All For the Truth

## Synopsis

Leaving the Lost Forest behind them, Roan's party head off far into Sograt Desert, which Takius now leading the pack. Throughout their journey into the parched and sandy desert, she was not answering to any of the others' remarks, including Judia's complaint about how they are far off from the usual path to Morroc. She finally spoke only when they reach a strange-looking cave adorned with unusual spikes.

Roan goes to check himself - he was slowed down by the cart that Maaya is supposed to carry - and the dangerous slope to the cave forced him down. The others rushed to his aid, and after Takius tells the name of the place, Ant Hell, the gem in her staff shone and she heads off inside without warning. Concerned, they decide to follow her inside, but Roan's slip forced Yuufa, Judia and Maaya into a roll down the cave. Iruga soon follows.

After picking themselves up after the small accident, Roan and the others watch as Takius stood; their focus soon shifts to the landscape: an underground system of passageways with vents that spewed blue flames. Ants began to emerge from those passages, not the hostile monsters that they encountered before, and they begin to admire the form of life that thrived here.

Takius soon advised everyone to follow her again, and they begin venturing further in.

A careful pursuit of an ant brings them to a nursery, where eggs are arranged to hatch at a certain time. Takius tells them to be careful to avoid hostilities. A few moments of waiting after, the eggs began to hatch almost simultaneously. One of the infant ants then approach Yuufa and shows a certain affection to her; Judia points out that it might be pertaining to Yuufa as its parent. Maaya then places a flower in the infant ant's head as a present for its birthday.

Soon, they hear a shrill sound which triggered all the ants to go to a certain direction. The party follows the ants toward a room and discovers a larger being - a creature with the upper body of a woman and features of insects- which Takius calls the ant queen, Maya. From a distance, Takius explains the ceremony going on as the spawning ceremony, a special event in which the ant queen lays an egg which would become the next queen. The party is amazed at how she had so many information, but Takius, confused, asked them what happened, much to their puzzlement.

Nightfall came outside, and the spawning ceremony is still not finished.

It took several minutes before Maya lays the final egg, a shining egg, and although exhausted, the ant queen watches as the ants bring the egg to its nest before resting.

As everyone rests for the night, Takius remembers her past with her mentor and how she acquires her blindfold. Soon, the gem in her staff glows once again, and muttering "for the sake of the truth", she walks away.

Soon, the ant that was close to Yuufa wakes her up, distressed. Soon, the others wake up also, and they hear the voice of Maya from inside the part of the cave where they are resting. The party also notices that Takius is missing, and with Iruga knowing where she is, they head off to the ant queen's nest.

There, they witness Takius destroy the egg of the next ant queen.

The event triggered a hostile reaction towards all of the ants, even the one with Yuufa, and the party is forced to flee.

Takius is still dazed after what happened, and Judia even needed to pull her away to keep her from being attacked. With Iruga on the frontlines, they run towards the nearest exit, where they are about to be ambushed. Takius manages to clear the path and after a few spells from Takius, they are close to the uphill exit.

Soon, the ground breaks and Maya appears from underground. Her arms transform into a pair of sharp blades and after barely avoiding an attack, Roan prepares to fight back, but Yuufa calls him off. However, he is forced to make a move when Takius becomes an open target. Roan defends Takius with Yuufa's assistance; meanwhile, one of the vents starts a chain reaction which ignited the area around them.

Yuufa tries to stop the attacks against Maya, but was helpless when Takius, whose staff glows once again, casts a powerful Lightning Bolt which ignited the ant queen. Yuufa casts Angelus on the whole party as Ant Hell begins to collapse.

Yuufa wakes up to a gruesome scene - a graveyard of the charred remains of Ant Hell. The others get to her side as she desperately tries to Heal the infant ant she met earlier, to no avail. Maaya then blames Takius for the destruction, and all she said was that it was "for the sake of the truth".

Meanwhile, in a ruined scene, a man maniacally laughs and announces that the time that the truth will be acquired is getting closer. The man is none other than Zephyr, Takius's mentor.

## Trivia

### Ragnarok Online References

* **Sograt Desert** is a large expanse of desert covering the entire south and southwest region of the Kingdom of Rune-Midgard.
* The **Ant Hell** is a two-level dungeon which houses ant-type monsters and their ant queen, Maya.

### New Monsters

* **Scorpion**
* **Muka**
* **Andre**, **Piere** and **Deniro**
* **Maya**