since he failed to convert him into a Seraphoid, and he had wished that he had succumbed to whatever dangers lie outside of the Hyland territory. He wished that the war had killed him, or that even Rolance had executed him for betraying his “homeland”.
“Fall back!” Bartlow ordered. “The Shepherd has arrived!”
“Don’t let them escape!” Jacqli called to her fellow seraphim. “Kill as many as you can!”
“No!” Sorey objected. Slamming his fists together to create a shockwave, he did his best to scatter the seraphim and interrupting their attacks so the troops had their chance to escape. It pained him to interfere, but he didn’t want any more bloodshed. In a matter of minutes, the Hyland soldiers left Platina and started their descent back to the Glenwood Continent, though not without conflict with those below in Em Pheyna.
When he de-Armatized from Edna, Jacqli struck his face and grabbed him by his collar. She demanded to know why he had let the invaders go with a growl. He was aware that there were still hostile feelings still in her heart, but he didn’t want anyone else to die.
“Mir, stop!” Aurica begged of her.
“That’s Jacqli!” she corrected her. “And this fool let those insipid humans get away!”
Mikleo swiped at her with his staff, pulling Sorey away from her and going on the defensive. It occurred to the other three hailing from the Glenwood Continent that he had never met Mir personally. Flute approached Sorey while Jack tried to calm the water seraph down and explained what he had missed. It didn’t matter to him who she was, he didn’t appreciate her threatening Sorey the way she was.
“Listen, boy, if it weren’t for me, you would have never been rescued!” Jacqli spat.
Krusche landed her airship soon after Jack and Flute stepped in. “Okay, okay, everyone, relax,” she sighed. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about. Those soldiers are still on the Tower.”
“What brought them here in the first place, Shepherd?” Flute asked.
“Yes, what did bring them here?” Leard, who had emerged from his seat in the Cathedral, questioned indignantly. He loomed over Sorey with commanding presence that he felt the need to bow before him. He knelt on one knee. “Come. This is no place to discuss international affairs.”
He led Sorey, Flute, and Jacqli to the cathedral. Misha and Aurica introduced Mikleo to their acquaintances while Edna and Zaveid kept an eye out for any soldiers that tried to return to the city. Once he took his seat in the Great Hall, he called for a council with those that had followed him.
Leard began the discussion by asking Sorey where Alisha had gone. After all, the troops had come from Ladylake, her city and seat of power. When he heard that Hyland was preparing to go to war with the neighboring country, Rolance, his eyebrows raised. He stroked his beard.
“Alisha may be the princess of Hyland, but she can’t do anything to stop the war,” Sorey vouched for her. “She most likely had no idea about the invasion, either. If she did, Bartlow made sure that she couldn’t interfere.”
“Her power has been usurped,” Flute concluded.
“More like she never had it in the first place,” Jacqli corrected. “Where is she now?”
Sorey explained to them that Alisha had been blackmailed into declaring war on Rolance. She refused to do it, and in turn, her most trusted soldier attempted to murder her in battle. Hearing this, Leard and Flute began to question if she was fit to rule. Such trivial matters were easy to deal with, but the Shepherd professed that she had always been treated like a second-class citizen by the one who was leading the invasion.
“Chancellor Bartlow and the other councilmen are the ones who are in charge. They wanted to go to war to make more money and steal more land,” Sorey told them. “They invaded Elysia and took every single seraph there. They…They turned my Gramps into a fighting machine and forced Lailah to become a Vaccine to create monsters. The experiments had started in Tilia, but they found their way to Hyland. He came here to capture more seraphim to turn into Seraphoids, and Alisha and Lailah have been doing what they can to stop them.” He kept a grip on himself. “Alisha has been in a cumbersome position since I’ve met her, and perhaps travelling with Rose and me made her abandon her city, but I promise you, if she could have prevented this, she would have.”
Leard sighed but accepted Sorey’s explanation. He then questioned why he was back. If no one had none about the invasion, how had he known to show up? But the answer was simple—he didn’t know about it, either. He told them that he had come to see Shurelia.
“Lady Shurelia?” Flute repeated. “What for?”
“I think I know why,” Jacqli said. “The other Origins wish to speak with her, right?”
“Yes,” Sorey answered. “After Tyria’s Tower received power from Lady Cloche on Metafalica, I made her promise that she wouldn’t use her life force to purify Maotelus. If the Origins sing together, we can break Heldalf’s hold on him.” He had the Song to accomplish such a feat, and it would prevent Tyria from sacrificing herself. Sorey asked humbly to be taken to see Shurelia in the Rinkernator, and no one was in a position to deny him. “I need to install this Song into her, and maybe I can get her to connect me to Tyria.”
Jacqli thought for a second. Shurelia could easily connect to her sisters in the Binary Field, but she had never heard of installing Songs within it. There wasn’t time to fly back to Tilia, either. It was something they had to try. She took her leave from the council before Leard, escorting him to the Tower’s administrator.
Mikleo looked around the Rinkernator, amazed at how high they had travelled above the world. Edna teased him as he neared the edge of the floor. She poked him in the back, and instantly he leapt back to avoid falling even though there was a dome supplying them with air and making sure they were safe on stable ground.
Sorey and Jacqli sought council with Shurelia, wearing her Linkage Armor for protection from the attack, with the former bowing before her. Shurelia greeted them, her usually pristine face worn from exhaustion. She had been trying to use her power to push the Hyland soldiers off the Tower while Misha had gone to clear the inside of it. She was glad to see Sorey, though.
“Little Boy Peep has come to install a Song into, Shurelia,” Jacqli told her.
“Wow, even Jacqli’s coming up with some good names,” Zaveid tittered. “Hey now, kids, play nice over there,” he warned Mikleo and Edna.
“She keeps trying to push me off!” Mikleo griped.
“A Song? Well, I suppose there’ll be an explanation later. Jacqli, please continue to keep the soldiers at bay.”
Jacqli glanced over at the noisy seraphim. She had to wonder when they had gotten so lively. “Well, Sorey, I’ll leave you to install into Shurelia.” She made her way to the three near the edge of the Rinkernator. Rallying them, they headed down to help Misha with her task.
Shurelia and Sorey got to business. Holding the diamond ore before the pearly Origin, Sorey prepared to install into her. “Lady Shurelia, are you ready?” he asked.
“Of course, but please tell me why.”
“Tilia has been restored,” Sorey told her. “I thought that if the Origins sang together, we could sever the bond between Heldalf and Maotelus.”
Shurelia stared at him with a smile. “We do have our connections to Maotelus, but…” The smile slowly disappeared. “What about Tyria?”
“Huh?”
“Never mind.” Shurelia stood straight. “Let’s begin. My true name is EOLIA_ANSUL_ARTONELICO/., got it?”
Sorey nodded resolutely. Holding the ore before her, he recited, “Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_PHILHARMONICS, enter_EOLIA_ANSUL_ARTONELICO.” The Song washed over her, submerging her in feelings almost similar to what Frelia had felt.
“Lord Shepherd,” Shurelia strangely said. He wasn’t used to her speaking with such piousness in reference to him. “There…is something I must confess. This Song holds feelings within it that I’m scared to share with her.”
“With Tyria?” Sorey asked her.
Shurelia, for once, seemed uncomfortable. She had to sing the Song, regardless of what she felt. It was a Synchronizer, and while its true power would come from singing together with the other pieces, her solo had power on its own. She began the forlorn melody:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey listened closely to her voice. What did she mean?
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Even though her eyes were obscured by the helmet of her Linkage Armor, Sorey saw the sadness and guilt in them. He listened, his heart pained by the implicit regret in her Song.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
He had to wonder why her voice was so frightened and sad. Had she done something to betray Tyria? But then, as the Song quieted for just a moment, he noticed a shift:
Cietta…
Shurelia’s wavering voice suddenly strengthened as her feelings changed with the Song. She clenched her fists before throw a hand into the air and singing fervently to someone else. She was singing not to Sorey or her people but to the Tower of Tilia.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey hoped as much as she did that Tyria could hear her. He didn’t know what had happened between them, but such an intense and emotional Song had to mean it was something huge. He continued to listen to her, her voice softening as it neared its end.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Shurelia approached Sorey and took his hand. “We must speak with my sisters at once,” she told him. “I have to talk to Tyria. The feud between us has gone on for too long.”
“Feud? So, you two did have a fight?” Sorey wanted to know. He dismissed it when Shurelia turned from him. Knowing their past transgressions wasn’t important like getting Tyria to take her part of the Song that was shared among them. “If we speak to Tyria in the Binary Field, can we install this Song into her?”
“I’m not sure, but we can certainly try. I just want us to be friends.”
“But to access the Binary Field—”
“Yes, Sorey, you’re going to Dive into me. Now, to the Observatory. Meimei can get everything ready.”
Taking his hand and teleporting with Song Magic, the two of them made their way down the Tower to initiate the Dive that would hopefully mend the Origins’ relationships.
Notes:
So I don't actually know if downloading within the Binary Field is a think, but whatever--I'm gonna do it! This takes a little from the novels after AT3 in which Tyria and Shurelia do have a broken relationship.
Chapter 186: Phase 7: Tyria, the Betrayed
Summary:
Sorey Dives with Shurelia into the Binary Field. There, they seek Tyria's help.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
Bending some AT laws here, but I think this will be an interesting chapter. Taking what happens in the novel for after Ar Tonelico Qoga, I kind of abridged it...?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shurelia brought Sorey to the Observatory where Meimei still snoozed. She only woke from her nap when her superior gently shook her. “Meimei, can you prepare a Dive? It’s an emergency,” she told her.
The drowsy girl nodded sleepily at her. “Oh, but Lady Shurelia, who will be Diving into you?” she asked her as she prepared to initiate the Dive. Sorey stepped from behind her. “The Lord Shepherd?”
“We’ll be entering the Binary Field.”
“That’s too dangerous for a human!”
“I’ve been in it before,” Sorey told her with a resolute grin. “I think I’ll be okay. The most important thing right now is that Lady Shurelia speaks with Lady Frelia and Lady Tyria.”
Meimei didn’t wait any longer. Once the Dive was ready to commence, she wished them luck. Sorey wasn’t sure how to feel about Diving into Shurelia, but now wasn’t the time to second-guess himself or the Origin before him. He let the sleep overcome him as he sank into the inner world of her soul.
Sorey found himself in an older city with a newer-looking version of the Cathedral and rustic buildings. He tried to place the time period, but he couldn’t tell since they looked too sophisticated to be from the distant past but too dated to be from anywhere recent or even from the future. It was completely different from the advanced technology in Tyria’s Binary Field; however, it had a place that was similar to the bulkhead in the lilac-colored Origin’s world.
“So, this is your Binary Field?” he finally said aloud.
“Surprised it’s not fancy?” Shurelia asked.
“No, just trying to figure out when this place is.”
“Oh, you probably won’t know. Binary Fields are really just places that programs are installed. In the old days, programs were created and installed to Binary Fields to experience stories similar to how humans read and share legends. Anyway, our mission is to meet with the other Origins, not to peruse my mind. Let’s get going.”
Shurelia led the way through her world to the Cathedral. Within it, the altar glowed brightly, as if it was a sign pointing them in the necessary direction. As they approached it, the ivory Origin told him to be prepared. The surge of energy, like in Tyria, could very well kill him if he wasn’t careful. She instructed him to push the altar, which would open the way to the Binary Field. The surge of energy almost knocked him back, but with Shurelia behind him, he withstood it. Together, they entered another Binary Field.
“It’s about time you showed up,” Tyria huffed. She and Frelia were standing near the entry point into the Binary Field. “I see you’ve brought the Shepherd as well.”
“Tyria…” Shurelia sighed. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”
“And I’d have preferred to have kept it that way.”
“Oh, Tyria, please don’t be like that,” Frelia tried to mediate.
“Lady Tyria, I need you to sing this Song with Shure—” Sorey began before the Origin flashed him an angry glare.
“Is this why you called us here, Shurelia?” Tyria scoffed indignantly. “I’m not singing with you.”
“Lady Tyria!”
“Quiet!” She accosted Sorey, who had since pulled out the diamond ore holding her part of the synchronized Song. “You don’t know what happened, so why are you trying to butt in?”
Sorey composed himself before speaking. He had never seen her so aggressive, much less to any of the other Origins. Gripping the diamond ore in the hand that bore the Shepherd’s Crest, he spoke with compassion and anxiousness.
“I’m sorry if this is a lot to ask of you, but I need your cooperation,” he explained to her. Frelia and Shurelia had already absorbed the Song within the ore, pledging their assistance to stop Heldalf and Maotelus. There was a war raging on, and once he and his friends could get both sides to stand down, they would be making their way to the Lord of Calamity. They needed their help—the love they had for the world and everything in it—to fight against the despair and hate that had festered in his heart and incubated in the Great Lord. “Please, just this once. Work with us.”
Tyria’s eyes didn’t soften as much as he had hoped. She calmed down. In doing so, though, Sorey had opened up a wound that she had tried so hard to forget.
“Do you want to know why I can’t stand you, Eolia?” Tyria asked her while very aware of what she had called her. Shurelia crossed her arms, now getting irritated that they were wasting time on something other trying to save the world from destruction. “It’s because you were allowed to have a good life while I had to suffer. I loved Kurogane, but only because if I did well, he wouldn’t treat me so horribly. You lived a good life with Eleno—the perfect daughter to him!”
“Oh, did you conveniently forget about what you did that got me in trouble?!” Shurelia snapped back. “I lost the keycard he gave me because you stole it! Do you know how much trouble I got into?”
“I didn’t steal it!”
“Yes, you did! You ran off with it, and I was the one who got punished for it!”
Frelia tried to get between them only for Tyria to turn on her. “I was labeled a defective creation, so they gave you my job. It just seems like I’m a burden to everyone; my so-called ‘sisters’ are the ones that made life hell!”
“B-But I didn’t try to overshadow you,” Frelia whimpered. She teared up, making Shurelia grow more furious. The peridot-colored Origin ran to Sorey for shelter and comfort as she cried into his chest. “I was treated bad, too.”
Sorey watched the three Origins. How bad had humans been to them, and yet they still loved them? He hated seeing them fight, and while he didn’t understand their past, he didn’t want them to carry the burdens of their grudges and insecurities. The first one he took care of was Frelia, who simply wanted them all to make up so they could play together. She was the loneliest one of them all these days even with Shun and Raki at her side.
He took her hands gently. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it,” he said soothingly. “I’ll make them stop fighting. Stand back.”
Frelia went behind him as he let out a deep breath. His sword sparked with electricity before he slashed the air. Shurelia and Tyria, who had been getting physical with each other at this point and pulling each other’s hair, turned their attention to him.
“Lightning Beast!” Sorey called out. Lighting struck both of them before a shockwave that distinctly looked like a lion’s head flung them back. “Both of you have to stop fighting!” he almost pleaded with them. “You’re sisters! You’re supposed to care for each other, not try to hurt each other!”
“What would you know?!” both of them bit.
“Didn’t all three of you save me and Mikleo? You brought us back to life along with Gramps’ help! You all worked together then, so please, work together now. I need all three of you to help me fight against the Lord of Calamity!”
Then something unexpected happened. Sorey’s emerald eyes overflowed with tears, the memories of Gramps and his family at the beginning rushing to his mind. The heightened emotions that were exhibited by all four of them in the Binary Field had magnified, and as the only human among them, he couldn’t stop himself from feeling all of the anguish they had all suffered. He tried to make the tears stop, but they wouldn’t until the sisters made amends.
“Lord Sorey,” Frelia gasped. “No, don’t cry. If you cry, t-then I will, too!” Then the fairy-like girl sobbed by his side. Then Shurelia followed suit, and finally Tyria did.
But that was one of the things that Sorey had learned on his journey. Things weren’t always fun or happy or full of love. He knew it from the beginning. With the fall of Elysia, Mikleo’s torture and capture, feeling the hatred he himself harbored for those that had wronged him, the guilt of giving into it, the accidental death of Lyner and the sacrifice he made out of Aoto; he had learned that there were times that it was okay to be upset and cry. So much had happened, and no matter how much he tried to put on a façade or pretend like it never bothered him in the end, he couldn’t hide it. It was something that the Origins needed to learn. And once they had their catharsis and let go of all the feelings that they had bottled up inside, Sorey felt his pain ease.
Sorey dried his tears before once again approaching Tyria with the diamond ore. He asked her to take on the Song locked inside of it for her. “I understand your hesitation, but the world needs you,” he told her through sniffles.”
“Fine,” she conceded.
The Shepherd held the diamond ore in front of her as it shined. He recited the incantation to allow her to access the Song:
“Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_PHILHARMONICS, enter_TYRIA_ANSUL_HARVESTASHA.”
The feelings in the Song flooded into her, carrying with them a blinding rage and a deep envy for those more fortunate than her. They were ugly feelings, reflected in her heart. She felt ashamed of them because she knew that this was not how she was supposed to be. She began her Song.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The Binary Field turned red all around them. Sorey watched her, listened to the resentment in her voice, and forced himself to stand back. She was so terribly angry at her sisters, and yet her voice was still godly.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Frelia clasped her hands together while Shurelia approached her. It wa true that all three of them had bad blood among them. This wasn’t the time for it now, though. Sorey needed their cooperation and power to save the world, and if these feelings were to persist, they would succumb to malevolence. Without a doubt, if they were all hellionized, they would become dragons.
Shurelia pushed her way through the force of the Song to her until Sorey sensed that Tyria’s power was far greater than they knew.
“No, Shurelia!” he called out to her over the Origin’s howling voice.
Gott!
Gott!
Gott!
The power of that simple word sent Shurelia flying back into Frelia. Sorey drew his sword. He couldn’t tell now—was Tyria really in danger of falling? Using his blade as a shield against the sound waves coming from her, he stepped cautiously. She was glowing brightly like a star, and then he saw that she was crying out in agony.
The emotions within the Song were so strong and detrimental that he blamed himself for her suffering. Sorey had no choice but to try and help her just like he had helped his seraphim to sing long ago.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Hold on, Tyria…!” Sorey said through gritted teeth. He was closing in on her despite the hatred running deep in her heart and pushing them back. And once he was able to reach out and take her hand, he peered into the same eyes she had when Mikleo had woken from his coma. “Everything will be okay, I promise!”
“What can you promise? You have no idea what I went through—what we all went through,” Tyria accused him. “Stop lying!”
“But I do know! I had to go through your memories, didn’t I? I played the role of Masakado in them, and I stopped Kurogane from hurting you so terribly that you’d lose your voice.”
Sorey the Gentle Shepherd, an oracle himself, held his arms open before embracing Tyria. And in that moment, the Song changed. The tone, the feelings of hostility and resentment she held for her sisters, the atmosphere within the Binary Field all softened and grew warm.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
She held onto him with tears beading at the corners of her eyes. She didn’t want to hate Shurelia and Frelia. They were the only family she had now that all of their guardians had passed centuries ago. And the comfort that Sorey had brought to anyone permeated into her. Her voice was no longer harsh. It was soothing, and the peril of falling slowly subsided.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Sorey, why are you so caring?” Tyria asked him in between her lyrics. “So many horrible things have happened to you, yet you’re still worried about everyone else.”
“I’m the Shepherd,” he answered with a smile. “If I don’t care, who will? I don’t want this world to fall into ruin. I want it to live on so that one day I can accomplish my dream. I want seraphim and humans, Reyvateils and Teru—I want everyone to live together in coexistence.” She watched his face with innocent confusion. It was dream that Aoto and Lyner and even Croix had wanted. Coexistence with those that held the powers of gods at their fingertips. “And…if I want to be together with him, I have to make sure my dream comes true. When it does, then it can live on in him.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Tyria’s Song finished, though her voice and its melody lingering within the Binary Field. She wiped her tears away as if ashamed that she had cried alongside them. Shurelia and Frelia joined her and Sorey, at first afraid that she would still lash out. When their eyes all met, there was a sudden connection. Their hearts resonated together, and like a channel, Sorey saw that they were on the road to forgiveness.
“There’s nothing more important than family,” Sorey said, albeit faintly. “You three brought me, Mikleo, and Gramps together. Allow me to help you forgive each other and be a family again.”
“Lord Sorey…thank you for helping them,” Frelia smiled shyly at him. He was happy that they could work things out, especially after so many centuries. Then she noticed that he looked pale. “A-Are you okay?”
“The energy from the Song and being in the Binary Field for too long must be getting to him,” Shurelia figured.
“We’ve accomplished our goal, so get him out of here,” Tyria commanded. She glanced at him. “We have our respective parts for whatever Song this is.” More than likely each of their guardians had made their pieces, but they resonated with the feelings they held currently. Tyria pondered it before realizing that perhaps it wasn’t them who had created the Hymn Crystal but someone else—someone who could withstand the passage of time. “I see, perhaps that old man made it.”
“Old man?” Frelia repeated.
“The one named Mayvin,” she replied with a smile.
“Mayvin?” Sorey uttered. “But I got the ore from Sasha. Do you think she must have found some of his notes?”
“Possibly. But it doesn’t matter.” Tyria waved Sorey and Shurelia away. “Once we all return to reality, let us prepare to combine this Song with the Synchronizer and stop the war.”
Sorey wasn’t ready to go yet. He remembered what would happen if Tyria used the power they had gotten from Metafalica. She would be using her life force, and in doing so, would ultimately kill herself. And even then, would it be enough? The Origins, however, were capable of using earthpulse points to share their power, which solved that problem. But still he worried about Tyria.
Shurelia escorted Sorey out of the Binary Field. They woke up in the Observatory where Meimei was holding back Mikleo from approaching her Dive Machine with his staff glowing with the power of water.
“Mikleo!” Sorey gleefully greeted him.
“Sorey, you’re okay!” he gasped. He pushed past the girl and wrapped his arms around his love. “When we got back to the Rinkernator, we thought you’d left us!”
“N-No, I just had to Dive into Shurelia!”
“You Dove into her?!”
“What’s with you all of a sudden?” Sorey couldn’t help but giggle at his overprotective attitude. Or perhaps it was shock?
Edna held her umbrella up over her. “Not surprising, but he nearly cried when he saw you two were gone,” she teased.
“He kept grumbling about how about how he needed to go to Elysia as soon as we’re done here,” Zaveid hinted.
Misha had come back with them, and along with Jacqli, they reported that the intruders had been taken care of. Once there was some sort of respite from the Hyland troops trying to invade the Tower, she called them to the Rinkernator. Before they left, she turned back to Sorey.
“We’ll prepare on our end here,” she said. She offered a tiny smile. “My sisters and I will do our best to help you stop this war. Go where you must; we’ll be right behind you.”
And with that, the three of them left for the Rinkernator while Sorey called on Zaveid for the Wind Armatus. It was time to go to Elysia for Mikleo’s sake.
Notes:
WE'RE GOING TO ELYSIA~
Chapter 187: Phase 7: Connecting to the Tower ~Mikleo~
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level 9: Mikleo
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,
en fwal syec mea.
Was yea ra chs mea yor
en fwal en chs hymme.
Notes:
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DIIIIIVE!!
Level 9 Dives in Ar Tonelico are honestly so heartwarming and touching and I'm so happy we're here to witness SorMik's symbolic wedding! And now, all of the Dives are complete!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Once Sorey left Eolia with the Wind Armatus activated, he soared down to the decrepit entrance of the abandoned village of Kylfe. They had to go past the waterfall, past the Galahad Ruins, and through the Aroundight Forest to get back to Elysia. Hellions littered the path, and albeit they were weak, Mikleo didn’t want to waste the time it would take to fight them off.
“Zaveid, let me Armatize,” Mikleo said.
“Oh-ho, can’t wait, can we?” Zaveid teased him.
“I just think you’re going too slow!”
“You’re in an awful rush,” Edna poked. “What do you think will happen in this Dive?”
“Alright, you three,” Sorey sighed, not as exasperated as he was impatient himself. Considering he had finished Diving into Edna and Zaveid and had gone as deep as he could, he hadn’t pledged his love to either one of them. He had witnessed their reunions with the people they cared about most in their memories. While he couldn’t say it, he felt he had an inkling of what was to come within Mikleo’s cosmosphere. “Zaveid, take us up!”
“What am I, your handler?” the wind seraph griped.
“You’re the only one that can fly us, so really you’re like one of those airships that Krusche builds,” Edna chided.
“Very funny.”
“I’m just stating the truth.”
Regardless, Zaveid flew high above the trees and the waterfall to the overhanging rock that looked out at Ladylake. It was one of the first landmarks Sorey and Mikleo had seen once they had left the scorched remains of their village. For them, this wasn’t some sort of respite like it had been for Edna. It was a homecoming that they weren’t sure if they were ready for.
Aroundight Forest was quiet, still, devoid of the protective domain that once enshrouded it and their village. It had been so long since they last came to Elysia, but here they were months after the initial invasion that had been the catalyst to start their adventure. Had they never left home, they would have never experienced all the pain and grief that they had come to know nor the friends they have made all along the way.
Zaveid brought them to the edge of the forest, de-Armatizing with Sorey before the seraphim manifested outside of his body. Mikleo gazed at Sorey, whose ever-tired face scrunched at the awful memories that flooded back to him. Edna and Zaveid, normally holding tricky smiles on their lips, felt their sorrow. They stayed at the edge and allowed the two boys to walk to the village gate.
The sky was clear above them, and at first, they almost believed that everything had been a bad dream and that their friends and family would run out of their stone huts to greet them. They would take them into their arms and kiss them and ask where they had gone for so long. Zenrus would come out from his house to shock them with his lightning, a testament of the harsh but caring love he held for them.
“I thought it would be easier,” Mikleo said. He was holding back tears; it was evident in his reddening eyes. “I was a fool to think that.”
Everything had been destroyed. The only mercy was that the corpses of the seraphim that hadn’t been taken had vanished, dissipating like dandelion seeds or into specks of light—they wouldn’t know.
“It’s so quiet here,” Sorey commented. He scanned the landscape. “It would have been nice to have shown everyone our home.”
Mikleo suddenly spun to face him. “Let’s Dive,” he said. Sorey stared at him with surprise. “It’s been so long since we’ve been here. I don’t want that every time we come back to Elysia that we’re reminded of the tragedy that took place. Sorey, if you Dive into me here and now…maybe we can start over. We can have even just one happy memory here—something we won’t have to feel sad about returning to!”
“Is this why you wanted to come here?”
“Yes, more than anything. When everything is said and done, I want us to be able to come back here. We can make our dream come true here.”
The memory of their village being ransacked, their happiness shattered by the grim reality that seraphim were being hunted, slowly began to be replaced with the hope that they could return and rebuild. Kyme was still alive; he had been a tremendous help to Zenrus. Yet, Sorey’s heart still wept. The seraphim that had been here in Elysia were special. They had accepted a more human-like way of living that had given him hope that coexistence was possible. Sorey wasn’t a child anymore, and he understood that they were different types of beings. Seraphim didn’t colonize and build homes. Only humans did that. If there were seraphim that Kyme brought here to give sanctuary, would they be willing to change their lifestyles? Would they eat with Sorey and and sleep and do all the things that humans do?
He knew this wasn’t the time to be worrying about that. There was a war going on far worse than before, and Mikleo wanted him desperately to Dive into him. This was his last Dive, so it made sense why he wanted him inside his heart and soul.
Sorey turned to Mikleo. He held his head and kissed him before whispering his name on his lips to Armatize with him. He had always loved the feeling he got before Diving into Mikleo, and he cherished the final time he would get to experience it. Slumber took hold, causing him to lay at the entrance of Elysia, the Village of the Seraphim.
Sorey woke up in the shared soulspace to Mikleo beaming with happiness. His eyes were welling with tears, and his smile stretched from ear to ear. Even in the waking world, he had never seen him with so much pleasure, pride, and anything else that would signify the final Dive.
“We’re here,” he said with some restraint, holding back the emotion as best as he could. “This is the final Dive, Sorey. This will be the last time you can Dive into my heart.”
Sorey understood this. Zaveid and Edna had mentioned it as well. Once he completed this Dive, he will have Dived as deep as he could go. There was nothing more after this, and while he was sad about that, he was grateful for the opportunity to help Mikleo.
“Are you ready, Mikleo?” Sorey asked him.
Mikleo nodded, approaching his Shepherd and letting him touch his chest to begin their last journey of the heart together.
A loud commotion caught Sorey’s attention as soon as he entered the cosmosphere from the shared soulspace. Everywhere around him from the Stonehenge to the memory of Elysia, decorations were set up. The Normin that he had gathered from the previous levels were all working hard to make the soulspace look festive and pretty. Other characters—those they had been travelling with as well as the Reyvateils from the Towers—were all there, too.
“What’s going on?” Sorey asked the Normin Acqua.
“I-I’m sorry, but I’m far too busy!” Acqua replied before scurrying off to catch a giant cake from falling out of the hands of a few other Normin. “Don’t drop the cake! That’s fifty years bad luck!”
Sorey just stared at the little group. Another Normin walked up to him with a religious mantle. “Ah, you must be Sorey,” it said. “My name is Roon. All of this is my doing.”
“But why?” Sorey asked. He had seen Zaveid’s world was dressed for a wedding, but there was no way that Mikleo was getting married.
“It’s a very special day. Mikleo is getting married today!”
Sorey flinched. Mikleo was seriously getting married today!
“If you’re looking for him, he should be at home getting ready. Normally I would say that the groom isn’t supposed to see the…well, I guess groom, but everyone is a bit busy as you can perceive. Would you please check on him?”
Since there wasn’t much else to do, Sorey did as he was told. He made his way to Mikleo’s home. But he couldn’t ignore what Roon had said. A groom shouldn’t see his partner? Was…Was Sorey the groom?
“I-Is…M-Mikleo…m-marrying me?!” he asked in a rasping whisper of disbelief. “M-Me?!” He arrived at the house, slowly opening the door as he was lost in thought. “T-There must be some mistake…M-Mikleo m-marrying m-me…?”
The sound of cloth tearing and snipping pulled him out of his buzzing thoughts. On the floor before him in tatters and torn up flowers, Gaine stood on a pile of damaged clothes. He saw the remains of an expensive light grey tuxedo.
“What are you doing?!” Sorey questioned him.
Gaine leapt up from debris, yanking Mikleo’s white tuxedo off his bed before escaping through the window just as the babe of a water seraph came out from the bath. His skin was pink from the steamy hot water, and he wore a towel around his waist—a fashion that dredged up some memories that he’d rather not remember now.
“Oh, Sorey, you’re here?” Mikleo greeted. He paused a second to examine his surprised expression then turned his attention to the pile on the floor. “H-Huh…?” Disheartened by what he had found, he spun back to Sorey. “How did this happen?”
“I walked in and saw Gaine cutting up that suit, then when it saw me, it got spooked and ran off with another suit,” Sorey answered him in a daze. He still couldn’t believe what he had seen. And the disappointment that his water seraph was feeling transferred to him as well. “Mik—”
“We have to get it back,” he replied. He still kept the towel on. “If we head out now, we can catch up!”
“B-But…what about getting dressed…?” Sorey stammered.
“I don’t have any other clothes!”
Mikleo grabbed him by the wrist and ran out the house. Together they made their way to Lefay at the edge of the cosmosphere. Here, Gaine was holding it over the edge in an attempt to threaten the two boys. Mikleo, grasping Sorey’s hand tightly with anger, demanded it to return the suit.
“Why?” Gained snapped back. “So you can bind with him forever? He’s going to trap you and hold you down! He’s going to bully me!”
Sorey sputtered at the notion. He was ready to defend his relationship with Mikleo, but the water seraph took a step toward it. After all, it was simply not true that the Shepherd, kind and gentle, would think of doing something so mean. Mikleo pointed out that the only one who was a bully was the Normin Mind Guardian itself. And that bothered it.
“A-Am I really a bully?” Gaine sniffled. “But I thought you liked me being mean…”
“Who would ever like that?!” Mikleo scolded. “Sorey is the person I’ve decided to entrust my heart. We’ve been through so much together, experiencing happiness and sorrow and risking our lives for each other. I love him more than anyone else, so I can attest that he would never bully you.”
“M-Mikleo…” Sorey murmured. His face was slowly turning pink.
“You, on the other hand, just bully me and him all the time! If you apologize, then nothing bad will happen to you. But that’s only if you apologize.”
Gaine pulled the suit away from the edge, sniffling all the while. It came from the ledge, approaching Sorey with an uncanny shyness. It apologized for all the trouble it had caused then handed the suit back to Mikleo. It then made its way back to the decorations as it promised that it would help and behave.
Sorey and Mikleo made their way back to the house. When they opened the door, they found that the tuxedo that had previously been shredded was all back together as if it had never been touched. The two of them changed into the tuxedos, and when they caught a glimpse of each other, their hearts leapt.
“Y-You look…so…” Sorey stammered. “Beautiful.”
“You’re not too bad yourself,” Mikleo giggled. “Shall we go?”
Hand in hand, they made their way to the ceremonial altar the Normin and their friends had prepared. Standing there waiting for them to present themselves before him, Zenrus smiled. Sorey couldn’t help but tear up seeing him, and Mikleo knew that perhaps their beloved Gramps would have loved to see their wedding day.
“My, both of you have grown up,” Zenrus said. “It only feels like yesterday that I was caring for you two as babies. Now, you’re here before me getting married.”
Sorey wiped his eyes. He tried so hard not to cry at his own wedding, but he wondered if he was crying because of the union or because he saw the only other face he longed to see. Mikleo held onto his hand; he knew that it was a memory that would bring great pain but great happiness.
“Wait, is Gramps officiating this?” Sorey asked between sobs. “M-Mikleo…!”
“I imagine that he would have liked to. After all, he raised us after we were saved by the Origins. Come on, Sorey, don’t cry.”
Sorey took a deep breath. One last time, he had to listen to Zenrus.
“Welcome beloved family and friends,” the old lightning seraph started. “We are gathered here today for a very special occasion: Sorey and Mikleo’s marriage!” Of course, he whispered as aside to them that it was only a formality and not a real wedding, and Mikleo at that point teared up even though he tried his best to keep a straight face. “This is a feat only accomplished when a human has Dived to the deepest parts of the soul, exposing the good, the bad, and the ugly within. By joining together in this ceremony, Mikleo will be able to learn his strongest Song Magic. Now then, you two. Please face each other.”
Suddenly, Sorey’s heart was fluttering, and he felt like he was going to burst. Formality or not, he didn’t expect to see Mikleo before him in all his splendor. He took his hands.
“Do you, Mikleo, take Sorey to be your husband, leaning on him in your times of need and supporting him forevermore?” Zenrus asked.
“I do,” Mikleo graciously said. He had forced the binding words from his throat that had a lump stuck in it.
“And do you, Sorey, take Mikleo to be your husband, leaning on him in your times of need and supporting him forevermore?”
Sorey tried to say the words at first, but they only came out as squeaks. It was all so much, and he could feel the waves of love washing over him. He nodded then gave a definite, “I do.”
“By the power invested in me, please take each other into your arms, holding on and solidifying the bond that thrives between you.”
Sorey wasted no time in scooping Mikleo into him. He hugged him tightly, and Mikleo returned the same hug. Mikleo pushed himself back to look up at him. The sun lit up his amethyst eyes.
“We finally did it, Sorey,” he said. “You Dove to the deepest and most private parts of my cosmosphere. Because of you, I learned how to sing. I got stronger and stronger. No matter the pain we went through, we always came back together. I will always be with you, so please, stay by my side. Let’s chase our dream together.”
Sorey couldn’t help himself. He went in for a kiss—a long one that conveyed how happy he was to have married him and how sad he was that it wasn’t real. He looked at him with his emerald eyes. But he wasn’t finished there yet. They had to go to the Tower of Life and connect Mikleo to the Tower of Eolia and to Ar Tonelico.
Like the other Towers of Life, it was at the edge of the cosmosphere. Zenrus escorted them there after the Normin and their friends congratulated them. It was here that Mikleo would receive the final Song Magic.
“This is…” the water seraph said.
“Yes, the final obstacle before you can reach your full potential,” Zenrus confirmed. “When you lay your hand on the face of the Tower of Life, you will be connected to Ar Tonelico and receive power from Eolia itself.”
Mikleo looked at the infinite obelisk without fear. He had grown so much, and Sorey was proud of him. They exchanged looks before he went forward. With his slender hand, he touched it. A surge of power crashed into him, and in that moment, he felt the feelings within the Tower and what power it held. It was a tide of change that he welcomed with open arms. As the sensation faded, he turned back to Zenrus and Sorey.
“Congratulations, Mikleo!” Sorey happily said.
“Thank you—if you didn’t help me, I wouldn’t have been able to make it this far,” Mikleo responded.
“And congratulations, Sorey!” Zenrus grinned. “You’re now Mikleo’s new Mind Guardian!” Sorey was very surprised, drawing a conclusion that perhaps that was why Gaine had tried to sabotage the wedding. “You’re Mikleo’s pillar of support—always have been and always will be. You two take care of each other, got it? These old bones…I’m going to rest them a while.”
The memory of Zenrus returned to his house at the apex of the mountain while Mikleo and Sorey made their way back to the Stonehenge for the final Paradigm Shift. Their fingers interlocked, the two digested the fact that they were married now. Well, they were married within the spiritual space. They had gone through so much, but they knew that their fight wasn’t over. They had to stop Heldalf, and if this bond would help them do that, it was even better. They stood before the Stonehenge.
“This is really the end,” Sorey said. “Mikleo, am I allowed to still Dive into you?”
“I don’t see why not, but wouldn’t it be boring? I don’t think it’s necessary to continue Diving when there’s nothing else to do.”
“I guess you’re right…”
They fell silent for a moment.
“Sorey,” Mikleo uttered. He stopped himself. “No, never mind. If you ever want to Dive again, just tell me.”
Sorey tilted his head. Was he going to say something else? No matter how much he wanted to ask, he didn’t have time. If he waited any longer, the Paradigm Shift would disappear. The connection made to the Tower would be nullified.
“No matter what,” Sorey said as he stepped to the blinding light. He spun around, offering the Mikleo deep within the heart of his beloved water seraph a sincere, divine, yet bittersweet smile. “We’ll always be together now.”
He stepped into the light, and all turned faded away into white.
The two boys woke before the threshold into the village, Mikleo’s new power pulsating throughout his body. It was strong and violent like the raging currents he often commanded. Without a doubt, this new power would be handy for protecting Sorey.
Sorey couldn’t say anything about the Dive. The fact that he had married him even if symbolically—it was so different from Edna and Zaveid, both of who had been reunited with important people in their lives. But Mikleo was important to Sorey, and Sorey was important to Mikleo.
The biggest thing that came out of the Dive, however, was his decision. He couldn’t wait any longer lest he would never get another chance. They were in the middle of a war that threatened to destroy everything. He still had to find Heldalf and stop him. If he died between now and then, he would regret everything.
“S-Sorey? Why do you look so serious?” Mikleo nervously asked.
“It’s nothing,” Sorey fibbed. “We finished the Dive, and as much as I’d like to sit and talk—”
All four of them felt a chill in the air. The skies turned a hazy grey above them, darkening to black as the clouds gathered over Glaivend Basin. There was no time to waste! The war was getting worse and worse, and the sudden presence of a strong malevolence far away from Elysia demanded their attention.
“Are we ready?” Mikleo asked.
“If we aren’t by now, then can we really call ourselves saviors?” Edna scoffed.
“Sorey, let’s go,” Zaveid urged.
“Right,” Sorey affirmed. “Everyone, brace yourselves. We cannot lose this battle!” Raising his gloved hand into the air, he called out, “Fylk Zahdeya!”
Edna and Mikleo returned within him as Zaveid showered him in green light and gave him the Wind Armatus once more. The Shepherd could only pray that his Squires and their seraphim were safe; no one was allowed to perish here, or else all hope would be lost.
Notes:
So I had this chapter take place near Elysia as a nod to the side quest in which Mikleo begins to confess his feelings only to keep them hidden again. The events in this story and the actual game are naturally very different now, but I hope I could at least give what we almost got in the game here~
Now it's time to stop a war.
Chapter 188: Phase 7: A New Power Awakens
Summary:
Sorey rushes to Glaivend Basin to stop the war, but instead he finds a major part of Heldalf's arsenal Tiamat. Can the Origins perform their Song to help the Shepherd and his friends defeat it?
Notes:
Happy Easter!
I'm feeling a bit generous today. I'll add the lyrics to this Hymmnos to the story, especially since they are so important to the story. No translation will be offered, and formatting will differ from the original intent of the lyrical flow.
Now, that all said, I think I originally wanted EXEC_PHILHARMONICS/. to be set to the melody of New Power Awakens, but I think that would be hard given how long some of the lines get...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Cloche and Luca stared at the swirling darkness in the distance from the Second Tower. The ominous cloud expanded over the battlefield. Misha, Aurica, and Jacqli watched with anticipation and anxiety that something far bigger and stronger than anything they had faced encroached on the land. And from Tilia, too far away to know what could be happening, Tyria spoke with both Harvestashas.
“L-Lady Tyria, do you understand what you’re saying?” Harvestasha XP cried.
“That’s why I have to do it,” Tyria replied.
As the Towers braced themselves for the potential threat that was manifesting at the heart of the war, the bloodcurdling scream echoed.
The wind seraph that Heldalf had kidnapped and thrown into the center of the war was surrounded by the malevolence generated from the battle-hungry soldiers hailing from Rolance and Hyland. He stared helplessly at the carnage around him and the transforming warriors and the growing hellions. Clutching his hair, he tried his best to keep a hold on his sanity until finally it was too much.
Rose and Dezel fought off a pair of hellions while Alisha and Lailah blasted others away. Their attention was seized by the shriek and a sudden flash that signaled to them that they needed to escape while they still could. Lailah and Dezel felt the fear coming from the seraph before it was swallowed by an unending desire to devour everything in sight. What was born from the malevolence was a dragon named Tiamat—far stronger than Eizen and worthy of Heldalf’s arsenal.
The dragon roared to the heavens above and to each Tower, shaking them all ever so slightly. Soldiers, stunned by the monster before them, stared at it with awe and fear before it swept them aside with its gigantic tail or incinerated them with fires from hell.
The two seraphim grabbed their vessels’ hand and ran for safety, falling back to the Hyland base. Thankfully the soldiers there hadn’t abandoned Alisha. They were only curious about where Maltran had gone, but there was no time to even begin to hide the truth from them. And up above riding the wind to the battlefield to lend a hand in the oncoming threat, Sorey caught a glimpse of the horror that greed had led to.
“That’s…a dragon?!” Sorey gasped.
“Must be the seraph that was thrown into the middle of the war,” Mikleo conjectured.
As soon as Sorey and his seraphim had all come to that conclusion, the massive beast shot a ball of fire from its mouth. Zaveid expertedly dodged it, yet even then the dark flames singed Sorey’s leg. The wind seraph apologized then took him down to the center of the Hyland base where Mikleo swiftly took care of the burn.
Edna, stepping out into the open, watched the confused and desperate soldiers. “If we don’t do anything, every human here will be annihilated,” she observed rather calmly.
“We have to at least buy some time,” Sorey said. “Lady Shurelia, Lady Frelia, and Lady Tyria are all working together to help us stop this war.”
“They’re going to need to do more than just stop the war; we have to take down that dragon,” Zaveid corrected. He glanced at Edna. She didn’t want to show it, but her heart broke for the poor soul that had been forced into becoming a monster. Reminded of Eizen, Zaveid knew that there was no way around killing it. They all knew that. “Edna…”
“Let’s put him out of his misery,” she said. “He’s in pain, right? So we just need to make it so he’s not hurting anymore.”
“Aren’t you upset?” Mikleo asked her.
“What is that going to do other than waste time? Sorey, let’s get going.”
Sorey was ready now that the Origins had mended their relationship, but it would take some time for them to be ready to use the Song Magic that had been etched into the Hymn Crystal. Furthermore, they had to find Alisha and Rose. Well, they could regroup with them later. It was more important to start damage control. The four of them started on their way to the center.
“Sorey!” Rose called out from one of the tents. She and Alisha stepped out of one of the first aid tents after trying to tend to wounded soldiers. “You’re finally here.”
“How did meeting with the Origins go?” Alisha asked not for pleasantries but for strategy.
“They’re preparing to help,” he told her. “I think they’ll work together now, but I don’t know when they’ll be ready. We have to try mitigating the damage for now.”
Considering that this was the best course of action, Alisha decided that she would stay at her base to rally her soldiers. Maltran was no longer there to lead, and all of the other officials were being flung off the Tower or had become hellions themselves. She had always felt that the war was senseless, and she still had followers. If she could get her men to stand beside her and provide assistance, then she could help Sorey on the field.
“Sorey, Rose—please go on ahead. I will meet you there,” the princess finally stated.
“I will stay with Alisha for when the time is right,” Lailah reassured them before following her back to the main tent.
Sorey smiled behind them because he knew that they were capable of getting Hyland to work with them to fight. He only hoped that Sergei was on the other side of the war trying to do the same thing. After all, he hated this pointless battle just as much as Alisha, and if they could call a truce, then maybe they had a chance. But the malevolence continued to worsen from the hatred either side held.
“Let’s go!” Sorey rallied.
Their seraphim residing within them so that they weren’t afflicted by the malevolence, the Shepherd and the Squire made their way to the center of the battlefield. Hellions rushed them and attempted to devour them, and while they were tired, a renewed vigor had sprouted. They fought as if they had energy to last a lifetime.
When they arrived just before Tiamat, they saw a familiar face trying to escort his comrade to safety. “Lucas, just leave me!” he begged him. “If you die, our faction will dissolve!”
“I’m not leaving a friend behind,” Lucas said. But once he turned to face Tiamat, he began to question if death was always like this—trying to do something good only to be destroyed.
“That thing is friggin’ huge…!” Rose gasped.
“Don’t get scared now,” Dezel spoke from within.
“We’ve got to do something, or Lucas is dead!” Mikleo as he materialized out of Sorey’s body.
Sorey wasn’t waiting around, though. He drew his sword, and with Rose behind him, he charged to the dragon just as it opened its mouth to eat the tiny humans before it. Leaping over them and hitting his blade on the hardened snout, he surprised the dragon and simply said:
“You can’t give up!”
Rose dug her daggers into Tiamat’s foot as Dezel and the other seraphim emerged to cast their Seraphic Artes. “Get out of here!” she told the mercenaries.
Lucas and a second mercenary that had come to his aid dragged the injured man to safety beyond the edge of the plateau. They slid down the side where Alisha and Sergei met to strategize. When they saw Lucas followed by the iridescent sparks of battle, and when they heard the roars of the angered dragon, they knew that Sorey was fighting a life-or-death battle.
“We’ve got to help him,” Sergei stated.
“Captain,” Alisha said with respect. “I’m putting you in charge of my men; I must help Sorey fight the dragon.” She pulled out a small handkerchief and handed it to him. “Show this to my soldiers and let those here now be witness. As Princess of Hyland, I’m declaring a truce between countries. We have a far greater problem than each other.”
Sergei was amazed at first. He bowed to her, took the handkerchief, and was escorted to the Hyland base. Next, Alisha Armatized with Lailah, using her power to scale the plateau and join the fight.
And from each Tower, the Origins focused on each other. Shurelia, Frelia, and Tyria—three sisters divided—now sang together to bring peace. Misha, Aurica, Jacqli, and all of their friends fought off the hellionizing soldiers still trying to infiltrate, but once the Song started, every assailant froze.
Rrha…
ki…
wa…
ini!
“They started singing!” Sorey alerted. “Come on, we can’t give up now!”
Sorey and Rose slashed at the steely legs when they could, dodging when Tiamat stomped the ground to send shockwaves at them. Mikleo and Dezel unleashed water and wind projectiles while Edna and Zaveid boosted their defenses and speed. Upon Alisha’s arrival, the girl cloaked in fire tried to stab it in the abdomen. The hard carapace deflected the attack.
Ma granme ra zahha viega en ousye boia
Van hyzik re nuboisu hynne pak echrra enerel
Was yea ra accrroad tes yora infel stellod gyas
Van hynne re ftt, na netvear
Wee quel ga aterra anw yora dea lir mea
Ma num wa ates engua agga pak yehar pawr mea en swant plargamera
(Rrha apea erra chs falfa)
Tiamat roared then swiped at Sorey. Static flew off its claws, paralyzing part of his body on contact. Feeling like a venom coursing through him, he struggled to hold himself up. But he wasn’t going to let this stop him. As much as it hurt not to feel his left arm and leg, he had to push on.
“Luzrov Rulay!” he called out. As soon as he Armatized with Mikleo, he healed himself with his Rejuvenation Arte. “Zaveid, Dezel, hold it steady!” he ordered.
The wind seraphim wrapped their pendulums around the dragon’s wings to stop it from trying to fly above them. Sorey and Mikleo aimed an arrow at it. “Born of water! My bow is the heavens!” they chanted as they unleashed a myriad of arrows. “The vortex swallows you! Aqua Limit!”
Tiamat shrieked, bursting out of the chains of the pendulums and knocking the wind seraphim down. Edna and Rose laid traps at its feet with the hope that it would trigger them before the assassin called on Dezel’s Armatus. Sorey switched to Zaveid’s as well, and both of them flew up above.
Phyue! Byui ahjeas!
Forgandal rre corle mean synk sos ciel omnis
En vezedo PHILHARMONICS echrra innna yora
Valwa zixxa oz velsog an faja!
“Can you keep up?!” the four of them chanted. Daggers of wind formed throughout the dark sky like millions of green glowing stars. “Come, divine wings! Swarm the skies!” They sent the daggers to rain down on the dragon. “Sylphistia!”
Alisha stabbed the dragon once more, this time managing to get the burning sword through the scales and wounding it.
Iem yesse viega yor en zaffur sos infel en quowjaz here ede boia an stellod geeow mean
(Presia yanwe spiritum yor)
Presia, Diasee, chs mea anw pawr yor sos ieeya yor
Presia, Diasee, na tasim sos mea (vl yehar pawr mea anw ciel)
(Her chs missea, her chs) hymmnos elle innna syec mean!)
Was zweie ra hymme (fanalea vie wasa) li walasye col crannidale murfanare mean!
Tiamat snatched Alisha and Rose both from the ground and out of the sky. The speed at which it grabbed them stunned them, and the seraphim were unable to de-Armatize. Sorey landed with the worry that they were close to being killed.
“Focus, Sorey!” Edna snapped at him. “Final Embrace!”
“Freeze Lancer!” Mikleo cast.
“I can carry you up to them, but you’ll have to free them,” Zaveid said.
“No problem,” Sorey agreed.
The wind seraph circled the massive hellion for an opening, and as he neared its shoulder, he de-Armatized. Sorey ran down its arm to the hand clasped around Alisha. To prevent the dragon from turning to him and setting him ablaze, Zaveid threw his chains around its neck and dropped to the ground with breakneck speed.
Piercing the hand, Sorey freed Alisha from its death grip. Tiamat screeched and blew fire all around in agony. The Shepherd quickly made his way to Rose and did the same. Once she was back on the ground, Mikleo set about to healing both girls.
Was apea ra re ar dor fusya dea afezeria…yehah!
(Ma i wa aulla pawr mea marst yehar sos yor! Ma i wa aulla pawr mea marst yehar sos yor!)
Rrha…
ki…
wa…
ini!
Shurelia, Frelia, and Tyria sang with as much force as they could muster. Reading each other’s feelings, they kept faith that they could support their strength. But there was something strange in Tyria’s voice. She didn’t sing with as much purpose as Shurelia and Frelia—in fact, she was far more reserved than she should have been.
Ma granme ra zahha viega en ousye boia
Van hyzik re nuboisu hynne pak echrra enerel
Was yea ra accrroad tes yora infel stellod gyas
Van hynne re ftt, na netvear
Wee quel ga aterra anw yora dea lir mea
Ma num wa ates engua agga pak yehar pawr mea en swant plargamera
(Rrha apea erra chs falfa)
“Tyria, are you okay?” Shurelia asked her sister.
“Everything is fine,” she replied curtly. “I don’t know why you’re so worried. Just focus on the Song.”
Phyue! Byui ahjeas!
Forgandal rre corle mean synk sos ciel omnis
En vezedo PHILHARMONICS echrra innna yora
Valwa zixxa oz velsog an faja!
Iem yesse viega yor en zaffur sos infel en quowjaz here ede boia an stellod geeow mean
(Presia yanwe spiritum yor)
Presia, Diasee, chs mea anw pawr yor sos ieeya yor
Presia, Diasee, na tasim sos mea (vl yehar pawr mea anw ciel)
(Her chs missea, her chs) hymmnos elle innna syec mean!)
Was zweie ra hymme (fanalea vie wasa) li walasye col crannidale murfanare mean!
Frelia then realized it, too. A different emotion was peeking through their determination and hope. It wasn’t the same, and it scared her far more than she had anticipated. Tyria waved it away, again telling them to focus on singing.
Was apea ra re ar dor fusya dea afezeria…yehah!
(Ma i wa aulla pawr mea marst yehar sos yor! Ma i wa aulla pawr mea marst yehar sos yor!)
And it was then nearing the end of the Song that Sorey, Alisha, and Rose were pushed back. Tiamat roared again, this time in immense agony that crushed their hearts. The seraph within the dragon was long gone, but his pain was eternal. Tiamat cried more and more, the malevonce drawn to it like a giant magnet. It healed its wounds, and all of the progress the trio of heroes had made vanished.
Sergei, backed by thousands of soldiers from Hyland and Rolance, watched the titanic lizard loom over them. “Is even the Shepherd’s power not enough?” he questioned.
“Not yet—we can’t give up yet!” Sorey pressed on. Despite the exhaustion in his bones, he pushed himself to keep fighting. He was aware of the time wasted moping around, and even when he got Mikleo back and had everything in place, there had been no time to rest. Still, that couldn’t be the reason that he fell. “Come on!”
They kept fighting to the soldiers’ amazement. Lucas thought he could fight because he was the Shepherd, but Sergei knew better. He had fought him one on one. Even though times were grim, even though Sorey and Alisha and Rose and their seraphim had all suffered so much, even though they hadn’t known a day of peace; they kept fighting.
And Tyria felt that in her heart. Shurelia and Frelia were finished singing, but she continued:
Ma num ra knawa engua aiph yehar pawr
Ma num ra knawa rre yorra na jass her
Den sos li cyurio
Was yea wa araus mea iem
An cenjue yanje yanje ieeya sos yor
Sorey heard her voice and how somber it became. What was she planning to do? He Armatized again and again with each of his seraphim, and matcing Rose or Alisha’s attacks, he made Tiamat stagger back.
“We can do this…Tyria, whatever you’re thinking…” Sorey panted. Letting out a battle cry, he faced off with Tiamat once more. But because it was supercharged from the malevolence, the dragon had a few new tricks.
The corrupted Hymmnos that tumbled from its scaly maw called forth catastrophic fires and blistering tornadoes. Then it began an incantation for some giantic attack that they couldn’t begin to predict.
Ah, Diasee, presia kiafa mea
Was touwaka erra jass yehah sos Ar ciel
Llizz, aiph li yehah, omnis tatakaria fujara
Rol revm yor
Rol revm yor
Ah, her sephaje
Her bautifal sephaje!
Was zweie ra rre yorra zwihander sos li cyurio
“Fire!” Sergei ordered. Thousands of soldiers launched a maelstrom of arrows into the dragon, interrupting the spell and giving Sorey and his friends a chance to fight back.
“Captain Sergei…!” Alisha gasped. “So he was able to get everyone to work with him…”
“We can’t let his help go to waste!” Rose laughed.
Sorey was relieved that they were helping them. But again, his mind drifted to the voice echoing solely from Tilia. He listened carefully to the next set of Hymmnos.
Presia fowrlle ar ciel
Presia fountaina omni manaf ween omga fane
Presia lautyca prooth yor an beja lasnatine en valwa anw cupla
Presia sapon sos li cyurio
“Keep at it!” Lucas commanded his men. “Don’t stop fighting until that big ol’ lizard stays down!”
Mikleo, moving to the front of battle, stood before the dragon. His staff tightly grasped in his hands, he concentrated to unleash his second Mystic Arte. A magic circle shined around Tiamat before a rush of water launched it into the air.
“Begone!” he screamed over the sounds of battle. “Your fate has been set! Regret your wicked acts!” Hundreds of icicles hovered around the hellion. “Rime Slaughter!”
With a quick swipe, Mikleo let loose the icicles into the dragon.
Edna followed behind him with her second Mystic Arte. “Down!” she called out as she dropped a boulder onto its head. “Here goes! Keep staring around, and you’re dead! Too late for you!” Riding on the shaft of her umbrella, she fired twinkling projectiles at it. She veered skyward with more icicles raining down on Tiamat before a magic circle appeared. She dropped a sphere of condensed gravity from her finger, crushing it into the ground. “Shooting Stars!”
“Not so fast! Can’t have you guys showing me up,” Zaveid smirked. He sped into the fray. “Can you keep up?!” he asked. “C’mere, haha! Keep your distance!” He pulled the dragon close to him at dangerous speed, leaping off a magic circle that formed at his feet in the air before whipping a whirlwind around the dragon. “Heaven or Hell!”
Tiamat crumbled to the ground from the back-to-back beatings and the flurry of arrows. Rose, Alisha, and Sorey leapt back feeling proud of their work, but it wasn’t finished yet. “Sorey, do it!” Rose told him.
“Quickly while we have it where we want it,” Alisha urged.
Sorey took hold of his sword, but once he glanced from it to Tiamat, he was worried about the seraph. No, he understood it. He couldn’t save him, and only in death would he find peace from the nightmare that Heldalf had plunged him into. He looked at Alisha and Rose. Edna and Zaveid returned inside of him as the three Armatized.
Was apea ra re ar dor fusya dea afezeria…yehah!
Tiamat got back up as the three charged at it. Sinking their weapons into its head, they braced themselves. Tiamat screeched as water, fire, and wind exploded from the grievous wound they had left. Sergei and Lucas watched, nervous that even after all that it wouldn’t be enough. The dragon flew up in a last effort to destroy them all.
The three of them cried out in pain both from sorrow and from the pressure around them. Tiamat flew higher and higher into the sky.
Was touwaka wa rre hiralg oz denera re nyasyamorina
Forgandal infel haf pawr so Ar Ciel re rifaien
Something shattered. Suddenly, there was a deafening popping that came from the Tower of Tilia. A beam of blinding light raced over the land, the energy from the Shepherd and Squires’ Armatuses simultaneously erupting from Tiamat’s head. The dragon screeched and roared, its skull cracking from the energy. And that was when Sorey saw the beam of light that raced towards them.
“What the…?” he uttered.
The light shot through Tiamat’s chest, and the monster let out a bone-chilling shrill scream. The impact of the beam, the whirling vortex of the malevolence around it, and the force of the Armatus thus pushed the dark clouds of war and death away. The golden sun, in all its splendor, shined on the scarred battlefield. All the soldiers from Hyland to Rolance and the mercenaries in between stared in awe at the radiance and warmth they had forgotten. They cheered and hugged each other as they celebrated not a win for either side but for all living things.
“Victory for humanity!” Sergei called with jubilance. Lucas raised his sword and joined in the celebration until he noticed that the Captain of the Platinum Knights seemed confused. “Lord Shepherd? Lady Alisha?”
“Where did they go?” Lucas asked him. “Even the spunky red-head is missing.”
The Tower of Eolia was suddenly devoid of Hyland soldiers. Bartlow had escaped back to the land below, but in his desperation, he found himself running towards the Aroundight Forest. His forces, instead, had been overcome with a clarity of mind that opened their eyes. They lay down their weapons in surrender to the Knights and Apostles of Elemia. Shurelia, exhausted from singing with her sisters yet still bound to her duty as administrator, checked in on them.
While Frelia was just as tired, Tyria was frightened. “I…I unleashed the power received from Metafalica, yet I don’t feel death,” she muttered in the Binary Field. “What happened? My telomeres should be disintegrating by now.”
“Well, maybe it just takes some time,” Frelia suggested. “Or maybe you didn’t use all that power. After all, Sorey and his friends helped fight that dragon.”
“Whatever happened, the malevolence has cleared significantly for now,” Shurelia sighed. “The soldiers invading my Tower relented.”
“Which is great and all, but we still have a problem,” Jacqli interrupted as she entered the Binary Field. “Sorey still needs to stop Heldalf. So, where is he?”
Notes:
Man, if you read this chapter with New Power Awakens, it's fucking fantastic! And I'm not tooting my own horn--I did write while listening to it.
Chapter 189: Phase 7: An Overdue Respite
Summary:
Tiamat has been defeated. Now it's time for a long-deserved rest.
Notes:
This is an incredibly short chapter, but I really feel like after that battle, the crew needs some sleep. And I really like writing about characters sleeping and cuddling with each other.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Left panting and exhausted, the Shepherd and his Squires took a moment to catch their breath. The seraphim stepped out of them to watch the final wisps of war vanish into the morning sky. The malevolence hadn’t just been quelled, but it felt as if the whole region surrounding Glaivend Basin had been purified. As Sorey, Rose, and Alisha pushed themselves off the ground, they focused on their hearts. There was no heavy feeling or anxiety. They could take a breath without worrying about the future for a moment.
“Well, that was my exercise for the year!” Rose sighed.
“But we managed to protect everyone and deal a major blow to Heldalf,” Alisha added.
“And the Origins really worked together,” Sorey concluded. “I know we have a chance now. Heh, I haven’t felt this relieved in a while.” He took a step towards Mikleo before collapsing into Zaveid’s grasp. “Ha…ha…Guess…I’m more exhausted…than I thought…”
“We can’t go one day without him tiring himself out, can we?” Edna grumbled.
“I’m pretty winded myself,” Mikleo mentioned.
“We did all just take down a dragon,” Lailah smiled.
“We still have the old hideout,” Dezel said, pointing in the direction of Tintagel Ruins. “We can rest there.”
It was a unanimous decision, but as soon as they started in the direction of the hideout, Rose climbed onto his back and Alisha asked Lailah to help her. Sorey, still conscious, felt too spent to carry himself, and to carry all of them, Edna pulled a slab of mud for them to ride on. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha sat on the levitating board while the seraphim walked alongside it. Slowly, the three humans lowered themselves down, the first waves of slumber threatening to wash over them.
When they came to the hideout entrance, Edna allowed them to slide off the top, though their legs could barely hold them. They were forced to climb down the ladder into the underground ruins, but it was then only a short walk to the beds. They didn’t greet the place or see if anything had been stolen. They took themselves to the beds and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
“Oh dear, they really did push themselves, didn’t they,” Lailah cooed after tucking Alisha into bed.
“Even now, Sorey’s face looks so innocent,” Mikleo smiled at him. He touched his face, which made his love instinctively turn to his hand. He let out gentle sigh against his skin before remaining so still that he appeared to have been suspended in time. The coolness of Mikleo’s hand was but one of many small comforts right then and there.
“He’s always innocent—asleep or awake,” Edna corrected him. She took a seat at the edge of his bed. “You’d think…that he’d…be jaded by life…by now…” She dozed off.
“I’m surprised, too,” Mikleo yawned. Seraphim didn’t have to sleep, but this time was different. He found a spot next to Sorey to lay down on the other side away from where Edna had taken her perch. Carefully so not to disturb him, he curled up next to him then took Sorey’s hand into his. “I’m glad, however, that his heart hasn’t changed after all this time.”
Dezel draped his jacket over Rose. He set his hat at the edge of the bed then climbed on beside her. Putting his arm around her after stroking her hair, he was glad that she could have rest herself. He wished she didn’t have to deal with Lunarre or Symonne or anyone that reminded them of the past.
“If anything, let this moment be peaceful enough,” he whispered to himself. He breathed in her hair then followed along into dreamland.
Lailah watched over all of them and her Alisha. She had never guessed that her princess would be apart of something so grand. In different circumstances, she would have stayed in Ladylake to help guide her people away from darkness. She still worried about her, and like a mother to others, she only hoped that they would stay safe.
“You know, these kids will be alright,” Zaveid reassured her from the other side of the room. Lailah looked at him inquisitively. “They’ve all been to hell and back more times than I can count. They’ve done way more suffering than any human—or seraph—should have to.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Lailah admitted. “They’re all trying so hard not to be tainted. They’ve done so many wonderful things: restoring the Towers, quelling malevolence. But can they truly last this final leg of our adventure?”
Zaveid couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on, Lailah-cakes! Have a little more faith in them. Sorey’s got it together, believe it or not. And Rose? Rose handles herself. And don’t get me started on your Alisha—you’ve done well by her side, and she’s incredibly strong.” He picked out a spot against the wall and next to a set of crates. “Get some rest, Lailah. We still have a long way to go.”
“Um, Zaveid?” When the wind seraph peeked back her, she pointed to the edge of Alisha’s bed. “You know, you don’t have to sit so far from everyone else. We’re…a family. A family that quells hellions, but a family nonetheless.”
He chuckled but conceded. He joined them.
Notes:
And this marks the end of Phase 7! Phase 8 will start next week--the final leg of this journey!
Chapter 190: Phase 8: A Truce Among Countries
Summary:
With a well-deserved rest after defeating Tiamat, Sorey and company return to Lastonbell to check on Sergei and Lucas. But Mikleo and Dezel don't feel comfortable about their humans wandering off.
Notes:
Today we start Phase 8, the penultimate arc! It's a bit of a short start, but I think you'll be pleased with what comes of it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next morning, the seraphim woke from their recuperation. Nothing had changed since they cleared the malevolence coming from Tiamat, which was a relief. The Towers were in good condition, and the fighting had ceased. Zaveid and Dezel read it on the wind while Edna felt it through the earthpulse. But the humans in the troupe were still out cold. They had barely moved in their slumber, prompting Mikleo and Dezel to worry if they had died in their sleep.
Lailah reassured them that they were simply still resting. She was sure because Alisha had sprung up in her dreams. She muttered something about a truce before lowering herself back to her pillow. And Sorey was still lightly snoring. Rose had pulled Dezel’s jacket from her arms and hugged it.
“Human energy is finite,” the fire seraph explained to them. “They pushed themselves so hard during that fight that it might be a few days before they wake up.”
“A few days?” Edna repeatedly with some irritation. “We should just leave them to go fight Kittybeard then.”
“Edna!”
“Calm down,” Zaveid smirked. “Honestly, let them sleep. Not like that old man is going anywhere. He’s got Maotelus right where he wants him. Besides, it’s a wonder how Sorey hasn’t run himself into the ground from lack of proper rest. We should definitely make sure they get some food soon, though.”
“What a dad,” Edna scoffed.
Mikleo paid no attention to them. He wanted Sorey in good health not just to fight. The Shepherd, forced through trial after trial, would have been at the end of his rope if they kept going. The pure fatigue that came from fighting and killing a dragon could have been deadly, threatening a total shutdown if they hadn’t collapsed in the first place. He took that time to heal him and the girls. Who knows, he thought, if they weren’t injured on the inside?
Two days passed, and still they didn’t wake up. Mikleo did his best to keep them watered, but food was a different story. They couldn’t eat in their sleep without choking, so the seraphim just waited patiently. Another three days passed; no response. Dezel checked on Rose, who had stopped rolling in her sleep while Lailah stared intensely at Alisha. And finally, after another two days, they woke up.
The seraphim had gone elsewhere, leaving Sorey, Rose, and Alisha on their own to regain their bearings. Tintagel Ruins hadn’t changed. That was good. They crawled up the ladder to the morning sun outside, golden and shining through the canopy of the Volgran Forest. The seraphim were all sitting around enjoying the light mist in the air and warm sun on their faces. Having erased the malevolence over such a large area, it was refreshing and the whole forest was bathed in a new light. The seraphim particularly appeared to have been cast with halos.
“Ah, you’re awake!” Zaveid greeted them with a toothy smile.
“How are you feeling?” Lailah asked.
“Well rested, if anything,” Sorey replied. “It’s been so long since I’ve slept like that!”
“Amazing what a week of sleep can do for you,” Mikleo teased. But he was happy. His cheerful radiance had returned, even if for a short time. “Shall we get going?”
“Before we do,” Alisha interrupted. “I wish to see Sergei and Lucas.”
“Oh yeah! We should check up on them! After all, they helped out with that dragon, too!” Rose grinned.
“Do we really have time for this?” Edna asked them.
“Well, it would be a good idea to make sure things really are okay,” Sorey sighed. “Alisha and Sergei have been trying to make amends between Hyland and Rolance, and if we didn’t follow up…”
“All of our hard work would be wasted,” Alisha finished. She turned in the direction of Lastonbell. It was the nearest city with a pub, and knowing soldiers, it would be the place they would head to first. “We can leave soon after, I promise.”
Sorey agreed with meeting with Sergei. With the seraphim inside their hearts, they began their trek back to Lastonbell. The hellions had essentially vanished from the forest, replaced with normal plants and animals. As they walked, the Shepherd wanted to visit the Origins again and thank them for their assistance. Then he remembered that he had heard something shatter. He shoved his hand in his pocket only to find the tiny shards of the diamond ore that Sasha had given him. The fail-safe to protect Tyria had been used; now what was she going to do?
Sasha let out a sigh as she performed maintenance on her satellite. Cocona watched her. Everyone on Tilia had seen the beam of light pierce the horizon, and she had to wonder then if that meant that Tyria had fulfilled her duty. But she hadn’t fired on the world; she’d used that power on the threat in Glaivend Basin.
“Tyria didn’t use that power the way she was supposed to, did she?” Cocona suddenly asked.
“What makes you say that?” Sasha asked.
“Just a feeling…I can sense Lady Cloche through Infel Phira, and it seems she saw Tyria’s power, too. She still has some in reserve…somehow.”
“That means that it worked!”
“What worked?”
“I gave Sorey something that would buffer Tyria’s…use…oh no, that means if she has to use it again, she might not survive.” Dejected by her miscalculation, Sasha dropped the wrench she was holding. It clattered into a bucket on the ground, startling a few pigeons that had roosted on her store’s sign. The birds flew up and away, drawing the two girls’ eyes up the Tower.
In the Harvestasha Module, Tyria consulted the two Harvestashas. The fail-safe was meant for Heldalf, but she hadn’t anticipated that the Lord of Calamity would throw yet another obstacle. She had some power from Metafalica left over, but was it enough? And once she used it, wouldn’t the countdown on her life begin?
“Lady Tyria, is this truly what you want?” Harvestasha XP asked her friend.
“I must do what I can to help the Shepherd and rescue Maotelus,” Tyria told them. “I’m the Origin that can speak directly to the Wills of the Planet. If I can’t do just that, what is my purpose?”
Tyria steeled herself. She wanted to talk with Sorey again, but he was so far away. She couldn’t send anyone to be her messenger, either. There was Ar Ru, who could connect the seraphim together. Perhaps she could pinpoint Mikleo and speak through him. She prayed to the Will dwelling within her. She just needed to connect.
Sorey, Rose, and Alisha approached Sergei, whom had seen the last of his men enter Lastonbell with weapons and supply in tow. Lucas was with him, a hearty laugh erupting from him. The two turned at the sound of the grass and leaves crunching under their feet.
“Sorey, you’re alive! Rose, too!” Sergei happily said.
“You look well, too,” Alisha greeted him. “It…has been about a week. Why are your men still coming home?”
“We broke down the camps,” Lucas explained. “Since Rolance citizens were forced to evacuate for no reason at this point, perhaps we can help some people out with our rations.”
Lailah emerged from the princess, a kind smile on her lips. “That’s a wonderful idea,” she said. Somehow, it felt as if she wanted to remind them that she was there watching over her.
“Lady Alisha, shall we discuss the provisions for truce over tea?” Sergei asked. Alisha agreed to the meeting, and naturally she reassured Lailah that it was all fine. Lailah, however, wasn’t worried about Sergei making a move on her but was interested in seeing the foundation for peace finally being laid. “Let us head to the sanctuary for the notary as well.”
“Is he even legally allowed to determine a truce?” Edna asked.
“Maybe he’s just going to ask if she can get an audience with whoever is in charge of Pendrago now,” Mikleo guessed.
“Let’s go see how it is,” Sorey suggested.
“Ugh, no, that’s boring!” Rose complained. “Actually, why don’t the seraphim go get some fresh air?”
The seraphim immediately came out. “Trying to get rid of us, huh?” Zaveid accused.
“Not at all! You all had to sit around for us to wake up, so go have some fun! Lastonbell never bothered seraphim in the first place; you guys will be fine!”
Sorey whispered to Rose, asking what was it that she was planning. She merely stepped on his toes to get him to stay quiet. She shooed the seraphim inside the city gates, Mikleo and Dezel wary of whatever antics she had in mind. Zaveid and Edna pulled them along to the inn, where they could at least get a room for all of them.
Once they were out of sight, Rose pulled Sorey to the merchants’ stalls on the other side of the city. She peeked around the corner of the last building on the block, sighed, and then turned to Sorey scrupulously. The brunet stared at her with innocent puzzlement.
“I want your opinion,” she finally said, albeit in a voice just above a whisper. “I…I’ve been thinking about something, and…I can’t help but overthink it, which is pretty bad coming from me.”
Alisha and Sergei exited the sanctuary with a notarized letter in hand. The truce would be in motion once the captain returned to Pendrago, but before leaving, Lucas insisted that they all had a beer with him. That was, until Lailah realized that he had already drunken himself into a near stupor. The Princess of Hyland and the Captain of the Platinum Knights bid each other farewell. They wished each other good luck in turning around the conflict that had plagued their countries for so long. And once they were alone, they decided to head to the inn.
Mikleo, Edna, Dezel, and Zaveid were sitting up in one of the rooms when Alisha and Lailah arrived. They hadn’t seen Sorey and Rose for hours, yet Lailah and Zaveid didn’t mind that they were spending the night in Lastonbell.
“I’m going to go find them,” Mikleo finally said. “They’ve been out for too long, and we should really get some rest.”
“I’ll go with you,” Dezel volunteered.
“At this rate, we should all go…and really think about what lies ahead,” Edna said. She held her umbrella tight. “After tonight, it’s going to be a long stretch to the end. Make sure you have no regrets.”
The room was silent. It was finally hitting them. After all they had gone through, the end was upon them. Would they go their separate ways? What would become of the Towers? Would everyone—humans, seraphim, Reyvateils, Teru, IPDs, Wills, gods—all live in harmony? It was all so much to think about, far too much for a single night. But it was the night to harden their resolves and accept what may come.
Notes:
I wonder what Rose and Sorey are up to~
Thus begins the Night Before the Final Battle!
Chapter 191: Phase 8: Etched in the Sands of Time
Summary:
Zaveid and Edna's Night Before the Final Battle...
Notes:
This is the first of the Night Before the Final Battle scenes~
A glimpse at Zaveid and Edna's thoughts and feelings...like a Dive, but not...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Edna and Zaveid walked together under the starry sky. They watched the humans and seraphim, who had been locked in a societal struggle what felt like so long ago, visit each other and share food and drinks. They remembered when they had made sure to separate from each other to avoid conflict. They were hidden away from soldiers, but ever since the IPDs had been freed, and especiall now that the malevolence was gone, they felt safe.
Edna herself wished they had been able to do it sooner, but she knew it would have been impossible. Sorey and all of his friends had been the reason for the change. Sacrifices were made…and her brother had sadly been one of them. It hurt not only her but Zaveid as well.
Eizen had been Zaveid’s equal, and while they had had their spats and full-blown trials by combat, there was a camaraderie between them that had grown sturdy enough to withstand time. That was, until Eizen had become a dragon.
“It’s been a long, long time,” the wind seraph finally said. Edna didn’t say anything. “You think he was able to go in peace?”
“There was nothing peaceful about that death,” she replied. How could he say something like that to her?
They took a seat on a bench near the eastern gate. She remembered the horrible Song that the Seraphoids sang. It had torn the soul apart, and each piece of it was stored inside each corpse. The bodies had long since disappeared, but the fragments of the soul were still on the Spiritcrest.
“We’ve been on this journey for so long, but I haven’t forgotten that day,” she said. “I couldn’t save him. If I had just been stronger, he’d still be here. And…and maybe we could have found some way to restore him back to his seraphic form.”
“Edna…” Zaveid sighed.
“No one’s ever done it, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible—if we wanted to, we could have saved Tiamat!”
“Edna, listen to yourself—”
“There must be a way to turn dragons back to seraphim!”
“Edna!” Zaveid barked at her. It was rare that she became so emotional, and he understood her pain. He wanted to tell her that he knew there was a way to soothe her broken heart, but what good would it do now? Eizen was gone. “I know, Edna. I wish there were a way, too. But every dragon we’ve faced up to now has not been able to be purified.”
“We haven’t even tried!”
Edna jumped up from the bench and hid behind her umbrella so Zaveid wouldn’t see her tears. She couldn’t accept that this was the fate of all dragons. She just wanted to see her brother again—not in the form of dreams in her cosmosphere but in person. Zaveid, feeling responsible for her sorrow, slowly and quietly approached her.
“Can I tell you something?” he asked her gently.
“If it’s about how we can’t save dragons—”
“No, it’s not. I used to have a girlfriend—or maybe wife would be closer…I don’t know, human expressions for partners are strange.” He led her back to the bench. “She was the love of my life—believe it or not, I am capable of being in a committed relationship. Hell, if Eizen and I had a little more time together, I’m sure I would have stayed with him, too!”
“Get on with it.”
Zaveid’s face went from one of fondness and reminisce to pain and sorrow. He remembered how she had turned into a dragon and how desperately he tried to protect her and save her from herself. It was only when Sorey Dived into him that he could see her face one last time.
“Eizen was the one that taught me that death could be salvation,” he said, a cracking in his voice that Edna was sure she had never heard. “I had to let Theodora die so her suffering would end. No one becomes a hellion because they want to; Theodora…she lived such a happy life caring for kids. And it was the kids’ malevolence that got to her. She knew what would happen, but she couldn’t abandon them. Not when they had already been abandoned before.”
Edna stared at him. Looking at her boots, clenching her umbrella, she apologized. He was trying to help her, and while she thought she had moved on, he made her realize there was still a part of her that couldn’t let go of Eizen.
“When this is all over,” she started, walking away from the bench and looking up at the full moon that illuminated the city. “I want to go back to the Spiritcrest. I want to sing for Eizen and release him from his cursed grave.” She turned to Zaveid. “I’ll sing for Theodora, too. It’s been a thousand years, so maybe she isn’t stuck anymore, but…maybe she would have liked to hear a Song.”
He was taken aback but her show of kindness. Eizen had wanted to do the same for him back then. He had killed Theodora, but he didn’t eat her heart like he had wanted to purify his blessing.
“You’re already thinking about after the end?” Zaveid asked her. He was trying to hide the tears of happiness that were beading in his eyes. And to do that, he tried to put on his usual façade. “My, my, how mature of you! If only you were a few hundred years older.”
“Of course, I am.” She took a few steps to the center of the square and paying no mind at his attempts of picking her up. “You should know by now, but Sorey reached a decision long ago. He knows what he has to do to save this world. Talking with each of the Origins, with the Wills of the Planet—everyone on this adventure…I can’t say how everyone will feel about this decision, but I will support him no matter what.”
Zaveid wasn’t sure what to think. The decision that their Shepherd, their friend, and their connection to the world had made had been solidified and was prepared to be etched into history.
Edna turned to Zaveid. “It was right there in front of us this whole time. The reason he hasn’t rested until now. That’s why, whatever may come our way, I’m prepared to accept it. Sorey has made a decision, and whether or not the outcome is good, we have to live with it.”
“Wow, completely ignored,” Zaveid sighed. “But I understand. I’ve seen shittier Shepherds in my day; Sorey’s probably one of the best. Even with all these problems, his heart remains pure and unsullied.” He stood next to her. “You really do live up to a regular earth seraph, you know that?”
“What are you blabbering about?”
“There we go! The sarcastic little one we all know and love!” Zaveid let out a hearty laugh. “A resolve stronger than steel, down to earth and calm for the most part. I really might just fall for you!”
“How is it that you can go from genuine to lecher in a matter of seconds?”
“What can I say? Part of my charm.” He plucked her umbrella from her hands so she couldn’t hide from him. Leaning her umbrella on his shoulder, looking down at her with a smile that was true and appreciative and even doting, he told her, “Eizen would be so proud of how far you’ve come, Edna. To keep a promise, let me know if you ever need a shoulder to cry on. Your man Zaveid will be there to wipe your tears away.”
Edna couldn’t help but blush for a second. “God, you’re so gross. Why would I want some old man to listen to me complain?”
She snatched her umbrella back from him. Standing in the center of the square, Edna stared at the stars above. She always loved to see them from the Spiritcrest, where there were no lights. It was unadulterated darkness illuminated only by numerous nebulae.
“Was touwaka wa ates fedyya yor,” she whispered. “Was touwaka wa afezeria anw ferx mea.”
Zaveid watched her with a smile. “Yeah, Eizen, you’d be so proud,” he said to himself. “She’s grown up into a fine woman, strong and independent yet still caring.” He didn’t join her on the pretense that she wanted to say her prayer alone. He had a prayer himself. “xA fAwYArLYA engua vie/. hEmmYErLYE naave xA rre l.n.c.a. dArsLYEneh/. reta fAwrYA l.l.n. ag lYAldA/.”
That night they were all under one sky, one destiny. Edna and Zaveid’s prayers lifted to those stars, and they couldn’t help but think that they shined just a little more brightly than before.
Notes:
Naturally, I have to make mention that Zaveid would had remained with Eizen after losing Theodora because of what Eizen did for him. Young Zaveid may have been a tsundere, but he also can't just leave him behind. And perhaps he sees some of Eizen in Edna now.
Chapter 192: Phase 8: Kindling Flames
Summary:
Alisha and Lailah's Night Before the Final Battle...
Chapter Text
Alisha and Lailah sat on the belfry again. A light breeze blew through the air, almost like it had months ago. Now the two girls under the same starry sky as their friends to reflected on where they stood now. And even now, long after they had told each other how much they meant to each other, there was still the shyness of a budding love.
Lailah peeked at Alisha before shifting her gaze aside out to the the rest of the city. In this moonlight, under the stars, she looked more radiant than usual.
“The stars look lovely tonight, doesn’t it?” Alisha asked her. Turning to her, she smiled at Lailah warmly. “We’ve been inches from touching them, and yet they look prettiest here from the Glenwood Continent.”
“I must agree; somehow when something seems unattainable, it appears all the more attractive,” Lailah giggled.
Alisha had to let out a laugh. Was Lailah flirting with her? Or did she feel that she was still out of reach? The princess did love her, and she was by no means out of her reach. Something about that night didn’t feel right, though. It wasn’t the best time to ask her.
“What do you think about our journey so far?” she asked instead. “We’ve come so far, and we’ve endured so much that it feels like it’s been a lifetime.”
Lailah was silent for a moment as she thought. “It truly has been an adventure,” she said a little less gleefully. “We’ve all suffered a great deal. The one who has suffered the most, however, is Sorey.” She gripped her hands. “I wish I could help him more, but as the Shepherd, he must forge his own path. We can only guide him to stay on it.”
Alisha swung her legs over the belfry tower. She had no doubt that Sorey would remain on his path. No matter was tribulations came his way, he always worked through it. But perhaps it wasn’t merely just pressing on. They remembered what happened with Infel Phira and on Tilia. Even the earliest incident where Mikleo had been tortured. Every time, his belief in himself had wavered, his doubt creeping into his heart as he worried that his actions hurt far more people than he had intended. But that was what it was to be the Shepherd. Even then Sorey worried most about Mikleo.
“I only wish for him to know peace after all this,” Lailah solemnly said. They sat silently. “Alisha, after this is all done, what do you plan on doing?”
“Me?”
“Why, yes. After all, you can’t mean to allow Bartlow to continue sitting in Roundtabel Palace after all he’s done.”
“No, of course not! I…I just don’t know how I can have him removed from power. He’s stronger than me.”
“Alisha.”
“I have to become queen, but my ascension to the throne…because of my heritage.”
Lailah took her face into her hands. She looked at her with fiery eyes of passion and resolve. It didn’t matter who her parents were or how far down the ladder she was from sitting on the throne. Lailah knew Alisha’s heart was pure enough to guide her people from the squalor that Bartlow had plunged them into.
“If you will be the queen of Ladylake, I will stand by your side and help you,” the fire seraph pledged.
Alisha was awestruck by her determination. If she would always be by her side and rule Hyland with her…
Notes:
This one is a bit short, but it was pretty short in the game, wasn't it?
Chapter 193: Phase 8: Breath of Tourmaline
Summary:
Rose confronts Dezel.
Chapter Text
Dezel wandered the streets of Lastonbell, the lanterns lights from merchants’ stalls and houses casting a cozy glow every couple of feet. He couldn’t see it, but he felt the warmth on the gentle brisk breeze. It felt like a midsummer night, the murmuring of the townsfolk backed by the cricking of nighttime insects and the fresh earthy smell of the radishbells in the terrace.
He didn’t know where Rose had gone, which had worried him slightly. They were in Lastonbell, a repose from either side of then warring states, so she wouldn’t have gone far. Her presence was still confined to the main street, and she was accompanied by Sorey whose innocent soul emitted a fluttering peace around the city. He didn’t know where Mikleo had gone either. Zaveid and Edna had their own conference with each other, and Lailah and Alisha were still quietly up in the belfry. He was nervous; why would she spend time with Sorey?
He examined all the little knickknacks on sale by the artisans via reading the wind. He had to wonder if Rose would like anything that they made like the carved animal statues or the delicate fabrics woven by the oldest citizens. But then, where would she put it? If he could have gotten an ore to store a Song of his in and made it into jewelry, that would have been nice…but he still couldn’t sing—at least, not without experiencing some sort of horrible pain. He had to admit, he was rather envious of Mikleo and Lailah, both of whom could sing to the loves of their lives without any repercussions. He wished that he could do it, too.
He could cook, he suddenly thought. The best way to a human’s heart was through their stomach, right? He could cook all kinds of food besides sweets, and Rose did like to eat. But ingredients for gourmet dishes were expensive. He was beginning to wonder why he was wracking his brain so much.
“There you are!” Rose called out to him. She ran up to him with a few shopping bags. Sorey wasn’t with her. “I’ve been looking for you, Dezel! Huh? What’s up? You look kind of flustered. Aw, did someone ruffle your feathers?”
“No, I was just…looking at…stuff,” Dezel said, knowing how odd it sounded that a blind seraph was perusing the stalls. “We’re supposed to be resting up for tomorrow. Where have you been?”
“Out.”
“Rose.”
“What? I was just doing some shopping! And speaking of shopping, come back to the inn with me.”
“Why?”
“Don’t question it! Just come with me.”
She dragged him back to the inn that faced the east gate. Handing him one of the giant bags, she ordered him to go up to one of the rooms they had ordered and change into the clothes that she had bought him. Dubious and distrusting of her antics, Dezel cautiously followed her orders. After a couple minutes, her fellow Sparrowfeathers had met with her just outside of the inn while he was getting dressed. Eguille, Rosh, Ayn Talfryn, and Ayn Felice approached her with a fiddle, a horn, a lute, and a pair of hand drums.
“You’re not dressed?” Eguille asked.
“I was going now,” Rose said in a more hushed voice. “Have you guys been practicing? I know it was kind of a last notice thing, but…I…I just want this to go over well.”
“Don’t worry, Boss” Talfryn grinned. “We won’t let you down!”
“Go on, get dressed,” Felice urged her. “We’ll go get set up. In the plaza toward the west gate.” She pointed down the street.
Rose confirmed her plans with her family before scurrying into the inn. She didn’t go up to their rooms like Dezel. Instead, she went into one of the restrooms closer to the restaurant portion of the establishment. It smelled terribly and wasn’t the cleanest place, but she took great care in making sure none of her clothes nor the ones she had bought—especially not the ones she had bought—touched any of the surfaces. She spritzed a little perfume to cover whatever onerous odors had clung to her.
When Dezel stepped out of the room and left the inn, he was wearing the same tuxedo he had worn in his cosmosphere to his court trial. Whether it had been something foretold or it was pure coincidence, the only difference was the tie. It was decorated with paisleys instead of stripes, and there was a faint paisley pattern on the blazer. He started to search the area outside for Rose when Eguille called him over to the sanctuary. He chatted him up and distracted him from reading the wind for the assassin. They took a few steps toward the plaza every so often until they were just at the threshold of it.
“Where the hell is she?” Dezel sighed. “Not particularly found of these clothes, but I guess I’d better wear them for her…if she would hurry up.”
“Just wait, Dezel,” Eguille implored him.
And a few minutes later, Rose appeared next to him. Wearing a pale-pink pleated dress with a wine-colored tied corset, and the ties for the shoes and gloves wrapped around her limbs countless times, similar to the necklace around her neck. And her hair had been tied back just a bit. She was stunning all dressed up like this, and while she knew Dezel couldn’t see her, she still wanted to look pretty for him.
“Dezel, I’m here!” she greeted him cutely. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Dezel turned to her unsure of how to respond. He felt something was different about her, the ambiguous form of the dress on her and the way her hair had been pinned out of her eyes. Was this why she had disappeared? Was she getting dressed up for him? Was that why she had bought him clothes?
“Are…Are we going somewhere?” he asked nervously.
“Hmm, nope! We’re right where we need to be.”
“I don’t—”
Rose gently placed a finger on his lips, a sultry look in her eyes. “You don’t have to get it. Dezel…” She glanced at Eguille, whom counted off the other Sparrowfeathers. “Would you like to dance?”
“D-Dance?”
Rose held up her hands, a confident smile on her face. Dezel hesitantly clasped his hands with hers, and he felt her arm curb around his torso. One-two-three, one-two-three; he was amazed that Eguille and other Sparrowfeathers were so musically inclined even though they had only learned how to play this one song just for Rose. When did she ask them for such a favor? Rose gently guided as he thought about how and when she organized this, turning and twirling, pushing him out, pulling him in. They felt like they were gliding through the air themselves. And he was slowly smiling bigger and bigger. It was the first time in a long time that Rose had seen such an earnest and genuine flash of happiness on his face and in his cloudy eyes.
The other people in town came and watched them dance before Rose parted from him and coaxed them to join with them. Naturally, Dezel immediately became nervous again, but the people of Lastonbell were far kinder than anyone else in the world. They danced with them, turning, spinning, twirling, leaping through the air, clapping along, and switching partners. They were all strangers, but he saw into each of their hearts just how delighted they were now that the malevolence had been cleared away and they could dance. Hyland soldiers, Rolance soldiers, mercenaries, even some seraphim that had stuck around.
Marching and ringing around the center of the little square, the townsfolk, Rose, and Dezel kept going and going until the music swelled so much and it ended in just a snap. The assassin and her wind seraph were together again, hand in hand and bodies pressed together. The crowd cheered for the makeshift band and for Rose and Dezel. It had been so long since everyone felt truly happy.
“Rose, I don’t understand,” Dezel said. He glanced at every one of the people then at the Sparrowfeathers. “Why all this celebration? We haven’t defeated Heldalf yet.”
“No, but…” She took a breath. “I’ve been waiting for the best time to do this.”
“Do what?”
The Sparrowfeathers placed their instruments down on the ground, and the people waited with bated anticipation. Rose took Dezel’s hand so he would face her.
At first, she gripped her dress as she tried to remember all that she had practiced. “Dezel, I wanted to celebrate finishing your cosmosphere,” she began. The wind seraph tried to shush her about his inner world, but she continued. “And, you know, I know how you feel about me—how you’ve always felt about me. I wanted to take this moment to tell you that I feel the same way about you.” Dezel was shocked beyond words. He wasn’t sure if he knew what was happening. “You said that I’ve done so much for you, but do you know how much you’ve done for me? You’ve kept me safe and guided me all these years, and I’m sorry it took this journey for us to get to know each other. You might think it’s silly, but I’ve loved you for a very long time, Dezel. Maybe I loved you before I understood what love was, but it doesn’t matter now.”
While uncouth, she dug into the top of her dress for a small black box. She knelt before Dezel whose mouth only hung open. “Dezel?” she shakily asked. Inside the tiny black box was a ring. A silver filigree band decorated with silver wings twisting around a watermelon tourmaline gem. “Will you marry me?”
The wind seraph fell to his knees in disbelief. Of course, in his cosmosphere, in his dreams, he had married her and pledged to be by her side, but he never thought it would happen in reality. He was still shy around her, so seeing her now on her knees and asking for his hand in lawful human matrimony… Tears fell from his eyes and into his lap. Lunging at her with arms open wide, he embraced her so tightly that her arms almost lost feeling between them. She kept hold of the ring for fear of the jewel breaking on the cobblestone.
“Yes, Rose!” he finally said through his tears of happiness. “Yes, gladly!”
When they parted, Rose took his right hand and slipped the ring on his finger after pulling off his glove. He would only wear it for the night, taking it off and putting it safely away to protect it from damage that was sure to be incurred in the final battle.
The crowd around them cheered and clapped for the newly engaged couple. Rose hadn’t expected it to have been done in public, but she was glad she finally got to say it. She hadn’t expected Dezel to cry, either. He went in for another hug, and she gladly threw her arms around him. Before she knew it, he had stolen a kiss from her.
Notes:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!
Chapter 194: Phase 8: Tides of Change
Summary:
A melody of the heart.
Notes:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I somehow managed to post this chapter on my birthday! And it's a chapter we've ALL been waiting for!
SOME PARTS OF THE CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey stood at the terrace park where he could see all of Lastonbell. The starry sky twinkled brilliantly above him, each light reminding him of a chapter of the story he had set in motion. He and all his friends were under one sky, sharing one goal; he wondered how the Reyvateils on the Towers were doing. He had made his decision so that no one would ever have to suffer again. He didn’t mind if he was the only one that had to feel the agony and pain of all the malevolence in the world.
But tonight, Sorey didn’t want to think about that. Pushing his hand in his pocket, he hoped that Mikleo would join him on that auspicious night. His heart beat away in his chest, the anticipation eating away at him.
“Ha, it’s not like me to be so nervous,” he told himself. “Is it…because I’m scared?”
Mikleo finally arrived, arms crossed but face soft and relieved to find him by himself. He joined him. And immediately, Sorey felt himself tense up. Why was he so nervous?
“I thought I’d find you up here,” Mikleo calmly said. “Stargazing?”
“Yeah,” Sorey coolly said. “I just realized something. No matter if you can see them or not, there are a lot more stars than you think. And for as many stars there are in the sky, there are emotions—all individual and special.”
“Well, at least you’re still a romantic. Can’t say your poetry skills have gotten better, though.”
“I figured not,” Sorey chuckled. Turning his attention back to the city below, he let out a relaxed sigh. Really, when was the last time they could be so calm, quiet, introspective? “A lot has happened.”
Mikleo stood next to him, but he wasn’t smiling. He clambored back through his memories. They used to get into so much trouble as kids just because they wanted to learn. Their young and impressionable minds had a taste for adventure and the unknown. They knew one day they would explore the world outside of Elysia but not like this. The invasion that had stolen away their home and beloved Zenrus had started in motion a ripple that had become a wave. They had suffered so much alongside their friends, and the water seraph had to wonder: would there be a good ending for them? He had always worried about Sorey—unlike seraphim—and the ephemerality of the human life. How long had it been? Months? Years? A small but lasting fraction of his life was wrought with pain and suffering and a misplaced guilt for others’ agony, and Mikleo wished it hadn’t been this way.
But in such an arduous journey, Sorey believed, he had never felt more alive. That was the shape of life, molded by the best times and the worst. Without these hardships, would he have been the same? Would he still be clinging to life and passionately trying to save the world and bring all living beings together? It was hard and so many things had threatened to shatter his heart and crush his spirit. He wished things could have been different so Mikleo didn’t have to feel the pain, so Dezel wouldn’t have to lose his ability to sing or Edna to lose her brother. But these experiences were from the hand that was dealt.
“If things were different, we wouldn’t be here,” Sorey said. Mikleo looked at him inquisitively. “If things had gone differently, we wouldn’t have met our friends. We wouldn’t have left Elysia. I wouldn’t have become the Shepherd, and…I wouldn’t be able to do this.”
“Sorey, what are you talking about? Did you hit your head?”
Sorey abruptly faced him. Seeing Mikleo’s eyes widen with surprise and possibly even fear that something was terribly wrong, he approached him more gently. He leaned in and gave him a long kiss. The water seraph was confused at first, taking in the softness of his lips only just before they parted.
“Mikleo…I need to ask you something,” Sorey finally spoke softly. “Will you listen?”
“Of course,” Mikleo reassured him. “What is it?”
Sorey took two breaths. One to compose himself. The other to begin.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mikleo’s heart stopped and mouth hung open. The pronunciation was nearly perfect, and he recognized the tune. Tears came to his eyes as he covered his mouth in disbelief.
“S-Sorey…” he cracked.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey looked at him with boundless love. He hadn’t expected Mikleo to sing with him, and it melted his heart. His voice reflected his, their Hymmnos dancing together on the gentle breeze. Perhaps there was something far deeper than love between them.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The notes twirling between them as they drew closer and closer to each other in their Song of Love, Sorey took Mikleo’s hand. Neither of them was much for dancing, but the pure joy of echoing the melody to each other made them want to burst.
“Sorey, when did you learn Hymmnos?” Mikleo asked him. “Back then, you couldn’t even say a simple phrase.”
“Edna and Zaveid helped me out,” Sorey admitted. “Since I was imprisoned in Lohgrin, I had them teach me. And then when we started for the Towers, they made me practice even harder.”
Mikleo, giddy from the moment, stole away from Sorey. He ran to the center of the terrace.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Then something changed. Sorey’s eyes flickered with his undying love for Mikleo, but there was sadness. They were singing for happiness and companionship forever after their journey, so why? Why could Mikleo see his heart break yet again?
Sorey’s voice didn’t falter. Even though his eyes were so gloomy, his voice remained like a bird’s song. He sang his love to the water seraph, but something wasn’t right.
“Sorey…? What are you doing?” Mikleo finally asked him. “Aren’t we happy now?”
“I will always be happy.”
“You’re…you’re lying. Why is your heart crying?”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mikleo’s face morphed into one of disbelief and even a touch of anger. Swallowing it as best as he could, he wanted to ask him what he meant.
“I’m sorry, Mikleo,” Sorey apologized to him. “We’re so close to stopping Heldalf, and I want to make the world safe for everyone, to get rid of the malevolence, and purify Maotelus.”
“I understand that, but what about our dream? Weren’t we going to travel the world together? Weren’t we going to pave the way for humans and seraphim to exist in harmony?!”
“It’s still my dream, but I have to go through with it differently.”
“What are you talking about?!”
Sorey knew he would feel this way.
“Answer me, Sorey! We’ve been tortured and ripped apart! Why are you doing this when we can finally be together…? W-What are you planning?”
The Shepherd approached him, placing his hand on his cheek. “I’m going to become Maotelus’s vessel, and by doing that, I can filter out the malevolence. The land’s resonance can be restored and healed. I…would fall asleep, but if I can keep Lady Tyria from dying and help the world heal and be a better place for you, I’m willing to do it. I know, what I’m doing is horribly unfair to you, but Heldalf suffered far longer than me. And if I can protect the Origins—the ones who helped Gramps find us—I can repay the debt. I want everyone—Heldalf, the Origins, Maotelus—to find peace.”
“Sorey…” Mikleo sobbed. “But…what about our dream…?”
The brunet whose eyes shone like the sun held him close. “It will live on, Mikleo. So long as I don’t forget, and as long as you continue like you always have.”
Mikleo wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “But this could take years—centuries even!”
“You can do this; I know you can.”
“Knowing everything that has happened?”
“Because of everything has happened.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey turned to the sky with a strange grace that even Mikleo hadn’t seen before. “I’ve had a lot of time to think. The iris gems showed us why Heldalf has become what he is now. The Wills of the Planet fear that Maotelus’s corruption will kill Ciela. There have been times my heart has faltered, but I know now that if I stay true to what I believe, I won’t fall.”
Mikleo bit his lip. Listening to the love of his life talk like this as if he were telling him what he would put down in his last will was the worst thing. They had just fought a dragon together and greatly set Heldalf back. He wanted to be happy, but how could he when Sorey had resigned himself to becoming a sacrifice.
“Please, Mikleo,” Sorey begged him. His voice cracked. “I know this hurts…”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Mikleo had accepted Sorey’s decision. It hurt far more than either could put into words, but they both knew that this was the only way.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“I’m so sorry, Mikleo,” Sorey told him over and over as he ran to hold him. “I’m sorry.”
Mikleo looked up at him. The sorrow and anger and unfairness he felt transformed into understanding and acceptance. He believed in Sorey, and there was the chance that he would be reborn as a seraph. If he held onto that thin shred of hope and wished with all his heart, if he crafted a Song from the depths of the love that had persisted until now—yes, he thought—Sorey would return to his side.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
That’s all they both wanted so deeply and desperately. They could only believe in the night under the stars. This was their night together with hearts aflutter and emotions held within the abyss of their hearts coming to the surface.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey kissed him before finishing his serenade for Mikleo.
Was touwaka wa irs pitod yor
Yanje
(Yanje)
He dried Mikleo’s tears; he had been crying for so long. It was fate that kept making them take separate paths, but tonight Sorey aimed to make sure they were always connected. He had been with Rose and talked with her about it. He had wanted to do it for a while, but it was only after connecting Mikleo to the Tower that he gained the confidence to do it.
“Mikleo, I have something else I want to ask you,” Sorey said, this time determined. Mikleo looked at him, preparing for the worst. Instead, his Shepherd held him steady wih his hands on his shoulders. “I knew that my decision was going to hurt you. I knew you would cry, and I wanted to sing for you. It doesn’t make up for all the times that you’ve sung for me nor will it ever make up for all the trouble you’ve endured. I thought that if the song wasn’t enough, then I would write you poems. And when we finished your cosmosphere…this was the only way I could think of.”
Mikleo couldn’t even begin to ask what he was doing as he watched him kneel before him. His hand had slipped into his pocket, emerging with a small black box.
“I also figured that if the Song I wrote ever faded from your memory, this ring would remind you of me. Mikleo, when I wake up, will you marry me?”
The water seraph collapsed into him. There was no hesitation as he reached his arms around him and showered him in kisses to the point of leaning him back against the ground. Tears dotted his face, too. And when he gave Sorey a chance to breathe, he couldn’t help but try to hide his puffed eyes.
“I take it as a ‘yes’?” Sorey teased him.
He slipped the ring—a flower with aquamarine petals, a moonstone center, and tiny sapphires—on his finger while Mikleo said:
“No matter what, Sorey, you and I are always connected. If you sleep for a year or a thousand, I will always be yours.”
The two boys stayed with each other in the park for a couple hours more. Mikleo thought it would have been a good idea to return to the inn to get a good night’s rest to prepare for the battle that awaited them. Sorey had a different idea. It was a night he always wanted to remember. He had spoken to Rose and confided in her that he had wanted to propose, and she confided that she had wanted to do the same for Dezel. He had learned Hymmnos just to express his love and his solemn decision, and he finally sang the only Song he would ever write. He wanted to remember the one night that everyone was satisfied with their resolves.
“I want to head out under these stars. I want this night to be the cornerstone of my memories, so when I wake up, I wake up with something happy in mind.”
“Wow, as if you couldn’t get any sappier,” Edna’s voice came from behind. She was standing there with Zaveid, her umbrella shading her from the moon’s silvery light. Her face, so often the epitome of apathy, showed evidence that she had been smiling. “Could you be more stupid?”
“Now, now, Edna—looks like our Shepherd here finally did it,” Zaveid teased. He seemed lighter; a great weight taken off his back. “Our Hymmnos lessons finally paid off!” He went around to Sorey. Placing his arm around his shoulders and ruffling his hair, he spied Mikleo’s hand. “Well, well, welly well! Not only did he serenade Mikster here, but he put a ring on him!”
“You’re so embarrassing,” Mikleo griped. Sorey giggled bashfully.
“What?! Sorey proposed, too?!” Lailah gasped. “Oh, that’s not fair! No one told me anything!” She and Alisha stood tall and strong. They would do what was right for Hyland.
“We saw Rose propose to Dezel, but we had no idea about you two!” Alisha pouted. “Why did you leave us out of the loop!”
“Wait, Dezel got engaged, too?” Mikleo asked.
“Duh!” Rose laughed. She and Dezel were holding hands, and Dezel was the blushing fiancé. “I pulled Sorey aside just for that! After all…i-it was a long time coming…!”
Dezel was still in a state of disbelief and shock that he only pulled his hat down.
Then, suddenly, the sound of laughter erupted from Sorey. He hadn’t laughed so hard in so long that his heart trembled with joy. All his friends stared at him. When was the last time he was truly, genuinely, and in all honesty so filled with light that he just laughed? And soon, they saw tears rolling down his cheeks, but they were glittering like the stars.
“Sorey,” Rose uttered.
“Why are you crying?” Alisha asked him.
“I’m not! I’m just…we haven’t had a good time like this in a long time, right? And…I’m grateful that we can all talk like this,” Sorey told them. “Thank you, everyone, for being here and sticking with me.”
“Don’t thank us just yet, Sheps,” Zaveid nonchalantly told him. He winked at him. “We still have ol’ Kittybeard to deal with.”
“So, you were saying you wanted to head out tonight?” Edna said. “I think that’s a good idea, too. The Origins and all the friends you’ve made on the Towers can see this sky. They can all feel this emotion. Let’s get going.”
“Edna being sentimental?” Rose sputtered. “Well, we can all die now! Edna finally shows us her love!”
“If we die, we can’t actually get married,” Dezel told her inwardly.
“Oh-ho, looking forward to the big day, eh?”
“N-No!”
“Rose, I hope you’ll have us be your maids of honor!” Lailah demanded. “I can’t bear to not help with the wedding! Oh, but what about Sorey and Mikleo’s?! I have so many paper flowers to make for decoration!”
“Does it really have to be a spectacle?” Dezel grumbled.
The playful banter among them eased Sorey and Mikleo’s anxieties about the future. It wasn’t the weddings or anything like that. Everyone had grown. Everyone was looking forward. Mikleo was the only one who knew exactly what Sorey intended to do and that he was prepared to watch them continue to live without him. They were unwittingly going to leave him behind, and Mikleo would be the only one that would know how lonely it would be for both of them.
The group of heroes made their way quietly to the the gates leading back into the Volgran Forest. Sergei, Lucas, and all the soldiers were left to sleep believing that Sorey was either still in the inn slumbering soundly or off promoting peace somewhere on the Towers or on the continent. It was the last night they would ever see him.
And that was okay. Goodbyes were too painful. Sorey didn’t want to hurt them; he had hurt Mikleo despite knowing that his water seraph would understand. Whether he truly did or not, there was no turning back. It was time to head for Elysia, which sat atop the remains of Camlann, to settle things once and for all.
Notes:
Soreeeeeeeeyyyyy...
MIKLEOOOOOOO...
Chapter 195: Phase 8: Loose Ends
Summary:
Heading out to the final battle, Sorey makes a stop in Glaivend Basin to see the heartbroken earth seraph.
Notes:
Next few chapters might be pretty short just because it' that point where you do the last little bit of stuff. I'm not super taken with these parts, but...meh.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey led his friends into Volgran Forest from Lastonbell. The canopy of the trees blotched out the starry sky that was now fading with the rising sun. It was a long way to Elysia on foot, and while they could have used the Armatus to carry them there, it wouldn’t be wise. Symonne was still at large, and if Heldalf was with her again, things would be difficult. They outnumbered the duo, but Heldalf would obliterate everyone else aside from Sorey.
But there was something else that was bothering him that he couldn’t avoid. When they arrived at the entrance of Lamorak Cave just past the tiny creek near the threshold to Glaivend Basin, he stopped.
“Sorey?” Alisha said. Everyone was somewhat concerned.
“I know it’s faster through the cave, but…do you guys remember the seraph that was with the one that turned into Tiamat?” he asked.
Everyone searched their memory for such a girl. “Oh, you mean that earth seraph!” Rose gasped. “What about her?”
Sorey stepped towards Glaivend Basin, his fists clenched at his sides. She had been there when her lover had turned into the dragon. There was no doubt she had lost herself as well. And Sorey couldn’t imagine letting her walk the scorched battlefield for eternity. He wanted to help her rest alongside her dearest.
“We’re really going to chase after another dragon?” Zaveid complained. “Man, we just fought one! Like, last week!” He suddenly got serious, more serious than they had ever seen him. “But I understand why you want to help her. Let’s go see her.”
Sorey smiled graciously, and they made their way into the battlefield. The Rolance camp had been broken down with only a few wares left behind. From it they saw in the distance a smaller golden dragon, clad in black armor and wielding a sword twice as long as it was wide. Sorey felt it in his gut that this was the poor seraph that had fallen after her lover’s demise. Then he realized that there were hellions—different from before and much stronger—littering the area. Her malevolence had lured them all there.
“What a shame,” Lailah sighed. “After all our hard work to clear the battlefield of hellions.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Mikleo asked.
“Divide and conquer,” Dezel decided.
“I like the sound of that!” Rose laughed.
“On one condition,” Edna said as she opened her umbrella. “Sorey, I want to fight her.”
Her friends remained silent. It was true that this dragon was once an earth seraph, but the only two people who had any idea of why Edna suddenly want to fight were Sorey, who had Dived completely and had learned about Eizen, and Zaveid, who knew her by association with Eizen.
“Alright,” Sorey agreed with her. He wanted Mikleo and Zaveid to provide backup, and he had plenty of faith in Alisha and Rose to take care of any hellions that would try to join the fray. “Hephsin Yulind!”
He Armatized as once with Edna, leaping off the precipice where the Rolance camp had been stationed before. Mikleo and Zaveid followed after him while Rose and Alisha got to work quelling as many hellions as they could.
“Edna, you sure you can take this dragon on by yourself?” Zaveid asked her.
They stood before the dragon warlock. “I grind her into the ground if I have to,” Edna said rather calmly.
The dragon warlock roared some corrupted Hymmnos, breathing fire and raising its sword. Mikleo began to cast a spell to heal Sorey and Edna as needed while Zaveid cast Quickness to get them a boost of speed, something that Edna’s Armatus regrettably didn’t have.
Sorey threw the first punch at the hellion before it could swing its blade, and while it seemed like a good plan to just hammer away at it, that plan put them in a disadvantageous spot. At lightning speed, the dragon warlock slammed the sword on Sorey’s head. Now stunned, he couldn’t focus on where the attacks were going to come from.
“Resilient Aid!” Mikleo cast.
Sorey and Edna were engulfed in a healing green light, but again the dragon warlock prepared to hit them on the head again. As the blade raced down, Edna instinctively pulled her rock-like fist to guard against it. With her other fist, Sorey hooked the hellion, throwing it off balance and even stunning it.
“Can you feel it, Sorey?” Edna asked.
“Yeah; it’s what I thought,” he replied.
They took a step back to look at the dragon warlock. From its scarlet eyes, tears had been flowing. And the malevolence that wafted off it like smoke was all the resentment that it had had for them ever since they killed Tiamat. It had regained its bearings and was beginning to cast its own spell not without all the hate and anger it felt. The resentment had pulled it into the depths of darkness, yet still, perhaps they could still save the seraph within.
“It’s time to deal the finishing blow. Think you got this?”
Sorey paused. “Yeah.”
As one body, the Shepherd and the earth seraph dashed toward the dragon warlock. Before it could finish casting, they punched it then leapt back. “Earthborn!” they said simultaneously. “Strong as the earth!” Sorey hopped onto one of the fists that rocketed toward the hellion. It struck her before zooming them up into the air. “Behold, rain of ruin! Earth Revolution!/” Sorey came down, punching the ground with all of Edna’s power. Golden fissures cracked and scarred the battlefield, erupting with the holy power of the earth. And just like that, the dragon warlock stumbled into a crack.
Sorey de-Armatized from Edna with his sword enshrouded with the flames of purification, he sliced at the monster. The hellion form was incinerated, and underneath it all, the earth seraph that had lost the only person she had ever cared for was there.
“You!” she growled at them. “How dare you show your face before me!”
Sorey simply listened to her. He hadn’t really expected to dispel the malevolence, but he was glad that she was still alive.
“It’s because of you that he was taken! Stupid Shepherd! How can you be so cruel, so thoughtless?! The Lord of Calamity took him away from me, turned him into a dragon, and you killed him!”
Sorey slowly went down to his knees. He bowed for her forgiveness, but the earth seraph was disgusted by him. She picked up rocks and dirt and threw them at him.
“Rotten Shepherd! Shepherds haven’t changed at all! Why didn’t you save him?! Why did you have to kill him?!”
Zaveid and Mikleo ran to his aid, but Edna called an inclined stalagmite to her neck. She made Sorey stand up, brushing the dirt off him and healing the little bruises from the rocks the angry seraph had thrown. The other two seraphim watched; they had never seen a seraph that full of rage.
“How about you shut up for just a damn minute?” Edna snapped back at her. The earth seraph immediately fell silent, taken aback by the pure disrespect that she had been demanded so nastily. Edna herself bared her teeth and gripped her umbrella so tightly that her knuckles were whiter than her dress. She glared at the seraph. “It’s not our fault that your boyfriend got caught!” she almost screeched. “He was supposed to be at the wind shrine, wasn’t he? I know who he was; he left his duty to be with you! And we’re here trying to stop Heldalf—we tried to save him! But he turned into a dragon, so what else were we supposed to do?! Stop blaming Sorey for this when he did the only thing that could have been done! We killed him…” Edna paused, fighting back the sobs and burning tears. “We killed him because…because if we didn’t, he would still be a dragon and would have eaten you by now! O-Or worse—he’d have had his soul ripped from his body by the humans and would have never known peace! Don’t you get it? A fate like that is worse than dying or becoming a hellion! When your soul gets sealed away like that…you’re stuck like that forever; there’s no way to be set free! So just shut up! Sorey is working so hard to help ungrateful assholes like you…and me…!”
Sorey recoiled from Edna ever so slightly. All of them did. Even Zaveid had never seen her like this; she had never come to her Shepherd’s aid or stood up for him. But even though she defended him against the earth seraph, who couldn’t argue with her after that, she wasn’t dignified. She was trembling, biting back the pain of the memories of Eizen’s unceremonious death.
“At least let us take you somewhere safer,” Sorey said, putting aside his feelings about Edna’s speech long enough to try and quell the anger of the seraph they had saved from losing herself completely. He reached out his hand to her. “I’m sorry for what we did, but we can still help you.”
The earth seraph still backed away. “Even if you couldn’t have done something…if you had gotten rid of the Lord of Calamity first…”
“There would still be no guarantee that he would have regained his true form,” Lailah told her.
“How do you know when you haven’t tried?!”
“That’s because it has been tried and doesn’t work,” Zaveid retorted. He crossed his arms, pressing them against his chest. “I know that for a fact.” He glanced at Edna. “You’re not the only one whose most important person has turned into a dragon. If you want to pin the blame on anyone, then blame me. After all, I’m the one who taught these kids that death is better than living as a hungry dragon.”
“Zaveid,” Sorey couldn’t help but say. Now he had two seraphim standing up for him. No, perhaps they weren’t. He had seen both of their cosmopheres to their entirety; Eizen and Theodora had both happened long before he came along. He looked again at the earth seraph. “We’re going to stop Heldalf, so if it’s any consolation, we’ll avenge him. So many people have been hurt both by him and by me, but I’m going to make things right.”
The earth seraph still couldn’t forgive Sorey or the others behind him. She grimaced at them before turning into a ball of light and flying off to some other place. Sorey understood that he couldn’t make everyone happy, yet the pain that she had felt and the sheer luck they had to bring her back from the point of no return had broken his already shattered heart.
“He’s trying so hard to keep it together,” Rose whispered. “I wish we could do more.”
“This whole journey has been a lesson, but perhaps that he still feels this way is an indicator of how genuinely he loves everyone,” Lailah answered.
Even if Sorey was trying to hold his head above the troubled waters yet to come, Mikleo wanted to be the one to support him every step of the way. His heart had an echo of sadness in it either from their trauma or from others, and while they were bound together by a ring, he couldn’t help but feel that they still had a long way to go before they could live happily. It wasn’t even that Sorey would leave them for centuries. The malevolence was getting worse; they had to hurry. Something was nagging at him, though. And he wanted to talk to Zaveid about it.
They continued to Ladylake, fighting off hellions through the basin. Coming out to the Falkewin Hillside and crossing into Lakehaven Heights, the question bubbled more and more in his mind until Zaveid’s boisterous voice broke into his thoughts.
“So, I know we’re in a rush, but let’s all take a break, yeah?” the burly wind seraph suggested. “Go check out the hot springs and get a nice relaxing bath…whaddaya say? Besides, this is a long overdue trip!”
“We don’t have time for that,” Dezel grumbled.
“Besides, we all know you just want to spy on us girls,” Edna scoffed.
“No way! I would never! Come on, Mister Shepherd! Tell ‘em!”
Sorey let out a sigh. A hot bath would have been sublime now, but he knew better. Zaveid was definitely going to snoop on the girls. The only person that would guarantee that he wouldn’t was Dezel, simply because he didn’t want Zaveid trying to look at Rose naked.
“I think we should,” Mikleo spoke up. “We haven’t relaxed in a while—in fact, we all just kind of skipped out on sleeping like normal people. After all…” He turned in the direction of Elysia. “We’re not too far from home.”
“Yeah, see? Mikster’s for it!” Zaveid grinned.
“Well, as long as we stay at the inn…” Alisha thought aloud. “I don’t see the problem. And a good meal is in order as well.”
The decision was made despite Dezel and Edna’s disgust. They headed to the inn. Mikleo knew this would be the only time he could ask. As Sorey and Rose placed an order for everyone’s dinner, he stole away to the baths before Sorey and Dezel could join him and Zaveid in the men’s sauna.
He knew how Siegfried worked—he had been there when Mayvin had explained it. Some of his memory was somewhat fuzzy thanks to Kureha’s work, but there was something bothering him. If Sorey were to use their wills as attacks, firing them into the cosmosphere of Maotelus to sever the bond between him and Heldalf, they would be swallowed by the malevolence inside. He stared at the ring on his finger.
“Zaveid, can I ask you something?” he asked as soon as he entered the sauna and sat next to him. His eyes showed some sort of defiance, for what was unknown.
“What’s up, kiddo? Oh, interested in seeing your man naked?” he teased him.
“Get serious. Mayvin talked about Siegfried.”
“Yeah?”
“He told us how it works and what would happen. If Sorey had used me as a bullet and killed Mavin, I would have survived because he didn’t have any malevolence.”
Zaveid’s face hardened. He didn’t like where this was going. “Yeah.”
“But…what about Heldalf? He’s the Lord of Calamity, overflowing with malevolence. If he fires us into him, there’s a huge probability that…that we won’t make it.”
“Are you scared?”
Mikleo snapped his head. Was it fear? No, he wasn’t afraid to give his life for Sorey. But he wondered if Sorey had forgotten that, for as much as he wanted it, their love would be lost in the tide of darkness. Sorey would sleep for centuries, but what about the seraphim that were there to help him? Did they understand that they were accepting death? Dezel and Lailah and him?
“I’m going to be real with you, and don’t repeat it to Sorey, got it?” Zaveid said forcefully in a low voice, so low that it was almost too quiet to be a whisper. “I don’t know if we’ll all survive this battle. Edna made her peace, and so have I. We understand that there may be no coming back from this, and if we do, probably not as ourselves. We believe in Sorey, but realistically…it would take a miracle.” He leaned back from him. “My plan is to hang on as long as I can to help bring Heldalf down. If I can last until Sorey can finish him off, great. If I can’t…dEzLYE sos Aharphe_aje Sorey/.”
“I don’t…”
“I’ll happily die for Sorey’s new dawn.” He offered Mikleo a soft smile that was more fatherly than anything else. “I know you two made a deep promise, and maybe you’ll have to break that promise. Sorey is doing his best, and he really cares about you. If you’re upset that you might not get your wedding day, try to understand that he wants it, too. He has something to keep him going. That something is you, Mik.”
Mikleo held his hand adorned with the ring. He felt better talking to Zaveid. Even though he was sad that he had voiced his concern, and it hurt to hear it put into words, he didn’t have doubts in his Shepherd. He believed he could accomplish his mission. Mikleo would do the same thing. He was going to hold on for as long as he could. And if he could:
“Was yea ra morto sos infelious Sorey futare.”
Notes:
I love fatherly Zaveid!
Chapter 196: Phase 8: Little Reminiscences
Summary:
One last moment of reprieve for the Shepherd and his team.
Notes:
I skipped last week for a trip to Disney! But we're back with one more chapter of tender respite. I have two chapters for today to make up from last week.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Dezel bared his teeth at Zaveid, who refused to even sit near him in the men’s bath. Sorey and Mikleo sat together before them, and while they had agreed to baths and food for the final preparation before the climb to Elysia, the tension between the two wind seraphim was so thick that even Lailah’s Sacred Blade wouldn’t cut through it.
“Don’t even try it,” Dezel growled at the other. “I may be blind, but I can tell when you’re trying to spy on the girls.”
Zaveid pouted as he dispersed the wisps of wind that he was trying to conjure up without Dezel’s knowing. He had forgotten his fellow wind seraph was more sensitive to them than others solely because he used them to survey the world around him. And even if he had used the wind to spy on the girls, Lailah would have simply burned them away.
Sorey and Mikleo sat off to the side together. Under the water, their hands clasped together as a small comfort. How relaxing it was to sit in the company of his friends and, for just a moment, feel as if there were no worries or cares in the world. Their aches and pains washed away in the water—truly a transcendental repose.
“Well, Sorey,” Mikleo started. “Did you know that before saunas were created, smokehouses were used instead?”
“Interesting,” Sorey replied, a finger to his lip as he mapped out the migration of the smokehouse in his head. “If I recall correctly, smokehouses originated in the northern regions. Seems like they made their way down to the Glenwood Continent. Though it makes sense since the entire continent used to be covered in snow and ice.”
“Zaveid, knock it off!” Dezel’s shouted over the two archaeologists. “I told you to cut it out!”
“Man, why do you have to be such a buzzkill?!” Zaveid whined.
Mikleo crossed his arms. “But how would that be possible? How could a whole continent be frozen like that?”
“I think Dezel mentioned at some point that the sunlight was rather weak—remember the tree stump in Volgran Forest?”
“You’re right; it’s barely managed to grow a sprout. Not to mention the Towers might have had something to do with it. After all, Reyvateils can do almost anything if they sing it. Oh, and if that were the case, then it would make sense why our type of seraphim can hold power over specific elements.”
“But I don’t think these Towers existed that long ago. Lasy Shurelia is only about 740 years old.”
“Do you think there was something different from the Towers before then?”
“Has to be.”
“But the divergent path of the seraphim…Hymmnos only came into use around the same time as Shurelia’s Tower’s completion, right?”
“And I can only think that Ar Ciela existed much longer—it’s the language of the gods…what if the Great Lords—Musiphe, Amenoch, Eumacia, Hyanoa, Maotelus—can all use Ar Ciela?”
“And not the Ancient Tongue?”
“On top of the Ancient Tongue! They’re Wills of the Planet along with Saki and the others, so they have to use Ar Ciela or understand it.”
“Can both of you stop blabbering about all that?” both the wind seraphim complained. “It’s hard enough to fight with this guy!”
The Shepherd’s mind, however, still wandered. Edna’s speech to the earth seraph who had lost her partner, Zaveid’s momentary flash of the suffering he had endured—it bothered him. Surely, he thought every time the subject of dragons came up, there had to be a way. If Eizen’s soul hadn’t been torn from his body and he was still flying around on the Spiritcrest, wouldn’t they have found a way to save him? And Theodora…what if she could have been saved? He wanted to ask him. He had met her in his cosmosphere—and while he wasn’t supposed to bring it up in public—he wanted to know.
“Zaveid, I am warning you,” Dezel growled again.
“Okay, okay! Jeez…” Zaveid groaned. He lay back against the edge of the bath with his arms out. Glancing over at Sorey, he spoke, “You look like you got a question, Sheps.”
“Ah,” Sorey uttered before turning away.
“C’mon, you can ask. Sure, you might be a thing with Mikboy, but I know what you’re just burning to ask—which girl is the hottest, amirite?”
Dezel splashed him with a deft karate chop to the surface of the water.
Sorey took a breath. After turning to Mikleo to tell him that he needed to speak with Zaveid in private, he and his wind seraph left the bath. Mikleo, naturally, was left with Dezel. Both of them had no interest in taking up where Zaveid left off, but Mikleo was curious about what he thought now that they were at the cusp of the final stretch in their adventure. He had seen the ring that Rose had given him during the trip back to Hyland, and he still couldn’t believe that he had accepted it. Despite everything, he didn’t think Dezel was much for marriage. He caught himself. Assuming they would make it to their wedding days. Still, had he given any thought to his wedding attire?
Meanwhile, Sorey and Zaveid reconvened in one of the rooms on the second floor. Dressed and dried as they waited for everyone else to leave the sauna for a night’s rest, Sorey found his chance to talk to him now.
“Can I ask about Theodora?” Sorey suddenly asked. The question caught Zaveid by surprise, nearly making him drop his priceless necklace. “What happened to her?”
“Sorey, please,” he said low and stern. “Don’t ask about her now.”
“Then can I ask about Eizen?”
“Why are you asking about either of them?”
Sorey hadn’t heard him sound so defensive in a long time. But he wanted to know what they thought. “Edna…is still so sad about Eizen. This entire journey, she’s been holding back her emotions, hasn’t she? I wish I could have done something to help him.”
“Nothing you could have done.” Zaveid crossed his arms, his eyes trailing after Sorey as he made his way to the bed for a seat. “Dragons existed even before the first Lord of Calamity. Even if you were to purify Maotelus’ vessel, Eizen would have still been a dragon.”
“And you know this because Theodora…”
“Yeah, she became a dragon way before then.”
Sorey pulled his knees to his chest on the bed. Even if it was impossible, he still wanted to help Edna. After all, Zaveid had accepted Theodora’s demise as a seraph and as a dragon, but Edna? No, she was still reeling. She didn’t talk about her feelings regarding Eizen. She only mentioned her distaste for humans, and how could he forget the day he watched her brother suffocate by the death knell of the seraphim stolen from Elysia. Somehow, he was going to make it so that dragons would never exist out of the burden of the malevolence. Seraphim would never have to suffer a fate like that ever again.
The girls, on the other hand, relaxed in their hot spring without a care in the world. They knew very well that Zaveid had been trying to peek on them, and Rose was confident that Dezel would keep him under control.
“Honestly, how perverted do you have to be to try and snoop on your friend’s girl when he’s literally sitting next to you?” Edna scoffed.
Alisha tensed at the thought of Zaveid catching a glimpse of their blushed skin and flushed faces. She covered her eyes as if she had been seen.
“It’s alright,” Lailah nonchalantly said. “I burned all his creepy winds before they even made it to us. And if you listened carefully, you could hear them telling him to stop!”
Rose and Alisha had strained to hear what was going on past the other side of the wall. There was only a loud babbling and the occasional bark. They shrugged and sighed; they knew Sorey and Mikleo had been talking about something in history while Dezel was probably trying to drown his fellow seraph. But now that Sorey and Zaveid left, things were far quieter.
“Even if Sorey was loud, though,” Edna sighed. “I’m glad he and Meebo talked about something that was deep, dark, and depressing. We just have a little more to go.”
“Edna’s happy to hear Sorey and Mikleo are happy?” Rose snorted. “I guess she really is a big sister!”
“Shut up,” the earth seraph retorted.
“Aw, being a sister isn’t a bad thing, Edna!” Lailah giggled. She offered a smile to the other girls. “I always did feel we were a big family. And like Edna, I’m glad this little reprieve has given them some time to be kids again.”
“Now you’re making them sound like toddlers.”
Alisha stared down at the steaming water. They did feel like a family, and maybe the humans were but babies to the seraphim, but the three of them were going to be pioneers bridging the lives of humans and seraphim on the Glenwood Continent. Rose had accepted Dezel and all his past demons. Sorey bound his heart to Mikleo’s, making their dream tangible. But what about her? Alisha hadn’t made any pledge to Lailah, yet they both knew that they were going to be together. She opened her mouth to say something then decided against it. This wasn’t the time. She had to focus like Sorey.
“Do you think we should go in?” she asked instead. She stood up from the water, the drops drying on her skin and making her skin prickle from the resulting coolness. “We have a long leg ahead of us. Let’s all get some rest.”
The other girls complained and whined, but then it wasn’t healthy to overstay their welcome in the water. When they filed out, dried off, and made their way to the rooms on the second floor, the girls knew that they had their work cut out for them. Sorey wanted to make it seem like he could handle whatever Symonne and Heldalf threw at him, but he wasn’t fooling anyone.
Edna, especially, wanted to help him. She wanted to apologize for all the hurtful things she had said before. He had Dived to the very depths of her heart and understood what Eizen’s death meant. He Dived into Zaveid’s heart and accepted that death was salvation. Lailah and Dezel wanted to protect the ones they were bound to, and by proxy of them, they wanted to protect Sorey. And of all of them, Mikleo wanted to be there to ease the pain that had been in his heart ever since the invasion. Burning with fiery passion, sturdy like the earth, flowing like the wind, and calm like ice—the heart of a Shepherd had never been so tempered by the unmerciful nature of someone like this Lord of Calamity and all those that had joined his side. Mikleo was the enforcer, Edna was the giant, and Zaveid was the oathkeeper. Lailah the Pure and Dezel the Sage wouldn’t let him fall either. Rose and Alisha, his trustworthy Squires, were ready.
As they all nodded off to sleep, they envisioned Sorey’s face with sparkling eyes and a wide smile. He was a precious friend and someone they would give their lives to protect him so that he would see his mission through.
Notes:
I HAD to put a proper hot springs scene in this fic. What is Tales if not without the hot springs/sauna scenes?!
Chapter 197: Phase 8: A Foreboding Presence
Summary:
Sorey and friends finally head to Elysia, but something is wrong in his neck of the woods.
Notes:
Here's the second chapter for the week--our return to Elysia. Naturally, some things have changed, but I like this build-up to the final areas.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Having left before the crack of dawn, Sorey guided his friends to the edge of Aroundight Forest. A misty gloom permeated through the underbrush, and without Zenrus’ blessing to shield it from hellions, it had become a cesspool of malevolence; however, when they took a step into its labyrinth of shade, they all felt something that was even more wrong than ever before. The seraphim’s skin tingled, the humans’ stomach turning and churning. There were footprints that were a little more than a week old.
“Those imprints look like Hyland armory,” Alisha observed and noted. “But why? Hadn’t Bartlow taken his men up to Eolia?”
“He could have divided his forces,” Sorey quickly objected. “The question I want answered is why go back to Elysia? They already took all of the seraphim from there!”
“Sorey, calm down,” Mikleo told him.
“What if they were trying to make it to Camlann?” Rose proposed.
“No, they wouldn’t make it with all the hellions and malevolence in the way,” Lailah rebutted.
“We can stand here guessing all day and night about what they did,” Dezel told them. “We need to get moving.”
Sorey swallowed the uneasiness that had bubbled from his gut. He knew that only Kyme had survived the invasion, but he was all the way in Lohgrin. Elysia was completely empty, and there was no reason to desecrate it further. He pushed on with his friends behind him. Large tree-like hellions—bigger than any they had encountered—crawled around. Golems made of mythril, which had been exposed by the hellions’ tantrums, and wolf-like berserkers roamed along with them. Then there was one fearsome hellion that looked almost like a grim reaper. Sorey believed they could fight it if they had to until Lailah warned him to avoid it. The malevolence it gave off was purposely controlled, as if to lure in overconfident seraphim and Shepherds. It was best to avoid it lest it slaughtered them by turning them against each other through slavery artes. Edna then pointed at a couple corpses that used to belong to Hyland soldiers at its feet. It answered one question but propagated many more.
Quietly, they stepped around the Demon Rodler. When they got halfway through the forest along its serpentine path, they found four more dead soldiers. Bite marks and punctures the size of pikes. One body’s top had been pulverized into the dirt, a bloody mess that triggered disbelief and anxiety in Alisha.
“They were ambushed by hellions,” Edna said.
“This is so horrible…Bartlow, how could you lead your men this far?” Alisha whispered behind her hand which kept her from spilling her stomach.
“There had to be more,” Sorey said, his breath measured and paced. His jaw was clenched as if to prevent himself from screaming at the massacre. “Everyone, stay on alert.”
“Don’t have to tell us twice,” Zaveid replied.
Except Sorey wasn’t trying to tell them something they already knew. He could feel it. Death now lurked around every corner and turn. He had to focus on his mission. Despite having been through so many things that could have killed him and nearly did, somehow dying here was the worst thing that could happen. His heart was racing for whatever reason, too. His vision was so blurry even though he had grown accustomed to it. Every once in a while, his body felt feverish. And like now, his heart would suddenly beat so fast. But he didn’t tell anyone. They had enough things to worry about; he didn’t want them to worry about him on top of that long, long list. He ran through the plan again in his mind. Find Heldalf, use Siegfried and the Third Tower to unbind him from Maotelus, and end his suffering. They had five seraphim, three of them were his. Those three bonds had made his health deteriorate in exchange for more power. He knew his seraphim hated the trade, but it was necessary, and he was prepared to deal with it until the end. If shooting his friends into Heldalf meant to sever their bonds, maybe he would get better. Maybe then he could fight harder. But…they would be fired into malevolence manifested. They would die, and they had made up their minds that their sacrifice would grant the Shepherd a tremendous advantage.
It angered him no matter how composed he tried to be. The only reason that these soldiers were there was because Bartlow had brought them there. And the only reason for him to be there was if he had believed that seraphim had taken refuge in the village. Symonne and Heldalf were masters of illusion, so it was likely that it was all just a trap. But why? What would Heldalf gain by killing humans other than to stoke more malevolence? Sorey kept a tight hold on his emotions because of this. It was one last-ditch effort to unravel him and make him fall. If they couldn’t kill him, surely they thought they would taint him like so many Shepherds of the past had succumb to the irrationality of intense emotion.
He kept walking, muttering to himself, “Don’t worry. Don’t worry. I can save them, too. I won’t let them die. I can’t let them die. Even if they’re willing, I don’t want anyone else to die.”
“Sorey,” Mikleo murmured. He wanted to hold him tightly to reassure him that everything would be okay. There just wasn’t time to do that.
They left the Aroundight Forest behind for the hill leading up to the once majestic entrance of Elysia. Swirling dark grey clouds hung over the empty village. It felt like a year or so had passed since the invasion, and while Sorey and Mikleo had visited the village not too long ago, the eerie premonition of death still drifted through the village like a sickly fog. Everyone silently gave their condolences to the two boys until they saw a large two-headed dog-like hellion standing guard at the gate. And bodies—more Hyland soldiers lay at its feet.
“W-What is that?” Mikleo gasped.
“Cerberus,” Zaveid said. “Hell’s Guard Dog.”
“What is it protecting?” Rose asked.
“Probably nothing—I don’t sense any living beings here at all,” Dezel told her once he checked the wind. “That said, this place is so soaked in malevolence that it’s hard to tell.”
Sorey drew his sword. Resolutely—or perhaps recklessly—he asked that his friends stayed behind except for Mikleo. This was their home; they had to fight for it.
“Sorey, don’t be stupid!” Rose scolded him. “We’re here to help you!”
Lailah put up her hand. She saw it in the way he stood. He wasn’t worried about shouldering his immense burden. He wanted to fight for the sanctity of his home. With a roaring battle cry, Sorey and Mikleo charged into battle with the Cerberus.
“Are we really sitting this one out?” Edna asked.
“He’s fighting with anger, Lailah,” Zaveid warned her.
“No,” she denied them. “Not anger, nor with vengeance. This is their home. They simply wish to protect it.”
“Even I can tell that’s a stretch,” Dezel growled.
“We mustn’t interfere.”
The two headed of Cerberus commanded two different types of magic. The right head wielded ice while the left head breathed fire. As long as they kept in mind which head was attacking, they could exploit its weakness.
Mikleo kept distance between him and the hellion as he began to quickly cast Freeze Lancer. Sorey flanked the hellion’s right head, conjuring fire on his blade and doing his best to avoid its teeth.
“Cantering Flames!” he cried out as he danced in his embers. “Mikleo, do it!”
“Freeze Lancer!” the water seraph called on cue. The icicle spears shot into the hellion, but it barely left a scratch. “No good?”
“Keep at it!”
Sorey again beat the right head with his sword, switching through all his Martial Artes until he got a chance to use his Mystic Arte. Right after he succeeded in dealing enough damage, Cerberus went on full assault. It leapt away from Sorey and out of range for Mikleo’s attack.
“Get back here!” Sorey called out.
“Sorey, wait!” Mikleo cautioned him.
That was when the hellion’s two heads both spewed fire and ice at him. He guarded against it by crossing his arms, though it did nothing against the sheer pressure of the attack launching him back away from it.
Zaveid and Edna watched with anticipation. They weren’t sure if Sorey could handle it even with Mikleo with him. Lailah insisted they stood back.
“Luzrov Rulay!” Sorey yelled. Immediately, he Armatized with Mikleo and shot arrow after arrow into its chest. “Arrow Squall! Trinity Arrow! Maelstrom!”
Yet still the hellion looked like it wasn’t taking any damage. Sorey was beginning to get exhausted from using so much power, and at that moment, Mikleo forced him to move out of the way of a lunge attack.
“Thanks, Mikleo,” Sorey huffed. Again, his heart was racing not from the adrenaline. Why were his bonds affecting him so much now? He de-Armatized. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to use Song Magic,” Mikleo told him. “We can end it if I can sing for long enough. Just hold it off as long as you can.”
Sorey nodded. He couldn’t let Mikleo down, and he was proud that he wasn’t afraid of this monster. The Shepherd breathed to calm himself and slow his pounding heart. He dashed toward the hellion. Mikleo readied himself to sing as long and fast as he could.
Rrha quel ga anturn urdm her bansh dand lusye
Li lhasya anw add murfanare mea tes viega yor
Li irs lgn dje mea dest
Rrha ki ra rre yorr sik an naja ween gatyunla
He repeated the chant over and over, faster and faster until it sounded like a gatling gun of syllables that made no sense to the Shepherd whose mind was preoccupied with distracting the monster. The more he sang, the stronger his attack became, manifesting as a giant water dragon above him. Long and slender, the legendary serpent of the sea named Leviathan undulated above him. Sorey turned around to see how far he had gotten in his Song only to find the manifestation of desperation looming above both him and Cerberus.
“Sorey, move!” Mikleo commanded as he unleashed the attack on the hellion. Dodging out of the way of the water dragon created by his seraph, Sorey clutched at his chest. For whatever reason he felt pain, yet he ignored it. “This is the end!”
The wave crashed down onto the hellion, further and further into the softening topsoil until nothing of it remained. All that was left was just a sopping crater in the ground. Mikleo fell to his knees from using such strong magic. Sorey came to his side, struggling to hide the discomfort he felt.
“That was so cool, Mikle—o-o!” he said then stammered at another twinge of pain.
“T-Thanks…?” Mikleo answered, though suspicious of the hiccup.
Rose ran up and smacked him across the face. “Dammit, Sorey! You should have let us help!” she complained. She noticed how pale he was aside from the red hand on his cheek. “Man, you didn’t even take that much damage and you look like you’re about to fall over! Just let us handle some of the fighting, too!”
“Sorey, there’s someone here,” Mikleo realized aloud. “I can feel someone—it’s someone we know!”
“What?” Sorey replied, ignoring that Rose was miffed about being excluded from the action and ignoring his debilitation. “Where?”
Mikleo slowly turned to Zenrus’ house. He pointed. Wary that it could be a trap, the two made their way up the hill to it. They had forgotten everything around them. And as they walked, they found six more soldiers mauled on the ground. Perhaps they really had seen a seraph run back to Elysia, and they encountered Cerberus. Some of the soldiers were missing their heads while other had massive chunks bitten out of their trunks. Sorey and Mikleo did their best not to stare at the remains. They kept their eyes on the house.
Sorey reached for the door only to be repelled by a strong barrier spell. He yelped in pain as it stung him. “There’s definitely someone inside!” he said more cheerfully than anyone else had expected.
“Sorey? Is that you?” Kyme asked from behind the door. The seraph that once was Zenrus’ right-hand man cracked open the door. “Oh, dear Maotelus!” He yanked open the door, dispelled the barrier, and hugged them both. “I thought I’d never see you again!”
“Us, too!” Mikleo sighed. “How did you get back to Elysia?”
“Cocona came back from her Tower to help me. I was getting ready to leave Lohgrin since we’ve been granted permission by Lady Harvestasha and General Akane to go home. A lot of seraphim left in small groups, avoiding as many humans as they could. As the sole survivor of the invasion—well, besides you two—I thought if I could come back here and pick up where your Gramps left off, then we could help Elysia grow again.”
“And you didn’t run into any trouble?” Sorey asked him.
“There were a few hitches. Getting back to Lastonbell wasn’t hard, but Glaivend Basin is still in tatters. The malevolence has been quelled there, but there are still hellions—far too many for me to take on alone. That was when I ran into Lady Cloche and Cocona. They were gathering the people that had left Frelia. I asked Cocona if she could escort me, and she joined me on the way back. She couldn’t bring me all the way because Lady Cloche needed her to return, though. So I kept hiding and managed to make it back here. It seems that I was followed. Those humans…they followed me through Aroundight Forest, and the old man with them didn’t care if they were killed by hellions. He had a crazed look in his eye…then he said he saw another seraph head to Mabinogio Ruins.”
“Another seraph…” Sorey repeated.
“Do you think…?” Mikleo started.
“Kyme, please stay inside and make sure you keep that barrier up. Things…things are still really bad, but we want to make sure you’ll be safe.”
Kyme was more than ready to oblige to the request. Before doing as he was told, he handed a letter to Sorey. “I found this while waiting out the situation,” he said. “It looks like a few pages of a memoir, but it’s Zenrus’ handwriting. Please hold onto it, Sorey, Mikleo. That old man loved you two so much. Consider it a good luck charm from wherever his soul may be.”
Sorey carefully opened the folded papers. He read them slowly while Mikleo watched past his shoulder at the carefully etched letters:
“‘I, Zenrus, shall record the truth the birth of the human, Sorey, and the seraph, Mikleo, here in writing. Both Sorey and Mikleo are survivors of Camlann, the origin village where the Age of Chaos unfolded. Mikleo’s mother is Muse, the younger sister of the late Shepherd, Michael. Sorey’s mother is Selene, a citizen of Camlann. I have been entrusted to the care of both of them by Muse, who managed to escape from Camlann. I closed off Elysia with my domain and decided to raise both of them in an isolated place, separate from the outside world. As long as I live, I swear to protect these young babes as part of our family. I pray that these children, burdened by the tribulations of the era, shall still live in peace. But if these children shall challenge their fate and desire to create a new world, then may they receive the blessings of both humans and seraphim alike, so that their will for a new future may be fulfilled.’”
Holding back the tears in their eyes, Sorey gave the letter back to Kyme, who was confused. Why wouldn’t they want it? It was his final words. But the truth was, as painful as it was, that they couldn’t take it with them. If they had taken the letter with them down to the very place that they had been rescued from, it would get damaged. It was the last thing they wanted to happen to the precious paper with cursive handwriting that leaned just slightly to the right.
“Please keep it safe,” Sorey implored his friend. “We’ll be back to see you again soon.”
Kyme tenderly took the letter back like it was a precious baby. He watched them as they solemnly turned away from him. They knew he would go back inside and lock the door and put his barrier up, yet it still was the second greatest pain. Kyme never knew what happened to Zenrus, and he would never understand just how hard it was to take the letter knowing what they knew. And they knew he would be safe.
He would be safe because Symonne had been watching with the little devil smile on her lips while she stood on a corpse that was still intact. She giggled and watched and relished the trouble in the Shepherd’s emerald eyes. And all his friends were ready to fight her there and then, but she wasn’t there for that. He joined them, approaching her once he saw that she had no intention of starting any fights.
“We can no longer predict how you will react,” she tittered and taunted. “We only know that Maotelus and now Ciela will give us what we need to make Lord Heldalf’s plan come to fruition.”
“What is it that you want?” Sorey asked her.
Spinning on her toes and offering one last smile. “I’m giving you a chance, Shepherd,” she cooed. Suddenly, all the seraphim that had been stolen from Elysia appeared around Sorey and Sorey alone; his friends who were calling to him couldn’t be heard. They smiled at him, opening their welcoming arms to embrace him. He was stunned. “If you join our side, Sorey, we can bring them back.”
Sorey shut his eyes tight. Focusing on the voices of his friends, he broke out of the illusion. His heart ached again. “I’m not joining you,” he told her defiantly. “I will never join you, and you can’t bring them back.”
“Oh, are you sure about that? After all, Maotelus and Ciela both have unimaginable power.”
“Get lost, Pasty!” Rose snarled at her.
“You’ve caused enough trouble for everyone!” Alisha argued with her spear ready to pierce.
“Follow the little birdie, and you might find what you’re looking for—someone you hold so dear,” Symonne giggled before vanishing.
Her laugh remained, and it was the one thing that urged Sorey to keep pushing on. He rallied his friends, all of whom were getting the tip of a bad feeling in their gut. Who was Symonne talking about? They had to save Maotelus before they reached Ciela. Who else was there?
“Sorey, remember who you are and what our mission here is,” Lailah reminded him. “Be careful.”
“I know,” Sorey said. He placed a hand over his heart again. “But no matter what—regardless of what she has planned—we can’t stop. Heldalf is right there, and once we free Maotelus…” He clenched his teeth, lips closed to hide it. “We’re almost there.”
“Are you okay?” Mikleo asked.
He unclenched, a breath of calm coming to him and clearing his head. He couldn’t get so worked up over Symonne’s ambiguously honeyed words. Mikleo approached him, feeling his face and heart.
“I thought so, too. You look spent…far more than usual,” the water seraph continued.
“I’m fine, really. It’s probably…just the anxiety,” Sorey said, though not very convincingly. He waved him away before he or anyone else could ask him what was wrong. “Alright, everyone. Brace yourselves. We’re going down as far as we can go.”
Notes:
The idea of Sorey being debilitated by his bonds and the malevolence alike is something I truly do enjoy. The final stretch of a journey and all of the pain and anxiety catching up to him--will he survive?
Chapter 198: Phase 8: Puppetmaster's Broken Strings
Summary:
Sorey and company venture down into Mabinogio Ruins. Symonne waits in the darkness, but she's not alone.
Notes:
We're getting to some more chapters that I really love~ Only one chapter today, but hopefully the tension grows and it hurts to wait~
Admittedly, this isn't as flowing as it could be, but you can tell I want to get somewhere.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mabinogio Ruins looked the same as it always had. It hadn’t been touched since Sorey and Mikleo left; even the giant statue that stood just before the entrance remained unchanged. They were glad to see it again, reliving the multitude of times that they had played in the ruins and pretended to be explorers.
“Oh my,” Lailah said with awe. “I never knew Zenrus had been worshipped like this before.”
All eyes crawled up the incredibly tall statue, the fearsome yet benevolent face of the god peering down back at them. It was so magnificent even if it was overgrown with moss and showing the first signs of crumble, and for the first time, Sorey and Mikleo realized it. The statue that had always peacefully watched them frolick and lounge in the ruins and loomed over them when they accidentally agitated a hellion to scare it away with whatever blessing was still on it all those years ago. It was Zenrus, the God of Thunder.
“Gramps…was a god?” Sorey asked. “But…wouldn’t he have been a Will of the Planet?”
“He must have chosen not to be one,” Mikleo inferred. “He probably knew about them.”
“Of course, he did,” Edna replied. “He was associated with the Origins.”
Alisha stepped to Sorey, who took Mikleo’s hand. Were they hurting? Were they sad seeing the statue only after learning the identity of it? Mikleo’s face hadn’t changed, but Sorey’s was obscured by the shadows cast by his hair in the dim light that speckled the statue from above.
“I wish I could have helped him,” he whispered. “If I could have…”
“Sorey, please…” Mikleo whispered back.
Rose and Alisha let out a a breath of sympathy, their seraphim touching them gently to leave them be. They didn’t wait too long. They still had a mission to do. Even if he was a shell of who he was now, Sorey wanted to believe that his beloved Gramps was still watching them and was proud of how far they had come. He repeated it in his mind—the tribulations of the era.
He led his friends from the statue down curling stairs to a room where there was an intricately carved door. Long before they had ever thought to dig deeper into the Mabinogio Ruins, that door was immovable. Something strong held it shut, and no matter how hard they pushed, they couldn’t open it. Not until now.
Sorey gingerly touched the door, which seemed to be enough to move it out of the way with a consequence. Mikleo felt a disturbance, a slight one, that made him wary of the darkness beyond the door. Sorey’s heart stung him, like a spear that buried itself deep in his bosom. He forced himself not to show the agony of the malevolence shooting into him, but he knew that something deep inside the ruins was polluting it.
“Everything’s okay,” he whispered. “We can do this…” He faced his friends, pretending that he was in the best of spirits and health. “Alright, let’s go!”
“Suddenly happy to go down there?” Dezel asked him.
“We’re getting closer and closer; we can’t stop now!”
Lailah watched him unsure if she should commend how brave he was trying to be or to caution him from acting too recklessly. They had to go down into the darkness, but he didn’t have to worry about them.
Sorey breathed slow and measured before climbing down the stone stairs from the shrine built for Zenrus above them to the unknown far below. The long corridor of stairs into the final act, an interlude that they had to make it through. When they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Alisha let out a shriek that caught everyone off-guard. Just like in Elysia, there was a pile of Hyland corpses in the center and Bartlow’s body lay on top. And sitting in front of the pile, injured and exhausted, was a young woman. She was somewhat translucent like a phantom, a physical manifestation of the Hymmnos seal that had kept Maotelus within Camlann and all the stupid humans out.
She had Mikleo’s face that was also scrunched in pain caused by being run through with a sword. Seeing this woman in agony stung Mikleo, and he rushed to her side. “Mot—Muse! Muse, hang on!” he begged her. “Lailah! Edna! Someone, heal her!” He cradled her weakening body as the other crowded around him. “Hold on, Muse.”
Rrha ki ra add hymme mean
En na heighte zash yor
Na hieg sos marta yor
Both Edna and Lailah worked together to heal her with the Hymmnos spell, and while it was just in time to save her from succumbing to her injuries, the woman Muse was still weak. She looked up at Mikleo, eyes somewhat glazed from years of serving as the seal that kept Camlann shut off from the rest of the world.
“You look like how I imagined he would look,” she smiled at him, somewhat listless in her words. “I hope he can forgive my brother for what he did. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. If things were normal, I would have given him so much love.”
Mikleo held her hand. Was this what Luca and Cloche felt seeing their mother die? But Muse wasn’t dying—so why was she speaking this way? Unless she simply wished she could have seen her son now.
“I…I’m sure he would have loved you just as much, Muse,” Mikleo gently told her. “If you could go see him now, you both would have a wonderful time. A picnic or…or…”
“Thank you, but I must return to my post. I took an oath to protect this place. I can’t abandon it.”
Muse pushed herself up, Sorey and Mikleo helping her to her feet then watching the young woman who hadn’t aged a day since the beginning of the Age of Chaos. Using her homemade staff that was adorned with the same gem that was in Mikleo’s circlet and in her own phantasmic one, she hobbled to the door behind them. Her feeble figure receded into the light of the seal on the door.
“I just want him to know that I’m always watching over him,” Muse said. Before she vanished, she recited a Hymmnos spell taught to her by the one that granted her oath, “Ma quel wa chs cecet mea. Rrha granme wa grandus ciel yor.” And all that was left in her stead was her staff.
Mikleo stared longingly at the door. Everyone remained silent, and Sorey rested his hand on his shoulder. Then he wrapped him in his arms from behind. “Are you okay?” Sorey asked him. He squeezed him in hopes of making him feel better. “I-I’m sorry.”
The water seraph faced him. And while he was smiling at him, his heart was saddened at the prospect of never getting to meet his mother. In the back of his mind—far away from Sorey—he wished he could have gotten to know Muse. Maybe he didn’t want a complete rewrite of history, for if history was rewritten, what would become of his relationship with Sorey?
“I’m okay,” he said with a quiver in his voice that was just detectable. “We have other matters to attend to, don’t we?”
“Mikleo, if you want to take a moment—”
“Let’s just go.”
Mikleo quickly picked up Muse’s staff then walked ahead of the group. Alisha and Rose had finished moving the bodies into more respectable postures save for Bartlow. But something was off. Bartlow had invaded Elysia once. In this age, he wouldn’t have had any reason to break the door to Camlann if not to force the seal open. Lailah and Edna had a feeling that they hadn’t simply decided to go down into the depths of the ruins. They were led there specifically for that purpose. Regardless, the corpses were of soldiers that Alisha and Lailah knew. Bartlow, on the other hand, had been the root of most of their problems. Then Alisha, the Princess of Hyland, rearranged his body as well.
“He may have been an enemy, but he was still someone that initially wanted to see Ladylake prosper,” she said. “I can’t fault that desire.”
Once they were ready to move again, Sorey led his friends through the chamber and down another flight of stairs. That was, until they crossed a threshold into a different world. It was barren and moonless. Obsidian obelisks littered the desert that stretched for an infinite distance all around them. There were hellions here, too.
“What the hell?” Rose gasped.
“Looks like she’s still got a few tricks up her sleeve,” Zaveid sighed.
“I can’t detect anything in any direction either,” Dezel said. “But Symonne’s illusions…”
“You can just feel they’re getting weaker,” Lailah confirmed.
“Hmph, the creepy little girl is losing her grip on her powers with Heldalf’s domain like this,” Edna added. “We should take advantage of her.”
“We should still exercise caution,” Alisha noted.
Mikleo didn’t voice his opinion on the matter. He simply clenched his fist around Muse’s staff, angered that his mother had gotten hurt in all of this. Sorey understood how he felt, but they had to be careful. He touched his hand.
It was time to start moving again. But in which direction? Dezel’s wind was handicapped in this strange nexus, but he sensed the hellions. And he noticed, after straining himself, that they were like breadcrumbs leading to some malicious force that gave him goosebumps.
He guided them to each hellion, and as quickly as one wave was put down, they encountered the next wave. And the next wave, and the next wave, and the next until they were encroaching on them all while Sorey’s lingering pains waxed and waned. He couldn’t show it. He couldn’t let the panic set in.
“Is that…?” Lailah started
“Alisha? Sorey?” Edna finished.
“Such ugly-looking clones,” Mikleo hissed. “Let’s blow through this one!”
“Right! Hephsin Yulind!” Sorey called.
“Fethmus Mioma!” Alisha called as well.
Rose said on the sidelines of the fight when she realized that hellions would be attracted to the battle about to ensue. Dezel, Zaveid, and Mikleo offered her back up; they knew that Alisha and Sorey had the power to take down such cheap imitations.
The clones donned the same Armatuses as them, which would throw a wrench in the fight if they weren’t smart. Without a moment to spare, Alisha and Sorey sped towards them blade and fist ready for action. They slashed the clones and battered them down only to have them retaliate. As they expected, they were weak for mirrors of them, yet attacking them had caused a surge of discomfort in his chest.
“You’re…hurting…me!” the Alisha clone cried out as the real one blasted her back with one of Lailah’s fireballs. Alisha ignored her words.
“How can you just hurt your friends like this?” the Sorey clone questioned, his words seeping into the real one.
“It hurts us to do this, Symonne!” Lailah countered.
“Sorey, don’t listen to them!” Edna warned him before feeling the stabbing sensation in her heart as well.
“I-I’m not…!” he choked. He panted and breathed, clutching at his chest. “Do you think we can do a Synchonity Chain?”
“We’ve done it before; we can do it again!” Alisha huffed after taking a beating from the Sorey clone. She hopped back next to Sorey. Pulling him up, they readied themselves. Lailah and Edna took full control over them, lulling them into unconsciousness as they stood together.
“Grounded as rock,” Edna said through Sorey.
“Raging like a great flame,” Lailah said through Alisha.
“Burst forth! Synchronity Chain!”
“W-What?!” the clones stammered.
Just as before, Edna launched the clones into the air using Crystal Tower while Lailah used a new Arte she had learned recently. A star falling from the darkened sky above exploded and sent the clones crashing down to the ground. Sorey and Alisha regained consciousness, wasting no time to pummel their clones in the sands under their feet. As soon as the clones were defeated, the illusion—including the hellions within it—dispelled.
Alisha and Sorey de-Armatized from their seraphim. It would be difficult, indeed, for a seraph to control their powers within a domain as malevolent as Heldalf’s. Sorey smirked not because Symonne was suffering but because they could finally corner and get her to change her mind.
“Hey, you,” Edna curtly said to Sorey. She approached him while keeping an eye on the others. “You’re hiding stuff again.”
“I-I know,” Sorey couldn’t deny. He clutched his chest. “It’s not that bad. Please, don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t, but you should. Stop hiding these things. We’re here to help you. You can have Meebo or Lailah heal you.”
Sorey sheepishly smiled at her. “I don’t know if it can be healed. I think it’s caused by the malevolence, so—”
“That’s crap. You’re a lot stronger than when you started. Kittybeard’s malevolence shouldn’t be hurting you like this.”
“Maybe not…”
“You all good over here?” Zaveid asked them.
“I’m fine!” Sorey blurted out. “Uh, let’s keep going.”
He stared down the stairs finding a hall with hellions and rooms that branched to the side. Aside from mold and fungi growing in the cracks of the walls, there was nothing in there, and the hellions were a cakewalk to take care of.
Deeper they went. They knew Symonne. They anticipated that she would trap them in yet another illusion, and when the world she had sent them to return, they were prepared. Her power was unstable, the illusion essentially having holes in it. They knew how to dispel it, too. Find the clones and defeat them—it would be simple. The only problem would be another seraph learning about the deep-seated pain in his bosom. Still, he had to risk it.
Once again, Dezel guided them to the hellions sprinkled throughout the illusion that led them to the clones waiting at the end. They were already Armatized with water and wind, so Sorey and Rose took this one together. Alisha kept the hellions at bay like Rose had before.
Before they could rush their way through, the clones sneered at them. “You don’t really want to do this, do you?” the clone Rose needled them.
“Can’t you feel it, Shepherd? The feeling gnawing at your heart—that’s the feeling that brought us to life,” the clone Sorey taunted. “Your anxieties, fears, inadequacies—all of those rotten feelings have dragged you down.”
“Do you ever shut up?” Dezel snarled.
“Let’s do this, Sorey!” Mikleo told him.
Sorey took a stand far behind Rose, firing arrow after arrow at his counterpart. Dezel and Rose, on the other hand, flew into the Rose clone. They blasted her with wind and sliced into her with razors. The clone Sorey took aim at her instead of the real Sorey, firing on her wings of knives until she was pinned down at the feet of her clone.
“Stratashield!” she called.
The sudden gust of wind momentarily pushed them back, and Sorey again wondered if they could do a Synchronity Chain. They had to fight them off quickly to get to Symonne and Heldalf.
“Rose, Synchronity Chain,” he notified her.
Rose scrambled away from the clones. She remembered the last time that they did one and how tired it had left them. But both seraphim had Dived as deep as possible and were as strong as they could get.
“Ready?” Rose asked him. He nodded. The two relinquished themselves to their seraphim:
“Melody of water,” Mikleo said through Sorey.
“Protection of wind,” Dezel said through Rose.
“Combine into one flow! Synchronity Chain!”
Mikleo held the clones in place with Maelstrom, trapping them in a viciously swirling whirlpool as Dezel positioned the knives of his wings to fire wind pressurized into lasers at them. While the Rose clone lay on the ground lifeless, the Sorey one was still barely hanging on. As soon as Sorey and Rose regained control, the clone fired a speeding arrow at them which grazed the latter’s arm.
“I’m…not…letting you go…!” the clone coughed.
“Rose, stay with me!” Dezel panicked.
“I-I’m fine,” she panted. She held her arm that was now bleeding from the arrow.
Despite the hurting in his heart, Sorey rushed up to the clone. At point-blank, he fired an arrow back at him. And just like that, the illusion was gone.
Dezel de-Armatized and immediately healed Rose as best as he could before breathing a sigh of relief. She couldn’t help but chuckle. Things between Sorey and Mikleo weren’t as happy. When they de-Armatized, Mikleo frowned at him. He had felt the same feeling that Edna had. Sorey swore up and down that he was okay and that it was just some muscle spasms.
“Muscle spasms in your heart aren’t a good thing, Sorey!” he scolded him.
“I’ll be okay!”
“Sorey!”
“Mikleo!”
“Both of you, please stop!” Alisha chastised them. “We don’t have time for this!”
It was obvious that she had only come in for part of the conversation, thus making Sorey’s secret still under wraps. Mikleo wouldn’t expose him, either. He didn’t get a chance to. Sorey’s mind was already trying to predict what Symonne would do next.
Rose and Alisha feared that she would just keep attacking them with illusion after illusion, and Sorey knew she would. It was clear to everyone, though, that her illusions were shoddy at best. The malevolence was getting to her. Edna even decided that if her power wasn’t depleting, she would have scared them off with far more gruesome memories. Sorey didn’t want to think about them. Symonne had already lured him back to Elysia, and the memories of the invasion troubled him. She had to be aware of the incident that took place when Mikleo was going to be turned into a Seraphoid, or Dezel used in an IPD experiment, or even the death of Eizen or Zaveid’s forced merging with Gengai on the Third Tower. There were so many dark atrocities that she could pull from their hearts, so why hadn’t she? Simply because she would run herself into the ground if she did.
Sorey looked past the angry Mikleo in front of him. The pain was at an all-time high for him because there, in the next chamber, Symonne was waiting for them. He couldn’t see that far ahead—his eyes were as blurry as ever—but even he knew that she was getting tired. Her illusions wouldn’t do her any good now; however, somehow, he knew that she wasn’t going to stop. Not yet. She was waiting for him.
Notes:
In this chapter we're getting some Synchronity Chains from Ar Tonelico 2. These attacks pretty much increase Song Magic power by twofold in addition to the exponential growth of Song Magic Harmonics. So basically, Sorey/Alisha/Rose could really pull a Super Saiyan moment if I wanted them to.
Chapter 199: Phase 8: Death Calling
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level X: Symonne
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Chapter Text
Sorey stared at Symonne, taking note of the wall behind her being a dead end. It was clearly an illusion; every once in a while, the illusion flickered like a dying light and revealed the path forward for just a split second. His attention came back to the fallen seraph. She looked haggard, like she had used more energy than she had. He couldn’t talk, though. With how his chest continued to throb and ache, it was a wonder that he could still carry on. No, it wasn’t—he corrected himself. He kept going because he didn’t want the burden to fall on his friends. No matter how much they persisted in helping him, he just couldn’t do that to them. Not when their deaths were drawing nearer with each step.
“You’re looking pretty tired there, Symonne,” Sorey spoke. “Must be pretty hard maintaining your powers without a vessel while in this domain.”
“Hold your tongue, Shepherd!” Symonne snapped at her. “You’re getting tired, too. But no matter how many illusions I craft for you, you remain steadfast on your path. Why? Why can’t you just submit to the darkness inside of you?”
“Simply because there is none in Sorey’s heart!” Mikleo refuted.
“Are you so dreadfully sure of that?” Symonne huffed and panted, but she still wore a horrible smirk on her lightly pink-tinted lips. “All those times that you’ve wanted to give up being the Shepherd, that your anxieties and insecurities made you hesitate, that caused your precious friends to get hurt—stop pretending! You know it’s there…it’s eating away at you, Shepherd, just like it ate away at my master. If you gave into it now, you would be so powerful!”
Sorey shook his head. “I’m not after power,” he calmly told her. “My only goal is to stop Heldalf. My only dream is to unite humans and seraphim. I don’t need power for that.”
“Don’t make me laugh!” Symonne raised her cropped wand in the air. “I’ll force your eyes open and make you see the darkness that’s truly there!”
Above her, an orb of dark energy began to form.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“A Song?” Lailah uttered.
Rose didn’t wait for a command. She rushed toward Symonne with her daggers out. She leapt over her. Before she could bury her knives into her tiny body, another Symonne came out of nowhere and beat her down.
“Wait, something’s wrong,” Edna suddenly said. “The First Tower…what’s happening?”
“Symonne, you’re hurting, too, aren’t you?” Sorey tried to ask her.
Symonne glared at him like a wild animal. “What’s with that look?! Are you sympathizing with me?! If you care so much about my feelings, just succumb to the malevolence!” She lifted both her arms, and two more clones appeared. “Can you feel it? Her power! She probably thought that once she was purified, she would be rid of me, but the hatred in her heart still lingers! Mir!”
In the Rinkernator of Eolia, Shurelia and Jacqli saw to their duties. They were monitoring the amount of malevolence on the Tower and the resulting hellions. Shurelia kept tabs on Misha and Aurica as well, putting them in charge of Em Pheyna and Nemo, respectively.
“Jacqli, can you run a diagnostic for this section?” she asked. But Jacqli didn’t answer. “Jacqli?” Shurelia turned to face her only to find her trembling on the ground. “J-Jacqli!”
The raven-haired Reyvateil gripped at her head, clenching her teeth to keep herself from screaming and singing. The malevolence bubbled in her against her will, and once again, she found herself as nothing more than a puppet to greedy beings.
“S-Shurelia…do something!” she gagged.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
In the depths of Mabinogio Ruins, Symonne’s power increased exponentially. “That’s right, Mir—use that hatred!” she giggled.
Lailah, Edna, and Mikleo began casting at once to break her Song. The clones were multiplying, attacking them and interrupting them just as they had finished their incantations. Zaveid and Dezel whipped at the clones and destroyed them only to outnumbered by their replacements. Alisha and Rose, slowly getting cornered by them as they cast a ravaging spell called Servant Shadow, thrust their weapons into them.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey knew it was futile to attack the real Symonne; her clones would stop him if he tried. He went to Rose and Alisha’s aid, striking down the clones as quickly as he could. Mikleo backed him up by splashing water on them. Edna laid rock traps around the chamber. More and more clones surrounded them.
Jacqli was trapped, too. No matter what Shurelia did, she couldn’t break Symonne’s hold on her. And soon, she was completely entranced.
“Mir, you’ve got to fight it!” Shurelia told her. She held her tightly. “Mir!”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Excellent,” Symonne cackled.
The entire Tower of Eolia seized, reverberating in Lailah, Edna, and Mikleo. Shurelia was unable to free Jacqli, who still had permissions within its mainframe. The ivory Origin did the next best thing she could think of.
“I’m suspending your permissions, my sister,” she said solemnly. “Whatever malady is afflicting you, I won’t allow it inside.
“It’s too late, Origin.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Ensnare him!” Symonne ordered her clones. “The curtain falls,” she said between her lyrics. The clones surrounded Sorey as he chased them from Alisha and Rose, whipping his back with their wands. “You may perish, but your despair shall not!” The girls called out to him over the roars of the spells other clones cast against them. Four clones dragged Sorey to the ground and pinned him down. “You can’t escape! Metempsychosis!”
The clones stabbed Sorey with their wands, and while they weren’t sharp enough to pierce his chest through his clothes, each attack left him reeling in pain. The jewels on the tips of them tore holes in his shirt. Black tendrils were becoming present.
“Get off!” he demanded them. Naturally, they didn’t listen. Instead, they held him up and made sure he could wriggle out of the pile of clones. “Let go of me!”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Sorey!” Mikleo gasped. He, Edna, and Zaveid turned into orbs of light that raced into his body. Symonne’s wand turned into a fearsome black and gold glaive scythe.
She slowly walked up to him, Sorey’s eyes relecting the image of what he believed to be her Divine Artifact. “I’m not making a pact with you!” The panic was reaching to a head. “I can’t make a pact…!” She kept walking to him. “I-If I make another pact…!”
“Don’t worry, Shepherd,” Symonne giggled. “I’ll make sure to support your mind, body, and soul.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Symonne created a shield of malevolence around them, the tendrils holding him in place as if he were a prisoner of war or even as a puppet. Sorey shook his head to loosen her grip on him until she settled for grabbing him by the back of his head to hold his quivering, fear-stricken lips steady.
“Symonne, please don’t do this,” Sorey begged her one last time as she brought herself only a centimeter away.
His plea went unheard. Kissing him with spite and loathing for everything he stood for, the Shepherd trapped in a world of darkness felt the effects of the new pact take shape. His vision went completely black, his ears completely silent, his body completely numb, and his heart on the verge of exploding. He whined and cried into her for fear that he wasn’t even going to live to hear her true name. He didn’t want to. He couldn’t stop her from singing it. Regardless if he could hear it or not, she had given it to him:
:/SWELOKSUW_KAERIB/:
Almost immediately, Sorey was forced to Armatize with Symonne. His hair still turned blond, but his eyes were magenta like Symonne’s. Instead of the usual white, the skin-tight clothes were black as night, and all colored accents on it were an opalescent violet color. The gold glittered even while he steeped in malevolence. His consciousness fading and assimilating into the seraph’s cosmosphere, he only felt the fear and anxiety he had become all too familiar with.
It didn’t take long for Symonne to grow accustomed to the new body. She dissipated the malevolence, and through Sorey’s eyes, she saw new prey. “Even with all that baggage, the Shepherd still had a lot of life in him,” she mocked, though it was his voice coming from his mouth.
Alisha, Rose, Dezel, and Lailah couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
“But even with that as the case, his body can’t support four pacts all at once without something to give him some leverage. How sad, isn’t it? He has no choice: either allow me to control his body in exchange of his life or perish.” Sorey gripped the scythe.
Rose and Alisha stood up ready to fight for his freedom. “What have you done to him?” the former asked. “Where is he?!”
“You ask so many questions!” Sorey cackled. “He has essentially Dived into me, but his heart is weak. His consciousness is barely even there. He is nothing more than just a meat suit, a toy for me to play with however I see fit. And the most interesting part? I can kill you without getting my hands dirty.”
“Rose, run!” Dezel ordered her.
“Alisha, you must get out of here!” Lailah commanded.
Sorey swung the scythe. In the blink of an eye, he slashed the two girls across their chests deeply and grievously. They collapsed in front of him gasping for air yet unaware of what had just happened. Dezel and Lailah hurried to them, holding them in their arms and trying their best to heal the new wound.
“Sorey, please wake up!” Lailah cried out. “Don’t let Symonne do this!”
“Sorey isn’t here!” The crazed look in his violet eyes frightened her. “He’ll be devoured in the depths of my cosmosphere, and there’s nothing you can do about it!” Lifting the scythe once more, he cut into Lailah and Dezel. “Forgive me, Master, for my rash behavior, but I cannot allow him to reach you.”
“Come here, Lord Shepherd,” Symonne called to him.
Sorey shrinked away from her despite having nowhere to run in the shared soul space. She grasped his wrist firmly.
“Please…Symonne, don’t…” Sorey tried again.
Without another word or a second guess, she made him touch the center of her chest, plunging him into her world of twisted dreams.
Notes:
The mortal anguish and agony that Sorey suffered up to this point is only going to get worse. At the time that this chapter was written, there was no official design for a LoC Sorey, which isn't exactly a Dark Armatization. Sorey wielding a scythe like an Angel of Death, completely taken by the malevolence~ Ahh~~
Chapter 200: Phase 8: Witch Hunts and Gaslit Inquisitions
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level X: Symonne
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOS...error
Notes:
I'm gonna start this chapter with...I'm sorry, Sorey.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey found himself in a world he had not seen before. It was similar to the real world at the very least, but it felt wrong. All around him were white carnations—something he didn’t expect to see in someone as horrid as Symonne. He stood up, careful not to crush them and wary of his surroundings. He knew he had to get out as soon as possible, for every second that Symonne stayed bound to him, it was a second shaved off of his real body.
He clutched at his chest, dull and throbbing like he was having a neverending heart attack. As long as he was inside the cosmosphere, he would be kept alive. Symonne couldn’t control him if he was dead, so that meant that she couldn’t kill him with a critical down. He was safe for now. The pain wouldn’t stop, though.
He looked around again. The flower field was far away from a city that looked like Ladylake, but something was strange about it. Just like the carnations around him that swayed gently in the nipping breeze, the city was eerily white.
“I probably don’t want to go that way,” he mumbled to himself. “Where’s her Stonehenge? I can leave from there like normal, right?”
He stepped through the flowers. It seemed like he hadn’t moved. He stepped into a walk, then a brisk run. He was still in the same spot. Was the flower field growing? No, it wasn’t. Something was keeping him in place.
“Come out, Symonne,” Sorey demanded. “I know you’re trying to keep me here!”
“You’re very sharp, Shepherd,” Symonne sighed. She appeared on cue, her lifeless eyes and careless air reflecting just how bored she was. “You should understand why I’m making you stay in my cosmosphere. If you leave while still tethered to me, you will die.”
Sorey wasn’t shaken by this revelation. He knew that since he binded to Mikleo. For every seraph he made a pact with, his body would pay the toll. He progressively lost his sight, suffered fever and agonizing pain, and now he was at death’s door. Of course, his sight and hearing and health besides the lingering aches in his chest were all as if he had no pacts.
“And that’s why you can’t let me go—you won’t let me go,” he concluded. “If I die while still bound to you, you’ll die, too. Am I right?”
“One hundred points.” Symonne casually approached him. She ran her sickly thin fingers across his chest and abdomen. “I’m doing you a favor by keeping you here. These aren’t our real forms; even though you’re Diving into me right now, I still have full control of your body in the real world. I’m the only thing keeping you alive.”
“So what? I will break this pact with you, and I will escape this nightmare.”
“Come now! How can you say this is a nightmare when I haven’t given you any reason to feel that way!” She knelt into the flowers, lightly tapping her lap. “While you’re here, why not relax, Lord Shepherd?”
Sorey tried to walk away from her. As he suspected, she still kept him there. He had no choice but to humor her, resting his head on her lap and staring up at her pale white face. She smiled at him.
“I don’t know why you’re so on edge. It’s a nice day in the flower field, after all.”
“I know what you’re planning, Symonne.”
As if she were his lover instead of Mikleo, she ran her fingers through his hair, cooing at him lovingly and acting as if she had never hurt him. She played with his earrings, sang to him in a voice that rivaled her appearance, and even made sure that he was comfortable. Then he began to feel sleepy.
“N-No, I’m not falling for it!” Sorey told himself. “I have to stay awake. I have to…stay…My eyes…won’t sta…”
He drifted into a deep slumber. And all around him, the flowers began to change. They turned red and split into new flowers. Spider lilies radiated from the seraph and the Shepherd in a pinwheel shape that spiraled out. When Sorey finally woke up again, Symonne was gone, and he was surrounded now by red.
“W-What…is this…?” he panted. “Why…does my chest hurt so much…?” Trying his best not to let it get to him, he stifled a pitiful whine. He looked around the red flower field, taking note that even the sky had changed. Once clear blue like heaven, it was cloudy and dark; a storm was coming because he heard thunder rolling in the distance. “It’s not real,” he sighed.
Sorey took a step toward the monochromatic copy of Ladylake, finding that now he had no problem traversing the field. He was still on guard but glad that he could explore elsewhere. Something was terribly off, and while he believed that he was completely alone now, he was sure that Symonne was watching him from somewhere out of sight.
When he crossed the bridge into the water-locked city, it donned on him that Symonne had shaped the land in a way that was most convenient for them. The river that had once overflowed from the torrential rains emptied into the lake that held the city, and it was raging just it had before when he was forced to kill Uno and spare him the agony of losing himself. He didn’t really understand why, and while he had never noticed the river in reality connecting to the river, he was interested that Symonne would change it to be so fearsome. He continued on the bridge where he came across a cart. Rose and Dezel were standing near it. Blood dyed the wheels a rusty red.
“Rose? Dezel?” Sorey uttered with a smile. Approaching them, he gave them a friendly wave. “What are you doing here? Oh, your clothes are different—ah-ha, I forgot, you’re not real. Still, to think that Symonne would create you!”
Dezel, still blind just like in the real world, perked up hearing Sorey’s cheery voice. “Rose, is he the one?” he asked his partner. Rose affirmed her answer. “Well, let’s make this quick.”
“The one for what?” Sorey asked. In a flash, his hands were tied together tightly with Dezel’s pendulum chains. “W-What’s going on?! Let go of me!”
“We only need his head, so try not to mess up his face,” Rose scoffed. She pulled out a dagger. “Hold him down.”
Sorey fought against Dezel, pulling back on his hands as the wind seraph struggled to bring him to the ground. Even when he was struck so that he fell on his knees, he kept fighting until he managed to break free. He dashed into Ladylake with the gates locking behind him.
His heart was racing as fast as it hurt, but all that went through his head was the question:
“W-Why did they attack me just like that? Symonne knows she can’t kill me, so…what’s the point?”
After calming down, he ventured further into Ladylake. The streets and alleys were all the same albeit without the vibrant color and bustling crowds he was used to. There were no people, no seraphim, and no soldiers. Until he saw Zaveid, whose pants were bright red with black stripes instead of his black pants with green stripes.
“Z-Zaveid? You’re here, too?” Sorey asked. Considering his encounter with Rose and Dezel, he wasn’t sure what to think seeing his wind seraph now. He still drew nearer to him, curious and wanting to at least greet him. “Your clothes are different…another figment from Symonne’s cosmosphere?”
Something was wrong. Sorey felt it in the pit of his stomach. Zaveid didn’t say anything to him. His amber eyes were dark, a look that he had never seen in him. The Shepherd trusted his bad feeling, and just as he turned to run away from him, Zaveid suddenly rushed behind him and grabbed his wrist like a vice grip.
“What is wrong with everyone?!” Sorey began to panic; he forced himself to relax. Kicking and screaming wouldn’t help him—not with an empty world.
“You never did see it, did you,” Zaveid’s husky and angry voice growled in his ear. “No matter what I did, you never looked at me like you did him.”
“What are you talking about?” Sorey questioned him. He was dragged into one of Ladylake’s tight alleyways, pushed up against the wall of a building with his arm twisted behind him. Then he felt something reach around to his front. “Z-Zaveid!”
“I loved you so much, and what did I get in return?” Zaveid continued. He pressed against him, his hand reaching deeper and deeper between the confused Shepherd’s legs. “Well, Sorey, I’m the only one who can show you what love is.”
A burst of fear-induced adrenaline coursed through Sorey’s body, and he broke out of Zaveid’s hold. He didn’t dare look back at this false Zaveid, and instead he escaped from the alleyway only to crash into Edna, who was wearing a black and white versin of her dress. She looked identical to Mono-Edna, but her eyes were full of contempt.
“Edna! No, wait…you’re not real…!” Sorey panted.
“Wow, do you tell all your friends that?” Edna chided him. She opened her umbrella and leaned it against her shoulder, the shadow of the umbrella darkening her red-tinted glare. “God, you’re so pathetic, you know. I’ve never seen a Shepherd as helpless as you.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because it’s true. All you ever do is cry and act like some insipid child. No wonder you can’t do anything. You always need our help. ‘Wah, Mikleo’s gone!’ and ‘I can’t do this by myself!’ Grow a pair, you pathetic excuse for a savior. Michael was a way better Shepherd.”
Her insults went on and on, and Sorey covered his ears. “It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real.” He told himself over and over that it was all an illusion created in Symonne’s cosmosphere. “E-Edna wouldn’t say this.”
“Of course, I would.” She knelt to his level. Looking him straight in the eye, she told him, “I’m saying it now, aren’t I?”
The unworthiness brought on by her insults, Rose and Dezel’s attempt to kill him, and Zaveid’s molestation all compounded; but still he kept his heart above them all. He ran away from her to the Nobles’ District. By now he was prepared to encounter Alisha and Lailah, and when he did he simply turn the corner away from them.
“You can’t run from the truth, Sorey!” Alisha called after him.
And Lailah, dressed in pure white, stopped him from running. “What will sacrificing yourself do? Michael sacrificed everything he had and fell victim to his own hatred. What are you going to do? You hold no such hate, only the gnawing feeling that you’ll never be worth anyone’s time. You’re so weak.”
“I’m…I’m not as weak as I thought I was!” Sorey tried to fight back.
“All your anxiety, all the empty promises you made—can you be sure that you’re not weak? Only cowards promise things they can’t deliver.”
One last time, Sorey ran away from the illusory Lailah. He found himself just in front of Roundtabel Palace, where Mikleo—identical to the tainted one he had met in his cosmosphere—stood. Sorey knew this wasn’t his Mikleo, and there wasn’t anything worse that he could say or do to shake his heart. But he began to wonder now. Was he really inside of Symonne’s cosmosphere? Or was this reality? Were his friends finally telling him the truth? Or was this just another trick? His head was swimming until Mikleo turned around, resentment glittering in his violet eyes.
“I leave you alone for ten minutes, and this is what I get?” he hissed at him. “You giving yourself to Zaveid like some street whore?!”
“M-Mikleo, no, that’s not what happened!”
“I saw it, Sorey! Letting yourself be toyed with by that cretin even after you swore your love to me…”
It wasn’t real. Mikleo was so angry, felt so betrayed. It wasn’t real. What would he do now that he had caught Sorey with someone else? It wasn’t real! Where was the ring? Sorey held his head. Did he really do as Mikleo had said? Was he really as weak and pathetic as Edna and Lailah professed? What was it? Who were these people? Were they his friends? Were they illusions? Dreams? The reality that he had been avoiding this whole time?
Sorey heard a soft clinking sound as the precious ring he had given to Mikleo hit the ground and bounced just a little. The stones were lightly scratched. He knelt down to pick it back up and put it on his finger. He reached for it. Then Mikleo stepped on it, crushing it and grinding it into the cobblestone.
“S-Stop! Mikleo, stop it!” Sorey begged him. The water seraph removed his white shoe from the shards and broken pieces of the ring. A tiny sob weaseled out of Sorey, his voice cracking in despair. “I-It’s okay…!” he sniffled. “I can…I can get it fixed…you didn’t mean it…O-Of course, you didn’t…!”
Sorey carefully picked up the grain-sized pieces as Mikleo watched. “What is wrong with you?!” Mikleo snapped at him. “Take the hint! I don’t love you! I never have! What makes you think a stupid ring is going to change that?!”
The Shepherd stared up at him. The pieces of the ring fell from his hands, a look of disbelief bleeding out on his face. His breath hitched. “M-Mik…”
“This is goodbye.” Mikleo left him for the inside of Roundtabel Palace, the place where he nearly lost his life once already.
Sorey sat there, dejected and in pain, still watching the closed doors of the official building. The stabbing sensation in his heart was still there, but now he could barely feel it. All he was aware of was the feeling of rejection bubbling up from inside. He fell into a coughing fit either from the sorrow in his heart or from the crisp cold wind that blew through the city. And as he coughed, droplets of blood and red-dotted white petals. He was so confused and hurt, unable to process what had all just happened.
He didn’t notice the people stalking him. He didn’t notice when they tied a rope around his neck like he was some wild animal. He only noticed when they yanked him and dragged him quickly from the palace, from the Nobles’ District, from the city, from the flower field of decaying spider lilies, and to the river that cut through the Falkewin Hillside.
And there Symonne was, surrounded by every seraph, human, and Reyvateil Sorey had come in contact with over the course of his journey. The little fallen seraph smiled coyly at him. She relished that his face was red and swollen and ready to burst with bitter tears.
“How was your trip around the city?” she giggled.
“Why are you doing this…?” Sorey quivered. Streaks of blood stained his lips and chin and gloves. “Why are you torturing me like this?!”
“Simply because the weaker you are mentally, the stronger my hold on you. Did you really think you were going to be safe? Besides, I’m doing you a favor. Your previous pacts have weakened, haven’t they? Once they break and I’m the only one left, you’ll feel better. That’s what you want deep down in your heart.” She signaled to Cloche and Finnel to tie him up with rope. “Did you know that humans used to torture seraphim long before the modern day?”
Sorey’s arms were tightly bound behind him. Symonne continued with her history lesson. They were beaten and tortured and told horrendous things just like he was experiencing now. As she lectured him, all sorts of people that he knew and didn’t know attacked him by punching him, kicking him, stoning him. And the grand finale was finally hoisting him up over a simple pulley that held him over the rushing waters of the river below. Everything hurt, yet he didn’t have the energy to plead for his life.
“Lord Shepherd, are you still listening? What you are about to experience is a torture method used on fire seraphim—this is called dunking!” Symonne cackled.
She waved her hand to the figures holding the rope taut over the pulley for them to let it go. As they all did at her command, Sorey felt himself plummet downward until he was suddenly suspended in the air again. The rope pulled on his arms, causing him to squirm and writhe. The figures had caught it on Symonne’s signal, and they did it over and over until he was only a couple feet above the water.
“S-Symonne…” Sorey choked out.
“The seeds must be watered,” she said with a malevolent smile. She waved again.
With that simple motion, Sorey fell into the rushing water that threatened to yank him off the pulley. He held his breath as long as he could, the current punching him repeatedly until the air he had in him came out in giant bubbles. And he felt the pull on the rope rom above. The illusions of his friends were pulling him back up. The water kept battering him before he broke the surface. Sorey gasped for air only to be push under by the water again. He was hoisted up on the pulley.
“How did you like your swim?” Symonne needled him. He couldn’t bear to look at her; he couldn’t open his eyes with the murky water stinging him. “You’re in love with a water seraph, no? This should be heaven to you!”
Still catching his breath, Sorey glanced at her before he was once again dropped in the river. Symonne didn’t leave him as long this time, raising him back up to breathe again. Then she dropped him without a word. She kept the cycle going with less and less time between the submerging and rising. Sorey spit up whatever water he had swallowed. After a few seconds of being suspended in the air, he realized—with foggy lightheadedness—that they weren’t dropping him anymore. Instead, they had tied the rope around the mast of the pulley, leaving him to hang in the cold wind.
“You’ll have to drip-dry, Shepherd. We’ll check on you in the morning,” Symonne told him.
“Y-You can’t…please…” he weakly said. “Don’t leave…me here…!”
Symonne was already gone with her entourage of illusions. Sorey was alone in the darkness of the freezing night. Unsure of how to feel or even if to feel, he wracked his exhausted and waterlogged mind for a way to escape. He felt so sick and sleepy, his chest pain seemingly worse, and consciousness beginning to wane.
He forced himself to stay awake. He had to find a way to escape somehow before Symonne came back. She would be back in the morning, but how long was that truly in her cosmosphere? He choked up water and bile, a moment of clarity dawning on him. He swung just slightly from his body quaking, which gave him an idea. It was risky, but he was desperate.
He kept swinging from side to side after that. The rope rubbed against the unfurnished wood and barely slid. No giving up, though. No matter how tired he was, how sick he was, how cold he was; this was his only chance!
He flexed his arms and wiggled in an attempt to break free of his binds. At some point, he couldn’t quite register, he felt like he was throwing a tantrum. He screamed and bellowed in frustration and agony and helplessness. His arms kept pushing out on the ropes as he kept swinging. Finally, the ropes loosened, and he fell down into the water that still threatened to drag him under. At least now, without the rope, he could tread to keep his head above water. Yet the force from the fall knocked whatever little wind was in him out again.
Without the strength to swing to the riverbed, he let himself move with the water despite how rough it was. He knew that at the end of this river was a waterfall. He was in danger, but what could he do beside let the water take him? He was already in pain—would going over the waterfall be much worse?
As soon as the question ran through his mind, the sudden pang of fear shook his heart. It was too late. His scream was drowned out by the roar of the waterfall. He shut his eyes, disappearing in the mist and rocks at the bottom.
“Zaveid!” Mikleo called. “Just great…she separated us.” He and Edna found themselves in the same flower field Sorey had woken up in.
“Meebo,” Edna responded. She pushed herself through the flowers to him. “Are you okay?” After Mikleo assured that they had arrived safely, he called for the wind seraph again. “Where the hell did he end up?” she grumbled.
Then she felt something tap her leg furiously. When the water seraph and earth seraph looked down through the flowers, they found their friend. They were standing on his hair, his face buried in the dirt while he squirmed to get loose. When they stepped off, he took in a breath and said:
“Can’t you two be more careful?! It takes a lot of effort to keep my hair nice and flowing!”
Edna jabbed him in the stomach with her umbrella. This wasn’t the time to be upset about something so trivial. “You can feel it, can’t you? Sorey’s life is vanishing,” she gravely said.
“We have to find him as soon as we can,” Mikleo determined. His two friends knew that he was worried sick for their Shepherd, and he was trying his best to hold it together. “I…I’m scared of what could happen if he dies here.”
Notes:
I'm going to end this chapter with...I'm so sorry, Sorey.
Chapter 201: Phase 8: Cathedrals of Blood Made from the Bodies of Flowers
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level X: Symonne
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra fl...error...error
Chapter Text
Sorey dragged himself to the lakeshore from the bottom of the waterfall. His arms and legs were wrapped in pain, yet no bones had broken. Tiny shoots had sprouted from his back, dotting the Shepherd’s garb with crimson. His body was stiff and refused to move. Unless he was resigned to stay on the shore, and he wanted to give up, he had to keep moving. But even the slightest twitch made him cry out and wish for the relief of death. He wasn’t sure anymore if he was better off staying alive or dying because if he wanted death, he would doom the world. If he wanted life, he would have to continue suffering in this dreamscape. And whatever suffering it was, it was constricting him on the inside.
He didn’t want the despair to take him. His foggy mind, however, felt otherwise. It was better to let go, it told him incessantly. It was so much easier to die than to keep going. For all the trouble he caused…for getting caught in Symonne’s trap…
“I don’t deserve this life,” Sorey accepted. He forced himself up, his steps unsteadied and hurting. The forest around the lake would be his grave. “I’m sorry, everyone.” He made his way to the forest, the shoots in his back growing and sprawling out behind him and clumping together to create a great tree. The roots twisted and coiled around his insides, and he slowed down. By the time he couldn’t walk any further, he was in a sunlit clearing with tiny flowers all around. He pulled his sword and drove it into the ground to use as support. “This is it…” he wheezed.
The weight of the tree forced him down. The loss of blood lulled him into unconsciousness. And where his heart was, a white lily bloomed. It glowed and darkened like his heart even after he stopped moving.
“Poor Shepherd,” Symonne sighed as she waltzed around him. Her fingers lightly skirted the rough bark of the tree that was stained with his blood. She circled around to his face, where pearly tears froze at the corners of his eyes. “I told you. You can’t die here. But this state of vulnerability you’ve fallen into—this just means that you’re a part of me now. Just as much as I’m a part of you.”
She reached under to where the flower had burst from his chest. Symonne paid no mind to how vital it was to him, and with a swift pull, she ripped it from him. Counting the six petals, she fashioned two into a pair of earrings. Three of them she let fly away in the breeze. The last one she held onto.
“Rest assured, Sorey,” she comforted him. “You didn’t come here alone. I know your friends are looking for you. But will they be able to find you before I plunge you into the bottomless despair I made specially for you?”
Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid wandered the streets of Ladylake. Just as Sorey had left it, there was no one else walking about save for the illusions that Symonne had created. The three of them just knew that their Shepherd had been there—otherwise, why else would those illusions be patrolling?
Mikleo, in particular, felt something terrible about them. Zaveid had spotted his counterpart, the striking red pants catching his attention immediately within the context of the white and eerily boring world.
“Oh, come on!” he complained. “Why would that little imp think I’d wear that? It’s so bright that my eyes are about to bleed!”
“This coming from an exhibitionist,” Edna scoffed.
“Stay away from him,” Mikleo warned. “I don’t know why, but I can feel Sorey on him.”
“What do you mean?” Zaveid asked him. He glanced around. “Not gonna lie, but it’s like he’s everywhere now that you mention it.”
“These phantoms were created by Symonne. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Sorey’s presence is everywhere. More than likely, these illusions are meant to torture him. She might have recreated all of the people he’s met on this journey and turned them against him,” Edna said, expressing pity for the poor young man.
Mikleo and Zaveid fell silent, sympathizing with Sorey as if they could feel his pain at that very second. As much as Zaveid wanted to dispel the doppelganger, he didn’t want to risk alerting Symonne that they were there searching for him. They turned and ran from the illusion, heading to the sanctuary at first then to the Nobles’ District. If Sorey wasn’t at the sanctuary, Mikleo thought, then he would have to be somewhere across the way. But Alisha’s manor was empty. He led his seraphic comrades to Roundtabel Palace, where a tiny discovery shook his heart.
On the ground before his feet lay the shattered remains of the engagement ring Sorey had given him. He glanced at his right hand, and he let out a sigh of relief when he saw that he still had his ring. Picking up one of the tiny shard, he placed it on his palm and examined it.
“She’s trying her best to get to him,” he solemnly said.
“No matter what, the one thing that would break Sorey is your denial,” Edna commented.
“But if her goal is to weaken him mentally, where would he go?” Zaveid asked.
“Ask not where he would go but who would take him to where they wanted to go,” Symonne teased them.
She appeared behind Mikleo, Zaveid, and Edna; the silver rays of the sunset behind her cast a cold halo around her. She wore a black wedding dress with maroon accents. Two pearly white petals dangled from her ears. Mikleo was very familiar of what she planned to do.
“Where the hell is he?!” Mikleo instantly demanded of her.
“Isn’t that why you’re here? To find him? What makes you think that I’ll give away his little hiding spot?”
“Are you planning on using him to connect to the Tower?” Zaveid growled. He pulled out his pendulums.
“Why else would I be preparing for my special day?” She stepped around them to the shattered ring. “He thinks he can escape, but he can’t get too far. Unless he wants to fall off the edge of my world, or unless he has completely resigned to be a part of me forever, he will never be free.”
“Hey, Creepy Little Girl,” Edna spoke up. She rested her umbrella on her shoulder, its shade darkening the blue of her eyes while bringing out the scarlet bloodlust. “Do we need to teach you this lesson again? Hurt one of our friends, and everyone else will come after you.”
Symonne couldn’t contain herself anymore. She cackled horrifically, maniacally, and without restraint. She stared at the earth seraph then at Mikleo before laughing aloud again. “You can’t touch me!” she wheezed. “I’m the only thing keeping his deteriorating mind alive! I have the power to force him to do whatever I want! Hunted by his own friends, molested, his heart smashed to pieces—I can do anything, and he has to endure it! But don’t worry, I won’t kill him until I absolutely need to. And that will be after the wedding.”
She approached Mikleo with a lilt in her step, grabbing him by the chin and making him look down at her. “If you don’t hurry, you won’t even have half a chance to save him. Let’s make this game interesting, shall we?”
And with that, Symonne vanished. Zaveid and Edna worried that Mikleo would be falling after Sorey into her trap, but the water seraph took a breath to compose himself. He knew Sorey was in grave danger—far graver than any time before. He wished there was an easier way to search for him.
Zaveid grabbed both him and Edna. “Hang on, kiddies! Uncle Zaveid’s gonna get a jumpstart on this rescue mission!” he grinned. With all the force his wind could muster, he launched himself high into the air far above Ladylake. Mikleo clung to the shirtless seraph while Edna positioned herself on his shoulder.
“Whats your plan?!” Mikleo screamed at him over the roaring wind. “To drop in some random place?!”
“Bird’s eye view, Mickey, my boy!” Zaveid laughed.
“Seems that little encounter got your spirits up,” Edna sighed. “Stay focused.”
“Of course! I’m not about to let that bitch get away with dressing me up in red, and that goes double for all that she’s done to Sorey.”
“You really want to protect him?” Mikleo asked him. He was more surprised than anything else.
“Well, duh! That kid’s been by our side this whole time. I ain’t about to leave that debt unpaid.”
“He’s been doing his best to help us reach our full potential even if it hurt him in the process,” Edna sincerely said. “He never complained, but he never told us how much it hurt him. It’s our fault, so as his seraphim…”
“We want to repay him,” Zaveid finished. “He did us a favor that no one else can.”
With Edna’s umbrella open, the three of them gently drifted away from Ladylake and toward the edge of the forest by the lake and waterfall. The closer they got, the stronger a strange pain stung their hearts. Was it Sorey’s suffering, or was it the fear of finding something else? When they touched the ground, Mikleo broke out of Zaveid’s grasp to run into the forest. The sensation was getting stronger and stronger. But as the darkness surrounded him, he came to a patch of light in a clearing of flowers.
In the center of the light, Mikleo saw Sorey. The sword was still stuck in the ground, his body still hunched over and supported by it. And the tree…the massive tree that had exploded from his back, its roots dyeing the Shepherd’s garb in crimson, its bark carrying the blood away from him to the verdant leaves. Tears were still in his eyes, hardened like crystal, and the hole in his chest was large and gaping.
“S-So…Sorey! Sorey!” Mikleo screamed as he scrambled to him.
“What the hell…?” Zaveid breathlessly said.
“What did she do to him?!” Edna gasped.
Mikleo slammed his staff at the branches of the tree, but it was futile. The tree that had fed off of Sorey’s fears, anxieties, insecurities, and empty promises had nourished it. He tried freezing it in hopes of killing it. Again, the tree was impervious to his magic.
Was paks gaya tarfe zash na cause!
Na cause!
Na cause!
Tarfe zash na cause!
Mikleo sang frantically as long as and fast as he could to try and destroy the tree. Nothing was working, and his worst nightmares had become real in that moment. “Sorey, you can’t die! Not here! Not now!” he bawled.
Even Zaveid’s wind and Edna’s rocks had no effect. Then the little earth seraph noticed something creeping up his skin. She pulled them back at first, inching closer to get a good look. There were tiny purple and black flowers spreading like an infection. Edna touched them gingerly. Once she did, Sorey’s face fell apart into fragments that morphed into flowers and petals of all colors.
“No!” Mikleo bellowed. The mass of flowers piled up in front of them, prompting him to try and heap them together to recreate Sorey. “Sorey…please…come back…!”
His hands dug into the flowers as he sobbed horrendously for his love. His fingers grazed something hard in the pile, and when he extracted it, he found a lily petal made of diamond.
“What’s that?” Zaveid asked him. He held out his hand, into which Mikleo placed the petal. The wind seraph looked it over first then focused on it. “cAzA lAncAa Aeje ag mAnAg YIrawah/.”
The diamond petal glowed weakly in his hand, and Zaveid could barely hear Sorey’s voice:
“I don’t deserve this life…This is it…”
The wind seraph, who had experienced far more heartbreak and horror than anyone else among him, clenched the petal in his hand. Its light pulsated in his fist before he handed it to Mikleo and ordered him to keep it safe. It was yet another game that Symonne had thought up. They couldn’t lose their focus now.
“This petal…” Mikleo started.
“It’s clearly a petal of a flower,” Edna finished. “The hole in his chest.”
“It was roughly in the shape of a flower, wasn’t it?” Mikleo added, but it was more of a mumble to himself.
The presumed corpse of their Shepherd was no longer there, but he remembered it. It was unnervingly big, but it had a strange shape to it. He wished he hadn’t touched the corpse so he could test his hypothesis. Instead, he tucked it away safe under one of the many belts that lined his side.
“If it’s truly part of a flower, then there’s got to be more,” he finally said. “We just have to find them.”
“Little Miss Bitch had two of them fashioned into earrings,” Zaveid noted.
“We’ll just rip them off of her, then,” Edna replied with a dirty smile. “Payback for what she’s done.”
They needed to find the other petals first. The edge of Symonne’s cosmosphere—or at least the area she was keeping Sorey confined to—stretch only from Ladylake to its side of the river. If she had let him wander a bigger area, she would lose control of him. The three seraphim, with Mikleo providing a path around the city, made their way back in search of the rest of Sorey’s flower.
They hadn’t realized how big Ladylake was until they skirted around it on the lake, which Mikleo froze before them to give them something to run on. The palace was imposing, casting its shadow over them as they sprinted across. It struck an idea in Mikleo’s mind. The petals would have to be in places of high significance to Sorey, wouldn’t they?
“We’re need to split up,” he suddenly told them, though his thoughts had been loud and clear within him. “I’m going to the palace to look for him. Zaveid, Edna; I suggest you two look elsewhere in the city.”
“Are you sure you want to go alone?” Edna asked.
“This is Symonne’s cosmosphere; we can’t afford to get caught in her illusions,” Zaveid warned him.
“I’ll be okay. She can’t kill him. We still have a chance.”
When they arrived back at the bridge leading inside, they commenced their new mission. Mikleo dashed to the Roundtabel Palace, freezing whatever illusions got in his way. Zaveid made his way to the sanctuary across from the Nobles’ District. Edna had first thought to go to Alisha’s manor, yet something pulled her attention to the Vivian Aqueduct. An outlandish foreboding beckoned her, and while she thought it was one of Symonne’s tricks, it resonated with her, calling her true name from the depths below. It sounded like Sorey, but the tiny voice was struggling, growing quieter and weaker and more broken each time.
She crossed into the district that led underneath the waterwheel with her umbrella in hand. It wasn’t like her to feel uneasy, especially when there was no one in this district. No illusions, no fragments of people. Symonne may have had a handle on the entirety of the Glenwood Continent, but the smaller crevices of places she didn’t know.
“It’s fine,” Edna told herself. She wasn’t scared. There was no reason to be. But perhaps she was afraid of what she would find calling her. Maybe it was a trap, or maybe it was a piece of the flower they now had to collect. “I’m here to do a job. This is a rescue mission.”
She came to the door leading down into the aqueduct. It had been left slightly ajar, as if Symonne wanted her to go down into it. She pushed open the door, descended the long flight of stairs, and came to a dead end that was nothing but dungeon cells littered with skeletons and chains.
The Vivian Aqueduct wasn’t only for the city’s water, it doubled as an underground dungeon beneath the Roundtabel Palace. And as she had suspected, Symonne didn’t know what it truly looked like. She only knew that it was underground, dark, and damp. And in the center of it was a pile of heavy rocks with a bloodied arm sticking out of it. Edna rushed over to it. Upon closer inspection, the hand was loosely holding a petal of which the light was again barely visible. The hand holding it was sheathed with the Shepherd’s glove.
“Sorey!” the earth seraph half-whispered, half-gasped.
She tossed the rocks aside one by one until the mess of brown hair dyed red was visible. The dust from the rocks had tinted some of his head and clothes white, but once they were out of the way, she found her friend battered and bruised. It was one thing to be stoned, but to be crushed by rocks?
“Sorey, can you hear me? Hey, wake up!” she tried to calmly say. When it was clear that this Sorey—illusion or not—wouldn’t do as she said, she held onto him. She curled up with his upper body in her lap. She took care to take the petal so she wouldn’t lose it, but it hurt to see her friend lying lifeless across her. “I know it’s not the real you, but…this is too cruel. Even for a seraph to do.”
She couldn’t leave him like that in the aqueduct, so she carefully lay his body flat. With some of the water there, she cleaned up his face of the dust and blood that covered the scratches and lacerations. She placed one of the smaller stone under his head like a pillow and folded his hands on top of his abdomen.
“I’m sorry to leave you like this, Sorey,” she apologized before lightly kissing his forehead.
After she recoiled from the goodnight kiss, the illusory corpse collapsed into a pile of flowers like the one before. Edna made her way out of the aqueduct with the worry that Symonne did intend to kill him—it was just a matter of how.
As she made her way back to her friends, Mikleo had found his way into the palace. There were no guards or officials, leaving the place eerily empty. And like Edna, he felt a beckoning coming from one of the guest rooms. He steeled himself; the memories coming back and making him feel sick and horrible. He slowly opened the guest room that was calling to him, and he noticed that the petal was shining a little brighter now as well.
“It can’t be,” he whispered.
It was pulsing stronger than before, and as he pushed the door open, he found the same room that he had been tortured in. Mikleo bit his lip and shut his eyes. He wasn’t going to be hurt. He had to be brave so he could save Sorey.
Mikleo walked toward the table where Sorey lay. The Shepherd had been dissected, but instead of organs, there were bushes of flowers in the shapes of them. His lungs were covered with carnations, and with a second look, the intestines had been in the process of being removed as they were sprouting with daffodils.
“W-What the hell is this…?” Mikleo barely breathed for fear that he would vomit at the sight. “S-Sorey, is that you…?”
“Mik…leo…?” Sorey’s almost imperceptible voice uttered. His eyes looked foggy and unfocused, but he still smiled. “I’m so glad…you’re here…”
The water seraph scrambled to him, taking his cold and clammy hand to his cheek. “What happened to you?!” he sobbed. “What did she do?!”
“Nothing…” Sorey smiled. “Remember…this is…an illusion…what you see…isn’t real…”
“But why this?!”
Sorey’s eyes watered. “Despair…” he only said. Mikleo then understood. Seeing Sorey like this would break his spirit. He couldn’t let that happen. He looked so terrible, though! How could he ignore that? “Have you…figured it out…yet? The petals…”
“Yes! But, if it’s true, then…the one you possess…”
Sorey kept smiling. “Listen…to me…” He grabbed him by the wrist. “I’m…not real…but the one…with her is. Take the petal…even if it hurts me…or kills me. You have to save him…”
Mikleo held back his tears. He didn’t want to see him like this. Regardless, he had to accomplish his mission. Nervously, he dipped his hand deep into the bushes of flowers inside of him. Sorey whined and winced in pain as he explored and searched inside of him. And then he touched the petal at the center of his chest.
“Sorey, I’m sorry…!” Mikleo apologized.
“Don’t be.”
Wrapping his fingers around the diamond petal, pulling carefully at first then ripping it out of him at once, Sorey let out a shriek before the body turned into flowers. Even though he wasn’t human at that point, blood still soaked his hand and sleeve. Mikleo took both petals and clutched them in his hands. He was one step closer to saving Sorey, but for each petal he recovered, did he have to watch the one he loved die? He composed himself—the illusion told him that he had to save the real Sorey. And the real Sorey was suffering right now as they searched for the petals. What was Symonne making him do? Was she forcing him to kill Dezel and Lailah? Rose and Alisha? There was nothing left of the Sorey that had been tortured there except the flowers. Mikleo took his leave with both petals in hand.
Zaveid, on the other hand, didn’t have to search too hard to find the last petal. He was frozen in place, however, after finding Sorey crucified in front of the sanctuary. The Shepherd was trying to breathe; it appeared he had been there for a long time and was now starting to fall to the true torture of such a practice. His wrists had been nailed to the beam across the center pole, and his feet were spread apart and nailed to the beam under him. There was some solace that he hadn’t been forced to keep himself supported, but gravity pulled him forward, stretching his lungs and straining his diaphragm which made it nearly impossible to breathe normally. To make matters worse, flowers had been crammed into his mouth. It was as if Symonne wanted to make sure he couldn’t even gasp for air.
“My God,” Zaveid said. “Don’t worry, Sheps! I’ll get you down!”
Then he saw that his throat was oddly shaped, like something was trying to protrude from the sides. What else could it be but a diamond petal? Zaveid leapt up to the crucifixion with his pendulums acting as a safety harness. There in front him, Sorey’s lips were blue and his eyes were bloodshot. He tried to pull the flowers from his mouth, but when he did, Sorey screamed through them. The wind seraph couldn’t understand how it was hurting him; the only reason it would hurt was if they had taken root inside of him.
“No good—I’ll have to get you off this thing first,” he said. He cupped Sorey’s cheek and wiped a tear away with his thumb. “This is going to hurt like hell, but bear with me, got it?”
Sorey whimpered. Carefully, Zaveid took the edge of a pendulum under the first nail. Using it as a fulcrum, he pulled with all his might to remove it. He had to listen to the pitiful cries and screams of the young Shepherd until it was out of his wrist. Then he did the same to the other one. Sorey bled profusely from the wounds that were no doubt infected. There was no easy way of getting him down, and with the nails in his feet under more duress, he tried to prepare him for the worst of it.
“Can you hang onto the beam?” he asked him only to receive wails. He was too tired to hold himself up, in too much pain, and losing more and more oxygen. “God, I’m sorry!”
Zaveid leapt off the beams with Sorey in his arms, and in a swift motion, he ripped his feet from the wood and nails. When he touched the ground, Sorey had passed out though his eyes were still open. He shook him vigorously to wake him up, but he remained unconscious. Probably for the better, because Zaveid knew now he would have to break his bones to get the petal.
He yanked on the flowers jutting from his mouth, the bones cracking and snapping and popping out of place. Once enough had been moved, and he was certain that Sorey was dead, he reached into his mouth and just down his throat to grab the petal. With it in his grasp, the corpse, like the others, melted into flowers before drifting away on the breeze.
There was no getting around it. Yet it still hurt that he had to cause him so much pain to get the petal from inside of him. “But that Symonne…she’s a piece of fuckin’ work.”
It wasn’t long before Edna and Mikleo regrouped with him. Mikleo forced himself not to look at where Zaveid had found his version of Sorey. He showed them the two petals in his possession. Edna gave up hers, and with the four in Zaveid’s hands, they watched them bind together to a nearly completed diamond lily.
“I thought so,” Mikleo murmured.
“Hmm?” Edna hummed in question.
“Symonne has the last two pieces, and there’s no doubt she’s in the sanctuary. We need to stop that wedding!”
Without another moment’s hesitation, Mikleo led Edna and Zaveid up to the doors of the Ladylake sanctuary. Ramming into it with all his might, the doors burst open to the procession inside.
Notes:
I'm trying to remember what the inspiration for this chapter was, and I can't tell you what it is. I think partly with KH3's DLC but I'm not entirely sure.
Chapter 202: Phase 8: The Red Wedding
Summary:
Error. Error.
Notes:
Can you guess what I was watching while writing this chapter? I'm sorry, Sorey.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sorey grabbed Alisha by her hair, dragging her away from Lailah who had sustained a great deal of damage. The princess cried out to be let go only for her pleas to fall on deaf ears. She had some hope that he was somewhere still in there. Symonne’s presence in his mind and body drowned him out. Throwing her down and pinning her down with his foot, Sorey sneered at her.
“Another feature of controlling a human like this is that I can read his innermost thoughts. After all, seraphim can peer into the hearts of humans,” Sorey giggled. “Do you want to know what he really thinks of you?”
“Stop it!” Alisha screamed, the sharp stiletto heel digging into her stomach.
“Burnin—” Lailah began to chant.
“Fire on me, and your little princess is as good as dead,” Sorey taunted her. “The same goes for that assassin and the Angel of Death.” He turned back down to her. “Let’s see what the Lord Shepherd really thinks of you!” He stomped on her stomach, expelling whatever fluids she had in her from her lips. Symonne took advantage of Sorey’s voice; these were his thoughts and feelings, so they had to be said with his voice. “I can’t stand that stupid princess! Whine, whine, whine, bitch, bitch, bitch—she can’t do anything for herself! She’s such a disgusting pile of shit!”
Rose dashed towards Sorey with her daggers ready to bury into him. Dezel ordered her to fall back for fear that he would kill her right then and there. The assassin refused to let the fallen seraph defile his name and hurt her friends. Sorey, however, welcomed the attack. He withstood the pain of the daggers stabbing into his shoulders so he could grab her by her neck. He still had his foot on Alisha, peering down at her with the evilest of looks.
“Both of you are such a pain in my ass, you know? The most worthless of Squires,” he sighed. He squeezed Rose’s throat. “Oh, and look at that! Your seraphim can’t even help you. How does that make you feel? Just desperate to end it all?”
Dezel reeled from his injury. Even still, he wasn’t going to let Symonne take away anyone else precious to him. Whipping out his pendulums, he demanded Sorey to let go of her. Naturally, the Shepherd squeezed her even tighter, eliciting a choking gasp from the assassin dangling above him. “Sorey, wake the hell up! You’re hurting Rose!”
Sorey let out a guttural sigh. Tighter, tighter, tighter until he was starting to bruise her skin. Eventually, Rose stopped struggling against him, her dagger clattering to the rocky floor beneath her.
“Rose!” Alisha coughed. “Sorey, please!”
“All of you are so annoying,” Sorey said without a care in the world. He tossed the unconscious Rose to Dezel, who forgot about attacking the blackened Shepherd and sought to take care of his human. “Why do you seraphim care about these wastes of flesh? Humans are the reason you suffer, are they not?”
Lailah cast her spell despite Alisha still being pinned under him. Remorsefully, she listened to Alisha cry out in agony from the flames that licked her armor and threatened to cook her. But Sorey stood there in them as well. Symonne didn’t care if it hurt, she wanted the Shepherd to feel the pain of his friends struggling with themselves to fight him. With the scythe in his grasp, he positioned the curling blade over Alisha’s heart.
“I suppose I’ll just kill you one by one,” he giggled.
He raised the scythe only to feel it jerk behind him. Dezel laid Rose on the ground before lassoing the handle of the scythe and pulling him back. Lailah blasted him off Alisha then ran to her side. She pulled her to safety with Rose. The fire seraph and the wind seraph were prepared to fight with everything they had to free their friend and protect the ones they loved.
But it was for naught.
Sorey unleashed a wave of malevolence at them, blowing the four of them back into the walls behind them so hard that their heads rattled when they collided with the stone. Alisha had slammed her head and passed out, but Lailah and Dezel were still awake. Unable to focus properly on their enemy, they didn’t realize that he was walking towards them. They were cornered not because he had trapped them. Both Squires were incapacitated; both seraphim were trying their best to hang on. There was nothing they could do except throw themselves on top of the girls and use their own bodies as shields.
“I will never understand you,” Sorey drawled. “Tortured and mistreated by humans, why do you fall in love with them? Why do you protect them when they can so easily throw you away like broken toys?”
“Because they never did that to us,” Dezel growled.
Sorey stabbed him in the back with his scythe, digging deeper and deeper. “How do you know? They could be lying to you.”
Dezel bit his lip to keep from giving him the satisfaction of hearing him scream. But how far was he going to push the blade? Was he trying to get through to Rose? Then he felt the blade lift up out of him, and soon he heared Lailah gasp and stop herself from crying in pain.
“I don’t have anywhere to go, so I have time to watch you slowly bleed out,” he said, without emotion and without resentment. Symonne was already bored with them.
“We are gathered here today to witness history in the making—the happy union between two souls in love,” the priest read from his book. His voice was garbled and noisy, his entire form nothing but darkness. “Today, we shall join together Symonne and her truest love, Shepherd.”
Symonne smiled bashfully and coyly at Sorey. Her black and maroon wedding dress looked like the petals of dead roses, the two diamond petals dangling from her ears. She gazed upon Sorey, beaten and bloodied and skin festering with tiny flowers. His emerald eyes were dull and empty; he was only a shell of what he once was.
“Do you, Symonne, take Shepherd to be your eternally bound partner?” the priest asked her.
“I do,” she replied. Looking at Sorey, pleased with herself after extracting his heart, she knew that he would never awaken from his deep sleep.
She had encased him in a coffin made from her illusions and deepest feelings for humans. She held no love for him but all the admiration and praise for Heldalf. It was to this end that she resigned herself to being forever Armatized to him. While she had control over both of them, she had to make sure of two things.
The first was that Mir was continuously giving her the power to act under Eolia. She anticipated that Shurelia would fall into some sort of panic to excise the malevolence from Mir, which meant she had to make her act fast while she still had permissions to the Tower. If she could take over before then, Symonne could do whatever she wanted under that domain. She couldn’t permeate other seraphim, but then that was the job of the malevolence. And the malevolence seeped into everything, poisoning all the seraphim connected to Eolia and all that needed it to resonate. Sorey’s power didn’t rely on it, but two of three of his seraphim used its power. Through his bonds to them, he absorbed the malevolence that further subdued his soul.
Bringing her to the second thing: subjugation of the purest soul. Symonne was no fool. If she didn’t constantly beat down Sorey, crushing his confidence in all that he knew while torturing him in her own private world, he would push himself back to the surface. If he broke through, her hold on him would weaken and eventually break. She didn’t derive all her joy from dragging him through his personal hells but rather she did it out of necessity. It was easiest this way—she wouldn’t be able to kill him, and in the end, everything would lead back to his mind collapsing on itself. Because of that, his real self wouldn’t be able to fight back.
Both inside and out, Sorey had become little more than a marionette to her. He danced and whistled to the tune that she wanted—whether it was to marry her and connect her to the Tower or simply to drench his own hands in the blood of his friends. All this without harming herself. Sorey was her shield against the malevolence.
The priest turned to Sorey, taking note of the flowers of corruption festering on his skin like a horrible infection. His lightly tanned skin had turned pale, dried blood that had leaked from cuts and punctures staining that and his clothes. The bruises he had suffered at the hands of his friends were dark and discolored with patches of purple and yellow.
“Do you, Shepherd, take Symonne to be your eternally bound partner, promising to connect her to the Tower Frelia and granting her access to her strongest powers?” he asked him.
“You may speak,” Symonne permitted.
As if on cue, Sorey’s body flinched. “I-I…I…” he uttered, his voice now unfamiliar to his ear. What did he have to say?
“I object!” Mikleo shouted from the doors of the cathedral. “Sorey, I’m here!” The confused and battered Shepherd slowly turned his head to him. Without a second to spare, Mikleo fired a barrage of frozen spears at Symonne. “I won’t let you do this to him!”
“You really don’t know when to quit,” Symonne scoffed.
Just like Mikleo, she didn’t hesitate to act. She pulled Sorey in front of her, stretching out his arms and holding him in place with his back to Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid. There was no sound as the blades sank into Sorey’s flesh—not even a gasp for air. He had felt so much abuse that the agony of being pierced multiple time was like being pricked on the finger. But the horror of crimson on the sapphire shirt shook Mikleo so much that they instantly melted away.
“She really used him as a shield!” Edna snarled. “How could you?!”
Then the entire cosmosphere shook as an aftermath of the real Sorey feeling that pain. Sorey slumped before Symonne, unsure of how to feel. Betrayed? Unfazed? Nothing made sense anymore.
“How…how could you so easily throw him in front of you?” Mikleo growled at her. “Stop using him like he’s some toy! Let him go!”
Symonne grinned before pulling a dagger that had been hidden in her dress from behind her. She had planned to slit his wrists and drain his blood as another form of torturing him, but she wasn’t averse to stabbing him in front of his friends.
“You really don’t understand yet?” she asked them.
“We know you can’t kill him!” Zaveid countered nonchalantly. “If he dies, you go down with him, right? You’re not that desperate or stupid.”
“That’s only half of it.”
Edna couldn’t wait for them to settle things with just words. She stomped the tiled floor, and spikes made of rock raced towards her. She wasn’t intending to attack her. She only wanted to distract her to buy time for her friends. Mikleo and Zaveid snatched Sorey from her grasp while the earth seraph shuffled around the rock lances to steal the petal earrings. When their rescue mission seemed to have been accomplished, they bolted from the sanctuary out to the main street in search of Symonne’s Stonehenge.
Mikleo carried Sorey on his back, and he immediately felt how much lighter he had gotten. Whether it was the effect of being in a dreamlike state or if the torment he had suffered through had taken its toll on him, he worried about him. Zaveid and Edna kept an eye behind and ahead for Symonne. They had to find a respite somewhere to address Sorey, though. They ran to the flower field just outside of Ladylake.
Edna built a shelter made of stone for the time bing. It was the only defense they had to protect against Symonne, but she only hoped that she would try to burrow in from below. Mikleo set Sorey on the ground with Zaveid’s help only to find that he looked horrible.
“What the hell did she do to him?” Zaveid murmured. He cupped his cheeks then forehead. “Even in a cosmosphere, he’s running a high fever.”
“It’s shock on top of having four seraphim bound to his soul,” Edna said. “Symonne’s an IPD. This space was specially crafted just to torture him, forcing him to expend more energy than he has just to survive. We need to separate them as soon as possible.”
“But how?” Mikleo asked.
“She has to do it herself.”
Mikleo grimaced at that statement. Symonne would never willingly break her bond with Sorey because she would lose control over him. Sorey panted as he tried to rest. With every breath, he wheezed and squeaked. The three of them did their best to heal him with their Seraphic Artes.
“M-Mi…” he said in such a small and tired voice that at first Mikleo hadn’t heard him. But Sorey didn’t know who he was calling for. What were their names?
Edna pulled the hooks off the two petals she had stolen from Symonne, holding them to Mikleo once he took a break from healing Sorey’s many wounds. “At least we covered our bases,” she sighed.
“Look at you!” Zaveid smiled. “Big Sister Edna saving the day!”
“The day is only saved once we get out of here,” Mikleo corrected him. He carefully took the two petals before merging them with the other four. And upon completion, the diamond lily shined brightly. It beat and pulsated still weakly—a testament to how exhausted Sorey had to be feeling. “Thank you, Edna. We can give him back his heart now.”
Zaveid opened the torn shirt to reveal the flower-shaped hole in his chest. The water seraph planted it back where it was supposed to be. But it wasn’t without a consequence. As if it were some foreign organ, Sorey’s body repelled it. He gagged and sputtered as he cried out for any one of them to make the excruciating pain stop. Mikleo grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Zaveid told him to try to relax and breathe. Edna held him down until the flower was completely submerged in his chest.
The most heartbreaking thing to the three of them was his inability to continue to cry and scream. After only a few seconds of the reaction, he fell silent save for the whimpers. His body convulsed only slightly, and they came to a point that they wished he would cry to let them know he was still alive.
“Mi…Z-Za…Ah…! E-Ed…!” he gasped, and Mikleo couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled him up into his arms and hugged him tight. Surely, the feeling of his arms around him would comfort him, right? “M-Mi…Mik…! I…c-can…t…p-ple…!”
“I know it hurts, Sorey,” Mikleo sympathetized with him. “You have to hang on just a little longer.”
Edna and Zaveid touched Sorey for some sort of comfort, but the longer they sat in their hut of stone, the louder Sorey’s breathless cries grew. The three of them encouraged him to endure it as best as he could. The tears coming from his eyes didn’t hide how much he was suffering. In the real world, Sorey gripped his head then coughed up more than a handful of blood. He shuddered, or was it Symonne? Whoever it was, they knew they were running out of time.
Suddenly, Edna’s stone shelter collapsed. Symonne was standing there in the field, her hand out to take Sorey’s. “I’ve come for my Shepherd,” she demanded.
“You already know what we’re going to say,” Mikleo hissed at her. “Why are you doing this to him?! Why did you take his heart? Why did you hurt him?! If Sorey dies, all of us will die—including you! Can’t you see that?!”
“That’s why I’m not killing him,” Symonne smiled. “You got in the way of our marriage, though, so perhaps now I must. I will do what it takes to see that Lord Heldalf’s goal is reached. If I must sink into the abyss for dirtying my hands with the Shepherd’s blood, then so be it.”
She raised her cropped wand, the threat of total annihilation on the horizon. Until she realized that Sorey was no longer struggling to stay alive. In fact, he silenced himself, steeling his mind and body for what he was about to do.
The bond had to be broken by Symonne’s own will. And there was only one way to force her to do so. Sorey, still wracked with pain, gripped his sword. His face showed distress, but deep down inside, in the heart that had finally been accepted back into his body, he knew it had to be done. He glanced up at Mikleo as if to apologize then plunged his sword into his stomach.
Notes:
Look at that! Sorey's...well, not better. But Symonne lost her grip!
There will be no updates next week as I'm starting a new job and I want to focus on getting situated. Lots of life-changing things will be happening, but I won't let this story go incomplete! Please wish me luck.
Chapter 203: Phase 8: Awakening A Posteriori
Summary:
Sorey manages to break free from Symonne's grasp. As he emerges from the darkness that she had trapped him in, he brings to light a new hope.
Notes:
I shall contain myself until the end :3
Sorry for skipping last week, but my new job is going 100x better than my previous one!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Get it out of me!” Jacqli screamed. Her voice echoed and tumbled off the walls of the Crescent Chronicle where Shurelia had brought her.
The citizens of Em Pheyna scrambled about the city for Misha with the hope that she could sing to expel the Virus that was inside Jacqli. But the Song that would have proved some use had already been used long ago; Misha didn’t know what to do.
“What about Dishadow?” the former Star Singer asked her administrator after rushing to the Crescent Chronicle.
“I can’t sing that Song to her like this,” Shurelia explained. “I stripped her of permissions, but it was already too late. That Virus is using the Tower for some reason, feeding information to Infel Phira.”
“It has to be that girl!”
“Most likely. Either way, we need to help Mir.”
Jacqli gripped her arms as she writhed in agony. She was trying to fight off the malevolence and the Virus, but Symonne’s claws were deep in her soul. She cried out and screeched again for the Virus to leave her. She was the Mother Virus; why wouldn’t it leave?
“S-Shurelia…!” she choked. “You have to do something…!”
The ivory Reyvateil loomed over her, concern in her indigo eyes. What could she do? Sorey was heading to Camlann, and she couldn’t give her permission to the Tower until the affliction was over.
“Would Lady Tyria know what to do?” Misha asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” Shurelia replied.
“This Virus…it’s connected to him…” Jacqli panted out. She forced herself to put aside the pain of being infected and tortured. “That wench Symonne…she’s hijacked…the Tower…to give her more power…from Infel Phira.”
“We need to contact Cloche,” Shurelia concluded.
“Contact her and expel that girl! But…Sorey needs to stun her…” Jacqli grinded her teeth. “If…she’s pulled him…into her cosmosphere…she’d need to use a lot of her power…to contain him…but he can catch her off-guard…” She fell into a coughing fit. “If he can do that…”
Dezel’s consciousness was wavering just like Lailah’s. Rose and Alisha hadn’t woken up, and he wasn’t sure how much longer they could protect them. Sorey, clad in black and gold and opal reflecting the night sky, only taunted them with a nasty smirk. He stomped on Lailah and kicked Dezel.
“Come on! I thought you would have put up more of a fight!” he criticized them. “Guess you really didn’t care about those two…well, if that’s the case, then it shouldn’t matter if I slit their throats right in front of you. Ah, but you’re blind…I’ll just have to wake up the assassin girl and make her scream out a beautiful melody!”
Dezel wrapped his arms around Rose. Reading the stagnant wind in the chamber, Lailah was out cold. The helplessness that had seized him back when Symonne had locked him up with his demons had returned.
“I won’t let you hurt Rose…” he tried to threaten him only to hear Sorey cackle at him. “We’ve come too far…Sorey, you’ve got to wake up! I don’t care how deep she’s pushed you down, but you need to come back right now!”
Sorey’s lips curled up into a smile as wide as it could stretch, his eyes flickering with malevolence. Then, that horrific face vanished in shadow. Dezel frantically read the wind. He was still standing there, but something had changed. Something small and warm and light was pushing its way through the malevolence that had taken over.
His trembling hand reached up to his face. “Hey, what are you trying to do…?” he asked himself while trying not to laugh. “Are you really trying to break free from the cage I made for you?” Symonne’s darkness slowly grew in intensity as if she was trying to hold him back. “Did I say you could come out, Shepherd?”
Sorey’s grip around the scythe tightened, and his knuckles turned white. The face covering half his face clawed at his eye.
“Stay down, you rotten excuse for a human!”
Dezel could easily tell that was Symonne’s voice now. Her voice and the voice that came after were two separate entities. Sorey was fighting back. He, however, couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet.
“What are you trying to do?! Stop it!” Symonne screamed.
“I…won’t…let…you…hurt them…!” Sorey gasped.
Finally, in brief control, Sorey took hold of the scythe in both hands. The blade was turned to his abdomen, and if only there was someone to see the fleeting moment of clarity in his emerald eyes, they would know that it was him. Just like in the cosmosphere, Sorey pierced his stomach with the blade. And Symonne quickly regained control.
The Shepherd collapsed to his knees, and he scrambled to pull the scythe out from the deep wound. When he did, blood gushed and leaked out, and for once, Dezel heard the fear and panic in Symonne’s misguided voice.
“S-Stop bleeding! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” she whimpered.
Mikleo stared at the blade protruding from Sorey’s abdomen in disbelief. But as Sorey lay with blood pooling around him, he glanced at Symonne and smiled. The shackles that she had placed on him—both real and in the dream—shattered all around her. She felt herself losing control as well as the power she had gotten from Jacqli waning. Her cosmosphere was beginning to shake, the bond between her and the Shepherd weakening out the panic of her final plan falling apart.
“S-Sorey…?!” Mikleo suddenly called to him.
Sorey didn’t respond, though. It was Symonne’s fearful screams that pierced their ears. She wasn’t bleeding like he was, but the wound he had inflicted on both her and himself in reality, made her crumble.
“W-Why does it hurt so much?! L-Lord Heldalf, help me!” Symonne bawled.
“Such a drama queen,” Edna scoffed. She looked over at Sorey. “Did you kill yourself?”
Sorey sat up with enormous difficulty, coughing up a bit of blood and holding his wound. “I didn’t hit anything important,” he struggled. A triumphant smile was on his face despite how haggard he appeared. “Neither of us will die, but the bond…” He stared at her. “Symonne,” he said to her both sternly and gently. “If you nullify the bond between us, this pain will stop.”
Symonne gripped at her nonexistent injury. “I-I refuse!” she said, wheezing and hiccupping as she spoke. Even though the wound wasn’t there in the cosmosphere, she had to do something to beat his consciousness back down and make him submit before it was too late. But what could she do while in pain? She forced herself to stand straight in defiance of the Shepherd. “No matter what you do, I won’t let you go. I must do as my master says!”
“Does that bring you joy?” Sorey asked.
Symonne clenched her teeth. Of course, it did! It pleased Heldalf, and she wasn’t a meaningless existence because of it. She was given a purpose—an angel of death that had no right to exist could lull her prey into an eternal slumber. Sorey was the only one to break her spell.
“Symonne, does hurting people like this truly make you happy? Or are you just being fooled into do this?” Sorey asked her again. He took a step to her, stumbling only a little bit as the wound reminded him that it was there in reality as well. When he was in front of her, he wrapped his arms around her. Holding her tight, he wept for her. “You can’t kill people, so you make them sleep and show them dreams. You took an oath that prevents you from outright killing people because that would hurt you, wouldn’t it?”
“L-Let go of me!” Symonne demanded.
“You don’t have to live like that.”
“What do you know?! You don’t know what it’s like to be a seraph with a cursed blessing!”
Mikleo watched his Shepherd try to soothe the malicious girl before him, falling in love again with the pure heart that wanted everyone to live in harmony. Edna turned to face the Stonehenge, which was beginning to glow as Sorey began to change Symonne’s heart.
“I understand what cursed seraphim must go through; Dezel is one, isn’t he?” he told her. “You wanted him to become like you, but you’re not happy either. Please, Symonne, try to see it. You can be happy without causing pain. Helping Heldalf and making others suffer will only hurt you.”
And just like that, light burst forth from the Stonehenge. “Sheps, time to go!” Zaveid called to him.
“Come with us into the light!” Sorey lastly said to Symonne. He didn’t give her much of a choice by pulling her along by her wrist to the Paradigm Shift. “Once you step into it, you’ll see!”
The five of them entered the light, and after Symonne was dragged through, she saw the dark world she had created fade away behind her.
Sorey and Symonne de-Armatized as the bond between them was severed by the unprecedented Paradigm Shift. Sorey took a moment to catch his breath and registered that the strain on his body had lessened. His blindness had reverted to what it was before, and the aching in his chest had drastically reduced to a slight discomfort. He was still bleeding, which prompted Mikleo to hurry to his side to remedy the wound he had inflicted on himself.
“You’re horrible, Shepherd,” Symonne coughed out. “You take away someone’s purpose then act like you’re doing a service.”
“She’s still complaining?” Edna growled.
“Sorey is trying to help you!” Mikleo countered her.
Sorey lifted his hand to silence them. He walked up to her, catching a glimpse of Dezel and Lailah protecting Rose and Alisha out of the corner of his left eye. It was terrible what she had done; however, he held hope that he could start her on the path to redemption. Sorey knelt in front of Symonne, holding her face and wiping her tears away as he looked into her soulless garnet eyes.
“I know you think life is unfair, Symonne, and it is,” Sorey gently said to her. “But that’s why it’s special. Hurting people because someone gave you a purpose…it’s not fun.”
“What?” Symonne uttered.
“I mean, when someone tells you to hurt other people, life loses its shine.”
Mikleo let out a sigh. This wasn’t the time to be eloquent.
“What I’m trying to say is that you need to find your purpose on your own. Heldalf…I don’t think Heldalf’s purpose for you is the right one. There must be a way for your blessing to help people. Explore that and you’ll find your purpose.”
Symonne pushed him away then fell to her knees. “Stop it with your pretty words!” she screamed at him. Streams of tears flowed from her eyes. “You don’t understand anything! You just pretend to understand! Get out of my sight, Shepherd! Just leave me alone and never come back!”
Sorey wasn’t sure if his words had sunk into Symonne. He had done what he could and said what he thought would help her. Now, he needed to make sure that his friends were alright. Edna, Mikleo, and Zaveid went to Dezel and Lailah, healing them as quickly as possible. Lailah was still exhausted, but she and Dezel added to their efforts to heal Alisha and Rose. Sorey joined them with ointments and anything else that could speed along their recovery.
When Rose and Alisha woke up, they heard Symonne’s bawling echo off the walls of the chamber she had stopped them in. The pitiul wailing of a girl who had lost her way left them with mixed feelings. On one hand, it served her right, but then she was a victim to her own helplessness. The girl wanted to be alone now, and that’s what Sorey told them to do.
“Besides, we don’t have time to waste. We’re almost there,” he said.
“Are you sure it’s okay to leave her like that?” Alisha asked him dubiously.
“Yes,” Dezel interrupted. “It’s high time she gave a thought to her actions. Let’s go.”
The last thing Sorey said to Symonne was that he hoped she wouldn’t hurt anyone else from now on. While he didn’t know that she had taken control of Jacqli at the same time that she controlled him, he worried for the former Mother Virus. Jacqli was free now, high up in the Tower of Eolia, but she needed to rest. That was why the time they had leading up to their final encounter with Heldalf was so important. He knew they were going to need everyone in the world to help them.
The wind seraph helped Rose up while Alisha and Lailah stood up together hugging each other tightly. Edna and Zaveid led the group to the door ahead, but Mikleo wanted to make sure Sorey was alright. He looked him over. All he found was a renewed determination to bring an end to the despair that Heldalf had created over the world.
Notes:
Whooooo! Sorey made it through Symonne's personal hell that she created for him! Can he sway her heart though? Who knows?
Another thought, would Symonne's curse be helpful to people with insomnia?
Chapter 204: Phase 8: Origin of Hope
Summary:
Now that Symonne has been stopped, Sorey and his friends arrive in Camlann. The emotions stirred in their hearts bring not only uncertainty but the diligence to keep moving forward.
Notes:
A bit of a shorter chapter, but one that feels really action-packed (especially if you listen with Indra from Ar Tonelico 2 OST). This chapter also made me have an epiphany about Lailah that I'm ashamed I didn't have the previous 5 times I played the game).
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Jacqli found herself resting in a bed at the inn in Em Pheyna. The Virus that Symone had placed in her had been dispelled either by Misha’s singing or by the fallen seraph’s defeat—she couldn’t be entirely sure. She still felt like there was something weighing her down, though. Shurelia was sleeping in the bed next to her, and as she stared as her with primrose eyes, she recalled that she had had a dream.
She had seen Sorey hanged, crucified, stoned, burned, and all other manners of deceased. There had been one form of him that was still barely clinging to life, his breathing labored and his bones broken within his skin. She heard him crying and begging for his life to come to an end. Jacqli had approached the one living body in her dream, and with the gentility she had rediscovered after singing Rig=Veda, she cupped her hand on his cheek.
“I can’t take it anymore,” he had whined. “It hurts so much…and I’ve killed so many people!” He had been laying on his side and unable to move, and when the raven-colored Reyvateil had tried to help him to sit, she found that her hand passed through him. Then she heard it loud and clear—his slowing heartbeat. “Someone…please…”
Jacqli knew she could touch his face. She held his head and told him while trying to maintain her stoic and unbothered appearance, “No, Sorey, you can’t stop here! You must keep going. You must keep fighting! Save the world from its death knell and make your utopia a reality!”
And it had been then that she had woken up. She didn’t understand what the dream could have meant other than he would need help to fight against Heldalf. After all, he would be in control of a Will of the Planet and the one whose blessing had protected the land from falling into darkness.
“Shurelia,” she said at first in a whisper. When her sister didn’t stir, she called to her louder. “We need to begin preparations,” she said after she sleepily sat up. “Heldalf might be far more than Sorey and his friends can handle on their own.”
“I will start rallying Frelia and Tilia then,” Shurelia replied once she was fully awake. “Please round up every Reyvateil that can sing on this Tower. Aurica and Misha will be at the forefront.”
“Likewise, talk to the others and make sure Cloche, Luca, Saki, and Finnel can help us.”
They had finally reached their destination. Camlann was a desolate shell of the bright budding village it once was frozen in time thanks to Maotelus’ power. The grasses were burnt and dead, trees bare of any leaves, and every single house lie in ruin; everything had been only freshly damaged and served as evidence that nothing had aged for almost twenty years. The malevolence that had taken over the town had been magnified by Heldalf so much that Sorey and his friends had to steel themselves before venturing any further. It was stifling, and while Sorey wasn’t as bothered by the malevolence now that he had felt the pain of Symonne’s pact and so much more, he worried for his friends and especially for Lailah. Michael had died here.
“Don’t worry about us,” Edna told him without hesitation when he opened his mouth to ask. “Just worry about yourself.”
“Yeah, we’re big boys and girls,” Zaveid joked with him, winking and smiling as if the world weren’t on the verge of falling into a deeper chaos than it already had at the beginning. “We don’t need Daddy Sheppy worrying about us.”
“But even with all this malevolence,” Rose started. She glanced from path to path and house to house. “We’ve only been here in a memory, and most of us—this is our first time really being here.”
“And yet it feels so familiar,” Alisha finished. “Lailah…?”
The fire seraph stared out over the village grounds, unmistakable sadness in her eyes. It pained her to be here, and Sorey and Mikleo felt the forlornness in the air. They had no connection to this place other than just being born and killed here. Just knowing that people they were supposed to have loved dearly were brutally murdered hurt them, though. They empathized with the Lady of the Lake.
Rose hugged her arms. If this was the aftermath of a place completely destroyed by an everlasting darkness, she had to wonder about Symonne. “If people were driven to despair, it really makes you think about her,” she said.
“Are you feeling sorry for her?” Dezel growled.
“I am.”
“Symonne took an oath that for all of the trickery and damage she would do, she wouldn’t be able to kill people, even if her feline master ordered her to do it,” Edna said.
“It would prevent her from falling, but to what degree? She’s spent her whole life in despair,” Lailah added.
“More than likely she would be filled with so much hatred,” Alisha said.
“Well, that’s not a surprise,” Edna replied. “She did everything in her power to even trap Sorey in her cosmosphere with the intention to keep him there forever.”
“Yeah, that last brush with her definitely felt like she went all out and was just shy of breaking her oath,” Zaveid sighed.
“If the malevolence coming from this place and from Heldalf hadn’t been there…” Lailah started before pausing to consider the gravity of what could have happened. “We were very lucky.”
Sorey gripped his chest not in pain but in sorrow. “She really hated me that much,” he mumbled.
“Of course, she would,” Mikleo reluctantly said.
“She was an angel of death herself, so anyone that even resembles hope and happiness is her enemy,” Dezel admitted.
“But why can’t she just forgive herself and—?”
Rose started before Dezel cut her off. “She can’t just change herself like that. It’s a fundamental aspect of herself—her very blessing!”
“Rose,” Sorey spoke. “I…I asked her to try and change, but if she hates me for that, then it only makes me want to help her more. I don’t want people to suffer like this, and that includes Symonne. It all starts with stopping Heldalf.”
Turning to the center of Camlann, Sorey knew that it had to be this way. It was time to move on. He led his friends into the village remains. At the center of Camlann was a large stone mounted on a slab of marble. When they approached it, which lie just before a horde of hellions digging through the debris for food, Sorey and Mikleo noticed that it was written in Ar Ciela, then translated to the ancient tongue, then finally in the common language.
“aaabI CiiiN fffAm xA sssy,” Mikleo read.
“‘Let this be the beginning’,” Sorey read the translation in the common tongue underneath the etchings.
“Looks like a monument commemorating the establishment of Camlann. But the stone still looks new.”
“Maybe it wasn’t damaged, but I’m curius about the inscription. The beginning of what?”
“They couldn’t have known that the Age of Chaos would start.”
“And that’s not something that you would commemorate.”
“This is where Michael brought Maotelus,” Lailah interrupted. “It wasn’t the origin of despair back then.”
“I see!” Sorey grinned. “It was the origin of hope—the hope for a new life as a human and not the Shepherd.”
“Oh, Michael…”
It brought a little relief to the fire seraph and the Shepherd. The fire seraph knelt before the stone monument and offered a prayer to the late former Shepherd with Sorey following suit. He asked for his blessing to end the strife that plagued the world and to help the Towers to work with the Glenwood Continent so that all seraphim and humans could coexist. Alisha joined them to support her love. She, too, wished for Michael’s blessing to find peace between Hyland and Rolance.
Once they moved on from the monument and made their way deeper into the wreckage, fighting off hellions that tried to consume them, they came to the burnt remains of Michael’s house. Again, Lailah’s heart was stricken with grief. She imagined how Michael must have felt as he burned and still ran to the sanctuary that they had created for Maotelus. Alisha held her hand and squeezed it in an effort to soothe the pain.
“I’m sorry, Lailah,” Sorey told her.”
“It’s okay. I just wish…there was more that I could have done to prevent this,” Lailah replied. She straightened up, pushing the melancholy thoughts out of her mind. “But this is also your home. Are you alright?”
Sorey and Mikleo nodded. Besides being born in Camlann, the two didn’t feel anything special to it other than a historic site. They hadn’t grown up with the people that used to live there nor had they known what the village even looked like despite having seen the past through the iris gems. They only knew the seraphim they loved in Elysia and Zenrus.
“We’re Elysians, now and forever,” Mikleo said.
“Now and…” Sorey trailed off. He thought about forever—would it be forever?
“Something smells,” Edna pouted. She searched on the ridges that surrounded the village to find two massive hellion that were staring down at them like gatekeepers. “Huh, looks like Kittybeard instated a couple guards.”
Rose pulled her daggers while Dezel spun his pendulums. “Nothing we can’t handle,” they said.
“Think we can split up and take them down?” Zaveid nonchalantly asked.
“That would be best; divide and conquer!” Alisha rallied. She held up Lailah’s hand and kissed it. “Use the pain you feel now to expel these hellions from this place.”
“Yes, my love,” Lailah agreed.
Sorey drew his sword, swinging and twisting it around. “Alright, Alisha and Lailah are with me and Mikleo. Edna, Zaveid, go with Rose and Dezel!” he ordered. “Let’s make this quick and keep going, everyone!”
Rose and Dezel made their way up to a hellion that appeared as a large, armored man mounted on an armored horse. Edna and Zaveid were ready to fight not with their Artes but with their Songs. It would be harder this way with Rose and Dezel having to protect them, but singing would make quick work of the hellion. On top of that, Rose and Dezel couldn’t sing and therefore couldn’t attack as effectively. But what they lacked in Reyvateilic features they made up for with their Armatus.
Edna and Zaveid didn’t hesitate to start singing as soon as they were within range of the hellion. Taking a note from Cloche and Luca, the IPD began his part while Edna chimed in. The light of the Song Magic that glowed over them took the form of an egg. Rose and Dezel Armatized as soon as they could as well, taking advantage of the ability to fly while manipulating the rotten wind with their blessed power.
“Begone, intruders!” the hellion warned them. Spear in hand, he raised it to the heavens before charging toward Edna and Zaveid. “I said, begone!”
“Not so fast!” Rose and Dezel intercepted. They pushed him back with a voracious gust of wind. “Stratashield!”
Rose fired blades made of wind before Dezel controlled her to slice at him with their wings. Spinning and flipping, they kept pushing him back farther and farther from their friends to buy them time to build up their evolving Song. What started as an egg grew into a small lizard then into a baby dragon, and finally into a dragon that looked like Eizen. Together, they unleashed their Song at the hellion while Rose and Dezel moved out of the way. The dragon made of pure music chomped down on the hellion’s armor then vanished, leaving them exhausted for a moment.
While Edna and Zaveid regained their strength to sing again, Rose and Dezel watched with anticipation for his next attack. He bade his horse to neigh, reinvigorating his desire to exterminate the pests in front of him before lifting his spear to the sky again.
“I will show you the power of my spear, Gungnir,” he rumbled. “Lightning Bolt!”
“Barrier!” Edna cast just before they were struck with electricity. “Damn…I’m not ready to sing again…”
“Let me start and just jump in when you can,” Zaveid told her. “Can you do that?”
“Potentially.”
“C’mon, squirt. Don’t disappoint your big brother up there. Sing as if you’re giving him a personal concert!”
“What a stupid analogy!”
The hellion cast Lightning Bolt again, this time striking Rose and Dezel and paralyzing them for just a moment.
“You can do this, Rose,” Dezel said. “We just need to buy them time for one more Song. Don’t die on me.”
“I know…bring me closer. Let’s really buy them some time,” she muttered.
Dezel took control of Rose’s body, flying close and attacking the hellion with gusts of wind and a flurry of kicks. Once there was an opening, Rose flew up. “Come, divine wings! Swarm the skies! Sylphistia!” Emerald blades of wind rained down on the hellion just as Edna and Zaveid unleashed their Song Magic again. The hellion crumbled, the malevolence dissipated and the armor falling to the ground. But the fight was far from done on the other side of the village.
“Three become one! Trinity Arrow!” Sorey and Mikleo chanted as they fired arrow after arrow into the monstrosity before them.
“Ancient Nova!” Alisha and Lailah called out, a descending sparking burst which scorched the hellion they had been fighting.
The two de-Armatized, allowing their seraphim a chance to sing Songs and conserve their vessels’ energy. Sorey and Alisha charged ahead, stabbing the monster in its legs as they stalled it. The hellion had six arms wielding an elemental sword each. And with three arms each, the hellion knocked back both of them. Braking along the ground with their blades, Alisha and Sorey glared up at the hellion. Sorey immediately pushed himself back up, slashing back at the hellion and locking swords with it. Finally, Mikleo and Lailah both unleashed their Song Magic after the Shepherd backed off, effectively ending the fight and ridding the village of another epicenter of malevolence.
“Sorey! Alisha!” Rose called out to them. “Oh, you’re done?”
“Just finished up,” Alisha smiled.
Sorey lowered himself to the ground to catch his breath, alarming his friends. He reassured them that he was okay. The malevolence was thick as ever, and he still hadn’t fully recovered from his Dive with Symonne. Still, he wasn’t as tired as he usually felt since coming back to the Hyland region.
Mikleo conjured up a drink of water in his hands for him only for Sorey to push his hands gently away. “Why?” he asked him.
“Save your energy; we’re not done yet,” he answered.
“You still need to take care of yourself,” Edna scolded him.
“I’m fine, really. Let’s keep moving.”
Sorey’s seraphim exchanged looks while Rose and Alisha questioned if it really was okay for them to keep going without respite. Nevertheless, they continued through Camlann’s ashes to towering cliffs that bottlenecked into a long flight of stairs. Their eyes traced up the stairs to a structure wrapped in shadow. Above it, a black disk loomed in a sky that looked like it was on fire.
“That’s the way to Maotelus’ shrine, isn’t it?” Rose asked.
“Why does the sky look like that…?” Alisha questioned.
“Now’s not the time to be getting cold feet,” Dezel sighed; however, he felt the familiar anxiety bubbling in him when sensing something catastrophic.
“Sorey are you ready for this?” Mikleo asked him out of concern. He knew that whatever his answer, he would be by his side. The problem was in all that his spirit had taken. All of the beatings and troubles and tortures he had endured led up to this point. He took his hand, the glittering ring he had on his right hand catching both of their eyes. “No matter what happens, I’m here for you.”
“We are, too,” Rose added. “All of us are!”
“And so are the Origins and the peeps we’ve befriended on each tower,” Zaveid reminded him.
Sorey chuckled and smiled embarrassedly. “Come on, you guys. Don’t…Don’t you think it’s a little early for this?” No one could see the tiny beads of tears at the corners of his eyes. “There can be no hesitation now. I know I can rely on you all, and I’m so happy for that. But let’s save it for the final battle and when we win.”
“Oh-ho, looks like Sheps has his moxie back! Good of you to return, Sorey!”
“You’re insufferable,” Edna sighed. “But it’s that kind of attitude that’ll carry us to the end, isn’t it?”
Sorey raised his sword and angled it to the shrine. It was time to go.
Notes:
The epiphany: Lailah had lots of measures on her not to despair about Camlann, but the amount of regret she must have felt upon coming back and she just keeps moving on. She's strong and we don't deserve her! Lailah is so amazing!
Chapter 205: Phase 8: The Four
Summary:
Sorey and his friends prepare to venture into the heart of chaos. To help them, the Origins and Will of the Planet rally forces to create the Hymn Crystal meant to unite all the people and seraphim.
Notes:
So this is a shorter chapter really meant to just set the stage. This took a lot of planning (almost like a game of chess) and I'm hoping the buildup leads to something greater than the battle with Tiamat. Lots of dialogue in this chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shurelia, Frelia, and Tyria convened within the Binary Field. The Wills of the Planet excluding Ar Ru met within Saki and Finnel’s soul space. Jacqli called Misha, Aurica, Cloche, and Luca for a meeting in Lastonbell. It was time to begin the preparations to stop Heldalf once and for all.
“The only way we can stop someone like Lion King is to use the weapon within my Tower,” Tyria told her sister administrators. She was met with protests because, unlike their unexpected fight with Tiamat, there was nothing to protect Tyria from consuming her entire being to power it. Without the diamond ore, Tyria was going to die. “It’s a sacrifice we must make. I don’t mind.”
“But, Lady Tilly, we do!” Frelia countered her. She held her hands together over her chest, tears coming to her golden eyes at the thought of losing her.
“This whole battle is to end all pointless suffering,” Shurelia explained. “We shouldn’t need to sacrifice any more people for this cause!”
“But that’s the thing,” Tyria sighed. “My suffering isn’t pointless. I must become the Tower and pull the trigger. A weapon like this, modeled after the contraption that Zaveid has used, is our only chance to help Sorey accomplish his mission. Ever since we found them in the wreckage of Camlann, that is how it has been.”
“Lady Tyria, I cannot condone this even if you’re older than both of us!”
“Too bad you don’t have a choice in the matter. Harvestasha XP and Vista have already made their preparations. Sorey and his friends are not capable of fighting on their own; there is no doubt that Heldalf has tapped into the very reserves of Maotelus’ power. The Lord of Calamity and the power of a Will of the Planet together would do more than just annihilate the world. It could even cause a rupture in reality much like a supernova. That’s why I’m prepared to do what must be done. My sacrifice won’t be pointless, so in that regard…”
While Tyria continued to delineate her mission and delegate the tasks necessary for its accomplishment to her sisters, Jacqli and the other Reyvateils met in the inn just past the entrance of the city of artisans. Because there was no one in Ladylake that they could turn to for Hyland’s representation, and with the recent truce between Hyland and Rolance being the only thing that they could rely on, they requested Sergei to be at the meeting as well.
Sergei was the only man among a room full of girls that appeared to be around Sorey’s age, and it made him feel like an old man despite being not much older than the Shepherd. Of course, Jacqli was far older than any of them, and the girls looked to her for guidance in the coming finale of the Age of Chaos. Sergei listened just as attentively if not more so.
“You should know why you’re here today,” Jacqli started. “Having just recovered from a disgusting little Virus from Symonne, I wager a guess that Sorey and his friends are nearing the end of their journey. They will be facing against Heldalf soon, so it’s time we started making our own preparations.” She pulled out a large map that had been rolled up and placed on the floor. On it were diagrams of the three Towers, the surface of the Glenwood Continent, and the area of Camlann set in a ravine far below. “Shurelia is speaking with Frelia and Tyria at the moment, so this information should ideally make it to Saki and Finnel. The plan is to have every Reyvateil on the Towers, every seraph on the Glenwood Continent, and the Wills of the Planet to sing together to power the XP Shell.”
“That’s an insane amount of power!” Luca gasped. “Won’t that overload the servers?”
“On top of that, what will you do about IPDs?” Sergei asked her.
“It’s true that the Towers have limits to how many can sing at once, but if we can temporarily turn off those limits, we can bind Heldalf long enough to give Tyria the angle she needs to fire the shell.”
Cloche wasn’t sure if it would work. If they took off the limits on the Towers that only allowed a certain amount of Reyvateils to sing at once, the servers would suffer lasting damage. IPDs weren’t a problem because they sang through Infel Phira and didn’t populate as much of the world. Misha thought harder. The Wills of the Planet were goddesses far stronger than the other seraphim in the world. There were also the Four Great Lords that got their power from Maotelus. If they could just sing using them and those that were gathered, wouldn’t that be enough? It would keep the Towers safe and functioning.
Jacqli put a finger to her lip in thought. She hadn’t realized that such a reckless plan would put so many people at risk. Not to mention, such an overabundance of power could make them fall and become hellions, especially if their plan failed. She agreed with Misha and Cloche, turning to Luca and Aurica to help organize people to cheer them on. The positive feelings that came from those that listened to the Song would help them to sing their best.
“Will you have a Hymn Crystal for this Song? After all, a Song of this scale will need a Synchronizer that can handle everyone, including Sorey’s seraphim,” Aurica questioned.
Jacqli sighed. The plan was far more complicated than she had initially thought it to be. She was typically good at foresight, but this problem was growing rapidly. Sergei offered the idea of trying to get the Hymn Crystal down to Camlann.
“That’s a suicide mission,” she replied.
“If Sorey, Alisha, and Rose can’t get this Hymn Crystal, it won’t matter if it’s a suicide mission,” he answered back. “Where they’ve gone is incredibly dangerous, but I’m willing to take that risk if it means we have a better chance of ending this.”
“We can ask Radolf and Leglius to accompany him,” Aurica and Luca proposed.
“As long as he has back up, it shouldn’t be too bad,” Misha added. “You can even ask Mute to go along with them.”
Jacqli didn’t want to let more people head down to Camlann if it could be avoided. In this case, Sergei was going to go no matter what. If it was the only thing they could do, then he needed to have help. She approved of the compromise then asked that he wait for them to create the Hymn Crystal that would use everyone’s voice.
And finally, the conference of the Wills of the Planet took place within the joined cosmosphere of Saki and Finnel. Saki, Sarapatra, Filament, Soma, Yurisica, and Suzunomia were present.
“So, we’re going to sing to Maotelus, are we?” Yurisica sighed. “Do you really think we can pull it off?”
“We have to,” Filament said. “We have no choice but to sing. Even if Ciela cannot hear us, Maotelus is our audience. We must sing to release him from the poison that corrupts him.”
“But without Ciela, who is sure to make Her case, will it work?” Suzunomia asked. “We might ask for the help of the Four.”
“It’s not a bad idea; Maotelus woke them a thousand years ago and gave them new vessels,” Sarapatra considered. “It would only make sense that we ask that they help their Lord.”
“Saki and Soma can contact them! Lady Amenoch, Lords Musiphe, Eumacia, and Hyanoa are sure to listen to us!” Saki volunteered. She held her hand to her heart. “Saki wants to sing her feelings to them because she’s scared. But if I sing, I’ll feel better.”
“And there is a very likely chance that they won’t listen in the first place,” Soma continued. “If Saki can translate her feelings to each of them, then we won’t have to use force. If we do…”
“Then allow me to sing to them,” Suzunomia said. “Saki and I—the Goddess of Animals and the Goddess of Songs—shall express our feelings to them.”
“It really is a shame that we can’t exist outside of our vessels,” Yurisica sighed. “Imagine if we could all go and sing to the Four at once instead of wasting time to travel.” She cleared her throat then turned to Saki and Suzunomia. “Well, it’s time to get going.”
Saki and Finnel made their way to Igraine within Gododdin. The people of the village didn’t mind them walking it and all the way to the back of their plot to the cave that held the entrance to the shrine. The malevolence had waned from the village since Sorey’s passing through, but the heat that came from the door raged.
“I should let Suzunomia out now,” Finnel said. “Saki, be careful in there, got it? Don’t get burnt to a crisp, or I’ll never forgive you!”
“Don’t worry, Filly!” Saki happily told her. “I won’t do anything rash. I promise.”
Finnel pouted at her with doubt in her eyes. Then she focused on the existence that dwelled within her, bringing it to the forefront of her mind and calling out the Goddess of Songs before her friend.
Suzunomia fixed her tiara and dusted off her modern kimono. Her emerald eyes stared at the door leading deeper into the fire shrine. “Saki, might I offer a word of caution?” she asked suddenly.
“What’s wrong?” Saki asked her.
“We must sing with everything we have. Our current vessels are incapable of singing at the frequency needed to express ourselves to the fullest, so we must take extra care in our Song.”
“I understand.”
Saki and Suzunomia walked into the shrine to the very center where Sorey had activated the elevator that would taken them underground to the altar. Ekseo, Musiphe’s guardian, spotted them. He felt the godly power coming from them, greeting them graciously before asking why they were there. Saki explained to him that they needed to summon Musiphe from his resting place, something that Ekseo hadn’t heard of since he became his guardian.
“If you mean to sing to him…” Ekseo said, thinking hard about allowing them to wake him. “I suppose it’s an emergency. Maotelus is in dire trouble, isn’t he? Then I won’t impede you.”
Saki and Suzunomia exchanged determined looks with each other. They each took a breath and began their Song to call on not only Musiphe within Igraine but also Amenoch in Lefay, Eumacia in Morgause, and Hyanoa in Guinevere.
The Wills, Origins, and Reyvateils all took care of their tasks and created the Hymn Crystal and the IPD equivalent that would be needed to link all of the hearts that were to reach Maotelus’. Each Origin and Reyvateil leading the efforts on the Towers absorbed the Song within it, and the Will of the Planet took the feelings and understanding that needed to be translated into Ar Ciela. Finally, the last seraphim that needed it were deep within Camlann.
“Do you understand your orders?” Shurelia asked Radolf, Sergei, Leglius, and Mute.
“Find Sorey, give him the Hymn Crystal, and return to Platina at once,” Sergei answered.
“Do not wait for him to use the crystal on the seraphim with him,” Jacqli stressed. “The malevolence there will be almost impossible to bear. For Mute’s sake and your own, leave as soon as possible.”
Sergei, Radolf, Leglius, and Mute bowed before them before mounting horses—Mute riding with Leglius in her diminuitive form—and making their way through the Aroundight Forest, the outskirts of Elysia, and to the entrance of Mabinogio Ruins. From there, they descended into the forgotten shrine. Deeper and deeper they went, battling off hellions and eventually finding themselves in Camlann. Mute looked up at the bleeding sky, the massive blackhole that was the sun, and the imposing structure of Maotelus’ shrine in the distance. It was going to be a long and arduous journey to find them, and there was no time to waste. They started walking.
Notes:
Imagine that ragtag team though. Sergei, Leglius, Radolf, and Mute going into the final dungeon and trying to not get killed! Haha!
Chapter 206: Phase 8: The Broken Throne of the Most Corrupted
Summary:
After the climb and acquisition of the imbued orbs held by four powerful hellions, Sorey receives the Hymn Crystals holding the Synchronizer.
Notes:
This chapter is a night early, but I'll be out tomorrow.
So Artorius' Throne is a bit of a long dungeon, so this chapter is a bit of an abridged version of it. As usual, some parts of this chapter are being withheld until further notice.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Long before Sergei and his team had set out to deliver the Hymn Crystal, Sorey and his Squires stood at the base of what was called Artorius’ Throne. The door leading into the shrine was at the far end of the cracked bridge that was made of the same stone and rock that was floating around them.
The seraphim huffed and panted as they grew closer to the giant structure, falling to their knees at the midpoint of the bridge. The three humans rushed to their sides to comfort them and push them to keep moving.
“The malevolence is so crazy here,” Zaveid coughed out. “Man, Sorey, if you weren’t here right now, there’s no doubt we would all be dragons.”
Mikleo leaned onto Sorey’s shoulder, the pain in his chest growing and waning as he tried to pinpoint the direction of the flow of malevolence. The only thing that was clear was that the malevolence there in Camlann and around the shrine was the exact thing that had turned Maotelus into a hellion.
Edna pointed her umbrella to the structure with all her strength. “The heart of all this malevolence is in the back of the shrine,” she huffed. “Back there…”
“We’ll find Heldalf and Maotelus,” Sorey finished for her.
“Let’s get moving,” Rose pushed.
Alisha helped Lailah up and held her close. “You must be careful, everyone,” Lailah warned them. “The malevolence here means that the hellions will be stronger than anything you have faced. Make sure you’re prepared.”
“Of course,” Sorey promised her.
“Don’t underestimate the Shepherd’s posse!” Rose happily cheered.
“Somehow, you manage to smile in the midst of all this malevolence,” Dezel scoffed.
“I have to be in these dark and uncertain times!”
Sorey, Alisha, and Rose called their seraphim inside in the hopes that their bodies would buffer them against the wickedness and despair that spewed from the epicenter. They knew that the closer and closer they got to Heldalf, then the malevolence would only get more debilitating. They steeled themselves before heading into the belly of the beast.
The white marble stone walls within Artorius’ Throne betrayed the holy presumptions that were evident in the memories that had been recorded into the iris gems. Aside from the damage outside, the entrance hall seemed perfectly fine. There were webs of solidified malevolence that blocked them which Alisha dispelled with Lailah’s fire on her spear. The hellions that populated the halls were large and dangerous—far more than anything else they had encountered, just like Lailah had said. Even then, in battles with hellions borne of the spiteful and scorned souls of women, Zaveid found time to joke and flirt with them much to everyone else’s dismay.
The throne itself was simply a giant maze of rubble and paths that floated in this disconnected space. The farther they went, the more Sorey began to wonder what this place really was. How could some place considered so holy have fallen so far? He remembered all the times that his own serenity had been dragged through the deepest of despair. Through the winding and twisting halls and over the broken paths, fighting hellions left and right all the way to the first chamber in the main structure, he thought. After defeating another set of hellions that had been roaming in this chamber, something caught Sorey’s eye.
“What’s that?” he asked.
It was a large crest set in the center of the wall and flanked by spent candles on either side. The crest consisted of concentric circles around a focal point. In the space between the two outermost circles were dots positioned like the numbers of a clock. Diamonds were set in the four cardinal directions with smaller ones in the diagonal directions. It almost looked like Maotelus’ crest, but something was missing.
“How strange,” Mikleo mumbled. “Why would his followers get his crest wrong?”
“That’s because it’s not Maotelus’ crest,” Edna explained after emerging from Sorey, followed by all the other seraphim.
“This is the crest of Innominat,” Lailah revealed.
“Who’s that?” Rose asked her dubiously.
“Sorey and I have read about him to an extent,” Mikleo answered. He crossed his arms to think, reflecting on all the times they read the Celestial Record and the brief explanation the differentiated the two crests. “Innominat is the name of an enigmatic god that only comes up in texts way older than anything we have today.”
“Yup, he was one of the Five Lords before Maotelus become the Great Lord,” Zaveid continued, though his expression didn’t tell them one way or the other how he felt.
“There was a Great Lord before Maotelus? Do they switch out from time to time?” Sorey asked.
“You could say that,” Edna said. “Pretty much an election. Maotelus has the most devotees dedicated to worshipping him. Tomorrow, Eumacia or even one of the Wills of the Planet could end up with more worshippers.”
“So that means, Innominat is—was a Will, too.”
“A shrine that was dedicated to another Will instead of Maotelus,” Mikleo said.
“This isn’t Maotelus’ shrine. That just means we need to hurry and free him from Heldalf’s grasp. Let’s go,” Sorey said, Mikleo in tow to continue on.
Lailah watched Sorey make his way to the door leading out of the chamber. Alisha and Rose were astonished that neither of them were more interested in learning about Innominat, but Lailah couldn’t blame them. It was strange that Maotelus was enshrined in the place his predecessor was.
“Lailah, maybe we should tell them,” Edna suggested.
Lailah and Zaveid averted their gaze from her. Zaveid especially seemed uncomfortable remembering Innominat. “omniZaKx,” Zaveid murmured just barely loud enough for Lailah to hear. “That’s what they used to call him among the Wills, wasn’t it?”
Lailah couldn’t answer not because of her oath but for the fear that the old name of Innominat brought to her heart. Alisha wanted to console her while Dezel wanted to ask what their history was, but it had to be left for another time. It would need to be a time so far removed from that moment. A time where Sorey was ready to learn all that had happened.
When they caught up with Sorey and Mikleo, they found that they were in front of one of four annexes dispersed around the main hub. They sliced their way through the hellions and entered the annex to find a familiar set up. Torches with numbers stood at the four corners of the room. On top of that, Sorey and Rose found themselves paralyzed within the annex, unable to move and aid Alisha in the small trial.
“What’s going on?!” Dezel snarled.
“It seems that only a fire seraph can move through this room,” Lailah theorized. “And there’s an exceptionally strong hellion stopping us from moving on. Alisha, are you ready?”
“Of course!” Alisha determinedly said. “Shall we Armatize?” With Lailah’s agreement, she called her name, “Fethmus Mioma!”
The chamber filled with a warm orange light as Alisha emerged forth combined with her fire seraph. She approached the torches in order, lighting them with a swipe of her hand and a radiant flame rising from the kindling. The lower left, the lower right, the upper left, the upper right; and once the flames glowed, the door before them leading to another chamber with a spiral staircase up to the second floor opened. But still, Sorey and the others couldn’t move.
“It seems we will have to go it alone,” Alisha determined.
“Yes,” Lailah agreed. “It seems very similar to the Trial of Fire, so we must fight whatever awaits us on our own.”
“We’ll be back, everyone!”
Alisha and Lailah made their way up to the balcony above them to fight the hellion called Catoblepas. It was a hellion that damaged itself to attain power, a pitiful being that believed in absolute destruction. As the two girls fought, they heard two voices resonating far above them:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Alisha’ Sacred Blade blazed with the power of the Lord of Fire, slicing into the hellion without any trouble. A small black orb fell from the dissipating corpse that swirled with malevolence deep inside. It was an orb filled with power.
When they returned to their friends on the first floor of this annex, they showed the orb to Sorey. He experienced some discomfort, holding it in his hand carefully before stowing it away. The hellions were different. They held within them crystallized malevolence. If broken, Sorey and the rest of them would be irreparably consumed by the wickedness.
The next annex they came to was lower than the Throne and the fire trial was the wind annex. Alisha, Mikleo, Edna, and Lailah were paralyzed like before, and only Sorey and Rose when respectively Armatized with Zaveid and Dezel were allowed to move. The puzzle to unlock the door was far simpler than the first annex of fire. Together, the two blew on the three emerald windmills that spun vigorously in place. The door opened at once. Sorey and Rose promised their friends that they would be back soon before climbing up the spiraling stairs to the balcony of the second floor. There, they found another extremely dangerous hellion called the Hippogriff, a large griffon-type monster, its powerful wings and armor-like flesh made it a worthy opponent.
And once again, as they fought against the hellion to win the orb of malevolence within its breast, they heard two voices sing:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Their wings made of knives glowed with the power of wind. Sorey and Rose flew up above the annex followed by the Hippogriff. They surrounded it, flying around and around until they flew so fast that they trapped the hellion within a massive tornado. The hellion was defeated in no time, and they recovered the orb.
The third annex were on the other side of the throne was one of earth. It was another simple puzzle of using Edna’s power to destroy the boulders that impeded Sorey. The topaz-encrusted fists pulverized the stone into dust, and they knew the drill now. The mutant hellion waiting for him alone was Ammit, a crocodile-like hellion with powerful jaws. Sorey and Edna fought the hellion until they heard the voices sing:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
And like before, Sorey’s fists shined brilliantly the harrowing darkness of the red world. He effortlessly pummeled the hellion into the concrete of the annex until the orb of malevolence was the only thing left.
The final annex was south of the earth annex, housing a piece of the trial of water and the final hellion that was standing in their way. When they arrived at the fourth annex, Sorey immediately Armatized with Mikleo. Enshrouding himself in a veil of water, he ventured into the chamber with the spiraling staircase, strategically and patiently hiding himself from the all-seeing eyes on the wall. And when they got the balcony, they found a dinosaur of a hellion that stomped all around them. This was the last one, and Sorey had a feeling that the voices would thus sing the final verse of their heavenly Song.
“It has to be Wills of the Planet,” he finally said. “The words…I can’t understand them, but while we’ve been Armatized, I feel like I do just like the Iris Gems.”
“Saki and Finnel must be the reason for this,” Mikleo said.
“They’re calling the Great Lords. Musiphe, Hyanoa, Eumacia…the only one they haven’t called yet…”
“The Lord of Water, Amenoch.”
Sorey held his ground against the hellion, waiting and listening for the resonating words that drifted from the land above them. Finally, they heard Saki and Suzunomia’s voices:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Sorey’s arrow flashed, and in the blink of an eye, he let go of it. It sped and spun towards the hellion. When it pierced its heart, the orb of malevolence inside of it fell to the floor.
“What do you think these orbs are for?” Sorey asked Mikleo.
“Pieces of Heldalf’s power? Or perhaps, pieces of Maotelus’ power—but why would it be crystalized malevolence?”
“If we sever the bond between Heldalf and Maotelus, we can restore his power, then.”
“It’s our only option.”
“Right. Let’s go.”
Before they headed back down to meet their friends, Mikleo de-Armatized from him. He hugged him from behind, his hands falling to his chest and feeling the pounding heart threatening to explode not from fear or anxiety. They were reaching the end of the journey, and Sorey was nearing his ultimate decision.
“Come what may, I will do everything in my power to protect you,” Mikleo said quietly to him.
“I know,” Sorey replied with a whisper. He touched his hands.
“I have one request.” He paused. “You know how we must sever the bond. You must use Siegfried and turn us into attacks with their own will.”
“Mikleo—”
The water seraph pulled his arms away from him gently and slowly. “My Divine Artifact, the Sacred Bow. To take one in the knee means to offer your hand in marriage, but arrows have another significance.”
“I can’t do that.”
“When you fire an arrow before everyone else, that is the signal that the battle will begin. Sorey, I want you to fire me first into Heldalf to weaken him. When you do, I will use everything I have to give to hold him back.”
“Mikleo, that’s suicide.”
“We both knew that, and there’s nothing we can do to change it. Mayvin taught us that, and you’ve done well to accept that that is what we must do. This is what has to be done.”
Sorey knew that was the solution, but he couldn’t fathom the idea of Mikleo giving his life when he would only have to sleep. It scared him even though it wouldn’t matter soon enough. Out of that fear, the Shepherd pulled him close and kissed him. Breathing on his lips, he cherished it.
They didn’t say anything else. They headed back down to the first floor with the fourth and final orb of malevolence. From the final annex, the path to the base of the highest stairs of the throne were so close that they needed to take a moment to calm themselves.
“This is it, huh?” Sorey said. “We’ll sever the bond between them.”
“Good thing it’s that and not Plan A,” Zaveid nonchalantly said. “Not going to lie, I was preparing myself long before I met you, Shepherd, to kill Maotelus myself. But considering that we’ve even got the Origins and Wills of the Planet on our side, I guess I don’t have to worry too much.”
“Like you could kill a god,” Mikleo chided.
“Besides, you can barely kill a fly these days,” Edna teased.
“Really? I don’t know, I thought having Dived all the way into my heart that I would be strong enough now!” Zaveid laughed aloud.
“Now’s not the time get cocky,” Dezel grumbled. “We’re not done until we are.”
Sorey pulled out Siegfried, examining it and memorizing its every detail. “Tyria was planning to do the same thing. She, who is supposed to pull the trigger on the world itself.” He steeled his resolve. “At least she won’t have to do it now.”
“Lord Shepherd!” Sergei’s voice called to him.
Sorey turned to find Sergei, Radolf, Leglius, and Mute. He had to question why they were there, and they told him that they were on a mission for the Origins. “We’re here to deliver a Hymn Crystal specially made with a Synchronizer to the Origins, the Maidens, Star Singer—all of our allies. It must be used on your seraphim to connect them,” the Captain of the Platinum Knights said.
“We have one for IPDs as well,” Leglius said, pulling out a smaller crystal.
“Dezel can’t sing, though!” Rose told them.
“I can,” Zaveid countered. “It doesn’t matter if we all can’t sing; as long as he can help sever the bond.” He was the first to approach Sorey. “Come on, start giving us that Song, Shepherd. We’re burning something like daylight!”
Sorey took the crystals, thanking Sergei and the others that had come with him. “We wish you the best, Lord Shepherd,” Radolf told him.
“Ya better come back, ya hear? We’re gonna plan a big ol’ party to celebrate when this is all done!” Mute said.
Sorey smiled at them before seeing them off. Then he turned to each of his friends. Sorey held the crystal before Mikleo and Edna. “Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_World=Ristoria, enter_LUZROY_RULAY. Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_World=Ristoria, enter_HEPHSIN_YULIND. Alisha, your turn.” He handed the princess the Hymn Crystal before turning now to Zaveid. “cEzYA hymmnos. 9945 –x tArm azit tn=WORLD=RISTORIA. es tn=>sol.infel-phira.mea.”
Alisha took the crystal into her hands before Lailah a recited as well, “Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_World=Ristoria, enter_FETHMUS_MIOMA.”
Rose watched the two of them and their seraphim. She wished that Dezel could sing with them. She remembered how much it hurt him to sing, yet the blind seraph snatched the crystal from Sorey. He shoved it into her hands.
“Dezel, this is…” Rose started.
“It doesn’t matter if it hurts,” Dezel said. “I’ll be shot into the Lord of Calamity soon enough. So give me the Song, and I’ll sing what I can.”
Rose hesitated. She didn’t want him to be in pain, but she couldn’t diminish his desire to help. Letting out a sigh, she held the crystal up. “cEzYA hymmnos. 9945 –x tArm azit tn=WORLD=RISTORIA. es tn=>sol.infel-phira.mea.”
All of the seraphim withstood the flood of emotions that poured in from the cores of the Hymn Crystals. Meanwhile, Sergei and his companions rode back to Eolia as ordered, relaying that the delivery was made. The Origins registered that the seraphim deep within Camlann had the Songs absorbed into them. It was time.
Notes:
We are very close to the end of this phase! We're so, so close!
Chapter 207: Phase 8: World Concert
Summary:
This is the final battle!
Notes:
I've decided to include the Hymmnos for the this chapter. It's a long one, too.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Song pulsated within each of the seraphim, connecting them to the Tower and the others that also had the Song. Dezel’s body didn’t take too well to it, however, and he stumbled just a bit. Rose held onto him to support him. She knew it had been a bad idea to let him take on the Song as well. Dezel, on the contrary, grinned cockily.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this,” he panted. “Overwhelming emotions. Those Origins really put everything into making it, huh?”
“Are you really going to be okay?” Rose asked him.
“Of course. If I can sing, I’ll do it to make sure we win.”
Sorey stared up from the bottom of the stairs. At the apex of this broken place, Heldalf waited for them. They couldn’t hesitate now. He drew his sword and angled it up the incline.
“Let’s go, everyone,” he said.
Sorey led the way up the stairs with Alisha and Rose behind him. The seraphim followed behind all of them as they climbed to the top to the plateau of broken dreams. The platform that leveled the ascent was riddled with shattered arches and craters where debris had smashed into the tiled floor. Despair was all around them. A lingering feeling that someone was there, watching them struggle to contain the Song inside their hearts, persisted. When they came to the final door, Sorey stopped.
“We’re here,” Mikleo stated.
“Yeah,” Sorey replied, turning to face his friends and out to the dark horizon where he knew everyone else was behind them. “Is everyone ready?”
“Remember, no matter what, we’re right behind you,” Lailah told him.
“We’ve come this far; we must not lose heart!” Alisha rallied.
“Let’s go kick some ass!” Rose hurrahed.
Sorey nodded resolutely at her decree before softening one last time. “Thank you, everyone. For being here with me through everything,” he said graciously.
“Don’t start thanking us yet,” Zaveid told him.
“Come on, let’s end this,” Mikleo spoke.
The water seraph took his hand and together they started to the door. It left Lailah a little uneasy. The two hadn’t mentioned anything about Zenrus since arriving at the base of the Throne. Zenrus had lost himself long ago at the very beginning, but all evidence that he was still in Ladylake had disappeared. He knew that a powerful seraph, whether or not he was a husk, would not be thrown away so easily. She didn’t know if they were trying to push through the potential horrors or if they had accepted that Zenrus was gone. To Zaveid, they looked scared—more scared than they had ever felt.
“We’ll have to do what we can to protect each other,” Edna said.
“Be careful, everyone,” Rose finally said.
The remainder of them headed into the final chamber. The inside was marble dirtied with soot from the hellfires that had destroyed the village. And the entrance hall was the only thing separating them from the Lord of Calamity.
Heldalf stood at the far back of the chamber, malevolence violently swirling around him like a tornado. Sorey entered the chamber with his sword in hand. “Heldalf!” he called out to him. “It’s time!”
Heldalf rumbled as he turned his massive form to face the little Shepherd. “So, you’ve finally come, boy,” he said. “Then come. For I will grant the wish that dwells so deeply in your heart. All who live know pain. It only makes sense that I should free everyone from that pointless suffering. Why do you rebel against this great evolution?”
“This is not evolution,” Sorey retorted. “Maybe we all suffer and hurt, but erasing that pain isn’t going to make things better. It’s not right.”
“We don’t want to run away from pain,” Mikleo joined.
“Without pain, we wouldn’t know happiness,” Alisha said.
“Without hardship, there can be no celebration to underline our hardwork,” Lailah continued.
“That pain reminds us that we’re alive and kicking!” Rose added.
Heldalf rumbled again. “To fight for the existence of suffering and to ascertain peace…is that your idea of a blessing?”
“It’s because of that blessing we can live,” Edna corrected him.
“Without suffering and hardship, you can’t grow or get better; nothing good ever comes from life being easy,” Dezel told him.
“And while it’s fine to run away and hide, we aren’t going to do that!” Zaveid sassed him.
Heldalf bared his teeth. “This is merely the laws of nature,” he said.
“So, to live is to obey nature?” Sorey questioned him. “That’s wrong because to live is to not be dead. You of all people, Heldalf, should know that!”
“Then, I shall ask you once again. Join me, Shepherd. Defy the very nature of this world and eradicate suffering by my side. I can tell you that if you decide to continue on this path, you will only hurt so much more.”
“Never!”
Heldalf stood tall, his imposing figure appearing to grow as hatred flowed into him. Sorey felt it in his heart all of the negativity that came from humans, seraphim, and all other walks of life in the world. He knew that he was only going to suffer more. He understood that that was his destiny now because if his suffering amounted to anything, it would be the peace that everyone deserved to feel.
Sorey was the light that existed, supported by the seraphim, Reyvateils, Origins, and Wills that had helped him to get this far. The love and warmth his friends gave him empowered him against the ultimate darkness that fed the hellions and Viruses that plagued every living creature. It didn’t matter what Heldalf did to him, he believed, as long as he remembered the love that lifted his spirits in his times of need.
The young Shepherd charged towards the Lord of Calamity with the intention to end the decades of terror he had instilled over the world. Rose and Alisha followed after him, thrusting their blades at his sides to stagger him. Lailah and Edna stood back, singing into existence tornadoes of fire and great augmentations of gravity that scorched and hindered Heldalf. Mikleo, Zaveid, and Dezel unleashed spell after spell at him and healed their friends when needed. Sorey danced around the clawing swipes and thunderous stomps. He leapt up over Heldalf with his sword aiming for his head. The Lord of Calamity swatted him back before conjuring up a blast of torrential water against Alisha and Rose.
“Fethmus Mioma!” Alisha called out. She spun the blazing Sacred Blade in her hand then launched herself at Heldalf. “Tower of Blood!”
Rose backed off to Armatize with Dezel. “Cloudburst!” she called out as beams made of pure wind energy fired on their enemy.
As if annoyed that they were trying so hard to defeat him, Heldalf pushed them back. He had taken a beating in that short time from them. What could he do to impede them? Sorey got back up. Once again, he charged towards him, his sword almost eager to slash through him. Until Heldalf put up his hand to reveal a torturous memory.
Sorey’s sword stopped before colliding with the massive palm. “You can prattle as you like about becoming strong enough to face me, but you will never bring harm to the ones you care so much about. Tell me, Shepherd, who do you see?” Heldalf chuckled. Sorey faltered. As the horrifyingly disfigured face stared back at him with lifeless eyes and sagging cheeks, he felt the despair creeping into him. “Who do you see?”
“G-Gramps…!” Sorey quivered. “H-He was turned into a Seraphoid…! Why…?”
“What did he do to him?!” Mikleo panicked.
“Zenrus died protecting the ones he loved and was turned into what the humans call a killing machine,” Heldalf boomed. “But even with his mind destroyed, there is still a hint of love that he holds for his beloved children.”
Sorey stared at the face. If he listened carefully, he could hear the unintelligible moans and mumblings of a brain-dead seraph. Corrupted Hymmnos echoed from Zenrus, and a bolt of fierce lighting trapped Sorey in a cage of agony. There was no saving the old seraph; the time to rescue him was long gone. To preserve his memory and allow him a peaceful rest, they had to free him. But the only way to do that was to kill Heldalf and sunder the very soul he held in his hand.
Heldalf repeatedly shocked Sorey with Zenrus’ lightning. The horrible feeling of his heart threatening to burst lingered longer and longer with each attack. “You said you wouldn’t give into the darkness, did you not? Then why do you look so scared now? Why does your heart beat so fearfully in your bosom?”
Sorey forced himself up, Mikleo Armatizing with him to buffer his body against the attacks that were sure to come. The water seraph wasted no time in healing him with Zaveid and Edna doing their best to give him an advantage by conjuring a barrier around him and giving him the speed of the wind. Zenrus was no longer alive, Sorey had to remind himself. But it still brought him exorbitant pain to see his guardian be forced in any capacity to harm him and Mikleo.
Zenrus’ voice sang corrupted Hymmnos again, but this time as an indicator of pain rather than an attack. Rose and Alisha charged to Heldalf with the former flanking the lion-headed hellion and driving her dagger into his side. She de-Armatized from Dezel, tag-teaming instead to hold the Lord of Calamity down while Alisha raised the fiery Sacred Blade. Sorey fired arrow after arrow at Heldalf despite hearing the screeching coming from his hand.
“We have to get him out of there!” Sorey pressed, the panic and excitement of the fight getting to him.
“Gramps!” Mikleo called.
“How could you do that to him?!” Lailah raged.
“Kick his ass now, ask questions later!” Rose told them.
“I can agree with that,” Edna said between another set of lyrics to throw Heldalf off-balance.
“Gotta stay cool, Sorey!” Zaveid said as he cast another wind spell. “Whine and moan if you want to end up like that!”
“Don’t worry; just stay focused!” Alisha ordered him.
“Then you can beat him to hell and back,” Dezel reassured him.
Heldalf glared at the lot of them. “Hmph, naïve fools,” he growled. “I thought you had a way to sever these malignant bonds, Shepherd!” he then taunted. “Why don’t you use it?” He deflected Alisha and Rose’s attacks before calling forth minions to take care of them. “You cannot, can you? After all, to save this shell of a seraph, you have to sacrifice your friends. But if you use your friends now, you will never defeat me! Quite the quandary, no?”
“Heldalf, how can you be so cruel?” Sorey asked him as he cast one of Mikleo’s grander water spells.
“Shut up, would ya?” Rose snarled at the enemy. She charged at Heldalf again while Alisha burned away the hellions he had called. “Sorey is way stronger than you think!”
Heldalf pushed her back with his water cannon again before racing to Sorey and grabbing him by the throat and holding him still for a lion head made of malevolence to punt him across the chamber. Sorey held his neck as he tried to refocus his eyes. He couldn’t be defeated until he freed Zenrus.
The Lord of Calamity knocked back Alisha and Lailah and kicked away Rose and Dezel. Zaveid and Edna took turns singing and casting until he aimed his hand at them to unleash more of Zenrus’ lightning.
“Resistance is futile!” Heldalf told Sorey without looking at him.
“How can you hurt so many people when you know exactly what it feels like!?” Mikleo questioned him.
“I didn’t become the Lord of Calamity of my own volition. It was all of you and your sins! It was that impudent Shepherd that cursed me!”
“And that makes it okay to inflict pain?!” Alisha countered him.
Sorey dashed to Heldalf before he fired the lightning bolt on Edna and Zaveid. With a watery blast from his Sacred Bow, he pushed Heldalf far enough back to protect his seraphim. De-Armatizing from Mikleo, he made sure to act as a barrier between him and his friends.
Rose, angered by Heldalf’s callousness, dared to attack him. Mikleo stopped her, the worry and fear evident on his face. Alisha caught a glimpse of Sorey as well, the same emotions contorting his countenance. Mikleo didn’t want Rose to attack Heldalf if it meant completely erasing Zenrus’ existence. Sorey didn’t want it to be a case like Reisha, whose body was lost somewhere in the mountains under the tower.
“How precious—the thought of losing the only family you have frightens you, doesn’t it?” Heldalf taunted her.
“Shut the fuck up!” Rose screamed at him as Mikleo held her back. “It’s your fault that so many people had to die for no reason! Zenrus, Reisha, so many seraphim! They all died because of you and the malevolence you spread!”
“Rose, calm down!” Dezel warned her. “He’s trying to make you angry!”
The red-haired assassin didn’t listen; she refused to listen. She kept a promise to help end the reign of terror and suffering by the Lord of Calamity. She broke out of Mikleo’s hold with a sharper bloodlust than Dezel had ever felt from her. But it didn’t matter. Heldalf used Zenrus’ lightning again to stop them all in their tracks.
“You simply talk too much, Squire,” he rumbled.
“What are we going to do?” Alisha asked. “Were we truly not ready?”
“No, we can beat him!” Rose fought back.
Sorey called on Zaveid and Edna to singing together to boost his strength. Then he called on Mikleo to stand with him. The score to settle here was a personal one. He was grateful to Rose for wanting to stop him, but Zenrus was his family. By his sword, he would free him.
Zaveid and Edna began to sing together, giving Sorey the extra boost he wanted as Heldalf charged up another lighting bolt. “You’re not fit to save anyone, Shepherd—or have you forgotten all of the people you’ve gotten killed?” Heldalf egged him.
“This is something I—no, we have to do, Mikleo,” Sorey said.
“I’m right beside you,” Mikleo affirmed.
Sorey and Mikleo ran towards Heldalf together, Armatizing at the last second and drawing back the arrow meant to free Zenrus one last time. The pain and sorrow that was bound to hit them was inevitable. Still, the two remembered something Zenrus had told them:
“Walk the path you believe in and live your life to the fullest, and I know you will not go astray.”
It was something Zenrus had said long ago before they had embarked on this journey and before they had gone to play one day. Sorey would get into so much trouble that Zenrus fell into a routine of pardoning him before zapping him himself. Mikleo was often with Sorey, trying to protect Sorey from the little lightning bolts that Zenrus sent after Sorey. He loved them, and they loved him. They wished he could know that they were no longer just friends. They wished he could be there to attend the wedding that would one day happen just like in their final Dive together. Their only solace was that he would watch over them from wherever his soul was.
“I won’t forget this pain…ever!” Sorey yelled over the roaring waves that burst forth from his bow. “Heldalf!”
Sorey’s water and Heldalf’s lightning collided, exploding and shrouding the two in mist and dust. It obscured Heldalf’s view of Sorey, who took advantage of the screen and charged toward him. With the shaft of his arrow still nocked in his bow, he did the one thing he wished he would never have to do. The arrowhead pierced into Zenrus’ face embedded in the blackened palm.
The energy that burst from eradicating Zenrus from Heldalf’s possession in every sense sent shockwaves throughout the Throne. The great marble walls cracked and shattered, the negative gravity surrounding the building pulled the debris away into an eerie suspension around them. As Heldalf stumbled while holding the arm that had held Zenrus within it, Sorey and Mikleo—now de-Armatized—thought they heard Zenrus’ last words.
“Yehah, lasye mea,” the old lightning seraph gently said to them.
The final words were transferred as a single line of Hymmnos among the chaos that Zenrus had been forced to sing since the invasion. It brought burning tears to their eyes, their wails tearing at their throat as they mourned the true death of the seraph that they had always lovingly called Gramps. Rose and Alisha felt their pain, wiping away their tears and holding their seraphim’s hands. Heldalf merely looked at them with contempt. It baffled him to an extent that they would murder their caregiver for the sake of their goal.
“If loneliness is what you desire, then I shall give it to you! Maotelus, Armatize with me!” Heldalf boomed over every and all sound.
In each of the Towers as well as within Saki and Finnel’s minds, the Origins and Wills sensed Maotelus’ awakening. Shurelia urged everyone into their positions to prepare to start the greatest Song of all. Shurelia and Jacqli stood together in Eolia’s Rinkernator. Aurica stood surrounded by her friends and the Knights of Elemia in Nemo. Misha stood in the Crescent Chronicle. Frelia stood within the Tower of the Heavens while Cloche and Luca stood at the altar at the Hill of Metafalica in Grand Bell Hall, and Cocona stood in the center of Rakshek with Sasha by her side. Tyria stood in her Rinkernator while Saki and Finnel traveled down to Moocheriel where the Wills of the Planet could use their energy freely.
As Maotelus roared and binded to Heldalf, the seraphim with Sorey, Rose, and Alisha felt everyone else connect to their servers and prepare to sing. The Will they were going to rescue was the Will of Purity and Suffering that was embodied in a giant white dragon. The roars sounded like cries for mercy, and he called to Sorey. Once he was Armatized with Heldalf, their combined form appeared as a bastardization of a lion and dragon.
The Synchronizer among all of the seraphim turned on, throwing the five of them into a dreamlike trance. It put a massive strain on them, only calming down once they heard all the other Reyvateils begin to sing together in a magnificent chorus.
Sorey, Alisha, and Rose looked back at them then back at Heldalf. The Shepherd knew what had to be done. They had five shots at Heldalf, and they would need to pass off Siegfried to each other while Armatized to fire the ultimate attacks. With the seraphim singing around the world, they could make him stumble with some effort. Only then would Heldalf be an unmissable target. Fourteen voices from the Towers and cities and right behind them rang like bells in the darkness under Camlann and the Throne:
All
Was ki gaya rre her hymmnos elle omni spiritum ciel
Was ki gaya rre her soare sos dius whou accrroad afezeria ciel
Rrha ki wa rre merra neee yor
MAOTELUS werx ecrrha pitod yor!
Sorey, Alisha, and Rose had never heard such a chorus before; Rose worried that singing like this would harm Dezel. She glanced at him to find that while he did look weary, he was still trying to sing.
“Do you think your Song will change anything?” Heldalf boomed over them. “Come at me if you dare!”
Sorey’s attention was recaptured by the monstrosity that threatened to kill them. Heldalf, Armatized with Maotelus, sweeped the cracking ground with his massive claw. The move pelted them across their battleground.
“Alright, everyone! Let’s give it everything we’ve got!” Sorey rallied. He and his Squires charged at the obsidian claws before them. “We’ve got to defeat him, or else everything will be for nothing!”
“We’re right behind you, Sorey,” Alisha reassured him. “We’ve got five shots to take him down, so we can’t afford to miss.”
“So, we’ll have to trip him up, right?” Rose smirked. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall!”
“Such moxie,” Heldalf criticized of them. “I will crush any and all hope that you continue to have.”
They steeled themselves before launching their attack. Slashing and stabbing at his claws, the Shepherd and Squires did all that they could to weak him, or to at least distract him. Sorey remembered Mikleo’s request—to be the first one to sacrifice himself in the name of severing the bond between Heldalf and Maotelus. It frightened him until he remembered that this was their purpose. They had come so far. Sacrifices had to be made, even if it was a life for a life.
Sorey leapt up onto Heldalf’s claw and ran up along his arm to attack his head. He was immediately shaken off, and Heldalf then began to prepare a spell that, if completed, would annihilate the entire realm. He was chanting in what sounded like some sort of corrupted Ar Ciela—dark feelings like despair powering the gibberish that came from him maw.
Sorey continue his onslaught while listening to the Song behind him:
Mikleo
Nnoini arrya li pakz weak
Liera gran tes qoga
Dea kapa fwilla cenjue lusye
Was yea wa chs la arrya!
Diasee inferiare, was yea wa araus mea
Presia corle la echrra innna syec mea ini anw boia
Kapa diol accrroad pawr tes mea
Was zweie wa kil denera spiritum sos yor!
It was time to expend his dearest seraph’s life. “Luzrov Rulay!” Sorey called to him. Then he pulled Siegfried from its place in his waistband. Knowing that there was a chance that Mikleo would even die on impact frightened him, but he had to shoot him into Heldalf. He meditated shortly on a silent prayer for his safety and quick death when he heard Misha and Aurica’s voices echo from the world above.
Misha
Whai rre yorr nyasri?
Whai rre zash irs innna yor?
Whai rre yorr heighte walasye dea zash her?
Presia yehar lusye dius li fhauri anw quive ciel
Aurica
Was au ga yehar elle vonn delij
An coall tes ciel li rakkya dea glasden zash
Sos gral cupla irs ween ar ciel
Was touwaka ra rippllys enne!
“It’s alright, Sorey,” Mikleo told him.
While Armatized with his water seraph, Sorey aimed the barrel of the gun at Heldalf. “The azure vortex…!” Sorey said as he focused his energy into the chamber. “Aqua Limit Ultima!”
He squeezed the trigger, a bright blue light spiraling into Heldalf chest. The first of the Wills of the Planet they had befriended sang with Shurelia. Saki’s soft but powerful voice called to Maotelus.
Saki: MAOTELUS b#(Ie#&N n$(j#qA$)mA
Shurelia: Ma num ra neee pawr mea
Saki: !a#)fa$rr$(ss $)c&or&d!E#)llm!no #jUmbeN
Shurelia: pawr_ARTONELICO
Saki: #)N!&oE!mn#(ii b!u$)r$(q $(Ya$Xct!za $(duvu#Y
Shurelia: Frreie elle syec EOLIA
Saki: #(s!h$(e#r#)i m$(yEEE $no#(xa!v#)u itt $l#i$ea
Shurelia: Was touwaka ra aterra mahin tes yor
Saki: W&b#)nn !)l#u$(xx m#(y$e$(x#iv
Saki: $sss#(y( #sya!(r
Shurelia: Was touwaka ra hymme tes yor won fwal fwal mea
Saki: vvv #w%)e#r%)h #)saa #)zEEE t$(r%i%n#uE #(jtt
Shurelia: Yorr col ene hartes hes?
Heldalf faltered as he felt Mikleo burrow inside of him. He effectively made sure that the malevolence within would tear his apart. Unable to suppress a triumphant smile, Heldalf sneered at Sorey and his friends.
“Aw, how touching that you sacrificed your friend,” he laughed. “It will take more than just one measly seraph to stop me.”
Alisha stared at Heldalf. She worried that it wouldn’t be enough to stop him. But she realized that Heldalf already looked less imposing. Mikleo hadn’t died per say. He had lost his corporeal form and all sensation in an effort to lead a tireless assault inside the Lord of Calamity. And he needed help.
“Sorey, let me take over,” she called out to the Shepherd after dodging one of Heldalf’s claws again. “I’ll send in Lailah to help.”
Though Sorey was trying to think past what he had done, he had some anxiousness that their seraphim were going to die on impact. He shook the fears off of him. Rose distracted Heldalf by slashing and dashing around the battleground. Sorey and Alisha ran to each other, passing off Siegfriend, before returning to carve away at the draconic hands.
As they worked together to weaken and make the Lord of Calamity stumble, Misha and Aurica sang together again to give more power to the seraphim fighting alongside them.
Aurica: Rrha quel gagis sonwe innna syec meat es ar ciel
Misha: Rrha ki wa re na yant fedyya
Misha/Aurica: Was zweie erra werx hymme sos falfa!
Light flashed, and a series of lasers rained down on Heldalf. Alisha recognized the attack as Shurelia’s Ar Tonelico Song Magic to help weaken him as well as boost the power of the Song. She couldn’t waste any more time. She stabbed those hands repeatedly then vaulted up to Heldalf’s face. It was the quickest way to hurt him until he flung her down and again tried to use the spell that would vaporize them. Then came Lailah’s voice, loud and clear over the sounds of battle.
Lailah
Yesse diviega fayra
Was zweie wa kyll syec vonn li chs dhezeall yor
Rrha granme wa pat
elle vonn syec oz gauzewiga anw yor
Urrmie inferiare, was nyasri wa knawa zash oz boia
Was quel wa araus mea
Rrha granme wa jass tes fayra diol pawr
Was granme wa haf her viega an ates engua mea
Despite unable to understand the Hymmnos in the Song, Alisha felt her pledge of love and strength to her. Alisha’s heart wept at the inevitable end, and with a tearful voice, she called her name, “Fethmus Mioma!”
Lailah Armatized with Alisha with a flash of red light as Sorey passed Siegfried to her. Now that the Song was down two singers, Aurica sang twice as hard to compensate for them.
Aurica
Rre irea fayra fhauri keenis
Won xest fhyu la enclone omnis
Chs plina grlanza ween fee
Was yea ra hymme
“Lailah…” Alisha started. Sorey and Rose kept fighting off Heldalf as he continued to chant.
“Yes, my love,” Lailah calmly said. “This is a hard thing to do, but it must be done. Mikleo needs help in there, and if I don’t go now, Heldalf will destroy us all.”
Alisha accepted the sad truth. She aimed Siegfried at Heldalf’s heart. “The white blaze of purification!” she cried out as she fired the gun. “Flamberge Ultima!”
A red light barreled toward Heldalf, effectively stopping his spell and making him vulnerable to Jacqli and Sarapatra’s lyrics:
Sarapatra: Y$k%Y$k!w$ro#N n#(f$EyoN b#(Sa$)Ree $uo%(quon
Jacqli: Ma num ra enter EOLIA
Sarapatra: !l%E#)rsss $Ya%c%(g %(g#uo$(y t$(e%r#&f$)x
Jacqli: Ma num ra exec enne
Sarapatra: !l%E#)rsss $Ya%c%(g %(g#uo$(y t$(e%r#&f$)x
Sarapatra: %g$(Ye$nne#s ttt
Jacqli: Dea herea hartes omnis oz morto ciel
Sarapatra: Nn$eeenn mo(ll$y(III %(dEE$(p%hYa%c $Tee$(Ra
Jacqli: Ware calamila re crannidale innna syec yor
Sarapatra: $Yayam$y%e%nni #kumee$na m$yy#jaa
Jacqli: Ma zweie ra neee gral pawr ween sphaela
Again, Heldalf was crippled by the fire seraph. Now he felt two seraphim within him, and while he wasn’t worried about them, the Wills’ voices made him feel foggy. Another maelstrom of lasers fell on him as Jacqli unleashed her version of Ar Tonelico on him.
With the water and fire seraph now inside him and severing bonds at twice the speed of before, he had to impede them somehow. He began to smash the battleground with the intent of splattering the Shepherd and his Squires into the stone flooring. He used spells that conjured up tempests and earthquakes to stop them in their tracks and fling them far away from him until there was a tonal shift in the Hymmnos everyone was singing by Misha.
Misha
Rrha num ra viss tafane kira
An rre merra hymme sarla slepial
Alisha dashed to Sorey and handed him back the gun that had been turning their friends into attacks with wills of their own. They were gaining ground while Heldalf was losing his strength. But because he was becoming weaker, he was upping the ante of his attacks. He focused his attention on the Shepherd; if he could kill him, then everything would stop, and he could continue his reign of terror.
With a falling hand, he aimed to trap Sorey underneath and pull him to the edge of the battleground. Rose tackled him and pushed him out of the way in the nick of time. Alisha tried to unleash whatever Martial Artes she could, but nothing brought attention on her. In reality, however, Heldalf had a hard time concentrating on anyone else. Cloche’s voice resonated and reverberated, creating a haze in his head.
Cloche
reta wYAhYAhYA du sarla/.
xA yorr rYEfAmYA Ameryu wael li bexm/.
reta sEaYE YAmahin/.
ag vYAsIkU enesse ween LYIeje_qejyu/.
“Do you really think you can talk to Maotelus with this meager Song?” Heldalf tried to intimidate them, but with Cloche singing over him, it did little to invoke fear in their hearts. “Maotelus’s consciousness has been consumed by me; you won’t reach him!”
“Tell that to the two seraphim inside you!” Rose snapped back.
“Don’t let up, everyone!” Sorey cheered the seraphim singing at the end of the world. “It’s just a little more…we can do this!”
Luca and Jacqli’s voices came next. Sorey and Alisha signaled to Rose that they would each need to engage different parts of the monster.
Luca
slep reveris
Hyear! Faura fwal fwal an frawr elle mort odor grruwa
Hyear! Yorr afezeria idesy
Presia jass pawr sos mean
Jacqli
Hyear! Rre yorr rete guartz en kiafa!
While Sorey attacked Heldalf’s head, Rose and Alisha took on each hand. It wasn’t yet time to use the next seraph in Siegfried, not when Heldalf was still cognizant of the voices echoing in his ears. But the Wills of the Planet didn’t need to wait for him to weaken. Filament and Soma focused together to sing alongside Frelia from their respective Towers. Even if they were far away, they knew that Maotelus could hear them, even Frelia’s soft and shy voice. And despite using vessels that were unable to sing at the frequencies needed to restore Maotelus, their feelings came through. They were imperceptible to the lot of them, but the Great Lord would hear them.
Soma: Yabm %rm&(bio !)cc&)b$&yy #(z%(ac$x$t#)p
Frelia: Clyncye falfa
Soma: Yyya#(w $(x#)bmm !(ccImeee$&X $)w!)sEEE
Frelia: Falfa innna FRELIA
Soma: $yy(y IEIIIAAA #(bm$&w #mm!n#(o!I#E
Frelia: Was touwaka ra ennala vit fernia
Soma: EEEIIEENNAAA b(Wm#)Xsss #(k$ky)x !(D(o)Gs#(dd
Frelia: En kiafa vallne ween hynne yor
Filament: #)mlon#)m!ko!)qo #)m)llo)nn#)mmin!ko!
Frelia: Presia ousye anw dazua
Filament: )Ba)Xo!&May On#)M)I)DOxy
Frelia: Presia walaka ween lusye
Filament: )B)aXo!&May On#)M)I)DOxy #kkkv)In OOOODON
Frelia: Presia rinc corle yor tes Diasee
Filament: IEIANN b#(wyx sss nO!kkx nio )ll#m
Frelia: En re yorr gyuss fwal fwal hes
In the Second Tower, Cloche and Luca focused together, their statuses as the Maidens of Mio and Fuero giving them use of not only Frelia’s power but also Infel Phira as she activated it for Replekia. With the other IPDs singing along with her as she started up Replekia, she compounded more and more power in conjunction with Shurelia and Jacqli’s Ar Tonelico. Then Luca and Cloche synchronized together.
“A-Are we sure this isn’t going to overload the Towers?” Luca asked between lyrics.
“I hope it doesn’t,” Cloche replied. “We’ve come too far now for everything to break. Besides, it’s only us and a handful of others singing; we’ll be okay.”
“If you say so.”
“Shush. Just hold until we get the signal.”
Cloche/Luca: Was ki wa presia kiafa murfanare
En rre herr knawa yor
Was au ga rre denera yor whou manafeeze chs gauzewiga
Was au ga presia netvear guatrz lasye an ciel
Cloche: Rrha lau ga dep innna syec mea
Luca: Wee lau ga rre dep syec
Cloche: Rrha au ga ene shyun yor
Luca: Wee au ga rre desfel irs
Cloche: Presia walaka xinfar lir
Luca: Manaf chs zash
Cloche: Was hellei ra rre prooth en wirllra hes valwa zash yor
Luca: Den hymmne chs valwa
Shurelia and Jacqli focused on holding onto the power culminated in Eolia. They had to keep it until they were ready to expend it. They had to wait for Tyria once again to sing. But Shurelia remembered the effect of Tyria fulfilling her purpose. It caused her to caver until Jacqli reminded her that she couldn’t support her if she started to second-guess herself or Tyria’s volition.
“We’ve known that this would happen eventually,” Jacqli said. “If Tyria has made up her mind, we can’t change it—especially not now.”
“I didn’t realize how many friends we would be losing in this one battle,” Shurelia sighed, more to keep from tearing up than a sign of resignation.
“The price of peace is a steep one. For every war that ends, another one begins.”
“Such a horrible cycle.”
“But surely one we will break today!” Jacqli’s voice came over Luca and Cloche’s.
Jacqli
Presia kiafa anw mea
Presia kiafa tes raklya innna mea
Was ki ra ini hymmne ween corle yor
An firle omness mea
Ma touwaka gagis knawa yor
Was touwaka erra rre Diasee knawa yor
Presia sik idesy
Was yea ra walaka tes fedyya pitod
Sorey was thrown away from Heldalf’s face while Rose and Alisha nearly dodged his swipes again. Being down two seraphim was tiring him out. Even though he had to sever his bond with Mikleo and Alisha with Lailah and reaped the benefits of it, he couldn’t let up. His body was less debilitated, but it also meant that he was losing part of what had made him strong.
“I can’t think like this,” he chastised himself. “I have to keep working. I have to save Maotelus!”
Heldalf finally prepared to try to cast his spell again. Sorey, Alisha, and Rose made their way to wherever they could attack him and hacked away. In the background, over all the other voices, Edna’s voice reverberated.
Edna
Was ki ra fowrlle dea hymmnos mea
Presia grandi yor
Xinfar dep dor
Was granme ra gwafi vonn dea mahin mea
Diasee inferiare, dorre diol accrroad tes mea grruwa pawr
Was yea ra hymmne sos yor elle spiritum
Was yea ra hymmne sos walasye hieg
Was granme ra nuboisu gyas dea mahin mea
With these verses, Sorey saddled with the idea that he was now sacrificing the seraph that had shown him the nature of the Seraphoids and how horrible the fate of becoming a dragon was. Edna, on the other hand, held no reservations. She had made her decision to stand by Sorey. She had made her decision to become more than just her fists but to be one of the beacons of hope that could stop Heldalf.
“Hephsin Yulind!” Sorey called her name. “Edna…”
“Now isn’t the time for sentimentality,” Edna reminded him. “I knew what I wanted to do. I’m going to help Lailah and Mikleo, and by doing this, I can avenge Eizen and all the seraphim that were forced to become dragons because of this loser.”
Sorey caught himself. He couldn’t be upset because she was right. He was grateful to her for standing with him even when she didn’t want to. Rose and Alisha stopped Heldalf from casting his spell once again, giving Sorey the opening he needed to fire Siegfried.
“The strength of an earth titan!” he said to give himself the confidence to shoot. “Earth Revolution Ultima!”
The spiraling yellow bullet that was ejected from Siegfried’s barrel sped toward Heldalf and buried itself into his chest. Heldalf growled and snarled, feeling now three seraphim searching for his bonds to Maotelus to cut him off.
“You’re becoming more annoying than I previously thought, Shepherd,” Heldalf belittled.
“Good, that means what we’re doing is working!” Sorey snapped back.
Jacqli smirked at his remark. They were winning this battle, but she couldn’t get cocky yet. She raised her voice, going full force to get in contact with Maotelus.
Jacqli
Wee guwo war re yorr na knawa?
Aiph yos delij parlre
Acra yorr koffl kuhle
Agga yehar yor!
The Song was passed back to the Second Tower, a lone IPD singing in Cloche’s stead as she connected to Infel Phira. Cocona sang as hard as she could. She had only ever sung only a couple Songs, and she wanted this Song—the most important that she would ever sing—to reach the caliber of her friends.
“I have to sing for all the friends I’ve made,” she said before she joined in to compensate those who had left to fight a battle inside the Lord of Calamity. “Sasha, I’ll make you proud, got it?” She waited for her cue through the Synchronizer then sang her part:
Cocona
hAmAmYArYE ttu rYEwYA/.
dngle rAwA add walasye/.
xA rre sphilar lLYAnAcUcI ware g.v.w./.
xA rre omnis wArg yLYAyLYAeh/.
Her voice was rougher than the other singers yet was still just as valuable. She had sung a Song that Sasha made that made her important to the story of Rhaplanca and Maoh. Just like then, she was the maiden that would bolster the energy they needed.
Jacqli sang with her, the dark nature of her Song permeating and creating a unique sound that ushered in a mixture of feelings that Sorey felt in his heart. He wanted to keep helping them make their way to Maotelus’ heart, but he also wanted to do more for them.
Cocona: reta wLYAhAhN/.
Jacqli: Presia nha mean innna yor
Cocona: Naave xE Diasee werx gAwYEnA/.
Jacqli: Presia re fowrlle dea hes
Cocona: reta jAlYErA yor/.
Jacqli: Ma au wa rre Diasee porter sorrc byui
Cocona: reta wIwUjLYAncA du cyuie fernia ween Ieje_Diasee/.
There had to be something! Then he remembered that the only one who could truly communicate with Maotelus was Tyria. She was the special Origin that had been given the ability to talk directly to the Wills of the Planet, and with the help of Ar Ru, there was no way that she couldn’t push through the consciousness that clouded his mind.
Rose and Alisha fell back for a quick breather. They didn’t know how long they could continue to fight; the malevolence was weakening, but every time it did, it felt more concentrated like the end of a bottle of liquor. Furthermore, Rose was worried that singing for this long was going to hurt Dezel than he already was. She looked back at the two wind seraphim. Zaveid was holding Dezel up and singing with him. Was it really helping him?
Ar Ru
M$(y!(uusss#)E#(k !Za$(c%)Ta %M%A%O%T%E%L%U%S
Rrr#(iee #&a!k#)u#)ff$(esss#(y ee!iai#yee re#(mm$)yu sss#(taa$)r?
$(M#&ysss$(x %)c#&yu$l A#fEEE!(v#(x #b$(T#(la
k!)i!)ll#&o!)u !)y%o!)u!)x $&p#&o!)ya#(w #(f!e)r!)x HELDALF #)F$(o!(qu#&o #)tI!)z%O#(wE
Ar Ru’s voice came from Tyria’s Tower, resonating in the Throne and directly affecting Heldalf’s hold on Maotelus. It became very apparent now that Heldalf was on his last legs. It was all or nothing now.
“Just a little more…!” Sorey panted now. He had tried to ignore it, but the exhaustion was getting to him, too. “To fire Dezel and Zaveid…”
“Sorey,” Rose called to him. “Let’s fire Dezel and Zaveid together.”
“Together?” Sorey questioned. Of course, it would have to be together. Dezel was expending so much more energy than anyone else thanks to how his cosmosphere had been damaged. If he were to go in by himself, he would surely die before even reaching Maotelus. “Got it!”
Tyria, Yurisica, and Suzunomia all sang together their different feelings. Tyria, who knew what was coming, steeled her resolve one last time. This time, she knew, she wasn’t going to just pull the trigger on the world. She was going to become an attack with a will of its own.
Yurisica: )yOn #)Firs#(C o)llo#(mn!ko
Tyria: Was ki wa exec pauwel mea iem
Yurisica: li!(um kko)l)y d)sy ixy
Tyria: Sosar ween TILIA
Yurisica: O)llO!)mnko ¡fig!)uena arx
Tyria: Ma num wa ates engua
Yurisica: Ody(ll iao fe#(r!ka sry#(ri
Tyria: An rre merra marst
Yurisica: !&kkk!(pppp!us#(ca o)lle)lli !)kkkmnl#cc
Tyria: Revm li syunaht
Yurisica: HELDALF MAOTELUS blccc
Tyria: Zash yorr cenjue rete
Suzunomia: bbb$)A!(ww gOs$&Hg #(cccdg !(ssx
Tyria: Was au wa rre Diasee knawa engua hes
Suzunomia: OdIO OdIO bbbx
Tyria: En was num wa knawa engua mea
Suzunomia: Zaacta bNcccll flNx#(yy
Tyria: Dea ewle pauwel
Suzunomia: yyyaBM EIEEEIA SOREY cfaaa sssyyy
Tyria: Was wol wa aulla anw yor tes hartes hes
Tyria began to charge power into the massive gun mechanism in her own Tower. As she did, she felt the very fibers of her being stretch and pull within her. It hurt her, yet she couldn’t bring herself to express how much it did.
Infel Phira whirred and glowed brighter, Cloche and Cocona and all the IPDs on the Second Tower giving it more and more power.
Cocona: nAeEgA li Einfel_Diasee kEvYArA du yor/.
Cloche: nAeEgA li YAinfel rLYElEtAyLYA du sphaela/.
And finally came Dezel and Zaveid’s part of the Song where they could use that power. Zaveid held his junior close to support him, knowing that this Song required so much more than he could give. He wished Dezel hadn’t chosen to sing. At the same time, he understood why he so desperately wanted to. It was the same reason that Mikleo had asked to go first—unbeknownst to everyone else—and why Lailah wasn’t afraid. It wasn’t just their duty but the immense love that they had grown and nurtured over years and during the journey.
That was why Rose and Sorey needed to team up. Sorey cherished Zaveid’s companionship, and Rose loved Dezel so dearly that she wanted to enable him to fulfill his final promise. The two sang over the chorus behind them as Heldalf tried one last time to use his spell:
Zaveid
sAwE fwal plina/.
wAsA tasyue ttu Einfel_Diasee/.
zz fIrUlA/.
yAzEtI dEzE/.
Dezel
Grandee/.
Fhyu diol/.
wAsA pawr/.
Ttu yor/.
Zaveid/Dezel: An re naja
Presia ferda falfa
Neia sol sheak
Was apea erra rre Diasee arsye warma hes
“Lukeim Yurlin!” Rose called out when they had sung their part.
“Fylk Zahdeya!” Sorey called after her.
The two wind seraphim immediately Armatized with their respective vessels. They felt their earnest wish to save them and the bittersweet pride in being the seraphim that would be the end of it all.
“Don’t mess this up, got it?” Dezel gruffly asked Rose. “And no matter what…keep on keeping on, Rose.”
“Same goes for you, Sheps!” Zaveid said happily, though Sorey knew that he was scared just like everyone else. “This is the final shot, so…don’t miss!”
“No, I won’t,” Sorey told him with a small smile. “Ready, Rose?”
As the two held Siegfried together, Heldalf tried to swipe them. Alisha dashed before him, deflecting his attack and holding him off with her spear. “I can’t hold this for much longer!” she warned them.
“R-Right…!” Rose gasped.
Together, Sorey and Rose aimed Siegfried. “The wind shall lead the way!” they said. And they fired their wind seraphim—two green bullets twisting and braiding with each other—into Heldalf’s chest. Misha, Aurica, and Luca pushed forth on their final verse:
Misha: Aa, warma oz Diasee
Aurica: Guard oz wharn hes
Luca: Wee apea ra haf omnis ween mahin mean
Misha/Aurica/Luca: Was granme erra sos valwa ciel!
The Song had reached its climax. Heldalf was paralyzed with pain, and the chorus of the Wills of the Planet reached out to Maotelus one last time in the darkness of the Throne that had been destroyed by the battle.
All Wills
#(Sa#)Fe$We#(Bn$)Me
)Va$(Ce#(La)Ve$(Ra
$Re#(MeEe#)Xy$Ba
!(Ke$)Le#(Qa$Mi#(Sa
#)Ni$(Da$(Ce$)Sy%)Te
%)Ca#(Li(Re#Na!)Za
$(Ge#Ye %)Pa#(Wi
#(Be!Ya#(Xs#Y #)Ze$(Mo #)Sn%)Ca$(Ge
#(Me#Ne!&Xy%)Tz #)Ze$Xa%)Ci#)Ne
$(Sa$(Sa#(We$&La#N
It was more of a final chant aimed to sever the last bonds between Heldalf and Maotelus. Mikleo, Lailah, Edna, Zaveid, and Dezel; who were all barely alive within the corrupted body, had been given one last burst of power to help them break the chains. The final bullet that would come from Tyria was about to be fired.
Sorey, Rose, and Alisha fell back to watch the culmination of all their hardwork. They listened intently to the unloading of every single power supply into Tyria’s attack.
Cloche: jAzYAtLYA REPLEKIA/.
Cocona: lAnEcLYAaLYE infel=phira/.
Shurelia: Was touwaka ra exec AR_TONELICO
Frelia: Was zweie ra exec AR_TONELICO
Jacqli: Was hellei ra exec AR_TONELICO
Tyria inhaled.
Tyria: Was ki erra pat anw yor dea yehar ar cial pauwel
And she fired her attack into Heldalf from her Tower. The light was so bright, and when it cleared, it truly seemed as if Heldalf had been vaporized. Rose and Alisha panted and huffed at the sheer fatigue; Sorey watched on. They had done it.
Notes:
This was a long chapter...but we're not finished yet!
Chapter 208: Phase 8: Ballad of the Shepherd
Summary:
With the World's song separating Heldalf from Maotelus, Sorey continues alone.
Notes:
The last section of the Song I purposely saved for this chapter. The final confrontation between Sorey and Heldalf is here!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“We…did it…” Rose panted.
She and Alisha fell to their knees in exhaustion. The battle was over, and Sorey and his friends had prevailed. Still, the price of peace was a steep one, and the understanding that precious lives were sacrificed in this battle alone weighed heavy on the Shepherd.
The Throne was crumbling away in the pit of darkness that Heldalf had created through sheer hatred, a lingering sentiment that should have been dispelled but oddly had not yet. Sorey kept his guard up. Then, as the smoke from the fight dissipated, they saw the Lord of Calamity still standing with a devious smirk on his feline face.
“What, have you run out of options, Shepherd? After all those sacrifices, and I still stand before you,” Heldalf taunted him.
“How the hell…is he still…alive?” Rose huffed and puffed.
“No matter, we can still fight…!” Alisha reassured them. She tried to use her spear to help herself up only to slip back down.
Sorey didn’t say anything. He didn’t rally them or agree with the sentiment. He only turned to them, a sorrowful smile on his face. Gathering his power of earth in his hand, he punched the floor and shattered the small platform they had ended up on. Rose and Alisha were surprised and confused. For what reason would he do that?
“Sorey!” Rose called out to him as she watched the fragment he was on slowly sink into the darkness.
“But why?!” Alisha questioned him.
Sorey said something to them, but they couldn’t hear him over the crumbling sound that grew quieter upon descent. The last thing that he heard was Rose calling him an idiot. He may have been one, but he couldn’t let them continue by his side any longer. Heldalf had beaten them in body and in spirit. He should be the only one that had to suffer now.
When he turned to face Heldalf, the Lord of Calamity wasn’t as perplexed. He knew Sorey’s resolve. There were no more words to spare between them. Their fists would do the talking now.
Sorey pulled his sword from its sheath, twirling it and readying himself. The two launched themselves at each other, claw against blade. Heldalf tried to trap and pierce his body with jagged rocks that shot out of the ground. He threw him into the air with cyclones and blasted him back with his water canon. Sorey endured each attack until he found an opening. Dashing past the attacks and uppercutting him, he hopped back. Once again, he gathered his power—a shining light that would clear any darkness.
“Is that the arte to end it all?” Heldalf asked him. “Hmph, fine then. All or nothing!” Likewise, Heldalf gathered every ounce of malevolence in his hand. “Shepherd!”
“Heldalf!”
The two forces of nature sped towards each other. “Lion’s Howl!”
The two lion heads of light and dark collided, creating a smokescreen. Heldalf thought that this would be the end and that the sheer power of the attacks would kill Sorey. But he was wrong. Sorey was still standing, preparing a second attack.
“What?” Heldalf gasped.
“This is…my everything!” Sorey screamed.
He thrust his fist at Heldalf, the blinding white light sending him rocketing to the throne far to the back of the nexus they had created. The malevolence that had spurred the Lord of Calamity was purified away, the man named George sitting limp in his place. He couldn’t move, paralyzed by the attack but still with enough bite in him to taunt and torture Sorey. Maotelus shined above him, and George’s sword fell before the battle-worn Shepherd.
“You’ve achieved every single goal…and avenged all those who suffered at my hands…” George rumbled. Sorey slowly walked to the sword. “But the Age of Chaos will not end…” He watched Sord reach the sword and pull it from the stone floor. Sorey, exhausted from the fght and barely hanging on to the light of life, stepped down the path to him. “For when you pierce my heart with that sword, a Lord of Calamity will be born in you…” Sorey stood before him, sword aimed at his chest. “Do it. Only then will you understand.”
“I’m sorry this is the only way to save you,” Sorey told him. “I wish there was another way, I really do. But with this sword, I can release you from your pain. Good night, Heldalf. Your life of eternal solitude is over at last.”
George grimaced at him. He hated that Sorey could fight back when he never could. He hated that despair didn’t taint his heart. When Sorey plunged the blade into his breast, life faded from his eyes, blood dripped from his forehead, and the last little bit of malevolence was erased.
Sorey’s arms fell to his sides as he said a silently prayer for Heldalf. He was so tired. Then, Heldalf’s body glowed. Five little orbs of light came from the corpse, circling around him. The blue one lingered just a little longer before flying up to the surface.
“Goodbye, everyone,” Sorey cracked. “Thank you for everything.”
The nexus shattered around him, but not before Maotelus lifted him up with light. Sorey reached out to him, pressing his forehead to the dragon like a holy maiden touching a unicorn. “We finally get to meet, Maotelus,” he smiled at him. “Will you let me sing to you and ease the pain you’ve endured?”
He didn’t expect an answer for the Great Lord. Sorey emptied his mind, a bond forming between him and the Dragon of Light. He opened his mouth and sang gently and sweetly:
Fou paks wa echrra pitod yor
Fou paks wa arsye murfunare yor
Lautyca paks oz fayra
Lautyca falfa oz kapa
Lautyca na cenjue chs dor
Lautyca cremia oz fhyu
Was zweie wa slepir mea
Presia linen akata yor
En faja idesy
And when he did, he felt a pain that was both comforting and unbearable. He felt his consciousness drift into an infinite whiteness. His body was cloaked in a special Armatus that glittered of all the colors that existed in the world. It was the Armatus embodying light.
And as he began his duty to filter out the malevolence, the world itself seemed to let go of all the negativity that had spurred it on the course to damnation. The skies cleared, flowers bloomed, people rejoiced at the sudden relief from anxiety. Alisha and Lailah had returned to Ladylake and together with Sergei, they forged a partnership between Hyland and Rolance. Rose and Dezel met with the Sparrowfeathers, who had finally found a place to call home. Edna and Zaveid went back the Spiritcrest to tend to Eizen’s grave. And Mikleo returned to Elysia with Kyme and a handful of other seraphim to rebuild.
The world was at peace for now, and Maotelus had to thank Sorey for that. As Sorey succumbed to the slumber he knew he would have to fall into as he purified him, he began to tell him how it all began.
Notes:
There's just one more chapter before the final phase. I'll be uploading that as well today.
Chapter 209: Phase 8: Reverie
Summary:
Maotelus.
Chapter Text
Sorey opened his eyes within the consciousness of the Great Lord Maotelus. Instead of seeing the magnificent and imposing white dragon that had been held captive for twenty years, a boy that appeared to be a few years younger than Sorey stood. He wore a long white smock with a blue veil around him. Around his neck was a large collar with a golden egg on it, and his hair was just past shoulder length with a fringe that needed to be trimmed. The ash-blond hair faded to white, bringing out the peridot eyes that had seen better days.
“Are you…Maotelus?” Sorey asked him somewhat confused. “Wait, aren’t you a dragon!?”
“Not at all!” Maotelus grinned. “That form is the only form that can contain my power.” He sat down next to Sorey, forlorn and concerned. “Lord Shepherd, I know you’ve had a rough time. The amount of strife you were forced to endure…I could hear it in the wind and feel it in the earth and sea.”
Sorey’s childish expression melted away into one of hurt and resolve. He had been through so much, but he was glad because now he had been brought here in his company. He couldn’t deny either that there was still a lingering pain in his chest now that he had bonded to Maotelus. The Armatus of Light that glittering with gold and opalescent accents hurt no less than the Armatus of Darkness. He reached out to Maotelus, who avoided his hand and instead fell into his chest.
“I’m so sorry that you had to go through such things!” he wept. “I’m sorry that you still have to live with the agony of this burden!”
“I-It’s okay! Compared to the rest of the journey, this is nothing!”
Maotelus wiped away his tears. “I implore you to rest. You…you’re going to be here for a long time. Longer than humans live…so I want you to be comfortable.”
It was then the fatigue started to affect Sorey. He felt tired and drained of all his energy as he siphoned the malevolence out of Maotelus. He tried to uphold his cheery smile, but he just couldn’t. His eyes were getting heavier with each passing second…or were they years? Maotelus lowered his chestnut head onto his lap, singing to him a sweet lullaby in Ar Ciela after whispering to him:
“Let me tell you the story of Velvet Crowe.”
Notes:
PHASE 8 CLEAR. PHASE 9 START.
Was yea ra yassa yor phyue!
En biron ar akata PHASE 9.
Rrha ki ra tie yor ini en nha
Wee ki ra parge yor ar ciel
En rasse yor...
...
...
Commencing Phase 9.
Chapter 210: Phase 9: The Question about Tyria
Summary:
Three months later, the world still turns. But Tyria is falling apart.
Notes:
We've made it to the final phase of this story. The chapters are going to be shorter because this is based on the Alisha DLC and the light novel that takes place after AT3.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It had been three months since Sorey had vanished from the world as a singularity in time. Three months had passed since Tyria fired the Harvestasha XP Shell into Maotelus and severed his bond from Heldalf. For three months, the world was healing from the damage caused by the malevolence.
The skies were clearer than ever before, and people from Hyland, Rolance, and all of the Towers were getting along and forming treaties and trade agreements. Metafalica was thriving, and Eolia was now able to fully support the other Towers as needed. Life had gotten better.
But not all was peachy. Tyria knew the consequences of fulfilling her mission as the administrator of Tilia. She tried to hide it, but there came a point where hiding wouldn’t work anymore.
One day, Archia felt a tremble through its city. Other places on the Tower had felt it as well, sometimes stronger and other times weaker. But when places began to fall off the Tower, it was time to confront the problem.
“Attention to all citizens on the Tower Tilia,” Tyria had called. “Due to the extreme conditions of power usage, life can no longer be supported. Please evacuate the Tower immediately.”
Finnel, who had returned to work in the café in Eternus Shaft, listened to the announcement from Tyria. Fear seized her heart, and she hurriedly left to find Saki elsewhere—most likely she was in Archia. Akane and Richa made their way to the Rinkernator to check on Tyria and question why the sudden announcement. Both had felt the tremors, but they had figured it was gravitational shifts and the like.
Katene and Hikari Gojo, also working in Archia, knew exactly what it was. They had done enough research on Tyria to know, and as the researchers that dedicated their lives to the well-being of Reyvateils, they sent a message to Gengai to start organizing people to safer areas.
It was pandemonium on Tilia, and while chaos ensued, Tyria simply wasted her time and waited for the eventual embrace of death. She had given her people time to get their valuables and get out to Lohgrin, but even then, there were plenty of people that were angry with her disconcern about the situation. But what good would panicking and getting upset do her? Ever since Heldalf had been indisposed, the politics on her Tower had gotten to a point that people didn’t believe her when there were emergencies.
In fact, after the resolution of the Shepherd’s quest, she now had to deal with Clustanians and Archians refusing to get along with each other. On top of that, there were issues between all seraphim and the humans that had been used and abused and Cleansed. Richa had become the mayor of Archia. Akane was still the Supreme Leader of Clustania. Gengai had stepped up to lead the humans in duress underneath the cities. It was all just one giant headache that Tyria didn’t want to deal with in any capacity. Not when she felt herself inching ever closer to death.
That was why she had told her people to leave the Tower before it was too late. She didn’t know the exact amount of time she had left. She understood everything else about it. Her telomere that had been used to shoot the shell, the fact that her body would destabilize at any given moment, the fact that Frelia and Shurelia were going to lose a sister…
“It’s so bothersome,” she sighed as she looked out from her Rinkernator. “Why can’t I just go away and die? Why make everyone wait in suspense? If only my body wasn’t tied to the Tower’s structure itself…”
She had to wonder how Alisha and Rose were faring. She hadn’t seen them in so long that she wished she could just leave to meet them. But leaving her Tower especially in her state was sure to kill her. Perhaps that would have been a blessing, though. Still, even just thinking about leaving made her tired and sick.
And then she wondered about Sorey, who had been sleeping dreamlessly within the world to filter out malevolence. She entertained the idea of trying to communicate with Maotelus to find out how he was doing, but even then, would her words reach him? The idea that he had to take on all of the malevolence scared her. If he became corrupted while doing his job, he would become the next Lord of Calamity. Tyria never forgot that he had figured out her plan and what the sacrifices would entail. He had sympathized with her, and with Sasha’s help, he had tried to rescue her from the bonds of fate that would drag her to the grave.
“I wish I could visit you, Shepherd Sorey,” she sighed with resignation.
Notes:
Very short chapter, but it entails the final leg in this story.
Chapter 211: Phase 9: The Peace Treaty
Summary:
Alisha and Lailah work with Sergei to oversee the coming together of their two nations, but not everyone agrees with the treaty. Shurelia and Frelia come down to the Glenwood Continent.
Notes:
At the time I'm proofing, I'm watching Squid Game again, so I...didn't really proofread that well. Ah....hahaha...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ever since Sorey went to sleep, the world had undergone a transformation for the better. Everything seemed to have lost the dingy mask of malevolence on it with the vibrant orange sky, colored by the setting sun, melting into a luxurious midnight blue. Alisha had gone to Marlind with Sergei and Lailah by her side to notify the village chief that preparations for the official peace treaty between the two countries were nearly complete. The treaty was expected to allot for more trade between them. Separationists were not thrilled with the treaty for fear that increased trade meant more competition and higher prices.
It was something that Alisha had prepared herself for. Especially people in rural areas, no one wanted to pay more money for necessities. Neif, the village chief, had made his home open to Alisha during her visit. Sergei, however, had to return to Rolance for more preparations and to relay the will of the Marlind populace.
“Are you sure you will be alright here?” Sergei asked the princess as he mounted his horse. “With the rise of extremists…”
“I will be fine,” Alisha promised him.
“Have you forgotten that her beloved seraph is with her?” Lailah giggled, though there was a hint of murderous intent behind her smile. “I will do everything to protect her.”
“Y-Yes, Lady Lailah; pardon my ignorance,” Sergei apologized. He turned his horse around and set off to Pendrago.
Alisha let out a sigh. “Lailah, you didn’t have to scare him like that,” she laughed. “Lord Sergei means no ill intent.”
“I know, but Alisha, you should pay attention when someone has their eye on you.”
“How do you mean?”
“Oh, my dearest! You only need to look at his face—that man truly admires you.”
“Oh! Well, I’m already taken, aren’t I?”
The two girls giggled and locked fingers, strolling through the village and making their way to the center. Even though things were peaceful, Alisha did worry about the extremists. Though, she wasn’t afraid for her safety; she was afraid of the innocent lives that could be lost in terrorist attacks. She gripped her spear tightly. She wouldn’t let any more people die for such pointless reasons.
“Alisha…” Lailah uttered.
“You sensed it as well? A bout of malevolence somewhere in the village.”
Lailah pulled a few of her papers from her sleeves. Pinpointing where it was coming from was harder than just sensing it. There were people that still held ill will for the princess and all that aimed to help her, and that masked the true source of such deadly malice. It didn’t take long for the source to show himself, though. A soldier from Lucas’s mercenary forces lunged at Alisha from behind, sword ready to behead her. Lailah flicked her flames on him and singed him. Alisha drew her spear, swatting him back without causing anymore injury.
“You dare turn your sword on the princess?” Lailah questioned him.
“Off with her head!” the extremist snarled. “It’s because of her that this country will be destroyed! Rolance cannot be trusted! Sympathizers must die!”
“This level of malevolence…” Lailah coughed.
The extremist was prepared to attack again, but out of the dark sky, a glint of light came down followed by the man flopped to the ground and crimson blood spilling out of his neck. Standing over his dead body was Rose, accompanied by Dezel. She had felt that he couldn’t be purified and thus hoped that by killing him, his soul could rest easy.
“R-Rose?” Alisha stuttered.
“Heya!” Rose greeted.
“What are you doing here?”
Dezel crossed his arms. “We’ve got a bit of a situation,” he explained. “Shurelia and Frelia met us in Lastonbell. Something’s happened to Tyria.”
“Lady Tyria?” Lailah gasped.
She then remembered the Song they all sang to Maotelus. Even though they had all been shot into the combined form of Maotelus and Heldalf to sever the bonds between them, they still listened to their voices. Tyria had sung of sacrifice to Maotelus, and without the diamond ore that Sorey had had when they fought Tiamat, she was doomed to die. She hadn’t thought it would be so soon, though.
“But wait, why did they go to Lastonbell to find you?” Alish asked. “Lady Shurelia could have come to Ladylake.”
“Turns out that they had just come from Tilia,” Rose explained.
The Origins and their friends had gathered in Hikari Gojo’s clinic to discuss the problem at hand. It was a small building, but it was a place that they could at least chart out any and all solutions to save Tyria.
“You do understand that we can’t save her from death,” Jacqli said.
“We have to try!” Shurelia combatted. “I can’t imagine losing a sister!”
Katene understood Shurelia’s sentiment, but it wasn’t as easy as she would have liked to believe. He drew on the whiteboard a diagram of a telomere. It was a component in certain Reyvateils and some seraphim that controlled the life span of the organism. The telomere progressively degraded over time, and once it degraded to a certain point, the seraph would die either by dissipating into light or by melting into water. What Tyria had done, however, had shotgunned the remainder of her telomere in one go. Now that the last of it was burning away, she would die soon. With her death, the entire Tower of Harvestasha would crumble and kill anyone that was still on it.
“Is there a way to extend her life?” Cloche asked. “IPDs must take such agents to avoid premature death. If Lady Tyria could take that, then she would be okay, wouldn’t she?”
That was the other problem. Extending life past the usable portion of a telomere would subject seraphim to unimaginable pain as the body began to eat itself. It became a question of ethics. By keeping Tyria alive, her people would be safe at the cost of her suffering far more than she was supposed to. If they let her die, she wouldn’t suffer but everyone else would.
“Lady Tyria is an administrator! She must put her people before her well-being!” Shurelia argued.
“B-But Sis Shurelia,” Frelia chirped. “Tilly is in pain.”
“It’s easy to say that someone must continue their job no matter how much it hurts, but when you understand that suffering, it’s different,” Aurica said.
“It’s not black and white,” Jacqli sighed.
Katene, Sasha, and Hikari Gojo looked at each other. They could possibly develop a way to extend her life to at least allot more time for the people to evacuate the Tower, but it was ultimately up to Tyria to take the medicine. And most everyone knew that she would decline for fear of the pain she would have to endure.
“What if we talked to Lady Alisha and Rose about this?” Cocona asked.
“What good would they do?” Richa scoffed. “This is a problem we need to handle.”
“But if we’re telling people to evacuate to Lohgrin, that poor village won’t be able to sustain the thousands of residents here,” Akane countered.
“Not to mention, these people aren’t all that aware of hellions; they’ve never had to deal with monsters actively seeking to eat them unlike Reyvateilic Cleansings,” Gengai added. “This is a very delicate issue that we must consider outside help.”
“Maybe we can bring some people to Metafalica,” Luca suggested. “We’ve got plenty of food and water, so we can help.”
“And maybe we can bring some to Eolia,” Misha joined. “We can support some people for a while, right, Lady Shurelia?”
Shurelia wasn’t too sure about that. She wasn’t in danger like Tyria, but there would come a day that she would die as well. It was all starting feel like emergency preparation instead of mitigation. If they could send some people to live on the Glenwood Continent, especially now that it was much safer than before with Sorey taking care of purification. But would adding more to his burden hurt him?
“What do we do?” Shurelia muttered to herself.
“I agree with Cocona,” Finnel said. “We should talk to Alisha and Rose about this and see if they can help. If it hurts Sorey to move people to their continent, then…”
“We will think of something!” Saki blurted out. “Saki loves Tyria so much, that Saki wants to help her. I don’t want her to die!”
And thus, this brought Shurelia and Frelia to Lastonbell in search of Rose and Alisha. The two girls and their seraphim had made the trip in less than a few hours considering the urgency that was called for since the Origins had come down from Tilia. The others had stay on Tilia to assist in any way they could think of, and Saki was left in charge of trying to convince Tyria to take the life extension for the time being. It was a hard task, but if anyone could do it, she could.
Rose and Alisha entered the inn just past the entrance into town. Shurelia and Frelia were wearing clothes that better blended in with the people of Lastonbell, striking the two girls as strange to see them so normal. Shurelia wore a simple white sundress while Frelia wore a cute pink shirt and light green pants that matched her hair. It was fashion from their respective Towers, but Rose entertained the idea of selling those clothes on the Glenwood Continent. But for as cute as they were in those clothes, the gravity of Tyria’s impending death was evident on their faces like a giant storm cloud on an otherwise clear day.
Notes:
By now it should be clear that I'm using the Alisha DLC and the Ar Tonelico 3 light novel after the trilogy. I wasn't a fan of either one of them, but I'm hoping that I can at least do the best I can to make them work into the story!
Chapter 212: Phase 9: A Fading Light
Summary:
Shurelia and Frelia meet with Alisha and Rose and their seraphim to convince Tyria not to give up. Something wicked this way comes.
Notes:
Phase 9 chapters are very short. And remember how Lunarre just appeared in the Alisha DLC? I try to explain how he survived but...sigh...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Lady Shurelia, Lady Frelia; it’s good to see you again,” Lailah greeted though not as cheerily as she had wanted.
“It’s good to see you again, too,” Shurelia tried to say with a smile.
“Hello, La-La! Hello, Dezzy!” Frelia, much happier, echoed.
Dezel turned his head away after being called such a ridiculous name, prompting Frelia to question if she had said something wrong. Alisha raised her hand; they didn’t have time for such trivial formalities. Tyria’s failing condition was far more important that greeting each other, and they had to act fast to save her.
Shurelia decided to start the meeting then. She knew that they weren’t familiar with the terminology used on the Towers and even less about the intricate technology used. Still, she had to explain exactly why Tyria was going to die.
“To put it simply, just as Sorey had used the seraphim connected to you as attacks with wills of their own, Tyria did the very same with her friend Harvestasha XP. But even though she received power from us to be able to do that, it still used up her life,” Shurelia explained.
“What do you mean by that?” Rose asked her.
“Tyria and Reyvateils like her have something called a telomere inside of her. It functions as her lifespan, so when it runs out, she will die. That’s as simply as I can put it.”
It still didn’t make sense to Rose and Alisha, and while their seraphim had a better understanding of the telomere, it was still yet foreign to them.
Frelia spoke up next, “Um, we were wondering if maybe you could come talk to her about taking a medicine that would extend her life.”
“You’d do that to her?” Dezel asked.
“We must! If she dies, then everyone still left on the Tower will die as well!” Shurelia urgently said. But her heart betrayed that. She didn’t care as much for the people as she did for Tyria. She loved humans, but she had only recently mended the relationship between her and her sister. Three months had past, but since she used that attack, there hadn’t been any time to spare. She wanted more than anything to be the sister she was meant to be to her, and all of that was in danger of just slipping away. “I…I can’t bear the thought of Tyria dying, and I don’t want to see her people suffer.” She ran to hold Alisha and Rose’s hands. “I’m begging you, please help us!”
Lailah approached Shurelia with grace. She cupped her face and reassured her that things would be alright. “Why don’t you take us to see her?” she asked her.
“Yes, Tilly will be in her Rinkernator,” Frelia said.
“Then let’s get going!” Rose said. She threw her fist into the air as a cheer for the Origins, which elicited a small applause and giggle from Lailah and an exasperated sigh from Dezel. As the group left before her, she lost her cheerful demeanor. “Why does it feel like something bad is around the corner?”
After she left the inn, perched atop the city gates, Lunarre and Symonne looked down on the girls and seraphim. The fox-faced hellion chewed on his hand to abate whatever craving he had for their blood. Contrary to what they had thought, he had survived Rose’s attack and his apparent suicide. His blue conflagration had been big and flashy enough to distract the Shepherd and his friends from noticing that he had escaped persecution. And Symonne had been left to her own devices after her defeat, leaving the two to team up once more.
Symonne, however, wasn’t seeking to stay by his side. He had come to her for a favor. “I will kill that bitch even if it’s the last thing I do,” he had said when they met. “But that pesky princess is in the way. Can’t you give her something to lure her away?”
“An illusion that is sure to plunge her into despair and sow malevolence in her heart,” Symonne offered. “Her mentor…”
“Positively broke her when she killed her! Perhaps we can do it again, and really drag her down! Then Rose will be there for the picking.” He spied the Origins. “We should at least try to corrupt them, too.”
“Not so fast,” Symonne snapped at him. “You only get one favor. I will remove the princess for you, but you will deal with the Origins on your own.”
Lunarre leered at her. He figured he could attack the weakest Origin and take advantage of the bond between Frelia and Shurelia. But Rose was still there. If he could devour Dezel, things would be much simpler. Then he got a better idea. What if he went after the one that everyone cherished most?
Tyria was surrounded by her friends in her Rinkernator. They had come to convince her to take the life extension agent and buy more time for proper research to be done on a way to save her. Each one of them made a case, and after every single friend of her had spoken, she rebutted.
Shurelia, Frelia, Rose, Alisha, Lailah, and Dezel had just arrived after Jacqli had established her position as a mediator. She understood the consequences of extending a life past what a telomere could handle, and it enraged Tyria that no one seemed to care. If she continued to live with a depleted telomere, her body would function abnormal and even the slightest movement would hurt her. She didn’t want a life of suffering, not after everything she had already been through.
“Tyria, please!” Shurelia urged her when they joined the circle around her. “You are an administrator! It’s your job to protect your people! If it means you must suffer for a little while longer, then…then that’s just how it has to be!”
“How dare you speak as if you know what it’s like!” Tyria snapped back at her. “Because the Tower isn’t falling now, no one is listening to my warning. If people are too stupid to save themselves, then why should I care? I know I don’t have long left to live, and I refuse to die in agony!”
“Stop trying to avoid responsibility!”
“Stop trying to guilt me into experiencing more pain than I should have to!”
Frelia stepped between them. “Please, stop fighting…” she quivered. “We’re sisters; we shouldn’t be fighting like this.”
“I was a fool to think we could be sisters,” Tyria hissed.
Cloche and Luca were prepared to intervene, but Jacqli held them back. They couldn’t force Tyria to take the agent if she didn’t want to, but arguing with her about it was only going to make things worse. It was then Akane who spoke up next.
“Tyria, are you truly okay with letting the people on this Tower—humans, seraphim, Archians, Clustanians—die because you’re giving up?” she asked.
“I don’t want to suffer,” Tyria said calmer this time.
“Then what about Harvestasha? She sacrificed her life and became the bullet because she believed you would save everyone here.”
The lavender-colored Origin let out a tiny gasp. How could she have forgotten about her dearest friend?
Saki stepped up next. “And didn’t you work hard to save me and Filly? We were going to die, and you helped extend our lives. Deep down, Saki knows that you care.”
Rose added on, “And you helped heal Mikleo when he had been turned into a vessel for Ar Ru! Do you know how happy that made Sorey? That guy was ready to quit so many times because something had happened to Mikleo. His heart was shattered, but you helped him!”
Alisha remembered how horribly depressed Sorey had become when Harvestasha and Kureha had first taken Mikleo from him. She remembered how trouble he was when Bartlow tried to turn him into a Seraphoid. “Lady Tyria,” she began. “Please excuse my bluntness, but it’s irresponsible of you to give up and die. You’ve done a lot of good for everyone, but throwing it away right now for something as selfish as not wanting to die in pain would waste everything that Harvestasha and Sorey has sacrificed. They wanted a world where peace and coexistence were normal.”
Tyria couldn’t refute what Alisha was saying.
“I know, it’s hard and scary to imagine the pain that you’ll experience. I know that things get so much that you can only think of giving up. But, for the love of Harvestasha and Sorey and everyone here that is torn between helping you and helping the world, please take the medicine.”
Lailah and Dezel looked away from the meeting. It was heartbreaking to listen to a debate over someone’s life, but what else could they do but to convince Tyria? And perhaps it worked. Tyria had forgotten Harvestasha’s wish and was being selfish. To her, the morality question posed by her situation had flown over her head, the fear of suffering again freezing her in her tracks as the administrator of her tower.
“My poor Harvestasha…” she quietly said. “What kind of friend am I to forget something so important?” She resigned herself, agreeing to take the life extension agent until they could find a way to help her for good. “But…I won’t be able to live on my own…”
Frelia spun around and took her hands. “Oh, Tilly, you can live with me! We can play together, and I’ll take care of you! Shuny will help you, too!”
Tyria left with Katene and Hikari Gojo to the clinic while Shurelia and Frelia regrouped with Rose and Alisha. They appreciated that they did speak up when their sister tried to fight back. It wasn’t a solution to their ever-growing problem, but it gave them a sense of relief that they could spend just a little more time with her.
“We’re happy to help!” Rose grinned. “Let us know if you need anything else.”
“Of course,” Shurelia smiled at them.
Rose, Alisha, Lailah, and Dezel bid their farewells as they headed back to the Glenwood Continent. There was still a feeling of impending doom looming around them, causing Rose to wonder just exactly was making her feel so worried.
Notes:
Merging the epilogues of Ar Tonelico and Zestiria isn't so hard, but we shall see what comes next~
Chapter 213: Phase 9: Broken Seal in Cornic Cave
Summary:
As chaos once again settles over the land, Edna finds the seal on Sorey's resting place has been broken. Together with Mikleo and Zaveid, they all set out on how to protect their sleeping Shepherd.
Notes:
All of Phase 9 is just short chapters. I wanted to give a little more in-depth ideas into this particular section because....I feel like the DLC skipped over what could have been a bit more compelling. But that said Zestiria's story-telling was never an omniscient one as much as it is specifically what is going around the main character. So naturally, all this pre-planning gets inferred...I think.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ever since Rose had relayed to Alisha the trouble on the Towers, the princess had wondered where Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid had gone. Rose hadn’t been told where they were, but Dezel had on occasion sensed Zaveid’s winds.
The truth was that the three had tasked themselves with keeping up a perimeter around Camlann and keeping hellions from trying to invade it now that Sorey and his most appealing resonance beckoned them to his resting place. Mikleo had sealed Mabinogio Ruins to prevent anyone from opening them ever again. It broke his heart, but it was a necessary measure to ensure that Sorey wasn’t disrupted from his duty.
Edna had taken to a cave that had been sealed away in Glaivend Basin, checking it regularly and strengthening the binds on it when they weakened. This path was the entrance to Camlann from Rolance’s side. The road was far more treacherous and much less travelled. It would stop humans, but hellions were a different matter.
Zaveid bounced between the two points to provide assistance while looking for a way to reawaken Sorey when the time came. Perhaps that wasn’t the right word. Mikleo had expressed to both of them that he was worried that when Sorey finally woke up, his memories would be gone. There was no guarantee that he would be the same if he turned into a seraph, and he would stop at nothing until he could guarantee that Sorey’s memories would be intact. As such, the wind seraph vowed to find a way to preserve the precious memories that were the cornerstone to their young love.
While he was away, however, and while they had been on their journey; Edna had found that the seal she had placed on the hidden cave had been broken. Intense malevolence bled from it like an open wound.
“How could someone have done this?” she asked in disbelief.
The seal had originally been put in place by affiliates of Zaveid and Eizen, who had both felt responsible for what had happened a thousand years ago. She knew better than to go into the cave by herself. She left Glaivend Basin for Mabinogio Ruins to find Mikleo. Then, she hoped, they would regroup with Zaveid.
“The seal’s been broken,” Edna told Mikleo when she arrived at his post.
“What do you mean? How could you let that happen?” he asked her.
“I’ve been checking on it and even memorized the magnetic field around the cave. Someone slipped in and took it down, and now there’s malevolence pouring out from it.”
Mikleo’s heart sank into his stomach. If that malevolence got to Sorey, both he and Maotelus would be in grave danger. He cursed his luck. Why was Sorey always at the center of every impending calamity? Why couldn’t he catch a break?
“What do we do?” he asked already feeling defeated.
“Right now…” Edna started before trailing off. What could they do?
The amount of malevolence coming out the cave would only destroy a new seal, and she and Mikleo couldn’t venture in alone without vessels. They couldn’t tether to Rose or Alisha, who were both still Squires as long as Sorey was still alive. At the same time, this was the only thing that Mikleo could think of. He didn’t care how terrible the malevolence was. He wanted to protect Sorey.
“Edna, I need you to find everyone else and bring them to where Sorey is. Purify as much of the malevolence as you can with Lailah, and I’ll seal it with the strongest Song Magic I can make,” he declared.
“Are you an idiot?” Edna scolded him. “If you step into that cave without protection—”
“I’ll run the risk of becoming a dragon, I know. I cannot let Sorey’s efforts be undone or even threatened. I…I made a promise to keep his dream alive!”
“And throwing yourself into danger like this is going to help?” She bopped him on the head with her umbrella. “Don’t be stupid. Let’s find the others and work together. Remember, Sorey is our friend, too. We’re all trying to help him.” She opened the umbrella and faced the exit out of Mabinogio Ruins. “Sorey’s done a lot for all of us. Let’s repay the favor together.”
The water seraph and the earth seraph made their way out of the ruins, away from Elysia, and across the continent in search of Zaveid. They found him in Pendrago reading all the old texts on seals and about the area in question at the shrinechurch. Towers of books were stacked beside him, but he still had yet to find anything that would give them a clue of what to do.
“Man, things really have changed…” he sighed. He looked at the pile of books he had leafed through. The cave had been hidden for so long that records of it were short, few, and far in between. “Guess that girl could only make a seal that lasted so long.”
“Zaveid, we found you,” Mikleo said behind him.
“Hey, Mikster! Huh? Wait, why are you here and not in Elysia?”
“We’ve got a problem—”
“Seal’s broken and lots of malevolence pouring out like a damn broken sink? Yeah, already know about it.”
“You saw it?”
“Yeah. Guess I’d just missed you guys.”
“And you didn’t come find us?” Mikleo questioned him angrily.
“Would have been a waste of time. Sorey and Maotelus can protect each other, but both of them have weakened since the final battle. Not to mention, I’ve caught wind of something else that’s almost as bad.” Zaveid closed the book in his hands and put it back on the shelf. “I guess you two wouldn’t know.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Little Miss Tower—Uh, Tyria is dying.” Zaveid let out a sigh. He didn’t like having nothing but bad news for the two and would have preferred to talk to them about who he planned to date next. But things were getting more complicated; no one had really given any thought to the repercussions of their actions. “And Alisha’s got a hit out for her, so there’s that, too.”
“W-What?” Edna uttered.
“Yep, we’ve really been out the loop. I ran into Sergei maybe a few days ago and overheard from his subordinates that they found evidence of an extremist group gathering in Cornic Cave—the one that had its seal broken. Everything is really messed up.”
“Perhaps that’s the source of the malevolence,” Mikleo considered.
“And what about Tyria?” Edna asked.
Zaveid was less clear about that situation. He had only seen that parts of Tilia had crumbled away in Plitzerback Wetland. He hadn’t seen Alisha, Rose, Lailah, or Dezel since they parted ways to tend to their duties as Sorey’s guardians, but they were sure to have more information. He had no doubt that Shurelia had already contacted the princess.
“Three situations…and they look to be connected,” Mikleo hypothesized. “Tyria’s situation doesn’t make sense, though. She’s suddenly dying?”
“We can sit here and guess about it all we want, but we need to get going,” Edna urged. “Let’s head to Lastonbell—”
Zaveid shook his head and walked past her. He didn’t think it was necessary that all three of them had to be together. He threw his arm around Mikleo’s shoulder. “Mickey-boy, how about we try and find a way to make a seal to keep the malevolence out? We can visit Sheps, too.”
“Hey!” Edna cried out.
“What? It’s pointless for all of us to go one place!” Zaveid reasoned. “And I still haven’t found a way to preserve Sorey’s memory. Divide and conquer.”
Edna couldn’t argue with that, but traveling alone…no, she couldn’t worry about the cave. She knew Mikleo and Zaveid could handle it, and she was sure that Sorey and Maotelus were strong enough to resist the malevolence for the time being. She swallowed her irritation, bidding farewell to her friends and making her way to back to Ladylake.
Notes:
Edna's on her way to find everyone else! But what will she think when she hears more about Tyria?
Chapter 214: Phase 9: Water of Life, Body of Dust
Summary:
Alisha and her friends are shaken by grim news, but thanks to a certain earth seraph, there might still be hope yet.
Notes:
I return after a month! This is a bit of an info-dump chapter, but baby steps. We're so close to the end of the story, but what does that mean for Sorey? Ah, getting ahead of myself~ This is another short chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rose and Dezel had returned to Pendrago to continue selling items as a merchants’ guild. They hadn’t gotten any requests to assassinate everyone, which granted the wind seraph some peace of mind. He knew that Rose and her family were working hard to earn money for a wedding ceremony, and as a token of his appreciation for supporting a union between human and seraph, he procured rare herbs and gemstones that went for incredible amounts of money. He, however, still refused to trap animals to sell for meat and skins. Meanwhile, in Ladylake, Alisha and Lailah met with Sergei to finalize the peace treaty.
The people were split down the middle about the treaty. There would be more competition now, and Rolance had different items for sale than Hyland. Others were simply glad that there was no more conflict. This divide, however, fed the malevolence that was still struggling to take root again in the world.
Lailah had made it a habit to go to the Ladylake sanctuary to pray for Sorey’s health in this time of arduous purification. While she wasn’t linked to him, she sometimes felt that he was in pain every time someone tried to motion against Alisha’s attempts at peace. Conviction behind a belief didn’t garner malevolence, but the greed and hatred that extremists held for the princess was a poison to Sorey.
“Lord Sorey, I hope you are in good health,” Lailah prayed by herself at the altar. “Alisha is trying her best to bring peace to her country, and Sergei is right next to her with Rolance. Rose and Dezel are doing fine as well. I can’t say anything for Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid. I haven’t seen them in a while, but I know they are doing everything they can to protect you from harm. Rrha touwaka erra jass afezeria yor. En was apea erra coall dea ee hymmnos. Presia biron grandi ar ciel.”
And deep within Camlann where Sorey slept, he smiled hearing her prayer and so many others from around the world. Lailah knew that what he was doing hurt him just as much as the journey to get to where he was, so prayers and songs were sure to ease his heart.
A few weeks passed after Tyria had taken the life extension agent and moved to Frelia’s Tower, Akane had vowed to take care of Tilia and to facilitate evacuations with Richa and Gengai. And things were alright until one day, Cloche and Luca returned to Tilia with grave news. As they gathered their friends in Clustania, Shurelia and Frelia—bereaved by what had happened—made their way to Lastonbell to find Rose and then to Ladylake to speak with Alisha. When meeting with each of their friends on the Glenwood Continent, they hardened themselves to deliver the news. The time had come and Tyria had died.
Reyvateils died a different way than seraphim. Seraphim turned into light while Reyvateils melted into water. When Frelia had left Tyria alone for a few minutes to get tea for the three of them, and while Shurelia had gone to get a cake, no one saw Tyria in her final moments. They had returned to find not their sister by a puddle of water.
“You mean…she melted…?” Alisha said fearfully as they talked on her terrace. “That’s awful!”
“Surely, there must be a way to bring her back,” Lailah speculated. Then she realized what she had proposed. Someone who was dead couldn’t just come back to life no matter who they were. “I’m sorry,” she said after recanting the suggestion. She pressed her hands to her heart in mourning of their friend.
“We wanted to gather you two and Rose and Dezel to have a meeting about what to do,” Shurelia explained. “I mean, there has to be a way to bring her back; I can’t accept that she’s gone. We…We need our sister!”
“Resurrection isn’t something to take so lightly.”
“Even still, Tyria is a savior of the world. To die like this—it’s so cruel and unfair!”
Alisha touched Lailah’s hand before approaching Shurelia and hugging her. Then she hugged Frelia. If they believed there was a way to bring her back, then why shouldn’t they try to pursue it? They needed to get Rose, too. Alisha sent a guard to Lastonbell to find the assassin and her seraph while she kept Shurelia and Frelia company in their bereavement. When the guard returned with Rose and Dezel in tow, the princess expressed the bad news and their hope to reverse such an event.
The six of them returned to Tilia, where Richa and Akane had already gathered the denizens of the other Towers to discuss Tyria’s passing and how to handle the funeral arrangements. The atmosphere was depressing, more so than any other time they had been faced with hardship.
“How are you going to have a funeral without a body?” Rose asked. Akane immediately went on the offense. Before Dezel could chastise her for her poor choice of words, Rose held up her hand. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then how else could you have meant it?!” Akane snarled at her.
“W-What Rose means is that…” Lailah started.
“We want to bring her back,” Shurelia said. She was resolute and unmoving; there had to be a way.
“Is it possible to bring her back?” Finnel asked in disbelief.
Katene shifted his glasses and nodded. “Technically, it is possible because Tyria’s memories are stored within her Tower’s server,” he explained. “So, while it wouldn’t be Tyria in her truest sense, we could recreate an identical copy of her based on all the memories we have.”
Dezel looked away from the meeting, unsure if it would be possible with just her memories alone. After all, they needed a vessel for those memories, and Tyria’s body had liquefied. Even if they had Katene, Hikari Gojo, and Sasha—all who had been called to assess the situation and the chance that there was nothing they could do—how could they give Tyria the rebirth they wanted to give her? Besides, wasn’t this playing the role of a god?
Sasha approached the meeting with a manual. “After hearing what had happened to Lady Tyria, I tried to find a way that we could use her memories,” she explained while flipping through her notes. She went on to create a timeline of bringing her back. She had spoken with both Katene and Hikari Gojo about the possibility of recreating a body for the memories. What she came up with was a pod that would act as an amniotic sac to grow a new body.
“W-Wait, hold on,” Rose gurgled sickeningly. “Y-You’re going to grow a body?!”
“Yes,” Hikari Gojo reaffirmed. “Unlike seraphim, Reyvateils are composed of water—about the same amount as a human.”
The pod that Sasha would create would be fitted with a formula that would emulate the chemical composition of a Reyvateil. Simultaneously, Katene and Hikari Gojo had worked together to develop a heart that would supercede the temporary and vulnerable Triangular Nuclear Loop that kept all Reyvateils alive. The solution?
“If we can use a piece of the Heart of Gaea that sustains Metafalica, Tyria Version 2 would be able to live just as long as, if not, longer than her sisters,” Katene finished.
Alisha and Rose exchanged looks; all of this was far too advanced for them to understand, but it was their best shot at bringing Tyria back, they weren’t going to sit there trying to figure out the intricacies of their plan.
“Where do we begin then?” Alisha asked.
“I suppose we should head to Metafalica,” Luca said. “But…how can we obtain a piece of the Heart of Gaea? Wouldn’t that weaken the continent?”
“Not exactly,” Katene answered. “Just as our world is governed by Wills of the Planet, Metafalica should also have a Will. If you can connect with it, you’ll be able to communicate with the Heart of Gaea itself.” He pushed up his glasses on his nose. “Essentially, you’re going to Dive into the continent.”
Luca and Cloche, who had created Metafalica, had never known they could Dive into the very land that had saved their people. It was similar to Dive Therapy, but would it be safe? After all, Diving into a landmass was a bigger deal than Diving into even just an Origin. They were willing to bring them to Metafalica. It was just finding the way to Dive into it itself that was the problem.
“Well, looks like you’ll need an earth seraph who moonlights as a Dive Therapist,” Edna’s voice came behind the lot of them. She stood there behind them, umbrella spinning on her shoulder, her cerulean blue eyes flicking to every other person standing before her.
Notes:
Edna appears to save the day...right? Can she truly help to Dive into Metafalica? We'll have to find out next time.
Chapter 215: Phase 9: The Heart of Metafalica
Summary:
Cosmosphere Level M: Metafalica
ENTER root.mea
SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s
0x01
SET StartF 19021Hz
0x01
COM:
Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011
yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/.
Notes:
What? A DIVE? But not for any Seraphim! Today, we're Diving into Metafalica!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“E-Edna?” Alisha stammered. “Where have you been? Where’s Mikleo and Zaveid?” The princess had so many questions about them. She knew that they had gone off to protect Sorey while he slept, but to see the earth seraph before her now threw into question Sorey’s safety. “How did you know we were here?”
Edna sighed, the shadow cast by her umbrella shielding her from the sunlight coming from a window in the ceiling of the office they had gathered. “I’ve been trying to keep the seal on Cornic Cave intact, but it seems someone tore through it recently. Mikleo and Zaveid are with Sorey and are investigating to find a way to close the seal again. I knew you were here because I’m an earth seraph,” she answered back-to-back. There was a hint of reservation in her voice that Dezel and Lailah noticed. They sympathized with her; whatever seal had been keeping hellions away from Sorey was broken, and there wasn’t much she could do at the moment to protect him. “And now I’m here because I was going to ask you two,” and pointed with her umbrella at Alisha and Rose, “To come help us with the seal. It looks like you’ve already been contracted for something else, though.”
Luca stepped up, “We’re all going to Metafalica to ask for a piece of the Heart of Gaea,” she explained.
“I know.” Edna walked up to her and her sister. “I’ve got nothing better to do, so I’ll help you all Dive to the Will of Metafalica.”
“Can you really do that?” Saki asked.
“Eh, I don’t know, but I can try. After all, I’m in Tyria’s debt, too.”
“Then it’s decided,” Akane said. “Sasha, Katene, and Hikari Gojo will work to perfect the method in which we can produce a vessel for Lady Tyria.”
Frelia raised her hand. “I want to help, too!” she cried out. “We will need something to store the vessel until it’s time. Please allow me to do it.”
“Alright, Lady Frelia will work with those three to prepare a body. Leglius, Amarie, Luca, Saki, Edna; you five will go to Metafalica.”
“Copy,” Leglius answered.
“Lady Shurelia and Princess Alisha, please return to your regions and manage your people. It would be discourteous to keep you from your subjects.”
“A-Ah, are you sure I should go back?” Alisha asked.
“Considering there’s a threat against Sorey and Maotelus as well, it’s better we go back,” Lailah convinced her.
It was true that they needed to protect their sleeping friends, but she wanted to help the denizens of Tilia. The princess-diplomat wished she could have offered room and food for them, but it was a massive amount of people who wouldn’t be accustomed to the life and ways of the Hyland kingdom. After all, they had experienced a bit of culture shock on every Tower. Alisha accepted that that was her duty as the Princess of Hyland.
“Everyone else, please assist in maintaining the Tower,” Akane finally said. “We don’t know how long the Tower can continue to exist without Tyria, and there are still plenty of people who need to be evacuated. The less damage done, the higher the chance we can repair it.”
Before Edna left, she turned to Alisha and Lailah. She wanted to meet with them again when they returned from Metafalica. She was worried about Sorey, and to help abate both theirs and her fears that he would be attacked by hellions, she wanted to see him with their friends.
With everyone with their tasks, they broke out to set the plan in motion.
Since Metafalica’s creation, no one outside of the Second Tower had come to visit. The chaos that had taken the world had distracted people taking the home-warming trip, and after Sorey had disappeared, everyone had gotten so busy with undoing the damage of war and Tyria’s degenerating health that there simply hadn’t been any time.
But Edna was the only of her friends that could see it in that moment. The land was thriving, lush and verdant, and the Metafalssians had adjusted quite easily to their new lives on the airborne continent. There was little to no malevolence on this floating piece of land, which was baffling to say the least. She felt the earthpulses on the continent that were almost overflowing with mana, and for once, Edna felt she could have cried for joy with how rich the land was.
“We should get started,” Leglius said. “Luca, let’s use the Dive Shop in Rakshek.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Luca agreed.
The cities that had grown on the Rim had been rebuilt on the continent albeit with better materials that would sustain the land. As such, the Dive Shop had been rebuilt with more pods. They needed enough for each of them. Luca went first, establishing the boundary through which they would Dive into Metafalica. Edna went next to serve as the guide through earth itself. Leglius, Amarie, and Saki went after once they could safely connect.
“So, this is what it’s like to Dive, huh?” Amarie said with awe when her consciousness woke within the Heart of Metafalica. “This is so cool!”
“Amarie, remember that we’re here on a mission,” Leglius told her.
“We’re now within the Heart of Metafalica,” Luca said, her voice omniscient throughout this world. “We need to find the Will. Edna, will you be able to take it from here? I’ll just keep an eye out while I sustain the connection.”
Edna stared up at the sky with her umbrella shading her once again. “Understood. What does this Will look like?”
“I don’t really know…we’ve never had to contact a Will like this before.”
Saki looked around herself. She noticed a large gate that kept them separated from what looked like an amusement park. Using what she knew about the Wills of the Planet, she assumed that this amusement park was the world that the Will of Metafalica would create for itself.
Edna led the three of them inside the amusement park, and as tempting as it was to ride on all the rides, they had to focus on looking for the Will of Metafalica. They wandered around for a little while before coming to a speeding roller coaster. There was only one rider on it, and once the cars had come to a stop at the end of the ride, that little passenger disembarked and greeted them.
She had indigo hair like Luca but indigo eyes like Cloche. She wore a brightly colored red-and-orange kimono, and on her forehead was a kitsune mask. She was holding a water yo-yo and eating cotton candy.
“H-Hello!” Saki said. “Are you the Will of Metafalica?”
“I am!” the little girl happily answered. “How can I help you?”
Amarie stepped up. “Um, we really need your help! We need a piece of your Heart of Gaea!” she quickly stated. Metafalica looked at her then at Saki then Leglius then Edna. She spun around and walked away from them, much to their surprise. They followed her to a Ferris wheel. “Are you listening?”
“I listened, but I can’t just give you’re a piece of my heart,” she bluntly said. “You’re going to need a very good reason why I should give it to you.”
“W-What!?”
“Metafalica, please!” Luca cried out.
Metafalica snapped her head up to the sky. “M-Mommy, is that you?” she asked before forcing Luca to appear in front of her. “It is you! Where’s my other mommy? Why didn’t she come to visit?”
Luca, still amazed that she had managed to materialize her in front of everyone, regained her bearings. She told her that Cloche was busy trying to help her friends stall the collapse of another Tower, of which Metafalica didn’t seem concerned about at all. Even though her metaphorical mother was right there in front of her asking for a piece of the Heart of Gaea, she wasn’t going to just give them what they needed. The Heart of Gaea was immensly powerful that even a small fraction of it could give them too much to handle.
“Please, Metafalica, we’re trying to save someone! Well, we want to bring her back to life!” Leglius pleaded as well.
“Bring someone back to life?” the girl scoffed. “You should know that’s taboo. When someone dies, rarely any good ever comes from bringing them back—if that’s even possible.”
“But without her, her Tower will collapse and so many more people will die!” Amarie challenged her.
“I don’t make the rules of the universe.”
“How can you be so callous?” Edna demanded. She closed her umbrella in preparation of beating her with it. As much as she wanted to, though, she restrained herself.
Metafalica stared at her. Was she being callous? Or was she simply protecting herself? She didn’t believe in resurrecting someone no matter how important they were, but she was somewhat willing to listen to their reasoning. Metafalica stood in her place, a tiny smile on her lips that only suggested she would take audience from them.
“Why should I let you go through with that?” she asked them. “Bringing someone back to life isn’t something that can be done naturally, or else death would lose its meaning and there would be no consequence for stupidity.” It was hard to believe that this Will was so young.
“If you don’t give us a piece of your heart, Lady Tyria…Lady Shurelia and Lady Frelia will lose their sister forever!” Saki almost cried. “Tilia will collapse, and lots of innocent people will die!”
“So? I don’t care about what other people will feel. How does this affect you?” She placed her her yo-yo and cotton candy stick on the ground. “What is Lady Tyria to you?” She didn’t break eye contact with any of them. “Do you really care so much about her that you would break the laws of nature? Or are you only doing this because you want her to go back to a life of enslavement? Origins must live for their subjects, no?”
“What is this ultimatum?” Edna hissed at her.
“And you,” Metafalica turned to the earth seraph. “Why are you here when you’re an outsider to our world?”
“Excuse me?”
Metafalica straightened herself, losing the atmosphere of a mere child and solidifying that she was far more powerful than all of them except for Saki. She didn’t believe in bringing someone who had died back to life, and being steadfast in that belief, she wouldn’t so easily give a piece of the Heart of Gaea within her. At least, she wouldn’t unless they made a very good case. Without that case, though, she felt permitted to simply return to her gallivanting through the amusement park. As she picked up her items to get ready to leave, Saki called out to her.
“Wait! S-Saki…Saki wants Tyria to come back!” she cried out to her. Metafalica stopped in her tracks. “Tyria helped both me and Filly when we were dying! She extended our lives! For that, I’m so grateful to her! That’s why I want to bring her back. I want to thank her not just with words but with Songs and love. She’s done so much for us, and she never told us that she was suffering.”
Amarie and Leglius quickly came to her side to hold the weeping Saki all while Edna clutched her umbrella. Tyria hadn’t just helped Saki. Edna’s eyes shot up from the ground to Metafalica. “She helped Sorey, too,” she cracked. “Sorey had lost the one person most important to him in the entire world. Tyria was reluctant at first, but she sang for them and healed Mikleo’s heart. If both of them were here right now, they would tell you! And not only that, she sang with us in the final battle! She gave Sorey the strength to stop Heldalf! As humans and seraphim living in coexistence in this new world, we are indebted to her. Bringing her back, we—I could thank her for what she’s done to help everyone, to help Sorey, and…to help save the only other person I’ve ever cared about so deeply.”
Metafalica hadn’t known of the things that Tyria had done to preserve those who were still alive. She stared at them, listening to their pleas and judging whether or not these feelings were pure. But for both Saki and Edna, they were feelings that they had kept locked away because they were so precious. Edna hadn’t thought to ask her to bring back her brother; she had accepted his death and moved on. Tyria’s death was far too early. She wanted Tyria to come back so that when Sorey woke from his sleep, he would be able to thank her, too.
Deciding that these sentiments were pure enough, Metafalica pulled the Heart of Gaea from her chest, broke off a piece of it, and approached Saki and Edna. “I have accepted your feelings as truth, and so I bequeath a piece of my heart to you,” she told them with the prominence of a goddess. “I’m not sure if you will be able to fully resurrect the one you miss so much, but for this to work, you must find the Hymn Crystal Nearvenza.”
“We need a Hymn Crystal?” Luca repeated.
“Yes, it will activate the Heart of Gaea,” Metafalica replied. “I remember that it ended up in a sealed ruin some decades ago—”
“A sealed ruin?” Edna latched onto. “Cornic Cave used to be sealed…but I think there were ruins past it that lead to…Camlann…”
“Probably. It had been stolen and lost back then. It’s the only Song that will work to help you, but you will need everyone to sing together once again.”
“We’ll find it!” Saki promised. “We’ll go to those ruins and bring it back!”
Metafalica sighed. She wished them good luck, praying for a safe journey into the monster den that preceded Sorey’s resting place. With the Dive coming to an end and their mission accomplished, Luca thanked Metafalica for her cooperation. The Will’s only request was that she come back to visit with Cloche soon, and while Luca gave her her word, she had to wonder when “soon” would be. As Luca and Edna returned to the real world with their friends, Metafalica wondered just how they were going to bring Tyria back.
Meanwhile, Frelia danced and danced to mend the pieces of metal she had collected from her pod to create the incubator for Tyria. Dancing with all her love and ferocity, she envisioned Tyria’s new body—identical to the one they had known—and how happy she would be to hold her sister in her arms again.
Notes:
I'd spent a lot of time wondering how to introduce the Alisha DLC to the epilogue of Ar Tonelico, and while I don't entirely remember how it was done in the after-story, I think that Hymn Crystal was in some library. Buuut, we're going to drop it off just over here in Cornic Cave so that we have a little more reason for Alisha and company's being there.
Chapter 216: Phase 9: Story of a Knight
Summary:
Alisha, Lailah, and Shurelia return to Ladylake to find that the malevolence has sharply increased. They travel together with Edna, Rose, and Dezel to Cornic Cave; their destination lies just past it.
Notes:
Incredibly short chapter again, but then again...the Alisha DLC was nothing but padding and unnecessary cat fights between Rose and Alisha. As we begin into the DLC territory, I'm hoping that I can give (better) context to our heroes and a more tangible and unified goal.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When Alisha had returned to Ladylake with Lailah and Shurelia, she noticed that malevolence had spiked. As they had crossed through Rolance and back into Hyland, there had been a general unease as well. The extremists who had been against the truce between the two countries had gained some support since her absence in the Third Tower, and it worried her. There had to be a base somewhere, but she didn’t know where to begin.
“Alisha!” Edna’s voice suddenly called. She had behind her Rose and Dezel, who had been helping to evacuate more people from Tilia while she was away on Metafalica.
“You’re back already?” Alisha asked.
“Never mind that, they got the Heart of Gaea,” Rose told her while trying to catch her breath.
After Edna and the others that had been with her to see the Will of Metafalica had gone back to Tilia, the little earth seraph had gone immediately to Rose and Dezel with the next objective. Metafalica had told her that the Hymn Crystal needed to make sure their plan succeeded was in a sealed ruin. The only sealed ruins in the world were the Elaine Ruins past Cornic Cave.
“If the Hymn Crystal is in there, then we can take down two birds with one stone,” Rose happily said. “We can nab the Hymn Crystal and check out the malevolence down in that cave.”
“Alisha will want to go, too,” Dezel added. “With the rising tension from the truce between Hyland and Rolance, I wouldn’t doubt that some extremists would make a hideout over there. Not to mention, I’m sure she…misses Sorey, too.”
“Evidence already suggests that extremists are in Cornic Cave, so I agree it would be helpful to Alisha in more ways than one,” Edna affirmed. Hearing Dezel consider Sorey made her heart flutter a little. They all wanted to see him.
And that was how they had come to the entrance of Cornic Cave in the middle of Glaivend Basin. Edna didn’t sense Zaveid and Mikleo in the area. Perhaps they had gone down already into the belly of the beast. Wherever they were, it didn’t make any progress on their end. They had seen one of the extremists running toward the cave and most likely to Camlaan on the other side of it. Naturally, Alisha wanted to disperse the group while they were there. Edna wanted to check on Sorey. Shurelia wanted to get the Hymn Crystal. Alisha had thought to send for Sergei and his troops to apprehend the extremists inside, but there simply wasn’t time to go back to Rolance, not when everyone else was working as fast as they could to resurrect Tyria in order to save her Tower and stop the malevolence that was encroaching on Sorey and Maotelus. They ventured into the cave, the sheer amount of negative energy immediately making Lailah, Edna, Dezel, and Shurelia sick to their stomachs. Someone had definitely forced the seal open as if they were ripping open an old scar.
“This path is so full of malevolence…is everyone alright?” Shurelia asked. Like Lailah and Edna, she had been aware of this path as well. She and her sisters had taken this way to get to Camlaan after the Age of Chaos had started. “Please let me know if you need assistance.”
“We’ll be fine,” Lailah reassured her.
Among the incredibly strong hellions that lived in the cave, extremists were mingling about like goblins themselves. They were already too far gone to be purified, the wickedness completely enshrouding their hearts and turning them into true monsters. The group of them fought off whichever ones came after them, but each fight left them more and more exhausted. Shurelia was having a hard time singing while Seraphic Artes were becoming unstable the farther they went. Thankfully, after some point, the humans turned hellions stopped and it was just the hellions that had been at Camlaan that populated the cave. All the while, Edna wracked her brain trying to figure out who had broken her seal. Where had Zaveid and Mikleo gone? Had they found the intruder?
Then Alisha noticed that they were entering a domain where no malevolence existed as the world lost its color. “What’s happening?” she questioned, but she already knew.
“This domain—there’s no malevolence but no warmth,” Shurelia observed.
“Little Miss Wrecked-In-The-Head is here, too, huh?” Edna scoffed.
“Of course, this is on the way to where her master died, after all,” Dezel reminded them.
“Everyone, remain on guard,” Lailah ordered.
“Don’t have to tell me twice; if I see her, I’m not holding back!” Rose promised with bloodlust.
“Rose, you can’t think like that!”
“I haven’t forgiven her for what she did!”
“Rose, stop it,” Dezel warned her. Immediately, Rose calmed down; if she got too angry and full of hate, she would only hurt him, too. But still, the memories of all the pain she caused Dezel and Sorey made her want to avenge them. No, she had to keep herself in check.
But even as they made their way through Cornic Cave to the Stolat Mountains that tucked Camlaan away in its dark forgotten corner, Symonne’s domain remained. The hellions that would have been there to hunt them down were all gone.
Alisha stared out on the barren ups and downs of the mountains, something calling to her just in the distance. It filled her with an anxiety she had only felt when she was faced with the one person that she had blindly trusted her whole life until she realized the truth.
“Lailah, is there a crucible here?” she asked.
Lailah followed her gaze, and as she focused on anywhere that would be a staunch collection of malevolence, she worried that there was something that was better left hidden. Edna used the earthpulses to home in on a crucible not too far away.
“A crucible?” Shurelia echoed.
“It’s a place where venomization occurs,” Dezel briefly explained. “Hellions are forced to fight and devour each other to get stronger. It’s a relic from when lords of calamity meant to increase their forces. It’s disgusting.”
“Truly,” Shurelia agreed.
No one had noticed that Alisha and Lailah had gone on ahead to the crucible through the Stolat Mountains cave system. Edna stayed behind with the others. After all, this was something Alisha had to face with the seraph that had stolen her heart.
Notes:
Sorry for the short chapter, but at least we get our last crucible next! I wonder how this will play out!
Chapter 217: Phase 9: Malevolent Crucible Naraka
Summary:
Alisha and Lailah travel down into the lost crucible. There, Alisha must confront her past once more.
Notes:
First, I know Alisha's crucible is a solo one. But I hate that crucible--and much of the DLC--and found it far more frustrating than any other crucible (even Zaveid's!). I also am not going to bother with going through Cornic Cave like in the DLC because that's an asinine dungeon for a strangely placed fight. Sadly, no Hymmnos here either since there would be no point.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Unlike the other curcibles, there was no Hymmnos echoing from its depths. No seraph had been unfortunate enough to be thrown to their death inside, which left Alisha still nervous. At least when a seraph was thrown down into a crucible, she knew there was an end goal and a bottom. But what if this crucible, hidden from the rest of the world, was different?
“It will be alright, Alisha,” Lailah reassured her. “We’ve come this far.”
“I just get a bad feeling from this one,” Alisha confessed. “It feels like her…”
“Maltran.”
Alisha nodded. When Lailah took her hand and squeezed it, she felt a little better. They couldn’t afford to waste any more time now. Alisha led Lailah down into the Malevolent Crucible Naraka.
It had been a while since they had gone down into a crucible, but Lailah did her best to withstand the heavy atmosphere caused by the malevolence. Alisha scanned the inside of the dungeon for any signs of what was calling out to her. Then, before her very eyes, in the dark maw of the abyss deep underground, a familiar face emerged. The garnet eyes and primrose hair sent a chill through her body.
“Good to see you, Princess,” she greeted her.
“But…how? I killed you with my own two hands…didn’t I?”
Lailah ran to her princess’s side, holding her arm not out of fear of Maltran but out of the desire to protect her from this stain from the recent past. “Lady Maltran, what are you doing here?” she questioned her.
Maltran lifted her hand, pointing at Alisha’s heart. “The darkness in Alisha’s heart called out to me, bringing me back from the dead to finally end her suffering,” she said with the hissing wickedness of a snake. “If you would kindly step aside?”
Lailah pulled her papers, lighting the tips of them and preparing to fight off this ghost. “I don’t sense anything coming from you. No malevolence, no warmth…could it be that you’re simply an illusion from the past?”
Maltran brandished her spear. “Why don’t we find out?” She lunged at Alisha ready to gut her with the malevolence-soaked blade. At once, Alisha deflected her, flinging her off to the side as she called on Lailah to set her ablaze with her flames of purification. “You’ll have to try harder than that!”
“Burning Strike!” Lailah chanted, but it was clearly that even in death, even as an illusion, Maltran was faster than she was. She shifted strategies, singing Hymmnos to bind her in place. “Was quel gaya enclone dea heathe fayra mea!”
Towers of flames burst from the ground by way of Lailah’s power. They slowly encroached on Maltran, trapping her in a cage of fire. Again, it did little to stop the Blue Valkyrie. She spun the cursed spear she had stolen from Altul and dispelled the fire.
“Lailah, it’s alright, then,” Alisha said. “If even your magic can’t pin her down, then I will fight on my own.”
“A-Alisha, she’s dangerous!” Lailah protested.
“It’s okay. A battle between the student and her mentor, a taken heart and one that lies unrequited. Come, Maltran! Allow me to finally put you to rest!”
Alisha and Maltran charged at each other. Sparks flying off their blades as they danced all around the crucible in a life or death battle, Alisha recounted her days learning under Maltran. She had settled with herself that her teacher had become corrupted long ago when she hadn’t even realized it. She had accepted that Maltran loved her, and she understood when and how that love became tainted with jealousy. With each pang of their clashing blades, she felt Maltran’s loathing for both her and Lailah resonate. The two women had sliced and cut into each other’s arms and legs, but nary did either come close to piercing the heart.
“Tell me, Alisha, how is it that you’ve still continued to live even knowing all the lies I’ve told you?” Maltran taunted her.
“Simple, because the one truth that was exposed has made me want to see you again,” Alisha replied. The two leapt away from each other. “I understand your feelings, even if you are only an illusion. I’m sorry that I don’t feel the same way, but that doesn’t mean I don’t cherish you.”
Maltran grimaced. How dare she act all high and might! She lunged at her again. Alisha expertly dodged the attack.
“Lailah is the one I love, but Lady Maltran was also someone special to me. And if you plan to continue this farce and desecrate her memory, Symonne, I will have to prove to you that this will not stop me from living my life!”
Maltran tried again for one last lunge, but Alisha didn’t hesitate. She thrust her spear into the Blue Valkyrie’s heart. Illusion or not, Alisha stared at her in the eyes. “This is twice…that you have my blood on your hands…” her former mentor told her.
“No, only once—that was the only time. This time you’re only a memory, manipulated by the malevolence and sent after me. No matter what, Lady Maltran, I won’t forget you. I won’t forget the times we shared where we truly were happy.”
Maltran bared her teeth. “I’m…not letting you purify me,” she coughed. “This world is what needs purification!”
“And that’s what Sorey is doing!” Alisha countered. She knew what Symonne was trying to do. The dark seraph thought she could still bring her down into the depths of despair, but it was futile. “Sorey sacrificed everything to purify the world. If the real Maltran hadn’t given up on this world, she would have her proof! It may take years—decades—centuries, but I have faith that the world you wished for will come to light.” Lailah stood behind her, listening to the hope she had placed in her friends. “It doesn’t feel like much has changed, but everyone is working hard to help him, Maotelus, and…” she paused. “And Tyria. And once we achieve our goal, a new light will wash over everyone.”
Maltran was in agony but dared not show it. She still hated those pretty words and false hopes. She refused to believe that such change would come. Not if she had anything to say about it. But before she could, Alisha pulled her spear from the illusory corpse. When Maltran fell back, the illusion dissolved, and in its place, Symonne appeared.
“Why?” Symonne angrily asked her. Was it anger? No, it couldn’t be. It was confusion.
“Symonne,” Lailah uttered.
“Why do you smile? You’ve just killed someone you cared about again. Your Shepherd friend has been sealed away, destined to rot in that same blinding light you preach about. Why has your heart not been seized by despair?”
Alisha stayed her spear. Instead, she offered Symonne a relieved smile. She could only thank her for bringing Maltran’s form before her, which only perplexed her more. “I got to say my piece to Maltran,” she told her. Symonne glared at her for taking solace in her treachery. “When I learned that Lady Maltran really did have feelings for me, I was shocked. But I think what hurt me the most was that she killed herself before even considering giving herself a chance to see what the future held. She took away any hope of being friends with her. But…this time, I got to tell her. And I’ll tell it you, too.”
“I don’t need to hear it again.” Symonne relaxed. Her eyes fell to the ground. “You, the Shepherd, and the other Squire…I don’t understand you. I don’t understand how you can hold so much hope and desire to live in such an unfair world.”
Alisha reached her hand out to her. “If you let us, we can show you.”
Symonne watched her with apathetic eyes. Her time for believing in the very things that stole her hope away was over. She scoffed at Alisha’s attempt to reconcile with her and bring her to the side of light. As she strolled past her, she only uttered what must have been a forewarning of things to come:
“You carry a heavy burden now, and it will only get heavier. This is merely a prologue, but I must wonder—will it end as a comedy or a tragedy? For your sake and the Shepherd’s, you should hope it’s the former. Just because he is purifying the world doesn’t mean that he is impervious to the throes of sin. After all, it should be obvious now. The Shepherd is the most vulnerable to malevolence.”
“What are you insinuating?” Lailah asked her.
Symonne took one look back at her. “If you truly believe in him, will it be enough to keep him safe from the darkness that will remain?”
And with that Symonne vanished from the crucible, taking the malevolence with her and rendering it no longer functional. Alisha and Lailah hung onto her words. What was she trying to say? Was Sorey really in danger? They didn’t have time to decipher the cryptic message now. They needed to get back above ground and continue the search for both the Hymn Crystal and a way to seal off this path until Sorey had woken from his sleep.
Far among the Stolat Mountains, Symonne met with Lunarre. “I did as you asked,” she told him. “And with this, we will no longer be working together.”
Lunarre let out a cackle. “You’re really going to stop chasing them?” he pestered her.
“There is no point. In this ephemeral world, beings like us have no place. dNnA dNnA ag fAwArN Nengua/. xN vega sphaela kAfOkUkIeh dea zz w.w.j.n.c./. This is the end of our partnership.”
As abruptly as she had ended their relationship, Symonne left Lunarre’s side to roam the world in search of her place in it now that malevolence was slowly being erased. Without Heldalf, she had no purpose. She wondered now if she would finally become a hellion or would she truly search for a way that her curse could once again be a blessing. She thought back to Dezel. Would she find someone to love like he did Rose? Would she find purpose again?
But Lunarre simply wasn’t satisfied with this ending. He hated how resolute Sorey’s friends had become in the face of peril. Cackling and giggling though stewing with hatred for each of them, he looked to a thin wisping beam of light that reached for the sky. He licked his lips while holding where Rose had stabbed him back in Pendrago.
“I’ll get my revenge yet,” he rasped. “I devour every last one of them and make sure that they can feel this pain.” His eyes squinted at the beam of light. “But how shall I make them writhe in agony first? Shall I tear them apart in front of their precious little Shepherd? Or should I rip him limb from limb and listen to their symphony of screams? I do wonder, Shepherd, which one would you prefer as I play your death knell?”
He skulked back into the shadows of the mountain, lying in wait for the opportunity to clasp him by his throat and rip him to shreds. The malevolence that wafted from him made its way to Sorey’s resting place, and in his sleep, the Shepherd shuddered. No matter how much Maotelus tried, he couldn’t close him off to the malevolence he was trying to diffuse.
Notes:
The ending to this chapter was really the only thing I really liked about the DLC. The fact that Lunarre would be the one to become the next Lord of Calamity...and of course, how he was plotting to kill Sorey...
Chapter 218: Phase 9: Encased Dream of Hope
Summary:
Alisha and her company traverse through the Elaine Ruins in search of the Hymn Crystal needed to save Tyria. Upon finding it, they also find Sorey, sleeping within a crystal together with Maotelus.
Notes:
Ahhhh this is such a bittersweet chapter! I did abridge the DLC again here because....this was such a terrible dungeon...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When Alisha and Lailah emerged from the crucible, Shurelia was the first to greet them and not terribly kindly. She was growing more and more anxious about finding the Hymn Crystal needed to bring Tyria back, and the malevolence in the area had spiked. But after the two girls had returned, she noticed that they seemed a little different. It was then that Alisha proposed that after they had found the Hymn Crystal, they should pay a visit to where Sorey was. She didn’t want to say who she had encountered in the crucible, but truthfully having met Symonne and her illusion of Maltran again, she worried that Sorey was still in trouble.
Dezel and Rose felt their anxiousness. The malevolence that Shurelia had felt was very familiar to them—a slyness that they only associated with a fox. They knew he was near, but as they traversed to the other side of the path and through the caves of the Stolat Mountains again, that presence slowly waned. When they arrived at the entrance that led down into the Elaine Ruins, a maze in itself and a place that Mikleo and Sorey would have surely loved to explore, it was completely gone. The malevolence had been replaced with one that was so great that the seraphim with them including Shurelia felt a creeping dread in their hearts.
“Hey!” a voice called to them from behind. Edna was the first to turn around with the exasperation she had been holding back; it was Zaveid. “Edna, you ended up coming back?”
“Yeah, well, we’ve got something else to take care of,” Edna retorted. “We’re here to find a Hymn Crystal. Tyria’s dead, but we can bring her back if we get the Song within it.”
Zaveid hadn’t known that Tyria had died, and he wasn’t sure how to react. But if they knew they could bring her back, then he thought he should be happy and relieved. He tried to crack a smile, and everyone would have agreed with it. Edna, on the other hand, saw past it. She knew Zaveid better than anyone else; that smile was fake.
Well, don’t let me hold you up,” Zaveid said. He started to back away until Dezel threw his pendulum around his wrist and pulled him to the group. “What gives?”
“You’re coming with us,” Dezel said.
“The hell? I’ve got things to do like…keeping some promises.”
“Please, Zaveid,” Shurelia implored him. “You’ve done well to protect me in the past as best as you could. The malevolence here…it’s still that of Heldalf, isn’t it? Surely you can still provide assistance, even if for a little while.”
Zaveid hated being goaded like that. He had promised Mikleo that he would find a way to preserve Sorey’s memories, but he still hadn’t come up with anything. And he had asked him then to keep guard on Sorey. If it was true that the Hymn Crystal to resurrect Tyria was near, if it was true that Heldalf’s malevolence was still poisoning the land, then he had to help. It was for Mikleo’s sake.
“Alright, alright. I’ll help you guys out. Ain’t like I’ve made much progress anyway.”
Relieved to have an extra hand on the team, they headed down into the Elaine Ruins. Hellions encountered at Artorius’ Throne flooded the halls of the labyrinth, and even with all of them working together in conjunction with the awesome power of an Origin, they were still having a hard time fighting. Whether it was the sheer amount of malevolence or the exhaustion finally settling on their bones, they couldn’t go for long stretches of time. And the deeper they went, the worse their fatigue became.
When they decided to take a breather in a safe place from the hellions’ views and snouts, Edna approached Zaveid. She could see on his face that he hadn’t gotten much rest since they split up to help Sorey and Tyria. His normally handsome face was marred with dark circles from fighting as hard as they had been only moments ago as well as not getting much sleep if any at all.
“You were lying,” Edna finally said.
“As perceptive as always, my little Edna,” Zaveid grinned.
“Don’t give me that. You can’t find a way to save Sorey’s memories, can you.”
Zaveid paused for a moment then sighed. “Nope. I don’t know where to look anymore. And I don’t want to face Mikleo just to tell him that there is no way to do it.” He laced his fingers together, rested his elbows on his knees, and just stared. “These two just can’t catch a break. And at this point, it’s no coincidence that the malevolence is so strong here.”
“You’ve noticed, right?”
“This was all on purpose. The extremists gathering here was just a way to supplement it. The malevolence here is someone with a deep grudge for Sorey, possibly even every single one of us.”
“And they’re targeting him.”
“Most likely.”
Edna bit her thumbnail in frustration. She wished she could help, but Mikleo specialized in seals, not her anymore. “The only thing we can do then is to wipe out all the hellions here.”
“That won’t do. There’s got to be a source.”
“So, we find the queen-bee hellion?”
“Yeah. I know you guys came here looking for that Hymn Crystal—oh, what is this method of bringing back Tyria?”
Edna went through the process that their friends from the Towers had developed to bring her back. As Zaveid listened, the gears in his brain began to turn. If they were recreating Tyria from her memories in Tilia’s server, they they would have the perfect replica. Could they do the same for Sorey? But where were his memories being stored? Within the planet itself? They had to answer that question first.
Rose was the one to start the expedition up again. On Edna’s advice, they made an effort to fight as many hellions as they could, relying more and more on Shurelia’s ability to sing her Songs and purify them. Even stronger hellions were laid to waste by her magic, but each battle drew more of her energy. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep using her Song Magic in such a stagnant place.
Dezel tried to peek ahead of them, but again, the malevolence impeded him. His head ached when he tried, and even with Lailah offering support by burning whatever wisps were around them, he couldn’t push himself without experiencing a sharp pain in his entire body.
“If it’s getting this strong, maybe we’re getting close to the source?” Shurelia proposed.
“Definitely,” Rose panted. “Let’s get this over with quick and nab that Hymn Crystal.”
“Rose, are you alright?” Dezel asked.
“As fine as I can be…”
“Just a little further,” Alisha huffed.
The group of them climbed down the last flight of stairs that led to the deepest chamber in the Elaine Ruins that was flooded with malevolence. There was no sign of the hellion producing it, which infuriated Rose and Alisha. Shurelia scanned the the chamber with the idea that perhaps the hellion was simply hiding from them.
“Do you think the hellion got into Camlann?” she finally suggested.
“If it did, Sorey’s in mega-trouble!” Rose panicked.
“No,” Edna answered back. “Look up.”
Two large twin hellions dropped from the ceiling of the chamber. Together, they were known as Baphomet, and while one stood between them and Camlann, the other began to walk into the passage leading out of the ruins.
“It’s going after Sorey!” Lailah warned them.
“No, it’s not!” Dezel replied as he flung his pendulum at the Baphoment walking away from them. Its sister hellion swatted them away. “Shit, we can’t let it escape!”
Shurelia initiated her Song Magic to bind the Baphomet walking away. “I’ll try to hold her for as long as I can, but please, make this quick,” she said, not at all losing the grace in her voice.
“We can’t let them get to Sorey!” Rose said, a strange anxiousness taking hold of her and rushing into Dezel’s heart. “We have to protect him!”
“Wait, Rose!” Dezel tried to stop her.
Immediately, Rose dashed with her daggers ready at the first Baphomet. She slashed at it and stabbed it as much as she could, but the ferocity in her attacks wasn’t driven by her desire to protect her friend. Lailah trapped it in a vortex of fire while Alisha went after the second one. Zaveid and Edna wrangled the second one as well, pulling it back to the chamber against its might. Dezel, however, couldn’t stand the emotions in Rose’s heart.
“Rose, you need to calm down!” he warned her. When he saw that she wasn’t listening, he Armatized with her by force. Taking control of her body, Dezel restrained her. “Listen to me! You’re falling under the influence of the malevolence it’s giving off. You need to calm down and reevaluate what you’re doing here!”
“Let…go…of me…Dezel!” Rose tried to fight back.
“Dezel is right,” Shurelia said between her lyrics. “This malevolence is different—as if it comes from something even deeper than hellions. Zaveid, Edna, Alisha—pull the other one back. I’ll end them both with this shot!”
Zaveid and Edna used their winds and rocks to drag the second Baphomet back to the chamber while Alisha slashed its legs. Lailah and Rose, once she had agreed to let Dezel handle the hellion, pinned down the first one.
Shurelia was a fearsome seraph—a Reyvateilic Origin that had worked alongside Zenrus and Maotelus years ago. She sang her Song Magic, growing its power bigger and bigger until it filled the chamber to the brim with light.
She launched her attack at the two hellions, obliterating them without a trace. She had used a lot of her energy, but the immediate effect of destroying the hellions was felt. The malevolence cleared, and Rose’s heart was as laidback as ever. Dezel de-Armatized from her, exhausted from trying to hold her back but nonetheless glad that the encounter was over with.
“Well, that’s done,” Edna sighed.
“If we didn’t have Lady Shurelia, we might have been here for much longer than we would want,” Lailah sighed with relief.
“That’s not all—check it out,” Zaveid said, pointing to a floating pink crystal before them. “Looks like we got what we came for.”
“The Hymn Crystal…!” Shurelia nearly cried. “We found it!”
The ivory-colored Origin rushed to take the crystal into her hands, and once she touched it, she felt a pulse of warmth coming from the passage leading to Camlann. At first, she thought it was the emotions within the Hymn Crystal. The longer she thought about it, the less familiar that warmth became. It was inviting her to Camlann, Sorey’s resting place.
“Lady Shurelia?” Yurisica said, emerging from the end of the tunnel. “I would have at least thought Saki would be here.”
“Um, who are you?”
“Oh dear, have you already forgotten?”
“Hey, Yurisica!” Zaveid flirtatiously greeted. “What’s a babe like you doing in a place like this?”
Yurisica waved him away. “The Wills and I had gone to check on Maotelus,” she explained. “It’s almost time for us to return to our seats among the other Wills, but Saki had pleaded to us within her soul space that you were in need of assistance. The other Wills and I thus went to see Maotelus to receive the feelings he wanted to give to Tyria for her rebirth.”
“How were you able to get past the malevolence and the hellions?” Edna asked a little annoyed.
“The seal had been broken, but those hellions are nothing compared to our power. That said, we did run into Mikleo. We were able to gather his feelings as well. When I created that Hymn Crystal, I had intended to deliver it personally to Saki. An evil force had stolen it and placed it inside of the hellion you just defeated. That presence…it’s hiding somewhere but seems to be leaving for now. How strange—why would such a being come all this way just to turn back?”
Zaveid and Edna exchanged glances.
“Anyway, I’m sure Sorey would love you to visit, so maybe you should go see him,” Yurisica suggested.
“Yes, please,” Shurelia said. “I…I want to thank him and Maotelus for also giving us their feelings.”
Rose simply gave a grin and a thumbs-up. All together with Yurisica, they headed to Camlann. The anticipation of seeing Sorey again made everyone nervous. They climbed down the mountains and traversed the remains of the village. The hellions within the ruined throne had been purified, the warm pulses beating in time with all their hearts. When they came to the chasm where Sorey was last seen, they found the other Wills of the Planet and Mikleo. Before them, a giant crystal that held Sorey and Maotelus inside. Rose and Alisha gazed upon him. Inside, he was Armatized in all white despite Maotelus being visible behind him as the great white dragon he was, his face looking as peaceful as a baby.
“Welcome back, Yurisica!” Sarapatra greeted. “Oh, and you brought our friends!”
“Is it really okay for them to be here?” Soma asked.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Ar Ru sighed. “These numbskulls travelled with Sorey, remember?”
“Still, I worry about the two Squires,” Suzunomia said. “They’re not as pure.”
“W-What do you mean by that?!” Rose countered.
“It’s okay because they’re in the presence of Maotelus himself,” Filament corrected.
Mikleo stood up from the boulder he had been sitting on. “Zaveid,” he uttered. “Have you found a way?”
Zaveid couldn’t look him in the eye. There was no way to guarantee the preservation of Sorey’s memories. Strangely, Mikleo wasn’t upset. He let out a shaky breath, but other than that, his eyes softened as he turned to Sorey, encased in a crystal that looked so much like a Hymn Crystal itself. Everyone else was confused except for Edna, only realizing the silence was a prayer for a safe return.
“The dream will live on, so long as you don’t forget, right?” Mikleo seemed to say to Sorey. “Even if you do forget, I’ll help you remember.”
Shurelia turned to Sorey as well. “Was ki ra na reta. Yorr meo irs innna mean,” she said. “We’ll keep your dream alive until your return.”
Zaveid approached Mikleo. He had found a way to seal the ruins to keep Sorey safe, but it was at the cost for some of his dearest memories. He had made his peace long ago to sacrifice them for Sorey. Memories of a thousand years ago—all the pain and sadness that had stayed with him, the memories of the one he had loved—were a small price to pay to ensure it never happened again. When he prepared to sing the seal, Ar Ru stopped him.
“A friend shouldn’t have to suffer for someone else,” she said. “Everyone, please return to Tyria. I will seal this place and meet with you once it’s done.”
“A-Are you sure?” Lailah asked.
“I’ve got nothing else to do, and Tyria doesn’t hold me within her body anymore. If this will help her and her friends, I’ll gladly do it. Besides, I have plenty of useless memories I can use to create the lock.”
Alisha took one last look at Sorey. She closed her eyes, silently conveying her feelings of all that had happened since he went to sleep. The war between Rolance and Hyland was finished for good, resulting in a treaty between the two nations. The Towers were operating fine, and they had hope that Tyria would be revived. She prayed that everything would go smoothly because, more than anything, she wanted to bring Tyria and Sergei and all the people they helped to see him. She wanted the world to sing together—human and seraph—in celebration of all that he had done. Opening her eyes, she quietly told him:
“Sleep well, Lord Shepherd.”
Notes:
Sorey...
Chapter 219: Phase 9: Re_Birth
Summary:
With all the pieces brought together to revive Tyria, Saki leads her friends in Song.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD.
Short chapter but I hope it's as powerful as I think it is!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Wow, you guys really got it!” Finnel gasped when they returned from Sorey’s place in Camlann.
The Hymn Crystal glittered in Shurelia’s hands, and as she handed it to Saki, her eyes were welling with tears. Her sister was going to be back soon, and it was thanks to everyone—especially Saki and Edna for convincing Metafalica to give them a piece of her heart. But that wasn’t the last thing. The Hymn Crystal held within it the Song created by the Wills of the Planet to help Tyria come back. The feelings of love that everyone had for her, even those from Maotelus and Sorey, pulsated inside. Each of them had to take in the Song, feel it deep within their hearts, and sing.
Once the Song was downloaded into each of those that would be singing, they began their trek to the Hill of Metafalica on the Second Tower. It was like an exodus of seraphim and the few humans that had such deep ties to Tyria. Mikleo walked along, and as they prepared to climb to Frelia, he saw in the distance the beam of light that wisped from Camlann.
“Sorey…” he uttered so quietly that no one else heard him. “I’ll sing for you as well.”
A breeze blew gently, ruffling his hair. Mikleo’s heart beat with anticipation. He wanted to sing this Song with everyone, and he wanted it to be the best he’d ever sing. He wanted to make Sorey proud of him.
Atop the Hill of Metafalica, Frelia and Shun had brought the pod that would house Tyria’s body from her perch at the very top of the Tower. Sasha, Katene, and Hikari Gojo brought their work. Carefully, they combined the components needed to recreate the lavender Origin.
“Now, everyone,” Saki sighed. “Let’s sing with everything we’ve got! Sing with all the feelings in your heart, and let’s bring Tyria back!”
The seraphim—Reyvateilic and not—stood around the pod. Their human friends stood behind them waiting to listen to their voices ring together once again. Rose glanced at Dezel, who had lost his ability to sing so long ago. She wished he could join, but she knew that if he tried, he would only hurt himself.
Then the Song began:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The first lines that came from Saki’s lips immediately drew in the other seraphim to sing with her. A glorious chorus of angelic voices, the Hill of Metafalica resonated with a Song filled with warm affection. Lailah, Edna, Zaveid, and Mikleo sang for Tyria and the ones they loved. Aurica and Misha sang for Lyner. Cloche and Luca sang for Croix. Saki and Finnel sang for Tyria and Aoto. Even those who had since lost their lives to the malevolence could be heard in their voices.
And soon enough, Dezel joined as well. He couldn’t stand not being able to sing, and even if it hurt him, he wanted to be part of the harmonic chorus around him. Rose listened to him, hearing how broken his voice had become pained her. As she listened, though, his voice sounded clearer and clearer.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Before she and Alisha knew it, they were singing along. They stumbled on the Hymmnos, but something in them made them want to sing. Their voices held no power in them. As Lailah and Dezel turned to catch a glimpse of them singing, they felt something in them click.
Humans singing Hymmnos were extraordinary. Even if they couldn’t invoke the magic within the lyrics themselves, the sheer notion of it made it clear that they were pure of heart. Mikleo listened to them as well, and he couldn’t help but remember bittersweetly the night that Sorey sang with him. He sang louder so that Sorey could hear him. All he wanted was to sing with him again, and he wished that day would be soon. But the lifespan of a seraph was a long one. What would be years and decades to a normal being would be only a day to a seraph.
“Sorey, can you hear me?” he whispered. “I’m singing for you. One day, when you wake up, let’s fill this world with our Song.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The mixture of human voices and seraphic voices rang louder and louder with each note, the feelings of them all swirling and building within the pod. Tyria’s body was taking shape inside. And Shurelia and Frelia made the final push followed by Saki’s Ar Ciela.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The Song ended like a lullaby, a prayer to Tyria’s growing body and building heart to join them again in their world.
Tyria’s complete rebuilding and subsequent rebirth took a year to complete. Frelia and Shurelia made their visits to keep tabs on her progress, watching the body develop from just a small baby to a little girl to the form she had before she died. It was a strange type of metamorphosis that didn’t incur disgust but the love and excitement of a real human baby.
On the day that the pod was to be opened and Tyria was to be reintroduced to the world, the Origins called for their friends on the separate Towers and on the Glenwood Continent together. The grand opening, one year later, was the event of the century. Alisha and Lailah stood with Rose and Dezel. Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid stood closer to the back of the crowd. Ar Ru, Saki, Sakia, Sarapatra, Filament, Finnel, Soma, Suzunomia, and Yurisica—who had all since taken separate forms for the time being for the occasion—watched from behind the Origins. Cloche, Luca, and all the Reyvateils and seraphim that had helped to bring Tyria back to life stood behind them. It was an ocean of souls waiting with bated breath.
Akane and Richa addressed the crowd together, a treaty that had called a truce between Clustania and Archia substantiating their new partnership. Alisha and Sergei had helped to draw it up, and it filled the princess with joy that they were getting along.
“Ladies and gentlemen, humans and seraphim!” Richa announced. “We would like to thank you for joining us on this momentous day.”
“It has been one year since our administrator and the Tower itself, Tyria, passed away,” Akane continued albeit more reserved. “Her death was anticipated, yet it still hurt to see what had become of her. As a result, the Tower was in danger of collapse. Without Tyria, Tilia cannot exist; however, through the valiant efforts of our friends on the sister Towers as well as the land below us known as the Glenwood Continent, we were able to develop a way to bring her back.”
Cheers reverberated throughout the plaza.
“The regenerative process and the resurrection were a new concept put forth by Sasha and Katene, and there were worries that it wouldn’t succeed. That fruit of labor henceforth shall be revealed today!”
“We have monitored Tyria’s development, and we are happy to say that she has made a full recovery. Please, join us in celebration as we formally greet her back to our world!”
Sasha and Katene disengaged the pod’s door. Fog seeped out of the unsealed boundaries, the door itself lifting up to let the rest of it spill out around its entirety. Saki clasped her hands together for fear that they had celebrated too early. Mikleo and Edna gulped down their anxiety. If Tyria didn’t come back after all their work and patience…
A hand grasped the side of the pod. A girl the same size as Tyria stood up from it, stretched as if she had woken from a good nap, and looked out at the people around her.
“Oh dear, did I miss something?” Tyria asked.
The Tower of Tilia erupted in cheers and cries of joy as the world welcomed the lilac Origin from the dead. Of course, she hadn’t known she was dead. When she turned to water, it had only seemed as if she went unconscious. Slowly, as her body was rebuilt, it seemed more and more like she was sleeping and dreaming of all the things she had experienced in her life.
After a few days, Tyria was completely attuned to her new body, meeting with her sisters and having playdates with them once she had repaired her Tower. When she learned from them that Sorey had helped to bring her back as well, she fell silent. Frelia and Shurelia worried that something was wrong, but Tyria looked up at them.
“Do you think we could visit him?” Tyria asked them.
“You mean…go to Camlann?” Shurelia replied in question.
“If that’s where he is, then yes. I wish to thank him.”
“We should go! We should go!” Frelia giggled. “Sorey helped us all, so I think we should all thank him!”
Shurelia couldn’t deny that Tyria had a point, and Frelia was so excited that as the oldest sister, she had to abide by their wishes. The three of them left their Towers for the place where all the sadness and pain had once started from. Over the year that Tyria had been reconstructed, the number of hellions had greatly diminished, the air feeling much lighter.
The land was flourishing so much that Frelia couldn’t help but tear up. The animals were returning to their homes, people weren’t driven by greed. But the one thing that made their hearts hurt was that of the friends they had made on the world below, Mikleo’s presence seemed to have disappeared.
They continued on, the malevolence almost completely eradicated near Elysia now. While the seraphim Sorey and Mikleo had known had perished long ago, Kyme had rebuilt the village of Elysia. He had managed to locate a few that had escaped the invasion. Natalie, Lawrence, and a couple others. They dedicated their new village to Zenrus’ memory and to Sorey’s bravery in fighting Heldalf. But still, Mikleo was nowhere to be found.
Down Mabinogio Ruins, through Camlann, and into the depths of the ruins of Artorius’ Throne; the Origins arrived at the large crystal holding Sorey within it. Shurelia pointed up at him, still Armatized with Maotelus and still asleep.
“I see—he’s in suspension,” Tyria sighed. “Well, that’s a bummer. But I suppose we can still communicate with him.”
“I want to believe that he can hear everyone in the world,” Mikleo’s voice came. He had been walking the perimeter in case any hellions had managed to get through. They were mostly gone, but there were still stragglers that he promised he would get rid of. “Being connected to Maotelus now…he has to hear everyone and everything.”
“Mickey!” Frelia chimed.
“Out for a stroll?” Mikleo asked.
“I wanted to express my gratitude,” Tyria explained.
Mikleo brought them to the crystal. He instructed them to place their hands on the crystal itself and focus on him. Once they felt their minds and hearts connect to him and Maotelus, the three Origins said together:
Infel yor sos her manaf.
Notes:
A whole year passed before Tyria came back to life, but now that it seems like all is well again, I wonder what everyone will do? There are only 3 chapters left, and I can't help but feel so bittersweet about it...
Chapter 220: Phase 9: The Year After
Summary:
A year has passed since the turmoil on Tilia had been remedied. While the Origins were busy maintaining their Towers, the heroes of the Glenwood Continent each have a development in their lives.
Notes:
PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD.
We're starting to roll out the ending...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Alisha stared at herself in her mirror as her maids dressed her in a lavished blue outfit that had been delivered to her by Rose’s fellow Sparrowfeathers. It gave her the air of a great noblewoman and someone not to be trifled with in one package. Lailah had been waiting outside of her room when she saw another maid bring forth a white hat with a large sapphire plume coming from it.
“Oh my,” Lailah whispered.
“Hey there, Lailah-cakes,” Zaveid greeted as he swung in through a large, open window in the hall. Edna had been riding on his shoulder. Apparently, if she had tried to use her earth powers to get to the window, she would have broken through the wall—or so, Zaveid said. “Long time, no see,” the wind seraph smiled.
“Is Alisha getting ready?” Edna asked her, lazily spinning her umbrella. She had hopped down from Zaveid’s shoulder. “After all this time, you’re finally going to tell her, huh?”
Lailah stiffened up, her face rigid with an embarrassing smile on her lips. “D-Don’t say it like that!” She hid her face in her hands. “I-I’m not like Mikleo or Dezel—the timing has to be perfect, a-and…”
Edna let out a sigh. “Well, good luck today. You’ll be singing not just in front of Alisha but everyone else in Ladylake.”
Lailah’s face softened. She couldn’t mess up the Song today. It was too important.
Zaveid and Edna took their leave out of the manor. It was a bright day like almost from a fairytale. Humans and seraphim were decorating, singing along together merrily little work tunes to make their preparations go faster. The inauguration would be taking place at the sanctuary, and while the people and seraphim were finally working together again and living in harmony, they themselves didn’t feel like they could mesh in without Sorey. A year had passed since they last saw him, and in that time, they wondered how he was doing.
“Zaveid, I have a request,” Edna said when they found their spot near the back of the sanctary as the knights lined up for a path to the altar. Zaveid spun around with a smile on his face. A smile that she never thought she would be happy to see.
Lailah arrived first, and she made her way to the altar. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to sing for the woman that she had loved ever since she was a little girl. As Alisha stood at the large heavy doors of the sanctuary, Zaveid looked down at Edna:
“What’s up?”
“After this ceremony, I want to go see him. It’s time I said goodbye.”
Alisha stood at the bottom of the altar as she looked up at the majestic Lady of the Lake. Poised and graceful yet strong and unbending, she watched her fire seraph as she led the ceremony.
“Denizens of Ladylake, I welcome you to the sanctuary for a momentous occasion,” Lailah began. “Today is the day that our princess, Lady Alisha, shall be inaugurated to be the diplomat which represents our country Hyland. It has been a long and arduous journey, but I stand here today because of her bravery and compassion for seraphim.”
Zaveid and Edna smiled at her.
“As you all know, Lady Alisha had to take her leave when travelling with the Shepherd, but over that journey, both she and I have learned many things. We have bridged the gap between Hyland and Rolance, established steadfast relationships with the Towers, and most importantly, we came together to to repel a dragon that sought to destroy the world. It is with confidence today, and with the pride of being a seraph, that I shall sing for you.”
Alisha stood tall. Lailah clasped her hands together. Her angelic voice began:
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Because she was singing for the people of Ladylake, she had to singing in a language that they could understand. She was embodying the feelings of them, or at least she hoped so. Zaveid and Edna listened to her just as surprised. They were removed from the realm of humans, so it made sense for her to sing in the common tongue. But then she switched to Hymmnos to solidify the power in her voice.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Alisha raised her hand. Lailah stopped singing.
“Lady…Alisha…?”
She pulled a small box from behind her back. “Lady Lailah, before you continue, I would just like to make an announcement,” she sweetly said.
Lailah froze in place. She was so sure that Alisha hadn’t been interested before, but why would she want to do it now in front of her city? Her heart was pounding.
“This probably isn’t the best time, but I want you to share in the jubilance just as much as me. So, before we conclude the inauguration, I would like to ask for your hand in marriage.”
Gasps and excited whispers resounding from the crowds, the people of Ladylake watched in awe and disbelief that their princess would take this opportunity to propose to a seraph. Even if they were on the road to coexistence, marriage between human and seraph was still strange. Alisha climbed up to the altar with her seraph, ring ready to slide onto her finger.
“Will you have me?” Alisha asked.
Lailah stared at her first. Then the tears welled in her eyes as she shakily and happily said, “Yes!”
The crowd was silent, then slowly there was clapping and then an uproaring applause and cheers. The emotions of the crowd flooded Lailah’s heart, and suddenly, she changed the rest of the Song.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Instead of singing good luck and best wishes, she sang from the love in her heart and how happy she was to finally be bound to Alisha for the rest of her life.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Zaveid and Edna walked through the the Falkewin Hillside. In just a year, the world had returned to the splendor that it once was. Zaveid remembered how beautiful the land used to be, and seeing it restored brought relief to his heart. Theodora and Eizen would have loved how the world recovered. Then he realized that their walk to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest would be the last time they would see this side of the world for a long time.
“It’s been a long time, you know?” Edna said.
“Yeah…” Zaveid trailed off. “So, what are you going to do?”
“I wanted to sing for him one more time.”
Zaveid was silent for a moment. “Do you mind if I sing, too?”
“He was someone you loved, too, right? Let’s sing together and send him off.”
The two of them went to the Spiritcrest, climbing up past the flowers that had sprouted along the craggly path. They came to the summit where Eizen stayed while she lived on the peak. Then they came to the peak where Edna had made the grave for her brother.
“Here we are,” Zaveid sighed. “You got a Song ready?”
“Yeah, I do. I’ve had one ever since Sorey finished his Dives into my heart. I would have liked him to hear it, but…well, now it’ll have to change if you’re singing with me.”
Zaveid crossed his arms. “Nah, it’s the same feelings I had about Theodora, too. Eizen was special to me, too, so it shouldn’t be too hard to merge them. Let’s see—how about we title it Soul Chain?”
“I was going to call is Iron Lady, but fine,” Edna pouted. “Shall we begin?”
“Any time you’re ready.”
The earth seraph and the wind seraph held each other’s hands, their feelings for the ones they lost and now their need to lay to rest filling their hearts. It was both a scary feeling exposing their hearts like that to each other, but because they understood how each other felt, they weren’t alone.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
While Edna wished for their peaceful rest, Zaveid vowed that he wouldn’t abandon her as a solemn promise to the two people he had loved so deeply. They were far from being anything like what Sorey and Mikleo had, but the companionship now seemed like a good idea. At least until Sorey would wake and greet them with his gentle smile again.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Edna held back the tears as she sang. “I really miss Eizen…” she sniffled. “But I hope this Song can help him rest easy.”
“I’m sure it will, kiddo,” Zaveid tried to encourage her. Even he had a hard time holding it back as he remembered Theodora. “Because at the end of the say, both he and Theodora aren’t in pain anymore. Death is salvation for some—your brother taught me that.”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The mixture of Hymmnos and its Pastalie dialect rang through the mountains, and a little part of them hoped that Sorey could hear them singing all the way from the peak.
“Hey, Zaveid…” Edna said. “Do you think you could tell me about when my brother travelled the world with you?”
“Ha-ha, I suppose. Hell, I’ll do it in song! An ode to the Scarlet Night, huh? Ah, I’ll have to tap into the old memory banks for the lyrics about that one.”
“Such a cheesy name. You should have been named Za-Cheese.”
“Are you really sure you want to live all the way out here?” Eguille asked with Rosh and the Ayn twins unpacking luggage from their caravan. “It’s not easy getting down these mountains you know. Civilization is a good four days journey, and what about your friends? Us?”
Rose grinned at Eguille. He had always been loyal to her, always insightful and helpful to Brad. It had been a tough decision to make, and she knew that Dezel felt guilty about it. To remove herself from society, she had to live in solitude…as least for a little while. He had told her that in an effort to reconvene with the others. Their journey to different worlds had left them jaded yet far more knowledgeable, but the populace wasn’t ready for that yet. Until Sorey could return to the surface, what they had learned on the adventure had to be sifted through.
“I don’t understand,” Ayn Felice said. “Why would you want to hide all that you learned? Wouldn’t you want to tell others about the Towers and form alliances?”
“It’s personal,” Dezel interrupted.
“But we’re family, too!” Ayn Talfryn protested. “Without you, Boss, how will the Sparrowfeathers survive?”
“Well, you’ll just have to listen to Eguille now,” Rose smiled. “Besides, it’ll only be for a few months…or years.”
The four of them weren’t sure if this was wise. They knew that the red-haired assassin was a unique girl, a wily spirit that was untamed. It was the first time that they believed that Dezel was trying to spirit her away.
When the Sparrowfeathers left with their new leader, Dezel and Rose began to start their life in seclusion. They held their own little wedding ceremony, and after a few months, they had grown accustomed to not see other living beings besides animals. The purpose wasn’t something could have been explained to their family. Dezel needed to recuperate, and that wouldn’t have been possible among the humans no matter how much malevolence Sorey had filtered through his body and soul. There were days they decided to go visit him, every step bringing them closer to the serene purification that he embodied.
After a year, after Alisha had ascertained her position as a diplomat for Hyland while marrying Lailah and Edna and Zaveid released Eizen’s soul from the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, the fruits of their labor finally came.
“Dezel, we might need to make a trip to Lastonbell again,” Rose said. “We’re starting to run low on…Dezel?”
Rose stepped out of a little cave they had made their home in the mountains near where they had made the stairway to the Second Tower that had since vanished. She glanced around, but when she heard the musings of a quiet tune, she questioned who else could be there with her. Dezel hadn’t been able to sing for so long without crying out in agony. It couldn’t have been his voice.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“Hymmnos? Who…would be singing Hymmnos?” Rose whispered, listening to the Song. She followed it to the base of the mountain to a small wood where she and Dezel often came to admire wildlife and not consume it. “It’s coming from here?”
[LYRICS REDACTED]
The voice was louder now but just as sweet as before. She hadn’t heard that voice in so long. When she happened upon the singer, she fell to her knees. Tears came to her eyes. The sound that she had wanted to hear so desperately but tucked away in her heart because she knew he couldn’t sing was resonating and echoing around her.
“Dezel…? You can…sing again?” she trembled.
Dezel turned to her—if only he could see her face. A gentle breeze rustled through the canopy, lifting his hair from his face. His eyes were still grey with blindness, but he was so happy that she was there.
“This is what I was waiting for, my Rose,” he said.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
“D-Dezel…!” Rose couldn’t hold back anymore. She let the tears and sobs escape her, scrambling to his arms and holding him tight. “You can sing again! I can hear your voice again!” She lightly punched his arm. “A year of solitude and trying to get your magic back, and…and this is how you reveal it?!”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Dezel laughed. He held her hands. “I’ve made you sacrifice so much, and I’m sorry. I couldn’t stay near humans if I wanted to heal. I’m sorry for forcing you into that life. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell Eguille and the others because…this was my heart. You’re the only one who has seen every corner.”
Rose punched him again then buried her face into his chest. “That’s not it, you idiot! I just…I wasn’t expecting this even though I thought I was but I wasn’t…I’m so happy right now that you can sing…!”
“Can I sing more for you?” Dezel asked her earnestly.
[LYRICS REDACTED]
[LYRICS REDACTED]
Rose listened to his voice and thought about the rest of her days that she could hear him sing. She wouldn’t live as long as him, but this was a simple pleasure in her life that she had been waiting for. Her heart was at ease now knowing that her beloved seraph could use his magic again. Her mind wandered as she basked in the reverence of Dezel’s Song, and she hoped that Sorey would return soon enough to hear it, too.
Notes:
Dezel and Rose got their private ceremony to be together, and Zaveid and Edna have established a companionship! But did you see Alisha proposing to Lailah coming? Because I wanted that one to be a little different from when Sorey and Rose proposed to their seraphim.
I'm usually not a fan of "take-backsies" when it comes to detriment, but I thought it would be unfair to leave Dezel without his ability to sing. So naturally, I made it that his affliction was exacerbated by his company around all other humans. Besides, his Dives pointed to it, no? ;) As for Zaveid and Edna...yeah, I wanted them to kind of be together without really being together.
What shall we do next chapter?
Chapter 221: Phase 9: Epilogue
Summary:
Two hundred years apart.
Was quel ga wearequewie irs an yor
「キミがもう一度会いたいんだ。」
Notes:
THIS IS THE PENULTIMATE CHAPTER!
It's very short, but very meaningful. This is the final scenes in Zestiria...
But this is not the end of the story.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Two hundred years passed. The humans that he had known as lived out their lives. The Reyvateils he had known on the Towers had disintegrated into water, but the Origins still lived. His seraphic friends had gone their separate ways, meeting again only to briefly say hello. Life had become lonely but full of untapped potential.
Mikleo had matured since Sorey went to sleep. His hair had grown long and flowed like the water he controlled. His face had become more angular, and while he had gotten taller, he remembered that Sorey would still be taller than him. He had added capes to his back as he counted the ruins he had explored by himself. Now his destination for this journey was a ruin far away that had once been hidden underwater a thousand.
It’s been two centuries since our paths diverged. Ever wandering the land that you loved so much, I have explored for you and me. From overgrown rainforests to the snowy mountaintops, I have catalogued all the places we had dreamed of visiting together. In every location, I have left a small prayer with the hopes that you can hear me sing.
Was apea erra manafeeze ween ciel ridalnae yor
En jass sos guard yor
Azl yorr coall
Presia ene harton mea elle here
I don’t know if my words reach you, but I can only hope so. My dearest love, whose smile shines like the radiant sun, I will wait for the day you return.
Mikleo spent nights staring at the moon, the faint beam of light coming from Camlann stretching to the stars. On salt plains, he admired the reflections of stars around him after calling forth torrential rains. In volcanoes, he encased himself in water and remembered his friends. In temples where the wind howled, he pulled crystallized moisture to refract light into rainbows on the walls.
At some point, Mikleo came to an ancient ruin that was filled with magma flowing through it. Glyphs on the walls told stories of great creatures, and Mikleo did his best to analyze them past their cracks. He wandered deeper and deeper into the ruin until he came to a door with large jewels set into it.
He pushed through, walking through the hall of lava to a large shrine with a statue at the back that looked vaguely like a woman. Then suddenly he felt a presence that caused him to whip around. There was no one there—just him and the statue.
Finally, he journeyed to the palace ruins that had once been submerged in the ocean and had only come up with a receding tide. Contrasting the raging red that colored the lava-filled ruin, the palace was colored in a tranquil blue. The light of the sun peeked though the large window in the ceiling, and Mikleo couldn’t help but marvel at the architectural beauty.
These ruins hadn’t been made by just seraphim. He could feel the tremendous amount of mana coming from them. He continued to an altar with a jewel set into an epitaph. The words were written in glyphs. They had been long there before the use of Hymmnos, the ancient tongue, and maybe even Ar Ciela. It was a language that he had never seen before but had started to study.
“koh-nu dai-wez um-re ah-cyen=aa-thes-du luu-ir A waw ah-cyen M ei-tao ra-ren…this is…” Mikleo droned to himself. “No good. I still don’t understand some of this…”
He thoughtless touched the tablet’s jewels and etchings of the epitaph. As if on cue, the ground fell from beneath him, and Mikleo soon found himself falling into an unending darkness. Was this where he would die? Would he perish before he saw him again?
No.
Something caught him. It held him, and while he was stunned that he was no longer falling, he was eager to thank his savior. He turned his head up, the light above them casting a shadow over the face over him. But he recognized him. The feathery earrings that gently flitted in the slight draft. The Shepherd’s glove was still somehow in pristine condition.
Far away in what was once the Rolance empire before the grave that had her name etched into it, she asked her beloved seraph, “Did you have to wait long?”
And skirting the large lake as she watched the silver flames, she told her, “You really did wait for me here.”
There, in the ruins of that water palace, Mikleo could only say to the one who had saved him:
Was yea ra sonwe infel en yor.
Notes:
So, for the final chapter, I will be delaying it until February 22nd.
I will then give my closing on this fanfic--but rest assured, I will not be finished working with this story, these concepts and I am looking forward to continuing to make this fanfic more of a multi-media experience (and no, I don't necessarily trying to make it into a game...maybe.)
Chapter 222: Phase 9: Lxe ZeiMa ~e-thes-ne hyu-myei~
Summary:
Maotelus' Song, detailing what led the world to the state it's in.
Notes:
The final chapter is finally hear not as simply words on a page but a Song you can listen to! Please right click to hear in a NEW window!
It is my first attempt at making a Song, and I plan to produce more. Special thanks to @Geikroitz for all his help on translation and editing!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
導師よ、
Dearest Shepherd,
汝のために歌わせて給え
Allow me to sing for you
耳に届かざれでも、
Even if your ears cannot hear it all
背負いし縁を齎す唄を捧げましょう
Let me sing you the Song that brought you this fate
chef-i ahih=nya-su-uii;
Rest easy now
ih-ne myei-du ahih-lis-uii;
And listen to my voice
iyon-ne rei-mu
Listen with your heart
hyu-me-ne gu-dou-ne ahzu nh an-nami-du ahzu-yal-uinr yal-du ahih-zeih-ei-uii;
To the tale of the Lord of Calamity and the Lighthouse Keeper
Afarss dUm starfz laar
This is a story of long ago
sstary Inna shalornn
A tale of misery and woe
JaswEi ennX Elleweiya
Close your eyes and listen with your heart
Nei balniie esfa
And learn of how this world came to be
beliyye qet beloyye
A girl loved her brother more than life
vetox anmary larxo
But her heart shattered from betrayal
yiss jody ollumnkolo faari
She lay at the bottom of her despair
xyleodEIA
And soon the darkness took her hand
LosTi yerwe
Closed off to the world
LosTi yerwe tmrxx soskal
She suffered alone
wArx
Cursing the man who had called himself Shepherd
wArXx oliyumio kuul
With all her rage, she vowed to kill him
sstaaryy yerwA…
But then…
beliyye faas lteeriia
A girl loved the world more than life
vetix nyalafiz larxn
But her mind shattered from betrayal
yiss jiil gnaruo
Wandering in the darkness
Ddcci cEEE duula
Her tears of crystal shined
Menni menni bawaa tttynni
Reaching out to the world
lAEkssa syari ratinaa
She beseeched to her
nyuma sArry waaa
Calling for the people’s feelings
sstari fomtaa callisya
Connected them to her heart
Lxe ZeiMa
Lxe ZeiMa syaari
Lxe ZeiMa
Lxe ZeiMa sssy yyy
With the protection of the gods, bring us hope!
ssyyy kostii BaalxI
Singing to the people of the world
jKlye gfAnwEn jKlyE wyysri
Unlocking doors and opening hearts
baEEnn syari Eayya
They call to you as well
sstaary fammtty fametti Zahfi leyerre exyss ttia
And lift the souls in their hands
mss fweriuu laarl
Together with their friends
tcimi twerlee teeeliissuuu
The two girls bond
aaarl kxyww laav ssttyyy
Striving to protect the world they cherished
gepsi olnii xyvaaa
Sacrificing their lives
bhole ollumx zacyy tas
Lord of Calamity
bweeli deeli aaan yaas
Lighthouse Keeper
dxoi diffyea mss txwala meee
Darkness and light mixing
syarli been yyy sstaaa
Giving us this blessed world
fane fanea liyca
Hand in hand, you give birth to the world we have now
pshuunee vaxyy ole rhina
With this life, Sorey
kss keel henahena Sorey
Please keep it safe
wass yyentica cioul nia quenri bailar
And treasure it always
svy staari
For I, too, made a promise
benklu faarn xemmct
To protect this world
bho xemmct
To protect her
IIIeeea listte xemmct
To keep hope alive
Lxe ZeiMa
Lxe ZeiMa syaari
Lxe ZeiMa
Lxe ZeiMa sssy yyy
With the protection of the gods, bring us hope!
mbn yeesya
chef-i ahih=nya-su-uii;
Come now and sleep
lnlirv zaati lui
Little bird on my shoulder
munii barli iisx
Gently holding you in my hands
utwrai ebhmi fwemgn sssy
iyon-ne rei-ny i-fer-du ah=hau-hau-mu in-fan-uii;
Let love flood your heart
Notes:
EDIT: Due to Tales burnout and other complications, Ode to the Scarlet Night's release has become TBD. Thank you for understanding m(__)m
With this, Seraphim Singing at the End of the World is officially at a close, but this isn't all the story yet. Next year, I'll be beginning uploads for Tales of Berseria x Surge Concerto: Ode to the Scarlet Night!
Thank you to everyone who has read this story and survived the song. All of your support has meant so much to me. This story is the story nearest to my heart and every ounce of my being. Much love to Ar Tonelico and of course, Tales of Zestiri for being the wonderful games that they are.
I hope you join me for the next one! <3