The Granblue Fantasy Extra Fes 2023 Pamphlet short story has a brief epilogue to “and you”, starring Orologia.
My LOVES
The Six Dragons had brought a mountain of food, and the singularity and friends were excitedly discussing what to cook. Orologia sat nervously, trembling at the sight. Seeing this, Lu Woh sighed.
“Trying to force you to sit and relax is having the opposite effect, I see.”
The exasperation was mixed with concern, though if confronted with this fact Lu Woh would certainly have denied it. Galleon inclined her head in his direction and gave Orologia a blessing on the cheek. The look Fediel gave them made it clear that she didn’t think this was enough, and Orologia feebly mumbled “I’ll be fine… just fine.”
“No more overdoing it. Promise?”
“I can! I will! No overdoing it!”
Orologia nodded enthusiastically, but Wamdus’ frown didn’t budge. In spite of that, her tiny hands lifted the “I overdid it” sign from Orologia’s neck, trusting them to keep to their word.
“Now then, what can I do to help?” Wilnas was long on enthusiasm and helpfulness and short on culinary skill, so Orologia rolled up their sleeves and headed to the food pile. In spite of appearances, they were quite the chef.
“This is part of my punishment, so feel free to make me do anything and everything!”
Lyria passed over some onions that she had already started to prepare, and Orologia got to dicing. Lyria peeled carrots next to them, and they handled the knife with the speed and care of an experienced cook. As Orologia fried the ground meat and diced onions, they cast sidelong glances at Lyria, who looked like she could start humming at any second. She looked so different from the first time, they thought, then shook their frizzy head before the thought was completed. No, that time was unconnected to now.
The first time. In a simulated world, they had rescued Lyria from an Erste facility with the baby – no, with the singularity. She was so fresh from her imprisonment that she hadn’t even learned body language yet, but her expressionless eyes would always watch Orologia’s hands with interest before mealtime. As they boiled the wide pasta in one pan, Orologia prepared a white sauce and a red sauce in neighboring pans, and those bright blue eyes followed their hands intently, as if watching a magician at work.
Orologia started to feel a little bashful under all the attention when they heard a very familiar child’s voice say “I’m hungry”. Vyrn followed up by asking what was on the menu for tonight. The sound of tiny wings was accompanied by two pairs of footsteps. One belonged to the baby who bore the mantle of singularity and the other was Xing, who followed closely behind like he always did.
“Oh, Lyria, there you are. We been lookin’ for ya!”
The door to the kitchen opened, and three pairs of eyes fell upon Orologia and Lyria. Vyrn spoke for all three of them, and Lyria nodded slightly in reply.
“I’ve… never seen anyone cook before.”
Lyria’s voice was barely a whisper, and Xing’s face clouded with concern. He knew just how hard a life of confinement was for a child growing up, so he understood how she felt more than anyone else. Vyrn spoke quickly before the two of them could reopen their wounds any further.
“Logia’s cooking is the best! You better be ready for the meal of your life!”
“Whoa, aren’t you laying it on a little thick?! I’ll be crushed under the pressure here!”
Seeing that Orologia was already putting their best effort into this meal, the singularity smiled. The banter with Vyrn was part of the mealtime ritual, and Orologia quickly grabbed a wooden spoon.
“Maybe I’ll let our new guest be the judge!” They offered the spoon to Lyria, who obediently moved her lips to the spoon for a taste. The child quickly moved to warn Lyria “It’s still hot, watch out!” and Lyria, her mouth pursed and her eyes wide, nodded in understanding. A sudden stabbing pain shot through Orologia’s chest as they realized that as a prisoner in the laboratory, Lyria may never have experienced a hot meal in her life. Unsure if the wedge of causality was allowed to feel such things, they nonetheless blew on the spoon to cool the sauce before offering it to Lyria again.
“Okay, now open wide!”
“Ahhh… haumph…” Lyria’s mouth closed around the spoon, and her eyelids fluttered rapidly. Xing was the first one to ask what that meant.
“Does it suit your palate?”
Lyria’s hand was pressed against her lips, and seeing that she didn’t seem to understand the question, the singularity asked “Does it taste good?”
Lyria worked her throat and her face lit up as she happily proclaimed “This tastes… good?”
Orologia couldn’t stop the flood of tears as they thought about the hard life Lyria had lived. The poor girl had never even had the chance to think about food being good before, and that was too cruel a fate. And yet, Orologia had been the one to consign her to that fate. Filled with overwhelming pity and even greater guilt, Orologia wiped away the tears and sniffled before speaking.
“Lyria… sob… eat all you want, Logia will make you the world if you ask!”
“O, okay. Th, thank you, Logia…?”
She had no idea how much Orologia knew about her treatment in the lab, or anything about simulated worlds. Her innocent eyes showed concern about the sobbing figure in front of her even as those eyes widened and lit on the newly offered spoon full of white sauce.
“This… tastes good too! Yes, it’s tasty!”
She repeated the words and her face softened into what might have been one of the first smiles of her life. The singularity smiled at the sight, before pleading for their own sample. Orologia reached for more spoons to give Vyrn and the singularity their usual pre-dinner taste when Xing spoke up in worry.
“Will we have enough left for dinner after all this?”
“We will! Probably. I think.”
“Whaddaya mean, you think?”
For some reason, the singularity found Vyrn’s retort so funny that they forgot their manners and laughed with the spoon still in their mouth.
That… had happened, once upon a simulated world.
“Wow, Orologia, you work so fast!”
The melodious voice was different from the voice in the simulated world, but the curious blue eyes were the same. Lyria’s peek over brought Orologia’s thoughts back to the pot of red sauce that was thickening in front of them. The recipe was so ingrained into them that the white sauce in the pan next to it was already done. The two sauces, layered with the broad pasta and topped with cheese, were ready to go into the oven and become a lasagna. It was a fancy meal that required a lot of work, made on innumerable joyous occasions for a very precious child.
“Want a tas–umm, would you like to try some, Lyria?”
Orologia was a hair’s breadth away from talking to her like they had known her forever, but she hadn’t seemed to notice. She nodded with an excited “Yes!” and Orologia brought a sauce-covered spoon to her mouth. She blew on the piping-hot sauce like common sense dictated, and Orologia’s eyes narrowed as her beaming face brightened even more.
“It’ff fo gooood!”
As if summoned by her carefree declaration, Vyrn and the singularity moved to join Lyria. Not knowing what else to do in a kitchen by himself, Seox followed. Watching the cooking from above, Vyrn asked “Is there anything we can do to help?”
“Umm…”
Orologia tried to say “I’m fine here, go help someone else”, but their hands automatically moved to grab a spoon. For just a moment, the singularity before them was the same baby who would always come to the kitchen and beg for just a taste.
“You… could try it and let me know what you think!”
The singularity’s eyes widened at the proffered spoon, then they smiled and nodded. The smile brought back so many memories that the simple comment “It tastes great” brought stinging pain to the back of Orologia’s eyes. Orologia blinked the tears away furiously, knowing that a single drop would worry the singularity greatly.
“Right? It’s good, right?”
“Yeah! You’re a really good cook, Orologia!”
The simulated Vyrn had said the same thing the first time he’d eaten Orologia’s cooking. He may not have been real, but he was still Vyrn in every way. Being able to speak with him like this filled Orologia with a joy that they did not have the words to express.
Vyrn tilted his head to ask “Can I get one more taste?” Lyria and the singularity piled on, and Orologia gladly gave out samples to their heart’s content. Behind them, Seox muttered in concern.
“We may run out before we even start…”
Orologia took a step toward Seox to try and reassure him that it wouldn’t come to that, and snuck a glance at Vyrn. Their eyes met, and the tiny dragon snuck his hand toward Seox’s mask.
“Eep!”
Seox’s guard was so relaxed that he was completely unable to fend off the swift combination of Vyrn removing his mask and Orologia shoving a spoon into his shocked mouth. Seox’s eyes widened at the teasing teamwork, and the singularity laughed. “You’re on our side now!”
Lyria took the mask from Vyrn and returned it to Seox, who covered his face and sighed in relief. Orologia looked warmly at the group and the banter that felt so natural.
They had seen so many possibilities in the simulated worlds. There were so many smiles and laughs in those simulations that could never be in the real world. They weren’t responsible for everything that had happened, but Orologia felt responsible for bringing so much misfortune through their interference, far beyond what they had personally done. They did not believe that they had done an absolute good. There had been overlooked possibilities, there had been wrong choices, and yet…
And yet today, the singularity, Vyrn, Lyria, and Seox were laughing together. They had all willed themselves down this path to each other, and if Orologia had been able to contribute even a little to that, then perhaps their actions had meaning after all.
At the very least, they could start to believe that.
Back to the task at hand. It was a joyous day, and it was time to put the finishing touches on the first dish to celebrate it.
