LIVIA'S POV
"Hehehe…"
'I think my eyes must be failing me, I just saw Milaine blush when Leo pushed her against the wall.'
'But that can't be true. Yep, absolutely not. Fake news. Must be my imagination.'
'Why would Leo smile like that while she's inches from Milaine's face, holding her arms?'
'Hahaha. Silly me.'
'...'
'I have to separate them.'
[Golden Rule is Active]
[Your Flaw: Obsessive is reinforced by your Minor OCDs]
[Minor OCD: Insecure]
You occasionally doubt things you've already done or know the answer to. You have a small tendency to overcheck or seek extra confirmations.
[Minor OCD: Imbalance]
You feel uncomfortable near objects or environments that don't seem to feel 'correct' or 'perfect'. You have a small tendency to put things in 'order'.
[Minor OCD: Intrusion]
You have more thoughts than normal people. You have a small tendency to have intrusive thoughts of violent, scrupulous and sexual nature.
[Your Obsession increases]
'I'M NOT OBSESSIVE! I'M JUST STRESSED!'
I looked with hatred at the set of notifications that appeared in front of me. I didn't need to be constantly reminded that I was a mess.
The small golden dome around us flickered the moment I dismissed the notifications.
"L-Livia?" Leo called me. Her words got a bit stuck. Surely it was because her mouth was dry.
I smiled.
"Yes, Leo?" I asked.
"Um… everything okay?" she asked. She seemed a bit nervous. I didn't understand why.
"Okay? Of course everything's okay. Why wouldn't it be?" I said, smiling.
"Ah… well, you are grabbing my arm a little too hard," she said.
'A bit too hard?' I shifted my gaze toward Leo's arm, then I saw my nails dug into her skin. A drop of blood slipped down from it.
I shuddered and quickly released her arm and hid it behind me. Again, the dome trembled.
"I-It's not what it looks like, Leo. I-I didn't—"
"Wait a second, Liv. Where's Milaine?" Leo said, shifting as if searching for something.
'Huh? Why would she ask that?' I felt a slight annoyance in my head at the question.
I raised my hand and pointed at Milaine, who had barely moved an inch.
Leo followed my finger.
"Where?" she said.
Milaine, opened her mouth then closed it. She scanned the dome for several seconds in silence before speaking to me.
"Olivia? Where's Eleonora?" Milaine asked.
"Hey! I heard her," Leo said while pointing to the place where Milaine clearly was. At the same time Milaine turned toward the direction where Leo clearly was.
I raised my eyebrows without thinking, still hiding my arm behind me. Again, the golden dome flickered.
"What do you mean, guys? You are literally just looking at each other."
Both Leo and Milaine looked at me with a clear expression of confussion.
Milaine, however, acted first. She moved her hand slowly and tapped Leo's other arm.
"Ah. I touched something," Milaine stood up suddenly and backed away a bit.
"Ah! Something just touched me," Leo sprang to her feet and also backed away a little.
'Eh? They can't see each other?' I also stood up.
Just as I understood what was happening, the golden dome flickered once more and vanished.
[Golden Rule has ended]
"W-what? What just happened?" Leo said, looking around.
"I-I don't know, I think I used my Gift without realizing it," I said, wringing my hands.
Milaine tried to take one of the crystalline fragments of the golden dome, but these vanished completely before they touched her hand.
"Olivia, that was the Golden Rule, right?" she asked as began to glow.
I nodded, trying to hide my anxiety.
"Can you do that again? Like, now?" Milaine asked, while Leo finished picking up her books.
'Do it again? I don't even know how I did it the first time....'
"I'm not sure. I can try," I said, glancing at Leo. I was afraid she may be upset about the arm thing.
I really just wanted to apologize. Check if I had left any mark. Maybe give her arm a kiss and clean the blood with my tongue.
'Shit, that was weird. Tch. Stupid intrusive thoughts.'
"Alright, I want you to try to do the same. I'll move a bit away, wait for my signal," Milaine said.
She then walked toward a section of the cave, lighting her way with her flame.
I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing before opening my eyes again.
[Hyperfocus has activated]
The world around me slowed; sounds sharpened and grew louder. Even colors looked more satured than I remembered.
I realized then that I could assimilate information faster than I was used to.
Not far away, the pools of magma emitted small sounds, but the bubbling lava sounded very loud in my head.
The darkness of the cave had noticeably retreated when Milaine had started to glow.
I observed Leo out of the corner of my eye. She was drawing something with her index finger.
First a square, starting from the left side to the right, closing top and bottom. Then a symbol resembling an 'x' inside it.
She whispered 'Sigil' or something.
A small flame flickered from her hand, vanishing as soon as it appeared.
'Is that her Gift? She just 'burned' something, right?'
"Try it now, Olivia!" Milaine called from farther down the cave. She was standing near the two gigantic tunnels that had formed when the worm attacked us.
'I'll ask her later.'
I turned my gaze to my status screen.
'Let's see, what exactly did I change before. I suppose I should reread the Gift's description first.'
[Golden Rule]
Only one who can see beyond the outcome and seek the truth can comprehend the fundamental principle by which reality itself is governed. Only the Seer who seeks for the True Rule can use the Golden Rule.
This is the last gift granted by the goddess who follows the rules, in the hope that the chosen mortal will see beyond it and find the truth to set things right, to put an end to the cycle and allow the world to continue.
Within a limited space, close to the seer, the bearer can change and alter a single rule until they lose concentration.
Examples of Rules that were altered
-In the past a queen used it to affect gravity and levitate, deceiving her subjects into believing she was a goddess.
-The same queen used it to save herself from the fury of an ancient witch.
-Lastly the queen used it to kill a phoenix and stop it from returning.
---
'Mhmm... neither Leo nor Milaine seemed to be able to see each other, but I could. That happened when I was thinking about separating them.'
Embarrassment flushed through my cheeks when I realized I'd activated a Gift because of intrusive thoughts.
But when I closed my eyes and tuned out the outside noise, my focus quickly returned.
'Sight… was it biological? No, that wouldn't explain why they could still see me. Rules… maybe they're physical rules only?'
'...I don't know much about physics. Must be something my subconscious remembers.'
I navigated through my memories. The time I went to the doctor to get my vision test emerged. I erased the image of my parents arguing and focused on the doctor's explanation about sight.
"Light reflects off objects to bring the image to our eyes, and light refracts inside our eyes to focus the image on the retina."
'Reflectance. If light doesn't reflect, then they can't see each other. I changed how reflectance works.'
[Golden Rule has activated]
The golden dome returned, this time it only covered me and Leo. She looked at the dome and tried to touch it; her hand passed through, and she pulled back.
"Whoa, that's something" Leo said.
"Leo, can you see Milaine?" I asked.
She looked toward where Milaine stood and nodded.
"Yeah, it's hard not to see her when she glows like a light bulb. Look, she's coming back," Leo said.
'Mhmm, maybe they both have to be inside the dome, then.'
Milaine walked back. When she reached us, she stopped and observed in silence for several seconds.
"I couldn't see you, nor the dome either. It's like there was nothing," she said as she stepped inside.
Leo stepped out of the dome and also looked at it from outside.
"Shit, it literally is as if you're not there. I only see the wall, not even Milaine's light is visible. It's like the cave itself went dark," Leo said.
Milaine nodded, then turned to me.
"Could you move a bit, Olivia?"
"S-sure," I said while I started to walk a bit to the side. The dome moved with me.
When I'd moved far enough for Milaine to be outside the dome, she stared at the ground where I'd stood.
"Do you see her?" Leo asked.
"No, but she's there. I hear her footsteps when she walks." Milaine said, pointing in my direction.
'Sound isn't canceled. Only one rule at a time. Got it.'
They both walked toward me and stepped back inside the dome.
"So?Is it like being invisible?" Leo asked.
"Well... I think so. I changed how light reflectance works."
"And how did you make it so Eleonora and I couldn't see each other?" Milaine asked.
"T-that... I'm not entirely sure," I said, avoiding their eyes. I had no intention of admitting it was pure jealous impulse.
Leo placed her hand on my hip and pulled me closer; my heart instantly sped up.
"You're amazing, Livia," she said, smiling.
My cheeks warmed.
'She's not angry.'
I nodded.
"Thanks..."
Milaine changed her gaze toward the direction where she had come from, and fixed her eyes on the giant sandworm that was a few meters from there.
"Do you think you can do something with that over there?" She pointed at the corpse.
"The sandworm?" I asked, still hugging Leo.
"Yes. Can you do something about the acid, or maybe the taste? It'd be a lot more useful if we didn't have to eat it while I'm healing you and you're enduring the pain," Milaine explained.
With my head still buried in Leo's chest, I pulled up my status tab again.
[Augury]
You are a person with a close connection to time and fate. Calling you a seer is no exaggeration, it is who you are.
By calming your mind and focusing your attention, you perceive a sign from fate about the outcome of a specific action you intend to take in the next hours.
You need to ask a question, and the response you discern is simple: yes or no.
There is no limit to what you can ask, but it is recommended not to get obsessed with the answer. Since the future may change according to how the rules evolve.
Please don't forget that, Olivia.
---
'Why does it always have to sound so grandiloquent?'
I stayed silent for a few seconds before asking.
"Can I use the Golden Rule to make the worm stop being acidic?" I whispered.
[Augury: Yes]
I smiled. Then I asked again.
"Can I use the Golden Rule to make the worm stop tasting so horrible?"
[Augury: Yes]
'Yes! Oh, right. I should ask that too.'
"Can I do both at the same time?"
[Augury: No]
***