"Fascinating".
Avistro shook his head in absolute amazement at the specimen before him, he had placed the 'System' in an space constructed by 'E', collecting endless amounts of information for him were thousands of little spirit helpers and magic circles, a few stacked in succession making varying formations or pentagram magic seals which was the version that currently the little abstract entity as he studied it. In the skies above were constellations which changed patterns and expanded every few seconds, serving as the main cores which powered all this activity and as further suppression upon the abstract's existence keeping it well sedated in easier terms so as to prevent any sort of beacon being sent out or triggering an unknown defense mechanism whilst he worked.
And for all that he had found out already Avistro could not help but be amazed, it was truly a most interesting creation with quite an absurd role and functions. Oh how he wished he could continue the joys of this discovery with that blockhead Shen but that guy was still grumpy for reasons unknown to him, the next best option was Mordred but heavens knows where his head was at right now, last option was Noctis and he certainly was not in the mood to deal with the subtle suppression effect that guy had on the nature of a Basilisk so Mordred it is.
He called for 'E' to help in establishing a connection between he and another resident and moments later a giant screen was up before him displaying the high Imp in a suit playing the piano with his sleek long tail swaying about whilst he immersed himself in the act.
"Oh goody, I caught you at a normal time" Avistro spoke, his tone relived but the Imp released an exasperated sigh as his hands came to a rest.
"Hey hey, you pretentious bastard don't act like you didn't willingly accept the request".
"Disturbing you is my right now".
The Imp shrugged "by the way, do you ever find it amusing that out of all us and the origins of our births, Mavion is the only one with a mortal parent and conceived through labor?".
"A mortal birthing a divine being" he chuckled.
"You should see how shy he gets when I tease him for being such a momma's boy".
"But whew, he gets really scary when I even try any prank on his mother no matter how tame".
"Quite a nice lady too, you should see how brightly those green eyes of hers shine".
"Never met a dwarf with so much spirit contained within such a form, very nice tea she makes at that".
The Basilisk tilted his head a bit, a million thoughts running through his mind as he wondered what he was to do with such a random information until it finally clicked and a wide smile graced his face followed by a small laugh "Oh. My. Goodness".
"Our little Imp has a lady he fancies, Mavion's mother no less".
"The heavens must really be having a laugh, I know I am" he laughed freely at his peer's current predicament, lamenting a bit inside that he never went for those visits they made because it would have been quite a sight seeing Mordred act so clumsy.
"Ah this is great, you talk of Mavion being shy but I know very well you're not brave enough to confess this to either her nor him".
"Ah this is really so great" he began laughing again and this time with renewed vigor causing the high Imp to role his eyes a bit.
"Shut it, in a few years I'll be ready to start courting her properly".
"Dwarves without any magic on average live close to three centuries and she's barely past her first".
"So I just have to get on Mavion's good graces in the meantime and my natural charm can do the rest".
Avistro nod his head in mock agreement "uh-huh".
"So that's why you've gotten so pretentious lately, picking up a million hobbies as if trying to find something that would impress her".
The Imp scrunched his brows feeling a bit slighted there "well, a few of those are actually real passions of mine so let's not include–
"Even the way you dress huh" this particular statement ticked him off a bit more than the last.
"Okay, that one is definitely not included" Mordred rushed to defend his tastes but the basilisk simply laughed and shook his head.
"Nonetheless, from what I know the dwarven species have notoriously simple and neat standards on both sides".
"The greatest gift you can give to them is metal, the more special then the better".
"They are the masters of craft after all.....ah" another realization hit him- "So that's one of the reasons you have to get on Mavion's good graces".
"Amusing, shall I tell him".
Avistro could see the palpable fear that flashed in his eyes for a second at his statement causing him to laugh as the imp heaved a regretful sigh, "hah, don't worry I wouldn't dare".
"Now then, can you come over to this side".
"You're going to love this little discovery of mine".
Accepting his invitation the screen became a doorway for him to pass through and the first thing his eyes shot towards was the little abstract which caused a smile on the basilisk's face "told you".
"This is mazing, how does such a thing exist" Mordred levitated over the abstract, his eyes never leaving it's form as he studied it with his senses. Sensing something from above his gaze was drawn towards the constellation currently acting upon the anomaly's very nature, the magic circles and what they represented alongside the helpers working tirelessly in deciphering it's secrets.
"How much have you uncovered".
A helper was sent to him and upon touching his hand all available information was immediately transferred to his mind at the request he let it and there was no word to describe all that he had seen other than overwhelming, it was crazy absurd.
The thing referred to as 'System' was an abstract idea with no exact pinpoint as to the origin of it's creation, but it was believed to have arisen from a most special being part of a race just like him for which no information existed on what they were either as of yet. They existed in a entirely different plane of existence if it could even be called that and these beings after playing around with this idea for so long suddenly decided to create a new game and hand it down to mortals from an entirely different plane in the form of stories, an idea of their own implemented into the narrative and it quickly took over in a storm.
They called this place the 'real world', just reality for short and that was where these mortal beings resided, of the countless races it was handed over to one included humans, a race not unfamiliar to Mordred as he knew they existed in quite a lot of realms including his own although with differences between them at times, some more advanced than others, it was just a bit interesting that they existed that far out over there as well in a place he couldn't find nor make sense of yet.
Carrying on now, the abstract referred to as 'System' was also implemented in the origin of many new realms that would come to exist, new stories they called it both in the metaphysical sense and in actuality and this was made long before it was handed over to the mortals, the idea already ingrained so deeply into the core narrative of it all that at some point it began getting attached to these mortal existences from the 'real world' writing about stories of their own as most of these were being brought to life used as models to construct new realities whilst filling in the blanks the mortals themselves couldn't really think of or understand outside a vague idea, they were unsuspecting of course despite the varying beliefs they all shared on the truths of existence and the divine including the possibility of such a thing like this actually happening.
But in hindsight the idea being handed over to them was some sort of preparation for the eventuality of what was to occur, a plan that he knew not the answer to yet but he found something else, realities built by these beings or freshly spawned ones engrained with the idea found it easier to cooperate with the physical implementation of the 'System' without any modicum of rejection.
This was where a problem arose, they discovered a third established reality not made by them and from an entirely different plane of existence just like the 'real world' but not as easy as each came with varying strengths of their own and entirely new planes of existence far removed from it all and protected by varying supreme forces and immense beings who also dabbled in this very thing with ideas of their own which caused a severe clash. As it turns out, perhaps there really is no such thing as an original idea or a unique lived experience of your own after all, maybe just a few and this idea was certainly not just unique to that special race of beings as they had once believed it to be.
A deviation arose in the original intents of just sometimes picking these mortals from the 'real world' to realms implementing such an idea, either because those mortals were sometimes special existences of their own who just didn't know it yet or because their karmic value was so incredibly high, sometimes it was Fate and for the rest it varied from a whim to just being lucky and the set condition usually included the mortal dying first in quite the colorful amount of ways sometimes.
But now it was a competition to see whose idea was better and a war of invasion, some 'Systems' of lower ranked classes found it difficult to enter a realm if it was too strong and they could get destroyed, which was where the mortals came into play, they found out that as basically blank slates with an existence shifting hard into the direction of neutrality, these mortals now referred to almost exclusively as 'Hosts' could be used to soften to blow quite heavily and they protect the system as well by being attached to it. Nevertheless even this still had its limitations, one could only soften the blow so much if the gap was still too great to cross and that was where the classifications of different realms of existence began occuring alongside a classification of their narrative and it's concepts.
This was the new goal of the 'System', to infect these narratives and slowly but surely bring them under their domain as part of a full scale plan to eventually bring this entirely new plane of existence under their control, genuinely for no other reason than feeling incredibly petty at having to share the same particular idea in this instance.
'They're that bored huh' Mordred chuckled to himself, just as he was nearing the end of all information that had been gathered two new strings appeared, the first detailed the ranks of 'Systems' and their different types, each having multiple closely related aspects with different ways of function or limits across different realities anchored to the original first.
Then there were the special class 'Systems', numbered and finite as types who had no need of a host at all and were unbelievably strong beyond compare, they were more like catastrophes than anything as each held a form all to themselves and although they do bear aspects across multiple realities, there existed one in particular that was never allowed to make a move since it's inception.
It was something even the others were too afraid to refer to as a 'System', that was all the information available on it as of now.
To Mordred now the key points were this, there were two types of 'Systems', one from that side and one from this side. A charmingly detailed explanation sure but that was basically just it, this abstract was a foreign one, an invader and this meant it was possible that somewhere out there a native might have once existed in this realm or actually still be present.
"It would be quite interesting if we ever get to meet one of these 'protagonists' someday, I'd really love to experience how it feels to fight a being so protected".
Avistro titled his head a bit "Isn't that.....us basically?".
".....Huh, probably" the Imp shrugged.
"One must imagine how ticked Noctis will be if he finds out this thing was trying to infect every narrative".
"I suppose he would not like it very much if this became the only genre he could not only read about but exist in" they broke out in a laugh at the thought and began making small bets as to some of the things he could say when he finds out.
"Ah jeez, still this is quite a bit above our pay grade for now".
"But later when we're strong enough, we're definitely going to war against all these entities".
"We already have a map and this little thing to guide us there" this was the second string of new information he had received, a cosmic map detailing a truly infinite collective of realms that reigned as small parts of a single undiscovered whole and multiple planes of existence that the 'System' had discovered, it was still unfinished but something told Mordred that the collective was something bound to be at the top of their list.
The map was greatly unfinished and this was simply a small part, infact maybe the only part this 'System' held if it turns out that they all held a map of their own, meaning there were still countless pieces out there for the taking which was quite a stressful thought.
"Eventually we'll have to find a native as well to get a clearer picture about this side".
The basilisk chuckled seeing all the enthusiasm being displayed by his friend who was forgetting one simple piece of the equation "you do realize we have to first survive the fight against our fated enemy correct?".
He could visibly see the excitement die in his eyes a bit at the reminder, but a moment later it was relit "we'll just have to far surpass our predecessors and finish what they couldn't".
"Or perhaps....we might have a third option on how to end this war" his mind zoned out to a different space for a moment before recovering just as quickly.
"Which brings me to my question, where, when and how did you get this one?".
"From what I can tell, this version is far too weak to even come close to a realm like ours in the first place even with a host".
"It should have been eviscerated on the spot, in addition to the fact I'm sure the Tower master must have sensed it as well".
At his barrage of questions the basilisk could only help but laugh a bit "well, I did not find it, Emrys did".
"Or if I'm reading it's memories correctly, a piece of his soul he left someplace else found it".
"Though I'm not sure how he was able to allow it entry as none of us have such power yet".
"But as for the Tower master, it's my guess that he allowed the meeting as well because it wasn't an instance he was supposed to interfere in".
"And helping counts as an interference so I can't use him to explain how it was allowed entry either".
"Maybe we should ask Emrys". He called for 'E' to setup a connection between them but found that the other side was incapable of answering at the moment so he pivoted to the piece of his soul far away.
"A fairy!?" Both exclaimed in the purest surprise at the answer they had received.
"Yes" Elias replied dryly.
"How come we never saw her, wait why do you get one and we don't" the Imp lamented.
"Hope saw her already, you all can try finding a fairy for yourselves if you desire because one is bound to be attached to us".
They both went silent for a moment at his reply and a moment later the connection was severed, then the Imp chuckled "wonder why we never thought of that".
Avistro shrugged "we'll ask for the World for assistance tomorrow".
"But later it's best we inform our friends lest they hold it against us".
Hours passed as the duo worked together in wringing out every last bit of information that they could from the 'System', jollying at what more they found and conversing as they adjustments to their plans with each discovery they made, they did wonder why Emrys had chosen to keep the first 'Host' to himself but left it at that and made no further inquiries.
Soon both concluded that they had uncovered enough and decided to call it quits for the day, only when everyone had been informed and present to revise their plans would they resume. Avistro in his slight curiosity tried to find Emrys to understand why he couldn't be summoned only to be met with a small surprise of Sarang and Velkos right by him as they all lay unconscious with their energies feeling so incredibly weakened with Emrys's so faint it was almost like he could begin fading away at any moment, it didn't take much to deduce what had occurred but the odd thing was Ishmael's absence even though he could feel traces of his magic around here as well.
Going by the current state of Emrys he deduced that the anomaly was paying the price for something he did and if Ishmael's presence was even weaker than this, then it's likely he was suffering the same fate as well and if not that it would be something else, but his curiosity ended there as Avistro walked away from the plains to rest.
[Hours later]
Back on the outside under the cover of night with no one around and one knee before the statues was Noctis, his hand remained rooted to the earth and his eyes closed in concentration as he studied the monument before him with great care but–
"Haizzzz, this is pointless".
"Everytime I feel like I'm getting close to something it just goes further away from me".
"And something familiar about it just gives me the feeling that if either Ishmael or Hope were present then I could uncover something".
"Should I have dragged him along with me?".
"I still have no luck in approaching Hope so that's an impossible ask for now".
He raked a hand through his hair in frustration then sat with his back to the statue, this was the first time he felt like that World was keeping away from him, more accurately it was keeping something away from him which made little sense but at the same time the familiar feeling he had came by it's help as well so it was helping him, he just needed a key.....
'Huh?'.
The presence of a supreme ruler standing above pinnacle, it reverberated deep in his soul and in every part of his being, overbearing yet warm like an embrace, regal, majestic, beautiful and powerful beyond compare, then he looked up to meet with what would be the greatest surprise of his day.
Starry golden irises that bore a most serene glow as her hands rest gently upon the statue, wearing a flowing patterned red dress and on barefoot with her tail swaying about, it's scales now more of an obsidian black after her minor evolution.
"Hope".
She cast her gaze his way for a moment before returning it to the statue "do you know what stands before us Noctis".
"Answers to one of the oldest questions ever asked".
"Where have the Ancients gone".
"This...statue, it wasn't created by man, it came from the World itself, pristine and untouched".
"It's like the final string standing between sanity and pure madness, the moment we open it is bound to be a day unlike any other".
A feeling arose in his chest at the tone of her words, he knew where she was going with this but still he asked nonetheless- "we're not ready yet, is that correct?".
Silence reigned between them, cold but never awkward, her eyes just kept looking over and around the statue until finally she brought her hand down and turned to face him properly - "Yes".
"Because come what may, we will be forced to fight dearly either to protect or destroy what we come to learn on that day".
"I have locked myself away from you all for far too long, I apologize".
"This is not the type of leader I aspire to become, so I aim to fix that".
"For as much as you are to be my subjects under the throne, you are to be my greatest companions even more".
"Eternity is an awfully long time and I do not plan on spending it alone".
"So, can you allow me to request something of you Noctis".....
The wisp chuckled lightly to himself, a most unexpected turn of events as not long ago he was racking his head on how to approach her so that they may become better companions, now here comes this for which he made no complaints at all.
"Sure, I'm all ears".
EnD.