Chapter 61: Ch. 61 – Eden, the Treasured Oasis

Alkatyenia and I stepped out of the void and into the center of a large city. Despite the unusual meeting grounds, my senses told me that the city had been mostly emptied of mortals while thousands of God-ranked individuals had replaced the residents. Typically, warring hegemons would have mobile fortresses that could house an army of thousands, but unfortunately, our children often reached that level of power without having to build the same foundation as other hegemons since we were doting parents... and here we were, solving yet another of our children's problems.

 

At our level of strength, few could sense our arrival, our children among the number, but several ancient powers were also here who could. I recognized the five cloaked auras since they all belonged to the same fallen pantheon that Alkatyenia and I had once been a part of. Most of us had retired from the endless conflict that dominated the Expanding Firmament, having reached the stage where we created our own internal universes, but connections to the outside world were hard to sever entirely.

 

"Golunda seems to be up to her usual tricks," Alkatyenia said with a smirk.

 

I sighed, "Over a hundred million years old and still playing tricks on juniors. You'd think that she would have learned to control her instincts after this long."

 

"You're twice her age, yet you are no better... or we would not have as many children as we do," she retorted. "There is always a reason behind her actions, and her target seems tilted towards you. Go see what she wants then bring her back with you so that we can all catch up."

 

"Find us somewhere nice and quiet for us to reconnect," I teased before I slipped back into the void.

 

When I stepped back out, I was in a dark alley between two large buildings. The setting was far too clique, yet the young Lord-ranked God was too deep in Golunda's web to see or sense the trap that he was in. Currently, she had the appearance of a young, innocent-looking girl that was being pressed up against the wall by a green-scaled drake in his humanoid form. The sheer fact that he had not sensed my arrival was a sign of just how lost he was to Golunda's Poisoned Desire aura since his bloodline should be telling him to prostrate himself before me. She had noticed my appearance, though, her eyes turning to match mine.

 

I sighed as I walked towards them and placed a hand on the young drake, freeing him from her influence. Immediately, the young drake lashed out at me as he spun around, but I stopped his hand easily, catching him by the wrist. When I did though, I frowned since I could sense the faintest traces of a familiar, dark energy which was what allowed him to resist the bloodline suppression. I did not hesitate and engulfed his body in crimson-violet flames, casting him to the side to die.

 

"Entode," I growled.

 

"I know how you are. Without seeing the proof, you would never fully commit," she replied, now back to her true appearance.

 

Golunda stood at seven feet with blood-red skin and dark violet hair. Her large chest was barely restrained by the black lacy corset that she wore. Her thin, long tail swayed side to side with amusement since she knew where my gaze was lingering. 

 

"I've missed you too, and Alkatyenia. A shame that only troubled times can draw us out of the shadows and bring us together," she said, stepping forward and wrapping her tail around my waist.

 

"When are we due to meet with the others?" I asked.

 

"Three days."

 

"I guess we can keep our reunion on the short side then," I replied with a smile, cupping her cheek before I drew both of us into the void.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

My dreams faded away as I slowly woke up. Raven was curled into me with her head on my chest, still asleep. I smiled, sliding my hand up her side and enjoying her unconscious reaction to press herself against me. She woke up a few minutes later and gave me a kiss, as she did most mornings.

 

"Do you think we'll reach Eden today?" she asked.

 

"I hope so... the endless sand and ash is getting boring," I chuckled. "Plus, there are about a dozen videogames that I want to play once my beautiful mechanic can set up the power system."

 

"I guess you've earned the chance to relax for a while," she teased with a smirk.

 

"You're sooo gracious," I teased before I kissed her again.

 

We got out of bed and got dressed then started our usual routine. Katye and Echo were already up and making breakfast... well, Katye cooking while Echo sat at the simple stone table and watched. Raven ended up joining her since one of my morning tasks had become gathering water so that everyone could wash up before the ten-hour car ride. 

 

By the time that I had drawn enough water out of the air to fill the large basin, Katye had finished cooking. We ate and talked lightly over the meal about nothing important. Afterwards, we all got cleaned up and I used the remaining water to clean our clothes while we waited on the batteries to recharge.

 

"Rebecca, I was thinking... You can fly with your Dusa form, right?" Katye asked while we loaded up the rover with what we had taken out for camping.

 

"Probably... I did when the form was incomplete, but landing was not my forte," I chuckled.

 

"Are you willing to try and scout the area? The map is all but useless without any landmarks and we should have found the valley by now."

 

"I guess I can give it a try, but no one better make any jokes if I take another hard landing."

 

"If it was anyone else, you would as you healed them," she retorted.

 

I smirked but did not refute her claims. After giving Raven a kiss on the cheek, I walked a little away from the group. Although I had not practiced the transformation since the last time that I triggered it, I instinctually knew that I could do it again by focusing on that dragon shape within my Soul Realm.

 

Thankfully, my body did not grow into the dragon-human hybrid, rather it was a coating of my mana and some other kind of energy that I did not understand. Still, while I was in this form, it was as real as my true body and felt every touch as if it was my skin. I had not been close to the others the last time that I had changed, so I did not realize it, but now, I towered over them.

 

"How, um, long can you keep up the transformation?" Katye asked, swallowing hard.

 

Glancing at Raven and Echo, I could tell that they were being pressured by my aura, so I took several more steps away as I answered, "I'm not sure... I'm not wasting too much energy standing here but flying could be different. Give me ten minutes and I'll see what I can find; I'll head back the moment that I sense the power is weakening."

 

Katye gave me a nod, but she avoided looking at me, so I could only sigh. I did not know what my aura felt like, but I remembered the sensation of Iseto's when I thought I was going to die. It was suffocating and felt like there was a blade pressing against my throat, so I could imagine that I was making them very uncomfortable like this.

 

With a thought, my wings flapped, and I launched myself into the air. My body was not the most aerodynamic in this form, but I made up for that with my Wind, instinctually wrapping it around my frame. I climbed higher and higher into the air until I literally touched the clouds.

 

It was an exhilarating experience to soar through the sky, living out one of my old fantasies. The sun was warm and soothing on my back while the wind blowing past me was nice and cool, keeping my temperature in perfect balance. There was something about this that felt familiar and natural, so I quickly forgot about intimidating the others, and even my goal of coming up here until I saw the green of the valley.

 

My wings dipped and I slowly descended through the air. Part of me did not want to land, but I also knew that the others were waiting on me. I swooped in low, away from them but not too far, and flapped my wings rapidly to stop myself then dropped onto my feet. Next, I undid my transformation and walked over to the group.

 

"I found it. I'm not sure of the distance, but it's that way," I said as I neared, pointing a thumb over my shoulder.

 

"Well, at least we have a direction. Let's get on the road and, if we are lucky, we'll reach Eden before we have to recharge the batteries," Katye said.

 

"If you can find the road that is," I chuckled.

 

"Just get in the car smartass," Katye retorted, opening the driver's door.

 

Raven and Echo were already in the car, so I headed for the backseat as Katye climbed into her seat. I got in the rover and Raven slid over to her usual spot, resting against me. By now, I should know that there was not a lot that could shake our relationship, but the reassurance of simple actions like this was nice. I did not know how I would take seeing my girlfriend turn into a ten-foot-tall human-dragon hybrid, so I could not blame her if it bothered her.

 

"So, how was flying?" Raven asked with a soft smile.

 

"The landing was certainly better this time," I chuckled. "It was... amazing. I touched the clouds and could see for miles in all directions. It was better than any dream or hope to glide through the air with my own body. It almost feels like it was something that I was meant to do, if that makes any sense."

 

"It does... I felt the same way when I went on my first spacewalk. I always wanted to be a Zero-G mechanic," she replied.

 

"Well, whenever Diyoza gets here, we're taking her ship. It shouldn't be hard for you to get as many spacewalks as you want in the future... maybe we can even fix up what's left of the Ark. You were able to do it before, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to do it again with a real ship at your disposal."

 

"Can we settle the Eligius prisoners before you start promising favors for a ship that we don't have yet?" Katye chided while driving.

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Raven chuckled while I retorted, "As you command, former Heda."

 

We drove for a couple of hours before the rover reached the top of a sand dune and we all saw it. Ahead of us was a valley of lush green forest that stood out from the yellow-red sands that we had seen for days. Eden, the only patch of green left on the surface of the Earth; we were finally here, ready to start our new life.

 

No one talked as Katye drove towards the forest. We were all excited seeing the first bit of life in days, but the moment that we crossed the line between sand and dirt, both Katye and I froze, looking towards the center of the valley. There was something down there, deep underground, that had mana, and it was far stronger than both of us together, though there was also something strange about it.

 

"You sense it, right?" Katye asked.

 

"Yeah... but this doesn't feel anything like Iseto," I replied.

 

"What is it?" Echo asked.

 

"There is a source of mana underneath this valley... but as Rebecca said, it doesn't 'feel' like a person," Katye replied.

 

"Then what is it?" Raven asked.

 

"Shockingly, our knowledge about our powers is not much greater than your knowledge. When I woke up in this crazy world, I simply knew that I could use Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Space and some kind of healing ability. I've been figuring this crap out as I go, so I have no idea what it is," I retorted.

 

"Then, what? Can we go back to the bunkers?"

 

"I don't think we need to," Katye said. "This energy doesn't feel like Rebecca's either... if I had to describe it, it would be more like a computer. A one-track mind that only wants to complete its goal."

 

"And what is its goal?" Echo asked with skepticism.

 

"I have no idea, but this is the only place left on Earth that is survivable. We can't just abandon it."

 

"Why don't we set up camp outside of its Domain then we can check this out tonight when our Shadow powers are at the strongest?" I suggested.

 

"That sounds like a good idea, I just wished that we did not have to go down there blind," Katye agreed as she turned the car and drove out of the area.

 

"If we are waiting until the night, I might have a way to find out what's going on without putting us into too much danger."

 

"Oh? What do you mean?"

 

"After my Naru Darc trial, I got a number of spells, including something called Spirit Call. I haven't used it before, but I should be able to summon the spirit that I defeated," I explained.

 

"You can raise the dead?" Echo asked.

 

"In a sense, I guess... the spirit I fought against wasn't human and I can only call on him until I defeat my next opponent, but that isn't happening soon."

 

She sighed, shaking her head, but did not say anything else. Katye stopped the rover a few hundred feet away from the green valley, yet we could still see down into it. After we all got out of the vehicle, I started creating the small buildings while Katye unpacked our usual supplies.

 

Waiting for night to fall was not easy for us with the tension of a possible danger being so close. It felt like it was never ending with all of these twists that Tori had thrown at us. This was supposed to be our chance at some peace, but the longer that we sat outside of the valley, the more doubts crept into our mind.

 

Finally, the sun set and the moon rose into the sky. With the others a few feet behind me, I bit my thumb and drew a symbol on the palm of my other hand. Channeling my Shadow mana into my left hand, it took nearly every ounce that I had, but the symbol shined with the dark blue glow that the spirits had in the Shadow Realm then released a pulse.

 

Much like the first time that he appeared in front of me, a blue hand ripped out of the void and pulled himself out. He was taller than me and he looked down at me with his sunken black eyes and broken horn over his right brow. He was in his black armor and had his daggers in their sheaths while the rest of his body was made up of the dark blue glow.

 

"You called me," he said with a raspy whisper.

 

"Yes... That valley has some kind of source of mana. Can you go and figure out what it is?" I asked.

 

He did not reply with words and, instead, dashed towards the valley. I looked over my shoulder at the others and saw a mixture of reactions. Katye, who understood the Shadow Realm, looked mostly neutral, maybe a little impressed, while Echo and Raven were both unsettled, but to different degrees.

 

"Sorry... he isn't the most attractive thing to look at, but would you rather Katye or I charge into an unknown Domain that could possibly cause another fight?" I asked as I walked over to the stone table.

 

"No," Raven said.

 

"What is he?" Echo asked.

 

I shrugged, "A greater spirit, that's pretty much all I know. He really didn't talk much while he was trying to kill me during my trial."

 

Echo rolled her eyes at my reply, but it was the truth. I had no idea what he was, or had been, since I did not recognize his appearance. In the end though, it did not matter because he was now a greater spirit and bound to serve me when I summoned him. We played cards while we waited for him to return, but surprisingly, it did not take him too long.

 

"That was fast. What can you tell me about the mana source?" I asked.

 

"It's a Supreme Heaven-ranked treasure protected by some type of defensive, maze-type labyrinth. I was unable to penetrate the ground more than five feet before the formation repelled me, but I believe that there is a pathway inside, though you will have to traverse it without relying on magic," the spirit replied.

 

"Is it dangerous for us to enter the valley then?" 

 

"No, the labyrinth is underground and affects nothing on the surface other than enriching the Life inside the valley."

 

"Any questions that you can think of?" I asked, looking at Katye.

 

"How do you know it's a treasure and a defensive structure?" Katye asked.

 

"The energy signatures are not disguised or cloaked. Whoever placed this treasure here is wanting it to be found, though it will take effort to find the proper entrance and then navigate the labyrinth."

 

"Another test," Katye sighed

 

"No one is forcing us to go searching for it. We just need the land above to settle down on and get ready for the rest of our people to come," I replied.

 

"Are you really content with sleeping on top of a 'Supreme Heaven-ranked treasure' for the rest of your life? Because I'm not. With our luck, if we don't do something about it, it's likely to come around and bite us in the ass at some point."

 

"True... but it's also not something we have to rush. We have six years before things should start picking up again, Katye. Can we enjoy a little peace first before we charge into whatever nonsense that has been placed to test us?"

 

"I guess you're right... it hasn't even been a month since you recovered. Fine, we'll move into the valley tomorrow and keep an eye out for Madi. We can leave the treasure hunting for later," Katye agreed.

 

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