Maybe it was being in such close proximity to a being like Ponima that triggered it. Maybe it’d been the events of the day. She wouldn’t be sure, but that night after successfully rescuing Ponima from the typhoon of her own madness, Pippy would dream vividly— far more so than she ever had before. It was less a dream and more a reliving of the past, that fateful day before Fainche, her friend the esper, would lose herself to the erosion.

Her voluminous, lilac hair was braided in two lengthy tails that came down over her shoulders, snaking out from under the white hood of the sleeveless longcoat she wore over her brown tunic. She thumbed her fringe out of her lavender eyes, pinching the edge of her hood with her other hand as to not accidentally push it back along with her loose hairs. In those eyes, Pippy had already seen the decision Fainche had made, and was deeply honoured. If she must perish, she would not let herself go entirely; and she entrusted this remnant to Pippy. What remained of her soul she brought forth and enwreathed Pippy’s with it. With her soul surrendered, Fainche’s decline into identity death accelerated toward its inevitable culmination. She would fade into emptiness only hours later.

Pippy awoke, not violently, but slowly, and with a dull headache. She slid her hands over herself, feeling for bumps, bruises, and breakages… but found herself surprisingly intact. Someone must’ve healed me after I fainted. She looked over to Livia, sleeping beside her, and smiled. Had to be you, I’m sure. She leaned down and brushed her lips against Livia’s cheek in the lightest, most delicate kiss. She got up carefully, making sure not to disturb those around her, and went to the other side of the pavilion.

Phyrn was stood at the end of the bed that Ponima had been carried to after her duet with Emilie had concluded, and the two of them had passed out.

“I hate bickering with friends and family,” Phyrn said to no one in particular. She then looked up at Pippy and smiled. “People - gods included - don’t seem to fully appreciate what they have until it’s gone. Friends and family shouldn’t fight; it can all be snatched away in an instant. And thanks to you - all of you - my dear Ponima did not have to die today. I knew my faith in you all was well-placed. Thank you.”

“I know how you feel, goddess,” Pippy nodded back. She put two fingers to her heart. “In here… well, in my soul… I know how you feel. We’d been fighting just moments before, crying… but we knew the end was coming. Uh, Fainche and I… a friend of mine from Aubade. As the end closed in, she entrusted what little remained of her soul to me. I was still crying, but not out of frustration anymore… just out of…” she shed a single tear. She sniffled and wiped her face. “Sorry. It’s hard to think about. And being here, in Berodyl… it’s impossible to bury. I feel it constantly— the new senses that bloomed in me when our souls merged into one.”

“Oh, my dear…” Phyrn floated to her and wrapped her arms around her. “Be glad of such a gift; it is the most meaningful one you can ever receive. You are the one to whom she bequeathed her soul; you can be proud of that, rejoice in it.”

“It hurts, goddess… it hurts. This new sense, it lets me see all that is wrong with this world, and I hate it. Why does this gift make me see the bad in things? Why doesn’t such a beautiful soul let me see… beauty?”

“Because you already see that yourself, my dear. Do not regret the power she has bestowed upon you. We lesser gods have a tradition that is similar to the ritual you performed with your friend… one that can have various effects, but is always something to be enjoyed, a way of instilling remembrance with tangible meaning.”

“What’s that?”

“Testament of power, my child. Gods of higher echelons than we in the Decakon look down on the practice, but if a minor deity such as I finds themselves in peril - imminent demise - they might impart their final testament of power unto their most trusted chosen. A final act to end the epic of their divine life, a last reward to those who gave them meaning through faith and devotion. It is the highest gift of trust and love a god can grant. That is what this friend of yours - Fainche - gave you. Do not spurn it.”

“I… I under—” Pippy croaked. She cleared her throat. “I understand. Thank you.”

They both looked down at Ponima again, fast asleep, breathing calm, regular breaths. Phyrn reached down and stroked her face with the back of her hand. “I’ve never seen her so peaceful… in all the millennia I’ve known her. Poor girl.”

“Maybe all she needed was for someone to reach in through her barriers and snap her out of it,” Pippy supposed. “Maybe that’s what we accomplished today.”

“I sincerely hope you’re right, Pippy,” Phyrn said wistfully.

Pippy managed to get back to sleep after that, and did not dream again. Next she roused, it was morning, and much to her surprise, Phyrn was still with them, slumped against the side of Ponima’s bed.

As they packed up and readied up to continue their journey, it would ultimately be Livia who would broach the curiosity. “So, Phyrn… are you with us for good now?”

“I think so, my lovely,” Phyrn nodded gladly. “I am done playing cat-and-mouse games— and not just because I grow weary of them. Ponima is with us now, and Brightbrand is hiding out not far ahead now; there is no point in me needlessly drawing unwanted attention with blatant bursts of magical traversal. I walk with you all now, my chosen… until the end.”

“I cannot put into words what a relief that is, goddess,” Emilie breathed. “It has been most distressing knowing that you’ve been out there, dipping and diving and dodging Fyren in an elaborate game of hide-and-seek.”

“We’re definitely stronger as a unit,” Krey concurred. “And once we add Brightbrand to our ranks, we’ll be nigh unstoppable, I’d wager. Three gods and their chosen against one? Even the mighty Fyren will frown at those odds.”

“It’s a refreshing change of pace to be agreeing with you, Sir Knight,” Bel teased. “Between us, we may just cover enough angles of attack to throw him off for an instant… and in that instant, he’ll be done for.”

“Are you making an effort to avoid our names, Bel?” Krey sneered.

“No, I’m just not very good with names,” he put bluntly and honestly. “Never been around people long enough to ingrain names into my memory. They usually die or move on beforehand.”

“That bodes well,” Pippy jeered.

Ponima still hadn’t woken up. The others had lifted her onto Danu’s back, and Livia made sure to give the hardworking mare a few pieces of succulent fruit from their supplies and give her a loving pat on the neck. She’d also given Danu appreciative words in a quiet, near-whisper voice, and a kiss on the cheek. A divine spectral steed she might’ve been, an unstoppable spirit of earth perhaps, but Livia still felt the creature’s hard work deserved praise and reward; she had been, after all, an invaluable member of the team.

“Oh, by the way way,” Pippy piped up,” thank you, Livia. For fixing my broken face and perforated insides, I mean.”

Livia’s lips pursed slightly. “Of course. I mean, it literally fell to me.”

“Ooh! Ooh!” Pippy started bouncing from one foot to the other instead of walking normally. “Did I actually fall into your arms all romantically after I passed out?! I have to ask, because I was passed out at the time.”

Livia couldn’t help but smile at her. “Yes, you did.” After a pause, her face briefly scrunched in sudden curiosity. “Hey, Pippy, what gave you the idea to goad her like that, anyway? You kneed her in the stomach to punish her for attacking me, but then told her to punch you in the face? Very random, in retrospect.”

“Exactly!” Pippy chirped proudly. “I get her. Uh… I know that’s sudden,” she giggled, “but… I do. I get crazy. She needed something spontaneous, something that felt right yet wrong, wrong yet right. She needed release, and a dramatic leap of trust. I don’t know what inspired me, but… it just felt right in the heat of the moment.”

“She’s going to like you very much, Pippy,” Phyrn smiled. “I can tell you have the same strange-yet-nuanced understanding of emotions that she does, the same… architecture.”

“Ooh!” Pippy quavered. “Architecture… good way of putting it! Lovely, tangible texture!”

“What…?” Livia’s face scrunched up again, this time slightly differently.

Phyrn nodded. “Ponima has such an enchanting view into the nature of the soul. She always described it as a landscape, a world in and of itself, unique to every individual.”

“I cannot wait for her to wake up,” Emilie said. “Now that she is… calmed, at last… I wish to know her. I always struggled with reaching out to her while asleep upon the communion altar.”

“Communion altar…” Livia thought back to Ardour Temple, specifically the moment she’d first woke up screaming, lying on a tall stone structure in the middle of a circular room, decorated with stained glass windows depicting five of Berodyl’s ten gods. “Was that what I was on while healing after the battle at Ardour Temple?”

“Yes,” Krey answered. “I put you there. My understanding of how it all works is… not comprehensive… but I thought if it played a role in how the hierophants connect to the gods - a conduit, perhaps - I thought it might lend you their healing blessing… or something to that effect.”

“A misconceived notion, perhaps,” Emilie hummed, “but a heartfelt one. I can more properly educate you on the rites and rituals of the sisterhood at some point, if you’d like.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Krey smirked. “Feels a tad redundant with said gods in our company now.”

“True,” Emilie tittered.

Phyrn, despite her attempt to suppress it, noticeably winced, and put a finger to the side of her head.

“Goddess?” Emilie immediately went to her side. “Is something amiss?”

Phyrn was quick to regain full composure, running a hand through Emilie’s hair. “I’m perfectly fine. It’s just… I sense we’re approaching something from which I’d prefer to be far away.”

“What is it?” Krey asked. “Maybe we can find a way to skirt this thing.”

“No,” Phyrn put firmly. “There is no way around; only through. Technically, we could go around it, but that would take too long.”

“Wait…” Krey stroked his chin. “I know what it is. You’re talking about the Faeden Incongruence, right?”

“Care to explain to us outlanders what that is?” Livia prompted.

“Faeden is…” Krey blew out a punctuating exhale. “In a word, pernicious. Technically, it’s a country, but it’s also the one nation of Berodyl that the Knights Berodyl do not routinely visit. Faeden itself is far south of here, but the incongruence is a strip of land that was once desert, but has been twisted into the climate and environment the algafae spread with their mere presence. It is… almost too natural.”

“Believe it or not,” Pippy said, “I’ve heard that description before in other worlds!”

Krey sighed and rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”

“I’ve heard it a lot in context of the fey. Ah, the fey…” her voice became airy and dreamy. “Almost overwhelmingly full of life, vibrant and unabashed. Always felt so… liberating… being immersed in fey lands and their denizens.”

“Do the fey constantly spread and consume everything they touch?” Krey enquired with not-so-subtle hostility.

“The balance between nature and fey is a delicate one,” Pippy elaborated, “but… no. That sounds… off. Fey are usually more reclusive, and fashion their domains to their liking as much as they need to. They don’t like interacting with mundane nature much if they can help it most of the time.”

“Then it’s nothing like what we’re about to trudge through,” Krey said. “We should make camp and rest just before we cross the threshold, for we shall make no camp while we’re in there. We must cross in a single, swift march, and not stop for anything.”

“I’m afraid Krey is quite right,” Phyrn toned. “The algafae are not like the fey of most worlds, Pippy. They’re friendly, yes… but this is a mechanism of predation— even if they’re not consciously aware of it. The essence of Faeden itself will burrow into your very being and begin to warp you. Spend too long exposed to it - to them - and you will become as them, and whatever you were before will drown in it.”

“Wow, I was right,” Pippy oohed, “that is off! Well, I’m sure we’ll manage! Strange new lands are no stranger to the Battlecaster Extraordinaire!”

When they crested the next dune, the Faeden Incongruence came into view, a span of lush green and dots of other colours just sat there unfittingly amid the golden desert. As soon as she made visual contact with it, Pippy dropped like a sack of potatoes, unconscious. The moment her body hit the sand, Ponima’s eyes flickered open.