Chapter 27: Chapter 27 - Promises
The first thing I registered was silence. Silence beyond even the core. And yet it wasn’t the slightest bit uncomfortable. As if the body that should’ve been tense wasn’t present to begin with.
My eyes opened slowly, to white. Endless white.
"Where...am I?"
It was the third time I’d fallen unconscious, and the third time I’d woken up to something strange.
My hands searched the ground first, just as they always did, yet there was none. No ground. I was...floating.
I tried to sit up, to move, to look around, and my body tumbled, flipping and somersaulting as if there was no gravity to ground me. I struggled, until a ripple of soft laughter broke my panic, the sounds themselves somehow steadying my chaotic movement, before slowly fading.
And then its owner spoke, her voice threading through the white, speaking straight into my mind.
You really aren’t so different even now.
It was the kind of voice that warmed the bones, and healed the soul. Calming and gentle beyond measure.
And then she appeared.
There, right in front of me, floating along the void of white, was a woman covered from head to toe, but exuding a beauty that was indescribable. There was no frame of reference. No category.
She sat upon a simple wooden chair, modest sky-blue robes draping her form, loose and flowing. Her face was covered, a soft, white veil, yet I felt her eyes on me, though I could not see them. Her hands rested calmly in her lap. Every motion, every tilt of her head, carried a weight I could not name.
I couldn’t even begin to formulate the words.
But she did it for me, You wish to ask who I am?
I nodded slowly. I sensed her soft smile even from behind the veil.
Don’t you know that already?
I nodded again.
Lysha’el.
She chuckled lightly, Strange, isn’t it? You endure every challenge, every injury, yet only here---where no threat can harm you---do you feel uneasy.
I swallowed, feeling an undeniable truth in those words. But it managed to slow my racing mind.
"Where is here?" I asked finally.
She looked around leisurely at the endless white, A place you won’t know for some time yet, my child. A place between spaces. Between moments.
I wasn’t sure how to respond.
Come, sit. she said with a playful lilt, her hand motioning to the empty space in front of her.
I looked to where she pointed, confused, "Sit...? Sit wher---"
Another chair was already there. As if it had always been there. As if it was me that hadn’t noticed it floating there all this while.
My feet found purchase on the air suddenly. But I took it in stride, ambling over to the empty chair and sitting down slowly.
"I have questions." I began.
I know. Ask, and I shall answer, if you are able.
She said the words with such unbelievable certainty, as if there lived no question she could not answer. As if the only thing that might stop her, was if I was incapable of hearing it.
"How am I...like this? Alive? Human? How was life given...to something without?"
The same way I gave it to everything else.
Unbelievable. Illogical. It went against all I thought I knew. But I kept my cool, taking all the information I could.
"So you admit it then. You brought me here."
I sensed her smile once again.
Indeed.
"Why?"
It is still far too early, young one. You will learn, in time. When you are stronger. When you are able.
"Then...why are you here? Clearly, you have means beyond anything I can understand. So what do you want from me
?"There was a pause this time.
I wished to converse. To tell you...of what you cannot see for yourself.
I did not speak.
She leaned forward slightly, So first, tell me, what is it that you seek?
My grip tightened around the seat of my chair.
"Freedom," I said bluntly. "To be free of chains. The chains of men, of weakness, and of pain."
To be free of pain...an impossible goal...made possible by your gift. But you underestimate pain, young one. The path ahead of you is long. Far longer than you can possibly imagine. But...I won’t dissuade you from following it.
She brought a hand to her chin, as if considering how best to word her next sentence.
But pain is only a facet of this goal, is it not? You said you want freedom...but freedom...to do what?
I frowned.
People seek freedom, when they are not free to seek what they truly want. When they are... chained... as you put it.
So what is it that you seek? What will you do once you have your freedom?
Once I had my freedom...I didn’t know.
If you make strength and freedom your purpose, especially with potential like yours, you’ll be strong and free, yes...
A faint vision appeared behind her as she spoke, shimmering in the void like light through water: a solitary figure atop an endless mountain, the world below a blur, echoing emptiness in all directions.
...But when you eventually reach the peak, when you’ve beaten every foe, and you stand atop all existence, you won’t merely be the strongest. You’ll be the loneliest.
Her soft voice became tinged with sadness. With longing.
You’ll find it miserable, when there is no one left who can meet you, no one left who can challenge you, or share in your victories.
So slow down. Take your time, while you still can.
"But the city---"
You promised. I know. But I’m not asking you to abandon them Axel. I’m asking you to make another promise. A promise to me.
"Promise...what?" I asked, wary.
That you will live, she said simply. *Not as a weapon. Not as a shield, or a vessel of destruction. But as a child of this world. Laugh. Eat well. Make friends. Love, if it comes. Experience the life that strength alone cannot give. You must promise that once the city is safe, you will allow yourself that.
I hesitated, "I... I don’t know how to do that."
You will learn. As all men do. Promise me Axel.
I focused on her face, trying to look beyond the veil. I could almost make out a pained expression, but it could just as well have been my imagination.
I exhaled, falling back in my chair, "I promise."
She nodded, Good.
And since you’re so intent on keeping your promise to your friends, I’ll give you one more truth: The Gorge Beetles have not yet stirred. But in thirty-three days, their swarm will begin its march. They’ll sweep the south first. So train. Find that strength you sought so desperately. Protect your friends. Keep the promise you made them...
Her robed form began to dissolve into the white.
...but afterwards, you must keep the promise you made me.
"W-Wait!" I stood up abruptly, "Why?! Why, Lysha’el? Why do you ask all this of me? Why do you guide me, when others more lost than I struggle to find their way?!"
Her veil fluttered slightly, revealing the edges of a sad smile.
Because you are more lost than you know, child.
The chair across from me became empty, and then I was awake again, back in the same cave I’d wandered into that first night.
[Host’s consciousness has returned.]
[Initializing Reward Distribution from the Unique Dungeon: "Eidolon’s Matrix".]
My breaths were fast. Heavy. Her words echoed in my mind. And her smile...her sad smile...
The image returned over and over. My fists clenched against the dirt as I stared up at the cave ceiling.
Lysha’el...who am I...really?