Working together, we separated two mists, creating about a meter of buffer between them. Using some power from Asgard, I mended the shattered space around, stabilizing Yomi.
-"What now?"
~"Neither of us can stop the ceremony, so we have to find a way to complete it."
-"I know that, but you seem to reject the power of Yomi. How do you plan to prevent two forces from clashing?"
~"First, do you know what that mist is?"
-"Not sure, but it should be the pure power of Yomi."
~"Essence?"
-"No... I don't think so. Yomi is not Principle or Divinity, not to mention it being a Law, so it can't be Essence. A mix of multiple Essences at best."
~"Then this complicates things. I need to know what creates rejection if I'm to have any chance to overcome it."
-"That's hard. As I said, this is not my power. I can force it to act, but I can't control it well enough."
~"Then we have to use a different approach. We can't complete the ritual, nor we can stop it. The only way left is to deceive. Can you change the target of the ritual?"
-"No chance. Yomi possesses too great of a power to simply give it away. This ceremony is also a trial, so only those who pass it can accept Yomi's power."
~"Then we need another me."~I Split a small part of my Soul to form a separate Fox avatar, one that is not connected to the rest of me and can act independently.
I let the Fox leave my immediate surroundings, and it slowly approached the black mist. But before the Fox could come in contact with it, the white mist surrounded the Fox as well.
~"Hmm... Not great."
-"What now?"
~"It would seem that white mist is closely connected to my Soul, but Yomi also needs to connect to the Soul."
-"Quite a circle to square. Can you find part of your Soul untouched by the white mist?"
~"I doubt such a piece of my Soul exists. Don't forget that I'm Spirit. Before, the Laws that made my world were what was connected to my Soul, but now it's my Path that forms me. I joined all Laws from my world directly into my Soul, forming [Yggdrasil], meaning whatever the origin of that white mist is, it's impossible to split it apart from my Soul as after naming it with my power, it became a new solid whole."
-"Then aren't we doomed?"
~"Don't give up so quickly. Let me think."
I racked my brain, trying to find any way out of this predicament. At first, I considered if using my Aeonic power would work, but the only feasible way to achieve a positive outcome was to destroy Yomi, making this choice too extreme.
The next possibility was to form a new Soul for myself, something akin to how I reviewed people. But this idea also proved a dead end, as my nature as Spirit made it impossible to create a seed around which I could create a new Soul. In every other instance of recreating a Soul, I would have either a shard of that person's Soul or spirit, but I can't create such a shard from my Soul, nor do I possess the spirit to split.
As my thinking started moving to another idea, I thought of something.
⌊ Kindred. ⌉
⌊ Oh, I thought you forgot about me, Dear Fox.~⌉
⌊ A new hunt? ⌉
⌊ Not this time. I need your help. ⌉
⌊ You want us to accept that power?~⌉
⌊ Yes. Can you? ⌉
⌊ Depends.~⌉
⌊ Explain. ⌉
⌊ Our contract was indeed created by exchanging parts of our souls, joining us together into Kindred. Even so, we are distinct parts. No matter how much Wolf learns, he will never be the Lamb.~⌉
Sighing to myself, I continued to look for a way to resolve the crisis.
⌊ But there is a way.~⌉
⌊ Don't tease me, Lamb.⌉
Lamb giggled before she continued to speak in my mind.
⌊ Before we became Kindred, we were one. A pale man. After we split, that part of ourselves became dormant, but it still exists.~⌉
⌊ If I were to become that pale man, you two would be me, making you eligible for the power of Yomi.⌉
⌊ Indeed, but this is not without problems. If you become that pale man, our Destiny will fuse with yours. So would our Karma and Fate.~⌉
⌊ That is not too big of a problem. For a mortal, such a great Destiny would be harmful, but as Aeon of Ordination, my Path is directly linked to Destiny, so it won't harm me.⌉
⌊ I know, that's not what I'm concerned about. The Karma is what can harm you. You severed your Karma with your home world during your ascension, but If you receive my Karma, you will once again be linked to a world.~⌉
Taking a moment to consider all the consequences of what Lamb was talking about, I made my decision.
⌊ I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, the situation is serious enough to outweigh the possible negative developments of this choice. But do you mind? If I do so, you will effectively become another me. ⌉
⌊ We are already one, Dear Fox.~⌉
⌊ Ugh, too many words. ⌉
Smiling to myself, I once again was thankful to be surrounded by so many great people... ehm, beings.
⌊ Then let's do it. ⌉
Manifesting my Fox mask, I made it float a little further before me, where Wolf's and Lamb's masks soon joined it. Focusing on them, I started to fuse our Destinies, forming a second Soul for myself.
The crisis in Yomi didn't alert anyone outside that realm due to Izanami and me stepping in, so there was no panic anywhere, and the business continued as usual. As the process of fusing with Kindred will take some time, I needed to spare some of my attention elsewhere.
The Rakia's army had been dealt with long ago. In total, not even one in four of the soldiers was able to survive the battle and even more died after due to poor medical care given to them. While for those with some more 'modern' views, such a thing was unacceptable, to the Elves whose family was raped and killed by the same people, not killing them directly was already a great mercy.
The royals and nobles who escaped before were also captured and brought back, so now they will face the people they left to die or worse. Riveria set up makeshift tribunes as well as a stage on which the leaders of escapees will be judged.
She recused herself from participating in the trial. While she had no feelings left for her fathers and others in the extended family, taking part in what could be their execution was beyond her. Azalea also decided not to take part, leaving the fate of once rulers entirely in the hands of the people.
To keep everything in order, I asked Ch'en to preside over everything as a neutral party, lending her Nuwa and Fuxi, who will act as court recorders, and Yanfei, who will give legal advice in accordance with Hold's regulations.
There are some minor differences in laws between Spirit Empire and Hold, but the core of the legal codexes is the same, so her neutral status is more valuable compared to Elf, who, while knowing Spirit Empire's law closer, will more likely sympathize with one of the sides. In addition, Yanfei was eager to take part in such a major legal case, as in Hold even if something did happen, the Divination ensured all facts were found out, and the case was quickly shut.
So the judgment began, and almost instantly, three factions formed among the people. The first, which I called the radicals, advocated for executions for all who, despite being in positions of power, escaped leaving them.
The second, named moderates, wished for all those captured to be tried individually, considering both their actions before as well as their overall situation.
The last faction, pacifists, endorsed the view that after such tragedy, unity and recovery were the most important matters, wishing for the punishments to be carried in the form of restitution for all harm done, leaving a chance for repentance.
As an observer, my stance was not among those three, as I would simply use my power to have the world judge their Karma, guaranteeing fairness while not needing to deal with them anymore. But such a choice, while seeming as the best decision, for those involved emotionally, was hard to pick. Logic doesn't account for feelings, be it in math or law.
Putting myself in the boots of those Elves served no purpose other than considering some 'what ifs', so I simply listened to their talks. After over half a day of discussion, almost everything was decided.
The guild was obvious, and no one held any pity for them. The only controversial thing was the treatment of the king. While few people cared for him, most still held reverence for the position upon which the greatest of their race sat before.
If the king was to be treated as the rest, it would effectively mean abolishing the monarchy, and while their ruling system would still change after integrating into Spirit Empire, most Elves were traditionalists at heart, so it was a hard decision to make.
In the end, the judgment was decided to be the erasure of Larfal Ljos Alf's existence. All records of his name will be destroyed, his every achievement will be expunged, and he will become taboo for future generations.
Even the name of Ljos Alf will be obliterated, as Riveria decided to discard that name to show that she will not inherit the royal title. As for Larfal himself, he was granted the last mercy that might as well be the harshest punishment he could get: exile.
He was the only one spared from those in charge of the previous order, but when all the Elves will become Wood Elves of the Spirit Empire, he will be the last of the 'noble' Elves that he always considered himself as. If he is lucky, he will leave his remaining hundreds of years looking at his people thriving. If he is not, he will die in some ditch, eaten by the same worms that those who were sold as slaves under his reign sometimes had to consume.
To make his punishment even more painful, I was asked to cast a spell on him, changing his appearance but also making him unable to speak who he was. All his thoughts and regrets will forever stir inside as he travels the world as a vagabond without a name.
When the curse was completed, the only thing that one could connect to the previous Larfal was the hatred burning in his eyes, though even that quickly went away, replaced by the depression.
-"Father, this is our last meeting."-Riveria spoke to the Larfal at the edge of the forest.-"While you most likely hate me now, I wish you could find peace somewhere in the world."
-"..."
-"Sigh, farewell."-Riveria turned back and walked into the forest.
After entering deep enough to be concealed from outside, she sat down, looking at the ground. I appeared nearby and sat next to her.
-"Yue."-She called out softly while leaning on my shoulder.-"Was there a better outcome? A scenario where none of this tragedy took place?"
~"While there is always a possibility, sometimes a seemingly better outcome might, in truth, be a prelude to even greater tragedy or require a price too great. Here, I can only give you advice that new Diviners often hear: 'Preventing disaster is more important than bettering a good outcome.'."
-"Preventing a disaster, huh? I might have saved countless fathers, but I have lost my own. Over all this is indeed preventing a tragedy, but what about my family?"
~"..."
We sat in silence, with the sounds of leaves in the wind creating an ambiance. Two of us simply resting on the ground. Half an hour later, Riveria seemed to make up her mind on something, standing up.
-"Thank you."
~"No, rather I'm sorry for not being able to empathize with you."
-"To be honest, I much more prefer your silent care to any sweet words you could have find. After all, it's my family."
~"..."
-"But I decided to simply let the past go. Now, I have a new family and a future to work for. This time, I wish to ignore your advice, never again having to prevent a disaster and focusing only on the betterment of good."-Riveria smiled as she extended her hand to me, helping me stand up.
~"That's a good purpose."
-"Yes. I'll leave first, but please, leave some time for me later."
~"Whenever you need me."
I looked as Riveria walked back, seeing that she still had many regrets despite her seeming all right. But knowing how she was, letting her think everything over was the best choice. When her back disappeared from my direct view, I also left this place.
As the day was nearing its end, the same was happening to the ceremony in Yomi. I was able to fully fuse with Kindred, creating a second Soul from the shard I gave them long ago, and now I made it accept the power of Yomi. Once again, I needed assistance from Izanami, but with the issues being dealt with, our work was easy now.
Finally, just around the stroke of midnight, Kindred accepted the last part of Yomi. When that was completed, I finally relaxed and checked the changes that were brought to Kindred.
The most obvious change happened to Wolf, who now become more akin to my other Battle Spirits than previously. He still retained some of the individuality, but it was noticeably reduced. In exchange, he gained great strength beyond his previous End, becoming an avatar of Yomi, like Izanagi's snake.
Lamb's changes were more subtle. Her form became a little more human, and she gained a connection to my Path, but what is important to note, she is still a separate being.
The thought of us having the same Soul and shearing power might imply that we are one person. Now, we truly become Kindred, two sides of the same coin.
⌊ How are you feeling? ⌉
⌊ Dear Fox, did you forget that I can't feel?~⌉
⌊ That was before. Now, you should be able to do so. ⌉
⌊ Huh? Indeed...~⌉
Lamb focused on herself for a moment before continuing.
⌊ So that's what it's like to feel.~⌉
⌊ What are your plans from this point on? ⌉
⌊ Same as before. Follow you while bringing an End to those who crossed our path.~⌉
I nodded. After all, Kindred had always been by my side since our contract took form.
-"You all right?"-Izanami finally couldn't stand the silence and asked in concern.
~"All good. Let's go. You already overstayed your welcome in this world because of this situation, so it's time to leave."
-"Sure."
Lamb was invisible to Izanami as she was far from dying, so she didn't see her standing by my side. But Lamb didn't care about that, and she simply disappeared from here. I also wanted to leave this place, so I teleported Izanami to Hold, where my other manifestation was waiting while I went back to Takamagahara.