A Knight's Lilies

“All reservists be advised. Due to recent circumstances, an emergency summons have been issued. Please report to the closest guard station.”

- Message Announced By Town Criers, Arteria

Sophie walked out of the arena in a daze, followed closely by Watchman Baxter and another Trinite guard that tagged along. Having taken up by her example, the two Trinity guards found enough spirit to also assist with the nursery and birthing area. None of the three had much to do given the sensitive nature of the area, but if Keely and a few others were to be believed, it was an effort that was at least appreciated.

The city itself was in a state of chaotic lockdown. Panicked citizens ran both ways. Some towards the port, others away from it. Hapless redcloaks tried their best to maintain a semblance of order while blue cloaked Trinity guards fell into formation and cut off the noble districts from the commonfolk. Interspersed throughout the crowds were the occasional oddly clad Clover Legionaries. Arteria’s special operations units deployed in an emergency to secure crucial locations, many of whom now flowed past the crowd to join the Chamber guard in protecting the massive building.

“This is as far as we go, miss. May we all be blessed by the stars.” Baxter saluted with his fist over his heart.

The other guardsmen followed in the salute, the two of them having gained some appreciation for their momentary comrade in the nursery.

Sophie didn’t know how to respond, saluting in her own way with a Meltonian knight’s salute. Her hand over her torso, mimicking holding out her sword.

The air was still tinged with mana, the lingering trace of the mana bomb still heavy in the atmosphere. She took a deep breath, taking in the moment as her body cried out. The void within having sensed the abundance of fuel desired more. And unlike her usual moments, it would not be denied. It called upon her to move. To reach the source. To explore the epicenter. A desire she could not rid herself of.

Keeping her hand close to the hilt of her adventurer’s blade, she pushed her way into the throngs on the way to the port. Many speculated on what had happened, many more questioning if their friends, family or loved ones were still alive. A vain hope that she suspected would be found shattered should they get closer to the port. Redcloaks barked their orders, armed with only enough manpower to carve out the crowds into two separate streams of people. Trinite guard squads occasionally escorted merchant lords and nobles through the crowds, making a beeline for the safety of the wealthier districts.

Getting closer towards Saint Emeline Plaza and the port, she spied the Academy Port’s own protective ward glowing orange in the sky. A bubble of protection under the breached defensive dome of Arteria. The same was seen over the Elven quarters, save for it’s barrier only being barely visible, still too powerful to have suffered any significant damage. Beyond them however, was a far more depressing view.

Plumes of smoke clawed their way into the sky from the port, a clear sign that she was headed in the right direction. From a place where most of the buildings only suffered surface level damage, the closer she was, the more collapsed structures and wailing was present. Here, guards were less concerned about order and more focused about helping the wounded and those struggling. Rescue crews from the city’s oft neglected departments carried sigils of the Goddess of healing as they coordinated what few efforts that they could.

Within her, the monster hungered more than ever. The mana saturating the air now like a thick blanket that suffocated her, all her senses dulled beyond that of the desire for mana. If there had ever been any doubt to the changes wrought by being a child of the void, those would be thoroughly dispelled. For despite feeling dazed if not overwhelmed. Surrounded by all this mana, all that could feel the emptiness within. She felt alive.

Armed with a sense of purpose not entirely of her own, she continued forward. Ash caked streets strewn with bits of timber and rubble greeted her. Here, the crowds had mostly thinned out. Most had remained wisely on the outskirts, unwilling to push in too much further. Those who had lost all hope also collapsed there, their tears and lamentations of the fallen in the port adding a second cacophony to the unfolding tragedy. Bodies also started appearing more often. The unfortunate ones with no one around to tend to them, but not lucky enough to be simply vaporized by the blast.

The guards here were even more vigilant than the already mobilized ones. More legion troopers crawled through the rubble in search of both survivors and clues. Redcloaks remained respectfully behind them while the few Trinity soldiers here aided in search efforts. Here, even the rescue crews were being mostly denied entry until the troops were certain there would be no more attacks. A cruel joke that the survivors of the blast that most needed help, were left here to mostly fend for themselves.

Past the last few cordons was where the bomb had hit the hardest. She could see the mermaid’s twist tavern and one of the trading company offices sticking out from behind the rubble. She was curious at first before the horrifying realization hit. All the one to two story houses and shanty town that sprung up around the port itself had been mostly levelled. The few structures standing being the ones that were lucky enough to have their own wards and shields or those shielded from the worst of it by far sturdier buildings.

She could even see ships and Williamsharbor. Sights normally even more obscured than the other two structures from where she was standing. Here, there were bodies still pressed in between the rubble. People crying out in pain or anguish, or even those calling fruitlessly out from under the ruins. A cacophany of the hells themselves.

Shellshocked survivors wandered the ruins in their tattered clothes. The few adventurers quartering in the mermaid’s twist hurriedly offering what assistance they could. Augmented by guards from the Portside precinct and squads of Clover Legionaries doing their best to assess the situation.

Conspicuously gone however, was where the Braveskull’s former trading house was. In fact, as she squinted to take in the sight, she could deduce that the trading house was the epicenter. She could feel her stomach churning at the thought. Everything is too convenient. Them getting bombed? Destruction at this scale? No one would be that stupid, no matter their hatred of them. To her, it all screamed of one conclusion, one that meant Lucinia and herself were on the back foot. This was all part of their plan. Has to be.

Closer

Her thoughts were stricken from her mind. Tossed aside as something far more powerful called out.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves and started walking closer.

The mana laden air was so thick that she could feel her skin practically pulsate. Her limbs twitching ever so slightly as her body’s rapid ingestion of the mana threatened to create a repeat of her incident at the farmhouse outside the city. She had to clench her teeth in order to force herself to remain calm. Even if she usually didn’t absorb ambient mana in the environment around her, the flow here couldn’t be stopped.

Closer

She took bigger strides. Hoping between the rubble as she navigated the debris and bones. The people here too close to the epicenter. Their chances of survival near zero as they simply ceased to exist in an instant. Their remains however, painted a grim picture of people who knew not what was about to happen. Likely the blinding blue flash of arcane energy being the last thing they saw.

There in the ruins, she saw something else that chilled her to the bone. Shadowy figures shambling around, their skin mostly melted away, their insides draped outside their bodies and their movements unnatural. But unlike the zombies or undead, these were a far cry from those foes. While still corpses, they were just that. Corpses functioning due to arcane energies infused within them. The moment enough flickered away, they would simply collapse. For her, it meant the moment she got close, they stopped their wretched mockery of life. At least they can't do any harm. Goddess bless their souls.

By contrast, bathing in the mana rich environment, she could feel herself more alert and awake than ever. Every fiber of her being getting supercharged through no effort of her own. Gone were concerns of the people of the city or the plot of the Braveskulls. Only the lingering hunger to find out what lay at the center of this ruined heap.

There

She turned abruptly. Her instincts leading her towards a still semi standing section of the trading house. Her heart raced. The rhythmic thumping within her head and chest getting louder and louder. Her muscles tensed, coiled like a spring to be let loose.

An erratic pulse emanated from where It pointed her towards. Like a heartbeat but more mechanical yet confused. But one that was tantalizing all the same.

Stepping over the ruins of the company building, she suddenly had a dreadful thought invade her mind. Though she hadn’t been exposed to her counterpart’s mental strain of the assault. Over the course of the time they spent together, her own unprotected mind had often taken in fragments that were nestled away. Only now, she could feel the anxiety Sophia would’ve likely felt being back here again. Worse, the pulse came from under the rubble. Likely past the ground floor, wherever that may be now.

Push through

With a hefty grunt, she felt her arms move on their own. Stretching out to the rubble below for the unenviable task of digging through it. Without warning however, she felt her stomach lurch as she felt her left arm spasm before going rigid. Filled with a sense of sheer inexplicable terror, her eyes widened as tendrils snaked out from under she skin, each resembling that of It. Ethereal, empty, dark tendrils wrapped around pieces of debris, effortlessly push or throwing them aside. Every movement seemed to drag her down, to chisel away at the edge of her sanity at the bizarre sight.

She grimaced at the sickening jelly like sensation that wrapped itself around her arm with the movement of the tendrils. Her body struggled to remain upright as the tendrils greedily soaked into the mana charged air. Most disconcerting of all was how weighty each tendril became under the free supply of arcane energy, yet with each flick or coiling of the tendrils, she also felt how weightless they were.

Another tendril gripped onto a fallen piece of roof tile, coiling up before flinging it away without a second thought. A light clatter and crash made Sophie wince as the roof tile shattered into pieces. She balked at the very idea of the tendrils extending from her hand. They felt like a part of her, yet she didn’t feel like herself at all. They moved in accordance to It’s will, but it’s… it’s my arm, my hand, my palm… but I… I can’t move it at all.

The tendril speared downwards and separated the last of the rubble blocking the entryway. In front of her, a small opening could be seen under the rubble. The palpable dread almost making her mouth taste bitter as she gazed into a darkened basement. Or whatever was left of it.

From inside the darkened basement, faint flickers of light shone through. Each pulse of which almost brought her to her knees. So concentrated was the mana there that for a brief moment, Sophie swore that she could feel mana coursing through her void touched veins. That even the emptiness within had begun to be filled. But only for a moment.

The curiosity. The desire. The hunger. That was what drove her forward. Turned into but a vessel for It. Reluctantly, she braved the daunting task and began picking her way into the basement.

What had once been a dungeon and a place of horror was now but rubble and dust. The dull blue green light pulsating from within it offering the only sign of something happening within this empty prison. Looking around, Sophie mostly blasted rubble and scorched walls. Though whatever kept the walls up was certainly more sturdy than the building above it.

There. Little Sofi.

The voice boomed in her mind, intertwining with sound of her heartbeat. She breathed heavily, each breath a struggle. The light pulsed once more. Her chest tightened.

The world was alive. Beating, shaking, angry. It raged against the injustice done against. Cursed the heavens for allowing this abomination of a bomb to have happened. And she was, I am…

One last pulse flared up from underneath a pile of rubble. Unrestrained by slightest caution in the world above, a massive tendril shot out from her chest. She felt the brief weightlessness and discombobulation of her own self. Her own soul shuddered under the weight.

In but a flash, the rubble ahead of her was turned into nothing more than dust. In its wake, a singular condensed crystal. A sickly blue-green teal hue surrounded it, giving color to what was often unseen. A crystal unmarred by the destruction, the purest form of mana given solid form. The catalyst of the arcane explosion that had torn apart the city above.

She could feel it in the very air. A reason why she could stand here. Why she had never read or heard about things like this before.

Aside from the pointlessness of know this information to ordinary folk or even adventurers. The very mana in the air seemed to cry out to her. To tell her that if not for the void within her, she would be dead from sheer mana overload like the walking corpses overhead. She was an explorer, a pioneer in discovering something. And it was a completely useless discovery.

The moment felt so absurd that she couldn’t help but laugh. Her contract muscles loosening for but a moment to allow her this motion.

Enveloped by the crystal’s shine, she reached out. Her hand moving in parallel to the tendril extending out from her. United as one, her finger brushed the crystal.

At first, nothing happened. Then a blinding flash that covered her world in light as It’s voice returned, letting out what almost felt like a joyful trill.

Excellent. A delectable treat.

It spoke directly to her. Then her mind went blank.

Sophie awoke with a start, sweat pouring down from her forehead. She felt faint and barely able to move. A sore back and aching bones welcomed her, a tiring experience. Yet, at the same time, she felt refreshed and somewhat vibrant. A cool wind dancing gently across her skin as if she had been given some unknown stockpile of energy despite being sore as can be.

Pushing her muscles forward once more, she managed to wiggle her arms free from the soft feathery blanket that covered her and the equally fluffy bed below. Huh?! Blanket? Bed?!

Surprise gave way to relief when she felt the ever familiar touch of a realm beyond the world. The white marble ceilings and ornately decorated walls of the room were a comforting reminder of a greater power beyond her that protected her. Turning her head sideways, though unnerved by the sight, a wave of calm covered her at the same time. The ever present but protective eye stalks that kept a silent vigil over Its domain.

There was a certain reassurance that came from being here. Wiggling her toes, she looked down at herself to find herself almost completely unclothed. Still a little too bewildered to really care, she finally managed to fully rouse herself. Pushing herself out of bed, she found herself back wobbling a little as she steadied herself. The subtle scent of a smoky drink drifted past the doorway. Intrigued, she bumbled her way out of the room and into the palatial hallways.

She found herself more curious about these surroundings. It had claimed that It created this as a perfect realm for her. A thing created from memories and sights that she had once seen. Though she couldn’t remember any of it, now that she knew what was a family name, she wondered just where she had come from. House Kastiane, hmm. Just… what were we? What was I?

Of course, not everything was all rosy in her mind. She was very much much aware of the nightmare that it had also put her through. More curiously, she wondered what exactly her connection with Mila was that the girl and her family had kept returning to her mind at the time. So many mysteries. I wonder if Mila is meant to be one of the heroes. Someone like Aurelia. A champion, and me her guide. Heh, what a strange fate.

Wandering into the palactial garden, she found a pot of tea alongside teacups set up atop a small table. Sophie’s mind immediately returned to Arteria and the situation she had so recently escaped from. The chaos and suffering there alongside what felt like a growing plot against the city and perhaps even against her and Lucinia. Hah, what do I do? What should I do? I want to protect everyone but it feels like everything is spiralling.

She looked down at her hands while she poured herself a cup of tea. The delightful fragrance did little to lift her erratic mood but she managed a soft smile regardless. And that crystal, the power. Someone planted that there. In the basement. Couldn’t have just been a person, not an ordinary one anyways.

Rest.

Came the unexpected command.

Looking above, she found the gargantuan form of It staring down at her, the singular massive eye the size of a continent gazing attentively, unmoving. A smaller eye stock likely the length of mountain ranges reached down from it, acting as the more ‘human’ contact that she would have with it.

Rest? She mouthed curiously.

Rest. For now. Small Sofi. You have done well.

Before she could ask any questions, the eye stalk retreated back above, pulling away as the massive eye closed itself. A cloud of what looked to be star dust swirled into it. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of tiny tentacles and tendrils began absorbing the glowing phenomena that glistened overhead. Creating an awe inspiring display of twinkling stars and darkness. Lost in the field of sparkling light, Sophie could only sit back and watch, her mind finding itself at peace for the first time in a long time.

How curious. Sophie sighed. Resolving to think later, she took a sip of tea and smiled. Tastes like black tea with orange, heh.