Mariwa: An Ivian Tale

Children of the Lake 8

Holly repeatedly tapped at the moss and fungi encrusted trunk she sat on.

At the deft movement of Aleh's fingers, the great golden spherical fruit was pealed open, once again unveiling the repulsive white pulp labyrinth of tendrils and moving patterns. Even in the light of that sunny. pleasantly fresh day, the perfect kind to receive a letter, it had an undeniable presence to itself, a color and texture that refused to be diminished by the elements.

She gave it an appreciative glance, then resumed her vigil of the sky.

"... Thus Merurgy is the basic power regulating between the Physical and Ashic planes." he said. "Both serve it as saving graces, mooring it the all consuming void, one giving it meaning and the other giving it shape. However, we must ask ourselves, what is meaning?"

"I dunno?" The jungle screamed from all sides, bursting with life and motion. A dark skinbird glided past their heads, in close chase of a crimson dragonfly as lengthy as her hand, and though she was eager to follow them she remained strong. "Y-you're sure it's coming today, right?"

"Yes, and even a guess would have been appreciated. Nevertheless! It's a complex topic. with no shorthand to explain. Allow me an attempt: We call meaning the quintessential matter of the Ashic Plane, which despite implication is not a single solid unit but an aggregate concept created from and defining of intended actions and reactions of a physical and spiritual actor, so to speak."

"Complicated." she fiddled with the hard mushroom shelves underneath her thigh, shaving down their sharper edges. She pulled one, crushing it against her palm and feeling the crumbs slipping through her fingers. "A-and you don't know when."

"Indeed, I do not." The Labyrinth shifted, it's corridors forming vague shapes against one another. "If you were to summarize the field of Ashic Arts into a simple, all-encompassing explanation, it would be the practice of manipulating, affixing, or denying those countless actions and reactions. Question: How? Sometimes, the values of the Lesser Planes become intertwined, but how does the median witch reach into meanings that ought to be unrelated to their existence?"

"Just grab it? Some people can't do it, but if you can it shouldn't be too hard."

Aleh went through a festival of expressions, before settling on measured neutrality. "Yes, except not. Think in scientific terms: to the ignorant, the stretching of an arm is just the simple stretching of an arm, but if you understand the underlying complexities of musculature and skeletal framework you know it is anything but."

"I-I don't get it, I guess. Feels just like grabbing things for me."

"... There is an underlying connection, you see. A single point in metaphysical nadir all things reach for, and in the direction which all meanings intertwine. It is, the most important and most mysterious of all the Lesser Planes. Impossible to analyze, to touch, to observe, yet one you and I have known from birth."

Gross. "W-which direction did you say it was—"

Aleh's hands smashed the pulp into ashes. The puff of unnatural color startled her, but not as much as his scowl. "I swear on mine names, mine masters, and at least three whores of mine acquaintanceship, I have never seen a child less interested in a show of witchcraft!"

"H-hey, I'm not a child, maybe!"

He gave a weary sigh. "Apologies. What I meant to express, Holly, is that you asked me to continue with the World's Making, and while it is not carrying iron weights up the mountains, it does require effort and focus, and chief of all, an attentive audience!"

"I-I'm sorry too, but it's, like, you know! it's coming!"

Crossing Galehold hadn't taken too long, relatively, but Bellfort was proving a much more stubborn beast. They had only traveled a tenth used to before Fortress Aaltor, Agare and Furfu spending every second of the journey in the back with her and Aleh, who protected them with his gross Ashic veil.

At some point, men had actually entered the back of the Oke to investigate. Prying hands were guided by glazed eyes, like they were half lost in some deep dream, even turning her chin left to right with a thoughtful hum before letting go and stumbling out.

Agare had ordered them off the road to avoid further interference, but the forest on this side of the wall, for all they were new and exciting, proved itself too dense and nearly impossible to transverse.

A couple hours ago, he had left, citing some vague business he had to attend.

At least she was allowed to breath some air and take in the sights, so long as she stayed within Furfu's range of view. Aleh had been right, she did call him for company and, and also as a peace offering and apology about that other day, which she still felt a little guilty about.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, the day had come. The one thing keeping her sane, the one hope that killed all boredom while she wasn't allowed to explore, it was nigh.

"Damned be, you— Oh, see? All a matter of patience!"

Holly shot to her feet, searching the sky in all the cardinal directions for the characteristic glimmer, but all she had to do was follow Aleh's gaze. It appeared in mid air, a small object flying in curves in their direction. Aleh, eyes closed and nose raised, extended an arm sideways, ready for its arrival.

That the diminute figure landed on his forearm without damage, it did.

That it nearly dislocated his shoulder and pulled him off his feet, it did.

"F-fucking—!" Aleh screamed, reeling back, other arm windmilling for balance, not falling on his rear end by a miracle, "I thought fixed this habit! What's wrong with you?!"

"It's here! It's here!" She jumped in circles. "Gimme! Gimme!"

She wasn't talking to Aleh. One Two was a marvelous little creature, taking the form of a headless bird with a smooth torso of brass petering out to a broad spearhead tail, wings feathered with thin copper plates, and twig-like legs ending in tripodal feet. And it was hard to believe, but Aleh had said supposedly made it by hand.

Adorable or not, the moment she raised a hand its way it lunged from his forearm to his shoulder, wings open and ready to flee. She had expected as much, it wasn't the first time she had seen the little fellow act this way, but it still hurt.

"H-hey! I'm a friend! Aleeeeeh!"

"I am fine and in good health, gratitudes for your concern." He shook his head, fixing his garish yellow robes. "Also, I will repeat: One Two is not a living animal, no matter how complex its functions, its hesitance is an extent of its security measures."

"Ooooh, C'mon, can't you teach it?"

"Another time, perhaps. We have more urgent matters, do we not?" he smiled, hand finding One Two's round chest and quickly swiping a pattern with his finger. One Two turned its back towards her, a slit now gaping open on the edge of its tail. Once a significant hole had been made, its upper half bisected itself, folding back to reveal a fur padded interior cradling a single roll of paper.

Aleh reached for it with such sadistic deliberation it was painful. If she wasn't sure One Two would run she would pluck out that letter herself! Or, maybe if she was fast enough? Pinching fingers rose. One Two spread its wings wide, and Aleh was forced to put a protective hand in between them.

"O-oi, careful with those fingers, it is fragile!" he said.

"Then please, hurry up!"

Aleh did, pulling the rolled letter out and quickly handing it to her. She hesitated for a moment, suddenly scared of ripping her precious treasure apart, but holding out was beyond her and soon she had it spread open.

She lowered the letter from her face, giggling.

"Heheheh... She thought about me! Her handwriting is so good, and look at the little heart she drew!"

"Hmmm, and here I heard it sucked."

"D-don't say that, Aleh! That's mean!" Holly said, looking up.

Aleh seemed completely nonplussed, even a little indignant. It took her a few moment to realize how different the voice was to his usual shrill one. Feeling like she had been caught in the den of some previously slumbering beast, she slowly turned around.

Blades was on the tips of her toes, reading the letter from the crook of her elbow. Emerald eyes fixed onto Holly's. "Hey."

"Yiiiiiih!"

Holly jumped, not losing her treasure to the dirty ground thanks to a split second grab. Blades watched in silence, before gracefully lowering herself on her heels.

"D-don't do that!" Holly said.

"Do what?" Blades said.

"S-sneak up on me! M-my heart nearly jumped out of my chest!"

"Oh, that, I've been here a while, actually."

Holly glared, to no visible effect.

"Unusual to see you without your dear half, Blades, "Aleh said, stowing One Two away into his robes with one hand while plucking the letter out of Holly's with the other. "Something the matter?"

"The Little Boss returned. Says we should be safe for now, but it's best to hurry up."

"Good to know. The other two came to a consensus on the safest route to Treil?"

"Not them, but yeah." Blades said.

Aleh opened the letter, turned it sideways, and fanned himself on the way to the Oke. "Well, you will see no objection on mine part. The sooner I am out of this humid dreg, the happier I will be!"

Blades glimpsed at her, for a fraction of a second. Holly wished the cold scrutiny she felt piercing her to the core was only her imagination, but it was becoming harder and harder. Nobody was saying anything, but she was starting to feel vulnerable.

Blades turned and stalked away, With Furfu still watching over them, she quietly trailed behind.

The Floodlands.

"I thought we were in the Sacred Forest Region?" Holly asked, watching the jungle roll by from her baton-manifested window.

"We are." Aleh unfolded his red wrappings, ready for another meditation session. "The Floodlands are a subregion of the Sacred Forest, occupying much of Eastern and South Bellfort."

"B-but why is it called the Floodlands?"

"Because when the Rain Season comes it floods," Blades said, closer to Holly than she had been moments ago.

"I-I see."

"Tch! What an ignorant answer! Holly, the Floodlands are one of Ivias' most unique biomes, with no similar in the entire archipelago! It has a rich ecosystem with fauna and flor endemic to itself and—"

"Who cares." Blades rolled her eyes, and though Aleh clicked his tongue a second time, he didn't argue, rather rolling the wrappings around his eyes.

Well, Holly did care. Used to the dense forests of the Hollows, the Floodlands weren't entirely unfamiliar to her, but similarities ended in the details. She didn't have the right vocabulary to describe where both differed: how the aerial roots shooting from so high they formed arches the Oke could ride under were unlike the the Hollow's ficus' root networks which she used to hide in frequently; how the curved thorns of the tripping weeds here looked almost like fangs, whereas the Hollow's were instruments of torture, needle like and brittle under the skin; how vibrant and plentiful life was here, unafraid and unashamed of being seen, heard.

Just look at all those colors! Parasitic flowers wider around then her splayed fingers in proud oranges and violets, perched tall above! Noose Ivies heavy with yellow and white blooms, heavier with swinging prey! Slimes and mushrooms of such lively blues they practically glowed under their mounds of decay! Swarms of jewel shelled wasps, pristine winged moths, mosquitos turning to sprites of light under scant sunbeams, great spiders like healthy bark and verdant leaf!

Agare had been right, she had seen nothing. This is where she would like to live! She tried to imagine what this place would look flooded, longing for a good dunk into some deep water. The longer she went with a proper bath the more she missed her old spring and basin.

Unfortunately, the intruding element wouldn't let her linger in her fantasies. With Aleh starting his meditations, Furfu busy in her funk, Agare and Rosen and Lilly occupied up front, Blades practically had Holly all to herself, sitting at hugging distance from the get go and only creeping closer with time. Gone were the easy smiles, she openly considered her like a falcon considered a chick.

The hours passed and the baton lost its power, Holly lost her patience. Turning towards the swordswoman, she bravely exclaimed: "S-sorry Blades, but did I do something wrong?"

"Beyond the obvious?" Blades shrugged.

"W-we made peace with each other, me and Aleh! B-but you're still acting really weird."

"I've been acting as always, you just don't know what that looks like."

"I'm sorry I got so mad that night." She fiddled with her fingers. "I-I really don't know what got into me..."

"Ha! you don't?" Blades smiled.

Unfurled nails snagged on each other. "That's what I said."

Blades slid off the velvet seats. Holly didn't know if they were touching, but if they weren't it couldn't be for more than the girth of a hair. Stuck between the Oke's entrance and the seats, she had nowhere to flee, but Aleh's head did turn a smidge in their direction, so maybe the harassment wasn't going unnoticed.

"So you did." Blades whispered.

"P-please just tell me what I did wrong, I can't apologize if I don't know!"

"Wrong? You did nothing wrong," Blades said, cutting Holly before she could rebuke. "Tell me one thing. Aren't you curious?"

"A-about what?"

"Everything. Our enemy, our fears, who's been chasing you?"

She held back a scoff. Of course she was, who wouldn't be? And yet. "I-I think that's not the kind of thing I should get into. Or that you should be talking to me about."

There it was, the cold analysis, piercing as if she could read her face like a book through darkness and change. After several seconds, she spoke."...You creep me out."

Holly blinked. "W-what?"

"Tell me, who are you really, Holly Seneschal? How old are you? What life did you live? Do you remember your own face?" "Y-you already know all of that!" Holly pushed with a shoulder. "What's your point?! What do you want from me?" "Point? I'm trying to learn." Blades pushed back, but was too weak to move her. Facing her, they were nearly eye to eye now. "Tell me, what kind of dream a pastiche monster like you could possibly have for Marquise to sink her claws into?" "W-what did you call me?!" "I had none. All I need to survive is water, food, and blades of course." "Well, I didn't either! Marquise didn't 'sink her claws' on me! She is the reason I'm alive, the reason I have a purpose, and she cares for my sister, isn't being thankful for that enough to help her out?!" "Liar." Holly was shocked speechless. "Me, I had nothing to be thankful for, so I asked for swords. Got some decent stuff, good steel, well kept, so I joined her cause content. The means she got to me were unusual, but I thought work was work, it should be like any other Unit. It's how she whisked me by the cheek." "I-I don't understand." Blades stiffened. "I'm a proper animal. Never had to be anything else. It's how I was made to live and how I was told I would die, so why not enjoy? Stupid. Forgot others don't think like that, like I forgot that Lilly has dreams. Dreams she would die for." "A-and the Marquise will fulfill them! I'm sure of— Yiiiih!" An instant's distraction and Blades advanced. Nose to nose, Holly could feel warm breath on her lips, saw the shades in her cloak crawling up to her forehead and down to her chin, covering her scar. Fingers snuck in between whipping hairs, and suddenly Holly's head was pulled aside, giving the other woman access to her ears. "I know." Blades' tone was conspiratorial. "That's the problem. The day I let that Headless prove her words were the day I let Lilly sink into a pit she will never escape. Now there's nothing I can do." "B-Blades..." Her grip on the back of Holly's head grew firmer. "Never was a good talker, but I thought I was a damn good judge of character. Lilly trusted my intuition too. And the one time I missed the forest for the trees, it set our paths straight: she'll plunge head first into the abyss of that thing's revenge, and I'll die failing to prevent that. It's misery." "L-let me go." "Or what, you freak? Are you going to kill me? I'd be glad. At least that fits my prediction." Her eyes widened. The next second, Blades was pinned to her seats, bared teeth hissing above her soft face. A cold edge touched Holly's neck, prickling her skin with Will, and her smile returned in full force. "The Boss gave us a briefing, but I work better with my own two hands." The thin knife pushed further, but couldn't slash her throat. "Problem? I can't read you at all. No, rather, I think there's nothing there to be read." Finger sunk right besides her head. One wrong movement and she could cause some serious damage here. The notion allowed her to stop dead on her trail, but didn't dispel the anger. "You don't know me, and I'm don't want to know someone like you!" "Where's did the meek little girl from before go? I know she was here. Where do you hide her usually?" Her tongue would have felt as heavy as lead, should the chaos building besides them not have interrupted. Holly saw Blade's lips thin before something collided with her stomach, as solid and strong as a rolling stone, pushing her back against the Oke's corner. "W-what's happening? What the fuck are you people doing?" She heard Aleh yelp, unwrapping his head. "I-is this going to happen every w-week now?!" That was Furfu, somewhere around her armpits. "I-I don't like that!" "Blades, report, now." Agare. The tone alone freezing her blood chill. "No need to panic, Agare! Just our way of playing." Blades rose with the grace of a slithering snake, both palms up with a curving, silver knife held by a thumb. "Doing some Aleh duty, seeing what falls out the tree." Slapping Furfu's back in the hopes she would stop crushing her against the walls, she heard Almalilly's voice."Are you insane? With no warning, no plan?!" "Why would I need one? Isn't Holly a sweet, kind girl? Under what risk was I?" From smile to a grin, Blades glanced at her like a naughty toddler, and she didn't miss the hint of challenge. Because Holly is such and obedient girl, isn't she? It hurt bad. Weren't they supposed to become closer during this trip? Wasn't she supposed to trust these people like she trusted Marquise? Instead, she bristled, wanted to scream her lungs out, because how could she act like nothing happened? It wasn't her fault. She said it herself, Holly did nothing wrong, she was on the right! And yet, she was ashamed. The indignation wouldn't push past the knot at her neck, not without breaking something precious. Instead she tried to relax, to shrink into herself, which was hard when you had a smaller person literally holding you upright. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you Blades, please forgive me!" The grin vanished in a blink. "Sad. I don't forgive you." Blades stalked towards her. Pulling Furfu, she realized she was trapped, the back of her head bumping on the ceiling and her spine pressed against the wall. She forced a kneel, pushing the poor faceless down with her. "Blades?" Agare asked. Almalilly reached for the swordswoman. "H-hey Blades, I know you're playing and everything, but I don't this is quite the right moment." "Ask me anything," Blades evaded her touch, meeting Holly's eyes. "Who's chasing us. What you truly are and what your dreams looks like. Who you're really working for and why the Skawlan Forward Base was decimated. We know the truth!" "Blades, enough." Agare stepped forward, but she knew she wouldn't listen. "Do you know how old I am, Holly? I don't. Somewhere past fifty, last I checked." Her jaw slackened. "I don't know a single other face this old. A couple witches, maybe? But those are special, in the eyes of the faceless. More useful than us, the meat shields, the expendable hands, the material." "Blades." Agare called, yet didn't move to intercept her. "Don't make me stop you." "I think I'm sure now. In all these years fighting, I've learned what a penned predator looks like, and it's not pretty." There she was again, nose to nose with Holly. "Dangerous and unpredictable in a way that kills them in the end." Thorns shredded through her Will, but she didn't know how else to protect herself. One brush against the shield of Will arms and she knew Blades was immense, as close to solid as she had ever felt any from a regular person, lumbering with bulk and presence, yet honed, tightly build. She called her predator? Blades was a raptor, all muscle and razor sharp claws. That raptor was dragged back not by the powerful faceless, but the comparatively tiny Lilly. "Have you gone deaf, woman?! Stop! Do you know what you're about to ruin?!" For the first time, she flinched, frowned. "It needs to be said. She needs to—!" The world came crashing down. Up became down became east and west. Floor and ceiling blurred together as she bumped into every surface available, grabbing on to the nearest available things for balance, and getting a knee to the clavicle for her troubles. Seconds, minutes later, it stopped. One arm propped on the couches, the other holding a struggling Furfu by waist, she wasn't sure what had happened, but the Oke's veins were glowing a dim purple, growing stronger with every moment. Aleh had fallen leaning against her, and other than Agare and Blades, neither who apparently lost their footing, was the first up, clenching on a bundle of red wrappings. "Rosen! Do you believe yourself to have the right to drive mine opus off cliffs because it was built for endurance?!" "Forgive me, young sir!" Rosen's voice echoed from the cabin. "It seems like a sinkhole has opened under us! I couldn't steer away in time!" "A sinkhole?" Agare asked, dashing out the cabin's hatch before she could speak. Rosen was next, much slower, and last was Almalilly, who glanced back and hesitated at the ladder, but ultimately chose to leave. From her half crouch half sprawl, she could see the edges of the hole. They had dropped in a slant at the bottom,. It must have been incredibly deep to gobble the Oke whole like this. Letting Furfu slip to the ground, she crawled forward for a better look. Blades held her back. Pushing her by the shoulders, even an unsteady Holly was too strong for her to halt, but the gesture was enough to catch her attention. "Beast to beast, you're half baked Holly Seneschal." "I-I don't think this is—" "You seek something an animal could never have, so you try to rise above. When you are seen and denied, you fall back on old ways. I can't rely on you at all." "You don't know me, and we—" "I always fought like its my last time, because it always was. I ran, but the bell never stops tolling! Can't you hear it? It's deafening." Carefully, Holly forced herself through, Blades bending until she was nearly parallel to the ground. She changed tactics, grabbing her by the collar and yanking down with all her strength. The more she tried to shake her off, the tighter she held. "W-what's wrong with you?! Let me go!" "I don't care if that thing's plan goes up in flames or not, I already made my peace with what's coming, so long as I get Lilly alive to the other side!" "S-she said you're just a coworker!" "She could have said I was an insignificant worm, she has earned that right! Now listen to me!" "No! I'm going outside to help the others, and that's final!" It happened so fast she didn't notice until the mood inside the Oke collapsed. "Halt, Yanna!" The shock passed from person to person. From the exasperated Aleh interrupted in the middle of his routine with a sharp inhale, to Furfu wracked by a full body shiver that could have shattered bones, to Blades whose eyes widened in a way Holly had never imagined possible. She didn't recognize that name. Oh, she didn't recognize that voice either. A slap brought her back from her musings. Blades whispered like the dead. "Beast to beast, this is the only fragment of stability I ever found. I can't trust a single one of these fools to take my place, not even Lilly herself, no matter the pretense they are all chained to the Headless' will. "Take it to the end. Die and let it rest over your corpse. Doesn't matter to me, so long as she makes it. You won't abandon your comrade, right?"