Book X: Girl on Fire

Chapter LXXVI

"Welcome back," Serena said from within my mind.

"Indeed, it's been awhile," Adamas replied… also from within my mind.

I sighed. "I'm starting to think this isn't healthy."

All of the people that made up the voices in my head then had the nerve to look confused at me.

Adamas chuckled before turning back to Serena, "So how did you end up here?"

Serena immediately looked agitated. "Aren't you some kind of god now?! How do you know nothing?!"

"Believe it or not, I'm still only human, I'm not as all-powerful as people like to think I am," Adamas laughed out nervously.

"Well let's start with some basics then," Serena said sarcastically. "What happens when a blade's core crystal is shattered?"

"That's easy," I jutted in, trying to break the tension just a little bit. "Their bodies are unable to return to their core crystal, and so they die."

"One point to the newbie," Serena cheered, still being sarcastic. "And now, this one's worth double, who can tell me what happened when mine was cracked?"

"You… turned to ethereal dust…," Adamas answered.

"Bingo!" Serena continued. "My core crystal couldn't resonate ever again, however my core contained enough information and was intact enough to dissolve my body. That's literally how I killed every blade I had absorbed as Cereza."

Adamas waited patiently for her to finish explaining her point.

"Keep up now," Serena added. "What other blade turned to ether dust instead of leaving a body?"

"Jin…," Adamas said aloud.

Serena let out a long sigh. "Adonis absorbed what was left of me, but he had absorbed Jin long before he found me. However I don't think there was enough of Jin left to leave consciousness behind, I wasn't so lucky."

"So how did you end up here in my mind then?" I questioned.

Serena sighed. "I think I have an answer but I'll let you find that one on your own."

Adamas nodded as he turned to me. "It'll be better that way."

"Ugh," I groaned. "Why do I get the feeling you guys are holding out on me?"

"Because we are," Serena said bluntly as Adamas shot her a look.

"What she means to say," Adamas continued, glaring at her. "Is that the answer is one you need to find on your own."

"But what's the question I need to find the answer to?" I asked.

"How much do you know about the circumstances of your birth?" Adamas questioned.

"N-Not much," I answered, suddenly realizing that that may be important.

To be honest, I only knew that a man by the name of Azurda brought me to Granny when I was a baby, but I never once questioned her on the identity of my parents. It never really bothered me.

My thoughts were interrupted as I suddenly realized something.

"Wait if you still exist that means Adonis is still alive, doesn't it?!" I questioned.

"It's time for you to wake up Silas," Serena said, ignoring my question entirely. "Good luck on getting Mythra back."

...

I woke up with a start, but I relaxed as I realized I was in my bedroom inside of Granny's house. It was… really lonely without her here.

I got up and got dressed. Blue jeans, plain grey t-shirt, black jacket and some decent brown work boots… I then laughed to myself a little bit. How often was it that I actually changed clothes? I ignored the thought, as it brought me a reasonable amount of discomfort.

As I got up, everyone was already getting ready to eat, however they were also very quiet. It seemed everyone was tensing up.

I tried to ease the stress a little bit. "Hey guys, we won't be fighting Galea, and Mythra isn't going to attack us either, we'll only have to deal with Pyra."

They nodded, but didn't really seem to calm down. What was going through their heads?

Gabriel eventually decided to break the silence. "Look chum, we're not nervous about the fight. We just don't know how much faith we can put into Adamas."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"You're asking us to take in a lot," Acacia pointed out.

"First Silas sleep without waking up for over a week, and then Silas show up super strong with little explanation!" Rafi added.

"And you tell us that you're gonna die!" Azami interjected.

"The death can be prevented. Foresight is predictive, not absolute," I said as I sighed. "Mythra's true power is even greater than this is, I didn't think this was going to be that much of a shock."

"Not to mention that power you keep chained up isn't anything to laugh at, either," T-Elos mentioned to Acacia.

"Oh yeah," I spoke up, trying to ignore the image of her unleashing her power on me during Adamas' foresight. "When did T-Elos join us?"

"Oh right, you were asleep," Acacia answered. "I… settled the dispute between my sister and I."

I immediately knew what she meant, as it was written all over her face.

"I-I understand. Welcome T-Elos, it's good to have you."

"Likewise," she responded, almost cheerfully.

"And I personally don't like the 'story' he gave us," Sheba, who seemed to be the only one ready to speak her mind, interjected. "According to what we know, Adonis was alive long before Waylon disappeared, leaving him alive did nothing but cause the entire world problems. Why didn't he hunt down Adonis before going back?"

"That quite right!" Poppi added. "Adonis even said that he saw Mythra 'kill' Waylon. Poppi was not around for that but that would mean Waylon or Alvis would have known something!"

"It honestly feels like he's holding out on us," Acacia continued. "And for that reason I can't trust him."

I sighed. "He's holding information from me too…. Honestly, I'd rather not continue to do his dirty work, if that's what this is. Maybe he has his reasons, but I don't really care about them. The only thing I care about right now is getting Pyra and Mythra out of there. After that, he can explain it himself. Will that suffice for now?"

Gabriel let out a sigh. "I don't like it, but what choice do we got?"

"Very well," Acacia uttered as she nodded. "If that is our goal then we will not fail, but after this we need to sit down and talk about what we do next. No more wandering aimlessly."

I nodded as Adamas spoke within my mind.

"I thank you for your defense, I promise my actions will be explained very soon."

"There's no need to thank me," I replied. "I didn't defend you because I was trying to help you. You've taught me much, and for that I am grateful. However, this relationship is beginning to feel one-sided. If I am nothing more than a means to an end to you then you're no better than Adonis, keep that in mind."

The meal continued with minimal conversation, and afterwards we geared up and were all ready to go.

"Where are we going anyway?" Sheba questioned me as we stood outside.

"Galea resides in Morytha, around the Conduit," Adamas answered through me. "However she only took the Aegises in the event that Silas could not obtain my power. It was to deprive you of a fighting chance. Now that I've awakened and Malos is with you, she has no reason to keep Mythra or Pyra. The time it would take her to unlock their power wouldn't be enough, and us having her power doesn't give us any greater of an advantage. She likely left them somewhere Pyra could fight us and not involve herself or the Conduit."

"Hey smartass," Malos said, interrupting Adamas. "We don't need your pointless theories, you have foresight. Where are they hiding?"

Adamas sighed through me. "Firewood Forest, more specifically in the Desolate Circle."

"Isn't the Desolate Circle that area Mythra wiped out five hundred years ago?" Acacia asked bluntly.

I nodded.

"Yeah how did you screw that up?" Malos asked, grinning ear to ear. "Haven't seen carelessness like that since Addam."

"I died and she lost control, I was kept alive by the Conduit and it allowed me to speak with Addam. Upon awakening I calmed her down and took her complete power as my own. This also allowed Rex to use Pyra's full power," Adamas, but more specifically Waylon, explained through me.

"So Mythra holding back prevented Pyra from going all out as well?" Malos questioned. "Interesting."

"I'll go fire up the Monoceros," Acacia said. "Everyone get re-"

"No need," I interrupted, taking control from Adamas. "I'll take us there."

"Do we even need to come with you?" Gabriel questioned. "At this point I can't help but feel like I'm slowing you down."

I shook my head. "Having you in my life is what gives me control over this blade. If you're not there, I have no one to hold me in check. If I act out of line or do something stupid, you guys have got to be there to correct me. And besides, I'm supposed to die during this fight, maybe one of you can help me out with that. I trust in your abilities."

"Well since you simply can't POSSIBLY do without me, I suppose I have no choice but to tag along," Gabriel teased.

Sonata hit him over the back of the head with her microphone, much to Kasandra's dismay.

"Off the high horse and get ready to move bitch!" she announced.

Everyone laughed at the sudden outburst, even Gabriel and Malos. It was… nice. I still felt like I didn't know a lot about these guys, but in a way, they did end up feeling like family.

"We all ready?" I questioned.

Everyone replied with either a nod or a "yes", and before anyone could blink, we were there.

Readability Level: 11-12th Grade

Time Taken: 6.5 Hours (Writer's Block wooooo)