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The Myriad Dreams
The roaring golden ocean smashes against Rhodes Island. The sovereigns' will sinks into the sea of infinity, then rises up again at the only ship upon the waves.
- Logos
Will the echoes of the kings never cease while the voices of the myriad remains?
- Logos
No, it is not just the roar of the myriad souls that is causing this. That tower—
- Logos
It's trembling. The tremors at the root have stirred the tides.
- Logos
You have encountered them...
- Logos
I could not see the end of this tower that stretches beyond the heavens, even if I etched incantations into my eyes.
- Logos
Originium has obstructed my sight.
- Logos
Is this your way of telling me that it is not my battlefield to intervene?
The waves answer the Banshee's call. The sovereigns beckon.
- Logos
I will not yield.
- Logos
I have promised with my song to they who have gone beyond the other side of the tower—
- Logos
Ever shall Rhodes Island be our terra firma; never will it sink beneath the waves.
The young Sarkaz raises his bone pen and steps towards the void, writing incantations upon the waves.
The waves attempt to break free of their shackles, but the Banshee is silent.
He peers up at the sky, listening to the sound of the tower trembling.
He knows that King and King are clashing against one another, beyond where his eyes could see.
- Logos
This is your war, Amiya... it's not my place to intervene.
- Logos
I can only pray for your safe return.
'I can calm the angry roar of the myriad souls...'
'But the only true answer lies in cutting off the source of all our suffering.'
'What is suffering to us Sarkaz?'
'Is it the brief respite by the only candle in the dark mines after a long day of working in ice and snow?'
'Is it the murder of the children of a Sarkaz and a Liberi who truly love each other, committed by the fanatics of the frontiers solely out of fear of their appearances?'
'Or polishing our horns day after day, spending our entire life living in fear wearing a Caprinae disguise?'
'A Sarkaz may encounter countless forms of injustice and suffering in their lifetime...'
'Injustice has become the norm, the entirety of their lives...'
'Such that when they are asked what suffering is...'
'They could not answer.'
- Theresa
...
Atop the tower, the pure-white figure gazes down at you.
'The King of Sarkaz.'
You have spent so much time with that Cautus girl that you have forgotten the implications of this title until now.
Theresa was not the King of Sarkaz simply because of the crown.
What kind of strength, wisdom and cunning does it take to convince all Sarkaz to willingly, gladly call her their king?
Massive energies rush out from the tower, forming white threads and silk that stretch on and on without end, permitting no resistance.
- Kal'tsit
Before she was the King, Theresa was a caster the likes of which is only seen once in a thousand years.
- Kal'tsit
We're on her home ground.
- Kal'tsit
This is not witchcraft, nor any power of the King of Sarkaz that I know of.
- Kal'tsit
She is reconstructing and utilizing the information inherent within Originium.
- Kal'tsit
Observe and understand what she's doing, Doctor. Help Amiya and W resist her attacks!
- W
This suffocating presence...
- W
The feeling of impending death... she truly wants to...
- W
No, there's no way! The real Theresa would never—
'The real Theresa'?
She cannot help but mock the ridiculous notion.
She casts her eyes at the familiar, yet impassive Theresa.
- W
*Sarkaz expletive*, only one thing to do!
- W
Damn it, these strange limits she's set have made my bombs useless.
- W
We're all done for, if this thing keeps falling!
- W
Do something, hag!
- Kal'tsit
Ordinary measures are of no use here, not even Originium Arts.
- Kal'tsit
That doesn't mean she can't be defeated. At least—
- W
You mean the bunny?
She looks towards Amiya, still resisting the overwhelming Arts. A black crown floats above her head.
- W
I don't have a clue what you're talking about, but—
- W
Right now, I guess I've got to trust you and the bunny.
W realizes that she started believing in Amiya a long time ago.
As she did on the burning command tower in Chernobog, when the bunny delivered the box with the key in it into her hands...
She believed that the city would stop.
W looks at the girl. She almost sees Theresa.
Theresa chose Amiya.
The one Theresa chose would not disappoint Theresa, or W.
- W
If you're all bound up in the myriad souls—
- W
I'll blow the myriad souls to pieces.
She begins to move.
She never hesitates or doubts herself.
The only thing she feels is excitement, the moment she came up with the brilliant idea of blowing those blasted myriad souls to pieces.
As she does whenever she goes into battle.
- W
Bunny!
- W
I know you can hear me!
- Amiya
W, I—
- W
Don't turn around! Focus!
- W
Use your magic rings to link me directly to the *Sarkaz expletive* myriad souls!
- Amiya
What—?
- W
You can do that, right?
- W
I know the Confessarii did something to bind the myriad souls to Her Highness. Let me hear what the old garbage told her—
- W
Then I'll blow them to pieces. THEN I'll find a chance to talk to Her Highness.
- Amiya
I'll try!
- Amiya
Just be careful!
- W
Enough talking, I'm ready—
W hears voices innumerable, but it is not as she had imagined.
She thought she would hear angry roars like the revenant's, but the voices are far calmer than she expected.
They quietly tell of countless lives and deaths as Sarkaz.
The sigh of relief when drifting farmers finally find a land to settle on. The last pleas of Infected thrown alive to the furnaces.
The futile howl of dying soldiers forced to watch their city conquered. The helpless cries of hungry children lying weakly on their beds.
So many different upbringings and circumstances, all bestowed a tragic fate just because they were Sarkaz.
Their joy, their anger, the emotions amplified by the span of nine thousand years—
If this was what Theresa was always listening to... why?
Was it the myriad souls' will that the twin kings came to be again? Was it their will that sent the Sarkaz into this war?
The Sarkaz engrave their sorrows into the myriad souls, and the will of the myriad souls leads those who come after on a similar path. This is a tragic cycle.
Hate ignites hate. Sorrow reflects sorrow.
...Is that all?
W feels like she is being swept along by a rapid current.
Her life is also amongst the voices of the myriad souls.
'I will detonate things and defend things.'
'I will destroy things and direct things.'
'They're living, breathing people, W.'
'I don't need you to tell me, Ines. Hoederer taught me the difference between people and things.'
Yes, W has seen all that the myriad souls speak of. No one knows the life of the Sarkaz better than she does.
She has seen plenty, from the Scar Market of Kazdel to the ships of Babel, from the ruins of Chernobog to the battlefields of Londinium.
She has never contemplated the meaning within, for what she must do is far from complicated.
Need shelter against wind and rain? Light a fire, build a tent. Enemies in the way? Shell them, bomb them, whatever it takes.
It was never the murmur of the myriad souls that kept her going, but the tiny speck of light ahead.
W keeps searching, searching, and finally finds the voice that she wanted the most.
'All of you deserve to live. Yes, you too.'
'I remember you, mercenary.'
'They gave you the code name W, didn't they?'
Your Highness... we meet again.
Whether you're the real one or not, I don't exactly have a choice, do I?
Now I remember why you captivated me.
The King of Sarkaz, yet so unlike the Sarkaz.
You showed me that the Sarkaz need not be miserable.
So, let's forget the myriad souls for a while.
'W! W...'
- W
No need to shout, bunny. I know you're there. You were peeking into my memory, weren't you?
- W
If Ines was still around, she would have—
- W
Bah, no time to think about that.
- W
Maybe I can't barge into a fight between Kings of Sarkaz, but I can break Her Highness free from the interference of the myriad souls.
W can feel her connection with the myriad souls with the help of Amiya's Arts.
Emotions converge before her, emotions that belong to her...
Joy.
Regret.
Anger.
Relief...
The Black Crown magnifies her emotions.
She recalls her past, savoring her experiences.
- W
Coming face to face with my entire life... interesting.
- W
Is extracting myself from the myriad souls the only way to get it to quiet down?
The emotions take shape, and she grabs the colorful object in her hand.
It is her emotions, the experiences of her entire life.
Intangible threads stretch from the 'self' to the chaos in the distance, the myriad souls.
- W
Is this what you deal with all the time, little bunny?
- W
What you see is probably much better than this.
- W
Her Highness... she looked at me like this, once, didn't she?
- W
Thanks, Amiya.
W points her gun at the myriad souls.
- W
Watch, bunny.
- W
Watch how my present's gonna surprise Her Highness!
- Theresa
You... you attacked the myriad souls directly.
- Theresa
No one has ever managed to interrupt their voices... I'm surprised at what you have achieved, Amiya, W.
- Amiya
But why... why does Theresa look completely unaffected?
- W
Your Highness...
- Amiya
(W, come back! What are you trying to do?)
- W
(There's something I have to know...)
- W
(Maybe Her Highness will listen to us—)
She stops. Theresa sees her, and she sees Theresa's expression.
Maybe, maybe...
- Theresa
I see what you're thinking, W.
- Theresa
You believe that the will of the myriad souls has warped my judgment...
- W
...Pretty much?
- W
Not that I sympathize with the Victorians. I just don't think your original goal was to help Theresis make this Originium that turns all of Terra on its head.
- W
Maybe you can just pause this thing for a moment, let us get out of... whatever this place is, and then we could talk about how—
- Theresa
The W I remember wasn't one to offer truces like this.
- Theresa
You're afraid.
- W
Shouldn't I be? I pick my fights too, you know.
- Theresa
No... you're afraid that the beacon you have followed for so long is nothing more than an illusion.
- Theresa
You're afraid you might be the one to break the facade.
- Theresa
But you must face it...
- W
Wha—
There is no wind in this place, but the static air begins to flow.
Clouds gather and disperse by the tower, soft and light, like white flowers brought to bloom by the wind.
Theresa stands in the middle of the sea of flowers, and a symbol begins to appear at her feet—
- Theresa
You recognize this, Doctor.
Her voice is confident.
It is as though, here and now, or perhaps in the distant past... your emotions and memories had been tightly linked.
You are familiar with the symbol. Why a rhombus, though?
It exists everywhere in this 'universe', within Originium.
Most of the time, it hangs in the heavens, seemingly a harmless source of light. W and the others would not think much of an unusual 'star' in the sky.
But you know that this is not right.
If heaven and earth could be reversed... how could this 'star' be a planar figure?
I share with you now the universe in my eyes, Doctor.
If destruction is the boundary that no life may cross, and all exploration and evolution must eventually reach an end—
Then this is our only future.
- Kal'tsit
Whatever you just recalled, Doctor, don't go any further.
- Kal'tsit
This is dangerous. Very dangerous.
- Kal'tsit
Don't look at the rhombuses. Don't let them... notice you.
- Theresa
Don't worry, Kal'tsit. This tower is safe, for now.
- Kal'tsit
Theresa...
- Kal'tsit
You took the most dangerous step after all.
- Theresa
I still remember the knowledge you and Doctor shared with me.
- Theresa
Kal'tsit... Has the garden near Kazdel turned back into wasteland?
- Kal'tsit
...I went back to check on it, once.
- Kal'tsit
Many storms had passed through. Active Originium had reshaped the landscape.
- Kal'tsit
All the entrances were covered in Originium clusters. It was impossible to tell if our experiment site had been destroyed or not.
- Theresa
It's fine. Just some beautiful but impossible dreams. Let them fade away in storm.
- Theresa
Our goal can only be achieved here.
- Kal'tsit
The inside of Originium...
- Theresa
You described to me how to reverse the Assimilated Universe, to utilize, even alter the information inherent in Originium.
- Theresa
Through the Shard and the cradle that hangs high in the heavens, I finally set foot in the land where truth lies.
- Theresa
The golden ocean sits tranquil above our heads. All information is with us, free from the restrictions of space and time.
- Theresa
I did it, finally.
- Kal'tsit
—!
- Theresa
The Sarkaz retrieved the first Originium from deep within the land ten thousand years ago. It has returned to the Sarkaz, at long last.
- Theresa
In time, Kazdel will truly become a garden free from the torment of Catastrophe and Oripathy.
- Theresa
Will you still oppose me, despite all that?
- Amiya
I remember the dream that Theresa described to me.
- Amiya
A safe and equal home, where Originium is fully under control, and there is no Oripathy or Catastrophe, no schism between the Infected and uninfected.
- Amiya
But soldiers are still dying on the battlefield. Innocent people are still being driven from their homes by war.
- Amiya
Does this home still have room for people other than Sarkaz, in this plan of yours?
- Theresa
...I'm sorry.
- Amiya
Then Originium will not be the hope for the eternal existence that you once dreamed of.
- Amiya
It will only become a weapon for the Sarkaz to bring even more destruction.
- Amiya
This was not Theresa's dream.
You're right, Amiya.
- Theresa
Then we must become enemies.
That's why you must keep going.
- Amiya
Theresa...?
- Theresa
The erstwhile King of Sarkaz, builder of Kazdel and supreme leader of Babel stands before you.
Overcome me. Vanquish me.
- Theresa
I shall fulfill the King of Sarkaz's duties to the bitter end. I shall fight for the sake of the Sarkaz, as I have for centuries.
- Theresa
All who stand before me, all who try to stop me, are the enemy of the Sarkaz.
All those dreams and promises that I could not fulfill, you can.
- Amiya
No... this is not your will...
I heard it.
- Theresa
...
- Amiya
—Look out!
Black tide clashes with black tide. King clashes with King.
Amiya's black Arts are reduced to nothing the moment they touch Theresa. Black threads are pulled away from around Amiya, re-converging in Theresa's palm.
Countless white threads rush out from Theresa's hand.
They tightly surround Amiya.
Like a soft dress, or a blossom whose blooming process had been reversed.
- Amiya
Ugh—!
- W
Bunny!
Theresa's silhouette fades in the smoke of the explosion. Where she had stood, the outline of a thorn-shaped crown becomes increasingly distinct.
- W
Didn't work?
- W
Is that the power of the King of Sarkaz too?!
- Kal'tsit
...She did it.
- Kal'tsit
Theresa is emulating the Black Crown with Originium.
- Amiya
This is far beyond the powers of the King of Sarkaz that I'm able to wield...
- Amiya
Doctor! Dr. Kal'tsit! Behind me!
- Amiya
I'll protect you—
- Amiya
Theresa—
- Amiya
Theresa—
- Amiya
In a meeting with the Doctor? Or visiting the wards with Dr. Kal'tsit?
- Amiya
Theresa is busy. I shouldn't disturb her. I'll go to the cafeteria and get lunch for her!
The sun shines brightly on the spotless deck. The wind is warm, mixed with the smell of wilderness and flowers.
- Theresa
Amiya.
- Amiya
I... This is...
The Cautus girl turns around and sees her onetime self running happily on the deck.
- Amiya
This is... the Civilight Eterna system.
- Theresa
This is your memory. I can see it.
- Theresa
You hear the whispers of my heart, know everything I'm thinking about.
- Theresa
And vice versa.
- Amiya
You remember it all...
- Amiya
You were always the same Theresa... all along...
- Theresa
It's been a while, Amiya.
- Theresa
I'm very happy to see you all grown up.
- Amiya
I... I'm really happy to see you again...
- Theresa
Give me a little bit of time. I want to take a good look at you.
- Theresa
I've always wanted to know how things have been for you all these years.
- Theresa
I can see them... all the fighting and the loss that you've experienced throughout the journey. I see it all.
- Theresa
All I want is a little more time...
- Amiya
What is it that you're looking at?
She casts her gaze towards the distance, but there is nothing on the deck.
- Theresa
It was such a happy time.
- Theresa
I thought you were an unfortunate child who needed to be cared for closely. But it was you who brought so much comfort to Rhodes Island.
- Theresa
It took me a long time to realize that meeting you was the luckiest thing in my life.
- Amiya
But... why me?
- Theresa
...
- Theresa
Let's go out for a walk, shall we?
- Amiya
Where are you going?
- Amiya
This is...
- Theresa
My home, Kazdel.
- Theresa
I always wanted to take you here.
- Amiya
You told me many stories of what happened there.
- Amiya
But Babel never made it back to Kazdel...
There was no need for questions.
Amiya feels Theresa's every choice, every struggle.
- Amiya
I understand that war now.
- Amiya
You had no choice.
- Theresa
We have already made a choice when we say, 'There is no choice.'
- Theresa
I had to choose the path that was better for Sarkaz.
This race has been through too much hardship. Every step it takes is heavy and labored.
If Sarkaz needed someone to show them a new path, she would take up the banner first; if the price of Sarkaz unity was the death of their king, she would be the one to step up.
The protector is inevitably also the persecutor, Amiya.
As we gain, so do we take away.
- Amiya
The Theresa I knew always chose the path of peace.
- Amiya
That's what Babel and Rhodes Island are for... isn't it?
- Theresa
Babel exists because of all of you.
- Theresa
The watchman who carries the burden of civilization, the sage who holds the key, the genius mercenary who gains free will, and the innocent child compassionate for all life.
- Theresa
And Logos, Mantra, Scout, Ace... countless souls that shine so bright.
- Theresa
You have overcome the barriers of race, upbringing and disease. You share a sincere friendship and unwavering dream.
- Theresa
Through the tribulations of war and the obstacle of reality, you continue to stand together and stand by me.
- Theresa
That was how Babel was founded.
- Theresa
It was never I who made you members of Babel.
- Theresa
It was you who made a clothesmaker who picked up a crown, one of countless Kings of Sarkaz, Theresa of Babel.
- Theresa
You can achieve what I could not.
- Amiya
Thank you... Theresa.
- Theresa
Will you hear me tell one more story, Amiya?
Not an epic of heroic warriors protecting their home, nor a legend of a King of Sarkaz's reign.
Just a story of an ordinary Sarkaz girl, who lived a little longer than the ordinary person.
Born in Kazdel, she saw the few families and friends she had suffer in constant cold and hunger, trembling in fear in the darkness every night, waiting for the sun to rise again.
She wanted the people around her to live in happiness, to have a safe home. She would do anything for this.
She remained ever true to this wish.
- Amiya
Then why...
- Amiya
Why must we fight you?
- Theresa
...
- Theresa
Not every meeting has a beautiful ending, Amiya.
- Theresa
I've left once. This time, we have the chance to say goodbye.
- Theresa
You saw the myriad souls, Amiya. They struggled against fate all their lives. They don't want to be used and imprisoned even unto death.
- Theresa
The same is true for me.
- Theresa
You must defeat me, Amiya.
Only then can you carry on my unfulfilled dream.
Only then can you release me.
'Fate' should not exist, Amiya.
- Theresa
You have remained the good girl that I saw the first day we met, no matter how much you went through.
- Theresa
Perhaps you would not have to bear so much pain, if you weren't so brave, so gentle.
- Amiya
Is this... that day?
- Amiya
You held me in your arms, told me stories, until...
- Amiya
Theresa... can you stop?
- Theresa
I've stopped, Amiya. I'm not reading your memories.
- Amiya
So...
- Amiya
This is my own power. We are inside your memories.
- Theresa
Yes, Amiya.
- Amiya
I'm sorry, Theresa... I couldn't help myself.
- Theresa
It's not you who should say sorry.
- Theresa
Becoming the King of Sarkaz means carrying the emotions of the many, but the emotions that belong to ourselves are there as well.
- Amiya
...
- Theresa
I've lost much in my life, Amiya, but I don't have many regrets.
- Theresa
The only regret I have is you. From past to present, I never wanted to leave you.
- Theresa
I am happy about your growth, but I should have been there for you.
- Theresa
I should have been there to teach you how to use the powers of the King of Sarkaz.
- Theresa
Now, though, is your chance to prove to me, the erstwhile King of Sarkaz—
- Amiya
—!
Heat saps at reason, flames scorching the soul.
A sword forms within the flame, taking shape in Theresa's hand.
- Theresa
'Wrath'.
- Amiya
That's... my sword!
- Theresa
You will hear the seething anger of that Sarkaz sovereign when you hold this sword in your hand.
- Theresa
You have grabbed this sword from the wrath of the past which once declared war upon injustice...
- Theresa
The sword of the King of Sarkaz shall ever point towards the enemy of Sarkaz.
- Theresa
The sword of the King of Sarkaz shall ever slay the enemy of Sarkaz.
- Theresa
But we have come this far, and yet prejudice lives, and hostility threatens to smother us.
- Theresa
The Kings of Sarkaz of the past have failed. The Theresa of the past has failed—
Amiya sees it all.
Theresa wandering in the darkness, seeking an answer.
Theresa standing in the halls of the airship, gazing down at the battle below.
Theresa waking up alone from death, no friend or comrade around her.
Theresa—pointing her sword at a child.
Such sorrow.
Amiya could barely move under the overwhelming sorrow.
- Theresa
Now, you hold a sword as well.
Amiya feels a weight in her hand.
The sword, which had slain an evil god, had returned to her hand.
Formless flame warms her palm.
- Amiya
You... how?!
Black tides ripple from Theresa, turning into threads that lead Amiya's hand—
The sword points at Theresa.
- Theresa
This is my final gift to you, Amiya.
- Theresa
Feel my power, my emotions, my will...
- Theresa
Make them a part of you.
- Theresa
They will be by your side... in my place.
The sword in Amiya's hand trembles, but not out of fear or excitement.
She can feel Theresa's will fill it.
- Amiya
...I've always remembered, Theresa.
- Amiya
I remember every story you told me, the words you whispered into my ear.
- Amiya
I never had the chance to tell you—
- Amiya
I'm so, so glad that I met you.
- Amiya
And...
The sword pierces Amiya's own chest.
Amiya holds Theresa's hand tightly, pushing the sword further in.
It is not that there is no pain.
It is simply that all the pain has been wrapped in layer of warmth.
Tears begin to fall from Theresa's face—
Falling into Amiya's eyes.
The black sword shatters.
A warm and gentle power surrounds Amiya's fingertips.
It is sorrow...
And the purest love.
- Amiya
I will.
- Amiya
I will inherit the legacy of Civilight Eterna.
- Amiya
I will become the King of Sarkaz.
