So it's finally Thanksgiving break for me. I blew my second midterm and it's all good and dandy -w- except for that tad bit about the midterm.
Well since it is TB let's give some thanks c:
-LightandDarkHeart: Yes, none of us liked Zai. And personally, I'll be happy when he's dead -w-
So without further ado let's get going with what you've all been waiting for :D
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The Curator of the Abyss
Through the library of Pandora, Angele rummaged through countless of books and countless of aisles during his search. It was hard to look for something no one had ever witness before but even so he had to try.
"Found anything yet?"
"Not yet," he replied to Willow without turning to face her reflection on the window pane. "I had my suspicions about how hard this would be to begin with. There's no records of any Chain like it. No one has ever seen it much less interacted with it."
"Could it be that it is like the Cheshire Cat?"
"Seems that way. This particular Chain doesn't wish to form a contract because its job isn't about being in the human world. It's about protecting something in the Abyss."
"What is this Chain you keep speaking of?"
He rummaged through more books, throwing some out of his way that didn't pertain much to his research. "A Chain that few have seen and that none have contracted. It's spoken of many times in the lore of many regions. The Parcae, Sudice, Norns, all different names but they all speak of the same thing."
"Weavers of fate."
"Exactly. But they're usually depicted as three separate entities, this one being the 'allocator of slots'."
"You seem awfully well versed on it."
"That's because I've seen it." He lowered his voice as he read through the book he had in his hand. "It's often perceived as a weaver of fate but to be more accurate, it is the curator of a very coveted athenaeum which records it."
"Anthenaeum?"
"The records of this world."
"The archival records of the past of the Abyss?"
"Yes. It seems this Chain was created with that sole purpose in mind. To be the curator of all those archives. But having a curator means that there must also be a elocutionist. Something that allows those writings to be visible to us. To know the past and even foresee the future."
"Astrovylia." Angele smiled at hearing Arbel's voice behind him. The man he had known the longest out of the lords never ceased to amaze him. Even though he was just a youngling in his eyes, Arbel was the most witted and the only person he considered as a close friend. "A reader of the writings, isn't that what Astrovylia was known as?"
"Precisely," he said gazing over his shoulder to meet the pair of cobalt irises. "But Astrovylia doesn't exist in this plane or the Abyss anymore. During Edea's reign as the White Sage she barely managed to join the two Chains together to form Astrovylia. But the exertion caused it to separate again after her death. It's components have been shattered into two. Without it we cannot hope to reach the curator of those archives."
"Then tell Claire," Arbel suggested climbing up on the ladder and waiting a few steps below from where Angele sat. At seeing the pursed lips of the older man, Arbel rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Angie," he groaned and leaned back almost tipping the ladder over. "To be able to read those archives, even she must be interested. It might even help her with her goal."
"Goal?" Angele scoffed a bit incredulous. "She's a sixteen-year-old hormonal teenager. For all we know her goal is to rule the world."
"Now, Angie." Arbel was now way too close. He had climbed up almost standing right before Angele. He never did learn the concept of personal space. "You and I know that's not true. She's told you what she wants."
"Hope. Which if you ask me is a very vague term."
"She wants hope for the future," Arbel clarified. "She doesn't want us or other innocent people to suffer."
"No human is innocent," Angele countered.
"That's to the eye of the beholder, isn't it?" Arbel gave Angele an intense stare that didn't help much with his concentration. "You and I have done some terrible things in the past. Things that are considered blasphemous to anyone if they knew. But tell me this, if we were to tell her do you seriously think she would damn us for it?"
Angele stared back at him but was taken aback by his eyes before he had to look away. "No." The next thought made Angele sigh, "If anything she would tell us to embrace it."
"See?"
"It is that bleeding heart that can damn her own existence," Angele countered before Arbel got cocky about being right.
The latter still laughed knowing he was right. "And it is that same bleeding heart that makes her so strong. She's not a full Corvus. She's half-human and it is that humanity that keeps her heart away from the darkness that usually sways around us, caressing us to do its beck and call. Barma isn't so far off the mark. Those of us who are full-fledged have had to go through some petty shit in our lives. We're careened towards evil and its sweetness. But those of you who are lucky enough to be hybrids have the upper hand. You're able to fight back and choose."
"You're not a savage animal, Arby. You have humanity in you too."
"Not what you told me when we first met."
A hand perilously tried reaching out but Angele quickly swatted it away. "Back to what we were discussing."
"Ah yes, reforming Astro. Just do it, Angie."
"As I said beforehand, it's not such an easy task to do. Even if it was, I would have to inform the dukes and that would cause a serious disadvantage to us."
Arbel thought about it for a minute before a grin spread across his face. "Then take her to the mausoleum. Your domain, your rules," he suggested with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.
"Claire?" Oz's voice made me stop mid yawn to gaze at him. "Are you all right?" It was already the morning after the meeting and all of us had gathered at Sharon's parlor. The night before I had come back without anybody noticing but unfortunately Angele hadn't been in his room. So instead I left the cloth on his desk to ask about it later. After that the whole night before I had spent reading Cloude's journal. It wasn't like I could sleep either way.
I rubbed my eyes lazily. "I can't seem to get any decent sleep recently, that's all."
"Since when haven't you slept?" Gil asked while bringing some of his famous sweets and meals.
"What?" The question had taken me a bit by surprise. I haven't slept since... My eyes glanced down and my expression sullened. "Almost a week now."
All of a sudden, I felt a huge hand on my head that started patting it. It felt strange but also kind of nice. "It's all right for now. You're still young."
Pouting a little, I went to put my hair back in place. "What's that supposed to mean?" The doors to the parlor opened and when Lacrimosa came in with Chronos, I looked up from my tea. "Hey, what's up?"
"It's Galen," Lacrimosa said. "He wants to speak with you."
Knocking softly upon the door, I awaited for the low voice to answer before opening the door and coming inside. Closing it behind me, I saw Galen seated on the chair of the small tea table that he had while Envier paced around the room, stopping when I came in.
"I was told you wanted to speak to me?" I asked a bit confused as to why that was.
"Yes," Galen answered and motioned for the chair across from him. "Please, take a sit." He turned to Eniver while I took my sit. "Be a dear, lamb, and bring the board here." Without a word, Envier brought over a foldable chess board that Galen started piecing together for a game.
"If you don't need me here, I'll be going. I have some stuff to arrange. I'll be seeing you, Grand Pabbie," she announced turning to Galen. Then she turned to me. Without a word I nodded to her and with that she left.
When he wasn't saying anything more I decided to speak up. "Did you just call me here to play a game?"
"Not quite," he answered but didn't elaborate until he had made the board to play. He moved first and we started while he kept talking. "Tell me,nearí̱ kopéla, how much do you know of your father?"
My father...? "Not much," I say slowly not really getting why he was asking this. I made my move nonetheless. "I vaguely remember him from my childhood but that's about it." My movements suddenly slowed at a thought. "Now that I think about it I don't even know his name."
"His name is Nicholas Aloysius Dawn."
That name. "Angele called me by that name the first day we met. Is that really the name of my father?" Galen nodded before making his move. At that another question arose in my mind. "How do you know that, though."
"Because, back in the day after I left the Court, I came upon a young boy whom I protected from bandits. He was very mellow but was very kind and wise for his age. He convinced me to return with him to his family estate where I became his valet. The name of that boy was Nicholas, your father."
"You were my father's valet?" That shocked me plenty. More so than I wanted to admit.
"That I was. Not only that but soon after became the general of your grandfather's army where your father joined me when he was of age to fight." Galen scoffed while making his move. "Unwillingly I might add."
"He didn't want to go to war?"
"Nay, but it was a necessity and a luxury that he couldn't afford. After the war, your father was a very different man. He hated seeing life wasted to the wagers of strife and battle. Many a time did I catch a glimpse of him helping out opposing soldiers after a won battle. He was a selfless man by nature. Yet when the situation arose he was a fearless soldier of the likes that I've never seen. When I caught sight of you fighting against the Lords you reminded me a lot of him."
That compliment made me blush a bit while I made my move. "I'm glad to get to know how my dad was when he was younger but I don't understand why you are telling me this."
"Let me finish," he intervened while thinking over what his next move would be. "After the war was over, like I mentioned earlier, he changed drastically. He kept telling me that the only reason he fought was because of the people that depended on him but that he would much rather be out exploring a world that was denied of him. Carelessly playing his violin for anybody to hear."
"Denied of him?"
"Your grandfather kept all his children secluded from the world," Galen explained. "Your father and his four other siblings of whom he was the oldest. When the day neared that he would have taken your grandfather's place, something happened. Your grandfather was poisoned, almost killed. The second youngest accused your father of the deed because they had seen him sneaking out during the nights which he went to play in the streets. With no excuse, Nicholas denied the accusations but to no avail. Your grandfather didn't want a traitor amongst his family but he didn't want to see a son of his hanged for such treason. So instead he disowned your father and executed another in his place."
"How awful."
"But it was because of those set of events that your father met your mother," he said with a grin on his face. "After your father left the country, I was made to retire while the second-oldest son took charge of the military. And even when the Dawn Household didn't last long after my leave, I didn't really care. Your father was the one man I was loyal to."
"How did you know that my parents met then?"
"A few years after, I traveled alongside the countryside and found myself returning to the village of my people. It was by fate or happenstance that I stumbled upon your father there, all grown. We stayed in town and spoke for what seemed hours. He told me how he had traveled and was glad to see me again. After dark when no one was around though was when he told me about your mother. That he had stolen the White Sage of the village out of the mutual love they held and that they lived happy together already having a couple of children of his own."
It was really something to hear about your parents' meeting. I never got to speak to either personally when they were alive, not that I recall anyway. So hearing this story made me forget about the game and simply listen intently to Galen.
"He explained that I shouldn't worry about him and that he hoped the best for me. I wished him the same and planned to stay a couple of more weeks around just to make sure he was all right. It was during that time as well that I met up with Katra, my son's mistress and my lamb's mother, and met Envier when she was but a babe." A grimace came to his face that made me sullen for a reason. "It was a few days later that the Massacre happened. So devastated was I about not finding Katra and Envier that I forgot completely about Nicholas. In my despair was when I contracted with a Chain and started killing."
This surprised me a little. I had surmised by his stories back at Belthem that he had gotten himself out of the Abyss. But in reality I never came to question how exactly he had gotten himself there in the first place.
"After the incuse finished it's rotation I was dragged into the Abyss. I roamed there without a purpose and only wanting to die. But at finding Callisto something in me cried out for liberation. I didn't want to be left in that dark pit to die. So I formed a contract with her and got out. How you found me at Belthem was how I spent the last twenty years."
Silenced ensued as he continued his move. When he saw that I didn't make my own he raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry."
"About what?"
"Causing you so much pain." It had been the same for Angele and his family that he had told me about. My existence in this world has only caused people pain and suffering.
"You have done well to make up for it," he simple answered. "You reunited me with my granddaughter and for that I'm in your debt."
"I already told you that that wasn't necessary," I intervene. "You should be free to be with her. You owe me nothing."
He grinned and sighed and moved again. "Even if that's so, I still have a debt to pay to your father."
"My father?"
"He was a great man, one who shared many dreams with me and that I saw as the son I wished I had. You are his daughter and I'm still young enough to serve."
Wait a minute...if this is going where I think it's going then... "What are you talking about, old man?"
"And here I thought you were a little brighter than that," he chuckled and moved once again. This move making it his last. "I want for you to accept me as your valet."
Checkmate.
"M-My valet...?"
"I was a servant of the Dawn Household. Seeing as you are its only living heir then I am under your service."
"But I already told you that you don't have to!"
"But I want to, child," he responded looking me straight in the eye. "Envier understood when I told her and encouraged me to take this route as well. We both are eternally grateful for what you've given us and want to see that you go through any hardship accompanied. Be it by her and the Lords or by myself."
I remained quiet at this. Envier had become quite attentive about me since I showed her how I really was. Not only her but Galen seemed to have taken some liking to me as well. And frankly having the same valet that my father had, that was like something I've never even dreamed of. But...
"I just can't, Galen. It wouldn't feel right."
"Doesn't have to," he answered. "Let me be your valet and I will serve you as well as I served your father. I won't take no for an answer."
This brought a smile to my face and for some reason I just couldn't say no. "Then I suppose I have no choice then, do I?"
"That's exactly what I wanting to hear," he said and stood up. Instinctively, I rose from my sit as well. He brought out his hand with his palm open. "I'm Galen of Arcadios, Clarice. Again, nice to make your acquaintance and it'll be a pleasure to work for you."
I smiled at that and shook his hand, "My name's Clarice Florence...Dawn. Nice to meet you too, and the pleasure's all mine, Gale."
Galen's face suddenly became shocked but he quickly laughed it off. When he saw my confused face he simply shook his head and patted my head, "You're just like your father." That brought a huge smile on my face.
A couple of knocks took my attention and made Gale call for whomever was on the other side to come in. On the other end, Arbel opened the door and smiled when he saw me.
"Hey there, sorry if I'm interrupting but I'm here to steal you away."
"Steal me?"
"Yep," he answered. "You, Angie, and I are going to take a little trip."
"Ready?"
I only nodded not knowing what to expect. Certainly as Arbel had said, it was only the three of us when we headed out. Angele had told me that we would be out all day and that he had informed Duchess Rainsworth about our leave. So I guess I was excused from anything for the rest of the day. Lacrimosa and Chronos were with me as well. We galloped on horse all the way out to the outskirts where the graveyard was situated.
"Why are we here?" I asked Arbel in a murmur while Angele talked to the grave keeper.
"Where gonna give Angie's land a little visit," he answered with a wink my way. "Take it as your first tour of the lands."
After Angele came back we headed to one of the mausoleums in the graveyard. Angele opened it with a key he must've gotten from the old grave keeper and led the way. We stood before the end of the hallway of graves. Angele swiped his hand over the bricks in a certain pattern that I didn't understand but it made the bricks disperse and create an opening that led down below. I physically cringed looking down the narrow stairs. Angele lights the way with a lantern.
"You first?" he offered.
"Hell no," I answer shaking my head. "Your place, you lead the way."
Angele chuckled along with Arbel as he led, Lacrimosa, Chronos and I remained in the middle, while Arbel took the back. The narrow space of the stairs that kept snaking around made me feel claustrophobic. The sudden darkness started to slowly become less until it blinded me with light when we came upon the bottom.
At looking around, a full town was going about on with their lives. Short buildings were all about and stands littered all around. The people that walked about were rather pale but I suppose that was from not going out in the sun so much.
"It's...huge." I couldn't believe this laid beneath Reveille and had been hidden from Pandora right under their noses.
"Let's continue." Angele's voice brought me back and I caught up to him while the others followed. But somehow it felt odd. I tried not to look at them but it was hard not to when mostly all of the people here were staring daggers at me. So instead I tried to concentrate on where we were going.
At least I tried to until someone bumped into me hard enough from one side to make me fall back. Gazing up, I caught the angry scowl of a boy no older than ten. Rage was clearly written all over his face.
"You disgusting bitch!" he growled throwing glares at me. So dumbfounded was I that I couldn't answer and only stared. "Why are you here!? We don't want you here! Go away and die!" He suddenly spit in my face making me recoil.
"Noel!" Angele called out with a commanding voice. The boy turned up to glare at the man as well. Suddenly from the crowd that I didn't see form a woman came out and took the boy by his shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Lord Angele."
"Refrain from doing it again." She bowed before him and took Noel away. The crowd slowly dispersed while Lacrimosa and Chronos helped me up. I still couldn't believe what had happened. Arbel took a handkerchief from his pocket and passed it on to Angele who came over to Claire.
So bewildered by the action was I that I didn't mind him when he came over and lifted my face by my chin. His smiled bore into me something that I couldn't decipher.
"I apologize on their behalf," he whispered while cleaning the saliva from my face with a gentle stroke. "Our people, well, they're not quite found of your family."
And I know why...
"Because it's my fault that their families died so long ago, isn't?" I whispered trying to hide the hurt that their actions caused me. I didn't know them but that those rabid emotions were directed at me really wrung something in me. "All of them must hate me to the core just like you."
"Like I did," Angele clarified and took me away as we continued our way. "The people here are how I used to be. They have not known you and therefore are judging you."
"With every reason to."
"But prematurely. Just like I did," he added. We started going down more stairs and started reaching the catacombs through which he guided us. "You're a great person, Clarice. You're passionate and compassionate. They will soon learn to judge you by your deeds not those of the ones that came before you."
His words calmed me a bit and reminded me of the reason I resigned and took this post as King in the first place. I want these people that have suffered just like us to feel safe and bring them the light of hope they deserve as human beings.
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks." He only gave me a curt nod before he stopped when we arrived at our destination.
"Here we are."
"An underground...coliseum?!" And here I thought the town was big. "Why did you bring me here?"
He remained silent and simply offered me his hand. I took it and he guided me down towards the arena while Arbel and the other two remained in the front to take a sit.
"The reason why I brought you here is to summon a curator."
"Curator?" I repeated not knowing what he meant to say. My voice echoed through the empty walls of the coliseum.
"A keeper of very special records," he said with a grin on his face. "The records of this world from the Abyss."
"What?" I called shocked that he had found such thing.
"It is a Chain that resides in the Abyss. After all the amount of research, I concluded that there was only one way to summon it."
"How?" I asked actually interested in this thing.
"We need Astrovylia."
At that my brow furrowed in confusion. "But...Astrovylia can't be summoned." I knew it because no matter how much I tried calling it or summoning its presence, it never answered. And I knew why. "It doesn't exist anymore."
"In this plane, no it doesn't. Almost a full millennia ago, Astrovylia was so weakened after exiting the Abyss that it searched for a way to remain there. And it found a way, just not as a whole being. Finding a pair of humans, it used them as vessels to keep its two components alive yet separate. And as long as they remain separate, Astrovylia can't exist in this plane." His gaze suddenly went over me to land somewhere behind me. "But we have those two components with us."
Following his line of vision, I found Chronos protecting Larcimosa while she cowered behind him. I don't understand. "You two...were humans."
"The first Sage of our people...and the human lover that condemned them to being Chains."
That sounded so familiar. A pair of star-crossed lovers that were separated by a fairy that granted them eternal life. But at the cost of something dear to them. "You're the ones that The Time of Night talks about. You're those lovers."
"What are you implying with this, Apostles?" Chronos growled under his breath.
"All I wish to say is that if we unite if for a short while the two of you and summon Astrovylia, her connection with this Curator of the Abyss may be strong enough to call it forth and allow Claire a chance to speak to it."
"But how would I get the records then?" I asked a bit confused still.
"Coerce it to form a contract with you."
"It won't agree." Chronos' sudden outburst made us turn to look at him once more. "It doesn't want to escape the Abyss. It has no business here."
"But if anybody can don't you agree it would be her?"
"How could I possible coerce something that has no intention on contracting?" I say cringing at the expectations they're putting on me.
"Your lovely charm?" Arbel suggested not helping much.
"Why not try and see?" Angele asked at last. "What do we have to lose, anyway?"
Thinking it over, I turned to Chronos and Lacrimosa and nod. They look at each other and I see something in their faces that says they don't want to do it but they're helpless at the choice. They come closer and stand between me and Angele.
"If that's what you want—" Chronos says with a small scowl.
"We'll try," Lacrimosa finishes.
"Good." Angele turns to me and directs me as to what to do. "Now, all you have to do is imagine in your mind the powers of time and space that you posses as one. Imagine them conjoining to become the galaxies that they can create."
I looked both of them in the eye before closing my own and imaging what he was saying. Time and space...together. Forming a never-ending galaxy of stars that endlessly die and are endlessly reborn.
A sudden surge of energy collapses the air around me, enabling me to breath for a brief second before bringing it back. At opening my eyes, both Chains are gone and in their places something seems to be forming. It was a mass of dark, cobalt colors with many sparkles in it like stars. Suddenly it began to take form upright into that of a young woman.
She was pale and had long hair and dress the color of the galaxy that had made her. Her eyes were covered by the a dark cloaked that shrouded her face and shoulders. But even when I couldn't see her eyes something felt like it was watching me. Like it bore an intense stare on me and made me conscious of everything around me.
When I finally gathered my bearings I spoke to it. "You're Astrovylia, aren't you..."
"Yes..." The voice that sounded in my head seem to echo out in the room as if projecting it's voiceless thoughts through the empty space. "It is the name that I was given by your people. But it is not my true name."
That made me frown a bit at how confused I was about that. "What is your name then?"
"The Harbinger."
"You're connected to the Curator of the Abyss, right?"
"Correct. It and I are connected."
"Would it be possible for you to call it here? I would like to speak to it."
It didn't answer but instead vanished into what looked like a black hole. When it vanished something appeared in its stead. A black cloak that looked like a dark vacuum appeared and spread on the floor. Just as suddenly something seemed to rise from underneath it and took shape. It was massive and it took a toll around the atmosphere. It was like the air suddenly became colder around us, heavier even. It was getting really hard for me to breath when that thing started forming before me. It clearly stood taller than all of us, almost resembling Mad Hatter.
Just then it finished forming and simply stood there before me. It was nothing but a dark cloaked and hooded beast. Nothing peered from underneath the hood. Its claws were a part of its sleeves that hung lethally by its sides. It had no body, it was just a very menacing looking phantom.
"A mere human..."
It's voice boomed deeply in the room and made me that much more conscious of how devastatingly terrifying its presence was.
"Y-You're the curator?"
"What does it matter to you, human..."
It didn't sound like a question. His sentences seemed to be left to drift in the air. "Because..." It was getting really hard to get over the lump that had formed in my throat. But I had to. "I want to...form a contract with you."
A low rumbling chuckle echoed through the walls sending chills down my spine. "You mundane being. I do not seek to form a contract with any human. I belong in the Abyss to protect that which was been given to me."
It began to disappear. But I couldn't let it leave. What I wanted was to know...about myself and those I cared about. I wanted to remember everything about my past, my family, and my friends. I wanted to know why Cloude did what he did to save me. Why mother and father sacrificed themselves for us. Why it was that I ended up in the House of Fiana and why I met Leo. Why Elliot had to die. I wanted to know.
"No please! I want to see the writings!"
At that the lethal air around me suddenly became much more. It spread like a heavy lead sheet over the whole air and it made me feel like I was somewhere I wasn't. Somewhere where my life was in peril. It stopped disappearing and turned to me.
"You petty scum of this world. What makes you think you deserve to know all that has happened in it... Why should your eyes be the ones to behold the scrolls of time that have been guarded through the eternity of my realm..."
"Because they've been nothing but pain and suffering to me and my loved ones."
The laughing rumbled through the room once more. "To you and billions of other lives. But the Writings are not what cause the events. They are mere records of the multiple outcomes."
"And the choices we make set each path on stone, I know," I finished for it knowing somewhat how the writings worked. "But it's not the future that I want to see. It's my past." When the silence rung in the room, I kept going. "I just want to regain what I lost."
"Even if I were to agree to your minute terms there is no way for me to show them to you. Without the Harbinger, the Writings cannot be deciphered to humans."
Harbinger... "Astrovylia? But I have Astrovylia, that's how I summoned you!"
"Yet you and it are not contracted. Without a connection to you the Writings cannot be read."
"How can I contract with it when it's not of this plain anymore?"
"Conjoin the parts which form it. When the two become one and you are connected to it will I consider your terms."
Something from those words made me feel a great unease but nonetheless I tried doing what it asked of me. I could feel the energies of both Chronos and Lacrimosa changing and coming together little by little. But the more I kept going forth the more the feeling increased. If I continued with this something horrible would happen. That was the feeling I had in my gut. Something terrible that I would never forgive myself for...just like before.
Arbel was intently watching from afar. The ethereal feeling od the Chain that stood before them felt very familiar. It was like something out of the darkness and that only made things worse. He knew very well what hid behind the veil of the darkness. He'd experience them firsthand those many years ago as a child, as a young teen, and even now as a man.
Those experiences would never go away because...they were made out of fear.
The sudden realization hit him when Claire began uniting Chronos and Lacrimosa to form Astrovylia. The two different energies that the Chains created from were slowly starting to fuse together and from them something started to form. The same figure that stood before Claire when she summoned the curator. But something wasn't right. It kept fragmenting, as if it didn't want to stay unified. Her eyes that were scrunched down focused were starting to seem pained. Something was happening to her. Her hands reached up to her chest as if praying.
"What in the world..." he whispered under his breath. Just then the phantom before her raised it's hand over its head, threateningly.
"Just as I thought...worthless..."
Not good.
It took Claire a second to react to its voice but by the time she had she only managed to see it's hand striking down. The terror that engulfed her that instant was so great that she couldn't do anything but stand there.
"Shit! Aqua!" Arbel commanded from his Chain trying to reach the girl.
"Willow!" Angele called trying to reach her as well.
But both were too far and the curator was too close and fast. Before they knew it, its hand hit and a great cloud of dust lifted from the ground. Both lords covered themselves from the residue and waited for the dust to disperse. It wasn't until it did that they managed to see what had happened in a matter of seconds.
Claire was on her back, on all fours. Unharmed. And the reason for that were the two that stood before her, protecting her from the claw. A broad sword and a staff were held against each other forming an X that halted the phantom's hand from making contact with Claire. The force that they were using was clear by how slightly the weapons shook while keeping the claw at bay.
What surprised them were the two that held onto the weapons. They were full grown adults, almost Arbel's age. One a woman with the staff, the other a man with the broad sword.
The man was almost as tall as Arbel, perhaps a few inches taller. He had the same dark chocolate hair, spiked around but this time he had longer strands down his back that he gathered into a tail on his nape. He wore the clothes of a noble mostly colored in a different hues of blues and silver. The most intriguing part were those mercurial irises that glared at the phantom.
The woman was just Angele's size and had the same slim figure. Her clothes were really archaic but elegant at the same time. Almost like a sage. Her hair was still the same chestnut color and was still short with those doe ears. Her glaring mossy green eyes turned to face the phantom.
"Even at the verge of disappearing...why protect her..."
Disappearing...? Claire's still petrified face gazed at the two she recognized now as Chronos and Lacrimosa. What surprised her was how their bodies were becoming translucent little by little then returning to normal to only fade a little more. What was happening to them?
"You might not understand us even if we explained," Chronos said in a voice much more resembling the one he used in her mind.
"But we have vowed to protect her and that's what we'll do," Lacrimosa finished for him using the same voice that Claire recognized.
"You would sacrifice yourselves for a mere human..."
"For her. Always," they both said at the same time.
The loud rumble of its laughter rung through the room. That's when Claire began to see the phantom's menacing figure begin to slowly fade away. "Very well then. You've chosen your sides. Free will is something I cannot go against. But do heed my warning human..." She gazed up to stare at it, the feeling of dread simply swallowing her whole. "Next time you wish to summon me...you have better have an answer. All power comes with a price. Once you recreate the Harbinger, you will have lost those you posses now..." Without another word it vanished.
Nothing but silence ensued. Chronos and Lacrimosa returned to their child forms and simply gazed at Claire. Their forms were still see-through but were slowly recovering their normal state. Both came closer and helped her to her unstable feet. What the curator said...
"What did it mean... losing what I posses now..." Her voice was nothing above a whisper.
Both Chronos and Lacrimosa grimaced but it was the former that answered her question with a dreaded tone to his voice. "The only way to summon the curator is to forge a connection through Astrovylia. To make Astrovylia, the two of us must unite. But once we do that...there will be no going back. Once we join we'll never be able to separate again."
Holy green guacamole! Things just got serious xD I've been waiting for the day that I uploaded this chapter cuz it's frankly one of my favorites x3 so hopefully you guys liked it too.
For now hoped you enjoyed it and stay tuned for the next chapter! :D
