Title card pops up immediately, and this chapter is called The Promise From Another Time.
Camera
then tunes back to the present as Teacher Dagon is surprised and amazed
that there’s some big underground space under That Place. Canaan Dagon
calls out to Baal since he figures he’s there and may as well show
himself. Baal complies and says he’s back from finishing his work. He
says that there’s a flood going on up above which should wash away
everything in the world in short order.
Baal
then asks why the forefather Dagon is making the face he’s making. He
just did the administrative task Dagon was supposed to do under his
supervision. He also reminds Dagon that Baal is acting as his agent for
now. When a World Representative is faced with a World Collapse Crisis,
they’re supposed to take appropriate measures, but Baal notes that Dagon
has clearly given up on Canaan.
Dagon
denies having given up and says he’s merely accepting the consequences
for the choices his children has made. Baal asks if that extends to his
own destruction, but Dagon doesn’t answer that question. Baal says it’s a
huge problem for himself if that does happen. It’s too early for that
just yet, he whispers to himself.
Baal
speaks back up again and says Dagon dying now should be a problem for
him too. Dagon does concede that point, so Baal suggests that he take
the seat of World Representative now. He could clean things up right
away in that case. Dagon declines saying it’s not yet time for that.
It’s not his choice either since it’s ordained to be Canaan’s most
beautiful to choose.
Baal says he knew he’d
say that before commenting that the ‘tragedy being put on for a single
person’ is going to start over again until Dagon’s goal is fulfilled. He
doesn’t respond to this, so Baal says the actors will be here soon and
asks Dagon to explain everything to them.
Scene
shifts elsewhere as narration compares the rain to the ocean sky above
falling down to form the flood. The main city of Canaan is left as the
only place standing and its citizens are in a state of panic. Landslides
cause large rocks to fall onto the locations where crowds have
gathered, but Asterius uses his power to destroy them into tiny pieces.
As
the townspeople thank him, Nomad tells people to keep calm and follow
evacuation procedures. Kurogane urges people to head to the great palace
as the emergency shelter since it’s the highest elevated place. He then
comments in some disbelief that a flood is actually happening, but he’s
glad the emergency evac plans he quickly made are coming in handy.
Kurogane
worries about you and Astarte and hopes you guys are okay. Nomad says
he can tell you’re okay at least, which Kurogane agrees with. Nomad says
he’s getting that feeling because he gave you the Promise Shell and
that it’s telling him so. Asterius asks if they feel that way too as he
says he gets that feeling as well.
Anyways
Nomad says that while he can’t speak for anyone else, he’s pretty sure
you’re doing what you can. In which case, they’ll have to buck up and do
what they can themselves too. Tangaroa’s underlings show up offering to
help them, and Asterius asks if Tangaroa is okay.
The
mob confirms it and says they were ordered to help the others after he
left to save you, his spouse-to-be. Nomad decides to ignore the last bit
and accepts their help since it’s an emergency. He angrily asks where
Baal went off to and is about to say something else but stops. Asterius
says your name in concern.
Scene shifts
back to your end with Kijimuna casting his NP to summon a big tree and
accompanying wind. The branches growing scoop you and Astarte out of the
water. You’re glad she seems okay and are amazed by what’s happening,
and Kijimuna smiles in response. You start talking to him and ask if
he’s Adonis before realizing that isn’t the case.
You
remember his smile, and bits of Gogo come back to you. You wonder why
you forgot and say he isn’t Adonis but Kijimuna. Kijimuna says he wanted
to see you, and you either agree, say he’s cute, or give him a hug.
Going
A seems to skip any extra lines. Anyways Tangaroa refers to himself
with his own name as he says he’s happy you’re safe. You either call him
by name, call him dad, or remember he’s Tangaroa and not Yam. He nods
as he describes himself as the creator of the small floating world Lumia
Kanaloa and the one who spent those days on the secret island with you
guys.
You think about the days on that
island, how they’ve repeated, and the time you spent with them all.
Tangaroa asks if you remember now, so you say yes, wonder why you
forgot, or disbelieve that you could have ever forgotten him. Going A,
he talks about the times you’ve experienced and forgotten about, but now
you’ve all been made to play as someone else at some point.
You
either bring up Yam, comment that he remembers that time too, or ask if
he remembers the flirty or couple stuff you two did under the
influence. Going A, he comments the same seems to go for you. He
suggests that everyone should exchange notes and figure out what they
all know soon. For now he asks you what happened since you came here.
Tangaroa
starts telling you about everyone else’s safety. He met Robinson before
coming over, and Robinson has his memories back. They also exchanged
info, and you’re relieved he’s okay.
Scene
shifts to town as a tribe mob asks Robinson if he’s really okay with
telling them to stop guarding him. He confirms it and says he has things
to check on, which would be easier to do if he’s alone. He assures then
that even if he doesn’t have his memories, he does have some knowledge
about the current situation.
The mob
doesn’t really understand, so Robinson brings up that the mobs have
other things to do that Tangaroa asked of them. He has no idea who
Tangaroa is and says he serves Yam, but shrugs and goes to help evacuate
the citizens. Since he refers to Robinson as Aqhat as he leaves,
Robinson comments on the name and how he didn’t doubt his identity
during all that time. He wonders if he’s the type of person easily swept
up in things.
Robinson then focuses back
on things and says that as a veteran drifter, he’ll need to show his
true abilities to you and the others. Narration says he remembers the
time back on the island before scene shifts to the palace as Nomad says
the evac seems to be done for now. Asterius wonders where Dagon is and
points out he doesn’t seem to be doing anything in this emergency.
Tangaroa’s
underlings run over to ask Nomad and Asterius to come see something.
Nomad notes they came from the direction of Dagon’s throne and heads on
over. When they get there, Nomad asks where Dagon went as the room is
completely empty. Asterius asks what the big hole is and asks if it was
under the throne. Kurogane is shocked by its presence since he never
knew it existed.
Back to your side,
Kijimuna asks if you remember Tokyo. You take a moment to try, then tell
him that you do remember. Tangaroa goes quiet while Kijimuna says that
everyone starting acting weird when they got here. He kept trying to
bring this to everyone’s attention until he was nabbed one day and slept
until Tangaroa broke him out. You’re shocked by that news and can ask
if it was tough or if he was hurt.
Going A,
Kijimuna says you’re nice before telling you he had plenty of food and
water there, so it was pretty pleasant. Up until he met you he was
always sleeping together with the banyan tree at that secret island, so
he assures you he’s fine.
You ask if things
were like back then with the constant mind wipes and reunions. You also
wonder why only Kijimuna remembers, so Tangaroa asks if you forgot what
Dagon had said the first time around. You ask if he means the Pillars.
Tangaroa
confirms and says that if the world is a shell, its pillar would be the
adductor muscle that connects the halves, holding up the sky while
rooted in the earth. And so long as the world itself exists, it won’t be
destroyed no matter the disaster that happens. Dagon is the same, and
Tangaroa tells you he has a Pillar again.
As
you mull over Dagon, Tangaroa talks some more about him as the one you
all knew from that time and the mastermind of the incident that happened
in it. He says if Kijimuna weren’t around none of you would have ever
noticed what was going on. Tangaroa also thinks it was Dagon who
imprisoned Kijimuna and says that if you think of it that way,
everything makes sense. He’s sure that it isn’t coincidence that Dagon
from then and the Dagon that’s here now have the same name and
appearance.
Tangaroa says that Dagon and
Baal are definitely involved at the center of this current incident. You
suggest going to Dagon’s palace for now since he should be there, but
Tangaroa comments that Astarte wasn’t around for Gogo. He thinks there’s
a clue or something in that fact, and you hope Astarte is okay.
Astarte
shifts and Astaroth takes form as they wake up, which surprises you.
They need a moment to process returning to their original body and asks
where Astarte went.
Scene shifts over to
town, and you try to call out for someone before noting no one is there.
Astaroth says as much too and wonders what happened. You wonder if they
got swept up by the flood, and Kijimuna tells you he didn’t find anyone
either. Tangaroa comes back from searching the backstreets but had no
luck. Dagon’s palace is the only place unchecked left.
You
suggest heading over, and Astaroth asks if it’s okay for them to come
along. Astarte might be there, and if she is...Astaroth trails off. You
ask if they want to save or talk to her, and they answer that they
don’t know yet. They were always busy with their own affairs and had no
interest in anyone else, but they see Astarte as another side to them.
Astaroth
says they want to see and talk to Astarte. It might be for their own
sake instead of hers, but you agree to take them along. They thank you
for doing so, and Tangaroa thinks about another self and about Yam. He
wonders whether the bodies of the people who were Yam’s servants belong
to somebody else.
Inside the palace, the
party is shocked to find that big hole in Dagon’s throne room. Astaroth
tells you that they have a hunch but no proof that Astarte might be down
there. You agree and notice your Promise Shell from her is reacting to
something. Tangaroa comments that the bond or fate connecting you guys
to Canaan is guiding you all, and you suggest going down the hole.
Beneath
the palace, Tangaroa says it looks a lot like the space beneath Baal’s
palace and wonders if this means the two are cohorts. Astaroth points
something out to you all, which turns out to be countless writhing
shadowy forms. You initially think it’s the citizens and are relieved
they’re okay, but Tangaroa stops you and tells you to look closer.
On
closer inspection it turns out the citizens are disembodied shadows
groaning about. Kijimuna reacts badly to them, and when you check on him
he talks about the cold and the shadows filling him with a chill as
they get into him.
Astaroth asks if you
remember what they talked about with you before. The shadow people are
similar to what they were, something like ghosts. You ask if that means
they’re only memories. Before they say anything else Tangaroa notices
the people out cold underneath the Shadows, and narration says it looks
like they’re coming out from them.
You say
you’ve seen the people who are out cold somewhere before, and Tangaroa
recognizes them as the people from his home world. As you ask about
that, the special element tribe mob shadows appear, asking where Yam
went and saying how dark it is that they can’t see. They do something
that starts filling you with cold and sadness, then start screaming and
going on a rampage. Tangaroa runs forward to protect Kijimuna and the
episode battle starts. More story happens afterwards.
Narration
picks up after the battle to talk about the great original shell dragon
Tangaroa dividing up his flesh and blood to create an island and its
people in a far off sea. One of his remaining bones carried on his
memories and was passed down among the islanders.
The
one who did inherit that artifact and the memories would be the
strongest and most well trained warrior. Each one would take on the name
Tangaroa and take on the duty of leading all the tribes. It’s a harsh
duty to be sure, carrying the lives of everyone on their back.
Despite
that, that man chose to take that path. It wasn’t as if there were no
other options to him. He could have chosen to not be a warrior anymore,
or he could have chosen not to be the strongest one. But Tangaroa is
here now, and it was done by his own choice.
Tangaroa
has thought about how his own life was built on the sweat and blood of
countless other lives. He was just one life born from all that, so he
wanted to give back to the world. He took over as the new Tangaroa and
thought about protecting his world, which he had only ever known as his
island home.
One day an invader from
another world came and threatened to destroy the island. All of
Tangaroa’s accumulated knowledge was of no help in trying to resist, but
the ones who helped solve the crisis were others who had come from
other worlds. Disaster was averted, and the meetings led to Tangaroa’s
world expanding.
Back to the matter at
hand, the shadow mobs scream. Kijimuna is in pain, and you start shaking
and feeling the chills soon after as the mobs’ memories enter you. They
talk about how Yam gave them his flesh and blood as well as good
fortune. Yam had trained and raised them, pouring all he had for
Canaan’s sake. They call him the one who raises life in Canaan, the
great and giant one.
The mobs then talk
about how the world was wrong and how it was destroyed. They ended up
remembering that fact, and they lament that they couldn’t repay him.
They didn’t make any connections or pass on anything they received. They
ask what they can do with their regrets and sadness as it fills you,
which causes you suffering as you ask about Canaan already being
destroyed.
Tangaroa takes it as
confirmation of something he suspected and brings up what Dagon has said
once. Canaan was a place that wasn’t saved, so it has already been
destroyed. He goes quiet for a second before talking to you and saying
it might not be enough to repay you for saving his home world, but he
asks you to let him as one single person do something reckless.
You
try to ask what he means, so Tangaroa starts talking about how the
warriors are him, unable to inherit the world. He was saved by you guys,
who were outsiders, and now he says it’s his turn to do so. And above
all else, he can’t bring himself to ignore them.
Tangaroa
approaches the shadows open handed, then yells that he’ll accept their
regrets. He swears to take them with him outside and beyond before
declaring himself Tangaroa and Yam. The shadows flow into him, and he
collapses. You ask in alarm if he’s okay as cuts start opening up all
over him while telling him it was rash of him to take them into himself.
A
voice calls out to Tangaroa and comments on him accepting the memories
cast off from the world. They refer to him as both the world creator
shell dragon Tangaroa and the water dragon king Yam, the possessor of
the role of someone who creates and nurtures life. They mention
understanding that by having the same role as someone else he was able
to take on the underlings’ memories. They also think it was reckless,
though they admit they can’t speak much on it themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment