We find Jona and Sully in Sector X. Sully calls it "Arc en SEEL," which hurts me as someone who studied French in high school. Juna remembers that Tio told her about Jona, and he offers to trade info with them. We tell them about what's going on in Erebonia, and Jona says the Azure Tree/presidency debacle must've been part of the plan all along. I imagine I won't even get to that part in Trails From Zero, or it'll be a cliffhanger at the end at best! Musse explains that the Phantasmal Blaze plan was to use Crossbell's false phantasm to awaken the blaze in Erebonia, so I'm glad someone finally explained why it was called that! Or they explained it again, in case I simply forgot...!
Jona offers to help us find the singularity, only because he wants to see how far Rean has fallen after he once gave Lloyd all he could handle. Jona gets offended that Ash calls him a nerd because he's actually a geek and there's a difference (he's right, you know). We hear an archaism roll by, and so everyone decides it's time to bail. Before we can make it to the exit, the archaisms catch up to us, but they don't prove to be too tough. For some reason, Heiyue is waiting for us beyond that. Cao Lee reveals they've made a contract with another party, which I'm guessing is Ouroboros by the fact that he summons some more archaisms. Kurt has the same idea, but Musse thinks they're actually working for Rufus.
Thankfully, Estelle and Elie both show up to save the day. It's so wild to see Estelle introducing herself to Class VII. Elie mentions that the SSS had an indirect working relationship with Heiyue at one point. I'm guessing she means Rixia? Class VII leaves the scene right before Estelle hits them with Wheel of Time, unfortunately, and we emerge from the lighthouse at the Harbor District. Juna reveals that Elie is the current acting secretary, whatever that actually entails! Musse knows who Estelle is, as does Altina, naturally, since the Intelligence Division has been keeping tabs on her.
Speaking of which, Lechter and Campanella are spying on us from above. Lechter says the Jade Rook is back, and that was Rufus's code name, right? Then he talks about handing it over to "the next guy." Campanella says that Operation Jormungandr is almost ready to go.
Sully takes us to the old SSS headquarters to lie low for a bit. Jona said he was the one who told Estelle and Elie that Class VII was coming to meet him. After Jona gets some info from the orbal network, they call Louise over to discuss their strategy going forward. They still can't find any news about the black Pleroma Grass, but they do hear that Rufus has just returned from Garrelia Fortress. There's also some news about St. Ursula, and Sully mentions they have a contact there. Juna correctly guesses it's Cecile, and then Sully also mentions that Lloyd is probably at the convalescent home they set up in Armorica Village since they had to transfer Ilya there in the middle of her rehab. Is Joshua with him, I wonder?
They produce a map that displays where all the archaisms have been showing up, and it's mostly in the northern part of the state. Musse suggests that maybe they're intentionally trying to divert the attentions of the SSS and the bracers away from the south, so we decide to head to St. Ursula to rendezvous with Valerie. Louise also says she received word from Freddy, saying he discovered something interesting at the old field exercise camp, so we're going there first. We check out Lloyd's old room and find a picture of the SSS, including KeA and Zeit, so I guess he sticks around. I stumble upon a couple of spoilers by finding out a room that's currently vacant in Trails From Zero later becomes Wazy's room, and the other vacant room eventually belongs to Noel. I guess that one makes sense since she's already been a temporary party member!
