62 Parting ways with the saint

Royals.

The princes and princesses of the Depths.

That's what we are called.

At least, that's what Ophelia told me.

According to her, each layer of the Depths has the possibility of creating us. Similar to the monsters, we were beings born from ether.

In a way, we were similar to fays, dragons, or elementals in that regard, as they were beings born from the will of our world itself.

If there were beings born from the world, and beings born from ether, I wondered if beings born from mana also existed.

Immediately, Skyfall, the islands in the sky, came to my mind, as I pondered about that question.

Sometimes, if one would look at the sky, one could spot islands levitating in the far distance.

Although no one ever succeeded in reaching that place, as it was too far away, we knew that it existed.

The Overworld was the middle ground of our world. Right down below that was hell and then somewhere below hell, you could find the Depths.

If we assume that Skyfall, the highest point, would be the complete counterpart to the Depths, the lowest point, wouldn't it be logical to assume that beings born from mana would exist there?

"You've been quiet. Are you shocked?"

Ophelia grabbed the back of my coat, wondering if she had told me too much for me to comprehend.

"No, don't worry."

Shaking my head, I spoke in a reassuring voice.

In the far distance, I could see the exit out of the Depths appearing again.

Rather than shocked, I was interested. I always knew that my origins were from the Depths, as there was no other way to explain my ability to manipulate ether.

The fact that my mother admitted that I was adopted, but wasn't willing to tell me where she found me, was just solidifying my theory.

"I was just thinking a little bit."

"..I see."

While she sounded doubtful, she didn't pry any further. I guessed that, although she felt more comfortable with me now, it was still too quick for her to fully adjust, so she probably didn't want to overstep her boundaries.

In addition to the ability to manipulate ether, we also gain two racial abilities. One was the thing she called 'ether attribute'.

As ether was a complex energy, even a royal couldn't fully comprehend it, and as such, each one of them possesses a special affinity for different attributes of ether.

While mine was space, hers was a subtype of it. Dimensions, which she assumed to be the reason why I was so easily able to copy her dimensional manipulation.

I haven't told her about my racial ability yet, so she couldn't know that it was due to my 'reactive adaptation.

In addition to the ether attribute, royals also possessed an individual ability. While she didn't know how they developed, Ophelia guessed that it was a mix of environment and genetics.

Even though she couldn't go out of the ruin, she could access all that information due to her own racial ability, 'shared memories'.

Using that ability, she could read the memories of inanimate objects.

While ether and mana had their own will to some extent, they didn't count as living, which was the reason why she could use it on them.

Like a book, she read the memory of ether and mana for all those years, as they were the only thing available to her that she could use to pass time.

Finding out about all the different things the people were talking about, she also wanted to experience it.

And thus, she discovered her ether attribute, 'Dimensions'.

Experimenting with her ether attribute, she tried to imitate the landscapes she heard so much about as close to reality as possible.

My face grimaced at the imagination of the little girl sitting in the dark ruin walls, going through all that struggle just to somehow experience the life of a normal kid.

"Hey, brother."

Her soft voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Will I be able to experience snow too?"

My eyes widened as I remembered the scene of my arrival, realizing the reason for that.

A snowy landscape.

I guess she really liked snow, huh?

Closing my eyes, I formed a faint smile, as I could feel a warm feeling spreading around my body.

"Yes. Of course, you will."

***

***

"…woah."

Widening her eyes, Ophelia let out a gasp of admiration as we left the ruin.

It was the first time she had seen the real world outside a ruin with her own eyes, her eyes sparkling as she looked around the room.

With a small 'whoomf' I heard how the gate behind me disappeared into nothingness.

Drip— Drip— Drip—

Feeling some weird fluid beneath my feet, I lowered my head to take a look.

Black ink.

It seemed like they were the last remains of the ruin.

"I am really…outside…"

"It seems like that."

I nodded my head, before making sure that my mask was still intact. I put it back on, just before we left the ruin.

"Lapsa!"

Aria ran toward me, flashing me a wide smile when she realized that I made it out of the ruin alive.

"Close your eyes for a second, Ophelia," I whispered in a serious voice. "And don't you dare look into the memories of my clothes."

"Huh? ..okay..?"

Ignoring the confused tone of Ophelia's voice and the approaching Aria, I walked straight toward the statue of my mother, opening my dimensional storage. I put the statue inside it.

"I'll take care of you as soon as possible."

It was too soon for Ophelia to see her yet. Although I didn't know if she knew my mother was the one who sealed her, I didn't want to take any chances.

Even if she didn't know, seeing the statue would let her immediately realize that she was the one to seal her, and I didn't want that unnecessary trouble right now.

"Alright. You can open your eyes again."

After I made sure that everything was done, I turned my attention to Aria, who just silently stared at Ophelia with a confused expression.

"Lapsa...who is that?"

She asked me while her gaze was still lingering on the girl on my back.

Adverting my gaze, I gave thought to whether I should answer honestly or lie, before deciding that just keeping it short and simple would be the easiest option.

"My sister."

"You have a sister?"

"It seems so."

I tried to keep my answers as short as possible to message her about my lack of interest in keeping this conversation going.

Understanding my intention, she responded with a nod, dropping that topic, when she realized that it was perhaps too private.

While I knew how weird and suspicious it was, she had no valid reason to question me about such things.

At the end of the day, we are strangers and my familial relationships were none of her business.

"That's Aria?" Ophelia, who opened her eyes again, curiously watched Aria, as if she had never seen another person before, which, to be fair, wasn't that far from the truth.

I nodded, raising an eyebrow in suspicion, as I turned my head to the side, giving her a side glance.

"How do you know that? Didn't I tell you not to read the memories?"

"It was before you told me that."

"That's good then."

Sighing, I closed my eyes, trying to measure the density of the ether in the atmosphere.

While it was still denser than the ether of the first layer, it was significantly less than before.

Seeing that the ruin had just disappeared a few moments ago, it was quite logical to assume that it was because of the disappearance.

However, the sealed person was still there, so just asking to make sure wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Have you lowered your ether output, Ophelia?"

"Yes, I have." Ophelia nodded. "It seemed like my passive ether output created quite some chaos."

I didn't even have to explain it to her for her to realize, as she probably just read it herself.

The changes that her ether did to the second layer weren't something she could've observed, as it was something that still didn't happen now.

Thinking about it now, I doubted that she knew even knew what the incident 14 years ago was, as it was probably the day she was born.

A hundred forty years inside the Depths would have been fourteen years in the Overworld, so appearance wise it would've matched.

However, there was no point in me telling her all the effects her birth had on the second layer and all the damage she caused.

Even I knew that it was quite insensitive and would probably make her feel guilty about something she couldn't control.

"...Anyway," Aria seemed uncomfortable, as she didn't know whether she should interrupt the conversation of the siblings in front of her. "Have you found any clue on how to solve the issue?"

"Already solved it. It was due to the ruin that the ether in the second layer was going wild."

A half lie.

It was true that it was partly due to the ruin, but the real reason was the girl on my back.

"I see..." Crossing her arms, Aria nodded thoughtfully, seemingly believing my words. "Then that's where we'll part ways then."

Her voice seemed a little sad, as she said that, which made me wonder if I had said anything rude to her.

"I'll accompany you to the capital first." I nodded toward her, agreeing with her statement. "It was a good temporary partnership."

"Yes, let's meet again sometime." She said, her expression lightening, as she beamed a wide smile at me.

No, thanks. I would rather not.

I didn't have anything against her as a person, but I would rather avoid any contact with the church of lux.

"Yes. Let's meet again." I responded in a gentle voice.

Still, being nice to her wouldn't be bad, especially if we ever meet again.

And with that short conversation, we went walked back together to the capital.

"You're a liar, brother," Ophelia whispered directly in my ear with an amused tone.

I could practically imagine the smug smile on her face.

"Maybe."