Blue Archive story · Volume 6, Chapter 2, Episode 3
Vol. 6 Ch. 2 Ep. 3: Where Help Is Needed
1 scenes, 137 lines
1. Part 1
137 lines
Gah!
Aaah?!
M-Misaki?!
Ugh...?!
Watch out!
Mine?!
It was a matter of perspective.
In a way, it was simple.
In a way, it was trivial.
There were those who believed they alone held the pen to the "truth."
Mankind instinctively seeks to prove itself to god.
To claim to be the one true orthodox is inherently a declaration that all who oppose you are wrong.
And the council hereby declares...
...the permanent and irrevocable excommunication of Arius.
In the name of our holy parents, holy children, and the holy spirit.
And thus began
the long history of our persecution.
(This is...Arius'...)
There was no path forward. With nothing but bloodied hands and battered souls, we forged our own.
Light faded from existence, and we were sacrificed to the shadows. They left us to rot in sewage and despair, existences no better than the rats that scuttled beneath their feet.
Trinity thirsted for our complete eradication.
From the highest reach of the sky, to the deepest pits of this land, they wanted our existence to be expunged from reality itself.
It was under these circumstances that our survival became the highest form of resistance. Our only one.
We festered with a hatred that we were too weak to avenge, and so it collapsed inwards.
So many were lost.
Meaningless loss soon became entangled in the rhythm of our daily lives.
Hatred spread through us like poison.
And thus.
Vanitas vanitatum. All is in vain.
...!
Trinity, those presumed judges, declared our excommunication inevitable.
Trinity, those presumed judges, declared it the consequence of our own sins.
Trinity, those presumed judges, declared suffering our penance and fate.
Here, we protest.
"Fate" is nothing but a fabrication. Nothing in this world is predetermined.
If not for their own machinations in the past, where would we be standing? They must answer us.
If not for the history they determined, what kind of "tomorrow" would we be dreaming of? They must answer us.
If not for the hatred they planted, what fruits of love would we be harvesting today? They must answer us.
P-Please forgive me... I was wrong... I'm sorry...
I'm sorry...sorry...so sorry... I'll never...
...!
There exists a world where it is a sin for a child to hope.
There exists a world where it is a sin for a child to pray for happiness.
I'll let go of all hope... I won't rebel.
I will never pray for happiness... Never again... I'm sorry...
In such a world, even the word "mercy" no longer holds meaning.
Have mercy...please...
Mercy...
Answer us.
What sanctity lies in a truth that took away our children?
What is "righteousness" before the tears of a starving child, whose meals are procured through thievery? Whose hands know no warmth but their own breath?
Who can claim "justice" before a child whose life has known naught but meaningless suffering?
That's...
ANSWER!
It is your duty! Your obligation!
The present is built upon the foundations of its dark past!
It was a mere matter of perspective! Interpretation! Something so simple, so utterly trivial.
And yet, from this wellspring did rage and resentment, hatred and despair, burst forth.
The children of this land have long walked alongside death, treading closer than any other else in Kivotos.
So tell me, by what audacity, by what entitlement, do you dare live on?
Answer.
I...cannot.
For I possess no answer to your question.
The issue lies in the question itself...for no justification can or should ever be made.
*sob*
*sob*
Even the stars and the moon in the sky
could not bear to face their sins, and hid away their light.
Quo vadis, Domine.
As your student...
There's something I want to ask you.
...At the end of the lowest of the lows...
What makes someone
stay on their feet...?
"...What that person believes in."
"Some things don't work that way."
"What makes someone act is their feelings and beliefs."
"Whether it be faith in something great..."
"...Or trust in something within themselves."
(Sensei...)
(Then where is it I must place my faith?)
(Please, guide me, Sensei.)
(How can Trinity atone...for all the sorrow and tragedy we caused?)
Do what you believe in.
(I do not recall Sensei saying such a thing...)
What you believed in.
What kept you going in your darkest moments.
We cannot change the past.
But that doesn't mean we can't continue living in the present.
So if the path you took till now isn't wrong.
Continue to stay true to that path and prove yourself.
If you turn a deaf ear
to the voices calling out for help,
how would you see yourself?
...!!
(...I see. That's how Sensei...!)
...
I have my answer.
Perhaps it may not be a satisfactory one.
However, I shall declare, here and now, my right to continue living on, despite our sins.
You are correct. This world is one overflowing with sorrow, one where pain is often the keystone of our existences.
The present could not exist without the sacrifices etched into the foundations of the past.
Despite these incontrovertible truths, I shall continue my trivial, menial pursuits.
And if those pursuits can remove even one spoonful from the deluge of sorrows...
...I seek nothing else.
There are things in this world I must protect.
I do not do so with the expectation of reciprocation.
Since when did my hubris lead me to such reprehensible entitlement?
For it is both my duty and my pride to follow my path of righteousness.
Go forth with faith and honor in your heart.
Upon reflection, calls for aid echoed all around me.
If I could only return in time and attend to each and every one of them.
Why must the limits of our bodies be so restrictive to our desires?
Regardless, the path forward is clear.
I shall never allow those voices to fall upon deaf ears again.
As long as these feeble hands can reach, I shall hold them out.
It is my naive hope that these seemingly microscopic choices shall accumulate, piece by piece, effort by effort.
And one day, each and every one of these innocent children...
...can see a better future, in a better time.
Captain?!
Captain?!
The Remedial Knights will protect you!