Chapter 9 Episode 3: The Shadow Lurking in the Old Schoolhouse 2

Narration in the void or whatever start talking about how this is the place where memories are separated from lives and bodies. That is how the world was constructed. When death occurs, people are brought back to life so they can continue fighting. And that is how the world cycles. It has always, always repeated the same actions.

Camera tunes in to the hall of what narration says is the world of Yggdrasil. To be more specific it is an organization of nine smaller worlds under one name. In the center of Asgard lies the castle in the sky Valhalla.

Odin from Fkare shows up, described as the master of the castle and sitting on a golden throne as wolves wait upon him by his feet. Odin puts out the order to the valkyries, telling them to bring to him the corpses of new heroes, so they go and do so.

Odin then commands his artifact Gungnir, branch of the World Pillar, to gather the memories of the heroes’ lives and carve them into itself for eternity. It does so, drawing out the memories, and after that the Einherjar are created to fight some more forever.

After repeating this for so many times, when he starts getting ready for the next ritual he passes down an order to his wolves. They are to clean up the remains of the artifact. They respond in the affirmative, then go on to swarm the empty husks of the heroes and ‘dismantle’ them. They eat the remains of what isn’t eternal as that was their role.

Odin looks outside to the walls the surround the nine small worlds, which is described as one of the world’s more minor mechanisms. It is because of them that the world is a perpetual battlefield. Odin seems to start to say something, but if he says anything else the game doesn’t reveal it. Odin then goes on to command his two wolves to listen to him.

He tells that in a place beyond the ends of time and space, a trial towards a new revolution is occurring. A new world surrounded by walls is being created, one that surpasses the one occurring in Yggdrasil and created as a cruelly done patchwork of 23 worlds.

The wolves show they are listening, though but they don’t understand even a tenth of the hard words coming out of Odin’s mouth. Anyways, Odin says in that world, warriors are locked in endless battle, and the wolves are shocked at the resemblance to how they make Einherjars in Yggdrasil. Odin says it might have come from previous experiments.

But at any rate, he says that he’s sure that Loki, the one who either shut the world’s circle or stole the world ring, is involved with that. The only ring I’ve found related to Loki is Andvaranaut. Anyways Loki is a name nobody in Asgard can forget, along with the names of other people who used to be with Odin like Thor and Freyr. They were all his sworn brothers, and the four of them were the ones to build the walls that surround Yggdrasil.

Odin continues and says that Loki will need to be cleaned up as well. The only thing is, Odin can’t be called to Tokyo as Yggdrasil’s Representative because of the center being used for the revolution. There is already someone with the same class and concept as him there, and a mechanism that allows for a duplicate cannot exist.

Odin has already sent Hugin and Munin, his two crows representing thoughts and memories, over to Tokyo. They never came back, so he figures they’ve been swallowed up by some other mechanism. So now, he’s commanding his wolves to go take care of Loki, and they accept without hesitation.

Odin then says he’ll entrust a portion of his rule and role to the wolves. It isn’t enough for them to end the world themselves, just enough to end the eternal battles and clean it up. Odin orders them to find his crows and to see the beginning and end of the revolution, to go through all the corners of that world, and one other thing. The last thing is cut off as Breke wakes up at the gates of the Kamata Vocational School.

Breke wonders where he is, saying that every time he hears the voice his thoughts and memories go to pieces. He voices his frustrations with not knowing where he is and how he got there, but more importantly feels he was seeing something really important.

He then notices some troopers around on alert. He doesn’t know if they’re looking for him, but he knows he can’t fight in his condition. Breke thinks about what would pass as inconspicuous where he is, like a student, then transforms into Harlot’s form apparently.

The troopers see nothing unusual and go back to guarding their portal as they wander off. Breke transforms back to his normal self as he thinks about his morph power and how he never had any time to check what it is he can do since he came to Tokyo. He isn’t limited to Harlot, as he can also turn into Surtr, Azathoth, stay as himself, or a she-wolf.

Breke notes that there’s a lot of troopers around and that the amount is unusual. He wonders what’s happening in town and feels like battle could break out at any time. He also wonders who he is and notes how many things he doesn’t know, looking up to the starry sky in exhaustion.

Breke starts buckling on his feet as he hits his limits, and he starts remembering you. It’s his only memory here, and he regrets breaking his promise. He calls your name and apologizes as he faints, even as he hears someone approaching. Hephaestus comes by, wondering who Breke is.

Scene shifts back to your side, after you’ve left the nurse’s office to go to the old schoolhouse. The front of it is blocked off by security tape, but you try to bypass it. As you go in it seems like you are being guided, and eventually you reach a great big book archive. Something about the air in there seems strange, and the books are made of some unknown substance that seems to suck in light.

There’s a sense of deja vu, which you question. You start to reach out for a nearby book as you feel a weird difficulty in breathing, which is the point at which a voice calls out to you advising you not to touch it. Furufumi then appears.

Furufumi greets you and says you ended up coming “after all.” He says there was supposed to be some No Entry tape, then asks if you had heard the rumor. You apologize and ask who he is. Furufumi introduces himself and says he as a Library committee member is there to manage the books there.

You start to tell him your name, but Furufumi beats you to the punch saying he knows because it is written in his book of prophecies. You ask him about this, though Furufumi chooses not to answer the question. He then changes the subject to this being the old schoolhouse where old books no one really reads anymore are stored. You either say you haven’t read anything lately or say it seems sad.

Furufumi is fine with it either way as he says he likes quiet places. Also he doesn’t necessarily believe that the old things are worth knowing. He says there are plenty of cases where you are better off not remembering or where you wish you never knew. If people knew about the end of the world, no one could stay sane. Never mind the idea that no matter how many times things have repeated, things are inevitable.

You ask him in shock why he knows, and he starts talking about the great king of terror who came from the world’s end of ancient times, the one who controls the world. That king could revive from anything and was said to rule anything. But what is it?

Furufumi then says he was kidding and that he’s just talking about some collection of poems, and that it was once a popular gossip topic in the city. Anyways he asks that you go back since he just want to read in peace. He starts walking away, but you try to stop him and ask about the rumor. As you try to run after him, your vision suddenly goes dark.

When you can see again, you find yourself in a safe house you don’t recognize. In front of you are the Genociders sans Arc, and you call out in surprise. However they act as if nothing had happened and look outside with stern looks on their faces.

Azathoth laughs and says it’s a bad ending again, and Surtr talks to you saying it went down that way again. He says that even so, he was happy you two became family. The memory won’t carry over, but that is both a sadness and a blessing. He hugs you and smiles as he tousles your hair.

Surtr talks about how next time the two of you may try to kill each other. If so this memory would only hurt you. Azathoth says that it’s a gamer’s duty to get all the bad ends and says he’ll stick with you as a younger brother until the end as he grabs your hand. A crash hits as Harlot says that the Summoners are attacking as expected, then asks if you guys are ready.

Surtr prepares to go to battle and Harlot says it’ll be okay. She promises to help you escape no matter what happens to her and brushes your cheek. Even if you aren’t blood related and this is a one time connection, her feelings are there. No matter what happens, she says you’ll always be family. She tells you to be well, and the vision ends.

Furufumi talks to you and asks if you saw something bad, and you either scream, say you’re shaking, or say you have no memory of what you saw. In any case you are crying without any idea why. You were unable to respond to the parting words, and you were unable to do anything as you held onto their warmth. That was how vivid the memory was.

Somewhere in the distance there is the sound of something breaking. Furufumi talks to us, his face unreadable, asking why do you resist. Are you really okay with ending the repetitions? He says that if the loops continue, you could relax. There would always be the chance you could be saved. And it is such a frightening thing to seek what isn’t written in the books.

You ask him if he knows something. Furufumi says that the books of prophecies here know everything that happens in the past/future. He says it might just be some empty resistance against the one who can control even time.

After a beat, Furufumi repeats that this isn’t a place for you to be and asks you to leave and to stay away. He asks you to think about what he’s said, even for your sake. Then he bids you goodbye and walks away. As the schoolhouse door closes, the day ends. It is night out and rain is falling. And so the episode ends.