Meanwhile, inside New Eden, Astaroth was planning out ways to train the populace of Bastion City in safety protocols with Aravelle. The man was old and a fount of knowledge, and he had many good ideas.
Of course, even if he wanted to say yes to all these things, he wouldn't answer without consulting Phoenix. And that was only after he found her and apologized profusely.
"Alright, Aravelle. Thank you for all the ideas. Sounds great. But I have to go and find Phoenix. I can't leave things as they are right now."
Aravelle snickered at him.
"I was wondering when you would realize that. I only kept you from darting after her. She seemed like she needed time. But you should have realized at least an hour ago that she needs you to find her, too."
Astaroth's eye twitched.
"I don't remember asking you to butt into my relationship…"
"Hah. Boy, if I hadn't, you would have made things worse. I may be old and alone, but that doesn't mean I don't know more than you about women. I've been with women for lifetimes. Now go. She left eastward."
Astaroth was about to reply to him with a snarky comment, but he was already back in the throne room's back room.
"Fucking nosey old man…" he grumbled instead.
Astaroth left the room, heading to the palace exit, failing to notice the mirror suddenly showing a middle finger briefly. Once outside, Astaroth oriented himself eastward and was about to call on Morpheus when he paused.
'I still haven't looked at that notification. I'll look at that quickly before leaving.'
He opened his interface, pulling up the notification window, and his face turned to a frown.
*Changes detected. System recalibrating race options. 00:49:16*
'Huh? What does that even mean?' Astaroth wondered.
But he brushed the notification aside, shrugging. He figured he would find out in about fifty minutes, anyway.
He reached into his mind, going for the tether with Morpheus when he felt a tug on his sleeve.
Looking down, Astaroth saw Luna's worried face.
"Papa… Where is Mama?" Luna asked with a sad face.
Astaroth felt a pinch in his heart as he thought about his earlier actions.
"Mama is… taking a break from leading the kingdom. I'm going to get her now. Want to come?"
Luna nodded her little head, the sadness on her face lingering.
Before he could meld with Morpheus, Luna decided running would be quicker, and she transformed into her stag form, startling the guards not too far to the side.
'Hop up. I'll take us to where she is,' Luna said in his head.
"Do you know where she is?" Astaroth asked, cocking an eyebrow.
'No. But you do,' she replied, huffing and stomping the ground with a hoof.
Astaroth held back a chuckle, hopping onto her back and grabbing the sides of her thick neck. He hung on the best he could, lacking any kind of riding experience for giant deers, and Luna bolted forward.
The speed and acceleration were almost enough to launch him off her back as she almost instantly reached the inner walls. Astaroth had to use mana to anchor himself to her back lest he get flung off.
Leaping over the walls, Luna scared the patrolling soldiers on the walls, who barely saw a streak of white passing over their heads, the wind pushing them close to the edge of the walls.
Luna used mana to form platforms under her hooves, not letting herself land on the busy streets of the outer ring. She pranced over the entire outer city before leaping over the massive outer wall and heading into the thick jungle surrounding Bastion City.
Astaroth wasn't sure how far Phoenix had gone, but he knew how far the forest extended. If she changed direction at any time during her flight, finding her would be like finding a needle in the most enormous haystack in creation.
Luna ran until they reached the edge of the Elven Forest, and they still hadn't found Phoenix. Astaroth looked worried.
While they had run, he sent a message to Phoenix, hoping she would tell him where she was, but the message still showed as unread. And he could see her still connected in his friends list and the guild roster.
He sent her a new one, hoping she'd answer him this time. Or at least read the messages.
**
'Please tell me where you are… I'm worried, and we need to talk. I want to apologize, but not over messaging.'
**
He waited for a few moments, but there was still no answer.
"Is Mama mad at you?" Luna asked him, having returned to her petite Elven form.
Astaroth looked at her with a saddened face.
"Yes… It's my fault. I did something that I shouldn't have to drive a point across, and I think I terrorized her.There's no telling if she'll even want to talk to me now. I wouldn't be surprised if she returned to our world and packed her things to leave…"
Luna looked at him with a disappointed look.
"Is it because of the changes inside you?" she asked, taking his hand in hers.
Astaroth looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"How did… No. Of course you'd find out. Our souls are connected…"
Luna tried smiling at him, but it came across as a grimace more than a smile.
"I'm sure if you apologize sincerely, she'll forgive you."
Astaroth smiled meekly.
"Let's hope that's all it takes. But we still need to find her first," he sighed.
Thinking about it, his only options were to ask her in a party, and hope she accepted, so he could see her on his minimap, or use Geminae's powers to sense her from afar.
Reaching inside him, he still couldn't find Geminae's soul fragment, so he tried a different method.
'Let's hope this works…' he thought, closing his eyes and focusing on Geminae's essence inside his soul.
Immediately as he focused on it, he felt the power surge inside him, as the familiar white wings grew on his back, and his eyes turned golden.
Smiling at the success, Astaroth extended his senses outward in a large area, combing through the forest for Phoenix. He soon locked on her aura and smiled to himself.
As he retracted his senses, getting ready to grab Luna and head toward Phoenix, a crushing presence smashed into him, sending him face-first into the ground.
'What the fuck?!' his mind raced, as he had never felt such a crushing presence.
Even Aravelle's magic aura didn't stomp on him this strongly.
The next moment, a golden beam of light extended from the sky to the ground, and a massive explosion shook the eastern side of the continent of light.
*BOOM!*
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