act35side

I'm sorry, Zubayr... I can't replace your sister and keep you company.

I have a younger brother myself. He's the Historian of Shar-Agade.

A shame. It is hardly an honor. They know too much that cannot be put to paper.

My foolish brother wanted the historians to document history to his liking, and so he forced my sister to send one of her twin sons into the palace.

A thousand years later, coercion has become honor.

The Sovereign of Beasts said all historians will have their tongues cut out. Is that true?

I do not know the ways of the current Shahanshah, but it is a proven way to keep a secret.

I need to go to the City of Gold and find him, no matter what.

I knew it.

Then leave, Pepe.

No... Not yet.

I can't leave this city to its fate.

I can't allow the constructs to continue wreaking havoc in the city.

Spare the city. As you said, the most precious treasures have not been defiled.

I cannot stop, Pepe, even if I wanted to.

In our lives, we go through many choices, big and small. One links to another, carving out unique circuits for all of us amidst infinite branching paths.

My oaths to Father and Sister have been etched as circuits, preserved for all eternity upon these gems.

I can never defy them.

Never.

Then tell me how to stop the constructs, Zubayr.

I have already told you the answer. The rest is up to you, Pepe.

Catch me if you can, like the invading armies so many centuries ago.

There's something I've been meaning to tell you, since talking to Ajazi and Ajani the other day.

Man, this is a hard rock. I hope we have enough time... what did they say?

A blue clockwork fowlbeast circles overhead, urging them to dig through the stone bricks before them.

Aspasia is glad that everything is going smoothly. She has only one more task before embarking on the path, if it indeed exists.

I learned why you thirst for wealth. You feel like you owe your past crew.

Oh. When did they start? The night when we fled for our lives? Or the time when I gave away all the treasure?

After you left.

I heard many stories from Ajazi and Ajani—how they struggled to use saws properly while logging, often breaking them with brute force. How they tried their hand at bookkeeping but messed up the records.

How someone slaughtered their last burdenbeast with a knife, then sold the knife to buy a pot to treat everyone to a feast.

...Word about his cooking spread, and he opened a food stall at the market. Customers flock to his stall till this very day.

How someone wrote a novel based on their time as a desert bandit and became published in the local paper. The latest chapters feature your gang traveling back in time to fight for the Shah's throne.

Most of your old crew have a house and don't need to migrate with the seasons. If they fix their roofs in time, they won't even leak during monsoon season. I'd say they're all doing rather well.

...Of course I know that.

I respect you, but I don't think you owe them anything.

Just as you don't have to save an entire city just to save Ajazi and Ajani.

You should get out, go back to see them... then put down your burden, your 'duty', and start moving forward again.

Aspasia is interrupted by the rumbling of a sliding boulder.

The pair seems to have stumbled upon one of the mechanisms of the ancient maze; the etched brick retreats into the walls of the canal, and they hear the sound of falling a few seconds later.

The entire wall begins to collapse, but as Anat said, what lies beyond is not sand.

Pitch-black darkness indicates that they are staring at the interior of a massive structure.

There is no path in front of them. The sound of quicksand is clearly audible from deeper in, as though there is a raging river deep in the abyss.

A river from which there is no return.

The pair throw down their pickaxes and draw their weapons at exactly the same time.

Kicking up a cloud of dust, they face off less than ten paces apart.

What are you doing?

Stopping you from jumping down.

Wasn't I the one who had to stop you just now?

Been wanting to say this, if you came to die, I can't let you go any further.

I thought you would be better than those two stooges, but it turns out you need me to save you, too.

...I told you, you don't have to carry this burden.

You've got it wrong. I just want to go down and see for myself. Besides, no one can do it better than me. That's all.

I want a mountain of gold, even if I didn't care about letting my crew live a better life. I'm just greedy, plain and simple.

'In our lives, we go through many choices, big and small.'

You call it duty. I prefer to call it my choice. This is who I am.

Right then. You're a trained fighter who won't walk into a knife. Well, things are about to get real this time. Don't get mad.

I have nothing but sincere gratitude towards you, Narantuya.

I need not fear a duel with you.

I didn't dare believe my heart, because I had made an oath to my family... about blood and violence, about war being the most just form of violation.

But you've shown me how resolved the heart can be.

Perhaps there is something to be said about the convictions of the Sargonians. My choices make me who I am. From this day—

—Hey, wait for me to finish!

Her vision goes black.

A black blade fan sweeps past her eyes. She blinks just once, but the only light source has already gone out.

She knows that Narantuya has two black knives. They are equipped with special mechanisms and cannot be unsheathed directly.

Yet in that instant, all she recalls is the Kuranta Elders known as the Nightzmora—renowned for their relentless marching day and night, devouring the sun at high noon.

She charges at where her counterpart should be, relying on her memory—

—And comes up empty.

A little sleight of sand, a simple mirage of Originium Arts.

Who said anything about winning the fight? All I need to do is jump first.

Embraced by darkness and illusion, Narantuya takes a step back.

Wait, Narantuya! This is not a fair duel!

Another silver medal for you.

Are you serious, Zubayr?

You're instructing me to attack you, and moving like the wind at the same time.

Give up, Pepe. I told you, it's futile.

You can never touch me, no matter how hard you swing that hammer of yours.

Hmph, I'll show you!

Are you trying to break the support beams to limit my movements?

Again, it's futile.

The broken columns and floor are quickly repaired by sand, leaving no trace of damage.

Pepe goes through illusion after illusion, seeking Zubayr.

Whenever she catches a glimpse, however, he soon disappears behind more illusions and is once again nowhere to be seen.

Focus, Pepe.

Did you know, Zubayr?

Before I turned fourteen, the doctors said I was a frail girl who would never lift a heavy hammer like this.

Quite the difference, the way you're swinging it, despite your diminutive figure.

I trained under Sargon's top strongman so that I could penetrate the deserts and jungles, and discover long-lost ancient ruins.

By the age of seventeen, I could cross the vast desert on my own, and fight off a dozen bandits at the same time.

That alone is not enough, Pepe.

I'm not trying to prove myself to you.

I'm just telling you, there has never been anything I couldn't do, if I put my mind to it.

No matter how hard, how out of reach... as long as I mean it...

I can do it!

You hold this impression because you have only lived twenty-two years.

I had cut down countless foes with my sword when I fought under my father's banner.

Their screams filled me with confidence. I believed that there was nothing I couldn't acquire, nothing I couldn't do, given enough time.

Little did I know, that my greatest enemy... was time itself!

A golden flash, and Pepe feels an intense pain from her ankle before she could turn around.