It was a weird, indescribable feeling. They all had to hold hands, and with Rose leading them, she passed through the barrier without any problems. All of them felt as if a strange energy had gone through their connected palms, giving them a buzzing feeling as they followed the little girl's lead. Without obstruction, everyone managed to go through. Looking back, nothing seemed to change, but the air was much more denser than before, filled with the essence of mana.
“This place… feels weird…” Keily mumbled, taking a deep breath as inhaling it was… refreshing. He felt his body relax and refill with energy at once.
"It is different…" Rinzen nodded, feeling a bit puzzled too, as they had no knowledge about a place like this, about the ancient lords of Meriath before the Undeads' appearance and their hidden, treasured lands.
"No wonder it comes back here all the time." Ceiline mumbled, "I bet that dragon uses a lot of energy just to move! Recharging here can be way faster than on the outside!"
"It is… sleeping…" Rose said quietly, looking at them, standing still, nervously hugging her tattered fox tail to herself. “But… it is empty…”
"Empty?" Lia asked, watching her as she nodded, allowing her to cover her eyes once more, giving her relief.
"It has no… um… it has nothing… in it. It is… empty." Rose mumbled, sounding a bit unsure.
"..." The misfits looked at each other, trying to figure it out while Lia was furrowing her brows, thinking back to the many lessons about No-Space, its effects, and the fact she also once saw her soul leaving her body. "You mean… it has no soul?"
"Soul?" She asked back, unsure as she never truly understood her own powers either. "It is… just empty. You are not." She pointed at them feebly. "You are bright and… not like the… others."
"The Undead?"
"The monsters…" She nodded, "They are… sick. And when the… lightning comes, the big monster gets sick too."
"So it is the lightning strikes…." Koa murmured as they now had proof of Lia's idea. If they believed Rose, that is.
"I don't feel that she is lying." Sion spoke up, watching her without blinking, "I caught a lot of people while in the Academy trying to wiggle their way out from trouble... She is being honest."
"I agree." Simbad nodded, "Still… better be careful. She is not lying, but they could still use and deceive her. Her powers are extremely dangerous and can be a result of some necromancy."
"I do not feel any miasma in her," Rinzen answered before everyone could. "If she was experimented on, there would be traces of it."
"Or they improved greatly." Aurora signed, and nobody said anything to that.
"I always hid from the monsters…" Rose whispered, fiddling with her tail.
"Let's go!" Lia shook her body, refocusing her thoughts. "Rose will lead us to one of the high towers!" She continued, watching the six enormous buildings that were now much, much closer to them. They looked identical, pointy, and made of metal and glass, reflecting their surroundings in the weird, dusk-like light permeating the sub-realm. From some angles, they could also make out the distorted image of the dragon, lying unmoving in the middle of the Core Region.
Rose hesitated momentarily but then started walking as the Misfits followed, Simbad constantly watching the little girl, not giving a chance for her to make any surprising moves. After a minute or so, it was Lia who couldn't hold back her questions anymore.
"How did you get here?" She asked the question that was already asked once, receiving the same answer.
"I… don't know."
"You had to end up here, somehow." Koadriana joined in, not believing her. "You couldn't have been born in here!"
"I… I was born in a village." She said, her voice weak and afraid to speak about it.
"Go on." Sion encouraged her, but it sounded more like an order than anything. "Do you know the name of the village?"
"Ilyasteed." She answered after a brief pause.
"That is in our territory," Ceiline spoke immediately. "It is built right at the shore of the lake! It IS inhabited by beast folk from her species."
"How big is it?" Aurora asked, scrutinizing Rose's back, watching her for signs of any clues from her body language while listening to Ceiline.
"Around 10 000 souls? Give or take. They are famous for being beautiful and producing talented fire mages. Some of their elites are serving my House at a high rank. Who are your parents? What are they called?"
"I… I don't know…" Rose mumbled.
"She is lying." Simbad, Aurora, and Sion all said at once, making Rose stop and crouch down, holding her head.
"Don't hurt me! Please!" This immediately made the group stare at each other, feeling confused and hurt. On the one hand, they knew they couldn't take this lightly. She could easily be an Undead; there was no room for errors, not with an Undead Dragon nearby. Yet… even Simbad started to feel sorry, seeing her act like this.
"We won't hurt you." Lia walked forward, placing her hand on the top of her head, making Rose squeal, expecting something painful to happen, but then… nothing. Lia just gently started to stroke her head. “Tell us… who are your parents…”
"I can't…." She cried, the blindfold around her eyes already wet from her tears.
"She… is not lying." The trio added, looking at each other, puzzled.
Rinzen also crouched down, holding Rose's hand, examining it before saying to Lia.
"She has magic put on her that prevents her from revealing it."
"By who?" Everyone asked, expecting Undead magic, but Rinzen just sighed.
"A fire mage. It burns her brain when she tries saying something she shouldn't. I can get it off her, but it will take time."
"So she knows things someone does not want others to learn?" Sion crossed his arms, exchanging a suspicious glance with Aurora. "And she ends up in a sub-realm… alone? Damn, fishy if you ask me!"
"How long would it take?" Lia asked, ignoring the frightened Rose, who was trying to speak but couldn't find a point to interject.
"Not long. I can do it while walking." She replied, picking Rose up and carrying her like a baby while they continued their trek.
"We also need to keep a lookout for Undeads…" Raufon opened his mouth, constantly checking their backs.
"The monsters patrol the outside…" Rose said, finding it weird to be carried like that, but… Rinzen was… so 'warm.'
"That is good… But I bet they will come swarming in when we start our plans." Keily said, scratching his chin.
"No doubt about that." Ceiline nodded, "But first reach one of the buildings… then we can discuss our next move. How much until it wakes up again?" She asked.
"We ought to have a few hours left," Lia replied, watching Rinzen and Rose, feeling sorry for the small girl. "We may have to find a shelter, though." She added, "Even if we get close, they are... humongous… Haah, We may need the whole five hours to destroy one!"
"Hiding right under the monster's nose… eh?" Raufon chortled, “Well, Boss… Your plans are weird… oh well, we must stay true to our name, no?" He laughed, making everyone smile.
…
….
……
"This will do…." Lia murmured as they nestled into a sturdy-looking, 2-story-high building. Unlike the ones outside the Core Region, it was much more intact. The first floor was still full of shelves and ancient cabinets with empty bottles numbering in the hundreds.
It was clearly a potion and pill shop once, but all that crumbled away under the relentless assault of time. The liquids evaporated, and the pills turned to dust as only their containers remained behind. The second floor was a workshop where the walls and floors had cracked formations and huge, human-sized vats for concocting their merchandise.
"How much time do we have?" Koadriana asked as they gathered in the room; Rinzen only cleaned one window at the corners, so they would not give away their position.
"An hour? An hour and a half?" Lia mumbled, trying to count in her head. "Best if we lay low and wait for it to do its rounds and come back… then we can start."
"Before that… I want to hear more." Aurora wrote, sitting down on the ground, watching the trembling Rose. When everyone else also turned to her, she started to sob again.
"Relax…" Rinzen came back, lifting her up, letting Rose sit in her lap, pulling her between her breasts, stroking her head. "Cool down your emotions…" She whispered, blowing out some chilly air, making everyone shiver, but it did have its effects as Rose started calming down. "Now… tell us… who are your parents?"
She hesitated a little before telling them, seeing that she would be in trouble if she did not tell them everything. Now, the magic lifted from her brain; there was no searing pain anymore when she started talking about something that was forbidden to her, starting with naming her parents.
"I know the Nevis family," Ceiline said at once, looking surprised. "And her parents!"
"Really?" They all looked at her, amazed, including Rose.
"Yeah! They are a pair under Kaznak directly! They are his personal subordinates! More than that… they have no children!" She looked at Rose with her mouth agape before she looked at Aurora, Simbad, and Sion.
"She is not lying… Or she is so good that she can fool all three of us," Simbad answered, still watching Rose without blinking.
"I can see why they would hide her." Raufon answered coldly, "Her eyes were already suspicious enough. Her parents are at a high-ranking position; it would be devastating… maybe even worthy of being executed."
"...!" Rose flinched, now regretting saying anything because she knew it at once, it was true.
"How did you get here?" Lia asked, turning back to her. "Did your parents throw you into the lake?"
"No!" Rose cried out with loud indignation, "My parents would not do that!"
"Are you sure?" Koadriana asked, receiving a 'glare' from Rose, and even those who were not good at reading body language knew she was angry at them for even asking a question like that.
"Then how did you end up here?" Keily asked, sympathizing with her.
“My aunt… she… took me out… I… I can't leave the House. I can't be… seen." She started to explain again.
She told them how she was confined to only a room since birth. Just the fact that her eyes were exactly like that of the Undead's, she was immediately hidden away. It caused a panic in the Nevis family, and everyone was immediately forced to swear silence, magically enforced by Rose's parents.
Growing up, she could only watch the outside world from her room and quickly learned that nobody else saw it as she did. The world was full of colors and life, but she could not experience that. What she saw was neverending darkness, illuminated by the people themselves. They were bright and, sometimes, blindingly so… especially her parents, who were 5th Tier mages. She could never look at them directly, only if she closed her eyes, letting the light dim so she could see them as fiery, red silhouettes.
As she grew up, the family grew even more wary of her, except her parents. When they learned that Rose could see their desires, whether they lied or not, and what they were genuinely thinking deep inside, it frightened them. Many were increasingly convinced that she had to have a connection to the Undead, one way or another… but her parents were having none of it. One of her cousins also had an…. Accident in which he died before being able to lift the binding spell on his mind and run to tell about Rose to the Nerifits.
Not long after, her parents went on a mission with the Nerifits, to the same one where Razael and Solren led them into a sub-realm, fighting the Undead. His aunt, tasked with guarding her, then took her out of the House. Rose was excited and believed it was a secret adventure… she was finally allowed to explore the village a little. She was even taken on a boat ride… then… Everything went dark.
"When I woke up…" She murmured, still feeling puzzled, "I was here… I think… the monsters kidnapped me…” She sniffled, on the verge of tears, but the Misfits were looking at each other. "No, it was not my Aunt!" She shouted, seeing their thoughts. "It was not!"
"She is lying…." Simbad whispered.
"No! I am not lying! I am not!" She shrieked, "It was… not her! Not!" She broke down, curling up into a ball.
Deep down, she knew from the start. She saw it… she knew her aunt was filled with resentment, fear, and killing intentions. All aimed at her. She directly looked at those feelings, but she ignored them. Her consciousness was unwilling to believe it, not even when she was knocked out and tossed into the lake.
"How did she survive?" Sion whispered, holding his chest, feeling horrible.
"The spell in her body," Rinzen spoke up, gently patting the crying Rose, "It was preventing her from speaking, but also… it was a protective spell. It was made so it would keep her safe. Her parents are strong mages; it could have easily let her survive underwater…."
"The currents probably made her drift to the archway."
"Tsk…" Raufon clicked his tongue, looking incensed, "She had the guts to kill her, but not enough to do it swiftly? Or to go all the way? Letting the body remain so she comes back as a real Undead?"
"Maybe she was planning on it… And using that to frame her parents…." Keily added coldly.
"That would have resulted in the complete wipeout of the family… or even the whole village." Simbad reminded them of the cold facts.
"But how she entered?" Koa asked to not damage the little girl's mind anymore with their talks, and Rose answered between loud sobs.
“The kind… men…” She said, "They found me… when they came down… brought me in."
"Into the camp?" Lia asked, and Rose nodded.
"They said when… change comes, they… take me up. A few... months. But… the monsters came…”
"The dragon?" Raufon asked, gulping, and Rose just nodded.
"The kind people told me to hide… I did… Until the monster was gone… but I saw nobody there anymore. It took everyone away!"
Nobody had the stomach to tell her; everyone was dead. Imagining her being left alone here, living amongst the ruins, scraping by… it explained much about her emancipated figure. Lia only glanced at Aurora and the rest, who nodded back at her, expressing that she did not lie.
"Well, we will get you back to the surface, okay?" Lia said in the end, patting her head.
"Really?" She 'looked' at her, watching Lia's glowing, golden figure in her vision, knowing she wasn't lying. Yet she had to ask, "Promise?"
"Pinky promise!" Lia grinned, sealing it with Rose, just when the darkness came, and ear-shatteringly loud lightning bolts crashed down from the skies. Lia couldn't bother with it… she was determined to get this done, bring her back to the surface… and carry Rose before Reyra. If her mother knows about this, she won't be harmed.
"The monsters are coming…" Rose whispered, barely audible, looking up, "They are flying into the body…."
"They?" Lia trembled, looking out to glimpse the green lightning bolts connected to the tall towers that now directed them straight into the body of the dead Azurat. Watching it, nobody could see what Rose did… as multiple human figures flew into the body, occupying it at fixed spots, turning it into one entity, and reanimating it.
Corty Spooky title o.O
It was a weird, indescribable feeling. They all had to hold hands, and with Rose leading them, she passed through the barrier without any problems. All of them felt as if a strange energy had gone through their connected palms, giving them a buzzing feeling as they followed the little girl's lead. Without obstruction, everyone managed to go through. Looking back, nothing seemed to change, but the air was much more denser than before, filled with the essence of mana.
“This place… feels weird…” Keily mumbled, taking a deep breath as inhaling it was… refreshing. He felt his body relax and refill with energy at once.
"It is different…" Rinzen nodded, feeling a bit puzzled too, as they had no knowledge about a place like this, about the ancient lords of Meriath before the Undeads' appearance and their hidden, treasured lands.
"No wonder it comes back here all the time." Ceiline mumbled, "I bet that dragon uses a lot of energy just to move! Recharging here can be way faster than on the outside!"
"It is… sleeping…" Rose said quietly, looking at them, standing still, nervously hugging her tattered fox tail to herself. “But… it is empty…”
"Empty?" Lia asked, watching her as she nodded, allowing her to cover her eyes once more, giving her relief.
"It has no… um… it has nothing… in it. It is… empty." Rose mumbled, sounding a bit unsure.
"..." The misfits looked at each other, trying to figure it out while Lia was furrowing her brows, thinking back to the many lessons about No-Space, its effects, and the fact she also once saw her soul leaving her body. "You mean… it has no soul?"
"Soul?" She asked back, unsure as she never truly understood her own powers either. "It is… just empty. You are not." She pointed at them feebly. "You are bright and… not like the… others."
"The Undead?"
"The monsters…" She nodded, "They are… sick. And when the… lightning comes, the big monster gets sick too."
"So it is the lightning strikes…." Koa murmured as they now had proof of Lia's idea. If they believed Rose, that is.
"I don't feel that she is lying." Sion spoke up, watching her without blinking, "I caught a lot of people while in the Academy trying to wiggle their way out from trouble... She is being honest."
"I agree." Simbad nodded, "Still… better be careful. She is not lying, but they could still use and deceive her. Her powers are extremely dangerous and can be a result of some necromancy."
"I do not feel any miasma in her," Rinzen answered before everyone could. "If she was experimented on, there would be traces of it."
"Or they improved greatly." Aurora signed, and nobody said anything to that.
"I always hid from the monsters…" Rose whispered, fiddling with her tail.
"Let's go!" Lia shook her body, refocusing her thoughts. "Rose will lead us to one of the high towers!" She continued, watching the six enormous buildings that were now much, much closer to them. They looked identical, pointy, and made of metal and glass, reflecting their surroundings in the weird, dusk-like light permeating the sub-realm. From some angles, they could also make out the distorted image of the dragon, lying unmoving in the middle of the Core Region.
Rose hesitated momentarily but then started walking as the Misfits followed, Simbad constantly watching the little girl, not giving a chance for her to make any surprising moves. After a minute or so, it was Lia who couldn't hold back her questions anymore.
"How did you get here?" She asked the question that was already asked once, receiving the same answer.
"I… don't know."
"You had to end up here, somehow." Koadriana joined in, not believing her. "You couldn't have been born in here!"
"I… I was born in a village." She said, her voice weak and afraid to speak about it.
"Go on." Sion encouraged her, but it sounded more like an order than anything. "Do you know the name of the village?"
"Ilyasteed." She answered after a brief pause.
"That is in our territory," Ceiline spoke immediately. "It is built right at the shore of the lake! It IS inhabited by beast folk from her species."
"How big is it?" Aurora asked, scrutinizing Rose's back, watching her for signs of any clues from her body language while listening to Ceiline.
"Around 10 000 souls? Give or take. They are famous for being beautiful and producing talented fire mages. Some of their elites are serving my House at a high rank. Who are your parents? What are they called?"
"I… I don't know…" Rose mumbled.
"She is lying." Simbad, Aurora, and Sion all said at once, making Rose stop and crouch down, holding her head.
"Don't hurt me! Please!" This immediately made the group stare at each other, feeling confused and hurt. On the one hand, they knew they couldn't take this lightly. She could easily be an Undead; there was no room for errors, not with an Undead Dragon nearby. Yet… even Simbad started to feel sorry, seeing her act like this.
"We won't hurt you." Lia walked forward, placing her hand on the top of her head, making Rose squeal, expecting something painful to happen, but then… nothing. Lia just gently started to stroke her head. “Tell us… who are your parents…”
"I can't…." She cried, the blindfold around her eyes already wet from her tears.
"She… is not lying." The trio added, looking at each other, puzzled.
Rinzen also crouched down, holding Rose's hand, examining it before saying to Lia.
"She has magic put on her that prevents her from revealing it."
"By who?" Everyone asked, expecting Undead magic, but Rinzen just sighed.
"A fire mage. It burns her brain when she tries saying something she shouldn't. I can get it off her, but it will take time."
"So she knows things someone does not want others to learn?" Sion crossed his arms, exchanging a suspicious glance with Aurora. "And she ends up in a sub-realm… alone? Damn, fishy if you ask me!"
"How long would it take?" Lia asked, ignoring the frightened Rose, who was trying to speak but couldn't find a point to interject.
"Not long. I can do it while walking." She replied, picking Rose up and carrying her like a baby while they continued their trek.
"We also need to keep a lookout for Undeads…" Raufon opened his mouth, constantly checking their backs.
"The monsters patrol the outside…" Rose said, finding it weird to be carried like that, but… Rinzen was… so 'warm.'
"That is good… But I bet they will come swarming in when we start our plans." Keily said, scratching his chin.
"No doubt about that." Ceiline nodded, "But first reach one of the buildings… then we can discuss our next move. How much until it wakes up again?" She asked.
"We ought to have a few hours left," Lia replied, watching Rinzen and Rose, feeling sorry for the small girl. "We may have to find a shelter, though." She added, "Even if we get close, they are... humongous… Haah, We may need the whole five hours to destroy one!"
"Hiding right under the monster's nose… eh?" Raufon chortled, “Well, Boss… Your plans are weird… oh well, we must stay true to our name, no?" He laughed, making everyone smile.
…
….
……
"This will do…." Lia murmured as they nestled into a sturdy-looking, 2-story-high building. Unlike the ones outside the Core Region, it was much more intact. The first floor was still full of shelves and ancient cabinets with empty bottles numbering in the hundreds.
It was clearly a potion and pill shop once, but all that crumbled away under the relentless assault of time. The liquids evaporated, and the pills turned to dust as only their containers remained behind. The second floor was a workshop where the walls and floors had cracked formations and huge, human-sized vats for concocting their merchandise.
"How much time do we have?" Koadriana asked as they gathered in the room; Rinzen only cleaned one window at the corners, so they would not give away their position.
"An hour? An hour and a half?" Lia mumbled, trying to count in her head. "Best if we lay low and wait for it to do its rounds and come back… then we can start."
"Before that… I want to hear more." Aurora wrote, sitting down on the ground, watching the trembling Rose. When everyone else also turned to her, she started to sob again.
"Relax…" Rinzen came back, lifting her up, letting Rose sit in her lap, pulling her between her breasts, stroking her head. "Cool down your emotions…" She whispered, blowing out some chilly air, making everyone shiver, but it did have its effects as Rose started calming down. "Now… tell us… who are your parents?"
She hesitated a little before telling them, seeing that she would be in trouble if she did not tell them everything. Now, the magic lifted from her brain; there was no searing pain anymore when she started talking about something that was forbidden to her, starting with naming her parents.
"I know the Nevis family," Ceiline said at once, looking surprised. "And her parents!"
"Really?" They all looked at her, amazed, including Rose.
"Yeah! They are a pair under Kaznak directly! They are his personal subordinates! More than that… they have no children!" She looked at Rose with her mouth agape before she looked at Aurora, Simbad, and Sion.
"She is not lying… Or she is so good that she can fool all three of us," Simbad answered, still watching Rose without blinking.
"I can see why they would hide her." Raufon answered coldly, "Her eyes were already suspicious enough. Her parents are at a high-ranking position; it would be devastating… maybe even worthy of being executed."
"...!" Rose flinched, now regretting saying anything because she knew it at once, it was true.
"How did you get here?" Lia asked, turning back to her. "Did your parents throw you into the lake?"
"No!" Rose cried out with loud indignation, "My parents would not do that!"
"Are you sure?" Koadriana asked, receiving a 'glare' from Rose, and even those who were not good at reading body language knew she was angry at them for even asking a question like that.
"Then how did you end up here?" Keily asked, sympathizing with her.
“My aunt… she… took me out… I… I can't leave the House. I can't be… seen." She started to explain again.
She told them how she was confined to only a room since birth. Just the fact that her eyes were exactly like that of the Undead's, she was immediately hidden away. It caused a panic in the Nevis family, and everyone was immediately forced to swear silence, magically enforced by Rose's parents.
Growing up, she could only watch the outside world from her room and quickly learned that nobody else saw it as she did. The world was full of colors and life, but she could not experience that. What she saw was neverending darkness, illuminated by the people themselves. They were bright and, sometimes, blindingly so… especially her parents, who were 5th Tier mages. She could never look at them directly, only if she closed her eyes, letting the light dim so she could see them as fiery, red silhouettes.
As she grew up, the family grew even more wary of her, except her parents. When they learned that Rose could see their desires, whether they lied or not, and what they were genuinely thinking deep inside, it frightened them. Many were increasingly convinced that she had to have a connection to the Undead, one way or another… but her parents were having none of it. One of her cousins also had an…. Accident in which he died before being able to lift the binding spell on his mind and run to tell about Rose to the Nerifits.
Not long after, her parents went on a mission with the Nerifits, to the same one where Razael and Solren led them into a sub-realm, fighting the Undead. His aunt, tasked with guarding her, then took her out of the House. Rose was excited and believed it was a secret adventure… she was finally allowed to explore the village a little. She was even taken on a boat ride… then… Everything went dark.
"When I woke up…" She murmured, still feeling puzzled, "I was here… I think… the monsters kidnapped me…” She sniffled, on the verge of tears, but the Misfits were looking at each other. "No, it was not my Aunt!" She shouted, seeing their thoughts. "It was not!"
"She is lying…." Simbad whispered.
"No! I am not lying! I am not!" She shrieked, "It was… not her! Not!" She broke down, curling up into a ball.
Deep down, she knew from the start. She saw it… she knew her aunt was filled with resentment, fear, and killing intentions. All aimed at her. She directly looked at those feelings, but she ignored them. Her consciousness was unwilling to believe it, not even when she was knocked out and tossed into the lake.
"How did she survive?" Sion whispered, holding his chest, feeling horrible.
"The spell in her body," Rinzen spoke up, gently patting the crying Rose, "It was preventing her from speaking, but also… it was a protective spell. It was made so it would keep her safe. Her parents are strong mages; it could have easily let her survive underwater…."
"The currents probably made her drift to the archway."
"Tsk…" Raufon clicked his tongue, looking incensed, "She had the guts to kill her, but not enough to do it swiftly? Or to go all the way? Letting the body remain so she comes back as a real Undead?"
"Maybe she was planning on it… And using that to frame her parents…." Keily added coldly.
"That would have resulted in the complete wipeout of the family… or even the whole village." Simbad reminded them of the cold facts.
"But how she entered?" Koa asked to not damage the little girl's mind anymore with their talks, and Rose answered between loud sobs.
“The kind… men…” She said, "They found me… when they came down… brought me in."
"Into the camp?" Lia asked, and Rose nodded.
"They said when… change comes, they… take me up. A few... months. But… the monsters came…”
"The dragon?" Raufon asked, gulping, and Rose just nodded.
"The kind people told me to hide… I did… Until the monster was gone… but I saw nobody there anymore. It took everyone away!"
Nobody had the stomach to tell her; everyone was dead. Imagining her being left alone here, living amongst the ruins, scraping by… it explained much about her emancipated figure. Lia only glanced at Aurora and the rest, who nodded back at her, expressing that she did not lie.
"Well, we will get you back to the surface, okay?" Lia said in the end, patting her head.
"Really?" She 'looked' at her, watching Lia's glowing, golden figure in her vision, knowing she wasn't lying. Yet she had to ask, "Promise?"
"Pinky promise!" Lia grinned, sealing it with Rose, just when the darkness came, and ear-shatteringly loud lightning bolts crashed down from the skies. Lia couldn't bother with it… she was determined to get this done, bring her back to the surface… and carry Rose before Reyra. If her mother knows about this, she won't be harmed.
"The monsters are coming…" Rose whispered, barely audible, looking up, "They are flying into the body…."
"They?" Lia trembled, looking out to glimpse the green lightning bolts connected to the tall towers that now directed them straight into the body of the dead Azurat. Watching it, nobody could see what Rose did… as multiple human figures flew into the body, occupying it at fixed spots, turning it into one entity, and reanimating it.
Corty Spooky title o.O
