"Singularity."
The voice called out.
With that, Aldric immediately scanned the voice in his mind. Straining to remember whether he had ever heard this voice before. And he was drawing a blank.
Darting his eyes around the massive cathedral, he couldn't pinpoint the exact position of the voice, but with his eyesight that could see in absolute darkness, it was a matter of time.
And there she was.
A woman laid down on an ornate sofa. Strangely tilted to one side with the end open, it was the type of furniture held only for queens and empresses. Her voluptuous body was draped with black silk, covering her figure but not hiding her curves.
Giving her a glance over, the woman was a stranger to him.
But something that he was not a stranger to was her aura. The way that the essence of the world wrapped around her. Filtering and pulsing in waves, she was not a regular awakened by any means.
'A Saint?'
He thought.
While others would have been more stressed in Aldric's situation, danger was not something that he felt in the current moment. After scanning the room for any other dangers, it was time to see what he could glean from the woman.
"It seems you know about me."
The stone-like figure said. His voice carrying a bland and artificial resonance.
Hidden in the darkness, the woman's clear grey eyes lazily focused onto Aldric. With pale white skin, her pitch-black hair draped over her figure like silk. Yet for a woman so mesmerising in beauty, it conveyed an air of unkemptness and laziness. Though not taking from her beauty at all.
It was not just her hair that radiated a feeling of sloth.
The way that she laid on the ornate furniture without a care in the world, as if a complete stranger was not before her. Her half-opened eyes that held remnants of sleep. How she did not adjust her posture even while speaking to somebody.
Her mannerisms screamed that it was the case. In fact, her face was not even fully facing the golem.
Aldric could easily analyse all these signs from the woman, utilising both his [Inisght] and [Visionary] attributes to boost his own intuition and analysis skills to complete a full observation on the enigmatic stranger.
"Know you? This is the first time we met."
She spoke out with a tired breath. It was clear to anyone that she was tired but not tired enough to refrain from playing games with the intruder.
"Elaborate."
Aldric said bluntly. The red flames around his eyes silently flickering in the air.
A small, infinitesimal smirk formed on her face. Hardly noticeable to any mundane human but obvious to any awakened.
"I can see why you are called a Singularity."
She spoke out, completely ignoring Aldric's command.
"In all of my centuries of existing, you are a special sort of being. Even amongst your little friends."
She continued.
A drop of panic filled Aldric at the mention of his friends. It was one thing for the stranger to have known about him, but to know about the rest of his cohort as well?
'Who the hell is she? And what does she know?'
And he did not miss the obvious reference to her age and lifespan. From what he knew, while Awakened had a boost to their lifespan as they ascended to the path of divinity, centuries seemed far too long for a Saint to have lived. Especially in her current condition.
Anticipating her response ahead of time, the hunter decided to not make his questions known to her. Completely giving her control of the flow of conversation.
Shifting her head slightly on the ornate headrest, she was now faced towards Aldric a bit better. But even that seemed lazy.
Her grey eyes now bore a glittery hue, as if she finally deemed to fully look at him. But that was not all.
An all-encompassing feeling fell upon him. As if she were not just looking at him but looking at all of him at the same time. His soul, mind, and body. And perhaps even more.
It reminded Aldric of a familiar feeling he was first subjected to nearly two years ago.
'It can't be her. No...'
Ignoring the impulse of his mind to jump to conclusions based on his feelings and experience, he focused back onto the woman.
Her gaze passed over his body and focused onto his chest. Where beneath his stone armour a core of red energy rested.
"A creature I've never seen or heard of before. Obsidian-like yet alive."
She listed off as if she were reading a newspaper.
But now her gaze fell even deeper. Passing through the physical and into the metaphysical.
"Beyond the novelty of your form, your true nature is even more fascinating. I see you, yet I don't. And the harder I look, the more that is hidden."
The lady continued in her soft voice.
'What on earth is she seeing? Is that her aspect ability?'
He thought as he hurried to connect the dots.
"I wonder what she would have thought if she saw you. A true singularity by any definition."
While she spoke, it was clear to anyone that she did not truly care to hear from who was in front of her. Taking control of the conversation to such a degree where it felt as though she was speaking to herself.
And that was starting to annoy Aldric.
"Listen, you strange woman! How on earth did you know to call me Singularity?"
Aldric shouted out in bottled anger. While he was calm and rational in battle, even he had limits when dealing with people in conversation. Especially in such stressful moments.
"I'm getting sick of this mystery game. You know me, and I don't know you, so why don't you introduce yourself?"
He continued on.
Again, the woman looked at him with half-lidded eyes. As if she was amused by what he was saying.
Beginning to entertain the young man, she spoke.
"I go by many titles, but my name is Alana."
Not elaborating, she looked at him with that same expression. Waiting for him to express his emotions.
But Aldric would not play her games. It was clear to him what she was doing when she gave him a name that she knew he would not recognise.
But he was wrong.
"You don't know me."
She concluded. As though he was meant to.
'Damn! Was I meant to know who she was?'
He thought. While the newly named Alana gave off no hints of danger, he would be hard pressed to refuse to answer any questions about his clear ignorance.
How would he explain his presence in the territory of a Saint?
Her gaze suddenly concentrated immensely on him, as if a hole was burning through him.
Her next remark eased his worries about his ignorance yet birthed another one. One much stronger.
"Yet you have something that is so intimately tied to me. Something that I was sure to have thrown into the abyss."
Her face now finally looking at him with full attention.
STARE
Panic and fear settled on Aldric as he bared the brunt of a Saint's full presence. His mind couldn't even begin to process the implications of what she said when she pressed on him.
"Isn't that a delight?"
She spoke half-amused. It was as if this was all a joke to her. Her presence retreating as if it were never there. And strangely, whatever energy or life that she had suddenly dissipated into a pool of apathy and indifference.
It was a stark change, as if a foreign energy washed over her and altered her mind.
Her desires.
Returning back to her relaxed position, it was time to bring him out of his misery and ignorance.
"My name is Alana. But I am more well known as the Lady of the North."
Her soft voice reverberated around the cathedral. Bouncing back and forth around the black walls.
'North?'
That was the catalyst. Like a firework, everything came together.
'The familiar place? This is the Night Temple before it was ruined in the Saint's battle. She recognised the Ivory Knife that's in my coffer... Her own fate!'
Aldric was annoyed that he hadn't made the connection earlier, but he was quick to bounce back.
'So this is where I am. The Night Temple... And if I'm here, then she must be too.'
He thought.
'I need to learn more.'
Just as he was about to continue the conversation, Alana's magnetic voice interrupted him. Carrying the cadence of a relaxed empress.
"I'm tired from all this talk."
Lifting her finger for a few seconds before dropping it down, she signalled for a group of three young women to come to her.
The three women were each adorned in an identical black robe. Dressed modestly as though they were nuns, they began to attend to the Saint. With one beginning to massage her feet and the other carrying a tray of grapes, she began to feed her.
The remaining women stood by for her apparent master.
"Give our guest lodging and food. And return to me tomorrow... with your friend."
She spoke with her voice continuing to drop in energy.
'Friend?'
Not satisfied with the way their conversation ended, Aldric was about to speak to Alana but a figure quickly blocked his view.
The third woman.
An elegant young woman dressed in a black garment. She was tall and slender, with pale skin and lustrous raven-black hair that moved gently in the wind. Her face possessed an almost otherworldly beauty to it, its lines full of solemn grace and splendour. Her eyes were covered by a simple strip of black cloth, the same color as the dress she wore.
But that was not what Aldric saw.
Because strapped to her waist, a familiar rapier radiated a feeling of sentience. Betraying its true nature.
A rapier that could only belong to one person.
Cassie.
Looking at her face, all Aldric could see was a look of absolute dread.
'So she didn't know that Alana knew about her true nature.'
He thought.
Her presence did not bring a sense of relief or comfort but conflicting emotions.
As his mind centered around the blind girl, he fell in line as she walked.
Deep into the cathedral.
---
SLAM
A wooden door slammed shut, its sound echoing in the hallway.
"What on earth happened to you, Aldric?!"
The blind woman spoke out.
There were plenty of cues and signs that spoke of the woman's true identity; however, it was still strange to think that Cassie was within the body of a complete stranger. And one so different in appearance.
"You know what it is. The handiwork of the beloved spell."
He spoke sarcastically, lifting his stone-like arm.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, the presence of another human being was reassuring. Especially one that he knew so well.
"But look at you; it seems like you got the better end of the stick."
He spoke as he studied her form.
"What do you think? Rather mature, right?"
She teased in a playful manner. Her expressive features ill-fitting on a woman wearing a blindfold.
But Aldric knew enough about the young woman before him to know there were more intentions behind that remark. A calculating one.
"Haha... So how's everything been for you?"
He asked. The question carrying both direct and indirect inquiries.
It was clear that they were avoiding the elephant in the room. The remarks of a certain lady.
"I've been an attendant to the Oracle of the Night for the past two months. Learning more and more about the Chained Isles and this nightmare whenever she is bothered to talk."
As Aldric was about to ask more, Cassie spoke out.
"Before you say anything, I don't know how she knows. I thought they were meant to be fake. A trial..."
Cassie and Aldric remained silent after her comment.
Shaking her head, she avoided the obvious issue and began to speak.
"I'll give you a brief rundown. The kingdom of Hope is a shell of its former self after it was struck down by the Sun God. With the Daemon of desire, Hope, locked away in the Ivory Tower. The chained isles act as an extension of the very same chains that bind her."
Her figure began to walk around the room as she spoke, circling around Aldric in a rhythmic fashion.
"The kingdom's under a curse—one that makes desires way too real. It's like they come to life here. People's deepest wants just get amplified , and it spreads like some kind of wild frenzy. Even Alana isn't immune to it. For her, though, it's not about wanting anything—it's the opposite. She's cursed with apathy, completely detached. Doesn't care about anything, not even herself."
She explained in morbid detail.
The room that they were in was in complete darkness. A simple room fitted with a wide bed and a wooden table. The only special thing was the large ornate star hanging below the ceiling.
The following conversation consisted of Cassie explaining most of her findings. From the special nature of the Lady of the North and the rest of the Chain Lords to their role in maintaining Hope's imprisonment.
In the time that they spoke, Cassie refrained from asking too many questions of Aldric. Easily accepting a fabricated story.
A story of how he descended from the boundary of the hollow mountain. And in finally making it here, he infiltrated the Night Temple like a spectre.
With no means to decipher his origin as a lie, Cassie had no reason to doubt what he said.
With none of the information being new to him, Aldric subtly analysed Cassie's demeanour. To him, the seer seemed different.
More confident with her words, less tense in his presence. It was as though she had resolved whatever was affecting her. Ever since the day that his [Destined] attribute evolved, Cassie struggled to act herself around him.
More withdrawn when around him, wanting less to be around him or speak to him, as well as barely opening up to him. After breaking down beside Nephis' pod when they returned from the Forgotten Shore, all those promises that she made seemingly vanished.
Even on the ship heading towards the ebony tower, she did not speak to him once.
With him sitting on a wooden chair beside the bed, she stood up and walked towards him. Her dainty feet slapping against the cold floor.
At the boundary of his personal space, she pushed past it and stood just in front of his feet. Her figure looming over him.
"But isn't there a more important conversation that we should have? I feel like it's been long enough."
Cassie's voice took a charged tone. Radiating complexities and double meanings.
Clasping her hands together, she began to speak.
"I..."
*****
Thanks for reading.
Just what is Cassie up to?
BIG MILESTONE 100! 100 whole chapters is insane. What started as a sudden idea became much more. Eight whole months of working. 160K+ words. 1 million+ views. But most importantly, thanks for all the support.
Now for the reveal that I mentioned previously, I will be writing a side story for Shadow Slave: Possibilities Without Meaning.
It will be on the main story page in the Auxiliary volume. It will be titled: A Moment In Time.
It will be a collection of short chapters that will be about moments in time within the main story. The times that were not written about or fleshed out. Things like dialogue, other character POV's, lore and more.
Any fanfic that is about a long series really struggles with this. E.g be a one piece fanfic with fleshed out battles, dialogue and interactions but be stuck on the arlong park arc after 80k words or be much further ahead in the story but become a one piece fanfic with basic dialogue and basic characters.
With how the story is structured, it is hard to find an appropriate time to slow down and flesh out characters and their development without affecting the stories pace. But this will help me do that.
The first chapter is out. Give it a read and let me know what you think.
Side note, I've uploaded the story onto AO3 for those that are on it.
Till next time.