Abyssal Awakening

[O' master mine what am I ever to do with you…] Cayla sighed softly.

Alice's breathing was faint and she was on the verge of passing out but a small smile crept up on her face.

'Welcome back…' Alice muttered, feeling devoid of strength.

[Thank you but not for long.] Cayla shrugged as she sat down and closed her eyes.

'Eh? Why?' Both Alice and Alyss were confused.

[. . . Where do I even begin. But before that, all I can say is you've given me a hell of a time trying to keep your dumb behind alive o'master mine.] Cayla's smile twitched furiously.

'Huh? How?'

Seeing that Alice was clueless, Cayla scratched her hair.

[I want you to think back to everything that happened from you sealing me and the weapon to when you got expelled by the Void. Recall everything that happened to your body and say it one by one.]

'Let me handle this one since I got a bone to pick with twinnie here.' Alyss narrowed her gaze. Everything that happened to Alice's body has been annoying her as well since she was reckless.

Hell, when she gets out, she has to deal with the body as well!

Since she was in the midst of regeneration, Alice could only lay there and listen.

'First, you sealed Cayla so your passive upgrade to resistances dropped. Then you had a reaction with the tree that Nyer summoned since he put some extra weird sh*t on it. After that, you decided to eat Kaden's feather which did something weird to you. Wait… What else?' Alyss blinked her eyes as Cayla felt like she was dealing with a pair of morons.

[You're not any better.]

'The f*ck you mean by that???' Alyss felt wrong as Cayla sat down and crossed her legs.

[First, as Alyss said, you had Kaden seal me. However, it wasn't just any seal. It was a seal used by the Grimoire of Original Sin. I'm sure since you've seen it in action against other Lords but it's no ordinary seal. It practically cuts off every benefit I give you. I want you to keep that in mind for now.

[Next, you met the tree. I don't know what Nyer did but that resonance you had with the tree boosted the power of your blood. I wouldn't say it made it more potent but rather increased its volitivity. He also mixed in the blood of… A fallen god into it so your body was being reformed by that waning divinity.

[And then, of all the things you could've done, you decide to f*cking eat Kaden's feather without consulting with me. Kaden's feather is basically a raw chunk of power belonging to the Apostle of Corruption. It's not something anyone can just handle but since Nyer has inserted the blood of a god into the resonance, your body was being reshaped rapidly to accept that power.

This allowed you to survive eating Kaden's feather without just crumpling to the ground immediately.] Cayla explained as Alice blinked her eyes.

'It's not that bad, sounds like it worked out there, no? I don't see how it can reduce me to this state.'

[Shut up o'master mine and let me finish.] Cayla rolled her eyes.

[This increased the potency of the curse Kaden placed on your body. It would've barely been fine if you stopped there completely. But do you recall what else you f*cking did after?]

'Ah…' Both Alice and Alyss reacted.

[Your f*cking personal Artifact. I believe I've told you how they work before. They resonate with you during the link so you're compatible with one another. The Zenia relic, while it does grow, doesn't f*cking go backwards! So now you have a gods damned relic that's trying to 'fix your body' back to what you were like during the fight.

[Pumped full of resonance from the tree, divinity from blood and Kaden's feather AND amplify the curses Kaden placed on your body. But the cherry on top is you throwing yourself into the Void during the period where your power began to fade. Now your injuries sustained by throwing yourself haphazardly into the Void are also taken into consideration.

[O'master mine, do you know how much of a pain in the ass it is for me to constantly fight a tug of war with your personal relic, WHILE HAVING THE CURSES YOU ASKED KADEN TO PLACE ON ME AMPLIFIED?! If I stopped for even a moment, your body would've imploded on itself!] Cayla ground her finger against Alice's head as Alice wasn't able to retort.

Now that Cayla laid it all out, it did seem like she had gone a little overboard with her… eagerness. And now, she's paying the price for it.

'So how are you able to talk to us now? Was it because of the blood Alice drank?' Alyss asked curiously.

*Sigh

[Half and half. The boost in regeneration does make my life easier but that's not the main thing. In fact, you're making it slightly worse because this blood also drains your vitality after it's over. What is helping, however, is the slight boost to Sigils. I don't know what Nyer did with your body through resonance but it seems like you're considered both human and beast now.

[You're growing through consumption and gaining Sigils. So right now, you're almost at the same level as the beast you killed. You're equal to a five Sigil Hunter. Since you got stronger, your personal relic relaxed a little and now I'm here.] Cayla explained.

Realising that it all tied back to her personal relic, Alice's smile twitched.

'Should I just get rid of it?' She asked while Cayla smacked her on the head.

[Are you dumb???]

'Just a little.' Alyss cut in.

[The issue, while tied to your personal relic, is something else entirely. Getting rid of the relic might solve it in the short run but in the long run, you've just lost a very, very good weapon for you. I don't know how the Zenia's have done this but I'll admit, this personal relic is way too compatible with you it's actually insane.

If you didn't royally f*ck up your body when you brought it out, it would be your best friend right now.] Cayla explained.

[The choice is yours. There are both benefits to keeping it and benefits to going without it. As helpful as it is, I suppose we still don't know the full story. But knowing the Zenia's, I doubt it'll be as simple as just a weapon for you to use.] She shrugged.

Thinking about it while her body was regenerating, Alice debated on whether or not she should keep it.

In the end, she decided to keep it for now. It was simply too handy with its abilities. Three were focused on Alyss's fighting style and the other three were for her.

Where else would she find a weapon like this? Plus, she promised the core that she'd use it against the Zenia family.

However, if her life is endangered, she'd have no choice but to discard the weapon. If she's dead, how can she bring down the Zenias?

Resting on the ground while her body regenerated, Alice could only cover herself with a large jacket she had in her pouch otherwise some random kid might just look out the window and go:

"Mommy, there's a pervert on the ground."

If that were to happen, Alice might as well bury herself six feet under.

After a minute or so, Alice sat up and quickly replaced the clothes on her. She only had one set of full black stealth gear so she had to change into some less stealthy.

Unfortunately, that meant an off shoulder white shirt with a black skirt, stockings and long boots.

Grabbing herself a hooded jacket with fur lining, Alice wrapped it around her and began to stumble away from her landing spot.

Even though Cayla is able to wake up momentarily, this only lasts until the beast blood runs out. Once that happens, Cayla will be forced to go back into a tug of war to keep her body alive.

But until that time, she was able to access her Sigils as long as she didn't over do it.

'I have… 2 more vials of the blood so that's two more chances of being able to protect myself. I should get Torgeir's blood when I head back to the outpost.' Alice thought to herself.

Most importantly, she wanted to deal with Olivr. Things may have worked out but if it hadn't, he wouldn't killed her then and there.

Not only that but there was also the case of Keira. It was brief but Alice was sure she spotted scales appearing on the woman's body. Meaning her 'resonance' or something similar would be to transform into the beast that ambushed them.

Whatever it was, it gave her another clue to what the Zenias were doing. They were practically flipping the rules of the Abyss on its head and creating a new system of augments similar to Sigils but not quite.

Just like how her body was considered to be both beast and human thanks to the stunt that Nyer pulled in the inverted world, the same could be said for these new beings. If she was the prototype, they could be seen as the next generation.

Which begs the question of whether or not Nyer had a hand in this.

'I doubt it. He attacked us during our birthday banquet so I doubt Luthor Zenia would ask for his help. He hates us enough as it is for 'killing' his daughter never mind Nyer who caused it all.' Alyss shrugged.

Alice couldn't help but nod her head in agreement.

Being careful to avoid the guards, Alice wanted to see if she could find a way to escape this place before sh*t came crashing down and she's dragged along with it.