Chapter 1: Deus Ex Machina
Na'el awoke, gasping for air.
Her lungs spasmed, heaving in and out. Violently coughing, she spat out dirt, and had to turn her head to avoid inhaling more earth. She tried pushing herself up on her arms, but they wobbled unsteadily under her like a newborn babe and gave out a moment later, sending her crashing down to the earth again.
A vicious cycle of heaving breaths, coughing spasms followed that felt like it lasted minutes. Her breaths felt like it had more weight, more substance than any breath she had taken before.
But gladly, eventually, the fit subsided.
When she felt like she had consciously regained control of her breathing, it left her with a throbbing ache in her head. It felt like something had been compressing the inside of her head tightly, and only now she felt the pain of that being released.
"Urgh."
Needless to say, she felt terrible.
She rolled over onto her back, sprawling her limbs out, breathing carefully, trying not to start another fit. Why did it still feel so…unnatural to breathe? Was the air just thinner, or was it something else?
C'mon Na'el, in through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth. It's just breathing.
Thankfully, the foreign feeling slowly faded, and her breathing became part of her again, allowing her to finally focus on something other than her imminent survival. Sluggishly, her other senses came back to her.
First was smell: the smells of dirt, plant life, and trees, and it smelled a bit damp, though the air itself was drier than the air of the City in Erythia Sea. Moments later came her hearing and sense of touch. Her Agnian ears twitched, flicking dried leaves and small plants as they picked up the sounds of chirping insects and running water.
Then, Na'el opened her eyes.
It was dark. Night time? Not much light at least with dark, blurry shapes around her. She blinked rapidly, willing her eyes to focus, and the dark shapes seemed to resolve themselves into trees. Rugged bark covered their slender trunks, and she could make out thin needle-like leaves. A canopy of these leaves above her blocked out the dim light coming from above.
She carefully sat up, propping herself with one arm, the other going to knead her forehead in a vain attempt to stem her still pounding headache. She was sorer than she felt after any of grandad's training sessions. Eventually, she pushed past that and gathered her strength, standing.
Something plinked against her boot.
Her eyes widened as they fell upon a familiar red crystal that shone with the depth of a new horizon. She carefully, reverently stooped to pick up the object that had fallen from her jacket's pocket, staring into its effervescent depths.
Let us away…towards a new world. Out with the old…and in once more with the new…
The memory of the voice of the kind man still rang in her ears, she stared a moment longer, but then shook it off, looking closer at her surroundings, at their unfamiliarity. Now that she was thinking a little clearer, none of these trees with their resinous scent, were a type she'd ever seen around the City or Erythia Sea, Something akin to hope flared in her chest.
Was it possible…?
Alpha's promise of a new world. Despite Moebius N's attack on the City, despite that her fight had gone poorly with him, and despite grandad's interference at the pillar of light, was this…could it really be?
She couldn't help the grin that overtook her face as she ran, following the sound of running water to a stream. She took in the simple sights and sounds of the forest with newer appreciation as she slowed from her run, following that stream for several minutes.
The canopy of trees thinned, and light from stars started to seep in, until at last, the tree line ended, opening up to a small expanse of grass, and the edge of a cliff.
Na'el gasped at the sight that greeted her.
An expanse of clouds, almost like a sea, spread out before her, extending off into the horizon. The light of the moon gleamed off the surface of the rolling white expanse. Awe mixed with relief at the unfamiliar sight.
And in the distance seeming to sprout from those clouds, a gigantic, towering tree that pierced the heavens. Its upper leaves glowed with a light similar to the auroras that graced Erythia Sea's less habited parts, radiating outward, lighting up even the night.
It was…beautiful.
She looked down and was unable to hold back her surprised and delighted laugh as she saw part of the land far below her move, the rock undulating, shifting slightly. Much farther past the cliff, she could see what resembled a giant fin slicing through the clouds almost like it was water.
"The land is…moving?" she murmured, still trying to process that the entire landmass was moving. How did that even…?
It was bizarre to think about, to even consider, but she smiled, and laughed with joy nonetheless.
"The world is alive!" she shouted over the clifftop into the night, raising her fists over her head in triumph. Nothing like Aionios, which always held the feeling of stagnation and death underneath it all, a stillness.
It was a sight that she had never seen before. No Great Sword piercing the land, no Moebius, no Keeves or Agnus. No more fighting. No more Aionios.
"You did it," she murmured, looking into the depths of the horizon of the red crystal still clutched in her right hand. And she felt tears that stung at her eyes. She laughed again. "You really did it." She brought the crystal close to her chest, cradling it. "Thank you."
The crystal gave no response, but she didn't mind. He had fulfilled his promise.
Na'el wiped her tears and sat down, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff, savoring the new view, fiddling with the crystal in her fingers.
Time passed as she watched the movement of the landmass below her, captivated both by its smooth — and very large — motions as it seemed to swim through this sea of clouds. But eventually, her gaze was brought back to the gigantic glowing tree in the distance.
Maybe it was her sense of curiosity about this new world, but something about it seemed to draw her in.
She held the crystal up, peering through it to the gargantuan tree.
As far as she knew, none of the City's fleet of boats would have come over with her, so even if it really was water below those clouds that the landmass seemed to float over, she didn't have a way to get there.
Na'el returned the crystal to the pocket of her jacket, an odd feeling of disappointment washing over her. Something niggled at the back of her mind as she continued to stare enraptured by the rolling waves of fluffy white.
And for the first time since awakening, it occurred to her that she was alone.
Despite that it was an amazing view — a new view — where…was everyone?
Alpha had said that she and the people of the City she had gathered would be brought together out of Aionios, but as far as she remembered, she had been the only one who had woken up in the forest.
She pulled the crystal out of her pocket again. Surely whatever grandad had done at the end couldn't have messed things up, right? She stood, a note of panic gripping her heart as she stood, hurriedly following the stream back to where she had awoken.
But upon arriving back, there was no one else.
In her search of the surrounding area, minutes ticked away into a slow descent of desperation.
"Matthew!" She called out, and to her own ears it sounded frantic.
It was nothing like the careful control when she had been filled with Alpha's power, seen his vision, as his will had become hers. Matthew hadn't been in the light, the promise of a new world free from Moebius and their endless fighting, but surely he would have come with her…right?
"Matthew!" she called again, louder, her voice cracking a little.
The noise of the forest went on, heedless of her plea.
"...anyone?"
Yet she found herself alone, no Matthew. No citizens of the City in sight.
She brought up the red crystal clutched in her right hand to her eyes. "You can't have only brought me. Please don't tell me it was just me."
No response, no trickle of words into her mind.
Maybe he was just…tired. He had just helped her fight on even footing with Moebius N, taken her (and others, she refused to believe it was just her) out of Aionios after all.
Right. They were here with her, she could find them. Would find them. Matthew and all. They'd be able to make a new life, free of the constant suffering of Aionios.
"Everything's gonna be alright," she quietly assured herself. Everything was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay.
Her eyes started drooping, and she noticed now just how tired that she was. She couldn't help anyone in this new world if she was exhausted.
Collapsing next to a tree near the stream, she curled up in on herself. Before she knew it, she was out, hand still clutched around Alpha's crystal. The only point of familiarity in this new world.
Na'el munched on edible mushrooms, as well as some nuts and berries she'd picked — toasted on a fire she made once morning hit — and frowned at a popup message in her Iris interface she hadn't seen before:
Unable to connect to Iris Network. Searching for connection…
Even in patches of black fog, that message had never shown up before. She'd seen interference from the black fog before, but a complete lack of connection?
Well, at least her Iris still worked. But without the Iris network, calling Matthew and other City residents on her contacts list wouldn't do anything. It hadn't stopped her from trying, but unfortunately yielded no results.
She sighed, tapping the left side of her to shut off her Iris and biting through the flesh of another fire-roasted mushroom. "So much for that idea."
Other functions still worked, like the mapping and tracking systems, the picture taking and information databases she'd stored directly on her Iris — like the database of edible flora she had on hand for longer missions and trips outside the City. But anything else on the City's Iris local network storage wasn't available.
Which made sense, even if it was a little disappointing. She still had a number of songs for piano that she had wanted to learn from there.
Eventually, after closing down her camp she decided to continue following the stream in the opposite direction she'd taken last night. Daylight filtered through the canopy as she walked now, and with that and food in her stomach, things felt more hopeful now.
But after an hour of trekking through the mountainous terrain, she came across something that in most situations wouldn't have given her pause, and it took a bit of traveling on it to wonder if it should really be there.
A path.
A dirt one, but one well-worn down by foot ravel, and wide enough that it cut a clear direction through the forest. She tapped the left side of her head, checking her Iris as it highlighted several distinct types of footprints. This wasn't just an animal or monster path; it was far too deliberate, winding with purpose around the wooded hills covered with years of fallen leaves.
Were there already people here? Had she woken up later than others? Or, did this new world already have inhabitants?
Regardless, she began following the path, choosing the direction that seemed to have the most recent footprints. She followed the path, as it seemed to be the best way to find answers.
Not much later, her ears perked up at the sound of a scared voice screaming in the distance. Desperate to not be alone in this new world, she dashed towards the sound, bounding up a hill to see lone Nopon on top of an armu surrounded by a pack of growling, hungry-looking volffs.
There were Nopon here? How? None of them had been with her in the City, so then what did that…?
"Blade lady!"
Na'el's gaze snapped over to the yellow furred Nopon hopping up and down on top of the armu, packed with supplies. One of the volffs nipped at the heels of the pack beast, nearly sending the Nopon tumbling from the top of it.
The Nopon was now clinging to the straps holding the cargo on the armu with its head wings. "Teemu will reward Blade lady handsomely if help Teemu out of bind!"
Na'el blinked. "...Blade lady?" she murmured. Was the Nopon calling her a weapon? That was…new.
"Pleasing to help Teemu, and quickly!"
She hesitated for a moment. Nopon were…an anomaly, not part of Moebius' cycle, but still freely traded and did business with Keves and Agnus, the dross from the old worlds. But…this wasn't Aionios.
Her moment of hesitant contemplation was all it took for the volff pack to get a clean bite on the defending armu. The Nopon was shaken free of the cargo straps as the armu reared and the Nopon fell towards the waiting jaws of the largest of the volff of the pack.
Heart leaping in her chest, Na'el dived down the hill, racing forward and then leaping into a headfirst dive, arms outstretched, catching the Nopon right before the jaws of the volff snapped close.
She landed, rolling off the momentum and sprung to her feet, tossing the wriggling Nopon out of her arms as she summoned her Ether Accelerators to her hands. The glowing orange tinged green petal-like flower slowing spun around her palms.
"I'll take care of them," she growled out. "Get to safety."
The Nopon had no further words as it scrambled to its stubby legs and hopped off into the forest.
The larger volff howled at her, obviously mad that its extra snack had been taken prematurely, and the other volffs howled in unison. Na'el narrowed her eyes as ether gathered in one of her palms. So this new world had monsters too? Well, at least it was nature, and not the demons of Keves and Agnus.
"Come at me, you fiends!" She shouted in challenge.
The lead volff howled and charged in, but she held still, waiting until it jumped at her, jaws wide, going straight for her neck. Raising an ether barrier, she let it skid off the glowing yellow honeycomb shield and twisted under the snap of its jaws. Flecks of spit landed on her cheeks as she lowered the barrier and stuck a glowing yellow ball of condensed ether on its side.
It landed with a surprised yelp, but she gave it no time to counter as she grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and chucked it at the other volffs.
None of the monsters were prepared as their pack leader exploded in a blast of light, vaporizing the ones closest, and sending the others tumbling outward.
She stepped forward at the remainder of the pack yipped, limping away. One stopped, looking back and snarled at her. She raised a palm and the petals of her Blade spun, a small bolt of ether zapping it. It screeched before running away.
Letting out a breath, she closed her fists, dispelling her Blade.
"Blade lady is amazing!"
She turned to see the yellow-furred Nopon waddling out of the forest, wide eyed.
Crossing her arms under her chest, Na'el huffed. "Please stop calling me that. I'm not a weapon."
The Nopon bobbed its head in apology. "Teemu sorry. Not sure what else to call in moment of desperation. Teemu see core crystal and know lady could help!"
Her eyes flicked down to the red and blue crystal adorning her sternum, her most obvious Agnian trait aside from her ears. A spark of hope ran through her. If the Nopon knew about that, then did that mean he'd seen other City people? She wasn't the only one with Kevesi or Agnian traits inherited from her ancestors after all.
Maybe she wasn't the only one from the City here.
Na'el put on a smile, focusing back down on the Nopon. "I'm just glad I made it in time to help." She crouched down to his height and extended a hand. "My name is Na'el."
The Nopon shook it with one of his furry headwings. "Teemu is Teemu, and glad to meet! Would have been volff food otherwise, and friend Na'el bish bash monsters like nothing!" Teemu tilted his head. "Teemu hope it not rude to ask, but what is friend Na'el doing alone?"
Na'el grimaced, unsure how exactly to explain her predicament. "It's er…a bit of long story. But I'm looking for my brother, Matthew, and other people from the City."
"From city? What friend Na'el doing out in middle of backroads then?"
"Ehehe," she chuckled nervously, hand moving unconsciously to scratch her neck, unsure how to respond. She stood, pondering what to say. "I, uh…got…lost? I'm new around here."
"Hmm." The Nopon scratched his chin with one of his headwings appendages, before doing a little hop, excitement stretching across his face. "Teemu have stroke of brilliance! Teemu will hire friend Na'el as bodyguard."
"I…huh?"
"Is coming with much benefit. Friend Na'el not look like she supplies or food. So Teemu offer two square meals each day and afternoon snack, as well as generous payment on arrival in next village. All friend Na'el has to do is keep Teemu safe."
"Village?" The term was unfamiliar, but it sounded like it could be like a colony of some sort.
"Yes yes. Norilsk Village. Friend Na'el can ask about brother and people from city while Teemu sells wares! It perfect arrangement!
She considered him a moment. Teemu didn't seem malicious at least. Maybe a little overeager, but just a trader in the end. Eventually, she nodded. "Alright, I'll be your bodyguard with you to this 'village'."
"Happy days! Friend Na'el is also welcome to keep coming along-"
"No promises," she cut him off. "But we'll see."
Lights came into view as the sun set the next day, and Na'el couldn't help but smile at the small wood and stone houses that came into view.
Norilsk Village — and it seemed 'village' was like a small colony — was nestled on the slope and shadow of a small, snow-capped mountain. A stream flowed neatly down through the middle of the houses with little bridges crossing. A modest wooden wall, more like a fence in her eye, surrounded the affair and a crude gate famed the entrance.
Her first thought was how quaint it all was.
Her second thought was that it wouldn't last five seconds against Kevesi and Agnian soldiers. Much less a Levnis, Ferronis or one of Moebius. She shuddered at the thought. But then again, the City had felt safe for after their last conflict with Moebius, and that had led to-
Her hands clenched into fists as she clamped down the thought, breathing in and out again. None of that existed here. She was fine. This wasn't Aionios, this was the new world. There was no reason to worry about that.
Focus.
A man sat near the gate stood as they approached, wearing simple armor, and a spear strapped to his back. She did a double take at the spear. It was odd seeing a guard not using a Blade, but there was the rare person who couldn't summon one here and there.
But then again, did people have Blades here? Teemu seemed familiar with them, but was it because he had seen people from the City or something else? She hadn't thought to ask, and the Nopon filled the silence of their trek like it was going out of style.
"Is it that time of year already, Teemu?" the man asked, standing as they approached, though she held back with Teemu's pack Armu, rubbing its side. The beast was recovering well after the attack, but could definitely do with some rest.
"Friend should know," Teemu responded, "snow receded up mountains, so Teemu coming for business right after."
"S'pose so," the man grunted in response. "Snow's just been so stubborn to melt this year that I forgot what month it was." His eyes flicked over, eyes going to her crystal, then up to her ears, which peeled back as if in response to the scrutiny. "Who's she?"
"Is Teemu's amazing bodyguard! She save life of Teemu, so Teemu hire in response!"
She smiled and waved off the praise. "It was just some volffs."
"Friend Na'el sell herself short! It take only seconds to deal with entire pack!"
Na'el rubbed the back of her head, color tinging her cheeks as she waved off the praise. "It wasn't a big deal, really."
The man put his hand to his chin in thought. "Well, if she's as good as you say Teemu, she might be able to help out some. We've got some other monsters poking their heads in now that the snow's melting, and I'm sure Ivan wouldn't mind the help. Getting old, he is. What do you say?"
Na'el crossed her arms. "I guess I could help, but I'm only tagging along with Teemu to look for some people. My brother Matthew and others from the City."
The man shook his head. "Don't sound familiar to me, but maybe Natalya would know. She's the proprietress of the tavern. The only one, mind, so don't be getting on her bad side."
She nodded her thanks, and the man let her and Teemu into the village.
Unfortunately, no one had heard or seen anything of Matthew or some of the people of the City that had been in the light. So after being convinced by Teemu to wait for a week while he sold his wares, on her first day in Norilsk Village, Na'el went out to hunt monsters.
To her, they were hardly any trouble, but the leader of the little local militia, Ivan — who'd been wary and doubtful of her ability at first — got wide-eyed at the first time she used her Ether Accelerators to easily dispatch a jagron that had been troubling the village for years.
But it won Ivan and his militia over in a heartbeat, and it didn't take long for her to become something of a local celebrity once word of her deed got around later that day.
"Look mum," a young girl pointed, "the monster slayer's got fluffy ears on her head! They're so adorable, I'm gonna die!"
"Hush dear."
Na'el's ears flattened on her head at the attention. Well, she supposed most of them likely hadn't seen the Agnian traits she had before, so it wasn't unfair that the children were curious.
But wariness turned to welcoming at Ivan's explanation of her abilities, and other children come up excitedly to the "fluffy eared lady", asking her to tell her about felling the 'foul beast.'
"But don't be reckless," she warned them after telling a simple version of the tale. "You've got to promise me you'll wait until you're old enough before trying to swing a Blade around."
"Don't worry fluffy-eared lady; I'll be big and strong like you in no time!"
"No you won't, you're only ten!"
"Will too, Vlad started growing at eleven, that's only a year away!"
Later in the village tavern — where she stayed in the inn on its second floor — Ivan and one of his men took up the job of embellishing the tale of her felling the 'Demon Mamongath', much to her embarrassment. Each day more stories were added, and a sizable crowd listened with rapt attention at each new monster slain or beast hunted for prey.
On the night of her fifth day in the village, Na'el excused herself from Ivan's captive audience of her latest 'deed' to sit at a stool at the tavern's counter.
The tavern was a simple affair, not as fancy as some of the canteens in the City, but it held a sort of rustic charm. Just people eking out a life in this new world. And while she was glad that she could use her ability to fight to help, something about it bothered her.
She fingered Alpha's crystal in her jacket pocket. After nearly a week in the new world, she still hadn't heard anything from it. She sighed.
"Not gonna join in the festivities tonight?"
Na'el looked up to a large, portly woman with a stained white apron leaning on her arm on the counter. Natalya, the tavern's proprietress, had kind blue eyes and curly brown hair pulled back in a bun. More importantly her food had won Na'el's stomach over very quickly her first night.
Na'el shook her head. "Not tonight. I guess I'm just a bit…tired."
"Ivan's been running you ragged," she said knowingly. "Bet he'll be begging you to stay next."
"I can't. I still need to find Matthew and the others."
"Well take a load off tonight," and she leaned in closer. "I can shut Ivan up tonight if you like; he's been nattering on about you a lot the last few days, and will keep on it unless someone smacks him upside the head."
"No, it's fine. I'm just glad I can help, really."
"Well if he wasn't bringing in so much gold with the crowd I'd wallop him on the head anyways. It might get his head out of the snow."
It was pretty obvious the two had some history, but Na'el politely hadn't pried. After giving Ivan a glare, Natalya quickly ducked back into the kitchen and back to set down a steaming plate of armu and tuber curry with gromrice in front of Na'el.
"Eat up; it'll perk you right up."
Na'el took her hand off of the crystal to take a bite. She swallowed and coughed at the spiciness, and her eyes started watering almost immediately. She didn't mind spicy — was used to it from grandad's own spicy curry — but this one lingered something fierce.
"Told you it'd perk you up!" Natalya grinned, handing her a glass of armu milk, which Na'el gulped down.
"How much spice did you use?" Na'el gasped out.
"Enough to get you out of your funk, it'd seem. I can get you a less spicy plate if you'd like."
"No, it's fine. It's…well…" She swallowed. "It's almost as spicy as the curry grandad would make. And Matthew would challenge me to see how fast we could eat it. I won half the time, but we didn't use any armu milk to…"
She trailed off.
Natalya clapped her hands and smiled a big smile. "Good man your grandfather! Knows his spice."
Na'el returned, the smile, but it felt forced. Grandad was dead. Stabbed by Moebius N. His own father.
To protect her.
She shook her head. This was a new world. Everything was fine. She would find Matthew and the other people of the City.
The caretaker ducked back into and Na'el tuned out Ivan's tale of her latest escapade as she ate the simple, spicy curry.
When she stepped into the tavern on her sixth day in the village — one she'd spent entertaining the young children after Natalya had gone through with her threat and walloped Ivan for taxing Na'el — she found a stranger already sitting at the counter.
A man in a green traveling cloak with light brown hair styled in a ponytail achingly similar to Matthew's — though she couldn't ever imagine Matthew growing out sideburns like that — looked up at her with curious gray eyes, a blotchy scar surrounding his left eye. He didn't look up from the journal he was writing in then as she came in.
"Anything new, Natalya?" Na'el asked, sliding into a stool one spot away from the newcomer.
"'Fraid not. Letter courier came through while you were with the kids, but he hadn't heard a lick about your brother or city people." She glanced over at the man. "Though he's still here, so you might could ask him better questions."
The man set his pen down with and turned toward her. "If you're looking for someone, you're likely better off finding information in Omrantha, but I've been around, so I might be able to help."
Na'el's eyed widened with alarm as she saw the red and blue crystal on his sternum, but calmed a moment later as she saw his face clearer. The scar, and the wrinkles around his eyes. No Agnian soldier would have wrinkles that deep. But…wouldn't that mean he was from the City?
Sure, she didn't know everyone, and she often went out on missions, but with the scar around his left eye and the red and blue crystal, it felt like they should stand out more. She wracked her brain, straining to remember.
He eyed the crystal at her sternum, then flicked up to her Agnian ears.
"Seems like you've got quite the story. And by what Miss Natalya has been telling me, you've made quite a name for yourself."
"I suppose you could say that," Na'el responded carefully.
"Well, let's start simple." He extended a gloved hand. "The name's Minoth."
"Na'el." She shook his hand, hesitantly.
"So," Minoth leaned one arm on the tavern's counter, studying her carefully, "what brings you out to this backwater village in Coeia?"
A/N: Uh oh.
Since no one (that I'm aware of) has made a story focused on Na'el just yet, here we are. And yes, this is set before Golden Country starts, considering Malos sinks Coeia in less than two minutes of starting the DLC.
And yes, the title is a translation of "Deus Ex Machina."