Abyssal Awakening

"Urg…" Waking up with a headache, Alice clutched her head while rolling around on the ground.

"How much did I even drink…" She groaned.

She could remember herself becoming bored and deciding to drink and snack on the carriage. After that, things might've gotten a little out of hand and it became a blur.

Alice could remember wanting to test out her Sigil in secrecy at night but seeing as how she was in her tent, that was probably forgotten.

Glancing around her, Alice noticed Selen sleeping by the side and understood she must've helped out. Thinking about this, Alice couldn't help but smile before taking a step out of her tent.

It was still early in the morning as the sun hadn't risen yet. The biting cold night air stung against her skin yet it was also strangely refreshing.

Looking up at the sky, it was different to the skies of the Abyss. The Abyss felt… like an artificial sky. A perpetual darkness that doesn't change no matter what.

But this? This felt soothing.

Looking for a chair, Alice found a small hill nearby and sat down with some fruit. Since she was up this early, she might as well watch the sunrise.

Of course, there was the option of doing more training and testing out her abilities early in the morning but Alice didn't want to ruin her moment of peace with that. It's rare that she'll just feel like sitting down and doing nothing.

Feeling the cold morning winds, Alice closed her eyes.

She felt as though she stood atop a great mountain, the gale brushing against her skin. Before her was the world.

Around her, a sea of clouds rolled across the horizon as the shimmers of the moonlight radiance bounced off its ever changing surface.

Alice lost herself in this feeling momentarily before opening her eyes. The sun peaked over as the darkness was dispelled by the luminescent purples, oranges and reds.

The soft cries of birds, the swaying of grass roots.

Away from the fighting, the schemes and the thoughts of vengeance, this felt like paradise. A paradise in the northern lands, watching the sun rise.

As the sun continued to rise, a rainbow of colours reflected across the skies, a burst of dazzling brilliance to welcome the beginning of a new day. The clouds parted the skies in two, radiant flames from the sun and the soothing cold blue of the moon balanced itself across the canvas of the skies.

Alice sat in silence as her eyes memorised this view.

She began to recall the desire for freedom when she was locked away in her prison. The desire to escape from behind the bars and run across the grass field while blue skies hung above her head.

Curling her lips into a small smile, Alice once again remembered what she was fighting for. She was fighting to bring down the Zenias so that no more like her would be created. No more like her would be imprisoned by them and robbed of their freedom.

To her, freedom was the best gift anyone could get. To be able to explore this world to their heart's content.

Standing up, she gave her body a stretch and prepared for the journey ahead. Since she was recovered to some extent, it was time to get to work.

###

After eating breakfast, Selen had Alice laid down in their tent while she examined her body.

Seeing as how she was able to move her energy around without coughing up blood and how all of her previous wounds have now stitched itself up, it was safe to say that Alice didn't need anymore help when it came to keeping her safe.

"Your regeneration is active again, same goes with your abilities. Doesn't seem like you'll have any issues just fighting normally" Selen muttered seeing Alice control an orb of blood.

"And all because you got your fifth Sigil right?"

Nodding her head, Alice adjusted her clothes since they got rid of all the bandages across her body.

"Then I'm guessing once you get your sixth Sigil, you'll be completely recovered or something similar." Selen asked curiously.

"Should be the case. Though… I did eat the mote of energy an Abyss Lord gave me. So maybe it'll require me to become a Lord myself." Alice tapped her chin as Selen froze up.

She knew Alice ate something strange during the fight in the Inverted World but a mote of energy from an Abyss Lord???

"I can't tell if you're brave, stupid or suicidal." Selen let out a deep sigh of frustration.

"I treasure my life okay?" Alice coughed.

"Doesn't look like it from the way you act. So what does your fifth Sigil do? Is it going to ruin your body further?"

"Well… I wouldn't say ruin." Alice scratched her cheek.

The Crimson Wings, Demonic Descent is a Sigil that exiled her from the realm if she wasn't careful with how long it activates. Not only that, but the berserk state burned the time she has left faster. Depending on how the berserk state works, she might have to keep it as a final, final resort.

Explaining how her Sigil works to Selen, Alice watched as Selen's face go from confusion to disbelief.

"What the f*ck did you even kill???"

"A Tenebris. Though this Sigil is a bit of an anomaly since it shouldn't be part of their skill set." Alice shrugged.

". . . Forget it. But if you are exiled from this realm, how are you even going to take out the Zenias? Are you able to come back after a while or is this exile permanent?" Selen questioned as this was the first time she heard of a Sigil that could exile the user from the realm they're in.

"Errm… You know what? Good question ahahah-ARG!"

Unable to hold herself back, Selen smacked Alice on the head mid laugh as she couldn't help but wonder how a reckless girl like her even got this far.

Originally, she was planning on going her own way now that Alice could protect herself. But with things like this, she'll accidently banish herself if Selen wasn't around.

Pouting her lips, Alice rubbed her head as Selen disposed of the bandages before cleaning her hands.

Even though Alice's wounds have healed up, there was still some dried blood on the bandages and she didn't want to take the risk. She knew full well how potent Alice's blood is, dried or not.

"What's the plan once we reach Esna?" Alice asked curiously.

"Depends. People are still trapped in the frontline with no supplies. Kvia can still be used since the dead zone that was going to form disappeared. I think Torgeir will get us to resupply in Esna before making a beeline towards the front to pave a path out.

"Personally, I'd prefer if we didn't get involved since the Zenias are rather involved in matters regarding the frontline. Then there's also the weird hybrids not to mention the fact that one of the assassin's knew my identity." Selen reminded.

The fact that there are people who knew who she was is rather concerning. Especially since she wants to disappear off the radar for a while so the Zenia's don't bother with her. Granted, she hasn't exactly made it easy to disappear with all the things she gotten involved with after the Inverted World incident.

Folding her arms, Alice tapped her chin.

'Say, is there a Sigil we can use to disguise Selen as well? Or is it just limited to us?'

'None. The rest are at most illusionary effects that are worse than the Mirror Jester. Selen won't be able to fight without her disguise coming off. As for the Mirror Jester, you already know it disappears after one wound.' Alyss rejected the idea.

Furrowing her brows, Alice let out a sigh.

"It might be better for me to go on a solo mission then since I have a way to disguise myself. Plus, my existence is largely hidden in the Zenia family. Only the main family and the scholars who worked on me know who I am. As for the guards… well Kaden already killed them and I doubt they'll be on the front lines."

"Absolutely not. Who's going to carry your paralysed body back if you push yourself?" Selen rolled her eyes.

If Alice was left paralysed on the battlefield then everything they've worked for would've gone to waste.

"I mean… I don't plan on pushing myself like I did in Kvia. It's not like another fiss- never mind I'm not even going to say it in case I jinx it into reality." Alice shook her head, cutting herself off.

"Why do you even want to go in the first place? I'm pretty sure Verona can just send reinforcements themselves or something." Selen asked curiously.

"Pity and I suppose curiosity. Torgeir did promise me a meeting with their Abyss Lord of the Forge to upgrade my equipment if I accept this task. Well… I wouldn't say promise but you get the idea." Alice shrugged.

She had to admit that getting an Abyss Lord to upgrade her stuff was rather enticing. Especially if they can fix the gloves that Allura gifted her.

It was due to her own negligence and recklessness that the gloves were damaged. However, if she was able to fix it, there were countless ideas she wanted to put into place with these wires.

Folding her arms, Selen looked at Alice before letting out a sigh.

"Fine. See if you can rope me into the deal then. If I can get my stuff upgraded, I suppose it would indeed be worth the risk." Selen nodded.

Hearing this, Alice grinned and gave her a nod. Stepping out of her tent, she went to look for Torgeir.