SUTA POV
"If you wish to know what the future holds, this totem that has existed since the beginning of our people will show you. Through it, one may hear the whispers of the fates, and perhaps, see a way you might've not known existed."
Suta's gaze trailed down towards the slab of stone placed before him again. He wore a slight grimace as he tried to relax himself from the influx of different thoughts swirling around his mind at this moment. There was a lot for him to process, but right now, he needed to focus on what stood in front of him at this moment.
' Sigh ... I guess there's no harm in seeing this through, heh-heh... how bad can it be?' He thought to himself before he cringed inside, reminded that those cliche words were usually the last thoughts spoken before disaster.
Now that Suta had decided, he steadily lowered a cautious palm against the slab of grey stone. The moment his palm met the cold surface, a sudden surge of energy pulsated beneath his touch. He saw those dark indentations strangely beginning to fill with bluish milky light, before rising upwards like floating dust. One by one, strange and tiny symbols were being spewed out of these sharply pointed holes.
Suta felt nerves rising through his body as he watched the milky symbols rising out from those unevenly marked holes against the stones. He watched this strange scene of the glowing symbols dancing around the air between him and the Fairy.
Suta suddenly had a strange thought the more he observed these flecks of bluish light slowly twisting, forming into a string of line texts.
'This, is this... an incantation?'
The fairy with short curly grey hair steadily ascended towards the stream of milky blue symbols now levitating in the air surrounding Suta. With a curious glare etched across her face, she studied one of the floating symbols in particular before lightly tapping it against its side, her actions would ignite the symbols to start whirring around and dancing in a tangent, shortly afterwards they begun arranging themselves into orderly rows against the air.
Whilst Suta observed this strange marvel, he was prompted by an earlier thought of his. So he softly closed his eyelids and struggled to sense those faint wisps of mana lingering in his bosom. He willed upon the dormant core he had coined 'Slumbering Silver' to respond to his desperate calls once again. Being considered a cripple, in terms of the Arcane folk. Suta had to focus for a stern period just to feel the tiniest sensation of mana coursing ever so faintly throughout his gut, He then guided it up his thin meridians towards his eye sockets.
He opened his tired eyes after a while, now covered in a veil of strange sparkling azure luster.
'If I can understand all the languages of arcane, then surely this must be one of them.' That was his thinking, but strangely enough, the moment his azure gaze beheld those symbols, the texts only seemed to blur even more behind his mana-infused gaze. The distortion was so severe that within seconds, he felt a sharp throbbing pain shooting against his temple before he felt a sensation likened to his retinas being scorched by the sun, forcing him into slamming his eyelids shut immediately.
The croaking voice of the elderly-looking fairy graced his ears within the darkness.
"Fufufuh, don't be foolish enough to will to see the words of fate, young human. For only those the fates will to see, will be able to see."
Suta felt rather annoyed that this wasn't explained to him before he attempted to partially blind himself.
"Th-then what are the fates saying?" he half-gritted his teeth trying to overcome the horrid sensation of pain.
"Hmmm, They say, well, they say..."
Lady Melvede's voice trailed off, her eyes affixed in a strange focus whilst she studied the swirling symbols before her. Suta on the other hand felt his heart continuing to race, his mind conjuring a myriad of possibilities, each more daunting than the last. Forcing him to question when he had become such a cynic
The fairy remained silent for a moment, her brow furrowed in concentration. Then, slowly, she began to speak.
"The fates speak of a journey," she began, her voice low and melodic, "a journey that will take you to the far reaches of this realm and beyond. They speak of trials and tribulations, of allies and enemies, and of a destiny that is both great and terrible across a multitude of veils.
"In the end, the veil shall one day fall, and dawn will breathe its final breath."
"The deathless curse of dusk will sweep across the worlds, and the one who was forgotten shall be the one the Outer Gods will find. He will be called upon by the will of dark oaths, and the world shall find in him a new messenger... or is he a judge? One who will walk with the blessing of the Faey within him, but also, a calamitous union, sleeping within the pristine confines of the most imperfect dawn. The silent witness to the lost children scattered across the cosmos, the slayer of giants, a bane across worlds, A scourge across the galaxies fufufufu but a king to many."
Suta grimaced still trying to nurse the throbbing pain against his two eyes. 'As if things couldn't get more creepier.'
"A tiding of blood-soaked skies shall come, and he will be faced with a choice: to abandon or to save and endure the suffering. The choice will rest in both his hands, but a choice he will have to make, with each one destined to produce a hill of coffins in his wake... one promised for himself."
Suta finally felt the pain subsiding, gently allowing his eyelids to open, and in the final moments catching the final moments where the luster of light faded away from the dancing spiral of symbols in the air. What shocked him more than those harrowing verses just spoken, was the sight of those numerous symbols suddenly falling towards him.
By instinct, he held out his hand to shield his face, but instead, he discovered the floating symbols crashing into his palm, dousing his entire arm in a warm afterglow of brilliant white light. Before he could process a single rational thought, something spoke into his heart, telling him to conjure his badge at once. With his right palm held out, the badge materialized upon his mental call.
Suta narrowed his gaze and briefly scanned over the familiar contents, but his eyes widened softly upon seeing a new entry written across the skills section:
{ Skillset : Glitch (Cooldown timer 20:34:39:14 ),
Moonlight Tribes Hidden Blessing: Labors of the Fairy King}
***
Demoria POV
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The halls were covered in strange, glassy metals. The air was damp and dark, and Demoria felt a little unsure if this place was as safe as Shava had made it out to be. Her footsteps echoed against the marble floors, amplified by the noticeably spacious hall setting. Thankfully, Shava had conjured a small ball of bright light hovering just above their heads. Demoria would occasionally steal glances at the puffy cloud of light, fascinated by it, the little light seemed sentient and chuckled with its round cheeks as it bounced alongside them providing the sole illumination within the eerie darkness.
"Are you sure thi-this is the place?" Demoria asked the feline floating closely beside her, her voice trembling slightly as she still couldn't shake away the eeriness coming from these shadows
"Oh, but of course! Hmm-mmh, ah-mmh mmh. Don't be alarmed, my dear. We will reach the end of the hall soon," Shava reassured before she restarted her light-hearted humming.
Despite the feline's words, Demoria couldn't shake away the uneasiness she felt about this place. Every step taken felt as though they were nearing something dreadful. Ever since she had awakened her mana core, Demoria had developed a strange instinct towards dangerous things, reminiscent of the time she had wandered into Granny Baba's abode and mistakenly knocked over a book of curses.
'Somehow, this feels awfully similar to that time,' she thought. She noticed something ahead and narrowed her gaze, she caught the faint shimmer of light bouncing against an object along the wall.
"Hey, what's that over there?" she pointed into the faint darkness.
"Hm? Fufufuh, well-well, it looks like we've arrived," Shava replied, with mysterious glint of excitement whirling in those spiraling irises. "My dear, remember I told you about the importance of this sacred hall and the purpose it holds within this castle?"
"Y-yes," Demoria half-agreed, lowering her gaze in deep thought. "Something to do with the inheritance of the Northern Queen? You said she's left a relic that would help me with my mana control?"
"Indeed, fufufuh this is a secret relic that only those chosen can harness. And it'll be our best chance of raising your mana control in a short time."
A deep exhale escaped through Demoria's lips. "Thank goodness," she said with a wry smile, placing a hand between her chest.
'Suta, I'll save you, don't worry,' she thought, balling her fists as a small sense of resolve grew inside her. Ever since Suta's disappearance, Demoria hadn't felt at ease for a single moment. Be it her sleepless nights or her inability to suddenly control a stable flow of mana through her meridians, everything felt off, and she couldn't figure out how to change it. But she knew one thing was at the forefront of her troubles. Her worry for Suta.
"Ara, we're here, my dear... look-there it is, isn't it the most radiant thing you've ever seen, the Crown of the Northern Witch!"
'A witch? Wh-what's that?'
Demoria wondered, observing what looked like a glittering tiara fashioned out of white ice. It rested against the wall, placed on top of an iron spike protruding from the stone. There was a discord between the almost ethereal, glittering tiara adorned in crystalline ice and the grimacing grey stones it was pinned against.
Just from a simple stare at the thing told Demoria she probably should be cautious. But her heart was hurting, and she had to do something to get stronger. Suta was depending on her right now.
Steeling the doubts within her mind, she walked steadily towards the tiara, one cautious step at a time.
Upon reaching its face, her frail hands cautiously moved through the partial darkness, edging closer to the glittering crown.
'Wait, I shouldn't this is...Suta would tell me not to.'
Her actions were quickly noticed by Shava, who floated directly in front of her.
" My dear, worry not. I promise to make you stronger. For it's the only way, it's the only way to get back everything you've lost. Trust me my dear, don't you trust me? Don't you trust Shava."
Demoria was crestfallen, but she understood she needed power. She moved her fingertips towards the tiara. When suddenly the voice of Granny strangely spoke to her heart.
'You mustn't my child!'
Suddenly, a cold feeling shot throughout her entire body, her very being rejecting the relic. And a sharp gasp broke through her mouth.
'No-no this is wrong... why does this feel... so... so wrong?' She recoiled away, clutching at her shivering arm, with beads of sweat lathering down her neck.
"I... I can't do thi—"
"My dear! You must be strong. Do not forget what is at stake here. You wish to save him, do you not? For there's no telling what manner of depraved beasts have cornered him. Especially... beneath the looming eclipse," Shava interjected, his voice urgent and compelling.
"Th-the eclipse?" Demoria shuddered at the thought.
"Will things really turn as bad as you said?"
"Words cannot describe just how bad things will get, my dear. The eclipse will rouse awake all the sleeping herds of hell out into the open. And I fear... those who are not equipped for the reckoning, may fall short and find themselves facing a disaster. Let us not tarry; time is a luxury we do not have on our side right now."
Demoria could sense a dreadful air surrounding the glittering jewel, so much so that her entire body was covered in a cold sweat due to the mounted anxiety stirring within her, layers of cold sweat clung to her bones and that trailing voice was still warning her. She barely managed to fight away the trembling sensation moving through her unsteady hands, but she also understood there was no other choice right now. She needed to become stronger. Suta was out there, lost and, worst case, perhaps even...
Without a second more needed to process her feelings, Demoria stretched out her dainty hands and snatched the glittering tiara away from the iron hook. A silence settled around the air, her racing heart beating throughout her entire body. Slowly, her laborious breaths became somewhat calm, and feeling as though the worst part was over, time slowly passed on and nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Demoria creased a satisfied grin.
'I... I did it.' She thought to herself with a small swell of pride.
She was on the tether of settling her racing heart when a surge of pain like no other shot up her arm.
She dropped the tiara, and the clattering of the glittering jewel bounced against the marble floor beneath her feet. Her knees gave way as she crashed to the ground in agony, clutching at her right arm. Sheer horror ensued as she watched her entire right arm being covered in twisting black veins crackling through her skin.
"Wh-what's happening to me!" she cried out, a dark rune formed, finished by a surge of white ice covering her entire arm.
"Guaaaaah!" A deafening scream pierced the heavens as Demoria roared, at the same time a baleful aura erupted inside of her, sending a devastating pulse of energy quaking throughout the spacious hall. An ominous wind swept across the dust-filled floor.
Shava watched the scene unfold, her cat-like eyes glinting with a mixture of satisfaction and fevering anticipation.
"Fufufuh, the power of the Northern Witch awakens. Embrace it, my dear, and let it guide you to the strength you seek."
Demoria's mind twisted and crackled, the pain and the surge of dark energy overwhelming her senses was far beyond anything she had to face before. She could feel this strange ancient magic coursing through her veins, a cold, primal force that threatened to consume her very being.
'What have I done?' she thought, her eyes wide with terror and regret. She could feel it, something terrible was happening to her.
'Suta... I'm sorry. I... I don't know if I can control this...'
As the darkness swirled around her, Demoria knew that she had crossed a threshold from which there was no turning back. The Crown of the Northern Witch had chosen her, and now, she would have to bear the consequences of her decision.
The feline's grin widened with a cold wickedness.
"And so it begins, my dear. The path of the Northern Witch is fraught with peril, but it is the only way to save your beloved and face the challenges that lie ahead. Fufufu I welcome you my dear, I welcome you to the road of revenge."