Unable to get away, the collar was forcefully attached to my neck. Its form soon smoothed over, covering the latch and preventing removal. The sudden trauma to my neck knocked me down to my knees. A mind-splitting headache appeared suddenly, attacking every cell in my brain.
"See feels good to have his gaze always on you, right?"
"No! Ahhh!"
A flurry of screams echoed throughout the valley around us. No matter how much I tried to shake the headache off, the pain only increased. The collar stayed stuck to my neck, defying my strength.
My view of the surrounding lilac and golden fields was quickly fading into black. Soon, not a single petal remained. Oddly enough, I wasn't unconscious. I was just blinded, still able to move my limbs.
My vision soon returned, but it wasn't showing what it had a moment before. Instead, an empty throne room now stood in the meadow's place. A single girl of small stature sat lazily on the throne, eating a handful of grapes.
She soon hopped off the throne and jogged over to me. Her six gleaming white wings drew my attention. The wings dwarfed her small size, easily tripling it.
"Interesting. My band has rejected someone and has transported their mind to my throne, how odd. This was a thing I set up as a line of defence, not something I would actually expect to happen."
Her azure, messy hair soon appeared directly in front of my vision. She tilted her head slightly. I saw the curious eyes of a child peering down at me. Intrigue and hesitation ran wild in her gaze. She hadn't decided what to do with me.
"Ickni?"
"He, he. You called me my name to my face. You are definitely not from around here, are you? But I suppose it's a pleasant change from just being the Custodian, such a dull name."
Ickni grabbed hold of the sacred band, which was tightly fixed around my neck.
"112247, Break."
With her words, the band scattered into multiple pieces, freeing my mind from its endless assault.
"Thank you."
"It would have broken anyway. It was unable to chain whatever power slumbers within you, so it tried to kill you instead. If you can't be controlled, then you should just die, in my opinion. But I'll permit your existence for now. Something interests me about you."
Ickni's hideous laughter drowned out all positive thoughts forming around her. An unsettling anxiety crept over my mind before my vision returned to the surrounding meadows.
"Ehhhh?! It broke? Hey! Stop looking at me like that!"
"Stop shouting, have no respect for my ears! And why didn't you tell me you are ruled by a child!"
"Huh… Child? What do you mean? The almighty custodian leads us, not some child. Did the sacred band take the rest of your intelligence alongside it?"
"Have you ever seen your beloved custodian?"
"Of course not. I'm only a Second String; only First and Divine Strings have the right to request an audience with the Custodian. I'm not worthy of my beloved custodian's gaze yet."
Lilia briefly succumbed to her lust and admiration for the custodian, who appeared as a child. Despite not knowing Ickni's childlike form, Lilia still experienced these feelings, which made her a creep.
"Stop rubbing up against your spear, you pervert! Go away!"
Swiftly picking myself up from the ground, I began to walk away from the pervert. Keeping my head down and my pace brisk, I aimed to clear as much distance as possible while she was still lost in her fantasies. The memories of Ickni were still fresh in my mind. I kept seeing the hideous grin on her face, replaying over and over, causing terror and anxiety to dance along my nerves.
The shimmering lances hovered above me, dwarfing me with their immense size. They emanated a shining light, serving as a beacon to my location. They sat idly, following my every move, awaiting a command or any sign of immediate danger.
However, their threat-detection skills seemed terrible, not even moving an inch when Lilia forcefully put the collar of Ickni around my neck.
"Tskk."
"Why so gloomy, wingless? Is it because our great custodian rejected you? I'm truly sorry, just blame it on that poor intellect of yours."
We started to walk towards the giant citadel looming in the distance, but my attempts to shake off Liliac were in vain. Her wings made her much faster than me, and I was unable to get away. I just returned to my normal pace, accepting her annoying presence.
"Why won't you leave me alone? You were just calling me vermin a moment ago. What's with the change?"
"Well, even if you are wingless, I can't abandon a clearly mentally deficient angel in their time of need, can I?
"I'm not mentally deficient!"
"Oh, don't be so angry. You clearly don't have it so bad. These spears of light are quite powerful and act as sentries. But I've never seen such a spell before. Do you have an Edict of Light, or is it something else?"
"Um, I don't know what that is."
"Stop being so dense. You must have hit your head. Everyone knows what an Edict is, even the wingless pests."
Lilia didn't believe that I didn't know what an Edict was. She brushed it off as a joke, waiting for me to correct myself. She stared into my eyes, expecting an answer I couldn't give.
"Could you just enlighten my stupidity then?"
While I didn't want to go along with Lilia's train of thought that I was stupid and lesser, if it helped me find more about this world, then I would just have to bear her remarks.
"Ugh, fine, I guess you are lesser after all. An edict is a medium for your power within you. There are many edicts, around 8 in total. Depending on the colour of your soul and your personality, you'll receive an edict that corresponds to it. From those spears of light, you most likely have an edict of light or creation."
While her little retorts are extremely annoying, I listened dutifully to her explanation, soaking in all the knowledge within her words.
"Here's an example of an Edict, look at my left hand."
I did as she asked. On her left hand was an elaborate mark, almost like a tattoo. Its design was much more detailed than any tattoo I'd ever seen. Its form mimicked a roaring phoenix soaring through the sky, surrounded by a sea of flames.
Its black colour began to glow scarlet. It slowly emitted steam and traces of flame. The flames whirled in the air and gathered in her palm. A small fireball swirled serenely in her grasp, completely under her control.
"Wow, I've never seen anything like that. It's amazing."
The fireball was very familiar. It was common in fantasy books and TV shows from Earth. But despite this, seeing it in person still amazed me. It was much more intriguing than watching or reading about it.
"So you have an Edict of Flames, or Fire then, Lilia?"
"Pretty cool, right? While that's a good guess, it isn't exactly what my Edict is."
"Huh?"
"All Edicts revolve around the key concepts and constellations of this world: Stars, Moon, Nature, and Light. My Edict actually uses the power of the Sun to create the flames you see in my hands."
"So it is fire then? The Sun is just a big ball of fire, so I'm actually right."
"No! It is the Sun, not some lowly fire. The Sun is a vast, proud ball of pride and honour, don't compare it to some little spark."
I didn't respond to her declaration, rolling my eyes. I increased my pace, trying to shake the annoyance off me.
Panicking, she flew to catch up after my sudden retreat. She had been too busy with her insults to notice I had even left. Her expression was now filled with worry and slight annoyance at my actions.
"Are you stupid or something?"
"What!?"
"How do you expect to get to Grandheart on foot? It would take days to cross this area. If you ask me, you should beg me to carry me there. If you don't, you'll die of exhaustion in these lands. You won't get a break with the forsaken lurking in the shadows."