4At the end of the month, You stand in the Black Eagles homeroom with the class.
Chris: Alright… So, we need to go and find Florence, right?
Polly: Right now, the general consensus is that something is going on inside the garden.
Tuncay: In that case, what are we waiting for? Let's just get in there.
Hegias: We need to wait for a bit longer… Somebody is actually going to be joining us for today.
Aquillus: That's right… I wasn't sure if it was true, but it must be if I wasn't the only one who heard it.
Zelhira: I'm afraid I don't understand…
Callisto: And there she is now.
The door opens as Cordelia enters the room.
Cordelia: Well, let's jump right into this. We've got some people to save.
Chris: You… You're the knight captain, right?
Cordelia: I am. Captain Torryn reporting for duty. The archbishop asked that I come with you on this mission to make sure nothing went horribly wrong. If there are no further objections, then we can get going now.
Chris: Okay… Off we go then.
You leave the classroom to head in the direction of the garden. Seraphine walks at your side.
Seraphine: If the garden is really the place where everything happened, then let's hope nothing bad happens to us here… I don't want to be the next victim of kidnapping.
You stop in front of a large bush in the garden. Cordelia points to it and shakes her head.
Cordelia: Unnatural… Something is going on here. This doesn't seem like it belongs. It's so much bigger than everything else in the area, but they should be the same age and same size.
Cordelia parts the greenery, and inside, You see a secret passage.
Tuncay: Damn… That's a hallway.
Aquillus: Looks like we've found something worth investigating.
Cordelia: I heard people saying that there was something wrong in the garden, but I didn't expect this.
Callisto: Why are we still standing around up here? Florence and Professor Wessin need us down there.
Polly: I must agree. We can't wait any longer.
Cordelia starts into the passage.
Cordelia: It's much larger than you'd expect… I mean, the opening is pretty small, but once you get down here, it's huge… And it's old, too.
Hegias: Where did it come from? How long has it been here?
Zelhira: The monastery is old enough to be filled with countless passages like this. It's almost a thousand years old, meaning that nobody alive right now was around for its construction. There are enough secrets here that they would take multiple decades to uncover.
Chris: I guess we'll just have to be the first ones to jump in there then…
Polly: If it really opens up as much as Captain Torryn says, we have no reason to be so afraid of the tight space…
Hegias: We'll be fine… Let's go.
The rest of the students go inside of the passage, and You take up the rear.
Seraphine: It might open up down here, but there's no space for me to stand without getting walked through. I'm sick of this. See you around.
Seraphine retreats in your mind.
Cordelia: Quiet, everyone… I hear noise.
The students fall silent as the group stops. The passage has widened out to show a large room beneath the ground. On the floor just before the entrance are two figures.
Cordelia: That's Florence and Herwig!
Polly: They're both unconscious…!
Aquillus: We need to get medical attention for them both. Immediately.
Hegias: Wait! Look up there!
You follow Hegias' direction and see a cluster of mages wearing black robes scattered about the room. They all have distorted Crests sewn into their robes.
Zelhira: Those markings… They must be Malice mages.
Tuncay: That's not the only weird thing going on… Check out Florence again.
You focus your attention to Florence once more. A Crest has activated above her head despite her being unconscious, and it doesn't take You long to recognize the symbol.
Callisto: That's the Crest of Lamine!
Cordelia: I've had enough of waiting around. We have to get in there.
Cordelia enters the room fully.
Cordelia: Hey!
The mages in the room all turn to face her. The leader steps forward. His name is Glendon.
Glendon: Damn it all!
Chris: What are we going to do with Florence and Professor Wessin?!
Cordelia: There are too many of them for us to just send somebody off to have them healed. We're short on troops as it is.
Polly: We'll just have to protect them while pushing forward, right?
Cordelia: Exactly.
Zelhira: I don't see any pressing external injuries… I believe we're alright to leave them be for now, but we still need to act quickly.
Aquillus: We can't do anything that could put them at risk… Caution is advised.
Tuncay: So, Professor… Are we ready to jump into this?
You nod.
Hegias: In that case, there's not a moment to lose!
The battle begins. The Black Eagles fight violently against the mages, being careful to defend Florence and Herwig during the battle. However, things do not remain peaceful, and a Crest activates over one of the mages' heads during the battle. Note: this particular mage is predetermined to activate the Crest of Dominic whenever fought for the first time. Rion's Unio Crest is also guaranteed to trigger during this fight the first time they initiate combat. Every enemy on this battlefield has a randomly generated Crest, though Unio and the Crest of Flames are kept out of the rotation.
Cordelia: Wait… Did you see that?!
Chris: That was a Crest! And the same one painted on their robes…
Polly: What could all of this mean?
Zelhira: I have no idea… How could they have gotten their hands on a Crest?
Tuncay: Remember what we heard from Bazler last month?
Callisto: Some have figured out how to give and take away Crests…
Aquillus: In other words, the chances of these Crests being legitimate are slim.
Hegias: They… They can really be…?
Chris: No matter what, we need to take care of this… We can ask questions later.
If You initiate combat against Glendon, this dialogue plays out.
Glendon: Unio… I know a thing or two about Unio… You're a special one, aren't you? I remember when that Crest was first given… But no matter. Goodbye.
If Chris initiates combat against Glendon, this dialogue plays out.
Chris: Who are you? What are you doing here at the monastery?
Glendon: We needed that girl… Seeing a bearer of Lamine is so rare these days. Experiments needed to be done.
Chris: So she…?
Glendon: Has the Crest of Lamine? Yes. And he knew about it.
Chris: I still don't understand who you are.
Glendon: Don't the black robes tell you all you need to know?
Chris: Malice.
Glendon: So you aren't as stupid as your father. Good to know.
Chris: You—
Glendon: Quiet already. Let's finish this.
If Hegias initiates combat against Glendon, this dialogue plays out.
Glendon: Don't you look odd…? I can sense the Crest of Ernest inside of you.
Hegias: What of it?
Glendon: The bearer of the Crest of Ernest disappeared many years ago… In fact, he went to Brigid nearly two hundred years ago.
Hegias: But…
Glendon: You're not from Brigid, are you?
Hegias: …
Glendon: Perhaps things aren't as you always thought they were, kid… In fact, you should be aware of that already.
Hegias: How…?
Glendon: My teacher is your teacher… Though we learned different things.
Hegias: What are you talking about?
Glendon: I think you know exactly what I mean… You just don't want to believe it.
Hegias: …
Glendon: That's enough talk. Let's just go on and get this over with.
When Glendon is defeated, this dialogue plays out.
Glendon: Pathetic children…
After the battle, each of the Black Eagles stands in front of Glendon's dead body. All of the mages were killed in the battle due to this being a rout mission.
Chris: We're finally finished here… Florence and Professor Wessin appear to be safe as well.
Polly: There's paper everywhere… We need somebody to take them up to the infirmary as soon as possible. Any volunteers?
Zelhira: I'll take Florence.
Aquillus: I'll take care of Professor Wessin.
Zelhira and Aquillus leave with Florence and Herwig.
Cordelia: Let's look at these papers… Wait. This one has steps to… Giving somebody a Crest?!
Hegias: So, it is true… Crests can be given.
Polly: All of these Crests… They must be artificial… But they behaved just like Crests passed on by birth.
Tuncay: Must be a complicated process…
Cordelia: This document calls it a blood reconstruction surgery… But what could they want with Florence or Herwig?
Chris: This page has some documentation on Florence… It says that she has the Crest of Lamine.
Polly: Naturally or artificially?
Chris: If I'm reading this right, she always had it… And Professor Wessin knew about it.
Hegias: They took her to experiment with her Crest…
Callisto: And Professor Wessin was wrapped up in it because he knew the truth.
Polly: She never mentioned having a Crest before.
Chris: The Crest of Lamine activates when using healing magic. Florence primarily fights with lances.
Hegias: So, it was able to fly under the radar without anybody noticing.
Tuncay: Even if it did trigger out of nowhere, then she probably wouldn't want to tell anybody. Crests put people at risk.
Seraphine: Sounds to me like we know what the archbishop was talking about… Herwig brought her to the school because he could tell that she had a Crest. A commoner having a Crest is odd. He wanted to be around her more to confirm his suspicions… But he didn't want to get anybody's hopes up in case he wound up being wrong.
Callisto: If I had to guess, I'd say that she didn't know about it either…
Chris: There are lists of houses where each Crest appears commonly… The bloodlines where these are passed down… It's all here.
Polly: Waste no time in reading it off then.
Chris: The Crest of Seiros matches with the Faixnoye line. Cichol goes to Riverbane and Doroftie. Cethleann is in Bazler, but it hasn't appeared in many generations. Indech is in the Indech-Lavellan house of Adrestia and the Torryn house of Faerghus. Macuil is split between the Wessin and Einem houses of Adrestia.
Hegias: Cethleann is from Bazler… Isn't that what Zelhira has…?
Tuncay: But she's not related to him… She can't be. No way.
Chris: The Josefa house holds the Blaiddyd Crest. Fraldarius is in House Berniere. Faren has Gautier. Lamine goes to the house of its same name in Faerghus. Dominic is shared between Houses Dragoste and Dominic, but both of them fell many years ago, meaning the Crest is mostly lost.
Polly: Derric has Dominic… He must be related to one of those houses somehow. And Kyle's surname is…
Chris: Riegan is found in the Origo ruling line. The Crest of Noa is shared between House Aster and House Admoderor, which are in Faerghus and Leicester respectively. Daphnel is in Mikhailikov territory in Leicester, but it also appears in Schlarzer territory in Adrestia. Goneril lands are shared between Faerghus and Leicester. The Crest of Chevalier is shared between Houses Chevalier and Columbus, which are in Faerghus and Leicester respectively.
Hegias: There's so many of them…
Chris: We're almost done. Promise. Gloucester is in houses Ruden and Eir from Leicester. House Urswick has Maurice. The Crest of Charon is shared by Schweighen and Belmontai, from Faerghus and Leicester once again.
Hegias: What about the Crest of Ernest…?
Chris: The bearers of Ernest, Aubin, and Timotheos left the continent about two hundred years ago to travel to Brigid, Albinea, and Duscur respectively. Anybody who bears those Crests in modern day must be from those countries.
Hegias: …
Polly: Is that all?
Tuncay: What about the Crest of Flames or Unio?
Polly: Oh, here we go… The Crest of Flames has not appeared in many years. The only person to show signs of it was the previous emperor, Hugh von Faixnoye. He died less than two years after it manifested. Unio has only appeared once, and the sole person who has it disappeared years ago. Their current location is unknown.
Hegias: This is a lot of useful information…
Polly: A lot of that stuff, like what house has what Crest, is generally common knowledge, but I still think it's important to keep in mind.
Callisto: How the hell did Florence get the Crest of Lamine then? She's from Adrestia. Lamine is shown in one house, and that house is in Faerghus.
Tuncay: We'll have to ask her and Professor Wessin when they wake up.
Chris: We should go and see them now.
Cordelia: I'm going to have the knights secure the area… I don't know how Malice managed to make a hideout down here, underneath the damn monastery, but I'm going to find out.
Chris: If I had to wager a guess, I'd say they did it using whatever warping magic allowed them to get out of Professor Wessin's room so soon.
Polly: They left the symbol for the Crest of Lamine as a way of telling us that Florence has it and Professor Wessin knew… I doubt it was a way of being nice about it though. They did it as a warning of something.
Cordelia: Luckily, it seems to me like we prevented whatever their plan was from being carried out.
Tuncay: We should get as many of these papers together as possible.
Polly: I agree… Just start grabbing them.
Chris leans down and picks up a paper.
Chris: Wait… This is about my family!
Hegias: What?!
Tuncay: Chess, you can't mean…
Chris: It's got countless names on it, but… I don't recognize any of them. They're all relatively recent, too… All within the past thirty years… But then they randomly cut off twelve years ago.
Polly: How odd… This has to mean something.
Chris: But… I'm an only child. I never grew up with any siblings, and my father doesn't have any brothers or sisters. But if that's all true then… Where did all of these people come from?
Callisto: I wish I could tell you…
Hegias reaches down and picks up a paper.
Hegias: Oh… Oh, gods…
Tuncay: Hedges? You good?
Hegias: I… I'm fine. I'll see you all later…
Hegias leaves the room.
Callisto: I'm going to make sure he's okay.
Cordelia: Don't. He needs some time alone. Besides, we need to go and make sure that your classmate and teacher are alright.
Chris: You're right… Let's go.
Cordelia: I'm going to get some knights, and we're going to clean this place out. If there's any remaining evidence, then we'll find it for sure.
The students all start to leave, and You follow them.
Seraphine: We've learned a lot here today… But we can't think on it for too long. We need to make sure that Florence and Herwig are okay before doing anything else.
You nod your agreement and leave behind the underground passage to go and visit the infirmary. When You arrive, Jill and Reese are standing next to Florence and Herwig. The rest of the Black Eagles are in the room as well, but Hegias is still absent.
Jill: Professor… Glad to see you made it safe.
Reese: Thanks to the students bringing them here, we got our examination done quickly… They're going to be fine.
Jill: I'm sure you remember the knockout gas from that mission a few months ago. It was from the quest to Aster territory. Some variation of that was used here, but it was an injection instead.
Reese: It doesn't do any significant harm aside from triggering unconsciousness. They should be awake soon.
Jill: What did you find out?
You tell them that there are many papers down in the hideout that speak of human experimentation.
Jill: Human experimentation… And those mages were doing it?
Reese: With how much it seems you found, it sounds to me like this was going on for quite a while.
Jill: I don't know how Malice got down there, but they're not going to be getting away with it.
Florence: Ugh…
Reese: Ah! She's coming to!
Florence: What's going on…?
Jill: How do you feel?
Florence: My head hurts…
Jill: But otherwise?
Florence: I'm fine…
Herwig: Ah…
Reese: There we go… Sit up, Professor. Tell us what you saw.
Florence: We're back in the monastery…?
Herwig: It appears so…
Chris: I'm so glad to see you're both okay…
Polly: You were down there for quite some time…
Aquillus: You really had us worried for a minute there.
Zelhira: Don't bombard them. Please, start from the beginning.
Tuncay: What did those weird mages do to you?
Florence: Um… I don't know where to start…
Callisto: The beginning, maybe?
Herwig: It… It was all after the last mission to Bazler territory. Florence needed some time to herself, but I was starting to get worried about her, so I went into her room to check up on her.
Florence: While he was there, we started talking, and… We got onto the topic of Crests soon enough.
Herwig: And I… I shared a few suspicions of mine.
Polly: The Crest of Lamine, right?
Herwig: How did you—
Polly: The symbol was found on parchment in both your rooms after you were taken.
Herwig: I see… Well, you are correct. I could sense something strange about Florence, and I invited her to the Academy. I suspected that she had a Crest, and I realized what Crest it was soon after.
Florence: That's when we were taken… The mages experimented on us all month. I had to activate my Crest over and over for them to research it… Same with Professor Wessin.
Herwig: Luckily, it seems that you all were able to save us before things could go wrong further.
Chris: I'm just happy to see you're safe…
Herwig: Still, I don't understand how the Crest of Lamine could have wound up in Florence… I've been doing some research, and I have a theory, but there's no concrete evidence for it now.
Polly: Then what is that theory?
Herwig: Many years ago, a few children were born in the Crest of Lamine. Only one of them had a Crest, and the others all ran away. I suspect that one such child was Florence's mother, and even if she didn't manifest a Crest, her daughter did.
Florence: That makes sense…
Reese: I'm glad you're doing better now.
Jill: Since you're awake, we'll do one last examination to make sure that you're alright to get up and move around.
Reese: In the meantime, Professor, you should go and report everything that happened to the archbishop.
Jill: As for the rest of you, go back to your homeroom. We can't work when there's this many people in here.
Chris: Alright… Good luck, everyone.
The Black Eagles leave the room.
Reese: We'll talk to you later, Professor.
Jill: Good luck.
You walk out of the room. Seraphine appears at your side.
Seraphine: I wonder what's up with Hegias… He's still not here. He wasn't in that room to begin with… Maybe we should go and see him a bit later.
You nod your agreement as You arrive outside Aisa's room. You knock and enter. Inside, You see Aisa and Roy standing together.
Aisa: Professor… I heard your mission was a success.
Roy: The knights are investigating the underground passage as we speak.
Aisa: So many twisted people used Crests to their advantage in such a way… It truly is sickening.
Roy: Professor, I'm relieved to see that you have rescued Florence and Herwig.
Aisa: Cordelia already told us the information you found in their files…
Roy: Herwig brought Florence here since he realized she had the Crest of Lamine. Those were his suspicions from all that time ago.
Aisa: And it got them into so much trouble… At least they have been taken care of.
Roy: The Malice mages from beneath the monastery are all gone now. We'll be looking into everything they left behind to see if we can find anything that will aid us in the future.
Aisa: You have learned much today. I appreciate all that you have done to rescue both Florence and Herwig.
Roy: If all goes well, they will be returned to full health sooner rather than later. Jill is a potent medic, and Reese knows what he's doing when it comes to patching up injuries.
Aisa: You were there when the research was gone over, meaning that you do not need to hear it again. You heard of what Crest belongs to each house. While this was assumed to be common knowledge, it is still an important thing to keep in mind.
Roy: This year, we have something special as well…
Aisa: After all, the Crests of Ernest, Aubin, and Timotheos have returned from lands beyond the border…
Roy: The Crest of Ernest… How curious.
Aisa: You are dismissed, Professor.
You nod and walk away as Seraphine appears.
Seraphine: Well, we should head back to the classroom… The other students will want to see us. Maybe Florence and Herwig are feeling well enough to join us.
You make your way to the classroom. When You arrive, You see Herwig and the Black Eagles inside. Florence is among them. However, Hegias is still absent.
Herwig: Well… That brings us to the end of the month.
Callisto: Are you sure you should be up and moving about?
Florence: Professor Tysera said we were clear to at least drop in and say farewell to the professor for the month.
Tuncay: Well, we should probably wrap this up as soon as possible then. We don't want you getting sick or anything.
Aquillus: I agree. The knights will be investigating the underground for quite a while longer.
Zelhira: Once they find something, I'm sure that we students will be the first to know.
Polly: I'm happy Captain Torryn came down with us to check the place out after we had to leave.
Chris: I'm not going to lie… I'm worried about Hegias. He ran off after finding something in one of those papers, and nobody has seen him since.
You tell her that You will go and make sure that he is alright.
Chris: Thank you, Professor.
Herwig: I'm going to hit the hay. It'll be nice to actually have a bed for the first time in a month.
Florence: Security is going to be heightened to make sure that this doesn't happen again… The knights won't be letting this slip.
Tuncay: I'll help you back to your room, Professor. I don't want you passing out on us.
Callisto: And I'll take you back, Florence.
Florence: Thank you, Callisto.
Aquillus: Try to get some sleep tonight, alright? Next month isn't going to wait for us.
Zelhira: Aquillus is right… Goodnight, everyone.
Polly: See you later.
Chris: I… I'm going to go and check on Hegias. I don't want him to suffer alone if he saw something he shouldn't have.
Polly: No. You're exhausted. Go sleep.
Chris: But—
Polly: If I have to drag you back to your room, I will. Hegias will be fine.
Chris: Alright… Good luck, Professor.
You watch as everyone leaves.
Seraphine: Well, let's go check on him… I hope nothing bad happened.
You go to Hegias' dorm and knock on the door gently.
Hegias: Who is it?
You tell him it's You.
Hegias: Oh… Hello, Professor.
You ask if he's okay.
Hegias: I-I'm fine… I don't really want to talk about it right now. When I'm ready to open up though… I'll come to you first. It's nothing.
Seraphine: It sure doesn't sound like nothing…
You ask him if he's sure.
Hegias: I'm positive. I'll be fine. I'll talk to you later, okay?
Realizing that You won't be able to get him to talk about it, You tell him to have a nice night.
Hegias: Yes… Goodnight, Professor.
You head back to your room and sit down on your bed.
Seraphine: That was a mess and a half… I'm sick of all this. Can't we just have one month that isn't a mess?
You shrug to yourself and lay down.
Seraphine: Either way, I'm exhausted… Goodnight.
Seraphine falls asleep soon after, but You find that You are struggling to sleep. You cannot help but worry about the information found under the monastery. The Bazler and Dragoste houses cross your mind at one point. Soon after, You think about the mysterious Crest of Ernest that seemed to upset Hegias so much. You hope Hegias gets to feeling better sooner rather than later. With a million thoughts spinning in your head, You fall into a restless sleep. Despite the mages being out of the picture, You cannot help but think that this isn't the end. Something larger than a single group is going on here, and You do not like it.
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-Digital
