Different Sight
As the carriage rolled deeper into the heart of Skyleaves Forest, the towering trees seemed to converge overhead, creating a natural canopy that filtered the moonlight into dappled patterns on the forest floor.
Lyra guided the horses with a practiced ease and her usual stoic expression, the rhythmic clip-clop of hooves resonating through the serene woodland.
Just as they were about to enter the heart of the forest, Cole's body slumped behind her. Lyra, with her unchanging expression, couldn't help but be slightly surprised.
She turned her gaze toward him, and her expression remained impassive, masking the underlying curiosity that stirred within her.
'He might be acting like he's unconscious to see what I might do to him… and then that will be the perfect excuse for him to strike me down. I must be careful.'
Something was amiss, but she chose to keep her vigilance intact.
The giant trees enveloped them as they ventured deeper, and Lyra found a suitable spot to set up camp in the midst of the woods.
"Phyu~, phyu~!"
She expertly kindled a fire, the flames dancing and crackling, casting flickering shadows on the trees.
"Hah…" She plopped down on her butt, sitting by herself.
Kshh–kshh!
She played with a stick against the soft ground, her mind occupied by the occurrences she had just gone through.
The moment she opened Cole's cell, he disappeared in a flash, and next up, she heard screeches and explosions all around the mansion.
'Why…?' She asked herself.
Why did she help Cole? Why did she secure a carriage during Cole's carnage in the Castle? She herself didn't know why.
'I managed to sputter whatever believable reasons to him, but realistically, I have no reason as to why I helped him.'
If wanting to feel a change could be considered a reason, then that would be it.
In the carriage, Cole lay unconscious, his body as still as the moment he fell back before they even entered the gigantic forest.
As the shadows danced outside, Lyra decided to check on him, her stoic demeanor concealing any concern that may have lingered within her.
Opening the carriage door, she found Cole heaving, sweating, and panting.
"..."
If it were anyone else, they'd gasp and ask what was going on, but for Lyra, it was different. She was coolheaded.
Quickly, she helped him out of the carriage, laying him gently on a soft blanket she had discovered within the carriage itself.
"–Hmph…"
Lyra, frustrated by her inability to use water magic, was nonetheless relieved that she could craft ice directly. It was an anomaly she hadn't fully understood, and it left her perplexed about the magic she had awakened with after the Celestial Eclipse.
Creating small clumps of ice, she warmed them slightly with her own hands before placing them against Cole's forehead. The cold relief against his fevered skin seemed to bring a measure of comfort to the unconscious young man.
Lyra, though not one to show emotions openly, couldn't help but feel a hint of empathy for the predicament Cole found himself in.
'You really are all alone…'
"...Just like me." She whispered.
As she sat by the fire, keeping a watchful eye on Cole, he began to speak in his nightmare, his words a garbled mix of fear and confusion.
Lyra observed, her keen senses attuned to the shifts in his condition. After a while, she believed his situation had calmed down, allowing herself a brief moment of rest.
Opening a small notepad she kept in her pocket, she thumbed through the pages to find sketches of a peculiar symbol. The symbol Cole was trying to study when he was struck by the Herald of Darkness.
A strange sensation gripped her as she studied the drawings, the symbol holding an otherworldly significance that eluded her understanding.
It was like the number '8', but turned sideways, and the lines were cut off just before meeting and actually forming a proper sideways eight.
∞
"–KGRAGHHH!"
"Huh!?"
Lost in her thoughts, she was abruptly interrupted by a screech that exploded from Cole's throat, a shockwave emanating from him and propelling her several meters back until she collided with a nearby tree.
"Kgh!"
'Shit! What is–"
Shaking off the impact, she regained proper sight just in time to witness an astonishing sight amongst the shivering air of the night.
"..."
Fwyou~
Cole, with his torn black clothes revealing glimpses of his chest, stood in an ethereal aura that seemed to draw from the very fabric of the universe.
His snow-white hair fluttered in an unseen breeze, and a shining symbol materialized on his forehead.
A sideways 8… just the two lines not fully connected on its center!
"What in the hell..." Lyra's voice escaped her in a breathless whisper, her eyes widening in disbelief as she gazed at Cole, still close-eyed.
The sight defied definition, and surpassed understanding. Cole, the boy of ashes and shadows, now stood at the center of a cosmic spectacle, a mortal vessel channeling unfathomable energies.
Awe turned to fear, a primal instinct clawing at her throat.
This was not of this world, not of humankind. The power emanating from Cole was intoxicating and terrifying.
'I-It's too much…' Lyra thought through choked breaths, trying to keep herself awake as clutched at her throat, trying to help her own self breathe.
The symbol on his forehead glowed with an otherworldly brilliance.
Lyra, typically composed, found herself at a loss for words. The forest, which was serene, seemed to hold its breath as if acknowledging the momentous event unfolding before it.
Cole's transformation, shrouded in mystery and cosmic symbolism, left Lyra on the edge of understanding.
She just continued to watch in the flickering firelight that was almost out, her stoic demeanor momentarily fractured by the surreal sight before her.
And then…
Plop.
The energy he was exuding suddenly vanished and his body plopped against the ground.
The intense pressure and ethereal vibes that Cole was portraying were immediately extinguished as what remained left was but the former version she was well accustomed to.
No mana, no energy, and no shining symbol on his forehead.
He had returned to being purely… Cole.