TIME, LIGHT, LIFE
We have come this far. We must locate the key.
The Key of the Creator. A key itself to unlock the very mysteries of all creations, forged with the wisdoms of the Overseers of the Maple World to learn the wonders of the creations from the religious gods of the reality and beyond. Whosoever possesses of it, possesses the power strongest of all those that have existed, for it is the only power that truly shatters the ultimate limits of the Maple World. With such power of indescribable force and potential, it is certain that the bearer of this key shall have the power to exert complete control over the other world and manipulate all its order, limited only by the will and decision of him.
We must locate the key. The Dark Lord demands it.
The morning sun shone through the valleys as the waters of the river continued to flow, glimmering as if to welcome the rising sun of Japan. The light illuminated the mountainous region around Heian Yamagawa Shrine, whose colour blended nicely with the greenery that dominated mother nature.
Ruriko arose early before the new visitors. She donned the green hakama outside her nightgown and came to the shrine with a broom. Putting her broom down, she knelt in front of the grand statue of the hayato and silently chanted her prayers. It had been the family's tradition to do so every morning upon sunrise.
After a while, she got up. Picking up her broom, she began to sweep the leaves that had gathered themselves at the torii. She would have to sweep the pavements aside from the shrine itself, something she did not find quite burdensome to do.
As Ruriko started sweeping outside of the shrine compound, she saw two people approaching the shrine, again not from the entrance but from within the shrine. Ruriko turned and saw two travellers, seemingly lost, walking toward her direction.
Athena knew from the clues of the chronicles that they were in a realm called the reality. But what kind of magic would be strong enough to severe the line between the Maple World and the reality?
As the others slowly woke up, Athena told them about her findings. She wrote the poem down on a piece of paper as far as she could remember. Neinheart was the first to pick it up. He tried to decipher the message within the chronicles.
"Entrance art impossible not, ne'er the less. Such permission art gladly grant'd by respective time, light, life, of which rules of logic art compel'd to be met," Neinheart repeated the lines over and over again, trying to find clues as to how a portal could be opened.
"Time, light, life," said Claudine. Suddenly, something came over her mind. "The transcendents! Transcendents of time, light and life!"
At this point, it became clearer to the five of them. "The transcendents in our world are Rhinne, Alice, and..." said Irena.
"The Black Mage," Neinheart continued.
"So, if we can somehow get them to open the portal, we could get back to our world!" said Claudine, feeling hopeful. But Neinheart shook his head.
"The poem is not being clear about this. There is no 'and' or 'or' mentioned in here. We don't know if we need the three of them or just one. The Black Mage had the power to do so himself probably because the dark powers greatly strengthened him. What's more, we don't even know if we could reach the transcendents in our world from here!"
"This is getting complicated, I'm gonna go outside and take a walk," said Irena as she stood up and exited the room.
The remaining four remained silent as they tried to sort out the message. Suddenly, Neinheart noticed something.
"Hey guys, look!" Neinheart pointed to a significant word in the poem, "respective time, light, life. Respective. Athena, you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Athena hesitated for a while. A similar realisation hit her and it became clear. "It's the reality. The reality has its own transcendents. Three of them in this world!" Neinheart nodded in agreement.
"This means if we can find all three of them in this world, we should be able to get them to channel a portal back to our world. All we need to do is to gather the rest of the people and we can all get back safe and sound!" Athena said in excitement.
Xenon scooted over to Claudine and asked, "Didn't Ruriko told you yesterday that magic doesn't exist in this world? How should we find the transcendents if they themselves don't even know they are the transcendents of the reality?"
Athena shrunk. She completely forgot about this part. Now it's only getting more and more complicated. "A little too optimistic, weren't we?" Neinheart chuckled.
Nevertheless, they knew how hard it was to find all three of them in this world so much bigger than the Maple World. They didn't even know how to begin finding the rest of the crew at first. Meanwhile, Claudine thought of what Ruriko told her yesterday about the place they were in.
"Well, you saw that shrine first when you came into this place, right? It's the Heian Yamagawa Shrine. It got its name for several reasons," said Ruriko. "Go on," Claudine encouraged.
"Notice that around this place were numerous mountains and hills and valleys. Legend has it that there was a legendary hayato who fled from war during the Sengoku Era, which was an era of warring nations in Japan, and took refuge alone in the place. The local villagers here in this village at that time were unaware of the Sengoku Era, and when news reached our village about the hayato, everyone was shocked and amazed. His tales of the Sengoku Era affected the people greatly, just as how beautifully and heavenly he described the mountainous scenery here."
"Wait, what did you say again about the Era?" asked Claudine.
"What about it?"
"The place the warring nations were in. You mentioned something called Japan?"
"Mhm, we are in a country called Japan now. It's the actual name of Zipangu."
"Oh, I see, interesting. Carry on."
"Anyway, the hayato died almost as suddenly as his appearance in the village, sadly. In honour of him, the villagers built a shrine on top of a hill, where they cremated his body. That statue you saw in the shrine, that was built for him, too. His ashes were sprinkled amongst the scenery, which was his dying wish. The shrine was first given the name Yamagawa for the various mountains around the shrine and a nearby river which was a vital source of water for the village. Yama means mountains and Gawa means rivers in Japanese.
"Yamagawa Shrine did not gain the description Heian until a few centuries later. Centuries after the death of the hayato, population of our village began to shrink due to youths moving out to the urban areas. By mid-Edo, the number of families in the village shrunk to one, the Inoue family - my family - who continued to maintain the shrine's welfare back then. Unlike during the past when the village was once lively with people living harmoniously with one another, the atmosphere was very quiet almost all the time. We did not complain, but instead enjoyed the serenity and tranquil of the area. Tales of the hayato were passed down generations to generations and all of us in my family knew the importance of peace and harmony, sincerely appreciating it. Thus, my ancestors added the description Heian, renaming the shrine to Heian Yamagawa Shrine, meaning the peaceful mountains and river.
"The shrine has been and still is a great importance to our village here. See the corridor at the back of the shrine where you saw many stone tablets? Those bear the name of the people who had lived and died in this village, my ancestors included. Speaking of my ancestors, even after the 21st century, they continued to live in the deserted village. We had a family tradition of having at least one male descendant to stay in the village and continue the legacy as well as maintaining the shrine. Thanks to this family tradition, the legacy went on and generations living in there continued to prosper, living off homegrown fruits and vegetables and the water of the river. All of us in this family agreed to keep the village and the shrine a secret from the others, which also became part of the family tradition eventually.
"Unfortunately, during the mid 20th century, the sole heir of my family, my father Satoshi Inoue became sterile after giving birth to my three older sisters and me. Had a family discussion, and we came to an agreement where I, the youngest daughter would stay on and maintain the sole house of the village and the shrine. My sisters Yayoi, Nanase and Chisato all moved out of the village and each had their own families abroad."
"So, are you the only one here now?"
"Until you people came, me and me only," Ruriko affirmed.
Irena strolled towards the shrine, hoping to find Ruriko. The route from her house to the shrine proved quite a walk even though it was not an extremely long one, especially since Irena lost all her magic in this world.
She came to the shrine, noticing how much tidier it looked compared to the day before when they first arrived there. Obviously Ruriko's job, she thought, assuming she was the only inhabitant around these parts. She walked through the shrine, and at last found Ruriko near the torii. She was talking to two strangers.
Irena didn't like the looks of these strangers. Both of them seemed grimly...familiar. She thought it best to keep a safe distance between them.
Ruriko led the two travellers into the shrine as the two of them went into the main hall. They went in front of the statue and knelt down to pray, one of them chanting his prayers. Irena silently watched as the two travellers stood up and followed Ruriko to where she lived – to where the other members of the crew were staying.
"Hey guys, there'll be two joining us today!" Ruriko said as she entered the threshold of her house.
The four of them came out of the room, curious to see the two newcomers. The two of them looked a bit startled to see them, but still greeted them nonetheless. Neinheart couldn't help shivering a little bit as he felt their handshakes.
The two of them introduced themselves as Daisuke Komamura and Toruki Hayakawa, while the four of them each introduced themselves as they sat around the table on their respective tatamis. Ruriko came out a while later from the kitchen serving them cups of tea as they exchanged conversations with one another. They were close to revealing their actual background until Athena nudged all of them to not do so.
Irena came in shortly after. However, she did not look as welcoming towards the two strangers as the other four. She passed by the table without even looking at them, and went into the room straight. Athena considered calling her out, but Neinheart stopped her.
They continued chatting until Ruriko decided it was time to show the two newcomers their room and around the shrine and the village.
The four of them returned to the room to see a depressed Irena lying on the matress, pretending to be asleep.
"Irena, that's not very nice of you to treat guests like that," Neinheart was the first to speak.
"Oh yeah? Did you even notice how c-creepy they look?" Irena retaliated in defence.
"She has a point," said Claudine, "they did seem a little familiar. I can't remember where I've seen them, though."
"Well, in any case, let's not let our guard down," said Athena, bringing the argument to a close, "There's no telling whether the Black Mage's commanders have planned to attack when we're most defenceless. It is possible that they might have stepped foot into this world."
The midnight moon dimly shone through the valleys as the waters of the river continued to flow, glimmering as if to assist in alleviating the darkness that was drawn over the region. The environment was peaceful and silent, except for the sound of crickets which only added to the peace in nature.
They came to the hallway behind the shrine, darkness looming the long corridor housing the stone tablets of the previous ancestors.
"I dearly wish to set up a new kingdom here. This place looks just as beautiful as my former kingdom. I-I just want to see a kingdom so peaceful and beautiful like how it is here, so full of laughters, and...with her still by my side...I say we come up with a new plan," the one with the long red hair said.
"I admire your vision, Von Leon, but tell me, who do you serve now?" asked the other.
Von Leon hesitated before replying, "The Dark Lord. I serve the Dark Lord. I apologise for zoning out, Damien."
"Good," said Damien as he turned back facing the seemingly endless tunnel. "The curse I have chanted during our arrival should have taken effect by now, they should all be under my control."
Von Leon kept silent. He wished he could set up a new kingdom and start all over again. The serene environment and scenery around the shrine brought back so many memories of his former kingdom, which had been so harmonious and peaceful and beautiful, just like Ifia. If only the Knights hadn't invaded the kingdom. Just the thought of that reminded him why he served the Black Mage in the first place. He snapped out of his thoughts and focused back on Damien.
Damien chanted something under his breath, and Von Leon could hardly hear him at all. However, Damien's voice significantly grew as he chanted, and faster and faster he chanted. At last, just before he ended his chant, he cried, "Arise, my slaves!"
The stone tablets all started glowing a gloomy purple colour.