A Journey Unwanted

[Realm: Uhorus]

[Location: Galadriel]

[Western Outskirts]

Telluris seemed unreal in a way that was difficult to describe.

She sat once again upon the grassy bank beside the crystal-clear river, her posture graceful; it was as though elegance came as naturally to her as breathing. The current flowed beside her in gentle murmurs.

Several tiny birds rested comfortably upon the golden antlers rising from her head. They hopped between the branches without the slightest trace of fear, occasionally fluffing their feathers before settling again. Telluris paid them no mind beyond the small warmth lingering in her smile.

It never faded.

She simply watched the river ahead in contemplation.

Astrid, Agatha, and Mirabella remained standing several paces away, none of them quite certain whether sitting would be appropriate before a being such as her. Cor’nella hovered nervously above Agatha’s shoulder, her tiny wings beating rapidly enough to create a constant hum.

Mirabella could hardly blame the fairy.

This was not simply a Divine Beast.

This was Telluris.

The Beast of Beginning.

The oldest and strongest.

The masses spoke her name with reverence. Countless scriptures described her as an existence comparable to the Primordial Gods themselves. If she wished, she could erase everyone present before a single one of them even realized she had moved.

Yet...

She did not feel threatening.

That was what unsettled Mirabella the most.

Most powerful opponents announced themselves before they ever acted. Their mana weighed upon the air. Their killing intent suffocated everything around them. Their presence alone forced weaker people to tremble.

Telluris possessed none of that.

There was no oppressive aura, crushing pressure, or an overwhelming torrent of mana. She simply existed; somehow that absence made her feel even more unreachable.

("Mikoto really spoke to someone like this as though she were just another person...") Mirabella’s eyes lingered on the Divine Beast for only a second before drifting away again. ("Honestly, I shouldn’t even be surprised anymore. If there’s anyone ridiculous enough to casually befriend the strongest Divine Beast alive it’d be that idiot.")

Silence settled over the clearing.

Even the river seemed louder than the people gathered beside it.

Astrid quickly noticed how no one seemed willing to begin speaking.

("This is awkward...") The princess offered Telluris another respectful glance. ("How exactly does one start a conversation with a Divine Beast?")

Normally, books served her well.

History, legends, and ancient scriptures.

Those had always been where Astrid felt most comfortable.

Reality, however, rarely behaved like parchment.

Even so...

They were all she had.

("Every account I’ve ever read described Telluris as a Beast of Balance, an existence that only reveals herself when the balance of the world is truly endangered.")

Her blue eyes slowly lifted toward the skies.

Above them stretched the perfect circle of untouched night.

Beyond its border waited the endless black corruption of the Abyss.

The difference was almost painful to look at.

("Then, shouldn’t she have appeared much sooner?") The question lingered; the world’s balance had already collapsed. Kingdoms were dying, and the leylines were eroding.

If balance alone dictated her actions...

Why now?

Astrid quietly inhaled.

Perhaps speculation would accomplish nothing.

Directly asking would be far more respectful.

"Great Beast Telluris..." Astrid finally began, her voice gentle yet steady. "I hope you’ll forgive my curiosity. I ask with nothing but respect, but why choose to help now? From everything history tells us, I would have expected the Beast of Balance to reveal herself much earlier. The world has been falling into disorder for quite some time."

Telluris’ gaze drifted away from the river.

Those ocean-blue eyes settled upon Astrid.

There was kindness within them.

"You are not mistaken for thinking so," Telluris answered softly, inclining her head ever so slightly. "Under ordinary circumstances, your conclusion would indeed be correct."

Her eyes slowly returned to the flowing river.

The water continued onward without hesitation.

"As things stand now, the scales have tipped far beyond what they were ever meant to bear." She paused. "The balance first abandoned this star." Her gaze slowly lifted. "And if nothing changes, the realm itself will inevitably follow. It shall not stop there"

Those words settled over the group with uncomfortable weight.

Agatha’s expression sharpened.

"Are you saying..." she asked carefully, "...that the Abyss isn’t simply consuming this realm anymore? That it truly has the potential to spread beyond it?"

Telluris nodded once.

"Indeed." Her answer was calm. "The Abyss itself is already an incomprehensibly vast power. Even left alone, it would remain a catastrophe unlike any recorded in history." Her voice remained gentle. "But a calamity becomes infinitely more dangerous once guided." Her eyes met theirs once more. "A source directs it. That is what has transformed this from disaster, into something far more severe."

Silence answered her.

Mirabella folded her arms tighter.

She had heard enough explanations.

There was still one question that mattered more than anything else.

"And that’s exactly why people are wondering something." Her blue eyes remained fixed upon Telluris. "If you knew all this, then why haven’t you done anything until now?"

Unlike Astrid’s careful phrasing, Mirabella spoke exactly as she thought.

None of the others would have asked it so directly.

But all of them wanted the answer.

Before Telluris could respond—

"You foolish brat!" Cor’nella darted forward so suddenly she nearly collided with Mirabella’s face. The fairy pointed both tiny hands accusingly. "Do you truly think beings like the Great Telluris can simply interfere whenever they please? Things are never that simple!"

Mirabella barely blinked.

"Why the hell not?" Her answer came immediately. "If she’s really as powerful as everyone keeps saying, then what exactly has been stopping her?"

Cor’nella opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

Instead—

"Rules." Astrid quietly supplied the answer; every gaze shifted toward her. She looked thoughtful more than confident. "I only remember fragments from older texts," she admitted honestly. "Most of them were incomplete, and many contradicted each other, but they all agreed on one point."

She slowly turned back toward Telluris.

"The strongest beings in existence are bound by laws established long before our civilizations." Her voice remained contemplative. "Gods. Primordial beings. Divine Beasts. They cannot simply exercise their full authority whenever they wish."

Astrid paused for a brief moment.

"If such laws didn’t exist..." She glanced toward the river. "...then perhaps the world would have fallen into chaos long before the Abyss ever appeared."

Telluris smiled approvingly.

"Just so." The confirmation came quickly.

"But the conclusion is correct." Agatha folded her arms. "I suppose it makes sense." She frowned slightly. "If beings powerful enough to reshape the world acted without restraint, there would never truly be balance. Only whichever being happened to be strongest."

Telluris inclined her head again. "A fair observation."

Mirabella, however, remained unconvinced.

"So..." She looked directly at Telluris. "Rules." She let the word linger. "That’s really your whole reason?" There was no hostility in her tone, but there was frustration. "You got the strength to help; you knew what was happening, and you understood how dangerous this had become." Her brows remained furrowed. "And because of rules people just kept dying?"

The clearing became still once again, even Cor’nella lowered her head. No one interrupted this time, the question deserved an answer.

Telluris’ expression never changed, but there was sadness within her smile.

"As painful as it may sound..." Her voice carried softly across the river. "...yes." She closed her eyes briefly. "There are laws even I cannot simply disregard. When beings such as myself intervene too greatly, consequences are rarely limited to a single world."

She slowly reopened her eyes.

"The stronger one’s existence, the heavier one’s interference becomes." Her gaze drifted toward the untouched skies above. "I have already stepped further than those laws would ordinarily permit." She looked back toward the four girls. "This sanctuary, the opening within the heavens, and the peace afforded to these creatures."

Her gentle smile never disappeared.

"These alone already carry risks."

"Then why bother showing yourself?" Mirabella found herself asking, unable to keep the question to herself any longer. Her blue eyes remained fixed on Telluris without wavering. "If these rules truly are as absolute as you’re making them sound, then stepping out into the open like this feels like an unnecessary risk. Why place yourself in danger if you’re already restricted in what you can actually do?"

Telluris listened without interrupting.

There was no offense in her expression; the same patience she had shown since the moment they had arrived persisted.

Her fingers rested loosely upon her lap as the river continued flowing beside her.

"Because..." Telluris began softly, the single word carrying neither hesitation nor certainty but simple honesty. "Despite the laws that bind my existence, I cannot, in good conscience, continue turning my back upon the suffering of this star."

Her gaze drifted away from the group.

It settled upon the animals gathered peacefully around the clearing.

A young deer cautiously lowered its head to drink from the river while, only several paces away, a great wolf merely watched without hunger. Birds fluttered between branches untouched by fear.

"This world has endured more sorrow than it ever should have," Telluris continued quietly. "For a long time, I convinced myself that restraint was the correct choice. That observing without acting preserved the balance I was entrusted to protect."

Her smile grew fainter.

"But there comes a point where remaining still becomes no different from abandoning those in need." She looked back toward the four girls. "If I possess even the smallest opportunity to offer hope, then I believe I should take it."

Cor’nella suddenly darted forward, panic written plainly across her tiny face.

"G-Great Telluris..." the fairy squeaked, wringing her tiny hands together. "P-please reconsider speaking so lightly about this. If... if you intervene too greatly, there’s no telling what could happen. The consequences for someone like you aren’t something even we fairies fully understand."

Telluris turned toward her.

Her smile became warmer.

"There is no need to worry so deeply for me, child of Isadora." Her voice remained gentle enough that it almost soothed Cor’nella despite the topic. "The punishment, should it come, will fall upon me alone."

She spoke those words without drama or self-pity.

"I shall bear whatever burden follows." A small silence lingered before she continued. "For I have remained idle for far too long." Those words carried considerably more sincerity than her previous ones.

There was regret hidden within them.

She lowered her eyes toward the river once again.

"I have watched many things come into existence, be they kingdoms rising or disappearing. Or seeing countless lives begin and countless more come to their end." The water continued flowing beside her. "I have always believed distance was necessary," a faint smile escaped her. "But perhaps I mistook that for wisdom."

She slowly lifted her gaze once more.

"So although the laws remain, there is still one opportunity left to me." Her smile returned. "There will be only a single chance for more direct interference on my part."

Astrid’s eyes brightened ever so slightly.

The hope she’d been carefully suppressing surfaced almost immediately.

"So..." she began carefully, almost afraid to assume too much. "Does that mean you intend to stand alongside us? That you’re willing to work with us despite those limitations?"

Telluris nodded without hesitation.

"Of course." The answer came naturally. "As things stand now, our goals are one and the same." She regarded each of them kindly. "You seek to preserve this world. So do I." A gentle breeze stirred her blue hair. "And..." Her smile softened just a little further. "At the end of the day you are all comrades of Mikoto."

The moment his name left her lips—

Mirabella felt something unpleasant tighten inside her chest. It happened so suddenly that she almost frowned before realizing why.

She folded her arms more tightly.

"You’re really that close to him, huh?" She tried to sound casual; she failed. Her voice carried just the slightest edge she hadn’t intended.

Telluris blinked once.

There was not even a moment’s pause.

"Of course," she answered with complete sincerity. "We are friends."

That was all, a simple statement spoken exactly as Telluris understood it.

Mirabella forced the word out. "Friends." The strange sensation in her stomach returned immediately. It was exactly the same uncomfortable feeling she’d experienced when first laying eyes upon Telluris.

Only...

It had nothing whatsoever to do with Telluris’ overwhelming strength.

("...Seriously?") She frowned internally. ("What the hell is this annoying feeling?")

It wasn’t fear, nor intimidation or distrust.

It simply...

Stung.

Watching Telluris speak about Mikoto with such warmth bothered her far more than she cared to admit.

("She’s a Divine Beast.") Her thoughts became increasingly irritated. ("The strongest one at that. And somehow she’s casually calling that idiot her friend. Why does that bother me?")

She couldn’t answer herself.

Beside her, Agatha quietly observed the subtle shift in Mirabella’s expression.

It lasted only a heartbeat.

But she’d known Mirabella long enough to notice even that much.

Without taking her eyes off Telluris, Agatha leaned just slightly toward her companion.

"Now isn’t exactly the best time to be jealous."

Her voice remained low enough that only Mirabella could hear.

Mirabella’s head snapped sideways.

"What?" She whispered sharply before catching herself. "I should be saying that to you." A strained smile found its way onto her face as she looked back toward Agatha. "I mean your expression’s colder than usual."

Agatha blinked.

"Is it?"

The question sounded almost genuine.

Mirabella gave a tiny huff through her nose.

"Oh, don’t play innocent." She kept her voice quiet. "I know what your normal face looks like." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "And right now you’re definitely glaring more than usual."

Agatha remained silent.

Only for a second.

Then, almost imperceptibly, her emerald eyes shifted back toward Telluris.

"Perhaps." She admitted it far more easily than Mirabella had expected.