Elysa sighed deeply, apparently lost.

“My issue is that this being predates me, and that I can only analyze what happened after it happens. For now, there doesn’t seem to be an issue, which should be a relief to you, but I cannot guarantee anything for the future.”

“So what’s the reason that I couldn’t have this spell otherwise?” I asked.

“Because there is only so much of my magic you can possess,” Elysa replied, knowing exactly what I meant. “I couldn’t give you everything because it would overload your soul and shatter it. One thing that I hadn’t calculated is that this double mind works better than I thought it would, as you’re completely fine with this highly taxing additional spell.” She smiled widely. It was a mostly warm smile, but there was a hint of mischief in there as well. “Sometimes I do surprise even myself.”

She stood up from her chair and walked up to me.

“I’m sorry, Kealyna. I never meant to burden you with all this. I’d much rather see you without worries. I feel like I can help a bit more, here,” She said as she kissed her hand which she then placed on my forehead.

As soon as her hand touched me, I felt cold shivers run down my shoulders, torso, and then everything that was behind me, all the way to the tips of my legs before I felt another ripple, this time of intense heat that followed the first. I could feel the goddess’s power then converge in my mind, and then split off to my second brain to share the burden.

“I hope this will be useful to you,” She said with a smile.

I needed a few seconds to regain my wits, frustrated because it meant that time was ticking away. As soon as I could, I barely managed to say ‘Why me?’, asking for the reason why she specifically chose to reincarnate me, before the colors started to blend together and I knew my time was up here.

“I have my… reasons. Do tell your family I said hi.” I heard before everything went white.

My thoughts returned and so did the vision from my arachnid eyes, albeit groggy. My elven eyes were still closed, and I was lying on my back, soft and comfortable, Elysa’s final words ringing in my mind.

Reasons? What reasons could she have? What do I have that others don’t?

I didn’t know.

“How are you feeling?” Cellestra asked from my side, prompting me to open my eyes.

“I’m okay. I’m just thinking.”

“I hope you found the answers you were looking for,” The priestess said warmly, taking a slight bow and collecting the bowl from the grass. I thanked her as she collected the bag as well and disappeared inside the shrine.

“That’s one, I suppose. It’s your turn next,” I said as I looked at Cellestra. “Elysa said she talked to Nilene, who would talk to you to provide us with some more information.”

“I see, but just take a moment to rest, okay?” She replied softly.

I nodded and remained where I was, thinking about Elysa’s words once more. The new spell was safe to use, that was a huge reassurance, and what was that last thing she did?

Elysa, what did you do?

“Elysa’s clarity…?” I whispered as I looked at the blue square in the middle of my vision. While I was happy with the fact that my healing spells would now heal more, I wasn’t exactly sure if that was what the goddess meant when she said that she hoped it would be useful for me.

Unless…

“What’s that?” Cellestra asked.

“Oh, nothing,” I said, figuring I’d tell her later.

I stretched my arms, yawned, and forcibly shook my head, trying to snap myself back to reality fully while the brunette extended an arm to help me back up.

“Thanks,” I said as I looked at my parents and Elira who seemed to be curious about what the goddess said. Unfortunately, there was little I could share with them.

“Elysa wanted me to say hi to you from her.”

“She did?” Elira immediately asked with large eyes. “Woah, that’s awesome!”

I giggled at her reaction. I imagined somewhere high in the heavens, Elysa was watching the little girl with the same kind of sentiment.

“Yeah, she did, and now we’re going to go to Nilene’s shrine and have Cellestra talk to her.”

“How did it go?” My mother asked as we prepared to leave.

“I got answers to some very important questions I had and learned some more beyond that. I think I may have to talk to Soranir sometime soon again and, perhaps, send a message to the wall.”

I imagined Vyath wanted to know about what Elysa had told me. The being that was being locked away by the obelisks was, apparently, underground. If he could locate it, that would grant us additional resources to work with. Perhaps, he and others could find out a way to deal with it before the obelisks depleted.

“Perhaps we should have come here first,” My father started. “Would have saved us an extra trip to him.” I looked at him to see a sly smile on his lips, letting me know he wasn’t actually frustrated, to my relief.

“Sorry about that. I should have foreseen as much.”

“It’s alright,” My mother said. “We’ll have to go to the city again anyway, and I’m sure Elira won’t mind another trip to the mayor, now that we’ll have some money to spend.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant as I imagined that would be quite boring for a little girl, but I saw her eyes grow wide and sparkle as she turned around to our mom.

“Candy?” She asked to which my mother nodded happily. “Yay! Candy! We should get some for sis and miss Cellestra too!”

“We’ll get some for them too.”

“Yay!” She cheered as she turned to me. “You’ll love it. I’m sure of it! They have the best sweets in Len Asari!”

“I can’t wait,” I said, petting her head. She then eagerly climbed onto my back as we headed towards our next destination.

This girl was such a bright light, to all of us. At least she wouldn’t have to get off for the next ritual.

“Nervous?” I asked Cellestra who kept looking at the ground as she walked next to me.

She merely nodded before whispering.

“I don’t know how Nilene is. Hopefully, she’ll be as kind to me as Elysa is to you.”

“Well, they talked, so I’m going to assume she will be.”

We reached the shrine and the flames outside reacted to our presence in much the same manner again, causing some movement inside. It didn’t take long for the green-robes priest to appear as this time, it was clear we were here for a reason.

The priest seemed to think about it in the same way as he seemed amused by us waiting for him as opposed to us just checking the brazier’s reaction before going away.

“Greetings,” He said warmly. “It appears that this time I can be of assistance.”

“Yes,” I said. “We’d like for Cellestra to talk to Nilene.”

The priest shifted his gaze from me to the brunette who waved uneasily with a few fingers and tried to smile, but it was clear she was nervous, despite my attempts to ease it.

“I’d be happy to help out with that. We haven’t had anyone talk to her in a while. If you will, please follow me.”

He smiled at the purple-eyed elf kindly and Cellestra took one step and came to a halt.

“Um,” She let out. “Is it okay to do the ritual outside?” She threw a quick glance at me before turning her head back to the priest, who was scratching the back of his head.

“If that makes it easier for you, then I’ll be happy to oblige,” The priest said. “Could I ask you to help me carry my resources outside, though?”

Cellestra nodded and managed to smile again as she went after him and entered the shrine, before coming out again moments later in the same fashion as before: holding a bag.

I giggled a bit as I saw the same thing happen again, Elira hopping off to see what was going to follow shortly. She was always eager to see anything with even the slightest hint of magic involved, the blue flames from the ritual being no different.

After placing the reagents in the bowl and speaking some words in a foreign language, the priest asked me to hold it up near the brunette’s face, much like Cellestra had with me.

She gave me one last look, and nodded, before following the instructions of the head priest, holding her face close to the flammable materials. I placed two legs behind her to let her know she’d be in good hands while passed out, her uneasiness fading at my touch.

The priest then spoke the last few words, causing flames to erupt that washed over Cellestra’s face. Her legs gave out as she collapsed but I was ready and caught her, laying her unconscious body on the soft grass. Her face seemed peaceful, and I hoped her experience in Nilene’s realm would reflect that.