Galahad stopped and let his eyes waver between the sleeping child and the tiny creature peeking from near his side. He exhaled through his nose and it came out sounding like he was forcing a conclusion he didn't necessarily like.
"So it really does boil down to the contract then?"
Idemay didn't respond for a long moment. Her shoulders brushed the wall of the room as her arms crossed and her focus was solely on Brill as she watched the rise and fall of his chest like she had to keep a count for both of them.
"Yeah," she finally said, voice quieter, but still full of purpose. "Brill isn't sure if he's going to take it. He went out there and fought a Crowbear just to make a point, to the town and to himself, and to fate. He doesn't have any words for any of that, at least not yet, he's only eight years old so he acts off of impulse. I'm not going to rush him into something like this though. He'll come to a decision when he's ready."
Hellfrit twitched an ear and looked entirely pleased with himself for once at not being the object of someone else's ire. "Also, even if he agrees, he will need to get accustomed to my magic and Divine Energy. I am no simple creature you can just pick up and wield about. And he definitely will not be running off to some castle anytime soon. Who knows? I want to devour the Holy Land but your prince is welcoming its arrival. It might get hostile between the two of them, whatever the fuck is inflicting your Prince."
Galahad said, "That is true. I do not want that boy playing with fire without a reason. If he does take the contract with you, he will need to grow stronger with it now while he has the chance to prepare for anything."
He came forward and placed his hand on Idemay's shoulder long enough to have a definite impact. "Take your time, brute."
For a moment she did not respond and then her eyes flickered up to his and some aspect of her face had altered, it wasn't softened so much as it was lessened.
Idemay exhaled, rolling her shoulder under his hand and pulling away from him, "You were always a good friend, Galahad. Thank you. If Brill decides to do this, and if he wants to go there, we will go. I'm just going to let him work out how to use whatever the hell this thing is giving him first."
Galahad nodded once. "Understood. Until then, I'll be leading the knights at the skirmish lines. Ormegard isn't holding back."
"Knock 'em' dead. Literally."
"Always do."
A second of quiet hung between them that one would normally expect to signal the end of a conversation.
Hellfrit immediately broke it. "So… Are you two romantically involved or something? I'm sensing something strange."
Silence...
Then both of them turned their heads at the same time, even Alfiindr was momentarily stilled.
And the smile slipped off Galahad's face.
Hellfrit flattened his ears. "Oh. My bad."
"Kill him," Idemay commanded.
"I second that," Galahad agreed, already moving forward.
Hellfrit scrambled, and what followed was pure chaos.
The tiny creature darted across the floor and skidded over the polished wood as Idemay sprang after it, knocking over a chair with her momentum as Galahad came from the other side, attempting to intercept.
"You little rat! I'll cook you myself!"
"I'LL TAKE IT BACK! I'LL TAKE IT BACK!"
Alfiindr joined the pursuit silently, its wings propelling it as it bounded after the wailing Hellfrit who seemed thoroughly surprised at the reaction and apparently thrilled at the ensuing movement if nothing else.
Hellfrit sprang onto the table, then off it and then climbed onto a bookshelf nearby that threatened to tumble with each passing movement. "WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO UPSET?! IT WAS JUST A QUESTION!"
"Shut up and die!" Idemay snapped, nearly grabbing his tail just before he slipped out of her grasp yet again.
"I AM FAR TOO IMPORTANT TO JUST DIE HERE!"
The clatter, banging, and screeching of furniture echoed around the house, the rhythmic pounding of footsteps, and Hellfrit's shrieking getting higher with each nearly missed attempt to catch him, with Alfiindr keeping pace behind him silently.
In the bedroom, none of it made it to Brill. Or if it did, he didn't care much about it, because he wasn't there any longer, he was dreaming deeply.
He stood alone in a place he never recognized. The world was endless above him, a sky in white hues that did not blind and clouds in whites streaked with gold, as though they had been painted. The sun was above him, and there were wings on the sun, spread wide and moving in a languid sweep that sent feathers of pure white light drifting through the air.
The ground was a meadow of gold as well, brushing against his legs as he walked; Huge white rams, their huge and tall horns curving in an arc above them and glowing with a pulsing golden light, grazed through the grass leaving impressions that only lingered for a second before they faded away.
Brill turned slowly, his breathing steady, his body no longer weighted down, and his ache of pain vanished; this was all too vivid.
"...Where...?" he asked quietly. "…Am I…?"
The word was almost not even spoken. Then he saw someone further ahead, and it was a boy. And he looked about fifteen years of age. Light blonde hair tied in a neat braided ponytail that rested down the length of his back, strands glowing in the odd light. His skin was fair, untouched and unharmed, and eyes were blank with a white color.
He faced Brill without moving or speaking, and Brill wondered if the boy was waiting for Brill to understand him, or if he had been waiting forever.
Brill's feet pounded along that path without the normal drag he felt around his legs.
'I'm not sore…?'
His voice boomed, unnaturally loud, across the field of gold, "H-Hey! Hello?!" as he tried to get his eyes to focus on the boy ahead of him, all he could make out was a shining outline and that serene stance.
'Who is he...?'
The boy ahead offered no immediate response while remaining perfectly still, as though he'd known he would turn up, and then slowly spun to face him, a genuine, unassuming smile playing on his lips; not one Brill was used to dealing with.
"Isn't this place magnificent?" he asked, as if there were no other possible answer to that question, like it was an obvious fact every person with functioning eyes had already grasped.
Brill ceased walking altogether, glanced around at the vastness of it all once again, and then back at the boy, his brow creasing as he asked, "Where are we?" because after all it felt like the only question that really mattered, even if he felt strangely… light-headed. It was annoying.
"This is the Holy Land," the boy replied calmly. "A mere glimpse if I have to say so."
Brill squinted his eyes at the figure before him, finally taking him in fully instead of just staring through the glow, and as he examined the features he felt the pieces fall into place. The gold hair tied back cleanly, the unblinking white eyes that never seemed to falter like most human ones did, the sheer presence of a being who already seemed to know everything about the world he was currently occupying….Prince Judess?!
Brill practically gasped the name out before he could think better of it.
Judess, didn't even flinch, his expression changing to a knowing and pleased smile as though Brill had finally managed to keep pace. "Don't dawdle," he said with a final turn, before setting off again at a brisk pace, "The goddess comes."
And then he sprinted off.
Brill didn't even hesitate, he took a few strides then pushed off the ground, chasing after him, and the moment his feet left the surface something changed, either the air, or what felt like beneath his skin, as he began to fly across the gold fields with an ease he hadn't ever thought possible.
There was no drag or any kind of burn in his calves, there was only the wind in his face and that same grin he felt plastered on his features as he easily kept pace.
'What is this… '
Brill thought, nearly laughing aloud as he cleared a clump of grass by a full five feet without even trying.
'I feel… '
He didn't know what he felt, he couldn't put it into words without sounding absolutely idiotic, but the fact remained.
He felt strong, invincible even; he could run forever without tiring at all, he could just feel it.
They ran until the golden plains morphed into something entirely different, the landscape falling away into a wide open space covered in ruins that for some bizarre reason didn't look ancient or broken or lost.
Stone monuments were half toppled but strangely clean and smooth on all edges and between the piles of stone, every bit of space available, was filled with children. So many that Brill couldn't possibly count them, no matter how hard he tried; dozens, hundreds, possibly thousands, all chatting and playing, jumping as high in the air and falling without taking damage; the sound filling the air without being the usual chaotic mess.
Everyone felt unbreakable.
All of the children were dressed in the exact same thing; one piece white garments made of silk that seemed to hang loosely on them all and none of them wore shoes. Brill stopped as he walked amongst the chaos, looking down at himself, only to find that he too was in similar white garments, his shoes gone, his previous clothes replaced without him having the slightest inkling when it happened.
'It's all so cool… !'
Brill thought as his eyes darted from one child to the next, this can't possibly be a dream… but that couldn't be right either. No dream ever felt like this, it never had this kind of weight and immersion, he could feel everything, every one of his senses played a role here; he felt awake.
He continued to walk through the stream of children, bumping shoulders with them and older, as he listened to fragments of conversation:
"The sun's getting closer you feel it too right?"
"They said that we'll see her this time for sure!", "My brother said that the last glimpse was brighter than anything-"
None of them even looked at him, their conversations never faltered, and no sudden quiet descended when he came within earshot. Some of them met his eyes, looked right through him and that strange, momentary pause was absent, a small child, maybe his own age, waved to him casually, and Brill, after a moment's hesitation, returned the gesture but more slowly.
The child simply smiled and went back to talking as though it hadn't meant anything.
'Weird…'
Brill thought, still walking, everyone here just accepted him. They didn't scowl or act disgusted with him like people usually do because of his mark.
'Wait a minute…'
His steps carried him over to a stream that trickled through the ruins, the water so crystal clear he could see the pebbles at the bottom, and as he leaned over to get a closer look, he stopped.
His own reflection stared back at him, and there were no dark veins snaking on his skin. None of those veins scarring his cheek, there was just his face. And it seemed way more purified.
He gasped, and his hand shot up, fingers caressing the spot on his cheek where the markings should have been, and a breath caught in his throat as he whispered, "It's gone…!"
His voice sounded shaky and that ticked him off, but he couldn't pull his eyes from the water, he couldn't stop staring and trying to burn the reflection into his memory, like if he blinked it would disappear and all would be normal again.
Then, something prickled at the corner of his eye and he wiped at it irritably, still trying to hold his gaze steady, "… It really is gone," he muttered, quieter this time, trying to imprint the sentence onto his consciousness.
He finally pulled his eyes away and looked up and saw her.
A small girl stood alone in a clearing, just off to the side where the golden grass expanded again, spinning in slow circles. Her bare feet kicked up small tufts of grass as they moved and no one stood near her. She just kept spinning with her arms outstretched and her head tilted slightly as though she were listening to a melody only she could hear.
Brill's attention stuck to her and before he could even tell himself to stop he was walking in her direction again, drawn by the simple fact that she was so out of place, so completely alone in this otherworldly setting. "... Why's she alone?" he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else, already nearing the girl, "That's—!"
It was the same girl he saw at the Ephilm Divinity Gate during the Choosing. The same little girl around his age, with the long black hair and black horns, was that Palta girl who was also ignored by a few Divine Beasts during that time.