Ch 22: Mythra the Spellweaver

Searching Lamiswood for an old friend of Alexander's, Grey comes across a mysterious woman. She is Mythra, the person they have sought, and she's quite a colorful person to say the least.

            “You’ve been waiting for me?” Grey asked the girl in a confused tone. Slowly, she began to walk across the water towards him as she said, “Of course. Is it so surprising? I could sense you wandering about in my forest, and what other reason would you have to be here but to see me?” In sudden realization, Grey said, “Wait, are you Mythra?” To Grey’s great surprise she suddenly rushed forward and embraced him, and with a giggle she said, “Mmhmm, I’m Mythra Starlight. May I ask your name, He of the Infinite?” Feeling his face going red as she clung to him tightly, it was a moment before he stammered, “G-Grey. My name’s Grey…” His legs already weak from walking through the forest in his condition, Grey suddenly lost his balance and fell backwards, Mythra collapsing on top of him. Wincing, Grey muttered, “Ow… Um, Mythra my legs are kinda weak right now, and with you hanging on me like that…” Mythra smiled and said, “I see… I sensed something strange about you. You’ve overused your Void Energy, haven’t you?” Still unsure what to make of this girl, Grey replied, “It’s a long story, um… Could you get off of me now?” Noticing his red face, Mythra smirked and said, “You’re a bit different than Amanus, aren’t you? Still, you’re rather cute when you’re shy…” Grey, now feeling very uncomfortable with where this was going, could only exclaim, “Wh-what…?!” Suddenly, off in the direction he had come from there was a rustling of leaves. Scott, covered in dirt and looking rather exhausted, came stumbling through the fog with Amy on his back, looking just about as bad as Scott did. Spying Grey after resting for a moment, Scott said, “Grey, where the hell have you been? We’ve been…” Somehow having not realized Grey’s current situation at first, Scott trailed off and stared for a moment before he finally said, “Grey, who’s that girl… and what are you two doing…?” Before Grey could answer, Amy, seemingly snapped out of her exhausted state by what Scott said, opened her eyes. Seeing the scene before her, she shouted, “WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?!”

            Having sent up a flare for Alexander and Serius, Grey and Scott sat at a table with Mythra on the porch of her stunningly beautiful house, which was only a short walk from the pond. A white two story building, it had an otherworldly look to it, like a small castle from a fairy tale. Still fuming, Amy stood a short distance from the others leaning against the house. Mythra had brought them tea and snacks, and after taking a sip of his cup of tea, Scott said, “This is really good tea.” Smiling, Mythra said, “Thank you!” Setting down the cup, Scott continued, “So you’re really Mythra? I suppose Alexander didn’t really tell us too much about you, but I wasn’t expecting such a young girl.” Smirking, Mythra replied, “Well, I suppose you could say Alexander and I find each other rather… annoying. I’m not surprised he doesn’t talk about me much.” Having noticed he’d finished his cup, Mythra said to Grey, “Oh Grey, would you like more tea?” As she stared at him from across the table with a dreamy look, Grey nervously said, “Uh… I suppose.” Somehow feeling terrifying rage coming from Amy’s direction, Grey dared to glance over at her as Mythra poured the tea, and saw her shooting Mythra a menacing stare. Drinking his tea, he thought to himself, “I’ve got a bad feeling about something here…” Suddenly Alexander’s voice called out, “I see things are going about as I’d expected.” As he came walking up the path by himself, Scott called back to him, “Hey Alexander, come have some of this tea! It’s great!” Walking up onto the porch, as Alexander approached the table, Grey said to him, “Alexander, where’s Serius? Did you two get separated?” Laughing, Alexander said, “Really quite the opposite. He had been in physical form too long, so he needed to rest for a bit.” Snidely, Mythra muttered, “So now you’ve got a parasite eh? As if suffering from old age wasn’t bad enough…” 

Taking his seat, Alexander responded to her jab and said, “It’s been a long time Mythra. Be aware, even in my old age, my hearing is still as good as it ever was.” Smirking, Mythra took another stab at him as she replied, “Oh, is that so? Is it your sight that’s going then? I do notice you’re wearing some rather ugly shades there. All you need now is a cane and a Seeing Eye dog…” Swift with his comeback, Alexander said, “You’re one to talk of fashion sense. Despite your young appearance, you still dress like the old lady you really are. What were you going for? The gothic grandma look?” Sitting there listening to the two exchange fire, Grey thought to himself, “Wow, they certainly had a mood swing. What is it between these two?” In an attempt to calm the situation, Grey said, “Um Alexander…? Can we maybe get back on track here? We came here for training right?” Alexander, refraining from another comeback, said, “Yes, of course… Mythra, putting our differences aside I came here today because I could use your help in training my companions to help them hone their abiliti-” Mythra cut him off, saying with finality, “No.” With a sigh of frustration, Alexander gave it another attempt, saying, “Mythra, please put aside what animosities you have and hear me out. We’re up against Alastor again. He’s been set free if you weren’t aware, and causing quite a bit of trouble with his new organization, Altera Veritas. All I ask is-” Again, Mythra said, “No.” Quickly coming up with an alternate plan, Alexander gave a dramatic sigh and said, “I see, very well. I suppose Grey and the rest of us will be taking our leave. Training here was our intention, but without your consent I suppose we’ll simply have to go somewhere else.” Hearing this, Amy was merrily on her way before the rest of them even were out of their seats.

            Mythra, watching Grey rise to go, stammered, “I-I… B-but… W-well…” Suppressing a sly grin, Alexander replied, “What’s that Mythra? I’m afraid I didn’t understand you.” With a drawn out sigh of her own, Mythra said, “Very well! I shall lend you my assistance and facilities. However, I reserve all discretion in regards to the scope and methods of the training. I’m not following any orders from you Alexander, understood?” With a slight laugh, Alexander said, “Of course, I had expected as much.” Amy, having come back from down the path, shouted, “Hey, weren’t we leaving?” Scott shouted back, “Well it looks like Mythra will let us train here after all, so I guess we’re staying.” Amy had a dejected look about her as she muttered incoherently and made her way back up onto the porch. Finally taking a place at the table with them, she grabbed a chair next to Grey. Looking over at her, Grey was trying to think of some way to counteract her bad mood when he noticed again how she had dirt all over her, along with some bruises and scratches. Wondering what had gone on after they had gotten separated, he asked, “Amy, are you sure you’re ok? Just what happened to you guys back there? You disappeared in the fog, and then showed up looking like you’d been lost in the forest for days…” With a grumble, Amy rested her arms on the table and laid her head on them as she said, “Don’t remind me. After I ran off looking for Lei, I fell into some kind of pit…” Scott, sipping tea again, said, “Yeah, and then when you and I ran off into the forest after her, I fell down the same pit and landed on her… After we got out, we fell into two more in that stupid fog. Never did find Lei. I don’t understand what pits like that are doing in the forest around here. It’s kind of weird…” Pouring herself another cup of tea, Mythra casually said, “Oh, I dug those things a long time ago. Quite a few of them actually.” Amy glared hatefully at her with newfound vigor, as she and Scott both exclaimed, “WHY?!” Sipping her tea, unfazed by their reactions, Mythra simply replied, “Home security.”

            Seemingly out of the blue, Alexander said, “I’m not criticizing your fashion sense again Mythra, but isn’t that hat rather uncomfortable to your ears?” Shooting him a nasty look, she said, “Your voice is uncomfortable to my ears! I would have thought you’d have been glad I wore it, or do they already know?” As the others listened in confusion, Alexander replied, “Well, they don’t know about you, but they already know about the existence of Gaia and its people. It shouldn’t be a problem.” Seeing the hesitant look on her face, he added, “Oh my, are you actually being shy? Will wonders never cease?” Shooting another nasty look at him, Mythra replied, “Not that you would know, but they say first impressions are important!” Starting to pick up where this might be going, Grey asked, “Mythra, are you from Gaia?” Looking at Grey nervously, she said, “W-well yes…” Then, she slowly removed her hat, showing that underneath them she had a pair of black cat ears on top of her head. Grey, Scott, and Amy stared for a moment. Before one of them could even think to ask if they were real, Mythra’s ears twitched nervously and folded down as her face turned red and she said, “I’m not an animal on exhibit here or something! You don’t have to stare so much…” Laughing, Alexander said, “Well Scott, I would say my story sounds a bit more believable with someone obviously not from this world sitting before you, doesn’t it? Mythra is a half halman, half human, the same as Grey.” 

Surprised, Grey found himself feeling a bit of kinship with Mythra. She was a half-human just like him, even though he’d only just learned about himself. Feeling it was indeed hard to refute most of Alexander’s story now, Scott still had one doubt, and voicing it he said, “If she and Grey are both half human, why doesn’t Grey have ears like hers?” Anticipating this, Alexander said, “It seems to depend on what traits are inherited from their parents. Grey simply did not inherit his mother’s visibly non-human traits, not that halmans have many differences from humans as far as outside appearance. Mythra actually looks completely halman, however halman society-” Glaring at Alexander as she had been for a while now, Mythra interrupted, saying, “Alexander… The way this conversation’s going is making me feel like a child’s pet brought in for show and tell… I’d appreciate it if you’d SHUT UP!” Alexander made a calming motion with his hands as he said, “Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” For a moment it was silent as Scott and Mythra were simply finishing their tea. Then, noticing Amy starting to fall asleep as she rested her head on her arms, Alexander said, “Well it’s a little early still, but I think everyone could use some rest. Would it be wrong of me to assume we could stay in some of your guest rooms Mythra?” Grumbling, Mythra replied, “Very well. It’s not like I get many guests, so they’ll probably be a bit dusty. It’s been months since I did my Spring Cleaning.” Rising from his chair, Alexander said, “I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Scott rose as well, and since Amy seemed to have fallen asleep, Grey put a hand on her shoulder and lightly shook her as he said, “Amy, you’d better go to bed, c’mon.” Opening her eyes with some difficultly, she yawned and said, “Ok…”

            Rather tired himself, Grey stood and helped her up. Following the others into Mythra’s house, Grey stepped into the large entry room, which was decorated with a great deal of almost antique looking furniture, the wallpaper white with gold patterns on it. All the lights, while electrically powered, were made to look like candleholders. Grey could see a large flight of stairs to the second floor ahead of the entrance, various doorways to other rooms to the sides. Looking around at it all, Grey felt as if it was like he’d walked into a mansion. Mythra was leading the way to the stairs when suddenly, feeling very tired and weak, Grey fell unconscious and dropped to the floor. Looking back and seeing he had collapsed, Amy gasped and shouted, “Grey!” The others turned as well as she rushed over to him, and Mythra rushed to his side as well as she exclaimed, “Oh no, It must be worse than I’d thought!” Scott was right behind her as he said, “What’s going on?! Is he ok?!” Alexander let out a sigh, and as he was walking over to the others who were now gathered around Grey, he said, “I had thought he seemed almost recovered, but apparently it was a mistake to let him walk around on his own for so long. Mythra, do you think you could help him recover? You know the differences of a half-halman’s body. I had hoped time would do something about his condition, but it’s been over a week. I’m starting to think he won’t recover without some kind of treatment.” Mythra nodded and said, “You’re probably right, for once… I could sense something was wrong since he arrived. I suspect that in addition to the damage to his body from the overuse of his Void Energy, he’s also retaining a lot of EDE within his body’s conduits. It’s too much for his body to tolerate at his current level of strength, it’s just causing more damage the longer it’s stuck in there.” Scott looked at her in amazement, saying, “That’s insane, I’ve never heard of such a thing! And you say you could sense it?” With a quiet laugh, Alexander said, “Mythra is very sensitive to EDE. It’d be hard for even a skilled energist to suppress their aura to the point where she couldn’t sense it.” 

Becoming distressed at the truth of Grey’s condition, Amy shouted, “What do we do?! It won’t kill him will it?!” Standing, Mythra said, “It will if something isn’t done about it. The quickest way would be for him to expend it, but he seemed so tired that I was going to wait to suggest it. It looks like it was worse than I thought though… Everyone stand back!” As the others stepped back, Mythra began to gather EDE as she stood over Grey and said, “I’ll try and draw it out with an energy siphon spell.” Raising her hands before her, her violet eye glowed, and centered in the air in front of her palms a black rune circle formed. Suddenly, dark looking energy started seeping out of Grey, gathering itself in the air above him. For a while the energy continued to seep out, forming an odd clump in the air above them, and Mythra stared at it strangely as she said, “This is greatly disturbing… Alexander, after this there is something very important we must discuss.” Curious, Alexander replied, “Oh? Is there a problem?” Nodding, she reached a hand out seeming to grasp the dark energy that had gathered, and it crystallized into a large, jagged looking scythe. Holding it up, Mythra said, “I believe you recognize this?” His face becoming grave, Alexander simply replied, “Yes…” Then the rune circle disappeared, as did the scythe, and Mythra said, “I’ve removed some of it, but more will need to be extracted later. For now we need to get him to bed.” As Scott and Alexander lifted Grey, Amy said to Mythra, “Was that the same ability Grey and Alexander have? You created a rune circle but… you didn’t use an incantation.” Smirking, Mythra smugly said, “That’s because I am Mythra the Spellweaver!”

            After helping to get Grey into bed, Scott and Amy went to bed as well. Alexander and Mythra stayed up to discuss the disturbing discovery she had made. Sitting in her luxurious living room in a chair on one side of a glass coffee table, Alexander sat waiting for Mythra, who had gone to fix more tea. Returning at last bearing a tray with a teapot and two cups on it, she placed the tray on the coffee table and settled herself in a chair across the coffee table from him. Pouring herself a cup, she said to him, “Before I say anything Alexander, I would like to know what events led up to the overuse of his Void Energy.” Alexander explained to her as she sipped her tea. When he at last finished his explanation, he poured himself a cup of tea as Mythra said, “Hmm… Unfortunately, your story confirms my fears. Although Grey has broken from the Nameless One’s grasp by his own will, he has only suppressed its essence. It remains dormant within him. No doubt during your battle he generated great amounts of Corrupted EDE, and when the Nameless One saw it was being subdued, it pulled as much of it as it could into Grey. The Nameless One probably intended to kill him, seeing Grey as a threat because it could not control him, but I can’t say whether that was its actual intent or not. I also cannot say what other problems could arise from part of the Nameless One being within him. He seems completely in control right now… but as amazing as that is, I still don’t see anything good coming from letting it remain in him.” 

Setting down his cup of tea, Alexander crossed his hands in his lap and leaned back as he said, “Yes, it is definitely not something we can ignore. Yet the question remains… What can we do about it?” Silence filled the room as they both thought about it. Then Mythra simply shrugged and said, “Ah well, it’s too late at night to be thinking so hard about anything…” A look of frustration on his face, Alexander replied, “I’ll admit nothing comes to mind, but this is important. We have to think of something…” Smirking, Mythra said, “Well, I suppose we could always ask your parasite. After all, who would know the Nameless One better than one of the descendants of his kind? If we’re to believe the mautauian stories, the Nameless One was one of your kind Serius, once upon a time.” From Alexander’s body came Serius’ ethereal essence, crystallizing into his physical form. Fixing his eyes on Mythra, Serius said, “Even if it is true, he is hardly one of my ancestors anymore. He is now a far better candidate to be called a ‘parasite’ than I am. His ability to merge with others is on a level beyond that of a mautauian, giving him the ability to not only split off part of his corrupted essence to merge with multiple beings and combine their power with his own, but the ability to manipulate their thoughts and actions as well.” Picking up his cup of tea, Alexander took a sip and said, “Not that I mind, but it’s surprising that you’ve returned to physical form after such a short rest Serius. Did you have an idea to discuss?” 

Walking to one side of the room, Serius crossed his arms before him and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes, and after a moment he said, “There may be a way. It most certainly would not be of use if he contained the core essence or had completely merged with even a piece of it, but in the suppressed state this unmerged essence is in, the properties of the Mirror of Souls may prove effective.” Mulling this over for a second, Alexander said, “I suppose that after we’ve finished our training we will have to head for the Gate.” Noticing Mythra had wandered off somewhere, Alexander heard some strange sounds from an adjacent room. Getting up, he said to Serius, “I suppose it’s time we get some rest as well. Will you be remaining in physical form for a while, Serius?” Raising a hand before him, Serius balled it into a fist and said, “Yes. My recovery is progressing well.” Alexander nodded, and walked off to find Mythra and have her show them to their rooms. He walked into what he could only assume was her entertainment room, and sitting in front of a television set holding a video game controller, Mythra was playing some sort of adventure game, her attention fixed upon the image on the television screen. Alexander shook his head and muttered to himself, “Honestly, and she’s supposed to be older than I am?” Mythra’s ears twitched and she called out, “Oh shut up! In case you didn’t notice, there’s not much for me to do out here all by myself in the forest! You’re lucky I didn’t decide to pack up and move before you got here!”

Reviews

[Ryan Henderson]

HAHAHA! Oh my god man this chapter is too funny! I love how you incorporate some humor into your sort of serious novel. I love it I tell you! I love Mythra's character so much! I expected her to be a bit... older... Anyway I love her so far nonetheless. One spelling error I found:

He’s has been set free if you weren’t aware,

It should be He has been set free or he's been set free.

Other than that spelling error I found no others! I am LOVING your book so far and I am so sorry I have not reviewed it recently. I had some stuff to straighten out but that is all done and out of the way! I am also loving the implied rivalry between Mythra and Amy. I am eager to see what will come of it. I found it funny how upon mentioning leaving, Amy was out the door in a flash. The humor in your book is very appealing and it comes at just the right moments! I love your work and will be reviewing more of it very soon. Keep writing!

[KeithKVH]

Thank you for the review, and good eye on that correction. This chapter has had some issues in editing so I likely missed something in a change. I'm glad you like Mythra's character, but I do wonder whether there isn't something else I must correct.

When you say you expected her to be older, you don't mean she seems really young right? Looking over the chapter I worry the use of "young girl" here and there makes her sound like a little girl, but her appearance is basically at the same age as Amy. She is of course much older than that though. xD

[Ryan Henderson]

lol okay. Again, very awesome chapter and I'll review more later today!