Chapter 256: What light through yonder window breaks

Pre-chapter author's note:

So, in response to reader feedback, one of the changes I implemented in Book 5 is that I added some Status Windows for Emma. (Which she generates herself)

I think you can guess why I'm mentioning this here, and if not, you'll figure it out soon enough. ;)

Eventually, once Kaitlynn is feeling a bit better, we move on to the final arrangements for our departure.

First, we let Yexl send word that we’re about to leave.

Traditionally, the champion of the Tournament of Ascension is sent on their way at the end of the celebratory festival, so technically we’ve missed our scheduled departure time by a couple of days already.

Consequently, we’ve long said our goodbyes to everyone by now, but it would still be a dick move to just leave without further notice. After all, we have no idea when, or even if, we’ll ever see our friends down here again.

And either way, we still need Bhat to actually open a portal out of the Realm for us.

Thankfully, we quickly receive word back that he’ll meet us at the grand plaza where the festival was held.

Well, I guess being sent away from there is tradition too.

Over the past couple of days, as we waited for Goddess to reply, I diligently meditated in whatever spare time I could find. Kaitlynn still tends to sleep from time to time, which helped.

As my girlfriend works on wrangling her cuties and impressing on them the importance of proper behaviour during transit, I take another glance at my self-made Status Window to check the fruits of my labours.

Sweet.

After processing much of the alien Essence in my Core, I’ve finally managed to pass the 10.000 mote milestone.

However, now that I’ve worked through the bulk of what I took from the King of Bones, my rate of progress has slowed down dramatically once again.

I’ve still got quite a bit of alien Essence in my Core, but that’s all much more dispersed, and cleaning it out is a much slower and more annoying process.

Trying to scrub the tiny flecks of colour from my sea of Essence for barely any gains gives me a powerful urge to go hunt some mighty creature and top myself off again with a proper helping of dense Essence.

So far I’ve managed to contain myself—thanks in no small part to Mirta’s warnings and Kaitlynn’s support—but the idea that I’m basically an addict still stings.

We’ll just have to make do with what I’ve got. According to what Akir told me before I left, my current Espir Pool should be enough for the final crossing to the Realm of Imagination, but it might still get hairy.

Eventually, Kaitlynn deems her cuties ready, and returns to our suite, where I’m still sitting cross-legged in front of a ceiling-to-floor window, staring mindlessly at my status.

“Whatcha dooooing?” she asks, leaning onto my shoulders from behind.

Right, she can’t see it...

I’ve always kept my Status Windows invisible to others in this Realm, as I feared being spied on. I didn’t even show them to Kaitlynn, as I couldn’t fully trust that she wasn’t still under certain Commands.

Considering Lio turned out to be hiding inside of Bhat, pulling his strings, I was actually right to be worried on both counts.

Making a conjuration selectively visible is actually not a hard thing to do. Though of course, anyone unaware of a conjuration’s existence is also unaffected by it, so it’s not like I could burn my foes with invisible flames or anything like that.

But I guess there’s no reason not to show her now.

“Just checking my Status Window,” I tell her, stretching my arms up and giving her a brief hug as I do.

“You have a Status Window?” Kaitlynn repeats incredulously. “Why? How?! Show me!”

I laugh at her reaction, which she rudely takes as an invitation to begin tickling me. Eventually, she sits down next to me, and I tell her why and how I made myself an overview.

And once I make it visible to her, Kaitlynn’s eyes rove over my stats with interest. “Ooh, so we still have mental stats?”

“We sure do; those are actually originally from Spiritual Realmspace, and they bled into the Yin-Yang Realm,” I explain. “I’m not entirely sure why they’re still quantised, though. I was told that’s a property only the Yin-Yang Realm and the Realm of Imagination share. It really shouldn’t be a thing down here, but it’s been that way since the start of my journey...”

“Weird,” Kaitlynn mutters. “Wait, what’s Persuasion?”

“That’s the origin of both the Charm and Radiance stats. Apparently they’re actually the same thing, just changed by the Yin-Yang duality inherent of the Yin-Yang Realm.”

“Huh. I guess that makes a kind of sense,” she muses.

Naturally, our conversation eventually culminates in Kaitlynn wanting to try to make her own Status Window.

Of course, before she can do so, she has to learn to find the spots inside her psyche associated with her varying mental stats.

This is something I’d barely learned to do myself back in the Yin-Yang Realm, and considering none of the others had even managed to access their Espir, I never got around to teaching them. But if we’re going to be facing down the Peilor together, then it’s high time Kaitlynn learned.

Thankfully, with how strong Kaitlynn’s spirit has gotten, it doesn’t take her long. “Okay, so I’ve found my Willpower volcanoes and my Mental Fortitude trees,” she says a little while later. “But I probably don’t have any Persuasion, right? I didn’t have Radiance back in the Yin-Yang Realm, after all.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” I reply wryly, scratching the back of my head. “You might wanna take a good look around for it.”

Kaitlynn scrunches up her nose. “Really? Okay... So I’m supposed to look for big purple flowers, right?”

I purse my lips. “Actually, I have a feeling a different metaphor might suit you better. Maybe try to look for something shiny and friendly?”

Kaitlynn snorts. “Is that how you see me?” she mutters. “All right, I’ll give it a try.”

I quietly sit next to her, idly studying her profile and just enjoying her presence.

“Oh, there’s something here!” she suddenly exclaims. “It’s not a flower, though, it’s more like... like a will-o-wisp? The colours are still really pretty though, they’re like... warm and inviting.”

“Sounds like you found your Persuasion.”

“Yeah but—this can’t be right, can it? There’s so many!”

“What are you keeping me waiting for?” I gripe. “Show me your Status Window already!”

“Okay okay!” she laughs. “Give me a sec... aaaand done!”

A window pops up in front of me, clearly modelled after my own, though with some personal touches.

“Well?” Kaitlynn prompts after a couple of seconds. “Weird, right?”

“Nah, it’s not so bad. I like what you did with the corners.”

“I meant my Persuasion, you numbskull!” she exclaims, bumping into me with her shoulder. “Seriously, why the hell is it so high, and... you already knew, didn’t you? How did you know?!”

“I suspected,” I correct, reaching out to boop her on the nose. “All of those bloodthirsty former Apexes following you like meek little kittens... Yeah, that’s actually not so easily accomplished, you know? And you’ve been wrangling the lot of them for like a year, right? No wonder your Persuasion’s so high.”

I’m not surprised her Mental Fortitude has overtaken her Willpower either. She’s been struggling under Suri’s Commands for a long time as well, after all. The fact that her Persuasion has easily overtaken that as well is telling, however; she’s definitely far more talented at it than me.

Kaitlynn’s excited face slowly falls as she turns further towards me. “But then... are you saying they’re only following me because I’m affecting them?”

And this is why I didn’t tell her sooner.

I shake my head. “Don’t think about it like that. Think of it like a natural aura you possess that makes you extra likable. At most it helped you break through that mindless hunger of theirs. You haven’t even been using it consciously!”

“But then they still like me in part because of my aura,” Kaitlynn argues. “And not for me.”

“It is you, though,” I reply earnestly, turning to face her fully as well. “Or part of you, at least. If someone likes you a little more because of your adorable laugh, do they not like you for you? If I love you a little more because of your gorgeous eyes, do I not love you for you?”

Kaitlynn bites her lip, squinting happily at me, but stays silent as she studies me.

“What?” I can’t help but ask after a moment, self-conscious under her scrutiny. “What is it?”

“Nothing!” Kaitlynn replies with a grin. “I’m just waiting for more compliments. Go on, don’t let me stop you.”

I pounce on her with a growl, my fingers immediately questing for her most ticklish spots.

In the silence after we’re done laughing, as we lie next to each other, bathed in the light shining in through the window, Kaitlynn looks at me and murmurs, “I love you.”

I couldn’t fight off the smile breaking out on my face if I wanted to. “I love you too.”

Then we take our sweet time proving that to each other.

Afterwards, we spend a little more time going over all our preparations for the journey, trying to make sure we haven’t overlooked anything.

Somehow it’s giving me flashbacks to my parents going on holiday, back before my father’s accident. The nostalgia is bittersweet.

Finally, we decide Suri’s had enough time to mull it all over, and head over to hear what promises she’s come up with.

Down in the Vault, we find that Suri has dressed for the occasion. By which I mean that she’s opted not to have a human conjuration around her this time, instead greeting us in her actual spiritform.

As this Realm still prohibits flight, her cyan, crystalline shape rests on a conjured pillow next to Yuna, who has her triple tails curled around it protectively.

Considering that Suri’s spiritform is still about the size of a small child like this, she’d be priceless as an actual gem back on Earth.

Anyway, I guess this is supposed to be symbolic or something. Like she’s saying she’s facing us without pretences.

Not that she could fool me if she tried. In the Spiritual Realms, there is only intended meaning. There’s no way to say something and mean something else. At most, she could try to omit things in a promise.

And even then, I’m watching her like a hawk, so if she leaves out something crucial that allows her to—

Kaitlynn, seeming to sense my tension, gently rests a hand on my upper arm. I sigh and uncross my arms, shooting her a wry smile.

“All right,” Suri chimes. “I have come up with three promises which I think ought to cover all of your concerns regarding my transit, and one that’s a little more... personal. For now, I wish to leave it at those. I considered making them conditional to certain timeframes, like the end of your conflict with the Peilor, etcetera, but I’ve decided to leave those caveats out. I’m not looking to create loopholes to escape my promises; I trust that someday, you will release me of this Command of your own accord.”

I nod. “If all goes well.”

Mentally, I add, and as long as you don’t stab us in the back somehow.

“I’m sure that day will come,” Kaitlynn says encouragingly.

“Well, then,” Suri chimes. “Let’s get to it, shall we?”

Author's note:

Thanks for reading! ^^