As the flas of change, both good and bad, swept over the continent of Henos, the mbers of Constellations went about their preparations to set out on their respective tasks.
Having considered transportation, Alex and Victoria opted to make use of the Spirit World to quickly arrive at their destination, which was one of the major cities in the Solomon Alliance.
According to Ulysses, it neighbored the area that was once the location of Luna’s Dwelling.
Of course, now that area had turned into an archeological site for students and professors while the building itself was now known as Twilight and was only visible during the Month of Astra.
As for Ana’s team, they decided to take it slow with the journey as they didn’t exactly have a specific location in mind, and so they decided to head over to the train tracks a few miles away from the Grim Forest.
There, they would board the train which would take them to the nearest human settlent, hopefully barbarian, which would allow Nadia to attempt completing her trial while also serving as their first attempt at learning anything about the Beast of Erethetri.
As for Ulysses, he would be taking the submarine into the Abyss, running the chances of turning the machine into a heap of junk.
However, he would at least be able to spare himself the struggle of preserving his mind the mont he entered the Abyss with Elena’s help.
Speaking of Elena, she was currently within Confluence, utilizing a piece of Ulysses corrupted flesh to navigate the path to the Abyss from the dinsional hallway while also preparing her mind for what was to be a daunting task as she wasn’t just going to be teleporting a person between dinsions but an entire ship blessed by a deity.
In any case, preparations seed to be moving smoothly and soon enough, it remained a day before the group would be leaving on their assignnts.
They all gathered at the dinner table and indulged in a hearty al cooked by none other than Ulysses himself because there was no other person who knew how to cook a proper al.
Ana would have just opted for various types of smoked at, which was scarce on the ship; Alex would have gone for a more militaristic approach with his al; Victoria, Nadia, and Arwen were incapable of cooking, and finally, Elena found herself unable to do it despite knowing.
One more reason why the Nester’s son was a necessary boon to the group.
The group ate to their satisfaction while indulging in conversations on various topics, ranging from the current conflict destroying the peace of Henos to the supernatural entities they had co across during the ti apart from one another.
Soon, dinner was over, and everyone worked together to clear the table while Ulysses took so well-deserved rest for being in charge of filling their bellies and doing a good job of it.
While in his room, he got an unexpected visitor in the form of Anastasia.
"Do you need for anything?" Ulysses asked, expecting a task to be handed to him.
Ana shook her head. "Not at all."
"Then..."
"Ca to check up on you," Ana remarked as she walked into the room and ca to sit beside Ulysses on the bed. "Thought I’d do so considering we’d be splitting up tomorrow."
"Oh." Ulysses mouthed before turning away, quickly diving back into his thoughts.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?"
Ulysses pursed his lips before replying. "I don’t know. It’s scary to think that I’d be going into that twisted place to visit an even more twisted being. What if I don’t make it?... What if I lose my mind and die?"
"Then so be it."
Ulysses instinctively glared at Ana, causing the latter to chuckle in faint amusent.
Seconds passed before her laughter died down and her expression took on a lancholic cadence. "Did I ever tell you I was corrupted by the Abyss once before?"
Ulysses shook his head, allowing Ana to continue. "I was and if I do say so myself, it is the only experience that has left as much of a mark on as the Great disaster that turned the Southern plains into the Southern ruins. Just hearing anything about the Abyss conjures the experience of being corrupted, leaving ... scared."
"I know you are here to comfort but... you’re doing a really bad job of that."
Ana chuckled, eliciting a chuckle from Ulysses as well.
She glanced at him, allowing them to see eye to eye before she spoke up. "I’ve watched you since we left Ra’as and arrived in Henos. As soone who has been intimate with the Abyss, I can tell you that you are capable of resisting it."
"..." Ulysses stayed silent even as so of the fears he had evaporated from his heart.
Ana managed a stunning smile while placing a hand over Ulysses’ own. "You’ll be fine, and even when it gets tough, I know you’ll power through it because you can. You are strong like that."
"... Thank you."
"No, thank you."
"For?"
"I thought I’d travel the world alone. It sounded quite boring... but with you, it might not be so bad." Ana remarked.
"You want to travel the world with ?"
Ana nodded. "Once this is all over and the end is averted. I’d like to travel the world with an experienced explorer and who else than the man currently hosting the God of explorers?"
"More like traveling." Ulysses corrected, earning an eye roll from Ana.
"Whatever. Bottom line is, I’m going with you and there’s nothing that you can say that would..."
"Alright." Ulysses calmly replied, cutting her off as he did. "I’d be honored to have you as a travel partner."
Ana hesitated before ultimately replying. "That’s good to hear."
Rising to her feet, she made her way to the door before remarking. "So best co back in one piece and preferably sane."
"Sure," Ulysses said before adding. "You too."
Then she left, closing the door as she did, leaving Ulysses to his thoughts.
Letting out a sigh, Ulysses’ expression lightened up as he felt much better about what was to co.
Just as he considered getting so sleep, he felt sothing on the bed, causing him to look down, quickly discovering a talisman made of bone and covered in dried blood lying in the sa spot Ana had been seated.
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