Puzzle Pieces and a Changing Board
As Elsa disappeared, Planar appeared. The tall ethereal man was now even taller, more ancient – with dark black lines creasing his creamy white skin like dark veins of impurities through pale granite. His eyes were white and seemed to continually spark like lightning as he looked at Ardyn.
His wizened face was still overly handsome and bizarrely curious.
"I will still call you 'Little One'. You have done well and both Serenia and Bratinus have given you something, so I will give as well. I will forever walk with you, Little One, much as Serenia does, and I will add to your sight."
He presented both of his hands, palms up. On his right palm was a dark speck of black that had green and pink iridescence. On his left palm was an amorphous blob. Both rose off Planar's hands and quickly moved to Ardyn.
As her two gifts moved to her, Planar tilted his head and began to fade like a phantom in a deep nightmare. "The black mark will join with your tattoo, Little One, and through its runes, I will always be with you."
And with this, he was gone.
The speck reached her first. It was charcoal dust with glittering light dancing within it. It hit her forehead with a thunderous kaboom. Ardyn blinked several times and her eyes subtly changed – as her vision layered on itself. Her vision dissected everything before her. Definitions began to scrawl before her like the petals of an exquisite flower. Data bloomed forth, important things forward, the unimportant shadowed and to the back, and as all of it opened to her vision, her Song of Sight resonated and highlighted what was important to her.
A lilac haze blooming over the entire scene but not upon every item.
Even as her interest was piqued, the amorphous blob opened up into rows of runes that began to twist and swirl before her, like a double helix made of runes. It spun open, Ardyn's tattoo rose on her skin, the new ink laid down connection with the old and there was a warm glow and pulse of power as they fused.
Ardyn sensed the power roll through her and she felt the Life Call, Life Slip, and the Life Turn connect to each other like pieces in an incomplete puzzle.
They connected and snapped into place – as if they refused to ever be separated again. She stood still as she allowed her body to adjust. The tattoo had covered every inch of skin – the runes glowed like warm milk on a sleepless night – and Ardyn's body slipped into a magical niche that she had not known before.
She followed the new magical flow through her systems – her magic had now transcended that of any human. It was on par with higher beings and those that transcended the magical confines of Serpentia and the surrounding magical realms.
She felt the increase in intensity of her power. It had stepped onto an ethereal level she never could have understood as the human she was before. The ancient runes now at her command were of ancient humans and other magical beings of their world. They came together in ways never seen or believed possible.
Ardyn smiled. Things like this no longer impressed her, but the idea that she was so close to her goal pleased her.
'Are you watching, love?'
'Always. My most precious gem is always within my sight.'
The tattoo plumed forward and opened before Ardyn as a black hibiscus in full bloom. It shimmered in iridescent greens and pinks and then a large wave of power shot forward and passed through Planar. As the power moved forward, Planar's chaos became even more ordered. The North, South, and East aligned a bit more and Planar's magic sea shifted and its currents quieted.
'And still you feel you need more. Have you become greedy, my love?'
Ardyn's laughter was like sunshine on a face that had only known frost for a long winter week.
'Trust me.'
'I do.'
Ardyn felt his love flow through her soul and a distinct kiss that bloomed there as well. She looked to Atina and her companion stepped forward without a word.
"One more, elder sister, and then we can return home."
Atina nodded without hesitation. "Wherever you go, I go. Why or for how long are of no importance."
Ardyn smiled. "Let's see where Song of Sight can take us."
She opened her mouth and a melody that seemed to span across the ages and look into truth and lie flowed forth. The black speck ignited and her eye turned black and sparkled green and pink. A path materialized before her.
It laid out, brick by brilliant green and pink brick, and led further to the west and out of Planar.
"Let's go. My Emperor misses me."