Something of a boring chapter, but alas. I can't just skip over the important events that occur at the Old Schoolhouse, even if it is just basically a retelling of canon. Just gotta bare with it for a couple chapters.
It all began with the chiming of a bell.
After dinner the entirety of Class VII remained at the table where important discussions took place. Originally it started off as last minute planning for the upcoming concert and how to properly spring the surprise of their third song to the crowds.
That was when they noticed that Emma wasn't looking so good. At first they assumed it was nerves from her role in the event, but she assured them that wasn't true. She instead told them that she was worried about the most recent news coming from Crossbell.
The International Bank of Crossbell, the largest financial institution on the continent, had elected to freeze all assets from Erebonia and Calvard in a bid for their independence. Such a move could very well trigger an economic depression across the country. In a worst case scenario it could very well lead to open war. Suddenly the respite the students thought that they had earned by defeating the ILF seemed quite fleeting.
As a more short-termed concern, many of the students were worried about the availability of their families for the festival. Jusis, Machias, Alisa, Elliot, Millium, and Laura all had relatives of great importance who might not be available thanks to the rapidly escalating crisis. Rean and Gaius only had siblings arriving, so they should be fine. Fie, Emma, and Crow had nobody attending, so they weren't affected at all.
It was at that time that Instructor Sara showed up and informed the students that she had news that everyone affected still planned to attend. Apparently it was decided that a public show of normalcy was important to the continued stability of the Empire. Thus, all had vowed to attend the Thor's festival, if only for a short period of time.
Sara then decided to drop a bombshell by telling the gathered group that Class I was still practicing their operetta in the Auditorium that very evening. That triggered a wave of alarm as none of them wanted to lose to Class I, even if the hostility between classes had since evolved into more of a friendly rivalry. Some wondered if they should have another practice session that evening, but Crow was quick to shoot down that idea as there was little they could improve upon and rest was the best thing they could get if they wanted to win.
And that was when the bell tolled.
It was an unusual bell, sounding nothing like the familiar chime of the Thor's bell. That was when half the class jolted as they realized they recognized the sound. One glance between the members of the group that went to Legram two months prior was all the confirmation that they needed: It sounded exactly like the bell in Lohengrin Castle. That served to make the entire class worried, as the stories that Group A had shared about the mysterious haunted castle were unpleasant to say the least.
At their instructor's urging, the entire group exited the dorm and made their way back to the school to investigate. As they expected, the bell on the main building remained dormant and silent, but the sound was still emanating more loudly as they closed in. If they weren't already suspicious of the Old Schoolhouse to begin with, the massive glowing blue aura surrounding it was a clear giveaway, as that was something they had noticed at the castle as well. Without hesitation the entire group of eleven students and one instructor made their way down the path to that old building that had become so important to the class.
As they got closer they began to see the Old Schoolhouse in all it's glory, and it appeared that the blue aura was actually some kind of barrier preventing entry. Unsurprisingly, they weren't the first to respond to the creepy glowing building, as Principal Vandyck, Instructor Thomas, Towa, and George were already on scene.
Given the situation, it wasn't at all surprising that Vandyck was already making plans to cancel the second day of the festival, but such a move sat poorly with the students of Class VII. The thought that all the hard work they and the other classes had put in would amount to nothing was hard to bear. If left unchecked whatever was happening inside the building could eventually lead to an evacuation of the school and even all of Trista...
And on a more personal level they were all curious as to what was going on. The mystery of the Old Schoolhouse had been their responsibility since the start of the year and now they finally had the chance to solve it once and for all. Especially since they all were either present in the investigation of Lohengrin Castle, or had heard it from the other group and the similarities were even more obvious now that they were looking at it from up close.
Of course just having the will to investigate did nothing when there was an impenetrable barrier in the way. From all accounts there was no way through and force did nothing. Without any way past that wall there would be no investigation.
Perhaps Aidios herself decided to intervene, but right after thinking that Rean's ARCUS began to glow, catching the attention of everyone. His wasn't the only one, as the rest of the class's orbments followed suit only a few seconds later. While everybody stared at the ARCUS units, wondering what was going on, Rean heard a voice in his head beckoning him to approach.
Heeding it, he did. Reaching out he saw that his hand was able to slip through the azure barrier with no resistance. Seeing their leader have success the other ten classmates all followed suit and sure enough they too were able to enter. George theorized that the barrier was resonating with the glowing ARCUS units, but to the members of Class VII it almost felt like they were being invited into the Old Schoolhouse.
With their resolve firm and a means of entry secure, all that was left was to receive permission to enter, and Principal Vandyck was quick to grant it. He gave them until the stroke of midnight to finish their investigation, as any later and they wouldn't have sufficient time to rest and perform the next day. With Instructor Sara's bemused encouragement and the two second-year students vowing to support the class in any way they could, the eleven members of Class VII marched as one into the unknown that awaited them.
Although they had been in that building dozens of times over the course of the year, never once had they seen any hint of the building glowing azure or the air being filled with a weird energy that all could feel. Fie, ever the scout, investigated the elevator room and found one startling change. Following her they discovered that the elevator had shifted with the addition of a new seventh floor.
Implicitly understanding that all of their answers would be found there, the group before descended down to the new bottom floor. There they discovered a large door similar to the one they found on the fourth floor, but this time it was surrounded by very active blue cogs. Approaching, they were all subjected to the weird voice that only Rean had heard previously.
"CONFIRMING RELEASE OF THE SIXTH LOCK... POTENTIAL AWAKENER DETECTED. THE TIME HAS COME... COMMENCING THE SECOND TRIAL."
With that mysterious proclamation the mechanisms on the door activated, causing the structure to open. What lay beyond could only be described as a portal, beckoning them into the unknown. Despite that, they hesitated.
"I'm very curious about this 'Sixth Lock' and 'Second Trial' business." Machias mused aloud. "Do you think the locks refer to each of the floors we've cleared thus far?"
Millium seemed more interested in a different part of the warning. "What's a potential Awakener? Is it talkin' about one of us?"
None of them had the answers to those questions, unfortunately. Rean was about to speak up when he was stopped by a sharp pang of pain on his chest, where his mark was located. Everyone looked at him in concern, but oddly enough Emma was the first to realize what exactly it was.
As if doing her best to reinforce the idea among her classmates that she knew far more than she was telling, the Class President stepped forward to address the assembled group. And none of them could recall when Celine had arrived, but that strange cat was beside her. "I think it should already be quite apparent, but we're headed somewhere no living eyes have seen. Are you sure you're all prepared?"
"Well, well." Jusis began with a somewhat mocking smile. "You certainly seem to be in the know about all of this." Despite his words being a sentiment shared by most within the class, all of them seemed to silently agree that now was not the time or place to grill Emma for answers. Instead it was a time for action.
"Back at the start of the year, I know we all had our doubts. We've made it this far..." Rean stated, looking at each and every one of them. "...because we've accepted each other for who we are. And I think being a part of Class VII is a big part of that. Even if the world were to stand against us, we'd have each other. The challenges we face, we face together."
Emma looked shocked by his declaration, but he meant every word of it. All the baggage and self-loathing he had arrived with at the start of the year... It wasn't all gone, but he was no longer afraid to face himself, and he had the support of Class VII to thank for that. He truly believed that as long as they were together they were unbeatable.
He wasn't the only one to think that either, as the others voiced their support. Well, most did. Machias and Jusis continued to bicker, as always, but in a way that was their own form of support. Fie and Laura shared a grin as they recalled their own struggle and how it resolved itself. Crow and Millium felt like outsiders as they had only been a part of the class for a few months, but they were just as much a part of it as everyone else.
"And I think you'll have to agree, Emma... Class VII is the best there is."
Any doubts the mysterious president might have had were dispelled by that show of camaraderie, and she soon offered her own support. They all understood that in all likelihood nobody would know what they were going to accomplish that night, but that was fine. The only ones they wanted to prove themselves to were standing in that room with them. With full confidence the group stepped through that portal in unison.
What waited for them on the other side defied all expectation. The building no longer resembled the Old Schoolhouse, and honestly didn't resemble any building at all. The layout was completely illogical as it was a series of pathways, towers, portals, and cogs that spanned as far as the eye could see.
And yet despite the insanity of it all Class VII's resolve remained undaunted as they gazed out at their surroundings. To reinforce the idea that it was just another operation for them they all insisted that Rean give one of his little pre-mission speeches, much to his consternation.
Still... "All right, Class VII. Our mission is to explore the seventh floor of the Old Schoolhouse and find a way to return the building to normal. Are you ready to give this everything you've got!?"
"Yeah!" "Yes!" "Understood!" "Right!" While their words didn't all sync up, their determination did and that was enough for Rean.
Still, while confidence was one thing, they needed a plan if they hoped to succeed. While the place was completely alien to them, they could safely assume given how far they could see that the seventh floor would be the longest one by far. And they could also plainly see extremely dangerous looking monsters prowling about on the paths ahead.
"Emma." The black-haired swordsman called out, catching the bespectacled girl's attention. "I'm not going to pry, but you clearly have some idea what awaits us. Do you believe that there will be a final trial at the end, like there was on all the previous floors?"
"Oh, um, yes. Most certainly. And I suspect it will be a far more difficult opponent than anything we have faced previously."
Rean sighed. "I figured as much. This place is massive and while we probably could make good time if we all advanced as one group, I propose we split into two. One group will pave the way forward and the other will remain in reserve, ready to swap in as the others start getting tired. That way everybody should be relatively fresh by the end. This also meant that the reserve team would have a few minutes if they needed to exit the building and get a tuneup on their ARCUS units, visit a shop, or grab a bite to eat if needed.
It was a sensible suggestion, and so everyone agreed to it. The initial active team would be Rean and Laura up front, with Crow providing ranged support and Fie there to reinforce whichever line needed the most assistance. Elliot and Emma were there to provide arts and healing support.
The initial team of six departed from the rest of the group as they began their exploration. While the initial area did have four different paths, their destination was clear as three of them led to portals that appeared to be sealed. Emma assured them that as long as they followed the correct path that those other ways would open up in time, leading them to their destination. So they took her advice and entered the one path opened to them.
As she had predicted, not far from where the first portal deposited them was a switch, and activating said switch caused a nearby barrier to vanish. That also introduced them to their first enemy of the day: A large demon comprised almost entirely of flames wielding two swords that were in fact entirely made of flames. Fortunately, cold steel was somehow able to block those blades, and despite their swords becoming uncomfortably hot Laura and Rean were able to keep them at bay while the others wisely took them out from afar.
"That was a Fire Surtr!" Emma exclaimed in shock after the short, but rather explosive battle had finished. "A fiend from the underworld!"
Her explanation earned her looks from all the other members of the group. "Why not make it more obvious that you know something we don't?" Fie asked with the flattest expression ever.
"She's got a point. Pretty sure that isn't the kind of stuff you would find in your average book. I might have done better in classes if we learned stuff like that instead of the crap they taught." Crow was quick to add his mira to the conversation.
"I-" The bespectacled girl was at a loss for words.
Fortunately for her Laura was ready to come to her defense. "I do not believe that this is the time or place for such a conversation."
"Well this does seem like the right place..." The timid musician chimed in. "but you're right that we are on a time limit."
"They're correct." Rean affirmed. "Still, can you at least promise to let us know what's going on once we're done here? I think we have a right to know."
"Of course. I believe the time for secrets has passed. I'll tell all of you what I know as soon as we have the chance."
While still curious, all were willing to accept his decision and her promise... for now. With that resolved the group of six continued their exploration of this insane place, traveling via portals to many different areas seemingly without rhyme or reason. Only Emma's assurances and the fact that they were discovering many switches and lowering barriers gave them confidence that they were actually advancing.
The monsters they encountered made sure progress was no easy task. Beyond the Surtr that they first fought, they also were attacked by a fiendish looking bee ("Lunar Bee's! Beware of their stingers as the venom is quite lethal!") and powerful horned two-legged demons. ("Watch out for the breath of the Minos Demons! It will hinder your vision!")
They also encountered an old friend, as the stone Garmr from initiation was also present, but this time was a lot more powerful. They struggled to do real damage to the fiend covered in jet-black stone, but their improved teamwork, skill, and experience shone through as the group managed to take it down eventually, but not before it got a good whack on Elliot with it's tail.
The younger male was mostly fine, but the hit did knock the wind out of him and leave a nasty looking gash on his chest. It was enough that even after arts treatment from Emma it was decided that he needed a break. Luckily for the group it appeared that they had reached the end of this part of the seventh floor and even more fortunately for them there was one of those teleporters that they had become accustomed to. Crow volunteered himself to be the guinea pig for the mysterious device and sure enough it was indeed a two-way link back to the entrance where the rest of the class awaited them.
Although they had no way of telling just how much of this place remained to be explored, they felt comfortable enough with their progress in the first hour or so to catch up the rest on what they had discovered and to make sure Elliot got proper treatment for his injury. Once finished Rean made a decision.
"Alright, I think we should swap up the teams for the next section. Machias, Jusis, Millium, Gaius, and Alisa, you're with me."
On the surface his decision made sense, but he unknowingly earned himself some unkind looks when he left himself in the party, but nobody was willing to say anything on the matter... yet. After a minute of preparing the new group stepped onto the teleporter while the others who remained behind took the chance to rest up with a few even leaving the building to grab a bite to eat.
The second area of the seventh floor was an indoor area, vastly different from the previous section. It appeared to be a large hallway with an even larger door at the end, but try as they might there seemed to be no way for them to open it. As it felt likely that that door was their next destination, they decided to look around the room for anything that might give them a clue as to how to proceed, something which they found in the shape of more teleporting devices on each side. With no other alternatives, the group wasted little time in stepping onto the nearest one.
The area they found themselves in was similar in appearance, but far more dangerous, as monsters were very present and very hostile. There was a large demonic rat, a hydra that could shoot electricity, and an evil looking creature that reminded Rean of the caribou that could be found near Ymir.
Despite being completely different they were just as dangerous as the ones fought earlier, but the new group was up to the task. While it might have lacked the combat experience of the first team, having four people up front meant that they could form a solid front and wall off the enemy groups for Machias and Alisa to shoot with impunity.
That formation broke down completely, however, when they were attacked by a giant steel golem. There was no way any of them save Millium could hope to block one of those massive fists, and only her and Machias's weapons could do any real damage. This being the case, most of the group backed off and resorted to orbal arts to fight the fiend, although Rean and Gaius did occasionally close to launch mostly ineffective attacks on the enemy, if only to keep it distracted from focusing all of it's efforts on overwhelming Airgetlam's barrier.
"Well, that was unpleasant." Gaius muttered casually as he put away his ARCUS once the enemy finally crumbled into dust.
"Right, we should probably try and avoid any more of those if we can." Rean agreed as he sheathed his tachi. That was an exhausting fight and he wasn't sure how many more of them he could handle. "Still, I get the feeling it was guarding something. Let's take a look around and see what we can find."
Alisa was the first to spot something. "Well what about that ladder over there?" Sure enough, there was a very conspicuous looking ladder heading upwards in this strange reality. Still, since they weren't sure what waited for them at the top...
"I'll check it out!" Millium cheered as she summoned Airgetlam back to her side. "Let's go, Lammy!"
As always, the machine chimed in that cryptic way it always did, before the two of them ascended upwards and over the top, leaving their sight. They expected her to return immediately, but she didn't. Instead they were soon greeted by the worrisome sound of something smashing. A few seconds later a very happy Millium returned to the group.
"There was a giant red crystal up there, but Lammy smashed it up real good!"
"Aidios, I swear. Why did we bring this impulsive child along..." Jusis appeared to be at his wits end. "You can't just go breaking everything you come across."
Rean... was conflicted. On one hand Jusis was definitely in the right, but... "I felt something when she broke that crystal. It's just a hunch, but let's head back to the main hall for a second, alright?"
The others were a bit confused by his request, and some grumbling was heard at the prospect of backtracking, but with the monsters gone it only took a couple of minutes. Thankfully, for Rean's sake, his hunch was dead on the mira and the trip was worthwhile.
"Was that light glowing before?" Alisa was the first to verbalize what they saw, as indeed there was a light lit up near the big door. That also drew attention to the fact that there were three other lights, but none of those were lit up.
"I assume breaking the crystals are what we need to do if we want to advance. Looks like Millium was in the right, Albarea. How does it feel to be so wrong?"
Said girl giggled in delight at getting praise from the ever serious vice-president, but Jusis was not amused. "Are you seriously going to side with Millium Orion and her impulsive and reckless behavior just because she was correct this one time? Try to have some pride, Regnitz, and not just always pick the option that I did not."
"That's not what I was doing and you know it!"
Despite the seriousness of the place they were in, the three bystanders shared a knowing glance as they listened to the rivals. Point to Jusis. Class VII totally wasn't keeping a running score of their verbal debates, not at all.
"It seems we need to destroy three more crystals if we wish to proceed." As was often the case, it was Gaius who brought them all back on track. "Shall we return to our explorations?"
"Right, let's go everyone."
Now that they knew their objective and had a decent idea of how to handle the monsters in this place progress picked up rapidly. Avoid monsters when possible, fight when not, search for crystals. Fortunately the paths were very linear so it was an easy, albeit lengthy, exploration.
There was a bit of a surprise when they found the next crystal and Millium gleefully summoned Airgetlam, only for the powerful fist of the combat shell to have absolutely no effect, much to her surprise and dismay. The group shared in her confusion until Rean noticed a symbol that almost looked like the Erebonian standard for a piercing projectile. With only that hint to go on Alisa decided to take aim with her orbal bow. Despite the arrow having far less power behind it compared to what Millium brought to bear, the arrow effortlessly shattered the offending crystal.
The other two crystals also had unique properties to them, but Gaius and Jusis were there to handle those ones, much to Millium's dismay. As expected, the destruction of the fourth and final crystal was enough to cause the big door to open, and reveal another teleporter for the class to use. As he had before, Rean called upon the group to take it back and take a break, while catching the other team up on what they had discovered.
Although none of them could know for certain, there was a feeling among the students that they were closing in on the end, and one more push is likely all it would take to get there. Anticipation was growing for whatever they were about to find, but first they had to get there. If the past trips were any indication they still had more trials to overcome, and very likely they would be far harder than that which they had already faced.
Looking at the assembled group Rean made his decision for the next team. Technically it was mostly the same as the first group, but while Elliot looked like he had recovered he wanted to give the young musician a little more time to rest. "Alright, for this section let's go with Laura, Fie, Emma, Crow... Huh?"
The reason for his pause? The ten simultaneous dirty looks he was receiving from the rest of the group. Even the kinder members of the group were looking at him like he was an idiot! "Um... Did I say something wrong?"
His obliviousness only served to annoy the rest even further. "Do you really not know!?" Alisa all but hissed at him.
"Rean, my man. You can't just hog all the glory for yourself. This thing's a bit much for one person to do it all nonstop..." Something about the way Crow said that was a bit odd, but none cared to comment on it as they had more important things to discuss.
"Perhaps you yourself should take a break?"
It was Emma's statement that finally gave him the answer he needed. "Oh! Haha..." He laughed nervously as he realized why they were all so upset with him. "You're right, sorry. Guess I've just been so excited to finally solve the mystery of this place that I got carried away."
His answer mollified the others... somewhat. "I suppose that is fair. You are the one most invested in this, after all..."
"Still an idiot, though." Machias somewhat agreed with his rival. "At least consider your own well-being once in a while."
Laura shared a glance with Fie and the younger girl nodded, clearly thinking along the same wavelengths. "Right. In that case, we'll handle the next section. We'll take Emma, Crow..." With Rean out of the picture and her sharing his opinion that Elliot could use more rest that means they needed two from the most recent team.
Fortunately Fie was ahead of her on that front. "Gaius, Millium, you two up for another round?" In her eyes those two appeared the freshest out of everyone, which made sense since they probably had the most combat experience on that team.
"Of course. I would be happy to help."
"Yup! Let's do this, new captains!"
With that the new group of six departed, stepping onto the teleporter and vanishing out of sight. Rean took a minute to glance around in confusion. "Um, so what should we do now?"
His question earned him the stink-eye from the others as they realized that their leader had never been benched before. Talk about unfair!
The group made their way into the next area with an open mind as to what kind of crazy things they could expect to see. Still, none of that prepared them for what they discovered. It was an open 'outdoor' area, but there was a maelstrom of energy swirling about, such that even those without affinity towards the higher elements could feel the wrongness of it all.
At least the path forward was very straightforward. All they had to do was keep following the bridge and it would presumably take them to their destination. Or at least that's what they thought until they found that the bridge was destroyed. Stumped, they prepared to turn back and look for anything that they had missed.
Or at least that was the plan until the bridge miraculously repaired itself without prompt. Five pairs of befuddled eyes turned to the one who might have an explanation, and sure enough Emma was able to explain the phenomena by claiming that the higher elements in this place were so distorted that they could alter causality. Her explanation didn't clear away their confusion at all, but Fie was daring enough to step on the newly repaired bridge and when it didn't collapse and send her screaming into the abyss the others just shrugged off the weirdness of everything and proceeded onward.
This section also marked the return of some old friends for the students. The mysterious giant suit of armor that Rean and Crow fought on the fourth floor made a return, as did a more dangerous version of the Unsurtr that was guarding the fifth floor. Both enemies that they had beaten prior, but both that they knew were extremely dangerous and so they did their best to avoid them when possible, something which wasn't easy on the narrow bridge they were walking on. It didn't help that there were also smaller enemies were around who could more easily intercept them. These were fiends comprised entirely of shadows who moved in small groups to harry them while the bigger monsters advanced...
Because of this, some fighting was inevitable, but fortunately for them, outside of Rean all the combat specialists were in this group. Laura and Millium were a brutally powerful front, especially with Gaius supporting them with precision spear thrusts. Fie and Crow kept them covered while Emma was responsible for most of the arts used by the group. Even the trials of the past could not hope to keep them from completing the trial of the present.
"This place is such a mystery. I was prepared for something like what we experienced at Lohengrin Castle, but this..." Laura muttered as they continued down the long straight path.
"Yup! It's pretty neat! I'm just glad there aren't any ghosts around." Truly Millium cared about the most important things.
"I agree. This place has such a unique feeling to it. Even the winds are behaving oddly..."
Crow nodded along. "And yet two of you don't seem very surprised."
Emma was obvious, but Fie also didn't appeared to be awed by the place they were in. She shrugged in response. "This place is pretty crazy, but apparently stuff like this isn't that rare. I remember boss hearing about some crazy stuff in Liberl last year..."
"Oh, you're talking about the Liberl Incident, right?"
She nodded at the class president's query. "Yup, you know about it?"
"Um... Only what's public knowledge?" Emma's answer was quite unimpressive and earned her some looks for it.
Fortunately Fie spotted something to divert their attention from the fidgeting girl. "Oh, I think I see the end of the path."
None doubted the sharp eyes of the former jaeger and so the group increased their pace, taking care to not antagonize any of the few remaining monsters in their way. Sure enough, within a few minutes they arrived at the end of the path where a door dutifully opened for them. Without hesitation they stepped through...
And found themselves back in the familiar dreary confines of the Old Schoolhouse. Ahead was a small path that extended into darkness and beside them was yet another of the teleporter machines. None of them needed to be Emma to realize that the next room was the finale and that's where they would find their answers.
Of course those answers belonged to the entire class, with Rean in particular having the most vested interest in this place, so before they could advance they had to go back and fetch the others, which Laura volunteered to do. It took only a few seconds after her vanishing in the teleporter for her to return with the others in tow. Once caught up on everything the assembled Class VII prepared themselves for what would almost certainly be the final battle.
Once ready they steeled themselves and began to advance, only to stop a second later as that same voice they had heard earlier reverberated in their heads. "NOW... REVEAL UNTO ME THE COLOR OF THY SOULS..." It was startling, but they remained undaunted and continued moving forward.
In the next room was another closed door. The most unique thing about it was the massive crimson gem in the center. It was familiar for the group that visited Legram as it reminded them of the orb that summoned the Nosferatu. Before they could say anything, however, it lit up and began to glow in an ominous manner.
"THOU WHO WOULDST BE AN AWAKENER... HERE EXISTS A FRAGMENT OF THE GREAT POWER. IF THOU SEEKEST TO CLAIM IT, PROVE THY WORTH. COMMENCING THE FINAL TRIAL..."
They were confused by it's mention of a 'Great Power', but before they could think about it more the crystal glowed even brighter and they could feel a tug as if it were pulling them all in. There was little they could do at that point save for brace themselves and prepare for whatever the 'Final Trial' would be...