Behind her, a slight rustle emerged. Immediately, the four-armed doctor paused and turned. There was no movement. With a sigh, she returned to her work.
"I'll wake you up soon, Arch."
- Joan's laborious experiments.
“Assassin assassination?” Sonna blurted out her question as she lost focus on her Arido. The mist ceased its siphoning of life from Dante with a sharp inhale from the man’s lungs. He glanced down at her, the practice underway of a new day.
The human nodded, explaining himself despite the pain while Sonna redoubled her efforts, “Yes. I already took the job. Should be easy enough. Doubt any of you will be against it. Prominent assassins throw these up to clear competition and raise their prices while not wasting time. An investment, you could say. Lowers overall deaths, though.”
Silence held for a moment while the woman’s concentration shone through. The cut Dante inflicted upon himself for the training melded together slowly while Sonna’s face paled. He wouldn’t let her use Negative-Arido on Archimedes until she was sufficiently skilled.
After his minor wound closed, Sonna broke the stillness, “Go ahead. I don’t care if you break laws or whatever. I just don’t want you hurting innocents. Like Astraeus did. Doing this... I’m fine with it. Lucius would be, too. Hell, he might even join you.”
Her mentioning of the Martian’s agreeance brought a spark to Dante’s eyes as he nodded.
“Perfect. I’ll do that. Send him on his own. He can handle one, I wager. But then, you’re on Astraeus and Rejo duty. Sure you can handle that?” Dante said with a question on his lips as he stood from his seat. Their training was over. The white sheet across Sonna’s face told that to the world.
They would continue anew tomorrow after she had recovered. Then, they would add a third person. Take from another to give to another. An evolution of what Sonna was already doing.
Sonna bobbed her head after a split second of hesitation. She wobbled to her feet as Dante gathered his coat to head out. She waved goodbye while her captain left in a hurry as always, “I’ll be fine! Astraeus likes me!”
Dante paused in the doorway and tilted his head. The sky-blue pupils burned into her eyes as he gave her a short, rare laugh, “He only likes you because you’re damn good with the ‘Sea. I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Don’t let Rejo buy anything stupid again. We are out of money until I return.”
And just like that, her captain was gone yet again. Fatigue riddled Sonna’s body, but she refused to lie down and rest as Joan advised. Using Arido to heal others drained her cells around her entire body equally. The doctor likened it to taking a single cup of water from a thousand buckets to fill one more bucket.
It hardly affected the buckets as a whole, but the total water had gone down. The effect remained noticeable, particularly for Sonna, who was not physically adept.
Nevertheless, the woman had grown since she met her captain. With a groan, she forced her legs to stabilize and stumbled through the doorway. Nausea and dizziness riddled her mind, but she pushed through it. Dante wouldn’t command her to train this far or risk her health to acclimate to such conditions, but she would do it anyway.
She was the vice-captain now. When someone needed help, they would have to turn to her. There were others in the crew who were more experienced, more powerful, and more intelligent, yet he had picked her.
“He picked me.”
Sonna’s words echoed from under her breath as her right hand carried her across the wall toward Astraeus’ room. One step after the other until she reached his door, vision wobbling.
A shaky hand raised to knock, but the door opened before she could. Astraeus’ crying countenance welcomed her as he stood to the side, waving for his crewmate to enter, “Hello. Is something the matter?”
His voice was scratchy, ruffling Sonna with a deep, uncomfortable sensation. She looked him up and down, recalling the countless deaths that had come from his actions. Dante has... forgiven him? Looked past it?
She wasn’t sure. All Sonna knew was that Astraeus had changed. Greatly.
And so had she. Otherwise, she would never have thought of this. The woman fell to a kneel as she lowered her head. With the utmost respect, she said, “Astraeus. Will you take me as a student? Teach me the ‘Sea?”
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Her voice fissured, cracking into high-pitched notes halfway through, but she managed not to stutter. She had matured. That is what she told herself as she recalled Irys doing the exact same thing to a Centurion her father had introduced to her.
The older man agreed, but only after Irys had proven herself. He wanted a capable student, not a silver-spooned brat. Such acts were things done by the Seacursed, the inhabitants of the Empires.
With that division in culture, Astraeus stared down at her, confused.
“Am I not already teaching you?” he said, kneeling to reach her on the floor.
Sonna nodded before shaking her head sharply, “Yes... No. You are teaching us, but we aren’t your students. You are the strongest Seafarer I know. You... I want you to teach me everything you know. As you learn Cryo, I wish to learn, too. As you perfect your Domain, I want to learn, too. I know you aren’t from an Empire or whatever, but I wish to be your student. Officially.”
Her words sank into Astraeus’ mind, spreading like the first snowflakes of a new winter. They stretched with a chill, one that awakened memories of past happiness.
The Anathema recalled his own mentor. Thanaris.
His hand fell to the amber clutched at his throat. Then, he considered the proposal genuinely. Despite the difference in their origins, lives, and talents, there was much he could teach her.
Furthermore...
As he looked into her eyes, the darkened pupils that showed signs of Negative-Arido, the Dirge had to admit something to himself.
Genius. Absolute prodigy. I still haven’t figured out Negative-Frigo. Thaw is just too difficult! Changing the nature of Frigo from defensive to disruptive is far too complicated. Really, only Caesars do it. Even then... not many.
Astraeus remained quiet, deep in thought, as he looked at the woman. A bizarre kinship formed in his mind. She reminded him of himself. More than that. Her eyes reflected the life of a Dirge. Unwanted. Neglected. Suffering. Just as she was locked in her role as a body double, his people were locked to their ravenous dimension. Of all of Dante's crew, Sonna was the most like him.
Hmmm... Most see Negative as a waste of effort due to the time investment. It’s better for most to master another Tide and gain a second or third Domain Collapse. Yet she managed to shift Arido from devouring to resuscitative. In just a few days...
“Years,” Astraeus said, prompting Sonna to raise her head in confusion. “It takes most years to accomplish what you have done in days. Arido is among the easier ones for Negative manipulation, but Brightmist is extremely valuable despite its simplicity. I would love to teach you, Sonna. Having a student as bright as you would be a delight.”
Sonna’s eyes froze, unable to even widen from shock. She and Dante were unaware of the exact difficulty of what she was learning. They knew it was uncommon, but not just how obscure.
Regardless of her emotions, Astraeus hauled her to her feet and shook her lightly. With a slight twitch of his tearful face, he said, “You have trained Brightmist enough today. Negative-Arido can wait until you’re rested. For now, let’s just stick to Arido. Cryo can wait, too.”
The Weren beamed as Astraeus began telling her what to do, how he pulled from the Lightsea and his personal experiences. The others received nothing like this from his lectures. She absorbed everything she could, not wanting to miss a single word, as she took notes enthusiastically.
In less than an hour, Astraeus had her no longer listening and now acting. She glared at her palm while Arido swirled ominously, her thoughts racing.
Only those born with a Tide can learn its Negative. They are powerful but overly complicated and are often only learned by Praetors, Legates, and the very old Dirge. Luckily, we didn’t run into anyone like that. Though... Astraeus believes Praetor Sun had Stagnation, Negative-Hydro. Ah! I need to focus on this, not that!
Her brows furrowed as she focused. The mist had ballooned out of her grip, but the redoubling of her efforts reined in the energy. It siphoned only the air around her fingers, nothing more, nothing less. However, it did so at a rapid rate.
This is a basic technique of Arido. Vacuum Palm. Astraeus said he once got hit by the advanced version, Void Palm, and nearly died. It slices apart the impact area and devours whatever remains with its winds. Scary.
Sonna flexed her hand, closing her fist upon the mist as he instructed her to. With the added pressure of her fingers, the devouring haze spun faster, though the force rebounded to her hand.
“This is not a technique to be held for long. Arido has very few ways of swift, violent damage, and this is the only one I’ve ever seen. I can’t guide you much further than the basic version, though. You’ll have to experiment with that. Practice with it whenever you have the chance. It won’t beat a Cryo’s outburst or a—” Astraeus’ words were cut off by Sonna’s incoming question.
She stood right up to him, her hand vibrating with danger, and asked, “Can I make this Brightmist, too?”
Astraeus peered down at the condensed Arido, which would likely cause damage even to his Dirge body, despite being reinforced by Surewinter. He gave it a mere glance before turning back to his student.
A single shrug was the start of his answer, “I don’t know. Release that soon. Theoretically? Yeah. Actually? No idea. Most Negatives require complete reworkings of their techniques, but it is still the same element. The only exception is Cryo, which just becomes even more dangerous while melding perfectly with existing abilities. Frostfire harms both the wielder and their enemies in exchange for terrifying output.”
Sonna shivered at the idea. She imagined Eight running rampant, both his hands adorned with his trademarked knives of ice. However, these daggers were cloaked by a blue flame, burning all that it touched with its sheer coldness.
That is someone who should learn their Negative. He would benefit massively. None of the other Tides would do much for his combat style.
Her thoughts didn’t stay on the Anomaly for long until she felt the building strain in her palm. Twisting around, Sonna threw out her fist and opened her palm at the last second.
The flesh of a Weren met the wood frame of a bed, and the wood was sheared into countless crisscrossing, rotting scars. Vitality flooded into her body, equal to several minutes of the broad mists she could create.
Aridos weren’t helpless in close combat. They were weak, sure, but all Tides had a way to match their opponent. As the original Anomaly stated, “There is no ‘Strongest Tide’. There is only the strongest Seafarer.”
All that mattered was how one used their gifts and how they dedicated themselves to the mastery of it.
Sonna peered at her palm as an idea struck her after she had devoured the wood with a Vacuum Palm. Fatigue warred against her mind, but her body felt significantly better. Such was the cost of Arido. It drained the mind more than the body.
“I think I can help with Arch. At least a little bit right now,” Sonna said as she glanced at her mentor.
Astraeus narrowed his eyes, unsure of what she was thinking. He shook his head, “No. Your body needs to rest. You are not built for Tides, and your physicality is lacking.”
The Weren agreed, her head bobbing as she understood her weak body the most. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t capable, “Yes, but I can supplement it with this. Wood has vitality in it. Only a little, but with Vacuum Palm, I can extract it efficiently. With that... I can give it to Arch. Again, not much, but every little bit helps while I’m still learning Brightmist.”
Her proposition settled into the Dirge’s mind. He found the idea fascinating. The abilities of an Arido were the most mysterious among the six Tides due to its bizarre nature. Being the rarest element, near even that of Necto, only added to its lack of knowledge. This far out from the galaxy's center, left the premier source of experience in the form of Astraeus.
Most Arido would only come across a few others across their whole lives, typically counted on one hand. Astraeus had told her to stay away from it earlier, but he changed his mind.
He wanted to see just how far this girl could go.