Lunar: Tamashii no Kokuhaku (Lunar: Confession of the Soul) translation story and art by Akari Funato Airship design by Hajime Satou! Airship design by Hajime Satou! This is apparently very important, since Satou's name is plastered all over the manga (given even more prominence than Funato's actually), so - airship design by Hajime Satou! [Version Info: fourth version, uploaded August 11th, 2009.] [Notes: "Confession of the Soul" is one of three stories about Ghaleon's past included in the Lunar: Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari manga published by Asuka Comics DX and Kadokawa Publishing. If you wish to try to pick up a copy (and if you're a Lunar fan, I highly recommend that you do so - Funato's art is beautiful), try any online import house that does special orders (or if you live in the big city, try (of course) a Japanese bookstore). You'll need to supply the book's ISBN#, 4-04-852950-1. It might take a while - my copy took four months to get in. Translations of the other Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari stories can be found at http://www.sceneryrecalled.com/trans/trans.htm. Since I'm translating a Japanese manga, I use the Japanese names of the characters. While Ghaleon's name is the same, Dyne is now "Dain" (pronounced the same way as "Dyne"), and Lemia Ausa (Mia's future mother) is "Remilia Ausa". The city of Vane is "Vheen" (again, pronounced the same way). IMPORTANT: In the story, Remilia has several young assistants who serve on what appears to be the council of the Vheen Magic Guild during the airship crisis. There are eight in all, but they are never given individual names, so I refer to them as JVGMs - Junior Vheen Guild Members. If there are several of them present and speaking in a group scene, they are still all referred to as JVGMs - their individual lines of dialogue are simply separated by "new" JVGM dialogue headings. For example: JVGM: One JVGM's dialogue would go here. JVGM: A new JVGM has started speaking, different from the one above. Eh, lousy illustration, but you'll figure it out. Anything is brackets is commentary, explanation, or setting/action description by me. A final strange-but-true note: the The Blue Star website has 16 pages from this manga scanned - though they start at what would correspond to page 19 here, certain panels differ between the Blue Star pages (which were apparently culled from a magazine) and the tankoubon (from which I'm working). Weird. Eerie. If you wanna take this translation and look at the Blue Star scans for comparison, just keep that in mind. Disclaimer: Lunar, Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari, Tamashii no Kokuhaku, and all related official works are property of Game Arts, Asuka DX, Akari Funato, and/or Working Designs; this document isn't affiliated with either. Translation by R. Capowski at RACapowski@sceneryrecalled.com; please don't repost it without permission.] *************************************************************************** pg. 18 [yep, this particular story starts on pg. 18] [The manga opens on the proverbial dark and stormy night, inside a cave where Dain - now in his late teens-early twenties - and Ghaleon - face obscured by a hooded cloak - are taking refuge. Ghaleon is sitting by the fire; Dain is standing by the cave's entrance, looking at the storm. Suddenly, Dain sees a bright flash of...light? in the sky.] Dain: Hey - some kinda flash of light!! What do you suppose it could be...a bird, I wonder? Ghaleon: I doubt that any bird would want to be out flying in this kind of storm. Dain: Yeah... [We switch to the Vheen Magic Guild, which is also on the business end of this bad storm. Remilia Ausa, here a young teenage (mebbe early twenties) girl, is anxiously looking out the window...] pg. 19 Remilia: Nasty wind...! If only it would stop soon... [Suddenly, an Interchangeable Vheen Guild Member (one of Remilia's assistants, henceforth referred to as IVGM's - read the Notes at the top of the document) bursts in the Guild Manor, rushes up the stairs, and busts into Remilia's study...] JVGM 1: THE SHIP--...!! [Remilia gets a wild-eyed, horrified look in her eyes. Next scene - morning. Dain and Ghaleon are out talking in the countryside, Dain happily out walking in front of his friend; we see a glimmer of light in the sky.] Dain: ...so, there's no way I have any magic ability! Forget it! Ghaleon (whapping book he's holding in frustration): Are you going to give up so easily, when you haven't even put forth an effort? Anyhow... Dain: HEY! Now, what's THAT! pg. 20 [Dain and Ghaleon forge ahead to find an airship trapped in a small gorge in a cliff face. (Readers of the third Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari story, "Kokuhaku Suru Kioku", will recognize it as the airship Ghaleon's older brother, Zain, designed and which Ghaleon and his friends and remaining family members built to honor his memory. This explains why Ghaleon is so concerned about the ship in events later on.)] pg. 21 Dain: DEKKEEEE--... [Note: "Dekke"/"Dekee" is Kansai dialect/slangy, young male-inflected speak for "dekai", a Japanese word meaning "wow/whoa/impressive" when used on its own as an interjection. I leave it as "dekke" here because it's kinda Dain's catchphrase, and I don't want to genericize it by translating it as an indistinct English word. Indulge me. (If you don't wanna, paste in a "Whooaaaa--...".)] Dain: What a weird-looking ship... I wonder what it's doing in a place like this... [We hear the machines inside the ship still humming. Important Plot Point: we also see a set of eight lamps, arranged in a sorta half-daisy pattern on the front of the ship; two of the eight are completely extinguished, and the third is dimming. As the sound-effect words note, Dain's eyes wander over the ship in amazement...] Dain: Hey, how long ago do you think that thing was made? It looks like it's decades old! Ghaleon: ......... pg. 22 Dain: Me, I'd say it's from way back at least a hundred years... ......? [Dain looks at a specific spot in the rock face near the ship, where some of the moss growing there has been apparently taken off in long vertical scrapes. Bits of the same moss are stuck to the nearby side of the ship...] Dain: The moss on the rock face is scraped away and falling off, like in lines... I wonder if yesterday's storm did that somehow... Ghaleon: ...That - is Vheen's magical airship. Dain: Vheen? Ohhhh...... That crazy city that's nothing but wizards, right? You've always been talking about it. pg. 23 [Dain reaches for his pack.] Dain: I wouldn't mind going there myself! [Ghaleon's eyes widen in a very shocked look.] Dain: !? (What's the matter?) Ghaleon: ...forget it. I just didn't expect you to show any interest in Vheen. Dain (smiling): I wanna go and see strange places, and besides, you _knooow_, _youuu're_ the one who first started bringing up the subject of Vheen once we hit the road! Dain (more urgently): In any case, we've gotta let them know about that ship, right!? So? Which way's Vheen? pg. 24 [Ghaleon pauses...] Ghaleon: Up. Dain: ......up? [We see that the light in the sky is actually sunlight reflecting off the floating city of Vheen. Speaking of which, at the magic guild...] pg. 25 [Remilia is with one of the JVGM's in one of the guild manor's offices. (The time, for future reference, is a little past 3:00 p.m.)] Remilia: ...You made no mistakes in the operation? JVGM 2 (sweatdropping): The transfer gate was disabled as you ordered. pg. 26 Remilia: So, then, how did those visitors enter this floating city? [We see Dain and Ghaleon materializing at the fountain of transmission in Vheen, a couple of magic guild members, including the one in question, looking on, astounded.] JVGM 2: The gate should have been inoperative--why it just started working again, I...don't understand. I'll find out the cause at once... Remilia: No, never mind that. Station some guards below and seal off the transfer gate on earth instead. Don't let any more outsiders enter Vheen. I will not allow them to come in contact with the villagers! Now, who are our guests? pg. 27 JVGM 2: Two men calling themselves travelers. They're asking to meet with Vheen's guildmistress. [Ghaleon and Dain have arrived in Vheen. Ghaleon pulls down the hood of his cloak to reveal his face - which has aged little (if at all) since "Kioku Suru Fuukei", the first Vheen Hikuusen story (in which Ghaleon met Dain as a 6-8-year-old boy) - and elven pointed ears. A crowd of IVGM's gathers - everyone is shocked/appalled/scared.] JVGM 2: *gasp*... Dain: ? pg. 28 [Remilia appears.] Remilia: Please cease this rude behavior! JVGM 3: But-- Remilia: The conduct of each and every one of you reflects upon this city's reputation! Remilia (to Dain and Ghaleon): So glad you could come to the one and only floating city of magic and learning, Vheen. I am the deputy guildmistress. I welcome you wholeheartedly! [After an awkward pause...] Remilia: ......Something wrong? Ghaleon: ...No. Where are your elders? And the guildmistress herself? Remilia: They're away at the moment. pg. 29 Remilia: They'll be back tomorrow morning! [Ghaleon stands by, Not Buying This.] Dain: Ohh...umm, we - we ran across a ship, you see, in this gorge. And we were thinking, y'know, it might be your ship... Sooo... [A couple of nearby JVGM's are shocked. Remilia is unfazed.] Remilia (smiling): ...How kind of you... Well, then! Until the guildmistress returns, how about we wait for her in the manor? I'll show you the way. [The group walks through Vheen's well-kempt streets and impressive modern buildings. Dain rushes ahead of the others...] Dain (with a low "I'm impressed" whistle): DEKKEEE--... pg. 30 Dain (envisioning his grandparents' tiny li'l log cabin in Burg): This is way different from my home village... (How do they build all this...) (Dain's log-cabin thought balloon: My place was like this...) Remilia (smugly): Vheen is far different from the little reclaimed hamlets of that area! Dain: But there're so many modern buildings... Remilia: The old-fashioned structures are costly and plagued with inconveniences besides. The only ones that remain in today's Vheen are the ruins in back of the mansion! Ghaleon: ...Indeed. Remilia (concerned): Please forgive the rudeness you encountered earlier. It's just that we haven't had any visitors of other races to Vheen in nearly thirty years. Ghaleon: No matter. Thanks to the ignoble dregs of our people, the presence of the magic race has these days become unwelcome. The reaction is quite commonplace. Remilia: ...oh, my. [Note: the term Ghaleon uses here is "teikyuu no douzoku", literally and rudimentarily "low-class/-grade same-race [as the speaker]". In one of Akari Funato's doujinshi, there's a rough storyboard for an earlier draft of the first Vheen Hikuusen story, "Kioku Suru Fuukei", in which Ghaleon is asked to investigate a mysterious noise in a barn and briefly speculates that it might be a "teikyuu no mazoku" - a "low-class/-grade mazoku". I personally haven't seen it elsewhere, but might "teikyuu no mazoku" be a Funato-coined term used to refer to the outright demonic part of the mazoku to which Xenobia belongs, as opposed to the elfin mazoku of which Ghaleon is part? (He seems to regard them as a lower class or form of his own race, though whether they're all together distinct life forms that once sprung from the same source, so to speak, or simply the "undesirables" of his people is unclear...)] pg. 31 Remilia: There are good and bad people to be found wherever you go! I understand that the people of the magic race were the pillars of ancient Vheen! And I respect a member of that race such as yourself. [Remilia casts an angrily embarrassed glance at Dain (?? for him bringing up the subject of Vheen's new look in the first place by gawking at the buildings?). Dain in turn gives a still-dour Ghaleon a great exasperated "Do you _have_ to be such a troll?" look. Ghaleon is oblivious.] Remilia (quickly changing the subject): Here we are! This is the guildmistress's manor. [Aah, you all know what the guild mansion looks like, don'cha?] Dain: (Dekee.....) [Ghaleon notices something in the bushes...] Remilia: The guest room will be ready momentarily... [Suddenly, two li'l screaming children, both about five years old, jump out of the bushes and run - literally - into Dain.] Dain: OH--! pg. 32 Boy: Heyyy...You're not Daddy... Girl: (You're nooottt...) [Dain kisses the girl on the forehead and playfully ruffles the boy's (closely-shorn) hair. (Note: there's disagreement on which kid says what line; it could be the other way around.)] Dain (in talking-to-a-little-kid-voice): Sorrr-ry, short stuff! Boy: Where's Daddy? Is the ship back yet!? Dain (surprised): "Ship"? You mean... Girl (hugging Dain, hanging off his collar): THE AIRSHIP! Remilia (near door, keeping her distance): Your father is coming back tomorrow morning! ...We received word a little while ago. It seems their meeting ran late, so their return will be delayed. Boy (holding a pair of binoculars): We were bought binoculars! Girl: To see the airship! Dain (wide-eyed): _"The airship"_... JVGM 4 (herding kids away from the manor): Hey, come on, now! Go home! GO HOME! Don't bother people when they're working! pg. 33 [Remilia and JVGM 3 not-so-secretly confer, whispering to one another. Remilia starts to leave.] JVGM 4: This way! I'll show you to the guest room. Ghaleon (tersely, giving Remilia a wary look): Deputy Guildmistress. *Who* is on board that airship? Remilia (smiling): No one of our guests' concern. Merely citizens of Vheen. [Later, Ghaleon and Dain are in the guest room. Dain is sitting on a bed; Ghaleon is looking wistfully out the window.] Dain: Me, y'know, I was thinking that when we got to Vheen, it'd be full of people with pointy ears like yours. Hey, that reminds me, we never even asked that girl her name!...She seemed so busy and all... [Ghaleon pulls the window curtain back to reveal the "old-style" ruins of which Remilia spoke - much more intricate and beautiful than Vheen's modern housing.] Ghaleon: ...Look. pg. 34 Dain (elated): WAH--DEKEE--THE RUINS--! Ghaleon: ...Look at the sky. Last night's storm is coming back. [Meanwhile, at a meeting of the Junior Magic Guild of Vheen...] JVGM: Judging from the wind, we have until about tomorrow afternoon. JVGM 3: There is no way that ship can withstand a second storm. JVGM 5 (sulking): That's why it shoulda just been shut away safe 'n' sound in the museum where it belongs... JVGM 2: I am concerned about how much energy the ship has remaining. If it should reach zero, the emergency life support systems will not function. We then won't be able to guarantee the lives of everyone on board. [Note: JVGM 2 here is pointing to a schematic of the ship with an inset of the pattern on lamps on the front of the ship. The lamps serve as a gauge as to how much energy the ship has left; the more lamps extinguished, the less energy the ship has, and when they're _all_ extinguished, the ship has _no_ energy left. This information is not adequately explained within the story yet is important to understanding a few crucial parts of it.] pg. 35 JVGM 6: And that's not all!! Even with restoring the magic amplifier, the schematics we need are all worm-eaten! They must be even older relics than the ship! We can try our best, but if things don't go our way, we're not going to be able to use the machine at all! JVGM 4: If worse comes to worst, we could all pool our magic power. Remilia (steely-eyed, staring down the whole room): THIS _WILL_ GET DONE. [Everyone freezes in intimidated fear, looking at Remilia...] JVGM 1: ...Is this the most our feeble minds can come up with, then? Now - _let's give this our best effort!_ [Everyone gets up to leave. As JVGM 5 opens the door, he finds - Dain on the other side.] JVGM 5: !! Dain: Oh- pg. 36 [Everyone surrounds Dain menacingly.] Remilia: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE!? Dain (sweatdropping, intimidated): ...Since "judging from the wind"...... Remilia: And your companion? Dain: In the room--drinking tea. JVGM 7: What do we do, Deputy Guildmistress? Remilia (thinking worriedly): ............ Dain: Ummm--...I'd...like to do _something_ to thank you for putting us up for the night. If there's any manual labor to do, I could maybe take care of it for you, and if you're _really_ stuck, my *companion* will help out, too! pg. 37 JVGM 1 (coolly): ...I know. How'd you happen to come to Vheen? Dain: "How"?... [Flashback to just after the "Which way is Vheen?" Ghaleon-Dain exchange. The two are at the fountain of transmission - not being transmitted. Ghaleon looks around...] JVGM 2: The transfer gate's magical circle should not have activated! I am _absolutely_ _certain_ it was switched off! [We see Ghaleon feeling one of the pillars, eventually finding a small, recessed switch hidden in one of the sides.] pg. 38 [Ghaleon pushes the switch; small blocky ledges shoot out of the pillar.] Ghaleon (to Dain in flashback): Lift up this pillar. [Dain does as he's told; beneath the pillar are some more switches. Ghaleon fiddles with them, then...] Ghaleon (in flashback again): That will force the gate to open this once. [End of flashback.] JVGM 6: ..._HOW!?_ pg. 39 Various JVGM's: It's impossible to operate that gate from the ground! Teacher herself told me so in class... But _that's_ not anywhere in the manual-- There's a switch _where_ on that pillar?! And _I_ wasn't aware of such a thing!? [That last line might belong to Remilia, actually.] Dain (ignored by everyone): ? [We switch to the guest room; Ghaleon has pinned the curtain back and is sitting in the chair, gazing happily at the ruins.] Ghaleon: "Ruins", hmmm?... pg. 40 [Meanwhile, Dain, Remilia, and the JVGM's are walking down a hall to the guest room.] Remilia (to Dain): The townspeople are not yet aware of the airship accident. So much as the slightest _hint_ of this to them, and you'll be answering to *me*! Dain (sweatdropping): OHH-KAYYY...... JVGM 4 (to Dain): The storm blew the ship into that chasm. It's stuck and can't get out. We're going to use a thunder spell to destroy the surrounding walls of rock and a wind spell to draw the ship out. Dain (dazed): Magic is really amazing stuff... (You can do so much _cool_ _stuff_ with it... Hmmmmmm...) [All the JVGM's giggle.] JVGM 3: (Airhead...) JVGM 4 (actually smiling at Dain): Our magic amplification device can, so they say - if it can be fixed! Dain (shocked, sweatdropping): (*Huh!?*) ...You want _me_ to fix it!? All JVGM's: NO WAY! pg. 41 [Everyone arrives at the guest room. Ghaleon is still gazing at the ruins; he does not turn to face the guests.] Ghaleon: I decline. Dain (exasperated): ...WHAT?... Youuu...what's your problem, now? Ghaleon: This is not my business. Dain: The girl's in a fix here! Remilia (standing behind Dain): ...please. Dain (hands on hips): C'mon! If the ship is saved, I'll do anything you want!-- [Ghaleon does not move from his position in the chair; he slowly scratches the fabric on the cushion over and over with a single finger in toying deliberation.] Ghaleon: ...*Anything*? [Dain sweatdrops and takes a huge gulp at this. (A small "hates studying" author's note is scribbled on his sleeve.)] Ghaleon: Deputy Guildmistress. I will not ask a third time. WHO IS ON BOARD THE AIRSHIP? pg. 42 Remilia (nervous): _Including both the guildmistress herself and the councillors, 38 people._ [Ghaleon pauses, then...the next we see, Ghaleon is at the place where the magic amplifier is being built, recopying the old, worn-out schematics for the device (freehand, I might add).] JVGM 8: ...*wow*. [This same young man points to a certain spot on the newly-drawn copy of the schematic.] JVGM 8: But - the lines here differ from the original diagram. JVGM 5 (looking wide-eyed at diagrams, pointing at another spot): (Hey - here too...) Ghaleon (rolling up his sleeves): The old schematic contains many inefficiencies. [Ghaleon starts hauling crystals to help build/power the machine. The nearby JVGM's (5, 6, and 8, for the record) stand by, plans in hand, and look at Ghaleon, dazzled.] Various JVGM's: *Whoooaaa*... Cool... You think the *whole magic race* is smart like that?... Ghaleon (a bit annoyed): _Start helping._ pg. 43 [To Remilia and Dain, who're on the roof. Remilia is sending off a carrier pigeon/dove with a message attached to it.] Remilia: ...That's the guildmistress's bird. It'll fly straight to the ship! Dain: What's that tied to the bird's leg? Remilia: A communication to the guildmistress. I've told her all about our current plan! [Remilia refers Dain to some diagrams, one depicting the airship trapped in the chasm. One set of arrows, representing the force of the spells, flows through the chasm, while another, radiating outward from the ship itself and circumscribed by a heavy circle, represents a barrier around the airship, diverting the spells' force-flow around it.] Remilia: The airship is equipped with a "magic barrier" for emergency use. We'll have the barrier activated upon our signal. It'll protect the ship from the effects of the spells we'll use to demolish the chasm! All the roads in the ship's vicinity have been blocked off, as it's impossible to predict exactly what will happen... pg. 44 [Dain and Remilia begin walking through a room that holds, as Dain notes, a "lotta rocks" (crystals, actually). One of the IVGMs comes in...] Remilia: The transfer gate to Vheen has been closed, correct? JVGM 3: _Yes!_ I've had it shut down on the pretext of an inspection. [The JVGM leaves.] Dain (dazed, snapping to): ...what for? Remilia (with a frustrated sigh and apologetic look): How could I keep everyone coming into the city silent about the airship matter? Dain: Ahhhh...? [The two arrive at the ruins, where Ghaleon is (re)constructing the amplification device.] Ghaleon: There is not enough time to repair this completely. We can improve its accuracy by restricting it to two or three operations. ...Who will be using it? Remilia: ...I will. pg. 45 [Dain gives Ghaleon the box of crystals he and Remilia gathered up in the other room. Ghaleon takes out a list from the box and begins reading it as he talks.] Ghaleon: Only natural, I suppose, you being the "deputy guildmistress"... ? What about "Listing of Crystal Conductivity Values"? Dain (blushing): *oh*...I forgot... (Sorry!--) [Ghaleon lightheartedly whaps Dain on the forehead.] Ghaleon: Tsk! *Ditz!* I'll go get it later. Dain: (Ow!) Remilia: I'll go get it! [Remilia runs outside to get the book. Dain follows her.] Dain: I'll go with...--hey! Look! Remilia: Huh? Dain: The bird!! [The carrier...er...dove Remilia sent out is flying back, with another message attached.] Dain: A MESSAGE CAME BACK!! pg. 46 [All the JVGM's gather around.] JVGM: What? What does it say? JVGM: Has anyone been hurt... Remilia (reading guildmistress's note): ..."All have reviewed plan. There'll be no problems. Also - no life-threatening injuries. Don't you worry." [All the JVGM's celebrate, shouting and sighing with relief.] JVGM 2: WE'LL CONTINUE WITH OUR PLAN!! [Cheered, the JVGM's scatter. Remilia, however, is most definitely not relieved - in fact, she's quite stunned.] Remilia: ......... Dain: What's wrong? pg. 47 Remilia: ...This is not the guildmistress's handwriting. Dain: So that means... Ghaleon: ...Look outside. [Big Problem: The sun has half-set so as to cast a huge shadow/silhouette of the trapped ship on the ground below Vheen, making the ship's plight visible for all the residents to see.] Remilia: DAMN IT...!! pg. 48 [Everyone rushes downstairs.] Remilia: I never took into account the position of the sun and the time of day...!! This's all _my_ mistake! All mine...!! [Downstairs: a whole lotta people are banging down the guild's front doors.] JVGM 2 (panicked): _Deputy Guildmistress!!_ The...there's no way we'll be able to fool them any longer! What do we do...!? [Remilia opens the doors - to find a whole mob staring her down.] pg. 49 Various Enraged Mob Members: The shadow--...the _ship's_ shadow--! MY MOTHER... What on earth are they _doing_ in such a place!? IS MY HUSBAND SAFE!? [The mob continues to panic and shout. Dain looks on, apparently physically (but not mentally) removed from the thick of things, with a mixture of apprehension, concern, and anger on his face.] Dain: So, _this_ is what she was afraid of... That's why... [The crowd breaks down in wails and sobs. Remilia takes this in, and then...] Remilia (composed): Look at me. pg. 50 [The crowd, still crying and weeping, calms down a bit and does so.] Remilia: Why do you think I'm so calm? ...because I'm such an "extraordinary" person? No. [The crowd calms further.] Remilia: There is absolutely nothing to worry about! VHEEN IS HOME TO THE GREATEST ASSEMBLAGE OF MAGICAL KNOWLEDGE IN ALL OF LUNAR! And that magic exists to allow us to grant the wishes of all! [The crowd, while still distressed, settles down considerably.] Remilia: No one is injured! Not a soul has been lost! BELIEVE ME! Remilia (smiling): IT'S ALL RIGHT!! pg. 51 [The mob begins to dissipate.] Dain (to Ghaleon): It's because of how the skies have gotten darker overhead... No one suspects a thing... But that girl's face... is sheet white... [We do indeed see that Remilia, enveloped by the huge shadow cast by the guild mansion, is very tired and drained. The little boy that mistook Dain for his father earlier, being led away, looks back at Remilia; she wearily waves to him. He happily waves back.] Ghaleon (returning to the magic amplifier plans): ...Pretend for her sake not to notice. [But Dain is indeed visibly, horribly worried, looking sadly pained and a bit incredulous and disappointed at his friend's nonchalance.] pg. 52 [Nighttime. Remilia enters the guild's darkened library.] Remilia: Oh!...I can't forget - "Listing of Crystal Conductivity Values"... Remilia (looking through bookshelves): Volume 2...Volume 5... We're three volumes short... [Suddenly, Remilia spots a book with a picture of the airship on the cover. She sinks to the floor, hand on her forehead, and breaks down crying.] pg. 53 [Ghaleon, who, unbeknownst to Remilia, was also in the library reading some other volumes, hears her and walks over to investigate. Remilia hears his footsteps and tenses up...] pg. 54 [Remilia peers out to see who's there...and finds Ghaleon standing directly in front of her.] Remilia: ...!! I, IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! I - I WASN'T CRY... [Ghaleon wordlessly reaches out to Remilia...] Remilia: *Oh*... [...to take the crystal conductivity books she was carrying. He then exits for the ruins and slams the door to the library shut, leaving Remilia completely in the dark and all alone.] pg. 55 [Next scene: Remilia and one of the JVGM's are out on a balcony in the ruins, overlooking the city.] JVGM 4: The roadblocks on the highways have been lifted. Remilia: How much energy does the airship have left? [We see some scouts below on the ground using a spyglass to inspect the energy-gauge lamps; four of the eight have been extinguished. The scouts send up four lights/flares.] JVGM 4: ...The fourth lamp has now gone out. By my calculations...that means it has six hours' worth left. It's just that... pg. 56 JVGM 4: ...we don't know the extent of the damage to the ship, so... Remilia: Even our six-hour time window might be a delusion, then. [A pause.] Remilia: ...What time is it now? JVGM 4 (nervously): A little before two. [Remilia, obviously anxious, continues to stare out at the night cityscape below. The JVGM, noticing, takes her hand and smiles in reassurance.] JVGM 4: ...All we have to do is to repair the magic amplifier... pg. 57 [Switch to Dain and Ghaleon near the amplification device. Ghaleon is assembling something, pieces of it laid out before him. Dain, wrapped up in Ghaleon's mantle, is lying on the floor watching him intently, perplexed.] Dain: Whoaaaa--that looks complicated~~... It's just like a 3-D puzzle, huh! Ghaleon: This will be the control unit for the amplifier. Dain (taking a few pieces in his hand and tossing them): Huuuhhhuhhh... Li'l bits of rock like these?... Ghaleon: ......Go to the deputy guildmistress... Dain: Huh? Ghaleon: ......... Go to the deputy guildmistress and tell her that the device will be repaired by sunrise. [Dain's stomach starts to grumble.] Dain: (*ah*...) Ghaleon: I'll be all right here. ...Go get something to eat. pg. 58 [Dain does so - the next we see him, he's eating a hearty meal in Remilia's parlor.] Remilia: You're sure this'll be all right for you? If you like, I can tell the cook... Dain: This's fine! Remilia (proffering a bottle): At least let me get you some wine, maybe... Dain: Got any milk? Remilia (exasperated, thinking): He's like a child... (Even though he may *look* older...) Dain (leaning over looking at something, spoon dangling out of his mouth): What a beauty! Remilia (flustered): HUH!? Dain: Is that your mom? [We see that Dain is looking at a portrait of a middle-aged woman on the mantel.] Remilia: Ohh...yes! Dain: She must be a magician - like mother, like daughter, right? Remilia: Naturally! Here in Vheen... Dain: --What's that book? [Dain refers to the book Remilia found in the library, which she is carrying. The next panel finds a befuddled Dain with open book in hand...] Remilia (thinking): I wonder if he ever hears anything *anyone* tells him... Dain (looking at book): *ew* Oh, man, there's nothing but words in it... Remilia: ...That's a Vheen history book. Its stories were my childhood lullabies. pg. 59 Remilia: My mother read me lots of books! Stories about the Goddess... Stories about the Twin Heroes... But my favorite was the tale of the five adults and one child of the magic race who designed the very first magical airship here in Vheen! [We are shown one of Lunar's trademark pictoglyphs to illustrate. Note: the "five adults of the magic race" are all characters in Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari's third story, "Kokuhaku Suru Kioku"; Ghaleon is the "child" mentioned (he was seventeen at the time). (While I'm on the subject of parenthetical explanatory notes, I might speculate that the "Twin Heroes" to whom Remilia refers might be the twin-sister Dragonmasters mentioned in the history books of the Silver Star games - two twin female faces are shown in the frieze next to the appropriate voice balloon.)] Remilia (smiling): And, naturally, the stories' heroes would set off for an adventure! An "adventure"! That sounded so wonderful to me! Dain: Why _don't_ you go on an adventure? [Remilia looks up, stunned.] pg. 60 Dain: Trying to eat stuff you hate - trying to talk with people you don't know - doing things you've never done before is an adventure to everyone!! YEAH! Once the ship is saved, you know - let's go on one together! Remilia (blanked out): ...where to... Dain: To see whatever you haven't seen before! I'll bet you've been cooped up here all your life, right? This'll be a great opportunity! [Dain and Remilia hook pinky fingers, which is a slangy Japanese way of sealing a pact.] Remilia: Bu...but I'm the next guildmistress! I don't have that kind of _time_... Dain: TOO LATE! YOU PROMISED! RI~~IGHT?! Remilia (shyly smiling, taken a bit aback): ......... ...W-ow... Just...like *that*... pg. 61 Dain (leaving, cheery): Hey, he said the repairs'll be finished by sunrise! You're supposed to get plenty of rest until then! Remilia: Sure. Dain (concerned): You...you don't look so good. If... If you're having a rough time... Remilia: ...Please don't worry. I'm all right. [Remilia, however, is wide-eyed from stress and tired and pale and obviously _not_ all right.] pg. 62 [Back to the ruins. Ghaleon is sitting as he was before, having assembled the control mechanism. Dain is again wrapped in Ghaleon's mantle, troubled and thinking.] Dain: So...what do you think I can do? Ghaleon (mildly surprised): You want to do something? Dain: Maybe. [Ghaleon puts down his project and leans forward a bit toward Dain.] Ghaleon: ...Why do you care about the deputy so? Dain: Why is it that you care about me? Ghaleon: ......... ...I don't know. Dain: I don't know either! But still... I can't stand to see someone so lonely and suffering... toughing that out all alone. What they call "keeping your composure"...isn't that just kinda painful? [Ghaleon pauses here; his expression is more sympathetic. Dain's words have perhaps struck a chord.] pg. 63 Ghaleon (putting Dain's coat on): But seeing that she was born the daughter of a guildmistress, she-- Dain: Who was!? Ghaleon: We're talking of the deputy guildmistress, are we not? Dain: HUH!? Ghaleon: ...... Here in this city, they abide by a system of hereditary right...official posts are handed down from generation to generation of parent and child. [Dain remembers he and Remilia making their promise, and Remilia saying, "But I'm the next guildmistress! I don't have that kind of _time_..."] Dain: So then that means... [Dain now remembers Remilia talking about how "my mother read me many books...".] Ghaleon (holding his head): _The woman aboard the airship is the deputy guildmistress's mother._ ...She didn't tell you? pg. 64 [Dain comes storming back into Remilia's parlor.] Dain: ......What do you mean, "I'm all right"!? That woman on board the airship is your-- Remilia: IS VHEEN'S GUILDMISTRESS! Dain: GIVE IT A REST! Remilia: THIS IS MY JOB! Dain: ...You're telling yourself nothing but lies. [Remilia's distress is visible.] Dain: Every time you tell a lie like that, you're shutting other people out. Bottling up your true feelings is eating you up inside. pg. 65 Dain: And you keep on deceiving yourself! The weight of the lives of all those 38 people on board the ship is too heavy a burden for you to bear like that! You should at least go back to being the "guildmistress's daughter" instead of the "deputy guildmistress"! That way-- Remilia: _STOP IT!!_ [Remilia continues to face away from Dain. She crosses her arms and reaches her hand to her forehead, visibly trembling.] Remilia: ...I'm not like you. I simply do not have the strength to be able to acknowledge my own weakness. This...this's the only way for me...keeping up appearances...the only way... _THAT'S WHY!--_ pg. 66 [Remilia clenches her fists.] Remilia: I'm all right! I tell myself I'm all right! Because otherwise, I'd...!! I'D BE AN ORDINARY GIRL...! Dain (sadly): ...And what's keeping you from being an ordinary girl? [Remilia, back still to Dain, looks out the window at the lit windows of the Vheen skyline.] Remilia: The thought of all those little lights that should be protected. I will not allow myself to bring grief upon a single resident of this city. pg. 67 Remilia: I AM VHEEN'S DEPUTY GUILDMISTRESS...! [One of the scouts below near the airship sends up a signal flare.] Remilia: ...That's the signal. pg. 68 [To the ruins. Ghaleon is making one last adjustment to the amplification device.] Ghaleon (to Dain, cluelessly): ...What's the matter? Dain (seething): ..._nothing_. [Remilia steps in, carrying the cage holding the messenger dove from before.] Dain: Pleasure to be working with you. [Remilia steps in place for the amplification device, a small circle set in the floor at the front of the room. The circle crackles with power as Remilia enters; she cringes nervously.] Ghaleon: I believe you're aware of this, but only ninety percent of the amplified magic power can be controlled by the machine. [One of the guards down below near the ship sends up a single light, meaning that the ship has only one lamp's worth of energy left...] Remilia: Please. Begin. pg. 69 [Ghaleon starts up the machine. Remilia begins to chant.] Remilia (thinking): My head is splitting... [To Remilia's surprise, a whirling circle of...magic power? forms in front of her.] Ghaleon: NOW, FIRE! Remilia: THUNDER!! pgs. 70-71 [A series of long, dynamic panels ensue; Remilia looses the lightning spell...] pgs. 72-73 Remilia: WIND!! [...and the wind spell, and the airship is set free.] pg. 74 Dain: IT'S OUT! [Remilia's expression is one of deep relief and joy. Everybody in Vheen looks at the happy happy image of the airship against the rising sun (or setting moon).] JVGM 8: There's hardly any exterior damage! JVGM 5: (Hey, hey!) We'll have to put together a whole display for the museum! pg. 75 Dain (smiling): ...It's a weird-looking ship, but somehow... it looks gentle - not cold at all... [Ghaleon is wide-eyed at this comment. (Perhaps Dain is making an analogy between the magic-race ship and his magic-race friend?) Remilia stares serenely, with pride, at the airship.] Remilia: Of course! To Vheen, that's our "Great Inheritance"... our...symbol of our history and heritage...! [Suddenly, Ghaleon notices that something has gone awry - a couple of the rock shards from the shattered canyon that had been bouncing harmlessly off the ship's magic barrier are falling through without obstruction. The barrier has been extinguished, and the last energy-gauge lamp is nearly out.] Dain: !? THE SHIP'S ENERGY...!? pg. 76 JVGM: The last lamp is going out...!! JVGM: At...at that height...!? _HOLD OUT_..._HOLD OUT!!_ JVGM: At least until they touch ground... If not, the ship'll... [The ship starts sputtering...] Dain: _THE SHIP...!!_ [Dain takes Ghaleon, who has been watching stunned, and shoves him up against a wall in a frenzy.] Dain: Can't we _DO_ something!? This is your area! Ghaleon: Even magic is not omnipotent! The amplification device has reached its limit... pg. 77 [Remilia, still as a statue, watches the ship in stunned horror...] Ghaleon: If the controls do not respond, whatever spells that are fed into that machine will run amok. Such a dilapidated ship cannot... Remilia: The lamp... Dain: IT'S NOT JUST THE _SHIP_!! DOESN'T THAT _MATTER_ TO YOU?! Remilia (thinking): *IT'S GONE OUT!* [The ship begins to plummet. Remilia collapses to her knees and screams.] Remilia: _NOOOOOO!!_ _MOTHER_!! Dain: DO SOMETHING! I'M _BEGGING_ _YOU_! pg. 78 [At this, Ghaleon's eyes widen in a Eureka-ish expression...] Ghaleon: ...That's it!! [Ghaleon now grabs Dain by the collar ('bout time).] Ghaleon: ANSWER ME THIS!! WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW? HOPE FOR IT!! PRAY FOR IT!! [Ghaleon cranks up the machine, smashing the controls...] Ghaleon (thinking): The ship... Remilia (thinking): Mother... Dain (thinking): This girl... pg. 79 Ghaleon: GODDESS ALTHENA!! pg. 80-81 [Ghaleon raises his hand and casts a gigantic spell, and, amplified by the machine and the three's prayers - and, in fact, the hope and prayers of all those in the city - it grows to a giant light that engulfs the ruins...then all of Vheen...then the ship.] pg. 82 [The light clears. Everyone is exhausted.] Remilia (gasping): Uh... The...ship... What about the ship...? [We see that the ship's upper half is crushed...but the passenger compartment seems intact. Remilia crawls to the cage and sends out the carrier dove...] pg. 83 [...which alights on her mother's (bandaged) finger. Everyone is all right. Remilia collapses against the wall and breaks down sobbing. Dain tousles her hair.] Dain: ...You did extraordinary. ...Extraordinary. Just extraordinary... [A great cheer goes up from the city below.] pg. 84 [Later. Everyone is newly arrived near the fountain of transmission on the ground. Dain and Ghaleon are sitting apart from the rest beneath a tree.] Dain: Say......just what was that last magic there? Ghaleon: A simple prayer. That which has the power to grant whatever one hopes and wishes for with all one's heart. Ghaleon (smiling): At its most primal...that's essentially what "magic" is. ...Has your interest been sparked a little? Dain (smiling): Mm. A little! [The guildmistress teleports down and walks over to Ghaleon and Dain.] Guildmistress: Are you leaving on us already? What a shame! I so wanted you to enjoy some of the home cooking on which I pride myself... Guildmistress (laughing hard): Ohhh--h, I just _had_ to go and sprain my my fingers in that darn ship, huh!! [Two of the JVGM's sidle up to Dain.] JVGM 3 (whispering to Dain): By the way, her cooking is really, _really_ bad. Dain (sweatdropping, looking at guildmistress): Cheerful lady... JVGM 4 (whispering): She said that's why she wasn't able to write the reply to our communication. pg. 85 [The guildmistress approaches Ghaleon. She smiles, then her expression turns solemn and sadly apologetic.] Guildmistress: ...I'm sorry. Your airship... Ghaleon: It doesn't matter. After all, it was a relic of a time past. Guildmistress: Is that how you felt? --That day you decided to make your last in Vheen. ...Just as I've since then become this - old lady you see now... pg. 86 [We see Niea, Ghaleon's little five-year-old or so friend from the third Vheen Hikuusen story who looked upon him as her big brother. We see her as she grows up into a young woman, marries, has children, ages, and dies.] Guildmistress: ...the face of Vheen, unlike your own, may be changed by the years... [We see four more generations of Ausas be born, have children, and age - Ghaleon visiting, traveling, and aging little throughout.] Guildmistress: ...but... ...even so... pg. 87 [We see the fifth generation Ausa as a child bidding Ghaleon good-bye...] Guildmistress: ...even so, it will never cease to be your home. [...and in her adult, present-day form as the guildmistress. The guildmistress smiles...] Guildmistress: We are always here... pg. 88 [The people of Vheen, young and old, gather behind the smiling guildmistress.] Guildmistress: ...awaiting your return. [I might note that the tense which the Guildmistress uses in this last sentence is an honorific one of respect ("watakushi-domo itsu de mo anata no okaeri o omachi itashite orimasu wa") which would be used when addressing someone you consider above your own social station - or just simply *above* you, period. Dain good-naturedly nudges Ghaleon to say something...but Ghaleon turns away, slightly embarrassed and a bit sad.] Ghaleon: ...It's too long a story. I'll tell it to you someday. [Remilia shows up.] Remilia (to guildmistress): Is everybody ready? Guildmistress: Ahh! Little Miss Sleepyhead! Hurry up, now, or these two'll run off on you! [Remilia curtsies to Dain and Ghaleon.] Remilia: On behalf of the Guildmistress of the magic city of Vheen, I offer my deepest gratitude for your assistance. [Dain and the guildmistress are most visibly and deflatedly disappointed.] Dain: ...That's all? Nothing else? pg. 89 [Ghaleon gently takes Dain by the arm.] Ghaleon (to Dain): ...Let's go. Ghaleon (to Remilia): You were of great help. Excuse us. [A saddened Remilia watches Dain and Ghaleon walk out of sight.] Guildmistress (gleefully scheming look on face): You _knooow_, *once* in a while, I'd like to *indulge* one of my darling only daughter's "selfish" whims...! pg. 90 [Back to Dain and Ghaleon...] Remilia: WAIT!! [We see Remilia running after the two travelers.] Remilia: PLEASE, WAIT!! [Remilia reaches Dain and Ghaleon and tries to catch her breath.] Remilia: ...please. TAKE ME WITH YOU! I WANT TO SEE THE WORLD! [Dain and Ghaleon look at each other, pretending to mull this over.] Remilia: Wherever you're going, I'll come with you!...please. [Dain scratches his head in mock thought, then...] pg. 91 Dain: "Please" is really so formal, don'cha think? [Remilia is overjoyed. Dain extends his hand.] Dain: I'm Dain! [Remilia, wiping tears of joy from her eyes, takes it and shakes hands with Dain.] Remilia: I'm Remilia Ausa! Ghaleon: My name is Ghaleon. Pleased to meet you, Remilia. [The three walk off together.] Narration: And so we shall hand this story down throughout the ages... pg. 92 Narration: ...from generation to generation with this bloodline... [We see the guildmistress, several years older, happily poring over the letters and maps her daughter has sent her, telling her about her adventures, writing their contents down in a book...] Guildmistress's Narration: ...our heirloom, this modest tale of adventure... [...and the Four Heroes standing on a hilltop.] -OWARI-