The Trio Odyssey

Part I: Soul to Soul

Chapter 4: The Mirror II

Since her own body isn’t there, but her soul, she exploits the memories of the Princess, shutting her eyes and exploring the past.

She unwillingly tastes the same, seamlessly, ceaseless ordeal as the Princess has ever tasted before; she catches the remembrance of a serialized hate, manipulation, and dissatisfaction, playing across the Princess’s memories. 

The memories that have been carved inside the Princess’s head are indelible, as they come stage by stage, whichever the worst. 

As a six year-old lass, by that time, the Herald was yelling in front of a crowd and was heard by Raeké through the windows of a palace. 

The interior of the palace was different from the Heto Palace. Unequivocally, that place was located in the Cazdae Empire, as recognized by the Princess’s memories.

“…The Cazdae Empire and the Ivada Federation are mortal enemies!…”

“…Yet, the birth of Her Highness, Raeké Issocelle Cazdae, has brought us more than hope.…”

“…She is an attainable, ultimate power for overriding the Ivada Federation’s governance. Thereby, holding two empires under one crown!…”

“…The Cazdae Empire shall claim Her Highness.…”

“…Glory Shall Be Ours!…”

Next, the Herald’s shout received multiple chattering from the crowd.

Until a few seconds later, the crowd’s reception came following the Herald’s chant with loud, courageous, simultaneous chants.

“…Glory Shall Be Ours!…”

“…Yeah—!…”

Chills run down her spine as she remembers this part.

She accidentally diverts her view from the current memory, taking it to the other memory in advance.

As she dives deeper, she finds herself meandering in a long, massive corridor all alone, impeccably overhearing lads whispering about her from afar.

Their gossip alone made her sound notorious and villainous, making her take the isolation from the rest, despise herself, and ate the guilt she didn’t ask for at all.

“…She’s too dangerous!…”

“…If you ever get closer to her, let alone talk, who would know that you will be obliterated out of this world?…”

“…Hahaha—!…”

Another lad commented, replying to the other lad’s statement in sotto voce.

“…You’re right, she’s just too powerful, as a lone beast inheriting two royal bloods, that is.…”

The lad that made fun of the Princess answered.

“…She’s the Princess of Mixed Blood after all!…”

The Princess quietly grieved, sinking all their sharp tongues deep, drilling her heart and leaving a hole of pain.

But, she left a doubt behind in the memory.

‘…With all due respect, am I really that bad?…’

Insanity slowly takes her over, poisoning herself spiritually. 

‘Ah—that hurts, my heart, or hers…’

And so, she instinctively throws all of the loathing away. 

But then, a flash of conversation enters involuntarily. 

The Princess appeared to be standing in front of an older lady, plausibly a sister figure that she felt some sort of close connection and attraction to.

She was supposed to be the eldest sister that cares for all of her younger siblings, no matter who they are.

At least, that was what the Princess thought she would be, or so she thought.

The thing wasn’t what it seemed, as that lady treated her on the flip side of the coin; she was looking down on her with a distasteful gaze rather than giving off a warm word of care.

The conversation was something she had never had before.

While her throat feels like it vibrates from speaking, it’s not her words; it was the Princess that was speaking in the past conversation, replayed in the memory. 

“…Big Sis, Kostana, why is everyone calling for my name?…”

“…Don’t ever get your hopes high, little Raeké.…”

“…No one ever wants you for who you are!…”

“…The two empires will unjustly paint blood to one another because of your immense power inheritance!…”

“…And, you—you would be puppeteered by one of them in the end.…”

“…Why—but Big Sis, Kosta—(Kostana)!?…”

The mental irritation tensed Kostana’s head, unintentionally triggering her anger, and cutting her little, half-sister’s call for her, with a quick cut of her high tone voice.

“…Don’t you ever get near me again, as you would tarnish my reputation in the honor of the Royals!…”

The Princess grieved once more, as she heard the thumping, loud, reverbing footsteps distancing from her as it diminished.

And a silent sulk came from her own breath in the memory, although she isn’t somber, but it's perceived and shared, even through time gaps. 

“…Begone from my sight.…”

The heaviness in her chest and face stayed after they were collected from the memory, killing her sanity in silence. 

She only gets lonelier, mumbling as she’s going to give up searching for the spell.

‘No—I don’t think I could go through this anymore…’

On the other hand, the memory keeps replaying in the Princess’s head.

This time, a lad’s enthusiastic voice, which was dissimilar to those from the gossip, ventures in. 

“…Hey, Raeké, let's have a challenge: a duel!…”

“…Whoever hits all of those wooden targets with the tiniest, visible damage possible will be rewarded with the latest, most-developed wand, crafted by our expert Wandmaker!…”

“…Introducing Joi Kin!…”

“…He has proclaimed that the wand can contain up to fifty percent of the user’s transferred Occult Energy.…”

“…It's also super lightweight, and supports control for Occult Value!…”

Raeké responded to the lad, heartily pouring some of her interests in the wand.

“…Wow—sounds great! Sure, Brother Rouseht!…”

Rouseht’s playful vigor was as high as ever, wanting to step up first.

“…Okay, I will start first!…”

Raeké watched how he did it all, starting with his stance, holding his wand confidently with an arrogant smirk. 

He concentrated, summoning an unusual, black-skinned animal with many combinations to his side; a giant, five eyed eel, with countless tiger’s fangs, and with two long, wide bird’s wings coming out from its spine, covering its eyes. 

Rouseht turned his head from the targets to the animal, greeting it. 

“…Hello, Rontour..…”

He faced back to the targets, lecturing his actions, step by step, to Raeké. 

“…Look at this Raeké……”

“…This is how you control your output, the Occult Synthesis, to give the most impactful effect possible.…”

“…The first thing you must do is control how much Occult Energy you wish to consume……”

Rontour opened its watery mouth with no sound, and then, vapors visibly emanated out of its mouth and condensed to Rouseht’s wand’s tip.

“…Then, you divide your Occult Energy by the amount of Occult Value, however much you desire.…”

In clusters, the vapors accumulated in the form of a spherical water, whirling to a fist-size and hovering. 

Until the water that flowed out was enough, he blocked the stream, making the water ball stay stationary in size.

“…The ratio of your Occult Energy to your Occult Value is determined by you, to the form of Occult Ability of yours.…”

From there, he splitted all of them into six equal sizes.

And he matched the number of the wooden targets he wanted to take down. 

“…And, finally—…“

He constructed each one of them into conical drills as the missiles. 

As he released his manifestations, an almost quiet, rapid, stacking sound of waves passed by Raeké’s ears, witnessing all of the missiles hitting and piercing all of the targets.

“…you release them!…”

Finally, the missiles were depleted after hitting the wall.

Rontour dispatched away to nowhere, out of sight. 

“…Hah, now that’s how much Occult Synthesis you would want to avail!…”

Raeké acknowledged his mastery, clapping her hands a few times.

“…Wow—that’s amazing!…”

As she was preparing for her turn, she heard a hushed snigger from Rouseht.

“…Alright…, now it’s my turn.…”

Being slightly nervous, she took a deep breath, setting her bare hand forward and calling out for her Chimeric.

An intangible, colossal object penetrated the wall of the room they’re in, emerging from Raeké’s back. 

Its skin looks like the space that was full of the stars and its form is complex; multiple, continually spinning, flat, gaseous, planetary rings with its void center.

“…Haequa……”

She began to emanate a spherical, minuscule, space warping, black matter in front of her pointed palm toward the targets. 

There were guardian looking, knightly men from afar inside the room, running toward her and shouting out loud to warn her.

“…Your Highness, that spell is hazardous!…”

A production of loud, oscillating sound persisted, and Raeké got distracted a bit, looking at the men after they shouted. 

She sensed that the projectile she’s emerging has been pulling her right arm downward heavily, perturbing about the rapidly accelerating gravity. 

One of the men contacted a defense unit in charge of the room as he tapped a device on his ear. 

“…Increase the defense wall level maximally in the Training Room Section 3, now!…”

A few seconds later, she looked back to the front, finding out that the matter’s growth size has escalated to as massive as a thousand times bigger than one Rouseht’s fist-size sphere.

“…Ah—! My Occult Energy—I couldn’t control it!…” 

The overwhelming and uncontrollable force pulled her downward.

Forcibly, she fell on the paved ground, hearing a bellowing sound of a void as the matter escaped from her manifestation.

Haequa shrinked back into Raeké’s back at incredible speed, disappearing from anyone’s presence.

As the layers of the magical walls in the room become super-thick, the matter hits the wall, destroying all of the six targets inside the room and punches the wall down to ashes.

The impact boomed till the next room, shattering the glasses and coincidentally hitting some men nearby in the next room.

As she stood up, many men were screaming on the other side of the room.

Her innocence has been scarred profoundly, and she trembles all over her body and howls in extreme guilt. 

“…Oh no…, no—. No—what have I done?!…”

She glanced around, noticing Rouseht’s sinister chuckle, with a little critique on her unfortunate action. 

“…Oops, I forgot that you’re incapable of controlling your own, massive Occult Energy.…” 

“…Hehehe—I won.…”

This experience had her screaming internally. 

‘Enough—!’

The scene flashed into a different room, with her running almost out of breath.

Shortly after that, she slammed the door shut, leaving a loud bang echoing in the hall.

She wailed, complaining about things to her mother on her laps. 

“…Why!? Mom, why are they treating me badly? I thought I'd treated them kindly! This is unfair, Mom!…”

“…You know that you shouldn’t trust others easily, dear. So—…”

From there, everything else that she sees in the Princess’s memory becomes unexpectedly blank.

She returns fully conscious, while seeing all of the dressers step back.

She brushes her hair to her cheeks, sighing in anxiety and staring at her beautified appearance. 

In the end, she stares into the mirror without figuring anything out.