“What if there’s a barrier blocking us from them?” Sebastian remarked, watching as Solomon initiated and then twisted a spell between his fingers.
“Any barrier can be broken, or circumvented.” He clenched his hand shut and broke the spell to demonstrate. Without another word from Sebastian, Solomon stood up and bowed before the two of them and left, his wispy robes trailing behind him.
“Seems you inspired him,” Dumon chuckled, watching him leave.
“Appears so, I hope he’ll have success,” Sebastian sighed, giving a weak flap of his wings as the demon left.
* * *
Solomon sat down at his desk and pulled out a book from a nearby pile and began reading through its pages. The book was thick and full of scribbled writing, some of it was his but other sections were his father’s, written before Solomon stole it and took it with him. He did not wish to use some of the spells his father had conjured, but at the moment he couldn’t get one certain spell off his mind. It was another level of plane walking, going deeper than he had ever before, into the realm of the dead. Surface spells such as a barrier would be unable to affect him from within that plane, while he could travel from one side to the other unhindered. Putting himself in so far would take a lot out on his body, he would need to be swift in his mission.
Grabbing a spare scrap of paper, Solomon quickly penned a note and left it in full view to anyone who entered his room, before prying free a small phial that lay hidden by a few books. It was filled with blood, which had been given to him by Dumon. Blood magic was far less exhausting when not using your own blood, after all.
He poured it into the deeply carved channels of his desk, watching as it filled out the magic circle that lay etched into its surface. Once the liquid had settled, he took a deep breath and placed his hands on the required runes, taking a moment to clear his mind. He began the chant, immediately being hit with an intense pain which made him wince. Solomon pushed on; he knew the pain that was associated with the process, even if this did come over excessive. One final push later, he collapsed onto the desk, fading into the unknown depths below.
He soon awoke and found himself on an ethereal field covered in brilliant purple flowers, with the sky around him was being a soft red and the sound of flowing water filled the air. As he inspected closer, everything appeared ghostly; the plants disintegrated at his touch only to form again afterwards. From his surroundings, he guessed he had succeeded, or he had died, but that was less likely than the first option. The vastly different landscape would make it difficult to navigate, the only redeeming factor was that Solomon knew the soul planes mirrored the basic land shapes of the overworld. Taking to the air, he soon spotted the sea over to his left and flew towards it, noting the island chain that ran in between the two interconnected isles.
Misty forms watched as he travelled; they were the spirits of the dead that had passed on to reside within this tranquil plane, keeping an eye on him to see his intentions. None of them wanted trouble, not now they had moved on from a war-torn land. Seeing him pass without incident relaxed them, but for one to have to travel through this plane, they wondered what was occurring on the surface.
Solomon had noticed the eyes watching him, sometimes examining their owners as they passed; here the races could live in peace, he even noticed the distinct shapes of the ancestors of both kin.
“What are you doing here, Necromancer?” a voice echoed behind him, causing him to stop abruptly and turn around. The form in front of him was that of a demon, one that had long since passed judging by the bestial appearance of it.
“The isles have been divided by a barrier,” Solomon responded, “I need to bypass it.”
“What was the cause?” the ghost enquired, Solomon guessed that he was interested in the current state of the world.
“A rogue human mage, a chaos element user.” What he said appeared to surprise the demon; he likely expected the answer to be angels, given Solomon’s race. He thought on it for a minute while Solomon continued to study him; his body was stocky, covered by what looked to be thick fur in places, although he had less use for the skin covering within this plane.
“Have there been sightings of strange creatures?”
“Strange being dark in colour, potent in their use of magic and possessing crystallised mana protrusions?” From the fact this ancestral demon knew about them he knew that was not the first time they had been seen.
“That last one is new, but likely a side effect of existing within the overworld. It’s a shame I’m no longer able to study them.”
“You wrote a book?” Solomon interjected, obtaining a nod from the ghost in front of him.
“I did; it was bound in leathers and it might still exist today if you looked,” he responded with a smile, it was warming to see one so interested in his work. “What you’re looking for is information on the Nether Plane, that’s where those creatures originate from.” He digested this for a second, he would have to try and locate the book once this was all over. “Come, let us continue to wherever you were heading,” the ghost offered, beckoning over towards the West.
“Linlake somewhere, in the swamplands,” he replied to his offer, unsure if the name was familiar to the elder demon.
“I believe I know where you mean, Linlake was the name of one of the many villages that settled by the northern most lake.” The young mage was confused for a moment; back when he lived the swamplands must have been filled with more villages than there were now. Linlake was the only remaining village in that location now. The demon turned and flew off in lead; Solomon found it surprisingly difficult to keep up.
As they went, they discussed the situation as well as the current state of affairs around the isles. The ghost was disheartened by the continued resentment towards their kind; the circumstances had changed little from when he lived. Solomon also received some useful information regarding the creatures and their senses, as well as the story of how he first found the strange beings.
They reached the destination swiftly; the northern most lake was a reoccurring feature in both planes, locating it was not difficult. They descended down and came to rest just offshore above the lake. Solomon did not wish to startle anyone by suddenly appearing on top of them. The ghostly demon was fiddling with something before offering out a closed palm to Solomon, who was curious at the gesture.
“Take this, I think you’ll appreciate it,” he remarked, opening his hand and dropping the object into Solomon’s waiting palms. He looked at it; it was a smooth crystalline sphere which pulsed with energy as he held onto it. “You seem to have a pure heart young one; I trust you will not abuse it.” He offered Solomon a bow before taking back to the sky.
“Thank you!” Solomon shouted after him, “I’ll return once everything settles down again.” The ghost paused for a second and glanced back towards him, giving him a wide grin.
“I’ll be looking forward to it, we have much to discuss!”
Solomon was alone now, prepared for the next stage of his journey. Using the sphere as a boost, he phased himself up to the plane above, the one he had used before with Arariel.
Chapter 10: Tidings from the East
Sakura marched on through the icy winds, determined to find her quarry. She had taken a furred jacket from one of the other houses after rushing out of Crono’s lodge, they would have stopped her from leaving again if she had returned. It was doing its job and keeping her warm, although it was rather heavy for her liking. By her estimate, she had been gone for over an hour now and her body was starting to numb in the prevailing cold, she wasn’t going to last too much longer. Trees surrounded her location with the odd few showing damage or scratches, the best place to possibly find one of the required creatures was where she first encountered one.
Eventually, she came across the building she knew to be her house and went inside. It was chilled but at least she could try to warm up. Grabbing the blankets on her bed, she wrapped them her body and sat there shivering, her br
eath forming a notable mist in the air. A noise from above roused her attention, the object that created it fell from the ceiling onto the floor in front of her.
Soon she found herself looking at the same long bodied creature that had wounded her before. It quickly shot up and placed its face less than an inch from hers, tilting its head from side to side as it regarded her. She grasped at her blades but it reached out and held her arms tight, enough to stop her fetching her blades but not strong enough to hurt her. Its tail coiled around her legs in a loose loop as it continued to silently regard her; for a creature that was blind and detected mana, this one was capable of seeing her well enough.
Sakura just sat there, unsure of how to respond further. It did not appear to be actively trying to injure her but she did not appreciate the proximity to it either.
Opening its mouth wide, it licked her face with a thick tongue, leaving a trail of slobber up her face before emitting a crackly purring sound. She was in disbelief, this one was friendly and not aggressive in any way.
They sat in silence for a while before the creature broke off and drifted out of sight, leaving her speechless on the bed. She used the blankets to clean her face off, cursing at the sticky saliva as she wiped it off. Unsheathing her blades, Sakura stood up and carefully exited the room, checking all angles as she went. Everything looked normal and the main door was shut which made her think the creature had not yet departed. Slowly, the demon examined every room in the house, but everything was empty. There were no obvious signs the creature had left or had ever even been there in the first place.
Her mind started to wander, wondering if what she had just experienced had really occurred at all; the slobber on her face felt so real, though, as well as its grip on her arms. Sakura shook her head and left the house, it was best not to dwell on what had happened for too long. She still had the other creature to find.
Heading north from the house, the demon picked her through the thick, snowy trees towards the lake. Her approach was noisy, though most of her intentionally made sound was being drowned on the howling winds as she went. The attempt wasn’t baiting anything, though, nothing made itself known in the time it took her to reach the lakeside.
The water had already begun to freeze around the edges, slowly cutting Linlake off from its fresh water supply. Something caught her eye offshore but she couldn’t see what. She dare not try to walk on the ice to investigate closer, though.
* * *
Solomon opened his eyes and examined the scene around him. The blizzards present in the West were much worse than what the East had been experiencing. Such reduced visibility would make it difficult to locate Linlake and his time was limited, there was only so long he could safely maintain the spell. He saw something stood at the shoreline ahead of him, staring in his direction. Floating over to it, he could see that it was a demon, who appeared to be becoming increasingly wary of him.
“Are you from Linlake?” he enquired, coming down to rest at the edge of the shore. Sakura froze as he spoke. After the events of earlier, she wondered if she was truly going mad, being talked to by a ghost was hardly sane.
“I, uh, yes?” she stuttered. Why did the ghost want to know where she came from?
“Is Ciel and Drake there?” Solomon continued despite her hesitation, bringing up their names might calm the demon in front of him. She paused for a second, name dropping those two had its intended effect on her, but she was still dubious.
“What’s it to you?”
If anyone was wanting to strike a blow against Sebastian, the best time would be now to do so, while Ciel was separated from him. Solomon was taken aback by her change of tone. It could be taken positively or negatively, though it came over more protective than threatening to him.
“I’ve come from Shadekeep to talk with them, my name is Solomon, if that helps.”
Sakura knew that name, she had heard about this mage many times before. He did indeed reside within Shadekeep as he stated. As a Necromancer, he also possessed the powers to potentially utilise a spell such as she was witnessing, which added to his claims.
“Come,” she stated and began to turn around when she unexpectedly felt herself being hoisted off the ground. Startled by the restrictive hold, Sakura began to squirm in an attempt to break free.
“It took me damn well long enough to find you,” the demon growled, causing her to stop flailing. Her assailant was Crono, who was less than pleased that he had to come out after her.
“I was just returning actually…” She trailed off, noting his increasingly growing anger; it did come over as an excuse, although it was the truth.
“It’s true, I asked her to show me to Ciel,” Solomon added, diverting Crono’s gaze away from her. Crono stood staring at the figure before him, unsure what to make of Solomon.
“I’m not going to ask,” he replied with a hint of resignation, turning back the way he came and walking off. Solomon followed behind him, noticing Crono throw strange looks towards him.
They arrived back at the house not long after. Crono still had Sakura firmly gripped in one hand while he awkwardly held the door open for Solomon, who waved him on to say it wasn’t needed. “That one’s for you, I’m going to go talk some sense into this one,” Crono commented to Ciel, who was sat at the stone fireplace. He strode off into a spare room and shut the door behind him, leaving Solomon alone with Ciel and Ferdan, who was tending to Amnur further away.
“What are you doing here Solomon?” Ciel queried, the talk by now had alerted Ferdan who had turned around to see what was going on. He was shocked by the ghostly figure in the room but he knew it not to be the spirit of one who was dead.
“How did you get here is the better question,” Ferdan said. The barrier should have prevented any travel across the two isles, more so journeys of a magical nature.
“That barrier doesn’t extend through every plane connected to the overworld,” Solomon replied, sparking Ferdan’s interest; it was useful to know although he had no way of utilising such a fact. “We’ve been doing our own investigations and after probing the Magi Council and we’ve come up with a bit of plan to end this swiftly,” he continued. Ferdan was uncertain while Ciel thought on the fact.
“That cleansing a few years ago,” Ferdan responded, “so he definitely didn’t die then.” Solomon nodded to him and he sighed, it had been as Amnur said to him.
“You need me to rally the West,” Ciel spoke after some deliberation, would they even listen to him? After all, they were not fond of his bloodline, asking them so bluntly would likely come over crass.
“It could succeed without their help, but attacking from both sides would provide a huge advantage.” A resigned sigh emerged from Ciel, he did not wish to condemn the lives of those in the East either.
“Would they have much ground to disagree on?” Ferdan interjected, “after all, this affects them too.”
“If I could somehow assure them they wouldn’t just serve as fodder, I can’t guarantee no one will die, though.” The three remained in silence for a moment while Ciel thought how best to possibly approach the subject; he would need all the details first.
“Tell me more Solomon,” he requested, Solomon nodded and began recounting the events of everything that had happened, followed by the decisions made.
* * *
Crono placed Sakura down on a chair in the corner of the room, his expression had changed from anger to worry as he watched her behaviour. Considering how drastically she had left the house, her current demeanour was starkly different; she was constantly trying to avoid eye contact with him.
“What happened to you out there?” he asked her, noticing her flinch as he went near her. “I’m sorry about earlier, but I’m not going to hurt you,” Crono spoke softly but she still reacted nervously and did not wish to look at him, she hadn’t been acting like this when he found her.
“Just the ghost, or whatever you wish to refer him as,” Sakura replied after a period of quiet, digging her fi
ngers into the arms of the chair. She tried to look up at him but pulled away again. The demon stood in front of her kept appearing distorted and grotesque, regardless of her efforts to drive the image from her mind. Any attempts at rational thought were being scraped from her mind, replaced by only terrifying images and thoughts. Desperately she tried to call out to Crono for help but only anger and denial came out. He appeared to know something was wrong but not the extent of what.
“Sakura, I know you’re hiding something.” Her response came out only as a growl which worried Crono, even when she was putting herself down over failure she was never aggressive to anyone else. Taking a deep breath, he began to pace the small room, trying to think of a method to relieve her anger. He wrapped his arms around her in an embrace, trying to calm the girl down.
“You can tell me anything, I won’t judge you,” Crono said, his voice was calm and gentle. Sakura managed to repress the effects enough to stop her body fighting him, but any attempts at speaking were still blocked. Leaning her body into his, she hoped it would tell him enough, but her body was still tense despite her best efforts. It told him some but not enough; perhaps she just needed some rest and some positive news on her father. The new mage seemed capable, he might be able to help him out.
“I’ll have a word with that strange one, you get some rest,” he stated, placing her down on a bed that lay against the far wall. She was unsure, her body craved sleep but she did not wish to give into the strange urges that kept being thrown at her. Crono bid her farewell and exited the room. Sakura tried to move but only found herself falling backwards onto the pillow, drifting into uncontrollable sleep.
* * *
Ciel thought on what Solomon had just told him, everything was moving so quickly now. The East wanted to launch an attack within a week before they got too worn down from the constant raids.
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