Abyssal Awakening

"Gods are no joke… F*cking hell." Alice muttered.

One half assed move with the power of a God was all Enris needed to obliterate the beast she viewed as unstoppable.

Taking a deep breath, she sighed out as her fingers pressed against her eyelids.

She didn\'t know what that… \'thing\' was that Enris used to attack her. But the moment she laid her eyes on it, her entire being rejected its existence.

\'I suppose I have to thank my \'hunger\'. Without it, Enris wouldn\'t be interested enough to leave me alive.\' Alice thought to herself.

Reaching into her pouch, she grabbed her flask and poured some mead into her mouth to relax herself.

"Aw drinking alone? Was the first training that bad?" Velouria\'s head popped into Alice\'s view as she had returned from whatever she was doing.

"Not the first one. The third one." Alice grumbled, putting the flask away.

"Wait, third?"

"Mnm. Second one got cut short since I progressed too fast. As for the third… F*cking Enris was my tutor. Literally fighting for my life before getting thrown out from the realm." Alice complained.

Hearing this, Velouria frowned before sitting down next to Alice.

"Can you tell me about what happened in the second and third training sessions?"

Nodding her head, Alice began to recount everything that had happened.

How Nanna helped her see her core and the countless attachments she saw connected to her Spiritual Heart. How her core claimed that she was the truest part of Alice.

She explained the fight she had with Enris, how she had to find a way to amuse Enris or else she would\'ve died. Finally ending with the moment she established a ritual with the beast inside and how Enris killed it in one go.

"Not only that, the moment I laid my eyes on whatever she summoned, I lost my sight and almost died just by looking at it. What even was that thing?" Alice asked with a frown.

"What she used was her true form. A God\'s true form isn\'t something mortals can fully accept. It\'s no wonder your body began to break down the moment you laid eyes on it. In fact, I would even count you lucky that nothing serious occurred." Velouria explained as she stood up.

"I should\'ve expected that Enri would pull something like this, sorry." Velouria apologised but Alice quickly shook her head.

"It\'s fine, I should\'ve trusted my instincts the moment I saw that door. So what\'s the plan now then? She seems to be planning something, even going as far as to ask if I want to join them and make me a God."

"Well knowing what she\'s like, she\'s probably thinking about how she can turn us Gods against one another. It\'s no secret that she\'s only amiable to a certain extent on the surface. Beneath that, she\'s one who wishes we just start killing each other." Velouria massaged her eyes.

"And speaking of that, she wasn\'t joking when she said she\'ll make you a God. If it suits her mood at the moment, she\'ll do anything. In this regard, you can consider her to be someone that\'s 100% true to their desires."

"I figured. The way she looked at me gave me the shivers." Alice sighed, transforming her bracelet into a dagger before twirling it across her fingers.

"You\'ll get used to it when you meet her more often. But enough about Enri. Let\'s talk about you. That heart to heart talk with your Core has really helped huh? You\'re more open now." Velouria chuckled as Alice shrugged.

"*Sigh~ I should\'ve teased you more when you were shy and quiet. What a wasted chance." She lamented while Alice scratched her hair.

"But… Have you seen Nyer or Cayla? After helping you I haven\'t been able to find them anywhere." Velouria asked as Alice blinked her eyes in confusion.

"They\'re not back yet? Maybe they\'re doing something in Hell Gate then. Nyer did send me ahead on my own since he needed to talk to Cayla." Alice rubbed her chin as Velouria nodded her head.

"Well I\'m sure they\'ll report sooner or later. Since you came back earlier than expected, would you like to train with Lua and Kaden some more?" Velouria offered.

Contemplating for a moment, Alice nodded her head.

"Hmm… Sure. I need to properly refine my usage of Zone stance. The better I get at using this sword of mine the easier it\'ll be."

Turning the dagger into a blade, Alice allowed it to sip her blood as a crimson edge slowly manifested itself.

"Do you want me to bless that sword for you? It\'s made from a pretty sturdy material and even though I\'m a memory, I can do something as simple as blessing weapons." Velouria asked curiously while tapping her finger against the blade.

"Wait, really?"

"Who do you take me for? I\'m a memory but I\'m still a Goddess." Velouria acted hurt as she opened her hand, gesturing for Alice to hand over the blade for now.

Handing Velouria the obsidian blade, she watched as the Goddess examined the weapon before closing her eyes.

A strange power began to emanate from her body as dark tendrils reached up from her shadow, taking hold of the blade before dragging it away into the darkness.

Purple motes of light appeared around Velouria as they began to move, slowly drawing out the pattern for what seemed to be a ritual circle.

Unknown words echoed from Velouria\'s mouth as Alice couldn\'t understand it at all but she could see the strands of energy converging towards their location.

Clenching her first, Velouria squeezed out a single drop of her blood and allowed it to fall into her shadow.

Little by little, briar thorns began to crawl out of her shadow as a handle was slowly constructed.

Watching the blade pull itself out from the darkness, Alice could feel an aura of lethality that was never there before. Just seeing the blade sent a chill down her spine as Velouria grabbed it by the handle and played around with the sword.

Feeling satisfied by the blessing, she handed it back to Alice.

"I\'ve blessed and modified the sword a little so that it works better with your Sigils. Functionalities are still the same but it\'s now sharper and acts as a better catalyst for your fire. And just in case you lose the weapon or get disarmed, the blessing I gave it was one that allowed it to return to your hand." Velouria explained while Alice nodded her head absentmindedly.

She was infatuated by the shimmering pattern of the black metal that contrasted the silver edge. Before, the blade was rather plain. But now that Velouria has blessed the blade, the crest of Ayr could be seen on the base of the blade while the guard was now briar thorns wrapped into the shape of a cross guard.

Down the centre of the blade seemed to be a mimicry of the pathways inside of a person\'s body.

Considering that Velouria said that she modified it to help with her flames, Alice took a few steps back before channelling the familiar power.

*BOOM!!!

Erupting with a brilliant array of violet flames, Alice held the blade in front of her, shocked by the efficiency. She used a negligible amount of energy for the flames to come out!

"Seems like you like it." Velouria chuckled as Alice\'s eyes sparkled like a child who got a new toy.

Nodding her head enthusiastically, Alice wanted to test it out immediately. Now that it was modified to be focused around her flames, it wasn\'t quite the same weapon as it was before.

Thinking about it for a moment, Alice decided to give it a new name.

Since her main attacks are Void Flux and Void Flux – Cleave, this new weapon that will act as the medium for her attack will henceforth be known as Void Fang.

Transforming Void Fang into a bracelet, she noticed that it now had a flower decoration on the surface.

"Thank you." Alice smiled happily as she jogged over to Velouria and pulled her into a hug.

Surprised by Alice\'s sudden display of affection, Velouria chuckled before patting her on the head.

"Alright alright, keep hugging and I\'ll drag you away to try out new clothes. Kaden and Lua are still at their house since I\'ve given them a small holiday."

Not wanting to subject herself to the torture of trying out countless clothing for Velouria, Alice waved her hand before leaping from the building.

"What a handful." Velouria smiled helplessly before looking down at her hand.

Allura and Kaden were given a holiday, Nyer and Cayla were missing, Sun and Moon were not so subtle with their plotting and Eclipse had sent her Apostle to let her know that she was coming over for a quick meeting.

Through all of this, seeing Alice being enthusiastic and happy about progress was a nice change of pace but she couldn\'t keep avoiding her responsibilities.

"Solaris and Lumi will find a way to catch you soon you know? Or are you so dedicated to the script that you don\'t care what happens?" Velouria muttered as an eye opened partially before closing again.

"You don\'t care huh? How like you to respond like that." Velouria smiled helplessly.

The Will of the Abyss knew what Nyer and Cayla were doing yet it refused to tell her. In fact, it was even getting in the way of her finding out.

With each passing moment, the potential paths and choices she can take decreases until there is only one path left.

The path determined by the Will and the path towards her grave.

"Since you don\'t care it\'s fine even if we go a little off script right?" Seeing no response from the Will, Velouria took that silence as a yes.

It was a silent declaration saying that nothing she does would change the overall outcome. Death will come whether she struggles or embraces it.

But perhaps with enough chaos, it might push aside the falsehoods and reveal the truth. And for Alice, the truth is what she seeks.

Therefore, Velouria will speak to Enris alone.