Abyssal Awakening

This should be their first meeting yet she was scared of him? Why?

"Mnm, Kaden told me to show her around. She\'s got some weird powers and quirks about her so he\'s talking with Nalem about it right now." Allura shrugged.

"I see… Anything I can do to help? Her Majesty has given me the day off so she can focus on the upcoming meeting. Personally, I\'d want to handle any potential variables to make sure the meeting goes smoothly." He offered as Allura looked towards Alice who was hiding behind her.

"When did you become so shy? I know the commander looks a little scary but he\'s not that bad now, is he?"

Hesitating for a moment, Alice shook her head but didn\'t dare make eye contact.

Shaking his head helplessly, Nyer smiled towards Allura.

"As long as you\'re prepared for the meeting, I have no complaints. Just try not to bring out cake when the other Gods appear okay?"

"Blerg, do I look that stupid?" Allura rolled her eyes.

"The answer may surprise you."

Letting out a laugh, Nyer walked away before Allura could complain.

Seeing Nyer escape, Allura could only sigh.

"Are you alright?" She asked, looking at Alice who finally calmed down once Nyer had walked away.

"Yea… Sorry, I didn\'t know what came over me." Alice apologised while Allura simply patted her head.

"Don\'t worry about it too much. Let\'s go find Kaden and Nalem now, shall we?"

Nodding her head, Alice hesitated for a moment before grabbing Allura\'s hand.

As for Allura, she stayed silent while guiding Alice through the city.

###

Walking away from Allura and her strange guest, Nyer was silent. He kept a smile on his face but there was no joy to be found inside his heart.

Even though her Majesty didn\'t say anything, he had seen the signs. Her condition was deteriorating.

She is the Goddess of the Abyss but that title did not grant her full dominion over this realm. No, in fact, it could be said that she was its prisoner. Helpless at its whims and all she could do was grant the people of the Abyss a small semblance of peace through her rules and creations.

Had it not been for her, he would\'ve been one of the lowly beasts fated to die without gaining full sentience.

He could still remember the meeting he had with a visitor. A God of the Surface.

"Lord Commander Nyer, have you ever doubted the Abyss? I\'m not talking about your Goddess but rather, this dominion she \'rules\' over."

"She is given divinity, sovereignty and yet all she can do is tamper with the rules and loopholes, praying that her changes are accepted all while the burden of her commands falls onto her."

"Your dear Goddess of the Abyss is no different than a prisoner in a cage."

Nyer knew that they were simply planting doubts in his mind in hopes that he would sabotage the meeting. The Gods of the Surface have always been greedy over the power granted by the Abyss.

For the Sun, Moon and Eclipse, their powers are directly derived from their followers. Their beliefs, rituals, sacrifices and worship are what empower their divinity.

But the same couldn\'t be said for the Abyss.

The Abyss is something else entirely, it\'s a being that will grow so long as people drink the holy blood that it provides. No matter what God you worship, so long as you accepted the power from the Abyss, you have become its follower.

In this sense, the Abyss is a parasite that the Gods cannot get rid of.

They were the ones who opened a passage to this realm that they could not close. They opened the pandora\'s box and brought forth this calamity, this being, this abomination into their world.

They suffer yet they cannot help but be enamoured by its all mighty power of corruption. The Gods desire this power and they can only hope that he would serve as their proxy.

Just the mere thought made Nyer spit in disgust. There was only one Goddess he took command from, no other.

His loyalty is to her and her alone. She who brought him out from the depths of the Abyss and granted him life. He owes her everything.

\'The Abyss is no doubt a problem. But the biggest threat to her Majesty right now are the other Gods and their Apostles. This guest of Allura… Her Majesty has said that she doesn\'t feel like she came from the Gods of the Surface but rather the Abyss.

\'Was she sent to watch over what her Majesty chooses to do? Is the Abyss even capable of doing so?\'

Narrowing his eyes, he glanced back at the castle located in the heart of the city. The symbol of her Majesty\'s presence.

No matter what, he will protect her till the end.

###

After walking around the city for a little while, Alice and Allura arrived in front of a grand building not far from the castle.

According to Allura, this is the main Library of Ayr, a building maintained solely by Nalem and people can borrow books here with his permission.

With all of the details that she had gathered, Alice was 90% sure that this Nalem was the same one she knew of. Which only begs the question, did Allura know that Nalem was in the city of Zadash?

\'Allura gathers intel quickly and there\'s also the Underground. If she knew that Nalem was there… Why did she never mention him? Could it be the same reason why she doesn\'t talk to Kaden much?\' Alice wondered to herself as the two entered the building.

Upon entering, Alice saw the library in its entirety. The interior was vast and expansive, countless floors filled to the brim with shelves upon shelves of books.

Towering pillars that connected the ground to the ceiling with some supporting each of the individual floors.

Floating around the interior of the building were strange constructs, tending to the shelves while organizing the vast collection of books. Some towered over the shelves, helping smaller constructs get to higher levels while others had a multitude of limbs.

Each had a different purpose, each working at full efficiency.

"Yahoo!~ Nalem we\'re here. Is Kaden up there with you?" Allura called out, surprising Alice by how loud she was being.

"Yes he is. Please don\'t be so loud while in the library, you can simply let one of the constructs know and I\'ll be notified." An annoyed voice rang out as a small construct floated over to the two of them.

Hearing the voice, Alice confirmed that it was indeed the Nalem she knew.

"If I do that you\'ll just let them deal with me automatically without actually talking to me." Allura shrugged.

"That\'s their whole point. To deal with the tedious situations so I don\'t have to manually do everything. Getting you to come to the third floor is an easy instruction that could\'ve been given by the Construct. Instead, you decide to shout at the top of your lungs." Nalem complained.

Even though Alice couldn\'t see his face right now, she could already picture a frown.

"Alright alright, I\'ll try keep that in mind next time. Third floor right?"

"Yes. And before you ask, no, I do not have snacks here and more specifically cake. That is also not an invitation for you to bring your own food. I don\'t need your dirty fingers staining my books after you\'ve just eaten." He instructed before the construct returned to work.

Making their way upstairs, they saw Nalem and Kaden sitting by the table with large stacks of books next to them.

A brief glance at the titles told Alice everything she needed to know as they were researching beasts with fire abilities.

"So any results?" Allura asked, making herself comfortable on a seat while gesturing for Alice to sits down next to her.

"A little. We managed to narrow down the key \'ability\' of Alice\'s fire. Or rather, the classification of it." Kaden smiled while looking for a book from the pile.

"Classification?" Alice tilted her head.

"Mnm. Your fire can counter Sigil abilities but before we can determine its origin, we need to understand how it works on a fundamental level."

Looking over to Nalem, Kaden gestured for him to continue the explanation.

Scratching his hair, Nalem sighed before opening his mouth.

"There are three types of Cancellation type abilities from my knowledge. First, the Counter type. Like fire and water, the first Cancellation type aims to directly counter the nature of the ability.

"Second, the Sunder type. You can think of this one as Allura with how her attacks work. The Sunder type aims to cut the connection between the user and the Abyss to prevent the usage of abilities.

"Third, Restriction type. This type imposes rules and restrictions onto the enemy, preventing them from activating their Sigils. Certain Resonances have this power but they are few and far between." Nalem explained, holding up three fingers.

"From the initial explanations that Kaden has shown me, there\'s a high likely hood that your flames belong to a merge between the first and second types. Rather than an elemental countering, it seems to be something on a far more fundamental level. But here\'s the issue." Nalem turned towards Alice.

"Most Sunder types are temporary at most while Allura is a special case. Her power partially comes from her Authority hence why the severance is far more potent compared to others. But for you, you can achieve a similar result despite not having the Authority.

"Thus far, there have been no records on beasts that can emulate Authority to such a high degree. Your flames are completely foreign to us." Nalem admitted helplessly.

"However…" He hesitated before looking towards Kaden.

"If you want, Nalem can perform some experiments with a few friends on your blood samples. It should help him figure out the source of these flames. Of course, only if you wish to go ahead with this." Kaden suggested.

Hearing this, Alice clenched her fists.