◆ Interlude Arc: Their Thoughts and Deepening Bonds
◆ Natalia and Celestia
NATALIA Báthory was born within a certain building of the Sacred Kingdom of Rasheed—Fores Research Facility. Her parents were both excellent Otherworld researchers and sorcerers, apparently.
She wasn’t sure. When she was a young child, her parents had crossed the Otherworldly Gates to visit the underworld and had lost their lives. It was a common story within Fores Research Facility. As the facility handled highly confidential information that could be classified as a national secret, one couldn’t leave the place once they became a researcher there. People who became researchers were mostly enamored with the mystical Otherworld, leading to an absurdly low turnover rate. People rarely left the research facility of their own accord.
The facility would get newcomers or new researchers every so often, but no one ever left. A majority of these researchers would lose their lives before they could reach old age anyway.
Some would fall victim to the demons or monsters of the Otherworld, while others would become Seal Masters, using their remaining lifespan to cast magic that could seal a demon’s powers away. Seal Masters usually died from emaciation.
In any case, what was clear was that human lives weren’t valued so highly within Fores Research Facility, and this was where Natalia grew up. She read magical handbooks in lieu of picture books, and alchemy pots and materials became her toys. This childhood had accelerated her magical growth, and by the age of ten, she was so proficient that she was on par with adult sorcerers and alchemists. Employees within the research facility had high hopes for her future.
One day, she noticed staff members whispering about dragging her down to the underworld for exploration when she turned fifteen. I don’t want to go to the underworld to die! Natalia thought to herself. And so, she hatched a plan to escape.
The young girl had been sneaking out to the Sealed Room, hiding away from adults to read the forbidden books. She had secretly witnessed the demons tied up and sealed away, dragons being improved upon (or so the adults claimed), and had even snuck into the heart of the research facility, where the Otherworldly Gate stood. She defeated monsters and used their materials for her alchemy.
Indeed, Natalia had explored every nook and cranny of Fores Research Facility—no one was more knowledgeable about the place than her. By the age of ten, she had lost interest in this space; it was dingy and boring. That was her final verdict about Fores.
The ultimate goal of Fores Research Facility was to explore the Otherworld and learn about life and death. They wanted to know if humans could become immortal. Natalia found it foolish for researchers to lose their lives for such a purpose. Thus, this ten-year-old mounted the magical broom that she’d made from alchemy and escaped Fores with nothing more than the clothes on her back.
People chased after her as she hurtled across the golden sands, hoping to get as far away from Rasheed as possible and aimed for the neighboring kingdom.
She’d only chosen the Astria Kingdom because it seemed easy to live in. The Dystiana Empire had a strong sense of comradery between citizens. They were xenophobic, and Natalia had heard that other races were treated like slaves there. While other nations weren’t as cruel as Dystiana, she knew she’d stand out from the crowd as an outsider. To successfully escape Fores, she had to find a group of people with whom she could blend right in.
Trade flourished in the Astria Kingdom, and many immigrants lived there. Natalia had read that they also boasted numerous immigrants from Rasheed, and different bloodlines would often mingle. And so, the young girl decided to live in the royal capital, the city with the greatest population density. That would surely allow her to melt into the crowd.
However, living alone was no easy feat for a mere ten-year-old girl. Though she excelled in magic and alchemy, putting her above adults, she found it wise to hide her true talents. Thus, she was immediately picked up by a nearby church that was running an orphanage.
Fortunately, the Astrian monarch at the time was sagacious, and he had ordered orphans to be offered generous homes and shelters. Natalia lived among the orphans, hiding herself away.
A few years passed, and the abbess of the church had noticed Natalia’s talent. In order for Natalia to freely use her alchemy and conduct magical research, the young girl was presented with a formerly abandoned two-story house in the middle of the royal capital.
Natalia found Astria’s alchemy to be nothing more than child’s play, but she continued to hide her true talents and made items from alchemy to run her business. She needed the money, after all—without it, she couldn’t survive. She quickly realized that her work didn’t suit her well, but she had no other choice. If she couldn’t put food on the table, she’d die. She may have been the world’s greatest alchemist, but she was still human, and required sustenance to remain alive.
The abbess who gave Natalia her house was still alive during this time and would frequently drop by out of worry. She wanted to check if Natalia was functioning on her own, and the young girl, left with no other choice, did her best. She worked hard, ate and slept well, and lived the life of a normal human.
The years turned into decades, and once the abbess had passed of old age, there was no one left to check up on Natalia. That was her downfall. Natalia, who had gritted her teeth for work that she wasn’t suited for and made alchemy items that were like mere toys to her, found everything to be so silly—pointless.
She once again climbed atop her broom to tour the world. Fores Research Facility had long given up their pursuit, and she was free to do as she wished. She knew that they were likely still researching to achieve their foolish goals, but she never wanted to be associated with them again.
She went around the world, defeated monsters popping out of various Otherworldly Gates, gathered their materials, spotted rare monsters, animals, and plants, and harvested more materials. A few years passed, and she ended up returning to her home in Astria. By this point, Natalia was convinced that she’d seen all the world had to offer and decided to hole herself up in her house.
As a woman, she had turned into a hermit and started researching alchemy, magic, and the Otherworld all by herself. She didn’t have any grand ideals like unraveling the mysteries of the world—she was simply bored.
Though she had no noble cause or specific goal in mind, Natalia was the type to become completely engrossed once she started something. She continued her research, forgetting to eat and sleep, and before she knew it, her store was covered in vines, resembling an abandoned building. The inside of her home looked like a haunted house. But Natalia couldn’t be bothered. She was busy reading every book she could gather across the world, parsing the text written in ancient languages, making new items, and creating even more powerful spells. It was then that she had an epiphany.
Both her world and the Otherworld were gardens created by God. And his name was…
Natalia was facing her desk, her room filled with books, alchemy materials, clothes, scraps of food, dishes, and other knickknacks. But before she could vocalize his name, she abruptly lost consciousness.
Her soul had fallen deep down, into the depths of void.
“You have died,” a voice said, waking her up.
A garden of paradise greeted Natalia. A crystal-clear river flowed, decorated with blooming flowers. The wind that brushed against her carried a pleasant scent. She found herself in a lone temple erected in the middle of nature.
The voice came above a simple altar made from white stone. Natalia was still dressed in a plain, black robe, the same outfit she’d been wearing before she died. She stood up from the stone tiles and glanced around to gauge her surroundings.
“I suppose it’s true that one goes to the Otherworld when they die,” she muttered to herself while crossing her arms. “But why did I die? I wasn’t sick. In fact, I was very healthy, and I’m certainly not old.”
A beautiful lady appeared from above the altar. Behind her was a man emitting an overwhelming aura. The pair wore clothes that seemed far too ostentatious for daily wear. Their garb looked to be from a different nation, and resembled fresh, well-polished armor as though they were off to battle.
The woman had four white wings sprouting from her back, while the man had six.
“You must be angels,” Natalia observed. “According to my research, only the lowest-ranked angels would greet the dead. They didn’t have wings and would look more like remnants of translucent light.”
“Natalia Báthory,” the woman said. “You were engrossed in your research and managed to state the name of God. However, your life ended there. Let’s just say it was due to exhaustion—you didn’t take good care of yourself.” Her gaze held a hint of pity, and for whatever reason, a touch of desperate hope.