I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

At this point, everyone and their aunt knew what the [Soulscape] is, but…what about [Origins]? Elizabeth had thought that it was the true name for what other people referred to as [Affinities], like with Rossie. Her girlfriend had an [Origin] that said [Healing], and it further evolved into [Emphatic Healing] or something like that.

 

And she was among the best [Healers] she had ever seen. Then we have Michael who had one focused on magic, Agatha was the same, almost all the Magical Girls or Wizards she had seen had something like that in common. So she wasn’t to blame for her misunderstanding. The Magi here thought that what they found when probing the soul and got words from were these [Affinities] because they were somewhat similar to what the people in question used the most or with greater mastery. So what was Elizabeth’s [Origin]?

 

She was [The Shadow Weaver], she hadn’t doubted what this meant at the time. She liked to use [Shadows] and had a great talent at doing so, and she weaved her shadows among attacks and spells. So what could she be besides a [Shadow Weaver] then?

 

And there…it laid the trap. She didn’t doubt it, at all, she had [Identified] plenty of things when she got her skill, she even used it on her own hand! On her [Status], on the numbers, skills, [Titles]. Everything…Everything but her [Origin]. She checked on the other people’s origin, she checked on almost anything with great gusto even!

 

All but herself, and granted, she had been clouded on her choices, she didn’t think as much as she wished, she didn’t judge, and she didn’t even try to see beyond the obvious. Not at least till she woke up [Alice] at least. And even then the girl had limited time, so she couldn’t blame her for prioritizing other things.

 

And where did that leave her? With one of the biggest gaps in her information. She knew what [Origin] were. She even knew that she was able to pierce the gap and find the name of the [Origin] of people that weren’t mages!

 

She had found what Akira’s was at the last moment when she used that as a [Key] to invade his [Soulscape]. So when focusing her skill on herself and diving deep within…

 

What she found…Was…A dark place painted in dark colors. It wasn’t her [Shadow Haven], nor was her [Soulscape]. It wasn’t the spire in the middle of the ruined city of Aquila. Nor was the laboratory-library that had served as her [Soulscape] when she arrived at the MPI.

 

No.

 

It was…What seemed to be an empty place, there weren’t buildings nor trees or bushes, just an open land with nothing on it, at the distance she could see crystal-like azure pillars that joined the floor with the ceiling, and atop the ceiling she was able to barely perceive a pulsating web of azure color that seemed to extend all over the ceiling.

 

Focusing on the pillars Elizabeth willed herself and suddenly she teleported to the spot where the pillars joined the ceiling, it hadn’t been her [Shadow Step] skill, nor had been it a spell of the space attribute either. She just shifted her position in space…somehow.

 

But at this distance, she could see the web joining the crystal spire, and within the spire…She saw small creatures swimming on it, they seemed to traverse from the floor towards the ceiling using these crystal spires. And when arriving at the top they entered the web and seemed to use it as a means of travel.

 

“Most interesting…” Elizabeth said, unsure of what this meant to her.

 

“You should seen it a year ago, this place lit like a Christmas tree.” Another voice said, Elizabeth quickly turned preparing to attack…only to find nothing.

 

“Down here, come, take a seat.” The voice spoke to her once more, only this time she knew where it was…she knew where to move…so she moved there.

 

It took only intent for her to find out, and suddenly she was seated at a crystal table, looking at…Someone she hadn’t expected to see this soon.

 

“Did you left [Elemental Weaver] behind?” Elizabeth asked at the other figure.

 

“No, Alice is still there with her she refused to come even though I have been calling for her.” The other girl spoke her tone even. This other girl was of course. “I’m [The Shadow Weaver], the one that was supposed to be born in this world to prepare for the advent…The one who is the daughter of Eleanor Windsor and Jack Ashcroft.”

 

A pale girl, her figure was lithe and modest, she was dressed in a black dress that stuck to her figure, but as she was on the more modest size it didn’t look out of place, her hair was silky black and her eyes were shining with azure light. Elizabeth was happy that this girl didn’t have red eyes.

 

“Red eyes aren’t the sign of corruption nor taint. They merely signify that someone has no control over their mana and their mana is in turmoil. The tainted had no control over their mana so they had red eyes.” The black-haired girl said as she took a sip from her tea cup. She was proper in her mannerisms and made Elizabeth self-conscious of her own stance, “You on the other hand had red eyes sometimes because there was a foreign entity trying to take control over your mana, and your…System was fighting back.”

 

So they didn’t have red eyes because of the taint, but because they couldn’t control their mana? Then….

 

“Yes, My Mother was tainted too, she just had better control over her mana so her eyes didn’t turn red.” Spoke the other girl, hearing a version of herself speak about Echidna as her mother was…weird.

 

“She isn’t our Mother,” Elizabeth said, she may have some… differences with her Mother, but even so. She was the proud daughter of Catherine Starlight, “Unless you are a version of Chloe…?”

 

She left the other words unspoken, even to this day she still hoped to find some vestige or remnant of Chloe, and when Elizabeth found that her [Minions] could hold the soul of people, she even thought of using one to resurrect Chloe.

 

“Chloe Ashcroft is no longer in this world, what little remnants of her [Soul] had were assimilated by you. No version of her will ever walk on Zanaam again. I’m not Chloe Ashcroft, nor do I refer to Eleanor Windsor as Mother because I have aspects of her. I refer to her as such, because to me she is that.” The other girl said, looking at Elizabeth with her unwavering gaze. “No, I am simply the collection of experiences you should have lived as the Inheritor of the Akashic Record. For I am the Shadow Weaver.”

 

The space seemed to resonate with the words of the black-haired girl, and somehow, Elizabeth was able to feel everything as the words left the mouth of the other girl, she could feel the presence hidden within the floor below her feet, a billion upon billion of small little creatures waiting to climb the spires.

 

The crystal spires had a few of them, all lively, all swimming upward to the ceiling where they would join the web made of azure light and more above, the place where she stood right now, a perfectly circular sphere encased within a gem that seemed to grow more sides as she tried to look closer.

 

And a few kilometers above? The [Shadow Haven], her [Soulscape]. And the small armada of shadow dragons waiting for her, a few eggs encased on the floor awaiting for her command to wake up. And so she saw, Elizabeth saw as one of the small squirming entities swam closer to the surface, how it stopped near another egg…

 

How it grew a shadowy scaled egg, how within the egg it started to form into a shadowy reptilian form… A Shadow Dragon.

 

“...this….this place…these things…” Elizabeth looked around the place, the entities around, the spires that seemed to hold the ceiling above them. “ Is it here where…The souls of those that lived in Aquila are?”

 

The girl at the other side of the table nodded her head, “It is, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. This was supposed to be a mirror, a reflection of the real world and it was supposed to help sustain the World.” And so, extending her hand to the side, one of those entities within the floor rose to her hand, it looked like a tadpole made of light. “And instead we ended like this because your [Soul] housed the souls of a dead civilization. It is the reason why you are still alive after they stripped you of your identity.”

 

She what now? Actually, when had she stopped being [The Inheritor of the Akashic Record] and turned just into an [Inheritor]?

 

“No wait, more importantly, who are you? What is this place?” Elizabeth said, as she extended her hand and took the tadpole of light from the other girl. She was…cold, the little thing seemed to be happier on her hands and she fed some of her [Shadow Mana] to the thing before sending it back on its way to the spire of crystal. “ I wanted to know about my [Origin]. What is a [Shadow Weaver]

?”

 

The other girl looked at her and then turned her eyes to the tadpole, it was faster than the other, and even those that were ahead of it made way to it. Elizabeth was sure that soon enough she would find the little thing in her [Shadow Haven].

 

“ Those that hold [Shadow] on its name, are those that work in the back. We specialize in doing the work that no one else wants to do. We make sure the world turns around and make sure everything is in order.” The other girl said as she stood, the chair made of crystal under her sinking back into the ground. “Those that hold the [Weaver] on its name, are those that make sure everything is in order and are usually focused on the more logistic side of things. We are those that make sure that everything arrives in order.”

 

The girl then turned to look at Elizabeth, as if that was all the information she needed to piece everything together.

 

“That makes no sense, so I was supposed to make everything work from the shadows and keep the mail of everyone arriving in time? I guess that my Shadow Minions and Shadow Step could work….No wait, if the shadow minions weren’t taken into consideration then was I supposed to be a delivery girl?” Elizabeth wondered aloud, she…wouldn’t like doing that. That sounded like too much work.

 

“No, Mother would have scolded me for making such a stupid assumption,” The other girl sighed, then raised her hand toward the ceiling. “What do you see Elizabeth Starbright?”

 

Elizabeth turned her head up and saw…Yes, it was such a fine ceiling, she couldn’t see any imperfection there at all!

 

“The sky? No, the ceiling? Or is it the web? Whatever it is, I don’t see anything, especially Alice Windsor.” Elizabeth said back at the other girl.

 

“It is Ashcroft, Mother took the Ashcroft name after marrying Father.” The other girl said as she shook her head, almost as if she was dealing with a dumber version of herself. “The Web Elizabeth, look at the web.”

 

The web? Yes, she had seen the stupid thing before, how could one not see a web made of azure light that was a little big…….Oh. Her eyes turned wide and wider as she tried to search a place where the stupid thing wasn’t covered and….found nothing.

 

It was big, very big, and it covered almost everywhere, she tried to summon one of her Dragon Scouts to scour this place, but the skill didn’t seem to react, so instead she used her [Senses], connected herself to the shadows and opened her [Eyes].

 

Soon this place was covered in shadows with eyes searching for a spot without the web… She found nothing.

 

“...that is the creepiest thing I have ever seen.” The other girl, the other other Alice, said as she shuddered, heh. She looked cute while doing so…No Elizabeth, don’t try to flirt with another version of yourself….Even if she is cute…The silent type is cute.

 

“I don’t date bimbos.” The other version of Alice said, Rude!

 

She wasn’t a bimb….oh…she could read her mind….But she wasn’t….

 

“Nor do I date people that lie to themselves.” The other girl added salt to the injury.

 

“Fine! I am working on it okay! Besides, it would be weird dating a metaphysical version of myself anyway, and I already have Rossie either way!” Elizabeth said sulking, the other girl was rude anyway!

 

“So who am I? And what is [The Shadow Weaver]....” Alice said looking around, a flourish of her hand to the ceiling, and the azure web shined brighter, she could see how it joined and how it was even embedded within the crystal spires. “... [The Shadow Weaver] was the one who would encompass the world using a web made out of shadows, we would join every single living thing on this planet using our web made of mana and shadows. The lives of every human in Zaanam would link with the world. And their shadows would be safeguarded within our domain. Then the System advent would arrive and so, we would help as administrators. I would have accepted the mission given to us and ascended as [The Shadow of The World] and the one who would safeguard its secrets.”

 

The girl’s eyes shone with blue light, her shadow seemed to turn into a living thing, it acted as if it was restraining a monster or something as if it held some kind of primordial entity…As if Alice Ashcroft was the only thing keeping it at bay…

 

Keyword here? Acted as if.

 

“Oh god, I may be somewhat of a bimbo, but at least I don’t have eight-grade syndrome…Gosh, this is so embarrassing….Is it because you grew up in a strict home? Or did Echidna not let you play with your friends? Were you home-schooled? You poor thing…” Elizabeth said as the other girl’s face blushed, the shadows behind the girl didn’t have anything there of course. Elizabeth wasn’t able to summon her normal minions after all. So why would the other girl be able to? And more importantly, Elizabeth was aware that they were in [Her Soul], not the other way around.

 

Was Alice Ashcroft another version of her? Yes, she was. But that was all she was, another [Version].

 

“...Mother did let me play half an hour with my friends.” The other girl said in a low tone, “And I could always play with Jenna if needed….”

 

“Right…So, that is? [The Shadow Weaver] is the one that has the potential to link all living things and safeguard them?” Elizabeth asked looking around.

 

“That is? Do you understand how amazing and important our job was? Now that we aren’t doing it The world needed to turn to two other people and have them do it. Do you think Father was even supposed to hold the weight of the system on his shoulders? I don’t care if that Saintsworths runaway has to work her ass off, but do you even know how much trouble it caused the fact that we didn’t take our mantle? That we aren’t doing our job!” Alice screamed at her, tears flowing from her face, “...And Mother….she doesn’t….she will never know…She will never say to me that I did a good job…”

 

“But we are doing our work,” Elizabeth said, surprising the other girl.

 

“What are you even going about…I know bimbos don’t think, but even for you, this is too much. How are we doing our work? We were supposed to take care of the WORLD!” The other girl said angrily at her, creating a spear made of shadows and pointing it at Elizabeth.

 

“Look bellow, aren’t these the Souls of a world?” Elizabeth said pointing down, her own shadow expanded and covered the floor, and a hundred upon thousands of eyes opened. Each one instead of having a pupil held the image of a human. A humanoid figure, none had defined features, a few here and there seemed more female or male. And perhaps one in a thousand even had a face. “Aren’t these what makes a world?”

 

“...I mean…I guess?” Alice said looking at those around her, she of course knew they held the souls of a dead world. But…she had never taken a closer look at them why would she? “But they are from a dead world….”

 

“They may be. But even so, I have a responsibility to them, they came to my aid before you know? They didn’t need to, they could have waited for my demise and ignored me at my weakest point. But they came, they bleed for me. They fought for me even though it meant almost certain death.” And some of those did die at Akira’s hand on the arena floor. “So I will do my best for them, your work may have been indeed to be someone who protected Zaanam.”

 

Elizabeth’s shadow retracted, returning to her, closing the eyes and letting the soul of the damned sleep and wait for her call, “But I’m not. Alice Ashcroft may have been the Shadow Weaver of Zaanam. But I’m not Alice Ashcroft.” Elizabeth said, her clothes turned into a living shadow. Her magical girl regalia manifesting once more. Not the one in bright pastel colors with yellow and blue.

 

No, it was her dark magical girl form, the dress she had used so long ago the first time she turned the shift spell. The dress of dark and golden colors, the dress of a [Shadow Magical Girl. “I’m Elizabeth Starbright, The Shadow Weaver that Inherited the last hopes of Aquila. The one who inherited the souls of Terra Invicta. The one who will be the most free-living being in this world.”

 

“That sounds cool and all, but you only want to sleep,” Alice said, breaking the dramatic moment.

 

“Yes, because I will be free to sleep snuggling Rossie!” Elizabeth however, didn’t seem to mind the interruption of her dramatic moment, “And maybe Rena if Rossie doesn’t mind.”

 

“Fine, here, take it.” Alice said as she summoned a blue screen and sent it her way.” That is what you wanted.”

 

It was the information about her [Origin], a system-made description, it read:

“My [Base] was supposed to be [Arcane Defender] and my rank was [Warden] at least while alive…You on the other hand… That blonde asshole did a number on us when he granted you his vestige.” Alice seemed to not like Alexanders too much.

 

“Yeah…I may need to [Appraise] that information too.” Elizabeth wondered what they even meant.

 

“[Appraisal]? You can just use [Identify] you know.” Alice said bringing another blue screen from her pocket, “Here, I have one here.”

 

And so, the other girl threw it at her. Elizabeth felt the thing latch into her skill and change, but unlike what she expected….This one was made using her [Mana], not the mana of [The World].

 

“How?” Elizabeth said aloud, to be honest. She wasn’t expecting to get this thing again, it was a skill that was too close to [The World], and while she didn’t have a bad relationship with [The World], they weren’t friends either.

 

“The other Alice, the one that is within your [Shadow Empress] shift, she has your mana remember. You are feeding it to her to keep her alive. So I have your mana too…Didn’t have too much of it…But it doesn’t matter anymore, what little place I had to live is gone now that you are here…” The other Alice said as she took off her jacket.

 

“No, wait! I don’t want to cheat on Rossie again!” Elizabeth said as she quickly covered her face with her hands (She did, however, not cover her eyes)

 

“See? I’m breaking apart, your mana is too….wild. It doesn’t allow the presence of other types within. So I’m being eroded, I don’t have a strong [Ego] like [The Shadow Empress]. I wasn’t made with help from [The World]. Alice was supposed to take over and guide you back into order, but instead, Ethan used her as a way to take over.” This Alice said as she showed her bare arms to Elizabeth.

 

They were covered in azure-like cracks, it reminded Elizabeth of how her body had looked when Ethan was taking over her. And now…she was doing the same…to Alice…

 

“No….NO.” The first one had been Elizabeth, refusing to let someone else suffer what she had. The second one? That was [Elizabeth], she would not let someone else go through that, she wouldn’t Allow it.

 

“What are you doing?” This Alice said, the cracks seeming to stop, only for shadows to start pouring from them, “STOP IT! YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO….AGGGHHH!”

 

Was she hurting? Elizabeth didn’t know, but “Your story will not end, there is hope. There is a way…Now go…And tell your other half…That I will find you.”

 

And so from the floor, the maw of a dragon rose and ate this Alice, it turned to look at Elizabeth for a second and then flew straight up, it sank into the ceiling and continued flying. Elizabeth didn’t see it arrive at her [Shadow Haven], but she knew that it would arrive at its destination.

 

It would take this half and merge it with the other half, it would take Alice Ashcroft straight to [Alice Ashcroft], it would take her to [The Shadow Empress]. Wherever she was, but for now?

 

Elizabeth had one more thing to do before returning to the real world. So she turned her attention to the blue screen Alice had given her before leaving.

The Shadow Weaver:

You are the one who uses Shadows to weave things together, be it Mana or Prana. Divine or common, elemental or ordinary. You weave all of it the same, do you turn it into a [Spell]? Do you turn it into a [Skill]? It matters not. All that has a [Shadow] is yours to weave, but your reason to be isn’t something so simple. No.   You were supposed to weave a web made out of [Shadows] and connect all living things to [The World], but that is no longer what you do. No… Instead, you made a web of [Shadows] and took into you the [Souls] of those that lost the place they call [Home].   The [Souls] of those that are broken, the [Souls] of those that are hurt, all of those are now under you.   Those that need help will flock to you now, those that are wounded will seek your presence. For you are [The Shadow Weaver]. So then tell me this Elizabeth Starbright, if you dedicated your life to trying to help those that are broken. Who will take care of you?   [Increased proficiency toward Mana Manipulation.] [Increased proficiency toward Soul Manipulation.] [Increased proficiency toward Mana.] [Increased proficiency toward Shadows.] [Increased proficiency toward Healing Souls.] [Increased proficiency toward Nurturing Souls.] [Domain expansion achieved.][Path towards Apotheosis Open.]