Discovery

Mai is looking through Alberic's side of the almirah at home when she notices something odd about the bottom drawers, it's much shorter than it should be, and filled with things Alberic shouldn't own (...Why is there a lime-green g-string in here? It... it's not even large enough if he wanted to wear it. And this, this... is... *facepalms* Alby, I'm really going to have to ask you about this later...) . Pulling it out entirely, she discovers a small box in the back of the chest, and inside it, a book. Flipping through, it turns out to be Alberic's journal. Mai stares at the last entry for a few minutes, then wipes her eyes, and sets pen to paper for her own entry.

Dear Alberic,

Hey, it's me. I guess by the time you read this, it'll all be over, so it's up to me to keep you updated.

I guess you knew, judging by that last entry, how things were gonna turn out, huh? That it'd be you as the shadow that ////// attacks me. Well, I guess the good news is that it didn't turn out that way. The bad news is_ it turned out even worse. Dia/////// assaulted you, made you think I'd died. You completely lost it at that point, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. From what Bahamut tells me, somehow Di///////// screwed with your link to Bahamut, and it sorta caved in, with all of his power spilling over into you, and most of your mind ending up in him. But, the you that wasn't you anymore turned into this It looked like Bahamut had been shrunk down to your size and shape, but kept all his wings, claws, and such. And then this Alby that wasn't really Alby went and attacked Briddy, ripped her arm off, and found the Lightbringer by following the trickling blood. She didn't die, though. Fucking preist said she wouldn't make it, to just pray for her to reach paradise, but she pulled through anyway.

The next day, Briddy was mostly okay, arm reattached and everything. Tsiife suggested that we look to the avatars for aid. Tsiife brought back two crescent-shaped blades from Fenrir, Seik brought a staff from Carbuncle, and Briddy somehow got a jem from Diab//////. They all fitted together into this spear sorta thing, which could somehow calm notAlby. I went to see if Bahamut could lend any help, and instead found you, him, lying in a bush. For whatever reason, when he lost his power, he ended up with your body. Having lost all his power, of course, he couldn't offer any help. But seeing you him there helped me, at least.

Day after, Solitia made an appearance. First to Seik, apparently messing with her as bad as Dia//////// does, then to myself / Tsiife / Caenir. Something about how he is the new Wyrmking, I don't remember much. I quite clearly remember the state Seik was in, curled up in a pitiful ball of despair at the thought of maybe possibly hurting Alberic. Isn't a simple "I can't" sufficient? Anyway, turned out Soli had suggested Seik use that crystal you gave her on the Wyrmking.

After all this, I paid another visit to Bahamut. I can't really explain it, but he seemed like you. Maybe he was you at this point. But I ended up staying the night there, and if you don't remember what happened, maybe you can ask me sometime.

I'll always love you,
Mai