This definitely seems like the outskirts...wait, is that another city, on wheels?
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0-01-4, "We're doing this ourselves."
Shady
Life been going hard man
got a wee bit sick so I got home early, rested, and can write now.
Hibiscus PoV:
"Sorry, I don't think that's a good idea right now..."
You said, with good reason, after all, these 'Iberian Scholars' are probably better off on their own, plus, you've already got your stress to worry about.
You start to walk away and wave goodbye to them. They could probably deal with it on their own.
3rd person PoV:
"..."
"Wait until she can't hear us, Roland." Yesod spoke, knowing exactly what the black fixer might say.
"There goes our only lead...Well, better take that disguise well, because we'll be studying about this alright." Roland complained, after being sure Hibiscus was out of hearing range.
"Well~, it's gonna be more fun that way~" Chesed says, surprisingly enthusiastic about the need to study by themselves.
"...We should start this investigation by asking one of the people who 'made the recovery'. That is my opinion." Yesod calmly expressed, yes, that is what they should be doing.
"Well, we'll need to be able to find one first, that's what..." Roland spoke, before taking a look at the afterglow hall.
Yesod PoV:
You are looking around with your friends, trying to look for somewhere to start.
Well, here you go, a bunch of infected, spreading rumors.
One of them approaches you and your group, seemingly uncaring for your...rather, unique clothing choices.
"Hey, have you heard? A vampire's performing some weird rituals to bring ahead a plague to the town via originium slugs...as if our oripathy isn't already enough of a disease..." The rumor-spreading infected says, slightly bringing a sense of confusion to you, Roland, and Chesed, you elbow them, signaling them to not question anything, as it might bring some worse eyes. From what you can gather, originium slugs are common 'infected creatures' in this world...You had forgotten to tell them about it. But it doesn't matter, you can explain it to the other two later.
"...Do you happen to know where the originium slugs might be holing up right now?" You ask, not expecting an answer.
"I dunno man, probably the sewers." The rumor spreader says with some exhaustion, before heading off to speak to another group of infected.
"No harm in checking it out, what do you two say?" You turn to Roland and Chesed, who are nodding in agreement.
"Might as well check it out, I suppose~? We could do a favor to the afterglow by getting rid of some slugs for them~?"
"Eh, it is a lead, why not."
"Very well, then. Let's find our way into the sewers." You say, looking at a balcony with some railings, and a staircase leading down to what you assume to be the sewers.
You and your coworkers make your way to the entrance to the sewers, Chesed and Roland making somewhat of a comment.
"Wonder what vampires are like in this world~? Seems like they are a thing, after all~"
"Let's just hope they're not like bloodfiends...Just the red night is annoying enough in-and-of herself."
Roland PoV:
...Yeah, this keeps reminding you of the time you took on the blood-red night alongside Angelica, first you're hunting down a vampire planning to bring a 'plague' to the afterglow as if the people there aren't already infected with oripathy, and now you're inside the sewers, just like that time.
Memories are so helpful yet harmful. You draw out Durandal, in the event, those 'originium slugs', as that infected and Yesod call them, decide to approach.
Inside the sewers are...very dark, you didn't know what you expected.
Luckily though, you find a flashlight inside of the sewers, a bit broken, but it still turns on.
You shine your way through the sewers, being careful about getting your clothes dirty, leading the other two with you as well.
Lachmann PoV:
You're Lachmann, and you are thinking of your next step of what you'll do with the slugs, how you'll release them, for example.
But you suddenly hear something, a group of three people.
Simple enough, they'll be the slugs' first victims.
"Who are you?" One of them called out, that one's wearing a black suit...these people sure dress exotic while coming from a gone-to-shit nation.
"I don't need to answer." You reply, before sending the slugs forward.
One of them looks like they draw out one of their 3 swords, it's not going to h-
What the?
Roland PoV:
Well, you get your first look at the 'originium slugs'.
It looks a bit weird, but eh, nothing you and your pals can't handle.
Feels like the sweepers, the same tactics, too, overwhelm the enemies with numbers.
But your friends can simply wipe out many all at once. Chesed takes the lead in destroying the slugs, you've seen the purple tear do this before; 'Mirage storm'.
Chesed disappears, only to appear behind each of the slugs, bashing them in their head (?), slicing and stabbing each of them.
Just like Iori.
Most of the slugs died right there. Most being a keyword, some of them are still there.
You decide to take care of them yourself, Durandal.
"Well, your forces are gone now, tell us, who the hell are you? The vampire planning to launch the attack with the slugs?" You spoke up after getting rid of the last of the slugs.
"!" The man gasps, before bolting away, you, Yesod, and Chesed giving chase.
"Dammit, these sewers are complicated! This dude's gotta spend half his life in here to know the way around that well!"
"Save your breaths, it's only going to make sprinting harder."
Lachmann PoV:
You messed up so, so bad.
You're being chased throughout the sewers, most of the slugs being obliterated by the man in purple, and the man in black just got rid of some that survived.
The remnants of the witch king won't be happy with this fuck-up of yours, not like you'll even survive the intruders after seeing how easily they destroyed your army that you planned to use to inflict a plague upon the town...
Left, left, right, this should be the way to get out...
They haven't gotten a good look at you yet, You can try to escape into a crowd, the purple-haired one might have recognized you, though, considering he didn't even contribute to getting rid of the slugs.
No matter, you just need to leave...
You got lost yourself too. Shit.
You can hear that trio's footsteps getting closer, you keep going, even though you know eventually you'll get cornered.
...' Eventually' was quicker than you thought.
"Alright, cut the shit, tell us what you know." The guy wearing the suit asks, somehow having a spear in his hands, even though he wasn't carrying anything earlier.
"Tch, wait until the remnant hears about this!" You threaten, knowing full well that they'll come after you too.
"The remnant? Yeah, you can probably tell us about that. We're from Iberia and don't know shit about the local factions." The one in black raises a question, one that sort of surprises you.
"...The remnants of the witch king. We are a group of musicians from the national ensemble, an orchestra in the capital, Leithanian army casters, and so many more places, gathered to slowly resurrect the great witch king! Backwater fucking Iberians. Half their country is just water." You answered, muttering an insult under your breath.
But the one with black hair seems to hear the insult under your breath, and retorted;
"Oh yeah? Then if you think we're soooo backwater compared to the remnant or the rest of the world, then would you be so damn kind as to tell us who the hell the witch king even is?" That guy seems pretty mad, you thought. Does he have something against musicians?
"The witch king...he's great, one of the best casters in the history of Leithanian, no, the best caster in the history of Terra! He had defended us against the Gaulish empire's invasion by perpetrating the battle of the four emperors!" You spoke with glory, even though you are definitely going to die sometime soon at their hands.
"...I never thought Malkuth would've been better here..." The one in black commented, with the purple-hair and blue-hair nodding in agreement.
Malkuth, such a weird name...Maybe it's one of their colleagues, considering that the creeps probably have not-normal names.
3rd person PoV:
Well, with most of the intel gathered...there's only one thing the trio wants to ask, specifically Yesod.
"Sir, would you happen to know anything about the 'miraculous recovery' the people of Afterglow are making?" Yesod asks, grabbing Lechmann by the collar.
"A-ah...yeah, I do know some of it, mainly-" Lechmann was not the person to be able to stand for intimidation long, and had made the assumption that Yesod stood by when Roland and Chesed destroyed the slugs because his prowess would be too overwhelming for the sewers to even handle.
"Mainly that it suppresses the symptoms, but accelerates the condition...what sorts of arts allows that blue guy to even move around at that speed-, I-it came from Kreide and Gertrude Strollo's 'Voice of terra' trying to merge into one-" Lechmann gave the details to almost everything.
Coward, but understandable. At least he didn't run away 4 damn times, Roland thought.
"...Is there a way we can stop this?" Roland raised a question, much to Yesod and Chesed's surprise.
"I don't think..." Lechmann weakly says.
"Fucking useless...well, great, now we know what's going on, now we just need to look for Kreide and Gertrude, whoever they are." Roland says, before turning back to Lechmann.
"Do you at least know who Kreide and Gertrude are?" Yesod asks before Roland could, letting go of Lechmann's collar.
"Yeah, I do, Gertrude is also supposedly under the guise of 'Ebenholz', so look for that name, I guess. They're two musicians who are going to perform in the afterglow hall sometime soon. That's all I know."
"Well, thanks for that, you can live, we'll just..." Roland says, suddenly stopping in his tracks.
Yesod PoV:
Well, you got some good intel alright.
So, there's something called 'Terra' here, and it has a voice that lingers in two people's heads, and apparently a cult by the name of 'The Remnants of the witch king' really, really needs to get a hold of the two unlucky people. Apparently, the voices are trying to merge into each other as well.
You wonder how that cult is, hopefully, they're not as bad as the index.
Your thought gears are put into action as you and your friends waltz away from the crime scene, leaving that person intact.
...
The witch king, the greatest caster to ever live, according to that guy you shook down for intel.
Terra might be what this world is called.
Stomp, Stomp. That's the sound you and your friends' footsteps are making.
3 at a time, yes, you are alone here. You just need to find the exit now.
There's a possibility that the voice of Terra is the witch king's remaining power because someone that powerful usually doesn't just die (well, you don't even know about him actually being dead or not, that was a guess from the remnants of the witch king's mission.) without leaving something behind. But there are other possibilities, Terra seems to be a very, very big world if there's a country that can be considered backwater.
Anyways, back on track.
The voice's attempt at merging from the two people, Kreide and 'Ebenholz', as you've heard, caused an arts effect so intense it started to accelerate and conceal the infected's symptoms...
That's going to be a problem.
What would be the trio's best course of action?
-[] Check out the afterglow hall, a concert's going to be held there, something might be lying in wait there
-[] Try to find Ebenholz and Kreide, apparently they hold 'The voice of terra', whatever that is.
-[] Write-in
Hibiscus PoV:
"Sorry, I don't think that's a good idea right now..."
You said, with good reason, after all, these 'Iberian Scholars' are probably better off on their own, plus, you've already got your stress to worry about.
You start to walk away and wave goodbye to them. They could probably deal with it on their own.
3rd person PoV:
"..."
"Wait until she can't hear us, Roland." Yesod spoke, knowing exactly what the black fixer might say.
"There goes our only lead...Well, better take that disguise well, because we'll be studying about this alright." Roland complained, after being sure Hibiscus was out of hearing range.
"Well~, it's gonna be more fun that way~" Chesed says, surprisingly enthusiastic about the need to study by themselves.
"...We should start this investigation by asking one of the people who 'made the recovery'. That is my opinion." Yesod calmly expressed, yes, that is what they should be doing.
"Well, we'll need to be able to find one first, that's what..." Roland spoke, before taking a look at the afterglow hall.
Yesod PoV:
You are looking around with your friends, trying to look for somewhere to start.
Well, here you go, a bunch of infected, spreading rumors.
One of them approaches you and your group, seemingly uncaring for your...rather, unique clothing choices.
"Hey, have you heard? A vampire's performing some weird rituals to bring ahead a plague to the town via originium slugs...as if our oripathy isn't already enough of a disease..." The rumor-spreading infected says, slightly bringing a sense of confusion to you, Roland, and Chesed, you elbow them, signaling them to not question anything, as it might bring some worse eyes. From what you can gather, originium slugs are common 'infected creatures' in this world...You had forgotten to tell them about it. But it doesn't matter, you can explain it to the other two later.
"...Do you happen to know where the originium slugs might be holing up right now?" You ask, not expecting an answer.
"I dunno man, probably the sewers." The rumor spreader says with some exhaustion, before heading off to speak to another group of infected.
"No harm in checking it out, what do you two say?" You turn to Roland and Chesed, who are nodding in agreement.
"Might as well check it out, I suppose~? We could do a favor to the afterglow by getting rid of some slugs for them~?"
"Eh, it is a lead, why not."
"Very well, then. Let's find our way into the sewers." You say, looking at a balcony with some railings, and a staircase leading down to what you assume to be the sewers.
You and your coworkers make your way to the entrance to the sewers, Chesed and Roland making somewhat of a comment.
"Wonder what vampires are like in this world~? Seems like they are a thing, after all~"
"Let's just hope they're not like bloodfiends...Just the red night is annoying enough in-and-of herself."
Roland PoV:
...Yeah, this keeps reminding you of the time you took on the blood-red night alongside Angelica, first you're hunting down a vampire planning to bring a 'plague' to the afterglow as if the people there aren't already infected with oripathy, and now you're inside the sewers, just like that time.
Memories are so helpful yet harmful. You draw out Durandal, in the event, those 'originium slugs', as that infected and Yesod call them, decide to approach.
Inside the sewers are...very dark, you didn't know what you expected.
Luckily though, you find a flashlight inside of the sewers, a bit broken, but it still turns on.
You shine your way through the sewers, being careful about getting your clothes dirty, leading the other two with you as well.
Lachmann PoV:
You're Lachmann, and you are thinking of your next step of what you'll do with the slugs, how you'll release them, for example.
But you suddenly hear something, a group of three people.
Simple enough, they'll be the slugs' first victims.
"Who are you?" One of them called out, that one's wearing a black suit...these people sure dress exotic while coming from a gone-to-shit nation.
"I don't need to answer." You reply, before sending the slugs forward.
One of them looks like they draw out one of their 3 swords, it's not going to h-
What the?
Roland PoV:
Well, you get your first look at the 'originium slugs'.
It looks a bit weird, but eh, nothing you and your pals can't handle.
Feels like the sweepers, the same tactics, too, overwhelm the enemies with numbers.
But your friends can simply wipe out many all at once. Chesed takes the lead in destroying the slugs, you've seen the purple tear do this before; 'Mirage storm'.
Chesed disappears, only to appear behind each of the slugs, bashing them in their head (?), slicing and stabbing each of them.
Just like Iori.
Most of the slugs died right there. Most being a keyword, some of them are still there.
You decide to take care of them yourself, Durandal.
"Well, your forces are gone now, tell us, who the hell are you? The vampire planning to launch the attack with the slugs?" You spoke up after getting rid of the last of the slugs.
"!" The man gasps, before bolting away, you, Yesod, and Chesed giving chase.
"Dammit, these sewers are complicated! This dude's gotta spend half his life in here to know the way around that well!"
"Save your breaths, it's only going to make sprinting harder."
Lachmann PoV:
You messed up so, so bad.
You're being chased throughout the sewers, most of the slugs being obliterated by the man in purple, and the man in black just got rid of some that survived.
The remnants of the witch king won't be happy with this fuck-up of yours, not like you'll even survive the intruders after seeing how easily they destroyed your army that you planned to use to inflict a plague upon the town...
Left, left, right, this should be the way to get out...
They haven't gotten a good look at you yet, You can try to escape into a crowd, the purple-haired one might have recognized you, though, considering he didn't even contribute to getting rid of the slugs.
No matter, you just need to leave...
You got lost yourself too. Shit.
You can hear that trio's footsteps getting closer, you keep going, even though you know eventually you'll get cornered.
...' Eventually' was quicker than you thought.
"Alright, cut the shit, tell us what you know." The guy wearing the suit asks, somehow having a spear in his hands, even though he wasn't carrying anything earlier.
"Tch, wait until the remnant hears about this!" You threaten, knowing full well that they'll come after you too.
"The remnant? Yeah, you can probably tell us about that. We're from Iberia and don't know shit about the local factions." The one in black raises a question, one that sort of surprises you.
"...The remnants of the witch king. We are a group of musicians from the national ensemble, an orchestra in the capital, Leithanian army casters, and so many more places, gathered to slowly resurrect the great witch king! Backwater fucking Iberians. Half their country is just water." You answered, muttering an insult under your breath.
But the one with black hair seems to hear the insult under your breath, and retorted;
"Oh yeah? Then if you think we're soooo backwater compared to the remnant or the rest of the world, then would you be so damn kind as to tell us who the hell the witch king even is?" That guy seems pretty mad, you thought. Does he have something against musicians?
"The witch king...he's great, one of the best casters in the history of Leithanian, no, the best caster in the history of Terra! He had defended us against the Gaulish empire's invasion by perpetrating the battle of the four emperors!" You spoke with glory, even though you are definitely going to die sometime soon at their hands.
"...I never thought Malkuth would've been better here..." The one in black commented, with the purple-hair and blue-hair nodding in agreement.
Malkuth, such a weird name...Maybe it's one of their colleagues, considering that the creeps probably have not-normal names.
3rd person PoV:
Well, with most of the intel gathered...there's only one thing the trio wants to ask, specifically Yesod.
"Sir, would you happen to know anything about the 'miraculous recovery' the people of Afterglow are making?" Yesod asks, grabbing Lechmann by the collar.
"A-ah...yeah, I do know some of it, mainly-" Lechmann was not the person to be able to stand for intimidation long, and had made the assumption that Yesod stood by when Roland and Chesed destroyed the slugs because his prowess would be too overwhelming for the sewers to even handle.
"Mainly that it suppresses the symptoms, but accelerates the condition...what sorts of arts allows that blue guy to even move around at that speed-, I-it came from Kreide and Gertrude Strollo's 'Voice of terra' trying to merge into one-" Lechmann gave the details to almost everything.
Coward, but understandable. At least he didn't run away 4 damn times, Roland thought.
"...Is there a way we can stop this?" Roland raised a question, much to Yesod and Chesed's surprise.
"I don't think..." Lechmann weakly says.
"Fucking useless...well, great, now we know what's going on, now we just need to look for Kreide and Gertrude, whoever they are." Roland says, before turning back to Lechmann.
"Do you at least know who Kreide and Gertrude are?" Yesod asks before Roland could, letting go of Lechmann's collar.
"Yeah, I do, Gertrude is also supposedly under the guise of 'Ebenholz', so look for that name, I guess. They're two musicians who are going to perform in the afterglow hall sometime soon. That's all I know."
"Well, thanks for that, you can live, we'll just..." Roland says, suddenly stopping in his tracks.
Yesod PoV:
Well, you got some good intel alright.
So, there's something called 'Terra' here, and it has a voice that lingers in two people's heads, and apparently a cult by the name of 'The Remnants of the witch king' really, really needs to get a hold of the two unlucky people. Apparently, the voices are trying to merge into each other as well.
You wonder how that cult is, hopefully, they're not as bad as the index.
Your thought gears are put into action as you and your friends waltz away from the crime scene, leaving that person intact.
...
The witch king, the greatest caster to ever live, according to that guy you shook down for intel.
Terra might be what this world is called.
Stomp, Stomp. That's the sound you and your friends' footsteps are making.
3 at a time, yes, you are alone here. You just need to find the exit now.
There's a possibility that the voice of Terra is the witch king's remaining power because someone that powerful usually doesn't just die (well, you don't even know about him actually being dead or not, that was a guess from the remnants of the witch king's mission.) without leaving something behind. But there are other possibilities, Terra seems to be a very, very big world if there's a country that can be considered backwater.
Anyways, back on track.
The voice's attempt at merging from the two people, Kreide and 'Ebenholz', as you've heard, caused an arts effect so intense it started to accelerate and conceal the infected's symptoms...
That's going to be a problem.
What would be the trio's best course of action?
-[] Check out the afterglow hall, a concert's going to be held there, something might be lying in wait there
-[] Try to find Ebenholz and Kreide, apparently they hold 'The voice of terra', whatever that is.
-[] Write-in
Last edited:
[X] Try to find Ebenholz and Kreide, apparently they hold 'The voice of terra', whatever that is.
Made the vote, haven't read the update yet (*looks at looming backlog of stuff to read*), will do once I have time... next week. OTL Or soon if I feel lazy. Dx
Made the vote, haven't read the update yet (*looks at looming backlog of stuff to read*), will do once I have time... next week. OTL Or soon if I feel lazy. Dx
Vote closed
0-01-05, "Search for 'em"
Shady
Life been going hard man
soo, the same thing, look for the guys, aight.
still pretty ill but I can write bro trust
feels like the previous chapter's an exposition dump :<
Also, might possibly introduce an oc in this chapter, who knows
Roland PoV:
"We still need to find our way outta here first, shouldn't we~?" Chesed spoke up, which, was fair enough.
"Yes, and after that, we'll look for Kreide and Ebenholz. It's a shame we didn't get a description of them, but we can more than likely ask around the townsfolk for those names." Yesod answers, in which you agree.
You point toward what is probably the exit, an open gate in which you got into the sewers in the first place.
"Found it." You say, as the light was sort of blinding you, after being used to the dark sewers only lit up by your flashlight.
"Alright~, now we can get to searching for those two now~" Chesed says.
"...I would agree." Yesod says. You decide to speak as well.
"Where should we start, then? Maybe find the guy who will perform at the concert, and ask who's performing with him?"
"That would be our best lead...From what I've heard, his name is Herr Czerny." Yesod answers, well, simple enough, look for this Czerny guy, and ask him about Kreide and Ebenholz.
And it shouldn't be that hard as you exited the sewers and start walking into the streets, keeping yourselves surprisingly clean.
"Maybe we could go to a bar, might be able to look for more intel there." You suggested, but with Chesed slightly teasing you for it.
"Roland~, you already missing Netzach ~?"
"Tch, shut up, Chesed...but, yeah, I do want a drink." You respond.
Timeskip to bar - 3rd person PoV:
The trio arrives in the bar, gaining some weird eyes because everyone can't assume what race they are, and where they even came from. They ignored it, though, choosing to go back to their drinking.
They don't even seem to have money on them, weirdly enough.
"Maybe we can run some errands for them in exchange for drinks and intel..." Roland speaks with some hope.
They sat at the front bar, next to the calm old man who's the bartender.
"Welcome, strangers! Where you from?" The bartender asks, while having an interested smile.
"Iberia, just a few Ægir from Iberia who're here to study the musical arts."
"Oho! Well, my friends, you came to the right place! First timer's free! What would you like?"
"...Do you happen to know about the local happenings? We're here to look for two people, Kreide and Ebenholz, to be precise." Yesod asks.
"Oh! Of course I do…well, to be fair, I only know one of them. We don't know why Ebenholz's a noble who came to the afterglow, but it's probably to see Herr Czerny's farewell performance. That's all I know about Ebenholz. But! Kreide on the other hand…firstly, though, would ya'll wanna drink to listen to this old man's ramblings?"
The trio look at each other, all of them knowing full well what Chesed is going to say.
"Do you have coffee~?" He asks with sparkles in his eyes.
"U-uh, yeah, we do have those, do you want 'em?" The bartender answers, being slightly shocked by this answer.
"Nice~! A cup of coffee for me, please~? Anything will do~" Chesed answers with joy in his voice.
"Don't mind him, he really likes coffee. Still don't know where he picked up this habit. Iberia's gone to shit, and he only worries about bloody coffee." Roland retorts, maybe making the disguise work a bit better.
"Oh! A patriotic one, too? Still believin' the golden age's returnin'?" The bartender asks, while preparing the coffee for Chesed.
"Yeah. There ain't anything Iberians can't do if we work together!" Roland cheered, before asking for a drink of his own. "Anything will do, just don't be too strong."
Yeah, if only Malkuth is here to study this world's history, they would've been so much better off, why couldn't Angela just send 4 people?
Eh, it's her judgment.
"Can't blame ya, a lot of people still believe in it. How about you, purple?" He asks after finishing Chesed's coffee, before moving on to Roland's, just some whiskey.
"...I don't drink, but something would be nice." Yesod answers, slightly huffing at being called 'purple', but he understood why.
"Alrighty! Damn, you people are a bit hard to decipher, s'pecially purple over here, too formal…not meanin' to offend." The bartender makes a comment, to which Roland responds.
"Comes with being used to horrible crime."
"Let's forget about that, though! Ya'll wanna know about Kreide, yeah?"
"Yes. That is why we came here in the first place." Yesod responds.
"Well…where do I even start? I do know a few things about him, he lives at L987 with his granny and granpa, musician, cello, actually. Always a nice kid, heard he earned a position to perform in the farewell concert with Ebenholz, actually. Both of them get along really, really bloody well, weirdly enough. Eben's a noble kid, and Kreide's a peasant, and they just met, like, what, 7 days ago? Treat each other like they knew each other for their entire lives. 'An they're gonna perform with THE Czerny because the two guys 'at was s'posed to perform got injured! I'll be brutally honest with ya, I knew something was up!"
"So...Yeah, that's helpful. Thanks...what's your name?" Roland thanked him, before asking the bartender's name and taking a sip of his whiskey.
"Alexey, and no problem! Glad to help a fellow man out! Hope yer enjoyin' the stay." The now named Alexey says as he finishes coffee for Yesod as well.
They finish up their drinks and waved goodbye and thank you to Alexey.
"Man...they're pretty nice people. Shame they're probably goin' ta leave soon..." Alexey muses, before serving another patron.
Time skip - Alleyways, 3rd person:
"...I think we forgot to ask where Kreide lives." Roland realizes, just a bit too late.
"We have forgotten indeed, and it seems we're lost." Yesod replied, formal as ever, even though their situation is a bit dire.
"...You're the people who gotten rid of Lachmann's slugs, aren't you?" An odd voice boomed behind them.
"You mean the guy in the sewers? Then, yeah. It was us. Well, not really. Yesod didn't contribute...wait. Who's that?" Roland answers the voice, before turning around and being met with a strange man.
He has deer horns and wearing a strange yellow mask.
It's also worth noting that he's a lot taller than the librarians, Roland only being 2/3s of his height.
The man is wearing a long hood, effectively completely concealing his appearance.
"Don't tell me you're part of the remnants or whatever that slug guy's faction was?" Roland asks.
"The remnants of the witch king, you backwater bloody Iberians!" The man shouted, before drawing out a violin.
"A...violin?"
"Roland~, have you already forgotten about Leithanian and their arts~?" Chesed teased Roland, much to the confusion of the man, but a realization struck Roland.
"Right, musical...So, violin man, you're here to kill us for throwing a wrench in your plans, or what?" Roland asks, facepalming at him forgetting the most essential thing in leithanian.
"Violin man? No. I am not someone who can be called by a title that simple! I am a violinist!" He busted out in anger, before starting to play his violin, sending many arts attacks to the trio's way, who counterattacks well. Yesod redirected the blow aimed for him with the guandao, Roland summoned a dagger to evade it, and Chesed simply moved out of the way of the blow.
"Hm, hm~, mister, that was predictable~" Chesed teases, before rushing in with the 3rd sword, blunting stance.
The attacker only watched in awe, before the sheathed blade whacked him in the face.
"So...Yeah, the remnant was involved with those slugs Lechmann or whoever he was planning to unleash onto the town, yeah?" Roland asks the now staggering violinist.
"Tch, it's not so damn simple!" The violinist said, drawing some attention from other members of the remnant, a spire caster, and a saxophonist, to be precise.
The caster was an unidentifiable person wearing a mask again, they're as tall as the librarians, wearing a hood and having horns and ears. They wear fairly strange robes.
The saxophonist, however, had no mask covering his face, only a piece of cloth covering his neck, being a tall man with deer horns and carrying around a saxophone. He wears a coat and a fedora.
"...He's got bloody backup. These guys look like they're trouble." Roland says, and the two agree.
"We can take them on one by one. I'll take care of the short one." Yesod spoke, before pointing his Guandao at the spire caster.
"Short? Excuse me? All of you's are as bloody tall as I am!" The caster yelled with clear femininity, before launching her arts at Yesod, who barely dodges it. It landed on a nearby wall and made a purple splash.
"Yeah, Yesod's got this, I'll take the dude with the sax, seems he can do melee. Chesed, you get the violinist."
Yesod PoV:
Well, you've gotten yourself in trouble. A duel against three enemies, and you volunteered to take on the most battle-hardened one (or so it seems, according to Lachmann, some of the remnants of the witch king were from the leithanian army).
Not that that was that much of an issue, however. The spire caster was unexpectedly predictable, only using the same type of arts constantly.
You guess that the militaristic background didn't allow for much individuality, and instead focused on uniform union. Just like R-Corp.
No matter, the next barrage of arts was up, and you carefully countered; 'Fiery waltz'
5 attacks, most missed, and the caster was already out, needing time to prepare another barrage.
The way this girl fights reminds you of Solemn Lament, both E.G.O. and when you were fighting Angela on his floor's realization alongside your patron librarians.
The caster never saw what was aimed at her. Your Guandao lit up in flames thanks to Stigma workshop's effectiveness.
The caster, before she could even say another word, was struck down, and now lying on the ground from her injuries.
You debate finishing her off, but that wouldn't be necessary.
You leave the caster on the ground, and turn to your friends.
Roland PoV:
Well, Chesed seems to be doing fine, as you draw out Ragna workshop to rush down the saxophonist again.
Yesod already got his opponent down to the ground too...
Why won't this guy just die already! You thought, while utilizing Mook workshop to counter another blow.
You would've shot him already, if not for not being sure whether you can replace the bullets.
Doesn't matter, you rush him down with crystal Atelier, that one's sure to take him out.
And it did. He fell to the ground, but definitely still alive.
Only the caster seems to still be conscious. You could press her for intel, but you feel you already possess enough intel.
So you all just decide to leave her be for now.
...
The remnants still had backup, dammit.
You're still holding strong, sure, but that many? Chesed already exhausted 'Mirage Storm', and will need a while to be able to do that again. And Yesod attacking might destroy some of the buildings.
"Yeah...that's a bit too much." You say, before motioning for your friends to run.
3rd person PoV; Streets
"Oh, dear~, They've got a lot of men after us~" Chesed says as he dodges another arts attack from the mob.
"N-no shit! What the hell do we do in this situation...?" Roland says in a panic, but not before accidentally tripping and slamming into someone, pushing both him and the person to the ground.
"Sorry! I didn't see you!" Roland hastily apologized, before looking at the person he ran into, and that person is...
another chapter, baby!
And there's a fight! What do you guys think of it?
also I swear I wrote Chesed PoV before but decided against it because it sounded more like Oswald than anyone else 😔
Who's the person Roland ran into?
-[] The...Yesod lookalike he ran into earlier...? (Hibiscus)
-[] A grey-haired fox lady who's carrying a harp, she definitely looks like she hasn't gotten enough sleep. (Gertrude Strollo / Dame Gertrude)
-[] A black-haired man carrying a flute, he definitely looks like a noble. (Ebenholz)
-[] A red-haired deer man. (Czerny)
still pretty ill but I can write bro trust
feels like the previous chapter's an exposition dump :<
Also, might possibly introduce an oc in this chapter, who knows
Roland PoV:
"We still need to find our way outta here first, shouldn't we~?" Chesed spoke up, which, was fair enough.
"Yes, and after that, we'll look for Kreide and Ebenholz. It's a shame we didn't get a description of them, but we can more than likely ask around the townsfolk for those names." Yesod answers, in which you agree.
You point toward what is probably the exit, an open gate in which you got into the sewers in the first place.
"Found it." You say, as the light was sort of blinding you, after being used to the dark sewers only lit up by your flashlight.
"Alright~, now we can get to searching for those two now~" Chesed says.
"...I would agree." Yesod says. You decide to speak as well.
"Where should we start, then? Maybe find the guy who will perform at the concert, and ask who's performing with him?"
"That would be our best lead...From what I've heard, his name is Herr Czerny." Yesod answers, well, simple enough, look for this Czerny guy, and ask him about Kreide and Ebenholz.
And it shouldn't be that hard as you exited the sewers and start walking into the streets, keeping yourselves surprisingly clean.
"Maybe we could go to a bar, might be able to look for more intel there." You suggested, but with Chesed slightly teasing you for it.
"Roland~, you already missing Netzach ~?"
"Tch, shut up, Chesed...but, yeah, I do want a drink." You respond.
Timeskip to bar - 3rd person PoV:
The trio arrives in the bar, gaining some weird eyes because everyone can't assume what race they are, and where they even came from. They ignored it, though, choosing to go back to their drinking.
They don't even seem to have money on them, weirdly enough.
"Maybe we can run some errands for them in exchange for drinks and intel..." Roland speaks with some hope.
They sat at the front bar, next to the calm old man who's the bartender.
"Welcome, strangers! Where you from?" The bartender asks, while having an interested smile.
"Iberia, just a few Ægir from Iberia who're here to study the musical arts."
"Oho! Well, my friends, you came to the right place! First timer's free! What would you like?"
"...Do you happen to know about the local happenings? We're here to look for two people, Kreide and Ebenholz, to be precise." Yesod asks.
"Oh! Of course I do…well, to be fair, I only know one of them. We don't know why Ebenholz's a noble who came to the afterglow, but it's probably to see Herr Czerny's farewell performance. That's all I know about Ebenholz. But! Kreide on the other hand…firstly, though, would ya'll wanna drink to listen to this old man's ramblings?"
The trio look at each other, all of them knowing full well what Chesed is going to say.
"Do you have coffee~?" He asks with sparkles in his eyes.
"U-uh, yeah, we do have those, do you want 'em?" The bartender answers, being slightly shocked by this answer.
"Nice~! A cup of coffee for me, please~? Anything will do~" Chesed answers with joy in his voice.
"Don't mind him, he really likes coffee. Still don't know where he picked up this habit. Iberia's gone to shit, and he only worries about bloody coffee." Roland retorts, maybe making the disguise work a bit better.
"Oh! A patriotic one, too? Still believin' the golden age's returnin'?" The bartender asks, while preparing the coffee for Chesed.
"Yeah. There ain't anything Iberians can't do if we work together!" Roland cheered, before asking for a drink of his own. "Anything will do, just don't be too strong."
Yeah, if only Malkuth is here to study this world's history, they would've been so much better off, why couldn't Angela just send 4 people?
Eh, it's her judgment.
"Can't blame ya, a lot of people still believe in it. How about you, purple?" He asks after finishing Chesed's coffee, before moving on to Roland's, just some whiskey.
"...I don't drink, but something would be nice." Yesod answers, slightly huffing at being called 'purple', but he understood why.
"Alrighty! Damn, you people are a bit hard to decipher, s'pecially purple over here, too formal…not meanin' to offend." The bartender makes a comment, to which Roland responds.
"Comes with being used to horrible crime."
"Let's forget about that, though! Ya'll wanna know about Kreide, yeah?"
"Yes. That is why we came here in the first place." Yesod responds.
"Well…where do I even start? I do know a few things about him, he lives at L987 with his granny and granpa, musician, cello, actually. Always a nice kid, heard he earned a position to perform in the farewell concert with Ebenholz, actually. Both of them get along really, really bloody well, weirdly enough. Eben's a noble kid, and Kreide's a peasant, and they just met, like, what, 7 days ago? Treat each other like they knew each other for their entire lives. 'An they're gonna perform with THE Czerny because the two guys 'at was s'posed to perform got injured! I'll be brutally honest with ya, I knew something was up!"
"So...Yeah, that's helpful. Thanks...what's your name?" Roland thanked him, before asking the bartender's name and taking a sip of his whiskey.
"Alexey, and no problem! Glad to help a fellow man out! Hope yer enjoyin' the stay." The now named Alexey says as he finishes coffee for Yesod as well.
They finish up their drinks and waved goodbye and thank you to Alexey.
"Man...they're pretty nice people. Shame they're probably goin' ta leave soon..." Alexey muses, before serving another patron.
Time skip - Alleyways, 3rd person:
"...I think we forgot to ask where Kreide lives." Roland realizes, just a bit too late.
"We have forgotten indeed, and it seems we're lost." Yesod replied, formal as ever, even though their situation is a bit dire.
"...You're the people who gotten rid of Lachmann's slugs, aren't you?" An odd voice boomed behind them.
"You mean the guy in the sewers? Then, yeah. It was us. Well, not really. Yesod didn't contribute...wait. Who's that?" Roland answers the voice, before turning around and being met with a strange man.
He has deer horns and wearing a strange yellow mask.
It's also worth noting that he's a lot taller than the librarians, Roland only being 2/3s of his height.
The man is wearing a long hood, effectively completely concealing his appearance.
"Don't tell me you're part of the remnants or whatever that slug guy's faction was?" Roland asks.
"The remnants of the witch king, you backwater bloody Iberians!" The man shouted, before drawing out a violin.
"A...violin?"
"Roland~, have you already forgotten about Leithanian and their arts~?" Chesed teased Roland, much to the confusion of the man, but a realization struck Roland.
"Right, musical...So, violin man, you're here to kill us for throwing a wrench in your plans, or what?" Roland asks, facepalming at him forgetting the most essential thing in leithanian.
"Violin man? No. I am not someone who can be called by a title that simple! I am a violinist!" He busted out in anger, before starting to play his violin, sending many arts attacks to the trio's way, who counterattacks well. Yesod redirected the blow aimed for him with the guandao, Roland summoned a dagger to evade it, and Chesed simply moved out of the way of the blow.
"Hm, hm~, mister, that was predictable~" Chesed teases, before rushing in with the 3rd sword, blunting stance.
The attacker only watched in awe, before the sheathed blade whacked him in the face.
"So...Yeah, the remnant was involved with those slugs Lechmann or whoever he was planning to unleash onto the town, yeah?" Roland asks the now staggering violinist.
"Tch, it's not so damn simple!" The violinist said, drawing some attention from other members of the remnant, a spire caster, and a saxophonist, to be precise.
The caster was an unidentifiable person wearing a mask again, they're as tall as the librarians, wearing a hood and having horns and ears. They wear fairly strange robes.
The saxophonist, however, had no mask covering his face, only a piece of cloth covering his neck, being a tall man with deer horns and carrying around a saxophone. He wears a coat and a fedora.
"...He's got bloody backup. These guys look like they're trouble." Roland says, and the two agree.
"We can take them on one by one. I'll take care of the short one." Yesod spoke, before pointing his Guandao at the spire caster.
"Short? Excuse me? All of you's are as bloody tall as I am!" The caster yelled with clear femininity, before launching her arts at Yesod, who barely dodges it. It landed on a nearby wall and made a purple splash.
"Yeah, Yesod's got this, I'll take the dude with the sax, seems he can do melee. Chesed, you get the violinist."
Yesod PoV:
Well, you've gotten yourself in trouble. A duel against three enemies, and you volunteered to take on the most battle-hardened one (or so it seems, according to Lachmann, some of the remnants of the witch king were from the leithanian army).
Not that that was that much of an issue, however. The spire caster was unexpectedly predictable, only using the same type of arts constantly.
You guess that the militaristic background didn't allow for much individuality, and instead focused on uniform union. Just like R-Corp.
No matter, the next barrage of arts was up, and you carefully countered; 'Fiery waltz'
5 attacks, most missed, and the caster was already out, needing time to prepare another barrage.
The way this girl fights reminds you of Solemn Lament, both E.G.O. and when you were fighting Angela on his floor's realization alongside your patron librarians.
The caster never saw what was aimed at her. Your Guandao lit up in flames thanks to Stigma workshop's effectiveness.
The caster, before she could even say another word, was struck down, and now lying on the ground from her injuries.
You debate finishing her off, but that wouldn't be necessary.
You leave the caster on the ground, and turn to your friends.
Roland PoV:
Well, Chesed seems to be doing fine, as you draw out Ragna workshop to rush down the saxophonist again.
Yesod already got his opponent down to the ground too...
Why won't this guy just die already! You thought, while utilizing Mook workshop to counter another blow.
You would've shot him already, if not for not being sure whether you can replace the bullets.
Doesn't matter, you rush him down with crystal Atelier, that one's sure to take him out.
And it did. He fell to the ground, but definitely still alive.
Only the caster seems to still be conscious. You could press her for intel, but you feel you already possess enough intel.
So you all just decide to leave her be for now.
...
The remnants still had backup, dammit.
You're still holding strong, sure, but that many? Chesed already exhausted 'Mirage Storm', and will need a while to be able to do that again. And Yesod attacking might destroy some of the buildings.
"Yeah...that's a bit too much." You say, before motioning for your friends to run.
3rd person PoV; Streets
"Oh, dear~, They've got a lot of men after us~" Chesed says as he dodges another arts attack from the mob.
"N-no shit! What the hell do we do in this situation...?" Roland says in a panic, but not before accidentally tripping and slamming into someone, pushing both him and the person to the ground.
"Sorry! I didn't see you!" Roland hastily apologized, before looking at the person he ran into, and that person is...
another chapter, baby!
And there's a fight! What do you guys think of it?
also I swear I wrote Chesed PoV before but decided against it because it sounded more like Oswald than anyone else 😔
Who's the person Roland ran into?
-[] The...Yesod lookalike he ran into earlier...? (Hibiscus)
-[] A grey-haired fox lady who's carrying a harp, she definitely looks like she hasn't gotten enough sleep. (Gertrude Strollo / Dame Gertrude)
-[] A black-haired man carrying a flute, he definitely looks like a noble. (Ebenholz)
-[] A red-haired deer man. (Czerny)
Vote closed
Shady
Life been going hard man
sorry lads, nothing's coming up in my head, but for tonight, you have a misc vote!
Should Lingering Echoes in this fic take place before the main story? I know all side stories take place after the main story, but I want an excuse to throw the librarians into the main story, haha
Should Lingering Echoes in this fic take place before the main story? I know all side stories take place after the main story, but I want an excuse to throw the librarians into the main story, haha
Vote closed
0-01-06, "Second plan."
Shady
Life been going hard man
Whelp, no one voted on that poll, so I'm taking the liberty, and saying that the library arrived before chapter 0 started.
and OC's showing up when the crew (maybe even the library too) get to RI.
3rd person PoV:
Roland ran into a black-haired man carrying a flute, he definitely looks like a noble.
No time to think though, the remnants are still chasing them.
"I...is that the remnant?" The man asks, with a calm voice.
"Yeah, I think?" Roland replied, before getting back up to run.
It seems like the remnant is also hunting this man down, as he also started to run with the trio.
"...Why are you coming with us?" Yesod asks, out of genuine curiosity.
"The remnant is also hunting me down. Can I trust you three?" The man answers, and asks another question, as they run from the surprising amount of remnant members.
"Yes, you can~, after all, we're just a bunch of Iberian scholars who intended to study musical arts, now look at what conspiracy we got ourselves into~" Chesed replied, before making a sad face.
"It would be ideal to save our breaths right now, though." Yesod says, and the trio, now a squad, agrees and keeps quiet, eventually getting away by running into an alleyway before the pursuing crowd could catch up.
"Woah, kay...now that we got away...who are you, and why are you being hunted down by the remnant?" Roland asks.
"Ebenholz, the voice of Terra. You?" The man, now identified as 'Ebenholz', answers, before shooting back a question of his own.
"Roland, That's...Daniel and Gabriel." Roland introduces himself and his pals, using their old names, maybe to not draw questions to their rather odd names.
"And we were being hunted down because we got rid of Lachmann's slugs." He finishes.
"Simple enough." Ebenholz answers.
"Indeed. Now, I want to know, do you know Kriede?" Yesod asks.
"Yes, I do. He's the person who's performing with me." While Ebenholz answers.
Timeskip - 4 hours later - streets - 3rd Person PoV:
Everyone was satisfied with what the other party had to offer, so Ebenholz went his way, and the trio went theirs.
After trotting in the streets for a little bit, they feel exhausted. Chesed specifically felt quite tired because of how many targets 'Mirage storm' had. Seems like safety in numbers is that cult's primary way of thinking. The day was coming to an end, the sun setting and the moon coming out.
"Phew~, today was exhausting~, we should find somewhere to rest..." Chesed stretched.
"That's gonna be a problem...where? We don't have money..." Roland cries out.
"There's no harm in trying out...what do you say about there?" Yesod suggested, pointing to a fairly small and humble inn.
After a lot, and a lot of yawning from everyone every once in a while, they arrive at the inn.
"Ah, welcome! What would you like, gentlemen?" The young and enthusiastic innkeeper asks.
"...Hey, we're really tired right now, and all of our money got stolen by some bandits on our way to Vysheim, mind if you can tell us what the worst room you have might cost?" Roland asks, hoping to get some shitty free room, because shit-ass mats and couches are better than the ground.
"Uh...well, if you're looking for the worst room here, 42 could be one, it's scheduled for demolition because of some safety concerns, but the people we've hired are busy, so yeah, you can probably stay there for the night." The innkeeper anxiously responds and with reason. Why would these strangers actively go out of their (or his) way to take the worst room that is scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt because of safety hazards just because they ran out of money?
"Eh, that'll do. Is there a bed in there?"
"I-, uh, yeah, there is. It isn't removed yet..."
"Goodie! What do you say, lads?" Roland turns to his pals, who nod in agreement. After all, this is what they can get.
"Then it's settled!" Roland says, before heading off towards the broken-down room.
The keeper hands Yesod the keys.
Room No.42, 3rd person PoV:
Well, he did say that it's the worst room, Roland thought.
It looks like just an average apartment in the backstreets, reminds Roland a bit of his own, actually.
There's a couch. Well, that's how Roland's spending his night, while the other two could take the double bed.
"Goodnight, everyone~, it's been a long day, Chesed out~" Chesed says, before collapsing in the bed while still in the purple tear's outfit.
"...Hold on, we still need to discuss stuff...and he's asleep." Roland tries to call out, but to no awail.
"I'm still here. What is it that you need to discuss about?" Yesod asks, taking a seat on the couch.
"It's, uh, about the order of the stuff around here, Yesod, can you still go outside to do me a favor?" Roland asks, which Yesod nods.
"Alright, so, get a few history books and a few more geography books, we'll need to learn as much about the world as possible." Roland then requests, which Yesod nods.
"I can do that. But are you sure you'll be able to read through them?" Yesod asks, which meets a chuckle from Roland.
"Ha, no. We can do that tomorrow together though, we need rest right now." Roland answers, before falling into the couch he was sat on, asleep.
"...Sweet dreams, everyone." Yesod says, before heading out to get the books.
Room 42, at the crack of dawn, Roland PoV:
You were the first person to wake up.
You are actually surprised that Chesed wasn't the first to wake up considering how much caffeine he probably has in his blood already.
Chesed is still knocked out cold on the bed, and Yesod...
Right, he went out to get books to study.
Yesod's knocked out cold trying to read a massive book titled 'Ursus and its glorious history'. Seeing the phrase 'Glorious' screams propaganda, at least to you.
You decide to read some books of your own, mainly what this world's nations has to offer.
"Terra's nations..." You unconsciously spoke out loud, before taking a seat next to the sleeping Yesod.
Today's going to be a hard tutoring session.
...
It's already noon, huh.
"Whew, it's already noon...who says we go get a break and go for a walk around town?" You ask.
"Sure. But let's compile what we've learned so far about Terra and its nations, who goes first?" Yesod asks, reasonable, after all, a bit of a revision would help.
"I can. I've read up on Iberia, and it's...fucked. They used to be one of the biggest nations in Terra, but 'The great silence' or something like that just swooped in and took all of their power away. All of their tech and stuff, and now weird things called Seaborns are populating the place. Apparently, strength in numbers is their thing, and they're very close to each other. People are still thinking the golden age will return again, but I really just don't see it happening." You explain, as you felt that it'd be important to know about the place you claim to be from.
"...It is messed up, as you said, indeed. That's..." Yesod remarks in a shocked tone you've never heard of before.
"Eh, that's all we need to know, want more details? Look at my book." You say, while pointing at your book, 'The History of Iberia - The coming and going of the golden age'. It's fairly large in size, but smaller then Yesod's Ursus history book.
"Maybe next time. But it's my turn. I've read up only on the many nations, not its exact history." Yesod says. Hm, looks like the propaganda-like Ursus history book doesn't do too well for him. Eh, no good in bringing it up again.
"I'll begin. Ursus, an indifferent and cruel ice land. Ursus is a very massive country filled with many mobile cities. The infected is discriminated against heavily already, but it's even worse in Ursus, where they're forced to mine originium until they die without rest." He summarizes. You think that Ursus has got to be bad, maybe even worse than District 23, even without the cannibalism...You don't think that the infected in Ursus even get paid if they can't rest. At least in the city, you're paid, even just a little, for doing things that would exhaust you to no end.
Let's hope you have no need to go there, ever.
"I'll continue. Yan, or great yan, is a country located between Higashi, Kazdel, and Ursus. It is an imperial monarchy with an enormous, centralized bureaucratic body run by its inhabitants. It specializes in martial arts and a massive, booming economy." Yesod continues.
"So...it's like the liu became their own country?" You ask.
"They can be compared to the liu, yes, but fire isn't something too prominent in their society." Yesod replies.
"Then there's Kazde-" Yesod was about to continue, but was interrupted by screams coming from the afterglow hall.
"What the-" You speak, should you go check it out?
holy shit I write so much fucking exposition
Should you check out the chaos?
[]-Yes, it might eventually catch up to you otherwise.
[]-No, keep on studying.
[]-Write-in
and OC's showing up when the crew (maybe even the library too) get to RI.
3rd person PoV:
Roland ran into a black-haired man carrying a flute, he definitely looks like a noble.
No time to think though, the remnants are still chasing them.
"I...is that the remnant?" The man asks, with a calm voice.
"Yeah, I think?" Roland replied, before getting back up to run.
It seems like the remnant is also hunting this man down, as he also started to run with the trio.
"...Why are you coming with us?" Yesod asks, out of genuine curiosity.
"The remnant is also hunting me down. Can I trust you three?" The man answers, and asks another question, as they run from the surprising amount of remnant members.
"Yes, you can~, after all, we're just a bunch of Iberian scholars who intended to study musical arts, now look at what conspiracy we got ourselves into~" Chesed replied, before making a sad face.
"It would be ideal to save our breaths right now, though." Yesod says, and the trio, now a squad, agrees and keeps quiet, eventually getting away by running into an alleyway before the pursuing crowd could catch up.
"Woah, kay...now that we got away...who are you, and why are you being hunted down by the remnant?" Roland asks.
"Ebenholz, the voice of Terra. You?" The man, now identified as 'Ebenholz', answers, before shooting back a question of his own.
"Roland, That's...Daniel and Gabriel." Roland introduces himself and his pals, using their old names, maybe to not draw questions to their rather odd names.
"And we were being hunted down because we got rid of Lachmann's slugs." He finishes.
"Simple enough." Ebenholz answers.
"Indeed. Now, I want to know, do you know Kriede?" Yesod asks.
"Yes, I do. He's the person who's performing with me." While Ebenholz answers.
Timeskip - 4 hours later - streets - 3rd Person PoV:
Everyone was satisfied with what the other party had to offer, so Ebenholz went his way, and the trio went theirs.
After trotting in the streets for a little bit, they feel exhausted. Chesed specifically felt quite tired because of how many targets 'Mirage storm' had. Seems like safety in numbers is that cult's primary way of thinking. The day was coming to an end, the sun setting and the moon coming out.
"Phew~, today was exhausting~, we should find somewhere to rest..." Chesed stretched.
"That's gonna be a problem...where? We don't have money..." Roland cries out.
"There's no harm in trying out...what do you say about there?" Yesod suggested, pointing to a fairly small and humble inn.
After a lot, and a lot of yawning from everyone every once in a while, they arrive at the inn.
"Ah, welcome! What would you like, gentlemen?" The young and enthusiastic innkeeper asks.
"...Hey, we're really tired right now, and all of our money got stolen by some bandits on our way to Vysheim, mind if you can tell us what the worst room you have might cost?" Roland asks, hoping to get some shitty free room, because shit-ass mats and couches are better than the ground.
"Uh...well, if you're looking for the worst room here, 42 could be one, it's scheduled for demolition because of some safety concerns, but the people we've hired are busy, so yeah, you can probably stay there for the night." The innkeeper anxiously responds and with reason. Why would these strangers actively go out of their (or his) way to take the worst room that is scheduled to be demolished and rebuilt because of safety hazards just because they ran out of money?
"Eh, that'll do. Is there a bed in there?"
"I-, uh, yeah, there is. It isn't removed yet..."
"Goodie! What do you say, lads?" Roland turns to his pals, who nod in agreement. After all, this is what they can get.
"Then it's settled!" Roland says, before heading off towards the broken-down room.
The keeper hands Yesod the keys.
Room No.42, 3rd person PoV:
Well, he did say that it's the worst room, Roland thought.
It looks like just an average apartment in the backstreets, reminds Roland a bit of his own, actually.
There's a couch. Well, that's how Roland's spending his night, while the other two could take the double bed.
"Goodnight, everyone~, it's been a long day, Chesed out~" Chesed says, before collapsing in the bed while still in the purple tear's outfit.
"...Hold on, we still need to discuss stuff...and he's asleep." Roland tries to call out, but to no awail.
"I'm still here. What is it that you need to discuss about?" Yesod asks, taking a seat on the couch.
"It's, uh, about the order of the stuff around here, Yesod, can you still go outside to do me a favor?" Roland asks, which Yesod nods.
"Alright, so, get a few history books and a few more geography books, we'll need to learn as much about the world as possible." Roland then requests, which Yesod nods.
"I can do that. But are you sure you'll be able to read through them?" Yesod asks, which meets a chuckle from Roland.
"Ha, no. We can do that tomorrow together though, we need rest right now." Roland answers, before falling into the couch he was sat on, asleep.
"...Sweet dreams, everyone." Yesod says, before heading out to get the books.
Room 42, at the crack of dawn, Roland PoV:
You were the first person to wake up.
You are actually surprised that Chesed wasn't the first to wake up considering how much caffeine he probably has in his blood already.
Chesed is still knocked out cold on the bed, and Yesod...
Right, he went out to get books to study.
Yesod's knocked out cold trying to read a massive book titled 'Ursus and its glorious history'. Seeing the phrase 'Glorious' screams propaganda, at least to you.
You decide to read some books of your own, mainly what this world's nations has to offer.
"Terra's nations..." You unconsciously spoke out loud, before taking a seat next to the sleeping Yesod.
Today's going to be a hard tutoring session.
...
It's already noon, huh.
"Whew, it's already noon...who says we go get a break and go for a walk around town?" You ask.
"Sure. But let's compile what we've learned so far about Terra and its nations, who goes first?" Yesod asks, reasonable, after all, a bit of a revision would help.
"I can. I've read up on Iberia, and it's...fucked. They used to be one of the biggest nations in Terra, but 'The great silence' or something like that just swooped in and took all of their power away. All of their tech and stuff, and now weird things called Seaborns are populating the place. Apparently, strength in numbers is their thing, and they're very close to each other. People are still thinking the golden age will return again, but I really just don't see it happening." You explain, as you felt that it'd be important to know about the place you claim to be from.
"...It is messed up, as you said, indeed. That's..." Yesod remarks in a shocked tone you've never heard of before.
"Eh, that's all we need to know, want more details? Look at my book." You say, while pointing at your book, 'The History of Iberia - The coming and going of the golden age'. It's fairly large in size, but smaller then Yesod's Ursus history book.
"Maybe next time. But it's my turn. I've read up only on the many nations, not its exact history." Yesod says. Hm, looks like the propaganda-like Ursus history book doesn't do too well for him. Eh, no good in bringing it up again.
"I'll begin. Ursus, an indifferent and cruel ice land. Ursus is a very massive country filled with many mobile cities. The infected is discriminated against heavily already, but it's even worse in Ursus, where they're forced to mine originium until they die without rest." He summarizes. You think that Ursus has got to be bad, maybe even worse than District 23, even without the cannibalism...You don't think that the infected in Ursus even get paid if they can't rest. At least in the city, you're paid, even just a little, for doing things that would exhaust you to no end.
Let's hope you have no need to go there, ever.
"I'll continue. Yan, or great yan, is a country located between Higashi, Kazdel, and Ursus. It is an imperial monarchy with an enormous, centralized bureaucratic body run by its inhabitants. It specializes in martial arts and a massive, booming economy." Yesod continues.
"So...it's like the liu became their own country?" You ask.
"They can be compared to the liu, yes, but fire isn't something too prominent in their society." Yesod replies.
"Then there's Kazde-" Yesod was about to continue, but was interrupted by screams coming from the afterglow hall.
"What the-" You speak, should you go check it out?
holy shit I write so much fucking exposition
Should you check out the chaos?
[]-Yes, it might eventually catch up to you otherwise.
[]-No, keep on studying.
[]-Write-in
Vote closed
[X] Yes, it might eventually catch up to you otherwise.
0-01-07, "...Reminds me that music can kill."
Shady
Life been going hard man
I accidentally posted aofgoijfdibf
this is not finished btw there's gonna be more.
You decide to go check out what was happening. You sprint out of the room with your gloves on, Chesed and Yesod following closely.
"..."
You get a mental reminder from something tingling inside your head...Vyshiem is a place based on musical arts.
musical.
You start to panic, as you storm through the streets toward the afterglow hall, your instincts slowly peak up, warning you that there's a beast right there.
But you feel some sort of nostalgia behind your instinct's speaking.
You eventually make it to the afterglow hall, apparently, you went so fast that you somehow lost your two friends...
You're alone...
Well, not quite. You see Ebenholz dueling the beast you felt.
That thing definitely is a beast, resembling a massive man with a deer-like head carrying a violin.
That nostalgia was well-found, as it reminds you of a certain pianist that left a massive massacre after his performance that you stopped.
But it seems that the beast has some connection with Ebenholz, as he's fighting it in a manner you recognize as fighting a friend...to free them from that form, maybe? You've heard that arts come in many forms, so maybe this is an arts usage went rogue?
No matter, you feel obligated to assist him.
You draw out the very blades you murdered the beast that destroyed your life with, Durandal.
You dash into the battlefield.
But the sight of battle…It only reminds you of the time you killed the pianist, but this time is somewhat different.
Ebenholz is fighting a beast. A gigantic deer man carrying a violin, to be precise.
That's going to be more annoying, as the pianist was stuck playing his piano in one location. Granted, no one but you could've even gotten close to the piano in the first place.
This one is different though.
No matter. A beast is still a beast, immobilized or not.
Hah, beast.
Reminds you of when you synchronized with the apocalypse bird.
Dammit, this isn't the time!
You clear your mind of thoughts, as you draw out crystal atelier, and dash in to parry an arts attack aimed at Ebenholz's side where he wouldn't notice.
You couldn't quite make out what Ebenholz was saying, but no matter.
You summon Wheels Industry next, slamming it down onto the thing's face. It staggered backwards, opening it to be attacked by Ebenholz. You move out of the way to allow him to attack it with his arts.
It seems to fall quiet for a moment, that attack seems to work well!
"Hahh…there we go-"
You say but then felt something creeping up out of the ground.
Blackwater originium slugs. You thought the ones in the sewers were all of them.
You guess the remnant somehow has a way to produce these easily, but it doesn't matter, because if you don't get rid of them right now, they'll cause chaos.
…
What the…?
As you draw out the hammer from Old Boys workshop, you hear…something.
That beast is still playing, but it's playing a different song, as Yesod and Chesed arrive.
The beast's song before sounds glorious and menacing, but this one is different.
Its new song was quiet and sounded solemn as if to lament about something long gone.
It did come with new arts attacks, but these weren't directed at you, nor Yesod and Chesed. Not even Ebenholz for that matter. It was targeting the slugs.
That's helpful. You think as you continued on with decimating the slugs.
As the last slug was destroyed, the old glorious song came back, and its arts reverted to the one that was targeting Ebenholz earlier.
You quickly push Ebenholz out of the way of an arts attack, and parry it, before whacking it in the head with the hammer and retreating.
"Careful, it's back to targeting us!" You call out to Ebenholz, as Yesod starts to move in to assist you and Ebenholz, but you shook your head. Just one person intervening in a fight is already enough. Yesod would only make it more chaotic.
Ebenholz went quiet and signals you to stand back.
You agree, as it would seem that Ebenholz knew the thing well.
You dash backward, and Ebenholz takes on the thing one by one. His arts against its own.
The thing fell, disintegrating into dust.
Dust that you assume to be the extremely volatile and dangerous Originium, as the thing had arts capabilities far beyond what you've seen of the casters so far, and crystalline, the same texture as Originium was described to be.
You move away from the clouds of dust of the battle, covering your mouth.
But Ebenholz...
He just stood there. Your intuition tells you that he's sad about its death.
You wonder why.
"Hey, uh, Eben? Would you mind if I ask a question?"
You shouted as you have to stay away due to the Originium dust that's now turning the air around the afterglow hall a shade of orange.
"..." He doesn't answer, and you take it as a no.
"Alright then..." You respond, probably something personal. You understand, you've been through something like that before...
Wait, where's the Kreide person said to perform with him?
"Eben, can I at least know where Kreide is?" You ask, not realizing much.
"...That." A single word was the answer.
You get it.
You just...nod.
"Sorry, Eben. Must hurt like shit." You say, apologizing.
"It's alright."
Later.
It's been a few hours after that fight.
Apparently, the people that the yesod lookalike's working for is coming to pick her up.
That's a good place to go to. You think.
"Hey, Yesod." You say.
"Go ahead." Yesod answers.
"You think we should go with the purple girl's employers?"
"Would possibly be a good way to explore the world. I've read up on them. Rhodes Island. They're an organization trying to cure oripathy. You can think of K-Corp but better."
"K-Corp but better, hm? Interestin'."
"Ah, I wonder what they're like~" Chesed speaks up in a while.
"We should probably go tell Angela and the Library about our decision, though."
"I'd have to agree."
"Hey, uh...what's your name?" You approach the Yesod lookalike, who was still with Ebenholz, giving him some treatment. He caught oripathy due to his friend's death.
"Hibiscus." She answers, before going back to finalizing the prescription for Ebenholz, who speaks up.
"Hey, I want to join Rhodes. For treatment."
"Yep! Most people there are there for treatment, after all!" She responds.
"...Same here. Not for treatment, but just because Iberia's gone to shit. No point in going back to it." You say.
"Hm, yeah, sure! Will you bring your friends, too?" She asks, you nod in response.
"But I do have way more friends on their way here, though. We just got here quick enough. They should be near Vysheim, but I doubt they can even get in, no one in Iberia even bothered to keep their own records anymore. Seaborn's too troublesome." You say, coming up with an excuse for all of the librarians.
"Hm...Sure! The more the merrier!"
"Goodie, then! How's your boss picking you up?"
"Heli, of course. What else? It's just gonna land in Afterglow, too, so you should go pick up your buddies soon."
"...Alright. Chesed, Yesod, let's go." You tell your friends, who nod in response.
Time skip - The Library - 3rd Person
The trio finally returns with some news, but not immediately.
Roland tells Angela to pack up the library, but keep the librarians intact. It should be possible, he feels.
Yesod and Chesed quickly relay everything they found out about the new world, before telling everyone to move up because they secured a place to stay in.
Everyone complied, after all, they wouldn't want to be caught in a catastrophe any time soon.
Almost all librarians but Hokma picked up a keypage, too. There are just enough Objet d'art pages left.
Time skip - Afterglow - 3rd Person
All of them arrive in Afterglow, most being quite excited, (Angela particularly being excited about just walking outside the library, stumbling a good few times) but Roland says that this wouldn't be their place to stay, they would need to move out soon.
Eventually, after walking around for a while, and having Yesod explain most of how arts and originium work. Or at least most from what he knew.
"Woahh, that sounds so amazing!" was Malkuth's reaction to arts.
It reminded everyone else of Pluto of the reverberation ensemble, though.
No matter, it's time for them to leave.
Hibiscus and Ebenholz approach the decently sized crowd of people, all dressed up in extremely varied clothing. The militaristic suit and coat of Nikolai's belonged to a particularly short yellow-haired girl, the darker red coat and grey suit of Kalo's belonged to a brown-haired girl carrying a cane, and even more.
She feels somewhat weirded out, but probably just some Iberian culture.
"Alright, guys! The pick-up's here, let's go!"
She excitedly pointed to the heli bearing the company's logo, a triangle with a rook inside of it.
All of them get onto the heli, it's...a little crowded, and Hibiscus got squished between Gebura and Binah, because it was the only available seat (and Chesed REFUSED to sit there).
She feels that these two have a history against each other, in reality, it's now more like a friendly rivalry, as they put their history behind them.
Meanwhile, Ebenholz and Roland were discussing the events of Afterglow, with Netzach listening in.
"He's Giovanni, he likes artsy stuff and he's my drinking buddy." Roland still decides to use their old names to be known as across Terra.
"That is interesting. Either way, what would you like to know about what happened?"
"Kreide. I know you don't want to talk about it, but the sooner the better, so, tell me, what happened to him?"
"...He was my cousin. I just never knew it. He also had 'The voice of Terra' implanted into him. The same way mine was implanted, by the remnant."
"...That sucks. I'm sorry that had happened."
"It's fine...it still hurts, and I miss him."
"You know, I have a kinda similar experience. But the thing was a stranger playing the piano instead."
"...Who was killed in that incident, then?" Ebenholz sounds surprised, had the Remnant expanded to Iberia?
"My wife, along with many others. Left our little town destroyed and free for a seaborn invasion. The reason I came here in the first place is more to escape that place than actually coming to study your musical arts."
"...Looks like we have something in common."
"We do alright!"
In the Heli - Roland PoV - Rhodes Island Landship
It feels a bit stuffy in here, but eh, not the worst environment you've ever been in.
After a somewhat tense conversation with Ebenholz about the very nature of musical arts itself, you decide to look out of the window, and see a smaller mobile city.
You turn to Hibiscus, who's sitting right opposite to you, to ask what that mobile city is.
"Hey, Hibiscus? What's that mobile city?" You ask.
"Oh, that's Rhodes, we're here!" She exclaimed.
Thank god, you think, it's been too long in here, after all...
Eventually, the Heli lands on the mobile city right ahead, the one bearing the same insignia as the Heli.
All of you gets off the Heli, Ebenholz and Czerny says their thanks, before heading off.
A particularly nervous white-haired girl with a blue halo walked up to a heli. Definitely a Sankta, you think.
She's carrying a leaner rifle, it tells you that there are firearms in this world, just not as heavily regulated by the head.
The sankta girl's wearing a suit and carrying a gas mask on her waist.
Something tells you that she works with chemicals.
"Oh, that's 'Poison-Spek'. She's really, really nervous around new people." Hibiscus introduces, where 'Poison-Spek' meekly waves.
"There's no way that's her real name, is it?" You ask sarcastically.
"Well, I mean, yeah. Her real name is Alexia. But at Rhodes Island, we use codenames all over the place, documents, orders during combat, that sort of stuff."
"...Wait, you people fight?" You ask, in some shock. There's no way Rhodes would actively be fighting, and even then, why?
But then again, K-Corp do fight, but it's for security in their own nest.
"Well, yeah, we do. We fight for the infect's rights...and admittedly, because the company is still newform, we're also taking on escort and protection missions...haha..." Hibiscus answers, the answer actually somewhat surprises you.
"What kinda protection? Like, storage? VIP? Weapons?" You ask back, Hibiscus returning a nod.
"Huh, looks like you people are juggling tasks a lot. Well, it's a good thing we're here to help out, then!" You say with confidence, before having 'Poison-Spek', or now known as Alexia, approach the group.
"Uh...Hibiscus, you'd need to leave, the rest of you, please come with me. Dr. Kal'tsit needs to discuss something with you all..." The white-haired sankta sheepishly delivers her order, her hands in her pockets.
"...Who's this 'Kal'tsit' person?" Yesod speaks out your mind.
"Oh, she's our defacto leader as of now." Hibiscus answers, before running off somewhere as per Dr.Kal'tsit's orders.
"...So the big boss herself..." You say, as the Librarians behind you erupts in discussion on your way to Dr.Kal'tsit's office.
Fortunately, Alexia couldn't quite make out what they were saying, and chooses to ignore it, putting on some music instead.
Dr.Kal'tsit's office - Angela PoV
All of that was...well, a lot to even take in, a whole new world, with a whole new threat.
And now you're right in front of the woman that's about to take them in. Almost like someone adopting lost cats. Which is ironic, considering that Kal'tsit herself does have some cat-like features. Specifically her ears.
"Welcome, strangers from another world." She greets you and your librarians.
The seriousness in her voice tells you that she is not to be meddled with and that she is extremely experienced.
Just like you are.
"Now, I'm sure you have some questions, so ask away, but I'll expect you to answer my questions in return." She says, as you take a seat in front of the doctor, while the rest of your librarians stand behind you.
"..."
What question should you ask?
-[] Write-in.
Kal'tsit PoV (time-skip to after the questions were answered.)
"That is all." The blue-haired woman sitting in front of you concluded.
"Good. Now it is time for my questions." You speak to the strangers.
What would you ask them?
-[] Write-in
this is not finished btw there's gonna be more.
You decide to go check out what was happening. You sprint out of the room with your gloves on, Chesed and Yesod following closely.
"..."
You get a mental reminder from something tingling inside your head...Vyshiem is a place based on musical arts.
musical.
You start to panic, as you storm through the streets toward the afterglow hall, your instincts slowly peak up, warning you that there's a beast right there.
But you feel some sort of nostalgia behind your instinct's speaking.
You eventually make it to the afterglow hall, apparently, you went so fast that you somehow lost your two friends...
You're alone...
Well, not quite. You see Ebenholz dueling the beast you felt.
That thing definitely is a beast, resembling a massive man with a deer-like head carrying a violin.
That nostalgia was well-found, as it reminds you of a certain pianist that left a massive massacre after his performance that you stopped.
But it seems that the beast has some connection with Ebenholz, as he's fighting it in a manner you recognize as fighting a friend...to free them from that form, maybe? You've heard that arts come in many forms, so maybe this is an arts usage went rogue?
No matter, you feel obligated to assist him.
You draw out the very blades you murdered the beast that destroyed your life with, Durandal.
You dash into the battlefield.
But the sight of battle…It only reminds you of the time you killed the pianist, but this time is somewhat different.
Ebenholz is fighting a beast. A gigantic deer man carrying a violin, to be precise.
That's going to be more annoying, as the pianist was stuck playing his piano in one location. Granted, no one but you could've even gotten close to the piano in the first place.
This one is different though.
No matter. A beast is still a beast, immobilized or not.
Hah, beast.
Reminds you of when you synchronized with the apocalypse bird.
Dammit, this isn't the time!
You clear your mind of thoughts, as you draw out crystal atelier, and dash in to parry an arts attack aimed at Ebenholz's side where he wouldn't notice.
You couldn't quite make out what Ebenholz was saying, but no matter.
You summon Wheels Industry next, slamming it down onto the thing's face. It staggered backwards, opening it to be attacked by Ebenholz. You move out of the way to allow him to attack it with his arts.
It seems to fall quiet for a moment, that attack seems to work well!
"Hahh…there we go-"
You say but then felt something creeping up out of the ground.
Blackwater originium slugs. You thought the ones in the sewers were all of them.
You guess the remnant somehow has a way to produce these easily, but it doesn't matter, because if you don't get rid of them right now, they'll cause chaos.
…
What the…?
As you draw out the hammer from Old Boys workshop, you hear…something.
That beast is still playing, but it's playing a different song, as Yesod and Chesed arrive.
The beast's song before sounds glorious and menacing, but this one is different.
Its new song was quiet and sounded solemn as if to lament about something long gone.
It did come with new arts attacks, but these weren't directed at you, nor Yesod and Chesed. Not even Ebenholz for that matter. It was targeting the slugs.
That's helpful. You think as you continued on with decimating the slugs.
As the last slug was destroyed, the old glorious song came back, and its arts reverted to the one that was targeting Ebenholz earlier.
You quickly push Ebenholz out of the way of an arts attack, and parry it, before whacking it in the head with the hammer and retreating.
"Careful, it's back to targeting us!" You call out to Ebenholz, as Yesod starts to move in to assist you and Ebenholz, but you shook your head. Just one person intervening in a fight is already enough. Yesod would only make it more chaotic.
Ebenholz went quiet and signals you to stand back.
You agree, as it would seem that Ebenholz knew the thing well.
You dash backward, and Ebenholz takes on the thing one by one. His arts against its own.
The thing fell, disintegrating into dust.
Dust that you assume to be the extremely volatile and dangerous Originium, as the thing had arts capabilities far beyond what you've seen of the casters so far, and crystalline, the same texture as Originium was described to be.
You move away from the clouds of dust of the battle, covering your mouth.
But Ebenholz...
He just stood there. Your intuition tells you that he's sad about its death.
You wonder why.
"Hey, uh, Eben? Would you mind if I ask a question?"
You shouted as you have to stay away due to the Originium dust that's now turning the air around the afterglow hall a shade of orange.
"..." He doesn't answer, and you take it as a no.
"Alright then..." You respond, probably something personal. You understand, you've been through something like that before...
Wait, where's the Kreide person said to perform with him?
"Eben, can I at least know where Kreide is?" You ask, not realizing much.
"...That." A single word was the answer.
You get it.
You just...nod.
"Sorry, Eben. Must hurt like shit." You say, apologizing.
"It's alright."
Later.
It's been a few hours after that fight.
Apparently, the people that the yesod lookalike's working for is coming to pick her up.
That's a good place to go to. You think.
"Hey, Yesod." You say.
"Go ahead." Yesod answers.
"You think we should go with the purple girl's employers?"
"Would possibly be a good way to explore the world. I've read up on them. Rhodes Island. They're an organization trying to cure oripathy. You can think of K-Corp but better."
"K-Corp but better, hm? Interestin'."
"Ah, I wonder what they're like~" Chesed speaks up in a while.
"We should probably go tell Angela and the Library about our decision, though."
"I'd have to agree."
"Hey, uh...what's your name?" You approach the Yesod lookalike, who was still with Ebenholz, giving him some treatment. He caught oripathy due to his friend's death.
"Hibiscus." She answers, before going back to finalizing the prescription for Ebenholz, who speaks up.
"Hey, I want to join Rhodes. For treatment."
"Yep! Most people there are there for treatment, after all!" She responds.
"...Same here. Not for treatment, but just because Iberia's gone to shit. No point in going back to it." You say.
"Hm, yeah, sure! Will you bring your friends, too?" She asks, you nod in response.
"But I do have way more friends on their way here, though. We just got here quick enough. They should be near Vysheim, but I doubt they can even get in, no one in Iberia even bothered to keep their own records anymore. Seaborn's too troublesome." You say, coming up with an excuse for all of the librarians.
"Hm...Sure! The more the merrier!"
"Goodie, then! How's your boss picking you up?"
"Heli, of course. What else? It's just gonna land in Afterglow, too, so you should go pick up your buddies soon."
"...Alright. Chesed, Yesod, let's go." You tell your friends, who nod in response.
Time skip - The Library - 3rd Person
The trio finally returns with some news, but not immediately.
Roland tells Angela to pack up the library, but keep the librarians intact. It should be possible, he feels.
Yesod and Chesed quickly relay everything they found out about the new world, before telling everyone to move up because they secured a place to stay in.
Everyone complied, after all, they wouldn't want to be caught in a catastrophe any time soon.
Almost all librarians but Hokma picked up a keypage, too. There are just enough Objet d'art pages left.
Time skip - Afterglow - 3rd Person
All of them arrive in Afterglow, most being quite excited, (Angela particularly being excited about just walking outside the library, stumbling a good few times) but Roland says that this wouldn't be their place to stay, they would need to move out soon.
Eventually, after walking around for a while, and having Yesod explain most of how arts and originium work. Or at least most from what he knew.
"Woahh, that sounds so amazing!" was Malkuth's reaction to arts.
It reminded everyone else of Pluto of the reverberation ensemble, though.
No matter, it's time for them to leave.
Hibiscus and Ebenholz approach the decently sized crowd of people, all dressed up in extremely varied clothing. The militaristic suit and coat of Nikolai's belonged to a particularly short yellow-haired girl, the darker red coat and grey suit of Kalo's belonged to a brown-haired girl carrying a cane, and even more.
She feels somewhat weirded out, but probably just some Iberian culture.
"Alright, guys! The pick-up's here, let's go!"
She excitedly pointed to the heli bearing the company's logo, a triangle with a rook inside of it.
All of them get onto the heli, it's...a little crowded, and Hibiscus got squished between Gebura and Binah, because it was the only available seat (and Chesed REFUSED to sit there).
She feels that these two have a history against each other, in reality, it's now more like a friendly rivalry, as they put their history behind them.
Meanwhile, Ebenholz and Roland were discussing the events of Afterglow, with Netzach listening in.
"He's Giovanni, he likes artsy stuff and he's my drinking buddy." Roland still decides to use their old names to be known as across Terra.
"That is interesting. Either way, what would you like to know about what happened?"
"Kreide. I know you don't want to talk about it, but the sooner the better, so, tell me, what happened to him?"
"...He was my cousin. I just never knew it. He also had 'The voice of Terra' implanted into him. The same way mine was implanted, by the remnant."
"...That sucks. I'm sorry that had happened."
"It's fine...it still hurts, and I miss him."
"You know, I have a kinda similar experience. But the thing was a stranger playing the piano instead."
"...Who was killed in that incident, then?" Ebenholz sounds surprised, had the Remnant expanded to Iberia?
"My wife, along with many others. Left our little town destroyed and free for a seaborn invasion. The reason I came here in the first place is more to escape that place than actually coming to study your musical arts."
"...Looks like we have something in common."
"We do alright!"
In the Heli - Roland PoV - Rhodes Island Landship
It feels a bit stuffy in here, but eh, not the worst environment you've ever been in.
After a somewhat tense conversation with Ebenholz about the very nature of musical arts itself, you decide to look out of the window, and see a smaller mobile city.
You turn to Hibiscus, who's sitting right opposite to you, to ask what that mobile city is.
"Hey, Hibiscus? What's that mobile city?" You ask.
"Oh, that's Rhodes, we're here!" She exclaimed.
Thank god, you think, it's been too long in here, after all...
Eventually, the Heli lands on the mobile city right ahead, the one bearing the same insignia as the Heli.
All of you gets off the Heli, Ebenholz and Czerny says their thanks, before heading off.
A particularly nervous white-haired girl with a blue halo walked up to a heli. Definitely a Sankta, you think.
She's carrying a leaner rifle, it tells you that there are firearms in this world, just not as heavily regulated by the head.
The sankta girl's wearing a suit and carrying a gas mask on her waist.
Something tells you that she works with chemicals.
"Oh, that's 'Poison-Spek'. She's really, really nervous around new people." Hibiscus introduces, where 'Poison-Spek' meekly waves.
"There's no way that's her real name, is it?" You ask sarcastically.
"Well, I mean, yeah. Her real name is Alexia. But at Rhodes Island, we use codenames all over the place, documents, orders during combat, that sort of stuff."
"...Wait, you people fight?" You ask, in some shock. There's no way Rhodes would actively be fighting, and even then, why?
But then again, K-Corp do fight, but it's for security in their own nest.
"Well, yeah, we do. We fight for the infect's rights...and admittedly, because the company is still newform, we're also taking on escort and protection missions...haha..." Hibiscus answers, the answer actually somewhat surprises you.
"What kinda protection? Like, storage? VIP? Weapons?" You ask back, Hibiscus returning a nod.
"Huh, looks like you people are juggling tasks a lot. Well, it's a good thing we're here to help out, then!" You say with confidence, before having 'Poison-Spek', or now known as Alexia, approach the group.
"Uh...Hibiscus, you'd need to leave, the rest of you, please come with me. Dr. Kal'tsit needs to discuss something with you all..." The white-haired sankta sheepishly delivers her order, her hands in her pockets.
"...Who's this 'Kal'tsit' person?" Yesod speaks out your mind.
"Oh, she's our defacto leader as of now." Hibiscus answers, before running off somewhere as per Dr.Kal'tsit's orders.
"...So the big boss herself..." You say, as the Librarians behind you erupts in discussion on your way to Dr.Kal'tsit's office.
Fortunately, Alexia couldn't quite make out what they were saying, and chooses to ignore it, putting on some music instead.
Dr.Kal'tsit's office - Angela PoV
All of that was...well, a lot to even take in, a whole new world, with a whole new threat.
And now you're right in front of the woman that's about to take them in. Almost like someone adopting lost cats. Which is ironic, considering that Kal'tsit herself does have some cat-like features. Specifically her ears.
"Welcome, strangers from another world." She greets you and your librarians.
The seriousness in her voice tells you that she is not to be meddled with and that she is extremely experienced.
Just like you are.
"Now, I'm sure you have some questions, so ask away, but I'll expect you to answer my questions in return." She says, as you take a seat in front of the doctor, while the rest of your librarians stand behind you.
"..."
What question should you ask?
-[] Write-in.
Kal'tsit PoV (time-skip to after the questions were answered.)
"That is all." The blue-haired woman sitting in front of you concluded.
"Good. Now it is time for my questions." You speak to the strangers.
What would you ask them?
-[] Write-in
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