169. Three's Company, But...

[REVOLVER Spell: HAIR TO HAIR]

[MP Cost: 36]

[Description: Can only be used while the Wayfarer's [Oath] is affirmed. Chamber Three imbuement. Manifest the Wayfarer's Oathborn where the bullet lands. Convert all unimbued bullets to Primal damage type. Only one instance of the Oathborn can be activated per circadian cycle.]

***

The relief was immediate. The red haze dissipated within seconds, while the faces of her friends came back into sharp focus. Serac's Frenzied self had, at least for now, exited the stage, leaving nothing but clarity of purpose.

This feels good. It was the right play. I'm excited to get to know this VOIDLING thing, whatever form it might've taken.

But clarity, not unlike Frenzy, couldn't last forever. The Upheavers had found themselves in utterly unfamiliar territory, to which Bea Sattva's 'one-sided' advice no longer applied. Now, the trio would have to feel and muddle their way through however many minutes still remained in the current Night cycle.

First things first. Meditated to drop down a Waystation. In case the trio might run into mishaps in the near future, they'd best tether themselves to something of Tidereign. To that end, Serac happily spent her [Privilege] carried over from Pretjord.

She needed neither to level nor reconstitute, but she did sit down long enough to note her newest Waystation's curious moniker: [Nightbound Mooring]. That word again. Though mystified she was, Serac resisted the urge to seek Trippy's input, given the topic's sensitivity with regards to disembodied voices.

"As I've explained before"—the voice in question ignored her attempt at tact—"I've no first-hand knowledge of this 'previous version' of myself, nor of what it means exactly for a soul to be 'Unmoored'. The sense by which you've used the word doesn't match anything I know about Pathsight. I can, however, define [Unmoored] the status effect unique to Tidereign. Simply put, it's when a Wayfarer comes in physical contact with the boundaries of the Day-Night divide."

Right. And in more practical terms, I'd guess it comes direct from these skyveils that are draped everywhere? Hmm, maybe I'm overthinking this, and it really is unrelated to Version One…

Version Two offered no further comment. Fair enough, given anything he might say would be purely speculative. Serac decided to let the matter rest and focus instead on the more immediate thrills and spills on her Path.

"Right," Zacko was the first to move things along. "Lots on our minds, I'm sure, but only one question matters at the minute. Where to next?"

"We should look for the Sanzu River," Renna suggested immediately, sounding for all the world like she was old hat at this ascension business, "which is the one constant across the Six Realms. It's a safe bet that following the river would lead us to significant points of interest."

"Perfect!" Serac enthused. "Alright then, shall we head up this hill and see what we see?"

In this case, higher elevation did not lead to a better vantage. Up and around the hill, the road of packed dirt leveled off completely before being swallowed up by the woods. The dense forest continued on in all directions, frustrating the Wayfarers' efforts to orient themselves.

"Strange," Renna commented, once more tapping into her power of observation. "One would've assumed the road was of artificial origin. Why would anyone make a road that's so short, let alone one that seems to lead nowhere?"

"Maybe it really was just to welcome the newly ascended into the Realm?" Serac voiced her first honest impression. At this, Renna merely frowned, though not in outright denial.

"No sign of a local guide this time, hey?" Zacko made an observation of his own. "Failing that, a map would've been helpful… but I guess this isn't that kind of Realm."

"And what kind of Realm would just hand you a map the moment you walked in?"

"Well, maybe not quite hand you the map, but it's—you know what, never mind that for now. No road, no map. Based on what I know about old-timey explorers and whatnot, this is where we try and see if we can't hear the nearest river."

"Sounds like a hassle and a not at all reliable one at that. I have a better idea," Renna deadpanned, at the same time pulling back on her hood to show off the patch of shark scales atop her head. She hid it again quickly; childhood habits died hard, even after said child had done some growing up.

The tree-frog Yaksha spent the next few minutes leading her companions deeper into the forest. She eventually picked up her pace, having detected a promising ripple signature. Sure enough, a hop, skip, and jump later, the Upheavers found themselves on the bank of a wide, rushing river.

In the gathering light of pre-Dawn, the Tidereign edition of the Sanzu revealed its auburn color and somewhat muddy consistency. Serac was rather put off by the image—almost like a river of 'molten rust'. After the otherworldly beauty of the skyveils, this was something of a comedown.

Not to be discouraged by the spills on the road, Serac and her companions immediately turned and headed upstream, toward the (hopefully) thrills that yet awaited.

The Wayfarers picked up the pace some more, now moving as fast as their Stamina would allow. Even in the absence of a Pathsighted timer, the brightening sky made it abundantly clear that Dawn was imminent. The trio was in unspoken agreement about one thing: try to see as much of the Night as possible before it turned over to Day.

Stolen story; please report.

"Hey," Serac voiced a concern that had become more pressing by the minute, "what do you think will happen when the Realm, uh, cycles over?"

"Eh?" Zacko. "It just changes over to an altered copy of itself, doesn't it? Same but different. Like Bea said."

"I think Serac means to ask," Renna interjected helpfully, "what would happen to us. Physically. And perhaps metaphysically as well, if there is such a component to this."

"Exactly!" Serac beamed at the pink frog. "Bea and her Mriga friends have never been to the world of Night, correct? Does that mean we're also stuck? Like, have we unknowingly 'synced' our ascension with the Night cycle, so now we just have to do everything on this side?"

"That sounds like a chore," Zacko said, giving the surrounding woods a once-over, "especially if this enemy density holds. We've trekked a good distance through what's clearly untamed land, and despite that, we haven't even sniffed an Aberrant. There better be some reliable farming spots somewhere in this Night world, or we might be here for a while."

"You both bring up interesting points." Renna's teacher voice came out on occasion, this being one of them. "But I've been curious about one other thing. Zacarias, did you receive any prompts from Pathsight about [Oaths] or Frenzy or anything of that nature?"

"Nope."

"Neither did I. No new mechanic. And I feel completely fine, just the same as I would've in Pretjord."

"What are you saying?" Serac piped up, failing to follow the thread.

"Right." Zacko was quicker on the uptake. "You're saying you'd expect there to be something equivalent to [Hunger]. In Pretjord, even though I wasn't allowed to [Synthesize] with the rest of you, I still had to eat to keep from starving. Even back in Naraka, I started out as something akin to a Penitent down in the Damnatorium. Bubblegum and I can't enjoy the benefits of [Oathbind] like Rakshasa girl here, but we should still suffer its drawbacks."

"Precisely," Renna agreed. "I didn't expect to produce my own Oathborn, but I assumed I'd still have to register an [Oath] at least, if for nothing else than to stave off Frenzy."

"Hmm." Zacko again. "Does that mean we outrealmers just don't Frenzy? Or maybe there's some different type of bullshit for us to deal with."

"Whatever it is, I suppose we'll find out in a matter of minutes."

Then both Manusya and Yaksha went silent, calmly carrying on as if they hadn't just discussed potential punishments they might suffer at Pathsight's callous whims. Serac, on the other hand, couldn't just ignore what she'd heard. She looked from one friend to the other, anxiety spreading upon her cinnabar face.

Just what's going to happen to these two at the end of the cycle? And hang on, how do I know for sure that I'll be exempt?

"You don't."

Trippy? You sure sound like you have all the answers.

"… No, I don't. At least not with any degree of certainty. Records of outrealmers passing through Tidereign are vanishingly sparse, given the state of Pretjord both during and before Tyr Djofulsen's reign. That's to say nothing of the changes happening right here in Tidereign, as the Seersmith has attested. I do, however, have some working theories that might answer some of your questions."

Alright, let's hear it.

"First, let us consider why Tidereign appears to have two Realm-defining mechanics that, while working in conjunction with each other, seem to be conceptually divorced."

The what and the what? Good thing Serac was becoming more and more fluent in Trippy-ese.

You're saying there are two separate gimmicks here. One's this [Oathbind] thing and the other is the Day-Night divide. But there doesn't seem to be a common 'theme' to tie them together—at least not like Hunger and Penitence in the lower Realms.

"Quite. But what if they aren't separate? What if both [Oathbind] and the Day-Night divide are interrelated representations of a single concept? Two sides of the same coin, if you will."

… Alright, you're gonna have to meet me halfway on this one.

"Take for example, the Oathborn phenomenon. The Seersmith called it a manifestation of Primal aura, but… why does it manifest as a familiar or a summon? Why not alter one's Parameters like [Tribulation], or change the make-up of one's body like [Synthesis]? Why must it produce a new entity detached from the magic's origin?"

That was still fairly obtuse as far as answers went, but Serac had begun to see the thread. Day and Night. Two sides of the same coin—one equating to the loss of self (i.e. Frenzy), and the other to birthing another.

Does that mean—

"Not long now."

Renna's raspy remark snapped Serac out of her inside-voice debate. One glance at the sky told her exactly what the frog woman meant.

The ocher moon had dimmed and dimmed, now barely a shadow within the gathering light. Gone were the dark-brown overtones that had greeted the Upheavers on arrival, transitioning instead to a softer and perhaps warmer color. Sepia, echoed Serac's memories of another life.

"This is it," Serac murmured, suddenly very apprehensive of what was to come. "All that running about, and still no sign of civilization or a local guide. Guess we'll just have to live it to learn it."

I will never say 'no' to the thrills and spills on my Path, when I could say 'hell yes' instead!

Even as the Upheavers ran toward an uncertain toMorrow, they came upon a bend in the Sanzu. They followed it, with not much more than sheer momentum carrying them forward, when—

"Wait, I see a boat! And… huh… is that a person?"

The inflection in Zacko's voice came, not from surprise, but uncertainty. And as Serac followed his gaze, she could readily sympathize.

A boat—a rundown contraption of rusted metal ready to fall apart at any moment—was moored to the riverbank. And upon its dilapidated deck stood—or rather, slouched—a lone humanoid figure.

They were dressed in raven-black leathers, woolen breeches, and tattered cape. Every part of their features blended almost seamlessly into their brown, rusted surroundings. Save for their face. For it was fully covered in bright ginger-colored fur, along with a pair of triangular ears that protruded upward into the sepia sky.

Is that… a cat-person??

"By the Keeper…" The ginger tabby murmured in shock as three strangers approached. Then his furry face, along with his eyes of dusky hazel, lit up in delight as he shouted, "I can't believe it's finally happened! Hurry, outrealmers, we're running out of time!"

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