PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 23: Gate to the Future

(A/N: The Gate to the Future is one of the biggest missed opportunities in the game. While I think that it’s a great concept for us to enter the future and realize that we’re going to lose everything, the storyline was added far too early into the game’s history for it to remain impactful after all these years. Henesys and its citizens had a higher significance to us when the game was smaller in scope, but in the present day, we have so many characters and storylines going on in parallel that seeing a ruined Henesys only works if you have the nostalgia factor from having spent a lot of time grinding and doing town quests there during the pre-Big Bang era.

The Gate to the Future and Twilight Perion both depict the corrupted Cygnus Knights and Resistance, but I feel like the writers failed to explore the concept to its full potential. This storyline was the perfect place for a lot of classes to get exclusive dialogue that reveals their fate. We could’ve had the Heroes be corrupted and explored the darker aspects of their personalities, like Mercedes becoming a second Ephenia who believes that elves are superior to humans, or a dark Aran whose moral code as a warrior has become warped into her attacking innocents and enemies alike just to prove that she’s stronger than anyone.

Aside from characters, I think that they really should’ve continued releasing more parts of Victoria Island instead of just stopping at Perion. The Gate to the Future revamp includes a very tiny look at future Sleepywood, but it would’ve been nice if they had fleshed out all of Victoria Island and given us a chance to fight an unsealed and overpowered Future Balrog. We’ve had some pretty interesting discussions about it on the lore server, so feel free to click the link and join if you’re interested as well!) 

Centuries ago, Lucid had used her powers to erase her existence from the minds of all the elves and had decided to spend the rest of her life inside a perfect dream, oblivious to the passage of time. However, even she had been affected by the Black Mage’s curse on the elves, trapping her in ice. Unlike the other elves, Lucid’s powers had caused her to remain painfully aware that she was asleep, and she soon came to view her dreamscape as a prison. Though she longed to awaken from her dream, she felt the centuries slowly pass with no hope of escape. In desperation, Lucid projected her consciousness as far as it could go, allowing her to inadvertently stumble into the Black Mage’s subconsciousness.

Sensing Lucid’s presence, the Black Mage recognized her talents and promised her eternal life and the chance to see the new world that he would create in exchange for her loyalty. To hear that such a powerful being needed her was all that Lucid desired, and so she readily accepted his offer. The Black Mage freed Lucid from the ice and ordered her to create a false future in the Temple of Time, one in which he reigned victorious after Empress Cygnus betrayed the people of Maple World. Lucid broke into the Temple of Time and used her powers to manipulate the Gate to the Future, creating the dreamlike illusion which the Black Mage had asked her to make.

(A/N: While Lucid believed that the Gate to the Future was meant to demoralize the people of Maple World into ceasing their attempts at resistance, the Black Mage actually wanted to unite the people of Maple World against him by having them resist the idea of the predetermined future that awaited them. His master plan was perfectly engineered to pit the Alliance against his Commanders so that they and the Adversary would grow stronger through those tests of resolve, while simultaneously knocking the Commanders off the board before they would inevitably betray him.

This next portion is actually the Cygnus Knight’s 4th job advancement and a mount quest that takes place right before it.)

Soon after, Neinheart contacted the Knight and noted that they had grown very strong, with few Cygnus Knights being able to match their strength. He told them that rumors had been circulating that Cygnus and the Knights had betrayed Maple World and joined the Black Mage. Though he believed it to be absurd, he acknowledged that rumors grew stronger as more people talked about them, regardless of how ridiculous they were.

He also noted that since the rumors originated from the Gate to the Future, it was possible that someone had confused a hypothetical future with reality. He asked them to investigate the rumors, but as the Temple of Time was dangerous, he told them that they would work alongside their Chief Knight. He then sent them to meet with Della, one of their informants.

(A/N: This quest was originally the first part of the original Alliance prequest for the Cygnus Knights. Unlike this version, all you had to do originally was to collect Della’s report and bring it to Cygnus, after which she’d ask you to send invitations to the other factions of Maple World. Also, I love how Neinheart is cautious enough to have a Chief Knight accompany you to the Temple of Time at level 100 when Athena Pierce tells the Explorer to go in alone at level 25, even though they’ve probably been an Explorer for like 20 minutes.)

At the Temple of Time, the Knight and their Chief Knight met with Della, who told them that the rumors about the Cygnus Knights betraying Maple World in the future were true, with Cygnus being known as the Axle of Evil. However, she explained that a strange black fog was coming out of the Gate to the Future, preventing both her and the Temple Keepers from entering. The Chief Knight decided that they would need to look into it themselves and asked Della about the fog. She explained that the fog pushed people away the further they entered, preventing them from catching anything more than a glimpse of the future.

The Knight and their Chief Knight arrived at the Gate to the Future, where they discovered the thick black fog emanating from beyond the door. The Knight felt as though something was calling to them, and so they entered through the door and arrived in Future Ereve, where they encountered Future Cygnus and her corrupted Chief Knights. Suddenly, the Knight began to feel an unnatural drowsiness overtaking them and lost consciousness.

They soon awoke back at the Temple of Time to the sight of their Chief Knight attempting to wake them up. Suddenly, the black fog formed tendrils of darkness that attempted to grab at the Knight. Their Chief Knight immediately pushed them aside, but the tendrils instead ensnared the Chief Knight and dragged them into the Gate to the Future. The Knight rushed in after them, but they were soon engulfed by the same unnatural sense of drowsiness. As they felt their consciousness fade away, the Knight heard Cygnus' voice calling out to them and reminding them of who they were.

The Knight was able to remain awake and found themselves in a dreamscape, where they discovered a Wightmare placing their Chief Knight into an enchanted sleep. The Knight quickly defeated the Wightmare and took their Chief Knight back to the Temple of Time. The Chief Knight awoke and thanked them for their help, explaining that the Wightmare had been trying to brainwash them by planting images into their mind. Suddenly, Della rushed over to them and explained that there was an emergency in Ereve, as the Empress had fallen.

The Knight and the Chief Knight rushed back to Ereve, where they found that the black fog had engulfed the island. They found Neinheart and the others huddled around an unconscious Cygnus and asked what had happened. Neinheart explained that the black fog had suddenly appeared, causing Cygnus to pass out right after.

He noted that the black fog was no simple attack, as it had been able to bypass both Ereve's barrier and Shinsoo's protection. Kinu, one of the Piyo training instructors, noted that Cygnus had fallen into an enchanted sleep, which the Knight realized was just like what had happened to themselves. Oz noted that Cygnus’ power was fading, and that she was in grave danger, since she had not yet fully accepted Shinsoo's power.

As the Chief Knights argued about what to do, Shinsoo sensed that the Knight had learned something significant in the Gate to the Future and asked them to share it with the others. After the Knight explained how they had been ensnared by the black fog, Neinheart realized that since Cygnus' power and that of the Cygnus Knights were intertwined, the Knight being affected by the black fog may have inadvertently resulted in Cygnus experiencing the same. Neinheart told the Knight that just as they had saved their Chief Knight, they now needed to save Cygnus within her dreamscape as well.

Through the grace of Shinsoo, Neinheart sent the Knight into Cygnus' dreamscape, where they found her staring at her corrupted self through a mirror. Suddenly, Future Cygnus shattered the mirror, knocking the real Cygnus out, and emerged through the other side. The Knight immediately fought Future Cygnus and defeated her, sending both the real Cygnus and themselves back into the real world. Around them, the black fog dissipated as Cygnus awoke from her nightmare.

Some time after the incident, Neinheart thanked the Knight for their valiant efforts and noted that based on everything that he and their Chief Knight had observed, the Knight had risen to become the epitome of a Cygnus Knight, both in power and valor. He then explained that Oz had discovered that the power of the black fog had been entirely foreign, after which he asked the Knight whether they had found any clues while fighting the Wightmare and Future Cygnus. The Knight told him that they were certain that the mastermind wasn’t a Black Wings member, as the Wightmare's clothes had the pattern of a butterfly, not the Black Wings' symbol. (A/N: This explicitly confirms that the Wightmares are Lucid’s minions.)

Neinheart realized that they were likely facing a new enemy and resolved to look into them. He also told them that with the black fog having lifted from the Gate to the Future, he was planning on sending a full-scale investigation to investigate the rumors. He then told the Knight that Cygnus had something important to tell them.

The Knight went to meet Cygnus, who noted that they had grown stronger while holding true to their beliefs, never once losing their heart while protecting the weak. Because of their valor, Cygnus promoted them to Chief Knight. Soon after, their Chief Knight congratulated them for their promotion and added that they expected great things from the Knight.

(A/N: Just like before the revamp, Cygnus promotes us to Chief Knight here, and then promotes us to Chief Knight again at level 200. In the old storyline, the medal that we got at 4th job was called Captain Knight, and so I had originally used that as a stand-in title until we got promoted to Chief Knight in our level 200 quest. However, it seems like this medal has been changed to say Chief Knight in the Ignition revamp, and so it seems like being promoted to Chief Knight is what they intended after all.

I have no idea how to reconcile us getting promoted again at level 200 other than just pretending like it didn’t happen. I was never really a fan of having us be promoted to Chief Knight in the first place because it doesn’t make sense that there would be two Chief Knights of the same division.)