After the incident at the pit, Mash and Aesc began investigating ruins all around Britain.
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Their only leads were the stories passed down within the Mirror clan, and the murals left by the Rain clan.
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And so, they set out from west to east on a great adventure in search of written records left behind by humans.
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Between running into mors, getting attacked by anti-Londinium faeries...
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...and fighting the occasional giant monster when Aesc felt like it, things weren't always easy...
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But, when all was said and done, these travels became lovely memories! Of course, it helped that Mash was always so strong and awesome no matter what!
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[charaTalk A]
[charaFace A 2]
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＠Totorot
Hey Mash, didn't you call me by some[sr]weird name when we first met?
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＠Mash
I-I, um, guess I did... I'm sorry!
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＠Mash
You, um, looked so much like someone else I know that it just slipped out!
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＠Totorot
Really!? There's someone out there who looks just like me!? What are they like!?
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＠Mash
I only spent a little time with her, but that was enough for me to know she's a wonderful person.
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＠Mash
She's brave, and kind, and dependable, and she spent a lot of time in her workshop making all sorts of clothes.
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＠Mash
Her name is Habetrot. She's a very happy faerie who wants nothing more than to be a friend to brides everywhere.
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＠Totorot
Whoa, so there's a faerie like that in the future, huh!? I guess her name does sound a lot like mine!
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＠Totorot
Maybe it's a fake name, like Aesc's! Maybe she's trying to cover up her True Name!
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＠Mash
...
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＠Aesc
That's enough, Mash. You agreed not to tell us too much about the future, remember?
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＠Mash
You're right. I'm sorry. I thought it would make Totorot happy, and I didn't stop to think about what I was doing...
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＠Totorot
G-gotcha. You can be pretty careless sometimes, huh, Mash? I'm sorry, too.
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＠Totorot
Still...
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＠Totorot
I like the idea of being a friend to brides everywhere, too! That sounds like a great life to me!
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[lr]Well, they had a lot of conversations like that,[sr]so I thought I'd include one for posterity.
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Anyway, their search through ruins lasted about five months.
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They didn't learn much, but they didn't give up, either.
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They kept doggedly pursuing the threads of Britain's history, and eventually arrived at the Priestess's Prophecy.
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It was Britain's first prophecy of destruction[line 2]a curse left behind by the first human, the priestess of the enshrined deity.
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It predicted there would be four major wars named after the four seasons, but the war of winter had not yet happened.
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They never did find out what it meant.
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Really all we got from our expedition was a lot of fun memories.
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And while I know I've already written this down several times, let me remind you once again that this took place in Fae Era 400.
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Now, there were only a few days to go until the coronation at Londinium, which would decide the fate of all of Britain.
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And as one of the key figures in that coronation,[sr]Aesc needed to return to the castle soon.
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[charaTalk A]
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＠Totorot
There, the needlework's all done! All I have to do now is make the embroidery motifs!
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＠Totorot
I think I'll make a purple rose for Aesc, and a blue rose for Mash!
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＠Black Knight
Let me see... Hmm, you did a good job.[sr]I have no complaints.
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＠Black Knight
You've gone from crybaby to expert.[sr]This is why I love handicrafts.
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＠Black Knight
Although, I'm not sure about using embroidery for the brooch.
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＠Black Knight
Aesc's going to be a queen, so she should have something that shines. I think a pattern of beads modeled after the world tree should do the trick.
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＠Black Knight
Here, give me that. Let me show you how it's done.
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＠Totorot
Whoa, have you always been that good with your hands, Black Knight!? You're like some sort of sewing master!
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＠Aesc
Totorot's changed so much since you came along, Mash. And it's all thanks to you.
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＠Aesc
We've been together for hundreds of years, but I've never seen this side of her before.
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[charaFace C 30]
＠Aesc
Ugh, I really am a terrible friend. I was so caught in the fighting, I never even noticed what Totorot was going through, and she's always been there for me.
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＠Mash
Oh no, it was nothing. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, that's all.
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＠Mash
And the only reason Totorot got interested in making clothes in the first place is the upcoming coronation.
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＠Mash
She said she wanted to make you a gown so pretty that you'd be the fairest faerie in all of Britain.
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＠Mash
So I'm sure she would have gone on to become a great tailor even if I'd never shown up.
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＠Aesc
...
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＠Mash
Aesc...?
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＠Aesc
...All right. I think you deserve to know at least a little of how I really feel.
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＠Aesc
I'm no savior, Mash. All I want to do is keep Britain itself alive.
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＠Aesc
I no longer have any intention of saving all its faeries, or of protecting humans like you.
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＠Mash
...Huh!?
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＠Mash
What are you saying? You ARE protecting everyone.[sr]I've seen it myself.
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＠Aesc
...Here's the thing, Mash.
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＠Aesc
For the last thirty-six hundred years, I've been dispelling the calamities that appear every hundred years, and the Great Calamities that appear every thousand.
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＠Aesc
...Before, when I said I would let the faeries handle the aftermath and go to sleep in a coffin... Well, it wasn't the whole truth.
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＠Aesc
The truth is, every time I saved them from a calamity...the faeries would come after me.
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＠Aesc
I've never known a moment of true peace. The only thing I could ever do was run for my life and hibernate for years at a time.
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＠Aesc
I'm sure that, at the start, I really did want to build an ideal nation.
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[charaFace C 6]
＠Aesc
But not now. Not anymore.
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＠Aesc
Every time I decide to work harder and finally get it right next time, I only ever end up having more stones thrown at me.
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＠Aesc
I've been imprisoned, crucified, beheaded, drowned, burned... The only thing they haven't done is poison me.
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＠Aesc
So, by now, I've stopped putting my hopes in faeries.
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＠Aesc
My only companions are Totorot, the Black Knight,[sr]and Wryneck. I'm not even sure about Uther.
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＠Aesc
Even they only see me as an important tool. Nothing more.
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＠Aesc
So I only fight to protect Britain for myself. It's the only place I belong.
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＠Aesc
That's why I'm going to unify the faeries and give humans the right to build a kingdom.
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[charaFace C 0]
＠Aesc
That's the Britain I want[line 2]the sort of story Proper Human History would never allow.
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＠Aesc
I've never been Aesc the Savior.[sr]I'm just Aesc the Witch.
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＠Mash
But... But surely there must have been at least one good faerie, right?
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＠Mash
One who believed in you, and understood you?
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＠Mash
Wasn't there ever a single faerie you genuinely wanted to help?
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＠Aesc
No, there wasn't. Not a single one. That's why things turned out this way.
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＠Mash
...
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＠Aesc
Mash, you came here from the Era of the High Queen. I don't know which faction you belong to in that time.
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＠Aesc
I can never know, for if I did, that would change what happens in the future.
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＠Aesc
I've been vacillating for a long time now about whether to kill you or save you...
