It was maddening to be stalled in my progress yet again. Body Refining remained too dangerous to attempt alone, and Extraction was sothing I preferred to try with seasoned experts nearby. So, with a long exhale, I gathered my energy, steadied my breath, and sank into my Inner World.
The mont my awareness crossed over, a voice greeted .
“You’re back!” Drybel shouted, startling enough to jump.
And I did. Jump, that is. Physically.
The body I inhabited now was no longer incomplete, but a fully ford vessel of woven energy, streaked in blue, red, and gold, shimring faintly in the surrounding void.
“Yeah… hi,” I said, offering a half-sheepish smile. “This body developed fast. I only checked in recently, so—” I let the words trail off, hoping Drybel might have an explanation that made sense of it.
“Only one thing has changed in you, right?” he mused thoughtfully. “Perhaps your bloodline accelerates the formation of your Inner World’s avatar.”
There was no real way to verify that, but it was a reasonable theory. And besides… movent felt incredible. My limbs, though made of light and energy, carried a fluid weight, every movent smooth.
I began taking slow, deliberate steps, testing my balance as I circled the World Seed without straying far from it.
“You’re alright being here all alone?” I asked, finally venturing a little farther from the core of this place.
“I’ve been alone for a long ti,” he admitted, his tone softening. “It was good to talk so much last ti, but it’s been ages. I was only a child when I died. I’ve existed like this longer than…” His voice faded into the void.
Another step, and suddenly I felt resistance. It pressed against like an invisible current, thick and slow, the air turning heavy with unseen pressure. I had ventured away from the center only slightly. One more step, and the force strengthened, shoving back. I relented, turning away.
Nothing but darkness stretched beyond. And this was my Nexus, so what could possibly be out there?
“I see…” I murmured, trying to et his sadness with empathy as I drifted toward the egg-shaped core being fed by luminous orbs and writhing tendrils of energy.
Ti passed in tranquil silence. I placed my palm upon the World Seed’s smooth surface, brushing it gently. It pulsed beneath my hand with a steady rhythm, like the beat of a heart. The sensation stirred a quiet awe in . What kind of power slumbered within this seed?
Just a fracture in it had turned Ai and Serith into beings who towered over everyone I’d ever t. Only the Starborn girl ca close to matching their might. And even then, who truly knew? I had never seen any of them fight. Perhaps even sothing as grand as breaking the sound barrier would barely register for Serith.
“That boy,” Drybel’s voice cut through my thoughts. “The one who resembled my race. What do you know of him?”
I shrugged. “He’s aggressive. Furious about the Voidseeds. Doesn’t stop to think before attacking. Basically, he’s a psychotic moron. Even told he plans to kill my Guardian—Steward—whatever.”
The vine around the elental orbs coiled tighter, pulsing faintly. “I don’t understand how he could know. Though we recognized one another, it was only through the faintest wisp of connection.”
I chuckled, scratching the back of my light-particles-neck. “Well, he managed a pretty solid connection if you ask .”
“May I ask sothing of you?” Drybel pressed, his tone cautious.
It wasn’t difficult to guess what he wanted. His only living… sowhat-relative, perhaps? “I told you before: I’ll repay your help. As long as we can reach an understanding, and he doesn’t harm my companions, I have no problem leaving him alone. Letting you speak with him if possible.”
He was quiet for a mont before finally offering a solemn, “Thank you.”
I tried to reach toward the orbs, and even toward Drybel himself, but the sa unseen power that had resisted earlier now pushed back again. Only the World Seed welcod my touch.
“If anything new happens, I’ll alert you,” Drybel said, then added with a faint, wistful warmth, “Or if I just want so company.”
With that, I left Drybel to his solitude once more, threading my consciousness back to my body.
A beak greeted .
I jolted, heart kicking against my ribs as I blinked into focus. Bristle lay curled beside , fur rising and falling in a deep, unbothered sleep. But there was soone else now. A figure sitting motionless just a pace away. A bird-man. Though, his colors were muted compared to the one I’d seen before.
“Uhhh… hi?” I managed, still half caught in shock.
The figure bowed with precise, deliberate grace. Then ca a surprisingly smooth and feminine voice. “I have been sent to serve you. The masters are occupied.”
Her tone was calm, balanced, stripped of emotion yet not cold. There was no malice or fear, only an eerie composure.
“Right…” I said slowly. “I’m not really needing—”
“You’re not a Giant,” she cut in sharply.
We both froze. Her head tilted, and she leaned forward after a mont, crest feathers rustling as the ridge above her eyes lifted in expectation. “That’s where you say sothing like, ‘No!’ and then I continue.”
I blinked at her. Was she serious? “Are you… joking?”
She straightened, clearing her throat with theatrical gravity. “I’m deadly serious.” Her expression flattened into a deadpan mask. “I know everything. Your secrets, your—”
“Stop,” I interrupted, waving my hands in front of her face. “I ant—Are. You. Joking.” I gestured wildly to emphasize each word. “As in, are you performing a joke right now?”
Chirp.
The quick and high-pitched sound escaped her. For a mont, she seed as surprised by it as I was.
“Not if you don’t participate…” she clarified a beat later.
Is this what it’s like talking to ? I wondered silently.
Do you want honesty? Wyrem’s dry voice echoed in my head, all too eager to dismantle .
I shook my head, which only seed to puzzle the birdwoman. No, definitely not. I’m funny. She’s… awkward.
I like her, Luna offered softly.
You both have the sa humor capacity, I shot back.
Before I could win or lose that argunt, the birdwoman resud without hesitation, picking up exactly where she’d left off. “Your secrets. Your powers. It’s over. Admit it.”
Her golden-brown eyes glead with self-satisfaction, feathers shifting, puffed by pride. She carried no exhaustion in her posture. Just a strange liveliness.
I’ll admit, she was peculiar. But… yeah, I liked her.
I eased backward on the dusty floor, pointing at her with a trembling finger. “W–what are you going to do?”
She puffed her chest and flared her wings dramatically. “Nothing!” she declared.
I waited.
Silence filled the space between us.
Her wings lowered.
“Uh… Is that it?” I asked, eyebrows raised.
She nodded, seemingly pleased with herself.
“Okay… so what now?” I ventured, half expecting more nonsense.
She shrugged.
“Were you sent here by the undead creatures?” I pressed.
Her head tilted one way, then the other, before a spark of realization flickered in her eyes. A pause. Then a shake of her head.
“You’re insane,” I muttered, pushing myself to my feet and striding toward the flap of cloth that sealed the hut. I peeked outside. The light was still steady, but who knew how long a “day” truly lasted in this place?
I’d said half a day, but ti may not be the sa here. The fact that we could even understand one another was mystery enough, so strange law seed to perate these worlds.
After all, even our writing systems didn’t match.
Focus, Peter, Wyrem scolded sharply. I sighed and let the flap fall closed.
“That wasn’t a question,” the birdwoman accused, her wings crossing over her chest like folded arms.
I rubbed at my temples. “I’m very aware of that,” I muttered, exhaling the tension from my lungs. “What’s your na?”
She gestured to the ground before her with a wing, patting it. I sat there.
“I’m Harua,” she said at last, her beak moving faintly with each syllable, though the sound seed to resonate from within rather than her mouth.
“I’m Peter.”
She nodded once. “Yes. You are.”
One of my brows rose. “Is there a reason you’re here, and acting like this while the others are chained and suffering?”
She nodded.
“Well?” I prompted.
Her enormous eyes squinted mischievously. “I said there was a reason, not that I knew it.”
I decided to be more direct. “Do you want help? Because I already have a pretty terrible impression of these undead freaks.”
She nodded, though her words carried a different aning. “Help will co,” she said.
I blinked. Hard. Then, with a surge of unfiltered honesty that probably overstepped, I muttered, “That’s a ridiculous attitude to have in this situation.”
“Yes,” she replied without hesitation, as if agreent sohow made the absurdity acceptable.
Okay. I’m done. No more engaging.
So I waited.
And waited.
Not long, but enough for irritation to start prickling under my skin.
“Please, just speak normally,” I begged, giving up.
She exhaled slowly, feathers rustling as her head swayed before she asked sothing completely unrelated. “Why did you say it was change? You’re not wrong… but you’re not right either.”
“W—what?” I gasped, thrown off-balance. “What are you even—”
“What kind of teacher throws out guesses? It was a decent crowd too.” she interrupted, her tone suddenly bright with amusent. Her cheeks lifted, and she almost looked delighted.
“I… uh…” My pulse quickened. The air felt tighter, charged. “You’re joking,” I whispered, voice barely more than breath. Instinct made inch backward, heart hamring in disbelief.
“Always,” she confird softly. Then, with a glimr in her eye, added, “But I’m not lying.”
A tremor ran through as I steadied my breath. “You… know ?”
She nodded once, serenely. “You’re Peter.”
The simplicity of her tone unsettled . “How do you know ?” I pressed, voice thin.
Her body rocked lazily as she thought, legs folded beneath her. “Don’t knoooow…” she sang in a lilting hum, as though this were so lighthearted ga. Then her gaze sharpened. “Why that question? Wouldn’t you rather know what you were wrong about?”
Even after everything I’d witnessed this mont felt beyond comprehension.
It was terrifying.
How could she—a creature exiled by the Guardians, nowhere near my world—possibly know what I’d told i, Sie, Thea, and the others about the role of Wind?
That was just… “crazy.”
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