Safe Travels

”Not even a step outside the Manor…” ~Frein Nivan, the Visitor

”You look disappointed.”

“It can’t be helped,” Frein replied to Katherine. He almost successfully held a sigh. “I can explore Westleaf some other time.”

“We can come back after the Incursion, if you want?” Kristel offered.

“Yeah.” This time, he made some genuine effort to smile. “Ultimately, it depends.”

“Depends?” It was Frill who asked this time.

“After the Nightmare Incursion, we seriously intend to find how we can take a look at Destiny. Regardless of what the Letterman says afterward, if we survive.” Frein signaled Katherine to continue.

“We need to go look for Mother Selfiya, too. I think she’s the only person who can safely help us navigate the Nightmare Lands.”

“Why there?” Xiv asked, joining the conversation.

“I need to keep eating Nightmare cores,” Frein replied.

“Oh, you did mention that.”

“Yeah. If I can build to a hundred-meiyal—I think, even before then—I can finally find some results… hopefully.”

“Well, we have to survive the Incursion first,” Kristel said with finality. Frein could see that the Princess didn’t like the idea. She hadn’t wanted to be separated from Katherine then, she wouldn’t want it now.

But she was right this time; they needed to survive first.

With the arrival of the white sun, it signified the second week from when the Letterman had given Elizzel his warning. Within the next five days, the Nightmare Incursion would hit. This meant they needed to arrive at the High Palace as soon as possible.

The C.A.R. was a little more crowded now that they had to bring Ashtine—who was still unconscious—with them. Her escorts were kind enough to ride along on their yumas, who were joined by Enza and her parents from time to time. The rest of her siblings were still small, the size of large dogs, but with the three horse-sized yumas going out of the vehicle in intervals, they managed to make space for the General Sky Knight.

If Kristel had brought Testra with her, things would’ve been more complicated than they already were. Thankfully, the yuma was understanding enough to go ahead with Atlas Sid.

Frein wondered if their combined weight would push the Close-Air Relocator closer to the road. A quick look didn’t tell him much, other than that they were still hovering above ground with a convenient clearance.

“How long ‘till we get to the High Palace?” He asked.

“At our speed, probably three to four hours,” Kristel replied. “Probably six, since we need to give all the yumas a break.”

Frein sighed. “That’s a long ride.”

“That’s not why you’re sighing, though, isn’t it?” Katherine asked.

“I wanted to take a look at Central as well,” he replied. “It feels like I’m in some special quarantine. Not exactly complaining, though, just to clarify.”

“The High Palace is a big place in its own right,” Frill said while she wiped the sweat off Ashtine’s forehead. The General Sky Knight had developed a fever overnight. “It’s not as big as Atlas Sid, probably a quarter, but there are a ton of places you can visit.”

“I can show you around,” Kristel offered. “You and Xiv.”

“I think you’ll have quite a busy day when you arrive, Princess,” Frein reminded her while turning to Frill, who received the same message. “Kat and I can look after Xiv.”

The Vyndivalian simply shrugged. “I don’t have a say in this until I’m formally recognized as part of your retinue, Princess. I’ll agree with whatever you decide.”

With that matter resolved, Frein turned his attention to Ashtine again. She was significantly getting worse, but there was still the question of how the General Sky Knight was able to resist Nightmarification. He emphasized Mesiffera again and immediately saw the same thing as always; her slow, worsening condition, but no significant signs of turning.

Granted, Frein never personally witnessed anyone turning into a Nightmare before, but he figured the essence of the Influence would be involved, and that he could spot easily enough.

“Still nothing?” Frill asked. Kristel’s face mentioned the same question.

Frein shook his head. “Her meiyal system is struggling. The flow of meiyal doesn’t exist, as if it’s almost frozen.”

“It’s not indicative of her turning,” Katherine echoed his thoughts. “But frozen meiyal flow is bad in its own right. The healers can figure out exactly what’s wrong with her, but I’m guessing these are the effects of prolonged Void Sleep.”

“Isn’t that a part of Nightmarification?” Xiv asked.

“It’s a result of resisting too much Nightmare Influence, but it’s not Nightmarification. Because once that process starts, we can’t stop it. Our only choice, then, would be to do her a favor and end her life before she completely turns. Void Sleep happens because the Nightmare wants to reduce your resistance to its Influence.”

The Vyndivalian nodded, still a little confused but he caught the important part of that answer. It simply meant their window was closing fast. The longer Ashtine was in Void Sleep, the riskier it would be for her and them.

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“I don’t think we can afford to give their yumas rest,” Frein said to Kristel, referring to Ashtine’s escorts. “Either they push their yumas, or we leave them behind. I suggest they do the former, since we can take care of Ashtine anyway.”

The Princess passed a glance to Frill, who nodded in understanding. “I’ll let the escorts know,” she said before jumping off the C.A.R. Frein panicked a little before realizing that the Aria wasn’t exactly in any danger.

Stiry, her brown flying yuma and Enza’s father, caught Frill as if he had been waiting for her the entire time. He saw Xiv relax from the sudden fright.

“You two are pretty jumpy,” Kristel commented.

“I haven’t been around Sky Knights for very long,” Frein retaliated.

“Same,” Xiv said, raising a fist towards Frein’s direction. They bumped fists in unison.

“Fair enough,” said the Princess while closing the C.A.R.’s door.

“I’m not sure if this is the correct time to ask, but can we talk about the Vyndivalian Envoy now?” Xiv asked. He was quite awkward at raising the question, probably because he wasn’t sure of how to bring it up.

Kristel nodded. “I talked about it with Frill last night anyway. What do you want to know first?”

“Who is it?”

“Her name is Lynera,” Kristel began, but Katherine immediately shot up to speak.

“Lynera? Lynera Lunasensia?”

“Her, yes,” Kristel confirmed as if to understand the Lady’s question. “Mother Selfiya’s sister. We spoke two days ago, and while I can’t verify her identity through M.O.B.I.L.E., I trust Midan’s judgement. She said she knows what happened to the Western Sanctum, and that the Letterman also helped her reach Minaveil Province without a problem.”

Frein observed everyone. It seemed at this point, none of them were surprised by the Letterman’s intervention. He decided to keep the discussion moving.

“Did she mention anything about her letter?” he asked.

“Apparently the Letterman helped by actually helping, not through some letter. He took care of their route and any obstacles they faced. They reached the province in record time.”

“What is she doing now?” Xiv asked this time, no longer able to keep his questions under control. “Is she with anyone?”

“She’s staying in Minaveil Inn, under Bennie’s care. She’s with a High Sentry named Tristan and a young courtier named Dylan. Three people in total. They intend to go to the High Palace to have an audience with the Monarch.”

“That might complicate things,” Frein said.

“I thought so, too, but the krakens that escaped during the Jump migrated to the sea south of Southshore. They’re making a mess of the weather over there, which means there’s currently no travel from Minaveil Province to the High Palace.

“That said, she sounded a little distraught, saying that the Letterman intended for her to arrive as soon as possible so she can ask help for Vyndival Kingdom right away.”

“Help?” Xiv echoed. “Did Urzic send her?”

Kristel nodded. “Not only that, but I also found a letter in my room way back in Atlas Sid. I’m sorry, I couldn’t tell you right away.” The Princess opened her Spatiera—a feat that still put a smile on her face every time she Drew it—and produced the letter in question. But as always, it was already erased, replaced with a different message.

> *It was me who helped Lynera. It was me who told Kristel to keep this message from you. Please understand.

>

> The entire reason why I urged Lynera to hasten their travel was to prevent her death in the Desolate Lands. However, for a stranger to warn someone of their doom results in mistrust more often than not. Hence, I offered to help them personally instead.

>

> I intend for Lynera to remain in Minaveil Province until after the Incursion.

>

> To all of you, good luck.*

Frein studied the letter intently as the words completely dispersed into a blank page. This was the first one he had seen of this length, as if the Letterman’s careful avoidance was no longer needed. Was it because he had grown stronger? He didn’t think it was that simple.

Without any proper basis to go on, he changed his thought process. He could clearly recall Elizzel sharing the reason why this mysterious person was avoiding him; that he would recognize him.

He frowned, unable to think of anyone.

“Maybe it’s because you know too much now?” Elizzel guessed, her yawns apparent. “Sorry, but I need to sleep.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. Go rest.” Frein and Elizzel had been researching nonstop in his Mind Palace last night, trying to recall anything they knew about the Oblimoth. They had also looked for any records of Void Sleep cases that could resemble Ashtine’s situation, but to no avail.

In the end, the faunel had run out of energy to keep up with the conversations.

“What do you think?” Kristel asked.

“I think he’s planned all of this from the get-go.” Frein, then, went through a lengthy explanation of what they assumed Death’s Wish was about. With every phrase, he had to make sure he was pointing out the credible sources he had; Elizzel and Schrodie. But the more he went on, the more Xiv and Kristel looked like they couldn’t believe him.

“That’s just impossible,” the Princess said.

“Proving it is next to impossible as well,” he added.

“Are we sure about this?” Xiv asked.

“Nope.” Katherine simply shrugged.

“Make sure you tell Frill about this later,” Frein said, not waiting for the Princess to agree. “We can’t really spend our time thinking whether the Letterman’s warnings or his Death’s Wish are legitimate or not. The only thing that matters is that we have a plan for the Nightmare Incursion, whether or not it happens.”

“Yeah,” Kristel agreed. “It’s not like we have a choice in the matter. So far, everything the Letterman wrote came true.”

“It makes you want to rebel, though,” Xiv commented with a dumb smile on his face. “The way he’s so sure about his words.”

“Maybe this is the best approach,” Frein argued. “You can’t really just show up and tell people how you’ve seen everything happen and tell them what’s the perfect way to solve things, especially with Destiny being an actual, influential thing messing up with the equation at every opportunity.”

The Vyndivalian pondered for a moment, then hesitantly agreed. “I guess so. I’d probably call him crazy and punch him in the face if he did that.”

“Right?”

This time, Xiv eagerly agreed, understanding his point.

“So, what else happened?” Frein asked the Princess.

“After I told Lynera the Letterman’s actual intention, she calmed down and agreed to stay in Bennie’s inn.”

“Alright, that simplifies things for us at least.”

Kristel turned to Katherine. “She asked about you, too. I told her you’re back. That helped her really calm down after.”

“I didn’t spend as much time with Lynera as I did with Selfiya,” Katherine began. “But she was a very talented Void Mother-in-training before I left. If she’s strong enough to survive what happened with the Western Sanctum, then she’s probably as formidable as Mother Selfiya now.”

“You think we can trust her, then?”

At that, Katherine turned to Xiv.

The Vyndivalian shrugged. “When we found her in the Nightmare Lands while looking for a Forest Jaws, she was half-dead. Apparently she had amnesia, but she couldn’t separate herself from Urzic. We should probably verify that first; if she’d regained her memories, that is.”

“That’s still long after the Incursion anyway,” Katherine concluded. “I think we should concentrate on that first. But for what it’s worth, I’m glad to know that she also survived.”

“Well,” Frein began, “wake me up when we get there.”

He planned to take it easy for the rest of the trip. He didn’t actually sleep, but Gathered and Milled instead, trying to process decimeiyal from time to time until concentrating on it began to hurt. After a while, he gave up and simply concentrated on improving on his six-meiyal. Even seven-meiyal had a sudden spike in difficulty.

Just then Katherine screamed, startling everyone, including the yumas that came back with Frill to rest.

“I almost forgot!” she began, standing to grab Kristel’s shoulders. “It’s your birthday this week!”

Frein felt a wave of relief electrifying from his heart and around his chest. He breathed slowly. “Kat, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”

The Lady of the Void scratched her head, apologizing to everyone. “Sorry, my bad.”