act35side

Pepe opens her eyes and sees Zubayr's sistrum, inches away from breaking her neck in half.

Meanwhile, her hammer is pressed against Zubayr's chest, leaving a long crack in the gem on his chest.

Congratulations, Pepe...

You did it.

I could never beat my big sister when we played hide-and-seek. Some things never change, even after so many centuries.

The gem on your chest...

This time... I think it's beyond repair.

What will happen to you if it's completely shattered?

Eternal peace.

You'll die.

Yes... I will.

As your ancestor, may I ask a favor of you, Pepe?

What favor?

Can you take me into that gem?

It's hollow? I thought it was just decorative.

No, there is something there that belongs to me, and me alone.

Thanks to them, I could say that all the years I spent guarding this place were not entirely for the sake of others.

Some of those days belonged to me.

I'll help you up...

Careful, Pepe, this vessel is heavy. But I'll be free of it soon.

Yes, stand beneath it.

Pepe helps Zubayr into the middle of the hall, underneath the massive gem.

Light and shadows dance, as the massive gem draws all the illumination in the room towards its base, converging at its tip.

Though it should be blinding, Pepe feels like she is being wrapped in warm, gentle currents.

I see it, young Nightzmora. This is your own dream.

Go forward.

...Huh?

This feels familiar... as if the beckbeast is stepping on my head again.

—Hmm?

Hey, Anat, where am I? Aspasia, do you hear me?

...Should have known. The comm's broken.

She sits up underneath a black beckbeast statue. The sound of water flowing echoes through the empty hall.

A massive crystal hangs from the dome, and its light reveals numerous images of people, like reflections in water.

Isn't that the shadow I was chasing by the river the other night?

Are these shadows what the people of the city see, year after year?

One of the figures stops before her.

Narantuya seems to recognize the red hair, and the haughty demeanor of the figure looking down at her.

The figure turns around and walks through a closed door at the end of the hall.

Your hair's pretty red, but I had to see your back to guess that you may be someone I knew.

After all, the Nightzmora I know all run hard on their paths, never stopping to turn around.

What do they say? 'May those who need them find them as its waters rise.' You're the shadows that only appear when the river rises, aren't you?

Well, I need to find the leak right now. I'll count on you this once.

The floor trembles, and the sound of falling water grows louder.

Narantuya steps through the flooded hall, running towards the armored figure.

This is—

On the other side of the door is neither another maze passage nor flowing sand.

Through a crack in the door, she could see treasures piled up like a mountain, glowing with a radiance that a thousand years could not dull.

But she does not even have time to exclaim.

A massive fissure appears on the floor and the entire underground structure of the city trembles violently.

The hiss of rapidly flowing sand is louder than ever. Beneath the city and right under her feet, a colossal vortex of quicksand forms.

...Come on, that's the 'leak' I'm supposed to plug?

I never thought the insides of this large gem would be anything like this.

Do you see the platform in the middle? It may be hard to see, but it's there in the center.

It's dazzling, but I should be able to feel my way...

Ouch!

No chance I was going to see that step...

Be careful... there are three more.

I found the platform. There is a gem on it. What do I do next?

Could you take the gem from the platform and put it inside me?

Water is seeping in...

The structural integrity of the trove has been compromised by quicksand. River water is gushing in.

That means this place will soon be submerged.

The river will wash away all... place the gem in my chest.

What does the last gem represent?

Emotions. It is my emotions.

The centuries of solitude proved too hard to endure, and I had to part ways with most of my emotions.

Your gem is broken. Putting this in won't help.

I know. I just want to depart from this realm as a human.

You have always been human.

Ah... Thank you...

About the City of Gold... there was something that I wanted to tell you...

Go on...

...Never mind.

Huh?

Zubayr...

Let go, Pepe.

You must let me go.

As the water rises above Zubayr's face, the broken gem in his chest is shattered and washed away by the surging current.

His chest grows empty, but his eyes are filled with contentment.

He closes his eyes and sinks into the water with a smile on his face.

Pepe holds him by his shoulder, feeling him grow lighter. She realizes that it is not the water that's making him lighter.

Golden liquid flows through the gaps in her fingers. It is Zubayr's body, melting away in the water.

She instinctively tries to grab Zubayr, but what is left of his shoulder dissipates at the force.

Before long, Pepe alone remains in the water, watching as the golden current flows into the distance, carrying white lotus flowers.

May you guide his soul to rest, Horakhet.

Water pours down.

Narantuya remembers trying to catch an entire rain with the bottles in her pack when she was little.

Later, she learned that rain and drought are simply part of the cycle of life. Her tribe migrates with the weather atop their burdenbeasts; they cannot, and need not, carry so much water in their bags.

Another tremor sends the structure beneath her feet close to collapsing. Beyond the sturdy door of the trove, gold coins clatter against each other, their alluring clinks echoing the sound of her dreams.

Wish I could tell those two kitties in the museum that a hole big enough to sink a city isn't going to be plugged by a few planks.

Narantuya remembers how she dreamed about it.

If she truly owned a mountain of gold—real gold, not the gilded iron ingots that the lords ameer smelt, or the empty checks they write—the first thing she would do is dance on top of it.

That way, all the treasure will be captivated by her, and never leave her again.

Well then, let's dance.

Narantuya backs off a little bit and lifts a black beckbeast statue.

Then, she charges at the seemingly indestructible door.

Open up—!

Slowly, the door opens to her shout, and she glimpses a corner of the mountain of gold through the gap.

The mountain of gold begins to collapse as the structure tilts further and further.

Treasures beyond reckoning spill out, further widening the fissure as they crash onto the floor.