Turning Point part one
Chapter Thirty-three
When I woke up today, all I could feel was this terrible sense of foreboding all over my body. I don't even know why. It was just this throbbing sensation that made me feel like a ghost was tickling and kneading me all over.
…
It's really gross that that's what I thought to akin it to but whatever I guess -w-.
Anyways, recently I've noticed that my body has actually been reacting strangely in general. Jitters and numbness on occasion to name two things just off the top of my head. Currently, I'm on my way up the tower from my usual comfy spot in the forest with my animal companions in an effort to perhaps address this feeling. The way I see it, Grandma or Isaea would know best.
By the time I actually made it up to the study (also my home) My legs felt as though they'd scream bloody murder, so the usual. From what I could see as I entered, Isaea was sitting at one of the tables whilst the rest of the study was empty. I walked over to Isaea and leaned in, looking intently at the item of her erudite focus.
"What's that?" I asked as I pointed my finger down into the page.
Isaea tilted her head to the side, glancing at me with a smile before explaining the diagram to me.
"This? This is some special fairy text that details the way in which one would go about manifesting some of our now latent power."
Latent power? I wouldn't have guessed that they'd have the whole "latent power" trope too, but I'm not really surprised either considering where we are.
"Would it be okay for you to tell me a bit about it?"
Isaea tapped both her thumbs on the corners of the book
"Yeah, I guess. As I understand it, a long time ago the fairies were a part of the greater world in a more substantial way than now. Perhaps even integral. With regular communion, the fairies of old used to regulate the health of the planet in a way that all benefitted…"
I see. I guess it makes sense from the old book I read a few weeks ago.
"After that age though, the remaining fairies made a pact with those of the wind to create the arbiters. Don't know what the arbiters are though as all associated literature is kinda hidden or lost."
I nod my head whilst combing my hair with both hands. After all, having hair, this long is just begging to be played with.
"So, what are you doing here today Su? I thought you were supposed to be practicing with Cain."
"I… Well, I kinda skipped out on training with him. I'm not feeling too good to be quite honest and i was wondering if you could diagnose whatever it is."
Isaea shook her head in mild disappointment, shifting to face me in her chair.
"Well, you… that's fine I guess, though I don't imagine that old geezer is gonna be too happy with that. Could you tell me a bit about what you're feeling?"
I held out my left arm, palm up, and pointed at the muscles in my arm.
"It's not just here, but rather like this persistent ache all over."
Isaea took my arm in her hands and pressed lightly on the pressure points for a few seconds each time.
"I'm not nearly as skilled as master is, but I could definitely feel that something was different than usual. It's like the mana coursing through your body is… constricting around your muscles."
Well, that's not at all concerning -w-
"What can we do about it?"
"Wellll… That's the hard part Su. I really don't know the best way to deal with it other than to find Master and ask her to draw the excess out of your system."
She said. She released my arm and rested her hand on my shoulder, silently encouraging me.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and nodded in confirmation.
"I understand."
Isaea smiled and released me from her touch.
"She is out right now doing something, but she'll be back up in the study once she returns likely. She teleported out."
I nodded and gave her a sidelong hug before leisurely making my way over to the study.
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During the same time as the revealing of the arbiter :
Out in the sunny delightfulness of the training field connected to one of the star shredded planets' many grassy plains, Tryamon sat idly underneath the shade of her tent, watching hundreds of novice and intermediate level mages spar brutally with one another. There, with her at the training facility was Warmaster Lugh. Though he loathed being in the same region as her, he had a responsibility to the young generations of fairies as one who had seen true combat. Tryamon watched him as he walked through the sets and guided the young ones on the martial prowess.
"He is certainly working hard."
If anyone were actually around to hear her, they'd have heard the snide irreverence that dangled beneath her words, not that she'd care of course. She got up from one of the many chairs that had come to be standard in her little tent since Su's rather masterful ability to conceptualize such objects and walked out into the sprawling expanse.
The grass waved in the wind all around Tryamon as she walked around the training area.
"I've always liked this installation." She said to herself as she came upon the edge of the domain. There, a thin barrier of mana served as a bastion against the harshness of the planet's modernity. Her eyes flitted about from end to end, appraising the status of its warding. She gave off a faint smile whilst stepping back a few steps.
"Seems like everything is good. Now to record that in my logs…"
She reached between her breasts elbow deep, rummaging around as if she were going through a simple bag. This continued for a few minutes with a few "Woahs", "I forgot I that in there!" and the occasional self-praise for her achievements. Eventually, her airheaded vanity came to its conclusion as she pulled out a small gem-laden tablet. The tablet itself was rather nondescript in its appearance save for twenty or so colored nobs that loosely had the imagery of the remaining fairy domains.
"Now, let me just make some mild adjustments so I can leave all the newbies to Lugh and go home!"
Her unoccupied hand danced from color to color until she arrived at the seafoam tourmaline protrusion. She placed her index finger and thumb together, expanding them in unison over the gem to reveal a sci-fi display of the entire region she was currently in. The display had various nobs and buttons that danced in and out of her view as she sorted through them with her eyes.
"Where was the slide to adjust the acute mana dispersal phenomena… ack-!"
As she perused her myriad switches and buttons, a sharp pain shot through her chest and out her back like a bullet. Tryamon doubled over and clutched her breasts and midriff as the pain seeped throughout her torso like water down a stream.
~W-what is this…!~
Reeling back from the sheer violence of the pain's concentration, she collapsed face-first into the grass. Her limbs betrayed her will as sickly black ichor oozed out from the corner of her mouth.
~Somebody pierced the veil…?!~
She closed her eyes and mustered as much of the mana in her circuits to her exposed back, releasing a bright light from out of it. The light shot out a few meters in the air in all directions. From inside the light, Two child-sized forms emerged.
"We hadn't planned on assuming this form unless it was a strict emergency, but I think this surely classifies itself as such." Said one of the forms in the voice of a young boy. The second figure, seemingly that of a young girl, shouted out jubilantly.
"Haha! We're finally freeee! Not that we were necessarily trapped before, but we almost never get to use these forms since our main body always hogs the spotlight!"
The young boy slapped the back of the young girl's head, causing her hair to fly over her face.
"This is not the time for such jokes, Tira. We've got to get the main body back home so that they can recover. Now pick a side and lift her up on my signal.
The girl blew her hair obscuring her vision away whilst rubbing the impact point of the slap.
"You don't have to hit me you know! We're already brittle enough as it is."
The boy sighed as he pointed to the opposite side of their main body.
"Well, it can't be helped. When you do stupid things you pay the stupid tax. Still though…"
He looked down at his bare wrist, meticulously inspecting the density of this body of his.
"We definitely are far less well constructed than usual as a result of the main body being momentarily compromised. It doesn't matter though.
Seeing that Tira had now been waiting for a few seconds at the other side, he began the countdown for the pick-up.
"One."
The two grabbed Tryamon by the ankles and armpits respectively.
"Two."
Tira and the boy straightened out their backs and braced their legs with poise.
"Three!"
The two smaller versions of Tryamon shot up with shouts of youthful vigor! Unfortunately for them though, it seems as if they failed to account for their height, and as such, all that they did was raise Tryamon's feet slightly up off the ground whilst her face was planted in the oily black soil beneath it. Though the main body could hardly move itself, the two smaller versions heard Tryamon sigh heavily which was accompanied by much mental scolding that the two of the heard in unison.
~THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR GAMES! PICK ME UP AND TAKE ME TO THE TENT DAMNIT!~
The two childlike iterations chuckled nervously as they looked at one another and moved to try another method.
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The two children-like versions of Tryamon, Tira, and Mono, trudged into their main bodies tent with them slumped on their backs. As they entered, the two collapsed on the ground, mimicking the organic compulsion often known as exhaustion.
Tira shuffled out from underneath Tryamon's waist, rolling onto her back with both arms laid out, puffing. Moments later Mono did the same just above her.
"Remind me to make sure the main body makes better contingencies next time Mono… I don't wanna haul us ever ever ever again! My arms and legs feel like they're about to crumble!"
Mono, looked to his left as he had laid inverse of Tira, and nodded to her.
"You don't even have to mention it… We definitely deserve a vacation out in one of the summer biomes after this is all over."
Silence followed for a minute or two before the duo broke out laughing. Tira going so far as to shed tears of amusement.
Tryamon, though still largely incapacitated, pushed herself up with the one arm that had recovered from the intense shock state that still seized the rest of her body minus her head into a sitting position. Leaning against one of the supporting pillars of the tent, she began to scry a design on the floor with her index finger. Whilst doing this she flexed her still limp limbs, forcing them ever so slightly to regain their capability.
Growing frustrated with the abysmally poor speed at which she was scrying, she shouted out at her two child-like selves.
"Help me! I didn't summon you two so you could do nothing!"
The childlike iterations of herself bemoaned as they got up from the ground and began helping with the scrying process. Feeling particularly cross, Tira started to have a fit halfway through.
"Y'know, you can't be mean to us just because something happened! It's not like we're super strong or anything like that. If you really wanted better familiars in case of an emergency then maybe next time you'd invest more resources into our construction."
Without stopping her own effort, Tryamon side-eyed her smaller self with a villainous glare before rolling her eyes that caused Tira to both visibly shiver and shut her mouth, which caused Mono to giggle.
~Honestly… Next time I won't use subvariants of myself at all with how weak you two are.~
"Cut it out you two… You're both annoying enough as figments in my head; Spare me the non-sensical amount of pestering that you've already demonstrated you're capable of…"
Mono simply nodded whilst Tira made a loud *Hmph*
Tryamon sighed.
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Hours later :
"We've finished it!" Shouted Tira gleefully as she ran over to the main body with Mono not too far behind walking at his own pace. Tyramon had largely stopped contributing to the construction of the glyph after the thirty-minute mark due to her inability to move around in any dignified way, and so rested where she propped herself up. She looked at the two smaller versions of herself and smiled at them, reaching out her one working arm to pat them on the head.
"Good. Now, go alert the Warmaster that I will be leaving the training session early on urgent business."
The two nodded and turned to leave. Just as they were about to exit the tent though, Tryamon called out to them.
"And don't mention that you two are smaller incarnations of me! I don't wanna have any trouble with that dullard thinking more than his peanut can allow."
Mono and Tira nodded in acknowledgment and jetted out of the tent.
"Why do I have a feeling that my younger iterations are gonna botch this somehow…" She said as she pinched her nose at the thought.
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