Chapter 36: Trial of Hope
-Armlock, Dias
Extra training sounded like a good idea; Dias felt fairly certain that he could do fine against one of their enemies, but there was a chance they'd have to fight more at once and it would be good to make sure the others were strong enough. He didn't want to see anyone among his friends die on this mission. However, there was a problem before they could even start training: the last battle had wrecked a lot of their old equipment, including his father's sword. It was a big disappointment to have lost it, especially in a way that would be unrecoverable. Claude had offered him the basic long sword he had still, which was functional but reduced his fighting capacity. At the end of their meeting with Narl, Dias brought up that problem. It was one of the new members of their group, Chisato, that offered the solution. "There's only one place on Energy Nede to get weapons or armor and that's Armlock. I know the best craftsmen there. Once they hear about what we're doing, I'm sure they'll help us out."
But on arriving at the shop Chisato and Mirage took them too, Dias felt suspicious. They only had one forge, and that was behind a glassed in wall that couldn't entirely be seen. It was in a cluster of rooms along with a kiln and a glass workshop. In a way, it made sense for all these crafts that required lots of heat to be clustered around a main furnace. Still, only one forge and this was the only place on this whole world that made weapons and armor? "That doesn't seem right," Dias told Chisato after look over the place.
"On your world, it wouldn't' be," she said. "But there's hardly any fighting outside of sport here, so we don't have to make this kind of gear. Still, they take a lot of pride in it and hold crafting competitions regularly."
"How do you know so much about Expel?" Rena asked her.
Chisato grinned. "I'm a reporter, and I happen to be the Expellian chronicler. We've been able to watch your world for a long time; it interests a lot of people. So I've been watching you for a while now, hope you don't mind."
That also didn't feel right, being watched by unseen viewers. This world was strange. Before he could say that, the head blacksmith of the group finished reading the note from Narl. "All right, so you're the ones fighting the Ten Wise Men… sure, we'll get you the best we've got in. Might be costly on us with the materials, but it's more important to get rid of them and return Expel back to its proper place."
"That's great," Chisato said. "I knew we could count on you guys."
"Um, if you're worried about materials, I can give you the ones I have," Rena said, pulling a small burlap sack out of her travel bag. It seemed full of rocks, but when she opened it up, several rolled out onto the table as they were all perfectly round like marbles. "Really, I've just about run out of these small bags to put them in and I don't know what to do with them."
"Where did you get all these?" the blacksmith said, picking up a red one that had a golden glimmer in the center. "This is a really fine star ruby marble."
"It's this Trickster bracelet I have," Rena said, taking a second full sack out. "It does give some nice things I can use sometimes, but I've only had a couple of weeks and it gives so much stuff."
The blacksmith was now examining a blue one that might have been a sapphire. He nodded. "That's quite an artifact. These would help with customizing the pieces, so we should be able to get you exactly what you guys need. Thanks, that helps a lot."
"Then that must be an authentic Trickster," Mirage said, seeming impressed. "I've heard that it can be a blessing that quickly becomes a burden because it's incomplete."
Rena looked over the bracelet, then held it out for Mirage to see. "Well I don't have to worry about money with it, I think, even if it is overwhelming. But that's what the last person who worked on it said, that she couldn't complete it for lacking something to finish with."
After a critical look, Mirage nodded slowly. "I see. I think I know what it needs and I don't think Trickster itself will give it to you. But I should have some of it back in my workshop. Do you mind if I try to complete it? The final piece should still give you valuable and useful things, but it's said to be wiser with its generosity."
"That'd be great, are you sure about it?" Rena asked, slipping the bracelet off.
"Sure, it'll be fun," Mirage said, taking it. "And I think I'll take a couple of these marbles too; I could use some on the time-space research. I'll be back here in a couple of hours."
It seemed that the Nedians had the same enchantments on their closets as Rena had on her bag, since they were pulling out an improbable amount of items out of storage while trying to find replacement gear for them. Much of their equipment did appear to have remarkable craftsmanship. At least an eye for detailing, as everything was made to be an art piece on top of whatever function it had. One of them gave Dias a ring made to look like stars linked together; it was supposedly a magic shield they called a star guard. He tested it out by putting it on and slamming his hand into the side of a heavy worktable nearby. The blacksmith winced at that abuse, but a magical shield appeared and kept him from hurting his hand at all. Impressed by that, Dias accepted the star guard instead of using a regular arm shield.
Their best equipment was for the magic users, as it seemed Nedians were very proud of their heraldry heritage. That was fine; Dias didn't know about Noel, but Rena and Leon could use the extra protection for what they were all getting into. One of their crafters spent some time resizing some of the robes to better fit Rena and Leon once they figured out the best ones to use in combination with their elements. While there wasn't as many options for the rest of them, they had the star guards and some star greaves that were quite nice, along with chainmail armor and helms made entirely from mithril. That seemed extravagant to Dias; Claude's sword having two mithril charms had been the most he'd seen on one item before and those were quite small. But they were quite strong when he and Ashton tested them out. The Nedians even had some armor they said was only for female fighters. Odd, but Chisato, Opera, and Precis seemed happy to accept full sets of those.
"I was afraid these would be obviously showy pieces," Opera said, wearing the Jeanne armor set. It did have a strong feminine silhouette, with an armored overskirt over the greaves. "But these are pretty nice and modest."
Chisato was amused at that. "Hah, well you don't mess with a Nedian woman out to protect her own."
That left their weapons to take care of. For some reason, Ernest asked the crafters if they had an electrical workshop for him to work on his own weapon. They did and let him borrow it, so he took off and didn't even take one of the material marbles with him. Opera and Precis soon followed; the latter already had a remade weapon, but Opera wanted to adjust her weapon in the same place. Most of the others seemed satisfied with what they had, which left Dias and Ashton to work with the blacksmiths on getting their weapons upgraded.
Dias' first attempt to customize the long sword got him a sword with a noticeable curve and a white sheen. The blacksmith had to identify it. "That would be a Pleiad Sword. It's a great deal stronger than it was before."
"I'm not so sure about the curve," Dias said, giving it an experimental swing. It moved through the air differently, looking almost like the surface of a river when used.
"This doesn't have as many options for it to customize further," the blacksmith said. "Want to try again?"
Dias nodded, taking a star ruby from the group that the blacksmith offered him. When he'd seen Leon helping Claude, there had been mention of the user's thoughts affecting the customization results. But what did one think about for this? He just wanted something that worked closer to the katana he was used to.
This time, it was a straight blade but still not a proper katana. It was apparently a Soul Slayer, which did sound like it would be more effective if it struck right at the soul of the enemy. But he decided to try again. The blacksmith was certain that they had a Soul Slayer in storage, so he could always ask for that if this next customization failed. After some thought, he decided on a sage's stone to combine it with.
It certainly didn't fail. This one gave him a katana, one that had a deep red blade and an edge that seemed like it would even outdo his father's old sword. When Dias first held it, he felt an uneasiness with its appearance. But it was an incredible weapon. "That would be called the Crimson Diablos," the blacksmith said. "I haven't seen that weapon before; there's an enchantment on it I can't quite figure out. But, it seems like it would be stronger than it appears."
"It looks strong," Dias said. He decided to stick with it and see what that enchantment would do.
"You sure you want to be using a sword named for a devil?" Ashton asked, apparently done with his work. He now had a pair of swords in the same style as what he normally used. However, this pair had glossy black blades with glints of something else, almost like the night sky.
He shrugged. "It might have the strength of a devil; we could use that now."
"As long as it's just the strength it has," Ashton said. "I'm not sure what to make of what mine are called. Might be something the translators can't quite get, because Melufa doesn't mean much to me."
"No clue on that one," Dias said.
"You all done?" Mirage called into the workshop as she came in.
"It's been a couple hours already?" Ashton asked, puzzled.
"Right, you guys were busy," Rena said. "Opera, Ernest, and Precis are still working on something, but I think the rest of us are ready."
"Good, because I'm done," Mirage said, handing the bracelet back to Rena. "Here's your Fortune; should be a lot easier to handle than Trickster."
She smiled as she put it back on. "Oh, thanks! So what did it need?"
"Pure heraldic power crystalized into a physical form," she explained. "Basically what your people call energy stone, only refined a great deal further and processed differently. It's the same way your pendant was made."
"Oh would you know how to find where this one was made? Since it should help me figure out who my parents were."
"That'll take some more research on my part," Mirage said.
Some laughter came from the hallway where the three others had disappeared to. As they came out, Precis said, "Aw come on, I want to see the rainbows!"
"Be patient," Opera said, mischievously smirking. "I might blast out part of their walls, or at least a window."
"It'd take quite a lot to take out these walls," Mirage said.
Opera nodded. "Right, but since we no longer have to worry about galactic laws here, we set our weapons back to their normal state. Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't. Although you still need to keep that deconstructor gun locked."
"It's a last resort weapon," Ernest said. "Or if I get annoyed at a sealed door."
Mirage glanced over them all, coming to the entrance area of the workshop. "All done now? Good. You'll need to take a ferry to the entrance of the trials. Quickest way to get one of those is to take the teleporter over to L'Aqua so you're right on the water. You might want to use the facilities at L'Aqua when you want to rest too, since it's not as active as the towns. Just holding onto the rune codes will let you into the trial area. If you want to put them on hold, find a signpost that matches them and activate the switch on the side of the sign. You do have to all be together, but you'll be transported back to the point you left off at when you approach the trial entrance again. Got it?"
It sounded like it would make more sense when they got there. Still, it had been a long day, coming from the beach on Eluria all the way to this new world. They decided to get something to eat in Armlock, then head over to L'Aqua to spend the night so they could start the trials fresh.
-Ashton
Since they were taking a boat out to the trial, Ashton expected the trip from L'aqua to the island would take a couple of hours at least. Not so; this ferry seemed as fast as Ernest's flying ship, racing across the small waves at speeds higher than one would expect from its small frame. It was barely ten minutes before they arrived at an island that didn't seem entirely real.
It might be natural. The ground was rocky, covered more in moss than in grass. However, there were no trees, it was strangely flat like someone had smoothed it out that way, and it had seven even straight sides. In the center of it, there was a strange building also made of seven exact sides and an architectural style that didn't make sense. Decorative pillars had geometrical designs, but also extremely thin portions that didn't seem like they should hold up the higher designs. Parts of it looked very old and mossy, while other parts were clean and polished. While it certainly looked mysterious, Ashton thought it was tacky (especially after seeing what they could do with their armor).
Claude brought out the rune codes, written on a series of stones linked together with rope. "Well just holding this is supposed to get us in, so let's go." The rune codes flashed before they even took a step, momentarily blinding.
Then they seemed to be in the ocean, under the water. Yet not in the water; someone had made glass powerful enough to hold back the ocean, in a long tube that stretched gently downward. They could see fish swimming by in large schools, even the sun shining above the water. "Wow, this is awesome!" Precis said, going over to one of the curved walls to take a closer look at a jellyfish.
"It is a nice place, better than I'd expect a trial to be," Ernest said.
"Are you all right with being in here, Leon?" Rena asked.
Ashton wondered why she asked that, but Leon did have an odd look to his face. He pricked his ears up at her question, then said, "Ah… it's very noisy here. Doesn't seem quite right."
"Try to keep focus on us," Noel said to him.
"It's not that noisy in here," Ashton said.
"He hears magic, especially water magic," Rena said. "So this place will have a lot of noise to him if the water keeps so close."
Leon started to walk ahead, then paused to scratch his head. "Um, well… we're in the Trial of Hope's front side. It should be just a straight walk from here. I can sense the back side of the trial like through the crack of a door. Do we have to do both sides, or just one?"
"I only ever heard of this having one side to it," Chisato said.
"I can hear bits of the other side too," Noel said. "But as for how to reach it, I have no clue. Let's just go down this path and see what's here to test us."
There were a few monsters on the path down, some of them fairly strong. However, this was all a straight tunnel where they easily saw the fights coming and they had better equipment than before. None of these fights were much trouble. That is, until one froze them in place while seven of those giant slugs that swallowed people whole started crawling towards them.
'Your world is dead, its killers stronger than gods. How can you save anyone now? How can you trust these strange people who admit that they watch you without you knowing about it? Can they really save Expel? And if their people are the ones who made those monsters, then why are they sending you to fight them instead? You'll fail in a vain effort, so there's no reason to continue on. Just go back and protect yourself. You are the last…'
A strange voice assaulted Ashton's mind with what were actually valid questions. But, he couldn't give up now. There was still a chance to save Expel; they had to believe in that. It had to be possible. Otherwise, they might as well give up in despair and nothing would get better. This way, they might at least destroy those who had destroyed Expel. Ashton broke out of the time freeze as did several others. He rushed forward to fight against the slugs before they reached other members of the group, although his friends quickly joined in.
This battle brought them ten feet from a large circular door into the earth below another island. On one side of the door, there was a six foot tall hourglass filled with pink sand, slowly marking the time. On the other side, there was a stone slab marked with the rune codes and a message: 'Start with Hope, for without it none else is possible. Plan with Intelligence, to see the way forward. Set off with Courage, driving on through the unknown. Go with Strength, to uphold conviction. Remember Love, to know what must be protected. Keep Humility, to remember goals that must be finished. Lastly, see with Clarity to know the meaning of it all.'
"Are those the names of all the trials?" Rena asked.
"That's right," Chisato said. "It's the virtues that a Nedian wizard is supposed to keep. Though you could say not all of them did past the trials."
"I think this is the first time I've seen the virtue of love in the middle of a sequence, not at the beginning or end," Ernest said, amused by it. Had he been through trials like this before? He had explored many places before.
"It is not greater or lesser than any of the others," a strange voice said. It seemed to be coming from the hourglass. "But like the sign says, if you don't start with hope, you won't get anywhere."
That was the hourglass, Gyoro said, then decided to speak aloud, "What's the inanimate object doing talking?"
"I'm not the inanimate object, dragon," the hourglass said. Or whatever was talking through it. "I'm speaking through it. I'm the guardian of the Trial of Hope, Dreampeace."
"It's a spirit living on the other side of the trial," Noel said.
"Hey, how do you know about that?" it asked. "Wait, never mind, that's a silly question isn't it? I was the one who froze you here, but you all had the hope to break out of the spell. Hmm, so then…"
"That means we pass, right?" Claude asked.
"Normally. This time around, though, you're a large group. So we do things differently by making the back side of the trial available. What will happen is that at the start of each trial, the guardian will pick out one or two of you that it likes and send them to the back side. Once both sides are complete and the guardian pleased, you will all pass. How's that sound?"
"Seems reasonable," Claude said, glancing around at them. Ashton nodded too; it was a little worrisome if they couldn't help the other side. Maybe they could by finishing this side? "But, does that mean we have to start this one over? It was just a straight walk down here.'
"The back side is harder," Dreampeace explained. "It's that way for all of them. And I already have people on the other side."
"But we're all here," Claude said.
Dreampeace seemed amused. "So you think. But maybe time would have flowed differently. Maybe someone else would have joined you, while one of those with you would have decided something else was more important to them. There are others who might have been here had time been different. They're the ones who are here… oh, I think they've gotten done too. Time flows different…" the sand in the hourglass shone.
Then three ghosts from Expel appeared. Ashton felt surprised because he recognized two. One was a woman who had to be a Mars sorceress, with many heraldic tattoos on her visible skin; that was Celine. The other was an older man with a strong physique but intelligent eyes; that was Bowman. And the third… she was someone he was certain he'd never seen before, a young woman with a long brown ponytail and a plush hand on a stick attached to her back.
"I thought you said you'd take one or two, not three," Precis said.
"Huh?" Dreampeace said, seeming confused. "Oh… huh. I thought I only called Celine and Bowman. I'm not sure how this Welch woman got here…. But I drew those that represent hope to your group. Perhaps her too, somehow."
Then the three of them turned from ghosts into real people, if only for a moment.
-4D chatroom
CJ*: What did you pull us out for?
CJ*: Hey, wait a sec…
Ashe*: Wow how'd you get a star CJ?
CJ*: I guess the same way you did?
Penny*: That's cool!
Dano*: What are we talking about?
Ashe*: Looks like it's the whole group.
Enlo*" Not my doing, I just called everyone out of immersion.
Blair*: The media network asked us if they could broadcast the sequence from Eluria Tower to the end of the Fienal Plaza battle, that's how the stars got there.
Nancy*: Even the mod, huh?
Blair: I'm not supposed to have one.
Dano*: Did they have a big audience then? I didn't think one show was enough.
Jeb*: It must have been enough.
CJ*: Enlo? Gonna explain any time soon?
Enlo*: Yeah yeah, I've got something.
Enlo*: I think I can get you and Jeb into Celine and Bowman, at least for the duration of the Trial of Hope. Want to try?
Enlo*: Not sure about Blair.
Blair*: I'd like to see that; I should be able to get Welch if she showed up there.
Jeb*: Sure, why not?
CJ*: They're going to be behind the others, but it'll be nice.
Blair: Someone back at the office is going to get a smack on the head for this star business.
Penny*: haha, that's silly.
Enlo*: In the meantime, we'll pause the rest where they are and see what it's like on the other side.
Dano*: Hey, do you think it's creepy to be watching them like this? Dias was thinking that a little while back about the Nedians watching Expel.
Nancy*: Maybe a little, but the difference is that we're helping them at the same time.
CJ*: Yeah, you could say the same for any show that follows real people. I don't think this is too bad since we help out.
Enlo*: We're like angels to them, don't worry about it.
Enlo*: Okay, ready for you two to log in as those two characters.
-Trial of Hope, Celine
She woke up and wasn't sure when she went to sleep. If anything, Celine was certain that she hadn't gone to sleep in a cave. This one didn't look like any particular cave she recognized; the walls were dark with trickles of water running down them, a crooked stream cut the ground unevenly. The last thing she remembered…
There had been an earthquake that lasted for over ten minutes, tearing the castle apart. She had found Chris and had run out of the collapsing building with him. But then the air seemed to be crushing her with its heat somehow and… well she wasn't sure past that. Shuddering at the memory, she started down the only way she could go. There had to be a landmark or something down here that would help her figure out where she was and why she was here.
At a junction in the cave, she came across two other people coming out of other tunnels. One was reassuringly familiar, even if she hadn't seen in him a long time. "Bowman, great to see you! Do you have any idea where we are, darling?"
"Hey Celine," he said, nodding to her. "As for where we are… nope, sorry, I don't recognize this place. It's definitely not the sanctuary. Just…" a troubled look crossed his face. "Where were you last? I was at home in Linga with Nineh."
"I was outside of Cross Castle with my husband." That was extra confusing; how had they run into each other from separate continents? Celine looked over at the younger woman there with them. "You have any idea where we are?"
"Hmm, sort of, maybe," she said, putting a hand to her cheek. Her actual hand, rather than a cloth hand on a stick that she had for some strange reason. "We're in the Trial of Hope. It's a test, mainly for those who have hope for us, so we've got to have hope in them so they can do something great. Come on, there's not a lot of time." She headed off down the remaining tunnel that none of them had come from.
"What do you mean by all this talk of hope?" Celine asked, following her. Bowman decided to come along too, not that there was a lot of choice to make in it if they wanted to figure this out.
"It'll make sense by the time we're done," the strange woman said.
A short time later, they came across a large cavern. Large stones came up from the ground, making the cavern something of a maze (if an easy one because there were higher ledges to climb up for a look down, as well as lots of gaps to look through). A large stone slab full of writing was nearby, as was another strange young woman. This one was wearing a puffy white and pink dress with a short skirt, long trailing ribbons, as well a matching big hat. "Hey, it's you!" she shouted, pointing at them. "I'm here to take my revenge!"
Celine glanced at Bowman, figuring it might be another one of his old girlfriends. However, he seemed equally confused. On the other hand, the girl with the hand on a stick glowered at the other. "HEY! You're the one who was messing with the stars, weren't you? You know how I feel about that!"
"Ah, what are you doing here?" the girl in the ridiculous costume said. "Erm, well…"
She whipped the hand on a stick off her back like a weapon. "You wanted vengeance, huh? I'll give you vengeance, Puffy!"
"Waaait, I can explain!" she shouted, but bolted into the maze the moment the other girl started running.
"What was that about?" Celine asked.
"Not a clue," Bowman said. "But since we're here, let's figure out this trial business. I have a funny feeling that it will turn out to be important."
She nodded. "You're right. That stone seems the best place to start."
At first, the letters on the stone slab didn't make much sense. Then they began to glow and shift, taking on familiar forms they could read. 'Start with Hope, for without it none else is possible. This is a story of love that wasn't spoken, left in hidden threads of yearning. Only one thread made both connections, but none had hope to act on their love. Set the statues to those they hope for and find the guardian between the two who should have succeeded if they had hope.' Following that was a long list of what a dozen people loved about someone else.
"This looks like a complicated web of passion," Celine said, smiling at it.
"No kidding," Bowman said, studying the list and patting his pockets. "Wish I had something to write with on me; this could take some doing to deduce."
Noticing a black stone on the floor that looked right, Celine picked it up and dragged it across the ground. It left a mark. "This looks to be charcoal, so it'll work in a pinch. Let's go look for these statues."
Not far from the stone slab with the story, they found a statue of a woman. It wasn't painted, but great care had been taken in the details of her face, jewelry, and hair. She stood on a circular base that seemed like it could be turned readily. On the top of the base, the name 'Mihane' was written. "The slab said that Mihane liked the sparkle of the stars, I think," Bowman said.
"Maybe a feature of another statue," Celine said, glancing around. But at the wall of the cavern, she spotted something sparkling. "Or wait… there's a mural over there of stars. Maybe she's supposed to be looking that way, so she didn't love anyone in particular."
"Might be," Bowman said, taking the statue's shoulder and turning her to face that way. There was no click or anything that said it was right. "Wait, I think there was another hint, about a man who loved a lonely maid. It might mean her."
They did find the man, named 'Darren', and faced him to look at Mihane. Still no clue that they were doing things right, but something did happen. Celine's vision blurred and like a dream, she saw something of their past, when they had first met each other as teenagers.
…
Her parents had told her to stay at the home of her fiancé's parents and be a good young lady. But Celine didn't like that. Why should she be stuck inside on a beautiful day like today? Fortunately the Jeanes were reasonable people and didn't mind if she went outside to read the heraldry books she'd borrowed from the university library. Linga was a pretty town; they even had a bench on the bridge over the stream running through it, which made a nice place to read.
At least, she'd thought so. There was a bunch of kids running around and screaming in play. Not only were they disruptive, but they made her feel jealous. When she had been a young girl, the elders of Mars Village were strict about how much playing and yelling the kids could do. Always had to be proper and well-behaved, but that looked so much more fun. There were also the university students milling around, talking and apparently doing some experiment that involved black powder to make a lot of bangs. Celine left the bridge and went looking for another place to study.
But the whole town was busy today, or at least it seemed so. She didn't really find a quiet spot until she went past the town gate to the roadside. Out there, she came across her fiancé. Bowman was an attractive and intelligent guy, he had that much going for him. Still, he was nearly twenty, which was older than she expected. And he seemed to be capable of flirting with every girl but her, which was frustrating. Celine had only been here a week, but she knew of at least three other girls who were trying to get between them already. There were probably more around that she hadn't noticed or met yet.
Well, they were already engaged, so she ought to at least be nice to him. "Hello Bowman," she said. "What are you doing out here?"
He looked over from where he was crouched in the grass, then waved at her. "Oh, hey Celine. I'm looking for some herbs for my pharmacology master. I can at least get the common ones out here. What about you?"
"I've been looking for a spot to study," she said, holding up the large book she had. "But this town is so noisy."
"It can be some days," he agreed. "What're you studying?"
Celine decided to sit on the ground near where he was. "Astrology and star magic right now. I want to go back to studying fire magic, but the elders say that we should study several fields before settling on an element and type to focus on. But I already know I want to stick with fire magic. There's a lot you can do with fire magic, but it doesn't seem like there's much you can do with star magic."
I have seen some of the others do neat stuff with fire magic," Bowman said, sitting down on the ground too. "But you know what kind of magic I always wanted to study? Healing magic."
"There's no such thing," Celine said. She'd been disappointed to learn that, since it seemed like it would be even more useful than fire magic. "Nobody knows any runes for it."
He rubbed his chin. "Yeah, but you ever wonder why it doesn't exist? I think it should. I mean, look at potion making and pharmacology. We can make potions with magic or without, and it can imitate magic or not; it's like magic in some ways. But you can make potions that heal when you can't find runes to heal. I don't see why that should be, and that's why I switched over to pharmacology from magic. I figure if I can figure out what makes potions heal and mimic magical effects, then maybe I can work out runes for healing by following similarities between potions and runes."
"It might work," Celine said, although she wasn't sure.
"Have to try, even if it is a lot of studying," Bowman said. After a minute of quiet, he got back up. "Hey want to go on an adventure? Not too far, just to the sanctuary cave in the mountain. But there's so many trails there that you'd have to really try to go the same way twice, and there's lots of neat hidden spots. We can be back by dinner."
I should be studying, but that sounds more interesting," she said, getting up and brushing dirt off her cloak. As they walked along the road, thoughts came back to bother her. Eventually, she told him, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not really sure about all this."
"Going to the caves?" Bowman asked. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."
Celine blushed. "Not that. Um, I mean our getting married. You seem nice and all, but it just hasn't set in for me, I guess."
He looked up for a moment, thinking, then at her. "You know what I think about it? I think they considered everything but us in this arrangement. With my dad being head of the university now, it's all about forging a bond between Linga and Mars over one between us. I'm not too sure about it either, but our parents are saying it's a good thing. But then, you are still a kid in some ways."
I am not a kid," Celine insisted. "Well, maybe compared to you"
"Well, we have a year until you turn fourteen to figure this out," Bowman said. "Let's forget about it for now and go exploring."
…
As her vision was returning to the trial cave, Celine heard Bowman say, "Been a long time since then, it seems; I almost forgot about it."
"About what?" Celine asked. "That memory from when we were still engaged?"
He shook his head. "Not that particular day; though that was fun, I remember you hurling fireballs at a precarious rock and getting frustrated that it wouldn't come down like you wanted. And eventually had to switch to wind blade to get it down."
She laughed at that. "Right, but it did get that chest open. I remember it; that was the first treasure I picked up on an adventure. We split up, but ever since that day, I knew I wanted to be an adventurer."
"And now you're a princess; funny how things work out." Bowman rubbed his chin. "I mean about finding healing runes through studying potions. I got so caught up in learning medicine, illnesses, and health that figuring out the heraldic runes for it slipped my mind."
"It can't be too late for that," Celine said. "Especially now that you've become good at healing through medicines. Plus I've seen a girl who has healing spells, but can't explain them. I think you can still do it."
"I think we know the same girl," Bowman said. "You're right, I might be able to make progress on it now. Well not now; now we'd better figure out this puzzle."
Looking through the cavern, they found the ten other statues and had to figure out which way to turn them. Some of the clues were easy to figure out, like how only one of the statues wore a crown of flowers and another statue was said to love someone for their love of flowers. Others were tricky, like 'Luke' who was lined up with four woman and his clue wasn't very clear. But as it turned out, 'Luke' was one of the correct pair, along with 'Millia'. Once all the statues were facing the correct way, a fairy in a pink dress appeared between Luke and Millia.
"You did well in solving my riddle," the fairy said. "I am Dreampeace, the guardian of Hope."
"Good, but what are we solving this riddle for?" Bowman asked.
"Do you know these people?" Dreampeace asked, waving a hand and making an illusion of ten people appear. But they weren't the statue people. Some of them were familiar, the ones who had helped bring her and Chris together.
"A few of them," Celine said.
"I know most of them were investigating the Sorcery Globe," Bowman said. "Can't say I recognize all of them, though."
"They hope to save your world from some very dangerous people who think themselves to be gods," the fairy said. "But their enemies greatly outpower them and can destroy worlds, so they have come to these trials to prove their worth and make themselves stronger. Their hearts and hopes need to be strong, so I brought you here to help them. Although, you can only help them with this, and then I need to return you to sleep and wait for them to succeed. Do you have hope for them to succeed?"
People who thought they were gods and could destroy worlds? It sounded unbelievable. Yet, there was a small voice in her heart that said it was true. She remembered the last she'd seen of Chris, those terrifying minutes that they couldn't explain. It seemed that Bowman had experienced that too. "I remember the air turning into a crushing fire without warning," he said. "But I'm here, so I don't know what's happened. Are we dead?"
"Perhaps," Dreampeace said. "Perhaps not. Your fates are in flux because of what your friends are doing."
She'd heard that something like this was possible when someone used powerful forbidden magic to affect time. But to fix it also required great power and skill. Did they have that? They seemed to be equipped impressively at least. "Are they all friends?" she asked.
"Some are old friends, some are new friends," the fairy said. "Some need to learn to be friends through these trials. Will you have hope in them?"
Knowing that made it fairly easy for Celine to decide. "Sure. I would have lost hope had a few of them not talked me into following my heart. It sounds like a terrible situation they've gotten into, but if my hope helps them in any way, then I'll give it."
"I've had hope for a few of them who were pulling themselves through terrible circumstances," Bowman said. "I know most of them are good people… I'm sure their friends are good people too. All right, I'll be hoping and praying for them while I'm in this flux state."
"Good, then let me bring you over to them briefly to materialize that hope," Dreampeace said, causing the cavern to fade into mist. Then they heard her voice as if growing closer, "I drew those that represent hope to your group. Perhaps her too, somehow."
"In a way you can't imagine," a cheery voice said. It turned out to be that odd woman from earlier. Now they were in a strange hallway that seemed to be underwater. There were fish swimming just beyond the walls, unnerving at first but beautiful too.
"Celine, Bowman, um, nice to see you again," Rena said, coming closer to them. "Although we weren't expecting it."
"We're not sure how we got called here either," Bowman said. "But the fairy said you needed our support, so we came to visit for a little bit."
"We're going to save you all in this eventually," Claude said. "Don't worry about it; we'll handle things for you."
Celine smiled. "Good, then we'll trust you to that, darlings."
"What do you three hope for?" Dreampeace asked, for some reason taking the form of an hourglass.
"Most of my hope is for my wife and child," Bowman said. "But it seems I have to hope for your success first." Then a staff appeared in one of his hands; it was made of a wood that almost seemed golden. While it seemed simple in appearance, it bore a tremendous amount of heraldic power in it. "Oh, this…"
"You should give the Million Staff to Noel," Dreampeace said, pointing out a man with brown hair, cat ears, and a tail. Odd, but odder still, "You share similar hopes."
"In that case, it's for the best," Bowman said, going over and handing the staff to Noel. "You take care of your family; my child's not even born yet."
"Is that so?" Noel said, seeming sad as he accepted it. "I'll take good care of your hopes, then. May your family have good days ahead."
Celine had been thinking over what she was hoping for during that. "I have a lot to hope for," she said after the exchange was made. "I hope for the best for Chris and I… and I hope I can do what's expected of me. I want Cross to continue to be a peaceful and prosperous land, I just have to figure out how they do it." As she spoke, a pair of gloves that gleamed like blue jewels appeared in her hands. It seemed like this would support a person in spell-casting.
"That's the Risen Hope, and only Rena can really use it out of who's here," Dreampeace said.
"I was just thinking that they'd look lovely on her," Celince said, going over to give them to Rena. "I'm sure these will help you greatly."
"Thank you, Celine," Rena said, smiling. She had to take off her knuckles weapon to put the gloves on, but they fit perfectly.
"Um, Welch?" Dreampeace asked, still unsure.
Welch had been looking over the stone slab nearby. "Huh?" she asked, turning around. Then she grinned. "Oh right. Ice cream sandwiches. I hope I can find some because they sound extra tasty right about now." When they all stared at her blankly, she laughed. "I'm kidding, of course. I... hope for the best for Expel. That's the best way I can word it. Hey, but you know," she flicked her hand and somehow called up a rolled up piece of paper that she tossed to a girl wearing a large backpack. "I like this plan, but I can't make it right now. Would you see what you can do with it, Precis?"
"A plan?" she asked, taking off a string and unrolling the paper to look at it. After a few seconds, her eyes went wide. "What? No way!"
A three-eyed woman that Celine just remembered was named Opera peered over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows at the plan. "Oh my… are you sure about this?"
"Very sure!" Welch said cheerily. "I hope that helps."
"I can't wait to build this," Precis said excitedly, looking over at Opera.
"We'll have to wait, but that's certainly worth waiting for," Opera said, grinning.
"Thanks Welch! I'll do a good job."
"Ha ha, I'm sure you will," she said, nodding.
"Then I'll be watching over these souls and make sure they stay at peace until they can be saved," Dreampeace said. And it was like falling asleep.
She wasn't afraid, though. Whatever was going on, Rena and her friends would save them. Celine felt sure of it.
The trials they have you run through at this point in the game (well, after you get an air transport from a weak sequence, and Noel and Chisato if you went after them) are basic dungeons with really simple puzzles. There's also only four of them. But in wanting to streamline things here, and wanting to use the bonus dungeon as well, I combined a number of second disc dungeons into seven trials. The front part of the Trial of Hope has no similar sequence in the game, but the back part with the statue puzzle is from the bonus dungeons in the Cave of Trials. And it is a horrible puzzle, with a high random encounter rate, a bunch of statues to turn in a maze of rooms, no sign that you've got it right until it's done, and a clue poem that is part of the scenery (and thus you might want to write it down). Worst of all, this floor is a common place to get a freezing glitch after battles and you can't save often.
But enough about troublesome parts of the game. The Million Staff is the best weapon for most of the casters, but is only available from the Cave of Trials. Similarly, the Crimson Diablos and the Melufa weapons are the best weapons you can customize for Dias and Ashton respectively (though maybe not best overall). A lot of the best customization weapons for the characters are frightening, like the Melufa's description says it consumes dreams. Most of the gear I gave them here is from customization. Although, the Risen Hope is an exception, in part because it's actually called the Fallen Hope and is a plot weapon they give you so that you can actually do damage to the Ten Wise Men. Fallen Hope is arguably the best weapon for Rena to have since it cuts her MP costs massively. It just seemed really odd for me to put a weapon called the Fallen Hope into this chapter about keeping hope.
Anybody want to play a game? Put in your review your guesses for which characters go through the back portions of the six remaining trials, according to what Dreampeace and the monument says. No character will go through two back side trials and every character in this party will go through one. Do this before reading on and see if you're right!