Estelle Bright/SC

## Trails in the Sky SC

### Prologue: A Maiden's Resolve

The morning following the events of the previous game, Estelle, in a state of confusion, searches the entirety of Grancel Castle for her brother, Joshua, only to eventually bump into her father, Cassius, at the same place as she had met Joshua the night before. He tells her the truth about Joshua and the night five years prior, but Estelle, refusing to accept this, decides to take a flight back to Rolent, believing Joshua has returned home ahead of her. On the airship, Estelle meets and is comforted by a traveling priest named Kevin Graham who is in Liberl to teach Sunday School at many of the country’s small villages without churches. Estelle agrees to give him a tour of Rolent and let him walk her home. After the tour, she and Kevin head home only to find the place empty. Joshua had left for good. Awakening from her stupor, Estelle realizes that this must all be that “foul magician’s” fault. Having now been joined by Cassius and Schera, Estelle declares that she will bring Joshua back.

In order to train to be strong enough to do this, Estelle then spent the next two months training at the Bracer Training Grounds in Le Locle, Leman with Anelace Elfread, a fellow Liberian bracer and granddaughter of Cassius’s master, Yun Kafei. One night, after the daily bout of sewer training with Kurt, the bracer lodge is attacked by Jaegers. Estelle and Joshua are captured by the Jaegers and taken to Saint-Croix forest. Awakening the next morning, the two recover their gear and slowly take back the bracer facilities from Jaegers, finally defeating them for good at Grimsel Fortress. The terrorist attack was really the final training exam for the two set up by Kurt and other senior bracers. Having completed their training, the two return to Liberl to track down Joshua and the Society of Ouroboros.

### Chapter 1: Sneaking Shadows

Returning to Grancel, the two meet up with Agate and Schera at the branch office to begin their new special mission of investigating the Society. After the meeting, they split into two teams with Anelace and her partner investigating Bose while Estelle and the other investigate Ruan. On the way out of Grancel, they meet Mueller and learn that Olivier is still in Liberl, but his current location is unknown.

At the guild office in Ruan, the two learn from the manager, Jean, that there have been several sightings of a white shadow all over the region. The first sighting was from Belden, a member of the Ravens and son of one of the two mayoral candidates in the upcoming election. After talking with the Ravens, they find Belden holed up in his parents house who describes the ghost as a dancing man with a cape. The second sighting was by Polly at Mercia Orphanage. After speaking to the matron, they learn that the children are currently at Sunday School in Manoria village. There, they met Kevin again who was acting as an instructor for the children. Polly gives roughly the same story as Belden and the two go back to Ruan with Kevin with no new information. With only one spot left, Estelle and her partner head for Air-Letten where they hear the same thing from one of the guards, Nix. Before leaving, Estelle meets an energetic little girl named Renne.

Back in Ruan, after having a chance meeting with Nial and Dorthy who are covering the election, a conflict breaks out between the supporters of the two candidates which is interrupted by none other than Olivier who joins the party thereafter. After analyzing the testimonies at the guild, Estelle realizes that all three ghosts left in the direction of none other than Janis Royal Academy. Bringing Dorothy with them to capture the ghost on camera, they head to the Royal Academy.

At Jenis, the party reunites with Kloe and learn, after investigation, that several students have seen the ghost. While spending the night with Kloe, Estelle herself sees the ghost which disappears towards the Old School House. Overcoming her fear of ghosts, Estelle and co. discovers an ancient ruin hidden beneath it. The Ghost is none other than Phantom Thief Bleublanc, Enforcer No. X of the Society of Ouroboros who was using a Gospel to create holograms of himself all over the region. Bleublanc captures them with his shadow arts which is quickly dismantled by the flash of Dorothy’s camera. Bleublanc escapes before the party can question him further. The next day, the party reports the results of their investigation to Jean where they learn that strange events have been happening in Zweiss too.

### Chapter 2 - The Raging Land

After saying their goodbyes, the quartet, now including Olivier and Kloe, leaves for Zweiss and upon arriving are immediately greeted by an earthquake which, after inquiring with Kilika at the guild office, has been happening quite frequently recently. Furthermore, despite their strength, the quakes do not affect the surrounding areas. Since this must be the work of Ouroboros, they start their investigation with the Tunnels beneath the Central Factory, but check up on the results of gospel research first.  After reuniting with Tita, they check the tunnels and learn that a suspicious man in black was seen just before the earthquake.

At Wolf Fort, the site of the first earthquake 3 days ago, they hear again about this MiB but are quickly interrupted by news of another earthquake—this time at Sanktheim Gate. After questioning one of the guards, they learn that this earthquake had been even stronger and lasted longer than the previous. Back at the guild, Kilika suspects that this MiB is the Ouroboros agent in the region. To get to the bottom of this, they join forces with Tita to use science and the septium veins to pinpoint where the quakes are coming from. After setting up the measuring devices at the sites of the three quakes (and a few reunions), the science does its magic. The source is Elmo Village.

There, they find that the bath water has started to boil, so Mrs. Mao lends them the key to investigate the caves beneath the village. At the back, they finally encounter the Man in Black, Enforcer No. VIII: Walter the Direwolf who had been performing another test with the Gospels. He defeats the party with ease, but before he can kill them, they are saved by none other than Zin who had just returned from Calvard. It’s revealed that Zin, Walter, and Kilika are old acquaintances. Seeing how the situation has changed, Walter takes the Gospel and leaves, letting the party return to Zweiss. With this mystery solved but the greater puzzle still in pieces, Tita and Zin join the party as they head for the next point of interest: Grancel.

### Chapter 3 - The Mad Tea Party

At the guild in Grancel, Elnan tells them that the army has a job for them eventually, but in the meantime, they can go investigate a missing child at Erbe Imperial Villa. When they arrived, the girl was apparently playing hide and seek with Raymond and now he can’t find her. Estelle eventually finds her, Renne, and decides to take her back to the guild in case her parents contact them.

Back at the guild, the army contact, Maximilian Cid, tells the party that threatening letters have been sent to all major parties involved in the signing of the non-aggression pact and that he would like the guild to help investigate. Since they’ll be all over Grancel anyway, they decide to bring Renne with them to look for her parents in the process. They find little of interest at the embassies besides political bickering, but learn a great deal about the Crossbell problem (Renne’s home) from the Queen. Liberl News Service is similarly fruitless. They report (their lack of) results and turn in for the day. That night Renne sleeps with Estelle and asks about the person she is looking for, Joshua.

The next day, they head back to the Royal Ville to meet Cid. He informs the party that he was unable to find out anything on Renne and her parents from checkpoint reports, but more importantly, that there have been sightings of the former intelligence division members within the city. Back at the guild, they are discussing the current course of action when Estelle notices that Renne has gone missing. Estelle and Tita follow her on a wild goose chase all over Grancel, finally meeting up with her at thee airport. Back at the guild, she gives everyone cookies and Estelle a letter from “Joshua”.

Estelle rushes to the top of Gurune Gate to meet him but instead meets Kevin who had been led there by a similar letter. It turns out the entire thing was a trap when they get attacked by a set of anarchisms. After learning from the guards about attacks from mysterious figures along the roads, the two book it back to Grancel. Back at the guild, they find everyone has passed out and Renne missing with mysterious letter left behind at the guild mentioning a “tea party”.

This “tea party” is being held at Grancel Port where they learn that the former intelligence division led by Captain Amalthea has stolen the new orbal engines and retrofitted it on a big tank to rescue Colonel Richard. This plan is foiled by Julia’s strong defense with the royal guard until the tank pulls out a gospel to dispel their orbments. Kevin then uses the Chronos Rod to destroy the Gospel defeating the tank for good. In the end, it is revealed that everything was orchestrated as a game by none other than Renne, Enforcer No. XV: The Angel of Slaughter who flies off in her giant robot, Pater-Mater.

In the aftermath, it is revealed that Kevin is a member of the Gralritter investigating the actions of Ouroboros and the Aureole. Just as the two parties officially reunite, Anelace splits to join with Kurt’s team looking into the location of Ouroboros’s base. Their partner joins Estelle’s team to look into a new development—the appearance of Sky Pirates in Bose again. Just as the party is boarding the airship, Nial and Dorothy arrive and give Estelle a photo of Joshua on the Sky Pirates' airship.

### Chapter 4 - The Mist Demon's Target

Partway through the flight to Bose, the airship runs into a mysterious fog and is forced to land in Rolent. After meeting up with Aina at the guild, the party decides to investigate how far the fog extends around Rolent. Back at the guild, they hear the chime of a bell and later learn that immediately following the chimes, victims are knocked into a deep sleep which they suspect are related to reports of an exotic traveler. The men stay up to watch to make sure the Ouroboros agent can't target anyone else while the girls rest as the Bright family home.

The next morning, it is discovered that the fog extends further now, so the party splits in two—girls and guys—to investigate how far it extends in each direction. The girls find that the fog now extends all the way to Perzel Farm and that everyone there has been afflicted. Kevin joins them shortly after and offers to stay behind with the Perzels while the girls continue with their investigation. Back at the guild, they learn from bracer Ridge that the sound of the bell could be heard from the direction of Mistwald, so that is where they head next.

Deep within the forest, they find a Gospel wedged into the Great Servais Tree before being ambushed by Fog Beasts. Following their defeat, they hear the sound of the bell forcing the party into a deep sleep. While asleep, Estelle dreams of her mother still being alive, but breaks free from the enchantment from the sound of Joshua’s harmonica. Upon awakening, they meet the mysterious woman, Enforcer No. VI: Luciola the Bewitching Bell—an old acquaintance of Schera. Like with the other enforcers, she leaves without giving any meaningful answers, but Estelle is at least grateful that she saw her mother one last time.

### Chapter 5: That Which One Must Protect

Upon arriving in Bose, Estelle and co. learn from Lugran that there has been a sharp increase in big monster sightings around the region. Estelle’s team takes out several of these monsters over the course of the day and notice that all of them seem frightened of something. The source of this fear ends up being a huge dragon ridden by Enforcer no. I, Loewe the Lionhardt, which attacks the city while the party is reporting on the slain monsters. After Agate runs off to chase the dragon, the rest of the party is left with cleanup and rescue duty. Once finished, they get a report of another attack on Ravennue Village.

At the village, they learn the dragon went north towards the mines where they find a barely standing Agate facing Loewe. Tita rushes to protect him causing Loewe to back down out of respect for her courage. Just as he is about to leave, a company of airships led by General Morgan fires upon the dragon, forcing it and Loewe to retreat. Back at the village, after a heated exchange with the general and learning the truth of what happened there 10 years ago, Estelle’s party returns to Bose to plan their next move, leaving Tita behind to look after Agate’s wounds.

The next day, the party is invited aboard the Arseille to witness the army’s operation against the dragon. After a prolonged chase, the dragon disappears into the mist obscuring Nebel Valley. Reuniting with Agate and Tita after landing, they heads deep into the valley, finally finding the lair of the dragon. After a battle, the party destroys the Gospel on its forehead, freeing the dragon from Ouroboros’s control. It introduces itself as Ragnard, the Holy Beast of Space. As a reward for freeing him, it grants them 2 huge septum crystals and flies to the sky to peacefully resolve the conflict with the army.

### Chapter 6: The Whereabouts of Bonds

For their efforts in the Ouroboros investigation, Estelle’s group is given a day off at Valleria Lake while Kurt’s team pins down Ouroboros’s hideout. Coincidently Kevin joins them for this vacation. On the evening of the second day, feeling sentimental, Estelle attempts to play the Whereabouts of Light on Joshua’s harmonica on the docks on the outskirts of the Inn. After playing, she is applauded by Kevin who had been watching. Not long after, a boat floats towards the shore carrying an injured and mindwiped Kurt. Using thaumaturgy, Kevin is undos the professor’s magic, and Kurt relays the location of Ouroboros’s base.

Taking a boat, Estelle, Kevin, and whoever else arrive at Ouroboros facility hidden by the same fog Luciola generated in Rolent. Inside they find it defended by a multitude of anarchisms and the hypnotized members of Kurt’s team. One by one, they beat and cure each of them until they eventually make it to the final area guarded by robot Joshua. After defeating it, a gas seeps into the room knocking everyone out.

When Estelle wakes, she finds herself onboard the flagship of Ouroboros, the Glorious. Renne gives her a tour which ends with a meeting with the third Anguis, Weissman the Faceless, who offers her membership to Ouroboros as a means to convince Joshua to return to the Society. Estelle is returned to her quarters to ponder the offer though according to Loewe, she lacks the necessary darkness. From him, she also learns the truth about Hamel. Knowing this, Estelle rejects the offer to join Ouroboros, hardening her resolve to bring Joshua back.

After waiting for things to cool down, Estelle tricks a guard and makes her escape towards the docking bay. However, on the upper deck,  she gets surrounded by a group of enhanced jaegers led by Gilbert Stein who had joined Ouroboros following the incident in Ruan. Estelle is rescued by Joshua who had snuck onboard the ship via a scout vessel. Their reunion is interrupted by Leonhardt, but he leaves to repair the Glorious’ engines that Joshua sabotaged just before rescuing Estelle. The two steal an airship at the docking bay passing by an indifferent Campanella who simply lets them pass--after beating some anarchisms first. After landing, Estelle returns Joshua’s feelings and convinces him to stop being an idiot and let out his feelings. After many tears are shed, the two decide to take on Ouroboros together.

### Chapter 7: The Tetracyclic Towers

Some time later, Estelle and Joshua report to the Queen about Ouroboros and the Glorious, and Joshua’s background. She reiterates the tragedy of Hamel described by Leowe and pardons Joshua for all crimes committed. After meeting with Cassius and Kevin, Julia brings a report of mechanical monsters attacking all five cities and darkness covering all four of the tetracyclic. All scouts directed at the towers were taken down by Ouroboros’s enforcers. The party, aside from Oliviert, board the Arseille to investigate.

The party first heads to the Esmelas Tower, entering the darkness to find themselves in an altered space. There, they find data terminals with records left by Celeste D. Auslesse. They grab the data crystals and head further into the dungeon until they eventually arrive at the roof where the Phantom Thief awaits. Midway through the fight with the thief, the gospel shuts down returning the tower to normal. This process repeats three more times with the other towers and other enforcers minus Loewe.

Back on the Arseille, Professor Russell finishes analyzing the data crystals and discovers that the purpose of the towers was to seal away the Aureole. Right on cue, Weissman hacked into their system to gloat about his success and tells everyone to go up deck to get a better view of what is coming. There they witness the Aureole appear from another dimension. At Cassius and Russell’s suggestion, they quickly land the ship just before the Aureole sends a wave throughout the country disabling all orbal tech.

### Chapter 8 - Land of Chaos

The following day, using his research on the Gospels, professor Russell developed a gadget that can make orbments immune to the Aureole’s shutdown phenomena. He gives the party six with five to be delivered to the guild offices. With one given to the Bose branch, they begin their trek around the country on foot. However, first, Kloe and Kevin leave the party to handle administrative issues in Grancel. At the last branch, they receive a message from the Queen to head to grancel.

On the way, they are intercepted by soldiers who reveal that Ouroboros has invaded the city. Thanks to the guild and army’s effort, the city has already been evacuated allowing Estelle’s party to push through chaos to reach the castle without having to worry about civilians. The enforcers were there to capture the Queen and Kloe to delay the army and guild since they had moved more quickly than expected. Before they can be taken, the Queen is saved by former Colonel Richard and Maximillian Cid.

Just as things start to cool down thanks to the efforts of the former intelligence division, the party gets word that the Erebonian Army has encroached the southern border with tanks powered by steam instead of orbal energy. Estelle and Kloe meet with the representative of the imperial government who happens to be Olivier, now going by Prince Oliviert Reisse Arnor. Estelle manages to use her bracer status to convince the army that the Aureole is not a Liberlian superweapon, but it takes Cassius Bright showing up with a running Arseille to politically convince them they do not need Erebonian assistance to handle it. Olivier then rejoins the party as a representative of the imperial government overseeing the takedown of the flying city. With the Arseille up and running, the party moves on towards the city in the sky.

### Chapter 9 - Trails in the Sky

The chapter starts with the Arseille crash landing into the outskirts of the Liber Ark after an aerial battle with the Glorious.  Once the dust has settled, Estelle, Joshua, and two others leave to explore the city while the rest help repair the ship. On their explorations, they run into Josette who got separated from her brothers after being targeted by Ouroboros. They eventually find the Glorious parked all by its lonesome. Inside, they have one final showdown with Gilbert and rescue Don and Kyle from the prison cells. Talking to Kyle afterwards grants them the password to the Axis Pillar--Orpheus.

The party climbs the tower fighting a different enforcer at the end of each floor. On the 4th floor, they face Renne who expresses rage and confusion about Estelle's desire to adopt her into her family. On the final floor they face Loewe. They achieve victory through this is short lived as Weissman activates Joshua stigma forcing him to leave the rest of the party behind. At the core of the tower, Weissman gives his BBEG monologue and then sends Joshua to kill Estelle which breaks his stigma thanks to a gambit planned by Kevin and Cassius. The party then fights Weissman. When is about to lose, he fuses with the Aureole effectively becoming invulnerable until Loewe sacrifices his life to break the barrier with his sword. With the barrier gone, the party defeats Angel Weissman breaking the Aureole free from the city.

With the greatest treasure gone, the city starts to collapse and the entire party races back to the ship. Estelle and Joshua get separated from the others and then fall into the sky, embracing each other as they plummet towards the earth. They are saved by Cassius riding Ragnard who is free to act now that the mission granted by the goddess is finally finished. The game ends with Estelle and Joshua visiting the ruins of Hamel, having set up a memorial stone as well as a grave for Loewe. Estelle and Joshua then begin their greater journey around the world of Zemuria.