By this time, all the groups adventuring around solistia, with their goals over for now, were starting to close in on the Camping spot in the Leaflands. Ochette and Castti's groups were among the first to arrive and set up, which left Hikari, Agnea, Osvald and Partitio's groups close behind. The only ones who havent reported their arrivals to the Leaflands yet, were Thronè and Reformed Society, and Temenos at Team Revival, who had arrived at Conning Creek at the same time and met up by coincidence yet again.
"Geez, can y'belive that we'd end up getting paired up again twice in one adventure?" Travis asked.
"I didn't really think it was that much of a surprise." Glacius said.
"Well, we are the ones who will more than likely arrive at our meetup spot last. Our adventures did take the longest to complete." Lysithea said.
"But they were worth it in the end. And I heard about how you got a new member out of it." Ignatz said to reformed society.
"So its true then, huh? Thronè's joining the crew?" Travis asked.
"Yes. It was the best way we could save her from her torment." Nesma said.
"I've got no issue with it. She could come in handy if we need to steal any of the bracelets left to find off someone." Hilda said.
"But, the point is, she wants to live her life away from killing and stealing for the most part, and we'll be more than happy to accommodate her." Connor added for correction.
"Don't get the wrong idea though. I will still be stealing and cleaning. I'll just be cleaning up monsters, and stealing what you all want from those who dont deserve it." Thronè said.
"Speaking of which… how did you get that gem, Thronè?" Temenos inquired, noticing a Gem in Thronè's hand.
"I stole it. Isn't it Beautiful?" Thronè asked, holding it out.
"And right as you said you were going to use your talents for the greater good as part of your new team? Were you a believer, you would have to face judgment for that." Temenos said.
"You sure are passionate about your job." Thronè said before she winced in pain. "...Ouch. Something poked me."
"Haha… That's what we call 'divine punishment.'" Temenos said.
"It was this broken mirror… Why was I holding on to this again?" Throne asked before she everyone else noticed two townsfolk talking.
"Hmm?" Temenos hummed curiously.
"They say it was murder. Just awful…" the female townsperson said.
"Murder?" Throne asked as Temenos was silent. "What now? Are you hoping to see something?"
"...I have a bad feeling about this." Temenos said.
"In your gut?" Throne asked.
"...You could say that." Temenos said.
"I trust a detective's gut to be more accurate than my own." Thronè said.
"This time I pray it's wrong though…." Temenos said as everyone looked past the blockade and to the beach.
"Oh no…" Lysithea said as her eyes widened in realization.
"That's not who I think it is, is it?" Hilda askes as everyone saw a body they found familiar.
"It's Alpates." Marianne said sadly before she began praying. "May her spirit find peace with the Goddess."
"This has the Moonshade Order written all over it." Lysithea said.
"Moonshade Order?" Glacius asked.
"A bunch of guys hell bent on worshiping some Dark God named Vide." Denji explained. "They wanna bust her loose from her prison so they can cast the world into eternal night or something."
"It's a hell of a lot worse than that." Connor said. "Vide doesn't wanna shroud the world in darkness… she wants to destroy Solistia, and everything else."
"That's…actually quite terrifying to think about." Kayra said.
"Maybe Alpates's mission relates to finding a way to stop Vide." Hilda said. "We're more or less gonna have to fight her all together, so why don't we finish the mission she had for her?"
"Hilda's right. Following the rest of Alpates's objective could lead us to finding a way to prevent Vide from ever destroying Solistia, and the rest of the Multiverse." Avlora said.
"What that objective is, we need more information about. Let's return to the scene of the crime." Temenos said.
"...I couldn't agree more, Detective." Thronè said.
The group headed back to the shore but found Alpate's body gone and a soldier guarding the door to a shed nearby. Thronè knocked out the guard so they could get inside, and then they all inspected Alpates's body.
"Hmm… Her clothes are stitched in an odd place." Throne said before spotting something. "There's a slip of paper here."
"The cavern of the moon and sun… it looks like it's a map to a dungeon nearby." Lysithea said. "There's some sort of Code written here. 'Where day meets night.'. Something must be in that cave."
"Judging from her hands and feet, she was tied up. If her captors were the Moonshade Order, they were likely trying to interrogate her to find that map. She hid it in her clothes and refused to give away the map…and when she did not answer, well…" Maxwell said.
"If she was willing to give her life to hide this map…this might show the way to her clan." Thronè said.
"There's only one way to know for sure. Let us make for the cavern." Temenos said.
The group soon headed to the cavern as they found five pedestals on the floor, three of the pedestals on the being shone on by the moonlight. Another three were shone on by sunlight, one of them being the same that's shone under the moonlight as well.
"This appears to be some sort of puzzle. Perhaps these pedestals relate to the code on Alpates's map." Kareem said.
"You're right, kareem. 'Where day meets night', has to correlate with these pedestals. But what could that mean exactly?" Lysithea asked.
"Hmmm…" Giovanna then noticed the light coming into the cavern. "Maybe it refers to the pedestal that has both moonlight and sunlight shining down on it."
"You might be onto something Giovanna. Which one is it?" Travis asked.
"The upper middle right." Giovanna said.
Temenos then went to inspect the pedestal, and upon touching it found a small pouch with a slip of paper attached. "Another slip of paper."
'To those who hope for the dawn.'
"Hope for the dawn…" Thronè hummed.
"There's something else here, too." Temenos said, pulling out a piece of a familiar mirror. "A fragment of a cloudy mirror…"
"It looks like the other one. The one Alpates gave us…" Throné said, holding up her piece as the two clicked, surprising everyone. "They fit perfectly. These fragments…were once part of the same whole. But…what is it?"
"You truly are wonderful assistants, everyone." Temenos spoke. "Thanks to your efforts, I've finally remembered something. The origin of Alpates's name. You see, the Flamebringer Aelfric left someone here in our realm to consort with humankind. Her name was Alpates. She may be a descendant of the clan that shares the blood of the Flamebringer."
"Meaning…Alpates was born of the gods?" Throné asked.
"The scripture tells this story: After the death of Alpates, her children were overcome with despair… Aelfric then crafted a single mirror from her body. And the warm light from the mirror relieved her clan of their sadness…" Temenos said.
"Do you think this mirror could be..?" Throné asked.
"Alpates's mission was to protect that mirror… But one mystery still remains. Why did she leave that Mirror to us?" Temenos asked.
"My guess? This mirror is what we need to keep Vide from coming out of the shadows." Connor said. "We were lucky we got sidetracked by this. We might just have found something that'll help us save the world. Don't you think so too, Cheetah?"
"Yes. This proved to be a very important piece to this overarching puzzle." Cheetah said.
"If she hadn't been born a child of the gods, Alpates may have been able to live a free life…" Throné said. "She risked her life to protect this treasure… We'll take good care of this, Alpates."
"Okay. Now that that's all done, what say we make for that campsite? We make good time, we'll be fashionably late." Denji said.
"You're not taking this seriously, Denji. The world could be in danger, and we can't just waste time." Lysithea said.
"Tch…if only you all knew the crap I went through." Denji said quietly.
"Look, Denji's approach is the right one. If we're eventually gonna fight Vide, we cant take her on by ourselves. We'd have better odds taking her on if we we're all together." Connor said.
"Yes. I am very certain everyone else is there already." Cheetah said.
"So let's make for the campsite and reunite with everyone. We can spend a little time catching up, and then once things kick off…" Connor said tipping his head. "We'll be ready for the big time." he said a little more seriously.
"I'm surprised. Since when did you act so serious?" Esmerelda asked.
"I've gotta have a serious side when there's lots more at stake. But, I'm not gonna be too serious. In the end, I'm still me." Connor said.
"Being you is what you can be, Connor. Now, lets head to camp and reunite with everyone, shall we?" Cheetah asked.
And so, Team Revival, Reformed Society, Thronè and Temenos headed off, headed for the campsite at the Leaflands to be the last ones to arrive. They would enjoy their time together while it lasted. But very soon, the world would be in danger, as the Shadow would move to consume everything.
