FGO Specter of Glass

Xiatian la Vue Ch14

"What's the Platted Knight doing?" A man with silver hair asked.

"We don't know," the Witch, covered in snow, answered. "I can't enter Xiatian."

"Even with his new barrier breaker, we're still too weak..."

"Master, there is also the matter of the Glistening Steed."

"What did he do this time?"

"He's gone offline as well. The war in the realm of water has gotten out of hand, and Princess Matoaka declared that the Empire is joining as the fifth faction."

"What a mess," the man leaned back into his chair. "I can't have ONE DAY where the world isn't on fire."

Yang stared at the night sky. The moon hung above the world with the abyss behind it. It reminded her of the lights that hung above her on stage. Yu approached her and wondered what it was like being an idol. Since she was born a noble in the Earth Spirit Kingdom and later became the princess of China, she never had the chance to stand out on stage. Yang recalled what it was like. She closed her eyes to think about the lights on the stage and having her friends by her side to perform with. She never thought about the judgment system because she was blind to its corruption. She did nothing, even when she knew the people were suffering because of it.

She couldn't remember the faces of the people she cast as guilty. And she thought it was okay not to think about it because they were nameless criminals. It took her being blamed for the deaths of her friends to see the true colors of the system. She finally realized how wrong it was to judge someone based on one crime. She felt the cold wind on her hand. If she could, she wanted to be there to change the system and make it fair. Yu took her words and devised a plan to stop Philip and Q'yth-Az. If Yang realized the truth of the system and it was enough to turn her against it, maybe it was the same for the others of Xiatian.

Mise agreed to help. Even if she had little power in the church, she could get away with anything once. She wanted to use the judgment crystals against Q'yth-Az. She went back to the ley line and lowered the crystal. With a burst of energy, she sent a reminder of what the people have been doing to each other. The judgment orbs shimmered, and the visions of the lives lost to the system were shown. They weren't horrible people who deserved to die. They were people who made mistakes and were killed for it—petty theft, protecting themselves, and talking back to the church.

As the stones shimmered outside, they began to sound like piano keys playing in sync. It sounded like the crystals responded to people suffering after learning the truth and were trying to calm them. Carmen held onto her judgment orb. She had to do something else, or the realm would fall into chaos.

"When it's over, will you be there? Do you think it's fair? Do you think they were aware?" Her voice echoed in the orbs and calmed the chaos outside. "Of the suffering we all share? Do you think they care? Do you think that I don't care?"

"Everyone is facing burdens, everyone is trying to live, looking for a reason they were born on this planet." Yang continued, making up the words as she went. "To live strongly, hide your weakness. To live strongly, you'll be perfect. Do what you are told and you will never face punishment."

"But there's an empty feeling deep inside of me. In my heart, I can feel I'm screaming. All those questions in my head begin to bleed, because we are living in such peace."

The realm heard their voices and listened.

"The missing pieces of our lives. They said it was fine, to forget what's wrong or right." Yang held her orb as if she spoke into a microphone.

"They would pave a way through the night." Carmen copied her. "A future so bright. A world where we never fight."

"Everyone is facing burdens, everyone is trying to live, doing what they're told and following the gods' decisions."