Chapter 209: 'What If's
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"I see," Fetheion spoke in a low voice. Glancing at his clenched fist, I was about to regret this conversation.
It had been about half an hour since we'd stepped out of the rift. Mona, Laura, and Theresa had quickly left for a nice bath immediately after greeting Asher, Lucius and Fetheion, leaving me alone with Fetheion as he demanded to know what we'd been up to.
I didn't have a reason to hide anything, so I was fine with telling him about what we learned, including Vixia's conversation that I eavesdropped.
"Would you care to tell," He spoke with a calm voice. "What the hell were you thinking when you approached such a powerful barrier?" A single glance at the Divine was enough to make me immediately regret a lot of things. "What if the Demon Lord was there?" His voice rose very slightly. "What if they'd noticed you? Do you know what would have happened then?"
I looked away – I knew exactly how awful that would have been. But wasn't it worth the risk? Besides, I knew for sure the Demon Lord wasn't there.
Fetheion took a deep breath. "And when you followed those demons?" He asked, his voice once again calm and low. "What if you had come across an entire army?"
Well, that was something I couldn't be sure of. "To be fair," I spoke, somewhat sheepishly. "I did want to retreat as soon as I saw the demons."
He hesitated. "Was it Mona who wanted to follow them?"
I nodded. "She did have a good argument," I added, not wanting to lay all the blame on her. "And I made sure we were as safe as possible. We did learn some valuable information after all." I raised my eyes and this time, didn't look away as our gazes met. "There is a primal core in that keep."
Fetheion was the one to look away. "You can't take on a whole keep." He said with a sigh. "I know you want that core – need it even, but you're not strong enough to take it."
My shoulders dropped.
"Yeah, I know. It's getting on my nerves." I fiddled with my hair.
Fetheion shot me a surprised glance. "You know?" He asked. He was clearly having some trouble believing my words.
"Yeah," I said with a shrug. "If I had a chance of success, I wouldn't have come back here without the primal core." I chuckled. "I would have sent Mona, Laura and Theresa through the rift, then went back to take the core. But don't worry – I'm not that stupid." I looked at the starry sky. "I know I'm not invincible."
Fetheion remained silent for a few seconds, then burst out laughing.
"What're you laughing at?" I protested.
"Oh, you're just so very much like him." He smiled. "He – your predecessor, I mean – always wanted to do things alone too. He always kept distance between him and his friends." He poked my shoulder. "Don't do that Kai," His expression darkened. "Because when you do that, it's those friends you pushed away who pray the price once you pass on."
I wanted to say something, but what could I? I hadn't expected him to change the topic to something so heavy all of a sudden. "I'll try," Was all I could say. I wondered – did my predecessor have any friends aside from Fetheion?
"I'm glad you told me about the tomb though." Fetheion spoke again. "That snake shouldn't be there though – the Keeper of Souls' tomb never had a guardian." He clenched his fists. "I'll have to take care of it."
I almost choked on my breath. "Whoa, wait what?" I asked in surprise. "You'll take care of it? You want to send it away? That thing is gigantic!"
"I'll kill it." Fetheion glanced at me. "I knew something was off about all this – someone took your predecessor's soul away, then cursed a beast to make sure none would try and communicate with the soul out of fear of the so called 'Guardian'." I could almost feel his seething anger.
"But who could have done it?" I asked. "I didn't know anyone but the Keeper-" I stopped mid-sentence. "Oh, I'm stupid!" I yelled. "I'm an utter idiot – why didn't I think of this before!" I leapt up on my feet and glared at Fetheion. He shot me a confused look. "What's going on?" He asked, clearly unable to follow my train of thought.
"Aelith!" I shouted. "She gave me a bottled-up soul before!" I made a vague motion as I tried to quickly retell the events of a few months ago. "She gave me the soul of a wyvern right after we won the tournament as a 'reward'!"
I couldn't believe I hadn't thought about it before – of course the Divines could manipulate souls too! By trapping them somewhere. That was how the other Divine had stolen my power, but I had assumed she had used the power of the Pillar at the time. But there was no pillar at the Keeper's Tomb.
"I…" Fetheion hesitated. His shoulders dropped. "I didn't know she had figured it out." He mumbled. "You may be right. Let's not jump to conclusions, but you may be right." He stood up, then turned away and looked up at the sky.
"Fetheion," I spoke after a moment of hesitation. "If she caught my predecessor's soul, what will we do?" I was scared of the answers. A part of me wished he wouldn't answer.
"We'll get it back – no matter what." When Fetheion turned back to face me, his blue eyes were filled with determination. "I won't let her get away with this."
I nodded, but a mix of emotions threatened to destroy the façade I was putting up. "I'll give you some time to plan and think then," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. "I'll head off to sleep – I'm still exhausted."
With that, I quickly left. I went to my room and closed the door behind me.
The question that had been in the back of my mind for such a long time resurfaced again. What would happen to me if my predecessor's soul returned? Would I get kicked out of the game? Or would I just become another soul that resides in him?
The thought itself scared me. I didn't want to fade into nothingness. I didn't want to be left alone in a sea of my memories again. In a way, saving my predecessor's soul was destroying my own, wasn't it?
Fetheion's determination hurt because of that. I knew he wanted his friend back – he'd done everything in his power to bring him back, after all.
I sighed – what the hell had I gotten myself into? Thinking about what would happen to my soul was useless. It wasn't something I could guess because I didn't know enough about it.
I lay on my bed, my thoughts and fears whirling in my head until I eventually fell asleep.
Come morning, I was woken up by an overly excited Mona. She barged into my room while I was still half asleep and shook me awake. "Wake up, wake up!" She said with a huge grin on her face. "We're having that match today with the Thirteenth Divine, aren't we?"
Her words startled me awake. I had completely forgotten about Fetheion's promise. Still half asleep, I pushed myself off my bed and shook my head, trying to wake myself up.
"Come on, aren't you excited?" Mona giggled. "I thought you wanted this too!"
"I do, that's not it…" I mumbled as I yawned. "It's just that I woke up literally seconds ago. Give me a minute to pull my thoughts together."
Mona giggled again. "Oh, fine." She said with a huge, bright smile. "I'll be outside with the girls." With that, she jokingly punched my shoulder and left.
I took my time as I changed into new clothes, then headed to the library. As I opened the door and stepped inside, an unexpected sight welcomed me.
"Asher?" I asked in surprise. The blonde sorcerer raised his head to look at me with an almost helpless expression. "What the hell happened to you?" I asked in even more shock.
"What does it look like?" Asher was sitting behind Fetheion's desk, buried under an almost impossibly large number of documents. "I regret ever offering help to that man." He made a vague motion trying to encompass all of the piles of paper around him. "This is ridiculous!" He cried out.
I couldn't hold my laughter. "Why," I tried to speak as I laughed. "Why would you ever offer to help with this?"
"Don't laugh!" He protested. "And I know, I was being stupid!" he leaned his head on the desk. I barely heard his muffled voice. "I hate paperwork. Why am I doing paperwork in a game? What has my life come to…"
I chuckled, "You can have your revenge during our match." I suggested with a grin. "He promised he'd fight us after all."
Asher raised his head, his eyes sparkled as his gaze met mine. "You bet I will!"
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"I see," Fetheion spoke in a low voice. Glancing at his clenched fist, I was about to regret this conversation.
It had been about half an hour since we'd stepped out of the rift. Mona, Laura, and Theresa had quickly left for a nice bath immediately after greeting Asher, Lucius and Fetheion, leaving me alone with Fetheion as he demanded to know what we'd been up to.
I didn't have a reason to hide anything, so I was fine with telling him about what we learned, including Vixia's conversation that I eavesdropped.
"Would you care to tell," He spoke with a calm voice. "What the hell were you thinking when you approached such a powerful barrier?" A single glance at the Divine was enough to make me immediately regret a lot of things. "What if the Demon Lord was there?" His voice rose very slightly. "What if they'd noticed you? Do you know what would have happened then?"
I looked away – I knew exactly how awful that would have been. But wasn't it worth the risk? Besides, I knew for sure the Demon Lord wasn't there.
Fetheion took a deep breath. "And when you followed those demons?" He asked, his voice once again calm and low. "What if you had come across an entire army?"
Well, that was something I couldn't be sure of. "To be fair," I spoke, somewhat sheepishly. "I did want to retreat as soon as I saw the demons."
He hesitated. "Was it Mona who wanted to follow them?"
I nodded. "She did have a good argument," I added, not wanting to lay all the blame on her. "And I made sure we were as safe as possible. We did learn some valuable information after all." I raised my eyes and this time, didn't look away as our gazes met. "There is a primal core in that keep."
Fetheion was the one to look away. "You can't take on a whole keep." He said with a sigh. "I know you want that core – need it even, but you're not strong enough to take it."
My shoulders dropped.
"Yeah, I know. It's getting on my nerves." I fiddled with my hair.
Fetheion shot me a surprised glance. "You know?" He asked. He was clearly having some trouble believing my words.
"Yeah," I said with a shrug. "If I had a chance of success, I wouldn't have come back here without the primal core." I chuckled. "I would have sent Mona, Laura and Theresa through the rift, then went back to take the core. But don't worry – I'm not that stupid." I looked at the starry sky. "I know I'm not invincible."
Fetheion remained silent for a few seconds, then burst out laughing.
"What're you laughing at?" I protested.
"Oh, you're just so very much like him." He smiled. "He – your predecessor, I mean – always wanted to do things alone too. He always kept distance between him and his friends." He poked my shoulder. "Don't do that Kai," His expression darkened. "Because when you do that, it's those friends you pushed away who pray the price once you pass on."
I wanted to say something, but what could I? I hadn't expected him to change the topic to something so heavy all of a sudden. "I'll try," Was all I could say. I wondered – did my predecessor have any friends aside from Fetheion?
"I'm glad you told me about the tomb though." Fetheion spoke again. "That snake shouldn't be there though – the Keeper of Souls' tomb never had a guardian." He clenched his fists. "I'll have to take care of it."
I almost choked on my breath. "Whoa, wait what?" I asked in surprise. "You'll take care of it? You want to send it away? That thing is gigantic!"
"I'll kill it." Fetheion glanced at me. "I knew something was off about all this – someone took your predecessor's soul away, then cursed a beast to make sure none would try and communicate with the soul out of fear of the so called 'Guardian'." I could almost feel his seething anger.
"But who could have done it?" I asked. "I didn't know anyone but the Keeper-" I stopped mid-sentence. "Oh, I'm stupid!" I yelled. "I'm an utter idiot – why didn't I think of this before!" I leapt up on my feet and glared at Fetheion. He shot me a confused look. "What's going on?" He asked, clearly unable to follow my train of thought.
"Aelith!" I shouted. "She gave me a bottled-up soul before!" I made a vague motion as I tried to quickly retell the events of a few months ago. "She gave me the soul of a wyvern right after we won the tournament as a 'reward'!"
I couldn't believe I hadn't thought about it before – of course the Divines could manipulate souls too! By trapping them somewhere. That was how the other Divine had stolen my power, but I had assumed she had used the power of the Pillar at the time. But there was no pillar at the Keeper's Tomb.
"I…" Fetheion hesitated. His shoulders dropped. "I didn't know she had figured it out." He mumbled. "You may be right. Let's not jump to conclusions, but you may be right." He stood up, then turned away and looked up at the sky.
"Fetheion," I spoke after a moment of hesitation. "If she caught my predecessor's soul, what will we do?" I was scared of the answers. A part of me wished he wouldn't answer.
"We'll get it back – no matter what." When Fetheion turned back to face me, his blue eyes were filled with determination. "I won't let her get away with this."
I nodded, but a mix of emotions threatened to destroy the façade I was putting up. "I'll give you some time to plan and think then," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. "I'll head off to sleep – I'm still exhausted."
With that, I quickly left. I went to my room and closed the door behind me.
The question that had been in the back of my mind for such a long time resurfaced again. What would happen to me if my predecessor's soul returned? Would I get kicked out of the game? Or would I just become another soul that resides in him?
The thought itself scared me. I didn't want to fade into nothingness. I didn't want to be left alone in a sea of my memories again. In a way, saving my predecessor's soul was destroying my own, wasn't it?
Fetheion's determination hurt because of that. I knew he wanted his friend back – he'd done everything in his power to bring him back, after all.
I sighed – what the hell had I gotten myself into? Thinking about what would happen to my soul was useless. It wasn't something I could guess because I didn't know enough about it.
I lay on my bed, my thoughts and fears whirling in my head until I eventually fell asleep.
Come morning, I was woken up by an overly excited Mona. She barged into my room while I was still half asleep and shook me awake. "Wake up, wake up!" She said with a huge grin on her face. "We're having that match today with the Thirteenth Divine, aren't we?"
Her words startled me awake. I had completely forgotten about Fetheion's promise. Still half asleep, I pushed myself off my bed and shook my head, trying to wake myself up.
"Come on, aren't you excited?" Mona giggled. "I thought you wanted this too!"
"I do, that's not it…" I mumbled as I yawned. "It's just that I woke up literally seconds ago. Give me a minute to pull my thoughts together."
Mona giggled again. "Oh, fine." She said with a huge, bright smile. "I'll be outside with the girls." With that, she jokingly punched my shoulder and left.
I took my time as I changed into new clothes, then headed to the library. As I opened the door and stepped inside, an unexpected sight welcomed me.
"Asher?" I asked in surprise. The blonde sorcerer raised his head to look at me with an almost helpless expression. "What the hell happened to you?" I asked in even more shock.
"What does it look like?" Asher was sitting behind Fetheion's desk, buried under an almost impossibly large number of documents. "I regret ever offering help to that man." He made a vague motion trying to encompass all of the piles of paper around him. "This is ridiculous!" He cried out.
I couldn't hold my laughter. "Why," I tried to speak as I laughed. "Why would you ever offer to help with this?"
"Don't laugh!" He protested. "And I know, I was being stupid!" he leaned his head on the desk. I barely heard his muffled voice. "I hate paperwork. Why am I doing paperwork in a game? What has my life come to…"
I chuckled, "You can have your revenge during our match." I suggested with a grin. "He promised he'd fight us after all."
Asher raised his head, his eyes sparkled as his gaze met mine. "You bet I will!"
"I see," Fetheion spoke in a low voice. Glancing at his clenched fist, I was about to regret this conversation.It had been about half an hour since we'd stepped out of the rift. Mona, Laura, and Theresa had quickly left for a nice bath immediately after greeting Asher, Lucius and Fetheion, leaving me alone with Fetheion as he demanded to know what we'd been up to.I didn't have a reason to hide anything, so I was fine with telling him about what we learned, including Vixia's conversation that I eavesdropped."Would you care to tell," He spoke with a calm voice. "What the hell were you thinking when you approached such a powerful barrier?" A single glance at the Divine was enough to make me immediately regret a lot of things. "What if the Demon Lord was there?" His voice rose very slightly. "What if they'd noticed you? Do you know what would have happened then?"I looked away I knew exactly how awful that would have been. But wasn't it worth the risk? Besides, I knew for sure the Demon Lord wasn't there.Fetheion took a deep breath. "And when you followed those demons?" He asked, his voice once again calm and low. "What if you had come across an entire army?"Well, that was something I couldn't be sure of. "To be fair," I spoke, somewhat sheepishly. "I did want to retreat as soon as I saw the demons."He hesitated. "Was it Mona who wanted to follow them?"I nodded. "She did have a good argument," I added, not wanting to lay all the blame on her. "And I made sure we were as safe as possible. We did learn some valuable information after all." I raised my eyes and this time, didn't look away as our gazes met. "There is a primal core in that keep."Fetheion was the one to look away. "You can't take on a whole keep." He said with a sigh. "I know you want that core need it even, but you're not strong enough to take it."My shoulders dropped."Yeah, I know. It's getting on my nerves." I fiddled with my hair.Fetheion shot me a surprised glance. "You know?" He asked. He was clearly having some trouble believing my words."Yeah," I said with a shrug. "If I had a chance of success, I wouldn't have come back here without the primal core." I chuckled. "I would have sent Mona, Laura and Theresa through the rift, then went back to take the core. But don't worry I'm not that stupid." I looked at the starry sky. "I know I'm not invincible."Fetheion remained silent for a few seconds, then burst out laughing."What're you laughing at?" I protested."Oh, you're just so very much like him." He smiled. "He your predecessor, I mean always wanted to do things alone too. He always kept distance between him and his friends." He poked my shoulder. "Don't do that Kai," His expression darkened. "Because when you do that, it's those friends you pushed away who pray the price once you pass on."I wanted to say something, but what could I? I hadn't expected him to change the topic to something so heavy all of a sudden. "I'll try," Was all I could say. I wondered did my predecessor have any friends aside from Fetheion?"I'm glad you told me about the tomb though." Fetheion spoke again. "That snake shouldn't be there though the Keeper of Souls' tomb never had a guardian." He clenched his fists. "I'll have to take care of it."I almost choked on my breath. "Whoa, wait what?" I asked in surprise. "You'll take care of it? You want to send it away? That thing is gigantic!""I'll kill it." Fetheion glanced at me. "I knew something was off about all this someone took your predecessor's soul away, then cursed a beast to make sure none would try and communicate with the soul out of fear of the so called 'Guardian'." I could almost feel his seething anger."But who could have done it?" I asked. "I didn't know anyone but the Keeper-" I stopped mid-sentence. "Oh, I'm stupid!" I yelled. "I'm an utter idiot why didn't I think of this before!" I leapt up on my feet and glared at Fetheion. He shot me a confused look. "What's going on?" He asked, clearly unable to follow my train of thought."Aelith!" I shouted. "She gave me a bottled-up soul before!" I made a vague motion as I tried to quickly retell the events of a few months ago. "She gave me the soul of a wyvern right after we won the tournament as a 'reward'!"I couldn't believe I hadn't thought about it before of course the Divines could manipulate souls too! By trapping them somewhere. That was how the other Divine had stolen my power, but I had assumed she had used the power of the Pillar at the time. But there was no pillar at the Keeper's Tomb."I" Fetheion hesitated. His shoulders dropped. "I didn't know she had figured it out." He mumbled. "You may be right. Let's not jump to conclusions, but you may be right." He stood up, then turned away and looked up at the sky."Fetheion," I spoke after a moment of hesitation. "If she caught my predecessor's soul, what will we do?" I was scared of the answers. A part of me wished he wouldn't answer."We'll get it back no matter what." When Fetheion turned back to face me, his blue eyes were filled with determination. "I won't let her get away with this."I nodded, but a mix of emotions threatened to destroy the faade I was putting up. "I'll give you some time to plan and think then," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. "I'll head off to sleep I'm still exhausted."With that, I quickly left. I went to my room and closed the door behind me.The question that had been in the back of my mind for such a long time resurfaced again. What would happen to me if my predecessor's soul returned? Would I get kicked out of the game? Or would I just become another soul that resides in him?The thought itself scared me. I didn't want to fade into nothingness. I didn't want to be left alone in a sea of my memories again. In a way, saving my predecessor's soul was destroying my own, wasn't it?Fetheion's determination hurt because of that. I knew he wanted his friend back he'd done everything in his power to bring him back, after all.I sighed what the hell had I gotten myself into? Thinking about what would happen to my soul was useless. It wasn't something I could guess because I didn't know enough about it.I lay on my bed, my thoughts and fears whirling in my head until I eventually fell asleep.Come morning, I was woken up by an overly excited Mona. She barged into my room while I was still half asleep and shook me awake. "Wake up, wake up!" She said with a huge grin on her face. "We're having that match today with the Thirteenth Divine, aren't we?"Her words startled me awake. I had completely forgotten about Fetheion's promise. Still half asleep, I pushed myself off my bed and shook my head, trying to wake myself up."Come on, aren't you excited?" Mona giggled. "I thought you wanted this too!""I do, that's not it" I mumbled as I yawned. "It's just that I woke up literally seconds ago. Give me a minute to pull my thoughts together."Mona giggled again. "Oh, fine." She said with a huge, bright smile. "I'll be outside with the girls." With that, she jokingly punched my shoulder and left.I took my time as I changed into new clothes, then headed to the library. As I opened the door and stepped inside, an unexpected sight welcomed me."Asher?" I asked in surprise. The blonde sorcerer raised his head to look at me with an almost helpless expression. "What the hell happened to you?" I asked in even more shock."What does it look like?" Asher was sitting behind Fetheion's desk, buried under an almost impossibly large number of documents. "I regret ever offering help to that man." He made a vague motion trying to encompass all of the piles of paper around him. "This is ridiculous!" He cried out.I couldn't hold my laughter. "Why," I tried to speak as I laughed. "Why would you ever offer to help with this?""Don't laugh!" He protested. "And I know, I was being stupid!" he leaned his head on the desk. I barely heard his muffled voice. "I hate paperwork. Why am I doing paperwork in a game? What has my life come to"I chuckled, "You can have your revenge during our match." I suggested with a grin. "He promised he'd fight us after all."Asher raised his head, his eyes sparkled as his gaze met mine. "You bet I will!"
