A Nascent Kaleidoscope - Chapter 449

Chapter 449








Chapter 449:

Everything happened so fast.

I didn't know how I felt myself, but at this moment, I think Jeanne took precedence. She wasn't crying anymore, but she was still not willing to move and I didn't move to make her.

The Rayshifting procedures took a few minutes to properly return the people who used it, so it wasn't too surprising that no one had stormed the room thus far.

I just sat there silently rubbing her back, letting her feel comfortable.

Raikou sat at my side, as we literally were situated on the ground. Mozart was slumped against the wall, looking utterly exhausted.

I felt bad that he was the only one I grabbed. I don't know who else survived, maybe Siegfried? But in that moment that I had, he was closest, and I just did what I could.

Even that victory still felt like a loss.

And I still don't know what happened? Where are we supposed to go from here?

{You're on limited time.} Musū Tengai spoke up in my mind. {Enter your inner world, it will be easier to explain.}

That didn't sound ominous at all.

"Jeanne." I whispered.

She shifted, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. "I'm okay." She said, forcing herself to smile. "It's not my first time losing someone. Even if it was my fault..."

"No." I immediately rejected her. "I'm the one who let her use the Spear. I'm the one who didn't stop her and grabbed you. I'm at fault, not you. If you want to, you can hate me for what happened." Jeanne was someone who would blame herself, martyr herself if the situation called for it. She was so quick to be willing to sacrifice herself, I would rather she hate me than feel like it was her fault.

"I couldn't hate you." She spoke softly, adjusting herself so she wasn't leaning on me entirely anymore. "Do you know what happened?" she asked.

The others perked up too.

"Do you know what happened?"

She shook her head. "I only know that role I was supposed to play...."

"I have a way to find out, give me a moment." I adjusted my posture, so I was sitting cross legged and put my Zanpakutō across my lap.

The meditative process that allowed one to sync up with their Zanpakutō.

I evened my breathing, and cleared my mind of all the stray thoughts I was feeling.

I felt the wind gently sway my hair and the taste of salt in the air. I opened my eyes to see the vast ocean extending to the horizon.

"Where I took Jinn on our first date." I muttered. "I didn't think this would be a place stored in my soul."

"If you could recall the stretch of sand and water so quickly, then does that not indicate that it was something you cherish enough to keep close?" Musū Tengai Stood at the edge of the tide, the water barely missing his feet as it came and went.

Yeah...seeing Jinn experience something like this for the first time was a memory I would always cherish.

"You have some explaining to do." I wanted to cut right to the chase. "You said I'm on a time limit, what does that mean? And how much of said time do I have?"

"Peace." He held his hands up. "Inside your soul, you can experience things quicker, as you know. I would say you need to leave this World-Line within the hour to be safe."

I felt my hands ball up. With a shout, I punched the ground. The sand went everywhere, forming a large crater.

I was pissed, after everything that happened, I think it was simply the straw that broke the camel's back and I lashed out.

"Fuck me." I fell to my butt.

"It's better to release that stress than to keep it bottled up. At least there will be no damage done here." He offered.

"I'll worry about that later, please just tell me what's going on."

"First, let me ask you. What is a Miracle?" He looked out towards the Ocean.

"I.....I'm not quite sure to be honest. Academically, I can point out the definition, but that's rather mundane. And even supposed Miracles that were recorded in texts and stories are things that could happen without Divine Intervention, let alone Divine Authority."

"Yet you put your faith in this Miracle succeeding?"

"I trust you." I said simply.

"Thank you for your trust, it was not misplaced." I could vaguely make out the edges of a smile on the corner of his face. "To answer, it's...difficult."

"How do you even know all this when I don't?"

"I have spoken with the presence within the spear on a few occasions." He answered.

"....right, both weapons." I was skeptical. "Go on."

"Do you recall the story of Moses parting the Red Sea?"

"I suppose, though I won't question the validity of it in this situation. But it doesn't seem particularly....praiseworthy. I could do that with my Authority, as could any God with a similar Authority. Hell, I could do it with some time and effort through purely magical means. And I'm pretty sure the same could be said for mundane means, granted that would take much more time and effort."

"Yes, yet it is recognized as a Miracle. And I will tell you that it was in fact a Miracle."

"Sounds contradictory."

"Yes, but understand the circumstances." He held a hand up, and the ocean churned. Starting from the place he stood, the water began to separate, a line forming all the way to the horizon. "The people of Moses were fleeing from the Egyptians after The Biblical God engaged the Egyptian Gods. Why did the Egyptian Gods that were suffering under his wrath not simply collapse the waves upon his people to spite him? Or a plethora of any other creative ways to end but a few mortal lives?"

"I see your point, it's odd. Regardless of how strong Big G was, it's strange that the Jews of Egypt escaped wholly unscathed...."

"A Miracle is not a Divine Authority; you can even say it's a step further. Divine Authority is the allowance of a Divine Being to change the world, to bend it to their will. Zeus commands the sky, he is allowed to bring about storms, to rain lightning, to alter the weather at his discretion. Amaterasu is the Sun, as seen in the past, she can take away Japan's sunlight."

"I get it, I understand how Divine Authority works in a general sense."

"A Miracle is a statement of Fact. It's telling the world that this is going to happen. Past, Present, Future, it happened, it's happening, it will happen. Even if something is impossible, it will happen if ordained. It is an action in line with the concept of Primordial Creation. There is a reason that True Magic is compared to Miracles. Your method of traversing through World-Lines, you are not asking for permission, you are telling the world that this is where you are going and it happens. As such, you can recall why Meridia was so surprised when you decided to 'peek' at her."

".....there has to be some downside or some ceiling, otherwise he wouldn't be in the state he's in."

"Of course, nothing is unbeatable." He shrugged. "But I doubt you want to waste the time to discuss that fully."

Seeing the state the Spear was in, it's not hard to guess that a true Miracle wasn't something simply done on a whim.

"Moses didn't simply part the Sea through God's will, did he?"

"No, the true Miracle was something more. It was that Moses and his people would escape Egypt unmolested."

"Why Holy Power? Why couldn't he take my Magical Energy? Or my Divinity?"

"Well, some of it was taken, but he was not in a state to use a Miracle, he needed more Holy Power and the Saintess carried a significant amount with her. Even the....other one who rejected God still was a part of the original."

"But why Holy Power?" I pushed.

"What do you think Holy Power is? And not in a general sense, but what separates the Church's Holy Power from, say, your Dawnbreaker? Both are Holy, are they not?"

"The intent?" I questioned.

He shook his head. "Many Gods have 'holy' abilities. Fire Gods with their Holy Fire, Meridia with her Holy Light, yet they don't operate at all like 'Holy Power', do they?"

"No." I pursed my lips.

"Holy Power....you can consider it derived from the closest approximation to what can be called the essence of Creation within the Abrahamic Cosmology. You can think of it this way, Holy Power is equivalent to Modern Runes when they are compared to Primordial Runes. As such, the presence within the spear required enough Holy Power to perform a Miracle."

"Okay." I breathed out. It was a lot of new information to suddenly have dropped on me. "Okay, I'm following. It's not groundbreaking. I'm sure I could have deduced this if i had posed the question earlier and was given time to think it over. And I'll give it more thought later, but the mechanics are less important right now. What happened to Solomon?"

"That....I believe I can take a good guess based on the few words exchanged in the last moment." Musū Tengai, moved his arm and the ocean collapsed back onto itself. "The one we fought was not Solomon."

"Obviously, I'm just calling him that because it's easy."

"He's known for his 10 Rings, items of great power bestowed by God, and a Clairvoyance that allows him to see past, present, and future. If I had to guess.....I believe the Miracle removed his ever appearing in the Singularity from his end."

"....pardon?" I blinked.

"From his point of view, I do not believe he ever appeared in the Singularity. Your presence was erased from his perception, he never decided to see the fall of Gilles after he lost the Grail. Thus, he will still not bother with Chaldea."

"But....that's ridiculous. The Causality alone –"

"There is a reason it's called a Miracle."

"So everything that happened to us still happened, but he was essentially....removed from all chain of events, his knowledge erased, his vision....blurred so to speak?"

It's not like I expected Goetia to suffer any permanent damage. The presence within the spear didn't have nearly enough juice to pull something like that off, otherwise there'd be no point in me helping it 'revive'.

But even still, what he's saying is absurd.

"If I am correct, then that is a simple approximation of what transpired." He nodded.

I put my hands up to hold my head, looking at the ground. "That sounds simple on the surface, but if I tried to do something similar with you, I would most likely die. There were too many variables....the Casualty alone like I said was far too intertwined. All those people who saw him....." A Miracle? It sounded grandiose, but to see it with my own eyes was....humbling in a way. "The Rings and the Clairvoyance, it used those again him, which made it easier."

"Yes." He nodded again. "Otherwise, it would not have been possible in the state that the Spear currently was."

"We were lucky."

"Very much so."

"We need to leave."

"Unfortunately."

I understood now. The Miracle was....would it be ironic to call the Miracle itself a Miracle? The Rings of Solomon that the thing was wearing were used against it. The God Given Clairvoyance was used against it.

"To simplify it down to the core, my existence in this singularity was essentially obscured to his knowledge." Which was why I had to leave. The longer I stayed, the more likely it is for him to notice me and realize that something was wrong.

If he was made to 'forget' about me, in utterly simplistic terms, if he suddenly was presented a huge reminder by seeing me, then.....it's possible whatever happened could unravel and he decides to nuke Chaldea and I couldn't stop him.

"He'll ignore Chaldea if I'm not around, he made that much clear." I whispered. "I have to leave again."

"Regroup and think of another plan."

I took a deep breath. "Alright, thanks Musū Tengai, I'll head back."

"I will always be here if you need me." He smiled.

I closed my eyes and opened them again, and blinking a few times as now the room was completely filled.

"Master." Raikou hugged me.

"B-But!"

"Nope." I yanked her braid. "You have no excuses this time."

"We're going to have such a wonderful time together~" Raikou cooed, wrapping up the Saintess in a tight hug. "So many wonderful new things to teach you~"

Raikou has the right idea. I refuse to leave her again.

"It's best we leave sooner rather than later." I hated it, I hated having to leave again and leave things up to chance in some aspects. "And I would like my staff back."

Medea was in the back and I heard her click her tongue. "Was hoping you would forget."

"Really?" I asked dryly.

"Was worth a shot." She tossed it to me and I happily put it away before pulling the Longinus free from the wall.

It felt so.....weak.

I would worry about that once I got home.

"We'll handle everything until you get back, Boss." Samuel smiled.

"Yes, Senpai! We'll be ready when you get back!" Mash nodded vigorously.

It was....not the best circumstances to say goodbye and it was clear that there was a degree of stress and uncertainty, but I suppose it couldn't be helped.

I was about to say my final goodbye, but Saber's petite hand grabbed at my collar, pulling me down until I was eye-level.

She stared into my eyes for several moments. "You will return."

"Of course." I smiled.

"I will protect them until you do so." She released me.

"It puts me at ease knowing you will."

She twitched slightly. "Yes, as it should." She turned away. "I will await your return and you will be thankful next we meet."

"Take care of yourself." Cu walked up, patting my shoulder. "I'll do my best to watch the kids."

"Got any last minute advice?"

"Hmm." He tapped his chin. "Sixth." He said rather cryptically. "At Least by then." He leaned in with a whisper for only me to hear.

I nodded, only guessing at what he meant by that. He silently handed me my spear without any hesitation.

Anyone would just be dragging it off.

I opened up a portal while I felt we were still safe and the others hesitantly walked through followed by Raikou.

One last smiled and nod, and I followed behind, leaving them to the unknown.

[***]

'Solomon' POV.

Something was....wrong.

I sat upon the Throne of Time, silence permeating the void around me, yet....I felt something amiss.

Why was there this phantom feeling so suddenly?

Raum, Report.

'Calculations within .00047% error margin.'

Good.

Barbatos, Report.

'Beginning final preparations, no anomalies.'

Gremory, report.

'Removing all traces of subject F-118.'

Acceptable.

Even still.....why does this strange sensation still permeate? Was I.... anxious? The thought made me scowl before I squashed it. What force could possibly force such a human emotion upon me? The thought was utterly ridiculous, and I felt foolish for even considering it.

Even so, it would be further foolish to ignore this feeling I was having.

Flauros, report.

'The singularity labeled F-004 has been removed. Processing source of destruction.....Grail has been removed from the time period, Counterforce assault expected and observed. Timeline realigned with proper Human History. Singularities labeled F-005 through F-008 noted no anomalies and progress as expected. Designation Singularity F-009 suffers further degradation and assimilation by entity labeled 'Goddess Rhongomyniad'. Observation has been established, any action has been rendered immaterial and further consideration not needed. Evaluation – proceeding as normal. Singularity F019 –'

"That is enough." I responded, tapping the throne.

Everything was proceeding within considerations. The anomaly Goddess that appeared in the Seventh Singularity notwithstanding, but wholly irrelevant. The nature of her Weapon made intervention a risk unneeded. Priorities aligned, foreign interference by her was not predicted, but caused no overall concern.

However, I was still feeling uneasy and it was beginning to infuriate me.

Why was it as if I was unable to recall something important?

Ridiculous.

Agares, run a diagnostic on the connected hive root.

'Initiating redundancy protocols and infiltration assertion. Full internal scans completed; no outside interference detected. Request further orders.'

"No need, return to what you were previously doing." Why did it persist? "Flauros, report on Singularity F-004."

'....resolution achieved by organization designated Chaldea. Traces of Rayshift alignment detected, probability of extranormal entity interference, .091%. Resolution, destruction of Chaldea would result in an efficiency increase of 1.05%. Request destruction of Chaldea.'

'Alloces rejects this proposal. Unnecessary to focus on insignificant humans.'

'Furfur agrees with Alloces.'

'Malphas in agreement.'

'Caim in agreement.'

'Eligos in Agreement.'

'Buer agrees with Flauros. Chaldea poses miniscule risk, effort to remove requires less than a percentage of resources. Logical conclusion, remove uncontrollable factors.'

'Sitri find's Buer's acknowledgement of Humans to be disgusting.'

'Vapar in agreement with Sitri.'

'Buer merely wishes to remove annoyances.'

'Paimon agrees with Buer. Bugs should be squashed.'

'Ipos remains neutral.'

'Naberius thinks that Flauros should be remade and memories modified. Anger clouding judgment from loss to humans.'

'Flauros argues that he did not lose to humans! Anomaly registered as 'Magician' and 'unknown' factor with resonance with us. Relationship with Chaldea –'

"Enough." I ended the argument between my Demon Pillars. "Ignore the humans, we are nearing completion of our goal. Their stomping around matters not."

There was nothing there that required my attention.

It did not matter if the Singularities were fixed, they were merely a means to an end.

It would be a simple matter of destroying Chaldea, but the thought of putting forth the effort grated on my mind. Mere insects hopping around without any true understanding of what was occurring. No, I felt disgusted at the idea of them gaining my attention to require destruction in the first place.

Merely a single Singularity cleared by them. Perhaps the easiest one of them all.

There was nothing there that required my attention.

Passing amusement, nothing else.

There was nothing there that required my attention.

Perhaps I would show myself should they provide better entertainment. The last vestiges of humanity, floundering upon the precipice of my true victory.

However,

There was nothing there that required my attention.

Hmm....what was troubling me?

There was nothing there that required my attention.

I suppose it was some nonsense if I deemed it too infantile to even devote additional mental power to contemplate.

There was nothing there that required my attention.

There was nothing there that R̶̵̨͖̺̭͈͓͓̠̳̯̬̮͐ͭ̍̅̎ͨ̈̀̎ͧͬ̔ͧ̕͠ȩ̸̷̯̭͎ͫ̀ͦ͒͑q̘̝̞̱̯̖̖͕ͤͭ̏̔̽̏ͯͨ͘͢͝ư̷̡͉̼̹͚̲̫͔̬̺̫̘̙̙̟̫͂̔ͣ͊̊͑̋̀̀ͤ̐̀͊̀̈ͣ͌͟͠͞i̸̵̸̶̮̻̲̬̙̥̩̯̤͇͔̦͖͓̫̰̟̱͈̱ͣͮ̍ͪ̅͒̏̆ͤͬ̄̒̏̋̐͟͟͞r̶̷̨̡̘̟̬̦̘̥̠͉̘̗̝͉̮̥͉̝͈ͨ͛̀̑͒ͭͭ̍ͤ̋ͤ͆̄̒͋̊̓͑̏͘̚͠͝͞e̷̢̫̭̠̪̥̣̜̦ͪͨ͌̈͗́̂̄͒ͨ͟͝͝͝_̵̭̝̻͔͔̐ͭͯ͗ͣ̚͠d̷̴̡͍̩̫͚̭̭̣̺̥̺̞̼ͬͮ̈ͯ͋͜ m̵̴̶̴̷̶̵̡̦̙̼̦̘̟̦̳͎̲͎̙̼̟̤̌͊ͥ͊͊̅͌̓ͭ͑̃͑͜͝y͈̔͆̽͆ͦ͢_̴̸̛̳͇̝͕̦͉͖̞̜̦̱̦̪͉͙͕̃̋̎͑͆́̿̎̆ͩͬ̀͒̋͊̓̉͜ͅ a̢̛̛̝̙̻͇͕̰̮̰̐̇͐ͨ̆ͩ͂̇̀̅̉̀͆͋ͧ̉̅̀͛͟͜͜ͅt̹͈̱̦͐̊̊͜t̷̨̮̝̫̣̟̩̣͔͉̥̥͎̦̰͔̪͙́͑̏ͣ̄̒̎́̎ͯ̑͌̂̅̇̿ͤ̀̚͜͢͠ͅḛ̵̷̠͉̯̀̏́̂n̴̶̶̡̧̨͎̲̫̜̤͖̭̞͙̜͈̏͊̍͐̆ͬ̅͘̕t̴̸̵̶̢̲̟̞̖̜͆͐͆͡͡i̸̴̶̬̟͚͔͖̞͕͍̲̘̳̝͒̅̇̑ͯͪͭͮ͛̈́͆̆̕͡͡_͆o_̸̻͙̲̗̹̟͓̦̦̝̹͆̇́̆̏̂̐͗̏̅̅͊ͨͥ̒̍̊͋͘͝_̶̢̯͓͛̓̇́͋͊̚ṉ͈ͫ̇͗̓ͅ.̶̸̹̩̠͚͈̳͓̭̯̈́̂̊̅͑ͬͨ͆͗ͩ͐̎͑ͦ̑̀͡ͅ

I raised my hand to clutch my head as something strange flashed across my mind, but immediately, the feeling disappeared.

Nothing was amiss.

"Flauros, continue with your report regarding Singularity F-010."

[***]

A/N

Big G basically went 'you were never here' and everything forced itself into place to accommodate that along with a little missive to ignore Chaldea for the time being. Before people jump me about Goetia escaping unscathed, Big G in the spear is not alive. It did this while being a 'dying will'. He got mind wammied pretty damn hard to give Wilhelm and co an out. It won't work like this next time.

If you want to read 9 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone