Abyssal Awakening

Standing up, Nyer adjusted his sleeve.

"I think it's about time I took my leave old friend. If I stay any longer, I risk having dear Alice sense my presence and I doubt you want that kind of trouble on your doorstep." Nyer chuckled.

Massaging his forehead with his fingers, Caelan let out a sigh as he could already foresee what would happen. Alice would complain, Rosalyn would question him and he wouldn't be able to answer. A domino of annoyances pilling up left and right.

But even if that was the case, leaving this early was. . . unnatural for Nyer.

"Did something happen? You don't usually take your leave so soon." Caelan asked curiously.

"Hmm. . . Let's just say I have a rowdy child at home begging for some attention. And even if she wasn't, it's not like this incomplete vessel can hold on for much longer." Nyer shrugged, showing Caelan the rotting flesh that was beginning to spread.

"You know how to contact me so I won't leave anything behind. And. . . a warning from an old friend. Avoid Extalia until everything is over."

After leaving those words, Nyer's body began to crumble apart. Flesh peeling off the bones and dissolving into a puddle of rotting blood.

Furrowing his brows, Caelan scratched his chin before disposing of what remains.

"Avoid Extalia. . ." He muttered. As a 'true immortal', there weren't many things he needed to be wary of.

But if Nyer was warning him not to approach Extalia then. . . the consequences of going could mean a fate worse than death.

Perhaps eternal torment?

His friend wasn't someone who gave out warnings often. Usually, he would take the warning to heart but this time, with his sister being so stubborn about helping Alice and figuring things out, there might come a situation where he has no choice but to visit Extalia.

Pausing momentarily, Caelan let out another sigh.

###

With the connection to the temporary vessel now severed, Nyer slowly opened his eyes and saw a pale hand tugging at his sleeve.

Turning his eyes to the right, he saw the newest product of his experiments.

A young woman with long white hair that seemed to float behind her, shifting with each subtle movement as though she's underwater.

Her left eye was. . . strange. The whites were black and her iris a shade of vibrant purple. As for her right, it was as per usual except this one had a crimson iris.

She wore an elegant sleeveless frilled white dress that reached just above her ankles.

And on her neck, a strange set of 'stars' tattooed onto her skin.

"I believe I gave you a pair of shoes? Where are they?" Nyer let out a helpless sigh, noticing the woman was walking around barefoot.

"Annoying. Not comfortable." She replied with a slight frown.

"Even so, a lady shouldn't be walking around barefoot."

Standing up, he made her sit down on his chair and kneeled down, pulling out a pair of white sandals for her to wear.

Just as he was about to help her put them on, she kicked him in the face. It wasn't a strong kick by any means but more so one to get his attention.

"Do you have to kick me?" Nyer looked up helplessly.

"I don't want to wear." The woman pouted before pointing at her mouth.

"I'm thirsty."

"I'll give you something to drink if you wear your sandals properly." He bargained.

Weighing up the options for a moment, she pulled her foot back and allowed him to put the sandals on her.

"See? Wasn't so hard now was it." Nyer shook his head.

"Drink." She demanded.

Seeing her so intent on getting a refill, Nyer let out a sigh and rolled up his sleeve. Picking the woman up, he set her on the armrest and held out his arm.

"Dig in."

Upon getting permission, the woman grabbed his arm and sank her teeth into his flesh.

Blood began to roll down from Nyer's arm but before it could roll off and hit the floor, she wiped it up with her finger, making sure not even a single drop is wasted.

"You don't need to rush, no one's taking it from you." Nyer chuckled, seeing her drink with such ferocity.

However, she simply shot him an annoyed look before kicking him in the stomach and continued to drink ravenously.

Rolling his eyes at her kicks, a small smile formed on Nyer's face before it disappeared.

He recalled his conversation with Caelan and closed his eyes.

Having Alice show. . . signs of Yvael was a little outside of his expectations and made him recall his discussions with Yvael in the past.

###

"Hmm~ Ohya? Nyer~" Yvael called out with a wide smile. Her hat hid a majority of her face with the ashen strands of hair framing the sides.

"What is it?" Nyer didn't turn around. His gaze fixated on the vessels before him, ones that were still undergoing experimentation.

"I've been thinking~" She hummed, holding her arms behind her back and walking slowly next to Nyer. "What if the soul. . . Didn't end the way people think? Fufu~"

Nyer finally turned his gaze towards her.

"So reincarnation and recycling?" It was the method that the Abyss used to continuously supply beasts to be killed.

Hearing his response, she let out a soft laugh and shook her head.

"No no~ Not those. They're. . . returning things to the natural order. A cycle. I'm thinking of. . . persistence." She held her own chin with a slight grin.

Nyer raised his eyebrow.

"A perfect persistence. Similar to what I did to my son but very much different. An alternative kind of persistence. The Cogs of Fate that I keep seeing, these. . . 'results' that come along when certain requirements are met." Yvael spun her finger around.

Energy dancing to her tune, her command, soon formed a cog above her fingers.

"I'm thinking~. . . A gate with no door, a dream that repeats? Hmm. . . That's a little inaccurate." Yvael tilted her head to the side.

"Cogs of the natural order, with one comes two, with two comes four. And these pile up to become the life cycle of person." She waved her hand.

Countless cogs began to converge until they formed a silhouette of a person.

"Each footstep a chime, each choice, a key played by an invisible musician." She giggled, flicking her finger as the cogs began to turn.

"Riddles again?" Nyer sighed.

Yvael was often like this. Always speaking in ways that only she understood. Her view of the world was far. . . different to what people usually see. Even with the Eye of the Abyss.

Some see souls, some see energy and some see sounds. But her? She sees the world through the lens of these. . . 'cogs'.

Yvael Velcarion sees the world through 'fate'.

"Speaking to people have never been my strong suit~ You wouldn't explain your experiments to a monkey now would you Nyer?" Yvael leaned in front of Nyer with a grin. To her, he too was a monkey, a fool. Someone who knows more than most but still, to her, an animal.

"Whether or not someone can understand me is the difference between them being an animal and someone I'm willing to extend my thoughts towards. So if you understand, then congratulations, you're one step closer to truth. But if you don't~ Then you're just another animal like the rest of them." Yvael stuck out her tongue.

Nyer's eye twitched slightly but ignored her provocations.

While she may insult him like this, she's still willing to extend a helping hand and even explain when it comes to their main experiments.

This was simply one of her. . . quirks that he had to get used to.

"But let's just say I've succeeded in folding it. The lattice structure of the soul." Yvael stood up straight. "I am the conductor of my own orchestra. The Cogs of Fate to my whims. And I am creating a new piece of art~"

Turning around, she began to walk away from Nyer with a new hop in her steps.

"The flesh and vessel is merely a decoration. What I'm about to do, what I'm about to discover, is whether or not I can achieve the acclamation of the soul~ Ah~ I'm so jealous. Jealous of the new era to come if this is a success." Yvael turned around to look at Nyer one more time.

"Jealous of you who will see my efforts come to fruition."

Nyer furrowed his brows. The way she was saying it sounded like she wouldn't be there to witness it. Knowing what she's like, Nyer doubted she would miss this kind of observation.

But as Nyer was about to reply, Yvael skipped away without giving him a chance.

###

It wasn't long after that did he accept Caelan's offer and Yvael was dealt with.

Perhaps through these Cogs of Fate did Yvael predict her own death. Her own death at the hands of a partner and her own son.

"Are you overworking yourself?" The woman asked as she finished her meal.

This. . . tone. This voice, Nyer found himself being lost in her words for a moment. The exact same thing that Velouria used to ask him.

"No, I'm not." Nyer reassured while patting her head.

"Do you want to run some more tests today or another day?" He asked.

The woman crossed her arms and thought deeply before shaking her head.

"Another day. And where did you go earlier? 'You' weren't here." She asked curiously.

"To visit an old friend. He wanted to ask me a few questions and it seems like your sister is doing things to scare him a little." Nyer chuckled, standing up as the woman hopped off the armrest and followed behind him.

"Say, when am I going to meet her?" She asked as stars seemed to shine in her eyes.

"Soon, don't worry. Neither of you are ready yet. When the conditions are right, when the Cogs of Fate begin to turn, the two of you will meet."