pearl of wisdom

[Season 2] Chapter 31 - What Now Remains

"Here." You held your palm out, a spirit pearl levitating amidst a glistening bubble of hydro, "You'll need this. . . for Ms. Roen."

"Hold on, even if her soul may be in me, I'm already a complete whole. There's nothing left of her." The clone interjected. You casted your gaze to her, the orb levitating over to the group of friends and their subordinates across you, "Is that really true? Have the divine truly abandoned those souls or are they as perplexed as we are? . . . You should see you constitution for yourself."

You stared at the orb that Daniel who held a glimmer of hope within his eyes, took, "I'll send you into the clone's subconsciousness to clean Ms. Roen's soul of filth. . . How you proceed from there, all depends on you."

Daniel's hands froze- "This is . .!"

". . . That's just a pearl." Boro commented as he peeked over Daniel's shoulder to the orb. Sachi pulled him away, "Boro, be quiet."

You gave the swordsman a hard stare, "That's a spirit pearl, within which lies the secret of the ocean depths. Well. . . it's hard hard to understand."

"How do you know this? You have no reason to help-" Aka asked. You turned your stare to him, "How I know isn't important. If you were my enemies, I wouldn't have bat an eye. Keep the pearl and use it to clean Ms. Roen's soul. . . you're her most precious friends, are you not?"

The clone gazed at the orb- pain blossoming within her veins as though she was recalling memories she had long forgotten, ". . . I think I understand it. I just can't quite remember . .?"

You gave the clone yet another stare- not quite as blank as the one before with a smile upon your face, "Haha, that's to be expected, don't worry about it. Those who will venture into the abyss, garner your strength for the battles ahead."

It's a few minutes later do they approach you once you've rested a bit beside your typical companions, everyone else around you as Sachi and Boro faced the crowd. Sachi started speaking, "Is everyone here? Looks like break time is over now. It's going to be daytime soon on the train. We have to hurry up and complete the test. The results of that last match don't seem to have counted because the trainmaster in charge died. So we have no choice but to ride that transport device to take the test."

Sachi then turned to you and his other friends, "Aka and Daniel have decided to go but Boro and I will help you through the train. Will you two be alright?"

"Yeah. . . I dragged you all into this mess so I'll finish it too." Daniel then looked to you and Baam, "[Last name], Jue Viole Grace. . . I'm sorry, it's my fault that everyone got caught up in this. And thank you, [Last name]. I'll. . . definitely save Roen's soul."

"It's okay. You had your own reasons too. . . and it wasn't completely unrelated to us." Baam glanced at you, his smile soft and serene. You nodded, "FUG was bound to act sooner or later. It just so happens that you were around."

"They seem to want to keep dragging you into this stuff. Since I was also ordered to being Jue Viole Grace onto this train." Daniel grinned, "But I think they've really underestimated you. To me, you're a much stronger person than they think. Don't lose."

"I won't. . . !"

With that you sent Daniel, Aka and his subordinates into the clone's subconsciousness- the spirit pearl dazzling as it listened to your calls.

"Alright! Let's move!!"

"Let's go!"

- -

"Good work, kids. Now, we'll arrive on the station on the next floor very soon. Well. . . as several people already know, we've heard that your next destination is the Floor of Death. It seems like you must've some reason for wanting to go there." Yuri spoke as she and Evan stood in front of the regulars as though it was a class, "It's an extremely dangerous place, so I was thinking I might go with you."