Chapter 322: Nostalgia

Chapter 322: Nostalgia

Late Afternoon - Early Winter (northern hemisphere) : The Banvænn Sea

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"Um.. Brother?" Krystallo's voice trembled slightly with nervousness as we glided over a seemingly endless expanse of open ocean.

"What's up? Are you okay?" Quickly checking the air around her with a bit of concern, I made sure it was still breathable before easing my nerves.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I was just wondering... Was that patch of desert we passed part of the Banvænn?" She gestured her tail toward the distant horizon behind us as she spoke.

"It was. Why do you ask?"

"Isn't Siratha near the western border of that desert? Weren't we heading there?" Her furrowed brow suggested she thought we were lost, her mind likely racing to figure out how to guide us back.

But, of course, I knew exactly where we were. "Haha, while I did say we're going to Siratha, we aren't going straight there. There is a place I want to show you first."

Her anxiety was almost instantly replaced by a sparkle of excitement.

It was truly an adorable sight. -I wish I could've taken her to the Eastern Oasis. It would have been fun to introduce her to some humans and maybe grab a barrel of piotita while we were there, but even though my aura theoretically shouldn't kill humans, what good does visiting do if everyone is unconscious...- Turning back to the horizon ahead of us, I promptly centered Krystallo on my back and began thinning the vacuum magic around us. -In any case, this place should be enjoyable too...-

Finally beginning to slow down, the very edge of a shoreline began emerging over the horizon, with distant towering, cloud-covered mountain ridges quickly following behind it. -Those clouds must never dissipate...-

The place I was taking Krystallo was The Scar, but rather than taking her to its summit, I was simply taking her to see it and show her around the Acardi wreckage I had found there.

Not feeling comfortable bringing her into outer space or, frankly, introducing her to Hera without talking to her privately first, I planned to just skirt the edge and try to verify if Hera's aura was at the peak before continuing to show Krystallo around to the unbelievable views and vista's of the mountain ranges.

But before I could even get to the closest beaches, I had to switch gears.

-Tch...- I felt two presences moving toward me at a speed far beyond the limits of living flesh. -Of all the times for gods to come make trouble...-

Noticing the change in the air around me, Krystallo immediately started to get anxious, but as she opened her mouth to speak, everything stopped.

*Vwoom* Creating a bit of liquid divinity, I held its constant flow nearly to a halt, and in perfect sync, time seemed to freeze.

It confirmed my theories about how liquid divinity worked almost instantly, but my focus was elsewhere at that moment.

About a kilometer behind us, there were two goddesses - one familiar, the other a stranger.

However, while the foreign face threw herself into a fearful bow the moment I set my eyes on her, she had a hint of confusion on her face.

"So, who's this? Did you make a friend?" Looking toward the goddess I recognized, she immediately jolted before starting with a stutter.

"Y-You can't go to the Holy Kingdom!"

I was instantly taken aback. "What do you mean?" -Is she.. flustered?-

"You can't fight the Aesir yet! You need more-" Finally noticing Krystallo on my back, her panic screeched halted.

"I'm not after the Aesir right now. I literally just woke up from a dragon sleep where I got repeatedly pummeled for over a hundred years... I just want to relax a little..."

The few minutes we approached the base of The Scar were honestly amazing, Krystallo's adorable expression of awe and wonder was simply priceless, to the point I wish I had a camera to take pictures even though I knew such memories would never fade.

"Are those tiny things down there wyverns?" Pointing below toward the massive ice spikes around the base of the sprawling mountain ridges, Krystallo's eyes were filled with fascination.

"They are indeed. When I was here last time, they were nesting in or around those big ice spikes, and there were simply tons of them. Some were pretty big, too, but they just look cute from up here."

"Hehe, I wonder how many I could kill!"

"Pfft-" The conflict between her tone and words caught me insanely off guard. -The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh...- With a smile, I glanced back at her. "If you want, we can go down and raid a nest."

She immediately looked toward me with excitement simply oozing from her. "Is this what you brought me here for?" There was a happy flick in her tail as she spoke.

"Haha, not quite." With a soft chuckle, I motioned my head forward. "What I actually wanted to show you was this."

"Hm?" Straightening her posture, her gaze followed my indication, but she froze the moment it landed. "WOAAH!"

Trotting up toward my neck with a sparkle in her eyes, she never pulled her gaze off The Scar, its unfathomable scale and indescribable beauty turning every emotion she had into awe.

-Even still.. after having already ventured to it's peak.. it's truly a sight to behold...- And as if to make the vista even more incredible, at the very peak of the mountain, the faint glow of an aura was visible, glowing like a beacon left to guide me. -But I need to save visiting her for later...-

Turning my attention back to Krystallo, we continued gliding around the base of the mountain for quite a while, relishing in the joy of sharing the moment together even after she had begun asking me all the questions that filled her mind like a barrage that flowed endlessly.

But, with each question filled with a limitless, childlike wonder and curiosity as it did when she was younger, I simply answered them as best as I could, savoring every passing moment I could.

But before long, the day began to wane, the sun dipped below the horizon and the sky was painted in hues of orange and purple before being blanketed by the night sky.

As night finally settled, I gently steered us southeast, following the rugged contour of the mountain range sprouting from The Scar. The next destination was the Acardi wreckage.

By that time, I had started simply giving Krystallo a lesson on science and the stars as she gazed up at them, attempting to use the nigh unfathomable scale of The Scar to put space into perspective.

But whether she was really understanding me or simply enjoying the moment, reminiscing over our childhoods, I couldn't tell. All that mattered was that she was enjoying it.

However, I didn't expect that once we arrived at the wreckage, we would have someone interrupt our evening.

-Someone.. is in the wreckage?-

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