Lucy POV
While Arthur and Miss Julia continue looking over the documents, the four of us, Bernard, Hugh, Hina and I, slowly step into this newly opened chamber. While the previous workshop had a built-in light mechanism, this secret chamber is filled with darkness so I create a ball of light as we enter.
Most of the darkness recedes, revealing a room larger than Magnus Latimer's laboratory, but most of the space is taken up by a large, broken glass cylinder in the middle of the room. My light doesn't illuminate as much of the room as I'd expected, leaving pockets of darkness that make the place feel somewhat eerie. Still, it's mostly visible now.
"What is that?"
Aside from the glass cylinder in the middle, there are a lot of strange-looking machines scattered around, along with various objects strewn across the floor, but what catches our eyes first are the large murals painted on the wall next to the entrance.
The brushwork feels rather raw or primal, but it still carries a sense of majesty as the first mural depicts a large, beautiful city at its peak, with six small golden figures floating in the sky. Hina is the first to speak up while examining this mural:
"Old Meridia? But then who are these figures?"
"Six entities descending upon Old Meridia, doesn't it sound familiar?"
"You don't mean…!"
"The Harbingers…?"
Hugh gives an ambiguous answer, making Hina draw a sharp breath and I can't help but voice the unsaid part.
"But if these are the Harbingers, why are they depicted with a golden color? With this framing, they seem more like benevolent gods similar to Luxion or something."
Bernard also shares his thoughts, and I have to agree with him. The story of Old Meridia wasn't really covered in the game, so I only know the same basics as the others on this topic.
With no more answers to be found in this mural, we move our eyes to the one right next to it, which also depicts the same city, though it's now in flames with some parts of it destroyed. The previous golden figures are still present but now five of them seem to be fighting the sixth one.
"Then if we follow the same logic, is this the part where the Harbingers destroyed Old Meridia? I don't know why they would be fighting each other though."
Hina shares her thoughts, which hold some ground, but Hugh moves to the next, particularly striking mural.
"That should be the case, but then this part…"
It depicts the same city again, or at least based on the framing it seems to be the same place, except now a huge golden column seems to encapsulate the entire city, along with five of the golden figures in this wave of destruction.
"Luxion's intervention?"
"It has been passed down as Old Meridia being bathed in a large golden light to rid it of the Harbingers, though it was explained as the city already being destroyed even before his intervention…"
Hina and Hugh exchange a few words as they examine the mural, and then we move to the last mural, which has even more primal brushwork and depicts the ruins of the city, with no living thing in sight.
Needless to say, the implications of these murals were never voiced in the game and the history of the world wasn't really questioned either.
"What are you two even saying? That it was Luxion who destroyed Old Meridia? I mean, I haven't paid too much attention during history classes, but wouldn't that be a really big deal?"
"...Yes, that's why we held back on jumping to conclusions too quickly."
"But then…"
"Um, Lucy?"
Bernard voices his thoughts and Hugh answers him, though he still seems to have some doubts. While the two of them continue talking, Hina comes up to me and pulls me aside.
"What is it?"
"What do you think?"
"About the murals? I… I don't know."
"What about the game? This seems like a pretty important detail, it must have covered it."
So this is why she pulled me aside from the other two. But even if she asks me that…
"I told you, this entire place was never touched on in the game so I'm seeing these paintings for the first time too. If it really means what we think it does… But is that even possible?"
"If we're talking about whether it's possible… I guess it wouldn't really change much about how history played out. And since those documents said that Magnus Latimer never managed to reach this chamber, this place probably dates back to the time of Old Meridia so a survivor or witness might have created this…"
Luxion destroying Old Meridia alongside all the Harbingers… That would probably change how this world sees him as an all-benevolent god. Well, if the alternative was letting those evil gods loose on the world, I suppose it could be called a necessary evil…
Though those golden figures don't really seem like how an evil god would be represented. Well… they did seem to be causing havoc by themselves too. Ah, but speaking of which…
"But where is Agramon? Wasn't he supposed to be the sole surviving Harbinger?"
"One of the figures seems to be missing in the third painting, but his rampage and the horde of monsters that appeared after the fall of Old Meridia are also missing."
We look at the last mural again, but it only shows the ruins of the civilization with no life.
"Maybe this was created after the fall, but before Agramon rose again? But I don't know, this is a lot to take in already."
"Hm, especially since Agramon is also the final boss. And that he's supposed to return again in a year or two."
Listening to Hina's theory, I voice another concern of my own.
I don't know when he reached out to Seraphina in the game, but he's probably supposed to contact her soon. Ugh, why didn't the game give more attention to this part?
"Hey, guys? Can you come over? We found something."
Arthur's voice from the previous room catches our attention so we decide to put this matter aside for now and return to Miss Julia and Arthur.
The two of them seem to have worked through a number of papers and research notes while we were away.
"What is it?"
"We found some interesting things… But where were you? There was a weird sound not long ago, was that you guys? Did you find something?"
"Um, maybe. But it's not related to Lucy, we'll tell you later. What about you?"
Hina answers Arthur's question and then she curiously asks about their findings.
"It will take time to look through everything properly, but at a first glance there's both bad news and good news. For the bad part, most of these documents don't appear to be connected to Lucy's situation and instead it seems like they were researching the curse transfer spell very deeply. They used dark magic to simulate the effects of a curse and tested the curse transfer spell with it."
"Ah, so that's what that so-called 'source of darkness' was used for. But it's not really what we're looking for, is it?"
"The curse transfer spell? What else is there to research about it?"
After Miss Julia's explanation, Hina seems disappointed but I can't help but be curious about what the aim of this place was.
Well, it's not that I'm not disappointed at all, but I didn't expect things to go too smoothly in the first place. And I am curious why the greatest mage was looking into the curse transfer spell.
"It doesn't really explain its real purpose, but it seems like Magnus Latimer was trying to push the boundaries of the spell and experimenting with not just using the soul for purifying a curse but instead trying to seal something within it."
"Seal something within the soul, you say…!"
"Hm, that's where the good news part comes in. It sounds really familiar, doesn't it?"
"It was the result of a curse transfer spell…?"
This part makes me confused. I mean, it was already weird that the real Lucy being sealed within my soul was connected to Magnus Latimer, but now it's connected to the curse transfer spell too? I only arrived in this world a few months ago, how could my arrival be connected to those things?
"And that's not all. While most of the materials here are about the specifics of this research, I also found this note that hints at a different location that might hold some answers. Here."
Miss Julia finishes her explanation and hands me a piece of paper. With the others gathered around me, we look down and read it in a daze.
'CONCLUSION OF PROJECT LAST LIGHT:'
'With the deadline quickly approaching, we have confirmed that Project Last Light is fully viable if the body of a subject with very high light magic affinity is thoroughly prepared. While we are working with very rough estimates, the results show that, theoretically, under the above-mentioned conditions, Project Last Light can seal away almost anything that meets the spell's broad requirements. Thus, this project can be deemed a success. With time running out, all the necessary materials will be moved out, and we'll start preparing to realize the project.'
Then underneath the neat and very formal writing, there's a more hastily written note, probably added later than the rest.
'Cecilia, if you've come back looking for answers, go to the place you held dearest back then. For anyone else, find the field with a single, timeless flower blooming and return it to its former glory. What you seek can be found there.'
"This is…?"
"There's one more place?"
"Hm, again this Cecilia…"
Hina, Bernard and then Hugh say one after the other and I also think out loud:
"A field with a single flower… Ah! Wouldn't that be the flowerfield with the statue?"
A statue of a beautiful woman could be considered a timeless flower, right? I remember that the magical flowers are also a trial, so that must be what the part about returning it to its former glory means. Oh, also, could that statue be of this Cecilia?
"That was my thought as well. So this chamber might not hold the answers we want, but this wasn't a fruitless trip after all. Oh, but did you find anything interesting on your side?"
"Um well, I guess it can be called interesting…"
"...? What do you…"
I hesitantly answer Miss Julia, who seems even more confused by my words.
"Watch out!"
"...!"
"Clang!"
Suddenly Hugh's shout fills the chamber, and I feel a strong force pushing me away. The world spins for a moment, and right after, a loud metallic screech rings out, followed by a faint shockwave.
"L-Lucy, are you okay?!"
"Huh? Y-yeah."
I glance up and see Hina holding me. Looking behind me, Hugh is on one knee, right where I was a moment ago, his arm bleeding, barely holding his sword. Something long and dark quickly pulls back from him, disappearing into an even larger shadow looming just a little further away.
Judging by the direction, it probably came from the hidden room and its enormous, pure-black form barely fits in this chamber.
"I'll handle the defense, Lucy, take care of Hugh. Everyone else quickly get into position, just like we agreed."
Everything happened so fast that I have trouble getting my mind in order. But seeing that familiar golden force field envelop us, combined with Miss Julia's composed voice, cuts through the fog and helps me get back to my senses.
"Of course. Hugh, let me see."
I quickly pull away from Hina and move over to examine Hugh's wound. It looks pretty bad, but it should be okay with my healing magic. I take a deep breath and then pour a large amount of light magic into his arm. Although this is my first time healing someone else's wounds, the process still feels rather familiar.
Seeing the wound visibly closing up, I glance up and take a closer look at the shadowy monster.
It has five long necks, each holding a head, and a large tail behind it.
"Screech!"
It lets out a threatening shriek, apparently dissatisfied that its surprise attack failed and readies itself for battle.
Phew, I got really scared for a second. I really thought we encountered Agramon, the final boss. But no, it's just the Shadow Hydra.
A hidden boss that can only be encountered near the endgame…
Um, actually, isn't this still pretty bad…?