Chapter 62 – Missing Link.

Crystal stared at the newcomers, perplexed. “Your home?”

“Yes, my home,” the lead woman replied, still looking very much amused.

She was around Crystal’s height, cute, with a lithe figure, lavender coloured eyes and deep purple hair that ran down her back. She had a pair of luxuriously soft black cat ears and a matching long tail that was swishing behind her as she looked at them. She worse a pair of short denim shorts, and a tight short sleeved black crop top, under both of which she had some form of really fine and delicate chain-mail/mesh that also ran across her legs, arms and waist, and actually looked really comfortable. A pair of ankle high leather boots rounded out her outfit. In her ears she had a pair of dangly silver earrings with musical notes on them, and a chain around her neck with a scythe pendant.

The other woman was the same height, slender with an attractive figure, her skin pale like Myne’s. She had a pair of cat ears and a tail just like the lead woman, and wispy black hair that reached all the way down her back. She had an open light blue short jacket over a sea green bandeau top, shiny sea green leggings, and a pair of black heels. She also had dangly earrings with musical notes on them, though her pendant was of a harp.

Rachael relaxed, straightening up. “That would make you Kyla then,” she stated.

“That would indeed be me,” Kyla replied.

“Did Odinsphere not tell you what was going on?” Rachael asked.

“Of course it did, hence why I’m here. You’re not quite what I expected though.”

“They are very cute though,” Kyla’s companion stated with a seductive smile.

“Hmm... That they are,” Kyla agreed.

“Why is it that people always talk about us when we’re right here?” Crystal asked, relaxing and folding her arms. “That would make you Melody then?” She asked of the other woman. “The musician? You certainly dress like a pop-star.”

“Famous all over the lands,” Melody replied with a grin, revealing a pair of fangs, tilting her head back and swishing some of her hair back in dramatic fashion.

“You’re a vampire too, like Myne,” Rachael stated.

Melody looked confused for a second. “So many archaic terms. Yes and no. I have fangs and drink blood, Kyla’s is quite divine,” she gave Kyla a seductive look before continuing, “but I am not like Myne or her daughters. I was never a Rider.”

“So... what do you want with us then?” Crystal asked. “I thought you would have gone to see Clocky first, given that you’ve met with him before.”

“Been there, done that, avoided Myne,” Melody said with a melodic tone to her voice.

“Yup, we had a chat with him,” Kyla continued. “He’s mostly just a passing acquaintance, he had more more to do with Velvet to be honest. But Fang informed us that you two were the ones doing all of the work, and we’re also bonded to Arkchildren, so we had to come see you. After all there has only been three active for the last decade, and now that number has doubled!”

Fang being the snow wolf, a machine of war, Crystal recalled Spectre saying. He certainly looked it. He was unmistakable as an Arkchild, but while the cat-foxes had a delicate look to their nature, Fang exuded power. The bat-like creature riding on it’s back seemed somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.

‘That would be Dracula, modelled on a species of bat known as a Flying Fox,’ Spectre informed her, and if he could have rolled his eyes Crystal was pretty sure that he would have. ‘It is our first time seeing Fang, and he is intimidating.’ he added, with a bit of awe.

“Did he tell you what we’re doing down here as well?” Crystal asked.

“Getting lost?”

‘We are not getting lost!’ Spectre huffed.

Kyla gave a cheeky grin, Crystal certain that Fang had probably forwarded on Spectre’s response. “Plumbing for secrets that Odinsphere has decided you can look for,” she then said. “I have to say that it’s not something that I’d ever thought about, not being a Caster and all, but I am curious now that it’s been brought up.”

“So you’re going to tag along?”

“Yup.”

“I’m assuming that we don’t have any choice in the matter, and that you aren’t allowed to help either?” Rachael asked.

“--Correct on both accounts.--” Just like the Ancients, Odinsphere was actively monitoring them. Angel had been rather quiet over the last few days though.

Rachael shrugged. “That’s fine. Nice to have you along I guess. Though I am curious myself – how much of Odinsphere have you explored?”

Kyla looked at Melody who shrugged, then Fang, before turning back to them. “There’s a lot of repetition, but we’ve also had the benefit of a somewhat complete map. We’ve explored only about a sixth of it ourselves though, as we’ve had a lot of other things to do and places that we’ve visited. It’s just always been a nice place to come back to for a bit of solitude and safety. As to if it will be moving forward, I no longer know.”

“Where have you travelled?” Crystal asked, quite curious. According to Clocky her magic allowed her to ‘walk the leylines’, and Alysia had said something about someone making frequent trips to the Outerlands, which she assumed was Kyla, but as to the true extent of that power she had no idea.

“Oh, everywhere. Really.” There was a sparkle in Kyla’s eyes, which Crystal suddenly noticed, actually seemed to have flecks of magic dancing within them, “But shall we continue on? While we aren’t on a time limit, I believe you don’t have as much of a luxury.”

Crystal nodded. That unfortunately was true.

They made small talk as they continued on through Odinsphere, exiting out of the commute hub and into a section that looked like it was designed to be a shopping district. It was shaped like an open sphere, store fronts lining all three levels of walkways, with bridges and stalls crossing between them. The store fronts were all empty though, the signs all blank. From there they entered another warren of corridors and a residential district and warehouse section, Spectre and Kitsune providing the directions as walked. Kyla really had travelled everywhere, at least from her descriptions. She had been keeping tabs on rogue demons, the spawn of the Demon King, killing those that they could, or passing the info on for those that they couldn’t. Fang was designed to fight demons, and he did that well. They had visited more locations in the Innerlands than the Outerlands, both Kyla and Melody finding it more comfortable there, not to mention the lack of discrimination against animal aspected people. While they had visited a number of the larger cities in the Outerlands, including Desmonchere and Brightswater, they tended to avoid the Channellers wherever possible.

The Outerlands was massive, but Kyla’s understanding of the actual scope was somewhat limited given that she just popped out through rifts into locations. Apparently they were in the more temperate section of the Outerlands, the seasons more pronounced in the northern and southern sections, while the area on the opposite side of the Circle Sea to the west of them was similar. She had no idea how far it stretched out away from the Circle sea, but it did become even more sparsely populated the further out you went. There were a lot of train networks criss-crossing the areas, but as far as she could tell they weren’t all joined. Which was a pity really.

The Innerlands she was able to tell them a lot more about. There were six kingdoms that occupied the land between the Circle Sea and Centre Sea, and in addition there was a seafaring confederation that centred around the Calis Islands to the west. Avaraline they had already visited, and they’d met the delegations from the Empire of Nine Citadels, and Southern Peaks. The remaining kingdoms were the Darkrest Confederation, Vourinborn, and Scattermolis. There was a lot of mountains and snow in the Southern Peaks, and a lot of water and canal cities in Vourinborn. Darkrest had a massive swamp that occupied the middle section of it, and over two thirds of the rest of it was occupied in forests. The trees were massive and people did indeed live in cities that had been built into the trees. The Empire was a collection of citadels each with its own ruler, as per its name, the terrain lush plains and craggy mountains. Scattermolis was hot and dry, and was Kyla’s least favourite location to visit.

While Angel had given her the power, Kyla hadn’t had a lot to do with her after her initial training. She’d just been left to do her thing, occasionally visiting locations on Odinsphere’s request to provide some information to them. Which she was quite happy about. She was enjoying her life with Melody, a far cry from her time as a slave before Velvet had rescued her. Melody did not say much at all on her past, though she did express an interest in Crystal and Rachael’s past when they it was brought up and they told them about where they had come from. Spectre deemed them trustworthy, and they couldn’t see any reason to withhold the information, especially given their relationship to Velvet. While they did gloss over the why and how of it all, they did provide a brief rundown on the Ancients. What they were surprised to learn was that Alysia, or at least a part of her, given that she had originally been two people, also hailed from their time.

They stopped at another dried fountain area, the layout the same as the previous one that they had seen, sitting on the benches on one side and fishing out some of the food that they had brought. Crystal offered some to the others, Kyla accepting and Melody declining. Crystal guessed that she shared Myne’s appetite.

“Any chance you could sing a song for us?” Rachael asked. “Music was very common in out time. Heck, I even had a large collection. But I haven’t heard any since then.”

Crystal nodded, sharing her sentiment. It was one thing from their time that she did miss, and now that Rachael had mentioned it, she did indeed recall that Rachael listened to quite a lot, and quite a variety as well.

“Sure, why not,” Melody said after a moments though, her ears twitching happily, tail lazily swinging, giving away her enjoyment of it. Leaning back into the bench, Melody closed her eyes, and Crystal could feel Melody’s magic start to move.

Let me tell you a tale,

of a hero and maiden,

in a time that has been long lost.

Of bravery, dedication, and love,

their futures intertwined,

in a world that sought to tear them apart.

As Melody started to sing Crystal could see the scene coming to life in her mind, her magic making it real as it wrapped itself around them all, accompanying music dancing in the air. She could visualise the characters that Melody was singing about, feel their emotions, and grasp the locations that were featured. It wasn’t all just the magic either though. Melody’s voice was sweet and pleasant to listen to, perfectly matching all of the notes. A voice to die for, and one perhaps that many people had. Beneath it all Crystal could sense the deadlier side of Kyla’s lover as well. Perhaps she had once had a dark past, but she had not left it all behind. Tears were in her eyes as the song finished, a bittersweet ballad. She wasn’t actually sure if she liked the story or not, but the music and delivery were certainly beyond compare.

“It’s no wonder that your famous,” Crystal complimented her.

“Oh do praise me more,” Melody said with a sly smile. “Though it does have its advantages and disadvantages. Not many other bards like me at all.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” Rachael said, sliding up to Crystal and giving her a kiss.

“Don’t worry, I’m already spoken for,” Melody said, in her melodic tone again. “You two do make a cute couple. Though not as alluring as my lover,” she added, pulling Kyla into a sensual embrace, her lips on Kyla’s neck.

‘Okay, that’s enough of that I think,’ Spectre stated, starting to walk away from the group, pausing to look back at them. Crystal giggled, walking up to him and picking him up.

“Feeling left out?” she teased. Not that she knew if the Arkchildren had those kinds of feeling or not.

They passed through more residential sections, and another shopping district, before coming out at the very top of another scar, this division between layers a lot smaller than the previous one as she could see both the sides and the bottom of it from here.

“Getting down won’t be a problem for us,” Kyla stated as Crystal and Rachael manifested their wings, Melody giving them an interesting look.

“Nope, not human,” Rachael offered as she launched herself off the edge and glided down, Crystal following her close behind.

Kyla and her group walked out of a rift beside them as they landed. “I might be just a little bit jealous,” Kyla said with a smile.

“Velvet always seemed to attract the interesting ones,” Melody commented. “That hasn’t changed at all.”

“Or are we interesting ones because we’re intertwined with Velvet?” Rachael raised.

That just got an amused smile from both of the cat-girls.

“Did you ever get to ride on Light?” Crystal asked.

“Lots,” Kyla replied. “It is certainly an experience.”

They were certainly getting a lot closer now. Crystal could feel that the mana density had substantially increased. Relative to the norm for the Outerlands and the strength of the leyline of course, as it was nowhere near that of the Nexus Temple.

---

They walked along to the narrow edge of the scar, to a door that was clearly labelled as maintenance, with the designation of SPC-004-012. It was the first one that they had seen clearly labelled as such, all of the others that they had passed by or through fitting the style but without the obviousness of it. It made Rachael a little suspicious, but also reinforced that they were nearing their goal. They had actually made really good time, the flight down through the scars cutting quite a bit of travel time off the journey. According to the data that Kitsune had, they were nearing the lower centre of Odinsphere, and she had thought that they may not have reached it till much later in the day. Everything was starting to fall into place. She did wonder if Kyla’s appearance was actually just a coincidence, or if there was more to it. At the very least, she did seem friendly, and she was a close friend of Velvet.

“Do you really eat the bird eggs?” Rachael asked as she pushed open the door, sending her magic through it to release the lock. The door gave a hiss, a wave of warm air rushing past them as it swung opened.

“Of the Dylite’s? Yup. I was kind of hungry the first time I came here, and new to my power, and it’s become a habit. They are rather tasty.”

Rachael cautiously led the way through the door, along a short corridor and then down a tight set of stairs, the temperature steadily rising. The stairs opened up into a large chamber that was filled with rows and rows of rectangular structures that seemed to mostly consist of metallic fins, a multitude of pipes and banks of dials running above and below them, large fans in the ceiling still running at a lazy pace. There was no mistaking what they were. Power transformers and regulators, and they were handling the core load to the rest of Odinsphere. They were similar to ones that they had seen before, albeit these ones were running a lot hotter, some actually giving off a glow. She doubted that this was the only chamber of them, given how Odinsphere was laid out, but they were in the right place.

She was also sure that Odinsphere must have some form of mana shielding, if such a thing were possible. It had survived the shattering intact, from what she had been told, and if they were heading to the Tempest, then the last thing that it needed was for its entirety to be saturated in dense mana. Yes there was mana seeping into the surrounding areas here, but she was pretty sure that was because it was the near the conversion point rather than it flowing in through the walls.

“Are there any passages down from here?” she asked her cat-fox.

‘Three,’ Kitsune replied, then giving her a rough image of where they all were. It seemed to be a new talent of the Arkchild, something that she had only started doing in the last few days, and Rachael wasn’t sure at all what the trigger had been or of they’d had an upgrade or something.

‘No. No upgrade. Mother is well aware that we would refuse at this point in time.’

Rachael motioned for the others to follow her, making her way across to the furtherest away one, taking care not too get too close to the transformers. Touching them wouldn’t be pleasant, but she suspected that their state was deliberate.

‘None of the other ones are running this hot, so I think you are right on that. A test perhaps?’

Rachael gave Kitsune a smile. That was one probable answer.

Reaching their destination, a plate in the floor, Rachael knelt down, bypassing the lock as she pulled it open. There was no panel or key for this one, so it was either usually opened remotely or had it’s access point nearby. A steel rung ladder was underneath, finishing at another locked plate a little way down.

“Bingo,” she stated as she slid down, opening the one at the bottom. The ladder extended further down, yet another plate at that lengths bottom.

“Will you walk down once we’ve reached the end of the ladder,” Crystal queried from above her. There was no way Fang would fit down here.

“Sort of,” Kyla replied, following them down while Melody and their Arkchildren waited above.

There was a total of five locked plates before they finally reached the end of the ladder, which came out onto on a ledge part way up the wall of a large chamber, a narrow bridge connecting it to a platform that hung in the middle of it. Another narrow bridge on the other side let to a sealed door on the opposite wall, the sign for radioactive hazards printed in it. A dozen taunt wires were connected to the platform and the outer wall of the chamber, bearing the bulk of the load. Sitting in the middle of the platform was what appeared to be a suit of armour, kneeling down, its longsword held vertically out in front of it, tip resting in the ground, shield resting on the ground beside it. The armour was pitch black, motifs of skulls over its shoulders and front, the joints all covered with overlapping plates and spikes. It’s helmet was adorned with a pair of demonic horns that curled all the way over to its back, and a large ruby was set into it at the forehead, dull red veins stretching out from the gem. A black cape hung over one shoulder, stained red at its edges. It was rather elegant and detailed all things considered, the sort of armour that she would have expected a dark knight to wear.

Around the outside of the chamber she could see two dozen rotating cannons set high in the wall at every five minute point, the only possible blind spots from them being under the platform itself, unless that was laced as well. It was set up as if there was indeed something very valuable to protect, though for anything to get this far in the first place would have been a miracle. It was already overkill, but Rachael half expected there to be numerous hidden traps as well, not that anything appeared to her senses.

Mana pooled at the bottom of the chamber, and she could feel it flowing through the platform as well, similar to what she’d felt when she had encountered the first suit of armour when travelling through Brightswater with Alison. This setup felt more precise however, most of the mana was currently concentrated around where the armour sat, and less around the edges. She couldn’t sense any in the walls at the moment, but she doubted that they’d get powered up. Odinsphere wouldn’t want to kill them here, or even serious injure them, as that would be disastrous for everyone involved. More likely is was a test for the sake of it, and a show.

‘Kyla has been asked to refrain from interfering here, not that she was going to in the first place,’ Kitsune informed her, confirming her suspicions. She didn’t know what Fang’s payload was like, but she expected that if he got involved there’d be a mess.

‘At the least,’ agreed Kitsune. ‘I’m not sure why Architect hasn’t just forbidden him from using his weapons inside just as a blanket rule.’

‘Just in case the unthinkable happens?”

‘Just like us, I’m sure he’d break the rules if needed to save those important to him.’

“It brings back memories,” Crystal stated, looking down at the armour. “This time shall be very different. Shall we?”

Rachael and Crystal made their way across the narrow bridge onto the central platform, the cat-foxes staying behind. She could feel the mana start to shift as they reached it’s edge, flowing into the suit of armour, red eyes flaring to life.

“You have reached the forbidden area. Turn now or face the wrath of the Dark Knight Aza’toast.” It’s voice was rough and gravelly, and just a little unnatural.

They kept walking, the Dark Knight rising from his kneeling position when they had closed half the distance.

“You have made your choice, Maidens. Suffer the consequences.” The Dark Knight looked at them, sword held firmly in both hands, the blade flaring to life as crackling blue energy enveloped it.

“Shouldn’t the aura be red?” Crystal playfully teased as they spread out, both manifesting their wings and tail.

‘It’d be a pity to damage or destroy it. It looks like a work of art. We should just disable it.’ While they could feel each others emotions and sense intent, it was a little disappointing that they couldn’t telepathically communicate. At least not yet. On the bright side, they did have a proxy method.

Kitsune chuckled. ‘Passed on. You know how it’ll go.’

Crystal dashed forward as she summoned her shield, her burst of speed surprisingly fast. The Dark Knight brought his sword down, smashing it into Crystal’s shield with a loud clang. Crystal didn’t budge at all, her voice ringing out in a sweet laugh. A voice that Rachael adored so very much.

“Come now, is that all you’ve got?” Crystal taunted as the Dark Knight swung again, the effect just the same.

that machine possess a lot of power,

but it is ill matched,

and inadequately wielded.

The Dark Knight lashed out with a foot, Crystal sidestepping at the last second, easily deflecting the follow up swing, then slamming her shield into the Dark Knight and pushing it back. The machine hissed, lunging back in as Rachael lazily floated around its flank, keeping any eye on the mana flow at the same time. Still nothing to the guns. She stopped part way round, pulling one of the arrays out from Kitsune, manifesting it on the ground around her, the array quickly growing in size till it covered the entirety of the platform.

“Your little game will not work witch,” the Dark Knight intoned, as it turned from Crystal and held out a hand to her, the palm glowing with a blue intensity.

“Tsk-tsk, I know she’s gorgeous, but this is no time to get distracted,” Crystal admonished, as she kicked the Dark Knight in the chest, sending him flying across the platform, the mana shifting as the Dark Knight attempted to halt his movement, stopping just on the edge, sword impaled in the platform as he crouched and stared back at her. A number of its chest plates were buckled and bent in, and the hand that had been glowing was now smoking.

“Opps.” Crystal whistled innocently, rocking on her feet with her hands behind her back as the Dark Knight rose.

“Those who hide who they are will perish,” the Dark Knight intoned as it charged at Crystal.

“Oh don’t worry, the real me is on full display,” Crystal replied, banishing her shield, and floating out of the way of the Dark Knight’s attack, the machine halting and bring it’s blade around for another attack.

“Let’s finish this,” Rachael declared as she dashed in, the array flaring to life under her. Laying her hands on the armour as it tried to spin around, she clenched them into fists, pulling the mana out of the Dark Knight. It’s eyes dimmed and it clattered to the ground. Rachael could feel the mana shift, attempting to create another link, Crystal smirking as she stamped her foot down on the tendril, foiling it’s attempt. “Sleep Dark Knight. You can wake again after we leave.”

“--Congratulations Maidens, you have earned the right to face the Trial of Truth. Once you have deemed yourselves prepared, you may pass through the Gate of Knowledge.--”

Rachael rolled her eyes.

“What is it going on about?” Kyla asked, sounding somewhat perplexed as she joined them on the platform, her companions in tow. Rachael dismissed the array, another link instantly being made, but the armour remained inhert on the ground.

“An old pop-culture reference.”

“Do you think...?” Crystal asked as she prodded the armour with her foot.

Rachael nodded. “Yeah...” There was definitely the connection there, and she had her suspicions, but she didn’t know what to make of them, especially if they were true. She did not believe in coincidences after all. “Let’s go see.”

The radioactive sign was an interesting choice. She could guess as to why it had been placed there, but she doubted that they’d even been aware of the true nature of mana when they had done so. If anything, it was a misdirection and a call back to the previous age. They walked across the platform and the second bridge, stopping at the door. Rachael touched the panel beside it, and the door slid silently open.

---

Rachael slowly made her way down the dark stairwell, Crystals orbs of light floating around them all, their shadows dancing playfully on the matt metal walls. The sound of their footfalls were muted, adding an edge to the nervousness that had set in after the door had opened. She could tell that Crystal was nervous too, but most likely an empathic response to her own feelings.

‘Why are you so worried?’ Kitsune had a soothing reassurance to her mental voice.

She wasn't completely sure. There was no guarantee as to what they'd find, even with her suspicions. Perhaps it was her just hoping, wanting the best of a situation that hadn't gone well, wishing for an outcome that was almost impossible. The coincidences were there, but they could be just that. In fact, they were most likely that, and everything that seemed to make sense and connect together was just her mind grasping at straws. Sure, she didn’t believe in coincidences at all – there was always a purpose behind them all, and thus far, that had always been the case, and yet, in this circumstance, at this point in time, perhaps she was wrong on that. Or maybe she was just scared of what they’d find. They’d wondered, guessed, and were now almost at the answer. Would they even like what they found? It had been a thousand years, give or take, since Odinsphere had first floated.

Rachael took in a deep breath, trying to steady her emotions. She wasn’t usually like this.

‘Except last time, when facing a potential unknown about someone that you cared deeply about.’

Yeah, okay. There had been that time too.

“Rachael...?”

Rachael stopped and turned around to look at her lover. Standing on different steps they were almost the same height. Crystal pulled her into a tight embrace, her warmth sorely welcome.

“It’ll be alright. Whatever we find, it’ll be alright.” Crystal’s voice was comforting.

She returned the hug. “Yeah... I know...” Rachael gave Crystal a deep kiss, before turning, and continuing down the stairwell.

It went down what she assumed was another three levels before exiting out into a dark chamber, a single small glowing screen on the left wall, blank apart from a green cursor blinking slowly in its top corner. The chamber was sizeable, easily equivalent to the one they had just left, also circular but squat, Crystal’s orbs illuminating a large glass vat in the middle of it. The mana density here was at it’s peak, strong, but well short of anything that would stop a normal person from being able to walk through. It’d make them uncomfortable, but that was about it. She could feel the mana flowing into the vat, energy flowing out into Odinsphere via the cable above it.

Rachael sighed. “We’re here. You can stop hiding.”

“As you wish.” The voice was strong, feminine, familiar, and also digitized, coming out from just above the vat.

The chamber was suddenly washed in a sterile bright white light as six banks of lights flickered to life, a slight smell of burnt dust as if they hadn’t been used in a long time. Which they probably hadn’t. There would have been no need. Rachael looked up, into the vat, and at the person floating within, their opal blue eyes with sparks of power in them looking directly at her, long blond hair floating around them in the clear liquid of the vat. She started, unable to help herself. This had been her primary guess, even though it had been a stretch and the most unlikely outcome if you ignored all the hints pointing towards it. And still unlikely if you had. But she had been right. Rachael could tell that Crystal was shocked as well, in the same manner as her.

“Hello Millie.”

It was definitely her. There was no mistaking it, even if she looked to be a good two decades or more older. She had aged incredibly well, especially since technically she’d be well over a thousand years old now. Her hair still had its vibrancy, her body lithe and sensual, her face having gained only a few wrinkles with her maturity. She was also completely naked, something that Rachael had seen before a few times of course, apart from a pair of gauntlets on her wrists, bright blue lines running like veins through them.

“Rachael...” There was a sad look on her face, before she then swept her gaze over the rest of those present.

“You’re the aspect Librarian, aren’t you?” Rachael asked, though she already knew the answer. “And the interface for Odinsphere, providing it with the energy that it needs. Immortal, yet chained, it seems.”

Millie looked back at her, a slight smile forming on her lips.

“Yes. My passion became my life, my existence, my power who I am. I may not have had the affinity for magic, yet I still made it mine, in my own way, its power and our technology now sustaining me.” Millie paused. “You've barely changed, and yet you've also changed so much. I didn’t know if I wanted to believe it, when I learned that one of the maidens was named Rachael. Even when you arrived. Yet here you are now.”

Millie then looked directly at Crystal, her eyes scrutinizing her. “If I’d known how she was going to turn out, perhaps I would have tried to take her for myself, since I could never have you. I can see why you chose Chris over me. She’s absolutely stunning. Definitely your type of girl. Not that I even knew back then that she was really Crystal. Even when the reports came back in I didn’t believe them or make the connection. But there is no mistaking who she is.”

“Blessed and made by the Ancients, as you call them,” Millie then stated, looking back at Rachael. “Are you even still human, or something more now? The scanners are returning ridiculous results.”

“Something more. Deep Dragons,” Rachael answered, manifesting her tails and wings, Crystal doing like wise, their power radiating around the chamber. “First of the Other Races.”

“Beautiful,” Millie murmured. “You’d be absolutely on fire in bed.”

Rachael went bright red, dismissing her wings and tail, Crystal following her lead and then sliding up to her. It was strange, talking to Millie again like this. The nervousness had somewhat faded, replaced by relief that in the end, some good had come out of it all for Millie, and that here, now, there was another chance, even if she didn’t know how much Millie had changed over the years, and she had no idea of what exactly she had gone through before reaching this point.

“I hated what you did you know,” Millie stated, staring at them both. “Not you, Rachael, I could never hate you, but your actions. You tore open my heart, and it bled for decades. Our flat broke up, and I fled back home, abandoning everything and wrapping myself up in my worlds. Maybe it was for the best, as the war against the Demon King was not kind. You disappeared just in the nick of time it seems.”

“I’m sorry,” Rachael offered. She was, even though she wouldn’t change any of what had happened. There was no way that she’d ever want to loose Crystal.

Millie blinked, her expression softening. “I had hoped and prayed that you hadn’t fallen to his armies. Somehow I knew that you hadn’t, but I didn’t think that I’d ever see you again.”

“The world was so different after the Shattering. Life was hard. More died out here just trying to survive the aftermath. Humanity is brutal, it’s own worse enemy. Yet I persevered. I didn’t give up hope, making the power my own. One of the first Channellers, I became a leader, a bastion for survival, a keeper of knowledge. Someone who knew what was important. And a target as well, for those that sought my power and life. They failed though, and through it I gained a powerful ally. Dr Aranei Mordlaw, and her Odinsphere.”

“Yes, we made a deal. A lot of them in fact. I could provide her with the one thing that she couldn’t get via technology alone, and she made me a part of it all. I even took her as my lover, a replacement for you, though Channellers are much longer lived than normal people, especially in an apocalypse.”

“She’s Mother, isn’t she?” Rachael asked.

“--Yes.--”

“Life by yourself is more than lonely. It eats away at your soul. You may look at me now and think that I am chained here, trapped and unable to venture out, yet I am not alone. We are not alone. I am no longer what I once was, but am something more, something even greater. And, all things considered, I am happy.” There was certainty in Millie’s eyes as she said it, a conviction. “Even though I might miss the feel of another and the touch of lips. But here, in this world, lovers can interact in other ways as well, as long as you aren’t asleep.”

“I thought that Odinsphere had always been floating?” Crystal queried. That was what they’d been told at least.

“Since its completion it has. I launched it, and then we tried to keep it stable with fission engines. Channellers are far superior, which we had already known from the outset, but I still had other things to do. They have long since expired however, not all technology is compatible with magic, and that is one. They aged rather quickly, and their output was barely enough to power the anti-gravity system that keeps us up. I had to return early, but I do not regret that.”

“Can you not venture into the outside world via a proxy like your Dark Knight?” Rachael asked.

“The range is currently very short. That requires true personal magic, and an independent core, like the Arkchildren. We tried to bring some to life via my power, but the connection never lasted long outside of the sphere, even though it did support the hypothesis that Aranei had been working on post Shattering. She was so happy about it, an actual solution for her pet project. Internal batteries were never an option, especially for the weaponized ones, but finding people who could actually provide the power looked to be an impossibility. There were just none like you around at all. We knew there had to be somewhere, and we guessed that it was across the Circle Sea, but we had no substance to that theory. Fang was the first of our little ones to truly awaken, Kyla conveniently confirming the theory, the results exceeding our expectations. Her appearance brought along some additional complications, but also life and action to this place. And set things in motion.”

‘The complications being Arcane of course,’ Kitsune added. ‘Odinsphere has been more active in the last decade than it had in most of the thousand years before after its completion. Now however it is even more active again.’

“However, that isn’t to say that it isn’t possible. Tempest will provide us with a lot of energy, and improved range. Perhaps Angel or yourselves may be able to help us in that regards. Kyla has provided us with a lot of useful data over the years.”

Millie looked over at Kyla and Melody, who had been standing there, watching the conversation with interest. She didn’t look surprised by the revelation at all. “It is nice to see you both in person Kyla, Melody. Well, so to speak. You are like part of the family to us now, and I’m pleased that you did decide to tag along with them. You do seem to be handling this well. As you probably gathered, I am an old friend of these two, from before the Shattering.”

“It kinda makes sense, really,” Kyla said, looking Millie directly in the eyes. “I’ve seen many strange things on my travels, and power that terrfies.” She shrugged. “We just take it in our stride I guess.”

“Were you all once living people?” She then asked.

“--That answer is complicated.--”

“More importantly though, tell me more about what’s been going on. Minus whatever you are trying to hide with the refused data syncs of course. I am still Librarian after all, and I have tomes of knowledge that need to be filled.”