344. Ignis, and the Resonance

Precious memories were made on that day. Irreplaceable bonds strengthened by laughter and joy. They were practically more than just family at this point. It was just sad that they had so few moments where they could spread their wings just like this.

No compromises were made. All the questions in the world, however arbitrary they may be, were asked underneath the stars. The crackles of a campfire played as calm waves crashed along the beach. The serene ambience was hypnotizing.

It replaced the constant explosions of the past, with the distant chirps of cicadas supplanted the screams. Fun, unordinary topics were brought up to mellow the mood, and to act as icebreakers for Anna and Nav to participate.

Even the Star Child conjured complicated symbols with childish enthusiasm, eventually becoming a game where they had to guess what she drew. The success rate was less than they liked to admit, usually because she’d reference some obscure, mathematical, or cosmological equations that no one aside from Nav understood.

… and the Innocent.

She was the one who judged whether someone answered correctly, as the Star Child had a terrible habit of elaborating why the answer was either correct or incorrect as thoroughly as an academic assessor. A simple ‘thumbs up’, or ‘thumbs down’ was all that was required to convey the same idea.

The laughter lasted well into the night. Eventually, another night had come and gone, but this would be another to add to their list of happiest moments. The best part was when they woke up and realized that they could return to this place whenever they wanted.

Knowing that this paradise existed in a realm detached from worldly affairs was enough to cause a warm, bubbly feeling Frost never experienced since arriving in this world. To have a place to come back to; a place to call home and their own was enough to keep her awake.

There was an innate fear of losing this place. Like it was just a dream. Nothing could last forever. She knew that. But even so, embracing such an ideal wasn’t so bad.

She allowed herself to cherish a hopeful outlook for the future as they returned to the construction of their home. Ignis finalized the framework in accordance with Anna’s blueprints. A quick test proved that they were strong enough to withstand anything below the power of a Moon.

Electric bites, beams and claws did little damage. Of course, it was nothing a bite from Frost couldn’t handle. Ignis’ DEF stats were as insane as ever, and this invited the prospect of creating weapons or tools out of her bones.

“Nn. I armed healers with this.” Ignis revealed, brandishing her iconic, bony blade. “Healers don’t fight. But my powers allow a part of me to protect them. Like a symbio… symbi… symbiosomthing. Do you think it’s useful?”

She stared up at Frost with hopeful eyes.

“Absolutely!” Frost exclaimed, causing Ignis to melt. “It’s symbiosis. Just like your title. The Symbiote. It means two different organisms living together in harmony, both benefiting from each other.” She wanted to encourage Ignis at every step along the way. Her powers had time and time again proven their weight in the number of lives she was able to save.

Out of all of them, Ignis was easily the most robust. Not to mention she hasn’t utilized the other bodily Systems yet. A thousand pathways unraveled before Ignis. Experimentation was key, but so was her drive. The Crimson Hunger were still at large, so her primary goal to carry on her vengeance made her combat orientated by default.

However, after witnessing how her ‘flesh’ could attach to people like biological prosthesis, she consulted with Frost if there was a possibility of having other uses. Ignis considered herself ignorant in this field, but her passion to learn and absorb Frost’s knowledge like an everlasting sponge sparked a similar ember in Frost’s eyes.

The first person they thought of was Carpalis.

Maybe with their efforts, they could offer Carpalis a new hand…

“It’ll be a good idea to arm healers. The question is if it’ll cause more problems than solve them. Well, Moons could have a use for them too. People say I’m the center of everything, but so far when it comes down to fights, you’ve been there to keep us at arm’s length. I’m proud of you, Ignis.”

“Thank you. It means a lot to me.” Ignis further melted as Frost brushed her hair. “I think we’ll find an answer soon when Nav shows us our stats. She says she’s close! She can feel it!”

“Just a few days at best then, huh. I can feel something too. Maybe I’ll be able to figure out what I can do with the Nexus at the same time… and Ignis, I know it might feel weird to tell you this but, if you ever wanted to stop fighting, then –”

“– I wish I could stop fighting too.” Ignis began, clutching Frost’s hand. Her paws were tiny, but they carried the weight of a million souls. “But we can’t stop anymore. To me… it’s a privilege as much as it’s something to hate. Papa would forgive me for giving up. Everyone here too. But I wouldn’t be able to look at myself again because we can change things, even if it’s hard to do it ourselves. You showed me this. You held onto me even when saving me seemed impossible. I also have someone I have to defeat. I won’t stop until I get revenge for Papa.”

“… Yeah. You and I both. I don’t like fighting either.” Frost uttered before she embraced Ignis, pulling the girl’s head onto her shoulder. “This world demands that we do. That needs to change before we can rest. You know about my past, right? How I came here as a healer?”

“Mn. Someone from the Nexus betrayed you.”

“I’m not stopping until they’re dead. And even after that, who knows what’ll pop up along the way. You’re right about our strength being a privilege. I couldn’t agree more. But it does weigh us down sometimes, huh? We see things others don’t. The ugliness of the world, down to its core. What’s untouched and left to rot. It also uncovers biases we once thought.”

Frost’s somber voice carried an unknown emotion. She didn’t know it herself. Whether it was hopeful, or depressing. She only knew that this was the truth she had come to realize along the way.

Despite this, she wore an encouraging smile for Ignis.

“Trying to help everyone isn’t as easy as a snap of a finger. People will hate you for helping them too. And people will die because of your good intentions. It’s not easy, but that’s the price we pay trying to pave a paradise.”

Then, Frost pulled her away and stared into those crimson, glistening eyes, brushing away stray strands of red hair away from Ignis’ face.

“You’re still young, but you can deal with concepts I never considered until I was in my teens. I think? Aha… and you carry a burden adults will usually tuck their tails and hide from. Many more crumble to it. It’s been a while since we’ve spoken like this. I just wanted to know how you’re dealing with this.”

“… it’s ok now. I won’t cry because papa is with me. In here.” She pointed to her chest. “And you’re also back. I couldn’t be happier of the outcome. It’s not like we can turn back time to change things. I’d like it if we could, but I think that’ll cause more problems. I’m not that selfish.”

“It’s caused a lot of problems already.”

“Mn. ‘The One Who Corrupts’. I wonder if Elysia was the reason why papa become Corrupted.”

“We don’t know ourselves, but that’s a mystery for another day. Hey. Here. Take a break.” Frost sat down on the grass, patting her thighs for Ignis to rest her head on.

And she gladly took it, wearing an adorable smile.

“Thank you. ‘The One Who Corrupts’. What does that make you, then, Frost?” Ignis wondered, all the while the Star Child drew stars in the sky.

“Hm? Sorry?”

“You. Because you can help people come back from the Corruption.” Ignis giggled, staring up into her golden eyes. “… ‘The One Who Saves’. Salvation. Realization… If Elysia Corrupts, then maybe this warmth is the opposite.”

Frost never thought of it that way.

It made her heart flutter as a swarm of golden petals swept across the plains like tiny specks of fleeting light. Miraculously, the petals didn’t get stuck on anyone. However, just as Frost mentally pointed that out, one fell onto Res, and another onto Cer.

* * *

2 days later, the house was complete.

And on the dawn of the same day, Frost experienced a powerful resonance with the Nexus.

< The Archetype of Amalgamation has taken control of the Upper Half of the Advent of Amalgamation >

No one knew what the ‘upper half’ meant.

But it didn’t change that she now had absolute authority over the Nexus.