"It seems my sleeping beauty has finally awakened."
That alluring voice stirred Ico from her slumber, her eyes blinking open as she looked around in confusion.
"Where... am I?"
She found herself in a strange and surreal room. The floor beneath her was a checkerboard of black and white tiles, stretching out in perfect symmetry. Surrounding her were four walls lined with half-finished sculptures—torsos of humans without limbs, beasts frozen mid-roar, miniature castles, towering shrines, and bizarre vehicles she couldn't even begin to recognize.
Seated languidly in an antique chair just a few feet in front of her was a striking woman in a flowing crimson dress, the rich fabric standing out starkly against the monochrome setting. Adorning her head were curved, elegant horns—the unmistakable crown of an adult dragon.
"Welcome to the Dragon Workshop," the woman said with a lazy smile, her voice dipped in velvet. "You may call me Alys."
"Alys…?"
"Think of me as an alternate personality. One whose role is to educate the little, unripe you." She chuckled seductively. "Isn't that convenient?"
Ico narrowed her eyes. Something about this woman unsettled her. Her face, her hair, even her skin tone—it was as if she were looking into a mirror of herself, aged by five years.
"Why do you look like me?"
"Heehee, curious about this body?" Alys purred, rising slowly to her feet. Her every movement exuded confidence. "This form is based on what you'd look like in five years… assuming you bloom properly."
"Wh-What?!"
"Of course, that's just speculation. You might never develop this well." She cupped her generous breasts, giving them a slow, teasing shake. "Especially here."
"Y-You vile woman!" Ico's cheeks flushed with heat. "B-Bigger isn't always better!"
"True, shape matters too. But in your case..." Alys gave a coy smirk. "Size is definitely still on the table."
"I'll crush you!" Ico growled, fists clenched.
"Enough with the idle chatter," Alys said, suddenly serious. "If we waste any more time, he'll die out there."
With a graceful wave of her hand, a crystal sphere appeared in midair, pulsing with light. It flared—then projected an image onto the ceiling. Zack. Struggling desperately against a grotesque opponent.
"He's… still going?" Ico's voice trembled as she looked up.
"Reckless, as always." Alys sighed. "Born with the gift to ride any dragon, and yet he throws himself at a monster like that..."
"What is it?"
"A Necromancia. A dragon once dead, now resurrected through corrupted human science."
"No… What do we do? I can't do anything to help him from here…"
Ico's heart twisted with helplessness.
"Tell me, do you know why Holy Dragons are called Vaestros?"
The question came out of nowhere. Before the Vanitas Accord, the Holy Dragons were master artisans. The very Dragon Workshop they stood in was built by those legendary Vaestros. The Ark was just one of their many masterpieces.
Suddenly, Ico understood.
"He needs… an Ark."
"Exactly. And only you, as his Par, can give it to him."
"But how—wait!" A memory flashed in her mind—her conversation with Zack in St. Durkheir Square.
"If it's just a blueprint, I have access to one."
"Then use it to make an Ark!"
"Are you insane?! It's just an imitation!"
Even if it was a copy, it was still an Ark. And this was a crisis.
Ico reached into the Dragweiss, the source of her ancestral knowledge, and focused. Instantly, the projection on the ceiling shifted, changing from Zack to a flood of data and designs.
"Not like I have a choice now…" Since the tenth year after Saint's birth, thousands of blueprints had been stored—some for humans, some prototypes.
"These are…" She flipped through dozens of them, overwhelmed. Every blueprint was incredibly complex—intricate patterns, fine mechanisms. "How am I supposed to copy any of this?!"
Then—an idea. She summoned the blueprint of St. Durham's Ark, the simplest design she could recall.
[Time of Production:Year 846 ASB, Month of July, Day 2]
[Knight: Durkheir Steinert]
[Ark Weapon: Magic Sword Calibur]
The design was archaic compared to modern Arks—but much simpler.
"This… I can do this!"
"Naive." Alys cold voice snapped her out of it.
"What now? Even if I've never made an Ark, I still inherited the fundamentals—"
"It's not enough." Alys eyes gleamed. "An Ark is custom-made, tuned perfectly to its rider. If you force the wrong one on him, it might kill him."
"Then it's hopeless?!"
"Did I say that?" Alys grinned. "The Dragweiss holds more than just blueprints. We can mix and match the components that suit him—from all the thousands of designs."
With another flick of her wrist, thousands of blueprints rained across the ceiling like falling stars.
"You mean… we build one from scratch?"
"Piece by piece."
Ico's confidence faltered. "But how will I know what suits him?"
"You'll need his full data."
"That's impossible!"
"Ara~" Alys giggled. "Lucky for you, I already have it."
She touched Ico's forehead with the glowing crystal. Warmth flooded her body—and then came the information. Every detail of Zack's physique. His height, musculature, mana circuits, stamina, magical aptitude...
"This… this is his body…" Ico gasped. Then she blushed fiercely.
Zack appeared in her mind, completely nude—his lean muscles, his toned abdomen, the curve of his hips... Every intimate detail was rendered in perfect clarity.
"W-Why do you have this kind of data?!"
"I foresaw this moment," Alys said smoothly. "So, before you were born, I slipped into one of his dreams. I finished gathering what I needed in a night... but he was so adorable, I kept coming back for a week."
"Y-You perverted witch! That's my Zack!"
Alys burst into laughter at Ico's flustered outburst.
"Jealousy suits you."
"I-I'm not jealous! Not even a little!"
"Then why are you blushing?"
"S-Shut up! I'm going to crush you later—Wait, no! There's no time for this!"
"That's the spirit." Alys rose gracefully, the crimson fabric of her dress hugging her generous curves as she walked toward Ico. "Now... let's begin."
Ico took a deep breath. Her fingers trembled slightly, but her eyes were steady. "I don't know if I can do it—but if it's for him… this is the only path."