Far from the centre of civilization, far even from the ruins of the Singing Hills, at the very end of the floating continent that was the West Wing of Horus, there stood a single stone pillar, towering a dozen stons above the land below. The exact purpose of the pillar was lost to time. Perhaps it had served as a marker point, a remnant of the age when the Wings of Horus were first separated from the land below and elevated to the level of the Sylva Plate. Or perhaps it was the one final remnant of a larger ruin, the remainder of which had long since been scavenged for other construction.

Whatever its historical purpose, at that moment it served solely as a lookout point for an excitable young girl who appeared to be about nine years old. She stood atop the pillar, peering down at the edge of the continent, the wind ruffling her long white skirt, her loose black blouse, and her black tresses constrained in a tight ponytail. She was barefoot, the better for climbing, and let out an exclamation as she spotted something moving far, far below, in the Sea of Death.

"Hey, hey, are there things living in the Sea of Death?" she called down. "I thought I saw something move!"

One of the men down below, the tallest of them, called back up to her.

"I can't hear you! Come back down to talk!"

Though he couldn't hear her, the outward wind managed to convey his voice upwards to her.

"Aww, but I wanted to take in the view for awhile longer," she grumbled. "Ah well, whatever!"

She turned her back to the continent's edge and opened her mouth to sing a short ditty.

"beerh zacta fenn tes xa!"

A sphere of wind surrounded her, blocking out the natural winds on the plateau, and she leapt off the pillar, the sphere protecting her from being buffeted by the winds while also slowing her fall. The men below gasped for a moment, and one of them leapt to his feet, but after a moment it became clear that she was in no danger, and he sat down again.

She landed lightly on the grass at the bottom of the pillar, the magic dispelling as she ran over to the men, who were gathered around a campfire. There were four of them, all the members of Euphrosyne, as the people they'd planned to meet were yet to show.

"Dian!" the girl exclaimed. "It's incredible! The land really comes to an end! And I thought I saw something move in the Sea of Death!"

Dian, the singing knight, chuckled as the girl plopped herself down on her knees amongst them, her eyes shining.

"It's true, I've heard tell of creatures that live inside the Sea of Death," he said. "It's said that people have fished up all manner of strange creatures down in Firefly Alley."

"Ohh, can we go to Firefly Alley then!?" the girl exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.

"Well, I'm sorry," Dian said. "To tell the truth, we don't really like to visit Firefly Alley… it's just so far from the solid earth. Still, perhaps one day, when you're older, you can visit there on your own."

"Oh, I can't wait!" the girl said. "But I suppose there's plenty of other things to see before then, too…"

Aigil reached over to ruffle her hair.

"That's the spirit, Jessamine!" he said. "And with that singing power of yours, there aren't many things that could threaten you, right?"

Jessamine nodded. "Of course!" she said proudly. "If anything mean comes my way, I'll just put it to sleep with a song!"

Suddenly Raphael got to his feet.

"Is that them?" he asked. "I see some people approaching."

Lorzer got to his feet as well, peering down towards the approaching party, which consisted of two men and two women, each of them carrying a small amount of luggage on their backs. But then his eyes slid still further down the hill, spotting another man and woman who appeared to be chasing the others.

"It looks like they were followed after all!" Lorzer said. "Everyone, be on the alert! We're not sure what kind of people we're dealing with!"

It took just a few minutes for the first party to reach the top of the hill.

"I'm sorry!" the older man gasped. "I didn't mean to lead them here, but we just couldn't lose them! I'm really, really sorry!"

"Dad, are we… going to die…?"

The younger woman, perhaps even young enough to be called a girl, clung to the arm of the younger man, looking anxious.

"Fear not," Dian said. "For we are Euphrosyne. You shall all be safe with us. We'll discuss the matter with your pursuers, and perhaps play them a song or two."

The four of them took a step forward, placing themselves between the family and their pursuers. A few minutes later, the man paused and raised a gun, aiming it at the party, and the woman with him began to sing.

"Fou paks ga heighte jenge!"

"Hand those people over!" the man shouted. "Or I'll be forced to open fire!"

"We have sworn to protect these people," Dian said. "We of Euphrosyne are not the type of people to go back on our promises."

"Then you leave me no choice!" the man said.

As he opened fire, the reyvateil with him unleashed her song magic, but then Jessamine chanted another little ditty.

"heer zacta xa tel marr itt ss!"

A barrier of force leapt into being, stopping the bullets and compressed symphonic power alike. At the same time, the members of Euphrosyne raised their instruments and launched into song. Neither the man nor the reyvateil stood a chance against the songs of the moon chanters – within seconds, both had collapsed to the ground, out cold.

"Looks like you saved us this time, Jessamine," Dian said. "I didn't expect him to start shooting so suddenly…"

Jessamine giggled. "Yay! I did good, didn't I!? Praise me more!"

Aigil chuckled. "Yes, you did good, Jessamine," he said.

"But was it okay to give our name?" Jessamine asked. "What if they come after us instead?"

"When they wake up, their memories of the last hour or so should be fuzzy at best," Lorzer said. "They shouldn't be able to even remember meeting us."

"Ohhh, that's really helpful!" Jessamine gasped.

"Besides, we are skilled at avoiding that kind of people when we must," Raphael added.

With that, they turned to face the four people who had come to such a remote place to meet them. They were a family of four, consisting of one Jonah Menelaus, along with his wife, daughter, and father.

"Now, would you mind explaining to me what your situation is?" Dian asked. "Who were those people, and why were they chasing you?"

Jonah nodded. "Yes… you deserve at least that much explanation," he said. "I'll tell you everything."


"You can come out now, Eumelia. He's already gone, and Sonnet's wondering what's taking you so long."

Eumelia poked her head out from the first class cabin that she'd hidden in once she confirmed Kauron was on the same ship as them. Kauron and the others had been in the general seating areas, but her stealth magic had made it a cinch to sneak into the first-class cabin and hide in the luggage rack.

"You're sure he's gone?" she asked.

"Yeah, he headed off into town," Ilya said. "Said he had some business to take care of."

"Alright then," Eumelia said. "Let's go."

She followed Ilya to the exit, and they disembarked from the ship.

"There you are!" Sonnet said. "Where'd you disappear to for the whole trip…? I'd been hoping to talk with you a bit more…"

"Sorry about that," Eumelia said. "I'm fine now. So what's next?"

"For starters, let's take a look around town," Adagio said. "It's so different from Firefly Alley, but no less vibrant! So let's get going on our little trip of discovery!"

"To find that familiar?" Espada said.

"You got it!" Adagio said. "Or are ya pulling out of the job after coming this far?"

"No… just get on with it," Espada said.

"Um, are you really sure this is alright, Sir Adagio?" Sonnet asked.

Adagio chuckled. "Drop the sir, just call me by my name!" he said. "And of course it's alright!"

The port was near the east edge of the city, nestled between two forks of a great river which flowed off the edge of the continent to disappear into the Sea of Death far below. The south fork of the river was spanned by a bridge just above the falls, connecting the airport to Starry Avenue, one of the main streets of the city. Adagio quickly became fascinated by the trolley system running across said bridge, so the party ended up catching a trolley all the way out to the suburbs and back into the centre of town, eventually disembarking near Singing Moon Inn.

Espada then led the way to get them rooms for the night. Eumelia peeked into the right basement unit where Claire's bar was supposed to be, but it seemed like the place was currently occupied by a small restaurant instead. The weapon shop in the left basement unit was just as Eumelia had seen in her visions, however, so she stopped by to see if she could find a better whip than the one she'd been using.

There wasn't much selection in whips, unfortunately. It seemed they weren't a popular choice of weapon for adventurers. Despite that, Eumelia did manage to find a decent one with two enhancement slots, one of which was capable of absorbing a level three crystal, so she decided to buy it.

The Sailor Squad hadn't given her a reyvaring, so she decided to buy one of those as well. It was a curious little device, small enough to slip onto her middle finger, yet possessing three enhancement slots that could absorb grathnode crystals. She didn't yet have crystals she wanted to use on it, but that could come later. The little card on the box containing the rings also boasted that it would extend singing time by a second or two and possessed weak shielding technology to soften enemy attacks. Eumelia was pretty sure that the card was greatly exaggerating the effect, but anything was better than nothing, right?

The shop also carried a selection of fluids with various effects, intended to be thrown at an enemy. There was hitlezz, a hallucinogen that would impede their strength; guardlezz, a muscle relaxant that would reduce their defence; and even dreamchaser water to put them to sleep. She decided not to buy any of them though.

"Oh, are you done shopping now, Eumelia?" Adagio asked as she emerged from the shop. "Let's go see more of the city! Know any good places?"

"I've only been here a few times," Eumelia said. "I bet Espada knows more about the city than I do… but if you want suggestions, how about Song Stone Park?"

"Then lead the way!" Adagio said.

"I'm not completely sure how to get there, to be honest," Eumelia said. "But I have a general idea, so I guess I could try guiding you…"

"Why is it called something like Song Stone Park?" Sonnet asked.

"Because there's a huge song stone in the centre of the park," Eumelia said.

"Um… song stones are those small rocks used to make things like tranquility, right?" Sonnet said. "Just how big could a song stone get…?"

"Let's find out!" Eumelia said. "If we go up Starry Avenue a bit further and turn right onto the main street there… what was it called, again?"

"Twilight Avenue," Espada said.

"Right, I think that should take us right to it," Eumelia said. "So instead of making me describe it, just come and see it for yourself, Sonnet!"

"Right," Sonnet said. "I'm starting to get a little excited now…"

Eumelia led the way, leaving the inn and following the directions she'd described, taking the trolley down Twilight Avenue and getting off at the intersection with the third and last of Nemo's main thoroughfares, Dawn Avenue. The park itself was on a tiny chunk of land floating just above the city, with a stone stairway leading up to it from the intersection. Eumelia led the way as they climbed to the top, where the massive song stone was suspended above a polished granite pedestal, fixed to the golden archway above. It must have been between two and three stons from tip to tip, and around half a ston in diameter.

"W-whoa…!?" Sonnet gasped. "Is that really a song stone!? I've never seen anything like it… such a large song stone…"

"That's it," Eumelia said. "It must have been hard to extract such a large song stone, right? But as far as I know, it's been here as long as the city existed… I wonder what kinds of songs it has heard and absorbed in all that time…"

"There's also a great view of the city from here!" Adagio exclaimed. "And if I squint, I can almost see Em Pheyna, up on the tower…"

"Hey… over there, further from the tower, it's so green," Sonnet says. "What is that?"

"Closer to the city, I think it's mostly farmland," Eumelia said. "There's also forests further out – Cello Forest stretches almost all the way from Nemo to the edge of the floating continent, following the Landbreak Line."

"What's the Landbreak Line…?" Sonnet asked.

"A great cliff that separates the nearer regions of the continent from the more remote regions," Eumelia said. "It was formed during the upheaval of the Virus War – before then, you could have easily just walked from Cello Forest into Viola Forest. Now you have to scale the cliff."

"The Virus War, that would be…?"

"You should know about that, shouldn't you?" Eumelia said. "Since that war ended with the Covenant of Elemia and the founding of Platina."

"Ah, yes, I thought so," Sonnet said. "But you sure know quite a lot about it, for someone of the lower world…"

Eumelia shrugged. "Maybe I do," she said.

"Would you like to see the forests?" Adagio asked. "I'm quite curious myself… the only forests I've seen before are the stone tree forests."

"Yes, I'd like to see them too!" Sonnet said. "There are no trees in Platina, after all…"

"It's not safe in Cello Forest, however," Espada said. "There are monsters in there."

"It's not like we'd be going deep into the forest," Ilya countered. "They just want to see some trees… we probably don't even need to go as far as the forest."

"Sound good to me," Eumelia said. "Want to lead the way this time, Ilya?"

"Ah, sure," Ilya said.

They climbed back down to street level and hopped on a trolley heading down Dawn Street, away from the tower. Getting off at the last stop, they looked around at the vastly different view here. In contrast to the densely packed buildings of the city centre, here there were houses only on one side of the road, while the other side was a belt of trees beyond which Eumelia thought she could glimpse pasture land. Adagio and Sonnet immediately charged off the road, plunging into those trees, and the others followed them. Adagio squeed at the sight, and Sonnet looked around in wonder.

"It's beautiful," she said. "And it's nice and cool…"

They'd been wandering through the trees for five or ten minutes when someone suddenly came crashing through the branches above, landing in their midst. Before anyone could get a good look at the person, they had leapt into the air again, landing on a nearby tree branch for only a moment before leaping even higher.

"W-what was that just now?" Adagio gasped.

Before anyone could even start to answer, a net descended from above, firmly trapping the five of them inside before they even had a chance to react. Then a woman landed lightly next to them, wearing the traditional robe and headdress of the teru tribe. She carried a forked staff bearing a round jewel, and a strange black cat rode on her shoulder. Its ears were longer and more pointed than those of a normal cat, its tail was fluffier, and Eumelia wondered whether that pointy gemstone on its forehead was actually a part of its body or just some kind of decorative jewellery, like the ring at the end of its tail.

"I've finally tracked you down," the woman said. "You've done a great many things to get in my way. Please repent!"

"Ah!" Adagio said. "Is that you, An?"

The woman blinked at him in surprise.

"Oh… Adagio?" she said. "And why are you stuck in there?"

"What a question, coming from the person who threw this net," Eumelia retorted.

"I see," the woman said. "It appears I missed my target and caught you by mistake."

She lifted the net to let everyone out, the mesh decaying as she pulled it off. Then Adagio decided to introduce her.

"Lemme formally introduce my older sister," he said. "Her name's Andante."

"I'm sorry for the sudden inconvenience," Andante said.

"But sis, it's rare for you to come down to the lower world, isn't it?" Adagio said. "Is something the matter?"

"Yes," Andante said. "Not too long ago, someone appeared at Em Pheyna saying that an attack on the teru was coming. I'm presently looking around the outskirts of Nemo to capture that person."

"Hm…?" Adagio said. "Could that person possibly be the one who crashed through here just a few minutes ago? He suddenly said an attack was coming and then just ran?"

"Well, it would seem that way," Andante said.

"So that's why you mixed us up with that guy when we got caught a moment ago," Adagio said.

"That was just an accident," Andante said. "Regardless, it was a difficult descent to reach the lower world. I can't go back until I've taken care of business."

"You've gotta be all worn out from that!" Adagio said.

"By the way, Adagio," Andante said, suddenly stepping up close. "How do you explain the humans and your behaviour?"

"Eh?" Adagio said.

Andante grabbed him by the collar and glared at him.

"W-well… I'll explain myself when you let go of me…?" he offered.

"Excuses won't do you any good," Andante said. "Come with me for a moment."

She turned and walked off, dragging Adagio along behind her, squealing.

"Espada, Sonnet, Eumelia, Ilya, heeelp!"

Eumelia opened her mouth to sing.

"Fou paks ga fountaina sii mea dea clare fusya."

Then she took off after the siblings, following them out of the trees to a low stone wall, where Andante took a seat and gestured to Adagio to join her.

"L-look, I have a good reason!" Adagio said. "It's not just any old excuse!"

"That's not the issue here," Andante said. "Letting humans accompany a teru on his sacred journey is inexcusable."

"But they're not planning anything funny!" Adagio protested.

"And yet, the reality of the matter is that they are obstacles for what you're trying to do," Andante said.

"Well hey," Adagio said. "I've already made my decision and that's not gonna change. Even a real explanation wouldn't get you to understand, would it?"

"It's not going to be that simple," Andante said. "The situation seems to be complicated…"

"Aren't you just stuck in the past?" Adagio retorted.

"If that's what you think, what do you really know about the past?" Andante said. "Below us is the Sea of Death, covering the once beautiful land. Above is that sea of plasma, the Blast Line, blocking our view of the sky. Both stand in our way… the ground and the sky have disappeared because of them. This tower that sustains life is all that's left from back then. The fate of all those ancient people was a result of being granted such a mighty power. That's why, in order to prevent the same mistake from happening twice, we prevent humans from exploring the tower excessively. Such is the result of history. So certainly I can understand our ancestors' thoughts. Things aren't always what they look like on the surface. Do you understand? Right now, you're in no position to criticize things. Ignorance is a sin."

At that point, Eumelia hopped onto the wall to sit next to Adagio, startling both of them.

"Maybe you're right," she said. "Ignorance might be a sin. But you know, the surface was destroyed by the humans, while the sky was destroyed by the teru. Both our kinds are equally to blame for this disaster. What good does it even do to keep our distance? Besides… don't our races share a common ancestry?"

"Eh!?" Adagio gasped. "I-is that… really true!?"

"Y-you… how long have you been there?" Andante asked. "How did you hide your presence?"

"Just a little song magic," Eumelia said. "Actually, I'd really like to talk to you a bit, Miss Andante. That person you were chasing earlier… are you sure they were human?"

"Huh?" Andante said. "What else would it be…?"

"It's just, I've never seen a human who can fall from such a height without being hurt," Eumelia said. "Or one who can jump so high with such ease. Is it possible you're unfamiliar with the strength of a typical human…? But surely not… ignorance is a sin, after all. Well… I can't say it's definitely impossible if you factor in the aid of technology…"

Andante glared at her, but it seemed she had successfully rendered the teru speechless.

"Well, that's not what I wanted to talk about though," Eumelia asked. "I was just wondering what sort of creature that cat of yours is. It doesn't look like a normal cat. Is it just an unusual breed? Or could it be a monster? Or… is it possible it might even be… a genom?"

Andante's eyes briefly widened at that word, but she quickly got her expression under control. Still, it was enough for Eumelia to realize she'd probably hit the nail on the head, however. She'd wondered about it ever since the two topics, seemingly unrelated, had surfaced in her visions. There was nothing to suggest that they were related, but she had noticed a curious similarity between them.

"Could it be, that net from earlier is a song magic granted to you by synchronizing with that cat?" Eumelia asked.

"You seem to know a lot for someone so young," Andante said. "But I have no reason to confirm or deny your speculations. Still… I hope you never lose that curiosity of yours… because ignorance truly is sin."

With that, she turned and walked off towards the road, and Adagio turned to Eumelia in surprise.

"Wow, I can't believe you got An to back down!" he said. "That was amazing, Eumelia!"

"I can't say I'm very satisfied with it myself," Eumelia said with a sigh. "I was hoping she'd actually come out and say that her cat was a genom…"

"What is a genom, anyway?" Adagio asked.

"I figure you'll know once you find your familiar," Eumelia said. "That is, if my guess is right."

"By the way, is it true what you said about the teru destroying the sky?" Adagio asked.

"Yes, it's true," Eumelia said. "When the humans fired a blast of symphonic power from Ar Tonelico, it completely obliterated the teru homeland. In revenge, a band of teru infiltrated and sabotaged the tower, causing it to overload and shatter the grathnode discs, creating the Blast Line."

"Why would they wipe out the teru homeland…?" Adagio asked.

"It was technically an accident," Eumelia said. "It was only meant to be a warning shot, but they vastly underestimated the power of the blast."

"And what about us sharing common ancestry?" Adagio asked.

"I'm not sure about that one," Eumelia said. "But I think the teru race was born when ancient humans synchronized with a dragon genom named Terefunken. It's possible that I'm mistaken on this point. But let's get back to the others, okay?"

"Ah, alright," Adagio said.

With that, he hopped down and followed Andante towards the road. They caught up with her at a small square, where they found Sonnet causing a commotion all on her own while Ilya and Espada stood back, mostly watching. It appeared that a pair of Tenba employees had been bullying a young girl, and Sonnet had stepped in to her defense.

"Aren't you all ashamed of yourselves?" Sonnet retorted. "Is that how an adult acts, scolding a little girl like that so harshly?"

"Shut up!" one of the men shouted, drawing a sword.

"We're with Tenba!" the other man shouted. "We'll treat reyvateils however we please, whenever we please!"

Sonnet responded by bursting into song.

"Was ki gagis famfa fwal mea gefdu en chs fhyu!"

A gust of wind forced the two men to slide back a ston or two, but then the one with the sword managed to get out of the area of effect and dart around behind her.

"You little brat!" he shouted, raising his sword.

Without a word, Espada stepped in to meet the man's blade with his own, startling both Sonnet and the young girl.

"Those sorts of things are what give you Tenba bastards a bad name," he said.

"W-what!?" the man exclaimed.

"Wait," the other man said, coming up and laying a hand on the swordsman's shoulder. "It's better for us to back down this time."

The swordsman looked around at the crowed that had gathered, and decided to take his friend's advice, muttering under his breath as the two of them walked off.

"Ah, um… thank you very much," Sonnet said.

"Looks like you caused quite a stir," Espada said. "It's always one thing after another with you…"

"I'm sorry," Sonnet said.

Eumelia walked up and took Sonnet's hand.

"There's nothing to apologize for," she said. "That was amazing, Sonnet. You almost drove them off all on your own, you know."

"But—"

At that moment, the young girl the two men had been bullying suddenly started wailing, and Sonnet turned to her in surprise.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I… I don't know!" the girl wailed. "W-what am I going to do…? I was supposed to enroll in Tenba on my next birthday… what if I meet those people again…?"

"W-what…!" Sonnet gasped. "Why are there such cruel people like that!?"

"It can't be helped," Espada said.

"Don't say that," Eumelia retorted. "It's that sort of attitude that enables people like that, you know."

"It's still true," Espada said. "It's one thing for the reyvateils of the church, the holy maiden candidates who are an object of worship, but for everyone else, the Tenba conglomerate can choose not to treat those who oppose them. That means they'll no longer receive diquility for free. You know what that means, right, Sonnet? Can you grasp the situation here?"

"N-no diquility!?" Sonnet gasped. "T-that's… no way…! If they don't receive the life-extending agent… they'll die as soon as they become an adult! T-that's just…"

"It might not be like that in the holy land," Espada said. "But that's the reality down here."

"Well, it's more or less true," Eumelia said. "Though he's simplifying it a bit. Um… what's your name, miss? I'm Eumelia."

"Eh? Oh… my name is Maya Everglen," the girl said.

"Well, Maya, even if you do join Tenba, you could be lucky," Eumelia said. "There are people like that in Tenba, certainly, but I think there are also some nice people there. And if it doesn't work out in Tenba, you could consider joining the Church of Elemia. Tenba wouldn't dare to withhold diquility from the church – they're too big and are too well-liked. If neither Tenba nor the church will do… it's possible to get diquility off the black market. It's not any cheaper than buying it directly from Tenba, unfortunately, but… at least they can't stop you from taking it, as long as you have money."

"Huh… is that really true…?" Maya asked.

"It's really true," Eumelia said. "All of it. I personally know some people who sell it on the black market, so you can trust me."

"Hey, Maya," Sonnet said. "Maybe this is a little naïve of me, but… you should be more proud of what you are. Revyateils are people who can speak to the world in the Hymmnos language, after all. You can weave your thoughts and feelings for someone important to you into a song. Like myself… I am a reyvateil who has things she takes pride in…! One day, I'm sure you'll be able to find someone important to you. You'll be able to sing for his sake, so please, be a reyvateil who lives with her heart held high!"

Eumelia grinned as Sonnet seized Maya's hands, the younger girl staring at her.

"Well, I can't disagree with that," Eumelia said. "Though I'll add that it doesn't necessarily need to be a guy."

"B-but I… can't even sing," Maya said.

"Of course you can," Eumelia said. "You're a revyateil, aren't you? That already gives you a huge boost in singing ability over a normal person. You'll never be off rhythm or out of tune, unless you're really going for that on purpose. Of course, you can still practice to improve your singing, but… don't say you can't sing. You surely can."

Sonnet nodded. "First you need to become someone who's good at singing," she said. "Then your song will be filled with feelings for your most important person."

"But, um…"

"Why don't you try singing right now?" Eumelia suggested. "It looks like the gawkers have mostly moved on, so there aren't that many people to hear you."

"Even if you say that, I don't know any songs," Maya said.

But then Sonnet straightened up and began to sing instead.

"To you I sing this song, this painful melody," she sang. "Who has the key to open your door? My feelings echo through the heavens. Was yea ra chs hymmnos fhyu en rana ar ciel. We're living, even in this small world."

The wind picked up and swept through the plaza, probably a direct result of the song itself. Sonnet's hair flared out behind her in the wind as she sang, and when the song came to an end, several of the bystanders began applauding or praising her.

Eumelia glanced up at the two teru standing there, watching the scene in silence. Andante's expression was unreadable.

Then a huge gust of wind suddenly blew up, even bigger than the previous one. It caused several people to scream, including Maya. Adagio whipped his head around with a gasp.

"T-that's… the one we saw earlier!" he said.

Eumelia followed his gaze and spotted the figure across the road, perched upon a high tree branch. Adagio dashed towards the figure, and it leapt right off the tree branch, landing nimbly on another a bit further away. Adagio gave chase, and Espada and Eumelia both followed him. Andante came along as well. As the figure reached the far edge of the stand of trees, it jumped down from the tree. However, at that moment, Adagio shouted out a word of power.

"Frugor!"

A bolt of lightning leapt from Adagio's staff at the figure, striking it and knocking it to the ground.

"Alright, I gotcha!" Adagio said, pouncing on them.

But then he stopped in surprise, for the person he'd just stunned was… himself. A perfect double grinned back at him. The clothes and even the staff were identical, at least as far as Eumelia could tell.

"W-what?" Adagio said.

"T-that is…!" Andante gasped.

"A doppelganger… right?" Eumelia said.

Adagio leapt up and backed off, and his double got to his feet, still grinning.

"Hey," the double said.

"T-there's… another one of me…?" Adagio said.

Then the double spun his staff, and suddenly they were all engulfed in a bright flash. When it cleared, everything was different. Bubbles floated up within the infinite white expanse, each one containing a moving image.

"W-what the…?" Adagio said.

"Where are we?" Espada asked.

One of the bubbles passed especially close, showing what looked like the destruction of the East Wing of Horus, from when Mir sang Vanisland during the Virus War.

"What…?" Adagio said. "What am I seeing? That continent is about to collapse… a war…? Just… what is all of this?"

The bubble in question made contact with Adagio and engulfed him.

"What is this place…?" Espada asked.

Moments later, he too was engulfed by a bubble, this one seemingly showing his parents.

"Is this… a place of memories…?" Eumelia wondered.

And then, one of the bubbles struck her as well, and she was pulled in. Looking around, she realized she stood in the centre of a strange forest, with bright light coming from something far above. She recognized the place from her visions – it was the heart of Moocheriel, a location at the bottom of the Third Tower of Ar Tonelico in distant Sol Cluster, all the way on the other side of the planet.

Several men in white coats gathered around one edge of the clearing, and she could see a few reyveteils on the other side. And in the centre was a single, lone reyvateil with silver hair, singing.

"Rrha num wa ene revm, yanje en yanje, sor quive revm. Rrha touwaka wa tasyue tes gran fedyya, presia yehah irs, presia ieeya irs, wearequewie ar sor, en slep. Presia, presia…"

And as the song came to an end, a small, brightly-glowing orb emerged from her body, after which she fell to the ground, unmoving. The orb seemed to be made of something similar to glass, and it began to float up into the air. Before long, it began to build up some sort of superstructure around it, a series of strips orbiting it in odd configurations, and Eumelia let out a gasp as she realized what that strange structure was. Several of the watching men began to cheer at what seemed to have been a successful experiment. The watching reyvateils however seemed less enthusiastic

"T-this is… a tesseractal nuclear loop!?" Eumelia gasped. "Which means… that girl must be… Mihoshi…?"

Eumelia knelt by the girl to examine her, but her hand passed right through – she wasn't truly present in this place, so she couldn't touch anything. That made it difficult to determine whether Mihoshi had died or merely fainted, but… it did look a lot like she was dead.

And yet… a moment later, the seemingly dead girl sat up, startling not just Eumelia but everyone else as well. She tried to speak, but at first it came out only as a scratchy sort of croak.

"Exec… exec… exec… exec…"

It was almost like she wasn't used to speaking, but each time she repeated the word, it became clearer. Finally, apparently satisfied, she finished the sentence and launched into song.

"Exec gran dyya! xaa xweei fff ddu benna! vii bbeeei sse yee yeiyeh!"

But it wasn't Hymmnos, apart from those first two words. Eumelia wasn't even sure what language that was. Then the tesseractal nuclear loop seemed to sing back in Mihoshi's voice, and it wound into a duet before finally devolving into a mishmash of Hymmnos words that didn't even form a coherent sentence. Not that it was complete nonsense – Eumelia recognized the form of the song's final line.

"Exec hymme zi gu io tras oioioiio."

That was the conclusion of a binasphere chorus, a rare advanced technique that could be used to combine two songs into one in order to activate them simultaneously. For a split second, Eumelia saw strange monsters begin to emerge from the tesseractal nuclear loop, and then the vision suddenly ended, returning her and all the others back to Nemo where the vision had initially been invoked.

That had been unexpected, to say the least. Why had she seen a vision of Mihoshi, of all people? An unfortunate reyvateil who had been born to die, who despite that had loved the world with all her being, who had unwittingly accelerated the destruction of the world…

"Is everyone alright!?" Sonnet called.

She and Ilya caught up to us, panting a little and looking concerned. As for Adagio's double, it was nowhere to be seen.

"What was that… just now?" Adagio asked.

"I see now," Andante mused. "Now I understand the true nature of the situation."

"Eh!?" Adagio gasped.

"That spirit is indeed a doppelganger," Andante said. "Adagio, what do you know about doppelgangers?"

"Hm? Nothing," Adagio said.

Andante stared at him for a few moments, then sighed.

"I should have known that you were clueless about familiars," she said. "Do you at least know the twelve sects of the teru? For example, I am of Zeppen."

Adagio nodded. "I'm in Purarura, right?" he said. "But what exactly does that mean?"

"Well, each sect has a different kind of spirit who they bond with," Andante said.

"Huh!?" Adagio gasped. "That's how it works!?"

"Even I knew that much," Eumelia said.

"That's not a fair comparison," Adagio retorted.

"Each sect also has different special arts that we can manipulate once we become an adult," Andante said. "As I am of Zeppen, my spirit bond is a feline, and my arts are apparitions. Adagio, the bond of Purarura is a doppelganger. The double's defining form is yourself as you exist. It synchronizes to copy its subject's form and manner."

"So, this… doppelganger… has taken Adagio's form?" Espada said.

"Yes, and it also inherits his past existence," Andante said. "That is, all of his previous experiences and memories now reside within the doppelganger. The spirit art of Purarura is said to be reincarnation through the familiar. The space we briefly entered earlier was the doppelganger's soulspace. Those varying illusions were fragments of past memories."

"But why did that doppelganger take on my form?" Adagio asked.

"That's because it is supposed to be yourself," Andante said. "It is copying your immature mind. It also reflects the temptation and unrest within our own soulspaces."

"My own… immaturity?" Adagio said.

Andante nodded. "Therefore, you should work to correct those things."

She lowered her staff at an angle and began to sit down on it, like a witch flying on a broomstick.

"Huh? Sis?" Adagio said.

"I still haven't settled my business here," Andante said. "But as head of the family, I've taught you what your own journey is. Get it together and face what's coming."

Then she sang a short little ditty and rose up into the air, flying off towards the distant tower.

"What was that all about?" Sonnet wondered. "What is a soulspace?"

"Oh, that's just another word for cosmosphere, more or less," Eumelia said. "Although in the case of cosmosphere it's only applied to a reyvateil, whereas everyone has a soulspace."

"But wait, wouldn't that imply you can even dive into a normal human…?" Sonnet asked.

"Of course you can," Eumelia said. "That is, if you had a dive machine capable of it… but I don't think you'll find something like that anywhere in Sol Ciel. I suspect even the VR-21 dive machines from the First Era wouldn't be able to… even those were designed for reyvateils, after all."

"As if there'd be any machines left from the First Era to begin with," Espada scoffed.

"Hmm, I wonder," Eumelia said.

"I'm more interested in what those memories meant," Espada muttered.

"Why?" Eumelia asked innocently. "Did you see who killed your parents, by any chance?"

His eyes widened for a second, but then he glared at her.

"Shut it," Espada snapped.

"Well now, how about we get something to eat?" Adagio suggested. "I'm starving!"

So everyone headed back towards the inn and ordered a meal from the restaurant in the basement.

Sonnet sighed, picking at her food and barely eating anything. Adagio on the other hand ate with gusto, wolfing down the meal and repeatedly asking for extra servings. Eumelia ate in silence, unable to forget that vision of Mihoshi that the doppelganger had shown her. Though she couldn't claim to understand how the doppelganger's power worked, from Andante's explanation it had sounded like it should have been memories of things the doppelganger personally experienced. Did that mean it once travelled to the other side of the planet? Eumelia knew that the teru in Sol Cluster had been wiped out by the present day, but she wasn't sure if that was before or after Mihoshi sang Seed. Could an individual doppelganger serve as a familiar for multiple teru, as long as they didn't use their reincarnation powers? She might've known a lot about the teru thanks to all those mysterious visions, but it was mostly on a basic level – if asked for details of their culture, she'd come up blank. Come to think of it, if the doppelganger was a genom, perhaps it wasn't as constrained by space and distance as an ordinary being…

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by Adagio's shout.

"Geez, Sonnet, you've barely touched your food!" he said.

Eumelia looked over at Sonnet. It seemed she'd been in a similar situation, lost in her thoughts, but unlike Eumelia, she hadn't really been eating while mulling things over.

"Ah," Sonnet said, startled out of her thoughts.

"You on a diet or something?" Adagio said. "But you're already pretty slender…"

"Ah, no, that's not it," Sonnet said, smiling a little. "I was just thinking about that girl… and I was also surprised at your incredible appetite…"

"Is that really all?" Espada said suddenly.

"W-what?" Sonnet said.

"Was that really all you were thinking about?" he asked.

"T-that… it was really…"

Sonnet trailed off, quailing under Espada's intense gaze. Probably she really was thinking about something else… perhaps, how to convince Espada to part with his sword.

"So why the scary face?" Adagio said, grinning. "Relax, will ya? That face'll drive your appetite right off, don't you think, Sonnet?"

"Adagio… you're so kind," Sonnet said. "Espada too seems all calm and understanding. Ilya… Eumelia… I'm happy to have met all of you. But…"

"Don't worry about what Espada says," Adagio said.

"You don't get it," Espada said. "She's not being completely honest with us. Have you not noticed?"

"Well… I'd say I've noticed something, yes," Eumelia spoke up.

"Ah… but I'm…" Sonnet said. After trailing off for a moment, she restarted. "It's really nothing…"

Suddenly she planted both hands on the table and stood up, her body all hunched over so that she was staring directly down at the table.

"Excuse me," she said. "I'm going outside for a little bit."

She straightened up and turned away, making for the door.

"Hey, Sonnet!?" Adagio gasped. "Geez Espada, why'd you have to harass her like that?"

"I'll go after her," Eumelia said. "I'll be back soon, hopefully."

She got up and followed Sonnet outside, making sure not to be spotted. Sonnet broke into a run, heading down a random street until the structures of the city gave way to more natural surroundings. Stopping at a large tree that grew almost right at the edge of the land, she leaned against it and hit the trunk in frustration. Eumelia used her stealth magic to place herself on the opposite side of the tree from Sonnet.

"Sonnet."

The sudden man's voice seemed to startle Sonnet as much as it had her. It was a little distorted, issuing presumably from some sort of radio communication device. Wait… radio was a term from those mysterious memories, but she thought it was called something else in this world. What was it…? Tele… something? In any case… after a few moments, Sonnet fumbled out the device and responded.

"Y-yes?" Sonnet said.

"Are you okay?" the man's voice asked.

"Masticus," she said. "It's good to hear your voice again…"

"What's the matter, Sonnet?" Masticus said. "You were taking awhile, so I thought I should check in. Is everything alright? Are things getting difficult?"

"Y-yes, a little," Sonnet said. "I'm fine though! You too, are you safe over there!?"

"Yes… everything here is still fine," Masticus said.

"Really? That's a relief," Sonnet said. "Ahh, why am I feeling this way while thinking about you…? I'm…"

"You're kind, Sonnet," Masticus interrupted. "So… have you found what I requested?"

"Yes," Sonnet said. "It's in the possession of a young man in the lower stratum. The hymn crystal Soporific… surprisingly, it's somehow engraved in his weapon. Furthermore, the crystal is a memento of his."

"I see," Masticus said. "Is your mind lamenting over the thought of taking something important to him? No-one has a more gentle heart than you, Sonnet. I guess it wasn't right for me to pressure you into doing this. If you want to come back right, I won't mind. I've thought of another possible method, though it won't be quite as effective."

"W-what…?" Sonnet said. "Um, Masticus…? L-let me think… for a moment…"

"Take your time," Masticus said.

Silence fell for a minute or so, and it seemed Masticus eventually grew impatient, for he said her name again.

"Sonnet…?"

"Ah… can you answer one question?" Sonnet said.

"I can try," Masticus said.

"What is the actual effect of the Soporific hymn crystal?" Sonnet asked.

"According to my research, it should be able to shut down any program," Masticus said. "Since the reveris is a program, Soporific should be able to eliminate it."

Eumelia frowned on hearing that. There was certainly a hymn crystal that had that effect, but it wasn't the Soporific, of that she was certain. That description exactly matched the effect of the hymn crystal Purger. She knew that for sure, because she'd once sung…

No wait, what was she thinking? Of course she'd never sung a hymn. She was only a half-blood reyvateil – she didn't even possess a hymn code required to download a song from a hymn crystal.

In any case, the real reason she knew was that it was another of the bits of information stuffed away in all those mysterious vision. While they held almost no detail on Soporific's effect, the description of Purger was much more clear, so Eumelia was absolutely certain of that. And, as a researcher on hymn crystals, surely Masticus knew about the Purger. It was almost as if he'd intentionally given the description of the wrong crystal to fool her…

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?" Masticus asked.

"Um, because… I happened to run into someone who seemed to know a lot about hymn crystals," Sonnet said. "She thought that crystal had a different effect… but she must've gotten it mixed up with a different one, right? She did say she wasn't quite sure…"

"I see, so you wanted to make sure that I hadn't been the one to mix things up," Masticus said. "Thank you for your faith in me, and rest assured that I did my research properly."

"I'm sorry to make you worry," Sonnet said. "I'm not doing this only to protect Sol Ciel, but also to protect you. I am still here for you. I'll bring the hymn crystal no matter what and return to you."

"Thank you, Sonnet," Masticus said. "Then I won't overdo things either. But it'll be hard to come back with that crystal, right?"

"Y-yes," Sonnet said. "But I understand… I'll work something out."

"Then I suppose I shall see you soon," Masticus said. "Good luck, Sonnet."

Silence fell for a minute or so, and Eumelia peeked around the tree to make sure Sonnet was still there. She was still standing right next to the tree, gazing up at the tower, so Eumelia used her stealth magic to get as far away as possible, then turned and approached Sonnet from the direction of the city.

"Sonnet!" she called. "What are you doing!'

"Eumelia!?" Sonnet gasped. "W-were you… looking for me?"

"Of course," Eumelia said. "You ran out so suddenly without even finishing your meal, so I was worried…"

"Oh… it's just, I have a lot of things to think about," Sonnet said.

Eumelia considered how to shift the topic of conversation onto the hymn crystals without alerting Sonnet to the fact that she'd been eavesdropping. She decided to use Misha as a hook.

"Well, we do live in interesting times," she said. "This reveris disease has suddenly surged, Tenba is rotting from the inside out, and even the Star Singer has disappeared…"

Sonnet blinked at her.

"Huh… w-where did you hear that?" she asked.

"Hmm… where was it…?" Eumelia mused. "I suppose you could say it was from… the Star Singer herself?"

Sonnet tilted her head.

"I… I don't quite follow," she said. "If you've met her… somehow… wouldn't that mean she hasn't disappeared…?"

"Well, it's a complicated situation," Eumelia said. "But you seem to understand what it means for the Star Singer to stop singing, don't you?"

"I don't know much about it, to be honest," Sonnet said. "But I'd heard she sings without pause to keep the Mother Virus sealed within the tower…"

"That's an exaggeration, but it's generally true," Eumelia said. "Of course she has to stop to eat and sleep."

"Wait… do you think the Mother Virus might be behind reveris!?" Sonnet gasped.

"That's impossible," Eumelia said. "Mir would never spread a program that harms only reyvateils. The ones she hates are the humans, not the reyvateils. I don't think she's made a move yet, to be honest. Maybe she's still asleep after being sealed for so long… who knows?"

"I guess that would make sense," Sonnet said. "Especially if the Star Singer can stop to eat and drink… just stopping the song for a little while wouldn't immediately release the seal, I suppose… but… that still means we're going to have to face her someday…"

"Well, I'm sure Platina can handle that when the time comes," Eumelia shrugged. "I hear there's a hymn crystal that would be pretty useful against Mir – it's called Purger. It's a song that can shut down any program. That means it would be able to eliminate almost any virus that Mir could spawn."

Eumelia did her best to quote Masticus's words back at her as precisely as she could. Sonnet blinked at her.

"Huh…!? There's a hymn crystal called Purger that does that…?"

Sonnet frowned a little. Had that sown a bit of doubt in her mind? Or had she already pegged Eumelia's knowledge of hymn crystals as being unreliable? It was probably the best Eumelia could do without some sort of drastic measure though, like revealing the source of her visions. Still, perhaps the fact that Sonnet had no way to link Eumelia's words to the mission she'd been entrusted with would help a bit – she wouldn't think of it as something Eumelia was saying to convince her but rather just as a piece of trivia that didn't quite mesh with what she'd heard from Masticus.

It was while Sonnet was still pondering that the floating continent suddenly began to shake.


"Are you sure you've got everything, young lady?" the old man asked.

"Surely you could squeeze in one more change of clothes for special occasions, dear," his wife said.

The girl they were addressing was Aurica Nestmile, now fourteen years old. She shook her head.

"As a maiden of the church, I'm sure they'll provide me with everything I need," she said. "Although, that's assuming they'll accept me…"

The old woman stepped forward with a chuckle and ruffled her hair.

"Of course they'll accept you, dear," she said. "How could they not accept such a fine, upstanding lady as yourself? I'm sure you'll go far in the Church of Elemia, Aurica."

"T-thank you for your words," Aurica said. "Then, I'll be going now!"

With that, she hefted her bag and turned away from the old couple's house, following the winding path across Skuwat Island towards the port.

It had been a huge shock to return home three years ago and find the place trashed and all the people missing. The old couple had found her crying her eyes out at her place while out on an afternoon walk, and they had taken her in without asking any questions. She suspected they hadn't needed to – living on a small plot of land just a few hours' walk away from the village, they had probably been familiar with most of the older residents already.

She'd heard more about what had happened later on, from a young man who'd managed to barely escape the carnage at the Tenba facility – that the teru, usually a peaceful people who lived on the tower above the Sylva Plate, had come down to attack Tenba. The man had been convinced that Tenba must have offended the teru in some way, to incur their wrath, but he'd had no idea what kind of offense it could've been.

After a couple of hours of walking, Aurica arrived at the outskirts of Skuwat village, the ruins of her old home. She could've taken a shortcut and avoided it, but there was someone else she had to say goodbye to. She stepped inside, mounted the stairs, and entered the room she used to share with her sister, Eumelia. There upon the dresser sat the plush tiger that Claire had made for her. She stood there for a few minutes, then bowed.

"I'm going, Don Leon," she announced. "I'll be back when I can. Keep watch over the place for me, will you?"

She imagined the tiger's response in her head.

"Aye-aye, Aurica!" it would surely say if it could talk. "You can always count on me!"

"Thank you, Don Leon," she said.

And then, without even thinking to look beneath the plush toy where a letter had been inconspicuously stashed, she turned and left the house, continuing the rest of the way to the port.

The airship was already waiting when she arrived. It was a smaller one than she'd ridden when she went to visit Claire, three years ago – no doubt they'd downsized because the route saw far less traffic now that both Skuwat village and the Tenba facility were destroyed. There were certainly still people living here on rural homesteads, like the aged couple who'd taken care of her for the past three years, but they didn't travel nearly as much as Tenba employees had.

She turned her back on the airship for a moment to gaze at the island she was leaving behind. There was no telling how many years it might be before she saw the place again.

"Farewell," she said.

Then she turned and boarded the airship, finding a window seat apart from the other passengers.


"W-what's going on!?" Sonnet gasped. "The Wings of Horus are… shaking…?"

"Let's see what's going on!" Eumelia said. "It sounds like there's a bit of a commotion in town, doesn't it?"

Certainly, there were a lot of distant shouts, and some sounds that could have been a result of song magic. Sonnet nodded, and the two of them hurried back into town. They met up with the others right outside the inn. The sounds of shouting and magic were closer here, but there were still no visible signs of the cause.

"Ah, Sonnet!" Adagio said cheerfully. "We were getting worried, are you okay?"

"I see Eumelia found you at least," Ilya said. "That's a relief."

"I'm fine," Sonnet said.

"But what was that just now?" Espada asked. "An earthquake?"

"Um, what's an earthquake, exactly?" Adagio asked.

"We have to start there!?" Eumelia gasped. "Well, it's pretty much what just happened – suddenly the earth starts shaking for a bit, and then it stops. That's an earthquake."

"I think perhaps… Ar Tonelico is limiting its functions," Sonnet said. "Will the plasma bell still be able to hold the land up…? The balance in Sol Ciel… is being lost…"

"What…?" Espada said. "The reveris disease and this freak event… how exactly are they related?"

"Well… I can't say for sure that they're related," Sonnet said. "It's possible they are, but…"

At that moment, the commotion suddenly reached Starry Avenue. Three reyvateils burst onto the street, throwing their song magic around wildly. They each wore the uniform of the Church of Elemia, identifying them as holy maidens of the church, and several knights of the church chased after them. Eumelia and the others were directly in the path of that wildly-flung magic though, so Adagio leapt in front and shouted.

"Baruma!"

A great shield of force sprang up, the song magic bouncing off of it.

"C-crap, that was close!" he gasped. "So it's the reveris disease!"

"Should we go with the same method as last time?" Espada asked, looking at Sonnet.

"Huh? Ah, um… yes, please," Sonnet said.

"There's quite a lot to handle this time," Espada said. "So don't let your guard down, Adagio. Let's go!"

Espada and Adagio leapt forward, attacking the reyvateils together. Eumelia and Ilya stepped in front of Sonnet to protect her from any attacks while she sang. This meant they weren't participating much in the battle, but it was still an important role, as Sonnet was an important piece of the strategy. It looked like they were taking the same approach as they used to bring down the infected reyvateil back in Firefly Alley – Adagio attracted their attention, and Espada or Sonnet knocked them out while they were distracted. At one point, Eumelia sang a quick blast of symphonic power to divert an attack aimed at Sonnet – the two magics clashed in mid-flight, knocking the other one off course.

"Nice one, Eumelia!" Adagio shouted. "You guys alright over there?"

"We're fine!" Ilya said. "It looks like Sonnet was a little startled, though…"

"She didn't manage to finish the song magic, but at least she's unhurt," Eumelia said. "And it hadn't gotten far enough along to go out of control, either, so we're all good here."

They had already knocked out the reyvateil that fired the blast, and she was the last one, so the two of them came over. At that moment, Sonnet's knees suddenly buckled, and Espada stepped in to catch her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Espada… ugh, I… I'm fine," Sonnet said.

"Oy, get it together!" Adagio said. "It must be cos you don't eat properly."

"Excuse me."

One of the knights from the church stepped up to them, his reyvateil partner trailing behind him. Eumelia frowned just a tiny bit, for she thought he looked a little different from the other knights. Could it be Radolf…? But she couldn't be sure… while there was some resemblance, he didn't quite match the Radolf she knew from the visions.

"Thank you for stopping those girls," he continued. "I'm from the Church of Elemia. Your companion seems unwell, so why not stop by the church for a bit?"

"We already booked an inn though," Ilya said.

"That's alright, tomorrow morning would be fine," the knight said. "You can just show up at the church and ask for me by name – I'm Malcolm Sherwood, and this is my partner, Yukara."

He gestured at the woman with him. So it wasn't Radolf after all… Eumelia couldn't decide whether she was relieved or disappointed.

"Can you give us a reason?" she asked.

"Simply to offer a gesture of thanks," Malcolm said.

"Well… I don't know," Eumelia said. "To tell the truth, I'm not much of a believer…"

"Oh, that doesn't matter at all," Malcolm said. "Regardless of one's faith, we must acknowledge good deeds. I am sure the bishop would be happy to meet you as well, if he's in."

"That may be so," Eumelia said. "But I'm sorry… I think I'll pass. Still, if the rest of you want to go, then don't hold back on my account."

"I guess I'll stay with you as well," Ilya said.

"Well, I don't really get what Eumelia's thinking, as usual, but I think we should take them up on the offer," Adagio said. "Shall we head over tomorrow morning?"

Espada shrugged. "Well, you're the boss, after all," he said.

"Great!" Malcolm said. "Then we'll make sure to be ready for you tomorrow. See you later!"

With that, the knights took off, taking the fallen reyvateils with them.

"So… why'd you turn him down, Eumelia?" Adagio asked.

"Let's just say that there's a certain person in the church that I really don't want to meet," Eumelia said. "Ah, Sir Malcolm is not that person, for the record."

"Well, it is getting late, so why don't we go to bed?" Ilya suggested.

"Sonnet looks really tired too," Eumelia said. "So I think that's a good idea."

They headed back to the inn, Eumelia providing some support for Sonnet, and retired to their rooms. Sonnet was asleep the moment she hit the bed.


"Oh, you're up!"

Ilya waved to Eumelia as she entered the eating area of the inn.

"Ready for some breakfast?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm famished," Eumelia said.

She waved a waiter over and placed a rather large order, then turned to Ilya again.

"Have they already left?" she asked.

"Yeah, they're at the church right now," Ilya said.

"Well, they should be fine there… probably," Eumelia said. "I think Kauron probably won't make a move until tonight…"

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Ilya said.

"Never mind," Eumelia said.

"Hey… aren't we friends, Eumelia?" Ilya protested. "You shouldn't leave your friends in the dark all the time!"

"Even so… it's not like being friends mean we share all of our secrets," Eumelia said. "I'm sure you also have some things you're hiding from me… even if they're only small things…"

"Well, I guess that's true…" Ilya admitted. "Though I can't think of anything I really wouldn't want you to know…"

"Well, I just happen to know a few things that I probably shouldn't know," Eumelia said. "For example, that reveris is not one disease but rather two closely related ones. The early cases of it were version one, while most of the cases recently were version two… though I suspect the ones we actually saw were also version one. That's only a hunch though… I could be wrong about that."

"If the recent cases are mostly version two… why would you think the ones we actually saw were version one?" Ilya asked.

"Because Kauron was around for both of them," Eumelia said. "You said he had business to take care of, but did he say anything about that business?"

"Not really," Ilya said. "Oh, I think he did say it had to do with the church though."

"You see?" Eumelia said. "The first case we saw was in Kauron's own lab, and the second case sprang up right after he visited the Church of Elemia."

"But that's more likely to be coincidence," Ilya pointed out.

"Sure… that might be true, statistically speaking," Eumelia said. "But it's not true in reality."

"Okay, let's suppose for a moment that Kauron really did infect those girls," Ilya said. "What would he have to gain from doing that?"

"Peace of mind, I suppose?" Eumelia said.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ilya asked.

"Reyvateils are dangerous," Eumelia said with a smile. "We can use incomprehensible powers, just by singing. Some of us can destroy half of a floating continent with a single song. Some of us can bring the full force of Ar Tonelico's symphonic barrel upon an unsuspecting target of our choice. Is it no wonder that there would be people who wish reyvateils would just… disappear?"

"That… that's awful!" Ilya said.

"It's awful, for sure," Eumelia said. "It really is terrible. But even so, it's not hard to rationalize such a viewpoint, especially in this ruined world. The surface of the planet may have been destroyed by humans, and the sky by teru, but it was reyvateils who shattered the East Wing of Horus. One very powerful reyvateil, to be specific."

"So you're saying Kauron thinks like that?" Ilya said. "But why would he be researching reyvateils and searching for a cure if that's the case?"

"To tell the truth, I don't understand that myself," Eumelia said. "It goes directly counter to his primary mission, so it's strange. Still… the personality performing those actions is not the real Kauron. I don't really know what it is, exactly, perhaps a program designed to hide his true nature, perhaps some nugget of rebellion against his own program… but his true identity is a virus, just like the monsters that Mir makes to attack humanity. He's not even human. He's just a very sophisticated program running in the tower, with the ability to manifest a physical body through flip-flop conversion"

"Um… who is Mir…?" Ilya asked.

"That's the name of the one more commonly known as the Mother Virus," Eumelia said.

"So, you're saying the Mother Virus is behind all of this?"

Eumelia shook her head.

"Mir is a reyvateil herself," she said. "She wouldn't descend into that kind of thinking… in fact, her thought process is almost the complete opposite – to eliminate humans, rather than reyvateils."

"But you said Kauron is a virus, right?" Ilya said. "Who else can make a virus besides the Mother Virus?"

"Mir's pretty good at it, but it's not like it's impossible for humans to make a virus," Eumelia said. "Kauron must've been programmed by a human. And to spread the virus so quickly, I bet they would've needed physical access to the SH Server, which would probably mean they're an apostle of Elemia. Although I'm not sure of the exact location of the SH server, I'm pretty sure it's higher up in the tower… possibly near the Prism Garden, which is above the Blast Line."

That guess was based on the fact that the confrontation between Masticus and Espada that she'd seen in her visions took place in the Prism Garden, but it really was just a guess – Eumelia had no idea where the SH server was actually located in Ar Tonelico. She knew where the other two major SH servers were located, but not the Ar Tonelico server.

"T-this is starting to sound pretty amazing," Ilya said. "If what you're saying is true… aren't things a lot worse than everyone thought?"

"I think it depends on your point of view," Eumelia said. "The virus is just a program. It's probably not that hard to delete it, in principle. So, if you can remove the person spreading it, curing reveris once and for all should be possible. However… we can only trust in Platina to do that for us. On that note… do you have something to write a note with?"

"Ah, I think so," Ilya said.

He dug out a pen and a scrap of paper, and Eumelia jotted down a note in the Hymmnos language.

"Wee guwo gaya lamenza rre Masticus deggeez yora en pak nozess omni revatail. Fou yant ga enne rre yorr swant Sonnet."

Eumelia read through it a couple of times, then sighed.

"Well, I don't know if they'll believe me," she said. "But I have to try, because if I don't… Sonnet will probably die."

"What did you write?" Ilya asked. "I can't read those letters…"

"It's a letter to Lady Shurelia," Eumelia said. "She'll definitely be able to read it. All reyvateils intuitively understand the Hymmnos language, both spoken and written. It's like it's installed into us when our abilities as a reyvateil awaken."

"And what does it say?" Ilya asked.

"I identified the culprit, and asked her to save Sonnet," Eumelia said.

"So… you're saying you know who programmed the virus?" Ilya said.

"That's right," Eumelia said. "It's the person who sent Sonnet down here. She has no idea. I can't bring myself to tell her… though even if I could, she'd never believe me."

At that point, the waiter brought her food, and she began to dig in.

"I don't think I'd believe you either if I were her," Ilya mused. "I'm not even sure if I believe you now…"

Eumelia shrugged. "So… is there any place you'd like to see in Nemo?" she asked. "Other than the church, that is."

"Hmm… do you think we'd be allowed to enter the lighthouse?" Ilya asked.

"That… that seems pretty unlikely," Eumelia admitted.

"I guess that was a pretty long shot," Ilya said. "But I have a few other places too."

"Great, then let's spend the day seeing them," Eumelia said. "Oh, but just to be clear, it's not a date, okay?"

"Huh? I never said it was though?" Ilya said.

"I just wanted to explicitly say it, so you didn't jump to conclusions," Eumelia said with a smile.

"Well, that's fine," Ilya said. "But I'm still starting to look forward to it now…"


Jonah took a deep breath, facing Jessamine and the four members of Euphrosyne. His wife, daughter, and father looked on with concern in their eyes. Then Jonah cleared his throat and got started.

"I'll tell you everything," he said. "I guess it all started three years ago. My daughter, Jemi, was supposed to be in Firefly Alley working with Tenba, but her supervisor dragged her out on a manhunt and ended up dead. The mission itself wasn't authorized – her supervisor was acting against orders from the higher-ups. But as her superior, she had no choice but to follow him. Based on a report from a church knight who rescued her from a cave-in, certain people in Tenba came to a very… disconcerting conclusion."

"After Michal died, I decided to go on a journey," Jemi spoke up. "I just didn't feel like returning to Tenba after losing him – I think – I was probably in love with him back then, even though he didn't always treat me kindly. So, I was certainly absent without leave, if nothing else. I wandered the continent for a few months, perhaps as long as half a year, and somehow managed to get my hands on the life-extending agent I needed via, um… less than savoury means. But then I got homesick and decided to return to my hometown. When I finally got back…"

She looked at her father.

"They had spread around my daughter's picture, claiming she murdered her supervisor," Jonah said. "I was pretty sure it couldn't be true, as I knew she wasn't the kind of person to do such a thing, but with Jemi missing, I really didn't know what to think… so I was relieved when she came home and told the story herself. At that point, I knew I had to do something. So, I hid her in my house for, oh… a little over a year, I think it was. But she was discovered eventually, though they didn't realize I'd been sheltering her. That allowed me to step up to defend her after she was taken into custody."

"If only it were that simple," Jonah's wife sighed.

"Turns out the trial was never intended to be fair," Jonah said. "They just wanted a scapegoat. Those Tenba guys were intent on blaming Jemi for many of her supervisor's crimes, which some of them had been accessories to. But at the very least, the judge seemed to desire a fair verdict… so I gathered and presented evidence of their corruption. Thanks to that, with some effort, I managed to get Jemi cleared of the charges… but the Tenba guys were furious. They let us be for awhile, but several months after the trial, they found a way to frame me for murder… and worse, they managed to implicate all four of us. Ultimately, that forced us to go on the run… and then we met you guys. When you said you could arrange for us to flee somewhere beyond Tenba's reach… though it seemed too good to be true, I thought it could be a chance from the goddesses."

"I see," Dian said. "So to summarize the whole story… because you reported their corrupt acts, those Tenba officials framed you."

"I'm sorry for not explaining all the details earlier," Jonah's father said. "I thought there wasn't time for it. Does our agreement still hold?"

"But of course," Dian said. "We are not ones to renege on an agreement just because of a small omission of information. It might have been a different story if you actually did murder someone…"

"I assure you, we had no part in that murder!" Jonah's father said.

"Yes, Father speaks the truth!" Jonah said. "My wife and I were on a date at the supposed time of the crime! And Jemi was at home, sleeping!"

Dian nodded.

"I believe you," he said.

"But, that said… is there really a place where Tenba can't reach us?" Jonah's father asked. "I've been around long enough to know that they have their fingers in pretty much every corner of the Wings of Horus. Unless you have a way to get us to Platina or something…"

He chuckled nervously, clearly not believing that was really a possibility. Dian shook his head.

"We don't have the means to reach Platina, no," he said. "But Sol Ciel is not the sole remaining centre of human population. You'll soon see what I mean… at this point, all that's left to do is wait."

"Huh?" Jonah's father said. "What are we waiting for, exactly?"

"You'll see when the time comes," Dian said.

"What could it be?" Jessamine wondered. "There's really nothing here… I was wondering why you'd choose such a desolate spot for a meeting…"

"Again… just wait and see," Dian said. "It shouldn't be much longer now."

Silence fell across the plateau, the only sound being that of the constant outflowing wind. Jessamine could sort of sense it, the lower atmospheric pressure of the region far beyond the Wings of Horus, which was situated in a sort of bubble managed by the tower's weather control systems. Get far enough away, and the pressure dropped to a level that was, likely as not, too thin to even breathe in.

"I'm confused by it too," Jemi said. "I couldn't help wondering if we were running to our doom… but since we were also running from our doom, I figured we just had nothing to lose…"

"Fear not," Dian said. "We had good reasons to choose this location."

Again silence fell, and they waited for whatever unspecified thing the troupe was anticipating. Jessamine almost forgot to breathe, the anticipation was so intense. Minutes passed by in silence as everyone waited in anticipation, their minds racing with all sorts of fancies about what they could possibly be waiting for.

The suddenly, the direction of the wind abruptly changed, blowing in from the open expanse rather than outward, and it brought with it a deep throbbing sound, like the sound of an airship's flipper engine. Or, more like the sound of six or seven of them all thrumming in unison.

"See for yourselves," Dian said. "It's here."

He gestured towards the empty expanse beyond the continent's edge, and everyone watched as something huge rose up from below. It looked like a strange cross between a bird and an airship, a mix of organic forms and artificial constructions.

"What in Tyria's name is that!?" Jonah's father gasped.

"Behold, the last refuge of the moon chanters," Aigil said softly. "The Living City, Wandering Viola of the Clouds. Incredible, isn't she? I'm overcome with awe every time I witness her majesty."

The creature, or airship, or city, or whatever it was, turned slightly, resting something like a head upon the ground next to the pillar, and opened its mouth… or perhaps it would be better described as a hatch.

"Oh goddess, it truly is incredible!" Jessamine exclaimed. "Is it a living creature, or a machine…?"

"To tell the truth, I'm not sure myself," Lorzer said. "I heard the core is an ancient relic created by the father of sound science and brought to life by the power of the moon chanters…"

"The father of sound science is said to have been a moon chanter himself," Raphael noted.

"I believe it is both machine and living creature," Aigil said. "A cradle of life wandering amidst the Sea of Death… that is what it is."

"Whatever its true nature, it's a work of art almost as impressive as the tower of Ar Tonelico itself," Dian said.

As they spoke amongst themselves, three men and a woman exited, looking around. One of the men was short and stocky, with a full beard and a curled moustache. The other three carried long, slim boards about as long as they were high. Jessamine recognized them as windboards, a flotational device used for various purposes – including sporting events, like the annual windboard race she had attended in Nemo the previous year.

"Got the supplies, Euphrosyne?" the small man asked.

"Everything you asked for," Dian said. "It's stashed in the usual place."

"Good," the man said. "You three, start bringing it in."

"Understood!" one of the men said.

The three with windboards moved past the pillar, then slapped their boards down and leapt onto them, zooming around a promontory and vanishing from sight. Jessamine remembered seeing signs of a cave down there – perhaps that was their destination.

"Now then, I take it you four want to join us?" the small man said.

"Y-yes, if it wouldn't be too much trouble," Jonah's father said.

"Are these two reyvateils?" the small man asked.

"Y-yes, me and my daughter are reyvateils," Jonah's wife said. "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, but has your daughter started taking the life-extending agent yet?" the small man asked.

"Ah… yes she has," Jonah's wife said.

"Then that means we'll need six more pieces of diquility if you'll be staying with us for a year," the small man said.

"S-six!?" Jemi gasped. "Isn't that going to be expensive…?"

"Nah, we get most of our diquility from the Grand Bell," the small man said. "It's cheaper than Tenba or Archia. Just need to make sure the requirement is noted down, or people will die."

"Grand Bell…? Archia? I thought I'd been everywhere, but I've never even heard of them," Jessamine said.

"They are very far from here, well beyond the bounds of the Wings of Horus," Raphael said. "But perhaps one day you may be able to visit them."

"I'll look forward to it!" Jessamine exclaimed. "Oh, how I wonder what sorts of places they are…"

"Wait a moment," Jemi's mother said. "Isn't your calculation wrong? If it's for one year, we should need eight pieces between us, right?"

"We expect to spend at least three months outside of Ar Tonelico's broadcast range," the small man said. "You won't need diquility during that period."

"Eh?" Jemi said. "There's a way to… to live on… to survive without diquility?"

"You also won't be able to use your powers during that time, though," the small man said.

"Oh… I see," Jemi said.

"Well then, come on in," the small man said. "We'll give you a proper interview soon – I'll need to know what song magic you can use, and any other skills you might have."

"What for…?" Jonah asked.

"We need every skill we can get," the small man said. "If you're not willing to help out as needed, we don't need you. Knowing that, will you still step into our flying city?"

The four of them looked at each other, then nodded as one.

"Yes, we'll come!"

And with that, they and the small man headed back into the ship, the hatch closing behind them. The vessel itself remained almost motionless, apart from a slight undulating of its wings.

"That was amazing!" Jessamine exclaimed. "I never thought that there'd be people who live like that! Incredible! But there's just one thing I've been thinking…"

"And what might that be, young lady?" Lorzer said.

"Don't tell me you're going to ask to join them too," Raphael said.

"No, it's not that," Jessamine said. "It's just… if Viola of the Clouds is that large, just think how huge Cello of the Clouds must be!"

The four men stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"That's a good one, young lady!" Raphael said. "It's true that Viola was named after the smaller of the two moons, but… if there's a place named after the larger one, then I can't say I know of it."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Aigil said.

Jessamine pouted a little.

"Aww, and I thought I was being clever," she grumbled.

"Well now," Dian said. "We haven't eaten yet, right? Let's chow down while the people of Viola load up their supplies. Then we can wake up the Tenba people and be on our way."

"Yes!" Jessamine exclaimed. "I'm starving! What's for dinner tonight?"


Hymmnos Corner

In this section I'll provide translations of any Hymmnos passages that occur in the main text. In the interest of brevity, I'll omit ones that have already appeared in previous chapters.

"beerh zacta fenn tes xa!"

Singer: Jessamine
Language: Carmena Foreluna
Meaning: "Dear world who loves all of creation, grant me power! Fill the void with my love and in return protect me!"
Credit: Original

"heer zacta xa tel marr itt ss!"

Singer: Jessamine
Language: Carmena Foreluna
Meaning: "Channel passion into life, great god, and grant me the power to protect those that I love! Channel compassion into my vivid love and fulfill my wish for the holy power!"
Credit: Original

"Was ki gagis famfa fwal mea gefdu en chs fhyu!"

Hymn Name: EXEC_HYMME_FLAPPING/.
Singer: Sonnet (surname unknown)
Language: Central Standard Hymmnos
Notes: Sonnet's wind magic
Meaning: "I shall concentrate on fiercely flapping my wings so that I might become the very wind itself!"
Credit: Original

"Was yea ra chs hymmnos fhyu en rana ar ciel"

Singer: Sonnet (surname unknown)
Language: Central Standard Hymmnos
Notes: A Hymmnos line inserted into Sonnet's song, which seems to have been improvised. As a result, its effect wasn't all that dramatic.
Meaning: "I shall be happy to turn into the song of the wind and run through the world!"
Credit: Translation taken from the Twilight Dreams scanlation of Arpeggio

"Frugor! Baruma!"

Speaker: Adagio Low Vitis
Language: Teru Language
Notes: Teru magic words that summon lightning and a large shield, respectively
Meaning: "lightning", "great shield"
Credit: Translation taken from the Twilight Dreams scanlation of Arpeggio

"Rrha num wa ene revm, yanje en yanje, sor quive revm. Rrha touwaka wa tasyue tes gran fedyya, presia yehah irs, presia ieeya irs, wearequewie ar sor, en slep. Presia, presia…"

Hymn Name: EXEC_SEED/.
Singer: Mihoshi
Language: Cluster Hymmnos
Notes: The final verse of the hymn.
Meaning: "I had a dream. I've always had that same quiet dream. With hope in my heart, calling out to tomorrow, I offer a plea for a happy existence. So please, let our existence be hopeful. I wish for nothing else but this, and thus do I sleep. Please… O please…"
Credit: Translation taken from the EXA_PICO wiki

"Exec gran dyya! xaa xweei fff ddu benna! vii bbeeei sse yee yeiyeh!"

Singer: Ar Ru
Language: Central Standard Hymmnos and Ar Ciela
Notes: This song was an improvised conversation between Ar Ru and Mihoshi, which concluded in the song that created the antibodies.
Meaning: "Carry out the awakening of a new day! Protect everything! Protect the sacred, beloved souls from the darkness of hatred that threatens to annihilate this beloved world! In this divine joy, may this sacred, beloved world be full of light and divine, passionate love!"
Credit: Translation taken from the EXA_PICO wiki

"Exec hymme zi gu io tras oioioiio."

Singer: Ar Ru and Mihoshi
Language: Central Standard Hymmnos
Notes: The trigger phrase to conclude a binasphere chorus
Meaning: "Execute the binasphere chorus with formula 0b01010110."
Credit: Translation taken from the EXA_PICO wiki

"Wee guwo gaya lamenza rre Masticus deggeez yora en pak nozess omni revatail. Fou yant ga enne rre yorr swant Sonnet."

Scribe: Eumelia Nestmile
Language: Central Standard Hymmnos
Meaning: "With a seething heart that I hope I never feel again, I regret to inform you that Masticus has betrayed all of you and plans to exterminate all reyvateils. I pray in trepidation for you to save Sonnet."
Credit: Original


I was planning to conclude the Arpeggio arc in just two chapters, but once it was almost done I realized it was long enough to split into two parts. I'll probably post the conclusion to the arc on the weekend.