Encounter

"Hel..."

Arien whimpered quietly.

"What is it?"

Helsyn stopped walking and looked at Arien, who seemed to be worried about something.

"I don't know... something feels weird."

Arien stared at the palms of her hands, confused.

Helsyn then remembered that Arien was in that village alone, about a week after the Cataclysm. That fact alone made Arien a potential Lucid, as it seems a week was the time period in which Lucids would awaken. The villagers wouldn't leave behind a little girl if she weren't Severed.

"Could you... explain it to me more?"

Helsyn was curious, but also made sure to be careful, as Arien's power could be something completely out of her control, similar to Helsyn's own awakening.

"I think... I need to touch you."

Helsyn realized that a Lucid would develop a kind of "sixth sense" that told them how to use and activate their power. It would also tell the user the exact capabilities of the ability. It was the same way Helsyn could activate and deactivate her skeleton arm at will, as if she were simply moving a finger.

"Uh... alright. Just be careful."

Helsyn obeyed Arien's request as she extended her palm against Helsyn's back and closed her eyes.

A strange feeling overcame Helsyn, as if she were taking a warm bath. She looked at her upper arm, which still had a few open wounds from her previous encounter at Arien's village. The wounds slowly began to close themselves and heal, as if time itself was being reversed to a state before those injuries had been sustained. Helsyn watched in awe as the stinging sensation of her cuts disappeared and was replaced with a soft, gentle feeling.

"Ouch..."

Arien rubbed her arm in pain, at the exact same location where Helsyn's wounds were.

"Arien...? What's wrong?"

Helsyn grabbed Arien's arm and examined it, looking for wounds, but there was nothing except for her soft, pale skin.

"I healed you... but it hurt me."

Helsyn tilted her head in confusion, until she realized just what exactly Arien's abilities were. She could heal wounds by making contact with someone at the expense of transferring the pain to herself.

"Arien, are you feeling any pain right now? Any stinging or discomfort?"

Helsyn's demeanor quickly changed from confusion to worry, as she realized the pain the little girl may have inflicted upon herself.

"It's okay... it was only for a bit, but it's gone now."

It seems like her power would transfer the initial pain that caused the wound in the first place before disappearing. Helsyn knew how useful an ability like this could be, but to have it be used by a child was unacceptable to her.

"Okay... I want you to listen to me. Don't ever use that power for anything more than small bruises or cuts, okay? I don't want you to experience any kind of extreme pain. That's not something a kid should take responsibility for."

Helsyn remembered the fact she was an adult and had to be a proper role model to this little girl who looked up to her. Even despite her upbringing, Helsyn was capable of being adult-like when she really needed to be. She felt quite proud of herself after finishing what she had just said.

"Okay."

Arien nodded her head and seemed to understand.

"Good... now, let's meet with this Nephelin."

---

xxx

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Helsyn and Arien stood before the entrance to the city hall, a large white building that emanated a noble atmosphere simply from its architecture and the way it stood out from the other buildings in Vindyr.

Her high heels reverberated loudly as they made contact with the marble stairs leading up to the entrance.

Upon entering the building, the premises seemed mostly barren, aside from a few fancy looking people standing around and looking at Helsyn with curiosity.

"Hello, young lady. Do you have business with Lady Nephelin?"

A man dressed in an elegant noble outfit approached Helsyn, his way of speaking catching her off guard.

"Uh... yes, I do."

She was not one for formalities, especially as she just wanted to get in and get out.

"I see. Then please, follow me."

One of the other noble-looking people, this time an older lady, approached Helsyn and examined her head to toe.

"That's a beautiful dress you've got on there. Shame it's all tattered, but you could get it fixed up if you find a good seamstress."

The prospect of having her favorite dress mended and repaired excited Helsyn slightly, but she remembered what she came here to do.

"Ah, it's fine, I'll fix it up later..."

Helsyn seemed to be embarassed talking about her interest in clothing and fashion, as it was rather uncharacteristic of her.

"Good luck finding a seamstress; the Cataclysm's got them running scarce."

Helsyn simply nodded and continued following the man who was currently walking up a flight of stairs.

"Lady Nephelin is here; feel free to speak with her."

Helsyn was surprised at how easy it was for her to arrange this meeting, and even moreso at the lack of security. She guessed that maybe the Enseraphs wanted to gain rapport with the people by making themselves seem vulnerable and easy to approach.

Nephelin sat alone at a small, circular table, sipping a cup of tea. Helsyn awkwardly approached the table and sat directly in front of her while Arien roamed around the room, fascinated with her surroundings.

"..."

"..."

Both of the young women remained silent, waiting for the other to break the ice.

Having enough of the suffocating awkwardness, Helsyn decided to speak first.

"You're a Lucid, right?"

Nephelin continued sipping her cup of tea before setting it down gently on the table.

"Yes, I suppose that is what the term is. Why?"

Helsyn continued examining the features of the woman before her.

"I'm also a Lucid. And so is the girl over there."

Helsyn glanced at Arien, who continued prancing around the large room. She figured that a straightforward and direct approach would get the job done easier.

Upon hearing these words, Nephelin's demeanor did a complete flip and she switched from a cold, formal act to a more natural and friendly tone.

"R-Really?! That's amazing, I didn't think there would be so many like me out there."

Helsyn was slightly taken aback by Nephelin's sudden change in demeanor, but dismissed it.

"When I heard you were a Lucid, I knew I had to meet with you personally. Do you... have any abilities, Nephelin?"

Helsyn maintained her calm and collected self, making sure not to slip up.

"Oh wow, so you have abilities too?! Also, just call me Nephy!"

Nephy seemed to nearly jump up from her chair out of sheer excitement from meeting someone who had went through the same experience she did.

"Uh... okay, Nephy. Here's a deal: if I show you my ability, you'll show me yours, and we can work together from there."

Helsyn's plan was to learn more about Lucids, in order to potentially figure out how to expand and control her power, along with the convenience of having a noble ally.

"Okay, no problem! Who goes first?"

Nephy obliged immediately, again confusing Helsyn. Nephy's lack of awareness led Helsyn to choose to go first, as she figured Nephy was already 100% on board with the offer.

"I'll go first. My ability is a soul devourer that manifests itself as a skeleton, mimicing the movements of my actual arm."

Helsyn activated her ability, and Nephy stared at the giant skeleton arm in awe, as if she had stars in her eyes.

"W-Wow...! Okay, um... here's mine. It's a dagger that seems to feed on blood and grow in size."

Nephy manifested a glistening, beautifully crafted black dagger with a glowing yellow gemstone embedded in the handle.

Helsyn seemed to notice a trend concerning the abilities that Lucids possessed. They all had some sort of cost, or resource that needs to be consumed. Something like equivalent exchange.

"And, not only that, but if I cut someone with this fifteen times, it causes the person's blood to erupt from all of their wounds! Uh... not that I've actually tried it yet, though."

Nephy continued divulging more and more information than was needed, to Helsyn's delight. However, she had thought that ability seemed a bit strange, considering how oddly specific it was. Every Lucid ability she was aware of as of now was rather vague when it came to its usage.

"Well, I can sharpen and enlargen this thing using the souls I've collected. Besides that, there's nothing more I'm aware of."

Helsyn sharpened her skeleton's fingers into claws, as Nephy stared in awe.

"That's... so cool! It's like an ability that adapts to you and improves as you grow stronger."

That was true, as Helsyn considered herself to still be in the "baby" stages when it came to her power. She wasn't sure what monstrous things would manifest as she consumed more souls, but she knew that there was technically no limit to this things potential.

"That's right. And your power seems to be... focused more on killing someone efficiently...?"

Helsyn still didn't really understand the concept behind Nephy's ability, as it seemed rather selfish instead of something actually useful.

"Yeah... I don't know, I kind of just assumed that Lucids were given their powers at random."

Nephy frowned and questioned why she was given this dagger who's only purpose was to kill. Helsyn had came to the conclusion that Lucid abilities stemmed from the person's inner desire or conflict. Her problems with food and eating, to being overwhelmed by the desire to consume was wholly ironic. Arien being an innocent child yet possessing an ability that put such a huge burden on herself was also ironic. But Nephy's seemed to be an outlier. Helsyn couldn't seem to figure out what could manifest this kind of power, at least not until she got to know Nephy more as a person.

"Ah... I came here to ask something else as well."

Helsyn brought up another topic as Nephy tilted her head and listened attentively.

"Do you... think you could take in that little girl? ...Just to keep her safe. Her parents were both victims of the Cataclysm."

Helsyn whispered in a quiet voice, making sure Arien couldn't overhear their conversation.

"Hmm... I'll do you one better, why don't you two both come and live together with me in the Enseraph estate!"

Nephy proposed this idea proudly, a wide grin across her face. Helsyn remained dumbfounded at her sudden response.

"So?! How about it? We've got lots of empty guest rooms!"

Nephy continued to push Helsyn further, enticing her with the idea of living lavish. The idea certainly seemed appealing to Helsyn, but she never really cared for things like luxury and the like. However, it was true that she had no place to stay, so she decided on agreeing to the idea, even if it were some sort of elaborate trap. It was simply too good of an offer to ignore.

"Are you kidding? Of course I'll accept."

Helsyn grinned smugly. It seems Nephy's over the top behavior began to rub off on her.

"Well, it's not only for your sake, but for the girl as well. I guess I have to be one to tell you this, but that girl is completely attached to you. You're all she has left. You can't expect to just leave her somewhere else."

Nephy's sudden switch in tone caught Helsyn off guard once more. This girl truly was unpredictable. Helsyn was very aware of exactly what Nephy said, but pushed it to the very back of her mind. The thought of being a "motherly figure" absolutely irked Helsyn. She couldn't be some kid's caretaker.

At the same time, it was true that she started developing a strong attachment towards Arien. But she wouldn't want to call it a motherly relationship. Maybe... something more like a big sister fit Helsyn more.

"I know... trust me. I know. But thank you for telling me anyway."

In her mind, Helsyn began coming to terms with her fate being intertwined with Arien's and that she would be an older sister figure for her. This prospect still felt offputting to Helsyn, but it didn't bother her as much.

"Anyway... you know you and I are going to be best friends, right? I can't wait to show you around the estate! I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself! In fact, let's go right now! I'm tired of being in this damned stuffy room."

Helsyn was all out of energy to deal with Nephy, so she decided to comply as it was the easiest choice.

"Arien, you heard all of that, right? This crazy girl is going to let us live with her. We'll have some place to stay now, where you'll be safe."

Helsyn simply laid back in her chair as Arien came running towards the table, taking a closer look at Nephy.

Arien smiled, then nodded her head in approval.

"As long as I'm with you, Hel."

Helsyn raised her eyebrow.

"Hey, when did you learn to be so eloquent with your words?"

Arien simply grinned playfully and continued bouncing around the room.

Helsyn let out a tired sigh, clearly exhausted from the amount of social interaction she engaged in.

"Nephy, do your thing. Get me out. Just bring me to a place where I can rest."

Helsyn resigned herself as both Nephy and Arien were filled with energy, excited to be in a new environment with new people.

"Aaaaaaalright! Helsyn, Arien, follow me, it's only a short walk from here! Oh man, I can't wait to show you the dining room, and the backyard, and my room, and..."

Nephy continued rambling on and on as she dragged Helsyn by the collar, with Arien following closely behind as she listened to Nephy's stories. They exited the city hall and were greeted by a beautiful sunset, marking the start of a budding friendship.