This chapter took a bit longer to come out because I had to restructure it, as the original ended up being around 16 thousand words.
I split the chapter in two to avoid breaking the flow of the next chapter, which should be longer than usual, like this one, which has 7 thousand words.
Sorry for the delay.
Well, in (P)(A)(T), the arc has already ended; there are also 3 chapters ahead in Devas's story and 3 chapters in Hunter's story. If you want to support me or just enjoy my stories, you can go there.
If not, I still appreciate you reading my stories!
That said, good night, and happy reading!
(P)(A)(T)/CalleumArtori
[...]---[...]
"How come, the Fae are a myth! :O!," Millia seemed almost indignant, well, as indignant as a little green ball of ten centimeters could seem.
Still, she seemed indignant.
But it was an excellent question, what the hell was this about the Fae being a myth? I hadn't found anything about them in Terraria outside the dungeon, but I also hadn't actively searched for them, so I thought it was a coincidence.
But if Dylan, the guy I knew who had the most knowledge, said they were a myth... Something was wrong here.
"A myth, you know, a bedtime story, an old tale, something that dates back many, many years," Dylan explained after reading what Millia had written.
Everyone else seemed to agree with the guide.
"How old?" I asked.
I knew I lacked some common knowledge, some history lessons here and there, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect...
"Since the first story," Dylan continued, seeing my confused look. "The great war, the war against the nameless that happened fifteen thousand years ago."
... But the number being fifteen, freaking, thousand years wasn't something I had in mind.
Even worse, "The Nameless." I didn't even need to think to know who held that title.
"FIFTEEN THOUSAND YEARS!?" If Millia could shout, I was sure she would have shouted.
Even the way she wrote the words had become more "shaky," as if her entire body was in shock.
Fifteen thousand years... Millia had said she knew the Empress of Light and the fairy realm, which for Dylan, and apparently for all of Terraria, was a myth, something from an old legend...
Millia said she had stayed in the garden for about a week after her mother and "Aunt Alice" left, until one day, after she went to sleep, she woke up and I was there, or at least that's what she thought had happened.
How long were you sleeping in that garden, Millia?...
A seal, a protection, that's what the garden was, I already knew that, but something that literally locked Millia out of the passage of time I didn't expect...
Worst of all, Millia was smart, it didn't take her a second to connect the dots and figure out that somehow she had "slept" for centuries.
Seeing that Millia was trembling in shock with the information, I picked up the little slime from my shoulder and held her in front of my face.
"Millia, calm down, it's okay, it's all right..." I tried to make my voice as calm as possible, conveying reassurance. "Let's look for information on what happened afterward, but first, try to calm down."
My attempts to calm her worked in parts, as she had stopped shaking, but still seemed anxious. When did I learn to read her mood, I didn't know.
"I won't lie and say I understand everything that's happening," Dylan said after seeing me calm Millia. "But anything, just ask me, I'll help as best as I can." Although he said he didn't understand everything, he had realized that his words affected Millia.
I nodded in gratitude without verbally responding. I'll ask him about this "First story" later, for now, we had other things to deal with.
"Do you want to rest or sleep, Millia?" I asked the little slime. The others looked at the interaction with various levels of confusion in their eyes.
As much as I preferred Millia to be the one reading the book, so I wouldn't have to explain why the hell I could read a language from fifteen thousand years ago of a species considered a myth, it wasn't something I wouldn't do.
If she wanted to go rest, I would read the book quietly.
"No..." Millia swayed her body from side to side. "... I'll read, just... it was a shock, but I'm fine..." It was clearly a lie, I knew it, Millia knew it, everyone knew it, yet she put on a strong front.
"I already expected that something had happened, just... To have confirmation... it was... Well, I need something to occupy my mind." Without waiting for a response, she jumped from my hand to the hood of the Humvee, where I had placed the book.
"Which page do you want me to read?" The little slime asked. "Or can I start from the beginning?" Taking a step forward, Gilbert was the one who responded with a gentle voice, realizing that Millia had been affected for some reason.
"Here, let me show you, little one." He opened the book to a page, one already at the end of the diary. The reason he chose that page was apparent, as it had a vivid image of the Deerclops.
Or at least what looked like him, from what I remembered he looked like. A giant humanoid deer, larger than I expected him to be if the comparison with the trees was correct.
"Annabel." I called the countess before Millia started reading. "Can I borrow this book later?" I asked. If what Dylan said was right, this thing was fifteen thousand years old, which was frankly, absurd.
How did this book survive all this time? Damn, how did no one from WinterHord find this book in the library before? No one cleaned the place?
WinterHord wasn't even fifteen thousand years old, it was about four hundred and something, damn, how did this thing end up here?
These two things, without considering the situation we were in, made me want to read the entire book, not just the pages with the Deerclops.
I'll take the hit to my wallet and use Analyze: Item on this book too, in case there's something I might miss unintentionally.
"Sure, but if you discover anything, I just ask that you tell me what you found later." I nodded in agreement.
With the countess's confirmation and no one having anything else to say, Millia began to read.
Since she couldn't speak, only shape her body into words, I took it upon myself to read the words she wrote.
- [May 22, 839 - Light Calendar.] -
"After these strange spatial anomalies appeared, every day seemed endless, missions upon missions without rest; today had been no different. My battalion was tasked with investigating one of the spatial anomalies that had arisen, this one in particular, had emerged in the snowy mountains."
Millia stopped translating at this point, not because the text, let alone the page, had ended, but because her body couldn't stretch any further.
Somehow, I could sense that she was embarrassed about it, and if she had blood in her body, she might even be blushing.
Forming back into a little ball, Millia resumed translating the book.
"... I didn't know a single soul who lived in that region or would want to live there; the cold was unpleasant, the location even worse, the place being at the tip of the continent. The journey there would be long, months... I could already hear my wife's screams when I told her about it..."
Again, Millia had to stop to reshape herself before continuing the translation of the text.
- [June 3, 839 - Light Calendar.] -
"... The journey here had been smooth, almost two weeks of pure nothingness. Of course, this was ignoring the occasional attacks from beasts, but that wasn't even a concern, especially now that our leader had changed for this specific mission. The guy was insanely strong, which made me wonder why this change in this mission and why he wore a complete suit of armor, showing no skin."
"Did he just jinx himself?" Robyn murmured from inside the Humvee that had its doors open.
"Shh!" Selina put her finger to her lips. "Don't interrupt; it's rude to disrupt a reading." I don't think that applies here, but okay.
No one else seemed to hear this small conversation, not even Millia, who was in my left hand while I held the book with my right hand.
Light Calendar? The current calendar was the Terrarian calendar; I didn't know this Light Calendar, and from everyone's confused looks, they didn't either.
- [June 10, 839 - Light Calendar.] -
"... It's been a week since I wrote here, well, nothing happened again, which seemed to be making our leader, whom I found out holds the rank of general, uneasy. One of the soldiers had gone to ask him why he was like this, and the answer was: 'It's too easy, too calm; I feel like something is going to happen.'"
Everyone was completely focused on the translation, paying attention to the words I was saying.
Dylan was the most focused; the guide at this moment didn't even seem to blink, putting his full attention on the words Millia was writing and my voice.
Well, I guess a report from fifteen thousand years ago, from a soldier of a race that supposedly was a myth, was enough to make Dylan look like a statue.
"... I can't say I felt the same as the general, but from what I had seen of the man in these weeks, he had good instincts, so I won't doubt him; I'll stay alert and warn the rest of the team to do the same..."
Millia created a little hand and turned the book's page, just before continuing the translation.
- [June 28, 839 - Light Calendar.] -
"... The general's prediction was right; something was wrong. I didn't know when it had started; at first, we thought it was the wind, but the closer we got to the mountains, the colder the environment became, the more certain we were that it wasn't the wind but something else. Whispers that wouldn't let anyone sleep properly..."
Everyone, or almost everyone, around frowned, wearing different degrees of serious looks after hearing that phrase; it was to be expected.
Melissa, Darnell, and Annabel in particular were the ones with furrowed foreheads; the three of them having heard those whispers already.
Hallucinations.
"... These last few nights have been hell to sleep; no matter what we did, the whispers wouldn't stop, even covering our ears didn't work, even magical protections seemed to be ineffective..."
- [July 3, 839 - Light Calendar.] -
"... The whispers stopped, finally! The general had performed some kind of ritual, asking for a blessing from the great queen, which, to everyone's joy, worked, making the whispers stop. I swear, if that infernal noise had continued for one more day, I would have lost my mind. FINALLY, I CAN SLEEP!..."
"I know that feeling..." Melissa muttered while Darnell, who had arrived moments ago accompanied by the guard I presume Annabel sent to fetch him, and Annabel herself nodded in agreement.
I didn't doubt for a moment that she knew; her look when we arrived in WinterHord was that of someone about to commit a crime.
- [July 4, 839 - Light Calendar.] -
"... I woke up in the early hours today with the screams of one of my comrades. He seemed scared, desperate, while trying to escape from something that no one could see. The general or the only one who had time to react, realizing that it wasn't just stress affecting the man and that he was genuinely under attack..."
I think I know where this is going... Judging by everyone's looks and the heavy atmosphere that seemed to settle, they did too.
"... It happened out of nowhere, before the general could reach the man, try to help him, the man had been split in half, cut and torn apart by invisible claws and teeth that shredded his body in seconds, if not less. I'm used to battle, injuries, but that... That was one of the worst ways to die that I can imagine...."
"Did any of you see an hallucination attack someone?" I asked, looking at the three, Annabel, Melissa, and Darnell.
From the description, the hallucination had torn the soldier along with his armor, armor that I was almost sure had runes and Mystical Symbols combined.
Either hallucinations fifteen thousand years ago were stronger, much stronger, or they could ignore the protection of armor, both options were horrifying.
"I did." Darnell was the one who answered. "It was similar to the description in the book, but the armor the soldier was wearing protected him, allowing him to react before being killed." His voice was heavy, probably recalling the scene.
Okay, the option of hallucinations being stronger back then seems the most likely, but I won't rule out the possibility of them being able to ignore armor defenses, or at least part of it.
Now, why hallucinations were stronger in the past I wasn't sure, but I had some theories, the most likely involving a certain wall that sealed the world...
- [July 5, 839 - Light Calendar.] -
"... After Jui'u's death. A name I discovered after we performed the rites for him, the entire battalion had been on high alert. We hadn't seen what attacked the man, not even the general had seen it, whatever it was, could become invisible and had absurd lethality..."
- [July 6, 839 - Light Calendar.] -
"... Again, I was awakened in the early hours by someone's screams, this time, everyone reacted quickly, especially the general, who before I even opened my eyes fully, had appeared next to the man screaming and literally threw him away before attacking everything around, trying to hit the invisible enemy..."
"... The general realized that he hadn't hit anything even before the man pointing in a direction and screaming even more with a crazed look: 'There, she's there!' - The general had attacked the place the man was pointing at before he even finished the sentence..."
"Ten silver coins that he didn't kill the hallucination." Selina commented quietly to Robyn.
"Shh!" Even without looking directly at Robyn, I could see her vengeful smile. "Don't disrupt; it's rude to interrupt a reading." She even repeated the same words Selina had said to her before, but still responded.
"Foolish bet, of course he didn't kill the hallucination." She seemed sure of that.
"... The general seemed to have hit nothing; only after he imbued the sword with the light of the great queen did his attack seem to have an effect, and a horrifying scream echoed throughout the camp. It was the most horrible noise I've heard in my life; I don't even want to try to describe it, the sooner I can forget it, the happier I'll be..."
From the low "damn" I heard from inside the Humvee, it seems that Robyn regretted not betting that this "general" would have killed the hallucination.
Still... "The light of the great queen?" Was the Empress of Light this great queen? She had already been mentioned twice.
Once when the general asked for her blessing to stop the whispers, and now, with this light...
I knew she was strong, but was she some kind of goddess or something? Blessings weren't exclusive to gods, but they usually were the ones who gave them...
- [July 10, 839 - Light Calendar.] -
"... After the second attack, the atmosphere throughout the battalion was heavy. The only one who seemed able to attack the invisible monsters was the general, the only one who could see them as well, thanks to the light of the great queen blessing him. I didn't envy him, not after hearing the description of the monsters..."
"... 'Living shadows without souls, created from malice seeking malice, sins. Insects crawling in another plane, affected by madness and insanity, coming from outside, from another world...' The number of shivers I felt hearing that single sentence made the cold atmosphere around us seem warm..."
It was a good description for the hallucinations; I couldn't describe them better, actually.
I didn't know what kind of vision this "The light of the great queen" gave to this so-called general, but I felt that anyone who saw the hallucinations would have the same impression of them, no matter how they saw her.
"Want to take a break, Millia?" - I asked the little slime.
I didn't know if shaping her body like that was tiring or not, especially molding her entire body as she was doing.
"I'm fine, not tired at all! It's even fun, it's been a while since I moved this much! :D" - She quickly wrote, seeming much more excited than before. "The story is good too, it's like one of the suspense books Mom used to read!"
Well, I'm glad she's having fun and keeping herself occupied... Well, almost that, since she didn't have a head. Occupying the core?
But it was good that she was better and not sad like before.
Millia turned the page once again before continuing, going back to the page with the drawing of Deerclops taking up a whole page.
The drawing was so detailed that it almost seemed alive; it was as if the creature, its image, had been so impactful that it was etched in the memory of whoever made this drawing.
The most curious thing: the written description seemed even more detailed than the drawing itself.
- [July 24th? 839? - Light Calendar.] -
"…Today, nearing the spatial anomaly, we were attacked, not by shadows, but by something that... That creature... I can only describe it as something out of a nightmare. Its presence was so colossal that the moment it appeared, emerging from the forest, the surroundings seemed to darken, as if the creature itself were an oppressive shadow, as if darkness itself materialized into a monstrous and deformed form..."
"Anyone else feel a shiver?" - Robyn murmured in a more serious tone than before.
"Damn, yes." - Selina replied back at the same time as practically everyone nodded in agreement.
Even the (CHAT) had responded to the fox-woman's question, with several messages of "Yes," "Of course," "Hell yeah" quickly appearing.
Stark even had the audacity to tell me to pass the diary to someone else to read, as my voice would make the description even more tense and macabre.
I'll take that as a compliment, even though I know if it came from him, it probably wasn't one.
Why were there question marks next to the dates?
"...Then that thing opened its mouth, showing those sharp, deformed teeth, and roared... The roar echoed across the fields where we were, deafening all sounds around. It must have been shock, but I could barely believe what my eyes were seeing..."
Millia stopped the translation before the description began so as not to have to cut it in half.
She really seemed to be enjoying herself.
"...The creature was enormous, with grotesquely disproportionate limbs; every step it took made the earth tremble beneath its feet. The ground seemed to beg for mercy, but the beast advanced ruthlessly without hesitation the moment it saw us..."
Everyone had fallen silent as I read what Millia translated, the only sound being the breaths and the Humvee engine running.
"...And the eye... that single, gigantic eye. It was as if it were staring directly into my soul, reading my deepest fears. How I hated that sensation. It was as if I were trapped in a nightmare from which I couldn't wake up..."
"...I'm sure if it weren't for the general, we would all have died right there. That's why he came on this mission; the great queen already expected that this monster would be here, the general had come exclusively to face it..."
Millia took a small pause after quickly writing the words in sequence and continued, as if she couldn't wait herself.
"...The attacks from that thing were violent, fast; not to mention its strange, distorted shadow, as if it were alive. Looking back now, it probably was. I wish I could write here that I helped, was essential in the battle, but no. I did nothing..."
"...At some point, the battle between the creature and the general had become so fierce that no one else could get close; the shockwaves from the blows preventing everyone from approaching. One of these shockwaves must have hit me, as in one moment, I was surrounded by my comrades, watching the general fight; in the next, I was flying towards the anomaly..."
It was like an epiphany; the moment I read the end of that sentence, an idea popped into my head, a theory of why this book was here in WinterHord.
Deerclops literally came from another world, something completely different, probably from these spatial anomalies, an anomaly that the soldier who wrote this diary had been thrown into...
The next paragraphs confirmed my theory.
"...I must have passed out at some point, waking up I don't know how many days later, in a small picturesque cabin. I later found out that I was saved by a Terrarian woman, who found me unconscious in the snow. I found out she spoke the language of the Terras...
"...It was good that we were required to learn Terra and Slimo when we joined the army, or the language barrier would be horrible. When I asked her about the battle, she couldn't answer me, saying that she hadn't seen or heard any battle..."
"...I initially thought I had been thrown far from the battle, or that the spatial anomaly had sent me to the other side of the snowy mountains; it was only later when I asked for directions to the Realm of Fae that I got the impression that I had been thrown much farther than I thought...
Millia wrote quickly, as if she couldn't wait to see how the story unfolded.
I'll give her some books to read later, didn't think she would like them so much.
"Terra?" - Gilbert asked, not even realizing that his voice had come out loud.
But it was a good question. Was the language of the Terrarians called only Terra in the past? Not Terrarian as it is today?
Almost the same name, but why the differences?
"… The Terrarian woman, Tia, a kind old lady, didn't know about the Realm of Fae, calling the Fae themselves a myth, a silly story. I was incredulous, how could she not know our realm? Couldn't she tell that I was a Fae? When I asked, she replied that she didn't know what race I was and thought I was a half-Terrarian..."
"...When she said that the Fae were something from a story, one of the oldest legends, I almost couldn't contain myself and shouted at the woman, I didn't because I wasn't ungrateful; she had saved me. I only realized she was telling the truth when I went out to look for my battalion and looked at the night sky, the stars..."
"...They were in different places than I remembered, as if they had moved... As if time had passed... Where was I?"
This practically confirms it; this soldier had somehow been catapulted into the future.
That's why the book was here in WinterHord, why it had survived these fifteen thousand years, or these supposed fifteen thousand years.
Everyone around seemed to have understood what happened, shocked.
I hadn't heard anything about magic messing with time; it was one of the first things I asked Dylan, he said that such magic didn't exist and, if it did, it was so rare that he had never heard of it, nor anyone he knew.
For them, hearing that someone had literally been thrown into the future must have been quite a shock.
For me, it was almost like a Monday, since the stream did that on almost every mission, putting me at certain moments in time, whenever I left Terraria for another world.
- [February 2nd of year 29 - Terrarian Calendar] -
"...After months of walking, I found out that the entire topology of the continent had changed, nothing seemed to be the same, the plants, the animals, the villages... I asked for information from some villagers I passed by, none of them knew about the Realm of Fairies, the only realm they knew was a realm called Terraria... WHY IS THERE A PLACE WITH THE NAME OF THE PLANET?!..."
"Dylan?" Before I could ask, the guide had already answered me.
"The planet doesn't have a name, it's something that has always bothered me, but it seems it wasn't always like this..." His voice was confused. "The planet had the name of the realm?... Actually, the realm has the name of the planet?... Why?"
Well, if the guide didn't know, then we had a problem. Because the more information I had, the fewer answers I got in return?
- [March 23rd of year 29 - Terrarian Calendar] -
"...It took me more than a month to get to this so-called realm... Uhk, Terraria. Damn, who named this? Well. The realm was located on the border, or at least where the border was supposed to be. It was a small, new realm, if the calendar says anything, but still, even though it couldn't compare to my home, it was a beautiful place..."
"...I stayed about a week there before traveling again, looking for any trace of where, or when, I was. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I had been sent to the future or the past..."
"The pages are torn! D:" - Millia quickly wrote with slightly pointed words, as if she was angry about this fact.
"Yeah, it seems so..." - I said, getting distracted while tapping my finger lightly on the top of Millia's body.
At this point, we could have stopped reading already, as it didn't seem like there would be more information about Deerclops, but everyone wanted to know the end of this story, including me.
As different as the two scenarios were, I still somehow identified with this soldier.
"It's the last page." - I stated before Millia resumed reading.
- [September 9th of year 30 - Terrarian Calendar] -
"...I spent almost two years looking for any trace or grain of information that could take me back home. It was fruitless, not that I expected anything different. At this point, I'm resigned already...
"...Well, I ended up returning to the snowy mountains. Honestly, I didn't know why I had come back, a futile last hope? Nostalgia? I don't know, I just know that I ended up returning to the place that took me away from my family... I avoided thinking too much, since every time the image of my wife appears in my mind, I feel like I'm going to break down in tears..."
Millia didn't comment anything, nor did I, but we both noticed that the pages of the diary seemed brittle, as if the paper had been wet and dried.
Tiny droplets.
"...I ended up finding the woman who saved me years ago. Had a little chat with her. Good lady she was, reminded me a bit of my grandmother. Ended up staying at her house in the village, helping her as I could, a repayment for saving me... Sometimes I wished she hadn't found me in the snow..."
Interestingly, the last paragraph was written in the language of the Terrarians, not the Fae.
I read it out loud before Millia wrote.
"...Well, didn't think I'd be writing here again, ended up finding my old diary while organizing some things. Well, it's been almost ten years since I wrote here, but I'll leave a little warning in case someone in the future finds this old book, don't think it will happen, since, even though I'm shit with runes, I placed some that would hide it, but well..."
"...If you're reading this book, probably the thing that battled with the general years ago is back. Ended up finding the seal of the thing by chance and studied its energy a bit and managed to modify some runes to be activated when that energy is in the air, removing the illusion from the diary...
"...Here's my warning. Run. I don't know how that thing broke the seal, but if that monster escaped, go in the opposite direction of it. The general was one of the strongest Fae I've ever known in my life (At this point, I'm not even sure if he was a Fae, actually.) still, he couldn't kill that thing, only seal it...
"...Well, that's it, I won't go on much, as the page is ending and my wife and daughter should come looking for me in a few minutes to go to dinner. Wish you good luck, may the spirits of light be with you..."
At the end of the diary, there was a signature, written in a small handwriting, as if the person who wrote it wasn't sure if they should really write it, but ended up doing so.
"Signed: Cael WinterHord. The last Fae soldier."
"I figured that was his last name..." I let my thoughts slip, looking at the shocked faces of everyone, especially Annabel, who found out she had Fae ancestry, somewhat close, on top of that, since WinterHord was about four hundred and something years old...
Even with the atmosphere around us getting somewhat tense at the end of this reading, I couldn't help but have a vague thought that came to me.
Will Annabel still lend me this diary?
It was kind of a family heirloom for her now, wasn't it?...
[...]
Good news! I won't have to steal the diary while no one is looking.
Annabel said she would still lend it to me, but only if she could read it with me while Millia translated, and if possible, she wanted the little slime to teach her the Fae language.
Millia seemed pleased with the proposal and quickly agreed to teach the countess.
To prevent Dylan from having a stroke due to envy, I offered him to learn too, since Millia was jumping for joy, as she would be a teacher and not a student, it didn't seem like she would mind having one more student.
I've never seen the man with a happier face.
Interestingly, everyone thought that the "runes" that Cael, the soldier, wrote in the diary were the Mystic Symbols, just with a different name. I didn't bother correcting them.
I'm glad I covered the runes on the Humvee with a layer of paint, as it would be complicated to explain why some of the symbols on the Humvee were similar to the "Strange Mystic Symbols," in Selina's words, carved in the diary of someone who lived fifteen thousand years ago.
In the end, with tutoring sessions in an ancient language scheduled and many unanswered questions, everyone went back to their respective tasks.
Darnell went back to patrolling, Gilbert ended up going with him, as the merchant put it: "I'll walk, just hearing you guys talk about Mystic Symbols gives me a headache."
Annabel went back to the mansion to show the glasses to the Symbol Masters of Winterhord, after chatting with Millia for some time.
Melissa, Dylan, and Selina went back to trying to update the glasses they and the rest of the group would use.
Robyn kept saying that she would be the messenger, that she would use her owl and her fox to pass messages quickly, in case we had one.
She locked herself in the Humvee and asked me to turn on the heating matrix, must have been a coincidence.
As for me, I started working on two things I had forgotten.
The first one: A gas mask, which in this case I would use to be able to breathe the freezing air outside the barrier, if necessary.
I don't think having frozen lungs is a pleasant sensation.
The second thing was my own glasses, not like the ones the three were making, but glasses made exclusively for protection, since, just as I liked my lungs as they were, my eyes not being ice balls pleased me quite a bit.
Funny that it was only after almost an hour with me working on these two items that someone finally noticed...
"Are you wearing a tank top?" Robyn asked incredulously, her voice coming out of a small opening in the Humvee's window.
With her question, Dylan and the other two turned to me, all four looking at me as if I had gone crazy.
"Yes," I answered somewhat amused. "I'm training my resistance to the cold, don't worry, I'm fine. I know my limits." They didn't seem to believe much in my words, but as they saw that I seemed fine, that even steam was coming out of my body in contrast to the cold weather, they didn't say anything else.
I had already adapted to the cold in a way in Kimetsu, Sun Breathing helping even more in this regard, but there was a big difference between the thirty degrees below zero inside the barrier and I don't know how many degrees below zero it was outside.
The less the cold affected me, the better it would be in case something unexpected happened... Would using Aqua's hair make some kind of cold protection accessory?
I hadn't tried, but she was a water goddess, ice was water, just, well, frozen. I'll see if I can improvise something, a necklace, since it would help the accessory be close to my chest, where I would need to keep warmer.
While everyone worked in silence, with a few conversations between Dylan, Melissa, and Selina happening here and there, I took the opportunity to read the (CHAT).
[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: A time traveler. Well, almost, since he kind of got thrown forcefully. At this point, I should be used to it, but even so, some things still surprise me. (Iron Man working on a computer emote).
[TohsakaHeiress]: The second magic and now the fifth. What's next, the third? Or the first? (Chibi Rin pulling hair emote).
[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: Let's just ignore how weird Selina acted back there. Is that it?-
[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy] Deleted the message from [AdvocateOfGenderEquality].
[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy] Muted [AdvocateOfGenderEquality] for 30 seconds: "No breaking the code, bro."
[(MOD)RedHuntressLive]: What was the message?! I couldn't read it!... Okay, fine. Devas, I'm going out with the girls for the mission, we won't be able to write much in the (CHAT), but we'll watch if something happens! Don't do anything reckless! and try not to get hurt! (Little Red Riding Hood with a suitcase emote).
There weren't many people in the (CHAT - FATES), which was expected, since it was in the middle of the afternoon.
Dumbledore and the folks at Hogwarts should be teaching or dealing with some school issues, in Dumbledore's case.
Harry and Percy must be in class, the same goes for Rin, who probably managed to type because she was on a break or something.
Sally was probably working.
The least busy, so to speak, were Stark and Kazuma, since Stark could work and watch the stream at the same time, and Kazuma, when not on a mission, didn't have much else to do besides watching me.
With the HOTD crew busy fixing the island and Ruby and her friends going on a mission, things were calmer, well, at least for them, because minutes later, a scream echoed through WinterHord.
▄█▆▂▄▆▅▃▂▆▅▄▇█▄▃▄█▇
It was instinctive, the nightmare energy within my body surged, fighting against the energy of the scream and quickly defeating it, taking it for itself like a hungry animal.
The others weren't so lucky, as they knelt while covering their ears.
The least affected, curiously, had been the most affected before, Robyn.
She was inside the Humvee, and I had left the Humvee barriers on, in case the Deerclops screamed, to test their effectiveness.
Robyn was barely affected, just covering her ears, but without any other reaction. The barriers worked better. Good.
When the noise of the scream ceased, I asked everyone at the same time as I directed my nightmare energy to my eyes.
"How are you guys?" I shouted, not seeing any hallucinations, the same on the minimap, few hallucinations appearing in the distance, in the middle of the city.
No sign of the deer. The scream seemed to come from afar, further than the five kilometers on the minimap.
The first to recover was Dylan, followed by Melissa who got up behind her brother.
"I'm fine, it didn't affect me that much," the guide replied.
"At this point, I'm almost used to the screams of that thing." Melissa grunted as she sighed.
"I feel like shit!" Selina shouted back, still crouched, being the most affected by the scream.
I threw a Purification Powder pill for the Steampunker to eat while looking at Robyn, who had the fish earring in her ear.
Gilbert had given her the earring, since if something happened and he was far away, it would take too long for us to receive the information.
"Any changes?" I asked.
"None, still the same." Robyn replied, opening the Humvee window.
Good news, great. Still...
"This scream was closer than the last one." I heard Melissa say with a tense tone.
... The deer was getting closer; we didn't have much time...
[…]
POV: Devas Asura (NON-CANONICAL OMAKE).
(Before the journey to WinterHord).
(I decided to make this Omake non-canonical. I'll see if I include something about MLP in the story later or create a separate MLP story. For now, I'll let it be something on its own.)
"Stark, tell me why the hell the craters on the moon are shaped like a unicorn." My voice didn't hide the threat behind it. Where the hell did I end up?!
Was that a damn unicorn on the moon?
I pulled Stark into an isolated (CHAT) to read his messages more easily.
[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: It's not a dangerous world... partially. I'm researching about it right now; I'll let it be a surprise, just... don't kill anyone, especially not the princess; she's innocent. (Amused Iron Man emote).
"What do you mean don't kill anyone? Princess? What the hell princess?"
Stark decided to stay silent, the same with the rest of the (CHAT), as those who knew about this world were unable to talk about it.
What kind of place was this to have such a mystery? Did they want to see my reaction to the people of this place? Was there something here that was so impressive?
Without more answers, I resumed walking.
No matter how many of these weird wooden wolves I found, they all ran away from me like the devil ran from the cross.
The same thing happened when I found what I could only guess was a damn manticore.
The creature seemed apprehensive, as if running away from something. When it saw me, the manticore literally lost color, becoming pale, before running away.
Was everything here damn cowardly?
I didn't even bother chasing the manticore since, as much as I wanted to see how Sun Breathing would fare in a real battle, I wasn't going to hunt something that literally almost crapped itself just by seeing me.
If the manticore had tried to attack me, that would have been fine, but it didn't even attempt that.
I walked randomly for about four hours, picking some plants and seeing some animals before they ran away. This continued until the damn sun and moon decided to literally work WRONG!
The moon was in the sky without moving, something I had noticed some time ago. When it was six in the morning, it was as if it had decided to go home to sleep, running all the way to the horizon, giving way to the damn sun!
"Isn't this dangerous?" I almost shouted.
Damn, how hadn't this planet been torn apart by gravity? How was this damn thing still in orbit?!
[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Well... frankly, I thought this was something from the cartoon; seeing it in real life is damn strange. I won't claim it's not dangerous; it shouldn't be, but be careful.
Even Stark, who was laughing his ass off every time an animal ran away from me, seemed apprehensive.
MAGNIFICENT!
Still, I trusted that as misled as Stark might be, he wouldn't throw me to death, nor would the stream, by the way. If it said this world was safe, I believed it.
Not that I wouldn't stay alert, especially since the damn sun was a marathon runner!
Forget physics, apparently: "Is it six in the morning? It's my time to go to work."
It wasn't supposed to work like this, damn it!
Interestingly, after a few minutes, I found a dirt road. I was tempted to take the Humvee and drive to it, but I thought it would be better not to.
I didn't know the technological level of this planet; showing up with a huge war machine didn't seem like a good idea.
Still, I followed the road for some time before stopping, or rather, being stopped.
The first thing I noticed was the four yellow dots coming towards me on the minimap at a high speed.
When I looked in their direction, I didn't see anything. I only found those points when I looked up and saw a golden carriage pulled by two pegasus in medieval guard armor.
I had to restrain myself from pulling out my armor and Houtengeki.
I didn't know who was in that carriage, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. Still, I remained prepared in case something happened.
Golden carriages pulled by magical horses were usually related to unpleasant beings, like gods, demigods, and such.
I didn't sense any divinity coming from that carriage, which was good, but I didn't let my guard down.
It was only when the carriage got closer that I realized the pegasi pulling it were TINY AS HELL.
Seriously, when they landed on the ground, it was even more apparent. They were mini horses; they shouldn't have been more than a meter and a half tall.
Ponies! Damn pegasus ponies!
Had I ended up in some cartoon or something? A damn children's show?
To my joy, or rather, disbelief, the one who descended from the carriage was another mini horse, a purple one with a horn.
A freaking unicorn that had a ton of magic in it. I would have been almost apprehensive if this unicorn hadn't been literally the cutest thing I had ever seen in my life, maybe losing the spot to Millia.
The purple unicorn was even smaller than the guards, probably about one meter twenty tall, with large lilac eyes that looked at me with absurd curiosity.
The unicorn, by the way, seemed ecstatic with my response.
"You talk!" the unicorn exclaimed before blushing, realizing she had shouted, lifting her front right leg and coughing into her hoof...
Horse legs shouldn't move like that; what the hell kind of joints were these?!
"Sorry, I... I was surprised. I've never seen anything like you before. I asked the guards to stop when I noticed you walking on the road."
The unicorn spoke, still slightly embarrassed. "Nice to meet you; I'm Twilight Sparkle, apprentice to Princess Celestia." She, as she had a feminine name, inclined herself in a slight bow.
Strange name... Not ugly, but odd. Did this world have the same thing as Ruby's world? "Hey! How about it. Let's name our children with names of colors, random objects, and names of sky phenomena?"
At the same time, Stark sent a message in the (CHAT), many people sent messages, actually, almost all with the same information.
[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: She's a Pony, not a horse, it might be offensive to call her a horse, I'm looking here on Google. And... avoid smiling; showing your canines might not be a good idea. (Iron Man emote researching on Google).
Ponies... Okay. They were herbivorous animals, right? Showing that I had canines, that I ate meat, didn't seem like a good idea.
"If it's not rude, may I ask what you are?" She asked, practically leaking liquid curiosity while looking at me as if I were something mythical.
Woman, horse, pony, damn it! You're the mythical being here!
Now... how do I answer? Was she some kind of royalty? She said she was an apprentice to a princess, Celestia, and was accompanied by guards and a damn golden carriage.
While I thought, the other two ponies fell silent, observing the interaction, the same with the mini-dragon, who seemed scared of me but not as much as the other animals.
Thinking about it, why were these ponies calm when the other animals weren't?
I coughed slightly into my hand, dispersing these thoughts before deciding to respond normally.
If she got offended just by that, things wouldn't go far anyway.
"Devas, my name is Devas, nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle." I tried to be friendly and smiled without showing my teeth, following Stark's warning. "To answer your question, I am human." I made a slight bow as she did.
Seeing my polite introduction, the guards seemed to visibly relax, the same with the mini-dragon, when Twilight...
"Eep!" She seemed to be physically restraining herself from jumping on me and bombarding me with thousands of questions.
Again. Where the hell did I end up?!
[...]---[...]
Well, we've finally entered the "Beginning of the End," at least for WinterHord.
As for the chapter, well, there's some pretty important information. I've been preparing this time-travel plot for a while now.
I won't drag it out too much, as there's not much to comment on besides the Omake, where, if possible, I'd like to know what you think, whether you liked it or if you want a separate story without MLP's Devas, or if you want it to be canonical.
That said, good night, everyone, and happy reading!
PS: Cael isn't the only one who got kicked into the future.