Chương 86: Plan of Attack

Vittoria got up and started pacing, muttering to herself and running her hands through her hair several times.

"The antidote will be one of the most guarded items in the sect, probably having several layers of curses and alarms," she murmured.

"There are a few places it could be, so I have to narrow it down first to ensure that we're not just hopping from place to place, wasting our time and probably leaving behind tracks."

"I can hop from place to place," Arielle said, standing up.

"I can go right now. Just tell me where to start the search."

"No," Vittoria responded.

"It's too risky."

"But Elric–""Should be fine for the next two to three days at least," she said.

"The bands around his neck and his body slow down the spread of the disease massively, and I'll have a healer on standby to take care of the side effects and ensure that he's still getting the sustenance he needs. However, if we make a mistake and alert the sect as to what we're up to, they might take further measures to hide it. I mean, they already might. They may suspect my involvement, but you absolutely cannot get caught, Arielle." Arielle didn't care about getting caught.

Two to three days still sounded way too long for her. She wanted Elric to open his eyes now and tell her he was okay.

"Why can't you just plead with the High Ascendant for one of his cures? He has two." Vittoria gave Arielle a look.

"Just how much has Elric told you about the High Ascendant?"

"That he will probably suppress my cores if he finds out what I can do."

"Yes. But apart from that, he is very... peculiar. Insane, some might say. Hard not to be when you've been alive for as long as he has, and he's been here since the beginning of this Second Earth. He has seen Archmages come and go. Elric will be no one special to him, simply another dead soldier who can be easily replaced. Conversely, those cures are his treasure. It requires a pure-hearted saint or saintess to willingly give their life in order to be created. It's a rare thing indeed."

Vittoria brushed through her hair again, and it landed in mussed waves around her face.

"Right now, there's nothing that Elric or I can truly offer him to make it worth his while, because they would need to wait for the voluntary sacrifice of another saint to make such a potion again." Vittoria's features darkened, but she shook it off and said, "Convincing the High Ascendant to part with his antidote is a feat that I'm not even sure the combined efforts of the Legendary Mages can manage.

And even if they do, it brings too much scrutiny to Elric and you as a result, which is precisely the thing he's trying to avoid. He becomes a person of interest. Every aspect of his investigation will be combed over, and your identity will be discovered. We can't have that happening. Not yet, while you're still not ready." Arielle gritted her teeth against the surge of impatience. Elric had told her she wasn't ready, too. But she was. She felt ready.

"When will I be ready?" she said. Vittoria stopped pacing to contemplate as she watched Elric's breathing.

"Elric wanted slow progress for you," she said.

"I think that's a foolish notion. I think that you should climb as fast as you can and become as prepared as you can. He wants you to blend in, but I think the opposite can be a source of safety for you."

"You want me to stand out?" But she had just reiterated that they didn't want the High Ascendant to notice her.

"You already do," Vittoria said.

"You have inadvertently assumed an identity that can easily become legendary. You will henceforth be known as the one who not only saved the people of Khor but also saved those in Yvoirren and defeated sand pirates. One who emerged from the temple as a gift from a Primordial to Earth. There's some safety in being known, in becoming a legend that the people admire, and becoming indispensable to them."

"I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say."

"That's because I'm thinking out loud and don't have a solid plan for that yet." She shook her head.

"Anyway, back to the topic at hand, sending you in there to get the antidote... they'll be expecting it. They'll already have a plan in place to stop us or intercept us. We can't go in there half-cocked without information."

"What if they destroy the antidote while we wait?" she asked.

"Or if they somehow take it to the demonic realm or hide it?" Vittoria's face rippled with unease as she bit her lip in thought.

"They won't take it to the demonic realm."

"How do you know?"

"Because Yseult and the Elders will not be stupid enough to trust a demon with that, even one that is currently in charge of the sect. He would have reported this long ago if the demon had that much leverage." Vittoria brushed her chin.

"The antidote is likely with Yseult. He has placed it somewhere. We just need to figure out where."

"How do we figure it out?"

"You leave that to me." Arielle clutched her robes, breathing harshly through her nose to keep from screaming. Tension had coiled so tightly within her that she almost shook.

"Why don't we do both? Tell Elric's father to ask the Ascendant for the potion, while we're trying to steal the one from the sect."

"That will be tricky to balance. If we reveal to the High Ascendant what's happening and he doesn't give us the cure, which is the most likely scenario, and then we end up with a cure anyway for Elric, that will be announcing that we stole it from the sect, which earns us punishment. If we do steal it, however, without letting the Ascendant know, then the sect will have to accuse us of the crime first, which would mean opening themselves up to investigation, too.

We'll get to tell our story as well, and it will be mutually assured destruction. They won't do that. We also need to be careful because if the council finds out about Elric's poisoning, some might suggest ending his suffering right now. Which is likely what Yseult wants."

"What if Yseult reports that Elric has been poisoned by a demon?"

"He wouldn't, because then he would need to admit how he knows that, and that would be opening himself up to scrutiny, especially from Elric's father, the Holy Anchor," Vittoria said.

"It's a tricky game he's playing, but his best bet is to do nothing and just hide the cure as well as possible, which is likely what he will do. I need to leave now and figure out his next move and also make sure that the behemoths are being cleared out. But I doubt Yseult will say anything that might lead back to him. He'll probably just wait for Elric to show up dead or to become a demon-kin, so that the demon master can control him."

"What if we offered Yseult a deal?" Arielle said.

"We'll tell him that Elric will stop the investigation and take back everything he said if he gives us a cure."

"Even if he believed us, I doubt he'll agree to that," she said.

"That being said, I will have to talk to Yseult eventually. The timing simply has to be right." She sighed deeply.

"And perhaps I might have to approach my mother after all. Find out some more information." She closed her eyes, turning her face toward the ceiling.

"The things I do for you, Elric."

"Why do you hate your mother?"

"I don't hate her," she said.

"I simply dislike her cowardice."

"What do you mean–""This isn't the time to discuss that. The first thing I must do, before I leave for my investigation, is teach you how to protect your mind and safeguard your memories against demonic interference through a technique known as centering. It's not something most people can learn, but I think you will manage pretty easily. After that, we have to get you back to campus. It's already late, and I'm not so sure I'm doing a good job at pretending to be you as I thought."

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"Wait, you're still there?"

"Well, not right now. I said I had to go for a walk alone. Your handsome friend was entertaining to talk to for a bit, though."

"Who?"

"You'll see. Anyway, let's hurry up so I can get you back to school." Arielle shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to get back to campus and continue as usual while Elric was suffering.

"I don't want to go back." Vittoria responded, "We don't know if Yseult has spies on campus, but any prolonged absence on your part might look suspicious. He'll suspect you're working with me."

"But if my cousin was injured, it makes sense that–""You're not supposed to know that," Vittoria said.

"This might be the hardest thing I ask of you, but Arielle, you have to pretend while you're there that you don't know anything that happened or that Elric is in trouble until the Dean himself gives you news. I'll bring it to his attention tomorrow. He's going to offer to delay some of your trials and give you a leave of absence to visit Elric. You'll take it but only for a day. Understood?" Arielle clenched her teeth and nodded.

"Do you think I can learn this centering technique fast enough before going?"

"Well, it typically takes multiple sessions to learn, but you learned the Phasewalkers technique, something that takes decades, in a single afternoon." Vittoria managed a tired but amazed smile.

"That was jawdroppingly incredible. So I have no doubt you will be able to learn anything I could teach you." Arielle glanced at Elric. She couldn't even be excited about learning something new because she was so worried about him.

"One more thing." Vittoria pointed at Arielle, and a rush of Luxa surrounded her neck and wrists, much like the ones on Elric's neck as well. However, unlike his, hers disappeared.

"Demons have different magical techniques and essences that humans don't have access to," she said.

"We don't know exactly how their mind-alteration works, but we do know how it starts. You see, a demon will usually take the form of someone, perhaps a stranger, perhaps someone you know. They will engage in conversation with you, and as they do, they invade your mind and put you in a trance. It's almost impossible to tell what's happening if you don't have incredible discernment, and with higher-level demons, even discernment isn't enough.

You must stop them before they trap you in your own head and alter it in the way they want. Once they give off obvious tells that they are a demon, it's typically too late."

"I think I'll be able to tell," Arielle said. Vittoria raised an eyebrow.

"You think so?"

"Yes."

"The same way you knew where that Overlord was?" she asked.

"Yes." The demon she had seen had a distinct pattern of orbs around him. Perhaps not all demons would be the same, but neither behemoth nor the Overlord carried constellations that humans would. Speaking of which, she glanced at the Overlord once more, ensuring that he was still dead. He was.

"Good," Vittoria said.

"The bands around your neck should help. It should ward off demons first of all, including curses, and it should help you with aligning your mind and centering it on truth. This is not a spell. It's a meditation technique that requires extreme focus and frequent practice. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Now, watch me do it first and copy it." Arielle watched Vittoria close her eyes and inhale for ten seconds before exhaling for two. She did it again, this time inhaling for twelve seconds and exhaling for four. The inhale and exhale time continuously increased by two seconds, and it attracted the Vitae, Massa, and Luxa, which circled her head, resting on her temples. Then, on the tenth inhale, it was absorbed through her skin. So cool.

Vittoria told her that while inhaling, she had to focus on her truest thoughts, from the biggest truths to the smallest.

"Each meditation's effect lasts maybe 6-12 hours, depending. So do this once a day at the very least. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. The great thing about it is that demons can really only change a few things at a time, so even if they alter your memory, it can be recovered by the next session." Ari nodded. Once she confirmed Arielle had the technique, Vittoria left her to it and disappeared to continue her initial investigation. She left her portal bird behind. Ari meditated with her eyes open, using nothing but her breathing to attract the three orbs in the right orientation.

It was a similar method of communication to what she was used to, but the absorption was different. For her to get the orbs through her skull, she needed to breathe through her entire body, and her brain needed to attract the orbs, the same way her fingers would when casting spells. That was the hard part. Thinking helped. She had to think about what she knew. The things that were true and the hallmarks of her being.

That was what Vittoria meant by centering on the truth, going from the bigger to the smaller details. She was Arielle Blacksoil. She was a Mossborne. She could see spirit orbs. Elric wasn't her real cousin. He was her friend. After a few minutes, she briefly paused her meditation so she could watch Elric. His breathing had steadied. His mouth was still drooling. He no longer looked to be in pain, but he did look far too pale. Arielle was terrified of the possibility that he might die.

This time, she wasn't just thinking about how wasteful it would be. There was no outer force suppressing the fear or telling her that life was transient. She just didn't want Elric to leave. Should they tell someone? Maybe Anne, who was technically his sister? Or his father? Elric said he didn't get along with them, but sometimes she fought with her siblings too, and they would still want to know if she were dying. But she couldn't tell them if doing so would put Elric in danger. She reached out and held his hand.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault." If she hadn't done what she did, hadn't gone off on her own and killed those trolls in Khor, Elric may never have involved himself in this investigation, and he never would have been in this state. Or if she hadn't helped him unlock those scrolls... She shook her head. There was no use in blaming herself now. She would do that later, but now, she just had to do something to help him. She tried to analyze the nature of the disease in his body.

Maybe if it worked like a curse, she could just break it. She used Orion and the aura-charm to scan him, searching for signs. All she saw was a mess of chaotic orbs within. They were wrapped around his organs, squeezing tightly, bouncing off each other, rioting with no rhyme or reason. It was scary to watch because it felt like it was tearing at him, pushing at Vittoria's bands, attempting to force the spread. Urgency had her heart racing. They needed to do something. Right now.

Arielle nearly tore her gaze away instantly, but she noticed something. A host of silverish-grey orbs mixed in with the rest. What were those? New demonic essences? She couldn't even be excited about the discovery, not under these circumstances. She didn't know if she should attempt to break apart the orbs in his body. Or maybe draw out the curse? Would it accidentally make things worse? She didn't know enough about human anatomy to attempt it, but she did know someone she could ask. Too bad he wasn't here.

After some time, she opened her eyes and moved Elric's arm, which was hanging off the couch, to his side so he would be more comfortable. As she did, she heard a jingle. It came from his pockets. She frowned and stuck her hand inside, retrieving what looked to be jewelry in little silken pouches, all very shiny and expensive-looking. She poured them onto her palm and brushed over them with her finger, wondering what they were for. Elric didn't wear jewelry, and they looked too feminine for him anyway.

Unless he was trying something new.

"They're for you," the bird spoke up.

"I was just at the market in Rittersaal in disguise. Spoke to some merchants. They don't remember exactly what happened, but one thing they remember in detail is the fact that Elric was buying items for his cousin. He seemed really happy doing it too, and he left some of it behind." Arielle stared at the things in her hand, the expensive jewels. He bought them for her? Now it felt like her heart was being squeezed. Her eye stung, pressure pushing behind her eyeballs. Her chest grew hot.

She'd never liked jewelry much. She should have told him that before… before all this. She went back to meditating, pressing her lips together, refusing to cry. That was how Vittoria met her later, appearing with a basket of clothes and laying a hand on her shoulder. If she noticed Arielle was close to tears, she didn't mention it.

"Let's get you back to campus. Tomorrow night, we'll invade the demonic sect compound."