Part 55: Chapter 8-8: Promises From Their Youth
Part 8-8: Promises From Their Youth
Just look at this sword! Could we get Mathias to use it?
Sue! Sue! Right, I’m coming!
Like Parents, Like Daughters
I know! I’m not sure I liked us being called Minion A and Minion B, though. …Whole worlds inside these Mysterious Paintings… They’re like a dream!
I know! So where to next? A burning river of magma, or a freezing cave of ice? Oh, what about that forest full of ghosts? Hmm, I can’t make up my mind! Hold on! You’re planning on taking your pregnant wife somewhere so dangerous? Hahaha, don’t worry! I’ll protect you. I promise. Very well. Protect us all, my beloved.
Right. But they were just talking about Backen. How do they know about the Mysterious Paintings? Could it be, our parents also traveled through the Mysterious Paintings? Ah! That’s why Dad knows so much about them!
In any case, let’s carry on. We might find out something new.
There’s probably something else at the pass to our northeast. …Hmm, this giant cog in the sand… Like something you’d find in a clock, right? More sand, crags, crumbling buildings, and large unreadable stone slabs as far as the eye can see… Oh!!
He Who Always Keeps Promises
Hahaha! She doesn’t hold back, does she! She’s going to be a real terror when she’s bigger. She already is! Her sister has a clever face, though. I guess she takes after me… owww! I don’t think she likes the sound of that. Seems pretty clever to me! That’s just mean… Say, Honnete. I want to promise you… Promise? For…? I’m going to make our atelier into the greatest one in the kingdom. We all will, together, as a family. I’ll teach the girls alchemy, we’ll handle the customers, and run the greatest atelier together. Hehe, that sounds lovely! That’s a promise, then. Yes, a promise. With you two little darlings, too! Ah, they both look so happy! We can’t break this promise then, can we… Of course not. Or this next one! Once they get old enough, let’s all travel the Paintings together! I bet they’ll really love it! Worlds like nothing they’ve ever seen, spreading before them! Hehe, that’s another promise then. But I have to ask… Are you sure about this? Making all these promises? Yes, positive! I’m a man who always keeps his promises, after all! You’re just going to come out and say it, huh! You’re not wrong, though. I wouldn’t be with you if that wasn’t the case. …Remember that, Lydie, Suelle.
“The greatest atelier in the kingdom”… Look how motivated Dad was!
No, that can’t be the case. There must be some other reason! Sue, let’s carry on further. That’s the only way to find out what happened to Dad.
We better find something soon, because it looks like there isn’t much left of Etel Nepica to explore, period! Hmm… maybe we’ll find something to our left?
Hey, there’s this treasure chest!
Alberich… an enhancing agent, and an insect… Uwaaaaaah! You hold onto it, Lydie! Oh, Sue…
I guess this is it, then… Please, “Etel Nepica”! Show us more of Dad’s past!
From Despair, Hope
One of those giant black monsters… You aren’t going to stop us!
Music: disorder in order
As expected, this thing is pretty beefy…
Let’s give this thing a whirl!
Wow… I really repainted the battlefield…! Incredible…! Now, as for you…
…Out of our way!!
Here we go!
Woohoo! V for Victor- wait, that’s all it took? And the scenery around us is changing back to where we were, in the deepest depths of Etel Nepica! But…
Bah! This isn’t what we want. We need to see the rest of our family’s past!Spiral Fragments received.
Don’t give up just yet, girls. …Above us. Look. This is… …No!!
Please! We want more time with you! You will be fine. You have your father, girls. …Promise me, come on. The three of you are going to have the greatest atelier in all the kingdom…
Yes, we promise! That’s what we’ll do! Me too! Please! Mom! Good… girls… No… no, NO! Dammit! Why…?! Why did this happen?! I’ve made this medicine so many times! I’ve healed this sickness so many times! So why? Why now? Why her?! Why couldn’t I do it when it mattered the most?! Certified alchemist? Greatest atelier? What’s the point if I can’t save the woman I love!!
I had no idea… We’ve lived with him all this time, and I never knew this… Lydie… Oh, Sue…
But I also saw how much Roger cried for me, how deeply he felt for me… I think my time here is up, anyway. I need to get back to my world… What? Was that Mom’s voice?
You’ve grown up so much, though! This isn’t you in the past! Which means… …Mom? Is that really you?!
What just happened?! Did we… imagine that? That was Mom! She recognized us! Right! I pinched my cheek and it hurt! This isn’t a dream!
Ah! People who’ve been inside painting worlds leave parts of their soul inside after they die! Right. If what we just saw really is the past, Mom and Dad traveled the worlds of the Paintings. In which case, it’s more than possible! A fragment of Mom’s soul could definitely still be here! Hold on, hold on a moment! You know what this means? The woman we saw in the painting in our basement. That must have been Mom, after all! It must be! That’s possible! She said she needs to “get back to my world”. Does that mean she’s inside…
Lydie! I’m with you, Sue!
Let’s go! To the basement… to the place where it all began!Lydie has acquired the skill “Philanthropic Mind”.
Philanthropic Mind - Increase the Recovery effects of Follow-up skills.
To The Places Where They Began
I’m so sorry, Mireille! We’ll talk later!
…Oh? What’s going here…?
But the door is locked. Should we synthesize a key? I don’t see a keyhole! Gah! Let’s just blow off its hinges! Sue, be care-
This door must be made using alchemy. Right? A certified alchemist! Why does Dad only get serious when he’s making stuff to keep us out?
How long has it been since I last crossed this threshold? …I’m coming in, Brother!