A week had passed outside the temporal distortion of the rift. For the world inside, perhaps only hours had slipped by, but for Lucid, the experience was immeasurable. Months had seemed to blur together, yet time also raced forward in strange leaps. He could not tell exactly how long he had spent in Karmen's world, but it was certainly not a short time. His body, his real body, felt stiff and foreign as consciousness slammed back into it. He was slumped against the cool, damp wall of the cavern, the scent of moss and wet stone replacing the distant memory of manor house gardens.
He groaned, flexing his fingers. They were his own again, slender and calloused from his work on Earth, not the soft hands of a noble heir. He was also a bit shorter now. He missed the reach and strength of Karmen's body, a fleeting thought. Lucid had not had his full growth spurt yet, a fact he remembered with a touch of irritation. The ache he felt was profound, a deep weariness in his bones that was more spiritual than physical.
Then, he felt her. A presence, warm and solid, resting just behind his perception. It was Alice, but not as a distant voice. It was as if someone stood directly behind him, her chin resting lightly above his shoulder, her breath a faint, impossible sensation near his ear. The bond had deepened, moving from a passenger to a partner.
"Welcome back," her voice sounded, not in his mind, but right next to him, clear and intimate. "That was a long time of separation. I missed you, Lucid."
He managed a faint "mhm," a groan that carried the weight of a long and troubled sleep.
"You were there at the beginning, but near the end, it was as if you faded. What happened?" Lucid continued, his tone thoughtful.
"Indeed. My estimation is that your synchronization with Karmen caused my presence to grow quieter, more faint," she explained. "But our bond can never be severed, no matter how tough the situation."
"Yeah," Lucid croaked, his throat dry. "It was." He pushed himself to his feet, his muscles protesting. The cave was dim, lit only by the faint, lingering bioluminescence of strange fungi clinging to the walls. "Where is Jake?"
There was a pause from Alice, a hesitation he felt more than heard. "I do not sense him nearby."
A cold knot formed in Lucid's stomach, but he pushed it aside. First, they had to get out. As if on cue, a low growl reverberated through the cavern. From the shadows, two points of violet light ignited.
The Leopard-Stalker emerged. It was the same A-rank beast that had ambushed them. Silver stripes gleamed against midnight fur, muscles coiled with lethal grace. The deep gash Lucid had scored on its flank was now just a silvery scar. It remembered him. Its lips peeled back from saber-like fangs in a silent promise of vengeance for the wound.
Last time, this creature had forced them to flee into the rift, its bite nearly severing Lucid's arm. Now, Lucid felt no fear, only a cold, focused clarity.
"It remembers you," Alice murmured, her presence tightening around him like a protective cloak.
"Good," Lucid said. "I remember it too."
The beast charged, a blur of shadow and silver. Time seemed to slow, not from a power, but from Lucid's heightened perception, a lingering gift from the Chain of Heart. He did not dodge. He raised his hand, palm out.
"Chain," he whispered.
From his open palm, from the very air, a luminous chain of pure, white energy shot forth. It was solid, a dense ethereal light forged with purpose. Each link was etched with faint, swirling sigils of protection and binding. It moved with his thought, faster than the beast could react.
It wrapped around the Leopard-Stalker's foreleg mid-pounce, then its neck, then its hindquarters, cinching tight with a sound like ringing crystal. The beast crashed to the cavern floor in a tangle of its own momentum and the glowing bonds. It roared, thrashing, but the chains held unbreakably, humming with a power that seemed to pacify the violent Fate Essence within the creature.
Lucid approached, the chain retracting slightly to give him room. The beast's violet eyes blazed with fury and now, a dawning animal terror. It sensed the change. This was not the desperate prey from before.
"You bit my arm," Lucid said calmly. He made a fist. The chains responded, contracting sharply.
A sickening crunch echoed in the cavern. The beast's roar cut off into a wet gurgle, then silence. Its form dissolved not into gore, but into a swirling constellation of bright white motes, pure condensed and unclaimed Fate Essence.
Lucid extended his hand again. The chains, now acting as conduits, pulled the vast energy into him. It was a torrent, a flood compared to the tiny trickles he was used to from lesser foes. His body sang with the influx, cells vibrating with renewed power. A system prompt flickered in his vision.
A voice resounded inside him.
***
*Fate Essence Absorbed: +3,327*
*Source: A-rank Leopard-Stalker (Vanquished)*
***
"An A-rank beast in the real world gives a lot," Lucid explained to the silent Alice within him. "They are reservoirs of wild Fate Essence. This is real power. Not some simulation."
He felt her awe, and beneath it, a slight tremor. Taking a life, even a beast's, was different now. He had taken Alice by surprise with his quick, decisive work.
"That was badass," he muttered to himself.
"Well, I suppose your naming for specific skills could use some work," Alice teased gently.
"What do you mean? 'Chain' works totally fine," he grumbled under his breath, feigning offense.
With the new found energy humming under his skin, he turned and began to climb out of the cavern system, his movements sure and strong. He searched every alcove, called Jake's name until his voice echoed hollowly back at him. He found only discarded gear, a torn piece of the musician's garish coat, and an echoing silence.
Alice's presence grew heavy with a sad understanding. She did not speak, but he felt it, a faint, melancholic exhale in his soul, a realization of something painfully obvious.
"Alice," Lucid said, stopping his search. "You know something. What happened to him?"
She was quiet for a long moment. When she spoke, her voice was carefully neutral, but he could feel the evasion like a physical thing. "The threads of fate are complex, Lucid. Some knots unravel in unexpected ways."
He stared into the darkness, shocked. This was new. The formal, straightforward Divine Maiden was now being cryptic, almost secretive. And was that a hint of playful guilt he sensed?
"Are you lying to me?" he asked, incredulous.
"Divine Maidens do not lie," she huffed, her tone suddenly flustered. "We obfuscate. For the greater good. And perhaps to spare feelings. And maybe because it is mildly entertaining to see you confused."
Lucid barked a laugh, the sound startling in the gloomy cave. "Entertaining? You are picking up bad habits from me. First you are a secret obfuscator, now you are poking fun. What is next, sarcasm?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about," she said, but he felt the mental equivalent of a smirk. "Your human emotions are simply contagious. And messy. And your face when you are bewildered is particularly amusing."
"Oh, is that so?" Lucid grinned, starting to climb again. "Well, for a supposedly all knowing Primordial being, you sure get flustered easily. One little tease and you short circuit. 'Obfuscate for the greater good,' she says. More like 'cannot think of a good excuse.'"
"I am not flustered!" The protest was immediate, and he felt a wave of warm embarrassment wash over their bond. "And my reasoning is divine and ineffable, not that a blunt instrument like you would appreciate its subtlety."
"Blunt instrument? I am the one with the shiny new chains. You are just the emotional support ghost whispering gossip in my ear."
Their back and forth continued as he emerged from the cave mouth, the bickering a strange, comforting lifeline in the wake of Jake's disappearance and the weight of the trial. The sun was setting, painting the sky in layers of lavender and molten orange. Before them stretched the Purple Forest, the trees with their eerie, violet hued leaves and softly glowing fungi.
They had taken only a few steps into the twilight wood when Lucid's enhanced senses prickled. Above, in the tangled branches, there was a rustle, a shift of weight.
"Who is there?" he called out, his voice sharp.
A figure, little more than a darker shadow against the gloom, shifted. For a second, he saw the outline of a person perched on a thick bough. Then, with unnatural silence, they were gone, vanishing into the forest canopy.
Lucid and Alice fell silent, the playful mood evaporating. They moved on, alert, the chains within him coiled and ready.
Just as the edge of the forest was in sight, a man simply stepped out from behind the broad trunk of an ancient, twisted tree. He had not been there a moment before. His presence had been completely hidden.
He was dressed in a perfectly fitted black suit, not a speck of dust on him. His hair was dark and combed back neatly, his features sharp and unnervingly calm. It was the man from Rebecca's tavern. The one who had shattered the windows with a flick of his wrist, the man who had held Lucid's throat inches from ending him, whose mere presence had screamed of lethal, focused intent. This was the man he had been in pursuit of, a pursuit that had somehow led Lucid to Karmen. Now, it seemed his original target was standing right in front of him.
His eyes, cold and assessing, locked onto Lucid.
"How interesting. You cleared an Omega rift in less than a week," the man said, his voice a quiet, dangerous monotone. "You did what even the best Awakened are not capable of doing. All that, by a mere unawakened human. How very interesting."
"I have lost a great deal in my search through these rifts and Fate theory. But I have found an anomaly at last. A perfect anomaly."
Lucid's blood ran cold, but he forced a sneer. "Lost what? A dog? I suggest you keep your distance."
Inside, Alice surged. He felt her panic, a desperate, silent scream. It was not just fear. It was recognition, and a terror that was deeply personal. He felt her presence wrap around him from behind, not just as a feeling, but as a phantom sensation of arms clutching his shoulders, trying to pull him back, to make him stop.
"Lucid, no! Do not provoke him! Please, be silent!" Her voice was a terrified plea directly in the core of his mind, closer and more intimate than ever before.
The man in black took a single, smooth step forward, and the peaceful purple twilight of the forest seemed to drain away, replaced by a chilling, absolute stillness.
"It is okay, Alice. I will never yield to this world anymore," Lucid said, turning his gaze upward. He manifested his translucent white chains from the air around him.
As the chains appeared, something went wrong. His left arm fell to his side, completely unresponsive. A spray of blood erupted from his shoulder. The attack was so fast his eyes could not even focus on it. The pain did not even register until he looked at the wound. It did not feel like an attack at all. When he looked back, the man stood perfectly in place, as if he had not moved. Lucid jumped back, putting some distance between them, raising his other arm where he held the shimmering links of the Chain of Heart.
"Chain!" he yelled.
From the bark of the tree where the man stood, two chains shot out from each side, ready to pierce him.
"Behind you, Lucid!" Alice screamed.
He stepped back, pain flashing up his arm as a sharp headache spiked. He had used too much Fate Essence too quickly. 'No.'
As he stepped back, his back bumped into something, someone. He looked up, registering that the familiar figure he had just tried to pierce was nowhere to be found. A cold, chilling feeling welled up from his insides as he turned.
It was too late.
A blade shot upwards, piercing his stomach. He threw up a mouthful of blood, the coppery taste filling his mouth.
"No!"
"Stay alive. Run," Alice was yelling, her voice frantic.
As he stumbled back, he saw the man closing in. His feet were wobbling, threatening to give out beneath him.
A blade came forward, a dagger or a short sword, Lucid could not tell. His vision was blurring. He could not focus on anything.
As he closed his eyes, bracing himself, holding a bloody hand that smeared the white chains with crimson, a spark resonated through the air. It was the clear, sharp sound of two blades clashing, close, too close.
"Kept ya waiting long enough."
A familiar, painfully irritating, snarky, boyish voice rang out.
He knew who it was.