Annabelle’s Bastion

The corruption’s attack made Aria feel as though she was walking through a void—no end in sight, no lights, no sounds, and no purpose.

But she wasn’t frightened, far from it.

All she felt was annoyance.

If only its surprise attack hadn’t worked, an attack that took advantage of something outside her realm of possibility. To think, even surprise was enough. It showed her vision of her mother, whose face she thought forgotten.  

Aria’s shock was great enough that the darkness she kept at bay flooded in, and she was trapped in the illusion.

Presumably, the others were in something similar, catered to what they feared. Unfortunately for the core, it misunderstood her mind—Aria feared nothing.

Maybe it could find a fear deep within her subconscious, but it was merely F-Tier. The core couldn’t dig deeper, and it likely worked based on the target’s own knowledge of their fears.

But that didn’t stop it from trying to dig up something.

Something in the distance watched her every move, periodically informing her of its presence via a fierce killing intent. It was an intent that felt tangible, like a sword about to hit her neck. Sometimes from her right, others from her left, but often from behind. When she instinctually snapped her head toward it, it would disappear.

Hold still?

Couldn’t.

She was urged forward; an overwhelming feeling told her that if she were to freeze, her head would fall.

A piercing gaze hit Aria’s head for the umpteenth time, one she promptly stared toward.

Then, it vanished.

It had been happening for a while… she lost track of time. The core likely misinterpreted Aria’s strong desire for battle as something it could take advantage of. It tried making her feel like it was an opponent that paid her no mind, merely toying with her. Yet the only success it had was frustrating her. She wanted something to happen.

Even though she felt fine, with no fear or anxiety, she still couldn’t break free.

She had to get out, but she couldn’t figure it out. It wasn’t for herself—she wasn’t concerned for her well-being—but for Annabelle.

Her friend was by herself, either facing the core alone or in a similar state to Aria and trapped in an illusion.

But since Annabelle showed no signs of corruption, it was more likely she was at the core. Another mystery added to her friend, one Annabelle likely didn’t realize the significance of herself.

But that was far from what Aria cared about; if she didn’t figure out how to break free, Annabelle could die.

Having that thought felt like a sword piercing her chest and twisting.

Just as she had that thought, like a weight lifted from her shoulders, she felt she could stop. The conscious urge to keep moving faded, allowing her to immediately halt moving forward.

Sound soon returned, and it came in the form of an eerie breeze rustling through trees, carrying with it the scent of blood.

Next came a blinding white light that forced Aria’s eyes shut. But that only lasted a moment, and when she opened them, her surroundings had changed.

She was in the Titan Forest.

Gargantuan trees all around a clearing, all normal and without signs of corruption. It was in the core’s zone. The ground became that familiar, darker green but with scattered impact craters leaking faint trails of smoke. Even the gravity and air felt the same.

However, the scent of blood became stronger.

Before her was the foggy wall protecting the core’s body. If it weren’t for the lack of people around, it may have been able to fool her.

She could stop, hold still, and trust Anna to destroy the core or Jaxon to pick her up—avoid the risk. But she wouldn’t. The core likely knew she wouldn’t.

And so, she stepped through the fog.

The moment her vision cleared, her heart dropped in a way she had never felt before.

Lying beneath the floating black orb was Annabelle.

A large greatsword pierced through her stomach, impaling her against the ground.

Blood poured from the countless cuts across Annabelle’s body, and her limbs appeared broken in several directions. Yet her face was clear of wounds, facing her. The eyes—gone was the light Aria so admired. Gone was her cheery smile and mischievous glint. Those eyes looking at her were dimmed, and her mouth tilted down into a frown. A single tear had fallen from her right eye as she faced where Aria had come from, where she had fallen into the illusion moments ago.

Annabelle was dead.

Her friend, her only one, was dead. Her…

Aria took the heaviest step of her life, with her hands shaking and her heart twisted.

But the illusion shattered, and everything disappeared.

She fell to her knees, panting as sweat poured from her body and her hands fiercely shook. She could barely even clench her fists.

“Aria,” came the familiar voice of Cole, but his tone was low and foreboding.

Aria launched forward, pushing past Cole and into where the fog once was and where the illusion had Annabelle’s dead body.

Her head whipped around the surrounding clearing.

But there was nothing.

No blood on the battle-scarred ground, no body parts, and no indication of death.

She heavily sighed in an attempt to get her rampaging mind under control.

Color had returned to the forest, and the other students wondered about the clearing in a mix of confusion and awe.

Yet even still, her heart wouldn’t calm, and her hands wouldn’t cease shaking.

“Tell me,” she commanded, knowing Cole followed her. It was a victory, but his earlier tone didn’t seem like it was. She squatted and touched the obvious sword mark on the ground.

“Frost... presumably destroyed the core—not even ten minutes ago.” He stopped beside her. “You were the last to wake.”

“Presumably,” she echoed and stood up to face him. “What happened? Where is she? Take me to her.”

He shook his head. “The core was destroyed, but...” He sighed. “Frost… Frost is gone. Jaxon, too. Both of them disappeared.”

Her brain momentarily faltered. “What?”

What did that even mean?

“Well... I woke up first, then saw Frost in the fog…”

Cole proceeded to tell her about what happened after she succumbed to the illusion. The core, its abilities, and how he agreed to work with Annabelle to destroy it.

But Cole fell into the illusion again after taking a heavy blow, leaving Annabelle alone. He didn’t see how it ended other than a wall of swords. In his words, it should have been impossible for Annabelle to destroy the core, let alone get close enough to try. It would, at the very least, require some form of magical attack.

Worse was that, during the fight, they heard muffled explosions in the sky that got closer each time.

Aria’s fists clenched so tightly it hurt. The pain in her chest was back, but it was all real that time.

“The core wasn’t destroyed by my attack, I’m not sure how— wait, your pocket.” His widened eyes glued to her leg as he pointed. “Is that...?”

She finally felt and saw it—a large bulge in her pocket. It clicked instantly, but it was too nonsensical to believe.

“Is it...” She reached in and touched it, careful to not pull it out. “Apex Sigil,” she muttered in awe.

Just touching it, she felt its power, an electric current running up her arm and across her body. It felt like she touched something unfathomable, filling her with a sense of awe. How had she not noticed this before?

Rather than a sphere, it had a cube-like shape with 12 faces. Unlike its orb counterparts, the Apex Sigil felt rougher, like it was made of parchment.  

“Is that really...?”

“Yes,” she responded absentmindedly.

But how? According to Cole, it had been less than ten minutes since they awoke.

“We need to return to camp before the others finish their observations,” Cole said hastily. “Quickly, or her efforts would have been in vain.”

Aria nodded but was too stuck in her thoughts to care. Still, she followed behind Cole while fiddling with the Sigil.

To have it meant that Annabelle succeeded, and it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes ago. A mere ten minutes. During which time, she destroyed the core alone, picked up the Sigil, and placed it in Aria’s pockets. All with the time to disappear without a trace.

She checked the ground and trees, yet there weren’t any obvious signs of someone venturing further.

Where was she?

It didn’t make any sense.

For the Sigil to be in her pocket indicated Annabelle wasn’t taken by force. No blood meant she wasn’t killed. No signs of battle outside the swords meant she wasn’t attacked, either. Perhaps Jaxon helped her destroy the core, then took her back alone? That made little sense, but so did the situation.

“Who woke up first?” Aria asked.

“I’m not sure—we must convene with the others.” He sighed and shook his head. “If we can’t find Jaxon and Annabelle...” He left it unsaid, but Aria got it.

Jaxon was how they were to return.

But this was good; she would never allow herself to leave without Annabelle. Jaxon, however, would if they weren’t able to find her.

They stopped outside the forest, near the campsite. Or… what was once the site.

“My god,” Cole muttered.

Even Aria froze in shock at the spectacle. The only time she had caught even a glimpse of real power was when Alisha beat Thagrin. But that was just an injured Barbarian. She hadn’t seen the type of destruction such a battle could create.

Until now.

This wasn’t even at that level, yet it was immense.

The camp was in ruins, but even that felt like an understatement. Craters as deep as she was tall, Titan Trees fallen over or shattered, and tops of the trees blown off. To even damage those trees seemed like it’d require herculean effort. Near the center was a spot of red—blood.

She approached a blotch of red with a heavy heart.

“Blood,” she said. The pit in her stomach deepened. “A lot of it.”

And no signs of Annabelle.

“Jaxon’s blood or his opponents,” Cole reassured. He squatted for a closer look and nodded to himself. “It wouldn’t make sense for it to be Frost’s. Either way, this doesn’t bode well.”

Aria nodded, trying to keep herself as calm as possible. She had never felt so worked up before, even when ambushed with the intent to kill. It wasn’t like her.

If there was any time to keep her calm, it was now. The task proved difficult, however, with the effects of the illusion lingering and having awoken to an unknown, dangerous situation.

With the destruction, the blood, and their missing teacher, the expedition would erupt in chaos. She had to at least maintain her calm—to find Annabelle. Running into that forest herself was difficult to resist, but she could not scour such a massive place alone.

For that mission, she would need everybody organized.

But them listening to her was impossible.

“I’ll gather everyone,” Cole said, turning back to the forest. “We must prepare for the worst.”

“I will search the forest until the group has calmed.”

“Alright. Let us know your findings, please. You are a part of this team, and that matters now more than ever.”

“Fine.”

She wasn’t dumb enough to think she could handle whatever happened alone, but the others wouldn’t care about Annabelle. They likely felt some form of jealousy over her station or despised her link to her.

“Thank you.” He dipped his head for a moment, then made his way back to the forest.

Aria stayed, observing the destruction for a bit longer.

The more she looked, the more confusing it became.

None of it made sense.

Whatever attacked Jaxon wanted either the core or the students, given the proximity of the explosions Cole described. He took it to the air to avoid casualties. Which, while it did work, left little option for tracking. Destruction atop the trees, maybe.

That would be her first stop.

If he didn’t return, they would be stranded on an alien planet.

But then, what about Annabelle? Did she get swept in that battle?

Or maybe the attacker was targeting her. Targeting the core made little sense for beings of that capability. If that was true, there wouldn’t be any indicators of it—they would be overwhelmingly stronger than her. Taking Annabelle would be child’s play.

Why did she have to think of that?

Then, she saw something as she circled around the camp.

A shining, metallic object resting atop the same boulder Jaxon would sit upon to observe the camp. Its color blended with the rock, but the sun hit it perfectly.

Aria recognized that material; mithril. The same metal Gromak fondled like it was his lover, the material he’d murder his firstborn to get his hands on. A material coveted no matter how strong and how advanced the mage.

She knew what that device was.

It looked like a coin but with the same language as the Sigils cared around its exterior. Miniscule text was spread across its body, all connected by a line toward the center, which held a small orb.

If she sent mana into that orb, it would activate the return spell.

She slid it into her pocket and followed after Cole.

Now, she didn’t have to worry about it; they would not be leaving until Annabelle was safe.

Even if it took years.