Abyssal Awakening-Chapter 956: Monika’s Answers

Alice couldn’t help but massage her temples.

All of this talk about fate... and with her being no doubt connected.

The fact that Yvael was technically still alive but speaking from beyond time...

Then there’s the possibilities that Monika talked about.

The path to heaven, earth and hell.

The ending verse.

Alice didn’t say it but she could feel it.

Everything converging towards one point.

The End.

"Quite a lot to think about isn’t it?" Monika smiled, finishing her tea.

"Just a tad. Is this what you have to deal with all the time? Knowledge approaching the end." Alice glanced down.

"Must be disheartening."

Monika froze.

She wanted to smile like usual. To curve the corner of her lips up as practiced before. To joke and wave it off.

But she was unable to.

Her finger traced the rim of her tea cup.

"Depends on my mood. You see, my existence is unique in its conception. I’m sure you’ve already linked me to Yvael to some extent, right?"

Alice nodded.

"Cogs, knowing her prophecies and other clues I suppose. I don’t know how well you know her but a connection is there."

Monika smiled.

She opened her mouth, about to say something before stopping herself.

Some things are better left unsaid.

"To some extent. Honestly I don’t know how she does it. Seeing all these cogs, all these spoilers. It gets rather tiresome. But enough about me, let’s talk about you. You came to me for a purpose." Monika flicked her finger, pouring herself another cup of tea.

"The exchange will be simple. Depending on how much you want to know, you sip tea equal to the value. Fair?" Monika smiled.

Alice raised her eyebrow.

"For someone who mopes about seeing the future, you sure want to know mine. Isn’t that a little contradictory?"

"What can I say? I don’t like seeing spoilers but~" Monika grinned.

"If it’s a story I’m reading in the moment, I’d want to find out more."

Rolling her eyes, Alice glanced at her reflection in the tea before taking a deep breath.

Since that was the case... she’ll come out of the gate swinging.

"How do I dismantle the Nightmare over Extalia? Take Grand Cathia for example, how do I free them from the constraints?"

Monika hummed, tapping her finger against the table.

"I can tell you. For a price. But once you hear it, I don’t think you would like the answer."

Alice frowned.

"Why?"

"Because dismantling the Nightmare is not the same as dismantling the Zones within the Nightmare. I won’t ask you to take a sip because this is just a warning. You have to think about the king of answer you want to hear and whether or not it’s achievable for the current you." Monika squinted.

"Fine then." Alice sighed. "Then how do I link up with others without dying or drifting deeper into the Nightmare? How do I access branches I haven’t linked to despite having the Guide’s authority?"

Monika thought for a moment before smiling.

She held up three fingers. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Three sips and I’ll tell you."

"Are you sure the answers will be exactly what I want to know? I swear if you say ’I can’t’ after I take these sips." Alice frowned.

"Pft! Oh I wish I could do that. The fury on your face would be amusing to see. But~ You’ve agreed to an exchange haven’t you? A contract of sorts where you receive information in exchange for sips of that tea." Monika asked.

Alice nodded her head.

"Then you don’t need to worry. Because breaking this verbal agreement will cost more than just telling you the truth."

Alice wanted her to clarify but it didn’t seem like Monika was willing to answer.

With no other choice, she took three sips of the tea.

As expected, her body relaxed and energy filled her limbs. She felt as though a portion of her power returned yet at the same time, the sense of unease had only been enhanced.

Monika chuckled.

"First, linking up with others is simple. You don’t need to die or drift deeper in the sense that you become merged with the Nightmare. You simply need to know how to navigate the zones and manipulate the connection points to your advantage." Monika explained.

"As for linking up with branches, same as the above. You have to understand the way space works within the Nightmare. Understand how it folds in on itself. Then, with the Guide’s authority, you link to a coordinate with an existing branch. It’s more sensory than visual.

"Satisfied with the answers, little flame?"

Alice furrowed her brows before nodding her head.

There were more questions spawned from these answers but for the moment, she was satisfied.

"By connection points, I assume you mean similar to the elevator to the northern zone."

"Yep~ During those moments, if you have a clear visage in your mind, you’ll be sent to the same zone as the ones in Grand Cathia. Ah but you have to be careful with where you want to go.

"Once you choose a location, that region is locked unless you use another zone. But~ There is a limit. You have to clear certain bosses to unlock more zones to your disposal."

Alice leaned back. Then there was the situation with the branches. Without knowing how the space works in this realm, it’ll be tough to link to them even with the Guide’s authority.

The only reason why she could link to this room was because Plume created a branch for her rather than sensing this location specifically.

Tapping her fingers, Alice glanced up at Monika who blew her a kiss with a mink.

Alice dodged.

"Next question. I know Nyer is trying to create a god using the Nightmare."

Monika grinned.

"How does he plan to do this? What vessel is he using? And why does he need to encompass the entirety of Extalia?"

"That’s a rather expensive one you asked..." Monika chuckled.

"How expensive?" Alice frowned.

"Several cups worth." Monika replied instantly, causing Alice to almost choke.

"And before you ask why, it’s because the information you gain will no doubt shift the cogs. Take this for example. If you arrive before two doors where one door says death and the other says life. You will no doubt choose life, yes?" Monika asked as Alice nodded.

"But what if the information you gain reveal that life is immorality where you stagnate until your brain ceases to function. You are alive physically but mentally, you are dead. But the door to death is to simply set your life expectancy to 120 years maximum with no changes to how you are currently.

"With that kind of information, you’ll no longer choose the door of life, right? That’s the kind of information we’re dealing with here. Telling you what you want to know will cut off certain options. And this will no doubt be costly. For both you and me." Monika shrugged.

"What about omission?" Alice asked.

"What if you only tell me partial stuff-"

Monika leaned forward, placing a finger on Alice’s lips.

"That kind of thought is exactly what the cogs hate. They hate half assed attempts at circumventing their rules. And that’s the kind of action that earns you chains you can’t break free from." Monika warned.

"Even if I omit certain information, you can still make educated guesses with them. And that, will make your choices biased."

"But aren’t you doing the same by seeing the cogs and making adjustments to achieve results you want?" Alice frowned, feeling as though Monika was being a little unfair.

"That’s because I can see it. I can see what my actions would trigger. If the blade will cut my head off or if it’ll take long enough for me to dodge out of the way. I can see the cogs so I play within their rules when it demands. But when I can get away with a tiny bit of mischief, I do so.

"But that’s no without cost. Since my mischief will mean I have to be a complete bystander to certain events, even if they’re bad. And if I try to stop it, the cogs WILL find a way to make it worse and make it unavoidable. A dead end let’s say." Monika laughed.

Despite the nature of this topic, her tone was joyful.

Insane almost.

There was always a trade when it came to power like this.

And since that was the case... Alice had no choice but to give up on getting answers on Nyer for now.

"Next question then. I know the Zenia family is involved. What do they hope to gain out of this? I know they are now trying to take over Extalia even with the Royal family involved."

"Hmm... This one’s a hard one. The Zenia family can’t be considered as a unified group. The people in there all have different goals and methods of obtaining what they want. The real question is who’s goal do you want to know about?" Monika smiled.

Even though this Nightmare is involved with the Zenia family, it’s mostly the work of Nyer and a few others.

The rest of the members had their own purpose within the Nightmare, not outside of it.

Alice folded her arms.

There were two core members whom she wanted to know the objectives of.

Her father and...

The Doctor.

Her father she wanted to guess that it’s probably from grief. The chances of this is high.

But the Doctor was a mystery.

"What does the Doctor hope to gain out of this?" Alice frowned.

Monika pointed at the tea cup.

"Not a sip, but the rest of that cup." Monika chuckled.

"Because what he wants to achieve is something that’ll earn him a set of black chains around his limbs."