I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

In the end, neither Nyx nor any of her dragons found any remnants of the connection to the missing Shadow Dragons, nor towards Alice’s [Shadow Empress] or [Elemental Weaver]. Could she have gotten something if she went for the [Shadow Empress] job? Or maybe if she asked for the [Elemental Weaver]?

Elizabeth wasn’t sure, but if anything she didn’t want to risk it. To risk overwriting the existence of Alice by taking the [Shadow Empress] job. Nor risk the remainings of [Elemental Weaver], that was the last true vestige of her pre-advent form.

The Elizabeth Starbright that didn’t [Devour] anyone else to exist, a snapshot of what she had been before advent…Before she woke up in the ruined city of Aquila… Before she started taking in the parts of others to reform herself…

Before she stole this body…

“[You are thinking too much about that Mistress,it was Chloe’s decision to let you take this body that was rightfully yours… It was the choices of those that make you what you are today.]” Nyx said as he looked at her from the table.

Her always loyal Nyx…

“Perhaps, but what do you expect a girl to do while surrounded by this ambiance?” Elizabeth said with a small giggle, “We are surrounded by darkness, the sun never shines upon us, and if that wasn’t enough…What am I supposed to do dressed like this?”

And that was the thing, after taking the job, her clothes had changed once more, it turned from her bright and yellow Magical Girl clothes to a dark one, similar to the first [Shift] she got almost two years ago, only….there was a deeper change in her clothing. She had some armor plates similar to those she had on her [Shadow Empress]. It was, in a nutshell, a gothic-style magical girl outfit.

“How can I be positive about the outcome of anything while dressed as a Goth? They are known to sulk very easily. Like that girl, [Lunar Shade], would you expect her to be a happy-go girl?” And that was the thing, what kind of life was that girl living after advent?

Had everything truly changed for the better?

Could she trust [Echidna] to do what was right for the former [Tainted]?

Was that even for her to worry? She had many things to deal with as it was.

“[I know not the answers to those questions Mistress, but perhaps…Perhaps you ought to ask to someone else?]” Nyx said making a doorway out of shadows in the wall, Elizabeth could perceive that it would connect to the real world, waking her up as soon as she walked through it. “[Perhaps Mistress Rossaline could offer you a better advice?]”

“...Fine, but if Rossie’s answer is to kill everyone I’m blaming you for it.” Elizabeth grumbled as she walked towards the exit, “And Nyx…Don’t bother too much Beato, or any of the other minions. If they want to embrace their former life, that is their right. If they want to discard it…that is also their right. I will not make them do anything they don’t want to do.”

“[And that is precisely why, they ought to pick you over their former life Mistress. So that they no longer are beholden to a dead world. And so that they may strive to make the best of this second chance you have granted them.]” Nyx said as she walked through the threshold that separated her [Soulscape] from the real world. “[May your light always guide us…Oh Goddess of Shadows.]”

So Elizabeth didn’t hear the last words Nyx spoke, and perhaps that was for the best…

—-------------------------------

“Hnnng….Rossie….not yet….we aren’t of age yet….” Elizabeth mumbled as she opened her eyes.

She of course hadn’t been dreaming anything weird, for she had been awake in her [Soulscape], but even so, it felt right to say it, for it was obvious to sleep talk after waking up.

“Rossie?” So when she opened her eyes…and found no one saying anything to her, Elizabeth’s senses sharpened as she expanded her mind eye to the shadows around. Searching for hidden danger or anything.

“Welcome back Mistress, Lady Rossaline has yet to wake up.” And the first to speak to her after waking up had been Aura who was hovering at her side.

“Eli, welcome back.” The second one to speak to her was of course Rena, who was still standing in the same spot as she had been before Elizabeth closed her eyes, she…probably was also in the same stance. But Elizabeth wasn’t quite sure.

“Lady Beatrice hasn’t opened her eyes either, it seems that they are communing. But we can’t breach the defenses Lady Beatrice put, so we aren’t quite sure what is happening.” Aura said pointing to Beatrice.

Had the little girl done that while she summoned into the spire? How was that possible?

“How long was I out?” Elizabeth asked to the purple-haired maid at her side.

“Barely ten minutes at best, your mana didn’t fluctuate at any moment, so we knew everything was all right….” Aura answered.

“But?” Elizabeth felt like there was a but somewhere.

“Rossaline’s mana isn’t as serene as yours. I had the same problems when evolving my job…That is part of the reason I settled for doubling down.” Rena said pointing at Rossie, just in time for a mana flare to discharge…

Only for Beatrice’s mana to catch it up, tame it, and then return it to Rossie.

…That seemed dangerous.

“Has this been happening for long?” Elizabeth asked to the girls who had been taking guard.

“Yes,” Rena answered first. “Rossaline has been discharging them at odd timings, the first one almost hit you even. But Aura managed to re-direct it elsewhere, after that one Beatrice has been trying to tame the discharges…”

How was Beatrice even doing that? Wasn’t her build that of a fighter? A Valkyrie?

“I think she is using the close connection she has to both of you to tame the discharges, by using the parts of her [Soul] that got made by the fragments of you in her, and then sending it back tamer so Lady Rossaline can use them in her job evolution.” Aura continued the explanation.

…Was her job evolution like this? Was that the reason why Aura was standing near her?

No wait, did Aura even had parts of her [Soul] to do the same? The girl was using one of her [Doppelgangers] as a body…..

“No Mistress, I don’t have parts of your Soul. I am merely standing here as a precaution…” Aura started explaining when something made Elizabeth turn her attention towards Rossaline

“Dodge!” Elizabeth [Commanded] and Aura teleported to the far end of the room. Elizabeth wasn’t sure what ticked her off, or why she knew something was going to happen. Was it her [Instincts]? Her new [Job]? The fact that it was happening to Rossie?

She couldn’t tell, what she could tell was that she needed to act. First, she raised her hand and pointed it at her girlfriend, then moving the shadows around she weaved her own shadow and body in place. Making sure nothing would move her.

[Nothing could move her from the place she decided to stand.]

From the moment Elizabeth raised her hand to the moment that a new mana discharge flew from Rossaline Singh barely a second passed. It was enough for Elizabeth to teleport Rena away from the line of fire. And to make sure Aura was at her side.

So after making sure she was secured, she braced herself and…. Played catch. With what you ask? Well, mana discharges are an interesting phenomenon, they aren’t that rare even if somewhat exotic. Usually, they happen because some student doesn’t check their magic circles and they make half-assed mandalas. They don’t make sure the energy node can actually hold the amount of mana they are funneling.

So the mana tries to find a way to escape, ergo. Mana Discharge.

In this case, however…The reason was different, Rossie was an excellent [Mage], she was probably equal to an Arch-Mage in her magic circle creation, and she was definitely above the most common arch-mage in her ward construction. Her knowledge about nodes was probably above what Elizabeth had, and that was after one took into consideration that Elizabeth had access to a vast library of nodes from the [Inheritance] she got from Alexanders.

Then what was the problem? If the Mandala was perfect if the magic circle Rossie made was flawless…

Why was Elizabeth working as a lightning rod to the mana Rossie was discharging at this very moment?

“MISTRESS!!!!” Because it was big, probably bigger than what both Rena and Aura had dealt with before.

“ELIZABETH!!!” And both girls were trying hard to get to Elizabeth and help her. But the current of mana was too strong for either to affect.

Really, the only one that could deal with these amounts of Mana here was Elizabeth…And even then, the blonde girl was already feeling her hand go numb as the torrent of mana tried to find a way out. Not that it could.

[This mana would be tamed and then it would be used to help Rossie finish her job evolution.]

But why was it happening? Why had Rossie not attempted this job evolution before? Was she truly waiting for her? No.

Rossie wouldn’t do that, she hadn’t waited to move her [Origin] from mere [Healing] to [Emphatic Healing] before. Rossie respected Elizabeth’s independence and didn’t force her to do anything. If Rossie had asked her to do the job evolution…She would have done it, and then she would have asked Rossie to do it with her.

And Rossie would have accepted, Elizabeth knew this.

So if Rossie hadn’t done that…Then the reason was these mana discharges.

So once more, why was this happening?

Errors in the magic circle? No.

Problems with the mandala? No.

Problems with Mana Manipulation? No.

Then that meant the problem was with the user. In this case, with Rossie. But what problem could her girlfriend have? She wasn’t rushing anything, nor was she missing in achievements or proficiency.

“[The Soul]” Elizabeth said as she continued to channel the rampaging mana into her [Heart] to calm it down, it ached, her [Heart] demanded her, it wanted to take this mana for itself. So it could fuel its evolution.

It could taste it, the flavor of a [Sin] that could help it evolve further.

It asked of Elizabeth…it demanded for her to take it for herself, but Elizabeth said [No]. This was something that Rossie needed, this was a mana that could be used to help her girlfriend. So Elizabeth didn’t take it for herself, instead, she tamed the mana and afterward, she sent it into the [Soulscape] of her girlfriend.

Into the apartment within the residential district. Were Rossie was sitting with her eyes closed, going through her job evolution. Elizabeth could see her girlfriend with her closed eyes, and more importantly, she could see the reason why her girlfriend was experiencing so much trouble.

Her self within the [Soulscape]....was cracked, golden scars coursed her body, and while most of them had been woven shut by a black thread, not all of them had been treated like this. And from those that hadn’t been treated, the mana discharges flew free.

Half of the conscious mind of Elizabeth spoke to her, that she was seeing something that she shouldn’t be seeing, that acting could put her at risk, that this wasn’t something a mere mortal should even attempt to fix

Elizabeth squished that part of her with a ruthless guttural growl, that was her lovely girlfriend suffering, and if she could do something to help her, she would. Rossaline Singh would not suffer if Elizabeth could help it. So while focusing on it, Elizabeth felt the world around her slow to a crawl.

In the real world, she could see herself still dealing with a mana discharge almost as big as her, she could see the worried face of Rena as the girl was debating if she should attempt to divert the mana discharge…Or attempt to cut it down.

The mere idea of cutting a mana discharge in two…that was such a Rena thing.

At the side, she could feel Aura, only for the spell she was preparing to fizzle out. And afterward, she felt a stream of Mana coming in her direction from the purple-haired girl. Weird. Had she been seen?

Actually, how was she able to see this?

Looking down she found….herself, dressed in her favorite pajamas. Wearing her favorite slippers, weird. But Elizabeth didn’t have time to worry about that, she [Knew] that time was limited in this frozen world. So with another thought, she willed herself into Rossie’s Soulscape.

It was….weird. She appeared in the apartment, and yet. Instead of seeing the ruined city, outside the apartment was…a destroyed home. Remains of a normal house that had been ransacked, and instead of other houses surrounding this home was an empty void. Instead of a sun or the blue moon, she was used to seeing was a black hole in the sky.

“What is this?” Elizabeth couldn’t help but say this aloud.

“What is the Soulscape?” Another voice answered her question with that question.

“...Again? We have been going about this for two years already. The [Soulscape] is the reflection of our [Soul].” Elizabeth said half annoyed turned her attention to the one who spoke. Its voice…was weird.

Neither male….or….female….what?

“No, that is [The Soulscape], what I asked you is: What is the Soulscape.” The entity spoke again.

Elizabeth…She…She shouldn’t be speaking with this entity. She…She wasn’t ready…what?

No, she was ready. If she needed to be ready, she would be. She would help Rossie.

“....The…soulscape…is….who….we…..are….” Elizabeth said gritting her teeth. She felt as if her whole body was rejecting her. And yet… This body wanted to keep hold of her.

“Yes, you H̷̢̛̛̻̲̗̻̟̼̹̐̆̍̈̌̋͋͗̕͘͜͝͠ù̴͓̪̗͚̰̬̠̖͈̫̖̞͖̬̓ͅm̶̱̲͓̽̐̋́̌͗̐̏̓̊̇̅̒̂̅ͅa̶̢̧̧̢̳̣̖̤̠͔̠̬̬͘n̵̛̖̼̟̥̩̩̭͉̰̳̖̄͋̂̂̍̾̊͗̕ͅs̴͔͔̫̯͋̈͘͘ got spoiled as soon as you learned about Idea.” The….T̶̢̤͖̬͕͔̻͓͈̻͈͔̠̝͓̼͐̃H̴̡̭̰̝̘̼̪͕̩̻͛̾̂̄͛̈͠Ḯ̶̗͇̠͔̳̞͚̻̲̰̪̄̍ͅN̴̼̮̙̠͕͔̗͖̱̮̼̑̈́̇̆͋̾̓͒̚ͅͅG̸̼͕͕̬͆͑̆͌̐̊͗̂͌͑̇͐͌̿̈͛̀͜ said, it…it….wasn’t neither Male nor Female. Its body seemed to change at random. At first, it looked male, then female…

What? Had….had she seen something like this before?

“So if the Soulscape is who we are…What is what you have in that fancy Shadow Haven?” The entity asked her.

Elizabeth wanted to scream, to claw her eyes out, to rip out her tongue, to sew shut her ears. She…didn’t like it here.

“....A……link…..to….Rossie’s…..Soul?” She said the words one at a time, it felt as if even acknowledging this entity was…wrong? It was as if this was something that she shouldn’t see.

“Exactly!” The cheery entity smiled at her….? It had a face? No, that wasn’t a face. “So what is the problem of your apostle’s soul?”

Her what?

No, this wasn’t her apostle. This was her girlfriend.

“She…..has……tears…..in…….her……soul!” Elizabeth said through gritted teeth, she could feel her eyes bleeding and coughed blood. Her [Heart] ached, she….was wasting time.

“No, you aren’t wasting time.” The entity spoke, she noticed this being clothes, it had settled into a gala dress with a long opening on the leg, and this being was even wearing a veil. As soon as she took notice of that the feeling of wrongness diminished. “What you are doing right now, is a test run of sorts…”

 

What?

“So here is a freebie,” The woman snapped her fingers and her sight swapped, she was seeing a bright golden hue over the [Soulscape]....no….over the Soulscape. And within it, she could see the festering wounds. And the scabs in the spots that the soul had healed.

Focusing on those she got impressions, memories of her time together with Rossie, of the feelings of love that she had showered upon the girl. And of the reciprocate feelings the pink-haired girl felt towards her.

“Focus ■■■■■■■■■.” The entity spoke, only this time she got a glimpse of a man in those words instead of a woman. The faint glimpse of a blonde man. Who was it? “You came here early, so you need to focus. Use that fancy Idea your mortals love to wield, even if they are closer to a monkey with a spear than to an enlighten being like us.”

What? She was no monkey!

“Right….” Elizabeth said as she steeled her resolve and gulped down the liquid that had been poling in her mouth, it tasted…sweet. “[All that I see must be whole again.]”

Elizabeth said and felt a pull into her mana, and just as always, her mana reacted and started to close the wounds within the [Soul] of Rossie, slowly…

“Wrong.” Only for the entity’s word to come crashing down and making her puke azure-like blood into the floor.

“WHY?!?!?” Elizabeth screamed at the thing as she clawed at it with one of her dragon-like arms… “I USED IDEA LIKE YOU SAID! WHY ARE YOU STOPING ME!”

Elizabeth’s roar almost made the space tremble, and yet.

“No, what you used was [Idea], the mockery the puny mortals like to use.” The woman said, her head now had pink long hair, that flowed almost to her waist, and her chest was pronounced, way bigger than it should be. And her eyes held…no emotion.

Was Elizabeth finally seeing this entity for what it was?

“Also, if you don’t center yourself…well, I won’t mind it. But you will.” The woman sneered at her.

She ought to show her what happens when one disrespects a Drag…..NO!

She was Elizabeth Starbright.

SHE WOULD NOT BE CHANGED AGAINST HER WILL.

“Thank….you…” Elizabeth said as the entity’s form morphed once more in her eyes, it pained her, it gave her a headache like the ones she hadn’t felt before. But her body had returned to normal…she would need to send these pajamas to the laundry though.

“No problem, now….Use Idea, not the puny imitation the mortals came with. No, use our words. Shape the form with your will, and move the mana to your commands..” The entity spoke, once more changing forms from male to female, from young to old.

One second it was a pink-haired girl that she had seen following Rossie, only for its form to change to one of the teachers, then to one of her former classmates, and she could swear that for a second she had seen a blonde asshole face among those.

But..if her [Idea] wasn’t the correct, what was the difference? She was focusing her [Will] into her [Mana], channeling her [Intent] to create [Idea], but that wasn’t it?

What was she supposed to do? Speak the words and expect reality to bend to her will?

“Yes, you are going to do just that….Or we can wait and see the fireworks, that is fine by me too. I can even help you set up the reincarnation cycle straight.” The entity spoke.

Fireworks?

“What….fire…works…?” Speaking to that thing made her brain hurt.

“Those, your little apostle’s Soul is about to reach the breaking point. She wants to brute force her advancement, but her Soul isn’t sturdy enough yet, she wants to grab more than she can.” The thing said pointing down.

Elizabeth’s eyes followed the intent of the thing and saw…Rossie’s soul breaking at the seams, her shadows were trying to keep it whole, but…they couldn’t. There was only so much a mortal’s mana could do.

No, If Elizabeth was to help Rossie she needed more. She would need more.

“Yes…like that ■■■■■■■■.” The thing said at her side, the smirk on her face was annoying.

But Elizabeth had more important things to deal with.

“What I wish to be whole will be whole.” So she spoke, it was closer to a prayer at this point.

“No, we don’t pray. A mortal prays,” The entity spoke at her side. Her eyes narrowed, as if declaring that she would not fight over that. “Neither you need to speak, baby ■■■■ need to speak, no. Those like us? We command.”

That felt right. Why did that feel right?

Either way…Elizabeth knew she had all the time in the world to think about it…And yet, not enough time. Rossie’s Soul was at a breaking point, and no matter how much this frozen world made it looked like time had stopped. She knew that if she waited more, she would wake up to the dead body of the girl she loved.

So Elizabeth commanded. No, she demanded.

That which I loved will be whole, her wounds will not be a hideous reminder of a past that she could not change. No, it will be what makes her beautiful.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA” The woman at her side laughed, “YES, LIKE THAT!”

Those cracks, those wounds are what makes you a wonderful bright soul Rossaline Singh, it is what helped you find me…It is what I love the most.

“Say the words Inheritor!” The woman raved at her side, “Command it and it shall be done, for we are entities like that!”

Elizabeth didn’t pay attention to the crazed look in the woman’s eyes, instead, she focused down.

Extended her hands, at some point she had moved, she was standing in the empty void and Rossaline’s soul had turned into a small cracked gem. So Elizabeth grabbed it with both hands and hugged it close to her.

You will be fine, these cracks don’t diminish your worth, and they don’t define who you are. They will not make me hate you, they will not make you less…So heal…Heal at your own pace. And when you wake up…You will be okay.

“Tch….she ran out of juice.” The entity clicked her tongue as Elizabeth’s consciousness started to fade away. “Are you sure you didn’t want for her to use this chance to go for you?”

“Yes, this is good enough.” A new voice spoke, it was calm and low, as if worried someone would listen to her.

 

“We are alone, ■■■■■■■■■ is going back to sleep. I liked her, unlike Elizabeth, this one is better. Are you sure she isn’t ready?” The entity said to the new one. “She did a good job, even if these were the first steps. Why did you make me do it, Weaver? You could do it yourself.”

“She isn’t whole yet, you should know that too.” The black-haired girl said, if Elizabeth had been here she would have screamed [ALICE!] alas. She wasn’t here.

“I mean, being whole is overrated.” The pink-haired woman said back, as her figure changed, “See? I’m still the same.”

“Why are you keeping that fragment? You don’t even like him.” The black-haired girl said as the woman turned into a blonde man with golden eyes and a white t-shirt with an eagle motif.

“Because he had the chance to be among us. And decided to waste it because of guilt.” The blonde man said while spitting at the side, “He should have left his Human emotions with his vessel. Stupid lizard hoarding emotions, but what can I expect if he used Emotions to fuel his apotheosis….”

“If you want Elizabeth to move forward you could return that Fragment.” The black-haired girl pointed.

“Nope, not going to make it easy.” The blonde man’s form shifted once more returning to the figure of a pink-haired woman. “Besides this is a shell, the full thing I left it on the mortal plane. That purple girl still thinks she has the whole thing too! Imagine it!”

“...you are no better.” The black-haired girl said, “Still, thank you for this. I wasn’t sure if I could have done it. Not with what little Divinity I have left…”

“Should have fused with her instead of letting her stick you with that Echo.” The woman said as the other girl's form started to crumble, “You could have helped the Apostle, instead of waiting to see if that human girl can find you.”

“....your….bad…..habit….of…..dismissing…..mortals…..will…..bite…..you…..back….” Those were the last words the black-haired girl said as she crumbled away.

“Heh, if they can come and complain to my face I will rethink it,” The woman smirked as she turned to look at the girl who turned into motes of light and fell into Rossaline’s Soul. “Why do you even care Shadow Weaver? It doesn’t matter what the Humans do. At best they are entertainment. It only matters if they break past their mortal coil. Jack and Catherine are good examples. Even if they fell down because of human emotions.”

Don’t you think so?

They had the power to transcend, and yet they chose to tie themselves down. Such a stupid mistake. But then again, that is why you are still here. You, like me. Enjoy this, isn’t that right? My lovely ■■■■■■?