Chapter 258: There Is Still Hope
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hilda had already been dead for about a month... This revelation left Hao Ren and even the astute Y'zaks speechless for a good part of the day. No one had any inkling that the Hilda, who was with them the entire time was a mere husk driven by sheer determination. Recalling the way Hilda had acted and reacted back then, it was very difficult to believe that she was already dead the moment she entered The Plane of Dreams. Despite that, the truth was in front of them. Hilda's spirit had just left her mortal shell entirely and the remnants of her spiritual imprint revealed that her spirit started decaying about 20 odd days ago.
One could only say that Hilda's will and determination defied death. She herself was not aware of the fact that she had died.
Hao Ren was thoroughly overwhelmed by the confusion in his head. At that moment, not knowing how to face Vimm or the elves waiting for them to show up, Raven 12345's voice suddenly rang in his mind. "Yo, Hao Ren... If my calculations are correct... it should be about time."
Hao Ren suddenly realised that he had brought Hilda to meet Raven before. The rather ominous way Raven went about it meant something was clearly up. "You knew about Hilda's situation?!"
"Ah, yes I did. Seems like whatever that's left of her life force is totally spent." Raven12345 sounded calm, but in her calmness, there was a slight shred of lamentation. "What an incredible mortal being... I noticed that the first time I saw her. She was drifting between the realm of life and death. Seems like she had already died when she came to The Plane of Dreams, but her spirit forcefully forgot the fact that she was dead, and held on till today."
As a goddess, it was almost unsurprising that Raven 12345 had seen through all of it. Hao Ren could not suppress his emotions anymore and yelled at her, "Why didn't you say so earlier!?"
Raven 12345 demurred for a moment before slowly speaking again. "You know... the words of a god are powerful."
Hao Ren was perplexed, but Raven12345 did not appear to be fooling around this time around. "I did notice what was going on with her from the first glance. However, she was a mere ghost that was driven by determination alone and her existance was more fragile than a candle in the wind. Under those circumstances, if I had mentioned anything about her death, regardless of where her ghost was, she would have been immediately wiped out by the laws of the world. This is the power of a god's word. Even if I had held back she would not have been able to withstand it in her current state. Besides, there's a reason why I did not tell any of you either. I was worried that anyone of you may blurt it out by accident and cause the same effect. Why I'm telling you now... is because her life force has been thoroughly spent. A spirit in flux will not die again."
"Do you have anyway to save her?" Hao Ren refused to believe that Raven did not have such powers.
"Oh, I sure do. Else why do you think I'm contacting you now." It was clear now that Raven 12345's appearance was not for fun. "Actually, I had embedded her body with some sort of power and I'm just waiting for it to trigger. Just to be sure though... When that elven space-time accelerator exploded, was there anything that remained?"
"Umm... There should be something left..." Hao Ren had no idea why Raven 12345 brought that up. "Does it have anything to do with this?"
"Of course. Part of Hilda's spirit should still be in the ruins." Raven 12345 then started to elaborate on the situation. "The first time I saw the elf, I noticed that her spirit was torned apart. That's the most direct cause of her death. Her body only had a fragment of her spirit and part of her memory while the rest were missing. My assumption is that it should be where she died. As there is no need to sustain her body, that portion of her spirit is probably still around. The reason I did not intervene when I met her was because of her incomplete spirit, and any outside intervention would have simply made things worse . Now, you need to bring her back to where the space-time accelerator exploded in order to completely revive her. I left some power in her, and it will keep her spirit bound to her even after it has dissipated. If you are able to find the other part of her spirit, this power will reunite the fragments of her spirit and make it whole again."
"It's that simple?"
"Nonsense. You already have me, your benevolent goddess, lending you a hand. Of course it'll be simple." Raven 12345 was reluctant in maintaining her image as a goddess even when she was performing the duties of one. Her true self was revealed the moment she spoke. "Let me tell you, most of the time, I wouldn't even be bothered by things like this. But this elf, Hilda did something that was beyond most mortals, and I have to reward her for that. Let's get things going, time is ticking. There may be nothing left if we delay this further. The day of salvation is not far for these elves, and their queen needs to be there with them."
Hao Ren nodded in agreement before something popped up in his head. "Wait... I heard Vimm saying that after the explosion, the Isle of Rainbows was pretty much annihilated. What if her spirit isn't among the shattered remains of the island?
"Then you will need to navigate along the island's orbit to look for her. That's all."
As usual, Raven 12345 cut off the comms nonchalantly. Hao Ren stood there, stunned for a moment before he regained his senses. He took a glance at Hilda's body and he was not sure if he was seeing things or it was Raven 12345's power taking effect; he vaguely saw a faint silhouette beside her. Before he could take a better look however, the silhouette disappeared.
He pondered for a moment, after which he took up the communicator. "Vivian, you there?"
There was silence from the other end. Shorty after, Vivian's flustered voice was heard as she fumbled about the device. "Ehh... ehh? Where's the button? Ehh... Ah, Mr. Landlord, I'm here. Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear." Hao Ren sighed. "Things over here have gotten a bit complicated. Go look for Vimm and get him on the ship. Oh, only him alone....The situation here may cause panic...."
Vivian could tell from Hao Ren's tone that the situation was rather serious. She proceeded to look for the prince regent without asking any further. Well, it did not take much effort to convince Vimm to get on the Petrachelys. While the young elf was indeed royalty, he trusted the guests that his mother had brought along, and these guests had promised the elves a new, fertile home. So, the moment he heard that Hao Ren had summoned him, he came over immediately and by himself as per Vivian's instruction.
Vimm did not have the time to marvel at the interior of the high-tech ship. He was immediately ushered into the medical bay by the ship's droids together with Vivian and Lily in tow.
As he stepped into the room, the first thing he saw was Hilda. She was laying on the medi-chamber, appearing to be in a deep sleep.
"What is..." Vimm was too startled for words. Hao Ren, fearing that any misunderstandings might occur, went ahead and clarified. "Uh... don't worry, don't worry... it's just that your mum's dead..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Hao Ren wanted to bash his face in. He literally had no control of his mouth the moment he became anxious. He had wanted to slowly explain everything to Vimm, but "your mum's dead" pretty much set the tone already...
"Don't panic... The thing is..." Hao Ren pinched his thigh to clear his mind. "Actually... your mother had already..."
It took a few minutes for Hao Ren to explain everything. The young elf's expression went from shock, to agitated and lastly, utter confusion. But thankfully, he stayed calm throughout the process and listened intently.
"Is.... this true?" Vimm carefully approached Hilda. He put his finger in front of her nose before retracting it as though he got hit by static shock. He then turned back to Hao Ren with a confused look. "Mother was still..."
"...Regardless of whether you believe it or not, we need you to bring us to the remains of the Isle of Rainbows." Hao Ren broke Vimm's train of thought with a wave of his hand. "I know this is a bit too much to swallow at the moment, but now is not the time to reassess your world view. I know you have much to ask, but I ask you to hold all of it in first."
Vimm could only nod solemnly.