Shattered Moonstone

Amethyst felt her sister stir in the middle of the night, something that normally wouldn’t have bothered her while they traveled on the ship; but now she couldn’t help but worry as Hecatolite padded around the room before vanishing without a sound. Curious about where Hecatolite was going she got up to follow, deciding to forgo donning her armor she crept to the door. Trying to be quiet she slowly peeked out of the door only to find Eryl and Himari sitting in the middle of the room, Hecatolite nowhere to be seen.

Having already lost sight of her sister Amethyst paused in the small hallway, peering around the corner at the two as they spoke.

“You are sure we shouldn’t follow her?” Himari asked as she passed a hand sized terminal to Eryl.

Eryl nodded as she adjusted the code on the screen, “I doubt either of us will be able to keep up with her if we tried. And given we cannot rely on Overseer “malfunctioning” again, I took the liberty of placing a small tracking spell on her.” Eryl’s ears drooped as she tapped on the screen several times, the soft blue glow dimming as she did. “Strange,” she muttered, tilting the terminal in her hands. “That… is alarming indeed.”

“Yes, that’s why I came to you the moment it came up.”

“Well, for once Hecatolite isn’t the epicenter at least.” Eryl shook her head, handing the terminal back to Himari. “I wouldn’t worry about it, whatever it is, it's stable for now. Once we are closer to the desert we can scan it again and see if it requires intervention, things like this pop up from time to time and usually sort themselves out by the time you get the chance to do anything about them. If it continues to grow it will be a problem, but by then we will already be traveling towards it and between the four of us, we can either destroy it or seal it if need be.”

“You mean Hecatolite can deal with it.” Himari sighed, clearing the screen and pulling up another set of errors.

“Her or Amethyst.” Eryl nodded, “I won't lie, I’m not exactly excited to have two Divine souls running around in the world, but the two of them give us a very unique ability to intervene in things of this nature much easier than before.” Eryl pointed at the terminal, “Normally an abnormality such as that would require calling a council of several gods, a lengthy investigation as well as divine revelations to begin preparing mortals for the coming of “something” in the off chance it doesn’t resolve itself. Any interference on our part would simply be sending chosen mortals to investigate and potentially put down whatever is causing it.” With an uncharacteristic shrug she continued, “But now, now we can just go look into ourselves then if it looks like it will cause trouble, instead of sending dozens of mortals to “potentially” take care of it, there are two divine souls that can just sort it out.” 

Her shoulders slumped as Himari looked at her out of the corner of her eye, “don’t get me wrong Himari. Normally I would still handle such things the usual way, but given the state of the world I cannot overlook the possibility that Valor is causing mana swells in hopes to draw powerful mortals away from their homes. It would take a group of individuals at least the elder’s level to investigate such things; and no nation can risk sending that many high-powered individuals at the moment. So just this once we will utilize the unique opportunities presented to us to just handle such things without disrupting the world. Yes, usually such things are used to prepare a mortal for ascension, a way to bolster their power along with their fame, but it is simply too risky. So, if I must, I will use Hecatolite to resolve such problems to mitigate the risk; for now, at least. If all goes well by the next time such an abnormality happens, we will have sorted this all out and we can handle it the proper way instead of cutting corners.”

Himari took a sharp breath, biting her lip before in nearly a whisper she replied. “I can’t say I don’t agree with you. But… there is a problem.” She let out the breath, her entire body slumping as she sighed. “Hecatolite can’t… she shouldn’t do it.”

“I understand you are afraid of Hecatolite, Himari but…”

“It’s not that.” Himari cut her off with a shake of her head, “Amethyst, you should come here as well.” Himari called out, causing Amethyst to jump.

She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but she also didn’t think the two knew she was there. Amethyst cautiously stepped into the dark room, the two women sitting at a small table illuminated by the soft glow of a terminal that drowned out the flickering candle that sat between them. She noticed that neither of them even looked up as she walked towards them, neither looking surprised to see her as she slowly sat across from them.

“Hecatolite won’t be happy if she finds out you put a tracking spell on her without her knowing.” Amethyst stated causing Eryl's ears to wiggle slightly.

“What makes you sure she is unaware?” Eryl replied in her usual tone, “Hecatolite is, surprisingly, acutely aware of the world around her. To the point that even I would have a hard time placing a spell of any kind on her without her noticing it. And I will admit that though I didn’t exactly ask her permission, I have little doubt she isn’t aware that I am tracking her. It will save us a lot of time if she decides to wander off again in the future.”

Amethyst bit the inside of her lip, Eryl had a good point but still, “I don’t agree with you keeping tabs on her, even if it is “just in case”. Hecatolite is very adamant about things such as freedom as well as the right to choose. By placing a spell on her without her permission you took that from her…”

Eryl lifted her hand, cutting Amethyst off. She hadn’t expected Amethyst of all people to take offense to her tracking Hecatolite, and though Eryl could argue that the nature of such a spell is to go unnoticed by the one it is cast on; something about the glint in the young woman’s eyes told her such arguments would achieve little. “I will discuss it with her when I get a chance, however, do you not agree it would be best to keep an eye on her for the time being? At least while we are in the elven nation given the new tension she created earlier by executing a man?”

Amethyst looked away as she shifted, “I mean…” It was true. Hecatolite did kill one of the crew members for no reason… Well Amethyst was sure she had a reason, just Hecatolite had been uncharacteristically tight lipped on “why” she killed that man. “Just… just tell her about it, ok? I’m sure she would let you do it anyway.” She conceded, “where did she go anyway?”

Eryl’s ears twitched, “She’s headed towards the ship right now, I believe Wolf along with some of the crew were taking shifts tonight watching over what’s left of the cargo so it's likely she’s going to oversee that.”

Amethyst snorted, “She did take being the “watcher” very seriously, didn’t she?” She looked between the two, Eryl nodding along with her as Himari looked solemnly at the small terminal in her hands. “That being said, I don’t think Himari called me over here to talk about tracking spells.” She sighed; Himari was overly cautious when it came to Hecatolite, though Amethyst couldn’t understand why. Hecatolite had teased Himari a little but she hadn’t been hostile to the former hero as far as Amethyst knew. “I agree with Eryl, Himari. As it is now, the best course of action is probably to have Hecatolite take care of any problems. I don’t like the idea of “using” her to solve problems, but if you ask her I doubt she will even bat an eyelash at going to fight… well anything. As long as she can eat it after, I bet she would happily jump at the chance.” 

Amethyst could see what Eryl had said was the right course of action. The two of them were adventures after all; being this far from home and not currently involved in the war itself it only makes sense that if there was a large problem that needed to be dealt with the two of them would be the safest option. Though Amethyst didn’t feel any different since her “ascension” she was still technically part of the divine pantheon now making it her duty to help if able, and as long as she had Hecatolite with her she doubted their was anything in the world that could threaten the two of them…

Himari bit her lip as she tried to organize her thoughts, ignoring the two before she finally spoke. “I think we should avoid having Hecatolite fight as much as possible.” She quickly held a hand up stopping the two from interjecting as she continued, “When I healed her body this morning… she was significantly more injured than it appeared. I can’t be certain as to why but Hecatolite had severe internal damage…” she looked up to see Amethyst’s confused expression causing her to pause. 

She knew what happened, Himari was certain. But could she say it? Could she tell Amethyst that Hecatolite had nearly died this morning? She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she thought.

Can I be sure that is the cause though? It’s the most likely cause but… if I am wrong then I will be causing them both unnecessary worry. Yes it is the most likely cause but it is far from the only one, for all I know she jumped off a cliff. Himari opened her eyes only to meet the swirling purple gaze of Amethyst causing her breath to catch. “I just think it would be best if we wait until she has had more time to adjust. Hecatolite has significantly more power than Amethyst and as such, could cause damage to her own body if she doesn’t adjust to it properly.” Himari’s stomach twisted as she spoke.

It’s the same news she had delivered countless times in the past but… She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t tell Amethyst the truth about what happened to Hecatolite and she hated herself for it. In this world full of magic and wonder Himari found herself in a situation she was all too familiar with, one she thought she would never be in again, not in a world where she could rebuild an entire body, cure the deadliest disease with little more than a thought… 

Eryl eyed Himari, “Is that it? If that’s the case then she just needs to train.” She said as her ears perked up a little. “It is understandable though, I doubt Hecatolite had ever utilized even half of her full power while sharing a body with Amethyst. It would have been too much of a risk while another soul was present.”

Amethyst nodded, “I remember her saying something like that before. We should set up a practice routine for her so she can safely utilize her abilities.” Himari could see Amethyst’s whole body relax as if a massive weight had been lifted. “Before that, Eryl you know how to make enchantments right?”

Himari couldn’t even look at Amethyst as she pulled her armor from her storage space, apparently wanting to make a second set for Hecatolite given her sister’s predisposition to losing large portions of her clothing.

“You will have to tell them eventually.” Overseer chimed in her mind.

Not until I am sure that is the cause. Himari thought as she clenched her fists, even if it is as long as I can get to her and heal her everything will be fine.

“Mother Himari, you know that is not going to solve…”

Nothing will solve it Overseer! Himari snapped, she is too powerful for her body. If that’s the case, there is nothing we can do. Eventually she will just…

“Die.”

Himari shook her head as she recalled the state Hecatolite was in. Sure she had “appeared” fine. But in reality Hecatolite’s brain had started to hemorrhage along with several of her organs, Himari’s best guess is she could have probably lived another day or two at the most without treatment; and Overseer had told her that was just a small amount of her power. A tiny slip up when someone tried to forcefully gain information about her though someone with her blessing. If Hecatolite had actually attacked Tinaka… Overseer could Hecatolite survive using her full power?

There was a long pause as Eryl carefully inspected the armor, muttering several swears as she did.

“No.” Overseer finally answered. “I am unable to determine exactly how strong Hecatolite is given I don’t know how much she has grown; but even if she’s only as strong as the last time the two of us met, if she were to use her full strength then no amount of healing would save her. I don’t know how long she could “live” in such a situation but her body would die nearly immediately, the shock of being flooded with that much aether would cause her organs to fail, and if by some miracle her body doesn’t simply fall apart, the brain hemorrhaging would be so intense the moment she stopped reinforcing herself she would parish. If that were to happen, she would ascend to the divine realms…”

And Amethyst?

“Much like her sister Amethyst will eventually outgrow her body, and in the same way she will poison the mortal shell with her mana until she is forced to ascend as well. Both of them will suffer the same fate, advance onset mana sickness from being a divine soul in a mortal body. Mother Himari, you are correct there is nothing you can do but please understand this is not your fault. There was no way to know that putting a divine soul in a mortal body would even work as well as it has, and if the two of them restrain themselves to an understandable amount of power their bodies' natural regeneration should be more than sufficient for them to live very long healthy lives.”

It’s Hecatolite we are talking about Overseer. I have the feeling telling her to “hold back” isn’t exactly going to work.

“Amethyst will be able to live a very long life…”

Himari didn’t notice she had slumped in her chair as she let out another long sigh, I just need to keep an eye on her and heal her the moment she starts to go downhill. Hecatolite isn’t dumb and I doubt she’s going to go all out any time soon. She watched as Amethyst nodded along to Eryl’s lecture on proper enchantment ring placement, the young woman taking notes on a piece of paper she had pulled from her storage instead of a terminal. Himari couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the serious expression on Amethyst's face, the young woman biting the tip of her tongue as she tried to write down every word. I just can’t bring myself to tell her. She just got some normalcy in her life, besides it's not like Hecatolite is just going to drop dead. As long as she restrains herself and I can heal her when she pushes herself too far then I can buy us enough time to maybe figure out a solution.

“If you say so, Mother Eryl. But eventually both of them will need to ascend, you do understand that, correct?”

Of course, I do, just… not for a while, ok? Amethyst at least deserves that.