Before Sunny could co to terms with eting Ananke — the real Ananke, who had never t the Mad Prince, and therefore never got to travel with Sunny and Nephis — he found himself in the lounge cabin of the mysterious ship, being treated to tea, wine, and delicious food.
Ananke even used the sa enchanted lacquered box and dinnerware as she had in the Nightmare. The similarity to how they had t for the first ti was simply too peculiar... it made Sunny want to ponder the chanics of how the Spell brought its phantoms to life, and whether its knowledge of all things having to do with the past was founded on its ability to fathom the Strings of Fate.
However, at the mont, he was not really in the mood for philosophical ponderings. Barely rembering to touch his food, he simply stared at Ananke, feeling both stunned and full of joy.
Ecstatic, almost.
It was just like Nephis said — they had not spent a lot of ti with the Ananke in the Nightmare, but the old priestess occupied a special place in Sunny's heart. Her loss had hit him especially hard, just like it had Nephis.
So, seeing her once again filled him with happiness.
Enough of it to suppress his curiosity for a short while, even, and dissuade him from asking any questions.
Ananke watched them with a hint of reverence and amazent... and curiosity, as well. Sunny and Nephis couldn't look away from her either.
Eventually, she chuckled.
“Ananke of Weave... no one has called that in a long, long ti. Weave was destroyed centuries ago, after all... thousands of years? I am surprised that you know that ancient na, my lord and lady."
Her voice was still warm and bright, but betrayed a hint of wistful lancholy for a brief mont, as if she was rembering a deep wound that had long scarred over. Sunny and Nephis glanced at each other.
In the end, it was Sunny who spoke:
"l am Sunless, and this is Nephis. There is no need to use honorifics when talking to us... we are of the sa Rank, after all.”
Indeed, it was true. He could see it as clear as day when he gazed into the soul of Ananke — there, a radiant soul core was shining like a sumr sun. She was Supre now, just like the two of them.
Ananke lingered for a few monts, then smiled.
"Oh, I couldn't. You are the chosen of Weaver, after all... Lord Sunless, Lady Nephis."
He sighed.
“How does that even work? You were already a carrier of the Nightmare Spell when it was in its infancy... its caretaker, even, or at least a descendant of its caretakers. Now that it has fully matured, you should be no different from Nephis. As much a Child of Weaver as she is, really."
Ananke glanced at him with a hint of confusion in her azure eyes, then shrugged lightly.
"I wouldn't know, Lord Sunless. We knew nothing about what happened outside the Tomb of Ariel after entering it... we could only hope that the promise Weaver had given us would be fulfilled, and the Children of Weaver would save everyone from the Doom."
Weaver's promise was the Nightmare Spell, and the Doom she ntioned was the spreading Corruption... the Nightmare of the Forgotten God.
Ananke hesitated for a few monts, then asked tentatively:
"So... how is it going, my lord and lady? Saving everyone from the Doom, and the like?"
She had to be very curious about them. In fact, Nephis and Sunny must have seed like mythical creatures to her — they were people from outside the Tomb of Ariel, after all, which was a mythical place for the River People.
Sunny coughed.
"Well..."
He considered his words for a bit, then shrugged.
"It's the Age of the Nightmare Spell out there. All the realms are consud by the Corruption, and only the War Realm still stands. There are several billion humans left alive — most of them are mundane people, so are Awakened warriors. Among those warriors, Nephis and I are two of the strongest... but our strength is woefully not enough to deal with what is coming. So, that is the reason why we ca to the Tomb of Ariel. To have a chance of becoming stronger."
Sunny paused for a second.
"But the Great River is not how we expected to find it.”
Nephis finally spoke then, her voice reserved:
“You did not seem surprised to see us, Ananke. How did you know to co and welco us? Did Dusk send you a ssage in a dream?"
In the Nightmare, Ananke had received a dream ssage — that was how she had been able to et Sunny and Nephis in her ketch. They assud that it was Dusk of Fallen Grace, the last sybil of the River People, who had sent the ssage... but actually, they did not know for sure. It could have been Tornt, instead.
It could have even been the Mad Prince himself.
Tornt and the Mad Prince did not exist anymore, so...
Ananke glanced at them in surprise.
“Dusk of Fallen Grace? No... she had been long dead by the ti Weave was destroyed. Dusk was the last sybil to succumb to the Defilent, so her grand burial was ant to signify the end of the River People. But instead, it paved the way for a new beginning.”
She glanced around the lounge cabin, as if taking in the sight.
The cabin was spacious and cozy, set and decorated in a way that only spaces where sobody lived could be. It was clear that Ananke had made the mysterious ship into her ho, having spent nurous years living aboard it.
She smiled.
"No... it was that scoundrel, King Cronos, who promised that you would co one day. If I only endured long enough."
Ananke glanced into the distance, her smile turning wistful.
“Cronos was the one who built this ship, as well... the Ti Slayer."
She remained silent for a few monts, then sighed.
“The sybils guided and protected the River People, you see. So when the last of them fell, the River People lost their way. They could have remained lost... or forged a new path. Cronos was a young man when Dusk of Fallen Grace perished, and because of that, he could see more than those who were older and wiser than him. His mind was sharp and flexible, and his Aspect granted him powers over the essence of the Great River... over ti. So, he envisioned a path to salvation."
Sunny blinked a few tis.
"Cronos? The brat from Fallen Grace, Cronos?"
Was she talking about the youth who used to follow Sunny around, endlessly asking silly questions and acting comically stunned every ti he heard an answer?
Ananke nodded.
“Yes. That brat eventually beca King Cronos, the first Supre born of the River People... arguably, though, he never stopped being a brat. So the description fits."
She chuckled.
“Before that, however, he built this ship — a ship capable of sailing the Great River, free of the tyranny of ti. The ship that allowed the River People to travel the currents as if they were Outsiders."
She shook her head with a smile.
"Cronos assembled a motley crew of powerful champions from the last human settlents on the Great River. So of them were from Fallen Grace and other cities built by the sybils, so were descendants of the Outsiders the Serpent King had brought into the Tomb of Ariel ... so were even from the last remaining tribes of the River Nomads."
Ananke's wistful smile widened a little.
"l sailed on the Tislayer as well, for a ti, even if I was not a mber of its crew. It was just that Cronos needed a Shaper, and so, he ca to Weave in search of ."
She fell silent, and her smile slowly disappeared, replaced by a dark expression.
"But all the while, the Defilent was spreading like a plague, encroaching upon the Great River from the distant reaches of the ancient past — from Verge. The First Seeker was becoming stronger, and the Defiled were growing more nurous. The River Nomads were soon to be eradicated. The human cities were going to fall, as well. Even Weave was slowly collapsing under the onslaught of the harrowing horrors of the far future... of your ti, possibly."
Ananke sighed and glanced away.
“Eventually, Cronos of Fallen Grace attained Supremacy and beca King Cronos. The humans of the Tomb of Ariel rallied under the banners of two Supres, then — him and the Serpent King. However, even if the two of them were allies, they did not see eye to eye on all matters. The Serpent King wanted to destroy the First Seeker, while Cronos... Cronos thought that if the First Seeker could be destroyed, the sybils would have destroyed it a long ti ago."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"What was his plan, then?"
Ananke chuckled.
"Cronos? Why... he wanted to outlast it."
She remained silent for a mont, then said in a distant tone:
“The greatest obstacle Daeron and Cronos faced was that the River People could not be assembled into an army. Their cities were too far apart by then, after all, and it would have taken innurable generations to bring them together. The number of Outsiders had dwindled, as well, and even the great power of the Transcendent wanderers from the Twilight Sea was not enough to help Daeron besiege Verge. And even if the Ti Slayer was there to sail the Great River, it could only carry so many warriors on its deck.
Nephis frowned.
“So what did Cronos do?"
Ananke glanced at them and smiled faintly. She remained silent for a bit, and then said in a neutral tone:
“What else? He broke the Great River."
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