Spiri Raia

Year 928

Year 1421 in Manegia

In the center of the world of Spiri Raia lay the tallest mountain people have ever seen. Even from the farthest reach of the continent, its faint shape could still be recognized from the horizon. Naturally, it was made into neutral grounds for all of the greater spirits to gather for matters of most importance.

The Spirit Mountain was what people call this place and for humans to enter these sacred grounds was to witness the greater spirits in all of their glory. There can be no higher honor than to be invited to climb this mountain and speak to the deities of this world directly.

But it was also highly tormenting to hike to the peak of a frigid mountain given the current state of technology of this world. Fire spirit arts can only do so much to stave off the cold when it too got hammered the higher one climbed.

WHOOSH

"Brr! It's cold up here!" Rin shivered even though she wore her winter clothes under her cloak, without the party mask, this time. Her brother's sword soundlessly rattled inside the cylindrical bag she slung around her back as she tried to keep herself warm while trekking along the trail.

Spirit Mountain wasn't tall like Everest, but there was plenty of snow around the top. Because of his Maneg Soul, Owen wasn't bothered by the cold, but artificially not feeling it doesn't mean he was not impervious to the damaging effects of being exposed to low temperatures. Besides, he felt cold all the time because of his maneg soul which the same went for his father.

Alicia's fire Maneg Soul kept her feeling warm and so did Ronald's. William's air Maneg Soul allowed him to not be bothered by the chilling wind buffeting them. It was poor Rin's Light Maneg soul not helping her in this department.

"Do not worry, Rin," Aqua, leading the Court Wizards, assured the Light Court Wizard. Not only her maneg soul but being a water spirit also made her tolerant to this environment. "It will be warmer once we reach the peak."

"Come on, we're almost there," Layla said, outstretching her arm towards the group behind her. "I guarantee you'll love the place!"

"Yeah!" Neptune added.

WHOOSH PSHHHH

"Whoa!" Rin gasped in awe. "It's so pretty!"

What the greater water spirit meant by the peak being warmer was the natural hot spring being the first thing Owen saw. The hot steam from the water blew into his face as he stepped foot to the rocky mountaintop uncovered by snow. Looking around, various structures, statues, and knickknacks filled the place without rhyme or reason as if multiple people just dumped whatever they found fancy over time.

"Aah!"

"Eek!"

Between all of those decorations were, for the first time, spirits of all elements hiding behind anything near them as the dreaded Court Wizards stepped on their sanctuary. The hot spring seemed to have countered the sheer cold of this mountain allowing not just fire spirits, but all of them to gather here, albeit still keeping their distance from one another.

"You are here, Aqua," a voice said. "And you have brought the Court Wizards with you."

The peak of the Spirit Mountain was vast, and the hot spring equally so. That allowed for a small, rocky island in the center of the spring with a trail of boulders acting as the bridge from it to the direction of the entrance of this peak.

"Hm, so this is what Master Gertrude saw," Ronald muttered softly, just low enough that Owen could hear it being close to him.

"Yeah, it would have been mesmerizing if the other spirits didn't freak out like that," Joshua added, lightly gesturing toward the cowering lower-ranking spirits.

Surrounding the tiny island were the rest of the greater spirits, floating above the water while making themselves comfortable - some of them were 'sitting' lazily mid-air. Looking at them, the differences between the spirits' previous forms as fae became even more glaring. This was despite some of them being mythologically not even fae by Earth standards.

"Hello, everyone," Aqua, the greater water spirit, formerly of the undines, Aquarius, greeted with a smile, the watery red orbs revolving around her as she waved her hand, seeing her fellow greater spirits, the fins beneath her elbow swaying as she did so. "And Ven is running late again."

"I am here!" another voice shouted, rushing into the circle, the large insect wings attached to his back flapping furiously though Owen wasn't sure if it even made a difference. As his skin was glowing green, it was undoubtedly the greater air spirit, Ventus, formerly of the slyphs.

"You are the last one again, Ven," Ignis, the fire greater spirit, Ignatius, formerly of the salamanders, said with a smirk.

Looking at him, Owen can quickly describe him as a half-lizard with scales on his glowing red limbs and a tail. The intermediate fire spirits in the area looked more like anthropomorphic lizards while their adjacent lower-ranking counterparts were straight up giant baby lizards.

"Dammit!" Ven cursed, panting on his knees which again Owen wasn't sure he even needed to do, his pointy ears twitching as he did so. "Why did I pick the farthest territory again!?"

The lower-ranking sylphs being flustered for their frustrated greater spirit weren't radically different from the spirits. Like the water spirits, the air spirits from bottom to top looked like a fairy in the modern sense from a wisp to an infant to an adult.

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"Anyway, looking fire today, Aqua," Ignis then greeted Aqua, the dancing flames around him flaring up with his mischievous grin on his face. Owen could tell he was the comedian of the group.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!" Aqua grumbled in annoyance. "Do you not get tired of it?"

"I still think it is hilarious," Rai, the greater lightning spirit, Raiden, formerly of the raijus, quipped. Unlike the greater fire spirit, he's a fully anthropomorphic wolf with static electricity bouncing up and down throughout his glowing yellow body.

Like the fire spirits, though, the lower-ranking lightning spirits looked less sapient. Owen took a glance at Alicia to see her reaction to them.

"Now, now, let us not digress into the usual chatter," Petra, the greater earth spirit, Petranus, formerly of the dwarves, moved to dissolve the situation before it escalated further. Being formerly a dwarf, she was the shortest of the group, being half the size of the rest. Yet, she also exuded this motherly aura with the way she spoke and her rather golden glowing skin.

Owen would know this because this was the same feeling he got from Master Catherine...

"Indeed, how about we focus on our young guests here? It has been a while since we have seen their king apart from Aqua," Glace, the greater ice spirit, Glacies, mused in a raspy voice. He was one of the more bizarre ones, a light blue glowing old man a head taller than Petra with a very long beard and long legs that could be used for skiing.

Owen looked at the lower-ranked spirits he shared an Element with to see them more or less the same as their grandfatherly greater spirit but younger. Would they eventually look elderly too? he wondered.

"Yes, I can see a cute one under that little mask," Flora, the greater nature spirit, just Flora, formerly of the dryads, cooed. She was what Owen expected of a creature of plant life, vines, and other plant-like matter decorating the greater spirit's glowing deep green skin.

"Uhn!?" Rin stepped back in a fluster, gripping the strap of her bag as she felt the former dryad's gaze of amusement.

"Oh my, how cute!" Flora giggled at the young Court Wizard.

"Flora, do not tease her," Luna, the greater dark spirit, Lunaria, formerly of the dark elves, sighed at her longtime friend's antics. She's a dark elf with shadowy purple skin, just like her light counterpart.

"Phooey!" Flora pouted.

"Friends, if we are done with our usual banter, shall we get acquainted with our guests Aqua brought as Glace had said?" Lux, the greater light spirit, Luxion, formerly of the light elves, suggested, his voice telling Owen he was the leader here. It made sense, the shining white elf seeming to be the most prominent one story-wise like in the otome game. "I am sure they know us, but we do not."

True, Aqua had told much about them whenever they hung out in the Court. She had especially refreshed them on who they were and what they were formerly before coming here, so it was easy for Owen to identify all of them.

"Well, we already know our tall rebel leader here and his buddy," Ignis quipped, eyeing Owen's father and Alicia's father before pointing to him. "So, who is this little guy?"

"Tch!" And Owen's opinion of this lizard plummeted to the ground.

"He's my son, Owen," Joshua said happily, rubbing Owen's head.

"Wow, for a pretty tall guy, your kid sure is small," the greater fire spirit remarked. "Heh, he has some spunk in him!" he chuckled as Owen gave him the biggest glare he's got, greater spirit or not.

"Now, now, it is best not to tease him," Petra chastised the greater fire spirit before turning to Rin. "And who might you be, dear?"

"U-Uhn! My name is Rin Fujiwara!" Rin introduced herself with a bow. "Please take care of me!"

"Oh my, how polite!" Petra cooed, giving the girl a warm smile.

"Ehehe...!" Rin rubbed the back of her head bashfully.

"Oh, come on! How come she gets to do it!?" Flora grumbled, pouting even harder.

"And who are you, young man?" Ven then asked William. "You are in the same color as me."

"I'm William," William replied.

"...Okay then," Ven remarked, expecting something more out of it. "Is there something else you want to share?"

"I'm usually called Will."

"Yeah, that is not it."

"...I am the Air Guardian."

"Ah, that is the thing. I sensed you have the same thing hiding in your soul as Aqua's."

"Aqua, is this the girl you spoke of?" Lux asked the greater water spirit, scrutinizing Alicia while rubbing his chin. "I can already sense something she has that others do not."

"Indeed," Aqua nodded. "She is Ronald's daughter, Alicia Bell."

"Um, hello, lord Luxion," Alicia greeted with a smile. "A pleasure to meet you."

"And I'm Voice!"

"Good faes!" Rai exclaimed, arcs of electricity jumping even more rapidly. "What is that!? Why does she have a piece of your soul!?"

"It is not that she has a piece of miss Alicia's soul!" Luna shrieked, her dark hand pointing at the pixie. "She is a piece of her soul!"

That went just as Owen expected.

"Huh!? Lord Luxion, what does that mean!?"

While the spirits were freaking out, Owen noticed one of them in particular. Trailing behind the greater light spirit was a greater spirit candidate, presumably, talking exasperatedly to the greater spirit. He could tell he was a glowing elf in his teens if going by Layla and Neptune. He also looked familiar, as if he had seen this spirit before.

"Aah! It's the spirit from the title card!"

And it appeared the damn pixie also recognized him as well, pointing her tiny finger towards the light spirit.

"M-Me!?" the light spirit stuttered, pointing himself subconsciously in further exasperation.

"Oh! Now that you mentioned it, he does look like that spirit," Alicia gasped, making the connection.

"Uhn! He is!" Rin exclaimed excitedly.

During Maria's walkthrough of the otome game starring herself, one of the first plotlines was of otome Maria naming a greater light spirit candidate, just like her aunt did. Her bagging such a high-ranking spirit immediately landed her a scholarship to a noble academy.

That academy, in the only kingdom in the greater light spirit's territory, was also the only school for nobles in this world, so all the pretty noble boys and princes, the capture targets, attended the same school, thus starting the otome game. Now, standing before them was a greater light spirit candidate that bore a clear resemblance to the spirit responsible for alternate Maria's adventure.

"Is there something wrong?" Lux asked confusingly. "Why did you scream at him like that?"

"Lux, who is that spirit?" Aqua then asked before it became even more awkward.

"Him? He is my greater spirit heir," Lux answered calmly, his hands on his waist. "I had chosen him not too long ago and planned to introduce him here."

"G-Greetings, lords and ladies greater spirits," the light spirit gave a bow.

No matter which route otome Maria took, it will always end with her named light spirit chosen as heir. It appeared that in here, because the real Maria was never here, they never met so Lux picked him up much sooner.

"I see, what is his name?" Aqua then asked.

"He does not have one," Lux shook his name. "So he will inherit mine."

The light spirit's name was chosen by the player, with no default names. The history of humans naming spirits made it a great way to explain why the player got to name him. Now that the spirit never met Maria, he remained nameless.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Aqua muttered with a faint smile, really connecting the events of the otome game with the current situation in real life.

"So it all comes together," Joshua muttered.

"Indeed," Ronald added with a nod.

"Okay, Aqua," Ignis interjected, raising his hand for the heck of it. "You have us lost here."

"Yes," Lux nodded. "What does my heir have to do with the serious topic we should have been discussing right now?"

"A lot," Aqua smiled. "Along with Layla and Neptune, your heir is very much related to why Alicia, or more specifically, the Illyer family I blessed all those years ago came to be able to purify the cursed spirits."