Aw, look at
'em. They're having the time of their lives. All that really happened was a cat
and a dog getting into a fight and a burglar falling to his death. As the instigator for all
that, it warms my heart seeing the other students get so excited about it.
Oh man, if I
waited until night and dressed up as Shadow, that'd give them even
more to talk about. "What's with the creepy smile?" Alexia
asks me. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing."
Her red eyes peer at me with
suspicion. Then someone comes over
and starts talking to us. "Could I have a moment, you two?" It's a hot dude with dark-green
hair—Isaac. "Well, well, well,
if it isn't Isaac. How dare you miss class yesterday?" "You're…Cid, right? I had some business
I needed to attend to. Did something happen?" "We had a pop quiz." "I see. And what else?" "Nah, that was about it." "Then I'm not sure I see the problem.
In any case, school has been canceled today." "Oh, huh." "This is a horrible tragedy. The
academy and the Knight Order will be launching an investigation, so they've ordered
everyone to stay away from the crime scene. The perpetrator behind this monstrous act
might still be around, so be careful. Make sure you don't leave your dorms." "Uh-huh, uh-huh." Alexia gives me a look. "That means
you, Fido. It's dangerous." "Yeah, I got it—" All of a sudden, something snaps around
my neck. Is this a collar?
"There we go. I finally
caught you." I turn around and
see Claire smiling from ear to ear. "H-hey there, Sis. Long time no see."
"It really has, hasn't it? Since
before winter break, as I recall." "Th-that sounds about right." Shit. I let my guard down. I knew running into my sister would
be a headache, so I've been actively trying to avoid it. "U-um, Claire, that collar…," Alexia
starts. "What about it?" Claire
replies.
"That's
your collar?" "Yep. I left
it in my room, but for some reason, the Knight Order had it. You
have no idea how hard it was to
get it back." "I—I see. And what
do you use it for?" "What do you
mean? Isn't it obvious?" Claire smiles as she gives it a rattly
tug. "I, uh, I guess it is… I
suppose dogs do need collars, don't they?" "Exactly. See, you get it." "Just for the record, I'm not a dog," I
interject. "Of course you are,
Fido." "I swear, Cid, you say the
strangest things. Now, come along, Fido. Err, I mean, Cid." Claire pulls the chain and begins
dragging me off in front of a crowd of onlookers. When in the world did she and Alexia
start hitting it off?
"How dare you
break your promise to me?" "Ah-ha-ha…" My sister's dragged me to her room and
is sitting mounted on top of me. "And you even lied to me, too." "When you say 'lied,' which lie would
that be?" "Excuse me?
Which lie?" My neck lets
out a loud creeeeeeak as she squeezes down on it. Looks like I just dug my own grave.
The thing is, I can't even count
how many times I've lied to her, and I have no idea which promise she's talking about.
"Th-that hurts, Sis…" It doesn't actually, though. "You're not suggesting you lied to me
about other things, too, are you?" "I didn't, I promise." I totally did. "For real?" "Yeah, for real." She brings her face in so close, our
noses are nearly touching, and peers into my eyes. "You have clear eyes. That's the
sign of an honest heart. I guess you're telling the truth."
You need to
get your vision checked, Sis. "You should know that when you lie to
me, I always figure you out. Why did you even tell it in the first place?" "Ah, right. That lie. The one
about the you-know-what." "Yeah,
the lie you told me about Nina." "About Nina?" Huh? I
don't think I ever lied to her about Nina. "You haven't forgotten, have you?"
"Of course not. You're talking
about the thing with Nina. Look, it's hard to explain in just a few words, but there were
extenuating circumstances…"
"Sigh… You
probably said it without thinking because you wanted to impress me,
didn't you?" "Yeah, that. Totally." "I can see right through you, you
know." "I'm sorry I did it."
"Very well. I forgive you. But
just this once." With that, the
conversation comes to an end. Or
rather, it should, but Claire keeps on staring at me. "Sis, you're kinda heavy. Were you
planning on getting off me at some—? Hrk!" M-my neck… "I'm sorry, Cid, did you say
something?" "I—I was just saying
how light you are, Sis, and how you're the prettiest person around!" "Well, that makes sense. It is true,
after all." "Yeah, so true."
"Hee-hee. You keep getting
older, but you'll always just be Cid. I hope you never have to change. I…" Dunno why, but Claire starts getting
serious all of a sudden. "Sis?"
"I won't back down from any
enemy, no matter how strong they are. Not if fighting them will let you stay just the way you
are." "Uh…" Methinks a certain someone's
symptoms might be getting worse. "Look, Cid, I need you to listen
close. Right now, the academy is in the wicked clutches of a powerful organization."
"Ah, so that's the scenario
we're working with?" "Don't. If
I tell you any details, you'll be in danger. Don't look at me like
that. I can't say any more."
"Yeah, okay."
"I'm going to solve the academy's
mysteries. I have a plan. It's dangerous, but…I'm doing this for you, so I know I can be
strong." "Yeah, good luck." "Make sure you watch your back, Cid. You
might get targeted for being my brother. But I'm going to do my best to take down
the bad guys." "Yeah, go get 'em."
"I'm sorry for dumping all this on
you. And I'm sorry for not being able to tell you any of the important bits. But I'm doing
this to protect you. I know this is selfish of me, but I want you to understand that."
"Yeah, I get it." "And also…if I don't make it back… If I
die—" Midway through her teary
speech, she abruptly glares at a patch of empty air. "I'm sorry, Aurora, but this is kind of
emotional, so would you mind being quiet? Huh, what? I'm embarrassing myself, so
I should just drop it? How exactly am I embarrassing—?" I look up with a deadpan expression on
my face, and our eyes meet. "Sis…" "O-oh, that was, um, um, um, nothing!
Just talking to myself!" "Sis, I
get it." "Cid…you do? You get
that there's an important reason I'm doing all this?" "Yeah, of course." You're a budding teenage edgelord.
"Thank you, Cid. I don't
deserve a brother as good as you. And if…if I don't make it —if I die…" Big tears go rolling down
her cheeks. "You'll be fine,
Sis. You definitely won't die." "Oh, Cid!! I'll definitely make it
back!! I definitely, definitely will!!" "Sounds good." She hugs me so tight, I'm afraid my
spine will snap. I hope she
grows out of this soon.
I wait and wait,
and finally, nighttime arrives. I sneak out of my dorm and stand
silently atop the school roof like usual. The campus is on high alert, the dorm's
exits are under tight surveillance, and the students are restless. Who knew that a
little old night burglar would cause such a stir? It's thrilling, how fresh this all
feels.
Back in my old
world, I was the kind of guy who got super excited every time a
typhoon rolled in. Wind and rain
buffeting the classroom, the sky getting dark in the middle of the day—it doesn't get better
than that. It always felt like something big was about to happen. It never did, but
still.
After going
through all that myself, I feel like I have a responsibility to
make something big actually happen
this time. The students are sick and tired of their ordinary
lives. They're desperate for
something to shatter the monotony. "How do I want to play this…?" We've got four missing students, a
cat-slash-dogfight, a burglar falling to his death from the roof… What would be a
revolutionary way of tying it all together?
"I could make a
huge magic circle, chant some sort of invocation… Nah, too plain.
Hmm?"
At some point
while I was busy brainstorming, my surroundings got covered in
white fog. "Hey, this happened yesterday, too…
This is some weird weather we're having." Eventually, my vision goes completely
white, and I find myself in a white space that seems to go on forever. "Hmm? What's going on?" This is some fantasy stuff. I've been
teleported somewhere completely different. And if I remember correctly, the same
thing happened back at the Sanctuary… "Who are you?" comes a voice. It's a girl standing in the white
space. She's a little younger than me, and she's wearing an all-white dress. Her eyes
are a gorgeous shade of violet. "Hey there," I reply. "Long time no
see." Her age has changed, but
I'd recognize her anywhere. It's Violet. "Who are you? A new researcher?" she
asks. "Wait, do you not remember
me?" "I—I don't know you."
"Oh yeah, that's right. You did
mention something about your memories." "Stay back…" The young Violet seems guarded. "Hey, there's no need to be scared. I'm
not exactly a good guy, but I'm definitely not some dastardly bad guy." "Wh-what are you doing here?" "I dunno. One minute I wasn't here, the
next minute I was. What about you?" "I…I… Unghhhhh…" She clutches her head
and groans. "Are you okay?"
"I'm… Why…?
AhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She claws at
her head and screams. It looks like
she's in pain. "You don't have to
make yourself remember if you don't wanna. I forget stuff all the
time. I wanna be able to focus on
what really matters, so I go ahead and forget stuff that doesn't in order to save memory space in
my brain." "I—I… No… Stop it, make
it stop… NooooOOOOOOO!!" As she
screams, she starts releasing tremendous amounts of magic. "Careful there. Like I said, you don't
gotta remember if you don't want to." I fend off Violet's magical outbursts and
walk toward her.
"STAY
AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!"
"What's up with
this magic?" I gotta say, I'm
shocked. Adult Violet was incredible, too, but this is on a whole
different level. Still,
deflecting magic attacks this straightforward is a breeze. I walk
forward, shifting their vectors
before grabbing hold of her. "No, no, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
"It's gonna be okay." I hold Violet tight and pour magic into
her. It's the same deal as when I'm healing the possession—the more surface area I'm
covering, the more efficient it is. "Let go of me… Let go…of me…" "Just go ahead and forget all the stuff
you don't wanna remember." I
keep pouring magic into her, and eventually, her outbursts settle
down. She relaxes and goes limp.
"But…what about the things I
can't forget?" she asks quietly. "Dunno. But if you try real hard not to
remember them, you'll probably forget 'em eventually." "…But I can't." "Well, that's a bummer. You've calmed
down now, though, yeah?" "Y…yeah." I let go of Violet, and she hangs her
head in embarrassment. "Cool.
Now, how do I get out of here?" "…You're leaving?" she says. When I walk off, Violet pitter-patters
along after me. "Eventually,
yeah. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how." The white space seems to continue
forever. There aren't any obvious exits. "Everyone always leaves me," Violet
intones. "C'mon, I'm sure that's
not true." "They all died."
"Ah. Well, that happens
sometimes."
"Are you going to
die, too?" "Nope." I've got a good six hundred years left in
me, and I'm still searching for a way to bring that number up. "Liar." "Yeah, maybe." "Please don't go." "…You know that if I find an exit, you
can just come with me, right? It'd be easier if I could just blow the whole place up, but
I'm sure I'll figure out something." Last time I tried that, Adult Violet
ended up disappearing, too. "I
can't leave here." "Ah, bummer."
"Please don't go." "…I'm sure we'll meet again." "Liar." "That's not a lie." "Then…let me have that." Violet points
at my pocket. I reach in and
pull out the red jewel. "I dunno.
It is mine." "It's so
warm. It makes me feel calmer." "You know it's just a jewel, right?"
"It's not. It's something far
more precious." "It is?" "Yeah." Then I hear the sound of a door
closing. Violet's whole body
shudders. It's weird, 'cause
this place doesn't have any doors, but I definitely just heard one.
"What the hell? Where'd she
go?!" I can hear a voice,
too. "Are you hiding
somewhere?! Number !" "I—I
have to go." "Hey, hold on a
sec." Cracks begin splintering
across the white space. "Cut
the crap already!! Don't make me hurt you again—" "Hold on, I was gonna give you—"
I grab her hand, and the space
shatters into a million tiny pieces. "—this." The red jewel I try to hand her tumbles
through the air. I'm back on the
roof where I came from.
The white fog,
the white space, and the girl in the white dress are all gone.
The jewel makes a small noise when
it hits the ground, and I scoop it up and stow it back in my pocket. "I wonder if Violet's somewhere nearby."
I cast out a wave of magic
particles and probe for her presence. However, I don't find her. But I do find something…
"Are those presences Claire and
Alexia?" I wonder what they're
doing down there.
"It's open. Come
on, this way." By moonlight, a
pair of shadowy figures creeps into the library through a window.
It's Alexia and Claire. Alexia goes in first and inexpertly
surveys the scene. Then… "Hey, you're in the way." "Ow!" …Claire lands on her from above.
"What do you think you're doing?
The whole plan was for me to make sure things were safe first," Alexia quietly
grumbles from beneath Claire's feet.
"Dawdling puts
us in more danger of getting found out than anything. Moving with
haste gives the plan a fast
pace." "Oh, forget it. Just get
off me already." After shoving
Claire aside, Alexia stands back up. "Come on, Alexia, let's get moving. We
need to make this work, no matter what." "Well, someone's motivated."
"I've got a reason why I can't
afford to lose. I've got somewhere I need to return to now." Claire squeezes her fists tight,
eyes full of conviction. "…I
don't really follow, but it's good to hear you're motivated."
Alexia takes the lead, heading
deeper into the library and unlocking a door over in the back. "Where did you get your hands on that
key?" Claire asks her. "Being a
princess has its perks." "Nice.
And this is the forbidden section?" Inside, the room is lined with tall
bookshelves.
"No, this is just
a storeroom. The forbidden section is farther back." Alexia walks over to one of the
bookshelves. "That thing is
massive," Claire remarks. "Is that ancient script?" "This bookshelf is a magical artifact,
and one of the stories my father read to me as a child had the incantation for it." "The what?" Alexia takes a deep breath. "Bippity
boppity, open sesame!" The ensuing
silence is deafening. "Please stop
screwing around." "I-I'm not
screwing around! I'm being serious here! The incantation is
supposed to open it up!" "This is ridiculous." "I might've gotten the chant wrong.
Could it have been 'schlongity dongity'—?" The moment the words leave her mouth,
the bookshelf loudly rumbles open. "Wait…that actually worked?" "Looks like it was supposed to be
schlongity!" Alexia says with a smug grin. "Surely it was the first one, and it
just took a while 'cause it's so old." The two of them head through the open
bookcase. ""Whoa…"" When they enter the forbidden section,
they let out cries of amazement. There's a gorgeous chandelier lighting up the
towering bookcases within, and while the books they house are old and weathered, that
only serves to give them more character. "So how do we tell what book is about
the academy's history?" Claire asks. She traces her gaze across the
seemingly endless array of book spines. If they have to go through them one by one, they'll
end up burning through the whole night. "We pray," Alexia says. "This is no time to be messing with
me." "I'm not, I swear! We just
have to do this…" Alexia begins waving her arms by the side of her head like a lunatic. "What in the world do you think you're
doing?" "Building the mood.
Academy history book, academy history book, academy history book… Schlongity dongity!" "This is ridiculous." The next moment, however, a ray of
light shoots out, and a book comes soaring down. It comes to a stop in front of
Alexia's face, then opens to its first page all on its own. "You've got to be kidding me…" "See? I told you." "What a stupid artifact. I have half a
mind to just smash the thing." "Please
don't. It's so cute and so helpful." Claire frowns in annoyance. "So what's it
say in the book?" "I dunno. I can't
read it." "Let's see here… Ah,
ancient script again." "I can read
simple stuff, but this is a bit beyond me. What about you?" "I just know the basics, myself. It's not
a very popular subject. Pretty much only the science-track kids take it." "Yeah, figures." "So what do we do?" "I think this calls for… Schlongity
dongity, please translate for us!" Alexia cries out in a cutesy voice and makes a heart shape
with her hands. "Ew, don't be
weird. There's no way that'd ever work." "We won't know until we try. Who knows
what sort of handy functions it has?" A creepy voice echoes out from the
forbidden section. "Y-y-you want a translation, do you? Hurr-hurr-hurr…" "Wait—it talks?!" "Who's there?" Claire and Alexia look around, but
they're the only ones there. "I-I-I'm the spirit of the forbidden
stacks. I—I can translate for you." "Well, hey, that's the academy's
prized artifact for you." "Ugh…
It sounds like a total fatso." "C'mon, Claire, don't be mean." " Snff… N-now I don't feel
like translating anymore…" "Look, it's sulking." "All right, all right! I'm sorry."
"Mr. Forbidden Stacks, would you
pleeease translate for us?" "Hunf, hunf, hunf… I-I'll do my
best! Wh-what part do you want done?" "Well, we were hoping to figure out
where Diablos's right arm is sealed." "O-o-oh, it's beneath the school.
Down in the underground ruins." "Uh…okay, then. That was easy…"
"I'm surprised at how competent
it is." The floating forbidden
book's pages turn, and the translated text glows in midair before it.
"O-once upon
a time, Diablos fought the heroes here. Its arm got cut off and
sealed away here. A bunch of
other stuff happened, and now the area is in ruins." "What kind of other stuff?" "Apparently, people fought over the
arm. The book doesn't have many details, but it ended with the underground ruins
getting hidden away." "How
do we get into the ruins?"
"Th-there's a
sealed church somewhere on campus. All you have to do is go there." "And where exactly is 'somewhere'?"
"Hunf, hunf, hunf… I—I can't
tell you anything that isn't written in the book." "Tch, you're useless…," Alexia snaps.
"Well, at least now we know what the Cult is after. They're trying to unseal the right
arm." "Then why are they
kidnapping students?" "To undo the
seal with, probably. It's easier to unseal these things with magic
that's similar to the mana used to
make the seal in the first place."
"So they're
hunting down students to try to find people with compatible magic.
Should we look for the sealed
church?"
"…Before that, I
need to talk to my sister." There's a clear note of resolve in
Alexia's voice.
"Oh, that's
right, you're part of the royal family. Why didn't you just do that
from the start?" "You seriously think I didn't?" "Huh?" "I tell her about this stuff
constantly. I told her about the incident at the school, about
what happened at the Sanctuary,
everything." "Alexia…" "But this time… This time, I finally
have proof, and Iris will finally believe me." "I-I'm rooting for you, Alexia!"
"Shut up, fatso." Alexia
glares with a look in her eyes that could kill. "E-eep…!" "Alexia…we should get out of here.
If we stay too long, someone will find us." "Good call. Before we do that, though,
does this place have any books about the Cult of Diablos?" There's a brief silence. "…Not here, no." "Okay… Then I guess that's that,
then." "Later." "B-bye-bye… Take care, you two…"
Claire and Alexia find their
bodies enveloped in magic, and the next thing they know, they're back in the original
storeroom.
"Once she sees
this book, Iris will have no choice but to—," Alexia says,
clutching the contraband to her
chest and stepping out of the room. As soon as she does… "And what do you think you're doing,
taking a forbidden book without permission?" " ?!" Alexia and Claire whirl around in
unison.
There's