Consumed by Passion

Raid Event: Resplendent Refrain

Episode 5

Consumed by Passion

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Banishing the Darkness Within

Summary

For years, Sabnock gained power from darkness in the hearts of children. Elias has been in the grip of that darkness due to his voice changing and tries to leave town—but he is reminded that nothing changes if he does not face his fear. The final battle with Sabnock is about to begin.

Dialogue

Oh, but this is terrible! Just terrible! Ya learn somethin' about Sabnock there, polar bear? ...Heh. That rhymed. We did indeed! What is it? We spoke again with children who recalled encounters with Sabnock. And we realized there was a commonality in all of their stories. Well?! Spit it out already! All of them had "darkness" in their hearts. Wanna run that by me again? Jealousy, hatred... All the ugly parts of a person comprise darkness. A passion for music burns within each and every child in the choir. They compete with one another over it, and in so doing raise each other to even greater heights. It can be a wonderful thing, and yet... Well, sometimes the blaze of their passion flares up and consumes them. Ooo-kay? So that means...what? If a person wishes to be better than a peer, they sometimes want that peer to simply disappear altogether. I was once full of such envy for others. It caused me no end of self-loathing. Someone as accomplished as you felt this way, Lucretia? Of course. Now, as I grew into an adult, I became better able to control those feelings, but... Well, I still remember even now how dark and twisted my emotions were. But what does the children's darkness have to do with Sabnock? Well, I've got a theory. Suppose—and I'm just spitballing here, so bear with me—but suppose Sabnock first found the choir here a hundred years ago. It was just a normal-sized fiend back then, but in the century since, it got bigger. Like, a LOT bigger. Maybe it's been drawing strength from the darkness in the children's hearts for all this time. Hmm. I see where you're going with this. However... Is someone there?! ...Elias! Have you been eavesdropping? It's...my fault... Elias, wait! We have to find him! Elias! Eliaaaaas! Euden! He's over here! St-stay back! I'm leaving this town forever! Elias, stop! No! If I'm gone, that will be the end of this entire thing! That's not true! Elias, WAIT! *pant* *pant* Augh! Owww! There you are! Are you okay, Elias? Ugh... Why am I always tripping over things?! Can you get up? Here, give me your hand. I've got it! Why are you running away? Because this is all my fault. That thing told me to ＂get rid of it.＂ It gave voice to things I was thinking. Get rid of it... Wait, you mean the choir? But you're their best singer—why would you want to do something like that? ...... Vixel knows. Yes—because I've been there myself. I'm going to lose my voice. It's coming any day now. I figured as much. Your voice is changing. A little while before the recital, I started having a hard time hitting high notes. I kept thinking it was just a frog in my throat or something, but...it wasn't. I'd hate it if I couldn't be in the choir anymore, so that's why I hid it from everyone. Then I started to get jealous of all the kids who could still sing. ...Wildly jealous. And somewhere in my heart, I started to think that if this was a world where I wouldn't be able to sing, I just wanted the entire thing to go away. The moment I thought that, the thing showed up in my dream. It said it wanted the power of darkness, so it absorbed it from my heart. It used that darkness to get stronger, which means this is all my fault! Not just you, Elias—there are lots of other children who share the same darkness. Indeed, I am also one who gave strength to that fell beast. But what should I do? That monster is going to use my darkness and there's nothing I can do about it! What you do from here depends on you. You—and you alone—must choose. Do you leave Sabnock alone and flee, or do you face your darkness and best it? You must choose. I did not face my darkness. I chose to run. I gave up singing and I found a new path, which led me to conducting. So running away is not an altogether bad idea. Is that what you wish to do? I... Will you be satisfied to leave this village and never lift your voice in song again? ...No. I can't stop singing. I love it so much! Then the path you must choose is clear. Thank you, Vixel. Thank you. Oh, I'm so sorry for everything. I'm going to face my darkness. If I can't overcome it, I'm never going to be able to continue singing. I'm not going to run any more. Not from my future, or from Sabnock! Please let me help you defeat Sabnock, Euden! But... I know I may not be much of a fighter, but this is still MY fight. I have to defeat Sabnock myself. I'll face it again and again until my darkness is banished forever! No, Elias. You won't face this alone. We're going to take Sabnock down together. We may be fighting a fiend, but we're also fighting the darkness of all the children that fed it!