After the collapse of Darkwell, everyone scattered in their own directions to do their own thing.
Petra, who had already left, was far away from the city by the time dawn arrived. As she descended deeper into the western region, the world behind her was reduced to a curtain of black rain and loud static.
Ahead, only the road to the Cursed Hills remained…
* * *
The capital of the western region was a city called Oriest.
This massive city lay beyond the Cursed Hills, deep within the Yin Wood Forest. Not far past Oriest loomed a colossal shadow, one whose mere silhouette painted the horizon black. The Corrupted World Tree towered over the city, its massive crown spilling out black clouds in an endless wave and leaving the city trapped in a permanent state of night.
It was this very city where everyone was headed.
This was where the final battle would begin, and where the fate of the western region would be decided.
Each thread of fate was being pulled here by an unseen hand.
Whether the region could be salvaged in the future, or not, depended entirely on this battle.
Hm? Did I already say that… ah? Mm. Cough cough cough. What was I saying… oh, right!
Anyways, Petra wasn't in a hurry…
She'd found an abandoned carriage half buried along the side of the road. After deciding to take it, she had the guardian ant pull the carriage while the ant maid drove from the front. Petra sat inside with the trio, her two small legs crossed and pulled up onto the seat.
She sat there leisurely, relaxed, watching the rain slide down the cracked window.
The road was quiet, and even the air itself seemed to be waiting.
The tension was almost palpable…
-
The journey through the Cursed Hills began not with a climb, but with a change in color.
The blackened pools of murky swamp water that filled the Dark Swamp slowly faded to gray. Before long, the gray grass diluted even further, until all that remained was a washed-out white.
It was as if the world itself had been scrubbed clean of color.
There was no forest or foliage, only rolling hills of pale stone and shallow pools.
Mist crawled across the path ahead while unnerving cries rang out again and again from the distant fog.
It was both eerie and ominous…
The black rain continued to fall.
Petra leaned to the side and peered out the window.
The land rose and fell in waves, occasionally pierced by brittle stone spires formed from fractured rock and old stone, breaking the monotony of the rolling hills.
The fog pressed against the glass, swallowing the horizon whole, and restricting one's vision.
Scattered across the barren expanse were skeletal trees that reached up from the soil, twisting at unnatural angles. Their branches were as thin as bones, their color as white as snow. Distant shapes warped and doubled, and sometimes even her own reflection blinked back at her.
Petra tilted her head.
She almost felt like she was in a ghost story.
Indeed, this place was not good.
Her quiet humming sounded playful in the silence, but her eyes definitely weren't. They flickered through the shifting mist, watching the faint glow of ethereal runes that flowed from nothingness as they passed.
'They' were scattered across the slopes…
The barren land hid many High Elven structures, half sunken beneath dirt and stone. Maybe even the westerners didn't know what they truly were, but how could Petra, who had a disdain for such things, not recognise them?
They looked like shattered buildings, broken and forgotten by time, and buried by wind. Their outer walls still hummed faintly with spiritual energy. Every few minutes, a rune flared just bright enough to cast its own glow, lighting up distant pockets of mist like fireflies that faded faster than the eye could follow.
Petra reached across the carriage and picked up a small leather bag. After rummaging around, she pulled out something to snack on…
Nibble nibble nibble…
The ant trio sitting across from her jumped up all at once. Like naughty children jealous of the oldest, they rushed her together, trying to snatch the bag of chips from her pudgy hands.
Petra kicked one, smacked another, and wildly wrestled with the third for ownership of the potato chips.
After a short struggle, Petra sat victorious, her little ant chest puffed out in triumph.
The journey continued…
* * *
Time passed.
The road twisted deeper into the Cursed Hills, rolling up and down, back and forth, sometimes making sense, while other times, er, not so much. This was an attempt by the locals to avoid pockets of 'cursed land'…
The air here was strange.
People from the western region, no, from across the entire Cross Continent, often said the same thing. 'It was too clean for such a desolate place'. In truth, the wind carried the scent of a cold winter night, like fresh snow beneath the moon.
The confusion came from a simple fact.
The Cross Continent had no winter.
They could feel something, but they just didn't know what it was…
It was this sense of the unknown that made people uncomfortable when passing through the Cursed Hills.
As for this air…
It wasn't natural, no no no, it came from the fog rolling down from the Yin Forest up ahead.
It thickened with time.
As they approached, the world constricted…
-
The Cursed Hills, despite their desolation, was anything but dead…
Shapes stirred in the distant mist, faint silhouettes hopped across the hills, and a pair of glowing antlers rose and fell, flickered, then vanished. Another shape, serpentine and smooth, slithered just beneath the surface of the fog, crossing the road slightly behind.
The ants pulling the carriage slowed down.
They could sense danger…
It was an indirect danger, like entering a poisonous mist.
Petra cracked open the window and leaned out, looking like a naughty child who had been suddenly distracted by something outside. As she leaned farther out, her tiny legs kicked back and forth inside to keep her balanced.
What she saw was strange…
And oddly fascinating!
Petra had read about many mystical life forms that existed in the world of Pillomal, but this world never seemed to stop exceeding her expectations…
In the distance, a herd of 'Crawling Antlers' moved through the fog. Six-legged things half made of bark and bone, their bodies bending in impossible ways as they crawled up a slope like caterpillars. The antlers embedded in their fleshy frames glowed faintly, leaving trails of light that lingered far too long for their figures.
Near the base of a ruined tower, 'Curse Vipers' slithered between cracked stone, their scales trembling like frozen skin as they slipped in and out of the shadows.
And scattered throughout the fog surrounding the carriage were small 'Hollow Hares', ghostly white figures that flickered in and out of existence like echoes. They jumped about like bunnies made of clouds, mixing with the mist and appearing in the hundreds.
Petra rested her chin on her hand and watched them quietly.
Her eyes sparkled.
-
By the time 'night fell', the mist had thickened even further. The road vanished entirely, leaving only the faint glow of a small lantern tied to the guardian ant's horn. The small ring of light pushed back the haze just enough to move forward, but the surrounding wall of fog created an eerie sense of isolation.
Inside the carriage, Petra yawned and curled into her seat.
She watched the fog drift past the window like a river of ghosts.
A faint smile crossed her face.
Then she closed her eyes.
This would take a few days, so there was time to do other things.
Outside, the wind howled through the broken hills…
* * *
Next Morning, Tower Spider…
Rain came down in heavy sheets, tapping against the windows with violent thuds. Inside, the air was warm, carrying the faint scent of moss and chocolate.
-
Second Floor…
On the second floor, Rose, Noah, and little Lira had achieved a new form of enlightenment.
They had studied under a great master---
They had learned her techniques---
And!
Mm…
They were couch potatoes.
Their postures were masterful, their minds empty and clear.
On the first cushion, Lira lay face down with hollow eyes and a pillow over her head, trying to burrow as far as possible into the space between the cushions.
On the second cushion, Rose was stretched out horizontally, one leg lazily hanging off the couch while the other was curled beneath her butt.
On the third cushion, Noah behaved like a boy who had lost his purpose. He clutched the cushion like a life raft, staring at the ceiling as if trying to escape reality. His head was occasionally kicked by Rose's twitching foot.
None of them spoke.
The silence stretched, and for a long time, there was nothing.
Finally…
Lira mumbled into the pillow, "Wah! My poor brother… boohoohoo!"
Noah mumbled in response, "Is this what it feels like to lose one's dignity…"
"Yes," Rose replied with a deadpan expression. "There's no need to guess, its exactly that..."
"Boohoohoo!"
Rose: "…"
Noah: "…"
All three sighed together, united in their trauma.
Petra's 'genderbending experiments' had changed them in unspeakable ways. Rose and Noah, especially, but if you thought Lira could escape, then too bad for you~
At the moment, the two were busy comparing existential regrets.
Off to the side, Lira sat quietly, finally realizing just how much her brother had suffered over the years.
Her thoughts drifted back to Petra's pure smile, her naughty giggle, and the sparkle in her eyes as she persuaded her… "Don't worry, little kitten. This'll only hurt a little~!"
It happened shortly after she had been taken in and cleaned up.
It was indescribable…
After that, Lira couldn't remember anything clearly. She only knew she had purged those memories from her mind, never to see the light of day again. She curled into a ball and cried, "She's a devil! A devil! A little pigtailed devil! The green devil! A little monster! Pipsqueak! Meanie! Bumpy Toad!" Her eyes reddened further.
The two sighed from the side.
-
Meanwhile, high above, within the Tower Spider's Garden, Petra stood in the center of a massive swarm. Her clothes whipped in the wind, while the sound of static soared in the storm.
Today, the Ashfire Fairy and its hive had finally arrived…
Petra was just finishing her contract with the eighth poisonous beast, the Ashfire Fairy.
It balanced excitedly on her fingertip, swinging its but as Petra danced around.
The Ashfire Fairy was a small glowing bee, shaped like an ethereal gauze dress. Its colors were a blend of red and white, with three red rings along its body and six crimson legs.
Finally—
She fed it her blood!
The contract was complete with a flash of light.
Petra exhaled, holding the Ashfire Fairy up to the light like a proud child showing off its new toy to the sun.
There was no sun…
"There~! Now we're officially family! He he he!"
The Ashfire Fairy flickered twice and 'smiled' faintly. Hundreds of bees spiraled upwards into the rain, performing a strange, beautiful dance that matched the storm.
They were like a display of living drones.
Petra's eyes sparkled.
She spun in a small circle, arms raised wide, laughing as her cloak fluttered and her hair danced with the wind. "Perfect! That's number eight. Just one more to go, and I'll be done! Hehe, I can already feel the change brewing~."
She was talking about the change that would come after contracting all nine beasts. To fully awaken her physique, this foundation was required.
And as she drew closer, she could feel it…
That unseen yearning.
Her body wanted to grow.
When she finally calmed down, Petra placed her hands on her hips and nodded. "Alright, hivers! You can make your home here for now, but we'll be leaving soon, so don't settle in! And no fighting with each other, okay?!"
Buzzzzzzz!
The buzzing was so loud it made the rain vibrate.
"Good," Petra said proudly. "Now… snack time!"
Hehehe!!
She turned and ran downstairs.
Scooping up a fat frog that was sitting nearby, she hugged it tightly to her chest.
"Let's go see what the others are up to, hmm?"
The frog blinked stupidly.
Petra grinned and skipped away. "You agree? Very well~."
The frog: "…"