Chapter 67: Morning Talk
Reinhard jolted awake, his eyes opening to the dim blue-gray light of morning. He lay perfectly still for a moment and listened to the faint whistle of wind through the trees, the gentle snores of his companions.
Then images flashed through his mind, leading him to groan and pressing a hand to his temple as though trying to scrape the last shards of a dream from his skull.
He recalls plunging into endless darkness, the void stretching forever, the sting of cold, and then heat washing over him. Then the two odd landscapes that were opposite from each other, and the formation of the towering giant that was covered in ice with horns.
He knew instantly that it was his Beast Spirit dream, or more specifically, the past experience of Odin.
Although I wonder what the Frost Giants had to do with him.
Regardless, he knew it had to be related to Odin as he felt his instincts strangely confirming it. With a sigh, he pushed himself upright and slipped out of his sleeping bag.
The morning air was cool and damp as he crept toward Marie’s pack. After a brief hesitation, he unclipped it and pulled out a folded slip of paper and a pen. He’d left his grimoire behind as he never expected such a vivid dream in the middle of their mission, but perhaps that had been wise. He had left his bag in the inn, which was destroyed in the explosion.
Reinhard sat down, and then he began to write about everything he could recall from the cold, the fire, the endless void, the moment the two clashed and birthed a frost giant whose breath seemed powerful enough to shake the abyss.
While he continued writing, his hand faltered as his thoughts drifted back to yesterday. Ven transforming into a beast before his eyes, Anasha’s expressions, them being chased by hordes of beasts, Anasha screams, letting the Phantasm Beasts shift into a half-human form, the townspeople sacrificing themself for Anasha.
Reinhard closed his eyes as he thought about how ridiculous things were. All of this happened on his first expedition, and then he even unfortunately met up with a Sinner. He wasn’t sure if his luck was shitty or if he screwed himself over when he accepted being a Herald.
Reinhard set the pen down, rubbing the bridge of his nose, and sighed.
"You had a Beast Spirit Dream?"
Reinhard froze at the voice that carried a note of quiet surprise. He turned his head to see that Marie was standing behind him, close enough that her shadow stretched across his page. She must have approached silently while he was lost in thought.
Reinhard’s shoulders slumped slightly as he said. "Yeah, I did."
Marie hums before she moves to sit down next to him and asks, "So... What did you see in your dream?"
Reinhard hesitated a moment before speaking. "It was strange. I was falling into this endless void that was empty and had no sound. Then I stopped before I saw two landscapes made out of ice and fire that were slowly crawling toward each other. When they finally met... It was chaos with both clashing before it formed a massive Frost Giant... A Frost Giant that created other giants from its body fluid... It felt like the beginning of something, though I couldn’t tell what."
Marie’s eyes lit up as she grinned, and her body shook in joy. "That sounds incredible! I wonder where that fits in history."
Reinhard let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Who knows. But if I had to guess... It felt like the first of the Frost Giants, as if I was watching their birth."
Marie grin widened at that as she hums. "Your dream seems more interesting than mine. All I got was infinite darkness that went on for a long time before then...Bam! A blinding light appeared that illuminated the darkness."
Reinhard blinked. "That’s it?"
Marie nodded as she pouted"That’s it! I wished it showed me more. Like... Where the light came from, or what that darkness was supposed to be, and maybe some living beings... Not that silly light."
Reinhard’s lips twitched as if he were holding back a laugh. "I see now why we’re still struggling to piece together the past. Every Beast Spirit dream is like a riddle with half the words missing."
Marie sighed and leaned back on her hands. "Exactly. The biggest challenge isn’t just recording them, it’s putting them together and figuring out where each piece belongs."
Reinhard chuckled softly before shaking his head. "I’m not even sure where you’d start with that."
Marie laughed as she stretched her hands to the sky. "Neither am I. It’s gotten so complicated that people don’t even agree anymore or really know what to agree on. Some say there were multiple beginnings to the planet. Others think the world is caught in cycles and each beginning replaces the last. And then some argue they’re all the same event, just different ways of interpreting it."
Reinhard tilted his head, intrigued. "How does that last one work?"
Marie pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on her arms. Her eyes softened as she spoke. "It’s based on the idea that Beast Spirits transcend time and space. That they exist outside all beginnings and endings. If that’s true... Then all those different creation moments might have happened at once, and they’re just different perspectives of the same truth."
Reinhard hummed as he rubbed his chin. "That’s... actually pretty interesting." He curiously looked at her sideways. "So what do you believe?"
Marie tilted her head, her lips curving into a playful grin. "I hope all of them are true. That would make everything way more exciting."
Reinhard blinked at her before then laughing, the sound breaking through the quiet morning air. "Of course you’d say that."
Marie only winked in reply before reaching towards the Herald Mark Necklace around his neck and tapping the stone embedded in it. "Vanna, can we get breakfast? Oh, and a new map, please. The other one was destroyed in the inn fire."
The pendant glowed faintly and acknowledged her request.
An hour later, the camp began to stir as the rest of the group woke. The smell of fresh bread, roasted meat, and fruit drifted through the area. Everyone gathered around the fire, plates in hand, and their faces soft with the simple comfort of a real meal.
For a while, the conversation was light with jokes being traded around and complaints about the University.
When breakfast was finished and bags were shouldered, the mood shifted. Jessie, Bruno, Kyle, Suzy, and Lloyd stood together, facing Reinhard, Marie, and Joseph.
Jessie broke the silence first, stepping forward to hug each of them in turn. "Be careful out there. And when you come back... Let’s all get together again. No missions but for food and drinks."
Bruno clasped Reinhard’s hand with a firm grip. "Watch your back and punch Phineas in the face for us."
Kyle smirked, though his eyes softened. "Don’t do anything too reckless."
Suzy’s embrace was gentle but lingering. "I’m sure you all will be fine."
Lloyd laughed lightly, though there was a nervous edge to it. "Don’t make us come chasing after you."
Marie’s grin softened into something warmer as she waved at them. "Goodbye, you guys! Safe travels! Remember you’re paying for the food when we come back!"
The Cup Inquisitors turned as a group while waving back, and their figures gradually faded into the trees. They were making their way back toward Memento Mori Academy.
Reinhard stood quietly for a moment and watched them go.
Then Joseph shifted his pack on his shoulder and nodded toward the path that stretched north. "Come on. Phane City waits."
"Oh? Are we going around-"
"Of course, we’re going straight through the Colin Forest!" Marie says with a grin, leading Reinhard lips to twitch and Joseph to chuckle.
But they nodded, and they began to follow behind Marie.