Book Three – Chapter Twelve – Part Eight – The Fleeting Touch of a Friend

“Yeah. Our first major milestone is complete…” Momo turned her head to the window, which showed Angie maneuvering a burning match to Momo’s contract. The black ash scattered on top of the pink surface. It glowed for only a second, and then the process was complete.

Angie slid it back through the window while looking at the pouch of matches. Since she hadn’t worked at Warden long enough, she was barred from using Acceptance Flame via a skill. She wouldn’t get that privilege until she had earned it, so she was forced to use matches enchanted with the same properties.

However, she ran out.

“Granny! Can you come in here?” Angie hollered.

A few seconds later, the door located behind Angie, which led to the back room, away from prying eyes, had its handle turned. The door flew open, allowing an Elf to walk right in. Momo correctly presumed this woman was the granny Angie talked about, even though they were of different races.

She had heterochromia, with one eye being blue and the other green. A set of paper earrings hung from her pointy ears, which were angled upwards rather than back. They were a gift from Angie, who painstakingly practiced day and night for months. However, she didn’t master the technique of folding paper, and that was visually obvious. The left one was red and a bit larger than the right blue one. That one was a few centimeters smaller. Even though Angie begged her to throw them away, the Elf refused, citing it was a precious gift.

The orange hair covering her head was tied in a single braid. Though it showed a few blemishes here and there on her exposed, tanned arms, the gray short-sleeve t-shirt she wore had black metal plates sewed within them. Her leather pants had the same. While both weren’t a substitute for actual armor, it was the most she could string together on short notice.

“Angie, I told you to holler when that man left,” the Elf said. She had two swords sheathed around her waist. Her right hand was preoccupied with a backpack similar to the one Momo had on. It had the name ‘Angie’ written on it. The one she held with her left hand was much bigger. Even if she worked out for months, Momo didn’t think she could lift it as easily as this Elf.

“I’m sorry, granny,” Angie said. “But these two came in after him. I had to help them.”

“It’s okay, but don’t forget next time.” The Elf sat the backpacks down and walked over to Angie. She towered over against her adopted granddaughter by forty centimeters. Placing a hand on Angie’s brown hair, the Elf spoke to Servi and Momo. “I can see it without needing to ask. You two are ranking up?”

“That’s right, ma’am. We're going from Rank 10 to Rank 9. Angie had done mine, but Servy’s still needs her,” Momo said.

“Granny, here’s her contract.” Angle held up a piece of paper. When she snapped her finger, a flame appeared from the Elf’s index finger. It didn’t take long at all for her to scorch the contract, and a few seconds later, Servi had her ID back. She looked at the words ‘Rank: 9’ and smiled.

“There ya go. I know you are supposed to get 50 dupla, but I’m sorry. We don’t have the money. Our coffers are empty because our turncoat, cowardly, weak, annoying boss robbed us before he ran away.”

“Granny!” Angie exclaimed, red in the face. “You told me we shouldn't talk bad about our superiors!”

“I did, but only those we respect. Oh, but don’t worry, the Potential you should have earned is already on there. As for the dupla, take this…” The Elf pulled out a notepad and pen from somewhere nearby. She hastily scribbled something similar to a receipt and handed it to Momo. “Give that to an employee in any Warden office, and you’ll get paid. I really am sorry for the inconvenience.”

Momo hastily red it over, learning that Moko was the Elf's name.

“Now, I don’t want to be rude, but as you can see from the city, it isn’t looking good. We’re the only ones here, and we were about to leave this dump. If you don’t have any other business…” Moko trailed off.

“I know. Angie mentioned that. To be honest, we were too. We just wanted to finish up the quest and then head back to Canary. I should be the one apologizing,” Momo said. “Come on, Servy. It’s time for us to leave.” She turned her head to her friend and noticed her eyes were glued to her ID. At the same time, a mysterious letter appeared on the table. An invisible force glided it through the little hole in the glass.

“Hmm?” Angie noticed the note and went to pick it up. She opened and silently read it while Moko talked to Momo.

“I see. But do be careful on the way back. Try not to travel as much as night. Be sure to find a cave or something to hunker down in. Ah, do you have enough food? I think we have—”

“No…” Angie’s sudden whimper cut Moko off as she immediately crouched down.

“Angie, what’s wrong?!” Moko held her granddaughter by the shoulders, which violently convulsed.

“No!!! It can’t be true!!! No!!!!” Angie slammed the letter down, hurting her hand.  That discomfort didn’t compare at all to the pain radiating down her arms. Her gloved hand shakily went to her sleeve, gripping it tightly.

Moko turned her attention to the letter and hastily scanned it over. “Shit! Angie, stay with me. Sweetie, just look at me, okay?”

“Granny!!!” The traumatized Human looked up with thick tears. “It hurts!!! My arms hurt!!! AAAHHHHHH!!!!” Angie screamed with the force of a dying whale. Moko tried to prevent her from scratching at her sleeves, but that ended in failure. It wasn’t the first time Angie had an outburst likely relating to her memories, but it had never been so brutal and sudden.

“Sweetie, look at me!” The Elf moved her hands from Angie’s shoulders to her hands, forcibly pulling them away from their opposite forearm.

Momo only needed one look to connect the dots. Her mind the rest.

I figured there would be a letter when Servi told me about Old Man and his granddaughter. She said he claimed to had given up on ever reconnecting with her, but that was a lie. I would bet my bottom dupla Old Man secretly wished for the chance to see her, and that’s why he went through the effort of writing that note. Servi also told me she had no memory of him, but looking at it now… I say she’s remembering it all. He had to kill and rob to get that medicine... Even if he was a murderer, he truly cared about his family…

Her thoughts were somewhat calm for the situation she observed, but it was because she trusted Servi to do the right thing. But even that trust couldn’t lessen the pain Momo felt while watching Angie suffer right before her very eyes. It was like a chain had wound itself around her beating heart, tightening and preventing it from beating.

The same chain had found its way around Angie as well. It clashed with a barrier deep within her soul containing her locked memories. The metaphysical chain wrapped around and around, doing its best to free the sealed memories. Although, it unintentionally caused Angie a great deal of pain.

But that was about to change.

“There it is…” Servi whispered. Momo looked over with tears in her eyes, and her friend turned her head. “Lux Dei Omnipotentis,” she said, uttering the name of one of the most powerful skills in the world.

A little pink pebble, smaller than even the tiniest rock, appeared from thin air in a dazzling explosion of pink light. However, it wasn’t a physical attack. It was metaphysical, penetrating deep with the Warden office, covering everything in a pinkish glow. It emitted not cold or hatred, but warmth and love. Momo’s pained heart was instantly soothed. Moko turned her head away from her granddaughter and stared at the pair holding hands.

“No way…” she muttered. Her surprise was so great it prevented her from comforting Angie. Though by now, the troubled Human had considerably calmed down.

From the pink-covered floor, a bubble appeared. It grew larger and taller, taking on the shape of a Humanoid woman with wings, though her facial features were hidden. It soon exploded, flooding Servi’s, Momo’s, Moko’s, and Angie’s eyes with a blast of light so strong they temporarily lost their sense of sight.

Lux Dei Omnipotentis was a skill that required a vast amount of Skill Energy to perform the miracles it was known for. To do that, it first temporarily transported the user, the target, and those around them to a small separate dimension consisting of nothing but pure Skill Energy. Once they were in there, the energy surrounding them provided the rest of the fuel Lux Dei Omnipotentis needed, therefore actually performing the miracles.

If that was the case, then why did it need such a large amount of Skill Energy to use in the first place? Why couldn’t the skill just borrow the energy?

That was because breaking away from the physical realm and into the world where Skill Energy resided took a heavy toll on the user. In other words, out of the few who had the skill, even fewer would find themselves able to stand after using it. It was far more likely they would be bed-ridden for weeks or months as the body recuperated, but even that was rare. More often than not, the user slipped into a coma, eventually succumbing to death.

Without assistance from rare tools or a particular exclusive skill, perceiving the normally invisible Skill Energy was impossible.

What did it look like? Each of the seven elements: water, fire, wind, earth, lightning, light, and dark, were infused into each other by the Gods and Goddesses when the world was created. That was the truth behind Skill Energy. It was a mixture of the purest elements making up the world.

Should the separator keeping it hidden be removed, the entire universe would be plastered in a rainbow-esque filter. An accurate comparison would be a child tossing buckets of polychrome paint onto a canvas and crawling on it. Everything would forever be a mismatch of chaos that would drown the visual senses of everyone in the world.

On the other hand, there was a skill in Warden’s vast repertoire that allowed a user to slightly alter the separator in their immediate surroundings. By doing so, they could make it appear as if they were glowing with the coolness of water or burning with the flaming inferno of fire.

Such abilities were often used by traveling circuses or performing groups to enhance their shows with a display of color. They provided absolutely nothing in terms of combat. At worst they were useless. At best it allowed a performer the chance to dazzle and glow like the sun in front of a crying child to soothe their aching hearts. For some people, that made it worthwhile to learn.

Even so, there was yet one more skill out there that allowed a person the chance to convert their physical strength into a visual blast of Skill Energy. Aptly named Visual Aura, the skill was mainly used for brutish men to compare their physical prowess. Rumors had it there that were even competitions with monetary compensation on the line for those with the brightest or most intimidating Visual Aura.

It only took a few seconds for her sight to return, but what Moko saw stole her strength away. Seconds later, Momo slowly opened her own eyes, crying instantly at the astonishing sight she saw. “It’s… It’s paradise…” she uttered. What she saw could only be described as a Utopia to put all other Utopias to shame.

The pinkish sky emitted a sense of love, blessing all who looked upon it with the stillness of a calming heart. The green grass below the group of four was softer than velvet and smelled like charming flowers. The air was cleaner than even the purest air, preventing the tiniest and most harmless toxins from invading their lungs.

Momo looked at Servi, who blankly stared ahead. In the far distance stood hills of rolling, brown mountains. Momo smiled, joining her friend in glancing at the otherworldly sights. It was then they discovered they were located in the middle of a great plain. There were no traces of oceans or lakes in the vast distance their eyes surveyed.

Moko then remembered about Angie. She turned so fast her single braid whipped her face, drawing blood, and whimpered when Angie wasn’t there. Before her panic swallowed her whole, she heard someone speaking.

“Be at ease,” said a feminine voice from the sky. Momo had no way of knowing, but the speaker’s tone was eerie similar to Itarr. The calming words relaxed Moko to the point where she was docile. The same pink bubble from moments appeared in front of them.

“That which is in front of you is Lux Dei Omnipotentis.” As if right on cue, the bubble stretched and formed into a similar shape they saw before arriving. The voice from the sky continued to speak, almost as if the Humanoid-shaped bubble was waiting for something before it fully popped. “Angie is safe and sound. Take a look for yourselves.”

The pink surface of the bubble popped, revealing a woman with wings who carried a girl in her soft arms. The winged woman had an outfit like that of a nurse, but its threads were woven with pink Skill Energy. Her eyes were a similar color to that of the blue sky, but they were brighter. Other than her pale skin, which periodically flashed a light pink, everything about the woman was pink. Even her wings shared a similar hue to that of the sky. Momo briefly stared, remembering back to when her grandpa talked about angels.

Grandpa once told me a story about people with white wings called angels, but those aren’t white. But I bet she's an angel all the same… I can’t believe I’m witnessing something so incredible!

“Moko, be at ease,” spoke the woman with a voice similar to that of Momo. The angel’s wings lightly fluttered as she hovered to the frantic Elf. Her arms were outstretched while water fell from her eyes. When they left her puffy cheeks, the clear drops fell to the grass, where they promptly disappeared. “Angie is healed from anything ailing her.”

As if to prove her words, Moko took her adopted granddaughter and raised her sleeves. “They’re gone?!” she exclaimed upon discovering the lack of horrific reminders tying Angie to her unknown past. “What about her disease?! That awful disease… it’s gone, right?! Please, say it’s gone!” The majority of Moko’s believed she was a part of a fever dream induced by Arcton’s downfall. Even still, the first thing that came to her mind was understanding what she thought was a delusion because it involved Angie.

“Moko, be at ease. Angie is healed from anything ailing her.” The winged-woman repeated herself word-for-word.

Moko tried again to get a definitive answer out of the woman while Momo stared with a smile.

This place looks like the area of my mind where that girl is, but the colors are different. And that woman with the wings looks kinda like me if I was a Human. I’m confused, but I’m not anxious or worried about anything. I know Servy wouldn’t use the skill if there was any chance of something harming us.

Momo acutely noticed some vital details about the space they found themselves in, but she couldn’t quite make the connection. Though let it be known, it wasn’t her fault she lacked the crucial knowledge; only the most ancient and knowledgeable of secret texts contained verifiable information behind Rank 0 skills. Most day-to-day citizens and inhabitants of the planet only knew the bare minimum. For example, they were aware that Lux Dei Omnipotentis could heal any wound, but they didn’t know the means of how the skill accomplished that.

Moments before Lux Dei Omnipotentis transported the group of four, it scanned the open portion of Servi’s memory and everyone’s IDs. The skill then used that information to create the perfect sub-world, which ensured total calmness and peace.

The prominent use of the color pink and Momo’s likeness for the angel heavily signified Servi’s complete and total trust in her. In a way, there could be no better show of affection because it meant, to Servi, Momo was the single person in the whole world that brought her tranquility.

The speaker that spoke from the sky illustrated the bond between Servi and the Goddess inside her. If Itarr registered that connection, she didn’t make it known. She lazily floated around while trying her best to hold in her tears.

If Servi had no trust in anyone, then the little realm they found themselves in would be like a multi-colored canvas splashed with seven differently colored coats of paint.

The angel’s repeated sentences were due to the script she was assigned to. Those equivalent words were uttered for all who had used Lux Dei Omnipotentis. And they will be said in the future for all who came after Servi, Momo, Moko, and Angie.

In the end, the skill was true to its description. Everything that could be described as a disease, wound, scar, and anything in between, was healed from Angie’s body. The poor girl would no longer suffer from that infernal disease which broke her family apart. The harsh reminder on her arms would fade away to the land of lost memories. As for whether or not Angie would recall her grandfather and life before she met Moko? That was up to her. Only Angie could come to terms with her past and face them head-on.

“Servy, I’m so proud of you…” Momo said. Her eyes looked up at the pink sky, then they turned to Servi. “This is…just incredible… I’m not talking about the scenery, though it is pretty. I’m talking about what you did for Angie and Moko. You said this skill needed 500 or 1,000 Potential to learn, and the cost doubled with each use… That’s a big sacrifice, but you did it for them… I always knew you had a heart full of kindness.”

Servi chose to remain quiet. Moments before she was about to end the skill, a second form materialized inside a pink bubble, which popped into existence. After fading away, it revealed an elderly gentleman, who was the spitting image of Old Man. He even had the same scar across his face.

Moko, who held the sleeping Angie in her arms, gasped when she saw the newly formed figure. The angel, who stood a step back and allowed the ghostly form Old Man to approach, dissolved into pink energy.

The speechless Elf tried to talk, but no words escaped her opened mouth. Her heterochromatic eyes just stared when the man placed a hand on Angie’s forehead. His ghostly fingers swept aside her hair. Then he reached down and took hold of one of her hands.

The Old Man lookalike never uttered a single word during his unexpected cameo. He only showed what little affection he could, but he wasn’t Old Man. He was only a chunk of Skill Energy given form by Servi’s unlocked memories. His actions were the same the real Old Man would do, but he did not have a conscience. Like a machine, every motion he performed was dependent on the instructions he received.

I guess he got his wish in the end. Old Man… you loved Angie very much… Momo thought to herself. The heartwarming scene was so moving she cried, but the water leaking from her blue eyes wasn't from sadness.

“Happy tears are the best tears. Isn’t that right, Servy?”

Servi nodded and chose that time to end the skill. A pink orb materialized in front of her. The color of the world seemed to fade away, sucking into the ball that rapidly grew in size with every passing second. The pink sky slowly turned brown, like the wooden roof in the Warden office. The air became stuffy and sickening, like it was being tainted by the smell of death. Momo looked down and saw the grass below her feet turn into a wooden floor on the edge of rotting.

The large mountains in the distance were replaced walls, and the four who went to the Skill Energy Realm had appeared back in the physical realm. The glass window separating Servi and Momo from Moko and Angie proved that.

The startled Elf blinked once, twice, and then four times. A huff of disbelief escaped her quivering lips. Angie still laid in her arms, asleep to the world with a calming smile on her face.

“Grandpa… I love you… Don’t go…” she uttered. Moko instantly ran her fingers up and down Angie’s forearms, gasping in relief.

“The scars are gone… So that really did happen… Sweetie, you don’t have to take that awful medicine anymore…” whispered the Elf. She wept tears of relief and happiness, which were also a display of her determination to face the future. When Angie woke up, the pair was sure to have some turbulent times ahead, but Moko would do all she could to support her adopted granddaughter.

“Wait… How did it happen? Did you…” Moko looked through the glass window at Servi and Momo.

“When Angie wakes up, tell her I’m sorry I couldn’t save her grandfather. I had the chance…but I chose not to act. Before he died, he once joked about me using Lux Dei Omnipotentis to save her… Well, I kept my promise…” Servi said. She failed to maintain a smile, crying when she spoke the second sentence. Moko was utterly speechless, but Servi and her best friend turned around before the Elf could get a word in. Perhaps that was for the best. If she spoke, she would no doubt be reduced to a sniveling mess. Instead, Moko said a few heartfelt words in her mind as she stared at the Singi consoling the Human.

“Servy, I’ll say as many times as I need to because it's the truth. I’m so proud of you,” Momo said. Her blue eyes also looked to the physical proof of their connection. “And now, it’s time for us to leave.”

Servi nodded once more. She didn’t speak because, again, it felt like she was slowly slipping away. Servi knew it was going to happen, and Momo did too, but Servi angrily bemoaned the fact it had to happen so soon. If she did have anything to say, she needed to do it soon.

The two advanced towards the door when Servi heard a familiar voice whisper a single sentence. “Williana, thank you for doing the impossible…”

Softly smiling, Servi held an arm out, opening the door that hopefully led to a brighter future.