A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Her eyes were still wet with unshed tears, while her expression was one of sorrow and misery. Yet, there was no struggle. Instead, her eyes showed determination. Clearly, she made a decision of some sort.

"That was faster than expected," Erik said softly, aware that the others were still sleeping. He remained calm, as he felt no threat from Eira. Not to mention that Elora would have warned him if that were the case.

She didn't seem surprised at his sudden awakening, and kept looking at him sadly. "I don't like… how you're forcing me in this position." Lost hopes were breaking her voice a little. "I— I hoped we would get along, work together, and… trust each other."

"That's what I want as well, Eira," he nodded slowly. "But trust isn't so easily earned. It takes time that I don't believe we have. And even if I did trust you, I still wouldn't trust Audumla."

Eira nodded with downcast eyes and remained quiet for a moment, as if thinking about how her next words. She looked up again, "I think Mistress would want me to prioritize getting you to search for her, and accept the space affinity over any other things she may have told me."

"So…" she continued, drawing out the word as if attempting to cautiously approach her next words, poking and prodding them before actually give them a voice. "I'll do whatever you want, even— even disobey Mistress in other ways so long as those two things remain true."

Erik stared at her for a moment, contemplating the fact that she seemed to have come to this decision faster than he expected. It couldn't have been more than a few hours since he went to sleep. He realized that she was either more desperate, or more autonomous than he had expected.

But he needed her to be sure. He couldn't have her change her mind along the way. So he asked her calmly, "Are you sure? I understand this is a big decision for you."

She stared at him with all the determination her floating body could conjure up, and then nodded. "I don't like it, and I— I don't like you very much for making me do it, but… I'm sure. Although I don't know how exactly you want to solve this?"

"Let's talk somewhere else," he smiled softly at her. Then he carefully woke up Emily, and told her to keep an eye on the others, because she could stay in contact with him through the Bond of Service. The chance that this was all a ruse to get him away from the others wasn't lost on him, however small that chance was. Stay informed with m-vl-em,py-r

After getting Emily's agreement, he carefully slipped out of bed, and made his way into the living room, followed by Eira. He was currently wearing some simple, comfortable clothing that were, for once, not conjured by Elora, as she was still trying to stay hidden.

He took a seat on one of the luxurious sofa's and turned his gaze to Eira, who still looked devastatingly seductive, cute, and formidable, all at once, by wearing a martial outfit in the form of short brown pants and a gold-metal bra.

With Eira simply continuing to stare at him with part sorrow and part frustration, Erik decided to simply start talking. "I currently see two ways for us to continue.

One, you help me dislodge this structure from the dimension. We'll place it above ground where the elevator is, there's plenty of empty space, and no one actually comes there. With the structure gone, my concerns will be as well, so I'll absorb the dimension, we'll train here as your guests for a while, and then we'll leave in search of Audumla."

That last part wasn't exactly true, but it was close enough.

"Two," he continued, "you hand over control of this place to someone else. Someone I know won't be influenced by Audumla, if it ever comes to that. Afterwards, the rest happens the same as before."

Halfway through his first proposal, Eira had already hung her head low while crystal tears fell from her eyes and shattered into specks of light. When he was done, she softly sobbed. "I— I am a part of this place, I… need a medium to exist in. Giving up control would be the same as death. You're… asking me to choose between abandonment and death."

Erik didn't say, nor indicate anything. He simply looked at her hanging head and falling tears calmly. He wanted to see the choice she would make.

Not hearing any response from Erik, Eira trembled softly. She lifted her head to look at Erik with the gaze of someone who had lost all hope. "Fine… it's not like I hadn't expected something like this. Let it be death, then," she said with the calm tone of someone who just didn't care anymore.

Erik was actually a little shocked to see the level of despair and anguish he saw in her eyes.

But this was good. It would make her more likely to accept his next proposal. After all, he didn't really want her to die.

"As I understand it," he began slowly, "you currently exist in a sigil core, correct? Removing the core from the structure would not kill you, it would merely render you unconscious inside the core."

To Erik's surprise, some anger now started seeping into Eira's gaze.

He wasn't surprised by her anger, just that it had taken so long for her to get angry at him. He liked her anger, however. I was more proof that she was a sentient being.

"And so what?!" she exclaimed. "Without another medium to bond with, the core will quickly start to degrade, and then I'll die anyway! It will just take a little longer! There's no way you'll get me to Mistress before it degrades completely!"

"Probably not," Erik nodded slightly, before transitioning into a sly grin. "So then we just need to find you a new medium right here."

"You don't think I would have told you if such a thing where here?!" she glared at him, her anger rising by the second. "Stop trying to find ways to ease your guilt over asking for my death! I've already accepted it, now deal with it!"

Her current expression was a far cry from anything Erik had seen her make before. It intrigued him, but had to admit to preferring the way she was before.

"I don't want you dead, Eira," Erik said while shaking his head. "In fact, in return for giving up control of this place, I want to fulfill your wish. If there is no medium here, then we simply have to create one."

His words seemed to shock Eira partly back to her previous self, as she blinked and anger left her gaze. "M— My wish? Create… a medium…? B— But how? Y— You'd need at least a third-tier artisan of some kind to create the medium, and at least a third-tier sigil crafter to safely transfer my core into a new setting. W— Where could we possibly find those here?"

Erik broke into a wide grin as he looked at the shocked Eira. "Actually…"