A Mother's Touch
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A Mother's Touch
- Quest giver
- Lahabrea
- Location
- The Dæmons' Nest (X:6.0, Y:6.1)
- Quest line
- Pandaemonium Quests
- Level
- 90
- Gil
3,000- Previous quest
The Emissary's Judgment- Next quest
- Guided by the Past
- Patch
- 6.4
- Links
- EDB GT
“— In-game description
Rewards
- In addition to the above, choose one of the following options:
- Unlocks
Steps
- Enter Anabaseios: The Twelfth Circle.
- Speak with Themis.
Journal
- Lahabrea would discuss the plan to bring about Athena's end.
- It seems that Lahabrea has conjured a plan to free Claudien, though he is less than forthcoming with the details. For the time being, he tasks you with standing against his former lover, that she may be weak enough for his scheme to succeed. And so you steel your spirits for one final excursion into Athena's gate.
- ※Anabaseios: The Twelfth Circle can be accessed via the Duty Finder.
- As befits one who has laid many a god low and lived to tell of it, you remain unshaken by Athena's attempts to plunge you into the abyss. Despite her power to warp nature itself, you emerge triumphant and ready to see her evil experiments ended for good.
- Although defeated, Athena yet lives. She is more than happy to reveal that her grand design was to replace life upon Etheirys with superior beings of her creation, and confirms that Erichthonios was never more than a tool for this end. Her ambitions now denied, she attempts to purge the aetherial sea with a burst of powerful magicks, but is stymied by the sudden awakening of Claudien's will, roused from its slumber by Erichthonios's memories. Her control over the body lost, Athena's memories are expelled, leaving her a powerless phantom. As the space that was once Pandæmonium begins to collapse as the forces holding it together vanish, Themis teleports you and Lahabrea to safety, leaving no witness to Athena's final moments.
- While the loss of Erichthonios lies heavy in the hearts of all present, you rest assured that his sacrifice was not in vain. Peace is restored to the aetherial sea, but Claudien remains insensate. Themis says that he will stand vigil over the professor, and instructs you to rest until such time as you are needed.
Dialogue
Erichthonios: Why would Athena use my name? More questions, and few answers to go around.
Themis: Our course of action is clear: we must lay Athena low and rescue Claudien. A difficult task, to be sure, but one which the present company is more than capable of achieving.
Lahabrea: Themis, you may have just handed us the key to rescuing Claudien.
Erichthonios: What must we do?
Lahabrea: First and foremost, we must confront Athena. She must be made vulnerable, as Elidibus was. Lahabrea: Yet our opponent stands on the verge of godhood. As we are now, she would unmake us in an instant. Lahabrea: [Forename], we have no choice but to place the burden of our fate─and the fate of many more besides─squarely upon your shoulders. I trust you have no objections.
Q1: What will you say?
A1: God or no, I shall cast her down.
A2: It's a burden I'm used to carrying.
A3: Objections, no. Concerns, yes...
Themis: If you have faith in your victory, then so do I. Themis: I imagine so. Ever have we relied upon your skill at arms. Themis: Though we know not what form Athena will take, I have faith that your skill will see us through this trial, as it has many times before.
Erichthonios: And we all appreciate [Forename]'s willingness to fling herself at the unknown. However, we have yet to hear how this will liberate Claudien...
Lahabrea: ...I have a plan. Do not trouble yourself over the details. Lahabrea: The same goes for you, [Forename]. You must focus the entirety of your attention on Athena. She will not be easily bested, even by one of your prowess.
Themis: Then let us trust in Lahabrea, and prepare for the battle to come.
Erichthonios: Before we face Athena, I must know... Erichthonios: If she had never discovered the auracite─had never fallen under its influence─would she have lived a normal life? Would she have been a mother to me?
Lahabrea: I have asked myself the same questions. Questions with no answer, I fear. Lahabrea: But let us put them out of our mind. There is something we must discuss, and I would do so not as Lahabrea, but as a father to his son.
Erichthonios: For now we place our trust in you. The rest must wait until we have Athena before us.
Lahabrea: Right now, Athena must be the sole focus of your attention. She shall not hesitate to exploit any weakness she can sense.
Themis: Athena maintains absolute control over this space. Beyond the gate, she has doubtless built herself an abode worthy of a god, and now awaits the arrival of her supplicants...
Athena: Countless years I waited within that stifling crystal. And now, when my dream is finally within reach, you stand in my way.
Erichthonios: Your “dream” is naught but selfish ambition. Its fulfillment would benefit only you. Erichthonios: And why, Athena? At the end of this road to godhood, what did you hope to find?
Lahabrea: It matters not. The fact remains that she worked against the interests of the star.
Erichthonios: Even so, I would hear her answer. I would know why my mother cast us aside.
Athena: How unlike you, Erichthonios. You were never so inquisitive before. Athena: Having struck upon a hypothesis, there is but one thing the wise woman desires. Athena: Irrefutable proof. Athena: My theory was that any true god would see us as we are─imperfect. She would hammer out our flaws, and build something...greater. Athena: To prove this could not but benefit the star! I would give it the perfect stewards, that it might shine brighter than any other.
Erichthonios: And you would destroy the lives already upon it!
Athena: In that, I am no different from our peers. Over the course of eons, how many creations have we wrought? Such creatures cannot but usher their inferior predecessors into oblivion. Athena: Even without our meddling, nature would take the selfsame course. Athena: If the destination is the same, is it somehow worse to arrive there by the guidance of a god? I think not.
Lahabrea: The auracite made such thoughts irresistible, perhaps. But it cannot have created them from whole cloth. This is Athena's truth.
Athena: What right have you to pass judgment? You were but a vessel for my masterwork─your purpose ends there. My only mistake was leaving you possessed of a soul.
Erichthonios: ...What are you saying?
Athena: Poor Erichthonios. Always the last to arrive at the obvious conclusion... Athena: I gave birth to you for a single reason: that you might serve as my tool. And like any tool, I crafted you to suit my needs, that you might accept my essence when the time came. Athena: Of course, I also made you more amenable to my demands, and ensured that you would feel a cloying affection for your dear mother. However, it seems that my tinkering was insufficient...
Erichthonios: My very feelings were of your design? Erichthonios: You created a boy unable to grasp even the simplest magic. Ever hopelessly clinging to his mother's robes, unable to do otherwise. I was doomed from the start...
Themis: Yet here you are, standing in defiance of her design. You are more than what she made you!
Erichthonios: I still feel the sting of it. But with pain comes clarity... Erichthonios: You ill deserve to wear the mantle of a god!
Athena: As stubborn as you are witless. If this star will not be mine, then it serves no purpose!
Themis: She aims to obliterate the aetherial sea and stem the flow of life!
Erichthonios: ...She will do no such thing. Erichthonios: Before the battle, Lahabrea told me I was the key to finishing this. Erichthonios: Although I am but an illusion, my soul has crossed eons to find its home in another. One whose body Athena has seen fit to purloin as her own. Erichthonios: Much of what I once was now resides in him. Should my memories seize this chance to follow suit, they may resound enough to wake his mind.
Themis: But Athena inhabits him still! What will become of you!?
Erichthonios: I don't know, but if I can rouse his soul, perhaps it will disrupt Athena's hold. It's the best chance we have. Erichthonios: My whole life others have looked down upon me, but I've never given up searching for my purpose. Now I've found it.
Lahabrea: This decision is yours to make, and yours alone. Lahabrea: Do as you will, my son. I know you shall make me proud.
Athena: Erichthonios...do not dare. Athena: No! Stop this!
Erichthonios: Your words hold sway over me no longer. My life is my own... Erichthonios: And I have found my true family!
Athena: Ungh... Athena: My power...wanes... The vessel...rejects me!?
Themis: What is happening? Athena's magicks should be impotent with no body to fuel them...
Lahabrea: Precisely. Athena was the sole force holding the space around Pandæmonium together, and now it crumbles... Lahabrea: Although little would change if we were buried here, we cannot let this be [Forename]'s final resting place.
Athena: Of all my miscalculations...to think that you would be my undoing. That you would even be capable of defying me... Athena: Ah, is there more you would say to me? Athena: Or have you decided to return to your dear mother's bosom? Have you brought Claudien back to me?
Erichthonios: Apologies, but I am only the dregs of your own memory. I can do naught but watch as the evil you've wrought collapses, burying you under its weight.
Athena: How disappointing... Truly, useless to the last.
Erichthonios: And who made me that way?
Nemjiji: At least on the surface, Professor Claudien appears unharmed. We must wait for him to regain consciousness to judge anything beyond that, I fear...
Ruissenaud: Questions, questions, and more questions! Why did Claudien set out by himself? What did he see? Oh, I do hope he wakes up soon!
Lahabrea: ...
Themis: Although Erichthonios was naught but a collection of memories, I know his absence pains you. Themis: But he acted with resolve, full aware of the potential consequences. Let us look back on this moment not with sorrow, but with pride. Themis: You both are the heroes of the day. Athena's ambitions would have swallowed the world had you not stemmed their advance. Themis: We shall stay here, both to look over Professor Claudien and ensure that there are no further disturbances in the aetherial sea. You should rest─and I will not take no for an answer.