Benefits of Freedom

Frein emerged in an empty hallway. A blindingly white corridor with no other details whatsoever. If his mind didn’t know better, he would’ve assumed there were no walls at all.

“Over here, Frein,” Elizzel’s voice called out from the other end.

Each of his steps reverberated in multiple echoes, almost too loud for his ears. Soon, he reached a door he couldn’t see. There was simply not enough detail to differentiate it from the wall in the first place. He pushed like a mime trapped in a box. With an eerily loud noise, the door split in half and moved.

It opened to a gallery of his memories. A grand design of colorful sections that was too layered on top of each other for his mind to quantify.

Paintings upon paintings hung upon the walls of a grand foyer. Some were floating and moving about or replacing others for reasons he didn’t know. The images upon these uniquely designed frames moved about, some he recognized vividly in his mind while some felt like he had never seen them before.

The foyer itself was wide and multiple stories high. It was well lit even with the absence of any light sources. Above were more paintings flying about, storing themselves inside hidden layers of shelves upon the wall.

In the middle was a blank canvas enclosed, once again, by an intricately designed frame. In front of it was Elizzel.

“You have a beautiful Mind Palace,” she commented.

“So, these really are my memories,” Frein concluded. “But I don’t remember most of these paintings.”

“I’d advice against forcing yourself to recall any of them.” Elizzel reached out and a painting of Katherine taking a shower settled in her hand. The Lady in the image turned and laughed before seductively beckoned over whoever she was looking at.

The faunel smiled and released the lewd, moving painting. “You can easily get lost in these Recollections. Besides, we’re not here to explore your Mind Palace. We’re here for your Exhibit.”

Elizzel moved past the empty canvas and asked Frein to follow her at the end of the foyer. Two stairs led to different rooms, but the faunel directed his attention at the door in the middle.

“You’re the only one who can open this,” she said. “For now, at least. I need to wait for the Tether.”

For some reason, Frein knew to pull the door this time. Unlike earlier, this one made no resistance at all, sliding smoothly at its master’s command. He was met by a green shine that steadily subsided.

Elizzel entered in a rush.

“Oh, wow, you have a meiyal-charged material! Emerald Guidance!” The faunel skipped around a shining leaf that floated on a nondescript pedestal. “Don’t touch it yet, let’s look around your Exhibit first.”

“What happens if I touch it?”

“It’ll attempt to integrate within your Exhibit. Since you don’t have thirty-nine marks yet, it’ll fail and there’s a risk that the Emerald Guidance will vanish. That’s such a rare and useful Color of Power to lose like that.”

“There are useless and common Colors of Power?”

“Well, no. I can explain later. Let’s look around first.”

Convinced, Frein followed Elizzel into the main room. All around, he could find empty cases of different sizes. Some were twice or even thrice larger than himself. Different pedestals waited on corners and edges of walls, empty like the rest. Save for the size and the variety of these intricately designed containers, the room was basically empty.

Except for one particular structure in the middle.

Elizzel let out an awed exhale, admiring the construction. Frein realized exactly what it was. His Mill.

Layers upon layers of milling dispersion rollers, varying in size and length rolled in a particular fashion. It resembled some sort of a clockwork mechanism that pressed Gathered meiyal into thin films to combine with his own.

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He observed, for the second time, his own meiyal, almost indistinguishable from the color of blood while Gathered meiyal was transparent like clear water. The result that came out from the Mill was, oddly enough, a vibrant red color. It poured directly underneath, vanishing from view.

The complicated structure wasn’t contained in any of the cases present in the Exhibit. Instead, it was fenced by a set of golden stanchions, as though the Mill was part of a grand, historical museum.

In front was a podium with an attached plaque. Frein’s name was at the top, bold, capitalized, and centered, taking most of the space. Underneath was a small name, Enza.

“It looks so different from the ones I can remember,” Elizzel said, admiring a dispersion roller closely. “How many are there?”

“I’ve lost count.” Frein shrugged. He couldn’t comprehend how the thing could stand on its own. Just considering its balance already defied physical laws. Then again, he realized this was all in his mind.

“Well, it’s impressive.” Elizzel looked at him and smiled. “I’m one-hundred percent sure we can make the Faunel Tether work.”

“How do we do it?”

The faunel reached out a hand. “First, I’ll integrate into your Exhibit.”

Without a second thought, Frein accepted her hand.

Lines of blue light emerged from every container within the room, connecting to points all around Elizzel. She gripped his hand tightly, as her own form began glowing the same color. She was pushing her meiyal, her own existence into his system.

“Mill,” she commanded.

The convoluted mechanism behind the faunel moved at an increased pace. Frein observed as three types of meiyal now merged through the rollers. He could feel an abundance of power. A different form of strength.

Limitless.

Unrestricted.

Free.

Just like that, the Faunel Tether was complete. The glow and the lines disappeared. Frein didn’t feel any particularly more powerful, but somehow, he felt connected to Elizzel. Curiously, he checked the Mill’s plaque. As expected, he found Elizzel’s name. Oddly enough, it wasn’t underneath Enza’s name, instead it was centered neatly at the bottom of the plaque.

The faunel observed herself for any signs of change. Frein supposed she still looked the same. The only thing different now was how much of her thoughts intermingled with his.

“Great! Now that we’re Tethered, I can help you integrate with Emerald Guidance!” She skipped along on her way to the meiyal-charged material.

Frein followed, his mind swimming on unorganized thoughts. He clung on one desperately.

“Eli, slow down. I need to ask you something,” he said, reaching out. His head ached and he felt nauseous. After one more step, he dropped to his knees.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Elizzel held his shoulders and helped him up. “Wait. Eli?”

“I’m sure you don’t mind nicknames,” Frein forced a smile. His head throbbed in pain so bad it quickly turned to a wince. He sat back on the floor and the faunel joined him.

“Just keep Milling until you get used to it. I’ll take care of the Nightmare influence for now.”

He did just that, and slowly but surely his vision began to steady. The thought that he clung on to didn’t go away.

“What do you think of destiny?” he asked.

“That’s an odd question,” Elizzel mused. “Usually, I’m the one who asks that.”

“I don’t believe in it,” Frein said, answering the implication. “I’d hate to think that my future’s already written and that I can’t do anything about it. That even this absurd decision to go die in a different world was already predetermined for me since birth—it just doesn’t make sense to me.

“But then, you spoke about it. Even Kristella mentioned Evangeline’s destiny. So, if destiny does exist, what is it really? I don’t want to be a slave to it.”

Elizzel’s eyes widened at the realization.

“I’m sorry,” she began. “It seems my influence is a little too strong for you.” The faunel reached out and held his face. A soothing chill ran through her fingers as she slowly massaged Frein’s forehead.

“Schrodie can explain this better than I can, but these thoughts may have been spurred by the Contradiction. I, as a faunel, represent Freedom and Consequences. The thought of destiny enslaving your every action may have conflicted against what I represent. If I had known, I would’ve slowly tied the Tether—or maybe not. Even with my capabilities we don’t have much time.”

“Capabilities?” Frein asked, his unorganized mind jumping on a tangent.

“Basically, I’m speeding up your mental faculties. A minute outside is about less than an hour here. But since I’m still recovering from my transformation, I can’t keep it up for long. I can probably buy us about ten hours.”

When Frein struggled to respond, the faunel returned to their original discussion.

“Destiny does exist, Frein. It just doesn’t work the way you think it does. It’s a mess. It gets jumbled too much and severing it causes everything to go into chaos. Don’t think of it as a predetermination of your life. Instead, think of it as a result of everyone’s destiny pulling and pushing against each other.”

Elizzel shrugged and sighed. “Again, I think Schrodie’s the best person for this.”

The pain regressed into a numbness, and Frein could feel himself again. Elizzel felt it through their connection and ended the massage. She sat and waited.

“Thank you. I think that helped.”

“Do you know what separates the gods from mortals?” Elizzel asked.

“They get prayers?”

“No, dummy,” the faunel giggled. “Worship does bolster them, but that’s not what makes them a god.”

Frein felt the tug of connection as Elizzel looked directly into his eyes. She smiled. “Maybe someday, I’ll tell you.”

“I have all year.”

The faunel burst into laughter. “That you do! Come on, I’ve been excited to help you with this Emerald Guidance for a while now.”

“But I still don’t have thirty-nine marks,” Frein retorted.

“True.” Elizzel turned to face him once again, pulling at the connection. “But I am the faunel of Freedom.”

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