-Esther's POV-
The ruffling sound of trees and bird chirping can be heard, I wake up from my sleep with the sunlight striking my eyes, scorching my eyes slightly and it felt like a whole flashbang.
…
"What? Where's Katsumi?!" I panic, even audibly saying it
I open my corey and jump out, and use my magical senses to try to find Katsumi. He's not here, he's not even on the island.
No no no no NO! Not again! I wanted to curse out the world, call out every bad mishap of my life and break everything that I have. There was no refuge for me, even my own room could not control me, I was ready to explode, it wasn't enough that I had already lost Lilith, now I have to lose Katsumi too.
I wanted to curse out my bad luck, blame the whole world for taking things dear to me every time I gained them. I wanted to break everything, the whole landscape that my mother had built for her, it all seemed like something I could snap like a twig.
I ran to the castle, hoping to the gods that my senses were wrong, that he was just there.
I arrive at the castle, with my breath panicking and sweat trickling down my face, and my thoughts rushing like I was learning about everything in the world at once.
Nothing, he's not there, it's only my mother and my aunt(Raine), Katsumi isn't here.
"What's the matter, Esther?" Karuka asks, worried at the state I'm in.
"Katsumi, is Katsumi here?" I ask, trying to keep my cool, but I know it, I failed, I showed weakness.
"He isn't here, was he not with you?" Karuka replies, getting closer to Esther, becoming increasingly worried at her state.
"No, he isn't." I reply, seeing her getting closer, I can't help but break, and burst into tears.
I could see it, through my watery eyes, the water veil of my tears wasn't enough to block it, the feeling of eyes staring down at me, looking at me with pity, it's shameful.
I could feel the warmth of someone hugging me, it has been long since I've felt it.
"It's alright, you can cry." My mother says to me, reassuring me that everything is okay.
No, it's not! I wanted to scream out the top of my lungs, I couldn't protect anything, even with my power, even with everything taught to me, I still lost the one thing that I care for, the one person that acknowledges the things I do!
But there's nothing I can do.
-Katsumi's POV-
I can feel my head bumping onto the solid piece of metal my body is riding on. These drivers are reckless, unlike Esther who drives carefully, they're doing a joyride and making me accompany them.
My hands are cuffed behind my back, presumably by those magic nullifying cuffs that the cops used on me. I don't know where I am, but the air feels suffocating, like there isn't enough. It's taking me back to that time I had to conjure an air bubble and I could feel the slowly suffocating air.
I could hear the loud ugly noises of goblins screeching and laughing, with the terrified squeaks of the other passengers, muffled by presumably the same worn out and old rag that I'm gagging on.
My eyes are covered by a stained rag. Through its strangely red and orange color, I can see slightly, but it does me no good, my magical sense is even better than this.
"Hey dude, what do we do with the women?" A goblin laughs, knowing what the answer that will come, it wasn't really a question, they just wanted to do a fun little game of theirs
"How about we have some 𝐟𝐮𝐧 with them?"
"Surely our superiors won't mind, let's go stop somewhere no one will see us."
I could feel the small crash into a downward motion, everyone could feel it too, and everyone was crashing downwards, with loud thuds being heard and screams and shouts.
I could hear the soft crying of a child and her mother, and the loud shouts and screams of all their regrets, wishing that they didn't go to this place or that.
"Hey yo yo take a chill pill, we don't wanna damage the products. The boss would be super pissed if we did."
"Oh righttt, my bad dude."
I could hear the panicked breathing and the subtle cries for their gods, the rattling and shaking around stops after a while, and the cries of pain stopped, but the shaking of the people can still be 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 and their cries for help never stopped.
The light of the sun struck my eyes, even with the cover, I could still feel it, the doors were opened, two goblins with ugly sounding voices were there, laughing amongst themselves, probably admiring the view they made.
"SHUT UP!" The goblins shriek. I could hear the rendering of metal hitting flesh and bone, the ugly noise that comes out from people when they experience pain
I could hear the crying noises of the mother and children being dragged away and more.
I can't lay here doing nothing, I try to snap the cuffs, but it's too difficult, they're too hard for me to snap.
I could hear the pleas of "STOP!" outside, corroding my brain. I could hear the crying getting louder and louder, with the ugly laughs of goblins reverberating across my brain.
I smash my cuffs as hard as I can on the ground, with it making a loud bang noise. I could feel my arm slowly dislocating from me doing it, but I didn't stop, I kept smashing the cuffs in.
The pain of the cuffs being smashed in is more bearable than their cries of help, the powerlessness I have is killing me, breaking me slowly.
I smash the cuffs in, again and again, and I could feel them breaking, until everything goes silent, and it snaps me off my focus, like someone violently ripping out something in my brain.
I smashed in the cuffs once again, finally breaking them, and I could feel my mana revitalizing my body, fixing my dislocated arm. I take off my gag and my blindfold, being happy to be finally out of that.
I kick the door, taking in the fresh air, only for my view to be interrupted by naked goblins and the women and even the children, laying down, with just tears rushing out of their eyes. They've given up.
I could feel my rage boiling, every part of my body was strengthening, as if my rage was fueling my body.
"End them, leave no traces, absolutely bloody them." I could hear it, something speaking to me, corrupting my mind, telling me to give them absolutely no mercy
I jump to one of the goblins, quickly creating a magic circle in my hand, and grabbing his face, slamming it in the ground, and exploding it.
"Yes, my child, go wild." I could hear it again, a voice speaking to me, is it Athena?
They didn't have to tell me twice, I could see the goblin with its face scared, seeing his friend's blood splatter onto my face, and he ran, but he had no escape from me, I coated my hand with mana, and sliced his head clean off,
A rain of blood showers out of his decapitated head, and I could see his scared looking face on his head.
The other women seem unfazed by my killing spree, still laying down, lifeless.
They aren't dead, I know it. I could hear their heart pulsing, but they aren't responding. Some of them are sitting upright, but they still look lifeless, like dolls.
The child starts uncontrollably crying, as if the first one to exit her daze. This prompts the other children to start crying, but their mother's still lay still, as if frozen.
What is going on? Why aren't they responding? The only thing they're doing is keeping their hands covering their private parts.
"Leave them be." The voice tells me
"Let them be alone." The voice adds, telling me to not do anything with them
I'm confused, I don't know what is happening right now, and the best thing I can do is follow whatever this voice is telling me.
I can hear someone whistling, whistling like they've found their new target.
"Whew, that was a show, I guess that's why they say you should never leave things to your subordinates." A guy says, flying above Katsumi, with a black robe and a red interior, with his hair slicked back and his fangs visibly seen when he talks. There is smoke coming out of his body, as if he's smoldering.
His skin is pale, and his build seems to be like a teenager's, only being of average height and build. He addresses Katsumi,
"Come with me, I'll be gentle."
What should I do? What should I do? Voice, tell me!
..
The sound of silence is apparent, it's left me, leaving me alone to deal with it myself. What is this, some sort of test?
It is said that a god will test their followers.. Then I need to answer correctly right?
..
After some thought, the best course of action is to just shred him right? He's asking me to come with him, even though I have no good reason to.
I leap at the flying man, infusing my hands with my mana, making a claw-like shape, and trying to scratch him using it.
He moves slightly to the left, dodging my hit, he stretches his arm out, pinning me to the ground with a gravitational attack.
I can't stand the attack, and I end up passing out, unable to handle the force of it.
-Karuka's POV-
Esther locked herself in her room, and I don't know what to do. I don't want to mess it up, but is it any better than just doing nothing?
..
I give myself some time to think about it, and I figure that I should give her some space, she has to sort herself out, just like the last time.
She's strong enough, isn't she..?
My thoughts get intercepted with the appearance of Ark and Glaze.
While he looks like a normal goblin, with green skin and elongated ears, Glaze has a small crown put on his head, and he is dressed in a feathered robe, with a visible amount of blades and pistols hidden underneath it, he has casual clothing underneath, just with him having a sleeveless shirt instead of a normal tee.
Ark is a taller guy with slicked back hair and a dark black robe and pale skin is walking beside the goblin. His fangs are slowly showing outside of his mouth, and smoke is coming out of his body, with small burn marks appearing on his body every now and then, only to disappear quickly.
"Fancy little castle you got here! Quite far from it all too." The Hunter says, snickering a little
"Look at that, my two least favorite guests." I respond, showing my clear resentment
"Hey hey now, that is no way to be treating your guests. You called us over here. Frankly, I have better things to do, something along the lines of dealing with my game's broken servers, I wonder who caused it." Glaze replies, clearly insinuating something
My master, who came back from the kitchen and has a variety of floating plates filled with a sample of practically everything in the kitchen, sees the two guests and eyes down Ark.
She quietly keeps eating her food, not breaking her gaze away from Ark. Ark responds to her by waving at her and flashing a smile.
She pays it no mind, and walks towards me, and asks,
"Wmphghthgheer?"
"Swallow your food first, master."
She swallows her food and clears up her throat with a small cough, and asks
"Why are they here?"
"I called them over, I had something to discuss with them." I explained to her
"Well, I do have the same question as hers too, meetings between the rulers aren't very common you know?" Ark remarks, still smiling
"Glaze, you've been hiding something from the world haven't you? It concerns this little fellow that's beside you." I reply, addressing Glaze and ignoring Ark
"You've been trying to keep it under wraps like some mummy that'll get disintegrated by the sun if it's found out, but I'll keep quiet, so long as you tell me how you broke Gaia's restriction."
"Kek, kekeke, you knew about that?" Glaze replies, not looking for an answer, just a little surprised that I know of it
He pulls out a blade from his cloak, and starts playing with it, pondering on his next reply. He moves back left and right, and when he looks like he has made up his mind, he throws the dagger straight at me, only for it to be suspended mid air by my master.
"Peace. Talks." Raine says, after swallowing her food, and she releases her killing intent, showing to everyone that she can kill everyone here, should she want to.
"Damn, who is this girl?" Glaze says, admiring her power
"That is the mad scientist, Raine." Ark replies
"I don't remember any stories of her saying that she's a midget though." Glaze remarks
"Believe me, it is her." Ark confirms
"It has been a while hasn't it, Ark?" Raine addresses Ark, showing why she was eyeing him.
"It is so unfortunate we have not met in so long!" Ark replies, with a clear sarcastic undertone.
"How's your wife? She wouldn't enjoy it if she saw who you're working for right now."
"She's dead, thanks."
"Oh my bad."
"It is nothing, merely a blip in our immortal existence."
"Look at you, brooding as ever."
"You are as childish as ever, even when you looked like an adult, you still acted like a child."
"Well, at least I found a way to entertain myself, look at you, how the mighty have fallen, seeing you work with that sewer slug of a king."
"You will not address my king like that!" Ark bursts out, baring his fangs
"Yeah? What can you do about it?" Raine smugly mocks, trapping Ark's mouth shut with just a gesture of her finger.
"It is alright, settle down now Ark." Glaze tells him, putting his hand on his shoulder and eyeing my master
"Back to our talks, now, you broke my systems, and are now asking me how I broke a contract. Don't you think you're being too selfish right now?" Glaze continues
"As a bonus addition, breaking a contract is like, super illegal you know? Sure you want that extra taboo?" Glaze adds, merely playing with me using his words, not meaning any actual intent under it.
"What do you mean I broke your systems?" I ask him, confused at what he means
"Let me remind you, this won't be too difficult to understand for your teeny little brain. You fight a nuke level sized fight in my game, breaking everything and destroying the data of Novum Militia and then you come to me asking how to breach a contract, and act like I'm not gonna take something from ya!"
"Name your price." I say to him, cutting straight to the point
He rears a big ugly smile, knowing what he's going to ask next.
"Your daughter." He says, after not much suspense
"No. I will not hand you my daughter, ask anything else."
"Kek, your master?" Glaze asks again, clearly toying with me
"No. Not any of my people."
"Heh, you misunderstand me, but fine then, a favor."
"A favor?" I ask him
"A favor from you, at any time I ask, you will do it without failure."
"A singular favor?" I ask him, confused at his bargain
"You have to grant it at any cost."
"If it does not threaten my life or my kingdom, then I will." I tell him, I don't know what he could possibly ask me, what he can do. I have to minimize damages.
"Then that's our deal."
He agreed?! What does he have up his sleeve? No matter, I can't falter now, I'll just have to deal with whatever he asks me.
"Oh by the way, I don't need that favor right now, I'll save it for a.. 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 use."
What does he mean by that? He has done nothing but cause chaos within this planet, it may have been a dangerous bet to take it. Ark walks over to me and shows me a contract, but it's not ordinary, it's unlike any contract I've ever seen.
"Give me that first, Ark." Raine threatens, conjuring a magic circle within her palm
"As you wish." Ark says while smiling and giving it to her
After a while of Raine reading the contract, looking at the ominous mana flowing from it. She closes her eyes and after a few seconds, she gives it back to me and says,
"It's a contract from the demon realm, probably a way to untie it to Gaia, so you can't break it using the way to break the contract as they're about to tell you."
"The way to do the contract is still the same however, and it doesn't seem to have any other effects." Raine says, still slightly skeptical but she doesn't doubt her ability, nor do I.
I grab one of my scales that is hanging from my necklace and prick my thumb, letting my blood drip, and I plant my blood print onto my name on the paper.
Glaze grabs a blade, pricks his pinky, and does the same thing.
"Then the deal is sealed, you should know by now what I did." Glaze says, snickering a little and then leaving shortly after.
I can feel the knowledge flowing into me, letting me know every step he did to break the contract.
The demon world? He dared venture into there?
…
That's.. Nearly impossible isn't it. Beating an arch level demon just to break a contract, he did that? The only one I'd dare say that can do that would be my master, does that mean he gained power comparable to hers?
It seems the memory doesn't show who he used the contract breacher on, or what item it is, but I can feel it instinctively, the demon he beat gave him the breacher.
It's a shame that the memory didn't include how he beat them, my best guess would be the templars but everyone knows those guys don't follow the orders of the kingdoms.
Then did he somehow convince the templars? Or was he so strong that he was able to beat it himself?
I scratch and rattle my brain around the thoughts swirling inside my head and it causes me a small headache just from thinking, making me retreat back a little to my throne just to sit down and manage all the information flowing into my head at once.
"Hey hey you good?" Raine asks me, concerned about my state
"I'm alright, it was just a little information overflow is all."
"So.. How do you get the contract breachy thingy?" Raine asks me, brimming with curiosity
"I'm unsure about how he exactly got it, but we need to go to the underworld. There was a memory contained in it that had Glaze fight an arch level demon, I don't know how he beat it but surely enough, he was able to."
I can see the look in my master's eyes, it's filled with a mix of depression, uncertainty, anxiety, anger and just about everything negative.
I never got her to open up to me fully yet, she hasn't said much about her past, at least nothing that could be sad or anything like it, she mostly told me stories of her travels in the other kingdoms and everything that you could describe awesome, but she never dared once tell me something in her past.
I don't know what to say when she gets like this, she's usually far too cheery and these quick transitions always scare me, I don't know why they do, but they always scare me without fail.
"Karuka." I hear her call out my name, nothing else but my name.
"Yes master?" I respond to her
"If I was lost, if I ever asked you to save me, if I could do nothing but wait for your help, what would you do?"
It stunned me, those words, I wasn't as easy going as many people I know, I don't always know how to calm the mind and heart, they're mysterious things. I don't know what she expects from me and I don't know what else I could say.
I look into her eyes, her eyes feeling empty, and needing something, a spark, she wants me to say the right things and give her hope but I don't know what that is.
"Yes I would." I reply to her, after a few seconds of a silence so loud that I felt deafened for the few seconds I had while staring into her eyes.
She ponders for a few seconds, breaking our eye contact, yet I could feel her soulless looking eyes still in there.
"Hmm, alright!" she finally says, clapping her hands together and saying it with a cheery tone, with the same sparkle in her eyes like she usually has
What is it with her? How does she always change so quickly? Does she use magic or something..?
-Katsumi's POV-
Where am I? The vastness of the white landscape I can see, it feels as though my senses are being dulled, lost to the void that I am in.
I've been wandering for the last hour, with nothing I can see here, it feels as though my sanity is slowly slipping, and the fabric of my reality is being overwritten.
There's no NOISE! There is NOTHING! The only thing I can hear are the glassy sounds of the floor when I step, my heartbeat, my thoughts, and nothing else. I can scream and shout but it feels as though there is a void preventing me from making a noise that can wake me up.
The worst part is that about 40 minutes in, or however long it has been since I've been here, I've started to see.. Things.
I don't know what they are, but they scare me, I can't pinpoint their figure, I can only see the wide black smile they wear. I can't see them fully, the only thing I can see is a small silhouette, they blend in with the white background, the only way I can tell they even exist is the ominous energy I feel emanating from their silhouette.
Let me out of this place, LET ME OUTTTTTTTT!
No matter how much I open my mouth to scream, nothing comes out, there isn't any noise, and it's driving me insane.
-Esther's POV-
I can't.
I can't handle this, I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't understand how it's breaking me so hard, why it's leaving me with such a bitter feeling. Where did he go? I don't understand why I'm so weak, so volatile. I don't understand anything! I can't understand for the life of me why it even hurts this much!
I curl up into a small ball, scratching my head and tossing myself all over my bed, still inwardly berating myself for not being careful enough, for being too careless, for letting Katsumi be taken.
..
I ponder for the next few minutes, taking deep breaths, trying to stabilize myself and figuring out what in the gods' names I should do. I know what I should do, he isn't dead yet right? There's no way he would be dead, he's resilient, I just have to find him and break every bone in whoever kidnapped him.
Yes. It's that easy. I shouldn't hesitate.
I sit up and wipe off my tears, determined to find Katsumi, this isn't the same thing as Lilith, I didn't see him die, I can still save him!
I stand up, ready to find Katsumi, and I open my door, which had been locked for the past hour.
I walk outside, seeing my aunt and mother talking. I don't know what it's about, but it looks to be far too intense for anything normal. Expressions that I rarely ever see them use can be seen, they look distressed and they're having the most intense stare down I've seen yet.
A few seconds pass and I hear my mother mouthing something to her, and then Raine claps her hands and says alright with a cheery tone.
What was that about? Should I ask them? Should I even get involved? I walk up to my mother and hand her the pearl, remembering that I haven't given it back to her yet.
She turns and is surprised to see me, as if she had seen a ghost, she then takes the pearl and tells me "Thank you." and asks me "Are you alright?"
It seems the tired marks on my eyes are showing, but I know it was because of my earlier outburst.
"I am.. Doing alright mother." I tell her, doing my best to fake it, doing everything I can to not let show my shaky voice but I can't stop the hoarse noise that came because of my screaming and over 40 minutes of not talking
"Are you sure?" She looks at me with concerned eyes, but I know that I shouldn't let myself be vulnerable, to be so weak in front of others
"I am alright. If I may be so bold, what were you and master Raine talking about?" I ask her, curious about what happened and
"It is nothing you should concern yourself about, Esther." My mother answers me, not meaning anything malicious, just simply reassuring me that it isn't a matter I should concern myself with.
"I shall leave you to it." I bow to her, trying to maintain my usual composure
"Mother, I have a request."
She strikes me a confused glance, and is waiting earnestly for my request
"May I get some time to explore the other regions?" I ask her, making my answer still a bit vague
"To do what exactly?" she asks me, confused about my proposal
I think carefully about my next few words, before giving up and just telling her the truth.
"I.. want to find Katsumi." I tell her, trying to resolve myself and show her that I can do it
I could see the skeptical look on her face and I could already tell what she was thinking, "Why would she go through so much trouble?"
"I'm afraid I can't let you." She tells me
I knew it, I can't expect her to let her heir go.
But I can't just let that be the end, I don't understand why I'm doing this for just Katsumi, I barely knew him, but I could see it, I could see Lilith inside of him, I can't let go of someone again.
"Mother! I can't accept that! I will go on this journey whether you like it or not. I am simply only telling you this because I respect you, but it does not matter to me what you say."
I can see the shock in her eyes, I know I'm only adding to her stress by doing this, it is not in character for me to do this at all. She stares at the ceiling for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to make of my sudden request.
".. Very well, Esther, you are tasked with finding the outsider Katsumi."
"Tasked..?" I ask her, confused what she means by task, when it was a request of mine.
"That is correct, I will assign you a task to find Katsumi, failure to do so will end in your death." She tells me, wavering slightly, but it is alright, I have resolved myself.
"Then I shall be off, your highness." I tell her while kneeling to her, gratefully accepting the opportunity.
I disappear into my shadow, and end up at the magiforge, seeing Daruc working on another project issued to them by the queen.
"Daruc." I call out to him
"Oh hey Esther!" He energetically calls out to me, while wobbling his way forward, as if he's just had a drink. He looks at my features, his eyes while looking hazy, have focused just slightly under my eyes.
I'm sure he's noticed the marks under my eyes, even I know how rare it is to see me with tired eyes.
"Are you okay?" He asks me with a sympathetic tone
"I can't say for sure.. But I came here to tell you just one thing, Katsumi is missing."
He looks at me with surprised eyes, he's confused, he doesn't know what has happened, nor do I.
"What do you mean?" He asks me
"I mean exactly what I said, Katsumi is missing. I don't know who took him, or where they took him but I came here for some advice and to tell you that."
He seems a little out of it, not as much as me, but I can tell he wants to see Katsumi. Truth is, dwarves value any connection they have, so even if it was an insect, they'd surely feel sad seeing them gone.
I kneel closer to him, to close the gap between our heights and see him face to face.
"What do I do? How do I find him?" I ask him, not knowing what else to do
"Well, I may know a way. Are you familiar with the Impurus kingdom?"
I nod.
"Well, the Impurus kingdom is known for their beastly power and strength, but that is not all, there exists who they call the archmage, master of all magic."
I nod again, waiting for him to continue
"He should be able to help you, I don't know what his price is, but surely he would be able to find Katsumi." He adds, I could see it however, the doubt in his eyes.
"What's the catch?"
"The catch, the catch is.. I don't know where he lives, nor does a majority of anyone that lives there. That is something you'd have to find yourself."
I could tell, after all, why would someone so powerful not have been in the Race war? If he truly could master all the types of magic, then the Impurus would have won the war, such is the strength of magic.
"Then that is my next destination, thank you." I bow to Daruc and give my goodbyes to the other workers, before going to my room to grab a few things before I leave.
I arrived in my room and what I saw shocked me. I could see my mother sitting on my bed, playing with what seems to be one of my stuffed toys from my childhood.
"Hello Esther." She greets me with a smile, something soft that I usually don't see from her
"If you are here to talk me out of this, please don't."
"Nothing like that Esther, please, sit down next to me."
I nod and sit next down to her. She leans closer to me and plays with my hair, taking away the butterfly and messing up my hair.
"This is the last time I'll ever be able to do this to you, isn't it." She says, not asking me, just clarifying something to herself
"You know, Esther, I was young like you once, well, that should be a given."
I nod to her, showing that I am listening.
"Have you ever felt love?" She asked me, I was shocked, why would she ask such a thing?
"Well, I wouldn't suppose you would know." She says, looking a little far off into the distance, as if she's watching something else
"I'm sorry?" I ask her, confused about everything she meant
"It is nothing to stress yourself over my dear. I simply wanted to see you before you went off on your own."
I don't understand anything. I've rarely ever heard her talk so softly and so.. Reminiscent. It feels as though this is the first time I've seen her as a mother.
"Do you know? How much I regret raising you like I have? I wish every night that I'd have raised you right."
She chuckles lightly.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't burden you with such things. I wanted to give you a parting gift, something that should help you."
She reaches into the air, manifesting a small portal dimension. She pulls out the pearl, along with a masterfully crafted emerald ring. She chants a few words while holding the pearl of enthrallment, making it shrink in size so much it looks like a precious gem, similar to a ruby.
She slots it into the emerald ring, as if both things were created in tandem for each other, the pearl having a beautiful glow mixing in with the perfect craftsmanship of the ring.
The ring has a few ancient letters on it but it's something I can't fully understand. I can make out a few letters here and there, but the full message is too vague.
The only letters I can read are K and H, on the first and 4th parts of it. Wait, how do I even know of those letters? Did I ever read a book that used something similar?
"Don't stress yourself about the meaning of it." She tells me, seeing me strain my eyes trying to figure out the written letters on it
"This ring.." She says, leaning ever so slightly closer to me
"Is.." She grabs my hand, pulls out my middle finger, and then puts the ring on my finger
"Yours." She finishes, then smiles.
I could feel the surge of magic power flow into my body, as if the pearl truly acknowledged me as its owner.
The pearl itself is a "person", the term of a person is loosely defined, but it has its own consciousness, it has its own will and can choose who owns it.
That said, it can also be corrupted, it can be broken, which I presume is what Levronn did to make the sprite inside actually surrender.
"Are you my owner?" I could hear the voice of a girl talking into my ear
I touch my head for a second, feeling a headache come over me. My mother touches me by the shoulders.
"I'm okay." I say, feeling the headache get lighter and lighter until it's completely gone
I feel myself getting pulled into my ring, as if my consciousness was taken into it, and I can see a field of white flowers encompassing the vast space of emptiness.
I can neither see the sky nor the sun, they do not exist in this realm. It's a pure white space with only the white flowers that can be seen.
Under a tree colored a perfect gold sits a girl, she's short and her face is bruised. Her hair is a perfect azure blue which seems to be floating as if water has perpetually encompasses it.
Her clothing is made of what seems to be scales, similar to the scales that my mother has, covering her entire body until it reaches her neck.
Her facial features are what you could call perfect even if it's bruised, her lips are pink and her skin feels as though it's a part of the moonlight, even if there is no concept of time in this space.
Her skin is so radiant it feels as if it's glowing even past its scars.
"Welcome, my master." She calls out to me, waking me from my daze in which I was simply gazing at her beauty.
"Who.. are you?" I ask her
"I am the spirit in the pearl, please do not tell me you got this without knowing the value of it." She scoffs
"I do know what you are, I mean I want to know your name." I tell her
She stands up, wiping off the leaves that accumulated on her lap. She walks over to me, curiously eyeing my features, even touching my chin with her hands that feel far too soft.
"You." Her eyes grow larger
"Who are you?" She asks me, returning my question
"I am Esther." I tell her
She retreats back a little, her eyes filled with little malice.
"Did I say something wrong?" I ask her
She looks at me for a few seconds, calming herself down and sitting down again.
"I'm sorry." She says after calming down, "I'm afraid I cannot give you my true name."
A true name would allow you full control over spirits, and allow you to use them with their full power.
"Just call me.." She ponders for a few seconds while looking into the distance
"Maria." She finishes
"Should you ever need me, I will lend you my power, now be gone." She tells me, before abruptly kicking me out of her domain, and waking me up in the real world.
It seems that barely a second has passed since my interaction with her, at least in the real world, and I can see my mother having barely changed her expression.
"Have you met her yet?" She asks me
"I did." I reply
"What name did she give you?"
"Maria."
She strikes me a small look of confusion and definitely one that suggests that name wasn't the one I was supposed to be given.
"I see.. Levronn must've done something terrible to her, I feel sorry for her."
"It will take time, but she will reveal her true name to you. Treat her with care, like she's your sister."
.. As my sister?
She leans over yet again and kisses me on my forehead and says, "Be careful my dear."
.. She was never that sweet before..
What changed?