3 3 301 DialogEnable Only when night comes do people see the stars shining in the galaxy above them.
4 4 301 The sun has to hide to reveal the countless, brighter stars glistening in the expanse of the universe.
5 5 301 Emerald light waves in the air like a dress weaved by the goddesses, dancing underneath the endless stars.
6 6 301 As you look up, the light particles that have wandered the universe for millions of years finally find the end of their journey, settling inside your pupils.
7 7 301 Between then and now is a distance that no one can ever travel in a lifetime.
8 8 301 And yet, a connection is made by the simple action of looking up.
9 9 301 On this rare, quiet night...
10 10 301 You feel like you can almost touch the mysterious light if you reach out.
17 17 301 DialogEnable 1 Bianca I'm sorry for asking you to accompany me at this hour, Commandant. 1
18 18 301 A gentle, apologetic voice arrives from your side, drawing your gaze back from the stars.
19 19 301 Bianca stands by you on a broad snowfield. The heating device illuminates her face with a warm light, highlighting her eyes and the reflections of the starry sky in them.
20 20 302 It's like racing the sun. 21
21 21 301 Unlike the rest of the planet, the polar regions experience the midnight sun and polar night in different seasons because of their angles from the sun, when days and nights would last more than a day.
22 22 301 The research station Bianca and you have been assigned to happens to be situated at the edge of the Antarctic Circle, which is one of the few places in Antarctica where there is still a night sky in winter.
23 23 301 Although the night sky technically lasts five to six hours, the stars can only be observed in less than half of that time.
24 24 301 Bianca It seems that we haven't been able to have a night out the past few days, doesn't it? 1
25 25 302 We were busy with our daytime missions, after all. 26
26 26 202 1
27 27 301 You have been staying in Antarctica for the past two weeks. The transport craft is arriving any day now.
28 28 301 The restoration of Lanternlighter is also reaching the end. Another two weeks, and it will be back in sailing shape.
29 29 301 With that, the load on the Expedition Team has lightened. Their captain decides that Bianca and you can have some free time before you go.
30 30 301 And as the sky began to turn dark earlier tonight, Bianca came to you with a proposal.
31 31 301 You have driven to this empty highland in the middle of the night, away from the midnight sun, where you can go stargazing.
32 32 201 1 500533
33 33 301 1 Bianca We're going back to Babylonia in three days, and the Expedition Captain hasn't assigned us any task. 1
34 34 301 Bianca I know we're only temporary members, but I still want to help them until the last possible second. 1
35 35 302 It's a shame we won't be here for their next voyage. 36 I wish we could see the Lanternlighter fully restored. 900
36 36 204 1 3
37 37 39 301 Bianca This isn't somewhere you can leave without regrets after staying a dozen days, after all. 1
38 900 204 1 3
39 38 301 Bianca Me too... A small regret, I must say. 1
40 39 204 1 4
41 40 301 Bianca Still, I think we... no—I've been very lucky already. 1
42 41 204 1 1
43 42 301 Bianca These two weeks have been the longest I've greeted people as someone other than the "Purifying Force Captain" ever since I enlisted. 1
44 43 301 Bianca It is as if I were a diver finally surfacing, taking off my mask and breathing fresh air for the first time in a long time. 1
45 44 301 Bianca Who knows what kind of trouble it would have caused me if it were my team who saw me slacking like this? 1
46 45 301 Bianca Which is why I'm glad it's been you by my side, Commandant. 1
47 46 302 You always give it your all, whether or not it is an assignment from the Purifying Force. 47
48 47 301 Not to mention that it is quite a stretch for you to call what she has done the last few weeks "slacking."
49 48 204 1 3
50 49 301 Bianca I'm not displeased with my role—or I should say I'm glad I've joined the Purifying Force. 1
51 50 204 1 4
52 51 301 Bianca Some perspectives are only available to people in the Purifying Force. 1
53 52 301 Bianca Some objectives can only be achieved by the Purifying Force as well. 1
54 53 301 Bianca Fish in the deep sea sometimes chase after the sunlight beyond the water out of curiosity. 1
55 54 204 1 1
56 55 301 Bianca But that is just a momentary fantasy. In the end, fish belongs to the sea... My apologies. This might not be the best analogy. 1
57 56 301 Bianca Anyway... this place is but a dream to me. 1
58 57 301 Bianca I'll still be the Bianca from the Purifying Force after we return to Babylonia. 1
59 58 301 Bianca And you'll go on as the "Gray Raven Commandant", won't you? 1
60 59 302 ... 60
61 60 301 Bianca But before that happens... 1
62 61 204 1 4
63 62 301 Bianca Let's give this dream a fitting end. 1
64 63 301 With that, Bianca gently closes her eyes.
65 64 302 A fitting end? 65
66 65 301 Bianca Shh... 1
67 66 301 She answers your question with a hush sign, placing a finger on her lips.
68 67 301 Bianca It's about time... 1
69 68 301 Bianca Just a little longer. 1
70 69 301 As if drawn by the magic in her words, a line of pearl-white light tears the night sky apart in the horizon.
71 70 301 It is the end of the night and the prelude of dawn.
72 71 301 The twinkling stars are slowly wiped away by the dawning sun, and the dark curtains that have shrouded the sky lift to reveal the stage.
73 72 301 But right before night changes into day—
85 84 301 Diamond-like sparks fill the air where your hand can easily reach.
86 85 302 What's this...? 86
87 86 301 Bianca The Expedition team told me that this could happen before sunrise, given today's temperature and humidity. 1
88 87 301 Bianca Water vapor in low altitudes freezes directly into tiny ice crystals in the air, refracting the sun like diamonds... I should stop explaining before I completely ruin the mood. 1
89 88 301 Bianca "Diamond dust"... It only happens for a few minutes as night becomes dawn. 1
90 89 301 Bianca Does this feel like a fitting end to our journey in Antarctica, Commandant? 1
91 90 301 Bianca's golden-colored pupils turn to you once again through the lustrous halo formed by the water vapor. 1
92 91 302 Is this why you...? 92
93 92 204 1 3
94 93 301 Bianca I probably wouldn't do something like this normally. 1
95 94 204 1 4
96 95 301 Bianca But please indulge me just for a little bit today. 1
97 96 204 1 1
98 97 301 Bianca There never was, and never will be, another sacred place like this that just belongs to you and me. 1
99 98 301 Bianca Another step from here, and we'll be back on our own paths. Who knows? We might even end up on opposite sides one day. 1
100 99 301 Bianca Just like the penguin we saw that day... we both have our own "iceberg" we wish to climb. 1
101 100 301 Bianca That isn't something we can give up, no matter the cost. 1
102 101 204 1 3
103 102 301 Bianca Still... 1
104 103 301 Bianca I can't help but want to keep a little place for you in my heart. 1
105 104 204 1 1
106 105 301 Bianca There will not be another memory like this, a shared path we started and ended—I've made that decision on my own. 1
107 106 204 1 4
108 107 301 Bianca This will be how I remember the light that accidentally enters the dark. 1
109 108 204 1 2
110 109 301 Bianca I won't apologize for it, even if this has caused you distress. 1
111 110 301 Bianca sounds stubborn. Unyielding.
112 111 302 ...Hold on. 112
113 112 302 It's no distress per se... 113
114 113 302 But there's still something I'd like to correct. 114
115 114 204 1 7
116 115 301 Bianca To correct..? 1
117 116 301 You take out the camera you've been carrying for the past weeks.
118 117 301 You power it up and turn the knob.
119 118 301 You've been taking hundreds of photos with it in the last dozen days.
120 119 301 Most of them were taken when Bianca was with you, but some you took yourself when you went out alone.
121 120 301 Within one of these photos is something you've been hoping to share with Bianca—an answer you discovered during your Antarctic journey.
122 121 302 (Pass her your camera) 122
123 122 301 Bianca What's this...? 1
124 123 301 She takes the camera and looks at the photo on its tiny screen, and she is taken aback, just as you expected.
125 124 301 It's a photo of emperor penguins.
126 125 301 More accurately, it is a photo of a flock of emperor penguins slowly approaching a lone penguin on an icefield before uniting into one group.
127 126 301 The outlier and the crowd might have taken different paths, but it is the same "iceberg" they wanted to climb over.
128 127 301 This journey, therefore, does not consist of two parallel paths that will never cross.
129 128 302 You're right, Bianca. 129
130 129 302 Our paths are indeed different. 130
131 130 301 To say that a commandant of the Task Force can understand a captain from the Purifying Force is an utterly pointless lie.
132 131 301 But still.
133 132 301 Even though the battlefields you are on cannot be farther away...
134 133 301 Even though you have to pretend to be strangers for now and treat each other with aloofness...
135 134 301 Even though your gazes will meet one day over what neither of you can back down from...
136 135 301 Even though there will be a time when your blades will be drawn to defend your beliefs...
137 136 302 But... 137
138 137 301 You still believe—
139 138 301 In that future you are fighting for—that world you will spend your life upholding—
140 139 302 They will meet again... no— 140
141 140 301 She will be waiting for you under the clear sky you have reclaimed.
142 141 302 They will meet again somewhere we can see— 142
143 142 302 Times and times again. 143
144 143 204 1 8
145 144 301 Bianca ... 1
146 145 301 Bianca falls silent after hearing what you said.
147 146 204 1 3
148 147 301 Bianca As always, your words will not let me off easily. 1
149 148 204 1 1
150 149 301 Bianca Our paths will certainly cross in the future. 1
151 150 301 Bianca You don't seem to think of it just as a wonderful fantasy. 1
152 151 204 1 4
153 152 301 Bianca How many people yearn for courage like this? 1
154 153 204 1 1
155 154 302 No matter what you think... 155
156 155 302 I don't agree this is where our path "ended." 156 I only agree that this is where our path "started." 156
157 156 204 1 3
158 157 301 Bianca ...What do I ever do with you. 1
159 158 301 She sighs, submitting to your surprising stubbornness.
160 159 204 1 4
161 160 301 Bianca By the way, Commandant— 1
162 161 204 1 1
163 162 301 Bianca Do you remember me saying that I had a more personal reason to ask you to join me on this mission back on the transport craft? 1
164 163 204 1 3
165 164 301 Bianca I probably would have made up some excuses if you pressed on back then. 1
166 165 204 1 8
167 166 301 Bianca The truth is, even I didn't understand where that conflict inside me stemmed from. 1
168 167 301 Bianca Even now... I cannot say I'm absolutely certain about what that reason is. 1
169 168 204 1 1
170 169 301 Bianca But I'm not afraid to say it now. 1
171 170 301 She takes a deep breath and puts her hands on her chest.
172 171 301 Bianca The truth is... 1
173 172 204 1 3
174 173 301 Bianca There isn't one. 1
175 174 302 There isn't one? 175
176 175 204 1 4
177 176 301 Bianca By the time I realized it, I already handed in the application to the command center. 1
178 177 301 Bianca I took a long time trying to justify it. 1
179 178 301 Bianca My "excuse" might have convinced everyone else, but it couldn't convince me. 1
180 179 204 1 8
181 180 301 Bianca How peculiar... I've given up so many things so many times, but I could not give up on this. 1
182 181 204 1 1
183 182 301 Bianca But now, it doesn't really matter anymore. 1
184 183 301 Bianca That "reason" doesn't need to be something I must discover, right? 1
185 184 204 1 8
186 185 301 Bianca ... 1
187 186 204 1 5
188 187 301 Bianca I'm sorry, Commandant. 1
189 188 301 Bianca I was still trying to hide from you, even now... trying to hide from myself. 1
190 189 204 1 8
191 190 301 Bianca I can't find a reason to be something I'm not, and I don't want to search for it anymore. 1
192 191 301 Bianca If I have to explain this whim... 1
193 192 204 1 1
194 193 301 Bianca There's only one thing I can say. 1
195 194 301 Bianca Just like what that famous explorer said to the summit he wanted to conquer— 1
196 195 301 Bianca It's because... 1
197 196 301 Bianca You're here. 1
198 197 301 With that, she sighs, breathing out white steam as her body visibly relaxes.
199 198 204 1 4
200 199 301 Bianca Ha... I've kept these thoughts hidden for so long, it's so freeing to have said them out loud. 1
201 200 301 She clears her throat before regaining her composure.
202 201 204 1 8
203 202 301 Bianca I'm sure there are things you want to say, Commandant. 1
204 203 204 1 3
205 204 301 Bianca But I hope you would do me the courtesy of remaining silent as you digest what I just said. 1
