Chapter 101 - Preparing a Greeting

They traveled through the forest for quite a ways, as Medusa spoke of her past. It was an eerie sight - a lone human guide leading a pair of spectral figures clothed in fog.

The grey fog billowed continuously out of Argus’ lantern, leaving a fine dust of frost on the ground and adjacent plants. The dim blue light from the lantern did not travel far, but seemed to primarily serve to illuminate the fog and the pair it concealed.

The woods around them were alive with the sounds of unfamiliar life. Whooping calls from strange birds, rattling and chattering of insects and rodents. Shadows fluttered in the darkness beyond the reach of the dim light.

Yuzu walked quietly beside Argus, carefully watching the fate strings that formed a tapestry around them. The creatures that lurked out of sight would not dare to venture close, but even so Yuzu found that she could not relax. An undercurrent of danger lay hidden beyond her sight and senses, hidden somewhere in the depths of the woods.

Their guide led the way, parting the foliage in front of them effortlessly with subtle gestures of her hands. The path remained steady and easy to traverse, slowly ascending as they approached the plateau.

She glanced down at Argus. The young boy with curly golden hair had not spoken for a long time, his deep eyes lost in thought. She could tell from his expression that he was bothered by something, but his troubled countenance made her hesitate to ask him what was on his mind.

Yuzu pondered Medusa’s story, of how the woman had spent years trying to raise shrines for her God, Deka. She spoke of a drought that plagued the continent, one that was leeching the very life out of the earth. The land was sick, dying. Not just the wastelands from which she came, but even here in Kumin and Huan, that sickness was taking root.

“I’ve come here to save the land. To bring life back to the earth and her people.” Medusa had said solemnly, raising her hand to her lips in a pious gesture.

Neither Yuzu or Argus had responded to her, and so the woman fell into awkward silence, wondering whether her story was too trite for these greater beings to care for.

Argus only had one thing to say, which he said in private to Yuzu in a low, secretive tone, “Remain vigilant.”

“Is she lying?” Yuzu asked quietly.

“No, she is being honest and candid. But that does not necessarily mean her words are true.”

Thus, they fell quiet and did not speak again until they reached their destination.

A hush fell upon their surroundings as the rain picked up, pouring down in a steady, calm torrent over the plateau. Though Medusa had thus far sheltered them by bending the trees during the journey, the treeless plateau offered no shelter from the downpour.

The tribal woman wiped her arm across her eyes as she led the way up the slope, weaving a floor of vines across the muddy incline to simplify the climb. Behind her the mysterious pair followed without complaint. Medusa snuck a peek at them, just out of curiosity, to see whether the inclement weather was bothering them. However she could not tell through the fog whether the rain even fell on their bodies, or simply passed through their translucent forms.

She quickly cast her eyes forward, hoping that her curious look backwards would not be seen as a transgression.

A tiny smirk curled at the corner of Yuzu’s lips as she caught the glance from their guide. The woman’s expression was easy to read, causing Yuzu to shake her head in amusement. Medusa treated them with utmost caution and reverence, as if she were speaking to an actual diety. Furthermore, though it was subtle, she clearly believed that Yuzu was the more powerful of the pair.

What would she think if she knew my real identity? Yuzu glanced absentmindedly at the young boy beside her. And what about Argus? He is clearly powerful... Is it possible that he’s worthy of such treatment?

Yuzu mulled over these thoughts quietly, finding it hard to believe that Argus was any sort of higher being or demi-god. He was just so... short. And even though he seemed to be incredibly knowledgeable, his mannerisms and disposition were still childish.

“You still have one question left.” Argus said out of the blue. His tone was casual, as if he was simply mentioning it randomly, but he had clearly been listening to her thoughts, “Is there a question you’d like to ask?”

“No, not at all.” Yuzu said, feigning ignorance. Or, given that they both knew what she was thinking, it was more that she was feigning disinterest. Either way, it was a futile exercise. “I’m sure you’ll tell me one of these days.”

“Oh? Is that a prediction or a challenge?” Argus grinned.

“Neither.” Yuzu said candidly, “I just think it’ll happen naturally, if we continue being friends.”

The amusement on Argus’ face faded as he looked away without replying.

Once they reached the top of the climb Medusa led the way forward into the darkness. On the plateau she no longer controlled the plants to create a path for them, nor did she call over the vines with the glowing green flowers, only holding a single large bulb in her hand to light the way forward. She refrained from using her powers in this area, sensing that she was walking on the soil of another entity’s domain.

The tall, monolithic stones that dotted the grassy plateau loomed over them, their presence heavy in the night. They seemed to reverberate with a low, imperceptible hum that carried a different aura than the forest that surrounded them. Medusa stayed well away from them, walking forward into the darkness towards the shrine at the far end.

Out of the three of them Yuzu felt the most comfortable on the plateau. She felt the sensation of a traveler returning home after being away for an extended period of time. The monoliths which Medusa found so disconcerting were like friendly landmarks, guardians greeting Yuzu upon her return.

Yuzu saw the shrine in her spirit vision before the light of the flower and lantern reached it. It glowed with a soft white iridescence in the depth of the night.

“That’s far enough.” Yuzu said.

Medusa halted abruptly on the spot, half turning towards Yuzu as she stepped aside and lowered her eyes. “As promised, I have brought you here safely.”

Yuzu maintained a cold attitude as she walked past Medusa, playing the part of a powerful being that had been assisted by a lesser servant.

“Thank you.” She said simply without looking at the woman.

Argus followed behind Yuzu, holding his lantern aloft. Even the fog billowing from the lantern seemed less voluminous in this space. The grey pool of fog that gathered at their feet shrunk in size as they approached the shrine.

“It does not look like much.” Argus said once the light of the lantern reached the shrine. “If not for the faint aura around the plateau, I don’t think I would have even given it a second glance. Even then, I might have missed it.”

He did not approach too closely to the shrine, but simply observed it from a distance.

“Can you enter the aetheric plane from here?” Argus asked.

“Yes.” Yuzu nodded, “I just have to activate the symbol on the shrine.”

Argus mulled over his thoughts while rubbing his chin,“Can you bring other people in with you?”

“I’m not sure... I haven’t tried.” Yuzu said.

Argus cast his eyes over to the faint green glow in the distance where Medusa stood waiting. It was far enough that the woman would have a hard time discerning whether anything was happening at the shrine, barring supernatural vision or hearing.

With a preparatory sigh Argus set his lantern on the ground directly in front of the shrine, “Let’s experiment, then.”

He pulled out several tallow candles from his bag, six in total, setting them on the ground in a circle that encompassed the shrine and the lantern. He then pulled out a silver bowl and handed it to Yuzu, “Can you place this inside the shrine?”

“What is this for?” Yuzu asked, following his directions. The bowl was polished to a mirror sheen that reflected the blue lantern light off the droplets of rain that fell into it. She carefully removed the cracked stone bowl that sat in the shrine and replaced it with the bowl.

“A ritual, to establish the owner of the shrine.” Argus said as Yuzu rejoined him at his side, “It is one of the main ways of connecting with a higher power and making exchanges.”

“You mean to say... There’s a God of Fate that’s been doing all of this?”

“Perhaps, but not necessarily at the level of a God. At the very least an entity that is beyond the mortal coil. That is my theory.” Argus nodded, “Communicating with an unknown entity is dangerous, but we will be using you as the conduit. I doubt that whatever entity that has been guiding you these past couple of days will take offense to attempting to communicate.”

“So I’m the bait.” Yuzu said cynically.

“If that’s the case, then does that mean we’re fishing for a God?” Argus grinned, before his expression grew serious once more.

He closed his eyes, cupping his left hand to his mouth as he whispered something into it. Then he made a motion as if to grasp those words and flung his arm out, releasing it into the wind. The six candles surrounding the shrine spontaneously lit with a soft bluish white light. At the same time the fog from the lantern began broiling rapidly, engulfing the shrine in a heavy mist that extended in a dome bounded by the candles.

The temperature within the mist dropped rapidly, cold enough that Yuzu and Argus’ breath became visible. Their surroundings brightened as the mist reflected the bluish white light from the lantern.

This light did not extend outside of the sphere, and so from a distance all one could see was the small, faint candle light from the six candles surrounding a murky concealed void.

“A ritual requires three main components. First, it requires an abundance of energy. Second, an object to serve as the ritual’s focus. Third, a conduit for the energy.” Argus explained, “For the energy we will use some of the liquid in the ceramic bottle. It is not ideal, since the liquid is aspected with the energy from the Life Domain, however it will be sufficient for our purposes. The silver bowl will be our focus, as Fate is most compatible with Gold and Silver.”

“As for the conduit, that will be you.” Argus said, “We will conduct a simple ritual, using the shrine to find the entity that watches over it. A friendly greeting.”

Yuzu hesitated. She felt anxious at the prospect of discovering the higher power that had brought her onto this path. It was a thought that had occasionally crossed her mind over the past few days, a question to the cosmos as to why she had been chosen to receive these powers, and what purpose she was supposed to serve with them.

She recalled the moment that she had fallen in the storm, the night that she saved Char Char from the wolves. The sudden burst of clarity that had her wondering how she had ended up in the dark woods.

Had she really been under the control of another being this whole time? Her strings pulled in unseen, unfelt ways to serve the designs of someone else?

“This is your chance to find out.” Argus said, looking into her eyes. “For better or worse.”

Yuzu nodded, steeling her will.

“Tell me what to do.”