Allison & Lillia – 20

「悪夢の初夢」 (Akumu no Hatsuyume)
“The Nightmarish First Dream of the Year”

Episode at a Glance:
Unaware of the situation his parents are in, Treize continues to try and convey his feelings to Lillia, but backs out when he’s put on the spot and starts talking about the seven wonders of Ikstova instead. Back at the solitary house, Fiona tells everyone not to resist their captors, so Elisha informs everyone that they’ll only be shot if they retaliate. After Elisha leaves with Benedict and Fiona to talk in another room, Jan makes a diversion that allows Ema to sneak out the window and make her way to Treize’s place.

Over dessert, Lillia and Treize are scared to see the abominable snowman, one of the supposedly seven wonders of Ikstova, but Treize soon realizes that’s it’s Ema. Treize then learns about the situation at the new years party and fills Lillia in, but refrains from telling her about his royal heritage. With the phone lines cut, Treize runs off saying that he has to save the queen, but Lillia decides to come along as well. Elsewhere in the city, Allison is having a new years toast alone, but soon runs into Warren, who’s now a police superintendent. After taking a moment to recognize Allison, Warren sits down with her and reminisces about the events eighteen years ago, which he remembers as if they happened yesterday. However, he also reveals how Owen Nicht‘s wife and then six year-old daughter were chased out of Ikstova after the incident, despite being completely innocent. Meanwhile, Elisha continues to question Fiona and Benedict about what Ikstova’s royal treasure of over 400 years is, which she claims the royal family entrusts to a single child to avoid a catastrophic dispute over it. This surprises Fiona though, making Benedict realize that she doesn’t know, but he suggests telling Elisha about it in order to buy some time until help comes.

Picking up on Benedict’s idea, Fiona says that the treasure is Ikstova’s beautiful nature, its kind people, and advanced technology, but Elisha quickly casts those aside as joke, so Fiona goes on to confirm whether she knows about her past. Elisha states that she the story of how Fiona lost her memory after the attack on the palace, lived ten years in a village，regained her memory, and appeared in front of the people eighteen years ago with Benedict. Acknowledging that her understanding is correct, Fiona then adds that there’s no way she’d know where the treasure is then, but Elisha says she has information that the information on the treasure was passed on to the royal princess on her tenth birthday. Wondering how she can know that, both Fiona and Benedict question who Elisha really is, but she simply tells them that they didn’t risk there lives coming here with a plan they thought up in mere year or two. She then shows them an ancient detailed map of Ikstova to make it easier to understand the extensiveness of their plan. On the map, Elisha points out a valley with a nearby lake shore that used to be the royal family scenic spot that commoners weren’t allowed to visit. For the past 400 years though, the area has grown into a pasture but people are still prohibited from entering, making Elisha believe that there’s something there.

During this time, Treize and Lillia make their way through a secret underground tunnel that leads to the royal solitary house, which Treize claims he found out from a friend’s bodyguard. Lillia suggests firing that bodyguard then since he can’t be trusted, but Treize comments on how the information has proved helpful to them. He then gives her the option to turn back because it’s dangerous, but Lillia insists on coming along. The two of them then come across a railway cart that takes them directly to the storehouse, which makes Lillia wonder what she’ll be riding in next year since last was a plane, so Treize jokes about it being a dinosaur. While riding the cart, Lillia asks Treize if it can go any faster since it’s currently no faster than walking, when it suddenly starts accelerating down a slope. Unaware that Treize is panicking, Lillia’s happy about the new speed, but wonders if they going a bit too fast. She then finds out that the brake broke and the two of them eventually crash near the storehouse, where Lillia wonders if there’s a wireless radio that they can use. Hearing this, Treize recalls there being one on the third floor of the house; however, Lillia is more suspicious as to how he knows so much.

Up above ground, Elisha is convinced that a member of the royal family would know about the treasure and threatens Fiona for that information with Benedict’s life. Back in the underground storeroom, Lillia stumbles upon some dynamite, so Treize suggests using it.

Next Episode:
「宿命の父娘」 (Shukumei no Oyako)
“Father and Daughter of Fate”

Impressions:
I guess I wasn’t thinking too far ahead last time when I suspected that Elisha is Owen Nicht’s daughter, because they’ve made it pretty evident this week that she is. Surprisingly though, she doesn’t appear to be driven by revenge, as she’s only concerned about the Ikstova royal family’s treasure. Speaking of which, I’m rather curious as to exactly what this treasure is since no one seems to know, except (possibly) Fiona. I’m under the impression that Francesca passed on that information to Fiona on their tenth birthday and that she’s simply chosen to withhold it all this time, even from Benedict. With Mr. Hero’s life on the line now, it’ll be interesting to see how Fiona responds, but in all likelihood, Treize and Lillia will blow up everything before that can happen. The preview does show a huge explosion going off at the house, so it looks like we’re in store for some round two fireworks. Lillia doesn’t look like she’s handling the freezing cold well though, so it should be pretty amusing as well. On another note, I really liked how they showed some flashbacks from before, because I find that they help tie the “Allison & Wil” and “Lillia & Treize” stories together. It’s not often in a series that I get to see an eighteen year flashback of an arc that I watched a few months ago. Seeing Warren now compared to before was a huge contrast much like in Allison and Wil’s cases. I mean, look how young they were!

Cast:
– Lillia (リリア) / Mizuki Nana (水樹 奈々)
– Trieze (トレイズ) / Yoshino Hiroyuki (吉野 裕行)
– Allison (アリソン) / Kuwashima Houko (桑島 法子)
– Benedict (ベネディクト) / Yamadera Kouichi (山寺 宏一)
– Fiona (フィオナ) / Noto Mamiko (能登 麻美子)
– Ema (エマ) / Satou Ai (さとう あい)
– Jan (ジャン) / Konno Jun (金野 潤)
– Warren (ワレン) / Utsumi Kenji (内海 賢二)
– Lourie (ラウリー) / Tanaka Rie (田中 理恵)
– Mike (マイク) / Matsuo Daisuke (松尾 大亮)