Heulyn's Adventures - Arc I: Corner of the Sky [Eteru/Iammelon] [FIN]

“Haftfttthala. Docile. Curious”  The cloud spoke in response. Given it’s speech so far it address it thoughts more vocally due to the absence of tone. Seemily knew that because it has no frame of reference for them to compare. It continues to hang there in the air before the lord. Its body twinkling like diamonds in the night sky. Bands of scarlet light weave and dance to the arctic breeze. They can both feel that Haftfttthala was passive right now or what they assume to be passiveness. For all they know it could possess entirely different emotional functions. Sethus would only just begin to see how alien it truly was as he set his gaze into the turning kaleidoscope of fractals and odd light refraction. Before a strange vision befell on him he heard the chime of the cloud voice. “Haftfttthala. Memory. Finality.” With those words he beheld something strange.

It was hard to say what manner of space was within the memory. Nothing familiar to give him a sense of scale for the scene that is playing out before him. There was a starless void or perhaps something similar. Either way there is no planetoid or even random waves of space radiation. All there is, at least according to what the memory shows. Is a surreal sea of eldritch lights that stretch for as long as his eyes could see. Different shaped clouds of light all hung in the empty void. From a blue cirrus that curl like a screw. It mass rippling with spiral like fractals. To a cumulus mass of sickly yellow, bulbous lights that shift from ultraviolet to pink. Near him was a triangular cloud of dark brown bands of dim energy. Almost as if it’s old and dying. It was at the center of his view that he saw Haftfttthala who seem to be much more massive compared to before. He would find that he can view closer to it corona but no matter how far he floated it does not seem to become bigger. Is it because their distance is so astronomical that it would take years to get closer? Or perhaps he is fixated in the memory? Whether the case may be he would see another cloud that seem to be near Haftfttthala.

It was a distorted cloud of green energy. The geometry of the mass was odd compared to the others. Corrupted, sickly, sinister. It shone with inverted light that made the space around it curl. Green lighting dance across it rigged fractals. Sethus did not know what had occurred between the two. For they had reacted aggressively towards each other. The two clouds. Waves of red and green crashed against one another. Lances of green plasma raked Haftfttthala form. Burning light shone from Haftfttthala core. Making the green mass to seemly wither in pain. They clash once more. Lights splinter and bands shatter in their primal dance of power. Time too felt like an illusion. For he could not tell how long they fought but before he knew it the battle was ending. The green misma ridges lengthen into a wall of splinters. One digging deeper than the rest. Which tip than ballooned inside of Haftfttthala. A horrid crackling sound could be heard as Haftfttthala was split open into countless shards. Haftfttthala has been sundered.

The memory promptly ended. For it had died. But strangely he could sense the vision continuing onward. He felt the soul of the memory go somewhere. Something grand and magnificent came into view but for some reason he is unable to remember any of it. He was seeing things but can’t comprehend what they are. Unaware that he was seeing something that no physical mind can comprehend. The only thing that his intelligent mind would glean from what he saw is that this soul has been outside, multiple times. And somehow remember it. What that means is anyone's guess. Before he knew it, he was back in the arctic field with Gol and Haftfttthala.

It was certainly an interesting experience for Sethus, to delve into the depths of something he didn't fully understand. Interesting for him in particular, given that it was quite something for him to not understand. But he could make his own interpretations on what he had seen, compared with things he did know. Whatever Haftfttthala was, it had a fair degree of memory for itself, some sort of sentience or at least ability to remember things vividly. Emotion was something powerful, something of the soul. The battle of Haftfttthala and the corrupted was hard to pinpoint, but it was likely some sort of internal conflict within Heulyn, given form. What the meaning of the sundering was hard to ascertain, but he supposed that perhaps it was a soul being sundered, made into pieces, and Haftfttthala themselves was just one soul, the battle perhaps symbolizing the struggle of time to remain as one. He couldn't be certain, but it was possible to his knowledge. Perhaps then this wandering bit of the mind had indeed been present in other beings? Could explain its many memories and Heulyn's own confusion, but he would find out for certain later, no assumptions yet.

Sethus looked to Gol and Haftfttthala, now that he was back in the snowscape, and closed his eyes as he thought. Shortly after, he opened them again to speak with Gol, "It seems to be something of a soul itself, and from what I can tell it is a piece of some greater whole. It has not always been within Heulyn, and it has distinct memories of its own. Most curious. Perhaps it is the soul of another? Perhaps pieces of memory gathered together? It is hard to tell, but I do believe this Haftfttthala has some important bearing on Heulyn's being."

Gol gave a humm as he rubbed his chin in thought. The cloud was certainly an enigma but if it’s intelligent perhaps he could get more information out of it to paint more of the larger picture. “Just to humor us, Haftfttthala without doing anything can you think of a small block of ice on the ground right there?” He gestures to the ground between them. It was hard to tell but the cloud seem a bit curious about the question. It was three seconds later that the cloud spoke. “Haftfttthala. Unable.” Now that was interesting Gol thought. He looked over to Sethus before explaining the purpose of this. “Typically if they were the same ‘soul’ than it should not have a problem molding the landscape. A lucid dreamer if you will.” Gol looked back to the mass of red energy.

“A few questions. What are you?” He asks. Figuring that was a good question to start off of.

“Haftfttthala. Xogalyx.” It chime it response. Sounding a bit cheerful in engaging in a conversation. Perhaps it did not have anyone to talk to here.

“And what’s a Xogalyx?” He inquired in return.

It took a moment to pause. Likely thinking of how to say something in its limited way of speech. “Broken Void. Renments. Dominions. Eyasrairhdr. Æyeloxer. Clash. Shattering. Xogalyx. Ascended.”

Gol too took a moment to translate that. The dominion of Eyasrairhdr and Æyeloxer fought against each other in the Broken Void. Leading to a shattering that led to the Xogalyx ascending. Did I got that right?””

“Affirmative.” It replied in a higher note.

“Did you die in that clash?” He says next.

“Negative. Haftfttthala. Eaten. Nourishment.” The tone was lower. It death was mostly a bleak subject for it.

“A change in subject. What do you consider yourself and Heulyn.” He needed to understand more of the relationship between them.

Once more it took a moment to respond. As if it did not know much as well. “Haftfttthala. Heulyn. Same. Paradoxical.”

“The same yet at the same time not?” He inquires with a raised brow.

“Affirmative.” Haftfttthala says in return.

“Are any of you aware of the other existence?” Gol asks next.

“Haftfttthala. Aware. Heulyn. World. Haftfttthala. Voice. Unheard.” It answers.

Gol took a moment to think. Haftfttthala is aware of the outside world which met it also have access to Heulyn memories which explains how it’s able to speak to them. But on the same token Heulyn is unaware of Haftfttthala. How peculiar. “Why can’t Heulyn hear you?”

The cloud took another second to think over the question. “Heulyn. Soul. Nonexistent. Unreachable.” It chimes were low, almost empty. As it too was perplexed by the knowledge just as Gol was.

“Is the one outside Heulyn?” This was becoming somewhat chilling to the young Amziel. It did not matter if he had faced dark things before. Like any emotion, fear is still a part of him albeit much more subdued than many. There was something disturbing about talking to someone you think you know but turns out to be a faker. Faker. How much he despises fakes. But for now he’ll have to brush aside that minor prejudice.  

“Negative.” Haftfttthala replied in the same empty tune.

“Than what is it?” He then asks.

“Heulyn. Reflection.” It then pause once more. “Haftfttthala. Inconclusive.” From what Gol can tell not even the cloud knows much about the entity that is playing off as Heulyn. “Heulyn. Void.”

“She’s the void?” Gol asks.

“Correct.” Was it simple response.

“The Broken Void?” He continues off of the other question.

“Negative. Different. Older. Deeper.” It tone was more somber. For the fact that there exist a void more ancient and deeper than the one it knew was a bit chilling. Gol took note of it emotions. Unsure where it’s genuine or mimicking emotions in memory for reference. While intrigued that’ll have to wait for another day.

“Can you share how ‘you’ came to be here?” He saved the biggest question for last.

A soft raspberry light emit from the cloud core. Both Gol and Sethus witness a vision from the cloud perspective. In this memory they were Haftfttthala. The first thing they saw was they were floating in the air in the middle of a heavy blizzard. ‘First. Memory. Here.’ They heard Haftfttthala voice in their heads. It too was spectating alongside them. Then they felt a pull. ‘Looking’ upward they say that the clouds have parted in the sky. Revealing a large, burning symbol of the soul relic high in the sky. It called out to Haftfttthala. A Summoning. Not knowing why Haftfttthala answered the call. Flying upwards to meet the massive symbol. As they near it their world was enveloped in a white light.

Next thing they knew whas floating inside of a large glass dome with many pillars of very intricate machinery surrounding it. Beyond them they could see grey walls that were being dissolved in a digital manner by white strands of light that were poking through. ‘This must be during the moment when the terraforming engine finally kicked online. I had heard years ago that it was nearing completion.” Gol noted to Sethus through their thoughts given they were mentally close enough for mental communication.

Haftfttthala attention was diverted downward and there they saw it. On the ground inside a crude circle that was a cross of a technological array of lights and esoteric symbols of blood. But the main source of Gol focus was Heulyn. Or rather the lack thereof. For laying down before them was a humanoid hole in space. So perfect that even ‘Heulyn’ stray strands of hair was vacant of reality. She truly was the void shaped in human form. They could see on her right hand the soul relic was blazing. Red lighting arc from it that dances about in the dome. Mystical energy swirl both inside and outside the dome.

They felt Haftfttthala pause. It was confused on what it was looking at for it felt abnormal to Haftfttthala. The Heulyn Void looked similar to something else that Gol saw once but knew they were separated for there a few light differences. In that moment of pause Heulyn’s Void started to fitzle, suddenly beginning to loose it shape. Gol took note of the white strands that now fill everything outside of the dome and were touching the machines. It did not take much for him to realize that everything here was too stabilize Heulyn Void. And Haftfttthala figured that out as well.

The ‘soul’ of Haftfttthala wrapped around Heulyn. Encasing her in a shell of red light. They felt the connection click between the void and Haftfttthala. Now they were looking from below. The glass dome now beginning to dissolve over them. They bolted upwards. The basic desire to survive was the only thing Haftfttthala knew. It ran through the mass of digital light. The strands seemly burning away when it tried to touch them. It simply continue to just run. For that was the only thing Haftfttthala could do at the moment.

Seconds later the light faded away. Revealing them to be in the middle of an expansive grassland. No sign of the structure Heulyn whatsoever. Taking a few moments to seemingly take in the world around them, Haftfttthala decided its job was done. But not before the bands of light that hug her frame began to shift in mass. Pulling elements of the natural world to weave molecules together to create something important for Heulyn survival. Within seconds the red light gave way to a newly made living body for Heulyn. She lay herself on a patch of grass. The wet blades feeling pleasant against her bare skin. A sensation utterly alien to Haftfttthala in peculiar given it did not have a physical body before. Closing her eyes, they became distant as they return to the snowy landscape within her mind. Where Haftfttthala would then begin exploring the place. Leading the vision to an end.

Back in the present mindscape Gol took a few moments to collect his thoughts. “Say, so you created Heulyn body for her to exist?” The first question that came to mind.

“Affirmitive. Haftfttthala. World. Insight. Compare. Abnormal. Fixed.” It explains to which Gol translates as Haftfttthala using a supernatural means to take in the nature of the new world and compared the freshly recreated natives of the world. It found Heulyn abnormal compared to them so it used them as a basis to make Heulyn a new body. Which explains how she received the new genes despite not being affected.

Gol gave a sigh. “Boy we’re learning a lot yet there’s still a mountain of questions to be answered.” The cloud gave a chime in agreement. Showing that it too wanted to know.

“Oh.” The cloud spoke up as if it remembered something. “Mystery. Nearby. Similar. Haftfttthala.”

“There’s someone here like you?” Said Gol.

One of Haftfttthala bands flicker in a certain direction towards the arctic mountains. If they listen closely enough they could make out what seem to be someone casually sharpening something. Odd given it would have to be something large for the sound to carry this far but that could just be running on dream logic.

This information of a Xogalyx, as it was apparently called, was interesting to the Anubite. Apparently ascended after a conflict, while Haftfttthala was apparently consumed as nourishment. Nourishment of the soul, perhaps? It was difficult to tell, with the basic language. As for them being the same and yet different, that wasn't too difficult for Sethus to understand. They were not a different soul, per say, but a piece of the same puzzle. One did not always hear the voice of their subconscious after all, especially if there was something silencing that voice. But then there was also the other, more concerning bit, the fact that Heulyn was apparently a void. An untouchable soul was most unusual in those of the living, but that was another matter for the dead, as Sethus knew. That was unpleasant to make comparisons to, seeing the one you were trying to treat as practically dead did not bode well for the chances of the treatment going successfully. But, as he knew, the only time a soul could be truly unreachable is if it was either destroyed in the tumult of the world beyond, consumed by the Glutton for instance, or if it was not truly on either plane. A soul could be called to, and a soul still on the material realm could be reached. But those caught in-between, it was another story. And it was almost never something that happened by accident. Ever more disturbing was the void being deep and ancient, as Sethus knew of these as well. There were only a number of truly ancient and deep voids in the realm of souls, and they were not pleasant.

The vision was certainly confusing to the High Lord, as "irregular" was quite the understatement for what he was seeing. A void of a person given flesh and blood by a disembodied soul with no prior memories, as if it were an artificial soul. He sighed and nodded to Gol, "Yes, there are many questions. And apparently much more for Ipwet to handle in her investigations... Regardless, if there is something similar nearby, it may have some more of the answers to this puzzle. Show the way, Haftfttthala. Just keep pointing in the right direction, and I suppose we shall follow the sounds." With that, he picked up his staff and moved towards the sounds of sharpening, wondering just what he was going to encounter. From his own guesses and estimations, he was expecting they were going to find another fragment like Haftfttthala, though from the sounds of it this one perhaps had a form, as clouds did not need to sharpen tools.

Thoughts and working theories buzz about in Gol’s mind. Still too many variables to narrow down the possibilities that can be the source of all this. Such is the nature of the unknown. In such an infinite universe the amount of things yet to be discovered and understood is countless. It was at moments like this that he wishes his adult self spent less time on indulging in his excess to understand about the world around him. Now in fairness for the time period of their mortal lives they were building things out of clay. Not exactly the proper level of scientific innovation needed to study the stars. Thoughts of his past aside he made eye contact with Sethus and gave a smile. “I’m sure Miss Ipwet will have her paws full. So best of luck with her work. She’ll definitely need it to comb out the Amzielean secrets.” He does have faith that she’ll achieve. For the Amziel have fallen far from grace and won’t be as resistant in compared to Pre-DOR Amizelean. With that said he too began to walk through the snow. Haftfttthala stuck with them as it floats at their side.

It took a good half hour reaching the proper mountainous terrain. The amount of time he knew was an illusion since the ‘sense of time’ is lost within the mind. So it only ‘felt’ like it. Coming up into a rugged trail they curl around the base of a grey mountain. More frozen phantoms occasionally dot their path and the cliffsides around them. The strange sound becoming loud enough that it actually echoes throughout the valley. Weaving through some more small hills they finally came into view of the source. A light blue giantess that sat on the side of a mountain behind her. Making it look like a small hill compared to her. She was adorned in rather light armor as if they were more for artistic appeal than for protection but that was simply a wild guess on his part. Gol imagination ran wild a bit when he saw how her furry cape flow around her and cover most of the mountain. It belonged to a gargantuan beast. Her dull red hair lazily wave in the high winds up there. Appearances aside the giantess was sharpening the rather large axe in her hand with, in comparison to her, a very large stone to sharpen it. Gol doubted it needed it given this is not a real place and he could tell from her body posture that she was doing it to pass the time. “Well.” Gol started as he gave Sethus a glance. “Who wants to try speaking to her?”

Sethus, as he trekked along through the snow, nodded to Gol, "Thank you, but she will not need luck. Ipwet and her family have been performing this role for countless years in the Anubite Empire, and this will hardly be the most difficult thing they have done in the realm of unearthing secrets. I only need worry they get a bit too carried away, but from the looks of it a full renovation of that society is needed anyways, so I doubt they can really do much harm. Nonetheless, that is for the material world, there is still work to do here." With that, he continued his movement towards the sounds, curious as to what they were hearing that carried over such a distance, imaginary or not.

It was of course a surprise to see what they did within the valley. The Anubite High Lord had not been expecting a giantess, that was certain, but it did explain how the sounds moved so far. And instead of true shock, he just got amused. This was getting quite interesting if Heulyn was imagining a giantess, and so she likely represented something large in Heulyn, or perhaps was somebody like their cloud companion, and had memories of their own. Either way, he nodded to Gol, "Yes, let's see if we can speak to her. I will do it, as I don't need any sort of speech for it." He stepped forward, looking to the giantess, and simply reached out with his soul. For normal folk, it wasn't easy to sustain long range communication with just the mind, but the High Lord of the Anubites was no normal person. And so, and he spoke directly to the mind of the giantess, to grab her attention, "Pardon me, over here, the small creatures this way. A pleasure to meet you, I am High Lord Sethus of the Anubites, accompanied by Gol and Haftfttthala. I hope it's not too much trouble to get a moment of your time to ask you to introduce yourself and answer some questions as to your presence within the soul of this Amziel."

Sethus psionic voice caught the attention of the giantess. Prompting to glance around first before finally noticing the small group. Using the head of her axe to prop herself up the group could see just how big she was when fully standing. Gol gets the feeling that she probably lived in a much larger world for her height to be necessary. It took only two strides for her to come over. The mountains shudder with each step. The ground beneath them minorly jolts as she takes a knee before them. “Vy, vu cerdainly are small ones.” She remarks in her thick native accent. Gol could feel her arctic breath as she looks down at them. If Gol and Sethus real right now there was a good chance of getting frostbite by how frigid her breath is. Gol mentally note how vibrant her red eyes were. Almost the same hue as Haftfttthala in a way as well with her short hair. “Huh. Vell ve schare ein mutual hinterest zen. Not much to do here pezide vanter und sleep.”

“Oh? What do you dream Miss… ?” Gol ask a double meaning question. To inquire what sort of dreams she has and what her name is.

“I'm Hildelith. Ein former skjaldmær for Chief Ramarg. Put I doupt you’ve heard of zoze vords pefore.” There was a hint of pride in her tone which Gol liked. For it showed how she was content with her life and enjoyed how it went. He was fond of those who live with no regrets. “As for mein dreams. Vell normally I can recall Heulyn memories ven avake. Ven I ko rest I dream of zee houtzide from ein distorded berspectiffe. Like zee lens vere proken.” So Hildelith is able to see what Heulyn sees from a distorted angle? That made some sense to Gol as he shares the same senses with his adult self so this is probably the same form of connection but because the soul is ‘gone’ that connection is not functioning right.

Gol gave a nod and went to give Hildelith the full rundown to bring her up to speed. She was a good listener and only interrupted to ask one or two questions for clarifications. When all that was over with Gol went to begin to ask some questions of his own. “So I wager you’re like Haftfttthala in a way?” Gol asks the large giantess before them.

“Aye. I hail from ein different blace as vell. Ein planet of stone und ice. Mountains zat tower effen I und ein eternally sdarry sky above mein head.” She says in response to which Gol found it sensible. For someone of her size and stature, her world must have been big with enough oxygen for her lungs. “Haftfttthala und I schare each other memories und like it I can't zeem to reach Heulyn either.”

That’s odd to Gol but not unexpected. “How were you first summoned?” Given how Haftfttthala first woke up here he wondered if she went through something similar. She then went to recite those moments from her perspective. Of how her first sight were the low mountains around her and the burning symbol in the sky. She too experienced a white light that faded away to the chaotic scene of the dining area. To her it did not matter that she was in an alien place surrounded by even more alien individuals. Like with Haftfttthala her only thoughts were to survive. She took note that Heulyn had a hole blown through her stomach and out her back. A fact that cause Gol to raise a brow at but as Sethus said, those questions can be saved for the material world. Storing that question away he went back to listening to the brief retelling of events. Of how Hildelith found herself surrounded by the strange metal men. That for some reason took the injury to Heulyn very personally and went into a ‘berserker rage’ against the tide of automatons that kept flooding into the room.

“Ein schtrange zing I took note of ven I vas protecding Heulyn is zat beside feeling her phyzical pody zat Haftfttthala made vas zat she felt empty inzide. Like I vas carrying ein embty cup.” She noted to the group below to which Gol give a nod too.

“How would you describe it from your perspective?” Gol asked. After all it’s always favorble to get multiple perspectives on something they don’t know.

Hildelith scratch the back of her neck in thought. “I vould zay it felt like ein schadow. It vas connected to Heulyn like how regular schatovs are. As it alzo has nein volume to it.”

Gol took a moment to think before speaking them aloud to the group. “So here’s my theory so far. According to texts, whenever a soul relic is from inside the soul. Whatever boon it grants the user is dependent on what the soul relic means in the most literal sense of the word. Thus if her ‘law’ that the soul relic provide is to ‘remember why she survive’. That gives the soul relic a lot of room to interpret such a vague desire. But that discussion is for latter. For now let's focus on the desire itself. If we were to take the analogy of the void being a ‘shadow’ of Heulyn literally than it had no identity per say. So when it lay there as the world to her perspective was ending, she wanted to know who she was. Who ‘Heulyn’ was.” The theory was certainly not much at the moment. Mostly built on assumption and interpretation. But it aligns well with the stuff he is used to.

“Hmm if it means Hanythings. Haftfttthala told me zat I uzed to be one of zee shadowy zings before I avoke here.” She brought up an fact that Gol found interesting.

“So every frozen phantom is possibly a dormant being?” Gol muse aloud. “Well that works to my theory of the soul relic. If it ability is to remember than what does it remember? Does it take it as an absolute and remember everything the soul went through? To me makes me think that Haftfttthala, Hildelith, and the phantoms are containers of Heulyn past lives. Perhaps the reason the phantoms are dormant is the way the system is set up to not overload the soul with too many memories at once.” While the people in his mortal life did believe in personal reincarnation, he didn't really have the best knowledge when it comes to that. His wisen adult self would have a better understanding of that sort of spiritualism and he’s still not someone one would call a professional mystic. Just someone who just has a lot of magical stuff in his treasury.

He looked over to Sethus and made a gesture. “I gave some questions so I’ll let you have a turn of cracking the mystery.” Gol knew that he had been questioning a lot so he felt it was only right for Sethus to have his moment now.

Sethus felt he was seeing a bit of a pattern thus far, but he couldn't quite verify it just yet. Still, two people in a row with a distinct color of red and a name starting with 'H' was an interesting coincidence, especially considering it also included their host, but he would leave that be for now. The connection needed a little more evidence before he voiced that particular observation. Thus, he listened to Hildelith, at least as best he could with that heavy accent, and continued to gather some evidence for his own theories.

Gol's questions were good, as the High Lord, as they gave him plenty of information to work with. Heulyn was still out of reach, and there was still that persistent emptiness that seemed to be intertwined with Heulyn, or perhaps composing her was the better way to phrase it. From the looks of things, she could have just been made of emptiness! Although that was silly, so he dismissed that particular longshot idea for now. He knew what was meant however by the speak of "metal men", as that was likely the attempted assassination attempt on Tarset by Omnipo that Heulyn had been around for. He had read that report, and he could see now that Hildelith resembled the description of Heulyn as she seemed to have gone berserk to assist Anubite Guards in fighting off the rather large Omnipo assault. The connections were forming in his mind now, as he got a better hold on these... 'aspects', so to say.

As Gol turned things over to Sethus, the High Lord began to voice his own thoughts aloud, "Well, from the understanding of Anubite Spiritualism, we do not believe in reincarnation of a direct sort, so to say. A soul carries memories, they are what creates our very being as they form our emotions. But there are ideas of different kinds of reincarnation in Anubite thought which may be relevant here. Say that a soul was to live a life in a body, and then that body dies. Would it not be reincarnation if that soul, instead of passing on, was simply wiped of its memories and then found its way into a new body? The memories are still locked within the soul, but have now been made inaccessible. If that were to happen again, and again, it would create essentially many people out of one soul. Each of those phantoms is thus simply another life locked away. Now, take that soul who has been recycled again and again, and then provide it with something that seeks to locate their true self. Naturally, it will search all memories within the soul, including those locked away. This unlocks what are essentially different people within the same body and soul. The same, yet so very different. I believe specifically in this recycled soul because this is rather unnatural. If it were some standard form of reincarnation and searching of past lives, this would not be the first time. As such, the odd situation calls for odd circumstances. This of course also explains the patterns in naming and features, as the recycled soul subconsciously impresses itself on each and every batch of memories. This current body that has been created very well could just be the most recent restart, with Haftfttthala perhaps being linked to the process of recycling the soul. I do not believe this is quite correct, as it is missing a number of details, but that is my understanding thus far."

Gol was impressed with how well Sethus was constructing the hypothesis of Heulyn’s soul. Truly he was among the greatest mystic of his kind for sure. “Good intuition mister. I have nothing to argue about that. You’re right to think that Heulyn soul being recycled is unnatural. While Aztiluth Sorcery can perform miracles to reshape reality, it can’t restore memories of past lives out from nothing. The memories had to have remained deep within her soul since she was born. It would correlate with her strange affinity to be able to bond with anyone. No matter their ideal or alignment. She can empathize with the devil itself. A second thing is that there’s a prerequisite that Angelarium Amzielean are unaware of when it comes to Atziluth. That it’s a right dictated at one's birth.” He added to Sethus idea before giving a smile. “I can feel we’re making progress in coming to understand this. The restart idea is an interesting one given Heulyn original body was most likely destroyed. Hmm well we should continue heading to the building to get to the source of this. Hey Hildelith want to come with us?” He turn to ask the giantess. Unaware to the others he was getting a vague sense from his innate clairvoyance that they might need the extra muscle. He could actually use it but like his adult self he doesn’t. At most Gol used to cheat at card games.

“Zure I don’t zee vy not. Pezide it zounds like vu’re all heating off on ein Adffenture und I vant to be in it. Although vould mein pulk pe trouple to get into zis puilting?” She asks Gol in reference of her sheer size. Gol wave away her worry by saying he can use magic stave in his treasury to shrink her down a bit. This made her skeptical but won’t lie that it made her curious about what it would be like to be so small so she agreed. With little fanfare, Gol summoned a familiar golden gate of energy that erected a carved wooden staff beside him. Grabbing it, he performed the staff innate magiks and shrunk Hildelith in a white aura. Bringing her down to their level at a solid seven feet. With that done Gol put his staff back through the gate. While Hildelith was getting accustomed to her magically changed height, Gol turned to Sethus once more.

“Anything you want to go over first mister? Or do you want to continue?” If the latter he will give a nod and the now growing party would head out once more. It was a tad amusing to Gol to be in such an odd assortment of fellows. But he suppose that’s the beauty of life. With a smile he’ll walk alongside them with energy. Making their way up a mountain trail. Coming up high onto a cliff side they would see the destination in sight. “There it is. The CSO main compound.”

Sethus nodded to Gol's addition to his own hypothesis. One couldn't really purge memories, as they were part of the soul, and the ability to empathize was built on understanding. If one lived many, many lives, then they could understand quite a bit. Still, it was best to get to the building now. He was amused however by the shrinking of the giantess, but it was of course necessary. He could've done it himself as well, quite easily given that this was a dreamscape and not reality, his own abilities were rather suited to manipulating such an environment and those within it. Still, he would be interested in seeing how Hildelith would adjust to her new size over the course of their journey. He shook his head, as there was nothing he needed just yet, and they could move on.

As they came up on the CSO facility, Sethus looked to Gol and nodded, "So it is. I am more aware now of CSO's purpose, but I would like to know more about this facility in particular and its functions. What exactly was it used for? I feel this may be relevant, coming up on the fact we will be entering a recreation of it soon. I would not like to be surprised. In addition, I suppose I'll have to ask just how we intend to get inside. A base such as this is not just open to the public, or at least I would not expect it to be."

Gol looked to Sethus to go over the basic structure of the organization and their purpose. There’s the Science Division the second smallest of the five original branches of CSO, designated by their green ties. The Science Division was often at odds with the Magecraft Division until the first singularity incident. They’re responsible for ongoing improvements to some of CSO technological assets, but were often undermanned thanks to former Director Marisbilly’s disinterest in their pursuit. Regardless, they are also responsible for some of CSO important assets. Bioscience is the most well-staffed of the Science Division’s departments. They are ultimately responsible for the maintenance and improvement of the Biogardens, which grow CSO primary source of food in an emergency. Though their importance has diminished with the rise of leyshift supply sorties, they still provide some of CSO tastiest and freshest fruits and vegetables.

Engineering Division is another of the five original branches of CSO, designated by their orange ties. They help keep the facility running and are responsible for a wide variety of tasks. Anything from ventilation, broken elevators, or damaged blast doors are under their jurisdiction. Robotics department is a shared sub-group of both the Engineering and Science Divisions, but it’s slotted under the Engineering Division for document purposes. Personnel assigned to this group are responsible for the upgrade and maintenance of the robotic workforce. Prior to the first singularityIncident, they also occasionally produced more robots with their small production line. They are considered the largest department because nearly the entire Robotics Workforce is registered to them.
After the final confrontation with Etia, their original home, the Robotics Hanger, was converted and assimilated into the new R&D Facility.

Magecraft Division is the third of the five original branches of CSO, designated by their turquoise ties. They’re responsible for the acquisition and preservation of Magecraft related artifacts, runes, and items. They are in charge of several related rooms such as the Alchemical Room and Summoning Chamber. They were among one of the larger divisions in CSO, but their numbers sharply declined after Lev Leinor detonated several explosives to damage key equipment and personnel. Like other Divisions, their members were reassigned as needed to fill gaps. Gol notes that while there are plenty of other departments he could cover they are not noteworthy in a way that they may be a threat. “You’re also right on walking up there. If this is a accurate recreation it may still have the same defenses.”

Haftfttthala then spoke up as it floated behind them. “Haftfttthala. Sense. No. Energy.”

Gol rose a brow at that. “Really? You feel nothing at all? No electricity or magic?”

Hildelith gave the air a sniff. “It’s right. I don’t smell either zoze zings. I don’t feel any heat either.”

“That’s strange. The base runs on geothermal as one of its main energy production.” Gol notes the odd nature of that.

Sethus listened to the explanation and nodded along as he took in the information. It was good that they were color coordinated, since that meant easier identification on his part in case they encountered any members of each division. He grunted at the hearing of a robotic workforce, not too fond of the concept. All the same, he had more understanding now, and he felt this information would come in handy. Not just for this current mindscape delve, but also for the material world investigation.

Still, the next bit of information drew some suspicion from the High Lord, "No energy at all? Geothermal doesn't just go offline, and given that I am sure Heulyn's memories understand the importance of the base it wouldn't just be offline for no reason. We must either assume that the base's lack of power holds some symbolic value, or the base has been sabotaged. Actually..." He thought of something, and decided to ask about it now instead of later when it could be dangerous, "Gol, tell me. This goes for the two of you as well, Haftfttthala and Hildelith. Does Heulyn have memories of a time in which the CSO Compound's power was knocked out? If so, does this resemble that time, and what was the context of it if you do know? I feel it will be very relevant if my suspicions are accurate."

“There had been two times that CSO power was knocked out. The first being the beginning of the Lostbelt incident where CSO had been fully, temporarily displaced to Eæireth, 90 days after the planet suffered from an alien invasion. The planet became entirely bleached white. Just a mere three months of resistance. No, rather, it was a long, long battle that continued for three months. On the planet timescale this took place 4,716 years after my mortal death. So the world was only in its early space age at the time. The Federated States of Amzera, had been battling the invasion to the end and were destroyed just several days prior to CSO arrival. Story aside for later, the CSO had been heavily damaged and we had to flee to find another base. The second account was when MA came and brought down CSO. Surrounding the place with various military personnel from Outremer. Now I don’t believe it’s directly either of those things but could possess elements of it. Mainly I think it’s symbolic. After all what is a mind palace without its ruler? Empty, just as Haftfttthala and Hildelith described the shadow to be. Perhaps it’s only when Heulyn is found that the building is powered back on.” Gol speculated the possibilities. The group would do a bit more scouting to see if anything else is amiss. There were no signs of struggle on or around the structure. Haftfttthala relay the same information as before that there were no sense of energy signatures in the surrounding hills that may suggest trap and/or defense mechanism.

Despite the coast seemingly being clear they will still approach the place with caution. They manage to get to the front door of the building without any issue but as expected they could not open the door due to being mechanical which meant it needs electricity to open. Thankfully Hildelith offer an attempt to force open it to which Gol gesture to give a shot. She went up to the metal door and began to pry it open with her hands. With a grunt and the sound of gears snapping the door became open enough for all of them to fit through. Both Gol and Haftfttthala give her a remark on doing a good job to which she shrugged off as being no big deal. Getting inside they would instantly see that the interior is in a greater state of despair then what the outside showed. Wires hung out of broken tiles in the ceiling. A stray light or two flicker off of presumably emergency power but not much. Haftfttthala natural luminance was being helpful into causing a flood light effect to light up the place. The floors were dirty, the walls showed signs of conflict, and there was an odd taste of iron in the air. “The state of the place is definitely similar to those two occurances. It goes without saying that we should be on guard in case anything happens.” With that said he glanced around. There were many places they can explore. It would take time to search it all so what will be the best place to start?

Sethus nodded, considering those two times, "I see. These two times both seem rather serious, so it would take a very serious time to get the facility offline in such a case, no? As such, I am inclined to disagree with you on the relation to this as a palace. A palace without its ruler doesn't so easily fall into disarray if it is well built, and this is a well built complex. I am sure Heulyn knew that as well, so I am inclined to believe that even if she was not present it would function as normal. Prepare for anything." With that, he helped in the scouting of the outside for anything that may confirm his worries, though it was good that the defenses didn't hurt any of them. All the same, when they moved inside, Sethus felt his concerns were going to be validated.

The gruesome interior felt to Sethus as something to confirm his suspicions, quite a bit of internal damage. This was a little more than just missing ones power, this was the aftermath of some very damaging event. The Anubite felt there was indeed something wrong here, this was all too telling of being like one of those two terrible times. He nodded to Gol, "Yes, caution is prudent. We must all stay aware. If anything is off, anything at all, inform the rest at once. This is not a place for foolishness. Regardless, a good place to start may be with one of those divisions you mentioned, specifically the ones with the turquoise tags, the magecraft division. I have a feeling that, based on her role, Heulyn may have additional connections to the summoning chamber. It would be good to start there."

Gol gave a nod in agreement. Nothing more to say he would lead the group to what he believes to be the direction of the summoning chamber. After all there might by slight deviations. Coming down the hallway they would notice the walls becoming more gritty with dirt and rust. Splotches of dried blood would appear here and there. The further they went down the new stains were started to malform. Nonsensical words would then show up on the wall in the same dried blood. Then sentences would pop appear with no context to their meanings. One line that caught their attention was a large portion of the wall covered in thick, bold letters. ‘We die in the dark so that you may live in the light’. From what he could guess these are probably Heulyn deepest thoughts that were engraved into her very psych. “These are possibly the echoes of Heulyn darkest thoughts.” He said to Sethus before stopping. His crimson eyes gazing into the shadows further down the hall. Haftfttthala glide forwards a few inches so the edge of it light would move further. Illuminated by the red light was a greenish, horrid mass of dead flesh. Holes ridden the unnatural monster as it lays unmoving against the wall. Said wall was splattered with it dried black blood. “It’s a ‘Nightmare’.” Gol knew of this beast before. An imp of the dreaming mind. “Beings made out of Heulyn fears and insecurities. Essentially the monster under the bed. When Heulyn became Master and began to contract with more and more servants. She began to have night terrors from not only her experience in real life but also from dreaming about the memories of servants through the master-servant bond. It reached the point where we had to have a Servant be assigned as her dream guardian and suppress the Nightmares.” He explains.

“Zo if he is gone zan who took his place?” Inquired Hildelith.

“Now that is a good question indeed. Who is our mysterious hunter.” Gol muse out loud. The monster body was fresh and seem to be slowly dissipating into black smoke as if it were rotting. So their mysterious benefactor may still be nearby.

Sethus looked around at the walls as they went along, the blood words not actually being very new to him. There were many dark and terrible things in the depths of ancient Anubite Tombs, complexes so old they outlived even his own venerable family! But that didn't mean they were pleasant affairs, as they often held very angry spirits. Perhaps the spirits of those who were buried there, or more likely than not spirits who were not related at all. Workers who died building the structures, desert nomads who bled to death within... He was getting all too much feeling of that latter with these seemingly projected dark thoughts.

The discovery of this Nightmare interested the High Lord, who looked it over from a distance. He heard the description of what they were and nodded, "We all have dark thoughts, and sometimes dark things lingering in our spirits. It is easier for these dark things to get within your spirit when you open it up so much to the outside, as your very foolish form of boding would do. These nightmares are an inevitable consequence of that. We Anubites have our own methods of disposing of them, however. I suppose it would be good to use them, but I will handle that when we are certain of our safety, for now..." Although stopping initially to look from afar, he decided to walk a bit closer to inspect the destroyed creature. He knelt down next to its destroyed body, and then nodded to Gol, "Something certainly disposed of this creature, rather thoroughly from the looks of it too. If I were to guess, it would be another phantom that was awoken. They may be killing these things without even knowing what they are beyond a vague intuition that they are dark creatures that must be slain. Or they know exactly what they are. Either explains this degree of certifying that the Imp was killed, fear or understanding. Let us find who they are, as their presence here will give us information we need."

Hildelith took a moment to study the corpse as well. “Whoever it is zee kill vas zurgical. Zee lack of bruises und other minor injuries zuggest zat zee imp vas either taken py zurbrize or vas put down with relative eaze.” She commented before standing back up. “I'm unzure it's ein phantom. Othervize I vould zenze it. How apout vu Haftfttthala?” She asks the wispy entity. Given the fact that they are fundamentally the same person they are able to share each other senses as well.

“Phantom. Dubious.” It said with a chime. Floating about behind the group. “Essence. Residue. Corpse. Similar. Heulyn. Void.” The new information prompt the shrunken giantess to take another lookover of the corspe.

“Vu're right. I zenze zomething zimilar as vell put alzo disdinct.” Now having a scent to track down they all agree with Sethus to go track this entity. Hildelith took the lead with her axe rose to her side in case anything happens.

The detour took them away from the route to the summoning chamber. Now going down an almost labyrinthine hallway system. The walls were still covered with frenzied scribbles and the scent of iron came back. Only now more pronounced. Gol focus on the smell more and realized there is also charcoal and sulphur in the air. Main constituents for gunpowder. Hildelith too took note of the smell. Not only was it the smell of gunpowder but it also has that similar feeling with Heulyn when she protected her that time. They slow their approach when they heard the footfalls of heavy boots walking away from them. Silently quickening their pace they round the corner to catch sight of someone’s back. Garbed in what seem to be worn out military uniform. The light of Haftfttthala causing its reddish equipment to become more saturated in the red light. Giving the illusion that it was bloodied. Gol was the first to call out to is. “Hey! We wish to talk to you.”

On a dime it stopped at Gol command. It was hard to tell what it gender was with how ambiguous the uniform is. There was certainly a distinct feeling that it was related to Heulyn in some way but something about it posture feels… empty. It held itself similar to a hardened soldier that has been through many things. “Can you please turn around?” Gol ask politely. On cue the figure turned around. Facing the group with its worn, bloodstained mask. There was something haunting about it for Gol and Hildelith. Gol could sense it was not really looking at them. It reminded him of some of his Kuru soldiers that would stare at him but would actually be gazing past him a hundred meters away. “May… we see your face?” He carefully requested. Prompting the individual to do just that. Lifting up a gloved hand to its mask and lift if off. Revealing nothing behind it. Absolutely nothing. It did not feel the same as the void they saw in the memory. This was different. More somber. It then placed its mask back on it before just standing silently. Showing no emotion as it faces the group.

“What’s your name?” Gol asks and notice that it began to tap on the stock of his gun in an inconsistent manner. It took a second that it was Morse code.

*We’re no one*

“We? Who’re you then?” He took note of the pronoun. As it was a hint to the nature of this entity.

*We’re no one*

The being repeated which made Gol to rethink his tactic. If this is connected to the void than it might means it has no ‘identity’. That fact reminded him of the Root’s nature. Swirl of the Root, or Akashic Records, is the name used to pronounce 「　」 (quoted empty space, equivalent of " "), which is also referred to as "Emptiness" that is part of the title. Although, because the Swirl of the Root is a name, it automatically can't be said to be the same anymore, since 「　」 is a space of nothingness that can't even have a name. With that in mind Gol is beginning to speculate a connection between Heulyn and the Root. Meanwhile he’ll keep trying to get information out of this being. “What do you represent.”

*Oblivion*

While vague it does suggest that it’s related to the void they saw. When Gol was thinking what to say next he was brought out of his musings when Hildelith spoke up. “Hrm zat prought ein memory of Heulyn to mind.” She noted.

“Oh? Care to summarize for us?” Gol said in interest.

“It’s zomething zat ein servant girl once zaid. ‘In the end, desbite known you zet yourself on ein path of pure agony vith nein revard or paradise at zee end, vu march on und embrace zis most cruel destiny, for zee zake of others. Dear Master, zat is your Fate.‘“ She recited.

“Ah” Everything was becoming clear to Gol. Turning his focus back to the entity he spoke once more. “You’re the crystallization of death and sacrifice, right?” To which the unknown soldier tap in response.

*Yes* It then continue to tap. *We’re the unsung names forgotten to time. We’re the souls who defended your walls, King Goljamush and died on the field of battle. We’re the souls of which Gildtetk took and left our bones to be forever lost under the sands. We’re those who have not been as lucky to return home from the battle. We’re those who had died unfulfilled. We have no name, no face, for we are many. And we continue our march. To fight so that others don’t have too*

Gol knew it was not a literal avatar of all the souls. It was purely metaphorical in the manner how tombs of the unknown soldier may be for all those who died never being identified yet the tomb itself only holding a few bodies. This was just a walking allegory of the soldier's existence to live and die. He could very much see that mentality behind Heulyn self-sacrificial actions in the past. For if she can fight to give others a cerulean sky that ferry the shimmering sun than he knows that is exactly what she’ll do to her last breath.

Gol withheld a sigh. What a foolish, troublesome master. But he had long gotten used to Heulyn desires. Regardless of how absurd they might be. If Heulyn wishes to be a protector then fine. But she has to learn that she helps no one by dying in the first battle. “Alright, may I refer you to as Legion than.” Gol found it to be a fitting name for it.

*Do whatever you wish. Names has no meaning to us.*

“Fair enough. What is your relation to Heulyn beyond a symbolic perspective?” Gol said to Legion.

*That’s not for us to say. Myst wishes for you all to figure it out yourself.*

Gol raised a brow at that. “Oh? And pray tell who is Myst?”

*A part of us. You will find her in the library.*

Despite the vague answers Legion was giving, Gol was content that they were at least still getting valuable information. He looked over to Sethus to see if he wishes to give his own inquiry.

This particular figment of the mind was something Sethus had to assume was the creation of some idea Heulyn had in her mind, rather than a past life or memories she had, like the phantoms seemed to represent. Being nobody with no identity, then it was suitable that it did not speak, as a voice is a form of identification. It was fortunate he could understand Morse Code, and so could understand what it was saying. He could understand what this bblivion was, and what it represented.

Of course, while he understood, that did not mean he accepted it. He grunted as Legion and Gol finally finished, shaking his head and sighing, "For all the lives within this deep soul, for all the years and things one has seen... Heulyn has things to learn, as the existence of Legion shows. Acting as an embodiment of her own understanding and viewpoint on history and the world, valid to her but not to me. Foolish girl, but I suppose that is simply systematic of those who are always rushing ahead in life, never stopping to truly listen. They do not see so much, and so make such foolish ideas in their minds. But I'll leave the philosophy for later, since the one who's ears need to comprehend it are Heulyn's."

Pausing, he then looked to Legion directly, "Before we go and see this mystery Myst of yours, what is the basis of your uniform? Does it even have one? Or is this simply what Heulyn imagines a forgotten soldier to look like?" After receiving the answer, he would move on to the library, to see who was there.

“We share mutual thoughts mister,” he spoke in agreement with Sethus comment on her foolishness. She reminded him all too much of that faker. Heroism? A world where no one is hurt? Such absurdity. Amzielean is the name for an animal that cannot find joy in life without sacrifice. The pretty lie that is equality is nonsense spouted by weaklings who cannot look upon the darkness. Nothing but an excuse to cover up life’s ugliness. The similarities don’t end there of course. Like the faker she set herself on this road because she doesn’t know what else to choose. The cold path of a martyr is admired by no one. “I’ll leave the philosophy for another time as well. While I may have been lauded by my people as a sage, my older wisen self is more suited for such an intellectual discourse.” That and such conversations tend to take awhile. In this situation, their time is better suited for more productive endeavors.

Looking to Legion he heard its morse code once more. *There is no basis for the unknown. Our visual form is the dreaming mind attempt to fill in the gap. Drawing upon the first memory from the depths. A fictional character from a piece of literature called ‘Solemn March of the Dead’.* That made logical sense to Gol at it involved with how visual information can plant ideas in a person's cognition. Say if either Gol and Sethus where to think about wine. The first that comes to mind would probably be the King’s Wine for it is the freshest in their memory.

Several minutes later they reached their destination that was a bit different from the rest of structure. An oaken door sitting in the wall of rusted metal. *This is where we depart for now.* Legion than turn down the hall and vanish into the darkness. Leaving the group at the door with a black, cursive engraving on the door that spells out library. Framing the doorway were stylized, abstract pictures of a chameleon. Beside the strange door Gol felt no malicious intent radiating from beyond it.

Opening the door they would come into a rather cozy library that was lit up from the crackling flames of the fireplace. The sound of rainfall hitting the glass pane of the right window can be heard. All there is outside was darkness. On the left wall he could see an open doorway that most likely lead to the library proper. Assuming of course given this library does not match the one in CSO. This is more rustic. The center of his attention fell on a well-groomed individual that sat on the antique red chair that faces the group. While she very much look like Heulyn she was more lithe in comparison to her. Her limbs long and elegant that gives Gol the impression of a spider. Which further leads him to think of a certain Servant when he sees the ulysses butterfly hair pin that ties together her fiery hair. Of course he wonders if she is more than one servant impression because he could feel a few other similar auras.

Upon entering the person they assume to be Myst looks up from the book she was reading. Giving a soft and polite smile in greetings. Welcome friends. How congenial it is to meet you. Haplessly Hildelith and Haftfttthala it pains me to verbalize that you must remain outside for now.” Before the two could say anything the door was shut. Blocking them from entering the room.

“Was that really necessary?” Gol said with suspicion. Becoming more wary of Myst the longer he is in the room. Something about her was unsettling him.

“Now no desideratum to fret. I ken it was astringent and won't make an excuse for it.” She spoke with a small pout. Snapping her book shut and setting it on the table beside. Gol unable to read the spine from here for it was facing away from him. For some reason he felt it was some clue to her nature. For why the servant he was thinking of old-fashioned, his vocabulary was not this quaint. Further supplementing the thought that she is instead an amalgamation of ideas. More So than Legion. “My reason is for us to have a nice chat. Just between us. I've been waiting quite awhile for you to arrive.”

“You were expecting us? Since when?” Gol remained where he stood. Still cautious with the entity across the room.

“a sublime question. But not for me to answer. It's for you to decipher yourself. Care for a few games of chess?” She gestures to the glass chess set that lays on the small table between the two pieces of furniture.

“While I would love to indulge in analogies and metaphors. Myself and I’m sure Sethus would like to get to buisness.” Gol retorted out of caution once more.

“Very well. Such an inglorious comeback. I've never took you to be so frigid Goljamush.” She chime in a gentle, teasing manner.

“Who are you Myst.” Was his blunt response to Myst. Giving her a hard, interrogative stare.

“Ah, Who. Such a wondrous word alongside what, when, where, and why. The commencement points for any great secret.” She started. Gol getting the feeling that she as a woman of theatrics. To build up rather than just plainly giving the information. “Who am I. Well I suppose the question you're all here for is who is Heulyn?” She rested her hands above her chest to where her fingertips meet. A hand gesture that reminded him of another servant who is the greatest rival of the servant he first thought of. “That goes back to the philosophy of identity no? For who is Heulyn. Does she even know who she is herself after everything the lad her to the present day? After the architect of flesh, jailer of her rusted cage. After the phantom sun, and her close acceptance of an awful fate. After the ebony mud and the denial of her paradise. After the Heulyn-that-was and the thoughtful servant. And after all the time that has past. What is she, at the end of all things. Hod or Harab Serapel. The Savior or the Devil. The Hanged Man or the Fool. What is she, Heulyn of Angelarium.”

“So is that what you represent. The mystery of Heulyn?” Gol guess made Mystery smile in return.

"That was simply elementary to figure out. But yes, you may refer me as mystery.” She chime as she tilts her head to the side a little. “I'm rather intrigued with what you ken so far. Go on. Make a edified conjecture.”

“All the Heulyn’s we met so far are metaphorical aspects of the void. You are the mystery and the unknowable that comes from the void. Legion is the emptiness and oblivion of the void. And the Heulyn we thought we knew is the void essence. Essence that was given thought from the soul relic.” Gol summarize the general thoughts he was having to which Mystery gave a slow, formal clap.  

“Very proximate indeed. But you are missing a key element” Gol raises a brow to prompt her to continue. “It can't be helped of course. You're a servant who has been through many peculiar tales. Throwing off your sense of normality. As such it's harder for you to descry anomalous details.” She explains before looking over to Sethus. “Gol has given many questions so far. I feel it's your turn to take lead of our lovely conversation.”

That did of course confirm Sethus's belief there was a basis for Legion's form, and it made sense. A simple image of a fictional soldier from some literature about what he presumed were soldiers on a death march. These simple things stuck in the mind and melded themselves to concepts, becoming their visual embodiment. Still, it wasn't any sort of image of major significance as far as he could tell, so he would put that away unless this piece of literature came up again.

Meeting Mystery was something for Sethus, seeing as how she very heavily resembled Heulyn. That was fitting if she was meant to represent the mystery of Heulyn's identity, showing a well groomed version of her that thus hides the roughness lurking underneath. That was given additional credence by the manner of speaking, using more complex words to weave a little air of confusion even with just simple speech. The name fit.

After being addressed, Sethus looked to Mystery and thought for a moment before speaking, "If a detail is missing, then I suppose I'll have to wonder what detail. But the fact you say so does in itself bring up some questions. For instance, for being the representation of a mystery, you seem to know a fair bit. Implying you were forged with information of the Soul Artifact. And then I must wonder that if we have the three other components, where is the soul artifact itself? What represents it? I wondered if it was perhaps the red cloud, but I can't verify that. Regardless, since we are in that quest to figure out who Heulyn is in total, and set at ease, I want to know what you know in that regard."

“Good questions. Up to this point you met the result of years worth of experimentation and a well of recollections once locked away now open as a result of the soul relic influence. But no whiff of the object you seek.” She reflects on the journey that the group made so far. “The red cloud is a step in the right direction. Just not in the way you might cerebrate. Now, the sizably voluminous engenderment of energetic clouds both blue and red is the result of excess mana turning into vapor which in turn gets rolled up with dust particles. Mundanely spirit evoking doesn’t engender that much of a light show when done correctly which had not transpired for Goljamush evoking. And the internal summon transpired when the soul relic was and still is remotely unstable.” She then cross a leg over the other. Giving the duo a smile as she set her hands on her lap. “I wonder additionally. For if my saccharine king has finally glean a glimmer of the details he had once missed.” Her tone was very much whimsical.

Gol establish eye contact with her before replying. “That I do. How is she using magic.” The question was more of a statement for he knows the reason why.

“Now don’t leave Sethus out on the revelation. After all the race of Amzielean is very much incipient for him.” She spoke with such sweetness that her voice could be dripping with honey. To which Gol withheld another sight.

“Amzielean use magecraft thanks to their magic circuits. A pseudo-nervous system that spreads itself through the body. Their normal functions are to act as paths that convert Life Force into magical energy, but humans learned how to control it and use it to perform mysteries. They are that which connects the material world to the astral plane. Magic Circuits reside within the magus’s soul, and what is found on the body is just a physical expression of them that stretches itself throughout the body in a fashion similar to the nervous system.” It’s obvious where the anomaly lie from explaining that he felt a bit silly in not seeing it earlier. “Which means that before the crystallization of her soul relic. Heulyn lost her body and soul, all that was left was a clump of magic circuits that acted as a focal point for whatever greater rituals they seek to enact.”

“A splendid observation once more. Poor Heulyn was reduced to a shapeless mass of ethereal circuits that by all senses of logic dictate to never form any matter of sentience. Yet that precisely what transpired. Very peculiar indeed.” She clasp her hands once more. “We’re getting sidetracked. So let’s take a step back. What if I were to tell you that you’ve already optically discerned the soul relic. What would it be?” A question that Gol knows to as well.

“It was on her hand. Rather it’s expressing it beyond just notifying she posses it. The soul relic and her magic circuits are connected. Because it’s still unstable it still yet to make a permanent presence in Heulyn mind. Which is probably why Heulyn can’t hear them.” He says to which Mystery give a thoughtful nod too.

“All correct except for the last. Heulyn does auricularly discern them. She just ignores them. For she ken that she’s not Heulyn. She’s Heulyn ‘magic’ that found itself disunited from her. Poor thing. She does strive to mimic and act how she should. Woefully her path is flawed from the commencement. For a shadow needs its light to thrive.” She ends on a philosophical note.

Sethus was not aware of how these magical circuits functioned, as he was not present for when they were explained to the Anubites. But he could understand what their function was supposed to be based on that short explanation, and of course what was quite wrong with those in mind. That required a body and a soul, which wasn't quite right  given the situation, and so she should've been unable to use magic. But she had already shown she was capable of it, given that Gol's elder version had been summoned by her. As such, it made sense in the end that in order to use magic in this way, she simply became magic.

The Soul Relic being on her hand and connected to that clump of magic circuits that now made up her being did explain why it had no presence in her mind, as it was unstable and not something in her soul, it was part of her physical being instead. Or, rather, the Soul Relic's being that simply wore the Heulyn mask. Sethus did find that problematic however, "That is quite unfortunate, if we are dealing with only a mimic of Heulyn. It bears the question of if there is any sort of progress to be made then. If Heulyn does not exist, and we are still instead dealing with the Soul Relic, then it is rather difficult to resolve the reason that Soul Relic exists. That being the question of why Heulyn wanted to survive, as it seems she hasn't survived in the soul or physical sense. Only as a copy. Unless, of course, there is still a Heulyn. One that is separated from the Soul Relic and so needs to be reunified, and that could of course be the answer. It survives for the sake of that eventual reunification and completion of the soul. Is that the greater ritual it is seeking to enact? Either way, this situation is not a pleasant one, flawed from the start as you said."

Mystery gave a few short tsk’s sound. Still retaining the same small smile across her lip. She shook her head in a polite way. “Your sharp fixate on the soul relic is not inherently erroneous. But you must not blur out the more astronomically immense picture to fixate on just one aspect.” Opening her eyes she lift her amber gaze to the High Lord. “For a moment let's disregard the soul relic. And tell me if you can the tracks that lead to a different tree.”

Sethus raised an eye at that suggestion, "Disregard the Soul Relic? That seems quite difficult given that the Soul Relic is the entire reason we have delved into this mindscape in the first place. So forgive me if I happen to have a particular interest in it, but I shall endeavor to do as you say. Now, if we removed the Soul Relic from consideration, but keep the information about the magical circuits in mind, the mimicry of Heulyn's personality means there is a Heulyn that had memories. Memories that composed a personality, and that is what is being copied. And of course, as we are within a mindscape that has these other life instances of Heulyn's soul, that means the soul is still around somewhere, and be potentially contacted. After all, that is why these various recycled lives are still contained within one place. Slow connections  Although it is still very unclear on how, which I guess is the mystery."

The entity gave a short but polite giggle. “I’m not surprised. The concept of the soul relic have garner the attention of many across time.” She noted before listening to the high lord different approach to the problem. At the end she gave a slightly wider smile. “Good job to take note of that anomalous detail. For the history of the soul to be here is too require some manner of connection to the main soul, oversoul so to verbalize.” She began as she clasped her hands once more. Her leg that draped over the other slowly sway. Settling into the couch to a more comfortable yet still formal posture.”The ultimate zeal of the Magi is to reach the Root and many focus their experiments into discovering a path to it. The First Magic and Fifth Magic were the result of reaching the Root, while the Second, Third, and Fourth Magics were betokened as an expedient to reach it. There are sundry methods utilized in endeavors to reach it, customarily involving reaching the pinnacle of a certain concept. There are withal methods betokened to reach it through manipulating certain systems, such as the Holy Grail Wars in the crusades utilizing Heroic Spirits returning to the Grail as a way of making an aperture to it. Once a route is utilized, it is closed for good upon becoming established. If one isn't entered, it can be left until someone does claim it, thus closing it off for good.

Albeit Magic was a goal for many magi afore the engenderment of the Fifth Magic, it is not their ultimate objective. The main goal for magi remains the Root itself, and the "truth" of the macrocosm that it holds. Optically discerning the Root, physically contacting it and then managing to understand it will thoroughly efface the denotement of "infeasible", granting the magus what some would describe as "the capabilities of God". Needless to verbalize, this is infeasible for even the most aptitudinal magi.

But as we all witnessed. That did not obviate them from endeavoring. Poor Heulyn. Our authentic Heulyn. Was brought to her father laboratory on his request to the MA to make utilization of his bastard child. When she was first brought to his hands. Her body was long butchered by dissection and other experiments but her soul still remained. Her father did not sought to make a soul relic as you may cerebrate. In fact he never even considered it. All he visually perceived in Heulyn was to shape her into a stepping stone to step on. Recollect what Gol verbally expressed about magic circuits being a connection between the material and astral? That’s what his studies was predicated on.

At the time, unbeknownst to them due to their destitute of cognizance. Those who have physically contacted it directly have never returned to the world. Those who have managed to physically contact it ceased to subsist on the spot, as their amziel souls are either going back to where they emanated from, becoming absorbed into the Root, or something homogeneous. The exact details are unknown, so even magi who have left their denominations in history have abstained from physically contacting it. They will come to learn this the arduous way. After many projects they took note that Heulyn soul was missing but found that her magic circuits were still active. In fact they were accommodating as a Path to the Root. Which is a impressive feat for in the more preponderant Amzielean history only two were a pathway to it. As we can conjecture what occur afterwards. Many test subjects were disoriented when sending them down the path.” She looks to Sethus once more. “The magi circuits are a component of the soul. As such it’s the reason why there’s still connection. There are tethers linking to her soul who resides near the root.”