Part 17: An Ambassador of Peace (Synopsis)
SynopsisGnomeday, Gnome-Decan 2, ND2018
I was worried it'd be back to the old boring days, but when I woke up I
was told to go to the castle because Natalia was calling me. It looks like I
won't be confined again after all. I wonder what happened to make them let me
out...? Well, whatever the reason, at least I get to go out. I wonder if
Natalia's heard anything about Master Van? Guess I'll hit the castle and find
out.
I ran into Tear and Mohs whispering something to each other at the castle
entrance.
They were saying something about the Seventh Fonstone... Is that the Score
that Tear's looking for? Then Mohs noticed me, but he seemed to be in a
better mood than yesterday. He told me Jade was in the audience hall. He
REALLY bugs me.
I entered the audience hall with Mohs and Tear, and Jade was waiting
inside. Uncle and Father were both there, and they told me to go to the town
of Akzeriuth in Malkuth as a goodwill ambassador from Kimlasca.
Apparently there's a bunch of miasma coming out from underground there,
and the people of the town are in bad shape. The road to Akzeriuth on the
Malkuth side is unusable and it's only reachable from Kimlasca, so Malkuth
was asking for help. They said that if we save Akzeriuth, it would be a good
step toward peace.
To be honest, it sounds like a real pain and I didn't want to accept it,
but they said they'd free Master Van if I did, so I gave in. Then Uncle told
me something unbelievable.
He said I'm the hero read in Yulia's Score.
Yulia's Score contains the world's future, and a part of the Sixth
Fonstone that contains that Score is held by the Kimlasca-Lanvaldear royal
family. According to it, one of the royal family with red hair who inherits
Lorelei's power will lead the Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear to prosperity.
In other words, me.
If I go to Akzeriuth, Yulia's Score will come true, and Kimlasca will
prosper. This is why they were keeping me in confinement, too. So if I go
along with this and become a hero, I'll no longer have to be imprisoned in my
own manor. Sounds good to me!
It's not just me going to Akzeriuth--Tear and Jade are coming too. And
they said I could take Guy and Master Van along with me too. Yes! Now I can
finally go on a trip with Master Van! He's in the underground cell--I can't
wait to see him!
When I got to the underground cell, Master Van had just been released.
There, I found out the true meaning of the Score.
There was more to Yulia's Score than what I'd heard in the audience hall.
It says my power will cause calamity, and be used as a weapon of Kimlasca. So
that's why Master Van said I was being held as a weapon...
The Order of Lorelei seems to believe that my presence will cause a war
between Malkuth and Kimlasca, and Master Van was trying to keep me from being
used as a tool of war. Here's his plan.
First, I'll go to Akzeriuth as a goodwill ambassador. The Score says that
the war happens when I move people out of Akzeriuth, so instead of doing
that, I'll use hyperresonance to destroy the miasma in the town. Then,
instead of returning to Kimlasca, I'll follow Master Van to Daath. That way,
Kimlasca won't be able to use me.
Master Van's great! He's always thinking of me. I asked him why, and he
told me about something from my past that I've forgotten.
When I was young, I was put through lots of cruel experiments because of
my hyperresonance power, and so I asked Master Van to take me to Daath. He
tried to take me from the manor once to fulfill my wish. So that kidnapping
that everybody says was Malkuth's work was actually Master Van trying to save
me.
Master Van said he'll make sure we get away this time. So I promised to
keep the plan a secret, and we headed out of the castle to rejoin everybody
else.
When we rejoined everybody outside, Jade had a real downer for us. He said
the Oracle Knights were patrolling the sea, and that it was probably Mohs
trying to stop me from getting to Akzeriuth. Man, what the hell! What a
pain... What's with those guys?
Jade suggested putting out a decoy ship and traveling over land to
Chesedonia instead.
Master Van agreed, and then said he'd ride on the decoy ship with the rest
of the aid team. He said that it would make the decoy more convincing, but I
want to stay with him!
He wouldn't listen to me, though, and we ended up having to travel
separately. So I'm stuck with the four-eyed devil, the cold-blooded girl, and
Guy... It doesn't get any more boring than this. We should be able to rejoin
Master Van once we get to Chesedonia, so we'll have to hurry.
On the way out of Baticul, we ran into Anise. She said Ion's disappeared.
According to an eyewitness, the Dark Wings kidnapped him and took him out of
the city. Those Dark Wings sure like to cause trouble! Anise tried to leave
Baticul to find him, but Sync is keeping watch over the exit.
So now if we tried to leave Baticul, Sync would notice us and the Oracle
Knights would know the ship's a decoy.
That left us without a way out, but then Guy suggested going to an
abandoned factory in the old city. We might be able to get outside through
it. He said there's an aircar that we can ride to the factory. Anise decided
to come along to search for Ion, so the five of us headed for the aircar
platform.
When we got to the abandoned factory, Natalia was waiting for us. She says
that as a princess she can hardly overlook Akzeriuth's plight. But Akzeriuth
is part of Malkuth! Why should she care? That sense of justice, that always
wanting to help people--it's really annoying. But Natalia overheard me and
Van talking, and she threatened to tell everybody about it, so I gave in and
let her come. Then Tear and everybody gave me nasty looks... Hey, I'm the
ambassador! They should just do what I say!
We headed deeper into the factory ruins. Since it used to be a factory, it
ought to have facilities for disposing of waste water, which means we should
be able to get out. We'd better get looking.
We made our way through the factory, defeated a weird monster, and finally
found a way out of Baticul. It's pretty high up, so we'll have to take a
ladder down. Man, what a pain... And now we'll have to cross the desert.
*Sigh*
I can't believe what I saw...
It was raining when we got out of the abandoned factory. There was a
landship I didn't recognize off in the distance, and Sync was taking Ion off
somewhere... I ran up to try and save Ion, and then one of the enemies turned
to face me.
That was the first time I saw Asch's face.
I felt like puking. I actually did puke later. Asch had the same face as
me. It felt like I was looking at myself in a mirror. I still can't believe
it... Even for twins we look too alike... What is he, anyway...?
Everyone else was surprised too, but we've got bigger problems. Now the
Six God-Generals know that we're traveling over land, and they got away with
Ion. I thought about going back to Baticul and taking a ship, but Natalia
said the port's closed off and we wouldn't be able to use it. We have to save
Ion anyway, so we ended up continuing our overland trek. For the moment,
we'll head for the oasis while we keep watch for any sign of that landship.
But man... just who is that Asch guy?