Chapter 84: Where they aren't. (Part 2)

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I channelled the power of the Void into my hands and placed them on the orb. I could feel Naia open herself to me and as her power meddled into mine, I felt the entire dungeon as it was. The expanse of sands, the twisting labyrinth beneath and all that dwelled inside. Through Naia's guidance, the Void cut through the fabric of the dungeon, tearing apart its connection to the world. I felt the burden on my body as the energy within was sucked away only to be replaced by the Witch's warmth.

For a moment, I drifted in the Void. I could see the Sand's Heart as part of the greater Areithia and close to it, the Rift it was being discarded towards. In the distance of the timeless Void I saw another moment. A version of Areithia was being looked down upon and above it was my mother doing the same as I was. Instead of Naia, the Great Spirit Haize helped guide her hand. Our eyes met and she smiled.

Thank you, she mouthed the words. Know I will always love you and your sister.

Without any more warning I was wrenched back to the present, the Void receding. A sudden thud hit my chest and I gasped for air, coughing as sand flew from my mouth.

"Ardent!" Mia called my name filled with relief. "You're back. Thank the spirits."

I looked around, we were no longer in the dungeon. Instead we were in the centre of the crater that made up the entrance. The stone tower in the centre was broken and Ratansi stood upon it, gazing up towards the dunes. The destruction that had been suspended in the air had become still. The sands no longer flowing.

"That... was somehow easier than I expected," I leaned up from the ground, only realising now that my eyes were wet and had been crying. "Mia, how do you feel?"

"I...," she touched her chest, a look of guilt and relief crossing her face. "It's strange. I never knew that I was missing something so big before. Now, it feels like I'm complete for the first time in my life." Mia closed her eyes and a dense flow of mana began to pour out of her. The horns upon her head began to glow in ghostly red flames. My senses were thrown back. She wasn't kidding. The feeling I had of Mia before was someone a little special, but now, the energy that I felt from her, it was comparable to that of a Witch.

Mia breathed and flicked out her hands. Hundreds of holographic dice appeared in the air around us. She let them drop, rolling across the ruins of the tower. Finally, she opened eyes, a powerful light shining from her pupils.

"I can see it all," she spoke ethereally. "What is to come, the result of our actions and where they could lead." The glow to her eyes faded and the dice drifted back to the nothing they came from. "Ardent..., the future, it's strange."

"What do you mean?" I asked intently. If Mia could give us the heads up on Kazu's actions, then we'd finally be able to get a step ahead of him. I was tired of playing off the back foot.

"The moment I read the future, the path we can take, it changes instantly." She shook her head, "It's like someone is watching the flow of the world already and directly interfering with what I'm reading."

"Kazu," I ground my teeth, speaking his name like a curse. "It wouldn't surprise me if he's somehow interfering. Can you do something about it?"

"Maybe.... Though I feel more complete than ever, it's like I'm still missing something. Not from myself though, like I need someone's help." She reached out her hand to no one, confused at the sensation she was missing.

"Endi," I spoke her name tenderly. With the Witch of Sands passing, if Mia obtained her rights as a Witch, Endi would have as well. "I think she may be the other part of your powers that you're missing."

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