Lunar: Eternal Blue, Vol. 3
Author: Hosoe Hiromi
Original Work: Kei Shigema
Illustration: Akari Funato
Translation: Kaiser Farooque
Background: Hiro, Ronfar, and the rest of the party have arrived at Serak Palace. Using Althena’s Tears, Ronfar hopes to free Mauri from her curse. Lucia has told Ronfar that he will need to enter inside Mauri’s mind in order to free her. The scene begins after Ronfar and Mauri both collapse to the ground. Ronfar regains consciousness and finds himself in Pentagulia.
Chapter 13: Mauri’s Salvation (p.140-150)
Ronfar arrived at Pentagulia on board the Destiny, and immediately met with Mauri.
Ronfar: ...I’ve come back. To help you.
Mauri: Oh, Mauri is very happy. Have you come here to work with her for the Chosen?
Ronfar: ...Come back to Raculi. I’ll work the fields for you. And we can raise our children there.
Mauri: Hm, you’re proposing to her. Of course Ronfar belongs to Mauri. But, Mauri does not belong to you, Ronfar. Mauri’s body is Althena’s. And her beloved Ronfar will become Mauri’s right hand, by the power of the Chosen.
Ronfar: ...No.
Mauri: Then again, Ronfar, you only want Mauri in good condition. But, she must decline. Ronfar, you will give yourself over to Mauri.
From the palm of Mauri’s hand rose snakes of flame, which flew towards Ronfar. The flames burned and charred Ronfar’s skin. With each breath he took, hot air entered his lungs. Somehow, Ronfar asked Althena for her protection, and he was covered in light. The snakes of flame gradually faded away. When he took another breath, he noticed Mauri had fallen to the ground. He rushed over and saw that the damage he had taken had been transferred to Mauri. Mauri’s pale skin was burned just as Ronfar’s wounds had healed.
“...Ronfar, save me...”
* * *
Suddenly, the scenery changed, and Ronfar was at the base of the hidden Goddess Tower in Pentagulia. Ronfar, Hiro, Ruby, Jean, and Lemina were there, surrounding Mauri. There was no one else. Above the Goddess Tower, the blue sky was brilliant, and the Blue Star shone brightly. ...But, it didn’t seem real. It was like a scene from a dream.
Lemina attempted to throw Mauri back with a powerful magic attack.
...Stop it!
Lemina’s attack missed. Everyone in the party was badly hurt.
“Ronfar, Mauri is going to save you. Please believe that.”
Ronfar turned his gaze towards Mauri. On one side, the rest of his friends blamed Ronfar.
Lemina coldly declared, “You sold us out.”
Jean held up a fist, “We should have left you to die at Zulan.”
Hiro looked straight at Ronfar, “We misjudged you. I was an idiot for putting my faith in you.”
On Hiro’s shoulder, Ruby turned the other way, “Traitor.”
Soon enough, even Leo appeared. “So! You conspired with Lucia the Destroyer, and betrayed me, your close friends. You are a traitor.”
Ronfar fell to both knees, dumfounded by what was happening. Someone was in Ronfar’s arms, whom he was gently embracing.
Mauri.
“Mauri continued to believe in you, Ronfar. That is why you must help her.”
...Mauri.
Just then, words which Mauri wasn’t even thinking came to her lips.
“Don’t lie to him!”
Mauri’s voice shook the entire world. She desperately grabbed at her own throat.
“You! You will not stop me from taking Ronfar!”
“Ronfar, I will not disappear. I will live on! Someday, I will return! For you! Do not listen to what she says! You can save me, just the way you are! Until I return, do not change!”
“You! You were supposed to be all but gone! Be quiet!”
“No, I will not be quiet. As long as I am here, I will not give up. Ronfar, you are not alone in your fight. I am here, and I am fighting. That is why you must not listen to her!”
Ronfar slowly began to return to his former self.
...If humans are no more than puppets who all follow the will of Althena, then what value is there in us and our faith? We have the power within ourselves to save ourselves. Moreover, Althena has given us that power. I put my faith in Althena by my own free will.
...Leo has the power of a warrior to save everyone from monsters, and I have the power of a priest to help others. I don’t have the strength of a warrior, and Leo doesn’t have the strength of a priest. That is why humans do not live alone. They should help one another.
...That’s it. Even at the base of the Goddess Tower, my friends were not blaming me.
...I understand. Mauri, I was mistaken! I won’t give up! I will bring you back, and we will be happy again! That’s why... that’s why... that’s why... (What should I say? Think Ronfar, think! Don’t you want to be with Mauri, the one you love?) That’s why... ...Mauri! Come here! I’ll think of what to say later! Just come to me! ...I mean, come with me?
The real Mauri was crying and smiling. Ronfar could feel it.
“Oh Ronfar... I’m so happy.”
An almost-transparent Mauri came forth from the Mauri that stood in front of Ronfar. Her arms were outstretched, and Ronfar opened his arms to take the real Mauri in.
At that moment, Ronfar understood all the suffering Mauri had experienced until now. The words and actions that her body had said and done, yet she never wanted. The people close to her whom she had harmed. The children whose pain she saw and felt. All the days that passed that she had to endure. She was asleep, but trapped in a nightmare from which she had no rest...
But, that was all over now.
“You think you can escape!?”
The horrific form of the false Mauri pursued the Mauri that had just escaped, and rushed towards Ronfar-and-Mauri, who had merged into one being. Ronfar-and-Mauri gripped their right hand and raised in high. It was holding Althena’s Tears. The two of them combined their strength and offered the same prayer.
...Sacred light of Althena! Tears of Althena! Expel Zophar from this place!
Their fist began to glow. With that light, the entire world faded away like an illusion, leaving only the Blue Star, until that, too, faded.
* * *
When Ronfar regained consciousness, Hiro, Ruby, and even Mauri were staring at Ronfar. Slightly further away stood Leo, not saying a word.
Mauri put her hand to Ronfar’s chest; Ronfar was on the ground. “Huh? What happened?”
“Ronfar, you did it!” Hiro smiled.
“Ronfar, you saved Mauri!” Ruby smiled, too.
Mauri was also smiling wide.
Ronfar spoke. “Oh, right. We wanted to remove the fake Mauri with Althena’s Tears. After we talked about it, I thought that the Tears would be enough. But, it was thanks to Mauri that we escaped. ...It’s embarrassing for me to say this, but if I were in there for just a moment longer, I would have been taken in by Mauri’s curse, too. I suppose I’m no use as a priest.”
Mauri took Ronfar’s hand and pressed it to her chest. “No, you gave me your strength. Because you were there, I was able to continue holding onto my hope. Because I believed you were going to save me, I didn’t fade away. You believed in me, and you saved me. That is why I am here now.”
Ronfar remembered the conversation he had in the dream.
“Ronfar, dear Ronfar, that isn’t right. You don’t have to take in my unhappiness. Althena gave humans the power to pursue happiness for themselves. If there is pain and sadness, then one can change that. If there exists the desire to change that, and to find happiness, then Althena will give us the power to do that. But, we must strive to keep changing until the end.”
Ronfar and Mauri took each other’s hands and looked into one another’s eyes.
“I know it’s bad to disturb two people in love...” Ruby flew in between the two of them.
“Well, Lucia wouldn’t say something like that about Hiro. But, anyway, what kind of dream did you see?”
“A dream full of lies,” Ronfar laughed.
Ruby tilted her head back towards Ronfar with a frustrated look. “I see. So, when you told Mauri ‘And we can raise our children there’, was that also a lie?”
Instantly Ronfar blushed. “How do you know that!?”
“Lucia told me.”
Ronfar now realized that the Blue Star that appeared in the dream was, in fact, Lucia. No wonder Lucia was the only one not there at the base of the Goddess Tower.
Mauri turned to Ronfar with a serious look in her eyes. “It was a lie?”
Red with embarrassment, Ronfar turned away from Mauri’s stare. “...It wasn’t a lie.”
“Would you say that again?”
“In front of everyone? But that’s a bit—“
In the middle of saying that, Ronfar noticed Mauri’s serious expression. Mauri had been trapped inside that false Mauri ever since that day. The only belief she held on to was that Ronfar would come one day to save her.
“...Mauri, I swear I’ll make those who harmed you answer for what they did. And after that, we will live in Raculi together. And we will raise our children there. Mauri, marry me...”
Mauri held onto Ronfar and burst into tears.
Hiro and Ruby looked at one another and smiled.