T. A. Star
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48 - The World Awaits
🕑 Added 2024-07-25 00:00:05 +0000 UTC
“I did not know he would be put into a stasis like that,” the small goddess said slowly and deliberately, “I was working off the assumption that as long as the ritual itself was of the correct Caste, then it would cause a link similar to what I have seen another Soul Reaper do to a Caster within the world.”
“I’m guessing you believed that they didn’t use a lower Caste ritualist simply because of the threat of death?” Everin asked.
“I knew that we’d have enough to cover the cost of the ritual with the Bits you had on hand, but channeling that much higher Caste magic through a body without enough other people to help distribute it is usually a death sentence. Phoenix just happened to be able to cheat it a bit.”
“So the stasis part was unexpected due to nobody sacrificing themselves to cage someone before,” Phoenix summarized, then muttered, “Guess it kind of defeats the purpose of the cage in the first place if the cager dies.”
“I believed your talent gave us the chance to succeed where others would have failed. I was both right and wrong,” Scholar admitted and despite her childlike appearance, Phoenix was grateful that the goddess wasn’t acting childish about this.
“So what about the other effects of the Soul Cage? You said it wouldn’t turn him into a mindless monster, but I’ve reread those effects multiple times, and it definitely seems to have a mindless effect with me taking over,” she noted, bringing up her book once more to look at Paul’s talent again.
Natural Talent: Caged by Caste
Deviated from [Special Attack Disposition] due to extreme soul manipulation.
Your body has been Caged to your soul, greatly increasing your attributes.
Your soul has been Caged to your mind, greatly weakening your willpower.
Your mind has been overtaken by Phoenix Wayland, granting them dominion over it.
Your body, soul, and mind are severely out of alignment due to Caste imbalance; until corrected, you will enter a state of regenerative stasis.
The effects of this cannot be shared.
“It doesn’t completely rob him of his sanity,” the deity clarified, “It makes your orders a compulsion, but he is still himself otherwise. He would retain his memories and personality and everything else, but… he will never be able to fight against you.”
Phoenix stared at her, slightly horrified by the fact that Paul would be forced to obey her.
“Why would you think that was something any one of us would want?” Dazien asked incredulously, “I know I talk about being a king someday, but even I wouldn’t go so far as to strip someone of their free will. I want people to choose to follow me, not be slaves.”
“Would you rather he be dead? We were limited in both time and resources. I offered the less permanent option available.”
“So there is a way to reverse it?” Phoenix asked hopefully.
The goddess looked a bit more hesitant at that, “I believe there is, but I haven’t learned how yet. The Soul Reapers are… crafty. They mostly stay outside of my and the other deities’ area of influence so I can’t see the whole picture of their plans. From what I have gleaned from the thoughts of those who reach the planet’s surface, they don’t seem concerned about the souls of those they cage keeping the effects forever.”
“Could be they just don’t care about who they cage,” Everin retorted, “They seem to care little about killing everyone.”
Scholar hesitated again before admitting, “I believe they do care in certain cases. It only happened once within my influence but that’s how I learned the whole ritual that isn’t just for enslaving monsters.”
“What’s so special about these cases? And why isn’t it used on monsters?” Dazien asked.
“Are you talking about what caused my own Natural Talent? The one that pairs with Paul’s?” Phoenix asked, bringing up her talent for the others to see again too.
Natural Talent: Lodestar
Deviated from [Beacon of Hope] due to becoming soul entwined.
Your soul has become entwined with Paul Wayland, one of your Kindred Spirits.
Your soul will always recognize Paul Wayland’s soul as a Kindred Spirit.
You share Natural Talents with your Kindred Spirit.
You have a telepathic link with your Kindred Spirit with the range based on the highest Caste.
When within your Kindred Spirit’s aura, you have increased Magic.
When there is a Caste difference between you and your Kindred Spirit, the one with the lower Caste has an increased cultivation rate based on the difference.
“What’s a Kindred Spirit?” Everin asked, reading over the information.
“They’re souls that are connected to one another –belong together– seemingly across realities according to the Soul Reapers’ beliefs. I’ve seen it happen more naturally in the past but I didn’t know a ritual existed to solidify the bond early like they introduced,” Scholar explained.
“I’m guessing since monsters don’t have actual souls, they can’t have this part of it,” Dazien said, also focused on the text.
The goddess nodded in confirmation, and Phoenix asked, “Wait, if they’re connected across realities, does that mean Paul was already one of mine before this ritual?”
“Yes,” the deity replied, then actually looked embarrassed as she added, “However, that was another risk I had to take. I wasn’t positive if Paul was actually connected to you on a soul level like that, and the other deities didn’t know either or wouldn’t tell me.”
“What other gods would know something that you don’t?” Phoenix asked in confusion, “You know everything that has happened here.”
“Exactly; ‘Has’ being the key word there,” Scholar said with a bit of frustration, “I can’t learn what the other deities know, I only learn what mortals learn, and the others can sense things that I can’t. The Lover is usually the one that can detect these types of soul bonds, sometimes the Parent, but we’re also missing some deities, in my opinion.
“It can take thousands upon thousands of years for a deity to naturally manifest in the world,” Scholar explained, “We don’t have a god of friendship, for instance, which is who I believe would be better at detecting these. It appears that the Soul Reapers have a way of detecting them, though.”
“Wait, are you saying that a Soul Reaper found their own Kindred Spirit here in this world?” Dazien asked with wide-eyed surprise, “I thought they were just killing everyone for resources.”
“No, their goal has always been the souls, from what I’ve learned. I still don’t have the full picture, though, since the souls they reap are being taken beyond my influence. However, after seeing that ritual, I believe Kindred Spirits are connected to this.
“The only instance I observed this ritual being done was in a moment of desperation and fear. The Ruby Caste Soul Reaper woman in question was scouting a Reality Rift location alone and found her Kindred Spirit dying after the rest of his party had already been wiped out fighting a monster. The scout was in much the same position you were in,” Scholar explained, nodding towards the Wayfarer.
“Too far from a capable healer, the only suitable resource on hand being the Cages she carried should she come upon a monster. One of the items she carried… it could detect compatibility between souls, but I don’t know how it worked; the materials themselves are foreign to this world,” the goddess said forlornly.
“She saved his life. Instead of a regenerative stasis, the Soul Cage did a complete restoration effect on the Ruby Caster’s body. He awoke fully himself and she said that she would take him back to her people to explain more and get the cage removed, so I think it is possible.”
“Are you sure this is a secret you should be telling us?” Phoenix asked with a raised brow. This information about the Soul Reapers goals seemed to be important but maybe it didn’t actually matter that much to their current situation.
“None of the deities –aside from the Purifier– are exactly happy to have interdimensional invaders abducting souls en mass from our influence. Even the ones most of the world considers ‘evil’ aren’t very pleased by this sudden turn of events. Confidant isn’t trying to protect their secrets, which isn’t even a secret among them.”
“So why can’t you tell us about the blackouts?” Everin grumbled.
“While it may seem related–” the goddess suddenly stopped speaking, getting a slightly annoyed look on her face before saying carefully, “There are other factors at play.”
Phoenix realized they shouldn’t push further on that and backtracked slightly, “So they have some way to detect who their Kindred Spirits are and actually care about them. Considering Paul is one of mine, I can understand that much, at least. You said you weren’t sure, though –that it was a risk. What would have happened if he wasn’t?”
Scholar gave a sigh, “The ritual would have failed, and both of you would have likely died. Considering Paul was already dead and you could come back, that seemed a more minor risk.”
“Fair enough, I guess,” Phoenix grumbled, then looked at her hands thoughtfully before gathering her nerves and saying, “I have one last question. I don’t really like suggesting this, but… with the soul-entwining talents both Paul and I got, it lets us share our Natural Talents with each other. Does that mean… if we kill Paul, will he come back like I do?”
Both Everin and Dazien tensed at that and she could feel their stares on her as she added, “I just wonder if that’s a way to get rid of the cage on his soul. We’ve killed Caged monsters, so we know they can die. But would the cage override my [Waypoint] or would [Waypoint] override the cage and break it, thus freeing Paul?”
Scholar gave her a sad smile, “I don’t know. You haven’t died while Caged before,” then pointedly added, “That’s not a risk I’d be willing to take to find out, though.”
Kara was slightly annoyed to discover that Phoenix had been meeting with Scholar without her as she arrived back in Tulimeir having taken care of some Emerald monsters along the southeastern borders and nearer the World Tree. She had been spending most of her time split between guarding the various fortress cities with Veldrix –one of them always being available in the more populous capital– and going out on these higher Caste hunting missions to hopefully reduce the loss of even more lives.
With more and more Emerald Casters becoming available as the Sapphires that survived the war had ascended and a few reinforcements that had been relocated by the Fae, Kara was expecting to handle less of the monsters now. Instead, she expected to be relegated to a more supervisory capacity, making sure those who did challenge themselves didn’t actually die in the process.
She had just returned from observing one such newly formed party and was pleased that she hadn’t been needed. Perhaps the tundra wouldn’t be completely helpless as the monsters got stronger, and she would eventually need to leave.
“Oh, Paladin Fairweather,” Dazien greeted as the trio left the Scholar’s Temple, and the gemite noticed her waiting near the door, “We didn’t expect to see you here. Is something wrong?”
“No, not really,” she replied with a smile, “Just checking on my main priority.”
Phoenix rolled her eyes, “You know you don’t need to worry about me like that. I fight monsters, it’s not like I’m going to trip and die in the city.”
“Glad to see the snark hasn’t died either,” the golden voxen chuckled, “Well, since you seem fine, I’m gonna steal your colorful little friend here,” she informed, linking an arm with Everin.
“Is he in trouble?” the Wayfarer asked with a grin, “Did he insult your abilities too?”
“I was not trying to insult them,” the Avatar retorted, “I was just explaining what they seemed like to people who don’t get a magical book to explain what they’re supposed to be.”
“You called Tala a chicken!”
Kara snorted a laugh, “He’s not in trouble. Just want to have a chat about a few things. I’ll try to make sure he returns in one piece.”
“‘Try’?” Everin repeated with narrowed eyes at her.
She shrugged, “I can’t promise you won’t deserve missing a limb or something.”
To the Avatar’s obvious dismay, Phoenix and Dazien laughed and turned to be on their way as the Astromancer waved over her shoulder, saying, “Have fun and try not to deserve it, Everin.”
Then she proceeded to drag the Emerald Caster to her own goddess’ temple. Leading him up to the empty inner sanctuary as she sat him down on the floor before sitting herself across from him.
“Should I be afraid to ask why you brought me here?” the rainbow voxen carefully asked, “Someone like me doesn’t normally gain access to another god’s most sacred of places.”
“It’s the only place Champion can whisper to me at the moment,” she admitted, hoping the offer of information would make him more open to sharing in return.
His eyes opened wide at the omission as he asked, “It cost her that much?”
“I don’t think she’s the only deity who has spent too much power during this war in an attempt to save our future,” the Paladin pointed out, “We’re in a tiny corner of the world. While some incredible events are happening around Phoenix, you know as well as I do that there is a great big world beyond the tundra that has been fighting for years now against the Renseres before the Soul Reapers even showed up.”
“I know that. Though, I was a bit preoccupied with other wars myself,” the younger voxen admitted, “It’s the only reason I ended up over here in the first place.”
“So Rebel did send you?” Kara pointedly asked, “Just like I was?”
“Not exactly,” the man hesitantly replied, “My quest is simply to watch over the Wayfarer and her party until her own quest is over. I know you’re aware of her quest and that you know where I’m from with the way you reacted when we were talking with Duke Tul and Knight Thevaris.”
“I may have done some digging,” she admitted, “And Champion mentioned a few things to assuage my own doubts about leaving the place I did to interfere here instead.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask where you came from after you mentioned that you were the closest Paladin of the Champion to respond.”
“I was helping to defend the Republic of Kinarg’s eastern border; it rises to Obsidian Caste beyond that border during a blood moon. There were a couple of other Obsidian Casters with me, so I didn’t leave them completely defenseless, but it will be harder on them.”
She leaned back slightly, taking in the colorful appearance of the Avatar before asking pointedly, “Did leaving Tyrand suddenly like you did hurt your cause there? Were you hoping to quickly abscond with Phoenix back to that island to continue fighting with a new pawn?”
He scowled at her, “I already told you my quest. I’m not planning to steal her.”
“It’s hard for me to believe that, given some of the stories I’ve heard about that nation,” she replied, “An entire kingdom held prisoner, cut off from the rest of the world. Why wait to take their new savior there?”
“You know she’s not strong enough, and it’s not as simple as you make it sound. Her just showing up and saying, ‘I’m here to save you,’ isn’t going to magically fix things. Honestly, I’m not sure why Hero and Rebel gave the quest they did or why my goddess sent me…” the Avatar said, trailing off sadly before adding, “But I’m glad she did.”
After a few moments of thoughtful silence, Everin glanced back up at her, “The rebellion there was running on fumes when I left. All of our efforts paused because of this blood moon as survival became the new priority. I wasn’t the strongest among them, though. I was simply near the peak of Sapphire, and many in the Regent’s army are Ruby Caste.”
“So you were sent simply to watch?” she asked with disbelief.
“I assumed Rebel wanted me near in case she needed me to interfere for some reason. Phoenix isn’t the only one with a quest to help Tyrand but she’s probably one of the few who actually has a chance of succeeding where others keep failing.
“I find it odd, actually,” the Avatar said with a sigh, “It’s like the world is waiting for her to get strong enough to save it.”
“The world awaits no one,” Kara stated firmly, “Events keep happening whether she’s ready for them or not. This war is proof of that. She’s not strong enough to fight the Soul Reapers, yet they are the enemy she is being forced to face.”
Everin gave a small smirk, “That’s why the world sent you, Paladin of the Champion.”
