Tales of Vesperia – Ryuu Tsukai no Chinmoku v1p1c2

This is a translation of the Tales of Vesperia novels: The Silence of the Dragon-rider, Judith's story. I am only responsible for translating it, and for any content in ((double parentheses)).
PART 1: A CHANCE MEETING ON BALBUSA (+)

Only the Voiceless Speak The Truth

Chapter 2
"He" was wandering, without the faintest clue when he might stop. He didn't even know if he ever would.
Or, rather, he didn't know how long his body could continue with the starvation that tortured him -- even now, he had no real memory of ever eating. On the other hand, the strange energy that somehow kept him going did not seem like it would be exhausted soon. It was as if some invisible power from his surroundings kept pouring into him, keeping him alive.
"He" could not think of what that power might be, nor could he sense it. He only felt as if his hunger was being dragged out indefinitely. These concerns were insignificant, but he had no reprieve from them.
He had no destination in mind, but days pa.s.sed as he traveled, seeing nothing but clouds and mist. But then, finally, something changed.
There was a scent on the air; so to speak, since he did not truly have a sense of smell. Without even pausing to wonder how or why, "he" headed for it with all his might. It was something wonderful -- something for him.
Like a moth to a flame, "he" was completely absorbed in the scent, summoned to it. He dropped gently down out of the sky, weaving into the line of trees that thrust up among the mountains like spearheads, but he paid no attention to them.
He saw it before long. Although it was the first time he'd ever laid eyes on it -- or else perhaps it had been before, in what felt like an extremely far-off memory -- he knew immediately that he had found what he had been searching for all this time.
At the base of the mountain was a fissure erupted from the ground, like a valley. The sunlight could not penetrate inside, but it glowed with a light of its own, illuminating its interior.
It should have been called a spring of light. An undying source of sparkling light bubbled forth in the far corner, and slowly spilled up into the sky like a water fountain. Although the specks of light faded out as they rose up higher, "he" could sense that they were not vanis.h.i.+ng, only diluting. Even diffused, it pervaded the atmosphere all around the spring.
Somehow, that light felt like the foundation of the "energy" that composed life itself. And he knew that it would satisfy his hunger.
Finally his instincts were telling him that he should get closer to the spring, and to feed deeply from the overflowing light that would not cease. He could instantly feel it refres.h.i.+ng him, even from the first breath. Giving him strength, giving him new life. As it should be.
Slowly "he" felt himself becoming intoxicated by the sensation.
But all at once, that peaceful feeling cut off sharply. Right above him, some terrible and furious force had appeared -- a hostile force. With his senses enraptured by the long-sought feast of light right before him, he was slow to react to its appearance.
A shadow dropped down out of the sky beside him all at once with gale-like force. He just barely managed to twist his body out of the way, but he felt a sharp burst of pain graze his flank. He couldn't tell whether or not the shadow had crashed into the ground from his angle, so he turned, spinning around. And then it turned and dove out of the sky again.
Each time the shadow dove for him, he felt a sharp burst of agony that caused him to cry out. He was struck, again and again, until he struggled with ten deep gashes, and then finally the shadow broke away. With a merciless glare, it positioned itself in front of the spring of light, blocking the way with its body.
"Nazar'kirog. Making steady progress on the primary function."
He murmured the words like a magic spell as morning light suffused Temza with a refres.h.i.+ng vibrancy, just as it always did, unchanging. The view of the world below was half-concealed by clouds today, but if he focused on it he could still see the dunes of the far-off desert stretching into the distance on the horizon.
High above, the clouds streamed past at a fast clip. No doubt there was a strong wind at work, but Temza below could feel only gentle breezes. The people who had settled the town had paid close attention to ensure that it would be that way.
"Those symbols mean laytos'ogir, which comes from laytos'kragrek." Hermes squinted to get a better look, letting the breeze blow about his unkempt hair.
In front of him were several unusual artifacts. He couldn't say for certain what their purpose was. The object of his attention was chest-height in front of him, but there was nothing supporting it. It floated in the air, semi-transparent and two-dimensional, with rows of symbols that seemed to be made out of light. He was standing with his hands resting against it, fingertips tracing carefully above the symbols.
There was also a workbench standing about waist-high. Aside from the fact that it was made of metal, there was nothing noteworthy about it. On the table was a machine, roughly the size of two adult fists. From its clumsy decoration, one could presume that the creator had wanted it to be both functional and stylish. Hermes had searched all over Temza, but he had not found anything else like it -- although machines like this were not common in Temza to begin with.
The machine gave out a low trembling noise, as if growling. It projected various figures made of light above it. Although they resembled the dial currently floating in front of Hermes, they were far more intricate, three-dimensionally complex. The symbols and lines that composed each piece were, themselves, composed of smaller symbols and characters, creating one whole picture.
"Next. Second layer, third row of the virtual conduit system. These symbols say emis tau korba."
Hermes ran his fingertips over the s.h.i.+ning letters while the machine's comfortable noise ran in the background, and as if responding to his movement, a few of the symbols s.h.i.+fted under his touch. In the same moment, the machine's humming climbed slightly higher.
He drew his fingers over the symbols again. "Next, fifth layer, second row. Standard characters. The symbols read, panor'mir curga grek."
Hermes stared hard at it as he input commands with his fingers, taking in every change as if devouring them. He was aware of nothing else around him. He was completely absorbed in it, like a child who had been given an amazing toy. Although he was outside in the cool air, he was even starting to sweat.
"Third seal released. The major formula--"
In an instant, the glowing patterns that surrounded the machine flickered. The pitch of its humming wavered and changed, and the image of a sparkling snake appeared on the machine: a small snake. Sparks scattered as it crept forward.
Hermes's face settled in grim lines. Now his fingers moved quickly, with purpose, but the machine's buzzing only grew more irregular. The lines tying the characters together with light broke apart, scattering. The fading lines s.h.i.+fted and changed, and the pattern started to disappear. Then there were more of the wriggling snakes. Two, then three--
"Mern emis tam tatam tis.h.i.+el emis... It's no good."
Although the explosion wasn't accompanied by a loud burst of noise or intense force, it hit Hermes in the back and caused him to stagger. Temza was high up in the mountains, surrounded on all sides by terrible cliffs. Any careless action could bring someone falling down through the sea of clouds to their death. Hermes had always believed that calculating all the risks before doing something was unnecessary, but he was still prepared to run for the cliffs if he had to.
It turned out that it wasn't necessary. A few vital components of the machine popped off, rendering the formerly-perfect machine useless. Instead of fire or sound there was a hush, and a white smoke billowed forth.
"Well, well."
Letting out a sigh, Hermes brushed himself off. This was what came of trying to do as much as possible without leaving home. He glanced down at the world below. If the clouds cleared up, he would probably be able to see the research facility at the base of the mountain.
The research facility... Although the only real government overseeing the world was the Empire, Hermes had secretly built one for his own use here, with the support of an influential person within the Empire. It had been necessary, since Hermes didn't want to be separated from his daughter for the long period of time it would take him to travel.
He had made it a strong, reinforced structure in order to keep monsters out, and so he called it 'the Fortress'.
Although going there was not terribly safe, it was much better to do his research in the Fortress. But the reason he hadn't gone down there was so that he could spend more time with Judy.
Although, Hermes thought... That failure just a moment ago was almost certainly due to his misguided a.s.sumptions. It probably would have ended the same way if he'd been in the Fortress. The Fortress didn't have the power to make everything work perfectly. But even with all his equipment, he was substantially lacking in reference books to study from. There was another place for that, but even with his sponsor's power, it was too difficult to go there.
"Aspio......" Hermes spoke the name of the town.
Aspio was far away, but it was one of many cities in the Empire, and the world's greatest academic center. Temza was isolated from everything by oceans and deserts and rocky mountain ranges, and so 'Empire' was just a word for the Krityans, who lived quietly apart from everything, and few had ever even heard the name Aspio. But Hermes was different. If he could be there, he would have not only reference books, but--
"That's... blastia, isn't it," said an unexpected voice, derailing Hermes's train of thought.
He turned his head to the side, and realized that somehow without his noticing, Judith had found him. Her gaze was downcast, making no effort to look around. Her bangs cast her still-young face into shadow.
Apparently, it was already past noon.
"Ah, welcome back. Yes, it's blastia. ...Although it's broken now."
It had been some time since Judith had lost her enthusiasm. They had even stopped speaking to one another playfully in the ancient language, and even though Hermes understood why, he felt like he should avoid the subject with her.
"You broke it."
"I thought it was stronger than that, but I suppose I was mistaken. Poor thing."
"It's just a tool, isn't it? Why would you say that?"
"Well, this is a valuable relic that our ancestors created, with all of their collected wisdom. After making it through so many years, I finally had the opportunity to manifest its power once again, and -- I ruined it."
The moment he said it, he regretted it.
"...Now the power will never come out." Her small hand squeezed into a tight fist.
"Judith..."
He reached a hand out to her, but Judith brushed it aside heatedly and looked up at him. Tears s.h.i.+mmered in her eyes.
"I'm the only one left! Nelni and Mindall and Ka.s.sar have all moved on already! Fent is long gone, but even the three of them are ahead of me!"
Just as he'd thought. Hermes tried not to let his face fall when he realized. Even the children who had been with her since their first days of practice had finally moved on from their primary training exercises.
The children had more to study than simply the nageeg, and so they had left Judith behind when she could not manifest nageeg -- the essential proof of being Krityan. It was difficult not to worry about it.
"Did you know? Even children who are younger than me are moving on now! Why? Why am I the one who can't use nageeg? I'm eight years old already! Tell me why!"
Judith's face was twisted, as if she might burst into tears at any moment, a rare thing for her, and Hermes glanced away, looking up at the heavens. No, he couldn't even consider going to Aspio.
The first time he had gone there had been eight years previous, during the days when Judith was due at any time. The techniques that had been used to create the ancient blastia had been lost long ago, and most of the blastia that were being found today were convenience-oriented. The Empire controlled the majority of them, and studying them was strictly-regulated. Aspio was an unusual city, where it was possible to conduct blastia research with a license from the Empire, and so even though it was an extremely long trip -- involving crossing the whole world and braving its many monsters -- after Hermes finally attained permission to enter the city, he visited there many times to take advantage of the greater opportunity to learn.
Since he had completed the Fortress, he had found far fewer chances to go there. Hermes considered Aspio a treasure trove of fascinating new information, that would always be just out of his reach.
Going to such a far-off city even once would mean more than a month of traveling. But it had been so long since Judith had last smiled... He worried that she would feel the same way about his absence, whether he left to go to the Fortress, or all the way to Aspio.
What Hermes the researcher wanted had to wait. He crossed over to Judith.
"It's going to be okay, Judith. The nageeg is growing within you just like everyone else, I know it. It's not at all uncommon for it to be two or three years late developing. You have the talent too, it's just sleeping in a little. Sooner or later, the time will be right and it'll wake right up."
"I don't want to wait! I want to be able to use it right now!"
Logic wasn't going to help. Judith longed for the nageeg was so that she could be equal with the other children again, but to a child, there was no reason to believe that the nageeg came to everyone. She probably wouldn't listen, even if he tried to tell her that again.
If only his wife were still here. His wife, who had given her life to bring Judith into this world...
Hermes only shook his head. That was a pointless wish. But he had never been very good with words, and he couldn't think of what to say to ease Judith's mind.
Instead, he knelt down silently in front of his daughter and pulled her gently into a tight hug. For a single moment Judith was very still, but then she flung herself into the embrace, arms wrapping tightly around him. Hermes could feel her fingers tangling into his clothes, tears overflowing from her closed eyes as she pressed her face into his shoulder.
They stood like that for a while, without moving. At last Hermes forced himself to speak again.
"It'll be okay. Someday soon, we'll be laughing about this. Until then, everyone in the Great Circle will wait for you."
It was the hug, rather than the words, that seemed to be helping her, finally letting her share some of his calm. Judith pulled herself together a little, leaning on him.
But Hermes's expression was out of place in that tender moment with his daughter. The love between father and daughter was unwavering. The love between father and daughter was unwavering, yet something more complicated was at work.
Judith was comforted, buried in her father's warmth, and she couldn't see his face.
It was evening.
Hermes had spent the rest of the afternoon by himself, cleaning up the remnants of his experiment. The scattered blastia pieces were gathered together now, buried in a hole that he had dug in a corner near his house.
One piece he had picked out of the wreckage, and he held it in the palm of his hand and stared at it.
Although it had been warped by the force of the explosion, Hermes thought that it was beautiful. It was only a leftover relic of the distant past, but it was one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind, and he felt some sort of pride in it.
It should be stared at; it should be pa.s.sionately pursued.
"What are you doing?"
The unexpected voice brought Hermes quickly back to his senses. When he looked up, he could see that it was the elderly man who lived nearby.
"Good evening, Murcy."
Murcy gave him a sociable smile, but his attention s.h.i.+fted to the item in Hermes's hand.
"What is it you have there...? Ah--"
"Blastia."
"Yes, yes, that's it. It's blastia. You really are quite dedicated to your work, aren't you? It's quite interesting to watch," Murcy said, with a look of sincere admiration.
Hermes's long-standing devotion to his research was often a subject of gossip in Temza. Although he was so completely buried in his studies that he wasn't expected to join most of the others in working the fields, no one seemed to resent that, and they always gave him an equal share of their harvest. Krityans were simply people who didn't make a fuss over things like that.
"...I wonder why the Kritya don't use blastia?" Hermes mused, but Murcy only looked at him blankly. Although he admired Hermes's enthusiasm for his work, he had no real interest in blastia.
"Hmm? I hadn't really thought about it. Why would we use it?"
"Because blastia has many practical uses in day-to-day life."
"I don't think we live such difficult lives..."
Why didn't anyone think about it? Why, when they knew about the existence of blastia? Why were the people of Temza living without it?
"In the world below, they protect their towns from monsters by surrounding the whole thing in a barrier made by a blastia. Huge s.h.i.+mmering rings that float in the sky above them. Without those, Temza might be the only city on the planet!"
"Hmm, I feel like I've heard that somewhere before. It sounds like the world below has a lot of monsters. That must be hard for them."
"And you know, blastia were probably something that we Krityans created in the first place."
It looked like nothing that Hermes said was making a special impact on Murcy. He seemed to listen without really hearing, and then shrugged.
"We can't really understand what the ancients were thinking. But it's nice that you have something you're excited about, Hermes. Oh, that's right... Let me know if you ever need someone to look after Judith. I'd be happy to have her over anytime."
He had such earnest good intentions. Hermes let out a deep sigh. Although the people of Temza were unfailingly kind to him, they made no effort to understand his research. Murcy's reaction was entirely typical.
"Thank you. You're always a great help."
"Oh, stop, stop. I wasn't fis.h.i.+ng for compliments. Of course we'll help each other out. We're family, aren't we? Here in Temza we're all just one great big family," Murcy said, patting Hermes on the back, belly shaking as he laughed.
It was just like he said. The Krityans of Temza valued cooperation and helping others, and they did it all without expecting anything in return. Back when Hermes had been away with his research just before Judith had been born, he'd been very grateful for that.
"That's just like with Melg the vagrant, don't you think? Doesn't all that ever come back to you?"
Hermes went stiff, and he stared fixedly at Murcy. But on the outside he continued to wear only a gentle smile, without even the slightest outward indication of his rebuke.
That was just how it went. The Great Circle wouldn't allow behavior like that. Only Hermes could recognize that there was a distance behind his familiar manner; it was a distance that Murcy couldn't sense.
"......Yes, you're right. I'll see you later. Pardon me."
"Oh, don't worry about it. We're always around. But don't forget what I said!"
Hermes nodded distractedly.
Murcy wasn't offended, turning his gaze up. It was quickly growing dark, turning the mountain peaks into dark outlines against the sky, the stars above them starting to light up. "Well, now. I should try to get home before my wife gets on my case. I don't want to end up missing dinner..."
They exchanged pleasantries, and then parted ways. Murcy headed back to his house, humming a little song to himself, obviously in high spirits. When Hermes was sure he wasn't looking, he tossed the component in his hand on top of the hole he had dug earlier, and it hit the ground on top and laid there.
We're, Murcy had said, Hermes recalled with a bitter taste in his mouth.
But Hermes knew all too well that he couldn't let his true opinions show.
"He" was going to die. His wounds were deep, but in order to heal them he would need to find one of the springs of light, and he no longer had any desire to do that. Sooner or later, he wouldn't even be able to continue flying like this.
He wanted to find some safe place where he could lie down. He didn't know of anywhere safe enough, but he had to rest.
He was shocked to see rows of fierce fangs and an immense black mouth ahead of him, lying in wait; but as he drew closer he realized that it was only mountains, rising sharply into the night sky and towering above him.
It was likely that there were people living there. But even so, he didn't have any strength left to fly away from it.
"He" let out a quiet groan, but he felt only despair as he continued to drift unsteadily towards the rocky mountain range.
((Editor's notes: If Judith is eight here, then that means there's only a few months for Hermes to get his blastia formula widespread enough to alarm the Entelexeia. It's sad to see how miserable Judith is, and how torn he is between his research and being a good dad, but being a good dad wins... despite what Murcy seems to think. They made the Great Circle sound weirdly creepy in this chapter. XD ))
((Also, you may have missed it, but Hermes's narration does refer to her as "Judy" once here, and only once! I checked like a dozen times to make sure I hadn't hallucinated that. So the only people who called her Judy are Yuri... and occasionally her dad. Awww.))
((Credits: Love still goes to rainfalling for getting me the novels for the holidays and for helping me with a few confusing bits.))