As I navigate the auspicious and quiet grounds of the Estate, my every movement is a careful act in flowing my Ether for Stealth. It's a skill I've neglected for the most part as I've been far more focused on direct combative skills, but I put all my concentration on it as I search for my Mother. The cloud-like streams of Ether lessen my noise and lighten my feet.
I crouch low, concealed in the shadows of early morning, and observe as a passerby strolls past. The bushes near where I crashed become a sanctuary, the perfect cover to remain unseen. I hold my breath, utterly quiet, until the footsteps fade into the distance.
As the Estatesman retreats, I open my palm slightly, finding the Wished coin within, jiggling toward them.'Hmm... How odd. I grip tightly onto the coin once more before shifting my position slightly. Squinting at the fading back of the man who merely passed by, I lock onto him. With precision, I rise and start following, matching their pace with a silent grace.
I'm not by any means talented in ambushing, assassinating, or tracking, but I've spent many months alongside Virgil—many months. And if I were to place a bet, there is not a man, woman, or creature alive with creature skill at any of those three things compared to him. Okay, maybe that's not true. Clarence Love has to be close, and there is probably a demon out that isn't far off either. Regardless, he's good. Very good.
Remembering his many pieces of advice and partial guidance, I try to imagine myself as him. I would prefer to use Insight and take total control of this person, but with the pain in my head, I don't think it's a wise course of action, mainly because this person is a 6th Sigiled. They are by no means weak of will to reach that level. I'm not sure if it'd last longer than a few seconds, even if I was uninjured.
With Blodwyn's aid, however, they are unlikely to find me as long as I am careful. Even the hints of Ether, such a low-level skill like Stealth would reveal to those sensitive to Ether, are hidden, making it act as though it is more effective.
I tighten my gaze as I leverage a loose Insight, only seeking to see through the man's eyes as an early warning system. The moment I do so, I praise my own thinking as it saves me.
Darting to the side, I vanish behind a pillar the moment the person's eyes start to shift, my movements as imperceptible as the wind with Blodwyn's help. Shadows from the rising sun hide me as Blodwyn contorts our flesh, letting us fit behind such a thin pillar. My bones crack marginally from the shifting, but the noise doesn't leave my form.
The man, however, stares behind him. I watch with a rapid heartbeat as his focus falls down to the ground where he stepped. He doesn't turn around all the way but squints closely at his own footsteps, the ones I followed in, thanks to Virgil's old wisdom.
With a swift head shake, the man returns to his stride, and I breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
Thank you, Virgil.
And so, the pursuit continues, my steps synchronized with theirs. Using their eyes, I can move whenever they are to shift their glance so that I am not found. It is meticulous work but not necessarily problematic.
Silent as a phantom, I trail them into the heart of this Estate. Fortunately, or I suppose as expected, there are no trees within the grounds of the Estate. No powerful family would want someone watching them even while inside their own homes. But that's not the only thing that is missing. There are no other people. It is just this man. How bizarre... I'll have to keep my guard up.
We walk for several minutes, passing nearly a dozen buildings before reaching one similar to the one I crashed by. It's smaller in stature but far more grand in design, with looping engravings and jeweled edges.
I prepare myself as I glance at the coin once more. It's still in this direction. Breathing softly, I wait for the man to open the door and walk inside. The instant he does so, I slip in beside him undetected. But it's close, so very close. At any moment, he could look behind him, but at this point, I'd have a clear advantage, not even counting the Sigil difference.
My heart races as I stare at the man's back, only inches from me, as I keep close to the now-shut door. All he has to do is twist a little or step back, and I am found. I clench my fist just in case, seeing as this might be the building where Aniwye is anyway.
Yet, the man doesn't twist or notice me at all. Instead, he walks toward the depths of the building, leaving me to admire it.
The interior unfolds before me without a stressful guide, revealing a surprising emptiness. No guards patrol the halls, and no butlers attend to unseen tasks. Only this lone person, now beyond me, roams the spacious interior.
Confusion grips me, but I trust my instincts and continue tailing them after a few moments of hesitance. They move through the building with an air of familiarity, each step echoing in the silence of the deserted halls. Of course, it makes sense that this person would know their home, but what is this Shaw doing? Where are their family? Is it just him? I've heard much of this family, but now that I think about it, I can't remember what I know them for.
Regardless of the odd situation, I shadow their every move with confidence. I'm not worried about being trapped or killed by an Estate because of my current strength. Between Blodwyn, Lily, and I, there is no way a mere Estate can hold us. Perhaps if it was one with an active Pillar, there would be an issue, but not the Shaws. They haven't even ever had a Pillar amongst their line.
My every step is deliberately set in their footprints, just as before, without a sound or blemish. We continue together, like a shadow, and it's enshadowed through the building. Down a flight of stairs, beyond a long hallway, into a grand room, through another hallway, up a set of stairs, and finally at a pair of double doors.
I slide close to the wall, careful of what is inside as the person opens the doors at once. The room and its contents are revealed to me at once through both of my sights, and I can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness.
"Aniwye?"
My mother is lying down at a table, playing with a cube in her hands. The demon's size makes me wonder how she even got in here, but I toss away the thought as I see her contort to face me. Her entire form shifts, becoming a significantly more petite version of herself.
In a split second, Aniwye is hardly any taller than I, no longer that menacing demon she once was.
"Did you like the guide? I had to be careful. Too much activity or sound outside will draw attention."
I turn and face the 'guide' and realize that they aren't moving at all. Their face is cold, callous, and emotionless. What did she do?
"Aniwye? I thought we had a deal."
My mother claps her hands together and steps toward me with an unseen joy. She strides right up to me before clasping a hand onto my shoulder. I nearly leap backward from the movement, but I manage to keep myself still.
"Yes, yes. This one is not dead. The Last Shaw... how far they have fallen. At least I got this Adjust skill from their library. The minuscules in the Ether that human found are incredible..."
I raise an eyebrow and look at the man as Aniwye rambles off by stepping past me, not finding Shaw's face to ring any bells. Still, the title she gave him is eerie and cannot possibly be correct. He's an Estatesman, right? How can there only be one? I thought they were vast families?
"What do you mean by that?"
Aniwye waves her hand at me to follow her, so I do. The Shaw does so as well, striding alongside the two of us like an emotionless butler. I pay close attention to her words as I remember the book that Johnny read with reverence many months ago. It had to do with time—time as a concept. It was written by a Shaw, I believe. Or was it? I have a hard time remembering much about that text.
"The Shaws... They had one great man in their long history to hold them up, and due to the respect he placed upon those who came after, his family was treated the same as the powerful. But that respect does not last forever among creatures with short lives and even more fickle memories. Tyler Shaw is to be the last Shaw. A pity to see such a great man's bloodline end in such a way."
Her words only spew more profound confusion from my heart. Who was this man? Why is he so great?
"Who are you talking about? This Shaw? What did he do?"
Aniwye stops walking entirely and glances at me in confusion. She pauses for several seconds, opening and closing her mouth before finding herself without any words to speak.
"I—sorry. Matters regarding the Timewarped Delver are... bizarre, to say the least. Even a vast mind can have facts ripped from it by the vestiges of the Sandy River. It makes sense why your race would forget him entirely, even his name, despite the fact he was even more infamous than your 'almighty' First amongst the urges of reality."
My mother walks into a room and tosses the cube in her hand onto a table, letting it bounce lightly with a metallic tone as I realize it is made of thousands of tiny triangles. She sits at another desk before searching the insides, brushing aside all the dust as if she owned the place.
I still don't understand what she's talking about, however, and probe deeper.
"This Timewarped Delver, he was a Shaw, correct?"
Aniwye nods, tossing aside a great many things in her devoted interest in the items of the Shaws. Her inquisition for whatever is in here is bizarre—even for her.
"Yes. The only of his family to hold any prominence."
I search for his name in the back of my head, only to feel a searing pain run through my mind. I clench the desk for a moment as I struggle to even remember the man's last name. It's a pain that quickly fades, but it reappears any time I reach for the memories regarding the man. Still, I sputter out another question.
"What are you looking for?"
Aniwye ignores more and more objects, even some artifacts that were left here, as she answers me slowly.
"The man forgotten by time left behind two objects. One was for his protege, and the other for his family. That cube is the one for his family, but I bet that after his protege passed, the other returned here."
I edge my hand toward the cube in curiosity as it doesn't hold any chains or Ether that I can see, but Aniwye stops me with a raised hand.
"I would recommend you do not touch that. I never met the Timewarped Delver, as the human lived long before my birth, but according to Leviathan, he was the greatest mind the sky had ever flown over. Eli Weiss is but a... dunce compared to him. Do not touch his things wantonly."
My curiosity only grows further and rises to incredible heights with all this mystery around this man. I step around the desk to help look within it as I provoke Aniwye with more questions.
"What do the two things do? And... why is it so hard to remember him?"
Aniwye smiles as her hand slides against the top of a drawer, ripping out a portion of the desk to reveal a small bag, at most the size of a palm. She pours the contents of the bag out as a completely ordinary hourglass falls into her palms, which are cloaked by protective Ether.
"The cube is indestructible. It is known that not even Vincent or the previous Primes could break it. No one knows how The Forgotten Yore made it. As for the hourglass... it bends time. As long as it falls, the one holding it will pass through time dozens of times faster than the outside. Only the wielder cannot move during this time, either. As for why he is so difficult to remember... no one knows. There are many theories, however, and I am keen to think it has something to do with the battles that created Pained Peaks."
I trust Aniwye's words as she's lived through multiple human lifetimes with an unwavering memory. Anything she's heard once, she will likely remember forever, plus Aniwye has been strong for a long enough time to have heard bits and pieces of these secrets to build her own ideas. As I ruminate on the long-gone man and begin to consider the ability of the items, Aniwye passes me the hourglass. I catch it after a split-second of bewilderment. My mother smiles at me with the teeth of a demon as she stands from her seat.
"Be careful not to use it too much. Time... The Sandy River is not as kind as the Cardinal. If one is to meddle with its power too much, they will pay the price. Not even Desolation would be able to escape. Use it in small, careful amounts to train your Ether. Develop skills and the whatnot. There is little opportunity to grow, so little time to advance where you should be, so I found some more for you."
Holding this thin hourglass in my hands that still shows no signs of being supernatural in any way, I disregard that fact. I approach Aniwye and broadly extend my arms. She stares at me oddly, even as I wrap them around her.
"What are you doing?"
I peer up at her with a smile.
"Hugging you as thanks."
Her eye narrows on my face as if searching for a lie or hint of deceit. There is simply none to be found, however. I mean the hug.
"And why would you do such a thing?"
I chuckle softly before stepping back with an answer.
"Because you are my mother, and you gave me a gift."
The demon doesn't seem to be able to comprehend my words and turns around with a snort. Then, she walks away from me and Tyler Shaw without a care in the world.
"Where are you going? You haven't even told me how to use the hourglass!?"
Aniwye waves her right hand softly as her body expands once more to her standard form within the first room I saw her in. She lies back down on the table, returning to her respite.
"I paused my search to welcome you. There are still many things to do, and only the depths of the Shaw's bunker can hide the rumblings of my Ether from the damnable tree. Don't worry, I'll release Tyler when I'm down here. He still has a job to do, after all. The Estates have toyed with his family for far too long. Soon the Last Shaw will strike back."
I notice how she completely ignored my comments earlier to drag the conversation elsewhere, but I disregard that oddness for now. Instead, I tap the hourglass on the table. This thing... I want to know how this works. With more time... I can do way more preparation for this coming war.
"How do I use this thing? You still haven't told me."
Aniwye's eye rise and meet mine for a moment. Then, she closes them as the veins around her eye socket begin to tremble and even make squelching noises. My worry ascends for her, but I can acutely tell that she is moving Ether carefully despite the dangerous look.
"Search into the depths of it. If you cannot find the Ether, then that is on you. The Timewarped Delver was a pioneer of Ether, and the hourglass should hold some secrets to learn from. Now, leave your Insight thing within my mind. I can make a connection using it that will extend dozens of miles. This way, we can communicate from afar."
I quickly do as she says despite the pain of moving my Ether in the way she asks, and my mother's face tightens despite her closed eye.
"Dear... Little one! Be more careful with your soul! Your ability does not use your mind! It uses your soul! That does not repair even nearly as quickly or as wholly as the mind. Still... as I sense it, something doesn't feel quite right."
Her words make me grasp toward my head with a wandering focus, but I can't help but hold onto the same confusion as her.
"What doesn't feel right with my soul?"
The demon, still with her trembling and flowing veins, asks me another question in turn.
"Have you figured out your Tomb yet, little one?"
I shake my head before speaking aloud, nearly cursing myself for the stupidity as she can both see with a closed eye and read my thoughts at the moment.
To my answer, my mother surges with motion abruptly, returning to a sitting position as she stares directly at me.
"I am almost sure it has something to do with your soul, little one. I can't put my finger on it, but it doesn't feel normal, even for a strengthened one such as yours. It's missing something. Some part of it. Perhaps that's why you resonate with your Sigil so heavily. It touches onto the base of the soul while yours is so uniquely different."
While her voice finishes, I can't help but reach with my hand to caress my temple, feeling a rising worry. My Tomb has something to do with my soul?
Does my father know?
Probably. Killian Graves would have to know. He is a Graves, after all, just like me. And from what I know, if Aniwye is correct, then I think I'm the first Graves with a Tomb that doesn't affect the body or mind but instead the soul.
I wonder why that is.
Shaking my head, I listen to Aniwye continue, detailing her preparations for Maddox's arrival. As she speaks, though, her voice is far more... relaxed than usual. Even her shoulders are lowered as her eye falls onto me without annoyance or discomfort. It simply is watching me. Beyond her own actions, she goes in-depth into all the forces that are coming, mentioning that there are some hidden human Angels that may appear. Things are about to get heated.
Very fucking heated.
Three strategists are meeting in one place to do battles with their minds and pawns while a roaring tsunami is coming from the southwest. I wonder which strategist will prevail? Or will it be the tsunami?
If I am to decide, I only want the rat of a Prime to die.