Do Flowers Bloom in the Fallen Land?

After taking a sip of the tea he gave her, Seira popped in a buttery chocolate cookie inside her mouth. It was her favorite combination.

“First of all, I should tell you why I brought you here,” Louis began as he put down his teacup and reached for the cube that flew and settled into his hand.

“It’s… Ancora’s treasures, right?”

“Yes.”

The diamond-shaped, glassy crystal was only the size of her thumb.

“Usually, the treasures that Ancora throws up are like this. But on very rare occasions, they spit out something black. Do you happen to know the difference between black and transparent?”

“Black ones can hold power,” Louis answered as he gazed at Seira directly in her eyes.

“You seem to be well informed after all,” Seira raised a brow at him.

“The reason I brought this up now is because black crystals were used to revive Dews.”

“Right… I understand now. And the power in it, it belongs to Louis?”

He smiled at her question as if amused – was she correct?

“I don’t know what your powers are… Even if I asked, I’m sure you wouldn’t answer anyway. But I think it would be far from what Franto shows to the world.”

“I can tell you if you’re curious…” he leaned forward and added, “How about we exchange information one by one?”

After a few moments of silence, Seira spoke, “Never mind. No thanks.”

The more they were entangled, the greater the risk. Now that she understood half of Louis Franto’s intentions, Seira knew it was better to trade what was only necessary.

“That makes me sad,” Louis frowned, “Don’t you think it’s a good opportunity to get to know each other more deeply?”

“Enough of the jokes, now tell me. How many black crystals were used to revive Dews?”

Louis stretched his hands leisurely, as if to inspect his fingernails. Seira’s patience was running thin, but she must endure if she wanted to know the secret to reviving their dead land. After some time, Louis gazed straight into her eyes and smiled as he raised three fingers.

“3…? Then that would mean I need over a hundred to use all over Askan.”

“I think so.”

Seira nodded her head and began to plan ahead. The problem of knowing Louis’ power had to be put aside for the meantime. Once there were enough black crystals secured, then she could move on to her next steps.

“The problem here is that black crystals aren’t easily accessible. In fact, I barely got the ones I used for Dews.”

Even Franto, who surely had the rarest substances, including Ancora’s crystals, didn’t know how many years it would take to gather only ten, let alone a hundred black crystals.

Seira bit her lips in bitter disappointment.

“However,” Louis pointed out, “there is one shortcut.”

“What is it?” she asked as her head immediately lifted hopefully at his words.

“Did you bring the remains of the nest today?”

Seira stared at Louis and then nodded once.

“Can you show it to me?”

Seira took out a small box she stored in her jacket’s inner pocket. Then she held it out to Louis.

“Now, check it out.”

“Wow… I swear I never expected you to bring it like this,” Louis coughed.

“It didn’t explode, so that’s fine,” came her curt reply.

He shook his head as if holding back laughter and said, “That’s true.”

Louis opened the box, looked inside carefully, and then got up from his seat.

“Wait. I think I need some preparation,” he said as he went inside and brought out an empty cube and a large bag containing his experimental tools.

He first brushed the contents of the box into the empty cube, then carefully unraveled the cloth using tweezers. Recalling how she touched the item with her bare hands, Seira could only quietly reflect on how reckless she had been.

“As expected,” Louis hummed as he observed the item inside the cube, “It was originally black.”

Inside it, round as a bead, something that looked like a black mist was swirling around.

“Can that be used in the same way as Ancoras?” Seira asked.

“It needs more testing, but that’s roughly my guess as well. As it turned out, the transparent colored debris that was sent to the temple could store 50 times the energy compared to an Ancora’s crystal.”

“50 times as much?!” Seira exclaimed in surprise.

“Yes,” Louis smiled at her reaction, “So, if this black wreckage has the power we need, then we could call it a shortcut, right? Also…”

His gaze redirected from the nest’s remnants towards Seira.

“If we put Seira’s power of amplification to good use, then things will be far easier.”

Seira looked at him blankly and nodded her head to agree, “I see.”

The power of Askan’s main ability to amplify wasn’t a secret. However, the difference in the amount of information they had about Seira was far too little.

Louis raised a finger and suggested, “Let’s try to obtain another one of the same properties. That’s how we should have our powers come together and bloom beautiful things. In the heart of Askan, in front of the D-Ark.”

It was clear as day now what he was trying to put on the scale.

It was Louis’ power that he wanted to deal with her. That, too, would provide enormous power to restore the vast lands of Askan, not just on a single basis.