29/08/1204 18:30
Crossbell City, Crossbell
After exchanging some unpleasant pleasantries in the club, Shirley finally led the male members of the SSS to Sigmund.
"There you are, Randolph," the leader of the Red Constellation greeted them with a smirk on his face. Randy really wanted nothing to do with all this, but he knew better than to challenge his uncle, especially after Shirley demonstrated how easy it was for them to infiltrate the SSS's building and set traps for all of his comrades.
Yeah, comrades. That was something that Randy would never expect to find when he found himself being assigned to join a new group with some newbies. But reality has a way of hitting you with something you wouldn't believe.
He found a place for himself between these people he came to call comrades. Lloyd, who, despite his amazing detective skills, didn't realize that he had girls going for him. Elie, who acted prim and proper and made him love to tease her. And Tio, who sometimes felt like his little sister. Wazy and Noel were new, but he enjoyed days with them all the same.
And now it was on the verge of collapsing because of his uncle and his band of deranged mercenaries. Well, that was unfair to Gareth and the others, including the boys he helped train. The only deranged people in Red Constellations were his uncle and his cousin.
"Uncle," Randy acknowledged the man sitting on the sofa. Beside him, Shirley was enjoying herself, gorging a glassful of parfait. "What the hell's the big idea? You called me out last time I saw you, but haven't said a word to me in two weeks."
Randy added a bit of a lie. He had an idea of what this meeting was all about. But he had to stall so Lloyd could get more information to be funneled to Juna.
"Well, we've had our hands full with a little bit of everything lately." Sigmund's eyes looked to his side, observing the two people Randy brought with him. "I see you brought friends with you. You'd have never done something like that two years ago."
So he was already trying to rattle him, huh? Randy held back a grimace. So his guess was correct after all...
Sighing, Randy pointed his fingers to Lloyd. "Don't look at me. Our leader here's got a knack for doing things by the book.
"We meet again, Ogre Rosso," Lloyd nodded after sensing it was time for him to greet them. After him, Wazy introduced himself since they didn't know his name.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Wazy Hemisphere."
"Representative of Crimson & Co., Sigmund Orlando. Sorry for the hard time. To make it up to you, feel free to sit down and have a drink or two," Sigmund introduced himself casually. It was probably justified since all three of them probably weren't a threat to him. But having his uncle dismiss them as threats somehow annoyed Randy.
"We'll take you up on that offer."
"Are you referring to us coming all this way or what you pulled back at the abandoned mine?" Wazy fired back calmly.
"Haha. I wonder." Clearly, Wazy's attempt at making Sigmund uncomfortable wasn't working. "Are you guys hungry? I can have them
bring you some grub, too."
"Oh, I want another parfait!" Shirley said with some parfait still in her mouth.
Around three minutes later, refreshments were laid down on the table, and Shirley's second glass of parfait also arrived. Randy, Lloyd, and Wazy also sat down on the sofa in silence. He was waiting for either Lloyd or his uncle to say something.
"All right. Time to get the foreplay out of the way. You can ask me any burning questions you have. I'm sure there's a very specific one you have, don't you?"
Hold on, Randy frowned a little. If Lechter had been in cahoot with them, Sigmund should've known that they already knew what the Red Constellation was doing in Crossbell. Either Sigmund was faking it, or Lechter did not inform them about what the SSS discovered. His eyes turned to Lloyd, and he saw that his leader was closing his eyes. What would he do? Would he reveal that he already knows? Or would he play dumb and ask what the Red Constellation was doing in Crossbell?
"Why did you accept the job of protecting the Erebonian representative for the conference?"
Sigmund's eyes lit up as a smirk formed on his face. "Heh. When we first met in the alley, I thought you picked a bold one, Randolph. I'm glad to see that I'm correct."
Shirley whistled, "Mr. Detective really is an interesting one. I like you."
Being liked by Shirley was never a good thing. Most of the rank and files of Red Constellation that caught her attention underwent some serious torture that Shirley presented as special training and had their spirits broken.
"Hm? Captain Arundel didn't inform you?" Wazy questioned the two Red Constellation leaders. Good job on sowing some doubts between them, Wazy!
"That joker? It takes an interesting man to end up in the back pocket of the Blood and Iron Chancellor. He reminds me a lot of Cao. Those two would get along," Sigmund mused loudly.
And yet Sigmund showed no cracks to be exploited.
"Hm?" Lloyd perked up. "You and Heiyue..."
"We got acquainted when we were raiding their turf last year. All in all, it was an easy job, but their guys did a good job of standin' their ground. Haha. Didn't expect to run into them again in Crossbell of all places."
Shit, Lloyd took the bait dangled by Sigmund. Now, the line of questioning was gone.
"Yeah, but we didn't get to meet that Yin guy everyone blabs on about over there," Shirley joined in. "Apparently, he was on another job, so we just barely missed each other. Though it sounds like he's hanging out in Crossbell these days, too."
"I see..." Lloyd put a hand on his chin. Wait, could it be that Lloyd had intentionally taken the bait to get more information about Heiyue and Red Constellation?
"Don't change the subject. We asked about your reason for accepting the contract, Uncle," he put the conversation back on track.
Sigmund just grinned at him. "What else?"
As expected, money, huh? Randy sighed.
"So, if you accepted the job because of money, how much is this contract of yours worth, exactly?" Lloyd took charge of the conversation again.
"Oh?"
"Haha. Mr. Detective sure knows how to get to the heart of the matter," Shirley continued, munching the parfait.
"With a reaction like that, it must be worth a pretty mira," Wazy continued inquisitively. "I'm guessing somewhere around...100 million?"
"No comment. I'm not at liberty to say. Though, unofficially, let's just say you're not too far off the mark," Sigmund answered.
A 100 million contract? That was suspicious as hell for just a protection detail. He glanced at Lloyd to see his reaction. There was no way he would miss this. Sigmund either slipped up or intentionally answered them.
"That's all the info you're getting for free. Shall we get down to business now?" Sigmund changed his tone from casual to serious. The oldest man then turned to him. "Like I told you, Randolph. Vacation time is over. It's time for you to become the next War God."
"There is a chance that the Red Constellation will try to take you back, and you will face a personal conflict of choosing between your past and your present."
Randy still remembered Juna's warning word-to-word from a few months ago. He had expected them to come true, but seeing it in front of his eyes like this hit differently.
"Mm? None of you seems to be surprised," Shirley observed with a curious tone.
"Why me?" Randy didn't answer and instead asked his uncle something else.
Sigmund just nodded to himself. "It's simple, really. The leader of the Red Constellation is the War God. And as his only son, your duty is to succeed him."
'His son.' Randy clenched his fist. So he still couldn't escape the shadow of his bloody past, huh?
"Not you or even Shirley?"
"At the end of the day, an Ogre is all I am. My job is to run wild on the battlefield. I can't be like my brother, nor do I want to be. The same goes for her. Maybe even more," Sigmund sighed as if revealing something he didn't want to admit to him.
"Yeah, I'm not cut out for this whole War God business," Shirley agreed with her father.
"..."
"My brother gave you a trial once, and you passed it with flying colors, showing you can easily succeed him as the next War God. I think you know better than anyone that you're the only one fit for it."
Randy gritted his teeth. It wasn't known widely, but 'War God' wasn't just a moniker but also a position to lead the rest of the corps. He hated to say it, but Randy completely understood why Sigmund and Shirley hunted him for the position.
"A trial to become the next War God..." Lloyd trailed off, considering the implications. Shit. This was why he didn't want Lloyd to meet his family.
"Ahaha. Dolphy's lost his edge these days, but he used to be a total badass! Especially when he took out some of Zephyr by using that vill-"
"Shut your mouth. I'm beggin' you. Not another word."
It took him a lot of willpower not to bite his lips and wounded it. Even now, he clearly saw his fists trembling on top of his lap.
"Randy..."
"..."
"Killjoy. What the hell happened to you? Once upon a time, I looked up to the old Dolphy, you know?" Shirley retorted one last time.
He did not want to raise his head. He did not want Lloyd or Wazy to see his face. He did not want them to be scared of him, of his past self.
"Well, let's leave it at this. We're going home, Shirley," Sigmund stood up from his seat.
"If you say so," Shirley followed suit.
Before leaving, Sigmund passed by him and gave a warning. "Think hard about what your father would say if he saw you like this. Make your choice, whether you follow my lead, run like a dog, or stand up and fight. Otherwise, I'll send you straight to Gehenna."
"..."
"G'night, Dolphy! You, too, guys! Later!"
As they were left alone, Lloyd and Wazy moved to his sides.
"Randy..." Lloyd squeezed his shoulder.
He didn't trust his mouth to say anything, but he forced himself to smile and reassured his comrades.
"Damn it. At least we didn't bring the girls with us," he chuckled hoarsely. "Wouldn't want to embarrass myself in front of them like this."
"Hmm..."
Randy shook his head to refocus himself. "Sorry, guys. I didn't want you two to see me like this."
"That doesn't matter. None of this is your fault. They're the ones that are in the wrong," Lloyd smiled at him. It was really nice to have a partner like him. He really thanked Aidios for it.
"Heh. Still, seeing you all beaten up over it tells me one thing... They had you pegged, didn't they?"
"Wazy!" Lloyd chastised the green-haired delinquent.
"Haha, you asshat. But..." Randy shamefully looked down. "You're right. They were right all along, and they hit me where it hurts."
Afterward, Lloyd and the others refused the car the manager had prepared and walked back home. They met with the girls and Sergei, who were all worried for them. After putting a half-asleep KeA to bed, Lloyd and the team gave their report.
29/08/1204 18:30
Legram, Erebonia
On the boat to the castle, the six of them stared at the looming castle.
"What do you think's waiting for us inside that castle?" Millium asked, trying to start a conversation.
Jusis just stared at their new classmate. "So...you passed out on the couch the moment we returned to the guild, but now you're simply popping with energy..."
"Millium, you know this isn't a game, right?" Rean tried to make her regain her focus.
"I know, I know! But as long as Lammy's with us, there's nothing to worry about. Let's just grab those kids so we can go exploring!"
Rean sighed. "I called the SSS's Informant before meeting up with you guys. She said that we'd face some monsters inside. I hope she's wrong, but please don't lower your guard just in case it really happened."
Laura nodded. "There should be no monsters, but Rean is right that we should prepare ourselves."
"Hmph. I can't be the only one finding all this talk about the SSS's Informant suspicious," Jusis scoffed.
"Rather than suspicious, I'm more curious about it," Gaius replied. "Remember, she predicted that some children would be lost in the castle. We did everything we could, but in the end, her words still came true in a way that none of us predicted. Now, Rean told us that she said we'd be fighting some monsters despite Laura, a native resident and frequent visitor of the castle, saying we wouldn't. It's as if..."
"As if she read a script that we'd act on," Emma muttered loudly. Everyone stared at her, surprised by her sudden participation. "H-Huh? What?"
"What was that about, Emma?" He tried to understand the bespectacled girl.
"A-Ah... nothing, I was just muttering to myself," Emma withdrew to herself nervously.
Suddenly, everyone heard the sound of a bell ringing.
"Did you guys just hear a bell?" Rean asked everyone. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.
"Yeah. It came from the direction of the castle," Gaius answered him.
"Well...Lohengrin Castle does have a bell tower. But as far as I was aware, access to it had been sealed off," Laura gave a possible answer. But it didn't reassure him in the slightest. He took a glance at the castle, only to see it being shrouded in an eerie glow.
"U-Umm... Then who's ringing it?"
Nobody answered Millium's question.
"A bell tolling at night in the old stronghold of the Eisenritter... Rean's correct. We'd best be prepared for anything."
Laura increased the speed of the orbal boat, so they arrived faster than they should have. When they docked the boat on the wharf, they saw another intact boat in front of theirs. That must have been the children's boat. So, they were on the right track.
The group climbed uphill to arrive at the castle's front door before stopping to take a look at the strange situation.
"So this is Lohengrin Castle..." Rean trailed off, seeing how immense the castle was from up close.
"The ancient stronghold of St. Sandlot, gathering place of the warriors of old... It looks even more beautiful up close," Jusis remarked, and Rean had to agree with him. It was beautiful. The architecture was reminiscent of other Middle Ages-era buildings.
"Yeah, but what's up with that weird glow?!"
"I've been here several times before, but I've never seen it like this," Laura reinforced Millium's point. Then, could it be that the SSS's Informant was correct once more?
"I can sense a very strange wind blowing from within. It doesn't feel like monsters, though..." Gaius muttered.
'It didn't feel like monsters'? Rean closed his eyes and tried to sharpen his senses. Master Ka-fai said that his sensing ability was sharp, and Eight Leaves One Blade could help hone it further, especially the Unclouded Eyes technique. But this time, he didn't need to discard any preconceived notions, so he didn't use them. He started feeling out the other end of the big door and sensed something.
"...I can feel it, too. Like something is writhing around inside."
"W-Wait! What KIND of something?!" Millium whined. Could it be that she was afraid of ghosts?
"I feared as much. I can definitely sense the presence of the dead..." Emma whispered something under her breath, but it was too low for him to hear.
"Emma...?" He reached out, wanting to know if he could help.
"...I'm all right. But we're going to need to tread carefully in there," Emma looked determined.
"Right. This changes things. There's no telling what may happen when we venture inside."
The six of them prepared themselves one last time, checking their inventory and weapons before they opened the door to the castle. As they stepped inside, they were greeted with the sight of high ceilings and huge windows. If it were noon, then the windows would've let some sunlight in, giving the room some light. But since the sun had already set, the only source of light was orbal lamps.
Their attention was taken away when they heard the sound of the door slamming behind them.
"What?"
Rean had the initiative to try to pull the door but to no avail. "Ugh... It won't budge!"
"Did the door just...seal itself shut on its own?" Laura voiced what was on everyone's mind.
Millium froze before she shook off her stupor. "Y-You stupid door! Lammy! Bust it open!"
Airgetlam, Millium's weird and somewhat sentient weapon called a combat shell, gave an affirmative in a cryptic language before it punched the door. Unfortunately for Millium, the big door didn't budge. Instead, a weird circular symbol that glowed appeared for a moment before it disappeared.
"Nooooooo..." Millium fell down in despair. Did she really fear ghosts that much?
"...Well, that was unexpected," Jusis muttered.
"So not even Airgetlam can break us out of here?" Rean concluded.
"It appears that there's a barrier in place," Emma muttered once again. However, this time, her whisper was loud enough for everyone to hear.
"What kind of barrier? Are you talking about that strange symbol that appeared on the door for a moment?" Gaius questioned.
"And how would you know something like that, Emma?" Jusis followed.
"W-Well, I've always had a pretty strong sixth sense about these kinds of things, so sometimes I can sense things that aren't visible to the naked eye," was Emma's nervous answer.
"A sixth sense?"
"Hmm... Fascinating."
Rean had a feeling that it was more than that, but he didn't want to pressure someone who could give them answers for the strange situation they were in.
"I see. Would you mind taking the lead this time, then?"
"E-Eh?" Emma looked surprised when he offered her to lead.
Just before anyone could respond, the same sound of the bell they heard earlier rang around them once more. Emma's eyes lost their nervousness and darted around, scanning the area.
"Something's approaching to the left... and the right!" She warned. Sure enough, not even a second later, two spectral monsters in the form of infernal demon heads appeared from thin air and approached them.
"Bah. Monsters, is it?"
"No. These are no ordinary beasts," Laura disagreed with Jusis.
Everyone brought out their weapons and started fighting the monsters.
With one last Arc Slash from Rean, the spectral monsters disappeared into nothingness.
"Looks like we beat them," Rean wiped a sweat off his face. The spectral monsters were more elusive and stronger than the monsters around Legram. But with everyone's combined might, they were able to defeat it.
"Aaah..." Millium fell to the ground, her legs weak. Emma quickly went down to support her.
"Are you all right, Millium?"
"What WERE those things?" Millium whined in frustration. Of course, seeing monsters in the form of infernal heads would terrify the one who was afraid of ghosts.
"Mysterious spirits... Though perhaps it would be more appropriate to call them 'fiends.' Either way, they were no ordinary opponents," Laura nodded to herself. It was more challenging than the normal monsters. Not to mention...
"The higher elements seem to be present here as well. And I suspect that's true of the whole castle," Emma observed.
That was right. The higher elements were active since the fiends' weaknesses included space and water.
"Yeah. It did feel that way. Though I'm still not sure what the ringing bell from earlier has to do with anything."
Gaius was correct. They also still didn't know what the bell ring was all about.
"Tch... This place seems to be even more dangerous than we could have anticipated. And as long as that barrier remains in place, so will we. We're going to need to search for a way out," Jusis declared.
Ah, speaking of which...
"Emma. What's your answer? Would you mind leading?" Rean asked Emma again. "If you're worried about what to do, the SSS's Informant already told me about how we'd get to the children, possibly. All we need is your 'sixth sense' to sense things that aren't visible to us."
"I-I see..." The nervous look on her face, which was back after Rean asked for confirmation, was now transformed into a determined one. "Y-Yes. I'd like to help us."
"All right. Then time is of the essence. With fiends like those roaming the castle, I'm even more worried about the children," Laura clapped her hands.
"True. We should start looking right away."
"What did the SSS's Informant tell you, Rean?" Jusis inquired.
Rean nodded before answering. "She specifically told me we'd find the lost children in two possible places: the rooftop or the basement. However, she also said that whichever the correct place is, it would likely be locked behind a mechanism, and we would have to venture to the other place to unlock it."
"That's very specific," Millium, who had recovered, pointed out. "But yeah, that really sounds like Lechter."
"I see... then how about we go to the rooftop first?" Emma offered.
"We'll take your lead, class rep!" Millium threw her arms in the air.
"Alright, let's go."
The group then faced several more fiends of different kinds, going upstairs to the second floor. From there, the group went to the east wing only to see the door being blocked by the same kind of barrier that had appeared on the front door before. However, while the first one was more light blue, the barrier on this door was yellowish in color.
"The door is blocked by barriers," Rean noted out loud. "Emma?"
"You're correct. This suggests that the SSS's Informant's prediction is correct," Emma elaborated.
"Again, huh?" Millium chimed in.
"If we get the logic correct, then behind the door are where the children are, but we have to detour to another place to unlock this," Gaius applied the prediction to their situation.
"Then let's make haste," Jusis commented before walking the other way earlier.
Since they were on the east wing door, the group went to the other side and found that it was unlocked. The next room led to a spiraling staircase that had some monsters blocking the way to the basement, so with the group's combined effort, they reached down to the basement.
"Look, there's something over there!" Millium pointed out.
Rean saw a pedestal in the middle of the room. The floor had intricate patterns that caught his attention. After that, his eyes caught the orb sitting on the pedestal.
"Emma?"
"Y-Yes. This should be it. It will disable the barrier on the door to the castle's east wing," Emma answered his inquiry.
"Then it's probably a good idea to take it with us."
Emma nodded at Laura. "I suspect this orb has the power to disable a barrier."
"So, can we use it to leave the castle?" Jusis asked Emma.
"Hmm... I don't think so. Orbs like this function a bit like keys. Each only has the power to dispel its corresponding barrier. And I don't think this is the one that goes with the barrier on the front door of the castle," the bespectacled girl answered the question.
"Hmm... Regardless, it seems we'll need to take it with us if we want to advance. Rean?" Laura turned to him. Why him again? He sighed before taking the glowing yellow orb with both his hands.
"Okay, now we should be able to access another area of the castle. But you know, there's something else here I'm curious about..." he commented, his face pointing to the door in front of them. It was a huge door, bigger than the castle's front door. There was a pattern that reminded Rean of a mix of diamond and four-leaf clover surrounded by a circle.
"Wow, that's a huge door!"
"I've had my eye on it ever since we entered this room," Jusis mentioned off-handedly. "It is very eye-catching."
Hmm, "Say, Doesn't it look more than a little similar to the door on the fourth floor of the old schoolhouse?" Rean remembered clearly because that door almost led to a tragedy. It was the day the mysterious power he tried to keep under wrap came out to save his little sister.
Rean shook his head. That memory wasn't relevant in the current situation, so he shouldn't dwell on it.
"Hmm... I seldom visit the castle, so I'm afraid there's not much I can tell you," Laura answered his question.
"..." He saw Emma's eyes linger on the door a tad bit longer than others.
He made a mental note about it. Maybe...
"Shouldn't we check the door? There's a possibility that the children could be behind it," Jusis said before moving to push the door to no avail. "...It doesn't seem like it wants to open. It seems as steadfast as the wall around it, if not more so."
"That's true. I can't see any signs that the children might've gone inside, either," Emma remarked.
"We should probably move on to the east wing door, then," Rean concluded. "Makes you wonder, though... How did a door like this come to be in Lohengrin Castle to begin with? Even the patterns on it are like the ones on the door in the old schoolhouse."
"Odd as it might seem, maybe they are connected somehow. We did theorize that the old schoolhouse may be connected to Emperor Dreichels in some way," Gaius posited his theory.
Laura agreed with the Nord native. "St. Sandlot was Dreichels's foremost ally and on close terms with him even before he became the emperor... It's not implausible that there may be a connection there."
"Well, whatever secrets this door may hold, it's a dead end right now," Rean changed the topic. As much as he wanted to unearth the mystery, that could be saved for later, especially since he already had a hotline to a trustworthy seer/predictor. "Let's go to the door on the east wing."
And so they retraced the steps back to the sealed door on the east wing. Emma brought the yellow orb they had gotten from the basement on the west wing out and put it on the barrier. In seconds, the barrier was gone.
"...Well, that should have disabled the barrier here," Emma said.
"Indeed. What an unusual mechanism."
"Have you ever encountered something similar to the barriers when you visited before, Laura?" Gaius asked the Legram resident, to which she shook her head.
"No. I never encountered the barriers before," Laura answered. "Nothing about all this is natural at all."
"Hmph, This castle seems to have an abundant supply of unnatural things, to say nothing of those ghostly fiends prowling around.
"J-Jusis, don't say the g-word!" Millium playfully knocked on Laura in fear.
"There may be similar mechanisms elsewhere in the castle, so keep an eye out, everyone," Rean reminded everyone to pay attention as they opened the door to the east wing.
True to the SSS's Informant's words, the next room was a stair to the next floor. They might end up at the rooftop at this pace. They defeated all the fiends on their way.
"Heads up," Rean stopped everyone. In front of them was a door, but on the right of the door was another staircase to the next floor. Hmm... judging from their position... Rean's mind imagined a map. The door in front of them should lead to the main hall. Was there a second floor on the hall? "Let's check this door first."
They ended up fighting strong fiends and found a master quartz. How and what a specifically designed quartz for ARCUS was doing there was a mystery that he didn't really care. The master quartz looked powerful but situational. Another weapon for their arsenal.
They returned to the previous room before ascending to the third floor. Opening the door led the group to an external corridor. The moonlight shone on them through the big glasses-less window gap. With several more monsters to be fought, they entered the other side. Right now, they should be on the west wing's third floor.
"Look," Emma pointed out to the door upstairs. "That door is also sealed behind a barrier."
Indeed. The door had another barrier similar to the other doors. Rean and the others quickly approached the door. Rean wasn't sure, but the pattern looked similar to the one on the previous door. "Let's see if the yellow orb can unlock it. Emma?"
Emma nodded before bringing out the orb again. However, after several seconds, there were no reactions, both from the door and the orb.
"Hmm..."
"No reaction, huh?" Millium sighed.
"On closer look, the barrier glows in a reddish color," Gaius stated in his observation, spotting a difference between this barrier and the previous one. "Maybe we need to find another orb?"
"Right. Let's go, everyone!"
They explored around the west wing, killing more fiends, before seeing a dead end. Or not. He saw a vertical ladder down to the second floor. So everyone took turns going down the ladder one by one. As Rean waited for the others on the second floor, he saw a door on their level across from their platform. Ah, so that was the west wing door they first came in. The spiraling staircase to the bottom led to the basement where they got the yellow orb.
"Look!" Millium pointed out once everyone had gone down the ladder. "Another pedestal!"
"And another orb on top of it," Jusis finished. The orb glowed red instead of yellow, corresponding to the barrier's color. So it seemed that they really needed an orb of the same color to unlock things.
Emma quickly took the orb, and before long, they were back on the sealed door.
"Here goes," Emma brought out the orb and put it near the barrier. Slowly, the glow from the barrier was gone. The door was now unlocked.
"Let's go!"
Just as they entered the previously sealed room, they heard a scream.
"That's...!"
"This isn't good."
In front of them, four fiends were crowding the missing children, Karno and Julian. Laura instantly moved to the children's side and slammed her gigantic sword down to the ground, catching the fiends and the children's attention.
"Stand back," she warned the children.
"L-Laura!"
"Goodness, Laura. Please don't move alone," Rean said as he and the others caught up with her.
"Hmph. More fiends... and they don't seem pleased that we've robbed them of their quarry."
Millium grabbed Jusis' shirt. "W-Wait, does that mean they suck your soul or something?!"
"This is not the time to freak out, Millium!" Emma chastised the younger girl.
"Right, everyone. Focus!"
The battle didn't last long, as the fiends weren't more dangerous than the ones they had defeated before. Rean counted that as a blessing. As the last of the fiends disappeared into nothingness, the group let out sighs of relief.
"Looks like we took care of them," Gaius put aside his spear.
Emma quickly turned to the children and kneeled down. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"N-No, we're okay...!" Karno answered shyly. Rean smiled. He guessed Emma's maternal power was too strong, and it overwhelmed Karno.
Contrary to the shy Karno, Julian wasn't fazed at all by their situation. He had starry eyes looking at each of the Class VII members coming to their rescue. "Th-That was so COOL! You guys are all so strong! Just like the Eisenritter from the old stories!"
Jusis let out a sigh. "Good grief. It seems like he has plenty of energy to spare."
"Haha... Well, as long as they're both unharmed," Rean chuckled.
"Actually..." Laura turned towards the two children, crossing her arms. "I think both of you have something to say."
"Huh?"
"Erm..."
The two thought for a while before Julian remembered. "O-Oh, right! Thanks for saving us!"
Shaking her head, Laura sighed. "That's not what I meant."
She approached the two, looking at them sternly.
"You stole a boat and entered property that is off limits to you without telling anyone where you were going, especially right after we gathered all of you and warned you not to go here. What do you think would've happened if we hadn't come looking for you? Who would have saved you?" Laura glared at both of them and raised her voice. "Do you have any idea how worried your parents and everyone else in town are about you?"
It was interesting to Rean that Laura perfectly did a disappointed glare that most older siblings had without having siblings herself. No, it was clear from their stay here that all the younger Legram residents were Laura's little siblings. Her having the glare was not unexpected.
Karno began to hold back his sniffle, but Julian quickly shook his hands. "No, no, it's my fault. Please don't blame Karno for this. I was the one who had the idea to explore the castle since you guys said not to! I thought there must be something happening inside, and I dragged Karno to it!"
Rean frowned. So, warning them was the wrong move, after all? What would've happened if they didn't warn the children? Would they still visit the castle without informing anyone?
"It's like her words are prophecy..." He heard Emma muttered something under her breath.
Laura's glare turned into a smile. "If you realize what you did wrong, I have nothing further to say on the matter. I admire your bravery in stepping forward to defend Karno like you did, both when you were facing the fiends and just now. But you're still young and inexperienced... like I am. When older people tell you not do something, please don't take it as an invitation to do it."
"Right... I'm sorry..." Julian looked down in shame.
"Thank you for coming for us, everyone." Karno thanked everyone.
"Haha. Don't worry about it," Gaius smiled at them while Jusis scoffed.
"Hmph. Try to be a little less reckless in the future, would you?"
"Jusis...are you actually embarrassed you got thanked by a kid?" Millium poked Jusis on the side.
"Hush, you impudent brat."
"Ahaha..."
"Well, we found them, and they're safe. That's a huge relief. Now all that's left is finding a way out of this castle," Rean clapped and got everyone to focus back on their objective. He looked at the stairs to the next floor. Maybe...
"Hmm... Come to think of it, we couldn't even enter this room until we disabled the barrier," Laura suddenly said. "So, how did the two of you get inside?"
Now that he thought about it, Laura's observation was spot on. How did the two enter the sealed room?
"Umm... When we first came in here, everything was normal," Karno elaborated. "We were on our way to the top floor..."
"...but as soon as we came in here, suddenly there was this pale haze everywhere," Julian finished. "Then these strange circles appeared on the door, and we couldn't open it anymore. We didn't know what to do."
So they started before all of this was happening and ended up being locked in from the inside... He looked around but found no other access to the room they were in except from the sealed door and the staircase upstairs.
"There doesn't seem to be any other access to this room, either."
"It seems as though if we want to leave, we'll have to deal with whatever's causing all of this," Emma concluded. "Surely there must be some way to disable that barrier on the front door. ...Hold on a moment."
Emma closed her eyes. Maybe she was trying to sense something. Rean also closed his eyes and tried to sense his surroundings.
Nope, he couldn't find anything. He'd better leave things to Emma's senses.
...Actually, wasn't there something in the SSS's Informant's prediction that would be applicable in their current situation?
"...I can sense something coming from the top floor of the castle. A mysterious energy, flowing out from there like a wellspring..." Emma stated, looking up at the top floor.
"What...?"
"You can sense something like that?"
Gaius and Jusis voiced their awe.
"Well...more or less, yes," Emma admitted.
"That's actually in line with what the SSS's Informant said. We'd find what we sought at the top floor," Rean tried to reinforce Emma's feeling.
"I thought she referred to the children?" Jusis said in skepticism.
"At first, yes. But her later elaboration, I quoted it word for word here," Rean brought out his notes and showed it to everyone, where it said 'objective' instead of specifically calling out the 'missing children' as they all thought.
"Isn't that too reaching?" Millium shrugged. "It's like you're thinking too much about it, Rean."
"Well, if we're talking about technicality, we're already on our way to the top floor. With us finding the children here, the Informant is already correct," Gaius pointed out.
"I know; I was just using it to reinforce the validity of Emma's feelings. I trust Emma, but coincidentally, the SSS's Informant, who had been correct so many times, also said it," Rean explained.
"Alright. So we're going upstairs, then." Laura concluded.
"But what about the children? We can't just leave them here," Gaius brought up a good point. What of the children? The best way is of course for them to bring the children with them.
"Better just take 'em with us, then." It seemed that Millium agreed with him. "There're enough of us that we'll be able to keep them safe."
"Make sense," Gaius agreed. "That way, we can keep an eye on them."
"What do the two of you think? Would you prefer to stay with us?" Laura asked Karno and Julian.
"O-Of course!"
"I'd feel way safer with you guys..."
"Heehee. Very well, then." Laura couldn't hold back her smile. He supposed she was happy that the two children relied on her.
"Alright. Let's go, everyone."
The group, plus Karno and Julian, went to the stairs, which led to another external corridor like the first one. They had to fight more fiends, so Gaius volunteered to watch the children. However, being one short of fighters did not dent the group's fighting ability.
Soon after that, they arrived at a semi-open room with a glowing white orb in a similar setting to the previous orbs. However, this white-ish orb was larger than the previous orbs.
"I have an uneasy feeling about it," Gaius muttered as everyone stared at what was likely to be the key to escape the castle.
Rean's senses caught something coming from inside of it but contained within the orb. Maybe that was why Rean couldn't sense anything until he laid his eyes on the orb.
"I definitely sense some kind of power coming from it. Is this the source of the energy you were sensing earlier, Emma?"
"There's no doubt about it," Emma nodded at his question. "I suspect this orb is the cause of all the strange things going on in this castle. If we can destroy it, I'm betting everything will return to normal."
"All right! Just leave it to me!" Millium quickly moved before anyone could stop her. "Lammy!"
"H-Hold on, Millium!" Startled, Emma tried to stop the younger girl, but she was brushed off with a grin as the combat shell appeared from thin air.
"Don't sweat it. Lammy's busted up tougher-looking stuff than this! Let's smash this orb and get out of this creepy castle already!" Ah, so Millium's eagerness was partially motivated by her desire to leave the castle. While she was an intelligent agency member, most of the time, he forgot that Millium was still young until she reminded everyone of the fact with her antics.
"You idiot! We have no idea what it might do!" Jusis chided her, but it was too late. Airgetlam threw a punch at the orb, intending to destroy the orb.
However, just like before, Airgetlam's punch (which Rean had seen destroying things with ease) couldn't do anything to the orb.
"Aaah!" Millium fell to the ground.
Jusis sighed in exasperation. "...What did I just say?"
As Emma and Laura fussed over the younger girl, Rean tried to think about how to tackle this problem. It was, for some reason, protected against attack by another barrier.
"Wait. Something's wrong...!" Gaius, who hadn't taken his eyes off the orb, was the first one to notice when the orb glowed brighter. Everyone turned to the orb, seeing it covered in a purple miasma.
"Wh-What's happening to it?!" Julian questioned in fear.
"I feel an incredible torrent of energy pouring out of it! Everyone, get back!"
Rean quickly secured both Karno and Julian with her arms before jumping back as Emma suggested. The light turned blinding white for a second before it disappeared. When Rean opened his eyes with the intention of assessing everyone's well-being, his eyes captured something else.
"What IS that?!"
The first thing that caught his attention was the skull head. It had no eyes or mouth, only hollow orifices. Its skull head was covered with a tall, ornate headpiece while its body was covered with a robe. On its skeletal fingers, it held a large, wicked-looking staff.
But the most important thing was how every inch of its body was transparent and covered with an eerie glow.
"G-G-G-Ghost?!" Millium stuttered.
"A Nosferatu?! How could it manifest something like that in the real world?!" Emma shouted in surprise. So she knew about this fiend. But this wasn't the time for that.
Laura brandished her sword. A grim expression on her face. "It's on a completely different level than the foes we've encountered so far. Julian, Karno, get behind us!"
The two scrambled to hide far away from the impending battlefield. Good. Rean also brought out his tachi, followed by everyone else with their own weapon.
"There's no way we can afford to lose. Not here! Let's give it everything we've got!" Rean declared.
"Right!"
The six of them charged into the fight.
"Behold, the might of the Arseid school!" Laura's sword glowed alight. Rean glanced at his classmate, who was preparing to unleash her mightiest attack. But the Nosferatu they were facing was ready to move.
He quickly put his tachi back to his waist, preparing to draw. Bending his knee a little, Rean went into a stance he was familiar with. He also didn't forget to let his mind be open to read for the combat link.
"Arc Slash!" He drew his sword quickly from its sheathe, unleashing his projectile attack. It stopped the Nosferatu on its track. "Emma!"
The bespectacled girl quickly unleashed the Arts she had prepared after reading Rean's intention via the combat link. "Silver Thorn!"
Six swords came from above, embedding themselves on the ground around the Nosferatu. The swords glowed before energy burst from the ground, trapping the Nosferatu within the attack.
"Laura!"
"Haaaaa!" The blue-haired swordswoman leaped towards the trapped Nosferatu. "Radiant Waltz!"
She slashed at it two times before letting the momentum of her gigantic sword turn her body for one last horizontal slash.
Rean watched how the glow of the swords made Laura look beautiful as she moved her sword. Now he understood why her dad was called the Radiant Blademaster.
The Nosferatu let out a shriek before it disintegrated and turned back into the same orb from before.
"Did we win?" Rean asked for confirmation from the others.
"What a terrifying opponent."
Says the one who finished it, Rean retorted inside his mind.
"Careful! Something still feels wrong," Jusis, who didn't let his guard down, warned everyone.
The orb was now covered in lightning sparks.
"Watch out!"
But Gaius' warning came too late. All six of them were now restrained by a mysterious purple energy that came out of nowhere.
"Ugh!"
"D-Damn it!"
"How could I have been so careless...? I had no idea it had this much power left..."
Rean looked behind them to check Karno and Julian. While his body felt sluggish and hard to move, his head wasn't. Thankfully, the two weren't afflicted with the same restraint. Still, if they didn't do anything, who knew what would happen to all of them, Karno and Julian included?
"...Looks like I have no choice..."
And so Rean resolved himself. He tried to stand up with all his power. Despite how heavy it was, despite how painful it was, despite how suffocating it was, he had to stand up for all of them.
"R-Rean, no!" Emma struggled to even utter those words. "I-If you're not careful... you'll be drawn into it!"
"I know," he acknowledged the danger Emma presented. Even so, it was something he had to do.
Rean closed his eyes, trying to reach the power deep inside. After his fight with Viscount Arseid, he knew that he could somewhat control it. But he felt that this was a short-term solution.
Still, that was enough to make him decide to use it then and there.
"Haaaaa!" He let out a kiai before his power enveloped him.
However, before that, a lance suddenly came down and stabbed through the orb.
His power receded as he was reeling from the sudden situation. "What was that?!"
The orb then destabilized before it blinded everyone.
"...Ugh..." Rean opened his eyes and stood up. The light caught everyone off-guard with how sudden it was.
"Is everyone all right?" Gaius asked out loud, and everyone, including him, shouted variations of 'I'm okay' to let the others know.
"What...just happened?" Jusis questioned, no doubt wanting to know what happened.
"I-I have no idea...it all happened so quickly..." Emma trailed off, looking as lost as the others.
"I heard the sound of something piercing through the air..." Laura, being a martial artist, had keener senses than others.
Rean agreed with her and added, "Yeah...and right through that orb, too. It looked like... a lance. But how could someone hurl something that large with that much force...?"
"A lance...?!" Laura narrowed her eyes as she asked for confirmation.
"Yeah... and whoever threw it was standing right up there until just a moment ago," Rean pointed to the section of the castle where it led to a balcony. "It was a golden-haired woman, shrouded by a strange light."
"Golden hair, you say...?"
"B-But that sounds just like..."
Laura gasped before she quickly ran towards the balcony. The others were a step behind because after Emma pointed it out, Rean realized the implication of what he saw. Once they arrived at the balcony, though, there was nobody there. The only thing their eyes saw was the picturesque Lake Ebel at night.
"There's no one here..."
"Not that I honestly expected there would be," Jusis agreed with Gaius. Still, all of them coming to the balcony meant that they reached the same conclusion.
"...That pale glow surrounding the castle seems to have disappeared, too," Emma pointed out. Now that she said it, Rean realized that she was correct.
"Is that because the orb was destroyed?"
"Possibly," he answered Millium's question. This balcony was a dead-end. If what they saw was real, then there should be something, or rather, someone waiting for them here. "Laura. Is it possible that the lance is..."
Laura went to the edge of the balcony. She looked down, trying to find a sign of a certain presence.
When she couldn't find anything, Laura sighed. "Yes, it might be possible that it was the Lance Maiden."
Nobody was surprised because all of them reached the same conclusion. Still, Jusis didn't believe it.
"That's impossible. The Lance Maiden had been dead for centuries."
"T-Then, that means it was her g-g-g-g-" Millium clung to Jusis as she couldn't finish her sentence.
"At this point, I wouldn't dismiss that kind of possibility," Rean nodded to Millium's unfinished sentence. Looking at the night sky full of stars, Rean summarized the mysterious things he encountered inside the castle.
First, the weird lock and key mechanism with the orbs. Second, the mysterious door similar to the one in the Old Schoolhouse. Third, the one saving them, the ghost of the Lance Maiden.
He sighed. Well, at least now he has a topic to start conversations with the SSS's Informant.
A/N: At first I wanted to skip the Lohengrin castle part, but I realized that I've made too much butterfly to not make Class VII converse about Juna there. And I've skipped Class VII gathering the children to warn them away a few chapters ago, too, so I didn't want to skip them too much. Anyway, while the Lohengrin Castle is a chore, my favorite part is, of course, the meeting with Sigmund and Shirley. I've based it largely on canon but with some things butterflied. And I wrote it from Randy's perspective too, to hide Lloyd's thoughts. I wonder if you've picked up on what Lloyd noticed from last chapter and this chapter. I've laid it out as much as I can without spoiling things and Lloyd are actually close to the truth this time (when is he never?) but seriously this time he did it without going all proper investigation, just gut feelings and comparing things to Juna's notes. Also, Lloyd really is Juna's student in the way of surprising people with what he found. After surprising Shirley with his knowledge of Randy's family, now he's surprising Sigmund with his insight about the Red Constellation's job in Crossbell.