Annabelle’s Bastion

Anna felt comfortable.

She was lying on some kind of bed, and she felt like she just had the best sleep of her life.

“Annabelle,” Elyanthra said, reminding Anna of their conversation.

“Ah,” Anna exclaimed, launching upward and looking around the room.

It seemed like a normal bedroom illuminated by the crystalline lights on the ceiling. A desk in the corner with a few books, one opened, a bed… and not much else.

“How are you feeling?” Elyanthra asked, somewhat testingly.

Good question.

“I think…” She didn’t feel anything unnatural. But that reminded her to check, and… “You actually got rid of the scar!”

“That was the least I could do,” Elyanthra said, smiling warmly at her.

“Woah.” She poked the spot, moved her arm around, and put it close to her eye. There really wasn’t any indicator of a wound having been there!

It would have been cool, but it being gone was definitely for the best!

“I’m happy you’re pleased.”

“And,” Anna turned around and stepped off the bed. “What did you find?” she eagerly asked.

“Ah, that…” Elyanthra’s eyes left her, and she looked conflicted. “It’s…”

“Did you meet my so-called other self?” Anna asked. Knowing how she acted from just their brief interaction, she could pretty much predict how that conversation felt.

Elyanthra’s eyes widened. “You… you know of it— her existence?”

Anna looked away guiltily. Actually, she did mislead Elyanthra and probably made her experience something unpleasant. She could have just said her woes, but she got too excited.”W-well… I… may have just wanted you to see what she was.”

“I’m afraid…” Elyanthra suddenly lowered her head. “Annabelle, I must apologize to you.”

What?

“What?”

What did her other self do?! She better not have hurt the Elf… but there was no way Anna’s alter ego had that kind of power.

“I took advantage of your naivety, Annabelle—you must never willingly allow another being to breach the sanctity of your soul.”

“Ah… but I don’t really—”

“No, please. I took advantage of your lack of knowledge to do something that, if it were done to me, I would have had little choice but to kill the one responsible.”

“T-that bad?” Anna hesitantly asked. She just wanted to maybe learn a bit more about herself and also have a little fun with the person who ignored her for six months!

“Yes.” Elyanthra shook her head, her green eyes once again meeting Anna. “To see your soul is to see your being—your past, your present, your secrets, your powers—everything. Peering into another’s soul is the highest of sins.”

Anna just couldn’t feel that. But judging by the tone of her words, she probably made a big, naïve mistake.

“Well.. uh… I understand—It’s my fault for not realizing.”

“No, the onnus is on me.”

“Let’s just move on, okay?” Anna shook her head. “What did you talk to my other self about?”

“You are... forgiving... I understand.” Elyanthra gestured toward the door. “Let’s head to the main room, and I will… discuss her words with you.”

---

Well, to say her other self was a massive asshole felt like an understatement.

To threaten a whole race just for her safety… what was her problem? Anna understood that she messed up and that her other self just wanted to protect her… but still.

And the corruption sphere thing!

Anna tried to check, but she didn’t feel anything at all related to the corruption her other self supposedly took from her body.

Worse—she couldn’t even talk to her other self about it. Their communication seemed to only be possible when something was wrong with her soul; mana exhaustion and outside influence.

“I’m… sorry she treated you like that.”

“On the contrary,” Elyanthra said, shaking her head. “I would have done the same. I got the feeling that she is extremely protective of you.”

“Or, you know, the body we apparently share.”

“Perhaps. But the anger seemed to stem from me… taking advantage of your… naivety.”

Anna snorted.

She would just talk with her other self about it! The next time they met, she would not be silenced!

“Anyway—what is that?” Anna asked, gesturing toward the orb sitting on the table in the center of the room.

Elyanthra wryly chuckled and nodded. She looked at the altar. “This… this is the Communion Stone, the one my lord uses to contact me…” She sighed, and the sigh seemed to hold the weight of a world. “But he has been silent.”

There went her mood. Anna couldn’t help but feel terrible for her.

“What lord?” Anna asked. She didn’t want to let her feelings show, but her tone was noticeably warmer.

Damn it.

Elyanthra quirked a brow at Anna. “Do you truly not know—have you not heard his name?”

“No?” Anna tried to recall, but she hadn’t seen anything that would indicate that. Well, other than the draconic symbols. “I haven’t found anything like that, and even if I did, I doubt I could read your language.”

“Hm.” Elyanthra turned away.

That was odd.

“Why?”

“I apologize,” she said, lightly shaking her head. “My lord… his exalted name is Zeruphirin.” As she said his name, she looked at Anna as though analyzing her reaction.

“Uh… doesn’t ring a bell.”

Anna knew what was happening, though; her other self somehow knew the god’s name.

She would definitely, certainly not stay silent next time they met in person!

Probably.

“Forgive me. I just find myself surprised that you had not heard his name during your time here.”

“Okay… and what about those?” Anna said, gesturing to the orbs on the pillars near the front of the room.

“The… the Dimensional Waypoint Stones.”

“The what?”

Elyanthra gently rubbed one, looking at it as though it was her lover. “These are how we will move the Library of the Lost to a safe dimension.”

“What?”

This colossal tree? Teleporting it?

“But we are missing four. Lost… Stolen and scattered during one of the early attacks. Retrieving them is my mission, a quest I must complete before our world is lost.”

“Can… can a tree this size really be safely teleported?”

She turned to Anna with yet another motherly smile. “As I have mentioned, mana can do anything—”

“…if given the proper commands,” Anna finished it.

“Yes.”

But seeing that smile only made Anna feel worse. The Elf literally had the weight of a world on her shoulders.

“How… how are you finding the other four?” Anna asked.

“They are—” Elyanthra paused. She stared at Anna for a moment and seemed to be working through something in her head. Probably whether to tell her at all.

“I want to help. Please, at least tell me what your mission is.”

“I… suppose that is right.” Elyanthra sighed. After a few seconds, she nodded resolutely. “The Waypoint Stones are being kept in locations held by the accursed. Spots in the world where they have taken hold.”

“Accursed… corruption,” Anna muttered. “Wait, there are more cores on this planet?”

“Core.” Elyanthra considered for a moment. “If that is the word you use for the Accursed Heart, then yes. There are many.”

“That—” Anna paused.

Bastion said there was only one and that it wasn’t that big of a deal! If they could somehow detect one and its location, how could they not know there were more?

“Is there an issue with my words? I assure you I speak only the truth.”

“Are these cores— these heartshidden?”

“Oh?” Elyanthra exclaimed, surprised. “Indeed, they are hidden so that they may escape my lord’s diminishing sight and my scanning tools.”

That made some sense, but it also brought more questions. How did Bastion even find a core on a likely distant world?

“Have there been any more cores recently?”

“Hm… not that I am aware of, no. The ones existing now were placed during tumultuous times—but I am focused now, and a new one would not escape my sight.”

“About… six months—” Anna paused. Had it really been six months? She shook her head. “Around six months ago, were you gone or doing something that would disable your senses or tools?”

Elyanthra’s eyes widened, and she quickly nodded. “Yes, I could never forget that period. Are you saying there was a core present during my recovery?”

Recovery? So she was injured heavily enough to dull her senses… the timing was just too convenient.

“There was,” Anna said. “I was part of a team sent to destroy it.”

“Sent to—Ah, your other self did mention it! Elyanthra paused, rapidly shaking her head. “What does this mean? You and the other were sent to this world for that? But…”

“Other?”

It was obvious now that she was not referring to the expedition.

“That one only appeared recently,” Elyanthra muttered, trying to reason with herself. “But your words ring true. There was another heart, one established while I recovered. Your people came to destroy it, then left…” She trailed off, looking at Anna with widened eyes. “But they left you behind.”

“Yes, it’s a long story.” Anna shook her head. “But that’s not important. What is this other?”

“It makes sense now—the other must have been here for you. Come.”

Elyantrha moved once more toward the left side of the room, where there was a larger door.

Her hand glowed, and she simply pressed it on a circular mark at the center of the large door. The circle shined with green, and that light soon spread across the door.

It sounded like a loud click, then the lights dimmed.

Elyanthra’s ring dispersed, and the glow on her hand died. She pushed the door open. It slid against the wooden floor, making an odd scratching noise as it slowly moved.

Anna was embarrassed for being frightened so easily.

Was she really that fragile?

God, she needed more power.

Before entering, Elyanthra turned to face Anna. “I don’t want you to misunderstand, so I hope you will listen to my words.”

“What?”

“The other of your kind is soundly sleeping within—her being is in turmoil and her body heavily damaged.”

“W-what?”

“Please do not misunderstand—I have done nothing to them.”

“Another human? Here? For how long?! That shouldn’t be possible!”

“They’ve been in here for a week, soundly sleeping while their mana stream recovers.”

“A— a week?”

Elyanthra nodded.

“Wait…” Elyanthra did mention another multiple times! Anna thought she might have been referring to the others in the expedition, but she did actually only use it singularly!

Another recollection made Anna’s head spin.

“What… what did they look like?”

“Quite unlike anything I’ve seen before,” Elyanthra said. “Their ring, as ominous as your own, but partnered with similarly colored eyes. Hair like snow and with a demeanor that fits.”

Anna almost couldn’t even believe her ears.

“M-move!” She launched forward.

No way.

There was no possible way such a thing was even conceivable.

Yet…

She recalled her mentioning that Thagrin called her ring color ominous and that reaction was common amongst mages.

For eyes that closely matched… who else could it be?

Anna pushed Elyanthra aside, much to the shock of the Elf.

The room was dark, with the same dim crystals on the ceiling.

But Anna could tell—it was another bedroom. Only this one had multiple beds, likely as a chamber for guests.

Suddenly, the lights brightened.

She could see it all.

The desks scattered across the walls, the empty bookshelves, the well-made beds, and the doors that opened to what she could assume were bathrooms.

But that wasn’t what made her eyes wet and heart ache.

It must have been a dream; she was still knocked out by Elyanthra and strapped to a table somewhere.

How could this scene possibly be real?

Laying in the center bed with her arms at her side, her chest rhythmically moving to indicate her status…

Aria.

Anna fell to her knees, unable to stop the tears from pouring.