Part Forty-One

“I see Kalia hasn’t woken up yet. Were there any other problems while we were gone?”

“Just a few weak monsters. Nothing we couldn’t handle. I’m just glad you found a car so quickly.”

“Yeah, that was a lucky break. It’s not the best car we could’ve found, but it should do for now. Though I do wish it wasn’t so beat up inside.”

The car we’d found was…rough, to say the least. It was covered in dents and scrapes, and the upholstery was full of holes. Honestly, I would’ve ignored it if we had any other options, but since there weren’t any, here we were.

“We’re only going to be using it tonight, so I don’t think it matters all that much. Let’s just get moving. No point standing around here.”

“Got it. Let’s go.”

Things happened pretty quickly after that. We loaded Kalia, who still wouldn’t wake up, into the car, and began the two-ish hour trip back to the cottage we’d started at. Everyone was exhausted after the events of the last three or four hours, so we’d unanimously decided to just hole up somewhere for the night so we could rest. What came next would be decided then.

Phantasms and Dread Spirits, two powerful types of enemies, and we’ve somehow managed to make both of them our foes. Is my luck really that shitty, or is there something else at play here? There was that odd mage we ran into. Could he be involved in everything happening here? Or am I just being paranoid?

Based on how he acted, I’m inclined to believe he was an otherworlder, and an extraordinarily powerful one at that. If he is involved, then we’ll have a hard time defeating him. There’s also the monsters in Bristol. Could that hellpit just be another way to produce Thralls? I’ll need to think about this very carefully, though I’ll keep a lid on it for now. The others are probably thinking something along these lines anyway.

***

Kalia didn’t wake up the whole way back, and wouldn’t awaken even when Alicia shook her, so we decided to just take her and put her in one of the rooms so she could rest. By this point, I was beginning to question whether or not she’d somehow been affected by the Phantasm’s spell, and was just suffering from the aftereffects. The rest of us sat around a table, preparing to discuss what to do next.

“So…I assume we’re all convinced that we need to get out of England as quickly possible?”

“Mn, as much as I hate to admit it, we stand no chance against the Spirits here. Even a single Phantasm was enough to threaten our lives. Two or more would kill us, or worse. Getting out while we can seems like the prudent course of action.”

“Yeah, especially after the way Kalia broke down. Do you guys think it’s the effect of that Spirit’s spell?”

“I thought the same thing earlier, but I don’t really think that was the cause of it. She was acting pretty odd right after we saw the monsters, but I didn’t really pay much attention back then. We were in a life-or-death situation, and little details like that have a way of just...slipping past me at times like that.”

“Actually, wasn’t she actin' odd the last few days? She was all…twitchy, like a cat given caffeine.”

“Mn-hm, she definitely was. I wish I’d paid more attention back then, if for nothing else but to save her from this emotional harm.”

“Gwyn, do you know what’s happening?”

“I…have a guess, though it is mere speculation. How much did Kalia tell the two of you about London?”

“When you first met? Not much. She mostly just told us about the events that happened right afterward, and what led up to the split. Nothing about why she was there or what exactly happened.”

“I thought so. Haaaaah, where to begin? Perhaps I should start with that sound, one that no one who heard it could ever forget. Some have described it as being similar to a window shattering, but it was so much more. If the apocalypse needed a herald, it chose a good one.”

“Now of course, back then, no one actually knew what that sound meant. That it indicated the end of the world as we knew it. And even though the sound was followed by a mysterious voice just seconds later, no one took it seriously back then. I can specifically remember those around me treating it as a joke, or a publicity stunt. People had yet to realize that what they’d heard wasn’t something spoken aloud, but transmitted directly into their heads.”

“As you all know, things got much, much worse very quickly. Monsters began appearing within the hour, appearing out of thin air. They were everywhere. On every street, in many buildings. There wasn’t anywhere to run or hide. If you didn’t fight, you died. I saw a number of things that day that I never thought I’d experience, most of them gruesome enough to scar people a hundred times over. Even now, I feel the effects of what I witnessed, though I chose to power through it.”

“The next few hours were literally hell. I ran from building to building, crawling through muck and the blood of both humans and monsters to hide, only fighting when I had no other choice. Though in the end, I was one of the lucky ones. I managed to meet up with a group of other survivors, and together we managed to make our way into the suburbs and out of the city.”

“But if that was the end of it, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Just before we reached the edges of the city, we found a woman, drenched head-to-toe in blood, cowering inside a wrecked vehicle. She was hysterical, and nearly clawed out the eyes of the first person to touch her. How she got there was a complete mystery, as why she was covered in blood. She didn’t have any apparent injuries, and it was obvious she hadn’t been in the car when it crashed. It was a complete mystery, but it was the first time any of us met Kalia.”

“It took a bit of doing, but the others managed to calm her down enough that she passed out, most likely from the shock of the situation finally getting to her. I believe it was Evelyn and Yasmin who looked after her during that time.”

“By the time she came to, we’d already left the city far behind us. I believe that Evelyn tried to ask her what had happened, but she refused to tell her. However, she was incredibly grateful to us for having rescued her, and was one of the first to agree to Braddock’s proposal. She was quite…exuberant in trying to help, doing anything in her capabilities to aid the rest of us, even though she visibly hated fighting.”

“This continued even when she fell ill with a strange malady none of us had ever seen before. We first thought she’d simply gotten the flu, but soon after she first started showing symptoms, she began to quite literally steam, though we’d later find out that this was all due to her Mana going on a rampage. It had caused her metabolism and immune system to go into overdrive, causing the illness. At the time, we tried several things to help her, all of which failed. None of us had any particular knowledge of medicine, so it was unlikely we could cure her.”

“Though it wouldn’t have mattered even if we did have that knowledge. She figured it out on her own, using her natural talent and sheer persistence to bring her Mana under control. That was also when she first learned about her natural affinity for Healing Magic, something I believe she’s extraordinary with.”

“However, she never once explained what happened to her. No matter how many nightmares she had, or how often she looked scared out of her mind, she never once complained or asked to go home. She actually bristled at me the one time I suggested it. That’s partly why I was so surprised by her when we reunited. While it’s still there, she’s much less afraid than she used to be. Perhaps it would be more proper to say that she’s now resolved herself.”

“All told, I believe she experienced something deeply traumatizing, which she then buried deep in her subconscious. But something caused those suppressed memories to be triggered, causing the breakdown we witnessed. What it could be, I do not yet know, but I fear what effects this could have on Kalia in the future.”

***

After Gwyn’s story, no one really felt like talking for much longer, so we all retired to bed. Since we’d given an entire room to Kalia, the rest of us were crammed into the remaining rooms, but we made it work. Though, since there was still a need to keep watch, I was currently alone in my and Gwyn’s room. Well, as alone as I could be with a fox constantly following me.

“Kuuu~. Kuuuuu~.”

Surprisingly, the little guy had caught on to the mood and had refrained from begging or acting like a nuisance the whole time we were talking, so I was taking this opportunity to spoil him with affection. Belly rubs, ear scritches, the whole nine yards. Little guy looked to be in foxy heaven right now, something I wished I could enjoy.

I’ve lost track of how often I’ve said this the last few weeks, but I just don’t know. There’s too much going on, and I haven’t quite had enough time to get my head around it. I’m tired right now, so maybe just going to sleep is the best way to reset and refresh my mind.

Yeah, that sounds nice…

***

[Regis’s POV]

Sensing that his brother had fallen asleep, Regis opened his eyes and stretched himself out before jumping off the bed. Something had been bothering him lately, and it was time to settle it. Slipping out of the room, Regis made his way into the hall and sniffed the air. He wasn’t sure where everyone else was, so he’d need to make sure they didn’t disturb his task at a critical moment.

Two sniffs later, and he’d ascertained everyone’s whereabouts. The very odd girl who hung out with big brother was asleep, and the two who smelled the same but different were in the other room talking. There was little chance anyone would disturb him.

Using his innate ability to move through shadows, Regis entered the room where Kalia was resting, and jumped up beside her. Regis's senses were much sharper than the others', allowing him to notice what they hadn’t: Kalia’s life force and mana had been forcibly suppressed. If left alone, it could take days for her to wake up, if she ever did.

Unfortunately, Regis wasn’t able to use the kind of magic that would be most effective at helping her. Heck, he could barely use what he did have. What he needed was a way to dispel whatever fiendish magic was suppressing her, or he could stoke Kalia’s own spirits, helping her surpass what was holding her down. Either way would work.

“Kuu? Kuuuu…. Ku!”

Wanting to help his brother as much as possible, Regis wracked his memory for a possible solution, and surprisingly stumbled onto one. A short time ago, only a few days before his pack was wiped out, he remembered his mother placing a paw on his head and pouring a significant amount of mana into him. He hadn’t known why she did it, but the sensation had felt amazing at the time, giving him a dozen of intense euphoria and boundless energy, so he thought that doing the same thing would help Kalia.

And so it came to be that Regis placed his little paw on Kalia’s forehead. Compared to Kalia's or even Michael's mana pools, it was a rather small amount. About enough to cast [Rot] a dozen times or so. And under ordinary circumstances, nothing would’ve come of this. The reason why Regis’s mother had poured mana into him was completely unrelated to what was happening to Kalia. Most people would’ve never even noticed that this had happened. The foreign mana would’ve just cycled out of her, and nothing would’ve come of it except for Regis using all his mana.

But things were different this time. A series of coincidences had lined up in just the right way to do something amazing. But Regis didn’t know this, and wouldn’t become aware of what he’d done for several hours, if he even realized what exactly he’d just done. Now suffering from the effects of Mana Exhaustion, Regis turned to go back to where Michael was sleeping, leaving Kalia alone, though her life signs had noticeably picked up. He figured things were done, but they were just beginning.

As he slipped into a shadow, mana began to slowly leak from Kalia, forming a few small glyphs in the air around her. If Michael had been in the room, he would’ve been shocked.

Those were Abyss Magic glyphs.