Chapter 2309

Chapter 2309

After the repetitive viewings, the Patron of Feather’s early life began to blur. It was a stretch of angst and rebellion, unsullied by any meaningful decision she made. She could lash out at her father, stalk through the hallways of her childhood home, throw temper tantrums, and then wake up the next morning to do it again. She had simply taken her powerlessness for granted. And although she now realized the second half of her life was similarly inevitable, she couldn’t help but follow the pull of narrative and watch her most precious relationships all degrade and rot, over and over again.

Soon, the hollow-fingered fox would wander into her life.

The Patron of Feathers, Elhume, and Yystrix followed the strange, wild manifestation of power burning across the horizon to its source, where the sky had cried a tear so hot it burned its way through the atmosphere and scared the ground. Elhume had led the way, with Yystrix behind him and the Patron of Feathers lagging behind.

Could the present her reach out and touch the thoughts of the past? Had she already done so? Because even at that moment in her youth, she remembered the dread she felt on their journey. The overwhelming darkness she seemed to sweat out with every breath. As though it had become certain that waiting for them, at the end of the path, was death.

So dramatic, The Patron of Feathers sighed as she observed herself. But in a way, I was right. The absence waiting for us is closer to death than any other force in the world.

But what choice did we have? We didn’t understand.

A stark figure floated in a smoldering orb of energy in the middle of a clearing, made by the impact. The trees around them rustled back and forth as all three stood next to each other, considering the strange, curled being with eight tails that floated there.

“A vulpine?” Yystrix said as all three stilled and tried to determine the situation.

Elhume blinked slowly. His hands tightened into fists, but the glimmer in his eyes was one of immense excitement. “...by the eternal truths. Look at him, Yzzy. Can you feel its power? If we can train it-”

Yystrix’s eyes blazed as she rounded on him. She hissed her words at him. “The first thing your mind jumps to upon seeing this new being is to train him?!? Have you learned nothing from the suffering of Pine—”

Immediately, Elhume’s expression darkened. Some of the surly, resentful Elhume that the Patron of Feathers so rarely glimpsed rose to the surface. His eyes were incredibly flat, reflecting none of the light coming off the strange energy display they followed. “Careful, Yzzy. I did what I had to in order to protect my son. Besides, I am his father. I deserved to be able to touch the son that I made with you.”

For a moment, Yystrix’s expression flickered. She seemed to be on the cusp of saying more, but a strange wind blew through the clearing. Both exchanged a glance, seeming to remember where they were; they might have been the first to follow the trail to see this being floating in an orb of energy, but others would soon follow.

“You would rather leave this innocent here, exposed to the elements?” Elhume’s frown deepened. “Let me be clear, Yystrix Yule. We will not be departing the forest without this being. If you do not wish for me to intervene-”

Another blast of wind shook the surrounding trees. Yystrix hesitated for a second, but then flitted across the intervening distance. In the end, her mastery of Aether made her the better choice for first contact, especially with a strange manifestation of wild energy. With a wave of her hand, she summoned spinning matrices of Aether Engravings to cushion the energy and dampen its spread. She reached out, piercing through the barrier around the body, and cradled the vulpine with careful hands.

Both the Patron of Feathers and Elhume saw her flinch at the contact. The Patron of Feathers wondered if they had made some horrible mistake.

But then Yystrix moved again, jumping back across and standing by their sides. The trio shared a glance and were gone from that very conspicuous place, ghosting through the shadows of the rustling trees before any other greedy parties could show up and investigate the disturbance.

Honestly, just remembering the second made Randidly grimace. He had truly failed; had Neveah not been there to intervene and wrap the memory in the trappings of a Dungeon, everything would have fallen apart.

Luckily for him, she had been ready. And now a deeper pattern had begun to form in the memory. Deep, barely perceptible currents brushed the significance into monstrous patterns that could change the world. Looming before him was his third attempt, the endeavor to create enough energy to heal his Class by trigger the reach of a Pinnacle.

Even now, Randidly felt annoyed by the inert Attribute Muse’s Reverie, the one he had worked so hard to obtain. He remembered those moments of inflection over the past week which should have earned him additional Muse’s Reverie. Which would have unlocked that powerful Reverie mode.

And let me preserve this version of you... maybe. Randidly glanced sideways at Devick.

The red-haired woman flinched, almost defensive at his sudden movement. They had simply been standing here for the last ten minutes, as Randidly looked up at the sky and considered. “What? Did you really need to consider for so long? Leave a little girl a bit of mystery! I’m not going to tell you about my Class.”

Randidly blinked, having completely forgotten what they had been talking about. Her Grand Fate had sounded rather impressive, although the word ‘Perdition’ came along with rather unfortunate connotations. A smile quirked the edge of his mouth, amusement cutting through his concern for the next attempt. “You win this round Devick. But don’t let this victory get to your head.”

“If nothing else, I’m very confident of remaining untainted by vanity.” Devick batted her eyelashes at him, earning a full laugh.

A few more bits of the crumpled mental soreness eased out of Randidly’s forehead. The small joy of laughter couldn’t completely make up for the exhaustion he had built up this far, but it was at least a start.

However, he didn’t have much time. “Can you help me? I’d like you to draw a pattern on the ground here.”

He pulled a scroll out of an interspatial ring and held up his right hand. For a few seconds, a bead of Mana burned on the tip of his finger. Then it hopped off onto the scroll and began to spiral outward in gorgeous patterns. Even while the Mana bead finished the drawing, he tossed it Devick’s way.

He flickered out of existence, just as she caught the scroll and opened her mouth to reply. As much as Randidly could use whatever nonsense she would likely throw his way, he also needed to be somewhere else, very soon.

As he streaked across the battlefield, he glanced up at the sky one more time. But this glance caught a new detail; from beyond the limits of the memory, Randidly could feel Aether constructs gathering into a bunch. He bit his lip. The time difference meant he had the advantage, but he definitely needed to hurry if Elhume was trying to make trouble for him.

He was a whisper, moving through the Aether soldiers and Nether warriors. After her time bridging between two Aether Systems, the Songstress of Absence made him practically undetectable as he crossed the battlefield. Of the two threats, Deganawidah only observed his movements and the Prophet was too intent on settling up his circle around the core of the Nether camp to stop his movements.

So with a soft tap, Randidly put his bare foot down against the dirt in the middle of the Nether power and grinned around. “Deganawidah. Enmya. What a pleasant surprise to find you all gathered here.”

Enmya bristled at Randidly’s presence, but Deganawidah just seemed tired. “You truly have no respect for anything, even yourself. Your existence frays, and for what?”

Ignoring that annoyingly accurate comment, Randidly looked past them to the woman with black wicker handcuffs. “Nether Arbiter. I believe it is about time we spoke.”