Chapter 81: 68 - Cyclone
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As Arthur had been talking to Echidna, I was wondering...
What would happen if I died?
Would my soul just vanish into the ether, a wisp of forgotten ambition?
Honestly, this isn’t just some idle musing; it’s one of many gambles I’ve taken, a calculated risk woven into the very fabric of my ambition as an Arcanist Mage.
My pursuits demand such recklessness.
Yes, Selene Eryndell Veylith – that’s my name – truly deserves the title of the Wicked Witch. It’s a moniker I wear with a certain, dark pride.
And if the Circle of Inevitability, that ancient, unforgiving magic, truly binds me and exacts its price, then Kairi’s linked soul might very well be consumed in the same fiery retribution.
Because... haven’t we both committed an indecent act?
An intimate exchange of transgression so profound it defies not just societal norms but the very tenets of the religion of Mal’as?
The thought, fleeting as it is, sends a shiver down my spine.
But then, as quickly as it came, I dismissed it.
Oh, never mind.
These are not thoughts for a collapsing mind.
Speaking of which, my head feels heavy and dizzy... like it’s about to give way, to simply crumble under the weight of it all. Oh, no. Perhaps it’s time. The familiar pull towards unconsciousness, the surrender to the void, beckons.
A moment after what felt like an eternity, that rather long ’dream’ that twisted through arcane visions and fragmented memories, I woke up again. Or... more accurately, I became conscious. The shift was subtle, a slow dawn breaking through a heavy fog.
"Oh?" The sound was barely a whisper, a mere puff of air escaping my lips.
My eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the sterile white of the room. I looked around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. No one was there. The silence was profound, broken only by the steady, almost rhythmic beeping of medical equipment nearby.
Then, for who knows how many times in this strange, new existence, I repeated the same activity: getting out of bed. It was a familiar ritual, one that felt both alien and ingrained.
Using both my hands to support myself, pushing down on the mattress, I once again sat up. My muscles protested with a dull ache, but the movement was possible.
"Eh?" A small sound of surprise escaped me.
I could move my legs!
The realization hit me with the force of a sudden revelation.
When I accidentally pulled myself from a supine position, my body had instinctively tried to adjust. On a whim, I idly tried lifting one of my legs, and to my astonishment, it worked. The movement was small, tentative, but undeniably there.
Perhaps only a little, a twitch here, a slight lift there, but at least not like before, not like the leaden immobility that had defined my previous state. And with this newfound, albeit limited, control, a spark of hope ignited: I might even be able to walk.
The thought was both exhilarating and terrifying.
And again, as if following a meticulously crafted script, the nurse reappeared before me. Her entrance was quiet, almost ethereal, as if she had simply materialized from the sterile air.
"Oh, Miss Kairi is awake?" she said, her voice soft but filled with a pleasant surprise. She carried a clipboard, already jotting something down on its surface.
Perhaps for a checklist, a meticulous record of my awakening.
"Yes, nurse." My voice was raspy, unused. I took a breath, trying to adjust my tone, to force it into sounding normal, unremarkable.
But even I didn’t know—who actually answered just now?
Was it me, Selene, the Arcanist Mage, or was it Kairi, the original inhabitant of this vessel?
Who am I? Kairi or Selene?
The question hung heavy in the air, unanswered, unsettling.
Oh, never mind. Whoever it is, this body still belongs to Kairi, and I’m in control.
For now, that was all that mattered.
The nurse, oblivious to my internal turmoil, jotted something else on her board.
"Oh dear, don’t move around too much yet. You’ve only been fully conscious for a week. We’ve seen you stir and have moments of alertness before, but it’s wonderful to have you truly back with us."
A week?
I repeated the word softly, the sound barely a whisper. I wasn’t even sure my voice was heard, lost in the sudden cacophony of my thoughts.
My head started busily connecting many things, fragments of memories and theories colliding.
Was this the insidious effect of the Circle of Inevitability, slowly warping my perception of time? Was I thrown into another dimension, where the very fabric of reality was different? Or does time simply run differently in the magic dimension, a place governed by arcane laws rather than mundane physics?
Wait... could it be that I— I was outside before this, wasn’t I?
I distinctly remember the sun on my face, the gentle warmth on my skin, even if the rest of the memory was hazy.
’Miss Kairi?’ The nurse’s voice, though gentle, cut through the chaos in my head, pulling me back from the precipice of my spiraling thoughts.
She turned, her expression initially worried, then softening into a reassuring smile.
"W-what do you really mean by that?"
My voice, still raspy, hinted at a rising panic as I stuttered, demanding clarity.
"Don’t panic, okay?" she replied, her voice calm and soothing.
"Yes, you were in a medically induced coma for quite a long time, and your brain is still very much in recovery mode. And yes, we did take you out to the hospital garden a few times." Her words painted a picture I couldn’t fully grasp.
"It was part of your sensory therapy, just for a few minutes at a time, to help with your orientation as we gradually reduced your sedation. It’s normal for those memories to be a bit fuzzy, or like dreams, when you were in such a deep state of healing."
I fell silent, the explanation washing over me, dampening the fantastical theories I had conjured.
So... not because of a ritual? Magical anomaly or even intervention from another world?
The grand, dramatic explanations I had woven in my mind unravelled, replaced by the mundane reality of medical science.
