Crossbell Archives: Ao no Kiseki Scenario (Prologue)

Note: Taken from the Crossbell Archives. This is actually a translation of the book's scenario section I did a while back.  I doubt I'll continue working on the rest of the chapters, so I'm just posting it in case anyone's interested. 

Btw, MAJOR SPOILERS for Zero no Kiseki. Read at your own risk.

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<< PROLOGUE: TRACES OF D >>

>> Exploration of Old Altair Lodge

Outskirts of Altair City [1], the westernmost point of the Calvard Republic. A search team led by Calvard military officers continued into the deepest parts of the mountain path.  Lloyd, Noel, Dudley, and Arios could be seen. The team hastened their steps to reach their destination: the hideout of the D∴G Cult, Old Altair Lodge. [2]

Several months had passed since Joachim induced the cult incident.  The Erebonia Empire government had decided to exile Earnest and Hartmann, who were both political refugees, as their punishment. Due to political reasons, a special investigations team was formed with the Special Support Section acting as core. Members included those from the Crossbell State Police First Investigations Unit, the Crossbell State Guardian Force, and the Bracers Guild. Several days after the start of investigation, Lloyd and the others determined that Earnest and Hartmann had fled toward Old Altair Lodge.

The sudden attack from monsters upon their arrival at the Lodge confirmed Earnest and Hartmann's whereabouts. After confirming the new functions of the ENIGMA II [3], they started exploration of the inner parts of the Old Altair Lodge. They headed for the deepest part of the Lodge where the altar for rituals was said to be. The direction in which they believed ex-Cult member Earnest headed. On the way, Arios briefed them in on the experiments the Cult performed here to heighten one's senses. [4]

As Lloyd and the others hurried for the deepest parts of the Lodge, they came to a halt half-way when they came upon Earnest and Hartmann arguing. Lloyd immediately called for them to stop.  In contrast to Hartmann's flustered expression,  Earnest greeted them with a fearless smile, saying "I predicted everything". Upon learning that Earnest possessed the same unusual perception Joachim had, Lloyd and the others felt shaken. At that moment, Hartmann called out, "I'll surrrender so please arrest Earnest." Accepting the request, Lloyd regained his composure and again called for Earnest to surrender. However, Earnest summoned forth the humanoid weapons left behind by Joachim and dragged away an unwilling Hartmann.

In order to regain the time lost battling the humanoid weapons, Dudley and Arios quicken their steps and moved ahead. However, Lloyd and Noel's feet were about to give in due to exhaustion. The moment Dudley saw their condition and called out to the two, the ground between them caved in due to the shock received from the previous battle. Lloyd and Noel were left on the other side of the pathway. Accepting the suggestion of Arios who was familiar with the inner layout of the Lodge, they decided to proceed from another path and meet up in the deepest room of the dungeon.

Although it took more time without the two veterans by their sides, Lloyd and Noel steadily moved forward. On the way, Lloyd complimented Noel on her combat skills she gained in the Guardian Force.  At the same time, Lloyd also fell into deep thought about the current state of the reformed Special Support Section [5]. Somehow the topic switched to Earnest, and Noel asked Lloyd regarding that person's intention.  Lloyd conjectured from the power Earnest displayed that much like Joachim, he gained the ability to "see through to one's heart and background".  Not willing to let Earnest fall into the same fate as Joachim who died after going berserk, Lloyd and Noel hurried for the rendezvous point in the deepest parts of the Lodge.

At this time, Earnest and Hartmann had already reached the alter hall. Lloyd and Noel whom caught up with them, shouted for them to stop while quickening their steps. Seeing the altar, Lloyd confirmed the place to be the rendezvous point.  However, Arios and Dudley had not yet arrived.  According to Earnest, he had sent ten humanoid weapons to stall the two veterans.  After reading Lloyd's memories, Earnest metamorphosed from the effects of the Red Gnosis pill and attacked the two.  He declared that he would help Elie open her eyes and nip the bad sprout.

The Demonic Earnest withstood Lloyd and Noel's attacks easily.  After knocking Hartmann who was planning on getting away unconscious, Earnest opened up the "Door that leads to D" [6] that Joachim once spoke of, and gradually turned into a giant. However, unlike Joachim who was able to attain "True Awakening", Earnest was not able to achieve the same. At that moment, Arios and Dudley, who had rushed here after taking care of the humanoid weapons, joined Lloyd and Noel in battle.  The four gradually drove Earnest to the wall, but he ended up going berserk. Witnessing Earnest showing signs of collapse before his very eyes, Lloyd called out to him to "not lose himself". However, the rampage could not be stopped.

Just as Lloyd and the others were running out of ideas and about to give up, a young man [7] in priest's robe appeared before them. With the power of the holy verses and his Stigma [8], the young priest gradually turned Earnest back into human form. Lloyd was perplexed by the sudden turn of events. In response, the young priest introduced himself as Kevin Graham of the Dominion, and had rushed here upon request from Arios.

>> Temporary Parting and Reunion

After Lloyd and the others returned to Altair City, they saw Arios and Dudley off.  In order to escort the two people they arrested, Arios and Dudley were heading back to Crossbell City first.  Before they part ways, Dudley complained to Kevin, "I wished you would've notified us if you were coming to help".  In response, Kevin revealed, "Archbishop Eralda of the Crossbell Cathedral prohibits all activities within the Crossbell State, therefore it was difficult to get in contact." Kevin explained that in dealing with cases involving Artifacts, many times the Dominion use methods that aren't exactly pretty, and that doesn't sit well with Archbishop Eralda.  Arios, understanding well the difficult circumstances, gave his thanks to Kevin.  Kevin responded, "Because I owed Arios a big one." [9] And then, he continued, "If you find out anything, please do let me know."

With the arrest of Earnest and Hartmann, Lloyd's training at the First Investigations Unit came to an end. After parting ways with Arios and Dudley, Lloyd and the others headed for the station to board the transcontinental railway back to Crossbell City. As Kevin saw them off, Ries Argent [10] came walking up to his side hugging a bag of roasted chestnuts in her arms. Seeing Ries so carefree, a worried Kevin suggested that he tag along. However, taking into account the bad relationship with Archbishop Eralda, Ries turned down Kevin's offer, saying that going alone would instead act as a good smoke screen. Despite that, Kevin instructed Ries to contact him immediately or seek help from the "Trump Card" [11] in case of any emergency. In addition, Kevin told Ries that in the near future Crossbell might really become a place as befitting its name, the "Demonic City of Crossbell".

Being colleagues of similar age created a relaxing atmosphere, and so Lloyd and Noel were not lacking in conversation topics even while on the Crossbell-bound train. Noel said that her athleticism and formal mannerism were most likely influences from her strict father. [12] She went on to say that her father was also a member of the Crossbell Guardian Force but died in an accident during a mission 10 years ago. Probably similar to her father, Noel wanted to protect the people of Crossbell City and therefore had her eyes set on joining the Guardian Force. Hearing that, Lloyd fell into silence for a brief moment after being reminded of Guy and Cecil, but regained himself when Noel called out to him. While the two conversed, the train arrived at Crossbell Station.  After getting off the train, the first to come running to Lloyd and Noel was none other than KeA, who also saw them off when they left. Just as KeA tackled Lloyd, Fran also appeared, hugging Noel as she cried.  A bit later, Elie, Sergei, and Wazy also showed themselves. After the reunion and seeing the lively members, Sergei declared the restart of the Special Support Section.

< FIN >

== SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES == (major spoilers; please read after you're finished with the game)

1) Altair City: Port city of Calvard Republic which flourishes in logistics and trade. Since it doesn't take more than an hour from Crossbell City using the transcontinental railway, many merchants travel between the two cities.

2) Old Altair Lodge: Original hideout of the D∴G Cult located in Altair City. It was refurbished from a cavern temple used several hundreds years ago. The interior is a limestone cavern structured like a maze.

3) ENIGMA II: Newest model ENIGMA developed by the Epstein Foundation. By setting a Master Quartz at its core, can receive various effects such as body enhancements.

4) Sense Heightening Experiments: Human experiments the D∴G Cult did on children they kidnapped. The children who were drugged by Gnosis all became sacrifices in these inhumane experiments to heighten one's five senses and ability to sense the supernatural. Tio was also one of their test subjects, but was saved by Guy and Arios six years ago.

5) The Current SSS: All core members except Lloyd have yet to return to the SSS, and so it is temporarily suspended. Afterwards, Noel, transferring over from the Guardian Force, and Wazy, under the recommendation of Mayor Dieter, will both be officially assigned to the SSS as temporary members.

6) Door that Leads to D: This means to connect with the God's Child of D and gaining all knowledge of Space and Time. In order to connect with the God's Child of D, one must demonize on top of a Septium vein. Even though Old Altair Lodge is also located on top of a Septium vein, at this point in time, KeA is not fully awaken. This results in Earnest's "awakening" ending in failure. In addition, Joachim's successful "awakening" is attributed to the field of Pleroma flowers flourishing in the nearby wetlands. Under those flowers' influence, a temporary link was able to be established.

7) Kevin Graham: A jovial young man who fills in the position of the 5th Dominion. A trainee of term #543 who studied under grandmaster Selnate and unprecedentedly became appointed as squire at a young age.

8) Holy Verses and Stigma: Holy verses are words that calm the spirit, and being able to save Earnest is attributed largely to the power of Stigma. However, since the effects of Gnosis cause the spirit to influence the body in strong ways, the moment the holy verses are chanted, Earnest's spirit becomes affected and his rampage comes under a little control. 

9) Debt to Arios: In the past, the D∴G Cult used an Artifact which could change humans to monsters to do experiments. Although Kevin destroyed their hideout, he could not save the boy Elmer who had turned into a monster. Different from Gnosis, the power of the holy verses and Stigma had no effect on the boy who became a monster due to the Artifact's effect. The "big debt" that Kevin speaks of is the help he received from Arios during that incident.

10) Ries Argent: A girl who is Kevin's squire, and also his childhood friend. Loves eating more than anything else and has a big appetite. In place of Kevin who can't take action due to bad relations with Archbishop Eralda, Ries becomes a sister at Crossbell Cathedral while hiding her identity.

11) Trump Card: Refers to Wazy and Abbas who sneaked into Crossbell City two years ago and have been active there ever since. Similar to Ries, they hide their Grals Ritter identities. In case of emergency, getting their help can be a good choice.

12) Noel and Fran's Father: A Crossbell Guardian Force member who was adored by both his family and subordinates despite having a strict personality. Ten years ago, he got involved in a cross-border Calvard Republic Army military exercise. While covering for his subordinates during retreat, he got hit by a stray bullet and died.