Seraphina POV
"Eh? The one inside my soul is Agramon?!"
Lucy's reaction finally brings me out of my daze. After listening to her read that letter, all of us look similarly baffled. Even though Lucy already told me that Agramon was still alive, hearing that he was the one sealed inside her soul still comes as a great surprise.
But in a way, isn't this a good thing? If the 'real' Lucy isn't the one sealed inside her, then doesn't that mean she's no longer in danger of leaving?
"Give me a moment, let me check something."
However, hearing Miss Julia's serious tone as she begins frantically looking through the documents on the table makes the gravity of the situation set in for me as well.
Right. Even if Lucy is unlikely to leave now, having humanity's greatest enemy sealed inside her is still a very dangerous situation.
"Agramon? Isn't that that evil guy? Wasn't he dead?"
That idiot is the next one to speak up, though maybe it would have been better if he hadn't.
"If I remember correctly, the Castille family is a relatively new noble family, so there shouldn't be any connections to the heroes of old, even if it's to one that has been deliberately erased."
Even though he usually indulges him, Arthur ignores him this time and instead brings up Lucy's family. Hugh then turns to him and asks:
"From the way you're talking about this, I'm guessing that you haven't heard about this 'Golden Vow' or Lady Cecilia before this?"
"Hm, that's right. Even though the letter said that the royal family would pass this secret down through the generations and protect Cecilia's descendants, I've never heard of it. Perhaps it's something only the king knows about, so I'll ask my father. But since Lucy is here and not confined to that village, I think it's safe to assume that this secret has been lost to time."
"..."
After Arthur's words, a brief silence settles in the chamber again and our eyes shift over to Lucy. It takes her a moment to notice our gaze and she seems a bit flustered as she starts talking:
"Um, I think it's probably on my mother's side. Although I don't have any memories of her since she died shortly after I was born, I do know a little about her."
"Sorry, I didn't know."
Ah, right, her mother. I did hear a bit about her when we went back to her family home.
Lucy just waves Arthur's apology away and says:
"No, it's okay. Um, from what I can recall, Lucy's… my father once led an expedition to the part of the dungeons that borders our territory, but he got hurt and was brought to a healer in a small village near the border. Then he fell in love with that healer and she was my mother."
"A healer in a small village… Then it probably happened the way you theorized."
Hugh mumbles before turning to Arthur. We then fall into silence again as everyone tries to put the pieces together.
"...Can I talk to you for a little?"
Seeing how the conversation probably won't progress any further without Miss Julia finishing her research, I go up to Lucy and then pull her away. I feel her flinch slightly when I grab her arm, and she seems quite nervous, but I decide to ignore her reaction.
"Ah, we'll be back soon."
I say to the others as I lead her back up the stairs and to the flower field again.
Now that we're alone I let go of her and she fidgets nervously while standing there. Although there are a lot of other things I want to talk to her about, this issue with Agramon takes precedence.
"Based on your surprised reaction, I'm guessing you didn't know about this development either, but I still want to ask if this was also in the game that you talked about?"
"Phew. Ah, I-I mean, no. The game never had anything like this in it. Agramon didn't even show up until the very end. For most of the game, um, that villainess Seraphina acted as the antagonist."
Lucy seems rather relieved that I didn't bring up certain topics, though she quickly tries to cover her reaction and starts talking.
Heh, don't worry, I'll be sure to have a different discussion with you later.
But it seems like she doesn't know much more about Agramon either. After she first mentioned that he was still alive, I did look into what I could find about how the heroes of old defeated him, but I didn't discover much beyond what is taught at school.
Even the existence of a fourth hero, Cecilia, is something that I never saw mentioned anywhere, so it was thoroughly covered up, just like what the letter mentioned.
"Then… Can you tell me what you know about Agramon?"
"Um, I think I pretty much told you everything the game says about him before. Contrary to how it's taught, he somehow survived his battle with the heroes of old and is still lurking somewhere in the world. Well, I guess we now know how he's still around and where he is. Then at some point it's believed that he makes some sort of deal with Seraphina and she uses his powers to make Lucy's life harder among some other things… Anyway, Agramon himself only shows up at the very end, after Lucy and the others defeat the villainess Seraphina. He takes over her body and transforms into a large monster. It's presented as him making Seraphina pay the price for the deal they made, something like taking her soul in exchange."
"Hm, then you really covered everything last time. Though it kind of sounds like I should be the one who has him sealed in her soul."
That Seraphina sounds like she was a pain to deal with too… It kind of feels weird to think that about someone who is supposed to be me. I'm not that bad, am I…?
"No, no! You're completely different from that villainess. I know you'd never resort to doing things like that."
"Thanks. So, then they all fought Agramon?"
"Yes, a big fight took place, much harder than the previous battle. But if you were well-prepared, Agramon could be defeated, for real this time. At least that's how the game put it."
So defeating him isn't impossible after all. Though defeating an evil god that even the heroes of old couldn't manage to kill and had to just seal away still sounds like a tall order.
"So if we follow the game's progression we should be able to defeat him as well?"
"Probably… Though I don't know in what form he will appear now. But there should still be about two years before he becomes a threat."
"Okay, that's good."
I'm relieved that we still have some time before this becomes an urgent problem. Though I should still try to come up with some backup plans just in case.
Hm, maybe I should bring up some other topics now…?
"Ah, you two are here. I need to test something so let's head back to the academy."
However, just as I think that, Miss Julia comes up from the hidden chamber as well, holding a small stack of papers, and urges us to follow her.
Oh well, I can wait a little longer. It doesn't seem like Lucy is going anywhere after all…
…
…
"The one sealed inside my soul isn't Lucy but Agramon. Agramon is sealed in my soul and not the real Lucy. Sealed inside my soul isn't Lu-"
"I'm going to examine your soul now, okay?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah…"
While Lucy is mumbling something to herself in a daze, Miss Julia's voice suddenly snaps her out of it, and she nods.
We just got back to the academy, and Miss Julia immediately brought us to the infirmary, carrying a number of documents from the secret chamber. She's probably trying to confirm if what was written in the letter was real.
"Hm. Just like I thought."
But before I can ask anything, Miss Julia cuts off the flow of mana into Lucy and pulls back while scratching her head.
"What is it? Did you find something?"
I quickly speak up and Miss Julia nods in response.
"Just like before, I still don't understand the specifics of how this seal works, but now that I have the original documents, I can compare them to the seal's current state. Previously, I thought the seal was holding perfectly, but after hearing about how Agramon got sealed inside it, I started to reconsider. Imprisoning such a powerful entity would require an equally powerful yet delicate seal, one that has apparently held him for countless years. And comparing its current state against the original design has shown me what I was afraid of. While the seal is still intact, small gaps have begun to form in it."
"Small gaps… did he escape already?"
"I don't think it's gotten to that point yet, but the seal in its current state is likely no longer strong enough to completely contain him. It is possible that his influence can reach reality as well…"
"Miss Julia, what are you saying exactly?"
"There aren't many records left from the times of the old heroes of Meridia, and even fewer that talk about the final battle between humanity and Agramon. Probably due to the fact that the method for winning was covered up, so his abilities are not really known. But these documents mention that Agramon's current existence is closer to a curse right now, without a physical body. And monsters are also the creations of the evil gods so curses and similar effects are quite likely within his power."
Curses and affecting reality… Well, there is something weird that has been happening around Lucy…
"Arthur, do you remember when Lucy and I first joined the student council?"
"Huh? What about… Oh."
Before Miss Julia can speak up again, I turn to Arthur and bring up a certain matter. Hugh then speaks up:
"Hm? Something happened back then?"
"It's that… I was quite rude and disrespectful towards Lucy at first."
"Huh? You did something like that? Mr. Nice Guy?"
"As much as it shames me to admit it, I did act like that. But I went to the royal physician back then and he didn't find anything wrong with me."
Bernard seems the most shocked by Arthur's explanation, and then Arthur turns to Miss Julia, a bit sceptical of this line of thinking.
"I only learned about it after the fact, but you went to the physician after you'd already come to your senses, didn't you?"
"That is true…"
"So if we assume it was a relatively weak curse, or a similar effect, you already managed to break free from it by the time you were examined. And from what I've heard, there have been many other instances of people mistreating Lucy for no apparent reason. I can look into it and examine some students to see if I can find any traces of dark magic on them, but I suspect it was Agramon's influence."
"I see."
"So that's why…"
Understanding appears on Hugh and Bernard's faces as Miss Julia further explains her theory.
Hm, if that is true, then it might be for the best that I never went through with any of my plans to punish Arthur or Hugh since now it could have been due to Agramon's influence after all. Lucy previously thought that some unseen force was making them act like the villain and they weren't themselves. And well, I guess she was right in a way. It was just Agramon making them act that way.
Actually, that's kind of good news for me too, isn't it? If Agramon was making them act that way, then I probably wasn't forced into that supposed love interest role either, like Lucy claimed. Since it wouldn't make sense for Agramon to do something like that.
Then Arthur, still not completely convinced, speaks up again:
"Just how much control could he have over us? I know he's quite powerful, but if it's only bits of his power that slipped through the cracks, could he really control us?"
"Even small portions of his powers are not to be underestimated, but it's probably not enough to grant him full control. It's likely just a very subtle influence that amplifies people's existing emotions, no matter how faint they originally might be. Some regular curses are known to work in similar ways too, making people emotionally unstable. Does that sound accurate to what happened to you?"
"...It does."
But if this is really the reason behind why so many people treated Lucy this badly, a few things still don't make sense. So I decide to speak up as I turn to Miss Julia.
"But what about Lucy? Wouldn't she be the easiest for him to influence? And what about you or me?"
"Well, for me, I'd probably be the second to last person to be affected. Like Lucy I'm a light mage and light magic and curses or dark magic are polar opposites. The reason Lucy and I were never affected is that our light magic instantly destroys any dark magic that tries to influence us. At least when it's in such a weakened state. As for you, you have spent a lot of time with her since the two of you met, haven't you?"
"H-huh? Wh-what's that got to do with anything?"
"Since you were always close to Lucy, the faint light magic her body constantly gives off must have rubbed off on you, preventing dark magic from affecting you. That's probably why none of you were affected by it again, since you met Lucy regularly afterwards, didn't you?"
This situation is a bit hard to wrap my head around all at once, but at first glance, it does seem to make sense. Though there are a few more exceptions.
"What about Grandma Hilda? Um, the owner of the place Lucy works at? She only went there once a week. Would that be enough to keep her from being affected?"
"Oh? So she works too, huh?"
"Eek!"
Lucy flinches as Miss Julia glances at her with a chilling gaze. But a moment later she turns to me again and asks:
"Anyway, it's not important for now. What kind of place is it?"
"Um, it's a flower shop."
"Ah, is that so?"
"...!"
As Miss Julia's gaze turns colder, Lucy jumps again and guiltily lowers her gaze.
Uh… Sorry Lucy…
"So in this flower shop, have you ever used your light magic?"
"N-no! It would be cheating to grow flowers for sale that way!"
"Nobody would care about something like that. But what about when a flower needed to be pruned?"
"Ah…"
"So there's your answer. Even though the light magic wasn't directed at this 'Grandma Hilda', Lucy using her magic regularly while she was nearby would have been enough to prevent the weak curses from taking effect."
"Then what about that shady shopkeeper?"
I quickly run through all the people I can think of who might be exceptions to see if this theory has any holes. While Lucy has met quite a few people, there are only a handful who come to mind as having been friendly to her from the start. Though in my haste, I only realize a moment too late how ambiguous my question must have sounded, so I quickly try to give more context.
"Ah, it's the owner of a shop called-"
"Yes, I have a pretty good idea of who you're talking about."
But Miss Julia interrupts me before I can even finish. A flash of annoyance crosses her face as she lets out a deep sigh. I wanted to make sure, but from that reaction, yeah, we're probably talking about the same person…
"That woman… You don't need to worry about her either. I would actually be surprised if she got affected, given how many different artifacts she has lying around. Well, over time, her defenses likely would have been breached too, but I'd imagine she'd still be one of the last people to be affected."
Huh? Is she really that powerful? Well, I guess she does have some artifacts that aren't just some gadgets in her store… Is she someone influential after all? But why a shady shop of all things…?
"Also, these curses wouldn't affect everyone the same way. With only some cracks in the seal, Agramon's influence is probably quite limited. So he can't affect everyone in Meridia at once. Well, even at his full power, he probably wouldn't have been able to do something like that. My guess is that his current reach is limited to a relatively small area around Lucy. It probably reaches Academy City from here, but even then it's likely not everyone. Some people are more prone to curses or having their emotions controlled."
While my thoughts are getting off track, Miss Julia speaks up again and I quickly come to my senses.
Right, so that's probably why that maid back at Lucy's home didn't seem affected. She mentioned she was a newcomer, and Lucy had been at the academy for most of that time since then. So she still recognised the actions of her coworkers as weird, but over time she would have probably been affected too.
Other than her, maybe Alice could be considered, but Lucy gave her a rather large dose of light magic right at their first meeting so it likely would have kept her from being affected for a while.
"Ugh, being prone to curses or being emotionally unstable… I wonder which one is worse…"
"Hah, serves you right… Wait, wasn't I almost affected too? No, that can't be! There's no way some measly curse could affect me, and my emotions are as stable as a rock!"
"Right… just like with that illusion…"
"H-hey!"
"..."
Arthur seems a bit strained as he considers Miss Julia's words, and Bernard tries to make fun of him, only for Arthur to pick at his sore spot instead. Hugh just stays quiet while thinking.
Right, they were affected by the curses too. So it must feel… Huh? Wait, when was that idiot affected? Ah, actually Lucy might have mentioned something like that before…?
"Well, since it seems like you didn't do anything too out of character, it probably wasn't affecting you that deeply yet. And it's not like you could have known this was even possible, so there's no shame in having been affected. At least that would be my opinion, what about you Lucy?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah. It's not your fault."
Normally, I would complain that Miss Julia led Lucy into forgiving them too easily, but that dummy had already forgiven them before any of this was revealed. Well, she thought they were affected by a different influence at the time, but still, I'm pretty sure she would have forgiven them even without any of that.
"Lucy…"
"Ugh, why are you so nice…"
"..."
Arthur and Bernard appear very touched by Lucy's words, but Hugh stays silent, seemingly thinking hard about something. Miss Julia notices this too and speaks up:
"Ahem. Though based on your reaction, Hugh, were you affected as well?"
"Hm, I believe so. Back when I faced Lucy during the student tournament."
"I see. That does complicate matters somewhat since I don't believe you ever had troubles with curses even when you faced monsters during patrols. So you were either very lucky during your student council duties or you have a rather good resistance to curses after all."
"That's what I was thinking too."
"Ah, yeah. Actually, all three of you are really strong. At least that's what I believe…"
Miss Julia and Hugh exchange a few words and then Lucy also chimes in with that last sentence. Hm, it's not like it bothers me that she only mentioned the three guys, nope, not at all. It's probably due to them being those capture targets and stuff or some extra knowledge she has…
"Well, then maybe my theory is not correct after all, which might be a relief in some aspects. However, there is also a more concerning possibility that this could point to. Maybe the three of you were especially targeted by Agramon's curse since if we're looking only at social status, you are currently at the top of the academy."
Oh, an immensely powerful enemy that can affect people's minds and even seems to possess some intelligence… That does sound very concerning.
"Well, normally that would include you too, Seraphina, but you've been with Lucy all this time, so he couldn't affect you even if he wanted to."
"Hm? Ah, yes."
Miss Julia's words catch me a little off guard as I lose myself in thought. Then, Bernard suddenly speaks up:
"...But what is Agramon's goal with all of this?"
"What's this now?"
"Well, influencing others, making them hate or mistreat Lucy. What's the point in all of that? Wouldn't it be better to just keep quietly destroying the seal like he's been doing?"
"That…"
I initially respond with some exasperation, but this idiot… might really have a point this time. All of us fall silent for a moment to consider this aspect.
"...To kill Lucy."
"...!"
"What?"
Then Miss Julia finally answers, making all of us turn to her.
"I have a general understanding of the seal now, and it passes down through Cecilia's bloodline at the moment of birth. Meaning if Lucy were to die right now, Agramon would be released. So making others hate her is probably an attempt to get someone to take her life, or to drive her to take it herself. Though this might simply be an instinctive drive to get rid of the one holding him imprisoned, it could also be deliberate."
"Oh…"
"I see."
"That bastard…"
The others react with somewhat blank expressions as they process Miss Julia's words, but I can't help but clench my fists at the revelation of why he has been making Lucy's life miserable.
Then a few seconds later, Miss Julia speaks up again in a slightly lighter tone:
"But thankfully it didn't get to that point. And, at least for the moment, the main part of the seal is still holding steadily, so we should still have a little time left before he can break free on his own. I'll go investigate the student body first and try to gauge how many people are currently affected and see if my theory holds any ground."
"Well, regardless of that, the fact that Agramon is still alive after all these years is too important to keep to ourselves. I think I should go back to the capital and report it to my father too."
"Wait a minute, that would be-"
Hearing Arthur's words, I quickly speak up, but he continues on:
"I know. It could greatly affect Lucy's life. And out of consideration for everything you've done for me, and because you're my friend, I can put it off for a while. But this is something that concerns all of Meridia, and even humanity as a whole."
"Let's hold back for now, okay?"
"...Miss Julia…"
She puts a hand on Arthur's shoulder and gently tells him to wait. He seems like he wants to say something, but holds back in the end.
"We can do that later. Give me some time to confirm as much as I can first."
"Hm."
If it really got out that Agramon was sealed inside Lucy's soul, it probably wouldn't turn out well. Trying to destroy him like they did in that game Lucy told me about would probably be considered too dangerous by others. I suspect they'd probably just try to revive that 'Golden Vow' thing from before and repair the soul cage to properly contain Agramon within her. Then confining her to a secure location would be the logical next step, just like how it was done to Cecilia… Of course I would never let that happen and well, probably Arthur and the rest of us wouldn't either.
But as for any other solutions to this problem… Previously, I'd considered creating a body for Lucy so she wouldn't simply fade away after giving hers to that 'real' Lucy. So perhaps a similar solution would be my next thought, but that wouldn't work here.
My plan was essentially to move Lucy's soul into an artificial body. Which is something that has never been done before, but theoretically it should be possible. But even if it worked, it wouldn't help here at all, since Agramon is sealed inside Lucy's soul and he would simply move with her into the new body. Maybe creating an artificial soul and transferring the seal to it might work, but that's pretty much impossible.
That would mean creating life out of nothing. Not only is something like that never mentioned in any legends, but it would also be even more illegal than anything I've considered before. Not to mention that it would mean placing the seal inside a new, artificial life. Lucy would be one hundred percent against it, and well… even I would have a hard time doing something like that.
But anyway, it's not really worth considering. Even if it could be done, Magnus Latimer, the greatest mage, clearly cared deeply for Cecilia, yet he didn't use a solution like that. Which means that even he couldn't achieve something like that, making our chance for success even lower.
"Well then, let's bring the meeting to an end here for now. I'm sure this is a lot to take in, and some things are still unconfirmed, but don't worry too much. The main part of the seal is still holding fast so there's still time to figure everything out. And no matter what, we will help you through this, okay?"
I nod along with the others, but doesn't Miss Julia sound a bit too kind today? Well, I guess she can act like this sometimes too.
"Ah, yeah. Th-thank you everyone."
Lucy says that awkwardly, and soon everyone begins to leave the room.
"..."
When it's just the two of us, Lucy absentmindedly starts heading towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
However, I stand in her way before she can leave. She seems flustered by my sudden actions, but I don't back down.
"Um… back to my room?"
"Really? Isn't there something important we haven't discussed yet?"
"H-huh? I… I don't know about that…"
Lucy lowers her gaze while taking a few small steps back. So I walk forward confidently while saying:
"Lucy… Or Lily… doesn't this mean that there is no 'real' Lucy after all?"
"...! Well…"
After making her retreat like this for a while, her back soon hits the wall behind her, and her eyes dart around for another escape route. So I quickly place my hands against the wall on either side of her, trapping her in place, just like I did that one time before.
"Th-there was still a real Lucy though… I just don't know what happened to her now."
"Hm, even if that's the case, are you going to keep wondering about that your whole life? From what we know, now you're bound to stay as Lucy, aren't you?"
"I… that… I don't know…"
"Really? Or is it that you just don't want to accept it?"
"..."
Lucy looks rather conflicted and her cheeks are flushed. Soon she just can't stand the pressure anymore and she suddenly ducks under my arms and shouts:
"Ugh, I don't know! I'll talk to you later!"
Then she runs out of the room before I can even react.
Ah, did I push her too hard after all…?