*Flashback*
"August 1, 1719 – As I woke up in my bed with Isayao around midnight, I felt someone walking in circles around us," Clementine exclaimed. "I was scared, yet I'm still surprised how I managed to sit up from our bed and look around to see who was there."
"I shifted my eyes to the left, but there was no one. Then I shifted my eyes to my right, where Isayao was laying asleep, but again, no one was there."
"The footsteps that woke me up had disappeared as I maneuvered myself back to bed. As I closed my eyes, I felt someone touching my shoulder. This immediately made me jump out of bed since it touched me on my left side, while Isayao was on my right."
"I made a small noise by holding in my scream, yet this woke Isayao anyway. She asked me, 'H-huh? What's wrong?' as I stood frozen, looking behind her," Clementine concluded.
"As I saw Clementine looking behind me trembling, I was put into deep thoughts about what she might be looking at," Isayao commented. "I slowly gazed back."
"There was a shadowy figure behind me with a huge smile on its face. I tried to scream, but no sound escaped my mouth. Its mouth opened wide, reaching down to its chest."
"This entity's mouth was huge, with pure white teeth as sharp and big as a shark's. It had more than a hundred teeth across its mouth as it slowly began to swallow me."
"I couldn't do anything as it slowly swallowed me. I couldn't let out a voice, and I couldn't move," Isayao concluded.
"At the same time, I watched in terror as this entity swallowed Isayao from head to toe. I was trembling, yet I couldn't move or speak, just like her," Clementine added.
"Then, I realized I wasn't in this monster's mouth anymore. I was Clementine. Somehow, we switched souls?" Isayao commented.
"What neither of us knew was that Isayao's soul had been placed inside my body. As the monster charged at us," Clementine concluded.
"As the entity finally got an inch away from us, we finally managed to scream. I woke up in the middle of the night and immediately looked to my right to see Isayao still there, sleeping," Clementine inquired.
"I sighed in disbelief, realizing it was just a terrible nightmare. I stood up from bed and went outside my room to get some water," Clementine concluded.
"Meanwhile, what Clementine didn't know was that we both shared the same nightmare, and I was still trapped inside it," Isayao replied.
"This entity pierced its claws into my chest, and in my dream, I was still in Clementine's body. I was dragged out of bed and towards the window as I continuously screamed in my dream," Isayao remarked.
"As I reached the kitchen, I took a cup and filled it with water from the sink, keeping my eye on the stairs since they were visible from the kitchen," Clementine exclaimed.
"As I turned around to put the cup back in the sink, I started walking back to our room and clearly noticed everyone was in a deep sleep. When I finally headed back to our room, I noticed Isayao wasn't in bed. I thought it was logical she might have gone down to use the bathroom."
"Then I slowly realized that the stairs in our house creak unless you step on them slowly. All the time I kept my eye on the stairs, and only looked back to place the cup in the sink for five seconds. The stairs take an average of ten seconds to descend or ascend."
"So, for Isayao to reach the bottom that quickly and without making a sound was nearly impossible. Even if she used magic, my assassin skills would have sensed her presence by reflex."
"So for Isayao to not be in bed was unlikely. I shrugged it off and went back to bed, convincing myself I had somehow missed her going downstairs for water or to use the bathroom. I had left the door shut, but it was open when I returned," Clementine continued.
"Meanwhile, I woke up sitting up and sweating. I had been trembling and traumatized by that entity torturing me in my dreams for hours," Isayao commented.
"But I didn't remember any single piece of my dreams. It was as if they had been erased from my head the moment I woke up," she concluded.
"It was already morning, and beside me, I saw Clementine standing by my bed. She said, 'Good morning, young master.'"
*Present*
"We never talked to each other about that dream that day, but the following days were a different story," Clementine concluded.
"Paranormal events are indeed only a myth in this world, but seeing Emiko as a ghost means the paranormal isn't really a myth after all," Arisawa exclaimed.
"That's true. I cannot indeed believe such stories, but neither of our eyes are lying," Natalia commented.
"These paranormal activities continued for a month. Everyone in the house slowly began experiencing paranormal nightmares as well. We could hear voices at night and footsteps despite no one being around," Xialdre continued.
"When our parents arrived, even they didn't know what to do. Everything turned darker and darker until September 8, 1719—70 days after the strange wand was bought."
"We were having a family dinner, and Isayao and Clementine were becoming increasingly traumatized by these paranormal activities."
*Flashback*
As the family started eating, the light bulb they were using exploded, and the table they were eating at flew into the air, swung several meters away, and shattered into pieces.
"This is ENOUGH!" Ishizaki yelled, losing it with the entity that had been harassing the Natori family for more than a month.
Then a mouth opened from their floorboard, and several more appeared afterward. Black tentacles emerged everywhere, followed by eyes materializing in thin air, all staring at Ishizaki.
"This entity is an eldritch abomination..." Xialdre blurted out as the entire family was either grabbed or slammed to the ground.
Xialdre easily avoided the eldritch's attack but failed when a mouth opened directly beneath him.
"This isn't what I anticipated would happen," Xialdre exclaimed.
Xialdre shifted his eyes toward Mirael as she pulled out a sword glowing bright white, cutting the eldritch abomination in two and disintegrating it out of existence.
The sword vanished as Mirael fell to the ground unconscious.
"Just as expected, she has a power she can only use once every twelve years," Xialdre thought to himself. "The power to erase anything in existence, given by Adonai himself. This is also the reason why Goddess Fillia chose her daughter to be the next true hero."
*Present*
"And starting that day, Ayane began slowly returning to her old self, while also changing her view towards Mirael," Xialdre concluded.
"So that's the reason she changed her view towards Mother?" Clementine asked.
"That's what I said. Besides, it was fated to be that way in the first place," Xialdre exclaimed.
Xialdre and the girls separated to explore the town they had just entered, Lotius Town, a place with a deep connection to nature.
Isayao, Clementine, and Furina went together to search for food supplies for their future travels, while Emiko, Asabe, and Arisawa looked for clothing.
Natalia went alone to find places to sell the loot from the monsters they had killed during their adventures.
Xyrene and Rain went on a date, and so did the other girls, except for Natalia and Xialdre. Xialdre explored the town by himself.
While walking, he heard someone calling his name in the distance. He turned to see a girl, seemingly a witch, riding a broom. She landed on the ground and approached him.
"Who are you?" Xialdre asked.
"*Huhu* How rude of me to suddenly call your name despite you not knowing me," the witch girl exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Xialdre pressed.
"I'm Nina, a witch and a close comrade of the Lotius Town Leader," Nina introduced herself.
"So?" Xialdre responded.
"My, my, can't you see the Town Leader is hoping to hire you," Nina revealed.
"For what?" Xialdre continued to press.
"I'm afraid I cannot answer that myself, as the Town Leader has to reveal it," Nina explained.
"I see," Xialdre retorted as he began walking away.
"WAIT—" Nina yelled out.
"I don't want to get involved in such huge favors that require the Town Leader to explain himself," Xialdre explained.
"I can tell. You're hoping to hire me to defeat some kind of strong creature, right? Or perhaps a group of tyrants?" Xialdre concluded.
Nina's eyes turned dead serious as she giggled to herself. "I guess you already know so much. I suppose you really are responsible for King Avias's death along with his three wives and sons," she said. "The one who might have manipulated the monkey in his grasp to destroy half of the Satalias Continent just for your interest," Nina explained.
"Stop going through my memories," Xialdre exclaimed.
"*Huhu* I guess you really aren't an ordinary person, are you?" Nina questioned.
"I'm warning you, if you continue, you're going to lose your mind," Xialdre warned.
"Make me," Nina retorted.
Nina managed to see Xialdre's past, witnessing the horrible deaths of his family members. She replied, "Is this what you're talking about? Your childhood trau—"
Before she could finish, everything turned black as she passed Xialdre's birth. Pure darkness kept flashing before her eyes, and she began feeling nauseous.
She saw through the first, second, third, and fourth dimensions, and vomited directly in front of Xialdre. Xialdre teleported her out of his mind.
Nina felt fear and trauma. "Pure nothingness and emptiness, the beginning and the end itself, Alpha and Omega. This can't be real."
Nina felt even heavier nausea as she fell to the ground unconscious.