Steps into the higher realm, cycles

The meeting between the officials, battalion leaders and Lud had concluded. The decision to go to the higher realm has been decided.

There were multiple issues raised. One was how to get there. Since the gate connecting the middle realm and higher realm has been effectively cut off, getting there via conventional means, at least relative to how people in Lutah usually traverse the realms. However, during the meeting, Altair popped up, interrupting the meeting briefly. And after explaining the situation to her, she said that she'd be happy to send a few of Elysium's people to go there.

In fact, Altair was a little disappointed that they didn't consider her help after their whole partnership. She even made jabs at Lud for forgetting all about her after she was gone for so long. Lud countered that no one else pointed it out, but Altair still made it clear that she thought that it was Lud's responsibility as a king to consider these kinds of things.

The second issue was where would they make their first contact there. But after Altair appeared at the meeting, two options were raised. One was to go to the Old Place, an old star elf capital that, while dear to the star elven people, holds little to no other value to the star elves. At best, the Old Place is currently more recognised as a tourist location that brings humans and other higher realm species.

The other option that was raised was the primal dust forest of Thalaraalin (Death and Rebirth), The "capital" of phoenix species. This was something that Altair brought up herself, but as she was talking about it, she remembered something and her mood slightly saddened, though she tried not to show it.

Altair did mention that going to Mahal, an angel capital, was an option, but she did mention that it would be better to not go there yet.

In the meeting, it was decided that Brutus, Lud, Toki and Sarah would go to Thalaraalin first, though there was a lot of competition after Lud declared his wish to go there himself.

When the meeting was done, it was decided that they would go there the next day, though the atmosphere between the battalion commanders and officials was tense. Sarah mentioned that "Do you think that Lud was off a bit?" To which Elisia answered "I noticed it too. He seemed a bit… worried."

Lych commented "It is probably because of the battle a few weeks ago that he got so skittish. I think he'll get over it soon enough."

Li commented "I don't think that is the case." And Brutus said "I agree."

Illi also said "That ain't something related to ptsd after a battle of such magnitude. It was something else I'll tell you."

Lili said "I believe that he is hiding something from us."

Tear commented "I agree. Something else must have happened. He was a bit pushy to have people around him all the time after the battle, but it wasn't anything like this."

Xu said "Yes. Indeed, there is something that our lord is hiding from us. Do you have any ideas, Lady Toki?"

Toki was silent for a moment, after which Sarah said "So you do know something."

Toki laughed it off and said "No, I really don't. I mean… I have some guesses, but nothing concrete really."

Li asked with worry in his voice "Could you please still share your thoughts? Distant though you may be, you perhaps know our lord better than any one of us."

Toki seemed hesitant to answer, so Lych said "It would really help us help our lord."

Toki scratched her head a bit until she said "Alright, but still, it isn't anything concrete, okay."

Toki took a deep breath and said "According to what grandpa told me, dad spent lots and lots of time alone in emptiness. That is what led him being, well let's say it, starved for people to be around him. But in recent times, he seems to have… grown wary of his surroundings. As if things are going to change in a moment's notice."

Elisia asked "Do you have any guesses of why that is the case?" To which Toki said "I… Well, grandpa hinted at another singular entity being on the loose, so perhaps there is something in it to look closer to."

Lych asked "Can't you just go and check?" To which Toki answered "It is not that simple. While I can, and have, check timelines of other singular being's influence, I haven't seen any such thing happening anywhere. There were few places that could have had something to do with the new face, but all of them were hard to decipher. Like, there was no logic behind them."

Altair asks "Can't you like, see everything that happens in a timeline if you want to?"

Toki answers "Yeah, but as I said, it is hard to decipher what the new face is doing, let alone what they looked like. It is kind of the same situation where I was hiding my identity when Nemesis was around, but this time, I'm the one looking for someone."

Then Tifa appears and says "And I'll assume that asking that bastard is not an option."

Toki giggled nervously and said "Yeah. I tried a few times, but he wouldn't say anything. Even the abyss you didn't know anything about the new face."

Brutus starts to scratch his head in frustration, until he screams "Why can't things just be simple like they used to be?!"

Elisia says "It is a shame that things have gotten so… convoluted. Let us hope that the 'new face' isn't behind our lord's current mental health problems."

Tifa says "Agreed. Though when I looked into his mind, something was blocking me to look at certain moments. I think…"

Everyone looked expectantly at Tifa, which seemed to annoy her. Tifa scoffed and said to the rest of the group "Just figure it out yourself first if you want to be of use to darling."

And with that, Tifa disappeared, leaving others guessing what she was going to say. Tear guessed "Maybe… The fact that even Lady Tifa can't find out is due to multidimensional travel."

Toki pondered and muttered "Which could have been done by the new singular being."

Xu commented "Things seem to be still as complicated as they were when Nemesis still persisted." 

Then Xu looks at Brutus and says "Brutus. Please keep an eye on our lord for me."

Brutus says with confusion in his voice "I mean sure, but why don't you ask Sarah or Toki?"

Xu nods his head a little and says "Our lord may be dealing with some complex manners, but it is because you and our lord aren't really on the smart side that you can give him a little peace of mind. Sarah and Lady Toki are… let's just say, a bit more complex beings than you or our lord."

Sarah says "I mean I'm not smart, but I think what you meant to say is because Brutus is a married man who shirks his duties, he can bring a perspective that me or Toki are unable to do."

Brutus gets offended and shouts "I don't shirk my duties you Nuke! Sure, I give most of them to my dear wife, who I love very much, but that doesn't mean I'm lazing around doing nothing! I'm keeping my battalion ready to fight whenever possible, so you and your one man battalion can't possibly understand my position!"

Elisia taps Brutus on the back to try and calm him down. She says "Now now Brutus. I think that is a little uncalled for."

Brutus says because he is a little heated "What?! Because Weiss was gonna go to the 10th battalion, I need to…" But before he finished saying it, he realized what he had done.

This made Brutus quiet down a little, bow and say "I… I'm sorry. I went too far."

Sarah said with a bit of a somber tone "No worries. She got to fight bravely in that big battle and she is trying her best to now join… what was it? Death Knights?"

Toki replies "Something like that."

Somewhere and sometime, Lud is running for his life because of something. The voice Lud hears is familiar. Too familiar.

"You think you can run from me brat?! You think that you stand a chance with that fickle body of yours that only persists because of those damned gods?! Run! Run for your life, because when I catch you, it'll be over!"

Lud runs from the shouts of someone he didn't believe he would meet again.

For a brief moment Lud takes a rest, the boulder he was leaning on explodes and he flies ~100 meters away because of it.

Lud coughs and blood comes from his mouth. His body is aching all over and he can barely breathe. One of his lungs might have collapsed.

The moment he is able to open his eyes, he is lifted up by the man pursuing him. The man pursuing Lud was Ill, the sin carrier of Wrath.

With his red aura flowing around his body, Ill says "You and your reliance on those bastards had led to this. You can only blame yourself for this short life of yours."

Then Ill pierces Lud's chest with his hand and Li's hand is stained in both red and golden liquids. 

Soon after, Lud passes out and wakes up and he finds himself back on the starting point. That point being a forest somewhere in the higher realm beside mountains.

The moment he realized it started again, Lud hears a raging voice shouting his name "LUUUUDD!!!"

At this moment, he realizes that he has no choice but to run if he doesn't want to end up like last time.

"But how many times is this now?" Lud pondered as he started his sprint.

Then suddenly a familiar woman appeared floating besides him, eating popcorn and laughing her ass off.

She laughed "Run boy run… This world is not meant for you… Run boy run… They're trying to catch you."

Lud remembers hearing those words from somewhere, but he doesn't have time to think about it, as the presence of Ill is getting closer and closer.

Eventually though, Ill catches Lud and stomps hard on Lud's body to make sure he is dead. The area is stained red and golden.

Lud wakes up again in the same forest in the same place as before, hearing the same shouting from Ill from somewhere far away.

Lud started to run again and he shouted "Why is this happening?! What am I even doing here?!"

Eris appeared again and laughed "Haha… You think that there always needs to be a reason? We've been through this song and dance plenty of times by now, so you should know better than ask something unimportant."

Lud shouted "Unimportant?! I'm repeatedly dying probably because of you!"

Eris laughs "Haha… You are so funny. You think that you are dying. Haha… Funny words. What does dying even mean to you at this point? Loading back from the previous save? Hahaha! You aren't dying, but YOU are dying."

Lud shouts "Make some sense finally, now won't you?!" And with that, Ill catches up to Lud and this time he takes a grip of the lower part and the upper part of Lud's body and rips them separate. Leading Lud's guts being spilled out all over the place, red and gold liquid tainting the forest.

Again Lud wakes up in the same position and starts to run away from the monster that is Ill. It only ends in him being killed by Ill, and starting it over again.

Again.

Again.

And Again.

One of these times, Lud asks Ill "Why are you hunting me?" To which Ill would answer "I can sense the power of a god flowing through your veins, making you part of something that I have waged war against."

As Ill holds Lud by the throat, he says "The only path that you can walk now is that of ill will. I can't let you tarnish and take over this cursed world we were put in. I will…"

And Ill crushes Lud's neck, making red and gold liquid flow to Ill's hand. This makes scoff in disgust as he walks away.

Again, Lud wakes up in the same position. He starts running as soon as he is able to and asks Eris a question that has been bothering him.

"What did you do to me?!" Lud shouted, and Eris answered "Nothing too big really. Only a taboo of Lutah. No biggie."

Lud shouts as he runs "And how taboo not a big deal?!" And Eris answered "Just because something is taboo doesn't mean that people can't do something with it."

Lud shouts "That doesn't make any sense!"

Eris laughs and says "Only because you still haven't opened up your mind that you can't do that. And as long as… Well, let me give you a treat."

With that, Eris teleports her and Lud to the all so familiar audience chairs. This time, an IV is attached to Lud's arm, making golden liquid flow to him.

Lud tries to resist, but as usual, he cannot move.

Then Eris sits seductively on Lud's lap and says "To make you what you will become, I first have to make you become a god like entity. But to do that, we must first inject god's blood to you so that you may make that transformation eventually."

Lud asks "You… Where are you even getting the blood of a god?"

Eris giggles a little and says "Why it is my blood that I give you, you dummy."

Lud is surprised by this and says "Your… your blood? But how? Aren't we in the abyss?"

Eris laughs and says "Yes, yes. That is exactly it, my dear little Lud boy. We are, in fact, in the abyss. Deep enough to make your mind and body have to work for sheer existence, but not too deep that we won't be able to have lovely conversations like this."

Lud asks "What… What are you trying to do exactly?"

Eris places her metallic hand to Lud's cheek and says "Oh little Lud boy, haven't we been past that already. I mean mentioning something over and over again makes people think you are insane. Which you technically will be after some time, but not yet of course."

Lud says "I don't understand. How should I…"

Then Eris kisses Lud on the lips and suddenly a flood of memories gets passed to Lud's mind. It hurts like hell and Lud's body twitches furiously. This didn't stop Eris from sitting on Lud's lap.

After a while, Lud stops twitching and he feels out of breath. He mutters "To become… next host."

Eris claps her hands and says "Good, good. The synchronization worked wonders. Now it is only a matter of time before you ascend to godhood."

Lud says briefly "Is that really necessary?" But he realized that it is for some odd reason.

Eris now places her regular hand on Lud's cheek and says "Don't worry too much. Worrying will only make things worse. Why speedrun to madness when you can take your sweet time tasting the snippets of it before fully succumbing to it."

Lud says "But that doesn't…" but strangely, he understands what Eris is saying.

Soon after, Eris notices that the IV bag is empty and says "Looks like the rest time is up. Time to send you back to little Ill."

And with that, Lud finds himself back on the same spot again. He can barely keep up and his head hurts like hell from whatever Eris did to him. His body feels like small knifes are stabbing and slicing him constantly, but the usual shout of Ill makes him try and move away.

Eventually Ill catches Lud as he rips his left arm off. Lud can barely make a sound as the pain barely registers as severe from all the pain he is having.

Seeing that Lud barely reacted. Ill kicks Lud to a tree, making the tree fall down as a result.

Ill says "Seems like your little experiment is taking its toll on you. I wonder, if I would have seen you anywhere in my past before I became like this, would I have been able to contain my anger even then."

Lud hears what Ill is saying, but he can't make but simple groan of pain.

The last look that Ill gave Lud before he made Lud's body explode was that of pity. For some reason, even though Lud knew that Ill wanted nothing more than to get rid of him at the moment, he felt odd sense of comradery and deja vu.

Then the same cycle began anew. Lud waking up somewhere in the forest, hearing Ill's shouting, running away to only end up dying by the hands of that monster.

It happened again, and again. Each cycle makes Lud's body more accustomed to the golden liquid running through his veins.

Lud felt strangely stronger after each cycle. Strong, but not strong enough to escape the death that awaited him at the end of each cycle.

One of the cycles, Lud made out of the forest, only to be killed by a rock that was thrown by Ill from who knows how far away.

And eventually, Lud found himself sitting in the audience with an IV bag full of golden liquid attached to his arm.

Eris walked back and forth in front of Lud for a moment, until Lud asked "Why so silent all of a sudden?"

Eris just laughed and said "I was just wondering if the PTSD from the intense loneliness Nemesis left you with would kick in."

Lud asks "PTSD? Me? Hah, why would I…"

Eris interrupted Lud by saying "That is what they all say. That they don't have a problem, I mean. It makes them look weak. It makes you ask 'why me, why me' only to be left in an endless cycle of doubt, looking for a way out.

Until eventually, the pressure is too high and off goes the cork. It only takes a moment to make that pressure pop out. But as the cork flies, who knows where it goes. Maybe it won't hit anything. Maybe it just flies up to the sky, only to land on soft water.

But reality isn't that simple. Often, the cork hits something, damaging it somehow. It might be minor damage, but damage that cannot be taken back."

Lud is dumbfounded by what Eris said and Eris continues "You don't see yourself as someone who could have PTSD, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. 

You… Spend… Eternity… Alone…

Well it wasn't eternity, but for mortals, spending time alone in that kind of place drives people mad. You aren't mad yet, but you will be by the end of the third trial."

Lud says "I don't have PTSD. And even if I did, why should you care?"

Eris sits on Lud's lap again and says "Because you are my dear little Lud boy. Love is a powerful tool to make people do crazy things. But even if I said so, it isn't all about love. It is about fate."

Lud looks questioningly at Eris who then says "Well, it still can be twisted to a type of love, but that would be too simple. You will inherit Maumar's position. That much has been set in stone the moment you came to Lutah."

Lud asks "And how would you know?"

Eris smiles sweetly and says "Because… I am the god of chaos. It is my job to know these types of things after I came from not only one end of the world, not two, but three ends of the worlds."

Lud is again a little dumbfounded, but Eris continues "Well, there are more ends of the world, in which I will always, always play a crucial role. But making you, who still have a mind of a mortal, think of infinity of reality would be too much to bear. I personally had to seal some memories so that I can physically function as a singular being. I don't remember much from the other host eras, but I know there will be plenty to go on. And I have had plenty of conversations with Flaudst, I'll let you know. Or will have? That would be a bit of a hard concept to explain to the mortal Lud, so let's leave it at that."

Lud asks "Who… who the heck is Flaudst. If… If I am fated to be a host of the abyss, and the abyss permits time travel shenanigans, then why hasn't he, I, we, done anything to make things better?!"

Eris laughs and says "Well Flaudst is the name you choose when you become a host of the abyss which should have been obvious. But as to why that version of you hasn't done anything to help you, there are three reasons.

One being why would he want to do it?

Second is that two hosts cannot exist within one host era, so him coming to this era while Maumar is around is impossible.

Third… What was the third? I don't remember. Was there really a third reason? Ah, who cares. Point is that there may or may not be a third reason that I won't tell you for one reason or another."

Then Eris looks at the IV bag and says "Looks like that is enough for this break. Let's see how you fare this time around."

And as expected, Lud found himself in the forest again. His body was feeling like it was being stabbed and sliced by millions of knives, but he had to run.

But somehow, he could run much faster now. Even though he was in immense pain, he felt that he could run much faster than what he did at the beginning of this nightmare.

But eventually, as expected, Ill caught Lud and tore him to pieces.

This happened again.

Again.

Again.

And again.

Who knows how many cycles this time around was, but to Lud, it felt like there have been more cycles this time around.

Eventually, in one of the events where his life was threatened, Lud instinctively caused Ill to stood still with the use of extreme gravity.

Ill stood still for a moment and commented "Hoho? First you surprise me that you are thryv'nith in this timeline, then you smell like a god and now… now you make me actually stop for a brief moment."

Lud is surprised by what he is doing, but Ill comments "But it is not enough to stop me. Not even close."

Then Ill starts to walk towards Lud as if Lud didn't make the gravity around Ill that even the trees were crushed.

Then Ill made one swift movement to decapitate Lud. It caught Lud by surprise, although in the face of a monster like Ill, you should expect everything.

And with that, Lud found himself back on the audience with Eris looking at him as she sat on the stage.

Lud looked and noticed that he didn't have an IV bag attached to him this time, but before he could comment, Eris said "Do you think I'll stop pestering you after this?"

Lud smirked a little and said "So you are self aware that you pester people?"

Eris hopped to the floor and started walking towards Lud. While walking slowly, she said "When you are god of chaos, you should know that your presence tends to irritate people by default in most cases. Of course there are those people that enjoy the unexpectedness that gods of chaos might offer, but generally people just want to live their lives in peace."

Lud asks "There are other gods of chaos?"

Eris answers "Yes and no. The short answer is that I am the combination of each timeline's god of chaos. In my time in this world, no other god has or will get past the graveyard of gods other than yours truly. Though I have to admit, if it weren't for the hosts and other singular beings, it would get a little lonely out here."

Lud realized something and asked "Right. The singular beings like Toki and Tifa. They live in the era I became a host of the abyss, so why don't they come and do something about it?"

Eris sits on Lud's lap again and says "No being other than yours truly can cross back to previous host eras. Singular beings can only hop from branch to branch of one tree, they can't hop to the other trees."

Lud asks "Then what makes you so special?"

Eris smiles sweetly, looks straight into Lud's eyes and says "Because I am special."

Lud asks "How so?"

Eris sighs and says "This is getting boring. I guess it is time you go to your little adventure on the higher realm. If you meet up with Maumar during it, please say hi for me, ok?"

Lud says "Wait…" But then he wakes up in his bed, sweating profusely.

Zenith enters Lud's bedroom when she hears that Lud woke up and when she noticed that Lud was all sweaty, she asked "Are you alright, my lord? Do you need to wash yourself?"

Lud just says that he saw a nightmare and got all sweaty because of it. Then he said that he will go wash up first before getting ready.

Zenith calmly waited and wondered "What kind of nightmare gets someone that sweaty?"

The morning routing goes by and eventually Lud meets up with Toki, Brutus, Sarah and Altair. But one face he didn't expect to see was Shalaphinar.

Lud asked "Is Shala coming with us?"

To which Toki said "Yes. I've built her the 'Eternal Sanctuary' she wished for and she wanted to thank us by being a guide on her homeland."

Lud asked "So you can speak flame tongue, I presume?"

Toki said "Of course. I had plenty of time to learn it during my travels. I can teach you if you want."

Lud smiled nervously and said "No thanks. I have enough work to do as is, so learning a new language at this time is a bite too big for me."

Toki laughed and said "Just say if you ever want to learn and I'll help."

Lud looked at Altair, who looked a bit nervous around Shalaphinar, so Lud asked "Are… are you okay with Shalaphinar coming with us?"

Altair said nervously "What? Of course I am. What makes you say that?"

Lud commented "Well, you and Shalaphinar seem to have a history of some kind."

Altair, still nervous, says "That was ages ago, and this Shali doesn't even remember me, so it is all in the past."

Lud asks "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Altair starts to get frustrated by Lud's insistence, so she says "Look. It is all in the past. No need to dig out old buried memories when all they bear is pain."

Toki says "Shalaphinar doesn't seem to think so."

Altair sighs and says "Look, do you want me to get you to your destination now or not?"

Lud looks at others and says "Sure. Whenever you are ready."

Then Altair does her trick, and low and behold, they soon find themselves in a forest full of gigantic trees and many phoenixes flying about.

As Lud and Brutus take a moment to take in the scenery, Altair says "And I think that is my job done. You don't need a guide since you have Shali here with you. Bye!"

And with that, Altair was gone. But before Lud gets to say anything, Altair says via telepathy "When you need me to come pick you up or if you want to go somewhere else, just tell me, ok?"

Lud replies positively and cuts the link for now.

Then Brutus asks "So where to now?" and Toki talks a bit to Shalaphinar.

Then Toki translated what Shalaphinar said "She said that she wants to go see her parents first."

Lud responds with "Then let's go there then."

The group goes to where Shalaphinar's family usually hangs out, and they see only one woman there.

Shalaphinar says to her in flametongue "Mother, I am home."

The woman looks a bit confused, until things connect on her head, so she replies "My dear child. How have you been? Haven't seen you in this cycle yet so I can barely tell it is you."

Shalaphinar says "Sorry. I had some business to take care of in the middle realm and things got complicated. But now, I finally got what I was looking for!"

Shalaphinar's mother says "You have? Even though…"

Shalaphinar responds after her mother hesitates "Even though what?"

Shalaphinar's mother then smiles sweetly and says "Don't worry about it. Here, let's have an honest conversation now that you are here. I'll ask the servants to prepare some refreshments for us before we start talking."

Toki had relayed the conversation to Lud, Brutus and Sarah. Sarah asks Toki "Do you think that the mother knows something about Shalaphinar and Altair?"

Toki says "Can't say for sure. Since Shalaphinar has also moved to another cycle, I think the same applies to the mother and rest of her family."

Brutus asks "Don't you know anything useful as a time traveler?"

Toki comments "I only know a few bits and pieces, but none of them are useful right now. The Embershthir household, while a noble and old phoenix household, they aren't really that open about their past. Granted, most of what they know is only records from previous cycles, so direct recounts are hard to come by in this day and age."

Sarah says "We aren't looking for ancient history here. Just what happened between Shalaphinar and Altair."

Toki says "I'm sorry, but of all the timelines I've visited, Altair never opened up on the subject."

Brutus asks "Can't you just go and take a look?"

Toki answers "Just because I could doesn't mean I should. There are some things that are better to ask for permission first and accept if the permission isn't granted."

Sarah asks "You aren't even a bit curious?"

Toki spouts "Of course I am! I'm dying to know what happened between Altair and Shalaphinar! But I can't just invade other people's privacy like that. I have my own principles."

Lud says "So we aren't going to get any leads then."

Shalaphinar has been asking Toki to translate what they have been talking about, to which Shalaphinar shares her opinion that Toki translates to the rest of the group.

Shalaphinar says that "While I can't be sure what happened between the past me and Altair. I have a feeling it has something to do with the Eternal Sanctuary."

Lud asks "What do you mean by that?"

Shalaphinar continues "I mean… something she said… something… and now… even though it is a bit awkward with me and her, she… seemed to be… relieved somehow."

Toki says after translating "So you believe that once she heard that it was finished, she was relieved that I could do something that she couldn't do for you."

Shalaphinar says in flametongue "That is what I am feeling."

Lud comments "But why does she look like she is guilty of something whenever she is around Shalaphinar."

And as Toki translates it to Shalaphinar, her mother comes in and says "I believe I have an explanation. But before that, let's sit down and drink some fine firebrew tea."

They sit around the table and Shalaphinar's mother opens up and says "I haven't been able to greet my dear guests yet. My name is Flotshirthar Embershthir. Wife of Loyrktoshthil Embershthir, who is the third and current head of the Embershthir household. Unfortunately, he is unable to meet with visitors at the moment, so you have my deepest apologies."

Toki translates and Lud says "No need to apologise. Sometimes… fate is just the kind of trickster it was designed to be."

Flotshirthar says "Oh my. Such wise words from a human and someone so young at that. But I guess that should be expected from someone aiming to be a god."

Sarah asks "Aiming to be a god? What is she talking about?"

Toki says "I feared this might be the case also, but I was waiting for dad to open up first to us. So dad, why does pure aether flow in your veins at the moment?"

Lud is silent for a moment, until he musters the courage to just say "Something happened and I'm now like this."

Brutus says "Something just happened? First you became sensitive to aether by ingesting Altair blood and now you have something that incredible in your body just like that? I can't believe it."

Sarah looks dumbfounded at Brutus, and the same goes for Lud and Toki.

Brutus asks "What are you staring at me for? Boss is the one that we should be staring at."

Sarah snickers a bit and says "No it is just that… you said something smart just now."

Brutus gets offended and says "I do pay attention every now and then, I'll let you know! There is a reason why boss made me the leader of the second battalion!"

Lud says "Now now, calm down everybody. It is my fault after all. I just… I don't know how else to explain it."

Everyone now stares at Lud, which makes him say "Look. I don't know what to tell you, but somehow I got the stuff mixed into my body and I'm okay."

Toki says after translating the situation to the phoenixes, "If we would have visited Mahal, I'm sure we would have been interrogated for blasphemy."

Lud says "I did hear that it was something considered taboo."

Toki asks "Where did you hear that from?"

Lud tries to think of something to avoid telling the truth, so he says "A mysterious woman?"

Everyone stares at Lud for a while, until Sarah starts glaring at Lud intensely.

Sarah says "A woman? You… have you been playing around?"

Brutus starts to laugh and says "Of course my boss would have the pull of someone as powerful as someone who can acquire the blood of a god. What else could you expect?"

After Toki translates this to the phoenixes, Flotshirthar says "I think it is best to leave the reason why you are like that to the side and continue our conversation."

Shalaphinar then asks "Did something happen to father?"

To which Flotshirthar answered "Yes. When the Swarm attacked, your father used much of his power to protect all of the phoenix kind that lived on the higher realm. He and many other heads of noble phoenix bloodlines. His current situation is not looking great, and he himself is considering making this his last cycle."

Shalaphinar gets a little teary eyed and weeps a weak "No."

Lud asks "While I don't get what cycles mean to phoenixes, I can roughly guess what the 'last cycle' means."

Toki explains "Each phoenix has to cultivate their energy to a certain point in order for them to be able to be reborn. While this way phoenixes are functionally immortal, they do age and can live a regular life of 10 000 years or so.

Every phoenix knows how to be reborn from the moment of their birth, but should a phoenix fail to meet the quota needed for rebirth, they cannot enter the next 10 000 year cycle."

Lud says "I see. But why would Shalaphinar's father even consider it?"

Toki relays what Lud asked to Flotshirthar, and she says "There are many reasons for a phoenix to make the decision to make their current cycle the last one. For my husband's case, he simply doesn't see the point of trying to restore his body so that it can last long enough for the next rebirth or even full recovery. My husband's current cycle is only 1000 years, so he might think a little short mindedly about things, but if it is his wish to not invest in his future cycles, then I cannot argue against it."

Shalaphinar says "But… if father goes… then won't the family fall to ruin?"

Flotshirthar says "Currently, your little brother, Yushtorthil is trying his best to prepare to take the position fully. Ever since your big brother left, he has been trying his hardest to help your father whenever he could, whatever part of the cycle he was on and whichever cycle he was the only male heir."

Shalaphinar says "So there isn't any news of big brother Hartshuril, is there."

Flotshirthar shakes her head and Shalaphinar asks her mother "Can… can I at least see my dear father before… before he passes?"

Flotshirthar says "Yes. I think if he sees his daughter for the first time this cycle, he might change his mind."

Shalaphinar says "Then let's go meet up with him right away."

Shalaphinar starts to head out, but Flotshirthar grabs her by the sleeve, which makes Shalaphinar ask "What are you doing mother? I have to go see my dear father."

Flotshirthar says "Unfortunately, I cannot grant you entry."

Shalaphinar is confused and asks "What? Why? But you just said…"

Flotshirthar explains "Currently, you have been away from home for half of your current cycle, so the elders might be taken aback if you just waltz right in there."

Shalaphinar gets annoyed and yells "You think I'm a traitor?!"

Flotshirthar explains "No, my dear child. No. The elders have been a bit protective of the current head ever since the battle took place. I can go and ask for their permission, but you must be patient."

Shalaphinar janks her hand away and says "To think that I can't even go see my own father when he is on his deathbed. Ridiculous. Now I remember why I sought the Eternal Sanctuary."

Flotshirthar "Thank you for your understanding. But before I leave, I want to share something that you might want to know from Altair."

Shalaphinar got interested in those words and said "Go on."

Flotshirthar explains "While you were adamantly refusing to write anything about Altair in your memorystone in your past cycle, I wrote something in mine."

Lud asks "What is it?"

Flotshirthar says "It is that because of Altair, that my dear child experienced heartbreak."

Shalaphinar asks "You mean to say that… me and Altair… were dating?"

Flotshirthar says "While I can't deny it with proof, I personally don't think that would be the case since there would be more about it on your father's memory stone as well. My personal theory is that you two were once good friends and Altair promised to build that Eternal Sanctuary you have been searching for for four cycles. But seeing how things are now, I believe she failed and you got angry about it in your past cycle."

Shalaphinar asks "Am I… that petty of a person?"

Flotshirthar says "No… I think there was something else that made you want to forget her in this cycle, though I don't know what that reason might be."

Shalaphinar says "I… I understand. Can you… can you go ask for the elders' approval to see my father?"

Flotshirthar answers "Of course." And promptly leaves.

Then Shalaphinar says "I need to take a smoke break" and also leaves.

This leaves the room feeling awkward, with every Elysium member thinking "What are we supposed to do now?"

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Li's little corner

Hey there everybody. Long time no see. Or read? Anyways I have a few things that I might want you to know.

Firstly for those who wonder if phoenix women stay fertile after rebirth, to which the answer is yes, though unfortunately, they are fertile every 100 years or so, which means it can be really hit or miss for. Granted, the fertility lasts for around one year, so there is plenty of time when it hits.

Second question that you might want to know is what happens to half phoenixes? You know, when one parent is a phoenix and the other is some other race. Like humans for example.

The simple explanation in game terms is that half phoenix are experiencing hard mode to achieve rebirth. They have shorter lifespans, meaning that they live roughly 1000 years and their cultivation is significantly slower.

Granted, the shortest half phoenix rebirth has been achieved in only 343 years. Meaning that most half phoenixes have to spend extra time to cultivate.

Of course if your other half is a dragon or an elf, well then your cultivation can be quite fast, making it medium-hard difficulty at best.

And those interested, full blooded phoenix can achieve rebirth in less than 100 years, shortest being only 26 years.

And what is the deal with Ms. Eris? God of chaos she says? From another era, no less? What kind of nonsense is that? I can barely grasp it myself, if I'm being honest.

But what I can tell you, that across many timelines, the god of chaos has had many names.

Here is a list of what Mr. Maumar could tell me.

Dis-Order Gaylon

Dirth'Ich-Cor'Kilua

Yr'kath

Shattervox

Xhy'vrz

Anarx

Khaos

Entropis

Kronomask

Pandemoneus

Raviks

Dickson of Abitch

Anarchon

Hexatyr

Vortumna 

Eris

Other than those, I don't know, but if we are talking about timelines and god of chaos put into the mix, then I'm sure that there are plenty of other names they have gone by.

And for those who wonder, technically Ms. Eris is all genders combined if that makes any sense. Male, female, non-binary, both, neither, whatever have you. She just preferst to appear as she does in front of Mr. Maumar and my lord.

That is it for now.

I hope you'll have excellent days ahead of you.

Bye.