The ride back to her house was quite eventful. When Tessie had discovered that Elizabeth had a true name, she pressed on further and kept asking what her nightmare truly had been about. But of course, no matter how many times she asked, Elizabeth refused to tell her and only kept flaunting the fact that she had a true name while Tessie, a saint, did not. Tessie could only sigh and let the matter go.
Currently, Elizabeth was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She had just finished gathering all the things she was taking with her to NQSC, since the next ship was set to depart in the morning. Tessie had left her alone as she had matters to attend to, and the only thing Elizabeth could do was rest.
Although physically she was not exhausted, and due to her newly improved mentality she didn't feel too mentally exhausted either, so she could only try to sleep. Despite how hard she was trying to do so, she could not take a nap no matter how hard she tried.
Before noon, she had set aside the clothes Tessie had bought her and put on her own clothes instead, which looked comical as they were all baggy on her frame.
'Any second now...'
A moment later, she felt herself increase in size, and the clothes she had been wearing, which had been too baggy, now fit her perfectly. She had stayed lying down since she did not want to fall again.
'So I do return exactly to my original height...'
She got up to stand, expecting it to take some time to readjust again to her size, but it did not. Almost immediately, she felt her body adapt to the new height.
'...another effect of the memory, I see.'
At least now, she would not have to worry about that inconvenience, especially if her flaw acted out in the middle of a battle when total coordination mattered most.
"Why don't you train?"
She heard a familiar voice. Turning around, she saw her brother idly standing next to her. Maybe it was because she felt like she had two brains working together, giving her the ability to fully imagine him more vividly, but she felt like her imaginary brother was becoming more real the more she imagined him so much so that she was starting to actually imagine she felt a presence behind her. It reminded her of the strange feeling she had felt during the appraisal, as if her brother had truly been there and had touched her.
'Maybe I should really check in with a professional.'
"You could take this time to test out the limits of your aspect and such, that way you won't be wasting time."
Elizabeth sighed. "I am not wasting time, I am taking much needed rest... but then again, you're not wrong. I should do that."
She was about to head to the training grounds before she stopped. The training grounds were built only for basic training, the walls there were not coated in reinforced metal. She did not think testing her aspect there was a great idea. Even though her aspect was not the destructive type, she did not feel like she would truly be able to test its limits there.
'Oh wait...'
"...If i remember correctly, you had a dreamscape pod, right?"
Cain visibly flinched. "Oh, that old thing... yeah, I did."
She smiled. "Well, I am going to use it."
Cain paled. "Uhhh...listen, sis, didn't you break yours in anger a while ago...please dont use mine, can't you just train with me? It will be much better than that old thing.."
Elizabeth ignored her brother's plea and walked to the side of the house she had not been in for quite some time, her brother's room.
She opened the door and sighed.
'Why don't I just move in here? After all, I am kind of the only one still living here...'
The room was spacious, more spacious than any other room in the house. Although no one had entered it for at least two years, it was still pretty clean, as the droids responsible for cleaning kept it well maintained. Her brother had always been a clean freak, and even in death, his room was so well-kept so much so not even a speck of dust could be seen.
In the far corner of the room stood a pod-like machine with a few wires poking out here and there. Its smooth, obsidian shell curved inward like a closed flower bud, the surface layered with faintly glowing silver circuits that pulsed slowly, almost like a heartbeat. A wide glass canopy formed the front of the pod, transparent yet reinforced, etched with delicate geometric runes that shimmered softly when viewed from certain angles.
But despite how it looked, this version of the dreamscape was not one Elizabeth recognized as being sold on the market. Even though it had been five years and newer models had flooded the market, even among the old ones, her brother's dreamscape model had never been released to the public.
"Please be careful... this was a gift from a friend."
Elizabeth smiled. "Oh, you mean your best friend... the one that created this very dreamscape thing."
He nodded. "Yes, he made this model specifically for me!"
Elizabeth walked up to it, inspecting it while tapping on its glass shield. "Oh, don't worry. I am only going to use it once. I just want to get a hang of my abilities, so what better place to test them than in here?"
The more she tapped the pod, the paler her brother became.
"Okay... it's not like I can stop you anyway."
With that, he vanished.
Elizabeth blinked, then shook her head and opened the pod. She undressed, folding her cloths and setting them aside before slowly entered it. The pod automatically closed on itself, and she heard a soft hum as the machine started.
"Enter Dreamscape?"
"Yes" "No"
Elizabeth stared at the shimmering letters that appeared in front of her, she didn't want to enter the dreamscape, at least not yet, she had been a fan of many of their celebrities and had been an active watcher of some of their content. She had wanted to enter it to and be able to fight as well, but sadly the un-awaken version of the dreamscape didn't have such function.
"No, activate training mode."
"Understood, proceeding..."
A few seconds later, she felt her vision slowly darkening.
'Gods...now that I have experienced it, it really is almost similar.'
When she opened her eyes again, she stood in a pure white room stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Background selection," she said, and the moment she did, multiple images flooded her view, ranging from volcanic landscapes to icy tundras. She stared at them all before choosing one of them.
"Background selected: Beach."
The white void slowly began to morph, the ground turning sandy beneath her feet. She soon heard the sound of waves crashing against the shore, along with a few birds flying across the sky. She admired the view as she felt strength course through her body.
'No wonder it's the most popular background.'
The beaches of these days looked nothing like the one depicted here. Most birds had gone extinct, and the shore no longer felt as welcoming as the scene before her. When the surge of strength finally stabilized, she snapped out of her trance.
Okay, let's get to training.
She summoned her runes once again to look them over while doing a few stretches herself. Suddenly, she stopped.
"Huh… when did I gain an extra attribute? Two, at that…"
She did not remember the spell announcing it at all. Focusing on the runes, she read its description.
[Star Lighter]
Attribute Description: "You have inherited the lineage of the Storm God."
'I… have inherited the lineage of the Storm God?'
She stared at the runes in surprise.
'I thought the House of Night was the sole inheritor. Why do I have it as well? Since I am obviously not related to any of them, and I did not have it before, it must be the cause of the memory.'
It was great that she had inherited it. It was a welcomed gift. However, she was not sure what would happen if someone discovered she possessed it, nor what the consequences would be. She really did not want to offend her future sponsor anytime soon.
She sighed. There was no use complaining now. She had chosen to consume that memory, so she would face the consequences of her choice.
Turning toward the last attribute, she read it carefully.
[Flame of Divinity]
Attribute Description: "Your soul is a flame with the light of divinity."
'…That's a good thing, yes?'
It had to be. She did not know what the divinity within her soul actually did, but the fact that her soul burned with divinity led her to assume it was a good thing.
Sighing, she dismissed the runes and got ready to train.
****
Side note: Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I was very busy, and I won't post tomorrow as well, due to me having 2 exams back to back...(I will come back as a corpse). See you on Tuesday!