NOVEL WEB 355. Pillar Of The World
"O'… what?" Ike asked, lost. What had she called him? What did it even mean? Pillar of the world. Had he supported the world, once? And wait, if he was something like a pillar, what was the world doing without him? Wasn't that a problem, if the world was missing one of its pillars?
Wisp raised her brows. She leaned in to Ike. "What is that?"
Ike shook his head mutely. Her guess was as good as his.
"Sounds important," she added.
Ike nodded. Sure did.
The fog specter chuckled. "You'll find out in due time. Come, child. I have something to share with you. Something you need."
Something he needed? Ike shrugged and followed her. Worst case, this would come to a fight, and he was ready for that. Best case, this old lady really was just trying to help him out. It was possible. Like with Scar, there were other people who opposed Brightbriar… though it seemed like this lady's grudge ran deeper, and she knew far more about the situation than Scar.
"You knew me? Or—the thing that I was, before this piece of me got cut off?" Ike asked.
She nodded. "And you've met another of us, haven't you?"
"Who?" Ike thought for a moment, then frowned. Come to think of it, they'd helped him for no reason, and showed him that 'gift' that helped him figure out the Prince. Plus, they'd mentioned that they'd been around before the Heavens. He wasn't sure what that meant, but if 'they were all shattered,' and he'd been a Pillar of the World, whatever that meant… in any case, it sounded like it was connected to whatever had happened that there was a new Heavens. "The ants?"
A chuckle and a nod. "They were harmed worse than me… or perhaps less so. They were always ants, from the beginning. What they lost was not core to their being, but simply the ability to take a human form."
"What were you? You, the ants, Brightbriar… were you part of my party, or something?"
"Something like that."
That wasn't an answer. Was she not ready to respond? Not willing? Or… not able? He frowned. "If you and the ants were 'shattered,' then what happened to Brightbriar? The ants are hiding from the System, and you're fog, but he seems completely fine."
"If you knew what we were, you would understand. Brightbriar was the weakest of us, and perhaps, as a result, he got off the easiest. But he is… what do you call them now? Tiers? Realms? Ranks?"
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"Ranks. Rank 5," Ike offered.
"Only Rank 5. How pitiful, how pitiful. No, we were once much more than that. Akin to…"
The sky trembled. Lightning cracked through the clouds. The fog specter's eyes flickered upward. She closed her mouth and said nothing instead.
Ike raised his brows. Interesting. So he wasn't the only one prevented from speaking clearly due to the System or some other outside influence.
"Brightbriar was like a child, compared to the rest of us. He relied on you the most. And when you were…ruined, he, too broke. Only demoted, and still with the chance to progress… At the time, I thought it was a light sentence, compared to the rest of us. Now, I wonder if it was not the harshest punishment of all."
There was silence, for a time. The blanket of mist and fog softened all their voices to nothing, and the moss swallowed their footsteps. No marks were left behind them. The moss sprang back, and the fog filled in. They could have been anywhere within the specter's realm, a gentle world that seemed the same everywhere, even as it changed.
At last, Ike coughed, breaking the silence. "So… I was kind of a big deal?"
Wisp snorted in laughter, then quickly slapped a hand over her mouth to silence herself.
The woman stared at him. "Yes, you could say that." Turning away, she added to herself—quietly, but loudly enough that Ike could hear it, "Gods, how uncouth. Is it truly him? Are we sure?"
"I'm not that person. I'm just a piece of what he once was. Of course I'm going to be different," Ike pointed out. It was obvious, wasn't it? From a certain perspective, children were pieces of their parents, and no one sane expected them to be identical to what had come before.
The specter chuckled. "Indeed. No, no, you are right. I should not allow myself to be infected by the same obsession that has taken over Brightbriar, but instead pleased to find even a sliver of you still living."
Ike nodded slowly. His eyes narrowed, just a single degree. This specter was looking for 'who he had been,' not looking at Ike. I can't trust her. She doesn't have my best interests at heart, just… 'his.' On the other hand, she did have 'his' best interests at heart, so as long as his and 'his' interests aligned, it would be fine. He didn't know where she was leading him, or why, but as long as he kept aware of that fact, he was pretty sure he could handle anything she threw at him. After all, she was made of fog. Ancient, and probably far more powerful than him, but nonetheless, made of the same exact mana-dense fog that he'd already absorbed using the King's scepter. If she tried to attack him, he'd just turn the scepter back on and suck her up. What was she going to do about that? Fog away? Make more fog? He'd just suck that fog up, too, and cast the Prince's tornadoes out to do bonus fog damage while he was at it.
They crested a hill, and she gestured. "I've buried them here."
Ike blinked. He squinted, lifting his hands to his face. "Huh?"
Wisp came up beside him, only to tilt her head too. Mag, completely distracted by something, hopped up onto the ridge and extended his wing, fiddling with the feathers.
A seemingly endless field of gravestones spread before them. They were small and simple, with no adornment, just little white stones lined up one after another in a square grid. Mist swirled around the stones, dreary and quiet. A few weeping willows drifted in the low breeze, which only served to stir the fog and mist around in endless swirling patterns.
"That many?" Ike asked, shocked by the quantity more than anything.
No answer. He turned. Ther was nothing but empty fog where the specter had been.
"I'm going to guess they aren't all as powerful as that Prince of yours," Wisp muttered.
"Damn… but could you imagine?" Ike muttered back.