And well, here is the surprise I've been teasing since yesterday: it's a translation of the narration segments from the Tsukioi no Toshi Acoustic Story Live.
I hope you all enjoy finally finding out how the story to the album goes.
Prologue -Nejimaku Tsuki-
Welcome to Lag-Quara, which exists in the space between illusions and reality.
I am the one the people call "Ecliss", the Fifth Will of Goddess Artia, and the Will who destroys everything and leads everyone who gets close to the truth to death.
The happiness that was bestowed upon the people was to live inside a false world without ever knowing the truth.
What is truly pitiful isn't the flowers that wither away, but the ones who think these flowers are pitiful.
Therefore, this is a story that everyone would be better off not knowing.
But if you, who unfortunately got lost into the City of Death, wishes for it, I'll show you a brief dream.
The story of a boy until the moment he inherited the destiny of Ecliss.
Shuuen no Toshi
The name of that city is "Ecliss".
It is a world that was eternally sealed away due to the sins that were committed long ago.
The City of Demise that ends the lives of those who are about to die...
Sewn within the dark world, countless shadows.
Breaths with no heat in them.
These were the countless fragments of consciousnesses that got lost in this City of Death.
I watch over those who lost their bodies upon this land, and peacefully waited for the end to come.
Amongst all this, a single shadow stood immobile.
He was the boy who was born with a strong presence of the Will of Ecliss in his blood, who was supposed to become the next me.
Ecliss is the power of destruction and release.
That power gets activated unconsciously, and so he wouldn't destroy those he considers precious by accident, half of his consciousness was sealed away into this city.
The him in the real world felt that his existence had been becoming fainter, and he especially felt as if his mind was getting farther and farther.
Seeing the world in such a hazy way makes it hard to retain an interest on anything.
There were times when he thought he was a more boring person than anybody else, just breathing and doing whatever others told him, but he didn't really care about it.
After all, he had been taught that if he ever became the successor of Ecliss, his own consciousness would be annihilated.
That's why he feared and vehemently detested Ecliss, and rejected even my own existence.
The ominous Ecliss that exists in the space between illusions and reality.
In the City of Death illuminated by the large moon, he wished to be released from his fate. His name was...
Tsukioi no Toshi
(No narration.)
Sousei to Shuuen
I had no sympathy to give him.
Neither did I oppose him, nor did I help him.
It was because he is the next me, the same kind of existence I am.
However, I did give him a single salvation.
That was the fact that he met a foreign princess who loved Ecliss.
She had been born in the Empyrean Land of Celestara, located far away from Ecliss,
and despite being affected by an incurable disease, she was a positive girl.
She thought the Ecliss that would come to take her away from this world was an angel that would lead her to Paradise,
and tried to make the best of the limited time she had.
Now I think about it, she was his exact opposite both in gender and status,
so these two shouldn't have been able to understand each other under any circumstances.
But maybe that was why?
Mysteriously, he showed her his true feelings.
There was no need to lie about anything here.
Even he, who hated being shackled down to anything, managed to exchange all sorts of promises with a lover, if only because she had no future.
That uncertain and vague relationship had the opposite effect and gave a strong sense of stability to his heart.
On the other hand, she realized how lonely he was.
And once she learned the reasons behind it, she even said she wanted to save him.
"I want to make a gentle rain fall upon his heart, dry as a desert.
I want to be like the moon and illuminate his world, which seems to be like an endless night.
I may not have much time left to me, but...
even if I don't have enough time to change my fate, I may still have enough time to change his fate!"
And when I asked her "For example?", she replied this:
"For example, I can do it if it's something like making him smile more. Making him angry, making him cry...
If it's moving his feelings, I can do it. If these small acts all accumulate upon each other, his future will be changed little by little,
and they may even end up becoming a strength large enough to overturn his fate someday."
--But her illness soon worsened.
Now she was constantly suffering, there only was one way to bring her relief.
It was taking her life. Only the "Ecliss" he considered so disgusting could save her.
Ecliss was a savior to her, it was the Goddess herself to her.
However, he kept averting his eyes from the truth,
and while he sheltered her, he tried to find a method to break her curse. He sought spells and medicines for curing illnesses.
Ultimately, he managed to stave off the time he would lose her for one more day at the least.
His attachment to her was slowly bringing him back to the real world.
The salvation I should have given him ended up becoming a large trial at some point.
A large rift was formed between her, who accepted the world and her fate, and loved Ecliss,
and him, who couldn't accept anything.
Their parting drew closer and closer.
Hikari to no Kaikou
(No narration.)
Hitomi o Tsugumono
It's futile to run away.
It's futile to avert your eyes from it.
Ecliss exists within the blood of everyone,
and it's the Will of the Goddess that will destroy everything and lead everyone to death.
No matter their reasons, Ecliss won't allow anyone to get closer to the truth.
Cursing words that kept falling like rain.
They became like a storm disturbing his heart, as if they were quenching it.
If the illusion covering the world was peeled off as if it were plating, the City of Death
that calls despair forth would spread all over.
Only one fate awaited those who had managed to see the unadorned truth...
Seishou
The Holy Bell that is heard at the instant of one's death.
That is the Song of Truth, and those who heard it will never awaken again.
It's as if it were praying, as if it were wishing.
The girl's time stopped, and she would never move again.
The actions he carried out in an attempt to protect her from Ecliss ultimately only harmed her and brought her suffering.
She, who was resolute to living strong until her last hour and to die gallantly, had suffered to the point of having that will stolen from her.
He held her body in his arms, and blamed himself for everything.
The last words he heard from her strong lips were "Please, kill me already."
His weakness had caused her death in the truest possible sense.
His own selfishness had stolen everything from her.
Tooi Shoujo e
(No narration.)
Aoi Hana no Gensou
--This is a story from a long, long time ago.
Once upon a time, there was a temple in a city where a girl who received the power from the Goddess
and the magician that was summoned to be her protector lived.
The golden eyes of that girl caused anything they touched to be destroyed, and anyone who approached the truth to be led to death, so they were called "Ecliss".
One day, the magician told the girl that she was like a flower.
The man knew that a large world existed outside the city,
and thought nothing could be more pitiful than a being that lived sealed away in a small place, just dreaming while withering away.
However, the girl responded to him this while she smiled:
"There is nothing to be pitied about them. A flower doesn't have a heart after all."
Living in a false world while remaining ignorant to the truth.
That itself was said to be the happiness that had been granted to the people.
I think the ones who truly are pitiful are those who think flowers are pitiful.
These are said to be the hearts that suffer from the greatest solitude...
Hanahiraku Souten
(No narration.)
Shiroki Souka
(No narration.)
Sousei no Toshi
Now he had lost everything, he bid farewell to this world when he awakened from his long dream.
When he succeeded me... "Ecliss", a thin smile formed on his face.
The name of that city is "Ecliss".
It is a world that was eternally sealed away due to the sins that were committed long ago.
The City of Demise that ends the lives of those who are about to die...
He has whispered several of my pet phrases, but it's because he has finally realized that identifies him as me.
And thus, he became me.
Someday, in a future not too far away,
the spiral coil will be winded up once again by the hands of a certain boy.
He will allow a new song to ride upon the same melody.
He will allow a new story to ride upon the same world.
Until that day, I'll continue gazing up at the moon
all alone, in this city where time has stopped...
Nejimaku Tokei ga Tsuki no Michikake wo Kizamu
(No narration.)
Epilogue ~ Tojirareta Sekai
(No narration.)