The Sky's The Limit!

The painted evening sky began rolling in with purples, reds, oranges and blues that mixed together in striated bands of majestic beauty. The clouds bore the reflection of the transitional gradient like soft mirrors. From the perspective of the lone climber on the ivory pillar naught else existed besides the majesty of nature and the ever-long stationary sentinel, which also wore the colors of the approaching twilight at such heights.

Sweat poured readily from her brow, and the armor that she wore was now a hindrance rather than a boon. Its weight pulled down on her with every bit she climbed, “huff…I really should…huff…take this thing off.” After over forty minutes of climbing, her arms started feeling the burning strain of the repetitive stressful motion. One hand over the other, one foot at a time, relentlessly.

Even as the village below became a miniature with the distance the peak was yet to come into view. ‘Sit-ups and pushups are one thing but this is a whole other level!’ She glanced back down from whence she came, noticing how she could no longer make out the forms of the people below as they too shrank with each passing moment. The air was crisp and clean, and there were a few small birds and other creatures that made a home in the crevices of the ivory pillar.

The calm breeze, from the start of this endeavor, had slowly and then suddenly morphed into gusty gales that thrashed against her body, forcing her to grip more tightly lest she be blown away. “Oof! That was a close one!” She felt her grip nearly ratcheted from her handholds under the pressure of the blustery barrage. Each gust was like a harsh teacher, imparting vital lessons of both strength and technique upon its lonesome student. In the frigid isolation of accent, even the most sharpened of minds can wander, and at this solitary moment, that was exactly what was happening within Zahna’s mind.

Although the Diamond Kingdom became known for human experimentation, that alone was not a unique phenomena. Spade ventured far beyond what Diamond could have dreamed of, for they had the power of devils in their arsenal to bolster their efforts.

Memories bubbled to the surface, from a time of pain and heartache. “Sir, she’s alive and not responsive but we believe that the procedure was a success!” In a secret subterranean facility, two people dressed in the Spade kingdom's military attire stood over a younger version of Zahna. Her eyes lay open, dull from the experience she had just endured. Her body was nearly lifeless, her breaths could only be heard from inches away as she lay with a deathly stillness. Her face had no emotion at all, almost corpse-like.

A man's deep cold voice cut through the grim quiet, “Excellent! But we need her awake as soon as possible…do what you have to do, just don’t break this one!” His eyes were fixated on the young woman who laid upon an operating table, examining her up and down whilst also taking notes. “The grimoire, where is it?” He lifted his eyes from his notes and wore an expectant look as he gazed at his subordinate with raised brows and wide eyes.

“Ah, yes! Of course sir!” The laboratory worker quickly produced a covered package from a nearby safe-box, and handed it over to their superior.

Carefully undoing the cloth binding revealed a locked, book-sized, container. The officer pulled an unusually ornate key from around their neck and fitted it into the lock giving off a small glow as both the magic and mechanical seals were undone. After slowly opening the box, he examined the contents. Inside laid a dormant grimoire whose cover had a jagged and patchwork appearance.

It featured the sections of three different covers of black, white-gold, and a deep purple all bound together in a grotesque fashion. In three of its corners three symbols were set; a sun, a moon, and a twinkling star. The center held a mashed symbol, a dual colored half-spade on the left and for the right side and part of the bottom it was that of a clover. “Fascinating! And no stitches were needed! This new method of combination is above our previous efforts.” The officer had an approving smile on his face. “Did the other two survive the experiment?” He asked as he jotted down more notes.

“Y-yes…But they seem to be in a more critical state than this one is. Our healers are working to keep them stable for the next phase of the trial.”

“That will do nicely. This will certainly please our benefactors!” The office began to cackle in a low and devious tone. The girl who laid upon the table twitched, seemingly in response to his outburst. “Ahh, a feisty one...aren’t you?”

Zahna gritted her teeth in anger as she pulled herself from the dazed and distant memory. ‘I wish I could forget that…’ She finally noticed that night had crept ever closer, as the sun’s last rays were swallowed into the horizon. Looking upward she finally saw what she had been looking for. Resting above the clouds atop the ivory pillar was the bottom of a convex structure, its bottom lined with holes of various sizes. “That must be it!” She yelled with vigor even as her body was battling the stressors of the intense climb.

Faster and faster she went, pushing past the pain and soreness she was feeling in every muscle fiber and her ears were filled with the sound of her heartbeat. Sweat flowed freely from her body while her leather armor rubbed painfully against her. “Just a little further!!!” Her eyes focused, she was just a few yards away.

Climbing up through the base of the platform, Zahna finally had arrived and immediately laid down on the cool stone tiles. Her gaze fixed upward to the ceiling, as she took in several heavy breaths to calm her heart rate. “Oh…huff…my…huff…I’m done.” she rolled over slowly as she took in her surroundings. There was a small amount of furniture around the room, and as she adjusted her ears to this new interior she heard snoring coming from two different sources. “Who are they?” The room was dim, the only light shining in was from the moon and stars.

Pondering to herself, she sat in a meditative position. ‘Should I ask about that martial arts person? Should I even wake them up?’ Indecision wracked her mind, unsure of how this supposed ‘God’ would react to being awoken in the dead of night. Upon noticing a staircase that lead further upward, she had made the decision to investigate that area even if only to get away from the slumbering people in the room she climbed into. Silently she crept towards the stairs, and followed them up to a platform. The roof domed above her in the open space, in the center it seemed there was a shrine of sorts. It was quite ornate and had a jug on it. Walking towards the overlooking edge, Zahna peered outwards over the forest below.

It was a magnificent midnight vista, the clouds were sparse and painterly. The tops of which reflected a muted celestial silver light. The forest below was all dark greens and black, the trees indistinguishable from each other, and they swayed like a landlocked ocean in the breeze. She couldn’t help but marvel at the resplendent sight, it was unlike any she’d seen before. ‘It’s so calm here.’ A single tear ran down her cheek, the calmness of the night's moon reminded her of the last time she had seen Asta.

“Hmm…and who might you be?” a gruff voice interrupted her from behind. Startled, she spun around.

“How did you sneak up on me?!” Zahna offered this and not a name. A befuddled look befell her face as she was now talking to someone quite strange to witness, a large white cat on two legs. “W-what?” The cat stood smiling with a cane in it’s paws as it watched her reactions.

“I guess it’s a little rude to not give my name first but I do live here. Anyway, my name is Korin. What’s yours?” The cat stroked his beard as he waited for a reply.

“Z-Zahna…I’m sorry but are you really a cat or is that a costume?” With raised brows she tilted her head, unsure what to make of this person.

“Hehe, no it’s not a costume. This is what I look like.” His face was hard to read, and his eyes were closed. “You look like you could use some rest, and I’m not done sleeping yet. So, why don’t you make yourself comfortable up here. We can talk more in the morning.”