gbftranscripts

[gbftranscripts]

Chapter 5, Remains

Part 1

Back in the shrine in Canaan, the cocoon once more begins to glow. Its threads begin to unravel, then fade out of existence.

Djeeta, Vyrn, Lyria, and Sandalphon appear, sprawled out on the shrine floor

Vyrn: ...

Lyria: ...

Sandalphon: Hn... Ngh... Is this... the shrine in Canaan? Why do I have a physical form? Did I manifest it unconsciously? ...! What am I sensing? It's so weak.. No. It couldn't be. Tell me that isn't you, Lucifer! Hey, Singularity!

Djeeta and the others appear unharmed, but they show no signs of stirring.

Sandalphon: ... It's coming from the north side of the shrine... But this has to be part of his usual machinations. Just a stratagem... My following him won't make any difference...

Lyria: ...

Sandalphon: ...

[FLASHBACK]

Lyria: Why not? Stop saying that you're not worth it, that it's meaningless.. It's not true!

[FLASHBACK END]

Sandalphon: Lyria... Girl in blue... Heh... So be it. This time I'll show you... That this pawn can move of its own accord!

[Chapter Banner: Remains]

Part 2

The body Sandalphon hadn't meant to create feels leaden, clumsy. Unable to find his balance, he staggers, the marble floors seeming to suck at his feet like thick swamp mud. But the troublingly faint sense of Lucifer's presence keeps him struggling along the interminable, empty halls.

Sandalphon: Huff... Huff... Was it coming from behind that door up ahead? I can't sense it anymore--what's wrong with me? I don't know what game you're playing, Lucifer, but this whole affair is-- Agh!

Sandalphon trips over aa bit of loose masonry and ends up clinging to a pillar. He has barely enough strength to remain upright.

Sandalphon: Heh... Hahaha... What a dashing figure I cut, tripping over rubble...

As he tries to drag himself upright, the ancient pillar crumbles, showering him in fragments of plaster and stone.

Sandalphon: Hurgh... Hah... Hrgh... Is this what you wanted, Lucifer? To see me reduced to this? Curse it! Hah... hrgh... Here I am, Lucifer... You can jump out and yell "surprise" now. ...? It's empty? Did I choose the wrong door? Or have you moved on? What a waste of time. I knew I shouldn't have bothered.

???: (Anyone...)

Sandalphon: ...?

???: (Is anyone... there?)

Sandalphon: That faint voice in my head... It couldn't be...

It's no more than a whisper in his head, but Sandalphon follows. At last he finds Lucifer. What's left of him.

Sandalphon: Lucifer...

Part 3

Sandalphon's feet move forward without his volition, until his strength fails him and he sinks to his knees before Lucifer.

Instinctively he reaches out, clasping what's left of the supreme primarch to his chest.

Sandalphon: How... What the hell happened!

Lucifer: (Is someone... there?)

Sandalphon: Lucifer! It's me, Sandalphon!

Lucifer: (I've lost all five of my senses... I can neither see nor hear you... if you're even there... So I haven't the luxury of choice.)

Sandalphon: What are you... Who did this? Can't you restore yourself?

Lucifer: (You who reached the unreachable land of Canaan. Whether you be one or many, I must beg a favor.) (Please. I have a message for the ears of one named Sandalphon. Tell him...) (Sandalphon, I leave my power and the position of supreme primarch to you.)

Sandalphon: ...!

Lucifer: (We must both atone for the cataclysm which struck the skies.) (My penance is death. Yours is to live on as protector of this realm.) (And one day... you must carry out what I could not--) (The destruction of Lucilius's legacy.)

Sandalphon: What... are you saying? Deciding everything on your own... Shouldering all the blame, and now... Don't do this to me!

Lucifer: (Lucilius's legacy is one of evil. It represents the greatest peril ever to cast its shadow over the sky realm.) (I stole it from him and sealed it away, but with my death, its revival cannot be far behind. So I beg of you...) (When all of this is past, I want you to choose your purpose for yourself.) (The skies are constantly evolving... Nature will take over our roles, and we primarchs can retire... and simply live.)

Sandalphon: The skies, the skies, the skies! All you ever talk about is this worthless realm! Go on! Give your powers to me and see what I do with them! I'll send it all down to the Crimson Horizon in flames! If you want to stop me, you'll have to--

Lucifer: (Ngh...)

Sandalphon: H-hey! Lucifer!

Lucifer: (I don't... have much time...)

Sandalphon: ...! Are you going... to deny yourself down to your final breath? Don't you have anything to say, not for the world, but just for yourself!

Lucifer: (That's the end of my message. I'm depending on you.)

Sandalphon: ...

Lucifer: (Ahh...) (What... What makes the sky blue?)

Sandalphon: What?

Lucifer: (It struck me... Perhaps a question is really just a wish...) (Longing for something... yearning for someone... Feeling elation when that desire is realized... pain when denied...) (Wondering why, how, what to do... That eternal questioning--wishing--seems to be where evolution leads...)

Sandalphon: Questioning... wishing...

Lucifer: (If I could be granted one request... I'd like to share one more cup of coffee with you... in that shaded garden...) (Sandal... phon...)

Sandalphon: ...! No... Please, no... You're our shining example... Our guiding light... This can't happen to you... ... These pure white wings... don't belong on my back... Lucifer...

Part 4

Vyrn: Phew... Hah... Th-that's the room up ahead, right?

Lyria: Yes! But I don't like how this feels... Djeeta, hurry!

Upon waking, Djeeta and the others race through the shrine, following Sandalphon's trail. They find him at last, his back adorned with six glowing wings which illuminate the surrounding gloom.

Sandalphon: ...

Lyria: Sandalphon!

Lyria takes in the sight before her and the aura surrounding Sandalphon and puts the pieces together. Lucifer is dead. Sandalphon has inherited the supreme primarch's powers, as well as his position. Djeeta, Lyria, and Vyrn are struck speechless in the face of this otherworldly scene. They are not given time to find words.

[SCREEN SHAKES]

Vyrn: Wh-what was that? An earthquake?

Lyria: Aaaah! This... I sense something... I don't know what it is, but...

Vyrn: A primal beast?

Lyria: I can't even begin to describe it... Countless... /things/... fused together... It's somewhere deep within the shrine...

Echoing Roar: Rrraaaaah!

Vyrn: What was that! This really isn't looking good! Let's just get outta here, okay? Watch your footing, guys!

Lyria: W-w-w-whoa! It's really shaking! I can barely move!

Sandalphon: ...

Vyrn: Hey, Sandalphon! Look alive--we're getting outta here!

Halluel: Djeeta, Vyrn, Lyria!

Malluel: Are you all right? Grab onto us and we'll fly you out of here!

Vyrn: Am I glad to see you guys! Is the Grandcypher--

Halluel: Ah-- Are you... Sandalphon?

Sandalphon: ...

Malluel: Those wings... So then... The supreme primarch is...

Lyria: I... I don't know the details, but...

Halluel: How could this happen? No. This isn't the time! Come on, everyone, we have to get back to the Grandcypher! If we don't hurry, that black beast will bury us here!

Vyrn: What black beast? Ah, forget that--come on!

The twin angels airlift Djeeta and the others from the shrine. Outside, Canaan is almost unrecognizable, the landscape overshadowed by a towering nightmare of a creature.

Echoing Roar: Rrraaaaah!

The creature rends the clouds with its wings and tears at the living rock of the cliffs with its talons, as if determined to lay waste to all it can see. The rage in its voice shakes the heavens themselves. <--- End of Chapter 5 --->