Chapter 4: Chapter 3. Are you worthy?

Chapter 3: Are you worthy?

Aria observed her daughter's grave expression as she stared at a mound of ash.

They had finished piling up the two dozen or so corpses that were strewn around, and were just about to look over their loot when Rhea froze. That was a few minutes ago now, and Aria quietly returned to checking out the corpses' belongings. She tried her best to ignore how macabre her task was.

At least it wasn't boring work.

Rhea told her there had been two groups hunting each other here, and it showed very obviously in their clothing. There were the ones she decided to call "the Shinies", those were entirely covered in shining armour. Then, there were "the Leatheries", these ones were wearing faded leather paddings.

The disparity in equipment made her laugh, it was like black and white. Aria could even see some Heat wafting off of the Shinies' gear, which meant that they must've been enhanced to some extent. Meanwhile, the Leatheries were wearing ordinary leather. It should have been a massacre.

Curiously enough, that wasn't exactly what happened. According to Rhea, even though the Shinies had the upper hand in every way that counted, the fight hadn't been that unbalanced. Sure, the Leatheries were losing for most of the fight, but they'd managed to hem in their enemies. If they'd been smarter about it, maybe they could have won? Or maybe not?

She looked at the ten beheaded bodies lying on the ground. All Shinies.

Then there was this inexplicable thing. When she carefully examined those corpses, there was seemingly no wound. Yes, they had other injuries from the fight, but the neck looked fine. It was only after looking closely with her Sight did she notice the line that went around their necks. It was an impossibly fine cut, going smoothly through skin, muscle, and bone.

The creepiest thing was how the head stayed put on the body until it was taken off. And even then, there was no blood; it was like the universe spontaneously decided that these people's heads and bodies were supposed to be detached from each other.

It was weirdly fascinating. The way the head was cut off so cleanly allowed her to have a glimpse of how human bodies worked. She didn't know what she wanted to do with the information, but it was still great. Maybe it would help with her medicine making.

"This is ridiculous," Rhea suddenly said, thankfully startling her. Aria shivered, she didn't much like where her thoughts were going. For a moment there, she had considered cutting them open to see more, to know more, more, more. Dang it! Distraction!

Rhea was frowning heavily, using all of her facial muscles to show her displeasure. It made her look like she was on the verge of an unthinkable, burning rage. Well, it was actually the face she made when she was just a bit frustrated.

Even the air around her felt prickly, like something terrible was about to happen. Normal people would definitely be scared. Aria found the disconnect incredibly cute.

To be fair to her daughter, she wasn't used to showing much emotion on her face, preferring the more blunt way of directly telling how she felt. Without reservations. If she had conversations with total strangers, she'd definitely anger more than one. In these moments, she really believed this girl wasn't human.

Sometimes, she went around like she didn't know how to use her body and just blundered ahead with her own assumptions on how things should be done. The funny thing about it was how it would still work out fine in the end. That was actually how they discovered Heat enhancement.

"What's ridiculous?" Aria asked lightly. She crept closer to stand next to Rhea, and looked at the mound of ashes her daughter had been so focused on. "Is there anything weird about these ashes?"

Rhea grunted, kicking at the mound. "This is not some random mound of ashes," she began to explain, looking more pained with every word. "This. Somehow, someway, was a person. A human."

Aria paused at that, and licked her now dry lips. The memory of lasers flying around flickered in her mind. Could it be that everyone other than them-? That was deeply concerning. "You mean one of them could-" Rhea's shaking head interrupted her, her daughter's shoulders relaxed, but her expression was still as grave. Aria couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not. "What happened, then?"

"I don't know how he did it, but… " Rhea trailed off as she pointed to the creepily beheaded Shinies, her voice as flat as ever. "He suddenly became much stronger, then those guys were dead. I'm thinking his body couldn't handle the strain and this is the result."

"So, it's a kind of trade?" Aria finally released the breath she'd been holding in. From what she got out of this incident, these people were common soldiers and thugs. If even they had the power to reduce someone to dust, the both of them had no business going to the human lands. "A trump card?"

Rhea hummed, and nodded. "This is a bit much for a trump card," she said quietly, and Aria could feel her worry even though she wasn't outwardly emoting anymore. "We're incredibly lucky that we bumped into them here. Before we went to the human lands."

Aria almost laughed, but managed to smother it and turn it into a motherly chuckle instead. What luck? Even if these people couldn't really turn things into ashes, they were just common thugs and soldiers. Who knew what the truly powerful ones from the human lands could do?

//This is the Third Vehl speaking- a grave, serious voice spoke, and Aria could almost picture a neat, noble man talking to her.

\\And the First assisting! The voice this time sounded young and energetic, like an excited child's.

They suddenly appeared inside her head, as if they were her own thoughts, but obviously different. Aria stiffened in alarm, her heart skipping several beats. She could see Rhea's eyes widening as she noticed her distress.

"Did you hear that?" she asked in a hurried whisper. She didn't get a reply before the voices were back again, but she felt small hands grasping her own.

\\This is just a notice from on high, the youthful voice said in a playful tone. So ordinary people don't have to mind it, but we got no way to single out those who needs to hear this-

//Please, Lord First, let me do this. The grave voice spoke up hurriedly, sounding strained. Ah! This is a notice for all mortals under this world's sun: Babel has indeed fallen, like Eden did nine years ago. There was a pause, and Aria could feel the man's sadness. Most of you already suspect what this is about, and you are right.

\\Yup, this is the Call.

//We received the missive a few minutes ago. The heavy beat of drums thundered in the background, and the voice now spoke grandly. Aria felt her heart beat along to the drums, and was about ready to march to protect the human lands. The gods have spoken. Those who believe themselves worthy, ready your Merges and offer them to be judged.

\\Well then, the drums stopped suddenly, and the earlier atmosphere dissipated. Aria stumbled, and all of a sudden, she felt thankful for that flippant voice. It didn't sound as noble as the other one, but she felt more at ease with it. It was more… sincere. We'll announce the Champions' ascent here when the time comes, so be sure to coordinate your efforts with them for the reclamation!

And the voices were gone, leaving her confused as to what the two of them were talking about.

She felt a pressure on her hands, and finally composed herself enough not to frighten Rhea further. "Rhea," she called out to her worried daughter. The girl in question didn't relax per se, she showed almost no outward changes—being so out of tune with her body and all—but the air around her softened.

Maybe she developed this method to get her feelings across? It really was like her to go to stupid length for simple things.

"What happened?" Rhea asked her while deactivating her glowing eyes. She really liked to use those, huh? "Was it an attack? Or a trap? But when did we fall into it?"

"Rhea," she said once again, hoping to stall her usual overreactions. "It's not like that at all. I think. There were two voices, they were talking in my head. And not just to me. They said they were talking to everyone in this world…"

Her words got quieter and quieter as she lost herself in her thoughts. One thing stuck in her mind: Rhea didn't hear them. It was a given that the voices were powerful, and had great authority. After all, they said they could talk to gods. You couldn't do that without being at the top. Or near enough.

She glanced at the girl before her. But they weren't all-powerful either; even if what they said was true and they could send their voices to everyone in this world, then why did Rhea not hear them? They were so confident, so sure of their position that they didn't bother to offer any proof or properly explain what they were saying. Was Rhea the only one out of their sight?

She realised she had been mumbling on and on for minutes, and sent an apologetic smile to her daughter, only to see her lost in thought too. "You figured something out?"

Rhea hummed. "I don't know yet," she said quietly, and Aria immediately knew she'd already figured everything out. Now she'd want more information to be sure. "What did they talk about?"

"They said Eden and Babel were 'truly lost', and that the gods ordered them to tell everyone that they'd become Champions if they deserved it," Aria explained almost before Rhea finished. She herself didn't understand much of what the voices were talking about so she had already forgotten most of their exact words, but she still remembered their point.

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"Is," Rhea said, stumbling on her words. "I mean, is that all?"

Aria was beginning to think something was horribly wrong if even Rhea was this flustered, but still answered the question quickly. "No, they also said to 'ready our Mergers' or something."

"Our what?" They both shook their head. "Never mind, stupid question. So, we ready them and then what?"

"Wait for them to be judged, they said," Aria tried to explained further. She was cursing herself for not listening more seriously earlier. What if this was important? Not only to the people in the human lands, but also to them?

If it was Rhea that heard those voices, she'd have remembered everything they said and more. Aria was sure she would've gotten hints out of their wording or pace or breathing. All she'd 'discovered' was that humans were crafty and not to be trusted. As if they didn't already know that!

"Don't blame yourself over it," Rhea told her, and Aria was both surprised and a bit amused to hear that from her. For someone so out of tune with, well, almost everything, she could be eerily perceptive at times. "Having some people you don't know rudely barging inside your head would be terrifying for anyone. It's already very good for us that you remember this much."

Aria smiled, but wasn't convinced. That sounded like an excuse. She had to do better. She had to be better.

The conversation stalled for a few minutes again before Aria remembered where they were and what they were doing. She sighed. "We're going nowhere with this. Let's continue to search these guys and then we'll talk."

She didn't feel so good about getting some loot anymore now. Whatever these men had wouldn't be of use to them anyway.

They quietly returned to gathering the corpses' belongings. From her pile, there was a number of fighting gear; the usual blades, gauntlets, shields, and what-have-you. Those and more were all there. She put the blades away from the others. They would be coming with them home.

"Something's not right," she said after looking the corpses over several times. It finally jumped out at her when she looked everything over again. She stood up and went towards Rhea, a thoughtful frown on her face. "They only had equipment on them. No food or water."

That seemed to wake Rhea up from her thoughts. The girl took a few seconds to find herself, then she nodded. Aria bit her lip, she really didn't like this situation; there was strange things happening all the time. Rhea's mind was the sharpest she knew. Sure, she could be dense and insensitive at times, but that was because she knew almost nothing about human emotions.

If Aria had to point out something this obvious before Rhea realized it, there was bigger trouble coming that used up all of the girl's brain power.

Frankly, Aria was becoming tired of feeling scared. The Deadlands were a dangerous place, yes. There, danger lurked everywhere; a horrible vermin could be hiding under your feet, dark shadows could come to life and claw your heart out, corrupted wind could blow and drain your life force. She'd seen it all.

But those were a different kind of danger, weren't they? Fearing for your life because of Beasts and beasts alike somehow felt way better than what she was feeling right now, than having to deal with humans. 

Because that's what they were facing, right? Aria wondered if only those monsters could make her usually stoic daughter so unbalanced. Then again, she stood her ground and thought Rhea's lost look was a bit cute too.

"Could it be that they didn't bring any?"

"Impossible," Rhea said offhandedly, regaining her fierce resting face. "That'd be incredibly stupid. And I, for one, will never underestimate humans again. Not after today."

She was back. Aria almost pouted, it wasn't often that she got to see her daughter looking put out. Now, she was back to imitating a marble statue. Equal parts intimidating and boring. If it wasn't for her black hair swaying behind her back, and her tanned skin glowing with life, you would even doubt she was alive.

"You're saying they do have supplies," Aria said calmly, carefully keeping her thoughts from spilling over onto her face. She took a moment to think about the situation before coming to the obvious conclusion. "Then, did they put them somewhere before the fight?"

That was the easiest conclusion, but it didn't seem likely. First, from what Rhea had told her about the fight, Aria guessed it broke out because of a failed ambush. Maybe the Leatheries had the opportunity to hide their stuff before acting, but it didn't make sense for them to give the Shinies time to put their stuff away mid-fight.

And second, it was impossible for them all to have absolutely no supplies on their person. She didn't think her pills were unique, ignoring their other qualities, they could keep someone fighting for a lot longer; there must be something like it in the human lands. So why did none of them have anything other than gear on them?

That was the burning question.

"We should split up and look around." Rhea walked in a circle around their temporary camp. Her eyes were squinted and glowing with Heat. "I don't think we'll find anything from the Shinies,"—Aria smiled at the name—"but maybe the Leatheries left something."

And so, they began looking for the Leatheries' hiding spot. They followed the signs of combat all the way to their start, and began searching from there. It took a little while, but the men's bags were surprisingly easy to find. They were tucked behind a boulder a little ways away from the fight. Aria guessed they weren't trying particularly hard to hide them. After all, from their perspective, it was like going away a bit for an errand.

After inspection, they found that the Leatheries had put all their foods and drinks in five bursting backpacks. And around them were dumped all the Leatheries' clothes and other nick-nacks; like books and flutes and even a pretty painting of a smiling, nude woman.

They kept up their search for ten more minutes or so before giving up. Even if the Shinies somehow had the time to put all their supplies away, they weren't about to put them that far away from them either. They were back to square one, then.

Aria wanted to make a joke about the situation, but Rhea looked so serious she didn't dare open her mouth. She watched as Rhea searched the Shinies once again, this time purposefully. She turned their heads here and there, checked their hands. When she found no hint of whatever she was looking for, she jumped onto the pile where they'd thrown their gear.

"This is it," Rhea said triumphantly. In her hand was a necklace, the white stone adorning it looked rough and unprocessed. She recalled thinking how odd it was that all of them Shinies were wearing one like it, but with their matching armours and weapons, it wasn't odd to write it off as just part of the uniform.

"What about it?" Aria asked, perplexed. Examining the stone again, it truly looked ugly. It was as if they took a random pebble from the ground and made it into a necklace. However, now that Rhea held it like it was the solution to all their problems, she actually got the whisper of an idea of what it could be.

Rhea's eyes lit up, an ethereal glow covering them. She inspected it again, then nodded assuredly and passed the necklace to her. "It has some sort of scribble inside it."

Scribbles? "You mean writing?" Aria answered while redirecting Heat to her eyes. The things she could do with this energy always amazed her, but she wasn't fond of the feeling of self-consumption whenever she used it. She was working on something to counter that, but materials weren't easy to come by. She shook her head, and observed the necklace's stone in depth. "It's not writing. Ah, not any I recognise, I mean."

"Thought so," Rhea murmured softly, a slight frown on her face. She was silent for a bit, her eyes dimming. "No matter. We just need to get what's inside anyway."

"So you really think this is some kind of storage item?" Aria asked. She would be the first to agree that the people of the human lands were more incredible than they expected, but necklaces that could store things were a bit of a stretch. "Aren't there easier ways to-" Rhea shook her head. "Right. If you're telling me about it, you must've already thought about all of that."

"I did, and-" She paused abruptly before turning to look her in the eyes. Aria wasn't startled anymore, her levels of stress were already past all limits. What was it that Rhea noticed now? Was there a giant rock speeding towards them from the sky? An invincible enemy was approaching? "You know how to read?"

"What?" That was sudden. And unexpected. And relieving. Aria now really, truly, completely wanted to lie down and sleep, this day was too much emotion for a fifty years old lady. She was confused, but nodded. "Yes. I know a bit of Latin? But it's as useless here as in the city."

"I know." Rhea went to gather all the necklaces. Aria followed her, a headache starting to form. Now that she thought about it, how long ago was it that she last had a headache? Maybe she should make pills to deal with them too. "But I still want to learn it. We may need it soon." Rhea continued lightly as she gathered the necklaces.

Aria sighed. Again. She'd ask what she meant later. "Alright. But not now. Now, we sleep. I'm dead on my feet."

Rhea hummed. "Yes, yes. Sleep well, you'll need the energy. I think we have some powering up to do."

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