Chapter 6: Chapter 6 - Where are we?
[Luz POV]
My last memories were of falling from an extremely high place and passing out. What was that place again? I've been in so many similar situations, always for a different reason. Sometimes it was because of betrayal. Others, people just asked for my death. Few were to save someone, how little would be in front of an infinite number? I don't even know anymore.
I opened my eyes, finding myself seated on a throne, my body was very mature but simple, having a basic attire but with a slight charm. There were windows on the wall to my right in that great hall, and even sitting on the throne, I saw a beautiful, chaotic, heavenly landscape, with countless planets visible to the naked eye and stars that shone even in a clear sky.
"This always take my breath away..." I said, with a smile on my face looking at that landscape, but then I decided to look at the rest of that great hall.
The floor was checkered, between a soft white quartz and a vibrant black onyx, with a red carpet that ran from the door to my throne. Looking closely at the path of the carpet, I notice some women sleeping, lying on that floor, all wearing different clothes, as if they weren't even from the same reality as me.
"I miss all of you so much... each one of you... who put all your faith and love in me... How I wish you could be here, at least.. to talk a little more." I got up from the throne and went to one of the women, she had green clothes, with water green accessories, she had beautiful, curved and soft blonde hair, the kind you would comb without getting tired, and her eyes.. blue eyes like a sky I would love to watch the clouds. Even though she wasn't awake, I knew the colors of her eyes, how could I forget...
"Maryliny... Oh, my Mary..." I said, leaving her sitting on my throne, her body was like a doll, she was so controllable. But my happiness to see her was fading as I soon felt a strange presence, an intruder.
I turned suddenly towards the entrance of the hall, with my right arm raised and a sword in my hand. This sword that appeared with the blink of an eye, having a black, purple and pink blade, with a multicolored gem at its base. I screamed, with a dominant and powerful voice, which would make even demons terrified, after all, that was my existence. "Who are you?!"
I saw a beautiful woman with pale hair and a black dress. She seemed to bow respectfully, and spoke in a sweet voice. "I'm sorry to disturb you. I came to make a mental connection with you,.... to know when you wake up... I didn't expect your mind to be so vast."
"I... asked... who are you...." I said, almost cutting off the end of her sentence, but lowering my sword. Somehow I didn't feel danger, maybe it was just surprise that made me act that way.
"Call me... Sylvia." The lady said, with a puzzled look, apparently because I had women around me, all of them unconscious.. or... wait... unconscious?
Wait a minute... I was... with Arthur. We fell off a cliff... saving Alice! And... And I wasn't taken to the Void... Didn't I... die? I... am unconscious! I'm still alive!
"Apparently I don't need to explain much then." The woman who called herself Sylvia smiled at me as she approached.
Yeah... I'm really still alive...
"And a thousand... a thousand apologies for the authority... force of habit." I replied, sticking the sword in the ground and walking towards her too, until we were 1 meter away from each other.
"I didn't expect to see all this in a child's mind. Did you know?"
"And I didn't expect having visitors.. Sorry if it's not to your liking." I said while in the blink of an eye that luxurious and immense hall, turned into a simple and cozy wooden cabin, slightly reminiscent of the house of my new adoptive parents. "Well...you say you...came here by accident while making a mental connection?"
"That's right. I'm residing near the place where you and your friend fell... nothing fairer than guiding you to my house.. but I can't go out that far, so-"
I lift my hand toward her, smiling. "I get it. Don't worry, I allow us to have a psychic connection."
"Fine... and could you explain to me..." She looked at me, a little embarrassed to ask.
"They're just my sweet and dear wives. Each of a world I've been to... Rebirth is a customary thing for me, Sylvia the dragon." I smirked.
"How did you... Hm, what made you know that?" She said that with an amused expression on her face.
"I've married a dragon before, even if it's not from your world, the mana signatures are extremely similar."
"And I might know. What is someone who's been to so many worlds doing here? You're a great find." She still had that amused smile, like I was interesting. Well I really am, after all I'm a dimensionless freak creature.
"Just a cursed one... looking for a way to heal himself... but could we continue our conversation in the real world?"
"Of course, but this is your head, so you should wake u-" The conversation stopped abruptly with the opening of my eyes.
I looked around me, not seeing Arthur or that damn mage that put us in that cliffy situation, I couldn't feel my limbs and I tried to move them, but nothing happened. I then forced the movement of my body, using Speed Soul, but also nothing.
"Kukuku... need some help, Sage?" I could hear Sylvia talking in my mind, teasing me.
"Nope. Thanks, I think in 5 hours I'll be able to move." I spoke a little sarcastically, but I heard her make a "Mhm" as if she accepted my answer.
"Dragons...." I gave a big sigh about the situation, taking the opportunity to meditate lying there.
I could feel my black mana core, but it felt like there were slight cracks in it. After the 5 hours of meditation, focusing on the red, green and blue mana and leaving the transparent and black mana aside. I would have get to the next level, now having a dark red mana core.
With that new core, I augmented my body, to get up, and I was able to. I was still panting a bit from forcing a mana break and then reinforcing the body completely, all one after the other and with low mana reserves.
"We can go now?" I said, hearing Sylvia's voice answer me. "Of course. You can walk, any change of direction I'll let you know."
And so, after walking for a great distance , I reached an area with cluster of rocks but 2 large stones caught my attention. Between them there was a hole, in which I threw myself, with my legs reinforced, managing to land after a long fall.
"Hm..." I looked around the place and walked, until I found a being armored in black. "Sylvia, I assume..." I said with a smirk.
"Of course, but so far you haven't told me your name." She was huge and was watching me as she sat on boulders.
"Luz, Luz Leywin." I said still smirking.
I looked at her a little more, until I ask her if I could meditate. She seems to don't mind, so I sat down beside her, crossing my legs, and began to purify more my mana core and see the state of my Corruption Soul.
"You want me to tell you if your friend wakes up?" She asked while I could feel she patting my head, like I was some precious and rare pet. "Yes, but after I talk with him, I want to meditate more." I answered.
"Of course, Mr. Jaymonds." she teased me but I responded quickly "I said that my last name is Leywin..."
I went back to meditating.
[Arthur Leywin POV]
"Relax, my child, he is with me." Hearing an unknown voice, coming from somewhere nearby, but I didn't see anyone but the corpse, my eyes widened.
What is happening?
Luz wasn't with me, and on top of that a voice that came from nowhere said this one with him? "There's something very wrong..." I thought, picking up the backpack.
"There's nothing wrong, I'm here calm down, man. The person talking to you saved us." I could hear his voice, but I continued to look around and nothing.
"Like he said, relax. I'll guide you to where we are." The mysterious voice said again, making me take a deep breath.
"Okay. If he's saying this... Where are you?" I said, with the mysterious voice beginning to guide me.
I walked for a long distance, following those directions. How did someone have such extensive communication magic? Was this normal or special?
From what the voice said, I would still walk a lot, Luz apparently had fallen on a less dense path or woke up much earlier than me. With distance in mind, I saw a stream with a small waterfall, without even thinking, I jumped taking off my shirt and shorts so they wouldn't get wet, so I took all the dirt out of that walk and the fall. I really needed something to refresh me.
When I got out of the water and was going to put on my clothes I heard it in my mind. "Kukuku... how pleasanty carefree"
Reflexively, both my hands shot down to cover my precious area as I hunched my back, trying to make my body as small as possible.
"Don't worry, there wasn't much to see." I shuddered as I almost felt the Voice wink at me.
My pride... How rude!!.. Calm your mind, Arthur. A king must be calm...
After I put on my clothes, the perverted voice seemed to go silent. Not minding too much, I rummaged through my bag and dug out the last of my dried rations. Water wasn't going to be a problem, but food... hopefully the voice would provide me with something.
I started walking again, with a few thoughts on my mind as I looked around. Since I fell through the mountains in the east, I should have been in the elves' domain, but that idea wasn't right, as there was no famous fog. Could it be Beast Glades? No, there were no Mana Beasts, just small animals, with the place filled with mana.
I walked faster when I thought of my parents, they must have considered me dead. My mind was filled with thoughts about them, I was very worried about them, would they even get to Xyrus safe?
I reached the area where the Voice directed me towards, but I was unable to see anything besides a cluster of rocks surrounded by a cluster of trees, this make me a little confuse.
"I'm glad you were able to make it here safely like your brother did." the Voice echoed confidently, as if it already knew I would.
"Nice to meet you uhh.. Mr. Rocks?"
"First, I'm not a mister. Second, I'm not a rock, nor a cluster of them. There is a hole between the back of the adjacent rocks. That's where we are." the Voice chuckled, and I could sense Luz making the same thing.
Looking around, I managed to spot the small gap, about the width of an adult, between two of larger rocks. I use mana to strengthen my body and jumped. I had expected a plataform to step on but instead, I immediately plummeted down the dark hole.
The voice had failed to warn me that I was going to be doing a vertical fall. I descended, screaming at the top of my four-year-old lungs. After that I was rubbing my butt, groaning, I slowly supported myself up.
"We finally meet child."
I felt my blood draining out of my face as my mouth and eyes stayed open to what I saw. Feeling my head light with my legs failing to support me, I ended up falling back on my butt on the floor, looking at the person who was helping me this whole time, and noticing Luz, who was sitting next to her, seeming to meditate deeply.
"W-What are you?" I managed to stammer out.
Despite having lived two lives, what my eyes saw, my brain refused to believe. A monster, of a lack of a better word, which easily towered ten meters high, was setead cross-legged, on a crudely carved throne of jagged stone with an arm lazily supporting its head. It gazed me with red eyes that could see agaist everything, but for some reason carried an oddly tranquil quality.
"Hey, bugs will fly into your mouth if you keep it open that wide." When it said it, I noticed my open mouth. At least it has a sense of hurmor.
"For you previous question, I'm what you're seeing. But if you want to know who. My name is Sylvia" She said watching me, while I saw, Luz meditating, but with a smirk in his face.
[3rd Person POV]
It's been around 3 months. Arthur and Luz were being taken care of by Sylvia. To pass the time, both boys told stories, Arthur told Sylvia about his life in Ashber, while Luz told herself some adventures from his past life, obviously in a mental way, without Arthur knowing. So, they both formed a bond of affection for her, Arthur seeing her as a grandmother, and Luz seeing her as a friend.
But it wasn't just stories that passed that time. Luz, while meditating and trying to purify his core, realized from the stories that the dragon told, that there was a method of absorbing mana while moving, something essential for someone who always fights using magic like him, with this idea and past knowledge, Luz created a version made for ordinary beings and taught it to Arthur, with Art naming it Mana Rotation.
The dragon was creating a portal so they could both return to their parents, but they soon realized that she was getting worse and worse the more she did it. Already too weak for the disguise, she showed her true form, which did not surprise Luz, but left Arthur gaping.
"Sylvia! Are you a dragon?!" Arthur said, still with his mouth open.
"Yes, I've always been... sorry to hide it..." Sylvia said while Luz was looking at her and analyzing.
"You're more dazzling like that than in your humanoid form..." He said smiling at her, with Arthur staring at him, until he understood.
"Were you two mentally interacting all the time?!? That explains your lack of surprise." With that boy's speech, the two started to have some laughs.
The situation was a little lively, even though Sylvia was weak and dying, Luz always tried to lift her spirits, while Arthur continued to deny that. With the last willpower after finishing the portal, she handed Arthur a scale, a large pearl, and a strange energy that went straight into his mana core.
"That's..." Luz was going to ask something, but shut up.
"Yes, that's it." Sylvia said looking down.
"What are you two talking about?" Arthur said as he put the things delivered in the old backpack that he had come with them.
"Goodbye, Arthur, you'll-" There was no time for Sylvia to say what she had to say, and there was a great tremor.
Sylvia stood in front of the boys, while a bizarre being appeared, looking like it was there to finish her off. Without speaking, she looked at Luz with a serious look, which he returned, grabbing Arthur tightly, pulling him into the portal with him. Now, they found themselves in a forest with a thick fog at ground level, Arthur was crying and beating his hands against the floor because of what had happened, while Luz took a long breath, thinking about those 3 months.
"Really... She really knew this would happen... Smart lady..." It was a thought of the eldest, which soon dissolved with another. "But now, where are we?"
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