Chapter 32: One of Two, First Reflection

I had once thought to myself that—in the real world of Aerith—[Divination] was a persisting flow of divine text that would only be written and appear the second you chose to initiate the spell. And the thing is, it seems I didn’t truly understand just how fragile that form actually was. It wasn’t akin to paper and pen, nor even pencil at that.

...A finger, tracing along the sand at the shoreline...

A lingering thought in passing that carried truth. Writing amid a shoreline during an indecisive flood current. One that would only choose to recede when the initiator began the process anew. No matter what the future foretells, nothing is seemingly set in stone. Like some deteriorating monolith, its structure chooses to crumble at even small slights as if it were an emotional fledgling. Toward quiet breezes and drizzling rains—over time—these instances would stand to alter that embodiment. To sway it when you least expected it to.
That was the rule attached to this realm, and the new face of [Divination] for me. The one in whom holds the title of Diviner, and yet, is still learning.

“...bel!”

In a daze, I ruminated on the indistinct sound that tickled the inside of my ears. My thoughts then hushed each other, inviting silence with open arms. I couldn’t make any sense of the noise nor could I tell what or who it was coming from and why.

“...Al...bel!!”

It slowly became more coherent, sounding as if someone were calling me from afar. I attempted to pull my sight out from the blanket of darkness it was currently nestled in, and the scene unfolded before me.

“ALBEL!!”

The voice felt like a punch to an already swollen and bruised gut. And in hearing it in full, my eyes opened widely. My back was now against a hole in the wall, whereas an illuminated circle sat directly in front of me. In the distance, I could see two creatures struggling in an area submerged in a puddle of brownish sludge and stone—beyond them—a standing figure was walking in the opposite direction of me. Toward someone else.

“AL—?! ACH...!!”

That same standing figure was now holding someone up with just one oddly shaped arm. It slowly dawned on me what I was witnessing as my body straightened forward and locked in place—involuntarily. I couldn’t move at all. Every part of me was screaming, and any movement felt as if a vice-like grip was shackling me to remain in place. Yet, my mind was moving at the speed of my current heart rate.

Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! Move! MOVE, DAMMIT!! MOVE! MOVE!! PLEASE!!

I helplessly watched on as the monster-like Disian slowly strangled Eru by the throat from a distance. The scene was being seared into my mind and soul—leaving an unmitigated force of crushing anguish that outweighed any and all physical pain I currently held.
With my entirety, I attempted to move anything I could, and all I was able to muster was the slight and slow moving of my right arm. As I did, it suddenly stopped and sank into my lap in a powerless slump. In that short moment of where my line of sight finally strayed downward, I could see the flickering of a light in my left chest pocket. At that same moment, a noise in the distance caught my ear once more.

“Cough! Ha.... Cough! Cru...”
“AAAAAAAAAARGH! RIZEAN!”

Eru had now been on all fours, on the ground and attempting to crawl away. Cruubi, on the other hand, was now flying around the head of Orgro as the Disian’s attention shifted toward the bird instead. This would be our only chance of a reversal. My eyes then drifted back down to my own self, back at the bright light in my chest pocket. Like a nostalgic and lucid daydream, once again, a soft voice and familiar face appeared before me.

"So, I'm sure you'll be able to find... You'll definitely use it for what it's meant for."
"It's a sign of my protection! A good luck charm! So, make sure you don't lose it, okay?"

“Ha...ha...”

I could only laugh at the potential final gambit that decided to make itself known to me at a time like this. The previous attempt ended in my failure, and yet, I wasn’t in a situation as dire as this one before. And more importantly, I never tried to use that ring alongside the spell either.
I mustered up whatever I could once more, moving my right hand to my chest pocket and pulled out Marna’s ring. The flickering became a consistent shine for the first time. It was blindingly majestic as I held it close. Closing my eye, I imagined all three main power sources—in separate instances. Primal, Divine, and Arcane. From there, I mentally intertwined them like a series of threads. A quick exercise was all that it was, but for some odd reason, I felt more than ready.

“...My...stave... I...don’t have...my stave...”

I didn’t have the energy to even make an attempt at getting my stave, wherever it was. Worst of all, I could feel as if one wrong move on my end would potentially lead to my body shutting down again. I had to act now, or risk losing out on this final chance.
I then remembered a scene from earlier, one where I could recall Eru chanting aloud her spell. My body, mind and soul all felt free-flowing from there on out, as if it were a natural procession of events. I gently tossed the ring toward the ritual circle, and the words came out with scripted ease. And with those words, two scenes strangely came to mind. A familiar plaque and a place from my previous world—that dark room of seclusion.

“...A shared yet isolated will, an object to the outsider’s spite. A sovereignty of the witching hour, and a marrow under the moonlight: [Convergence Summoning]…"

An erupting pulsation emanated from the ritual circle, shining brightly as reality itself seemingly came to a standstill. Not even the breeze dared to take a stroll through the area as a second later a voice echoed amid that eerie silence.

“A mortal, no, an anomalous fool in whom mingles in the same perilous veins of Aerith as We do...? And a rather peculiar one too, how intriguing... Will you lay bare your valor and attempt to stake your claim here, hm? One of impoverished tongue, speak your foolery.”

Despite the overwhelming presence of the voice, nothing had appeared before me as of yet. It spoke in a one-sided interaction as I remained unable to even let a single word escape—let alone breathe. In that moment where I sat oblivious on what to do next, that voice took initiative on its own once more.

“Silence? There’s a lack of charm in a mute gaze, but forgive Us, it has been quite a while since our last visit. It slipped our mind. Natheless, this is your divine privilege, and thus, We shall see you for ourselves first... [Riturireef Tugukrtr].”

As those strange words nested themselves inside my head, an incorporeal hand floated gently toward me from above. The moment it connected with my scalp, it felt as if that hand had turned into burrowing fangs, as the prodigious pain brought tears to my eyes. A flickering of images sporadically entered my vision in short instances—like the flash of a camera. From my time in Aerith, to the quiet days of being all alone in my previous world. The hand disappeared and with it, the pain immediately subsided.

“...You? And that proxy? ...Very well. For now, We shall impart to you, a precious part of Us. Use this one wisely and carefully, Diviner.”

The echoed voice then faded as I gasped for breath as time seemingly began to move once more. And with it, a new wave of pressure arose from its slumber at the center of the ritual circle. An encircling tempest of raw energy whipped outward, grazing and destroying parts of the ruin’s walls and ceiling. It was as if I had invoked life—a heartbeat—into the ruins with how it reverberated throughout. I guarded my eyes with my barely movable right arm, and began to scan the area across from me in search of Eru. I could just make out her and Cruubi beyond the entryway now as the monster-like Disian turned its eyes in the direction of the swirling storm.

“Ha... Thank goodness, she seems all right now... But this thing here—?!”

My voice retracted in my throat as the storm before me instantly cleared—or more so—it was seemingly exchanged with something else entirely. At the center of the circle laid a creature at rest. The sleeping beast had cobalt blue fur, with varying complex and black markings stretched along its entirety. Its mouth was sealed shut and partially covered with a maroon red woven sleeve. As its eyes opened, their orange intensity met my own.

A giant wolf...?

The cobalt wolf then shifted their gaze in the direction of the three monster-like Disians. Another voice then seemingly permeated the air.

“Begone. You’re defiling my domain. [Turirubrguiotu Zewes Krin Gutr Kigupo]!”

Suddenly, orbs of water entrapped—not just the standing Orgro—but also the two that had been caught by the muddied scheme from earlier. In seeing this, Eru immediately dashed through the entryway and toward me as she stayed against the wall in motion. She arrived with my stave in hands as she stumbled my way and almost landed on me. Cruubi then switched over and descended onto my head.

“A-a-aaaa! S-sorry! Are you all right, Albel...?!”
“Ah... I can’t really move, but I’m still kicking at least...”

As my eyes met her, I could just make out the markings on her neck from the prior incident. I could then feel myself squint in deep frustration toward my own self. I only had myself to blame for my inability to properly deal with the situation alone—to protect her.

“...It’s not as bad as it may look, okay? So change that furrowed brow of yours, since you look worse off than I do! And...that worried expression on your face doesn’t suit you at all, Albel...”

Eru had read me like elementary primal-tongue as a sympathetic smile took shape over her lips—yet I could still see her slightly quivering. I forced a slight smile back, holding my tongue as we switched our gaze back over to the cobalt wolf. It remained fixated on the three monster-like Disians as they struggled within their watery prison. Finally, the beast lifted itself on all fours and turned in full toward them. It then continued.

"[Iopozukriouh]."
"AAAAAAAARGH!!"

With another strange phrase, the aqua spheres seemingly shifted and imploded with immense force as the creatures then collapsed onto the floor in writhing pain. They were still alive, but not because they were allowed to be.

"...What dulled fangs I must hold to not have finished you heathens off with just that... Very well, [Turirubrguiotu Zewes Krin Gutr Kigupo]. [Iopozukriouh]."

It took three more cycles of whatever spell the cobalt wolf had been reciting in a foreign tongue. And after its second attempt, I had wearily taken the stave from Eru’s hands and used [Render Tongues] just in time to figure out what exactly it had been saying. Surprisingly, it was seemingly speaking in Disian as the now translated words met my ears.

"...[Embrace of the Aerial Loch]. [Crush]."

Silence filled the room once more as the three monster-like Disians—Orgro, Kruznik and Vaizr—had been slain and were now left lifeless and unmoving. The cobalt beast then lifted its head to the ceiling and another storm brewed—lasting only for several seconds—as it quickly quelled.

“A-Albel...what exactly is that thing...?! A summoning...?”
“She’s...”

Eru prompted a question I somehow already knew the answer for, but hadn’t realized until she had asked. As the aftermath of the storm settled, the form of a young, blue-haired girl with fierce orange eyes remained at the edge of the now darkened ritual circle. Wearing only a puzzling frown and a maroon red woven sleeve around her neck, her long hair draped over her body as she stood still at a downcast. My gaze remained on her figure as the answer to Eru’s question flowed freely from my throat without needing to even activate [Investigate].

“...Her name...is Haifalaura. She’s the Celestial of the Moon...”