NOVEL NEXT Book 4 chapter 7
Walking through the elven city Himari couldn’t help but notice the stark difference between today and yesterday. Where just the other day they had been met with warm inviting smiles now people seemed to shy away from the duo, several times people have gone out of their way to avoid her as she led Eryl up the pathways. Some even went as far as to duck into alleyways or shops only to watch with leery eyes as she passed by them.
I guess that’s to be expected, she thought as she watched an older woman hurrying a small child along as they passed. They are at war after all.
She could understand it really. After all yesterday she had been escorted by one of the leaders of their people, a competent soldier along with her entire group had probably put people’s minds at ease when they saw her, but today, today she was just Himari, a human.
She could hear the murmurs as she passed. The whispers of people asking what a human was doing here, and if they should call the guard… as a healer, someone who had dedicated her life to the wellbeing of others it… it hurt, but she could understand. Her previous world had no shortage of preconceptions about people, and though it was wrong Himari understood people’s fear of her. After all, unlike her previous world “peoples” differences weren’t just skin deep here.
She was a human, a completely different species walking though their capital while their respective peoples were at war with one another; so of course, they would be leery of her. and though she wished she could stop and maybe talk to a few people, to try and dispel their concerns and show them that not all humans were their enemy…
I just don’t have time to do it all. She glanced back at Eryl who followed behind her with a scowl on her face. It was honestly hard to tell if people were avoiding Himari or the tense air of frustration around her due to the taller woman who was actually grumbling under her breath as she walked.
Eryl’s anger… confused Himari. It may have been years ago now, but she clearly remembered Eryl being far less… expressive. In fact, the woman had seemed downright cold before with her monotone voice and unchanging expression; even the constant prodding from the priests in the church hadn’t caused the woman’s unwavering expression to crack.
Himari had honestly looked up to Eryl’s ability to seemingly control her emotions even when confronted with the blatant hostility of the church. It had been admirable, Eryl’s control at the time had cultivated a deep respect for the woman. But now?
Eryl was the world sage, the admin of the world’s system, someone who stood at the pinnacle of this world’s cumulative knowledge with the wisdom of hundreds, if not thousands, of lifetimes of information. And here she was pouting like a child because she got into an argument?
Something about this all didn’t add up. Eryl had been the very definition of composure before, yet the more time that passes the more that woman seems to be slipping away and Himari couldn’t figure out how or why. What had changed, had anything actually changed at all? She couldn’t discredit the possibility that this was actually the real Eryl and the one from her memory was just a persona the woman used while acting as the sage.
It was… possible. Himari herself knows she had acted differently while working as most people do, but had Eryl really seen training the heroes as work? A job that needed to be done? That didn’t feel right though, she had shown genuine compassion, if rarely, while teaching them; and as far as Himari could tell she had given it an honest attempt to lead them down the right path in this world.
It felt wrong to see the woman she had known as a “work persona”, but if that wasn’t the case then could it be an external cause? She had spent five years being magically suppressed; is it possible that had caused a…. hormonal imbalance?
Eryl and Babylon had both assured her that her body was in perfect condition after her enslavement, but could it be some form of magically induced brain damage that is causing her mood? It was… possible, though if that was the case why did she seem fine when she had first awoken? In fact, upon being freed Eryl had simply continued on as if nothing had changed at all, it wasn’t until later that her mood had started to change…
It’s possible it is still related somehow, she will need to keep that in mind next time she has a chance to inspect the woman. Though would her magic even work on someone’s mind? Himari was very knowledgeable when it came to the body, but the brain was… complicated. She had an understanding of how it worked and what it was made of, sure, but repairing a brain is far more complicated than patching up someone’s arm.
In fact, she would argue that regrowing an entire body was easier than trying to heal brain damage, given that when they had formed bodies for the twins, they had left that part to the system. No one aside from the two admins would have noticed but it had actually taken a considerable amount of power from the system to form two functional brains along with their nervous systems.
But Eryl didn’t show any of the other signs of brain damage, and it had been months since her awakening. Not only that but Himari was sure the system would register if Eryl had brain damage of any kind; it did, after all, warn her the other day before Hecatolite began to hemorrhage. So it was unlikely that it was actual damage of any kind.
Maybe an acquired condition? A mental deficiency from her enslavement? It would not be out of the realm of possibility that prolonged use of the collar would have unforeseen side effects given there is no data of someone wearing one that powerful for that long. Sure criminals would wear slave collars for longer, sometimes their whole lives, but those ones wouldn’t suppress one’s mind to the extent that Eryl’s had…
But again, it didn’t seem right. Eryl had been completely normal on the island, even on the boat for a time. Then very gradually she began to change. It really was so slow Himari had nearly missed it, but Eryl’s mood had… shifted. She would exhibit a spike in emotion, a sudden outburst followed by… well nothing.
Himari had seen it before, the moment when Eryl’s entire posture would become far more relaxed, her expression changing back to its neutral position. It was… unnatural, the way the woman’s mood shifted. it reminded her a lot of Hecatolite’s mood swings, if far less pronounced; but Hecatolite was…
Is… is Hecatolite causing Eryls shift in mood? Himari pondered as she rounded another unfamiliar corner. At this point she was well and truly lost, having passed the small shop Alagoas had shown them yesterday while thinking; though Eryl didn’t seem to notice either as she followed.
It’s possible. Hecatolite is more than capable of influencing the emotional state of those around her in mass, so it is completely possible she could do it on a much smaller scale… Himari paused, but… would she?
Every time she has seen Hecatolite use her ability to influence people’s emotions it was… negligible at best, a fleeting moment that did nothing more than express her own displeasure at a situation. She had never used the ability for more than a moment or two, far too short of a time to cause any real harm to someone.
And Hecatolite may be insane, but she has shown to hold people's freewill in high regard. Amethyst had told them that Hecatolite had nearly attacked Himari for simply showing up with a slave in tow before they had even known who it was. So, would she purposefully control someone’s emotions? And why? Not only that, even if she was, Himari had felt Hecatolite’s influence before; it was uncomfortable, but it was really only that, emotion. It was far from mind control, and the effect was… ignorable, if one could ignore the emotions being projected that is.
Even Himari could negate it to some extent now by reminding herself that it wasn’t her own emotions she was feeling at the time. As long as she kept that in mind Himari could shrug off the worst of the mental side effects of Hecatolite power, sure her body would still tremble, but she wouldn’t actually “feel” the fear anymore.
Her body was scared but her mind no longer screamed at her to run away, so Himari was confident that Eryl of all people would be able to defend against it if she could. Not only that Eryl had shown a surprising resistance to it in the past, but that also didn’t fit.
The more she thought about it the less it made sense to her. No matter what possible cause she thought of there always seemed to be something… off about it. nothing fit. No single cause could explain why Eryl suddenly had the emotional fortitude of a teenager sometimes and the wizened coldness of before at others. more alarmingly though; why did her emotional slips seem to be becoming more frequent.
While they were on the ship Himari could count on one hand the amount of times Eryl seemed to be having, what she is now calling an, “emotional spike”; now it seemed to be an almost daily occurrence. And though it wasn’t all bad, rarely was the woman angry or hostile as she was today, it was still alarming. It really seemed to Himari as if Eryl couldn’t control her emotions at all… no that isn’t right. She shook her head.
It wasn’t that Eryl couldn’t control her emotions. She… felt the right things at the right time. it was more like she didn’t know how to deal with them. Just the other day Hecatolite had hummed a calming song to Eryl and the taller woman held on to her hand for nearly an hour after, blushing the entire time as she was led around.
Just yesterday Eryl’s ears wiggled every time her eyes met Hecatolite and today she was screaming at her in the hallway?
Not for the first time, Himari’s mind flashed back to her children. Eryl’s behavior was truly reminiscent of a teenager dealing with their first crush… but really, an admin who is thousands of years old acting the same way a child would? It…
“Himari.” Eryl finally sighed, breaking the woman out of her thoughts. “We have passed this grove four times now.” She gestured to a small alleyway that had what looked like a small garden in it.
It was one of the things Himari found she really liked about the elven city. It seemed that no matter where one went in the city, they could find these little… groves, as the others have called them. just small gardens that were scattered about behind almost every building and alleyway; some were no bigger than a few flower pots, where others were tiny forests with benches surrounded by trees. Alagos had even shown them one yesterday that had a small creek running through it.
Himari found them to be rather relaxing, the little pockets of nature. Sure, most human cities had parks with a few trees here and there, even in this world most homes had a small garden. But those failed in comparison to the elven capital. One couldn’t throw a stone in this city without hitting a tree or flower bed, it was truly an amalgamation of nature and engineering the way the buildings melded into the world around them.
It had been surprising to Himari that she found the entire city to be rather… cozy. Just like Hecatolite the word “city” brought back memories of cramped smog choked streets with millions of people cramped shoulder to shoulder. Even the holy capitol had been so overpopulated that homes and shops were built nearly on top of one another with enough people in the streets one couldn’t walk without bumping into someone.
But the elven capital was different, the buildings were all spaced so one could walk through them without hindrance, though that could be because of the massive roots that broke up the streets. And all that extra space was filled with beautiful plant life.
Himari took a moment to appreciate the flowers before she replied. “I… may be a bit lost.” She smiled at the still clearly agitated Eryl who just sighed heavily before taking the lead in the small adventure to find tea.
With Eryl leading it hadn’t taken them long to find the restaurant Alagos had shown them the other day, right next to the little grove with the creek she had remembered. Just a small circle of trees with a bench next to the creek. Though now that she looked at the small trickle of water, even she could step over, it may be a brook.
As Himari sat, sipping her warm rose tea, she pondered what exactly to say. She didn’t know what was actually causing Eryl’s emotional spikes, but it was clear to her that the woman needed… something.
She found herself missing her husband. Sure, Himari had been a doctor and a mother in her past life, but he had always been better with people; though it helped that he was a licensed therapist who worked as her hospital’s social worker. Where she could tell you all the parts of the human body and what they did, he just had a way with people. After all, what did it matter what hormones were causing someone to feel sad or angry if you didn’t know what the root cause of the emotion was?
Though that’s where Himari had always… fallen short. “So,” she started looking over to the woman beside her. Going with her original instinct to try and see the others as children she employed the same tactics she had used on her daughter when she was a teen. “Do you want to talk about it?”
It was simple in her mind. Most teenagers act out because they don’t feel like they are heard, so simply ask them what they want. Sure, most of the time they aren’t sure themselves, but she had found that starting a conversation this way tended to yield better results than lecturing someone. It… validates them in a small way by giving them the option to open up right away, even if they rarely take it.
Eryl didn’t look at her, simply swirling her own wooden cup in her hands for a moment before taking a small sip. Himari noted that despite her relaxed posture Eryl’s ears were still pinned back betraying her annoyance. “Himari,” she finally sighed. “We both know I am far too old to be lectured like a rowdy child.” Though her voice was once again monotone Himari couldn’t help but feel there was an edge of annoyance to her words.
“That’s good,” Himari answered with a slight smirk. “Given I have no intention of lecturing anyone, least of all you.” She summoned a terminal, the enchantment for the guest terminals displayed as she continued. “Eryl, you are without a doubt the most intelligent person I have ever met, and will likely ever meet. What could I possibly say to you that you do already know?” She tilted the terminal in her hands forwards, “but with that said. Eryl you are the admin of this world, the world sage that stands at the pinnacle of knowledge, with thousands of years of experience under your belt. Not exactly someone who would lose their temper over something trivial, are you? So what I want to know is, why? What caused you of all people to start screaming in the halls, because if it is something really that important then I feel it is something I should be aware of, no?”
Eryl actually seemed to deflate as she looked down at the offered terminal, her ears finally raising as her shoulders slumped. “It's…” Eryl paused, seeming to think as she scanned the terminal several times over. “Himari,” she started over. “This enchantment is the pinnacle of enchanting theory, it is the cumulation of the efforts of Life, Death, and the Mother herself. To say it is advanced would be not only an insult to the three but a gross understatement.” She tapped the terminal causing the displayed image to rotate. “This world simply isn’t ready for something like this. It would take thousands of years of dedicated research and testing for them to even begin understanding what exactly this enchantment array does, more less try and recreate it. Himari, if done incorrectly enchanting on this scale could very easily wipe an entire nation off the map, not only that but if one wished it could be altered to do any number of things the mortals of this world simply shouldn’t be able to do.”
Himari cocked an eyebrow as she looked down at the image. To her it… looked like a jumbled mess of intersecting lines.
“Even if it was just a communication enchantment like she tried to play it off as.” Eryl pressed on, ignoring Himari’s clear confusion. “This world hasn’t even developed a way to send a simple message more than a handful of miles without a considerable investment of time and energy on the user's part. but this would be instantaneous long-range communication capable of breaching even the realm divide at no cost to the user. I don’t think I need to explain the ramifications of that to you.”
Eryl was right in that Himari knew the dangers of instant communication, it had after all completely changed the face of her old world, even she knew that. But something still didn’t sit right with her, “Eryl, I read your notes on the heroes. You wanted to use them to advance certain parts of this world. Wouldn’t this,” she gestured to the terminal, “just be the same thing?”
Eryl scoffed, “Not in the slightest. Himari, I wanted you all to spread knowledge, maybe write a manuscript or two; but in the end you would all still be bound by the capabilities of this world. Yes, there is power in knowledge and always the possibility that one or more of you could cause unexpected leaps in this world’s technology. But in the end, there was only so much you could do.” she sighed, “I’m sure you have noticed that this world is… primitive compared to your last, there is no hiding that. With that comes the simple fact that a lot of what you all know simply wouldn’t be applicable here. This world simply lacks the infrastructure to use most of your knowledge to its fullest, yet. I had hoped you all would lay the foundation for future advancement, but this is far beyond that. It is something that is tangible, can be recreated simply from the knowledge of how to do it. Himari, by teaching people how to create this enchantment Hecatolite removed all the trial and error a civilization would need to go through to reach this point. If one were to study this enchantment, they could learn secrets that not even the divine of this world have. A completely autonomous, self-replicating enchantment… a system, one of their very own.” It was silent for a moment while Himari thought of what Eryl had just said.
A system. one of their own, capable of growing and learning just as the world system does… “and that is… bad?”
Eryl surprisingly shrugged, “not in and of itself, no. contrary to popular belief a system is just a tool. Many races have created rudimentary systems of their own, mostly for communication or other menial tasks. Sometimes they are even adopted as subsystems of the world they are in; if the creators are particularly crafty, though that is rare. But that is after thousands of years of dedicated research, countless generations of trial and error before someone would be able to figure out even the most rudimentary enchantments needed to create such a thing. The people of this world haven’t even learned how to link enchantment rings together safely. It's still widely believed that one cannot do so without creating a loop of power that, more often than not, explodes. Even my most generous predictions put the first steps of advanced enchanting, which is linking enchanting rings together, several generations in the future. She skipped all of that, crudely too… It may sound foolish, Himari, but there is a process to all of this. Steps that happen in a certain order so things can progress in a safe and controlled manner.” Again, she tapped on the terminal, the displayed enchantment flashing as she did, “but this is quite literally teaching someone to run before they can walk. The possibility of this enchantment failing is just too great without all the knowledge that goes into forming it properly. It’s just too dangerous…”
Much to Eryl’s surprise Himari cocked an eyebrow, “Yet… It didn’t fail. Not only that but Eryl, Hecatolite showed her mother and sister how to create this… super enchantment, and well, the world still stands. Even after years of them having the knowledge they haven’t had a catastrophic failure…”
“They will though.” Eryl sighed only to be cut off by another terminal appearing before her.
“Mother Eryl,” Overseer chimed in. “I feel it pertinent to inform you that since the creation of the guest terminal both Taaffeite and Alexandrite Lapidary have deemed this information… “stupidly dangerous”, as they both have said. And though both have since experimented with advanced enchanting and neither one has created anything more advanced than a… functional Hexagonal ring enchantment. And even during its creation they have proceeded with the utmost caution. Lady Taaffeite had banned Alexa from creating enchantments without both her and I inspecting them for faults first.” Overseer displayed a much simpler enchantment as it continued, “and though I have agreed to check the enchantments for safety I have informed Taaffeite that I will be unable to provide any input outside of the safety of an enchantment.” The image shifted several times, starting out as a crude outline then morphing into a finished image with several points highlighted in red. “as you can see she had gone through several iterations before she was able to make it work. I believe all Hecatolite has achieved is what you wished of the others. She has shown them what is possible, and they are experimenting with knowledge in what could be considered a relatively safe manner. Please note that this enchantment is by far the most complex one they have formed, neither seem eager to attempt anything more complicated. Alexa has created a handful of dule ring enchantments that… work.”
Eryl furrowed her brow as she inspected the enchantment. For nearly a minute she sat looking over Taaffeite’s work before she finally said. “It's… not bad. A little crude, and ineffective… but why didn’t she use an ambient mana ring?” The displayed array confused Eryl more and more the longer she looked at it.
The array would work, sure. But it is hardly what she would expect from someone who had access to one of her system enchantments, honestly it was… simple. A basic tracking enchantment that even Himari could probably create with enough time and access to the system. So why wasn’t it… more?
“I believe I can explain,” the image shifted to show the guest terminal enchantment again. “There are several crucial rings for the function of a system terminal,” A handful of green lines appeared mainly for Himari’s benefit. “Hecatolite… removed these before the other two were able to inspect them.” several places of the enchantment flashed red, places where lines seemed to just stop abruptly or where there was simply a hole in the array. “Also, I masked the ambient mana power rings during the creation of the terminal as it is considered… forbidden knowledge without administrative approval. In truth, neither Taaffeite nor Alexa could recreate the guest terminals without access to an already functional system terminal. And though your previous statements were not incorrect, I do believe you may have overestimated the amount of information Hecatolite has shared with the two of them.”
“Wait,” Eryl tapped on one of the missing spots, “isn’t that where the self-replicating enchantment ring would be?”
“Correct,” Overseer replied, “Hecatolite had destroyed it. she had said, and I quote, “boxes shouldn’t learn things”. I would also like to point out that the system access point and storage capabilities have been damaged. It cannot even retain messages sent to it beyond a certain point, and only a few of them can be stored at a time. Despite its complex nature the guest terminal really isn’t anything more than a glorified communication point tied directly to the Lapidary bloodline ability. If you were to remove the families access to their skill the “guest” terminals will no longer function. Hecatolite has honestly crippled the terminal in such a way that leaves it both functional and harmless to the world.”
That gave them both pause. Himari finding herself again looking at something Hecatolite has done that was… insanely clever. Had she done all that on purpose? Eryl had said it was dangerous but from what Himari understood Hecatolite had… well defused the bomb, so to say.
Eryl however looked unconvinced as she scrutinized the enchantment. Her ears pinning back again as she scrunched her face in annoyance.
Even after several minutes Eryl couldn’t find any actual fault in the enchantment itself… but something still didn’t sit right with her.
Just what is she? Eryl thought as she looked over the enchantment. Hecatolite has proven to be a very old and powerful soul but this… to dissect a complex enchantment like this with such precision that she left it intact… Again she could feel a pressure in her mind as she thought.
Nothing added up. Hecatolite was… insane. Right? No, Eryl was sure that she was. She had after all seen inside the other woman's mind. But something still felt off. Everything just didn’t add up, how she arrived in this world, how things just happened to work out for her despite everything pointing to it failing… and now this? Was Hecatolite planning all of this? But why? And how? Hecatolite was intelligent, sure, but the girl couldn’t sting two thoughts together without getting distracted. But if it all wasn’t planned out then how? It's all far too coincidental, it's just not possible. And Hecatolite’s insanity was far too convincing to just be an act, so how could she set this all up…
Unless… She could feel it, whenever their eyes met Eryl could feel… something. Something behind the other woman’s eyes, like a lurking beast. Was Hecatolite the one in control or was she just a pawn to something much more dangerous?
And just like that Eryl’s mind began to spiral. What could be powerful enough to not only control the insane woman but shape the world around her? And if something truly was interfering with her world… to what extent? Did Valor actually overcharge the spell that brought her here? What of the other Heroes? And how would it know Hecatolite would be given access to a system… or was that what Overseer was for, so she would have one regardless and Eryl had just played into its hands by giving her Babylon?
Hecatolite’s entire life on this world flashed before Eryl’s eyes as she tried to figure out exactly who, or what, she was looking for.
As she did that Himari watched her, Eryl’s face contorting as her ears returned to their folded back position. The other woman’s emotions played across her face like an open book, one that was getting more and more frustrated with every passing moment. She had originally wanted to calm Eryl down but the longer this goes on the less likely that seemed to be possible.
“I…” Eryl started, standing up abruptly. “I need to speak with Hecatolite.'' She turned on her heels and strode out of the grove leaving Himari sitting there with two terminals and a cup of now cold tea.
“Well.” Himari sipped her tea. “I can’t see that going well. I should apologize to Amethyst when this is all over.”
“Are you not going to follow her?” Babylon asked only for Himari to chuckle.
“No, no I don’t think I will.” She sighed, “sometimes, the children have to sort things out on their own.” She eyed the floating Overseer terminal, something it had said before surfacing in her mind as thought about what to say next. “Besides, I am woefully uninformed when it comes to these matters. Unless you wish to tell me something, Overseer.”
The terminal flashed a bright red for a moment as it seemed to consider something.
“What, Hecatolite not around to cause a distraction?” Himari smirked and the terminal shrank a little. “I have no desire to get in a primordial’s way, Overseer. Whatever Hecatolite is up to is really none of my business. But I have to ask. Is… is Hecatolite manipulating Eryl?”
“No.” Overseer answered instantly as it flashed an offensive yellow as if she had offended it. “Hecatolite has not influenced any decision made by anyone in this world by any means other than her presence…”
“Then Eryl’s mood swings aren’t because of Hecatolite?”
There was a long pause before Overseer answered. “they are a byproduct of Hecatolite’s presence, yes. But she is not the cause. Hecatolite is not actively manipulating anyone in this world nor would she, that being said Hecatolite believes strongly in free will and doesn’t take kindly to things that dampen one’s ability to think or feel for themselves. Please understand that whatever happens next was supposed to be… far gentler.”
Himari nodded, not understanding what exactly it was talking about. “Is it dangerous?”
“Not at all.” Overseer again answered quickly. “It will be nothing more than a revelation that may or may not change Eryl’s views of the world…. there is a small risk of Mother Eryl’s mental state deteriorating slightly, but that is negligible.”
Himari cocked an eyebrow, ignoring the now flashing Babylon terminal in her hands as she thought. “what, exactly, is about to happen?”
Overseer bobbed in an attempt to shrug, “there is a 45% chance nothing will happen. A 37% chance Mother Eryl will break free of her mental restraints on her own and learn what Hecatolite is. A 28% chance Hecatolite will assist mother Eryl in learning the truth. And a… .01% chance the world will end in the next 12 hours.”
“that’s… 110.01%, Overseer.”
“Well, Mother Himari, Hecatolite is involved there needs to be room for error.” It answered in an almost mocking tone, “I would advise finding somewhere safe regardless. The odds of emotional discharge throughout the city is… high. Perhaps you should meet up with Amethyst and wait for this to all “sort itself out”.”
Himari sighed as she stood up. She really didn’t want to know what Overseer ment but… they have the emotional maturity of teenagers right now, both of them are worked up after fighting… There were really only two outcomes Himari could see happening and she would really rather be sitting next to a deity if either of them came true.
