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Luluci slowly lifts Dagda's limp figure with as much gentleness as she can muster, His body still held some semblance of warmth, But the gushing blood wafted a copper Tang in the air.
Luluci does not stop.
Each step towards the counterclock table felt heavy, Whether it was from the weight of Dagda's corpse, if the heavens themselves are urging her to turn around this instant, or perhaps it was the part of her that held everything she was taught with pride, telling her to stop. That this goes against everything she's done.
Luluci continues to move anyway.
An idle part of her mind wondered what fate would her fellow knights bestow of her if they discover what she is about to do. Her mind is surely to be wiped of everything, and surely she will be sent to Adanlee. Her friends would surely abandon her in the name of the pact, and doubt rises in her heart. She thinks of what will happen to Custas, Of the retreating branches searching for a father that is long gone.
Luluci does not let doubt stop her, as she settles Dagda's corpse unto the table.
She takes a deep breath, stiffing the hesitation in her body. It is her duty; both as a knight and as a witch, to use magic for good. For the people.
In the first spin, Color returned to skin.
On the second spin, his wounds have gone.
On the third spin, she could see his heart start beating again—
Luluci stopped.
.
Something is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Every fiber in her body is telling her to stop, stop, stop. But she doesn't listen, She's this far in, she can't back down now.
And yet, Coldness stifles the room, mixing with the scent of WR̴͚̃̈́̃̉̅́̊͒̒̄͆̐͛̔̋ͅO̷̦̜̼̠͂͂̃̊̃̒̅͒͊̏̅́̇͘͠͠͠͠N̵̢̯̩̠̰̺͎͔̟̪̬̟̻̗͓̥̟̖̍͋̈͊̈́̑̀̅͌͆͘̚͠G̵̢̨̢̨̭̤͎̲̣̝̥̈́͊̃͊̈́͋̋̈̍̀N̵̠͓̺͔̣̗̘͚̖͍͗͊̄̾̑E̷͖̬̥̖͒͋̃̂̀̚͝͝S̶̩̪̏́́̎̂̊̐̃Ş̷̡̻̯̥̯̼́̋͝͝. Luluci raises her head and the room drops to ᴰ̴̞̦̬͔͖̼̓̀̅̑ᴬ̶̢̤̼̞̪̀̅̅̏̕ͅᵣ̷͕͉̭̩͊̊͑̊͝ᴷ̶͚͙̭̾́̈́̀̓͊ₙ̷̦͕̔̓͠ᴱ̶͉̞̫͐̌ₛ̴̯͇̜̘̰͕͋̆̀̾̚̕ˢ̷̢̮̭͙̣̝̂͘. Dagda, At the center of the counterclock spell, No. Calling it that right now felt wrong. No longer was the spell or its smooth surface anywhere to be seen, Now replaced by a swirl of darkness (An eye ₐ̸̸̜̣̘̤̥̝ͧ̈́̇̍́͆ͭ̏ͯ̂ͤͪ͜͞͞ᴺ̴̴̢͕͓̝̙̮̠̤̝̳̼̝̹̗̎̿ͯ̆ͬ̎͒ͮ̀̓͗̽̽͂̓͞͡ ᴱ̴̰̣̝̙̟̻̥̭́̅ͨͦͦ̓̚ʸ̴̶̧̡̛̝͔̹̲͇̩̪͔͓̲͑͋̋́̓ͫͬ̀͛̓̌ͯ̑ͧ̊ͧ͒ͬ̑̕͜͝͡ᴱ̡̺̻̠̤̜̜͚͉̥̝͉̰͈̣̺̄̾ͣ͌ͫͧ͗̈̀ͯ̏ͨ̔́̓̽͊ͨͣ̀̒́̃͘͠,̰̮̜̣̀̅͜͠ ᵢ͒͜ᵀ͓ ᵂ̭͂̈́̑̇́ͣₐˢ̝̺̠͚̖̪̻̬̜͗̿̅̾ͦ̄͝ ᴬ̛͖ₙ̶̶̶̡̨̧̢̧̡̧̡̨̛̛̹̲̟̲͕̠̣͈̲̺̳̳̳̥̤̄ͩ̔̊ͮ͛ͮ͒ͪ̉̑̚͘ͅ ₑ̳̲͕̬̲͖͌̈́̒̀͛ͬ̿̈͛͌͘͟͞ʸ̝͖̘̟̲̓́̃ͪ͗̀̒͐̉̈́ₑ̸̢̛̦͎͖͖̬͕̳̳͎̱ͫ̔ͦ͗̃̌ͪ̅̈́̇ͥͯ͒̑ͭ͌̊̾͌͒͘͡͞,͚̎ ᴬͧ̋_̶̨̛̯͍̞͔̰̯̠͉̤̙̖̣͒̔́̓̓ͦ̈́͋̾ͥ̾̈́̀̆̅̉̀ͣ̋͆͟ͅₙ̨̩͔͓̼͉̯ͬ̆ͯ̌̌ͫ̚͟͢ͅͅ ₑ̥ͥ͐́ͥ̕̚_̸̗̻̞̙̼͇͍̘͌ͨ̉̎ͮ̿̆̊̊̇̕͢͡ͅ_̪̑ͯʸ̵̴̵̛̛̖̱̘͙̘͚͎̬̤̙̠͖̩̺̌͗͗̾̎ͮ̓̿͐͊̍ͨͦ͗̓̀̈́̎̈͆̊ͭͯ͘̚͢͝͝ₑ̷̣̗͙̪̼̱͇̤͓͙̣̗͕͆́̃̌̅̿̾͒ͬ͐̉͒̎͡͞,̸̷͎̖̥̪̼͓̳̫͚̖̠͎̍͆͛́̏͌̋ͫ̂ͦ͜͟͠ ᴬ̴̵̨̢͎̥̦̟̭̖̻̝̪̘̖̱̥͆͑̉̀̈́́́̈́̃̇̎̀͊ͪ͑ͪ͟͜ₙ̷̸̨̼̙͎̗̺̰̤̮͈̙̜̣͔͓̯̆ͪ̋͛̇͛̈̎͒̅ͮ̋̽̓ͥ̑̿̐͒ͤ̊͒ͧ͋͗̚̕͠ ₑ̶̧̡̗̤͙͍͓̗̗̘̏̄ͥ̀ͯ͗ͪ͗̌̇̌͑͟͟ʸ̷̵̨̨̤̖̜̰̺̮̱̰̫̮͎̩͇ͤ̃́ͭ̒͆́ͣ͆͌̃́͑͂ͪ̄͌͒̽͊̂̈́̔̚͢͠͝ₑ̶̸̷̢̧̩̜̤͕͍̣̮͙̱͖͓̦̖̰͎͚͍̜͕̭̂͌͌́̆͂̀ͭ̿̾͊͆ͯ͐̓ͥ̓̃͜ͅ)—
She didn't even have time to fully process it before she was F ₐ ₗ ₗ ᵢ ₙ g.
She falls and falls and falls, until suddenly, she isn't. Yet there is no moment where she slows down or hits the ground.
Everything around her was a pure, pure void. All white in every direction. With the sole exception of a large, towering door of stone. Engraved was it with an intricate spell (?) of sorts that she thought oddly resembled a tree.
In the back of her mind, She thinks of Custas, and she is immediately reminded of what she has done. The spell (She still wasn't sure if that was what it was in the first place.) etched into the door along with other intricate symbols that resonated something within her. What it was, she wasn't sure.
Her hairs tingled, and Luluci could feel herself freeze in that moment. She wasn't alone in here. Whirling around to see who- or what- it was, Only to find a something the same shade as the empty whiteness, yet held the shape of her own countenance.
Luluci knows what her body looks like, And seeing it like.... This.. squeezed something in her body. She doesn't know whether it was her heart or her lungs or something curdling in her stomach— Luluci knows. She's made an inexplicable Mistake.
The- thing then spots a wide, toothy grin.
“Why hello there, Miss witch~” its voice sounded like... So many things at once. It held her voice aswell, and yet it sounded like both man and woman, Animal and human, nature and chaos, all at once.
And yet Luluci forces everything in her body to gather together in a chaotic mockery of calmness and utters out “Who are you!?” in a manner meant to imitate stoicism. She stills the nervousness of her heart. “Where have you taken me!?”
The being raises their head, if they had a face, Luluci was sure it would show a face of amusement.
“Your kind has called me by many names,” It answers with a sense of glee, “I'm what you call the ‘world’,”
Luluci's breath is stuck in her throat. “Or the universe,”
“I am god. I am truth,”
Luluci realizes her hands are shaking.
“I am ‘All’. I am ‘One’.—" It raises its hand, pointing at Luluci, “And...
I'm You.”
The thing flashes a vague toothy grin, its mouth having no teeth and unnaturally too much at the same time.
“This is the price of your actions, Miss witch,” It rebukes, its grin growing impossibly wider, “and that does not go without punishment~”
Tendrils of darkness, oddly reminiscent of the large leech that caused all the mayhem, stretched out behind her to wrap tightly around her body (It reminds Luluci of a particular touch she'd rather not remember— (Hands, Hands everywhere, on the thighs, on the face, on the--) She scuffles, but to no avail.
The black tendrils dredge out to wrap themselves as tight as the bindings of the pendant around her limbs and torso, and slowly do the dark hands drag her into the large stone door. Its door adjacently open, You could see the dark, dark, darkness of Multiple eyes, the same eyes as the one that dragged her here.
Fright overtakes Luluci, but she could only take one final glance at the omniscient thing before the door slammed shut.
.
A part of her is aware she's floating, of where she is, but all she can focus on is the onslaught of everything leaking its way into her head and searing it into her brain.
.
Luluci could feel the viscous blood that came with the Warfield wafts throughout the air, Yet at the same time it wasn't the blood of a Warfield Luluci felt, But the gushing blood of a mother's womb. Or maybe there wasn't any blood at all? Daft winds blew past her, bringing the smell of rain and knowledge she shouldn't know. Too many, too many things is happening at once! It was too much.
.
But in the corner of her eye, Luluci caught a familiar figure, Dagda. Enveloped in the same white shade as the god, And yet Luluci could not help but outstretch her hand. She should've known such thing would've proven no result, but sorrow still racked her lungs when Dagda's body was whisked along with the wind.
.
And yet as fast as it came, it stopped. Akin to the calming of the strong rains before even stronger tempests come. Here she was, back in that same, endless space. Yet Luluci still could not gather herself to breathe.
“How was it, Miss Witch?” The god asked in a skewed sense of casuality, As if this was an experience acquired by fooling around and not committing the most forbidden magics of all.
Luluci didn't know how to answer, Simply choosing to wander her eyes unto the shivering clisps of her hands.
“I... I can't get him back, Can I?”
“And what is the worth of a soul?” It said, Paying no mind to her anguish. “You've seen the truth, Now you must pay the toll, Miss witch~”
There is a searing pain that emerged abruptly. Luluci casts her gaze down, only to find in horror her own torso unraveling to bleed out. Her knees buckle, crashing to the—
.
She doesn't know when she ever made it back to the floor of the medical spire. Her hands grips around the metal coils that encircle the counterclock table, its metal touch does nothing but remind her of the blood flowing from her own torso. It takes a second long for her to realize these are the same injuries Dagda had. ‘How ironic.’ The thought doesn't comfort her at all.
She gathers her might all unto her elbow to raise herself up, and blood gushes from the wound, but she continues to raise herself up anyway and gaze her eyes upon the counterclock table.
Nothing changed.
Dagda continues to lay there in the same ghost-quietness, and coldness still stifles the room.
‘Ah.’ Luluci's eyes continued to examine Dagda's body, And only do her eyes realize that his injuries are nowhere to be seen. Ha. The injuries present on Luluci now were his injuries. God truly loves irony.
Luluci's upper body falls to the torso, its support and presence the only thing stopping her from falling to the ground.
In the distance, something opens, Inbounding itself like a whirlpool, whish- But Luluci could not gather the energy to worry herself about it. She could only glance her eyes at the noise—
A brimhat. With silver hair (One reminiscent of another witch Luluci once thought of with suspicion.) and their figure of androgynous origin. The point of their cap a shade of purple that tinged its tip with something darker, with ribbons of the same shade with its ends in ending in light lavender that swished around with chiming bells, not really obfuscating the details of their face, as often expected of the brim hats.
A part of Luluci panics, and she raises her head with whatever energy she has remaining.
“Interesting! Truly interesting!” The brimmed hat said in true glee, and fascination crinkled their face. “To think this was all it took for a pointed hat, one of the knights Moralis of that, to commit the very act they condemn the most...” Luluci could only stare, not knowing whether to scream, cry, or just collapse on the spot.
“Ah! I suppose another introduction is needed,” The brim flashed a crinkling smile, “My name is Restys,” The brim inches closer to Luluci,
“And I'd like to thank you for your cooperation aswell,” Restys lifts Luluci up by the arm, and Luluci scuffles at the touch.
Restys glances an eye at Luluci's injuries, before gazing upon Dagda's still corpse upon the table, and a flash of curiosity and interest rise again in their eyes, before opening their mouth to say something Luluci of the past would've been horrified at the offer of.
“Would you like to join us, Miss?”