Reminiscence: Threnodian - Leviathan
Fallacy of No Return
Nightmare: Crownless
Story & Voice
Lore beats, character story moments, and voice lines to learn more about Chisa.
Character Story
1The Summer Where the Story Began
The night breeze carried the mingled scents of fireworks and grilled squid from the festival stalls. With a marshmallow stick in one hand, little Chisa pointed toward the sky with the other. Goldfish-shaped lanterns swayed in the breeze, and fireworks blossomed overhead. She saw red threads tied to people's wrists stretching and intertwining, weaving into a warm, invisible web that softly enveloped the festival crowd.
"What wish did you just make, Chisa?" her mother asked, the fireworks reflected tenderly in her eyes. Chisa's cheeks were sticky with apple syrup as she puffed them out and proudly declared, "I want to be like Mom! To make the prettiest paper cuttings so I can keep every precious, happy thing—"
Her twelve-year-old summer was different. That year, her world fell into silence all of a sudden.
Her father was away on endless business trips, and the refrigerator door was plastered with her mother's shift schedules. Over time, she grew used to the cold beeps that greeted her at the other end of the line.
"It's okay. I can take care of myself," little Chisa whispered to herself. With such resolution, she lifted the pot lid and decided to make herself a lemon-scented sukiyaki hotpot. The prepared meal package on the table read in bold print: a healing dish for a family gathering.
The broth began to bubble, filling the room with the rich scent of beef and vegetables. Steam fogged the windows. Turning her face to the misted glass, Chisa saw only her own faint, lonely reflection. No laughter, no clink of glasses.
"For a family gathering."
Such a gentle phrase, she thought, and yet so very far away.
2The Long Rainy Season
One afternoon, the ceaseless rain of the tsuyu season briefly relented. Carrying a stack of books to return, Chisa crossed the courtyard and passed the equipment room. From behind the door came muffled sobs. Through the narrow gap, she glimpsed her classmate Ritsuko cornered by three girls, her shirt blotched with ink, her eyeglasses shattered on the floor. The head of them pressed a lighter to the embroidered name on her uniform, filling the air with the bitter stench of scorched fabric.
It reminded Chisa of the frog in biology class, pinned flat to the dissection tray, limbs splayed, yet its heart still beating futilely. Before she could think, her hand had already acted. She pushed the ajar door open and drew out the scissors she always carried.
That small pair of scissors had been her mother's faithful companion throughout her career and was passed down to her. Now, it pointed at someone's face for the first time.
"Let her go," she demanded.
Retribution came swiftly. By the next morning, her desk was carved with "idiot." Her locker overflowed with shredded textbooks. But the worst part of it was the blurred faces—no sooner than when she tried to see who had tripped her did she realize every face around her had melted into smears of color. The doctor's report read "psychogenic visual recognition disorder." In the wake of her awakened Forte, her brain had cut loose the thread that allowed her to recognize faces.
In that moment, she heard a faint snap—not the brittle break of nerves, but like the sound she heard when the strings of her goldfish lantern snagged on a tree during a festival years ago. The warm, vibrant threads that once bound people together unraveled, falling away in a rain of broken fragments.
When her scissors shredded the final note filled with malicious words, rain hammered the classroom windows. Chisa stared at her hazy, flickering reflection on the window and suddenly realized that growing up meant learning to cut out every loose thread herself—lantern strings tangled in branches, the kite string unwinding between her and her parents, or the cruel arcs frozen on her bullies' lips.
The rainy season stretched on. Cicadas rose with the mounting summer heat. Clutching her scissors, Chisa began to imagine a path she could carve on her own: a path perhaps lonely, but true to her heart. The one she would never need to turn back from.
3Blurred Features
"Did you hear me?" The voice was sharp with discontent. Chisa lifted her gaze, only to find the speaker's features dissolving into nothingness.
"Loud and clear," she replied to the void.
The collar clicked shut around her neck, bearing the cold touch of surveillance equipment.
When the storm finally subsided, she set out for home. Cutting through the park, she came upon a boy crying beside a slide, clutching a snapped kite string. In her vision, the kite caught in the treetop stood out with uncanny clarity: three branches formed a natural lock, and if the far-right one was severed—
"Hold there," she stopped the boy from tugging the string. His eyes widened. With a soft snap, the branch split, and the kite drifted down, alighting gently in his arms.
"Thank y—" His cheer broke off at a shrill cry. "M-monster! Stay away from my child!"
Following the woman's terrified gaze, Chisa then became conscious again of the collar biting cold against her throat.
It wasn't a big deal. She told herself she should be used to this by now.
She could see the kite's frame, the trajectories of raindrops, or even the currents of electrons surging through the storm clouds with such clarity, but she could never see through others' faces or their hearts.
She turned and was about to step into the rain, but a small tug caught her sleeve. The boy had wriggled free from his mother's grasp. He pressed a packet of star-shaped candies into her palm. "Here. This is for you! My teacher says only the brave get star candy, so…"
The plastic wrapper crackled faintly in her hand. Chisa stared at the boy. His face was still a blur, yet it glowed, like fireflies circling lanterns in a festival long ago.
"Mom says people with these collars are bad," He leaned closer, whispering. "But I don't believe her. The way you cut that branch? It was so cool."
Chisa paused, then crouched to pat his head.
The device against her throat stayed still. Her Resonance Spectrum was showing a rare, steady curve. Like a summer sky after the storm, a hint of light finally broke through.
4Nighmare of the Second Month
Chisa jolted awake from the nightmare, cold sweat soaking her back. In a daze, her side still throbbed with a sharp, phantom pain that clawed at her nerves.
But her flesh was unbroken, unlike in the dream. Drawing a deep breath, she pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm the frantic pounding of her heart.
It had been two months since she was trapped in Honami. Her body was slowly adjusting to the endless loop day after day, but each night the nightmares dragged her soul deeper into the abyss.
She turned her head toward the sofa. Sumika lay fast asleep, one hand slipping from the cushion, the other resting beside an open notebook scrawled with numbers and scribbled notes.
Outside, the rain fell in relentless torrents.
By the time Sumika woke up, dusk had already descended. The storm had weakened. Faint stars dotted the ink-blue sky, like silver nails scattered carelessly across the cold night. Still yawning, she followed Chisa into a convenience store. While Chisa carefully gathered food and supplies from the shelves, she turned to find Sumika absorbed in the flickering sign overhead, notebook and pen already in hand.
"Chisa, look at this—" she whispered, voice brimming with restrained excitement. "It's just the same as last time! The time, the flicker rate... Everything matches! If we can just gather a few more samples... these data will let us uncover the pattern behind the loop!"
Catching the brightness in her eyes, Chisa unconsciously clenched her fists. In her palm lingered the sensation of yesterday's cut when she severed the Tacet Discords' threads, a cold shiver, like the snapping of silk.
Whenever she drew her scissors and used her Forte, crimson lines surfaced in her vision—the threads of life, visible only to her. Unlike the warmth of human veins, these threads reeked of decay. They pursued the Left Behind, tearing them apart and dragging those fragile lives into yet another loop alongside the Lament.
Chisa studied her reflection on the window: a face calm, almost pale, but with a single ember still burning in her eyes.
Yesterday, here in this very store, she had crossed paths with the same girl again. The one she met every loop, who always shared her snacks so earnestly, never once realizing that she bore the iridescent glow of the Left Behind. Perhaps it was that fragile but unyielding kindness that kept Chisa from accepting that this city had been forever imprisoned in the past.
The night stretched long, but dawn would always come.
When the first light finally broke through the leaden clouds, she thought she could hear the trembling hum of threads. Pressing her hand to her chest, Chisa knew that when the next loop began, everything would reset once again.
But that was fine.
As long as the scissors remained in her grasp, as long as the fragments of warmth had not been completely forgotten...
She would keep walking forward until the day she could finally cut through the nightmare and sever the snare.
5Beyond the Summer's End
Chisa stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of the Spacetrek Archive. At eighteen, she finally had the leisure to listen to the rhythm of the rain—not the monotonous cadence of Honami's looping rains, but the natural raindrops of Lahai-Roi. Fresh, alive, tinged with a faint sweetness in the air. It was the kind of rain that would casually soak a school uniform left drying on a balcony, or drench an unsuspecting student on the way home.
Steam curled gently from the coffee on her table. With her scissors, she unpacked a bag of sugar... Yes, she still carried them everywhere, though now they were used more for pruning potted plants or opening parcels. The sugar dissolved into the dark surface of the cup. Beyond the window, a few students in bright yellow raincoats splashed through puddles. Their vivid color pierced the gray veil of drizzle, stirring memories of days spent facing endless loops and relentless beginnings—of someone who once walked beside her to the destination of the endless loop, cutting a path through the long night; and of someone who chose to tread countless false paths alone, turning herself into a cornerstone of truth.
When the rain eased, Chisa stepped out of the Archive with a book in her arms. The damp evening breeze lifted her freshly cut hair. The campus stretched before her, alive with the soft after-rain glow. A group of students from the Department of Engineering was engaged in a heated debate over a hovering device. Someone noticed her through the thinning mist, waved brightly, and called her to join—
She watched these young, fervent souls, companions beneath the same sky, all bound for the same sea of stars. And she realized, with striking clarity, that she was no longer a wanderer lost in an endless loop. Her life, after a period of stagnation, had already rejoined the rushing river that carried everyone forward.
She had truly left that endless summer behind.
Taking a steady step, she walked toward her new future.
Voice Lines
Thoughts: I
This nickel-plated pair of scissors weighs about 152 grams. Its max opening angle is roughly 60 degrees. Just enough to cut through thick wool, even with quilted fleece hidden in the seam. I've always been able to estimate numbers like that, even as a little girl. But after that strange and terrifying power descended upon me, I started seeing more. Now, even a single inch feels like an entire world.
Thoughts: II
When I was little, I'd sit on the porch of our house, listening to cicadas while cutting colored paper into goldfish and lucky stars. My mother would be nearby, stitching a yukata. The electric fan creaked as it turned, and slow midday dramas played on the TV... Now that I think about it, summers like that were kind of a luxury.
Thoughts: III
In Honami, summer never ends. But there are no cicadas. No evening wind chimes. Only the endless loop of the Lament... Sometimes, I find old boxes of sugar candy in abandoned convenience stores. Normally, living beings shouldn't feel hunger inside a Sonoro Sphere. But that sugary taste always brings back memories of festivals back home, candy in hand... Sorry, I guess none of that really matters.
Thoughts: IV
I... I'm not good with faces. When I was little, people always said I got stuck on the details. But ever since faces started blurring in front of me, I've had to rely on that instead. In this Sonoro, "death" is only temporary. Those who disappear always show up again like nothing happened. So I take notes. The grease stain on the shopkeeper's sleeve across the road. The shape of the clerk's hair clip in the convenience store. That way, even if their faces are a blur, I still know who they are.
Thoughts: V
Since grade school, I was what people called a "straight-A student." Steady grades. Perfect attendance. Neat handwriting. Homework always early. Not a single crease in my textbooks. For most people, that's enough... and I don't mind that. People have always trusted me for those reasons, without ever really knowing me. But with you, it's different. You didn't come to me because you saw "I was performing well." You didn't stay because I seemed "reliable." <br/>We've stood together on the edge of this city's collapse, again and again. That's why I wanted to say this. Like you said... we're partners. So of course I trust you, too.
Chisa's Hobby
Handcrafting, tailoring, plus... mathematics. Yes, I'd say I'm quite good at these.
Chisa's Trouble
It's probably my lack of facial expressions. A lot of people think I'm "difficult to approach." It's not that I dislike anyone. I just don't know... how to approach people in a natural way.
Favorite Food
Chocolate bars... A former classmate gave me one once and said something like, "Keep frowning like that and your blood sugar's gonna crash." Didn't really get the science behind it. But after trying one... I started keeping a few boxes on hand. They're good for a quick energy boost, and they keep my head clear. That's the main reason I have them.<br/>...But I do have to admit that chocolate is better than strawberry.
Disliked Food
Spicy food. I tasted some <te href=850093>Huanglong</te> cuisines while I was at the Black Shores, and they were... unique. It was the first time I was annoyed by my lack of tolerance for spice. But maybe this could change with enough practice? I'll have to try more.
Ideals
...I don't have any grand ideals. I just know that if I see something happening, I can't pretend I didn't. If my abilities can help, even a little, then I'll keep using them.
Show more voice lines (58 remaining)
Chat: I
These small scissors I carry with me were a present from my mother. She used them her entire career as a seamstress. Later, I used them to alter my new school uniform I wore to orientation. It didn't quite fit, so I adjusted it myself. They feel like an invisible thread my parents stitched into me. Silent, yet always pulling me forward.
Chat: II
The day they put this collar on me, it happened to rain in my hometown. I watched the downpour and rolling stormclouds through the window, and oddly enough, I felt a sense of relief. My Resonance Ability had been restrained. And I told myself, "Now they won't hate you anymore."
About Sumika
Sumika was the first to uncover the "loop pattern" of the <te href=850077>Sonoro</te>. We used to pull all-nighters at the safe house, crunching data. I needed coffee to stay focused, but she always stayed sharp. Honestly, even borderline manic. But I knew how deeply she wanted to understand the truth behind the city's Lament. Maybe that's just the nature of a true researcher. Like she said, even the most dangerous equation still needs someone willing to solve it.
About Namipon
Born of love. Always kind and dependable... That's the Guardian of Honami City. Or at least, that's how it likes to introduce itself. Being around Namipon feels peaceful. Hard to explain. Sometimes it follows me, quietly. I won't notice until it brushes up against me, soft fur against my arm, asking if I want coffee. But there's something more beneath that face. Something vast. Maybe it's just... trying to return the love people once gave it.
About Buling
She's a very fascinating Taoist. If I remember correctly, she's from <te href=850154>Mengzhou</te>, in <te href=850093>Huanglong</te>? She's always saying odd metaphors and local sayings, and showing off the rare antiques she carries around. Once even offered me a "Buy two, get 20% off" deal. Maybe... I'll take her up on it. Just to see.
About Shorekeeper
Shorekeeper helped me a lot while I've been recovering at <te href=850109>the Black Shores</te>. It took me a while to settle in, but in time, I started to feel the kindness there. Shorekeeper once took me to the beach at the Haven of Sprouts to see the stars. They were infinite. And I found myself thinking... Sumika must've stood beneath that same sky many times, imagining the future she hoped to reach.
Birthday Wishes
A birthday... isn't just the anniversary of your birth. It's also a reminder that you're still here. For me, that alone makes it important.<br/>So... please continue to stay healthy, level-headed, endlessly capable, and someone others can count on. May each of your days pass smoothly, and may there always be someone walking alongside you.<br/>—That's the most concise and practical birthday wish I could come up with.
Idle: I
Hmm… That's not it. It's this one.
Idle: II
(Effort Sound)
Idle: III
…Off you go then.
Self-Introduction
Kuchiba Chisa. Tactical Development Program, Department of Engineering, Startorch Academy. Forte Specialization: structural dissection... Apologies, this might not be the time for formalities.
Greeting
I will… sever this deadlock.
Join Team: I
I'll cut to the chase.
Join Team: II
Time to trim things down.
Join Team: III
Let's work together again.
Ascension: I
...The threads. I see them more clearly now.
Ascension: II
The structure is more complex, but also... more distinctly identifiable.
Ascension: III
My Resonance energy continues to expand... Don't worry, I can control it.
Ascension: IV
This wasn't by chance, nor was it coincidental. The deadlock has cracked. We'll fight alongside each other... just like before.
Ascension: V
No matter where this leads… This battle, I'm all in.
Basic Attack: I
Clipped, down to the micron.
Basic Attack: II
Excised, in a breath!
Basic Attack: III
Dismantle!
Basic Attack: IV
To pieces!
Basic Attack: V
Break apart!
Basic Attack: VI
Connections severed.
Basic Attack: VII
Cutting through the numbers!
Basic Attack: VIII
Threads converge.
Heavy Attack: I
Tether snapped!
Heavy Attack: II
Deviation corrected.
Resonance Skill: I
Dead center, locked.
Resonance Skill: II
Eye of unraveling!
Resonance Skill: III
Stress points mapped.
Resonance Skill: IV
This ends here!
Resonance Skill: V
Structural collapse.
Resonance Liberation: I
A pivotal moment.
Resonance Liberation: II
Nothingness, deconstructed!
Resonance Liberation: III
Come… meet your end.
Intro Skill: I
Lifeline plucked.
Intro Skill: II
Blink!
Forte Circuit: I
Break point, locked.
Forte Circuit: II
Fracture, marked.
Hit: I
...The cut's not deep.
Hit: II
A miscalculation.
Injured: I
Structural integrity intact. Carry on.
Injured: II
There's still time… before the threads snap.
Injured: III
…It hurts.
Fallen: I
There's… no way back.
Fallen: II
Is this as far as I go…?
Fallen: III
So… this is the end.
Echo Summon
Flicker into form.
Echo Transform
In the blink of an eye.
Enemies Near
...Obstruction.
Glider
Trajectory calibrated.
Sensor
Structural analysis complete.
Supply Chest: I
Let's make them count.
Supply Chest: II
Acceptable yield for effort spent.
Supply Chest: III
New supplies… This'll last us a few more days.