Operation story: ZT-8

Operation

Story

Previous ZT-7	Next ZT-9
Characters
Arturia Arturia Executor Federico Viviana Vivian Yulia Leonie Onlooking Passerby A Onlooking Passerby B
Backgrounds
1 2 3 4 5 6

Before operation

“

Viviana walks on an endless spiral staircase, glimpsing different possibilities of fate.

”

<Background black>
Viviana	—! You're...
???	Don't just stand there, come inside. Let me show you around my room.
Viviana	......
[Viviana walks inside the door.]
<Background 1>
[Birds are chirping outside.]
???	What do you think?
Viviana	You decorated it yourself?
???	Leonie helped.
Viviana	It's so spacious, and bright. Vivian... Your room is lovely.
Vivian	Danke! This room gets more sunlight than any other in the entire spire. As shy and lazy as Sturmland's sun is, it never feels too dark in here, even on the cloudiest days. And then there's the veranda! It runs along the entire wall of the room. Look at that view... how far you can see... Look there.
Viviana	At what?
Vivian	The green roof over there. It's the Glenlossie Botanical Garden. Mutti took me there a few times. It has so many plants we don't see in Sturmland, or even greater Leithanien. But I love its roof the most. Some Bolívarian claw-vines worked their way up there. It's probably too tall to easily get up onto the roof to trim them, so the staff just let them grow, and now they've covered the entire thing! In springtime, clusters of pink flowers bloom from the vines, and the roof looks like a pink cloud. And now, in summertime, it's a deep green... The leaves of those vines never drop. By autumn, the roof will turn gold, and in winter, only a perfect sheet of white will remain.
Viviana	Ja, I can picture it now. Beautiful.
Vivian	No matter how busy Vati was with his government work, he would always take time out of his day to come visit. Mutti would paint the scenery while he quietly told me their stories.
Viviana	Vivian...
Vivian	Yes?
Viviana	Can you share those stories with me? Of Mutti and Vati? That day in Marigold Alley, when he waited for her?
Vivian	(Nod) Vati said he was determined to say goodbye to her. But once he saw her, he couldn't bring himself to turn and go... 'Vivian, if two hands are destined to join, why let the lands come between them?!' Ugh, so cheesy! Anyway, Vati brought Mutti back to Sturmland. He stood... right there, beneath the spire, telling the worthies and bigwigs that if they didn't show Mutti the proper respect, he'd never return to Hochberg Spire again! Nor would he succeed the Kurfürst.
Viviana	And did the nobles accede?
Vivian	They did. All because Vati stood below the spire for three whole days... Many men came to either change his mind or just shout at him, but none succeeded. They had no choice but to give in.
Viviana	Werner von Hochberg protected his love, like a hero from a storybook. They were married with the blessings of everyone around them. Viviana von Hochberg, your birth, too, won the blessings of all.
[Viviana pauses for a moment before frowning.]
Viviana	Wunderbar.
Vivian	Oh? What was that?
Viviana. This is a wonderful life.
Vivian	Is that Leonie? The door's open.
A maid walks in. Viviana looks to hide, but the maid goes straight for the little girl, as if she doesn't see Viviana at all.
Vivian	Leonie, are you here for the carpet?
Leonie	*sigh*, Fräulein Droste, please step aside.
Vivian	It's a masterpiece by a Minoan craftsman. Very comfortable under my feet, and the image of the lake and white walls on it is so vivid, I can almost feel the wind blowing when I look at it. Mutti loved this carpet. She worked long and hard, scribing so many poems for others, just to be able to buy it. When she left Zwillingstürme, she didn't bring much luggage with her, but she did bring this carpet.
Leonie	So... it would sell for a bit of money. You have to understand the Dame. This spire is otherwise empty; your room is the last decent thing in the place. If she could help it, the Dame wouldn't touch a thing in here. But since Kurfürst Werner's death, she has been troubled by all sorts of people. She's sold everything that could be sold... You're due to go study in Columbia, which takes no small amount of coin. She hopes you won't have to live in poverty abroad.
Viviana	—!
Vivian	Oh, but, I could always not go.
Leonie	That won't do, Fräulein. You ought to leave Sturmland, to leave Leithanien. The Dame said as much to the Kurfürst two years ago, but it was only recently he gave the nod. You ought to set out soon, lest he change his mind.
Vivian	What about Mutti? Can't she come with me?
Leonie	The Dame is at the Kurfürst's beck and call. She must remain in the spire.
Vivian	I... I should speak to Onkel Schild.
Leonie	Fräulein, he may be your paternal uncle, but he is now Kurfürst of Sturmland. Just two years after the late Kurfürst Werner took the seat, he was assassinated while touring the domain. His marriage to the Dame offended a lot of people, and some have speculated it was Schild himself... Ugh, what am I thinking, why would I even tell you this?
Vivian	Leonie... I have a question, and I'm not sure who to ask.
Leonie	Go ahead.
Vivian	If... if Mutti and Vati had lived an ordinary life, a commoner's life, would we have been happy?
Viviana	......
Leonie	Fräulein... You've always been the sort of girl who... sees things as they are. You know what's going on. Pack your things. Put your beloved books and art collections into that rattan box there. I'll take care of the carpet and come back to put the rest in order.
[Vivian nods as the maid leaves.]
The Elafia girl looks out at the city below the veranda. The wind is her only company now. They say the roof of the Glenlossie Botanical Garden is beautiful. But what's there to appreciate when the night shrouds all?
<Background 2>
Yulia	Frau Giallo?
Arturia	Hm... It seems I really can't hear the voices anymore.
Yulia	No obvious wounds on you. Could your hearing be impaired?
Arturia	No. It's just much quieter than I'm used to... Even as you're standing right in front of me, I still feel... so distant from you.
[Yulia takes a step closer to Arturia.]
Yulia	Oh? Is this a little better? Maybe I should speak louder?
Arturia	No, that's not it.
Yulia	Let me take you somewhere nearby to rest. The ones chasing you should be far away by now. Come, I'll help carry the cello.
Arturia	......
Yulia	Why are you gripping it so tightly? Your fingers are turning white! It must be very important to you.
Arturia	... It is my eyes, my ears, my voice, and my heart. I'm ashamed to admit it, but there was a time when I was even afraid of it.
Yulia	Oh?
Arturia	It took me some time to learn how to get along with it.
<Flashback starts here>
<Background 3>
[A young Sankta boy enters a dark room and walks inside.]
Federico	Soror? Why are you sitting in a dark corner with the lights out? Amita Luciana doesn't know you've come back. Why did you skip cello practice after rowing in the park?
[As young Federico approaches his relative, his foot sits something hard.]
Federico	Oh, I'm sorry, I seem to have kicked your cello. The instrument is expensive. If I've damaged it... I have the money to compensate you.
Arturia	Fede, take it away for me, will you? Hide it anywhere you like. The study, the attic, in storage... You can even throw it away...
Federico	Are you crying? You played another piece you hadn't mastered yet.
Arturia	I don't know... As soon as I draw my bow across its strings, I hear voices. So many voices. They're real voices, trapped in the bodies of men and women. They want to come out, and I should help them. But they're too loud, too chaotic. So many crying voices, laughing voices, whispering voices, voices furiously complaining... They all surge together... They're so loud, Fede! I can hardly breathe...
Federico	Are you unwell? Should I get Amita Luciana?
Arturia	I just... I just need some quiet...
Federico	......
The room is quiet, except for the isolated sobbing in the corner. Two black halos look at each other, their cold, faint light being the only words they share.
Just be quiet for a while, just so my head doesn't hurt so much, just for a bit. I will get used to the voices I just haven't mastered the skill yet... It didn't take me long to learn to row a boat today. All I had to do was row it through the thick fog to the island in the center of the lake. ...... A song comes from the far shore.
<Flashback ends here>
<Background 2>
Arturia	Are you singing?
Yulia	It's a folk song popular with buskers on this street. Heh, it's got a nice sound to it, but I'm a little tone-deaf, so... When Jan would come home after being bullied, I'd comfort him with this song.
Arturia	Thank you. You mentioned "this street" just now?
Yulia	Oh, ja, Karl Schmidt Street. The people of Zwillingstürme also call it Marigold Alley.
<Background glitches>
<Background 4>
<Background glitches>
<Background 2>
Arturia	......
<Background fades out and in>
Federico	Seniora Schüler, you haven't answered my question. According to the records of the Zwillingstürme Gendarmerie, Freiherr Fynn engaged in combat with a suspect to stop a kidnapping on Karl Schmidt Street in the autumn of 1085. The Baron was injured and unconscious for a period. When he awoke, both the suspect and the abducted Caprinae woman, twenty-seven-year-old Yulia Schüler, were missing. Loris Bordin took over the case and conducted a series of investigations, finding no promising leads. He found the Baron's testimony suspicious, with the only certainty being that the Baron was the last person to see you. He strongly believed that a secret laid hidden within. Something like the Witch King's later experiments on Infected civilians, and that you had become the target of the Baron. But under pressure from above, the Gendarmerie halted any subsequent investigation and closed the case as an "accidental disappearance." Loris Bordin took the case file back to his residence, and over the course of fifteen years, it has grown increasingly thick. He never gave up on investigating the truth, and never gave up on looking for you. Despite several clues indicating that Yulia Schüler was already deceased.
Yulia	Hm...
Federico	You have just informed me that this here is Karl Schmidt Street. In other words, you came to the Genesis Horn posthumously, and currently exist as a form of "consciousness." In your cognition, you have never left the scene of the incident. So please tell me, what exactly happened in the course of that incident?
Yulia	This is indeed Marigold Alley. We're standing in front of the piano studio at the intersection.
Federico	......
Yulia	Oh, Herr Executor, we've wasted so much time. I really have to place these Arts devices in their proper places, quickly! Those masked men will be coming soon.
Federico	—!
<Background fades out and in>
Arturia	Do you mean to say that the Witch King's remains appear at various locations in Kargereich, according to some knowable set of rules?
Yulia	Ah, are they the Witch King's remains?
Arturia	No, they're not the ones in reality, sowing chaos in the name of the Witch King. What you see are but manifestations of the Witch King's craft, the "Echoes of Herkunftshorn" in a truer sense. ...Klängenfolgen, to follow the sounds. That's the way to see the Witch King.
Yulia	Why would the Witch King be in Zwillingstürme? Although I suppose it makes sense. I'm already dead, and the Witch King is too. So we're in the same place, that's logical enough. It would also explain all these strange happenings...
Arturia	Perhaps, having lost the sound of music, I can no longer perceive what you see in your eyes. Why do you call this place "Zwillingstürme"?
Yulia	...Are you blind too? Frau Giallo, do you see the Musikinstrumententürme?
Arturia	The what?
Arturia looks in the direction the Caprinae woman is pointing, and sees nothing but vague light and shadow.
Yulia	Reichsmusikhochschule has towers, die Musikinstrumententürme. But only eleven.
Arturia	Reichsmusikhochschule is the most famous landmark in Bachshof. Each spire of the royal academy is inspired by a musical instrument, and was named for it upon completion. There are eleven instruments, and when Herr Bach presided over his "Glorreiches Kapitalprojekt," a grand urban plan, he added eleven more. Twenty-two instrument spires corresponding to the twenty-two districts of Zwillingstürme, like a perfect symphony orchestra.
Yulia	Hah, you know your stuff. Ja, but there are only eleven Musikinstrumententürme here. This is not the Reichsmusikhochschule of Zwillingstürme, but that of the Witch King's time. And behind us... is a tilted spire, circular, the color of jade.
Arturia	"Der Schiefer Turm der Ewigkeit." The Leaning Tower of Eternity? It was originally the spire of some Kurfürst or other. It began to lean due to changes in the strata, and with the support of the magnificent Arts of the spire casters, it maintained its baffling tilt without collapsing. This miracle of Leithanian architecture was destroyed in a Catastrophe, four centuries ago...
Yulia	Not only that. I see Der Wiener Uhrturm, Das auf den Kopf gestellte Strafgebäude, Die Tür des Wissens, Der Schönbrunnturm... Countless spires of different eras, forms, and functions. I've only read about them in books, or heard of them in stories from my elders... But here, they all stand. This isn't Zwillingstürme, but it's not Vedunien either. I think the most proper name for it would be... "Leithanien."
<Background 2>
Yulia	The only part that feels familiar is the Marigold Alley beneath my feet. At the intersection sits a piano studio, at the end of the street is an art gallery, and right in the middle is my cafe. I'm glad they're still here. I've rediscovered them. Here, I can still live just the way I used to. So, unfamiliar as this place is, I would still rather call it Zwillingstürme.
Arturia	... Maybe you haven't rediscovered your old life. Rather, it's because of your life that you came to be here.
[The space suddenly begins to shake.]
<Background flashes>
Yulia	Oh! There are only nine Musikinstrumententürme left... When did the Klavierturm and the Waldhornturm vanish?
Arturia	(Herr Fremont was right, the Genesis Horn is accelerating its collapse...)
[Strange shadows resmebling the Echoes of Herkunftshorn flicker past Arturia's line of sight]
Yulia	Frau Giallo, do you... see it now?
Arturia	......

After operation

“

Federico and Arturia speak with the long-lost Yulia, gradually unveiling the mysteries of Kargereich.

”

A door opens.
Vivian	I'm going out. Would you like to come with?
Viviana	...Alright.
<Background 4>
[Viviana and Vivian step out onto the Karl Schmidt Street.]
Vivian	Give me a moment.
Viviana	What is it?
Vivian	Drei, zwei, eins... Frau Seemann, guten abend!
The window facing the street opens in response, and a woman with a furrowed brow holds a paintbrush, gazing into the distance. The young girl waves to her, smiling as bright as the marigolds lining the alley.
Viviana	Frau Seemann takes a break and opens her window every day right at this time. She paints all morning, then looks into the distance, listens to music, relaxes, and looks for inspiration. That's odd, looks like she's in a bad mood today. She closed the window without waving back. Maybe she's having trouble with her art. I should go see her with Mutti tonight.
Vivian	You know the neighborhood well, Vivian.
Viviana	You mean Karl Schmidt Street? Of course I do. I've been here all ten years of my life!
Vivian	Did your parents always live here?
Viviana	They were away for brief stints a few times, I'm not sure why... But they always came back. When you compare it to the rest of Zwillingstürme, Karl Schmidt isn't anything special. We've got a few flower shops, a bar, paint stores, and some stout buildings. We don't even have a spire. The people here are ordinary, plus a few struggling artists and nobles... but my parents really like it here.
Vivian	Have they ever had any trouble?
Viviana	Vati mentioned some trouble before. But he's been prepared for anything since he decided to stay.
Vivian	Did Werner von Hochberg find a way to become common?
Viviana	Vati's not so common! He may only teach literature at the commoners' school in Wein, but the big kids there respect him a lot.
Vivian	I see... He probably used all his connections in Sturmland and Zwillingstürme, spent all his savings, maybe even changed his appearance... It's no small thing to give up everything one has. By the way, Vivian, is that a cake you're holding?
Viviana	Ja, the lady next door taught me. The marigold's stamen has a bitterness to it, but when ground into powder and pinched into a cake, its fragrance helps balance the sweetness. Mutti found a job in Bachshof, earning a bit more than before. She's working as an editor for her favorite poetry journal! She gets home very late though... So I said I'd bring her lunch for a whole month.
Vivian	Isn't that exhausting?
[A breeze flits by.]
Viviana	Mmmm... you smell that?
Vivian	What?
Viviana	When the breeze picks up, the fragrance of the coffee shop up ahead wafts on over. I help with as much as I can so Mutti and Vati won't be so tired. At least enough that they can take me to Frau Seemann's gatherings on the weekends. They hold my hands as we walk down the long alley to her house. There are so many interesting people there. They play the piano so well, and speak so eloquently. I like it here. I don't think it's exhausting.
Vivian	...I'm glad of that.
Viviana. This is a wonderful life too.
<Background 6>
[A crowd gathers around on the street.]
Onlooking Passerby A	What's this? Wasn't that... Lucinda? How could such a well-behaved commoner have offended anyone? Did she write something she shouldn't have? Why did the authorities come so quickly? Is there any explanation?
Onlooking Passerby B	They were gone as quick as they came, what else can we say? (Whispering) Be careful what you ask. It probably has something to do with her husband.
Onlooking Passerby A	Werner?
Onlooking Passerby B	I've heard he's actually the heir to the Kurfürst of Sturmland, living incognito with his wife and daughter on Karl Schmidt Street for the past decade.
Onlooking Passerby A	I've gotten along with them so well all these years, I'd never have guessed. He's hidden himself so well...
Onlooking Passerby B	Oh, how could that be! Rumor has it Werner didn't show up to class this morning. Who knows if he was taken away by a Hochberg vassal or the Empresses' Voice? Odds are it was Frieda Seemann who gave him up. That woman's out of her mind.
Onlooking Passerby A	Shhh, keep your voice down.
Viviana	—!
The cake thuds as it falls to the ground. Viviana hears sobbing. The fragile shoulders before her tremble, like flowers battered by the wind. She holds the girl's hand tightly.
Viviana	Vivian... Don't look.
<Background 2>
Strange shadows resmebling the Echoes of Herkunftshorn flicker past.
Federico	Seniora Yulia Schüler, I perceive only vague silhouettes of the remnants. Could you clearly point out the locations where they may be hidden? My patron firearm may be of use. I will guarantee your safety.
Yulia	Um... Herr Executor, you may have misunderstood. Those men aren't here to do anything to me. When I first saw the masked people, I would keep my distance and hide, but I later found they weren't concerned with me at all. Their appearance in any particular part of "Zwillingstürme" usually means there's a new threat... they're more like a "signal."
Federico	"Threat"?
Yulia	Not a true threat, I... I don't know how to explain it. It's like... a natural disaster beyond human comprehension, abnormally bad weather, or a waking nightmare... The atmosphere in "Zwillingstürme" has taken a turn for the worse, especially recently. The clouds are heavy, and even the sunset looks faded. I'm always hearing loud, thundering noises. Several times, I awoke to find a whole chunk of "Zwillingstürme" completely empty. So many prominent buildings seemingly dug away by something, leaving only an empty space where they once were. Like a whole section of history had been erased. The threats erase the spires of different eras without a trace, gradually consuming all of "Zwillingstürme."
Federico	......
Yulia	And sooner or later, the small alley I live in will be next.
Federico	So you jumped out to prevent me from using my patron firearm. You were protecting this place.
Yulia	Ja. I've never seen you before. I've had a powerful premonition this time.
Federico	A premonition. Such feelings are usually nothing more than psychological indicators. Without backing in logic, it is difficult to take action upon them. But the Witch King's remains have indeed appeared...
Yulia	Herr Executor, when you live in a place for five or ten years, when you become a part of it, you develop senses like a fowlbeast, and can smell the storm before it comes.
fades out and in
Arturia	You would aid the "Echoes of Herkunftshorn"?
Yulia	No, this is my own thing. Even if they didn't appear today, I'd find a way myself.
Arturia	But how will you fight against those disasters, the weather, or the waking nightmares? With those Arts devices you're carrying...?
Yulia	The truth is, I've been going to different places at around this time each day. Especially to those blanks and the edges where buildings have vanished.
Arturia	That's dangerous...
Yulia	But I collected enough devices from those places.
Arturia	They seem to be some sort of echo device that collects Arts information.
Yulia	Frau Giallo, if the masked men truly are the Echoes of Herkunftshorn, then these echo devices must be what the Witch King used to deal with his enemies. They'll surely come in handy!
Arturia	Are you... going to renovate the street yourself?
Yulia	Marigold Alley is on the outskirts of Bodenshof, very inconspicuous. No one comes here deliberately, except some tourists, painters, and wandering poets. Even all of Bodenshof, taken against the twenty-two districts of Zwillingstürme, isn't all that special. And in this Zwillingstürme, with its many storied historical spires... maybe no one would even notice such an ordinary alley. But it's where I was born and raised... No one knows it better than me. I know when it's lively, and when it's quiet. I know all its sounds: the singing of wandering troubadours, the humming tunes of pedestrians, the busy footsteps on the cobblestones, the sound of rain against the marigolds and awnings... I know where the resonance pipelines buried beneath the street are still functional, I know which Arts sculptures on the corners can replace the broken parts... And how to connect them all in the most convenient way, and then activate them with these echo devices!
Arturia	But you don't know what the modified resonance pipelines will even do. These devices left in those empty areas suggest that—
Yulia	Oh, but Frau Giallo, there's something I have to do. And I can always do something. I told myself as much, when I was very young. I said I'd take good care of Jan and myself. And not be like our parents...
Arturia	Your parents?
Yulia	They passed away a long time ago, I think it was 1077.
Arturia	Your parents were persecuted during the Twin Empresses' coup?
Yulia	Nein, they were as common as common could be. They were sick at the time, and the tremendous sound of the Witch King's Genesis Spire collapsing in the distance, the tromping of the soldiers outside the house... it all aggravated their illness. They always feared that, at any moment, the Gendarmerie would burst in and take us away, or even level the entire block. In turbulent times like that, there is nothing so shocking. They died in terror even before Herr Bach could launch his Glorreiches Kapitalprojekt.
Arturia	When a terrible clamor drowns out everything else, we hear only the voices within ourselves. We find our fears and worries magnified. Yulia, forgive me for not being able to better comfort you.
Yulia	That's alright. I just wanted to say that I can't let myself lose the courage to live as I have been. Maybe you still don't see our surroundings clearly... We've walked all the way from the gallery at the end of the street down to the cafe where I've spent almost a decade. I started working there just to make ends meet. The owner was kind, letting me and Jan live in the shed behind the courtyard. I turned it into a proper home, and even set up a little space for Jan to practice his Arts. The boy is gifted, you know. We saw casters using Arts to repair sculptures on the street, and he watched for only a few moments before going home and spending the whole night turning his room into a "sound-control" space. I've talked about it with Loris, and we'll send him to study Arts at Ludwigs-Universität. Loris intends to make a career in Zwillingstürme, and once he does, he'll give Jan a recommendation. Later, when this cafe was about to close down, I used all my savings to buy it for myself. I became the owner, the waitress, and even worked on making my own special blend of coffee for its grand reopening...
Arturia	Danger is unpredictable, but life is tangible. You only want to protect it.
<Background fades out and in>
[Yulia sets down a Arts device.]
Yulia	From the piano studio on the corner to here, there are a total of eight resonance pipelines, and these echo devices happen to fit the interfaces on them. I told you they'd be useful!
Federico	That is logical. Bach tuned all of Zwillingstürme's resonance pipelines during his Glorreiches Kapitalprojekt, in order to adjust the Arts arrays laid throughout the city during the reign of the Witch King.
Yulia	We're just a few steps from my cafe now. The reconstruction project for this half is almost done.
[More echoes flicker past.]
Federico	Are they showing up again?
Yulia	Ja. Right around the corner from the cafe. I guess I'll need to work faster.
[Yulia suddenly frowns.]
Yulia	...
Federico	What is it?
Yulia	This feels... familiar. Similar to a certain day, exactly the same even...
<Flashback starts here>
<Background 4>
Yulia	It was the day I first opened the cafe. I stood by the door waiting for Loris and Jan... They were a little late. I knew the two of them wanted to do something special for the grand opening. They were a little too obvious about it. Loris went to order flowers in another part of the city, and specifically asked me to wait for him in the most conspicuous part of the block... He didn't even realize he'd left the order on the table when he came by to help the day before. Meanwhile, Jan had snuck into Frau Seemann's house a few times the week before... Nearly all the kids of Marigold Alley have asked her to paint them a souvenir still life at one point or another. I let them go anyway. The beginning of a new life... I promised Loris as much too. The wind was strong that morning. Enough to make you feel dazed. There weren't many people out on the street. But I think I noticed two standing in the corner opposite the cafe... They had black masks... with twisted patterns on them... They noticed me too. They walked over.
[The remnants flash their Arts at Yulia.]
<Flashback ends here>
Federico	The Witch King's remains... That explains why you perceive the patterns in the Genesis Horn as manifesting a concrete form. This was your only connection to the Witch King during your lifetime.
Yulia	...
Federico	Loris's speculation differed wildly from the truth. You just happened to be at the scene while the Witch King's remains were taking action... The city council had no intent to protect a nobleman. As one involved in taking action against the remains, one can imagine Freiherr Fynn's ultimate fate. But early in the reign of the Twin Empresses, Zwillingstürme needed to disassociate the entire case from the Witch King and his remains. They halted the investigation, concealed the truth of the matter, and hastily closed the case. That was the most efficient approach.
Yulia	Um, what do you mean?
Federico	Yulia Schüler, your death was entirely coincidental.
Yulia	...
Federico	I have uncovered the truth of the case. If recalling these details is a burden to you, please refrain from doing so.
Yulia	Nein, Herr Executor, I only worry that this street may disappear from "Zwillingstürme" at some point. Just like the long-gone spires... And that I'll never have the chance to keep my promise to Loris.
Federico	Logically speaking, you have already—
Yulia	Herr Executor, have you ever made any unfulfilled promises?
Federico	Since accepting my commission with the Notarial Hall, there have been two instances where the decedent's will was too ambiguous to be enforceable, and two instances where the target was inadvertently destroyed in an explosion. No other circumstances.
Yulia	Oh, I don't mean at work.
Federico	A... "promise."
<Flashback starts here>
<Background 3>
Arturia	Fede... What are you doing?
Federico	Drawing.
Arturia	In the dark?
Federico	It is not difficult. I am busying myself... You said you needed quiet.
Arturia	Gratias. What are you drawing?
Federico	Laterano. By night.
Arturia	Why would you want to draw Laterano by night?
Federico	Because the room is dark.
Arturia	......
Federico	Soror, the nasal tone of your voice has grown lighter. You've stopped crying. You said you would gradually master your playing. I believe in you. Everyone says you have a talent for music. In general, talent should not bring pain.
Arturia	I will master it, Fede... I have to. Are you going to finish your drawing? You seem to be having trouble.
Federico	Well... I've completed the overall outline. Now I need to refine the details. But... When night falls on Laterano, where is the first place to light up?
Arturia	...I don't know. How about you wait for me to master my method and play my first piece. It won't take long. Then I can take you to the highest point in Laterano to see for yourself. That would answer your question, wouldn't it?
Federico	Alright.
<Flashback ends here>
<Background 2>
Federico	To me, a "promise" is a form of contract. When I made that contract, my cognitive abilities were not yet fully developed, and I was unclear of the obstacles she faced. As well as the painful meaning behind overcoming those obstacles. An undefined chaos. She herself was the first "victim" of her music. Therefore, understanding the full extent of her changes and preventing her from continuing to spread chaos is the responsibility I must fulfill.
Yulia	Herr Executor, is that why you've come to "Zwillingstürme" too? Is the person you're talking about also a Sankta?
Federico	Arturia, female, 168 centimeters tall, straight black hair, a mole below her left eye, carries a custom-made cello. She arrived here before I did. Have you seen her?
<Background fades out and in>
Yulia	Frau Giallo, you may not want to follow me any further.
Arturia	Why not? You just said that from the gallery at the end of the street to here, with your cafe just ahead, all the resonance pipelines here will soon be restored. What is it... you're keeping me from?
Yulia	...... I believe he's the one who hurt you. He's a Sankta as well, yes, but he seems difficult to talk to.
Arturia	Federico? So he's here too. I appreciate your concern. But if it was my little brother who hurt me, you'd have found a few more bullet holes.
Yulia	So you're siblings? That's hard to imagine...
Arturia	Federico will definitely catch up to me. The discovery of gaps along the path one's been following inevitably causes confusion. But for him, that confusion isn't a ripple, it's a crack in the ice. Neither of us can stop until we find answers.
Yulia	Alright then.
<Background fades out and in>
[Yulia places down the last Arts device.]
Yulia	Phew... This is the last bit... The piano studio on the corner, the gallery at the end of the street... The beginning and the end, all the resonance pipelines converge here.
Arturia	Yulia...
Yulia	I know what you want to say. This might not have any effect at all... And if so, I'll think of another way. I can't let myself just hide away in my home, waiting for the storm to pass. The echo devices are all in place. Now it's time to activate the resonance pipelines.
Without direction, without daylight, everything is covered in shadow. The Genesis Horn seems to be forever shrouded in mist. But Arturia perceives the illumination of the pipelines, like a flame in the dark.
<Background glitches>
Rolling out from the two of them, from near to far, the surrounding scenery gradually becomes clear. She sees everything as clearly as in Yulia's eyes: a street lined with marigolds, countless peculiar spires... The place is not chaotic. It is one that exists beyond time and space, a grand construct. At the same time, music flows into her ears. It is the music of all Marigold Alley, and also, a part of a grander movement. A composition that belongs to Herkunftshorn.
Arturia	Yulia, my cello is silent, but I've heard your innermost thoughts... they're touching. Allow me to express my gratitude.
Arturia bows to the Caprinae before her.
Arturia	!!! So, the most common soul and the most powerful are both written on the same sheet of music.
The eerie winged sculptures prostrate on both sides of Arturia, supporting towering stone pillars at angles defying mechanical explanation... No, the pillars are suspended in midair. A palace, solemn and majestic, befits a king. At the end of the steps, a man stands motionless with his throne. Red curtains sway and cast layers of light on him, veiling the monarch's countenance. But the infamous twisted horns belie his name.
???	......
Arturia	I've seen you in so many fragments of history and legend. I've crossed paths with you in the memories of so many, including the Liches. But it wasn't until I saw Yulia still "alive" that I caught the faint sense that this journey could really lead to a meeting with the man himself! Allow me to introduce myself: Arturia Giallo. Salutations, Otto Dietmar Gustav von Urtica, Herkunftshorn... Your Majesty the Witch King.