As soon as everyone finished reading the letter, no one said a word until Zentran finally said, “It look like your gamble didn’t work out as planned, Kej.”
“I guess not,” she sighed. “It looks like my theory was proven to be wrong. Not even mortals can kill the Lashival permanently.”
“Are you going to send another group of mortals to try to kill him then?” Hessin inquired. His summon swirled around him while she glanced at the Ilmarian of Fate curiously.
She shook her head. “We don’t need to have more mortals involved in this affair as already is. Having five of them learn about the Lashival is too many in my opinion, and I don’t want more to know about him.”
The Ilmarians of Judgement glanced at each other with dawning realization before they stared at her with uncertainty. “Wait, does that mean…?” Weiss ventured slowly.
“Correct. I’m giving the task of getting rid of the Lashival back to the Three Judges,” she confirmed. Not surprisingly, the twins could barely contain their glee while Hessin just nodded. However, she detected a hint of apprehension from Alethea. That surprised her since the Ilmarian of Truth knew why they had to kill him. Why was she having misgivings now? Argus must have told her that she was looking at her because the Aerian immediately changed her disquieted expression into a stoic one as she acknowledged that she understood.
“They would have to wait ten months to get a hand on him since his birthday already passed,” Brenton noted.
“Then they’ll have ten months to prepare.” Looking at her colleagues, Kejuta declared, “The Lashival WILL be defeated, and I intend to do everything in my powers to make sure that happens.”
After the meeting was over, she immediately set out to Valendor to see her son. However, it wasn’t a family visit – it was for another matter. “Sorry, I’m late. Are the others here already?” she asked Pendance after greeting her son.
He nodded. “They are waiting inside,” he said, directing her into the small quarter.
As he opened the door, she was greeted by some familiar faces. Adia, Marika, Aundra, and Alethea were waiting inside the room. After the meeting, they have pretended to head off to different directions when actually, they were going to the World of the Dead. In the center of the room was a soul orb, but no one was paying much attention to it; their focus was on the Ilmarian of Magic, who was working on getting rid of the Velscendus tattoo on Alethea’s left arm. “Are you able to get rid of it?” she asked Aundra.
“Almost… It took much longer than I thought it would be to figure out how it works,” she mumbled, licking her lips while she concentrated at her task. A minute or so later, she stood up and brushed her hands as if wiping away something vile off. “And done! Nasty little bugger, but I think I got rid of it.”
“Thank you,” the Aerian said gratefully as she glanced down at where the tattoo once was. “It was such a pain in the neck.”
“What was it used for anyway?” Adia inquired curiously.
“It was a part of the re-education progress that the cult used to brainwash the children they kidnaped. They would use it to punish any of the children who misbehaved or tried to defy them,” she explained.
“Then they must have used it on you a lot,” Aundra surmised.
The Ilmarian of Truth nodded as she shuddered slightly. “They did though sometimes they did it just for the hell of it. The Kasama was the one who enjoyed tormenting me the most At first, I thought it was because I was being defiant, but after finding out that they were Shintra’s former supporters, I now think it was out of spite because who I am.”
“Speaking of the Dalenthi, you couldn’t detect them with your Aerian sense, right?” Marika wondered.
“No, I couldn’t. I never had a bad vibe when I was with them. I don’t know why, but for some reason, I didn’t sense any Duermon at all. If I did, then… Just thinking about those children who fell victims to that cult and became Dalenthi makes me…” The Aerian shook her head. “If I only knew that they were Duermons, I would have stopped them sooner. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how they were able to avoid detection. Maybe my Aerian sense is broken.”
“Adia and I think we figure it out. According to what you told us, the Dalenthi merged the Duermon’s soul with the human one, right? Well, when we studied the Kasama’s soul, we deduced that the Dalenthi used the human’s soul to conceal its presence by having it surround the Duermon’s soul. That was probably why you couldn’t know that they were Duermons,” Pendance explained, glancing over at the soul floating in the middle of the room.
“That makes sense,” Aundra said, nodding her head thoughtfully. “Of course, that would mean that they are more dangerous than the Parasitic and Possessor Duermons combined since they can now freely mingled with everyone else without their knowing.”
“That’s not good indeed. If they are able to move around freely, then they can easily make more Dalenthi,” Kejuta noted. “Alethea, after you recuperate from your injuries, I want you to hunt them down before they cause more harm.”
Alethea looked at her, exasperated. “And how am I supposed to do that if I can’t use my Aerian sense to find them?”
“Simple, use your Web of Lies. You can ask them if they are Dalenthi and if a thread appears, that would confirm their identity. They may be able to avoid detection, but they can’t escape from telling a lie.”
“I guess that could work,” she murmured. “I’ll try it then.”
“Now that’s been decided, we can focus on why we’re actually here.” Kejuta turned her attention to the soul orb and asked, “Aundra, did you notice anything suspicious about the Kasama’s soul when you examined it?”
“If you’re asking if Shintra did something to it, then no. There was no presence of his magic anywhere in his soul when I studied it. It was just a typical Duermon soul,” the Ilmarian of Magic informed them.
“So he was telling the truth when he claimed that he wasn’t involved with the cult. Huh, it seems that he really has changed for the better. Perhaps it’s time for him to join us since there aren’t any reservations anymore.”
While the others agreed with that assessment, Alethea still looked doubtful. “There is no way he wasn’t involved. I was sure of it based on my time with them. The method that the Kasama used is similar to his. Are you certain that you didn’t detect any of his magic, Aundra?”
“Positive. I rechecked his soul numerous times just to be sure, and I didn’t find even the faintest trace of Shintra’s magic. You know, you seemed rather disappointed about the news. I know that you have a bad history with him, but you shouldn’t let your hatred of him cloud your judgment,” Aundra pointed out.
The Aerian’s face flushed a bright red. “I-I-I’m not! It’s just that… I don’t want him to think I forgive him for what he did to me.”
“Having him joined us doesn’t mean that you forgive him, but you have to consider what he has been doing for the past few centuries. He hasn’t abused his power and followed everything Kejuta and I asked of him. Not to mention, he has expressed regret for his past actions. Does that prove anything?” She added, “Besides, don’t forget that our predecessors want us to have a united front especially as we have to deal with the Lashival still.”
Alethea didn’t say anything at first, but she finally sighed. “All right, he can become an Ilmarian,” she relented, “but I still don’t trust him.” All of sudden, she cursed aloud.
“What’s wrong?” a worried Adia asked.
“Another letter from him,” she grumbled. “He keeps inviting me to have dinner with him even though I’ve been ignoring his letters. You would think by now that he gets the hint that I’m not interested.”
Aundra rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you just accept his invitation and be done with it? Just tell him how you feel about him and that you don’t want him to contact you ever again. If you don’t feel uncomfortable being alone with him, just meet him in a public place so he can’t do anything.”
An adamant Ilmarian of Truth looked at her and retorted, “I rather eat cynrufu mushrooms than eat dinner with him. Besides, I already told him how I felt about him so he should already know by now.” She got up and took out her new needle ring as she said hastily, “Anyway, I should go. Hessin asked me to help stabilize Ishara and check to make sure there’s no Dalenthi lingering around.”
Marika stared at her, surprised. “Already? You need to recuperate from your injuries still. You can go to Ishara later.”
“I can’t. The sooner I find those Dalenthi, the less likely they will cause trouble,” Alethea argued while she opened a portal to Ishara.
“But!” However, the Aerian ignored her and stepped out of the room.
“Just leave her be, Marika,” Kejuta told her friend. “You know how stubborn she can be.”
“I don’t care, Kej. She’s working herself to death for the past few centuries. I’ve never seen her rest at all,” she said hotly.
“I understand that you’re concerned, but you know why she’s doing it. Ever since she found out the truth about herself, she feels that she needs to atone for her past.”
“I know that, Kej, but she overdoes it. I just wish I could knock it into her head that she shouldn’t blame herself for something that was beyond her control,” she replied, shaking her head. “Well, enough of my griping. It’s been a long day; I should follow my own advice and get some rest. Good night, everyone.”
As they watched their colleague leave, Aundra announced, “I should be heading off too. I have a lot of things to do.”
“You’re going to see Shintra for his inspection, right? Will you be telling him the good news then?” Kejuta inquired.
“Of course. I’m sure that he’ll be thrilled to hear the news,” the Ilmarian of Magic said as she disappeared through her gateway, leaving Kejuta alone with her children.
After a brief moment of silence, Adia asked, “Will you be going back to Welvaria, Mother?”
She nodded. “Both of you have a busy schedule, and I wasted too much of your time already as is. I’m sure that there are several souls waiting to be purified and reborn into Samara. I’ll make sure to pay you two a visit if I have any free time.”
As she kissed them goodbye, Pendance commented with a twinkle in his eyes, “Now that I think about it, it’s been awhile since we’ve been together like this. Why don’t we just stay here for a little while and catch up? Our duties can wait a little bit longer, and the wisps are capable enough to ensure that everything is running smoothly while we’re away.”
At first, Kejuta wanted to decline but seeing the expectant look on her children’s faces, she changed her mind. “All right,” she said, sitting down again. Adia and Pendance followed suit. She had to admit that she missed spending time with them; ever since they began their duties as the gods’ successors, they barely see each other. This was nice, to be honest. Smiling at them, she said, “Well then, who wants to go first?”
“I guess not,” she sighed. “It looks like my theory was proven to be wrong. Not even mortals can kill the Lashival permanently.”
“Are you going to send another group of mortals to try to kill him then?” Hessin inquired. His summon swirled around him while she glanced at the Ilmarian of Fate curiously.
She shook her head. “We don’t need to have more mortals involved in this affair as already is. Having five of them learn about the Lashival is too many in my opinion, and I don’t want more to know about him.”
The Ilmarians of Judgement glanced at each other with dawning realization before they stared at her with uncertainty. “Wait, does that mean…?” Weiss ventured slowly.
“Correct. I’m giving the task of getting rid of the Lashival back to the Three Judges,” she confirmed. Not surprisingly, the twins could barely contain their glee while Hessin just nodded. However, she detected a hint of apprehension from Alethea. That surprised her since the Ilmarian of Truth knew why they had to kill him. Why was she having misgivings now? Argus must have told her that she was looking at her because the Aerian immediately changed her disquieted expression into a stoic one as she acknowledged that she understood.
“They would have to wait ten months to get a hand on him since his birthday already passed,” Brenton noted.
“Then they’ll have ten months to prepare.” Looking at her colleagues, Kejuta declared, “The Lashival WILL be defeated, and I intend to do everything in my powers to make sure that happens.”
After the meeting was over, she immediately set out to Valendor to see her son. However, it wasn’t a family visit – it was for another matter. “Sorry, I’m late. Are the others here already?” she asked Pendance after greeting her son.
He nodded. “They are waiting inside,” he said, directing her into the small quarter.
As he opened the door, she was greeted by some familiar faces. Adia, Marika, Aundra, and Alethea were waiting inside the room. After the meeting, they have pretended to head off to different directions when actually, they were going to the World of the Dead. In the center of the room was a soul orb, but no one was paying much attention to it; their focus was on the Ilmarian of Magic, who was working on getting rid of the Velscendus tattoo on Alethea’s left arm. “Are you able to get rid of it?” she asked Aundra.
“Almost… It took much longer than I thought it would be to figure out how it works,” she mumbled, licking her lips while she concentrated at her task. A minute or so later, she stood up and brushed her hands as if wiping away something vile off. “And done! Nasty little bugger, but I think I got rid of it.”
“Thank you,” the Aerian said gratefully as she glanced down at where the tattoo once was. “It was such a pain in the neck.”
“What was it used for anyway?” Adia inquired curiously.
“It was a part of the re-education progress that the cult used to brainwash the children they kidnaped. They would use it to punish any of the children who misbehaved or tried to defy them,” she explained.
“Then they must have used it on you a lot,” Aundra surmised.
The Ilmarian of Truth nodded as she shuddered slightly. “They did though sometimes they did it just for the hell of it. The Kasama was the one who enjoyed tormenting me the most At first, I thought it was because I was being defiant, but after finding out that they were Shintra’s former supporters, I now think it was out of spite because who I am.”
“Speaking of the Dalenthi, you couldn’t detect them with your Aerian sense, right?” Marika wondered.
“No, I couldn’t. I never had a bad vibe when I was with them. I don’t know why, but for some reason, I didn’t sense any Duermon at all. If I did, then… Just thinking about those children who fell victims to that cult and became Dalenthi makes me…” The Aerian shook her head. “If I only knew that they were Duermons, I would have stopped them sooner. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how they were able to avoid detection. Maybe my Aerian sense is broken.”
“Adia and I think we figure it out. According to what you told us, the Dalenthi merged the Duermon’s soul with the human one, right? Well, when we studied the Kasama’s soul, we deduced that the Dalenthi used the human’s soul to conceal its presence by having it surround the Duermon’s soul. That was probably why you couldn’t know that they were Duermons,” Pendance explained, glancing over at the soul floating in the middle of the room.
“That makes sense,” Aundra said, nodding her head thoughtfully. “Of course, that would mean that they are more dangerous than the Parasitic and Possessor Duermons combined since they can now freely mingled with everyone else without their knowing.”
“That’s not good indeed. If they are able to move around freely, then they can easily make more Dalenthi,” Kejuta noted. “Alethea, after you recuperate from your injuries, I want you to hunt them down before they cause more harm.”
Alethea looked at her, exasperated. “And how am I supposed to do that if I can’t use my Aerian sense to find them?”
“Simple, use your Web of Lies. You can ask them if they are Dalenthi and if a thread appears, that would confirm their identity. They may be able to avoid detection, but they can’t escape from telling a lie.”
“I guess that could work,” she murmured. “I’ll try it then.”
“Now that’s been decided, we can focus on why we’re actually here.” Kejuta turned her attention to the soul orb and asked, “Aundra, did you notice anything suspicious about the Kasama’s soul when you examined it?”
“If you’re asking if Shintra did something to it, then no. There was no presence of his magic anywhere in his soul when I studied it. It was just a typical Duermon soul,” the Ilmarian of Magic informed them.
“So he was telling the truth when he claimed that he wasn’t involved with the cult. Huh, it seems that he really has changed for the better. Perhaps it’s time for him to join us since there aren’t any reservations anymore.”
While the others agreed with that assessment, Alethea still looked doubtful. “There is no way he wasn’t involved. I was sure of it based on my time with them. The method that the Kasama used is similar to his. Are you certain that you didn’t detect any of his magic, Aundra?”
“Positive. I rechecked his soul numerous times just to be sure, and I didn’t find even the faintest trace of Shintra’s magic. You know, you seemed rather disappointed about the news. I know that you have a bad history with him, but you shouldn’t let your hatred of him cloud your judgment,” Aundra pointed out.
The Aerian’s face flushed a bright red. “I-I-I’m not! It’s just that… I don’t want him to think I forgive him for what he did to me.”
“Having him joined us doesn’t mean that you forgive him, but you have to consider what he has been doing for the past few centuries. He hasn’t abused his power and followed everything Kejuta and I asked of him. Not to mention, he has expressed regret for his past actions. Does that prove anything?” She added, “Besides, don’t forget that our predecessors want us to have a united front especially as we have to deal with the Lashival still.”
Alethea didn’t say anything at first, but she finally sighed. “All right, he can become an Ilmarian,” she relented, “but I still don’t trust him.” All of sudden, she cursed aloud.
“What’s wrong?” a worried Adia asked.
“Another letter from him,” she grumbled. “He keeps inviting me to have dinner with him even though I’ve been ignoring his letters. You would think by now that he gets the hint that I’m not interested.”
Aundra rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you just accept his invitation and be done with it? Just tell him how you feel about him and that you don’t want him to contact you ever again. If you don’t feel uncomfortable being alone with him, just meet him in a public place so he can’t do anything.”
An adamant Ilmarian of Truth looked at her and retorted, “I rather eat cynrufu mushrooms than eat dinner with him. Besides, I already told him how I felt about him so he should already know by now.” She got up and took out her new needle ring as she said hastily, “Anyway, I should go. Hessin asked me to help stabilize Ishara and check to make sure there’s no Dalenthi lingering around.”
Marika stared at her, surprised. “Already? You need to recuperate from your injuries still. You can go to Ishara later.”
“I can’t. The sooner I find those Dalenthi, the less likely they will cause trouble,” Alethea argued while she opened a portal to Ishara.
“But!” However, the Aerian ignored her and stepped out of the room.
“Just leave her be, Marika,” Kejuta told her friend. “You know how stubborn she can be.”
“I don’t care, Kej. She’s working herself to death for the past few centuries. I’ve never seen her rest at all,” she said hotly.
“I understand that you’re concerned, but you know why she’s doing it. Ever since she found out the truth about herself, she feels that she needs to atone for her past.”
“I know that, Kej, but she overdoes it. I just wish I could knock it into her head that she shouldn’t blame herself for something that was beyond her control,” she replied, shaking her head. “Well, enough of my griping. It’s been a long day; I should follow my own advice and get some rest. Good night, everyone.”
As they watched their colleague leave, Aundra announced, “I should be heading off too. I have a lot of things to do.”
“You’re going to see Shintra for his inspection, right? Will you be telling him the good news then?” Kejuta inquired.
“Of course. I’m sure that he’ll be thrilled to hear the news,” the Ilmarian of Magic said as she disappeared through her gateway, leaving Kejuta alone with her children.
After a brief moment of silence, Adia asked, “Will you be going back to Welvaria, Mother?”
She nodded. “Both of you have a busy schedule, and I wasted too much of your time already as is. I’m sure that there are several souls waiting to be purified and reborn into Samara. I’ll make sure to pay you two a visit if I have any free time.”
As she kissed them goodbye, Pendance commented with a twinkle in his eyes, “Now that I think about it, it’s been awhile since we’ve been together like this. Why don’t we just stay here for a little while and catch up? Our duties can wait a little bit longer, and the wisps are capable enough to ensure that everything is running smoothly while we’re away.”
At first, Kejuta wanted to decline but seeing the expectant look on her children’s faces, she changed her mind. “All right,” she said, sitting down again. Adia and Pendance followed suit. She had to admit that she missed spending time with them; ever since they began their duties as the gods’ successors, they barely see each other. This was nice, to be honest. Smiling at them, she said, “Well then, who wants to go first?”