Abyssal Awakening

"What about Velouria then? You miss her as well, don\'t you? Why are you taking my side?"

Without hesitation, Cayla leaned down and flicked Alice on the forehead.

[Mine master, did Allura hit you too hard in the head? The past is in the past. The Era of Ayr is over. Though I may long for those bygone days, I will not sacrifice the present for a distant memory. My old master would not wish for it to be so and neither would I.

[Over the course of many long years, I\'ve watched humanity grow, recall and eventually forget. I\'ve seen Kaden and Allura make new relationships, break off old ones and even do stupid things such as avoiding one another.

[But even so, they continue forward while holding the memory of Ayr close to their heart.] Cayla lectured while Alice held her forehead in pain.

[Never see yourself as beneath mine old master. Both of you are equal and I would not trade one for the other. And as much as I enjoy lecturing you o\' master mine, time is of the essence. Even now, Nyer is attempting to break through the fold that connects what is memory to reality.]

"What can I even do in my current state?" Alice sighed.

She had no control over her body, no control over her abilities and no control over any weapons that could turn the tide.

*Sigh

[Truly, visiting the memory has made you dull master.] Cayla sighed as she massaged her forehead, causing Alice to pout.

"Stop teasing me already."

[Very well. Consider it from this perspective o\' master mine. While you may have been deprived of your control over the physical world, what state do you think you are in right now? And where do you think you are?] Cayla asked as Alice became silent.

Furrowing her brows, she observed her surroundings. She had a guess in her mind but the truth seemed simply absurd to be real.

[Currently, you are in your soul state. When Nyer separated your heart from your body, he did not take into account that your nature of having two sides of the same soul would have this kind of reaction. With your other half, Alyss, being awake in your physical body, it has allowed your conscience to preserve itself in the soul state.

[Naturally, this means you now gain control over your soul to some extent. His goals are for him to summon the real Heart using your fake heart and Velouria\'s placeholder. With all three combined, he will create a true Heart containing the \'memory\' of Velouria\'s soul. And in this case, a memory becoming a real soul and having control over what they wish to do.

[To create life from death.]

Alice knew what Cayla was leading towards. She knew one of the possibilities herself but she didn\'t want to admit it.

And naturally, Cayla understood from Alice\'s expression that she knew as well. Which is why it was up to her to say it out loud.

[One of the ways for you to survive this master, is for you to claim the real Heart yourself. As you are conscious right now, you are able to exert some control over the flow of energy so long as Nyer is distracted.

[Once the real Heart is summoned, all you need to do is simply funnel the power towards you. Upon doing so, it will remould the fake Heart that has been implanted into you to become a vessel for the real Heart of the Abyss.]

Pausing for a moment, Cayla sighed.

[Naturally, that means severing Velouria\'s connection from her heart to her physical body and taking that placeholder into your new Heart.]

Biting her lips, Alice clenched her fist before nodding her head.

[For now, familiarise yourself with this energy around us. It\'s the energy that connects to the soul, the exact same ones that link the Spiritual Heart to the real Heart. It\'s not often you get to experience this, so soon in your journey as a Hunter too. Understanding this energy and familiarising yourself to it will allow you a better connection to the Spiritual Heart in the future.]

What Alcie needed now was a moment to take her mind off what she was about to do. After all, Cayla had essentially asked her to kill Velouria if she wanted to survive.

Nodding her head, Alice closed her eyes and immersed herself in this energy while Cayla smiled and turned her attention away.

Right now, she was split in two. The spiritual side of her that is linked to Alice\'s identity as the successor, and the physical aspect is the literal Eye that Kaden embedded within Alice\'s eye.

And while she was preparing Alice for her inevitable task in a short moment, she was also guiding Alyss to buy as much time as she could so that Nyer wouldn\'t realise what they were doing.

###

Glaring at Nyer who was slashing at the barrier between memory and reality, Alyss looked over at Cayla who was helping him, ignorant of what\'s going on in her mind.

[These chains that bind you are specifically tailored to binding Alice. You see, this is part of mine old master\'s skills. The ones that manifest when you take over are designed to keep your corruptive influence at bay.] Cayla explained in Alyss\'s mind while she continued to try and break out.

\'Stop beating around the bush. Just tell me what I need to do.\' Alyss frowned.

She thought that the current Cayla would take Nyer\'s side as well but didn\'t expect that she was helping them instead of her old master.

[*Sigh… You\'re not cute compared to mine current master. But very well. These chains act by binding the soul. While you and my master share a soul, you are also different enough that one chain isn\'t enough to bind you. Two must appear.

[Thankfully, Nyer didn\'t notice that the chains that manifest when you appear and the chains he created are very different. To him, you have double the layer of restrictions preventing you from making a move.

[When you break out of these chains, you need to do so in one go. And when you do, it has to be the exact moment where he pierces the barrier and opens the path to reality. You need to distract him so that mine master can take advantage of this opportunity to claim the real Heart and foil his plans.] Cayla explained, causing Alyss to frown.

\'You want her to kill Velouria.\'

[Unfortunately, that is the case.]

\'Do you know how much Alice treasures Velouria? Asking her to kill her is… Cruel. Isn\'t there another option? To just end this ritual.\' Alyss bartered as she didn\'t want Alice to go through the feeling of killing someone she loved for a second time.

She already did so with her first friend and now Velouria? It was too cruel.

[The ritual performed by Nyer is special in that regard. It\'s one that cannot be stopped as he\'s using four catalysts to activate. The old me, himself, Alice\'s heart and Velouria\'s heart. It\'s the kind of ritual that will only be stopped once all of the catalysts have been destroyed.

[Which is why I suggested to mine master to take advantage of this and absorb the power instead. Because if she cannot handle it and Velouria\'s heart is destroyed, the power would instead either flood towards Nyer or the old me.

[If that happens, he\'ll be able to funnel the power into a new vessel for Velouria regardless and Alice would be dead. So the only way for a positive outcome here is for mine master to take the power for herself and foil Nyer\'s plans.] Cayla shook her head while Alyss looked down with a frown.

[For now, focus on the timing. I will tell you the method of breaking these chains. Without mine master\'s presence, it should be far easier for you to tap into the power of your Spiritual Heart. Use the countless souls attached to you to overwhelm the chains that Nyer summoned and create a moment of weakness.

[A quick warning though, doing so would make the chains that Velouria placed around your limbs hurt a lot. If you can withstand that pain, you\'ll be able to break out.]

Hearing this, Alyss nodded her head as she glared at Nyer.

Sweat dripped from his head as he continuously slashed away at the barrier, chipping away at it layer by layer.

He could sense the connection to the real Heart strengthening with each subsequent swing.

Soon, Velouria would be able to break free from her role as a puppet in a memory. Soon, she\'ll be able to live her own life.

Soon, he would be able to repay her for the second chance that she\'d given him.

"BREAK!!!" Nyer shouted as he gathered all of his power into one last swing. The Sigils across his body burning at full power.

*BANG!!!

With a twist of the body, a radiant arc of energy rushed towards the barrier, piercing it in one go!

[NOW!] Cayla shouted.

Gritting her teeth, the power of countless souls rushed from Alyss\'s Spiritual heart as dark hands erupted from her shadow and grabbed the chains. Each hand would tear off a piece while Velouria\'s chains seared deeply into her skin.

Biting her lip to hold back her scream, Alyss broke Nyer\'s restriction!

"Nyer!" Alyss shouted, summoning Void Fang and releasing a slash.

Executioner\'s Blade!

Sensing danger from beside him, Nyer glared at Alyss with a shocked expression but managed to dodge at the last moment.

Alyss doesn\'t need to win, she just needed to distract this man long enough for Alice to take the power for herself.

"Stop getting in my way!" Nyer glared as his patience had run thin. His desire was so very close, just a little longer and he\'ll achieve his goal.

Taking a deep breath, Alyss glared at Nyer while hands wrapped around her body.

From beneath this swarm of hands, Alyss tore it apart to reveal her new form. A resonance between the countless beasts attached to her soul, only achievable due to the absence of Alice.

Transforming Void Fang into a spear, Alyss burst into action. There was no reason for them to talk at this point.

There was only kill or be killed!