Traversing through the sludgy mud had been annoying for Bek. Even with his speed, he would get caught in the mud trap at several points with Sera having to pull him out each time.
The inconvenience-ridden journey for him to catch up to the dark skinned woman who was merely four meters away from him now, made him wonder how on earth she had reached the end of the mud platform so fast and without sinking.
Such mysteries had to be delved into at some point.
Behind him, he felt the massive wave of mana flowing erratically into a body, a powerful beast evidently having been slain but he didn’t pay it any mind.
Even if this meant that the Cluster would soon be destroyed, he was sure this woman before him had ways to escape danger.
This group of people had many strange abilities and tools. Like those dolls from before.
And surely, he was proven correct.
The mash of colour that constantly hummed, as if showing the edge of this world which was yet to be painted with the rest of the image of the Bookworms’ world, something that now would never be seen, suddenly opened up to reveal an oval shaped breach with nothing but abstract lights tainting a widespread fine darkness within.
Seeing this spontaneous change, Bek grew even more vigilant but he didn’t back away.
Instead, he decided now was as good time as any to probe for answers.
“Who are you people?”
The woman didn’t render Bek an answer. Instead, she grabbed the bars at the sides of her carriage and pulled, her face turning to the former Knight once more before she entered the oval breach to the colourful space!
“Hey!” Bek yelled as he rushed forward, hesitating only briefly before he jumped in after the woman.
Entering into the dark space sprinkled with lights was a more terrifying ordeal than Bek had initially thought. His dull eyes showed a lively fear as what he beheld seemed to once again paint over a new picture from what he knew!
Just like that time when he had ‘died’.
WHOOV!
WHOOV!
WHOOV!
His body and even Sera’s was pulled by a shocking suction, the lights around the two turning into colourful elongated displays that kept them company all the way through the seemingly endless journey!
After a certain chunk of distance travelled, Bek would feel something akin to an electric jolt of power painfully wash through him, as if spelling how he wasn’t supposed to be here or that he had crossed some sort of boundary!
There seemed to be many such boundaries as each caused Bek so much pain!
This was beyond terrifying.
The woman and her carriage were nowhere to be seen and before Bek, the only thing that could be viewed was a white light that kept getting brighter and brighter, its shape like that of an obscure multi-point star!
WHOOV!
WHOOV!
The jolts kept growing more and more painful, Bek gnashing his teeth as he held back an agonised scream!
When it felt like this trip would keep going on forever, Bek felt his firmly feet set on solid ground, his eyes which had grown accustomed to the lights quickly focusing to take in everything around him.
It was a new space that he had appeared in.
Somewhere different.
Somewhere far and yet near.
Yet to him, all he could say to describe the aesthetic of this place was…
SKY.
The next thing Bek saw was the dark-skinned woman and her carriage. She wasn’t looking at him as he expected. Instead, she faced the opposite direction, her figure…. bowing down on both knees.
Right after this second worth time from Bek’s arrival and his notice of the woman, the former Knight felt his body willingly buckle down, kneeling in what he felt was involuntary reverence.
His head rose on its own to gaze upon something that literally took his breath away.
A gigantic figure sat in the air of this space!
It remained perfectly still but it exuded a presence that eclipsed that of a world, something that made Bek feel extraordinarily insignificant.
His life, his powers, his experiences, even of that place from before.
All of it.
It all felt… like nothing.
What was this?
Who was this?
No amount of words could do justice in description or inquiry.
The figure, as enormous as it was, was even harder to perceive at a basic level or wrap one’s mind around and for a few moments, Bek was for the most part thoughtless and speechless, his mind trying to convince him that this was just a dream.
After all, what else could be the explanation for all this!
All around this space, men and women with carriages and carts behind them were bowing to this gigantic figure without a word but Bek didn’t even register it.
It wasn’t worth diverting his attention from this.. this… marvel.
Surely, it had to be dream.
<Ah… another one appears. Colete, I applaud your efforts. For you to find me one of the rare Odd Souls that HE made. Hmmm. Predictably he’s also biased towards HIM.>
A voice that sounded like the echo of a song being sung by the world’s greatest female bards sounded, its melodious tone almost pulling out Bek’s soul!
Literally!
Bek would know!
Yet the man couldn’t find the words to say back, if they were any.
<Come closer, child. I have never touched one of HIS creations before.>
Bek’s body immediately vanished from his position and appeared right before the massive figure’s face, all of its features being so imposing that he would have lost consciousness several times over if it weren’t for some kind of intervention that he could feel.
<A pity. You became fully realised by bonding with the love of your life. Such a strange concept HE made. An Odd Soul’s greatest strength is turning loved ones’ souls into artificial Spirits that join natural Spirits in the Harrowing Well. And yet you all do it without knowing. A shame. You in particular seem to have overcome death as a result.>
That was right.
The powers of a Spirit Warden were as such.
With the little Bek could hear as he summoned focus, he expressed his shock silently.
<Let me trouble your soul no further. Even if those TWO left me with their duties temporarily, I am not one to take what still lives before its time, however many technicalities are stacked on top of the word ‘alive’. Yet, I will unburden you of this. You sort with hope that my children here could help you relieve her, did you not?>
Bek’s mind whirled.
Indeed. What had started as a simple excursion to find missing people had developed into a hopeful chase to correct something he felt was his fault for a long time.
He had heard rumours that these people who abducted the sick and the healthy, locals and outsiders alike, were masters in their understanding of the soul, something he had confirmed after seeing one of them for the first time.
How even his eyes which could clearly see the soul of an individual were barred from seeing the souls of these people.
Even though he didn’t understand what was happening here or what or who this gigantic figure was, he still held hope after hearing it speak about him as if it knew him very fondly.
It wasn’t a conscious reaction all things consiered.
Bek felt as if he was speaking to a distant mother.
Sera who was floating above Bek was suddenly yanked from him, her hazy figure being drawn towards the enormous being Bek was facing!
…!
‘Sera…!’ Bek thought instinctively.
<Do not worry. I will not harm her. I will give her the peace she deserves.>
A massive hand grasped onto the Spirit of Sera, its entirely being hidden in the palm of this hand.
As he saw this unfold, Bek strangely felt a sense of relief.
<As for you… Tearing away your memory of this poor soul will be a cruel thing. Keep your memory of her. However, you shall forget setting foot in this place. You shall continue with your life and grow before taking part in the INEVITABLE CHAOS, in the EVER-GROWING SHADOW that is about to overwhelm Aigas. Oh, dear me. I almost forgot. You shall also forget having met THAT LITTLE ONE. May your paths never cross again.>
These words felt like a breeze that gushed into Bek, entering his body through every pore that could be found on his skin.
The world around him began to turn bright, his vision of this world, like a giant sky full of pristine clouds beginning to vanish.
<Do your best, Odd Soul.>
…
Bek’s mind was overwhelmed with emotion and memory.
The remnants of the what he could still remember from this odd space before it would be deleted from memory, linked quite heavily to what had happened before. Memories he never thought back to for the sake of moving on with his life.
‘LIAR!’
These were the first words he had heard Sera say to him when he found her after his death as a Capital Order Knight.
When she had been dancing with an atrociously ugly Spirit in that strange place.
He could almost see it right now, as if it was happening again.
He had wept bitterly at seeing the woman he had loved being reduced to… this.
Half of her ugly and the other half beautiful.
It was as if after death, Sera had failed to let go of the thoughts crammed into her by the people she grew with. That her blind eye made her look weird.
That it sullied her beauty.
That if only it could be rectified, she could be seen as acceptable by everyone else.
When Bek had stood before her, he couldn’t handle the feeling of guilt anymore. Part of this was his fault.
He was the one who had left Sera in that state of doubt which focusing on his merit.
She had been all alone as she tormented herself with insecurity.
That pain lead him to kneel before Sera and apologise with his eyes shooting tears down the ducts nonstop.
A genuine plea of forgiveness.
“I’m sorry, Sera…”
Bek did not know himself at the time but he doubted that his simple word formed apology could be what warranted what happened next.
Sera’s rage at that time, in that space, had immediately died down and she had rushed over to him to cradle him, her words soft as she begged for him not to cry.
“Bek….don’t cry… please. I didn’t mean it. You’re not a…liar. No. You’re not a liar. You came back for me. You found me here. Just like… you did before…” she had said, making Bek tremble as he felt a pang of pain.
He had held the hands of the Spirit for the first time, feeling the cold that traced through it with an aching heart before responding.
“Yes. Yes I found you again.”
This was as far as he could remember that memory going however, as after that, he had found himself lying on the ground with the dead bodies of his fellow Knights strewn about, his previously pierced heart beating with a lively thrum.
At this current point in time, Bek opened his eyes, finding himself standing at the entrance to a place he knew very well, his mind configuring his memories hurriedly.
“Urgh… What happened? Did they escape my grasp again?” he said as clutched her forehead, feeling a sensation akin to a hangover.
He felt hollow. As if something was missing. His emotions were all over the place but before he could fully recall what he had lost, he wondered…
“Hmm? Am I in Okenden?”
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