Chapter 119: Truth to Visions [Illustration]

[ Viviane's Domain ]

"Ah?"

The world has become a silent, violent blur. One moment, Viviane pounded the book in Daniel's hold with nearly instinctive displeasure; the next, a colossal, unseen fist slammed back in response. While it cannot bear any physical pain to her, it still adds insult by the mocking blank pages that trail her pursuit of the truth.

Did she overreact? Maybe.

In her defense, not many people would face magical books that can discriminate based on the reader.

Or hit back, for that matter.

Because of it, though, Viviane blinks, inches away from Nimue's lake before her inevitable impact against the liquid surface. She couldn't have known the extent of the protective properties of Merlin's book, but it's certainly clear now.

'I swear, these damn magicians. One day, I'll—'

Her vow is choked off in a splash, the waters rising as it had once done with Nimue, although not nearly as elegantly. Watching her daughter's drop, the enchantress rushes to the shore.

"V-viviane!?"

Not far, Daniel and Mary hold themselves with thinned lips, having caught the slime mother's entire trajectory. Stranger, the book somehow remains steady in the male artist's hands despite the invisible force that expelled out of it. Taking into account the earlier pushback against Nimue without any recoil, they can safely say the book's defenses only apply to those who attempt to damage it.

'Good to know,' Daniel thinks, sweating.

While Nimue receives her wet daughter trudging out of her lake of memories, Mary clears her throat and returns to the first blank pages before them. "Sooo... yeah, let's not hit magic books by a famous wizard. What about the next page? Don't tell me every everything turned suddenly blank for us?"

Quite literally the opposite of what they were hoping for in this dreamy domain.

Seeing how his slime mother is fine other than being pissed, Daniel swallows before refocusing. "R-right, um... let's see if... Oh?"

On the next page, English words pave the surface of the book with no sign of the ancient symbols it replaced. Before he might read it, he snaps his head urgently to his slime mother.

"It's not blank! There's text that's actually translated on the next page!"

Coming back to the shore, the water fades off Viviane's pale form as she scoffs, her eyes half-lid. "Great. Just great."

Nimue wiggles her lips into a frown. "Dear me, I have no idea why you did that. Merlin's protection activated similarly while I was chasing your friends, you know?"

"Not like I could reach them because of certain someone! Anyway, why didn't anybody tell me it could do that?" Viviane raises, straightening in posture to everyone around.

Daniel shuffles awkwardly. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to swat a book."

If only it were just a book.

Yet, Viviane groans, unable to find that much of an excuse. "Alright, touché. Still, if it's only hidden to me like the other one, I'll..."

"Other one?" Nimue interrupts, cocking her head.

Catching herself, Viviane swiftly shuts her mouth and steps away, waving her hands. "Oh, sorry! Don't worry about it."

The enchantress frowns but doesn't press. "Whatever you mean, do be careful with the one here, please?"

Hammered by the worry in her predecessor's blue eyes, it's hard to see it as anything but a mother concerned for her child. Being that child, Viviane is conflicted because she understands that feeling, having assumed Amy's memories of Daniel; however, her memories are too limited for her to feel a connection to her predecessor.

Regret lines her smile to the enchantress. "We will, but listen, there's a lot missing for me, so don't take our caution about you personally. I don't know if things can go back to the way they were, but meeting you so far, I want to believe Merlin's visions about you are wrong."

"I think anyone would," Nimue adds, snorting softly. "Don't worry, even Merlin used to be my child in a way, so how can I expect everything the same as it used to be? For me, it feels sudden since I don't have the memories leading to your sealing or what happened to me, but... you're doing the right thing by being careful."

"I assume you'll have plenty of stories to tell us when you two met?"

Chuckling, Nimue's eyes light up sadly. "Oh, more than you know. He was my anchor, someone that kept a girl like me feeling human. Just keep in mind that whatever fault lies with him for your isolation, I share more blame for entrusting him and turning you."

Viviane hums, twisting her lips before leaning away. "I suppose we'll see, but at this point, it is what it is."

Nimue nods without further comment, then watches her distant daughter rejoin her companions with little time to waste. From there, she waits patiently, looking deep into her lake as her guests review Merlin's book more privately.

Fortunately, Viviane's eyes flicker to see plain English letters as she lines to her son's side, sandwiching him between her and Mary. Finally able to read something, she relaxes a little, but clamps down on loosening her guard, not knowing what more the wizard has to say or if someone will catch on fire spontaenously.

However...

If anyone is able to read these symbols, I am Viviane — daughter to Nimue, apprentice to Merlin, and perhaps, the last remnant on Brittania.

Well, maybe not the last. At least, I haven't found evidence of others like me and my mother.

The readers stiffen, taken by the claimed voice that unexpectedly streaks across the first page. Of course, out of the all of them, the pale slime mother widens the most, her gelatinous structure quivering.

'That's... me?!'

Nobody comments aloud yet, their eyes continuing along her apparent record.

For ten years, I've tried to ignore this damn book Merlin wrote for me, yet it always find its way back to me. Despite studying with him on the fires mother and I carry, the full breadth of his designs continue to allude me. It adds to how little we really knew of him.

It's frustrating.

With that, I must air my grievances as this might be the last chance I can do so.

Why hide your burdens until now, only to leave words behind? Leave me behind?

You've set this book to follow me, then unduly expect me to follow in turn without any consideration. It makes light of everything we've spent together, everything you've advised while planning behind our backs.

So, how am I supposed to sympathize with you? Trust you?

You knew what was going to happen, accepted your fate, but couldn't rely on us enough to help change it. How are you so sure of your visions when they're symptoms of the exact flames we shouldn't trust? Flames of which I carry, and that which we haven't fully understood?

I admit, the visions you describe in here are convincing. The changes in the neighboring kingdoms are quickly occurring, especially when a void of power has appeared with Arthur gone. Even I can see that the Britons will eventually fall in a few decades.

However, that's no excuse to what you've done.

When you brought me to mother when I was dying, implored her to turn me into the same as her rather than letting me pass on, was that truly out of love for me?

I always found it odd that you'd allow a new remnant to be born, but now it makes sense.

You took me in as your apprentice, not to see me grow and help you, but for this exact moment — a means to an end. An end that you can't live through to see and change on your own!

So, you dare to call me a friend in your notes knowing the burden you've placed on me?

Fuck off with that.

I wanted a father, not a friend. Even if not in name, you were the closest to one I had. Worse, you knew exactly how I felt.

Guess I'm the fool for expecting such love.

That was the first page.

Daniel, Mary, and Viviane curl in their lips in as if they ate lemons, freshly squeezed by the heavy dose of resentment that rises from the page. Despite being written by her, Viviane feels like all of her prior frustrations have been sucked dry by her past feelings that feel so foreign.

A few uneasy moments of silence fly by before Mary breaks with a clearing of her throat. "Well, that was... enlightening."

She glances at Viviane, then winks. "I guess it's lucky that you haven't remembered any personal memories with him."

Viviane's brows knit as she brushes her hand along the page. "Is it really lucky?"

"Ah..." Mary's eyes briefly widen before she lowers her head. "Sorry, love, I shouldn't have said it like that."

"No, it's okay. Although, I'm worried what it means that I already read this. Even more so, what happened to the kingdom I was associated with?"

Keeping close to her, Daniel slides a hand over hers in comfort along the page. "Mother, do you want to continue?"

Viviane closes her eyes. "I'm fine, just trying to soak it all in and see if anything rings for me." After a moment, she reopens, hardening her gaze. "Please, let's continue."

Daniel nods.

'I don't think I can complain about missing out on a father anymore,' he adds in his mind.

Before continuing their traversal, he briefly peaks at Nimue, watching her body lightly fogged at their current distance. Even so, her blue eyes pierce through, taken in by her lake as she waits for them.

If she ever learns of her daughter's feelings, she'll probably be less happy about her lover. Not wanting to presume too much at this stage, his hand flips to the next page.

Whew.

I'm sorry, that's a bit dramatic, but I do feel better now. I remember a maid once told me it helps to write your feelings out.

That's not only why I'm doing this, but I have to agree, especially considering this might be the last time I'll ever write. In the end, my choices are to either remain in this world and hope my successor will find the truth to Merlin's fears, or preserve myself among stars using the ritual he wrote in here, then come to face it myself.

I suppose my decision will be obvious if I've successfully been released in the future as he intended. Although, it's not reassuring coming from someone who's blinded by these visions.

Viviane narrows. 'So it's true...'

They had already considered the possibility that she sealed herself, but her past words provide that confirmation. More surprising is how the ritual lies in the depth of this book.

Suddenly, she doesn't quite want to read through it all.

Guess I'm blind, too.

Or desperate. I think being desperate is the better alternative here.

While I don't want to follow my teacher's expectations, I've exhausted attempts to find answers as to what really happened in the castle. In particular, what went on between Merlin and Nimue. Indeed, he describes his and my mother's fate in this book.

He foresaw my mother undergoing a transformation, becoming a catalyst in which she would flood humanity. Through this flood, she would consume everyone, creating a paradise using the nurtured fires that were spread by predecessors over ages.

I wish I was making this up.

Before that can happen, Merlin knew he would die by her hands while sealing her away. She would be released eventually, but there's hope that by arriving there, I might be able to stop this growth.

That's Merlin's hope, anyway.

As much as I don't want to believe it, though, my mother's change might be true.

I only know that when it could have happened, it was sudden. One night, nearly everyone vanished in the castle after I left my study. Scouring, I went into the throne room. Whether I was supposed to be there was never mentioned in Merlin's descriptions.

However, I saw them.

A crack booms in the distance, breaking everyone's focus away from the text.

Daniel stumbles, Merlin's book folding in as it slips out in his hands, disappearing into the misty ground covering their feet. Seconds after it hit with a damp thud, all except Viviane snap to the source of the interruption.

The silver-haired lake dweller remains unmoving, locked into place with shrinking pupils.

"I... remember."

Supporting that statement, two silhouettes stand in the distant fog, one male and the another female. The male holds still against a sword that the female plunges into him. Emanating a red aura, the female shadow resembles Nimue, meaning the other had to be...

"... Merlin?" Nimue questions weakly, her blue eyes shaking in recognition.

Hearing enchantress stunned whisper behind them, Daniel lets out air before he shifts to his slime mother. "Mother, snap out it! Is this your doing?"

Viviane blinks, the faint bits of memories repeating in her mind that hit right when the throne room was mentioned. Despite her disorientation, she forces herself to catch up, facing the shadows that is nearly as foggy as it came to her.

"Y-yes, I think so," she answers. "I... I just saw a little of when it happened, and then..."

The slime mother struggles to finish as the shadow Nimue moves, pulling out her sword from the memory of Merlin. They hear a soft grunt before he falls to his knees, almost at peace. Without much fanfare, his body disintegrates in front of his lover like shredded cloth.

The female shadow remains, swiping downward as if to remove any residue before facing them.

Mary gulps. "Uh, are we sure that's just a memory or...?"

She doesn't need to finish as the shadow draws to them in a slow walk, lifting its sword while its red aura rises like flames to undesired intent.

"That's a corruption!" Nimue shouts, burying her shock. While the memory is undoubtedly triggered by Viviane, this is the first time she has seen a corruption manifesting out from one.

What does that say about her and Merlin?

Viviane holds similar questions, but responds to the threat first seeing how she can't disperse the memory from her mind. Stretching her arm out, she pushes Daniel and Mary back first. "We'll discuss this later! We need to—"

In a switch, the shadow bends, bursting forward at Viviane before she can finish. Its pitch black features are unreadable as it directs the shrouded blade at the silver girl like a snake. Viviane responds better, pulling a morphing arm up more quickly to block.

Thwoom!

But, they barely meet. A ball of blue mass hurls to the side of the corruption in a blur, throwing it off. No screams come out of it as the shadow disappears into the fog before any of them can breathe.

Viviane holds her bladed arm closely as she and the others turn their attention to Nimue, who threw the mass; however, the enchantress narrows past them to where she pushed the shadow, her arm stretched with slime. While stepping closer, she retracts her mass back, reshaping it into a sword with a whip of her hand.

"It hasn't dispersed yet," she warns.

The artists stiffen. Daniel wants to ask how she's able to tell, but the whirling of their surroundings silences him. Meanwhile, Viviane tenses with uncertainty toward her predecessor.

"Nimue..."

"Tell me, did I really kill Merlin as we just saw?" the enchantress asks without looking at her daughter, her eyes alert to their surroundings.

Viviane's gaze follows similarly with bitter line of her lips. "I don't know."

Nimue's grip on her hilt tightens. "No... What do you mean by that? You clearly remembered something that showed...!"

She stops herself, catching the slightest tint of red near a stun-locked Mary. Without another word, she twists and grabs the ebony artist's shoulder, pulling her back.

"Ah!?"

Mary squeaks just in time when the corruption leaps into view from the fog, rising along with its sword. From behind, the artist's whole expression sinks, watching the lake guardian in front of her meet the corruption's blade.

They mirror each other, their dark and light metal blades ringing out, sending crisp echoes that cause the nearby lake to ripple.

"Stubborn!" Nimue hisses.

She wants to reject it, desperately.

Viviane doesn't wait to follow up, extending her bladed arm out to hit the shadow's side. In turn, the shadow tries to pull back again, but Nimue presses forward with her additional appendages rising from her shoulders. With a metal blade and multiple slimy protrusions upon it, one manages to puncture shadow's shoulder before it can retreat.

Shlick! Shlick! Shlick!

Then, a few more. There's no escape as its dark blade is thrown off, dissipating in the air like smoke while the rest of its figure is skewered. Like before when it was smashed away, there's barely a cry as it hangs by multiple sharp poles of slime, but it does warble weakly.

The shadow's featureless face stares back at Nimue for too long, causing her to grit her teeth in disgust. Having left more meaning than she'd like, she watches it dissipate along with its red aura, returning the area to its gray state.

Slowly, the fog regains its ominous silence.

"No."

Whirling with doubts about herself, Nimue looks to the ground where she saw Daniel drop Merlin's book. At this point, she's lost patience on waiting for the truth, so she extends her arm out, snatching the book through the misty layer.

"W-wait!" Daniel sounds, snapping out of his stun of the fight. He reaches out to nothing before the book is in the enchantress' hands. Before he can object further, Viviane pulls forward with a hand out.

She shakes her head. "It's fine, child. Let her read it."

Daniel furrows his brows and scoffs. "Read it? But we don't know if she—"

"I know it's strange after seeing that memory and corruption, but she's not the threat," Viviane cuts, then glances at her. "At least, not in her current state. I can say now that she's really what's left of my mother when we synced in the past."

"How do you know that for sure? Have you suddenly remembered everything?"

"No, I haven't, but... I'm feeling much stronger about her now."

"Well, I don't!"

While they argue, Nimue is already reading the first two pages, her face slowly breaking as she takes in her daughter's words.

"O-oh... Oh..."

Hearing her strained guardian, Viviane frowns. "Sweetie, you'll understand once you finish reading, but the scene we just witnessed wasn't... exactly that."

Although she doesn't remember the entire book, she recollects the last bit she added in the past before they were interrupted.

However, I saw them.

I couldn't reach them, but I could see a sword held by my mother, plunged into Merlin.

He was smiling at her while she cried without tears, trying to pull the sword out of him. Before I knew it, they were fading away right in front of my eyes, hugging each other in vain.

I was helpless to do anything, only able to watch until this book drop from him as they disappeared.

It wasn't just them that faded that day. Honestly, it scares to me think what kind magic using the flames was performed.

It might very well be the effects of the sealing I'm about to perform.

Viviane shuts her eyes.

"Merlin's visions might all be true, but he can only assume what he sees in those parts," she explains, feeling the sadness that traveled inside of her as she inscribed the same language Merlin used into the book. Opening her eyes, she shifts to Nimue, who tightens her eyes as she holds the book close to her forehead, anger and loss swirling in her lips.

"It would be different if I hadn't seen it, but now I can understand why I don't want to believe she killed him," she continues.

Daniel thins his lips, rightly confused. He wants to understand better what his slime mother means, but at that moment, he sees their forms fading as time runs out in this domain.

"Of course, it had to be now." Snorting, he drops his head and sighs. "Look, if you say so. I'm just worried about the future now."

"I'll explain better when we wake up, okay?" Viviane assures, smiling weakly. She returns her attention fully to Nimue. By now, she and the others are half-faded.

She grazes towards her side. "We'll come back!"

The enchantress gasps, pulling up from the book. Her lips wiggle before she hums, forcing down her emotions. With it, her eyes firm at her daughter. "Y-you have to find out what happened to us, my child."

Viviane nods. "Now I know that was always the plan."

Nimue sends a strained smile before clearing herself. "A-also, your sense of control and reaction is quite... bad. Before you might get into trouble, we need to fix that."

The silver slime flinches. "Ah... Is that necessary?"

"Ha, it most certainly is. Even if you don't remember our time together, I'm still your guardian, so I would know how you should move. Come back as soon as you can, okay?" Nimue urges.

Stunned, Viviane blinks a few times before she relaxes with a snort. "Yes, one should listen to their mothers, I suppose."

She gives one last rise of her lips, but more toward her past self. 'She hasn't disappeared in us, Viviane.'

She and the others fade into the fog, much like it happened in the past, leaving Nimue alone like before.

Hoping it's not a simple dream, Nimue squeezes the book closer to her chest, taking in its presence as if Merlin was with her. However, after a few seconds of silence, she raises the book up in realization, eyes widening.

"Wait, this book hasn't disappeared with them?"

She doesn't forget Viviane mentioning there was another book around here, too.