| LE-ST-2 The Rite of Spring
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Lingering Echoes: Afterglow Hall Next LE-TR-2
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| No, they offer sacrifice not to that deceased figure, but to the figments within their own hearts. | |
| Characters |
 Cowardly Noble  Reckless Caster |
| Backgrounds |
 1 |
| “ | As he listens to the calm cello tune, Ebenholz reminisces about a past he had long sealed away. | ” |
| <Background 1> | |
|---|---|
| [A Leithanian nobleman are discussing something with a Leithanian caster.] | |
| Cowardly Noble | So these are the only ones left of His Majesty's bloodline? |
| Reckless Caster | Those wretched women were quick at their handiwork. This is the best we can do. |
| Cowardly Noble | I still say that we shouldn't be treating His Majesty's melodies so frivolously– |
| Reckless Caster | What do you think we should do, then? |
| Cowardly Noble | I think we should be a little more cautious here... |
| Reckless Caster | Cautious? Our people are being slaughtered day after day, and you want to be cautious? This is our last chance! Even if bringing His Majesty's bloodline and melodies won't revive all of His Majesty's powers, at the very least... |
| How... How old am I? Two? Three? In the middle of a rundown building, I look around at my surroundings, bewildered. The man who brought me here told me that both my father and mother had already been lynched. At the time, I didn't even understand what lynching and death meant. He even told me that, from here on out, this would be my home. I was going to be part of a grand plan, and if luck was on my side, I could even become Leithanien's next ruler. I don't get it. I don't get any of it at all. The only thing I understood in my confusion was that I probably wouldn't ever get to go back to my room, where sunlight beamed in every morning. | |
| <Background fades out and in> | |
| Cowardly Noble | Didn't I tell you already? It's impossible to make a person into a vessel for the Voice of Terra! |
| Reckless Caster | You knew it was impossible? Did you let any of us know you were against the plan before we started, then? And now only after they started to bite the dust are you complaining? Don't make me laugh! |
| Cowardly Noble | No, I... |
| Reckless Caster | Let me tell you. This isn't a waste. This is a price we must pay for our success. As long as one of them survives, we won't have to hide out here in the provinces like thieves! Victoria, Ursus, Kazimierz... There are more parties interested in our plans than we can count! As long as we succeed, their armies will help secure our revenge against those awful women! |
| That day, the lady who had been taking care of us disappeared. Once she was gone, the men who brought us our meals but didn't stay with us started arguing with each other. I didn't understand what they were arguing about. All I knew was that the lady who sang songs for us probably wasn't going to be back again. If I remember correctly, this is how the song goes: The Sky is blue and fine, The Breeze lilts by in Song; The River murmurs clear, My Heart is filled with Hope. I think there was more to the song, but she never sang that part to us. | |
| <Background fades out and in> | |
| Reckless Caster | What is it this time? Out with it. |
| Cowardly Noble | That's another one of them, dead... |
| Reckless Caster | So what? We're making progress! Next time, we'll move the operating room farther away and add some soundproofing material... We'll definitely get there! |
| The weather got cold, and then warm. At first, those men would make a huge ruckus whenever someone disappeared. They gradually complained less and less. Our meals got worse, too, but at least we were able to fill our stomachs, thanks to there being fewer mouths to feed. Perhaps this is just how man is meant to be. Before you know it, they disappear. And so did their things, too. Like the cane that belonged to the old granny, the music box that belonged to a boy, the wand and Originium dice that belonged to an older man... But there were also things that stayed with us, like the song that the girl liked to sing. There was a boy who learned the song, and he liked humming it. | |
| <Background fades out and in> | |
| Cowardly Noble | Just... Just what are we doing?! We brought His Majesty's bloodline under our protection, only to... only to send them to their deaths... |
| Reckless Caster | Wake up! This is a necessary price to pay! To make sure His Majesty's bloodkin can wield His power properly, we have to make these sacrifices! We are learning more and more about the Voice of Terra. We'll succeed soon enough! |
| Cowardly Noble | What about those who died? No, let's stop these crazy experiments... Let's start over with new identities and raise the few we have left. They might just grow up to become fine men like His Majesty... |
| Reckless Caster | Stop dreaming! We need the Voice of Terra! |
| Then, after a year, or perhaps two... I really have no idea. It was just me and the boy. I'd start trembling in fear every time those men came to our room. When he saw that, the boy would comfort me and tell me that everything was alright, before standing in front of them. Then, as soon as they were gone, he would sing the song. "My Heart is filled with Hope." | |
| <Background fades out and in> | |
| Reckless Caster | You two have been here for a long time. You may be kids, but you've figured it out already, haven't you? You're His Majesty's only surviving bloodkin, after all. I don't want to make this too ugly. I'll let you decide who will be next. |
| Cowardly Noble | We've made vast improvements to our technology... It might succeed... most likely. Whichever of you that undergoes the experiment... might become a really, truly amazing Caster. |
| We weren't stupid. The man in the noble attire told us the same thing the few times before that, but none of the ones who left with him ever came back. My legs trembled. I looked to the boy next to me. His lips were pale, too. I didn't want to disappear, nor did I want him to disappear, but... He noticed my gaze and turned to me, and spoke those words as his lips trembled: "I'll do it." When I heard him say that, I couldn't keep myself upright anymore. My legs gave out, and I fell to the ground. | |
| <Background black> | |
| I lived alone in the empty room for two whole months. Then, on a rainy night, they brought the boy back. His eyes were closed, and he bit his lips hard, but he was alive. I thought it was a miracle, but mere days later, he was taken from the room again, never to be seen again. Just like the others. He was still humming the song before he left. "My Heart is filled with Hope." | |
| <Background 1> | |
| A few days came and went, and it was finally my turn. I followed those two. On our way, I saw many rooms that I had never seen before. There were all kinds of devices and equipment inside. We arrived at a small room that was completely white inside. The woman in the spire caster attire told me to lie down on the bed. She was wearing a white surgical mask and gloves and had a very strange feel to them. She put a mask over my face, and that was the last thing I remember. | |
| <Background black> | |
| I was woken up by their cheers. When I awakened, it felt like there was lava burning in my brain and roasting my eyes. The pain lasted... how long was it? Days? Weeks? Months? | |
| <Background 1> | |
| Nevertheless, as time went on, the pain slowly weakened. In the end, I would get bouts of intense pain that quickly subsided. I waited for them to carry me outside like everybody else, but they didn't. Not only that, they started to fawn on me, gave me more food, and let me run outside in the courtyard. They started giving me lessons to teach me how to read, write, and most importantly, use Originium Arts. Very solemnly, they gave me the wand and Originium dice that belonged to the old man and told me to cherish them, as they were a part of His Majesty's collection. Thereafter, whenever I showed any aptitude for Arts, they would shower me with praise. Of course, those days didn't last very long. | |
| <Background fades out and in> | |
| Cowardly Noble | Is this... all we'll get with this boy? |
| Reckless Caster | From the looks of it, even if we pushed him to his limits, he would only be able to arm wrestle a single Empresses' Voice fighter. Perhaps we should adjust his "Voice of Terra" energy fluctuations like the last one... |
| Cowardly Noble | Forget it. |
| Reckless Caster | What're you afraid of? If we improv– |
| Cowardly Noble | You can't! |
| Reckless Caster | You dare talk back to me?! |
| Cowardly Noble | We had so many verses of 'Voice of Terra,' and this is the only one that can still be played. We had fifteen of His Majesty's bloodkin, and this boy is the only one left! If we raise him right, we might yet be able to flee to another country and buy ourselves official appointments there, and, more importantly, His Majesty's bloodline will continue. If he ends up buggered like the other kid, then the only way we'll have to make it up to His Majesty is by taking our own lives! |
| Reckless Caster | ...... |
| <Background black> | |
| The next day, they were gone too. They didn't take their own lives. Rather, it was because the Empresses' Voice they kept talking about were here. When I sat in the empty room and listened to the screams outside, I couldn't help but feel a sense a joy. After all, they all loved to talk about "His Majesty's bloodline." And now what they feared the most, the destruction of this cursed bloodline, was finally about to happen. An elegantly dressed man kicked the door in and entered. This must be the Empresses' Voice. He looked at me and neither lowered his weapon nor attacked. He was probably hesitating? Hesitating for what? I picked up my wand and pointed it at the Empresses' Voice, and the Originium dice started to revolve around me. As I expected, he dashed toward me unbelievably quickly and struck the brass instrument on my head hard. | |
| [...] | |
| That strike was the very thing that divided my short life into two wildly different halves. Graf Urtica has forgotten how he found himself handcuffed to this chair. His frequent headaches serve as the only reminder that the Witch King's final melody yet lives in his head. His regent, managing the Grafschaft, has told him with scorn that it is an artifact left behind by 'the one whose name we dare not speak', and that it is no longer separable from his body. But he has no idea at all how he became one with that thing. He remembers now. What should he do? What can I do? | |