OOC: History
Here, you will find the full extent of Cheria's history. This is basically a summary of the entire game, so clearly this entry has spoilers. Once you click the LJ-cut, there is no going back. There may be a few small mistakes in here, due to wonky translations, but this is the general gist of it.
Thanks to hikari318 and luna_hoshino, for helping me with translations!~
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Granddaughter of Frederick, one of the Lhant family’s butlers, Cheria was one of Asbel’s closest friends during their childhood. Her parents died when she was young. She was a sickly girl who couldn’t strain herself, yet despite that, she always tagged along whenever Asbel and his younger brother Hubert set off on another crazy adventure. Not that she was happy to do so, oh no. Even as a young girl, she regularly told Asbel off for being so rash and teasing his brother. If anything, she went with them to make sure they stayed out of trouble. One day, when they were around the age of 11, Asbel and Hubert returned to the city with a strange girl who seemed to be suffering from amnesia. Asbel soon named her Sophie, after the Crosophie flower she was fond of. At first, Cheria had her reservations about the girl, partly because she was jealous. Still, she soon grew somewhat fond of Sophie. Upon Asbel’s insistence, the four of them met Richard, the young Prince of Windol, who was in the city for an official visit. Their first meeting was a bit unorthodox, as they had to climb through a window to get to the Prince, but he became their friend almost immediately. After Richard departed for his home, the capital of Balonia, Asbel and Sophie decided to follow him there. In the city, they met up with Cheria, who was brought there to see a doctor about her illness. They also ran into Hubert, who was taken to Balonia by his father to be adopted into a family from the Strata country. Thus, the five friends were reunited once more. Richard wanted to show them the castle, but knew they’d never be allowed inside by the guards. He told them about a secret passage and agreed to meet with them later to lead them through it. Sadly, Richard didn’t show and Asbel decided to enter the underground passage, in hopes of meeting him halfway there. What they found wasn’t at all what they expected. Richard was lying unconscious in one of the tunnel’s rooms and Sophie was struck by a “bad feeling”. A strange monster appeared and knocked both Hubert and Cheria out with one blow. Asbel, who tried to fight it, was dealt with in an easy manner as well. This enraged Sophie, who charged forward without delay to fight the monster. Though she managed to defeat it, it used its last strength to stab her through the gut. She started to disintegrate, her body seemingly ‘leaking’ pink sparkles. In one final mad attack, she dashed towards the monster and exploded into a burst of energy which filled the room and caused Asbel to lose consciousness. When he awoke, he was back in Lhant, along with Cheria. They were told that Hubert had been adopted into the Ozwell family and Sophie had died. This is what made Asbel decide to join the Knight’s Academy in Balonia, in order to grow stronger and prevent losing someone else precious to him. Sadly, in doing so, he left Cheria behind in Lhant all by herself. Though his father, Lord Aston, took it upon himself to help Cheria’s family look after her, she spent many years waiting for Asbel to return, receiving not even so much as a single letter from him. She did, however, discover that after the incident her illness had been cured and she was able to cast small healing spells. As they later find out, Sophie had transferred some of her energy to everyone who was present that time.
Seven years later, Lord Aston passed away, protecting Lhant in battle. Cheria travelled to the capital to find Asbel and inform him of the bad news. There, she first met Malik Caesars, Asbel’s instructor at the Knight academy. The two of them returned to Lhant, to find that it was being attacked by soldiers from the country of Fendel. They decided to lure a couple of tanks away from the city, acting as live bait, but were cornered on the cliff where Asbel and Hubert first found Sophie seven years before. Asbel cried out, causing a ‘resonance’ between himself and Cheria. Sophie reappeared before them in a burst of energy and aided their fight against the tanks, but once again she had no memories, not even of the time she spent with Asbel and his friends. While still hesitant, they decided that she couldn’t be the real Sophie, as there was no doubt that girl had died seven years earlier. The three of them returned to the city, where Cheria looked after injured civilians while Asbel wrote a letter to Malik to inform him of the situation. Immediately after, they decided to strike back and attack a Fendel camp while their guard was down. Sadly, this plan backfired spectacularly. While Asbel, Sophie, Cheria and a few knights left Lhant to attack the camp, the Fendel soldiers used a shortcut to attack the city a second time. As soon as they found out, the group returned to Lhant, where they were joined in battle by Hubert. He was being supported by a group of soldiers from the country of Strata. After the Fendel troops were defeated, Hubert announced that Strata and Windol had formed an alliance. What he’d neglected to mention was that Lhant had become an official settlement of Strata, with Hubert at its head. Asbel tried to protest against this and challenged his brother to a fight, to see who was more fit to lead Lhant. Asbel lost and Hubert banned him from the city. Along with Sophie, he travelled to the capital of Balonia.
The next time Cheria encountered the two was at Wallbridge. As a member of a group that helps injured soldiers and civilians, she’d arrived to heal victims of the incident that’d occurred just before. There, she found out that Asbel and Sophie had befriended a girl named Pascal and met up with Richard. As it turned out, Richard’s uncle, Cerdic, had killed the King with the aid of the royal knights so he could take over the throne. He was attempting to assassinate Richard, the sole heir, as well. Richard retaliated by sending troops into the capital and, along with his trusted friends, sneaking into the castle to have his revenge on Cerdic and claim the throne for himself. Cheria joined them on their quest and the five of them defeated Richard’s uncle. Soon after, Richard was crowned King and took matters into his own hands. He wanted to take Lhant back by force, but Asbel pleaded to be given a chance. He was sure he could reason with Hubert and negotiate Lhant’s ownership in peace. Richard relented and sent him on his way, now accompanied by Malik Caesars. After sneaking into the city of Lhant through a river, Asbel tried to confront his brother once more. Still, Hubert remained as pigheaded as before, until Windol troops invaded the place and Richard literally appeared on their doorstep. By this point, it was becoming clear that Richard wasn’t quite himself, taken over by malicious intent. A conflict ensued and Sophie, driven by her desire to protect her friends, stepped forward to challenge Richard. Energy was released from Hubert’s body and absorbed by Sophie, who regained her memories of seven years ago. Her energy literally clashed with Richard’s and she won out, smashing him into a wall. He was immediately carried off by his subordinates. Everyone was pleased by Sophie’s ‘awakening’, but the trouble was far from over. Hubert was being recalled to the country of Strata, as his superiors received a false report on how he was handling the affairs in Lhant. Asbel offered to go to Strata in his place, much to the dismay of Hubert’s adoptive cousin Raymond. Already jealous of Hubert’s influence and now questioning his loyalties, Raymond told himself that he would stop Asbel from reaching his home country. Cheria overheard this and was captured. She was imprisoned in a shack outside the city, though not before leaving a precious memento behind so Asbel could track her down; It was the Crosophie flower he’d given her seven years ago, pressed and preserved all this time. Just as she’d escaped the shack and came face to face with Strata soldiers, Asbel and the others came to her rescue. Cheria wanted to thank her friends, but this evolved into an argument with Asbel. She finally admitted to being worried about him during all those seven years and upset because he never tried to contact her. She’d even considered going to Balonia to visit him, but lost her courage to do so at the fear of becoming a burden. When Asbel explained that he’d promised himself not to return to Lhant until he’d become a real Knight, the conflict died down and Sophie made the two take a vow of friendship.
After a quick return to Lhant, the group departed for Strata’s capital, Yu Liberte. It was quite a troublesome journey. First they passed through the cities of Oul Reye and Sable Izolle. As they made their way through the desert, they ran into the Rockgagan, an enormous, usually friendly monster which had turned aggressive for some reason. They were swallowed whole by the beast, much to Cheria’s dismay, who absolutely refused to take the ‘other exit’. After defeating the cause of the Rockgagan’s aggressiveness, a bug-type monster which had taken residence inside it, the group managed to escape with a little aid from Hubert- He’d given the group a small bag of pepper before they left Lhant. Soon after, they arrived at the capital and had a talk with the president. As it turned out, the reason Strata wanted Lhant as their territory was because it had a high amount of “Criath”. (Criath are small stones, containing elemental energy. Additionally, each country has its own “Valkynes Criath”, an enormous version of normal Criath which holds energy of a particular element. Wind in Windol, water in Strata and fire in Fendel.) Pascal theorized that the only reason Strata would need Criath was because their own Valkynes Criath was broken and came up with a way to fix it, which the President approved. They set out to Strata’s Valkynes Criath in the desert ruins and successfully repaired it, but their celebrations were short-lived. Richard appeared and drained the Valkynes Criath of all its energy, before disappearing again. The group returned to the capital to report on the matter, only to find Hubert in the President’s office. As it turned out, Richard had drained Windol’s Valkynes Criath as well. Concerned about the King’s motives and hoping to capture him in time, they decided to head to Fendel territory and examine the Fire Valkynes Criath. Strata’s President allowed Hubert to join them on their quest and informed them of a spy who would help them cross the border into Fendel. The group set out to the coliseum port, which was on neutral ground so that warriors from all three countries could test their strength. Sadly, the spy had been captured by Fendel troops and the heroes were suspected of being her accomplices. They pretended not to have any ties to her, instead participating in the coliseum battles. After they won, the Fendel troops still tried to kill the Strata spy, but the coliseum watchman interfered and she was free to lead them across the border.
Already, it was clear that Hubert didn’t trust Malik and Pascal. He felt that both were acting suspicious and likely hiding something. As it turned out, he was correct. When they arrived in Fendel’s capital, Zavbert, it turned out that Malik was once a soldier in the Fendel army and Pascal was a member of the illusive Anmarcia clan, which consists mostly of scientists and technicians. In fact, she used to do research on the Valkynes Criath and how to make it more powerful. This is why they travelled to the village of the Anmarcia; they wanted to ask the elder to ask a few questions about the Valkynes Criath and find out who was continuing Pascal's research. During the trip, Hubert was even more suspicious of Pascal, as he couldn’t stand the fact she’d been keeping secrets like that. However, along the way to the Anmarcia’s village, the group was attacked by a rhinoceros-type monster and Pascal risked her life to save him. At this point, Hubert accepted that she’s a good person and the two became friends. Once inside the village of the Anmarcia, they encountered Pascal’s younger sister Poisson. Poisson informed them that the leader, Gauss, was away for a bit. It wasn’t hard to find out who continued Pascal’s research, though, as that was her other sister Fourier. The group travelled to a research facility outside the village to find Fourier and ask her a few questions about the Valkynes Criath. Sadly, she was hardly cooperative. Pascal tried to prove that her research was incomplete and there was no point in continuing it, by showing what it did to a smaller piece of Criath: It exploded. Fourier told them to take the matter up with Kurtz Bessel, one of Malik’s old companions who was conducting research on the Valkynes Criath in Fendel’s name. The group travelled back to Zavbert to speak with Kurtz, who refused to give up his research because the people of Fendel needed the power of the Criath. Still, they knew they couldn’t let this go on, because not only was the research dangerous, it would definitely attract Richard’s attention. They headed for the Valkynes Criath’ location on their own accord, once again encountering Kurtz there. A battle ensued and he was defeated. Suddenly, the Valkynes Criath’ power grew out of control and it threatened to explode, as the machinery attached to it went haywire. Kurtz cut the power with his weapon, leading to him being electrocuted and dying shortly afterwards. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Richard appeared on the scene to drain the Valkynes Criath. Both Asbel and Sophie tried to stop him with force, but it was no good. Fendel’s leader tried to hold the group responsible, but Poisson appeared on the scene to help them out. She threatened that Anmarcia would cut all ties with Fendel, causing them to lose their precious researchers. The troops had no choice but to retreat and Poisson told the group to check the records in Anmarcia’s village for more information on Sophie or Richard. There, they found out about Lastaria, the planet’s core. To get there, they needed to travel to the central island. The name “Lambda” also appeared in the records, stirring something deep in Sophie’s hidden memories. However, it didn’t seem important at the time.
The group decided to head for the central island, in hopes of finding out more about Richard’s motives there. Instead, they ran into the King himself. It was clear that he wasn’t himself anymore, as he was surrounded by even more dark energy than before, his voice oddly distorted. The group fought him and won, but Asbel stopped them before they could deliver the final blow, as Richard lay on the ground, clutching his head in pain. Sophie reached out to him, but it didn’t quite seem as if he recognized her, instead calling her “Protos 1”. He shot her with a blast of energy, knocking her unconscious. The situation only escalated from there, as the group only barely managed to escape the island while Richard created an enormous cocoon around himself and the island’s center. To make matters worse, the attack had ‘broken’ Sophie’s body. She started to glow unnaturally, looked like she was in pain and soon after lost her sight. After searching for more information in Sable Izolle’s archives, the party decided to go to Phodra, the planet of origin which existed right next to their homeplanet of Efinea, in hopes of finding a way to cure her. In order to get there, they needed to use a shuttle built by the Anmarcia clan and break through the seal of water surrounding the planet. Meanwhile, Richard was sending armies of monsters throughout the lands. After travelling to a research base in Fendel to activate the shuttle’s power, they travelled to the caves just outside Lhant to get ready for their departure. As they did so, Cheria and Asbel had a small discussion where she admitted she used to be jealous of Sophie. Asbel, as always, didn’t get the hint. With some help from Poisson and Fourier, the shuttle launched successfully.
Phodra, as it turned out, was a barren planet overrun by monsters. Its inhabitants had migrated to Efinea a long time ago. The only ‘living’ being they encountered there was a mysterious woman called Emeraude, whom they’d awakened from a slumber. Aside from her, the place was inhabited by small robots called Humanoids. Emeraude recognized Sophie as Protos 1, a special Humanoid sent to Efinea a long time ago to fight the entity known as Lambda. In order to fix her, they travelled to the Cornel Research Institute, the origin of Humanoids. Still, the curing process had such an impact on Sophie’s body that her feelings started to ‘materialize’. While the real Sophie lay in a cocoon, illusions appeared of herself interacting with the other party members. Being guided by Cheria, imitating Malik’s poses, being helped to her feet by Hubert and even fighting Richard. Sophie’s ‘feelings’ reached a climax when an illusion of the monster that attacked everyone in the caverns seven years ago appeared. This monster was Lambda. After the party fought it, Sophie was fully cured. Emeraude informed them that Lambda was a peculiar demon found in Efinea’s core (It may be Phodra’s core. The game leaves that up for interpretation, sadly) and further researched on Phodra. The party soon came to the conclusion that Lambda had taken residence inside Richard’s body. Emeraude tried to return all of Sophie’s memories to her with the aid of a device, but the machine broke down and holographic images of an old man, Cornel, appeared. They showed him playing with a young humanoid boy called Lambda and claiming that he was a person. Still, Emeraude insisted that Lambda was a demon which needed to be destroyed. In order to return to Efinea and break through the dome Richard had built around the central island, the shuttle needed an extra part attached to the front. To get it, they travelled to the Bashis institute, which was overrun by guard humanoids. While they were there, Pascal created a pair of rings which allowed herself and Malik to use Sophie’s power as well. The shuttle part was gained successfully and Emeraude requested to go back to Efinea with them, to which everyone agreed.
Upon returning to Efinea, they immediately broke into Lambda’s cocoon and travelled to the center to challenge Richard. By now, Lambda had caused the King’s body to mutate, turning his hair white, his eyes red and most notably, granting him wings. Asbel tried to reason with him, but there was virtually no trace of the old Richard left and they were forced to battle. After he was defeated, Lambda left his body in the form of a floating orb. Sophie stepped forward, ready to activate her special powers: She would disappear along with Lambda. Shockingly enough, Emeraude interfered by attacking Sophie before she could fully activate her power. In an attempt to take Lambda’s power all for herself, she took the entity into her own body and tried to eradicate the group. She proved to be a formidable opponent, but her plans backfired when Lambda refused to be controlled by her, destroying her body. Once again, the ‘demon’ was free, this time taking the form of the humanoid boy they’d seen on Phodra’s projector. To everyone’s surprise, Richard was back on his feet. He called Lambda back, offering his own body up again. The two fused and Richard mutated back into his winged form, before destroying the dome and disappearing into the planet’s core. Sophie tried to chase after him, but Asbel restrained her and the group escaped in the shuttle. There, a small argument erupted. Sophie insisted that she should complete her purpose for existing, while they all attempted to convince her that disappearing along with Lambda was not the way to solve things.
They returned to Lhant, where Cheria wanted to speak to Sophie in private. She knew the girl didn’t understand why everyone was upset and tried to explain to her just what it means to die. It meant not being able meet with her friends anymore. After Sophie realized why that thought caused everyone so much pain, Cheria arranged for the girl to have a private talk with Asbel on the matter. Later, inside the Lhant mansion, they decided to head for Lastaria and stop Lambda at all costs. The party members spread out and spent the night before the final battle in Lhant, which of course was a cue for the obligatory heart-to-heart talk with the main character. Just as Asbel tried to approach Cheria, he was beaten to the scene by both Barry and Raymond. Instead of invading the scene, he decided to hide and listen in on the conversation. Both Barry and Raymond tried to confess their love for Cheria, Raymond even going down on one knee and asking her to return to Strata with him after the battle was over. Still, she politely turned them both down and they retreated. Asbel came out of hiding and Barry told him to take good care of her. At first, he made fun of Cheria and the situation she was in, but the conversation soon took on a more serious tone. Cheria admitted that she wanted to restart the rescue group she was in before, so that she could help people in need throughout the world. Meanwhile, Asbel planned to do something for Lhant's development and take care of Sophie, hoping she’d help him out with that. Cheria insisted he'd better fulfill his promise, or she wouldn’t let him go away with it.
The next day, the group travelled to the Ghardia Shaft, where Lambda was hiding. As they progressed through it, they learned more about Lambda's history by passing through special portals that showed them scenes from the distant past. Cornel, the head of the Humanoid research institute, had placed the mysterious entity in an advanced Humanoid body and watched over him as if he were his son. During this time, Lambda had the mindset of a toddler, as he couldn't speak actual words and was seen playing with blocks. Emeraude, who was bound to a wheelchair at the time, insisted that they perform experiments on Lambda for the sake of their planet. After all, it was an entity consisting of pure energy and Phodra was dying. Cornel was against this, considering Lambda a human being. Even so, Emeraude followed through with her plans and when Cornel tried to stop her, she had him taken off the project with force. From that moment on, Lambda knew nothing but sorrow and rage due to many painful experiments. An undetermined amount of time later, Lambda was seen throwing a fit of blind rage, apparently having killed those who stood in his way. Cornel arrived on the scene, trying to calm him down, but Emeraude appeared, hoping to take Lambda back into custody by force. In an attempt to flee, Cornel activated a nearby shuttle, telling Lambda to board it. While the boy got inside safely, Cornel himself was shot down by Humanoids just before the doors closed behind them. With his last breath, he launched the shuttle via remote control, telling Lambda to live. After the crashlanding on Efinea, which was still in its early stage of history, Lambda shed his Humanoid body, keeping Cornel's dying words in mind. He took on the form of a monster, which scared the humans, causing even more sorrow and distrust. Some time later, Sophie (Protos 1) appeared, sent by Emeraude to destroy him once and for all. However, the battle presumably ended with a tie and Sophie disappeared, 'slumbering' until she had enough power to rematerialize, a process which cost her her memories. The next time Lambda encountered her was in the caverns with Asbel and the others. That battle ended with a tie as well, though Lambda's monster body was presumably injured beyond saving. Richard regained consciousness shortly after Sophie had disappeared, his friends still knocked out from the fight, but he too was in a terrible state. As it turned out, Cerdic had poisoned him and the dose was fatal. Lambda approached him, offering a compromise. If they were to fuse, the both of them would live. After watching those scenes, the party became considerably more sympathetic towards Lambda. They also theorized that Emeraude had placed her soul in a Humanoid body, as the woman they'd met had no problems walking and it was impossible for her to have lived a thousand years.
At last, they reached Lastaria, where they confronted Richard. The possessed King proclaimed that Lambda’s will was his own: to create a world free of conflict by eradicating all humans. Asbel tried to reason with him, but it was no good. Using the power of arles, Richard challenged the group to one final battle. After his defeat, he admitted he could no longer tell his own feelings from Lambda’s and, knowing he was beyond helping, requested that Asbel kill them both. Lambda retaliated, having no need for a host that had lost the will to live. It tried to destroy Richard, the same way it destroyed Emeraude. Asbel made a grab for Richard, pulling him free from Lambda's control and returning him to normal. Once again, Lambda was left without a body. Sophie stepped forward, saying her farewells to the group and preparing to use her power to vanquish the demon once and for all. However, just as she reached out to touch it, Asbel interfered, shoving her aside and making a snatch for Lambda himself. He fell into unconsciousness, his inner self trying to convince Lambda that there was also good in the world, while the others crowded around his lifeless body in worry. At last, he managed to persuade Lambda to let go of its feelings of sorrow and start over, but in order to do that the entity needed to 'sleep' for a little while. Asbel awoke, much to his friends' relief, his left eye now a strange purple color to indicate Lambda was still inside him. However, Sophie ascertained that the "bad feeling" had disappeared and Lambda was at peace. Filled with hope and a determination to show off the kindness of humans, they returned to Efinea's surface. During the ending, Cheria was seen helping Richard battle the remains of his monster army and healing injured civilians. The stolen energy was returned to the Valkynes Criaths and Pascal continued her research to optimize them. After the credits, an epilogue implies that Cheria had a child with Asbel: A young boy with pink hair modeled like Asbel's and brown eyes like hers, a smaller version of her brooch pinned to his chest.
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Thanks to hikari318 and luna_hoshino, for helping me with translations!~
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Granddaughter of Frederick, one of the Lhant family’s butlers, Cheria was one of Asbel’s closest friends during their childhood. Her parents died when she was young. She was a sickly girl who couldn’t strain herself, yet despite that, she always tagged along whenever Asbel and his younger brother Hubert set off on another crazy adventure. Not that she was happy to do so, oh no. Even as a young girl, she regularly told Asbel off for being so rash and teasing his brother. If anything, she went with them to make sure they stayed out of trouble. One day, when they were around the age of 11, Asbel and Hubert returned to the city with a strange girl who seemed to be suffering from amnesia. Asbel soon named her Sophie, after the Crosophie flower she was fond of. At first, Cheria had her reservations about the girl, partly because she was jealous. Still, she soon grew somewhat fond of Sophie. Upon Asbel’s insistence, the four of them met Richard, the young Prince of Windol, who was in the city for an official visit. Their first meeting was a bit unorthodox, as they had to climb through a window to get to the Prince, but he became their friend almost immediately. After Richard departed for his home, the capital of Balonia, Asbel and Sophie decided to follow him there. In the city, they met up with Cheria, who was brought there to see a doctor about her illness. They also ran into Hubert, who was taken to Balonia by his father to be adopted into a family from the Strata country. Thus, the five friends were reunited once more. Richard wanted to show them the castle, but knew they’d never be allowed inside by the guards. He told them about a secret passage and agreed to meet with them later to lead them through it. Sadly, Richard didn’t show and Asbel decided to enter the underground passage, in hopes of meeting him halfway there. What they found wasn’t at all what they expected. Richard was lying unconscious in one of the tunnel’s rooms and Sophie was struck by a “bad feeling”. A strange monster appeared and knocked both Hubert and Cheria out with one blow. Asbel, who tried to fight it, was dealt with in an easy manner as well. This enraged Sophie, who charged forward without delay to fight the monster. Though she managed to defeat it, it used its last strength to stab her through the gut. She started to disintegrate, her body seemingly ‘leaking’ pink sparkles. In one final mad attack, she dashed towards the monster and exploded into a burst of energy which filled the room and caused Asbel to lose consciousness. When he awoke, he was back in Lhant, along with Cheria. They were told that Hubert had been adopted into the Ozwell family and Sophie had died. This is what made Asbel decide to join the Knight’s Academy in Balonia, in order to grow stronger and prevent losing someone else precious to him. Sadly, in doing so, he left Cheria behind in Lhant all by herself. Though his father, Lord Aston, took it upon himself to help Cheria’s family look after her, she spent many years waiting for Asbel to return, receiving not even so much as a single letter from him. She did, however, discover that after the incident her illness had been cured and she was able to cast small healing spells. As they later find out, Sophie had transferred some of her energy to everyone who was present that time.
Seven years later, Lord Aston passed away, protecting Lhant in battle. Cheria travelled to the capital to find Asbel and inform him of the bad news. There, she first met Malik Caesars, Asbel’s instructor at the Knight academy. The two of them returned to Lhant, to find that it was being attacked by soldiers from the country of Fendel. They decided to lure a couple of tanks away from the city, acting as live bait, but were cornered on the cliff where Asbel and Hubert first found Sophie seven years before. Asbel cried out, causing a ‘resonance’ between himself and Cheria. Sophie reappeared before them in a burst of energy and aided their fight against the tanks, but once again she had no memories, not even of the time she spent with Asbel and his friends. While still hesitant, they decided that she couldn’t be the real Sophie, as there was no doubt that girl had died seven years earlier. The three of them returned to the city, where Cheria looked after injured civilians while Asbel wrote a letter to Malik to inform him of the situation. Immediately after, they decided to strike back and attack a Fendel camp while their guard was down. Sadly, this plan backfired spectacularly. While Asbel, Sophie, Cheria and a few knights left Lhant to attack the camp, the Fendel soldiers used a shortcut to attack the city a second time. As soon as they found out, the group returned to Lhant, where they were joined in battle by Hubert. He was being supported by a group of soldiers from the country of Strata. After the Fendel troops were defeated, Hubert announced that Strata and Windol had formed an alliance. What he’d neglected to mention was that Lhant had become an official settlement of Strata, with Hubert at its head. Asbel tried to protest against this and challenged his brother to a fight, to see who was more fit to lead Lhant. Asbel lost and Hubert banned him from the city. Along with Sophie, he travelled to the capital of Balonia.
The next time Cheria encountered the two was at Wallbridge. As a member of a group that helps injured soldiers and civilians, she’d arrived to heal victims of the incident that’d occurred just before. There, she found out that Asbel and Sophie had befriended a girl named Pascal and met up with Richard. As it turned out, Richard’s uncle, Cerdic, had killed the King with the aid of the royal knights so he could take over the throne. He was attempting to assassinate Richard, the sole heir, as well. Richard retaliated by sending troops into the capital and, along with his trusted friends, sneaking into the castle to have his revenge on Cerdic and claim the throne for himself. Cheria joined them on their quest and the five of them defeated Richard’s uncle. Soon after, Richard was crowned King and took matters into his own hands. He wanted to take Lhant back by force, but Asbel pleaded to be given a chance. He was sure he could reason with Hubert and negotiate Lhant’s ownership in peace. Richard relented and sent him on his way, now accompanied by Malik Caesars. After sneaking into the city of Lhant through a river, Asbel tried to confront his brother once more. Still, Hubert remained as pigheaded as before, until Windol troops invaded the place and Richard literally appeared on their doorstep. By this point, it was becoming clear that Richard wasn’t quite himself, taken over by malicious intent. A conflict ensued and Sophie, driven by her desire to protect her friends, stepped forward to challenge Richard. Energy was released from Hubert’s body and absorbed by Sophie, who regained her memories of seven years ago. Her energy literally clashed with Richard’s and she won out, smashing him into a wall. He was immediately carried off by his subordinates. Everyone was pleased by Sophie’s ‘awakening’, but the trouble was far from over. Hubert was being recalled to the country of Strata, as his superiors received a false report on how he was handling the affairs in Lhant. Asbel offered to go to Strata in his place, much to the dismay of Hubert’s adoptive cousin Raymond. Already jealous of Hubert’s influence and now questioning his loyalties, Raymond told himself that he would stop Asbel from reaching his home country. Cheria overheard this and was captured. She was imprisoned in a shack outside the city, though not before leaving a precious memento behind so Asbel could track her down; It was the Crosophie flower he’d given her seven years ago, pressed and preserved all this time. Just as she’d escaped the shack and came face to face with Strata soldiers, Asbel and the others came to her rescue. Cheria wanted to thank her friends, but this evolved into an argument with Asbel. She finally admitted to being worried about him during all those seven years and upset because he never tried to contact her. She’d even considered going to Balonia to visit him, but lost her courage to do so at the fear of becoming a burden. When Asbel explained that he’d promised himself not to return to Lhant until he’d become a real Knight, the conflict died down and Sophie made the two take a vow of friendship.
After a quick return to Lhant, the group departed for Strata’s capital, Yu Liberte. It was quite a troublesome journey. First they passed through the cities of Oul Reye and Sable Izolle. As they made their way through the desert, they ran into the Rockgagan, an enormous, usually friendly monster which had turned aggressive for some reason. They were swallowed whole by the beast, much to Cheria’s dismay, who absolutely refused to take the ‘other exit’. After defeating the cause of the Rockgagan’s aggressiveness, a bug-type monster which had taken residence inside it, the group managed to escape with a little aid from Hubert- He’d given the group a small bag of pepper before they left Lhant. Soon after, they arrived at the capital and had a talk with the president. As it turned out, the reason Strata wanted Lhant as their territory was because it had a high amount of “Criath”. (Criath are small stones, containing elemental energy. Additionally, each country has its own “Valkynes Criath”, an enormous version of normal Criath which holds energy of a particular element. Wind in Windol, water in Strata and fire in Fendel.) Pascal theorized that the only reason Strata would need Criath was because their own Valkynes Criath was broken and came up with a way to fix it, which the President approved. They set out to Strata’s Valkynes Criath in the desert ruins and successfully repaired it, but their celebrations were short-lived. Richard appeared and drained the Valkynes Criath of all its energy, before disappearing again. The group returned to the capital to report on the matter, only to find Hubert in the President’s office. As it turned out, Richard had drained Windol’s Valkynes Criath as well. Concerned about the King’s motives and hoping to capture him in time, they decided to head to Fendel territory and examine the Fire Valkynes Criath. Strata’s President allowed Hubert to join them on their quest and informed them of a spy who would help them cross the border into Fendel. The group set out to the coliseum port, which was on neutral ground so that warriors from all three countries could test their strength. Sadly, the spy had been captured by Fendel troops and the heroes were suspected of being her accomplices. They pretended not to have any ties to her, instead participating in the coliseum battles. After they won, the Fendel troops still tried to kill the Strata spy, but the coliseum watchman interfered and she was free to lead them across the border.
Already, it was clear that Hubert didn’t trust Malik and Pascal. He felt that both were acting suspicious and likely hiding something. As it turned out, he was correct. When they arrived in Fendel’s capital, Zavbert, it turned out that Malik was once a soldier in the Fendel army and Pascal was a member of the illusive Anmarcia clan, which consists mostly of scientists and technicians. In fact, she used to do research on the Valkynes Criath and how to make it more powerful. This is why they travelled to the village of the Anmarcia; they wanted to ask the elder to ask a few questions about the Valkynes Criath and find out who was continuing Pascal's research. During the trip, Hubert was even more suspicious of Pascal, as he couldn’t stand the fact she’d been keeping secrets like that. However, along the way to the Anmarcia’s village, the group was attacked by a rhinoceros-type monster and Pascal risked her life to save him. At this point, Hubert accepted that she’s a good person and the two became friends. Once inside the village of the Anmarcia, they encountered Pascal’s younger sister Poisson. Poisson informed them that the leader, Gauss, was away for a bit. It wasn’t hard to find out who continued Pascal’s research, though, as that was her other sister Fourier. The group travelled to a research facility outside the village to find Fourier and ask her a few questions about the Valkynes Criath. Sadly, she was hardly cooperative. Pascal tried to prove that her research was incomplete and there was no point in continuing it, by showing what it did to a smaller piece of Criath: It exploded. Fourier told them to take the matter up with Kurtz Bessel, one of Malik’s old companions who was conducting research on the Valkynes Criath in Fendel’s name. The group travelled back to Zavbert to speak with Kurtz, who refused to give up his research because the people of Fendel needed the power of the Criath. Still, they knew they couldn’t let this go on, because not only was the research dangerous, it would definitely attract Richard’s attention. They headed for the Valkynes Criath’ location on their own accord, once again encountering Kurtz there. A battle ensued and he was defeated. Suddenly, the Valkynes Criath’ power grew out of control and it threatened to explode, as the machinery attached to it went haywire. Kurtz cut the power with his weapon, leading to him being electrocuted and dying shortly afterwards. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Richard appeared on the scene to drain the Valkynes Criath. Both Asbel and Sophie tried to stop him with force, but it was no good. Fendel’s leader tried to hold the group responsible, but Poisson appeared on the scene to help them out. She threatened that Anmarcia would cut all ties with Fendel, causing them to lose their precious researchers. The troops had no choice but to retreat and Poisson told the group to check the records in Anmarcia’s village for more information on Sophie or Richard. There, they found out about Lastaria, the planet’s core. To get there, they needed to travel to the central island. The name “Lambda” also appeared in the records, stirring something deep in Sophie’s hidden memories. However, it didn’t seem important at the time.
The group decided to head for the central island, in hopes of finding out more about Richard’s motives there. Instead, they ran into the King himself. It was clear that he wasn’t himself anymore, as he was surrounded by even more dark energy than before, his voice oddly distorted. The group fought him and won, but Asbel stopped them before they could deliver the final blow, as Richard lay on the ground, clutching his head in pain. Sophie reached out to him, but it didn’t quite seem as if he recognized her, instead calling her “Protos 1”. He shot her with a blast of energy, knocking her unconscious. The situation only escalated from there, as the group only barely managed to escape the island while Richard created an enormous cocoon around himself and the island’s center. To make matters worse, the attack had ‘broken’ Sophie’s body. She started to glow unnaturally, looked like she was in pain and soon after lost her sight. After searching for more information in Sable Izolle’s archives, the party decided to go to Phodra, the planet of origin which existed right next to their homeplanet of Efinea, in hopes of finding a way to cure her. In order to get there, they needed to use a shuttle built by the Anmarcia clan and break through the seal of water surrounding the planet. Meanwhile, Richard was sending armies of monsters throughout the lands. After travelling to a research base in Fendel to activate the shuttle’s power, they travelled to the caves just outside Lhant to get ready for their departure. As they did so, Cheria and Asbel had a small discussion where she admitted she used to be jealous of Sophie. Asbel, as always, didn’t get the hint. With some help from Poisson and Fourier, the shuttle launched successfully.
Phodra, as it turned out, was a barren planet overrun by monsters. Its inhabitants had migrated to Efinea a long time ago. The only ‘living’ being they encountered there was a mysterious woman called Emeraude, whom they’d awakened from a slumber. Aside from her, the place was inhabited by small robots called Humanoids. Emeraude recognized Sophie as Protos 1, a special Humanoid sent to Efinea a long time ago to fight the entity known as Lambda. In order to fix her, they travelled to the Cornel Research Institute, the origin of Humanoids. Still, the curing process had such an impact on Sophie’s body that her feelings started to ‘materialize’. While the real Sophie lay in a cocoon, illusions appeared of herself interacting with the other party members. Being guided by Cheria, imitating Malik’s poses, being helped to her feet by Hubert and even fighting Richard. Sophie’s ‘feelings’ reached a climax when an illusion of the monster that attacked everyone in the caverns seven years ago appeared. This monster was Lambda. After the party fought it, Sophie was fully cured. Emeraude informed them that Lambda was a peculiar demon found in Efinea’s core (It may be Phodra’s core. The game leaves that up for interpretation, sadly) and further researched on Phodra. The party soon came to the conclusion that Lambda had taken residence inside Richard’s body. Emeraude tried to return all of Sophie’s memories to her with the aid of a device, but the machine broke down and holographic images of an old man, Cornel, appeared. They showed him playing with a young humanoid boy called Lambda and claiming that he was a person. Still, Emeraude insisted that Lambda was a demon which needed to be destroyed. In order to return to Efinea and break through the dome Richard had built around the central island, the shuttle needed an extra part attached to the front. To get it, they travelled to the Bashis institute, which was overrun by guard humanoids. While they were there, Pascal created a pair of rings which allowed herself and Malik to use Sophie’s power as well. The shuttle part was gained successfully and Emeraude requested to go back to Efinea with them, to which everyone agreed.
Upon returning to Efinea, they immediately broke into Lambda’s cocoon and travelled to the center to challenge Richard. By now, Lambda had caused the King’s body to mutate, turning his hair white, his eyes red and most notably, granting him wings. Asbel tried to reason with him, but there was virtually no trace of the old Richard left and they were forced to battle. After he was defeated, Lambda left his body in the form of a floating orb. Sophie stepped forward, ready to activate her special powers: She would disappear along with Lambda. Shockingly enough, Emeraude interfered by attacking Sophie before she could fully activate her power. In an attempt to take Lambda’s power all for herself, she took the entity into her own body and tried to eradicate the group. She proved to be a formidable opponent, but her plans backfired when Lambda refused to be controlled by her, destroying her body. Once again, the ‘demon’ was free, this time taking the form of the humanoid boy they’d seen on Phodra’s projector. To everyone’s surprise, Richard was back on his feet. He called Lambda back, offering his own body up again. The two fused and Richard mutated back into his winged form, before destroying the dome and disappearing into the planet’s core. Sophie tried to chase after him, but Asbel restrained her and the group escaped in the shuttle. There, a small argument erupted. Sophie insisted that she should complete her purpose for existing, while they all attempted to convince her that disappearing along with Lambda was not the way to solve things.
They returned to Lhant, where Cheria wanted to speak to Sophie in private. She knew the girl didn’t understand why everyone was upset and tried to explain to her just what it means to die. It meant not being able meet with her friends anymore. After Sophie realized why that thought caused everyone so much pain, Cheria arranged for the girl to have a private talk with Asbel on the matter. Later, inside the Lhant mansion, they decided to head for Lastaria and stop Lambda at all costs. The party members spread out and spent the night before the final battle in Lhant, which of course was a cue for the obligatory heart-to-heart talk with the main character. Just as Asbel tried to approach Cheria, he was beaten to the scene by both Barry and Raymond. Instead of invading the scene, he decided to hide and listen in on the conversation. Both Barry and Raymond tried to confess their love for Cheria, Raymond even going down on one knee and asking her to return to Strata with him after the battle was over. Still, she politely turned them both down and they retreated. Asbel came out of hiding and Barry told him to take good care of her. At first, he made fun of Cheria and the situation she was in, but the conversation soon took on a more serious tone. Cheria admitted that she wanted to restart the rescue group she was in before, so that she could help people in need throughout the world. Meanwhile, Asbel planned to do something for Lhant's development and take care of Sophie, hoping she’d help him out with that. Cheria insisted he'd better fulfill his promise, or she wouldn’t let him go away with it.
The next day, the group travelled to the Ghardia Shaft, where Lambda was hiding. As they progressed through it, they learned more about Lambda's history by passing through special portals that showed them scenes from the distant past. Cornel, the head of the Humanoid research institute, had placed the mysterious entity in an advanced Humanoid body and watched over him as if he were his son. During this time, Lambda had the mindset of a toddler, as he couldn't speak actual words and was seen playing with blocks. Emeraude, who was bound to a wheelchair at the time, insisted that they perform experiments on Lambda for the sake of their planet. After all, it was an entity consisting of pure energy and Phodra was dying. Cornel was against this, considering Lambda a human being. Even so, Emeraude followed through with her plans and when Cornel tried to stop her, she had him taken off the project with force. From that moment on, Lambda knew nothing but sorrow and rage due to many painful experiments. An undetermined amount of time later, Lambda was seen throwing a fit of blind rage, apparently having killed those who stood in his way. Cornel arrived on the scene, trying to calm him down, but Emeraude appeared, hoping to take Lambda back into custody by force. In an attempt to flee, Cornel activated a nearby shuttle, telling Lambda to board it. While the boy got inside safely, Cornel himself was shot down by Humanoids just before the doors closed behind them. With his last breath, he launched the shuttle via remote control, telling Lambda to live. After the crashlanding on Efinea, which was still in its early stage of history, Lambda shed his Humanoid body, keeping Cornel's dying words in mind. He took on the form of a monster, which scared the humans, causing even more sorrow and distrust. Some time later, Sophie (Protos 1) appeared, sent by Emeraude to destroy him once and for all. However, the battle presumably ended with a tie and Sophie disappeared, 'slumbering' until she had enough power to rematerialize, a process which cost her her memories. The next time Lambda encountered her was in the caverns with Asbel and the others. That battle ended with a tie as well, though Lambda's monster body was presumably injured beyond saving. Richard regained consciousness shortly after Sophie had disappeared, his friends still knocked out from the fight, but he too was in a terrible state. As it turned out, Cerdic had poisoned him and the dose was fatal. Lambda approached him, offering a compromise. If they were to fuse, the both of them would live. After watching those scenes, the party became considerably more sympathetic towards Lambda. They also theorized that Emeraude had placed her soul in a Humanoid body, as the woman they'd met had no problems walking and it was impossible for her to have lived a thousand years.
At last, they reached Lastaria, where they confronted Richard. The possessed King proclaimed that Lambda’s will was his own: to create a world free of conflict by eradicating all humans. Asbel tried to reason with him, but it was no good. Using the power of arles, Richard challenged the group to one final battle. After his defeat, he admitted he could no longer tell his own feelings from Lambda’s and, knowing he was beyond helping, requested that Asbel kill them both. Lambda retaliated, having no need for a host that had lost the will to live. It tried to destroy Richard, the same way it destroyed Emeraude. Asbel made a grab for Richard, pulling him free from Lambda's control and returning him to normal. Once again, Lambda was left without a body. Sophie stepped forward, saying her farewells to the group and preparing to use her power to vanquish the demon once and for all. However, just as she reached out to touch it, Asbel interfered, shoving her aside and making a snatch for Lambda himself. He fell into unconsciousness, his inner self trying to convince Lambda that there was also good in the world, while the others crowded around his lifeless body in worry. At last, he managed to persuade Lambda to let go of its feelings of sorrow and start over, but in order to do that the entity needed to 'sleep' for a little while. Asbel awoke, much to his friends' relief, his left eye now a strange purple color to indicate Lambda was still inside him. However, Sophie ascertained that the "bad feeling" had disappeared and Lambda was at peace. Filled with hope and a determination to show off the kindness of humans, they returned to Efinea's surface. During the ending, Cheria was seen helping Richard battle the remains of his monster army and healing injured civilians. The stolen energy was returned to the Valkynes Criaths and Pascal continued her research to optimize them. After the credits, an epilogue implies that Cheria had a child with Asbel: A young boy with pink hair modeled like Asbel's and brown eyes like hers, a smaller version of her brooch pinned to his chest.
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