“I mean it exactly how I say it,” she replied. Sienna walked over to the other side of the canopy, scouring through a pile of scrolls. “This guild—it has already served its purpose. And the final confirmation came to me just now.”
“I don’t understand,” Soren shook his head. “And how did you even know I was going to go on a pilgrimage? I don’t remember telling you anything about that.”
“My prophecy,” she responded casually. “I… I was shown scenes of your journey. Even before this, I already knew that the time would one day come when you’ll need to leave. After all, the next Abstract Rune you’ll need to merge with to combat the instability of your Soul Chain won’t find itself—you’ll need to search for it.”
Soren stayed silent for a moment. His next question was hard even for him to ask. After all, it would prove definitively that fate already had a path set in stone for him.
“The journey I took in the prophecy… Where did it take me?”
Sienna glanced back, her eyes locked with his. She nodded solemnly, “Mount Tolarion.”
So I have no choice then… Soren frowned.
Although he had already considered it countless times, he was still unsure of whether Guntharion’s parting words should be followed through or not. A part of him wanted to discard his advice and to not trust it. But after everything he has been through, running away now would truly accomplish nothing.
Fate, after all, was not one to give up. And just like last time, the only way to twist the predestined paths of destiny was through knowledge. Soren needed to know what exactly awaited him at the peak of that celestial mountain—what answers, good or bad, would it offer him in his journey beyond…
Seeing her rummage through the pile of old scrolls, Soren sighed. “Your prophecy is right. I will be heading toward Mount Tolarion. More specifically—its peak.”
She stopped what she was doing after hearing that. “The peak?” Her frown deepened.
Soren sighed, “Yes… It is what Guntharion requested. That I should seek the peak of that mountain and that the answers I am looking for will be there, waiting for me.”
The canopy was flooded in silence. After a few more breaths, Sienna sighed.
“That man… Even back then, I could not understand Him.”
“Can you tell me more about Him? Guntharion… How exactly did you come in contact with Him? He must have been the one who tasked you with taking care of Cassia, right?”
Sienna nodded. “Indeed… It was exactly twenty years ago… After my departure from Luvinica, I set out on a journey to achieve the goal my ancestors left me. The one goal that I had been running away from all my life…”
“Setting the orbits of this world back in motion?” Soren answered.
Sienna nodded, “Indeed… You see, us Witches of Star Fate… We are selected from a young age. I was only three years old when I was taken to the Temple of the Stars—my parents sold me for cheap apparently… From there, I learned astrology till the age of ten, where I was selected out of eight other sisters to be the next Vessel of the Stars.”
Soren frowned. “This process… Wait, is it because of your personality?”
Sienna smiled as she finally found the scroll she was looking for. “Correct. As you know, our magecraft affinities are assigned to us through the experiences that shape our Shades of Self. Unlike a person’s True Self, one’s Shades of Self are malleable—that is why they are called ‘Shades.’ They can twist and change, and their meanings can evolve over time as the person grows.
“Of course, once that person conducts a Soul Search and discovers their shades, their Soul Realm solidifies. The shades become permanent, as do one’s affinities. It is through this quality that numerous organizations and hidden factions across the continent thrive… They tend to raise their heirs through thorough selection processes and groom them so that their Shades of Self manifest in the proper way.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“I see…” Soren remembered what she had said earlier—that even her magecraft affinities weren’t spared when she inherited the Vessel of the Stars… They had likely selected her because of this.
“Here,” Sienna reached out, handing him the scroll. “You’ll understand if you read this.”
Soren glanced at her for a few seconds then sighed. He unfurled the scroll swiftly. What met his eyes was… a blank page?
“There’s nothing on it…”
Sienna chuckled, “Try again. This time, with [Eyes of the Fairy].”
He did as he was told. The butterflies flew from his book into his eyes as he glanced at the scroll. Suddenly, a searing pain entered his mind—one that was different from anything he had ever experienced.
“Fuck!” He screamed out as his head weighed heavier and heavier. It felt as if he was going to blackout at any moment. Soren, however, resisted it the best he could.
“Good, hold out. You will understand soon enough…” Sienna’s voice was disfigured when it reached him. Soren could only faintly make out the words. His mind continued to burst in pain, until a sliver of information reached him from the depths of the Beyond…
Information that made his stomach crawl.
Images began to play within his mind. Scenes of slaughter, of war, and of chaos. Armies of white marched upon rivers of red. Spears from heaven rained down like bolts of lightning against the final bastions. Legions of spirits roamed the earth fighting against hordes of shadows and giants. A cataclysm beyond the scale of anything he could imagine.
And deep within these scenes, one stood out. A scene of a lonely seedling, drenched in the blood of two related gods. It grew and consumed, and finally basked its light upon the world.
The Third Age of Fantasia. The War of Swords's conclusion…
By the time it ended, he had already partly fainted on the floor, panting heavily as if his life depended on it. And, it indeed did. Soren could feel his mind bursting, as if ready to melt and leak out of his ears…
Suddenly, the world turned pure white. For a second, his eyes trailed above—the looming figure of Sienna stood there with a soft smile on her lips. In her hand was a brilliant white star that illuminated the rest of the canopy.
“What… Did you do to me…” He didn’t know whether to feel angry or not… The information he received was extremely crucial. No, it was what he had been missing all along.
However, his current vulnerability could not be overlooked. Was Sienna plotting to do this to him from the start?
No, if she wanted to hurt me, she could have done it a number of other ways… I doubt I’d be able to resist an attack coming from a 6th Circle magi…
However, that star in her hands… He was sure that it belonged to him. It contained something within that he could feel was his…
“You will be fine, do not worry.” Sienna sighed. “This star contains the past You’s pain from moments ago. This is one of the abilities the Vessel of the Stars grants me: [Celestial Experience]. I can retrieve parts of the past or the future and contain them within these stars…”
Moments later, Soren watched as the white radiant star entered Sienna’s body. Almost instantly, all the pain he had just felt was gone…
“This…” He glanced up at her in shock, only to realize something was wrong. Sienna… her crystal eyes were full of apprehension and fear. Then it happened. He watched as she convulsed, holding onto her stomach as she grunted in pain.
“M-mistress!” he rushed to hold her, but she pushed him away.
Soren frowned. “You consumed my pain, didn’t you? Why? You could have requested Myrin to heal me…”
Sienna glanced up at him and smiled. Her expression masking the pain.
“So this is how it feels like to consume information… How many times have you done this Soren? [Eyes of the Fairy]... This ability of yours is too dangerous.”
Soren shook his head. “I’ve gotten used to it. This time, the amount of information I consumed was too much, so the pain was greater.”
“I… see…”
“Answer my question, though…” Soren insisted. “Why did you do this…”
Sienna walked over to her usual seat and sat down before the pile of books. Her eyes trailed up to the false night sky she had once created in this underground eden.
“That scroll I showed you… It was something Guntharion gave me. Within it was a Mystery that even I could not pry into, no matter how hard I tried… However, he did say this to me before he tasked me with taking care of his daughter. That there will come a person who will be able to obtain the information within…”
Suddenly, Soren remembered his conversation with the Eternal Knight of the Slumbering Wolf…
“You… You knew, didn't you? That the Divine Accord that you are seeking to unravel yourself originated due to the events of Yasini’s Demise? Is that why…”
Sienna nodded. “Guntharion told me that the secrets contained within that scroll outline what had occurred a thousand years ago… The conclusion to the War of Swords and the subsequent creation of the new Orthodox World Order we know of today… But for the longest time, this information has always eluded me…
“However, everything started to make sense before I began the expedition. I obtained another prophecy you see… One that outlined what you will experience during your search for the Pillars of Heaven.”
Soren’s eyes widened. “So you saw it? The Castle of Devastation?”
Sienna nodded. “You see, I had for the longest time theorized that the freezing of Yarian’s fate was a product of what had happened many millennia ago—during the First Age of Fantasia. It was because of this that I wanted to explore the Avalon Ruins and stationed the guild here in Celestine. The opportunity had finally arrived, and we were granted permission to excavate for hidden truths on behalf of the Aelloran government.
“And, it was there that Myrin and the others discovered something… Something they should not have discovered at all. Fate had most likely guided them there.”
Soren’s dilated when he heard her next set of words:
“The Avalon Ruin’s dungeon core.”