B6 Chapter 26: Introspection

Where my island had stood amongst a sea of mana was now a swirling storm of black and rainbows. Colors dipped and expanded as microbursts, each one an explosion of fireworks that rebelled against the all-consuming black.

They weren’t strong enough to combat the actual void-like material spinning like a maelstrom in my soul, but they did help illuminate a silhouette resting in the center.

I willed myself closer, coming to a stop just before touching the chaos.

“It’s like an egg. What the fuck?”

A probe of my senses and activation of the link revealed a pillar of golden threads piercing through the bottom of the storm. They emerged from the lake and branched outward, creating thick chains that filled the orb’s insides. 

At the very center of it all, I could make out another orb, one smaller but so aggressively bright it practically burned the void away. Gold threads encased it, tethering to the middle while colors zipped around it.

My contracts, my familiar’s pedestals, and even my throne were somewhere inside that orb. I floated toward the top and found the void siphoning the red-energy coating the top of my soul realm. Like a whirlpool, it slowly trickled downward, and dispersed.

“Judging by the density… Cal, hells. This is almost as much as when I left Ysanna’s rift,” I mumbled. Probing again, I released a call and found seven more tethers.

My familiars came, their skillwisps solidifying into their forms as they joined me above the sphere. They watched as I watched, until Chomperz floated over.  His eyes looked past me, and stared at the heart of the void.

“I don’t suppose you know what’s going on?”

Chomp!

“Yeah, didn’t think so.” I turned and glanced at the collection of spirits. “Does it feel weird?”

Zharia shook her head. “No. But we cannot enter.”

“It denies us, pushes us back if we stray too close,” Sturmrorex said.

The others nodded along and Zagreus leapt forward. I reached for him, ready to command him to back away, but as he tried to push into the whirlwind, the void solidified. The blood hydra bounced backwards, sent tumbling as if he jumped on a trampoline.

When he rolled to a stop, his head lifted high and he hissed in pleasure.

Well, that assuaged my concerns about my familiars being hurt. 

I tugged on the connection that served as my link to the contracts I made and pulled at the one that bound the captain to me. It moved out of the void and the links began to form, but I released my hold and watched them fade.

Beyond the visual weirdness, my mana, soul contracts, and skills were fully functional. I still had access to Chomperz and the rest of my familiars. Now there was only one last test to perform.

With my familiars watching me, I shifted forward and extended my arm. Like Zagreus, the void solidified like rubber around my palm and started to slow my momentum. I got about a foot inward before I was sent reeling backwards.

“Oookay. Weird shit in my soul… Not the first time that’s happened. I guess I’ll leave it alone and wait for Eraztis. Alright, are you guys okay hanging around here?”

I received a collection of head nods and I made sure to spend time with each of them individually before willing my consciousness outward.

I looked around the room and found no changes. I contemplated heading outside and checking out the sea, but again I promised Zog I’d watch over him. Even with Galarion, I wasn’t about to let the brute have the chance to call me a liar.

I ran a few more tests with my mana, finding it responsive and quick. It was beautiful. Months of being forced to hold back had left me feeling like a shackled dog. Even meditating and carving out my mana channels was easier.

Finally, I can progress. I can catch up to that idiot and beat his stupid mug when I find him.

A dozen eyes opened on the ceiling and Galarion sent over a questioning ping. I reviewed his memory and found that I had accidentally released some of my aura.

“Sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”

“Master okay?” Galarion asked.

“I’m good. You saw what’s happening inside?”

“Yes. Master being Master.”

I sank deeper into the cushion. It was bad enough when my friends said that, let alone my familiars. While time passed, I continued my practice with runes while reading from the journal. The damn book refused to teach me new things until I mastered the previous runes and even when I thought I did, it wouldn’t budge unless it felt like it.

Eraztis was no help. Despite being a gift from the god himself, he told me verbatim that the pseudo-soul fragment inside its pages made the journal its own entity. If it decided I wasn’t ready, there was no pushing it. Not without erasing the consciousness inside.

I still made good progress. My experiments carving runes onto things other than paper were only half successful. Those attacks I used on the fish near the island were completely new, untested. I could put runes on my own body, but they were twice as unstable and required constant control. For now, my goal was to imbue enchantments into any material reliably. The possibilities and versatility alone made it worth pushing forward.

Hours passed before Galarion pinged my thoughts. 

“Master. People.”

“Friend or foe?” I asked as I sat up.

“Friend.”

The door opened and Sereza walked in. She shut the door and paused near the entrance, her eyes scanning the room.

“Something’s… off. But what?” she mumbled.

I raised a brow and slowly pointed to the ceiling. Sereza looked up as a dozen gigantic eyes appeared. The pupils split open to reveal slobering maws with flaming tongues. In a blink they faded leaving the bare ceiling once more.

“Riiiiiiiight.” Sereza glanced my way. “You know, and I mean this with all the love of being your teammate and friend. Your familiars can be terrifying. You can be terrifying.”

I looked down at my beanbag with cartoon wizards and fireballs. “I thought I was cute.”

“Oh you are. That doesn’t mean the memory–hungry nightmare fuel on the ceiling isn’t scary.”

“Eh. Fair enough. How’s the game your playing?”

Sereza plopped onto her own chair and sighed. “Easy and not. I’m almost missing dealing with the nobles.”

I snorted. “No you don’t.”

“Hah. No, you’re right. I don’t miss dealing with them at all. The pirates are both simple and so damn stubborn. The captain has them whipped and loyal, to a zealous degree. It’s like dealing with clergy but more openly horny.”

“Oh, so priests are horny in this world as well?”

“Obviously. Especially those who worship fertility and life deities. They’ll sleep with you and deliver religious sermons at the same time.”

I pursed my lips. “Sounds like personal experience.”

She threw a crumpled candy wrapper in response. “Once or twice. At the same time.”

“Hah. You know, for a demon of lust, you really don’t act it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m just saying. Even these last several months, I don’t think you’ve slept around much.” I paused seeing Sereza’s reaction. “What?”

She shook her head. “You’re not exactly a walking example of wrath at all times, now are you.”

“That’s not fair.”

“No?”

“Yes. I’m angry plenty. I was angry, and I still am. You, however, only ever flirt when it’s needed for a job.”

There was an awkward pause. Minutes passed before Sereza released another sigh. She pulled out a cup and motioned toward me. I scanned her face and drew out a bottle of Viper’s Kiss. She poured herself a shot and downed a second one before she finally spoke.

“Growing up as a felkin is… difficult. Our kind exhibits their bloodline early. For Ernor’s family, it was a tendency to want things. A lot of childhood training for him was to ignore kleptomaniac tendencies. It was difficult as you pair a child’s self-control with a bloodline’s instincts, but for Ernor and Lezka, it was manageable.”

“And what about you? I imagine with a father like yours…”

“Yep. It’s about what you imagined.” She took another shot and breathed out a small cloud of thick green. “My childhood was fine. Noble training, and repression of outward emotions help curb the problems. My teenage years, though, were an entirely different beast.”

“Hey, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

She waved me off. “It’s fine. There was a lot of medical suppression. I’d take a potion every morning and night. Except, felkin biology can overpower that, especially when you are a poison user. They eventually lost effectiveness and I had my moments. No pregnancies, thankfully. Those are easy to avoid with access to medication, but I had periods of time where the urge was strong. At least with wrath, you get angry and can vent it towards assholes. For me… I hated losing control while loving it at the same time. If that makes sense.”

“Makes sense.” I took a shot of my own and swirled the bottle. “So what about now? Your father isn’t in the picture. You have Khrem. It’s been a few months.”

“What about you?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s not like you’ve had some release. In fact, you've been avoiding it for a while now.”

“This interrogation isn’t about me,” I complained. 

“Dragonshit.”

I scoffed playfully and raised a glass. “Trauma.”

“To trauma!” she cheered.

“Mmmmngggh.”

We both turned toward the bed where Teldrin stirred. He clutched at the blankets covering him, his eyes fluttering open. He blinked slowly in a daze until his eyes focused.

“C-cyrus? Sereza?”

I approached the bed and extended my senses, finding a faint pulsing radiating from his chest. 

“Finally awake. How do you feel?” I asked.

Teldrin looked up and the mana in his chest spiked. A pulse of blue flowed down his skin and he inhaled sharply. The mana faded as it reached the ends of his limbs and I felt the mana settle.

He opened his mouth to speak, but instead of words, a stream of vomit splashed against my front.

Fuuuuuck.