บท 103: Rebirth of the Fairy Queen of the Arcana
Katye 'stood' in the center of her Soul Realm. Typically, it looked like a giant library filled with books and scrolls held by violet crystal shelves which would float and rotate around the space. There were also over a hundred women that would walk the halls and read the different books, each one representing a past life that had reached the peak of what could be achieved in Istar's realm; all of them sealing their avatars here before undergoing rebirth.
Now, however, there was no one to be seen and the shelves were crumbling all around. She frowned but did not panic as she understood what was happening. The Omega molecules were actually shards of the Arcana, something that Alkatyenia created in the wake of her ascension through the ranks of Godhood. Alkatyenia had used shards to craft her Focus, which boosted her magical strength and her ability to comprehend the Arcana.
Currently, the shards were bonding to her Soul, but that was what was causing the problem for her. They were rooted to the True Arcana, not the Arcana that existed within Istar's Inner Realm as that was based off his own understanding of the Concept. She would have to shed the mistakes that were present in her understanding, or her internal mana would erupt, and the Omega molecules would explode, killing everyone onboard the Voyager including Echo and L'Naan.
With a light sigh, Katye watched the pieces of her Soul Realm crumble all around her until all that remained was a mass of violet light swirling around her and thirteen points. This was how her Soul Realm first looked when she started her training over a hundred years ago, though the amount of mana was like comparing a candle to the sun. A part of her was saddened to see the years of hard work collapse, but she also knew that it was needed.
After her isolation to train her Time magic, she had noticed that something seemed off. Strange as it may seem, all forms of her magic grew at a specific rate compared to the amount of time that she spent meditating and practicing. Whenever she appeared to have a sudden breakthrough like Rebecca, it was actually the seal that Alkatyenia had put on their True Soul weakening whenever her Ego strengthened. While she had been practicing in isolation, she had noticed that her rate of improvement dropped significantly between each of the levels of the seals keeping her locked away. At first, she had expected that it was normal until a few of her more brash past-selves mocked her for not realizing the problem as even Rebecca had started to notice the problem, limiting her training on Chaos itself. As powerful as Istar was, his understanding of Order and Chaos was different than their true universe, which made this disconnect for them. There was still plenty of accurate information for them to gather, but there were also mistakes that they were copying from him, making their powers unstable.
Even though her Soul Realm had collapsed, she was not worried as she had been warned that this was coming and the solution was simple, albeit tedious. She would need to form every combination of the cardinal runes of the Arcana, well over six billion combinations of the runes, but true understanding of them was not as important. In essence, she was rebuilding the library of the Arcana within her Soul Realm but using pieces of the True Arcana from the Endless Firmament. All she needed was time...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a flash of white light and I found myself standing on the Bridge with the Red Alert lights flashing. No sooner had I regained my bearings than an explosion rocked the ship, causing sparks to fly and smoke to spew out of an overhead conduit. Janeway was not present, but the rest of the senior bridge staff were.
"Chakotay! Status update, quick!" I ordered.
"Rebecca?!?" he exclaimed, turning around. "Where did... We're under attack by the aliens that created the Omega molecules. The Fae Dragon is trying to assist, but we are outnumbered ten to one."
"Of course, I can't even catch my breath," I huffed then summoned my exo-suit from my storage ring. "I'll go help; coordinate with Echo if you need me to do anything specific."
I did not wait for his reply and teleported myself off the ship while reaching out to Echo through our connection. The first thing that I sensed was her anger, concern, and fear, then the reason for those emotions. When the Omega molecules were transported onto the ship, Katye's aura flared as she was entranced by the mana, but then her aura started to destabilize like the molecules. No one could reach her as Katye unconsciously created a barrier around herself and the harmonic chamber. Thankfully, Seven still had sensors connected to the chamber and the enchantments that Katye had crafted seemed to be working, but they were not able to destroy or stabilize the molecules. All they could see was that there was no change with the molecules and the display of what was inside the chamber.
While I had faith in Katye and knew that Tori would not risk her life lightly, I could not help but be enraged. I could not take my anger out on those responsible for the danger to Katye's life, so I would have to use the targets that presented themselves to me. Immediately, I transformed into my Dragon form and conjured my Chaos Storm at its full strength, allowing it to eat away at the natural mana around me.
There were eighteen ships chasing Voyager and the Fae Dragon when I teleported into space. Warp travel was still impossible due to the disruption of subspace from the initial explosion of Omega, but that just made this a perfect playground for me. Chaos mana filled every minor disruption, feeding me more power and making me drunk off it.
The ships were even smaller than the Fae Dragon, so I delighted in chasing them down and sinking my teeth into them. A small part of me remembered that I did not need to kill them to ensure my group's safety, but their weapons carried a heavy Order-elemental feel, causing them to do more damage to me than most, making me angrier. As soon as I engaged them, all eighteen ships focused on me though that suited me just fine.
My Chaos Storm blanketed the region, engulfing the alien ships, the Fae Dragon, and Voyager. Whenever it started to reach the limits of my control, I converted chunks of it into bolts of crimson lightning that attacked the alien ships. The unfortunate ones that I drew close to were bitten, clawed, and typically destroyed, but a few managed to survive my initial attack, though they were not in a fighting state.
Allowing myself to vent my anger out on the ships, I kept attacking even though most were crippled or destroyed and those remaining were trying to retreat. I took a fair amount of hits as I was not thinking properly and using my powers defensively, just lashing out with whatever I could. It was stupid and painful, but also a bit fun to blow off some steam.
There were only two ships left. Neither the Fae Dragon or Voyager had been helping me for the last five or ten minutes, which I vaguely knew was because Echo warned them to back off, knowing that I was not in complete control of myself. Taking away my targets when I was worked up like this could possibly make me turn on them. Surprisingly though, I allowed the ships to escape as something, or rather, someone had drawn my attention.
An incredibly powerful aura appeared in space next to Voyager. It felt divine, like the beginning and the ending of all things, as if it was the focus that straightened out the universe, brought it to Order. It was Katye, of course, and in her Dusa form with thirteen twinkling violet balls that were orbiting her like planets, and she was the center star.
{Have you calmed down, my fussy dragon?} Katye asked with a teasing tone, telepathically.
{Is that really you?} I could not help but ask as she 'felt' different, much closer to Alkatyenia than ever before, yet still slightly different.
{I'm still me... The change to my aura is due to fusing with shards of the Arcana, the True Arcana, not what exists in Tori's Inner Realm. I'm finally more 'whole' than I have been so far since he doesn't understand the Arcana as Alkatyenia did. This was a treasure that she had for any reincarnation which will help me understand my powers faster and more properly, since his Arcana is not the same as my own.}
My storm retracted and disappeared as I shifted into my Dusa form and approached her. While I had always been drawn to Katye, her current aura was like a magnet, drawing me in, provoking me, completing me. It was a strange feeling to say the least, but it gave credit to the old saying that opposites attract, and explained why Dystina and Tori had been so confident that she could match my True Soul's strength one day as the Embodiment of Order.
[Rebecca, something is happening to Filigree!] Echo sent through our connection which Katye 'heard' as well.
{She's evolving due to our connection. As a Fae, she is very sensitive to changes to my Soul and fusing with the shards of the Arcana caused me to undergo a Telo transformation; I'm a proper Fairy Queen again.}
{Oh? Does that mean that your body changed like mine did?} I could not help but ask.
{How about we go back to our ship and you can see for yourself?} she retorted with a smirk before flying over to the Fae Dragon and teleported herself inside.
I smirked too and chased after her, undoing my Dusa form before teleporting onto the ship. We both entered the second floor as that was where Filigree was undergoing her own transformation with Nyka watching over her. Currently, Filigree's body was releasing so much golden light that her form could not be seen, but Katye did not seem concerned by it.
She undid her Dusa form, and the changes were obvious. Her hair had grown long and turned the violet color of her mana, while her skin looked snow white. A hole had been cut into her uniform to allow four dragonfly-like wings to have freedom, but what ensnared my attention was her eyes. They were violet, of course, but her irises and pupils were like sparkling gems that shined with different shades of purple flickering through in tiny flakes. I could not help but lose myself in them until she chuckled with a teasing smile.
"I hope that means you like the new look," she teased as the sounds of two people hurrying up the stairs reached us.
"You're beautiful," I breathed.
"Was I not before?" she chuckled. "Echo, L'Naan, sorry for worrying you all. I couldn't stop myself once I sensed the shards."
She touched a new necklace as she spoke, drawing my attention to it. Thirteen violet beads that sparkled like her eyes hung on a silver cord around her neck and, while I could not sense anything from them, I instinctually knew that they were the thirteen floating orbs that I had seen when she was in her Dusa form.
"You... you look..." Echo stammered, but thanks to our connection, I could tell that she was nearly as infatuated with her new look as I was.
The golden light that Filigree was giving off suddenly flashed brighter, saving Echo from her stuttering, then died away completely. The first difference, and most obvious, was that her size had changed; she could no longer fit in the palm of a hand as she was the size of a five-year-old child. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes with her little fists, and revealed the second change, two sets of wings just like Katye had. Otherwise, her hair was a bit longer proportionally, and her violet robes had some golden details on them now.
"What happened?" Filigree asked, groggily and cutely.
Katye moved around the couches and sat directly next to her. "I underwent a Telo transformation, so you went through your own due to our bond. Congratulations, you are now a Lesser Fairy."
Katye placed a hand on the top of her head, and she froze. She grabbed Katye's hand with both of hers and pulled it off of her then compared hers to the size of Katye's before looking up at her with visible shock. Katye chuckled and poked her nose gently.
"But I have barely cultivated!" she said.
"I told you before, I wasn't a simple Fairy Queen. I was the Fairy Queen of the Arcana, and my bloodline only truly awoke a few minutes ago. My blood runs through your veins, so you gained a portion of my strength," Katye replied with a light smile.
::We have landed in the Shuttle Bay on Voyager.:: Fae chimed.
"Thanks, Fae," I replied before sighing.
I knew that we should go help the Voyager crew with their repairs, but the prospect of leaving Katye's side was unappealing to say the least. Sancu's surprise that we had not been working together when we first met him made much more sense than ever before. I just wanted to be near her, to touch her, yet I had responsibilities.
As if reading my mind, Katye looked back at me with a smirk and said, "We should see if Voyager needs any assistance. This whole situation put them in a bind, and we were the only ones who gained anything out of it."
"Fine," I sighed then added, "but you might want to change your top first. We can figure out your new uniform later."
She chuckled as she stood up, "It's a good thing that I prefer backless shirts. You three go ahead. Once I've changed, Filigree and I will head to Sick Bay."
She did not wait for us to reply and headed to the bedroom. I could not take my eyes off her, but I was not the only one. Both Echo and L'Naan were staring at her with a hungry glint in their eyes, just like me.
"I would refrain from working late tonight if I were you two," I remarked with a smirk.
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