Hisui E Fiore was a young girl, only ten- almost eleven she would insist- with exotic light green hair and a fairly shy personality.
Despite her shy disposition she was set to inherit an entire kingdom as the first and only princess of the realm.
Hisui had always been a kind, responsible girl, taking her classes without complaint and growing duties without remark. Aside from her slight stutter when surprised and a habit of hiding behind the king when nervous, she was almost the perfect representation of a princess.
Said image is why many would be scandalized if someone were to suggest that she was sneaking out of her room at night to wander the forbidden catacombs beneath the castle.
Hisui Knew she shouldn't, but the catacombs were just so interesting. Not only were there countless forgotten projects to stumble upon, but countless historical records, and her favorite.
The Dragon Graveyard, a great cavern that she still had yet to explore completely.
Not only were the various caves littered with the bones of thousands of dead dragons, but sometimes the dragon's spirits were still lingering, their immense magical power tying them to their bodies until it dispersed.
Hisui found it all so very fascinating, she had learned so much from the incredibly bored spirits. While they had never explained how they had died, they had practically harped on just about everything else.
Even if there was one particular dragon that insisted on talking about Queen Irene and her beautiful buns. Hisui wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about, only that the last time she had heard someone speak in those specific tones around her, the noble had landed themselves in jail for some reason.
But in the end her favorite part of the catacombs was what she called the Crystal Dragon Tomb. It was pretty far into the graveyard so it was difficult to visit often unless she wanted to skip on sleep but in the very center of the graveyard was a circular almost shrine-like circular building with several pillars surrounding it.
She wasn't certain when it was built, only that it was after whatever killed the dragons.
Inside it was a large circular room lined with countless shelves, up to the ceiling with every single one full of books and scrolls. But in the center was a large mass of deep purple crystal, with a dragon skeleton curled around it protectively.
The entire crystal- skeleton and all- was covered in what she figured were arcane symbols, and the thing was covered in a translucent purple tinted barrier, in the shape of a dome. Hisui wasn't sure why, but she was certain the barrier came from the dragon skeleton, somehow.
The crystal itself constantly hummed with energy, occasionally emitting a pulse of purple magic that made her skin tingle, and filled her mouth with the taste of dry stone and sugar when it got past the barrier.
She had found it almost four years ago, and despite the fact that the place was well maintained with no dust that she could spot and Light Lacrima of modern make, she had yet to see anyone else present.
(Of course that might have to do with the maintenance schedule she found on her first visit.)
She wasn't really sure what they were maintaining beyond the magic barriers on some of the shelves, and maybe the Light lacrima. Some of the scrolls or books probably mentioned what the crystal was called but they used big words that she couldn't even find in the dictionary,
Hisui had even put the effort into sounding out one of them, but she still didn't understand what a 'High Intensity Ethernano collection array' was let alone what an 'Agitated Ethernano Beam Emitter' was or how it related to the crystal at all.
What she did know was that while she was here, she had alway felt comfortable, safe. Unlike the rest of the dragon graveyard, she didn't have the feeling like she was being glared at or like she didn't belong.
That sense of comfort was probably why she kept coming back, it was also more than likely why she would always talk out loud while she was here. Hisui knew it was just her mind coming up with things, but she always felt like something was listening.
Not that it had stopped her, if anything the thought just caused her to be more free with her thoughts. Because in the end, Hisui was lonely.
What did it matter that she had an imaginary friend, that she talked to both the crystal and the dragon as though they were people themselves. She knew her tutors would scold her, it wasn't fitting for a princess to have an imaginary friend after all.
What did it matter that any average girl her age would do the same? She was the princess and she needed to be held to a greater standard.
Then again her tutors would have a heart attack if they knew she went to the catacombs, let alone the very center of the dragon graveyard.
(So why should she let their opinions stop her?)
So Hisui talked to the dead dragon's bones, and sang to the crystal all she liked. At least when she wasn't trying to read the few scrolls that weren't protected by barriers.
And sometimes, when the crystal pulsed with purple light- she could almost swear she saw the outline of someone- well it was probably just her imagination acting up.
Because, in the end, beneath her shy exterior and boundless kindness, Hisui E Fiore was just an incredibly lonely young girl.
Hisui Had been visiting the Tomb more and more often.
She was turning eleven tomorrow, and it only made her more uncomfortable. Her tutors had gotten stricter, while before she had been allowed small slips of childishness they were now met with an overabundance of scorn.
Her own time to herself was also shrinking, to the point where the only time she could breathe was before she went to bed, or at least when she was supposed to go to bed.
More and more of the time she was supposed to be resting was being allocated to just coming to the tomb and venting.
She didn't care that she was talking to a creature that had been dead long before her great grandparent had been born. She didn't care that the more time she spent there the more the hum of energy seemed comforting, or that the pulse of magic intermingled with her own as though trying to give her a hug.
(Or that the silhouette in the crystal appeared more often as time went on.)
(It was all probably just her imagination anyway.)
Hisui had turned twelve a week ago, and it was only now that she found even a hint of the caretakers maintaining the Tomb.
She had nearly ran face first into them and it was only her small stature that had allowed her to hide in one of the lower shelves before she was spotted.
She could still feel her heart beating like a drum as she did her best to breath the oddly clean air as quietly as possible. By the time the supposed caretaker left, she could feel her eyes drooping and it was a labor of will to not fall asleep.
The warm, comforting pulse of magic coming from the crystal wasn't helping. Almost dragging her to sleep with every soothing wave of energy. But she couldn't risk being found out, if someone were to realize she wasn't in bed there would be chaos.
Not to mention whatever punishment she would get for sneaking out.
So no she could not sleep just yet, no matter what her body told her. So with a feat of sheer will she pulled herself out from the small shelf, the old wood creaking slightly as she climbed out.
Perhaps it was because she was so tired but before she could straighten her back, her foot caught on raised brick causing her to stumble towards the Skeleton and its crystal. She Was prepared to hit the purplish barrier face first, only to go straight through it.
She blinked slightly as her hands were pressed against the smooth purple crystal.
Confusion flared in Hisui's mind, hadn't the barrier been solid? The greenest could have sworn the barrier had blocked her the first time she had visited, in fact it had given her a small warning shock.
Confusion only mounted the longer she stood there, her weight being supported by the crystal. It was smooth, the smoothest thing she had ever touched. Magic flowing through purple material in a staccato rhythm, almost like a heartbeat.
It felt warm under her fingers, a sense of anticipation growing in her mind as the magic thrumming under her touch built up to a crescendo. Before bursting free in one of the pulses she had seen so many times before. This time it was far stronger than what she was used to, no barrier to bleed off energy.
It nearly pushed her backwards, her hair flying backwards like it had been caught in the wind.
Hisui nearly burst into tears, the pulse of magic flowing around felt like it was a river and she was just a rock caught in its path. The magic didn't hurt her though, no it split around her into swirling eddies and currents.
It almost felt like she was getting hugged, the magic so warm, so welcoming.
(How long had it been since anyone besides her father had hugged her?)
Hisui was so stunned she stood there unmoving for almost a minute before she realized the pulse wasn't stopping. No unlike the short bursts of power that usually happened, this was a constant stream of magic pushing against her.
The magic twisted and turned in ways she couldn't articulate, a phantom feeling of hands on her shoulder pushing her gently away from the crystal had her following it out of sheer habit and suddenly she was on the other side of the barrier.
(Since when has the tomb been so cold? Why did she suddenly feel so hollow?)
Suddenly Hisui wasn't so tired anymore.
(It had nothing to do with the flow of magic so powerful to make kingdom's shake, flowing not only around her, but through her.)
(It was probably just her imagination, it usually was after all.)
It was six months later her Father requested her presence.
Hisui had been confused at first, usually her Father just went to get her if needed her for something. Nonetheless she had done as asked and gone to the room to find her father pacing quietly in front of the throne itself.
That had sent even more confusion through her mind. Her Father, short stature and all had always been the jovial sort. Even a country wide crisis couldn't keep the smile off her father's face for long, and he had always been good about finding workable solutions quickly.
To see him silently scowling in frustration was jarring, even more so for him to be pacing in such a way.
She didn't have any more time to adjust to the strange situation before her father turned to her, his face shifting as he tried to smile at her, only for it to come out as more of a grimace. "Ah there you are my darling."
"Y-yes Father, I have come as you asked, what is it you need?" Hisui asked her tone gently even as she stuttered, taking in her Fathers frustration. The short man sighed, slumping into his throne, at any other time she might have giggled at that. Father being so short and yet sitting on such a large throne having always been a comical sight. Her father had always taken it in stride, but now was not the time.
"As I'm sure you've noticed, your duties have been increased. That is because as you are now twelve years of age, it is expected for you to begin learning how to rule this kingdom when the time comes. Usually we would wait until you were at least fourteen to do so, however-" Her Father paused another sigh making it way out of his mouth.
"Lately there had been some pressure to have you learn now, Or to find you a fiance to learn in your place. Now no need to worry about such things as I have long decided to let you choose your own partner, however by having you learn how the kingdom functions, it is easier to snuff out such propositions." The king's expression turned back into a scowl.
"However, learning such things means there are other things you must know as well. That is what leads us here today, you see there are many secrets we must keep for the good of Fiore. Many things we must hide away from the light. Today I will be showing you one our greatest treasures, just as my mother showed me when I began learning. Just as she asked me, I will ask you, are you absolutely ready to learn of this? There is no coming back from this once you do."
Hisui had never seen her fathers face set in such a stone-like expression, as though he was judging her every thought.
She felt her own face set into a determined expression, a heat rising behind her eyes as she answered her Father.
"Yes, I'm ready Father." She watched her Fathers face sink slightly, not disappointed but sad in a way she had never seen before. "Very well, follow me." Her father said in a rasp as he stood from his throne, pressing something along one of the golden chairs' arm rests.
She blinked in surprise when with a mechanical click the chair slid to the side with the sound of stone grinding against stone. Revealing a set of stairs that her Father began down with a determined stride, blinking slightly stunned it was a moment before Hisui hurried after her Father trying not to be left behind.
It was only moments before she caught up to her Father, his short gate making it rather easy to keep up as they made their way down a spiral staircase. Said staircase ending in a long hallway, as she trailed behind her father, a hallway so long in fact that her Father was beginning to breath hard by the time she could see the end of it.
"I'm getting too old for this, and to think my twelve year old daughter can make the trip without issue." The King grumbled under his breath, Hisui turned her head to the side, her face blank.
She certainly wasn't going to tell her Father she regularly walked longer distances every night in order to visit the Dragon Graveyard, let alone how far she had to walk to get to the Tomb.
Although now that she was thinking about it, this hall did look vaguely familiar somehow… Something just itching in the back of her mind.
Oh right this was that one dead end passage! Who would have guessed it would lead to the throne room? Wait didn't that mean they were going towards- Hisui's face twitched in realization, paling slightly as she followed behind her father.
-Oh no.
Hisui had never mentioned the Dragon Graveyard to anybody.
Not because she thought it was some grand secret, but because it was in a part of the castle she wasn't allowed to be in. So of course she didn't bring it up to anybody, after all that would just get her into trouble.
As a result she never talked about how that one dragon's ghost had taught her about the kingdom of Dragnof, or how much she knew about dragon courting rituals (Far too much in her opinion), Or how Queen Irene had become the queen of dragons.
She had never even thought that it was all lost history, she figured her tutors just hadn't gotten to that part yet.
So to find out from her Father that not only was the Dragon Graveyard a complete secret only known to a total of only two hundred people at the most stunned her. To hear that the events of what caused it was considered lost to time, had only made it worse.
Sure she didn't know exactly what had happened, the ghost dragons getting oddly silent whenever it was mentioned, but she did know the broad strokes.
There was a war between humans and dragons, termed by the phantasmal dragons, as the Dragon Kings Festival.
It had ended with both dragons and humans nearly being wiped clean from the face of the planet. By the end of it the only humans still alive were on the continent of Ishgar, even then humans had only numbered in the hundred thousands.
It had been frightening when she had learned of it as a child from one long dead dragon who had apparently been a Story Dragon in life- whatever that meant- but to hear that it had all been forgotten? Went poof, just plain disappeared like smoke in a bottle? Only fragmented barely legible texts in the royal library, able to tell only the bare minimum?
Somehow that was terrifying, more so than anything else she could imagine.
It didn't help that her Father was telling her this as they walked down a winding path she knew very well led to the Crystal Dragons Tomb or whatever it was officially called. She heard her fathers warning to not step off the path because the graveyard was dangerous. Something that made her face twist in confusion, seeing as she had been using the entire place like a playground since she was eight without issue.
Even the Ghost dragons weren't hostile, a bit rude at times and there was the one that always made a swipe at her with its intangible claws. Something that usually escalated into a playful game of tag around its skeleton, but to be honest she couldn't think of anything even remotely dangerous down here.
'Well you could always trip and hit your head with all the uneven ground?' She thought a little put out and confused that her Father found this place dangerous. Paying no attention to various Dragon shades as they glared at her Father- seemingly ignoring her entirely, or only glancing her way before focusing back on her Fathers tense form.
Rather she waved silently if she saw any shades she knew well, doing her best to be discreet as she followed the King.
Little did she know said effort wasn't even needed, seeing as the king was far more focused maintaining his own composure. Whether it was an army of Dead Dragons glaring up at him, or the high concentration of Ethernano weighing down on him. He was King, and he was going to act like it.
The young girl wasn't sure how much time had passed by the time the outer pillars of the Tomb became visible, but it had to have been at least half an hour or more. While she knew there was some strange magic on the pathways in the Dragon's Graveyard that shortened distances, (How else was it possible for her to make, what should have been a twelve hour round trip every night?) it could only do so much.
She could see her father visibly falter as soon as the pillars came into view, his face growing pale as they got closer. Then again he hadn't exactly looked well since they had entered the graveyard.
Curiosity plastered itself on her young face as she tried to think of what exactly could be causing such a negative reaction.
If she thought the king had looked pale upon seeing the Pale outer pillars, he was positively green by the time they arrived at the entrance. She could practically see a cloud of apprehension floating around him as he practically glared at the massive marble door frame.
Watching father visibly swallow his emotions making a stay here gesture, before approaching the doorframe, placing a hand upon it before muttering something. There was a moment of quiet, Hisui utterly bemused at what her father was doing, before there was a flash of light in the door frame.
The green haired girl could only stare silently, completely stunned. While it wasn't exactly a common occurrence, Hisui had seen a barrier being taken down enough in her life to recognize it happening. Her confusion mounting as she stared at the door frame utterly baffled.
'There was a barrier there?' the thought overflowing with surprise as it moved through her brain.
"The Barrier is down, we can enter now." Her fathers voice broke through her stunned state, echoing out from within the tomb. Shaking her head, Hisui ran after her father, almost tripping over the rough hewn steps as she did so.
She found her father standing by the barrier that surrounded the Crystal, his back towards her, but even then she could see the sweat gathering around his hairline. Without turning around he gestured for her to come closer. Heading his call she moved to stand just behind him.
"It's quite the site, isn't it?" He said his voice strained in a way the girl had never heard before. Not even giving time for her to reply before speaking again.
"This Room Hisui is what is known as the Etherium, while its origin's are largely a mystery one of our ancestors stumbled upon it, more than a thousand years ago. It is what led to the Kingdom of Fiore being formed at all."
"For this crystal contains the magic of every dragon to have died in this graveyard, an amount of magic that could theoretically reduce this entire continent into nothing more than ash, we call it the Dragon's Grail."
Hisui wasn't sure how to take that, it left her with so many questions! Like how exactly it had led to their kingdom being made?
"How? Um How did this lead to the kingdom being made?" She asked, hesitant in a way she had only been with strangers before this moment. Her father had never spoken to her with such an intensity before.
"Simple really, you see those runes engraved on the Grail's surface, they are the key to a grand ritual. In it we use the Crystal to both power, and control a blast of magic great enough to wipe entire nations from the face of the earth."
"We call it Satellite Square: Etherion."
Hisui wasn't sure how to take that.
How was she supposed to take the fact that the one solitary place that was her own, was actually the control center of a super weapon?
Some part of her wanted to deny it, not because she didn't believe her father or any sense of denial, but because it felt too warm. The magic it gave off felt too warm, almost nurturing. How could something that felt so caring, be so dangerous?
Her fathers words still echoed in the air as Hiusi stared as his back completely silent, feeling as though someone had just hit her over the head with a brick. Her eyes were incredibly wide as she stared at her fathers back.
Had her father ever looked so ominous before?
Then the moment was broken as power built up inside the grail, its crystalline surface glowing with a haze of lavender light. The black runes on its surface all the more apparent against the brilliant purple light.
She was incredibly bemused as her father began to visibly panic, turning around she saw just how green her father's complexion had grown. Sweat dripped down his face like a river as he muttered something under his breath in a hysterical tone.
"No, no, no, they said today would be clear, they assured me today would be a safe day to visit!"
Toma E Fiore was to be blunt, panicking.
He alway knew he would have to show his daughter the horrid place hidden beneath their castle. Admittedly he didn't think it would be this soon, but he had always known it would have to happen at some point.
He could remember his own Mother showing him just what lay beneath their feet. He had been almost sixteen at the time, and the memories still made his hair stand on end. His mother had asked him just as he had asked his wonderful Hisui.
He was still conflicted on what he felt about her accepting, should he be proud? Scared of what seeing this at such a young age could do to her?
It didn't matter in the end she had made her choice, just as he had made his own.
So he had opened up the sealed passage to the Dragon Graveyard, unable to bring himself to look behind him. He could still remember the fear that had shot through him as a child when his mother had opened the seal.
The feeling of such incredibly intense magic washing over the throne room, and it had only gotten worse as they traveled down the passage. He still felt pride at how his daughter had walked unfalteringly behind him. His own mother had been forced to carry him halfway through, the high concentration of ethernano robbing him of any strength as it weighed down his young body.
Even still he couldn't bring himself to look behind him the whole way down, focusing intently on telling her what his mother had told him during his first visit to this horrid place. The ethernano weighed him down like heavy iron chains as he walked, only getting worse as they made it to the Etherium.
The Ethernano inside it was so thick in the air it might as well have been solid. So staring at the Dragon's Grail, a macabre masterpiece that he found both beautiful and terrifying, he told his daughter exactly what they were looking at.
He had been so surprised when his daughter had actually managed to speak, to have the presence of mind to ask him a question while the power of the grail Glared down upon them.
He wasn't sure he had ever been prouder, the only time he had even felt a fragment of the pride in his veins had been the day of Hisui's birth.
Then things went wrong. The crystalline grail built up power as it was wont to do, casually building up a pulse of magic strong enough to level cities if the barrier around it didn't take most of the impact.
He could feel the panic building in his throat, the keepers had assured him that today would be safe. That the Grail had already done its regular discharge and that there wouldn't be any issues.
He had to Get Hisui out of here, so he ran towards her grabbing her oh so small hand before making a break for the door.
But it was too late, he could see the pulse of magic break free of the Grail. Smashing into the surface of the barrier, before bursting through in the corner of his eye. The lavender pulse of ethernano containing more than enough magic to hit as though it were a physical object, more than enough to reduce any human to nothing more than bones.
They wouldn't make it to the door in time, so he yanked Hisui forward, before using his own meager magic to form a shield.
It was in vain.
The magic washed over the golden shield for only a second before it began to crack under the pressure, Tears built up in his eyes as he struggled to maintain the pencil thin barrier.
But he knew it didn't matter, visible cracks climbing through the shield before it shattered with chime similar broken glass.
This was the end…
Except it wasn't.
He wasn't dead?
Peeling his eyes open the king was surprised to find the pulse of magic still in front of him. Seemingly held in place by a slim, oh so small hand. He turned, following the hand down its forearm, past its elbow, in order to look at his daughter's confused eyes.
Looking back at the pulse of pure ethernano, only now realizing that it wasn't frozen in place. No it was just parting around hisui's hand and flowing around them like a rock in a river. The king wasn't sure what was going on anymore.
Then looking back at his daughter, he for the first time since they had walked down the steps of the sealed passage, actually looked at Hisui.
The entire trip down he had been avoiding it unwilling to see her suffering under the effects of the lingering magic that made the Dragon Graveyard its home. The magic that made the entire cavern a death trap.
However, looking at her, Hisui looked… completely fine. No if anything she looked positively vibrant. Her Evergreen hair flowing in an unseen breeze, her jade like skin positively shining with unmatched vitality, and her emerald eyes sparking in a way he couldn't quite put into words.
"F-father are you okay?" Hisui asked him, her voice tinted with trepidation and seemingly unable to understand his actions.
Toma E. Fiore knew right then and there that his daughter was going to do great things, things beyond his own imagination.
He'd never been prouder.
(He'd never been more worried for her either.)
Hisui Still wasn't entirely sure what had happened that day in the Crystal Dra- No in the Etherium Chamber. No that was wrong, she just wasn't sure if she believed the explanation.
Her father had started to panic before forcibly trying to drag her from the chamber, she could feel a pulse of phantom pain in her wrist as she remembered being practically thrown by her father in his panic.
She wasn't sure why her father was so afraid of the Grail's energy Pulse, so far as to create a shield with his magic in order to stop it. That if anything should have convinced her of how serious the situation was. After all her father had alway had very little magic, so little in fact that he would have been constantly at risk of contracting magic deficiency syndrome if he didn't have such precise control.
That should have been enough to tell her how dangerous the situation was, but despite it all it didn't.
She had been completely confounded at how hard her father was trying to stop the pulse, and had stood in baffled silence for almost a minute. Only the sound of her father's shield breaking had snapped her out of her own mind, the sound like a window cracking under immense stress.
A split second decision had led her to placing her hand past her father just as the shield shattered like cheap glass. She wasn't entirely sure what her reasoning had been at the time, it had been a decision fueled by confusion and a building sense of anxiety.
Whatever she had been thinking at the time, it had apparently been right. The pulse of energy she had grown so very fond of, split apart upon contacting her palm. Parting like a river into swirling violet eddies as it crashed into her outstretched hand.
When her father opened his eyes he had been confused, and then an emotion that looked disturbingly like awe had filled his expression. It had only been moments before the pulse had ended and her father led the way back to the castle.
It had been an awkward and silent walk.
She was told exactly why her father had been so afraid the next morning. One that included an explanation on just how dangerous The grail's pulse was to anybody but her, apparently.
They only received an explanation on why she was able to survive the high density ethernano a month later.
She was a genetic throwback, something they knew already, neither of her parents had green hair after all. Her perpetually sick paternal great grandfather on the other hand, had possessed green hair only a shade lighter than her own. They just hadn't known the extent, as her magic container was tougher, larger and far sturdier than any mage under S rank had a right to be. All because it was designed to survive in a time period when the magic of the world had been far less settled.
So much so that the scholar that had been tasked with the situation had been confused that she was so healthy, as her magic container was far more involved with her general health. As such living in a time with so little magic in the air (most of it having settled into the ground) should have made her quite sickly, unable to support such a demanding organ.
Thankfully that line of inquiry had ended quickly, Hisui wasn't exactly sure how to explain that she had been visiting the graveyard since she was eight.
The reason the inquiry was halted was far less pleasant.
Mostly because some junior scholar had learned of the situation and come to his own conclusions without full knowledge of the circumstances. Primarily that Hisui did in fact possess the ability to cast magic, even if she hadn't learned anything truly impressive yet.
As a result the man had burst into the meeting demanding that Hisui not only be removed from succession. On the grounds of no magic, But that she should also be turned over to the magic council to study, for some reason?
She hadn't exactly been listening to the man's explanation, far too confused on why the man thought not having magic would have any impact on the throne? Her father's mother had been completely unable to do any magic, along with several other Kings in queens throughout Fiore's long history.
Only returning to the discussion when her father prompted her to use the one spell she knew by heart, a simple spell meant to generate light. The scholar's- something fitz- jaw had dropped to the floor as soon as the seal finished forming, before entering a fit of denial claiming someone else had cast the spell to cover for her or something like that?
It was all very confusing, and she hadn't been able to piece together all of his ravings before the guards had been called and took the man away.
Either way after a couple of questions, and casting a couple of spells the original scholar had left in a mumble of ideas but not before giving out a couple of suggestions and recommending going to an actual doctor/healer/specialist if they had any further concerns for her health.
What an odd day.
One good thing after the whole debacle, was that not only was Hisui allowed to go into the Graveyard, but was actually encouraged to do so. Not that anyone had realized she could still enter the Etherium, but she wasn't going to tell them regardless.
Mostly out of concern for her health, and she apparently looked far better after visiting the Graveyard for a couple of days. Hisui let them think that, She certainly wasn't going to tell them that was because she had actually gotten two full nights of sleep in a row for the first time since she was eight.
That led to her current position, almost four months later, resting against the crys- no, the Dragon's grail. She needed to adapt fast before she let something slip by accident.
It had become something of a habit to just slip past the barrier surrounding it and to simply sit with the cool surface of the pulsing crystal to her back. The semi regular burst of energy, so very dangerous, felt like warm velvet against her skin even as it went through her as though she wasn't there at all.
She was alone, her Father far too hesitant to travel the path with any regularity and any of the guardsmen willing were either not trusted enough, or simply incapable of surviving for anything but the briefest visits.
Only S rank Mages would be resilient enough to stay for the time needed to guard her, and even then it would put a strain if they did it too often. Her father had informed her that he could think of only one person outside of the wizard saints that could spend as much time in the Dragon's graveyard as she did.
He also told her that said man was not allowed within twenty miles of the castle just in case he broke it by accident.
As a result the Etherium remained a place of solitude, and she still found her mouth moving out of habit as she told the grail of her day.
"The palace had been tenser than usual, and I'm not sure why." She admitted to the air like it was some grand secret. "I'm almost always surrounded by either maids, or other servants unless I'm here. When they don't think I'm looking they almost seem scared? Worried? Oh who knows. It's just grating in a way I'm not sure how to describe." The words hung in the air, echoing oddly against the magic barriers, but somehow she felt lighter just airing her thoughts to thin air, or perhaps it was telling the grail. After all, it had been acting as her confidant since she had first stumbled into the Etherium.
She still didn't know how she had been getting through the barrier on the entrance, even now she could go through it without any issue. Similarly she didn't know how she had bypassed the translucent barrier around the grail.
Regardless she was grateful for both, if she wasn't able to go through the barrier's she would have never known the peace that came with being surrounded by such caring magic. The static of being completely submerged in its kind glow.
The Grail thrummed with building energy, glowing softly as it burst out of its confinement. The Pulse of magic, more than enough to shatter buildings and wipe an entire city from the face of earthland. Yet it Went through her as though it was light and she was made of glass, only barely ruffling her hair instead of bodily shoving her away like it had before.
That was another thing that had changed, at some point the Grail's energy had stopped being able to shove her around unless she allowed it too. Instead it just sunk into her skin like she was spunge while any excess just kept going like she wasn't even there.
'Except for my hair.' Hisui thought as she blew the dark green strand out of her face. At some point in the two months her hair had started turning a darker shade of green. Hisui didn't mind, the new shade closer to a forest green was still quite pleasant. She was however miffed that her eyes were changing as well, darkening into a deeper green as well.
She had nearly had a tantrum when it had been pointed out to her. Hisui had always liked her eyes, they had been the same shade as her mothers, even if she hadn't been able to truly get to know her mother she had always taken pride in having the same eyes.
Even worse, apparently her eyes glowed ever so slightly now. So faintly that it would be impossible to notice in anything but an incredibly dark room, but now some of the maids refused to meet her eyes.
There was a faint hope that it wasn't because of the glow, if only because it wasn't exactly noticeable in any way, but what else could it be?
The young royal sighed to herself as she leaned against the Grail's smooth surface, shoving the thoughts away before focusing on a different topic.
"My magic lessons have been going well, Mr. Sequin is very nice and he knows how to explain things… When he isn't sleeping." Hisui frowned, Her attempt at looking at the brightside falling rather flat, as another sigh left her lips. "Apparently my magic is weird, or weirder than we already knew. Every spell I cast comes out strange, like it's trying to take the shape of something but it can't."
Mr. Sequin had taught her a form of sigil magic focused on the use of the typical four elements. Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. While fairly weak it was also supposed to be just as easy to learn. Her own experience said so as well, it was just odd. like her magic didn't like it and tried to do it's own thing after taking on the element the sigil was supposed to effect.
Take fire for example, while the sigil was supposed to make a small fireball. Her last attempt at it had summoned a fireball just fine, only for the magic to go wild as the ball of flame began to unravel into a creature of some kind. Sputtering out before the Creature could be recognized.
Earth on the other hand was supposed to summon a small lump of stone, but would instead summon an indistinct claw of some kind. So on so forth with the rest of the elements.
It was all very frustrating.
As if sensing her frustration, the Grail hummed with energy warming the cold crystal against her back. Almost unconsciously Hisui found herself relaxing against the grail, the warmth all too welcome against her skin.
The ethernano brushed her skin like a faint wind, and she found a smile blooming on her own face. Despite all the turmoil, all the pain, and all the strife, Hisui was well and truly happy in this moment.