Chapter 375: Skyclad Observer, Part
The memory began to shift again.
Like a canvas of harrowing colors slowly cleansed of all of its horrors, its imagery, washed away once more into a blank slate.
The blackness of the world came again, but it only lasted and stayed for a brief moment before the empty canvas began to fill again with the many vibrant shades of Ria’s memories, and as it shifted, this one felt... eternally long for some reason.
I had this insipid weary sense stirring inside me telling me that it has been many, many years since the previous memory played out. A flood of warm, lush green began to gush into the black void, filling the darkness in a stream of flora.
There were trees all around. Some colossal, others endless, many seem to even pierce through the clouds, loom over the peaks of the highest mountain ranges- and when I happened upon an old withered stump of a gargantuan tree rooted amongst charred patches of shriveled grass, that’s when I realized I have been to this forest before.
Within the confines of another age-old memory... telling the tale of an old phoenix soaring centuries through its branches, and the young succubus that wandered with wonder in its vast open plains below.
Why was I here again? Was this all memories, encounters, picked at random, or does this forest of mystery instead have another story to tell me?
.....
Finding Ria wasn’t as difficult an undertaking as I’d originally perceived. It seemed wherever I was, she wouldn’t be too far away from me either... as if we were tethered to each other by an invisible bond, a bit of string woven from that same bit of nothingness that I was made of.
I went with a hunch, and looked up above me... and there she was, a golden-red soft glow perched atop the lowest branch of the smallest tree. I didn’t think of it before I was already hovering myself closer towards her to meet our elevation as equal.
Here, she was no longer the pleading, timid child shrieking over the slightest quiver of sound. Here, she was bigger now, better now... adding on a bent twig she held in her beak onto a haphazard pile of other equally crooked twigs that vaguely resembled a nest like the blazing bird of mystique that I’ve come to know of her all too well as.
Carefully, precariously, she jutted out her beak just a little more, her wings, her every glimmering feather ruffled, her beady eyes swirling with determination blazing intensely within.
But for all her effort, all her focus, it was all sadly for naught... for suddenly, there was a loud hollering resounding in the air.
So shrilly, so clamorously it erupted, that it was as if the very ground itself was quivering at the very sound. The treetops above violently rustled, the bushes below billowed and swayed... and her nest, utterly helpless against the inevitable, promptly proceeded to collapse in on itself, very much to her dismay.
Then, every sound, every movement, every disruption to the peaceful silence just mere minutes ago finally reached its peak – a stampede.
Countless herds of animals of every shape and size began to swarm the area, flooding the open plain below her with the almost deafening rumbles of hooves. For a long while, it was a chaotic disharmony of noises erupting from trunks, fangs, and beaks of every kind.
Not even the skies were spared of the pandemonium, birds of every flock were casting fleeting rushing shadows to the ground as they weaved and swerved through the trees, sparing no moment to aid those unfortunate few that had failed to dodge in time and had fallen into the crushing stampede below.
Something had frightened the wildlife to a singular direction, and that direction was forward.
Forward from what? Away from what?
Ria was just as keen to find out.
Once the dust had finally settled, and the last remaining few stragglers had gone, Ria plunged herself down to the ground, transforming midfall, and landing with bare human feet in a bright swirl of fire.
As the embers dissipated, and the wispy smoke cleared, Ria slowly lumbered over to her favorite withered stump, her feet sinking down on every indent, every hoof, claw, and print marking on the dirt as she did.
“Definitely not Ruria,” I heard her mutter to herself as she sat calmly in wait for whatever or whoever lurked in the gaping darkness of the forest beyond, before giving more strength to her voice as she shouted, “You’re not particularly subtle, are you?”
Silence began to pervade into the woods once more, only this silence wasn’t peace – it festered, it lingered, immersing the vicinity with the suffocating aroma of unease.
I could feel it from within me. I didn’t have emotions, didn’t have opinions. I could only describe things factually – and the fact was... the feeling of dread, despair, it simply reeked heavily in the air.
Yet Ria’s gaze was unafraid, unwavering, cocking her head sideways as she formed a ball of flames hovering over an open palm, speaking again, this time in a tone harsher, “If hiding’s your game, then I’ll warn you now... I’m a very good seeker.”
“Of course you are, I would never doubt it so,” echoed a voice from all around, as if speaking through every strand of grass, every leaf swaying scattered, and every molecule in the air. “Your reputation precedes you... and I am much a long-time adoring fan of yours.”
Ria immediately scrambled up to her feet again, her body, her every movement suddenly growing tense. “Now I understand why all my friends flew away. Your presence is not very nice to the senses... who are you?”
For once, I knew something that Ria didn’t. In this world of memories shrouded heavily in mystery and mystique, I alone held the answer to this one particular mystery.
How could I not? I’ve heard that echo, that voice for almost every day throughout my life, so much so that it’s ingrained in me... that gentleness, that tone always teetering on the verge of amusement...
From the darkness, she appeared. Into the open plains, illuminated, unveiled, by the glow of Ria’s luster, she emerged... wearing that same gentle expression, that same tender gaze, that brought me warmth and comfort in my every time of need growing up.
Mom.
“Oh, I’m not too fond talking about myself as you’ll come to know,” She responded, forming a small smile that was just as kind as ever. “But for the sake of courtesy, I suppose you can call me Terestra if you must... though you are free to address me however you wish. The Divines know I’ve grown tired of that name.”
Terestra exuded a presence like I’ve never sensed before. Different from the potency in Jay’s, different from the strength in Ash’s, or from my own even... her own flesh and blood. Hers was an indescribable, domineering sensation that one couldn’t ignore no matter how much they tried.
It was almost amusing if it weren’t so unnerving. At first glance, there was nothing amiss about her appearance.
Her flowing hair stayed its dark shade of hazel brown that I’ve grown to only recognize it as, only it was much longer in this period, to the point where it was only mere inches from touching the ground, and the black in her eyes, so much resembling mine, stared ever as amicably back at Ria.
She wore an elegant black gown, one that swayed and skirted through the grass in an almost ethereal manner – as if it had a life of its own woven into its dark thread and was itself aware of every happening surrounding it.
But then you peer an inch closer, you look beyond, and you’ll feel it. Piercing through your body, burrowing into your very soul, that impulse, that instinct – telling you to run.
I felt it... and undoubtedly Ria was no exception to that instinct, yet even so, she held her ground, and held her head high.
“Terestra,” She whispered the name softly as if the very notion of uttering it would spell doom upon her somehow, and when no one harm befell her, spoke even louder. “The very same Terestra that I’m thinking of right at this moment?”
At that, Mom gave a quiet chuckle, laughing in the same manner she used when sharing a laugh with me. “I haven’t a clue personally what tales you’ve heard about me, and unless there’s another demon bearing that name... then I suppose there can’t really be any other. So to answer the question – yes, the very same indeed.”
“Thanks for the clarification,” Ria spoke, then her blaze surged fierce, almost blinding, in both palms now, her flames swirled even bigger. “And now for your last words?”
Terestra’s gaze stayed unfazed, barely batting an eye at the harsh glow, not a flinch in her calm demeanor as the temperature soared so high that even the very air itself began to burn.
Still with a smile, she spoke, “I’m not here to kill you, Ria.”
“What a complete waste of last words.”
“You can burn the forest of its trees, singe the grass until it’s scorched, Ria Ignis – but I know you are as much wise as you are strong – and you know for a fact that if I am the same Terestra that you’ve come to know me as from all those stories you’ve heard, then you just as much know that you’ll never be able to kill me on your own, so let’s not deprive this land of its greenery, shall we? This is a beautiful place you made a home out of, after all.”
Ria’s flame continued to burn, to flare, illuminating the forest’s shade in a blinding yellow glow, all that power, all that potency... and yet they only remained hovering atop her palms.
She cocked her head at her. “How did you find me?”
“Find you?” Mom flashed a wry smirk. “That phrase implies that I had to go out of my way to look for you in the first place. I’ve always known where you were, Ria... there is not a single soul in existence that takes a single step in this realm without my knowing.”
“If that’s the case, Leonardo should have been dead long ago, shouldn’t he?”
“Okay, the sole exception to that statement, I’ll admit. You humble me,” Terestra said, sighing lightly. “That man is really something else... he’s an intriguing individual, to say the least, if nothing else.”
“Speaking of intriguing,” Ria kept her gaze unblinking, wary. “To what honor do I owe this visit to my home from the great Demon Goddess herself?”
“The honor is all mine, please. You flatter me. To meet the fabled first and last of the Phoenix in the flesh, why I am deeply – ”
“Save it, why don’t you?” Ria snapped. “Why are you here? What do you want?”
The more words they exchanged, the more lax Terestra became. It was to the point that she dared even take a step closer forward despite Ria’s raging flames still smoldering in warning.
“As I’ve said before, your reputation vastly precedes you, the tales of your feats, the wonders of your abilities, I was not lying when I told you I’m a big admirer of you,” She said, so close in proximity to the flames it was as if her face itself seemed to take on a glow. “And it is from that very same admiration, that I am here now to ask you for your help in a small little matter of mine.”
Ria blinked. “My... help?”
Mom smiled. “Please?”
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