Episode 111. Lacrahan's Hidden Power
Muha's massive wings spread across the air, and with a few strokes, they soared high into the sky, seemingly within touching distance of the clouds.
Lacrahan held Bercheria tightly, ensuring she wouldn't fall.
Muha's massive wings spread across the air, and with a few strokes, they soared high into the sky, seemingly within touching distance of the clouds.
Lacrahan held Bercheria tightly, ensuring she wouldn't fall.
"Keep on."
With a few flaps of Muha's wings, the two soared higher into the sky.
The tiny droplets created by Bercheria washed away the blood clinging to Muha's wounds, but they couldn't completely heal him.
Muha's blood leaked out drop by drop, plummeting to the distant ground.
But perhaps that alone was enough, as Muha's wingbeats, which had felt heavy ever since leaving the palace, grew stronger with each passing moment.
As his flight stabilized and the palace receded, becoming a tiny speck in the distance, Lacrahan whispered something unintelligible to Muha.
Immediately, Muha turned left and began flying.
"What did you say?"
Lacrahan tilted his head and smiled.
“It’s the language used by the first gods. Divine beasts are born with the power of the gods, so they understand it instinctively.”
“The first god.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
He lightly ruffled Bercheria’s hair and looked down.
Lacrahan was living as a human, but now he had regained all his memories.
Whether this was a curse or a blessing, Bercheria had no way of knowing.
The dark clouds parted, and a waning moon appeared between them.
Moonlight poured down, casting a soft glow on the side of his face.
She gazed intently at the graceful lines of his straight forehead and the bridge of his nose that extended beneath it.
“Do you want to go back to the way things were?”
Lacrahan raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“Back when we were gods.”
She expected him to immediately say yes, but he didn’t respond.
“Lacrahan.”
He smiled gently, tore his gaze away from her, and looked up at the star-filled sky.
“Maybe.”
He hadn't even noticed Bercheria's expression hardening as he did so.
Gazing at the dazzling star-filled sky, Lacrahan recalled events so ancient they felt new and fresh.
'Graham.'
He didn't remember all the countless moments he'd experienced since his birth as a god.
Some moments were meticulously recorded, while others were buried in oblivion.
In fact, most of them were unimportant to him. Knowing how painful it would be to remember everything, Lacrahan had let as many moments as possible pass by without meaning.
'I wondered if the Supreme Being had loved me,' he thought.
His thoughts returned to the brief conversation he'd had with him.
What if he hadn't said those words to the Supreme Being?
Then, wouldn't he have felt so uneasy?
Lacrahan slowly searched his memories, recalling a time when he was Graham, not the Supreme Being.
What he realized now, as he recalled his memories, was that he had been openly expressing his feelings for him at every moment. It was simply that Lacrahan, ignorant of such feelings at the time, had failed to notice.
If the love Graham spoke of was the name love Lacrahan felt for Bercheria...
Graham would likely never give up on Lacrahan, just as he had been unable to let Bercheria go for so long.
Even now, Lacrahan, unable to contain his feelings for Bercheria, had to restrain his overflowing emotions at every moment. At this very moment, Lacrahan regretted becoming human for the first time.
The human body was too weak to protect Bercheria.
Even if he were the strongest being on earth.
But...
'In the end, I must be the one to untie these tangled emotions.'
With a few flaps of Muha's wings, the two soared higher into the sky.
The tiny droplets created by Bercheria washed away the blood clinging to Muha's wounds, but they couldn't completely heal him.
Muha's blood leaked out drop by drop, plummeting to the distant ground.
But perhaps that alone was enough, as Muha's wingbeats, which had felt heavy ever since leaving the palace, grew stronger with each passing moment.
As his flight stabilized and the palace receded, becoming a tiny speck in the distance, Lacrahan whispered something unintelligible to Muha.
Immediately, Muha turned left and began flying.
"What did you say?"
Lacrahan tilted his head and smiled.
“It’s the language used by the first gods. Divine beasts are born with the power of the gods, so they understand it instinctively.”
“The first god.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
He lightly ruffled Bercheria’s hair and looked down.
Lacrahan was living as a human, but now he had regained all his memories.
Whether this was a curse or a blessing, Bercheria had no way of knowing.
The dark clouds parted, and a waning moon appeared between them.
Moonlight poured down, casting a soft glow on the side of his face.
She gazed intently at the graceful lines of his straight forehead and the bridge of his nose that extended beneath it.
“Do you want to go back to the way things were?”
Lacrahan raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“Back when we were gods.”
She expected him to immediately say yes, but he didn’t respond.
“Lacrahan.”
He smiled gently, tore his gaze away from her, and looked up at the star-filled sky.
“Maybe.”
He hadn't even noticed Bercheria's expression hardening as he did so.
***
Gazing at the dazzling star-filled sky, Lacrahan recalled events so ancient they felt new and fresh.
'Graham.'
He didn't remember all the countless moments he'd experienced since his birth as a god.
Some moments were meticulously recorded, while others were buried in oblivion.
In fact, most of them were unimportant to him. Knowing how painful it would be to remember everything, Lacrahan had let as many moments as possible pass by without meaning.
'I wondered if the Supreme Being had loved me,' he thought.
His thoughts returned to the brief conversation he'd had with him.
What if he hadn't said those words to the Supreme Being?
Then, wouldn't he have felt so uneasy?
Lacrahan slowly searched his memories, recalling a time when he was Graham, not the Supreme Being.
What he realized now, as he recalled his memories, was that he had been openly expressing his feelings for him at every moment. It was simply that Lacrahan, ignorant of such feelings at the time, had failed to notice.
If the love Graham spoke of was the name love Lacrahan felt for Bercheria...
Graham would likely never give up on Lacrahan, just as he had been unable to let Bercheria go for so long.
Even now, Lacrahan, unable to contain his feelings for Bercheria, had to restrain his overflowing emotions at every moment. At this very moment, Lacrahan regretted becoming human for the first time.
The human body was too weak to protect Bercheria.
Even if he were the strongest being on earth.
But...
'In the end, I must be the one to untie these tangled emotions.'
He could no longer sacrifice the woman he loved.
"Bercheria."
Lacrahan held her waist and pointed ahead, where Muha was flying.
"That's our destination."
A dead-end cliff with a massive waterfall cascading down a cliff awaited them.
“Let me see, Empress Lawrence, Dylan. This is what I beg you to do.”
Kelita clung to Dylan, almost pleading.
For a moment, she forgot how cruel Gerard was and what she'd done to get what she wanted.
He'd killed his father and murdered two brothers without a trace of guilt.
"Dylan. Please."
Dylan, who had been walking toward the palace entrance with Kelita tied up, stopped.
He glanced at Kelita, who was chattering nonstop, and let out a long sigh.
Dylan spoke to the guards moving behind him.
"You can go. I'll go alone from here on out."
"Yes?"
Dylan spoke bluntly again to the bewildered guards.
"Was it permissible to question my orders?"
The guards tensely straightened their backs because his expression was so cold.
"I'm sorry!"
"I will do as you command!"
As the guards, worried about sparks flying, disappeared, Kelita's eyes sparkled.
"Are you taking me to Lawrence?"
Since Lawrence had ordered all this, Kelita figured she wouldn't be expelled from the palace if she could just get to her. She had to threaten to blow the whistle if she wasn't protected.
Whatever the outcome, her only hope for survival was to meet Lawrence.
"The Princess's place is outside the palace."
"Dylan!"
Dylan looked down at Kelita.
"I exist to listen to His Majesty the Emperor's orders. I listen to no one else."
Kelita screamed, her face turning red and blue.
"Then why did you send them! Didn't you do it so they'd listen to me?"
"Because it was His Majesty's order, too."
"...What?"
"He ordered me to eliminate all eyes except for me."
A sharp, bristling sword was pulled from his belt.
"Then it would be safest to deal with them."
"Hic!"
Kelita let out a strange noise, unable to tear her gaze from the blade.
Hiccup.
Her breathing became ragged, and cold sweat broke out on her spine.
Dylan spoke to Kelita in a flat voice.
“I’m sorry, Princess. It’s nothing personal.”
He raised his sword high.
Muha flew through the waterfall as Lacrahan had instructed.
Folding his wings to his side and raising his beak, Muha’s once massive body became as sleek as an arrowhead.
Whoosh!
As he passed through the thick curtain of water, he found a cave with a gaping mouth inside.
Lacrahan whispered something incomprehensible to Muha again, and Muha flew without a trace.
To be precise, he began to plummet downwards.
It was pitch-black, so dark that Barcheria couldn’t see an inch ahead of her.
If she hadn’t felt Lacrahan right beside her and been supported by Mucha’s feathers, she would have been paralyzed with fear.
“Whew!”
As Bercheria stumbled, unable to withstand the force of the wind, Lacrahan wrapped his arms around her, securing her.
“Where on earth are you going?”
“A place the Supreme Being has never been before.”
He held on tightly to Muha, whose pace was accelerating.
“We’re going to hide deep underground.”
Before Lacrahan could finish his playful words, they suddenly felt the air around them change.
And the next moment, a bright light, too bright to open their eyes, burst before them.
“Ugh!”
Lacrahan reached out and shielded Bercheria’s startled eyes.
After a moment of adjusting to the light, Bercheria opened her eyes.
And she held her breath without realizing it at the sight before her.
Giant trees bearing fruit of every color in their multicolored form covered the boundless earth.
“Where on earth are we?”
Lacrahan patted Muha’s head as he landed smoothly on the ground and answered.
“A place where air is made.”
As Muha touched the floor, he carried Bercheria and slid down the hill, as if on a slide.
"All the air on Earth is created here. No one cares, but it's essential. No one knows this place exists."
Bercheria looked around, forgetting to blink.
"All the trees look different."
“It may seem so, but it’s not. The trees growing up there are much smaller in variety. But they grow much more abundantly. There’s no one here who cuts down trees to make paper, and no animals who make and transport bottles.”
Lacrahan took Bercheria’s hand, who was looking around curiously.
“No one knows about this place. I was the only one who knew, and now I’ll show you.”
With each step he took, green grass sprouted beneath him.
Bercheria followed Lacrahan’s lead, busy looking around, fascinated by everything.
“I didn’t know a place like this existed.”
“As I said, no one knows.”
Lacrahan grinned playfully.
“I made it.”
Bercheria’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
She followed Lacrahan, unconsciously turning to Muha.
Muha, who always seemed sharper, was resting, his body stretched out, rubbing himself here and there on the grass.
“You really made this place?”
“Yes, a long time ago. When the Supreme Being created life up there, I helped him with a few things he lacked.”
Lacrahan frowned slightly, recalling an old memory.
“Each god has their own powers.”
Bercheria knew how to control the weather, Dipper could control the land, and Beloveye could control the sea.
Now that she thought about it, Bercheria had never heard of Lacrahan’s powers.
“My power is to mimic the abilities of others exactly.”
Bercheria’s pace slowed.
“Does that mean yiu can have all the abilities?”
Lacrahan frowned and tilted his head.
“You don’t have to go that far. I can only temporarily mimic the abilities I’ve seen before my eyes.”
“You said it was just an imitation?”
“Yes.”
Bercheria bit her parted lips.
“Lacrahan, it’s too much of an understatement to call this an imitation.”
A power of replication that surpassed the abilities of the original possessor.
That was Lacrahan’s gift as a god.
"Bercheria."
Lacrahan held her waist and pointed ahead, where Muha was flying.
"That's our destination."
A dead-end cliff with a massive waterfall cascading down a cliff awaited them.
***
“Let me see, Empress Lawrence, Dylan. This is what I beg you to do.”
Kelita clung to Dylan, almost pleading.
For a moment, she forgot how cruel Gerard was and what she'd done to get what she wanted.
He'd killed his father and murdered two brothers without a trace of guilt.
"Dylan. Please."
Dylan, who had been walking toward the palace entrance with Kelita tied up, stopped.
He glanced at Kelita, who was chattering nonstop, and let out a long sigh.
Dylan spoke to the guards moving behind him.
"You can go. I'll go alone from here on out."
"Yes?"
Dylan spoke bluntly again to the bewildered guards.
"Was it permissible to question my orders?"
The guards tensely straightened their backs because his expression was so cold.
"I'm sorry!"
"I will do as you command!"
As the guards, worried about sparks flying, disappeared, Kelita's eyes sparkled.
"Are you taking me to Lawrence?"
Since Lawrence had ordered all this, Kelita figured she wouldn't be expelled from the palace if she could just get to her. She had to threaten to blow the whistle if she wasn't protected.
Whatever the outcome, her only hope for survival was to meet Lawrence.
"The Princess's place is outside the palace."
"Dylan!"
Dylan looked down at Kelita.
"I exist to listen to His Majesty the Emperor's orders. I listen to no one else."
Kelita screamed, her face turning red and blue.
"Then why did you send them! Didn't you do it so they'd listen to me?"
"Because it was His Majesty's order, too."
"...What?"
"He ordered me to eliminate all eyes except for me."
A sharp, bristling sword was pulled from his belt.
"Then it would be safest to deal with them."
"Hic!"
Kelita let out a strange noise, unable to tear her gaze from the blade.
Hiccup.
Her breathing became ragged, and cold sweat broke out on her spine.
Dylan spoke to Kelita in a flat voice.
“I’m sorry, Princess. It’s nothing personal.”
He raised his sword high.
***
Muha flew through the waterfall as Lacrahan had instructed.
Folding his wings to his side and raising his beak, Muha’s once massive body became as sleek as an arrowhead.
Whoosh!
As he passed through the thick curtain of water, he found a cave with a gaping mouth inside.
Lacrahan whispered something incomprehensible to Muha again, and Muha flew without a trace.
To be precise, he began to plummet downwards.
It was pitch-black, so dark that Barcheria couldn’t see an inch ahead of her.
If she hadn’t felt Lacrahan right beside her and been supported by Mucha’s feathers, she would have been paralyzed with fear.
“Whew!”
As Bercheria stumbled, unable to withstand the force of the wind, Lacrahan wrapped his arms around her, securing her.
“Where on earth are you going?”
“A place the Supreme Being has never been before.”
He held on tightly to Muha, whose pace was accelerating.
“We’re going to hide deep underground.”
Before Lacrahan could finish his playful words, they suddenly felt the air around them change.
And the next moment, a bright light, too bright to open their eyes, burst before them.
“Ugh!”
Lacrahan reached out and shielded Bercheria’s startled eyes.
After a moment of adjusting to the light, Bercheria opened her eyes.
And she held her breath without realizing it at the sight before her.
Giant trees bearing fruit of every color in their multicolored form covered the boundless earth.
“Where on earth are we?”
Lacrahan patted Muha’s head as he landed smoothly on the ground and answered.
“A place where air is made.”
As Muha touched the floor, he carried Bercheria and slid down the hill, as if on a slide.
"All the air on Earth is created here. No one cares, but it's essential. No one knows this place exists."
Bercheria looked around, forgetting to blink.
"All the trees look different."
“It may seem so, but it’s not. The trees growing up there are much smaller in variety. But they grow much more abundantly. There’s no one here who cuts down trees to make paper, and no animals who make and transport bottles.”
Lacrahan took Bercheria’s hand, who was looking around curiously.
“No one knows about this place. I was the only one who knew, and now I’ll show you.”
With each step he took, green grass sprouted beneath him.
Bercheria followed Lacrahan’s lead, busy looking around, fascinated by everything.
“I didn’t know a place like this existed.”
“As I said, no one knows.”
Lacrahan grinned playfully.
“I made it.”
Bercheria’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
She followed Lacrahan, unconsciously turning to Muha.
Muha, who always seemed sharper, was resting, his body stretched out, rubbing himself here and there on the grass.
“You really made this place?”
“Yes, a long time ago. When the Supreme Being created life up there, I helped him with a few things he lacked.”
Lacrahan frowned slightly, recalling an old memory.
“Each god has their own powers.”
Bercheria knew how to control the weather, Dipper could control the land, and Beloveye could control the sea.
Now that she thought about it, Bercheria had never heard of Lacrahan’s powers.
“My power is to mimic the abilities of others exactly.”
Bercheria’s pace slowed.
“Does that mean yiu can have all the abilities?”
Lacrahan frowned and tilted his head.
“You don’t have to go that far. I can only temporarily mimic the abilities I’ve seen before my eyes.”
“You said it was just an imitation?”
“Yes.”
Bercheria bit her parted lips.
“Lacrahan, it’s too much of an understatement to call this an imitation.”
A power of replication that surpassed the abilities of the original possessor.
That was Lacrahan’s gift as a god.
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