>>Hael
I walked to the end of the lab and stood in the empty space between two shelves.
I placed my hand on the wall, "Edro" I whispered the word and a door appeared there. With one hand clutching my mother’s dress, I grabbed the knob with my free hand and opened the door to step inside the other part of my lab.
Closing the door behind , I walked to the center of the spacious place, right where the magic artifact was placed. It was the size of an elephant all together, including the circular base.
At its core was a large, translucent sphere. The sphere, made from a blend of crystal and glass, was adorned with swirling patterns of blue and turquoise, resembling filigree. It’s hollow from the inside and the glass and crystal are pretty much shaped like petals. tallic bands surrounded the orb but all of it lay dull and at rest. The entire structure rested upon a pedestal, circular in shape. The platform had multiple tiers, each layer carved with ornate designs. The topmost layer cradled the sphere and currently, the orb was resting on it.
I didn’t think I’d be using this for myself.
I turned to look at the slim stone podium that held the shape of a hand at the top part, carved right in the middle of its surface.
I put my hand on it, and as soon as I put my mana in the machine, it woke up. The sphere flew up a few inches and then stayed afloat there. A humming sound began to emanate from it, while It radiated a glow, casting a soft, azure light across the polished stone floor. Once working, The patterns shifted within the sphere, Encasing the luminous orb were curved bands of a tallic substance that glead in the dim light. These bands wrapped around the sphere, their surfaces etched with magic symbols. The bands contained the sphere and interacted with it.
This machine has far better functions for what I’m about to use it for.
I put my mana on the dress and extended it towards the orb. The sphere opened up like an inverted flower. It gobbled up the dress and closed as I retracted my hand.
I went and placed my hand on the stone podium again, then chanted a spell.
The sphere began to work, the bands began to move and I moved to grab a glass bottle from the shelves.
As soon as I grabbed one, I heard the main lab door being knocked
It was a single knock, so it ant it was archmage May. I placed the bottle in the middle of the circular platform, right under the orb which had a tiny opening.
Then I walked out of that part of the lab. As soon as I closed the door, it blended into the wall and disappeared.
"Co in," I said and the door opened.
"Apologies for intruding," May entered the lab, "But you have a guest and she’s been very insistent. The other mages turned her away but I had a feeling you might want to et her."
I folded my arms, "If it’s you saying that. Fine."
She passed a smile and stepped aside to show the ’guest’ who was insisting on eting .
"H-hey," It was Lilia, "I ca as soon as I regained my consciousness." She waved her hand at awkwardly, while on the other hand she held the book she was originally supposed to give to .
Right, we left it there.
Both of us forgot about it.
I used my magic to take the book from her, it floated out of her hand and ca to .
"I’m really-" I raised my hand to stop her
"May," I looked at the archmage, "You can leave us." I placed the book on the shelf.
"Sure," She passed a smile and then left, closing the door behind us.
I then looked at Lilia, "I’m sorry," She imdiately spurted out, "I’m so sorry," She stepped towards , "I-" Then she noticed the glow coming from under her, which made her pause, "What are you doing?" She looked at and noticed the sa glow under .
This requires more mana, but I’d rather not have this woman near , so I used two teleportation circles at the sa ti.
The flash made her close her eyes and when she opened them, we were already in the middle of the forest.
It shocked her, "Why did you-?" She looked around, then her gaze landed on , "Why did you bring here?"
"You were saying sothing." I ignored her question
"Ah," Her gaze averted for a mont, "Look," Then she looked back at , "I had no idea the princess was following , if I knew I could have done sothing about it. Then she wouldn’t have died, I-"
"So, you’re responsible for this?" I cut her words and asked her a question.
>>Lilia
I knew I had done sothing unforgivable. I should have been alert. The Queen already warned and yet I didn’t take any precautions while I perford the task given to .
"Yes... I’m sorry-" Suddenly, without warning, a fireball erupted around .
!?!??!
It ca around in the form of a sphere, from all sides. At first it was big, then the next mont it trapped inside of it, engulfing in a searing blaze. The heat was instant and unbearable, a wave of agony that stole my breath away.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!"
I scread, a raw, primal sound that echoed through the forest. The flas licked at my skin, consuming my clothes and hair, turning everything to ash.
The pain was beyond anything I had ever experienced. It felt like my very soul was being burned alive, every nerve ending screaming in tornt. My vision blurred, and my mind was filled with agony and fear. I could feel my skin blistering and charring, the fire reducing to nothing more than a screaming mass of pain.
Just as I felt I could endure no more, the fire abruptly stopped.
???
The flas disappeared, leaving gasping for breath, my body trembling from the shock. Through the haze of pain, I saw Hael standing there, his expression unreadable. He raised his hand, and a soothing warmth spread through as he began to heal my burns. The agony lessened, my skin knitting back together but only to a certain extent, the pain receding to a dull throb.
I looked at him, confusion and betrayal warring within . "Why?" I managed to gasp, my voice hoarse from screaming.
But before I could say more, the fire erupted around again. The fresh agony was just as unbearable as before, and I scread anew, my body convulsing in the flas. My whole body was charred to coal, burned to the very core, but then he let go again and healed , only to burn again.
The cycle repeated, each ti the fire consuming , each ti Hael healing only to burn again. The pain was relentless, a never-ending tornt that left teetering on the edge of madness.
The seconds I got to gather myself during the healing were only barely enough for to notice the hate Hael held in his expressions. His eyes looked at like he was looking at the worst scum of the world.
Each ti the fire stopped, I could barely think, my mind a haze of pain, crucifying agony and confusion. "Please," I begged, my voice breaking as I reached my hand out to him. "Stop..." The broken voice couldn’t even be called a whisper.
But Hael’s face remained impassive, his eyes cold as he continued the cycle. Burn, heal, burn again. The forest around us seed indifferent to my suffering, the trees standing silent and still as witnesses to my tornt.
He brought here so no one will be able to tell what happened to .
No one will know how he tortured
In those monts of healing, I tried to gather my thoughts, to understand why this was happening. But the pain was too overwhelming, leaving little room for anything else and with each ti, I was losing my mind.
Each ti the fire returned, it shattered any coherence I had managed to grasp, reducing once more to a being of pure agony.
>>Hael
I felt a zap in my head which made flinch. My hand went to my ear in which I wore my earring. My magic stopped and Lilia fell to the ground, a charred body that was barely alive but I didn’t care about her anymore.
The zap I felt told sothing went wrong with Amber.
I looked around, then closed my eyes, but I couldn’t sense anything. I opened my eyes.
This can’t be right. If Amber is in trouble I would know. Sothing has happened to her, but I can’t tell what.
I looked at Lilia. She was like a malnourished badly burnt corpse now. Barely breathing, laying on the ground.
Should I kill her?
Or Should I let her die on her own?
I folded my arms
Hmmm
She did leave to my death when I was a kid. I smirked. Well, if she’s lucky enough, maybe soone will save her too.
I looked around the forest, the sun had almost set and I noticed the most ominous presence I have felt so far in my life. This part of the forest is thick, it was already dark here and I saw the animals surrounding us, slowly lurking towards us.
Corrupted animals
Hmmm
This clearing is safe, but it seems a large portion of miasma has spread in the forest.
In the far corner of the forest, I noticed the cloud of miasma, and in there, was a pair of hollow eyes. Since a big part of the forest is filled with darkness, even in daylight, it’s a perfect place for that monster to hide in. Because sunlight can’t penetrate miasma.
I glanced at Lilia one last ti
Guess, she’s not going to be lucky, but at least the monster will make a nice stack of her bones.
I conjured my magic, making a teleportation circle, and then I made my way out of there.
****
>>Amber
I opened my eyes to complete emptiness.
At first glance I had no idea what had happened or where I was. I shot my eyes around as I lay on the ground.
???
But the confusion didn’t go away. I sat up, my world spun when I did that and for a mont I was about to fall down on the other side.
But I got a hold of myself and looked around again only to fall deeper into confusion.
I was in empty space.
As far as the eyes could look, there was only white. To my left, to my right, above and even below , there was nothing else but whiteness.
I stood up on the white floor that seed to blend into everything around it.
"Where am I?" I frowned, then I rembered what had happened, "Ah shit," I shook my head, "The temple did sothing."
"Oh no. They’ve pulled a lot of shit." A voice that ca out of nowhere scared the shit out of , making jump. "But this ti they genuinely wanted you to help Illaris."
!!!!
I jumped at the voice and turned around to look who was talking.
There stood a pale figure.
A woman
"Hi," she waved at as she passed a smile, "I know this is sudden and all. But I can explain. I couldn’t have talked to you otherwise. There had to be a trigger that pulled you here, into the deepest part of your subconscious world."
"Wait, what?" I looked at her in confusion. My deepest subconscious?!? And who the hell is this lady? I’ve never seen her in my life before.
She had dark purple hair, and deep purple eyes.
"I know, but it can happen. You’re here after all." She looked around, "Really clean I have to say... A bit too clean. It’s all white... But then again you are a transmigrator. Transmigrators tend to have more space in their subconscious." She sighed, "Sorry, we had to pull you back. I know you loved the other world more, but honestly we had no choice, sothing had to be done-"
"Wait!" I raised both my hands to stop her because she just kept going. Fortunately, she did stop talking and looked at in confusion.
"Is sothing wrong?"
"Sothing wrong?!" I brought my hands down, "Lady, who even are you!!?"
"Oh!" She wacked the side of her head softly, in a playful manner,, "How stupid of to not start from there." She shook her head at herself.
"It’s nice to et you Amber," She extended her hand towards , "I’m Rosie, the real saint." She smiled, "The original one."
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