Western Istan Isles.
1 Mile from Ishenvale City.
Start of the 3rd Harvest.
112th Era.
Cylika examines the bodies of the men the girl who saved her had killed. Their bodies gave off a mist. A blue mist similar to that of the girl's own body. It may have been residue. She wondered what the substance could be but was interrupted by a heavy thud nearby. She peered back towards the group of trees and sees a faint red light growing brighter. Cylika fearful the girl had met her end hid behind one of the carts watching the light.
Eventually, Alyce, had emerged from the tree line. Dragging the still glowing ax behind her. Her tunic covered in blood, and points of her body giving off a purple smoke. Alyce dropped the ax. And fell to her knees. Her right forearm had been severed and she has it tied to her belt. Thick goop, similar to blood but far too light in color drips from the synthetic muscle strands in her exposed right arm.
Cylika limped over as fast as she could and shook Alyce who appeared to be crying. "Are you ok?! Is he dead? Are you... Are you hurt? What's with your arm!?"
Alyce's crying turns to giggling then turns to full out laughter. "Of course the pile of shit is dead! I won't let a single Merk who abandoned his post for his greed live! I'm just happy you're ok."
Cylika stumbles back in shock "M-me!? Why? You don't even know me! You didn't have to come save me..."
Alyce rolls back to sit on the dirt path. "A long time ago, I had a friend. She was in danger and I wasn't able to get to her in time. It cost me my arm and legs. And I swore to myself that... I would never ignore a call for help." Cylika's eyes tear up. Alyce's eye stares towards the ground, remembering back. But quickly shaking her head and moving on.
"Hey... Can... Can I come with you?" Alyce looks up to Cylika who now held a look of determination.
"What's changed, Cylika?" Alyce inquired.
"Nothing, I still won't kill. But... You seem to be heading to the nearest City. And maybe I can find a job there. I'm only wanted by Elv not the Demys, so I'll be safe there... Right?"
Alyce shrugs "Helf-Elven tend to be the victims of some pretty gnarly racism. But you... You might pass."
Cylika merely nods her head.
Alyce unhinges her pouch, and takes out the contents. Her regained vial of black dye and light blue gems. She also unties her arm and lays it on the ground. "Before we move on I have some shit to get done. If you don't mind waiting."
Cylika sits down and watches Alyce "Not at all, take your time. I certainly still need to catch my breath..."
Alyce unties her rabbit plush and opens the back, placing one of the gems inside. She then closes it and places the toy on the ground. "Alright, Xun. Waaaaaake up!" The plush's screen eyes light up with pale blue pupils, a wur of a motor starts up then quiets down. The plush stands up on it's own and stretches it's stubby arms. A voice emits from the little toy.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH, finally! Ugh, I hate being stuck in 'sleep' mode for that long!" Alyce giggles and spits out the chewed up piece of thick blue gum. Cylika sits in shock.
"U-uh... What... Wha... I don't..." She's so confused she can't even get a sentence out. Alyce rolls her left arm.
"This is Xun, she's connected to me. She's basically my partner in literal crime."
"Hello there Cylika!" Xun walks over to Cylika and offers out her arm in an attempted handshake, Cylika lightly holds it and raises it up and down.
"Nice to... Meet.. You?" Cylika looks up to Alyce who's dumping an amount of the black dye into her hand. She then watches as Alyce runs it through her hair, converting the pink and red hair to black. "Um... Why are you dyeing your hair?"
"The only reason I was arrested... Besides bein' caught around 8 dead bodies... Was because of my hair. It's too rare to see someone with pink blood splattered hair and for me not to be noticed while enterin' a city I'll need my hair to blend in naturally." Cylika takes this time to notice how rather attractive the girl in front of her truly is. Only to then realize she doesn't know her name.
"Um... You never told me. What's your name?"
"What? Ohh, yeah. I'm Alyce, Alyce Tenvia. Nice to meet you Cylika."
"So, what are those blue things? Like the thing you put into... Xun's back?"
"Oh these?" Alyce raises one of the blue gems. "These are fragments of a substance known as Astrel. Surely you've heard of it."
"Nope."
"Wait, what!? Really! Ugh, man the slums must've been awful."
"So. What's this Astrel?" Cylika looks to Xun for the answer as Alyce seems to be lost in the gem pulsing light.
"It's an extremely reactive substance. It can power literally anything, like my body. And it can take the form of a solid, liquid, or gas. It's useful in all forms. And especially useful for Alyce."
"What do you mean?" Cylika asks as Alyce crushes the gem into a liquid that falls into the now empty vial that once contained black dye.
"You see, when the substance is run through a metal called Azimite it creates a violent vibration capable of cutting through almost anything. She can charge that vibration in her false arm and legs to output a destructive force. It can break a bone like a twig and turn organs to mush without the proper protection."
"How come no one else uses weapons like that?" Alyce picks up her severed limb and holds it against her arm.
"People do. You just haven't been around the Isles where people use them. Like the guy in the woods. You missed it but the ax he had was charged with the stuff, cut my arm off with it. But don't get me wrong an average army wouldn't be equipped with such power it takes a ritual to acquire the ability to manipulate the stuff properly and use it as a weapon. So most just use it in the crystal and liquid form to power their motorized vehicles or electric appliances."
"Jeez. This stuff sounds expensive." Alyce downs the blue liquid in the vial and makes a face of disgust.
"Tch, not really. Astrel forms everywhere in large quantities. Hell the stuff regenerates in two harvests if you don't mine all of the crystal. There's pretty much an endless supply."
Alyce's arm glows around the seam where her arm was cut. And a sealing light flashes out. She raises her arm and checks her mobility. "Ahh good. But sadly can't keep doing this." Alyce stands up and looks towards the carts.
"Wait... What did you just do?" Alyce starts making her way towards the carts looking at the horses. Cylika picks up Xun and places the toy on her shoulder and follows Alyce.
"I'm using Astrel in my system to hold my arm together for the time being. It'll last... Maybe 2 hours if I'm lucky. Once we reach the city I'll need to repair it properly." She rubs her hand down one of the horses mane. "This one should do."
"Are we taking a horse?" Xun inquires.
"Of course. Think we could make it on foot?" Alyce scoffs.
"Well... We traveled about 2,000 miles in just a month..."
"Well, now we have a horse." Alyce goes to unhinge the horse from the cart and guides it away from the caravan. Cylika follows. "Oh, by the way." Alyce takes off her tunic and tosses it to Cylika. "Put that on, and give me back the cloak. I need it to cover my right arm so no one sees it. I won't watch don't worry."
Cylika holds out the tunic, and takes off the cloak. Alyce stands with her hand covering her eyes but is peaking through her fingers. She whispers under her breath "Daaamn..."
After Cylika has changed and Alyce has her cloak covering her arm just right. Alyce puts Xun into sleep mode and attaches her to her belt.
They ride the horse off, and soon approach the gates of Ishenvale City.
The home, to the Duke Fendrik Vu Delkar.
Thanks for reading Ainavale! Seriously I love doing this! I hope you enjoyed my story and I hope you'll subscribe to see when the next one comes out! Thanks for the support and I hope you'll stick around!
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