CHAPTER XXXV
Brighter, Braver
"Ohhh, my goodness, these are soooo bad!" Lilly said, digging right into her cup.
"They absolutely are," Demetri said, also digging in.
"I cannot believe I'm participating in this indulgence," Ariadne said.
"Neither can I," Ivory said, eating hers in moderation. "So, how was your Labyrinth run?"
"It wasn't really a Labyrinth run," Lilly said with her mouth full.
"That is terrible," Ariadne said. "Could you swallow your food, please?"
Lilly did just that.
"What do you mean?" Ivory said.
"Hmm. Maybe I should let her explain instead." Her eyes flashed gold.
"Lilith?" Demetri said.
"Sup, guys. Anyway, so, there's this thing I haven't told you yet about the Labyrinth. It wasn't really anything necessary for any of the stuff we've done so far, so I just kept it to myself. And besides, we were all getting the exercise we needed in the actual Fourth Layers we were running around, so I didn't think we needed any extra training."
"Extra training?" Demetri said.
"The Third Layer of the Labyrinth contains most of the monsters in that world because of the fact that the Third Layer represents humans' repressed personalities. That's why most of the creatures native to that Layer are violent, or super depressed or scared or angry or laughing hysterically. It's also why everything there is also really ugly and nasty looking."
"Like the Corrupted with contraptions bolted into their heads," Ivory said.
"Mm-hmm. But there's more out there besides Corrupted. You know all the other crap we've faced, right? The really gross things that look like they're from outer space?"
"The floating eyeballs with tentacles and the big face-sized mouth guys," Demetri said.
"Yeah, and the giant whales floating in the sky, among other things. Those things are actually creatures native to the World of Shadow. It's where all monsters originated, according to lore back in Ecumene, where my people are from. Well, where my dad's people are from, but that's beside the point.
"What you call the Corrupted are misshapen forms of Shades, also known as Shadows to some. Every person has a counterpart in the World of Shadow, a mirror image of themselves. A person with normal psychology doesn't even typically materialize in the World of Shadow, but they're there. The Corrupted we face all the time are so common only because of the fact that we're constantly in places with major psychic concentration."
"Psychic concentration?" Demetri said.
"Think about it. Why does a Fourth Layer form in the first place?"
"Because of severe trauma," Ivory said. "That forces a massive anomaly in space-time within the Labyrinth, almost like a gravitational collapse, from which the new space-within-a-space emerges as a distorted reality."
"You sound like glasses over there," Lilith said, upon which Ariadne adjusted her spectacles. "So, then, why would so many of these Shades that we can interact with be so heavily concentrated in such a space?"
"Because of the psychic pressure," Ariadne said. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've seen in the data, the Corrupted and other monsters tend to congregate where the psychic force is strongest. The analogy Ivory used is not far off at all. Each Fourth Layer Labyrinth behaves like a gravitational singularity, which draws in others that have strong emotions overriding everything else."
"Yup," Lilith said. "And the same thing occurs with the other monsters."
"How do you mean?" Ivory said.
"The Corrupted are basically lost versions of the Shades of human beings, which is why they're drawn to Fourth Layers, but the monsters native to the World of Shadow—let's call them Creatures of Shadow—represent the chaos of wild nature, but dialed up to eleven. These things are drawn to something else entirely. While some do find interest in personal Labyrinths, most of them have greater affinity for natural disasters and large-scale catastrophic events."
"Wait, why does this sound like the Grimm?" Ivory said.
"Lilly and I have actually been talking about how similar the Creatures of Shadow are to the Creatures of Grimm. I have no idea what significance there is in so many parallels between Remnant and Ecumene. So far as we know, the Grimm were created by this world's God of Destruction, which he never removed after he and the God of Creation made humans. The Grimm are driven to attack humankind and its creations probably as a result of their very nature: to destroy. And since humans were created by both primordial gods, maybe they just irritate the Grimm much faster than other things made by the God of Creation only."
"Kinda like they wanna be the favorite," Demetri said. "I think your cousins know a thing or two about that."
"Hush," Ivory said, to which the others chuckled.
"So, then, from what you've told us," Ariadne began, "these Creatures of Shadow don't necessarily possess enmity toward humankind, unlike the Creatures of Grimm."
"Right," Lilith said. "It's the Daemons who absolutely loathe humanity."
"Daemons?"
"Yup. Shades and Corrupted Shades are the mirror images of people in the World of Shadow. Creatures of Shadow are the embodiment of disaster. And Daemons are the physical manifestation of the malevolence of humanity."
"Grimm are destruction and Daemons are malice," Demetri said. "That must be why the Übersoldaten are so perfectly built."
"Lilly and I suspect that, too," Lilith said. "From what you overheard those guys talking about, the Übersoldaten are a mix of human, Grimm, and Daemon. Humans of Remnant and humans of Ecumene seem to be identical, hence why you guys are able to harness the power of rune gems. It makes sense that a human soul is the perfect cement to fuse a Grimm and a Daemon."
Demetri glanced over at Ivory, who was looking to the side, preoccupied with her own thoughts.
"What's the matter?" Lilith said to her younger cousin.
"Hmm?" Ivory said. "Just thinking."
"About the Übersoldaten?"
She nodded.
Lilith's eyes flashed gold as Lilly resurfaced. "Hey, we don't know that the Atlas government had anything to do with it."
"It's likely considering Colonel Gottfried led the attack on Mistral. Even his black ops are sanctioned by the highest ranking officials of Atlas. Maybe not on the record, but nonetheless."
"Even if all that was true, you had nothing to do with it, Ivory."
Ivory looked her cousin in the eye. She tried to figure out if Lilly was trying to tell herself something at the same time. Her own comment seemed to go over her head, though.
"So, then, you two were training all this time?" Ariadne said.
Lilly nodded. "Lilith knows the spots where the Creatures of Shadow gather, places were earthquakes have hit, mass deaths, stuff like that. We call them Red Zones."
"Almost exactly like the Grimm. Except in the other world."
"Mm-hmm. From there, we basically went around fighting. Well, I did the fighting and she did the coaching."
"Hey," Demetri said. "You know you don't have to do any of that alone, don't you?"
"I wasn't alone, though."
"You know what I mean. We're a team."
"I know. It's just...it was something I had to do myself."
"I understand," Ivory said. "As much as I would like to join you on your quest as well, I acknowledge that everyone does things their own way and on their own time."
"Thank you, Ivory."
"Well, as your operations lead," Ariadne said, "I do have to express my objection to entering the Labyrinth without backup. But I also know how useless that is. You once conquered entire Labyrinths completely on your own."
"What about a Labyrinth run?" Ivory said.
"Ivory?" Demetri questioned her.
"I'm serious. I know Ariadne wanted us to take a few more days off, but I think it'll be good for us. Let's pick one that isn't on the verge of collapsing. Ariadne?"
She was on her laptop long before the idea even came up. "I'm seeing a good candidate for incursion. Distortion levels are low, but there seems to be a lot of Corrupted activity inside the Fourth Layer."
"Tomorrow morning?" Demetri said.
Why not now?
"Lilith said why not now?" Lilly said.
"My vote is a yes," Ivory said. "And I believe both Lilly and Lilith are voting 'yes' as well, which means we Schnees already outnumber the two of you."
"Why are you so aggressive today?" Demetri said.
"I'm neither more nor less aggressive than I usually am, thank you."
Lilly giggled.
—
Ivory recovered with Demetri as Lilly took over and Lilith returned beneath the surface.
"Is it just me, or is she faster and tougher than before?" Demetri said.
"You're not imagining things," Ivory said, taking a sip of her water. "Her fighting efficiency has substantially increased. She wastes almost zero energy with her moves."
"Yeah. I also noticed that her aura is still at full power. She hasn't gotten hit even once."
"On the other hand, Lilith's EP output is so high that when she gets hit, her aura doesn't even dip."
"I think it might be her anger that drives that EP output, to be honest."
Ivory chuckled. "I think it's something else. Lilith may be angry, but that isn't the only thing Lilith is."
"I've noticed, too. All of a sudden, Lilly and Lilith don't seem all that different. Obviously there are things one would do that the other never would, but like you mentioned before, they do appear to be converging as individuals."
"Hmm."
"What are you thinking?"
"According to their world's lore, when you fully integrate with your Wraith, both halves of yourself cease to exist and you're reborn with everything you are supposed to have been from the beginning, including all the magical power it comes with."
"You're referring to the story about the Knights of Kameloth."
"Yes, Lilly's father and his fellow knights."
"But Sir Bedivere failed to integrate with his own Wraith, right?"
"Which ultimately led to the close call almost twenty years ago when our planet was nearly swallowed in a global Labyrinth."
"Right. But wouldn't integration mean that we wouldn't see Lilith anymore?"
"And that Lilly wouldn't be the same girl you met at Beacon Academy. Or the girl I grew up with."
"Lilith, stop!" Lilly yelled, catching their attention.
No, listen to me! You might've gotten better, but it's only been a few days since we started this! You're still prone to making mistakes and—
"No, I can do this!"
Hey! That's—okay, that's it.
"Huh? Wait, no—"
"Caliburn! Darkness Flame!"
Ivory and Demetri took cover as the blackened Caliburn obliterated everything ahead of Lilith.
"Overkill much?" Demetri said.
"There. You don't take on thirty goddamned Lesser Ogres that big with just your bare—"
"Lilith! Why the heck would you just take over in the middle of—"
"Stop! You're wasting energy resurfacing like—"
"Quit it!"
Ivory and Demetri looked at one another in disbelief.
"I'm telling you, sto—"
"No, you stop it—"
"What's happening?" Demetri said, watching with his mouth open as the Lilly/Lilith swapping continued.
"I don't know," Ivory said.
With each swap, Lilly/Lilith glowed brighter and brighter, but it wasn't their aura shining. Their body was covered in rune-like markings, which projected into the air around them and on the ground and some nearby surfaces before an explosion rocked the building, accompanied by a flash of light brilliant enough to make both Ivory and Demetri turn away. For an instant, it seemed as though some of the runic lettering broke, shattering like glass, before reforming into different characters, fading away as the powerful light vanished.
"Lilly!" Ivory yelled, running to her cousin, who had been hurled into a wall hard enough to crack it.
"Wait, Lilly?" Demetri said, crouching next to someone else.
Ivory looked over to her companion before her eyes opened wide. "What in Remnant is going on?"
"Huh?" Lilly said, rubbing her head as she saw what both Demetri and Ivory were looking at.
"What?" Lilly and Lilith yelled simultaneously as both jumped to their feet.
"You're...separated?" Ivory said. "But...how?"
"We actually started out like this," Lilith said.
"Does that mean everything you did has been undone?" Demetri said.
"No. I don't think so."
"How can you be sure?"
Lilly and Lilith made eye contact for a long time. Neither showed their power on the outside. Only light brown hazels met with each other, long, silver hair mirroring itself as it blew in a breeze.
"Creatures of Shadow!" Ivory yelled, readying Elfenbein as dozens of macabre beings marched or floated at them.
Lilith was the first to move, vanishing as she left a crater and sonic boom with her incredible speed. When she reappeared, her sword was driven deep into the center of a three-legged creature resembling a misshapen crustacean. She vanished again, leaving only several flashes of magical energy as she cut and stabbed her way through the horde of unsightly monsters.
"Did she get faster?" Demetri said.
Ivory looked over at her cousin, who was gripping Caliburn tightly, her face awash with all sorts of emotions. She must have been thinking the same thing Ivory was, that Lilith was freer now that she wasn't weighed down by her real-world counterpart.
I can't fall behind! Lilly thought before shifting into an offensive stance before engaging a group of Creatures of Shadow. After killing one of them, she found herself fending off magical attacks. As if responding to her thoughts, her knight emerged from a massive rune circle on the ground, deflecting fireballs with its sword before standing side-by-side with its summoner.
"Thank you," she whispered, taking on half the battle while Lilith worked solo on the other side of the field.
Ivory and Demetri joined in the fray, handling the few that managed to break through Lilly's tag-team with her knight. Nothing seemed to get past Lilith's onslaught, however. Ivory had never seen her this serious in a battle before now. Her face was painted with determination.
What in the world is happening to the two of you?
"I think that's all of them!" Lilly said, panting.
"Just about," Lilith said, holding up her hand and projecting a fireball at a fleeing monster, setting it ablaze. "All done."
"Now we head to this Labyrinth's core!"
"Wait, shouldn't we rest?" Demetri said.
"I don't know," Ivory said. "It looks like my cousin...cousins? Uh, it looks like they're ready for more action."
"We are!" Lilly said with a hop before turning to her knight. "Right?"
The knight gave her a single nod.
"There you have it," Ivory said. "The Schnees and their knight outnumber you once again in a vote."
"Far be it from me to complain," Demetri said, reloading his gauntlets with Dust. "I'll take up the rear."
The path to the core was devoid of enemies. It seemed they had massacred all of the opposition during the last wave of monsters.
"I don't mind the quiet," Demetri began, "but this usually means an ambush up ahead."
"Not this time," Lilith said. "Check it out."
"Oh!" Lilly said before running to the middle-aged woman bound to the world with red glowing vein-like tendrils. "Lilith! You wanna get your first Labyrinth save?"
"Dude, I've cut those before, you know."
"But not while we're apart!"
"Why not cut them together?" Ivory said.
"Yeah! I get the right, you get the left!"
"Why the hell are you so excited?" Lilith sighed.
"Because!"
"Because what?"
"Because! Because!"
"I think she sees you two as sisters," Demetri said.
"Wha?" Lilith said. "We are so not sisters."
"Why not!" Lilly whined.
Lilith let out another heavy sigh. "Let's just get this over with." She approached the middle-aged woman. "Hey. Time to wake up. I think you got a family waiting for you and stuff."
"Wh...What?" she groaned.
"You don't have to be so harsh!" Lilly said before turning to the woman. "Lilith's right. You have a family to go home to."
"You're better now," Ivory said. "You can go home."
"I can...go home..." the woman said.
As soon as Lilly and Lilith cut through the red veins, she began to disappear.
"This is Ariadne," their earpieces crackled. "I presume you've just resolved that Labyrinth."
"Yup," Lilith said.
"We got a win again!" Lilly said.
"Hmm?" Ariadne said. "That's strange. I'm picking up...never mind. We'll talk later. The collapse has begun. Go! Now!"
"Hey!" Lilly yelled to her knight. "Go get my cousin and her boyfriend!"
The knight nodded.
"J-Just wait a damned minute!" Ivory yelled, but before she could address the issue further, Lilly's knight grabbed onto both her and Demetri.
Lilith and the knight were the only two who were not panting as the team emerged from the collapsing Labyrinth, which they managed to escape with plenty of time to spare.
"That really was easy," Ivory said. "Ariadne, do you read me?"
"Affirmative," she said. "I'm assuming you're clear of the collapse?"
"Earlier than anticipated. I think that was record time we just made."
"Yes, it was. The Labyrinth I chose certainly was on the easy side compared to the more recent ones, but it was still priority enough for you to handle and not the other elements of our LTF."
"LTF?" Demetri said. "Oh, right, Labyrinth Task Force."
"I'm actually impressed at your speed. Maybe you should take extended breaks more often."
"I don't think that's the reason, to be honest," Ivory said.
"Hmm?"
"That reading you were getting earlier, the one you mentioned just before the collapse, are you still getting it?"
"Now that you mention it, yes, the anomaly is persisting."
"Anomaly?" Lilly said.
"Lilly?"
"Yep?"
"Is Lilith with you?"
"I am," Lilith answered.
There was a pause from the other line. "That was a much quicker response than I was anticipating."
"That's because I have my own headset."
There was another pause. "Come again?"
"Yeah!" Lilly said. "That extra set we always carry around just in case someone's equipment goes bad!"
"Hold on a minute."
"We'll explain when we get back," Ivory said.
"I would appreciate that. I'll have the Rift Chamber ready for your retrieval."
"Send a team to these coordinates instead," Lilith said, inputting a few commands into her scroll.
"Hey!" Lilly said. "When did you take my scroll?"
"When you weren't looking," she said with a grin. "You gotta pay attention to your surroundings better."
"Not cool!"
"I see it," Ariadne said. "Sending a retrieval team right away."
"So, what now?" Demetri said as they headed toward the nearest rift. "Do you stay separated in the real world?"
"Not a chance," Lilith said.
"Why not?" Lilly said.
"Because you have a physical body. I don't."
"Because you're technically her Shade," Ivory said.
"Mm-hmm. You're my physical body, Lilly."
Lilly made eye contact with her Wraith. The usual smug and casual demeanor was gone today, replaced with a severity she had never shown before now.
"You're the one who decides when we go back to the real world," Lilith continued.
"How do you know that?" Lilly said.
"I just do. I wanna try something, though."
"Huh?"
"You feel that rift over that way?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"You guys cross over. I'm gonna stay right here."
"What if you get left behind?" Demetri said.
"Wouldn't be the first time."
"Are you sure about this?" Lilly said.
Lilith nodded.
"Lilly, let's go," Ivory said.
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Lilly marched toward the rift along with her knight, Ivory, and Demetri. She looked back at Lilith in the distance before willing her group to cross back over to the real world. They materialized in an alley, far away from any prying eyes.
"I'm quite astonished that we never end up in the middle of the street or on a rooftop somewhere," Demetri said.
"That's primarily why we usually head back to the Rift Core," Ivory said. "Ariadne calculated that such a scenario is completely possible, even a rift somewhere in the sky, particularly when local space-time distortion is greater than normal."
"Good gods."
"For that reason, we use miscellaneous rifts in extenuating circumstances only, and only if it's in the Second or First Layer, where the risk of a mishap is much lower than in the Third Layer." She turned to her cousin. "Did Lilith follow along with you?"
Lilly nodded. "She's in here. Says it felt like she got flung across the street."
"Like a bungee cord," Demetri said.
"Mm-hmm. Honestly, I think I felt the impact, too. Almost like she physically slammed into me when she was pulled through the rift."
Yeah, we should probably not do that anymore. I'm thinking that woulda been even more painful if I was further away.
"Should we try another experiment?"
No, you dumbass!
"Hey! I was gonna suggest we cross over closer! Did you think I was gonna say for you to move even farther away?"
That wouldn't exactly be outside the realm of possibility for you!
"That's mean!"
"What are you two talking—sorry, arguing about?" Demetri asked with a grin.
"She called me dumb!"
Ivory suppressed her snicker.
—
"You returned to your original state while inside the Labyrinth," Ariadne said.
Lilly nodded. "At least, that's how we first met face to face, anyway," she said.
"But she's in there right now."
"Mm-hmm."
"I'm wondering if you will emerge into the Labyrinth separated again the next time you go in."
"She's wondering the same thing."
"Are you feeling strange at all?"
"Nope. Everything's normal. Kinda hungry, though. These MREs aren't really doing it for me anymore, honestly."
"Really?" Demetri said. "Because I think they're making me fatter." After a moment, he turned to Ivory.
"What are you looking at me for?" she said with a glare.
"No reason," he said, turning away.
"What about Lilith?" Ariadne said. "Is she feeling any different?"
"She says 'nope'," Lilly said.
"I see."
"Should we do more testing?"
"We've run all the tests I can think of running."
"Cool. How 'bout we leave it to the lab coats and get something to eat, then?"
"Before that, how are you doing?"
"Me?"
She nodded.
"Oh. Well, it's been a week since the last Labyrinth run. It still hurts, that I couldn't save that man, but I think Lilith and I were able to deal with that."
"That's good. If you need to talk about it, though, we're all here, you know."
She smiled. "I know. Thanks." She leaned over and embraced Ariadne tightly.
"Yeah, she's back to her old self," Demetri said.
Meanwhile, Ivory couldn't stop thinking about the fact that it was Lilith who helped Lilly through that emotional ordeal, and that they were now separated once again in the Labyrinth. She wondered what implications this had for her cousin. Nevertheless, she allowed herself to smile.
"Welcome back, Lilly," she said.
The elder Schnee gave her a big smile before jumping from Ariadne to her, giving her a tight embrace as well.
"I love you, little cousin," she whispered.
Ivory suppressed the tears welling up. "I love you, too, big cousin."
—
"What do you make of this?" Orion asked his sister as she reported the situation.
"I honestly don't know, brother," she replied.
"Don't worry, Ariadne," Dr. Cherenkov said. "None of us expect you to understand everything about this. That you can conclude anything at all about magic is a wonder in itself."
"I merely make observations and predictions based on those observations. It's simple science."
"The science of magic," Kronos said. "Thaumatology."
"Are you worried, father?" Orion said.
"About as worried as any mortal faced with something as unexplainable and unpredictable as magic. This field Ariadne founded can ease only so much of our discomfort regarding such a potent thing as magic and the existence of other worlds."
"I do have more to report on that other project," Ariadne said before turning to Dr. Cherenkov. "You were right about the gemstones. Each type has a different effect on the runes embedded in them."
"Is that so?" he said.
"Yes. Of the thirty different types we've tried so far, only four have the greatest use to us. Rubies enhance the potency of a rune, but it constantly drains the EP of the wielder. When EP is unavailable, it drains the soul instead."
"Is that why our auras are weaker in the Labyrinth?" Orion said.
"At first I thought it might have been due to the Labyrinth's inherent properties, but it seems it's actually the rubies. We will have to switch over to sapphires instead. Sapphires, for some reason, increase the EP efficiency of its embedded rune, but the potency is nowhere near as much as a ruby. Emeralds increase the 'level' of the rune, granting the user access to higher level spells without actually mastering the rune."
"Wait, how is that useful to us?" Kronos said.
Ariadne reached into a pouch, holding up an emerald with a rune embedded in it. "This is a Fire Rune. Just as we are all capable of using the power of a Reality Anchor Rune merely by possessing a ruby, we also have access to this."
"You've weaponized magic," Orion said as Ariadne handed the emerald to him.
"They're useless in the real world," she said. "Without the ambient EP ever-present in the Labyrinth, runes are useless to anyone who does not produce their own EP field."
"Like Lilly or Lilith and those Wraith-Knight kids," Kronos said.
"Correct."
"What about the fourth gemstone?" Dr. Cherenkov said.
"Diamonds. They increase the duration of spells cast by a rune. The most useful rune to embed into a diamond would be an Earth Rune, which has spells that can increase a target's defensive and offensive capabilities."
"This is incredible," Orion said. "We might actually be able to put together true Labyrinth Task Force teams."
"I would not be in such a hurry, brother. Too many runes and your aura would never reconstitute, or worse, your soul may evaporate. Every person must possess a Reality Anchor Rune at all times, which already takes up a slot in your soul efficiency, so to speak. From my calculations, even the most peak human beings can only maintain two runes at once."
"Which means one Reality Anchor Rune and one other rune," Kronos said.
"That's correct. And these are peak humans we are talking about. The best of the best Huntsmen we have ever seen."
"The Knights of Remnant," Orion said.
"The only ones who could possibly survive in the Labyrinth without projecting their own EP fields," Dr. Cherenkov said. "And it's all because their auras are so powerful."
"Yes," Ariadne said. "Such powerful auras mean powerful souls."
"Which means they could handle the stress of possessing rune-embedded gemstones," Kronos said.
"Exactly."
"Ariadne," Dr. Cherenkov began, "I'd like you to share all of this you've told us with both the Mistral Labyrinth Task Force and the Coalition leaders."
"Me personally?"
"Yes. You're the only one who understands this at the level you do."
She looked to the side. She could think of one other person who might be on her level, the one from Mistral she corresponded with regularly, but he operated on the field, not behind the scenes the way she did. "Very well, then." She paused after standing up. "Before we go, however, there is something I must update all of you on. It's regarding Perseus."
