Episode 3-26[]
Season 3 Episode 26: The Value of a Life (1)
Brilith has another dream, this time a memory from N12, 11th month, 21st day. There is blood everywhere, and Asha states that she already sent her back twice, but she has returned again, so she herself will have to disappear. Brilith seems to be in disbelief that Asha is a killer. Asha tells her to forget everything, and they will meet again as friends in the year N15.
It is now N23, 5th month, 34th day. Brilith is bedridden, and Airi asks why Brilith's wrists are bound. Natasha replies that she keeps trying to strangle herself. Tara explains that she has been like that since she collapsed, and since she is talking in her sleep, she must be dreaming. Tara asks if Dream Tracking will work. Natasha replies that she has already sent a letter to Rindhallow, but warns that the mind can be damaged if the skill is botched.
In Rindhallow, Chandra arrives to find that Laila already knows about Brilith's situation; he is confused by the fact that she is already expecting him to take her to Atera. Chandra reveals that his main concern is if she will be able to teleport with him, since he fears she will die in transit. Laila asks him if he feels she does not trust him enough, and assures him that she may not remain unscathed, but she probably will not die. Chandra hesitates, so she grabs him by the wrist. They bicker a bit about blasphemy before he finally teleports her.
They arrive in Atera without injury to Laila, with only parts of her robe missing, exposing an arm and a leg. Chandra jumps back in shock, then smiles perversely. In Brilith's room, Laila asks everyone to leave so she can concentrate, and asks Chandra to protect them from outside if anything goes wrong.
Inside Brilith's dream, Laila finds herself at the Women's Magic Suit Fashion Fair in Eloth in the year N12.
Episode 3-27[]
Season 3 Episode 27: The Value of a Life (2)
Laila, inside Brilith's dream, notes that this is the Women's Fashion Fair which was held in Eloth in early N12. This was the time that Brilith came to retrieve the Staff of Agni after she passed her magic exam. Laila deduces that the shadowy figure walking alongside Brilith is Asha, and recalls that she came to get permission from all the AA magicians to use the Human Search System, but Saha had refused to grant it so Asha changed her plan to get one AA magician to do the search for her—Lorraine, who was an exhibitor at the fair. After Laila watched Brilith receive a package from one of the booths, Laila approaches the booth and asks about the product that was just picked up. The person there responds that it was a Divine BF outfit from the Hella brand gallery, and a limited-edition fur cloak from Lorraine Rartia. Laila realizes that Asha has already met up with Lorraine.
At their lodgings, Brilith tells Asha that she will need a mage suit, and Hella Divine BF is the most expensive. Since Asha did not care for the coat that came with it, the outfit was modified and a special fur cloak from Lorraine was added. Brilith goes on about how much it all cost, but Asha simply states that she could have gotten them for free since Lorraine is her patron. Brilith is shocked that Asha had not mentioned it before, since the Divine BF outfit cost 1100 gold and Lorraine's fee was 3250 gold. Brilith asks her to accept the clothes as an apology for her mistaking her for a boy, so there will no longer be any hard feelings and they can be friends. Asha asks her why she is so obsessed with having friends, and realizes that she in fact does not have any. Brilith explains how it was hard for others to approach her as she was growing up at the academy, then declares that Asha's rude honesty towards her is proof that they are friends. Asha asks her what sort of books she has been reading, and she replies that she has read more library books than nearly anyone. Asha thinks out loud that Brilith's situation is similar to hers. Brilith misunderstands, and then insists that Asha try on her outfit. Asha tries to decline, but then relents, and asks Brilith to wait there. Brilith, however, is very impatient, and after only two minutes have passed, she decides that Asha needs assistance, and barges in the other room. Asha is topless, and Brilith stares at her in shock.
Laila notices that this dream is different from normal, because the scenery on the street continues even though Brilith has already left, so she wonders if this is truly Brilith's dream. She then notices that the Human Search System is in a nearby building, and Brilith would not know how it looks on the inside, and wonders if there is even an entrance. Someone suddenly asks her what she is doing here, and she finds Saha On standing behind her. He tells her that there are few people like himself who would recognize her without her mask. Laila is surprised that he is not a black silhouette like everyone else, and wonders why he is visible to her. He asks her if she is here to secretly use the Human Search System, and Laila responds that she is. She decides to go there first, since it would certainly help her figure out what kind of place she is in.
Episode 3-28[]
Season 3 Episode 28: The Value of a Life (3)
The Human Search System accepts Laila's entry, and the cities appear on the screen before her. Laila notes that it looks exactly as she remembers it. Outside, Saha reminds her to conduct her search quickly. Laila thinks to herself that she will stop Dream Tracking if a problem occurs, and decides that she will first search for that name. The search returns 25 hits, but Laila notices that these results are not the same as those that were shown during the trial in Aeroplateau. Suddenly, everything turns red, the system begins to report errors in the search over and over, and the screen image as well as the room begin to disintegrate.
Brilith sees that Asha is missing her entire right arm, and admits that even though she expected that to be the case, it still surprises her. As Brilith stammers that she will help her with the outfit, Asha casts bhavati marut. Brilith reflexively puts her hands up defensively, but nothing happens. Asha states that she said she was fine, and asks her if she has lost her manners. After some more harsh words from Asha, Brilith asks her why she does not use a prosthetic arm. Asha replies that it would make her too comfortable and cause her to forget her terrible past. Brilith recalls Asha saying something similar in Rindhallow.[1] Brilith rationalizes that as a survivor of Carte, Asha must have suffered a lot of trauma and lost many people, so she is living for the dead. She then tells Asha that none of it was her fault, and many others suffered as well, and that there is nothing wrong with living a comfortable life. Asha insists that she is unable to betray her past self, and that she must not forget or abandon her road. Brilith thinks back to the last time she saw her own mother alive,[2] and then an earlier time when the temple magicians fought off several suras and saved her.[3] Brilith gives Asha a hug, but in response, Asha tells her that she does not need her pity. Brilith responds that she is not pitying her, but her past self. Asha smiles creepily.
Laila is unable to open the exit from the search room, and considers leaving the dream here, but changes her mind at the thought that Brilith's condition is in fact very serious, and she may not be able to re-enter her dream. There is a loud sound at the exit, and Saha forces the door open. As blood begins to pour from his mouth, he tells her to hurry and go save Brilith.
Episode 3-29[]
Season 3 Episode 29: The Value of a Life (4)
Saha advises Laila that things will become a nightmare from this point on. She notices his wounds, but as he begins to tell her not to worry about it, a shadowy person rushes towards Saha to attack him. Saha grabs a nearby pole and pulverizes the figure. He then explains that his wounds show the amount of time he has left, as if he is returning to the time of his death. He then tells Laila to pay attention since there will be many obstacles on the way to Brilith. Many more shadowy figures appear, carrying weapons.
Laila does her share of overpowering the attackers, and then notices a newspaper page drifting by. When she grabs it, she notices that it is dated N12.7.11, and the headlines describe various aspects of Asha's first trial for the murder of 29 people: being defended by Lorraine Rartia, avoiding the death sentence requested by Saha, criticisms of Saha ignoring the human rights of criminals, and the jury's admiration of Asha. Laila wonders if time has skipped ahead since she used the Human Search System since the trial was in the 7th month. Saha confirms that it is now the 11th month. He adds that once the nightmare of 11.21 occurs, Brilith's dream resets and repeats. Laila asks if she is simply clinging to the past, but Saha reveals that on the contrary, with each repetition Brilith gets closer to the truth. But the process is causing her a lot of pain and anguish due to her growing sense of betrayal.
After nightfall, Laila and Saha arrive outside a place called Ronpang Farm - Creation brand material delivery specialists. Saha reveals that the house in the distance is the location where Asha committed her final murders of N12. Laila asks if it was the three unsolved cases, and he confirms it. He adds that one of the three did not have the name Kubera, and that the three were people who were doing a background check on Asha on his behalf. If Asha and Brilith are left alone here, then the dream loops back to the beginning. He suggests that Laila should somehow stop Asha and then wake Brilith, and that he is unable to help since he will disappear soon. Laila asks why, if he is just a dream, then realizes that maybe he is not, since she has never heard of a defined and independent entity like him during dream tracking. He responds that he had earlier suspicions, but now he is sure—"Laila" should do a better job of studying about dream tracking.
In Atera, as Tara and Natasha mention that it has been less than 5 minutes since Laila began, one of them asks Airi what she is writing. She replies that she wrote to her brother in their exchange diary earlier, but he never wrote back, which is unusual for him.
In Rindhallow, Claude's copy of the exchange diary is open, on his desk, to Airi's message, along with an open vial. Someone calls his name, and someone else tells them not to bother him since it is impossible to wake him after he takes the sleeping pill.
Saha confirms that he is not a dream, but "Laila" is. He tells Claude that he cannot fool him with bhavati yama. "Laila" now has a masculine physique and purple hair. Saha then asks him if he feels responsible for his death, since he prevented Asha from killing Laila. Claude stammers that it was not what he intended, since he thought that Asha would go after Leez.
Claude turns his head as someone in the house screams.
Episode 3-30[]
Season 3 Episode 30: The Value of a Life (5)
Claude, appearing as Laila again, calls Brilith's name as he steps into the house. Brilith is surprised to see Laila and asks why she is there. Claude sees the shadowy forms of two bodies on the ground, and deduces that a third shadowy figure standing alone must be Asha. Brilith tries to explain that she secretly followed Asha here in order to give her a birthday present. Claude tries to reassure himself that this is only a dream, and glances out a window at Saha in the distance. Brilith pleads with Asha to stop saying strange things, and that she would never do something like that. Claude yells at Brilith to wake up from this dream, that it is really the year N23, and to ignore Asha, but he only confuses Brilith. The shadowy figure lunges at Claude, who grabs her arm. Starting with the hand holding the vajra, the shadow suddenly becomes visible as Asha, who casts hoti indra, blasting Claude.
Asha states that she is unable to kill him with that attack, and complains about a useless priest who never murdered anyone. Claude, who now appears as himself, is confused that she appears real and uses magic. She asks him if he still thinks this is a dream, and admits to having the opportunity to kill him in the past. Brilith asks her what she is doing and grabs the vajra. Asha tells her to let go, then releases the vajra, causing Brilith to fall backwards and crash to the ground. Asha tells Claude that they have to finish their talk before she wakes again. Asha deduces that he is here because if Agni's summoner has problems, it will put a greater burden on Laila as Chandra's summoner, which drove him to come here. Asha tells him that if he ever wants to see Laila again, he must stop the dream tracking now. Claude finally realizes the thing he did not know about dream tracking, and recalls the time Laila asked him if he needs to take sleeping pills when using bhavati yama, and if it makes him feel like he is dreaming. He also realizes how to wake Brilith up, and recalls what Saha told him before they parted.[4] Claude runs up to Asha and punches her, and she retaliates by casting bhavati indra, telling him that a person like him who should have died during the Cataclysm has lived far too long. The shock leads to Brilith realizing the truth about Asha; she stabs Asha in the neck with the vajra and coldly tells her that she should have died back on Carte. Hitting her accidentally once with bhavati indra should have been enough,[5] but this time she lacks protective gear and almost died this time around. The vajra turns into flames in her hand.
Episode 3-31[]
Season 3 Episode 31: The Value of a Life (6)
As Brilith rains fireballs upon the house, she seems to be speaking to herself, saying that she wished "she" remained ignorant for life because she wanted to protect her, and that now she is another step away from him. She first wants to blame Asha, but then blames herself for holding on to her for too long. Claude lies crumpled on the ground. Brilith launches another attack directly at Asha and burns her.
In a flashback, Brilith speaks with Claude on a balcony—probably at the Temple of Fire in Atera—telling him that he is the best in silent magic on this planet. She says that she heard that the better one becomes at silent magic, the more humanity one loses. Claude tells her that on the contrary, losing one's humanity allows one to use silent magic well. She points out that most of the magicians she knows are good at it, yet they still seem to have kept their humanity. He tells her that the difference is subtle, but it is the great difference between doing a particular act and not doing it, and a lot of it was done during the Cataclysm. He then tells her that she is fortunate to be as she is now.
Back in Rindhallow, Claude is now in a vegetative state and several temple staff members are in shock. One decides to have a message sent to every city plus Airi immediately.
Chandra finds Laila unconscious on the floor and helps her wake up. She immediately realizes that Claude used bhavati yama on her, and he feigns ignorance as he recalls his conversation with "her" before teleportation.[6] Laila then notices that Brilith is gone from her bed. Chandra runs outside the room and asks Tara and Natasha where the Staff of Agni is kept. Tara says that she thought Agni had it, but Chandra reveals that ever since Agni used the Neutral Bow] seven years ago, he has been unable to so much as touch the staff. After they tell him that only Brilith knows where it is, he tells Laila that they should go to Kalibloom at once. Laila balks, but Chandra assures her that it is fine since they were able to teleport to Atera already.
In Kalibloom, after Laila repairs her robes with hoti asvins, she thinks of the beating she will be giving to Claude, but Chandra tells her that it is unlikely that Claude came out of the situation unscathed. They spot Brilith on high ground looking up at the sura portal and holding the activated Staff of Agni. Laila asks Chandra if Brilith came to Kalibloom by herself, and he replies that she did, and now he knows the reason why Agni was so overprotective of her. Chandra adds that at this point, even he is probably unable to stop her, and that they can only hope that she still holds her conviction to protect the cities.
Episode 3-32[]
Season 3 Episode 32: The Value of a Life (7)
A crowd gathers inside the Kalibloom upper checkpoint. Clari and Parr remark how Agni's arrival made it possible to get everyone safely to the checkpoint, and they presume that since he is unable to use large attack transcendentals due to the Chaos barrier, he probably took over the barrier and turrets. Nearby Elwin worries about Kaz still being at the Chaos temple with the Garuda, but Teo assures her that he has a plan, and adds that his quick perception sometimes scares her. There is a sudden flash of fire attacks outside, and everyone assumes it is Agni's doing. Siera tells Agni that there is no need to place a burden on himself until Chandra returns, and it is enough to maintain the barrier while they look into the problem with the turrets. Agni replies that he is not the one attacking. The others conclude that theoretically, someone could use hoti agni in conjunction with silent magic, although Jibril was the only person who was able to do so.
As Kaz walks Maruna through the Temple of Chaos, he apologizes for not having the book memorized, and claims that they have to go and read it again. Maruna is irritated with Kaz's slowness and casual humming, but realizes that it would be more difficult to learn anything from the priest. Kaz begins to reminisce about the red sky attacks, including the one that destroyed his village. He describes the superior sura he saw during the first attack on Atera, and adds that if that sura shows up here, even with his lack of power, he will not run away and will do what he can to stop it. Kaz then asks why Maruna wants the Eye of Perishment, since it lets superior suras develop and not necessarily halfs. He tells Maruna to reconsider using the Eye because, of all of Kali's items, it is the one that breaks the laws of the universe the most, and the price for using it is terrible. Maruna thinks to himself that if he can help his clan even a little, its worth is much higher that that of his life. They arrive and Kaz passes through the defense system.
Episode 3-33[]
Season 3 Episode 33: The Value of a Life (8)
Maruna ponders if Kaz's pet is a devolved Yaksha inferior sura. Kaz returns from the restricted room and asks Maruna if he currently has the item on him, because he can only explain how to use it if he shows him.
Brilith's attacks continue and the fire streaks hitting the barrier are simply absorbed, since Agni is now maintaining it. Laila asks if it is possible to approach Brilith, but Chandra replies that it is too risky. Chandra notes that much of Agni's power is in the Staff of Agni, which is second only to the Neutral Bow; it is not being used to its full extent, but Brilith risks dying if she uses the wrong skill. He then tells Laila to go to the Temple of Earth while he amplifies Brilith's attacks. Laila notes that Brilith's mother, Jibril, was her friend, but she was negatively affected by silent magic which she regretted knowing. Chandra hints that he has met Jibril in the afterlife, causing Laila to be hopeful that she made it to heaven/paradise, but Chandra suggests otherwise before disappearing.
Kaz notes that the Eye of Perishment looks larger than he expected. He then explains that once the item is held in his hand like so, he is to call the goddess's name and say what it is he wants to do with that power, but it cannot be just anything. First, Kaz asks Kali to make everyone happy. Nothing happens, as expected, because the request is something that is impossible. Next, he asks Kali to destroy the universe. Again, nothing happens, but Maruna is losing patience. Kaz explains that wishes that are not made in earnest are also ignored. He then says that he will make a request that will cause the eye to react, and tells Kali that he does not want to lose any of his friends. The eye suddenly flashes and turns white. Kaz states that there are two conditions that must be met: the request must be something that is possible, and it has to be sincere. Kaz suddenly says "Idha Etu Kali", causing the eye to flash brightly. Maruna recognizes it as the summoning spell, but he would be unable to use that spell himself. Kaz states that at this point, the eye would be worn as some type of accessory, and the body develops to the next stage; however, since he is a human, it is something he is unable to do. Maruna suddelny grabs Kaz and shakes him, looking for the eye. Kaz insists that it is not something a human can wear, so it vanished. Maruna violently throws Kaz against the wall. Kaz tells him that it makes no sense for a half to inquire about an item that develops a sura, so... He tells Maruna that he must let him live if he wants to find the item again.
References[]
- ↑ Kubera, Season 1 Episode 25: AAA Magician (5)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 1 Episode 64: The Night it Rained Fire (1)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 1 Episode 9: The Queen and the Bum (4)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 3 Episode 29: The Value of a Life (4)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 2 Episode 155: Your Justice and Mine (21)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 3 Episode 26: The Value of a Life (1)