ALL NOVEL Crusade – Chapter 59: A Most Peculiar Journey
Aperio knew where she wanted to go, and a thought was all she needed to bend reality to her will. She spread her wings as she felt Ferio's Dominion shift around her, saw how her mana separated the threads that held reality together and wove them back together in new ways to bring her where she wanted.
A moment later, she appeared above the ruined city she had first returned to. Neither her daughter nor Caethya fell, as both were being held aloft by a touch of Aperio's magic. The young Elf averted her gaze before making use of her own flying skill while Ferio seemed content to rely on her mother's magic.
Aperio took a deep breath of the cold air, letting it fill her lungs. She knew that she did not need to breathe, but found the familiar sensation to be soothing to her mind. Visiting the moons was never something she thought she would do, much less on her own power. Perhaps it is an insane idea after all?
There was a small bit of doubt in her mind, one that said she could not simply fly to her destination. She was certain that she could, however. The small part of her mind that claimed otherwise? Just a remnant that still did not accept what she had become. What do I have to fear from space? My Void is filled with nothing as well.
She could feel what was beyond the clouds; a vast expanse of emptiness that was wholly devoid of air and warmth. Aperio tilted her head the sensation, not quite knowing what to make of it. That her aura's reach encompassed the vast nothing that existed outside the world did not surprise her, a part of her having already known that it was without bounds.
The countless lights that filled the night sky twinkled playfully, almost as if they were vying for Aperio's attention; as if they were alive. They reminded her of the souls drifting through her void. Two sets of lights, linked. One was comprised of the seeds from which life could sprout; the other, the givers of warmth that would sustain them once they had.
"Beautiful, is it not?" Ferio asked, ripping her mother out of her reverie.
"Yes," Aperio replied. "It is." How did I make all of this? Besides the glimpses of the universe coming into existence and the feeling of her mana spreading through it all, Aperio did not know how she had done so. There was no planning she could see in her memories, just a rapid explosion of her mana that set in motion machination she could not remember. Only that it created all of this.
"Caethya, can you traverse the nothingness beyond on your own, or do you require my aid?" Aperio could feel that the space beyond the planet was filled with a myriad of things that made no sense to her. Calling it a 'nothingness' was technically wrong, but for most people it would undoubtedly appear as empty.
The Elf directed her gaze at the sky, a sliver of her mana reaching out past the reaches of the planet's atmosphere. "I could survive for a while, but not long enough to reach either of the moons. I fear that I will require your help if you wish me to accompany you."
Aperio waved her off. "Helping you will not be a problem. Having you come against your will, however, would be. You do not have to come if you do not want to."
Caethya focused on her feet at the words. "I want to come, but I also do not want to be a burden. I have spent my entire adult life searching for you. On my own terms, through my own strength. Despite all my years of effort, despite all that I have learned, this is something I cannot overcome on my own. Asking for help – especially from you, my Goddess – does not sit well with me."
"I understand that asking for help can be hard," Aperio said, glancing at her daughter. "But know that you are not a burden to me. You wanted to learn from me, did you not?" After the winged Goddess had received a hesitant nod in reply she continued, ignoring the vile taste at the back of her throat. "Then see this as your first lesson. Asking for help is not a bad thing. If someone has offered to help you, they will not see you as a burden if you choose to accept."
"Something you should take to heart yourself, mother," Ferio mumbled, looking at Aperio with what she assumed to be concern.
"Yes, I should." The reply took more effort to push past her lips than most other things she had said since she had returned. Perhaps having a disciple will help with this?
There was a spark of joy that surfaced whenever she thought about teaching Caethya, bringing her closer to godhood. It felt similar to what she now remembered from Ferio's official ascension. Her daughter might have come into the world a Goddess, but neither the pantheon nor the System had recognised her as such until she had proven herself. It had been an event that had filled Aperio with a joy and happiness that she had only felt once before. At least that I can remember.
Only the creation of everything there was had given her a similar feeling, the fact that she would no longer be alone a relief that she had not known before. For Aperio, the seeming similarity in the current situation simply meant that it was something important. She would do her damnedest to ensure that it would work.
She took another breath of the cool night air and closed her eyes, focusing on the rhythmic beat of her wings that kept her aloft. A thought was all she needed to send her senses racing towards the bright white moon that hung above them. Aperio had no intention to teleport her group to their destination like she had done in the dungeon — something about the nothingness intrigued her, as though it were calling to her. She wanted to experience it for herself, as well as to slowly approach what the traitorous God had built to see it for herself.
It did not take her long to spot the large dome of mana that separated lush green fields and flower beds from the grey and white rock of the moon. Pushing past the barrier caused Aperio to briefly pause, the mana comprising it feeling somehow familiar. She creased her brows as she extended her senses deeper into the sprawling complex Vigil had built.
The people inside paid no attention to her mana brushing past them, most of them busy with other things. Some were on their knees in front of altars or statues, obviously praying to their God; while others were out in the open, sparring against one another. There were more people in a building to the side, but Aperio had no desire to see more than the passive trickle of information her aura had already provided.
Ferio's voice reached her ears, a most peculiar experience when Aperio felt like she was standing on the moon already. She ignored the words, however, as they were directed at Caethya and not herself. Instead, she focused her attention towards a collection of mana that floated in the centre of the complex.
It was clear that it was the source of the barrier that allowed the mortals to live on the hostile moon. What intrigued Aperio was the fact that it felt familiar to her; not like the dungeon cores — this was not made from her mana — but still from something she felt she should know.
It felt …important.
The finely-woven golden lattice that surrounded the cloud of mana only furthered her belief that it was important, as did the fact that everything in the complex pointed towards it. Underneath the cloud, a giant circle spread out which, in turn, was inside a star with sixteen points, each one pointing to a tower at the outside of the complex.
Aperio could feel mana running along unseen lines from the cloud towards each tower, all clearly part of what kept the barrier alive. And yet, she knew that the mana was doing more than simply powering the protective dome. The familiarity she felt from it told her that there was so much more it could do.
She opened her eyes and drew a bit more mana from her well. The action caused both Ferio and Caethya to quiet down, the latter also moving a little further away. It hurt a little to see her disciple retreat, but she probably saw the amount of mana she could so casually draw from her well as something extraordinary. Something to be feared.
"Are both of you ready?" Aperio inquired, extending her hand to Caethya.
Ferio responded with a nod as fiery wings sprouted from her back, propelling her towards the stars with a single beat. Caethya, on the other hand, very slowly took the offered hand, letting her own magic fade as Aperio's mana spread around her. For a brief moment, Aperio considered the simpler solution of putting Caethya in her Void for the journey and retrieving her once she and Ferio had reached the moon. Then she discarded the thought, gently pulling Caethya closer in order to very carefully pick the young Elf up in her arms.
She could have simply used a touch of her magic to have Caethya float behind her, but doing so felt wrong to Aperio. She is not a thing. Carrying her disciple like a groom would their bride might not be the most appropriate, but Caethya did not seem to mind. With a beat of her wings, Aperio shot upwards.
A small stream of mana constantly flowed from Goddess to Elf, keeping her alive and healthy. For her comfort, Aperio also wrapped Caethya in a thin cocoon of mana which provided air for her to breathe. She had a feeling that her mana coursing through the Elf would, in itself, be sufficient to keep her alive, but felt that it might be distressing to suddenly lack the ability to breathe. The fact that she herself sometimes forgot to breathe since her return was relegated to the back of her mind. Most people don't simply forget to do that, do they?
Another beat of her wings sent her flying past Ferio and into the nothingness that surrounded Verenier. She soared through the inky black, not a sound reaching her ears. There was no resistance to her flight, nothing her wings should be able to find purchase on to propel her forwards — and yet, they did.
It did not give her the same feeling of home as her Void did, but neither did it feel as cold and unwelcoming as she had imagined it to be. There was something beneath the endless expanse of nothing that thrummed with joy at her passing, the threads of reality shining ever so slightly brighter. Aperio could feel something move with her; not her daughter who was swaying from side to side as she flew behind her, but something else.
It was like a shadow that hid itself in the dark spots between the bright stars that filled the nothing — somehow unfathomably big and yet inconsequential to her. A presence that felt no shame to show its joy at her presence but could not give voice to its desires.
It played with the tiny wisps of her mana that danced around her being, cloaking them in shadows to try and hide them from her; chasing them as they drifted around her form.
Aperio spoke, but not a sound left her lips. A giggle from her daughter entered her mind, telling her that there was no speaking in space, nothing to carry the sound. The winged Goddess only tilted her head and asked the question that floated in her mind. What is this thing?
Sadly, Ferio could not supply an answer. She could not feel the liveliness around them, only the cold nothing of an empty void. The reply caused Aperio to crease her brows. What she felt was real. She knew it to be. What is it, then?
She focused on her aura as she beat her wings again, trying to spot something her eyes could not see. The only thing she could perceive, however, was a weave of mana that seemed to flow through every bit of the nothingness. It was so minuscule in her aura that Aperio would have missed it had she not been looking so closely for anything out of the ordinary.
It was easy for her to identify the weave of mana to be responsible for what she had felt, Aperio just failed to see who it belonged to. Or is it like the threads binding everything? It felt similar – not a thin thread that held reality together, but a broader patch that had been sewn on to fix a hole. Is the universe… happy?
The notion felt weird to her. How could the universe itself feel emotions? It's not alive, is it? What did I do? She shook her head as she beat her wings again, shooting towards the moon with even more speed and causing Caethya to wrap her arms tightly around her. It was something she would investigate once she had dealt with Vigil and his ilk. Once I have more time.
There was another reason for her to discard the thought of investigation for now. She had felt something shift within the complex Vigil had supposedly built. She could not find any obvious changes, just a feeling at the back of her mind that something had been altered. With another strong beat of her wings, Aperio shot towards what she knew to be an inevitable confrontation.
