Back in Japan, Kenji had never liked large crowds, so when he went out to the convenient store, to a local videogame vender, or any number of places with Misumi, he’d prefer going at the less popular hours as to get away from all the people. It made shopping easier and quieter, and there was a much smaller chance of him bumping into someone from school. It also made talking with Misumi more engaging, since there was less background noise to distract them. Yes, crowds were undeniably annoying. They were difficult to navigate. And despite how terrible foot traffic was through Tokyo, it was far worse in the cramped streets of Duncaster, where people, horses, and carts shared the same space.

Currently, an entire merchant caravan had just arrived to the city and was clogging up the street—sixteen wagons in all. They came from an entirely different kingdom, and were shipping foreign goods to trade at Dreamer’s Square, though from one look at their stock, it was clear he didn’t have enough money to waste on expensive gear—not yet. Perhaps when his party was ready to face Dead-Eyes that would change.

But with Misumi, Cleo, and of course, Amelia, in tow, he squeezed through the masses in a slow but steady progression toward the Cathedral, where he hoped the diviners would have a means of helping with Amelia’s problem. She couldn’t take the insomnia anymore, couldn’t rest when she was alone; the nightmares made her too scared to find sleep, and she insisted on staying on the floor of Cleo’s room until they went away, which had yet to happen. One way or another, her party would find a solution to the party. If only their search didn’t involve wedging through the congested veins of Duncaster.

The smoke of street food wafted through, smelling fried and tasty, though the volume of people was louder than usual. Apparently, autumn was a big deal in the city. There were festivals and all kinds of rare delicacies to try, and people in general were gearing up for winter, so shopping for basic supplies and nonperishable food was common.

However, they at last stood before the angelic walls of the Cathedral, which housed Priestesses and Adventurers alike on any given day. The blue-gray stonework was enchanting as the spires knifed toward the clouds, and due to colder weather, the gardens were more subdued, housing many dormant flowers that allowed other plants like shrubs, vines, and autumn trees to take center stage with their pumpkin orange and sunset yellow leaves. Various Priestesses wandered about, as did Adventurers—and one such group was leaving the front entrance of the Cathedral in mourning, blubbering with tears. No doubt a member of their party had perished. Kenji and his friends passed them in silence, then entered the Cathedral with hopes of their own that Amelia might find an answer.

In the sanctuary, the floral scent of warm water met their noses as the healing baths were full to capacity, and Cleo breathed in the familiar air she once hated so much.

“I like this place a lot more as a guest,” she said with her eyes perusing the chamber. “Now I don’t have to do my drinking in private.”

Kenji couldn’t help himself, “Because alcoholics are the farthest thing from holy, yes?”

“Quiet, you ignorant boob,” she hissed. “You try being a Priest and see how you like it. The life sucks. I’m sure these girls cand handle it, but not me. I just need beer, at least eight hours of sleep, and the freedom to swear my ass off.”

“Ah, there it is,” sighed Kenji. “It must be nice being a girl. If a man talked like that, he’d be called a good-for-nothing schlump that lives off his mother’s part-time income and has literally fused with the couch like two scoops of ice cream melted together.”

“Yeah, well I still work for a living, so shut your crap hole.”

Misumi intervened and told them both to stop arguing, because they were there for Amelia. They should be talking about her instead. And of course, this made Cleo turn piping red like a heated steam pipe, and she complied after a short stammer, a meek look in her eyes as her lips squirmed without anything to say.

“Typical tsundere,” uttered Kenji with a grumble.

When they found the new Head Priestess, whose name was Roze, the woman bowed to her former superior, Cleo, and guided them to a more private chamber after the situation was explained. She was a small person though not too tiny, and had long russet hair that almost dragged the ground. She brought them to circular chapel with slit stained-glass windows high above, and called two other Priestesses to assist with the divination. From there, the process involved gathering around a looking pool, in which images, sounds, and even smells were meshed together in the water, and they delve deep into Amelia’s subconscious like cave explorers traversing the lost world below ground.

Eventually, the ritual’s magic spread into the air, darkening the chapel as the pictures, noises, and scents persisted, telling a broken story above them in a numinous mist. There were screams, laughter, dozens of voices whispering, talking, or even shouting, and none of them were so jumbled they couldn’t be understood. The scent of rot filled the air, along with the stale odor of a sealed room, and the mist was hazy with colors, the vague outlines of people, and the occasional flash of an out-of-reach window where light poured into a dark room. What exactly were they seeing? How was anybody supposed to make sense of that?

But as the tangle unraveled and the sensations became clearer, everything shifted from radio static to a pure transmission, and they could interpret what the cloud above had to say. It started off with an image of a stone room, what equated to a prison cell, and in that chamber was the high window blocked by iron bars. Then it changed to flashing scenes of people in white robes as they strapped the viewer down and prodded them with needles, cast spells on them, performed rituals in what appeared to be a chapel, and tortured them in ways unimaginable with mental, physical, and spiritual torment. Since this all came from Amelia…was she the one being tortured? Were those her memories?

Above them, the sounds and images continued.

The Priestesses not only watched the clouds above, but their eyes had turned cosmic white, glowing as they observed and divined the truth; for them, it appeared they were studying the scenes at ten times the normal speed, like they were seeing everything in the blink of an eye.

“Do you recognize any of this?” Cleo asked.

Staring upward with her mouth open, Amelia muttered, “Yes. All of it is in my dreams.”

The cloud held so much information, so many horrors that Misumi cringed and looked elsewhere, unable to stomach what she saw. Meanwhile, Kenji got angrier as he watched. Whoever those people were, they were vile. Wretched. Less fit to live than even the haughtiest bastard from the wealthy districts. But then he was stunned when a woman’s laughter met his ears as a person appeared overhead.

“That is her,” Amelia pointed. Her eyes were pink and watery, and dark bags had formed under them from lack of sleep; she stared at the woman and barely managed to choke out a disappointed phrase: “That is my sister…”

Everyone’s gaze fell onto Amelia, excluding the Priestesses.

She continued with frailty to her words, “I do no recall fond or callous memories of her, but if this is who she is…what does that make me? Why did she let these awful things happen? Did she not care that I was in pain? Does she still not care? I have heard the rumors of who she is and what she has done, but I never imagined she let the same horrors happen to me.”

On instinct, Misumi switch positions with Kenji around the looking pool and grabbed Amelia’s hand. “It’s okay. You’re with us now, and we’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise.”

When the images and sounds overheard ceased, the cloud faded back into the pool and the Priestesses’ eyes went back to their normal colors. And from there an explanation followed. According to them, Amelia’s was not just experiencing nightmares, but a return of lost memories, meaning everything they had seen actually occurred in her past. They described in depth things she didn’t even know, like an underground lair, a distant city, and Amelia’s past mental illness she had developed from loneliness, stress, and torment. The experiments were meant to artificially raise her level, and upon their success, her mind had subconsciously wiped its memory to make room for the influx of power—which was still growing.

“The process is almost complete,” Roze told her, bowing to the other Priestesses and gesturing that their work was done. “You are level 100, yes, but a portion of your abilities needed to develop naturally. Now that you’ve almost attained that power, the memories are returning, but I don’t know what Allister Cain intended once the once your skills had perfected. I’m sorry.”

Amelia sniffled and wiped her nose, wide-eyed as she stared into something only she could see. Her mind must have been chugging along at two-hundred kilometers an hour, searching for a reason why her sister would be so cruel. But there was no such thing. No comfort. No explanation. She was tortured and abused by her own sister, all because of a goal to cheat the laws of nature and artificially raise levels without adventuring.

“Did you see anything that involved Unknown?” Kenji asked, trying to change the subject. “He’s an Adventurer from the Red River guild.”

“Oh, we know who he is,” answered Roze with a nod. She had both arms behind her back and was smiling. “The whole city does. But no, we unfortunately did not see him in the divination. That’s to be expected, though—he is an assassin, after all. So even if he was in Amelia’s past, with his level we wouldn’t have been able to find him.”

“Huh?” Kenji scrunched his face. “Why not?”

“Because Assassins above level 60 have learned the Elude skill, which makes them impervious to Divination, Illuminate, Clarify, and Illustrate. Hoodwinks can also learn this skill at level 79, since fooling opponents is a key part of your class.” Roze paused, letting her gaze fall to the looking pool. “I’m sorry, but if Unknown was there, we could not see him.”

In the grand scheme of things, the information they had already gathered was more than enough, but still, Kenji wondered what part Unknown had to play in Amelia’s past. She was underneath Grimshackle Manor—Red River’s guildhall. And he talked about her as if they knew each other personally. But how? Had he taken part in the experiments as well? Did he torture her like so many other people had done? Just the idea of it made Kenji furious, and he wouldn’t rest until he found an answer, but there was only one way he’d get that.

“And the other city?” Amelia questioned. “In what city did this take place?”

“Mossley,” informed Roze. “Beneath a hospital, though I’m not sure where.”

“Can I travel there?”

Roze appeared stunned. “Yes, you may do as you please, though I would not advise searching for such a terrible past…lest it become your future.”

At that point, Amelia let go of Misumi’s hand and turned away from the looking pool, trembling, letting her eyes dart to many places, plotting to do something drastic.

“You’re not actually gonna look for this place, are you?” Kenji asked.

She turned to him and stated curtly: “I must. I am tired of being plagued night after night with horrible dreams, and if I cannot find my sister, I will find the place in which I suffered. Maybe I will remember more…or learn more…” Her voice slowly died as her stare drifted to the chapel floor. “I cannot remain stationary any longer.”

The tone in her voice was helpless but determined, like she’d gradually die on the inside if nothing changed, yet Kenji insisted traveling to Mossley was a bad idea. It would only hurt her more. “But what if you don’t like what you find? Or what if you get captured again? We could search for Unknown instead and make him talk.”

“We would never locate him,” she insisted, fidgeting and shaking with adrenaline to start moving. “He is most elusive and skilled. I apologize, but I am traveling to Mossley with or without assistance.”

Misumi spoke softly, “Amelia…”

“Yes?”

“It’s dangerous. These aren’t good people, and if they find you…” Misumi paused, acting as if she would say more, but all she could do is mope at the ideas swarming through her head.

After witnessing her behavior, Amelia calmed down and changed her tone of voice. “I am sorry, I do not mean to disparage your feelings, but I am terrified of going to sleep each night. I fear the sunset. When the guild is quiet and I lie awake, all I can think of are the nightmares, and I refuse to suffer a day longer. So please, let me do this. I will not ask you to put yourselves in danger, but I will do what I must to bring myself peace.”

It was abundantly clear to everyone that she wouldn’t cave on the idea of traveling to Mossley. And though he knew how dangerous it might be, Kenji couldn’t let her go alone. They were a party. They were friends. And since he hadn’t known many of those over the course of his life, he’d support the few he had now through any endeavor they took on, and that meant going with her despite what lay ahead. Misumi and Cleo had the same line of thinking, and volunteered to make the journey as well. Therefore, whatever pain Amelia uncovered, whatever memories resurfaced, they would face the past together as a team, and if possible, unveil the secrets to Allister Cain’s true motives and why she’d carry out such terrible experiments on her own sister.