Chapter 1296 (2/2)
“That dark desire to be special began to grow. Perhaps… my husband and I had more in common than I had thought.
“The danger of that tiny lie I wouldn’t understand until much, much later. At the time, I simply looked into Elhume’s eyes and assumed he loved Pine dearly, and when he asked me to trust him, I did. I donated much of my essence to him to increase his power.
“True to his word, Elhume used my power to create an array of Aether that stabilized Pine. His energy body was still dispersing, but much more slowly. And what followed was years and years of experiments… all to try and figure out how Elhume could keep Pine alive. Circles and circles of warding and engraving to keep the growing child stable… A growing yet paradoxically waning body as we fought against the entropy that sought to claim him… and we both came to the conclusion that Pine, as a Shallah… was pure in a way that we weren’t. He didn’t have a personality, not really. He was just… energy.
“So Elhume… had an idea.
“Or rather, he remembered the original idea. Because as Historian, he knew that the Shallah lived in Eden, where anything was possible. So to save our son, he either needed to make the impossible possible and resist the natural pull of the universe… or locate the primordial Eden where beings of pure energy could live freely.
“He even had the gall to ask me for more of my essence as he began to plan. At that point, I had already seen the madness in him. But I thought… I thought perhaps his emotions were high because his son was dying right before his eyes. So… I caved. I set aside my own thoughts and desires and hoped. I gave my power to another, trusting my husband.
“It took Elhume a month from that day to design and create the System. A grand scheme of Aether that compressed space and energy, simultaneously searching the surrounding area while building up a store of image strengthened Aether in case there were… defenses to Eden when he inevitably found it. He was so filled with the surety of his own success. A year after that, right before Elhume welcomed the first Cohort to the System, he told me it was unavoidable that he had begun using the ambient energy that Pine produced to run the System. He assured me that it would only last until the System became self-sufficient. Besides, he pointed out that Pine seemed most joyful when his energy radiated outward...
“When it came time for the Second Cohort to be introduced, Elhume built the Nexus directly on top of the body of my son. He didn’t bother to tell me until it had been done, locking Pine in a cage and plugging him directly into the System. From using just the ambient energy, Elhume took the entire body of my son and encased it in the System. That was the day, despite knowing that my child was locked away, I ran.”
This time when Yystrix fell silent, Randidly was very aware of the pounding of his heart inside his chest. The things that she was talking about… even the pissed and suspicious Randidly had literally no idea how to respond. This was certainly not what he had been expecting from the letter that she left for him.
Every word dripped with regret and frustration. Despite trying to remain suspicious, the obvious vulnerability in the image that spoke the words swayed Randidly.
Perhaps a minute went by before Yystrix spoke again. “...Eventually, however, problems began to crop up within the System’s operations. I do not truly know what happens in the deepest portion of the Nexus, but I could piece some things together through years of observing the movements of the System. Pine seemed for a while to be stabilizing due to the growth of the System; honestly, it was something of a relief. But that peaked around the Fifth Cohort and have been going downhill ever since. If anything, Pine’s body… The weight of it all is beginning to crush him. The System has grown too large for his energy to support it. Too many Cohorts, too many secret stockpiles of images.
“It was around that same time that the gradual degradation of Pine was happening that Elhume began searching for me. His wife, gone for two thousand years, and only when something was wrong did he seek me out… I believe… I believe he realized that perhaps the specialness that gave birth to Pine was not related to him at all.
“I almost wish I would have been able to see his face as he confronted that truth.”
Randidly stood and lightly rubbed his right hand against his jaw. Some of what Yystrix was saying made sense, as Randidly had already had his own dealings with how there was an overlay System placed atop the true System. But truly, Randidly was also wondering why-
“You’re probably wondering why I told you all of this.” The Creature said, and from just the voice, Randidly could see the tight smile she would be wearing. “And honestly, it probably won’t work. But one last time… I want you to consider running away, Randidly Ghosthound. Think about the scale of what you are facing. You have faced his touch in the past, I believe. And Elhume is becoming increasingly desperate.
“His goals now… I am not sure. But it is clear that he is not willing to let this System and Nexus he has so carefully built fall to pieces. And you… your accomplishments demonstrate the possibility of progress. He will come for you if you continue to behave exceptionally.”
At that, Randidly couldn’t help but wince. The memory of that being that came out of the vast continent of crystalized Aether and broke his Class with a glance was still quite fresh in his memory.
“...But, it’s no real use, is it? I truly despise you… because you will stand alone where I folded. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to win against it all
“And also… this is a good time to confirm that you indeed tipped off Elhume… and he came and found me. He ripped the memories he wanted from me and then took what remained of my Aether essence. That’s why I’m dying. That’s why…
“Maybe that’s why I wrote this letter. If not as an argument to run away, as a warning. Elhume is certainly not all-powerful, but he definitely is the most dangerous monster inside of the Nexus. Yet he is also bound by the rules of the System. Of us all, Pine is the most powerful by far. He, truly, is the special one…”
The light around the letter began to fade. The Creature spoke her last lines in a quiet voice. “If you look at the ground… you’ll see I left one last gift for you. I hope that in exchange, you might someday overcome all of this… and free my son. And also… I wonder… will you miss me? My husband won’t and my son… is more instinct than intelligence. So perhaps… so perhaps. I wrote this letter just so you’d be able to write me an epitaph.
“If you wanted to. I hate how weak I feel right now. I don’t want to die. But At least… I know you will never forget me. Will you, Randidly Ghosthound?”
The light completely winked out. Neveah cursed mentally and surged forward, but the bindings on the image traces snapped in her delicate mental touch and annihilated the remains. The floor began to glow, illuminated by spiraling Aether Engravings. But Randidly sighed deeply and couldn’t find any urge to care about the trail leading to the Creature’s- to Yystrix’s memories going cold.
He simply looked around at the vast space and admitted to himself that this tomb seemed to get under his skin in a way he couldn’t stop. He was crying and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.