Stop knocking on the window sill. Are you trying to send a secret message?
Arturia
As you can see, I am unable to play my cello because it's been Arts-locked. It is... uncomfortable.
Arturia
Unless you would care to join me for a chat.
Imperial Caster
Absolutely not.
Arturia
Very well then. I suppose I'll have to wait for another guest.
Imperial Caster
Try anything funny, and we'll bind your arms and legs with Arts.
Imperial Caster
My apologies, but Grimmacht has forbidden anyone from meeting with Arturia.
???
Not even an Empresses' Voice?
Imperial Caster
No exceptions.
???
Then what about... Ewigegnade's envoy?
Imperial Caster
...Ewigegnade sent you?
???
Was that not clear enough?
Arturia
Now this is a surprise.
Arturia
To think you'd be the first to come and see me.
Viviana
This is the second time we've met, Arturia.
Arturia
Oh, more than that, I would think.
Arturia
How many times have we met, in the sound of music?
Viviana
I see your words are as mysterious as your music. And yourself.
Arturia
Me? Mysterious?
Arturia
On the contrary, I'm far more open and frank than most.
Arturia
So an Empresses' Voice, a paragon of law and order, has come to meet with a dangerous felon alone. Even going as far as to fake an empress's orders to do so... That must have taken quite a bit of determination.
Viviana
You knew I wasn't sent by Ewigegnade?
Arturia
There's nothing she could possibly want to ask me. But you, Viviana, your face is full of question marks. So what would you like to know, from your former enemy?
Viviana
......
Arturia
Allow me to guess... you want to know the truth behind your father's death.
Viviana
Ja.
Arturia
That said, I'm not used to answering questions.
Viviana
Do I need to offer you something in exchange?
Arturia
A trade, hm... How about you simply open yourself up to me, and allow me to search your heart?
Once upon a time, there was a child who lived on top of a tower in the middle of a storm.
Arturia
Until the age of nine, she never left her little room in the tower.
Viviana
You know my—
Arturia
Oh, don't give me that look. Like I said, this is simply a story we're telling together.
Arturia
Imagine that you're a part of it, and... reach out to yourself.
Viviana
...Very well.
Arturia
Tell me, what is it about the tower that left the deepest impression on the child?
Viviana
The window.
Viviana
It was a small room. The window was small, too. You could reach out and touch the cold, wet clouds.
Arturia
The storms rarely abate in Sturmland, do they?
Viviana
Ja. Dark lightning often knocked at the window. My mother would hold me, telling stories and reading me poems in a soft, gentle voice.
Arturia
What about your father?
Viviana
He... One night a week, he would come to the spire where I lived, bringing me books and teaching me to play instruments.
Arturia
You looked forward to these meetings. Did you leave your room and wait for him at the top of the staircase, when it was almost time?
Viviana
When I was little. But I stopped.
Arturia
What happened?
Viviana
The skies were very dark that day. It had been a long time my father's last visit. I was out of candles, and I wanted to find some, so I went further than I usually did.
Viviana
I saw so many children and adults. The music combined with their laughter was louder than the thunder.
Arturia
That's when you realized that not every child had to stay in their room like you did. That they could hold their parents' hands, and dance and sing to their hearts' delight.
Viviana
...Ja.
Arturia
Did you see your father there? Did you look for him?
Viviana
I wanted to, but my mother pulled me back. She covered my ears, and tried to cover my eyes too... It hurt a bit, but I didn't dare say anything.
Arturia
She brought you back to your little room. Did you look up?
Viviana
Nein. I... I kept my eyes closed. I heard my mother crying, but I didn't dare look at her.
Arturia
Didn't dare?
Viviana
...Ja. I didn't dare go down the stairs. I didn't dare look for my father anymore.
Viviana
I never looked up again, even after my mother passed away, when my father sent me away from the spire.
Arturia
Why not?
Viviana
My father was a Kurfürst. He and my mother weren't married. My existence was a secret that would hurt my mother and make things difficult for my father if anyone found out.
Arturia
No, that's not what I'm asking. How did you feel?
Viviana
Me...?
Arturia
You were the one trapped in the spire. You were the one forbidden to recognize your father. You were the one who watched your mother waste away. You were the one sent away from home.
Arturia
When you went to Kazimierz and decided to become a knight, you held a sliver of expectation.
Arturia
After all, the stories of your childhood, the stories about knights, had long been your source of comfort.
Arturia
But you soon realized you were no more than a puppet of the General Chamber of Commerce.
Arturia
Even your childhood in the spire was boiled down to an exotic label. 'The Leithanian.' An advertisement destined to sell in the markets of both countries.
Arturia
You left the arena after getting on the wrong side of the KGCC. You thought you would finally have some peace and quiet, only to be summoned back to Leithanien by a letter from your father.
Arturia
Once again, you find your fate written by another. Illegitimate child, competition knight, Empresses' Voice. You never chose any of these identities.
Arturia
And it all started on that spire, at the top of those stairs.
Viviana
...You're right.
Viviana
It's been so many years, but sometimes I feel like I'm still there.
Viviana
Like I never left it.
Arturia
Once again, think back to the memory that left the deepest impression.
Arturia
That day, when your father took your hand and descended the seemingly endless stairs... You didn't look up.
Viviana
I couldn't.
Viviana
If I did, he would see the tear stains on my face, and the tears in my eyes...
Arturia
Anger.
Arturia
'I already lost my mother. Why are you pushing me away like this?'
Viviana
Ja. I had... nothing.
Viviana
Why abandon me?
Viviana
I already lost my mother. Why did I have to lose my father too?
Viviana
Why couldn't you have waited in Marigold Alley just a little longer?
Viviana
Why did you write for me to come back, only to leave me again once I'd returned with hope in my heart?
Arturia does not answer.
She simply gazes at Viviana, at the ripples in the lake of her eyes.
If silence can be considered an expression of sound, then their emotions could resonate even without a melody.
Anger, frustration, pain. The same emotions reflected in Arturia's eyes.
She sighs, and awakens the dreamer from her memory with gentle words.
Our meeting was so ordinary that it's hardly worth mentioning. He was a high noble, but also a sensitive and romantic artist. We often spoke about music.
Arturia
A few months ago, his envoy found me while I was traveling.
Arturia
He knew his days were numbered. All he wanted was to see his beloved again, through my music.
Viviana
He wanted to see Mother?
Arturia
Not just Lucinda, but you as well.
Arturia
Werner did reminisce about his romance with Lucinda, but he spent even more time in that little room on the spire.
Arturia
Those nights with you and your mother were his only comfort in those painful early days as Kurfürst.
Arturia
That's how I knew your story.
Viviana
So it wasn't...
Arturia
No, I did not use Arts on you.
Arturia
I'd already met you countless times, through Werner's mind's eye.
Arturia
You must hear this often, but you really are so much like your father.
Viviana
I know.
Arturia
But it was only when I saw you in person that I realized...
Arturia
You're more than just that flickering candle.
Viviana
More than... what?
Arturia
You're so much stronger, so much tougher than a candleflame.
Viviana
......
Arturia
Now, I've told you everything I could.
Arturia
Kurfürst Werner died over the copy of the Güldenesgesatz. On that matter, you know as much as I do.
Viviana
...You told me he knew his end was coming. Which means he knew how he would die.
Arturia
Correct.
Arturia
Protecting the Güldenesgesatz was his vow to the Twins, and his duty as Kurfürst of Sturmland.
Arturia
Whether it was the Movement or its loss, the responsibility and blame lie solely on Sturmland.
Arturia
Only by giving his life for it could he protect his loved ones and House Hochberg, all while ridding himself of a ticking time bomb.
Viviana
It was all for the Güldenesgesatz?
Viviana
I think... I understand.
Arturia
One last bit of advice, to thank you for your trust and sincerity.
Arturia
When I first saw you, I also saw the shadow behind you.
Arturia
But now, it's growing, filling the entire staircase outside.
Seeing the Twin Empresses' spires for the first time?
Ebenholz
The white dress of Ewigegnade, the Eternal Grace.
Ebenholz
The black blade of Grimmacht, the Austere Authority.
Ebenholz
Their two spires resemble them so very much.
Lessing
The Twin Spires are Zwillingstürme's namesake. They're the pride of Leithanien.
Ebenholz
No matter how beautiful, they're no more than two elaborate cages.
Lessing
An apt metaphor.
Lessing
Das Kaiserinnensfest... They say it's for all Leithanians, but only nobles are allowed to join in the ensemble at the amphitheater.
Lessing
It is, in effect, a performance of an Arts ritual.
Ebenholz
A ritual?
Lessing
Did you see the bridge connecting the spires?
Lessing
That's where the Twin Empresses play every year. The sound of the pipe organ and violin are amplified by the resonance between the buildings, spreading to every corner of Zwillingstürme.
Ebenholz
So it's some kind of... Arts.
Lessing
The old man told me that it's the work of Herkunftshorn. He turned Vedunien into a massive Arts device, with the bell tower of Weinshof at the center.
Lessing
And the Twin Empresses have built upon the Witch King's Arts.
Lessing
To avoid making the same mistake as him, they set the Twin Spires as the center of the resonance, effectively tuning the entire city and making it virtually impossible to assail the Spires from the outside.
Lessing
Anyone wanting to attack the Kaiserinnen will either need to destroy the entire palace area where the Spires are located, or work from within.
Ebenholz
Spoken like someone who's given some thought to planning such an attack.
Lessing
......
Ebenholz
Wait, don't tell me you actually—
Ebenholz
If we see the Gendarmerie or the Empresses' Voice, remind me to run faster than you.
Lessing
...Quiet.
Lessing
The celebration is about to begin. People are coming, try to blend into the crowd. Don't just stand there like earlier.
Ebenholz
What about when the ensemble begins? We didn't bring any instruments, unless your sword is a fair bit more versatile than it looks.
Exactly as you predicted, she offered a generous lead.
Viviana
Perhaps we really are trapped in some kind of illusion they created.
Viviana
What if the Witch King's remnants aren't trying to use the Güldenesgesatz to get to the Witch King's legacy, but to use the Witch King's powers to tamper with it?
Viviana
What if their goal has never truly changed?
Imperial Caster
...What are you still doing here, meine Dame?
Imperial Caster
All the Empresses' Voices in Zwillingstürme have been summoned to the amphitheater.
Viviana
Ah, I was... I'll be on my way.
Imperial Caster
Hm, this cell holds a dangerous felon, and it is quite far from the amphitheater. I'll need to contact Grimmacht's...
Federico
I would not recommend that.
Imperial Caster
A Sankta?! What's a Sankta doing here?
Imperial Caster
Let's catch him together, meine Dame! He may well be in league with Arturia!
Imperial Caster
Nngh?!
Viviana
...Sorry.
Federico
I was about to ask your opinion on how to handle this.
Viviana
So if I weren't here, you would have simply done it yourself?
Federico
My presence here already violates diplomatic protocol. An additional rule being broken is of little consequence, other than in terms of the subsequent clean-up.
Federico
You are an Empresses' Voice. Michael has told me of your circumstances.
Viviana
I appreciate your kind gesture.
Federico
...Huh?
Viviana
It was my own decision to visit Arturia.
Viviana
I didn't want my father's death to be meaningless.
Viviana
I didn't want to keep my head down and pretend nothing had happened.
Viviana
I wanted to fight for something, to finally seize my own fate with my two hands.
Federico
...You chose to let Arturia perform your heart's music?
Viviana
Nein.
Viviana
The melody was always there, echoing in my heart. I just chose not to listen to it until now.
Viviana
I believe she's telling the truth that the Güldenesgesatz is at the heart of the problem.
Federico
The Imperial casters have recovered the copy of Güldenesgesatz.
Federico
However, I have learned that Arturia has an accomplice with whom she was in close contact. The available evidence indicates that this person may not have been the mastermind behind the Ludwigs-Universität incident.
Viviana
Hm... then we can assume that the Witch King's remnants have already obtained the Arts recorded in the copy.
Viviana
The Güldenesgesatz will be performed by over ten thousand people at the amphitheater.
Viviana
If the Witch King's remnants are in that crowd... the consequences will be unimaginable.
Federico
I would like to share our current findings with Michael.
Viviana
Sure. He might be able to persuade Grimmacht.
Viviana
But that's not enough. We must take action ourselves... even without Their Majesties permission.
The musicians and instruments are in position, Frau Löwenstein.
Cora
Very well. Give me a moment while I double-check the amplification Arts.
Cora
You're back, Amelie? Did you forget something?
Cora
No need to be nervous. This is your first public performance as part of the orchestra. Just hold your instrument steady and focus on the melody. Pay no mind to anyone watching.
Cora
Oh... it's you.
Cora
Adjust the direction of that Arts Unit, will you? Turn it counterclockwise 15... 17 degrees.
Cora
Ja, that's how it should sound. But why are you here at this hour? Is Ewigegnade still concerned about the effect on the performance?
Viviana
Frau Löwenstein... where are the other musicians?
Cora
At the amphitheater.
Cora
The performance of the Güldenesgesatz will begin in ten minutes. The Reichsorchester needs a good start under the direction of the Kaiserin.
Viviana
Only ten minutes?
Cora
The Kaiserin's weather casters have forecasted the exact time of today's sunset. As per custom, the performance of the Güldenesgesatz will conclude just as the last ray fades.
Cora
The rehearsal schedule has been hard, but we'll be able to rest once we get through this evening.
Cora
You too, Viviana. I've been thinking... You'll need to find a long-term residence in Zwillingstürme, if you're to remain by the Kaiserin's side when this all over.
Viviana
Mm...
Cora
Would you like to stay at my place?
Cora
I have a little mansion in Bachshof. I just had the walls repainted.
Cora
Brandt planted some vines, which he says goes well with the walls. But to be honest, I'd like a second opinion before I commit.
Viviana
Frau Löwenstein... Cora.
Cora
Ja? What is it?
Viviana
How might one stop the performance of the Güldenesgesatz?
Cora
Why do you ask? This performance has been the most important part of Das Kaiserinnensfest for the last twenty-three years. So many people are waiting in the amphitheater in front of the Spires.
Viviana
I've almost gotten to the bottom of these tragedies.
Viviana
I'm sure the enemy's plan has something to do with the Güldenesgesatz. They cannot be allowed to succeed.
Cora
And how did you learn this? Have you told Ewigegnade?
Viviana
I don't know who to trust... I can't stop thinking about who killed my father.
Cora
You suspect Their Majesties? You're an Empresses' Voice, Viviana!
Cora
Who's there?
Viviana
A friend. He's keeping watch.
Federico
The empresses' casters are coming.
Viviana
So soon?
Federico
It will take more than ten minutes to neutralize them.
Federico
The performance of the Güldenesgesatz is about to begin.
Cora
Don't fight them.
Viviana
......
Cora
I'll be with you, Viviana, no matter what you do.
Viviana
You believe me?
Cora
Do you even need to ask? Besides, I can't let you put yourself in danger.
Cora
You want to stop the Reichsorchester from playing the Güldenesgesatz, right? I'll take you there.
The candles on the stairs. The room is so much darker now, don't you think?
Imperial Caster
What are you doing? Stay away from the door.
Arturia
There are less people out there now.
Arturia
Have they... gone after that lovely Empresses' Voice?
Imperial Caster
Frau Hochberg is suspected to have fallen under your influence. She will be taken into custody until the conclusion of the celebration.
Imperial Caster
It was a mistake to allow her to meet with you.
Arturia
A mistake, you say?
Arturia
You knew the new Empresses' Voice was the daughter of a Kurfürst, and had the favor of Ewigegnade.
Arturia
Compared to working in Grimmacht's dark Spire, you clearly show more interest in its twin, the white Spire.
Arturia
So you let the empress's new favorite come in without the proper checks, just to curry favor with her.
Imperial Caster
Wh-What are you babbling about?!
Arturia
But you soon realized the danger. Let me guess: Viviana did something unbefitting of her status after she left, didn't she?
Arturia
Now you're afraid. Grimmacht and her executors will not tolerate such a gross error. You would lose any chance of promotion, perhaps even your freedom.
You've been clutching your sword all day. Its chill has rubbed off on you.
Grimmacht
...It's time. We should head to the bridge.
Ewigegnade
Hildegard...
Grimmacht
Ja? What is it?
Ewigegnade
Am I pretty today?
Grimmacht
...
Grimmacht
As always.
Michael
Grimmacht!
Michael
...Ewigegnade.
Ewigegnade
Your wolf cub is here.
Grimmacht
Go first, Lieselotte. The people are waiting.
Ewigegnade
We've always walked out onto the bridge together.
Grimmacht
Nothing is obliged to stay the same forever.
Grimmacht
I'll find you before the performance begins.
Grimmacht
So why are you here? I thought you preferred it down below.
Michael
I have an urgent matter to report.
Grimmacht
Bring my violin. We'll talk on the way.
Michael
Nein!
Michael
Please, you must order the celebration to be halted. The Witch King's remnants are in the crowd, planning a massive attack!
Grimmacht
Proof?
Michael
...Please, just give me a little time. I'll find the proof.
Grimmacht
You didn't use to be so brash, Michael. That reckless Sankta has changed you.
Michael
Federico... the Lateran executor believes that a larger incident is in the works, and it has something to do with Arturia. We should interrogate her!
Michael
What does she know about the Güldenesgesatz, who are her supporters, what are she and her accomplices planning... As long as the performance of the Güldenesgesatz can be delayed, I can—
Grimmacht
I see you believe the Celebration to be a mere festivity.
Michael
Er...
Grimmacht
The 'Kaiserinnensfest' first took place twenty-three years ago, on the day we killed the Witch King.
Grimmacht
But there were no empresses, and no celebration, only soldiers fallen in battle, and a tired and frightened people.
Grimmacht
We defeated the Witch King in the early dawn, and spent the next few hours cleaning up his followers. At dusk, Lieselotte and I descended the Spire, walked down its bloody steps, and—
Grimmacht
Announced our victory with a duet.
Grimmacht
Today, the ten thousand people of the ensemble come from every Kreis, from all four corners of Leithanien.
Grimmacht
Every Leithanian, every friend of Leithanien, and every enemy of Leithanien has their eyes on the Twin Spires. On Grimmacht and Ewigegnade.
Grimmacht
And you want me to suspend, even cancel, the ensemble based on the hypothesis of a Lateran executor who has already caused his fair share of trouble in our country.
Michael
......
Grimmacht
Perhaps I expected too much of you.
Grimmacht
You should have known I would respond like this before you even spoke. And if you truly believed in your judgment, you should have acted on your own.
Grimmacht
On that account, the daughter of Werner von Hochberg is far more resolute than you.
Michael
...What?
Grimmacht
How long have you been with me, Michael?
Michael
Seven years.
Grimmacht
It's time to let you go.
Michael
What? Why would you say that?
Grimmacht
There comes a day when one must shoulder more responsibility, for the sake of Leithanien's future.
Grimmacht
Bring me my violin. It's time I went to the bridge.
Three minutes, fifty seconds until the performance begins.
Federico
I will fire a blank. The noise should cause some of the musicians to scatter and interrupt the performance.
Viviana
The musicians of the Reichsorchester are all Arts masters, each one the equal of an Empresses' Voice. We would be drowned in Arts the moment you showed an intent to attack.
Federico
The equivalent of ninety-seven Empresses' Voices, then.
Federico
Plus two squads of approaching casters, for a total of one hundred twenty.
Federico
...I can give you three minutes.
Federico
You must secure the remaining twenty-three seconds on your own, Seniora Hochberg.
Viviana
Three minutes? But if this is the only way...
Viviana
Delay the casters. Leave the rest to me.
The shadows of the Twin Spires stretch as the sun sinks towards the horizon.
They swallow up the shadows of the musicians, of Cora, of Viviana herself.
She has never felt her power unleashed like this.
She is reminded of that flickering candlelight in the spire.
It was a tiny flame that only illuminated a corner of the bed. Leaving the other corners, the spiral staircase, and the night beyond the spire in total darkness.
There was a time when she couldn't admit that the darkness would linger in her eyes longer than that tiny speck of candlelight.
Viviana
...Success.
Viviana
I cut off the connection between some of the musicians and their instruments.
Imperial Musician
What's going on? We're being affected by somebody's Arts.
Imperial Musician
You... Frau Löwenstein? Are you being held hostage?
Viviana
You could say that.
Cora
...Nein.
Cora
I'm sorry, Amelie.
Imperial Musician
You're in league with each other?!
Cora
I made my choice, and I will not hesitate.
Cora
Could you please... just put down your instrument for a while?
There are fluctuations of Arts energy coming from below the Twin Spires... and some commotion from where the orchestra is.
Ebenholz
The Witch King's remnants?
Lessing
Possibly.
Lessing
Strange. There should be Gesatzswächter in the area, but I don't see any. Why?
Ebenholz
...I see.
Ebenholz
The Kaiserinnen knew that something terrible would happen here. They're prepared to abandon the Twin Spires if necessary. They'll even abandon all the—
Young Noble
Meine Herr!
Ebenholz
...You were from Sturmland, ja?
Young Noble
Why do you look like someone spooked you? The ensemble is about to begin. Here, I have an extra flute. You can borrow it.
Ebenholz
A flute?
Young Noble
This performance is not to be missed!
Ebenholz
Nein, you can't be here.
Ebenholz
Go! Leave the amphitheater!
Young Noble
You'd like a better position? I suppose we could squeeze—
Ebenholz
I'm not—Do not you see these?
Young Noble
See what?
Ebenholz
The dice I'm holding! My Arts Unit!
Lessing
What are you doing? You'll give yourself away!
Ebenholz
Does it even matter, at this point?
Ebenholz
Look around. There must be ten thousand people here... No, we can't even worry about that now. All we can do is save as many as we can. Even just one more...
Young Noble
It's too loud here!
Young Noble
I can't hear a word you're saying!
Ebenholz
Look at me.
Ebenholz
Look at my Arts. Do they remind you of anything? I am an Urtica. My Arts come from the same lineage as him. You should be afraid! Run!
Young Noble
Amazing! Do you hear that? The Imperial musicians just played the first note!
Young Noble
The performance of the Güldenesgesatz has begun!
Ebenholz
......
The black Arts orb rises from his hand and into the air, exploding into a reddish black shadow.
It is quickly buried by even more brilliant rays of Arts.
Rays created by various Originium Arts interweave in the clouds.
Both the melody and the Arts come from the people on the ground, all focused on performing the music belonging to Leithanien alone, using instruments that also serve as Arts Units.
Even the buildings resonate with the Twin Spires, turning the empty space around the Kaiserinnen's towers into a true amphitheater.
The colors penetrating the clouds continue to shift with the splendid melody, as though the crowd is performing the color of the sunset in the sky.
It is a feast of sight and sound, woven together by Arts. The ultimate expression of Leithanien's classical aesthetics and mastery over Arts.
It is a grand spectacle visible from any corner of Zwillingstürme, and beyond.
Tears begin to fill Ebenholz's eyes.
He remembers standing atop the spire of Urtica, gazing down at the plate below.
There were many bell towers in the Grafschaft, which sang every day at dusk.
The people would leave their workshops after a long day of work, and the sound of wheels rolling over metallic roads would echo with the music filling the city.
He could see the green-black wilderness, if he stood on his toes. Einwald was filled with forests, and caravans brought ripe fruit into the city whenever they were in season.
Farmers often amplified their scents with Arts to attract customers. He could always smell the best fruits, even from his high perch.
The maid who sympathized with him would sneak a few back from the market, as long as no other nobles were watching.
The fruits were ripe and fresh, unlike the carefully selected, dried and withered food served on the long, old table.
He could not remember what became of the maid. Did she go join her beloved in the south? Or did she find a new job at the instrument workshop beneath the spire?
And, when he left Urtica... did he ever look back?
'Let the dark clouds scatter.
let the morning sun shine;
praise be to Leithanien,
home of the free.'
Yes, he had once loved this place from the bottom of his heart.
Leithanien, the land of divine music, cradle of the Arts.
