< 1st of the 10th, 351 PA >
< The Second Amalgam’s Summit is now in effect >
The final month of the year had finally arrived, and for the first time since arriving in this world, she heard the names of the ten months.
“Galia also had trouble adapting to our yearly cycles.” Satania spoke fondly of the distant past, the clinking of porcelain cups filling the air of the Amalgam’s Summit. “The year begins with spring, which rolls into summer, autumn, and then winter. Winter ends in the final two weeks of The Blooming.”
Despite the Summit being in effect, the gathered group of Beholders and Archetypes took things easy. They were waiting on a special guest to make their arrival. Beholder Descartes of CogitO was invited to join them for this session to discuss the Lament Cycle.
A brief Arbiter’s Council was also to be held immediately afterwards regarding the appearance of the Fractured Nilhim.
“Ahem. Months?” Magus urged Satania to go on.
“Summerise. The Harvest. Sunfall. They are the months of summer. Autumn follows with Autumrise, The Solstice, and Autumnfall. Winter starts with Winterrise, The Rime, and Winterfall. Finally, for spring we are given only one month. The Last Solstice.”
The names were far less tacky than Frost thought. They were simple and made enough sense for even an idiot to understand. Each season seemed to have a notable event that was worthy of being named. The Harvest and the Rime were self-explanatory, but the Solstice and the Last Solstice didn’t make much sense to her.
Was the position of the sun really that important to note?
Galia then answered, dragging a finger across the surface of the glass table.
“Demi-Humans have large numbers. The Blooming is determined by the highest point of the sun to the Demi-Humans, and the lowest point to the Beastkin. The Solstices are important for Elven navigation when crossing the seas to our continent.”
“Ah. Like daylight savings.” Nav pointed out.
Daylight savings is completely different. Frost mentally sighed.
“Each month has their own names. Go far enough and winter here will be the summer there, even though that’s not true in the slightest.” Satania stated. “The world is too big to have one truth. Ironically, it’s just the perfect size for a single lie to undermine every truth.” She glared at the Arbiter, who paid little attention to her wrathful accomplice.
Satania’s irises shifted in shape. The black sclera appeared and disappeared in an instant. Not only that, but her cat-like irises turned into that of a goat before she sealed them shut.
The mention of a consistent season found across the world reinforced the sheer size of Elysia. Even a super-Earth didn’t do it justice.
“Beholder Jury.” Michaela suddenly spoke up, her fingers forming a small triangle. “I hope your party was entertaining for the Moons. It’s a shame that we couldn’t arrive. The call for the Beholders into the Nexus took precedence.”
“They’re all patiently waiting for us inside of the Council.” Galia confirmed, her eyes moving towards the vacant pair of doors. “Not everyone is here, I see.”
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“My Eye, Fang and Claw are with the children today. The same with my Innocent.” Frost reminded them.
“Security for us? I always thought that was humorous.” Galia smugly laughed to herself, creeping out Anna who had one of the Arbiter’s tails wrapped around her waist, almost possessively.
Anna squirmed lightly in place until Jury’s tail came in to slap the Arbiter’s away. This only caused more tails to take custody of Anna, making the Arbiter smile innocently like she did nothing wrong.
“Is it fun to hold me like this all the time?” Anna asked, looking up at the Arbiter with a confused stare.
“Is a friend not allowed to find comfort in another?” The Arbiter rhetorically replied.
“I’m comfortable enough.” As much as Anna looked like she hated it, she actually enjoyed the Arbiter’s presence. “N-No need to fight over me.”
“Now that is something I wish I could say out loud!” Magus exclaimed, clutching his poor, lonely heart, gathering a few judging stares. “Pardon me. My emotions fluttered free from my chest. Ahem. Will CogitO keep us waiting for much longer?”
“Will all due respect, please be patient. A magician should be able to keep themselves entertained.” Satania said, brushing him off with the wave of her hand. “Party? I can already picture how boring it must’ve been with Moons that can’t fathom to smile. Your ‘Eye’ comes to mind.”
“Does it matter?” Frost raised a brow, causing her to chuckle.
Satania had grown to understand that not all the Archetypes were as beneficial to the Nexus as Frost and Anna were. Disrespect could be heard hidden within her voice and bodily expressions whenever she referred to the Star Child or Magus.
It was covert, but enough for Frost to notice as she drilled her gaze into hers, reminding her that they were Archetypes regardless of usefulness.
Satania leaned back and folded her arms.
“Amalgam. I’m curious. You have Scarlet Logic’s tech. Are your Moons going to be part of the Replication Cycle?”
“I have no plans to separate them from their souls.” Frost immediately answered, firm with her stance. “My Moons will not be tainted. There are still uncertainties surrounding the side-effects of my version of the Replication Cycle, and I am not about to let my Moons become lab rats when we have a larger sample of test subjects.”
The Arbiter nodded silently, pleased by Frost’s answer as Satania seemed annoyed, finding it a waste. It was a fix to the limited number of Moons they had in her eyes. However, Frost had vowed to go against their cruel ways, and needed to remain behind the line she had drawn for them all.
“Additionally, setting up one of these.” Frost tapped on a dull obsidian monolith that sat beside her. It was a Replication Anchor and was used as an example of The Requiem. “Will make my Moons harbor a fatal weakness. As soon as The Requiem goes down, then they’re as good as dead.”
What made Frost’s variant of Scarlet Logic’s tech unique was that the termination of the vessel that held the soul would also kill the body. Scarlet Logic was able to get away with this by some unknown mechanism. This worked in Frost's favour because it meant that the Repenters were easily controlled.
While it was seen as a flaw by the likes of Satania, Frost embraced it.
When she asked why this was the case with Scarlet Logic, Michaela answered as a tail rose to dangle over her head like the illicium of an angler fish.
“Your version has a unique tether. Bodies reconstituted by the fluids of flesh and sinew still require a fragment of their soul to function. An existence lacking a soul cannot be called living. Scarlet Logic gives them a small piece to carry whilst the majority is anchored separately. Yours does the same but makes the entire soul liable as though it were complete.”
Her dreamy yet philosophical manner of speech made it hard to understand her the first time. Replaying the words in her head, Frost quickly understood that she was implying that the side effects of permanently mangling oneself may not occur in her version.
But she was no fool to know that there must have been a catch. The powers of their technology had inherent flaws that plagued them, like they held their own laws of equivalent exchange.
“Even more of a reason to keep my Moons out of it. Let alone people closer to me.” Frost said this as a warning to Satania to back off, to which the woman obliged, knowing that she wouldn’t get through Frost.
“Good.” Just when it seemed like she’d bite back, Satania unexpectedly complemented Frost for sticking to her guts. She then turned towards the door, grinning to reveal her rows of razor-sharp teeth. “Would you look at that? Our favored guest is here.”
The doors silently opened inwards, revealing the blue-suited Descartes 3 who acutely observed the room with calculating eyes. She did not dare to enter until the doors were locked open.
“We’ve been expecting you.” Magus welcomed her, his fingers tapping against one another like how a stereotypical villain would.
“Beholder Descartes. Welcome to my Summit.” Frost also greeted her, giving her permission to enter their sacred gathering. She panned a hand towards a vacant seat beside Satania. “You’ve been invited here on the grounds of corroboration and by Oboros Infinitas’ validation. Please skip the introductions. This is a less than formal ground than the Arbiter’s Council.”