"So. What is it, Mordred?"
Kay's sharp, blue eyes held mine as he asked, his posture straight, yet tensed as if preparing to draw out his sword.
It was as if he still hadn't decided whether I was human or a daemon.
The air in the medium-sized training room felt denser than usual. No one had activated their strands outright, but I could feel it.
Subtle readiness. Like a room full of loaded weapons pretending to relax.
Jack stood to the side, hands in his pockets, with a lazy smile.
Vanis stood near the front.
Her heterochromatic eyes stared, never leaving me, as if worried that the moment she blinked, I might vanish.
A quiet prick struck somewhere in my chest for the torment I had put her through.
Even though she only taught me for a month, Vanis had been more of an older sister than a certain Crown Princess ever had.
I heard it from Jack and Artemis.
Vanis blamed herself for my being consumed by the Madness, for it was she who had taught me that ancient, forbidden code.
She never forgave herself for letting Asphodel drag me into the Tear.
My 'death' added to the self-torture she subjected herself to ever since the day she slaughtered hundreds during the Hectus Heresy.
Despite being more broken than her, I couldn't help but feel that small sting of guilt.
My gaze went over to the rest.
Unit 21.
The Lunatics.
The captain and the vice-captain stood at the front, beside Vanis.
Artemis gazed at me and around with her signature detached expression.
A stark contrast to the blubbering mess who had nearly tackled me when she first saw me alive.
Right now, her stance was relaxed, yet her fingers were loosely around her yoyo's string.
Carlo stood beside her, looking straight ahead, the corners of his mouth twitching in annoyance at the lack of discipline exhibited by his captain.
The horrible scar on his face made him look like a cold villain in a movie.
He was the one who advised the others to maintain caution, in case I was a daemon wearing the skin of a human.
It was a smart move, something he had learned from me, Iris, and other Deathwalkers.
However, his eyes betrayed the words he had spoken back then.
Deep down, he knew it was me who stood before them.
Apollo, Ava, and Krystal stood behind them.
Ava tried to look composed, though I distinctly remembered her teary-eyed smile earlier.
Apollo and Krystal practically ran over each other trying to pinch my skin to see whether I was real.
And along with them were two more people, both in their early twenties.
My eye unconsciously twitched as I looked at them.
Anthony and Rachel Slader.
They are part of the reason why Unit 21 was called the Lunatics.
The golden-haired siblings became Deathwalkers out of pure boredom.
Anthony, the older sibling, played with a ball of pure light formed from his mastery over the Lux strand, its white glow reflecting in his mischievous purple eyes.
And beside him stood his younger sister, Rachel, a master of Aqua and specializing in the mist sub-strand.
With her mist and Anthony's Lux, they are masters of illusions, capable of fooling even the most perceptive enemies on the battlefield.
And right now, Rachel was staring at me with her golden eyes, particularly at my missing arm.
I could literally hear the gears in her head turning, crafting a diabolical joke about my lost limb.
The rest of the members who had returned with Jack were currently on a bandit subjugation mission from Artemis.
I feel bad for those bandits.
Anyway. I should probably start explaining before my dear uncle decides to put me in the psych ward of Althea.
I cleared my throat.
"When I recounted what I experienced after falling into the Tear…" I winced slightly. "I omitted one crucial detail."
They weren't surprised, though I could see Kay's eyes narrowing just a fraction.
"Mordred," he said slowly, "making you recount the hell you suffered was already a mistake on my part."
His gaze flickered briefly over my missing arm before returning to my eyes.
"The information you gave us, about the daemons, about their commanders, about their queen…"
He hesitated.
The moment he spoke of Lilith, I flinched.
A reflex. A remembrance of my body that had suffered from her twisted obsession.
"Sorry," Kay said quietly. "You've already given us valuable insights. You don't have to recount more. There must be a reason you didn't tell the full story."
This was getting awkward.
"What I am about to tell," I said, steadying my voice, "is the most important thing, and it concerns everyone."
Vanis stepped forward slightly. "We're listening."
Taking a deep breath, I began.
"During my escape, I fell."
A faint tremor ran through me despite myself.
"Into the deepest part of the Abyss. A vast void so deep, I lost count of the time I spent falling into that abyssal black. It didn't even feel like I was falling."
Carlo straightened, and Ava's face had a disturbed expression.
"And in the deepest part of that darkness," my voice lowered, the image of Phoebe chained to those black pillars flashed across my mind.
"I met someone."
"Who?" Kay asked.
My jaw tightened.
"A queen," I said. "Imprisoned by Lilith. Bound in constant torture as the sister she loved turned her people into daemons."
Jack turned serious.
"You said that the daemons used to be Lumini," he said slowly. "Humanoid beings born from Lux."
"So Lilith imprisoned the Luminus Queen and turned all the Lumini into daemons?"
I nodded.
"Lilith herself was a Luminus, except instead of Lux, she was born from Tenebris. She was a mutation, a Darkling," I swallowed. "And the queen took her in as her sister."
Silence.
Artemis' fingers tightened around her yoyo string.
"So, this queen," she said. "What happened when you met her?"
I met her golden gaze, now filled with anticipation, a thirst for the truth.
"When I met her…" the image of Phoebe's empty eyes rose in my mind.
"...she was so broken that she was nothing more than an empty husk filled with absolute power. A doll devoid of any emotion."
My fist clenched. "I wanted to escape, so I needed her power."
That was true.
"And…" My voice dropped. "I wanted to free her."
"So I made a deal with her."
The air shifted when I said those words.
"A contract, where she becomes my familiar and I, her master," I sighed.
"We made a Soul Bond."
A ripple of surprise spread through them.
Vanis went pale.
"Mordred," she said. "That's impossible."
"A Soul Bond is made between a spirit and its summoner," she continued rapidly. "There are also cases of the Incarni forming contracts with the mortals they favor. It cannot be made with a Luminus unless-"
Her words died as understanding dawned slowly across her face.
She looked at me, her purple and crimson gaze filled with disbelief and horror.
"Mordred…" her voice trembled as she asked. "Who is this Luminus queen you speak of?"
I lowered my gaze for a moment.
Then I spoke her name, as if calling for her.
"Phoebe."
The lights flickered just once.
Then went out, plunging the room into darkness for a brief period.
When the lights came back on, she was standing beside me.
Weapons were drawn instantly as everyone got ready for battle in the blink of an eye.
No one had seen her enter. She had simply appeared out of thin air.
Her silver hair reached her shoulders, emitting a faint white glow like her fair, unblemished skin.
She gazed at the people before her with a calm, vacant look, her irises resembling glowing shards of pure crystal.
Clad in a loose white shirt and simple white pants, Phoebe's appearance set a new, unattainable standard of beauty.
She looked like a woman in her early twenties, standing still beside me.
But the ardor in the air reacted to her presence, and the ball of light in Anthony's palm flickered and leaned toward her.
Vanis went rigid, her breath turning shallow.
Kay's blade was half-drawn, placing himself between Phoebe and the others.
"Mordred," he said in a controlled voice. "Is she the queen?"
I didn't answer immediately.
I focused on Vanis and Anthony.
Their expressions said it all.
They must've realized who this mysterious woman was.
They felt it deep in the Lux strand.
"It can't be…" Vanis whispered, her body trembling.
I raised my left hand. "Everyone, calm down."
"This is Phoebe…" I started. "...of the Restoration."
"The Incarnus of Lux," Vanis breathed.
Her legs gave out, and she fell to the floor.
Tears ran down her face as she bowed her head.
"Our lost goddess."
Kay lowered his blade as he understood the implication.
Phoebe looked at Vanis and then at the others. She tilted her head.
"Hello."
*******
"I should kill you."
Vanis muttered without heat, resting her head against the padded wall.
I frowned. "That is an odd way to express gratitude."
We were sitting on the floor, backs against the wall like exhausted children after causing a catastrophe.
After the initial shock and panic of realizing they had drawn weapons against an Incarnus, the room had gradually stabilized when Phoebe showed no hostility.
The Commander had gone back to his office to organize his thoughts, muttering about how the day could get any more bizarre.
At the center of the room, Phoebe answered questions from Artemis, Ava, Carlo, and Jack in her mechanical tone while simultaneously enduring what could only be described as an enthusiastic field test.
Apollo, Krystal, and the Slader siblings were attacking her in a chaotic, synchronized manner.
Attacks of Lux, Aqua, ice, and mist rained down on her, all bouncing off Phoebe's impenetrable barrier.
However, no matter how powerful the attack they used, the Incarnus was unharmed and unfazed.
It was a truly bizarre sight.
Vanis had nearly lost her mind when they first attacked her goddess. It took Phoebe's direct reassurance to stop her from intervening.
Even now, she occasionally shot them a look that promised a merciless sparring session later.
"I am thankful, Mordred," she replied quietly to my dry response. "Thank you for freeing her."
My lips curled faintly. "That's the eleventh time you are thanking me."
"And it's still not enough," she admitted before frowning. "But I still can't digest the fact that you are now her master. Just thinking about it makes me contemplate killing you."
"I told you, Vanis," I sighed. "It was the only way. She didn't care whether she lived or died. At least through this Master-Familiar bond… I hope she will regain what she lost."
My gaze lowered, not meeting hers. "Though I am doubtful of that happening, considering what she went through."
"I understand," Vanis whispered, letting out a shaky breath.
Her expression darkened.
"I spent my whole life searching for her. I have exacted horrors in my obsessive search for the goddess, even killing my best friend."
"I did all that…" she glanced at her trembling fingers. "And the answer was right at the end of this valley, beyond the Tear."
Her voice cracked.
"And I do not even have the right to behold her."
I studied her. "Is it because of what you did?"
She didn't look at me and did not answer immediately.
"I am the Heretic, the Saint Slayer, Vanis Hectus," her voice was hollow. "I am unfit to even be in her presence."
"And yet you are."
Phoebe suddenly stood before us.
Neither of us had sensed her arrival, much to our surprise.
I immediately noticed the silence.
Looking around, I realized that we were within a bubble of pure light, isolating us from the world.
Beyond it, I could faintly see Phoebe's other self still standing in the center of the room, answering questions and absorbing attacks.
To them, Vanis and I were still seated exactly where we had been.
"Phoebe," I said flatly, looking at her blank face. "Did you multiply?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"I can exist in more than one place at a time."
I raised an eyebrow, quite impressed.
That can be quite useful.
Next to me, Vanis pulled her knees closer, lowering her head. She did not look at Phoebe.
The Incarnus stepped forward.
"Vanis Hectus," she said, her voice neither soft nor loud. "Raise your head."
Vanis flinched, but she obeyed, raising her head, though her gaze remained lowered.
Phoebe regarded her silently, her gaze piercing into Vanis, baring her very existence for the Incarnus to see.
Then, to my surprise, Phoebe's gaze softened by a fraction.
It was not an emotion but merely an observation.
"You believe yourself unworthy to be in my presence," she said plainly. "Yet your devotion surpasses that of the people I lost."
"I…" Vanis choked on her words. "I don't deserve even to hear your voice."
"You are correct."
Phoebe's words landed without cruelty.
"What you did was unforgivable."
"I know," Vanis said, her voice hollow.
Phoebe tilted her head, "Look at me, Vanis."
Vanis hesitated at first, but she slowly raised her gaze to meet Phoebe's.
The Incarnus spoke. "You slaughtered many in your search for me. You abandoned restraint. You killed one who loved you."
Vanis's shoulders shook.
"For that," Phoebe continued, "you are guilty."
A pause.
"You will not receive redemption."
Vanis nodded faintly.
"I know."
Silence stretched between them.
"But," Phoebe spoke again, her voice soft.
"You never gave up on me. Even when you sank into the depraved depths of the Madness, you never stopped believing in my survival."
"And for that," Phoebe's gaze shifted. It is not warmer, but less distant.
"I am thankful."
Vanis stared at the Incarnus as tears fell freely now.
"My goddess… If you tell me to die. I will do so immediately."
Phoebe shook her head. "You will not die, Vanis."
The air inside the sphere grew still.
"You will live the rest of your life saving others by remaining here."
"You will continue your duty, chasing a redemption that will never come, but by the time you leave this world, you will do so knowing you saved many."
Her voice remained steady.
"That is your punishment."
Vanis trembled.
Phoebe extended her hand.
"And for that," she patted Vanis's head like a curious child. "You will have my blessing."
Silence passed between us before Vanis broke it.
A tearful smile spread across her face as she bowed deeply.
"That… is more than enough."
She lowered her head in reverence, her voice raw.
"Thank you, my goddess."