Moon Descendant
With the battle on the moon concluded, Isaac and Gwynne talk about what they missed in each other's lives in the many years they were apart. When a report surfaces about irregularities in a town that housed a base used by Ilsa's company and the crew, they go to investigate. That night, Isaac ventures out into the forest alone to look for Grace's body for a funeral.
Once upon a time, strangers from another world landed in the Sky Realm.
Calling themselves moondwellers, they possessed a strange power that is neither magic nor alchemy.
They spoke of their wish to return to the moon one day.
Even with their powers, it would not be an easy feat. They learned to adapt to life in the skies over time.
Naturally, those moondwellers perished with the passage of time. Some bequeathed their wishes of returning home to their children; others carried those wishes and memories of home sweet home to their graves.
Many generations have gone by since then.
A new outsider known as Cassius arrives from the moon.
The descendants of those first moon travelers realize Cassius is integral to their trip home, and a fight breaks out over him.
One of those moon children, Isaac, fulfills the wish of his ancestors and successfully returns to the moon with Cassius.
But in his short time there, he realizes that—as someone born and raised in the skies—lunar life is far too harsh for him.
After overcoming countless trials and tribulations, the two have returned to the place they can truly call home—the Sky Realm.
Lyria: Vyrn, how are you liking the apple potage?
Vyrn: This is some good stuff... But more than anything, I'm just surprised they had it.
Cassius: Fascinating. I request a small portion so that I may sample the taste.
Vyrn: Wait up, Cassius! I don't mind sharing, but I'm only willin' to part with a spoonful!
Isaac: ...
With the battle against the moon concluded, Isaac takes some time to visit the restaurant of an old friend. The crew tags along.
Isaac's Old Pal: Here you go, Cousin. A glass of root beer.
Isaac: ...
Huh? Oh, thanks, Cousin.
Isaac's Old Pal: Everything all right? Seems a waste to be spacing out during a feast. We've been apart for fifteen years, but it's good to know you're still the same ol' Droopy-Eyes.
Isaac: Gah, I hate that nickname! Stop calling me that!
Isaac's Old Pal: Haha, you must be worn-out. You're more than welcome to stay the night like you used to if you're not ready to head back yet.
He pats Isaac on the shoulder, then moves to the next table.
Isaac's Old Pal: Yes, what would you like?
Vyrn: We'll have another apple potage. Turns out Cassius is a big fan too.
Isaac: ...
Gwynne: Here's your extra-large platter of sausages and fries.
Isaac: Ah... Gwynne, you help out here too?
Gwynne: Always have. Mind if I sit next to you?
Isaac: Not at all.
Isaac pulls out a chair for Gwynne.
Isaac: Sausages and fries—my favorite thing on the menu. You like this stuff too, don't you, Gwynne?
Gwynne: Mm-hm, sure do.
Isaac: This was my final order the last time I came to this place.
Gwynne: Was that when you left me with Mom and Dad?
Isaac: Yeah... Fifteen years ago, to be precise.
Gwynne: ...
Isaac: ...
Gwynne: I like washing down my sausages and fries with root beer too. Like brother, like sister, eh?
Isaac: Yeah, you could say that...
Gwynne: ...
Gwynne: Big bro.
Isaac: ...!
Gwynne: Brother.
Isaac: Er... Gwynne?
Gwynne: Dearest Brother.
Gwynne: Doesn't feel right. Can I just call you Isaac?
Isaac: Sure. Whatever you're comfortable with.
Gwynne: ...
Gwynne: Does it feel awkward being around me?
Isaac: No, that's definitely not it! You see...
Isaac: I've intentionally been avoiding people for so long that I'm still trying to get used to it...
Gwynne: Is that why you're sitting alone in the corner?
Isaac: Yeah, force of habit. I never know when I'll be leaving, so I prefer a spot where it's easy to slip away from.
Gwynne: I hope you won't just go without saying a word.
Isaac: Oh, I wouldn't do that. Besides, I haven't had a meal with this many people ever since leaving this town.
Gwynne: I'm guessing it was with Grace that you last sat down to eat with someone?
Isaac: That's right. So she told you about that, huh.
Gwynne: She's also the one who told me I'd find you if I joined the Society.
Isaac: Right. So I guess she's really...
Gwynne: Gone. Her body's probably still somewhere in that forest.
Isaac: ...
The lively chatter in the restaurant grows distant.
Gwynne: Grace was up to no good the whole time. And I had no clue...
Isaac: You're not sure if it's okay to be sad, huh?
Gwynne: Mm...
Isaac: To be honest, I feel the same way. Though I wouldn't share this sentiment with anyone else but you.
Gwynne: Thank you, Isaac.
Isaac: I'd better dig into the food you brought me before it gets cold.
Gwynne: Right.
And so Isaac sticks his knife into the still- steaming sausage in the center of his plate.
Though this big brother chose to be apart from his sister at a young age, he now takes this opportunity to get to know her better, albeit clumsily.
Isaac: Morning, Gwynne.
Gwynne: Morning, Isaac.
The siblings are fortunate to spend more time together, as Ilsa's company and (Captain)'s crew have been working closely together lately.
Isaac: So we're going to that place you guys used as a base?
Gwynne: Uh-huh. That's where we built Mahira's cosmoship and performed maintenance on the automagods.
Gwynne: Something's been amiss there ever since the battle with the Otherworlders.
Isaac: I suppose I can help with the investigation side of this.
They arrive at the town where the base is located to find that something indeed is not quite right.
The collapsed buildings and few remaining lamps tell a bitter tale of the battle that took place here. But what's more...
A strange presence seems to fill the air like a thick fog.
Ilsa and (Captain) decide to stay the night aboard the moored Grandcypher and begin their investigation when the sun rises.
Unsure of what awaits them in the morning, they go to sleep with uneasy hearts.
It's said that the foreboding air seeps in from the forests on the outskirts of town.
Isaac: ...
After everyone else has fallen asleep, Isaac heads out to the forest alone in the dead of the night.
Proceeding cautiously, Isaac speaks into his transceiver.
Isaac: Mayday. Isaac here.
Gwynne's Voice: Mayday. Gwynne here. Where are you?
Isaac: The forest. It's awful seeing everything so horribly torched.
Gwynne's Voice: Really now, I thought I told you not to head out alone!
Isaac: Sorry, but I just had to get a look for myself. Not to mention I'm probably the only one who can safely enter.
Isaac: There was a sign about dangerous toxins in the air. Good thing I'm wearing my hazard suit.
Gwynne's Voice: Oh yeah? Where are the toxins coming from?
Isaac: I can't tell from where I'm standing. Besides, I'm here for something else.
Gwynne's Voice: Something else? You don't mean...
Isaac: Grace. Don't let the others know though.
Gwynne's Voice: But why?
Isaac: I can't put it into words, but something tells me I just have to do this.
Isaac: I've known her for a long time. I figure at the least, I have the right to mourn for her.
Gwynne's Voice: Mm...
Isaac: Oh, that reminds me... Can I ask you for a favor, Gwynne?
Gwynne's Voice: Sure, as long as you don't ask me to forgive you for heading out alone.
Isaac: Haha, thanks... Can you keep the transceiver on for a while?
Gwynne's Voice: Uh, sure...
Isaac: Great. It's pretty scary being in the forest by myself. Having your voice to keep me company would help.
Gwynne's Voice: Heh, just don't blame me if I fall asleep.
Isaac: That would suck... It feels like a ghost could pop out any moment now...
Gwynne's Voice: That's what you get for going out alone, fool. Next thing you know, you're gonna be pissing in your pants.
Isaac: Haha... You're even tougher on me than Raybury...
Clad in his hefty hazard suit, Isaac proceeds through the forest.
His destination: the battlefield where Grace faced off against the crew.
Prayer in the Sky
On the long trek through the forest, Isaac continues catching up with Gwynne on their past via transceiver. Upon arriving at the location of the crew's battle against Grace, Isaac pushes past the scorched trees in search of her body.
A foul miasma fills the forest, perhaps left by the Otherworld invaders.
Isaac: ...
Gwynne's Voice: And then... Wait, are you still listening?
Isaac: Of course I am. So tell me how you found out I existed.
While tuning in to the siren of his hazard suit and his sister's voice, Isaac continues onward.
Gwynne's Voice: I overheard Mom and Dad talking about an "Isaac" one night.
Isaac: Was it difficult knowing the truth?
Gwynne's Voice: Hm, not exactly. I always figured something was up with our family structure.
Gwynne's Voice: What with them being Draph and me being Human.
Isaac: Ah, makes sense.
Gwynne's Voice: I never found our physical differences to be an obstacle though. I was a member of that family through and through.
Isaac: Good to hear.
Gwynne's Voice: But I always wanted to know what you were thinking when you put me in their hands.
Isaac: I'm sure you did...
Isaac: This might sound self-serving, but I did it for your sake.
Isaac: Without our family's wishes to bog you down, I wanted you to find your own path in life.
Gwynne's Voice: What do you mean?
Isaac: I grew up knowing that I was created to repay the skydwellers' kindness and return to the moon.
Isaac: When you came out of Mom's womb, she and Dad were overjoyed at the success of their "backup plan." It kind of disgusted me how they spoke of you.
Gwynne's Voice: ...
Isaac: Then again, I was able to think like that only because of all the time I spent with your foster parents.
Isaac: They taught me that in order to love skydwellers, I first had to love myself... I should really add that to our list of family creeds.
Gwynne's Voice: Love yourself? Then why did you try to go to the moon all alone?
Isaac: I knew firsthand what it was like for our ancestors, so I couldn't just abandon their wishes.
Isaac: I knew that if I didn't fulfill their dream of returning to the moon, I, too, would pass it on to the next generation.
Isaac: A lot was going through my head at the time.
Isaac: I figured if I could return to the moon, my only remaining mission would be to love skydwellers.
Isaac: It was such a natural thing for your parents that I didn't think to add it the list of family creeds at the time. Even I was pulling it off somehow.
Gwynne: Did you ever wonder what kind of person I might grow up to be in that family?
Isaac: I certainly didn't think you'd join the Society and come chasing after me one day.
Gwynne's Voice: I see.
As the two talk about their respective pasts, Isaac notices something.
Isaac: Hrm... You said the battle with Grace happened in a clearing, right?
Gwynne's Voice: Mm-hm. Already there, Isaac?
Isaac: I'm seeing lots of clean-cut rocks. Looks like the work of Grace's wire.
Gwynne's Voice: Think you'll find her?
Isaac: Here's hoping. Good thing my suit's got plenty of handy-dandy functionality.
While stomping through burnt tree branches, Isaac adjusts the scanner spectrum of his gear and begins combing the ground.
Prayer in the Sky: Scene 2
Isaac eventually finds a clump of mineral fiber shaped like a person—Grace's body—along with a soot-filled spherical object once part of Grace. An Otherworlder taking her appearance shows up. Isaac immediately sees through the disguise but does not disclose the fact, hoping to glean some info first.
Isaac scans the ruins of the forest battleground.
Isaac: Now this is a surprise...
He finds something under the cinders of a felled tree and stops in his tracks.
Gwynne's Voice: You found her?
Isaac: This must be her.
Underneath the mountain of ash is something that looks like a mass of grimy steel wool.
Pulling it out reveals the silhouette of a person.
Isaac: I found a giant chunk of mineral fiber shaped like a person. This had to be Grace.
Isaac: The glass she consumed must've had a fibrotic reaction, scarring her bodily tissue. The fire couldn't burn it.
Gwynne's Voice: ...
Isaac: Oops, sorry if I grossed you out. Anyway, I'm taking her back.
Isaac gently lays out the chunk of mineral fiber on the ground.
Isaac: Huh?
A spherical object stained with soot falls off from Grace's remains.
Isaac: This metal thing must be something she left behind. There's liquid inside...
It makes a rattling sound when shook, revealing that something solid is stuck inside amid all the liquid.
Isaac: Are these runes that are etched onto the surface? What do they mean...
Woman's Voice: Hehe... Good job finding my stomach. It did a fine job of digesting all the glass I ate.
Isaac: ...!
Isaac's knee-jerk reaction is to immediately turn off his transceiver.
Grace: Those are old alchemical runes, etched onto the organ replacement of a very weak child.
Isaac: Grace... I had no idea you'd made such modifications to your body.
Grace: I'm sure my stomach's still functional. Why don't you take it for yourself, Isaac? Along with a bunch of my other parts.
Isaac: Thing is, I don't think my body's very receptive of mods. I learned that firsthand on the moon.
Grace: Oh? I guess moon life wasn't for you then?
Isaac: It was awful. I finally understood why they abandoned my ancestors.
Grace: Yes, the moon is a cruel place.
Isaac: No argument there.
Grace: Don't you want to get back at them?
Isaac: Honestly, I'd rather not get involved anymore.
Grace: What a shame. At the least you'll make for a nice data dump.
Isaac: You mean to kill me and send me to the Otherworld?
Grace: That's right. Once you're dead, everything about you will be ours.
Isaac: Can I ask you a question before that?
Isaac: Were you hoping for a successor?
Grace: A successor?
Isaac: The talk about me taking your stomach... Did you want to marry me because you knew you weren't long for this world?
Grace: Who knows.
Grace: No matter how much we torture her in the Otherworld, she refuses to tell us anything of import.
Isaac: ...
Grace: Rather than waiting endlessly for answers that may never come from her, I thought I'd ask you directly.
Isaac: You're the worst.
A flame spews out of Isaac's tool and scorches the Otherworlder's face.
Otherworlder: Gwoooh...
Isaac: Central Axis, Otherworld—you're all the same! Cloning people on a whim to use as your weapons!
Isaac: But am I really any better? Uh, the things I've done... Aah!
Isaac: Huff... Huff... Before I forget...
Once his breathing settles down, he turns his transceiver back on.
Gwynne's Voice: Isaac! Can you hear me? What happened!
Isaac: Sorry, the transceiver fell off my ear. It was tough putting it back on from inside the suit.
Gwynne's Voice: Don't worry me like that...
Isaac: Thanks for caring. My childhood buddies raised you well.
Gwynne's Voice: Let's not forget I'm also a little sister who's finally reunited with her long-lost brother. Maybe you should write that somewhere on the helmet of your hazard suit.
Isaac: I will. Have a marker ready for me.
Gwynne's Voice: Sure, one that uses permanent ink.
Isaac: I'm heading back.
Gwynne's Voice: Be careful.
Carrying Grace's body on his shoulder and connecting her stomach to the hazard suit, Isaac retraces his steps.
Prayer in the Sky: Scene 3
Isaac carries back Grace's body, with the spherical object—Grace's stomach—showing signs of life when attached to his hazard suit. He tells the Otherworlder following closely behind that if Grace's stomach is alive, then she herself isn't entirely dead—ergo, the Otherworlders cannot do with her as they please. The Otherworlder disappears, and Isaac makes it safely back to Gwynne.
Isaac moves swiftly through the forest as a reddish sky peeks in through the canopy.
Grace: What are you in such a rush for, Isaac?
Isaac: I have to get back before sunrise.
Gwynne's Voice: Yawn... Wow. I can't believe I stayed up all night.
Isaac: Sorry about that. You definitely helped me big-time though.
Grace: You're such a tease, Isaac... I'm right here even if you pretend not to see me.
Isaac: ...
The Otherworlder pretending to be Grace trails behind Isaac as if nothing had happened.
Grace: That wasn't very nice of you to blast me with flames.
Grace: Fortunately we're able to recycle the dead—multiple times, if the situation calls for it.
Isaac: Just as you made (Captain)'s crew pull the trigger, I figured I had to muster the courage to do the same.
Gwynne's Voice: Huh? Sorry, Isaac, I don't think I heard that right.
Isaac: Ah... Just mumbling about the thing Grace left behind. I think it's a digestive organ.
Gwynne's Voice: Wha?
Grace: That's right, my stomach.
Isaac: It showed signs of activity when I connected it to the hazard suit, meaning it's still alive. I doubt anyone will mind if I take the thing for myself.
Grace: Heh, it's all yours.
Gwynne's Voice: Hm... Show me later.
Isaac: I will. This reminds me of something I read about the moon once.
Isaac: Apparently, if a moondweller's organ became damaged, they could replace it with another from a different moondweller. This happened a long time ago.
Gwynne's Voice: Are you for real?
Isaac: I've never seen the operation myself, but it's incredible to think they already had the technology to do so.
Grace: That's definitely impressive.
Isaac: What's more, the organ's receiver inherits certain characteristics of the donor.
Gwynne's Voice: What do you mean?
Isaac: There have been reports of post-transplant personality changes.
Gwynne's Voice: And the reason for it?
Isaac: Some say people's souls dwell in their organs.
Gwynne's Voice: Pssh, gimme a break.
Isaac: Yeah, I'd take it with grain of salt. One thing's for sure though—Grace's stomach lives on as an extra function of my suit.
Isaac: Therefore is it possible to say that Grace isn't entirely dead yet?
Grace: ...
Gwynne's Voice: You've been acting kinda weird, Isaac. Did something happen over there?
Isaac: If a part of her is still alive, then she hasn't really kicked the bucket. Meaning Otherworlders can't do with her as they please.
Grace: ...
The footsteps that were trailing behind Isaac disappear without a trace.
Isaac: ...
Gwynne's Voice: Isaac, you feeling all right?
Isaac: Yep. Much better now.
Isaac: I'll get back to the ship soon enough. Then we can offer a prayer to Grace together.
Gwynne's Voice: Sounds good to me. Thanks, Isaac.
Isaac: Not a problem. It's the least I can do to repay all you've done for me—a total stranger to you only until recently.
Isaac: But let's keep this a secret from the others. I think Grace would rest better that way.
Gwynne's Voice: Right.
Isaac: Are you still unsure whether to mourn for her?
Gwynne's Voice: Well, everyone does hate her...
Isaac: Well, she certainly did do a lot of awful things.
Isaac: Our relationship with her was a bit more complex, but I'd say we were on relatively good terms with her.
Gwynne's Voice: You think so?
Isaac: In a way, I'm no different from her. I've used and sacrificed people to achieve my own goals...
Isaac: (Captain) and the others are too nice to ever say it, but I'm a rotten scumbag in my own right.
Gwynne's Voice: That's some twisted logic.
Isaac: I'm not trying to justify anything.
Isaac: I'm just saying it's okay to shed a tear or two when we're sad.
Gwynne's Voice: Mm, fair enough. How much longer do you need to get back?
Isaac: Might take until morning.
Gwynne's Voice: I'll be waiting.
Isaac: Sorry. I'm going as fast as I can.
Seeing that the sky is getting brighter, Isaac breaks into a jog.
Some time passes by.
Isaac: Thanks for waiting, Gwynne.
Gwynne: Welcome back, Isaac.
Their bond as siblings stronger than ever, the two enjoy an early breakfast.
All the while, the two discuss what they can do for their shared acquaintance.