Chapter 144: Chaos to come

"This is really exquisite!" Telluris could not help but exclaim with a bright smile after taking a bite out of the pastry wrapped in brown paper in her hands. Her reaction got passersby swooning, Mikoto chuckled at their stupid faces.

"I didn't even know they had donuts in this world," he muttered as Telluris all but devoured the pastry in an instant after the first bite.

"If I had known the cities had such foods, I would have been inclined to come sooner," Telluris mused, licking her lips to get the last of the remnants of the donut. A simple thought made the remaining paper in her hands light up in flames as it dissipated into nothing but ashes that were taken by the wind.

"There are pastries like this all around, probably. I've been here a while but I haven't really explored the city properly."

Telluris hummed in interest at that, but then curiosity sparked within her. "Though I have been to a number of foreign realms, I am quite curious about your own."

"Well, I don't know much about my universe as a whole, but I can tell you about my world, I guess. It's pretty dull compared to this one, no magic or any other kind of wacky power." Telluris looked surprised at that.

"No magic, fascinating," she rubbed her chin in interest. "This world is sustained by leylines flowing through the earth, how does your world sustain itself?"

"Well, there are different 'spheres' for that, I guess," Mikoto answered. The Divine Beast tilted her head as he continued, "There is the atmosphere that traps heat from the sun, keeping the Earth warm enough for life. It's primarily due to gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor. There's the hydrosphere responsible for the water cycle. Water evaporates from oceans, lakes, and rivers, forms clouds, and precipitates back to the Earth's surface as rain or snow. The cycle ensures a constant supply of fresh water for life. The biosphere, in other words, the ecosystem, the communities of plants, animals, and microorganisms that interact with each other and their environment. They provide food, shelter, and other resources for life and whatnot. Eh, this is just an abridged version of things, I could give you the full scope, but then we would be here all day."

"I see," Telluris hummed in interest, "It seems your world operates under different laws than this one. I hope to one day visit it; the thought fills me with anticipation."

"You're welcome to come along with me when I find a way back, but I dunno how my people would treat you. We have a history of being idiots," Mikoto snorted out. Telluris seemed to want to comment on that, but an annoyingly squeaky voice cut in.

"G-great Telluris!" Mikoto recognized that irritating voice; he glanced to the side and lo and behold. The small figure of Cor'nella floated towards them along with her was Mirabella and Agatha, the former looking somewhat annoyed. Agatha, meanwhile, appeared to be sizing Telluris up oddly enough.

Telluris merely gave Cor'nella a vibrant smile, "Ah, a child of Isadora. Greetings."

"What brings one as mighty as you to this backwater city?" Cor'nella nervously questioned.

"Holy crap, the fairy is actually nervous." Mirabella snorted. She got a sideways glare from the aforementioned fairy to no effect.

"A favorite of Aragorn and Isadora as well, this is quite rare," Telluris noted with intrigue, "Greetings, I am known as Telluris. A pleasure."

"Telluris like the Divine Beast?" Mirabella questioned.

"You baboon that-"

"Now, now," Telluris cut Cor'nella off before she could finish. The fairy stiffened at the action as she repeatedly apologized. Telluris merely gave a kind smile as she answered Mirabella, who was busy staring at her antlers. "Yes, just like the Divine Beast."

"You and Mikoto seem awfully close," Agatha noted, folding her arms.

Telluris gave an innocent look at that as Mikoto tilted his head, "What gave you tha-"

"We have shared intimate moments," Telluris confirmed over his words. Mirabella spluttered at that, Cor'nella looked absolutely flabbergasted, and Agatha gave no outward reaction.

"I-intimate?" Mirabella blurted out with a beet-red face.

"With this boy?" Cor'nella continued perplexed.

Agatha frowned, maybe they were missing context. Hopefully they were, her hopes were answered as Mikoto spoke, "You're giving them the wrong idea. Sure, we spend some time together, but I doubt that can be classified as 'intimate.'"

"Why not?" Telluris innocently questioned. "We shared the night, and I kept you up till daybreak."

"Wha..." Now it was finally Agatha's turn to look flabbergasted.

"You-you were going at it for hours!?" Mirabella exclaimed with some other emotion sounding like annoyance as some passersby threw them stares.

"The hell gave you that idea?" Mikoto questioned; he glanced at Agatha, and it seemed she was of the same mind as her fellow Inheritor judging by her facial expression. "Man, you two are dirty-minded as hell. Shame on you."

"What!? You've been doing who knows what with this woman!" She shouted while pointing at Telluris, who merely tilted her head, "Hey, is she also the reason you were missing for five days?"

"Well, yeah, but that-"

"So you and her?" Agatha questioned with furrowed brows.

"Show your respect, you baboons, Great Telluris deserves as much!" Cor'nella chimed in to no avail.

"We were training, you dolts," Mikoto chastised, "That five days I was away, I was fighting with Telluris here. Yes, five days straight."

"Wait, you fought the Telluris for five days straight?" Cor'nella questioned once more utterly flabbergasted at the prospect.

"Yeah, she was holding back a lot though," Mikoto freely admitted.

"Come now, Mikoto, you should still be proud regardless; you matched me all the same," Telluris complimented with a bright smile.

"Wait, so you were just training?" The thought was somewhat a relief to the second princess. "But wait, this chick is stronger than you?" Now that was a surprise, someone more powerful than Mikoto. The boy always seemed like the pinnacle of magical prowess, his spells destructive and precise, and his tenacity unmatched.

"I see," Agatha merely said, for some reason releasing a hidden breath, "But someone stronger than Mikoto, that is surprising. It would explain why I cannot sense your mana."

"Geez, it's not that big a deal," Mikoto sighed, "I'll be stronger once I-uh never mind."

"What, you upset you're not stronger than someone?" Mirabella questioned with a raised brow.

"Of course not, I'm not some toddler that gets upset about things like that. Besides, even if you master Arcane Ascendance, I'll still be stronger than you," Mikoto boldly stated with a hidden smug smile.

"Hah! Now it's on, just wait till I master it. I'll leave you in the dust!" Mirabella declared with some newfound vigor.

"Sure, sure, little Mira," Mikoto chuckled.

"Who are you calling little! You're shorter than me now!"

"Eh, dunno what you're talking about, man." Mikoto merely glanced away; Agatha could not help but agree with Mirabella. Mikoto was a bit quite shorter than usual; she chalked it up to his mask being a magical artifact that increased height. The fact that Mikoto wanted to be taller but gave up on the prospect was somewhat cute.

"Well, Mikoto's height goes along swimmingly with his cute face, no?" Telluris inputted, immediately Agatha and Mirabella's gaze snapped to her.

"You saw his face?/You saw his face?" They questioned in tandem.

"Indeed!" Telluris affirmed with a happy nod, "He is quite the beauty! He'd put me and many others to shame."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Mikoto interjected. "Beauty? I think the word you're looking for is ruggedly handsome! Manly too, extremely so! So much so that my middle name is testosterone." Mikoto defended, but from the way Agatha and Mirabella's gazes were piercing him, they did not believe him.

"So you're not 'handsome,' you're beautiful," Mirabella questioned with a raised brow and smug smile. "So you're a girly-looking guy?" She snorted, though the prospect was somewhat enticing, she quickly shook her head of that thought.

"Is that why you wear the mask?" Agatha could not help but question, "You should not feel ashamed, I would still find you endearing all the same." Mirabella looked at her perplexed for the declaration.

"That's sweet, Agatha, but there's a reason I wear the helmet, and it's not cause I look like a chick. True, I am good looking no matter how you slice it, way more than Mira here," He got a grumble from the princess at that, "I can use transmogrification magic if I really was bothered with my appearance; only problem with that is when I use it, it's like actively tensing a muscle to keep the transformation active. But a small price." He explained, "So see there is a more important reason I wore a mask and now a helmet," He trailed off.

Barring Telluris, they seemed to listen intently. Even Cor'nella seemed somewhat intrigued; she seemed mostly keen on Mikoto's appearance. Telluris was one of immense beauty, yet Telluris believed this boy more vibrant? Now that would make anyone curious.

"Obscuring your face is badass." He blandly revealed.

"That's it?" Mirabella questioned, utterly disappointed. "What if someone just used magic to peek behind your helmet?"

"Eh, have charms for that." Mikoto waved off. "And what do you mean 'that's it?'; it's a completely valid reason. Take that Dante guy, for example, well you never seen him, but he looked pretty cool. And looking badass is as important as being strong."

"That's a stupid reason," Cor'nella bluntly stated, "If you've beauty to surpass the great Telluris, then it be insulting not to show it off," She finished matter-of-factly.

"Nah."

"Nah?"

"Nah."

"What do you mean 'Nah'!?" Cor'nella questioned.

"Moving on-"

"Hold on!"

"There you have the reason for me covering my face; I do it cause mysterious equals badass." He nodded sagely,

"Then would you show us your face?" Agatha asked; the question seemed to be posed quite eagerly.

Mikoto rubbed his helmet's chin, "What about after the festival?"

"That's so long from now," Agatha murmured.

"C'mon, wanna make a pinky promise or something?"

Agatha snorted, "No, your word is enough."

"Wait, did you just laugh?" Mirabella did a double-take in confusion.

"I think she did," Cor'nella muttered with wide eyes.

"I do not see what is so surprising," Agatha stated dryly.

"You're always such an ice queen," Mirabella joked.

"For once I agree with the brute," Cor'nella nodded.

"You have such great friends," Telluris noted with a smile. "Such unique individuals are hard to come by, Mikoto. You should cherish them at every waking moment; companionship has the potential to triumph overall."

"You don't say..." Mikoto frowned deeply beneath his helmet.

---------------------

"Damn that woman!" Lyra angrily exclaimed as her hand blurred through her desk, throwing off an array of papers, pens, and books. Across her desk stood the white-armored form of Dante.

"The fault lies with me; Rhiannon was within my sight yet I neglected to end her in place of humoring the Princess." He voiced, but Lyra merely shook her head with a frown.

"No, you should not have been even fighting her in the first place. And if she's close to death, who knows how unpredictable she'll get, but this..." The Ancestor bit her nail in frustration.

"She's already had them hide their mana signatures, and I doubt investigation would yield much of their location. We're forced to wait until they make the first move; hm, what can you tell me about the other Ancestors?" Dante questioned, "They were always unbiased and rarely ever showed themselves, so I've no information about them safe for Rhiannon and him."

Lyra took a deep breath, "Where to even start....I suppose we can start with who would not seek to cause unnecessary destruction. There is Britha, among the Ancestors she is the most just and honorable, even so she would find herself indebted to Rhiannon for freeing her, and that honorable nature of hers will be a hassle. Aurélie is another of my brethren who is rather tame; she would more than likely find herself intrigued with the new era if anything, but she is too quick to follow the orders of those stronger than her. Aithne is rather unpredictable; he has never been one for conflict, but he can just as easily be swayed." Lyra's frown deepened as she continued, "Gisèle, she may not have Rhiannon's power, but she is more chaotic all the same. She would seek to spread chaos just for the fun of it; she needs to be put down at any cost," Her frown morphed into a scowl. "And you have met him already...."

"Aelfric," Dante grunted in acknowledgment, "Three hundred years ago, I know of his involvement that led to the death of the princess..." He took note of how Lyra's brows furrowed but continued unabated, "At the time, I could not combat him; I was busy commanding troops to keep Astrothians and demons at bay."

"He's a damned cockroach; with his absurd power, he has even more absurd regeneration abilities to go with it," She huffed out, "I've no idea how he was unsealed three hundred years ago, but despite mine and the princess's best efforts, we could not kill him. We had to resort to using the Harbinger of Fate to seal him away....at...at the cost of her life."

Dante tilted his head in confusion, "Harbinger of Fate?" He questioned; the name was unfamiliar. "Did you mean the Fate Sealer?" Lyra looked at him confused; he merely shook his head, "Never mind, let us move on; how would you say the Inheritors and I match up to the Ancestors?"

"It's difficult to say; my kind was seen as threats to the Gods, so Aerinon, Rowena, Maerwynn, and yourself should only engage them. But I fear what Maerwynn would do if she finds something new to keep herself interested," Lyra worriedly muttered.

"Hmph, her interest only motivates her. It may serve us in locating the other Ancestors; hm, yet what could Rhiannon's goals be for releasing them only now?" He could not help but question.

"I know not of the others but Aelfric and Rhiannon," She clicked her tongue, "Both are unsatisfied by the new races of this world, the new state of things. So their only goal would be to spread chaos."

"Then they must hope their thirst for chaos can swallow up my strength." Dante simply said as he turned to leave, "I shall do my utmost to find them; should I encounter Aelfric, I shall bring you his head." Lyra smiled at that.

"Thank you."