"Here, take my hand. Let me show you something," she said, standing up from the side of my bed, revealing a long, scarlet dress that clung tightly to her body, revealing a strong, yet slender form that loosely reminded me of Aurae and Ysevel combined. I did as she requested and took her hand in mine. It was soft, not too warm or too cold, as well as sleek and slender, just like the rest of her.
She led me to the door to my room and halted before it. Before she could say another word, I reached for the doorknob and pulled the door open. "A gentleman through and through," she smiled warmly, taking my arm in hers. "Mom would kill me if she ever heard I'd failed to open a door for a lady," I chuckled, earning one from her as well. "Believe me, I know," she winked, gesturing outside the door's frame.
Before me was the Wraith realm, much like I'd seen it so many times before, but something felt different. It felt more alive, and like I was more a part of it as it was of me. "You're well acquainted with this realm after all that training with Kerre Kalia, so I'm sure you know how things are here," she began loosely, staring off into the distance.
Matching her gaze, I could see her, Mom, and Ysevel's forms, somewhere off in the distance, but I didn't see them with my eyes; rather, I felt them. "You see, Thoma, every realm must have its own set of rules. I couldn't perform half the miracles that the Ethereal or Meridian realms could, but there are things I can do that they could only dream of," she said, turning to face me.
"You mean like countering Tyrant mana?" I asked loosely, earning me a light chuckle. "A primitive example, but yes. I suppose that will suffice for now," she said, using her free hand to cover her mouth demurely.
"In any case, each realm has its own path to take. Some choose their own, while others are fated into it. Mideia, for example, is one such creature who only thought he was choosing the right path, but the reality is far from it," she began, her porcelain features creasing slightly as she seemed to recall a past no one else knew.
"Your path is different, however. Where Mideia failed, you will succeed, though there isn't much more I can tell you than that for now, lest you stray from it," she regarded me searchingly, nearly causing me to flinch away.
I couldn't have even if I really wanted to, I realized.
"Then what must I do, my lady?" I asked, not knowing what else to do. She paused, as if considering the weight of her words seriously. "Unfortunately, there are things I cannot tell you at the present moment. It's not that I don't want to, but it just wouldn't make sense to you right now," she said cryptically, but I knew better than to prod any further.
"It's alright. I understand. It's not the first time I've had to figure things out on my own," I shrugged, but instead of laughing, she grimaced a little. "I wish that weren't so. If it were up to me, I would give you the secrets of the Twilight Sea myself, but it is not my place to do so," she said with a tinge of regret.
"I understand," I nodded solemnly, already knowing she meant everything she'd said. "So young, and yet so wise. I'm sorry you've had to live like that for so long, but bear with it a little longer, and I will make it worthwhile. I promise," she said, gripping my hand a little more tightly.
"I'll bear it as long as you need me to, my lady," I gave a half-bow, placing my free hand across my chest. She looked at me searchingly to see if I was joking or lying, but after a few heartbeats, she smiled and chuckled through her nostrils.
"In that case, the Path of the Wraithborn is open to you. I will always be here to guide you and ensure that you do not stray from it," she said with a smile that reminded me of Ysevel. It took me a few moments to understand what she said, my mind racing with a million different questions when I finally realized her pupils were slits rather than circular.
"Not now. We will have ample time to discuss things at a later date. The reason I brought you here now is that I wanted to be the first to welcome you to the fifth stage. You've certainly earned your place along the Path, one that you've been walking for quite some time now without even realizing it," she said with a bright smile as she raised a hand to halt my questions.
Ah, so that's what this is about, I realized, feeling a sense of humility that I could never put into words.
"To whom do I owe the pleasure, then? I just realized my rudeness and that I never asked your name," I said, feeling my face flush somehow, getting a light chuckle from her. "My name is Essentia, and I look forward to seeing you again, Thoma," she said, offering me a Caegweni greeting.
"It's both a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Essentia," I said, returning the greeting. "The honor is mine, Thoma," she said warmly before turning to face the door we'd stepped a short way from.
"That door will take you back to your realm. Well, your consciousness, anyway. You're currently passed out in a crater, but I promise I will do everything in my power to help you grow into the man I know you can be," she smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I just hope I can live up to your expectations," I said lightly, matching her tone. "You will," she said confidently, gesturing toward the door.
I approached it and grabbed the doorknob once more, giving her a final look before returning to Kavrass. "Go on, then. I'll always be here waiting," she smiled, offering me a delicate wave of her hand. "Be sure to visit me sometime, and bring Ysevel with you!" she called out as I was crossing the threshold.
She knows Ysevel? I thought in the heartbeat before my world went dark again.
Dust and rubble bounced off my face, and I woke with the horrifying realization that I was in a crater. Thoma! Are you alright? Ysevel's voice came through in a panicked scream. I'm fine, I think, I said, unsure of my body's current condition. I looked down to find a piece of Mideia's sickly green claw sticking out of my chest.
"Fuuuuck," I hissed, gripping it tightly as I began to tug. The strength in my arms was waning, but I poured every ounce of my might into ripping that piece of shit from my chest. "You're still awake after that? I suppose I underestimated you," Mideia's voice came from somewhere beyond the dust cloud in front of me. I could neither sense nor hear him while I pulled at the claw buried in my chest, but I did everything I could to get it out.
"Your struggle is futile, Thoma. You won't be rid of that as quickly as you think. You're just a half-breed whose body is broken beyond repair," he cackled. I could hear his footsteps approaching through the dust, but I had no clue just how far he was.
As if half-remembering a dream, I reached for the Wraith realm and lifted my hand to the sky. The tendrils of mana didn't only move toward my hand, but enveloped me entirely, encasing me in its mana faster than I could process.
"I'm always with you," Essentia's voice resounded in my mind. With a final pull, I returned my consciousness to my body. Mana exploded around me, as scarlet blades followed a growing sphere of the purest mana I'd ever seen. I didn't have time to acknowledge what had just happened because I soon landed on my own two feet and felt a power within me I'd only ever dreamed of.
The dust cleared before me, and I could see that on the other side of the room, Mom, Kalia, Ysevel, and even Irun's faces were peering through a small hole in their kataki dome. Their eyes were wide with a mixture of awe, fear, and relief, but it was Mideia's face that made it more real to me.
"Noooooo," he hissed through gritted teeth, immediately launching attack after attack, hoping to hit me even once. I disappeared from his line of sight, appearing to his right and landing a cut with my reformed kataki blade clean across his face. His eyes widened at the sight of red-green blood trickling down his face.
He tried to swing at me, but I was far faster than he was, reacting to every blow with enhanced precision. A claw came for my face to try to grab me, but I caught it in my hand, feeling my ribs healing as quickly as they were breaking.
"You were right, Mideia. This fight ends here, but I'll promise you something many others might have," I said, snapping his wrist, causing him to reel in pain. "You'll only be hurting poor Edryd if you keep hurting him like this," Mideia said with a derisive sneer.
"I'm sure he knows there's no other way, but there's something he knows about me that you don't," I said, still holding his wrist. Mideia looked into my eyes for a moment and saw no sign of remorse or hesitation. "I mean every word of what I promise, and I promised I would make you bleed," I scowled, tightening my grip on his wrist as I leaned my face in toward his.
For the second time, I saw genuine fear in his eyes just before I launched him into the air.
Drawing out the kataki to match my intent, I formed the scythe once more and leaped into the air, severing one of his limbs in the process. Before his voice could register the pain, I sliced off another, then another. As quickly as I cut them, I could tell they would regenerate almost just as soon as before.
I have to keep the pressure up, I thought, doing my best to mentally stave off the pain in my chest.