Way of the Knights

---action

"…and after I woke up from unconsciousness, Elmar was gone from where I left him. I also asked the plane's consciousness about his current location but it didn't answer me anymore. I decided to remain here, watching over our children and hoping that he would come back to this place. Alas, it seems that he wasn't happy about my decision. I am determined to make up with him, and I wanted to see him badly. Thankfully, you came. But still, the state of the plane's consciousness greatly worries me."

"That's…definitely concerning." 

Raven muttered after listening to Myrna's story. Though he appeared calm, that's just to keep himself from saying unnecessary things. Inwardly though, he was freaking out.

'This is bad. That is a not a good sign at all. Why would it need the assistance of its inhabitants to create Pixies? It is the Plane's Consciousness, if there's anything that I could call the master of this world, that would be it. The Plane's Consciousness has the ability to overpower Laws in order to protect itself, and you're telling me that it couldn't create Pixies? That should've been as easy as lifting a finger from it.'

'The only scenario I can see that happening, is when the Plane itself is nearing the end of its lifespan. However, during my previous life, the Grand Ancestral Plane managed to last. Hell, I even saw it before I died. And I was old, very, old. Which means that it should still have the ability to do simple things such as creating Pixies. But again, how come it couldn't, and needed help from its inhabitants?'

'There's more to this, I am sure. I should investigate about this.'

"I don't understand much, but I could feel that this certainly a huge event." Raven lied as natural as breathing. 

"I know." Myrna said, sighing as she too felt the same. "Frankly, I am afraid of what's about to happen."

"Me too." Raven sympathized, "Regrettably, even though I want to know more about it. I am afraid that knowing more would be useless since I don't have strength to back it up. This is the Plane's Consciousness that we're talking about, everything that happens to it is definitely going to be huge."

"I agree." Myrna said, "But for now, all we could do is watch as everything unfolds."

"Yeah." Raven sighed, "That's all that we could do for now." 

There was a bit of silence between them. Raven is still finding it hard to remain calm but he had to since thinking about it does nothing for them. 

"Oh! That's right, I want to remind you about something if you plan on going where Elmar is." Raven said as he was reminded of something. Myrna listened closely to what he's about to say. 

"We placed a wide formation around the Kingdom. It's purpose is to monitor what's happening nearby. Any unexpected development will quickly notify the residents of the Kingdom." Raven informed. "In order to not alert them too much. You should suppress your strength to a low level."

"And if, by chance they still get alerted by your presence and sent someone to intercept you. I'll give you something so that they won't treat you as an enemy. That way, you can have a peaceful reunion with Elmar."

Myrna's wings fluttered as she replied: "That's very thoughtful of you. Thank you, child. If there's anything you need, don't be shy and let me know. I'll help you as much as I could."

Raven thought for a while and said: "Are you familiar with this wilderness? I am in need of a map of some sorts."

He heard Myrna chuckled, and before he could ask if he said something funny. A beam of colorful light shot from her antlers to Raven's head. 

Raven became silent for a bit as he reviewed the new memories that appeared in his mind. He then saw a very expansive and detailed map of everything inside the wilderness. He became ecstatic, this was precisely what he needed. With this, he would be able to plan ahead which might cut down the time required to reach those places. 

"Why are you wandering this far away from home anyway." Myrna asked curiously, "I don't mean to be rude but its extremely dangerous for you here."

"I know that it's dangerous." Raven said, "But I have to do this since no else can. And if I fail, then my in-laws would suffer. I don't want that to happen."

"Besides…" Raven continued, "I am confident about surviving, and I am more formidable than I look."

"I am aware, but still be careful." Myrna warned, "Even I, wouldn't carelessly barge in to some places here. There are a lot of apex predators hiding within these depths. Even the information I gave you is relatively detailed, I am sure that there's bound to be some inconsistencies here and there. I advice you to remain alert."

"I will, thanks for the warning." Raven replied, "Well, then. I should go back, I'll give you my insignia so that you can go unhindered towards where Elmar is."

Raven willed his consciousness to return to his body, disappearing from the dreamy space within the carapace of the Moonlight Butterfly. 

When he returned to his body, his eyes fluttered open and he breathed to a long sigh. He then took out a white flag on his special ring and planted it on the ground. This flag contains the mark of the Kingdom and his official insignia, a well known sign to citizens of the Kingdom. If Myrna showed this to the humans she encountered on the Kingdom's premises, they wouldn't treat her as an enemy. 

"You're awake! Good afternoon, Mister!" Aina said as soon as she saw Raven moving. 

Raven smiled and saw something different around him. He just noticed that there is a bunch of flowers attached to his body. He even is wearing a crown and necklace made out of flowers, and it's not hard to guess who the culprit is. 

"Tada~!" Aina said while giggling, "See, I told you I'll give you many flowers!"

"That you did…" Raven said as he poked Aina's cheeks. "Thank you."

"You're welcome! Hihi!" 

"I apologize for her behavior." Jenny's voice echoed nearby, making Raven shift his attention to her. "I tried telling her to wait until to you wake up, but she insisted to surprise you."

"It's fine, it's fine." Raven said, chuckling at Aina's antics. "There's no harm done. And this is a pleasant surprise anyway."

"Say, Mister." Aina called out, "What did you and Mother talked about?"

"Girl, you…" Jenny was about to reprimand her but Raven stopped and signaled that it was fine. 

"It's nothing much really. Just be patient and wait until your Mother tells you about it, okay?"

"Okay!" Aina said cheerfully while flying around Raven. 

It was at this moment that Myrna's carapace suddenly trembled. 

Raven as well as every Pixie around him felt this change. He told them to back away for a little bit. Even if he didn't tell them anything, they already have an idea of what's about to happen. 

He watched as the carapace started showing signs of breaking. Cracks appeared on its surface which quickly spread out and covered the entire thing. Light started seeping out of the cracks, and before they knew it the carapace already exploded into shreds and brilliantly colorful lights flooded the entire garden. 

From within this majestic colorful light, appeared Myrna's silhouette. 

Her wings unfurled, revealing two pairs of milky white, transparent wings. A beautiful aurora draped onto her slender body as her peerless beauty emerged from a long rest. 

"Mother!"

All Pixies called out in unison, all of them flew towards her and started to fawn over her emergence. Myrna calmed them down and told them about her plan. She already ordered them to pick up their belongings and prepared to migrate. She told Jenny to carry Raven's insignia as she herself searched for him. 

When Myrna laid eyes on Raven, she was a bit shocked. 

He saw him staring at a blank space with an empty look on his face. It seems that he didn't even know what's going on around him. Aina and Aisha started becoming worried since he wasn't responding when they were calling out to him. Aina was about to rush forward but Myrna prevented her from doing so.

"He's fine, child." Myrna stated, "He's just experiencing Enlightenment."

"Enlightenment?" Aina tilted her head in confusion. 

"To put in in simpler terms, he is currently communing with nature." 

"Eh? But he's not a Pixie, so how?"

"Well, humans have a unique way of communing with nature." Myrna replied patiently, "Anyways, it's best to not disturb him. This is a rare chance for humans after all."

"But you told us that we're migrating." Aisha said, "Are we going to leave him alone like this? What if some beast found him after we leave?"

"Oh no!" Aina gasped.

"Don't worry.." Myrna chuckled, "How could I just leave him vulnerable after all that he'd done? I'll give him protection that will last until he wakes up, okay? So don't worry about him and start packing your things."