CHAPTER 36: SANCTUARIES

Sunlight pressed through the leafy canopy, while the thunder of waves crashing against the cliffs rolled across the land.

With a nod of acceptance, Asahi slipped after Clover, vanishing into the shadowy heart of the forest and leaving Aletha behind in the sterile hush of the hospital.

At first glance, the forest appeared untouched, as if time itself had tiptoed around it.

Only the gentle cooing of mourning doves drifted on the tender breeze.

The grass danced back and forth, and the golden sunlight followed their symphony. Beyond was an ancient building entombed in the earth. Moss had rested on the corners, and vines extended throughout the entire wall. But what really caught Asahi’s attention was the shimmering essence resting on the dirt.

"This is what people call," Clover bowed down her head at the special patch of magical dirt. "A Sanctuary."

"Sanctuary?" Asahi muttered as he bent over and pierced his hand through it. "What is so special about it?"

"The enchanted soil you see resides in one of the many sanctuaries buried deep in the world." She said, "Visitors from all over come here and there to bottle up soil." She paused, turning her head up to the ceiling of leaves. "But it takes skill to master Soil magic. Not just the soil, but casting it with your hands. That takes real ability. Not even the students from Desita could perfect that."

A jolt of memory surged through Asahi, igniting his thoughts with sudden brilliance.

His hand was engulfed in white luminance, taking down a giant sea serpent in a world filled with water.

He remembered how every strike he landed sent blinding light into the eyes of otherworldly creatures, forcing them to dive beneath the surface or vanish entirely.

It was with this power that it could match, say, ten thousand Rulers,

. . .

The memories dissolved, swept away by the chill of the underground, snapping Asahi back to the world and to Clover’s expectant gaze.

Then his mind faded back, with Clover’s high-pitched voice reverberating in his ears.

"Yeah, you can’t just use the soil whenever you please," Clover explained as she opened an empty canister. "It takes mastery and experience to use soil canisters such as this one. Getting to THIS sanctuary was easy, but usually it requires a lot more wit and strength in other sanctuaries."

She took a deep breath. "I won’t go into further detail, but if you want to use magic, you either have to use soil from the Sanctuaries, study it in a magic academy, use up mana, which will deplete you with exhaustion, or some other way."

Clover took another breath, descending down to what looked like a mine.

" But if you use canisters, you won’t have to resort to using mana. Anyone can use it, but to get that soil takes time and effort. That’s the whole reason why everyone that was skilled with canister magic uses it. It’s simple and effective. That and you could make a business selling canisters of soil to other warlocks, witches, etc."

Without warning, memories seized Asahi, plunging him into their vibrant depths.

One of the Drimi tossed the canisters at them, and Aletha and he lobbed the bottles at the goopy creatures, shredding them with purple luminance.

The soil trapped inside those canisters unleashed wonders with every use.

How Sally’s glacial wall formed and Belial’s healing worked.

Yet the true mystery was how they had come by the canisters in the first place.

At first, Asahi thought that canisters were stored in their pockets.

However, it now seemed to him that not only did Asahi and Aletha have a portal to a storage, but Drimi and Belial and the others, too.

Now he understood: each of them possessed access to a hidden trove of soil-filled bottles, a portable vault at their fingertips. The real question lingered: how did they unlock such a convenient secret?

As they pressed further into the earth, a vast chamber yawned open, its jagged stalagmites bristling like teeth, cobwebs draping the shadows, and ancient bricks suffocating beneath layers of dust.

Asahi, being as careful as he was, noticed that the dusty bricks didn’t belong to the sanctuary that they first came across.

They submerged another layer into the mine, seeing even more dusty stone rooms and windows made of stained glass wedged in between crumbled structures. Nonetheless, what caught Asahi’s attention was the form of architecture all around; it matched the structures Aletha and he found underneath the podium far from the Fountain.

"The Second Incarnation." He mumbled as he raced back to the stairs. "This is... a church from my old world."

After Clover saw and had no idea what he was talking about, they ran up the stairs, hearing a distant, inhumane roar echo through the cavern. It seemed that every time they were underground, they would see ancient structures that did not belong to this incarnation of the world.

Just as Akwan had described, something dark and restless simmered beneath the surface of this world. They needed to uncover its secrets. After a narrow escape from a cave-in, Asahi and Clover snatched a few canisters of magical soil from the sanctuary and hurried back toward Milmoor village.

"Asahi... why did you wear such a terrified face?" Clover asked as Asahi brushed a nervous sweat down his face. "What has gotten into you? I tried showing you magic, and this... is how you repay me?"

After their voices had worn thin with argument, Asahi and Clover finally emerged from the forest, the rolling green hills of Milmoor beckoning ahead.

. . .

A short time later, Asahi and Clover emerged at the outskirts of Milmoor, forest behind them and village ahead.

When they arrived, Aletha was encircled by a flurry of nurses. Asahi rushed forward, concern sharpening his voice.

"What’s going on with all three of you?" He said. "Back off and scramUnaware of the eyes upon her, Aletha stirred from uneasy sleep, her body tense and her mind reeling at the sight before her. Asahi, face drained of color, could only mutter in response.ing.

"Are you alright?"

Aletha squinted at him with a look of suspicion, reading the lies coming out of Asahi’s lips.

"Asahi, what did you see?"

Asahi, taken aback by that request, tried scratching it off and accidentally lied.

"I saw... nothing."

"Tell me the truth," Aletha said, shaking her brother off.

After seeing the cold glance of approval with Clover’s silent nod, Asahi began spilling truthful words.

"Okay, if you are so eager." Asahi took a deep breath, in and out, before mumbling. "We saw... a church underground and this thing called a sanctuary."

"A church... underground?" Aletha muttered as she lifted herself up from their bed. "What church? What sanctuary?"

Clover came in and bent over to Aletha, replying.

"Something something second incarnation..." She said while Asahi and Aletha reached for the wooden door. "And... church."

"The second incarnation?" Aletha said with disbelieving lips. "The old world? Here? I thought it was just the fountain."

Having no idea what they were saying, Clover abruptly leaves two canisters of green and blue soil on the table. While Asahi and Aletha kept on conversing about the matter, now in an empty room with no one but themselves. With them left alone in the room with no nurses or doctors,

"Asahi... I think I saw..."Aletha tried not to collapse, feeling remorse of the old world grappling onto the back of her mind. After trying not to tear up at the thought that emerged in their brain, Aletha revealed.

"Aiyana," she said. "I think I found Aiyana."

A cold silence filled the room at Aletha’s response.

Reeling from the sudden mention of the name, Asahi, lost in confusion about Aletha’s thoughts, pressed her for answers.

"Aiyana?" Asahi said, trembling. "What. What about her?"

"I saw her!" Aletha said with a scream. "But that wasn’t just her."

A cool wind slipped between them, carrying with it a sudden surge of memory that rippled through the minds of the wanderers.

. . .

As the room grew silent, both siblings suddenly found themselves pulled into another memory, their senses overtaken by visions from the past.

A blue hand reached out to their souls, and the sound of glass shattering echoed in their minds.

After Aletha reached over the blue hand, a black abyss had suddenly surrounded her, coiling around her body.

Then, the luminescent silver-haired girl transformed into the sight of a tall blonde-haired man wearing a cyan suit, holding a dark-haired infant. Not had he held the baby with one hand, the other was clutched by the hand of a white-haired woman.

Although it couldn’t be truly recalled, it was slightly visible. Their minds flashed to the sight of an infant crying and falling into the golden grasp of The Establisher.

She threw a spit at the infant, then, after rubbing it on its forehead, threw the dark-haired infant toward the world.

"You are not my son," The floating woman said as the world unfurled an engulfing luminance. "With your faded magic of creation, why bond with destruction? That dark-haired tyrant known as Plados. You birthed a wicked creature in the hands of that impure woman of destruction. And for that, shall this boy be punished for all the days of their life?"

The last recollection, the remembrance of a dark-haired man who had grasped hands with the white-haired woman, rushed into their minds.

"Where is my son?"

A recollection of the infant cast into the world, buried underneath the rock, sealed in a cocoon, came into their pupils.

The soil expanded to all corners of the world, flowing with cyan luminance, sparkling toward every crevice.

After the last breath of the sleeping infant, his lavender eyes began to part, and Aletha’s memory flickered back to the present.