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The Nativity has begun. It's no use, even if you subdue the Matriarch right now.

We must go do what we still can.

I'll think of what to do about this ceremony that should not exist.

But it's likely to lead to great chaos... It should buy you the time to evacuate our people.

What's your plan?

Why do you think we'll trust you, Andoain? Seriously, a babbling lunatic who already betrayed his friend once, saving everyone?

You don't need to trust me.

Pity will not save the people. I don't have that kind of power.

All someone who has walked the wrong path of obsession can do is to save himself.

Wait, Andoain. Take this.

A bomb?

El gave it to us to draw the guards' attention.

But if you really are going to stop this ceremony that shouldn't exist, like you said...

You'll need it more than us.

Andoain walks past the pair, heading straight for the depths of the shrine.

His steps are slow, but Fiammetta makes no move to stop him.

You okay with letting him go?

He's reliable when he sticks to a handful of words instead of a full-on parable.

True, true.

The situation's too damned weird. Not like we have any better options at the moment.

There's a whole lot of people coming this way. Probably chasing Andoain.

Help buy him some breathing room. I'll get even with him <i>after</i> this is all over.

The shrine's very first nursery.

Once, with a heart full of hope, it was here he tended to an unfortunate mother, day after day.

Now, the child she left behind has clambered up onto a comfort bell, the sparkling droplets of water on his freshly-washed wings refracting the lamplight. Just like a dream.

The arborbeast does not mind his caretaker's prior outburst. He calls out happily as always, inviting Andoain to play with him.

Insignificant trifles and grandiose feats are but a hair's breadth from one another. You have labored for many years over this grueling journey of yours. You should not let such a meaningless difference stay your steps.

I will need you to lift your spirits, for aside from caring for this mother and child, there are more deeds that must be done.

An insignificant nurturer. A heaven-piercing shrine.

The former could grit his teeth, harden his heart and refuse the young beast's invitation, but this minor act of rebellion would do nothing to shake the foundations of the latter.

I should be doing more... I must do more!

But how do I shake the pillars of this shrine? How do I erase a miracle that has already occurred?

The Shrine of Nurtury... This towering edifice was not built in a day. It began as a simple, ordinary nursery.

Our nursery...

Did we start with the blueprints of such an imposing shrine? No. We merely wished for a safe, comfortable room for that mother...

And yet, its frenzied evolution led to what it is now.

<i>That</i> is how a future where all are saved can sprout from our faith.

This was the very first nursery in the Shrine of Nurtury. This was the starting point of this grandiose building.

This is where you and I placed our faith.

And so, Keph, I'll tear my faith apart.

Andoain examines the bomb Mostima gave him closely. It has been imaginatively cobbled together from all sorts of daily necessities, its face decorated with a bright splash of graffiti.

He cannot remember what the girl who made this looked like. They might have met once or twice. They might never have met at all. He can only remember Lemuen recounting her deeds countless times over.

I was never alone as I sought a way through this trail of thorns, was I?

Without the slightest hesitation, he lights the fuse.

(Cheerful chirp)

I understand that you are no longer sad and suffering, my child. But do you not sense danger, even as this room is about to explode?

Or... are you simply uninterested in this as well?

Does Laterano no longer need us to feel fear?

(Puzzled chirp)

The arborbeast flies down to the ground, rubbing against Andoain's trousers in confusion.

If we cannot feel fondness, fear or torment for all that life has to offer, how can we speak of revering it?

I should have asked you this, my child.

But it was I who brought you here. You could even say you were born in answer to my vision.

This is our penance. A lesson for the both of us.

Andoain bends over, and cradles the arborbeast into his arms.

That gunshot—

I am so very glad to hear the sound of your gun this time around, Lemuen.

Sparks bloom wildly across the nursery. A giant comfort bell clatters as it falls, its sonorous notes adding to the clamor. The explosion engulfs the room, devouring the graceful balance of light and shadow.

Was this realm a dream, or an obsession?

Once, you had a flock of brothers and sisters following behind you. They were rejected, harmed, insulted, desecrated. They named you Guide, and walked the long path with you.

Yet here in this Laterano, which you believed equal and selfless, you forgot them. And so I ask...

How should this community you long for be shaped?

How should this holy city you yearn for be rebuilt?

What path is it you walk, Andoain? To what answers does it lead?

If this is a dream, then I shall wake. If this is obsession, then I shall shatter it.

Let us only speak of redemption after that.

The flames swallow the entire nursery. The arborbeast flaps his wings furiously. There is no fear in his eyes, as though he is simply dancing.

Yet Andoain still covers his eyes out of habit.

In this final moment, Andoain hears a bell, clear as day.

Are you alright, Matriarch?

Hngh...

The ceremony has been interrupted. The entire Shrine is shaking, and that explosion just now...

Is an evacuation underway?

Y-Yes... There is a Liberi wearing a Pontifica Cohors uniform and a fallen angel leading our people to safety.

Only half of the non-Sankta have successfully acquired halos. I will ask the patrol to have them reconvene right away—

Like the cracking of bamboo, the explosion reverberates out from the depths of the shrine. The peal of a bell from parts unknown drowns out the chimes of the comfort bells. Chaos reigns as countless people flock to the exit.

The towering edifice sways as the blast wave finally reaches the Hall of Enlightenment.

Let them leave.

Forcing them to stay will only harm them irreparably.

The shrine is collapsing, Matriarch...

No. What is collapsing is not only the shrine, but also the answer we sought with it.

Gather the other nurturers. Everyone must leave at once.

I will have the guards escort you out.

The Matriarch steps down from the dais.

The wind. Amidst the chaos, she hears the sound of the wind clearly from above her head, where there should only be praying statues and spotless stained glass.

Hey hey hey, over here!

You're not getting away that easily!

The Matriarch lifts her head. She cannot see who is approaching her, but her voice has an infectious quality to it. Almost instinctively, she stretches out her arm.

I've been hanging onto this window for two hours already! If you don't get off that stage, my arms are gonna fall off!

Exusiai holds on tight to the Matriarch. The world spins, and the two of them tumble to the floor.

What they fall onto is not solid ground, but rather some odd softness. It is like falling into fog, yet also like falling into water.

Exusiai senses a great force pushing her outwards, one that is definitely not just the explosion. Could this frail-looking woman really be that strong?

She forces herself to open her eyes. She isn't sure when it happened, but the arm she is holding onto has become the jagged limbs of a beast. The Matriarch's gentle face has disappeared under the water.

They look at one another across the boundary between truth and lies. On her side of the line, the bell atop the Tower of Revelations rings, clear as can be.

I did figure you weren't as pretty as you looked early on, but my imagination never prepared me for <i>this</i>. Not even <i>Ancient Forge</i> had anything as crazy-looking as you!

Well, at least I don't have to worry about ripping your arm off!

My friends had to bust their butts to give me this chance...

So get out of there already! You have no right to hide away in a dream! You have no right to hide... in our Laterano!!

A bell tolls.

Its unending peals echo across the entire city. It rings clear and steady, guiding stray souls towards it.