Aria: Uuuu...
Meimona: Whew... I'm so glad we didn't leave the room keys behind.
Meimona: Oh, don't worry, guys!
Meimona: She made it to the sink safely. :'3
Nino: Whew! I'm saved.
Aria: Aaaah, I can finally relax a little...
Five: Aria, so tired... Aria, must rest now!
Five: But Five's so happy, because everyone is together again!
Nino: Yeah, I can tell...
Nino: You haven't stopped clinging onto me since you got here.
Meimona: Waaaaaah! I'm really happy too!!!
Meimona: I missed you soooo much, my adorable little Boyfriend!
Boyfriend: Meoooooooow!!!
Five: Kitty miss Mei too! Kitty, so sad before...
Five: But now, everything is better, for everyone!
Five: Even Reed's baaad ouchies are all gone!!!
Nino: Yeah, thanks to yours truly, of course.
Meimona: Couldn't heal heatstroke though, could you...?
Reed: ...So. Let me wrap my head around how this happened.

Aria: Refrain from cursing heat.

Reed: We were following the path Sintheia laid out for us.
Reed: Then, Aria - you suddenly sensed Nino when we reached the desert.
Reed: Which made you very happy, but then, you panicked immediately.
Reed: Because... you also sensed him moving farther?
Aria: Not only that, part of his disguise disappeared, Reed!
Aria: I was so worried it'd all be gone soon...
Reed: Ah. That's why you rushed ahead without explaining a thing.
Aria: Yeah... but I wasn't THAT panicked about it, was I?
Reed: Aria. Before you took off running,
Reed: You screamed so hard that you sounded like a completely different person.
Reed: Scared the daylights out of Five.
Five: Yes! Five, jump up sooo high because of Aria!
Five: Even Boyfriend get all fuzzy and go "hisssssss"!
Boyfriend: M... meow...?
Aria: Uuuaaah! I was afraid we might lose our only lead, okay!
Nino: Wow. Sorry for uh, indirectly causing you that much anguish?
Nino: And for making you vomit from heatstroke too.
Aria: Please, don't talk about that part...
Five: Five, found ice! Give ice to Aria?
Meimona: Oh yeah, we got this ice pack thingy! Here, cool off!
Aria: Thanks, you two... ugh.
Aria: I'm so tired from disguising that nincompoop.
Five: Nino-com-pop?
Aria: That's right. Nino-compoop.
Nino: Hey, don't teach Five unnecessary words!
Aria: Be quiet! I can't rest if you raise your voice.
Aria: And I don't think this ice pack is actually helping...
Meimona: Uhh, ummm... oh, I know! How about some cake?
Nino: Oh, yeah. Maybe the "chilling effect" will help stand the weather.
Aria: Ah... that's worth a try.
Reed: Maybe we should all get a slice of that, actually.
Reed: I don't want anybody else collapsing here.
Nino: Good idea! Take a piece, you guys.
Nino: Except for Meimona, of course.
Meimona: Whoa, why am I excluded!?
Nino: 'Cause you don't feel the heat, duh!
Nino: Let's give that fourth slice to Five instead.
Meimona: Awwwwh what!? That's soooo not fair!
Five: Wow! Five gets cake! Nino... thank you!
Five: Cake is yummy! And Nino, not nino-com-pop anymore. :)
Nino: That's right, atta girl!
Meimona: This is the first time I feel upset about being a winged. :[

Aria: Tell Nino and Mei where you came out after exiting the barrier.

Reed: Here. Cold water. Drink it.
Aria: Guh... thank you, Reed.
Meimona: So where were you guys all that time?
Nino: Not anywhere close to the desert, from the sound of things...
Reed: Not at the start, but we gradually got closer to it.
Aria: ...When I fell out of the rift...
Aria: I ended up somewhere in the Hyouga quadrant.
Aria: That's north from here. It's pretty far, too!
Reed: Me and Five fell close to Aria's location.
Five: Sky was so red, and pink! At the same time!
Five: And, so dark... Five, feel a bit scared...
Five: But Reed make Five feel safe!
Meimona: Aww. You're brave to make it out of such a spooky place!
Meimona: C'mere, brave little Five! You did so gooood!
Five: Yay! Hugs, for Mei, and kitty! <3
Reed: Aria found us not too long after crossing.
Reed: But not after going through some real spirit crap.
Aria: Yeah, Hyouga's not the best of places to be in...
Aria: The snowy mountains and forests there are infested with spirits.
Nino: ...
Aria: We had to fight for our lives to get out of the place.
Meimona: Wow, jeez! That's horrible...
Aria: Tell me about it! Ugh.
Aria: Had one too many annoying spirit fights today, seriously...
Five: Many ouchies too... but only for Reed. :(
Reed: Hey, it's fine now. There's not a single scar left on me.
Aria: As terrible as it sounds, Reed kinda had to get hurt in my stead.
Aria: If I were to be injured, all my disguises would be broken.
Reed: ...Mm. We couldn't risk losing that,
Reed: Since it was our only hope for detecting Nino's location.
Meimona: Aw man! That was totally the right call!
Meimona: Who knows what the monsters here would've done to Nino without it....
Nino: ...
Meimona: As for me, I popped out here in this desert.
Meimona: At first, Nino wasn't with me... but thankfully, he caught up eventually!

---->

Aria: Not right now, no. I was upset at first...
Aria: But I decided I wouldn't blame you, Nino.
Aria: Nor anyone else here, really.
Aria: Reed decided the same thing too!
Nino: Really? But... why?
Nino: I just don't understand...
Reed: ...It's only because that was unexpected behavior for the barrier.
Reed: It was something even I have never seen happen before.
Reed: So, I don't feel like making this a big deal...
Reed: Nor do I want to waste time blaming anyone for something they couldn't anticipate. That's what Aria and I decided, anyway.
Nino: Oh...
Five: Five agrees too! Five thinks...
Five: Nino, doing his best... right?
Five: So, something bad happening, not Nino's fault!
Five: Because Nino, try to protect Mei,
Five: Try to keep everyone together!
Nino: ...
Meimona: I agree with that decision too!
Meimona: What happened was really unexpected for me, but...
Meimona: All you guys told me everything you knew about crossing, to your credit.
Meimona: It's not your fault that a surprise happened this one time!
Nino: ...So that's what you guys think, huh...
Reed: Now, it is something we should always consider from here on out,
Reed: That we can't just expect the barrier to work like we thought it did.
Reed: This time around, when we try to cross back home,
Reed: Let's prepare for the unexpected as best as we can.
Aria: Yeah, I think that's the best course of action.
Aria: We'll figure something out by the time we get to a rift!
Meimona: Ummm, so when we're back home...
Meimona: Could we please not try crossing over again?
Meimona: That's all I'm asking.
Reed: Yeah, of course. Not like we'll need to, anyway.
Nino: ...

---->

Nino: ...Maaaan. I just...
Nino: Genuinely didn't mean to rope everyone into something this troublesome.
Nino: I guess I have a ways to go before I'm a full-fledged leader, huh?
Reed: Miles.
Aria: Leagues!
Meimona: Light-years, even!!!
Nino: Uh huh... I appreciate the honesty.
Meimona: Hahahahahaha! Nino, it's fine now!
Meimona: I'm just teasing you 'cause it's fun. >:]
Aria: Yeah... just don't try to pull something that wild off again!
Reed: If he does, that's when I can and will fully blame him.
Reed: I don't dish out second chances easily, kid.
Nino: I-I know that already!
Nino: You guys don't have to tell me twice.
Nino: We'll just have to make these big decisions together next time...
Nino: If... that's okay with you all?
Meimona: Yeah! That'd be a lot better!
Aria: I agree wholeheartedly. ^u^
Reed: Ditto.

Somehow, they seem happy with you now. What a relief.
Does it make people pleased when their leader acts like this...?

You want to sound more sure of your words, though.

Maybe they see this as humbleness, admitting your faults, but... you don't even want to have those as faults in the first place.

From now on, you have to do better.

After all, you must remember that their lives are in your hands when you make such decisions. It's good that everything ended relatively well, despite the unexpected hurdles, but who knows if you'll ever get that lucky again?

So keep them safe, and be careful...
After all, it's a miracle how they still don't despise you.

So you must never, ever waste it again.

"Mino": Discuss cover story in case Helios comes back.

"Oh, if you're looking for the young lord, I'm afraid that will have to wait until after tomorrow! He had to leave a while ago, so he won't be able to look after you."

"But we're more than willing to accomodate you in his stead, dear guests!"

Nino: What, seriously...? After all of that, why would he leave?
Reed: I dunno. How long has it been since you last saw him, anyway?
Meimona: A good good while, definitely! Like, I think...
Meimona: If he wanted to put Nino in monster jail or something,
Meimona: He totally could've done it long before you guys got here.
Aria: Well, from the way Nino described Helios...
Aria: He didn't sound like the type of guard to just let a human go!
Aria: I know I'd hate to have that kind of person questioning me. :S
Meimona: Then you should get what I'm saying, Aria!
Meimona: You say he's not the kinda person to just let us go...
Meimona: But he's been gone so long that we could've escaped ten times over!!!
Reed: ...Why didn't you do that?
Meimona: Oh... umm, because... I had a tummyache, haha!
Meimona: Okay, I exaggerated a little. It's more like five times over.
Meimona: But you guys get my point now, don't you?
Nino: I guess you're not wrong, Mei...
Nino: We aren't in as much of a rush to leave as I thought.
Nino: I definitely feel safer knowing he's out of town for the day, at least...
Nino: So... my disguise really did trick him, after all?
Aria: Speaking of, that part of the story is very odd!
Aria: My disguises have never been able to withstand being touched.
Aria: So how in the world did it not break?
Reed: You think it had something to do with you leveling up earlier?
Aria: I-I don't know... I wasn't near Nino when that happened!
Meimona: Ooooh, maybe it was my lucky powers!
Meimona: With our abilities combined, we're UNSTOPPABLE!
Aria: T-that's, ummm... I don't really know if it works that way...?
Aria: I mean, it'd be nice if it did! But we'd have to test it to confirm it.
Meimona: Sure! Let's do that when we're back home, girl!
Nino: Yeah... even if we're not really in any immediate danger right now,
Nino: Let's try to leave as soon as we're ready to go, regardless.
Five: Eat good and rest lots, Aria!

---->

Over a platter of some nice "chilling" cake, the five of you begin to exchange your individual stories about what happened on your ends.

You and Mei also share the meal Helios bought for you with everyone else. Thankfully, the food's just enough for the group. Even Boyfriend gets to sneak a bite in!

Speaking of Meimona, she's been swiftly recovering from her earlier breakdown, but now that everyone's here, she's practically back to normal.

Is this the power of... friendship?

Or, maybe it's just the power of Boyfriend adorably nibbling on a sandwich.
After all, she seemed especially happy to reunite with him. Good for her...

Nino: So that spirit actually helped lead you here!?
Meimona: What the heck, seriously?
Aria: Yeah, I couldn't believe it myself, either.
Aria: But she was very cooperative once Reed convinced her.
Meimona: Wooow, I didn't think you had such a way with words, boy!
Nino: For real. I wonder if I would've been able to accomplish the same thing...
Reed: It's not that big of a deal.
Reed: She was desperate for survival, anyhow.
Meimona: It's so smart of you to turn an enemy into an ally, though!
Meimona: And you even gave her such a pretty name...
Nino: Yeah, where'd you even come up with a name like Sintheia!?
Reed: Uh... it's just something from an old bedtime storybook.
Reed: I'm not actually THAT creative.
Meimona: D'aaawww, little Reed's reminiscing about his childhood. <3
Reed: I'm really not.
Aria: Man, what a crazy journey that was...
Aria: I'm so tired of illusions and disguises now! Haaaah.
Meimona: Oh yeah, what was all that about taking over an illusion, Aria?
Nino: Yeah, that part sounded really impressive too!
Aria: O-oh, it's nothing, really!
Aria: I just tried something new with my ability...
Reed: You're downplaying it quite a bit, aren't you? C'mon.

Reed: Recall earlier rendezvous with little friends.

Five: Aria! Reed! Everyone, is okay...!
Five: Five is so, so glad!
Aria: Ah, Five! There you are!
Five: Aria, Five did what Aria said!
Five: Keep good eye on Boyfriend, wait patiently for Ludwig...
Aria: You did a good job taking care of them!
Aria: Good girl, good girl.
Five: Five also saw... forest, change!
Five: Was it Aria's illusion?
Aria: That's right! Do you like it?
Five: Yes! Purple forest, very pretty!
Five: Just like Aria! :D
Aria: Aw. <3
Reed: ...Ugh.
Aria: Reed! Are you okay!?
Reed: It's... fine.
Reed: The wound on my side is just particularly annoying.
Aria: My god, you've been enduring that all this time...
Aria: We should treat it immediately!
Reed: ...Yeah. Give me the medkit.
Reed: We'll take cover for a bit.

You then found a safe spot to sit down for a medical treatment.

Aria also suggested that it might help the particularly bad wounds heal faster if you ate some of that patented "healing food"... as it turns out, that stuff worked quite well. Thankfully, it also didn't taste bad at all either.

You personally tended to your worst wound as Aria kindly took care of the rest.

It was a little uncomfortable since you're not used to being touched at all, but that was hardly the time to complain, really.

Reed: Talk about something to distract yourself from the treatment.

Reed: Aria, hey...
Reed: What black magic did you do back there, exactly.
Aria: Oh? I overtook Sintheia's illusion.
Reed: ...And that's something you can just do?
Aria: Well, I never knew it was possible until now!
Aria: I've never even entertained the idea in the past...
Aria: It only popped into my mind when I was with you in that illusion.
Aria: I was extremely unsure that I could pull it off, too.
Aria: But, Reed, when I saw how desperate you were...
Aria: Suddenly, I just knew I could definitely do it,
Aria: Like there was no way I'd let myself fail.
Reed: ...Huh.
Aria: It's funny... I was really desperate and confused,
Aria: But then, everything suddenly made sense in a couple of seconds.
Aria: Maybe because I wanted to help you, no matter what it took.
Aria: So in a way, you could say it's thanks to you that I succeeded!
Reed: ...

A soul with limitations...

Reed: ...So how does it work?
Reed: Taking over someone else's illusion, I mean.
Aria: Well... if you want to change what someone else's illusion shows,
Aria: You first have to realize the main point of it.
Aria: It's like, the reason that illusion appears the way it does.
Aria: See, Sintheia's main observer was you, Reed.
Aria: I figured she wanted you to feel totally trapped in her illusory maze.
Aria: Just like that, she fed off of your worries to grow the illusion.
Reed: Ah...
Aria: But she failed to adapt to my presence when I entered the same maze.
Aria: In there, I realized something while thinking of a way out...
Aria: An illusion relies on two things to exist.
Aria: The area it covers, and the observing eyes it tricks.
Aria: So, while Sintheia expanded an incredible amount of energy to cover that entire area in an illusion, I simply changed whose eyes were being tricked by her "veil".
Aria: And because it took all her focus to maintain the illusion,
Aria: My little trick slipped right under her nose!

Is oftentimes more impressive than one unbound.

Aria: Think of an illusion like a large mirror,
Aria: Reflecting an image from someone's heart.
Aria: If I were to change whose heart the mirror follows, then...
Aria: I could show you a more hopeful scene from my own heart.
Aria: And naturally, once your sense of helplessness was gone...
Aria: An illusion meant to make you feel trapped would fall apart!
Reed: ...I see. So even that kind of expansive illusion still heavily relies on its target's thoughts and feelings.
Aria: Of course! Any kind of illusion always needs a source to draw ideas from, and use them to shape its image.
Aria: I don't think Sintheia had enough time to realize what was happening in the heat of the moment... but I basically manipulated the "observer" part of the equation.
Reed: Ah, so since you came up with your plan on the spot,
Reed: She didn't get to read anything out of your memories beforehand and stop it.
Aria: That's right! Staying behind ended up giving me that advantage.
Aria: Although, I think I only managed to do it quickly enough because I was fully within the illusion, working from the inside out...

"A well of limitless potential rests within each person."

The power of an ability, a strength drawn directly from the soul.

Theoretically, it could expand infinitely, if not for the limitations inherent within its vessel. Even a cornered foe might gain an unexpected advantage through the depths of their desperation, so long as they're capable of awakening.

Observing her, one can plainly see the difference between a soul that can't awaken compared to one that can. It's impressive what boundaries those with abilities can push.

At the time, you remember thinking to yourself...
That it must be why the professor regarded them so highly.

Nino: Wow, Aria! You really did level up behind our backs!
Meimona: Aw, maaaan, what the heck...!
Meimona: Who knew you two were doing such cool things all along?
Aria: Haha, well... what about you two?
Reed: Yeah, what'd you guys get up to in this town?
Meimona: Ummmmmm... I just rested a lot, pretty much!
Meimona: Nino had more of an adventure out there than me, for sure.
Nino: Urgh. It wasn't anything fun...
Nino: All I did was talk my way through Helios' interrogation.
Nino: Trying to pass by him was more than a little stressful, honestly.
Aria: Ah, well, it's not like our "adventure" was fun, either...
Meimona: But you guys made a spirit friend! How cool is that!?
Meimona: And anyways, I don't think Helios was a bad guy...
Meimona: Like I said, he saved us from a ton of terrible spirits!
Meimona: If you ask me, he's not as bad as Nino thinks, hahaha.
Nino: Oh, come on! You haven't talked to him like I did!

Nino: Ponder Helios' motives.

Ultimately, Helios struck you as a strange person.

Spirits are a threat to monsters too, and a serious one at that. But the person who can get rid of them permanently isn't permitted to do so? It brings into question who holds enough power to command his actions, and actively chooses to forbid it.

Are there any benefits to keeping the spirits around?

You can't say that you see any, but you also can't assume you know well enough to make a judgement just yet. Regardless, when Helios told you that he wouldn't do it for some reason or another, he immediately lost all your respect in the blink of an eye.

He unquestionably obeys orders that directly prevent him from doing something to aid his own kind's survivability in this world. Even though he has proven that he's strong enough on his own, perhaps enough to choose disobedience if he so wanted.

Certainly, he helped you and Meimona out with an exorcism...
But does that really mean anything?

Ultimately, you were saved out of a danger that would not even exist, had he simply used his knowledge for the good of his world in a way that mattered, at any time prior to your arrival. In the end, duty weighs far heavier for him.

What an absolute tool for authority. A dog this loyal to the throne would've probably enjoyed bringing a human like you to "justice", no doubt about it.

Nino: ...That monster got the spirits to disappear forever.
Nino: He called what he did an exorcism.
Nino: I didn't exactly figure out what his deal is. But like I said,
Nino: People here were calling him things like "young lord" and stuff.
Nino: So, he might be some kind of high-ranking royal guard.
Nino: You guys get why I'm worried, right? It's not paranoia, is it?
Aria: Wait... could it be that you ran into one of the regional lords!?
Reed: ...If so, that'd be really odd.
Reed: The lords are supposed to guard the prince closely on his public appearances.
Reed: I would expect them all to be in the capital since before yesterday, in fact.
Meimona: Hold on, what's a regional lord exactly?
Nino: Yeah, that's a new one to me too.
Reed: Eh. Monster government officials.
Reed: People appointed to look over the major region of this world.
Aria: They report to the prince, so I think the idea is that...
Aria: He oversees each region through the four of them.
Nino: Huh... so we might've run into the regional lord of this desert area?
Meimona: Aria, does Nino's description of him ring any bells?
Aria: Well, I don't think I've heard the name "Helios" here before.
Aria: But I don't know who the lords really are, actually...
Reed: Yeah, that's not something I've kept any tabs on, either.
Nino: So neither of you have any idea who that was...
Reed: But it really would be strange for one of the lords to just abandon the prince on a day like this, of all days.
Reed: As time goes on, the celebrations are only going to get more crowded,
Reed: Thus requiring more guards around the prince - especially the strongest of them.
Nino: Actually, he seemed particularly dedicated to his duties, so...
Nino: Knowing all this, I can't imagine someone like that randomly being rude to the prince and ditching him on his birthday celebration?
Meimona: Uh oh, waaaaait...
Meimona: Could it be that the prince noticed something was off in this place,
Meimona: So he sent a high ranking tough big guy here on purpose!?
Aria: Oh no, that would be bad news...
Reed: Hm...

---->

Aria: Put up disguises.

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Jevilgaming101

5 days ago

Aria: Put up disguises

Lunk

The changes to the clock seem worrying. It's leaking black ooze or something now. Maybe it's another peeking eye thing like the painting at the penguin inn or the trees on the island, but those were both pretty obviously eyes while this is... not that.

But I feel like Aria would have noticed if it was an illusion, so it's probably not a spirit or anything. It does remind me of the goopy effect from Sintheia's memory on page 240, though. (Also, going back to that page, I noticed that we can see what look like Proxy-eyes on panel 6.)

Last edited 5 days ago by Lunk

Nevermind3476

Reply to Lunk

oh shoot i didn't notice the clock that IS concerning
i wonder if we'll be able to inspect it closer in the game? but i feel like there's just as good a chance that we won't be able to head back to this room in it