XD Translation Corner #4 (The end of 3.5)

This is the final installment of the 3.5 saga, you can read the other parts here, here and here. Since 3.5 has become relevant to the plot points of AXZ, I wanted to wrap this up before I moved on to more keywords. However, this isn't the end of the XD Translation Corner as I will be moving on to the Miku event story as I find time.







Episode 7: Connecting hearts beyond time


We left off with Hibiki and Chris aboard the Alexandria facing down the Cursed Pharaoh, a Philosophical Armament created by the common belief of a curse upon Tutankhamun's death mask.

Hibiki: Look out Chris, here it comes!
Chris: What the-? Damn it!
Chris: How the hell? This thing is way stronger and faster than the last time we fought it! 
Hibiki: The power of the curse is growing...?
Chris: Are you telling me this is what happens when a bunch of idiots buy into some bullshit?!
Chris: Damn... it just gets stronger while we get weaker and weaker the more we move around. 
Hibiki: Then we're going to have to end this fast. 
Chris: Yeah we can't afford to hold back at this point!
Hibiki: Right, let's do this!

Hibiki and Chris take on the Cursed Pharaoh and, despite it's growing power, somehow manage to defeat it. As its form disappears a small shining sphere once again appears in its place.

Hibiki: Chris, there's that sphere of light again!
Chris: Wait, could it be-?
Hibiki: Yeah! That has to be the core of the curse!
Chris: Great, so all we need to do is destroy that!
Hibiki: Agh!
Chris: N-not now... damn it... my strength is gone...

The effects of the curse return in full, leaving Hibiki and Chris powerless to move, as the body of the Cursed Pharaoh reforms once again and looms over them.

Chris: Shit, we just put everything into defeating it and now it's back again...
Hibiki: I guess that means as long as people keep believing in the curse, it can revive all it wants?
Chris: A curse to revive after death... sounds like a Mummy alright, but this is just unfair...
Hibiki: It's coming... this way....
Chris: Damn it, I c-can't even move...

The Cursed Pharaoh delivers a powerful blow to both of them, knocking them back across the floor and ramming them into a control panel that sets off the sprinklers in the room. Water pours down across them and Hibiki looks up, noticing something...she can see Tutankhamun's death mask.

Hibiki: Your Highness...
Hibiki: Are you...crying? 
Hibiki: Of course... it only makes sense.
Chris: W-who the hell are you talking to?
Hibiki: Having a curse forced upon you that kills other people... having your entire existence warped into something like that is cruel... and painful.
Hibiki: You know...I can relate. In the past, people decided that it was my fault when an accident took away many lives...
Chris: .....
Hibiki: That's why, I swore to myself.... that I'd never shed tears over it again...
Hibiki: And I won't stand by while others suffer from the same pain!! 

Hibiki's AXZ song, "Within this fist is an invincible love," begins playing as she rises to her feet and beats down the Cursed Pharaoh, defeating it for a second time. Again it's body begins to dissipate and a small sphere of light appears. Hibiki ignites her boosters and charges straight for it, reaching her hands out and enveloping them around the Pharaoh - a new move "Self-Styled: Embracing Hands of Light" As the light fades, Tutankhamun's death mask appears once again.

Hibiki: Your Highness...!?
Hibiki: No, you can't! If you do that, then-!
Chris: W-what the-...?
Hibiki: ....
Chris: You dummy! Why didn't you crush it!?
Hibiki: Listen, Your Highness...there was a time when I could do nothing but cry...
Hibiki: After a certain accident I was one of the few survivors, but people back home were angry... they asked why I was the only one made it out alive...
Hibiki: They told me I was responsible for costing other people their lives...
Hibiki: I was harassed by people I didn't even know... had rocks thrown at my house...
Hibiki: My dad couldn't bear it and disappeared on us... and my mother was always crying when she thought I wasn't around...
Hibiki: I cried too... I just kept crying...
Hibiki: And if I had stayed like that, then maybe... no definitely, I would have ended up in a similar state as you are now...
Hibiki: But they were there... Miku, and all of my friends came to save me...
Hibiki: They all gently embraced my pain...
Hibiki: And kept smiling, letting me know they were there...
Hibiki: That's why I was able to make it through, without letting the curse of people I didn't know become my own...
Hibiki: It's the same for you, Your Highness. If you had friends in this era, then surely your existence wouldn't have become so twisted by other people's thoughts...
Hibiki: That's it! Won't you have me as a friend, Your Highness?
Hibiki: Instead of cursing someone.... it's much more fun to laugh together with someone each day
Hibiki: I can be there for those times, I can be your friend.
Hibiki: So will you say yes? 

The light slowly begins to fly upward into the air, before it slowly fades away.

Chris: ...A firefly? 
Chris: No... that's gotta be the Pharaoh's soul...
Hibiki: The Pharaoh... he stopped crying. 
Hibiki: I wonder... if we were able to become friends?
Hibiki: Thank you, Your Highness.

Epilogue 

With the Alexandria Incident finally resolved, things are back to normal. Hibiki, Miku and the rest of her friends finally get the opportunity to visit the museum and check out the now opened Greek and Egyptian artifact exhibit.

Hibiki: Ah~ It's so cool in here... it's like paradise. Museums really are the best in summer! 
Miku: It seems some of the artifacts were broken or destroyed, but I'm so glad they were able to open the exhibit anyway. 
Hibiki: Yeah... me too. 
Itaba: Hey I'm just realizing this now, but why is it that they're displaying Egypt stuff with Greek stuff? Did they get it all in some kind of package deal?
Ando: Hahaha, yeah right, I don't think they sell artifacts in bundles.
Terashima: Actually, Egypt and Greece are right across from each other in the Mediterranean Sea and they have shared and affected each other's culture throughout history. 
Miku: Yeah, they call that the Hellenistic Period right? 
Itaba: Helle-what now? 
Terashima: In Greek, "Hellen" is a word meaning a person of Greek descent or pertaining to Greek culture. So "Hellenic" is an adjective that describes "Greek styled" things. 
Miku: We studied this in history class, remember? 
Itaba: We did? 
Terashima: Yes, and what's more the famous Cleopatra was actually a member of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, a royal family that originated in Greece, or more specifically Macedonia. 
Itaba: Huh? A Greek lady was the Queen of Egypt? Isn't that kinda weird? 
Terashima: Well that was the standard of the period...

Itaba: You know, I have to say I'm impressed. You guys sure are good at remembering all these crazy details.
Ando: And we all know you can never remember anything outside of anime and manga facts. 
Itaba: Hey, you know I could remember all that too if they made an anime about Egypt. 
Ando: Oh geez...
Terashima: Hey everybody, take a look over here.
Ando: Now this is something even you should remember. 
Itaba: Of course! I got this. This here is the ruler of Egypt in the 18th Dynasty, the Pharaoh...
Hibiki: It's Tutankhamun. 
Ando/Terashima: Whoa!
Miku: Eh, Hibiki!?
Itaba: Hey! You stole my line! But wait... how did you remember that?!
Hibiki: I could never forget. After all, he's a good friend of mine! 
Ando/Terashima/Itaba: Whaaaaaat?!
Miku: Oh Hibiki...so silly...
Ando: Are you okay Bikki?! Is the heat starting to get to you??
Terashima: A response like that isn't exactly out of the ordinary for Miss Tachibana, but even so...
Itaba: Yeah but for a second there I was left speechless. Like I thought pigs were gonna start flying...
Itaba: ...Ah, but there's no way she's gonna tell us that she somehow already finished her summer homework before school started back up again, right? That's more than just pigs...that's hell freezing over. 
Hibiki: Homework...? Of course I'm not even close to finished yet! Hahahahaha!
Miku: Um... Hibiki... you know... you shouldn't say that as if it's a good thing.
Hibiki: No worries, I'll deal with it somehow
Hibiki: Totally fine, everything's okay! You know? 
Miku: Sigh.... I really don't think this is the time to be using that phrase of yours....

Time passes and the group returns home. As the museum empties out, a mysterious trio appears from the shadows, looking over Tutankhamun's death mask....

Prelati: A Philosophical Armament we hardly put any work into making... yet it was surprisingly effective for our plans. 
Cagliostro: But, considering we just wanted to steal one thing wouldn't you say it was overkill? 
Saint Germain: We wanted it to stand out, to make it easier to cover our tracks.
Saint Germain: The Antikythera Mechanism is a well known artifact of Greek origin...
Cagliostro: If they were to realize it was intentionally stolen then they might catch on to our, and the Director's, plans. 
Prelati: Artifacts were lost and damaged in the attack...in other words, we completely hid the fact that it was stolen. 
Saint Germain: Precisely. 
Cagliostro: Even so, we can't ignore those little Symphogear girls. Power like that might even cause some pain even to us. 
Saint Germain: Which is why we're going to put them to work for us first. 
Saint Germain: We can dispose of them once our little treasure hunt in South America is finished.

And so the stage is set for the beginning of AXZ...

THE END