Tsukuyomi: Almost done with the block puzzle!
MC: Let's do it! (push)
MC and Tsukuyomi work together to push the last block. It moves surprisingly easily, and now there's a bridge to the castle.
MC: Well that was easy / Thanks for telling me how to do this, Tsukuyomi / I didn't get any of this!
(A) Tsukuyomi: Wow, MC. I just watched most of the time. I guess you're good at these kinds of things.
(B) Tsukuyomi: Aww, thanks. I'm here to give you your due.
(C) Tsukuyomi: You solved it out of pure instinct? Honestly I didn't know how to solve it either, Moon joke!
Tsukuyomi: Okay Sphinx Eret or whatever. We can cross the bridge, right?
Eret: Well done...oh my gods you guys did great! You solved that WAY faster than I expected! And yeah, you can cross the bridge. Wanna solve some other puzzles!?
MC: Sorry, we're in a hurry / Hmm... / Wanna come with us?
Tsukuyomi: ...huh? Eret, your body--
Eret is starting to disappear into light. He doesn't seem to notice.
Eret: I've got even harder ones I can--(poof)
Eret turns into a ball of light that flies into the castle.
Tsukuyomi: ...welp
MC: He disappeared? / Was he Sphinx's Shadow? / Was he the shift core...?
(B) Tsukuyomi: Same brain! But if he is, his sense of self was way too clear for a Shadow...
(C) Tsukuyomi: Hmm...if he was, it'd be great to solve things early. But it doesn't look like anything's happened just now.
Tsukuyomi: The next possibility is that he's a memory fragment, but from what I've heard from other Aaru people, this isn't what Aaru would look like. That said, normal people caught up in these things don't disappear like that...so I've never heard of what's happening here before.
MC: Aaru's supposed to be all desert-y / Where'd the other Sphinx go? / What the hell is going on?
---
(A) Tsukuyomi: Oh thanks for telling me. You've been there before?
---
Tsukuyomi: Welp, we solved Eret's riddle, but there's still more around. I wonder if Sphinx is here? He must be related somehow, but what is that connection? If this isn't Aaru, then where is it? And who's the core? There's stuff to think about, but how about we go inside for now?
MC: Okay! / Let's follow that light / (nod)
Elsewhere
Ellie: I'm gonna get you, little boy~!
Mereut: HEEEELP
Sphinx: Ha ha! Better you than me.
Suzuka: Sphinx what the hell! And Ellie, stop scaring the little kids already!
Ellie doesn't hear anything.
Suzuka: Ugh, fiiine. I guess I'll look at this riddle or whatever. (Can't really just cut my way through but...)
Suzuka's swords have the power that allows it to cut the guards of hell.
Suzuka: (Well this seems to be a graveyard, so if I cut Mereut then...)
Suzuka: Never mind. Slashing kids is no good. So Sphinx, you figure anything out about the riddle here?
Sphinx: Hell yeah I have! It's babby's first riddle in here.
Suzuka: It IS!?
Sphinx: Sanctuaries are made so that you can't leave without fulfilling specific conditions. Sometimes there's conditions to take actions, sometimes you gotta solve preset tricks. There's ways to cheat, but I'm not telling how.
Suzuka: So, this seal we're in is the second case?
Sphinx: Yeah, Mereut said the puzzle was hidden earlier. Come on, stand in the center and look around.
Suzuka does so and notices that part of the wall is sticking out.
Suzuka: !! Whoa...
Suzuka presses on the wall button. A tile falls out.
Suzuka: I guess it'd be too easy if that was it.
Sphinx: Yep! Now figure out where to use the tile to solve the puzzle. Ellie, stop chasing the dingus over there and help out!
Ellie: Wait, you're not gonna do it?
Sphinx: I mean yeah I could solve it in a jiffy, but where's the fun in that? Come on Sis, show you've got some brains! I'll even give hints!
Ellie: Meeeh, fine I guess.
Suzuka: Ellie, we are in an emergency.
Ellie comes over and Suzuka explains the puzzle so far. Sphinx and Mereut watch with popcorn.
Sphinx: Wow you two are doing really good!
Ellie: I'm just doing whatever, but that usually makes things happen.
Suzuka: And we cover for her after that. The Outlaws too. We have to stand up front when the Queen's gone a lot, but I'm good at helping like this.
Ellie and Suzuka solve the rest of the puzzle. The stone floor grinds as it opens up!
Mereut: Well done!
Suzuka: Whew, we did it...
Sphinx: You had my hints, so of course you did!
Ellie: Thanks, Sphinx. That was a fun puzzle, Mereut. Wanna come with us? We can play more later.
Mereut: Really!? I've always wanted someone to play wi--
Suzuka: ELLIE!
A bright light fills the room as it disappears. Mereut turns into light and goes into Sphinx. Sphinx has a flashback of some kind.
Somewhere Not Aaru (it's Olympus)
???: Why is everyone afraid of me? I don't care about the others of my kind! I just wanna play battle of wits! Who needs souls? Who needs to grow? I just want--
End of flashback as the group gets back into Sort Of Kabukicho
Ellie: ...oh, we're back?
Suzuka: Apparently. It's good we got out of that sanctuary, but... (looks around and doesn't see Mereut)
Ellie: Sphinx, you okay?
Sphinx: ...huh? O-oh, yeah I'm fine. So, about Mereut...
Suzuka: I think he disappeared with the sanctuary.
Ellie: What WAS his deal?
Sphinx: ...dunno. (avoids the uncomfortable truth)
Sphinx: (I don't think they saw, but I did. Mereut went into me. And that memory. I don't remember it, but why was I there?)
Suzuka: Well, let's go back to looking for MC and Tsukuyomi.
Ellie: Okay. Let's go, Sphinx.
And so the three left.
Elsewhere, MC and Tsukuyomi enter the castle. The entrance looks like a normal Japanese school entrance.
MC: This incident is weird.
Tsukuyomi: Right. It's strange inside and outside the castle. I can and cannot grasp what's going on here, just like I did with Eret's light.
Tsukuyomi points at some floating lost light ahead.
Tsukuyomi: Tokyo has plenty of places with overlapping world spaces, but I've never heard of one that only affected the outside. Even if an overworld shift occurs in a space that has an empty room in the center, it would still look the same but we wouldn't be able to enter that room. Or castle in this case.
Tsukuyomi approaches the light. By the time he reaches it, there's foot steps coming from above. The light starts flying in that direction. MC and Tsukuyomi follow along, only to run into Ellie, Suzuka, and Sphinx!
MC: Ellie! / Suzuka's there too! / Sphinx is here...?
(A) Ellie: MC? Oh, you're here too. Huh, so's the Night Emperor...which means everyone in school got caught up too?
(B) Suzuka: Yep. I see the Night Emperor's with you. I guess we're all stuck in this.
The flying light floats over to Sphinx and turns into a feather pen.
Sphinx: Huh? ...what!?
Sphinx touches the copy pen, which then fuses with his own.
Tsukuyomi: Hmmmm...
Tsukuyomi observes everyone. Everyone seems worried.
Tsukuyomi: Well anyways we're all good. That's nice, right? If we were at my bar I'd treat you all to drinks, haha.
MC: Yeah.
Tsukuyomi: Well anyways, how about we share information? What happened with you guys?
Everyone is brought up to speed.
Suzuka: So that pen was Eret?
Tsukuyomi: Yep. We followed him in here and found you guys.
Ellie: The one we saw was Mereut. He disappeared at some point.
Sphinx: (frown)
Suzuka: Tsukuyomi, I think this is an overworld shift. Your thoughts?
Tsukuyomi: Hmm... (looks at Sphinx)
Tsukuyomi: Well I was wondering if Sphinx was the shift core until we came into the castle. He doesn't seem to be though since the inside is still Kabukicho Academy mostly. A shift would have changed it. And Sphinx, there's no castle like this in your home world, right?
Sphinx: !! Nope!
MC: Figured / So what's going on? / ...
Tsukuyomi: It's best to think this castle and Sphinx's divided memories were caused by different things. And for now at least, none of the Sphinx Memories we met intend to hurt us. This all seems to be an accident.
Suzuka: ...oh, I get it.
Ellie: It's okay Sphinx.
Sphinx: !! I-I'm not worried or anything! Come on, let's go! Those other Sphinxes are connected to my artifact, and while I dunno what that MEANS there might be one making a sanctuary at the bottome.
Tsukuyomi: So someone's stuck inside?
Ellie: Okay, let's go to the first floor.
Suzuka: Ellie! Don't run off by yourself!
MC: Let's go too. / Ellie, wait! / YAAAS QUEEN
Tsukuyomi: We should hurry. Sphinx, can you lead the way after we catch up?
Sphinx: Yeah!
Flashback
???: Playing the board game Senet or watching you solve my riddles is so fun! Let's play more! ...where you going? Where the sun sets? Okay, I'll wait for you until the same sun comes back!
Present
Sphinx: (I remember that one. It happened in Aaru. But who did all this and why!?)
End of Episode part
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