.Hack//Epitaph of Twilight Volume1 Episode3

Episode 3//amnesia

An oddly large full moon was floating in the sky on a dark, cloudless night. However, there were no stars to be seen. The moon alone stood visible, as if it had taken sole possession of the night sky.

And underneath that sky― a pure white palace of ivory stood tall. Patterns adorned its many tall, wide pillars, and colorful banners hung from the roof, which held the shape of an onion. Warm torchlight shone through every window, emitting a pale golden light throughout the palace as it was bathed in moonlight.

This was the Palace of Apeiron, the King of Light.

And at this time, Apeiron was walking down a spiral stone staircase alone, heading towards the basement. There were torches placed here and there, but he had no trouble walking in the dark. Each step he took echoed as shadows danced across the walls. Surrounded by that eerie silence, Apeiron continued all the way to the bottom of the stairs, and then walked down the hallway there.

He thought back on the report he had received earlier from one of Fili’s familiar.

“Unfortunately, negotiations with Lilith – whom we had known of in advance – have fallen through. However, a human with a shadow who lived within the Splintered Forest nearby has joined our group instead.”

But Apeiron was concerned. “Does it not matter if they are spirit or human, as long as they have a shadow?” Apeiron muttered to himself as he came up on a pair of large double doors and stared up at them.

Pausing in front of it, he inserted the key from a chain around his neck into the lock on the door. The door made a creaking sound as it opened on its own and light leaked through the widening entrance. The room beyond was known as the Great Archive, where all the ancient books and records were held.

Apeiron made his way inside. “King Apeiron!”

All at once, the spirits in the room turned around to look at him. “Have you made any progress deciphering the texts?”

The spirits all exchanged looks with each other and then collectively shook their heads. And seeing this, Apeiron let out a heavy sigh.

There were very few spirits who could read the ancient script. Most of those who could had lost their lives in the war with the Lands of Darkness, and it would be many more years before they were reborn. So their only choice was to decipher the text with those present, but it was unlikely they would be able to finish in time.

But Apeiron himself was one of the spirits capable of reading the ancient script, so he picked out one of the books from the top of the stacks, pulled out a chair beside him, and opened the heavy volume to begin deciphering it.

Apeiron opened to a page that detailed the legend of the Twilight Dragon. It should have been in perfect condition― but after being handed down through the ages, there was some wear and tear to it.

Could a shadow-bearer be anyone? Could the Twilight Dragon be found without three of them? Where did it come from? Where was it now? And could spirits survive without the Twilight Dragon’s intervention?

Long ago, when they were first born into the world― the spirits of the time had once repelled the Cursed Waves. And it was believed that it was the power of the Twilight Dragon that had allowed them to do so. That was probably why those ancient spirits had left behind these records to pass on their legends.

“……”

However, if that were the case― why then had every last one of them disappeared? Apeiron pondered that question as he continued to flip through the book.

Even he – the King of Light – could not fully comprehend the ancient script. However, he could at least skim through for the information he wanted to know.

“Cu……” Then, Apeiron stopped to stare at a page.

The spirits around him peered at the page he had opened to.

“My King…… is something wrong?” The spirit shifted their gaze between the king and his open volume.

“Cubia……” Apeiron muttered aloud.

“Cubia?”



Cubia, the Hidden One.



Apeiron pointed to those words, written on the page in scratchy letters.

“Is it the name of a spirit?” The spirits surrounding Apeiron looked to each other and began discussing at once. However, that was not the answer. It did not seem to be the name of a spirit.

Apeiron frowned as he tried desperately to read the scratched writings, but it was no use. The text was too faded. “Could it be the name of a human, I wonder……?”

The names of every spirit could all be found in their records, both those belonging to Light and to Darkness. However, when it came to human names, there was no way to know them all. Humans did not inherit their names from a predecessor like spirits did. Even those who did inherit another’s blood and abilities would bare a different name, and the explosive way in which humans propagated left Apeiron incapable of learning all of their names. Even for the humans themselves, it must have been a terribly time-consuming task to keep track of them.

Yet he was only hearing of Cubia now, from reading this record. On one page, there was picture of a monster with many thick roots growing out of a skeletal face

“This is Cubia……?”

Apeiron ruminated on the image and rubbed his eyes, racking his mind to try and remember if there was ever a spirit by that name. And seeing their King in that state, the other spirits all returned to their records as well.

In the subsequent silence, only the sound of turning page could be heard echoing through the Archive. “Could it be connected to this?” Then, one of the spirits placed a book down in front of Apeiron, opened to page of text just as scratchy and faded as the one about Cubia.



Unknown are the Cursed Waves origins.

After the stars doth cross the heavens,

When the eastern sky doth grow dark and the air fills with mourning.

From the fated land beyond the Splintered Forest, a harbinger of the waves come.

Skeith carves the path.

As the Shadow of Death, to wipe out all obstacles that stand before.

Innis, the Mirage of Deceit.

Did betray all with false visions, and in so doing, did aid the wave to reach the heavens,

Then from the zenith, crashes down and ripples out, giving way for a new wave.

This was the power of Magus.

Wherever the wave appears, sorrow and despair rule, extinguishing the light of hope.

Such is the power of Fidchell, to bring dark tiding of the future.

Even as the Cursed Waves consume all, Gorre continues to scheme.

Macha tempts with a sweet trap.

And there, the wave rages at the Pinnacle, where none shall escape.

For Tarvos remains, to continue the hunt.

With even greater cruelty, to punish and destroy.

In furious retribution.

Thus, only a void shall remain in the wake of the waves.

And from the depths of that emptiness, Corbenik arrives.

So too may the waves be but a harbinger.



Skeith, Innis, Magus, Fidchell, Gorre, Macha, Tarvos, and Corbenik― Apeiron had never heard any of those names before.

“The waves have names?”

“……It looks that way, yes.”

“But then― if that is the case, and we could escape the eight eaves, would we not be able to survive?”

Seeing a glimmer of hope, the spirit spoke with glee. “If so, then wouldn’t it be better to think of a way to escape rather than searching for the Twilight Dragon?”

However, Apeiron remain skeptical. “I am concerned about the last line. Even if these are the names of the waves, it is written as though they themselves are precursors; as though something else will follow after them.”

“Wouldn’t that be what Cubia is, then?” The spirit seemed convinced, but Apeiron was still uncertain.

If that were the case, why were they written of in two separate books? Cubia was also depicted to have a proper form, not as an indistinct, bulbous wave. There was surely a reason they had been separated.

“See if this is mentioned anywhere else!”

Looking for any clues as to what Cubia truly was― they continued deciphering the records deep into the night.



But meanwhile, the Little Witch – who had entered the Splintered Forest – was being chased by someone. It was her Other I, the Kar.

And when Fili had seen his Other I, he had broken down in tears. The reason was simple― because legends told that anyone who saw their Other I would die soon thereafter. However, that was only how it was told within the Lands of Light and the world of humans. In the Lands of Darkness however, the Kar were said to bring good fortune and strengthen one’s spellcraft.

“Just try to calm down.”

The Little Witch raced through the Splintered Forest while trying to cheer Fili and the human Gendor up. Bith was dumbfounded by the whole display, but said nothing of it. However, the Kar were persistent, and as it became difficult for them to keep running, the group devised a plan.

To force the Kar to reveal their identities and flee.

When Fili realized what the Kar truly was, he felt ashamed of himself for being so afraid. And in an attempt to rid himself of that stigma, he took charge and moved ahead.

That night, after having fended off the Kar, the Little Witch’s group was attacked by a great and ancient monster in Coite-Bodher, a swamp just beyond the Splintered Forest. The monster’s name was Cubia.

It was one problem after another.

While Bith and Fili fought back with their spellcraft― the Little Witch was struggling to restore the flowers that had been mowed down around her while Gendor kept back from the battle, since his abilities had not yet been awakened.

Then in their time of need, the last of their allies rushed to their aid.

After taking a night’s rest in the human village, we re-entered the forest. Even Fili, who had been impatiently insisting that we had no time to waste, did not object to waiting until sunrise when he realized that we wouldn’t be able to fly.

The Splintered Forest was also known as the Lost Woods. It would be suicide to try and navigate them without a guide― so I spoke with the trees and plants of the forest to lead us west and not get lost.

Apparently, if we continued west, we would reach the largest and most prosperous city in the world. And once we arrived, we would gather information about shadow-bearers and the Twilight Dragon.

“I’ve never gone this deep into the forest before.” Seeing Gendor walk around carelessly through the forest, Bith and Fili both sighed deeply.

We couldn’t even see the sky through the branches of the trees here. So, in this forest where light didn’t reach, the only things we had to rely on were some faintly glowing moss that Bith was carrying and my vague ability to speak with plants. We didn’t dare use fire here. We couldn’t― because there was no telling when a flame would burn out and us with no way to find our way back out.

I was all in favor of not using fire, too. Because if something happened and my broom bought fire, I would be in big trouble.

There was no marked path through the forest. Ivy as thick as branches hung from the trees, carnivorous plants grew everywhere, and somewhere overhead, we could hear birds chirping in the canopy.

(I’ve only ever read about it in books before, but I bet this is what the Sea of Trees in Japan is like……)

Bith carried the moss in a glass jar they had received from the humans of the village as we trudged through grass tall enough to reach my waist and tried not to get our feet caught in any mud.

Occasionally, I would put my hands on the trees and speak with them. Somehow, I was able to understand their language, and so we walked, turning in places to bypass large tree roots and rocks.

“How far do we have to go before we get out of the forest?” Gendor questioned, and Fili pondered it for a moment.

“I’m not really sure…… I’ve always just flown over it until now.”

“I see……”

“If we could have flown, I don’t think it would it would have taken more than an hour.”

Hearing that from Fili, Gendor’s shoulder’s fell. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m not blaming you; I’m grateful that you agreed to join us, really.”

“I- I’ll do my best!”

With that boost to his confidence, Gendor began walking with longer strides, covering more ground in a single step than we could in three. But we couldn’t have him rushing ahead of us and getting lost, so we all had to quicken our pace to keep up.

“Well…… as long as we don’t get lose, we should be able to make it out by the end of the day.” Bith stated, and looked to me. “We’ll be counting on you.”

“Me?” I couldn’t help feeling unworthy of that much trust.

But Vesper whispered to me, “You have an important role here.”

“So if I misinterpret the trees directions, I’ll definitely get yelled at……”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“……”

After another few minutes, I placed a hand on another nearby tree.

(We want to go west, which way should we walk?)

“Aha!”

“!”

A loud noise echoed from overhead and startled me, making me pull away from the tree in fright.

Then I heard the sound of someone laughing.

“Don’t be afraid.” In front of my eyes, the trees seemed to shift as if I were looking at a heat wave.

“What?”

Beside me, Gendor looked up with shock as the shifting air solidified into a humanoid shape and gradually took on color.

Fili warned me to stand back as he held out his spell staff, but the figure didn’t seem dangerous to me.

“It’s alright, this is the Daoine Sí …… fairies of the forest.” Vesper spoke up, and the figure responded.

“That’s correct.”

A girl appeared before us wearing something like a mini dress with light green frills. But she wasn’t alone, there were several others with her.

“Fili…… isn’t this too many?”

“That’s right, you haven’t forgotten about us, have you?”

“Even pointing your spell staff at us.”

“I apologize……”

Fili shied back at the girl’s accusations, and seeming satisfied with that, they turned to look at me.

“Sorry we startled you.”

“We wouldn’t have normally called out to you, but……” The girls looked at Bith with a suspicious gaze. And he in turn sighed as he watched the conversation from a distance. It seemed the news that the Lands of Light and Darkness had joined hands in order to deal with the waves had not yet reached this forest. “Why is there a spirit of darkness here!?”

“And a human, too…… just what is going on here?”

Fili explained quickly, and after they heard him out, they exchanged concerned looks with each other. “So the rumors were true, after all.”

“Then now isn’t the time to be holding them up.” The girls agreed, then began looking around carefully.

“?” Curious, I looked around as well, but it didn’t seem like anything had changed.

“There’s something unseemly out there in these woods.”

“And something bad is closing in on the forest.”

“You should hurry.” With those warnings, the girls clasped their hands in front of their chests as if in prayer. “To your safe travels.”

“And may the Twilight Dragon bless you.”

After they murmured their prayers, the girls peppered us with a misty, pale green light.

“Pretty……” I whispered to myself while looking up at the mist. It carried a calming scent that reminded me of the woods near Uncle Harald’s house.

“With this, you will be able to find your way without stopping to ask the trees for guidance – at least for a while.”

“The plants will show you the path.”

I smiled to the girls. “Thank you.” I said, but they shook their heads.

“There’s no need to thank us.”

“This is the least we can do to help.”

With their part done― the girls forms began to shimmer like a heat wave again, the same way they had appeared, and their bodies were slowly drawn back into the trees.

“Aren’t you going to leave?” I asked them as they disappeared. If they knew something bad was coming, they should at least try to run away.

But the girls just smiled back at me. “Without us, the forest would die.”

“But……”

“You should hurry.” With those as their final words, the girls disappeared completely.

“Let’s go.” Having been standing apart already, Bith began to walk away quickly.

“R-right.”

I stroked the tree where the Daoine Sí had disappeared, then followed after my allies as they moved on.

“We should get out of this forest as soon as possible.” Fili went on. “We mustn’t let their prayers have been made in vain.”

Until now, we’d been pushing our way through without a path to follow, but― now thanks to the prayers of the Daoine Sí, the plants parted for us in the direction we needed to go. Without having to wade through the plants or stop to speak with the trees anymore, we hurried onward.

“The bad thing they said was approaching the forest is probably the wave but…… what’s the ‘unseemly’ thing they mentioned?” I asked the others while we ran.

“No idea.” Bith remarked offhandedly. “But we’d better hurry, whatever it is.”

“……”

For a time, the clattering of glass bottles and our own footsteps were the only sounds echoing through the forest around us. I couldn’t hear the chirping of birds anymore, and wondered if that was due to how deep within the forest we were now.

But as we continued along in silence, we eventually had to slow our pace as we grew too tired to keep running.

Then I was wondering how much of the distance we’d manage to cut through…… when Gendor suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Bith asked, but Gendor just stared into the dark forest as if he hadn’t heard him.

I tried to follow Gendor’s gaze, but all I could see were dimly lit trees. “Gendor, what’s wrong?”

“Saya…… do you have a twin?” Gendor asked me that odd question while still staring into the darkness ahead of him.

“What do you mean?”

“Over there……”

“?”

I stared again in the direction Gendor pointed, but there wasn’t anything unusual that I could see. “There was a girl who looked just like Saya.”

(Huh?)

I froze in place.

(Did the Little Witch have a twin……?)

I looked to Vesper, but he shook his head in answer to my unspoken question. “Saya was always on her own. She never mentioned having a twin.”

“Gendor, are you sure it was me?”

“Yeah.”

Bith was staring in the direction Gendor had indicated as well, but he didn’t seem to see anything strange there either. “You sure you’re not imagining things?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Where have you been running?” Bith questioned me then, and I pointed to Gendor’s left.

“Here, next to Gendor……”

Gendor turned. “Then who was running over there?”

“I think you were just mistaken.” Bith said bluntly, trying to urge us to continue on.

“……Kar.” But before we could go any further, Fili muttered something, almost to himself.

“Kar?” He seemed to be under the same spell as Gendor. “What does he mean by Kar?”

I directed my question at Vesper on my shoulder. In my world, that word could either be the English word ‘car’ or sometimes a person’s name. But that obvious couldn’t be what Fili meant.

“It refers to the Other I.”

“Other I?”

Fili alone started to tremble.

“What’s this…… you’re saying there could be another one of me?”

Bith stared at Fili as he took his head in his hands and started muttering to himself.

“If it is a Kar, then it’s fine. In fact, good for you.” Bith pat me lightly on the shoulder. “This will boost the power of your spellcraft.”

“?”

The contrast between Fili’s sudden fear and Bith’s whole-hearted congratulations left me baffled.

“Sorry…… I don’t think I understand what’s going on. What do you mean?”

“Oh, of course!” Vesper raised his head from thought with a shout of realization.

―It seemed the explanation for the Kar differed between spirits of light and darkness. In the Lands of Light, seeing one’s Kar meant that one’s death was right around the corner, while in the Lands of Darkness, seeing the Kar meant that you would gain the power of a prophet.

Hearing Vesper’s explanation, I finally understood why Fili and Bith’s reactions were so different.

“So it’s like a doppelganger.”

“Is there something like this in your world, too, Saya?”

“Well, it’s more of an urban legend.”

“Urban…… what?”

“Uh…… I mean it’s like a baseless rumor.”

Then Gendor joined the conversation between me and Vesper. “I’ve heard of these Doppel-thingies, too.”

“Oh? The stories have even reached the humans, have they?”

But Gendor didn’t really seem to listen to Vesper instead he sat down on the ground started rummaging around in the bag he had brought with him.

(He really goes at his own pace……)

“Not here,”

“What are you looking for?” I looked into the bag.

“Saya, hold still please.” Gendor told me as he stood up and tore the hem of his tunic.

“Huh?” Suddenly, Gendor took off my hat and wrapped the torn piece of cloth around my face. I could just see Vesper hop off my shoulder. “W-wait a second!”

“The elder always told us that we shouldn’t look our other selves.”

And just like that, I was blindfolded.

“Hey……” Bith muttered, sounding shocked. “If you do that…… then she won’t be able to run.”

Then I heard Gendor’s voice from behind me. “I know it’s troublesome, but I’d be sad if Saya disappeared.”

“……Well, that much is true.” Bith muttered, but then continued, “Look, take that off right now. If you can gain the power of prophet, it would be a huge boon to us!”

“Don’t take it off!” Fili shouted. “If she dies after seeing the Kar, we’ll be in deep trouble.”

“You fool. Do you really believe that story?”

“You’re the fool here! Have you ever known anyone to actually receive this supposed power of the prophet before?”

“I could ask you the same thing; have you ever seen someone actually die because of them?”

“I believe what the elder told us.”

“Then you’re both idiots……”

“Don’t call us idiots!”

“Well I’m certainly not the idiot here.”

Gendor joined the argument with Bith on Fili’s side. I reached to remove the blindfold from my face, but Fili yelled at me when I tried, so I had no choice but to stand there with it on.

(We really are in trouble here, aren’t we……?)

I let out an anxious sigh. We didn’t know how much longer the Daoine Sí’s prayers would keep the plants and trees parted for us, so we should have been trying to hurry through before we lost that benefit.

“Great,” But then Vesper climbed back up to my shoulder. “These guys – they don’t even realize that the effects of the fairies’ prayers have just worn off.”

“What? We lost it already?”

“Afraid so.”

(He sounds calm, but even Bith hasn’t noticed yet……)

I took as big of a breath as I could and shouted to break through the others’ bickering. “Stop it!”

Immediately, the arguing voices cut off. “Saya, you’re facing the wrong way……” Vesper whispered to me.

“It doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong here! The prayers effects have faded, so I’m taking this thing off.”

Saying that, I reached up for my blindfold, but Fili hurried to stop me. “Please don’t do anything rash here!”

“Then how are we going to travel from now on? If I don’t speak with the trees to point us in the right direction, we’ll get lost, won’t we?”

“Yes, but……”

“And we don’t have time to waste, right?”

“But……”

(Oh, come on!)

I stomped my feet in a tantrum.

“I don’t want to see my Other I either, okay? Whether it brings death or power, seeing another version of myself would just be creepy. But you know…… that doesn’t mean we can just sit here doing nothing. We’ve already lost the benefits from the prayers, so I don’t want to waste any more time because I can’t do anything to help!”

That had been the first time I’d raised my voice in anger since arriving in this world. A deep silence rang through the darkness behind my blindfold, and I could guess they were all staring at me now.

“Why don’t you just make it a vote?” Vesper suggested, and Fili sounded pleased with the idea.

“In that case, it’s two-to-one that she keeps that on.”

“Well, that’s how it is. Is that good enough for you, Bith?”

Bith nodded in response to Vesper’s question. “But, Vesper…… how will she keep up with us if she’s wearing that blindfold?”

“Someone will have to lead her by the hand.”

“That would slow us down considerably though……”

“That’s true.”

“What if we got the big guy to carry her instead?” Bith suggested, and so we proceeded with Gendor holding me in his arms.

However, I wasn’t able to get directions from the trees like that, and as a result, we wasted time going back-and-forth a lot until it was obvious that we were lost.

“What are we going to do?”

Bith sounded angry, so I spoke up. “What do you think we should do?”

“That’s what I’m asking you.” It was obvious that he was in a bad mood. He had said this would happen, and now that he had been proven right, it upset him.

“Like I thought, I should just take this thing off already……”

I lifted a hand up to the blindfold, but someone else took hold of my hand first.

“Wait, not yet.” Surprisingly, it was Bith. “Fili, eyes down!”

“What, why?”

“Do you really need to ask in this situation?”

A second later, I heard Fili’s breath catch. “Could- could it be……”

“Hm? Could be what……?” I felt myself suddenly shift from side-to-side, and could only guess that Gendor was spinning around with me in his arms. “Stop, stop! Put me down……” I cried out desperately as a sense of motion sickness overtook me.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Gendor put me down and I sat on the ground. Then Vesper climbed back up onto my shoulder and I heard the sound of Fili crying.

“Was there a Kar of Fili?”

“Looked that way.”

“How many of them are there?”

“There’s nothing to suggest they can’t show up in groups.”

“I guess.”

“Perhaps my own Kar will show itself next.”

(Hm?)

It occurred to me that from what I knew of doppelgangers, they should always appear exactly as the person they were mimicking. Suddenly, I found it odd that no one had said anything about there being a Vesper on the other me’s shoulder since he was almost always on mine. So, I decided to ask Bith about it.

“Bith, you saw my Kar too, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, there definitely wasn’t a Vesper with her, though.” Bith confirmed, and then gave me an intent once over. “Come to think of it, she wasn’t carrying a broom with her, either.”

“Huh?”

The broom was easily tall enough to poke out from behind my back, so I couldn’t believe the other me wouldn’t have one……

“So that’s it……” Muttering some kind of affirmation to himself, Bith took off my blindfold and squatted down to whisper something to me. “Listen, is conversing with them all you can do?”

“What?”

“Can’t you manipulate them at all?”

“Manipulate…… the plants, you mean?”

Bith nodded, and I turned my head to look at Vesper.

“Hmm, maybe. I suppose it’s not impossible…… as long as you can communicate your intent well enough.”

“I can give it a try.”

“Right, then here’s the plan.” Reaching a decision, Bith stood up and stared around at the dark forest.

(Plan?)

I tilted my head again, but Bith just grinned at me. “You ask the plants for guidance, we’re going to hunt them down. And once there’s nowhere for them to run, I’ll burn them all to ashes.”

“Burn them……”

“I’ll use a flame spell; it’s what I’ve always been best at. I stopped using it after what happened with Lilith― but I’m done holding myself back now. I’ll use this power however I want, whenever I want.” Bith drew out a spell wand from inside his cloak embedded with a black jewel. “I still don’t like the guy much, but I guess I’m starting to feel a little sorry for him, at least.”

Bith glanced at Fili, who Gendor was trying to comfort. He was so shocked by the appearance of his Kar that he had broken down in tears.

“Although, burning them to ashes…… that seems like it might be overkill.”

“You are just precious.”

“If you attack them, they’ll probably retaliate. I’m just worried about something like that.”

Bith let out a deep sigh at my words. “……I’ll keep it in mind.” He said, then called out to Fili. “Hey, you go ahead and take a break, alright?”

Startled by Bith, Fili nodded to him without a word while Gendor continued to gently pat him on the back.

“It’s going to be okay.”

“……Please don’t try to console me.”

Gendor turned to me with a pleading look in his eyes, so I walked over to Fili.

“Fili, maybe you should try wearing the blindfold. It’ll be fine so long as you don’t look at it again, right?”

“Saya…… you took it off?”

“Yeah, because I’m going to try to help now.”

“?”

“Bith is a surprisingly nice guy.”

Saying that, I reached out to the tree that stood next to Fili, and he watched me quizzically as I slowly closed my eyes in concentration.

(Please…… lend us your aid.)

I couldn’t completely understand the language of the trees, so I worried that manipulating them would be asking too much…… but I still tensed the hand I was holding up to the tree.

(I want to expose the Kar’s true identity. We can’t move forward like this.)

The trees surrounding us began to rustle, though I couldn’t be sure if that was because my prayers were really getting through or not.

(Just a little help……)

The wind wasn’t blowing, but the trees were starting to rustle louder and louder as the plants under my feet started to sway.

“!”

Something like a warm breeze flowed from my hand against the tree up through my whole body.

I had never felt anything like it before, but it assured me that my prayers had been properly conveyed, and when I opened my eyes, the tree’s groves seemed to vaguely take the shape of a face.

“Pleasure meeting you.” I spoke in greeting, and the trees rustled again.

“Is it working?” Bith called out to me, so I turned to him and nodded.

“I think so.”

“Good…… then it’s time to counterattack.”

And as though they heard Bith as well― the surrounding trees all began to stretch their vines and branches around their trunks to point in one direction. Then we were scooped up by those branches in front of us and gathered onto a single path that stretched straight ahead like a sidewalk.

“Wow……”

I breathed out an sigh of awe. The vines and branches stretched to their limits to hand us off as if passing a baton and carried us gently from one tree to the next.

“Well done. This is incredible, Saya.”

“Let’s hope things keep going this well……”

“So what now?”

“We’re going to exterminate the Kar.” Bith answered while glaring in the direction the trees were taking us, and the jewel in his spell wand started glowing red. “There!”

Bith pointed at where another me and Fili stood surrounded by the vines and branches, locked down by a large boulder behind them.

“There really is another me……”

“Incredible. They really do look just like you.”

We nodded to each other, and then Bith flew out towards them. Leaping up to the tree nearest the Kar, he held his wand out in front of him.

“PhaVak Rom!”

With a shout, flames in the shape of a dragon shot out of the tip of Bith’s wand like a flamethrower at the Kar.

The Kar pushed through the vines and branches to try and escape the flames, but Bith manipulated the flames and chased them down relentlessly.

Bith landed back on the ground and the branches holding the rest of us carried us down to him.

“Let’s go.”

We rushed to Bith’s side. His flames were moving around and coiling through the trees like a living thing.

“This is……” Fili’s voice sounded raw.

“The true identity of the Kar.”

In front of Bith were two small, hairy goblin-like creatures with pointed ears curled up in fear.

“They’re leprechauns.” Vesper said.

“Another kind of spirit?”

“Yeah – mischievous spirits.”

“This is the first I’ve seen of their kind.”

The flames closed in around the leprechauns, so I spoke again. “Bith, don’t you think that’s far enough?”

“You expect me to pull back?”

“I feel bad for them. They were only pretending to be Kar.”

“And thanks to that, they also ate up a lot of our time.”

“But……”

Bith looked to Fili standing behind us, a dumbfounded expression still on his face.

“Are you okay with that?”

“I……”

“Can you forgive them?”

Fili looked at the leprechauns, who were close to being consumed by the flames.

“……Killing without a cause is pointless.”

Bith clicked his tongue and muttered something about us being ‘too soft’.

“If you won’t pull back, I’ll erase it.”

At that, Bith drew a circle in the air with his wand, and the dragon-like flames disappeared as if being sucked into it. The leprechauns immediately looked relieved and dropped on the spot.

“We’re so sorry……” One of the leprechauns rasped out a hoarse apology.

I approached them and crouched down to meet their eyes, then asked with a gentle voice, “What were you trying to do?”

The leprechauns exchanged a look.

“Answer the girl.” Before I realized it, Bith was standing behind me, glaring at the leprechauns with a fiendish look in his eye.

“It has been so long since anyone has come through this forest, so we thought we’d give you a surprise.”

“We figured you would see through it quickly enough. We couldn’t get too close at first, so we couldn’t get your exact likeness.”

“We didn’t expect you to think it was real.”

“We didn’t mean to scare you all!” They explained, and all the while hung their heads in deep apology.

I turned to look at Fili behind me. I figured that with that explanation, he would surely be able to forgive them for their mistake. However, at that moment, Fili just held in head in a sign of self-loathing.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice it right away. I’m worthless……”

“It’s not your fault, it was just because you were put on edge thinking about the legends, right? I’m sure that was all.”

“I would have freaked out too, if I thought my Doppel had shown up.” Gendor and I tried to cheer him up, but it seemed like Fili wasn’t hearing it no matter what.

I was so far out of my depth here.

Fili was like an honors student – a very earnest type of person. Some of my classmates were that way, people who would beat themselves up over every little mistake they made. In the end, realizing that we were all the same – humans and spirits, this world and my world – that knowledge made me smile a little bit.

We were no closer to achieving our goal. Without a third shadow bearer, we could not begin our search for the Twilight Dragon. And that was why we needed Fili – our guide and source of information – to get back on his feet quickly.

“If you can’t do it Fili, then I……

Seeing the negativity spread to Gendor, Bith started to chastise the leprechauns further, shouting “No more tricks!” as he launched into a tirade.

“Saya, I think they’re calling for you.”

“Who?” I followed Vesper’s gaze behind me, and I saw a single tree standing there. It’s branches stretched towards me, and I took them in my hand like I was giving them a handshake. “Thank you.”

However, then the tree scooped me up again.

(Why?)

Along with me, Gendor, Fili, and even Bith was lifted onto a carpet of vines and branches like before while he was still in the middle of lecturing the leprechauns.

“Tell them they’ve done enough.”

I nodded and tried to communicate that with the trees, but they just murmured a response while the branches continued to stretch out with us on them.

“Where are you taking us?” The leprechauns were quickly left behind, stunned looks on their faces as we were lifted up to ride on the vines and branches. “Could this be…… are you taking us out of the forest?”

I tried asking the vines, and the trees rustled in a way that seemed to indicate that the answer was ‘yes’.

“Looks like they are.”

Hearing me say that, Bith stopped squirming and lay down on the vines. “Then I’m going to sleep.”

He fell out of consciousness quickly. And following his lead, Gendor lay down behind me, stretching his arms and legs out as far as he could.

“Why don’t you rest a while too, Saya?”

“I’m fine.” I said, wanting to see a bit more of the forest. I wanted to fix the image of this in my memory, even just a small part of it.

I stared down the path being carved through the trees by the movement of the branches. Slowly, the trees grew more sparse and the sky started to become visible through the canopy again. It looked like dawn was breaking outside.

Fili settled in beside me as I watched the sky above. “Um…… I’m really sorry. I was completely hysterical back there.”

“Don’t worry about it. I think I would have been even more frightened than you if I had known the legends about the Kar that you had.”

“I’m sorry.”

I smiled at Fili as he slumped. Then I looked over at Bith to make sure he was still sleeping. “Bith really is a good person, you know.”

“I…… guess he is. I thought he was unforgivable after hearing Lilith’s story.” Fili took a deep breath as he mentioned it. “But if I were in the same situation, I’m sure I would have wanted to ask my King for help as well. Even if there was a chance the person I was trying to help might be exiled for it.”

“Yeah,”

“I hadn’t expected to find such kindness in a spirit of darkness.”

“You’re surprised that they can be kind?”

“I’d believed that they were all cruel people…… but that was just my prejudice it would seem.”

Admitting that, Fili stared for a moment at the sleeping Bith and muttered more apologies.

For a while, we fell silent, looking in the direction we were being pulled in by the vines and branches. The scenery transitioned smoothly around us as we were shifted gently from one branch to the next.

And before I knew it, Fili had fallen asleep as well. With me left as the only one still awake, I started to fall deep into thought.

(What is the Twilight Dragon, anyways?)

I knew it was supposed to save the spirits from the waves, but how would it save them? If it was going to fight those enormous waves, I had to imagine that the Twilight Dragon must be huge itself. And if the dragon were that large, surely there would be spirits who know where it was. If no one did, then our search would be very difficult.

If I could just remember what I’d read of the Epitaph of Twilight, I might already have the answer…… but my mind still felt hazed over whenever I tried to recall details from the story. Also, I had this vague feeling that the Epitaph of Twilight never had an ending. If I knew what would happen in the future, I would be able to avoid the danger…… and I felt ashamed of myself for not being able to remember.

(I feel like there was something else I should be concerned about……)

Trying to remember the Epitaph of Twilight gave me the worst headache I’ve ever had, throbbing until I had to hold my head in my hands.

(Why?)

Even after I gave up trying to recall the details, the pain remained. It was like there was something that wouldn’t let me remember.

“Wait a minute!”

It wasn’t just the Epitaph― Mama and Papa, my uncle’s house, I suddenly realized that I couldn’t recall parts of my own life easily anymore either. It wasn’t just the fatigue making it harder for me to think. I was starting to become a part of this world; I was sure of it.

(I have to try and remember something, anything……)

Holding my aching head, I tried desperately to remember the world I should return to― but everything was so hazy that I could hardly recall anything.

“I have to get back soon……”

Next to me, Vesper shifted in his sleep next to me as if responding to muttering.

(But if I go home while we’re looking for the Twilight Dragon…… or if Uncle Harald realizes what happened and does something……)

What would I do then? Being able to leave this world with a smile was what I’d said I wanted― but now, with my memories slipping away from me, it was hard to imagine that I could reach that goal before it was too late.

If I went home while this world was still in danger, that might mean abandoning the people here…… when I thought about it like that, I wasn’t sure what to do.

If I knew I could save this world from my own, I would probably go back without hesitation. But I felt like a terrible person for even thinking that way.

(For now, I just have to keep moving forward……)

There was no point brooding over questions I didn’t have the answers to. We were in too much of a hurry to do anything about it right now, anyways.

My eyes went wide as I watched the path in front of me. It looked like we were almost out of the forest. However, a thick fog was starting to roll in ahead of us.

The vines and branches rustled to rouse everyone else from their sleep before slowly lowering us back to the ground.

“Where are we?” I addressed my question to Fili as he stepped down from the branches first.

“It’s a swamp called Coite-Bodher.”

“Are we passing through here?”

The fog was so dense I could barely see five feet ahead of me. I wondered if we would really be able to get through this place without flying. But perhaps sensing my uneasiness, Fili pointed at something off to our right.

“You see that road over there?” I squinted and tried to peer through the fog. Small round stones dotted the area that led into the swamp. “This path was left for us by our predecessors. As long as we don’t fall from there, we won’t get stuck in the swamp.”

“But the stones will be slippery.” Vesper noted.

In addition to the fog, a light rainfall was coating the stones in water, so the path was going to be very slippery as we crossed.

“I’m definitely going to fall.” Gendor said anxiously as he stood behind me.

“If you do, you’ll just get covered in mud is all. Come one, let’s go.”

Brushing off Gendor’s worries however, Bith walked ahead to look around.

Behind us, I thanked the trees for bringing us to the swamp― then stepped into Coite-Bodher. The stone path laid out for us was narrow, so our only option would be to proceed in a single-file line.

There were only a few sparse trees in the swamp here, and most had branches that were either bent or broken. A black bird perched on one and stared at us almost as if it was waiting for us to fall in.

Every so often, Gendor would point out flowering plants growing in the swamp. We couldn’t get too distracted with conversation, though. Because with the constant drizzle dampening the stones, we could be in big trouble if we didn’t watch our step. And meanwhile, Vesper was hiding in my hood because he didn’t want to get his fur soaked.

“Once we pass through here, we’ll reach the city.”

Hearing this news, Gendor called out with glee, “I’ve never been to the city before.”

(Wait, so he didn’t live there before?)

I had assumed Gendor must have been banished like Lilith, and expected him to only have bad memories of it going back. But his attitude now was throwing me off, so I decided I had to ask about it.

“Really?”

“I was born on the road, so I don’t know anything about the city. Is it big?”

“It’s said to be the largest in the world.”

“I can’t wait to see it.”

Just then, Bith smacked Gendor on his head. “We’re not tourists. We’ll be heading out again as soon as we have all the information we need.”

“I know, I know.”

As we continued our conversation however, the drizzle started to grow into a heavier downpour, and lightning began to flash in the distance that made me jump.

I’d always hated lightning. Even after I’d been taught how it worked in school, it just set me on edge. I didn’t like the rumbling sounds it made, and I hated the way it always struck so suddenly. There wasn’t anything about it that I liked.

As the rain grew more relentless, we were quickly drenched. “Whoa!” And then I heard a shout from behind me and quickly turned to see that Gendor had slipped and sunk down to his knees in the swamp.

“Gendor!” I rushed over and grabbed Gendor’s arm, but he was being slowly swallowed up by the swamp. “Too heavy……”

I tried to pull him up, but there was nothing I could do with my strength. Between Gendor’s weight and the mud drawing him in, I was almost pulled down with him.

“Fili, Bith! Get over here!” I shouted, but at that exact moment― a clap of thunder drowned out my voice.

“Saya, at this rate, you’re going to get swallowed up, too……”

Gendor had already sunk down to his waist, and was looking up at me while on the verge of tears. “Gendor……”

Gendor struggled desperately, trying to climb back up. But then I had to stop him because the more he moved, the faster the swamp was swallowing him up.

“Vesper, please. Bring the others back.” I said, and needing no further argument, Vesper jumped out of my hood and ran towards the two that had gone ahead. “We’ll get you out in just a second.”

Gendor nodded. However, the mud was already up to his chest, and there was nothing I could do on my own to help him.

Holding Gendor’s hand in both of mine, I met his eyes. “I’m going to fly.”

Gendor nodded silently, and I let go of his hand, pulling my broom off my back to put between my legs.

(Please……)

Gendor grabbed onto the broomstick. Then, once I was sure he had a firm grip, I tapped the broomstick and tried to rise.

(I have to fly as hard as I can!)

The broom rose slowly with a creaking sound. And just as slowly, Gendor’s body rose with it. His mud-covered chest, waist, and finally his legs emerged from the swamp.

“Just a little more!” I cried as I held onto my broom with all my strength.

A second later, the broom creaked and then snapped. But Gendor made it out of the mud first, and when the broom snapped, Gendor fell onto the stone path, and I dropped on top of him.

Quietly, we both breathed sighs of relief.

“Are you okay?!”

Gendor and I looked at each other as the two that had gone on ahead rushed back to us. I couldn’t help but crack a smile from the relief that we were safe.

“Somehow……”

“You two are late.”

Bith frowned at the sight of us covered in mud.

“You couldn’t have supported Gendor’s weight all on your own, did you?”

“I guess I did.”

Hearing that, Fili looked up towards the sky. “It’s too dangerous to keep going in this rain. There should be a lodge run by an old florist a little farther ahead, so we should stop to rest there.”

“I don’t like the thought of being indebted to a spirit of light, but…… it can’t be helped.” Bith muttered some complaint before holding out his hand to Gendor. “Sorry.”

Gendor stood up and ended up splashing Bith with mud as well.

“I broke my broom, though.”

Vesper looked at the handle snapped into the shape of an ‘L’ and gave a resigned sigh.

“Can you fix it?”

“I’m not sure…… I think my healing spells only work on living things.”

“Well, give it a try later just to be sure.”

Dragging our mud encrusted bodies along, we started making our way to the lodge where the old florist was supposed to be. On the bright side, the strong rains were able to wash the mud away as we went. But at the same time, it sapped away our body heat as we became even more drenched.

“So cold……” I muttered while holding Vesper in my arms.

“Just a bit farther…… over there!”

Fili pointed to a brick lodge, though it was hard to make out through the fog. Something felt off about it though. There was no sign of anybody inside.

“Hey……” I grabbed Gendor by the arm. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Gendor patted my head gently with his big hand.

“It’ll be fine. We’re all here with you.”

“……Right.”

I wanted to say more, but my bad omen only grew more certain as we approached the lodge. And it turned out that my premonition was right on the money.

There was no sign of the old florist, and the lodge itself was half destroyed like it had been attacked.

“Where’s the old florist?!”

Fili hurried to search the surroundings, but there was no sign of anyone else here. And meanwhile, Bith inspected the ruined lodge more carefully.

“Must have been huge……” Bith muttered.

“What?”

“Whatever destroyed this lodge. But I’ve never heard of a monster like that living in the swamp here.”

“Monster……”

I looked around slowly, but I couldn’t see anything because of the fog.

“Are we still going to rest here?” Gendor eyed the ruined lodge. Some of the roof was still intact, so we could at least take shelter from the rain.

“It can’t be helped…… It’ll just be until the rain stops.”

Fili made the decision, but even he didn’t seem satisfied with the arrangement.

The lodge’s furniture had been broken and tossed around, so Gendor gathered up the pieces and used them to kindle a fire.

I sat next to the fire and held my knees. Oddly, even though my clothes were completely soaked through, they were quick to dry out, and I wondered if the fabrics had been enchanted somehow with spellcraft.

Bith and Fili summoned their respective familiars and sent them to their leaders. In order to relay information― but also to ask about what had happened to this lodge. I just stared at the fire, and with a throbbing head, desperately tried to remember something from the camp I had gone to last summer. Because I was afraid that if I didn’t try to remember something every so often, I really would forget it all.

(Mama and Papa…… must be worried about me by now.)

I started to cry, and seeing me like that, Gendor silently pulled me into an embrace. Then, with my head against his chest, I started to doze off.

But even as the sun set and night fell, the rain continued to fall heavier and heavier outside. And some time after everyone else had fallen asleep, we were woken up by the sound of Vesper’s voice.

“What is it?”

“Something’s here!”

Vesper was staring out at a pair of pale eyes that peered back at us in the ruins of the lodge. And they were definitely watching us, fixed on us without even blinking.

Without thinking, I took a step back and the eyes suddenly disappeared.

“Cheeky thing.” Bith raised his spell wand, and not a moment later, the mysterious figure attacked.

In one moment, we were knocked down and the roof was blown off the lodge. Gendor covered me to protect me from the falling debris. “Thank you……” I crawled out from under him.

“Hey, we’re not going to die here, are we?”

Gendor’s face went pale as he asked that dark question with tears in his eyes.

“That’s……” I couldn’t promise him that we wouldn’t. I couldn’t seem to do anything. “Ugh……”

I couldn’t bear the fact that Gendor – who had no powers of his own – was having to face the possibility of his own death

Ahead of us, Fili and Bith flew into the air and cast spells at something I still couldn’t make out the shape of.

“PhaVak Rom!”

“PhaZan Rom!”

Bith’s flames swelled within Fili’s winds, and the light they cast illuminated the monster they were fighting.

It was massive. Even just it’s face was the size of the lodge. However, when I looked closer― it looked less like one solid mass and more like a tangle of thick roots. It didn’t seem to have a body behind it either. The monster was nothing but a gathering of roots growing out of a giant face.

(There’s no way we can beat this……)

I stared up at the monster in shock.

“Hey, don’t just sit there! Do something!”

Bith shouted at me, but as the rain fell and the thunder crashed, all I could do in the face of this monster’s attack was try to keep away.

“What…… what should I do?”

“I don’t―” As we spoke, Bith burned the whip-like roots of the monster with his spells. “Think for yourself.”

“Aaah!” I ducked down to avoid a root as it swung towards me.

I had no idea what I could do in this situation. I didn’t even have the time to take out the spell wand at my waist, so it was all I could manage just to avoid the monster’s attack.

There were so many roots raging around us in a frenzy while swooping down on us and the plants of the swamp.

“Saya, over there!” Vesper directed my attention back to the lodge.

Roots were stretching towards Gendor, who was trembling in the middle crumbling lodge.

“!”

While still trembling myself, I took out my small spell wand and clutched it with both hands to make sure I didn’t drop it.

(Please…… make it in time!)

I pointed at a tree standing next to the ruined lodge.

(Please protect Gendor……)

A warm breeze flowed up through my body from the ground. And at that moment, the tree rose up like its roots were legs and ran towards Gendor.

“……Ah!”

The tree kicked Gendor in the face with its roots as he trembled in fear and was forcefully propelled out of the lodge.

I watched what happened next as if it happened in slow motion. As soon as Gendor had been kicked out of the lodge, the tree that had heard my prayers was struck by the monster’s roots and splintered into pieces.

“I’m sorry……” I whispered and ran to Gendor.

“Saya, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. If you want to thank someone―” I picked up a shard of the splintered wood now sprayed across the swamp. “Thank them.”

“Right…… thank you.” We huddled close to each other and looked back at the monster. It was floating in mid-air, countering every one of Bith and Fili’s attacked. “Are we really going to die……?”

Gendor started sobbing again, and I didn’t know what to say to him. “I……”

But right now― it didn’t seem like we could defeat this monster or run from it.

One of the monster’s roots struck Fili, and he flew backwards towards us as we hid in the ruined lodge.

“Fili!”

I rushed forward to try and catch him, but I couldn’t stop his momentum and we both ended up falling into the mud.

“I’m sorry……” Covered in blood and breathing heavily, Fili apologized and tried to stand back up, but I held him back.

“I’ll heal you, so just wait here a moment!”

I gripped Fili’s arm as tight as I could and started treating him. Slowly, his wound started to reseal, but it was far from being fully healed.

(Come on……)

But before I could do more, Fili gently pulled my hands away from him. “Thank you, Saya.”

“No, not yet!”

I tried to stop Fili from standing up, but he shook his head at me.

“Bith can’t fight that thing on his own.” He said, and with those words, he flew back towards the monster.

I couldn’t even chase after him. Out there, Bith looked even more exhausted than Fili as he continued fending off dozens of roots by himself. But no matter how many times he was knocked away, he kept on chanting his spells.

It felt so frustrating to not be able to do anything.

I could heal them, but I didn’t dare get closer to the battle. I hit my own trembling legs over and over, but I couldn’t even push myself to stand up.

(Come on, move……)

My body wouldn’t move like it should because I was still trembling from fear, and it was so frustrating that I started to cry.

“!”

In that moment, the monster let out a screech that nearly ruptured my eardrums― and in its wake, a powerful shockwave struck us.

All I could do was shut my eyes against it and cover my ears.

(Someone, please save us……)

But there wasn’t anyone here to save us. If something was going to be done, we would have to do it ourselves. But even knowing that it was useless, I prayed for a savior to appear.

“Saya……” Then, at the sound of Vesper’s voice, I realized that it had suddenly gone quiet for the first time since the battle started.

I slowly opened my eyes. Bith, Fili, and Gendor were all sitting next to me, and all of them were staring up at the monster, transfixed.

(W-what is……)

I followed everyone’s gaze to look up at the monster.

“Huh?” The monster’s pale body had turned stone gray. It was petrified. “What happened……?”

The petrified monster was slowly being swallowed up by the swamp, and unable to comprehend what had happened to it, I watched it sink in silence.

A moment later, the monster was completely buried in the mud.

“……You!”

The thick fog was swept away in a gust of wind. And there where the monster had been, I saw someone stand up.

It was Lilith, and with a smile on her face, she walked slowly towards us.

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