Inside the interior of the Cathedral of the First Saint…

Going past spacious hallways lit in fiery torchlight, we’re on our way to what looks like the dining hall back in the Chantry of Eternal Light, from a past era. It’s a shame there won’t be any beef stew. Or anything to eat or drink, really. It’s a Dungeon, after all.

That said… the inscriptions on the walls are rather… fascinating! Seriously! They’re in Enochian, the divine language of the gods of Nisha. It’s the same stuff that goes into the Order of Selene’s prayers and Librams for Healers and Paladins, as well as the Codex Rinnah. Divine magic from the gods, bestowed upon mortals.

In the previous timeline, the first time Anna and I were in here to be tested by Saint Alyssa, I noticed these writings too. But they were a little too complicated for us, and so I dismissed them as fancy magic symbols to decorate the place and make it fancy for Healers and Paladins passing through. But now, with a new eye, they’ve caught my attention again. And I can understand these words, slowly but surely as I read them line by line…

These words of Enochian… they’re resonating with me, my soul… baring their secrets to me as they glow brightly like fireflies in the sky. And they’re telling me… oh my! Uh…

“Umm… is something the matter, Arisa?” Anna asks me, having noticed that I’ve stopped dead in my tracks to stare. “Are those symbols on the walls… Enochian?”

“Yeah! These runes of Enochian…” I utter, unable to take my gaze off the walls. “It’s spelling out something that isn’t in the Codex, or anything from the Order, for that matter…”

“Huh? Really!? Umm… what do they say?”

“Well, uh…”

Good grief. These runes of Enochian… they’re spelling out a story unrelated to the Order of Selene, or the First Saint. But rather, a time before Nisha and an era before Rinnah and the Demon Lord! But it’s not making much sense, if any at all.

“It’s saying that there was a time before Rinnah and the Demon Lord…” I tell Anna as I slowly read the holy runes, esoteric line by esoteric line. “It says that in a world before the creation of this one, an ordinary shopkeeper found a book containing the secrets of life and death, and the universe.”

“Oh my! Is that shopkeeper… Rinnah?”

“Could be. But that’s where the story ends,” I add, frowning deeply. “The other runes are about other things. Personal anecdotes. It’s like stuff straight outta someone’s diary. Like yours!”

“Huh, that’s odd.”

“Yeah, I know, right? One of them is about this shopkeeper having a drink with a friend, who lost their brother in some kind of war. Or maybe it’s a bandit attack. It’s a little bit unclear.”

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“Oh.”

It’s right about now as I’m thinking on this, that I remember seeing demonic runes across the frozen land of Arcadia when Anna and I were passing through in the previous timeline. Those runes were also unintelligible. Still would be, I reckon. But then, if what the Demon Lord said to me in my nightmares about us being as one… maybe I could… I dunno. I really don’t.

“Anna…”

“Yes, Arisa?”

“Let’s get going,” I offer with a smile. “I’ve hit a wall on this, I’m afraid. No pun intended. The other half of this story, I think… is in Arcadia. Y’know, that place.”

“Oh, okay…” Anna answers, frowning as well. “That doesn’t sound good at all....”

“It’s alright. We’ll get to the bottom of this when the time comes. Rinnah willing.”

“When we go to Arcadia?”

“Yeah. Hopefully. It’ll be a while before that ever comes, though. We still have the rest of this Cathedral waiting for us.”

“Will you tell me about it when you find out more?”

“You’ll be the first to know,” I answer with my best smile. “Anyways… eyes on the prize. Let’s focus on the task at hand.”

“Okay!”

We continue onward with Anna leading the way. Soon enough, the next arena comes into view – a candlelit dining hall laden with long tables laid and fancy, plates and glasses waiting for meals that’ll never come. For us, anyway. Perhaps the spirits of this hallowed place like themselves a fancy spectral banquet with all-you-can-eat ghost food every now and then. It’s all so spick and span, and I can’t help but wonder who or what maintains it all.

Either way… I know what’s supposed to be coming up. Hordes of Lightspawn, each not much bigger than an angry puppy or a Giant Rat. They’re meant to overwhelm you, coming from all corners of this room, knocking aside all the nicely laid cutlery aside as they rush at their enemies, burying Paladin and Healer alike in a sea of Monster bodies that bite and chew as good as any Giant Rat or frenzied dog ever could.

You’re supposed to identify and take up a defensive position while the horde of monsters closes in. Lightspawn aren’t very fast, after all. And when they get in close to attack, the Paladin needs to use their Sanctuary spell to keep themselves and their Healer safe. And the Healer… they’ve gotta work that Heal spell while their Paladin cuts down all those nasty little buggers. Easy enough… so long as one doesn’t lose their nerve.

But that’s for newbies, like Anna. Like I was too, one timeline ago. Now, uh…

“Arisa!” Anna exclaims as she unsheathes Ascalon. “Look!”

Right on schedule, large swarms of Lightspawn emerge from the walls, their radiant, writhing forms gathering up in a massive horde. There’s so many of them, but oddly enough… they aren’t advancing at us. Not quickly, not slowly. Not at all! In fact, they’re merging…!?

“Oh, shit…” I wonder out loud. “Look at those nasty bastards, Anna! They’re merging into something else. Something big.”

Disintegrating into wisps of prismatic light, the masses of Lightspawn glow and burn together, a star bright with the light of a hundred suns. More and more of them add themselves to that gathering star, growing that light exponentially into a critical mass. Until…

“Shit. Get behind me, Anna!”

I put a Spell Ward just in the nick of time, shielding Anna and myself from the worst of a supernova burst of holy radiance that envelops the room in blinding, golden light. Even then, it feels like someone’s pointing torchlights directly into my eyes. And as the last of that fucked up holy light fades…

“DESTROY.”

“Umm… Arisa!?” Anna exclaims worriedly, her grip on Ascalon tight as one bad motherfucker as tall as the damn ceiling, and as wide as the room, glares at us with many, many eyes glowing brightly with prismatic light. “What in Rinnah is that… thing!?”

“Fuck me. That’s a Radiant Colossus…” I answer as I reach for Elizabeth, eyes on that big bad holy Monster fused from what must be tens to hundreds of Lightspawn, as it shoves aside the dining tables between us and it, in one brutal sweep of arms as large as tree trunks. “We’re gonna have to fight like we’ve never fought before. Get ready!”

Good grief. What a day. What a fucking day…