Tales of Faith

Main Arc

Chapter 8 A Bitter Parting

Fulger Spiral, thriving place of lightning.

"Ahh…Unnh…"

An Audino wearing a large white robe slowly rose up from the floor. "…Cress? Where are you?" she wondered. "Oh… that's right… Cress and I were out and we were attacked…" Audino gazed at a pathway. "Hmm… I think that I should head through there for now…" she said to herself, walking cautiously on the pathway.

The next room that she entered was a medium-sized circular area. She could see a large stone tablet that released several bolts of electricity from her right. In front of her was another passageway, probably leading to another room. At the left, there was a set of stairs that would lead to the lower floors of this area she is in. Audino took time to examine the large stone glyph. "This place… I know where I am… this is the Fulger Spiral!" she said. "Then, if I head down, then I could leave this building!"

"Sorry to say this, but I can't let you leave just yet." A voice spoke, coming from the passageway at the left. "Who-?" Audino wondered before her head suddenly felt heavy. She tried to struggle through this sudden need of sleep, but it was useless… before she fully lost consciousness, she could hear a voice that shouted "Dhaos!"

Meanwhile, at the first layer of Fulger Spiral…

"So this is the interior of Fulger Spiral…" Arturo said, surprised by the relic-like appearance the building took. Lightning coursed through the walls of the structure. The group looked around their surroundings. There weren't any signs of any Black Wings members anywhere in the Fulger Spiral. "This is really strange…" Luca said. "Why aren't there any Black Wings members in the first floor?"

"There should be four main layers in Fulger Spiral." Van explained. "Once we reach the fourth layer, we will operate an elevator there to lead to the upper layer, where the control room is."

"Van, how do you know so much about this place?" Cress asked.

"I remember visiting this place once about a year ago. But I forgot its' name until you said it, Cress."

"I see…" Cress said. "Hm?! Something's coming towards us!" She grabbed her sledgehammer in and swung it on her right, obliterating the object that headed towards her, causing it to disperse into black mist. In front of them, more black blobs appeared from the ground, all familiar to the group excluding Cress.

"Shadows?!" Luca said, casting Aqua Edge on a small Shadow. It dissipates into black mist. "Wh-Why are they here?!" Vanille released several arrows from her Composite Bow that stabbed some of the larger Shadows that appeared before they were split in half by Van's Protect Sword.

"This broadsword's faster than my one…" Van said, sheathing his weapon.

"Hey! I realised that my arrows were suddenly stronger as well!" Vaniille said.

Arturo faced Van. "So, where do we go to now?" He asked.

"Don't worry about getting lost. I'll lead everyone through Fulger Spiral." Van said. "The first layer is just a solitary room. Over there are the stairs leading to the second layer." He leads them to the set of stairs at the opposite direction of the entrance. Heading to the second layer, Van suddenly raises his hand to ask them to halt.

"Shh… There are a few Shadows as well in this layer." Van said. Everyone took a slow peek from the stairs, there were several Shadows in front of them. Thankfully, all of the Shadows weren't looking at the direction of the stairs. "Slowly…" Van took careful steps towards the unsuspecting Shadows, looking in front of them unaware of anything from behind them. "…Void Tempest!" He swung his Protect Sword around in a fan motion. The Shadows, unaware of this sudden attack, were immediately sliced and dissipates into black mist. He looked around carefully. "Hmm… Alright, there aren't any other Shadows in this layer. Come here, everyone." He said, signalling the party to enter the second layer. At this layer, the path branched to a left and forward path, both leading to a set of ascending stairs.

"Go forward. The stairs will lead us to the fourth layer." Van said, directing the party to follow him to the stairs. After climbing through the stairs, they are brought to a large circular base, which there was a large amount of space through the cylindrical structure. "This is the elevator. It'll take us to the upper layer." Van looked at a set of objects, which looked like the control system for the elevator and started to operate it. He paused after a set amount of minutes.

"It's not working." Van said, facing the group. "Let's head back down and go to the third layer. At the third layer, there should be the power supply for the elevator." Following Van, they returned to the second layer and then turned right and headed to the set of stairs which led them to the third layer. It was the largest room that they had ever saw as compared to the first layer. There were giant-sized mechanisms, all exerting a feeling of electricity. Luckily, there were no Shadows present in this layer. Van looked at the colossal mechanisms that were at the walls of the room. "Hmm... the power source must be around here somewhere…" Van said. "Everyone. Let's split up and search the mechanisms. Give a shout if you think you found the power source for the elevator." All seven team members split up to examine the mechanisms. It was complicated, considering the amount of machines in the layer.

"Is this it, Van?" Cress called out suddenly to Van, who was examining a mechanism near Cress. Van walked to Cress and examined the machine. "Hm… Yes, this is the machine. But it looks like the power… ran out."

"Hmm… I think that I can release some electricity through there to activate the system." Cress said. She placed her sledgehammer at the machine, releasing electricity from her to the machine through the sledgehammer. Then, rumbling sounds came from the machine. "The elevator should work now." Van said, calling out for the rest of the party. "Alright, let's return to the elevator."

Returning back to the elevator, Van headed over to the control system. Making sure that everyone was present, he gave a small nod and pulled a switch on the control system upwards. With the sound of sudden rumbling, the elevator began to rise up, heading to the upper layer. "It'll take some time before we reach the upper layer." Van said. "Anyway, how much time has passed before the elevator is operational?"

"Hmm… I think it's about half an hour." Arturo replied.

"Only thirty minutes left then…" Van said. His mind started to become disturbed of the events that were present throughout their exploration of Fulger Spiral. 'Strange… why would the power source of the elevator be out of electricity? As far as I know… the main power source is at the upper layer… Also… it's strange that we haven't even encountered a Black Wings member in this place and not only that, Shadows fill the entire place… I have a bad feeling about this, no, literally… It's like that feeling before we went to the Yggdrasil area in Elder Grotto…'

"Van? Is something the matter?" Sara asked, noticing her brother's worried face. Van's head suddenly rose up. He faced Sara as the elevator continued to move. "…No, it's nothing serious." He assured. He suddenly felt pain in his chest, and looked up. This feeling was too familiar for him. "Everyone! Shadows! They are coming from above!" he shouted.

"Ah?!" Everyone looked up to see four land-based Shadows landing on the elevator. Readying their weapons, the Shadows charges towards the party. Three of the Shadows attacked close-quarters and one Shadow remained far, preparing a spell. Vanille notices the spell-casting Shadow from afar and released an arrow towards the Shadow. Even though the attack did not defeat the Shadow, it was enough just to disrupt its' casting. "That's enough! Reaping Gale!" Elazul made a frontal sweep that tossed the Shadows in front of them up to the air, then he jumped up above the airborne Shadows. "Impulse!" He dove down and struck the Shadows with forceful energy from his lance. The spell-casting Shadow regains its' composure and attempts to cast a spell, but it was crushed by Cress's sledgehammer.

"What was… that?" Luca gasped after the Shadows were defeated.

"Don't drop your guard!" Van shouted. "Another wave of Shadows is heading towards us!"

This time, the next wave that appeared were now three aerial-based Shadows. Now, it was harder for Van and Cress to hit the aerial Shadows, but for Elazul, he jumped above the Shadows, lunging down and knocking one down on the floor. The aerial Shadow struggled to get up, but it was quickly finished by Elazul. "Hasten the times of the spellcaster… Enhance Cast!" Luca chanted. A glyph appeared around him, giving off a yellow aura that surrounded him.

"I won't let you! Ice Tornado!" Luca said. Almost immediately, a tornado of chilling wind surrounded an aerial Shadow. It was knocked down by the spell, and Cress swung her sledgehammer downwards to finish it. The last aerial Shadow started to attack by sending small projectiles of wind at the party. Arturo dashed quickly to the aerial Shadow until he was in front of it. "Tiger Blade!" He made a swift upward slice on the Shadow before following up with a downward slice, ending the last aerial Shadow.

"Just one more Shadow is coming… and it's a larger one this time!" Van said.

"Third one's the charm, right?!" Luca asked as the Shadow landed on the elevator. It was larger than any of the party members. It held a club of great size, and the power that emanated from it… it was fairly strong as compared to the other Shadows that were previously encountered. "…It's a Great Warrior. It's a formidable foe when it comes to Shadows." Van said.

The Great Warrior said nothing, and swing its' club to the party. "Watch out!" Sara shouted, moving to a safer area as the party dodged the club. Everyone scattered to different directions to attack the Great Warrior. It, unlike the Shadows that were encountered, did not stagger that easily when it is attacked. The Great Warrior continued to swing its' club in a wild manner, forcing most of the physical combatants to step back in order to avoid the attacks. Van and Arturo released several Demon Fang arte to the Shadow when they are far from it. Vanille continued her ranged assault on the Great Warrior. Elazul and Cress had no ranged arte, so the both of them had to move around and wait for the large Shadow to attack before counterattacking.

"There!" Vanille said, extending the bowstring and raising her bow upwards. The arrow started to give off a bright light. "I can see those weak spots! Here goes! Astral Rain!" She released the arrow that despite the ascending elevator, the arrow still made its way to the space above the elevator. Then, it gave out a bright shine. As it came down, it appeared as multiple beams of light, crashing down on the Great Warrior before one larger beam of light made a powerful force that threw the Great Warrior up into the air. As it landed on the ground, Arturo readied his Sword Lute, a glyph appearing below the Great Warrior as he strummed the strings in a fast pace. "The sound resonates to the audience, and it's curtains for you! Blood Entangler!" Arturo shouted. The glyph shot out a massive beam of light upwards at the Great Warrior. The Great Warrior finally gave in to defeat as it evaporated through the Mystic Arte.

"…That's all of the Shadows that we're facing for now." Van said. "And we're reaching the upper layer now." The elevator started to slow down as it came to a stop. The party has now reached the floor below the upper layer of Fulger Spiral. There was a set of stairs in front of them just after they left the elevator. "Hngh?!" Van suddenly knelt down, clutching his chest. It was suddenly erupting in pain, and he knew why. 'This sensation… it's somehow like the Shadows… but it feels worse!' his mind said.

"Van?! Are you alright?!" Luca gasped.

"Huff…I'm… alright…" Van said, feeling the pain in his chest subside. "…Listen, everyone. Above us through these stairs is the main power source for Fulger Spiral to send electricity to the other cities. I don't know what could be waiting for us, but is everyone prepared to head up?" He turned his head over to his sister. "…Sara. Just stay put." Sara gave a small nod.

"…We're ready." The party said.

"…Alright. Let's go." Van said, leading the party through the set of stairs. The room above them, the upper layer, was a medium-sized circular room. There was a large stone tablet that released several bolts of electricity through it. They were not the only ones in the room. There were three other Pokémon. One was resting at the wall in front of them, another was just floating near the stone tablet, and the third one, who was also floating, loses its' aerial state and collapses on the floor just near the party. Vanille and Luca were shocked to see that third Pokémon.

"Uxie!?" Vanille and Luca shouted, running over to the wounded sprite's side. Uxie's body was bleeding all over and he did not respond to Luca nor Vanille, meaning that he has lost consciousness.

"Hah… the Lake Guardians are still as pathetic as ever… Using diplomacy on an already hopeless battle…" A voice chuckled. The party turned their heads over from Uxie to the owner of the voice. He is a blue dragon Pokémon with black pelt from his torso to his head and arms. The party could notice that his hands… weren't actually hands, but heads. He wore a large black mantle that covered most of his body. An orb floats beside him, and around his main head, a pitch-black pendant.

"You're a… Hydreigon…" Cress said.

"This obvious question does not need to be answered." Hydreigon said. Cress noticed someone resting at the wall in front of them, an Audino familiar to her…

"Heart!" Cress gasped, then she glared at Hydreigon. "What did you do to her?!" She demanded.

"Simple: I took a brief analysis of her abilities…" Hydreigon replied. "…It is saddening to say that she isn't the one that I am searching for, at least for myself."

"SHUT UP, BASTARD!" Cress swung her sledgehammer towards Hydreigon. Hydreigon just simply raises his left head, erecting a barrier to shield him from the attack. Cress forced herself to step back. "Grr…" She should have known that this simple attack was nothing.

"Ah…" Hydreigon suddenly said, as if something that he forgot has returned to him. "Introductions, introductions… I forgot such an important matter like this when I meet someone unfamiliar. My name is Dhaos. Few know me of this name, or some call me the 'Demon King', or finally the great leader of the Black Wings."

"Bl-Black Wings Leader?!" Luca shouts. Dhaos took notice of the Politoed shaking all over. Not only that, he could sense the elaborate fear of Van, Arturo and Cress. Vanille was shocked, but he could tell that she hadn't heard of him at all. It was clear: everyone was facing one of the most powerful villains that roamed around the Niata region…

"Hmm hmm…" Dhaos chuckled. "Looks like there's no need for me to fight these young fledglings, since all I need is my name to defeat my enemies…" Then, he suddenly moved away as an attack tried to land on him. Turning around slowly, he could see Elazul at the wall, his lance digging deep into the wall. He could sense it… The Noivern had nothing unlike the others… He had… anger.

"Dhaos…" Elazul said, a deadly glare present in his eyes as he pulled his spear out from the wall. "We finally meet… Now I can have revenge for what happened six years ago…!" Dhaos looked at him with uninterested eyes. "…And what might that be?" He wondered. Elazul lunged again, and Dhaos easily dodged that attack. "Don't play dumb!" Elazul shouted. "You know very well what happened to me on that dreaded day! All this time… I've trained for six years… and now you shall experience my hatred! I swore to myself that only I will be the one who will spill your blood!"

"…So, there's someone who's not frightened of me, but despises me greatly… What powerful darkness…" Dhaos said. He looked at his surroundings. "…I would like to kill all of you slowly and painfully, just to hear the cries of despair just like the victims that have met me… But it seems that I have more… important matters. Now if you'd excuse me." Dhaos said, and then he dodged another attack from Elazul. Dhaos floated to the left passageway in the room.

"GET BACK HERE!" Elazul shouted, chasing after Dhaos.

"Elazul! Stop!" Luca shouted, running after Elazul, although his speed was slower as compared to Elazul.

"Wait, Luca! Elazul!" Vanille shouted, ready to chase after them, but a sudden rumble through Fulger Spiral knocked her off her feet. "Wh-What's happening?!"

"I'm not sure!" Cress said, rushing over to Heart, shaking her in hopes of helping Heart gain consciousness. Van ran to the small panel just in front of the tablet. "…Oh no, fifteen minutes left before R.D.S runs out of power… But the current energy levels are not enough!"

"Cress! Can't you release a lot of electricity for R.D.S?" Vanille asked.

Cress stopped shaking Heart, and looked at the panel. "No! I don't have enough electricity for the lost amount!"

"What do we do?!" Vanille asked.


"Storm Thrust!" Elazul screamed, thrusting his spear to Dhaos. But once again, just like the other attacks, Dhaos easily evades the attack. "RAAGH! CYCLONE SURGE! ROARING STORM! CYCLONE GALE! IMPULSE!" Elazul's attacks continued to miss Dhaos, and the more frustrated he was, the more attacks he unleashed through his anger. Soon, the fight brought them to a room. "…You've got nowhere else to run… Now I can finish you…!" Elazul spoke.

"You don't even realise the state of your own body, do you?" Dhaos suddenly said. "Repeatedly using artes without rest… and your body's already at its' limit of combat." Elazul grunted. But Dhaos was right, his body was completely exhausted from continuous usage of artes. "Instead, you're the one who's at the disadvantage." A large circle started to appear in front of Dhaos as he raised his right arm, the orb glowing as energy started to form in the circle.

"…Dhaos Blast." Dhaos spoke.


"What do we do?!" Vanille shouted. "We can't get a lot of sudden help from the skies!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Cress screamed, pressing button by button on the panel. "GIVE ME TIME TO THINK!"

"Damn…" Van mumbled. "Just a minute left…" Then, he heard a melody.

"Tue rei ze croa riou te ze."

"Croa riou ze tue riou rei neu riou ze."

Vanille started to sing that song… the Fonic Hymn. Van, Arturo and Cress stared at Vanille, hearing the strange melody coming from her. Then, suddenly the whole structure violently shook. "Ngwah?!" Cress, Arturo and Van struggled to keep their balance. If they could see the exterior, they would have realised that lightning bolts are now striking the Fulger Spiral, and all of that energy is coursing through the entire structure.

"Huh?! The energy! It's being restored!" Cress exclaimed. "Give me a little more time… Release!" She pulled down the switch, causing a powerful discharge of electricity to be sent to the power generators for R.D.S. The violent rumbling soon came to an end. Vanille stopped singing as well. Then, she suddenly began to fall forward, losing consciousness. "Vanille!" Arturo rushed and grabbed Vanille.

"That was close…" Arturo said. He then noticed Van walking to the stairs, probably going to check on Sara because of the sudden rumbling.

"Heart?" Cress asked, returning to the side of the Audino. Soon, the Audino's eyes began to move, slowly opening. "…Cress? Is that you?"

Cress gave a sigh of relief, smiling. "Yes, Heart, it's me." She replied. "But I couldn't have done it alone. I needed assistance from a group of strangers, but I feel that I could trust them." Then, Van suddenly returned from the stairs, a look of worry on his face.

"Sara's not at the elevator!" Van said. He gave out gasps, looking around frantically before dashing madly to the left corridor. "Van, hold on!" Arturo said, running after Van.


"Elazul!"

Luca finally made it to the end of the corridor. He was deeply horrified to see Elazul unconscious, trails of scarlet liquid escaping from his mouth. Quickly facing his right, he saw Dhaos. "He wasn't worth my time." Dhaos simply said.

"You! I-… I'll fight you!" Luca stuttered, but the pressure in his body was telling him the opposite, that there is no way that he could even touch Dhaos. Dhaos simply had an uninterested look on his face, simply raising his right head, pushing Luca to the wall with an unseen force. "Aah!" Luca screamed, landing at the wall and falling down. He felt a fair amount of pain from just that simple force. He didn't want to think what other spells Dhaos had that was more powerful than this spell…

"Hm." Dhaos grunted, pointing his left lead to the corridor, as if waiting for someone to arrive. "Luca! Elazul!" A voice shouted. Sara appeared from the corridor, and Dhaos just flicked his left head. A barrier immediately surrounded Sara, carrying her until she was near Dhaos. Soon, Van appeared from the corridor, a face of horror present when he saw his sister.

"Sara!" Van screamed. Sara was saying something, but the barrier was blocking any words from escaping through it. Grabbing his sword, he swung it towards Dhaos, but the attack was easily evaded. As Dhaos landed at the end of the room, Cress, Heart and Arturo, who is carrying Vanille, arrived in the room. "Hah. I have wasted too much time here." Dhaos said. "Now I shall take my leave." And with those words, Dhaos immediately vaporized from the party's sight and Sara disappeared along with Dhaos. Van hurriedly ran over to the spot where Dhaos floated at. "Sara? Sara?! SARA! ANSWER ME!" Van screamed, turning his head around frantically.

Luca stood up slowly, the attack from Dhaos still taking effect on his body. Then, he felt the Guardian Emblem vibrating in his robes. Pulling it out, Azelf's projection was shown from the crystal. "Luca! The power in R.D.S is working fine now! Anyway, did you find Uxie?" The blue sprite asked.

"Y-Yes… But he's gravely injured…" Luca answered.

"What?! Show me!" Azelf demanded. The party returned to the main area of the upper layer, showing Azelf Uxie's state. Azelf remained silent after seeing Uxie. "Azelf?" Luca asked.

"…I will take everyone here back with the Guardian Emblem. So long as the Emblem is not too far from us, I can focus power to transport the area around the wielder to Lake Purity."

"But what about Sara?!" Van demanded, holding Elazul on his back, careful not to let his large weapon harm the Noivern.

"Sara? What happened?" Azelf said. "No, better still, explain everything to me and Mespirit when you get back!" The Guardian Emblem gave off a bright glow, engulfing everyone around Luca. What remained at Fulger Spiral after the glow ended, was nothing.


"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Everyone screamed, landing on a wooden table, which was unable to hold all of the combined mass, collapsed and the party rolled on the floor. Azelf and Mespirit looked at the party lying on the floor. "Someone must really fix that Guardian Emblem…" Mespirit said as the conscious party stood up after that nasty landing. The two Lake Guardians quickly headed over to Uxie, taking him to a room. Before they reached the room, Van quickly talked to them to see whether they could locate Sara.

"We will help to heal Elazul." Cress said. "It's what we can do for rescuing Heart…" Heart gave a nod as she and Cress began to carry Elazul to a separate room. Soon, after they entered the room, Vanille regained consciousness as she started to get up, rubbing her head. "Oh…. Huh? We're at Lake Purity?" Vanille asked. "So, does that mean…?"

"Yes, we have resolved the problem at Fulger Spiral." Arturo said.

"We did…? I don't remember… only after screaming at Cress, my head suddenly felt heavy…" Vanille said. She then looked to notice Van pacing around the inn. "Why's Van pacing around? And where's Sara?" she asked Luca.

"Umm… well… you see…. Sara has been captured by Dhaos." Luca responded. Then Vanille's face reacted with shock, and before she could say something, Luca dove his hands to cover Vanille's mouth.

"Mmmmurhhht?!(Whaaaaaat?!)" Vanille said through the muffling.

As they waited for either result to happen, Arturo, Van, Luca and Vanille waited at the inn lobby. Vanille decided to sit on the table, as she waited for a lost memory of hers to return. Finally, after an hour, Azelf and Mespirit left their room. They were clearly exhausted.

"Is Uxie alright?!" Luca asked, rushing to the sprites.

"Uxie's fine… He needs to recover, so any questions for him will just have to wait." Mespirit replied.

"Any luck with finding Sara?!" Van asked.

"Sorry, the both of us weren't able to detect Sara at all…" Azelf said sadly.

Van's head lowered down. "…It's…It's my fault… That Sara was captured by Dhaos… no, wait… it's not my fault…" Luca looked at him in confusion. All that happened at the next moment was really quick. Van suddenly grabbed Luca by the robes and forcefully thrust the Mage to the wall. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING BACK THERE?!" Van shouted.

"H-Huh?!" Luca screamed.

"Van, calm down!" Mespirit shouted.

"IF YOU HADN'T STOPPED DHAOS, MY SISTER WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY HIM!" Van roared, ignoring Mespirit. "No… No…" He gave a sigh of hopelessness, suddenly releasing Luca from his hold. He gave out breaths that obviously signified worry. "…Sorry, I need time alone…" The Monferno said, storming out of the inn.

"Should we follow him?" Arturo asked the Lake Guardians.

"His feelings are gravely focused on worry and fear…" Mespirit told Arturo. "We will need to let him cool off for now…" Arturo gave a small nod. "Hmm… I guess so…" he agreed. Noticing Luca making a sigh, he asked the Mage. "Hm? Luca? You don't have to feel bad for what happened to Sara."

"I know…" Luca said. "It's just… that… Ela-" He shook his head. "Never mind…" He looked around, soon noticing something. "…Hey… Where's Vanille?" He asked. The rest of the group took notice of Luca's question and they themselves also looked around the room. She was no longer on the table she was sitting on. "Looks like Vanille's not in the inn." Azelf said. "She could have left the inn..."

"That's settled." Arturo said. "Luca and I shall leave the inn, not to search for Van, but for Vanille. Would that be alright for you, Luca?"

"Huh? Hmm, yeah, I guess so." Luca said. His mind was still in thought of what happened to Elazul. For him and Uxie to be battered to this state… He knows that Dhaos was really strong. But there must be a way… a way to defeat Dhaos… Agreeing with Arturo, the two exited Lake Purity. Upon leaving, Luca suddenly bent down, pressing his hand on his head.

'…Hnn?! This feeling… I've felt this before…' Luca thought, before his head blacked out suddenly.

Chapter 8 End

Current Party:

Luca R. Ezperanda (Politoed) – Experienced Mage (A careful throughout learning of spells is a step closer to being a great mage.)

Weapon: Oak Staff (Staff)

Arturo Carpaice (Servine) – Air-Headed (Sometimes… he's, well…)

Weapon: Sword Lute (Sword Lute)

And so… Fulger Spiral's story ends… The group manages to rescue Heart… but Sara is now captured by Dhaos… and Uxie, Elazul and Luca were easily defeated by him… What… power…! Now, Van is worried about his sister and left the inn, and Luca and Arturo are ready to look for Vanille, but Luca suddenly receives a sudden migraine. Just what could he be sensing?

So… below the 'current party', it means that the party that are currently active in the story, so… unconscious characters does not count yet, but anyway, Heart makes it as a party member.

Skit: Worrying about Van

Luca: (depressed emotion) "…"

Arturo: (surprised emotion) "Luca, is anything the matter?"

Luca: "What Van said earlier… it's true, isn't it?"

Arturo: (normal emotion) "Hmm… It could be, but it could be not. Honestly, I am unsure."

Luca: "…That Dhaos guy is really strong… Elazul and Uxie were…!"

Arturo: "…Luca. I'm sure there could be a way to defeat Dhaos. And like I said, you don't have to feel so bad, since you're not actually at fault in here." (pauses) "…I'm not helping out, am I?"

Luca: (weak smile) "Don't worry… You're doing good…"

Arturo: "Hmm… We still need to let Van cool off. He probably won't like to see you again in this state. So let's find Vanille for now, alright?"

Luca: "…Alright."