Translucent figures move about soildiver as Adelie sits in his chair. “What is going on? My body feels like it hasn’t slept in days and these ghosts keep showing up.” He tries to brute force his way from the chair, but the harder he tries the quicker his ather drains. “Hey, are you faking being asleep?”
Zav’s body sways side to side in an exaggerated motion. He’d been asleep as soon as the soildiver came for them and they entered.
“Great,” Adelie says to himself. It was his own idea to enter the soildiver in the first place, well at least he thinks it was, he couldn’t be sure. One moment, he and Zav were having a lively discussion on which body part they’d break on the other, the next moment he’s standing in front of the soildiver. Zav told him that he ‘looked dumber than usual’ and opened the vehicle himself. “I don’t remember even getting in here, let alone opening it.” “Ok Adelie,” he says aloud, “this is nothing, just dig deep.” Adelie strains against the seat with all his might and manages to get one of his arms free. “Alright, now to...now to..” His free arm stiffens and a searing pain shoots down his arm and slowly travels throughout his body. “Kusierda! I used up all my ather.”
Adelie’s entire body feels like its slowly being encased in stone. Ather flows through all living things at varying amounts; even Stalls possess some degree of ather. For an awakened, ather flows more intensely and allows them to perform feats that are well into the range of superhuman, but they suffer debilitating effects when their ather runs low. Once the ather in their body falls past its maintenance level, the body suspends all non essential functions until it can recover. “If my body locks up in front of Zav, I’ll be defenseless! I can’t let that happen. I have to get payback for Eba!” A fire burns in the pit of his stomach. He can feel it swirling inside him, grabbing on to the last vestiges of his ather and feeding it. The muscles in his body lose some of their tension and the weakness that gripped him fades. Somehow, there’s ather building in his body once more. Adelie’s lungs also burn, but not with the power he felt before. “What...what in Kishr’s…” His breath catches on each word, “Why...am I so tired?” Adelie’s head sways back and forth and the edges of his vision swim in blackness before becoming completely enveloped by it.
“Hello again,” the Ith says, “you’re looking quite exhausted...and your spirit has changed.” The Ith floats around Adelie’s spiritual body and inspects it. He sees flickers of black in the swirling waves of blues and whites that compromise Adelie’s body. “Hold still.” The Ith plunges its hand into the center of Adelie’s body. “That’s strange, I can’t remove it.”
“Remove what?”
“The trace of nyl presence inside of you?”
“What? Nyl presence?!” Adelie pats his body down vigorously and stops after realizing that his hands are passing through himself. “That’s impossible, the Nyl have been gone for thousands of years.”
“And yet the fact remains that your spirit has been infused with a small amount of nyl presence. It appears to be remnants of nylflame.”
“Nylflame?,” Adelie asks as he lifts his arm to towards his face, “what’s that? In fact, what the hell is anything you’re saying?”
A voice echoes throughout the atherspace.“That thing cannot tell you anything for its knowledge is tainted.”
“Who said that?” Adelie turns to the Ith, “are there more of you here?”
“No, we Ith are not allowed to inhabit the atherspaces of others. I don’t know this spiritual signature, but it is beginning to take form.” The Ith points towards an empty space behind Adelie. Adelie follows the finger and sees streams of white and orange light swirling in mid air. The two light sources explode into the form of a man made of fire; or at least what passes for fire in this state. The light coming from the entity obscures Adelie’s vision, which he didn’t even know was possible outside of his physical form. As the light starts to dim, the entity speaks again; this time in a voice that registers with Adelie.
The flames around Mogun’s body extinguish, leaving only his fully materialized form left. His body was different from Adelie’s spiritual form; aside from a faint aura of orange and white, he looked exactly like his physical form. Without speaking, he looks at the Ith and it bursts in a brilliant flash of light. “Now that’s out of the way,” Mogun focuses his gaze on Adelie, “that nylflame in your body will never go away. You’ve assimilated it into your very essence.”
Anger flares throughout Adelie. Without a physical body to act as a buffer, the intense emotion pours from him like a waterfall, twisting the atherspace around him. His memory of Izia’s night in Zet Village starts to spread throughout the space, stopping just short of Mogun’s foot. On Adelie’s side is the sight of a black flame enveloping a house and Izia staring absently at the destruction. Adelie tries to speak, to move, but nothing happens. The anger inside him grows and adds another scene behind him: the dead body of Eba laid before him.
“You would do well to keep your emotions in check in this realm,” Mogun says as he calmly steps into the memory, “you don’t have enough experience to create a spiritual layer.” He stands in front of Adelie, towering over him. “You’re paralyzing yourself with your own emotions.” A wave of power ripples from his body and instantly blinks away the memories.
Adelie reflexively gasps and falls to the ground, but will himself to his feet. He wants to punch Mogun until his hands break, if that’s even possible here, but he feels a force around his spiritual body that’s preventing him from doing anything other than talk. “What are you doing here?” Nylflame starts to drip out of his body and dot the ground.
“All that anger inside of you, yet most of it isn’t yours.”
“What? Shut up!” Rage threatens to swallow Adelie up again. “Your guild got my friend killed. Your guild burned down Zet Village and-” The embers of nylflame erupt around him and incinerate the ground, leaving only a blackness where the wondrous grass once stood.
“I see now,” Mogun says as he once again extinguishes the flames, “ you invaded Izia’s spirit realm. All that anger you’re experiencing is coming from her on that night.” Mogun places his hand on Adelie’s shoulder and pushes something out of Adelie’s body. “Look behind you, that is what is causing that anger.”
A sense of calm washes over Adelie; he’s still wary of Mogun but that burning rage he felt a moment ago is nothing more than a dull flame, dancing in the wind. He turns around and sees Izia, but the form is all wrong. Her arms are elongated and her face is exaggerated. Blood red eyes stare back at him and her entire body looks like it's covered in black wax. “Izia?”
“No, that is the version of her that is consumed by hate and anger. The version that erased Zet Village in the black of an eye using the nylflames.”
Adelie snaps back to Mogun. “She did that because you guys made her.”
“Whether she was made to or not, it is undeniable that she summoned nylflames and destroyed that village.” Mogun moves Adelie to one side and approaches the writhing mass in Izia’s form. It shrieks in anguish as Mogun approaches. “Your spiritcrafting is weak Adelie. You weren’t even able to tell that your spirit had been invaded.” Mogun grabs the faux Izia by the neck and effortlessly snaps its neck, causing it to fall limply onto the ground before melting into nothingness. He turns back to Adelie, “Why haven’t you been strengthening your spiritcrafting?”
“I didn’t even know what spiritcrafting was until a few days ago! And anyways, why do you care?” Adelie manages to ball his hands into fists and takes an errant swing at Mogun. The aura around Mogun’s body flashes with power and sends Adelie stumbling back in surprise. Images flash through Adelie’s mind: hordes of nightmarish creatures descending upon armies, people falling lifelessly to the ground, beings the size of mountains roaming the land. Dozens of scenes pour into Adelie’s head until he drops to his knees in agony. “What is all of this?”
Mogun regards Adelie with a glint of surprise in his eyes, “Not only could you move in my presence, but you also read my spirit.” Mogun appears in front of Adelie and lifts him up. Adelie pushes Mogun away and throws another punch that misses. “It seems that you might not be a waste of my time after all,” Mogun says as he weaves around Adelie’s punches.
“I don’t give a damn about your time, just tell me where Lavius is so I can kick his ass.” Adelie throws another punch, but this time it lands squarely on Mogun’s gut. Heat rushes up Adelie’s arm and he quickly pulls it away. “There’s a lot more where that came from,” Adelie says as he shakes his hand.
“So that’s what you’re after.” Mogun sits down and crosses his legs, gesturing for Adelie to do the same. “I’ll be straight with you, you’ll die facing Lavius the way you are. He’s not the same person you saw die at the Naka Hunt.”
“How do you know about the Hunt?” Adelie asks as he absentmindedly sits down. “The official story didn’t mention the details.”
“You’re not the only one who can spiritdive and that’s besides the point. Lavius is far beyond your capabilities. If I could, I would end him myself and be done with it all.”
If he could? Adelie thinks back to the vision of Mogun he saw during his time in Izia’s mind; the unstoppable juggernaut that could catch and break the weapon of an experienced Gladius with his bare hands. “You could fight an army by yourself, how could Lavius give you any issue?” Mogun shows Adelie the back of his hand. A red, half moon eye with a purple iris opens up and rapidly scans the area. “What is that?”
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“An ancient binding technique. I can’t harm the person who placed it on me and they can’t harm me either.” Mogun turns his hand back around and the eye disappears. “I don’t have much time, you’ll have to find me in person in order for me to train you on-”
“Train me? This isn’t what’s happening.” Adelie jumps to his feet and points down at Mogun. “You’re going to tell me where Lavius is and then you’re gonna get out of my atherspace. I’d never take any training from a banned guild, especially not from the people that got my friend killed!”
Mogun looks at the ground next to Adelie’s feet and sees that it’s beginning to break down. “This space can no longer handle my presence. It’s going to shatter and then rebuild itself and I won’t be able to renter once the Ith comes back; you need to find me if you want to stand a chance against Lavius.”
“Are you deaf in this form? I’m not gonna-” Mogun grabs Adelie by the mouth.
“Your destiny cares little for your wants and I even less.” Mogun sees the questions forming in Adelie’s eyes. “I will answer your questions when you arrive.” The sky above cracks and shatters into a void of infinite white. “When you find the stone, don’t touch it unless you’ve layered yourself, otherwise you’ll-” The world around them shakes as its ripped apart. Mogun sends some of his aura into Adelie and mutters something to himself before disappearing. In an instant, everything is engulfed in whiteness.
“Wake up you pain in the ass,” Zav says as he slaps Adelie across the face repeatedly.
Adelie blocks the next slap and pushes Zav away from him, but doesn’t acknowledge him. The surface of his skin prickles with the sensation of a million tiny needles jabbing him. “That’s weird, it doesn’t hurt.” Adelie regards his hands and arms as the sensation travels throughout his body. Deep down inside, he instinctively knows what’s happening. “Mogun’s spirit is slowly activating the spirit nodes within my body...wait how do I know that?”
Zav studies Adelie with thoughtful intent.“When you zone out like that, where do you go?”
“Go? What are you talking about?”
Zav regards for a moment before grabbing the handle of his axe and twirling it around. “Ok, let’s table that for now. We got a stone to find and I got money to make.” Zav walks to the side of the soildiver and it opens up to a howling windstorm. Zav’s hair blows back as he shields himself with his forearm. “Come on then! The faster we go, the faster we can get out!” He walks out into the storm, not waiting for a response.
Adelie follows after Zav, though he makes it a point to get a few steps ahead of him. The world howls around them with a deafening wind, threatening to sweep Adelie away with each step onto the purple grass. The roots of thick, curling trees grip tightly to the soil as everything around them is stripped by the powerful winds. Adelie has no idea how he and Zav aren’t being ripped from the ground themselves, until he sees a faint shimmer leading from the back of Zav and to his body. “I’m doing this,” Adelie thinks to himself, “This is my ability, I’m augmenting both of us so we can resist the wind.” The realization of this strengthens the augmentation, quieting the world around them even though the winds have only increased in ferocity. “Hey! What’s the map say?”
“What? I can’t hear-no wait I can hear? Why can I hear you?”
“Nevermind that, what’s the map say?”
Zav takes out the map and is surprised that the map remains stationary in the violent winds. He looks up to Adelie with questioning eyes but dismisses any thoughts forming. “This map is worthless. It shows our position and the stone, but everything around it is a mess,” he says before extending the map towards Adelie. He takes it and confirms Zav’s assessment. The area around them swirls around them like a whirlpool, making it impossible to tell which direction they came from or which direction they were going. “Our best bet is to head to the location where that stone is supposed to be,” Zav says.
“Well obviously. Were we supposed to go in the opposite direction of our goal?” Adelie waits for Zav to reply, but the Torna man just gives him a knowing smile and continues walking. “Ok what the hell, something’s up with this guy.” “Hey, what’s with all of the smiling? I don’t like it,” Adelie says as he once again overtakes Zav.
“Nothing, just thinking about how much lim I’m about to make after all of this.”
Adelie frowns, “Is money all you care about? What about the lives of your friends? Don’t you want to get payback for them?”
“Payback isn’t good for business,” Zav says. “You think those people were my friends?” A laugh erupts from Zav that’s so genuine it startles Adelie. “By the Maidens, that’s the most naive thing I’ve heard in a long time.” Zav stops to wipe the tears from his face before continuing. “Friends are a liability in my business, I didn’t even know those guy’s names.”
“But you were upset when-”
“Of course I was upset! It hurts my rep if the people I work with die, makes it harder to recruit that way.”
The callousness in his words sends a surge of anger through Adelie. “You’re the worst kind of person you know that? You treat people like commodities and do anything for money.”
“Right. Remind me again why you’re out here looking for the stone again? The kindness of your heart?” Zav scoffs at Adelie and bumps him as he moves past him. “We ain’t all have Lyzian to make sure we were safe from the world.”
“Safe? Safe?!” Adelie glares down at Zav. “You have no idea what I had to go through when I was with him or what my life was like!”
“Oh yes, it must of been a living hell staying in the top guild of Unam. Tell me, were the beds too soft for you or did the engravers not make your clothes warm enough for you?”
“So that’s your deal? You’re upset that I got taken in by Lyzian? I earned my spot there.”
Anger radiates from Zav.“And I didn’t? I busted my ass at the Hunt, making sure none of those bastards got through. I followed the rules and what did it get me? But you?” Zav sizes Adelie up and down, “you snuck out and went to the nest and got to face the Queen.”
“I-wait how did you know about that?”
“Because I followed you, you idiot. I saw you, Marn and the blonde kid each enter the forest.”
A horror of realization dawns upon Adelie. “What do you mean you followed me?”
“Exactly what I said. You’re not as sneaky as you think you are.”
An eerie calm settles over Adelie. “What did you see?”
Zav smiles, “I think you know the answer to that. It makes sense why I can’t read you like I can Marn; she’s an actual Gladius, but you’re not.”
Adelie’s eyes glow a bright azure, a sign that his spiritcrafting is mixing with his ather.
“The Maidens have tales,” Zav says as he starts to circle around Adelie, “tales about an old race of people that were said to be touched by the Atherials themselves.” He places a hand on handle and another in his pocket. “These are just tales of course, who would believe that the Atherials would ever give power to us? But, the Maidens swear by it.”
Adelie withdraws his connection to Zav and trains his gaze on him. The power flowing through him feels like it’s mostly his, but he can tell that Mogun’s spirit is blocking access to certain nodes and directing it where Adelie truly needs it to go.
“They say that there was a group lost to time, but they could do incredible things like communicate with beings from other realms, cast incantins without grimoires, lots of stuff.” Zav stops pacing around and pulls a purple gem from his pocket. “I always thought it was all crap, but he told me to keep an eye on you and wouldn’t you know it? He was right.” Zav throws the gem into the air and smiles wickedly.
A voice in Adelie’s head screams for him to run, but he ignores it. He watches as the gem flips through the air and lands on the grass a few feet behind him. The gem starts to vibrate as cracks start to dot its surface. Purple and black steam gush forth and travel upward with the wind, enclosing Adelie and Zav in a whirlwind of smoke. With the aid of his spirit vision, Adelie is able to see the form of something through the smoke, something monstrous. A writhing mass of wings and flesh thrash about with fangs and crimson eyes. A seal similar to Mogun’s is emblazoned across the stomach of the entity, though it nearly covers its chest too. When the creature speaks, it’s like hearing a chorus of howls echoing all at once. “You...you can actually see me can’t you?” The voices continue to echo until a dominant voice emerges. “Yes, you have the sight...you’re one of them.” The voice slips into an almost playful tone. “I thought your kind was long dead, looks like they missed a few.”
“Who are you?” The apprehension on Adelie’s voice shatters any chance of a bluff. “What the hell are you?”
“I can see your mouth moving, but unfortunately for you I can’t communicate through this body and it doesn’t look like you can resonate with me yet. That’s fine, you’ll be dead in a moment anyways...but if you aren’t, there’s so much I want to talk about.”
The smoke around the figure starts to dissipate and Adelie’s eyes sharpen. A body with unusually white skin and blue hair stands before him. Half of the chest is exposed, the other half is wrapped in a black cloak with purple trim around it. “It’s a bit loud here, isn’t it?” Lavius raises his exposed arm into the air and a mass of energy ejects from his body, blowing the windstorm away in an instant and forming a miles wide barrier. “That’s better.”
Adelie glares at Zav and the Torna man smiles. “What’s with that look? It’s not like we ever liked each other.”
“I know that, but this guy is the reason why your rep is gonna take a hit? I thought that was important to you?”
“Not as important as the lim I’m getting from this gig,” Zav says. “Speaking of which…” He turns expectantly to Lavius.
“Your payment is at the guild.” Lavius lowers his arm and points it at Zav. “Our business is concluded, now leave us.” A portal opens up underneath Zav and he falls through without saying a word. “I never liked that man,” Lavius says to Adelie,” but I knew he wouldn’t ask too many questions as long as the price was right.”
“You should be dead,” Adelie says through gritted teeth, “Lyzian-”
“Will be dealt with later. I have business with you Adelie.”
“What a coincidence,” Adelie says as his eyes blaze with power, “I was thinking of finishing some business myself.” The spirit pathways inside of Adelie burst with life, hitting all of the nodes he has access to. His clenched fist burns with power, as do his feet and eyes. The ather in his body starts to react to his spiritcrafting, but he doesn’t care. “Eba Odoli! That’s the name of the guild member you killed.”
Lavius stares back with his ice blue eyes. “I don’t have time for you nonsense, I’m on the cusp of something great and I need to test things out.”
A white flame erupts around Adelie’s body, “Nonsense!” He wasn’t nonsense! He was my friend and you bastards killed him!” Adelie’s eyes shine fiercely with all of the depth of the Everseas themselves.
“Well if you’re already this excited, I can proceed with the test.” Lavius summons a black grimoire, similar to Izias’, and speaks in a language unfamiliar to Adelie. When he’s done, two black balls appear on either side of him and touchdown onto the ground. The inky balls twitch violently before exploding into grotesque, twisted creatures that stand several heads taller than Adelie. They move with an unnatural cadence as their multitude of eyes look in every direction before fixating on Adelie.
The fire inside of Adelie continues to burn, but deep down on an instinctual level there’s a hint of hesitation. Standing before him is something that shouldn’t exist; something that hasn’t existed for thousands of years. These creatures, that seem to be awaiting instructions from Lavius, are creatures that should not be drawing breath, yet the memories Adelie gleaned from Mogun told him they couldn’t be anything other than the enemies of both humanity and the Atherials.
“Let’s see if you can beat them in one punch too.”