Knowing

As Sevi finished her explanation, Rethys struggled to put together the colossal pile of information she just unloaded on him.

"So, to summarize things: You've been used to create a weapon and one day randomly regained your cognizance; you were locked up because those that cleansed Yvtar only did the bare minimum; and you have the powers of the weapon including the very rare element of Blood." He repeated.

"An oversimplification, but yes." Sevi responded.

Rethys had much to ponder after hearing her explanation. He didn't have much to go off but could reference it to what he already knew about Yvtar from his findings, as well as his conversation with Kithil, which revealed much to him.

"So, you're a... type of vampire?" Rethys asked, unsure of his own question.

He remembered learning a bit about those creatures from Fulgrith. His knowledge about these kinds of things was broader than the average commoner yet remained very limited. Yet he definitely recalled his master speaking about creatures that attacked humans and siphoned their blood to use it for strange magic.

'He said that they were found near the borders with Sirevin right?' He thought as he struggled to recall the tidbit of information.

"There is no such thing as a vampire Rethys." Sevi sighed with a reprimanding tone. "To believe that there are creatures coming at night to feed on human blood is nothing short of asinine. Blood is a power present in the ethereum just like any other, and what you are referring to must be some creature enlightened to that element of Blood. Surely those are only anomalies, not much unlike yourself. I simply channel the power of the gem of the blade; thus, it remains solely as borrowed power.

"My true primary element is that of Light, even though its power now is pathetic compared to the elements infused into me from the daemonic possession."

Rethys nodded, knowing that what she said matched up with what he knew from Kithil, who was in a similar condition.

"So you mean to tell me that you were a regular person before this." Rethys asked

"Yes, and not only me. All the creatures that now dwell Yvtar were created not from powerful souls, but from any that the cultists managed to get their hands on. They are not some grand warriors brought low and corrupted, but rather normal mundane humans, their only sin being that they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. I, myself, was a mage of Yvtar before it all happened.

"The cultists responsible for all of this adopted a policy of quantity over quality, choosing to perform as many daemonic possessions as possible. Their goal was the arbitrary production of exceptional outliers, relying on chance rather than preparation. And even if you ask me why, I remain to this day oblivious to what drove them to do what they did and the way they did."

This also correlated with what Rethys knew from the notes he found regarding these summoning rituals. But he still had a hard time taking Sevi's words seriously, as the most suspicious part remained.

"Earlier you said that Yvtar was cleansed before. How is this place in any way shape or form cleansed? Sevi, the ether here is drenched in so much pain and suffering that I can barely breathe sometimes. Who would leave behind this place in a state like this and call it a job well done... that's just too much." He explained.

"Such is the way of the Titan, you see." Sevi promptly answered.

"The who?"

"Hmm... I suppose you would not know of the Titan, what with you being a civilian before coming here-"

"Being brought here." Rethys retorted. "I'd like to remind you that you're not the only one screwed over by fate here."

"Yes, before being brought here..." Sevi repeated. "In any case, the Titan is mankind's guardian, custodian, or however you wish to call that cruel fool. I personally prefer the term 'Warden' to refer to him and his extreme methods. He is the one responsible for keeping mankind intact."

"Elaborate more please." Rethys sighed while massaging his forehead. This was going to be a long one.

"Do not worry, you are right to not know of such beings' existence. You see, the intelligent races have guardians, or custodians, as they are formally known, that are responsible for protecting and nurturing them. Our custodian is one that took it upon himself to interfere as little as possible with humanity, mostly remaining on the sidelines and only bothering to interfere when things get too out of hand." She explained.

Listening to Sevi's exhaustive explanations, Rethys felt as if things hadn't changed at all. But then remembered that she tried to take over his body, failed, and he now couldn't trust anything she said. It was a very bitter feeling, that of betrayal.

"I don't think he did a very good job at it." Rethys sighed as he peered towards the rest of the catacombs and felt the aura of muted suffering that permeated it.

Something felt slightly off when he received the ether's feedback, yet his attention was instantly drawn back to Sevi's explanation.

"Did you truly think that the masters of our world would not take note of such happenings? That they would simply allow malicious world-ending daemons like the ones called upon by the cultists to exist? No, they would not. And the cleansing of Yvtar followed the same conventions as those that left behind the deathlands of my time as well. They simply contained the danger as much as possible and disposed of anything that could not be contained.

"This is why you the creatures you have seen thus far are the way they are, mad or mindless, or both. Those are no daemons, only the result of failed summonings. The true daemons called upon by the cultists all received the same treatment from the servants of the Titan: imprisoned, if possible, culled if not. This was why they only contained my weapon and never bothered to dispose of it, for to do so would be far too much of a hassle. And most importantly, an unnecessary hassle." Sevi continued.

Rethys at first felt a tinge of fear at having undone the work of such powerful beings, yet just as quickly had that fear be replaced with indignation as he realized whose fault it was that he was in this gods-forsaken place.

"How is that considered solving the issue? From what you're telling me they just did the bare minimum and left things as they were." He asked.

'And how was that supposed to be the cheaper option?' He wondered inwardly, remembering the sheer scale of magical creations that were responsible for imprisoning Sevi's blade.

"Exactly. This is the Titan's way of doing things, never entirely solving these happenings and leaving them as monuments of failure to remind humanity of their 'foolishness'... that incompetent buffoon." Sevi lashed out; her voice filled with disdain.

Now with all his questions satisfied, Rethys began thinking about how to address all of it now. Her explanations made sense and were consistent with what he knew, filling in the holes in his knowledge and providing him with the truth of what went on in these halls.

Yet the initial debacle remained, he simply couldn't trust her anymore.

"Well..." Rethys began. "Why didn't you tell me any of this? I wouldn't have been against helping you. Gods know you've helped me a lot, enough to want to pay you back."

"And would you have trusted me? A talking grotesque blade?" She asked somewhat sarcastically.

"And I did not lie when I said that taking the soulstone out of your body will kill you. This was the only way I could think of. You do not have the power to guarantee our survival, so I had decided to take things into my own hands."

"Our survival?" Rethys retaliated sharply. "You tried to kill me."

"I did not! You see now how you are still alive; I never intended to harm you and would have released you after guaranteeing our safety." Sevi argued.

"Your safety, you mean. You said it yourself, that I'm doomed now that you changed me." Rethys countered, his voice almost oozing with venom.

"I am no ingrate, Rethys." She snapped back. "I would have found a way to give you your life back, somehow. It remains better than whatever you were doing on your own, coming back first bruised and battered, then mangled and almost dead! You have no idea the fortune that you had, surviving as you were for as long as you did. And you have no idea how hard it was, having to skirt around your wariness, all the while keeping your reckless, idiotic self alive to perhaps eventually secure a way out for both of us!"

Rethys shook his head, realizing that arguing back and forth wouldn't get them anywhere, and standing up looked at his entire body.

Veins of crimson ran underneath his skin, their thick ether sharply contrasting with that of the rest of his body. He felt strength like never before flowing through his muscles now, seemingly with the help of these changes. Yet the more he focused on these new additions, the more wrong everything felt. It irritated him, like an ethereal itch underneath his skin that he just couldn't reach.

'Is this how it's going to be from now on?' He thought to himself.

Then Rethys realized something, things were quiet, too quiet.

'Something is off.' He thought, his brows furrowing as he tried his hardest to realize what was missing.

In the end it took him a while to register that the entity's voice was completely amiss. He didn't hear its voice constantly repeating single words in his mind like an endless mantra, and he didn't feel his actions being occasionally seized by its interference.

He could sense the difference that Sevi's presence instilled into him, yet that was absolutely trivial compared to the trial of will that he had to constantly endure under the Origin entity's intrusion. And flourishing his senses outwards, tried to get a new read on the ether around him.

"What are you doing?" Sevi asked, seeing the boy perking up his ears.

"Just... be quiet for a moment." He replied.

As he immersed himself in the ambient flows of ether, Rethys felt a wave of foreign emotions wash over and through him. And his soul and mind were subjected to all things echoed by the inhabitants of the catacombs into the ethereal immaterium.

Things felt as they usually did in Yvtar, an all-encompassing pressure that Rethys was more or less used to at this point, as his whole being was steeped in it until it almost became part of him. Yet the most annoying part, the ever-present tugging on his senses and psyche that tried to draw him towards the catacombs whenever he so much as looked at them, simply wasn't there.

He then looked around his own immediate surroundings in the ether, trying to find the link that connected him to his patron deity of ceaseless irritation, only to find... nothing. It wasn't that the entity couldn't get through to him, it simply wasn't there, it wasn't anywhere.

"Sevi, it's 'the entity of mine' as you like to call it, it's gone. I can't feel it anymore, there's nothing anywhere." Rethys revealed, his voice betraying his unease.

"You speak of it as if your greatest wish did not come true. You yourself spoke at length about how much you hated it and everything it did and stood for. Not that your vehement distaste for it is misplaced, mind you." Sevi shrugged.

"Yeah, but for all that damnable thing's annoying intruding, it at least let me know that it didn't change its approach. What if it's up to something now." Rethys explained.

"Hm? I have already told you that you have gained tolerance to mind control since I broke you out of its control. It cannot do something to you now it could not do before." Sevi reminded him.

But Rethys wasn't satisfied with the Blood mage's explanation. He knew more than anyone of that creature's awesome powers over the ethers of Origin all around them, and that power was of cosmic scale.

'However big is that...' He sighed inwardly, bemoaning once more his lack of knowledge.

As far as Rethys knew, the Origin entity had all the power and reach necessary to figure out some way to reestablish its control over him, and the thought terrified him.

"Hmm... It could be because of your current state. At this moment, to any external observer, only my aura would be visible, and yours would be camouflaged underneath it. Now that I think about it, that should be the reason. You yourself should be untraceable in the ether now, and impervious to methods such as scrying and farsight. Even that entity of yours should not be exempt from such fundamental notions." Sevi explained.

"I see." Rethys replied as he considered all that he knew thus far.

Her explanation was sound, as far as he could tell, but he was still unsatisfied. He never liked living under the constant threat of the entity trying to subvert his own will, yet this eerie silence was even more unsettling.

"Only one way to know for sure." He sighed as he began to head out through the long hallway towards the rest of the catacombs.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Sevi jolted. "You need more time to stabilize."

"I need conclusive proof." He replied. "I can't rest like this. I need to test things out."