As Aurica and Lyner were disembarking at Nemo, they found Krusche waiting for them at the port. Aurica couldn't help frowning a tiny bit when Lyner greeted the other girl cheerfully.
"So, what do you want to do about your airship?" Krusche asked. "Want me to take a look at it right away?"
"Hmm… I have an appointment at the church," Lyner mused. "What should I do…?"
"It doesn't matter to me," Krusche said. "So, it's really up to you."
"Alright," Lyner said. "Let's just take care of these things one at a time. Since we're already here in Nemo, we may as well go to the church first."
So he accompanied the others back to the church, where they found Bishop Falss waiting – a big, bearded man wearing a robe and mitre.
"Ah, Radolf, I'm glad to see you've returned," he said.
"I brought the apostle of Elemia that I told you about with me," Radolf said.
"Ohhh?" Falss said. "Welcome to the Church of Elemia. I am Bishop Falss. I'm glad to finally meet you. When Radolf first told me about you, quite frankly, I couldn't believe it. I never expected an apostle of Elemia would ever come all the way down here… the Goddess Trio have surely led you to us. But what was it that brought you to the lower world?"
"Well, I'm searching for a hymn crystal," Lyner said.
"A hymn crystal!?" Falss said. "Then you must be on an important mission. If it is possible… will you tell me all about it?"
"Well, recently a new type of virus emerged from the Altar of Apostles," Lyner said. "It's a very strong one that even the Knights of Elemia can't easily defeat."
"I see," Falss said. "I didn't know Platina was in such a state of crisis…"
"So I need the hymn crystal Purger to defeat the viruses," Lyner said.
He took out a brooch from one of his pockets and pressed a button, projecting a three-dimensional image of the hymn crystal he sought.
"That's…?" Falss said.
"I have this 3D diagram of it from Platina," Lyner explained. "The crystal looks like this. The viruses have also caused the tower guardians to attack humans…"
"Given the current circumstances, we are obligated to help you," Falss said. "I may be able to help you find this crystal."
"Really!?" Lyner gasped.
"A long time ago, I heard a rumour that the crystal is kept in a ruin called Singing Hill," Falss said. "Give me a day to research the crystal and the ruin. Aurica, please take them to the inn."
"Yessir," Aurica said.
"I'll present my findings to you tomorrow," Falss said. "It's important that you get some rest."
"Thank you very much!" Lyner said.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Falss said. "May the Goddess Trio bless you…"
With that, Lyner, Aurica, and Krusche left the church together. Radolf stayed behind, saying he had some things to take care of.
"So, the inn is—"
"Is it the same one you took me to before?" Lyner interrupted. "Because I remember how to get there."
"R-right," Aurica said.
When they entered the inn building, they found someone making a scene in the first floor bar.
"How many times do I have to tell you!?" an unfamiliar male voice shouted.
"Huh?" Lyner said.
"Sounds like something is happening at the bar," Krusche said.
"Huh!?" Aurica gasped. "T-that's…!"
The person he was shouting at was a blonde woman who Aurica hadn't seen for six years – her childhood friend, Claire Branch.
"Get outta here!" the belligerent man shouted. "We don't want a loner like you in our town!"
Claire took the shouting remarkably calmly, staring at the man and responding in a reasonable tone of voice.
"It is true that I am an independent reyvateil… however, I have never caused any trouble. There is no reason for me to leave."
"Whaaat!?" the man shouted.
"If I cause any real trouble, rest assured that I will leave of my own accord," Claire continued. "However, I won't be bullied into leaving if I haven't done anything wrong."
"Ugh, you make me sick!" the man shouted. "I'll be back, you can count on it!"
With that, he turned and stomped out, barging past Aurica and nearly knocking her off her feet. Lyner leapt in to steady her so she didn't fall, then quickly pulled his hands away.
"What was that?" Lyner said.
"The man's got no class," Krusche said.
The three of them headed into the bar, where Claire let out a sigh.
"Sounds like you've been having a hard time," Lyner said.
"You!?" Claire gasped. "Where have you been? We were worried about you! Jack's not with you? He's been looking for you for awhile now. But… I'm glad that you're okay."
Aurica took a few steps forward without a word, and Claire blinked in surprise.
"Oh…? Aurica, is it really you?" she said.
"Claire…"
"I can't believe it!" Claire said. "It's been so long! I never thought I'd see you again! I was so worried about you when I heard our village burnt down… your sister too, for that matter. Is she with you as well?"
"N-no, um… she… didn't make it," Aurica muttered. "She's… with Mom and Dad…"
"You two know each other?" Lyner said.
"We grew up together in the same village," Claire said.
"Ah… and your village burned down?" Lyner said.
"Ah, um… it was a long time ago," Aurica said. "During the Teru War…"
"Aurica, will you have some tea with me later?" Claire asked. "I have so much to tell you!"
"Yeah," Aurica said.
"I'm surprised to see you two together," Claire said.
"She's been through a lot," Krusche said. "Maybe you can listen to her and make her feel better."
"And look at the new guy who has a pretty girl wrapped around each arm," Claire said teasingly.
"W-wait a minute!" Lyner protested. "Miss Claire, you've got it all wrong…"
"Oh, I know," Claire said, smiling. "But teasing boys is always so much fun. We have so much to talk about… why don't we all have dinner?"
"Sure," Aurica said.
Within half an hour, a delicious-looking dinner was laid out on one of the tables in the bar, and they all sat down to talk. They mostly talked about Aurica's life since she joined the church, as well as the recent events that had brought her and Lyner together.
"So I'm technically one of the candidates to be the Holy Maiden of the Church of Elemia," Aurica finished.
"Nice, your lifelong dream has come true," Claire said. "The legendary Holy Maiden who saved the world… wouldn't it be great if Aurica became the second Holy Maiden?"
"But I'm a class D reyvateil," Aurica said. "So they'll never choose me."
"Class doesn't matter," Claire said. "If you believe in yourself, you'll make your dream come true."
"D-do you really think so…?" Aurica asked.
"Of course," Claire said. "Come on, Aurica! Cheer up!"
"Okay…" Aurica said.
"So let me get this straight," Claire said. "The church decided to help out Lyner, and Aurica just happened to be there. Hmm… the Singing Hill ruin is pretty far away." She blinked, suddenly thinking of something. "Oh! If you do go to the Singing Hill, would you do me a favour? I heard that you can find something called a 'fragment of yuteria' over there. Would you bring one back for me, please?"
"Sounds simple enough," Lyner said. "Since I'm going there anyway, I'll pick one up for you if I can."
"Thank you!" Claire said.
"Ohh, eating all this food is making me sleepy," Krusche groaned.
"Me too," Claire said. "We'd better call it a night. Don't forget – a fragment of yuteria!"
With that, Lyner and Krusche headed upstairs to the rooms that the church had reserved for them. Aurica however held back.
"Claire…"
"What is it, Aurica?" Claire asked.
"You… you were asking about Eumelia earlier," Aurica said. "I didn't want to say it in front of Lyner… but… the only reason I survived was because I wasn't there when it burnt down. So Eumelia… I… I couldn't even protect her!"
Claire hugged her.
"It's not your fault, Aurica," she said. "Sometimes these things just happen. If you're not in the right place at the right time, there's just nothing you can do with it."
"But I… I really, really miss her," Aurica murmured. "If only I could see her again…"
"I feel the same way as you," Claire said. "Eumelia was my friend too, after all."
"Y-yeah… of course," Aurica said.
"Say… did you give her and the other villagers a proper burial?" Claire asked.
"Ah… there was nothing left of them to bury," Aurica said. "It looked like the teru had gathered up all the bodies in front of your house and set them on fire…"
"I see," Claire said. "At least they weren't left as food for the wolves and vultures, I suppose… though, is that really something the teru would do? It doesn't quite fit with my image of them…"
"I don't know," Aurica said. "But the only people in that village were the villagers, the teru, and Tenba soldiers… would Tenba do something like that?"
"I think Tenba would have just left the bodies where they lie," Claire said. "I suppose it'll remain forever a mystery."
"I suppose," Aurica said. "But I'm glad I could see you again, Claire."
"And I'm glad I could see you," Claire said. "You've come a long way since I left the village, haven't you?"
"I don't know about that…" Aurica muttered.
"Well, in any case, I really should get to bed," Claire said. "Can you find your way back to the church on your own? Or would you like me to walk you there?"
"I'll be fine," Aurica said.
As Aurica left the bar, Claire pondered the conversation. It had been six years since she saw Eumelia, but she remembered how the two of them had broken a young reyvateil named Jessamine out of the secret Tenba research facility. However… something about the chronology didn't quite add up. The village had burned down while Aurica was away, and Claire's meeting with Eumelia had occurred after the vacation time she spent with Aurica in Nemo. So… when exactly had the village burned down…?
While Claire was trying to sort things out in her head, Aurica hesitated at the entrance to the inn. Then she suddenly spun around and headed upstairs, instead of leaving to return to the church. Locating Lyner's room, she knocked on it timidly and waited a bit. Then she thought better of it and turned to leave, but just then the door opened. She spun to face him with a gasp.
"L-lyner…"
"Aurica!? W-what's wrong?" Lyner asked.
"Well… nothing really… never mind," Aurica said. "Sorry to bother you…"
She turned to leave once more, but Lyner spoke up again.
"Wait! You aren't bothering me at all!" he said. "I'm just surprised, because you've never visited me before…"
"Ah… you're right," Aurica muttered. "I've never done this before… I just thought…"
She sighed.
"Y-yeah, um, Lyner… thank you for everything you did when Bourd took me hostage," she said.
"Oh, that," Lyner said. "I'm just glad that you made it out safely… that was pretty amazing!"
"Yeah," Aurica said. "I still don't quite understand what happened… I never thought I'd be saved by a monster…"
"Like I said, it's amazing," Lyner said.
"Um… sorry to bother you so late," Aurica said. "But… c-c-can I… c-come back… some other time…? I feel… a bit more relaxed… like this… with just us…"
"Sure, anytime," Lyner said. "In fact, why don't you just come in now for a bit?"
"R-right now!?" Aurica gasped.
"Ah, if you don't want to, then that's fine," Lyner said.
"Ah, um… it's not that I don't want to," Aurica said. "I… I was just… surprised…"
He stepped out of the way, and she entered the room. He took a seat on the bed, and after looking around in confusion for a moment, she took a seat on the floor.
"Maybe I'll visit you from time to time as well," Lyner said. "If I have anything I want to talk about, you know?"
"Huh!?" Aurica gasped.
"Oh, if you don't want me to, just let me know," Lyner said.
"N-no, it's not like that," Aurica said.
"By the way… do you know that girl with the cat here at the Singing Moon Inn?" Lyner asked.
"Ah… yes, I do," Aurica said. "How'd you know?"
"Well, when we walked into the inn, she was staring at you," Lyner said. "So I thought maybe she knew you."
"Oh… I didn't even notice," Aurica said. "I hope she's not mad at me…"
"Just say something to her tomorrow morning, when you come to pick us up," Lyner suggested. "Do you play with her often?"
"Only occasionally," Aurica said. "I got to name her cat. Ever since then, we've been friends."
"Really?" Lyner said. "So you were the one who named the cat, huh?"
"Yes," Aurica said. "She was trying to find a good name for it. That's how we became friends."
"So… what did you name it?" Lyner asked.
"Puffball," Aurica said.
Lyner blinked. "What?"
"I named it Puffball," Aurica said. "Since its fur was so puffy and it sounded good."
"P-puffball, huh…?" Lyner said. "That's an interesting name, I guess."
"I thought of other names too, but she liked that one the best," Aurica said. "Do you want to hear them?"
"Um, uh… I'd love to, but… I think it'll have to wait till next time," Lyner said.
An awkward silence fell, and Aurica cast around for a new topic to bring up.
"You know… the song stone in Song Stone Park is so huge," she finally said.
"Oh, that big one?" Lyner said. "Yeah, I heard it was the symbol of the city of Nemo."
"Yeah," Aurica said. "It's probably the only place you'll ever get to see a song stone that big."
"True," Lyner said. "Even if we did find one in our travels, we wouldn't be able to carry it home."
"You're right," Aurica said. "But… I wonder how many regular song stones it'd take to make one that big…"
"Huh?" Lyner said. "Well, let's see… it's pretty big, so I'd say at least a hundred."
"I think you're off by a couple of zeroes," Aurica said. "It'll take a lot."
"Well, yeah," Lyner said. "If you could use the whole thing to grathmeld, I wonder how it'd turn out?"
"It's so huge, I bet you could make some really great stuff out of it," Aurica said.
"I bet I wouldn't even have to mix anything with that song stone to make something good," Lyner said.
"Yeah… like a song stone sword, or song stone armour," Aurica suggested.
"We'd even have more to spare after making like ten each!" Lyner said.
They fell silent for a couple of seconds.
"But… it is the city's symbol," Lyner said. "We probably shouldn't be saying stuff like this."
"You're right," Aurica said. "I do live in Nemo, after all…"
"Speaking of… you know the statue on Starry Avenue, and the one in the church… there's a third one just like it in Platina, too," Lyner said.
"Really!?" Aurica said.
"Yeah," Lyner said. "I think it's the same one that's in the courtyard in Platina. I usually wouldn't even notice it, but when I saw the same thing down here, too, it just stuck with me…"
"Oh," Aurica said. "Lyner, do you know what the statues are for?"
"Huh? No, I don't," Lyner said. "Isn't it just a guy and a girl standing next to each other?"
"You think people would build statues without a meaning?" Aurica said.
"Well, I thought it was some sort of fine art or something," Lyner said.
Aurica sighed. "Well… I guess that's what makes you… you…"
"Hey!" Lyner protested. "So… what is the meaning of those statues?"
"Hmm, I'll give you a little hint," Aurica said. "Try to imagine the two of us in the statue."
Lyner blinked. "Huh…? Us?"
"That's actually a big hint," Aurica said. "I'll tell you the answer some other time. Ah, and um… don't go thinking it's the goddess Tyria or something!"
"Huh…?" Lyner said. "Um… who's that?"
"Eh?" Aurica gasped. "Y-you don't know!?"
Lyner nodded. "Yeah, I don't know… so who is she?"
"Oh, um, she's the goddess we worship at the church," Aurica explained. "Long ago, she supported humans and helped keep the world peaceful. In addition to the goddess Tyria, there are the goddess Eoria and the goddess Frelia. Together, they are the Trio of Elemia."
"The goddess Tyria, huh…?" Lyner mused. "Hey, Aurica, do you like the Trio of Elemia or something?"
Aurica nodded. "Yes, they aren't just myths," she said. "They really existed."
"Huh, really?" Lyner said. "If that's the case, I wonder why I haven't heard of them…"
"I would have been happier if all of them were here, not just Tyria," Aurica said. "But, that would be asking too much, wouldn't it?"
"Well, it's good that you can see how selfish it is," Lyner said. "Besides, you'd probably freak out if all three of them showed up all of a sudden."
"You really think so?" Aurica said.
"Really," Lyner said.
"I still can't believe you never knew about the Trio in the first place," Aurica said. "Still… since they really did exist, you can hope to meet them too! And also… um…"
"What?" Lyner said.
"Ah… never mind," Aurica said. "That's it."
"Huh? But what about the rest?" Lyner said.
"There isn't any!" Aurica said. "That's it! Besides… it is getting late. I should get back to the church…"
"Oh, alright," Lyner said. "Then I'll see you tomorrow. Good night!"
"Good night, Lyner," Aurica said.
She got to her feet and left his room. As soon as the door was closed, she leaned against it with a great big sigh. She'd actually been having fun talking to him, a little. What could it mean? Could he maybe be a partner she could trust? She still didn't have a partner who could dive with her to help her craft stronger magic, after all… but she was starting to think she wouldn't mind if Lyner dived into her.
Sighing again, she forced herself to put one foot ahead of the other, heading back to the east dorms at the church. Fayma was waiting for her, looking worried.
"Aurica!" she said. "What kept you so long? Radolf said you were just escorting some people to the inn, but you never returned…"
"Ah, um… I ran into an old friend," Aurica said. "So we ended up having dinner… sorry…"
"Ah, so that's what happened," Fayma said. "Next time, please at least let us know, okay? I was really worried about you."
"Um…alright," Aurica said.
Aurica woke up early the next morning and hurried to the inn to meet them. She was so early that she had to wait almost an hour before Lyner and Krusche finally emerged, the latter yawning.
"Alright, let's go back to the church," Lyner said.
Falss and Radolf were waiting for them when they arrived.
"Good morning," Falss said. "Did you get a good night's sleep? I finished my research. As I thought, the crystal is kept at the Singing Hill. If it hasn't been stolen, it should still be there."
"That's great!" Lyner said. "I finally know where the crystal is. I'm going to get it now!"
"Oh, and Lyner," Falss said. "I may just be worrying too much, but… searching the ruins without a reyvateil is dangerous, even for an apostle of Elemia. If you don't mind, will you please take Aurica with you?"
"W-what!?" Aurica gasped.
"Huh?" Lyner said. "Would that be alright…?"
"Aurica doesn't have a partner yet, but I sense an unlimited potential within her," Falss said.
"B-bishop!?" Aurica gasped.
"That said… Aurica, do you want to go with him?" Falss asked. "I will leave the decision to you."
"Yes," Aurica said. "If I can help… I want to be a part of this mission!"
"And… what about you, Lyner?" Falss asked.
"Thank you very much!" Lyner said.
"Oh, and Radolf, you should go with them as well," Falss said.
"As you wish," Radolf said.
"Thank you for everything," Lyner said.
They turned to leave, but the bishop had one final thing to say.
"Oh, and Lyner…" Falss said.
Lyner turned to face him again, and the bishop beckoned to him, so he stepped up close. Then Falss bent forward and said something Aurica couldn't hear. Once he was done, Lyner nodded.
"I'll do my best!" he said.
"May the Trio of Elemia bless you, Lyner," Falss said.
"May they bless us all," Lyner said.
"Yes," Aurica said.
As they left the church, Radolf brought up a new topic.
"By the way, do you know how to get to the dive shop in Nemo?" he asked.
"What!?" Lyner gasped. "The dive shop!?"
Radolf blinked. "Hmm? Did you have a bad experience with one or something?"
"N-no," Lyner said.
"Now that you and Aurica are partners, you'll want to start diving with her, right?" Radolf said.
"Ah… m-maybe," Lyner said.
"I'll show you the way," Radolf said. "There's something I need to do before I leave town, so I'll let you two take care of that in the meantime."
He led them back into the city, taking him up the river and past the airport, then across two bridges. Finally they reached a large installation on the outskirts of the city.
"Well, here it is," he said. "This is the most reputable dive shop in Nemo, so the church comes here a lot. They can get pretty busy sometimes, but there should usually be a pod available at this time of day."
"Thank you very much, Radolf," Lyner said.
With that, Radolf and Krusche turned and left them there, just the two of them. They gazed up at the place for a minute or so.
"Um… if you don't want to do this, we don't have to," Lyner said. "Do you want to dive, Aurica?"
"Um… I think… I can try it," Aurica said. "If it's with you… I think it would be okay…"
"Alright," Lyner said. "Then… shall we enter…?"
"Y-yes…"
They stepped into the dive shop, and a receptionist greeted them.
"Good morning! You're our only customer at the moment, so feel free to choose whichever pod you want!"
"Uhh… does it make any difference…?" Lyner asked.
"Well, not really," the receptionist said. "But each pod does have a different operator. There are a few customers who prefer a specific operator."
"Well, then… let's just take the first one, okay?" Lyner said.
Aurica nodded, following him into the corridor the receptionist pointed them towards and into the first room on the right. The operator there greeted them.
"Welcome to Nemo Dive Shop!" he said. "I'm Kurai, your operator. How may I help you?"
"W-well…" Aurica said hesitantly. "N-now that it's come to it… d-do we really have to…? I'm… a little nervous now…"
"Huh?" Lyner said. "Like I just said, I don't want to force you…"
"It… it's not like I don't… want to dive," Aurica said. "It's just… I've never been to a dive shop before."
"Really?" Lyner said. "You've never dived…? But what about your healing song?"
"T-that… I learned it from Mom," Aurica said. "S-so this really is… my first time. I didn't have a partner at the church… s-so if you decide to dive… you'll be my first."
"I see," Lyner said. "Maybe… we shouldn't do this after all…?"
"N-no… no, actually… I w-want to," Aurica said. "I… I want to be stronger, so… so please…? B-but my world is probably strange, so… if you don't like it, you can quit…"
"So what'll it be?" Kurai said. "Wanna take a dive?"
"Um… I think so," Lyner said.
Aurica nodded, so Lyner handed over the fee.
"Then I'll get it set up for you, just a moment."
The pods opened up, and Aurica climbed inside. They were surprisingly comfortable, actually. Then the pod closed over her, and it was as though she fell into a deep dream…
After lunch with Caliopia and Janessa, Eumelia saw the two of them off as Elen ferried them back to the main island. Then she summoned Falc for the long flight up to the mainland. It was surprisingly not as far as she'd thought – the Falcon's Claw was actually at about the same height as the Floating Wharf, perhaps even a little higher. But even so, she had to stop for a break at the base of the Sylva Plate. After a short break, they resumed their flight, landing on the edge of the continent.
The location she chose was a small forested peninsula jutting out just south of Nemo's western-most reaches, directly across from the large island that held the Church of Elemia. Though it was directly across, it wasn't close enough to see much of the church, apart from a few spires rising above the trees in the distance.
"Thank you for your help, Falc," Eumelia said.
She gave the bird a piece of meat as a reward, then watched her fly away for a few minutes before heading north until she reached the city. Making her way through small side streets, she finally emerged onto a big main street whose name she recognized – Twilight Avenue. There she flagged one of the trolleys passing by and hopped on to head towards the city centre. Soon she disembarked at the intersection of Twilight Avenue and Starry Avenue, at which point she turned to head towards Singing Moon Inn.
But on the way to the inn, she had an unexpected encounter –a vaguely familiar voice called her name from somewhere nearby.
"Eumelia! Hey, hey, is that you, Eumelia!?"
Eumelia looked around, a little confused, but was unable to spot the caller.
"I knew it!" the voice exclaimed. "It's really you! I'm up here, up here!"
Eumelia cast her eyes upwards and spotted a young girl of about twelve standing on the upper balcony of the Voracious Roc, a much lower-end establishment than the Singing Moon Inn. What little she knew of the place was entirely from hearsay, but it was apparently more of a hostel than an inn – you paid to get a bed in a shared dormitory, plus access to a lounge and a guest kitchen where you could do your own cooking. There was a bar on the main floor, so you could certainly get your meals there, but it was said to have very low-quality food. If Eumelia wasn't mistaken, the balcony the girl stood on should open off the guest lounge.
"Wait there a moment, I'll come down!" the girl called.
Without further ado, she turned and disappeared inside. Eumelia wasn't quite sure who the girl was, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to wait and see. A minute or so later, the girl barrelled out of the ground floor door and charged into the crowd, crossing the street and glomping Eumelia, who almost lost her footing from the force of the attack.
"It's so good to see you again!" the girl said. "Do you remember me?"
"Um… possibly…?" Eumelia said. "But I can't seem to place it right now…"
"It's me, Jessamine!" the girl exclaimed, apparently not at all put out at being forgotten.
"Ah! Jessamine! Of course I remember!" Eumelia said. "But you've grown so much, and you're so energetic… I totally didn't recognize you! But weren't you with Euphrosyne?"
Jessamine giggled. "Yeah, they're staying at that place too," she said.
"Ah, so they're actually in town, huh?" Eumelia said.
"For now," Jessamine said. "I think they said they were planning to leave tomorrow morning."
"Oh, so this was really a stroke of luck running into each other, huh?" Eumelia said.
"No, well… I was planning to go on a journey by myself, actually," Jessamine said. "Euphrosyne travels all over the Wings of Horus, but they don't really go anywhere else. By now I've probably seen almost everything there is to see here on the continent, so I want to try seeing some other places. I thought I'd start with Firefly Alley, and then maybe I could check out Falcon's Claw. It might be difficult to reach, but I heard there's a city called Platina way, way up there! And after that I thought it would be nice to visit the Grand Bell, or Archia…"
Eumelia blinked at her, pushing Jessamine back a little so she could meet her eyes.
"Where on earth did you hear about the Grand Bell and Archia?" she asked.
"Hmm?" Jessamine said. "Well… about where I heard it, I think that's supposed to be a secret…"
"Well… alright, I guess the source doesn't matter," Eumelia said. "But Jessamine… you must not go to Archia, no matter what, do you understand? If you go there, you will die!"
"Huh?" Jessamine said. "I might not look like it, but I'm pretty strong, you know?"
Eumelia shook her head. "That's not the issue here," she said. "You're a pure-blooded beta-type reyvateil. Do you understand what that means?"
"Um… I'm not sure, to be honest," Jessamine said. "Dian and the others don't really know what it means either…"
"It means you're dependent on Ar Tonelico to survive," Eumelia said. "Through your connection to the tower, the triangular nuclear loop embedded in your body sings a song that can't be heard by human ears. That song gives your body a physical form, and sustains your life itself. But the tower has a limited range. If you travel too far away, it won't be able to maintain the connection. The triangular nuclear loop will stop singing, your body will revert to nothing more than a pile of goo, and you will die."
"T-then… you're saying I can't even see places like the Grand Bell or Archia!?" Jessamine exclaimed. "But that's so unfair!"
"Well… I wouldn't say there's absolutely no chance that you could ever see Archia," Eumelia said. "Pastalia, the city overseen by the Grand Bell, is also beyond the range of the tower, but you'd be safe if you go there."
Jessamine blinked at her, tilting her head quizzically.
"Huh…? How's that work?" she asked.
"Because, near Pastalia is a relay station called Sol Marta," Eumelia explained. "It serves as an intermediary between you and Ar Tonelico – in effect, it means the range of the tower is extended into that area. There aren't any other relays besides Sol Marta, but… someday, new relays could be built, and if that happens, you might be able to visit Archia."
"Oh, so I just have to be patient and wait for relays to be built!" Jessamine exclaimed. "Or better yet, maybe I can even help build them!"
Eumelia chuckled. "Perhaps," she said. "Well… it's possible that Archia won't be around anymore by that time… but I believe it's built upon the Tower of Origins, so it's possible some people will continue to live there. I doubt everyone will migrate away from the towers once they can."
"Hmm, I see," Jessamine said. "Well, I'll start with Firefly Alley and all the other areas near here, and then… I'll decide what to do next. Maybe there's enough stuff to see around Pastalia that I won't get bored for a few years!"
"I'm glad I ran into you now, though," Eumelia said. "If you'd boarded a ship to Archia without knowing that… I'd really regret it."
"Me too!" Jessamine exclaimed. "I'd hate it if I suddenly died out of nowhere just because I didn't understand how my body works!"
"When you put it that way, it really would be a horrible way to go," Eumelia agreed.
"So anyway, what've ya been up to the past few years?" Jessamine asked.
"Well, not a whole lot, to be honest," Eumelia said. "Though I did have a little adventure three years ago with a girl from Platina and a boy from Em Pheyna…"
"Em Pheyna… oh, that's the teru tribe village, right?" Jessamine said. "I'd like to see that place too…"
"That's right," Eumelia said. "What have you been up to? Just traveling around with Euphrosyne?"
"That's pretty much it, yeah," Jessamine said. "But it's actually pretty fun, you know? Even when we visit the same place again, there's always something new to see or do, or someone new to meet."
"Have you crafted any song magic yet?" Eumelia asked.
"Well, not exactly," Jessamine said. "But I did craft EXEC KIAFA…"
Eumelia blinked. "Huh…? Is that an actual hymn? Rather than song magic, you crafted an entirely new hymn!? I mean, it's… not unheard of, but… at your age, I never expected it…"
"No, I crafted that about five years ago," Jessamine said. "It's not a hymn so much as a translation layer, so I can sing using the Carmena Foreluna language. It's much more compact than Hymmnos, you know?"
"That's… that's amazing, Jessamine," Eumelia said. "To be honest, I think that's even more impressive than crafting a hymn… so is this EXEC KIAFA a socket interface similar to EXEC HYMME, or is it something completely separate?"
"Um, I'm not quite sure what 'socket' means…?" Jessamine said.
"It means you can easily craft an extension of the base system," Eumelia explained. "For example, I've crafted EXEC HYMME SNEAKY UNICORN and EXEC HYMME BIRD CALLING, which are extensions of the base EXEC HYMME system."
"Ah, then I think it does fit," Jessamine said. "Um… as an example, EXEC KIAFA FLARE is an anti-wind song that slows my fall. I can also improvise extensions, but if I formally craft and register it with the tower, the effect becomes more consistent."
Eumelia nodded. "Yeah, so that's really incredible, Jessamine."
"Thank you!" Jessamine said, smiling. "Dian was pretty impressed too, you know! Aren't I a genius?"
"It really seems like it!" Eumelia said. "There certainly aren't many reyvateils who could pull off something like that! I'm seriously impressed!"
Jessamine giggled. "Thank you!" she said. "Ah, but I shouldn't stay long, or Dian will get worried."
"Oh, then you'd better hurry back," Eumelia said.
"Yes!" Jessamine said. "But I hope we can meet again soon!"
Jessamine hurried back into the Voracious Roc, and Eumelia continued on her way. Before long, she reached the Singing Moon Inn, which looked just about the same as it had three years ago. Even the restaurant on the lower floor hadn't changed all that much, though it was clear that it had come under new management.
She chose to enter the bar, where she found a familiar blonde-haired woman behind the counter. Claire had changed quite a bit since she'd last seen her, but not so much as to be unrecognizable. Eumelia waited a few moments while Claire finished handling the current customer, then stepped up to the bar.
"And how may I… huh?" Claire said. "It can't be… is that you, Eumelia!?"
"Um… long time no see, Claire," Eumelia said.
"I can't believe it," Claire said. "It's been less than a day since I heard you were dead from Aurica…"
Eumelia blinked, startled. "W-what!? Aurica thought I was dead!?"
"That's what she told me just yesterday, yes," Claire said.
"But I left her a letter underneath Don Leon after the village burned," Eumelia said. "I guess she never saw it…? I really thought she would've looked in a place like that. Anyway, I'm surprised you didn't set her straight. Didn't you know I survived?"
"I admit something felt off about it," Claire said. "Should I have known…?"
"Wasn't I the one you first heard the fate of the village from?" Eumelia pointed out. "We met in Karulu village back then."
"Ah… you're right," Claire said. "I did remember that meeting, but I'd forgotten about that particular detail… speaking of which, have you seen Jessamine since then?"
"Funny you should ask," Eumelia said. "I actually ran into her just before I arrived here. She seems to be doing well. I almost didn't recognize her, she's so cheery and energetic. Next time I meet her, I'll let her know you're here. Or you could probably go see her yourself – apparently she's staying at the Voracious Roc, just down the street."
"That's great to hear," Claire said. "Though… the Voracious Roc, you said? That's a little bit worrying… I've heard unsavoury rumours about that place…"
"It is, but it seems like she's used to it," Eumelia said. "So I figure it's probably fine…"
"I hope so," Claire said. "So… I heard a bit about it from Aurica, but she said she wasn't actually there… do you mind telling me a bit more about what happened back in Skuwat? Even if you told me about it six years ago, I don't really remember what you said back then…"
"Well, the teru attacked Tenba," Eumelia said. "The Tenba soldiers ran away through Skuwat, using the villagers as shields. I managed to survive by crafting a song magic and concealing myself."
"Oh, that's right, you had the song that makes you invisible," Claire said. "Wait, you said it was attacked, not burned down?"
"There was a lot of fire damage," Eumelia said. "But I wouldn't say it was burned down, exactly… most of the building are still standing."
"And from what I heard, there were no survivors, right?" Claire said. "My father, for example…"
"No… your father didn't make it, nor anyone else that I'm aware of," Eumelia said. "It was terrible… honestly, I'm really lucky to have survived it. And I'm sort of glad Aurica was out of town at the time, because it meant she survived too…"
"I suppose this also solves the mystery of what happened to the bodies," Claire said. "Were you the one who burned them?"
"Ah, um… yes… I didn't know what else to do," Eumelia said. "It's not like I could've buried all those people all by myself… but enough about the past. Where is Aurica now? I was hoping to see her…"
"Ah… I'm afraid you just missed her," Claire said. "She left this morning to head for the Singing Hill ruin."
"Oh, so they've left for the Singing Hill already," Eumelia said. "Was Lyner with her too? And Krusche? Maybe even Misha?"
"Yes, Lyner and Krusche were with her… you know them too?" Claire said.
"I met them just recently," Eumelia said. "At least she should be safe with them… though I heard the Singing Hill ruin is really dangerous…"
At that moment, a man in a green cape and hat with a metal prosthetic arm stepped into the bar.
"Oy, got any new leads?" the man asked.
"Ah, Jack," Claire said. "Actually, you just missed him – Lyner stopped by yesterday. It seems he was kidnapped by Tenba and taken to Firefly Alley."
"And I helped him to escape," Eumelia said.
"Ah, so that's how you met him," Claire said.
"So he was here?" Jack said. "Do you know where he went?"
"He was heading for the Singing Hill ruins," Claire said.
"Alright… thanks!" Jack said. "Maybe I can catch up to him if I leave now."
"Um, Jack, just a minute!" Eumelia said.
"Huh? What do you want?" Jack asked.
"Um, well… do you mind if I come with you to the Singing Hill?" Eumelia asked.
"Huh? Why should I bring a little girl along…?" he asked.
"I might not look like it, but I'm pretty good at fighting," Eumelia said. "And if we run into something really strong, I can sing for you… though I only have the basic red magic."
"You're a reyvateil!?" Jack exclaimed.
"Yes… and furthermore, you're going after Lyner, right?" Eumelia said. "I'm looking for someone who's with him, so we're not just heading in the same direction… our destination's the same."
"Well… as long as you can keep up, I won't stop you," Jack said. "The name's Jack Hamilton, by the way."
"Thank you very much!" Eumelia said. "I'm Eumelia Nestmile, nice to meet you!"
She turned back to Claire for a moment.
"Claire… I'll see you later. In the unlikely event that Aurica comes back without me… please tell her I was here, okay?"
"Of course I will," Claire said. "She'll be really happy to see you, you know. She told me last night how much she misses you."
"Well… I miss her too," Eumelia said. "I guess I shouldn't've waited so long to come see her…"
"Are you coming or not?" Jack said. "If you're just gonna chat with Claire, then I'll leave you behind."
"No, I'm coming!" Eumelia said.
She followed Jack as he led the way out of the city into Cello Forest. They walked in silence for awhile. A few nyos jumped out at them, but Jack took them all down in a single shot. Nyos were one of the weakest monsters, so it wasn't surprising. Even when they encountered falcon hawks, he took them all down by himself.
They must've been walking for an hour or two before they arrived at a river. At that point, Jack paused to gazed across it.
"Say," he said suddenly. "You said that Lyner was kidnapped by Tenba, and you helped him escape?"
"That's right," Eumelia said. "It wasn't just me, though – Misha was a great help as well."
Jack spun to face her with a gasp.
"Misha!? You've seen her!? Is she okay!?"
"Um… I'm not sure," Eumelia said. "She was fine when I last saw her, but I'm not sure where she is now… I'm sorry. Lyner and Aurica can probably tell you more when we meet them. To tell the truth, I expected Misha to be with them too, but it sounded like she isn't, so I'm not quite sure what happened…"
Well, that actually wasn't true. She had a pretty good idea of what might have happened on that ship that could have caused Misha not to return with the others. But she didn't want to have to explain how she knew.
"I see," Jack said. "So she's okay… she was in Firefly Alley the whole time?"
"Um… for at least three years, I guess?" Eumelia said. "I first met her about three years ago in Firefly Alley. She might've been there for longer, but I'm not sure."
"I should've known," Jack grumbled. "I thought she might be there, but staying too long so close to Tenba's den seemed like it would have been too dangerous… anyway, enough about me. Let's keep going."
They kept walking in silence until the sun was getting low in the sky, at which point they made camp. Jack prepared a basic soup out of a can, and they ate in silence.
"You know, it surprised me a bit," he said as they washed up.
"Huh? What did?" Eumelia said.
"A little girl like you, I thought you'd be complaining about how tired you are by now," Jack said.
"Please don't treat me like a kid," Eumelia said. "I'm fifteen years old, you know. And I grew up on the Falcon's Claw, so I had to know how to defend myself."
"The Falcon's Claw!?" Jack gasped. "There are people living in a place like that!?"
"There sure are!" Eumelia said. "Not a lot of people, mind you, but there are some."
"Huh? Wait a minute," Jack said. "Airships usually don't go near the Falcon's Claw because it's too dangerous… so how'd you even get to the mainland?"
"I flew," Eumelia said. "On the back of a grand vulture."
"Huh… but you're not a teru…" Jack said.
"Obviously not," Eumelia said. "I don't think Falc is like a teru's familiar, if that's what you're getting at… he's a monster, after all."
"You have a point," Jack said. "A teru's familiar isn't quite the same as a monster…"
"Isn't a teru's familiar something like a genom?" Eumelia asked.
"Huh? Where'd you hear that word?" Jack asked.
"Oh, I don't even remember now," Eumelia said.
Of course she couldn't say that she'd heard it in visions of a princess of another planet. It would be hard enough to get people to believe she saw a vision of people they know, but if she suddenly started talking about Ion, she was sure they'd call her crazy.
"Hmm… well, I'm not too sure myself," Jack said. "But you might be on to something there…"
The day before…
Misha couldn't believe her eyes when Bourd just kicked the other girl right over the edge. She'd known he was a horrible man, but this was even worse than she'd expected of him.
"N-nooo!" Lyner gasped.
He leapt forward, aiming to catch the other girl as she fell.
"L-lyner!?" Misha gasped.
"Alright, that's a wrap here," Bourd said with a nasty chuckle. "Okay guys, let's get outta here!"
With that, he tossed Misha over his shoulder, eliciting a shriek of indignation from her.
"Do you really think I'll allow you to get away so easily!?" Radolf exclaimed.
"Oh, you're just gonna let them plummet to their deaths, is that it?" Bourd said, grinning.
"P-please…!" Misha said. "Please, save Lyner…!"
"Very well," Radolf said. "Leave it to me."
"Well, he's probably kicked the bucket already, but it's your time to waste," Bourd said with a shrug.
With that, he grabbed a rope dangling from the Tenba ship and leapt off, rising up as it was drawn in by those on board the other ship.
"Lyner's not gonna die so easily!" Misha protested.
"If he's still alive, then next time I'll smash him right in front of you!" Bourd replied.
Bourd landed on the deck of the Tenba ship and dumped her unceremoniously on the ground.
"Come on now!" he said. "Time to head back! Hurry up, now!"
"Ugh… I know, I know!" Misha said.
She scrambled to her feet and followed him inside. Was Lyner really okay? Could he have survived that? As she entered the ship, she paused for a moment to glance back, and saw the grand vulture heading away, towards Falcon's Claw. What had it even been doing? Could it have been Eumelia's bird? Surely not… Eumelia couldn't be anywhere nearby. Was it even possible to control a bird at such a great distances?
Then the door closed, shutting her inside the gloomy interior of the Tenba ship.
A few days earlier, Karulu village…
Maya Everglen got up early that morning, as she usually did. Her current partner was sleeping like a log on the bed, so she got to her feet and quietly slipped out, meaning to take a walk before he woke up. Strolling through the village square, she headed out towards the outskirts and stopped by one of the huge pillars that dominated the village to peer out towards Viola Forest.
She was about to turn and head back when she saw something move on the edge of the forest.
"Huh…? What's that?" she muttered to herself.
She waited a moment, then realized it was a boy of no more than ten, running at top speed and looking terrified. Determined to help, she stepped forward to meet him, and he spotted her, changing course to intercept.
"M-miss, miss, y-you gotta help!" he said, gasping for breath. "My sister… she's…!"
"Take me there!" Maya said.
"Y-yes!" the boy said.
He turned and took off back towards the forest, Maya following at an easy jog. The trees closed in around them, shutting out most of the early morning sun. But he moved like he knew the place, taking her past a fallen log and over a tiny creek, where they reached a small clearing. There Maya saw the issue – a girl, probably a year or two older than him, was putting her all into fighting back against a trio of poms. The cute yet aggressive ball-like creatures kept leaping at her, knocking her off her feet, but each time she managed to get back up, only to repeat the process.
"Hey, as soon as I have their attention, pull your sister outta the way, okay?" Maya said.
The boy nodded, and Maya opened her mouth to sing.
"Fou paks ga heighte jenge."
As she sang, she stepped out into the clearing, startling both the girl and the poms. Perhaps sensing she was a greater threat, the poms abandoned the girl and bounced towards her instead. Maya backed away as best she could, until she found her back against a tree. Then all three of them pounced on her at once, and it took all her concentration to avoid interrupting the song with a squeal of pain. They might look harmless, but they really packed quite a punch.
Before they could attack again, she drew the song to a close and unleashed her magic. The symphonic power she'd gathered slammed into the trio of poms, leaving them all badly burned, lying motionless on the ground.
"Ow," she said, rubbing her shoulder where one of them had struck her. "That was a close one…"
Then, just to make sure they wouldn't revive, Maya drew the dagger she always carried and stepped up to stab each one of them in turn.
"That was awesome, miss!" the boy said.
"Thank you very much, miss!" the girl said. "You saved me!"
"What were you guys doing all the way out here, anyway?" Maya asked.
"We were just playing hide-and-seek!" the boy said. "Monsters don't usually come this close to the village…"
"But the church was doing monster extermination just yesterday," Maya said. "And Tenba was doing some the day before as well. You should be extra careful just after that kinda thing…"
"O-okay," the girl said. "We'll be more careful next time…"
"Well, for now, let's get the two of you back home, shall we?" Maya said.
"Yes!" they said in unison.
She let the two of them lead the way back, following them all the way to the village square, where a woman with dark brown hair in the same shade as the kids' spotted them and ran over.
"Ohh, Ranna, Micky, there you are!" she exclaimed. "I was looking all over for you!"
She bent to hug them, then looked at Maya.
"Were you the one who found them?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am," Maya said. "Your daughter was being attacked by poms in the forest."
"Oh my," the woman said. "How many times do I have to tell you not to enter the forest on extermination days!?"
Maya chuckled – so much for them promising to be careful next time!
"Well… at least they're safe, right?" she said.
"Y-yes, thank you very much!" the woman said.
At that moment, a man in Tenba uniform stomped into the square, and Maya groaned inwardly – it was her current partner. He walked right up to her and smacked her in the face without even so much as a greeting.
"You're so useless!" he shouted.
"Youch!" she exclaimed.
"Because of you, the main force left us behind!" he continued.
"P-please sir, don't yell at her so much!" the woman protested. "This girl saved my daughter from a monster…"
"Is that so…?" the man said, his voice menacing.
"Y-yes…!" Maya said.
"You idiot!" the man shouted. "How many times have I told you not to act unless you're given an order!? This village doesn't pay us enough! Don't act on your own! Don't do anything more than what you're getting paid for!"
Maya sighed inwardly, knowing that letting it out would just make things worse. While he was shouting, the woman decided to usher her children away from the scene.
"I'm… sorry," she muttered, a touch rebelliously.
"Saying sorry doesn't cut it!" the man shouted.
He stomped forward and shoved her, throwing her off-balance, then grabbed her by the ear.
"Ow, ow, that hurts!" Maya protested. "Stop, please stop!"
"You should've thought of that before you acted on your own!" the man shouted.
At that moment, several church knights came forward. One of them, who appeared to be the leader, stepped forward.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
The man released Maya's ear and turned to face them. She collapsed to the ground and gingerly rubbed at the ear.
"Who the hell are you?" her partner asked.
"I am Cardinal Radolf of the Church of Elemia," came the response.
"Cardinal…?" Maya's partner said. "So a church guy wants to butt in on Tenba business… you don't have any authority to do anything. This is an official Tenba matter, so keep your damn lecture to yourself!"
"It doesn't matter if you're with Tenba, or even the church!" Radolf said.
Responding to signs from Radolf, two of the knights with him stepped forward to flank Maya's partner.
"W-what are you guys…?" the man asked.
"If you insist on being violent, then I'll beat you where you stand!" Radolf declared.
"Damn you!" the man exclaimed. "I'm never helping this backwater village again!"
He turned to glare at Maya, still on the ground, rubbing at her sore ear.
"Hey, you're coming with me!" he said. "Move it, move it!"
"I know…!" Maya said.
She got to her feet as the man hurried out of the square. Maya paused to bow to her saviours.
"Um… Sir Radolf… thank you," she said.
"I only did what any decent man would've done," Radolf said.
With that, Maya hurried after her partner… though, given the events of the morning, chances are he was planning to dump her as soon as they got back.
Back to the present, Firefly Alley, Tenba reyvateil dorms.
Maya leaned on the windowsill, staring out at the mesh fence surrounding the dorms complex. Though she was currently partnerless, her status as a class B reyvateil meant there was a certain amount of demand for her, so she didn't expect to be alone for long… but she was almost starting to wish she could be. Since the event a few days ago, she'd been unable to get Radolf's face out of her mind.
Glancing at the aloe plant next to her on the windowsill, she addressed it.
"Hey, Radolf… n-no, that's too casual… excuse me, Sir Radolf? Could you grace me with a moment of your time? Nooooo, that's too formal now! Gaaah!"
But around that time she was distracted from her greeting practice by the sound of footsteps outside. She peered down at the courtyard and spotted a young girl running towards the building. The girl wore an elaborate costume and surely couldn't be any older than twelve or thirteen. Pausing at the corner, several units down from Maya, she peered around it and groaned, muttering to herself.
"Oh no… they're doing the rounds over there…"
The girl turned and ran in the opposite direction, stopping for breath just beneath Maya's second floor window and muttering some more.
"N-no!" she gasped. "I should only be thinking of myself right now! If I'm found, things are gonna get very dangerous for me! Eumelia's not here, after all… this isn't a game! It's no time for joking around!"
That name caught Maya's attention, bringing back memories from three years prior, and she leaned over the windowsill to get a better look at the speaker, who was already moving again. But it seemed she wasn't the only one who'd noticed the lurker, either – a moment later, she heard the voice of her only friend at Tenba, who had the room two windows down.
"So things are gonna get dangerous for you, huh?" the voice exclaimed. "Well now… this seems interesting, so I don't mind if it irritates someone! Here I come!"
Maya blinked in surprise as her friend, Yuo, swung her legs over the windowsill and leapt down from the window. The little girl, startled at her sudden appearance, let out a scream, which in turn startled Yuo, who screamed as well.
"W-w-what!?" the girl gasped.
"Daaamn, you scared me!" Yuo exclaimed.
"T-that's what I should be saying!" the girl said. "Why did you show up out of the blue!?"
"Because it looked so fun!" Yuo said. "So, whatcha up to?"
"H-huh?" the girl said. "Uh… um… nothing! Nothing at all! O-okay, um… see you later!"
At that point, Maya came to the decision to join in on the fun, but unlike her friend, she decided to go out by the door, which meant she raced for the door to her dorm room, made a beeline for the stairs, took them down two at a time, and then burst out from the side door… just in time to slam right into the little girl, who'd been fleeing from Yuo. The impact sent them both flying straight to the ground with mutual squeals.
"Owie!" the little girl said, rubbing her head.
"Are… are you okay?" Maya asked. "It looks like you dropped right on your behind… are you hurt? Can you stand?"
Yuo rounded the corner a moment later, and for a second Maya found herself staring up at her silver-haired friend. Yuo was a year or two younger than Maya, with her hair in a bob cut. Like Maya, she was currently in her pyjamas. Unlike Maya, she had quite a mischievous streak, which must have been what drove her to stick her nose into this situation.
"Y-yeah!" the little girl said, apparently startled at being addressed. "I'm fine, completely fine!"
Maya got to her feet, offering the little girl a hand. The girl rebuffed the offer however, getting up on her own.
"Say, you're a reyvateil, aren't you?" Maya said.
The girl blinked. "Huh? Now that I get a better look at you… you're both reyvateils too, right?"
"I'm sorry," Maya said. "I never thought even a little girl like you would be working at Tenba…"
"A… little girl?" the girl said indignantly.
"Ah!" Yuo gasped. "Now that you mention it, she really does look like a kid!"
"You shouldn't stay up so late at your age!" Maya scolded her.
"H-how rude!" the girl protested. "I'm not a kid!"
"You're totally a kid!" Yuo retorted.
"Don't judge people by their appearance!" the girl protested.
Yuo shook her head. "Nah, that's just impossible."
"I think so too," Maya said.
The girl scrambled to her feet.
"U-um… I'll get going now! Seeya!" she said.
But Yuo grabbed her by the arm before she could make her escape.
"Trying to run away!?" Yuo exclaimed.
"Hey! What're you doing!? Let me go!" she protested.
"Going to play late at night is the start of delinquency!" Yuo declared. "I can't just let that go!"
"Yeah, yeah," Maya said, nodding. "I get that you wanna go out and play, but we can't overlook this."
The girl grunted and sort of glared at them, but decided to otherwise remain silent.
"Come on then, back to your room with you, shorty!" Yuo said.
"S-shorty!?" the girl gasped.
"Ohh, maybe she had a nightmare or something?" Maya suggested.
"If that's the case, this nice miss will sleep with her!" Yuo declared. "Won't that be fine, then? Kids shouldn't refuse… so, which room is yours?"
"Would you just listen when someone's talking to you!?" the girl suddenly shouted.
"Huh?" Yuo said. "Why're you angry all of a sudden?"
"Whose fault do you think that is!?" the girl shouted back. "If you'd listened from the beginning instead of calling me a kid and shorty and all that, you would've known I wasn't going out late to play or anything like that!"
"Well then, what were you doing?" Yuo asked.
"U-um, well…" the girl said hesitantly.
"What was that?" Yuo said. "Speak up, I couldn't hear you."
"I mean… that is… um…"
"No way!" Yuo gasped. "Were you going to creep into another girl's room!?"
"No!" the girl protested. "Why do you only think of weird stuff like that!?"
"Well, that's because you won't tell me!" Yuo said.
"And you shouldn't go out of your way to stick your nose into other people's problems!" the girl retorted.
At that moment, there was a sound of footsteps approaching, and the girl, hearing it, managed to squirm free of Yuo's grasp.
"Oh no! It's the guards!" she said.
"Wait a minute!" Yuo exclaimed.
But the girl had already bolted, soon disappearing around the corner. Although Maya and Yuo made to follow her, she was already nowhere to be seen by the time they also rounded the corner, so the two of them headed back to their own dorm rooms.
The next morning, Maya entered the mess hall near the dorms with Yuo. They were now in uniform, Yuo wearing a red uniform in contrast to Maya's blue one, signifying their class as a reyvateil – red for class C, blue for class B. Maya had used a matching blue ribbon to tie her long blonde hair into a ponytail, like she usually did.
After getting some food, they were surprised to find the girl from the night before there, eating alone at a table. Most of the other tables were taken, so they approached her and greeted her.
"Good morning, night owl!" Maya said cheerfully.
"Good morning, all-nighter!" Yuo said.
The girl gasped, looking up at them.
"Y-you're the girls I met yesterday…!"
"Hmm, I knew it, you're really short," Yuo said.
"Ugh! Stop being so rude!" the girl protested.
"Hey, why are you making her angry now?" Maya asked.
She shot a reproving look at Yuo and then turned to the other girl with a smile.
"Do you mind if we sit with you?" she asked.
"Suit yourselves," the girl said, shrugging.
"Thank you," Maya said.
She and Yuo set their trays down and took a seat.
"The mess hall sure is packed at this time of day," Yuo said. "When we got in this late, I was worried there wouldn't be any food left…!"
"Really…?" the little girl said. "Well, just make sure to eat quietly…"
But Yuo ignored her, digging in with gusto. Maya also started eating. Yuo made a bunch of different noises while she ate, eventually earning her a glare from the little girl.
"I just said, be quiet while you eat!" she complained. "By the way… you got business with me?"
"No, not at all," Maya said. "Hey… eat more slowly, will you?"
Yuo ignored the suggestion and gulped down the last of her food with a sigh.
"That was niiiiice!" she said, giggling a bit. "I always lose out to hunger, y'know!"
"If you can call that losing…" the little girl muttered.
"Toootally is!" Yuo insisted.
"So anyway, how about we introduce ourselves?" Maya suggested.
"I refuse," the little girl said.
"Whoa, what a cold reply!" Yuo exclaimed. "That's bad, you know! Kids should be energetic and happy!"
"I'm telling you, I'm not a kid!" the girl protested.
"Hey, calm down," Maya said. "But you know, if we don't know what to call you, it might be a little hard to talk to you."
"And why d'you wanna talk to me?" the girl asked.
"Cause you seem interesting," Maya said. "You were caught by the guards last night, right? Or rather, by us."
"Ugh…"
"Could you at least tell us your name?"
The girl sighed. "It's Misha," she said.
"Misha, is it? My name is Maya."
"And I'm Yuo! Pleased to meetcha!"
"So, what do you want?" Misha asked. "Planning to rat me out?"
"Nah, I'm just gonna stuff myself up!" Yuo said.
"So it was worry about whether we were going to report you that had you so anxious?" Maya asked.
"Well, pretty much," Misha said.
"I knew it!" Maya said.
"I could see it on your face," Yuo said, giggling.
Misha stared at them for a moment, then sighed.
"You're pretty lenient, huh…?" Misha said. "I wasn't expecting that…"
"Anything to ease the boredom," Yuo said with a wink.
"Well, it seems I caused you some trouble last night, so sorry about that," Misha said.
"It's fine," Maya said. "Nothing bad happened, after all."
"Well, I was the one who called you shorty," Yuo said.
"Oh yeah, that was Yuo, not me," Maya said.
Yuo giggled a bit. "Looks like I'm always rubbing people the wrong way, huh? I caused you some trouble too, so we're even, right?"
"At least everything worked out alright," Misha said.
"Still, it seemed we ruined whatever you were planning, Misha," Maya said.
"Well… yeah, I didn't think I'd be found so quickly," Misha said.
"Eh!?" Yuo said. "But crashing into someone really makes you stand out, you know!"
"I was so concentrated on the guards and Yuo that I didn't notice Maya coming out," Misha said.
"So you could say you tried to protect yourself so much that you left yourself open, huh?" Yuo mused.
"Seems like it," Misha said. "But since you were the ones who found me while I was trying to hide, please don't tell anyone."
"You got it!" Yuo said.
"But what were you trying to do in the first place?" Maya asked. "If you just want to leave, normally you would just quit Tenba and leave."
"My circumstances are… somewhat special," Misha said. "I didn't get into Tenba just because of my own achievements. I'm… not allowed to just leave."
"Eh? So you're one of those special circumstances people?" Yuo said. "Well, it's pretty mysterious that they let a kid work for Tenba anyway."
"Yeah," Maya said, nodding. "We often have some pretty dangerous jobs."
"I've said it many times, but don't treat me like a kid!" Misha protested.
"And like always you won't accept it, huh?" Yuo said.
"But you've come to greatly dislike it here, right?" Maya said. "That's why you had no other option but to run away."
"Yeah," Misha said. "Besides, there are things I have to do out there."
"Hmm," Yuo mused. "It kinda looks to me like you've fallen madly in love…"
Ignoring her, Misha continued. "And since I have to do those things, that's why I wanted to get out of here."
"I see!" Maya said. "In that case, you should hurry!"
"Huh?" Misha said.
"I'll help you," Maya said.
"You'll help me… to get out of here!?" Misha gasped.
"It was our fault you failed to escape in the first place," Maya said. "Besides, I tend to stick my nose into other people's problems."
"I've also thought about getting out," Yuo said. "It makes sense we'd like to escape from a place that's as unpleasant to us reyvateils as this, right?"
Maya nodded. "You have a reason you want to run away, right?" she said. "It may not amount to much, but if you think they can help you, wouldn't you want an acquaintance like me to give you a hand?"
"Well, you may be right about that, but…" Misha said hesitantly.
"Then it's decided!" Maya said.
"And I'll say it now – I'm sticking with you too!" Yuo said.
"I knew it," Maya said.
"Leaving your friends behind is so cruel!" Yuo said.
Misha sighed and gave in. "In that case, please help me," she said.
"Okay, leave it to me," Maya said.
"I mean, I was planning to go along from the start!" Yuo said.
"So, where and when should we meet up?" Maya asked. "How about tonight?"
"Huh?" Misha said.
"Well, weren't you in a hurry?" Maya said.
"Ah, if you're in a hurry, you better eat up as fast as you can so we can head out at full speed!" Yuo exclaimed.
"I know I said I'm in a hurry, but… are you seriously suggesting we should try it tonight!?" Misha gasped.
Eumelia and Jack arrived at Karulu village the next day after just an hour or two of walking. Jack asked at the inn and learned that Lyner's party had just left about half an hour earlier, so they continued onwards, winding around the mountains towards Singing Hill. They didn't encounter any strong monsters along the way, but a few falcon hawks did attack them at one point and were summarily defeated. They also somehow failed to run into Lyner himself.
Eumelia had been out this way once before, so she was able to find the entrance to the Singing Hill ruins with minimal trouble. This time, however, she actually stepped inside the ruins. In the very first room was a strange sort of elaborate construction inside that she'd never seen before.
"Oh, it's a warp gate," Jack said.
He stepped into it, but nothing happened.
"Seems like it's inactive," he said. "We should go further in."
"I dunno… I think we might've gotten here before them," Eumelia said.
If Lyner had already passed through here, the warp gate should've been active, according to Eumelia's visions. So the fact that it was inactive was itself evidence that they hadn't yet arrived.
"How could we have possibly passed them?" Jack asked. "You heard the lady at the inn – they left before us."
"That's true, but… I've been out here before, and they haven't," Eumelia said. "So it's definitely possible we got here first."
After a pause, she came up with another possibility.
"Hmm, there's also the possibility they didn't come straight here after leaving Karulu," she mused. "Maybe they decided to stop by someplace else first…? Like the crashed airship…"
"Well, let's just look further in for now," Jack said.
So they headed past the inactive warp gate until they reached a long corridor with several doorways, each leading into a small room. They checked the rooms one by one, but each one only had a locked door on the other side, with a panel next to it bearing the symbol of one of the four elements. The rightmost door had the symbol of fire. The next one had the symbol of wind, then the symbol of thunder, and finally the symbol of ice. The corridor continued on past the ice room, so they headed in that direction to check it out.
They had just turned a corner when the ground suddenly shook. The tremor was followed by a crashing sound back the way they'd come. They turned to find that there had been a cave-in in the corridor between the ice and thunder rooms, blocking their path back out.
"Damn!" Jack said. "I ain't looking forward to digging through that… let's see if there's another exit."
So they continued on down the corridor until they found some stairs, which took them down to a lower level and another corridor. There were was another cave-in down here blocking off one of the corridors, but the other corridor was free. They passed by a room that didn't seem to have anything interesting in it, then reached another flight of stairs.
This level seemed more intact than the one above. There was a row of locked doors with the symbols of the elements beside them, but they had no way of opening those, so they went straight past them. The corridor curved to the left and meandered a little before emerging into open space. At this point, almost all the floor had fallen away, and they could see the Sea of Death looming far below. However, somehow quite a few of the paths were still walkable – though all the stone had fallen away, the metal struts that used to reinforce the floor and walls still remained, producing a very precarious-looking set of catwalks hanging haphazardly off the base of the continent.
"This looks pretty dangerous," Eumelia said. "But I suppose we don't have much of a choice, do we…?"
"You got that right," Jack said. "But all the paths are open to the air here, so in the worst case, maybe we can find a gap that's close enough to jump."
So they headed out onto the precarious catwalks, walking slowly to make sure the ground was truly stable. Fortunately, it didn't seem like the floor would be falling off anytime soon – though it swayed a little with every step, producing ominous creaking sounds, it continued to hold fast.
As they found another set of stairs heading down, there was a sudden quake. The catwalk they were on swayed violently, and Eumelia grabbed onto a nearby support beam to avoid slipping off. Looking around, she saw that Jack had found a beam to hold onto as well. They each clung to their respective beams until the catwalk stopped swaying, at which point they took the stairs down to see what was there.
It was just a short corridor with more stairs at the far end, but they could see off to the right that the catwalk several stons away also had a set of stairs heading down, which suggested the two might connect. Unfortunately, when they had finally descended the stairs, they discovered that while there had once been a corridor connecting them, it was now in ruins – the floor was patchy, and what fragments remained were still swaying from the earlier quake, looking like they might fall off at any moment.
There was something resting on the next patch of floor. Though Eumelia couldn't see it clearly, she was sure it must be the Purger hymn crystal, which must have fallen from a higher floor in the recent quake. That meant Lyner would be along soon. However, she had no way to know how soon. It could take him anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to navigate the maze of catwalks and locate it.
So they headed back up to the short stretch connecting the two stairways and settled down to take a break and have a snack. But Eumelia must have underestimated Lyner's pathfinding skills, for it was only a few minutes later that another quake struck. She shot to her feet and looked around.
"It's happening again!" she said. "Huh? Hey, look!"
She pointed down towards the place where that rickety flooring was. Jack followed her gaze and saw Radolf, Krusche, and Aurica looking on as Lyner leapt across the gaps, only to barely miss the final jump and end up hanging on for dear life.
"What the… that idiot!" Jack exclaimed. "Come on!"
Hymmnos Corner
In this section I'll provide translations of any Hymmnos passages that occur in the main text.
"Fou paks ga heighte jenge!"
Hymn Name: EXEC_HYMME/.
Singer: Maya Everglen
Language: Central Standard Hymmnos
Notes: The basic song magic that simply summons a ball of symphonic energy.
Meaning: "Though I'm nervous, I'll injure the enemy so this can end soon."
Credit: Original
Since I'm stuck on one scene in the next chapter, I'm going to take a bit of a break from this to work on other things. The chapter is almost done however, so it might not be that long.