Nova bent down and placed her hand on the swimming blue surface of the second path, feeling a light spark like touching an old television screen as well as the soft smooth texture similar to thin cream between her fingers. What was odd was that this didn't feel at all like the tendril from when she had made it leave the nothingness border of her body. That had felt more like a rope of wet clay and the tingly pain of really hot water, like she was forcing it and it was tensing up because it didn't want to go.
Quickly after the sensation dissipated, Nova noticed something. It started low, like a hum, and gradually increased in... not volume, it could almost be described as the burning feeling when muscles are being worked out except it wasn't exactly painful, and she could control the intensity of the sensation. If she chose to take in more of the energy instead of fighting it she felt more of the effect, but intrigue and desire urging her on until something that was building pressure snapped like a dead branch and she felt the full force of the spell, yelping in pain. She almost pulled away when a vital detail stopped her. Clearity.
While Beil had felt a deep longing, an almost magnetic pull to her, and a decrease in his ability to think straight, Nova was starting to feel more level headed, a touch of well deserved pride, and her tension was falling away like layers of restricting clothes. She double-checked to make sure she wasn't actually becoming naked, not that she could really care at the moment even if she had stripped down to her birthday suit, her confidence was enthralling, but she was still aware of Beil's presence and she wasn't going to make her guest feel uneasy.
Unlike the effect it had had on him, this energy was actually helping her think more clearly than she had been over the past month of living in this world. It had taken all her fear, doubt, delusional optimism, guilt, and confusion and made it fade into an afterthought, solidified her newly realized memories, and made her feel like all the moments where she was just following instincts and everyone else's lead were downright blindly naive. She knew what she wanted, and why she hadn't taken steps towards it yet was aggravating her. There had always been this inkling of a desire, this whisper of what she should really be focusing on, but absolutely no motivation to follow through... until now.
She now knew why he found her innocent idea to be so humorous. She would never be able to change a killer's mind about ending a life if they do not want to do so of their own volition. Unless she could remind the killer of their morels, appeal to their merciful side, or convince them that the consequences would not be worth their actions, they would never stop. So what was blocking her logical side and making her act and even think more like a child lately?
It also occurred to her just how close in strength she and Beil really were, and she thought back to all the times she had doubted him when he had mentioned it. The first clue was the bestowing of her name, Nova, and the power it entailed from the very beginning. He had seen something in her immediately.
The second clue was Alex the Ratman. He had been so flustered and intimidated by her and it not only confused her but made her uneasy to the point where she developed one-on-one word projecting. Beil had been amazed by her rapid progress, especially with how quickly she phisically spoke after that.
If she was that powerful right off the bat, why did she still need to have her memories unlocked? Why is it that up until this very moment, while tapping into her internal energy, she had no emotional attachments to said memories?
Crying, Nova sank to her knees and thought about her father. He must have already come to terms with her death, her disappearance having happened a month ago, but she knew he was still grieving and probably neglecting his pottery shop.
She needed to get back to him quickly.
Suddenly all the confidence she had just gained for herself didn't feel like enough to face him. Would he still recognize her with her new body? Would he fear her new strength? How was she even supposed to get back? And who the hell had blocked her emotions and memories? Why was all of this just now affecting her?
It was the spell. The burning pain had stabilized into a dull throb and she felt herself able to control it freely even after she took out her fingers. Touching it had unlocked some bind on it permanently, blasted away the dampening brain fog, and now that she had a clear head she stood slowly. A deeply unnerving feeling of anger and a desire to claim revenge rose. That Ayakashi, or maybe Yokai, with the long neck. Her murderer. He was still out there. The surrounding black nothingness tinged with red.
Beil had watched her fight with herself, saw her face become struck with one realization after another, felt her distress and wanted to comfort her when she started to weep, but she had recovered very quickly and her grief was replaced by a dangerous feeling. It made him back away out of reflex and her head snapped over to look at him. He visibly flinched and she saw genuine fear in his eyes before recognition hit and she relaxed her face, taking a deep breath through the nose before letting it out through clenched teeth. Her threatening aura dissipated back into herself and the environment settled.
"Beil, I think I need to find out who locked up my soul."
He looked her up and down with hesitation, looked at her spirit core for a long moment, and finally locked eyes with her, the same old calm, cool, and collected Beil as ever. "I figured as much. I had hoped that you were simply emotionally immature, but you claimed to be nineteen and your memories should never have been missing to such a degree. I am relieved that you have also determined it to be external influences."
"So for a hot minute you really thought I was just a stupid human, then?" She raised an eyebrow and kept her lips straight, but seeing as he was able to feel her emotions at the moment she knew he could feel her teasing him and slipped into a grin.
Beil, for his part, looked at his shoes and chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets. Nova thought over her words and was aware that she no longer felt human, or even snake, but a strangly cohesive mixture of the two plus something more that she couldn't yet place. She shrugged and moved on.
"As you could probably tell, I'm a bit furious now."
"I chose not to ask," he said calmly, but he waited for her to continue.
"I remembered one last detail that had somehow stayed hidden up until now. Is there an Ayakashi or Yokai with an incredibly long neck?"
"There are the Rokurokubi, and the Mikoshi-nyūdō, but Rokurokubi necks are more like strings of spirit energy after a certain degree of extention. They are generally thin, like stretched taffy or rubber, and can even look like their head is detached if the string is thin enough."
"And the other one," she asked steadily, though she felt like she already knew the answer. Beil had a look on his face like he would rather not say, but he relented when she nodded at him.
"The Mikoshi-nyūdō are yokai that are known for preying on humans. They only attack if you stare at them or look away in fear, because that means you can see them and not many humans can."
"What do they look like?" Her voice was quieter but stiff and her eyes had hardened.
"The majority of the time they are bald, sometimes they have facial hair, sometimes they look kind, most of the time they just look old and vaguely threatening."
"Could they look like a monk?"
He nodded again and she sighed.
"May I ask you for a favor, though I have no grounds to do so," she asked suddenly, making steady eye contact while at the same time fiddling with her hair. He guessed that she had always done that, not just during meditation, and his guess would be right.
Her grey blue eyes that watched him, so similar to her new body and yet so different, were both hopeful and determined. After all these years, no one had put this much trust in him before. It made him feel both warm inside and a wave of self doubt that always followed him when he ever had to make a decision. Eventually he chose to answer, "that would depend on the favor, child".
Nova nodded. "Information."
"On what, exactly?" It wasn't like he was a spy, or even well educated, what could she possibly need to know so badly?
"Practically everything?" She shifted and sighed again, rubbed her face, and bent down to gently caress the stream of energy with a strange new fondness and appreciation. "Like how does this form and why, why does a mini world exist within myself, how have humans never found this world of creatures if it was so close that you and I could slip in... so many things".
Oh. Beil would have smacked himself stupid if he did not already feel like an idiot. Of course she needed the basics. Her will was pretty much the only thing keeping her sane and moving forward with practically nothing to go on, she was never taught like he was as most of it came naturally, like an artist who can draw what they see but they don't even know the name of the colors they are using. Where should he begin?
"To start," he spoke excitedly, driven by finally knowing how he could help her, "your spirit energy. It is nothing like chi, or mana, or the strange energy only demons can harness." Well now she had a few more questions, but he continued. "Spirit energy is in every living creature on this plain of existence, it can not maintain its complex nature on Earth unless it is within yourself, though no body knows why. It is also strange seeing as our world and this one overlap."
"How so? It's not like another planet has mooshed up against Earth."
"That is partially correct."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Hold on, we need to circle back to energy. Unless you want to skip that for now if planetary overlap is more important to you at the moment," he said without an ounce of annoyance or impatience and Nova wondered if he was ever a teacher or a father at one point in his two lives. It felt too personal to ask. She chose to stick with learning what he wanted to share instead of prying.
"Is planetary overlap like the Veil from Fay lore?"
"It has been called that, yes."
"Okay but this is the world of Yokai, Ayakashi, and Japanese folk lore. So what is this place called?"
"This is the Hidden Realm. Earth is the Apparent Realm. It is a common misconception that the realm of the Fay and the Hidden Realm are separate dimensions, but it is just an illusion spell maintained for many centuries preventing Ayakashi and Yokai from trying to take over their territory. Although it works well against us, it has a minor flaw that occasionally allows a stray human into their side now and again, hence the Fay Folklore and stories of enchanting Fairies and a mystical world where noone ages, where if you eat their food you are forced to stay, where the Fay have power over your name. These occurrences are more often located in places like Scotland and England."
"So is any of that true?"
"Well the Fayfolk are tricksters, and though true immortality is a myth, longevity up to a couple hundred thousand years is plausible, and living for that long can become incredibly boring. Humans are always fresh, strange, creative, clever creatures with deep passion for what they consider important, so a lot of the Fay truly just want to see how they would react to life in the land of The Yggdrasil where over time the mana around them slows their aging process, where they are often faced with challenges, tricks, even a bit of cruelty now and again," he said, looking like he had sucked on a lemon. "Time dilutes consequences, just avoid the Fay who are around a few thousand years old. It is like dealing with thirteen year old human kids all over again, but much worse as they are capable of a lot more powerful and different ways of torment."