By the time the lunch break started, the scholars who weren't still arguing over the tables looked like they were on the verge of collapse.
Verdna wasn't in such a good mood, either. The fact that she could understand a mere fraction of what they were reading made her aware of how far behind she was in this field, especially when the topic shifted from the rune itself to the Basica inscription that accompanied it.
As they said, the only thing worse than the archaic Basica language itself was badly translated Basica. Goodness, did it bring back unpleasant memories from her Academy days.
But it wasn't an Azure Fleet X artifact. Too many deviations and unusual linguistic quirks. Which pushed the translation date a little back—Neca, perhaps? It wasn't like there were a lot of channels for artifacts to flow into ancient Gamindustri from the PC Islands, but the similarity to Fortran pictographs just threw a wrench into their neat deduction...
Since no one was asking for her assistance anymore, Verdna drifted up to the second level of the library, still trying to disentangle the giant web of terminologies and theories in her mind, until the sound of a window creaking open jerked her out of her trance.
She turned back, just in time to see Ram's pink hat. Gripping onto the window ledge with a single hand, the CPU Candidate made a "shush" gesture with her free hand, before pulling herself through the narrow space.
"...Lady Ram?"
"Hello! Financier said we weren't supposed to be here and you are doing serious scholar stuff, but I just wanna ask you a question for our super important Junior Hunter task!" Ram said, before stopping to catch a breath. "It wouldn't take long, Miss Ghost Librarian, so please please don't tell the maids?"
"Alright. What is it?"
"Have you gone down to the garden this morning?"
"No. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."
"Really? Why?" Ram asked. "Have they trapped you with some spells? That's like, so mean!"
"That's not the case at all, Lady Ram." She shook her head. "How about I just show you?"
Verdna closed her eyes, and soared right through multiple ceilings, up and up, all the way into the open air, bracing herself for the uncomfortable sensation to come. Soon enough, she slammed into that invisible barrier and was sucked back into the familiar darkness.
Still gobbling down their food, the scholars didn't spare a single glance in her direction when she popped out of the amulet. Ram looked absolutely astonished, as she glanced down from the second level.
"See that amulet in the glass casing? Whenever I move too far away, it just yanks me all the way back." She said, as she floated towards Ram. "If your garden is not inside this tower, then it's probably too far away for me."
"Ha! I know it!" Ram muttered to herself, before giving Verdna a quick nod, "Thanks, Miss Ghost Librarian!"
Before she could say a word, Ram climbed out of the window again, and with a burst of light, her little silhouette was gone. Verdna stared at the window for a while, before turning her sight back to the room—
A flash of red appeared at the corner of her eyes, high above a bookshelf, followed by a thud. Frowning, she drifted upwards for a closer look, but all she saw was the empty wall and a single fallen book, lying on the carpet.
Strange. The sunlight must've been playing tricks on her vision.
As she walked below the Torii gate and started climbing up the long stone stairs, Rom was starting to feel a little uneasy. Guilty, even.
They had told Financier they'd be out for the entire afternoon. Minutes after Ram made her dramatic promise to stay safe and not get into trouble, she headed back to the Basilicom, telling Rom that she had left something super important behind.
Rom knew it when her twin was planning some kind of mischief. She didn't say anything, and just told Ram she'd wait for her inside the shrine, which was right next to the lake. It still saddened her a little that Ram didn't wish to take her along.
Soon, the red pillars and white walls became visible. The ice inside the fountain was glistering under the afternoon sunlight. She made her way across the courtyard and sat down on the low wooden stairs in front of the main hall, where Ram could see her at first glance from the air...hopefully.
A teenage girl in a sailor uniform was sweeping away the snow below the roof of the shrine office. She made a deep bow towards Rom, before resuming her work. For a moment, there was only the sound of the wind, and Rom was on the verge of dozing off when she heard the footsteps.
From a distance away, the girl's white sleeves and red skirt almost looked like Rom's...other big sister in the Ultradimension, only that she wore a ribbon instead of a hat. Yet, as she walked up the stairs, Rom soon found out that the girl was not wearing a traditional shrine maiden attire. It was more like the fancy, old-schooled Academy uniform inside one of the history books they'd doodled all over.
"Greetings, Ayumi." She waved to the teenage girl. "If I may ask, is Mr. Utsugi here?"
"Sorry, but he's in the woods again, Miss—" Ayumi paused briefly, "Tendo. Some kids have been scaring the ducks with their BB guns and laughing dog toys, and he hasn't caught any of them yet."
"That is very unfortunate. I'll wait for him to come back, then." Tendo said. Ayumi sneaked an uneasy glance at Rom, then picked up her broom again and disappeared behind a side building.
"Are you a shrine maiden?" Rom gave her a curious look.
"No. Ayumi is. I'm just their family friend." Tendo sat down next to her. "There isn't a festival going on, so she's not in her ceremony dress. What brings you here, Rom?"
"I-I'm just waiting for my sister. She said she'd catch up with me later..." Rom tugged at her sleeves. "And we'll go take photos of some wild animals together. Do you know where we can find them, Miss Tendo?"
"There are plenty of ducks in the woods near the lake," Tendo said. "But I'd advise you not to go down there on your own. Lots of Rattsnakes and Rollsnakes are crawling around the grasses, and they aren't the brightest animal. They'd take a bite of anything that looks like food. Fortunately, they aren't poisonous, but just be careful, please?"
Rom nodded. She made a mental note to steer her twin away from that area at all cost.
"Oh, and you should fly to the island in the middle of Delfino Lake! The Plaid Dolphins around the dock are huge, and quite beautiful in terms of their color variation."
"Sorry, but Miss C-Sha told us...not to take photos of dangerous monsters." Rom shook her head. She was curious, though, and maybe a sneak peek from afar would be fine?
"You need not worry. These Dolphins are friendly. They wouldn't be allowed to stay here otherwise." There was a strange haze in Tendo's eyes, as she glanced away from Rom. "Some said the other shrine on the island has something to do with it."
"Other shrine..." Rom repeated the words to herself, before looking up at the roof. "Wait. Who is this shrine built for?"
"The second Goddess of Lowee, Ruby Heart. I think the colors make it quite obvious."
"It's so pretty. I bet she's really pretty, too."
But also really scary, Rom added silently. The only story about the ancient warrior goddess Rom could remember was the one in which she slew a giant monkey monster, and Ram insisted that she played the monkey during their reenactment of the battle. It ended with both of them in tears, as a very angry Blanc rescued them from the messes they created.
"This shrine doesn't house a portrait of Ruby Heart, though," Tendo said. "The main object of worship is her weapon, but it's locked up in the main hall. I'm afraid there really isn't much to see."
"That's...alright. Thanks, Miss Tendo."
Both of them went back to gazing at the frozen water in the fountain, without a word. Rom was feeling a little restless in her twin's absence when Tendo broke the silence.
"Please forgive me for what I'm about to say, Rom."
"W-What?"
She closed her eyes. "It's just...Ruby Heart is your predecessor, and indeed, she has done many great things for Lowee's people. I harbor no ill will towards her, but the more I learn about her from Ayumi and Mr. Utsugi, the more I wonder if she was truly as perfect and flawless as they said. A tad overrated, perhaps."
"Well, I don't know." Rom fidgeted with the ribbon on her collar. "But if people still came together every year, in a festival named after her...then she can't be a bad CPU, right?"
Tendo's face was as young and innocent as ever. But there was a solemnness in her eyes that made her seem really old, all of a sudden.
"Oh, Rom. I'm sure she wants the best for her people and nation. But eventually, what she believed to be the best choice would no longer be the best anymore. Time passes, people change, and her successors will bring the nation forward in ways that she could never have imagined on her own."
"That sounds...really deep."
"One day, you will understand. When you grow up and become a true Goddess." Tendo said, before she turned away from Rom. Ayumi soon emerged from the woods, accompanied by a suited man.
"But I've rambled long enough, haven't I? Thanks for listening to me, Rom. Good luck with your photography quest."
"Okay. Bye-bye, Miss Tendo."
Tendo walked up to the man. They began to talk in a hushed voice, and Ayumi was still glancing in Rom's direction, as all three of them entered the side gate of the main building.
With a click, the lock spun into position, and the plain wooden altar slowly creaked open, revealing the hollow space within. Mr. Utsugi picked up the revolver at the bottom and presented it to her with both hands.
"Here it is, Lady Rubis." His voice was calm, but his brows were deeply furrowed. After all, he knew why she asked for the weapon, the last time she came here.
"Thank you, Utsugi." She sighed, as she traced the elaborate engraving on the dark barrel and pearly white grip. How she missed this beautiful piece of work. "Please do not worry. Whatever I will be up against, it won't be nearly as dangerous as the delusionary monster attacks. This is but a simple precaution."
Giant blossoms of light and flame might no longer come out of its barrel, but the small amount of faith left in her was enough for a few shots. Mr. Utsugi bowed to her, before gesturing for Ayumi to remove the key and close the altar. Tucking the pistol into her skirt pocket, she glanced out of the single-sided glass window, just in time to see the twins taking off into the sky.
The shyness, the innocence, the stubbornness, the boundless energy. The familiarity was like a stab in the guts.
They are Lowee's future, and you have no place in their world.
"Hello, chu?"
A voice suddenly blurted out of the walkie-talkie inside her other pocket, snapping her out of her melancholic musing.
"Yes. What is it?"
"This is Mappy-chu, and I've spotted a suspicious person in Uemura District, chu!"
She quietly gripped her revolver. "Description, please."
"Chu, I can't see his face 'cause he has this smiling mask on, but he's wearing a bright pink cloak!" The rat squeaked. "And he has this really scary pitbull with him, chu! Sure looks like a guy who's up to no good."
"...I think I know who that is," she said. "Please tell your fellow rats that this man is a harmless eccentric, and don't report his sighting to me again?"
Rubis let out a deep sigh, as she ended the call. She certainly hoped that she was just being a paranoid old lady.
After finding Rei a place to stay, it was paperwork time for the rest of the afternoon. C-Sha was sure that she had emptied an entire freezer in her attempt to keep herself awake and motivated, and after she finally finished sorting through the reports from the Gunpei Prefecture branch, she decided it was time for a break.
Sitting down on the sofa in the Guild's lounge, C-Sha took out her phone and smiled when she saw all the new messages from the twins. She tensed up a little when she saw the giant dolphins in the photos, and quickly relaxed when she read the explanation below. There was a shrine in the middle of that lake? One really found out something new about the city every day.
C-Sha scrolled past the last message (do u know who this lady is?), and clicked on the photo. The mature woman inside the portrait on the shrine altar reminded her a little of Blanc—more specifically, that smug dream version of her inside the Heart Dimension. She didn't recognize the frilly purple dress, and the sun crest on the woman's painter hat, however.
The picture was quickly blocked by an "incoming call" notification, before the ringtone started playing. C-Sha frowned at the caller's name.
"Rom? Shouldn't you be sleeping right now?"
"I—" The girl was panting, "R-Ram dragged me down into the garden again, and—"
There was real panic in her voice. One that didn't come from a prank gone wrong. C-Sha stood up from the sofa.
"Please, slow down, I can't hear you. What's wrong?"
"A-A bunch of g-glowing ghosts! They just popped out of nowhere!" Rom yelled. "They ran away, we flew after them, but some of them e-exploded and I can't find Ram—"
As if on cue, the Guild's alarm began blaring.