Archive of Our Own

You let go of your chains and let them hang loosely. Hathy 1 and Rudinn 2 go on with their lives. Rudinn 1, meanwhile, slides over with expectation.

"Can I have my money now?"

Anne lets out an amused chuckle. "Oh right, the 16%. Out of 105, that would be..."

You hand over 17 D$.

"Nice." Rudinn somehow pockets the money away. "Now what?"

Hero watches with a troubled expression on his face.

"So you think sealing the fountain is good."

Anne holds in a sigh and turns around to look Hero eye to supposed eye. "Yes."

Hero takes this in before continuing. "But I think it's bad."

"...Also yes?"

"I think... I think I need to think about this more." Hero breaks eye contact and leans against the bushes, no longer blocking your way.

"Hopefully you figure it out," Anne turns back to you and Rudinn 1. "Now, I guess you're going to follow us?"

"Okay."

"Okay," Anne repeated. "Lead the way, Priscilla!"

You walk, with Anne and Rudinn 1 following in line, past Hero. You don't get very far when you hear:

"Hehe."

Rudinn 1 jumps and spins around, "What?!" You and Anne also turn around but not as quickly. It's just Hero looking quite sad, like a wet bird, just as you thought.

"Is there something you want to say, Hero?" Anne asks.

He looks to your team silently. Whatever he had to say, if he had to something to say, he holds it in and drops his head again.

"No."

He keeps his word and continues staring at the ground even when you stand right next to him. You give up, and now you leave him behind, able to freely go forward. You walk through another section of purple grass until you reach a locked door, with a similar, but bigger stone puzzle that you had seen earlier by the side.

Anne turns to Rudinn 1. "Would you like to help us with the puzzle?"

Rudinn 1 stares at the door.

"That opens the door."

"Really?" Anne says. "Well, we do want to go through the door. So would you like to help us with the puzzle?"

"Why are we going here again?"

Anne stares at him for a moment. "We're here to seal the fountain. Are we going the right way?"

"Yes."

Anne looks at you with shiny eyes. You are unmoved. Anne accepts how it is and speaks again to Rudinn 1 with a hint of weariness to her voice.

"Is there going to be a problem going through here?"

Rudinn 1 looks at the door. Time has worn it down, small cracks and dents are more prominent than the Delta Rune. Some of them seemingly look fresh, but it still is sturdy and it's doubtful anyone could hear this conversation from the over side.

Their eyes drifted to the side.

"There's that terrifying girl."

Anne turns around and peers into the bushes. She waves, "Oh! Eurydice! I didn't see you there!"

You take a look. She's the same as usual in this Dark World, no damage, not even any to her clothes that you could tell. Eurydice slinks out of the bushes with a smile, maybe glad to see someone familiar. But her eyes told a different story. 

"That was the point," she says through gritted teeth.

Vines shoot towards Rudinn 1 who doesn't hesitate to run away. Perhaps the promise of money really wasn't worth the threat of her.

"Eurydice!" Anne shouts, stepping in front of her path so she couldn't pursue them. "Why did you do that?"

"I thought you'd be smart enough to figure it out," she scoffed. "But if you hadn't noticed, door's locked, these things are here, and there's no rocks around that I could put on them. I was going to use bodies as a substitute, but you ruined that plan. So..." she eyes you and Anne one at a time. "I hope you have a better idea."

"Maybe we could work on it together?" Anne suggests. She gestures to the puzzle. "We might not need to stand on all six tiles like the last puzzle... Huh, how did you get through the spikes earlier?"

"Like it was hard," Eurydice says, not answering. "But if you really need me, I could do my part. But then, I'm going on my own again."

"But you'd need Priscilla's soul to seal the fountain," Anne replies.

Eurydice narrows her eyes. "...Why didn't you say that earlier? You're not lying so I'd stay, right?"

"No, I'm not."

She takes a moment to think, then shrugs. "I suppose I don't have to hurry back to my home. Let's get this over with."

She walks around you and Anne so that she would always be at the end of the line. But also so that she would be far enough that she wouldn't be immediately associated with you two. But either way, it was official. Eurydice is now in your team. Will she be by your side? Questionable. At least she isn't outright attacking you.

You activate the clock and step on the glowing stones, once again telling Anne where to go, with Eurydice reluctantly stepping on the ones out of reach. It works and the door opens, letting you reach the other side. However, a red circle with legs and a dog face wanders through and stops in the middle of the path. There is no way to go around it.

"This would be a good time to go through a tutorial, Eurydice!" Anne says, clasping her hands in excitement.

Eurydice side-eyes her. "I don't need a tutorial."

"Are you sure? Because there are other options that aren't FIGHTing, you know that, right?"

"Ha! Of course I'm aware."

"Okay, but just to be sure you know everything..."

The creature eagerly rolls into you, drawing you into battle.

Eurydice dusts off her hands and turns to Anne. "You were saying?"

"I..." Anne stares in the direction C. Round flew off to. She interlaces her fingers together and slowly turns to Eurydice, furrowing her brow in thought.

"We're able to end battles peacefully."

"Why should we when they attacked first?" Eurydice dismisses.

"Because we're heroes."

"Yeah, right. But you can't deny it worked. We can keep going, and I'm sure whatever that was won't dare to bother us again."

Anne glances over to you before looking back at her. "Okay, if you really want to FIGHT, why not ask me to Pacify them so they'll fall asleep?"

"Whatever helps you sleep. Now let's go."

Anne leans over to whisper in your ear, "We might have to WARN enemies about her, Priscilla."

"Yes, please do so," Eurydice grins.

You lead the way, going through the door. The environment looks the same on the other side. The path only heads off to the right. But there is a tall heap of fabric scraps which look as if they were put together hastily in front of you, with a patch of the healing light to the side. 

"Go in that nasty place, Priscilla. I know you want to."

You step closer to the light, deciding to step on it instead of reaching out.

It feels to have the same effect. You're all healed up now, and somehow, you feel like you gained more power. Could it be because Eurydice is with you?

With that, you walk into the shop, but not because she told you to.

You are hit with the scent of mildew. You feel restricted to only looking around, seeing that the inside was much like the outside, patches of fabric stitched without love and destined to soon fall apart. The oppressive atmosphere is heightened by the tight space and darkness. The only other thing you can do here is speak to indicate what you want to buy. You can't pull out your weapons, change your armor, or check your stats.

Maybe this is just how all shops are here.

There is someone behind the counter, the lack of lights making it hard to trace any facial features. But you can tell he was holding back from standing up tall and going straight to you.

"Welcome. To. My shop. Take. A look. Around."