And so, it'd begun. While in this embarrassing position, white skin turning red, veins bulging out from inner muscles, Ace couldn't help but ponder about his cousin's endurance, locked legs and arms kept forward. The scarlet aura surrounding his ethereal nature was erratic, unnatural in the way it so crazily contorted outwards, aiming to stab anything it deemed worthy to perish. Fingers over her chin, scratching at her skin, a curious hum escaped her pink lips, leaning in to examine his irritated features.
'Now seems like a good enough time...'
Thought the Master with her bent-over posture, face mere millimeters away from his own, retracting the claustrophobic distance between to start pacing. Arms kept behind her back as if she were a modern businesswoman, her casual strut sent reverberations to the ground below, like splinters, however minuscule in their shape, were sent flying outward with every new step she took. But, if that was distracting to Ace, then he'd be in for something entirely more annoying with the distortion of gravity caused solely by vocal cords intruding upon silent space.
"Would you like to know some ancient history, Mr. Wilder? The history behind my 'humble abode', personally carved out from the ashes of the Old to make space for the New. I'm sure someone of your knowledge would be intrigued by it... aren't I right?"
As expected, there was no reply given to her, instead, she ground to a halt in her cycled path, instead of gazing at his still figure, keeping her pinkish eyes glistening as they peered into the realm of the soul.
The Void of Ace Wilder.
What way was there to describe such a visceral sight before her eyes, only perceived into her mind's eye, but a single gut feeling unable to be visualized. After all, those faces, the agonizing amalgamation of their bodies snapped together to easily form but one huge monstrosity, devoid of logic or reason; for it was but a single big lump of burning flesh. But that didn't count what laid to her feet, for the zone of the mind was a vast arena unable to maintain physicality, it was like she could feel emerald blades below her bare feet. But below such a calming environment, though barely visible from within the vast field that laid before her, their decayed corpses writhing with blood-sucking maggots could be seen.
'Ah, I see... so this is your Hell. What a fascinating embodiment of the realm of the undying and ever-tortured.'
So much as the tiniest droplet descending into the center of a pool had sent ripples of distortion radiating out from that impact, but as that miniature pin fell into the continuous pool of life, there regenerated those souls. Old and New, with so much as a blink from her eyes, she'd returned to the present, and though she'd witnessed the inner machinations of his soul's turmoiled layout, what laid before her eyes was her humble abode. The Temple, a shrine to the Father who gifted her this extraordinary power.
"Tell me."
Ace's words were quick, however, they held no strain to them, despite the plentiful veins appearing from within his flesh to protrude outward into his exterior skin, Hana couldn't help but snigger at this discovery.
'He's a fast learner; can't say I'm surprised he managed to figure out how to use Divergence's true power in just two months if this is how he advances.'
Hana took a seat, crossing her legs, just about a few meters directly away from his white face, her hand reaching forward so she could touch a finger to his forehead. Another ripple effect distorted out from just the touch against the skin, despite that, Ace held no visible reaction, instead, continuing on his training.
"I'm sure you know of me, being an Incarnated Artifact from the Old World and all. However, I'm sure there are some things you are unknowledgeable about despite being one of Naraku's pawns. Artifacts can not only be people, incarnated, or in soma objects like the eyes of Eternal Sight, but also locations. The Temple was originally carved out by the Old Allfather as solitude for his first son to watch over the flow of space and time, existing between the realities of dream and reality. For example, haven't you noticed that no normal people have been able to see me? That's because of the reality wherein my home resides. Between space and time, nestled right into that little hallway of reality and dream."
Hana explained, this time, her eyes spread wide to reveal the coloration of her pink eyes, a chuckle bellowing out lips, unable to control it from slipping further. Ace cracked a smile, eyelids shut over Divergence's scarlet hue, but even so, through these slit covers, he could witness make out that shape of her. The vastness of her energy stood tantamount to this mountain's very height; beyond anything they'd known, able to just graze the heavens if attempted. A body composed of wholly light, particles of white afloat from over her energy entering the atmosphere, dissipating gradually as time continued. No crazed offenses like unnatural tendrils searching for another victim to prey on, just entirely elegant with the way her light moved. There was no way to describe it other than divination of the highest degree, for there might not exist any more beings in this world that could reach the domain of supremacy; those who held the ability to manipulate the life energy of this world that all beings contained by God's decree.
Disregarding his mentor and the Founder's stolen might is this one in front of his very closed eyes, there was this. The Requiem Master, Hana Saiai, crossed legs, the student of the New Allfather, was at the height of that realm of supremacy, there was no doubt about it.
"What properties does the Temple have then, as an Incarnated Artifact?"
Ace's question, was quick yet again, allowing a strained moan to escape from his throat, unleashing a sigh of relief at the end of the query. Hana's energy warmed.
'She likes when I'm interested.' Deduced the ginger.
And with that, Hana raised but a singular finger, closing her eyelids over her tinted pupils, inhaling sharply to prepare a hefty explanation:
"The properties of this Incarnated Temple aren't offensive like that of our abilities, but rather, it grants a user a sort of 'divinity.' Those who train within this outer realm are granted a deeper understanding of the aspects of life and the energy Ones of Inheritance manipulate to their whims. The difference between those who've resided here and those who haven't is that of the distance between Heaven and Earth. Does that make sense to you?"
Ace thought back to when he sensed that divinity, those feet entering the premises of the Capital while he stood locked underwater between those metallic chambers, chained down by chimera locks and a useless blindfold. The eyes of Eternal Sight had a set range that could be expanded by more training, but without utilizing Divergence's power, there could be no more training.
'Was that what I sensed, back then? Not Katie's unique energy, but rather, Katie's unique divinity. Can't help but wonder who'd win in a fight between her and me. I should keep listening before I get chewed out...'
"I feel like I've heard this exact explanation somewhere else before..."
Ace strained another groan out his lips, head shaking rapidly, allowing fingers' tips to touch against one another, a holy ping-like audio signature to only energy unleashing from his scarlet soul. Hana scratched at her chin with a sole extremity, her smile like the burning sun that kept the Earth ablaze with warmth during the summer, never fading and always burning on to stay over her supple-soft lips.
"The best way to describe it is the core of life. You've probably heard it before from August's memories, but during the Destructive Advent, he unlocked a power after a forced coma. The element of the Death Tarot hanging overhead was overwritten by an overwhelming to live. With that power, and the Blackened Blade, gifted with the potential to control Death, they managed to slice Lucifer Morningstar's existence away from this world."
Hana explained easily, her words so simply flowing into one another, forming a sentence anyone could understand, letting her finger fall as she climaxed the monologue.
"What are the other ways to manipulate life energy as specialized by the user of the Artifact?"
Ace's question to Hana felt like a complex one, but it was the wording, however, the Master had easily acknowledged what he was attempting to convey, and chortled. Saiai raised her body, clapping palms together to form a misty illusion of what stood out to be the undeniable truth, carved out solely by the essence of her soul. It was a grid, not viewed by sight, but sensed via the heart.
"Life energy belongs to everything built by a 'creator.' Humans, buildings, animals, even clothing worn has residuals of life attached to it. Multiple cultures have different names for it. Chinese is Chi. Japanese is Chakra. Buddhists called it Vijnana, but for convenience's sake, I'll use the Latin word for life: Vita. There might be another name that sounds cool but I don't have anything to think about; so keep thinking and eventually, you'll come up with something. Either way, about the energy, the way you discharge energy from them into your attacks depends not only on your personality but the chosen artifact."
A chart was split apart into six categories, one with Ace's portrait on top, Katie's on the right, Kima's on the right, June at the bottom right, Natalia at the bottom left, and Jefferson at the bottom. Each of these portraits stood encased in a hexagonal shape, colored differently to reveal their given tints, according to their eyes.
"There are six categories one can fall into when utilizing Vita to its height. You're at the top, specializing in offensive attacks like bursts of lightning, speed, too, all of it originating from Divergence. I'd say you're more of a distance attacker, considering you're pretty sucky when it comes to close combat. So emission is a good statistic for you. Katie, on the other hand, thanks to that sword of hers, can't rely on distance unless she throws the Blade at a target, but that doesn't leave much up to the imagination. She can't amplify any attacks she makes considering her artifact isn't... an inner one, but her inner darkness and anger fuels the flames for the attacks to grow stronger. At the level she's at right now, there's no doubt she stands at the closest to Alexander Amara at his position within the realm of supremacy. Or, in other words; she's stronger than each and every one of you Agents."
Turning back to her new student, the clearest fluxation in his outer aura had appeared, seemingly regressing to the state it'd been in before, contorting violently with eldritch-horror tendrils extending from the scarlet fire imprisoning his heart. Grunts, no matter how subtle, could be heard, for even as she stood mere centimeters away from his face, bent over like the starting position she'd originally assumed, she could sense it. The turmoil within the human heart she'd witnessed earlier, encased into his specialized Void. What more could she do but stay there, collapsing into that cross-legged posture, rest her knuckles into her cheek. Was she a therapist? Of course not.
But even so, there was that compulsion entering her mind, words that weren't her own; resounding like a deafening pistol firing next to her ears- words she could never escape. Blind eyes with purple coloration embedded into the pupils, flowing brown hair with white highlights to indicate the age, that man in that grey robe turned to her from that uncaring strut he wore to stare at her, of all people.
"You're a Warrior, aren't you? Designed solely to protect people by fighting. But... over the hundreds of thousands of timelines I've peered into over my millions of years of life, I have come to deduce only a single conclusion. Angels, humans, demons, we are all volatile creatures, aren't we?"
'I know this isn't something I don't usually do, but this is what you'd want, right? Volatile creatures like humans, prone to breaking with the tiniest slip of a hand, that guilt that will consume every part of us: inescapable. Thank you for teaching me about that freedom, my Father. I'll teach that... to these others, as well.'
A guiding hand a mother would send out to her child, no matter how reluctant they were to accept, did it matter? This embrace, but one soul thinking for your well-being and no one else's, would you decline it, despite how warm that chest was, despite how smooth the patterns of rubbing aback with a palm are?
Even now, as erratic as it was, the aura contorted like the strokes of a sword, but she held on, despite it. Those arms entangling his figure, so much smaller than she, the scent of his hair, the silent sobs entering her bust, she swore she could've heard someone else. The voice familiar to only one with spikes at the edges of his white hair, those heterochromatic pupils digging into her face, just wistfully hovering behind his son's mind, like a haunting ghost.
'You really are just like your father... kid.'
To Be Continued.