FGO Specter of Glass

China Ch2

The village was peaceful, yet there remained a strange feeling in the air. From the distance, Carmen saw the pillar of light as it glistened in the darkness. It filled her with a dread that she hadn't felt before, a shiver up her spine. Something else was in there and it was waiting for her. Mitra joined her when he was done fishing, he saw the pillar as well and commented on how bright it was compared to the other realms. It was blinding since the area around it was so dark. Yin also approached them, for years, all the people of China knew was pitch black. Their lanterns were the only thing keeping them from being consumed.

Yin told the two that it was night and they needed to sleep, while it was hard to tell what time it was, the flowers closing was the only sign of the time changing. Carmen waved goodbye and then went with Mitra, she didn't notice how tired she was getting.

She fell asleep right when she made it into bed, her consciousness fading before turning into the room where the mirrors were.

"You've come a long way," a voice was heard behind her.

"However, do not let your guard down," another said.

"The realm of darkness is not to be underestimated."

When Carmen turned around, she saw the silhouettes of Alexandra and Laverna. The two reached their hands out and showed her the mirror of King Guan Yin. It shone and the room changed to that of a palace. A man stood with a woman by his side, it was Yu Mei Ren, which meant the man was her husband. He opened the door to a vault and found the statues of demons who once fought in a war. He smiled as he exclaimed that he finally found them. Someone then stood in his way, Guan Yin held her hand out to stop him. She told him that the demons were sealed for a reason, and it was unwise to let them out. If he did, she was going to kill him.

He pushed her hand aside as he went for the statues and the scene changed to a white room where the gods watched over the world. Guan Yin was kneeling to her superior who berated her for failing. She was weak, a goddess whose belief in peaceful solutions was only going to lead to her demise. The other gods laughed at her, they didn't approve of her gentleness towards the king and said they would take care of it for her. She begged them for another chance, one more attempt to prove herself to her colleagues. They laughed again, saying that she was going to fail again, and when she did, they would take care of things.

She walked out of the room and closed the door before leaning on the floor and started crying. It wasn't the first time the gods looked down on her, and it wasn't the last. The scene returned to the mirror room. The two former kings remained, and they asked Carmen to save Guan Yin as she did with them. She promised them and they nodded before returning to their mirrors. 

Carmen was woken by the sound of bells chiming, it was morning. Mitra opened the door to Carmen's room and helped her get ready for the day, he also had news for her from Akko and Laurine. The two did some investigating and found some information about a demon known as "Daji," she was a creation of the goddess Amaterasu who was meant to guard the demons but was corrupted. She was killed by the King for freeing many demons from their prison. However, there were rumors that she was alive and planning her revenge. If she was indeed alive, her help would be instrumental.

Laurine also asked if they could visit, Akko's condition was getting worse, and he wanted to talk to them. Carmen looked at the small plant by her bedside, she picked it up and played with the flowers, they had a small sting to them when she touched the leaves and found one cut her finger. She ignored it and took it outside with her. Mitra greeted her with the others around the town, they were trying to get used to waking up in the dark instead of seeing the sun over the horizon. Nero was especially out of it, she was used to waking up early, but it felt like it was midnight instead of morning.