Diary
See disclaimer in Entry #1
:Moonlight Castle:
"Grandeur of ages past
Against a glittering backdrop of stars
Footsteps echoing into eternity"
-Ein
There's something about the castle called Lacrima that just inspires poetry within you.
Fia, Lina, and I are supposed to be patroling this area to find out what's happened to the Arcs who've guarded it for so many years, but the beauty of the ancient stronghold is really distracting. I can tell that Fia's disappointed in me, and I'm sorry to let her down, but even though I can faintly sense the presence of demons lurking around the corners of the stone corridors, the surroundings just steal the breath from my lungs.
Lacrima is an immense stronghold built of marble and limestone, laced with cobbled courtyards. Its towers are are studded with long, tall windows that allow for tantalizing glimpses of the diamond-studded sapphire field they call the sky. Between the stone bricks of the walkways, nearly-black blades of grass have sprung, giving the area a charming feel rather than an overgrown and unattended one.
It's beautiful, but also sad... because of the demons that roam Lacrima's stone halls...
And there are no Arcs in sight, either.
From what Fia has told me, the Arcs are a race of Sprites with black, batlike wings. Many of them are reapers, entrusted with the souls of the dead and dying until they can be guided to Valhalla. They were entrusted with the castle after Ragnarok, when the Grim Angels of Asgard reclaimed it from the demons who had possessed it. They are proud, brave, and fiery people, who have always been allied to Elendia. Their village, Rosalina, is supposed to lie slightly to the west of the castle, with a few Arcs always patrolling Lacrima's halls.
Lina explained that she and Fia grew up with quite a few friends among the Arcs, which is why they were so concerned when contact between Elendia and Rosalina was broken. The appearance of so many demons has worried Fia's grandfather, the Elder, who refused to let any search teams head out here. But the two of them couldn't sit and wait, so they used the village's magic circle without permission to check on Lacrima's condition. Because I didn't feel like waiting around for them to get back, I went with them.
I'm still not sure if I can be of very much help to Fia and Lina. But I do know that I can't just leave them to fight by themselves. So I will stay with them, and do what little I can.
Because there's something that feels so right about traveling with friends like this, despite the emptiness I can't do anything about inside me.
Because this is the only road I have to my memories.
And because... I care about what happens to this world...