"Crowning glory, greatest shame, the heaven-reaching mountain that rises in my name...."
Galeon repeated the words once more as he stood by the window gazing out into the far distant horizon. By his side were the Saintess and Shine who also looked on in horror as the world continued to quake. The streets of the city began cracking as the buildings swayed, but none of them could draw any attention from the three as there was something far more dreadful happening elsewhere.
Amidst the backdrop of a slowly setting sun, a needle rose from the ground as though to puncture the very skies themselves. But as the seconds passed, it remained a needle no longer. Even from so far away, the three could feel the potent waves of power rising together with the needle. It was mystical and archaic, something unknown to Corrin. It swirled around it like a tornado, solidifying into a veritable tower. And still it continued to rise, a heaven-reaching mountain that aspired to grasp the stars.
"Crowning glory, greatest shame, the heaven-reaching mountain that rises in my name...!"
Again, Galeon felt the need to repeat the words. But this time, he was compelled by something other than mystery. A burgeoning flame seemed to blaze within the depths of his heart. It boiled his very blood, wishing to unleash a reckoning upon everything. This was a primal and unfathomable rage, something that Galeon was not used to. He had no idea where it came from nor why he was feeling it, but he understood that this rage was directed toward the heaven-reaching mountain.
As he stared at it, Galeon felt a quiver in his heart. Mixed with the rage was an immeasurable sorrow, a betrayal of something dear. These emotions, they did not seem to belong to him, but at the same time they were his. Even if he knew nothing about them, he could not avert his eyes from them. And as though sensing his inner turmoil, the heaven-reaching mountain continued its rise. The lofty peaks it reached seemed like a mockery of his ignorance, only further fueling his rage.
The quaking had lessened, but it still continued. Galeon had a feeling that as long as that heaven-reaching mountain continued to rise, the world would continue to tremble. He did not know how to stop it, but he felt the need to do something. And the only course of action he could think of at the moment was to head to that rising mountain directly. He turned to look at the Saintess whose eyes had now opened to reveal solid crystals. They were not Prisma but rather the crystallisation of potent authority that should have remained beyond the grasp of a mortal like her.
The look of horror on her face painted a picture of apocalypse, and perhaps that was all this was. The second coming of apocalypse, an End came to culminate the tales of Corrin, the coup de grâce. The world had been on borrowed time for about a thousand years. And now, it was time to collect the dues. Galeon wondered how all this appeared to her vision. Was it as ominous as he was seeing? Or was it even worse? He wanted to ask her, but urgent matters must be dealt with first.
"Saintess..., I'll need the Prophetic Stone."
The Saintess looked toward him, her horrified expression nearly crumpling as she fought the urge to cry. She nodded as she presented the Prophetic Stone to her master. This was the first time that the treasured relic of the Lux Holy Land was leaving their hands, but at least it was going to their god. Shine did not care about it either. In fact, she was more than agreeable with Galeon taking it so it could no longer harm the Saintess.
"Please just call me Helena, my lord. And I know that you wish to go there directly, but please be very careful. That thing is no mountain.... It is a monument to spirits, a gravestone for countless. And yet, it is their power that courses through it. Even from here, I can hear them. Some are singing, others are laughing..., but many are crying!"
The Saintess, Helena, crumpled to the floor while holding her head. She desperately tried to cover her ears, but it was impossible to block away the sounds that only she could hear. For the longest time, she had thought of her affliction to be a blessing. Only now was she considering it to be a curse instead. The countless voices seemed to vie for her attention, scraping away and gnawing at her fragile and vulnerable mind.
Shine panicked as Helena started convulsing from the sheer pain and horror she was experiencing. She was fortunate to be so far away because if she had been much closer to the mountain than she was now, then she would have dropped dead in an instant. Her body would still draw breath, but her mind would be a hollow mess. Recognising the severity of the situation, Galeon moved as well.
Channeling a flood of pure energy into his authority, he created a pool of liquid light in which he submerged Helena. Her mind needed to be protected for however long that heaven-reaching mountain existed as it was the cause for her current condition. And this meant that she had to slumber within this pool of liquid light that continued to heal her body and tried to ease the burden on her mind.
"Let's take her to her room."
Shine nodded as she led the way for Galeon who carried Helena with his Light. Upon reaching Helena's room, Galeon put her in bed before creating several orbs of light that he positioned around her in a circle.
He was not well-versed with magic as most casters could be found on the opposite end of the continent, but he knew enough to set up a rudimentary formation. These orbs of light were meant to be the first line of defense that would protect Helena, and when the barrier they created was breached, the orbs themselves would explode like bombs. Naturally, they would not harm Helena, but rather reinforce the pool of liquid light around her. Once he was done, Galeon turned to Shine.
"You'll be busy dealing with the mess here, but I can't stay to help. If anything happens to her, use this to contact me."
He created thin slip of Prisma and filled it with his Light. It was similar to what he gave Lily, but this one only contained enough of his Light to allow a fraction of his mind to perceive things through it. Considering that Shine herself was a Divine, he had no need to worry about her safety. After all, she was still his senior. It would be disrespectful of him to treat her like a subordinate. And although he could use her help in what was to come, he knew that her duty would not let her leave.
Shine nodded in silence. Everything was moving too fast and she could barely catch her breath. All her expectations of Galeon's visit to the Lux Holy Land had been subverted in such ridiculous ways that she needed time to process them. She had not even spoken a single word to him this whole time, but she already felt so tired of his presence. And as if that was not enough, her mistress now lay in silent slumber, bedridden once more due to an impending calamity.
She was starting to hate this prophecy, every part of it. When she turned her gaze back to Galeon, she found that he was already gone. He left only the slip of Prisma emitting a soft glow. Although she did not know what was happening to Helena, at the very least, she understood that the only way to protect her was to rely on Galeon. She sighed in exasperation and helplessness as she sat down by Helena's bed. She had a lot to do to restore order to the Holy Land, but for the moment, she just wanted to rest and watch over her mistress.
Galeon hurried out of the Holy Temple and left the Holy Land entirely. His wings were beating as fast as they could as he soared with the Light. Around his body, swirling vortices of fire, ice and electricity revolved around him as he resolved to push them further toward newer and stronger forms. With four nodal skills being used all at the same time, the definition of the complexities of the Molecular System should advance by leaps and bounds.
He did not honestly care what their next evolutions would be like. He did not need them to fight right now. What he looked forward to was their future, the possibilities they brought him, the possibilities he could make of them. Even as he felt a looming sense of dread overcome the world, his mind had already begun to glimpse upon a pinnacle for these traits of his. His authority as the Shaper was working in full force driven by an unknown urgency.
Galeon continued rushing, tearing through the skies as he headed for his destination. It was not the towering spiral of rocks in the distance. The journey toward the heaven-reaching mountain is bound to be a long and arduous one. So instead, his first stop would be something he needed to immediately take care of.
His destination was Melchior.
His purpose was Lily.