[Edanian Journey] Elion

Chapter 2: A Comrade Reunited Among the gathered devotees, I witnessed a ritual in which a sinner was offered up. The sinner was pierced by a priest and killed, then cast into the lake. Moments later, they rose again, looking just like the other devotees. The priest praised the miracle, then named me as the next sinner. I fought back against the devotees as they closed in, but even those I struck down simply rose again. Before long, I was surrounded. Then someone appeared and broke through one side of the crowd. It was <b>Margarethe</b>. I ran toward her, and together we managed to escape. Margarethe claimed that I had asked her in advance to save me from danger, but I had no memory of doing anything of the sort. Hearing her call me comrade once more, I now stood face to face with someone I had once watched die. Margarethe admitted that she really had died back then. But after being pierced by Enslar's spear, she had awakened at the ruins with no memory of her past. Margarethe, too, had been given a new life as a <b>Black Spirit symbiote</b>. The apprentice Valkyries there had found her, and she began another life in pursuit of becoming a Valkyrie. But the Church regarded her much like a heretic, and in the end, she was forced to flee the Holy College. Later, she happened upon Enslar's legacy, which restored the memories of her previous life. Wanting to uncover the truth behind those memories, she had made her way back to Edania. Margarethe thanked me for stopping Enslar. She admitted that part of her heart still felt hollow, but her resolve to seek the light once more remained unchanged. She told me that the sacred power once stagnant in Orbita was now gathering and flowing toward a single place: Magaia. The scriptures of Elion spoke of a city built between heaven and earth, and Margarethe believed this might be that very <b>sanctuary</b>. My old comrade intended to find Elion and learn the truth behind the corruption. I told her that I had come in search of a brazier. Even Enslar had failed to accomplish what lay before us. Still, hoping there might yet be a chance to undo what had been done, we decided to travel together once more.