Chapter 19
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Yuuki would’ve followed Arthur through the door, but was blocked by her father.

“Listen, I’ll tell you later how to deal with these kinds of situations, but someone watching him and taking notes on his behavior would be counterproductive.” He said softly, so only she could hear it. Yuuki nodded, and began walked. It wouldn't really matter, she could listen in on their conversation regardless of her position.

She was halfway to her room when she heard muffled, but hurried footsteps approaching her. She knew who it was because of her magical senses and she also knew it due to Alice being the only one in the mansion that Yuuki personally trained to move stealthily. Sure enough, the wolf-kin girl turned the corner and continued running before jumping on Yuuki. The kitsune caught her, with a genuine smile on her face that was so rare.

“Where were you? I was worried.” Alice said, to which Yuuki couldn’t help but give a confused look.

“I told you not to be worried.”

“No, you gave us a piece of paper with the text: Don’t worry, I’m fine, I’m low on energy and need to relax for a bit. What even can tire you out?”

That was, in fact, not what Yuuki wrote on the paper, but it seemed like an appropriate summary.

“I resurrected almost a dozen people whose souls have already entered limbo. I had to punch through the planar membrane, find and bring back souls scattered across light-years, unlock their memories of their current lives and all the while make sure that if a deity comes along and tells me to stop doing it, I can prematurely end the spell without sending half the continent into the Aether.” After she finished ranting, which she wasn’t used to doing, Alice gave a small pout.

“I mean, you could’ve at least said it personally. It would’ve taken like ten seconds.”

“I wasn’t sure if I could safely have my body in multiple places.”

“Multiple? So you were still on your mission?”

“Of course, the mission takes priority.” Yuuki, said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. For Alice however, those words hurt. The person she loved more than anything in the world cared more about a mission than about her.

“Say… if your mission needed you to kill me, would you?”

‘Of course.’ Yuuki answered naturally, except she didn’t. Or more like couldn’t. She was already preparing to say it, but her mouth would not move. A second passed and she could do nothing but stare at Alice. Another second and she still couldn’t move. The grandfather clock kept on ticking in the hallway and Yuuki was frozen. Her skin went pale, her eyes bloodshot. Her arms and legs began shaking uncontrollably, as Alice was helping her stand up straight while panicking. For the tiniest of a fraction of a second Yuuki’s body went limp before everything suddenly stopped.

Just outside the still world, a massive entity appeared. It was a grey, gaseous entity the size of a mountain. The grey 'smoke' would swirl chaotically inside the confines of its ‘body’. Vaguely humanoid, its dark eyes scanned the surroundings. Sure enough a feminine figure appeared before it.

“What did you do?” The entity’s voice had no anger, no frustration, no annoyance. It was but a simple question.

“Lots of things. To you? Still quite a few things. I am not, however, the cause of your nasty headache, if you’re wondering.” Mystra said with a smile.

“Then who is? Because there is no way anything less than a deity could’ve done this.”

“Isn’t that a rather prideful thing to say?” She asked playfully.

“Is it incorrect?”

Mystra couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, barely.” She smiled slyly at the figure which showed no hostility, or anything else for that matter. “To answer your question, you are the cause. You did this to yourself.”

“Explain.” Yuuki made no effort to seem polite, the goddess would see through her, after all.

“Powerful enough souls are not only able to manipulate mana, but reality itself. However, there is a downside. Your body is connected to your soul and is much more susceptible to you affecting it, even if only subconsciously. Your soul is in turmoil because you don’t understand yourself, and your body is mimicking it.”

“How do I stop it?”

“You can’t. Well, you could try to seal your own memories or emotions, but I wouldn’t let you.”

The empty eye sockets narrowed. “You said you wouldn’t interfere.”

“I did, buuut~” Mystra came closer and put a hand around Yuuki. “I may have forgotten to mention that if I give you a blessing, even as part of a deal, I can do with you whatever I want.”

“Are you blackmailing me?”

Mystra pulled away with a curious look. “It wasn’t blackmail. I stated a fact. Here I thought you cared about facts. Plus, I couldn’t even forcefully seal your memories at this point, and souls are indestructible, so the worst I could do is imprison you for a while. Then you could simply escape, use avatars, mess with space, it would be a mess. And also what could I gain from you? We gods have rules because we feel like having those rules is important. What could I gain from blackmailing you?”

Yuuki remained silent, staring at the goddess while having one of the worst headaches of her life...s? She was not in any condition to start arguing.

Mystra’s already kind look softened further to an almost motherly one. “Listen, I want you to realize that just because something is out of your control doesn’t mean that it is a source of danger. I mean no harm to you, alright? Take care.”

Yuuki released her hold on the plane and allowed it to continue. She also went back to inhabit her body, which was currently held up by Alice, and did not feel one bit healthier than when she left it.

“Help me to my room please.” She barely forced out those words, while trying to regain her balance. She was currently keeping her aura completely restricted, however that was about as much control as she had.

Without saying anything, Alice picked up Yuuki and carried her to her room, putting her down on the bed.

“Should I call anyone, bring anything,-”

“I’m fine.” Yuuki cut her off, staring intensely at the ceiling.

“You’re not.” Yuuki looked Alice in the eye, but she would not budge. “Is this because of the mana exhaustion thing?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“What is it then?”

“I will deal with it, give me some time.”

Alice lay down on the bed and hugged Yuuki tightly. “No. You don’t have to always do everything. I can help, please let me help!” Alice was beginning to tear up. Inside Yuuki, an internal struggle took place.

‘Emotions are unpredictable, and now have shown themselves to be a hindrance.’

‘You can ask for help.’

'Manipulating them is the only way to be sure. Trust is a weakness.'

'Maybe, but it's alright to be weak sometimes.'

‘It’s sub-optimal.’

‘It’s worth it.’

And so it continued, for what seemed to be hours, but in reality took a few seconds. In the end the victor was clear. Yuuki hugged Alice close.

“Stay with me. That’s enough.”

And the swirling energy inside her soul got just a shade lighter.

 

And like that, the "prelude" part is over and things will (hopefully) advance smoother from now on. I would like to point out the vote in the previous chapter, and how it's currently a tie, so it's around as useful as an umbrella while scuba diving. And in case it needs clarification, if it's 1 chapter/week, it will be around 7000 ish words, so the overall words/week wouldn't change. It would also probably be on Friday. Potato away!

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