A Day In The Fated Future
Yonwicker - The Kingdom of the Gods
(Elliott's POV)
As I have stated previously, the four of us were standing outside of Jezebel's mansion, waiting for a certain someone to arrive.
Meanwhile, Kiliah was killing time by walking around while, annoyingly, playing with his pocket knife.
Zeras on the other simply stood quietly and got lost in thought.
As for Meredith, she stood at the edge of the cliff and bathed in the cosmic light while enjoying the sights of the horizon.
Me, personally, I was sitting in the ground, reading a small book that contained a literal infinite number of pages.
Every so often, I would write a couple sentences or paragraphs here and there to alter the content.
Now as to the things I had written is not something I want to bring up yet. It's way too soon for that type of information to get leaked.
In any case, putting aside our passive actions, the only thing that really broke the silence was the minor bursts of cosmic wind.
But just as I was starting to enjoy the silence, Zeras suddenly spoke up.
"She's here."
But there was no need to tell us.
We could already sense the presence of a certain person fast approaching Yonwicker.
Mere moments later, a great streak of white and bluish light came into view.
Judging from its light speed velocity and the hot meteor-like trail it left behind, its appearance was akin to an actual comet.
As the person came closer to us, she abruptly slowed down her pace to safely, and gracefully, land.
The woman wore a long white and blue bridal-like nightgown, laced with matching colored angelic feathers which served as makeshift frills and cuffs, emphasizing her F-cup breasts.
With white hair longer than her shoulder length, she possessed blue eyes and bright skin that would rival even Meredith's beauty.
Though I believe "you" guys have already seen her, allow me to properly introduce her.
This was Lady Altier Crowley. And it would be in your best interest to consider her one of the few gods who simply knows nearly no rival, even by our standards.
Altier's landing was rather successful since her bare feet safely touched the ground, allowing her to take a few steps forward towards us afterwards.
However, her fatigued expression spoke of exhaustion. Even the way she walked was sluggish and rather unsteady. She didn't get very far until she finally caved in her own weight and collapsed.
Had it not been for Zera literally moving faster than light, just to catch her with one hand, Altier would've fallen on the ground head first.
Due to Altier unable to handle her current form any longer, the "dress" she wore shattered into bite sized chunks in a manner similar to glass, leaving the magical remains to fade away into nonexistence.
No, she wasn't naked, you perverts. Instead, her clothing was replaced with a travel outfit you would see in casual outings or dates.
Her long godlike nightgown transformed into a loose fitting and white button up blouse with a new pale blue sweater hanging over. She even wore actual pants when dark navy blue slacks appeared.
What I found truly unfortunate was the fact how her long hair started to shrivel up in length. While it was no less beautiful, her hairstyle changed into becoming a short and curly bob.
Even her chest size diminished in bust, becoming reduced to an E cup.
After moving her limp body over, Zera checked her on her physical condition and noticed something was clearly off with her.
The heavenly luster in her eyes grew a lot dimmer. Her skin was ghostly pale and her head was sickeningly hot. Her breathing was rough and ragged, rendering her unable to speak coherently.
"Judging from her fatigue and stress buildup in her Spiritual Circuitry, it looks like she's experiencing another Crash Fever." She concluded.
Crash Fever is a status condition that basically happens when one suddenly uses an excessive amount of magic in one place. In other words, it's when the caster exerts more magic than what their body can handle all at once.
The results come in the form of great fatigue and spiritual stress, one to which can cause permanent damage if not treated right. However, the intensity of this effect varies from case to case, so not all known instances will be as inhibiting as it was her right now.
Regardless…..
"Meredith!" I called out to her.
"I'm already on it!" She said, as if reading my mind.
Channeling a portion of the spiritual light housed deep within her soul into her hands, she began rubbing her palms together to build friction.
Satisfied with the lesser intensity she built up, she stretched her palms out towards Altier and spoke a single word:
"Rejuvenation!"
Saying that, the gentle light floated from her hands and covered Altier's body with a white and near transparent-like silver filament.
As her skin began to absorb the light, signs of relief started to show and certain damaged aspects of herself began to repair.
Rejuvenation was an energizing spell made from Meredith's internal "light" created by her soul.
By tweaking with certain properties of it, she can increase its healing effects, allowing her to instantly cure fatigue. Not only making it the perfect weapon against Crash Fever, but even serving as a way to retain youthful energy and vitality.
Well, not like Meredith needed it herself since she already was immortal.
"Don't get me wrong. I understand that Altier isn't able to operate at full power but I still find it odd how she can still suffer from mana exhaustion even though she still has access to the Quintessence Force." Kiliah asked us.
"Just because she has unlimited mana and spiritual energy doesn't mean she can't be exhausted from the side effects or be immune to fatigue. Atleast not in the state she's in anyways." Meredith replied.
At full power, Altier would have resisted, if not, been immune to Crash Fever and similar effects like the rest of us. But due to certain events that occured in her past, she was unable to truly manifest herself in her "Prime and Glory" form as you saw previously.
Meaning she was unable to maintain her full power as it was too unstable for her to subconsciously control for long. That was why she created the more short haired form she took on now.
At the cost of limiting the true extent of her powers and the effectiveness of her divinity, she became a mortal akin to a high human in exchange for the ability to safely interact with the material world.
Although she wasn't too comfortable with living on as this lesser version of herself, it was unfortunately the only other way for her to safely exist without hurting others.
The only other way to fix this would be to rebuild a particular "gem" and use it as a catalyst of her power.
Unfortunately, that's alot easier said then done, otherwise we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.
To make matters worse, I highly doubt we'll be getting to that plot point anytime soon either.
"Mmrgh…."
"You okay….?"
"Take it easy now."
As we were talking, Altier moaned a little in her sleep, but it seemed like she was finally coming to.
Her eyes twitched about before opening to see us making sure she was okay.
"I'm fine….a lot better than before." She said while taking a moment to sit up on one knee and breathe.
Eventually, she was able to stand on her own legs without assistance.
"So. Did it go according to plan?" Kiliah asked.
"Of course it did. Weren't you watching?" She replied suspiciously with raised eyebrows.
"I was. I just wanted a reason to say something cool like that~" He answered with a chipper smile.
This guy....
In any case, seeing Altier returning after coming back with certain success, we realized that our "plan" was moving forward yet again.
Ever so slowly, believing to be led by his own motivation to learn about the "truth" of himself, Dazai was going down the path we intended…..
While everyone was still talking, I unconsciously looked towards the faraway distance, my eyes met a certain young man who stood menacingly on one of the mansion's patio.
Heh. It won't be long now will it, Jezebel?
"So Dazai really just broke a world, huh. With sheer anger and emotions no less." Zera mumbled aloud.
Hearing that, Meredith asked us a question.
"Speaking of which, what exactly was that place anyways? I know it was somewhere in a certain part of Fiction but it didn't seem to be closely related to the Material Plane, or even here to be honest."
"Do you remember the Door of Truth?" Kiliah asked, in return.
"Yeah, why?"
"Basically, think of that dimension as the "bridge" that connects the Material Plane to the Chaos Belt, which is here. Since it's protected by the Door of Truth, only those who can unlock it may have the right to cross over into this part of the Omniverse."
"Ah, so through that same dimension was how Dazai managed to get here in the first place. I guess that makes sense." Listening closely to his words, Meredith began to put two and two together.
"Wait a minute. But wasn't breaking it the whole point of the first trial? Remember, the magical barriers we placed in their bedroom don't unlock until after he did so. So if Dazai was to break the drawbridge that connected the Material Plane to here, doesn't that mean?"
When her eyes widened out of realization, that was the moment she stumbled upon a cold and harsh truth.
As for Kiliah, he relished in her reaction before he suddenly started chuckling devilishly.
"You finally get it now?~ In order for Dazai to progress further and understand who he is, he would have to shatter the very route which got him here. By doing so, he's essentially stuck!~"
"....I see."
Understanding that, Meredith placed her fingers on her chin, and took a moment to think.
After he said that, she looked towards me. That was also when Kiliah shot a smile and whispered to someone aloud in a smug and snickering voice.
"You really are one conniving son of a bitch, aren't you, Elliott?~"
I didn't respond to his words, but I didn't exactly deny it either. Because what he said wasn't wrong.
I would know because it was me who put that cruel idea into motion in the first place.
All I did was simply prepare a failsafe.By trapping him the way I did, I made sure that there was no other way for him to escape this place without going through us. As such, I have no intention of apologizing.
"And what about Blair? Last I checked, she didn't come through the Door, did she?" Zera asked.
"Well, Blair is a special case, remember? She was able to come here without the need of the door."
Although I say "come", I suppose "placed" would be more accurate to say. After all, while she may not know it herself, she was placed here by a certain someone else to fulfill the role she was meant to play.
And although she may have become a little self-aware of the part she needs to act out, she only knows half of what truly makes up the full story.
The less she knows at first, the better it is for us in the long run. And that's what truly matters.
"Regardless, now that we have cleared some things up, we all should relatively be on the same page now, correct?" Kiliah clarified.
We all nodded. Suddenly, I decided to play off on his moment of agreement to catch everyone's attention.
Once I cleared my throat, I spoke to my friends and announced:
"I know it has taken a lot of time and preparation to make it this far, but we still have a long way to go, everyone. But it won't be long now. Everything is still going according to plan, just as we foretold."
Although I spoke as if doing a motivational speech, it wasn't as if anyone's morale was low. In reality, I was doing nothing more but stating the obvious.
Yet despite that, hearing my words made a smile appear on their faces.
But, suddenly, I stopped midway. My gaze shifted from my friends and towards Jezebel yet again.
"That's right. Fate is all but inevitable, isn't it? The day will soon come, where Dazai Crowley…."
I paused, allowing a small smile to fall upon my lips yet again.
".....will take the place of a god."