Illusion of Integrity

Coming Home

"Whew, finally made it back. Are you okay?"

["Yeah.']

"Okay then, just rest, leave it to your big sis here."

["..."]

Riss walks toward the mansion and opens the door. Just when she is about to greet her father, the servants gasp and run towards her.

"Young Miss! Young Miss is back! Hurry tell the Lord!"

"Oh my goodness Young Miss, what happened to you, you are in a mess. Let us prepare a bath for you!"

Before Riss even has the chance to reply, the servants already bring her towards her room. There, she takes a bath and lies down in her bed, when finally someone knocks on the door.

"Sweetie, are you there?"

"Come in, Dad." Riss glances at the door. She rises and sits on her bed.

"It takes a lot longer than usual. What happened there, Sweetie?"

"How long has it been, Dad?"

"2 months."

"Ahhhhh... so I skipped the school entrance I guess?"

"It's fine, I dealt with it already. How is your twin?"

"She is crying right now."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Sigh... okay, Dad. But to be honest there was a problem. We both got separated."

"Is that even possible?"

"I don't know, it felt like we both were at different dimensions. I was asleep for I don't know how long, until I regained my conciousness and finally made it back to her. But about her... it seems she went into some devastating experience..."

"What do you mean?"

"When I made it back, there were mountains of corpses. Huge black snakes corpses lying around and... my level is now 71."

Bernidas gasps, his eyes are wide open when he hears the news. A level 71 Xagan was unheard of, even legendary figures are mostly level 50 ish, getting to level 60 needs either ridiculous environment, or a very long lifespan. Even after someone hits level 60, to get into level 70 is another impossible task for any living beings. A level 70 living organism is basically godlike being.

"How.. is that even possible?"

"She says she was trapped there for she don't know how long. Maybe even centuries or millenias. But this body didn't aged as you can see, Dad. What level are you, Dad?"

"I consider myself powerful enough to takes on another country's generals. I'm 44.. that's why what you said sounded ridiculous, Sweetie."

"Maybe you want to see it? Just think of it as meeting her, she haven't stopped crying."

"Sure, let's go to the training ground."

***** In the Training Ground *****

"Okay Dad, we are switching now then."

"Sure Sweetie." Bernidas stands a few metres in front of her. He is nervous. Never he expected that his daughter will experience such a huge change.

Suddenly, a heavy atmosphere descends. Space is distorting into grayscale-ish colour. Screams are heard from inside the house. Even Bernidas has a hard time surviving the pressure from his own daughter.

"Papa.." Her tears fall. With a saddened eyes she stares at her own father with lifeless eyes.

Ri-riss... arggghhhh." Bernidas falls on his knees. He is panting heavily with bloodshot eyes.

["No! Get back! You are going to kill everyone!"]

With Rainbow Riss takes over, the heavy athmosphere is lifted up. She runs towards her father in panic. "Dad, are you okay!?"

["What happened? I did nothing!"]

"Must be one of your skills are in an active state."

Just before Bernidas tries to speak, heavy pressures are coming from so much directions at a dangerous speed. Some of them stops and levitates in the air. Some of them stares from high grounds. The city is now full of heavy pressures. Riss and Bernidas look around them and see figures.

"Please honourable, guests!" Someone yells. After a couple seconds, a majestic figure descends.

"Brother." That word takes last of his strength to utter and Bernidas faints.

***** In Bernidas's Room" *****

"Riss, what was that? And what happened to your father?" The King asks Riss that sits beside her father in bed.

"Uncle.. sigh..."

["..."]

"Was something dangerous happened? A lot of unknown figures were seen. General Gave is busy attending to them. We may need to explain to them. I know you are still young, but-"

"Darling! Sweetie!" Suddenly, Lea comes into the room and with a surprised face she looks at her older brother The King. "Ah, brother, you are here, I thought you were attending to those people outside."

"No, I don't know how to deal with this situation. I left it to Gave. Ah, Fenicia, you are here too."

["Sister! I miss her so much.. and Mom too..."]

"I know, but just endure it for now, okay?"

["Okay..."]

"Yes, Uncle." Fenicia walks toward Riss and rubs her hair. She can still see the faint trace of cries in Riss's eyes. "Uncle, let us talk with Riss for now. We will tell you later."

"Sure, Fenicia. I will be waiting at the family room then." The King leaves them and the soldiers follow.

"Riss, when did you came back?"

"Just this morning, Sis...you just came back from school?"

"Yes, Mom came to pick me up. But I suddenly had chill when we were on our way back. Mom felt it too."

"Ah, about that.. it's really hard to explain. It seems one of her skill is in an active state without us knowing."

Rainbow Riss explains everything to Fenicia. She tells her about their personal experience too inside the bizzare space. Black Riss passes the information to her through Rainbow Riss that explains it to them after that. Both Lea and Fenicia are surprised. They don't even know how to respond to that. Millenias in a bizzare space alone is such an absurd story to believe. Because normal people will already become insane with loneliness.

"I see, even though it's hard to believe, I trust you. Now then, can you tell me what skills Riss got in that space?"

"She got 3 skills, Black Fortress, Black Heart, and Joker's Domination. Black Fortress is a defensive skill. It creates a protected space inside a certain radius, nullifying damages from outside of the space."

"That's not the skill that caused that phenomenon I think. What about Black Heart and Joker's Domination?"

"Black Heart is kinda like... berserk...while the Joker's Domination is like a suppresing presence to living beings at a certain radius."

"Must be the Joker's Domination then."

"Yeah, but she says that she can't control it. It just happens."

"I see, I understand now. I miss you both. I was worried when you didn't came back for 2 months. We were worried that something might happened to you that endangered your life."

"Well, sorry for that, Sis."

"It's fine, you are safe, and that's enough." Fenicia hugs her. 

Black Riss still can't supress her cry. It has been so long that she kept crying non-stop. And it affects Rainbow Riss indirectly because both share the same feelings of body and causes Rainbow Riss to cry silently.

The incident causes an uproar to the city of Aran, Xagan imperial city. No one ever experienced huge pressures from figures at once in last few decades. Those mysterious figures are godlike beings, powerful figures, or even unknown beings that live in Coxe Continent, the continent of Xagan race. The King decides to hold a banquet right away because of the important figures and invites them to the palace. Hoping that Bernidas wakes up soon.

Night is closing in, when the moon dances, Bernidas wakes up from her sleep. He finds that Riss lies in his laps with black marks around her eyes. It seems like Riss is asleep because she is tired. Bernidas decides to call the servant to tell Lea that he is awake. After a few moments, Lea comes and hugs her husband.

"What happened after I fainted, Darling?"

"So much happened, Darling. But the palace needs your audience. Important figures are having a banquet there. If you are unable to go there, I can come in your stead."

"No, it's fine, but just to be sure, let's come together."