Chapter 233
Despite being one of the gods who settled on the planet earliest, Idra had not revealed herself before people.
To be precise, it had no need to reveal itself before people.
Having taken root on the planet for a long time,
Devouring everything that was born and died,
Mimicking their forms and imitating their habits.
In the end, it had become a being that was beside them but no one thought would be beside them.
In the grimoire Pnakotic, it was called the 'Dream Witch' or 'Divine Veil,'
Ig called it the 'Mother of Sorrows.'
And its real name was.
"Idra..." [It will be the last time you speak my name.]
"What do you want?"
[I want to take that child away.]
Idra's long, black fingernails pointed at Tika.
He reflexively said.
"No."
[This isn't a place for you to interfere without knowing your place.]
"Do you know what she is when you say that?"
[My fragments exist everywhere on Earth. They encompass sea and land, and exist even in the hottest places of the desert. That is the will that walked out of the desert on its own feet. It is the desire to see the form of the planet.]
"So?"
[I like things that change. I will take that one.]
"Have you ever thought you might be interfered with before that?"
[You are too late. I have already bestowed part of myself upon that one.]
Her seductive lips curved in an arc.
[It ate me before I could eat it first. Too late, far too late. I will become one with that one. And I will watch over the planet forever. You cannot stop it. Useless thing.]
"...No, I won't let that happen. 'Mother of Sorrows,' I won't let you do that."
[What can a trivial creature like you do? Do you plan to rebel against me? Shall I devour that body in one gulp and make it part of me? It seems to smell good, so it wouldn't be impossible.]
The white face that seemed molded from porcelain twisted in mockery.
Strength entered the hand holding the book, but there was nothing he could do here.
Though Hastur's power was mighty in this world,
If he drove away Idra here without any plausibility, he didn't know what risks would return.
Additionally, it would be natural for him to enter Hastur's sphere of influence and become a Courtier in Yellow due to using great power.
When he only glared, Idra melted into the shadows of the forest as if she had no more business.
Eyes black as obsidian glinted as they warned.
[When the time comes, I will return again. When that one becomes completely mine.]
And then silence flowed.
Strength drained from his body too, and his arms fell limply.
From his memories of reading the grimoire Pnakotic, Idra did not have a separate divine main body.
Its main body was divided into various avatar forms that adapted to the planet.
But the consciousness of the avatars was all shared as one,
And the more avatars there were, the more information could be stored in one collective consciousness.
Her avatars' forms couldn't even be estimated. Some might have the form of animals, some the form of humans,
And others might have the form of flying birds.
What avatar to create in what shape was Idra's whim,
And what had just appeared before him was probably one of the avatars she had arbitrarily created.
And what she had fed Tika might also be one of the procedures for accepting her as an avatar.
He thought things had gotten properly tangled.
Whether Idra's avatars increased or not wasn't his concern.
But what if it was Tika who was transforming into an avatar?
What about Shan, who would see Tika transforming into an unfamiliar god's avatar? Could he regain consciousness and live normally?
Since he was the one who had led the two outside Shambhala,
He was responsible for their lives.
The time had come to settle the karma he had been ignoring while intoxicated by Theem'dra's peace.
*
When Tika opened her eyes, there was a familiar ceiling.
Bright midday sunlight was pleasantly streaming in through the half-open door.
Among the regular clicking sounds, the sound of waves mixed in from very far away.
It was her house.
It seemed like there had been some strange sound outside that was very scary.
She dimly remembered the forest turning black, but it had become blurry and felt like it wasn't real.
Ah, it must have been a dream. She must have had a bad dream.
Even in her drowsy state, she giggled and felt around the space next to her to wake Shan and tell him about it.
But her hand only felt the flat sleeping mat.
Her mind suddenly cleared and she bolted upright.
"Shan!"
"Ah, you startled me!"
Yesung flinched and turned around.
He was kneeling in front of the bed where she should have been lying.
Seeing Shan occupying Yesung's place instead, Tika quickly crawled over and grabbed Yesung's clothes, pleading.
"It wasn't a dream, right, Yesung? It wasn't a dream, right? Shan is hurt! So much blood came out, what should we do? He might be dead, is he dead? Is he dead now?"
"He's not dead! First, Tika, please calm down. If you make that much noise, you'll wake Shan."
Tika immediately closed her mouth.
Looking again now, while Shan was pale and bloodless like Yesung, his chest was rising and falling slightly.
On the wound on his exposed chest, grass that Shan had once brought back was placed in a crushed state.
"What is this for?"
"It's something Shan stuffed in a corner of the house saying it was good for wounds."
"How is it good?"
"Maybe it makes wounds heal quickly, or stops them from hurting...? I'm not sure. This was the only thing related to treatment we had."
"Oh."
"Anyway, Shan is alive. Shambhala people are sturdy. I've been watching over him continuously, so don't worry too much."
"Yes..."
Tika looked anxiously at the grass dripping with green juice, not knowing if it was effective.
After Yesung properly covered the still unconscious Shan,
He turned toward her and took her hands.
"Tika. Can you tell me what happened until now?"
"In the forest?"
"Just explain what you saw. I just want to understand what happened."
Tika wondered if Yesung would say something.
She swallowed dry saliva and spoke with difficulty.
"After Yesung left, we were in the house... someone knocked on the door. I thought Yesung might have come back injured, so we opened the door together... suddenly a hand came out and took Shan away."
"Mm."
"So I chased after him, and he went into a forest I'd never seen before, and there were so many gray children. But I could already see Shan tied up, so I was surprised and went in, but I was interfered with. But suddenly everything around became dark... Something in the darkness started bursting the gray children."
"You can speak slowly."
"I was too scared to get up, but suddenly something came and spoke to me."
"What did it say?"
"To become its thing... And it poured something in my mouth that tasted strange."
"Don't tell me you ate that?"
"I didn't eat it! It was choking me. I accidentally swallowed some while trying to breathe."
Yesung swept his face with one hand.
"...You drank it. There was a reason Idra said that."
"And I think I collapsed from suffocation. I don't remember from there. But what is Idra?"
At Tika's question, his face became troubled.
After hesitating for a moment, Yesung opened his mouth in a very careful tone.
"Tika. Anutara said he brought your ancestors to the desert to avoid the terrible things outside, right?"
"That's right."
"We saw many things while coming. Among them was the pink insect Mi-Go too. Right?"
"Yes. Was that pink insect the terrible thing Anutara mentioned?"
"It could be, or it might not be. Because... Anutara and I know things that you and Shan don't know."
"What do you mean? I don't understand well. Are you saying it exists and doesn't exist?"
"No. The Mi-Go and scorpions were things we could see and catch and touch. But the terrible things Anutara mentioned are stranger things."
"Strange?"
"Things that transcend the scope of your perception. Beings that are visible but might not be there, or invisible but might actually exist there. Things that can harm you while simultaneously saving you. But those are beings that desire the price you offer."
Tika's face began to crumple more and more.
Not visible but there, visible but not there. What did that mean?
But Yesung's words didn't stop there.
"The beings I'm talking about are not harmless at all. If they feel harmless, it's probably because those things have no interest in trivial lives like ours. Since they have no interest, there's no reason for them to affect us. But if they become interested in us, that's when disaster begins."
"Disaster?"
"Because their logic far transcends our understanding. That's roughly it. Recognizing such beings is not at all desirable from the standpoint of people like us. But last night."
Yesung looked down at Tika's hands.
Her hands that she saw with him looked no different from usual,
Except that her fingernails were strangely... longer.
Looking at Tika's fingernails, he said.
"One of those beings became interested in you."
"I, I didn't do anything!"
"I know. Tika, you were just caught up in it. A being came because of the ritual the gray dwarfs performed. It seeing you probably wasn't your fault. Just, how should I put it. You seem to have had some bad luck."
"According to Yesung's words, me being caught by such beings isn't just bad luck, but I'm just completely screwed, aren't I?"
"I understand it's a situation where you can't think positively. The being that discovered you is Idra, and Idra is... quite old... and active all over this land."
"Then what do we do now? Should I hide? Do I have to leave Theem'dra and the sea again?"
"You'd be caught up to anyway. To be honest, even if we dug underground, Idra would find us."
"Anutara."
Tika sighed.
Yesung looked at her tearful face, frowned deeply, then hesitated before speaking.
"...It's not that there's absolutely no method."
"Really?"
"The reason Idra fed you something strange is because that's part of Idra. When you make contact like that, mutations occur in your body, and eventually you transform into something other than human."
"Are my fingernails part of the mutation too?"
"Similar. Once you enter a being's sphere of influence like that, it's the end."
Tika almost pulled out all her fingernails for a moment,
But she couldn't because Yesung was holding them firmly.
"What should I do to prevent that? I don't want to leave Theem'dra. What about Shan left alone if I leave! He'll definitely cry without me. I really can't go!"
"Can you do anything to never leave Theem'dra?"
"Of course! What do you take me for? I can do anything. Really. I'll promise on Shambhala and the desert!"
"In that case."
Yesung released her hands.
His troubled face looked at her seriously with brown eyes.
"Find another being other than Idra and entrust yourself to them, Tika. You need to find a being as strong as Idra."