296. The Meaning of the Piece of the Fallen Star

296. The Meaning of the Piece of the Fallen Star

4 days had passed since the White Wing left Jury and her companions to deal with Frost. The reason she left them to fight alone was never uttered, even to the curious Carpalis who tagged along now that the situation outside was manageable.

Much had occurred within such a short period of time. The White Wing’s reasoning for lending her hand was also draped in mystery. Her sudden change in heart caused her to redirect the Golden Index towards seemingly obscure locations dotted around the City of Clubs.

By now Scarlet Logic’s forces were dead. Only their gambit teams remained, as did their false healers. The 6th Branch had only just recently joined the fight, sandwiching the Dungeons and Impuritas between the existing forces within the City of Clubs, most notably in C5.

The only place that was not defended was the Piece of the Fallen Star.

Carpalis admittedly knew little of what was going on. The White Wing knew significantly more than she was willing to claim, made obvious by how she directed both Justica Arms and the Golden Index towards imminently emerging Dungeons.

Normally, Dungeons could be predicted ahead of time using Caldera Industries technology, as well as Act X’s predictions to a certain extent. However, in the thick of their shared silence, the White Wing slid a hand into her breast pocket.

“2 days, 3 hours, 21 minutes, and 37 seconds until the Hyperlink returns. Sooner is likely. But we only have 2 days until we have a Faux Angel on our hands. 10 times acceleration of time within this Isolation Sphere, if I recall its name correctly. Quite insignificant. Slightly less than 5 hours until it hatches. How awfully reminiscent. I could cry~”

She removed her gloves and placed a hand onto its thick exterior, sensing the vibrations within as a guttural snore ran through her fingertips, her golden eyes reflecting its darkness in a matter that made them appear like Carpalis’ demonic ones.

In contrast, Carpalis’ eyes were somehow more golden than the White Wings, as if she carried more Angelic traits than an Angel herself. She fondled the egg. Groped it. She violated it with her fingers, caressing it as she dragged a finger around, eagerly running them over each growing vein with a fond expression until they ran over a series of circular veins, isolated from the rest of the system.

Their forms were nonsensical. The scribbles of a child best described them. Closing her eyes, she suddenly paused and began to speak with Carpalis.

They had time to spare, after all. There was no sense of urgency. Both had seen enough horrors to become desensitized to what nightmare potentially awaited them. More than that, Carpalis simply wished to extend her hand again, and as for the White Wing?

“Do you know why it’s called the Piece of the Fallen Star?” The White Wing asked, turning towards the Piece of the Fallen Star as she openly ridiculed the desperate Impuritas, who flutily reached for the unreachable light.

Carpalis responded with a slightly confused twitch of her fennec-ear-like horns.

“Is that what the Amalgam encapsulates? A true, complete whole?”

“I couldn’t care less. Seeing this egg hurts me, you know? Being at the center of so many things. The object of desire for countless. Having seen the greed firsthand. The wars waged around them... having lost their way in which way is right, they resorted to the one thing the world only knew. Bloodshed.” The White Wing sopoke fondly of Sinder, placing Carpalis’ hand back beside her as gently as possible. “Don’t lose that arm.”

“I wouldn’t be able to give a hand anymore~ Gabriella. Does this, in your mind, pardon you from leaving this to Jury and her friends alone?”

“I thought that maybe if it was Jury, then she’d be able to change things her own way. Besides, this works either way. So long as we can deal with them until... She arrives.”

“Our beloved Arbiter?” Carpalis hummed as the White Wing brought a bare hand to cusp the Demon’s cheek, brushing away leftover grime from her encounter with the Infusions.

The White Wing stood only a hair shorter than her, and their fond exchange hinted a more intimate relationship than what met the eye.

“If there’s one thing I want from you, my Carpalis, it’s to never let her know that I was here.”

“Hehehe. Angels don’t get along?”

Gabriella’s small smile faded as she stared at the Piece of the Fallen Star through Carpalis’ eyes.

“That is no longer. Worry not of the Piece of the Fallen Star. All wishes will be as the Advent is. Incomplete. Just a small, fledgling, demented piece. Meaning nothing will go as planned. Only beings like us traverse their physical plane to have one grand wish granted.”

The black egg throbbed, the pocket watch ticking incomprehensibly now.

“It’s exactly what you think it is. Those wastes of life?” Gabriella pointed at the mountain of Impuritas. “Their orders to attempt something so futile were not by accident or by blind faith. It was all in the hopes of powering the Advent of Desire, but we severely miscalculated its cost. If you think about it, a certain fallen Star would also be here to claim it if this weren’t the case. A shame. I was looking forward to stabbing that one. I suppose that proves Act X is ultimately correct.”

As the egg continued to express activity in the form of moving veins, Gabriella summoned her pale stake and pricked its outer shell.

“Our 10th Act awaits.”