607. Frost, The Princess, and ‘Her’

607. Frost, The Princess, and ‘Her’

The Price of Paradise was ‘Her’. And if both Frost and ‘Her’ looked like the Princess, then it was possible that the thing the Arbiter was looking for was the Princess. Another two hundred slices were absorbed into her body. Seven spears followed her overhead.

No signs of the Princess were found. Paradise was simply too big to search for her. Either way, if she could defeat the rest of the Apostles before she received [Penance], then it wouldn’t matter.

“This happened in the past too, huh. Paradise Lost. First it was the Arbiter. Then the King of Puritas. And it all combined into an amalgamation of prejudices and pride. What did the Arbiter do?”

Nothing could have prepared Frost for this answer. Her legs felt heavy, but she pulled through as she tried to digest this truth.

“… I have to make her talk… She has to talk. I can’t keep taking excuses from her any longer.” She vowed this time. She trusted the Arbiter with everything she had. This was why she didn’t pry too deeply into her secrets.

But she could not allow this to continue any further. Doubt sept into her heart. But before it could take root, the Voice spoke again.

“Can I!? I can’t forgive someone for keeping this away from me! Was it that hard to tell me!? Do I have to keep going through these trials to figure something that could’ve been told to me – like a friend – instead of risking my life!? I just want answers! I’m scared that the moment I begin to doubt her then I’ll never be able to trust her! If I’m so important…”

Her voice fell into a lull as she pressed her hand against a Marker. Underneath her was shallow pool that reflected the world. In the pool she saw someone else. Her many Innocents by now could be mistaken for Healers.

“… then just tell me that I am. That’s all I want. It concerns me as much as it concerns her. Is she scared that something would happen to me if I found out the truth? Anna, Ber and Res suffered because they bottled it all in. The Arbiter of all people should know by now that we can’t keep secrets.”

It was an emotional rollercoaster for Frost. The ripples in the shallow pool turned red as blood dripped from the Marker.

“Is it that she doesn’t trust me?”

“Either way, I’m going to get my answer from her once and for all. But this Corrupted needs to go down first. And Voice… is there anything else you can tell me about ‘Her’?”

“That’s fine. You’ve told me more than enough. I still don’t understand where I, Her, and the Princess fit in. But looking at it now… Is the Princess supposed to be the incarnation of ‘Her’ in this world? Like how I’m supposed to be Sinder?”

“Haaaah. It’s so fucked up. Amalgamation, huh?” Frost wanted to laugh, but she wiped the growing smirk away into a bloodied frown. “Fuck… ‘Her’, to the Princess, and then to me. Captured Star, to Sinder, and then to me. Earth to directly to me.”

It still didn’t make any sense, but if the Princess really was the incarnation of ‘Her’, then where did the connection between them and Frost begin? Frost was originally the Captured Star. The Princess represented something that came before it.

But they were ultimately more or less the same.

“In the context of this story…”

Frost threw her mind into overdrive, regaining herself as she moved through the calamitous streets of Paradise, gathering the slices of apples.

“’Her’ was the Price of Paradise for the Arbiter. The Princess was the Price of Paradise for this place. A city just called Paradise.”

“Wait… Are you… Does that mean the Arbiter had a hand in the creation of the City?” Frost was at a near loss for words, unable to properly digest this truth.

Frost wanted to hurl. It never came across her mind that the Arbiter may have been the equivalent of the Head of the old world. It should have been obvious. She was the one who ruled over the Angels.

Otherwise, who else other than her would have boasted similar authority?

“Paradisio and Paradise. You sure the City wasn’t just called Hell? Like how Iscario created Infernis?” Frost jokingly said, managing to find some humor in this to keep her spirits up.

At 700 apple slices Frost could begin to feel the presence of the survivors as far as a kilometer away. It was like her senses had extended into the ground like the roots of a giant tree. The sensation was difficult to describe, but if Frost had to make sense of it, it was like she was connected to them.

A phantom hand reached out for them subconsciously, but they were shadows of the past; memories molded by Nex. The shimmering of her hair became vibrant now. A single strand passed her eyes and she saw gold.

“Can I sense their Nex naturally? Or is it their Emotional States?”

Whatever the power was, she was certain that it would be a tremendous one as it was gained in the Corrupted Zone of a Paradise Lost Corrupted. Excitement brewed for the first time since stepping foot into the Rewound. She’d be gaining more than just information, and this couldn’t make her happier.

Suddenly, streaks of light flew across the skies like a meteor shower. The shooting stars assaulted the Icon of Judgement, exploding as it touched its protective layer of pale feathers. Colossal beams of energy ripped through the air, decimating everything in its path. The attacks originated from outside of Paradise, and when Frost had an Innocent clamber over the outer walls to see what was going on, her eyes widened.

“The Beholders are here! That’s right… They tried to fight it!”

Attacks that would utterly erase Frost were entirely ineffective against the Icon of Judgement. The Beholders, which arrived in a single flock, could not penetrate through the outer walls due to the Icon of Judgement’s wingbeats as their bodies immediately began to showcase signs of the Pale Web.

But there was one Beholder that tried to break through. A formless being that was vaguely human stepped forth. Their body was shrouded by a red cloak that hid its mangled form underneath. Glimpses within revealed limbs that did not belong to a human, such as that of an insect’s arm, an arachnid’s leg, and many eyes of differing colors that ran across its body as if it had stolen them.

The hooded cloak wore bearded razor-sharp tentacles that flailed at the air as if it were a part of them. It propelled itself into the skies, crimson wings forming on its back as a gaseous sack expanded along its stomach. Red veins and arteries ran through the transparent membrane.

Frost could not help but imagine that person as Ignis, or even Mimicry. It was able to mold its body like putty. Who amongst the Beholder was capable of this?

When it arrived into the middle layer, soaring like a hornet rather than a dragon despite its wings, she realized exactly who that Beholder was.

“Marduk. So that’s your power.”

It was also not just Frost who had an adverse reaction to witnessing that monstrosity.