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The bell tower's corridors are narrow, and the stone steps below my feet are slippery and wet. The stone walls are rough and feel so cold to the touch... just like the trees in that forest.

My footsteps echo in the hallway. What is there up ahead?

I'm the child of a Sankta and a Sarkaz. They all said that they have on me their...

I don't know. It was a word I've never heard.

But I remember how Rosella looked.

She looked down at me with a smile on her face. Her hands were clasped together like she was holding onto a treasure.

What did they... What did everyone want me to do? I still don't get it.

But now, I understand what it is that I should do the most and what it is that I want to do.

It doesn't matter if I'm a Sankta or a Sarkaz.

I'm Cecelia.

Just Cecelia.

Goodbye, Mamma... Will you keep watching over me?

Ezell, your eleven o'clock.

Ngh!

That was close!

Come on, it's not like fighting is going to get us anywhere. Why don't we call it quits?

You really don't know how to listen, huh?

Ezell, I thought you were really worried about Cecelia. She might just be safer with me, you know?

Did you think I'd believe that?

I'm never one to lie.

Even if you're telling the truth, if that isn't what Cecelia wants, then there's no way!

Sometimes I really think Andoain's giving me way more than I bargained for.

Stay focused, Ezell.

No... Federico!

Can you feel it?

Well, look at that...

The air is trembling.

As though something is manifesting from nothingness.

A surge of power, pure power, nothing like any Originium Arts known to man.

An ancient construction is being awakened.

A forgotten sound is about to ring out far and wide.

Ezell, new directive: investigate the bell tower.

Leave the traitorous Legatus to me.

Your Holiness, what's going on?!

Shh—

Velliv, seal off the central sanctuary and halt all meetings.

What is happening?

Did you know? My predecessor, the last Pope, had an interest in history.

No...

I don't blame you. He was an amateur in the field. His writings were riddled with mistakes and hardly worthy of praise.

Rather than studying history, perhaps it's better to say that his interests lay in using history to let his imagination run wild.

He was particularly fond of certain... romantic metaphors in his writings. Perhaps a little promiscuous for a history paper, but they did truly leave an impression on his readers.

He said, 'History is a musical movement written by a shapeless titan in countless voices.'

Going by his analogy, our titan musician seems to have started writing his next measure.

I breathe all the air out of my lungs before drawing a fresh breath.

I trip and fall to the ground, before climbing back up and running forward again.

I can feel that something is brewing.

The other side of the door at the top of the bell tower is where Cecelia is.

I open the door—

The frail girl is singing.

An ancient Sarkaz folk song.

She is singing from the bottom of her heart, so tenderly, with all her feelings.

I can only stand there, doing my best to hold my breath, to avoid disrupting the flow of her singing.

At a certain point, I realize I cannot hear anything anymore.

There is only the sound of bells, seemingly ringing across time.

Bells... from the Tower of Revelations...? That's impossible!

That bell has never rung!

Except... except when...

When the first saint still walked the land.

'During the day, the Sankta looked up at the sky to find darkness shrouding even the sun. At night, the devil's army came and slaughtered countless Sankta. The Sankta lost much of their radiance.'

'The saints said: follow me. Thus they rose. The saints said: listen to me. Thus, the bells began to ring.'

'The bells echoed throughout the wilderness, uniting all the Sankta.'

'This is a revelation. This is an exhortation.'

'There will be light throughout the day, and it shall never be shrouded again.'

'The saints said: build a city. It will be the Sankta's paradise.'

'The saints said: this city shall be called Lateran.'

How...?

The Tower of Revelations is one of the oldest structures in Laterano. No, according to the texts, the Tower of Revelations was here before there was a Laterano.

And now the holy bells ring again...

For our little Cecelia.

But... why?

Perhaps the shapeless titan musician wanted some crescendos in his music, and he picked Lateran bells for his arrangement because he liked the sound.

Cardinal Velliv, you and I stand in this church at this moment. I wonder if that is good or bad.

Your Holiness, we must know immediately why the holy bells are ringing... No, no matter the reason, it is the responsibility of the Church to explain why and how it happened.

With envoys from the nations gathered in Laterano, all of the attending representatives are now witnesses to this event. This could be an opportunity.

Go, Velliv. Inform the envoys that the Lateran bells ring for the first time in millennia, and this portends change. We must come together and prepare for the future.

What about the Tower of Revelations, then...?

We have waited long enough. Let's get to work.

Guide, did... did you know this was going to happen? What exactly is Cecelia...? S-She's mixed-race, but... is there some other secret about her?

No, of course not. She's the Cecelia that both you and I know. She may come from a unique background, but there is no secret to her.

It's just that, perhaps Laterano itself is thirsting for change, and Cecelia... she just so happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Or perhaps, she is actually the one who will end the thousand year conflict between the Sarkaz and the Sankta, and so Revelation came and the bells rang.

Of course, it could also just be a misunderstanding, a coincidence, a kind of black humor in the course of history.

But we both know that the truth is never what's actually important.

Hmm... No matter what, this is an opportunity. If I have to say, it might even be proof that we are actually blessed.

The Church is most likely putting all their attention on the envoys and the Tower of Revelations right now...

We'll pave the path forward for you. You need only walk it.

Andoain... the bells have started to ring.

The bells belong to a child who is about to begin her journey.

Oh?

You sound very relaxed. You've made your decision.

My decision has never changed.

Even if you must give up everything?

Even if I must give up everything.

Is there any meaning in this?

Meaning... Meaning does not exist for nothing. All our choices merely conceive it, mold it, and give it the chance to descend upon us.

I get it now.

I hope you'll find your peace.

Patia, what you just said goes against our original goal.

All men are cornerstones, and the roads that we lay are paved for those who follow us.