The Aeon of Nihility whom I had heard so much about was sitting casually in a hotspring next to Devina relaxing. She has been said to be cold and dangerous Aeon that have been rivals with the Aeon of Ember for centuries. Aeon of Ember hosts have come and went but the Aeon of Nihility has been the same person for centuries.
"So Neby have you been up to anything fun lately?"
"Not much so. The Royal Family is amassing a military force on our demilitized zone therefore I have been busy with emergency precautions in case Fukviyu decides to invade the Luvian Empire."
"Ah I see, another war, but I'm sure you will give them a good thrashing again Neby!!!" Devina poked Alyssia's shoulder.
Alyssia remained silent as she continued to soak. Her gaze then met mine and a curious expression grew on her face.
"It seems like you have something to ask of me. Go ahead and state your questions. I shall answer your inquiries to the best of my ability."
I swallowed the clump in my throat and prepared my questions.
"Don't worry, Neby isn't as scary as she is. She might look like an ice cold queen but she is soft a steamed egg pudding inside."
"Devina, what are these analogy you are making to describe me?"
"I have a question regarding the Aeon of Desire and Guilt, would you perhaps know anything that happened to them during the Aeonic war?"
"I do not."
"Why don't you try asking the Aeon of Dexterity questions regarding facts?"
Devina tilted her head and stuck out her tongue while making playful fists on each side of her heads.
For a moment Alyssia seemed surprised before collecting herself.
"I could try to ask Nihility itself if it knows anything."
"Oh yeah, Devina, I forgot to ask you this earlier. You are able to communicate with the Aeon inside of you right?"
"I mean Neby and I are able to. There are certain criteria that usually needs to be met before you can establish communication with your Aeon."
Alyssia followed up.
"For one to be able to reach the flower oneself you must have proven your worth as the Aeonic host. The Aeon must acknowledge you as the sole rightful owner of its power. This progress varies in duration it can range from a few minutes after receiving the powers of the Aeon to centuries of being the host. The flower within one's soul doesn't usually appreciate chatter and idleness. It is more of utmost dire situations they allow you to speak to them."
I wanted to know how the Aeons were. Did they have personalities like us humans? Or were they different in a way?
"So the Aeons have their own personalities?"
Devinan nodded and pointed at herself.
"Istroth is the Aeon of Dexterity and he's a complete bore to talk to. All he does is ask me questions about reason and free will. It gets a bit annoying after a while. As for Neby here... the Aeon inside of her, her name is Thoxia. If I remember correctly I met her a few decades ago right Neby? When you asked me to let you see some things in the past with the Aeon of Dexterity?"
"Indeed. Thoxia and I seldom converse in idle conversation. It is mostly during moments of decision Thoxia comes through and answers my thoughts."
The Aeon of Nihility closed her eyes and a beautiful snowflake-pattern flower bloomed on her cheek.
Alyssia opened her amethyst purple eyes and shook her head.
"According to Thoxia, it seems like she has forgotten about the war. It is a blank slate, she said.
I got curious and asked if there were any aeonic hosts that are still alive and have witnessed the aeonic war.
Both of the girls glanced at each other before both pointing at Alyssia.
"Neby is the oldest out of us all."
Alyssia got out of the hot springs and said it was it was time for her to depart. Devina waved her off and said that we should also hurry up before the Nautilus festival ended. Devina ran into the changing room and quickly came out in a blue yakuta with patterns and symbols of the Luvian Empire all over it.
"They have these in their eastern cities where it is extremely cold. Isn't it cute?"
"You look like a fish in that.'
"Wow, what a way to compliment a girl."
With the same flashing light we were transported back to the city of Nautilus.
The smell of smoking fish roe and burnt salt permanated the air. Crowds full of spirit and chatter and the colorful fish banners of Nautilus were strung up high in the sky.
Devina had vanished into the crowd and I was left completely alone. I wondered if Aylin and Fiviana were out here as well to enjoy the
firework shows later. I checked out the food and entertainment stalls. But soon enough the loud voices of the crowd made my head spin and I had to find a quiet place to relax. Luckily there was a trail leading up to one of Nautilus' temples for the Aeon of Ember. It was constructed after the death of the hero Hectima of Nautilus and was a place for the city to pay their respects to him. From what I have heard from Devina the shrine was being kept under maintenance by a few shrine maidens who decide themselves to tend for the Aeon of Ember. As I was walking up this trail I couldn't help but hear the sounds of wet kissing in the bushes and behind trees. There were a lot of couples who wanted a little quiet time to themselves too it seemed. Ignoring the salacious teens in heat I continued up my way towards the shrine. I hadn't seen the shrine in person before but you knew instantly when you had arrived at the shrine by the immediate change of stone beneath your feet. There were two massive stone pillars with heavy red hemp rope connecting them.
"Shrine of Embers." It said on a talisman in the middle of the rope.
Maybe I could ask one of the shrine maidens to let me rest somewhere until the fireworks started.
A bit further north from the entrance was a medium sized shrine with red brick tiles and brown wooden pillars. I saw a shrine maiden sweeping fallen leaves from nearby. Her clothes were red as blood and had white stripes running down from her chest to calves.
She looked up at me and asked me if I needed help. I asked if there were any places I could sit down and rest for a bit and the woman guided me into the shrine to sit down. To my surprise there were another person sitting in the same room as me. The shrine maiden gave the both of us some freshly brewed tea and walked away to continue her shrine duties.
The woman in front of me was a mature woman with long blue hair. There were two weird strings coming out of her head and her dress resembled a butterfly. Her upperbody was adorned with blue flowers and she wore a tired expression.
She picked up the cup of tea and brought it up to her nose to smell the aroma.
"Nothing beats Moondrop tea..."
She sipped it and her tired expression immediately dissappeared and was replaced with a soft and pleased face.
I didn't really wanna disturb her, she seemed like she was having a long day so I just let silence grow in the room. She didn't seem to mind it and continued to drink.
"Lulu?"
The shrine maiden peaked through the door.
"Yes, lady Azure?"
"Could you brew me some more? I will give you 20% discount on your next purchase of my herbs hehe..."
The shrine maiden nodded and went to boil some water again.
I swear I could have heard the name Azure somewhere...
Azure... Azure? AZURE?! Nope I don't remember.
Wait a second didn't Celia and Eris... uh.. the name of the person the were scared of again.
OH RIGHT, AZURE! she is the person they were scared of. But she doesn't seem that dangerous?
How could this cute mature woman be possibly dangerous? The shrine maiden suddenly called out to me through the door.
Someone had come to see me. Outside the door stood Devina with her hands on her hips looking a bit pouty.
"HEY! COME OUT!"
I peaked through the door and looked at her with strained eyes.
"YOU LIED! THEY ARE SOLD OUT OF CORN! THERE'S NONE LEFT!"
"Uhm... maybe it was because you took so long at the hot springs."
"Maybe it was because some curious guy couldn't help but oogle the Aeon of Nihility and ask her a shitload of questions?!"
Azure sat up straight immediately hearing the Aeon of Nihility being mentioned.
She turned her head to see who was outside talking about the Aeon of Nihility and her eyes immediately lit up.
Devina looked up surprised as well as Azure.
"Devina?"
"Azure?"