VARAY AURAE
"So let's get you all past white core," Arthur announces. Across all of our faces, smiles emerge. We've been dissatisfied with our lack of progression for years. We've been discontent about being weaker than Scythes and even retainers since the start of the war. Now the tides will change. "If we're lucky, some of you may even get to the integration stage."
"Is that a stage beyond white core?" Bairon asks.
"It's whenever your body begins to assimilate with the mana itself. Your whole body becomes your core, and you're officially closer to asuras than humans in terms of mana manipulation capabilities," Arthur answers.
All of our ears perk up at the mention of being close in power or skill to even asuras. We've had many run-ins with the asura-blooded soldiers from Alacrya and even been embarrassed by a full-blooded asuran child. If we could begin to hold out against threats like them even when together -but preferably when alone- we could be useful again.
"Ellie will be taking part in this development as well, but she clearly doesn't need to have a limiter removed. I could break them here or do it somewhere less... public. I can't guarantee your cores won't cause another explosion similar to what happens when your core first forms. Take your pick," Arthur informs. He stands up from his seated position on the council table and puts his hands on his hips.
"Mica would prefer not to blow up the council building. Mica's chair is molded to her, and it would be a tragedy for it to be damaged," Mica answers.
"I second that," I chime in.
"Then let's go somewhere else. It'll be easier this way," Arthur mentions while walking behind me and offering his hands to Bairon and Mica. "Varay you'll have to make the contact yourself."
I nervously reach a hand out toward him from my chair and rest it on his shoulder.
"Good luck, you three," Seris says from across the room. Her smile seems confident, but that confidence is unsettling considering her background. Let's just hope it's confidence put in Arthur and not some greater master plan.
In a quick flicker of purple lightning, we three lances land firmly on our butts in the middle of the dense forest.
"We're about a mile south of town. I'll go ahead and start with Mica since she was so enthused," Arthur announces. "Mica, lay down on your back. I can't promise you'll be able to stand up for the whole duration."
Mica does as Arthur orders and lies on her back. A large goofy grin remains plastered across her face as it has been for the past few minutes.
"Try to get comfortable," Arthur mutters before placing his hand on Mica's chest, right above her sternum. "I'll start now."
Arthur closes his eyes as the grin on Mica's face vanishes, only to be replaced by an immensely pained grimace.
"AAAAHHH! IT BURNS, DAMN IT! YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK MY CORE!" Mica roars through a blood-curdling scream. Her limbs begin to flail about as Arthur takes his left hand and waves us both to hold those flailing limbs down.
I do as instructed and kneel at Mica's side and hold down her arms while Arthur kneels on her right leg and Bairon does the same on her left.
Mica's screams don't cease as her voice cracks and tears begin to stream down her face. Her reaction has made this whole process seem more terrifying than rewarding.
"Done," Arthur murmurs as he stands from off of Mica. Bairon and I release her as well. Mica's eyes continue to leak tears as she rolls over onto her side and weeps for a while. Her pained whimpers instill fear into my soul. I've always known Mica as a sturdy and upbeat girl, but here she is doubled over in overwhelming agony from something that's supposed to help her.
Arthur turns to us both with a guilty expression. "Who's going next?"
"I'll do it," Bairon asserts. His eyes are filled with determination despite the gruesome scene we both just witnessed as he stares at Arthur.
"Very well. Go ahead and lay on your back," Arthur orders. Bairon does so and sucks in a huge, deep breath. "Varay, bind his limbs to the ground with ice. It'll be a pain if he starts flailing as Mica did."
"Understood," I answer as I conjure four U-shaped stakes to pin each limb to the ground.
"I'll begin now," Arthur mumbles as he places his hand on Bairon's chest above his mana core. Similar to how Mica did, Bairon's face immediately becomes pained as if someone drove a blade into his ribs and began to twist. His brow begins to sweat as he tries to use his bare strength to rip his limbs free from their restraints. His whole face contorts as he attempts to muffle his own screams but to no avail.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" he screams into the air. His voice echoes throughout the forest as Arthur remains stoic despite the volume.
In what was probably only a minute, Bairon's shouts finally stop as a single tear drips from his left eye. Arthur stands and places his hands in his pockets. His guilty face returns as he glances down at the 'mighty' lance in such a pitiful state.
"It's your turn now, Varay. Are you ready, Lance Zero?" Arthur asks deadpan.
"No need for codenames, but yes. I'm as ready as I can get," I reply as I sit on the peat and let my torso lean back to meet the cold earth.
"Then brace yourself. I don't have anyone to hold you down, so I'm going to need you to hold your composure," Arthur says with a grin.
"That's the thing I'm best at doing. I may be a formidable mage, but I'm even more adept at being aloof," I reply as I stare into his golden eyes.
"Time to start, then," he murmurs as he straddles me. His knees grip my hips to keep them in place as he places his hand on my sternum. He takes a final inhale before closing his eyes.
The sensation resembles how it felt to meditate on my core, but as if I were inviting molten-hot lava into my core instead of the ambient water mana. My core begins to feel as if it's perforated as what I could only assume to be the aether that Arthur can manipulate enters the deepest depths of my being. I can contain myself and resist the thrashing about that Mica and Bairon did for now, but the pain continues to grow by the second.
As I try to keep my gaze on Arthur, my eyes refuse to stay open as they squeeze shut from the overwhelming agony that my body is being subjected to. The intensity of the pain continues to swell. My core feels like it's being shattered and reformed over and over again. I feel like Taci's spear is being stabbed through me over and over again, only for the wound to heal and the process to restart.
After what feels like millennia, but is likely less than a minute, the pain becomes too much. My composure breaks and my suffering is finally vocalized.
"STOP! I'M GOING TO DIE AT THIS RATE!" I shout involuntarily. My whole body quivers and thrashes around as I throw as many limp punches and kicks at Arthur. His face refuses to wane from its intense concentration despite his free arm and purple panels blocking my blows.
Just when I thought my words weren't an exaggeration and I actually was going to die, the pain vanishes without a trace.
My arms fall limply at my side and my legs begin to shake from exhaustion.
Arthur stands from off the top of me and gives me a smirk equally as guilty as he gave the others. "Congratulations, Varay. You can grow beyond white core now."
I want to thank him, but my voice feels raspy and my mouth refuses to move at the command of my brain. I default to using my eyes to convey my intent and he grins genuinely this time -likely at my horrendous failure to convey anything other than disdain through my gaze.
"You should try and show emotion more often. It's funny to watch your brows contort into something resembling an amicable gaze," Arthur teases as he takes a seat between me and Bairon. "I'll wait until Mica can walk before I leave any of you. Once she feels better, I'll leave getting you two back to town to her."
We sit in silence for a few minutes until a groan emanates from where Mica is. The slight rustling of leaves as she rouses from her rest is a sign that she can at least move.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Mica. I take it you can get Bairon and Varay back to town whenever they can move on their own?" Arthur asks.
"Fuck you, Godkiller. If Mica had known how much it would hurt, she wouldn't have gone first," Mica spits. "But yes, Mica will get Varay and Bairon home safe."
"Good. You three rest up," he says before vanishing in a burst of purple lightning.
We can grow now.
--------------------------------
ARTHUR LEYWIN
'Well, now that they're done, time to go back home?" Regis asks as I reappear in the Council meeting room.
"Looks like it," I reply as I scan over the room. By this time, the Glayders, Ellie, and Virion have joined Seris around the table. "You guys look like you're having the time of your lives."
"Well, the lances are late. I'd put a lot of money on the thought that you're responsible for that," Ellie remarks.
"You'd be right about that. Give them maybe an hour. For now... I don't know... get better acquainted with Seris?" I suggest as Regis saunters over to me and merges with my body.
"I'm not that interesting, Arthur," Seris chimes in while giving me a death stare.
"Maybe, but that's about all you've got. For now, I've got suggestions on the split for the spoils. Dragoth's go to Varay, Kiros' remaining one to Mica, and one of Oraleth's for each of Bairon and Ellie," I order. At my cue, Seris summons an obsidian horn and hands it to Ellie.
"Take that. Meditate on it. One point of advice, however. Keep your thoughts amiable while you meditate. Malevolent thoughts can expose you to the evil that resides within it," Seris advises. Ellie's head cocks ever-so-slightly to the side as she inspects the horn in her hands.
"Um, okay. Noted," she mutters to herself.
"If there's nothing else to discuss," I say as I walk behind Virion's chair and place my hands on his shoulders, beginning to massage them. "I'll go ahead and head out."
Before I leave, I lean my head next to Virion's ear and whisper, "I'm working on getting her back. I'm close. You don't have to wait much longer."
At my last word, I vanish, reappearing in my and Cecilia's room in my mother's cabin.
"Oh!" Cecilia yelps, "You scared me."
"Sorry about that. I had some business to take care of in town," I apologize as I take a seat next to her on the bed.
She turns to me as she brushes her hair and smiles. "Well welcome back. Once I'm done, I'll reconstruct your core."
"No rush. We've got time. For now, I'm going to go back into town. I'll only be a minute or two," I reply.
"Works for me. I should be done by then," she says as she turns back to the mirror.
I tousle her hair a little, intentionally messing it up a bit, before God Stepping back into town. The last thing I saw was Cecilia's extremely annoyed face as she tries to throw her brush at me.
I appear in front of the same breakfast vendor I visited this morning. It's been a while since Cecilia, or I guess Tess, had a traditional elven breakfast she used to love back in Zestier. Cecilia may not appreciate it very much, but the Tessia inside her should be ecstatic.
"Welcome back, Mr. Leywin. What can I get for you?" the vendor asks as I duck under the awning.
"I'd like another sweet one. Load it up. It's a gift," I answer with a smirk.
"Coming right up!" he shouts before turning around and opening up a few different jars of jams and jellies. I watch as he lathers three variegated jellies and jams on the 'crepe' before he rolls it into a cone and places it within the wrapper. "I can assume who it's for, so I used all of her favorites. I never got the pleasure to serve her, but word got around among us vendors."
"Thank you very much, Mr...?" I trail off.
"Kryssel. The name's Kryssel," he answers.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Kryssel. Here you go. Keep the change," I reply as I slide a silver piece on the counter.
"This is enough for five of them, Mr. Leywin. I can't possibly take this," he pleads, but I only smile at him before vanishing once more, reappearing in the kitchen of my mother's cabin.
"Ah!" my mother shouts as she drops a pan she just finished scrubbing clean. "For heaven's sake, Arthur! You scared the life out of me!"
"Sorry, Mom. I couldn't appear in there. I've got a present," I whisper to her. She nods in acknowledgment and grins at the sight of me doing a kind gesture seemingly out of the blue.
At that moment, the door to our room opens and Cecilia pokes her head out. "Are you okay in there?"
"I'm fine, Cecilia. Arthur just scared me," my mother answers.
Cecilia trots into the room in traditional elven garb. The seafoam green of the cloth matches her runic tattoos along her arms that glow through the thin yet long sleeves.
This:
"You should know better than to scare your mother," Cecilia scolds. Her face curls into a smirk as she walks all the way up to me. "Bad boy!" She pokes my nose with her finger as she continues the charade of a superior scolding a subordinate.
"Well. here's penance," I reply as I hold up the sweet, crepe-like breakfast treat.
"What's this?" she asks.
"It's breakfast. It's not nutritional at all, but it'll sate your cravings," I answer. She takes the treat from my hands and examines it curiously.
"This isn't poisoned or something is it?" she asks.
"Is it impossible for me to do something out of the kindness of my heart?" I ask in response.
"I'd say so, yes," Cecilia answers with an affirmative nod.
'Hah! You get no brownie points, you heartless bastard. Take your gloomy and unlovable ass back to the room and cope,' Regis taunts.
My expression goes blank as I thousand-yard stare through Cecilia and contemplate the actions I've taken that led to this perception of me.
'Maybe it was the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Alacryans just to make Agrona bend the knee?' Regis butts in again.
I've had enough of your shit, mutt.
"Noted... Now eat up. I want to get this all over with," I grumble as I sit in front of the porch window. I can see Elijah still meditating on the other side.
At least he's working hard.
'A man has to do something to keep his pride intact.' Regis comments.
Consider it motivation.
'Motivation, my ass. You just flexed your insight into mana manipulation and ruined his morning,' he remarks.
Maybe.
I watch Cecilia absolutely lap up her breakfast as she intermittently licks the excess off of her fingers. The expression of absolute delight on her face makes all of her teasing worth it.
Once she finishes, she conjures a small orb of water and uses it to clean her hands before cracking her knuckles. "Alright, grumpy. Let's get you a fresh new mana core."
I groan as I stand and walk to the door, opening it and gesturing for Cecilia to exit first.
"Why thank you, my knight," she teases as she exits and gives a royal-style wave. "Thank you too, my subjects."
"What did I do to deserve this?" I grumble under my breath as we walk down the steps and toward the river.
When we get to the riverbank, Cecilia conjures a few flat stones and skips them to the opposite side.
"You got some practice?" I ask, genuinely surprised at how well she can skip rocks now.
"A little. I'd be lying if I said I didn't just use a little wind spell to make sure they'd make it to the other bank," she admits.
"You little witch. Just fix me up, doc. I'm tired of being an unad or whatever Alacrya calls them," I complain as I sit along the stream.
"Can do. Just sit there in a meditative position. Elijah had a lot of pain, but you're much less of a wimp than him, so I think you'll be fine. I'll get started now," she explains as she sits behind me. She places her hands on my shoulder blades and begins to breathe rhythmically.
I feel the ambient mana sink into my chest and begin to ossify. The mana begins to take material form as it compacts within my chest. As my chest begins to metaphorically swell, I can feel the aether attempting to reject the formation of a new mana core.
Oh no you don't.
I will every ounce of aether within my core out of it. The aether now largely resides in my hands. I can feel the intense strain of the immense amount of aether breaking the bones in my hands and reforming them continuously. As I concentrate on keeping the aether as far away from my sternum as possible, I feel the mana finally moving unabated through my body.
Time begins to pass. Seconds become minutes and minutes become hours. It's only after I feel Cecilia's hands begin to quiver as she rests them on my back that I take notice of just how long it's been.
'By my estimation, it's been around 4 hours. She's not looking so hot, but I think she's going to power through it. I think she's almost done,' Regis informs.
I hadn't noticed how much strain she has been taking due to me consistently concentrating on keeping the fresh aether that is being passively absorbed into my core away from my chest.
"You okay back there, Cecilia?" I ask worriedly.
"I'll make it. Yours is taking a gross amount longer than I expected. I'd guess it has something to do with the aether core and the Djinn blood. Give me a little while longer. It should only be another 10 or so minutes," she answers.
"Okay. Don't strain yourself too much, Cecil. Losing you isn't worth getting my mana core back," I reply.
"Love you too, Arthur," she quips as she reenters her meditative state.
Keep an eye on her for me, will you?
'Aye, princess,' Regis replies.
For the next few minutes, I feel the abhorrent amount of mana within my chest coalesce into a solid tangible sphere within the recesses of my aether core.
At that exact moment, the whole world ripples from a resounding shockwave produced by the renewal of my mana core. Cecilia is blown dozens of feet from me in the aftermath, but thankfully Regis leaped from me and managed to catch her before any harm came to her.
I'm currently sitting in a 12-foot-wide crater. Water from the river is already beginning to fill the hole from the small entry points that are now present.
"Holy shit, Cecilia! Are you okay?" I shout as I sprint over to her. Her form is slumped over Regis' back as he supports her head and neck from tilting to the side.
She doesn't answer my question and I begin to panic.
Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Regis, what the fuck do I do?
'Relax, princess. She's breathing. I can feel it. Just take her back home and lay her down. Summon some cold water and wet a rag -since you can do that now- and sit by her side,' he replies calmly.
His words coupled with the truth behind his last statement are what I really needed to calm down.
"You're right. Whew. I'll do that," I say as I lean down and pick Cecilia up in a bridal carry.
I walk with Regis at my side for a minute or so until we reach my mother's cabin.
"Would you get the door, Regis?" I ask.
"Dude, just teleport," he replies.
Touche.
I God Step into our room and lay Cecilia down on the bed. I leave her uncovered and pull a rag from my dimension rune.
Moment of truth, Regis.
I take a look into my sternum and find no core.
Huh?
"Where is it?" I say aloud.
"Don't ask me. I can't sense mana," Regis replies as he curls up at my feet.
I take myself back to my younger years and try to will an orb of water at my finger. To my shock, one appears. Hovering just above my index finger, a little droplet serves as a testament that it fucking worked.
"HAH! IT WORKED!" I shout and jump up and down like a giddy child.
"Settle down, princess. You made a raindrop. It's a far cry from what you used to do," Regis grumbles.
I squat down and come face to face with Regis. "Regret your words," I whisper as I freeze his whole snout in a solid block of ice.
'Fuck you,' he says mentally due to his now physical incapability.
I conjure an earthen chair so I can sit at Cecilia's bedside and produce some cold water with a water and ice spell. I toss the rag into the hovering blob of cold water as it saturates and darkens in color. I reach out and grab the rag before wringing it out over Regis' dumb fucking head.
'You're testing my patience, effeminate one,' he grumbles.
Sure, Mr. Mighty Weapon Forged by the Asuras. I'll take that into consideration.
I sit on the newly formed chair and fold the rag before setting it on Cecilia's forehead.
Now we wait.
I sit for just shy of two hours before Cecilia finally wakes up. During that time, I did a little bit of introspection and realized why I can't sense my core. That's because I don't have one. I'm at the same stage as the asuras are. My body IS mana. I'm even beyond the Integration stage. I guess I have to credit my Djinn blood and the Relictombs for this, though it would also make sense if the aether core had something to do with it too.
When Cecilia does wake up, she just groans and turns her head to find me, patiently waiting for and observing her.
"Evening, Sunshine. You passed out after you fixed my core. Well, I say passed out... more like I knocked you out because an explosion happened similar to when your core first forms. This one was just more powerful," I recount.
"Glad to be of service," she says with a chuckle. I chuckle alongside her as I sit up and take the rag from her head, cool it back down, and place it back on her forehead.
From this position, I'm right over her head and staring down at her gorgeous emerald eyes. Before I even had the time to think I lean in and give a quick peck on her lips. Her eyes don't widen as I expected but instead narrow in satisfaction.
"Thanks, Cecilia. You've made me incredibly happy."