Audric

Euden: ......
Notte: Something up, chum? You look like you're really working the ol' noodle there.
Euden: I was just thinking about Audric.
Euden: And about the world we visited.
Notte: You mean our possible future or whatever?
Euden: Yeah, that's what Audric said about it. In that world, we had lost our fight and the Empire ruled over everything.
Notte: Yeesh, man. Mondo bad vibes. I don't wanna believe it.
Euden: I feel the same way. But I just can't forget what I saw.
Euden: That's why I'm so worried about it. I can't stop thinking about how things are going in that world right now.
Euden: And about how Audric is doing...
Audric: Keep your wits about you, everyone! Dragons of the Empire approach!
Dragon: Roooaaaaar!
Dragon: Roooaaaaar!
Dragon: Roooaaaaar!
Soldier: Aaaaaah!
Audric: Blast it all, this position is lost... Everyone, fall back inside the castle walls!
Parallel Zodiark: Weathering a continued assault by numbers of this magnitude will make even retreat a difficult proposition.
Raemond: Then I shall hold them here and buy time for the rest of you to escape!
Audric: Raemond, no!
Raemond: FOR THE GLORY OF ALBERIA!
Audric: RAEMOOOOOOND!
Audric: Ah, my old friend... I'm so sorry... Everyone, make for the castle now!
Notte: Did everybody make it out in one piece?
Audric: Would that it were so—but I fear we have again sustained significant losses.
Audric: Additionally, we'll not be able to hold this castle for much longer.
Notte: Oh man...
Audric: As this castle had fallen once before, I was hoping our enemy might turn a blind eye to it. It seems this line of thinking was overly optimistic.
Ranzal: It's 'cause yer here.
Notte: Ranzal! You're alive!
Ranzal: This place used to symbolize the hope we all had, yeah? And if folks find out yer still kickin' around here, that hope might flare up in 'em again.
Audric: I merely stopped by out of happenstance, not with any grand plan.
Ranzal: But no one took it that way. Not us, and sure as hell not the Empire.
Ranzal: Hell, it's only 'cause of you that I was able to rally all these folks together and get 'em to make a stand against the Empire.
Audric: This world of despair came about as a result of my own past foolishness.
Audric: This is no heroic stand on my part. I simply can't run at this late hour.
Ranzal: That's still somethin'. And it brings us hope.
Audric: Hope is an alien concept for me.
Ranzal: Nah, that ain't true. There's hope. In fact, we got an idea on that front.
Audric: Excuse me?
Sinoa: Zodiark. He can surmount the metaphorical wall of time itself— or at least, he should be able to.
Notte: Wanna run that by me again?
Parallel Zodiark: Ah, I see. If I use his power...
Sinoa: Yes. If my hypothesis proves correct, you should still possess some fragment of the power to travel through time.
Audric: And you are suggesting I harness that power to return to the past?
Notte: But what about the castle? What about everyone here?
Ranzal: I hate to say it, but it might already be too late for the folks of this world.
Ranzal: But if you can go back to the beginning and fix things THERE? Before all this? That might be our best shot.
Ranzal: And that makes you the last—hell, the only—hope for this world.
Audric: And yet I...
Audric: !
Erik: The gates are breached! The dragons are here!
Audric: We've no chance to stop them now. Everyone, run! Flee for your lives!
Audric: I will draw them to me that you might make good your escape!
Ranzal: Nope. That's my job. You get outta here.
Sinoa: You are the last remaining hope for the entire world—you cannot fall here!
Ranzal: She's right. And I ain't gonna let our last light flicker out in a place like this!
Erik: We can afford to lay down our lives here. But you need to live, for there are things that you alone can do.
Audric: All of you, I...
Ranzal: Now get outta here and make this damn world right again!
Ranzal: My life's just a drop'a spit in a bucket if it means puttin' all this behind us.
Ranzal: C'mon, ya damn dragon! Come get a piece'a Ranzal!
Dragon: Roaaaaar!
Audric: *pant* *pant* I wonder if any of the others were able to escape?
Parallel Zodiark: I do not sense any other people nearby. We should keep our hopes in check.
Notte: Then we are...the only survivors?
Notte: No! I can't take this anymore! Why did it turn out like this?!
Audric: The blame falls to me. And in many ways, this hell is all I deserve.
Audric: But they entrusted me with their hopes, so I can no longer be allowed the luxury of despair—or even death's cold embrace.
Audric: I must carry on and attempt to atone for this most unforgivable sin...

Notte: So what do we do now?
Audric: Everyone placed their hopes in me; I cannot fail them.
Notte: Look, I know you're planning to travel back in time to the past, but real talk— is that even POSSIBLE?
Audric: What say you, Zodiark?
Parallel Zodiark: It is likely possible.
Parallel Zodiark: As Chronos, I often moved through time. The factor which made that possible still lurks within me even now.
Parallel Zodiark: However, this factor is not whole. Supposing I do manage a journey across time, it would be one way.
Notte: Meaning we can't ever come back?!
Audric: I only journey to the past in order to change the future. My fate afterward is of no importance.
Notte: C'mon, don't talk like that.
Audric: However, I do believe there could be a problem with my chain of causality.
Audric: This chain links people and worlds. So long as it exists, even if one travels in time, they will eventually be drawn back to their own era.
Audric: I cannot risk this happening before my mission is complete. I must find a way to sever my own chain!
Notte: Man, you're really gung ho about this...
Notte: Right then! If you're in, Notte's in! Just tell me what to do and I'll do it! Er, but make it something realistic, yeah?
Audric: Heh. It is enough that you simply be your old, cheerful self. Your optimism and joy are all that I need.
Notte: Really? Hmm...
Notte: Hey, so where exactly are we headed, Your Majesty? What's the plan-a-roo?
Audric: We travel to meet an old acquaintance by the name of Cassandra. I believe she could be of great help to us.
Audric: That said, please do not call me Your Majesty.
Notte: Yeah, but you're him, right? I mean, c'mon! CLEARLY you're him!
Audric: Ngh...
Notte: But now that we're on the subject, how'd you end up in this super young bod of yours, anyway?
Notte: Don't get me wrong—it's cool as heck. I'm just curious how it happened.
Audric: Heh. I suppose I did ask for you to be optimistic and upbeat...
Audric: Well, you are aware that I did battle with a dragon who could manipulate time, yes?
Notte: That super-dragon thing the Dyrenell Empire cooked up, yeah?
Audric: Yes. To him, the bond between Zodiark and I—our pact—was an obstacle.
Audric: He attempted to wind time back to a moment before I had sworn the pact.
Notte: Oh, I see! And that made you look all young and buff and ripped and...stuff.
Audric: It is as you say. However, as a result, I lost my pact with Zodiark.
Audric: But I still did battle with Chronos. And despite my bond being mere dregs, in the end, it was enough.
Parallel Zodiark: We could forge our pact once again, my lord. Why do you hesitate in this?
Audric: When I think of all the times I made you fight battles you'd rather have not, I realize I am no longer worthy of a pact with you.
Parallel Zodiark: ......
Audric: And one who cannot maintain a pact with a dragon has no right to rule this land. This is why I request that you no longer call me Your Majesty, Notte.
Notte: Yeah, okay. If you insist, I won't push it. Should I just use your name, then?
Audric: You may call me Audric.
Notte: Yeah, but that's a total fake name! Why can't I use your real one?
Audric: At first, Audric was simply a moniker that popped into my head in the moment, but I now find it a most fitting appellation for the man I have become.
Notte: Dude, do I look like a dictionary?
Audric: Audric was the king of a nation that existed some two hundred years ago.
Notte: Was he super awesome or something?
Audric: He was an ignorant fool who put his people through all manner of suffering and eventually lost his kingdom for it.
Notte: And you're using his name WHY, exactly?
Audric: It suits me: A fool's name for a fool king who led his nation and people to ruination.
Notte: You are taking this REALLY hard, man. Are you sure you're in the right headspace for what you're about to do?
Audric: Audric's people suffered due to his great extravagance, but there were some things created back then that served a purpose for future generations.
Audric: While I cannot praise him for this, his reign has since become a kind of cornerstone for the future.
Audric: So while his name contains no small measure of self-admonishment, it also has resolve for the future. This is why I will continue to use it as my own.
Audric: Perhaps what I do may also become a cornerstone for future generations...

Fiend: Graaaar!
Man: Aaaugh! Somebody help me!
Audric: Are you all right?!
Man: Huh? Who are you?
Audric: No time for idle chatter—just run!
Man: Okay. Thank you!
Notte: Yo, Audric! I think those folks over there are being attacked by Empire goons!
Notte: Zodiark is doing all he can, but I dunno how long he can hold out.
Audric: With the Empire as our opponent, we'll be facing dragons ere long. We must get these people to safety while we can.
Audric: This town seems to be occupied by the Empire...
Notte: The people who fled said these folks have really been suffering.
Parallel Zodiark: I also sense the presence of dragons. As we will likely not be able to fight them all off, what do you propose we do?
Audric: We buy enough time for the citizens to escape. Notte, you guide these people. Zodiark and I will work to disrupt the enemy's movements.
Notte: You got it!
Parallel Zodiark: It will be done.
Old Lady: *pant* *pant*
Audric: Apologies for forcing this quickened pace on you, but any delay on our part will mean encountering the imperial army.
Old Lady: I'm terribly sorry to slow everyone down...
Audric: Just hold on a bit longer, if you will. There is a place to hide and rest but a little further ahead.
Old Lady: I...I'll try.
Notte: Well, this is a merry band of followers we've rounded up!
Parallel Zodiark: Such happens when we rescue all those in need at every stop of the way.
Notte: It's wild how they all follow Audric even when he's not sure where he's going.
Audric: They cling to hope as a drowning man clings to wreckage. They want to believe there is a place where they can find a modicum of peace.
Notte: Somewhere they can find peace, huh?
Notte: Yeah, I guess if you look at it that way, they don't care WHERE they're going.
Notte: You're strong and reliable, so they all rest a little easier with you around.
Notte: That's probably all they can think about at this point.
Audric: ......
Parallel Zodiark: Is our current course a good one, Audric? It seems highly unlikely the Empire will overlook a group of this magnitude.
Parallel Zodiark: Is all of this not a hindrance to your goal of locating Cassandra and finding a way to travel to the past?
Audric: Perhaps, but I cannot abandon these people to a grisly end. In truth, I am the only hope most of them have left.
Girl: Here you go, ma'am! We're gonna have to walk lots more tomorrow, so make sure you eat a bunch to get your strength up.
Old Lady: Thank you, dear. I am so very sorry to be such a burden on everyone.
Girl: Eh, we're all in the same boat.
Old Lady: To think I have lived to see such times...
Old Lady: But even knowing I am a burden, I still find myself clinging to life.
Girl: C'mon, cheer up! We're all gonna make it out of this—including you!
Old Lady: Ah, what a kind young thing you are.
Old Lady: And yet, I have now lived long enough to see all that I believed in or cared about dashed to pieces on the rocks of fate.
Girl: Huh?
Old Lady: My husband, my son, his wife, even my little grandchild... All dead now.
Old Lady: I offered my prayers to the goddess every day without fail, and yet in the time of my greatest need, she abandoned me.
Old Lady: Indeed, my family was slain by the very dragons I begged for salvation.
Old Lady: I have no one left. Nothing to believe in. My life is a husk, dried out and blown aside by a cold, indifferent wind.
Girl: Please don't give up hope, ma'am. We've got Audric with us now, remember?
Old Lady: Audric... Yes, that's right. Perhaps with him around, I can find the strength to go on just a little bit longer.
Young Man: I heard Audric say he was leaving!
Young Man: He's going someplace super far away— a place you can only reach with magic!
Girl: You mean he's going to abandon us?!
Young Man: I dunno. I guess so?
Girl: No!
Old Lady: But whatever will become of us if Audric is no longer with us...?

Audric: It's been a long time, Cassandra.
Cassandra: Heavens, this can't be! How did you...?
Audric: Or perhaps it would be better to treat this as an introduction... You may call me Audric. It is an honor to meet you.
Cassandra: Audric, is it? Mmm.
Audric: I am aware of the imposition I am causing, but I must ask your assistance regardless. Indeed, the salvation of both this kingdom and this entire world relies on it.
Cassandra: You're the same as ever, aren't you? All these years later, and it's straight to business without a hint of romance.
Audric: I am truly gladdened to see you again, but I fear these other pressing issues must take precedence over my feelings.
Cassandra: And you're still stubborn as an old mule! *sigh* Fine, then. Flap your gums a spell and tell me what you need.
Audric: Thank you, Cassandra.
Cassandra: ...A way to sever the chain of causality? Is that all? Mayhap you'd like me to move the stars around while I'm at it!
Audric: If I am not mistaken, you have studied magic relating to time for quite a while.
Audric: Even the smallest of clues could be of use. If you know anything—anything at all— I beg of you to tell me now.
Cassandra: Oh, I reckon I might know something.
Audric: What do you know?
Cassandra: A way to sever the chain of causality.
Audric: Excellent!
Cassandra: I said I KNOW a way to do it—I didn't say I was going to TELL it to you.
Audric: Spare me your games!
Cassandra: Don't get your smallclothes in a bunch! I'm getting to the point.
Cassandra: Now then! To sever one's chain of causality is to sever one's link to their world.
Cassandra: If you were to pass through time after that, you'd be lost to this world forever.
Audric: This matter involves the very existence of this world itself. My eventual fate is nothing when compared to that.
Cassandra: Tsk! You haven't learned a thing.
Cassandra: You talk about ＂the kingdom＂ and ＂the world＂ as if they exist independently of these actions you're planning.
Cassandra: But what happens to this here world if you're no longer in it? What happens to all of the PEOPLE here? Mmm?
Audric: But this is the only path left to me.
Cassandra: Why did you bother to save these people? Why did you bring them all this way?
Cassandra: And how do you think they'll feel if you carry out this plan and abandon them?
Audric: I...I hadn't...
Cassandra: I KNOW you hadn't—which is why we'll talk about this after you cool your heels and give it a good long think.
Audric: ......
Young Man: Hey, did you hear about Audric?
Young Man: It sounds like we've come all this way just so he can find a way to run off to some ＂other world.＂
Man: What does that mean?
Young Man: You got me. All I know is that once he leaves, he can't ever come back.
Girl: So he'll be gone forever?!
Young Man: Sounds like it.
Girl: But what happens to US?!
Man: We go back to living in terror under the Empire...
Old Lady: Maybe there's some way we can convince him to give up on this fool notion.
Man: Yes! You said he's just LOOKING for a way to visit this new world, right? If so, that means there's still time.
Young Man: Maybe the person he's talking to right now knows how to visit the other world.
Girl: You mean the sorceress? I heard she's about the smartest person anywhere.
Man: But what on earth would such a powerful sorceress be doing all the way out here?
Girl: There's something strange going on.
Old Lady: What if she's tricking him?
Man: She's right. It must be a trick.
Man: Audric would never leave us behind!
Girl: So if we get rid of that sorceress—
Old Lady: That witch!
Young Man: We have to kill the witch...
People: Kill the witch!
Audric: ......
Parallel Zodiark: It is unusual to see you in such a state of worry.
Audric: Hello, Zodiark.
Audric: And I'm simply worrying as I always do. ...Worrying and then making mistakes regardless.
Audric: Tell me your mind, Zodiark. Is what I am doing truly right?
Audric: Or, even if it isn't, am I at least going to save people by continuing on my current course?
Audric: Will it only create more suffering?
Parallel Zodiark: Time is a complex matter.
Parallel Zodiark: Even if you cross through the veil and accomplish your mission, it might not change the fate of the people here.
Parallel Zodiark: However, such things are unknown until the moment they happen. That is why the Auspex herself passed through time, and why the Emperor gave chase.
Audric: In other words, there is no way to know for certain if I will succeed or not. Is that really worth the effect it will have on the people here?
Parallel Zodiark: You carry too many burdens. By rights, there is no need for you to take on so many that are not your own.
Audric: I cannot change that now.
Audric: Perhaps I need to rethink things after all. Or at least forestall my plan until I've found a safe refuge for these people.
Notte: ...dric... Nnngh...
Notte: Audric...
Audric: By the goddess, Notte! You're bleeding!
Audric: What happened to you?!
Notte: Th-the people...burst into Cassandra's house...
Notte: ＂Kill the witch,＂ they said... ＂Kill the w-witch...＂
Audric: What?!
Notte: I tried to stop 'em, but...it was like they were all... Nnnngh...
Audric: Fie, but these wounds are deep... Hold on, Notte! Just hold on!
Notte: Aud...ric...
Audric: Don't worry, Notte. I'll heal you.
Notte: It's alright... You can stop, Audric... I'm...so tired...
Audric: Notte?! NOTTE!
Notte: S-sorry, guys...
Notte: Zethia... I'm...sorry...

Man: Aaaah ha ha ha! We did it! WE DID IT!
Man: The witch is dead!
People: Huzzah! Huzzah!
Audric: Have you all gone mad?!
Young Man: We did it, Audric! We killed the witch!
Girl: Now you don't have to leave us!
Young Man: We did it for you, Audric!
People: Au-dric! Au-dric! Au-dric!
Audric: They've lost their minds...
Audric: I have to find Cassandra! Now!
Cassandra: ......
Audric: CASSANDRA!
Cassandra: Well, look who it is... *cough* L-looks like I made a miscalculation...
Audric: What happened here, Cassandra?! You should have been able to dispatch that mob with ease!
Cassandra: T-take this...
Audric: What is this? A magical grimoire?
Cassandra: It c-contains a ritual...to sever a chain of causality...
Cassandra: It...was almost burned... I...lost myself...
Audric: You gave your life for a BOOK?! Oh, you old fool...
Cassandra: Don't be absurd...who dies for a book? It was...all for you...
Audric: Cassandra...
Cassandra: I've had a good run...in this old world... If I can end it in your arms one last time, I'll end it happily...
Audric: Cassandra, no! CASSANDRA!
Cassandra: ......
Audric: CASSANDRAAAAA!
Audric: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!
Man: We did it for you, Audric!
Woman: That witch was going to trick you! She would have sent you away!
Young Man: That's why we killed her! For you!
Old Lady: Now you can stay with us!
Audric: THAT is why you killed Cassandra?! Why you killed Notte?!
Audric: Your crimes are unforgivable... and they will be judged!
Girl: B-but...we did it for you! We thought you'd be happy!
Audric: No one asked you to do ANYTHING for me, much less commit murder!
Man: And so what if we have?!
Man: We have no kingdom anymore! No law! Even if we have committed a crime, there exist none to judge our actions!
Audric: Then I shall be your judge!
People: *gulp*
Audric: I am Aurelius, the last king of Alberia, and by that name do I condemn you all!
People: *gasp*
Young Man: B-but...but why?! We did it for you!
Audric: You did it for YOURSELVES! You are a scared, feckless band of sheep who only wanted to stop me from leaving!
Audric: You sacrificed innocents in an attempt to save yourselves and now seek to shift the blame away!
Young Man: Urgh...
Audric: And yes, I may share some fault in this. It was I who raised your hopes, after all.
Audric: Therefore, my judgment will be for you to live on your own, without me.
Young Man: So you won't help us anymore?!
Woman: You can't cast us aside like this! Where are we supposed to go?!
Man: What if the Empire attacks us? Are you going to let that happen?! You're supposed to be HELPING us!
Man: Some king you are!
Man: In fact, I bet the Empire would look kindly on the people who delivered the head of Alberia's king to their gates!
People: *gasp*
Young Man: Hey, yeah! Great idea!
Audric: If you are fool enough to come for me, I will show you no mercy.
Man: It's your fault... You're making us do this by casting us away...
People: IT'S YOUR FAULT!
Audric: ......
Parallel Zodiark: ...It is over, Audric. None remain.
Audric: ...This is what my sins have wrought.
Audric: My allies all dead, and myself betrayed by the very people I was sworn to protect.
Audric: Perhaps this world does not need my aid.
Parallel Zodiark: Will you surrender, then?
Audric: No. I will not stop. I will NEVER stop.
Audric: All I can do is carry my crimes, my hope, and my despair ever forward.
Audric: Come, Zodiark. A new world awaits.
Euden: I can't stop thinking about how things are going in that world right now. And about how Audric is doing...
Notte: Uh, so I don't wanna interrupt your sad trailing-off thing, but someone's coming.
Euden: Oh hey, you're right.
Euden: Wait, that's... That's...!

Zethia: No. Oh no.
Nedrick: The adopted child is you, Euden...
Nedrick: And I am the true seventh scion— he who was replaced BY you.
Everyone: ?!
Euden: I was...switched?

Audric: What is the meaning of this?!
Cassandra: It's exactly like I explained it. Little Euden is not the late King Aurelius's son.
Cassandra: The true seventh scion died shortly after birth, and so he was replaced with a different child.
Audric: But then it turned out that the original prince actually survived, and he resurfaced after all those years... Unbelievable!
Cassandra: Well, believe it. Or are you just repeating the facts back to me to help it sink in?
Audric: I heard you well enough! I just didn't WANT to hear it!
Cassandra: Calm down. You're not yourself right now.
Audric: How am I to be calm about this?! Blasted Aurelius!
Audric: To do something that would pointlessly invite chaos... What in the world was his aim?! Such behavior ill suits a king!
Cassandra: But you can't just vent your anger as though he has nothing to do with you, now can you, Your Majesty?
Audric: ......
Cassandra: Because you ARE Aurelius—King Aurelius of Alberia, come here from another world overwhelmingly like ours.
Cassandra: The world you hail from has a different history than the one we know. One that led not to a brighter future, but to one of ruin.
Cassandra: And so the former king of Alberia leapt back in time, away from that ill end. Surely you remember your own journey.
Audric: I could never forget. It was all because of my own foolish actions that the world was led to ruin.
Audric: And yet the man called Aurelius eclipses me in the sheer breadth of his crimes. No transgression was beyond the pale for him.
Audric: Not only did he replace the seventh scion, but he imprisoned the fifth scion for more than ten years!
Audric: The idea that another man's foolishness could outstrip even my own... Unfathomable.
Cassandra: I take that to mean you did not replace or imprison your children in your original world, then.
Audric: ...Beren died at a young age. I had not the time or need to cage him. And Euden...
Audric: He grew up healthy. At least, until about sixteen or seventeen.
Audric: When Beren died, I agonized over it. I told myself I would have done anything to prevent it.
Audric: Yet to replace a child like that... Could this world's Aurelius not even imagine the repercussions of such a deed?
Cassandra: Who can say? I am no more privy to his reasoning at the time than you are.
Audric: I certainly didn't expect him to be this different from myself. I had of course understood that the Aurelius of this world and I were different people, but...
Audric: I cannot fathom him at all. Was his entire way of thinking different from my own?
Audric: Or is what truly differs the world itself?
Cassandra: To be sure, your world and ours are far from being one and the same.
Cassandra: Other worlds are axes of possibility. Places where one thing or another may or may not have ever come to be.
Cassandra: Small differences can produce great changes, just as a small stone cast into water can create large ripples.
Cassandra: In particular, there's no telling how things like someone's personality can, with some impetus, completely change.
Audric: This I cannot argue. I've come to feel that it is a fruitless endeavor to speculate about the Aurelius of this world.
Cassandra: However—
Cleo: In any event, to bed with him, quickly!
Together: ...?
Cleo: It could be infectious. We must endeavor to keep him isolated. And what's more...
Luca: He's burning up! You want me to go ask the elder for some sylvan fever-reducer?!
Cleo: No. Without knowing the cause, I can't well go heedlessly administering medicine.
Luca: Then what do we do? I'm freakin' out here!

Cassandra: This is all quite the racket. What in the world is going on here?
Cleo: Oh, Cassandra! Good timing. Do you have much experience treating fevers?
Cassandra: Well, I know the basics... Why do you ask?
Cleo: Euden looked terribly flush and suddenly collapsed. We've yet to determine why.
Cassandra: The poor dear! For this to happen out of the blue is awful indeed.
Audric: A fever with an unknown cause? It cannot be...
Cassandra: Let me see him and we'll go from there. Where is he now?
Cleo: This way.
Audric: Wait.
Together: Hm?
Audric: Where was he when he collapsed?
Luca: What's that matter? Actually, come to think of it, who are you?
Audric: An acquaintance of Cassandra's. More importantly, was the prince at a royal gravesite when he lost consciousness?
Cleo: How do you know that? We haven't told anyone yet.
Audric: I knew it... Listen well to me. This is no ordinary sickness.
Audric: It is the poison of a particular insect which was supposed to have died off a hundred years ago, but survived within the tomb. And the cure is—

Cassandra: Audric.
Audric: Ah, Cassandra. How is the prince?
Cassandra: He's fine now. Settled, thanks to you.
Cassandra: Did you know what happened because...?
Audric: Yes. The same thing occurred in my old world.
Audric: Though that tomb is connected to the royal family, it's for a branch bloodline that has by all accounts been totally forgotten.
Audric: In my old world, I was the one who told the prince about its location.
Audric: That led to his feverish episode, and I regretted it. Of course, I explicitly did NOT tell him about it here...
Cassandra: Someone other than you must have. A brother or a sister? Or perhaps one of the royal guard?
Audric: How curious that the same event could occur in two worlds that have gone down disparate branches in the flow of time.
Cassandra: The worlds must influence one another. Events that occur in one are highly likely to occur in some form in another.
Audric: Then perhaps in regards to the children, if I were placed in the same position as Aurelius, would I have made the same decisions?
Cassandra: Who can say? It's possible that the same things would have happened due to elements beyond your control.
Cassandra: But it's like I said earlier: other worlds are axes of possibility.
Cassandra: The life of the Aurelius of this world was one path you could have tread. Of that there is no doubt.
Audric: This has piqued my curiosity. More than ever, I would know what Aurelius was thinking...

Audric: The capital... Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would return here.
Cassandra: It WAS ruled by the iron fist of the Other until recently. We couldn't simply stroll on in. But now? I think we can get away with a little recklessness.
Cassandra: After all, young Emile is the one sitting in the seat of the emperor.
Audric: Emile...
Cassandra: My experience with him in this world has yet to reveal an abundance of wisdom in the boy. What about in yours?
Audric: A good question. Unlike his siblings, he does not outwardly seem to possess the same quick wit.
Cassandra: Then the fact that the city is deserted doesn't look like it's down to a difference between the worlds.
Audric: In my travels, I had heard tell of its reputation, but...this is truly terrible.
Cassandra: There's hardly any human activity. I'd swear the place was in ruin if I didn't know better.
Cassandra: Well, it's little wonder. The new emperor is adept at inventing reasons to persecute.
Cassandra: There even seem to be some who believe the reign of the previous emperor was preferable, oppressive though it was.
Audric: I'd hoped things would improve once they were distanced from the Other's rule.
Audric: It beggars belief that the people could in fact look back fondly on such a dark time. Yet another of my—
Cassandra: Yet another of your sins? Honestly, you could do with a new schtick. This one has worn out its welcome.
Cassandra: Though I certainly cannot imagine either you OR Aurelius winning the award for Father of the Year.
Audric: ...I have no retort. Yet that is all the more reason why I must take responsibility.
Cassandra: And just how to you intend to... Hm? What's that?

Emile: Yes, perfect, right here! My statue is going to bring the taste level up around here by SEVERAL notches.
Emile: Oh, and I'm talking a HUGE one—I want people to be able to see my immortalized face from anywhere in the city!
Imperial Soldier: But this place isn't big enough to build something so large...
Emile: Then we just have to level the area!
Imperial Soldier: You mean demolish all the houses here?! What about the people living in them?
Emile: EXCUSE me?! A bunch of termite-infested hovels or a BRILLIANT statue of me—can you not grasp which is more important?!
Imperial Soldier: B-but...

Audric: Blast it, Emile! Just listen to yourself!
Cassandra: Steady, Audric. If you were to fly into action out there, you'd only make the situation worse.
Audric: I know. Right now, I am merely a traveler. If only there was someone who remembered my appearance... Hrm?

???: Your Highness...er, Your Majesty.
Emile: What do you want, Magnus?
Magnus: Will you leave this matter to me, sire?
Emile: ...Fine, whatever. Don't disappoint me.
Magnus: I will be sure that the result is in keeping with your heart's desire, Your Majesty.
Imperial Soldier: Sir Magnus... Should we proceed?
Magnus: It is an imperial decree. We must obey.
Imperial Soldier: ......

Audric: Is that Magnus?
Cassandra: That name seems to ring a bell... Ah, that's right! He was the knight in charge of educating Emile as a boy.
Audric: Just so. He was appointed for his strong sense of justice and unbending morals, which we thought would do Emile good.
Audric: I can scarcely believe that he would meekly obey such a heinous order.
Audric: ...I cannot leave things as they are.

Magnus: Busy times are ahead, it would seem. But for now, I—
Audric: Magnus. I did not appoint you as Emile's instructor so that you would go around cleaning up his messes.
Magnus: What? Who speaks? You would do well to bite your tongue ere you slander His Majesty.
Audric: Have you no recollection of this face, Magnus?
Magnus: ...What?! It...it cannot be. Impossible!
Cassandra: Seeing a man who died long ago standing before you—looking tens of years younger, to boot—IS rather absurd.
Magnus: The court magician, too?! And looking as she did back then... Am I dreaming right now?
Audric: You may think of it like that—as though your former lord has come here from the world beyond with a warning.
Magnus: A warning... I see. I suppose if you really were King Aurelius, you would not be able to overlook the state of the royal capital.
Audric: You seem well aware of it yourself. So why do you lie indolent, Magnus?
Audric: You are an upright man who abhors iniquity even more than I. I remember you flaring up often about perfidy and immorality.
Magnus: That you remember my outbursts brings me deep shame.
Audric: You should feel nothing of the sort. That uncompromising morality is why I entrusted Emile to your care.
Audric: And if you are the man you once were, you more than anyone would be aware of the terrible state of this city.
Audric: Why do you balk at your duty to my son? You are to provide remonstration, and if necessary, guide him to his eternal rest should you judge him beyond salvation.
Magnus: ......
Cassandra: Your king has asked you a question, Magnus. Silence will not be tolerated.
Magnus: It is as if decades have turned back before my eyes. I recall well being admonished by the former court magician.
Cassandra: Because you were even more obstinate than Aurelius. I wanted to give you a telling-off on more than one occasion.
Magnus: Indeed I was... This truly takes me back.
Audric: And I. Yet we did not come here to rekindle old friendships. I ask for your answer, Magnus.
Magnus: It is because...I believe in him.
Audric: What is it you believe in? What do you see in my son?
Magnus: His ability.
Cassandra: Ability? In young Emile?
Magnus: I know what you mean to say. It is true that Prince Emile is the most unlike His Majesty of any of his siblings.
Cassandra: You mean he lacks the talent to be a ruler?
Magnus: That is a valid perspective, but...I believe that he, more than any other, is well aware of that fact.
Magnus: He feels keenly how powerless he is to act on his own.
Magnus: Yet I believe that he possesses a resourcefulness as a ruler that even Your Majesty, the Wise King himself, did not.
Audric: And so you pinned your hopes on that ability. Even so...
Audric: The people are suffering under Emile's tyranny. One can hardly call it governance.
Magnus: I know that. I believe we should support him until a sense of kingly duty sprouts within his heart.
Audric: Your loyalty is commendable, but we speak of a young man who has no head for rule in nothing less than the seat of the emperor.
Audric: So long as he calls himself a lord of anything, Emile has a responsibility. One he must shoulder himself.
Audric: And if he would not do so, then he has no right to preside over anything or anyone.
Magnus: You are correct. Such is why I so dearly respect you. Yet... How does the weight of that judgment bear down on the bond between father and son?
Audric: What...?
Magnus: Emile wants, more than anything, to feel as though he will be all right. He is ever struggling, ever desperate for help.
Magnus: In such times, is it not a parent's role to support him?
Audric: ...I do not recall commanding you to be a parent to him.
Magnus: I do not claim the role so gleefully. But what choice do I have if there is no one else to do it for him?
Audric: ......
Magnus: With all due respect, Your Majesty, the one who was not enough for Emile...was you.
Magnus: Speaking as the wise ruler you are, you assert correctly that a foolish ruler or a tyrant ought to be deposed.
Magnus: But speaking as a father? You made the choice to cut off your own son's future... and that is where I believe you are wrong.
Audric: As a father, you say...

Emile: Dammit... Why isn't this working? Why won't they just acknowledge me?!
Audric: Emile.
Emile: Who goes there?! By royal decree, nobody is supposed to be here right—
Emile: No... It can't be! Father?!
Audric: So you recognize me like this, do you?
Emile: There are portraits of you in the castle... I've gazed upon the painting of your coronation more times than I can count.
Audric: You... But how? I declared that painting an exercise in vanity and had it taken down.
Emile: That's right. I spent countless hours in the storeroom where it was locked away. I'd look at it over and over, wondering if I would someday end up like you...
Audric: Emile...
Emile: ...You know what? No! You won't deceive me! My father is long dead!
Audric: Yes, you're right. He is dead. But a part of him has been unable to move on, and so he stands before you now.
Audric: Think of this as a final admonition from your father, and listen well.
Emile: What? I don't—
Audric: Emile. What happened to this city?
Audric: Your tyranny has ravaged the city; your people grieve. I hear that a significant portion of the populace has fled the capital entirely.
Audric: Before having a statue built in your likeness, shouldn't you consider fulfilling your responsibilities as a ruler?!
Emile: Nnngh... Even you, father? Even YOU would throw that in my face?!
Emile: It's always the same! My "responsibilities as a ruler," my "role as a member of the royal family..." Always that! You think I don't know? I'd take care of it all if I could!
Emile: Do you have any idea what it feels like? To always be assailed with the exploits of my elder brothers? To be reminded how my elder sister would act in my position?
Emile: Can you even grasp the MISERY of realizing that I will never, EVER fill their outrageously oversized shoes?!
Audric: You need not imitate your siblings. You have only but to do what you yourself can do—
Emile: I DID! And it wasn't enough! A thousand voices screaming at me that I'm not good enough as royalty, that I won't be able to adequately rule if I don't change!
Emile: And that's why I decided to say to hell with it all—a ruler's responsibilities, all of it!
Audric: Emile...
Emile: Even though Father...Father alone told me I was enough!
Audric: What?
Emile: You told me if being a prince was a burden, I should cast it away. You told me if I had no need of my duty, I should be rid of it.
Audric: (I did...? I don't remember—ah. He means the Aurelius of this world.)
Emile: And so now you come before me after all this time, and you tell me to do my duty?!
Audric: (To think Aurelius said such a thing to Emile...)
Emile: Grrr!
Audric: (Now that I think of it, I never spoke to any of my children about anything other than being a ruler and their royal status. Did I ever speak to them as parent to child...?)
Audric: (Even as I was aware of Emile's worries, I thought them inevitable, so long as he was born a member of the royal family.)
Audric: (The Aurelius in this world was different. He tried to treat his children more preciously than I did.)
Audric: (Perhaps he valued the love between father and child—a love that I did not attempt to experience.)
Emile: ...I knew it. I've never been anything but an aggravation to you. A piece of refuse not worth sullying your hands with.
Emile: What you said to me back then was just a throwaway comment—just something perfunctory to get me out of your way for the moment.
Audric: (I am left with but one way to help him now.)
Audric: ...Emile, I am sorry.
Audric: It was wrong of me to try and force you to take on the duties of a ruler if you chose not to take them on of your own accord.
Audric: I have never believed you to be inferior. If anything, there were times I thought you well-suited to being a king.
Emile: You lie!
Audric: I do not. To begin with, Alberia overrelies on militarism. Our problem-solving methodology is too biased towards power.
Audric: Be it Leonidas or Chelle, they excel at demonstrating their power to make their opponents yield.
Audric: Consequently, they fail to so much as consider alternative solutions. And this could breed conflict within the kingdom.
Audric: In that respect, since a young age, you have had a strong interest in peaceful pastimes, like painting, song, and dance.
Audric: You possessed undeniable ability. I was most impressed with the play you wrote about King Alberius.
Emile: What? You knew about that?!
Audric: Oh, yes. I thought you might be a king of literature, one able to change our militaristic nation.
Audric: That you did not walk that path was my own fault. Forgive me, Emile.
Emile: That's...you've not... You need not apologize, Father...
Audric: No. I made too much of those who excelled in political and military affairs. In so doing, I implied their supremacy.
Audric: That is why you felt obliged to follow in their footsteps, and when you could not, you began to abase yourself.
Audric: All of it, my own fault.
Emile: Father...
Audric: But remember well this message. Right now, you are guilty of the same sins as I.
Audric: The people are forced to take on duties they cannot bear—duties from which there is no escape. So what are they to do?
Emile: Ngh...
Audric: You ought to know better than any the bitterness of such a fate. Thus do I urge you to cease imposing your will upon your people like this. Do you understand?
Emile: I... I do.
Audric: I can no longer take back my crimes; this is precisely why I do not wish for you to repeat them in turn.
Audric: That is all I would say. Consider it my last request, and do not forget it.
Emile: Wait, Father! Where are you going?! Can you not remain here and guide me?
Audric: I told you, I have already passed on. And the dead cannot remain in this world indefinitely.
Audric: You have many reliable people who would stand at your side. Listen well to their opinions, and have them aid you.
Emile: Father?! FATHER!
Audric: Farewell to you, my son. I pray that you become a good and just ruler.

Cassandra: So this is the royal family library. I was never permitted to enter back in my day, even in the seat of court magician.
Audric: That is because part of its purpose is to seal away that which cannot be glimpsed by the public eye. Only a few outside each generation's rulers have been inside.
Cassandra: It's a place where all the royal family's skeletons are interred, in other words.
Audric: It is distasteful, but undeniable. The place ought to never have existed to begin with.
Cassandra: Well, a royal dynasty isn't all kissing babies and cutting ribbons. In any event, let's make good use of the place now.
Audric: Agreed. Let's start by looking for anything on Nedrick and Beren.
Audric: It would be most expeditious if we could find something written by Aurelius at the time.
Cassandra: I'd wager that's a lost cause. Still, let's give the place a good look, in the unlikely event we find ourselves fortunate.

Cassandra: *sigh* No such luck. There's nothing in any of these records save formal matters.
Cassandra: Some mention the fifth scion's power being judged a danger and seeking the Faerie Kingdom's help with the critically ill seventh scion, but...
Cassandra: ...that's not what you're looking to find out, is it?
Audric: No. I already know what happened in the past here in this world.
Audric: What I don't understand is what Aurelius was thinking at the time; why he made the judgments he did about Beren and Nedrick.
Audric: By all appearances, it is as though he himself was trying to sow the seeds of chaos. His actions almost defy reason.
Audric: I am thus forced to believe that there was something that went beyond pure reason. I thought perhaps I could learn what that something was here.
Cassandra: The Aurelius I know wasn't the sort of man so given to introspection that he would record his personal feelings. Are you different?
Audric: A fair point. Perhaps I ought to start by lamenting my own indolence, then.
Cassandra: What's our next move? There are still countless books we've not checked. Will we continue searching?
Audric: No, I suspect that will prove meaningless. Even if we were to search more, we'd likely only come across records from hundreds of years ago.
Audric: Even so, this was no fruitless effort. I've found something deeply fascinating.
Cassandra: Oh?
Audric: This book here. I've only given it a quick scan, but it seems to have written in it a means for the temporary sharing of memory and consciousness with a dragon.
Audric: From what I can tell, it seems to be a type of simple pact.
Cassandra: Let's have a look, shall we? Mhm... I see. In this kingdom, one has not the right to become ruler without a dragonpact. But...
Audric: Right. Not everyone born to the royal family can forge a pact. There were likely some among the rulers of the past who used this technique to deceive.
Cassandra: A king assuming his station without the sovereign right... Certainly this counts as a skeleton in the royal family's closet.
Cassandra: But what do you hope to do with this? Surely it's a little late for you to acquire the right to become a king.
Audric: Indeed. What catches my interest is the part about sharing consciousness with a dragon.
Audric: Like this world's Zodiark, for instance.
Cassandra: Zodiark? Why would you want to—oh!
Audric: The Aurelius of this world turned to mana and became one with Zodiark after his death.
Audric: Thus, if I used this technique to connect with the fell dragon, I could know what Aurelius himself once thought.
Cassandra: ...I see. An intriguing approach.
Audric: With this decided, I will be returning to the Halidom. I must meet with Zodiark quickly.
Cassandra: Wait. Are you sure about this? To put it plainly, I don't think it's a good idea.
Audric: Why do you say that? Speak.
Cassandra: You're an Aurelius from another world. And the Aurelius of this world has long since passed on.
Audric: What of it? Why now do you bring up things already evident?
Cassandra: Because you don't understand a single thing about yourself.
Cassandra: Listen to me. Right now, the fact that there is an Aurelius in this world is, in essence, a paradox.
Cassandra: If my thinking is correct, some sort of general principle must be at work in the world—something that works to repair such incidences.
Cassandra: In other words, I would not be surprised in the slightest if you were at some point excised from this world entirely.
Audric: Excised...from the world...
Cassandra: But right now, you are severed from the chain of causality—even your very link to the world has been cut.
Cassandra: As a result, you've come unstitched from those natural principles. And that is what protects you from being summarily erased.
Cassandra: You said that sharing consciousness with Zodiark would be a form of pact. It is possible you could be connected to the underpinnings of natural order through it.
Cassandra: Not even I know what might happen to your body in such an event.
Cassandra: But one thing is certain: the world would spring into action to see you expunged.
Audric: Heh. The mere sound of that strikes fear into the heart.
Cassandra: Audric! I'm not joking. It's always been a bad habit of yours to make light of your own well-being.
Audric: Ah, forgive me. I did not think you were joking. But...can this "principle" you describe be resisted somehow?
Cassandra: I'm afraid that's impossible. It is, so to speak, a universal rule of the world.
Audric: Then there's no use fretting over it. I will take the actions I think I must. No more, no less.
Cassandra: ...Honestly, I forgot what an impossible man you are. Aurelius was the same way, for as long as I can remember.
Cassandra: I'm sure you were plenty of trouble for the Cassandra in your world, too.
Audric: Indeed. I left her a debt I can never repay.
Cassandra: Then do me a favor and don't try to pay it forward to me.
Cassandra: While I've never heard the specifics from you, I assume that the me in the other world died smiling, yes?
Audric: Er... Well, yes. Yes, she did. You knew that, did you?
Cassandra: How could I not, my dear man?

Cassandra: Are you going, Audric?
Audric: Yes. Euden and his comrades make for the Faerie Kingdom in the North. I will start by heading there.
Audric: You've been an invaluable aid, Cassandra. I am indebted to you yet again.
Cassandra: Then I wish you'd listen to my warnings...
Audric: ...I'm sorry.
Cassandra: Just... Look, whatever you do, be careful on your way. You've always had a bad habit of doing dangerous things when you're by yourself.
Audric: "My" habits...hmm... Might I ask you something? From your perspective, what do you make of myself and the Aurelius of this world?
Audric: Are we similar, or are we totally different?
Cassandra: What do YOU think? You shared consciousness with Zodiark, so you've seen Aurelius's memories, haven't you?
Cassandra: Did he not seem to be the same person as you after all?
Audric: Hm... I feel as though Aurelius is a softer-hearted man than I. In particular, he worries over his family.
Audric: But not to a degree I can't understand. If anything, it left a strong impression on me.
Audric: All this time, I've thought of nothing but how to atone for my sins. To make right by my children.
Audric: But there may be more I can do— more I can leave behind than a legacy tempered by regret.
Audric: Being impressed by myself does sound a rather strange thing, I admit.
Cassandra: You know something, Audric? I think you, more than the Aurelius I know, are closer to the ideals he wanted to embody.
Audric: How so?
Cassandra: Aurelius often would say "this is how a king ought to be" and "this is how I want to be."
Cassandra: But like most people who wish to be a certain way, he could not reconcile the man he aspired to be with the man he was in reality.
Cassandra: In that sense, young Emile is quite like his father.
Cassandra: Audric, I think you may be the man Aurelius always wished he could be.
Audric: I am no such thing. I am naught but regret.
Cassandra: Then you are a BETTER Aurelius, if not the ideal. How's that?
Cassandra: I find it interesting that you have been influenced by your inferior self.
Audric: ...I see what you mean. Perhaps living according to one's ideals does not mean one will be free of regret.
Audric: At the very least, I have made nothing but mistakes in regards to my children. And for that, I wish to give peace to the ones who dwell in this world.
Audric: Aurelius would want the same.
Cassandra: I hope you can show them that.
Audric: As do I. Now, it's about time for me to depart. Thank you for everything, Cassandra.
Cassandra: You say it like this is our final farewell. Did something happen?
Audric: No, nothing of the sort. It was merely...a figure of speech.
Cassandra: I meant to ask: what happened after? After you shared your consciousness with Zodiark, did anything go awry?
Audric: Regarding the principles of the world?
Audric: Who knows. Nothing in particular has changed. Perhaps you worried overmuch.
Cassandra: ...I see. Good, then.
Audric: Yes...
Audric: Well, I'm off. Until next we meet.
Cassandra: *sigh* Come now, Audric. Did you really think that was enough to pull the wool over my eyes?
Cassandra: You're still so bad at lying.

Audric: ?!
Audric: (So... At times I can feel as though my body is going to disappear. Perhaps this is the "excision" Cassandra spoke of.)
Audric: (What's more, the intervals between these episodes seem to be getting shorter. I may not have much time left.)
Audric: (But I cannot stop. As a king and father both, I will fulfill my duty. For myself, and for the Aurelius of this world.)
Audric: I'm coming, my beloved progeny.