Distant Beliefs

You and Ulmia can barely keep up with the enthusiastic Prishe as she
crosses the Misareaux Coast to the gate leading into Cape Riverne. Upon
entering...
Prishe: Whoa!? What the hell happened
here!?
Ulmia: Is this… Cape Riverne… !?
Prishe: And what the hell is this thing!?
Prishe runs up to a shimmering displacement, and it gives off a flash.
Prishe: Ahhh!
Ulmia: Prishe!?

The displacement draws you all into the floating remains of Riverne.
Prishe: Hah hah! I found you! Come on
out!

The tarus are there, along with Nag’molada.
Makki-Chebukki: She found us, and boy,
does she look mad!
Kukki-Chebukki: She’s found us, and boy, does she look ugly!
Prishe: Ugly!? That’s what you’ll be once I’m done pounding your faces
in! Now get outta here if you know what’s good for you!
Ulmia: Yes, off with you children! Unless you want to see Prishe become
truly upset.
Cherukiki: We’ll go home, but only if Prishe promises not to punish us!
Prishe: Punish you!? Go home now, and I might just not kill you!
Prishe: How many times have I told you that you’re too young to go off
adventuring on your own!?
Ulmia: Exactly! Do you not remember the last time you went out alone?
It took over a month for your wounds to heal!
Ulmia: And these are not the fields outside the safehold. Who knows
what horrors lie in the deeper parts of this strange place…
Prishe: Yeah, there might be some big, hungry tiger with a craving for
juicy Tarutaru hiding behind that tree right over there! Until I’ve
checked this place out first, I want you three back in your rooms!
Ulmia: Prishe… You are not worried about them at all, are you? You just…
Prishe: Hell right, I’m not worried. Why should I worry about what
happens to those traitors? I don’t care who they are – if they’re in my
way, they’re not on my side!
Makki-Chebukki: You’re so mean!
Kukki-Chebukki: Your’e so terrible!
Cherukiki: You’re so ugly!
Prishe: Ugly!? Why, you little creeps! I’ll show you ugly!
Nag’molada and the tarus vanish into another shimmering displacement.
Prishe: What the --? Where did they go!?
Prishe: Oooh, when I get my hands on those three…
Ulmia: Let us continue. We must try to catch up with them…
You cross the blasted, surreal landscape of what was Cape Riverne, but
now is it little more than a series of broken rocks, suspended in the
air by some unknown force. The displacements wisk you between the
remains of the cape, and soon you sense the majestic presence of a
terrestrial avatar nearby.
You, Ulmia, and Prishe find Nag’molada singing Monarch Linn.
Prishe: Huh? Where the hell is that
singing coming from?
Ulmia: This… this melody…
Ulmia: “Memoria de la S’tona” ?

Suddenly, in a flash of power, a colossal wyrm appears!
Bahamut: How wonderful! I did not
realize the Kuluu still tread the soil of Vana’diel!
Nag’molada: Almighty conqueror of the skies! I never imagined that my
people would have the opportunity to stand before you once again!
Nag’molada: Many millennia ago, when the Gates of Paradise were on the
brink of opening, you sacrificed yourself and became the bar that held
it shut. When I witnessed you fall into the north sea…
Nag’molada: In the decades that passed since I arose from my sleep, I
have never been as happy as I am this moment.
Bahamut: I, too, feel the same, my Kuluu companion. I will never forget
the battles we fought –side by side.
Bahamut: Over the centuries, the world has become cluttered with
several new forms of man.
Bahamut: Howeve, if the Kuluu still exit, then I can assume our pact
remains intact.
Nag’molada: Our pact?
Bahamut: Of course. The will of evil has unlocked the door to the
abyssal nightmare, unleashing the Keeper of the Apocalypse.
Bahamut: And the darkness brought forth by the keeper shall signal the
end of the age of man.
Nag’molada: Darkness… The… The Emptiness!?
Bahamut: Yes, I recall the Dawnmaiden Yve’noile giving that name to the
darkness. She succeeded in locating the source of the Emptiness that
lies within all mortals an immortals.
Bahamut: And then she created the terrible “Chamber of Eventide” and
left it in the celestial capital.
Prishe: the Chamber of… Eventide?

All of a sudden, the rush of whirling motors fills the air. An airship
from the duchy of Jeuno arises from behind the clouds. But unlike
normal passenger airships, this one is lined with cannons! A blonde
woman in a robe similar to that of
Nag’molada is on board, along with five members of the Armathrwn
Society. The society members disembark the airship and run towards
Bahamut!

Bahamut: !?
Nag’molada: !

Two of the members let loose some sort of energy chain magic, capturing
the colossal wyrm in a net! He seems to be in great distress!
Bahamut: Zilart! So it was not only the
Kuluu who survived!
The other three members of the society stand between you and
Nag’molada. They seem ready for battle!
Prishe: Whoa! What was that!
Prishe: These guys don’t look like anything I’ve seen before!
Ulmia: Prishe!?
Makki-Chebukki: Things are starting to look a little crazy!
Kukki-Chebukki: I think it’s time to make things a little more crazy!
Cherukiki: A lot more crazy!
??? (the blonde woman on the airship): That girl…

The society members attack your party viciously, but you repel them.
During the fighting, Prishe sneaks up behind one of the ones holding
the magic chains upon Bahamut and knocks him out with one punch!
Prishe: Surprise!

Bahamut breaks free from the magical chains.
Bahamut: Foolish children! You will
never break free from the chains of Promathia!
With a powerful roar, Bahamut calls upon his powers over time and
space, and Prishe, Ulmia, Nag’molada, the tarus, and you all vanish in
a flash of light!
A scene from the far past fills your mind. The white-haired boy is
walking alone in the snow.
Bahamut: It matters not how many times
you come here; the result will be the same.
Bahamut: Even with the power of the living immortals, your people will
not be saved.
Bahamut: You have already perished. The body you inhabit is nothing
more than a decaying shell.
??? (the boy): Enough, Bahamut! We have
not given up hope!
???: We are alive! We were born for the purpose of living!

Another scene, a white building bathed in whiter light. The boy stands
before an ornate door.
???: The Paradise of Al’Taieu is no
more, and the history of the Zilart is at an end.
???: But now people will be set free. Free from the chains of Promathia…
The door opens, and boy enters solemnly. He gives a glance back.
???: Goodbye, Vana’diel.

Back in the present, the blonde woman and Nag’molada meet at the lab in
Delkfutt’s Tower.
Nag’molada: What has become of Bahamut?
??? (the blonde woman): It seems he has transported himself elsewhere.
???: But I believe he will return to that land. It is woven into the
destiny of his kind.
Nag’molada: …
???: More importantly, Nag’molada, why did you go there?
???: Was there something you wished to discuss with Bahamut alone?
???: It was thanks to you that Bahamut slipped through our fingers.
Nag’molada: Are you concerned because I am Kuluu? Can you still not
accept the fact that your people have fallen as far as mine?
Nag’molada: Your stance is foolish, given that this obstinacy is a
proof of your degradation.
???: I am not concerned for you. What concerns me is the welfare of the
people living in this world of Vana’diel.
Nag’molada: Is that so? And here I was, thinking that the good grace of
a certain personage were all that occupied your mind.
???: You speak of your own shortcomings, Nag’molada.
???: You have failed three times. The issues concerning the boy must be
resolved.
Nag’molada: Do not worry. I know how to deal with him.
Nag’molada: And I have an idea on how to contain the Emptiness, as well.
???: You’re not serious… !?
Your weary body stirrs. You've once again been transported many miles
by powerful magic. You hope that this won't keep happening to you. As
you prepare to pass out for another short exhausted nap, you see an
airship flying low away from the city of Bastok.
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