(A/N: Added two entries to the auxiliary chapter. One for a character that honestly should've already been list in the high likely category and the other for something a little special. I really need to get around to putting in an entry for Kale. Not having one for him by now is pretty disrespectful to our reliable merchant. As usual, images in the general comments for that chapter. Just sort by most recent.)
XOXO
His stomach did flips and rolls, running an obstacle course just beneath his skin. His skull throbbed, his brain screaming all sorts of obscenities at him. And he was cold. It was as though he'd been left out in a blizzard that worsened with each passing second. His forehead was the only thing spared from the frigid cold, a nullifying heat pressed against it.
He hadn't accounted for dealing with the rebound of a Mana High. Then again, there was a lot that happened upon restoring his access to Mana that he didn't consider or plan around.
Onyx opened his eyes.
Rather than the gold lit skies of The Lands Between or the ceiling of his cabin, a familiar face greeted him, both eyes closed and forehead pressed to his.
"Not that I mind, but what exactly are you doing?" Onyx asked.
Melina, her unmarked eye opening, pulled back, the strands of red hair mingling with his brushing against his face. "My apologies." She said as she rose to a full stand beside his bed. They were in the dark cabin, the faint whistle of winds coming from beyond its walls.
"No worries. I don't mind waking up to you." What would've registered as flirting or teasing to others, slid right off Melina, garnering no more than quite hum of acknowledgment. "How long was I out?"
"Six days. Tonight would've marked the seventh."
A week? Damn, the rebound of the high was pummeling this body of his.
Onyx tried to sit up or at least raise an arm and, as expected, managed neither.
If it took him that long just to wake up, then it'd be a few days before he was on his feet. None of the preparation he'd done could've truly prepared their body for so much power, only prevent it from being destroyed in the process.
"I guess I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." He muttered, more to himself than Melina. She was busy silently gazing down at him, stony faced as always. And it was one of those unblinking stares that would've crossed into the creepy category coming from anyone else. "You spend a lot of time in that head of yours, you know that?"
Few could and even fewer actually operated the way she did, questions and curiosities put off for days and weeks at a time. To each their own and all that but if you asked him, she was far too obsessed with purpose, it leaking into every decision she made, big or small.
"We're friends, cyclops. If you got something to say to me or something you want to ask about just do it. I won't mind." He said, resisting a cough. His voice was scratchy and throat dry from lack of use. Melina noticed that as well as his severely diminished strength, hands slipping out from her cloak. One grabbed the carved wooden cup from the end table between their beds while the other slipped beneath his head, carefully propping him up.
Cool water did away with the dryness, Melina setting his head back down on the furs.
"You've recovered from that wound you spoke of. That much I believe I understand." Melina said as she set down the cup. "But afterwards…what happened?"
What indeed. He was still trying to make heads and tails of the situation himself.
"I guess you could say I picked up a parasite." Onyx said with a sigh.
"A parasite?"
"Yep." He was not one to lie or hesitate, but he found himself considering leaving things there. Melina didn't exactly fit the image of pious devotee to a religion and while not at all defensive when it came to his questions or statements, he'd picked up on the respect, perhaps reverence, she held towards the Goddess at the center of the Golden Order's faith.
If any heard what he had to say, all of The Order's followers would call him a maddened tarnished spewing lies, most ready to put him to the blade, unwilling to accept anything that didn't fit their perception of the world.
But it's not like Melina fell into that category. What he was concerned about was her possible connection to that Goddess and what it would mean. The last thing he wanted was someone kissing the ground he walked on, acting as though he was the second coming of said goddess.
What she does with the information is her choice. He decided.
"Yeah." Onyx reaffirmed, looking away from Melina and up at the ceiling. "A parasite calling herself Queen Marika the Eternal. I'm not sure if anything she said was true, but it looks like I'm stuck with her."
He gave her a few moments to digest the information before looking towards her from the corner of his eyes.
Furrowed brow, right lower than the left. A frown, the corner of which fell lower on the left side of her face. Golden tinged eye faintly aglow with far more than echoes of curiosity and confusion for once. It was a damn shame that it took another being planting its unwanted roots in him for her to show such an unconstrained expression of emotion.
It did not last, her neutral expression making a quick return. Though, a faint, but persistent resolve remained within her eye.
"That was no parasite." Melina said. "I am unable to speak on whatever you have been told but she her identity is no lie. Queen Marika herself has cast attention upon you. Few can claim such." Onyx snorted, a flash of pain racking his entire body. She made it sound like a good thing.
"But it is not something you care for." Melina added after a pause, lips quirking downwards. "I…can offer no guidance on the matter."
No surprise given her position. Based off what he saw in her eye at the mention of Marika's presence he was sure the familial theory held weight. She was wrestling with a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts on the even, probably having just as many questions for that woman as he did.
Maybe more.
A knock came from the cabin's door. "Melina? I'm ready to help." Irina's voice came from beyond it.
Melina left his side, opening the door and letting her in, the two coming to his bedside together.
"Hey, Irina." He said.
"Onyx?" She questioned, voice full of shock. He didn't get a chance to get another word out, instead suppressing a grunt, arms wrapped around his top half. "You're awake! What happened to you? Are you okay?"
"Not sure yet." He answered honestly. "But I'm still breathing so I'll figure it out eventually. So, what'd you come to help with?"
"Ah, well…" Irina pulled back, trailing off. Further attempts at explanation ended the same way, her cheeks quickly taking on healthy red color. He raised a brow, looking past her to Melina. Melina held his gaze, several failed explanations from Irina cutting short before she caught on to the obvious cue.
"We were going to bath you." Melina stated, bluntness further embarrassing Irina. "Can you move?"
He tried to move any part of his body to no avail. Beyond craning his neck to look around and pain racked shifts, he wasn't doing much of anything in this state. "No."
Melina gave a quiet hum as she stepped forward. Despite her embarrassment Irina quickly followed her lead, the furs covering him removed, the two standing him up and bringing him over to the basin in the corner of the room. Faint trails of steam rose from the water within it, the two having gone out of their way to prepare a hot bath. His pants, like the covers, were the next to go, both managing to keep his numb form steady as they removed his clothes.
Clearly this wasn't the first time they'd done this.
He was a little curious where the initiative for the idea came from, but he set that aside as they carefully sunk him into the water, a sigh slipping free. There really was nothing like a hot bath after a workout, and while he may not have actually been doing any exercise, as numb as his entire body was, he might as well have been.
"S-Sorry if I'm too rough." Irina gave a meek apology as she raised his left arm out of the water, a fur rag taken to it. Naturally, the apology was completely unfounded, Irina's slow rubbing of his arm gentle and packed with far more care than he would've bothered with. Melina, having taken hold of his right arm, was far more efficient in her scrubbing, the pressure applied in that weird area just shy of being painful.
Without embarrassment to hold her back Melina was the first to reach his chest, one of her hands on his shoulder to keep him steady.
He didn't imagine this was particularly pleasant for either of them.
Right now, he ran cold. Cold beyond reason. If the temperature outside matched his body the sea outside would've frozen over.
The hot water helped but with her gloves removed Irina had to let him go to warm her hands here and there. Melina didn't share in the problem at all, no mind paid to it as her scrubbing drew lower and-
Onyx winced, tensing up.
Still unbothered, she brought her efforts between his legs. Under different circumstances that might've sounded like a good thing, but she was rather clinical about the whole thing, no distinction made between any part of his body. Put crudely, there was nothing great about having the same pressure applied to his arms and chest to his dick.
"Maybe ease up, Melina?" He suggested. She remained silent but heeded his words the power behind her scrubbing easing up. Without that pain to deter it, under her handling, his member began to stiffen, another thing that Melina paid little attention. No surprise there. Having two women attending to him like this with one more or less stroking him had a way of hijacking blood flow.
Though it passed quickly, the rest of his body cleaned. Irina meekly excused herself afterwards, frankly too embarrassed to have done as Melina did, while Melina herself let him be at his request, now seated on her bedside.
Onyx hung his head over the edge of the tube, taking a moment to enjoy the hot water they'd prepared.
"A parasite? Quite a cruel term to use." A familiar voice filled the air, a golden energy, far paler than the brilliance of the energy called Grace, coalescing to form a woman that already felt far too familiar for his liking. Her towering form fully formed, floating above the basin, arms crossed. "This bonding was no more mine intention than thine's. Or didst thou forget?"
He raised his neck off the rim of the basin, dropping his gaze. If only it were that simple to be rid of her, Marika settling across from him outside the basin.
"Intentional or not, it doesn't change the fact that your weird ass soul was the main cause behind what happened." He said, not truly talking so much as directing thoughts at her. They weren't completely privy to the other's mind, but this damn connection came with its own form of communication that he wasn't entirely unfamiliar with. It was reminiscent of long range communication spells.
He'd faced those who'd attempted possessions, creatures that consumed flesh and soul alike, and plenty of other things that could influence another's soul. But what was going on in his soul, hers not forcing itself upon it but gradually meshing with it was nothing like any of that. It's not like anything was being replaced either. His soul was still all there.
If anything, the whole process strengthened him, his fluctuating mana far more plentiful than it should've been in this state.
"Why is it so malleable?" It might not be the best word for her soul, but it was the best way he could think to describe it.
Marika said nothing. The anger, a wrathful heat, and sharp suspicion rushing to fill the connection between them, however, told him he'd broached a sensitive topic.
"That is of no concern." She stated, a harder stare focused on him. Much like the energy that formed the vision of her he was seeing, her eyes lacked the molten gold coloring they had before, but they were no less unique, the paler gold of them not something he'd seen in any other. "There is little point in dwelling on the how and why. They will not change our situation."
Yeah, it'd be real convenient for her if he just kicked back and accepted this arrangement.
Fat chance of that happening.
Onyx leaned his head back again this time closing his eyes and paying her little mind.
Well, as little mind as he could when her impatience, indignation, and an unrelenting fury were meshing with his emotions at every second.
XOXO
There had been a time when he hated, no, abhorred, the idea of another taking care of him. At the time, being so weak and helpless that he had no choice but to rely on the charity on another had been unacceptable. To persist entirely on another's time and effort was not a life he wanted to live.
It wouldn't be living.
"Boc went out himself to bring back the herbs we've been using in it." Irina said, a spoon carved from wood, dipped back into the bowl in her other hand and another spoonful of soup drawn out. "He's still keeping to himself, but I think he's starting to warm up to the rest of us."
"Good to hear it." Onyx said before Irina, seated on the edge of his bed, carefully fed him another spoonful of a soup he couldn't say was all that appetizing. Edgar really wasn't much of a cook. All the same, Irina carefully fed him the bowl from start to finish. Rather than leaving, she placed the emptied bowl on the end table and brought a gloved hand to his forehead.
"Are you truly alright, Onyx?" She questioned. Even with that bit of cloth between them she was forced to pull her hand back much sooner than she planned, a frown in place. "Father says this cold of yours isn't like anything he's seen. Even Melina said she isn't sure what's going on."
"The cold isn't anything to worry about. It'll pass." He assured her. Those words weren't quite enough to ease her concern compared to facts. No ordinary person could survive his condition. "Thanks for looking after me in the meantime."
This time her frown did turn upwards, forming a small smile. Despite his body's temperature she reached forward again, tracing the edge of his face. "You don't have anything to thank me for. I'm just doing what I want."
That got a chuckle out of him, amusement outweighing the pain that came with it. When they'd met, he hadn't predicted she'd be throwing his words back at him. "I suppose I can't argue with that."
Irina lingered about for a while, reaching for his face every now again, not so much to check his temperature as indulge herself. And he had no reason to stop her, enjoying the company.
XOXO
He hadn't and would never come to enjoy anything about being bedridden, but he could appreciate the one perk that came with it. An abundance of time for activities that had nothing to do with the physical.
Meditation, introspection, and reminiscing just to name a few. He would've gone the meditation route, and he'd made a brief attempt, but between his still settling mana and a certain parasite's constant begging for attention the aspects he enjoyed most about it weren't present.
Instead, he went a completely different route.
Before, with his soul focused on recovering from his arrival in this world, his perception had been crippled. Sure, he could still perceive the souls of others to some degree as well as other foreign energies attempting to force themselves on him with focus, but those hampered abilities were like squinting through a heavy sandstorm.
And now, even with an unexpected force interfering with his soul, he saw things far more clearly. He'd completely left the desert behind, now perched upon a single tree in rolling plains with a telescope in hand.
He already knew this world to be a unique one, the fact that a being had slipped right through all the automatic defenses his soul had in place a testament to that, and that conclusion was only being reinforced by what he felt now.
More than the golden energy from that tree filled the air. Another, neither malicious nor benevolent, was present. It was foundational in a way, not infecting everything it touched the way the tree's light did but simply flowing through everything and everyone. No attempt was made to get at him, the energy passing around unlike all else.
Was that energy apart of this world as a whole or just The Lands Between?
Another observation was about the golden energy itself.
It was layered, an entire other side existing to it. He'd seen enough to understand the implications there.
For the first time, rather than some negative emotion something else flowed through the connection he shared with Marika. A momentary surprise soon overshadowed by something akin to…pride?
"There is much more to thine's power than raw strength. We should hath little issue accomplishing our goal." Marika's voice echoed within his head, apparently in the middle of her own observations.
Ah, it wasn't pride. She was simply impressed. Good for her.
"Onyx?"
He opened his eyes and glanced to his side.
Melina, cloak placed on the end table and boots removed, sat on the edge of her bed, looking his way rather than laying down. He quirked a brow and, after a moment, she stood, stepping to his bedside. "May I see your hand?"
He was a little tempted to shoot down the request. He already had this Marika playing havoc in his soul. He didn't need another invasion if she decided to use that strange ability of hers. Then again, he'd already warned her about that and he doubted that was her intention.
"Sure." He said.
Still unable to do much of anything himself, Melina shifted aside part of the furs covering him and tentatively dipped her hand to his. At first her fingers brushed the back of it, passing over his knuckles, before she properly took hold of it, thumb pressing into his palm.
Her eye fell closed as the hold tightened.
Waking up to her face, the way her hands lingered on him during the bath, and now this. All the touchiness would've come off as some awkward form of flirting from someone else but Melina being the way she was, that wasn't much of a possibility.
"There exists a fire that burns within me." Melina said as her eye cracked open. "Its heat numbs many things. I do not truly experience the winds that blow through Limgrave. Nor can I taste any of the meals you have offered me. Such sensations are a mystery to me."
She raised their hands, her other rising up to feel it out as well. "This cold you are suffering. That world that exists within you. They are the first things that I have truly been able to feel."
He wished he could say he was surprised by her admission but even if it weren't for her near robotic nature, that brief time she'd spent in contact with his soul clued him in to the troubled nature of her existence. He doubted that was the worst thing she had to deal with, but it was a damn horrible thing to be cursed with.
The simple pleasures in life were just as important as every other faucet of it.
"Well, that hand is all yours. It's not like I'm doing anything with it." He joked. He knew better than anyone that cold exuding from his body was in no way pleasant, but, as it was so often said, something was better than nothing. It was a fitting sentiment for a situation like hers.
Melina hummed, content to silently examine his hand.
"Thee hast inspired much trust in her." Marika stated, her golden eyed visage appeared over Melina's shoulder. "Good. Keep this little one close. She hast a vital purpose to fulfill."
Onyx's lips twitched downwards as they locked eyes.
Marika and Melina tackled their shared connection in wildly different ways. Her abrupt presence had troubled the latter, Melina probably already bogging herself down with countless thoughts on the matter. And yet, the only attention Marika spared her was to acknowledge her as what? A tool?
The moment he was capable, he'd be severing this bond between them. Hopefully before their views began to affect one another.
Souls interacting on such a deep level would not come without consequence.
XOXO
(A/N: I'm speaking for Onyx when I say Marika needs to stop with all that we shit, lol. She ain't going to speak his cooperation into existence.
Also Webnovel is pretty freaking stupid sometimes. Why can't I move chapters between volumes unless I'm a contracted writer or official in someway? That's a pretty crazy feature to just lock. Just know that everything from chapter 26 onwards is considered to be a part of volume 2 even if i forgot to label it that way. That aside, locking in this weekend. Not sure how many chapters I can edit and write but we'll see.)