act15mini

Alright, got it.

I'll handle the ship for you.

Wait a sec, are you going to do another divination?

Yeah.

But... how many times have you used your Originium Arts, between yesterday and today?

Not enough to worry about.

Just think of it as me double-checking my work.

(Tugs on Magallan's hand)

Leave her alone.

Aww... Fine.

The first time I met Gitano was when I was visiting Iffy at the Rhodes Island Medical Department.

At the time, she was in a coma in a hospital bed, and was carted in by the other field operators. They all said her Arts take a heavy toll on her body...

Even more reason to leave her alone then.

She sensed something, which is why she's trying to read your fortune before you leave.

And I agree with her.

I've felt a lingering shadow here this whole time.

I don't know exactly what she's trying to double-check, but there's no point in trying to avoid an omen of calamity.

I just hope she finds whatever is giving her these strange premonitions.

—Watch out!

The boat tilts sharply to one side, and Typhon pulls Magallan in close just in time to stabilize the ship.

Gitano falls heavily onto the deck, and an intense burst of Arts flashes through her crystal ball.

Gitano!

...Phew.

I'm fine.

I'm not the same self-defeating, self-destructive person I was years ago. This is just... me trying my best.

Well, as long as you're okay! Let me help you up.

...However, try as I might, I couldn't find anything.

What did you see in your divination?

Fate. The fates of the deceased.

But my divination has little in common with Sami's prophecies – it's merely a special kind of Arts. It cannot touch those who have passed.

Their fates are pitch-black. Nothing more.

Is that the same for everyone?

...No, there's one who hasn't responded to me.

Gitano holds up her crystal ball. There is nothing inside it save for the candlelight reflected from the fleet ahead.

He remains silent.

That is no fault of the diviner's.

We need to hurry and make our way to the front of the fleet.

If I'm forced to draw my bow, the boat's going to rock a whole lot, and you two will need to keep it steady.

W-Wait, back up! What's going on?

The marsh is trying to drag us under.

None are safe, living or dead.

—What?

We don't know a thing! We really don't, so spare us, please!

The only one who does is that Liberi who went to Čappat alone. He's the one you're looking for!

Those Sami died to save us! But we didn't know what else to do for them, except take their remains back to their hometown!

No, that's not what I'm asking...

When you took the bodies away, someone was bleeding black blood. Did you witness this yourself?

Yes, I saw it with my own eyes.

I...

How could I make such a terrible mistake?!

The ship! The ship of the dead... What are you doing?!

Using the waves to keep it from sinking any further.

You–

Turn the boat around, now.

This funeral can no longer continue. I will protect you from the rear.

Let's go.

You... Are you sympathizing with the outsider too?

Maybe she's right. Or maybe she's finally lost her mind to the black bow. Either way, she poses just as much danger.

Warriors, protect the fleet from front to back. Stay vigilant.

Don't panic.

Trust that Sami will protect our inner peace. Trust that calamity will never take it from us.

The same goes for you two, Magallan and Gitano.

Hurry up.

Wait, Typhon... I'd like an explanation. I need an answer.

Is it the same as what I saw?

Mhm.

Too many soldiers from the north are buried here. Their contamination has accumulated, day by day, until it all melded together.

And this time, the disaster might've taken some of the dead–

—I understand.

...My Arts are supporting the ship of the dead, preventing it from sinking. But that doesn't solve the issue.

So don't look back.

But—

Anything we can do to help?

M-My drone has a combat module! If there's going to be fighting, I can help out!

No.

The dark swamp surges up, and the disaster merges into solid entities that leap towards Typhon from the black waves.

For over a decade, she has seen the same dream again and again. A pitch-black dream.

The Sami say that while asleep, people can free themselves from the shackles of their corporeal forms and meet both the living and the dead.

Typhon has always known that if she could strip away the darkness covering her eyes, she could turn back and take one last look at her mother and father–

Yet, she has never seen anything.

Because a hunter only keeps her eyes on her prey.

Don't look back. That's all.

Stay behind them, and keep rowing the ship. I'll handle the rest.

Her bowstring is fully drawn. Ancient Arts converge into a single shaft. She takes aim.

The threats on the icefield are numerous. Extreme cold. Waves of snow. Ferocious beasts. Demons. And, in the stories of certain tribes, herself.

Typhon takes this for granted. She carries a contaminated black bow on her back. She was engulfed by the shadows and escaped from them. In the eyes of others, she walks closest to disaster.

Naturally, then, she should be the one to stand between those people and disaster.

Looks like I got the drop on you again.

Now, depart from the lands of Sami.

—I'll pin you down!

The hunter raises her voice as if shouting into the empty marsh.

The bowstring vibrates, and the arrow hurtles towards the water's depths.

Whooooaaaa! The boat's rocking like crazy!

Wh-What just happened? Did something fall into the water?

—Whoa, it got cold all of a sudden!

The hunter's cry receives an answer from the water's surface.

It is a soft murmur in the Sami tongue.

'Water withered, hard ice becomes.'

From the water's depths, it spreads out with the ripples of the falling arrow. In the blink of an eye, the swamp is engulfed in freezing cold.

All is calm, save for the constant crashing sounds from beneath the ice.