The Forsaken Hero
Chapter 429: Haven

Chapter 429: Haven

I sighed as the others dissolved into starlight, dismissed from this realm with a wave of my staff. As I was about to follow them, the spirit’s voice resonated through the ethereal space.

"My Lady, would you remain with me a moment longer?"

I paused, a small knot of unease forming in my stomach. The spirit hadn’t uttered a word since questioning Gayron, but now that we were alone, it descended to stand before me. Fable, loyal as ever, remained by my side, his presence a comfort in the wake of my emotional outburst. But what could be so important that the spirit didn’t even want Korra to hear?

"Yes?" I asked in a small voice.

"What is this realm called?"

I blinked, my tail twitching in surprise. "Sorry?"

"This realm. What do you wish to call it?"

"I’m not sure I understand. Isn’t it just a gate? Won’t it break apart the moment I leave?"

The spirit went quiet, watching me with icy blue eyes. I squirmed under the intensity of its gaze, gripping my staff in both hands. After a long, searching moment, it gave the closest thing it could to a sigh.

"Do you really not know? This isn’t a gate, my Lady. Gates are mere means of access, not realms in and of themselves. This gate will close at your command, but this realm will not fade. This realm and I exist by virtue of your staff alone, and as long as you hold it, we shall remain. We are bound together now, inseparable as the waves from the sea."

I slackened my grip on my staff, turning it over and gazing at the crystalline star twinkling on top. The spirit’s words didn’t make any sense, and my eyes welled up with tears as I looked back at him. "I...I thought I killed you when I couldn’t trust them and forced you to entangle yourself," I whispered, my voice thick with emotion. "You mean...you won’t die?"

It dipped its head. "Indeed, as I said before, my existence is but an echo, destined to fade in Enusia. But now, as long as you protect the Final Star, my life will continue. I am the guardian of your realm now, one you can call at any time. Its power is yours to command."

The Final Star. It wasn’t just any staff, but the Staff of Fate, and I’d begun to suspect that was more than a pretentious title. It was a Divine Artifact of mysterious power, bestowed only upon the chosen of the gods. Fate had hidden her divinity within its depths, perhaps even her entire divine realm. She had revealed herself to me while I was unconscious, entrusting me with the secret of her continued existence. I didn’t fully understand how it was possible, but I knew it was intrinsically linked to this staff.

Another memory surfaced, a conversation I had overheard between the other heroes. Divine Artifacts possessed immense abilities that could only be unleashed when their wielder reached their full potential. Perhaps there was a reason I could summon Fable through a gate and open rifts in the very fabric of fate. I’d practiced manipulating the small gates I could summon with my staff, but my efforts had yielded no results, and I’d dismissed it as a strange, inexplicable fluke. But what if it wasn’t?

"That’s not possible," I exclaimed, my voice filled with disbelief. "I’m cursed, and I’m not even ninth-level yet. How could I use my staff’s abilities? It’s not supposed to work like this."

The spirit rumbled with amusement, its golden eyes twinkling. "Who are you trying to convince? What is, is meant to be, remember?"

I groaned, rubbing my horn. "You sound just like her. Are you sure you’re an ice spirit?"

"Not anymore. Spirits are granted an elemental affinity upon being summoned to a mortal realm; I’ve since shed that. My power is aligned with your soul, now, and this realm. Which still needs a name."

It looked at me expectantly, and I let out a heavy breath."

"Sorry," I said, still grappling with the implications of his words. "Are you trying to say that one of the Final Star’s abilities is to summon a Demon Gate?"

"No, not exactly. Demon Gates are merely one application of dimensional magic. This is another, albeit similar, manifestation of that power. Had you mastered this ability using the more traditional method, you would have received the inheritance of knowledge accompanying it. But, instead, you somehow stumbled upon it, receiving the necessary prerequisite powers and items purely by coincidence."

I stared at my staff. "Then the gate core didn’t disappear, did it."

"No, the moment I entangled with the gate, this outcome was all but assured. You are the gate core now. Or your staff, at least."

I’d felt strange since entering the gate, as if I still held the gate core in my hand. Now, it all made sense. Everything did, from my inexplicable connection to gates to the profound impact this place had on me, and I on it. The gate outside Bluegate Keep hadn’t appeared simply because fate spited me, but because I had unknowingly summoned it.

"Is the name really that important?" I asked.

"Yes, but not as much as the intentions behind it. Names give things purpose. Think of your own name, and the impact it has on your own perception of yourself. This is especially true for realms connected to the soul, such as this one."

Xiviyah. The name meant "defeated" or "conquered," carrying a strong connotation of submitting unconditionally to someone of great strength. In many ways, it was a perfect reflection of my life, so deeply ingrained in my self-perception and worldview that I still struggled with it in my relationships with everyone, even Korra. It wouldn’t be fair to give all the blame to my name, especially since I had grown rather fond of it, but it was undeniable proof that names held power.

Right now, this realm was a perfect reflection of my soul. While it was clear the others found it cold and empty, it was the most beautiful thing in the world to me. I loved the stars and quiet, comforting darkness. The others expressed discomfort at the emptiness and disconcerting nature of this place, but I wanted nothing more than to curl up with Fable and just watch the flickering stars.

But, at the same time, it was quick and whimsical, moving to reflect my every thought–good or bad. It was honest, perhaps a little too much, revealing secrets and memories everyone wanted buried and hidden. But if what the spirit said was true, it didn’t have to remain this way, and I already knew exactly what I wanted this place to become.

"Haven."

I barely whispered the words, yet the reaction was immediate. A pulse of mana surged out of the crystal atop my staff, spreading through the delicate weave of fate that constituted the realm like dye soaking through thread. The shift was subtle at first, but as the wave grew, more visible changes took place. The ripples of starlight I stood on solidified into flagstones, grass, and flowers. It wasn’t as if it were creating anything, but simply revealing it, like a lighthouse lamp cutting through fog.

Within seconds, I stood on a floating isle in the sea of stars, an almost perfect replica of Fate’s Divine Kingdom. But the ripples didn’t stop there, continuing well beyond the edges of the island. After several hundred feet, they washed away the darkness, revealing another island and then another.

I gaped in awe as island after island appeared, no two alike, each positioned randomly throughout the sky. Some were higher than me, giving me a view of their natural-looking undersides, like wide, craggy stalactites. Most were between fifty and a hundred feet wide, but a few monstrous formations were easily over several thousand. The islands weren’t static, either, but slowly drifted like leaves in a stagnant pond, slowly revolving around the center-most isle–the one that I stood on.

Buildings rested on many of the islands. They looked old and in disrepair, with architecture unlike anything I’d seen in Enusia. A few graceful towers rose from the larger castle-like structures on the largest isles, with torn pennants flapping in the slight astral breeze. Broken battlements littered almost every structure, but there were also places that looked like marketplaces and even homes. It was like a city had been broken into a thousand pieces and strung out chaotically in the air.

Of all the islands, mine was the smallest, a mere twenty feet across. Flowers, identical to the ones I wore in my hair, sprouted from the cracked flagstones in vibrant clusters. Small, glistening streams meandered between the blossoms, catching the light of the stars above.

I followed one of the streams to its source, discovering a fountain at the center of the isle. It was a perfect replica of the realm I had spoken to Fate in just days before, only she wasn’t there. Instead of the fallen goddess, the statue depicted a young, beautiful girl with long, flowing hair, demonkin horns, and a tail. She wore an off-shoulder dress and a delicately carved flower wreath on her head, her bare legs tucked to one side as she sat upon a bed of intricately detailed flowers.

I blushed, my tail twitching in embarrassment. Why on earth was there a statue of me in the midst of such grandeur? Second to that concern was my wonder at the ancient structures. The Staff of Fate was a Divine Artifact passed down from hero to hero, only now resting in my hands. Had I simply inherited the remnants of the last hero to unlock this realm?

The endless nature of the night sky had allowed the realm to feel deep and profound. There was nothing but stars then, so I hadn’t really noticed the vastness and solitude. But now, as islands stretched for miles in all directions, it just felt...empty. Lonely, even.

Haven. It was a simple, unassuming name. A place of stars. Of peace, safety, and a brighter future.

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