RuggyRuggy

  “So… Yep. I’m not a singi anymore. Vixarian… Vixarian… Vix-ar-i-an...” Momo blinked as she repeated that word. She stared at her tail. I watched my friend chase it as she darted around the fountain. “Ahh-- Hehe, guess there are some things I just can’t shake.” Momo touched her heart. “That woman inside me. She was the st vixarian, huh? No, I guess I’m the st one. I wish I could see her one st time. I can feel her... Her warm, comforting presence, but... I dunno...if I can do her justice...”

  “I’m sure you will,” said Itarr. Verta remained close, but there was a definite gap between them. “She loved you, and I know she’s happy knowing you’re safe. Once I have my original power... I can bring her back. Is that right, Verta?”

  “Ahh--” Verta was broken from her thoughts. “Y--yes, Itarr. That’s correct. The Akashic Record is all-powerful. It is the cornerstone of [Reality Warping],” said the goddess while I texted Albert and Fisher the good news. They told Nimyra before showing up in the ring.

  “What happened to you? When Tobris put you to sleep?” I asked. We listened as Momo recanted what she faced. “It backfired. If he wanted to break me... It didn’t work. I won’t cim to be the most confident fox in the yard, but I...do feel good. Maybe it’s because I know I must do her proud.”

  “That bastard...” I growled. Tobris was a dead son of a bitch. If nothing else, that was my new goal—to get strong enough to take his ass out.

  “What exactly is a vixarian?” inquired Momo. She sat on the fountain and looked at her phone. “I have a Skill Path reted to this little guy.” Her mirror manifested and sat on her p like an animal. The thing was animated. “I can cast without speaking, too. Servy said she didn’t have a guide for her skills. It’s the same for me. I’m so lost I don’t even know where to start.”

  “A vixarian, Momo, is the final evolution of a singi,” said Verta. Her voice began weak, but she found resolve? Or maybe conviction? “It’s like my brother said. You are the st vixarian. They're a proud people. The mirror is their shining trait.”

  “This thing?” Momo gently cradled her mirror to her chest.

  “Yes. Vixarians are masters at maniputing their energy. Every vixarian, upon the day of their birth, automatically acquires the power to summon their mirror.”

  “Can I only have one? The vixarian inside of me had a beautiful mirror, but it feels like it could’ve split apart.”

  “Indeed, you can. A vixarian is given one for each tail,” Verta said, turning this into a lecture. Momo, Itarr, and I patiently listened while sitting on the fountain’s edge. “Tail acquisition cannot be learned by spending SP. It can only come from the vixarian’s inner strength.”

  “Tobris said many worlds, so does that mean...”

  “Yes. There are different worlds. Some realities use a system like the [Warden Skill System]. Others possess differing paths of power, such as acquiring a form of invisible growth called experience points to advance in level. Some have neither.”

  Okay, that confirms it... There are different worlds, so... No. I don’t want to ask. Not now.

  “Why can I use spells from the [Warden Skill System?] I drank Servy’s blood, so shouldn’t I be on Itarr’s system?”

  “That’s incorrect, my dear. Ingesting the blood grants a ring and [True Immortality]. If it helps... Think of your power as a link... Perhaps you can call it the [Vixarian Skill System] since it hooks into the [Warden Skill System] and enhances them. Only a vixarian may learn skills like [Mirror Fsh] and [Mirror Parry].”

  “How do I learn those?”

  “Self-experience, Momo. It is something you must acquire through dedicated hard work. The path of mastering the mirror is not easy. More skills will become avaible as you increase your mastery. The power you believe it harbors does not come close to what it can truly do.”

  “Whoa... I guess we’re in it for the long haul, huh?” Momo smiled at her mirror. “Grampy was a Spelldancer. I’ve always wanted to surpass him… He was amazing… The most powerful man I knew. I thought my dream was just a dream, but with this power? I… I wish he could see me. I really do.”

  His soul and body were long gone, but Itarr said if the Akashic Record could restore her to power and bring back the vixarian, couldn’t it revive someone from total death?

  “Not just him. But the children who died in the mountain range. Merka, too... I...could do so much good... Right?” Verta nodded, citing that the Akashic Record held all records of everything in every universe. Information was constantly being added to it with every passing nanosecond.

  Speaking of the children... Momo suddenly had an idea to name the orphanage after Merka's sibling, Oskar. We had pns to petition the duchess in the morning. I still had the gems I’d stolen from Viridian. I’d have to expin where I’d gotten them, but I could always add another lie.

  Or I was sure Nimyra wouldn’t mind paying for me. She knew I was trustworthy for it. I just needed a pce to liquidate my assets into a usable form.

  “What are we going to do?” Momo asked the pressing question. “The orphanage is almost done, so... What about Tobris?”

  “Are you going to fight?”

  “Yeah,” I answered, looking Verta in the eyes.

  “I need to get my power back. I must right these wrongs,” said my goddess. “Truthfully? I want to head there right away, but that’s foolhardy. I have no idea how to win. I don’t even know where to start.”

  “We’re on house arrest,” I added. “There’s Srassa and Cire. We need to find Saline and Cue, too.” Verta and Carrie were lost, so we caught her up to speed.

  “The end goal is in mind?” I nodded at Albert. “Then work your way backward. Start with where you wish to end and create a trail to where you are now while dictating what you want to accomplish. It may seem complex, but it really isn’t.”

  Albert was right. Our primary destination was the Divine Principality of Tobris—a location set in stone. I knew we’d find that bastard there. If not that, then somewhere to get to him. But we had to get stronger.

  How do you fight a god? A god who maniputed my words and emotions? One that killed me so easily...

  Fisher didn’t ask to become immortal, so why force him to fight? This wasn't his battle. That conversation could come ter—when we were alone. I didn't want to have it out in the open.

  What would Verta and Carrie do, though?

  That was the concern. We discussed it around the fountain when Verta said something I didn't anticipate.

  “You want to merge your soul with mine?” I asked, making sure I heard her right.

  “Yes,” replied Verta. Her rainbow-colored eyes were determined as she held Carrie’s hand. “It has been my goal to become one with Itarr.”

  “What about you?” I eyed the nun.

  “I will lose my immortality,” she answered. “I am prepared for that. My life hasn’t been mine for at least a decade. I was saved for this purpose. Verta, I’m so happy for you.” Emotions poured down Carrie’s face. There was a story, but I didn’t press her for details. Momo grabbed my hand, delicately squeezing it like a priceless gem.

  “Okay. How will we make this happen?”

  “The same way you spliced your soul with Itarr. You must eat my godly essence.”

  The nun trembled. She said she was prepared, but she wasn’t ready. She refused to let go of Verta and cried. Her goddess shed simir tears.

  Did it…have to end this way?

  I had an idea spewing around my mind. Itarr confirmed that it would take a few minutes to splice our souls. Carrie would be kicked out to her body upon completion. She still didn’t know what factors determined if you were pced in [Outer Circle] or [Pantheon]. There was no guarantee Carrie would receive a ring if she drank my blood.

  There’s only one way to find out.

  Verta raised her arms. Her skin fked like gss, revealing her pastel-colored soul. I approached...grasping a fistful of ‘her.’ I stared at Verta’s barest form before...putting a piece in my mouth.

  She tastes like sunshine-infused rainbows…

  I saw Carrie reach out before she pulled her hand in. She scrunched her face. A poor attempt to act bravely followed, but the nun couldn’t hold back the dam building behind her eyes. Itarr was there. So was Momo. Those two held the girl’s hands while she cried one st sorrow for the Goddess of Family and Love.

  Soon, the deed was done. I wiped my lips as a faint warmth radiated from my stomach.

  Suddenly, the ground tumbled. An earthquake shattered the isnd, carving a sharp crevice through the rampaging blood ocean.

  The entire world just…

  Shattered.

  It wasn’t like what happened when Momo and I connected our souls. It was...much more intense. Was it because Verta was a goddess?

  “AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” We screamed as we fell. I pulled Momo close, who was still connected to Itarr and Verta. Soon, the four of us hugged tightly.

  All I saw was darkness…

  Pure, unadulterated void. Bckness as far as you could perceive it.

  It felt coldly chilly. Then warmly inviting.

  “Do you feel that?!” I shouted.

  Carrie’s hood flew back. “VERTA?!”

  Suddenly, a voice belonging to that pastel-colored goddess radiated around us.

  “Do not be afraid. The process will end soon. Our souls are currently splicing together. Ah, there. Do you see it? It has finished.”

  The infinite nothingness below vanished, giving rise to Itarr’s never-ending tower!

  Scores of mountains seem to stretch for thousands of miles.

  Momo’s isnd was like a spiraling paradise to the far west. The nd to the west must’ve been Verta’s pleasant, tranquil soul. I even spotted a lovely little cabin surrounded by fields of colorful flowers!

  There were isnds to the north and south—Itarr’s ‘initial soul world’ stood in the middle like a cornerstone.

  Spoiler

  [colpse]The bridges linking them weren’t there, but that would come in time. The process still hadn’t finished.

  It wasn’t night, either. It was dawn. Radiant flower patches surrounded that fountain, which had changed location. It took a second for the water to turn bloody.

  We approached at terminal velocity, but our speed slowed to a crawl as we were gently let down.

  Verta appeared in a fsh of warm light, looking the same. Except she had a ring. A phone manifested a second ter. “My soul world represents my status as a Goddess of Family and Love. It has definition and purpose, but also a definitive end. Yours, Itarr, reflects the nothingness everything began as. It’s truly infinite. The blood in the ocean and fountain are the building blocks of life.”

  “What about mine?" asked Momo

  “Cherishment and hope for the future. Vixarians always strived for a better tomorrow.”

  “I can feel you in my soul,” I said, touching my chest. “It differs from the ring bearers. But Carrie…”

  “Yes? What— Why are you cutting yourself?!” Her tears dried in a hurry. Sadness turned to worry as she wrestled the weapon away from me. “Being immortal doesn’t mean you can’t feel pain!”

  “It almost does when you’ve died a few hundred times. This is going to sound weird, but I need you to lick my blood.”

  “...” She stared at the knife. “You wouldn’t ask me to do this without a good reason, would you?”

  “I wouldn’t. Do you trust me?”

  “I do,” she honestly replied.

  “I can’t promise anything since the specifics are still unknown, but... You can still remain connected with Verta if this works.”

  She nodded, bringing the bde to her tongue.

  Itarr’s motherly crimson glow enveloped the nun. Energy swirled around her, causing her hair to dance and scatter. We watched with awe as Carrie described her euphoria.

  The event ended. The mystic dissipated. Right there, on her finger...sat a ring. A phone spawned out of nowhere a moment ter.

  “You can call us with that,” I said, smiling like the sun. “The tablets are linked like the rings. I’m...gd you have one. I was afraid you wouldn’t get one.” Verta refrained from speaking. She probably knew the answer, but whatever Tobris did prevented her from telling. Just another bullshit move made by that bastard.

  “Anyways,” I turned to Carrie. “We’re friends now. No, I’d say we’re something more than that.” The ring was proof. Another immortal walked amongst the nd—no. She had a goddess inside her soul, so she was immortal before she met us. I merely ensured she remained one.

  “Yes… We are…” The nun shook my hand before holding her phone to her chest. She tenderly rubbed the ring’s polished surface.

  Just like that…

  Things were going well.

  Not the best.

  But good enough.

  How long will this st?

  It was far past midnight when we returned to our bodies.

  “It’s too te to go home,” Nimyra said. She was waiting in our room, reading a book. Percival was asleep on the couch in the living room. He had been offered one of the many bedrooms, but the bodyguard had said he slept better in the open.

  Carrie thanked Nimyra, wished us sweet dreams, and followed the Drow Elf to her room. Nimyra’s sharp eyes saw the ring—She knew what it meant. Carrie also learned to hide it within her body. It didn’t matter if it was worn—just having it ‘assigned’ to your soul enabled you to use its abilities. Still, we didn’t need curious onlookers to ask questions that didn’t need to be asked. That would complicate things, which we didn’t need.

  Especially not now.

  “If that's all," Fisher began to say. ”I'll take my leave. I feel like walking around town.”

  “I’d like to join you if you’d have me,” asked Albert.

  Fisher nodded. “I see no reason to decline.”

  “Take care, okay? Give us a ring if you need anything.” Momo raised her mirror, which she used as a table for her phone.

  *****

  *****

  “How long will you lie to yourself?” The butler’s words were sharp and coarse, but he didn’t mean any harm. Fisher had been aimlessly walking around Canary for two hours without any destination. Usually, he would’ve headed for the homestead, but the foreman almost begged Fisher to take a break since he had unhealthily devoted himself to the orphanage’s construction. He was thankful for the help, but the dwarf didn’t want the project to consume Fisher.

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “Even a blind man could spot the tension, my friend. You’ve been trying to avoid Momo. You must make peace with your heart before you can find forgiveness.”

  “Can you bme me? I... It’s not easy. I look at Momo, and... I see...”

  “Confront them, Finn. Or this will eat at you like a ravenous monster.” Albert sent a text.

  Enter the soul world, find Momo, and get it off your chest. It will be uncomfortable, but that is unavoidable.

  Fisher knew that. Of course, he knew that, but it wasn’t easy. Then again, nothing about his life was easy since Fisher lived with those nightmares for years. This immortal life didn’t mean he was free from them. Nightmares couldn’t assault his mind if he never slept, but...

  Fisher pondered in deep thought for a moment before changing direction. This time? He had a destination. It was a park often visited by the nobles and their family. Fisher and Albert looked the part. The guards knew the two from their work at the orphanage, so no one stopped them.

  The tortured soul sat on the bench, closed his eyes, and sent his soul into his ring. Servi’s soul world came into view. He looked eastward, spotting his target.

  “Hmm? Fisher? What’s up? Momo skipped away from Servi, who was deep in her geomancy training. Verta had offered her a guiding hand to help her accelerate her familiarity with the skill.

  “I...” Fisher choked. He turned away, focused, and couldn't leave because Momo grabbed his hand.

  “This conversation’s been a long time coming, huh? I’ve been waiting for you to make the first move, but I should’ve done it. I’m sorry.”

  “Why are you apologizing?!” Fisher didn’t mean to raise his voice—it just happened—he clenched his teeth before turning away, but Momo dragged him over the bridge to her soul world.

  “When I’m lost or afraid, this is where the vixarian would help me. We’d talk... No, I talked. She couldn’t speak, but she listened. I always felt better after venting to her.”

  “I… Why… Why don’t you hate me?” He finally got it off his chest.

  “Your past? I guess I should hate you. I used to be a singi, and… I know what you were doing when you met Servy. And yes, it makes me mad. Still, you’re not the same Fisher. Arnold’s the one who made you do that. And we can argue all day and night that you should’ve stood up for yourself, but what will that accomplish?”

  “…”

  “Nothing. I can forgive you, but I can’t forgive you for the others because that’s not right. I can’t speak for the dead. You are a good man, Fisher. You’re an amazing husband and an excellent father. Your girls are super cute and respectful. If nothing else, you’re a father more men should strive to be.”

  “What?!” Fisher couldn’t believe his words.

  “You’re also a model husband. Maybe…not so much as a man? I think Servy or Dineria said it, but telling you about your sins won’t help because no one knows them more than you. You’re in a unique position. The orphanage? Think of how many needy children will find a loving home they need.”

  “…”

  “I know it’s not easy. You see your family almost every day. You can’t do things a father or husband should do because they think you’re dead. That pain… It can’t be easy.” Momo suddenly hugged the tortured soul, and he became weak. He cried hard while she softly patted his head. He let himself become vulnerable.

  For a split second?

  It almost felt like he was in his sister’s comfortable embrace—back when life was so much simpler and less complicated—when his sins didn’t keep him up at night like a thorny dagger pressing into his heart.

  “It’s not enough…” His voice was weak. “It won’t be enough. It’ll never be enough… Redemption isn’t possible for men like me.”

  “Only you can decide that. I can’t tell you if it is or not.”

  “My children. Even if they remain strangers to the truth… Even if I never tell them… I still want…to be the man they thought I was.”

  “Only you can be that man. You don’t have to do it alone.” She gently grabbed his hand and pointed to his ring. “Help is here, so don’t be afraid to reach out. Hey, it might help if you want to talk. Talk about anything you like. I’ll sit right here, listening to every thing you wanna say.” Momo plopped down. Fisher had her undivided attention after she sent a quick text to Servi.

  Momo's fluffy ears weren’t for show. Hours passed with nothing but Fisher’s endless tales of his wife and children, resulting in his face being softer. His eyes didn’t harbor the same self-hatred, but Fisher’s heart wasn’t free of anguish.

  It felt considerably lighter, though.

  When he returned to his body, he had much to ponder. Albert was there with a book. He smiled at his friend’s new expression, and the two resumed their quaint walk around the city as dawn approached the horizon.

  RuggyRuggy