Lotta reading on this one, and a lot of stuff from the History in the library. I tried to plug in the relevant passages, so that you don't all have to go digging out your copies of the game. Also, many thanks to my pal Ker-plop for the new copy of LoM.

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Brilliance, a Legend of Mana Story

Chapter 22 -The History-

These formless beings will eventually be given form so that they might live. They will be given the task of creating this world. The thoughts they think will shape the landscape. They will be born into this world in fear and sadness. Sometimes their thoughts may hurt this world, but you must help them build it.
From the history of Fa'diel, verse 12: 'The Prophecy'

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The Mana Fortress - Upper Deck

The top of the Mana Fortress was seemingly made out of one huge piece of stone - there were no cracks, no seams where it may have been pieced together in the distant past- and the only object that stood out was the entrance...a descending, covered staircase that looks more like the doorway to a ruin then anything else she could think of.

"I don't know why..." Elleira commented as she casually walked the deck, "but I just assumed there'd be undead legions. Or, uh, Rabites. Or something." She looked back to where Elazul, Sierra and Daena were climbing down from the dragon's back. "What I did not expect was nothing. Which is what there is. That is to say, nothing."

"Elleira..." Elazul trailed off, looking uncomfortable. Sierra was the one to pose the question. "Are you...feeling all right?"

"Huh? Yeah." Elleira swung the blade she'd borrowed from Elazul, testing its weight with a grimace. "So light...I hate one-handed swords."

"Are you sure you're up to this?" Sierra pressed, but Elleira brushed her off.

"I suppose...so long as I can reequip before I meet any real trouble..." Elleira started towards the entrance, still thinking it looked like an ominous temple. What was it used for? Dark rituals? Human sacrifice? What the hell was it? Sierra and Elazul rushed to catch up with her after saying their goodbyes to Vadise, and the three of them - four, counting the now fully-feline Daena - began their descent into the fortress.

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"Wait...resurrect his wife? That's what he's doing? Well? Answer me, your walking salad!" Mephianse asked. He shook the Sproutling about, as though answers would fall from its nonexistant pockets.

Kathinja slapped him in the back of the head, and pointed at the injured swordsman. "Quit missing the point! What about that bit about destroying the world!"

Everyone looked to Cervantes, who scratched the back of his head. "...Um...Would you believe me if I said I had no clue what it meant?"

"That spell you used..." Kana said softly. "That was magic. Magic, like Pierce uses. You're a foreigner, like us."

"That's a tad insulting." Cervantes put a hand on the brim of his hat. "Shouldn't you address a holy man with a bit more respect?"

"I do not believe you are in a position to be giving us conditions," Thesenis whispered, drawing closer to his bed. "I will not allow any threat to this world to exist."

"I haven't threatened anyone except those who drew weapons against me," Cervantes said. "I am not here to destroy the world, and as soon as I've found my disciple, I'll leave and -fate willing- never return. But my god's name is not to be spoken here. Its a condition of the truce negotiated between my god, and yours."

"What-" Kathinja began, but Cervantes silenced her with a wave of his hand.

"The Moon Gods peeked into the other worlds, and came to know fear, envy, and desire." He shrugged. "Your history glosses over the details. My god faced yours, and they battled until the Mana Goddess sealed the paths to other worlds. 'Fa'Diel was filled with the power of Mana. It healed itself and shut away the other worlds'. I arrived here in search of a wayward student and that's all. My mere presence is violating a pact that has held for three-hundred years."

"Three hundred years? The events in those books occurred millions of years ago! The Moon Gods, the Flammies, the creation of man- none of that happened in a scant few years!" Kathinja snapped.

"He's...not...lying." Thesenis drew away from the entire group, crossing to the other side of the room. She folded her arms, and refused to meet the questioning gazes of the others.

The warrior priest pressed onward. "Your history stops quite abruptly, haven't you noticed? After an epic war, during some exposition on the Enaanshalc Empire." Cervantes gestured to Kana, and then the Sproutling. "She's from the remainder of that empire, along with the rest of the Nanten. The Mana Goddess sealed your world, trying to salvage what she could from the endless wars. Elleira let slip a few bits about the power of imagination, which caused me to realize what had occurred. Someone survived the Mana Goddess's purging, and freed the Nanten army to retake the only piece of Fa'diel left. The 'power of imagination' doesn't refer to the remaking of the world...it refers to the imaginary lives you lived inside the Artifacts, before you were freed to rejoin the world. Whoever broke out, remembered everything, and has been manipulating the events to serve his or her own ends."

There was only silence in the next few moments, as the teachers let his words sink in. Cervantes leaned back, the furious discussion having taken its toll on his wounds. Truthfully, he'd barely read anything of their history before arriving on Fa'diel...but how would they react to the knowledge that they had all taken part of the war between his world and theirs? Thesenis, last mage of the thousand year empire, was watching him carefully, and it made his skin crawl. She'd known all along what had happened to them, and had let her fellow's struggle on in ignorance. Had she freed Elleira, or Riven, or whoever had been first?

Had she been freed, and simply retained her memory because of her powers over reincarnation? If that was the case, why did Kana -whose necromancy should have provided the same protection- look as disturbed as everyone else? How could that explain Godhand, who had knowledge no other mortal possessed? The location of the Mana Fortress, which was more likely the angelic ship 'Janna'; another odd relic from Fa'diel's histories. Nowhere in its scripture did it mention the ship having an ability to raise the dead. Yet the miracle of the Jumi civilization's resurrection seemed to directly link the possibility with the Mana Heroes...was the ship just a ruse? To draw in the heroes, and use them to reclaim his wife from death?

And how to explain the Sproutling's bizarre announcement after its equally bizarre appearance?

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The Great Witch Anise was the first mage to go down in history. Anise bored a hole into the Mana Tree and built her laboratory there. The flow of Mana into both human and Faerie worlds was diverted. Anise constructed a jewel called the Eye of Flame using the vast amounts of Mana in her laboratory. The Firestone brought out the evil in whoever it touched.
From the history of Fa'diel, verse 20: 'Anise'

Elise, who called herself Anuella, was the daughter of Anise. She had the power to bring mundane objects to life. After fleeing her mother's self-righteous rule, she settled in the northern mountains and there created a group of dolls who would obey her every command. They came to be called magical beings, and her art was promulgated by mages who idolized her.
From the history of Fa'diel, verse 31: 'Mountain School'

In the years following the war, Ricrot sent soldiers to capture and kill off the surviving soldiers of Lonway's army, as well as the Faeries, which he called "the Ones with Devilish Powers." Anuella left Ricrot and locked herself into a place named "the Graveyard of Artifacts."
From the history of Fa'diel, verse 50: 'Anuella'

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The Graveyard of the Artifacts

A tiny cottage is the only landscape, an odd little house with a tiny mailbox out front.

Elleira pinned down Anuella, daughter of the great witch Anise, holding her spear unwaveringly at the woman's throat. Anuella could barely hold herself steady, bent backwards across her desk. She tried not to tremble, tried not to let her gaze fall onto the sharp silver point threatening her life, tried not to let the warrior see her fear.

"Kind of weird, don't you think?" Elleira frowned as she looked over the witch carefully. "I mean...even if she's the descendant of the greatest witch ever, you'd think she'd be older. Its been hundreds of years. She almost looks younger then me."

"It doesn't matter what you do," Anuella said. "The Goddess will not allow this atrocity to continue."

"The Goddess died with the Mana Tree." Godhand seated himself beside her on the desk, smiling condescendingly. "Its you. Your mother was the first person to create an Artifact. You know what happened to Geo...and you're going to tell us how to stop it."

Anuella shook her head as much as she dared, but Godhand took her roughly by the hair, and pushed her face against Elleira's spear, so close that the slightest breath made the blade cut into her.

"You fought against the Fairies. You know what war is like. Like the world itself is ending...now imagine for a moment, that it is. What do you think I will do to stop it? Do you think I will stop at scarring you forever?"

"I think you'll stop right there."

Elleira and Godhand turned towards the doorway of Anuella's home, where Riven stood. His hat was lopsided, covering one eye, and his clothes were torn and dirty. He was bleeding profusely, and one arm hung uselessly at one side. The other arm, however, held up his sword.

"You're still alive..." Elleira whispered.

"You sound surprised...I was gonna say something like, 'I won't die' or something, but its pretty pointless now." Riven staggered inside, using the point of his sword as a crutch. He hobbled to a chair, lopsided in the center of the room, tossed aside in Elleira and Anuella's brief struggle.

Elleira tossed her weapon aside and rushed to him, picking up the chair and helping him into it with care. He let out a heavy sigh as he settled into it. "The world's done. Its already over."

"No. No, its not done yet." Godhand lifted Anuella roughly by her hair, showing her face to him. "We've got Anuella. We can reverse the damage she's done."

Riven shook his head. "You don't get it. This is it. This...is the end. Us four, in this room, forever." He paused for a moment, then cocked his head to the side, flashing a quick grin. "Or until the Goddess let's us out."

Anuella fell to the ground as Godhand dropped her. Godhand's face might well have been made of stone, and Anuella merely stared at him dumbly. The only one to react to Riven's words was Elleira, who collapsed to her knees beside him. She slipped a hand into his lap, touching his leg gently. "I'm so sorry. I had to...I had to try. I didn't want anyone else to die...I didn't want to die. I'm so, so sorry."

Riven took her hand in his, giving her a warm squeeze. "Hey. Siblings are supposed to fight, right? Even if we're just two kids from the same orphanage, I still love you like a sister. You didn't need to hit me so hard, though!"

"You stabbed me!" She shot back, the brightness returning to her eyes for a brief second, before she saw Riven weaken, slipping in his chair.

"What are you two talking about?" Godhand demanded. "You're saying this is...death? For defying the will of that insane Mana Bitch, we're being sent to the corner for a fucking eternity!"

"That's about the size of it," Riven said lightly. "All that work...Killing the leftover Angels, killing that Moon God, seizing Janna for yourself...And what did it get you? Detention." With a roar, Godhand seized the desk, and flung it at the wall destroying it utterly, and smashing out the window. He just stood there seething, shaking with terrible rage.

Elleira tensed, but Riven squeezed her hand tightly. She looked from him to Godhand and back, but all he did was smile at her. On the floor beside Godhand, no longer even cringing, Anuella could only stare vacantly into the air.

"But...but it wasn't supposed to be like this..." she whispered to herself.

Godhand whipped around, eyes latching onto her, then turned back to Riven. Riven shrugged lightly. "Yeah, so I lied."

His former friend spit venomously, "You traitor." Godhand turned, and leapt out the window, running for the road.

Elleira started to stand, but Riven pulled her back down, pressing a tiny bag into her hand. She looked down at it uncertainly. "Riven..."

"Ah, he'll be fine. I had an interesting conversation on the way here. With a man who said he'd met the Moon Gods as they peeked into other worlds. He said he was from one of those world's...and that he'd come to watch the end." Riven grimaced, clutching his wounded arm. "But the Artifacts...they weren't what Godhand thought at all. They were given to us...not to trap us and keep us from destroying the world..."

Elleira drew open the bag with the tiny string and gasped, light enveloping her. "Riven!"

"They're our shelter from the storm."

Elleira's mouth opened again, tears sliding down her face, and she tried to reach out to the man she called her brother, but then she faded from view, and the bag fell to the ground. A small purple cube tumbled out, coming to rest beside him.

Riven bent over, hand shaking furiously as he tried to reach it. Anuella took the color block, and dropped it in his hand. He sat back in the chair heavily, and tipped his hat the rest of the way over his eyes. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Anuella said. Outside, the world grew dimmer, the light of the sun no longer reaching them. "You said we're being sheltered...if that's true, then what is that man seeing out there?"

"The end of time. The return of the Flammy. The rebirth of the Moon Gods. The world getting spanked by the Mana Goddess...I don't know," he sighed. "Listen...Sorry to intrude, but I don't exactly have the strength to let myself out...And I imagine whatever is sealing us is finally getting around to this place."

"That's all right. you saved my life...The least I can do is save yours." Anuella turned her back on him. She reached into the neck of her blouse, and pulled forward a brightly shining orb, set in a pendant her mother had given her. "Take good care of the tree out back. Your sister will be waiting for you in Domina when you wake up."

"...Where are you going?"

"I want to see one of those other worlds. I want to see if there is something brighter then this place. Something less sad, less dark."

"That man I spoke to...said there wasn't."

Anuella giggled. "Though we've just met, I had guessed you were the sort of man to ask that question. The Mana Tree is alive, and regrowing. You'll live a nice dream while inside the Artifact, and when the Tree finally breaks ground, you'll awaken."

"...Thank you."

"Goodbye, warrior."

There was silence for a while after she left, and he tipped up the edge of his hat with a finger, peering about to see whether she had left. Sure enough, the daughter of history's greatest witch was gone. "...A wonder Godhand could even raise a hand to that woman. She looked exactly like Alyse," Riven murmured, the last of his strength fleeing. He let his eyes close, and drifted off into the dream he'd been promised, as darkness overtook his new home.

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"I killed them all."

Riven stared at her, and she could feel something was wrong, but the smile wouldn't leave her face. The huge sword her master had given her was embedded in the ground beside her, still dripping.

She was coated in silver liquid, the same substance that flowed in the veins of...

Self-consciously, she wiped at her face, only making herself messier in the process. It was smeared across her chest, arms, legs...she was even kneeling in it. She could even taste it.

"I killed them all," she repeated, trying to provoke some reaction. He hadn't responded, only stood there looking dumb. "Its ours now. We can finally...finally stop fighting."

Riven took a faltering step, then collapsed to his knees in front of her. His arms closed around her shakily, and he held her to him.

"What...what are you doing?"

"Stop Elleira. Just...stop."

He didn't seem to understand. She had to make him. She tried again. "I killed them, Riven, and its okay now. Its ours now, and everything will be okay-"

"Stop!" His voice cracked, and his hold on her tightened.

Was he crying?
Why was he crying?

She stumbled and hit her knees, staring at the stone steps blankly. Sierra had a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. "What happened?" Elleira shook her head, not even sure whether she'd asked or been asked the question.

"They were stronger then we thought," Elleira said quietly. "Stronger then mortals. Stronger then Fairies...But I stopped them."

"What? Stopped who? Who's stronger?" Elazul demanded. Elleira looked up at him, prepared to spit out something sarcastic, when she realized she didn't recognize him. For that next brief moment of confusion, his face was both familiar and completely foreign at the same time.

"Who...?" she began, but stopped herself. "Uh...sorry. Just...daydreaming." She got back to her feet, carefully dusting herself off to avoid seeing the questioning looks. "Sorry. I'm ready now. Let's go."

"Didn't even make it down the first five stairs," Daena quipped, and the group chuckled lightly. Elleira smiled, though she didn't feel any amusement.

There was only dread.

And fear of the dark before her.