[Realm: Uhorus]

[Location: Verdantis]

[Capital City]

"...Angels?" Lucinda repeated quietly.

The word itself felt strange in her mouth, like something taken from some half-forgotten scripture. She blinked slowly at Lyra, genuine confusion written across her face now.

"But..." Her brows knit together. "There’s no such thing."

No one answered immediately, and Lyra simply observed them. The Court Mage remained leaned back against the couch, one arm resting lazily against the armrest, though her eyes had sharpened considerably. She watched every reaction in the room carefully.

Agatha’s emerald gaze had settled almost entirely on Lucinda now, studying her as though reevaluating details she had long overlooked. Fiona and Victoria both looked contemplative in equal measure, though in very different ways.

Mai, meanwhile, remained near the doorway, her brows furrowed deeper than before as though pieces of something were slowly fitting together in her mind.

"Angels..." Victoria finally spoke, breaking the silence.

The blonde leaned back slightly into the couch, thoughtful fingers resting beneath her chin.

"You mean those winged beings spoken about in older mythologies?" she asked, glancing toward Lyra. "There are records and lore surrounding them, certainly. But unlike demons, Astrothians, Divine Beasts, or other higher existences..." She paused briefly. "There has never been actual proof."

"Because almost none remain," Lyra replied calmly.

The simplicity of the answer made the room quieter.

"Though even calling them ’winged beings’ is an oversimplification."

Lucinda frowned slightly as Lyra continued before anyone interrupted.

"Angels are divine warriors," the Court Mage said. "Servants of a God that eclipses every deity within this realm so completely that comparison itself becomes meaningless."

Her tone remained matter-of-fact, and of course, that made the statement more disturbing.

And judging from everyone’s expressions, none of them knew whether to believe her.

"You genuinely believe beings like that exist?" Fiona asked at last.

The Solkari’s salmon-pink eyes narrowed slightly in disbelief, perhaps even discomfort. But then realization slowly crossed her face as her wolf ears twitched sharply.

"Wait..." Fiona murmured. "If you are saying only these Angels provoke the appearance of Abyssal Wardens, then are you implying—"

"That Lucinda is an Angel?" Agatha finished quietly.

The abruptness of the statement made Lucinda visibly blink.

"What?" she uttered instinctively.

"No," Lyra corrected calmly, her eyes settled directly onto Lucinda again. "An incarnation of one."

The room went silent again, Lucinda stared at her, completely bewildered now.

"I don’t understand," she admitted after a moment, shaking her head lightly. "I’m human. I’m just a spawn of Octavia." There was no hesitation in her voice when she spoke, only her own confusion.

Lyra watched her for a long moment before responding.

"There is a reason the spawns of Octavia are regarded as uniquely dangerous amongst blessed individuals," the Court Mage said. "Yes, functionally you resemble ordinary spawns in many regards." She folded her hands neatly over one knee. "But your existence differs fundamentally."

Lucinda’s expression shifted slightly.

Victoria, however, asked the question everyone else had paused on.

"What exactly do you mean by ’incarnation’?" she asked carefully.

Lyra inhaled once before answering.

"Well," she began, "as all of you already know, when a God grants their blessing to an individual, a fragment of their divine essence becomes attached to the soul."

Everyone nodded; it was basic knowledge.

"That is how ordinary spawns are created," Lyra continued. "But Octavia’s process was entirely different."

That immediately drew everyone’s full attention again.

"To simplify matters," Lyra said, "I will give the abridged explanation." Even she sounded mildly uncertain discussing it because the subject itself felt dangerous. "Octavia is not originally from this realm."

That garnered the most surprise in the room, though it was mostly just disbelief.

"She is a denizen from another existence entirely," Lyra continued. "And when she entered this world..." The Court Mage paused briefly. "...she did not arrive alone. She brought souls with her," Lyra said. "Several of them."

No one interrupted.

"Nine altered souls were distributed elsewhere across different realms," Lyra explained. "And another four or five were placed within this world specifically." She frowned slightly afterward. "Some details are unclear even to me."

Lucinda stared blankly for a moment, then realization visibly struck her.

"Five," she murmured softly. "The number of Octavia’s spawns in this realm..."

Lyra nodded once.

"Yes."

A heavy silence settled afterward; Victoria was the first to break it.

"So those souls..." she said slowly. "They originally belonged to Angels?"

"Correct."

Victoria leaned back again, though this time the movement looked more thoughtful than relaxed.

"How fascinating," she murmured quietly, genuinely intrigued.

"So the souls underwent reincarnation," she continued. "And eventually manifested as Octavia’s spawns."

"You grasp concepts very quickly," Lyra noted with faint approval; Victoria merely smiled lightly.

But Agatha spoke next.

"And the altered souls?" she questioned. "What exactly does that mean?"

Lyra’s expression changed subtly then.

"Apparently," Lyra began slowly, "Octavia attached fragments of another God’s soul onto those nine."

The room stilled as Lyra spoke the next part plainly as she watched for their reaction.

"Mikoto, for instance, is one of those nine souls."

Fiona’s eyes widened ever so slightly, Lucinda visibly stiffened, Agatha’s brows furrowed sharply, and even Victoria’s composed demeanor faltered for the first time since entering the room. Only Mai remained outwardly restrained, though her eyes narrowed slightly.

Lucinda looked shaken a bit.

"Mikoto..." she repeated quietly. ("Does this mean...") The spawn of Octavia’s thoughts trailed off.

"What God?" Fiona asked meanwhile.

Lyra’s gaze shifted toward her, but for the first time since beginning the explanation, the Court Mage hesitated, only briefly.

"The Navigation God," Lyra said at last, an answer that made more sense than they thought.

"This is a lot." Fiona’s voice came out quieter than usual.

The Solkari sat back slightly against the couch after saying it, one hand moving unconsciously toward her temple as though she were trying to physically organize the overwhelming amount of information now pressing against her thoughts.

No one in the room disagreed with her.

The atmosphere had grown heavy ever since Lyra began explaining the origins of the spawns of Octavia, but now it felt denser.

As though the room had become smaller.

Lucinda remained silent, red eyes lowered toward the floorboards beneath the table. Agatha stood motionless near the shelves, though her usual blank expression looked far more thoughtful now. Victoria still appeared composed outwardly, yet even she had gone quieter than before. Mai seemed the least influenced; this was a little above her paygrade.

"Indeed it is," Lyra admitted calmly.

The Court Mage did not attempt to soften any of it.

Nor did she sound particularly pleased to be revealing it.

"I understand if any of you would rather reject what I’ve said," she continued. "The existence of Angels, foreign realms, reincarnated souls, and fragments of divine beings, none of it is easy to accept."

Her gaze drifted slowly across the room.

"But regardless of whether it sounds absurd," she finished quietly, "it remains the truth."

Silence lingered briefly afterward, then Victoria softly exhaled through her nose.

"No," the blonde murmured thoughtfully. "Strangely enough, most of it does make sense."

She leaned further back into the couch, crossing one leg over the other as she thought aloud.

"Though admittedly," she added with a small smile, "I never dedicated much attention to the concept of foreign realms before now."

Her blue eyes shifted upward briefly in thought.

"But the part concerning the Navigation God..." Victoria hummed lightly. "That, in particular, explains quite a bit."

Fiona glanced toward her as Victoria continued.

"The God of Navigation was Octavia’s lover." Her expression softened slightly. "And if that lover was lost..." She shrugged slightly. "Then of course she would move heaven and earth itself to preserve even fragments of them."

Lucinda’s gaze lifted slightly.

"And if Mikoto carries part of that essence..." Victoria trailed off before suddenly letting out an exaggerated sigh dramatic enough to cut through some of the suffocating atmosphere.

"Well," she lamented theatrically, "I suppose dear Mikoto’s heart is no longer something we can realistically compete for if an actual Goddess intends to claim him. Right, Fiona?"

Fiona immediately sighed, a long, exhausted sigh.

"Please do not include me in whatever nonsense fantasy you’ve constructed in your head," the Solkari muttered dryly.

Victoria gasped softly.

"How cruel."

"Angel or not," Fiona continued flatly, ignoring her entirely, "Mikoto is still too young."

Victoria nodded solemnly as though agreeing completely.

"True," she admitted. Then, without missing a beat, she turned her head toward Agatha. "What about you then, Agatha? Intimidated by the possibility that a Goddess may already be pursuing Mikoto?"

Agatha did not even blink.

"My path remains unchanged." The answer came instantly and blank-faced.

Victoria stared at her for a second before snorting loudly into one hand; even Lyra looked slightly amused.

Fiona meanwhile just looked tired.

"How," the Solkari muttered slowly, "can someone possibly say that with such a straight face?"

Agatha tilted her head slightly.

"I fail to see the issue."

"That makes it worse in your case."

Victoria looked deeply entertained now.

But Fiona eventually tore her attention away from the absurd conversation and instead looked toward Lucinda. The white-haired girl had remained unusually quiet through most of the exchange.

Her fingers rested lightly together, and her eyes were lowered.

Fiona’s expression softened slightly.

"This must be... difficult for you to process," she said quietly.

Lucinda blinked once before finally answering.

"Yeah..." Her voice was soft in its uncertainty. I just..." She hesitated briefly. "I keep wondering what this means for me."

Her brows furrowed ever so slightly.

"And for Mikoto." That last part came quieter, Lyra answered before anyone else could.

"For you?" the Court Mage said calmly. "Very little changes."

Lucinda looked up at her; Lyra’s expression remained composed.

"Just because you are the reincarnation of a divine being does not erase who you are now," she stated plainly. "You are still Lucinda."

There was no hesitation as she spoke, no hint of mysticism either, merely her own certainty.

"You still think as yourself. Feel as yourself. Live as yourself." Lyra folded one leg over the other again. "Your past existence does not invalidate your current one."

Lucinda blinked slightly at that, almost caught off guard by how simple the answer was.

"I..." She looked down briefly, then nodded slowly. "I see."

Though even she sounded unsure what to do with the reassurance.

"But," Victoria spoke after a moment, "I gather matters are not quite so simple regarding Mikoto."

The atmosphere shifted again immediately; Lyra nodded once.

"No," she admitted. "They are not. Souls are delicate things," Lyra explained carefully. "Forcing one through reincarnation is already dangerous by itself." Her gaze darkened slightly. "Attaching fragments of another incompatible divine existence onto that soul is something else entirely."

No one interrupted; none of them liked where this was going.

"The phase already places tremendous strain upon the spawns of Octavia," Lyra continued quietly. "You all know why it occurs."

Fiona frowned at that.

"There are two primary forces at work within it," Lyra explained. "The first is Octavia’s grief and rage."

The room quieted further.

"The loss of her lover left wounds even divinity could not properly heal," Lyra said softly. "That anguish manifests through her spawns."

Victoria’s expression slowly lost its amusement.

"And the second factor?" Agatha asked quietly.

Lyra’s eyes shifted toward her.

"The Angels themselves."

A chill seemed to pass through the room.

"The souls Octavia brought into this world were not empty vessels," Lyra continued. "Even through reincarnation, remnants remain. Aspects of memory. Instinct, emotion, and violence." Her gaze lowered faintly. "Wrath."

Lucinda swallowed lightly.

"And for Mikoto..." Lyra paused briefly.

Then continued.

"For individuals like him, who carry additional divine fragments attached to their souls..." Her expression hardened slightly. "The phase can become dangerously unstable."

Fiona’s voice came first, only now it was barely above a whisper.

"What does that mean exactly?"

Lyra looked toward her.

"It means," the Court Mage said carefully, "that the phase may not simply awaken power. It may force regression."

Lucinda’s eyes widened slightly.

"Regression...?" she echoed quietly.

"To what they once were," Lyra answered.