The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 376: The Old One (1)

Chapter 376: The Old One (1)

Why did you tell him everything?

"I didn’t tell him everything."

Oh. You didn’t. But you DID tell the most important thing. Why?!

"It’s not the most important thing. There are more things–"

Yes there are more things to be said. BUT this is the basis for all THOSE things.

"Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!"

Althea’s cry threw the still air into a frenzy. The leaves hundreds meters above her ristled and the hundreds of meters wide branch gained thousands of hair-thin lacerations. Luckily, not a single creature lived this close to the trunk. So no one heard her.

She stumbled forward, her mind a mess. The sight of Hex haunted her. He had seemed alone. She wished she could have said yes to his request. But she couldn’t. Not when she knew the consequences of it.

"Why couldn’t his master be just a normal powerhouse? Or a Taboo? Or a Sage? If the baron wasn’t the way he was, perhaps we could have left everything here and went to the Upper Sky and freed him."

If Mikhael had been a normal person, you wouldn’t even have met him. Perhaps, even this incarnation would have failed. It’s because of Mikhael’s anomaly that we succeeded.

"I KNOW!"

Althea struggled to keep her voice down. None of the two. The shout pierced through the silent air. And her voice in her head kept whispering, never shutting up.

’I wish I never awakened my memories.’

Then you would never be able to be...you.

There it was again. It had started to whisper a few after she regained her memories. She never told anyone about it. Who would she tell? Plus, she knew it wasn’t the voice of someone else. It was her voice. It belonged to the version of her that had lived since her creation as Heaven.

For some reason, her old self and new self couldn’t merge into one. Not as a whole. She could tap into some of her powers but unless she resolved her problem, she would never have access to all her abilities and true source of energy.

She continued to murmur and mumble as she stumbled forward.

Althea knew she had to let go of her humane side to reach her true powers. But how could she do that if the memories of that stern-looking man didn’t leave her? It wasn’t only the Commander who she couldn’t forget.

There were many she couldn’t let go of. The number of people she still cared for was higher than even she had expected. Cella was of course one of those people.

The face of her childhood friend popped up every night in her dreams, bringing up fragments of her past. The fragrance of the fields they sneaked off to to play, the endless bickering between Cella and Bret, the talks of their future on the roof under the starry sky – Althea didn’t even like talking – didn’t leave her alone.

Then there was her father, the Commander, her uncle, the Gargoyle, and other aunts and uncles, even a grandpa who always brought her snacks, in the army.

She had to let go of everything. Of everyone. But she was unwilling. Remembering their faces didn’t matter. If she only could kill the emotions those faces brought with them. And that was the main issue. She couldn’t.

Why are you here, little one?

Hearing a voice question out of nowhere startled her greatly. She let go of her head and looked around. She didn’t see anyone. And where would she look? The voice had come from every direction at once, yet sounding soothing at the same time.

Soon, she regained her bearing. Something pulled her attention.

A few meters in front of her – if she had to guess it would be around ten or fifteen meters – she saw the trunk pulsate. She had arrived at her destination.

She had come to Wrixia to meet the Old One. He had sensed her the moment she went through the Crack but had not invited her. He hadn’t obstructed her either.

’I held back enough. Time to get it over with.’

She straightened her posture and walked up to the part that pulsated. The bark squirmed and twisted, before protruding forward, shaping itself in the form of a human. It lacked any feature but Althea sensed the enormous amount of energy and golden threads contained within it.

"Thank you for appearing, Old One," she said. She had a vague sense of familiarity with the being before her. Somewhere in her distant past, as the unawakened Heaven, she had met Him.

I would not dare to do otherwise, Little one. Your Father would not appreciate it. Plus, I held you in my hand when He created you. The only time we met but a bond was forged nevertheless.

’We did meet,’ Althea thought. "A bond exists indeed. I do remember fragments of things transpired before my awakening. I know Father liked your consul. And I know He tasked you with assisting me."

A task I fulfilled by absorbing all those divinities.

Althea hesitated. Indeed. If the Old One didn’t absorb all those divinities, the world would have ended, rendering her existence absolute and dooming her to her demise. Although she was certain He had benefited greatly from it, she couldn’t deny the risk and sacrifice it required.

"Indeed," she nodded. "Without your help I wouldn’t have succeeded. And I know the risks of it toward you. You couldn’t do a lot for almost two Ages."

An understatement. Absorbing the divinities and refining them rendered me useless against everything and everyone. I couldn’t even defend myself IF the others had attacked me. Luckily, everyone was either injured or busy with other stuff. Not to mention, the appearance of Mikhael Lichtenmane made everyone wary of pulling off something major. But now, he is gone. And the War has arrived.

"Help me. In this war." Althea could detect a sense of bitterness in the Old One’s tone. It appeared like He had held all this in for a long time. She didn’t mind listening to His complaints. But she had her plate full.

The human-shaped bark stood still. He twisted His, appearing as if giving it some thought. Seeing Him not agreeing at once, filled her heart with worry.

"The War will help you out of your predicament. And we can discuss a deal as we work together. Like you said, we have a bond between us. A bond spanning Ages."

A bond spanning Ages is something I have with the other one too. In fact, the bond between you and me is far more hollow than the bond I have with Orosol. After all, he is my little brother.