Rhys and Therolina, really Preceptor Seluvis, are riding on a horse they had taken from Redmane Castle. As a reminder, every horse Rhys has ridden has died, so we'll see what happens. They have just entered the crossroads between Limgrave, Redmane Castle and Sellia. Of course, they move toward Sellia.
As had been described before, they approach the great outer wall of Sellia.
They enter the transitional area between the outer wall of Sellia and the inner wall, where the town actually is. Rhys: Hold on. Let me see if someone is still here...
Rhys and Therolina move up the hill, where Gowry's Shack is and, as it turns out, Gowry still is. Rhys: Sir.
Gowry: And you've come back, mister... Rhys: Rhys.
Gowry: Gowry. Good to meet you. As has been established with Gowry, he really doesn't move much; he has an air of lethargy to him. Rhys: I apologize for ducking your company after your generous aid.
Gowry: I and the Kindred did it with no expectation of any reciprocity. Gowry: But I'm surprised you would return, after your previous haste.
Rhys: We came for the war festival. Gowry: Ah. I heard its goings-ons in the distance.
Gowry: So, does that mean... Rhys: Yes. The General is dead.
Gowry: Amazing. Gowry: With the General dead, the land can heal. Fly on new wings, so to speak.
Rhys: Sure. Rhys: I and my companion are trying to reach the church on the cliff, again.
Rhys: A certain famous glintstone sorceror has made his home by there. Gowry: Sorceror? Well, I've seen some battlemages moving to and fro there.
Rhys: Battlemage? Therolina: Defectors of the Academy. Scholars who wanted to put their research into practice, thereby no longer being scholars.
Therolina: That's a good omen Lusat is there. Therolina: We have enough information. Let's leave the old-timer.
Rhys: Wait. Rhys, to Gowry: The seals are still in place, correct?
Gowry: Aye, that they are. Rhys: Will you help us circumnavigate them?
Gowry: No, I will not. Rhys: Figures. Therolina: Seals?
Rhys: Magical barriers block the great gate up north.
Therolina: And you... Rhys: Last time, we took advantage of the peculiar physiognomy of the "Kindred".
Rhys: Whom I assume will shoot us down at sight. Gowry: Yes.
Therolina: Unless you give them the word not to you. Gowry: You can try.
Gowry: Because the favor was freely given, I'm not obliged to reiterate it.
Therolina, really Seluvis, slips on the Caestus. Therolina: I can make you.
Gowry: You can't make a cripple do anything. Gowry: I have nothing to be precious about.
Therolina: There are fates worse than hell. Gowry: You see I'm comfortable living in it.
Therolina: Hmm. Therolina: Do you know the source of the seals?
Gowry: I do. Therolina: Do you have a price for them?
Gowry: Unfortunately for you, I have little use for material things. Therolina: So why live?
Therolina: Every rational creature has one or two pleasures to get them through hard days. Gowry: You're a godless man.
Therolina: The gods made me a godless man. Therolina: Their fault, not mine.
Gowry: I live to see my goddess administer to the worlds. Therolina: And who is she?
Gowry, defiantly: Malenia. Gowry is aware how ludicrous this sounds, to anyone who knows the politics of the Lands Between. However, Seluvis really doesn't care. Therolina: Now we're getting somewhere.
Therolina: You're assuming, as Malenia is an Empyrean, she will one day apotheosize?
Gowry: Yes. Therolina: And I bet you're maneuvering to make this come about.
Therolina: Don't play dumb. This is the favor you extended to Rhys, wasn't it? Therolina: Your "free favor", so to speak.
Therolina: Now that I have a better look at you, I can say I have no little respect for you. Therolina: We are the ones who are awaiting our rewards, for our devotions.
Therolina: Simply because your reward is founded on faith and mine on exchange, does not make us much different. Therolina: We are the bold ones, who marry our ambitions to another's.
Therolina: So let's not be strangers now, and espy in the other hostility. Therolina: We speak similar languages.
Therolina: I will give you a vessel, Therolina: so that you can spy on your favorite.
Gowry: ! Therolina: You're not dim. You see this body isn't mine. Therolina: I merely direct it.
Gowry: You're a foul fellow. Therolina: My foulness has its uses.
Therolina: You call yourself a cripple, and so you rely on others for help. Therolina: Maybe your faith permits you to be helpless. But aren't there times when you wish you weren't...?
Therolina, really Seluvis, puts his lips close to Gowry's ear, as he does in-game when he's talking sneaky business with the Tarnished. It's a habit of his, I suppose. Therolina: I have...dolls of varying...specifications. I'm sure you will be pleased with one of them. Therolina: Just tell me your tastes.
Gowry: ... Therolina, retreating: However, let me make this clear:
Therolina: We are on the business of our mistress, Therolina: an Empyrean as yours, Ranni.
Gowry: Ranni! Therolina: That's right, a rival to your goddess.
Therolina: We cannot tarry long. She has us on urgent business. Therolina: But whomever I send you, will not come in time.
Therolina: You must put your faith in me, that it will come. Therolina: Same faith you put in Malenia.
Gowry: ...Alright. Gowry: There are three braziers on towers throughout Sellia.
Therolina: Lighting the braziers will burn the source of the seals. Therolina: I'm giving you my precious services for but a sentence. I've been cheated.
Therolina, leaving: However, a deal is a deal. I am heading to the cellar now. Rhys hangs back, mystified as to what the conversation portended.
Gowry, softly, to Rhys: ...Yes, I'll trust in his vices. Gowry: He seems to be the type of fellow who enjoys his knavishness that he won't interrupt another's.
Rhys: What do you mean? Gowry, ignoring the question: So you're a knight of Ranni the Witch's?
Rhys: Aye. Gowry: You seem an honest man, in comparison.
Gowry: ...I don't mind you Tarnished. You all are earnest. Gowry: We old-timers are not.
Gowry: Be mindful of him. In the Lands Between, any person who says he is a friend is a friend, but don't let your friends lead you astray.
Gowry: I will impart to you my knowledge of a lost sorcery of the Sellians, descendants of the Eternal.
Gowry: Watch my hands closely. Gowry moves his wrists only; he pulls out a colorless jewel.
The jewel brightens with the color of night; a black hole appears from it, sucking in air and dust. This is Eternal Darkness.
Rhys's eyes are enraptured by this sight, which reminds him of Ranni and Azur's darkness, but is somehow different.
Therolina is observing Sellia. Rhys is approaching him, on his horse, from the distance. Therolina: Hmm. The famous Sellia, with as many schools as the Academy. Therolina: And the ash of the dead are, for whatever reason, still secretive of this town's knowledge.
Rhys is behind Therolina. Therolina: Took you a while. What did he say to you? Rhys: He asked how were the Tarnished I accompanied the first time.
Therolina: Sure. Therolina: Let's get started, then.
The next few panels comprise a montage. This first panel shows Rhys and Therolina lighting a brazier.
Rhys and Therolina another brazier, with both of them fighting off spirits and avionettes with Holy Pots and glintstone sorcery.
The last brazier lit, they see, in the distance, the seal evaporating from the north gate of Sellia.
The two, on the horse, pass through the gate. Rhys: Keep your eyes peeled. Last I was here, a giant ball tried to hit me. Therolina: Is that a metaphor? Rhys: No.
A ball is summoned and descends towards them. Rhys smoothly dodges it. Therolina: Ball.
Rhys dodges another ball. Therolina: Ball.
Therolina: That's Raya Lucaria's favored trap, too. Rhys: Oh, I know it. The very first chapter depicts Rhys dodging the Academy's giant balls.
Therolina: Scholarly types like balls... They see someone approach them.
A Kindred of Rot approaches them.
In fact, they are surrounded by the Kindred.
Rhys dismounts. Rhys: Do any of you remember me?
The Kindred look at the two of them coldly.
Rhys: I guess not.
The Kindred stare at Rhys.
Rhys fingers his staff.
The Kindred raise their arms, ready to cast the Pest Threads.
In turn, Rhys casts the Carian Greatsword, cutting half of the circle of Kindred.
Therolina smacks the horse in the rear, causing the horse to throw itself toward the other half of the Kindred.
Some of the Kindred are struck by the horse, while the rest fire the Threads.
Both Therolina and Rhys throw themselves behind a rock, which stops the Threads.
The Kindred press forward with their glaives.
Rhys and Therolina fire at the Kindred; one's head is blasted off by a glintstone shard, while the other is blinded by the water of the Pot.
From above, a Kindred clinging to the cliff fires Threads at the duo.
Rhys dodges and pierces the Kindred's head with a Carian Piercer.
Rhys throws the Kindred's carcass at the others.
Rhys: I don't perceive them as fleeing. Rhys: Do you have any talents?
Therolina: This doll is familiar with the healing arts. Rhys: ...OK.
Rhys: Then we book it.
Therolina: So long as you're fine with it. It's your mortality that's contested here. Rhys: On my count...
The Kindred are watching the rock the Tarnished are hiding behind intently.
They see Rhys and Therolina run. They pursue.
It is revealed Rhys has casted the Carian Phalanx. Many tiny swords fly at the Kindred.
Some Kindred die from the swords, but the rest fire.
The Threads land in Rhys and Therolina, but in no mortal parts. Rhys: Hrrrg!
They run upward to the Church of the Plague. They curve, ascending to the graveyard nearby. The Kindred are still firing.
The Kindred enter the graveyard, right before the Sellia Hideaway. They see Rhys and Therolina in the distance.
Rhys is about to fire the Comet Azur.
The Kindred are obliterated by the Comet Azur.
Rhys falls to his knees. Therolina: The Comet Azur... Therolina: Hmm... You are indeed Sellen's apprentice.
Rhys: Can you heal me?... In the background, someone's feet are descending.
The Battlemage guarding the Sellian Hideaway descends from the big headstone to Rhys and Therolina. Battlemage: You...have met Azur?
Rhys, still on the ground: Yes. Battlemage: Have you come for Lusat?
Rhys: Yes. Battlemage: I see.
Battlemage: Then I will defend you. He is pointing down the hill; Rhys and Therolina look in the direction of his finger.
Many Kindred of Rot are silently climbing up the hill on their many limbs in pursuit of the Tarnished.
A great blue glow is emitted from the Battlemage's staff; he is arcing his shoulder backwards, ready to lob something. Therolina is pulling Rhys by his armpits. Therolina: Alright then, fellow, this is no good place to rest!
Therolina and Rhys flee; a giant soaring comet is thrown by the Battlemage.
Therolina rests Rhys behind the large headstone; a giant glintstone explosion is seen in the background, throwing the limbs of the Kindred into the air.
Therolina throws a holy pot at the rock wall.
The pot passes through the wall, revealing it was an illusion.
The mouth of the cave, the Sellian Hideaway, reveals themselves.
Rhys and Therolina run into the cave.
The Kindred follow them, the head of the Battlemage impaled on a glaive.
They arrive behind the headstone, seeing only a rock wall. They are puzzled.
Therolina watches the Kindred outside, as the illusory wall has one-way visibility. Therolina: They're leaving now.
Therolina: Here. Therolina kneels, a golden circle flowing beneath her feet.
Therolina touches Rhys, imbuing him with gold.
Rhys's mind is suddenly clear, and his wounds are no longer bleeding. Rhys: ...Wow. Rhys: I feel fine.
Rhys: What is that? Therolina: An incantation, bestowed unto Finger Maidens. Something something Regression.
Rhys: Is it something I can learn myself? Therolina: What, and be a slave to the Greater Will? Are you mad?
Rhys: ...So this is a quirk of your doll? Therolina: It's ... something written in her memories. Or "memories", so to speak.
Therolina: That's why I adore dolls: they have their charms, but they're controlled by a steady hand. Therolina: If only all headstrong women had such a partner.
Rhys: Tempering strength with wisdom, I can agree with that. Therolina: You see, O you see. There is nothing wrong with quirks in mortals, but the puppeteer should have a sure and steady hand.
Therolina: I love dolls... You can explore possibilities you once thought were impossible. Therolina sensually has fingers curving her breasts and her ... female part, let us say.
Rhys: ... Rhys is confused but not disgusted. He's too confused to be disgusted.
Rhys: Right, let's continue.
The Tarnished continue onward into the cave. The cave is so dark, Rhys has casted Starlight.
They pass through more illusory walls and some Glintstone Miners, mining unto eternity.
A view of Rhys and Therolina beholding the cave proper.
A view of the interior of the Sellian Hideaway, full of giant crystals glimmering in the darkness. Rhys: Amazing. Therolina: A good, quiet, cool place to contemplate the stars, I presume.
Therolina steps on a crystal. Therolina: Hum. I'm not good with heights. Lucky I'm in a doll. Rhys: These are just like the treetops at night.
The two press forward, descending into the cave. Therolina: So you were a monkey in your previous life. Rhys: To some extent. I hid in trees.
Rhys: Stargazing. Rhys's eyes are full of the blue light of the crystals. Seluvis begins to understand Rhys's attraction to Ranni isn't transactional by nature but religious.
Therolina: ...I used to be a bit of a stargazer myself. Therolina: I think that's why Ranni chose me, for her preceptor. She has a liking for romantics.
Rhys: You're a Tarnished? Therolina: Less so than you. Show some respect.
Some silence. They are still climbing down crystals, passing by glintstone miners and crystal snails.
Therolina: How did you come upon Carian sorcery? Who taught it to you?
Rhys: I learned it by watching the shadows cast by the moon. Therolina: Really? I've never heard of that. Therolina: Some monkeys are quite clever.
Therolina: I thought it could only be taught by a master. Rhys: So Ranni taught you?
Therolina: ...No. An older preceptor. Rhys: Who are the preceptors?
Therolina: Attendants of the Carian family. Companions among the stars. Therolina: Whatever that entails.
Rhys: So do you see Ranni often? Therolina: Not at all.
Therolina lifts her skirt up, showing her panties. Therolina: That's why I play with dolls. Rhys turns his head away, blushing.
Therolina returns her skirt. Therolina: Heh heh heh. You're an innocent, through and through. You didn't know women in your past life? Rhys: ...I did!
Rhys: ...I was the last of my tribe. I lived a solitary existence. Therolina, teasing: Then I have some things to teach you about women.
Rhys: Why do you serve Ranni then? Therolina: Why?....
Therolina, stroking her chin: Ranni was the one who petitioned me to it. And, you know, I don't know why. Rhys: Then why remain with her?
Therolina: And die in the Tarnished's ever-wars? Therolina: We can at least credit Ranni with the wisdom to not play pointless political games.
Rhys: But doesn't Ranni want to be king? Err, queen? They reach the bottom of the cave. Therolina: Why be a queen to slack-jawed morons wihout getting anything for it?
Therolina: Her quest is intellectual. I'm sure, anyway. Therolina: Now, hush. You see that glow? That must be the seal. She is pointing to the dark-blue glow in the distance.
Therolina: Besides, as much as I'd like to talk about our mistress... Therolina: ...sometimes she has the devil's hearing. ...And I'm deadly afraid of saying that out loud.
They approach the seal. A scholar, just kinda hanging around, bows to them.
Rhys produces the Sellian Sealbreaker, given by Sellen, from his pocket.
Rhys touches the tip of the Sealbreaker against the seal.
The seal - preventing the destiny of Lusat from being altered - dissolves before them.
Rhys and Therolina press forward.
A deeper, richer blue glow lights them.
Primeval Sorceror Lusat is sprawled before him; he wears a sumptuous robe reserved for grand masters of Glintstone Sorcery, though this is now ragged at the edges from wear and tear. Most of his head has been replaced by a giant blue orb, to better help him gleam into glintstone. He is lying on his back, too crippled by his own modificaitons to move.
Therolina brushes Rhys aside. Therolina: This is my reward. Step aside.
Therolina peers inside the great blue orb, looking for the knowledge Lusat peered into.
Therolina seems frozen in place. Rhys: ...Seluvis?
Lusat's paralyzed face.
Lusat turns his face towards Rhys. Lusat: He is not the destined one, Lusat: this snipper of others' fates.
Lusat: You, approach me.
Rhys approaches Lusat.
He peers into the orb that now forms Lusat's brain.
The great blue expanse of Lusat's mind.
A vision of many stars, moving together in unison.
The dark-blue stars soar through space, flying past endless planets and galaxies.
The stars soar and soar; however, they are nearing the end of their journey and begin to dissolve.
The stars dissolve into particles; their glittering light is consumed by the vast darkness of space.
Rhys's face, stunned by the beauty and the fleeting nature of the stars. Narrator: And so, Rhys saw what Lusat had seen long ago: the Stars of Ruin. Narrator: A star cluster is a thing so accidental its existence can only be called miraculous: Narrator: that of many proud, brilliant objects traveling together in complete harmony. Narrator: To then see this cluster vanish in the blackness of space without a relic left of them, as if the cruelty of the universe denied them their beauty, this was enough to break Lusat.
Lusat dying. Narrator: For he recognized the great nations of the Lands Between were no different from these stars, after the Shattering. Narrator: It was more than enough to make a man renounce all of his ambitions; it was enough to fill a man with contempt concerning life.
Rhys beholding Lusat's dead form. Narrator: But Rhys saw the darkness not thrice, but five times. Narrator: Gowry had showed it to him, and Ranni before that. Narrator: Perhaps they saved him. Perhaps they cursed him. Narrator: Nevertheless, he had leapt over the abyss Sellen set up for him, with his head held high.
Rhys sees Therolina recovering.
Therolina picks herself up. Therolina: Well, that wasn't much. Therolina: Some pretty stars dancing in the night sky. No different than the Academy's Star Shower.
Therolina: Alright, you go on. Learn what paltry thing you would, which would be big to your primitive mind. Rhys understands that, somehow, the perception of time was stopped for Therolina.
Rhys, playing dumb: ...You really saw nothing? Really? Therolina: I saw what the masters of the Olivinus Conspectus already teach. It's not much use to me.
Rhys: I see...then I'd rather not waste my time. Rhys: This quest was for sharing knowledge with Sellen, anyway.
Therolina: Alright, let's get out of this cave. Therolina: You first. Rhys leaves Lusat.
Therolina glares at Rhys, as if knowing by instinct he has just told her a lie.