(31.1) Owrou Reborn

Aki finds herself in a liminal space and a slight headache. Off-kilter buildings of various architectural designs are frozen at odd angles around her. Stairs leading to doorways or turning at sharp angles toward improbable directions and floating candles that emit no light yet still the area is well lit.

Her body feels faint, practically nonexistent. Aki tries to move, breathe even, but can't. In response to the attempts, she feels a shift in herself and falls flat on her back.

"Ow." She sits up from where she landed, rubbing her head in pain. Gathering her bearings, Aki realises her Crown isn't on her head and, more importantly, sees that she's completely naked.

"Again!?" With a panicked thought, her familiar rich blue shirt and deep indigo shorts manifest, though her shoes do not. "...Well, it's better than last time."

Unfortunately, no sort of weapon manifests with her thoughts, nor do any spells form so Aki quickly gives that up.

Her ears perk at a distance sound that resembles voices engaged in a heated argument. Aki looks around to identify the direction and in answer, the environment shifts, creating large, checker patterned tiles leading to a rather magnificent looking set of intricately carved double doors.

"Hmm…" She carefully steps on the floating platform. It feels perfectly solid and doesn't shift even when she puts her full weight on it.

Once tested, she quietly and quickly races up the platform to the gothic doorway and inspects it.

It doesn't connect to anything, simply an impressive doorway standing on a floating platform. Still, voices come from the door, no matter what side she presses her ear against.

"This would be really cool if it was any other time." She sighs.

Aki places her hand on one of the doors then thinks better of it. "It'll be better if I can take a look before I just barge in."

Once more, in answer, floating stairs form to her right spiralling up, upside down, and then a right angle leading to a gargoyle's open mouth.

She stares for a moment then shrugs. No reason to not trust the place so far, she reasons and quietly races up the stairs.

They lead her into a dark balcony with similar wooden designs to the double doors on its railing that overlooks a massive circular audience chamber. It looks empty and feels freezing cold within the chamber.

Aki crouches down and stealthily moves to the edge of the railings and peeks over.

A writhing mass of monochrome push and pull against each other. Burning white eyes and misty black eyes contrasting their bodies flash this way and that, luckily never looking in Aki's direction.

In the centre, divided by the line carved by an unseen spotlight, floats a cocoon where a naked figure with dark, mottled skin is suspended in place, curled into the foetal position. Long, black hair pushes at the edges of the cocoon, blacking out one side of its transparent surface.

Whispered voices full of hostility and pleading rise and fall in volume. Misty arms claw at the edges of the light. Slowly whittling down its size with each push – more violent than the last.

Vague memories drift to the surface around the chamber.

Images of a large standing stone with an orb embedded into its top appear in sharp flashes. Then of a person wearing a green cloak trying to force a swirling cloud of violent spirits into the stone.

A magic storm forms from the intensity of the contest of 1 vs 108. The whipping winds show off the familiar symbol of a white, three-pronged sun eclipsed by a waxing crescent moon on the acolyte's cloak.

The voices too, grow more aggressive and violent, overlapping each other with greater intensity.

Feverish even.

Despite such a monochrome divide, Aki's ability allows her to see the true light and dark within the masses though the differences reflect which side of the divide they sit on.

Except for one exceedingly bright soul held in place by invisible chains on the opposite side of the audience chamber, just below the balcony Aki is on.

The desperate emotion of a single-minded drive claws at her own thoughts.

It must protect the temple. 

"Pelgaius!" Aki silently crawls her way over to the umibozu.

The figure jerks, reaching out to grasp the shadows.

Starvedstarvedstarvedstarved

Betrayedbetrayedbetrayedbetrayed

["Master freed us..."] It says weakly. ["But he betrayed us. He made us starve."]

Whispered arguments of the disagreers rumble against the speaker's works, drowning against the others.

The large standing stone is leashed by thick rope and plastered with carvings and paper symbols in the middle of a bog.

A close up on the centre of the stone has a weathered orb with hundreds of parallel marks etched on its surface.

Winter, covered in muck with his clothes ripped, riding a zombified four-legged monster.

Another memory of the stone with Winter performing some sort of intricate ritual. Candles, mana stones, detailed symbols, and bowls of blood make up the magic circle he made around the stone.

The scene changes to the black mist of the owrou shooting free like a geyser from the stone, the numerous seals holding it in place broken cleanly and completely.

Winter reaching out and speaking, his words unintelligible, but the look in his eyes is sharp and determined.

Promise…promise…PROMISED

["He didn't? We starve ourselves for him?"] The figure tilts its head, turning its face up where Aki can see it. ["Yes, a promise… The island."]

Necra's face is obscured by its long black bangs even here. The flesh of its lower face is pulled taut over its features and as grey as the rest of its skin.

LIESLIESLIESLIESLIES

Nonononononono

"He didn't lie!" Aki leaps down before she is able to think better of it and raises her arms.

The shadows freeze, turning their piercing gazes on her. Burning into Aki. Necra too looks down at her, its mouth etched into a deep frown.

"Yeah, keep your eyes on me…" Aki keeps her hands up, carefully tugging her pinky to ensure the mana string she tied to Pelgaius' trapped soul still holds firm. "Cosm Island, right? That's where you're going, remember? Cross the sea to find… uh, that thing?"

She purses her lips, trying to remember why Winter was going to the island.

"Look, I don't really know you. I won't pretend that we have some deep bond and try to bullshit you back, but you know Winter, right?" Aki steps slowly around on the edge of the light. Careful to keep her eyes on the shifting shadows as much as on Necra's cocoon. "Would he really lie to you?"

["Would he?"] Necra presses against the shell, its body contorting to the side, head turning a vertical 180 following the direction it went. ["Would~ hEeeee~???]

"The Winter I know wouldn't." Aki tugs her pinky again. "He knew he was way too weak for you now, but he still freed you anyway, right?"

["Why… Why?"] Necra drags its face down against the translucent cocoon and pushes toward Aki, stretching the embryonic shell and contorting its features to a disturbing degree.

Missed chance…

 ["Foolish are the fearless. I should have eaten him then."]

Its face contorts, confused why it would want to eat Winter. Necra's psyche pushes against the urgent whispers of the souls around it, but its reasoning weakens further as the spotlight shrinks.

Only a space barely wide enough for Aki to stand in is left between the spotlight's edge and the cocoon.

"But you didn't, right? Because something inside of you wanted to trust him. To believe him." Aki feels a tug on her pinky and the string of mana loosen but not fall completely. "You trusted him then, and he hasn't given a reason to not trust him now, has he? Cosm island is just on the horizon."

Noislandnoislandnoislandnoisland

A pained expression contorts Necra's expression. It grabs its face, pulling at the flesh.

"Uh, no. NO! Don't listen to them, Necra. You're in charge, not these guys!"

["There is no island?.. Master lied?"] Necra grips its head tightly and curls back at an impossible angle. ["YOU LIED?!"]

"Would I leave myself defenceless like this if I was planning to lie?" Aki emphasises her limited space and raised hands. "I just want to help you."

Acolytetrickacolytetrickacolytetrickacolytetrick

ripripripripRiPrIPRIPRIPRIPRIP

The restless souls at the edge of the spotlight push in more, shrinking the space left to stand further and ripping into the border with greater violence. The multitude of voices brimming with unbridled anger gives Aki a headache.

Worst of all, the embryonic egg Necra's ego is curled within is convulsing just as Necra is.

["Just a small bite – No. We promised – we didn't – I PROMISED. No eating his friends – we starve – be patient!!"] Necra's voice switches rapidly. The souls have pushed in far enough to rake their disembodied claws against Necra's shell and try to impose their will.

Vicious words and toxic tonalities echo from the crowding phantoms, pressuring the faltering Necra.

["The narrative being is there. Right there. Right there. Right there. Right there. rightthererightthererightherethightthererightthererightthere!!"]

Its voice warbles, agitating the shadows within the chamber. The little control that seemingly kept them in place shatters.

All of them fall onto the Necra's egg, breaking it apart and spraying ghostly embryonic fluid everywhere. Necra however, does not fall, instead convulsing in midair as its body contorts in ways only possible for a ragdoll.

The violent spirits condense in a swirling storm of phantasmal miasma. Anger, resentment, and memories of violent deaths filter into Aki's mind from the endless souls trying to impose their will on Necra.

"Damnit!" Aki turns her mana in hand and yanks.

Pelgaius' presence breaks free from its prison and falls onto the storming black souls.

Aki wheezes, overwhelmed by the intense memories and emotions flooding her mind.

Each memory lasts hardly a second in reality but Aki feels each one as if the emotions are her own. Mixtures of horror, anger, agony, and sadness fill her in equal measures.

Pelgaius' single-minded light presses down on the oppressing souls, forcing space between the inconsolable Necra and those that impose themselves.

Yet the violent, aggressive souls don't go down easy. They pile onto the corners of Pelgaius' shadowed body, darkening the light Aki sees with her ability with their own cruel presence.

With the encroaching dark, Necra convulses far more severely, preventing Aki from getting close.

In a wicked jab, Necra chokeslams Aki into the ground.

The force rattles her brain, dropping her defenses and allowing an overflow of information to rush in.

Flashing images of murderous and vicious acts filter into her mind. Some are from the perspective of the killer, enjoying the act of dismemberment, eating, or violating their victims.

Yet even more are from the ones being assailed. From the ones falling to warfare as collateral damage.

Aki clenches her teeth, intently memorising each souls' experiences.

"I'm sorry that I can't comfort or scold each of you. I'm sorry that I can't give each of you the attention you need." Aki pushes herself up and pulls Necra into a tight embrace. "So many of you have done awful things, and many more have had awful things done to you."

The Crown shatters space like glass, appearing over Aki's head and aiding the light's glow.