Catching Up

  When Katherine woke up to the green rays of the sunlight, she found herself cuddling with Elizzel. That was one thorn in her chest gone. She slowly caressed the faunel’s hair, pink and luscious and silky.

  The sleeping girl breathed calmly, a good sign as far as the Lady was concerned. At the very least, it meant that she had returned safely during the night, able to sleep without worry. This bode well for the other problem she had.

  Katherine turned and saw Frein sleeping. He didn’t move at all from how he was positioned on the bed. As if the only indication he was still alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest.

  Trying to enter his Mind Palace through the Tether was impossible without Elizzel. Despite being denied, for Katherine, this was proof that she and Frein were still separate people. It didn’t matter if they were one and the same with the faunel. The logic behind it was a complete mess unless she took Contradiction as part of the equation.

  An hour passed. Elizzel finally woke up, and still, Katherine couldn’t get this thought out of her head.

  “It is,” the faunel confirmed. “Basically, it’s a Rule that somehow acts as a Contradiction against Destiny. The Tether only concerns me and who I bond with. Even if I bond with multiple people, they’re completely isolated from each other.

  “What’s a Rule?” Katherine asked, moving quickly from the topic now that her guess was confirmed. Somehow she felt like Frein, his curiosity rubbing off on her.

  “A Rule’s a rule,” Elizzel said, shrugging. “They’re rules that indicate how a thing works, especially in Destiny and Contradiction. The most common example of this is how gods in the past weren’t allowed to directly set foot in Brymeia. They had to intervene by influencing the natives to act for them.”

  “But ‘rules are meant to be broken’,” Katherine said, quoting a common phrase both from Earth and Brymeia.

  “Even if that’s true, we’re not exactly strong enough to do that.”

  “But it’s true, right?” Katherine asked. “They can be broken, right?”

  From the looks of it, Elizzel seemed to understand where her interest was coming from. If Katherine had understood this correctly, it was a Rule that dead people could never truly return to life. And if it was a Rule, it could be broken.

  The faunel nodded. “Yes, we’ve had an example of that before, Kat. Rules can be broken.”

  “What example?”

  Elizzel simply shrugged. “Zerax’thum, who else? He stepped into Brymeia.”

  Katherine crossed her arms and thought to herself. The answer seemed convenient. The Fallen Dragon was, as history said, a god that Evanclad managed to defeat. From the snippets that Frein and Elizzel shared, it seemed he wasn’t really at all that evil.

  “He’s a Stellar,” the faunel said, observing her. “A being greater than gods.”

  While Katherine processed those words, Elizzel continued, her eyes moving over to the sleeping Frein.

  “He’s currently with Zerax’thum,” she said. “When he wakes up, he’ll be a Worldborn.”

  “What?” Katherine couldn’t hold her bewilderment anymore. “Explain. Tell me everything.”

  “Even better, Kat. I’ll just show you.” Elizzel smiled and pulled on the Tether.

  After a long time observing Elizzel’s memories through the Tether to find out what would be happening to Frein in the next coming days, Katherine decided to take a stroll around the High Palace. She had nothing to do. She kept the faunel hidden in her Mind Palace.

  Even this early, there was already high activity within the miniature city afloat Zerax’thum’s Skull—or according to Elizzel, the Fallen Dragon’s Avatar’s Skull. People were going around the place, but the most apparent consolidation of those busy bodies moved towards the main palace’s backyard.

  Katherine decided to follow, making sure she was out of everyone’s way while she traversed the hedge maze. It wasn’t like these people were in any rush; they were simply moving with a purpose.

  The Lady of the Void had expected she would eventually meet someone she knew amongst these people, but she hadn’t expected it to be Frill. The Aria in Red stood in the middle of the backyard’s large platform, directing the flow of the crowd as if she had returned to the role of a maid back in Minaveil Province and had assumed her brother’s main function.

  “Good morning,” she said when she found Katherine. “How’s Frein?”

  “Good morning,” the Lady replied. “Frein should wake up in a few days. It’s a little too crowded here.”

  Frill caught up to what she meant, but she returned a gesture that she couldn’t leave.

  “What’s going on?” Katherine asked.

  “We’re preparing for a grand Ritual of Peace for tonight.” Frill pointed towards one of the candle racks being set up at the edge of the circular stage. “For everyone who didn’t make it during the Incursion.”

  The Aria’s words caused a fresh and horrible memory to resurface. The entirety of Eastrise was gone. According to initial assessments, the Incursion within the region had been successfully stopped. With Mother Selfiya and her ragtag group of Vyndivalians, with the addition of Venry, they had managed to push back the expanding Nightmare Lands, segregating it from the Incursion.

  These achievements ensured that the Eastrise Region could be saved. It would take a long time, but it was possible.

  The terrifying thing about these Incursions, however, was how Elizzel had interpreted them. The faunel didn’t truly believe they were real Nightmare Incursions. And she had pointed out the ‘bombs’ Alphazzel had used as proof that they were fake.

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  “A real one can’t be controlled like that,” she had said. This only brought more concern to everyone.

  Fake they might be, but the damage was real. And who’s to say their enemies couldn’t replicate them? Or make more potent ones? Something potentially far more dangerous than the real Incursion?

  Katherine had retrieved some fragments of those containers, but had yet to find the time to study them. In any case, she shook herself out of her stupor.

  “Did you see Mother Selfiya this morning?” she asked Frill.

  The Aria in Red was in the middle of giving instructions to another group of volunteers. She turned Katherine’s way and shook her head without stopping her words.

  The Lady nodded and said a quick goodbye. She left the scene and wandered around, eventually finding herself treading on the edge of a Cloudbark. She was also underneath it, walking upside-down with the help of her meiyal.

  The story about a colossal Spider In The Sky, a Deep Nightmare, and apparently a Sealed One named Velruzenshup’nertoroliz, had invoked a certain fascination in her to walk in such a way. She looked down—up—towards the High Palace, trying to find Mother Selfiya.

  The way every witness described the spider gave Katherine the confidence to assume that the Nightmare had Nature’s Favor. It was also apparently described as a male. Regardless, it sent shivers up her spine. Despite all they had faced, a Deitar was simply too much for them. A Deitar, a Nightmare, and a Blessed One packaged into one monster.

  “It doesn’t matter if he becomes a Worldborn,” Katherine said when Elizzel expressed her eager retaliation against the Sealed One. Apparently she, including Frein, had seen the spider from space. “If history’s right, unless he becomes a Deitar, he won’t have a chance against that Velruzen-guy.”

  “We’ll have to ask him, then,” the faunel said. “Zerax’thum might’ve given him some pointers on how to achieve that.”

  “Without a god?”

  “Zerax’thum’s more capable than a god. He’ll be more than enough.”

  “That’s fair.” Katherine sighed and crossed her arms. She stood there, hair covering her face due to wind and gravity. “Alright, Selfiya’s clearly hiding.”

  “What should we do?”

  “Try Siffera. That’s all we have left.”

  Because of the urgency she had to face during the Nightmare Incursion, Katherine didn’t have enough time to actually evaluate Evanclad’s Exhibit. She had leaned too much on Brymeia’s Embrace, the material this world herself had provided for her. With the pause she had been given today, for she was sure the battle was just beginning, the Lady of the Void finally observed her meiyal-charged materials in earnest.

  Still, out of the five, just Brymeia’s Embrace and The Beauty of Darkness were the only materials that responded to her. The first material, other than making sure the four godlike materials didn’t destroy her Mind Palace, also relieved the stress of Drawing high-level Arts. Those like Nidai up to Juudai Meiyal Arts had an increasing stress on the body, on top of the required materials, meiyal quality, and skill. Needless to say, it also allowed her to actually Draw up to those levels. Juudai, or up to the tenth degree.

  The Beauty of Darkness was there to enable Katherine to use her greatest arsenal, Evanclad’s Magnum Opus, Vantera. In addition, it also increased the intensity of her Void Control Techniques. Whether there was more to this material or not, it refused to tell her.

  With these things in mind, Katherine Drew Godai-Siffera, the fifth level. This was the epitome of the Art as far as research on the discipline was concerned. Even if the Lady was capable of using Rokudai, or sixth level Arts, Siffera wouldn’t provide her with any more enhancements. She had a theory that it could still be improved, but that would be for another time.

  For now, Katherine enhanced her awareness with Godai-Siffera. She had wondered how and why Frein’s Siffera allowed him to detect some anomalies like Velruzenshup’nertoroliz, and why her own Art couldn’t do the same. In truth, though, it was never the Visitor’s Art that made him aware. It was his survival instincts alone, reacting to the Sealed One’s interest, that made him notice the danger.

  For Katherine, even if she could feel the entirety of the High Palace and beyond, she suppressed her range to only around her direct vicinity. At this level, she quickly pinpointed where the Void Mother was hiding.

  “Hello, Katherine,” Mother Selfiya said as soon as Katherine reached the top of the cloudbark. Georgery was there, having a chat. The King Cloudbark Worm noticed the new guest and promptly excused himself, gesturing a silent nod. She was used to the worm’s wide, eerie smile at this point.

  “Hiding from the people?” Katherine asked the Mother.

  “Just the people in the higher-ups,” she replied. She raised her hands, stretching all the way without a care in the world. “It’s not everyday, I get to do nothing, you know?”

  As Mother Selfiya Lunasensia turned, a veil of meiyal gradually dissolved from her body. Her head revealed two white dog ears the same color as her hair. On her back blossomed three tails covered in thick, white fur.

  “I should mention, white hair suits you, Kat,” the canintine, Selfiya, said. She splayed completely on the cloudbark, like a kid playing on snow. “I suppose you’re here to ask some questions?”

  “I’m here to catch up,” Katherine replied, lying down beside her teacher. “How are you?”

  “Recovering,” she admitted. “Years of imprisonment and meiyal starvation took a toll on my body. I had to make sure no one figured out I was canintine. Or else, Alphazzel and his friends would’ve figured out how I was supplying my Soul’s Walk with meiyal.”

  “They were only stopping your human core,” Katherine concluded.

  “My yuma core isn’t as developed as my human one. But I was eventually able to train it. Didn’t have much to do in prison, you see? I had to be really careful, though. Made sure my Delolera outfitted me with a disguise, rather than a battle gear.”

  “Smart.” Katherine turned to her teacher. Selfiya was staring at the sky, softened by the green hue of the sunlight. “What’s your plan now?”

  “Help your Monarch recover Eastrise Region, first and foremost,” the canintine replied without skipping a beat. “That should give me enough time to train the Vyndivalians. I would ask Venry as well, but I’m not sure if he’s staying with Kristel now that they’re together.”

  The realization didn’t phase Katherine at all. “They had that going on, huh?”

  “A Deep Nightmare occupied one of our outposts,” Selfiya started. “The closest one we have here. There was a Deep Nightmare in our control room. You’re very familiar with it: My Lover Who Kills Me.”

  “And when it saw Venry…”

  “It took Kristel’s form.”

  Katherine nodded slowly. “Ah. That solidifies that, then. What happens after we retake Eastrise?”

  “I don’t want to finalize anything beyond that yet,” Selfiya replied. “But I’ll have to go to one of the other Sanctums eventually. I don’t have a lot of hope. It’s been years, after all. But we still need to know what happened and if we have any clues to fight this Nightmare. There might be survivors. I’m not exactly sure yet, Kat.”

  “Did you hear anything about Lynera?” Katherine asked.

  Selfiya only silently, slowly shook her head.

  “She’s alive, you know?”

  “What?” In direct contrast to her lethargic movements, this time, the canintine almost leapt out of the cloudbark. “How did you know?”

  “The Letterman.”

  “Oh…” Just as quickly, Selfiya slumped back on the cloudbark once again.

  “It was a letter he gave to Kristel. Lynera, for some reason, ended up becoming Vyndival Kingdom’s ambassador. She’s been waiting in Minaveil Province, but she’ll be here soon. Probably after the Ritual of Peace.”

  “Thank you, Kat.” Selfiya turned to her. “I really appreciate that.”

  Katherine smiled in return. “I thought you might need it.”

  “What about you? How are you faring? How’s Frein?”

  “We’re waiting for him to wake up. He’ll be alright.”

  “That’s good. That’s good.”

  Katherine pulled herself up with a bouncy step. “I guess I’ll go help with the ritual.”

  “No,” Selfiya said, getting up as well. “Stay. You’ve been gone a long time, Kat. Surely you have a lot of stories for me.”

  “Well,” the Lady sat back down, scratching the back of her head. She was still not used to seeing white strands dangling in and out of her vision. “As long as you promise you won’t get tired of how much Frein’s involved in these stories, I can tell you about them.”

  “I like him,” Selfiya admitted. “I’m glad for you, Kat. I promise I won’t get tired of your stories.”

  “Alright. Let me tell you about this one mystery case that we solved together…”

  See you on the next release!

  Shall Allren

  Final War: Hetairoi!