Book Three - Epilogue

Chapter 225 - Keeping Promises

In the aetheric plane, the massive knot of fate in the sky slowly dispersed. Yuzu stared up at the white sky above as the glittering tapestry above her gradually relaxed into a natural flow.

The gaunt, sullen scholar beside her watched as Deka’s body slowly dissipated into the air. He saw Yuzu relax slightly and chose the moment to speak,

“So, this ‘Medusa’ you’ve chosen, she will carry out Deka’s will?”

Yuzu held her hands over Medusa’s string, following it into the mountains as the Abbott helped her escape the city.

“Medusa was the name that the cultist had taken upon becoming a priest of Deka, but now Deka is no more.” Yuzu said softly as she read the threads, “When she recovers, she will return to her original name, Lyssa, and carry out her original purpose, to replenish the vitality in the land.”

Li Ru opened his palm, showing Yuzu a number of glimmering gems. Each gem was the size of an apple, and radiated with a vibrant light from within. There were four - two smaller green ones, one orange and one large red one.

“These are the sarira that are left over.” Li Ru said, “The rest have been absorbed by Lyssa’s planar bodies.”

“It was as much as she could take.” Yuzu nodded. With Li Ru’s help, the godly sarira were infused into Lyssa’s body. Channeling the energies of the sacrificial ritual had nearly killed her, but the energies had also warped her bodies, aligning her and making her the perfect vessel for Deka’s inheritance. “When she’s strong enough, we can help her absorb the rest of them.”

There was an ethereal quality to her voice, which trembled slightly as she continued to reach out to the tapestry confirming the state of the city. She focused her attention on three particular strings that were hiding out in an empty warehouse some distance away from the city center.

~

Silver moon light shone through a line of framed windows, lighting up the rows of shelves of the small warehouse. Zwei picked himself off the floor as he looked around at his new surroundings.

A moment ago he had been on his back, staring up at the glowing white sword of the monk, seeing his life flash before his eyes. Without warning the ground disappeared beneath him and he fell into this warehouse.

All the chaos and noise of the God of Life’s rebirth was gone, replaced by a throbbing silence.

His boots scraped noisily across the dirty floor as he made his way to the window. The sight of the familiar wood framed buildings and brown shingled rooftops confirmed that he was still in Noga. From the cramped, old housing he gathered that he was likely on the northwest side of the city.

He was just about to question how he arrived in the warehouse when he sensed the arrival of two others elsewhere in the warehouse. The shadows darkened around him as he activated his powers and moved to investigate.

In a room on the second storey of the warehouse, Finn stumbled as he landed on a desk that had suddenly appeared directly under him. He quickly adjusted his balance, managing to fall to the floor while remain standing on his feet.

A moment later, a familiar face walked out of a new portal next to him. A look of relief replaced the strained, anxious look on her face as Minnie laid her eyes on Finn. He didn’t have time to greet her before she threw her arms around him in a hug. He stood in shock for a moment with his hands at his side as he tried to process the action.

“Shouldn’t you be assisting Yuzu and the White Maiden?” He asked, “What are you doing here?”

Minnie let go, stepping back with a weak smile, “That’s all you have to say after I saved your life?”

“I’m trying to understand what’s going on.” Finn said with a frown, “We need to go back and stop that ritual.”

“No need.” Minnie shook her head, “The White Maiden said she’s handling it. She asked me to save you from the Abbott.”

“I didn’t need saving.” Finn replied.

His brows furrowed in annoyance as Minnie failed to suppress a giggle at his response, “What?”

“Nothing, nothing.” Minnie tried to straighten her expression, but she broke out into laughter instead, “I’m just so relieved! These last few days have been horrible.”

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“Horrible? Did the White Maiden ask you to do something dangerous?”

“No, not at all… I mean, it was terrifying, but also really, really boring. Does that make sense? No? It really doesn’t if I explain it like that-“ Minnie continued to giggle, “I brought Yuzu to the mountain village like she asked, but then she left me there. And I didn’t know what to do, but there was a skeleton guard watching over me. It was so creepy and scary…”

“It took me to an abandoned house with a stone cot and an old table and stood guard. And every so often a second skeleton would come and bring old dusty bread and water- they would watch me eat and wouldn’t leave unless I ate every bite of that disgusting bread…”

“I didn’t know if they were going to suddenly kill me if I tried to leave, I didn’t know when or if they’d let me go. They didn’t talk either, I was so alone and bored-” She laughed again. As she laughed tears welled up in her eyes, which she wiped off with the back of her hands, “I just wanted to come back. I kept wishing I’d asked you to come with me instead of going off alone with Yuzu.”

“You should have.” Finn said, annoyed, “It’s your fault for disobeying orders in the first place. Because you weren’t here we were a man down for this operation, too.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Minnie managed to calm her tears as she smiled, “I think I did my part, though. The White Maiden said everything will be okay from here.”

“Finn, I had a lot of time to think about things, these past few days…” She stepped forward, looking up at Finn with teary eyes and a shy smile, “I’ve been meaning to tell you something for a while…”

Finn blinked in surprise as Minnie came close to him. Her lips trembled as she seemed to struggle with putting her thoughts into words. An epiphany hit him as his eyebrows knit together, “You…”

His thoughts were interrupted as his spiritual intuition triggered. He turned sharply to face the far side of the office at the open doorway. A familiar darkness churned within the shadows as he called out, “Zwei?”

Illusory chuckles echoed off the walls as part of the shadows bulged out into the room, taking the shape of a human before washing away and revealing Zwei. He frowned as he looked at Finn, “You sensed me through my powers?”

Finn frowned, “Call it a hunch.”

Zwei glanced over seriously to Minnie, who had already retreated several steps from Finn, “You’re the one that opened the portals?”

“Yes-“ She stuttered, somewhat intimidated by the young man who had suddenly appeared out of the darkness.

Zwei nodded, bowing slightly, “Thank you. You saved my life.”

“Don’t thank me, thank the Maiden.” She said weakly as she glanced over to Finn, who stepped toward Zwei.

“If not for my distraction, he would have sliced you through as you fell through the portal.” Finn said with a lecturing tone, “What were you even doing there?”

“Disrupting the ritual, like I told you I was doing.” Zwei rebutted, “And don’t act like you played such a big part, you didn’t even hit the monk with your shot.”

“I did more than you did against him.” Finn snarled, “Or was lying on your back part of your grand plan?”

“Was being rescued by Minnie part of yours?”

Minnie glanced back and forth between the two arguing men as she considered stepping in to stop them. They looked nearly ready to start swinging fists when suddenly all three of their spiritual intuitions triggered, prompting them to glance up to the sky.

A soft sigh played upon the wind as illusory white strands of hair fluttered in the corner of their vision.

~

Yuzu rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration as she held back the urge to reprimand Zwei and Finn. She sighed, observing them for a moment more. With the ritual broken, the link between her location in the aetheric plane and Noga’s city center was quickly fading into the past.

But I finally found him. Yuzu took Zwei’s silver string between her fingers and wrapped it around her pinky, tying it in a knot. She gave the thread plenty of slack, allowing the future to gently coax Zwei back to her rather than forcing them to meet immediately. Yuzu nodded with satisfaction, knowing she’d be able to see her brother soon.

With that loose thread tied up, there were only a few things left that she needed to do. She looked across the fading tapestry, reaching out again.

“We should leave soon.” Li Ru said, “With Deka gone, the wilds will become more dangerous.”

“I just have one more thing to check on…” Yuzu muttered. Her voice was strained, her entire body ached with exhaustion.

“Regarding Lyssa, she isn’t safe in Kumin. Will you help her escape back to the south?” Li Ru stroked his beard in thought, “How will you protect her from Lord Noga until then?”

“I think Noga will have bigger things to worry about.” Yuzu replied as she reached out and touched two particular strings, “The spire-“

Her words were cut off as a sharp pain sliced across her hand, she winced in pain, drawing her hand away.

“Yuzu-“ Li Ru approached her with a start, “What are you trying to do?”

Yuzu trembled as she glanced down at her hand. The pain seared through her entire arm, shooting through the nerves as her flesh separated into numerous flailing strands.

Her eyes widened and she grit her teeth, concentrating her willpower to fight against the force pulling her body apart. Each cord that splayed out from her unravelling arm was like a nerve ending blasting pain back to her mind.

The fibers twitched and struggled as they were forced back into the rough shape of a hand by her sheer force of will.

“Just… keeping my promises.” She muttered, fighting off the pain as she reached back out to the threads with both hands. Both her arms began to unravel as she forced the threads together, tying them in a knot against their wishes.

As she completed the knot she felt a shift in the tapestry, a wave that pulsed through the fabric of fate, signifying a fundamental shift in the nature of the fates of the people in the province.

A shift in the balance of power governing the land.

A feeling of relief flooded through her as she turned to look at Li Ru to tell him she did it, but as she turned around the entire world was already washing away to white.

Before she knew it she was falling, looking up at the forest above her as it faded into the distance above.

The long threads of her unravelling arms trailed above her as she fell down to the depths of the aetheric plane.

The heavy clanging of heavy chains holding a massive door shut echoed from far below as she fell down toward it.