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here]When Anise stepped outside, she braced herself for the pounding rain that was sure to soak and flatten her pigtails, but even after taking a few steps, nothing hit her. Not only that, but she couldn't even hear the storm anymore. The dramatic difference in atmosphere between this place and what she had anticipated left the girl
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Luke's words struck him, though Anise's response reminded him of how she was behind on all of this. He sent her a worried glance before nudging Luke. "Don't say that. We were all waiting for you, you know." He'd never stopped, either. It was Landel's that had interrupted that waiting process. Even after so much time had passed, Guy had refused to give in. Because Luke had said he'd come back, and that had been enough to make him believe.
Of course, the strangest thing about all of this was how it was if they weren't even here. It felt like they were eavesdropping, but Guy was quickly drawn into the conversation when a familiar name was mentioned.
"Natalia?" he echoed, as the others were apparently speechless for the moment. Even after raising his voice, no one looked their way. But what did that mean? Had she run off to do something reckless, or... was it possible she'd been brought to Landel's? They had been at Doyleton all day, so if she'd suddenly showed up, none of them would have known. Guy felt a knot form in his stomach. While he'd often thought about how nice it would have been to see the princess again, it was harder to see it that way when he had to witness the king's reaction.
He tried to remind himself that it was probably all some elaborate fabrication, but it wasn't that simple.
"I thought we'd figured out that time couldn't pass while we were gone," he murmured, half to himself and half to the other two. He didn't want this to be real, but it was difficult to deny when it was right in front of them like this.
One of the guards spoke up next. "First Malkuth's emperor, and now Kimlasca's princess? Just what's going on here?"
So they were acting as if Peony was gone, too. Guy gave a small shake of his head, wanting to write it all off as fake. While Auldrant was more or less at peace now, losing so many important figures would obviously raise up a plethora of issues. And the fact that all they could do was stand here and watch just made it even more aggravating. The servant clenched his fists, unsure of how long he was willing to endure this.
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He was gone. It was a matter of fact.
Time proved that it was better to pull it together, to listen and show that he could handle this. Fingers clenched tight-one still around the bare hilt of his sword, the other just into a fist-he struggled to pull it together. Guy and Anise needed this right now.
The most important part was that he realized that he needed to listen to this-that all of them needed to. It was an indication that they were clearly absent from their worlds, and that by being able to look in, but not interact, there were people missing them. For all his uneasiness at seeing this place, seeing it without him, and the realizations wrapped up in that, he couldn't deny that singular fact. This was important.
"That means Natalia's gone," he said. "And that time passes, doesn't it?" Luke turned his head a little to glance toward Guy, and the expression marking his features made it clear that he was prepared to stand and listen.
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Anise looked from Luke to Guy, then back again, but their expressions only seemed to confirm her fears. A lump was beginning to form in Anise's throat. She didn't want to lose any of her friends!
But this wasn't the time to talk about that. What was happening in front of them was important, and they needed to listen. In the meantime, Anise was just going to have to tell herself that things were going to work out somehow, and she'd have to try to believe it.
The girl swallowed, trying to clear away that lump in her throat, before speaking up. "She might be at the institute, or... maybe she's one of the visitors coming tomorrow," she suggested, even though she knew it was a horrible thought. The Head Doctor had been talking about visitors in a creepy way that evening, so it was definitely possible. "Maybe the Head Doctor's doing this to show us that the visitors aren't fake." There were a lot of people on the bulletin who seemed to suspect that they were impostors, after all.
The king was speaking again, this time to one of the knights. "Send word to all active search parties. Inform them that they are now to search for the princess as well. Also... organize as many men as we can spare, and have them join the search. Do whatever it takes to find my daughter." Though it was a royal command, it sounded somewhat like a desperate plea. Anise even felt a little sorry for the guy, seeing him like this.
With a salute, the knight who was addressed turned and took his leave, passing right by Anise and the others as he made for the doors.
These people really couldn't see them... It was sad, in a way. If they could just talk to them, they could tell the king and everyone here about what was really going on. As it was, they could only watch helplessly as everyone struggled to deal with this mystery.
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"We won't know for sure until we're back there." As much as Guy would have liked to think that they were really home, that clearly wasn't the case. Even though it seemed to be day here, at some point the night was going to end and then they'd be back in their beds again. At least he could mentally prepare for that.
Either way, he was going to have to keep an eye out for Natalia the following day. The princess tended to stand out in a crowd, so he didn't think it'd be too difficult. If he had to choose between Natalia being at Landel's and Natalia being brainwashed, he'd definitely go with the first choice, though.
When the knight walked past them, Guy moved out of his way out of pure instinct, though it became clear that the man had no idea that they were there. Sighing, Guy turned to Luke and considered his question about the passage of time.
"We'd always thought that time didn't pass because of the fact that we were from such varying points in time," he started to explain, hand to his chin. "The last thing Anise remembers about our journey happened years ago for me. The emperor, when he was still around, was brought to Landel's almost right after Van's death. If all of this is really happening," he said with another glance around the room, "then we're going to have to rethink things."
More specifically, they would have to ditch the idea of different times and accept the fact that their memories had been tampered with instead. There was solid proof of that, after all.
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There was also the matter of memory. Pointing out that their memories didn't line up was a futile point. Luke didn't remember the past two times he was within the institute; somewhere out in the world, Emperor Peony and Tear were living. The fact that it was a point of defense for Guy's part unsettled him. Were they so locked into the belief that they weren't just having their memories adjusted?
"And I'm not sure the memories thing is much of a point," Luke confessed, realizing he already stepped into unknown waters there with Anise. Admitting it when everyone was standing before him expectantly was one thing, but she hadn't come to that time yet. He didn't realize, because everything seemed so natural-their banter, their sharing of information, he hadn't thought to ask her if she came from a different point in time. Now that he knew differently, he felt sheepish.
After all, it was one thing to produce a promise and hold on to it, but inwardly wish for everyone to continue forth, but it was another for someone to not know why that promise should be made. Damn ... if he could have continued faking for her, it would be too late. He couldn't muster up the ease and calm about it for her; it was too late to put on that kind of facade. Then again, he didn't know how long ago it had been for her. Maybe that mask wouldn't do much good, anyway.
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It had taken Anise a long time to accept that the Head Doctor could have manipulated time in order to bring everyone to Landel's from different points in time. An enemy with that kind of power was a little too scary. And besides, they already knew that the doctors could mess with their memories, so it seemed natural to conclude that that was what happened. So what had made her rethink it? It took a moment to recall.
"Um, but... if two years really passed, and I just lost my memories of it..." The girl hesitated to continue. It wasn't easy to talk about her own shortcomings like they were common facts to be considered. "Wouldn't I be, like... a little bigger by now?"
Maybe it was too much to hope that she'd be Tear's size by the age of sixteen, but two years should have been enough for her to develop some curves. She should have at least gained a few inches in height! And even her hair was the same length she remembered it being. All things considered, it sure didn't look like years had passed for her.
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Anise did have a point about her physical appearance, but it wasn't something Guy could comment on that confidently. She hadn't changed that much over the years, if he had to be honest with himself. Was she a little shorter than he remembered, maybe? It was hard to know for sure.
"That's true," he said as he expelled a breath and crossed his arms over his chest. "You'd at least feel different." It was pretty hard to imagine that someone would be unable to tell that their body was two years older than what they were used to, so that did make it harder to assume their memories had just been messed with.
So, once again, he was back to wondering if this was just a fabrication. The fact that they were unacknowledged by the king and everyone else seemed to lend credence to that, but Guy would rather that they were thorough about this. "Maybe we should try to explore a bit and see how much of Baticul we can see," he suggested. "If this is just some kind of illusion, then we probably won't be able to travel that far." He couldn't know that for certain, but it didn't seem like an unreasonable thing to assume.
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"Yeah, let's get moving. We might be able to find something useful, too. But-uh, you've gotta wonder. Do you think we'll just wake up in bed like nothing happened?" He imagined it wouldn't be so different from being transported from their worlds, especially in his case-he was supposed to be dead, after all.
Luke shifted his grip with the sword, and he started moving toward the exit. They could pick up a bulk of useful items here, from gels to armor. There was no way of knowing they could get them in the morning, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Better weapons, too, he realized-but he didn't want to look at his gift from Leon as a burden. It just didn't hurt to try.
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Luke was already moving, so Anise went bounding after him, not wanting to linger behind. She ran ahead of the older boy, not slowing down until she reached the doors at the end of the room. They were closed, as expected for a discussion as serious as this, so the girl tucked her flashlight under her arm, reached for the handle... and missed it, somehow. She tried again, but this time she watched as her own hand passed right through the handle.
"--Aah!" she cried in surprise, pulling her arm back as though it had been burnt. Then, cautiously, she reached her hand forward, watching it pass easily through the door itself. Letting it linger there for a few seconds, she slowly turned her head to face the others with a look of hesitation. "This is creepy," she whined to them. Maybe she should have seen it coming, when nobody could see or hear them, but Anise just didn't know what to expect lately.
It looked like going through was going to be their only way out, though, so after a few more seconds of hesitation, Anise finally decided to step forward, putting her entire body through the closed door.
Part of her wondered if she might end up back in the institute, as this was the way they entered through, but instead she found herself in the main entry room of the castle, with a long staircase before her, and soldiers and servants going about their business below. Even though this was feeling more and more like an illusion, everything just looked so real.
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Watching Anise as she raced for the door, Guy simply walked at Luke's side. There was no need for them to rush around, especially when no one could see them. The girl's yell startled him for a split second, especially since he didn't know what was causing it. It wasn't like the door had suddenly opened or anything, so...
Then Anise gave a demonstration, and Guy's eyebrows raised about as high as they could go. "What the..." It was almost like they were ghosts or something. He knew that couldn't be the case, but nonetheless, Anise was right. This was all starting to get pretty eerie, though he quickly tried to tell himself that the illusion probably just wasn't sophisticated enough to account for actually touching and interacting with the environment.
He watched as the girl stepped right through the door, and after just a moment of hesitation, followed after her. When greeted with the familiar image of the castle's entry room, he exchanged glances with both of his friends. "So this probably means we can at least move throughout the castle," he guessed. "Where should we head next?" They could either wander around in here or check to see if they could explore the rest of the town. This place probably wasn't going to be too interesting if Natalia was gone, but Guy waited for the others' opinions.
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He stepped right through the doors after Guy, glanced up toward the ceiling, and decided. They could search the castle if they wanted, but he knew that anything interesting was just related in the throne room. "Let's go check out what people have to say," he told his friends. "I want to know how things are. If Malkuth is really missing Peony and Jade, then we might be able to pick up on what the people think about it all. We'll be prepared when we come back." When you come back. He didn't correct himself, not after his first slip up.
Luke only hoped that listening to people would help. He knew it would be harder when they couldn't see them, but maybe it was for the best. They couldn't look this piece of information in the face and write it off. If everyone's homes were truly in trouble, or Landel had some unusual control over how time flowed, then everyone would need to know. Plus, it was obvious that more was at stake: with Natalia gone, as well, Landel had some unusual fixation on their home. And if that was the case, why was that?
Before he started to walk down the steps toward the entrance to the castle, he hesitated, passing his hand through the door again to see how that actually occurred. As unsettling as it was that his friends passed through it, he could only think of looking down toward his hands and seeing through them-seeing that he was dying. There was no way that was what was happening here, but he worried for what this was doing to his friends.
But he knew it was bad to linger. They would wonder, so he turned and started the steady trot down the stairs so he could see the state Baticul was in.
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Once he made the suggestion, Anise started down the stairs, but stopped when she noticed he wasn't following. She looked back to see him testing the door with his hand. It was hard to blame the guy for needing to take a moment, with how bizarre this entire situation was. As soon as he started following, the girl turned back to face the main doors, and continued bounding down the stairs. She hesitated a moment at the doors, still unused to the idea of walking through objects, but she soon convinced herself to go ahead, and she stepped through easily to the outside.
"Huh?"
The girl stopped in her tracks, staring at the scene before her, then jogged several steps forward to get a better look at the space outside. The blue sky above, the clean air around them... This was different from the Auldrant Anise remembered.
"The miasma's really gone..." Anise vaguely remembered someone telling her as much some time ago, but actually seeing it for herself was something else entirely. It was a wonderful sight, seeing her world restored like this, but it also drove home the fact that she really had missed out on a lot that happened over the past few years.
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Following the other two through the entry hall and then outside again (walking right through doors was going to take some getting used to), Guy automatically sensed when Luke slowed and turned to watch his friend test the door as well. Watching Luke's hand disappear and then reappear brought back strong memories of that room where the experiment had been performed. He could still picture the exam table, Luke's weakened form, and the way he'd flickered in and out like he was little more than a memory.
Shaking his head, Guy was relieved when Luke kept going, and he dutifully followed. It was when they caught up with Anise that he heard the girl's comment and was made to pause once again. "That's right... Auldrant was still in a pretty bad state as far as you remember, wasn't it?" he remarked. Guy had been living in relative peace for a good while now, so this was all normal to him -- other than being treated as if they didn't exist, that is. Granted, he'd been spending most of his time in Grand Chokmah, but Baticul would always have a special importance for him.
On the other hand, there was a lot of bitterness and negative feelings that he also associated with this place, and that was reinforced as they reached the bottom of the stairs and he spotted the Duke's manor across the courtyard. Nonetheless, Guy managed a smile as he nodded toward the building. "What do you think, Luke?" he asked. "Did you want to check it out?"
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