The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Chapter 798 798: Rupture

The world was becoming cold and distant. Noble's eyes no longer saw, her mind was caught in the current of all around her. She activated her second sight. Surely it could help her in this darkness!

The colors that were beyond the scope of human vision appeared before her. They were caught in the currents… no, they were the currents! That only served to make her more disoriented. There was no up or down, just colors without names and emotions tied to millions of different faces.

Noble started to abandon her Ability when something caught her eye.

In the undulating tide, one pool held steady. That current was still and deep. From it, Noble felt only love and compassion.

The calm called out to her.

"Listen to my voice. Breathe with me," Fort's command was gentle but absolute.

He had just gotten his wife back from one of the most dangerous situations an Awakened could face—a Nightmare.

Now that she was back with him, they could face anything together.

He was sure of that fact.

Fort was the source of the calm amid the storm. He was a beacon shining in the darkness.

He was a safe harbor. Noble had always known that, but right now, his mooring wasn't metaphorical.

It was physical.

With renewed vigor, Noble swam toward the safety that he offered. Her arms wrapped around the man's neck. His emotional signature was the one she knew best in two whole worlds.

It was home. He was her home. In Fort's arms was her security and comfort.

Although she could not touch the earth, he grounded her in ways that no amount of soil could.

Clinging to him and the hope that he offered, everything changed. The emotions swirling around Noble lost some of their pull.

She was able to slow the rate of the essence leaving her. As a result, her pulsing core slowed its disastrous beating and her soul sea's waves became less tumultuous.

The emotions continued to flow into and through her. For a moment, Noble gave in to the feelings once again, losing some of her progress. Her breath hitched.

"Breathe," Fort reminded her, and she willingly complied.

The world around her wasn't really filled with water. Noble was home, and there was no threat of suffocation. Each breath brought with it more calm. Each heartbeat provided a little more proof that she was still there with the man she loved.

"It's going to be alright." The man assured her.

Resting in the harbor of her husband's calm, Noble paused to view the feelings around her. The currents of emotion were vast and untamed. Each had an indescribable but recognizable hue of its own. The chaotic mix was strangely beautiful.

'Wait… wait!'

The swirling in Noble's eyes froze as she stared out at what only she could see.

It was subtle at first, but the more she stared, the clearer it became.

'It isn't chaos at all. It's a masterpiece!'

Indeed, the hues of emotions had a pattern. Even within the millions of different emotional entities, there was an ebb and flow that was deeply intuitive, like brushstrokes of a master painter. As she studied it, Noble realized something else was hiding in the unseen world.

While the bulk of the emotional signatures were unknown to her, thousands were connected to Noble by tiny, almost ethereal strings.

Like the emotions, Noble could sense them more than see them, but she was certain they were there. She didn't have to guess what they might be.

'Kingdom Keeper…or rather Kingdom Crafter.'

Noble still hadn't gotten used to the name. Whatever it was called, the manifestation was nothing short of magnificent.

'It's like I could reach out and touch them.'

Something in Noble told her that was not a good idea. There were other ways to interact with the strings anyway.

'I'll need some help.'

Fort couldn't help her this time. He had done more than enough.

With her next deep breath, Noble activated her Soul Bloom again.

The legacy relic wrapped around her soul. Noble felt a surge of power, making her feel more whole than she had been before.

'Stay calm.'

"Bee?" Fort could feel the change in his wife's body language.

She squeezed him lightly, trying not to disturb his equanimity.

"Hold on."

Mentally, Noble pushed herself back into the current. This time, the streams were not so wild and untamed.

Her core swelled with the influx, but the panic did not come. The pressure once again pushed against Noble, and she furrowed her brow. She could stand it for a few moments while she found what she was looking for.

From all the streams and currents, Noble needed to find the right one. Some, like Sarai and Rain, were too close to her heart, while others had no connection to her at all.

'There.' Noble recognized the signature of a shopkeeper she had met before leaving for Bastion. He had been kind to her in a moment of indecision, sparking her Kingdom Keeper attribute to extend to him on its own.

Now her evolved attribute had strengthened that bond. She focused on the bond and then, as she had before when trying to locate people, pulled on it gently.

"Oh!"

Instead of the usual vague notion, Noble felt compelled to move toward it as she had with Rain earlier that day. Fort must have sensed her muscles tense, for he tightened his grip to keep her from leaving without him.

He didn't need to worry. After the initial shock, Noble was able to settle her spirit and focus once more.

The shopkeeper was worried about something just now. His concern alternated between fear and anxiety.

'That's sad. I wish he were happy.'

Noble felt a shift in the essence leaving her. She watched as happiness entered the current of the man's emotions.

Panicking, Noble released her hold on the connection. The man's current returned to its melancholy state.

'The pressure…it lessened when I did that.'

Harnessing happiness had felt right, natural even. Directing it at a person to manipulate him had been wrong, albeit unintentional.

Still, there was an answer there that she hadn't been anticipating.

'I cannot just let the emotions in. I have to let them out.'

She couldn't push them out. That was what had caused her to explode before.

A thought entered her mind.

Perhaps the only way to release the pressure, other than to manipulate others, was to allow her core rupture. If that was the case, she would do it on her terms and not wait for an unpredictable detonation.

'Stay calm…you can do this.'

The currents stopped flowing in every direction. This time, Noble guided them to herself. The tide became one, flowing towards her at her bidding.

They poured into her core, and Noble felt a million emotions at once.

Her body's reaction was to reject them all, push back against the pressure, and put up a wall of defense.

Her mind, however, remained resolute. In they came, her core pulsing.

'Come on. Come on!'

Sweat formed on her brow as the internal pressure threatened to cause her core to burst.

Rather than letting fear take hold, Noble guided the worry back into the stream of emotions, continuing to feel everything at once.

Wrapped around her core, the Soul Bloom pulsed too. As fissures formed in her core, Noble did not waver.

She continued to breathe and guide the world of emotions into herself.

The pain was excruciating.

Slowly, Noble felt a shift in her soul sea. The core burned brighter, sending more of its light across the water. The sea surged.

Noble's pulse quickened. Her heart felt like it might beat out of her chest.

If it burst first, at least she wouldn't hurt anyone else. Yet it continued, and Noble lived along with it.

More emotions came in. Seconds passed like hours. At last, her insatiable core finally seemed to be filled.

This was it.

The fissures in her core became cracks, and the cracks became like canyons.

Her core had failed.