Chapter 1: Hymn of Beginnings
Disclaimer: I do not own Ar tonelico or anything affiliated with it. Love it though. Love it to death. Enjoy the fic, I know it's a different concept for the series, so work with me here!
Lyner, Aurica, Misha, Jack, Radolph, Shurelia, and Claire were standing outside the ruins of the village of Skuwat. Aurica clung to Radolph's forearm, nervous, slight tears beginning to form puddles in her eyes. Misha stood next to Jack, twirling a length of her pitch black hair in her hands carelessly. Shurelia and Lyner were scouting ahead, checking the foliage covered ruins of the long since burnt village for any signs of monsters. Claire stood near Aurica, swaying back and forth, rubbing her left hand up and down her right arm. Her eyes were bloodshot, dark circles protruding on her otherwise flawless skin. When Lyner and Shurelia returned, her anxiety worsened, as did Aurica's, causing her to nearly break Radolph's holy armor off of his body. He placed his arm protectively around her waist, and the group began their search around the decimated ruin.
Watching the two couples make their way deep into the village remains, Shurelia walking with Claire to calm her down, Lyner began to think back to the incident that caused this silence amongst the party. Claire had called the group to her bar the day before, assuring them it was important. When the group assembled, it was as if she were at sword point, dropping several wine glasses and nearly decapitated Lyner with a French knife. This woman, usually as graceful as a spring time willow, was stiff and awkward, like a foal trying its newborn legs. When the night began to dwindle to dawn, and the last of the bar goers made their way back home, she blocked the door and began her tale.
Spica, the black market dealer of Firefly Alley had appeared in her bar earlier that day with inside information concerning the group, and surprisingly Claire herself. She listened with utter attentiveness, but first offered Spica a rather large finder's fee. A reliable source had informed Spica of an undiscovered hymn crystal in the ruins of Skuwat. The hook was not the in the crystal itself, but in its crafters. Supposedly, before the massacre caused by General Bourd of Tenba, village reyvateils from the village and even from the cities and come together under the cover of darkness, and made this crystal. Two of these reyvateils were Aurica's and Claire's mothers. Claire was shocked to hear of something so disturbing, as a hymn crystal could only be made if one had both intense power and intense purpose behind it. Before Spica's body was out the door, Claire ran to the church to begin alerting the group.
Deep sighs escaped Lyner's throat as a group of Poms hopped away from the group. It was really peaceful out in the ruins, so different compared to the crowded city that was his hometown, Platina. Soon they all converged upon an old two story building, relatively intact compared to the rest of the village. The door was hanging by one hinge, and Jack easily pushed it aside with his robotic arm. The inside stank of dust and mold. A set of stone steps was in one corner of the room, an eerie light glowing faintly from the bottom. Lyner made his way down, the rest following him in two's. They were now within the Wing's of Horus, and technology of all types surrounded them. Strange patterns and sounds emanated from the walls, and several yards away it seemed to converge on one huge altar, containing not one, but two hymn crystals. The four reyvateils went up to the altar and began reading a tiny section of long since faded hymnos language at the altars base. Aurica translated it for the group.
"It reads – To the maidens born of the land; One shall sing of imprisonment; One shall sing of freedom; Together they shall sing for Truth"
"I wonder what that could mean," Misha said, crossing her arms and growing a look of deep thought upon her face.
"Isn't it obvious," Shurelia said, "The maidens born of the land are Claire and Aurica, they were both born here in this village, which prided itself on producing gifts from the earth. I don't know what the rest stands for, but it's quite clear that it's referring to what the hymn crystals will do."
"It doesn't make any sense," Misha cried in frustration, "How can they sing together?! I've never heard of that being done before!"
"In the First Era," Shurelia began, sounding like one of the old grandparents in Platina's square, "It was said that powerful magic could be made by singing the songs from two different hymn crystals together as a pair. It has never been attempted here as far as I know."
"Lyner…Radolph…Please download the crystals into us…" Aurica began to cry after saying this.
Seeing their worry and anxiety, Claire added, "It's the only thing our parents left us with – It could be important."
The priest and the knight turned towards each other, sharing a look of known defeat. Silence seemed to echo throughout the underground room as they stepped carefully towards the crystals, placed one near each reyvateil, and began the download ceremony. Hymnos chanting had never sounded so distorted to the group as they watched the group finish downloading. Aurica and Claire turned towards each other, a feeling of ecstasy spreading throughout their bodies. They knew what they had to do, so they opened their mouths and began to sing.
(Imagine/Play the song Expressive Hill, the opening to Ar tonelico)
Faint orbs of purple and blue light began to dance around the group like a tribe of Indians around a midnight cooking pyre. Patterns on the walls began to glow brighter, until they were surrounded in a prison of light. Their bodies began to grow faint, as ink fades when touched by a torrent of water. Consciousness faded along with their bodies, until they all slipped into unwelcome slumbers as the last of their bodies faded into the background and into the very air it seemed.
***
At the same time Croix and his group of comrades were hanging idly at the top of Bell Strike Hall in Pastalia, the statue of the two Maidens lording over them. A year before the War with the goddess had since passed, and Metafalica had been created to the delight of the citizens of Metafalss, though not to what they expected. The Song of land creation instead re-created the land that had fallen away into the unexplored sea of air below the floating rim. The Tower remained though, a silent guardian to the people, and an unwelcome reminder of what they had since brought onto themselves in years past by. Cloche and Luca sat at the statue's base, planning an event to celebrate the first anniversary of Metafalica, to be held in the entire palace of the Grand Bell Hall. Jacqli conversed with Leglious, discussing military training and weapon instruction among the palace's guard. Amarie and Cocona were busy fussing over the latest in the line of Gergo toys and accessories. Cloche stole a glance over at them every once and a while, envying their time to enjoy her obsession.
Croix's head turned towards the bell hanging above the maiden statue, noticing a faint light being emitted from its glittering white surface. A Song could be heard very faintly, yet it seemed to be growing louder as the seconds passed. Before he and the others knew what was happening, a circle made of hymnos characters appeared at the center of the area just in front of the statue. Pillars of a piercing, solid light surrounded the circle, until several figures began to appear inside it, Claire and Aurica first, followed by the others. At once, when their bodies were whole again, the Song faded until it was nothing once more, and the group began to look around, they eyes drinking in the new surroundings. Shurelia turned and noticed the dark form Jacqli across from her, then, before thinking, ran over and gave her a hug, her armor seemingly lost in the transition between lands.
As Jacqli tried to pry Shurelia off of her, Croix and Cloche made their way to the heads of the group, Lyner, Aurica, and Claire. "Who, may I ask, are you," Cloche asked in her usually haughty tone.
Lyner rattled off the names of every group member in a monotone, having had to do it many times in the past. "I have a better question, where are we?"
Croix looked at Cloche, a bewildered expression plastered on his face. "Why, you're in Bell Strike Hall, in the city of Pastalia, in Metafalss. Honestly if you can't remember where you are I'm surprised you would randomly teleport from someplace," Cloche said, annoyance riddled within her voice.
"Metafalss? We're from the Wings of Horus!"
"The Wings of Horus?"
"It's a land like this…it even has a tower like that one," he pointed a finger towards the tower, "Though it looks a lot older than that one."
Shurelia appeared next to Lyner, her eyes showing an immense worry in her. "Lyner, let me explain, I think I know what happened.
***
The two groups of companions met in the Grand Bell Hall's throne room, Shurelia standing above the rest on the raised section of it. Her silver hair fell gently on her face, which had morphed into one seen on only the most intent and serious of college professors.
"Ages ago in the First Era, the world was made up of one large mass of rock, but the powers of the ruling Goddess trio couldn't harmonize to hold it up. Land would fall at random intervals, civilians would die. The only things that were never phased were the connector towers, known collectively as Ar tonelico,. The Goddesses could not bear the weight of the land any longer, and divided it up into three main continents, one the Wings of Horus, another Metafalss, and the third one which floated the deepest into the mists of horizon. Since then the Goddesses have had their problems, and commissioned special reyvateils to act as administrators to the land the towers presided over. It is my belief that Aurica and Claire's mothers, as well as others, worked on this pair of hymn crystals because of a growing parasite in the tower system which connects the inner minds of the reyvateils. Only the power of two special reyvateils could purge this looming parasite, which was encoded into the tower's binary systems since their creation, though it lay dormant for centuries. According to ancient documents found in Horus's tower and several places here in Metafalss, the only reyvteils that can sing the hymn to defeat the parasite are male." She stopped to breathe, but more importantly to let the information sink in.
"But Shurelia," Jacqli spoke up, "Ever since the First Era reyvateils have been female."
"That's where you're wrong. The texts also say that many men are born with the reyvateil coding, but do not mature into it under normal circumstances. It is my conclusion that one of the hymn crystals, presumably the one known as Exec_Freedom, is the catalyst in this equation of dormancy. All questions aside, I have concluded that the only two people capable of doing such a thing would have to have diving experience, as they will have to go through a cosmosphere much more rigorous than normal to obtain the crystal. Now who here do we know that has done a lot of diving lately?" A devious grin much like Spica's appeared on her face. The group from the Wings of Horus naturally looked toward Lyner, who had dove into Aurica, Misha, and Shurelia multiple times. Cloche, Luca, and the rest of the Metafalssians looked towards Croix, who had done much the same with Jacqli, Cloche, and Luca.
"Well, it seems to be settled then. Claire, would you please come up here and sing your hymn for us."
Her steps echoed like a thousand drops of heavy rain as she made her way up to Shurelia. Mouth poised to sing, her vocal chords seemed to become tense, as if preparing to scream for her life. Then it began.
(This time, imagine the hymn Exec_Rig_Veda)
Croix and Lyner were enveloped by what appeared to be wings of a fluorescent butterfly. Etched runes in hymnos appeared on their arms and necks. Their armor appeared to melt into empty space, leaving strange robes of silken material in shades of the darkest blues and purples imaginable, like the beginnings of a deep abyss. Claire looked on with a pained look, the song sapping much of her strength. Sweat appeared on her brow, her knees began to buckle under the weight. Just then, it ended, but the cocoon stayed in place. Lyner and Croix's mouths began to open like Claire's, and before long they were singing instead.
(This time, think of Exec_Harmonious)
Light steadily began to turn to darkness, as the wings began to decay and leave nothing but a faint skeleton etched in gravestone gray. Now their robes shone with spots of pure white and yellow. Hymnos characters began to slowly dance around them in a strange ritual, creating strange and frightening shadows moving off the walls of the throne room. Aurica and Misha clung to their respective mates, Cloche and Luca stood near each other along with Claire and Shurelia. Amarie, Cocona, and Shun all had looks of fear stricken upon their faces, as Jacqli just stood watching it with a horror film giddiness. An orb of the darkest black appeared above the death cocoon. A strange land, bright yet bleak, appeared inside it, making it into a strange crystal ball. Images began to flash through it, ones of Lyner and Croix in strange far-away lands, towns burning in pyres, thousands of blossoms coming down in torrents from almost dead trees. The darkness once again began to recede, as the skeleton seeped into it, the air creating an black hole, sucking in all the death and hope in one giant gulp. Lyner and Croix touched down as the Song receded, until all that was left was the throne room and the people inside it. Shurelia steadily approached them, as did the others, taking a moment to take in the strangeness of it all.
***
After all that the ruckus had settled, Lyner and Croix met with Shurelia and Luca, the Dive expert, at the Pastalia Dive Shop. Croix and Lyner barely made eye contact, the whole experience leaving something strange in depths of their minds, struggling like mad to get out. The Dive had no interruptions, though they were warned they must complete a level at a time, not like in other Dives where one can go and come at their slightest whim. Machines made beeping noises, and the hum of generators could be heard in the background as they entered the casket like pods and fell steadily asleep to the white noise behind them.
***
Plop! Plop! Plop! Croix's eyes fluttered open, the sound echoing inside his ears. He tilted his head to the side, noticing drops of water falling into a cracked offering plate. Somehow, his body had appeared in a temple. A statuette of the goddess Frelia was placed above the plate, her eyes seeming to plead for release from her stone prison. Weighty cloth fell from his arms. The robe that had appeared the day before from his armor had turned yet again into something different, though the only real change was an increase in length, and a priest's hood attached to the back. Charcoal writing sticks were scattered about him, a piece of thickened rice paper lay on a writing table in the far corner of the temple room. Dazed, he moved to the desk with one of the sticks and examined the paper.
To whom it may concern, it began,
The temple of Frelia has gone into a near irreversible state of disrepair since the Sacred Army passed through on their way to war with the Tenba Territory north of us. While the plight of a small temple may seem pointless to a government with such responsibilities, I, the priest of this temple, ask the Grand Bell government to provide some money for us to rebuild, and perhaps add on to house the soldiers when they come back from battle. May the blessings of Frelia be with you.
There it suddenly ended. Croix's hands began to shake. He recognized the handwriting. It was his. Carefully he moved the stick of charcoal and put his signature. Shaky, it would have to do. Sunlight began to filter through the cracks in the roofing. Raindrops stopped pouring through, leaving only the leftovers to drip onto the hardened dirt floor. Moving out the temple door, he found a small box marked "Mail" hanging outside the door, next to the name of the temple. City lights could be seen in the distance, as the sun began to set beyond Ar tonelico in the distance.
A figure appeared in the distance, metal clanging as it stepped towards the temple. Shocking blonde hair and defined muscles…where had he seen this before…It was Lyner! Only then did it strike him that they were in their cosmosphere.
***
So how did you like the first chapter? Any comments? Like it? Hate it? Point is, review it! Message me about it! I can only fix it if you tell me what's wrong! Personally, this is my favorite story I have out now, so don't mess this up for me but refusing to read it!!