A sea of soft darkness blankets Faraine and I. The blue-haired woman is lying down next to me, soundly asleep. Her faint breathing rhythmically sways the darkness like the rolling of gentle waves. Amid the night, my heavy panting acts like craggy rocks disrupting the peaceful waves. I lie on my back, staring into the black depths overhead, a cold sweat washing over my skin.
Why… I clench my teeth and tighten my fists, breathing coarsely. Why can’t I grace my soul? I turn my head and look at the sleeping fairy. Her hair covers her face and her posture is more relaxed compared to her usual decorum. Even with her advice, I still can’t do it. I sigh heavily and look back toward the ceiling. Maybe I really am hopeless. Maybe I… I yawn. I hate that I still can’t grace my soul. I close my eyes, roll onto my side, and curl up into a ball. I need to go to sleep but… I roll over, facing Faraine again. I want to grace my soul. I want to but we’re going to get Revus tomorrow. I can’t be tired for tomorrow… I frown, breathing lightly. Tomorrow… we’ll…
---
I yawn. Mmmm… So soft… I hold out my arms and wrap them around a fluffy material. As I pull it closer, I feel myself sink into it. Mmm… I smile. Feels so nice. I haven’t felt this since…
I grip the soft material, release it, then open my eyes. I’m holding a ball of white fluff within my arms. It’s- I push myself up, an endless field of white expands as far as I can see.
“I’m back,” I mutter as a smile spreads across my face, “I did it.” Tears start to fill my eyes as I begin to weep, “I did it. I graced my soul.” After a brief moment, I wipe my eyes, stand up, and look around.
Just like before, I find myself in a seemingly endless plane of white fluff. As I scan the horizon, I see the only non-white thing here, a bright, cyan light. Focusing on its radiance, I feel a cold chill that seems to creep over the land.
Well, whatever it is, it’s still there. I turn away from the light and the coldness eases up. I glance back for a moment. That’s new. I shake my head and continue to survey my surroundings. I wonder if it’s still here? I start walking, searching the ground for the ringed spheres that I created the last time I was here.
After nearly a minute of walking, I notice a mound of fluff that is about as tall as my knees. What the… I tilt my head and approach it, stopping once I am within arms reach. Another thing that’s new. I scan the area, my eyes slowly sweeping over the pristine emptiness. I don’t see any more of these.
I lock my gaze onto the pile of fluff before me, kneel down, and reach my hands out. I press my finger into its fluffy side. Immediately, I retract my finger and it gradually returns to its previous shape. Spongy. It doesn’t seem any different, yet… I tilt my head again, analyzing the pile. There has to be some reason why it’s here… and why there isn’t another one.
“Hmm…” I tap my chin and circle the mound. Nothing around it. Maybe there’s something inside holding it up?
I reach my arm inside, driving it through the soft, fluffy pile until my hand emerges from the other side. Doesn’t feel like there’s anything in it either. I move my arm to the left and the pile falls over. The clumps of fluff scatter onto, and slowly begin to merge with, the floor. I instinctively lower my gaze to the base of the mound. I hold out my hand before it, reach into the pile, and feel a smooth surface.
“Ah! Found it!” I exclaim as I glide my hand over the spherical object. I grab it and pull it from its fluffy prison.
In my hands is a pair of transparent, glass-like, orbs. The spheres are barely touching one another, but are irrevocably held together. A singular, white ring surrounds them both. Good to know these things don’t disappear. I glance at the, at one time, mound of fluff that is now gradually merging with the ground. And I guess I know where to find these next time.
I take a deep breath, stand up, and turn back toward the cyan light in the distance. The cold chill spreads over me once more. I glance down at the sphere in my hand. Now that I’ve found my axiom cores… I refocus on the brightly radiating horizon. …my only remaining question is what that light is. I smile. Whatever it is, it should be the cause of my condition. I take one more breath. Here goes.
I take one step forward and feel a light, cold breeze. I gulp. Looks like it's going to get even colder. I grip the ball tightly and continue walking forward. With every few steps I take, the temperature seems to drop. My skin starts to prickle as the cold brushes against it. I place the spheres under my arm and wrap my hands over them, trying to maintain warmth. The cold winds become sharp as I continue my advance.
My long, pointed, ears start to sting as the piercing cold envelops them. Cold, but I can’t stop. I stare at the glowing, cyan light. It grows larger and gradually becomes more discernible the closer I get. I breathe into my hands to warm them. My breath is now visible, like a constant stream of steam with each exhale. The suffocating cold has now engulfed me, cutting me from all sides as I press on.
Snot starts to drip from my nose, the wet liquid sliding down to greet my upper lip. As I breathe in, the bitter cold slices my nose and throat, before finally puncturing my lungs with its painful chill. Can’t stop. I have to figure out what’s causing this and stop it.
As the cold freezes my body, my muscles tighten and become more difficult to move. My jaw is clenched shut. My hands are stuck over my arms. My fingers, toes, and ears are painfully numb. My progress has slowed as each of my steps now feel like climbing a mountain. So cold… With my face practically frozen in place, my eyes are locked onto the source of this unbearable cold. I must keep going… I’m so close… I grit my teeth and force myself to take another excruciating step forward.
Krrk.
The definitive pop of ice cracking rumbles from beneath me. That sounded like…I quickly freeze in place, slowly lean my head forward, and look down. On the ground is a transparent layer of ice with cyan-colored cracks expanding out from beneath my foot.
I gulp and continue marching, slower and more cautiously than before. My feet now almost slide over the surface with how little I am lifting them. I glance between the cyan light and the icy ground. Krrrrk. My eyes shoot down as the loud crack disrupts the eerie silence. I stop for a moment, violently shivering in place.
Not good… I try to take a step, but my leg refuses to respond. Move… I feel my muscles twitch as if trying to obey, but they remain still. Come on… I painstakingly pry my hands from my arms and grab my lower leg. I bite my lower lip and grimace. I can’t feel my leg or my fingers… I stare at my immobile limb and lightly pound against it with my frigid hand. Ow… Ow… Ow… Each hit sends a biting pain up my arm, as if my hands are going to shatter. Come one, move. As I bang against my leg, I feel the spheres under my arm start to slip out. I try to catch them, but with my delayed movements, I cannot help but drop them to the ground. I watch in horror as they crash into the ice below.
Time seems to stop as I breathlessly listen and wait for something to happen, but nothing does. I glance down and see the cores resting comfortably in the ice. “Phew…” I exhale, my white breath dissipating in front of me. I crouch, lowering myself to grab the spheres. I pull them from the ground, but stop before I stand up.
Directly under where the cores were are two perfectly circular holes in the ice. What? As I look down at the spheres, I notice that the color of the ring surrounding them has changed from white, to cyan. Why’d it change? Hang on… A faint, cyan, dust-like glitter now swirls within the glass-like balls. Like our wings. I pull them closer to my face. But how? All I did was- I glance down at the holes in the ice.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
I extend my arm out, holding the orbs toward the ice. Upon making contact with it, I push the spheres into its solid surface. My eyes go wide as the orbs slide forward with no resistance, eating away at the ice. As I push, more of the cyan glitter fills the inside of the two spheres. As the color becomes more defined, the harsh cold that once threatened to strangle me eases up enough for me to notice. A fraction of the feeling returns to my limbs and the tightness of my body relaxes ever so slightly, allowing me to breathe easier.
No way… I pull the spheres back toward my face, observing them. Both cores are more than half filled with the floating, cyan glitter. Did these make it not as cold? I glance at the ice, then to the glowing, cyan light, before looking back at the spheres. What would happen if I filled them up?
Quickly, I push the spheres through the ice. As the cores absorb more of it, the amount of glitter within grows. I was right. I smile joyfully. The more they fill up, the less cold it gets. After almost a minute, the spheres start rolling without absorbing the ice. I lift them up to better look at them. They are both completely filled. A shiver runs up my spine. Still cold, but much better. I gaze over my shoulder. Looks like I found an answer to getting closer.
Filling the spheres left a small area of the under-fluff exposed. I swiftly dig into the soft fluff, grab a clump, place my hands over it, and form another axiom core. Good. Once done, I immediately run the glass sphere through the ice but, almost instantly, it fills with glitter. I puff out my cheeks, furrow my brows, and stare at the now-full core. Huh? I glance at the pair of spheres that are surrounded by a cyan ring. Is it because there are two of them there? Or maybe it’s because-
I quickly repeat the process and create a second core. Now let’s just… I bring the cyan core and the empty core together but, upon releasing the empty core, it falls. Okay… I purse my lips. So they won’t connect if they aren’t the same type of core, or if one is colored and the other isn’t. I sigh. Good to know. I follow my experiment up by making twelve more cores, each one completely empty, and I attach them to one another. I merge them together and a white ring appears around the now-singular core.
Time to see if it works. I run the ringed core through the ice and, unlike the ringless core, it takes much longer to fill with glitter. However, it does fill up quicker than the pair of ringed cores. Looks like I was right. The amount of cores does determine how much they can hold. I join the single-ringed core with my pair of ringed spheres. Alright now… I glance at the lone, ringless, cyan core. Time to make some more cores.
I smile and dive into the fluffy material, making core after core. Once I have twelve more singular cores, I fill each one with glitter. I try out various ideas like filling some partially, or barely letting any glitter in at all. And they still merge together, awesome. With my cluster of thirteen cyan spheres, each with a slightly different amount of glitter, I place my hands on either side of the cluster and push my hands together.
Instead of a white ring appearing, a cyan ring manifests around the newly-fused core. Huh? It doesn’t have a lot of glitter in it. So does that mean that this core has the space of thirteen of the ringless ones? I glance at the trio of bonded, ringed spheres. So, if I make thirteen of these, then will the next core be able to hold the same as thirteen of these ringed cores? I look at the fluff beneath me. Only one way to find out.
Just as before, I start to make dozens of empty, transparent, glass-like cores. Once I have enough, I merge the cluster into a ringed core, briefly run it through the ice to fill it with a bit of glitter, and attach it to my growing, ringed cluster. I continuously repeat the process, going through the same hand motions, only shifting my position if I can no longer reach any of the ice.
And that makes thirteen. I smile proudly at my cyan-colored, ringed cluster. Now hopefully… I place my hands on either side and start to push them together. Yes! Just as with the single-ringed cores, the spheres begin to merge and a second cyan ring appears. I force the cluster into a single core, leaving a lone, dual-ringed sphere in my hand. The two rings diagonally wrap around the center of the core, intersecting twice on either side of it. It’s not full of glitter either, so…
I hold the core tightly, sliding it through the ice and, as expected, it fills with glitter, albeit much slower. I continue running the core over the ice for a few minutes until it is completely full. A sense of relief washes over me as the bitter cold that I was struggling with earlier now feels like a minor inconvenience.
I sigh contentedly, my breath still visible. That’s much better… I grab my dual-ringed core, stand up, and face the chilling, cyan light on the horizon. I’m still far away, but I have a way to get closer. I smile.
As I take a step forward, a voice calls out, “Evetta. It’s time to wake up.”
Faraine? I furrow my brows. What does she mean ‘wake up’? I survey my body. I’m clearly not sleeping.
“Hey, come on,” she says softly, “We’re going to be getting Revus today, so you need to wake up.”
I gaze up at the endless, white sky, and mutter, “I'm not sleeping though.” I sigh aggravatedly as I scratch my head. Who cares… “How do I wake up?” I holler.
I purse my lips and gaze down. Suddenly, I notice that I am becoming transparent.
“Woah… What’s happening?”
Gradually, I disappear, fading from the soul plane. I look down at the axiom core in my hand, then to the cyan horizon, and smile. Well, I didn’t deal with it, but I made progress. Next time.
---
As I feel the pillow beneath me tickle my skin, I adjust my body, rolling over the lumpy, spongy material.
“Evetta,” Faraine whispers, “Are you going to sleep all day or what?”
“Hmmm?” I look in the direction of her voice and force my eyes open. Behind heavy eyes, I see the blue-haired woman sitting next to me. I glance around the interior of the closet, light bursting into the space from the partially open door. “I’m back…”
“What was that?” Faraine inquires as she looks at me.
“Oh um…” Was it just a dream? I shake my head, focusing on her. She has some parchment and a piece of charcoal in hand. “What are you doing?”
“Just drafting up some plans for tonight.”
“Ah,” I reply, then smile as I push myself off the pillow.
“I’m surprised you slept for so long,” Faraine states, “So much for not staying up late.”
As my smile fades, I tilt my head and furrow my brow. “What do you mean? I went to sleep shortly after you.”
“So you were just tired?”
“Not really,” I respond flatly.
“You could’ve fooled me,” Faraine claims.
I silently stare at her. She doesn’t seem like she’s lying. “How long did I sleep for?”
“Well, you missed breakfast, and lunch,” Faraine answers.
My eyes go wide, “Wha-?”
“Also, Eidgar and the others have already come back.”
“What? But…” That means I slept for… I start using my fingers to help me calculate. …almost eighteen hours? I glance down where I was sleeping. Was it not a dream? “Um… hey, I have a funny question.”
Faraine pauses what she is doing and gives me a sideways glance. “Oh?” She faces me and says, “I’m listening.”
“Well… um… I think I graced my soul last night,” I stammer.
“Congratulations,” she clearly replies, “but that’s not a question.”
“Right, so… um… Have you ever heard of someone gracing their soul in their sleep?”
The blue-haired fairy looks up, her red eyes searching her memories. She looks back at me and answers, “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of it happening before, but just because I haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it can’t happen.” Faraine turns her head slightly to the left, her eyes still locked on me, “Why? Do you think you graced your soul while sleeping?”
“Kind of…” I murmur.
“Did you investigate the thing you said you saw before?”
I wrap my hands over my arms and answer, “I tried but it was too cold to get close enough.”
“Hmm…” she ponders, tapping her chin.
“I did however…” I proudly exclaim, “…find some ice and filled some axiom cores with this cyan glitter.”
“Really? In that case,” Faraine remarks as she stands up. She walks behind me and requests, “Can you summon your wings? We’ll see if there’s anything different about them.”
“Sure,” I say as I manifest my glittery appendages, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” Faraine states, “But what you did do is confirm something for us.”
“What’s that?” I ask as I glance back at her over my right shoulder.
“Look here,” she directs as she points to the middle of my upper wing.
Right above her finger, noticeably sticking out on its white canvas, is a single, cyan circle. That’s… My eyes drift from the dot to Faraine’s eyes as I inquire, “What is that?”
“That, princess…”
I glare at her. Please don’t call me that.
“…is coloration of your wings,” Faraine finishes.
“And that means?”
“It means two things,” she states, “You indeed have something in your soul that is causing your condition.”
“How does that-”
“Because your soul should be empty,” she interjects, “There shouldn’t be any existing ice… or anything making it. You, however, have something that is doing exactly that. And using whatever it is, you’ve filled your first axsel core with ice spīīr.” So that glitter was spīīr.
“Is that bad?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head, “But fairies usually have to get their elements from another fairy.”
“That does sound bad.”
“I promise, it’s not,” she remarks, “What it does is bring me to my second point of the coloration.”
“And what’s that?”
She smiles and says, “Congratulations on obtaining the ice element.”