I’ll admit, the fractured, drifting personality wasn’t at all what I had pictured. But then again, if I’d been silenced for an entire year, let alone endured what this creature had—how steady would I be?
“Great, I’m all ears,” I said, my voice betraying a flicker of eagerness at the chance for real answers.
“It fascinates me,” Drybel murmured with almost reverent wonder, “how language twists and reforms between beings. Consider this: if a creature had no ears at all, would it still grasp your intent?”
“Um… no, I guess not,” I mumbled, thrown off by the question.
“Right! And… what were we discussing?”
He’s okay… right?
“You were explaining what you’re doing here,” I prompted, swallowing down the panic beginning to climb my throat. The ancient wisdom I’d once heard in his tone now felt stripped away, only his age remained.
A hush stretched between us before he spoke again. “Yes. Yes… that’s right.” His voice sharpened with sudden clarity in those few words, and a trickle of confidence slid back into me. “It wasn’t intentional at first. But… there was a familiarity to you, over time.”
“A familiarity?” I echoed, my voice thin.
Around my World Seed, his tentacles shifted, their grip tightening on the crystalline orbs of the elements. “You resemble someone from long ago,” he said slowly. “An enemy of my former companion.”
A dozen questions flared in my mind about that man, but knowing more about Kazreil wouldn’t help now—maybe never, if the vision was true and the man had become something unrecognizable.
“What about your abilities?” I blurted, my words spilling out in a rapid volley. “The power to absorb Force? Why the seed keeps growing? What made you start talking all of a sudden?”
“It’s refreshing to meet someone who can talk as much as I can… Meet someone at all,” he said, a dry smile in his tone. “I’ll try to answer in order.”
“As for my abilities… well, you’re already steering the only one I’ve ever known. When I’m implanted, my host can draw on my influence over the world to pull in the power around them.”
“To absorb Force,” I supplied automatically.
He paused, as though tasting the word. “If that’s what you call it, yes, but not everyone could wield it correctly before someone murdered them and harvested my body for themselves.”
“Okay, then what about the growth? Every time I feed the seed power, it swells and its ability strengthens.”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “Feeding it amplifies my influence over your body. For instance, I’ve already restructured everything inside you. To which… I’m not entirely sure of the effects. I’ll give it some thought. Bodies are fascinating, aren’t they? My own shaping the host instinctually for more suitable residence.”
The words lingered in the air, a heavy echo giving me time to absorb the implication. Even now, the way he could move those feelers through my Inner Realm was a staggering show of power. But what end could such ever-growing influence serve? Only one possibility came to mind.
“Do you see?” he asked quietly. “The more you feed me, eventually, I’ll have the ability to—”
“You can seize control of a body,” I cut in, finishing for him.
He hesitated. “If my guess is correct, but after entering here, it should be impossible.”
“Then why didn’t you?” I asked, confusion rising. “Couldn’t you have taken a new life? Hunted revenge? What’s so special about me that you’re helping instead of taking over?”
He chuckled low and amused. “Purpose loses its sharpness after so long. Any revenge I once sought has no weight now. The ones who slaughtered my family are dust. My clan, erased. The first glimpse I had of them in all my years was in that boy who nearly killed you.”
“I’ve seen more than most living things could fathom. Stealing the body of a young boy with hardly any power holds no appeal. Though… I suppose…” His voice drifted into silence, leaving me uneasy.
“Right. So… what changed? Before, you were just writhing tentacles lodged inside me, helping me silently. Now you speak clearly, as if you’ve always had a voice in this place.”
A heavy, weary exhalation reverberated from the unseen distance, like a gust rising from a cavern’s depths. “There was… a sudden shift, recently. Here, within you.”
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Only one cause came to mind. “The purification. My blood changing.”
“I see…” His reply drifted back as a sigh edged with relief. “Then my choice truly seems to have been the right one.”
I held my breath, waiting for him to elaborate, still unsure. My instincts told me it had something to do with the old enemy of Kazriel he’d spoken of.
“You have the Bloodline. I imagine that is why you possess these strange artifacts as well,” he said, his tendrils curling with faint motion around the twin orbs.
It was as if a thunderclap exploded in my skull. That was it—the effect of Fire Force purification coursing through my veins.
Natural Force granted weightless swiftness. Water Force awakened the body’s instinctive restoration. Earth Force gave a profound sense of the earth's pulse beneath one’s feet.
And Fire…
“A Bloodline?” I asked, my voice unsteady, seeking confirmation.
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “Creation. The Bloodline of Creation.”
The word resonated through me like a bell. I remembered the deep harmony of voices that had called out when the purification completed—Balance. End of stagnation. Dominion through change.
“What is it?” I asked, almost whispering.
“No idea,” he replied with disarming nonchalance, as though he hadn’t just unleashed a revelation. “When he discovered it, the monster that man became did everything in his power to extinguish it, and…”
He stopped short, and my need for answers surged. “Please, anything you can tell me. Even if—”
“He sensed me,” Drybel interrupted quietly, cutting my plea in half. “And my people. He is the reason I suspect my ability to possess living creatures at all. That man offered restoration. True rebirth within himself.”
I let out a long, uneven breath, struggling to grasp the weight of it all. “And you sensed that same opportunity in me?”
“Not exactly,” he murmured. “Merely a familiarity, but now… I suspect the possibility exists.”
Silence settled like a thick fog between us. With every passing heartbeat, more energy gathered at my World Seed. A faint, ghostlike strand of Animora circled it, this avatar gaining substance with every pulse.
“Thank you… for helping me. If there’s a way to repay you, I will,” I said, each word laced with conviction. “But I don’t feel any different. Even if I have the Bloodline you believe I do, I can’t promise anything.”
“I understand,” he answered coolly. “We need only continue to grow and see. There is no rush, and—”
Knock. Knock! “Peter?!” Mei’s voice rang through the door, threaded with concern. “You’ve been in there a long time. Are you alright?”
My eyes fluttered open. Water clung to my skin in wrinkled lines as I lifted my hand, the bath’s heat returning. A sigh escaped me, my mind still racing with revelation. “I’ll be out in a sec!” I called back.
“I put some of your new clothes here. Try them on,” she said before her footsteps receded from the small dressing room beyond the baths.
I rose from the water, a strange, almost giddy smile tugging at my lips. For the first time in what felt like ages, I held a concrete answer to an unknown born from my training, and it was something rare, something mine.
The garments found their place on my body without conscious thought.
In the small mirror, a figure looked back clad in a deep red robe trimmed with a golden-yellow sash. Not my usual attire, but it was nice to me.
A soft chuckle escaped me, then built into laughter.
“My own Bloodline.”
Even speaking the words aloud didn’t make them feel real.
From just outside, a faint clatter broke the quiet—something small tumbling across the floor.
“Mei?” I called, my voice cautious.
There was a pause. Then, a reluctant, “No…?”
A final laugh slipped from me as I moved to open the door. She was crouched low, hurriedly gathering a pair of soft, woolen slippers she had dropped.
“I was going to leave these for you,” she muttered, flustered, “but I didn’t mean to—”
I raised a hand, stopping her apology mid-breath. “I knew you were there. My senses are sharp enough. And there’s no reason to keep it secret, since I’ll be teaching you everything anyway.”
She rose slowly, brushing the dust from the slippers before offering them with both hands. “You said a Bloodline, didn’t you? Your own?”
A smirk curved across my lips as I took the slippers and slid them on. “Yeah. If I’m right, my breakthrough awakened a new Bloodline inside me.”
Her arms remained suspended for a moment before falling stiffly to her sides. She froze, utterly unmoving, eyes wide. “Y—you awakened a Bloodline?”
I nodded, gently lowering her arms for her. On her face lingered a strange mix of awe and disbelief, a stunned excitement that radiated in every small tremor. But I knew too well by now that sharing too much was dangerous, though Mei felt… safe.
After all, I’d known her for—what? A couple of days. That was enough… Yep.
“C—can anyone awaken one?” she asked at last, her voice trembling with barely-contained hope.
I shrugged casually. “Don’t see why not. Though I don’t know how it interacts with the bloodline you already carry.”
Her composure shattered into raw excitement. “We have to tell my dad! The researchers will go crazy over this!” She nearly vibrated where she stood, her whole body quivering as if her joy couldn’t be contained.
I set my hands firmly on her shoulders, steadying her before she shook herself apart. “Let’s keep it a secret for now. I’ll tell your dad when the time’s right.”
The words sank in, dimming her frenzy. She bit her lip, eyes darting as she thought it over. At last, she gave a small nod. “You’re right. Since you aren’t certain yet, spreading it could cause false conclusions. It’s better we don’t risk that.”
“…Sure.”