Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Phantasia or Tales of Symphonia. Which means I don't own Yume wa Owaranai (the song in this chapter) or Suzu's Sweet Tooth title. They're all owned by Namco.
--Unlucky One--
We walk towards the cave in complete silence besides Noishe's panting. Cless is asleep, Suzu doesn't talk much, Noishe can't talk... I want to hear someone's voice and talk to some, but I don't really know what to say... it's an awkward silence... Let's see, how can I break it...
"Hey, Suzu, do you know what Derris-Kharlan is?"
"Derris-Kharlan? ...I've heard something about it... All I know is that the king is interested in it. I don't really know what it is, though... Sorry." After another pause, she says, "Where'd you hear about it?"
"Fenrir mentioned it. She said that Noishe has been there..."
Suzu stops. "It's a place?"
"From what I could tell, yeah," I answer as I stop walking as well. Noishe also halts and stares back at us... I wonder if he knows what we're talking about.
"The ninjas have searched all of Aselia, though... It couldn't be on this world unless it's under the ocean or something...
"Is it a code name for something, then?"
"I don't know... Hey, Chester, have you ever heard of a Derris Emblem?"
"Not since losing my memory... why, what's that?"
"It's an artifact they found in Dhaos' castle," Suzu explains. "Maybe it has to do with Derris-Kharlan..."
"Dhaos' castle... that's not Derris-Kharlan, is it?"
"I don't know. We can explore it when we get there."
"...Yeah... We'll do that. Let's just get to the cavern for now." I start walking again, past the ninja. Noishe also starts up, staying in the lead. We enter the Cavern of Spirits with no problem, and inside we quickly fine the Clay Idols.
"It's the ninja! It's the ninja!" they cheer as they begin dancing. Suzu looks bewildered by this sudden attention and turns to me, not knowing what to do.
I laugh at the young girl's confused face. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, you're a celebrity here. You and Arche helped them out in your past life, and now they love you."
"O-oh... Um, hello..."
"Hey, can you take us back down to where Gnome used to be?" I ask the creatures.
"Sure! Follow us!" They lead us back down through the long cavern... I've seen it all before. It's just the same as before... dark, damp, many stairs downwards... I would just wait at the entrance for Suzu to return, but... it could be dangerous for her to go alone...
We reach the cavern where I met Gnome, and here Suzu stalls—she must be remembering something. The Clay Idols are running around... wait, are they playing tag? They are... Wow, I don't know whether that's weird or cute...
One of the Clay Idols jogs up to me and taps me. "You're it! You're it!" It then turns and dashes away.
"Wait, I didn't ask to play..." The Clay Idols are all near the exit out of this particular room, and I think they're sticking their tongues out at me... "Okay, you asked for it!" I start chasing after them, and the Idols scatter. I chase one to the left, which leads us through a door. This is another one of those areas with a path surrounded by water... I better not trip. At the fork in the road, the Clay Idol takes a left. Yes! A dead end! It tries to hide behind the stalagmite in the area, so I slowly walk up, a grin on my face. "You can run, but you can't hide!" I peak over the large stalagmite and reach a hand down, grabbing the little creature. "You're it!" The little guy laughs as he struggles in my grip. I let him go, and he dances around saying, "I'm it! I'm it! I'm—"
There's a loud roar that's enough to shake rocks from the high ceiling down around us. I jump over the stalagmite and cover the little creature next to me as water splashes around us, soaking me and taking a few of my arrows in its rapid current. When the water dies down, I spin around to see what's there.
Sticking out of the water is what looks to be an overgrown snake. It's tiny, bright scales are aqua, and its head is covered in white spikes that continue down its back. Its eyes are crimson and glare down at us, and a blood red tongue hisses out from between long, pointy teeth. Around it are long, blue tentacles popping out of the water.
I push the little Clay Idol back with one hand as I pull my bow off of my back with my other. "Get out of here. Quickly!" As it runs, I draw an arrow from my quiver and aim it at my enemy. "Thunder Blitz!" The arrow hits the creature and explodes into lightning, but the monster doesn't even blink. It opens its mouth and roars, sending another wave of water at me—I try to stay standing, but the current's too great—my body flies into the stalagmite behind me, the point hitting my back. Ow! That hurt... I shoot another arrow at it, lodging yet another into its scales. This isn't going to be easy... As I notch another arrow, the creature lunges at me, its ugly mouth wide open. I forget the arrow and jump out of the way, rolling on the ground—whoa! Almost fell in the water... The stalagmite that I was leaning on is now a mess of rubble. Well that's comforting...
As the snake draws its head back, I steady the arrow and shoot. Again, it doesn't seem to do anything...
Whoa! I'm being lifted off of the ground... oh no! One of its tentacles is wrapped around me... I struggle, trying to get out, but it's no use. It drags me out over the water. No... I can still shoot at it! I pull an arrow out and take aim. Wait, this time... I got it! I'll shoot for the eyes! I pull the arrow back... "Thunder Blitz!" Ack! Just before I released, the tentacle holding me shook... It's waving me around now... Oh no, my arrows! I put one hand over my quiver, trying to keep the rest from falling out.
"Chester!" That sounds like... Suzu! I can't see her—ah! It pulls me underwater... I'm not prepared—I don't know how long I can hold my breath! This hurts... I can't breathe, I can't breathe no matter what... I have to get out of here... I have to...
The thing's grip around me loosens, enough for me to get out. I immediately push myself up and start swimming as fast as possible. It's so dark... I think that's the surface! I burst above the water, coughing for air. Suzu's fighting the creature... she jumped on it and is attacking from its back.
Someone else breaks out of the water—wait, Suzu?! But she's up there fighting... and down here swimming... what?! "Suzu...!"
"It's Mirror Image. I'm the real me, and that one's the fake. Come on, we need to get to land before it notices us." The ninja begins swimming to the little spit of land I had been fighting on. I swim after her, and we both quickly pull ourselves up on the land. The fake Suzu goes flying off of the monster, and as it hits the cavern wall, it vanishes into thin air.
"I'm glad that's not the real you..." I mutter as I grab an arrow—many of them are on the ground, but luckily, they don't look damaged. I notch it in my bow and aim up, higher than the creature's head. "Wild Rain!" As my arrows fall down around the monster, a few hitting it, Suzu throws a dagger—"Merciless Thunder!" The dagger lodges into the creatures head and explodes into lightning. At our attacks, the creature finally lets out a little yelp in pain. All right!
It charges its head forwards again, and I jump up, aiming my bow down without an arrow. "Eagle Shot!" The blades of wind cut through the monster's skin. Suzu's on top of the creature, stabbing it. As it thrashes its head back, Suzu jumps off, doing a back flip—one of the tentacles hits her, making her lose her perfect balance. I reach up and catch the young girl as she falls in my arms. I set her down and pull out another arrow... I'm running short on arrows! I need to get all I can out of these last few... I charge up lightning energy, and the arrow begins sparking. "Thunder Blitz!"
As my arrow hits, Suzu jumps to the side of it, slicing through its scales with her dagger—as she reaches the wall opposite of us, she puts her feet on it and pushes off the wall, back towards the creature. She slashes through on its other side before—err, she's a little short on that jump... She falls into the water. "Suzu!" The monster glares down at where Suzu fell, maroon blood gushing from its long, snake-like body. I aim another arrow and shoot at its eye; the monster lurches back before turning its attention back to me, furious. I see Suzu surface as I reach for another arrow—ah great. I'm out. There are some more on the ground... next to the edge of the water closest to the beast. Great... Well, I can still use one or two more Gale Shots before I'm out of energy... As the creature swings a tentacle at me, I jump above it and take aim. "Gale Shot!" Suzu climbs out of the water. Good...
As the ninja stands up and prepares her daggers, something aqua dashes past us... Noishe! He slams into the monster, knocking it against the cavern wall. The creature screams as they both fall into the water. "Noishe!" Wait, where was Cless?! I glance around to see him lying near where we entered this area, all of the Clay Idols surrounding him. Still asleep... I turn my attention back to the water. Noishe is now dog-paddling over to us, and there's no sign of the monster. I glance down into the water, which is starting to turn crimson... The overgrown snake is lying in the water, dead.
I allow myself to fall to the ground, exhausted, while Suzu helps Noishe out of the water. Suzu pats the dog and they both walk past me... Ugh, I guess I should follow... Fine. I force myself up grab the three arrows on the ground; I follow the other two fighters back to Cless and the Clay Idols, where the ninja sits and the dog lays down. I also sit, pulling some apple gels out of the pack on Cless' back. I offer some to Suzu, who gladly accepts and begins snacking. I start munching on one as well. While we rest, the Clay Idols are dancing and cheering, offering us smooth pebbles in "honor of our victory over the big bad evil snakey creaturey thingy"... Haha, I can't help but laugh at that! I've never heard something so ridiculous before! We decline the gift of pebbles, but they stuff some into our pack anyway. Oh well, I guess we might as well humor them... These creatures remind me of human children, the way they act... Well, human children that aren't Suzu... seriously, does that girl ever show any emotion? She's not laughing or anything... she's just quietly eating, observing the Clay Idols.
"...Hey, Suzu, can we stop by Miguel? I'm almost out of arrows..." She gives a slight nod. And... quiet again. The Clay Idols are still dancing... I'd rather have one of them than this awkward silence! Or... maybe even her... No, what am I thinking? She'd just cause trouble, and we'd only argue more... It's probably better that she isn't here... so then why do I... miss her...?
"Are you ready?" the ninja asks as she stands.
"Yeah." I stand as well.
"We shouldn't linger too long... we have a lot of places to go."
"Right. Then help me with Cless..." Together, we lay him back over Noishe's back. The Clay Idols lead us out, bouncing the whole way. As we walk into the light, they wave and make us promise to return. We walk back to Miguel in silence, crossing the bridge and following the stream through the forest. In town, I hurry to the weapons shop, where I buy a quiver full of arrows. "You used to make all of your arrows, you know." Klarth told me that... I guess I'll start making some every night. Then I won't need to worry about running out like that... or running low on money because of my arrows. I meet Suzu and Noishe at the northern exit of the town, and we continue our journey. "Where are we going next?" I ask.
"Lone Valley."
Lone Valley... that's... Ack! That's where Arche's house is... What if she's there? Suzu leads the way across the hilly green landscape, either not knowing or not caring that that's where Arche lives...
Again, the walk is pretty quiet. We rest at the top of a small cliff with a dark, withered tree... the cliff overlooks the city of Euclid; we decide to eat here... I offer to cook, but Suzu ends up doing it anyway. I help create the fire, and before long, she serves up french toast. Huh, what's this brown thing in it...? And this white powder...? The ninja begins eating with some of the plastic silverware we brought. I pour syrup over mine and then cut a piece. I slowly take a bite.
Wow, it's really sweet! This is chocolate and flower on it... it's surprisingly good, too! It tastes almost like a snack... I wouldn't have thought of trying something like this. "It's really good, Suzu!" I complement, but she doesn't even notice—she's too busy eating. Wait, she looks happy... Does she... like sweets? Heh, I guess she's just a kid after all! I'm glad to see her happy about something... She really needs to learn how to open up and show her emotions a little.
After eating, we pack up camp and kill the fire. We head down the cliff, on the opposite side of the valley than where we entered. Just a little further... Ah, and here are some enemies. A pair of large birds—I shoot out the wings of one of them while Suzu fights the other. "Hell Pyre!" With that shot, it dies, its feathers burnt. I turn around to find that Suzu has finished hers as well. We continue our trek.
We walk straight past the city of Euclid and across the bridge to its east. We follow the beach north only a short while before arriving in Lone Valley.
Arche's house is right up front... I don't see anyone outside, luckily. Why am I so worried about it? She knows we have to come here... I take the lead and march past her house, not looking anywhere but straight ahead. I keep walking straight, following the curves of the valley. At the first entrance to the cave, I enter. We hurry up the steps and to the right. It's been a while since I've been in here...
"Merciless Thunder!" I hear lightning explode to my left and turn that way to find a basilisk. That's the creature that turned Presea into stone last time...! I pull out an arrow and shoot—it hits, but the creature opens its large mouth and shoots a laser at me. It hits, knocking me back. I pull out another arrow and shoot, while Suzu continues fighting it up close. I shoot an arrow right into its mouth—it coughs up blood before it stops moving... We continue walking.
At the end of this path, I see the rope Morrison tied to the rock... Oh wait, Noishe won't be able to climb down, and I can't just leave Cless here unguarded... figures. "Suzu, I'll have to stay up here to guard Cless and Noishe. When you get down there, just follow the path, and you'll go left..." I know these aren't the best directions, but I can't really remember exactly how the path twisted...
"Understood. I'll be back shortly." She grabs the rope and slowly climbs down, while I take a seat. We already have a lot of hardships... I hate to split up like this, but we can't let them take Cless... I yawn. This is boring... I hope Suzu's not having any trouble down there. Maybe we should've used our cell phones to communicate, so I'd at least know what's going on...
Soon enough, the rope moves a little. I glance down to notice Suzu climbing back up. Good, everything's okay... "You get it?"
"Yeah." She's climbing up rather quickly... she's a really talented kid!
"Efreet!" The fire summon suddenly appears next to me, holding up a ball of fire. Balls of fire shoot downwards at—oh no! The rope! I reach down to grab it, but I miss—the rope and Suzu both fall into the darkness.
"Suzu!" I call down, but below I hear her crash into the ground. Oh no... Efreet disappears, and I follow his red, fiery energy to the owner of the pact: Klarth. "Why did you do that?! She was defenseless!"
"I'm taking Cless. Either you can hand him over or you can die like the girl," the summoner says coldly.
I pull out an arrow and notch it on my bow, taking aim. "Sorry, I don't like either of those options!"
"Stubborn..." He begins concentrating on another summon.
"Wait, Klarth! I want to ask you something!" He stops and stares at me, surprised. "Why... why are you doing this?! Why did you betray us?!"
"You mean you want a reason?" Hey, he sounds a little too surprised...
"Yes! I do!"
"To save Aselia. You don't need to know any more than that."
To save Aselia...? But... "I don't believe you. If you were doing things for good, you would've consulted us!"
"Would you be willing to make the sacrifice?" Klarth asks seriously. "In order to save Aselia, something else must be lost. ...I don't think you could handle that."
"What do you mean?" I ask, relaxing my grip a little. I can't tell if he's telling the truth or not...
"Are you saying you wouldn't mind sacrificing people for the sake of this planet? Would you be okay with that, Chester?"
He means Cless, doesn't he? No... I couldn't just hand Cless over for him to die, whether I like him or not! "What if there's a way without sacrificing people?"
Klarth begins laughing.
"I'm being serious!"
"Wake up, Chester. The world isn't that perfect. You should already know that it's easier to lose than to gain... This world will die without Martel, and we're going to bring her back and make sure she never leaves again."
Martel... Fenrir asked me to bring her back... "I'm trying to bring Martel back, too... But I'm going to do it without sacrificing anyone!"
"...I'm bored with your silly ideals. I'm taking Cless now," Klarth says as he begins walking forward.
I tighten my grip on my bow and aim it at him. "Don't take another step!"
He stops. "I thought you didn't want any sacrifices."
"I'll fight you... I won't let you hurt anyone else!" Even as I say it, my hands tremble a little. This is Klarth I'm talking to... He was my friend... he's helped me out so much... When I couldn't turn to anyone else, he'd always be there... I try to steady my hands, but it doesn't help.
He begins walking again.
"I said don't move!"
"You wouldn't shoot me," Klarth says confidently as he walks straight towards Cless.
He's right... but I can't let him know that! I aim the arrow enough in front of him so it won't hit and release. He finally pauses and turns to me, surprise on his face. "I said don't move," I repeat as I pull out another arrow and aim at him again.
"Wow, you have more guts than I expected! Still, a wasted effort... I know you won't hit me with one, no matter how much you threaten."
No... It didn't work!
Now he's walking towards me, though being how I'm right next to a growling Noishe and Cless, it doesn't make much of a difference. "You won't kill me, Chester," the summoner says. "After all, I'm the closest thing you have to a father, aren't I?"
He knows?! He's right, too... I hate this! Holding his book in his left hand, he lowers my bow with his right hand. "Klarth... don't do this..." I should pull my bow up, but I can't... it's pointless to, anyway... The threat doesn't work on him...
"I don't know what he's thinking, putting his trust in you..." Klarth mutters. "You couldn't do anything anyway... Still, I won't let you get in the way any longer."
I see a glint of metal—a dagger?! I dodge back out of the way, and the dagger cuts through the side of my right arm. I wince, barely managing to keep a hold of my weapon. Now his book is under his left arm, and his left hand holds the dagger—he switches it to his right hand and slowly walks towards me again. I try to back up, but the cavern wall is behind me. No... this is just like what happened with Cless...
"Crow Blade!" Klarth spins around just in time to hold his arm up to block against Suzu's attack. He stumbles backwards, causing his hat to fall off; his is arm bleeding, and Suzu lands gracefully on the ground.
"Suzu! What took you so long?!" I demand.
"I had to find another way up," she explains. "Sensei! It was you, wasn't it?! You took Origin and the Eternal Sword in Treantwood... and attacked me..."
"That's right. Honestly I would've liked something more direct... but I guess it works out better this way."
What is he talking about?! This isn't making any sense... And who put their trust in me...? I don't understand at all... I wish he would explain...
"But why didn't you just take it then? You had plenty of chances to run with it. Why wait?" Suzu asks. "Curt could've stolen it and we wouldn't have known your true intentions—why give it to us?"
"...Why bother taking it then? I could have it at any time, especially with it in Chester's hands. Besides, I didn't have your trust yet, Suzu."
"So it was all to gain our trust?!"
"...No, not all of it. Anyway, I'm tired of this small talk..." He puts the dagger up and holds his book out. As he concentrates, the pages of the book flip and a large green circle of light appears under him. He flinches for some reason and the light disappears before reappearing.
"Let's go!" Suzu slides under Klarth and begins concentrating. "Shadow Storm!" The leaves swoop us up, and next thing I know we're in a city... is this Venezia? It is... Suzu breathes easily.
"Hey, why don't we just warp everywhere?" I ask.
"It's not that easy. I can't warp that far—though the power I got at that place seems to have increased my range. Second of all, it takes a bit of energy, so doing it constantly would drain me. And finally, it's lazy not to walk when you can. You can train more and build up your endurance by walking."
I didn't need a lecture... I was just curious...
"Let's find a boat." We walk to the harbor, Noishe following obediently behind us. Wait a second... Klarth's hat is in his mouth! I stop and pat the dog, taking the hat out of his grip. Klarth betrayed us, but... I don't want to let this go. I strap it on to the back of the pack. There... I take an apple gel out of the pack and stuff it in my mouth, and my arm begins to heal. Now then, the harbor... but last time we went to the Limestone Cave, we didn't go to the ships over here...
"Wait, Suzu. This way," I command as I head for the plaza. There was a path behind the plaza... ah, here it is. I follow the path past the ferry and to a large ship. I walk up the ramp and look for the captain... He's to my right. "Excuse me, Captain."
"Yes? Ah, adventurers... Are you looking to travel?"
"Yes."
"Where to?"
"Do you go to the Limestone Cave?"
The captain grins. "You've come to the right place. This is the only ship in Venezia that goes to dangerous places like that... That'll be 200 gald per person and 300 for pets, bringing you to a total of 900 gald."
Wow... these things cost a lot... I hope I have enough... Yes, I do. I hand him the money.
"Thank ya. Feel free to relax along the way." He turns and walks to the front of the ship while we go below deck. This is the same ship... the same one Jerald died on... I walk into the bar area and take a seat. I seem to have lost the others... I hope Suzu's watching over Cless.
While there were lots of people last time, there's no one this time... I order water and some meat stew. It's starting to get pretty late... I guess we'll get Suzu's power here and then rest in Venezia for the night. Hopefully Klarth won't catch up with us...
...But what did he mean about saving Aselia? What must be lost? One thing's certain: if I let Klarth get his way, people will die... people already have died for this... I don't mind fighting the knights, but I don't want innocent people to die, no matter what. And I can't even bring myself to fight Klarth... How am I supposed to stop him if I can't fight him?! And what's worse is he knows I can't fight him... He knows... I have to get over this! I have to fight him... After all of the things he's done, how can I just let him walk away?! It's because of him that Lynn died in the first place, that our plan failed, and that Cless is unconscious... And he tried to kill me...! I have to fight him, for everyone's sake! Next time I will shoot!
That's not all that bothered me... Who's putting his trust in me? And just what is he trusting me to do? "I don't know what he's thinking, putting his trust in you... You couldn't do anything anyway... Still, I won't let you get in the way any longer." What am I supposed to do...? Klarth said I couldn't do anything, but I'll show him! I'll figure out what I'm supposed to do, and I'll stop Klarth! I won't give up, no matter what!
...Still... maybe there's still some good left in him... If he's really trying to save Aselia, then he's working for the benefit of this planet, right? And not everything he did was just to gain our trust... So what was true and what was false? What am I supposed to trust...?
Soon after I finish my stew, Suzu enters saying that we've arrived. I leave a tip and follow her and Noishe to the surface, where I see the familiar cave in front of us. "Let's make this quick. I don't feel like getting soaked again..." I mutter as we walk towards the entrance of the cave.
Inside, I lead the way to the best of my ability... we went forwards and to the right a lot, right? This looks familiar... And there's lots of water. I really hope nothing big pops out... I hate wet clothes...
I hear the water bubbling to my right and take a step back, pulling my bow off of my back and an arrow from my quiver. Next to me, Suzu prepares her dagger. Not another large monster...
A small ghost—a Charona, I believe—pops out of the water. It stares at us with trembling eyes... is it a baby? It looks a lot smaller than I remember the last ones looking! And it looks really scared... I sigh and return the arrow to my quiver. "Don't worry about it, Suzu. There's no point in fighting such a young creature." Suzu nods and we turn and resume walking. As we're walking, Noishe starts growling; I turn back to see what his problem is only to see fire all around us—we're hit by its fire spell. Ouch! That really hurt!
"Okay, that's it!" I pull an arrow back out and notch it, taking aim. Suzu rushes up to the thing at an amazing speed. "Ice Fang!"
"Crow Blade!" As she spins down on the creature, my arrow bursts apart, sending ice through its body.
...The creature doesn't look phased by our attacks. Ah great.
"Thunder Blitz!"
"Mirror Image!" Two Suzu's appear again and begin whacking at the creature, which starts punching her back. I shoot another arrow at it, which whizzes over the ninja's head and hits the creature dead-on. All right!
The Charona giggles as it continues fighting Suzu as if my arrow was a feather. Oh come on now! That's just not right! I shoot again.
The young girl flies back next to me, both her and her transparent version wiping their chin as they sit up. I load another arrow and pull it back to shoot. Ack, more fire! It engulfs us, and fire balls rain down on us. Ow ow ow... these hurt...
...And my arrow's broken. Figures. I pull out another and jump into the air, aiming below the creature. "Sonic Bash!" The arrow hits the ground below the ghost, sending stones flying into it. "We can't let it get off any more spells!"
"Right!" Suzu says as she throws an apple gel in her mouth and zooms forwards again. She and her transparent copy slash at it as fast as they can, while I send more arrows into it. The Charona hovers backwards, out of Suzu's range and dodging my last arrow. It stares at us with teary eyes, making me think of a sad dog...
The water begins bubbling again. Next thing I know, two more Charona come up, both of them four times the size of the small one. Uh-oh... this doesn't look good... "Retreat! Wild Rain!" I send the arrow up and it splits into more, raining on the three and giving Suzu and Noishe enough time to run. I follow behind them as fast as I can, my only goal at the moment to get away from the Charona family.
Whoa! During my running, I almost fell into a hole—I would have if Noishe hadn't latched on to my shirt! Suzu grabs my arm and helps me regain my balance, and I fall backwards, on to the ground. All three of us are panting, and Cless is still asleep, unaware of the danger around him. Geez, he's such a heavy sleeper that I'd think he was dead if I couldn't see him breathing!
Suzu's face goes blank—hey wait, did we make it to Undine? Where's the spirit, anyway? I should probably warn her about Klarth... I stare down into the hole. "Hey Undine, I'm back. You there?"
No answer. Has Klarth already been here...? "Undine?" Still nothing... there's no sign of life in the hole. I guess he's already taken her... Keh. Now he has another spirit to use against us...
"I'm ready," Suzu says.
"That was fast. ...Think those Charona are still waiting for us?"
"Probably. How 'bout I warp us out?"
"That'd probably be best... I don't think we'll get through the three of them easily."
Suzu begins charging up her spell and I stand up, patting Noishe on the head. "Shadow Storm!" With those words, we're warped to the port. Wow, that one went really fast! Three summons in a day... This is great! At this rate, Lynn will be back in no time! We board the ship, and as I go to rest below deck, the captain sets off. Noishe follows me, so I finally pull Cless off of him and lay the boy down on the bed. I pull the covers up around him... I wonder when he'll wake up... And I wonder what I should do while waiting to get back to Venezia...
What's this music? It sounds so upbeat... The voice, a female, sings, "Mitsukete your dream, koware, kaketa. Toki ni umoreta, sono chikara ni, kizuite. Mitsukete your dream, doko e, itemo."
...Hey wait, is that my cell phone? Oh, it is! I answer it. "Hello?"
"Onii-chan..." Ami's voice whimpers softly. "I'm scared..."
What?! Ami...! "W-what happened?! Is everything okay?!"
"Milard's hurt... she fell down the stairs earlier... I heard her arguing with someone earlier, but I don't know who... And... and she told me to run, and that I was in danger... I don't know what to do, Onii-chan!"
"Where are you now?"
"I'm at that large tree near the village..."
"Does anyone else know where you are?"
"N-no, no one..."
I need to get to her quickly! But... "Where's Fenrir?"
"Back at the mansion... Milard told me to go without telling anyone..." She sniffs a little... is she crying? She must be so scared...!
"Fenrir can protect you, though! I'll tell her to find you—don't worry, she'll make sure nothing happens to you. And I'll be back there as soon as I can, promise."
"Onii-chan!" she calls out. "I want to go with you! I'd feel safer being with you! Please..."
What should I do...? This journey's too dangerous, she could get hurt! And plus... "Ami... it's too dangerous. I can't protect anyone—the last time I tried, Lynn..."
Ami gasps.
"What's wrong?!"
"I... hear someone..." I'm pretty sure that's what she said... it was too hard to hear. No, Ami!
The ship rocks violently, making me fall and drop the phone. "Ami!" I reach out to grab it, but the ship rocks again and the phone slides out of my reach.
The door slams open and Suzu rushes in. "Chester! We're off course... the wind blew us too far in the wrong direction! And I think I saw an armored fish-girl..."
A fish-girl? Does she mean... Undine?! Ack! The ship rocks again, like it's hit by something hard, and we both fall back on the ground. A sword stabs the side of the ship near us, making water gush into the room. As the sword turns to make a larger hole, Suzu and I load Cless onto Noishe's back; the dog takes off running, Suzu behind him. I have to find my phone—Ami needs me! I'm knee-deep in water, which is quickly rising... Where is it...?
"Chester! Hurry up!"
I have to find it... The water's up to my belt now. There's someone else here—Undine! It is her... which means... Klarth's doing this?! She raises up her large sword, a hurt expression in her eyes.
I jump back out of the way, which causes me to fall under the water. Ah, there's my phone! I grab it—ouch! It shocks me... No, it's too far destroyed... Ami, I'm sorry... I surface, only to find the water's climbed quite a bit. I won't be able to run... I spin towards the door and begin swimming as fast as I can, the level of water rising quicker than before. I don't see Noishe and Cless... Suzu's waiting for me, swimming in place. As soon as I get close enough for her liking, she turns and also starts swimming towards the exit. Was she... worried about me? That I wouldn't make it? Thanks, Suzu...
My head's touching the ceiling now, and the door to the deck is still far away... As the water climbs higher, I take a deep breath and dive underwater. I continue swimming forwards, Suzu doing the same in front of me. She reaches the stairs and goes above water. I'm almost there...
Something grabs my ankle; I spin around to find Undine stopping me. No, I'm so close! And I can't hold my breath much longer... I pull out an arrow and try stabbing her, though my actions are slowed by the water. Luckily, waving it in her face seemed to do the trick... she lets do, and I drop the arrow and continue swimming.
As I surface, Suzu grabs my arm and attempts to help me up. I'm coughing a lot, and the water's still rising... if I don't move quickly, I'll be underwater again! I hate water...
We run towards the front of the ship, which is rising as the back of it falls. Many sailors are up here, trying desperately to save their ship. The captain's here, too.
"Captain!" I call out as we run towards him. He stares at me with sad eyes.
"I'm sorry... there's nothing we can do... Please take an escape boat."
"But—"
"Captain!" a sailor cries out in the chaos. "We're going to hit the mountains!"
Good, that means we're close to land—
"Ahhhh!" we all scream as the boat hits the rock pieces start flying. I'm falling, though whether I'll hit land or water, I don't know... Everything's exploding around us. There's a piece of metal flying towards me—
Suzu gained the title of Clay Idol Hero. Whenever the Clay Idols need help, she's there to save the day!
Suzu gained the title of Sweet Tooth. It is a title given to one who likes sweets.
Chester gained the title of Unlucky One. It just isn't your day, is it?
Suzu learned Mirror Image.
Suzu learned Shadow Storm level 2.
Suzu learned Omega Storm
Chester received Klarth's Hat.