Abyssal Awakening

Alice caught Gwen through the Void.

Despite her new state deactivating, Alice could still feel the burning heat radiating from Gwen's body.

Wincing slightly, she teleported to the ground and gently set down the unconscious Gwen.

Above her head, the seventh Sigil was slowly being formed.

*Badum…

Alice could feel her Abyssal heart stir.

Perhaps Syrion was a beast so it was a little different. She didn't feel much of a reaction from her relics.

But Gwen was different. She's a human.

Tendrils of energy filtered through the realm, injecting themselves into her.

The Abyss was stirring.

Golden cracks spreading across Gwen's body, a transformation occurring deep within.

"Don't move her too much. Her body is in a delicate state." Griselda's voice rang out as Alice glanced over.

She saw a small grave by the swing that she had made rather quickly.

There wasn't much of Syrion to be buried in the first place, his body had turned to ash and drifted off to the wind.

But what little she could grab was buried.

At least that way, a part of him was where he wanted to be.

Home.

"You haven't seen a 'person' achieve Lordship before have you?" She raised an eyebrow, glancing at Alice who was frozen from head to toe.

"Nope. Syrion was the only one I saw transform into a Lord. The rest are either already Lords or became one in the time I haven't seen them." Alice shook her head.

"Well for humans, it's a bit different. Lordship is… Hmm. Lordship is a transformation. A sign that the Abyss favours and accepts you. So your body naturally needs to change in order to accommodate said power." Griselda explained with a slight frown.

She waved Alice off with her hand but Alice didn't move, looking at her in confusion.

Rather than explain, Griselda rolled her eyes and grabbed Alice by the back of her neck.

"Hey!" Alice flailed her limbs but Griselda's grip was surprisingly sturdy.

Ignoring the cat trying to break out, Griselda snapped her finger and created a barrier around Gwen.

Lifting her up slightly, she adjusted it so that Gwen could rest comfortably.

"What are you going to do now?" Alice asked, sneaking a glance at Griselda.

Now that Syrion was dead, there's nothing connecting the two of them together.

"Maybe I'll capture you and turn you in. Maybe I'll even get on Lumiria's good side if I bring this girl over. A little bit of brainwashing and modification of the Soul should make her obedient to us don't you think?" Griselda smiled ominously as Alice immediately snapped her finger.

Energy converged into a single spark and was ready to fire.

"If you didn't get it, that was a joke." Griselda interrupted before Alice attacked.

Hearing this, her smile twitched furiously.

"THAT, was what you call a joke???" Alice questioned, dismissing the spark.

"Does it look like I spend my time learning how to joke with people? But no, I won't do anything. I was simply here visiting Syrion's home as I have done for the past few centuries. Nothing more, nothing less." Griselda sighed, shaking her head.

Alice furrowed her brows, finding it a little hard to believe.

But then again, it might not be so far fetched considering her relationship with Syrion.

"I think I'll go back to the order once I've had enough time to mourn." Griselda sighed, letting Alice down.

"So while I'm here, I'll ask you some questions. I do wish you'll answer them truthfully but I understand if you don't want to."

Alice furrowed her brows.

But with Gwen undergoing the transformation into a Lord, there wasn't much choice.

"Alright, I'm listening." Alice nodded.

She might as well stay on Griselda's good side while they were here.

"Are you planning to kill the rest of the Apostles?"

Griselda's first question was direct and straight to the point.

She held nothing back even if the answer may turn them into enemies.

In fact, her guard was completely relaxed.

Was it a trap? Or did she no longer care about what happened to her?

"No. I don't plan on killing all the Apostles. But… Famine. Famine must be dealt with no matter what. I need to get an answer out of her." Alice shook her head.

She didn't want to kill the Apostles.

Kazira was a coincidence and naturally, she didn't want to kill Arax or Shiera. But Famine, dealing with Famine meant that Allura might have a chance being freed from her curse.

"Hmm… I see. Allura must be alive and kicking if you want to deal with famine. No wonder Kaden stopped messing around with us and instead focused on tracking down Famine again." Griselda scratched her chin.

Just from one answer, she was able to find answers to questions she hadn't even asked.

"You know Kaden right? Emo raven b*stard. Gloomy motherf*cker that one." Griselda clarified in case Alice didn't know.

Cayla was laughing in Alice's mental scape while Alice simply nodded her head.

Indeed Kaden was quite the gloomy one. But recalling what he wore during Ayr… Namely that pink apron…

Maybe him being gloomy is a phase.

"Yeah I do."

"Seems like he's getting involved with Ayr again. Your casting has traces of his techniques in them while your martial arts has signs of Allura's movements. You have the relics and both Apostles are teaching you.

"If I wasn't sure you're Velouria's successor before I am now." Griselda leaned back.

"For someone who SHOULD be sneaking around, aren't you making a lot of high profile moves? You've alerted the entire faction of the Sun-" She paused, staring at Gwen before turning to Alice.

"Why the hell are you with the Sun if they're looking for you? Unless they don't know you're the one they're looking for?"

Alice scratched her hair.

"Long story. I snuck in for some training and got dragged into a bunch of things." Alice stuck out her tongue.

Griselda let out a long exhausted sigh.

"I suggest you keep your distance. The moon is somewhat on alert but I'll be honest, Lumiria doesn't care too much about you. She's more concerned about a cardinal that we have." She suggested.

Alice blinked her eyes. Just like how Griselda was getting information from her, she could get information from Griselda.

"Lumiria is interested in a Cardinal?"

"Yeah. Though she's in a bad mood lately with his faith wavering. If I hadn't intervened, she would've tried to break him directly." Griselda shook her head.

She recalled how bad of a mood Lumiria was in. Enough where she was even considering killing Arwen in order to monopolise Tristan's attention.

All because someone with the power of duality managed to fix his sis-

Griselda sat up.

Her head turned to Alice.

"F*ck… It was you."

"Huh? What was me?"

"Caethis. You were the one at the port and fixed Triss' sister." Griselda widened her eyes.

Alice choked on her saliva.

"You've really f*cked up you know that right? Lumiria is livid towards you since you fixed Arwen. Solaris is on guard since he's fearful. Not to mention the fact that you killed Kazira. Being the successor of Ayr is bad enough already but you've annoyed all three factions on top of that…"

Griselda couldn't believe what she was seeing. One person was able to stir so much chaos. Hell, she wasn't even doing it on purpose too!

"Are you a magnet for troubles?"

Cayla stared at Alice with a set of piercing eyes.

[Yeah Alice, why not answer the question.]

"Ahem…" Alice looked away sheepishly. She couldn't help it!

It's not like she was intentionally searching for them either!

Seeing Alice acting like this, Griselda understood that she had hit the nail on the head.

She massaged her temples.

What was she even supposed to say towards this girl?

"Do you have a map? I'll mark down a few locations you must absolutely avoid unless you want a head on confrontation with the Moon."

Alice blinked her eyes.

"You helped Arwen right? Her issue was one that not even Lumiria could solve without direct modification. Something that Triss wanted to avoid. And since you managed to succeed, I owe you one." Griselda gave Alice a nod of respect.

"Are you in love with Tristan too?" Alice asked suddenly.

". . ."

[. . .]

'. . .'

Griselda gestured for Alice to lean closer for a second.

Just as Alice leaned in, Griselda punched her on the head.

"Stupid b*tch." She cursed.

"Ow! Hey! What was that for???" Alice clutched her head.

"Just because I show someone favour doesn't mean I'm in love with them. Triss has helped me before and seeing his sister… I just pity the siblings." Griselda huffed with a shake of her head.

[It's deserved.] Cayla nodded.

'Absolutely.' Alyss agreed.

'Traitors!' Alice felt wronged.

"And I gave Arwen a visit before since Lumiria asked me to double check her condition. Not even a sign of the Abyss's influence. You did a wonderful job." She praised.

Though her praise wasn't exactly great since Alice wasn't fully responsible.

When she tried to revoke Arwen's contract, the Will stepped in and mocked her.

Asked her to get a Sigil that interacts with the soul before trying again.

While her sixth Sigil does indeed interact with the soul, it's a little different than what she had imagined.

Tapping her finger, Alice had an idea.

Wasn't there a person that's experienced with the soul next to her?

"Griselda, can I ask a favour?" Alice opened her mouth.

"Depends."

"Teach me more about souls." Alice spoke bluntly.

Griselda could see the light of determination in her eyes and after a moment, she nodded her head.

"Alright. While I'm still here, I'll teach you a little about souls."

###

Gwen found herself in a strange white realm. No matter how far she walked or looked around, only boundless white awaited her.

Then, within this vast emptiness, a single figure stepped out of the light.

Faceless and without detail. But a single toothy smile could be seen.