Despite Ashlock's protests in her mind, Stella refused to let the duel end.
She knew it had deviated from its original purpose—Diana had become consumed by her bloodline and entered a berserk state where all she saw was red—but Stella felt like she was on the cusp of something. Now wasn't the time to pull back but rather push against her limits.
It was hard to describe, but down to her bones, she knew something more was locked away inside. Some untapped potential she had yet to unleash for reasons not yet known. She had spent months toiling away on ways to even use her bloodline's potential only to feel a hint of this dormant power when facing down Nox and protecting Tree, but she had the daylights beaten out of her before it could manifest.
This time, however, was different. Diana was still a few stages below Stella, even in her bloodline form. So logically, victory was possible, perhaps even assured. Still, there was a gap in the fighting experience, and Diana's demon form gave her unmatched speed and strength that helped her easily bridge the gap and even surpass Stella to the point she felt fear.
Fear of death, but also fear of being outdone. Diana was not only a demon in reality but also a mental one for Stella to overcome. Diana showed what was possible, the heights that could be achieved from a bloodline's power, which Stella desperately craved.
It wasn't until Diana tried to call off the duel because she claimed she was a monster acting on nothing but instincts that something clicked within Stella's mind. If Diana could surrender herself to instincts, why couldn't she? Her bloodline had already activated without her direct control until now, so why was she trying to have complete control over it?
Just trust in the process. Stella assured herself as she removed her bandage and returned to reality from the spatial plane. Her bloodline was active already, that much she knew, as that hallmark tranquil calmness that spread from her mind to her fingertips was present alongside the feeling of being zoned in.
Information of her surroundings flowed through her mind at a nearly limitless rate alongside an encroaching headache. The many portals, the dozen daggers being manipulated with telekinesis, her own position in relation to Diana, and pockets of safety away from the demonic mist were all under her control simultaneously. Focus never wavering or deviating from one thing to another.
This was the bloodline experience she had grown used to, but something nagging at the back of her mind knew this was not the limit. It was as if there was so much more to explore just beyond the curtain, and Diana had driven her to the point of discovering what could be possible.
Stella stopped thinking so much and surrendered herself to her instincts. Whatever felt right in her gut was what she would do, even if it would cost her losing her head to Diana's claws.
Bizarrely, she felt the urge to step forward—toward Diana, the overpowered demoness that had spent the last few minutes trying to swipe at her throat with razor-sharp claws shrouded in demonic mist.
As she walked, in the silence of her mind where she kept her thoughts empty to be in tune with her instincts, she heard what could only be described as a whisper. It was like that voice in the back of one's mind that warns of danger or opportunity, a sixth sense perhaps. The whispers gradually got louder to the point they filled the silent void of her mind.
Refusing to ruin this moment by having thoughts, Stella let the whispers in without questioning their origin or intent. Just trust in the process. It was terrifying to surrender oneself to their most primal form and to continue walking to what she believed was certain death.
But the death never came. Stella wasn't sure when it happened, but the air around her had started warping and cracking without her intent, and to her surprise, Diana didn't rush forward at the opportunity to kill her—no—she stepped back in what Stella saw as fear.
The whispers got louder and louder as they seemed to reach a zenith. Stella's ears started ringing, and her head felt pressured as if her skull was struggling to contain the chorus. She wanted nothing more than to scream at them to be silent and to nurse her head, but she pressed on.
Just trust in the process.
It was like a mantra she repeated over and over. She was doing everything against what she felt was right, but she knew being stubborn was not the way to change and improve.
But then the sky vanished.
The blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds that lazily went by—it was always there, a constant in anyone's life and therefore pushed into the background—was gone. Diana didn't seem as distressed as someone should be at the sudden disappearance of the sky, so it must be something only she could see...
Stella stopped to look up, and what could only be described as the inside of a giant golden tree carved out into a spiraling library of celestial origin that spread upwards into infinity loomed overhead in the nonexistent sky. Despite its incomprehensible nature, Stella felt a strange attachment and familiarity to the place, as if it had always been there, just out of reach and understanding.
Between the millions of bookshelves, ethereal streams of condensed knowledge flowed and simply focusing on one for a single second made Stella's head pulse and the ringing grow louder. Still, even from such a brief interaction with the celestial library, Stella became confident of one thing.
I always felt like learning new things came easily to me. Rather than resistance to learning like others, for me, it felt like training an old muscle. Whether it be learning an ancient runic language to the point of fluency in a year from nothing but dusty old books or mastering alchemy in a matter of weeks to the level I could nearly win a tournament. People called me talented, but I never felt that way as that retracted from the work I thought I had put in, which didn't make any sense. But now it is all so clear...
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Stella smiled, "All of this... is me. My past lives—"
"Arrogant as always," A voice boomed down from above, and to Stella's horror, she saw a humanoid cosmos floating within the vast library and glaring down at her with stars for eyes. Just gazing upon this celestial being made her body begin to falter and her consciousness waver.
"What do you mean?" Stella squeaked out as she felt incredibly small and pathetic. Ashlock's gaze contained this same otherworldliness but nothing to this extent.
"As the carrier of an ancient bloodline and to tap into its latent power, it's understandable to be arrogant; you are what the heavens would call... special." The cosmos said, shaking the world, "However, this knowledge has been meticulously collected over the eons by your ancestors, not you. Instead of past lives, it would be more correct to say their knowledge lives on through you. I digress; there is much for you to learn, but you are far too weak as of now."
Stella screamed in agony. Every word the cosmos spoke felt like the world falling upon her, shaking her soul to its core. It was painful, so so painful, but she gritted her teeth and glared up at the cosmos.
"I have already learned and suffered enough; tell me more. I can handle it!" Stella half begged and demanded. She hated nothing more than being kept in the dark and dismissed when she was so close!
"Foolish child, knowledge is power," The cosmos thundered, "Those of our bloodline have ruled the realms since time immemorial, but knowledge without strength is as helpful as giving a sword to an ant."
"But I am not an ant!" Stella protested, "I am almost at the peak of the Star Core realm. I have mastered ancient runic languages and alchemy. I even know how to make runic formations, and my skills with the sword are far above those of my age! I seek knowledge… anything. So please…"
"Knowledge without strength to act upon it is nothing but a curse," The cosmos bellowed, "You will wish to change the world, yet be powerless to do so."
Stella felt like coughing up blood at this point, but she refused to back down. Call it greed, stupidity, stubbornness, or even arrogance; she didn't care. She was determined to get something of value from this exchange rather than more questions even if this cosmos did nothing but look down on her and disregard her achievements.
"I don't believe you," Stella insisted, "How could knowing be worse than being kept in the dark?"
To her surprise, the cosmos didn't berate her and call her a foolish child. Instead, it had an impossibly wide grin and leaned closer. "How, indeed? Do you dare to find out?"
Stella had to admit the cosmos's drastic tone change and unsettling smile made her second guess her provocation. But what could it possibly say to make her take back her words?
"I do dare," Stella replied, shuddering down to her soul when the cosmos smiled even wider.
"Very well then, I will give you a hint at the truth—or so I claim. Without power, how can you differentiate reality from fiction?" The cosmos laughed, and Stella felt her consciousness start to escape her.
"Stella Crestfallen, have you ever wondered who your mother is? Do you remember her face or voice?"
My mother? Stella thought hard as the ringing in her ears worsened, and she felt ready to pass out. I was so young when she left me... how could I possibly remember her? But now that I think about it, Father never mentioned much about her either.
"Do you not find it strange that you lack many brothers, sisters, and cousins as a noble family in this backwater sect that you are a part of? Having a large extended family is the norm in a world where people can live for centuries. So where is yours?"
"I..." Stella wracked her brain for an answer. Why had she never found that strange? Diana was the last of her family, but that's because the rest were wiped out, and there were still likely a few cultivators with the Ravenborne blood out there. But she had come into this world with basically only a Father and whispers of a mother she had no memory of.
There was the story about her family sacrificing themselves for the Patriarch. But she had later learned that the Patriarch was simply keeping her around to use her as a pill furnace, so that story lost its validity in her eyes. For all she knew, they had been made up as there was no evidence of their legacy. No artifacts or personal items were left from their supposedly long lives.
"I don't know," Stella admitted. Her family history had always been a bit of a mystery, and with them all gone and leaving her alone on this mountain peak with nothing but murderous servants as a child, it was not like she had anybody to ask. "Could you tell me?"
The cosmos beamed as it leaned even closer, its starlike eyes twinkling with a mixture of malice and excitement, "Ever wondered why you formed such an attachment to Ashlock? Or how can you understand the thoughts and focus of the other trees around you? Your dear Mother is not human; she is, in fact, the World Tree. The very thing Ashlock will have to destroy to fulfill his destiny."
Stella froze as she failed to comprehend the absurdity she had just been told. Her mother was the World Tree? How was that even possible? How could that even work—Stella dropped to one knee and felt the vast celestial library carved within a golden tree overhead begin to fade away as her mind shut down.
My Mother is the World Tree? Stella couldn't believe it. Then what of my Father? Not Ashlock, but the bastard who abandoned me here in death?
Having read her thoughts, the cosmos answered, "He lives."
Stella coughed up blood as the sky flickered back into existence.
The peaceful blue sky that had served as nothing but a background now seemed far more sinister. What other secrets could it be concealing?
Stella flopped onto the ground as her body gave up. Her vision was blurry, and the ringing had yet to cease. Every thought she had followed with a spike of pain, she wanted to cry. So she did. Warm tears streaked down her cheeks, and she wanted nothing more than a hug now. This was all too much.
Diana paused from taking steps back as the air around Stella stopped crackling from her mere presence. Yet she did not charge forth. That insanity and bloodlust had gone from her eyes. It seemed she had been shocked into control.
"You... win, Diana," Stella croaked with a light smile. It felt oddly insignificant to admit defeat compared to the world-shaking thing she had just experienced.
"What nonsense are you sprouting?" Diana said as she retracted her wings and claws, "Are you okay?! What happened?"
"No, I’m not okay at all..." Stella said as the ground beneath her began to rumble, and she felt something emerge and wrap around her waist. Glancing down with all the effort she could muster, her eyes widened as she saw it was Ashlock's root. Which was strange since it felt nowhere near as solid as she had expected.
"Calm down, Stella, don't cry. I got you." The thousand voices she was so used to rang in her mind as she felt her body lifted from the ground, and she was carried over to Ash. She was gently brought into his canopy and laid against his trunk on one of the thickest branches. The root remained wrapped around her to stop her exhausted body from falling, and to her surprise, it reached up and... patted her on the head.
"There, there," Ash said, "Everything is all right. Rest here for a while, and tell me what happened when you have recovered."
Stella reached up and held onto the root resting on her head, "Don't ever let go."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
I want to stay like this forever. Stella smiled as she felt the exhaustion catch up to her, and she fell asleep in Ashlock's embrace.
