Summit... Summit... Boringness... But necessary boringness...

"Oh, that? That is the easy part." –Kairi

Chapter 12.8 – Out of Time
Part 105

There were quite a few of us collected around in the chapel. Me. Asch and Luke. Cantabile, Jade... basically, the majority of the group who'd flown here, plus the two rulers, plus Teodoro, and the guys we'd left in Daath to begin with. Rialle and Aerith were the last to join us, and I knew Reighn and I had been the ones to request their presence before we began.

"I know Princess Natalia called for this summit due to increasing problems regard the Score, however, given recent events, I think the first thing we need to address is what we're going to do about the miasma. I know Kairi mentioned something at one point..." I sighed as Peony's comment made everyone turn to me.

"Alright, alright... Theoretically, Asch and Luke, using the ability of the Sword of Lorelei to gather seventh fonons and the seventh fonons of the replicas gathering at the Tower of Rem, should be able to create a hyperresonance strong enough to get rid of the miasma once and for all..." I stopped here and sighed. "The problem lies in a couple different facts, however. One, there's going to be a serious rebound. I'm not sure if they'll be able to withstand it, though I know it would most certainly be fatal if either tried it on their own."

Here, I stopped again, and looked over at the brown-haired Fon Master Guardian that was hovering behind Sync's shoulder. "Also, from what Rialle's been able to dig up, the miasma came about as a result of seventh fonons interacting with chemicals in the core. Asch and Luke will be setting Lorelei free from the core, and with any luck, that will stop the major part of the production of miasma..."

"It sounds to me like there's another problem, though," Teodoro said. "So long as the Planet Storm continues to cycle seventh fonons through the core..."

"Exactly. In addition, and assuming it hasn't already done this, the Tartarus will very quickly be nearing the point where it won't be able to keep suppressing the core's vibrations and will simply fall apart to be crushed by the pressure. At that point, there's nothing stopping the liquefaction of the land," Jade said, jumping in for me.

"Didn't you mention that it would be possible to raise the Outer Lands again if the passage rings could be repaired?" King Ingobert asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, but that will require the Planet Storm, which as Teodoro has already pointed out, is bringing another problem with it."

"The miasma," Peony noted. Largo frowned.

"You're suggesting halting the Planet Storm altogether."

"It may be the only chance we have," I said, tone implying that I didn't like it. Honestly, I didn't care much either way. This was canon, and really... It needed to happen.

"That's going to basically kill our fon machinery. Fonic artes won't be as strong, either," Guy said, standing near Emperor Peony and dressed up in something much nicer than his usual garb.

I sighed. "Maybe..."

"Kairi?"

I shook my head. "Auldrant is just brimming with Energies. Fonons are mutated Energies... theoretically, it should be possible to start turning Energies into fonons to make up for the lack of the Planet Storm... The problem is...I don't have a clue how to do it, and I'm not sure I want to know what would happen if the Energy levels suddenly dropped as much as they would have to in order to maintain the Planet Storm's current level of fonons."

Peony frowned. "If we have to live without the Planet Storm, we'll survive. Jade's told me enough about Energies for me to know that those are infinitely more important to survival. People can survive with closed fonslots. Their bodies don't always like it, but they survive."

Cantabile crossed her arms. "But how are we supposed to stop the Planet Storm? That's been in place since before the Outer Lands were raised, because as we've mentioned a couple times already, the Planet Storm is the cause of the liquefaction."

I sighed. "Oh, that? That is the easy part. Asch has the Sword of Lorelei, and Luke has the Jewel. Luke can just go to the Gates, find the glyphs controlling the Planet Storm, and use the Jewel to stop them."

Teodoro nodded. "Yes. The legends say Yulia used the Sword to create them in the first place. That should work."

"See? That was easy. Coming back to the miasma... not so easy," I said. Ingobert looked upset. So did Duke Fabre, if you knew what to look for. I'd spent long enough around Asch to know the signs.

"You're certain there's no other way to stop the miasma?"

Asch and Luke exchanged a look.

"We know the dangers. Kairi and Jade have told us plenty over the last few hours before this conference," Asch started.

"Kairi's right. We have to do it together, or whoever goes to the Tower of Rem will die. There's no in-between, no happy medium," Luke finished. I closed my eyes.

"And the miasma will kill everyone on Auldrant if something isn't done about it."

Peony sighed. "I hate to do this, but... Luke, Asch... Will you do this for us? Not just for Malkuth. I'd like to think that I'm speaking for Kimlasca and Daath as well, and everyone who won't acknowledge myself, Ion, or your uncle as their leader."

The outburst came from the last person I'd expected, honestly. "You can't—!"

"Father!"

Duke Fabre's eyes shifted over to his sons, and then he looked over at me, arms crossed, expression stormy, and looking about ready to kill someone, I'm sure. He took a step back.

"Don't make a choice you're going to regret," he said simply. Then he turned and left. Asch watched him go, then looked at Luke.

"Do you all mind if we have a few minutes to talk to our father?" the younger of the two asked.

"Not at all. In the meantime, we'll start the discussions on what to do about the Score."

Asch nodded, and he and Luke headed out after Duke Fabre. I wondered idly if they were going to tell him what I already knew.

"Now then... the main problem we've been having is that the citizens don't know why we've forsaken the Score in such a way," Peony said. Natalia nodded.

"Yes. The lack of communication is doing us a lot of harm right now. I don't think we should tell them everything, but we've got to make at least some of it known..."

"What about the fact that the Seventh fonstone ended with Auldrant's destruction?" I asked.

Everyone gave me an odd look, and I ducked my head sheepishly. "What?"

"Where the heck did you come up with that?" Peony asked. I shrugged.

"Well, think about it. Yulia's Score was supposed to be a prediction of everything that happens in the future, right? So... why stop at seven fonstones?"

Dead silence hung over the table.

"Never thought of that," Reighn said softly. "And you're right. If it cuts off like that... then the most likely outcome is the destruction of Auldrant. Or, something else just as horrible. And it was well known that Mohs was looking for the seventh fonstone. Maybe we can lie, say someone found it, and we realized that it wasn't exactly something we wanted to keep reaching towards?"

"Not a total lie, if Eldrant is really a replica of Hod. The seventh fonstone should be there, albeit, a replica of it. Van showed it to me once when we were children," Guy said. "We'll have Ion and Sync with us when we go. They, and Tear, should be able to look at it and see."

I nodded. "Assuming the replica data didn't screw it up. I highly doubt it, but it is a possibility. There's always the choice of asking Lorelei himself, too. Asch and Luke have been contacted by him multiple times; no doubt those three will be having another conversation when they free him, as well."

"So, we can assume the Score led to the destruction of Auldrant... Since Yulia hid the seventh fonstone, I can see why that would have been hidden from the general public," Ingobert agreed. "Also, what of Van's actions? The lowering of the Outer Lands was a bit rushed because of the strain he was placing on the passage rings."

I shrugged. "We'd have had maybe a couple more decades before they started breaking on their own, anyway," I said. "So regardless of the Score, we'd have had to lower the Outer Lands or risk them falling and killing everyone."

Reighn snorted. "Good point. And that'll just add more weight to our statement that the seventh fonstone predicts the end of Auldrant."

"Alright. But what about Eldrant? It sounds like Zion and his allies are using it as a base of sorts," Natalia said. I flinched.

"And, if we needed another reason why stopping the Planet Storm is necessary... That force field you can see spinning around it? That is also being drawn from the Planet Storm. My guess is, they're using the replicated passage ring that used to reside at Hod to control it," I said. "The Albiores won't be able to get through that while the Planet Storm is active."

Jade grimaced. "And since that's their primary replication facility..."

"That is definitely something we want to get rid of, then," Peony said. "Or at least, stop the replication process. I guess, with the Albiores, we'd be fine leaving it floating around, assuming it's not relying too heavily on fon machinery with too high a fonon requirement. If we're stopping the Planet Storm, we'll have to make adjustments for fonon use in fon machinery, even if it means getting rid of a lot of what we use now and finding less exhaustive methods."

I tilted my head to the side. "What about the energy reservoirs in Yulia City? Those are really high-capacity, low-waste, and... well, those generators have been running for about a year, the Isle of Feres and Eldrant have both been siphoning energy from the reservoirs without anyone in the city noticing, and there's still energy to spare."

Guy looked over at me like I'd spouted the craziest and yet most brilliant thing ever. "If we can get enough researchers and technicians on it... Especially if we put Henken, Cathy, Iemon, Aston, and Tamara on the project... I'm sure we could figure out some way of recreating them. And you're right. That's not a huge expenditure of fonons, and it is a lot of energy."

Teodoro nodded. "I've had researchers working on it for some time already, but..." He trailed off and looked at me, and I shook my head.

"I'll help when I can, but I've got my position in the Oracle Knights to contend with, as well as the, pardon my blunt phrasing, political mess me and Asch dating is trying to cause. Oh, and let's throw in the Clans mess while we're at it."

Guy cringed. "Quit reminding me..."

I gave him a sympathetic look. "Sorry. I'm just a little miffed. It kinda feels to me like everything's conspiring against me, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm in a bit of a bad mood."

Tear sighed. "I hate to say it, but I'm fairly certain that at least most of our major problems are conspiring against you, if not all of them, so it's not entirely unfounded."

Jade chuckled. "Well, that having been brought up... We seem to have agreed on what to do about the Score, the Planet Storm, and the miasma... I think the next issue we need to address is Eldrant itself."

I bit my lip. "Given that it looks like it's built like a fortress, it's flying, and there are only two Albiores, I'm thinking this is going to have to be an infiltration."

"No doubt they'll have anti-air fire as well," Guy said.

Cantabile shifted. "What if we mounted an attack from below to give you cover fire? If our weapons could take out even one section of theirs, that would give the Albiores' pilots an opening to get close, at least."

I nodded, remember that from the game, even if only barely. "Okay. So, we're going to do that, then? It'll take us a couple weeks to deal with the miasma and the Planet Storm, since Luke is needed for both, but..."

Ingobert and Peony nodded. "I'll have Brigadier General Frings start preparing troops for that operation," the blonde man said.

"And I'll do the same for Kimlasca."

Everyone turned to see Duke Fabre walking back in, Luke and Asch to either side.

"You know what we're planning...?" Teodoro asked, a bit confused-sounding. Asch gave me a meaningful look.

"Kairi's been keeping us posted."

Since it was known to basically everyone in the room now that I was telepathic, this was what was assumed.

I knew, though, that Asch had told his father what we'd be doing based on what I'd told him previously of how this part of the game went. This was one of the few parts he'd been very interested in, after all.

"Do you want Daath to support you, or would you rather we stay back and be ready to cover you should something go wrong?" Cantabile asked. As Commandant, she was the one in charge of the military side of the Order of Lorelei.

"I think it may be best if the Oracle Knights stay back to support Kimlasca and Malkuth," Jade said. "For one thing, you've undergone a massive overhaul recently, and while I don't doubt that your men are ready to fight again, I'd hate to see you have to try to fill your ranks a second time in so short a time span."

Cantabile nodded a silently grateful acknowledgment to this.

Ingobert then turned to Peony. "On that note, with all of our major problems at least having been addressed, I believe now may be the best time to end this summit."

Peony nodded, then turned to us. "Let us worry about planning for the assault on Eldrant. You all have enough problems on your plate with the miasma and Planet Storm."

Teodoro stood. "And I will see about adding more researchers to the generator project. If we are to stop the Planet Storm, we will need them."

Cantabile looked over at Ion, who nodded. "Then let this summit be adjourned."

Everyone nodded, and a moment later, most of us had broken away from the table that had been brought into the chapel for this meeting.

Asch followed me as I stepped up to the altar. "You know, despite always cursing at multiple gods at a shot, I always got the impression you weren't really religious," he said.

I nodded. "That's true. But I have my moments. Given the way things are going... Some people need to reaffirm their beliefs right before things like this. Me... I just need a moment to calm down."

Asch chuckled. "You and me, both..."

Fun Fact: Kairi and I share the same religious views. We curse at multiple Gods at a shot, many of which are made-up for various cultures/religions related to the roleplaying I do with my friends (Frinye, Gesældha, Vhorddhu, Pho, and Æslynndri from the Fae cultures (WeGotWinx's rewrite of Boundaries of the Mind gives us a good look at this, since Mithri is Half-Fae) being among them). Yet, we're not really religious in the sense that we worship the deities we're cursing at.