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You trust Dr. Kal'tsit more than I thought you would.

Maybe. She willingly stayed in Iberia and created this opportunity for us. I was surprised. And I have to thank her.

I can only hope it all goes well for her.

Look at the time.

Guess it's not happening today either. And here I thought I'd get to see them sooner or later just by waiting in the most conspicuous building in town.

This really is such an uneventful place, though. If I'd known it'd be so boring here, I would've brought along a few more books from Rhodes Island—

—A Lateran chapel! And in such a great shape, even right next to the sea! Unbelievable! This place's style really has a different vibe, though.

I mean, as long as there are Laterans in chapels, we can jam whenever, but this place just feels so gloomy... Hm?

Ahh—

—Alty?!

You'd best stay away from the sea, Jordi. The chapel is clean and safe. Just stay there.

Don't worry about anything else. Not a lot of the young ones came back this year. Most who left looked for ways to move to the big cities. And now we rely on the Inquisition's handouts to get by.

You should think about what I said and leave this place. The folks here are the families of the workmen who gathered here to maintain the lighthouse in the past, but times have changed. This place will be abandoned sooner or later.

Jordi?

I'm listening, Uncle.

It's just... where can an Ægir go?

Amaia told me that there are places outside, in other parts of Iberia, where they aren't so harsh on the Ægir.

But I'll need to find a home for myself eventually. I need resources, connections. I... can't make a decision that easily.

I... I'm not ready yet.

...If you say so.

Right, Amaia gave me another book, one she translated herself. Not like I'd understand it anyway, though. Take it with you to kill time over in the chapel.

Okay.

Jordi walks down the street quietly.

Seeing the old man in front of him hunching over more and more, he can't help but think back to how he looked just last year.

As if to prove how time slowly overtakes us all, senility is always silent. From the moment you wake up to when you fall asleep, every second is like a gasp for air.

But Jordi never complained. He's used to this life, after all.

Uncle...

Hmm?

I'm pretty happy with my life right now. I get to help out at the chapel. Sometimes I help take care of the children, and sometimes I help patch up the injured workmen.

I even got to know that Liberi who came from out of town the other day. He's so different from everyone else. He said his name is Elysium. You don't have to worry about me.

It's been a long time since the Inquisition came to town. We don't always have to be so nervous.

That's not a chapel, lad. It's a sentry post. The Inquisition set it up to keep their eyes on us, back when we were still trying to repair the lighthouse.

But now that the coastline is peaceful and the work on the Eye of Iberia is shelved, of course the Inquisition doesn't give a toss about us anymore.

Still, to be fair, the Inquisition isn't completely useless. Only they can stop those...

Those...?

Nothing, lad. Just a few rumors going around among the workmen.

Rumors, hm...

Lad?

H-Here...?

What exactly is that...? Should I let Uncle Thiago know...?

Something bothering you, lad?

No, it's nothing.

Uncle... Just what is there out at sea?

Jordi!

Uncle Thiago? What's going on?

Quick, pack up. We have to go.

Wait, what? Where are we going?

The Inquisition is coming.

...What?

The cultists, the monsters from the sea...

Are we leaving this town for good?

We?

No, no, just you. When the Inquisition finds out there are cultists here, the Ægir will be their first target.

I don't care what happens to the cultists, or even the rest of us... We've lived here too long. We don't know how to live anywhere else.

But you're different. You've always wanted to see the world outside. You're young and talented.

But, I... this is all so sudden.

It's an opportunity for change, lad. Your last chance. Be brave.

Even if you somehow survive the Inquisition's interrogation, all that's waiting for you here is a life spent in fear of the ocean and the Sea Terrors.

If you leave, though, your fate will finally be in your own hands. Not stuck in that little chapel.

That place is too small for you. You shouldn't just—

But, I... It's so sudden.

There's no time to hesitate, lad. You must be strong, like your parents and their parents before them.

Did my parents really give their lives for Iberia?

We don't have time for this. Come, we must pack.

It's been so long since we've had a traveling trader stop by... all your clothes are so old. You can buy new ones so easily out there. All the more reason to leave, don't you think?

But why would the Inquisition be looking for Ægir? Couldn't cultists just as well be Liberi or Feline?

Ægir come from the sea, same as the monsters and the disaster.

Wait... have you seen them?

No, I... I mean, Uncle, you knew? You knew they were here?

Yes... we all knew there was something to the rumors.

Juan was one of them. He went into an empty warehouse to hide from the streets. He was hurt, and... he had no hostility towards me.

Right, because you're Ægir. I know they've gone mad, that they're not normal.

But why? ...Are you sheltering them?

None of that matters anymore. You'll be leaving soon.

No, I don't want to.

What?

I... I was born here in Gran Faro. If I run away just to hide from the Inquisition, I... I don't know.

You what? Do you have any idea what you're saying?

No Ægir has ever made it back in one piece after the Inquisition gets them! If you're LUCKY, you might return missing a few body parts, or maybe your sanity.

Most simply disappear though. Some say they've been imprisoned, others that they've been executed. No one comes back! No one!

The Inquisition will burn everything to the ground in their 'mercy,' before the monsters and cultists even get a chance. Nothing cleanses like fire!

U-Uncle Thiago, calm down!

The angry old man sees in Jordi the shadow of himself, arriving in this land all those years ago, hoping to construct a new garden out of the ruins.

Decades have passed, and those who were once young are no longer so. Yet what have they built in Gran Faro? What has become of Iberia?

Their efforts have done nothing to change the tidings of fate, and the home that they put so much of their passion into now stands on the precipice of collapse.

A vast helplessness engulfs Thiago, like the dark clouds over the sea.

No one...

No one... no one has ever come back. Not Marin, not anyone else. Gran Faro is already burning. Be it the Inquisition or the monsters, there's no future for us here.

Uncle Thiago...

I'll never be able to face your parents if anything happens to you, Jordi.

I... I know, I...

C-Can I go see the ocean?

Gaaaaaaaah!

Dream now, and may your sleep be full of nightmares.

Leave them to me, Kal'tsit. Soon enough, they will confess where their dark and dank schemes take root.

No doubt.

(Wow, the old man's with you, Doctor?)

You are... Alive Until Sunset. A rock band. I must admit I don't understand these new-fangled trends.

Have faith in the divinity of song then.

Iberia hasn't recorded a direct sighting of a Feranmut for centuries, much less an interaction. If your music represents your views on human society, then that would certainly pique my interest.