Chương 670: Book 10-18.2: Crucible

The Colossus’ eyes, which were probably as large as her head, seemed to focus on Yuriko’s eyes. She could almost see the gleam of interest coming from it, but a moment later, whatever it was disappeared and the giant construct was again nothing more than runescript etched metal.

“Yuri!”

The next moment, she felt someone enfold her into a hug. She was lifted off her feet and squeezed, but even though the figure wore one of the light infantry armour, her condensed Anima prevented it from digging into her flesh. As for who it was, it was Da. The helm came off and she saw his careworn face, with deep lines etched on his forehead and at the corner of his eyes. Virgil Davar, her father, who had been missing for years, was finally there, in front of her.

Tears seeped out of the corner of her eyes and she returned his embrace with one just as fierce. He was no longer that much bigger than she was. His hair had a few more strands of white, and it looked like he’d lost a bit of weight. They all did, she realised. She didn’t know Balliol Muryh well enough to tell, but she was certain Amiri Cypher had more flesh on her bones, and Craig Zorin hadn’t been that wiry.

“Da…” she said through blurred tears.

“My baby.”

Her mum, Sadeen, walked up behind Virgil with a brilliant smile. She still wore the same battle robes when she saved Yuriko from the Pure Lands, but there was a rosette glow about her. Ah, she was shorter than Yuriko now, by a couple of inches. She couldn’t help but smirk at that.

Sadeen joined their embrace, and they stayed locked up like that for several moments. Her Anima perception picked up her group’s reactions, which varied from confusion from the Haveenians, marines, and beastkin, to shared understanding with the twins and Heron.

Finally, Virgil let her loose and smiled down at her. “I can’t believe you managed to find your way here! Did you come with a Chaos Ship? Oh! You weren’t hurt by the Chaos horde outside, were you?”

“Did you see the Silver Tiger in the Chaos Sea?” Sadeen interjected. “Did they give a message?”

“Mum, no,” Yuriko said. “We didn’t come through the Chaos Sea to get here.”

“Eh, then how?” Virgil asked. “But that’s good, in a way. Outside, there’s nothing but a slaughter field.”

“I…” Yuriko began but noticed that most of her group was standing around looking lost. Since everyone but Heron didn’t really know about the lost expedition, they were understandably confused about her Da and the other’s presence.

She could see questions bubbling out of Sheamus, while Gwendith, who Yuriko had confided in, was surreptitiously wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes. The Colossus chamber was large, but most of it was taken up by its throne and the varied machinery that was attached to it. There was a small observation area which included a few benches and a table, so she said, “Erm, just a moment,” before turning to the others. “Make yourselves comfortable. We’ll be here a while.”

Receiving the varied signals of acceptance, she turned back to her parents. Virgil had his eyebrows raised practically to his hairline while Mum held a hand over her lips and was quietly chuckling.

“Looks like my little baby grew up a bit,” Sadeen said after a moment, while Virgil rolled his eyes.

“So many things happened that I missed,” he said with a catch in his voice. “That blasted Colossus can wait. Let’s adjourn first.”

The last member of the party, a woman with greyish hair and piercing green eyes, frowned at Virgil at his words. She glanced at Sadeen however, and relented. “If you say so, Captain Davar.” Her words sounded cold, unusually so for someone who’d spent several Seasons together.

Da nodded and replied just as stiffly, “Thank you for your understanding, Inquisitor Gorlyn.”

With that, the three of them made their way into a side room. It was cosy enough, with couches on two adjacent sides, and a glass window that showed the Colossus hangar. There was barely enough space to stretch her legs, much less Virgil’s. Mum sat demurely with her legs tucked neatly. Afterwards, they spent several hours catching up.

“Your brothers?” Virgil asked.

Yuriko scowled. “Maru got injured. He got blinded in one eye and part of his lungs got crystallised. I killed his assailant. Ah, it was during the siege of Faron’s Crossing. He’s alright now, Niamh is taking care of him, but he needs an expert healer.”

“Siege?” Virgil gasped.

“I’ll take care of it,” Mum said firmly, then she frowned. “By the Progenitor, the communications jamming is inconvenient.” She muttered a few words that Yuriko vaguely caught. Her Anima perception wasn’t working so well around Mum. “... maybe a spell? I’ll need to Shape one, as I don’t have a blockade runner…”

“Oh! I’ve formed an Implement!” Yuriko said. “Ah, and touched on an Ennoia.”

“You what?!” Da spluttered, looking poleaxed. “You touched an Ennoia! Burn me, but I’ve barely got one myself!” Then he reddened. “What a way to get upstaged, heh.”

Sadeen patted his arm. “It’s alright, my love, you’ll always be useful.” Her eye had a seductive and predatory glint which would have gone over Yuriko’s head had it happened before her Actualisation. The notion was patently discomfiting, and Yuriko coughed into her hand.

When Mum looked at her with a raised eyebrow, Yuriko said, “Ah, I reach Knight a bit after you left Realmheart.”

Both of her parents’ jaws dropped though Virgil immediately whooped, “Amazing!” He laughed and grabbed her hands. “You’re one of the youngest Knights in the Empire!”

Sadeen, after smiling for a short while, pouted, “Ah, that means…”

Yuriko interjected, “No, it doesn’t.”

Mother and daughter met each other’s eyes. Sadeen’s was inquisitive while Yuriko’s was determined. “It does not,” she repeated firmly.

Sadeen sighed and nodded. “It does not.”

Virgil, understandably confused, opened his mouth to ask, but Sadeen pressed a finger over his lips and said, “Just like us.”

After which, Virgil looked like someone punched him in the guts and he asked through gritted teeth, “So who’s the lucky young man?”

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Yuriko gaped at him while Sadeen went off into peals of laughter. “Or men, eh? Maybe even women?”

Colouring furiously, Yuriko began to retort, but her words died in her lips when Gwendith’s, and a moment later, Heron’s face appeared in her mind. She shook her head and said firmly, “Nothing yet.”

“Yet.” Virgil drew out the word, then said, “Well, when you do, make sure to bring them around.”

Yuriko rolled her eyes and didn’t deign an answer. She had little intention to get married or have a long-term relationship anytime soon…well, maybe a fling or two. Her memories of her second incarnation, which had been kept in a tiny box in her mind, seeped out every now and then, and she was suddenly rather curious if it really felt as good as it seemed.

“Anyway,” she said, forcing a return to the original point, “Rami’s doing fine, last I saw. He probably went through his Atavism Ritual, but I’ve no idea since it happened after I left. I haven’t seen Kato since my return.” She pouted. “I wasn’t able to go to Rumiga City with everything that happened in Faron’s Crossing.”

“Unfortunate…” Sadeen said. “He was fine, last I checked.” Then she smirked, “He was complaining about Caera being too clingy, but well, that’s what you get for being such a flirt, hie hie!”

Yuriko grinned. Kato had been the object of many schoolgirl crushes back in the academy, and his long-time girlfriend did have a jealous streak.

Yuriko spoke of her adventures after her Mum left her in Realmheart, how she achieved Actualisation, though she still couched it as the Knight level, and how she fled the Imperial Capital to avoid her forced engagement. Virgil’s eyes flashed in anger, though it was immediately soothed by Sadeen, who murmured, “It is the clan’s way.” The anger didn’t entirely disappear but turned to smouldering embers.

When Yuriko got to the part with her confrontation with Firehead, Wielder of Divine Flames, and how she defeated and bound her second Chaos Lord, with a brief aside on how her former classmate and friend, Ashley Gin who had been turned to the Songstress of Heartfelt Desire, and how she was bound to Yuriko, too, both of her parents turned to look out the room. The window revealed what was happening inside the Colossus hangar easily, and Desire was meditating near the opposite wall.

“She didn’t feel completely like a Chaos Lord,” Sadeen said with a thoughtful frown. “Your Ennoia must have altered her. There have been many Chaos Lords bound throughout the centuries and most of the ones who lived long enough were able to adapt to life in the planes.”

Yuriko nodded and continued with her story, pointing out what she learned from Firehead about their true enemy.

“Ah, that finally makes sense,” Virgil said as he smacked his palm with his fist. “We encountered a Chaos Marquis in the Tidelands…”

“The same one that tried to bar my path,” Sadeen interjected.

“That Marquis, the Whisperer, set us on this path. Siderious,” Virgil continued, “had not been active when we arrived. In fact, the ambient Chaos outside was practically nil. Somehow, that schemer tricked us…or whatever her goals were, it was to enter this place and return it to function. Even worse, she found a way to enter the fortress, and I know she’s behind our current troubles.”

“What troubles?” Yuriko asked.

“We’ve been locked inside,” Virgil said grimly. “Before, we were able to leave the curtain walls and enter the outskirts, but now, we can’t even leave this region. I’m surprised that your group managed to enter at all.”

Yuriko leaned back against the wall. “I… in truth, our journey here was not easy. We entered through a portal hub underneath Rumiga’s surface. But instead of arriving here when we went through the rift, we were diverted to another plane, one that barely had any ambient Chaos. It has its own secrets and I’ve learned many things, but I can’t help but remember…during those first moments when we passed through the portal, I felt something else move…”

“You think the Whisperer managed to influence the portal’s destination?” Sadeen asked. “I do not know her concepts and what she hoped to accomplish here. I fear that our presence will only further her plans.”

Uncharacteristic hesitation. Yuriko’s Mum had always been confident, bordering on arrogant. She was strong enough to fight a Primordial Incarnation, then a mere Chaos Marquis should not have been able to best Sadeen.

“You’ve fought her?” Yuriko asked.

Sadeen nodded and said, “Yes. A canny opponent.”

Yuriko nodded then looked towards the Colossus. She could still feel it pulling at her. She tamped down Fri’Avgi’s eagerness, but she knew the artefact spirit wanted nothing more than to emerge from her Anima.

“The Colossus?”

“A Vasi Colossus, at least,” Virgil said. “We’ve been trying to awaken it for Seasons, but even with Sadeen, we’re making little progress.”

Yuriko looked at her parents’ frustrated faces, and she couldn’t help but giggle, which earned her an annoyed look. “Maybe it's because you don’t have the key.”

While Da looked confused, Sadeen pursed her lips before her eyes widened in realisation, “Your artefact!”

“I think so,” Yuriko said with a smile.

“Then, let’s not wait.”

“Agreed.”

The three of them exited the small resting room and made their way towards the seated Colossus. Unlike the Koinos or Certus Colossi, this one wasn’t built out of wood. Instead, its chassis was made out of a metallic alloy that shifted hues depending on which angle Yuriko viewed it from. Head on, it was actually a rich golden colour nearly identical to Fri’Avgi’s blade, but from a different angle, it was the silver of the Luminous Moon instead.

The others stirred when they entered the chamber, and quietly watched as the three of them approached. Yuriko held out her hand and called Fri’Avgi.

The moment the greatsword appeared, the Colossus’ eyes flared with bluish light. A narrow beam emerged from the left eye and struck the artefact’s red gem. Fri’Avgi quivered, and the Colossus, Eli’Theria, resonated.

But then, inexplicably, the light from the eyes extinguished, and the resonance faded, leaving Yuriko confused, and her parents’ disappointed.

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