At the end of the month, You stand in the Blue Lions homeroom with the class and Reese.
Magnolia: It's time to find Florence. We've waited long enough.
Falon: I think a lot of people are sure right now that the garden is somehow involved in her disappearance.
Karim: There's no reason to wait. Let's go find her.
Cassia: I'm afraid we can't jump in quite yet. It's not only going to be our class taking on this mission.
Reese: I believe that our new companion will be here any moment now… Here's to hoping she'll be able to help us.
Nora: Who is it?
Illona: Look.
Illona points to the door as it opens, Cordelia entering the room.
Cordelia: Well, let's jump right into this. We've got some people to save.
Aestlyn: You're the captain of the knights, aren't you?
Cordelia: I am. Captain Torryn reporting for duty. The archbishop asked that I come with you on this mission to make sure nothing went horribly wrong. If there are no further objections, then we can get going now.
Kyle: It's time to go then… No time to waste.
You leave the classroom to head in the direction of the garden. Seraphine walks at your side.
Seraphine: If the garden is really the place where everything happened, then let's hope nothing bad happens to us here… I don't want to be the next victim of kidnapping.
You stop in front of a large bush in the garden. Cordelia points to it and shakes her head.
Cordelia: Unnatural… Something is going on here. This doesn't seem like it belongs. It's so much bigger than everything else in the area, but they should be the same age and same size.
Cordelia parts the greenery, and inside, You see a secret passage.
Illona: Is that a hallway?
Kyle: This is not what I expected to see…
Cordelia: I heard people saying that there was something wrong in the garden, but I didn't expect this.
Karim: It's time for us to jump in then. They could be in a lot of trouble right now, and we can't let that continue.
Cassia: I feel the same.
Cordelia starts into the passage.
Cordelia: It's much larger than you'd expect… I mean, the opening is pretty small, but once you get down here, it's huge… And it's old, too.
Falon: Where could it have come from? And more importantly, how long has it been around?
Aestlyn: The monastery has been around for nearly a thousand years. Nobody alive now was there when it was constructed. All the secrets this building holds will take years to uncover… But I suppose we'll have to be the first.
Nora: All we can do is jump in at this point.
Magnolia: It sounds to me like there's enough room for us all to fit inside… No point in hanging back any longer.
Reese: Without further ado, let's get in.
The rest of the students and Reese go inside of the passage, and You take up the rear.
Seraphine: It might open up down here, but there's no space for me to stand without getting walked through. I'm sick of this. See you around.
Seraphine retreats in your mind.
Cordelia: Quiet, everyone… I hear noise.
The students fall silent as the group stops. The passage has widened out to show a large room beneath the ground. On the floor just before the entrance are two figures.
Cordelia: That's Florence and Herwig!
Cassia: It looks like they're unconscious…
Aestlyn: They need medical attention now.
Illona: Hold on. There are other people down here.
You follow Illona's direction and see a cluster of mages wearing black robes scattered about the room. They all have distorted Crests sewn into their robes.
Kyle: It looks like Malice did this…
Falon: Look at Florence too… That doesn't look natural.
You focus your attention to Florence once more. A Crest has activated above her head despite her being unconscious, and it doesn't take You long to recognize the symbol.
Karim: It's the Crest of Lamine!
Cordelia: I've had enough of waiting around. We have to get in there.
Cordelia enters the room fully.
Cordelia: Hey!
The mages in the room all turn to face her. The leader steps forward. His name is Glendon.
Glendon: Damn it all!
Magnolia: What should we do about Florence and Professor Wessin, Captain Torryn?
Cordelia: There are too many of them for us to just send somebody off to have them healed. We're short on troops as it is.
Reese: We'll have to make a defensive front while still pressing on. If any mages hit them, we're in trouble. They're defenseless.
Cordelia: Exactly.
Nora: I don't think they have any severe wounds… It's just cuts and scrapes. We can leave it for now, but we can't leave them for too long.
Cassia: We can't put them in danger… Be careful, everyone.
Illona: P-Professor, are we ready?
You nod.
Reese: Blue Lions! We fight!
The battle begins. The Blue Lions fight violently against the mages, being careful to defend Florence and Herwig during the battle. However, things do not remain peaceful, and a Crest activates over one of the mages' heads during the battle. Note: this particular mage is predetermined to activate the Crest of Dominic whenever fought for the first time. Rion's Unio Crest is also guaranteed to trigger during this fight the first time they initiate combat. Every enemy on this battlefield has a randomly generated Crest, though Unio and the Crest of Flames are kept out of the rotation.
Cordelia: Wait… Did you see that?!
Magnolia: That was a Crest! It's the same one painted on that mage's robes too…
Aestlyn: This doesn't seem real…
Nora: How did they get Crests so easily?
Cassia: Remember what Lord Bazler said last month.
Karim: It's possible to give out and take away Crests.
Kyle: These Crests probably aren't legitimate then…
Illona: No way…
Falon: Let's save the questions for later. The battle is our focus now.
If You initiate combat against Glendon, this dialogue plays out.
Glendon: Unio… I know a thing or two about Unio… You're a special one, aren't you? I remember when that Crest was first given… But no matter. Goodbye.
If Magnolia initiates combat against Glendon, this dialogue plays out.
Magnolia: I want to know who you are and what you're doing here.
Glendon: We needed that girl… Seeing a bearer of Lamine is so rare these days. Experiments needed to be done.
Magnolia: You mean that Florence…
Glendon: Has the Crest of Lamine? Yes. And he knew about it.
Magnolia: But who the hell are you? You never answered.
Glendon: Don't the black robes tell you all you need to know?
Magnolia: Malice dastard…
Glendon: The same group that killed your father…
Magnolia: …
Glendon: Let's finish this.
If Illona initiates combat against Glendon, this dialogue plays out.
Glendon: Don't you look familiar…? I can sense the Crest of Ernest inside of you.
Illona: What about it…?!
Glendon: You bear a striking resemblance to one of our own… One I know all too well.
Illona: Who…?
Glendon: You know what I mean.
Illona: …
Glendon: We were taught the same things by the same teacher all those years ago… The art of Crest experimentation…
Illona: You… Stop it…
Glendon: I know exactly what's happened here… And so do you.
Illona: Shut up! Stop it!
Glendon: Denial won't help you.
Illona: …
Glendon: That's enough talking. Let's just go on and get this over with.
When Glendon is defeated, this dialogue plays out.
Glendon: Pathetic children…
After the battle, each of the Blue Lions stands in front of Glendon's dead body. All of the mages were killed in the battle due to this being a rout mission.
Magnolia: I'm glad both Florence and Professor Wessin are safe… I was really worried.
Falon: Look at all this paper… It's everywhere. If you ask me, it must be evidence… But Florence and Professor Wessin should be our main priority.
Reese: I'll take care of it. Nora, you're with me. Karim, Kyle, you too.
Nora: Understood, Professor.
Karim: Good luck, everyone.
Kyle: We'll make sure they're alright.
Reese, Nora, Karim, and Kyle leave with Florence and Herwig.
Cordelia: Let's look at these papers… Wait. This one has steps to… Giving somebody a Crest?!
Aestlyn: It's real then…
Cassia: Those Crests aren't real then… Even if they behaved just like official Crests, none of them were real.
Falon: I bet it's a complex process…
Cordelia: This document calls it a blood reconstruction surgery… But what could they want with Florence or Herwig?
Magnolia: Check out this page. It's about Florence… She has the Crest of Lamine, according to this sheet…
Aestlyn: Was it natural? Or did they give it to her?
Magnolia: As far as I can tell, she was born with it, and Professor Wessin was aware…
Illona: This was to experiment with her Crest then…
Falon: Professor Wessin was dragged into it because he knew she had the Crest…
Illona: But she never mentioned having one…
Cassia: The Crest of Lamine is based around healing magic. Since Florence prefers to use lances in battle, it never showed.
Magnolia: It went unnoticed since she didn't use healing powers.
Falon: If it ever activated, she would want to keep it secret to make sure that she didn't put herself in danger.
Seraphine: Sounds to me like we know what the archbishop was talking about… Herwig brought her to the school because he could tell that she had a Crest. A commoner having a Crest is odd. He wanted to be around her more to confirm his suspicions… But he didn't want to get anybody's hopes up in case he wound up being wrong.
Aestlyn: I don't think she knew about it…
Magnolia: It's all here. These pages have named each house that holds each Crest… It says which bloodlines hold what Crests commonly.
Falon: Go on. This information could be important.
Magnolia: The Crest of Seiros is found in the Faixnoye ruling family in Adrestia. Cichol is in the Riverbane and Doroftie families. Cethleann can be found in House Bazler, but no Crest bearers have surfaced for generations. Indech is shared between the Indech Lavellan-Adrestia house and the Torryn Faerghus house. Macuil is in both the Wessin and Einem families from Adrestia.
Aestlyn: The Crest of Cethleann is from House Bazler…? But… Zelhira isn't related to Lord Bazler…
Illona: She can't be connected to him… I refuse to believe it.
Magnolia: My house, the Josefa ruling party in Faerghus, has Blaiddyd. Fraldarius is found in Berniere. House Faren has the Gautier Crest. Lamine's Crest is found in the house of the same name in Faerghus. The Crest of Dominic is in two Faerghus houses: Dominic and Dragoste. However, they fell a long time ago and are nearly lost.
Aestlyn: Dragoste is Kyle's surname… What if he's connected to it somehow? And what about Derric? He's got the Crest of Dominic.
Magnolia: The Origo family has the Crest of Riegan. Houses Aster and Admoderor, from Faerghus and Leicester respectively, have Noa. Daphnel is shared by Mikhailikov and Schlarzer from Leicester and Adrestia. The Crest of Chevalier is in Houses Chevalier and Columbus from Faerghus and Leicester.
Illona: There's so many Crests…
Magnolia: We're getting close to the end of the list now. Gloucester can be found in Ruden and Eir bloodlines from Leicester. Maurice is in House Urswick. Charon is shared by Schweighen and Belmontai from Faerghus and Leicester respectively.
Illona: What about my Crest?
Magnolia: The people who had the Crests of Ernest, Aubin, and Timotheos left our lands behind to move to Brigid, Albinea, and Duscur respectively. People who have those three Crests nowadays have to be from those nations.
Illona: Then Hegias…
Falon: Is that all of them?
Aestlyn: We haven't heard about the professor's Crests…
Falon: Ah, this page seems to have what we need! The Crest of Flames has been gone for quite some time. The previous emperor, Hugh von Faixnoye, had it in the two years before his death. Unio is in a similar situation. Its owner went missing about ten years ago and hasn't been seen since.
Aestlyn: We sure have learned a lot today…
Cassia: Most of what we just heard, like what Crest can be found where, is known widespread for the most part. However, a refresher never hurts.
Magnolia: How could Florence have gotten the Crest of Lamine then? Lamine is in Faerghus, and she's from Adrestia. She's a Black Eagle, and it's not like she transferred classes.
Illona: Perhaps Florence herself will have the answers we seek.
Magnolia: Speaking of, I think it's time for us to go visit them.
Cordelia: I'm going to have the knights secure the area… I don't know how Malice managed to make a hideout down here, underneath the damn monastery, but I'm going to find out.
Magnolia: If you ask me, they probably got this all to happen using warp magic. They used it to escape Professor Wessin's room, and it could be used here.
Aestlyn: The symbol for the Crest of Lamine was left behind as their way of communicating that Florence has it and Professor Wessin was aware of such. While it did help us out, I feel like it was more of a warning than a friendly tip.
Cordelia: Luckily, it seems to me like we prevented whatever their plan was from being carried out.
Cassia: Let's check out as many pages as we can.
Falon: Good plan.
Magnolia leans down and picks up a paper.
Magnolia: This one is about the royal family of Adrestia.
Aestlyn: What's on it?
Cassia: Perhaps the Faixnoye family is more involved in this than we originally anticipated…
Magnolia: There are too many names to count, but… I don't think I've heard any of them before. They're all recorded with dates in the past thirty years, but they end sometime twelve years ago.
Falon: What could it mean?
Magnolia: I wish I could tell you. The general public only heard about the single princess of the kingdom, so where did the rest of these royal children come from? Their ages are recorded, and they all seem on the younger side…
Cassia: I wish I had an answer for you…
Illona reaches down and picks up a paper.
Illona: Looks like we've found the Hegias information…
Cassia: What about Hegias?
Illona: I… I have to go give him this. I'll see you later.
Illona leaves the room.
Falon: Illona! Wait up!
Cordelia: Don't. She needs to do something important, and we should let her. Besides, we need to go and make sure that your classmate and teacher are alright.
Magnolia: I agree. They'll want to see us.
Cordelia: I'm going to get some knights, and we're going to clean this place out. If there's any remaining evidence, then we'll find it for sure.
The students all start to leave, and You follow them.
Seraphine: We've learned a lot here today… But we can't think on it for too long. We need to make sure that Florence and Herwig are okay before doing anything else.
You nod your agreement and leave behind the underground passage to go and visit the infirmary. When You arrive, Jill and Reese are standing next to Florence and Herwig. The rest of the Blue Lions are in the room as well, but Illona is still absent.
Jill: Professor… Glad to see you made it safe.
Reese: Thanks to the students bringing them here, we got our examination done quickly… They're going to be fine.
Jill: I'm sure you remember the knockout gas from that mission a few months ago. It was from the quest to Aster territory. Some variation of that was used here, but it was an injection instead.
Reese: It doesn't do any significant harm aside from triggering unconsciousness. They should be awake soon.
Jill: What did you find out?
You tell them that there are many papers down in the hideout that speak of human experimentation.
Jill: Human experimentation… And those mages were doing it?
Reese: With how much it seems you found, it sounds to me like this was going on for quite a while.
Jill: I don't know how Malice got down there, but they're not going to be getting away with it.
Florence: Ugh…
Reese: Ah! She's coming to!
Florence: What's going on…?
Jill: How do you feel?
Florence: My head hurts…
Jill: But otherwise?
Florence: I'm fine…
Herwig: Ah…
Reese: There we go… Sit up, Professor. Tell us what you saw.
Florence: We're back in the monastery…?
Herwig: It appears so…
Magnolia: I can't even begin to say how relieved I am.
Falon: You were down there for a month, but you're still okay…
Kyle: We were really worried, you know.
Cassia: Try not to overwhelm them. They've gone through enough as it is.
Nora: Start from the beginning, you two.
Florence: Um… I don't know where to start…
Karim: What about when you were taken?
Herwig: It… It was all after the last mission to Bazler territory. Florence needed some time to herself, but I was starting to get worried about her, so I went into her room to check up on her.
Florence: While he was there, we started talking, and… We got onto the topic of Crests soon enough.
Herwig: And I… I shared a few suspicions of mine.
Magnolia: You mean the Crest of Lamine.
Herwig: How did you—
Magnolia: The symbol was inscribed into parchment left in your rooms once you went missing.
Herwig: I see… Well, you are correct. I could sense something strange about Florence, and I invited her to the Academy. I suspected that she had a Crest, and I realized what Crest it was soon after.
Florence: That's when we were taken… The mages experimented on us all month. I had to activate my Crest over and over for them to research it… Same with Professor Wessin.
Herwig: Luckily, it seems that you all were able to save us before things could go wrong further.
Falon: We're just happy you're alright.
Herwig: Still, I don't understand how the Crest of Lamine could have wound up in Florence… I've been doing some research, and I have a theory, but there's no concrete evidence for it now.
Cassia: Feel free to share the theory, Professor.
Herwig: Many years ago, a few children were born in the Crest of Lamine. Only one of them had a Crest, and the others all ran away. I suspect that one such child was Florence's mother, and even if she didn't manifest a Crest, her daughter did.
Florence: That makes sense…
Reese: I'm glad you're doing better now.
Jill: Since you're awake, we'll do one last examination to make sure that you're alright to get up and move around.
Reese: In the meantime, Professor, you should go and report everything that happened to the archbishop.
Jill: As for the rest of you, go back to your homeroom. We can't work when there's this many people in here.
Magnolia: We wish you good luck.
The Blue Lions leave the room.
Reese: We'll talk to you later, Professor.
Jill: Good luck.
You walk out of the room. Seraphine appears at your side.
Seraphine: I wonder what's up with Illona… She's still not here. She wasn't in that room to begin with… Maybe we should go and see her a bit later.
You nod your agreement as You arrive outside Aisa's room. You knock and enter. Inside, You see Aisa and Roy standing together.
Aisa: Professor… I heard your mission was a success.
Roy: The knights are investigating the underground passage as we speak.
Aisa: So many twisted people used Crests to their advantage in such a way… It truly is sickening.
Roy: Professor, I'm relieved to see that you have rescued Florence and Herwig.
Aisa: Cordelia already told us the information you found in their files…
Roy: Herwig brought Florence here since he realized she had the Crest of Lamine. Those were his suspicions from all that time ago.
Aisa: And it got them into so much trouble… At least they have been taken care of.
Roy: The Malice mages from beneath the monastery are all gone now. We'll be looking into everything they left behind to see if we can find anything that will aid us in the future.
Aisa: You have learned much today. I appreciate all that you have done to rescue both Florence and Herwig.
Roy: If all goes well, they will be returned to full health sooner rather than later. Jill is a potent medic, and Reese knows what he's doing when it comes to patching up injuries.
Aisa: You were there when the research was gone over, meaning that you do not need to hear it again. You heard of what Crest belongs to each house. While this was assumed to be common knowledge, it is still an important thing to keep in mind.
Roy: This year, we have something special as well…
Aisa: After all, the Crests of Ernest, Aubin, and Timotheos have returned from lands beyond the border…
Roy: The Crest of Ernest… How curious.
Aisa: You are dismissed, Professor.
You nod and walk away as Seraphine appears.
Seraphine: Well, we should head back to the classroom… The other students will want to see us. Maybe Florence and Herwig are feeling well enough to join us.
You make your way to the classroom. When You arrive, You see Reese and the Blue Lions inside. However, Illona is still absent.
Reese: And with that, the month is over.
Kyle: Are Professor Wessin and Florence doing better?
Reese: Professor Tysera gave them the clear to leave, and since they were free to go, I was as well.
Karim: Can we take care of this as quickly as we can? I want to go to bed. This is all just plain exhausting.
Cassia: The knights can handle the investigation for us.
Aestlyn: I'm sure they'll tell us as soon as something is found.
Falon: Captain Torryn has this all under control. That much I'm sure of.
Magnolia: I'm worried about Illona. She seemed to be rather upset about something… Or determined… I couldn't tell. She's a strange character, to say the least.
You tell her that You will go and make sure that she is alright.
Magnolia: I appreciate that, Professor.
Nora: I'm off to bed. I've had enough activity for one day… Or for a lifetime.
Aeslyn: I'm sure there will be more security around the monastery so this doesn't happen a second time. The knights won't let this just happen.
Kyle: Have a nice night, everyone… See you around.
Karim: Don't worry about Florence and Professor Wessin. Professor Tysera said they'll be fine, and she's never wrong on that stuff.
Nora: Here's to hoping this doesn't happen again… Night.
You watch as everyone leaves.
Seraphine: Well, let's go check on Illona… I hope nothing bad happened.
You go to Illona's dorm and knock on the door gently.
Illona: Um… Who is it?
You tell her it's You.
Illona: Oh… Hello, Professor.
She opens the door. You ask if she's okay.
Illona: I'm alright… I just had to give something to Hegias. Now that I'm done, I'm fine. Don't worry about me.
Seraphine: I wonder what she could have needed him to know so desperately…
You ask her if she's sure.
Illona: Positive! Goodnight!
Realizing that You won't be able to get her to talk about it, You tell her to have a nice night.
Illona: Bye!
She closes the door. After watching it shut, You head back to your room and sit down on your bed.
Seraphine: That was a mess and a half… I'm sick of all this. Can't we just have one month that isn't a mess?
You shrug to yourself and lay down.
Seraphine: Either way, I'm exhausted… Goodnight.
Seraphine falls asleep soon after, but You find that You are struggling to sleep. You cannot help but worry about the information found under the monastery. The Bazler and Dragoste houses cross your mind at one point. Soon after, You think about the mysterious Crest of Ernest that seemed to bother Illona so much. You hope Illona decides to open up about it sooner rather than later. With a million thoughts spinning in your head, You fall into a restless sleep. Despite the mages being out of the picture, You cannot help but think that this isn't the end. Something larger than a single group is going on here, and You do not like it.
Spam time
-Digital