| In another time, many years in the future... | In another place, a long distance away... | ||
| Michelle | Ah, just when I was about to go to bed... | Vlad | Open the door yourself, batbrain. I'm busy right now. |
| Michelle | Coming, I'm coming! | Vlad | For heavenly yard's sake, I don't have time for your pranks! |
| Michelle | Oh, Second Lieutenant Nyoze Octo! What brings you to the Marlon Residence? | Vlad | ...What--the fuck? |
| Nyoze | I'm sorry for being here so late at night, Miss Marlon. Is your father home? | Irina | Your guess is as good as mine. |
| Michelle | Papa's still at work, I think. He's very busy, nowadays. | Vlad | I don't--how are you still--Luna?! |
| Nyoze | Is that so? What about your mother, then? | Elluka | I'm sorry, you must be mistaking me for someone else. My name is Elluka Chirclatia, and this is-- |
| Michelle | Mama... she's probably already asleep by now. | Irina | I can introduce myself just fine, thanks! |
| Nyoze | Ah. Hm. | Vlad | --I know who the both of you are... or at least, I thought I did. But--why are you here? |
| Michelle | Is there something you need, Mr. Octo? Maybe I can help you! | Irina | Some weird bat claiming to be the sun god brought us here. Said you needed our help to fix things. |
| Nyoze | Perhaps. You see, I came here because I wanted to inform your father that my brother, Gammon, has disappeared. Vanished without a trace. | Elluka | Specifically, you needed our expertise to find out the true nature of the HER syndrome? |
| Michelle | What? Papa's client--gone missing? | Vlad | ...Expertise? |
| Nyoze | I'm afraid so. Since Gallerian is his lawyer, I wanted to discuss what we should do now, since his sudden disappearance would surely negatively affect his case--and I don't want Gallerian's public image to be soiled further because of it. | Elluka | Well, I can cure it by suppressing the HER gene in a person's DNA. And Irina here is a HER herself, and as such would know how their minds work. I'm honestly surprised you're not against this or anything, Irina. I thought I didn't manage to cure you. |
| Michelle | Oh no... | Irina | You didn't, but... I have my reasons. The desire to rip, tear, kill, destroy just isn't my highest priority anymore. For some reason. |
| Nyoze | That's not all. I came here to ask if your father could return a certain glass locket to me. A few days before he left, Gammon seemed unhealthily obsessed with getting it back, almost to the point of lunacy. | Vlad | So, Sickle wants me to work with you two in order to find a permanent cure for the HER syndrome, is that it? Not that I don't trust his judgement, and, against my better judgement, most of the time I do, but... I don't trust either of you. |
| Michelle | That sounds horrible! | Irina | Fair point. I don't see how we can help you much, either. |
| Nyoze | Indeed. It's a very important heirloom passed down in my family, but--I want to find out why my brother wants it back so badly. | Elluka | Oh, come now, between the three of us, we can probably come up with something! I'm sure the sun god wouldn't have picked us out otherwise, Irina. |
| Ma | I'm afraid Gally can't do that. All evidence found at the crime scene is seized by the state; that is something decided by law. | Sickle | Spoken like a true inheritor of Luna! That determination of yours is admirable, just as your beautiful voice is one of the keys required to solve our conundrum! |
| Michelle | Grandmama! | Vlad | Sickle? Is that you? |
| Nyoze | ...Mrs. Alice. | Sickle | Hello again, Vlad. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. |
| Ma | No need for such formality! Please, just call me 'Ma'. | Vlad | Why are you...? |
| Nyoze | ...Right. | Sickle | What, don't you remember? This is my true form! |
| Ma | Oh, how cold. Now, now, don't trouble my darling granddaughter with your petty problems. | Irina | True form, huh? I guess it's true that the Court will let you see things as they really are. |
| Michelle | It's fine, grandmama, he was just-- | Vlad | Wait, did you say the Court--?! |
| Ma | Hush, dear, let us adults deal with this. You should head up to your room; it's almost past your bedtime. | Sickle | Ah, you spoiled the surprise... well, surprise! We're in the Court now. |
| Michelle | But-- | Vlad | But, isn't Held the Master of the--? |
| Ma | Ah-ah! Your Papa won't be pleased with you if you stay up late. Be a good girl and tuck yourself into bed, alright~? I'll come by to tell you your bedtime story afterwards. | Sickle | Not that we're pressed for time or anything, but the three of you are going to have to step outside for a bit while I make modifications to allow more than one person to view the Akashic Recorder at once. |
| Michelle | Aw... okay, grandmama, I'll go. Mr. Octo? | Vlad | Stop dodging my questions, damnit--! |
| Nyoze | Hm? | Sickle | Out you go! |
| Michelle | Good night, and I wish you luck! | Elluka | Ooof! |
| Nyoze | Thank you, Miss Marlon, you're too kind. Good night, and sweet dreams. | Irina | Hmph! |
| Ma | ...What do you want. | Sickle | Goodness, what troublesome children. Blackbox, sign in as administrator account. |
| Nyoze | ...You're behind this, aren't you? Gammon wouldn't have left without at least telling me where he was going. | VOICEPRINT RECOGNIZED |
|
| Ma | Oh, so it's not enough for you that your brother's troubling my son and you want to involve my granddaughter in this mess, now you're accusing me as well? I only want the best for my children. Persist too much and I'll have to sue you for trespassing. | Sickle | I'll have to make this quick; we're cutting it real close. The longer they stay out there, the less time they have to watch this thousand-year story unfold. Initiate Blackbox updater module. |
| Nyoze | ...Fine. Then I'll take my leave, Mrs. Alice. | SYSTEM UPDATE INITIATED |
|
| Ma | --I told you already, MY NAME IS MA! | Sickle | Time to turn this VR headset into a TV screen. |
| *scene change: bedroom* | *scene change: Court* | ||
| Michelle | Is everything alright? I heard you shouting. | Vlad | I don't understand. Why are we here, in the Court? |
| Ma | Just fine, dear, no need to worry. | Irina | Preparation for the worst-case scenario, maybe. |
| Michelle | I hope Mr. Octo's brother will be okay. | Vlad | Excuse me? |
| Ma | Don't worry about him, either. Shouldn't you be more concerned with how this will affect your father? | Irina | Think about it. I'm a HER, you're likely a HER as well, and Elluka's the only one that can cure HER. If something goes wrong with us, he's hoping that either Elluka can sort us out, or he'll just erase us. |
| Michelle | Oh, I am concerned for Papa and his job! But Papa also taught me to care about others, too. It's not wrong of me to also be worried for the Octo brothers, right? | Elluka | That's... a little extreme, don't you think? |
| Ma | Hm... I suppose not. But I suggest you stop worrying yourself sick over them anyway, since it's something out of your control. Such is the curse of the glass locket they've claimed as a family heirloom. | Irina | It's a reasonable thing to do, considering what we're capable of. We are literally malice incarnate, after all. Maybe the power of the Court is restraining those urges for now, but... |
| Michelle | Is it a dangerous thing? Is it magic? | Vlad | Can we stop talking about this? I don't want to think about it anymore. |
| Ma | More than magic, my head. In fact... why don't I tell you about the glass locket's true nature as a Vessel of Heavenly Virtue, the Vessel of Chastity? A tale called "The Lunacy of Duke Venomania". | Elluka | Me, too. I'd rather not have to think about what I'd have to do if... well. So--Vlad, is it? Do you have any idea what we can do to help you? Any leads or clues we should be looking for? |
| Michelle | Duke Venomania? Is it about the Venomania Incident? | Irina | Yeah, let's not waste time twiddling our thumbs. What's the current situation? |
| Ma | Is that what your history textbook calls it? Something like that. The story I'm going to tell you isn't about Sateriasis so much as it is about his brother, Cherubim--or is it the other way around? Ah, they change names every so often, it's hard to keep track of who's who, honestly. | Vlad | Well, I've been watching the Angels--the Third Period reincarnations of my colleagues--and I just can't make heads or tails out of what they're saying. When I'm not hearing that stupid lullaby, their voices are garbled and corrupted, like--like computer code! |
| Michelle | Like you, grandmama? | Irina | Code, you say? Interesting. |
| Ma | Ufufu, cheeky girl. I've only changed my name once, and even then, it's to protect your father. | Elluka | Do you have an idea of what it could be, Irina? |
| Michelle | Hehehe. | Irina | I think so. I'll have to give it a listen myself before I can make sure, though. Can I? |
| Ma | Changing names, changing bodies--what a complicated chronicle. Well then, shall I start? |
Vlad | Of course--and it looks like Sickle's done with whatever he's doing. Well then, shall we start? |
| Now, let's begin. | |||
| Even though time has passed, and the people living in the world have changed-- | |||
| Ǝʌǝu ʇɥonƃɥ ʇᴉɯǝ ɥɐs dɐssǝp' ɐup ʇɥǝ ʍoɹlp dǝodlǝ lᴉʌǝ ᴉu ɥɐs ɔɥɐuƃǝp-- | |||
| HERs continue to exist. | |||
| Sɥǝ ɔouʇᴉunǝs ʇo ǝxᴉsʇ˙ | |||
| The Vessels continue to exist. | |||
| Wɐlᴉɔǝ ɔouʇᴉunǝs ʇo ǝxᴉsʇ˙ | |||
| Will the karma of "evil" ever come to an end? | |||
| ʇɥǝ ʞɐɹɯɐ oɟ ,,ǝʌᴉl,, ᴉs uoʇ ʎǝʇ oʌǝɹ˙ | |||