Fragment/7

So, you haven't actually been reborn several times then, Aesc? You've just been alive for a really long time?

That's right. Whenever I banished a calamity, I'd always hide out in a cave and rest in a coffin for a while.

Let's see... I think I'd usually sleep for about twenty years or so?

Anyway, disappearing like that, it's no wonder everyone thought I'd died in the fight!

So...why would you hide away from everyone like that?

Wouldn't they want to shower you with gratitude for saving them from a calamity?

No, they wouldn't.

I'm a Caster, the one who channels the voice of paradise. Most faeries in Britain hate everything about me.

If I'd stuck around after banishing a calamity, I would inevitably end up being the cause of conflict myself.

So I decided to hibernate while I let the clan leaders handle the post-calamity politics.

H-hibernate? As in, literally sleeping all winter while there isn't enough food to go around!?

That's right. Plus, it was a great way to recover the magical energy I spent banishing the calamities!

But I won't have to do that this time. Things are going to change in Britain now that Uther's going to be king.

This LostbeI mean, this will no longer be a world where people kill each other for no reason.

The fact that you said in the future, it's the Era of the High Queen is proof that the world must have changed.

Well... I guess that's true.

The Faerie Britain I knew was ruled by a single monarch, but still...

Are things really that terrible in Britain right now, Aesc?

I know you said the clans were always fighting, but I just can't imagine that all faeries would be so aggressive...

...There's only so much land in Britain.

These days, there's enough for each clan to have their own territory, but that wasn't always the case.

The land of Britain is very literally made from and built upon the bodies of dead faeries.

It only took the form it has now at the cost of thousands of faeries being killed every day in constant warfare.

So the very conflict the clans fought over the limited land in this world created more land to live upon.

For that reason, hating and killing other clans became not just accepted, but encouraged.

Had it not been, Britain would still be as small today as it once was.

So I've always tried to just prevent the calamities from wiping everyone out while doing my best to stay away from the clan wars.

I see... Totorot also told me how the Isle of Britain is made from the bodies of dead faeries.

I suppose I can see how that might make waging war to expand the livable territory here necessary, but...

...Why is it that Britain was small in the first place? In the world I originally come from, the Isle of Britain was much bigger than this.

I can only imagine something strange must have happened long ago that made it necessary to rebuild the land with faerie corpses.

Yes... I've wondered the same thing myself. Why did Britain end up like this?

But I was only born thirty-six hundred years agowhich I guess would be Fae Era 4000 from your perspective.

And nobody ever taught me anything about what happened in Fae Era 12,000, when Britain first came into existence.

Fae Era 12,000... (That's about the same time Olympus diverged from Proper Human History!)

Th-then, does that mean there's no British history that goes back further? Are there really only twelve-thousand years of Fae Era, and that's it!?

Yes. That, I'm sure about. The records at Orkney said as much.

"In the beginning, there was only the ocean, six faeries, a shrine maiden, and a beast."

No. How many times do I have to tell you? If you want to dye it yellow, you use onion skins.

If you want to prevent the colors from fading, you use salt. Boil some water, dissolve the salt, then soak the clothes. We went over this yesterday.

If you're not going to do it properly, then don't bother doing it at all. Just stick to tying enemies up.

...

Nnn... How did it go again?

How...do you use yarn again? Um, and how do you get cotton to look nice again...?

Nn... Nnn... Nnnn... I don't know... I just don't know...

Why am I like this? Why can't I do these simple things?

Totorot...? Are you still up?

Wah!

Y-yeah, I'm up! I-I'm on guard duty tonight! I wasn't just practicing stuff or anything!

Now, what are you still doing up!? Go back to sleep! We're going to the pit tomorrow, remember!?

...Practice? So, you're not just picking up all these tools scattered on the ground?

...

O-oh, gosh! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I have it all wrong, don't I!?

Let's see, um... I'm guessing... You're in the middle of sewing something, right!?

...That's right. I'm making Aesc's coronation gown.

...She told the humans at the castle that she didn't need one for herself, so I thought I'd make her one.

Sewing's the only thing I've ever been any good at.

But...I just can't do it. I've been trying for months, and I'm no closer than when I started.

Two or three days after I hear something...I just forget it entirely.

I can't do anything except stuff I was born knowing how to do.

The Black Knight says all I have to worry about is fighting...

...but ever since I saw those beautiful gowns at the palace, there's been this kind of...ache in my chest.

I keep feeling sad and just wanting to cry for...no reason.

...It feels like I'm missing something important. Something I need to feel whole.

So I thought, maybe, if I could make clothes like human tailors can, I could figure out what it is.

But, I'm just too stupid...

No matter how many times someone teaches me something, I can never learn anything new...

(Sniff)... I don't know why I'm like this...

But...I still want to try making clothes...

Honestly, I'd much, much rather do that than fight...

Totorot...

Well, how about you try keeping a diary?

Everybody forgets things sometimes, but writing can help with that!

It can be just like taking notes! All you have to do is write what you want to remember!

I know, because I keep a diary, too! I-if you like, I'd be glad to share my tips and tricks every day!

B-but, I don't know how to write. And even if I tried to learn, I'd just forget that, too...

That's okay! I don't know how to read or write in Faerie either! But we can study together!

Don't worry, Totorot. Even if your mind forgets how to write, your body can be trained to remember for you!

The very fact that we're conversing right now shows that you're able to hold a thought in your head and put it into words, so if you can do that, you can absolutely put your thoughts into written words, too.

I promise you, that's something you were born knowing how to do, just like your other skills!

So this is the pit... (It makes sense that Camelot wouldn't be built here yet.)

Are you really going down there, Aesc!? I'm against this! It's creepy!

It's quite safe, Totorot. There are no mors near the pit, and all the other faeries always keep their distance.

We won't have to worry about being attacked by anyone from the anti-Londinium faction here.

All you have to do is keep hold of your thread while I reinforce it with magecraft...

And all Mash has to do is hold on tight so she doesn't fall to the bottom.

Me!?

You want MASH to go down there!?

Then I'm going, too! It's not fair to make her go by herself!

I'm afraid you have to be up here, Totorot. There's no one else who can raise or lower the thread, after all...

Oh, right! But then, what do we do!?

It's okay, Totorot. This did come as a surprise, but I'll be fine.

I've investigated old ruins like this a number of times before.

And I know your thread is just as strong as a solid wire rope.

So you don't have to worry about me. I promise I'll come back safe, so just watch over me from here.

Okay, got it! You're really brave, aren't you, Mash!?

Okay, Mash, come this way, please.

We'll tie one thread around your waist as a lifeline, and make a foothold with the other thread so you can stand... There, that should do it.

We should be able to talk to each other through the thread too, so if you sense any danger, all you have to do is yell.

Should the foothold thread come loose, we (by which I mean Ector) will pull you back up with the lifeline as fast as we can.

My enchantment will let Totorot extend her thread up to eight kilometers, but you don't have to go all the way down to the bottom.

All you have to do is reach a point where you can tell how deep the pit is...

...and what lies at its bottom.

Remember, you're only there to look around, okay?

Obviously. The only one of us thinking of doing more than just looking is you.

One of these days, you really need to learn to stop attacking dangerous things the moment you see them.

You're lucky you have me and Wryneck. Nobody else could handle your so-called strategies.

He's right! I didn't figure this out until Mash showed up, but it's true!

You take way too many risks, Aesc! Not to mention you're totally merciless towards our enemies!

Oh, don't be silly. I'm just keeping things fresh.

Still, I will admit that I've been leaning on you all more than I should.

After all, you always help me make it through even the toughest battles with a smile.

I've felt like giving up so many times. If not for all of you, I never would have made it this far.

Okay, I'll be back soon. I'm counting on you to help me navigate, Aesc.

...I've been going down for sixty minutes so far. I'm seven kilometers down now.

...Still no changes in scale, and no signs of life. Although...

Is this...ash? It's billowing up from the bottom of the pit...

(So this must be where the ash I sometimes see in Faerie Britain's atmosphere comes from...)

(And if there's ash, there must be something burning.)

(I wonder what could be down here...)

Hmm... I wasn't expecting it to be THIS deep.

Can you still not see the bottom, Mash? It must be pitch black down there now, no?

Are you okay? Are you cold?

I can't see any light from the surface anymore, but it's actually fairly warm. That said...

(It feels like the air is getting heavier the further down I go.)

(I'm only able to breathe thanks to Galahad's protections.)

Seventy-four hundred meters... Seventy-five... Still no change in the pit.

Can you extend the thread any further, Aesc? I won't be able to see what's going on unless I

...Wait.

I can see something down below...

There's a red light... It almost looks like fi

What's that sound!? What's going on, Aesc!?

Mash, get out of the foothold! The thread's being corrupted! A fatal surge of magical elements is coming up from below!

(No way! There's enough cursed energy here in this Lostbelt to cover all of Britain... No, the entire planet!)

That place down there isn't of this world! Don't look it in the eye, or you'llMash? Mash!?

Oh no. She's lost consciousness! Get her out of there, Ector!

I can't believe it... That thing at the bottom, it's...!

Cernunnos!

But why!? What's an ancient Celtic god's corpse doing at the bottom of the pit...!?

(Gasp...!)

Waaah! Mash! You're awake! Oh, finally!

Dammit, Mash! You scared me to death!

T-Totorot!? Please, calm down!

Let me see... The last thing I remember, I was going down the pit, and

...I'm so sorry, Mash. I was obviously being reckless, and you nearly paid the price for that.

You're in Salisbury's great cathedral now. We brought you here after you lost consciousness.

Your whole body was covered with a horrific curse when we pulled you out of the pit.

My magecraft alone wasn't strong enough to remove it, but with this land's cleansing power...

...and the power of the Wind clan, I was finally able to dispel it.

...Now I remember. I fainted when I saw that fire.

Thank you so much for saving me, Aesc.

I'm the one who should be apologizing. I caused this.

As for the fire at the bottom of the pit

That can wait until later.

That's something we'll probably need to spend ten, twentyno, more like two hundred years resolving.

I'm just glad we know what's down there now.

Thank you for helping us, Mash. Once Britain has been officially unified...

I'll talk to Uther about possible solutions for what's in the pit.

Is that all you have to say, Aesc!? Mash almost died, you know!

I know... But there's nothing else I can possibly do to make this up to Mash right now.

I haven't ever studied any magecraft that could send her back to the future...

Oh no, please don't worry about me. I was interested in what was at the bottom of the pit, too.

In Faerie Britain, people just treat the pit as something that's always been there...

...but when you think about it for even two seconds, it's obviously strange that there's a giant hole in the middle of the island.

I honestly thought it was weird that nobody investigated it in all this time.

So the pit's still around in the future!? Nobody ever filled it in!?

Well, given how deep it is, I'm not surprised. For all we know, it may even be bottomless...

And since, unlike the Spear of Selection, it doesn't seem like something that can be sealed away...

...I don't think we have much choice but to keep an eye on it for a while.

Huh? The Spear of Selection...? Do you mean the Staff of Selection?

Now that you mention it, I'm surprised you don't have the Staff of Selection despite being this land's savior, Aesc.

Did you lose it somewhere?

I haven't heard of this Staff of Selection, but no, I don't have the Spear of Selection any longer.

The Implements of Selection came to Britain along with me when I first washed up here from my homeland...

But I'm afraid my feelings corrupted them, making them...unsuitable.

So I had them sealed away inside this cathedral.

Man, what a waste!

The Garden and Spear used to be Aesc's trump cards!

The Garden was a bounded field that could trap nightmares, and the Spear was a weapon that could admonish any faerie it touched!

But then, during the last calamity, the faeries behaved so badly that Aesc got super mad at them...

And that caused the nature of the Spear to turn away from what it should be!

...If you don't mind my asking, could you tell me what makes these weapons so, um, unsuitable?

...Nnn. How can I put this...? The Spear itself is still as strong as ever, but...

...when it turned, its restraints were removed, and its capability to recharge kind of...went haywire.

Basically, the Spear of Selection no longer uses its wielder's magical energy to power its attacks.

Now, it does so by feeding on the life forcewell, the youth, reallyof its wielder.