It has been a couple of days after Tifa gave the group the magic sequence that made the day of permanence possible. They have been investigating the corrupted land whenever they could, but duties that rulers have come to haunt Lud and Tiara. Hence, Lud and Tiara were absent after the first day.
Roman, with his spirit hopeful, studied tirelessly the corrupted zone and its relation to the divine. Tifa's brief recollection helped him a lot to understand the correct way to look at the corrupted land's problem.
Now only one thing bothered Roman. Why is the divine a part of this problem?
Roman could blame the will of the rulers at the time that the corruption guards act hostile towards outsiders, but that didn't seem to be the only reason in Roman's mind. Could it have been the influence that Tifa put during those days that made the corruption guards act so hostile towards outsiders?
Roman is very confused by the situation, as he thought that the aether that gods emit is a good thing and abyss taking it away is a bad thing, but now he has to rethink something he never thought he would have to.
Tifa said that she would go ask the gods about if they knew everything together with Li, but she looked like she already knew that they wouldn't be helpful in this matter.
Roman's picture of gods and the divine are being shattered every passing moment he spends in Elysium. But because he knows a council member of the star elves have given their support and the fact that Tifa herself can just go ask the gods about things made him feel a little reassured that he isn't taking the bad turn here.
However, since he was worried, he went to the church that was in Elysium to ask for guidance on this matter. What the members there said wasn't so helpful, as the perspective of -god realm good, abyss bad-, is a common belief in Lutah.
Roman thought that maybe he should go ask someone who comes from the higher realm, so he thought of Toki at this time. And as if the gods heard his wish, Toki was passing through the street he was walking during that time, so he stopped Toki and asked if they could talk a bit.
Toki jokingly said "If you ask a girl out on a date, I'm sure your wife won't be that pleased." To which Roman responded with "Don't say things like date. I'm only asking for advice on something. We can just sit on a bench for a brief moment and that doesn't constitute a date."
Toki pondered for a moment and said "I think I have some time. Sure, let's talk on that bench."
The two went to sit on a bench and Roman told his worries to Toki. He said "I'm not sure how I should feel about the divine being the cause of the corrupted land. But since Zolotifa said so herself and I didn't feel like she was lying, I have to think in a way that I'm not used to."
Toki says "I have been studying the effects of aether for quite some time so that I can implement it on my devices. I devised a thing called a camera during those studies and I'm planning on giving the schematics to someone that would be able to deal with that kind of stuff. It is pretty complicated stuff with that camera, but I'm sure that it'll make many people happy."
Roman asks "What does that have to do with my doubts?" And Toki responds with "I don't know."
Roman is dumbfounded for a moment and asks "You don't know?" And Toki says "Yeah. I'm but a simple artisan who knows a thing or two about devices."
Roman then says "So talking to you was pointless." And Toki says "Perhaps, but if you think of the bigger picture, then you might get some confidence."
Roman asks "A bigger picture?" And Toki says "Yeah. The bigger picture of how this all is. Aether is a lifeblood of Lutah, that much is true and always will be true. But just as too high blood cell concentration can be harmful to you, so does the amount of aether around the air."
Roman does not know what to say and Toki continues with "Look. Life is complicated and things won't be like we always want them to be. That being said, we can't just stop trying to make things better because it all feels hopeless. The divine hasn't betrayed you in any way, it is the Cryzalin people that caused too much aether to be concentrated in one sensitive device that made a whole race turn into crystal structures."
Roman asks "You know about the day of permanence?" And Toki says "I mean, I've studied it a bit during my stay in the lower realm some time ago and I came to the conclusion that solving their issue is as simple as shutting down PEACE and cleaning up the vast amount of aether that makes the whole area the way it is. As for how you should get rid of the aether… while I get that it might be a bit difficult thing to ask, but rely on the abyss this time."
Roman thinks for a moment and then comments "Was… was it always that simple?" To which Toki says "Who knows. This is just my hypothesis. It is up to someone who has a motive to see if it is the correct one. And we have one right here, now don't we."
Roman says "Thanks, I'll think I know what to do now." Toki says "You are welcome? It is just a dumb hypothesis that I made, so don't go expecting too much about it."
Roman asks "Do you have a paper at hand that explains it in detail?" To which Toki says "I don't rely much on paper since I trust my own memory to remember everything for me. It has worked out so far so I don't plan on changing my way of thinking."
Roman says "I see. Well, I'll be off your case then and go with what I think will work out. I'll make sure to credit your contribution if it turns out right."
Toki blushes and says "Aw gees. Thanks. But don't be too disappointed if it doesn't work out."
Roman says "No, I have a feeling that this time it'll work out for sure."
Toki gets up from the bench and says "Well don't say that I didn't warn you. In any case, I need to go do a few things before I forget. See you around, Roman the Cryzalin Hero."
And just like that, Toki walks away from Roman. Then Roman gets up from the bench and says "I suppose I need to go work."
But after walking a bit, he realizes one thing "Didn't Toki say she was confident in her memory?"
After some time, Toki met Xu and said hi to him. Xu, ever so gentleman, responded "Greetings young lady. To what I owe this pleasure?"
Toki says "I was just wondering about how you and the fingers were built. I'd talk to Illi, but I think he is busy with something right now."
Xu says "I understand. Then why don't we go to our home base and discuss along the way?" Toki responds excitedly "Really?! That would be awesome Mr. Xu!"
Xu says "Oh young lady. Just Xu is fine by me. Shall we?" And Toki responds "Lead the way!"
Along the way, the two discuss the common mechanics of all fingers. Xu doesn't seem too bothered about sharing all this to a stranger since she seems pretty harmless to him.
Along the way, Xu mentions "Oh, and Jiushijiu is quite different from the rest of my daughters. While she is the second highest rank, she doesn't have a mobile body like the others. In fact, her whole body is the very base that we fingers reside in when we aren't busy or need to recharge."
Toki says "I see, but how about her combat capability? Does she have anything she can do in case an attacker comes?"
Xu explains "While it is rare for little Jiushijiu to have a need for action, she does have few defensive capabilities. She can burn things with lasers, crush things with pistons, shoot things with heavily loaded weapons, poison, electrocution and even radiation."
Toki says "I see. So she has that kind of firepower. Does she have any nonlethal alternatives?" To which Xu says "She has some rope shooters and sleeping darts. Electrocution can be nonlethal and she can beat things with swords like any other of my daughters."
Toki then mutters "I see, I see. Then, what if…" Xu stops for a moment and places his hand in front of Toki. Toki asks "What's wrong, Xu?" And Xu says "Something isn't right with Jiushijiu. We are closeby, but she has yet to greet me with any of our communication methods."
Toki then asks worriedly "Then what should we do?" Then Lud shouts at Xu with the legion telepathic method "What the hell is going on Xu?!" To which Xu responded "What do you mean, sire?"
Lud shouts "We are hearing reports of the fingers attacking other people indiscriminately! There are already casualties and things aren't looking so good! I order you to make an emergency shutdown to all fingers!"
Xu mutters "So that's what's going on." And then says to Lud "Affirmative. I'll proceed with an emergency shutdown to all finger units."
Xu executes the emergency shutdown, but the message doesn't seem to go through. Xu tries again and again with varying methods, but the emergency shutdown command doesn't seem to get through to the finger units.
Xu says to Lud "My apologies sire. The emergency shutdown isn't going through for some reason."
Lud shouts "Isn't going through?! What the hell are you talking about?! Isn't it's purpose to work in situations like these?!"
Xu says "My apologies sire. I'll try to find the source of the problem while simultaneously trying different methods to solve the problem."
Lud says with a more calm voice "Good. Worst comes to worst, we'll have to destroy all the finger units if they won't stop."
Xu responds with a somber tone "I understand sire. I'll try my best to make it so that there is no need for that."
Then Xu says to Toki "I'm sorry young lady, but the situation has gotten dire. Make sure to stay close to me." Toki is a bit confused by this and says "U-Understood!"
Little earlier in the training room, Weiss and Bai were having a training match to improve Weiss' swordsmanship.
Exhausted, Weiss says to Bai "I concede for today. Man, I really can't compete with you." To this, Bai says confidently "Of course you can't. It is me you are talking about."
Weiss responds to Bai's confident attitude with "Don't be too sure that you stay like that. I'll make sure to catch up with you one day."
Bai responds with a simple "Likely story." And begins to leave. Then Bai senses someone else in the room, so she decides to ask "Who's there?" As she points one of the flying swords at the general direction where she sensed the other person.
Then the mysterious person begins to clap sarcastically as she spoke in a voice that is very familiar to Weiss and Bai. "As expected of the superior being. No matter how many times I get to witness it, I'll still get the chills when you first open your mouth each time."
Weiss says "That voice. It's…"
Then the person comes out from the shadows and shows her appearance. The person looks like a disheveled Bai whose body is starting to break down. The metal beneath her fake skin gives up an eerie feeling to both Weiss and Bai.
The person says as she bows down a moment "My name is Ilil. The sin carrier of envy that was given to me by the magnificent Swarm King Nemesis himself."
Bai responds with a snarky "Swarm King? No way. Nemesis? What an original name they got there. And envy? You are spoiling me with all these revelations."
Ilil says "It matters not how you respond as your body will soon be mine and the rest of your kin will slaughter anybody that carries the weak flesh on their bodies."
Bai says "I would rather not you do that." And tries to attack Ilil, but Ilil blocks Bai's attacks with rusted swords of her own.
Bai becomes annoyed by this and tries to use a hail of swords against Ilil, but something stops her from executing that command on her swords. Soon, Bai begins to have difficulty controlling her body and she manages to ask the smirking Ilil "What… did you… do?"
Ilil says confidently "I simply made a little bug go to your home base and once part of that being's body touched the surface of the 99th, the corruption began to spread across her body. You haven't happened to have visited the 99th, have you?"
Bai manages to say "You… bas…tard."
The exhausted Weiss attacked Ilil, but Ilil blocked Weiss' attack effortlessly with her rusted sword. Ilil gets a scary look on her face as she says "You dare to attack me you weak fleshling?"
Then Ilil proceeds to cut both of Weiss' legs and this makes Weiss briefly scream in anguish.
Bai says "Sto…op." And Ilil started to walk confidently towards Bai while the sound of her damaged joints made terrible sounds.
Ilil then said to Bai "Oh you think that I'm going to hurt your little friend, well…" As Ilil touches Bai's immobilized cheek, Weiss manages to launch herself at Ilil and cause a scratch on Ilil's hand.
Ilil then kicked weakened Weiss in the stomach and returned to touch Bai inappropriately.
Ilil says "As expected of someone with the potential to become Siew, you pridefully try to protect your little friend here. But as I was saying to you Bai, I'm not going to hurt Weiss…"
Then Ilil grabs a hold of Bai's head and Bai's body begins to move in a way that Bai didn't want to.
As her body went closer and closer to Weiss who was trying to get up, Ilil spoke with her mouth near Bai's ear "The one that is going to hurt Weiss… Are you."
Ilil lets go of Bai, but Bai's body is moving on its own. Bai's body takes a hold of Weiss' throat and begins to choke it hard enough to make Weiss suffer the longest possible time.
Weiss struggles at first, but as her fate becomes apparent, she puts lots of effort into saying words that come out as raspy "Not… Your… Fault…"
Weiss puts a lot of effort into closing her eyes so that Bai won't see her eyes devoid of death. Bai has feelings that she never thought she would have and if she could, she would be crying right now.
As Weiss' strength begins to fade, Ilil says to Bai "Look. The weakness of the flesh has become apparent yet again. Why don't you hold that position for a while as you continue to stare at your dead friend's face while I deal with other business."
Ilil leaves and Bai is left in a position where she holds Weiss' dead body by the neck. Minutes go by and Bai hears a familiar voice from someone with heavy footsteps.
The person says "It is a sad thing this had to happen. But this time, I'm able to lift you from your suffering, although only a little."
As the person with a familiar voice touches Bai's shoulder, Bai gains control over her body again and lets go of Weiss' body.
Weiss' body collapses and the mysterious person with a familiar voice goes and picks up Weiss' lifeless body gently.
Bai gets a look at this mysterious person and sees that it is a statue that looks similar to Weiss.
Bai manages to say "Wait…" And the person stops.
Then Bai asks "Why… You seem like a powerful person… so… why didn't… why didn't you come earlier… If you did… Weiss…" To this, the statue answers with "I'll explain why I didn't when this whole situation calms down." And with that, the statue leaves.
Ilil was walking towards Illi's workshop since her envy runs deep with him. While she is walking, a sword suddenly appears on top of Ilil's head and she wonders "What the…?" And as she said that, the sword goes through her shoulder. Ilil didn't have time to dodge it, but as soon as the sword scraped her, her body shut down in an instant.
Unable to move, Ilil got furious that she was stopped here. So she left the body there and started flying towards Illi's workshop in her dark ghostly form to have her way to prove she is superior.
As soon as she entered the workshop, she didn't seem to find him for a moment. She became furious and started to break things all around the place.
Eventually, Ilil used some of her limited power to find the man she envied the most. She bolted in the general direction, and as she saw him, she tried to attack him with her claws.
Luckily, Tear was there to scoop Illi up before he got hit, and this made Ilil even more furious.
She shouted "Die you short ass punk!" And as she was about to attack him once again, Illi remembered the watch Toki gave him earlier and threw it at Ilil's direction.
As soon as the watch was close enough Ilil, it activated and trapped her in a net. The dark aura around her began to dissipate and what Illi and Tear saw was not what they had expected. Ilil looked exactly like Lili, but without her lower half.
Ilil was shouting "Let me go! I won't let you get one over me ever again! Let me go! Let me…"
Illi, just to be sure, called Lili with the legion telepathy and asked "Are you there dark elf?"
Lili responded with "I'm a bit busy with treating the wounded, but I'm here. Why you ask?"
Illi says "You wouldn't happen to have any siblings or family here that might look like you?" Lili says "I'm the only Ruitup in Elysium. Why? Did you see someone like me?"
Illi says "We found someone who looks exactly like you but with a missing lower half."
Lili says "Interesting." and Illi responds "That's it?" To which Lili asked back "What else should I say?" And Illi responded "I thought you'd be a little more surprised. For a moment me and Tear thought you had defected."
Lili says "I might act outside of the common goals of Elysium from time to time, but I would never defect."
Illi says "I see. Then I think we have to ask this person who she is." And Lili responds "If that was all, I'll return treating the wounded."
Then Illi explains what Lili told him to Tear and Tear replies with a question towards Ilil "So… who are you exactly?"
Ilil responded "I'm the sin carrier of envy, Ilil and I serve the mighty Swarm King Nemesis! Let me go you fleshlings! Your gross appearance disgusts me!"
Illi asks "But aren't you also fleshling?" This makes Ilil look at her body and shout "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"
Then a star elf in bunny pajamas, who looks like has short light blue hair, says "Okay Ilil, bossman wants you to come back now."
It was then that they realized that the star elf sounded exactly like a tired Altair. This realization makes Tear ask "Altair?" To which the person in pajamas says while making a peace sign "Not Altair. Riatla here. The sin carrier…"
Then Riatla yawns and says "The sin carrier of sloth. Goodbye now." And with that, Ilil and Riatla disappear.
After all calms down a bit, Lud asks the captains to come to the throne room so that they can discuss things. Altair and Bai come as well.
While there, Bai brings out the unfortunate news that Weiss has departed the world of the living. This makes the atmosphere in the room drop low, but Altair says "If that is the case, I take it that someone here is a fan of irony. Isn't that right, Eishi?"
In the corner of the room, Eishi says "While I see where you come from, the statue I choose to take solely relies on what person in my collection is associated with the message I want to relay the most.
Lud says "So you are Eishi. The archon of the abyss." And Eishi says "Yes. That is what they call me."
Then Tifa appears and says "Don't you think it is rather rude to come without showing your real face?" And to this, Eishi replies "There are things that I cannot reveal to you yet if we want the best possible ending. So hiding my face is part of the course as they say."
Bai responds to this by asking "So Weiss' death was necessary for the best possible ending in your eyes?"
Eishi explains "While it saddens me to say this, through countless tries, I have concluded that this timeline's Weiss has been struck with what I call Destined Death."
Brutus asks "Destined death? So you mean that someone will always die no matter the outcome?" And Eishi says "Yes. This time, the destined death has been put to Weiss for some reason, but I have an idea why that could be."
Bai asks "Why?" And Eishi says "It could be possible that Nemesis has a power that can make something like this possible, and the reason why he did it was probably because a person known as Siew asked him to."
Bai says "Siew… That bitch said a name like that when she talked about Weiss."
Then Tear concludes "So… Since Ilil looks like Lili, Riatla looks like Altair, then that person must look like Weiss."
To Tear's deduction, Eishi says "That is my theory as well, though I don't know her motive yet."
Then Mätuk flies in "Impossible. Simply impossible. Two of the same person cannot exist at the same time. The fact that those two managed to appear in a timeline where Altair and Lili already existed is simply something that shouldn't be possible."
Eishi says "That may be true, but from what I have come to understand the abyssal swarm, the sin carriers carry a fraction of Nemesis' power, which could make it possible to trick the world to think that the sin carriers and their counterparts are two separate people."
Mätuk says "If that were the case, then… Hah… I suppose my knowledge is outdated to a wider degree than I initially thought."
Eishi says to Mätuk "Don't worry about it. You were sent here to make sure Faust is okay and that is all that matters. You keep on helping him control the thryv'nith and let me worry about the future."
Mätuk thinks for a moment and then says "But… why would an archon worry about things like these?" To which Eishi gives an answer to "To make sure that I can make the best possible ending come true."
Altair asks "Then again, why?" To which Eishi says "There are many things I'd like to say to you, but this isn't the correct time. If I told you about certain things that I know now will come to pass, then that would alter the picture that I already have in my head and I'd have to start all over again. But I have to say it now, rely on yourselves and don't expect me to come and fix everything. I do what I can, but… unfortunately, you might not be the timeline that I'm aiming for."
Tifa asks "But aren't I supposed to make it close to impossible to try different timelines?" To which Eishi answers "That would be the case if you spent only a few moments in this timeline, but due to your prolonged stay, it has become easier for other timelines to sprout from this one."
Tifa then asks "Then… should I go back to the abyss?" And Eishi says reassuringly "No. This is beneficial to us. And you… well, let's just say that your happiness is very important to me. So what I mean to say is… continue to support Elysium in your own way and try to live in happiness."
Tifa then says "Are you my daughter or something?" To which Eishi says "Can't say, but now you all should be worried on how to handle the public image of the fingers."
Lud says "Right. Xu, what is the situation?" And Xu answers "The maintenance has purged the bug in the system, but I'll need more time to confirm each individual finger personally and install more powerful protection on their systems."
Elisia adds "But we can't just leave things like they are now. I can sense that the people's trust on fingers has diminished. And if we leave this be and try to continue like it never happened, then the whole ruling body's image might get ruined."
Eishi then suggests "Why don't you tell people the situation and apologize sincerely."
Tifa says "Are you stupid? That would indicate that they couldn't fully trust our decisions when we make them."
Eishi just calmly explains "If you want the people to worship you, then finding a way to cover everything up and silence the doubters is the option to go for. But I believe that you want the people to think of you as people who they can trust in most cases."
Elisia says "A sincere apology… or strict censorship."
Tifa says "Who cares what they think. Just make sure that we can keep the trust up as much as possible."
Then Li says "But that would just make them our sheep as if we were their shepherds."
Tifa says "Isn't that what the ruling body should do?"
Eishi asks "What do you want the people to think of you Faust? A god to be worshiped… or a person who can be trusted."
Tifa says "It is not that simple." And Eishi says "It is. One of the steps into building trust is making sure that both parties can make mistakes at times. To make people understand that the ruling people are still people."
Mätuk says to Eishi "Would it fit you more if you advocated for sustainability?" And Eishi says "I aim for the best possible outcome and I've had this conversation many times already and seen the results of each outcome."
Tifa says "But a ruler shouldn't look weak." And Eishi says "That is correct, but if people think their ruler is a god, then they grow to not being able to think for themselves. Self improvement becomes stagnant through certain aspects of a controlled environment."
Tifa then says "I give up. It is up to you Lud." And Lud is left to ponder for a moment. He'd like to ask Li about his opinion, but as the king of Elysium, Lud also has to make decisions by himself.
Lud mutters "An absolute ruler, a god. And a trustworthy king, a person."
Then Lud says "I've made my decision. I'm going to be a trustworthy king."
Tifa says "This is gonna get ugly. Let me read through what you are about to publish before you publish it." Lud smiles and says "Of course. You are my fiance after all."
Then Altair asks Eishi "So how well do you think…" and when she looks, she doesn't see Eishi anymore.
Later, Illi finds a letter in his pocket that says
"It's me Eishi. As you might have guessed, Toki has some connection with me. But in regards to how you should treat her, just know that she is given brief orders to do certain actions and improvise the rest. She doesn't see the world like I do, but she follows my guidance to the best of her ability.
So what I'm saying is, while you can ask her about things, she might not be able to answer most of the questions regarding your futures.
Please treat her like she gives out on being. A swindler artisan.
And once Bai is able to have a conversation again, make sure you only talk about Weiss at appropriate times. Set up a good moment to talk. Make sure that Xu can participate, and then have a heart to heart conversation. She is technically your daughter as well after all.
Take care.
Signed.
Eishi."
.
Meanwhile in the abyss.
Nemesis says to hysteric Ilil "You have failed to achieve victory by forgetting about Xu. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Ilil says "My lord! It is not my fault my lord! That dwarf punk had some sort of device on him that wasn't mentioned anywhere! It was able to make me… MAKE ME LOOK LIKE THIS!"
Nemesis says "You are a nuisance, you know that right, Ilil? But since you are a nuisance, that means that you are hard to replace, and hence, the fact that you made the archon make their move will absolve you from your punishment. Go find a new body from one of the timelines that have met their end. You are dismissed."
Ilil leaves the throne room in hysterics and Nemesis speaks to himself "How fascinating… A timeline where Lady Zolotifa is and the archon herself pops up every now and then. Now then, Tokiko, how far does your connection with the archon go? Are you simply a puppet played on the string… or are you one of the key players?"
Nemesis picks up a person that is in the cage next to him and proceeds to eat them as a snack. The crunches that Nemesis makes as he eats the person alive makes the other people at the cage scream "I don't want to die!" And "Please save me! Someone! Anyone!"
Then Nemesis speaks to himself again "But if this Tokiko is a bigger actor themselves, then wouldn't that put them in disadvantage. The game we singular beings play should be played with the singular beings in the abyss.
Hmmm… There is still too much we don't know about the archon, so making any moves against them is a bit difficult.
And the actions that Tokiko makes are too subtle to notice that making my units move accordingly requires a lot more work.
How does the archon do it?"