Chapter 104 - The New Zand (Part One)

The next time Vivi woke up, she felt a lot better. The crushing pressure all over her body had calmed down. Her head was clogged, but mostly normal. Her hands were tired and heavy to lift, but she could move them without pain. And most importantly, there was no active ether strengthening her from the inside.

Vivi was determined right away. She was no longer sick. However long she’d rested, it was probably enough. She was ready to get up.

The attempt started by sitting up. Vivi succeeded relatively easily. Her hands were weak, but she managed to push herself to stand. From there, she moved her feet, swinging them over the bed. This was already difficult. Her legs were the most exhausted part of her body. They’d received the most abuse in the days prior. Moving them reignited every ache Vivi had suffered.

She prepared to stand anyway, using her hands as support. She placed her right hand on her nightstand, her left on Feni’s potion rack, and pushed herself up.

Lucius floated beside her, watching with a concerned look. “I should probably mention that you’ve slept for twenty eight hours after falling asleep again. Feni said you needed at least a week of rest before recovering.”

“If I can walk without ether, I’m allowed out of bed,” Vivi said. She required all her strength just to stay up. “Isn’t that what she said?”

“I don’t think this is what she meant,” Lucius said.

Vivi balanced between the potion rack and the nightstand, standing only with the support of both hands. She stayed there, contemplating. She wasn’t in pain yet. Or at least, not unbearable pain.

She took a deep breath, then prepared herself for the difficult part. To take a step without the support of her hands. Slowly, Vivi took her grip off of the potion rack. She tested her footing. Still mostly solid. She lifted her hands and stood on her feet.

All of her weight was transferred to her feet. With that came pain. A lot of it. Her legs were burning, muscles exerting their all just to keep her standing.

She grimaced, but took a step forward. A miniscule step, barely the length of half of her foot. Her other foot followed, hobbling forward at an excruciatingly slow pace. Her legs really didn’t like what she was doing. Vivi, however, wasn’t about to spend another night locked up in bed.

Lucius watched as she made it all the way to the door, a few feet away from her starting position, managing to push it open. 

“You’re ridiculous, Vivi,” Lucius said. He flew past her into the hallway effortlessly. “Let’s go, then. But if you trip, I’m not saving you.”

The next problem was the hallway leading to the kitchen. Vivi continued her steady steps. She tested each part of her foot, figuring out the parts that hurt the least, then putting her weight onto those parts.

The trip to the kitchen took her a minute. Excluding her legs, however, Vivi didn’t feel too bad. Her head was growing less and less clogged, and the rest of her body was only a little exhausted.

Entering the kitchen, the familiar scent of Gaven’s weird spices filled the air. The burly man and his son were stirring their usual cauldrons of slop, as if nothing had ever happened. Cooks really were the simplest of men.

“Ah, Vivi,” Enly said. “Welcome back.”

Vivi gave him a nod. Enly's attention was already back on his cutting board. She stepped further and sped up her pace a little. Now that people were watching, she had to appear half alive, at least.

“Aang ordered me to feed you when you woke up,” Gaven said. He knelt down to grab a slab of meat, then began cooking it. “Said you’re not allowed to leave before you’ve eaten at least three bowls and some meat.”

Enly filled a bowl for her, then enthusiastically delivered it to Vivi’s usual spot in the corner of the canteen. She winced internally, knowing that she’d need to walk all the way to the end of the room now. Regardless, she hauled herself there by force, lest she get sent back to bed. She required her arms to sit down without totally collapsing, but once she was down, her legs received a much needed break.

The slop had a lot more water weight than it usually did. Vivi noticed right away. Even the bits of vegetables were sparse rare. Vivi wasn’t particularly hungry, somehow, but her stomach didn’t reject food either. Vivi ate the slop quickly, while listening to meat sizzling on the kitchen’s side.

Gaven delivered the second bowl personally alongside the freshly cooked slice of meat. “This one is classified,” Gaven said. “We don’t have much meat remaining. Everyone else is limited to just slop. Perhaps some fruits if they’re lucky. Aang ordered you to have secret privileges to recover properly.”

Vivi considered declining, but frankly, she was craving that piece of meat. It was already cooked anyway. “Thanks,” she said.

“Enly, go tell Aang that she’s awake,” Gaven said.

Enly bowed, then headed outside. Vivi continued eating, savoring the meat as well as the time her legs had to rest.

Vivi was starting her third bowl when the door opened. Aang and Ven stepped in. The leader had found a new white tank top after the previous one was torn and ragged. His expression was serious. Ven grinned ear to ear.

Below their feet, Eem ran straight for Vivi, jumping to her seat. “Ivwi!” Eem called.

Vivi flinched. Eem’s pink eyes sparkled as she grinned up at Vivi. The fiend pressed her face against Vivi’s chest, while making weird noises.

A laugh escaped out of Vivi’s mouth. “Stop it, Eem. That tickles! You’ll poke me with your horns.”

Eem got even closer, wrapping her arms around Vivi. The fiend was stuck. Nothing Vivi could do would free her from the treatment. Vivi glanced up for help. Aang had a slight smile, watching the scene.

“Vivi, you monster,” Ven said. “You’re a goddamn hero. You seriously defeated Uundref?”

“Uh, yes,” Vivi said. She ate another spoonful of slop. Eating was awkward with Eem moving right beneath her face.

“‘Uh, yes,’ she says.” Ven said. “After single-handedly killing the strongest Steward in the biggest facility of the fourth level. You saved us all.”

“I was the one who destroyed Zand,” Vivi said. “I did spawn that boss…”

Ven’s grin only grew wider.

Aang looked a lot more serious. “How did you do it? You were in no condition to continue fighting. Let alone in a condition to defeat Uundref. Ven, Alisa, and Rohan lost all together.”

Vivi thought about her answer for a bit. “The Death Tyrant dropped a skill. It… The skill was quite strong.”

“I was about to ask you about that,” Aang asked. “What skill did it drop?”

“It’s, uh, a bit complicated,” Vivi said. For a moment, she wondered if she should be telling the truth about the skill. Vivi technically wasn’t supposed to have activated the skill at all. It was supposed to go to Ythar.

But Vivi couldn’t just hide the truth. She was surrounded by allies. Aang trusted her.

“Before I tell you more,” Vivi said, “Please promise me that word won’t spread. This skill is dangerous, and it’s sought-after. Lucius says that Ythar, humanity’s God Emperor himself, wants any hunters to bring the skill to the surface right away. If word goes out that I activated it, I’ll probably be killed.”

The two stared at Vivi, both now serious. “That’s…” Aang said. “Interesting. What rarity is it?”

“It doesn’t have a rarity,” Vivi said. She had her eyes on her bowl. Eem stopped moving about and watched Vivi, as if sensing her concern. “Or at least, Lucius can’t identify a rarity.”

Aang studied her expression for a moment. “I’ll respect your wish, of course. Word won’t spread. However, I would like to examine the skill and learn its details. If only to know its strengths and weaknesses.”

“That will be difficult,” Vivi said. “The skill was single-use. After I activated it, the skill disappeared.”

Aang and Ven raised their eyebrows. “Seriously?” Ven asked. “What did it do?”

“Bring an etherprint scanner. That should answer what happened.”

The two demons looked confused. Ven turned to Gaven. “You had one in the kitchen, right?”

Gaven pillaged his shelf for a portable etherprint scanner. He quickly tested that it worked, confirming that the results were accurate. He handed it over to Ven, who held it out for Vivi.

Vivi placed her arm on the device.

Ven stared at the results. “Nothing? The scanner refuses to read you?”

The void core can’t be examined? Vivi thought. Perhaps that was good. Vivi would have an easier time hiding it. Though, it would be harder to explain to allies.

“The skill screwed up my cores,” Vivi said. “I now have another core on top of the indebted one. The new core carries void ether.”

Everyone in the room appeared surprised. Even Gaven paused for a moment.

“There she goes again,” Ven said. “One day, she shows up with five new legendary runeswords, and the next she wakes up with a freaking core full of void ether.”

“You’re absolutely certain?” Aang asked. “You have a second core that carries void ether?”

“Well, that’s what I believe it carries,” Vivi said. “I haven’t explored its full powers yet. I have a hundred void wisps right now. Do you know anything about a skill that does something like this?”

Aang glanced at Ven. Ven shook his head. “You should talk to Alisa. If she wakes up. I doubt anyone else will even believe you.”

“Yes, I was hoping to ask her about it,” Vivi said. She continued eating her last bowl of slop. Her hand moved nervously. Would the others see her differently now? Void ether was the same power that monsters used to kill humans. Vivi could wield the same power.

Aang did look troubled. Not mad, just contemplative. Perhaps a little stressed.

“How are you otherwise feeling?” Aang asked. “Have you had enough rest?”

“I’m not ready to fight,” Vivi said. “But I’m ready to wake up.”

“Good,” Aang said. “All the Hollows have been dormant and recovering. The Union has been holed up ever since Zand's hub fell. We’ve been too exhausted to fight back. Our strong members are slowly recovering.”

Lucius grinned within Vivi’s consciousness. “He’s talking about you. He thinks we’re strong.”

We’re stronger than nimrods, at least, Vivi thought. She finished her last bowl of slop and pushed herself afoot.

“Feni and Lucius told me the situation,” Vivi said, meeting Aang’s eyes. “Show me the new Zand.”