As Ocelia opened her eyes, she felt light-headed and relax. Although she didn't experience any dream, her mind had recovered from the exhaustion. The non-stop tests in the Mind Burial Lane and the forceful inheritance of the Guardian had hugely weakened her rational mind. Any more of the stressful condition might negatively impact her body.
In her half-woke state, Ocelia tried to find the light to indicate the passage of time. However, as the candles were unlit, everything she perceived was utter darkness. Before long, her lone stare into the void abruptly stopped when she realised her current situation.
In an unknown place, Ocelia had succumbed into a deep slumber after receiving the mask of the Guardian. She had no way of knowing that if the hall was safe, and it was not a great turn of event that she had fainted. If anything or anyone wished to do her harm, she would have no way of detecting it.
As the maiden slowly rose from her elegant sleeping posture, the sea of dawn and dusk rippled outwards, creating waves of swaying hair. After acquiring the mask, her already white skin had turned snow-like, pure and untainted. In the darkness, her exposed skin would be the gathering point of the attention of the onlookers.
Once the maiden stood up, the colour of her ever-changing hair began to slow down. After steadying her body condition, her hair became azure at its root and crimson at its tip, swaying according to her every movement. The reflection on the thread of her hair did not lose out to the beauty of her skin.
As if the hall was always watching, the moment Ocelia moved, the grand chamber silently welcomed the successor of the Guardian by lighting the candles and illuminated the room, then followed by faint orchestral music to relax her mind.
As she inspected her surrounding, her gaze landed on another figure that lay motionless on the ground in a corner, seemingly in their sleep, and from his uncomfortable posture, she could know that he didn't intend to fall asleep, yet the fatigue on his mind was too much. In the end, the body of the mortal would naturally enter asleep on its own after they had reached their limit.
Sensing the stare, Forus instantly woke from his rest and channelled his sorcery energy, getting ready for an unexpected event. However, as soon as the delicate hand touched his forehead, he quietly dropped his guard and let the familiar fingers slid through his face, reminding him of the days they travelled with each other.
Tranquil and peace enveloped his mind, cleansing him from the guilt he felt. Although the scar remained, the pain had already subsided. When Forus could still remember the face of Meria, he would feel the pain, but, he would also know his goal and weakness. With Ocelia, he could overcome the impossible. Maybe, the pair might work things out in the end, and his dream might become a reality.
"Dear, you don't need to do anything. Just rest well and let me protect you, just like when you protect me." Her eyes, when blinked, would leak out the gentleness from the pupils, allowing the reflection of her lover to reflect onto them.
The windows of the soul previously had the colour of the fiery flame, showcasing her dominance disposition and hot-bloodedness. However, after fusing with the mask of the Guardian, her body gradually began to change, becoming stronger and more elegant as time past. The eyes had spilt into two colours within one, diffusing between the crimson-sun and the azure-moon.
Like an obedient servant, as soon as Ocelia expressed her desire, the hall immediately carried out her command. The room began to cool down and turn dimmer than before, to the point where the light would not interfere with the one would wish to rest. The majestic music originated from nowhere also tuned their melody down, becoming more relax and chill.
The goddess of sun and moon sat quietly, letting her husband laid onto her lap, enveloping his sense of self with kindness. The fragrance emitted from her body was like that of the myriad flowers, calming Forus and eased his worry. Although his hollow eyesockets were terrifying for others, Ocelia could stare into them for days without blinking, feeling the bottomless dark pit inside Forus, engraving every moment of their existence into her soul.
After she noticed that Forus' breathing had turned stable, Ocelia finally stopped annoying her lover and closed her eyes, observing the subtle yet total change inside her body. Although she could not control the change brought forth by the inheritance of the Guardian, Ocelia could still check for the lasting effect as well as benefits from the unique rewards from the Mind Burial Lane.
As soon as she willed her mind, the mask inside her soul began to vibrated, pouring out formless, transparent energy. The energy processed to fuse with her soul, becoming one with it and sharing the data inside of their respective particle. However, to prevent her soul from overloaded with data and became confused, she could only question in her mind before the answer would appear. For the information to become her memory, her soul would gradually absorb it for a long time.
From the information she obtained, Ocelia became aware of the identity of the mask. Mask of Sun and Moon was one of the secret treasures of the Fleeting Emotions Ruin. With its ability resembled the ever-changing disposition of the sun and the moon, it could change the flow of time. However, due to Ocelia just inherited the treasure, she could not completely control it, making it not being able to reach its potential peak.
The Pale World was one of the Chosen Worlds, created for the sole purpose of testing the Chosen Ones and having them gained experience. However, there was no information about the requirements to become the Chosen Ones. The rewards for completion of the Tower of Succession and the methods to achieve the best grade also didn't exist within the Mask.
After sorting out her memory, Ocelia finally laid her concentration onto another corner of her realm of consciousness. The Leaning Tower of Flame was sitting still with the Fire Spirits moving among the stories. Only the highest floor didn't have any wandering Fire Spirits as the mighty Fire Spirit was resting inside, deterring everyone else away.
Ocelia channelled her sorcery energy and sent them flowing into the Leaning Tower of Flame, moving along the destinated path to enhance the quality of the tower as well as improving the strength of the Fire Spirits. Every time Ocelia completed the circulation, she would have to convert her sorcery energy into Fire Element then moved them around to merge them with the structure, strengthening their toughness.
However, after completing the first circulation, Ocelia didn't continue to convert the sorcery energy to Fire Element. Instead, she began to transform her sorcery energy into Ice Element and processed to channel them in the same manner as the Fire Element. Because of the lack of foundation, the circulation lasted only for a moment before dissipating.
Ocelia had already expected such reaction because it was the same as when she first practised creating the Leaning Tower of Fire. Since she had received the gift of twin Elements, she had been dreaming about creating another Leaning Tower with the Ice Element and combined them to achieve the stronger version of the Tower.
Although creating the Leaning Tower from Ice Element was not the equivalent to build it from Fire Element, the underlying principle was still the same. Ocelia only had to change a few crucial steps and formulated a slightly different path of circulation to make it work. With the knowledge from the Mask of Sun and Moon, it was as easy as drinking and eating.
Time silently passed by as Ocelia entered her deep-focused state, making it seemed as if she was dozing off while remained vigilance to the surrounding. However, her worry didn't become real as the hallway was safe, and even if anything appeared, Forus would have detected it as he had laid several detection arrays in case.
Before long, the foundation of the Leaning Tower emerged within Ocelia's realm of consciousness. The first floor became corporeal while the rest was in the state of a vague silhouette. The cold wind flowed within it, forming a cycle of cool breeze around the Tower. As the inside of the Tower was full of Ice Element, the Ice Spirits slowly formed within the floor.
However, before she could make another circulation with her Ice Element, Forus raised his head from her lap and sat near her, waking from his short rest.
As soon as he woke up from his dream, the candles lit themselves and brightened the hall, and the music began playing its majestic atmosphere for the pair to enjoy. The liveliness of the chamber returned as fast as it left.
"Ocelia, I have something to tell you." Facing Ocelia, Forus spoke with a hint of grief within his voice, causing the air around the two to tense up. Since the two had travelled together after the nightmare incident, Forus had never shown Ocelia such solemness and seriousness about anything before.
Ocelia knew in her heart that it was about the content concerning his confession before his dissolution. Although the two travelled together for quite a while, as Forus never mentioned about it, Ocelia also didn't pursue it. She understood that Forus needed time for himself, and he would never do anything to harm her.
The sense of security when she was around Forus, although it was baseless, Ocelia could feel that it originated from somewhere deep inside her mind as if she privately knew about his life, his personality, and his struggle. The feeling of assurance had already been there since she swapped her body with Forus, and continued to intensify after they spent times trying to kill each other ironically.
"My name is Forus Ander, and my first love is Meria Ander. It will never change." Although Ocelia had prepared herself for that answer, she still bit herself in frustration upon the mentioned of his first wife. She then began to wonder about how could her current self compared to this Meria, wishing to know more about her.
The nature of love, of both the sorcerers and the mortals, would remain unchanged and the same throughout the time. The mention of Meria was like a challenge for Ocelia, telling her that if she could not do at least as good as Meria in the role of a faithful wife, who knew if Forus would gradually fade away?
In reality, Forus would likely to be with Ocelia as long as she remained faithful. However, she could not stop herself from worrying, even though the odd was one in a billionth. No matter mortals or sorcerers, the role of a wife did not require strength, but commitment. You could cover the sky with your hand but if you could not devote your time to your family, what good could those strengths do?
"Together with Meria, we have a daughter, named Matia..." Forus narrated the story of his family and the tragedy that befell them. From since the day he could remember to the day he watched as his daughter got kidnapped by those sorcerers.
As the story progressed, Forus began to express an extreme range of emotions, showing pain, joy, anger, sadness, and others. However, the most dominant feeling he showed happened when he talked about the last birthday party he had for his daughter. The sense of helplessness and grief overflew his words and gesture, gushing outwards in all direction.
Ocelia silently listened to the end, without interrupting him for a second. She feared that she could send her lover out from his recollection, forcefully stopped him from experiencing his past joyous occasion. However, Ocelia almost burst out in anger when Forus described the tragedy, wishing to be there and comforted him in the past.
Like an old man telling a fantasy mixed with the past decades of life that he had experienced, Forus spoke endlessly about his hope and dream. Like an excited child who usually visited her grandfather to listen to a story, Ocelia sat beside him without any complaints, listening to every word he spoke.
In the hall of peacefulness, Forus subconsciously leaned onto Ocelia, letting her become the pillar that supported his body, mind, and soul.
