Lia was sitting alone at the edge of the lake, watching the image of the full moon mirrored on its calm surface. It was only a day after they were brought out of the crumbling sub-realm before it completely fell apart, parts of it being swallowed by No-Space. Reyra didn't ask anything at first, only glancing around the destruction, scooping up everyone and bringing them out at once. Only when everyone was accounted for and checked did the questioning start. Lia told everything to her, leaving out nothing, not even the most minute detail she could remember. Reyra never once interrupted, letting her talk, and after listening to everybody else, she returned to her daughter.
"I'll tell the rest of the Six… rest for now."
But she couldn't. Too many things whirled inside her mind to fall asleep or to feel she could rest in any way, shape, or form. The days they spent inside only amounted to less than 24 hours in the outside world. As soon as Reyra was informed, she hurried here to break into it, knowing full well that time was unpredictable if No-Space was involved.
"Souls…" Lia murmured, to herself, remembering what Rose told them, how she saw the world. Were the Undead… really dead? Or were they controlled by something... somebody? Was the Intelligent version of them somebody who had the power to control the dead? Was Rose one? Or… what was that look in the little girl's eyes at the end? That was… not there before. Not before that… thing flew into her. "Was it a soul…?" She asked herself, but nobody was there to answer… or she thought.
"Lia Amarin." A voice called to her, making Lia fall forward, turning around with her heart beating in her throat as she saw a naked, blonde woman materializing from nowhere. She was strangely transparent, and as she looked at her with her blue eyes, Lia had a strange feeling; she had seen her somewhere once before.
"Who…?" She asked, trying to figure out if she should attack or not… although she was sure if it would be an Undead, Reyra would already be here. Looking at the camp for a moment, a few hundred meters away, there was no movement, remaining peaceful and silent.
“My name is Somia Marduk.”
"...!" She realized at once why she was so familiar. She read about her and saw her pictures in those books Lucian made her study from. "The bracelet!" She looked at it, and Somia raised an eyebrow in surprise, nodding. "Your voice! You are the System!"
"I was right." Somia nodded, sitting down next to her.
"A-about?" Lia scrambled back to a sitting position, looking at her, having so many questions.
"That it is time to fill you in… about what is an Undead."
"Were you in with us… no, you couldn't be." She answered her own question, "The bracelets were not working."
"Correct. I warned the Headmaster, who in turn called your mother."
"Are they souls?" Lia asked, ignoring her explanation, going straight into the questions she wanted answers for.
"Yes. They are a force from ancient times, way before our own. They live beyond No-Space."
"Beyond No-Space…" Lia repeated, "That is why all the Undead retreat into Sub-Realms? Into broken ones? To get into No-Space? So they could return… there? Did you find that place?"
"Yes." She answered all of that with one word.
"So what I saw… was not a mirage?"
"No. When a strong enough soul uses their spells, even normal beings can see them. Their strength differs greatly, but most of their mages are… weak."
"They are the ones… controlling the… simple Undead?"
"You are quick." Somia replied with a satisfied smile, "The simple ones you don't need to worry about. They are not really coherent. The dangerous ones are those who retain their intelligence. They can use their knowledge and can share it too... without talking."
"Can they use multiple bodies… at once?" Lia asked, her brows furrowed, and when Somia nodded, she realized it. "That is why if one of them escaped, the next time every other knew about the mage's powers? Was it the same soul but in a different body? And he told about it to the others?"
"Yes. To both."
"And if we… kill him? Or her? The one I killed… is she… still alive somewhere?"
"No. Controlling such a beast requires the whole soul to be present. One is not nearly enough... I was listening to your retellings. She had to have multiple others with her, but she was the main focus point. I don't think even their twelve strongest could have puppeteered the body of Azurat. It is a shame he was captured by them and used like this… but we expected it since discovering what happened at this lake."
"We?" Lia asked.
"Erias. Your ancestor was the first who said he was sure they took Azurat's body away. The important part is the girl. It is good she died."
"WHAT?!" Lia stood up at once, breathing heavily, raising her voice, and watching her with evident anger in her eyes.
"You saw her eyes." Somia continued calmly, unbothered, "You did well. The moment some other discovers her, she would be taken over at once... She could not survive into adulthood, not when the Second Dark Age is upon us."
"..."
"I will tell you what nobody else knows, only Erias, Me, and now… You."
"..."
"Please. Sit." She pointed at the grass next to her, and Lia slowly lowered her butt, yet her breathing barely got slower or calmer. Too many things were bubbling up and down in her head right now to make any sense of it, so she simply decided to listen. "Their strong mages… cultivators as they call them, can occupy multiple bodies at once and control them independently. They are able to split their souls and send them down individually. Essentially, they are clones of the original, completely autonomous. Of course, their powers are also diminished but not enough to not be extremely dangerous for anyone meeting one."
While listening, Lia crossed her arms, focusing her mismatched eyes on Somia's figure. She was about to open her mouth, but Somia continued, answering her without waiting for the question.
"If you kill one, that is only a fragment; two things can happen. First, that part of the soul escapes, returning to its source, and after rejoining, it delivers all its memories to the host. Two, you kill the soul along with the body. The latter is the best option as it weakens the main soul."
"My fire…" She murmured, and Somia nodded.
"Yes. Your combined elements have the strange ability to hurt their souls. It is the best weapon against them because if you kill an Undead, you kill it for good. It won't return later on. Of course, other mages can do the same, but for that, they need to exercise great strength and a powerful spell to obliterate the body and soul at the same time! Below Three Ri, I don't think it is possible to damage the soul, no matter what type of spells you use… except for you." She pointed at Lia.
“The eyes… their eyes… Rose…” She murmured, trying to put her thoughts into words.
"It is special, yes. We don't know the true details, but what Erias uncovered is that they transform their souls to be capable of living without a body. They can transfer it from body to body, essentially becoming immortal. During this transformation, their hair turns white and their eyes green, and they gain the special ability to see, interact and influence souls. Rose had that gift from birth. It is extremely rare, but it is said that their techniques can only be truly performed to their fullest if the user has the natural born ability to see spirits."
"Like Rose…"
"Yes. The rest are… simply mimicking the real one. Their training slowly modifies their perceptions; it is not like being born with it. That is… the sole privilege of the one leading them. He is the only one who we know has the eyes since birth."
"Their leader? How strong he is?" Lia asked
"Erias recons; he couldn't fight him one-on-one."
"..." Lia wanted to ask something but gulped it back, then it hit him. Erias was not dead.
"Yes, he is at their side." Somia said, looking into her eyes, "It was only his body that died; his soul is still strong, stuck in their end. But don't worry, he is stronger now than when he was part of Meriath."
“I… I see…”
"He has a plan, but he is being pursued for now."
"By that… master?"
"No." Somia shook her head, "By one of his disciples, but don't worry! He can look after himself. You need to focus on this part of the battle! They will come down no… they already came down in big numbers. They are amongst us once again."
"We need to warn everybody!" She stood up, but Somia shook her head.
"The warning went out a long time ago. You can do nothing about that. You need to focus on surviving, and I am telling all of this to you so you understand that your fire is most important! You need to lead the resistance when you are finally ready for it! You must grow strong and powerful like your ancestor and kill as many Undead as possible! That would weaken them on the other side!"
"I will! I am going to kill any that I meet!"
"Mhm. Also, you have to keep this a secret. You can't tell anyone! Not even your mother."
"W-what? Why?!" Lia spun around, facing her with a dumbfounded look.
"Souls are a complicated thing." After mulling over for a moment, she answered, "All of the Six Houses, all their bloodlines are marked. Anytime they die, their souls are fished out by them, and their bodies are prime targets to be occupied. When they get their souls, they can read all their memories, from birth until their death! If they learn we knew as much as we do, that would jeopardize Erias's plans and also make sure they do something drastic… we are afraid of mutual destruction, Lia… If they decide it is a lost cause, they may destroy the whole Realm if they can't have it!"
"...!" Lia gasped, feeling her chest tightening, "Wouldn't that destroy… everything? Even themselves?"
"Do you understand now? We can't risk it. Not when we have a chance of defeating them! Those souls which can grow strong, something they really fancy, they fish them out after their death and recruit them… The weaker souls simply get brainwashed and made to serve them. You can see it with those who call themselves 'necromancers' and the like."
"Like Olivia's family?"
"Yes." She nodded, "They were also corrupted and recruited into their fold. We are sure they gave them multiple hundred fresh souls and new disciples by the time we discovered what they were doing. The same people who will now come back, occupying bodies and puppeteering the Undead Hordes."
"..."
"Only those souls who can also walk No-Space freely can resist their pull." She looked into her eyes, "That is why I am telling you all this. Even if you die… you will be able to destroy your own soul while passing on. Before they get you."
"Wait…!" She turned a bit white.
“It is a must, Lia Amarin. If I ever get caught, I will do the same. Or… are you thinking of switching sides?"
"No! NEVER!" She flared up; even some crimson embers flew off the end of her hair.
"Good. Then if you ever die, don't let them get your soul! The rest… can do nothing about it... They wouldn't be wholly conscious of resisting."
"Does the Silly Fox… know about this?" She asked after calming down a little.
"Not everything. He knows only about me, about Erias, and a few other things. I would not share this much with you either if you were not like Erias."
"I am… like him?" She asked, and she couldn't tell if she was happy about it or not.
"Yes. It seems, in every Dark Ages, one like him do appear…." She smiled, her voice sounding light and curious as she was checking out Lia.
"What if I tell this to others?"
"You can." Somia shrugged, "Nobody prevents you from doing so… go ahead if you want to risk it. If you feel sure enough that the one you tell this won't die, her or his soul won't be scoured for information, and the Undead will not be surprised that we know so much about them... then... Be. My. Guest." And with that, she was gone.
"Ah…" Lia flinched, clearly feeling Somia was annoyed by the end of her monologue. Looking down at her bracelet, it even went inactive, and she couldn't access it. "What a child!" She grumbled, puffing up her cheeks, grumbling.
"Says who?" A new voice arrived at once.
"Mom!" Lia jumped, turning around and seeing Reyra descend from the skies, looking worriedly at her daughter. "Nothing… I was… I just… I was thinking." She stuttered, trying to say something.
"Come here…" Reyra waved, hugging Lia, who was more than a head taller by now. "It wasn't your fault…"
"..." Lia couldn't help but lose her voice at once and felt tears appearing in her eyes, immediately remembering Rose.
"There is… another thing."
"Y-yes, Mom?"
"That small girl's parents."
"Ah…"
"They are here."
"What?!" She gasped, releasing Reyra.
"They want to speak with you. I said I would ask you… if you don't want…"
"I… I will!" She steeled herself, wiping her eyes, "They deserve to know…"
"I see." Her mother nodded, patting her back. "Come… letting it out will help… I'll come with you."
"T-thanks…"
"Sssh!" Reyra chuckled, patting her hand, "I am your mother! One more 'thanks' and I will spank you!"
Corty
Hey-ho, Dear Readers! I hope the week went well for you all and I did not piss off most of you with what happened with Rose. ( •_•) Hauh... Sorry about that... (╯•﹏•╰) Now... I totally forgot to post the images of Rinzen as she won the swimsuit competition~! But... it is better to be late than never, yes? I made a lot, so instead of posting them individually, here is the link to the album:
https://imgur.com/a/Z4zgIIA
Edit:
As it turns out, you need an Imgur account to see the album, here is an alternate album link:
https://ibb.co/album/WVDz5L
Sorry about that!
Oh, and one another thing!
This chapter uses "align left," as I received a comment that by using "justify," it is hard to read on mobile. Please, in the poll below, tell me what I should do. If you want to read it like this from now on, vote "left," or if you want it as before, vote "justify!" If the left wins, I will retroactively go back and edit all the chapters! Thank you for the feedback; I am always looking to improve your reading experience so you can have fun with my stories~!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Lia was sitting alone at the edge of the lake, watching the image of the full moon mirrored on its calm surface. It was only a day after they were brought out of the crumbling sub-realm before it completely fell apart, parts of it being swallowed by No-Space. Reyra didn't ask anything at first, only glancing around the destruction, scooping up everyone and bringing them out at once. Only when everyone was accounted for and checked did the questioning start. Lia told everything to her, leaving out nothing, not even the most minute detail she could remember. Reyra never once interrupted, letting her talk, and after listening to everybody else, she returned to her daughter.
"I'll tell the rest of the Six… rest for now."
But she couldn't. Too many things whirled inside her mind to fall asleep or to feel she could rest in any way, shape, or form. The days they spent inside only amounted to less than 24 hours in the outside world. As soon as Reyra was informed, she hurried here to break into it, knowing full well that time was unpredictable if No-Space was involved.
"Souls…" Lia murmured, to herself, remembering what Rose told them, how she saw the world. Were the Undead… really dead? Or were they controlled by something... somebody? Was the Intelligent version of them somebody who had the power to control the dead? Was Rose one? Or… what was that look in the little girl's eyes at the end? That was… not there before. Not before that… thing flew into her. "Was it a soul…?" She asked herself, but nobody was there to answer… or she thought.
"Lia Amarin." A voice called to her, making Lia fall forward, turning around with her heart beating in her throat as she saw a naked, blonde woman materializing from nowhere. She was strangely transparent, and as she looked at her with her blue eyes, Lia had a strange feeling; she had seen her somewhere once before.
"Who…?" She asked, trying to figure out if she should attack or not… although she was sure if it would be an Undead, Reyra would already be here. Looking at the camp for a moment, a few hundred meters away, there was no movement, remaining peaceful and silent.
“My name is Somia Marduk.”
"...!" She realized at once why she was so familiar. She read about her and saw her pictures in those books Lucian made her study from. "The bracelet!" She looked at it, and Somia raised an eyebrow in surprise, nodding. "Your voice! You are the System!"
"I was right." Somia nodded, sitting down next to her.
"A-about?" Lia scrambled back to a sitting position, looking at her, having so many questions.
"That it is time to fill you in… about what is an Undead."
"Were you in with us… no, you couldn't be." She answered her own question, "The bracelets were not working."
"Correct. I warned the Headmaster, who in turn called your mother."
"Are they souls?" Lia asked, ignoring her explanation, going straight into the questions she wanted answers for.
"Yes. They are a force from ancient times, way before our own. They live beyond No-Space."
"Beyond No-Space…" Lia repeated, "That is why all the Undead retreat into Sub-Realms? Into broken ones? To get into No-Space? So they could return… there? Did you find that place?"
"Yes." She answered all of that with one word.
"So what I saw… was not a mirage?"
"No. When a strong enough soul uses their spells, even normal beings can see them. Their strength differs greatly, but most of their mages are… weak."
"They are the ones… controlling the… simple Undead?"
"You are quick." Somia replied with a satisfied smile, "The simple ones you don't need to worry about. They are not really coherent. The dangerous ones are those who retain their intelligence. They can use their knowledge and can share it too... without talking."
"Can they use multiple bodies… at once?" Lia asked, her brows furrowed, and when Somia nodded, she realized it. "That is why if one of them escaped, the next time every other knew about the mage's powers? Was it the same soul but in a different body? And he told about it to the others?"
"Yes. To both."
"And if we… kill him? Or her? The one I killed… is she… still alive somewhere?"
"No. Controlling such a beast requires the whole soul to be present. One is not nearly enough... I was listening to your retellings. She had to have multiple others with her, but she was the main focus point. I don't think even their twelve strongest could have puppeteered the body of Azurat. It is a shame he was captured by them and used like this… but we expected it since discovering what happened at this lake."
"We?" Lia asked.
"Erias. Your ancestor was the first who said he was sure they took Azurat's body away. The important part is the girl. It is good she died."
"WHAT?!" Lia stood up at once, breathing heavily, raising her voice, and watching her with evident anger in her eyes.
"You saw her eyes." Somia continued calmly, unbothered, "You did well. The moment some other discovers her, she would be taken over at once... She could not survive into adulthood, not when the Second Dark Age is upon us."
"..."
"I will tell you what nobody else knows, only Erias, Me, and now… You."
"..."
"Please. Sit." She pointed at the grass next to her, and Lia slowly lowered her butt, yet her breathing barely got slower or calmer. Too many things were bubbling up and down in her head right now to make any sense of it, so she simply decided to listen. "Their strong mages… cultivators as they call them, can occupy multiple bodies at once and control them independently. They are able to split their souls and send them down individually. Essentially, they are clones of the original, completely autonomous. Of course, their powers are also diminished but not enough to not be extremely dangerous for anyone meeting one."
While listening, Lia crossed her arms, focusing her mismatched eyes on Somia's figure. She was about to open her mouth, but Somia continued, answering her without waiting for the question.
"If you kill one, that is only a fragment; two things can happen. First, that part of the soul escapes, returning to its source, and after rejoining, it delivers all its memories to the host. Two, you kill the soul along with the body. The latter is the best option as it weakens the main soul."
"My fire…" She murmured, and Somia nodded.
"Yes. Your combined elements have the strange ability to hurt their souls. It is the best weapon against them because if you kill an Undead, you kill it for good. It won't return later on. Of course, other mages can do the same, but for that, they need to exercise great strength and a powerful spell to obliterate the body and soul at the same time! Below Three Ri, I don't think it is possible to damage the soul, no matter what type of spells you use… except for you." She pointed at Lia.
“The eyes… their eyes… Rose…” She murmured, trying to put her thoughts into words.
"It is special, yes. We don't know the true details, but what Erias uncovered is that they transform their souls to be capable of living without a body. They can transfer it from body to body, essentially becoming immortal. During this transformation, their hair turns white and their eyes green, and they gain the special ability to see, interact and influence souls. Rose had that gift from birth. It is extremely rare, but it is said that their techniques can only be truly performed to their fullest if the user has the natural born ability to see spirits."
"Like Rose…"
"Yes. The rest are… simply mimicking the real one. Their training slowly modifies their perceptions; it is not like being born with it. That is… the sole privilege of the one leading them. He is the only one who we know has the eyes since birth."
"Their leader? How strong he is?" Lia asked
"Erias recons; he couldn't fight him one-on-one."
"..." Lia wanted to ask something but gulped it back, then it hit him. Erias was not dead.
"Yes, he is at their side." Somia said, looking into her eyes, "It was only his body that died; his soul is still strong, stuck in their end. But don't worry, he is stronger now than when he was part of Meriath."
“I… I see…”
"He has a plan, but he is being pursued for now."
"By that… master?"
"No." Somia shook her head, "By one of his disciples, but don't worry! He can look after himself. You need to focus on this part of the battle! They will come down no… they already came down in big numbers. They are amongst us once again."
"We need to warn everybody!" She stood up, but Somia shook her head.
"The warning went out a long time ago. You can do nothing about that. You need to focus on surviving, and I am telling all of this to you so you understand that your fire is most important! You need to lead the resistance when you are finally ready for it! You must grow strong and powerful like your ancestor and kill as many Undead as possible! That would weaken them on the other side!"
"I will! I am going to kill any that I meet!"
"Mhm. Also, you have to keep this a secret. You can't tell anyone! Not even your mother."
"W-what? Why?!" Lia spun around, facing her with a dumbfounded look.
"Souls are a complicated thing." After mulling over for a moment, she answered, "All of the Six Houses, all their bloodlines are marked. Anytime they die, their souls are fished out by them, and their bodies are prime targets to be occupied. When they get their souls, they can read all their memories, from birth until their death! If they learn we knew as much as we do, that would jeopardize Erias's plans and also make sure they do something drastic… we are afraid of mutual destruction, Lia… If they decide it is a lost cause, they may destroy the whole Realm if they can't have it!"
"...!" Lia gasped, feeling her chest tightening, "Wouldn't that destroy… everything? Even themselves?"
"Do you understand now? We can't risk it. Not when we have a chance of defeating them! Those souls which can grow strong, something they really fancy, they fish them out after their death and recruit them… The weaker souls simply get brainwashed and made to serve them. You can see it with those who call themselves 'necromancers' and the like."
"Like Olivia's family?"
"Yes." She nodded, "They were also corrupted and recruited into their fold. We are sure they gave them multiple hundred fresh souls and new disciples by the time we discovered what they were doing. The same people who will now come back, occupying bodies and puppeteering the Undead Hordes."
"..."
"Only those souls who can also walk No-Space freely can resist their pull." She looked into her eyes, "That is why I am telling you all this. Even if you die… you will be able to destroy your own soul while passing on. Before they get you."
"Wait…!" She turned a bit white.
“It is a must, Lia Amarin. If I ever get caught, I will do the same. Or… are you thinking of switching sides?"
"No! NEVER!" She flared up; even some crimson embers flew off the end of her hair.
"Good. Then if you ever die, don't let them get your soul! The rest… can do nothing about it... They wouldn't be wholly conscious of resisting."
"Does the Silly Fox… know about this?" She asked after calming down a little.
"Not everything. He knows only about me, about Erias, and a few other things. I would not share this much with you either if you were not like Erias."
"I am… like him?" She asked, and she couldn't tell if she was happy about it or not.
"Yes. It seems, in every Dark Ages, one like him do appear…." She smiled, her voice sounding light and curious as she was checking out Lia.
"What if I tell this to others?"
"You can." Somia shrugged, "Nobody prevents you from doing so… go ahead if you want to risk it. If you feel sure enough that the one you tell this won't die, her or his soul won't be scoured for information, and the Undead will not be surprised that we know so much about them... then... Be. My. Guest." And with that, she was gone.
"Ah…" Lia flinched, clearly feeling Somia was annoyed by the end of her monologue. Looking down at her bracelet, it even went inactive, and she couldn't access it. "What a child!" She grumbled, puffing up her cheeks, grumbling.
"Says who?" A new voice arrived at once.
"Mom!" Lia jumped, turning around and seeing Reyra descend from the skies, looking worriedly at her daughter. "Nothing… I was… I just… I was thinking." She stuttered, trying to say something.
"Come here…" Reyra waved, hugging Lia, who was more than a head taller by now. "It wasn't your fault…"
"..." Lia couldn't help but lose her voice at once and felt tears appearing in her eyes, immediately remembering Rose.
"There is… another thing."
"Y-yes, Mom?"
"That small girl's parents."
"Ah…"
"They are here."
"What?!" She gasped, releasing Reyra.
"They want to speak with you. I said I would ask you… if you don't want…"
"I… I will!" She steeled herself, wiping her eyes, "They deserve to know…"
"I see." Her mother nodded, patting her back. "Come… letting it out will help… I'll come with you."
"T-thanks…"
"Sssh!" Reyra chuckled, patting her hand, "I am your mother! One more 'thanks' and I will spank you!"
Corty
Hey-ho, Dear Readers! I hope the week went well for you all and I did not piss off most of you with what happened with Rose. ( •_•) Hauh... Sorry about that... (╯•﹏•╰) Now... I totally forgot to post the images of Rinzen as she won the swimsuit competition~! But... it is better to be late than never, yes? I made a lot, so instead of posting them individually, here is the link to the album:
https://imgur.com/a/Z4zgIIA
Edit:
As it turns out, you need an Imgur account to see the album, here is an alternate album link:
https://ibb.co/album/WVDz5L
Sorry about that!
Oh, and one another thing!
This chapter uses "align left," as I received a comment that by using "justify," it is hard to read on mobile. Please, in the poll below, tell me what I should do. If you want to read it like this from now on, vote "left," or if you want it as before, vote "justify!" If the left wins, I will retroactively go back and edit all the chapters! Thank you for the feedback; I am always looking to improve your reading experience so you can have fun with my stories~!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
