"Continuing from where we left off, we stayed in the camp for the night and while Lord Rhadames was walking around the area, my father told me a little more about my mother and their relationship. If only that monster didn't kill her, I would have loved to spend time with her, too..." , Jeht started the retelling, her voice turning from grateful to sad, before there was a short pause, "...The next morning we continued our journey and soon arrived to an open cavern area surrounded by a huge hurricane, where we could see the "Deshret's Glass Goblet" from, in it's very middle!" , she recalled, sounding enthusiastic, "Liloupar soon explained what it was and added that we can't just enter it from where we were and have to find another entrance to one of the two tunnels we could see from there and disable some other mechanisms. The Traveler also looked at the "instruction papers" and admitted that she is right. So after they took some photos, we soon went to the surface!"

"And that's when we soon found a Ruin Guard! Unlike the ones Paimon saw before, this one was really huge!" , the Pixie continued, sounding impressed, before there was a short pause, "But Paimon is still confused why it had a passage in its arm of all places, even if the thing is pretty neat!"

"...This was one of the war machines left over from 500 years ago, during what is now known as the cataclysm." , Jebrael added, sounding thoughtful, "As for why the passage is in the arm...Its design overall was a little weird."

"Yeah, once we activated it and moved it around, it kept titling all the time for some reason!" , Paimon commented, sounding a little confused, "But it was still great to find such a huge machine still in working condition, after 500 years!"

"So we used it to cross quicksand-filled areas, which was a great help!" , Jeht continued the retelling, before there was a short pause, "...Though I wish I knew how exactly the Traveler activated and operated the Ruin Guard. I did see them check the "instruction papers" and even touched different parts of the machine, but since I barely know anything about machines..." , she sadly explained, before pausing for a few seconds, "Except of Benben, of course! He is one of my best friends!"

"Beep-Beep!" , Benben happily said.

"You are my best friend too, Jeh-Jeh!" ,

Venti heard moments later...

"Yeah, Paimon agrees that you two are good friends! Even though you say you barely know anything about machines, you can understand each other perfectly! You are just like Paimon and Traveler are!" , the Pixie happily commented, before there was a short pause, "...At least that's what Paimon would like to say, but Traveler hides things even from Paimon!" , she suddenly said, sounding a little annoyed, "While Traveler used the Ruin Guard and it's arm to traverse around a few times, they also found some documents along the way: A Tanit-Akademiya contract, an abandoned letter and a weird note. Paimon saw the Traveler take them all and without asking Paimon if Paimon wants to read these, they put them into their "Hammerspace" to read later! And Traveler still didn't let Paimon read them!"

- Since those notes probably have to do something with the Ruin Guard, maybe they just didn't want you to have a migraine from all the new information...? -Venti couldn't help but wonder aloud, remembering some occasions where Paimon clearly got a headache from information overload. Such as when they were retelling the "Aranara quest"...- ...Perhaps, the Traveler already skimmed over it, realizing that those would be too much for you, Paimon and decided to keep them away from you.

He theorized, looking and sounding thoughtful,

Before there were a few seconds of silence...

"...Paimon supposes that you are right, Venti. The Traveler always looks out for Paimon. Even when Paimon asks to buy Paimon a lot of tasty food." , the Pixie soon admitted, sounding thoughtful and slightly guilt-stricken, before a sigh was heard, "...Paimon is going to continue the retelling now. And later, Paimon is going to talk to the Traveler and apologize for misunderstanding them." , she added in a determined voice, before there was a short pause, "...Using the Ruin Golem, we walked through the desert and opened some passages, so we could successful continue our journey to the "elevator". During that time, we also found some of the crazy raci...Liloupar's soul pieces, after which she started remembering more and more about her crazy past. Oh, the Traveler, Jeht and Jebrael also found some enemies and killer robots along the way and even Paimon helped a little with Paimon's awesome Nakshatr Talavaar!", she recalled, sounding enthusiastic, before a sad sigh was heard, "...It's a shame that the Ruin Guard was pretty much useless when we reached the center of the "Deshret's Glass Goblet"."

"Beep-Beep. Beep-Beep." , Benben added, sounding quite serious.

"Big friend was already very old by the time we found him. I am glad he helped us when he still could.",

Was what Venti heard seconds later...

...

"Yeah, it's a miracle he even still worked and could help us so much. But it's still a shame he got sunk in the sand in the end." , Jeht added, sounding quite thoughtful, before there was a short pause, "Before long, we reached the center of Deshret's Glass Goblet and were stopped by Ferigees, who was inhibiting an ancient mechanism in the middle of the area. She didn't like Liloupar at all and even called her "The destroyer of Gurabad, the Mother of the Despicable" and "fallen traitor". Just by seeing Liloupar, she was surely about to start a fight." , she recalled, sounding quite thoughtful, "But this is when the Traveler took out a letter and showed it to Ferigees. Upon reading it, she reluctantly let us pass, bantering with Liloupar along the way."

"Oh, right, the letter Samir wrote for her." , Paimon mumbled in thought and gratefulness, "Paimon is glad we didn't had to fight another crazy Jinni, but it was still annoying to listen to their banter." , she added in some annoyance, before there was a short pause, "...Paimon heard the Traveler mumble "...Its leaves shall not be seized by autumn's arms, and the circles of time shall not avail to subject its newborn spring-joy to the curse of years..." as we arrived with the "elevator" and moved along the path. And then we arrived at the place itself...It was very beautiful and mysterious, but also had this sad feeling around it...?"

"It is the official grave of the Goddess of Flowers. Even if she herself is no longer there.", Jebrael commented, sounding thoughtful and a little sad, "...Eaten by Consecrated Beasts while he was still "asleep", I can't even imagine how Lord Rhadames must have felt when he first found out about this."

"He looked really sad when he recalled what happened. His first reaction must have been way worse." , Jeht commented, sounding very sad, before there was a short pause, "...Father, when you found out that, that monster, to mother...Did you also...?"

"...Even now, years after it happened, I can still see this haunting scene in my dreams...Her laying down in a pool of her own blood, completely unresponsive...As Samail, with those bloodied dual blades of his and a crazed expression on his face...As his followers stood around the room, unaffected by what just happened..." , her father admitted, sounding both sad and regretful, before a sorrowful sigh was heard, "...If only I had arrived sooner back then, perhaps...U-Ufairah would have still been...!"

"Father, you did all you could for mother. You had no idea that this monster, even after all you did for him, would do something this despicable…! " , Jeht interrupted him, sounding both reassuring and a little mad at the last sentence, "You took care of my mother and after mother's death, you took care of me. I know this was hard on you, but please, don't blame yourself for mother's death, father."


It was now a few minutes since,

And yet, the silence persisted...

...

Not that Venti didn't know why this was so, seeing how close Jeht and Jebrael still were,

As he also wondered if perhaps they could continue the retelling some other time...

"Weeell, since it looks like Jeht and Jebrael are still having their family moment, Paimon decided to be the one to continue the retelling!" , the Pixie suddenly said, sounding both distracted and determined, before there was a short pause, "So, we arrived to the Eternal Oasis, which looked beautiful...But felt so sad...There, in the center was an island, with a big tree coming out of it and three chairs facing each other. This is also where Liloupar found one of her soul pieces under the tree and when she did..." , she recalled, before there were a few seconds of silence, "...Each time that she got one of those "soul fragments", the Traveler apparently saw visions relating to her past and was pretty much unresponsive during that time. But when Liloupar got that particular piece of herself, the Traveler reacted weirder than usual..." , she added in a worried and slightly nervous voice, "At first they looked almost mesmerized, but then, suddenly, they looked terrified of something. Paimon was so worried for the Traveler! So was Jeht, Benben and even Jebrael! Jeht asked the Traveler what they saw and they simply answered: "I saw the Mistress of Flowers...", while still looking a little scared! That "Oasis Garden's Truth" description and the Traveler reacting like this…Just what did the Goddess of Flowers...?!", she almost yelled out in distress, before there was a pause, "...Uh, sorry about that, Venti. Paimon just suddenly...It's just that even to Paimon, something feels wrong about the Goddess of Flowers...?"

She soon added in a calmer, yet still a little concerned, voice,

And Venti had to admit that he also felt like something was wrong...

...

Not really "wrong", but rather "off"...

...

...

Yet, he still didn't have enough information to draw a conclusion...

*Samir surely knows more, but he was already affected enough from the recent revelation,

As for the Traveler, perhaps he could ask what they know about Nabu Malikata later...

- It's okay, Paimon. I understand your concern. -He finally said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. - Let's continue the retelling for now and later you can ask the Traveler what they found out, alright...?

"...Oh, yes, that's a good plan, Venti!" , Paimon said moments later, still sounding a little concerned, before there was a short pause, "...So, after getting her "soul piece" back, Liloupar started saying about how "King Deshret lied to us!", but admitted that she doesn't hate him and how odd it felt. She still said that the Traveler is her master and that she's going to stay with them. So after that, we all went to a nice spot at another part of the Oasis where another small tree(?) was. There, Jebrael put down Ufairah's notes and he and Jeht paid respect to their family member. Jeht looked as sad as Jebrael during this, if not more. Paimon can't even imagine how she would have felt if her father also died back then, during the Golden Slumber situation...She could have even joined some awful people, like the Tanit and did horrible things to "buy" their love and...!" , her saddened words suddenly broke off, before there was a short pause, "...Paimon has no idea why Paimon just said that...But Paimon is still glad that Jeht still has her father with her."

"...I am also glad that father is still here!", Jeht soon admitted, sounding very grateful, "Sorry for taking so long, Paimon. I can continue the retelling now, if you want."

"...Beep-Beep...?" , Benben soon asked.

"...Can I help too...?" ,

Was what Venti soon heard...

- I am fine with Benben helping with the retelling. -He couldn't help but admit soon enough, before realizing what he just said. - ...Somehow, it appears that I can also understand what he says. Even if it comes as a "slightly delayed translation".

...

"...As the God of Wind, Lord Barbatos, perhaps you can understand other species' words based on wind vibrations...?" , Jebrael soon theorized, sounding very thoughtful, before there was a short pause, "...Oh sorry, I just remembered something that Ufairah told me before and might have come to a weird conclusion..."

- No, you might actually be right. -Venti admitted, looking and sounding thoughtful. -... The sound "entering" the Wind and moments later I hear a "translation" of sorts...This might indeed be the case...

...

"...Uuuuh, maybe we can continue with the retelling now...?" , Paimon suggested moments later, sounding a little confused, "Benben, want to start now...?"

"...Beep-Beep!" , he soon said.

"...Sure thing!" ,

Venti soon heard...

"Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep...? Beep-Beep...!", Benben started.

"Jeh-Jeh and Jeb-Jeb stayed near the tree for a while! They looked very sad, but also calm...? It was so confusing Ben-Ben got worried...!"

"Venti, can you really understand that? Because Paimon just heard a bunch of "Beep-beeps" and that's all!" , the pixie suddenly asked, sounding very confused and a little shocked, before there was a short pause, "...Sorry, Benben, you can continue now."

...

"...Beep-Beep...?" , Benben asked.

"...I can really continue...?"

...

...

"Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep...Beep-Beep...?" , he continued moments later.

"Thankfully Jeh-Jeh and Jeb-Jeb looked better when they got up from the tree! And then everyone gathered together to discuss what to do next! Lil-Lil wanted some help...Collecting the rest of her core pieces...?"

...

"Beep-Beep, Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep...?" , Benben added moments later, sounding a little confused by the end.

"Ben-Ben is not sure how that works, but we soon went on another quest! It took some time but it was fun! But Lil-Lil turned out to be very scary...?"

- ...That's definitely because of her past. -Venti thoughtfully said, looking and sounding a little concerned. - Her manipulations did bring about the destruction of a whole city.

"...Beep-Beep..." , Benben soon said, sounding a little concerned, "...Beep-Beep...? Beep-Beep...?"

"...So that's why...

…Lil-Lil is not going to hurt Ben-Ben's friends, right...? Not Jeh-Jeh or Jeb-Jeb or Pai-Pai or Tra-Tra...?"

- ...N-no, I don't think she would. -Venti reassured, trying really hard to stop himself from laughing. Until now those names were very "interesting", but now that he heard all of them...- ...S-so, otherwise, this "quest" went quite well, yes...?

"Beep-Beep! Beep-Beep, Beep-Beep...!" , Benben admitted, sounding a little sad at the end.

"It sure did! But Lil-Lil said she is leaving, so Pai-Pai looked sad...!"

- Well, that explains why Paimon was so annoyed a while ago. -Venti thought aloud, looking and sounding mostly thoughtful. Really, those "nicknames" were very amusing~ - ...So, what happened afterwards...?

"Beep-Beep!" , Benben answered.

"Tra-Tra called for Sam-Sam and then he took us here!"

To the Temple of Silence base,

Venti soon realized...

- So, how do you like it there, Benben...? -He asked moments later, still feeling a little amused about the cute(and some quite funny) nicknames Benben gave everyone.

"Beep-Beep, Beep-Beep!" , Benben admitted, sounding cheerful.

"As long as I can stay with Jeh-Jeh and the rest, I am very happy!"

"I am also happy to have you as a friend, Benben!", Jeht said moments later, sounding as cheerful.

...

...

"...Paimon is really really confused now..." , the Pixie admitted a minute or so later, sounding bewildered, "...Can someone also translate for Paimon...?"