Chapter 49

“Planetary Annihilators, very much fortunately, are among the least numerous of the eidolons that we encounter. It requires a massive amount of mana to not only birth, but also sustain them. So more often than not their existence in any given place is limited by what is available to consume. An average worldsoul can grant them sufficient mana to remain functional for upwards of a century, but that is assuming that such a thing does not cause them ascend beyond their planet’s reach. For the only thing more terrifying than a Planetary Annihilator is a Starkiller.”

—Extinction Events: An Oral History of the Eidolon Incursions, Mackran Litchen

When Sylvas awoke the next day, or technically nightfall by Strife’s standards, he did so to a particularly potent headache. 

Nor was it a surprise as to the reason why he had it, Mira having at least given him the grace of warning him to expect it. That was because while his task had been to accumulate raw magic, etherium, in the hollow parts of his body was one thing, hers had been to develop the foundations of the theory that would eventually become their paradigm. Unfortunately as she did that, it meant that Sylvas had to deal with having his perception launched backwards and forwards through time, seemingly at random.

Well I’m terribly sorry that you aren’t enjoying yourself, darling, but nobody gave me a manual to the entirely new paradigm I’m inventing for you with fragmentary knowledge of time magic. She told him after he had tripped over his own bedroll because he had seen himself put it away, then unravel it, then put it away again, only to then discover that none of the visions had in fact happened and it had still been where he had left it. If you’d like for me to stop then just say the word, I’d be happy going back to not reliving all of my own worst moments or glimpsing horrible futures in which we are mutilated.

There had been nightmares as well during his sleep. All of which held his most favorite renditions of Croesia’s fall, to Enore’s death, to his own on countless other occasions where he had brushed far too close it. To say it was a jarring experience to experience one’s death or severe injury in an event where it in fact hadn’t happened was an oversimplification.

Not concerned about that, Sylvas explained, despite feeling more than a little bit embarrassed and annoyed about his fall. Rather I’m concerned that she saw it.

That she in question having been Vaelith, who at the best of times back on campus had missed nothing.

Here however, deep inside the planet’s core, she had practically attached herself to Sylvas by virtue of not wanting to leave his side for protective reasons. That meant that the two of them were practically inseparable, doing everything from taking the same watches of the blood wolf, breaks to eat, and sleeping proximity. So when Sylvas tripped for what had to be the fourth time that morning, this time because his vision had jumped several seconds into the future, leaving him essentially blind to the present, she called him out on it.

“Vail, are you having a problem?”

“Uh, no, ma’am,” he replied while cursing inwardly that she’d finally said something. “I’m fine, I’m just working on a new paradigm. It’s proving to be a bit…difficult to start.”

Of course that wasn’t an answer that Vaelith wanted to hear.

“Here? Now?” She asked in a clearly disapproving tone, her gaze shifting from him towards the blood wolf. “Do you really think this is the time to be at anything less than your peak?”

Fortunately that was a question that Sylvas did happen have a good answer to as the woman’s attention shifted back onto him.

“I think that if I can finish it, it’ll make sure that we can’t be surprised,” he said as he met her stare. “And for what it’s worth, I’m close. I just need to work out the last few kinks.”

Vaelith simply glared at him in response for several seconds without saying anything, a sign that she herself was still struggling with whatever it was that had affected her after Sylvas had discovered his newfound power.

“Fine,” she eventually stated before inclining her head towards their usual spot, only to let out another uncharacteristic curse when she saw Kalisdrothan waiting for them, a sign that he clearly wanted something. “Just get it under control.”

By now it was impossible for anyone with semi-functioning ears and eyes to miss the tension that Vaelith was exhibiting, a fact that showed in the professor’s somewhat anxious face as he waited for them to arrive. Vaelith clearly didn’t agree with the priority that had been placed on the research expedition, nor with the freedom that they had been given in what was now a system-wide threat. On more than one occasion she had bodily stopped the researchers from walking or taking a device too close to either the blood wolf or worldsoul, quite loudly asking if they were either stupid, had death wishes, or both.

More than just that, now that Sylvas had a decent sample size to work with, he noticed that Vaelith was by far the most emotionally expressive elf that he met. Enough that he was starting to form a theory that the restrained behavior of all the others that he’d observed was somehow amplified by their position in elvish society. The other elves from research team were decidedly on the more polite and restrained side as things went. So much in fact that Sylvas noticed that they were intervening on their own and his own his behalf every time they needed a reason to talk to either him or Vaelith. They all took turns, with the same elf rarely coming to ask them something twice. More than that too, they encouraged breaks often, more so for Vaelith, offering her a chance either to walk and talk with them, or to come look at something. 

It was clear, even to Sylvas, that they were invitations for Vaelith to come and talk with them about whatever was bothering her and thus turning her into a less than pleasant presence. But even so, she rebuffed them, sometimes a little forcefully. Sylvas knew from his reading, that because of their longevity elves had built a society with a massive emphasis on conflict resolution. When you had to share a planet with another person for multiple centuries, the fewer hard feelings there were between you, the less likely it was for the whole of civilization to come crashing down. 

If there was a situation where people were clearly not enjoying one another’s company or somehow causing disharmony they would feel compelled to address it in whatever way that solved it. But it seemed that typical elven societal norms didn’t apply to someone like Vaelith and she was content to wallow in whatever emotional turmoil that she’d created for herself.

As Kalisdrothan quickly discovered upon their arrival.

“What is it you need now, professor?” Vaelith demanded as soon they drew close enough to have a mostly private conversation.

“I, uh, yes, good morning, Fal’Vaelith,” he answered back in a stiff formal tone. “I’m sorry to bother but I was hoping that we could borrow Mr. Vail—”

“No, you may not.” The reply was quick and curt. “Was that all you needed?”

“Erm, Instructor, please, you must reconsider,” Kalis countered, raising his hands in what could only be described as a desperate way. “It wouldn’t be for long, we just need some assistance in mapping the surrounding—”

“I’m sure you can use one of the countless devices you and your team brought down to do that instead,” Vaelith stated as she cut the man off again. “As I told you several times before now, Vail’s, and the Ardent’s, role in this expedition is to ensure the expedition’s safety. To make sure that when your people inevitably free that monster that we can sell our lives dearly enough that maybe a handful of you escape. Otherwise he, nor we, are at your beck and call.”

It was a reply that understandably angered the venerable elf, his hands balling themselves up into fists as he glared back at her. “Fal’Vaelith, your words are most unkind! I will not stand here and listen to you degrade my—”

“Then go away, Kalisdrothan,” she interrupted yet again, this time her eyes flaring a bright green. A move that prompted the man’s mouth to snap shut in obvious fear. “I will not tell you again. Focus on your duties and I’ll focus on mine. If you can’t do that, I’ll bring it up with the general, and trust me when I say that he shares my line of thinking more than he shares yours.”

There was a pause as she glared at him. “Do we have an understanding?”

But if the woman expected a reply to her question she was quickly disappointed when all the professor did in response was abruptly walk away, avoiding both of their eyes as he did so. The result left them standing somewhat awkwardly in front of their usual post where they watched the worldsoul and blood wolf from, Sylvas practically feeling everyone who had seen the exchange attention upon them. However given that this wasn’t the first time that people had butt heads with Vaelith, it wasn’t long before their attention shifted back to their tasks, allowing Sylvas to settle into his typical chair beside her.

“Are you okay?” The words left his mouth before he even realized what he was doing, prompting him to turn and look in her direction, finding still burning green eyes staring back at him. But instead of having question ignored, or worse, thrown back at him, Sylvas found himself with a more honest reply than he expected to hear.

“You of all people should know I’m not.”

He nodded, if only to busy himself with some sort of movement as he scrambled to collect his thoughts. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Absolutely not.” The response was quick and immediate. But unlike the other times when the question had been posed by one of the other elves, the reply was soft and gentle.

“Well, if that changes, let me know,” Sylvas replied, caught half way between disappointment at the reply and relief that he’d managed to get himself out of a particularly anxiety inducing situation.

Coward, Mira grunted from within Sylvas’ mind, though it wasn’t clear as to who she was talking about. Both of them perhaps. Regardless, he prepared himself to settle in for the day’s watch, content to work away on his embodiment and paradigm while time and opportunity still permitted.

Or at least that is what his plan was until Vaelith spoke up once more.

“I don’t want to have to try and kill you.”

Sylvas turned to look at her again as fast as body would let him, which was to say enough to almost damage the chair he sat upon, it making a loud noise in protest.

“And—and do you think you’ll have to?” He asked, his heart racing at the statement as he watched the woman stare up at the colossal eidolon in the distance, not meeting his eye in the process.

“I don’t know.” Came the reply. “I don’t want to know.”

 Sylvas nodded as if that statement made perfect sense, perhaps it did in some twisted way that only a member of the Ardent could understand. But that apparently wasn’t all that the woman seemingly wanted to get off her chest now that she’d started talking.

“Have you ever wondered why I was assigned to Strife?” She asked, her eyes finally dropping to meet Sylvas’. “Why, I, of all people, wasn’t out somewhere on the front?”

Sylvas nodded, it had in fact been a question at the back of his mind, and also many of the others as well. With Vaelith’s obvious strength and ferocity, she seemed to be the ideal candidate to handle the most dangerous of problems that the Empyrean had to offer. Having her on Strife training the next generation of Ardent, while useful, seemed to pale in comparison as to what she could do somewhere else.

“It’s because I got tired of walking a top mountains of corpses,” she continued, inclining her head towards the blood wolf. “It never mattered what it was, a beast like that, an undead horde, blood magic, or even a simple war for greed and power that got out of hand. I was always too late. By the time I got involved the only thing left to do was clean up, save what few people there were left to save, and then move on. So after a century of doing that, I took the opportunity to do something different, I took the opportunity to come here. And do you know what I was eventually told?”

Sylvas simply shook his head in response, feeling that whatever words he had to offer would somehow be insufficient.

“That every cadet that I had trained for at least a single cycle had a five time longer survival rate than those I didn’t.” She went onto explain. “It was a statistical anomaly that hardly anyone could believe, myself included.”

“There is nothing wrong with teaching people what it takes to stay alive,” Sylvas immediately replied, only to instantly understand the crux of Vaelith’s issue. “Oh.”

“Yes. Oh.” Vaelith replied dryly, finally breaking eye contact with him in favor of looking at the worldsoul. “I’ve done all I can to train people to survive, trained them how to be Varaelfin. It worked for a time. At least until you showed up.”

“Me? What did I have to do with it?”

The glare came back as her head shifted. “What didn’t you have to do with it? First your drive, then your affinity, then your willingness to sacrifice everything if it meant victory. It reminded me of what I was, who I used to be. So I woke up and pushed you. I pushed you, your ceiling, your potential, higher and higher until one day I finally couldn’t see its limit.”

“You mean when I discovered what I could to do…them,” Sylvas indicated the time locked blood wolf.

But Vaelith shook her head in response. “When I realized what the Alliance would make you do with your power, with your ability.”

The woman went on to raise a finger before Sylvas could reply, stopping him with his mouth open. “And don’t pretend you don’t know what that is. I got the same orders that I know you did.”

He closed his mouth, reopened it, and then closed it again, sitting in thought for a time. “So what should I do?”

“That’s the same question I’m asking myself ever since I saw what you did, Vail,” Vaelith replied as she sank even deeper into her seat and pulled out a slate, signaling the end of whatever this exchange was between them. “The same damned question.”

Well, I’ll be, Mira said as Sylvas turned in his chair, his morning having taken a turn that he’d least expected. It looks like the monster there has a heart hidden away under all of her muscles and tattoos. Whoever would have thought?

I…I think it’s more than just that, Sylvas replied with a mental shake of his head. I think she’s seen and done so much. Too much maybe.

So have we Sylvas, so have we, Mira reminded before her voice took on an impatient tone. Now, is this a path that you want to spend our precious time on, or are we going to get back to work while we still have it available to us?

Sylvas considered that for a moment before eventually relenting. It’s nothing that can’t wait for later.

With that admission Sylvas turned his attention inward towards the spellforms that he and Mira had been working on in their attempts to create their new paradigm. As part of its development there was unfortunately a great deal of trial and error involved, and he suspected that if it wasn’t for Runeweave embodiment reinforcing his body, along with the general heartiness of his previous circles, he might very well have inflicted some serious harm upon himself, his brain in particular. 

As it was, the etherium that he had steadily filled himself with had begun to extend up from his arm, body, and neck until it started to touch his brain-stem, which was creating all sorts of fantastic new kinds of pain that he hadn’t even realized existed. He had to use the metal affinity mana that he had stored in a gem to repeatedly adjust Mira’s paradigm to help manage it. 

Then there was of course accounting for the presence etherium itself inside his body, which despite all his calculations, was not something he had planned for. He needed to tweak countless runes within himself, ensuring their overall durability and integrity over anything else. With the amount of mana that he now had available to himself, the last thing that he needed was to accidentally burn out or overcharge a section of the miniscule runes out while casting, which would have instantly horrific consequences to whatever part of his body that happened in.

Eventually with his tweaking he was able to adjust Mira enough that she was able to filter his growing temporal perceptions and keep him rooted firmly in the present so her work wasn’t as disruptive to day to day life. Unfortunately the tradeoff resulted in him feeling numb and cut off from her as she worked. That combined with Vaelith’s return to silence left him with little else to do but work as for as long as he could manage and then take what breaks he could. Though even those were limited to him either visiting the latrines with a collection of his ever watchful security team or eating an all too brief meal with his friends or the research team before returning to his vigil.

The only true saving grace was that eventually, perhaps mercifully if he was going to be truly honest, his day’s watch came to an end and Vaelith allowed him to leave for his rest, escorted by his security team back to their shared tent. Once there, Sylvas practically fell into his bedroll without so much as a second thought, the entire day of painstaking mental work upon his new embodiment and paradigm having quite literally worn him to the bone. All that he felt as he placed his head on the pillow and resigned himself to a tomorrow of the same endless watch was Mira as she finally stirred from her own work, voice filtering into his mind.

Sleep well, my darling. Tomorrow will be another busy day.