"Really?" Ashton didn't look impressed.
While he's still a little bit freaked out by the rather freaky way how this woman talked to him, it's her first words that somewhat triggered him.
"That's the first thing you say? Mysterious Rainbow? Out of all things, that is what you say?"
"...what happened to 'Hi?' 'Hello?' 'My name is?' What happened to that?" Ashton said in an exasperated tone. "And could you please not look at me that way, try to consider what your current state is and imagine how that looks in my view. Only then you'd understand why I'm babbling too much."
A woman, looking pale and very dead, impaled by numerous stakes dyed in her blood, suddenly lifts her head and starts talking to you. If that's not freaky then Ashton doesn't know what is.
"...oh, right."
Thankfully, the woman seems to have a little bit of her common sense left. Ashton could see that she felt rather embarrassed when he pointed this out rather bluntly.
"Sorry, not like I can help it." The woman replied, "As you can see, I'm some sort of a prisoner here. Those pigeons outside are rather rude, they don't know how to take care of a lady."
"...fair, I guess." Ashton shrugged, "I suppose I couldn't get close to you to give you something to cover up, could I? This formation seems rather dangerous from what I can tell."
"Oh, yeah." The woman nodded, "Definitely not. Unless you're into pain, I would suggest not stepping in here. Plus, I assume that you don't want to be discovered so walking inside the formation is definitely a no-go."
"Yeah, I thought so too." Ashton sagely nodded,
'I love how we just casually fell into a conversation despite this rather ridiculous set-up. It's like I'm just casually talking to one of my friends or something. How quaint.' Ashton mused to himself.
Ashton's expression then turned solemn, he sat down so that the lady wouldn't have to look up to him. She's already in a difficult spot, he didn't want to make it worse for her since she looks pitiful enough already.
"My name's Ash. You?"
"...I can't recall." She replied, looking a little bit lost. "It's been a while since I felt the need to introduce my name to someone. The freaks outside don't refer to me by my name either, they just call me 'wench' and whip me."
"...oh." Ashton looked apologetic.
'Shit, that got dark real quick.' He mused.
"...hmm, it'd be rather rude to refer to you as 'girl', 'woman', or just 'you'. Well, even ruder to call you 'wench'."
"I'll call you Hilda, I guess."
'Hilda' looked quizically at him, asking: "Why this name?"
"You look like a Hilda to me." Ashton flatly replied.
"What does that mean?" Hilda frowned, looking a bit offended.
"Shit, I don't know. I can't explain it. You just look like a Hilda to me, that's it." Ashton smiled wryly.
Hilda looked pensive for a bit before sighing, seemingly accepting her fate.
"Okay, Hilda it is I guess." She shrugged and then winced.
"Yeah, shrugging with...all of that, impaled in you, isn't a good idea."
"Oh really? Didn't notice that, thanks for the reminder, Genius." Hilda rolled her eyes at him.
'Ah, so she has an attitude too.' Ashton noted.
"Okay, all kidding aside." Ashton wiggled his body to get comfortable, then he asked: "Can you tell me why you're...like this?"
Hilda looked down at her body and a weak smile emerged on her face, she then replied: "Before I answer that, can I ask you two questions first?"
Ashton pondered for a bit, studying Hilda's facial expressions to see if she was plotting something.
He did have some guesses but in the end, he still replied: "Alright, shoot."
"You're a Human, correct?"
"Mhm." Ashton nodded. He then saw Hilda's eyes brighten up upon hearing that.
"And, you're the current bearer of the Mysterious Rainbow, correct?"
"If you're talking about the Providence, then yes I am."
Ashton's guesses were mostly on point, she indeed asked him about his race and the mysterious rainbow. He already pondered whether he should answer her truthfully or not.
He decided to tell her the truth since she doesn't look like someone he should be wary about...for now at least.
Ashton didn't feel any ill intent from this woman. Maybe it's because she is weak and imprisoned here, that he didn't see her as a threat at all. But it could also be that she truly doesn't mean any harm.
Either way, this isn't much of an issue to Ashton. If she's plotting something, Ashton could neutralize it by laying out plans to ensure his safety first. If her intentions are pure, then even better.
After confirming these two things from Ashton, Hilda looked relieved. Ashton then heard her whispering:
"...good, good. At least Sister's gamble didn't end up for naught. There's hope. This is good."
Ashton made sure to remember what she said just in case it comes into play in the future. On the surface, he looked expressionless but inwardly, he was starting to feel confused.
Hilda then cleared her throat and started explaining:
"I am a...unique existence, I suppose." She started, "I may not look like it but I am not a human. I can appear as one through a simple trick. In truth, I am a Spirit, probably the last of my kind."
Ashton blinked. Surprised by that sudden revelation.
Well, he certainly wasn't expecting that at all. He couldn't help but look at her more closely and sure enough, she's indeed not a Human. She had the wisp of aura that felt similar to what Aria had.
The difference is that Aria — even though she's intact and unharmed, her aura felt weaker compared to what Hilda had.
'...there's probably a difference between an Artifact Spirit and a genuine Spirit.' He mused to himself.
"As for why I am imprisoned here. It's because they're preventing me from doing my job." Hilda revealed.
"And your job is?"
"To usher the rise of Humanity." Hilda then looked straight into his eyes.
Ashton's pupils constricted upon hearing that. Her words implied a lot of things and it was confusing for Ashton to just simply guess what exactly she meant. Thankfully, she was willing to elaborate on her own...
"There's a Dragon Vein at the very depths of this land." She stated, "If you compare this world to Cultivator's Body, then the Dragon Vein would be its meridians, more specifically, an Extraordinary Meridian."
"I am born from the split consciousness of the World, my body was created using the first breath of Spiritual Energy Origin and my existence is tied to the Dragon Vein."
"My job is to tend to the Dragon Vein. I am to allow Blessed Children to commune with the Dragon Vein for this world's Fate to play as it is intended."
"Humans are the core of this world. They are the destined rulers and owners of this world. They should be building dynasties, empires, and such across these lands, reaching for the stars and beyond."
"The existence of Celestials and Hypogeans prevented that from happening though." Hilda lamented. "They've taken root on this world, and like leeches, they started plundering this world's fate and luck to improve theirs."
"They treat humans as delicacies due to their innate Providences — which serves as great nutrition for them."
"They were made aware of my presence. I tried to hide but they managed to dig me out and imprison me here."
"They can't kill me, lest they provoke the absolute wrath of this world — which they're still unprepared for, so they could only chip away at my longevity."
"As for the Dragon Vein, it is firmly suppressed." Hilda pursed her lips, "The idiotic play that they have outside? You know, them feigning war against each other? In truth, that is a ritual, a scheme played out by those two hateful races."
"So long as they perform that ritual, their corruption will continue to bleed into the Dragon Vein. Said corruption turns into impurities that block the Dragon Vein from releasing its true purpose."
"It's true purpose? It's to awaken the Children of Fate and have them answer to their Destiny."
"So long as I am remained imprisoned here and the Dragon Vein remains blocked by corruption, Humanity will never get the chance to rise as a race."
"This world's and Humanity's Luck, Fate, and Destiny will be ceaselessly plundered by the Celestials and Hypogeans. Once it runs dry, they won't hesitate to truly descend here and plunge this world into their world-ending war."
"Who wins or loses...will no longer matter. This world will not survive past that point. It's over for both Humans and this World. As for the Celestials and Hypogeans, they'd just search for another world that's rich in Luck, Fate, and Destiny to plunder again."
"...the sad part is, so far? If nothing changes, then our ending will be just that." Hilda concluded and looked as if she lost most of her energy.
As for Ashton...he's feeling many things right now but one thing's for sure...
Oh, he did not like what he just heard.
