1164. Wishgranter
The final five days passed in the blink of an eye. These five days were spent in leisure since Frost had completed everything she strived for. Atelier Items, her weapons, the Modules – she could not think of anything else to create that wasn’t already covered by her Abilities and Beholder Skills.
That was not to say that she didn’t come across several sound ideas. One of which was a canister filled with her blood and lined with hundreds of thousands of hollow needles. It was a fragmentation explosive meant to detonate above a city or army to inoculate as many people with her blood as possible.
Then, there was another device that would have the radioactive wastes of Luminal Synchrony deposited across an enemy’s territory to prevent the use of healing liquids.
Both, however, were erased from her mind. They were hideous weapons that inflicted maximum suffering. Her minigun – Bloodbath – would at least result in a swift, merciful death.
Furthermore, anti-healing weapons were prohibited in Atelier treaties as well as the Nexus’ Code of Conduct. There was a non-zero chance that the use of anti-healing weapons could backfire on them. For instance, saturating the Impuritas with anti-healing objects would also compromise the Moon’s ability to heal, unless they struck from afar.
As for the blood explosive, an equally effective alternative was to use canisters filled with her blood to saturate an area. As a result, she spent one of the last five days bloodletting into several dozen canisters for safe keeping.
That said, she spent her last days indulging in meals and Jury’s company. Meanwhile, she went through her new Skills and Professions she gained since defeating Beholder Marionette.
A part of her still could not believe she had defeated a Beholder. Beholders were exceptionally powerful, and this did not take into account their combat prowess. She had no doubt that she’d have significantly more trouble dealing with a Beholder who excelled in warfare, like Beholder Galia.
It was also risky on her part to open Beholder Marionette’s mind to her Will. This inadvertently exposed her to Elysia. A Beholder has never Corrupted before, and she was lucky that she wasn’t the first to experience it firsthand.
Then there’s the difference between a Beholder and the Stars that they gain their powers from. I’m curious as to how far a Corrupted can scale against a Star. Paradise Lost can hit level 500. Michaela in her Star form is level 600. We can assume Stars hover around that level.
As she thought about this, Frost snapped her fingers. The sound bounced off the marble walls several times, which stirred a figure in the background. Joy rubbed her eyes in the dim light as they adjusted to a faint spark of light held in the tip of Frost’s thumb and index finger.
“Gam?”
“Did I wake you? Sorry, I was just testing my Arts again. [Wishgranter]. Take a look.”
“Malgam…”
Joy shifted close to the light until she was huddled over. Frost knelt in front of her, as if showing her a tiny sparkler. The light waned, so she cupped it with her other hand. Joy did the same to preserve the struggling flame.
“Isn’t it pretty? Despite the shadows, it holds on and casts its light to banish the shadows. Without light, wouldn’t we all be trapped in the dark? Light grants infinite possibilities, all condensed into a tiny spark all just to grant a single wish. I wonder if the possibilities only seem endless because we don’t know what the possibilities are because it is obscured in the dark.”
Frost was deeply enthralled by the light. It was new ODSE Amalgamation Profession with little to no existing knowledge in Elysia outside of its flavor text.
Wishgranter
< Don’t be jealous of us resting in peace >
< EFFECT: To create a Gift from a dying Wish >
From what she understood thanks to her eldritch knowledge, this ability was not only ancient but was based in other worlds. The phenomenon occurred in the Old World, as well as in places such as Earth.
Not all Gifts came from the Stars.
Some were born from one’s dying wish, which explained the enormous power discrepancy between Gifts.
“But then, you have the refraction angle. A light changes its shade of color depending on the refraction. An image distorts in a mirror. A window can overlap two different images into one… I’m rambling, aren’t I? Sorry, sorry.”
She patted Joy’s head. Curious, Joy reached towards the light.
“Uh-uh~ Be careful. This light I’m holding is meant for people who no longer have one.”
This confused Joy. What she Frost mean by this? She could by the way Joy tilted her head that she was saying: “Can you explain it to me?”
Frost wore a weary smile. It was a dark topic she didn’t want to impart onto Joy. But Joy had seen her fair share of horrors already. Still, she didn’t want to be too direct.
“Raoul and the twins, and people at the end of their lives. But they’re… a difficult example. They were hardly content. [Wishgranter Art: Desire – Wish Upon a Star], this Art grants people who are content with their lives to have a single wish granted.”
“Gam…?” Joy’s eyes sparkled. It was an amazing power. Frost was always the person granting people’s wishes. After all, she had done the same for Joy.
Frost faintly smiled.
“Unfortunately, it turns that person into a Gift based on their wish. There’s a legend out there of a Gift called the Fountain of Youth. They say it was born from a girl who wept for the loss of her companions, wishing that she could, in some way, help them. Her dying wish gave birth to a fountain that gushed endlessly with her tears. Drinking from it helped survivors in the Maw of the World.”
This was another piece of knowledge that came from the trillions of neurons that connected her to the unknown. It was of course relayed to her by Nav, so she did not inherently know about this.
(S) Wishgranter Art: Desire – Wish Upon a Star
< EFFECT: Can only be used on a target that has accepted death. The Gift created by the target depends on how content they are of their life, and the degree of their desire. Upon successful transformation, the target becomes a Gift From a Star >
< Note: The process is eerily similar to the way Corrupted grant weapons and objects upon death. Unlike Gifts From a Star that come from Stars, these Gifts carry the spirit of the wisher and the essence of humanity that stronger Gifts lack >
She quietly explained this to Joy, who looked over at Frost, wondering if she had a Gift of her own as a Star. It caused her to laugh.
“Wouldn’t you say my power to grant wishes is already my Gift?”
Frost banished the light, and she gently squeezed Joy’s cheeks, enjoying their stretchiness.
“The world is bigger than you can imagine, Joy. We’ll soon be returning to the Nexus. Our home. Are you excited?”
“Gam!”
“I’m glad. It’ll be really different from here. You’ll have lots of friends. Don’t be afraid when they stare at you, ok? Everyone up there will consider you their sister.”
“Gam?”
“They like to call me their…” Frost trailed off with another laugh. “Their mother. Naturally, they’ll see you as one of theirs. Even better that you’re my daughter.”
The twinkle in Joy’s eyes remained steady, but they softly faded as an indescribable feeling took root into her stomach. She didn’t understand why Frost considered her their daughter. She had been going along with it because it was easier than to deny it. But now that she was alone, and that they were so close to returning to that fabled place called the Nexus, she could not help but feel oddly guilty.
Or rather, like an imposter… or perhaps a replacement of what doesn’t exist yet?
Sensing this, Frost curled her fluffy tail around them as she sat herself down. She pulled Joy against her shoulder and then rested her head atop hers.
“I love you, Joy. Please don’t forget that. What you were doesn’t change what you are. You’re free to believe what you wish. I say that, aha… but I’d probably try to stop you. I usually let people do what they want. You’d have to fight me to leave my side.”
Frost herself didn’t exactly know where this parental love came from. Perhaps it was cultivated after travelling with Ignis and the triplets. Love was a frighteningly instinctual phenomenon, and she’d rather she didn’t know the reason why.
That way, she’d remember that it began as genuine rather than a need to supplement what she feared to have.
A biological child.
“Gam…” Joy’s voice squeaked. She tugged on Frost’s sleeve and buried her face into her arm.
“Joy, is there anything you want to see or do?”
“Malgam.” She shook her head, not knowing anything else about the world.
“That’s fine. There’s a lot of time for you to learn about this world. The beautiful and the ugly. Maybe Res can teach you how to paint? I bet she’d love that. Stella and Aster would also love to meet you.”
“Mmn.” Joy sniffled.
Something moved underneath her. Joy struggled to hide a picture book. She had been reading various books over the last one hundred days to help pass the time. She still struggled to read the words even with Frost’s Blessing, so she often learned the stories through imagery alone.
Frost retrieved it and opened it to the first page.
“We have time. We’ll be leaving once Jury wakes up anyway.”
“Gam…?”
“Shhh? The more we let her sleep in, the more books we can read. Come closer. I don’t have any bookmarks on me. Do you?”
Joy shook her head as she climbed onto Frost’s lap.
“Hah. Then we’ll have to finish the book, won’t we?”