"What was that all about?" Cygnus laid on her bed.
"Your knights seem to get along very well with each other," Alice spoke with a precarious smile.
An hour earlier...
Fifty Cygnus knights filled the palace dining hall. And of course, The Empress, Neinheart and the Commanders sat together in a special table adjacent to the rest. Plates of different types of meat filled the long tables. As everyone had taken a seat, Neinheart stood up striking his glass with a spoon; gaining the attention of everyone in the hall. Neinheart began his speech.
"About one year ago, when we found The World Tree. We brought her to Ereve for safety. When she suddenly vanished, we searched for her without any clues, fearing that the Black Mage's forces had gotten a hold of her. After a year of searching, we finally found her."
The crowd cheered. Neinheart waited for them to settle down before continuing.
"And not without the help of our Empress."
The crowd cheered again.
"And now, our Empress will explain what happened." Neinheart turned to Cygnus, signalling her to give a speech.
The crowd cheered for their Empress.
"Ehh..." Cygnus stood up on reflex, but was speechless. There was no way Neinheart would allow her to go off on her own to fight corrupted monsters. It was Neinheart's plan all along: to pressure her to tell the truth. He knew Cygnus was bad at giving speeches. Alice stood beside Cygnus, unseen or heard by anyone else. She guided Cygnus on what to say.
"My fellow knights. We are gathered this evening to celebrate a small triumph against the forces of evil. The World Tree told me that she had seen our relentless efforts to search for her. It was all her own decision to hide in secret. She did not want Ereve to gain an additional risk for protecting her. I can assure you that she is safe and is out of reach from the forces of evil. But this does not mean that our efforts had been for nothing. Our continuous patrols around Victoria Island had thwarted any of the enemies plans to invade and our presence has raised the moral of the explorers that inhabit the island. The World Tree has given her blessing for us to continue our patrols. To The World Tree."
Cygnus raised her glass for a toast.
"To The World Tree," everyone in the hall raised their glasses.
As the feast began, Neinheart just stared at Cygnus, dumbfounded by her ability to give an unrehearsed speech. Neinheart can't help but feel that Cygnus was hiding something. But he decided to put the matter on hold. A while later, Cygnus stood up and left the table.
"Where are you going, your highness?" Neinheart asked.
"Eh? Erm...I'm a little tired...after the hike. I'm going to bed early," Cygnus replied.
Once Cygnus left the hall, Neinheart asked the Commanders, "Really? A feast? I only said to bring her back to Ereve immediately if anything weird happens."
"Ah!" Irena stood up. "I need to go to the ladies." She quickly left the hall and made her escape.
"Wait for me~" Oz chased after her.
"Anyway...Eckhart, did you see what happened?" Neinheart asked.
"No. I was knocked out too. But I saw fresh fallen trees. Like something big. Something big had gone though the forest," Eckhart replied.
"Did you see anything else?"
"No. Just fallen trees."
"Thanks for helping me back there. I wouldn't know what to say," Cygnus said.
"Your welcome. It's the least I could do," Alice replied with a smile. "I guess I owe you an explanation of what you will be up against. The creatures in the tower, are from the past. They strive in an ecosystem that doesn't exist anymore in the current world. So if they are exposed to the present world environment, they wouldn't be able to survive. However, some of these monsters managed to absorb the energy from the tower's barriers, and evolved into a new type of monster. The matter that made up their bodies has changed into something which I hypothesized as dark matter. This dark matter, doesn't react with light or normal matter. So it just passes through everything without being detected. The monsters are free to evolve even further in this dark matter state. Eventually they will be able to adapt to the present world's environment. And that is when their bodies will turn back into ordinary matter."
"Erm...I have no idea what you just said..."
"... In other words, they can suddenly appear anywhere without warning. And only when they appear, is when I can detect them."
"No way..."
"But don't worry. I will guide you and help you defeat them. As you already know, the Staff of Hope can transform into different forms."
Cygnus put out her right hand. The bracelet she was wearing, transformed back into the Staff of Hope in her hand. The staff was about the length of her arm; a little short for a staff, but too long to be called a wand.
"It is a magical relic that I found. It can transform into any weapon," Alice explained.
"Any weapon?" Cygnus curiously tried it out. She transformed the staff into a dagger.
Alice suddenly stiffen. "A monster! There's one. And it's near!"
"M-m-monster?" Cygnus was caught off-guard.
"Follow me! Hurry!" Alice floated to the bedroom balcony.
Cygnus returned the staff to its original form and transformed her appearance. Her clothes changed into a purple sailor outfit and her hair magically tied up into twin tails with matching ribbons. She glanced at a mirror and felt satisfied when she couldn't recognised herself. She ran to balcony to see Alice floating down to the dark forest below. She thought of turning back and using the stairs. But seeing Alice drifting further away convinced her otherwise. Besides, it was unlikely of her to be able to leave the palace though the front door unseen. So she took a leapt of faith, jumping off the balcony, into the dense forest. She leapt further then she had intended. The power of the staff had enhanced her physical capabilities. Cygnus landed elegantly on a tree branch which briefly snapped, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Oww..." Cygnus wasn't sure what was hurt more, her pride or her back.
"What are you doing? Hurry up!" Alice shouted ahead.
Cygnus could feel her body recovering instantly from the fall. She felt light as she got back on her feet and started running. A woman's scream could be heard in the distant.
"Quick, put up a stone barrier!" Alice ordered, while on the move.
"Eh!? H-how do I do that?"
Alice faced Cygnus while still floating towards the same direction. "Imagine you are making a museum of statues. People are the statues, and you are creating this museum to protect them."
"Huh? You're not making any sense!" Cygnus retorted.
Cygnus halted as the monster came into view. It was another slime. Not as large the one they faced earlier that day. It was only as tall as an average person. It was not purple, but blue. The blob had half of an unconscious woman immersed in its body. The slime shrieked as it saw Cygnus. It suddenly entered the woman's body from her mouth. Cygnus and Alice only watched in horror. The woman stood in an awkward posture and her eyes glowed red.
"No way! It...it...fused with her!" Alice said.
Cygnus gasped.
"We have no choice...but to kill her..." Alice said.
"T-t-there must be a way to save her..."
The possessed woman's arms transformed into tentacles which lengthen until it reached the ground. It swung one arm at Cygnus, tossing Cygnus to the side. Cygnus tumbled on the ground like a ragged doll. She slowly got back on her feet. The creature was approaching slowly towards Cygnus for another attack. Cygnus just stood there, clueless.
"Fight back!" Alice instructed.
Cygnus was in no position to disobey Alice's instruction. She was no magician. There was nothing she could do to save the woman. To kill or be killed. Cygnus decided to give the woman a swift death. She held the Staff of Hope in front of her with both hands and turned the staff into a large two-handed sword. Cygnus did not anticipate the heavy weight of the sword. The sword swung down to the ground instantly and created a shockwave that sliced through the air. The creature dodged the shockwave that travelled far ahead. The shockwave continued behind the creature and split a house in half. The creature jumped and swung its arms at Cygnus multiple times like whips before tossing her aside again. Cygnus took the beating, flew and crashed on a tree trunk. Her weapon was lodge in ground where it was last swung.
"Come on! You can do it!" Alice cheered on.
Cygnus dodged the creature's next few attacks and ran for her weapon. The sword did not budge when she tried to pull it out of the ground. So she transformed it into something else; a bow. She dodged another of the creature's attack and ran away, going through the house that was sliced in two. She turned around after appearing at the other side of the house. She aimed her bow at the creature but hesitated to fire.
"Shoot it!" Alice shouted.
Cygnus fired three magic arrows at the creature in rapid succession. The arrows pierced the advancing creature in its chest and the impact threw it backwards. The lifeless body fell to the ground. The woman's arms returned to normal and remnants of the slime could be seen evaporating out from her nose and mouth. Cygnus dropped her bow and fell to her knees.
"There's no time to rest. We need to go," Alice said.
The noise of their fight had alerted the villagers nearby. Cygnus picked up her weapon and dragged herself back to the palace.
Cygnus undid her transformation, tossed the staff aside and dived onto her bed.
"You did...well...for your first time..." Alice tried to comfort her.
"I killed someone..." Cygnus covered her face by hugging a pillow.
"Don't worry! You will get better! You just need more practice."
"..."
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I should have explained better. I shouldn't have left everything to you."
"No...it's my fault..." Cygnus revealed her face and showed her teary eyes.
"These monsters, lets call them...Kalidahs. It is crucial that they are eradicated and do not fall into the wrong hands. Can you imagine what would happen if the enemy could replicate the Kalidahs' ability to turn into dark matter and travel anywhere undetected? They would be able to spy and attack anyone without any risk. So, will you still help me?"
"Yes..."
Author's notes:
I feel unsettled about this whole arc...
But it's all part of a vision I had since before I started writing this story.
(15 FEB 2015)