level_act18d3_06_beg

There is no end... The fog is everywhere...

A glowing mist rises from the bottomless abyss and engulfs her whole.

That instant, all her senses are cut off from the rest of the world.

Perhaps she can feel there is something right in front of her.

Before her is the entire ocean.

She puts her whole strength into striking the enormous yet almost shapeless object before her.

Everything she can feel immediately crumbles away.

An ice cold yet burning hot liquid swallows her. These are the ocean's currents, as well as its blood.

The very last dance has concluded. The seas have calmed, and she can no longer hear her people's singing.

She saved... No, she has no idea what it is that she actually saved.

Likewise, she does not have the faintest idea what it is she triumphed over.

She paddles her arms and kicks her feet as though her life depends on it, yet the waters of the ocean pay no heed to her willpower. Like solid blocks of iron, the water has become cold and stiff, squeezing her body from all directions.

She stops moving, leaving herself to the mercy of the sea.

As she sinks further and further into the ocean, a black shadow envelops her.

The countless voices begin to materialize around her. Some of them are crying and some... are murmuring.

The sea is talking to her.

Its cold, lightless form has been restored, as have her eyes. She cannot see the path upward. She is sinking downward further and further, just as she is rising upward more and more.

At a place deeper than even the sea's deepest abysses, she is lifted up by the warm waters, as though the waters themselves are the waiting arms of her family.

She opens her lips. The saltwater gushes into her throat and dissolves her completely before reconstructing her anew.

She has found her singing voice once more.

Hm...♪

Uhh...

Singer, you're awake! Good morning!

Was someone just singing?

I-Is this a song? I don't know how to sing, but you were humming this while you were asleep.

I...

Ow! Singer... You are grabbing too hard...

You...

The girl's figure turns faint. Just like in the sea.

No, the one in the sea was someone else.

The dream is ripping her nerves to shreds.

The musical notes are dancing, twisting themselves into the cries of her family.

Mother...

They are dying before her eyes, and there is nothing she can do to prevent it.

Monsters...

Monsters.

Monsters!

They are screaming, as is everyone around her.

She must grab her weapon.

Ah!

*cough*... Singer, your box... It's really hurting my chest when you press it against me...

Her blade pierces through a monster in the midst of feeding on a person.

The monster turns around.

She sees a face she often sees in the mirror.

I...

The box falls on the ground, bouncing slightly before it comes to a stop. The object stored therein tumbles inside the box a little but does not fall out.

A-Are you letting go? That really scared me...

Singer, I thought you were going to kill me.

If I were going to kill you, I could've done that easily.

But you don't want to kill me.

You can tell?

I can tell.

But I don't know.

Eh?

R-Running out again...? Singer, where are you going?!

Sir... The tides are rising again.

The colors of the sea... That patch of color has changed.

What is there in the water? I-Is it shells and finfish? Why would they suddenly show up in the water? And why are they growing closer and closer to the shore?

From far deeper places, they made their way here by following currents that normally would not exist.

What?!

I thought... the reason they headed into the sea, claiming it would get them food, was some absurd, unfounded belief. I thought, in their despair, they were fooled into doing this...

But I never imagined... they are actually dealing with the sea? They are using their own men as fodder to feed the monsters of the sea, and the monsters then also feed them in return?

This mutualism is horrifying... and wretched...! No wonder there are so many Sea Terrors here!

But I thought I put an end to it yesterday...!

Not all corrections are fruitful. This is something you must understand.

I...

Am I in the wrong, High Inquisitor? I just wanted to save them.

To right a wrong, you either bring what strayed from righteousness back onto the right path—

But... What do the people here even see as right?

You can't grow any food in the lands and seas of Sal Viento anymore.

This was a foregone conclusion decades ago, and to fight it would be futile. The nomadic city, the society, and the people who live in it... They are all slowly marching towards their death.

They asked me... If... If there isn't a way out... How are they supposed to see right from wrong?

—Or perhaps make that which is wrong no more.

Sir...! You don't mean...

You are doubting me.

I... No, of course not. I just...

They may have turned out like this... but they were once Iberian citizens. I want to protect them, and I hope I can help these inhabitants... so that they can make our country a better place.

You should have doubts.

Huh?

In making a judgment, rely on no one but yourself!

Yes, sir...

Look out at the sea. What do you see?

I see... a threat.

Don't regurgitate your memorized answers.

Yes, sir!

The sea... is flowing. It's ever changing.

Remember everything that you see.

Change has happened, is happening, and will happen. If you can't see it clearly for yourself, you will find yourself lost.

Sir, what is that under your feet?!

What do you think?

A Sea Terror... Did we miss one when they attacked last night?! No, doesn't seem like it... This one wandered off the beach... It looks like it's climbed a long way... It's not quite the same...

I... uh... I should know this...

This is an evil that must be eradicated.

I get it... I can see it... It's the whole truth of this deal of theirs.

So this is what becomes of anyone who wanders into the sea... This is not just the monsters' nest. It's their breeding ground.

Uhh...

Doesn't that mean that all the people here will become monsters?!

(Grips scabbard)

High Inquisitor, I need to head back to the city.

Skadi sits on the shore.

Carried by the winds, the sea waves beat the shore ceaselessly, but never reaching her dress.

*pant*... *pant*... Phew... S-Singer, you're too fast...

But not fast enough.

Huh?

You managed to follow me again.

H-Haha... Singer, this is my home... I know this place much better than you.

I should leave.

Leave? What do you mean?

I mean leave this place.

Huh? Did you figure out where to go to find your friend?

At the very least... I should keep my distance from you.

Huh? Why's that?

The Inquisitor was right about one thing.

She talked about a lot of things...

I am a danger to all of you.

Because of what happened last night? You saved us, Singer. We are very thankful of what you did for us.

I saved you? Is that what you think?

If I'd missed even one of the Sea Terrors, it could've torn you to pieces as it marched on.

You would've been killed.

I brought it here. Therefore, I killed you.

No, that's not how it is...

How is it not? This has happened before.

They died because of me. They despised me, they were scared of me, and they blamed me for it.

They... They were wrong!

You didn't mean to do that.

I didn't mean to?

I don't know.

Uhh...

After all that, I'm not sure... anymore.

She thinks back to her dream.

Ever since that final battle, she has had that dream countless of times.

The Abyssal Hunters never stay in one place. They always march forward.

Yet Skadi was trapped there.

She has no idea what is happening to her.

I thought that if I killed it, I would find the answer.

Killing that gigantic monster.

Things would get better for everyone. No one would cry anymore, and no one would scream anymore.

She just had to kill it.

And she killed it...

Yet an even greater problem engulfed her.

The Abyssal Hunters never ask why. They simply do.

But Skadi wants to know why.

She has no idea what is happening to her.

Singer...? You don't look so good.

You are hurt, and you spent so much of your energy. You haven't completely recovered yet, have you?

You should come back with me and get some rest. You will feel much better once you get more sleep.

Why aren't you afraid of me?

Hm?

Your grandmother called me a monster, while your friends all looked at me with animosity.

These kinds of gazes are everywhere... I got used to them long ago.

But what about you? When you look at me, what do you see?

You... You are a singer.

A singer. That's what I told you, and you believed it. That Inquisitor, on the other hand, did not. If I tell you I'm a monster now, will you believe me?

I won't...

Why are you always following me?

Huh?

Anything that I can give you, you are free to take, yet you don't want them.

You don't want to kill me either.

K-Kill you? No, Singer, why would I want to kill you?

When I do something for you, you pay me something in return. It's always either that or the other way around.

Whenever you exchange something, there exists a promise. It's only when promises exist that there's trust.

Promise?

You don't know what that is.

(Shakes head)

Listen up. You helped me, so I will give you what you want. This is what a promise is.

I don't want anything...

You are lying.

I can smell as much with my nose as my eyes can see.

Uhh...

You told me this is your home, and that's how you know how to find me so quickly. That's a lie too.

If you don't tell me the truth, I can't trust you.

No, Singer, don't go!

It's not that I'm not telling the truth. I just... don't understand.

Singer, to all of us... To me, you are still a mystery. You came from the outside, and I've never met anyone like you...

You want to know how I guessed that you are here. It's not that I'm trying to lie. I'm just... embarrassed.

This is... the outskirts. It's as far as it gets from the city.

I know that you are hiding from us, and I thought this is where you would probably come too if you wanted to run away.

'Too?'

I come here often myself. Of course, I don't tell Sheetmetal or anyone. They aren't happy when they find me running this far away.

Look at that chunk over there. It's tall. I climb on there sometimes. The stronger the wind gets, the farther I can see.

You are curious about what's outside.

I don't know. I... I sometimes wonder about how it's like outside. It's pretty pointless, I know, and they kept telling me that too, so all I do is imagine it all by myself here.

This is the furthest I've gone whenever I go outside to scavenge. Outside... There's nothing useful outside.

If you're curious about what's outside, you just have to walk a little further.

I used to go to the west side. Sheetmetal would warn me that there were monsters outside, and we would die if we ever stepped out.

Singer, you are from the outside. I am following you around because I have lots and lots of questions... I want to know if what Sheetmetal said is actually true.

Perhaps.

If you head outside, you will die.

Phew... so it's true...

You aren't disappointed.

Singer, if I have the chance, I think I want to see it for myself.

It doesn't matter if there are monsters there... I don't think I'm scared of them.

Hm?

The Inquisitor said I'm not afraid of monsters because I don't know what they would do to me.

I think she's right about that.

She made that up.

*cough*, *cough*...

I'm not afraid of them either.

Haha... That's gotta be because you know the monsters can't do anything to you.

Not like me. Last night was the first time I got a good look of those monsters. I didn't know what was going to happen to me. My heart was racing like never before.

Then, when I woke up this morning, the weather felt so much better than I've ever experienced. I could feel the wind, and I could see the sea waves splashing ever closer.

This day has been different than all the other days I've lived, because I don't know what's going to happen.

Sounds like you're excited.

Excited?

Fear and excitement are pretty much the same. Both get your heart racing and your blood flowing.

Am I sick?

You are not sick. To some people out there, this is what it means to be alive.

I didn't know it feels this good to be alive. Is it like this outside every day?

It must feel better than here.

Can I really go outside...?

My box... Once my box is full.

I need to... get more food. I need to make sure Grandma Petra's all set.

I... Argh!

Excited, the girl loses her footing.

Just as she is about to fall into the sea, a hand reaches out and grabs her.

The monsters will eat you if you're so careless.

Singer... you saved me again.

And you could've saved me the trouble if you didn't come.

Haha... S-Sorry...

Huh? Huh?

My leg... Something's grabbing my leg.

It's slippery... and heavy!

There they are again... Everywhere, too. What a pain.

Ugh... Singer, I-I'm losing my grip...

Close your eyes.

Hm?

And then let go.

Can I really...?

You can either believe me or not. The choice is yours.