Chapter 104: Chapter 099 – Heart XIV

The sensation of comfort was Teyva’s first indication that something was up. The second was the noisy reminder sounds that she had missed several prompts. She barely remembered anything past her first encounter with the Archon. Pain had blinded most of her senses. She flinched as memories surged back in with that thought and she sat up, throwing the sheets off of her body only to hear a rather disgruntled sound come from something that had been laying on top of her. She didn’t have the wherewithal to register what the source might have been, more concerned about her arm. Or rather. Chains. Two chains hung limply from her shoulder, both of them twisting and reacting to her awakening. She blinked, confusion turning to horror as she realized she had feeling in both of them.

“What the fuck?” She gagged, quickly using [Simple Shift] while focused on one of them. The silver chain bloated and changed colors before finally taking the shape of her arm. It wasn't the same as it had been. Her claws had joined more with her fingers and small ridges had begun to form on her knuckles. She turned her wrist over, the limb felt tight, unused. She pressed her lips together, she didn't like that she was becoming more accustomed to the changes.

She ran her hand over her shoulder where the limb met her torso and didn’t feel any sort of seam or problem. Well, besides the fact that she still had a second limb hanging directly beneath it! She experimentally flexed the chain, twisting it and retracting it before trying to cast [Simple Shift] on it as well. Just like the other it turned into an arm all its own. Her breath caught in her throat and she felt a scream rising to the top as another sound forced her back to reality.

“Mother?”

She blinked and turned to look into the huge eerie eyes of a particularly lazy-looking sphinx. The scream rising to the blockage in her throat turned into a lump. Heat began to rise up behind her eyes. “Nephral?” She murmured before reaching toward him with all three arms. “Nephral? Is that you dearie?”

The sudden forceful impact of a flying feline colliding with her chest sent her falling backward. She wrapped her arms around the tiny creature, pulling him close to her face and taking a deep breath. He certainly smelled like Nephral. His fur was so soft, his wings fluttering with delight. She squeezed him tightly, unwilling to let him go, even as he wiggled a little bit in her grip. “Mother! Too tight!” He finally gasped through her affections.

She released him, wide-eyed, and gave him enough space to hop down into her lap. The Sphinx looked up at her and she took a few moments to take in every detail of him. He was completely unharmed, his tiny body maybe even a bit fatter than it was before. Operating purely on instinct she held herself up with her left and secondary right arm while she stroked his head with her primary right arm. “What are you doing here? I’ve been- and then- but what? Where are we sweetheart?”

Nephral canted his head to the right, “You have been asleep for quite a while, mother,” Nephral said. “Over a week.”

Teyva felt the blood drain from her already pale face, “A week? Dearie, what happened?”

There was a knock on the door that interrupted Nephral’s attempt to regale her, it swung open and two figures slipped inside. The first was Azrael, she was focused on carrying a tray laden with bowls of various soups that smelled positively divine. The other was a man a little shorter than Azrael with short blonde hair and pale skin. His eyes glowed with a strange blue light and he seemed to have a rather odd aura about him. He was speaking as they passed inside, “I can take care of it Azrael!”

Azrael shook her head, “Would you give it a rest Batel? It’s my turn.”

“Come on, Auntie Azrael, please?” He pleaded with her.

Azrael squeezed her eyes shut, “If it would get you to stop calling me that, I’ll consider it!” She snarled, looking up and meeting Nephral’s gaze. “Hey Neph, sorry for the noise, I-” She trailed off as her gaze followed the flicking of Nephral’s tail along the bed and to the now sitting Teyva. The Azar’s hands went slack and it was only by the graceful movements of her male companion that the soup was spared an untimely end. She pushed past him without a thought for the soup and in an instant was wrapping her arms around Teyva’s neck and squeezing her with every ounce of strength she had. “You’re awake! Praise be to the Aspects, you’re okay,” She sobbed, burying her face in Teyva’s shoulder.

Teyva chuckled, stroking her friend’s head, “I don’t know if having an extra arm is ‘okay’, personally, but I’ll take what I can get at this point.”

Azrael pulled back and looked down at the new limb. She took it in her hands and lifted it up, examining Teyva’s fingers. They’d grown more monstrous, the talon-like nails having merged with her bones. She looked over her skin which had remained pale but the starry imagery had faded a little, her skin looking more like it was glittering now. Azrael looked up at Teyva, “Paraklytus tried to reattach your arm as fast as he could but you’d already grown those two chains by then, none of us imagined that-”

She was cut off by Teyva’s bluster, pulling her arm away, “Paraklytus? Where is that son of a bitch?” She snarled, only for Azrael to put her hands on Teyva’s shoulders.

“I know you’re angry but you need to take a breath, he did everything he could to take care of you the past week. He’s… not a bad guy Teyva. Just a really brutal teacher,” Azrael managed but Teyva wasn’t hearing any of it. She whipped her head towards the stranger who was still warily standing a few feet way with the tray of frustratingly delicious-smelling soup. The guy straightened his back a little, offering Teyva an uneasy smile. She narrowed her eyes.

“And what’s your story?” She demanded.

He opened and closed his mouth in terror, looking more like a fish than a grown man. “I uh… M-mother, that is, um…”

She frowned, “Mother?”

“Teyva, breathe for me,” Azrael urged, “Try to remember what happened in the arena. That’s Batel Rani, Teyva Rani’s little brother. He was the skeleton boss you were fighting near the end.”

Teyva mouthed the words and frowned, “You don’t look like a skeleton.”

Azrael got up and took the tray from Batel before shoving him in Teyva’s direction. He stumbled a few paces before coming to a stop at her side. She looked up and into his glowing blue eyes, something strange twisting in her stomach. She frowned and pointed to the bed. “Sit down,” He obeyed without question and she reached out to take his face in her hands, looking him over. She wasn’t sure why she felt that was the right way to do it but it felt… correct. She canted her head to the right, “Let me have a look at you,” She commanded, turning his head left and right. It was the same short head of ash blonde hair, the same youthful face, the same sad eyes. Her eyes widened. “Batel? But-”

He reached up and took her hands, squeezing them and lowering his head to her in obvious deference, “I do not possess the words to articulate how grateful I am to you, Mother. To think that you had the power to give us a second chance. You truly are a being of awesome power,” He murmured, “You accepted us, without hesitation.”

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Teyva frowned despite the odd warm feeling in her chest. She knew that feeling too. The same feeling she had when she was interacting with the Mockeries or any of her other summons. Was this guy serious? How the hell had she managed something like that? “I’m not sure what I did,” Teyva admitted.

“Then you need to see it for yourself!” Batel urged, looking up to her with the biggest smile she’d ever seen on a person in her life.

“Easy Batel, she’s been burning through her mana all week, it might take a bit for her strength to come back,” Azrael said.

“My mana?” Teyva muttered, frowning, “Why was I using mana?”

Azrael scratched the back of her neck, “Your mana would replenish only to drop down to nothing again over and over for the past week. Every single time you did that, well…” She looked to the door, “Batel is right. It’s not something I can explain.”

Teyva frowned and rotated on the bed, her extra arm catching on the blanket beneath her. She glanced down and scowled at the obstructive limb, casting [Simple Shift] and turning it into a chain. She slid the chain up and around her good arm, getting it out of the way. It was a dangerous look, but she didn’t have much of a choice now. Azrael tried to stop her from going further but Teyva pushed her away, pressing her feet to the ground in time for Nephral to leap to his usual spot on her shoulders. The sensation alone gave her the strength to stand. She stumbled once before getting her footing, looking down at herself and noting she was wrapped in comfortable white linen robes. She made a face, not liking the idea that someone had changed her clothing for her.

“Are you okay, mother?” Batel asked.

“She will be fine little brother,” Nephral said, his tail flicking back and forth, “Our mother is strength incarnate.”

Teyva rolled her eyes, chuckling a little at Neprhal’s habit of exaggerating and reached up to scratch under his chin. “Good to have you back dearie,” She turned to Azrael, “Well? Show me.”

Azrael and Batel exchanged glances and nodded before leading her towards the door and out into the hallway. She realized immediately where she was, in one of the upper floors of the University. Except it was everything but the dire, sad place she remembered. Lights glowed above her head, giving illumination to the weaving hallways and putting a spotlight on the denizens of the place. There were dozens of them. Men, women, and children moving about here and there throughout the facility, their focus on whatever work they were doing. A few children ran past Teyva, their glowing blue eyes sparkling with energy and play. Teyva watched them go, “Where are the bodies?” She asked breathlessly.

“Teyva those are the bodies,” Azrael said evenly.

Teyva whipped her head in Azrael’s direction, “What? How?”

“That’s a question you’ll have to answer for us,” Azrael said and began to lead Teyva down the hall and past a group of men and women who were talking among themselves. They all froze when they saw Teyva and quickly bowed at the waist. Teyva felt her stomach twist into a knot only to explode into butterflies when they greeted her.

“Good morning, Mother, it’s good to see you well,” They said in unison.

Teyva looked at Azrael and the Azar shrugged offering her friend an easy smile. “You did one hell of a thing, Teyva.”

It still didn’t make any sense! Teyva struggled for answers before realizing that she had a pile of notifications to go through. Maybe there was something there that could clear things up. She stepped over to the wall and leaned back, pulling up her prompts. The first prompt cleared up pretty much everything in one go.

You have awakened a new Ability! This ability is inherited and not bound to a particular aspect.
Embrace Monster [Inherent] No Rank Active Support | Mana Cost Varies	After forming a spiritual connection with a Monster, you possess the ability to uplift it and take it in as one of your children. The entity created through this process counts as one of your Summons for the purposes of synergistic effects. The entity retains its own will, desires, and personality. Reinforcing and maintaining the entity’s loyalty is your responsibility.

“Oh,” Teyva said mutely. Turning to Azrael. She pulled out her journal and called up the details of the new ability. She handed her journal over to Azrael and the woman poured over the details. The Azar’s skin paled and she looked up at Teyva, wide-eyed. Teyva nodded to her friend’s silent response and looked down at her hands.

"What the hell is happening to me?"

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