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989. Alisa, The Aberration of Despair
🕑 Added 2025-04-28 22:38:42 +0000 UTCThe Nexus failed to suffer a single loss.
Between Frost’s turnaround, the superiority of the Vermilion Moons and Cer’s appearance, it seemed like they were in control now.
Jury was still fighting the Ringbearer of Ringmaster Phalange. While it may seem like she was taking a considerably long time, one had to consider the time dilation while they were close to the Site Core.
Time moved faster here contrary to how time was supposed to move near such an enormous gravity well. This meant that they had more time on their hands compared to Jury who was likely not even one minute into the fight, whereas twenty minutes had already passed here.
The precise time difference was at a 20:1 ratio, twice as much as what an Isolation Sphere was capable of.
An hour spent here was twenty hours in Real Time.
But the unstable nature of the Site made this an unreliable measure.
Furthermore, there was one last temporal phenomena to consider.
Purple clockwork gears hovered in the skies. They duplicated and formed a colossal dome that encompassed a patch of land a few hundred meters from the Site Core. No one could see what was happening inside, and the gears were transparent enough for Dark Memoria and another Aberration of Elysia to see what was occurring beyond the dome.
“A Reminiscence. Don’t keep me here. Not with you.”
The depressed, soft-spoken voice of the Aberration who called herself Alisa, the Aberration of Despair, slammed her oversized claws at Dark Memoria.
Each were twice as large as her body and were covered in white fur. Patches of black fur and hair riddled her body, from her unkempt hair that covered one of her eyes, to her ears and the tail which was wrapped in dark chains.
The tip of hair tail carried a twin-tipped prong that resembled the shape of the Lance of Longinus. It hovered above her head like the tail of a primed scorpion.
“I have no choice but to share the Reminiscence with you. Forgive me, Alisa. The light will be bright in here.”
Dark Memoria’s form shifted from one dark aberration of a warrior to another.
They were highly regarded explorers of the Expanse from a bygone era, whose names were likely kept in the deepest recesses of the Eternal Library.
As a result, her weapons varied between each attack she received.
First she slashed Alisa with a rapier. Then, after receiving a strike, her form swapped to that of a heavily armored man wielding a derelict great axe.
She swung it down with devastating power. Five hundred meters worth of sand was parted, but Alisa had dodged by bending her body at an irregular angle.
The Reminiscence allowed her to assume the form of beings whose Nex was involved within the Reminiscence, such as how she was able to manifest as a past version of Galia when she first confronted Frost.
“Turn those lights off. They are nothing but falsehoods in a world where sight is the crowned sensation.”
She was sluggish but moved incredibly quickly at the last second. It gave off the illusion of teleportation.
Furthermore, she always kept her head low, crocked, and her back hunched. Chains dangled from her body. The scrappy collar she wore was also made of these chains. They weren’t the Dimensional Chains of the Chained Theocracy.
Rather, they were the counterfeit versions.
“Move. Take down this Reminiscence. This domain of yours must not be used on a whim. Much less against another Aberration.”
Despite her soft-spoken tone, she carried a dignified air that undoubtedly belonged to a deity. Indeed. Dark Memoria considered Alisa – the Aberration of Despair – as a Goddess amongst the Aberrations of Elysia.
“You understand that you have already transgressed against the decree we have set. Under no circumstances must we interact with the Captured Star. Nor should an Aberration of the Original venture far from their throne.”
Her voice caused the purple hue to flicker. Half blacked out entirely. They twisted in attempt to strengthen themselves, but she pulled on a chain. The gears suddenly groaned to an invisible resistance.
“I’ve not overstepped my domain. I oversee and interact with those who dare meddle with the past. You are no exception.” Dark Memoria held her ground as they began to talk in a civilized manner.
Despite how confident she sounded; she remained on edge.
Every breath, and every individual feather that moved on Alisa’s body caused her to readjust. She ran thousands of possibilities in her head.
Admittedly, she could count the number where she’d come out unscathed on one hand.
“The Site Core of a Ghost Site is within my jurisdiction. You may not interact with a remnant of the past.”
“You allowed the Captured Star to interact with the Child. Do not be mistaken. The Site Core exists in the present. Since you were not aware, I’m tempted to overlook this transgression.”
She warned as her air of authority increased with each inch of chain she pried from her body.
Sand faded into dark particles.
A patch beneath the tip of her tail boiled as a dark fluid dripped from the prongs.
“If you are unable to comply, then I will have no choice but to add your feathers to my mantle.”
*
Alisa was no ordinary Aberration.
It was why Dark Memoria had chosen to take her on, and then had isolated her to ensure that she could not interact with Frost or the others.
She ranked beside Uriel and Lilith in terms of strength.
In short, she was a being that was never supposed to make a physical appearance in the world.
It was the same with Dark Memoria and Lilith.
Centuries ago, during the Dark Age, she was first approached by Alisa. She did not have many feathers along her mantle back then, and her eyes were much fuller.
She laid down the foundations of their first promise – to never misuse their power. That as Aberrations of the Original, they held the duty to govern aspects of reality.
Dark Memoria held the crucial role of preventing the world from interacting with the past. Other Aberrations had been graced by Alisa for the same purpose. But over time, the feathers along her mantle grew, the corrosion increased, and her back curved as though the burden of the Original had also been growing all this time.
Alisa was no more than the piece of Elysia who had abandoned all hope. Her intentions, her ideals, her wants and needs – they were an enigma to Dark Memoria. All she had known about Alisa she was fixated on this promise…
… and that she had killed countless Aberrations for failing to comply with the promise.
Aberrations did not just follow the Affinities. There were lesser Aberrations who represented smaller pieces of Elysia, like one that liked being cradled, or another that sought to shower the world with gifts.
No matter how big or small – how innocent or perverse – a misstep was all it took to have their feathers plucked and woven into her unbearably heavy mantle.
“The Captured Star was never meant to be interacted with. But my treaty with them forbids me from punishing those transgressors. Uriel and the Apostle Lilith.”
She flicked her tail, spraying acid aside.
“Uriel’s Light would require maximum effort to damage for her meddling in what is Law. But I do not disagree with their attempt to obscure the Light of the Captured Star.” Alisa said. “Remove the light. Take down the Reminiscence. Leave me with the Site Core. Neither of us should be fighting. But you were the first to betray your own beliefs.”
“I was shown that my beliefs carry a flaw by our Amalgam. And you admit that I am not the one at fault. Were it not for Uriel and Lilith’s grand vision of an obscure future, then the Amalgam would not have grown to become such a threat to you.”
“A threat?” A cruel smile formed along Alisa’s mouth.
But that smile was not because she was laughing at how powerful she was. It was for something else entirely. Something that Dark Memoria struggled to comprehend. She had never seen Alisa smile so sinisterly before.
“What is she if she’s not a threat?”
“It matters not what she is. But I do care about what she was. The Sites do bring back memories. The Original must have seen his face once before.”
“Who…?” Dark Memoria tried to ask, only for Alisa to pounce forward.
Her tail pierced into her chest, breaking through layers of Qliphoth Field.
“Tch!” Thankfully, it was not enough to reach her heart.
“Don’t play dumb with me now, Aberration of Attachment! Could it be that you are not yet aware of the Earth counterpart of the one you call the Amalgam?”
Alisa knew the one thing Frost had been searching for since she first arrived in this world.
Her original identity.
The name hung at the tip of her tongue to tease Dark Memoria as she dragged her along the edges of the Reminiscence. Dark Memoria’s body changed from form to form as she was ploughed through her gears.
At the same time, the sand sifted beneath the Site Core. It sank, revealing a great gouge. Suddenly, an enormous mechanical spire rose from the hole, and it pierced into the Site Core.
Dark Memoria wasn’t immediately aware of what it was. For all she knew, it was a syphon. But looking at it closely, she could see tiny figures climbing along the spire.
Those beings were Infecta Rot machines.
“Infecta Rot’s Heart of the City. Was this your intention?”
“It would be too troublesome to interact with the Site Core on my own. We opted for some additional help this time. But you, the Amalgam… you have ruined it!”
If their target was the Site Core, then they were aware of the consequences of forcing an interaction with it. Dark Memoria suddenly realized why they had arrived in a pair, as well as having brought Infecta Rot along to deal with the Site Core.
The sound of distant chains shattering broke down what was left of the Reminiscence. Cer and the exhausted Vermilion Moons witnessed tens of thousands of Infecta Rot machines emerging from the hole. They swarmed out with zealous cries, yearning for nothing but flesh…
… only to be countered by–
//////// < EXTREME WARNING > ////////
< THE FIRST SEAL HAS BROKEN >
< THE ANGEL HUNGERS >
–Another Aberration of Elysia.
“Intruders. Another Site contaminated. Another seed failed. But the Site Core can still be salvaged.”
A fuzzy being with dazzling white fur emerged from a white portal. Dozens more opened behind it, unleashing a swarm of pale-figured creatures. Among them were Puff Puffs and their elder variants, alongside Magicalis, and even Anids were a part of this army.
But they carried an unusual hunger for conquest compared to their Epiderma counterparts.
“The White Horseman…” Alisa displayed displeasure for the first time. “Dogs of the Original! Do you still continue to serve that entombed false savior!?”
“It is not a matter of servitude.”
The Aberration had white fur rather than dark skin. Her features were anthropomorphic, appearing like a cross between a human and a wolf. Her tail remained the same as Jury’s, but the tip was shaped like a sword.
She raised her blade and clasped at the air where particles of light coalesced into a pair of thick swords. She slashed the air and sent crescents flying through the ranks of the Impuritas.
“This is a duty to carry on her Will.”
Her intention to preserve the Site to the bitter end was made clear.
“Unlike you who are born from the old Elysia.”
Alisa clenched her teeth.
“Kratt. Crack the Site Core.”
Then, the Site Core itself spoke in a different intonation to what was used when it previously spoke to Frost.
“Understood.”
