Story Summary: Difference between revisions

When Bellond found his sister's grave, that is when he met the mysterious girl of the Black Forest. Laby leaving the black forest, saw a light and followed it till she found herself as the Earth Priestess's grave. Bellond was surprised to find another person in the Black Forest, much less a child. He introduced himself and asked by the girl was in the forest, she explains that it is where she came from. Gaia is oddly suspicious of how she could've existed in the forest of demonic energy, but they both start hearing voices calling for help. The girl jump to try and help but Gaia realizes it is likely a trap by a monster. Laby is lured in by the monster but Gaia manages to save her, Laby seeing its action as a rude prank. Gaia worries for the child, asks if she had any company, family, a place to go, or even a name. She can't recall a name, and tries to adopt Bellond's, he then goes on to tell her about the forest she came from, how it is dense in demonic energy and how it used to go by a different name, Nisha Labyrinth, the Labyrinth of the Night. Using the name of the forest, he gives her the name, Laby, which she gleefully adopts. She then gives her mirror the name, Nisha, calling it her friend. Bellond is confused when he looks at the mirror as he sees no reflection and begins to wonder if it a kind of Nasod. He asks her again if she had any place she wished to go, Laby replying just outside the forest. With Bellond planning to meet with his teacher [[Denif]], he decides to take Laby with him, hoping that he might potentially know more about what the girl was.

=== Ocean, Ship, and Teacher ===

Leaving the Black Forest, they find themselves on the border of [[Velder]], overlooking the [[L1-2|Eastern Lurensia Port]] town, a port recently constructed in the years following the restoration of Velder. The port was very busy, Laby and Bellond surprised to see such activity, especially after the demon war which had happened not too long ago. They're greeted by a port worker who tells them about what had happened since, thanking the El Search Party for helping pave the way for them to reclaim the city. Laby notices metal contraption roaming around, and Bellond is surprised to see Nasods. The worker tells them that the Ponggos from [[Altera]] had come and introduced Nasods to them to aid in the restoration process, however also notes that the local kids have started saying "pong", just like the Ponggos. Bellond is shocked to see the people so ready to accept Nasods in the age, with the worker telling him that thanks to the technology, they've managed to build ships that can take them all the way to [[Lanox]]. That the expedited travel even helping them take out the remaining demon remnants in Fluone.

== Seochu ==

=== Second Savior ===

After being castaway, [[Laby]] ended up washing ashore in the Seochu region in [[Northern Fluone]]. Lost and alone, she remembered [[Gaia|Bellond]] telling her to find a place where people lived if she were to ever get lost, but she soon realized she had no idea where such a place would be. Laby senses an usual energy, she is spotted by a Feudal Guard that worked under the lord of the land, the demon [[Nenya]]. The guard tells the girl that she is on the lord's property and that outsiders are prohibited. She tells the guard that she was washed away from her ship and wounded up here, the guard didn't believe her since the vast amount of ocean between Northern Fluone and Lurensia was an impossible distance to travel previously, he tried to take Laby but she runs away. Other guards try to capture and she runs until she finds herself in an opening with nowhere to hide. [[Mao]] sees Laby and helps her escape the guards. The guards lose her but report the news of the intruder up to the lord. Mao and Laby hide out, Mao tells her that the guards patrol the bamboo forests and prevent the townspeople from leaving. Laby explains how she ended up here, but just confuses Mao, she asks to go to the town. Mao first properly introduces herself but tells her that she probably shouldn't head to town, since the guards would likely be looking for her there. She then offers to take Laby to her home, as she lives a bit away from the town, up high in the mountains. Mao tells her that after the capital of the Xin Empire fell, the individual provinces fell into chaos and the lord of their province began abusing their power and working their citizens like slaves.

The two decide they must sneak into the castle and try to hop the roof during the darkness of night. As the two traverse the rooftops, Laby notices that Mao seems experienced sneaking around the castle. Mao sense things are off, the number of soldiers inside the castle were even greater than the number which Nenya had when he came to region, not only that but she felt an aura from them unlike the ones outside, they felt similar to her grandpa. They learn that the soldiers were demons. Mao begins to panic learning that demons were already among the castle's ranks. Laby tries to calm her down and sets saving Kallon as their first priority. They find themselves at a locked door but Mao manages to pick it with a special needle she had, Laby was curious if she had learned the skill form Kallon, Mao admits that she learned it from her parents. She dodges the fact her parents were thieves and passes them off as having been locksmiths. Wandering through the corridors, Mao finds her grandpa's glasses, surprised to see it, Laby accidentally discovers a hidden passage. They follow the path and find themselves underground, but they are attacked by [[Gunther]] who was easily able to smell Mao's human scent. Halting them from reaching the [[L2-4|Underground Dungeon]], Laby fights against Gunther and manages to save Mao as they slip by. After Laby saved her, Mao begins to regret dragging her into her own problems, but Laby calls Mao stupid for thinking that way. She tells Mao that she saved Laby earlier because she wanted to protect her, same as Laby did here, that she is using her power to protect others, that she wants to protect others. With that behind them, they both feel ready to head on and save Kallon.

=== From Ground to Sky ===

Inside the dungeon, [[Mao]] begins to wonder if [[Kallon]] really did do something to get arrested, if he had done something in the past. Being suspicious of the demons in the castle and why her grandpa lived far away from the rest of the people. But she still cares for him and want to rescue him. They overhear a guard approaching and they hide from sight, sneaking by the guards patrolling the dungeon. One of the prisoners call out to them, and reveals himself to be the previous lord of the town. He tells the two girls that [[Nenya]] and him army came and imprisoned him, and worries why the two girls would be in such a place. He hopes that the situation could be resolved once the central capital's army comes to the region, and suggests they wait it out. Mao tells the lord the unfortunately truth that the capital is still in shambles for quite some time. Learning that the lord fears for his own life since Nenya likely only kept him around in the event inspectors from the capital came. [[Laby]] tries to break the lord free but he insists that he is in no position or state to help them out, and he wishes not to abandon his fellow citizens who were also imprisoned. They are spotted by the guards, Laby and Mao fend them off and then manage to start freeing the inmates. They find Kallon and try to save him but an alarm rings and the warden, [[Deborah]], shows up. Deborah notices the children and criticizes Kallon for playing family with humans, Kallon then criticizing her for being disloyal to their original lord, [[Aegirp]]'s, orders. Deborah expresses her frustrations with their previous lord and how her seemingly abandoned them all this time. Kallon admits he sympathized with her but could not accept that they've rolled over for Nenya. Deborah fights them but Laby and Mao manage to defeat the demon, allowing for the other prisoners to escape. Kallon takes the opportunity to talk with his former comrade, he tells her that Aegirp believed that interchange between demons and humans was of most important, that even a foot soldier like her must've been chosen with care for the task. Deborah expresses her wavering faith in their lord's belief, but Kallon tells her that the time he spent till the point has proven their dream to be possible. Laby and Mao come and suspect with Nenya controlling the demons forces they must confront him directly to deal with the greater issue, all of them together head upwards to track down Nenya. Deborah seeing the child call Kallon her grandpa, starts to see that maybe Aegirp's dreams were possible.