Tales of the West : Imperfect World Revival

**Tales of the West : Imperfect World Revival**is a Story Arc of the the Exteria Multiverse. It takes place in Avalon and follows the perspective of the young exorcist Mary Maark. It is a sequel to Tales of the West : Cloudless Sky Reckoning.

## Main Arc

### Never Desert You

Mary Maark, after saving the world five times, is now tasked with investigating the desertification of a spot of land in the south of Avalon. On her way, she encounters and fights Sayah, a young desert princess who naively believes Mary to be responsible for the phenomenon, and Serenade Olank, a naga naturally attracted to the desertic realm.

Mary quickly realizes somthing is off, and desert is not quickly expanding as she first thought; rather, life-force is sucked out of the land by a massive, reversed pyramid. Mary meets with old friend Flamelia Stein as she studies the pyramid and, after a friendly match, Flamelia allows Mary to go inside, opening the way within a torturous labyrinth of necromantic technology.

On her way, she faces Colora Knowledge, an apprentice magician who masters several elements and studies the pyramid's structure. After being defeated, Colora confesses to be interested in Mary and mentions her master, Salem of Dusk. She then helps Mary with reaching the summit of the pyramid, where guardian Safiya Ba'ali waits, blocking the path to the throne room.

### Queen of Decay and Growth

The ever-loyal and obsessively devoted Safiya fights with Mary, taking the blame for the land's desise and refusing for Mary to go further, and would have fought to the death if not for Mary stopping her. After reaching the final room, Mary encounters Ann Thaema, a young pharaoh from a distant civilization, who is being resurrected by the drained life energy after being put to sleep.

Ann awakens, and claims to desire to drain the life and soul of everyone in order to install a utopia of undying eternity, free from the boundaries of mortality and time, where she would rule endlessly. Mary quickly refuses and after a long and arduous battle, breaks Ann's draining spiral, leaving her enough energy to survive however. She then warmly welcomes the pharaoh as a citizen of Avalon, allowing her to settle there.

### The Magician of Endless Dimentions

However, a phenomenon remains unexplained: the reason of Safiya and Ann's arrival, as they seem to have been beckoned by a powerful force. This turns out to be the aforementioned Salem, an ancient rival of Utopia. For this, she playfully challenges Mary to a battle, but Mary's low self-esteem, trauma from her battle with Utopia, and the twisted, taunting demeanor of Salem causes Mary to give up and leave.

Crying, despairing at her own powerlessness, Mary is comforted by Utopia who takes her away and discusses with her, shedding her usual mask of indifference and showing the depths of her care for the young human. With newfound resolve, Mary returns to Salem and resumes her battle, to finally overpower her and crumble just after her victory, fainting from exhaustion.

## Characters

* Mary Maark : Singular Faith Emissary
* Sayah : Little Desertic Jewel
* Serenade Olank : Naga with a Charming Smile
* Flamelia Stein : Frankenstein's Bridemaid
* Colora Knowledge : Elemental Trigram Disciple
* Safiya Ba'ali : Charmed Vessel of a Pharaoh's Will
* Ann Thaema : Deathless Sovereign from a Distant Land
* Salem of Dusk : Witch-Queen of the Event Horizon

## Trivia

* This storyline is marked once more by its **Touhou Project** influence, especially **Undefined Fantastic Object** and **Perfect Cherry Blossom**.