Alnea may have been in the form of his Spirit, but he could still feel his heart speeding up, as an anticipation began building up within him. An anticipation of the Origin Sea, of his first Wandering. Though he had already experienced what Wandering the Origin Sea felt like, this was the first time that he would stepping into the Origin Sea himself. At least the first time since he had laid his Roots more than a year ago. First time since he had made his Oath.
He did not know if they still remembered the Oath, but he did. And he was going to fulfil it. Not just because it was an Oath, but also because they were the first of those who had helped him. And somehow, their loneliness had reminded him of himself. He wondered how they were doing. How they had been. If they even still remembered him…
Supressing his thoughts in the Serenity of his Heart, Alnea stopped hesitating, and stepped into the giant hole, into the wild reaches of the Origin Sea. The world of bright, and colourful lights, countless in number, size, shape, colour, brightness, and any other variations possible. Even the speed with which they were swimming in the Origin Sea, and the direction that they were swimming to, or swimming for, along with their patterns, kept changing at the whims of the Aspects. No, there was no pattern in the first place. Because the Origin Sea had no patterns. Or maybe it did, but his senses were not strong enough to observe those patterns.
They were, however, strong enough to receive the attacks of the Origin Sea the moment he stepped into it, with the overwhelmingly awe inspiring sight of the Origin Sea being the first of those attacks. Fortunately, Alnea had already experienced the sight of the Origin Sea many times, so it did not take long for him to recover from it, just in time to receive the attacks on his sense of smell.
From the smells worse than the faeces of the Dust Eater Rats—which he did not think was practically possible— to smells more pleasant than even the smells of Yuri’s, and Cecilia’s hair—No, why did that image come to his mind in the first place? And when had he ever smelled their hair? He was not a pervert like big sis Serena. At best, he had just given them a hug. The smell must have come from there. But he had not intentionally smelled their hair. And he definitely did not think that their smells were pleasant. The hugs though—
Before Alnea could go further down that track of thought, all the smells that he was feeling overlapped with each other, disgusting him, and pleasing him at the same time. At some point of time, the image of faces of the Dust Eater Rat somehow merged with image of the two girl’s hair… Alnea shuddered at the thought, shifting his focus to his sense of touch, using the alternation between the feelings of extreme cold, and hot to get rid of the blasphemous image from his mind.
The Origin Sea, however, did not like it when it noticed that instead of making trouble for him, the sensations of being frozen, and being burnt was helping him instead. So, instead of flooding him with such sensations, it shifted its attacks to alternation between the sensations of his master’s touch… of Yuri’s, and Cecilia’s touch… and the touch of the Heterodox Wanderers… of the blood red robed Wanderer… of the Whitebud patriarch… of Neha, and Riha Yellowbud… of Tenail Whitebud… and of Ionel Whitebud.
It took all of Alnea’s willpower to maintain his Serenity. Such vile, and abhorrent sensations… Even the smell of the Dust Eater Rat was better than this. The Origin Sea, of course, refused his request, overlapping all the sensations that he was feeling with each other, making his torment even worse than before. To dare to compare his master’s touch… Cecilia’s, ad Yuri’s touch, with such vile, and abominable people…
Fortunately, Alnea had enough wits about himself to not start cursing the Origin Sea while he was within its reaches. And in response, the Origin Sea also acted a little kindly, attacking his other senses, giving him something else to distract his mind, and thoughts with. Both his senses of taste, and hearing were repeatedly assaulted with vile, and abhorrent sensations, overlapping with pleasant, and soothing sensations, forming a balance with each other, teasing his senses to their extreme. And as he gradually adapted to those extreme sensations, and the neutral sensations that lay in between them, somehow, all those sensations decided to merge together, and attack his senses as a whole.
The Origin Sea was truly merciless, Alnea thought. The sensations that were attacking his senses were definitely more intense than what he usually felt when he experienced the Origin Sea through Yuri’s senses. Maybe her Clear Heart had something to do with it. Or the fact that he had not entered the Origin Sea back then. In any case, at the moment, the Origin Sea was clearly taking out its wrath on him. It was as if it was venting out all its frustration on him for experiencing Wandering its reaches for all those months, without paying the price himself.
Thankfully, his Heart was in the state of Serenity, allowing him to tackle the attacks with relative ease. At the very least, the attacks were not capable of drawing him within their lures, and temptations. How could he let himself be trapped within the Origin Sea, when there were so many people waiting for him? How could he let himself be devoured by the Origin Sea, when his Heart was out there, in the world of Wanderers, waiting for him?
With a smile on his face, and Serenity in his Heart, Alnea took another step, completely leaving his Domain behind him. However, the moment he took that step, a shiver went through his Spirit, as he felt something from the depths of the Origin Sea calling out to him. As if there was a part of his Spirit, sleeping deep within the Origin Sea, yearning for him, waiting for him to come, and claim, to become a whole once again. To become a part of him once again. To—
YOU HAVE COME, OATHKEEPER.
Trapped within the strange feelings that he was experiencing, Alnea had stopped paying attention to what was happening around him. By the time the voice in his head brought him back to his senses, all the Aspects within the Origin Sea, or at least those which he could see, had already stopped moving, and had formed a circle around him, as if they were looking at him, waiting for his response.
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“I have come,” Alnea said. “I have come to Wander the Origin Sea… and to fulfil my Oath with you. Do you want to play with me?”
HE REMEMBERS.
OF COURSE, HE REMEMBERS.
HE IS OATHKEEPER.
HE HAS COME TO KEEP HIS OATH.
HE HAS COME TO PLAY.
PLAY.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
PLAY. WE SHOULD PLAY.
LET’S PLAY.
CAN HE PLAY?
YES, LET’S PLAY.
LET’S PLAY.
The discordant voices, concurring upon their decision, regained their synchronisation, and rang out in his head as a collective voice of thousands, or maybe even millions of Aspects, all ringing in his head at the same time, brimming with enthusiasm, and excitement, bringing up his excitement to their level.
“Let’s play,” Alnea said, laughing along with the Aspects, as he rushed towards them. Or at least he tried to. But the moment he moved, he faced the opposition of the Origin Sea, of the endless layers of Oren surrounding, and trapping him. “…It may be a little harder than I thought.”
IT DOES NOT MATTER.
WE CAN STILL PLAY.
LET’S PLAY.
YES, LET’S PLAY.
Not even bothering to discuss with him, the Aspects began acting on their own, and dispersed from the circle around him, rushing about in all directions, recreating the scene that they had created over a year ago. The Aspects, the lights, varying in all ways possible, rushed towards him, teasing him, taunting him, daring him. They never touched him though. Or went through his Spirit, like they had done before.
Maybe it was because how his Spirit had grown, reaching the False Rank, gaining some substance. At least more than before. Whatever the reason, he did not care. He just rushed towards the Aspects, laughing along with them, completely ignoring the attacks on his senses by the Origin Sea. Compared to the fun he was having with his friends of the Origin Sea, those attacks were nothing.
Especially those naughty little Aspects, which always stopped for him to come towards them, waiting for him to almost touch them, before shooting off into the distance. Or just blinking out of existence. There were also those Aspects which just stayed out of his reach, matching his pace, constantly teasing him, taunting him for being slow, comparing to the ‘useless’ layers of Oren.
Alnea, of course, did not mind those teases. Rather, he even teased those Aspects back, commenting on their shapes, and sizes, and sometimes, even their brightness, trying to stun them with his words, before catching them. They were too smart though. Or maybe, they just did not mind. Laughing along with him, they kept playing with him, until his Spirit Power dropped to around twenty units. Though he did not wish to stop, desiring to keep playing with the Aspects a little longer, his circumstances did not allow him that leisure.
The Aspects may have been friendly to him, but the Origin Sea itself remained unbiassed. Throughout the time he had played with the Aspects, the Origin Sea had not relented in its attacks. On the contrary, as he had kept drifting deeper, and deeper into the Origin Sea, it had even intensified the sensations trying to flood his senses. At the same time, the drain on his Spirit Power from Oren had also kept increasing with the increasing density of the endless layers Oren around his Spirit. In the end, as his Spirit Power dropped below his safety limit, Alnea had not choice, but to stop rushing about with the Aspects.
“I must leave now,” Alnea said, looking at the Aspects with reluctance.
ALREADY?
WHY?
LET’S PLAY MORE!
YES, MORE!
PLAY MORE!
“I will come play with you tomorrow,” Alnea said. “Right now, my Spirit Power is too low. I need to head back to my Domain.”
SPIRIT POWER…
THAT’S RIGHT…
YOU CANNOT STAY HERE, LIKE US.
WANDERING THE ORIGIN SEA IS DANGEROUS.
VERY DANGEROUS.
TOO DANGEROUS.
YOU MUST RETURN.
RETURN, AND COME BACK.
COME AND PLAY WITH US AGAIN.
YES, PLAY WITH US AGAIN.
“I will,” Alnea said, nodding at the Aspects, as he turned around towards his Domain. “I will be returning to my world then…”
WAIT.
YOU CANNOT GO.
NOT YET.
YES, NOT YET.
The words of the Aspects made Alnea stop in his steps, and look around himself in confusion.
“What happened?”
WANDERING THE ORIGIN SEA IS DANGEROUS.
VERY DANGEROUS.
BUT YOUR WORLD IS DANGEROUS AS WELL.
TOO DANGEROUS.
“…Why is my world dangerous?”
CANNOT SAY.
MUST NOT SAY.
BUT YOU CANNOT GO.
NOT YET.
NOT ALONE.
“What do you mean by that?”
…WE WILL GO WITH YOU, OATHKEEPER.
TO YOUR WORLD.
TO YOUR SPIRIT WORLD.
WE WILL GO WITH YOU.
AS YOUR PROTECTOR.
AS YOUR GUARDIAN.
AS YOUR WEAPON.
AS YOUR PARTNER.
AS YOUR ASPECT.
AS YOUR WILL.
WE WILL GO WITH YOU, OATHKEEPER.
ONE OF US WILL.