Azela Incarnate

The child reached out and touched the curved edge of her world. The barrier was smooth beneath her tiny claws. Instinctively, she knew of a world beyond, where the distorted vibrations of sound made their way from outside and through the warm fluids to her ears. A world that must be far larger than the tiny one she occupied.

Before long, she would have to leave the safety and comfort of this home around her and see what was out there. This space, all that she had ever known, was becoming too small. Every movement pressed more firmly against the boundaries. Her muscles yearned to truly stretch for the first time, to raise her head from beneath her wing and see what was beyond.

Her claws scraped at the barrier. Fragments flaked away and drifted through the fluid. She could sense how fragile it was. The urge to push harder grew stronger with every heartbeat.

Soon, her life would begin. Instinct promised sounds, sights, sensations, entire experiences she was unable to even imagine that called from beyond. Her muscles tensed in preparation for the effort ahead. The first crack was only moments away.

* * *

You are here.

The sound of the voice woke Azela from her dream, but it may as well have come from the dream itself. Beside her, Catherine snored lightly, wearing clothes that she didn't have when she had left. It did not take Azela long to deduce that it was an academy uniform.

Azela wasn't awake when Catherine returned from being out for most of the night, now wearing her former lover's clothes. The glitch intended to stay up, but after getting Tisha to bed, a nap had turned into sleep.

She watched Catherine for a time before getting out of bed.

"Your love is beautiful," Azela said. "Wherever that love shines." Gently, she reached out, stroked Catherine's warm, soft cheek, and left her hand still to feel the rhythm of Catherine's breathing on her fingertips. Her face lowered to Catherine's, so close that one small movement would cause their lips to touch. The temptation was intoxicating, but she didn't dare.

Instead, she forced herself to stand. If she hesitated now, she would never find the courage again.

She crossed over to the kitchen table and found one of Phoenix's fancy pens and a piece of paper that wasn't part of the house or furniture, then wrote a note for Catherine. Her lack of practice when it came to writing was apparent, but it was understandable enough. She set the paper where it could not be missed.

Taking one last, long look at the most important person in her life, Azela turned. She was too close, and too impatient, to wait any longer. The door opened with barely a sound, allowing a breath of cool air to drift inside. She hesitated for a moment at the threshold, then stepped out into the dawn.

There was a biting chill in the morning air as a light drizzle covered the streets. Cold droplets collected on her skin and clothing. Above, the dome-shaped barrier surrounding the village was revealed by the rain. The shimmering blue light that blanketed the sky was quite beautiful in itself, but with the clouds behind its translucent surface and the sunrise coloring the horizon, it was utterly stunning.

She was almost compelled to wake Catherine in order to show her, but thought better of it, and forced herself to walk steadily away from the paper house. This was something she had to do on her own. Her bare feet splashed softly through shallow puddles as she followed the empty streets toward the heart of the village.

Shi-Yon called her a demon. He warned her not to seek out her past. That warning did not come from nowhere. Ayan and the others were clearly holding something back, something dark that they didn't think she was ready for.

There was no doubt that Catherine would accept her no matter what kinds of horrible things she had done, but would she be able to forgive herself? Would she ever be able to face her own reflection, once she knew the secret lurking behind that door?

These and many more thoughts flooded her mind as she walked. The refreshing smell of saltwater mixed with that of pine trees. The sound of birds was everywhere, from small, chirping ones to big, screeching seagulls.

Today was a good day. A happy day. A day full of life. Azela felt her anxiety begin to subside. On a day like this, nothing could go wrong.

The glitch was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the woman in front of the museum. As Azela approached, the woman spoke. "And so here you are at last, to press a blade against your thread of fate. Are you so sure you want to go through with this?"

Startled, Azela looked around her. She saw no one other than herself and the woman. This stranger was clearly speaking to her.

The woman leaned against one of the large chimera statues that decorated the museum stairway. Most of her figure was clad in what appeared to be chromium armor, which shone despite the fact that she stood in the statue's shadow. Her head was turned downward and to one side, so that much of her face was veiled behind her dark, wavy hair. "We've been here before, more or less. I've looked at the timelines, the possibilities. In no version of this encounter do you turn around and avoid the tragedy that is to come." Her dreamlike voice, more like notes of a musical instrument than something produced by a living thing, was eerily familiar.

"I know you," Azela said. "How do I know you? Is that another memory that I've lost?"

The stranger lifted her head to look at Azela. On her forehead was a beautifully crafted chrome circlet, adorned with the emblem of God-Dragon Reizu. But Azela barely noticed it, and was much more spellbound by the eyes beneath it. This woman's eyes were unlike any she had ever seen in reality; silvery sclerae surrounded ashen-gray irises that had no visible pupils. They shined like polished metal, giving them an otherworldly appearance. A black line fell from under each eye like a permanent, sharp teardrop. There was no way those eyes could have belonged to anything human.

The woman said, "I gave you a vision when you first came to the front. Guided you toward someone whose soul shared a resonance with your own. I wanted this incarnation of you to have a contented life."

Azela's mind searched and finally caught hold of a faded fragment of memory. Was this the singing woman from her dream, the one she had on the night she was found by Ayan and Shi-Yon? Yes! It was! Azela was sure of it. But that was such a long time ago; the words of the song were hard to remember. Had it been a warning? "Who are you?" Azela asked.

The woman began to stand up straight, but clumsily slipped backward. As she regained her balance, her hand touched the statue. Instantly a series of cracks spread across its surface, entirely shattering the chimera into small pieces. The woman flinched, and then regained her composure to make it look as if the accident was intentional. Assuming a dramatic pose, she pointed at the symbol on her circlet. "I'm the avatar of this one."

"God-Dragon Reizu," Azela acknowledged. "You are very short for a dragon."

"If you desire happiness, you should turn around and never return," said Reizu, "The answers you would find here will only push you and Catherine farther apart. You’ve nothing to prove by solving this puzzle. Look at it, accept that you are complete even without all the pieces, then shatter it and walk away. Abandon your dark past, and you will have a bright future."

Azela thought for a moment. Was this really a deity, or some trick? Something about this being made Azela feel so certain that she was honest, but relying on a feeling alone didn't seem very reasonable.

And yet Azela did believe her.

However, god-dragon or not, Azela found that she could not follow the goddess's advice, as true as she knew the words to be.

Choosing her own words carefully, she said, "I don't mean to offend you, goddess, but I can't just walk away. Even without my earliest memories, I still have a past that shaped me. That past is the journey that led me here. All of my efforts to get to this point, the struggles, the triumphs and the failures… they need to mean something. It's a selfish way of seeing things, an irrational way, I know. But what I seek isn't just answers. You say I'm complete, but I'm not so sure. Who I was may not be who I am now, but who I am now has at least one thing left to finish. Without it, I'll never feel whole."

The woman looked away, seeming disappointed. Slowly, her body began to vanish, sparkling as it did so. Before Reizu disappeared, she said, "You shouldn't play the game if you don't know the rules, else you won't know how to break them. We will meet again very soon." Then she was gone.

Suddenly, the once empty streets were alive with people, all of them looking as if they were there the entire time. Footsteps and conversation filled the silence. None of them appeared to notice the conversation between the glitch and the goddess, or that they didn't seem to exist until a few seconds ago. The broken statue was noticed, and people looked confused at its destruction, asking each other when it broke and swearing that it was fine a minute ago.

A sudden fear gripped her when she saw a group pass by. Some of them wore red robes and hanging jewels, the same uniform as the others who had tried to kill her. More red-robed people had set up a stall nearby. Dregs were displayed around it as if they were livestock.

According to the merchant they had saved before entering the village, those who sold the dregs were known as the Ruby Synod. Now her enemy had a name.

She remembered the woman who attacked her when she was first found, now vaporized by Ayan's beam. If she were recognized, she might have to face not one, but at least ten of these men and women who could have the same powers as the first. Only this time, she didn't have a dark knight and a deity to protect her.

The suddenly shattered statue was more than enough of a distraction for her to reach the wall of the museum undetected. She sped up the side of the wall to an open window on the second story so quickly that if she had been seen, the witness would doubt their own eyes. Once inside, she saw one security guard, walking away from her. She remained frozen in place, willing her heart to calm until they were out of sight.

The air was warmer than outside, and the sounds of the city were quieter now that they were behind thick stone walls. Rows of display cases stretched across a vast gallery, divided into maze-like sections by various hanging tapestries. Ancient weapons rested upon velvet-lined mounts near her. Tarnished helmets watched from elevated stands. To her side, faded banners hung between marble pillars, and in the middle was a large urn, or perhaps a bowl, large enough to fit a person inside.

In front of it was a sign: DEAD GOD, DO NOT EAT.

She did not give in to the temptation to see what was under the lid. Careful steps carried her deeper inside as she listened for movement, avoiding any sound that might come from a living thing. She could smell sapiens, but they were distant enough to not be an immediate concern.

Beyond the area she entered stood larger exhibits. The skeleton of an enormous sea creature dominated one chamber, suspended by iron chains. Empty eye sockets stared down at where visitors would wander beneath it, if there were any. The museum was mercifully empty enough for Azela to stroll casually through it. Informational plaques lined the walls, covered in tightly packed text and intricate illustrations.

A pair of sapiens crossed an adjoining corridor, engrossed in conversation. Their voices echoed briefly before fading into the distance. Neither looked her way.

Further in, the museum changed. Historical displays gave way to stranger collections. Crystal formations glimmered within reinforced enclosures. Fragments of dead technology rested atop dark pedestals. Masks from past ages peered from recessed alcoves.

Another corridor branched down and away from the public exhibits. Fewer visitors walked there. Signs next to a sleepy guard warned them away.

I am here.

She looked for the speaker of the voice out of habit, but knew that no one was there. What she heard was nothing more than a thought. But it was not her thought, which should have given her more pause than it did.

Instinct urged caution. She ignored it.

Keeping low and moving quietly, she grabbed a nearby helmet and tossed it, making a noise the guard couldn't ignore. The instant they moved to investigate, she lowered her gravity and slipped between and over displays as swiftly and silently as a house cat, landing inside the guarded section. With the grace of a shadow, she sped into the forbidden depths.