PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 4: A Withered Lotus

Following the attack on Rien, Colette reached out to Phantom and told him that even after thoroughly investigating, she couldn’t find a single record of the Heroes. While she continued her search, she told him to seek out Alcaster in El Nath, who was ancient enough to have been able to remember the Heroes. Phantom went to see Alcaster, who told him that he had been living in El Nath for over 300 years. Though he hadn’t been born during the time of the Black Mage, he explained that his old teacher had lived during that era, and that his teacher had told him about the legend of the Heroes.

Alcaster added that ever since Cygnus had come into power, she had made the Heroes much more well-known, as they had been virtually forgotten before then. He also told Phantom that his master had left behind a diary in his laboratory, which he believed might have more details about the Heroes, and so he sent Phantom to the fifth floor of Orbis Tower in order to recover it.

While searching the laboratory, Phantom encountered Black Wings henchmen and managed to defeat them. Realizing that the diary was missing, he returned to Alcaster, who was surprised that the Black Wings had broken into the laboratory. He wondered why they would have taken the diary, as it held no information besides personal musings.

Phantom asked if there was anything else in the laboratory that could have been of interest to the Black Wings, such as formulas, schematics, treasure maps, or jewels. Alcaster told him that the only jewel in the laboratory was a worthless gem that his master had referred to as a Seal Stone, explaining that he himself had found no use for it in his incantations or alchemy, and so he had left it alone. Phantom realized that the Seal Stone of El Nath was exactly what the Black Wings had been after, and that he had let it slip out of his hands.

(A/N: This part of Phantom’s storyline conflicts with Evan’s storyline. It’s implied in Evan’s storyline that the Seal Stone of El Nath is hidden in the basement of the Chief’s Residence, though they only say that an important treasure had been hidden there, giving some wiggle room to interpret that it may have been some other artifact. Given that the Black Wings had some interest in the elven treasure Mistelteinn, it’s possible that they were after a similar relic, even though everything about Evan’s storyline suggests that it should’ve been a Seal Stone.)

Alcaster was surprised that the Black Wings would steal something so useless and believed that they might not have taken the diary after all. Phantom returned to the laboratory for another search and successfully recovered it. He brought it to Alcaster, who realized that the diary was an incomprehensible mess. (A/N: Sounds like me taking notes in class.)

He lamented that he wouldn’t be able to tell Phantom more about the war from 300 years ago, explaining that most people were unaware of the war, despite how all of Maple World had once struggled under its influence. He added that it was only thanks to the efforts of people like Athena Pierce that peace had returned back to the land.

Phantom thought it surprising that the shy girl who had followed Mercedes into battle had grown up to become a great leader, though he also remembered that she had been helpful during the battle against the Black Mage. Alcaster told him that much had been lost when the war had descended upon them, and that the records of that time seemed to have vanished in flames, as though they were kindling for that unwanted battle. He mused that the war had taken much from the people, including the past, and hoped that the young would never have to face such horrors again. 

(A/N: The Collector storyline that was added during the Milestone update expands on this plot point, as it reveals that Alcaster’s master was a magician named Alleria who was one of five heroes that fought together during the war from 300 years ago. During the storyline, we trace back the history of Alleria while investigating her old comrade - the legendary warrior Sayram - and we even read through Alleria’s diary in her laboratory, allowing us to get some glimpses about the war, though most of the details are still omitted, just like Alcaster had said.)

Phantom then returned to training around Maple World until Colette reached out to him again and suggested that he visit the library in Helios Tower, where every piece of text in Maple World was said to exist. She explained that if no record of the Heroes existed there, it would confirm that someone had been tampering with history.

At the library, Wiz the Librarian told him that the records on the Black Mage and the Heroes were still in-house, but he warned that they wouldn’t be easy to find, since unpopular books were usually relegated to the library vault. Phantom went to the vault to search for any books on the Heroes, but instead found several books on the shelf precisely burned in a way that left the other books untouched.

Just then, Black Wings henchmen appeared and began to attack Phantom. After defeating them, he returned to the main library and told Wiz that someone had been burning his books. To his shock, however, Wiz began to attack him. After being beaten back to his senses, Wiz seemed to have no recollection of the past few minutes, as though his body had not been his own for a moment.

Phantom recalled seeing something strange shooting out of Wiz when the librarian had been knocked out and wondered what sort of magic could cause someone to become possessed. Moreover, he wondered how despite Helios Library having books on every topic in Maple World, a fire would start under the only books that pertained to the Heroes.

Phantom was certain that someone was tampering with the history of Maple World, and that they seemed to be able to possess others. Though a seduction spell would be simple enough to control someone, Phantom noted that the entity had taken Wiz over from the inside. He returned to the Lumiere and told Colette everything that he had learned. He then ordered her to switch focus from investigating historical records to instead looking into whatever force had possessed Wiz. 

After the incident at the library, Phantom continued his training and soon grew strong enough that he decided to relearn some of his stronger skills. He went to his secret vault in Ariant, where he noted that the city was still the same desolate wasteland of rich oppressors that he had left behind centuries ago in order to become something more.

At the entrance of the vault, he discovered dust and realized that someone must have broken inside, as his vaults were airtight. There, he discovered Dust Dwarves and defeated them all in order to enter the vault. After finding his notes, he reminisced about the old days when he had first devoted his life to taking down the rich, throwing away his old name and becoming Phantom for the sake of it all. 

Soon after, Colette contacted Phantom and told him that she had discovered that Wiz had been controlled through spirit possession, which allowed a soul to enter another person’s body, explaining that the strange entity that Phantom had seen fleeing the scene was likely a soul. She told him to go to Sleepywood and meet the Rememberer, who was an expert in spirit possession.

The Rememberer was shocked to see what he described as an unholy terror on Phantom’s back and asked him what he had gotten mixed up in, as there was a terrifying burden on his back, invisible to Phantom. He told Phantom that he would make a charm to weaken the creature, though he added that Phantom would need to talk to it and make it go away on his own. In order to help make the charm, Phantom entered the Cursed Temple and collected Tauromacis Blood. The Rememberer then crafted the charm and told Phantom to use it at a Shaman Rock.

After Phantom activated the charm, he was teleported to a cave, where he found an unconscious Mu Young and the soul of Lotus hovering over him. Lotus greeted Phantom and explained that though his body had remained comatose for centuries, his soul was able to roam free. Phantom told Lotus that he was surprised to see him alive after their battle at the Temple of Time.

Lotus replied that he couldn’t die while knowing that Phantom and the other Heroes were running around free. He confirmed that he had been the one who had possessed Wiz, explaining that he had discovered the power to possess others after his soul had left his body. To demonstrate it once again, he possessed Mu Young’s body and began to fight Phantom. After being defeated, Lotus released Mu Young and commended Phantom for having regaining more of his strength.

Before Lotus left, Phantom asked if he had been the one erasing the Heroes from history. Lotus was amused that Phantom had discovered his scheme and told him that he had been erasing records of the Black Mage, with the Heroes’ erasure being incidental. Phantom asked what Lotus was planning, to which Lotus merely told him to figure it out himself. With that, Lotus disappeared and Phantom was sent back to Sleepywood.

(A/N: I don’t really know why exactly he’s been doing this in the first place and they never really explain it either. I doubt that the Black Mage had given him the orders, and so I’m guessing that Lotus did it so that the Alliance wouldn’t have any information to help them face the Black Mage. The idea that Lotus was destroying key historical records was brought up in the revamped Dual Blade storyline during the same patch that released Phantom, which incorporated Lotus’ actions with the backstory on the Dual Blades. I’ve included those events in an earlier section, as well as an explanation about the plot holes that got opened up with the changes.)

Phantom wondered whether Orchid knew that Lotus could possess people, though he was more interested in knowing why Lotus had been destroying historical documents. Though he briefly wondered whether Lotus had caused the war 300 years ago, he told himself not to jump to conclusions. Based on what he had learned, Phantom knew that Lotus’ physical body was comatose somewhere in Maple World, and so Phantom decided to destroy Lotus’ body in order to get rid of his soul.

Knowing that he and Orchid were inseparable, Phantom surmised that they would still be close together and concluded that Lotus’ body was somewhere inside the Verne Mine. As there were too many enemies in the mine, Phantom told Christiane to analyze the Black Wings headquarters for weaknesses. As Christiane continued working, Phantom wondered whether the massive amounts of energy that Orchid was harvesting was related to Lotus. 

Soon after, Christiane contacted Phantom and told him that all the energy being harvested in Edelstein was coming from the Power Plant, which was being funneled into a single point inside the mine. She explained that there were rumors that Orchid’s room was deep inside the Power Plant and offered to look into it. Phantom told her that there was no need, as he would go himself in order to destroy Lotus.

Christiane warned Phantom that it would be dangerous and cautioned him against charging into a zone full of enemies for an unsubstantiated rumor. Phantom told her that he had a gut feeling that there was something more to it, and reassured her that if Lotus wasn’t there, then he would simply take down Orchid instead. Christiane told him that he was behaving strangely and rushing in without thinking, to which Phantom darkly told her that she didn’t know him as well as she thought, and that he would do what needed to be done.

(A/N: Phantom is one of the most emotionally complex characters in the game, and he’s one of my favorites. While he’s normally a happy-go-lucky showoff, he can just as easily flip to having stone-cold murderous intent. His dark side is scarier than that of many of the villains.)

Phantom rushed to the Verne Mine and infiltrated the Power Plant. Past Orchid’s room, he found a hidden laboratory, where he discovered Lotus’ comatose body floating in a tank. Phantom mocked Lotus about how far he had fallen compared to the time when he and Orchid had ransacked Ereve. Though he admitted that he wasn’t one to attack a defenseless foe, he added that he was also smart enough to recognize an opportunity when he saw it. Just as Phantom was about to kill him, Lotus’ soul possessed Phantom and seized control of his body.

An amused Lotus asked Phantom whether his senses had been so dulled that he would fall for such an easy plot, musing that it was possible that Phantom had merely been fooling everyone into thinking that he was as clever as he claimed. He explained that possession was difficult to perform, as only the weak-minded were susceptible to his powers from a distance. Knowing this, he had manipulated Phantom into coming close to his body, where he could easily possess him. He told Phantom that he knew that the thief would fall for his trap, as once he had his sights set on revenge, he had a one-track mind that couldn’t see the bigger picture.

With that, he forced Phantom to leave Edelstein and travel to Ereve. There, Lotus had Phantom approach the garden where Cygnus was resting. Phantom immediately realized that Lotus was planning on having him kill Cygnus, thus eliminating the leader of the Alliance and turning the world against him. Cygnus spotted Phantom and approached him, glad to have a chance to see him again after he had stopped Hilla.

Phantom struggled to remove Lotus’ hold on his body, but when he realized that he couldn’t stop himself, he desperately let out a silent plea for help. Just then, the spirit of Empress Aria appeared, much to Lotus’ shock. Aria explained that while she didn’t have the power to destroy him, she could drive him out of Phantom for good. With that, Phantom regained his senses and awoke to the sight of Aria’s spirit.

Aria gently scolded Phantom for being as bull-headed as ever, and for being so blinded by his quest for vengeance that he had never bothered to move on with his life, reminding him that he used to be smarter. She then told him that as the Empress of Maple World, she wanted to thank him for everything that he had done, explaining that she owed him a debt of gratitude that no one could begin to repay. As a mere woman, however, she apologized to him for leaving him with such a heavy burden to carry.

She likened him to an uncaged bird singing in the night when they had first met, though he was now trapped in a cage of unending conflict. However, she reminded him that neither of them asked for the fates that they had been given and asked that there be no more apologies or sadness between them, as she was proud to leave Maple World in his hands. She added that her words weren’t meant just for him, but for Cygnus as well, and asked him to share them with her, as there was no future without her leadership. With that, she disappeared for the last time and left Phantom alone.

(A/N: This entire scene, from the moment that Lotus possessed Phantom to Aria’s appearance, is what got me invested in the lore of the game. Even though there are still so many other well-written stories out there, Phantom’s storyline is still really special to me after all these years and without it, it’s likely that this website might never have been written in the first place.)

Reflecting on Aria’s words, Phantom was ashamed that in spite of his talk that he wanted to follow in her footsteps, he had just been using her ideals as an excuse for getting revenge on Lotus and Orchid. He realized that it was the reason why he hadn’t wanted to join the Alliance in the first place, as he had known that they wouldn’t approve of his goals. In the end, he realized that he wasn’t the kind of fighter that they needed, and that he didn’t deserve to be called a hero. Despite it all, however, he knew that Aria had still trusted him and he realized that he couldn’t betray that trust.

Some time later, Phantom decided to meet Cygnus, noting that he owed her that much after almost taking her life. In Ereve, Cygnus greeted Phantom and told him that she had wanted to meet him. She explained that she wouldn't ask why he had disappeared after saving her, and why he hadn't spoken with her since that day, as she knew that he had his reasons. She then added that she knew how difficult it must have been for them to face a corrupted Transcendent, and how hard he and the other Heroes must have worked to seal him away.

However, she explained that centuries ago, only five people had been brave enough to stand up against the Black Mage, but in the present day, there were hundreds willing to fight alongside him. She asked him not to carry the burden of the fight on his own, reminding him that he had allies if he was willing to trust them. Phantom conceded that Cygnus had a compelling argument, as the Alliance could have helped him during his last few missions. He agreed to join the Alliance, adding that they could benefit from the greatest thief in the history of Maple World.