Chapter 44 — That’s What Friends Are For

Editors: GREETER & PROCRASTINATOR

[Ei’s POV]

“Ei!” (???)

Eh?

I turn around to see who called my name, and Luna is running towards me.

“Luna?! What are you doing here?” (Ei)

“Kurui said something was wrong! We came here and found you fighting some guy!” (Luna)

“It was a… personal grudge.” (Ei)

“Also, why did you have to run off on your own?? We can fight too, you know!” (Luna)

“I can’t risk losing you too.” (Ei)

“Ei, we can fight! We’re not useless punching bags, let us help you!” (Luna)

“It’s important to protect your friends, but ya should trust ‘em too, ya know?” (Kurui)

“How do you… all run so fast…?” (Nadia)

Everyone is here… Well, not Flandre, but still.

“I can’t lose anyone else… I’ve already lost too much…” (Ei)

They might not know it, but I lost my entire family when I died… Then I lose another friend on top of that? Because of me? I-I can’t lose anyone else…

“Ei, it’s okay…” (Luna)

Hahaha… I’m turning into a crying m-mess again…

“If you need someone to talk to, I am sure that one of us would be willing to.” (Nadia)

“T-thanks…” (Ei)

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

Some time has passed since then… It was basically just me crying and everyone comforting me…

“Alrighty, ya feelin’ better, Ei?” (Kurui)

“Yeah…” (Ei)

“Good. Now, don’t go runnin’ off on us again, okay?” (Kurui)

“O-okay…” (Ei)

A puff of red smoke appears behind Kurui.

“Oooo~ Is that INSANITY? I thought you got sealed!” (Flandre)

““GAH!”” (Nadia + Luna)

“Flandre, are ya behind this mess?” (Kurui)

“A mess? What do you mean? It’s just revenge~” (Flandre)

“Revenge or not, Ei ran off without us. Is that because of ya?” (Kurui)

“Me~? Nope~ She never told me she had friends.” (Flandre)

“*sigh* Alright then. I guess I’ll have to lecture Ei a bit more then.” (Kurui)

“That sounds rough. Good luck Ei~” (Flandre)

And then she disappears in a puff of red smoke…

“Are you my parent now?” (Ei)

“Nope. Just gotta make sure ya don’t run off again.” (Kurui)

…

“Ei, we’ve been travelling together for three months! You need to trust me more! You know how I fight!” (Luna)

“Exactly. Have you forgotten Aleph Null? We held our ground against it.” (Nadia)

“And I’m basically a god, even if I’m sealed.” (Kurui)

“You need to trust us more! Or at least tell us! Communication is important!” (Luna)

“I’m sorry…” (Ei)

“Try your best to learn from your mistakes.” (Nadia)

“Let’s head back. Alrighty, hold on everyone.” (Kurui)

This time, I didn’t blink. The world blurs around us, and we’re standing back in Luna’s house. 

“There’s something else we need to talk about… When Flandre and I were infiltrating the castle, we ran into one of the Cardinals. They said there were the sixth.” (Ei) 

“EH??” (Luna)

“Who were they? And what happened to them?” (Nadia)

“If the Cult is behind all these attacks… there are likely complications.” (Kurui)

“Nn. Earl Voltrek, the one behind the actual attacks said they were just diversions… As for the Cardinal, they should be dead. I don’t think Flandre would have let them live.” (Ei)

“Sounds like her alright. Vadina, have ya been listenin’? I think we’re gonna need another appointment with Kusanali.” (Kurui)

“I hath been watching. As for thy request, why canst thou not?” (Vadina)

“Eh… I could. Still, thought ya might wanna do somethin’ since ya barely ever appear.” (Kurui)

“In a city full of Elves, mine presence iseth not a thing to be taken lightly. Thou shouldst know the feelings of the Elves towards spirits.” (Vadina)

“Yea, yea, but still, ya could afford to come out more when travelling. I don’t think humans care much. Only the Elves and the Mystic Races* seem to really care. Well, Vampires probably don’t considerin’ they basically are Lesser Spirits but with the intelligence of a Great Spirit.” (Kurui)

(*A/N: See the end for full explanation on mystic races!)

“*sigh* I wilst make an effort to appeareth more often in the future. I wilst goeth to see Kusanali now.” (Vadina)

Then she disappears…

“Any ideas on what the Cult was trying to do with the attacks?” (Ei)

“Nope.” (Kurui)

“Maybe they were trying to set up something like when they tried to summon Kurui?” (Luna)

“It is possible that it could be a ritual, though if it were to truly be one, I cannot imagine what its effect would be like.” (Nadia)

Hmmm… I have an idea. Time to use my map feature for I think the first time!

“Does anyone have any newspapers or something for where the attacks occurred?” (Ei)

“Huh? What do you need those for?” (Luna)

“I have an idea…”

“I got ‘em. Here ya go.” (Kurui)

Alright, let’s see how filled out my map is… Not very much. I wonder, can I use magic to fill it out? Let me try…

Silently, I extend wind out in all directions to feel all over the city. Every corner, crack, and the outlines of every house. I won’t go in though, that’d be an invasion of privacy. 

Slowly, my map updates itself to show the entire city. It took a while though… more than I thought it would. Everyone has been giving me weird stares for the past five or so minutes since I’ve been completely silent for the last ten or so.

Well, now that the map is updated, time plot the points… It should be pretty easy, since htere are only eight. The first attack goes here… the second there… the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth go there, there, there, and there.. Then the last three go there, there, and there.

Hmmm… The shape is a circle made up of five points surrounding a smaller crescent of three points. Now if we connect them like this… Oh, I see. If you connect the points just right it forms an inverted pentacle: A circle on the outside with a five point star on the inside, though five of these points are shared on the outside.

“Alright, I’m done.” (Ei)

Alright, I should be able to print this.

“[Print]” (Ei)

A piece of paper appears on the table in front of me. The map draws itself and then places the five points, finally connecting them together with red lines. Two purple dots are placed where two missing attacks would have been.

“This is my theory. Somehow the Cult is trying to draw a ritual circle around the entire city, anchored on ten points. The eight red dots are where attacks have occurred and the two purple ones are where I think they would attack next.” (Ei)

“A circle of this size…? It cannot be…” (Nadia)

“Eh?? Nadia? Do you know what this is?” (Luna)

“I may…” (Nadia)

“Well, I know what it is. Why don’t ya take a shot at it?” (Kurui)

“Alright. If my guess is correct, this is supposed to be a spell from the Mythic Era… Though its original name is lost, Father has named it Tsar Bomb 2.0’.” (Nadia)

…I have a really bad feeling about this, if the effect is like the name.

“He said that it would take the area within the circle and force it to collapse into itself, creating a massive explosion. On the scale of this circle, assuming it were actually this effect… it would likely destroy the entire continent.” (Nadia)

That’s worse than I thought… Please say that that isn’t true, Kurui.

“Close. Fall wasn’t quite right. It’d create a massive explosion, but the explosion doesn’t ‘explode’ things per se. Instead, it turns anything it touches into Primordial Energy.” (Kurui)

…I’m not sure which is worse. Though, that does make sense considering the Cult’s goals…

“It’s quite possible that there are spell fragments at the attack sites that could be very dangerous if left alone.” (Kurui)

“And was that why you wished for an audience with me?” (Kusanali)

Behind Kurui, a green light appears and forms into Kusanali, along with a similar blue light that forms into Vadina.

“Yep. Can we look at the attack sights or nah?” (Kurui)

“Hmm… Maybe your friends could learn something about the Cult or magic, so I’ll allow it. Take these. Show it to the guards and they should let you in.” (Kusanali) 

“Thanks. Alright, Ei, do ya need some rest or can we move out? It’s probably a better idea to get movin’ tho.” (Kurui)

“I think you can handle it from here. Goodbye, everyone.” (Kusanali)

Kusanali snaps and turns into a bunch of leaves and silver colored petals. They drift away as they turn to nothing.

“I… need some rest… Kurui, put me to sleep pleasee.” (Ei)

“Alrighty” (Kurui)

Azure_Fog

You thought the arc was almost over, but NOPE we got cleanup now! Anyways, I’m thinking of adding something like the Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail special programs in between each arc and maybe in the middle. It could be fun to have a bunch of characters talking about what happened and what’s coming up. It wouldn’t be canon though, since I might drag dead people into it. Though, I might drop little bits of lore in there so uhhh stay tuned for that? I’ll add a poll to see what people think of it…

 

Alright, Mystic Races, what are they? Well, I haven’t really gone over the races of Andromeda before… and also because I’m currently redoing the map which means a bunch of new things are getting added and its messing with a bunch of stuff like Anai (Elven Capital) now being on a different continent from Hauritsu (Human Capital), so things are subject to change! 

 

Anyways, here’s the current list: Humans, High Elves, Forest Elves, Cavern Dwarves, Sky Dwarves, Giants, Beatkin, Espers, Changlings (rare), Titans, unnamed jellyfish-like race, unnamed crab race, Demons, unnamed ice-devil-from-D&D-like race, and the Mystic Races. There are also races in the underworld/Caverns of Arachnia, but that’s not planned enough to give a list. (which is a problem since we’re probably going there next arc…)

 

The Mystic Races are essentially your monster-like races, kinda? They’re sometimes monsters, sometimes youkai, and always extremely rare. They’re all special in some way and you’d be lucky to see one in your lifetime. Most of them have villages (or a kingdom if you’re the Vampires).

 

Here’s a list of the known ones (aka the ones I’ve made) so far: Vampires, Spirits, Tengu, Kitsune, Fairy, and Celestial. 

 

Anyways, there’s the massive explanation, adiós!