Scenario:Razia - I Pledge Myself Anew
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I Pledge Myself Anew
Razia regains consciousness in a cell beneath the Zeyen temple, captured by a Va'hen monk. The monk attempts to cast a brainwashing spell to force her to join the Va'hen sect. Razia manages to use her own clumsiness to trick her captor and escapes with his keys to continue her investigation.
Razia: Uuurrgh...
Razia presses a hand to her throbbing head and gingerly pushes herself upright.
Razia: Is this... a prison cell? Am I still inside the temple?
Razia: I'd better be even more careful...
Razia: !
Razia: Waaahhh!
Razia: Ungh!
Razia: I must have been captured while I was passed out...
Razia: I've got to get out of here...
Razia: I'd rather embrace death than be left to the tender mercies of the Zeyen.
Footsteps approach Razia's cell. She peers warily out between the bars.
Monk: Humph. So you're awake.
Razia: Why you—Ahem. Who in the skies are you? And where am I?
Monk: I'll ask the questions here. Just who are you? More importantly, which country are you spying for?
Monk: What did you come snooping around to find?
Razia: Spying? I'll have you know I am a—Ahem.
Razia: I am no spy!
Razia: The temple was so beautiful, I was wandering around admiring the architecture and lost my way...
Razia: I was trying to get back to the entrance when I tripped and fell through that door...
Monk: You expect me to believe that you got lost inside the temple... And just happened to stumble through that door...
Monk: Then rolled down the stairs... struck your head, and lost consciousness. Is that what you're telling me?
Razia: Y-yes. I'm terribly embarrassed, but that's exactly what happened.
Monk: Do you take me for a fool! No one with that much dirt between their ears could possibly walk around upright!
Monk: If you're going to lie, put a little more effort into it!
Razia: Ungh, I wish I were dead!
Razia: I'd rather embrace death than suffer the contempt of a total stranger!
Monk: ...
Razia is beet red and on the verge of tears in her shame.
The monk looks at her in blank disbelief.
Monk: Don't tell me... that pitiful story is actually true?
Razia: Of course it is! Why would I make up something like that!
Monk: You... have a point.
Monk: I... I'm sorry. I just... never suspected anyone so fumble-footed could actually exist.
Razia: Urgh... How much more indignity must I suffer! Just kill me already, if you're going to!
Monk: All right, slow down! It seems you really aren't a spy.
Monk: I thought you were merely putting on an act in order to escape, but I suppose that isn't the case.
Monk: There can't be a country out there desperate enough to employ such an oaf as a spy.
Razia: Insult to injury...
Monk: Hm? What was that?
Razia: Oh, uh, nothing.
Razia: Erm... If I've allayed your suspicions, then may I leave?
Monk: I'm afraid not.
Razia: Wh-why?
Monk: We can't have you telling anyone that we're here.
Razia: What! What do you plan to do with me?
Monk: You'll have to join us—to become a member of the Va'hen sect.
Razia: N-no thank you! I'd rather die than throw in my lot with extremists like you!
Monk: You don't have a choice in the matter. That's how it has to be.
The monk draws a book from an inside pocket.
Razia: Wh-what are you plotting?
Monk: I will cast a spell to brainwash you.
Razia: Brainwash me!
Monk: That's right.
Monk: The spell inscribed in this grimoire has the power to forcibly rewrite people's thoughts.
Monk: It can thus ensure undying loyalty to the Va'hen sect...
Monk: Anyone ensorcelled by the power of this tome becomes a devoted follower of the sect, whether they will or no.
Monk: And once cast, there is no way to lift the enchantment.
Monk: The person's very consciousness is overwritten. They will know no other truth so long as they live!
Razia: S-stop! Please! Don't do it!
Razia throws herself at the door of her cell, rattling the bars for all she's worth.
Razia: Ungh... Just kill me! I'd rather embrace death than be brainwashed into joining you.
Razia: Anything would be better than being a pawn for you monsters who hurt innocent people!
Razia: I'm begging you! Just kill me instead!
Ignoring her desperate protests, the monk opens his grimoire.
Razia: Nooo!
Once more Razia flings herself at the cell door in a desperate attempt to stop the monk from casting his spell.
The door rattles loudly but holds firm.
Razia: Aaahhh!
Razia screams, backs up, and hurls herself forward one last time.
But her foot catches on the uneven tile...
And she plants her face in the floor instead.
Razia: Gyargh!
Razia: ...
Monk: ...
Razia's spectacular display of buffoonery leaves the monk speechless, his grimoire forgotten in his hand.
Monk: H-hey... Are you all right?
Razia: ...
Monk: Hey!
Razia doesn't so much as twitch no matter how loudly he calls.
Monk: Geez... Did she knock herself out?
Monk: That was one heck of a blow to the head. Could she be...
Monk: We can't use a dead pawn.
The monk closes his spellbook, unlocks the cell door, and steps inside.
Monk: Hey. You're not dead, are you?
The monk hunkers down and reaches out to check Razia's jugular pulse.
Razia's hand shoots up to grab his.
Monk: Wha!
Razia: Ha! Fool!
Razia yanks the monk toward her as she rears back, then snaps forward and delivers a skull-shattering headbutt.
Monk: Yargh!
Monk: Y-you... were un... conscious...
Razia: I take falls like that every day.
Razia: My brain can't be shaken that easily!
Monk: No one... could be that... clumsy...
The monk slumps to the floor, senseless.
Razia: That was close... I nearly wound up—
Razia: Well, what's important is that I didn't.
Razia leans over and roots through the monk's pockets until she finds his keys.
Razia: These keys ought to make my investigation a little easier.
Razia: Time to get back to it.
Razia slips out of the cell and begins to investigate the temple basement.
I Pledge Myself Anew: Scene 2
Razia discovers her father's journal and learns that he joined the Va'hen sect to gain their fabled power to alter history in order to resurrect his dead wife and Razia, whom he believes to be dead. Razia cries at the revelation that her father still loves her. She is ambushed as she attempts to leave, but the crew comes to the rescue.
Razia is investigating the basement of a Zeyen temple.
Her progress is slowed, however, by the number of monks patrolling the area.
Razia: Why is security so tight? What on earth are they hiding down here?
Razia: More importantly... Are my father and sister even here?
Razia: I suppose I just have to keep looking...
Razia approaches a nearby door and pulls out the key ring taken from her erstwhile captor.
Razia: Nobody move! Stay quiet and no one gets—
Razia: Oh. No one here, huh?
Razia: Looks like some sort of reception room... Nothing particularly suspicious about it.
Razia: On to the next room.
Razia presses her ear to another door.
Razia: Sounds like no one's inside.
Razia: These must be the monks' sleeping quarters. Nothing suspicious here either, by the looks of it.
Razia: No, wait. If this is the monks' room, there may be weapons of some sort.
Razia: I'd rather not go around unarmed like this, in case I run into anyone else.
Razia makes a more thorough search of the room.
Razia: Ugh, not a single sword...
Razia: Oh well. I'd better move on before one of them comes back.
Razia continues to evade the patrolling monks as she pursues her investigation.
But she finds no trace of her family, nor even a hint as to the Va'hen sect's objectives.
At last she comes upon a door more lavishly carved and decorated than all the others.
Razia: What intricate craftsmanship... This room must belong to a high-ranking member of the sect...
Razia: This is as likely a place as any to find some useful information.
She unlocks the door and slips inside.
Razia: Nobody move! Stay quiet and no one gets—
Razia: Ah. No one here either...
Razia: And it's so dusty... Seems like it hasn't seen any use recently.
Razia: All the better. If no one comes here, I can make a thorough search.
Razia: What's this? "Investigation Journal"?
There's a book on one shelf with "Investigation Journal" written on the spine. Razia pulls it out and flips it open.
Razia: This... This is my father's handwriting! I'd know it anywhere!
Razia's eyes widen as she scans the pages.
She devours what's written inside like a starving woman with a feast laid before her. It reads:
In the basement of this shrine, we finally found a clue to the legacy spoken of in Zeyen tradition... The power to alter the past.
We've delegated all routine tasks to our subordinates in order to set out for the location mentioned in the text we unearthed.
Soon. Soon we will hold in our hands the power to change history.
With it, we will reclaim the happiness we once had.
Those blissful times when we were united with my wife and Razia.
Razia looks up from the journal.
Razia: I knew he joined the Va'hen sect in order to be reunited with my mother...
Razia: He hopes to use the Va'hen legacy to change the past and bring her back...
Razia: So it's on my father's orders that the sect members have been converging at this temple.
She reads on.
Razia: Hm? This page...
Something grabs Razia's attention.
A page entitled, About My Daughter.
Razia: About me? What does it say?
Brow furrowed, she reads.
Razia: What must my daughter Razia be doing now? Is she even alive?
Razia: I suppose I must assume she has been put to death for my crimes.
Razia: My greatest regret, for which I can never atone...
Razia: Is the pain I have caused her by failing to bring her with me.
Razia: But I will see her again once I have changed the past.
Razia: I have to press onward. To recapture my family's past happiness...
Razia: To once again see their smiling faces...
Razia: No sacrifice is too great.
Razia closes the book, happiness and sadness warring across her face.
Razia: I knew he was thinking of my mother... But I never thought he'd assume I was dead too.
Razia: ...
Razia: So he didn't just abandon me and forget...
Razia: Even now, he still cares about me...
Razia: He's still thinking about what's best for me...
Razia: Oh, Father!
Razia clasps the journal to her chest as silent tears roll down her cheeks.
Razia: Well. I've discovered his goal as well as the reason for the Va'hen activity here.
Razia: I think my investigation is done. Time to make my escape!
Her father's journal under her arm, Razia heads for the temple entrance.
Somehow she manages to evade the monks once more.
Razia: Looks like the coast is clear. Now all I have to do is—
Monk: Sorry, but you're not going anywhere.
A group of monks emerge from the shadows.
They surround Razia in a flash.
Razia: An ambush, eh?
Razia grits her teeth as she contemplates the odds.
Monk: Give it up! You have no choice but to join us!
Razia: Never!
Razia: I'd rather embrace death than be brainwashed into joining your sect!
Monk: I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping at least to spare your life.
Monk: But if you're so set on martyring yourself, we'll simply have to oblige you.
The monks draw their weapons and attack.
Razia: Urgh... So this is how it ends?
Before the monks can land a blow, a sudden gale sends them flying.
Razia: Wha! What just...
As Razia looks around in confusion, a familiar voice speaks.
Razia: (Captain)!
Razia turns to see (Captain) and the others sprinting toward her.
Razia: Did... Did you summon that wind?
Lyria: Y-yes. It looked like you were in trouble, so I used my powers.
Razia: I see. I'm in your debt.
Razia: But what are you all doing here? We agreed you would wait for me in town.
Lyria: Ahaha... Well... We were worried about you.
Vyrn: Yeah. So we thought we'd do a little sightseeing at the temple.
Lyria: So when we heard your voice, we came running.
Vyrn: So... You mind telling us just what's goin' on here?
Razia: These are members of the Va'hen sect.
Vyrn: Oh... You mean your—
Razia: That's right! My sworn enemies!
Monk: I don't know who you are, but now that you know our identities, none of you can be allowed to leave.
Monk: Besides, you dared to impede us in our duty.
Monk: That makes you the enemies of the Va'hen sect.
Monk: And as such, you all must die!
Razia: (Captain), have you still got my cannonlance?
(Captain) passes Razia the bag containing her trusty weapon.
She rounds on the monks, brandishing her cannonlance.
Razia: Well then! Do your worst, my sworn enemies!
Razia: I'll never let you get your way!
I Pledge Myself Anew: Scene 3
The crew defeats the monks and escapes from the temple. Razia explains to (Captain) and the others that she just missed meeting her family members. She then shares what she learned about her father. She renews her resolve to stop her father from traveling further down the path of darkness.
Razia, (Captain), and the others stand victorious over the fallen Va'hen monks.
Vyrn: Phew... Looks like we made it somehow.
Razia: Don't count your dragons before they're hatched.
In the distance they hear the footfalls of a large group of people.
The sound is rapidly increasing in volume.
Razia: The rest of the believers must have noticed something was amiss.
Vyrn: Aw, junk. Now what!
Razia: Agreed! We don't want to be here when they arrive!
Choose: Did you complete your mission?
Razia: Yes! Let's be gone before they can surround us!
Continue 1
The crew makes a dash for the temple entrance.
Razia: The exit should be just ahead...
Razia: !
Stop!
Stop!
Vyrn: What's the holdup, Scrappy? We gotta make like a tree, or else—
Razia: Look.
Razia points toward the entrance.
A throng of monks is gathered in front of it.
Razia: Ungh... They're a step ahead of us. They've sealed off the entrance!
As (Captain) and the crew wonder what to do, they hear their pursuers gaining on them.
Lyria: Oh no! The ones behind us are getting closer!
Vyrn: What's the plan? At this rate, they'll have us surrounded!
Razia: I know, I know! But what can we do...
Razia: Ugh, there's no other way! It's sink or swim!
Razia swings around and aims her cannonlance at the wall.
Vyrn: Hey... Whatcha doin' there, Scrappy?
Razia: I'm going to blow us a way out of here!
Vyrn: Huh? Are you serious!
Razia: Dead serious!
Razia squeezes the trigger.
The wall explodes in a hail of rock and plaster. As the dust settles, it reveals a hole large enough for them all to pass through.
On the other side, the crew can see the town.
Razia: All right! It worked!
Vyrn: You're outta your gourd, Scrappy. You can't go around using cannons instead of doorknobs.
Razia: Wh-what choice did we have? I couldn't think of anything else.
Razia: Besides, it worked! All's well that ends well!
Vyrn: Sigh...
Lyria: Ahaha...
Razia: This is no time for a performance review! Let's get out of here before the monks catch up with us!
Without another word, (Captain) and the others scramble out through the hole.
Vyrn: Pant... Wheeze...
Geez... We made it.
Geez... We made it.
Razia: Yes, but we can't let down our guard. These people are nothing if not persistent.
Razia: We'd better leave the island with all haste.
Razia: Even they won't be able to follow us once we've taken to the skies.
Lyria: Huff... Puff...
R-right!
R-right!
The crew makes it back to the Grandcypher and weighs anchor. The airship safely takes flight.
Vyrn: Phew... I guess we shook 'em. I'm really glad you're okay, Scrappy.
Lyria: Yes... I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time we were waiting for you.
Razia: My apologies for worrying you.
Vyrn: So... Hey. Did you find your family?
Razia: No... It seems we just missed each other.
Razia: But I found my father's journal detailing his own investigation.
Razia pulls out the journal and hugs it tightly to her chest.
Razia: He wrote about his feelings for me...
Razia: He still loves me.
Razia: He didn't mean to abandon me...
Lyria: ...
Razia: And that's exactly why I have to stop him.
Razia: As his daughter, I have a responsibility.
Razia: I have to keep him from going any further down this path, from committing any more crimes.
Razia: It's the best thing I can do for him.
Lyria: Um, Razia? Don't forget that we're here for you too! You're not in this alone.
Razia: I know, Lyria. Thank you.
Razia gives (Captain) and the others a gentle smile.
Razia: (I can understand my father's desire to be reunited with my mother.)
Razia: (But it doesn't give him the right to hurt others, or to sacrifice their happiness for ours.)
Razia: (No matter what, I will stop him. Even if I have to get my hands dirty to do it.)
Razia: (Nothing's going to stop me.)
Razia raises her gaze to the sky as she makes her silent vow.
She finally knows what her father was thinking all that time ago.
That truth has shone a ray of light into the revenge-darkened recesses of her heart.
Whether it will guide her to salvation, or to murkier depths of despair...
No one can say.