I've always found the silence of the void comforting. It's as if the world itself holds its breath, waiting for the inevitable twist in the cosmic reign.
And yet here I am, an uninvited guest to an eccentric couple that originated from a faraway land.
Possibly, not even inside this reality.
"Curious what I'm making, Kuzunoha?"
"I doubted that. She probably wants to find fault in my ohrtending."
"Isn't it a good thing then? It ans that she cares for you, Verina."
"Not all types of caring are good, Narcy."
Kuzunoha. That's my na, not that it matters to most.
But it's a wonderful na, and I planned to cherish it for as long as I live, fufufu.
Fortunately, I happen to possess an indefinite lifespan. So that will be a lot of 'cherishing' for a person like .
But that might change since the mont I bound my soul with a certain golden figure through a mutual contract.
"Uhm, is there sothing on my face?" said that certain golden figure with a genuine look of concern and confusion. "Back then, it was Verina. Now, it is you…
"Look, I know that I'm probably the most beautiful person you've ever t in your life, but it doesn't an that you can silently admire my face without giving a couple of praises to pay the toll, you know?"
And she was insufferably narcissistic.
Which was hilarious, considering that her na was Narcissus, as if she was following the destiny that was already chosen for her path.
"So, you're saying that I'm exempted from the toll?" Verina quipped with her ever dullard of a cute face.
Narcissus playfully pointed with a grin. "No, you actually have a lot of debt in that departnt."
Verina possessed the bloodline of a kilnalan, the very sa race that ca up with the creation of my kin, and sohow failed at utilizing us to our fullest, which resulted in the animosity between these two races of Carcosa.
Though I cared nary of those conflicts and the implication of my whole existence in their eyes, I enjoyed teasing and riling this young kilnalan.
Albeit she started to beco immune to my words thanks to Narcissus' guidance, which was quite annoying of her.
I rolled my eyes, answering the question that was given to . "Narcissus, dear, if I were silently admiring anything, it would be the perplexing phenonon of how you manage to balance that inflated ego on such a slender neck. Truly, it's a marvel of cosmic architecture~"
Verina showed no reaction whatsoever. Narcissus, however, simply blinked, her lips curling into a slow, smug smile.
"Oh, Kuzunoha, you flatter too much. I didn't realize my re existence could stir such fascination in your cold, calculating heart."
"Fascination isn't the word I'd use," I muttered, tapping my fingers against my umbrella. "Mild academic curiosity, perhaps. Like studying a particularly vain species of gold-colored beetle."
"I must be a one-of-a-kind beetle then, if we consider all of the things you went through to get ahold of ."
"It is within my jurisdiction, darling~"
Narcissus pouted dramatically. "You're just too proud to admit you're chard."
"Proud? No," I smirked. "In need of amusent amidst my hollow hour? Yes."
Verina, ever the peacekeeper between us, sighed deeply. "If you two are done flirting, please spare the excess energy."
Verina appeared to be lackluster in terms of energy. She was probably pushing herself to stay awake to help Narcissus with her current project. If only she wasn't as stubborn as she was childish.
"Flirting?" I amusedly chuckled. "Please, Veri dear, I don't waste my intellect on such trivial pursuits."
"Since when you're close enough to to give a nickna…"
"Of course we're not flirting," Narcissus chid in sweetly. "After all, you're far too busy plotting world domination, one sarcastic remark at a ti."
"Soone has to keep the universe in check," I playfully retorted. "It might as well be ."
Despite our miniscule amount of ti with one another, my opinion of Narcissus had already cented itself into a total fascination.
Who would have thought that by just following that 'raven lady', I managed to stumble into sothing that was out of this world.
No, it wasn't 'simply' only out of this world, but she was also adorned by the very leylines of the arcane will itself.
Oxymoronically, she was also barred by arcane will from ever touching the essence of 'ohrmancy' itself, sothing that would only happen to a person if they managed to commit a cosmic cri that angered the very bringer of this world itself.
What's more interesting, was the fact that she was unaware of it all! My encounter with her was definitely sothing beyond a jackpot in this lottery of fate!
"Woah woah woah! That one is too hot, Verina. You're lting the whole thing."
"Ah, it seems like I put too much on the lifeline."
Verina's ohrtending as of now was a drastic improvent than the one she perford yesterday. Even without the arcane influence, her foundation was too shoddy and crude, it baffled on how she could even allocate the right amount of lifeline.
Then again, I was also once stuck in that learning phase because I have no one to reference to.
"Alright, we can do it this ti." Narcissus hunched over the husk of a vessel module—no, not just any vessel. A scientific device that rges the raw essence of a Coalborn's eternal fla with his bizarre understanding of technology.
There was little to no interference from any type of ohrtending from the two of them, yet I could deduce that sothing could happen systematically inside it, like a prison that abuses heat to create chanical energy, which is then converted into electricity or stored energy.
And the source of all of this energy shall be brought by that relic over there, known as Charstone that was extracted from the remains of a horde of Coalborn. My mory of it wasn't the most vivid, however.
The irony isn't lost on . An attempt to ta the wild, uncontrollable fire of Charstone for sothing as mundane as energy output. Cute.
I continued to watch as the three of us bantered our minds away, deeping our friendship through playful quip and harmless sarcasm.
And after 3 hours of observing, I was rewarded with the view of the vessel module's final form.
"Huehue, let's see this boy roar and hum, shall we~?" Like a proud mother, Narcissus ordered her kilnalan follower to act out the last deed. "Insert the kindled Charstone!"
It was a rather gargantuan engine, built from twisted scraps of Calamity Alloy and cobbled-together components. It humd softly, though its vibrations were nearly drowned out by the crackling heat emanating from the Charstone within.
The eternal fla pulsed, flickering angrily against the tal walls that dare to cage it. The Charstone, of course, was a gift—or a curse—from the Coalborn. Creatures born from ash, fueled by the destruction they leave behind, leaving behind only relics that promise the sa.
Ah, the Coalborn, I fully rembered now. Sentient embers in a humanoid shell, roaming like scavengers after a fire, sparking new blazes in their wake. They always amused , their mindless hunger for destruction, and the aftermath they so casually leave in their wake.
A fitting taphor for most things in life, if you ask .
Watching Narcissus work is its own kind of entertainnt. Her fingers work impossibly cunning, but her face—oh, her biblical face—was locked in that ridiculous look of pride, completely unaware of my scrutiny.
My attention for her lingered on like the fla, flickering within its prison of fate, just like the Charstone that was given its purpose in life.
"I'll na this engine, the Ifrit Roar!" Narcissus excitedly exclaid.
Why, because of its guttural sound? Then again, it would be fitting for a mother to na their object of creation.
Yes, Narcissus appeared like a mother of creation in my eyes. Her mind possessed a vast array of imagination, and her divine hands had no qualms about turning those imagination into life.
"So, what are we going to do with this 'engine'?" Verina asked.
"Why do you think that I'm using nearly all of the resources to make this bad boy as big as a house?" Narcissus slyly grinned. "I'm going to make a 'landship'!"
Ah yes, a landship. A behemoth of iron and arcane engineering, lumbering across the landscape like a misplaced relic from a forgotten age, it embodies human arrogance in its most tangible form.
They think they can ta the land, impose order upon the chaos, by chaining themselves to these massive constructs. A ship on land, fufufu—how delightfully absurd. It's a crude attempt at defying the natural order, a desperate grasp for control in a world that thrives on entropy. I can't help but admire the ambition, even as I recognize its inevitable futility.
After all, no matter how grand the ship, the sea of decay will always swallow it whole~
It was a novelty concept, sothing that only a few civilizations in Carcosa were capable of achieving. After all, sothing moving and bigger than a mountain should be a re dream of an engineer.
Then again, this is Narcissus that I'm talking about. Considering the size of the engine, the landship shouldn't be anything bigger than four carriages, which was definitely plausible but far from what I would call a proper landship that has been created by the hands of mankind.
I'm fine with a miniature landship. Actually, the idea of a small, private landship never beckoned itself upon until now.
Though, it seems like the landship will be a project for another, considering that we start to lack the resources to produce ten ingots of Calamity Alloys, let alone the crude one.
After the creation of the Ifrit Roar, Narcissus imposed three hours of rest to the three of us.
In this ti of rest, I decided to indulge myself by continuing my observation into Narcissus' soul structure. She wanted to record every piece of my findings and understanding into a report the mont a single session was done.
Thankfully, I could just indefinitely extend my experinting session.
After all, I could just use the soul link that we created through a contract to start digging anywhere and everywhere I want without being a nuisance to her.
I also inford Narcissus first and foremost whenever I started my experint into her soul. I would be disobeying the very contract that I made, otherwise.
"This shall be the most exquisite of discovery~"
With a glass of blood in hand, I weaved my arcane threads to venture further into Narcissus' realm of soul.
And my finding happened to be the most horrifying one that I could ever encounter.
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