Chapter 25: Out of Contact
The stars illuminated the glassy waters of my soul sea as I lay there, staring up into the endless expanse. My gaze locked on the brightest of them all, an orange star that seemed to burn with an intensity that made me squint in frustration.
A growl escaped my lips, and I slammed my fist against the ground with all the force I could muster, causing the waters below to ripple slightly.
I stood up, my eyes shifting toward my soul core. It was almost entirely grey now, a stark contrast to the vibrant energy it once held.
A faint light flickered deep within it, even though I hadn't absorbed any new soul shards. The thought crossed my mind—it was likely due to my attribute, that divinity I had.
My mind was spinning with the weight of my current predicament.
'What do I do?' I thought.
I'd initially believed I could handle everything on my own—just talk to Sunny, regain control of his body, kill the Egg, get the Ichor, and leave the tree.
Simple. But now that plan was completely ruined.
I couldn't even communicate with him properly through our usual methods, and without that connection, many of my abilities were useless.
I considered using [Antithesis] to teleport Sunny away from the tree's influence, maybe then I could talk to him. But while he was under its power, it seemed like my voice was nothing but static to him.
Testing out every ability I had, I quickly realized that [Antithesis] and [Black Bird] were the only ones still functional.
That was by design, but it limited my options. Sure, I could tweak the properties of my abilities, but drastically changing them was too dangerous.
If I altered something fundamental about an ability like [Grafting], it could damage my soul. And while my soul was stronger than most, it wasn't invincible.
Too much risk. Even my second most powerful ability, [Impossible Thief], was tied to the body—I needed control of it to use either of them.
"Damn it! Why is everything going wrong now?!" I cursed, almost stomping the ground again, but stopped myself.
Don't lose your cool.
I sat down, forcing myself to stay calm. I went through everything I remembered from the novel. The timeline had shifted dramatically already. The cohort originally took two months to reach this point, but we had made it in just a month.
There wasn't time to wait for Sunny to reach the top of the tree on his own, not with this accelerated pace. Using Blisto to guide him was an option, but the chances of him actually following it were slim.
'Maybe I should use [Soul Transfer],' I mused. 'But I've never used it, and... ah, of course, fate has its own damn rules. I can't leave Sunny.' The problems kept piling up in my mind, each one stacking higher than the last.
Was this the price of altering the course of fate? If it weren't for me, they'd still be on the road to the Ashen Barrow, but now everything was derailing, spinning out of control.
Fate's hand was pushing things back on track, no matter how hard I resisted.
Failure felt inevitable. If they stayed here for three months before escaping, it would align with the timeline the novel described, bringing them to the city at the "right" time.
But my goals were far beyond just surviving—I needed that vile Egg destroyed, and I needed to kill the tree itself.
That would take months, and worse, it would require Sunny to give me control—something that might never happen, or at least, not soon enough.
That would slow down his own discovery of the Vile Bird, extending his journey by months.
The thought hit me like a punch in the gut.
I'm sabotaging him.
"AHHHH DAMN IT!" I roared in frustration, just about to slam the ground again when something clicked. My mind raced, gears turning and grinding together.
Cassie hadn't just mentioned five attributes; she'd also spoken of a voice.
What if her vision wasn't about me at all? She couldn't see me in her divinations, that much I knew. But what if she saw Sunny talking to someone else, talking to a voice—his voice?
Suddenly, everything aligned in my mind. Cassie might have seen a vision of Sunny speaking to what he thought was himself, but really, it could be me, reaching him in a different way.
I jumped to my feet, determination flooding my veins. I didn't need control of his body. I didn't need to fight fate head-on. I just needed a new ability, one that would let me be that voice.
And with that, I began crafting the ability, letting my mind and soul work in tandem.
Ability Name: [Whispering Fate]
Description: The user can influence the subconscious thoughts of a target without directly taking control of their actions. By weaving suggestions into the mind, the user can guide decisions, plant ideas, and nudge the target toward desired outcomes. These suggestions manifest as the target's own thoughts or as an external "voice" guiding them, preventing suspicion or resistance.
Confirming the creation of the ability, I felt my body grow warmer. Just like with every new ability, a new star was placed into the sky, glowing in a bright indigo color.
With my goal set i decided not to kill the tree, at least not now, maybe in the future at least, or maybe using it as source that would give me soul fragments.
Smiling, I exited my soul sea and was met with Sunny, climbing the tree and reaching for the fruits higher up. Reaching the fruit took Sunny only a minute, and just as he took the juicy fruit, I used the ability.
{I wonder how good the fruits higher up are?} Sunny looked over at the fruit, then glanced higher up.
He then moved to another branch and took three more fruits. As he did, he made his way downward.
'Success,' I thought, and over the next few days, every time Sunny ate the fruit, went to gather it, or had anything to do with the fruit, I would intervene with the same few words.
{I wonder how good the fruits higher up are?} With these thoughts in his mind, Sunny made a few attempts to climb higher. After about a week, Sunny had scaled a good amount of the tree.
And with each juicy piece of fruit, he grew even more curious. Over the course of these two weeks, Sunny had scaled nearly half the tree already.
*******
While climbing the tree once more, I thought the same thing again: 'I wonder how good the fruits higher up are.' I had already scaled a good amount of the tree—nearly half. So why wouldn't I go to the top?
'No, it's too dangerous, and I don't feel like it,' I thought, letting out a yawn as I grabbed the last fruit and started making my way to our little home.
{But why don't I give it a try?} Stopping in my tracks, I looked up and hesitated. A headache came on as soon as I looked toward the direction of our home.
'Maybe I should... Cas and Neph might start getting bored of the same old-tasting fruit.' As I thought this, the headache subsided, especially when I looked higher up.
'Am I being influenced by this tree?'
{No, if I were, I would have noticed sooner.} My thoughts felt a little less jumbled, so I quickly made my way downward. In our little home, Cassie was absentmindedly looking to the side.
Well, "looking" wasn't the right word—more like her head was just turned that way. I walked toward her and smiled slightly. Things really were peaceful.
"Hey, Cas."
She turned to me and smiled affectionately. "Hey, Sunny, did you get any fruit?"
I took out the fruits from my seaweed rucksack and walked toward her. "I got some from higher up. I bet they're delicious."
She happily held out her hands, almost glowing. "You're so sweet, Sunny. I bet it'll be—" She paused and looked up, slightly confused. "Higher up?" she murmured, which I quickly picked up on.
"What? What do you mean?" I asked, noticing her confusion. She smiled, brushing it off.
"It doesn't really matter. I just thought about how tasty the fruits higher up must be."
I held my breath, feeling a bit hesitant.
"I thought the same, kind of like a voice was telling me that. Well not my voice but my own thoughts." I then took out two fruits and handed them to her. She happily took them and began eating.
I looked at her and smiled.
"Well, abo—" Before I could finish, she asked me another question.
"Did you give Nephis some already? Oh, sorry, did I interrupt you?"
"Oh, I didn't give her any yet. I was planning to after giving you yours. And, as I was saying... I… uhh... what was I trying to say?" For some reason, my head began to ache again, and I felt a deep sense of frustration.
'Why am I mad? Am I mad that she interrupted me?'
{No, I'm not really... I guess.}
"Well, I'll go ahead and give some to her. Enjoy your meal." Moving toward the spot Nephis had taken a liking to, I heard the familiar sound of crunching from the fruit right behind me.
As I approached the spot, I saw Nephis. The crunching sound of the fruit she had been enjoying echoed softly.
She was leaning against the base of the tree, gazing out into the distance with that familiar stoic expression.
I couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction from how far I'd climbed the tree over the past few weeks, but something else tugged at the back of my mind.
The same thought I had earlier about the fruits higher up kept coming back.
"Hey, Nephis" I called out. She turned her head slightly, acknowledging me. Her pale eyes studied me for a moment before she nodded.
"Sunny," she greeted, her voice calm as always. "Did you find more fruit?"
"Yeah, here." I handed her the one I had taken from higher up. "I've been climbing further up the tree. The fruits are... different the higher you go."
Nephis raised an eyebrow as she took the fruit from me, her fingers grazing mine briefly. She didn't say anything right away, but I could see the curiosity flickering in her eyes as she inspected the fruit, its vibrant color glowing under the sparse sunlight filtering through the branches.
"They seem... richer," she remarked, taking a small bite.
Her lips parted as she chewed, and I could see the subtle shift in her expression—surprise at the flavor. "Interesting."
Suddenly, my headache returned, sharper and more intense than before. I instinctively clutched my head, and Nephis glanced at me with concern.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, yeah, just... these headaches. They've been coming and going recently," I mumbled, trying to shrug it off. But the pain lingered, more insistent, as if something deeper was pulling at me.
'What's wrong with me?' I thought, feeling the pressure build in my skull.
I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right, but I couldn't figure out what it was.
Nephis was still observing me, quiet but intent. "Maybe you should take a break from climbing," she suggested.
I wanted to agree, to stop pushing myself, but a persistent thought rang in my mind again.
{I wonder how good the fruits higher up are?}
I clenched my fists, forcing a smile. "I probably should. I want to, but… I want to go back up soon." Even as I said it, I knew something was wrong.
Nephis tilted her head, watching me closely. "You… you've been thinking about the higher fruits too, haven't you?"
My heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know. It just feels like… like i'm being drawn up, toward something." She frowned, her expression uneasy. "I can't explain it."
She locked eyes with me. "Are you sure you want to go up there? Alone?"
'Well, it would be great to have her.' I grunted as another headache struck.
{No, I'd be putting her in danger if I did that.}
Shaking my head, I smiled weakly. "While I would like to go up with you, I'd rather not put you in danger because of my curiosity."
She seemed a little upset and was about to say something, but she stopped mid-sentence. After pondering for a moment, she returned to leaning against the tree. "I understand… be safe."
'Just like that? She resigned quickly.' I placed a second fruit next to her and made my way to my usual climbing spot. I tightened the rucksack across my shoulder and began my ascent.
{YEESSS.} I widened my eyes and almost slipped.
'Why am I so happy about climbing a tree?' Confused, I hesitated but still began to climb. I augmented myself with my shadow and continued upward.
With every minute that passed, I felt my heart beating with even more anticipation, and I couldn't stop my lips from curling into a grin.
Next Chapter: Part of a Lineage
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