Chapter 68: Entering the Palace
Right now, I'm about to bring the random magic-canceling device to Osiris. If anyone can figure out how this thing works, it's him.
After a quick teleport into the ISS, I see that RUBY is working on something.
"Hey, do you know where Osiris is? I have something I need to show him."
"He's not here right now; he got summoned to the royal palace by the King."
Oh great, he left at the worst time. I guess I'll need to wait until he comes back.
"Do you know when he'll be back?"
"Hmm… he should be back in a few days. You could go see him; you have permission to."
"He's probably doing something important, and I don't want to bother him… but at the same time what I need to talk to him about is super important too…"
You know what. I guess I'll just have to go see him myself. He should be in the royal palace, and that isn't a place I can just enter, but I don't really have a choice here.
I mean, sure, the princess did give me permission in case of emergency, but that doesn't mean I can do it whenever I want.
Well, nothing is going to happen from just thinking about it; I might as well just go.
"If you are planning to go to the Capital, just take the teleporter we have here at the Station. I don't think you've ever been there before, so this is probably the quickest way."
"But those things are expensive; there is no way I could afford to use one."
"It's fine, it seems like whatever you have to hand to Osiris is important."
It's weird, RUBY almost seems more human-like today. Well, I'm not going to just refuse such a generous offer.
"Well, in that case, I'd be glad to. Thank you, RUBY."
Stepping onto the teleportation platform, I feel the familiar sensation of space bending, and before I know it, I'm on another platform in the capital of the kingdom.
The capital of our "No-Name" Kingdom is Rukbat. Apparently, it is a star in the Sagittarius constellation that means "Archer's Knee."
The whole thing is a new experience, but I don't have time to take in the sights right now. Time to head to the capital. Now, you might be wondering how I'm going to get in.
The answer is pretty simple. During one of my calls with the princess, she told me that she gave the guards orders that I can enter the palace as long as I show that I'm Jess. Of course, this is only as long as I have a valid reason.
"Excuse me, Miss. No one is allowed to go beyond this point."
"I am Jess Heart. I have permission to enter from Princess Philrya."
"One second."
The guard leaves for a second and comes back with a magic orb.
"Please put your hand on this orb."
The orb glows green, with little gold particles floating around within the orb, and the guard allows me to enter. He was making a weird face, though. Did something happen? Was he not expecting me to show up?
"I expected it to glow green, but why is there a bit of gold within the orb? That can only mean..." I swear, I heard the guard say.
I guess that orb was a new way of identifying people. I wonder how it works?
Well time to find Osiris. The only thing I didn't consider is how gigantic this place is! How am I supposed to find that guy in this place?!?
I guess I'll ask around. That seems like the most logical thing to do. Still, I wouldn't say I like talking to a lot of people, but the situation calls for it.
"Hello? Do you know where Osiris is? I have something I need to hand to him." I ask one of the guards within the palace.
He seems a little shocked, not expecting to see a teenage girl within the palace, but points me in the direction that I need to go. I guess he knows that I'm allowed to be here.
Walking down an extremely long hallway, I take a moment to look at the architecture. It is unique and wouldn't be possible without magic.
Like I said before, most buildings here look like giant trees from the outside. The palace is no different, but it somehow manages to be majestic nonetheless. Its size is trumped only by Yggdrasil, and its bark is a beautiful white, almost like it was carved from marble.
The leaves glitter gold, and fine silver-gold powder rains down from the top. The whole thing is magnificent.
Before the Shift, I thought I would never get to see something like this in real life, but now here I am, walking through the royal palace of a kingdom ruled by the same person for nearly ten thousand years.
Anyway, here we are. The room that Osiris should be in.
I knock on the door and hear a familiar voice tell me it's okay to enter. Osiris is definitely in here.
I open the door, and inside is Osiris sipping a cup of tea with someone sitting adjacent to him on a cushion. He can't sit in a chair because his lower half resembles a horse.
Why is the king here?!?
"Oh, just in time, Jess. We were talking about you."
"Welcome, Jess. We haven't talked in a while, have we?"
"A-Ah, yes. I'm here to deliver this device I took off an assassin to Osiris." I quickly hand the device to Osiris, planning to teleport out of the place so that I don't have to deal with being stuck in the same room so awkwardly, but someone puts their hand on my shoulder.
"You should stay for a minute. I have some questions I would like to ask you." Chiron tells me in a tone that, while calming, lets me know I don't have much of a choice.
Oh great. This can't end well.
"I am interested in how this teleportation spell you are using works. It clearly isn't Space magic, so how exactly does it work?"
"W-well, I just thought that since gravity is the bend of space-time caused by either mass or speed, if I just bend the distance between two places closer together, I could theoretically move between two points instantly."
"I see; your MP seems to have grown since the last time I've seen you, which shouldn't be possible. How exactly has it grown?" This time he seems intimidating!
Did I do something wrong?!? Should I tell him what happened?
"W-well, I w-woke up after something happened a while back in the hospital... and it kinda happened."
I technically didn't lie, right?
A slight smile appears on Chiron's face, just like some kid who's found something interesting.
"Is that so? You may leave now if you want."
"T-thank you, sir!"
I instantly teleport out of there before things get worse for me.
===
"Did you confirm what you thought, Chiron?"
"Yes, it seems like my speculations are correct. The reason that her soul is so different, the reason that her body almost rejected her soul outright, and the reason that she has so much strength. It seems that her soul comes from a piece of the World Tree, Yggdrasil."
"Is that why the identity test had bits of gold in it?
"Yes, that orb was made from magic supplied by Yggdrasil. When she injected some of her MP into the orb, it synergized with the power from Yggrasil. Normally it just confirms if you are who you say you are, but in this case, it confirmed something much more."
"But on 'that day,' more than just one branch fell. Does that mean that there are more like her?"
"As I said before, one was born with a soul that holds more magic than normally possible, one with special MP, and one had a body that was tempered in a way I've never seen... remember to keep quiet about this, old man. We don't need crazy cultists finding out about this."
"I know, I know. Also, you're older than me! But shouldn't she know? She is a part of the World Tree, if people find out, they may try to use her."
"And if they do, Yggdrasil will step in. That tree sees its own branches as its own family. There is no way that it will let those who want to use its family slide."
"It does explain where her talent comes from. Even for one with innate talent, her skill in Gravity magic is unnatural for someone her age, even those ten times it. Someone like that born into a family with no special history is weird."
"I wouldn't say that her skill has to do with her being a branch, though. Sure, her amount of MP is due to Yggdrasil, but her control over that MP is something else entirely."
"Interesting..."
===
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Xubx
Xubx I find it ironic that my story's best rating is in its "consistency of uploads." Yeah... sure.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone