Spiteful Healer

Chapter 236: The Great Old One

The players aboard the Sky Darling became quieter and quieter as the ship neared its destination. All of their necks were craned upwards to face the bright glow emanating out of the bottom of the tree. Somehow, as they got closer, the light of its yellow glow seemed to dim as if not to hurt their eyes for staring directly at it - at least that is what it felt like to Aegis.

“He is waiting.” Bihi said proudly as the light fell upon them. Hearing her words, Leonard made a few waves of his fingers to cast spells that rose up the mainsail and folded in the side wing sails, slowing the ships movement. It wasn’t until they were fully radiating in the light of the tree that they came to a complete stop, however, as some sort of magic began to hold them in place.

There were a few long moments of silence after that, as everyone looked up at the light expectantly, but nothing happened. It was clear there was a hole at the center of this massive mangrove’s drunk, but they couldn’t see very far into it due to the glow.

“Should we ask it something?” Herilon broke the silence with this suggestion.

“Like what?” Ren replied curiously.

“I dunno.” Herilon shrugged.

“Maybe start with saying hello.” Trexon suggested eagerly to Aegis. Aegis nodded back and opened his mouth as if preparing to call up to the light, but stopped before a sound came out.

“Wait.” He turned to Ren. “You should talk. In druidic, right? I don’t think he’ll understand me.” Aegis whispered. Ren nodded affirmatively before turning his head and opening his mouth to speak to the light instead. Before a word could leave his mouth, though, he was interrupted.

“I am able to utilize and comprehend the tongues of mortals.” A deep, warm voice rang out through their ears, coming from somewhere within the light. The voice seemed impossibly loud, yet at the same time not so loud that it traveled very far beyond their ship. Hearing it caused Ren to freeze and eye Aegis awkwardly, who took a deep breath and caught a few glances from the others. He psyched himself up before preparing his own words.

“Hello. Are you the Great Old One?” Aegis asked.

“If you must ask, perhaps granting this audience was a mistake.” It replied quickly.

“Right.” Aegis shook his head to himself. “I’ve come on behalf of Ysil’mareina, the silver dragon… And….” Aegis tried to make it sound more important, “the Goddess, Eirene.” He paused, but got no response. “We are looking for a way to push back the darkness of the abyss, and reclaim the land beneath the shattered island.”

“I understand. Bihi has explained much of who you are, and what your purpose is.” The voice replied.

“You already spoke with her?” Aegis raised his eyebrows curiously, glancing from the fairy on his shoulder to up at the light.

“The roots of this world grow deep, and our voices travel far. Us wildlings can communicate a great distance. I have known about who you are and what your purpose is from the moment you approached Bihi’s grove.”

“What was the point of us sailing all the way out here, then?” Herilon huffed in a whisper to the others, thinking the voice wouldn’t hear it, but it did.

“It was her request. After imbuing her essence into a mobile form, she wished to see how you could care for her, if put under the impression that you were merely carrying a copy of her. She believed she could understand your true nature the best by doing this.” The voice explained, as they turned towards the fairy. She settled down onto Aegis’ shoulder with her legs crossed and closed her eyes innocently. While the other players looked somewhat surprised, Aegis looked on at her as if he’d somewhat anticipated something along these lines.

“So all that stuff about you just being a copy isn’t true? If that giant squid whirlpool sucked us in, you would’ve died?” Ren asked her.

“Yes. But luckily, we survived.”

“I guess that explains why she began giving us tips when we weren’t reacting. Does that mean we didn’t perform well on your test?” Trexon asked.

“On the contrary.” Bihi replied. “You far surpassed my expectations. Admittedly, they weren’t very high given that you are other-worlders, though. I have decided, I will assist Aegis in his task.” Bihi spoke, her final words being directed at the glowing light above the ship.

“Are you sure about this, Bihi? There is no turning back.” The glowing light responded to her words.

“Yes.” She answered confidently.

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“What’s she mean? What’s going on?” Aegis interrupted them out of curiosity.

“Allow me to explain.” The voice answered promptly. “You wish you could reclaim land that is shrouded in a great deal of darkness. To do so is possible, but you will require a wildling infused with a great deal of divine light. Such a transformation for an already sprouted wildling would destroy them, it can only be done while they are in a seedling form. Thus, it would only have ever been possible for you to accomplish your task by convincing one of our kind to willingly be reborn as a seed of light.” The voice explained.

“Bihi traveled with you after informing me of her intent, to discover if you were worthy of such a meaningful and generous act. She has found you as such. I will now use my power to revert her into her seedling form. After I have, you must take great care of her as you return her to your great prophet, where you will be able to infuse her with the light of your goddess. Once infused, it will be up to you to plant her in fertile ground upon the surface of your shattered world, and see to it that she may grow quickly, and safely. For her leaves may grow tall and bright, reaching up out of the abyss and pushing back the darkness. From her trunk, you shall create a sanctuary in your darkened world so long as you can keep her safe.”

As he spoke, the others looked among one another with glimmers of excitement in their eyes, for what the Great Old One was describing was a quest that truly did involve reclaiming the surface of the shattered world - a quest of the likes that no other player had ever received in the game world this far.

Quest Complete!

Before Aegis even got a chance to completely wave the message away, the yellow glow from the tree got brighter and Bihi began to hover off of his shoulder due to it, and not the flapping of her own wings. Aegis turned to look at her and saw that the glow was engulfing her, and her eyes remained closed. Within seconds the glow became too bright for Aegis to stare at, but instead he heard a warm voice from within - the sound of Bihi’s final words.

“Please take care of me. We’ll speak again once my growth has begun.” Bihi replied in a soft voice.

“Hold out your hands.” The deeper voice from the tree above commanded him. Aegis did exactly that, as Bihi’s glowing body was lowered down into his cupped and open, upward facing palms. He felt the warmth of the glow settle down onto them as the others excitedly watched. Slowly, the glowing light faded, and what was once Bihi was now a large white seed that barely fit into his hands.

Before Aegis could finish looking at the rather plain itemcard of the seed and see its description of Bihi, another prompt flew up into his face sent by the Great Old One itself.

Quest[6/6]: Deliver Bihi’s seedling to the Great Prophet of Eirene on the island of Kalmoore, within the town of Rene.

Objective: 0/1 Bihi Delivered

Quest Giver: The Great Old One, Lupei Ocean

Reward:Advanced Class: (Unknown)

Difficulty:Extreme(III)

Seeing it, Aegis hit accept and let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s done. It’s the final step for my advanced class. We just need to return to Kalmoore.” Aegis explained to the others aboard the ship, and saw a few excited smiling faces staring back at him before he quickly turned to face the glowing light of the tree above them once more. “I’ll take great care of her, I promise.” Aegis said before adding the seedling to his inventory.

“I trust you will. If you fail, you will be hard pressed to find another of our kind willing to sacrifice themselves for your cause. We do not often meddle in the war of the light and the dark.” The voice replied.

“Don’t forget the other reason we ca-” Trexon whispered to Aegis eagerly, but was interrupted as Leonard stomped across the deck of his ship hastily, towards the front where the others were.

“Wait. Before we finish here, I also have a question.” Leonard called up towards the light. After he had spoken, he got no response while the other players looked at him curiously. “Many Airship pilots like myself have been seeking out someone who could teach us how to improve our skills, but it seems impossible. We have looked everywhere, endlessly, for a long time, yet no one such person has been found.” Leonard’s manner of speaking changed greatly, as if to match that of the Great Old One itself. “Tell me, in your infinite wisdom, do you possess the knowledge of how one might advance their skills in sailing the skies?”

“Curious…” The voice replied, as suddenly something dark began to descend from the center of the tree towards them, absorbing the glowing light until the glow had completely faded. In its place, a fairy, much larger than Bihi, fluttered down a pair of huge yellow butterfly wings before landing on the deck, while the others stepped back away to give him space. [?(ELITE) - ??] hovered above its head, and he was wearing simple white robes as his feet touched down. He was no taller than a young 6 year old child, yet with a wise and old face covered in wrinkles under a set of short messy yellow hair.

It was clear that it was a manifestation of the tree that had set foot on the ship, but no one understood why. The large fairy didn’t seem interested in them, but rather the ship itself, and he walked around curiously as if testing the wood.

“Your vessel flies and floats, but you are relying heavily on the fragments of Eirene’s star. It is no wonder you have not been able to progress.” The Great Old one spoke finally, after finishing his inspection and looking up at Leonard.

“There’s another way to make an Airship fly?” Leonard asked curiously.

“Yes, of course. How do you think the Airships flew before the star was shattered and rained down upon your lands?” The Great Old one raised his eyebrow curiously at Leonard, but simultaneously Leonard, Aegis and Trexon’s mouths went wide with disbelief at this revelation. “Don’t tell me, you managed to sail all the way out here on this vessel atop the waves? That would be incredibly dangerous, with the many Lupein Squid swimming around outside our waters.” The Great Old One asked them curiously, causing the players to awkwardly smile at him. He picked up on this quickly. “I suppose that explains how you impressed Bihi.” The fairy shrugged.

“If not the island stones, how?” Leonard asked eagerly.

“I think it best that you have it explained to you properly, by those with more in depth knowledge of such things.” The Great Old one replied. “It just so happens that a family of Greenscale's reside within my canopy.” He said while waving his hands up towards the large hole in the trunk above them, which was no longer glowing.

After he had waved his hands, several thick strands of roots began to rapidly grow down towards them, winding around another and forming a spiral staircase that thickened and expanded as it lowered until its base reached the deck of the ship beside the fairy form of the Great Old one.

“I will inform them you are coming to speak with them.” He politely bowed as Leonard’s jaw dropped and his eyes went wide.

“I… the quest…” Leonard squeaked out excitedly.

“He just gave you the intermediate airship pilot quest?” Trexon asked Leonard.

“Yes!” Leonard managed to get the word out between several heavily, gleeful breaths.

“Congratulations, sir.” Gregory said while displaying one of his incredibly rare Gregory smiles.

“You said Greenscales? Do you mean, like, Silverscales? Green Dragons?” Aegis asked.

“Precisely.” The fairy nodded.

“They’re friendly too?”

“All of the world’s children are friendly to you, so long as you are friendly to her.” The fairy smiled back.

“Do you mind if we hang out here a bit, dears? It appears I’ve been granted an audience with some green dragons.” Leonard squealed with joy.

“It’s fine with me.” Herilon shrugged.

“No problem.” Aegis gave him a thumbs up, seeing him overjoyed.

“Can I come too? I want to see green dragons!” Ren asked excitedly as Leonard hastily stepped onto the lowest steps of the root-based spiral staircase, climbing up it quickly.

“Hang on…” Trexon held Ren back, then gave a knowing nod towards Aegis, and Aegis nodded back.

“We also were curious about…” Aegis began to speak, but the fairy closed his eyes and nodded back.

“Bihi has told me of your desire to confront the Avatar of Hatred. I felt his presence the moment his sword was unsealed, and had a feeling we may be once again approached to confront that mass of darkness. But, as I previously said, we do not often step into the war between the light and the dark. It does not concern us, and doing so only serves to draw the eyes of either side upon us. Attention we do not seek.” The fairy replied.

“But, you helped in the past, didn’t you?” Aegis asked eagerly.

“Yes. We did. I suppose it would seem unreasonable to turn you down without properly explaining.” The fairy opened his eyes and looked upon them, whilst Leonard could be seen quickly ascending the stairs above them, disappearing into the darkness of the hole in the trunk above the Airship.

“Those who claim themselves gods of light, they fight for the good within the hearts of the mortal races of this world. They seek to draw out this power to keep their followers safe, and make use of their divine light. The gods of darkness do the same, but by drawing out the darkness within their hearts. Similar methods, but very opposite in their views. They clash, constantly fighting over who will lead the will of the people. Wildlings do not typically concern themselves with this.” The fairy began pacing around on the front of the ship.

“We, instead, consider ourselves caretakers of the world itself. And there are many ancient, much more sinister forces that threaten its existence. The greatest of which is the void, who constantly seeks to rip apart reality and encroach on this world, for the sole purpose of destroying it and consuming it. Mindless, pointless destruction that cannot be reasoned with. It is our duty to work with this world's guardians to hold it back.” He stopped pacing to meet Aegis’ eyes briefly.

“Luckily, the world has formed a great mighty arsenal of guardians utilizing its many wrathful elements. Each morphing itself into a powerful form of life to serve as this world's defenders.” He cleared his throat and motioned up the stairs. “Empowered by the winds, the Green Dragons protect the skies. From the fiery molten lava, came the violent and short tempered Red Dragons. From the earth rose the brown dragons. The ocean, the Blue Dragons, and so on and so forth. Each dragon, colored based off of the natural element that they were conjured from. Each with the purpose of defending this realm.”

“What do the Silver dragons represent, then?” Aegis asked him.

“The correct question.” The fairy nodded. “They were born out of the light. Just as the black dragons are born out of darkness. Tasked with watching over the world, though, they actively avoided the conflict of mortals. It wasn’t until the darkness threatened the entire continent, that the Silver Dragons agreed to intervene and assist your kind. They were warned not to interfere, but did so anyway.

Your lands fell to the darkness, despite their aid. And as a result, exactly as they had been warned, the wrath of the dark gods fell upon them. The Avatar of Hatred began hunting down the Silver Dragons, to near extinction. That is when the wildlings felt compelled to intervene. Not in the interest of stepping into the war of the light and dark, but rather to protect the life of our world's guardians of light. That is why we assisted in the creation of a weapon that could stand up to the Avatar of Hatred. And that is exactly why I will refuse to do so again, now.” The Great Old one explained, his final words falling cold.

Hearing this, Trexon’s expression became dejected, but simultaneously fascinated by the words he’d just heard.

“So there’s really nothing you’ll do to help? That sword he’s got is killing everything it touches.” Ren pleaded. The fairy eyed Ren, then looked back at Aegis who locked eyes with him.

“We will not forge you a new weapon, no. But… should you find skilled craftsmen, you may be able to make use of the original. It was in poor shape, last I saw it, but its essence remains intact.” The fairy spoke reluctantly, but his words lit up a fire in Aegis, Ren, Trexon and Herilon’s eyes.

“That’d be enough.” Aegis nodded. “Where is it?”

“It was sealed away in a safe place, under my care. Somewhere that no mortal could easily reach. A place where both the forces of Darkness, and Light, cannot easily penetrate.” He explained while slowly motioning his head and eyes downwards off of the side of the ship, towards the calm waves brushing up against the hull. The others followed his eyes and moved to the side of the ship, watching as the fairy waved his hands downward with a yellow glow on his fingertips.. Moments later, deep below the waves, a faint yellow glow could be seen.

“It’s sealed at the bottom of the ocean?” Aegis asked to confirm, and the fairy nodded.

“With a great many defenses. It would be quite the ordeal to acquire it, and it is beyond my ability to aid you, apart from granting you safe passage to the depths… should you choose to seek it out. I should warn you, though, it is not for the faint of heart. The fragment of the old weapon was sealed behind great magic that was designed to kill any and all creatures who attempted to claim it.”

“Why go through all that trouble?” Herilon sighed nervously as he eyed the glowing light far below the surface. “Why not destroy it if you don't want anyone to have it?”

“Because the essence of what we had created to stand up to that ancient evil sword was simply indestructible.” The fairy explained, causing an eager grin to grow on Aegis’ face.

“Leonard’s gonna be busy for a bit anyway, so…” Aegis shrugged.

“I can beastshift into a shark and get us down there fast.” Ren volunteered excitedly, stepping up onto the railing of the ship.

“I never thought I’d need it, but I do have underwater breathing spells.” Trexon joined in, also stepping up to the railing as if preparing to jump in.

“Perfect. Are you coming too?” Aegis asked Herilon as all eyes fell on him, and a demonic smirk grew across Gregory’s face as he spotted the fear in Herilon’s eyes.

“That glow… how far down in the ocean are we talking?” Herilon turned to the fairy.

“Very far. Don’t worry, my roots travel deep as well, forming a protective barrier around these waters.” The fairy motioned to the ocean around them. “Your ship, and your persons, will be safe from any of the larger oceanic threats so long as you remain under my shade.” The fairy assured him.

“I’d understand if you’re too afraid. You could stay on the ship with me as I watch over it in my master's absence.” Gregory said. Herilon let out a frustrated sigh to himself.

“Why the hell’d it have to be at the bottom of the ocean.” He grumbled. “Alright. Come on, let's go then. No way I’m going to stay up here with this guy, I’d never hear the end of it from Sapphire.” Herilon relented. Hearing this, the others smiled.

“Very well. Good luck.” The fairy waved, before his body disintegrated into a bright yellow light, and the light began to lift up back towards the tree.

“Let’s do this.” Aegis rubbed his hands together.