To Fly the Soaring Tides

Chapter 283 - 276 - Chaos

Cira stared at the shattered plaque representing the Archive for a long while.

The first origin…? This message was clearly important. Enough so that the Archive delivered it at great personal expense, whatever that amounts to.

Not only had the wisp deflated, but she could even feel the purple mana inside her soul had withered significantly. As if it were reduced to a dormant state.

Even if I know it's an origin… what does that mean? Why would it damage itself to such an extent just to tell me that?

And if the Archive is the first origin… does that mean the next three plaques represent three more origins?

Cira's gaze turned serious and drifted toward the next plaque down. The image depicted was a spiral formed by the six primary elements. Brilliant torrents of flame, raging seas, sky-piercing cyclones, mountain ranges that could span a world, rays of multi-colored light, and countless spatial rifts all fell inward to a single point of stark white.

Meanwhile, an innumerable number of other distinct designs danced around toward the edge of the plaque. It was clear they represented the auxiliary elements. Many were hidden behind others or only half-formed, and some were cut off by the bounds of the carving.

If Cira didn't understand what this plaque represented, then she was an idiot. But that was impossible given all the wisdom she had gathered lately.

"Could the second origin simply be… the elements?"

She did not know, however, what an origin was, or how they related to the so-called 'Origin Arts'. She also did not know if all this meant that there could be some semi-sentient elemental being at the apex of creation lurking around out there, similar to the Archive but much more destructive. The thought terrified her.

Nevertheless, Cira stretched out her hand once more and touched the second plaque.

That strange jolt flooded her body again, but this time, Cira found herself in great pain. It did not stop, for Cira had already arrived at her destination.

She was quick to figure out that all this pain was inflicted by the various elements voraciously lashing out at her. No… on second thought, it's more like this is just how the elements behave in this place.

Of course, it was difficult to observe this realm or whatever it was while flames and such whittled her away, and things would go exactly as they did in the last plaque if Cira didn't do something quickly. As luck would have it though, she possessed a natural affinity for one of the elements.

Cira quickly collapsed into water and escaped into a cool stream floating by. She then coasted along with the flow until it widened into something more like a sea. Here, she felt much safer, but that feeling was short-lived.

Beyond the sea was an endless expanse of colliding elements. That searing heat earlier could only have been from the massive sun that was approaching the sea at a visible speed. Steam surged in its wake as a constant flow of clouds failed to pose any resistance.

Cira didn't know how much time had passed as she watched this spectacle, but it had her in awe. She could hardly look away, reasoning that this would certainly be a once-in-a-lifetime show.

Cyclones roared around the forming steam, drawing in more bodies of water and even boundless mountains. Entire planets of solid earth were pulled toward the sun as they collapsed. Shrapnel landed in the ocean not far away and a shroud of dust covered the sky, only to be swept up in the unceasing winds.

Twisters of finely ground stone quickly joined the towers of forming steam and thunder began to crackle incessantly. Cira watched the endless cyclones get helplessly sucked in toward the sun under the weight of myriad planets now falling into the astronomical clash of elements. Lightning flashed with unmatched brilliance as the tumultuous winds all drifted closer to a single path.

There was only one flash, then the world was stained with light. Cira witnessed the cerulean beauty of the sea surrounding her as it glimmered while the column of lightning above only coalesced and fell into the sun.

In seconds, she could no longer see that far. There was nothing but light, and the only sound in her ears was the dreadful whirring of thunder. None of it showed any signs of ending soon, and Cira did not think thunder was something which should ever whir. As her chest began to tighten under the vibrations, Cira was left with one choice.

She fled.

Cira didn't know how deep this sea was, and doubted it was deeper than the sun was wide, but she fled anyway. For all she knew, that disaster would work itself out naturally. There was nothing she could do about it anyway.

After some time, the blinding lightning at her back seemed to die down, or she had just gathered enough distance for it to no longer reach her through the ocean. As Cira continued to sink, she could feel the darkness growing thicker, while the waters around her were freezing. She ran into more than a few ice crystals as she could no longer see.

Strangely, Cira did not bleed, and through this she surmised that she must be some sort of soul projection in this place. If she learned anything from the first plaque, there shouldn't be any consequences if she died. That was why she did not fear the impending sun, but it was nice to have gotten away. As far as she could tell, at least.

That said, it was very cold. Cira's body began to feel stiff as her thoughts slowed to a crawl. She was reaching a similar state as in the second trial.

Cira continued to drift and was gradually encrusted in ice. She continued in this way, an ice statue sinking ever further into the depths.

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She did not know how much time had passed, nor was she aware that time was passing at all. If her liquid form could be considered to have been in a state of tranquility during the second trial, it could be said she now slept within the ice.

Until one day a warm light reached her. It was crimson. Cira began to sink ever slower, then eventually broke through the surface. She had become an iceberg on the surface of a boundless sea, melting under the heat.

Once thawed to some degree, Cira stretched out a hand from the dripping berg. It was translucent with a dim cerulean glow. The rest of her body formed to follow suit, and she looked something like an undine in human form. It was then that she had her first thought since turning to ice in that dark sea.

"Whoa…" Cira widened her eyes as she recalled what happened. She had gone through a full cycle of freezing and returning to water as a partial undine. Witnessing the unfathomable clash between elements before was one thing, but Cira felt as if she had truly become the element. It was just like that advice she gave Destria.

"It's almost like…" Undines were beings of pure water mana. Their entire beings were made up of it, and nothing else. Cira was not all undine, but the purity of that portion had tangibly increased. "How…? I can feel that its nature is no longer entirely aethereal. Is this… the origin of water?"

Cira raised her right arm and the sea split in two. Then she lowered her arm and the sea crashed back together, sending a ridge of water that reached into the sky. Cira then let out a surprised gasp.

The crashing waters didn't even rise a fraction as tall as the monstrous volcano in the sky. Rather, its peak was in the sky, or somewhere beyond. There were streams of lava pouring down and that was the source of the crimson light that rescued her.

There was nothing else but the volcano in the sky. No stars, no clouds, no suns or planets. Cira was definitely sinking before, yet she rose up to a calm sea under this monolith of fire and earth. She would love to see what exactly the source of that heat was in the first place, but there was no way she would survive that investigation.

"Okay, I would like to leave now." She announced to no one. Hopefully the obelisk, but alas. "Damn."

Cira could not leave this place at will. There was, however, one way to return which she had already confirmed. Perhaps that was the Archive's other intention. It doesn't really make me feel better though…

In other words, she could potentially investigate the volcano situation. She thought it would be a shame to waste this opportunity like that though. If Cira wanted insight in fire, she could probably find the corresponding greater spirit; even head back to Acher and make one, she reckoned. It was doubtful whether she could even get close enough to the origin of fire here to comprehend it anyway.

She could use this opportunity to evaporate and gain more insights into water, but that sounded incredibly painful, and Cira just really did not feel like that right now.

Earth was a great option. She fancied herself an accomplished geomancer, after all, and it might not be too dangerous. But on the other hand, this wasn't enough. Similarly, the thought of mastering wind didn't move her either. It's a good element, plenty useful. But it wasn't enough.

Cira needed to use this opportunity to the utmost. She had an affinity with light magic, which potentially carried over in some way. Meanwhile, space was an incredibly powerful element and difficult to come across naturally in high concentrations.

What felt like a very long time ago, Cira had witnessed a planet-devouring sun, so who's to say she couldn't find herself a black hole? Worst case, she could find out what happens when you jump into a spatial tear. And the absolute last resort would be to forcibly disperse her projection in this place.

Cira balled up a fist, "Alright. I've got a plan." She looked to the empty sky.

The problem was how to get up there. Cira looked down at her translucent hands and back at the volcano before a frown appeared on her face. She really didn't want to go turn herself into steam to fly away, and the volcano was probably much further away than it looked.

"How about this?" Cira turned into a cerulean cloud and rose into the sky. She continued rising, trying to increase her speed with each passing second. After all, why shouldn't water vapor go that fast? She was no glass of water to be forced to sit still.

Her brilliance only increased as she left the glow of the volcano, but this couldn't continue forever.

Cira had been flying for a very long time yet found nothing. The crimson planet she left was no longer in sight. She found herself in utter darkness and changed back to her undine form. There were no sounds here, and Cira felt as if she was back in the void Io sent her to back on Paradise.

But the distinct difference here was the presence of two elements, Darkness and good old space. Darkness of course was the element of light—at least Cira felt that fact carried over to origins as well. This was an element she was looking for, but the darkness was not a threat to her here. It was just there, as it usually was.

Space was what she wanted, but… Cira couldn't figure what to do with it. There weren't even signs of spatial tears. Space too was just… there.

"Dammit." This was a disappointing outcome. "Am I really going to have to disperse myself to escape this place?"

She would gain nothing and may as well have investigated the volcano situation. After that absurd battle of celestial bodies, Cira was completely flabbergasted that the other elements were just absent here.

"Is there anything I can do about it…?"

She looked at her palms again and concentrated. Cira tried to focus on the origin of water she attained. Slowly, her body began to glow a bright blue. It was the only light in this expanse, and inspiration struck.

With a wry smile, she continued to grow brighter still. "Looks like I'm going with plan C, after all."

Cira's body quickly became indiscernible as blinding cerulean proceeded to light up the empty sky. It was as if she had become a brilliant sun with the cosmos all to herself. Streams of water formed as the light expanded, then rivers and seas. She couldn't hope to be a single drop of water in the vast emptiness, but she found opportunity in the boundlessness of this space.

She could not see its extents, thus she did not know them. But Cira was certainly the only light in the sky. As oceans were born, Cira's consciousness faded.

Her eyes stared placidly at the obelisk, and she removed her hand, then stared down at it.

The hand was solid. The first thing Cira tried to do was to draw upon the origin of water she had in that form, but… she couldn't.

It's there, though… I can feel it. And that's not all…

In that dark expanse, Cira had used the origin of water to produce a brilliant gleam. She turned the dark, empty nothing into a place where only her light existed. As she burned herself away and returned, Cira left a vast sea in her place, hanging alone in the desolate cosmos.

She felt like she was on the verge of understanding something important, but there was something she couldn't ignore. Just a hint, but a little sparkle of the origin of light now existed in her soul. She didn't know what to do with it and didn't feel like figuring it out right now. Just leaving the obelisk was rather jarring.

Cira was basically an undine in that place, but here, she was painfully human. A long sigh echoed into the Archive's depths.

It felt like an incredibly long time had passed since she touched the obelisk, but she also felt as if it had been an instant. Her mind was all tossed around, as if she had spent years in a dream.

Cira no longer took the obelisk lightly. There was a pit in her stomach, and the inexplicable feeling of loss. She wielded unprecedented power inside the world of elemental chaos but now felt akin to a shriveled husk. With a weary glint in her eye, Cira shifted her gaze to the third plaque.

It depicted a sprawling tree whose canopy continued into the horizon. Birds could be seen in the sky, as well as various creatures crawling around the branches and down to the roots. This tree was not planted in dirt, and its roots appeared endless.