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It's a shame we weren't able to save each other.

I'd say that, at the very least, you're a great investigator, Amos.

Oh, you were still on the line, Lemuen...

It's time to wake up.

Is the funeral complete, Andoain?

It is.

The Hall of Enlightenment is this way. You seem to be going the wrong way.

Am I?

The Nativity has begun, and the Matriarch is waiting for you. Where are you planning to go right now?

Your emotions are... rather unstable.

No. I've never felt more clear-headed. I'm not going the wrong way, either.

I ask that you accompany me to see the Matriarch, Andoain.

Looks like we arrived right on time.

Mostima, Fiammetta, you...

What, am I supposed to be like the other Liberi, pushed back into the herd by the guards, no matter how I protest?

Or should I be <i>really</i> looking forward to seeing if my halo gets to be a square or a circle?

Speaking of, I'm curious how they're going to mend the fallen angels' halos...

Mostima!

Sorry, got sidetracked. You owe us an explanation, Andoain.

Gathering up all the non-Sankta, forcing changes on their bodies... I thought this sort of stuff only happened in those shady Columbian tech companies full of mad scientists.

Is this what you meant when you said it was 'about the future, about a possibility for Laterano'?

Is this what the Matriarch promised you?

I have strayed from my path. That, I cannot deny.

Laterano wove a beautiful dream for us all. I was trapped too deep, and took too long to awaken.

Still talking nonsense even now?

The other guards will be here soon.

Dammit. Do you think we can get close to the Matriarch if we use him as a hostage, Mostima?

Maybe? She <i>does</i> trust him a lot. I'd be a little worried if we left it all up to El.

I can sense... a multitude of emotions, growing by the second. The number of people with empathy in this shrine is increasing...

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...