The Faluna Bible

The Faluna Bible (Japanese: ファルーナ・バイブル) is the fourth episode of the Wild Arms Twilight Venom anime. For information on book in which the title refers to, see The Faluna Bible (book).

Episode Synopsis[]

The episode starts with the famed library, Libra, burning. A bunch of men in robes are attempting to save all of the books that they can and others are trying to put out the fire. One man notices the head Librarian stumbling around and goes to talk to him and he reveals that he started the fire himself.

Six months pass. In a back room a mysterious woman instructs acting chief Yusis to pour a strange liquid onto a burnt body. Yusis asks her why he should believe she knows where the Faluna Bible is in the first place since he's spent so many months searching for it himself and she curtly tells him to keep his mind on the objective. At the front of the library Dr. Kiel Aronnax, Sheyenne Rainstorm, and Issac arrive. The doctor and Issac lament that they wish they were here to read instead of work. At first the monks don't want to admit Sheyenne in as part of the rebuilding team because he's a kid but Yusis says they should admit him to help his passion for reading grow. Another monk bends down to tickle Sheyenne -- but is really frisking for a weapon, and finds the Batour. He raises the Batour to the sky and pulls the trigger and nothing happens. He concludes that the Batour must just be a children's toy and hands it back to Sheyenne; Sheyenne manages to keep his cool but his anger is quite obvious. Kiel and Issac comment that Sheyenne is a kid, all things considered, regardless of the age of his body.

In another room Chief Bado is being interrogated by an exasperated man. Chief Bado once again confirms that he did start the fire, and the interrogator tries to get him to be serious, as six people died in the fire, five of them being his own men. Sheyenne is working on restoring brickwork in a hallway and remarks to Issac that he thinks the rumored unidentified charred body could be his. Back at the interrogation Chief Bado confirms that he knows how big of a crime burning books is, and how big of a crime murder is, and claims he did what he did in order to perfect the library. At this point the interrogator gives up and walks out into the hall with Bado. Yusis arrives and Bado become jovial. Bado learns that Yusis is the acting chief and starts to give him advice on book-binding when Yusis cuts him off and says he knows what he's doing. Bado walks off with a guard, laughing. The interrogator tells Yusis that he's worried that Bado might be going senile -- Yusis doesn't seem convinced.

Loretta, Mirabelle, and Jerusha sneak into Libra, with Loretta talking about finding the Faluna Bible. Mirabelle asks if she read about it in Weekly Treasure Magazine again but Loretta's source on the matter is the Treasure Encyclopedia. Supposedly the Faluna Bible has information in it about the location of lost treasure of King Keanu of the Evil Race, which was sealed by the Goddess Laila. Looking around at all of the bookshelves they realize they have quite a search to perform. When night falls Sheyenne, Kiel, and Issac go off on their own searching in Libra and run into the girls -- neither party is thrilled to see the other. They exchange information about their goals and agree not to get in each other's way. When the two groups separate, Loretta and Mirabelle listen in on Kiel, whose voice carries through the hall, as he says that they should find Chief Bado, as he would probably be the one with the answers. The girls realize Kiel has a good plan and run to them.

The next scene has two librarians standing guard outside of Bado's cell. They notice as a chubby bat flies into the room and then emits some hypnotic sonar waves; they fall into a trance and Mirabelle changes back into her true form. She takes the keys and opens the cell. The two groups explain their dual goals, finding the Faluna bible, and finding the body. Bado says he'll give them information if they let him out. When they enter a hallway lined with book shelves Bado gets excited and runs and hugs a shelf. His mood changes abruptly and he hollers that the stream of the books has been altered -- that is, the order of the books aren't in the order that he prefers. He demands that they re-sort the books before he tells them anything. They reluctantly agree.

After Sheyenne falls with a pile of stacked books Bado makes certain the book is okay, as opposed to seeing if Sheyenne is okay. Sheyenne points out his priorities, which prompts Bado to give him a history lesson on Libra itself. Often times in the ancient past of Fargaia dictators would keep control of the people by destroying books with sensitive information and by denying people the access to their information. Libra was founded by an underground movement who wanted to save all of these books, and for information to reign free, and Libra turned out to be their headquarters. The books of Libra aren't just books but rather the souls of Bado's ancestors. He then asks why they're searching for the Faluna Bible in the first place and Loretta sheepishly admits she's just in it for the Gala. Bado chastises them for getting the Faluna Bible mixed up with ordinary treasure as it contains secrets about the science and technology of the ancients. It's at this point that Bado reveals the real reason why he started the fire -- six threatening men had infiltrated the library six months ago and tries to find the Faluna Bible. The fire was Bado's solution for how to stop them and get out alive.

In the next scene a very uncertain Yusis is holding a vial of mysterious liquid and is about to pour it over a heavily bandaged and almost mummified body when Sheyenne orders him to stop. Yusis wants to know where the Faluna Bible is and asks Bado, who refuses; this prompts Yusis to pour the contents of the vile on the body. The body springs to life and bursts out of its bandages revealing a hulking red monster with scythe blades for arms. Bado comments that this is one of the same monsters that attacked him before and that it must been in a suspended state. They're chased out of the room by the monster and through the library. Bado informs everybody that the monster is weak to fire but Yusis insists that nobody use fire inside the library.

Once outside the library Bado waves a book in his hand in an attempt to attract the monsters attention -- Loretta recognizes the book as the Faluna Bible. The monster charges at Bado who attempts to flee by running up hill and then bats him away with an arm sending the Faluna Bible into the sky; the Faluna Bible lands on one of the monster's bladed arms, tearing a hole through the middle. Sheyenne appears and fires a few shots at the monster but it does not harm him. Remembering Bado's words, Sheyenne asks Loretta to toss a fire card, which she does. He fires a shot at the card just as Loretta detonates it causing the shot to turn into a flaming arrow that hits the monster, enveloping him in flames. As the monster and the Faluna Bible burn to ash a group of masked and robed figures watching from a near-by mountain lament that the Faluna Bible is gone but that at least no one else can get their hands on it. Yusis runs to Bado who says that coming tomorrow he's going to teach Yusis the proper classification system for the books. Mirabelle realizes that the Faluna Bible is gone and that once again they're left empty handed. Issac and Kiel think about getting some food while the rest of the group squabbles over who screwed up this time.