Abyssal Awakening

"I'm back… mum. I managed to join the army and stopped fighting my squad mates. I even got recognition from the captain of all people. You know how I wasn't on good terms with them before." Egil smiled as he began to recount all the things that had happened thus far.

Standing behind while listening to all of this, Selen felt like her heart was about to break in two.

Seeing how Egil was talking to his mother even though glass and walls separated them, she felt the urge to help. But how?

She didn't have a way to help his mother. She wasn't able to revert the mutations on her body.

Thinking of this, she turned to Alice.

Noticing the pleading in Selen's eyes, Alice didn't even need to ask her what she wanted to say as she already knew the question.

"I don't know. I've been working on a cure so far but I haven't figured out anything yet. And… I don't think you'll want me to experiment on Egil's mother of all people." Alice sighed and replied honestly.

She didn't want to give him false hope, especially when the results of her experimentation may cause more grief than what he's going through already.

"Is there nothing we can do though? Maybe help relieve her pain a little or something like that."

"I don't know. I haven't had much chance to test my theories out. Trying to separate the influence of the Abyss and mutations from the body is like trying to unmix two colours that have been thoroughly blended together." Alice shook her head.

She understood Selen's desire to help Egil as she too felt the same desire. Over the course of time and through the battles they shared together, she could see the kindness in Egil as well as his desire to help his mother.

When faced with that kind of determination and resolve, it was hard to say no. And even harder to fail the trust he'd put in her if she was to say she had an option to help his mother.

Biting her lip, Selen took a deep breath and sighed. If it was anyone else, Selen would've kept asking, hoping for a miracle. But since it was Alice, she knew that it wouldn't change no matter how much she asked.

Alice is someone to take in as many variables as possible when making a decision like this, especially when it comes to a precious friend like Egil.

It was times like this when Selen wished the Zenia family could've taken a different path in life. If they focused their efforts and research on helping people. But if they were to do that, Egil's mother wouldn't be in this kind of situation in the first place.

Listening to Egil speak to his mother, the two were silent as he stood and soon ran out of things to say. Looking at the state of his mother from beyond the glass window, he clenched his fist.

"I'll be back soon mum. After a short break, I'll be deployed to the frontlines again. I'll make a name for myself and ask them to fix you." Egil promised before taking a deep breath and calming his emotions.

"Shall we head up now?" He asked with a forced smile.

Without saying anything, Selen walked up and gave him a hug.

Egil's smile faltered as he bit his lip, turning his head away.

While Selen was comforting Egil, Alice walked up to the window and looked at Egil's mother with a sad expression.

[I'll memorise the energy pattern and work on some theories based on the abilities that you can use.] Cayla spoke up as Alice nodded her head.

'Thank you.'

The current state of Egil's mother was similar yet different to the people suffering from extensive use of Abyss Blood. If anything, it was closer to the hybrids than side effects. The uncanny energy was mutating within her body and latching onto the connections of her spiritual heart.

Ironically, it's due to the fact that she isn't a warrior that she was able to survive this long. Had she gotten more Sigils, this energy would've attached far more aggressively and tried to break her down from the inside in a much more violent manner.

'If you have more Sigils, this disease hits fast and deadly. If you don't have that many Sigils, you're left in a vegetive state and left to rot while it takes over your tether to the spiritual Heart. What a brutal disease.' Alyss frowned.

Even a slight understanding of this disease left them stumped on finding a potential solution.

However, no matter how difficult it is, they had to start somewhere.

After a few moments, the three of them made their way up as Egil excused himself for a bit. He wanted some time to himself and clear his head.

Watching him walk away, Selen felt sorrowful. Despite his large stature, his shadow felt small right now.

"I'll try my best to find a solution." Alice patted Selen's shoulder as she nodded her head.

After exploring the city and meeting Egil's mother, they spent most of the free time they had available. The appointment was coming up and they had to go to the centre of the city, near the large ice tree.

The journey there was silent and the mood was heavy. Selen didn't feel like talking, not when she thought back to what's happening with Egil's mother.

Alice was occupying herself by trying to figure out a solution for the corruption. In order to save Egil's mother, she had to be careful if she was to operate on the spiritual heart.

With a heavy heart, Alice wasn't able to fully appreciate the glacial sanctuary beneath the tree and arrived at the building where the meeting was going to take place.

"Let's see…" Alice muttered, rereading the letter to make sure she had it correct.

Rather than meeting the Queen and the higher ups of Verona, she was going to meet a proxy. The assigned governor of the capital city.

Waiting outside the office, they were soon welcomed in as Alice couldn't hide her surprise at the appearance of the governor.

She had dark grey hair that would flicker with a light silver due to the lights. A pair of sharp crimson eyes and a scar on the corner of her lips.

Her outfit consisted of a turtleneck black jacket/dress with a belt and several pockets scattered across the surface. A pair of shorts and long boots.

The governor's entire attire practically screamed slaughter as Alice noticed a dagger just behind her waist.

But the most noticeable feature of the governor was the wolf ears atop her head.

Feeling Alice's gaze, the ears twitched as the governor narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

Noticing her rudeness, Alice coughed and apologized before sitting down.

'I wanna touch them…' She thought to herself, seeing the fluffy ears twitching every time her eyes scanned up.

"Are my ears that much of an eyesore to you?" The governor asked with annoyance in her voice.

"Ah! Nope! Sorry, they're very fluffy ma'am." Alice instinctively responded, causing Selen freeze up.

". . ." Deciding that it was in her best interest to just ignore this weird girl, the governor opened a file and quickly scanned through the contents.

"I see. So you're the one who helped our warriors return from the frontline. Thank you for your service. The rewards allotted to you are a compendium of beasts that frequently appear in the north and a meeting with Lord Sigurd of the Forge, yes?" She asked, glancing up.

Nodding her head, Alice watched as the governor spun her chair around and stood up. She reached for one of her cabinets and pulled out four books.

However, Alice wasn't focused on the books. Her gaze was pulled by the fluffy tail behind her.

'I wanna touch it…'

Taking a deep breath to calm her annoyance, the governor slammed the books on the table, jolting Alice from her staring as she coughed awkwardly.

"Here are the books that you requested. But before I give it to you, I have to verify something first.

Tapping her finger, Alice felt as though she's been transported into a frozen forest while snow drifted down from above.

In front of her, stood the governor and wolves began to surround the two of them.

"I will ask you two questions. First, are you affiliated with Extalia?" She asked with a glare.

A girl with a far too mysterious background making so many contributions so quickly? Suspicious.

Realising that this was a trial, Alice scratched her hair.

"Nope I'm not. I'm more affiliated with the Abyss than anything. It's simply coincidence that I found myself in the north." Alice replied truthfully.

Giving her wolves a quick glance, the governor nodded.

"Second question. Did you orchestrate the incidents that allowed you to gain a large amount of merit?" She asked.

Once again, Alice shook her head.

"Nope. I was just there when it happened." Alice shrugged.

Staying silent for a moment, the governor nodded as Alice realised she was back in the room.

"Alright. That's everything. Take the books and this medal. Go to the factory department and place it into the elevator. It'll allow one meeting with the Lord of the Forge but whether or not he'll actually listen to your request is up to the Lord."

Alice was tempted to ask about any monetary reward but seeing as how they managed to get a meeting with the Lord, it was probably best not to be greedy for more.

Just before she left, Alice couldn't help but glance up at the ceiling before furrowing her brows.

'Weird.' She thought to herself before closing the door behind them.

###

"Did she notice me?" Frida frowned. She had placed a small snowflake within the room, barely noticeable so that she could keep an eye on the new guests.

-read-first

For her to be this sensitive to even a small snowflake, Frida concluded that the assessment of her spiritual stat was probably incorrect.

A double S didn't justify this kind of sensitivity.

With this in mind, she decided to keep watching for a little longer.

###

Meanwhile, the governor couldn't help but rub her ears a little.

"They're… fluffy?" She muttered.

It was the first time someone had called her ears fluffy… A strange feeling.

Behind her, her tail was waving back and forth. Barely noticeable but it was indeed doing so.

The governor is in a good mood.