Part 20: Chapter 19: EXEC_SPHILIA

Chapter 19: EXEC_SPHILIA

Loading Excerpt- Personal Logs, C. Bartel
At Gaea's center was a great fortress. Obviously, this had to be the place where the Heart of Gaea would reside. It turned out the cruel tricks were not at an end, though.

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We should be cautious. We don't know what's there.
Let's hurry!

As we approached, a ball of energy surrounded Luca!



Luca!
Um, ur...ahh...
Hold on!
???: Wait there, Croix.

Another Lady Cloche appeared!



......
I am not the same as her. I have my own will, you see.
She's just a doll. I'm the embodiment of this land's will. Gaea itself!
Don't look at me the same way as that doll.
Now's not the time to be arguing about that!
Lady Cloche, please help Luca!
Why should I?
What do you mean, "Why?"
Could it be, Lady Cloche are you...?
Here's a question for everyone!
Where do you think you are?
What are you talking about!?
The correct answer is, the Gate! Was that too easy?

It seems as though despite everything Lady Cloche didn't really trust any of us.



So I command you, Croix.
......

This Lady Cloche had one last little 'test' for us. Except this one was far beyond the pale.



...What?
Then I will believe that you are my ally, and I will allow you to enter.
Why would you say that? Luca wanted to get as close to you as...
Why do you always take her side?
!? ...Lady Cloche?
I understand you can't do anything about the long years you knew each other, but...
I am your lover.
Exactly. That's why I'm here to save you.
I know you still think about the promise you made to Luca a long time ago!
Swore to your futures? Childhood friends? So what? What is that...?
You have an important role to protect me, do you not?
Yes, ma'am.
So, who are you protecting? Who are you pointing your weapon at?
I...
I was so lonely...
I thought you would be my first ally. But your heart still belongs to Luca...



...I'm sorry. I didn't know you were in so much pain.
Now that you know, kill her!
Otherwise, I'll kill all of you on the spot!
You are my enemy! Enemies aren't allowed beyond this point!
Lady Cloche...
......
Kill me.
...!?
Everyone, I'm sorry for getting you all involved in my personal fight...
But, I can never kill Luca.
And...
The Lady Cloche I know would never ask me to.
......
...hy?
Why?
Whhyyyy!?
Lady Cloche!



Luca, are you okay!?
...Y-yeah. Kinda...
I guess the Infelsphere's permission was a trap...
...Looks like it.
Let's hurry...

The fortress resonated with a voice from deep within. The Heart of Gaea was calling for us...



So if we head towards the voice, we might find her.
That's right. This voice is the Song of the Heart of Gaea. My heart's melody.
Jacqli said this land is created by singing. That must be the Song.
Which means, we're pretty close to the Heart of Gaea then.
Yeah. If we go toward this voice, we should find the Heart.

There's no sign of Jacqli so far. I guess we must have beaten her here.

Loading Excerpt- Hopes for the Green Land: Collected Writings, J.
You know, even I am moved at the beauty of something like a Heart of Gaea. I was in the process of securing it when those guys decided to show up.

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So this is Lady Cloche's current form?
......
Don't tell me we have to take this back.
The shell around it protects my heart. It isn't me.
My true form is the small crystal inside...
That's impossible. It's moving way too fast. We can't get it out.
Of course not. What kind of protection would it be if you could easily snatch it?
I know that! You don't have to tell me!
What should we do? Take the whole thing, shell included?
???: Was ki ga faf yorra gyusya mea.
I heard a voice!
Heart of Gaea: Was ki ga faf yorra gyusya mea.
Hymnos language. Too bad I can't understand it.
She's saying, "Are you going to control me?"
...What!?
Heart of Gaea: Ma nam ra aiph yorra suwant mea.
Presia yora chs hymmnos.

At that point I decided all this chatting was boring, since I was ready for the real show.



With Lyrics Video Version (by ZaMaBa)



...Who's there!?
"What will you bring upon me?"
"I will give you more power, and more pleasure."
"What does that mean to me?"
"...Unity, coexistence. And... integration with the world."
"It'll be a complete transformation from my former self."
"That's why, to see what you are worth for me..."
"I will test you..."
What now?
Looks like we made her mad.
What the!? So she's taking it out on us!?
Something's coming!

As a necessary part of the understanding process the Heart of Gaea spawned a Guardian to protect it. Turns out those guys are useful after all.



Hey, look... Lady Cloche's trapped over there!?
Someone's accessing the Heart with a Song.
They said something wrong, so she made even more shells than necessary.
That me isn't actually trapped. She's in that cage of her own free will.
She wants to be there!? Why?
Everything is a threat. Everyone other than myself is an enemy. So...
I believe it to be a reasonable plan of defense.
That's... so sad.

Boss Battle: Mind's Guardian
The Mind's Guardian is sort of refreshing after all the gimmicky stuff in Gaea. It's got a lot of health compared to the last boss we fought, though relatively it doesn't hit as hard as Shun. It does have one really annoying Jamming attack that stops your Songs evolving and pushes them back to their lowest level of evolution as well. The attacks are all pretty easy to block and I manage an A rank, which I'm happy with.

I finally managed to convince the Heart of Gaea of my sincerity.



Heart of Gaea: Wee yea ea crannidale yora.
The shell!
We can get her Heart now!
Yeah!

Annoyingly the Guardian hadn't wiped the competition out, so I had to deal with things myself.



Cro!
Croix!



You're...
...Jacqli!?
......
I was the one who got permission to talk to this Cloche.
You have no right to take her.
You were the one who was singing?
That's right. Wasn't it nice? I would charge you, but today's show can be free.
Your song confused the Heart of Gaea... No, Lady Cloche's mind, and gave birth to that guardian.
You have no right to take it, either.
That's only a side effect.
The conversation of Songs was a necessity to understand her more deeply.
And as a result, the guardian was born as a byproduct. I was the one who broke the seal.

I took custody of Gaea's Heart, taking me one step closer to my goal.



Whoa!
What's going on?
Well then, maybe we'll meet again.
Dammit... Let's go after her!
Whoa! What's going on?
Gaea no longer has the Heart. It will soon disappear.
What!?
It was the Heart that held Gaea together. And me as well.
Lady Cloche!
Are you okay!? Lady Cloche! Get ahold of yourself!
Don't worry, I'm merely an image of one persona that the Heart created.
Please, return me...
The real me... back into human form.
Lady Cloche!
Croix, get up! What we really need is the Heart that she took!
Yeah! Cro, we need to chase her down fast!

I was still getting ready to leave when they charged out of the building. That's what guardians are for, though.

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Give back Lady Cloche.
It'd be nice if I could have some quiet time while I'm packing up to go away.
I'm busy right now. I'm sorry, but can you guys just play with her for a bit?



Boss Battle: ELMA-DSRX
For our second boss of this section, we are facing up against a new variant of an old favorite, ELMA-DS. ELMA's bringing all new attacks to the table, and we're stuck with just one Reyvateil now. ELMA has a lot of fast attacks with trickier timing than the Mind Guardian's, but has a lot less health. ELMA-DS was, of course, a Virus from the first Ar Tonelico game. And ELMA-DSRX is Jacqli's guardian. Just making sure this is clear.

I could have kept on fighting with those clowns but there's really no time.

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Wait!

I bugged out. I actually sort of hope those guys manage to get off of Gaea. If this doesn't work out they could prove useful.









That's... The Grand Bell Mother Ship!?
We need to get out of here, too!
We're going to fall at this rate!
Grh... how will we get back? Isn't there any other way?
Rah, no! I don't wanna die here!
I don't wanna die, either!
I don't want to die yet, either!
Something's coming this way!

Loading Excerpt- The Melody of Metafalica, C. Pastalia, L. Trulyworth
The source of our salvation wasn't what we would have expected.







It's not that I came to save you guys. I just did as I was told.
Huh? Oh yeah, okay. Hahaha...
???: You guys should feel lucky that I happened to come by.
...Prince Targana.
We meet again, Croix...
I happened to see you running across the land.
...You really do have luck on your side.
You saved us! Thanks, Targana.
Hmph! Don't get me wrong!
You will become the rust on my sword. I won't let you die any other way.
...That's all I wanted to say.
Well then, excuse me while you're in a rush.

It turns out the Sacred Army was in pursuit of Chancellor Alfman.



Why?
That was what we were here for to begin with. And...
You guys are riding this ship for free, so you'll have to make do.
What!? Me, too!?
Working with friends you stood against life and death situations with. It sounds rather meaningful.
You meanie! Devil!
You saved us. I don't mind what you tell us to do.
That's encouraging. Then, I'll take you up on that offer.
We will soon attack their ship. I want you guys to go get Alfman's head.
What!?
As soon as Alfman saw that Gaea was a failure, he took his closest followers and fled.
What!?
......



It's pure treason, and deserving of capital punishment.
...How could he?
It seems you share the same anger as I do. I'm glad.
Now, I'm counting on you...
Alfman... You...

We boarded the Grand Bell Mothership. Jacqli had fled to here, so this was where we needed to be anyway.



Croix, Sir Leglius...
......
I expect much from you.

It seemed like things were moving towards a dramatic confrontation. None of us could have expected the outcome...

Next Time on Ar Tonelico 2: Pursuit