Keeper of the Lost Cities: Elysian

Chapter 74

Midnight back on Elysian was a symphony. Open expanse. Chilly but exhilarating gusts of wind. A sea of radiant stars.

"I have... some confessions to make," Merida mumbled. She was flustered and fidgeting as she, Elysian, and Sophie stood outside.

"Some?" Elysian asked sarcastically. "Like breaking Sophie's mind, causing chaos by conjuring an old Neverseen pin, and using weather to manipulate everyone for your grand schemes?"

Merida's mouth fell open.

"It's almost like I read your mind," Elysian replied breezily. "Apology accepted. Oh, wait, you were saving that for later."

Merida's glare seemed like it would penetrate a hole through the back of Elysian's head.

"I'm still confused about some things," Sophie admitted. "How do you two coexist? What abilities does Merida possess- and what are their source?"

Elysian sighed and turned to face her. "It's an awfully long story. My only possible explanation is the room of darkness and light... and something called ether."

"Ether?" Sophie asked, confused. "What's that?"

"One of Wyrden's old theories, or a piece of knowledge he learned from the presence," Merida clarified. "According to him, it is an energy or force that permeates all space and matter. This definition isn't terribly important. It's just the easiest way to put what happened into the right perspective. "

Ether? Energy? Force?

"It's a different way to describe what you understand as the cause of teleporting, conjuring, and even light leaping," Elysian elaborated when she saw Sophie's bewildered expression. "You can think of it like invisible strings, or lines, connecting us to nature and each other."

Sophie vaguely remembered Edaline describing something similar when she first learned about conjuring. Perhaps the concepts were the same, and this was just a new perspective.

"I remember Merida describing the void, or the mindspace, as the ether as well," she recalled. "Is that intentional?"

Merida laughed. "Of course. Most of our abilities and technologies connect to ether in some form. From what I understand, the void is the plane in which ether is constantly shifting and bending, and can be manipulated. Certainly not everyone can reach the void like we can, but it's not necessarily our abilities that grant us access to it."

Sophie didn't completely understand, but she proceeded anyway. "Then how does that apply to the two of you?"

"Turns out, our consciousness also relies on ether to communicate and interact," Elysian explained. "Merida and I were originally two different identities, or two different consciousnesses coexisting- like you said- in the same body."

"When we left the void, I willed for the ether that we possessed a long time ago," Merida continued. "Elysian had the ether from her current body, but I obviously didn't, so I recalled the last time our ether took on a very significant transformation."

"Esylune," Elysian stated simply. She turned to Merida, and an understanding passed through their calm gazes. "I think she deserves to know."

Then Sophie saw the projection. But this time, she could also see their bodies- it was as if the three of them were sitting in a movie theater together.

Elysian stood by a riverbed, staring intently at an outcropping of brown rock. It was a night on the island not dissimilar to the one they were currently experiencing, except for the painfully obvious presence of Equilibrial's faint green light.