PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 20: Mirror World

Because of Fang’s warning, Nine began to grow suspicious about the Shadow Knights’ true motives. He secretly began dumping the Shade Neutralizer that Will gave him into the bushes, which helped him realize that the neutralizer was only meant to brainwash him. After going to the Umbra Temple on Fang’s instructions, he found that there was no Darkling master, but only a young girl who looked just like him.

Some time later, Nine returned from a successful Darkling hunt and was promoted from a cadet to an official Shadow Knight. He then asked if he could switch assignments with Keene and purchase supplies from the towns outside of Shadowvale. However, Will forbade him from doing so and explained that their mission to protect the world from the Darklings was too important for Nine’s combat skills to be wasted on supply runs. However, as an apology, he allowed Nine to take the rest of the day off.

Though Nine pretended to understand, he realized that Will and the other Shadow Knights were doing everything in their power to keep him from leaving Shadowvale. Soon after, Lyra reported a Darkling force arriving and assigned Nine to intercept them. (A/N: So much for our day off.) Nine then realized that the Darklings only seemed to appear when the Shadow Knights needed him occupied. After taking the Shade Neutralizer bottle from Will, he secretly dumped the potion into the bushes before heading out.

Nine quickly completed his mission and made his way to the Umbra Temple once again, where he marveled at how everything still looked the same since his last visit. He also wondered whether the Darkling who had led him there in the past was still around. (A/N: I like how cohesive they made the Shadow Alchemist prequel with the original Zero storyline, especially with how they made throwaway lines like this much more impactful.)

As he attempted to wake the sleeping girl in the temple, he noticed that one of the statues in the room had briefly twinkled. Upon examining it, he felt as though the statue were almost real, as if it had been a person who had been turned to stone. He then found a scroll at the statue’s feet and picked it up before heading back to Shadowvale.

In the library, he read the scroll and learned about the three Transcendents of Maple World. He also read that the world held a secret that even the Transcendents didn’t know, and while Rhinne and Alicia had been content in their roles, the Black Mage had been too curious for his own good, and the steep cost of digging into the secrets of the world had corrupted him, leading him to sow a path of destruction and pain across Maple World until he had been sealed away by brave Heroes. He then read about how Rhinne had attempted to create a new future by creating the Child of the Goddess, whom the Black Mage and his underling, the King of Spiders, were searching for.

(A/N: The secret of the world is the existence of the Overseers, whose existence the Black Mage had learned about upon entering the divine realm, after which he had fallen to evil in his attempt to free the world from their influence. While Zero’s story laid the groundwork for the Black Mage’s future goals, a few things ended up getting retconned over the years. The secret of the world is something that the Transcendents were said to be unaware of, but all the Transcendents are said to be able to hear the voice and will of the Overseers in the Esfera storyline.

Additionally, the scroll mentions that the King of Spiders is helping the Black Mage search for the Child of the Goddess, which suggests that Will was a Commander centuries ago. However, his Genesis Weapon liberation cutscene confirms that he wasn’t even alive centuries ago and only became a Commander after the Black Mage was unsealed.)

Overwhelmed and confused by the information, he realized that he needed to awaken the girl for answers. Once he went outside, however, he found the Shadow Knights in the middle of a meeting, where they told him that Will had ordered them to attack the Umbra Temple and destroy everything inside.

As the knights began to move out, Will pulled Nine aside and told him that he was planning to keep him on the sidelines for the battle. Nine protested that he was ready, and so Will agreed to allow him to join the mission, provided that he drank his Shade Neutralizer. Realizing Will’s plan, Nine relented and told Will that he would be content with staying on the sidelines.

Once the Knights headed out, Nine attempted to chase after them, but he was stopped by Keene at the town border. Nine easily defeated Keene and continued to the Umbra Temple, where he encountered Kyson, Seamus, and Lyra, who attempted to convince him to surrender. However, Nine easily forced his way through and attempted to wake the girl.

Just then, Will himself arrived and engaged in a battle with Nine. Their fight caused the glass container to shatter, making the girl fall to the floor. Defeated by Will, Nine desperately reached out towards the girl and touched hands, causing her to awaken. With both Children of the Goddess reunited, the power of time awakened within them, returning the Umbra Temple back to its original state and freeing all the priests from their stone prisons. The Umbra Temple then disappeared into a space between Mirror World and Maple World, preventing Will and the Shadow Knights from entering.

Now safe from Will, Nine and the girl learned from Pietta, one of the priests, about the history of the Transcendents and how both the Black Mage and Rhinne had been sealed away. She also explained that the limitation of the Transcendent of Time was that they could change the fate of anyone but themselves, and that Rhinne had created the Child of the Goddess in order to keep the power of time from the Black Mage. (A/N: Pietta actually incorrectly says that the limitation on the Transcendent of Time is that they can see the future of every world but their own, but she states the correct limitation in all future mentions of the topic.)

When Nine asked why there was a female version of himself, Pietta told him that Will had somehow found a way to split the Child of the Goddess into two in order to weaken them, though she couldn’t say why their genders were different. Knowing that they needed names, the girl decided to name him Alpha and called herself Beta. Alpha told her that he had already decided to name himself Zero as a way to represent him breaking free of the cycle of brainwashing, but Beta told him that their names were final, much to his annoyance.

Pietta then told them that they were in a prison created by the Black Mage called Mirror World, which cut them off from Maple World, the source of their power. However, she explained that their awakening had resulted in a portal to Maple World opening. Alpha and Beta attempted to enter Maple World, but they quickly realized that they were invisible there, as they hadn’t regained their powers.

(A/N: Zero is unique because they start out at level 100. When Zero first came out, you were stuck in Mirror World grinding in their special dungeons until the end of the story at level 180, as you couldn’t gain any EXP from the outside world. While I love how Zero’s skill chains get built upon over time and actually make it seem like you’re getting stronger, the bad map layouts in the Mirror World dungeons were such a chore to get through when your skill chains were still incomplete, which helped sell the idea of Mirror World being a prison. That restriction was modified soon after Zero’s release, and so all you have to do now is to complete Chapter 2 of the story (Mirror World Ariant) before you can start getting EXP in the outside world.)

Pietta told them that Will had shattered the Goddess Teardrop, which contained the power of time, and had spread its pieces across Mirror World. Though she wished that the priests could help them, she explained that they weren’t trained in martial combat, and that their extended lifespans were tied to the temple, meaning that they wouldn’t last long outside of it. In order to get a better understanding of where the Goddess Teardrops could be, Alpha and Beta decided to return to Shadowvale in order to find a map of Mirror World.

A priest named Benedict accompanied them to the outskirts of Shadowvale and taught them the basics of using their Transcendent powers in tag-team combat. They then fought their way through Shadowvale into the library, where they found Milo. Though he had been told that Alpha was a traitor, Milo believed that it was all a misunderstanding and allowed them to pass, claiming that they would see each other again one day.

The twins then found the map and brought it back to the temple, where Benedict’s brother, Cassius, used the power of dowsing in order to find the Goddess Teardrops. Using the dowsing technique, Cassius also discovered that the Goddess’ relic was somewhere in Mirror World. Pietta explained that Rhinne had used an hourglass relic to channel her powers and told them that the relic would allow them to double their strength. Cassius then sent them to search for the relic in Leafre.

(A/N: Mirror World is an imperfect replica of Maple World, and as such, the town storylines and the character dynamics of its residents are different from their Maple World counterparts. For example, Freud and Evan both exist in Mirror World, despite the fact that Freud had died centuries before Evan was born. I won’t be covering the Mirror World town storylines here, as they’re just filler quests used to help Zero level to 180.

I’m currently working on a new part of the website that covers every storyline in the game outside of the main story and GMS-verse, which will include all the Mirror World town quests. Once I finish, I’m anticipating that this site will cover virtually every single story in the entire game, including all town quests, theme dungeons, party quests, overseas-exclusive content like the original JMS Silent Crusade storyline, and as many event stories as I can find online, such as Strange Stories and Wondroid.

For obvious reasons, this is going to take a massive amount of time to finish. I’m about halfway done with it as of August, but I’ve been taking a break from it to work on other a few other personal projects, since I’ve been feeling the burnout from this site lately. I’m hoping to come back to it by the start of January and to try and get it released in the first half of 2023. Luckily, KMS only drops lore 2-3 times a year, and so I’m still planning to update the site with new story updates within a day or two of it being released in the KMS test servers.)

In Leafre, Alpha and Beta met with Chief Tatamo, who told them that he had never heard about such an object as the relic before. However, he explained that a baby dragon had disappeared from Leafre, and that the Halflingers had discovered a monstrous dragon when they had chased after it. He also told them that a young man had offered to fight the dragon, though he hadn’t returned since heading out to face it. With no other options, the Halflingers had decided to ask Afrien for help, and so Tatamo asked them to speak to Afrien on his behalf. He added that since Afrien was wise, he might know about the relic as well.

Outside Afrien’s cave, they encountered a baby Mir, who allowed them to enter after passing his test. (A/N: He just asks a random math question and asks you to say that he’s the best dragon ever.) Inside the cave, they encountered a slumbering Afrien, whom Mir explained was busy preparing to make a Spirit Pact. Because Afrien couldn’t be disturbed, Alpha and Beta asked Mir about the relic, which he explained was in the possession of Horntail.

Back in Leafre, Mir decided to test their strength before he would allow them to face Horntail by ordering them to hunt Beetles and Dual Beetles in the Western Minar Forest. After proving themselves, Mir directed them to Horntail’s cave, where they fought Horntail in order to obtain the relic. Suddenly, Freud appeared and ordered them to step away from Horntail, claiming that it was a baby dragon. Having spent the whole day trying to calm it down, Freud was upset that Alpha and Beta had ruined his hard work and ordered them to leave the cave until Horntail calmed down. Frustrated, they returned to the temple and told the priests what had happened.

Some time later, they returned to the cave and found Horntail still crying. Freud suggested that they sing Horntail a lullaby, as his sleep spells could give Horntail nightmares. However, Alpha and Beta began singing so terribly that Freud yelled at them to stop and checked to see if Horntail’s ears were bleeding. (A/N: This is me every time I try to sing. The priests later tell them that Rhinne had a melodic voice, which clearly wasn’t hereditary.) Freud then suggested that they ask a Halflinger named Pam to help them. In Leafre, Pam told them that she had once obtained a rare music box from the Fairy Queen, though it had since broken.

(A/N: This music box is the same one in Elluel which Lucid had made for Mercedes. Usually, people refer to Ephenia as the Fairy Queen, but I guess since elves are a type of fairy, Mercedes could be considered the Fairy Queen in Mirror World. Originally, my first thought was that Ephenia might have a similar music box. However, if you click on Pam’s music box, it says that it plays Elluel’s most popular tunes. Though this is likely because the asset was copied and pasted from Elluel, it does lend credence to the Mirror World Fairy Queen being Mercedes instead of Ephenia.)

Pam asked them to find Harp Feathers and Blood Harp Feathers, which they used to fix the music box. They then used it to put Horntail to sleep, after which Freud agreed to answer their questions. He introduced himself as a magician who had begun studying Horntail at the behest of the Halflingers. After melding with its mind, he had seen Horntail’s memories of when it had been a small baby. Horntail had discovered the relic in the forest, which had caused it to rapidly age into a full-grown dragon. Having absorbed the relic, Horntail had been chased out of Leafre until it had found the cave, where it had been hiding ever since.

The twins then returned to the temple and explained the situation to the priests. Pietta told them that anyone who touched the relic without the Transcendent of Time’s protections would suffer the Curse of Time. She told them that only the relic’s owners could lift the curse on Horntail, but the fact that the relic hadn’t immediately reacted to them meant that it was upset at them for having left it alone for so long.

(A/N: This sounds just like how Maha had behaved with Aran during her 2nd job advancement. It’s a neat connection because we later learn that just like Maha, their relics have spirits of their own, Lapis and Lazuli.)

Pietta told them that in order to lift the curse, they would need to offer a substitute sacrifice and suggested that they seek help from a magician, as doing so with only the power of time was nearly impossible. The twins sought out Freud and asked for his help in transferring the curse from Horntail to themselves. Though Freud warned that it could damage them, Alpha reassured him that they would be fine, as the curse had the same signature as themselves.

Freud asked them to bring him a Kentaurus King Horn and a Manon Feather, while he would provide a Leviathan Scale from his storeroom. Together, they were able to successfully absorb Horntail’s curse, turning it back into a baby dragon. Freud then told them that he would help assimilate Horntail back to its normal life before continuing his research.

(A/N: The baby dragon that Horntail turns into is an exact copy of the sprite used for Nine-Spirit’s child from the Leafre town quests. Nine-Spirit is one of the three Great Kings of Leafre alongside Horntail and Afrien. Horntail stole Nine-Spirit’s egg, which you have to recover from him in the Leafre town storyline and bring back home, after which it hatches and gives you a blessing that temporarily increases your stats, similar to how Shinsoo gives you a blessing if you talk to her in Ereve.

The only issue I have with them copying the sprite is that Nine-Spirit’s child has one head, while Horntail is supposed to have three. While I like how many Easter eggs they added in Zero’s storyline, I do wish that they would have actually made some new assets in places where it would’ve made sense to add them, like making an actual baby Horntail sprite.)

Having reclaimed the relic, the twins returned to the temple and wondered whether they might see Freud again in Maple World. (A/N: Yeah… about that.) Pietta then told them that the relic possessed its own ego, and so it would need its owner to prove their worth in order to be wielded. Alpha and Beta then entered twin parallel dimensions and met the spirits of their relics, which had split into two. While Beta fought Lapis, Alpha fought Lazuli. After defeating them, the spirits acknowledged their strength and possessed their swords, enhancing the strength of their weapons.

(A/N: It’s nice to see the concept of a spirit-possessed weapon reintroduced in the game. Up until Zero’s storyline, we only had Maha for Aran. Later on, we also get the Spirit of Vengeance inhabiting Damien’s sword.)

With the twins having obtained the relics, Cassius began the dowsing ritual and felt the power of time in five locations across Mirror World. The first location he sensed was Ariant, which he warned was a place whose people ostracized foreigners in its Maple World equivalent. They arrived at Ariant Castle, where they found Prime Minister Shah Mar welcoming Gold Richie and his gift of a blue, teardrop-shaped gem.

Shah Mar then told Gold Richie that the Queen had invited him to stay at the palace. The twins then learned from a dancer named Sirin that the queen had put the gem in the audience room, and so they decided to steal it, believing it to be the Goddess Teardrop. Sirin told them that they would need to bring a gift to the queen in order to gain access to the audience room and suggested finding Deo’s Fruit from Deo, as the queen coveted them for her skincare routine. They presented the fruit to the queen and saw the large gemstone in a display case, with Shah Mar standing nearby.

They returned to the temple and told the priests that they had located the Goddess Teardrop. In order to help them steal it, the priests suggested that they take advantage of Ariant’s political climate and asked them to observe their surroundings carefully. Back in Ariant, they learned from Sirin that Master Thief Phantom was planning to steal the blue jewel.

She told them that there was a group of sisters who worked part-time at the western Ariant tea house, and that they were extreme fangirls of Phantom. There, the twins met the three girls, who explained that they actually hated Phantom for stealing their family fortune, and that they were working at the tea shop in order to gather information on him.

They then asked Alpha and Beta to bring a Thief Crow’s Key in order to prove themselves worthy of being allies. (A/N: The Thief Crow comes from Aran’s 3rd job advancement, during which it steals the red gem on Maha.) After bringing them the key, the sisters told them where Phantom’s hideout was, as well as the password to enter: ‘Open Sesame’. Inside the hideout, they were surprised to find that it was actually a den of Thief Crows, with a man named Ardin trapped inside. After they defeated the Thief Crows, Ardin told them that they had been tricked by the sisters just as he had, and that the sisters actually worked for Phantom. (A/N: They’re actually his maids aboard the Lumiere.)

Ardin told them to meet him and the Sand Bandits at their hideout. There, their leader, Jano, told them to leave, claiming that Ardin had been foolish to invite outsiders to their group. During their argument, the twins learned that the Sand Bandits were planning to raid the palace. Alpha attempted to convince Jano that their goals aligned, and so Jano asked them to be tested by Sejan and Eleska. Sejan asked them to put up anti-queen posters in Ariant square, while Eleska told them to defeat a Desert Giant.

After proving themselves, they agreed to help the Sand Bandits in exchange for the blue gemstone, though Jano warned them that Phantom was also planning to steal it. While they were waiting for the raid to begin, they entered a scorpion hunting contest held by SagaT. After catching several scorpions, SagaT expressed his impressment and told them that Shah Mar had started the event in order to effectively deal with the scorpions when the king and queen had ignored the problem. He explained that he and Shah Mar used to be friends, and that he was intrigued how Shah Mar continued to appear young, even while everyone around him grew old.

When they went to Shah Mar in order to collect their reward, they learned from him that he was waiting for someone to visit Ariant one day, and that he had worked hard to become Prime Minister so that the person whom he was waiting for would be proud to know him when the time came. On the day of the raid, Jano told them that they would use Phantom’s arrival as a distraction to make their move. Once the time came for them to escape, a small team would start a small fire in order to create chaos. That night, the Sand Bandits infiltrated the palace while Alpha and Beta were on lookout.

Suddenly, Phantom appeared behind them, having already stolen the blue gemstone. They began to fight Phantom for the teardrop when, all of a sudden, the castle was set ablaze. They learned from Phantom that only Shah Mar had been in the palace at the time, and so Alpha and Beta had to make a choice to either save him or pursue Phantom.

Beta then sensed the power of time and realized that she was still sensing it back at the palace. They rushed back and found that the power of time was radiating from Shah Mar, making them to realize that he had been the Goddess Teardrop all along. Having been recognized by his masters, Shah Mar transformed into a gem, which Alpha and Beta brought back to the temple. 

(A/N: At this point, Zero characters can start grinding in the outside world, although you still need to complete the storyline if you want to max out your link skill by collecting all the Goddess Teardrops.)

Cassius then performed the dowsing ritual again and discovered that the second Goddess Teardrop was in Henesys, though he explained that he wasn’t familiar with the area. (A/N: This is because all the priests were sent to Zero’s Temple centuries before Henesys was founded.) In Henesys, they met a girl named Rina, who told them that her friend, Maya, had a fever, and that she needed Mushmom Caps in order to make Maya a tincture.

After helping Rina, they asked her if there was anyone in town who never got older. Rina told them that there was such a boy named Larelle and asked them to speak with Chief Stan about him. However, Stan refused to tell them any more information, which confirmed their suspicions that Larelle was the Goddess Teardrop. From what it sounded like, Alpha and Beta believed that Larelle had done something to the town, which was why he had been ostracized. In order to get more information, they decided to speak to the children in the town and met Evan, who led them to the Henesys Fork away from the adults in order to talk freely.

There, Evan told them that Larelle had shown up in Henesys a long time ago, and that the townspeople had grown scared when he had continued to stay the same age. Additionally, strange events would always happen around Larelle, particularly with temperature. He told them that a few days ago, Larelle had summoned a monster, which had scared the townspeople, as the monster had injured several people, including Maya. They went to Larelle’s house, where they defeated an ice cube monster inside. Alpha noted that the monster had clearly been created by the power of time.

They then found Larelle’s diary, which revealed that he had spent many years waiting for Alpha and Beta to come. In their absence, the power of time had begun to grow uncontrollably inside of him, which had resulted in him accidentally creating the ice cube monsters. They realized that Larelle was likely being kept isolated somewhere in Henesys and asked Evan, who told them that Stan and Mark had been with Larelle the last time that Evan had seen him.

The twins went to see Mark, who asked them to hunt Mixed Golems, Icy Mixed Golems, and Flaming Mixed Golems in order to help him with his guard duties. He also asked them to find a pearl from a Pearl Oyster in Gold Beach. After bringing it to him, he accidentally let it slip that he was planning to use it to propose to Rina, though he asked them to keep it quiet from Chief Stan, who treated Rina like a daughter. In exchange for keeping his secret, Alpha demanded that Mark tell them where Larelle was.

Mark reluctantly told them that Larelle was in a cave near the Northern Forest Path. Inside the cave, the twins were shocked to find Shadow Knights guarding the area. Alpha immediately retreated, as he believed it unwise to reveal themselves to the Shadow Knights until they regained more of their power. However, Beta argued that Larelle needed their help, and that they couldn’t wait to save him. Back at the temple, Alpha vented his frustrations to Pietta, who told him that Beta felt kinship with Larelle, as they had both experienced isolation in their imprisonment.

He then learned that Beta had decided to go after Larelle herself and rushed after her. Alpha then apologized to Beta and agreed to help her rescue Larelle. Together, they defeated all the Shadow Knights, including Lyra, and made their way to Larelle. Larelle thanked them for rescuing him and explained that he had been the one who had asked Stan to take him away for the safety of the town. He asked them to give Stan his apologies for leaving, after which he willingly agreed to come with them. Larelle then transformed into a gem, which they took back to the temple.  

Cassius then used dowsing to discover that the third Goddess Teardrop was located in Mu Lung. Upon arriving in town, they met So Gong, who mistook them for monk trainees and put them through an examination. For their first test, they met with Mr. Do, who tested them on their knowledge of Mu Lung. After receiving his Proof of Training, they returned to So Gong, who sent them to No Gong’s training center.

After receiving the next Proof of Training, they went through So Gong’s final test, which was an obstacle course designed by Do Gong, which had them make it across a river. Having passed the training course, So Gong recognized their skills, though he mentioned that Aran had finished the lesson in only half the time.

He then sent them to Wu Gong to be registered as official monks. There, they felt the power of time radiating from Wu Gong and realized that he was the Goddess Teardrop. However, he refused to come with them, claiming that he had made a good life for himself in their absence. Confused, they returned to the temple and told the priests what had happened. Pietta told them that the Goddess Teardrop should have been drawn to them like a magnet and suspected that it was a side effect of them being in Mirror World.

They returned to see Wu Gong, who told them to eliminate Tae Roon for their next test. After returning, they attempted to argue with Wu Gong to come with them, but the panda simply went to sleep. However, when Alpha attempted to kidnap him, Wu Gong awoke and told him that he was a light sleeper. The twins then went to see Mr. Do in order to ask him to make a sleeping draught.

After bringing him Ginseng Water and Bellflowers, Mr. Do brewed the sleeping draught for them. They returned to Wu Gong and tricked him into drinking the potion, but their kidnapping attempt was stopped by his friend, a cub named Tae Soo. In all the commotion, Wu Gong woke up and grew angry at the twins for what they had done to him. With no other choice, Alpha seized Tae Soo and Beta threatened to drip the young panda in a vat of hair-loss potion if Wu Gong refused to come with them. Wu Gong reluctantly agreed to come with them, but asked for some time to get his affairs in order.

When they came for Wu Gong, however, So Gong told them that both Wu Gong and Tae Soo had been abducted, adding that he believed that it had been the work of several tourists wearing red. Alpha and Beta went after them in the Misty Forest, where they encountered several Shadow Knights. After fighting their way through the knights, the twins found Wu Gong and Tae Soo tied up and knocked out.

Suddenly, Milo appeared and explained that he only wanted to talk. He attempted to convince Alpha to lead the Shadow Knights, as both he and several other Shadow Knights believed that Will had lost his focus after Alpha had defected. He released Wu Gong and Tae Soo and told Alpha to seek him out once he had made his decision.

Back at the temple, Beta asked Alpha what he was planning, as he still hadn’t told the priests about his encounter with Milo. Alpha confided to Beta that it seemed like a good idea to join the rebel Shadow Knights so that they could search for the Goddess Teardrops uninterrupted, or perhaps to even fight Will himself. However, when they returned to Milo, Alpha ultimately refused to join and told Milo that he had new allies that needed him. Milo then showed his true colors and brought backup, claiming that Will had offered to promote him to Chief Knight if he managed to capture Alpha.

After defeating Milo and the other Shadow Knights, Alpha briefly contemplated taking Milo’s life as punishment, but Beta convinced him to take the high road and hand Milo over to the infamously strict Mu Lung legal system. Some time later, they went to see Wu Gong, who thanked them for saving him. He agreed that it was best for him to leave Mu Lung, as Tae Soo had almost gotten hurt.

However, he wanted to leave something for Tae Soo to remember him by, and so he asked them to see Mr. Do. After bringing him a Thousand-year-old Bellflower, Mr. Do used it to create a strength potion. Wu Gong left the potion and a letter behind for Tae Soo and agreed to come with them, after which he transformed himself into a gem.

Soon after, Cassius located the fourth Goddess Teardrop in Edelstein. Alpha and Beta noted that all three Goddess Teardrops had blue hair, and so they were confident that that they would be able to recognize the next Goddess Teardrop on sight. Before they left, they noted that Cassius seemed rather depressed. (A/N: This is important later in the story. I also realized that I don’t mention his brother Benedict as much, but that’s mostly because he’s the temple’s resident himbo who mainly serves as comic relief.)

After arriving in Edelstein, they were stopped by Belle, who told them that she needed to inspect them because of the recent crimes in town. When they asked her if she had seen anyone with blue hair, Belle told them that the Council President’s daughter, Gabrielle, had been kidnapped by someone with blue hair.

They went to the council chambers, where they encountered Wonny listening in on the meeting. He told them to go to Streetlight Row in order to talk more, where they encountered Belle in her Resistance outfit with a horde of jaguars. After defeating the jaguars, they confronted Belle for having Wonny lead them into a trap. Belle accused them of being friends with the kidnapper, but Alpha convinced her that they only wanted to talk with the kidnapper. Belle agreed to let them talk with the kidnapper in exchange for helping the Resistance capture him.

Back in town, Wonny apologized for tricking them and explained that he needed to be sure of their loyalties. After learning how to get to the Secret Plaza, Alpha and Beta met with the Resistance and were briefed about the plan. First, they would get into the power station, where they would destroy the power generator, which would allow the Resistance to rescue Gabrielle and give the twins enough time to confront the kidnapper. After executing the plan, Wonny escaped with Gabrielle, while the twins confronted the blue-haired kidnapper, a man named Arsen.

Arsen refused to come with them, explaining that he was planning to obtain enough energy so that he could sever his ties to the Transcendents and live his own life as a human. Shocked, they returned to the temple and told the priests about Arsen’s plan. Pietta explained that since the Goddess Teardrop was part of the Transcendent of Time, it was impossible for him to separate himself unless the Transcendents themselves were to disown him completely. Suddenly, Beta noticed that Cassius was missing, though Benedict told them that he couldn’t have gone far, since the priests couldn’t stay outside the temple for long. (A/N: Cassius disappearing is also important later on.)

They returned to the Secret Plaza, where Checky told them that Arsen was absorbing a huge amount of energy. He asked them to find him Shining Rue Ore so that he could conduct a precise reading. With the ore, Checky learned that the power plant was sapping up all the energy in Edelstein, and that it would soon explode if left unchecked. Belle attempted to stop Arsen herself, but Alpha and Beta convinced her to let them handle it. They went to confront Arsen, who showed no signs of stopping his plans. Alpha then offered to disown Arsen in exchange for stopping the power plant.

Arsen was surprised at Alpha’s decision, but Alpha explained that Arsen wasn’t worth saving like the other Goddess Teardrops, who had all chosen to follow them because they had known that it was the right thing to do. As they shook hands to complete the separation, Alpha noticed a spider tattoo on Arsen’s wrist, just as an explosion occurred that severely injured Arsen. After taking him to the hospital, the twins returned to the temple and explained that Arsen had been human all along, and that the power of time which they had felt hadn’t been from inside him.

They returned to Edelstein to investigate Arsen and met with Surl, who was the first one to have seen Arsen when he had first arrived in town. Surl told them that he had noticed that Arsen had been covered in dust from Rocky Road, and so Alpha and Beta decided to investigate the area. There, they discovered Shadow Knights guarding the area. After dispatching the guards, they found an operations report that covered all the Shadow Knights’ activities in Edelstein.

From the report, they learned that Will had indoctrinated a test subject, Arsen, into believing that he was a Goddess Teardrop that hated the Transcendents’ hold over him. Will had released Arsen in Edelstein, where Arsen had kidnapped Gabrielle in order to draw out the twins. As Arsen’s mental state had appeared unstable, Will had injected a new dose of brainwashing serum to suppress his memories. However, when Arsen’s false power of time had come into contact with the real thing, an explosion had been triggered.

The twins then went to see Arsen in the hospital, but they were stopped by Claudine, who told them that Arsen wasn’t in his right mind, due to his brainwashing. As Arsen had received irreparable damage from the brainwashing, Claudine recommended that they erase his memories in order to save him. She asked them to obtain Poison Concentrate from the Poison Gas Generator in the Verne Mine, which she used to make a medicine that would erase his memories. After Claudine gave the medicine to Arsen, Alpha sadly wondered whether any of it would have happened if he had just stayed in Shadowvale.

They returned back to the temple, where they reflected on the difficult setback that they had faced. Nevertheless, they decided to move forward and asked Cassius where the next Goddess Teardrop was, which he determined was in Magatia. As the twins arrived in Magatia, Beta asked Alpha if he thought that it was strange that the Shadow Knights had known exactly where to find them.

Alpha grew concerned, realizing that Will likely wouldn’t have made a fake Goddess Teardrop if he hadn’t been certain that they would have gone after the one in Edelstein. As they wondered whether they were walking into a trap, a woman named Rachael approached them and introduced her as the Goddess Teardrop, though she told them that the locals called her the Time Alchemist.

She explained that she wanted to test them in order to determine whether it was worth going with them, and so she had them fight separately in a special dimension in order to test their individual combat skills. During their tests, she attempted to goad them into believing that they were better apart. Even after they passed, Rachael decided to test their intelligence. However, the twins first returned to the temple in order to tell the priests about the latest development. As they all believed that Rachael was a fake Goddess Teardrop, Alpha and Beta decided to keep their guard up when they returned.

For the next test, Rachael teleported them to a replica of Orbis Tower within her dimension. For each question they answered right, she would transport them to the next level. However, if they got the question wrong, she would summon monsters. She also added that she would send them to the top if they learned the secret of the tower. As the two struggled to reach the top, Beta figured out that the secret of the tower was that it was infinite, as it didn’t exist in a physical space.

Impressed, Rachel sent them to the top, where Alpha asked her to prove that she was real and told her to hold hands with him. Rachael then revealed a spider tattoo on her wrist and told them that Will had sent a message: “You never see what’s right under your nose”. She warned them that the mark of the spider signified one who had been corrupted by Will before vanishing.

The twins then returned to Magatia to speak privately, as they couldn’t trust that there wasn’t a traitor amongst the priests. Alpha noted that the priests could track their location by dowsing for the power of time, which might be how the traitor could have been telling Will about where they were. Beta noted that Arsen and Rachel both had tattoos of spiders on their wrists and decided to ask the priests to show their wrists.

Back at the temple, all the priests showed their wrists, which were completely clean. However, when Alpha found Cassius’ dowsing rod on the ground, he picked it up and discovered a spider mark on it. (A/N: This is why Cassius had been disappearing and why he had seemed unusually depressed, as he’s been sneaking off to work with Will.)

Cassius immediately fled the temple, thus cementing his guilt. Benedict went out in search of his brother, though unlike Cassius, he returned for regular check-ins, since the priests couldn’t exist outside the temple for long. Benedict soon returned, unable to find his brother, and was devastated by his betrayal. Alpha and Beta decided to return to Shadowvale in order to find Cassius, though the priests warned them about how dangerous it would be.

They found Cassius near the outskirts of Shadowvale and confronted him, telling him that they could have rewarded him once they arrived in Maple World if that was what he had been after. However, Cassius grew frantic and begged them not to go to Maple World, explaining that the danger of the Black Mage was too great.

When Beta asked if he believed that they couldn’t handle the Black Mage, Cassius truthfully told them that he believed so, as the Transcendent of Time had already once fallen to the Black Mage, even with the full power of time from the Goddess Teardrops. Realizing that there was no way for them to remain safe in Maple World, Cassius had betrayed them to Will in order to prevent them from returning to Maple World and being targeted by the Black Mage.

As the Shadow Knights approached, Cassius attempted to sacrifice himself in order to protect them, but Alpha and Beta fought the knights off themselves. However, as Cassius had spent too long outside the temple, he faded away. After returning to the temple, Alpha, Beta, and the priests mourned Cassius, but continued to move forward in his memory. Though he had his own dowsing rod, Benedict asked them to find Cassius’ dowsing rod as a keepsake.

After bringing it to him from the pile of Cassius’ things from when he had faded away, Benedict used it to find the next Goddess Teardrop, which was located in Ludibrium. Benedict explained that Ludibrium was built around a large clock tower, and that Rhinne had stopped time in the area at the request of its king. Pietta added that time had been shattered into fragments as a result, which had caused concern amongst the priests.

Upon arriving in Ludibrium, they were surprised to instead find themselves in the Temple of Time, where they viewed a memory of the past, in which Tigun the Advisor had requested on behalf of the King of Ludibrium that Rhinne stop time in the kingdom, though Rhinne had warned him that it would cause time to shatter, and that attempting to restart time would have dire consequences.

(A/N: Rhinne takes the prize for being the most useless Transcendent ever. Her one job was to keep the balance of her domain and she couldn’t even do that right. Her decision to freeze time in Ludibrium while knowing full well that it would put Maple World on the brink of temporal collapse is so bizarre to me. It’s later suggested that the reason why she caved in was because she loved Maple World and couldn’t say no to its people, but at the same time, my brother would also ask me for ice cream for breakfast when we were kids, and I still had the sense to say no. It says a lot about Rhinne when a twelve-year-old who still didn’t know how to how to tie his shoes would’ve made for a better Transcendent. Also, just in case anyone was wondering, I know how to tie my shoes now.)

Suddenly, time fractured and shattered the memory, causing them to fall deep below the clocktower into a strange space. There, they defeated a Thanatos, which they recognized as the gatekeeper. Beta realized that the many doors in the area likely led to spaces created by broken time. They entered the door that radiated the most power of time and began climbing the clocktower, where they met the final two Goddess Teardrops, Hera and Mera, who told Alpha and Beta that they would come with them, but that they still had important duties to fulfill.

They transported the twins to the town, where they explained that Mirror World’s Ludibrium was in danger of having its pieces of time collide with each other, which they had been using their fractional power of time to prevent. They asked Alpha and Beta to use their powers as the Transcendents of Time in order to stop time in Ludibrium, just as Rhinne had once done.

Alpha and Beta returned to the temple and explained the situation, as well as the memory that they had seen of their mother. When Alpha asked if they could see Rhinne in Maple World, Pietta sadly explained that once they awakened as the new Transcendents, Rhinne would disappear, as two Transcendents couldn’t exist in one world. (A/N: This poses an interesting question about the fates of Alicia and Darmoor, as well as Alpha/Beta and Chronica, since Maple World and Grandis are now one.)

Saddened by the revelation, Alpha and Beta returned to Hera and Mera, who instructed them to eliminate the flow of time in both the past and the future. They entered the east tower of the past and traveled to the Korean Folk Town, where they drew out the power of time from the people and contained it inside a bottle. (A/N: Cool detail: the monsters created by them drawing out the power of time are the same type of ice cube monster that Larelle summoned when he lost control of his time powers.)

Next, they went to the west tower of the future and arrived at Omega Sector, where they drew out the power of future time. With time having stopped, the Goddess Teardrops were free to join them. Before they did, however, Beta suggested that they visit Rhinne through the crack in time in order to speak with her. Mera agreed to lead them to the Goddess, though she warned them that it would be dangerous.

They then entered the past, where they found a memory of the Record Keeper telling the Goddess that history seemed to grow thinner. He then asked her if Maple World would soon end, to which Rhinne replied that her own future was set in stone, adding that not even the Transcendents lived forever. Next, they entered a memory in which Rhinne chose Benedict, Cassius, and Pietta as her priests who would serve the Child of the Goddess. Finally, they entered a memory of Arkarium attempting to attack Rhinne.

The two immediately rushed to her defense and managed to defeat Arkarium before speaking to Rhinne. They asked her why she worked so hard to save Maple World, to which she explained that she loved Maple World and hoped that they would care for it as she did. Alpha then asked if she regretted creating them, but Rhinne avoided the question and instead warned them that every being had the power to change their own future, except for the Transcendent of Time.

Forced out of the memory, they returned to Ludibrium and successfully collected the last Goddess Teardrops, which they brought back to the temple. Pietta then told them to activate their true powers with the Goddess Teardrops and escape Mirror World. However, they instead found themselves in the Dusk Temple and found Pink Bean nearby. Wondering if it was part of the ceremony, they defeated Pink Bean and noted that he wasn’t using the power of time, as though he had come from another world.

They returned back to the temple, where Pietta explained that the Dusk Temple was a place of old gods who had existed before Rhinne had become the Goddess of Time. She urged them to try again, which resulted in them being transported to the Mirror World Control Room, which had screens that displayed several persons of interest, including themselves and the Black Mage. There, they met Will, who explained that they stood in the same area where the Black Mage had sealed Rhinne. He revealed that he had constructed the control room in order to manipulate her powers and showed them a sealed Rhinne.

(A/N: Like I mentioned in previous sections, Rhinne and her sealing has always been a weird plot hole until the Silent Crusade revamp revealed that Rhinne was sealed in ice within the Temple of Time before she was handed over to Will and sealed in Mirror World. The line about the Black Mage sealing her in the Mirror World Control Room is still a little bit wonky, but you can loosely interpret it as the Black Mage moving her over to Mirror World before handing the keys to Will.)

Will explained that he had split them in two, not only as a matter of convenience, but also to subject them to his influence in order to corrupt one of them, which had thrown the powers of time out of balance. He also revealed that they could never awaken as Transcendents unless the corrupted one were to be killed.

Frustrated, they returned to the temple and explained what Will had told them. Pietta reluctantly told them that it was the best choice for the corrupted vessel to die. (A/N: Given how much she dotes on them both, this was such a shock to read.) When Benedict was shocked by her words, Pietta told him that she had been tasked with guiding the Child of the Goddess into becoming a Transcendent, and that she couldn’t waver.

Hoping not to face such a grim reality, however, Pietta entreated them to visit Mirror World’s replica of the Temple of Time and speak with the other priests there. At the temple, the Temple Keeper suggested that they speak to the Memory Keeper, who may know something about their corruption. When they explained the situation to him, the Memory Keeper told them that they needed to destroy the corrupted one and offered to help identify them. Though Alpha was furious with the Memory Keeper, Beta calmed him down and told him that they needed to understand the problem if they were to find their own way to fix it.

The Memory Keeper then told them to hunt Dodo and obtain its shard, which could offer a glimpse into the past. They used the Shard of Recollection to remember many of their happiest memories. However, the Temple Keeper told them that their dark past had been overwhelmed by nostalgia for the time that they had enjoyed, and thus, he couldn’t see far back enough to when Will had corrupted them.

They returned to the Temple Keeper, who suggested visiting the Sorcerer, as he had spent a lifetime trying to remove his regrets. The Sorcerer believed that their corruption stemmed from regret and asked them to collect a shard from Lilynouch. Using the Shard of Regret, they viewed their past regrets of not having been able to save Arsen, Rachael, and Cassius. However, they agreed that their regrets were because of the decisions that they had made, not because of the corruption. As their past regrets had been forgiven, the Sorcerer explained that he could no longer help them.

The Temple Keeper finally suggested that they visit the Record Keeper, who had recorded countless memories from ages past. The Record Keeper told them to find a shard from Lyka in order to find memories that they had lost to oblivion. After hunting Lyka, they obtained the Shard of Oblivion. Upon using it, Alpha viewed one of his forgotten memories.

In the Umbra Temple, he saw himself speaking with Milo, who called his past self Seven. Alpha watched Seven make his way into the deepest part of the temple, where he found Beta. Suddenly, Will appeared and convinced Seven to leave Beta, calling her a corrupted being. However, Alpha realized that Will had full intent to wipe Seven’s memories once they returned to Shadowvale. Alpha then returned to the Temple of Time, where Beta told him that she had only seen the empty flow of time. Alpha kept the knowledge that Beta was the corrupted one to himself, intending to purify her in order to prevent her from being destroyed.

Some time later, Beta took Alpha to the deeper parts of the Temple of Time, where she confronted him and explained that since she had been asleep in the past, she hadn’t been able to view the memory shown by the Shard of Oblivion, meaning that it had to have been Alpha’s. She surmised that Alpha was keeping the truth that she was the corrupted one and told him that for the good of Maple World, he needed to kill her.

When Alpha refused to fight her, Beta attacked him in an effort to force him to defend himself. Alpha managed to defeat her, but refused to finish her off. He then suggested that Will had manipulated them into thinking that she was the corrupted one when it was really himself, and that if she were killed, he would remain the sole corrupted vessel, unable to become a Transcendent.

United once again, they returned to the temple and told Pietta that they refused to hurt each other, regardless of who was corrupted. Alpha then suggested that they fight Will, believing that defeating him would lift the corruption. They arrived at the Mirror World Control Room, where Will amusedly told them to watch what happened when an unstable entity attempted to become a Transcendent.

Suddenly, Rhinne teleported out of her containment chamber and poised herself to attack. Will explained to the shocked twins that it was in her nature as a Transcendent to prevent incomplete and corrupted beings such as themselves from stealing her powers, adding that she was likely eating away at her own life force in order to move against her bindings. Suddenly, however, Rhinne attacked a surprised Will and explained that though it was in her nature to stop any corruption to her own power, it was a mother’s instinct not to harm her own child, which was far more powerful than the calling of the Transcendents.

After forcing Will to retreat, Rhinne cleansed both Alpha and Beta of their corruption and told them that they needed to escape Mirror World in order to become the next Transcendents of Time. She explained that the Black Mage had used her powers to create Mirror World, and that as long as it existed, she would remain the only one with access to the power of time. As two Transcendents couldn’t exist, Rhinne told them that she would need to die in order for them to inherit her powers.

They all returned to the temple, where Rhinne explained that Will was attempting to use her power to revert all time in Mirror World. She told them that it was their chance to defeat Will and destroy Mirror World, which would release her power for them to become the next Transcendents of Time. Before they left, Beta whispered a plan to Alpha that would save Rhinne, to which he agreed.

They then confronted Will, and after a fierce battle, they managed to defeat him, causing Mirror World to be destroyed and allowing them to awaken as the new Transcendents of Time. However, following Beta’s plan, they recreated Mirror World as soon as it was destroyed, allowing them to resurrect Rhinne in the form of a child. As Mirror World had been created through Rhinne’s power, they told her that she would be bound to stay there, although Rhinne gladly accepted the arrangement.

(A/N: Alpha and Beta awakening as the new Transcendents of Time is a weird issue in the game. While the game claims that they’re Transcendents, almost nothing in the lore actually supports this. At the beginning of the Convergence storyline, it’s said that there are no Transcendents left in Maple World after the death of the Black Mage, which directly contradicts Zero’s existence.

In Kao’s original timeline, we learn that Beta was killed by the Black Mage, leaving Alpha to travel back in time and become Kao. This directly contradicts the lore that Transcendents are incapable of killing other Transcendents. We can explain away Zero being the Adversary by saying that the Seal Stone, which has the power to defy destiny, can allow them to overcome their limitations as Transcendents and kill the Black Mage, but there’s no way that the Black Mage should be able to kill Zero if they really are fellow Transcendents.

The current working theory of the fandom is that Alpha and Beta being split is the reason why they don’t count as proper Transcendents. The way that the game presents Transcendent lore is that Transcendents don’t necessarily need to die in order to be counted as absent, but rather, they just need to be incapable of performing their jobs. All three Transcendents being sealed away centuries ago, for instance, triggered the fusion of Maple World and Grandis, despite the fact that all of them were still alive.

Because of this, people speculate that much like how Alicia’s life force was scattered across the world, Zero being split and weakened means that the universal laws governing Transcendent powers have determined that they’re not capable of performing their full Transcendent duties, which would explain why all the Transcendents of Maple World are said to be gone after Tenebris.

Nexon probably regrets making Zero a Transcendent now that the story direction has gone in such a way that all the Transcendents in the game are inevitably going to be killed. It would’ve been easy for them to have thrown in a line in Tenebris explaining why they don’t count as real Transcendents anymore just to clear things up, but they’ve remained silent on the matter for so long now that we just have to treat this theory as all-but-canon.)

Alpha and Beta then entered the portal to Maple World, but unexpectedly, they hit something between dimensions, forcing them to arrive in Pantheon instead. As Cartalion confronted them, they asked to know whether they were in Maple World, to which Fenelle told them that they were in Grandis, not Maple World. Suddenly, another intruder arrived and asked them to follow him, promising that it wasn’t a trap. He led them to a space between dimensions, where they were shocked to find the Commanders of the Black Mage: Arkarium, Damien, Hilla, Gelimer, Lotus, and Von Leon.

(A/N: Although Gelimer is standing with the others, he hasn’t been made an actual Commander. This is also the last time that we ever see Von Leon, as he’s sadly never mentioned again.)

The Commanders offered an alliance with the new Transcendents, claiming that they could help Alpha and Beta become the Transcendents of Time of both Maple World and Grandis. Arkarium explained that Maple World and Grandis were slowly merging, which was all according to the Black Mage’s plan. He told them that only a Transcendent of Life, a Transcendent of Time, and a Transcendent of Light could exist in a given world, with a new Transcendent being created as a replacement should one disappear, though Hilla added that the circumstances could be less than ideal, such as how Alpha and Beta had been split in two.

However, should a world lose all its Transcendents, it would become unstable and would fuse with another world in order to regain its stability. Because the Black Mage, Rhinne, and Alicia had all been sealed away, Maple World had attempted to restore its balance by seeking to merge with Grandis. Hilla explained that the world merge would have stopped if the Transcendents were to have returned early on, but after centuries, Maple World was moving on pure inertia, meaning that even the return of the Transcendents wouldn’t stop it. She also added that as Maple World was much larger than Grandis, their imminent collision would be interesting to watch.

She then explained that the Black Mage planned to become the Transcendent of Light of both Maple World and Grandis and asked if they would agree to join him. Alpha asked who the new Transcendent of Life would be if he and Beta were the new Transcendents of Time. Hilla told them that she didn’t want to spoil the fun, but added that the Transcendent of Life had already been chosen.

(A/N: As Damien stealing Alicia’s powers was a betrayal on his part, him becoming the next Transcendent of Life obviously wasn’t the plan, and so we never find out who the Commanders had chosen as their candidate.)

Hilla then told them that they only needed to oust Chronica, Grandis’ Transcendent of Time, in order to gain full power over that world. She also reminded them of Rhinne’s fate when she had refused to obey the Black Mage. In order to buy time, Alpha told them that they needed time to think on the Commanders’ offer, as they had only just become the new Transcendents, and so they wanted to learn more about Maple World and Grandis before they could make a decision.

Hilla accepted their proposal, claiming that it wasn’t a pressing matter. Though Damien called them arrogant fools, Arkarium assuaged him by joking that Alpha and Beta were merely living up their role as the Transcendents of Time by asking for more time. (A/N: Damien gets angry because Arkarium had him believe that the Black Mage would convince the new Transcendent of Time to use their powers in order to rewind time and bring his mother back to life.)

Alpha then asked why they weren’t angry at him and Beta for killing Will, to which Hilla explained that they operated on the principle of ‘survival of the fittest’, and hinted that Will wasn’t gone for good. With that, the Commanders disappeared and the twins returned to the guide who had met them in Grandis.

The guide then revealed himself as Cassius, who now possessed a spider-web mark on his face. He explained that the Commanders had brought him back to life, and that he had allied with them in an attempt to help Alpha and Beta, claiming that the Commanders wanted to give them a chance to achieve more than they could on their own by allowing them to become the Transcendents of two worlds, which would allow them to easily defeat the Black Mage. He then asked them to think on his words before sending them back to Maple World.

Having bought some time for themselves, Alpha and Beta began to explore Maple World and Grandis in order to gain allies and to prepare themselves to face the Black Mage. (A/N: Much like with Von Leon, the writers have forgotten that Cassius exists too. I really hope that he shows up and gets involved with all the stuff with Chronica in the Grandis story.)

As Alpha and Beta explored Maple World, Neinheart contacted them after hearing rumors of their activities.

(A/N: Neinheart mentions here that he heard stories about them from Lilin after they helped her at Riena Strait. Personally, I think this is a really weak justification for their Alliance quest, not only because there’s zero chance that Zero players will ever play a level 30-60 theme dungeon when they literally start out at level 100, but also because Illium has the exact same reason why Neinheart hears of him. However, this is most likely part of Nexon’s streamlining assumption that the player completes all their recommended questlines, including Riena Strait, in order once they’re able to.)

Neinheart invited the twins to Ereve, where he introduced them to Empress Cygnus and explained that she had created the Maple Alliance to stand against the Black Mage. He added that the Nova had also joined their alliance, with warriors from across Grandis lending support to their efforts on Maple World. He then requested for Alpha and Beta to join the Alliance and gave them time to discuss it amongst themselves.

Alpha was dubious about joining the Alliance, telling Beta that the two of them could defeat the Black Mage, even without the Alliance’s help. However, Beta noted that since they all had a common enemy, it would be better for them to work together. Alpha replied that he didn’t want to be tied down, to which Beta noted that many people had joined the Alliance, and that their lives would be at risk if the Alliance failed to defeat the Black Mage, leaving the two of them alone in a world swarming with monsters. Reluctantly, Alpha agreed with Beta’s point and met with Empress Cygnus, who thanked them for their support and welcomed them into the Alliance.