The Tale of a Great Fixer Who Once Reached for The Dream (before battle)

Yet Aegis, Fixer of the Zwei Association, refuseth to let this destroy his spirits and sails once again to the great sea in a mere raft!

"My dearest compatriots! This trial is but a stepping stone that will bring us to greater heights! One day, we shall proudly engrave today's suffering upon our shields to remember it in better days!"

"Thus, this battle is far from over! Find thy courage! Charge!"

Then they looked at one another in the eyes, their determination forged in flames... ooh, what a line.

Yet! The scores of enemies, already waiting for them in ambush from the shores, loosen thousands of arrows upon them, the sheer quantity eclipsing the very sun...

The arrows rained down their fury upon our heroes, yet they stood their ground with their ironclad shields...!

Yet, there is no shield sturdy enough to withstand such unending onslaught; even their iron shields began to crack...

And as the shields crack, the mental fortitude of his men began to splinter as well, and many were seen slowly backing away from the battle...!

"Nay! We shan't ever give up!"

"I shall be thy shield and ward, men! Indeed, our iron shields are but tools that may break and splinter. But upon that moment, I shall be the shield by which thou shalt be protected from our foes' arrows!"

"The arrows may break my body, but they shall never pierce my righteous heart of justice!"

"Row, row! Leave me and push on, men!"

…….

No matter what trial may stand in our path... we shan't ever give up...

Hm hm! The adventure of to-day was just as exhilarating as it ever was! It hath set fire to the passion in mine heart.

Dear... the most valorous Fixer... of the Zwei...

How farest thee? 'Tis my hundred-and-thirty-first letter.

Prithee, excuse my persistence. 'Tis merely that my passion cannot be well doused.

I am soon to be a Fixer myself.

And with thy teachings, I shall become a... Fixer most just and persistent who doth not know surrender.

Forget not, O Don Quixote! Fixer of the future.

Forsooth, the foremost virtue of a Fixer must be, and always be the righteous justice. Thou mustn't turn away from the needy, and thou must always put thy entire being into helping them.

I am well aware of that myself!

Ah, mine adventure on the morrow shall be alongside the Tres Association.

The Tres Association? Very well! A relatively fledgling, yet quite prolific, Association indeed. It is said that they specialize in tools and arms for the City-dwellers and its Fixers, as well as the Workshops that fabricate and maintain them.

Hm... indeed, the Associations are established in the order of need for the City.

Then I must bid thee farewell, until next time. Our next adventure shall be...

... The adventure at the Levinwastes of the Ruins, in which the heart of a beastly bird was pierced.

I look forward to hearing thine exploits.

Forsooth. This adventure shall be, as all hath been thus far, a glowing victory!

…….

I recommend you stay put inside.

There is no way to tell what awaits you past that door.

I am in agreement.

Recall the tale of the Red Hood, who met an end most unfortunate from the simple folly of welcoming in a stranger.

…….

Yet... this knocking upon my gates...

... must mean that a soul seeketh mine assistance, wouldst thou not agree?

I believe I've afforded you sufficient restraint.

The build of this place is quite durable, my lady.

It should be able to withstand assaults from any pursuing Bloodfiends... no, even Bloodfiend Hunters.

It is an entirely different question if they can make it this far down to this Ruin, of course.

... Whoever... art thou?

I...

... am your guide. The one who will guide your path in your real adventure. Please, call me Vergilius.

My old... friend has told me that you are a Second Kindred...

'Second... Kindred'? Whatever art thou referring to? And... my fellow Fixers here have warned me that I mustn't leave the confines of this chamber...

Mm. Do my eyes not remind you of anything?

P-prithee, do not glare at me with such terrifying gaze.

And there remains still one-thousand-seven-hundred-and-eight adventures of mine to embark upon. On the morrow I shall depart alongside the Tres Association, and the day after that, with the Hana Association, then -

The Fixers on these posters... They're all from at least several decades ago. It is as my fellow has told me. So much of her slumbers... even her instinctive craving for blood.

Your adventures with them are unimportant. And you won't have to listen to these Fixers anymore. Because...

... doesn't an adventure guided by me, a Fixer bestowed with the title of a Color... sound much better than any of that?

…!

T-thou art a Color?! I have heard mention of such a thing from the magazines! That it is a title, an honor given only to the finest Fixers...!!!

I have heard tell that only a very, very few Fixers have been granted such extolment, for it hath been but a brief moment since such honor was established!

Haah... I see that you wished to put every little bit of your past to sleep, even that smell of blood. I will respect your decision and treat you accordingly.

Yes.

I am the guide who will bring you all to the right path.

You must come with me, for this journey demands your company. In return...

... when the time is right, the promised timepiece shall come to be by your side.

Promised...?

Yes. You are bound by a promise, just as I am.

So...

Gasp...

Remember these eyes.

Remind yourself time and again every time you look into these eyes that hold the blood of a generation higher than your own.

I... have nary clue as to whatever it is that -

I speak of the promise that will one day return to you when the time is right.

Remember it, so that the unforgettable promise will one day return to you, so that you may keep it when the time comes. Even as it eludes you now.

That is the condition of your adventure.

If you are willing to accept these terms, then speak your name to me.

…….

Don Quixote.

Thou mayest know me as... Don Quixote.

No. That is not my name.

Indeed, Sancho.

For all that passion you joined the adventure with, you were nothing but a pretender with a borrowed name.

There was but a singular path in your adventure.

The path laid by his teachings.

Sancho. I have conceived an idea most ingenious.

Please don't.

I intend to take part in the Bloodfiend War.

You don't mean...

Indeed. I shall stand with the humans.

Not everyone is going to like your 'ingenious idea'.

... Odd. You sound rather... unsurprised by my suggestion. Did you know that I would suggest as such?

I had a feeling that you'd be saying something like that soon.

Of course, the other Elders will come to lecture me or try to convince me otherwise.

Sancho. Expect many, many guests. Thus...

... Yes, I will prepare cookies baked with cinnamon. The venerated Elder of B Corp. can't seem to stop coughing upon ingesting one of those.

... I had intended to suggest that you inform all of them of my 'absence' and lock up the castle gates. Yet I find your suggestion more enticing.

However, what truly concerns me is the resistance from your Children.

Ah, you needn't worry, then.

They are my Family. I am certain they will understand.

That brings me to a question, however. Sancho, how is it that you are still without Kindreds of your own?

I enjoy solitude.

I wish to live the rest of my life looking forward and only forward. I would rather not have anyone tag along behind me.

Speak to me again should that change.

It will not. But I will.

... This war will be a long and difficult one.

Difficult, because we will have to slay our own kind.

Indeed it shall be.

Yet... if we may break their faiths only by breaking their skulls...

... then it shall be a war worth fighting for.

Now that we are discussing this particular subject, Sancho...

Should the war end - well, in my victory, obviously...

Sure, sure.

Anyway, should the war end...

... I intend to build a place in which everyone may be happy.

... Happy?

What is that expression on your face?

It has been eons since that word left my lips.

Do you recall that place, this 'amusement park' she spoke of? The place where people scream and shudder not from fear, but from joy.

That is the kind of place I intend to build.

I still don't quite understand how one screams from joy...

In that land, Sancho...

There won't be any wearisome battles to fight. No constant fear of getting devoured...

There shall be only laughter.

Laughter...

Though I was not a part of your Family, I suppose... I had once looked forward to the realization of his ambitions. As an observer, of course.

In this binary world, which has availed us with only two choices, to slaughter humans or to hide underground like rats... he alone was the dreamer who conceived of a third option.

Yet...

That was no laughter I saw there. They were wailing, wailing so intensely that it had long turned into something that only resembled laughter.

…….

Let us...

Let us out of here... Or crush our heads...

No. You won't be leaving this place. You won't find death, either.

Many, many guests will be lining up to pay a visit to La Manchaland soon.

You recall your missions, yes? Though it has been two hundred years, I don't suppose you had a moment go by without remembering them.

Humans... humans...? Here, again?

It's a festival! The festival's not over!

…….

Can people change?

I had once thought they could.

A long, painful battle lies ahead of us.

The Bloodfiends that will hate and despise us will be countless. Their hatred will be inconceivable.

They will call us traitors to our own kind.

They will claim that our nature cannot change; that our existence is destined to prey upon humans, something they accept as an immutable truth.

We will be forced to sever our bonds with whom we had shared our suffering for centuries. Those who feel the very same disease that ails us.

Our only kindred spirits in this lonely world.

Thus, now is your final chance.

If you do not wish to participate, if you refuse, then I will not stop you.

I refuse.

Has she gone mad...?

... W-wait, really?

I know you won't let me go anyway.

Just as a child cannot stop being an offspring of their parent, even if they wish they were.

…….

On that day... when the Machine Purge took place... I was already a dead man.

The will of the Father is the will of my own.

I haven't had the chance to sharpen my scissors as of late. I'll enjoy this.

Very well. What of you, dear Dulcinea?

…….

Do as you will.

I am very glad to have my Children stand by my side.

Worry not, for I am the strongest there is. As you must all be well aware.

Instead, worry about what is to come once the war ends in our victory...

Worry about our lives thereafter, about how we will live on.

Well, how will you live on?

I do not know as of yet. However... I suppose...

... We should be able to lead a more joyous life than we do now.

To live without our fates bound to murder of a fellow living being... wouldn't you agree that such a life would be a better one?

You have finally returned to me, my Sancho.

What joyous day this is... to have all my Children by my side, once again.

Have you said your greetings? You do not know how much we all longed to see you again, Sancho...

…….

What have they done to you?

Ah... this...?

When I could no longer count the number of stakes that have broken my flesh... when the counting itself lost its meaning...

I saw a light in the sky. And this... melded into my body.

A light in the sky... could he be talking about a Golden Bough? Then there must've been a Lobotomy Corp. branch here, and the Golden Bough within resonated with his -

<... Ah!>

Don Quixote slowly walked toward the man who spoke in a sedate voice.

<That's... the Fathoms of Ego. W-we should go after her, now.>

We woke up from our dumbfounded silence at the sudden turn of events and hurriedly followed her inside.