NOVEL FROG (Vol 5) Chapter 22: Transition
With some effort, though feeling a lot better as the Realm Rules went up in smoke and the psychic pain abated (not to mention the new resistance bonus coming into effect), Sammy forced herself to stand. Her own connection back to reality was a kind of noise in the background that was slowly unraveling into something navigable in her mind.
The Goddess of Pneuma suddenly declared from Sammy’s mouth, “What is muddled is made clear under the light of divinity and creation. All under my claim will proceed toward perfection. As envisioned, as designed.”
The Fortuneteller sighed in relief and joy in her mind. ‘From the brink, you rise again unexpectedly, and more a goddess than ever in your solution. Well done. You’re coming into your own. Salvation persists.’
“Thanks… can I expect more compliments like that from you lot?”
‘Don’t get your hopes up.’
Despite everything she’d just gone through, Sammy smirked to herself as she observed the final crescendo of effects around her.
The realm turned to a vague white void around her, the last remnants of visible lines such as the ground or trees almost dying… but not quite.
Rapidly, it all began to fill back in — the forest, the ground, the sky, and a tremendous ‘pulling’ feeling gripped her. At first worried and alarmed, something in Sammy’s head clicked about what was happening right before she felt the jarring results.
You have discovered a [Transition Point] on the Bridge of Edges, preliminary designation ‘Point 1’. Avatar position moved… Anchorage and transition in-world complete.
Oh shit!
The disorientation caused her to stumble immediately to the weed-saturated ground, the feel of everything quite clear as being the natural world. The sounds, the smells, the touch of greenery and earth, and the sweet, sweet natural warmth of the sun. Even as she flopped, she laughed a bit hysterically, because she was — quite simply — alive. Nothing else mattered. She’d survived. She had refused.
And wherever the hell she was, having a shortcut across the world was probably pretty priceless.
As her eyes cast around the vicinity, she squinted.
Hmm. It looks vaguely familiar… I should explore, maybe…
Further thoughts were wiped out as her realm slammed into her head, with copious ‘Are you okay?!’ queries, exclamations, a bit of screaming — relieved and otherwise— and a ton of Servitor summoning requests. As for Azure, in mere moments she used some instant version of her ‘Teleport-To-Girlfriend’ effect that usually took a minute.
From some facet or another, she was there, letting out a yelp of alarm as she grabbed Sammy. “You’re hurt! Sammy, hold on, I’ll heal you immediately- wh… wait. Y-you have a fucking arrow through your chest!” It came out almost in a squeak, she was so hysterical and beside herself.
Sammy, also giving the go-ahead for Servitors to pop to her location, blinked up at the beautiful, beautiful, worried face of her Blueberry. Then she looked down at the obvious arrow through her heart. “Oh. This old thing? Pssh! It’s nothing. Just a flesh wound. Not like I need my heart beating! Hehe. Maybe I’m making a style statement, you know?”
Azure stared wide-eyed at her for half a click, then swallowed and shook her head. Above her shoulder, Raphael’s angelic form came into view. He looked down at the arrow. “Ouch. That looks annoying, Goddess.”
“Believe it or not, it was a lot worse!”
Athos’s giant dragon head, eyes luminous green, appeared over the other shoulder. He eyed the arrow. “I bet that smarts. In any case, the coast seems clear danger-wise. So far.”
“Well, that’s the important thing! We got shit to do, after all!” Sammy felt tears coming from her eyes, which was strange as she wasn’t crying. And she was shaking.
Taking a deep breath, Azure petted Sammy’s hair with an expression of sympathy. “You’re still in a bit of shock, love. I believe I should pull this out. Okay? So I can fully heal you.”
“Oh, no-no-no-no… that would be…” She had no good follow-up, though.
“I understand that it’s uncomfortable and strange, Samantha. It’s just… one of those things we have to do. We don’t want to, but we need to. You understand?”
Sammy stared for a moment, but she nodded. She did understand that. There were a ton of those, after all. “Alright. Just do it quickly, though. We got shit to do.”
Azure’s eyes cast downward and she nodded quickly. She positioned herself around Sammy’s torso. She began picking at the armor like she’d take it off, so Sammy obliged by simply switching to her [Birdy Dress] outfit to make things easier. The arrow was still through her heart, naturally.
Azure grabbed the arrow, and then suddenly kissed Sammy. This was a great surprise and all around a rather pleasant thing. She was only vaguely aware of pressure and a jerk. When her eyes opened, she was again surprised to see the arrow already removed and in Azure’s hand.
And no massive baleful aura around it? It feels… sinister and yet… not, as well. Interesting.
Azure embraced and kissed her again, and this time, she felt a cool, refreshing wave pass through her. She gasped, her lips pulling away from her lover’s.
Perfect Reflection: Restoration has been used on you by User Azure. You are fully healed. Due to special psychic trauma, there remains an echo of pain, giving -1 Effective Levels as a (Pain) modifier to all actions for the next 24 hours.
The cool dunk in cleansing waters did much for her bodily and mentally. But the events played back through her head, and her hand went shakily to her chest where the arrow had been, reaching through the damaged dress to the whole flesh behind it. It was like the arrow was still there. When she breathed full, deep breaths again for the first time, the ghost of the injury was especially strong, pin needles resonating through her chest.
Azure’s hand was at her cheek, her eyes laced with compassion and concern. “You’re okay, Chestnut. I’m here. You’re safe.”
Sammy nodded, her hand folding over her lover’s as she met luminous purple orbs. Once upon a time, eyes… that were very similar to those that ensnared, tortured, and changed the souls even of gods. Sammy’s eyes shifted aside. “We should get moving…”
Not her. Not her, but… a part of her. A part of Lovie. Damn it! I don’t want to think about it.
Her wandering eyes fixed on the arrow still in Azure’s hand. Pure silver, and somehow fresh, as if it should still be liquid just poured into a mold. Its tip remained a heart shape. Only one blemish marked the surface: right at the tip, a red stain.
My blood. The arrow came with, connected to me, tied to my own belief. It reminds — reminds of a lot. That it was real, that I am vulnerable, that things were almost ruined with its piercing. It’s a part of me, now. A scar that cannot be so simply healed away…
“Samantha,” Azure started softly but insistently, “what happened in there? Why did you not let me in? You were almost lost to us. I’ve… never been so scared in my life. And you were blocking me out.”
Sammy grimaced as that gut-punched her. “I’m sorry. But it was too high order. Too high level, effectively world-class. I couldn’t endanger you with that. You’d have died.”
She paused as she took a breath and forced herself to meet Azure’s eyes. “Even I was defeated, as you can see, and that is while leveraging a level twenty class boosting all of my baseline abilities. My enemy just gloated too much, and I found a special vulnerability to exploit. Ultimately, it was a personification of damage to the Construct. I had to fix it. Fix my mistake.”
Azure nodded slowly. “I can feel how traumatic it was for you. I’m so sorry, Chestnut. I won’t ask you to relive it. I hope that someday you can share the details, though.”
Once again, Sammy couldn’t maintain eye contact at that. To cover, she moved Azure’s hand to kiss the top of it. “Thanks for understanding, Blueberry.” With that, she rose, and Azure rose with her. She held her hand out for the arrow. “We need to find out where we are and potentially travel to get back where I need this damn body.”
Azure nodded and handed over the arrow. “This is a heavy, heavy woodland, and these trees are not Southlands variety.”
“Great,” Sammy muttered as she inspected the arrow. The blood stain on the tip was quite deep. She was certain it wasn’t coming out. Shrugging, she stowed it in her dimensional sack.
Athos, who was scouting with several others, sent mentally, “There is a clearing not far ahead. Not sure why the forest isn’t encroaching, but it’s very minimal plant growth. Grass and weeds. And there is some sort of otherwise featureless black obelisk around some mounds.”
Sammy hurried over to the location, beginning to understand why things looked familiar.
The clearing was just as described — an inexplicable zone free of trees or plants bigger than the smallest base weeds. But a few sprouted dull yellow flowers. In the center of the area, there were many irregular mounds and a black stone monument, tall but featureless, made vaguely to look like a replica of a tower. Faint magical enchantment was over it, no doubt as preservation.
The familiarity became blatant then.
The village. This is it. I’ve been taken to the real-world analog to that place with the specters. I just came from the place where I was skewered.
“You look as if you’ve seen a ghost,” Azure commented softly.
“I saw many,” Sammy replied, then made her way to the mounds. There were the ruins of elven buildings and such underneath, she was sure. Or once were. Most things would be disintegrated by the preponderance of time without enchantments to preserve them.
She walked up to the stone obelisk and touched her hand to it. All she could really feel about it was that it was very old.
I suppose this is a grave marker. A tombstone to all of them. Perhaps the god, too. But no names. Hardly surprising.
Sammy sat down with her back against it and closed her eyes. She sent out to her Servitors and primary leaders as a whole, “Find out where exactly we are. Scouting, references, consultation, everything. This is Dominion territory. We need to get the hell out of it pronto.”
Jeeves responded in-group. “You can target a reflection and know generally where it is in relation to others. Perhaps dematerialize for more acuity. You may be able to range-find easily to Azure if she stays, through the spiritual vector and your permanent knowledge of her location referentially.”
“Oh shit! That’s a damn good idea, yes. Thanks, Jeeves.” Sammy summoned a few more key Servitors as scouts to send out in variety, all told to emphasize stealth while looking for threats and routes if they needed it.
With that, she formed a persistent localized illusion around the vicinity — just in case. Azure nodded her understanding and sat down in the grass, aiming to stay put where she was for a bit if Sammy needed her as a reference. She pulled out a mirror and made it float up above her head.
After exchanging a smile, Sammy closed her eyes again and dematerialized back to Heavenpeak, once more seated on her throne. Immediately, she reached out with [Mirror Sense] for Azure’s floating mirror, and then pinged other known mirrors elsewhere, getting a bead on its location.
She took a breath and nodded slowly in some satisfaction when the information became clear. “Between Rivermount or Matrazere and Mot Mekess. The heartland of the Dominion is close, in any case. Dangerous territory. And — one day — likely a very useful shortcut.”
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