Abyssal Awakening

"Do you think it\'s possible for someone to be immune to the effects of the Abyss? Well, immune is not the right way to put it but rather for someone to revert back to being a human even though the blood has tainted their outline." Alice asked, surprising Velouria with her seriousness.

Thinking to herself for a moment, she opened her mouth.

"It\'s not impossible. But it\'s far more difficult than you may think. Think of it like this. If you bend metal, after a certain point it\'ll become impossible to bend it back to the way it was unless you reforge the material. That\'s essentially what I\'m doing. Once they\'re tainted, their \'outline\' is reforged.

"But the method you\'re wanting is to turn them back without killing them right?" Velouria asked with a smile as Alice nodded her head.

"You see, I have these flames in me. These flames hate the Abyss and it has its own sentience. When I use it against other Hunters, it can burn through their abilities and consume it. In my case, no matter how much Abyss Blood was injected into me, I always turn back to a human.

I did some tests myself and found out that these flames are the complete opposite of the Abyss." Alice explained as she opened her palm and conjured a ball of fire.

Looking at this, Velouria observed the flame curiously.

Flicking her finger, a few stray strands of energy floated next to the flames and was destroyed in an instant.

"Oh my… Hmm... I\'ve never seen something like this before. Did you say this fire was inside you?" She asked, looking up at Alice.

"It manifested thanks to my second Sigil. According to the description of the Sigil, it\'s called Foul Blood Manifestation. It brought out the potential of my blood and manifested it as these flames."

Hearing this, Velouria glanced at Alice in bewilderment.

"So you\'re saying you were born with the ability to resist the Abyss? How peculiar… Give me a moment okay?"

Looking out to the city, Velouria closed her eyes and snapped her finger.

At that moment, threads of energy began to weave together as Alice saw a familiar figure.

Cayla.

"Master, you summoned me?" Cayla tilted her head but paused after seeing Alice next to Velouria.

"Were you busy?"

"No, I have all the time in the world for you, Master." Cayla shook her head and composed herself.

The edges of her eyes were still red from the crying but she focused on the request Velouria had for her.

"Mnm, alright. I need your power for a moment."

Nodding her head, Cayla\'s body started to break apart as she turned into a strand of energy that entered Velouria\'s body.

Opening her eyes, she turned towards Alice who noticed a brighter glow in her eyes.

Alice assumed this was Cayla using her abilities and trying to figure out what was going on inside her body.

As the Goddess observed in silence, the frown on her face deepened which wasn\'t a great sign for Alice.

A Goddess of the Abyss was frowning at her condition.

Not wanting to disturb Velouria, Alice continued to wait. Soon, Velouria sighed and closed her eyes.

"I found the source of your power. But it seems the me from the future has already restrained it to a certain extent. It\'s not a perfect restraint but it prevents the power from going out of control since its sense of self is rather… strong." Velouria explained while snapping her fingers.

Cayla manifested next to her looking rather exhausted.

Sitting against the railings, she simply held her head as though she was having a headache.

"Is it bad?"

"It\'s not bad per say. But it\'s not exactly positive either." Velouria looked at Alice with a strange expression.

"The thing that acts as the source of your flames… Can be called a beast but at the same time, it\'s something completely foreign. It\'s better to call it a Chimera than anything. It holds resemblances to some of the powers that I know of but doesn\'t have a pure form. Always changing and never staying the same.

Perhaps that\'s why you\'re unaffected by the Abyss." She speculated but in the end, she couldn\'t tell Alice anything concrete.

"I can only give you some guesses based on my own observations and speculations. It seems this beast is linked to you on a level far deeper than what could be considered standard.

\'I see… Maybe it was a result of the experiments then. But that doesn\'t make sense…\' Alice furrowed her brows. If this… \'Chimera\' was possibly a result of the experiments she endured, then how did she come back from being a beast?

"How deep is the connection? And are you able to tell when it was connected to me? Or has it been with me since the start?" Alice asked as Velouria thought to herself for a moment before opening her mouth.

"The current state of the connection is one where neither of you can live without the other. It\'s a delicate balance where if you were to die, the flames would fizzle out and perish. And if the flames were to be removed from your body, the balance would collapse within your body and the Abyss will take hold."

Hearing this, Alice couldn\'t help but sigh deeply.

According to Velouria, so long as the flames existed within her body, the Abyss could never take hold of her. But at the same time, her survival hinged on whether or not the flames continued to behave or not.

If the flames decide to rebel, there was nothing she could do about it.

"I know what you\'re worried about, but it\'s practically impossible to remove the flame without killing you in the first place. You\'ll die before the Abyss gets to you." Cayla added as the pain had subsided somewhat.

"What do you mean?" Alice tilted her head.

"The flames are acting as your Spiritual Heart right now. Remove that and you die, understand?"

Blinking her eyes in surprise, Alice now understood what they meant when they said it was linked far deeper than normal.

The flames were simultaneously serving as her connection to the Abyss and the very thing protecting her from it.

If so, it was probably from before she even got injected with the Abyss Blood during her birthday. Her flames probably saved her at that moment.

"I see… Would it be… Beneficial for me to seek out Sigils that enhance my fire?" Alice asked hesitantly. Her flames were helpful but at the same time, they were also dangerous. She needed to be cautious and not get swept up by its power.

"Of course it would be beneficial for you. But you\'ll need to work out the roles of you and this Spiritual Heart of yours. It\'s something you need to resolve by yourself since third party intervention would only hinder you." Velouria smiled before snapping her finger.

At that moment, golden chains manifested and displayed an illusion for Alice to see.

Hidden in an unknown space, a beast was chained up by the very chains that Velouria had summoned.

Seeing this, Alice recalled the moment she summoned the beast during her fight at the Academy.

How chains pulled it back in the end.

\'Was that the restriction placed by Velouria?\' Alice wondered to herself since Velouria had taken over her body briefly before.

"That and you need to remember this. Flames are simply how you chose to manifest this power. Since it acts as your Spiritual Heart, its form can be changed depending on the Sigils. I\'m guessing Allura has left quite the impression on you." Velouria chuckled as Alice nodded her head.

To her, Allura has always been a symbol of power and control. If she could even reach just a fraction of her power, then vengeance against the Zenias would not be farfetched.

"So final confirmation about this power. As long as it\'s with me, I won\'t be affected by the Abyss right? Meaning I can drink blood as much as I want without worry right?"

"Yes, that would be correct." Velouria smiled.

"I see… Another question from me. Since this fire is serving as my Spiritual Heart, is that why I can copy someone else\'s power and Sigils if I drink their blood?"

At the mention of this, both Velouria and Cayla\'s expressions froze as they blinked their eyes.

"You what?" Cayla couldn\'t believe what she just heard.

"I can copy someone else\'s Sigils and power if I drink their blood. It doesn\'t really overwrite what I already have but rather adds onto it for a brief period of time." Alice explained while Velouria\'s expression turned grave and the same with Cayla.

Looking at one another, it seemed like they both had the same thought.

"Alice, I believe you should know that Sigils are contracts formed with the Abyss that changes your outline yes?" Velouria asked as Alice nodded.

"Each outline is unique to the person, it can\'t be copied or recreated. If someone gains the ability to make a clone to fight for them, the outline of that clone does not exist and there will be a tether from the clone to the main body.

"So for a clone to gain the powers of the main body, it\'s required to have a tether that can draw out power. But according to what you said, you can copy their abilities based on the consumption of their blood. I have two guesses for this and neither is great.

"The first guess is that by drinking their blood, you forcefully establish a connection between you two and draw upon their power. But this hinges on whether or not you can continue to get their power after they die. If you can, then it\'s not the first guess." Velouria asked as Alice shook her head.

"I can still get their power afterwards."

"I see… Then it\'s the second guess. When you drink their blood… Your flames forcefully tear off a part of their Spiritual Heart and implant it onto your outline. Perhaps that\'s why it feels like a Chimera."