Chapter 37: Steeble Lake Incident (1/2) – (Yuuna’s Route) (Jade x Abigail)

 

 

After things calmed down a bit, the knights began to get themselves in order. They've successfully captured most of the convicts that I let out and were starting to set up their teams. The crowd of knights and volunteers was massive as Jade helped sort them out.

The bomb searching crew was made up of Eve and Mellissa alongside a bunch of skilled knights in that subject. There had to be around 30 or 40 knights helping them out on this massive search of the city. It seemed they'd planned to search all the likely places like a large business, parks, and the like. 

Next up was the evacuation crew. They would be the first to go out. Their job was to go door to door in high-risk areas to lead the people there to a safe spot. In this case, citizens would be led to the outskirts of the Radiant Castle. Lana and Vivian were going to be part of that team. 

But Jade… she was the interesting one in this. Despite the level of importance in this… she was doing something off-script. The soon-to-be head of the knights was going to be speaking with the Baron group for some reason. 

“I’m curious.”

I mumbled as I watched everything within the shadows. It looked as though I would have some time before Jade made her way to the Baron’s Sanctuary. So, I began looking through all the information I stole earlier. I was confident that nobody would find me here. 

“Okay…”

First, I took out Yuu Yuu’s files. As I expected, they looked scarce and sparse. It would appear that the knights didn't have much information about her… I knew just as much about Yuu Yuu as the knights did and that wasn’t much.

 

 

“Who are you, Yuu Yuu?”

I whispered as I read into the small amount of detail they had about her. Apparently, Yuu Yuu was an orphan at the age of 6. This would match up to when I met her. I was 8 when I defended her from those bullies in the past. If I remember right, Yuu Yuu was new to the orphanage at that time. 

“6 years old… I wonder what happened that made you be placed there at that age.”

I closed my eyes, thinking about her younger self. Even I don't remember why I was in that orphanage. I don't remember my parents or any other family if I had one. I wasn't even sure how long I was there before my memories started to develop. I… wondered if it was the same case for Yuu Yuu.

“Hmm…”

I began looking within the document again. It turned out that roughly a year later, she was adopted into the light camp. During her time spent there, she was brought up to be a doctor and effectively began to be sent out around the age of 15. 

“So, Radiant City wasn’t the first place she’d worked at?”

There were various places she was stationed, and after her 3 year period, she was finally placed here in Radiant City. Yuu Yuu was placed on active duty by order of [Redacted] on March 10th, 1127 Radiant Age.

“It’s redacted for who put her on active duty?”

I found this piece of information strange as I tried to piece through the history of Yuu Yuu. It appeared that there was a large gap of information regarding her when she was 6 to 15. In that span of time, Yuu Yuu became a doctor for the light camp. At the age of 15-18, she worked jobs around the world in order to give back money to her “family.”

“If Yuu Yuu is the serial bomber... If she and Janova are working together in order to bomb the Radiant City… then what is the purpose of it?”

This information was standard… and it provided nothing more than clarity on where she was at different ages in her life. However, the mystery of what happened after she was adopted by the Light Camp to the age of 15 was still shrouded in mystery. 

“Why would you two target Elizera? Could this have something to do with Janova?”

I pondered as I set aside Yuu Yuu’s profile. I felt as though I was missing something, but I didn't have enough information to understand what. I stood up and looked towards the knights. They seemed to still be getting into formation, and Jade was directing things too. I still had time until she left on her own, so I relaxed and brought out the last piece of reading material.

 

“The Steeble Lake Incident.”

 

This was directly behind Yuu Yuu’s files. I believed that Elizera was reading both of them alongside mine. If the lake that I was brought to in Yuu Yuu’s pocket reality is, in fact, the Steeble Lake, then this would only add to who Yuu Yuu is.

“Hm…”

I opened the page. It seemed that a Radiant did the report...

 

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 Radiant Age, January 6th, 1115

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[The Steeble Lake was a glorious place found a few miles off of the Radiant City. There used to be a congregation of people living off the land who'd settled there. They were given permits to have the land by the Radiant Order. There were approximately 66 residents who called the Steeble Lake home. They've lived on this land for around 100 years. From their chief, the date they first arrived was February 12th, 1015, Radiant Age. For those years, they lived in harmony and were under the protection of Radiant City. One would call their Steeble Lake… a paradise.]

 

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Radiant Age, February 6th, 1115

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[After countless testing, there were signs that Steeble Lake was experiencing a phenomenon called "Spectrum Recall." It's when the land begins to wither as the spectrum starts to drain from the land. Waters begin to dry up, food becomes scarce, and animals tend to move away. This sudden onset can happen within weeks, and we still don't understand the cause of this. ]

…

…

 

As I read through the text, I was reminded of the forest I came from. At first, there was plenty of food, and then suddenly it began to die, and animals were moving away. That was the main reason why Maxwell wanted me to leave. Could there have been a connection to my home and this… “Spectrum Recall” phenomena?

 

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Radiant Age, February 18th, 1115

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[We arrived at Steeble Lake in order to help evacuate the members residing there. But when we reached the land, everything was dead. The lake that flourished with bright colors was gone, and a horrid poison filled the land. Elizera, the head of the knights, met us there and got rid of the gasses using her Earth spells. She cleaned up the lake enough for us to do our investigations. There we found a gruesome discovery…]

 

 

[In the Steeble Lake, there were ashes from bones all laid about. As we did our investigation, we discovered 65 skeletal bodies. There weren't enough skin or fiber samples to conclude how they passed away. We could only assume that the lake had an uproar of gasses and that they all weren't able to get away in time. Still, to this day, we could not conclude which person is the missing 66th and where they must have gone… if they survived. 

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The Steele Lake incident showed us how dangerous Spectrum Recall is and how it could create tragedies in a matter of moments. There was a memorial placed in Radiant City to honor the passing of a wonderful group who died too soon. 

Elizera took this tragedy the hardest as she promised the chief to provide aid in evacuating the area just days before the incident. We believe she still blames herself for the death of Steeble Lake 65.]

 

…

...

 

The report ended there. 

“The Steeble Lake 65. So that place… was a mass grave site?”

I pondered.

"And… there was a missing person… the 66th member.”

Things were starting to clear up as I thought about what was going on. Could Elizera suspect that Yuu Yuu was the 66th member who survived the incident? That would make things clear on why Yuu Yuu would make a reality… of a lake that is dead.

“Were you… a part of the Steeble Lake tribe, Yuu Yuu?”

From what this investigation concluded was that this tribe was killed by the Spectrum Recall going out of control and producing an earth spell. Before they could react, it was too late, and it effectively poisoned them all. 

“If that was the case… how would the 66th member be the only one to survive… or at least not die where everyone else was?”

I closed my eyes. Something wasn’t right about this document. So, I scanned through again and found her name…

“Elizera.”

She seemed to be at the center of this investigation. She promised aid but didn't provide it, and this caused the deaths of a tribe. From how the report sounded, Elizera felt immense guilt over the tragedy as well. That… connects Elizera to the lake… and if Yuu Yuu was the surviving member.

“Could that… be the reason why she would target Elizera?”

All this was only speculation, but it would make the bombing aimed at Elizera a personalized one. As we know today, all the bombings, save the one that attacked the knight's station, didn't have a set target. 

“That could be a motive. Maybe Yuu Yuu and Janova blame the Spectrum Recall incident on Elizera…."

I put the documents away into the darkness as I did before. With my finger to my lip, I pondered everything more clearly. 

“But then… how would Elizera have come to this conclusion that Yuu Yuu is the 66th? That… seems like a stretch without having the information that I do.”

I closed my eyes. The only reason why I would assume Yuu Yuu as the 66th is because she created a pocket reality of the Steeble Lake. I… never mentioned the kind of pocket reality I was in… just that I was in one.

“So, how would Elizera assume that the pocket reality I was in… was the old version of the Steeble Lake?”

Clearly, Elizera was hiding something. The more I looked into it all, the wider the twist and turns were regarding Elizera and Yuu Yuu’s connection.

“I think this point of view… on the incident isn’t showing me the entire matter. The person who wrote this was a third party. It wasn’t in the view of Elizera, the one who was most connected to this incident.”

Meaning I would have to get the information from either her, Yuu Yuu, or maybe… Janova.

“That concludes it… I have to speak with Janova. She… knows the truth of this incident.”

I thought back to the fight I had with Janova. I focused on a key point in our battle...

 

 

“You have no idea the pain Yuu Yuu, and I faced in the past. All the blood we saw. All the people we saw murdered right here in this lake. All of our friends and family were killed because of who they worshiped."

I looked at the lake. It was dead like the world wouldn't allow anything to ever grow here again.

“What happened here, Janova?”

“Wouldn’t you like to fucking know?! Why don’t you ask your favorite doll?!”

...

...

 

Janova was yelling about people being murdered… How she and Yuu Yuu faced pain in the past because of it… because of who they worshipped. Yet none of this was mentioned within the Steeble Lake Incident. 

“Janova said… their friends and family were murdered.”

The 65 people who died from this poisoning… None of them were able to escape, yet Janova said that they… saw them murdered.

"That begs the question… if there is a possibility that they were murdered…"

I closed my eyes to focus.

“Why would they, the 66th, be kept alive if a killer was the true cause of this?"

"Alright, everyone, move out!”

I heard Jade command. The evacuation group went first. Next was the bomb squad behind them. Jade waited until they were in motion and turned around, going towards the Baron group. 

 

“Time to get going.”

I whispered. There was a lot that I learned due to this information. I finally understood what Steeble Lake was and who was there. But I needed more information on what happened outside of the speculation of this file. Meaning Jade would certainly know more about the incident… 

 

 

With her being so close to Elizera, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s withholding information about it too.

So, I danced in the shadows, keeping an eye on Jade as she walked about the city.

 

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