“You tricked me!” Alnea said, looking incredulously at the Aspect in front of him. “You…”
YOU HAVE CHOSEN.
“No, wait—
Before Alnea could respond to the Aspects, the curtain of light surrounding him began to slowly blur, as the Aspects slowed down, returning the Origin Sea to its original state, inadvertently cutting of the special connection they had formed with him. Except for the Aspect that he had tamed, the Aspect hovering in front of him. A squirming ball of black light, around one tenth of a metre in size, that nervously circled around him, not daring to get too close, as if it knew that it had done something wrong.
At the clearly guilty behaviour of the Aspect, showing that it had, indeed, intentionally tricked him, Alnea was rendered speechless for a few moments. In the end though, he just sighed, and shook his head. He could not blame the Aspect. Tricking, and fooling others… that was its nature, its speciality. But it was not an inherently evil Aspect. And it did not lie to him when it said that it had the potential to reach the top… In a sense, all Aspects had that potential. The difference in between them lay in how much time it took for them to realise their potential.
“Come here, you little runt,” Alnea said, looking at the Aspect with a wry smile, as he stretched his hand, beckoning for the Aspect to come over. “You were one of those who were teasing me earlier, right?”
The Aspect hurriedly send back its thoughts, vehemently denying the allegations. It was an honest, and upright Aspect, that would never—
“You? And honest? Do you think that you can trick me again?”
No, absolutely not. How could it trick its partner? Especially one that was so powerful. That would never work. No. It was just trying to tell the truth.
“…Maybe there is more in common between us than I initially thought,” Alnea said, chuckling at the Aspect. “Since I still have so much Spirit Power left… let us go back a little earlier, and dig your Aspect Well.”
Aspect Well. Hearing those words, the Aspect lost all its reservations, and began circling all around him to show its excitement. It even went so far as to morph into the shape of a well, and hover in front of his face. And watching its antics, Alnea lost all his resentment against the Aspect. At the very least, it had not lied to him about being lonely. Maybe it was because of its nature, or because of its powers, but it truly had been lonely within the Origin Sea.
“Alright, stop playing around, and come here,” Alnea said, beckoning to the Aspect once again, and the Aspect followed, rushing to his hand, before flashing, and disappearing, appearing directly on his face in the form of a black mask, partially covering his face. At the same time, it also transmitted the true usage of its powers to him. The Aspect… it was not as bad as he had thought. In certain situations, it could be even more useful than his other Aspect. He would need corresponding Martial Styles to make good use of it though.
“I had fun today, but I have back now,” Alnea said to the other Aspects, who responded by circling around him in an agitated manner.
SO SOON?
WHY SO SOON?
DO YOU NOT WANT TO PLAY ANYMORE?
“Of course, I do,” Alnea said, before tapping the mask on his face. “But I need to dig the little guy’s home.”
HOME…
HOME IS NECESSARY.
HOME IS A MUST.
EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE THEIR HOME.
WHEN ARE WE GOING TO HAVE OUR HOME?
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“Soon,” Alnea said. “Although I cannot say that I will take everyone of you into my Spirit World, but I will try to bring as many of you as I can. Besides, home can mean many things. For you, an Aspect Well, or an Aspect Ocean can be your home. But at the same time, home is also the place where your family is… where you Heart is. So, even if I cannot take you into my Spirit World, as long we have fun in the Origin Sea, would it not be the same as our home?”
HOME…
WE HAVE A HOME.
OATHKEEPER GAVE US A HOME.
A HOME FOR US TO LIVE…
A HOME FOR US TO SHARE…
“That’s right,” Alnea said. “A home is for everyone to share. So, you don’t have to be sad, alright?”
WE ARE NOT SAD.
WE ARE HAPPY.
VERY HAPPY.
WE HAVE A HOME.
WE HAVE A FRIEND.
“You guys,” Alnea said, shaking his head, while laughing at the rather excited behaviour of the Aspects. They were all jumping around him, just like how his own Aspect had been jumping moments ago, circling all around him, repeatedly flashing their lights, even morphing their shapes, and size. “Forget it. I will come back to play with you tomorrow.”
Saying so, Alnea turned around towards golden ring in the distance. But the Aspects did not let him go alone. Even when he had already bid his farewell, they still kept him company, escorting him all the way back to his Domain. Of course, they did not forget to tease him in the process.
OATHKEEPER, OATHKEEPER.
WHAT A GOOD FRIEND HE IS.
GAVE US A HOME, HE DID.
PLAYED WITH US, HE DID.
OATHKEEPER, OATHKEEPER.
WHAT A GOOD FRIEND HE IS.
Or maybe not so much as tease, as to bid him farewell in their own way. Hearing the song that they were singing, Alnea could not control his laughter. It was not a bad song. He even joined them, singing along with the Aspects.
WANDERING THE ORIGIN SEA.
ONE STEP AT A TIME.
A LITTLE SLOW, HE MAY BE.
BUT FAST, HE WILL GROW.
OATHKEEPER, OATHKEEPEER.
WHAT A GOOD FRIEND—
While he was singing along with the Aspects, Alnea suddenly felt the world around him turn silent. All the different kinds of sensations attacking his senses just faded away. No, not faded. They just simply stopped. As did the voices of the Aspects. Even though their voices had been coming directly into his head…
And it was not just their voices. The descent of the silence had also pushed all of the Aspects away from him. Only his Aspect, the mask on his face, had stayed with him. But even it stayed silent. It was not at fault though. Neither were the other Aspects at fault. This was just how things were supposed to be. The rules of the Origin Sea.
When a Mystery manifested, no wild Aspect could go near its influence. And even tamed Aspect could not help their masters. Whether it was to comprehend the Mysteries, or to escape from their influence, Wanderers had to rely on themselves. Only this way, could Wanderers prove themselves worthy of the Mysteries. Or of living.
Of the two options, Alnea chose the more daring one, comprehending the Mystery. He had plenty of Spirit Power left anyways. He had to make good use of it. As for digging an Aspect well… he could always do that later. But the Mystery… This was the first time since he had begun Wandering that he had encountered a Mystery. A one in a seven—no, a one in eight chance of encountering Mysteries… It was no wonder that Yuri had been so ecstatic on encountering a Mystery on her first Wandering, and completely baffled for encountering the second Mystery near the edge of her Domain.
Of course, just because he chose to be daring did not mean that he was going to blindly flail around in overconfidence, and ignorance. This may be the first time he was encountering a Mystery, but he had experienced many manifestations of Mysteries through Yuri’s senses. And so, he knew that he could not let his guard down just because the Origin Sea had stopped assaulting his senses. Neither could he stop maintaining the Serenity of his Heart.
The sudden appearance of the Mystery had disturbed his Serenity a little, so he had to abandon all of his senses for a few moments, and concentrate within his Heart. Concentrate on its Serenity, on his master… Yuri… Cecilia… big sis Serena… and his mother. To the promise he had made to himself… To the conviction with which he had laid his Roots… The greatest Wanderer… the greatest Arcanist…
Everything was going to begin at this point. At this moment. He was going to observe, and comprehend the Mystery, and he was going to create an Arcana from it. The first of many. The first of the greatest of Arcanas that the world would ever see. Arcanas of Alnea Oathkeeper…
Opening his eyes, with an extremely Serene, and focussed Heart, Alnea turned his attention to the layers of Oren around him, observing their actions, their patterns, and… everything else about them. After all, it was in their variations that the Mystery was hidden.