Abyssal Awakening

"Are you worried about your friend?" Griselda asked curiously, glancing down at Alice who was leaning against her chair.

After Gwen gave Alice a portion of her powers, she made her way back to the Church. She has been away for a long time after all.

"A little. She seems cheerful but I'm still worried." Alice sighed.

Despite being an Abyss Lord, her title practically made her the enemy of the petty Solaris.

While he couldn't kill her outright, there were other things he could do.

"Are you her mother? The girl can handle herself much better than you can. At least she has two Apostles close by helping her out. You on the other hand… keep pissing off churches like Kaden but without the power to back it up." Griselda rolled her eyes, causing Alice to cough violently.

"Was that necessary?"

"Absolutely." Griselda nodded.

Scratching her cheek, Alice sighed.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason she was worried about Gwen.

Before she left, she had also promised Alice to look into the things that happened in the north with her dad and aunty. They were deployed there to ensure things didn't go out of control after all.

Alice had a bad feeling about the north but with two Apostles and a Lord, they should be relatively safe… right?

Especially since Arax is the Apostle of Protection.

"Now that Gwen has gone back, I should go back too. If I stay away for too long, Nanna and Lumiria will start asking questions.

"And… You don't need to worry about me telling them anything." Griselda smiled.

"Huh? You're going to lie to Lumiria?" Alice began to sweat.

It's one thing to lie to Solaris but Lumiria could see your soul!

Lying in front of her is a death sentence!

"Yeah, I got my own methods." Griselda reassured as Alice scratched her hair.

If she's being honest, Griselda did survive as the Apostle for a long time. And with her wavering faith, if she didn't have her own methods, Lumiria would've found out long ago.

"Oh and before I forget, try not to interact with Triss too much until you're confident in helping him protect Arwen. Lumiria has her eyes on taking away everything he holds dear if he falters some more.

"If she hears him talk about you, there's no doubt she'll snap. If I hadn't talked some sense into Lumiria during the port incident…" Griselda sighed.

Alice shivered.

She didn't think Lumiria would pose such a large threat towards Tristan.

"Wasn't Lumiria in love with him? Why would she do that???"

"Because she's insane. It's the crazy kind of love that wants to abuse and torture him mentally so that he offers everything to her. Then, when he breaks, she'll take his soul and discard the body." Griselda furrowed her brows. Her fingers tightened around her arm as she had seen this happen far too many times by now.

"Forget it, just thinking about it annoys me. Anyways, let me deal with the knowledge I have on you." She shook her head.

Cracking her fingers, she plunged it into her own chest and pulled out a portion of her soul.

"!!!"

*BANG!!!

Detonating it, Griselda wiped the slate clean.

"What the f*ck?!"

"What? It's the best way to cover things up. It's not like it really hurts me anyways, the shape of my own soul has long been blurred because of my experiments." Griselda shrugged.

Now that the slate has been wiped clean, most of what they talked about had disappeared from her mind.

However, what little remains allowed her to stay the same despite not knowing.

"Remember, don't interact with Tristan if you meet him. It'll only serve to make Lumiria go crazy." Griselda reminded as she stepped away and disappeared.

All that was left was Alice whose smile twitched at the corners.

'You're crazy enough as it is!' Alice complained.

Who the hell hides a secret by wiping their soul!?

'Well you have to admit she has the determination.' Alyss was also impressed…

Along with being a little freaked out.

[Maybe that's what people feel whenever Alice decides it's the perfect moment to blow up her hand.] Cayla gave Alice a side glance, causing her to cough.

She couldn't retort.

###

"Ohya? My… Would you look at that? You're finally back Gi." Nanna glanced over to Griselda while floating upside down.

There was a lazy smile on her face.

"How many times must I tell you to not call me Gi?" Griselda sighed, pushing Nanna's face away.

"It's because you hate it that I keep calling you it. If you accepted it, maybe I would've lost interest long ago." Nanna smirked.

Even after all these years, they still didn't get along.

Griselda frowned but walked away. She didn't have the mood to play along with Nanna today.

"So how was it? Syrion's last moments? Did the poor lad realise that he got abandoned by the Moon? I do wish I could've seen it for myself but our Lady warned me not to push on this matter." Nanna narrowed her gaze.

*BANG!!!

Blades burst out from Griselda's body while an avatar tore through the fabrics of space. Hooks, threads and surgical tools aiming for Nanna's body.

But Nanna simply summoned several phantoms to block Griselda's attacks.

"There's a good reason our Lady warned you. Unless you need a reminder, why don't you shut your trap." Griselda warned as her eyes glowed crimson with bloodlust.

"Wow~ So scary. But you can't deceive my eyes, Gi. You wiped your soul clean again." Nanna grinned.

Griselda held back a grimace as she snapped her finger.

*RUMBLE!!!

Nanna jumped back before the puppets could reach her.

Clapping her hands together, dark mist rolled out as a moon was created behind her with several silver crosses protruding from the ground.

Landing on one of the crosses, Nanna spun her body and transformed it into a chakram hoop.

But Griselda didn't slack either!

Tearing off her arm, she transformed it into a chain whip!

""Resonance.""

Stabbing her sword into the ground, countless hooks pierced into Griselda's body, tearing her apart and swallowing the space around them.

Marionette of the Waning Moon.

Within her body, a stage was constructed with the crescent moon hanging above them. Countless strings attached themselves to the audience while Griselda herself appeared wearing a silver dress and crown. In her hands, she held a single blade.

But a portion of this stage has been usurped by Nanna.

Garden of the Silent Moon.

Gentle waves rolled out. Floating above the waves were silver and blue lotuses reflecting the light of the full moon that hung above them. Iridescent clouds shimmering with a myriad of lights.

Nanna sat upon her chakram hoop with her legs crossed.

A smile was evident on her face as she glanced at Griselda's resonance.

"Heh~ You've been slacking, haven't you?" Nanna took note of the lack of an 'audience' in Griselda's theatre.

In the past, this resonance would've been one to behold.

But like a star that had lost its radiance, it was now but a shell of its former self.

"I might've been slacking but it's more than enough to deal with you. Don't forget you've never won against me." Griselda flicked her finger.

*CLANG!!!

An armoured puppet crashed down from above as Nanna blocked it with her foot.

"Is that so? Why don't we change the score today?!" Nanna shouted as she spun her body around.

She kicked the Chakram towards Griselda while pushing the puppet away.

Just as Griselda was about to parry the Chakram, Nanna appeared below her and kicked the weapon up!

"!!!" Bending her body back, Griselda narrowly avoided the attack before seeing a spirt hovering above her.

Without hesitation, the spirit kicked the Chakram, unleashing a flood of radiant blue energy ripping towards the Apostle of Immortality.

*BANG!!!

The spirit merged with Nanna gracefully as she spun the hoop around her body.

Yet before she could even say anything, chains burst out from the ground as three puppets slashed towards Nanna.

Blocking it with her Chakram, her eyes darted above and saw Griselda unharmed!

Snapping her finger, three more puppets appeared!

They performed a synchronised sword dance as Nanna clicked her tongue.

Splitting herself into several spirits, she unleashed several arcs of destruction in an attempt to break the puppets.

"Rudimentary!" Griselda clapped her hands together.

A giant pair of puppet hands crushed two spirits in an instant before a large armoured puppet slammed its shoulder into Nanna's guard, sending her sliding backwards.

Just as she was about to counter, Griselda tugged her arm, pulling several threads taut.

"!!!" Nanna's eyes widened. Threads dug into her body, overloading her soul and restricting her movements.

Countless thoughts rushed into her mind while several puppets aimed their blade at her throat.

"And I believe that marks another loss, don't you agree?" Griselda slowly stepped down from the sky as she lifted Nanna's chin.

Nanna revealed a grin.

"I knew you would come in close like that." Nanna stuck out her tongue.

*RUMBLE!!!

The water around them boiled as several spirits lunged out but Griselda kept her composure.

While the number of souls at her disposal over the years have decreased, she didn't slack on training.

In fact, her personal power had increased as a response!

In a flash, her hair turned crimson as chains burst out from the realm around her, destroying everything without hesitation!

Threads searing against skin, blades cutting apart flesh! A maelstrom of calamity unfolded with Griselda in the centre.

Blood seeped from the gaps of Griselda's puppet body as crimson began to taint her silver blade.

*Clap…

"That's enough girls. You know there's only so much I can tolerate when it comes to fighting between allies."

Griselda's pupil constricted as she immediately retracted her power and kneeled.

Nanna did the same.

"There, isn't that better?" Lumiria smiled.

Griselda could feel Lumiria's gaze.

Yet nothing happened.

"It must've been hard to watch Syrion's death. You may take these days to rest."

Having said that, Lumiria disappeared as Griselda sighed inwardly in relief.

She was safe.

For now.