The silence in the room was as thick as cold honey.
Tommy and Hugo were watching Ethan with questioning faces, yet not daring to disturb him for fear of ruining his already long work, while the young Rokian was scared silly by what he was seeing.
What happened had no logical explanation which Ethan could think of.
Truth being told, the Rokian knew and understood very little of his new reality.
The air, which he had been explained being just a mix of different gasses, was instead mysteriously crowded with an endless swarming mass of minuscule, gleaming, two eyed creatures which lazily moved everywhere with a waving circular motion... Everywhere, but near Simone.
Around the woman, those almost invisible beings proceeded erratically like she was somehow impeding their capability to circulate.
Some of the creatures avoided her, some like in a daze, hit a wall or pieces of furniture, most of them though were rushing at her body, bouncing off of her violently.
Ethan knew, or better hoped, to find something out creating this new skill, but he was not prepared for all of this.
He was surrounded; everyone and everything was surrounded, which troubled him a great deal.
How could they not feel all of those grain scale living creatures up to that moment?
The little beings around his body seemed to be very relaxed, like if they were immersed in a nice warm bath, enjoying themselves, same could have been said for those around Tommy, to a lower degree, while they ignored Hugo entirely.
Simone was, in appearance, the only one being under attack.
After having observed all of that, Ethan grew increasingly suspicious.
Tommy approached Ethan and looking around with a sharp gaze asked
-So? What is going on? Did you manage to do whatever it was you were trying to?
Feeling like he had been pulled back to reality, Ethan answered
-This you have to see for yourselves, trust me. I mean, you wouldn’t believe me even if I could explain it...
As he said so, he moved between the other two men and softly placed his index fingers on their foreheads.
Focusing on the skill he had created, “Spiritual Sight”, he tried to extend its effect to both Tommy and Hugo, then reached down to their Vivicar, allowing them to sustain it with their own mana.
It had taken a good twenty seconds for the skill to transfer to the other two men, but as it did, it immediately became clear to Ethan they could see what he was.
Tommy’s lips quivered with confusion, unsure of what he could say: he started to ask several questions without closing any of them.
-Who...? No! How...? I mean, where...?
At the same time, while Hugo kept his concerned look on Simone, he also tried to grab the minuscule creatures with his tongue in order to eat them.
It had taken so much for Ethan to understand this vision skill and its rules, yet it had been comparatively easy passing it to others, fortunately.
After the massive initial shock, Tommy slowly got to his senses
-What the hell are those things?
-What can you see?
Asked Ethan back
-Millions of small colored lights, bouncing and swimming all over.
-Just lights? No bodies? No faces?
-Why, you can see that?
Ethan nodded
-Yes and they are kinda creepy. What do you think they are?
-Like I could ever know. Actually, I don't think anyone on the bloody planet does. Theories?
-More an educated guess: the skill is called “Spiritual Sight”, so... Spirits?
Tommy thought about it for a moment then nodded in agreement having failed to divine a better explanation or reasonable counter argument.
-Let’s say they are. Why would they be here? And why are they body slamming only Simone?
-Considering it took us such a flashy skill to see them, there is no way they don’t know we are, but they don’t seem to mind in the slightest.
-Right...
-I would say they are part of the environment, maybe even of the natural elements. You know, the same way... What's the name of the small thing, the smallest water creature in the sea.
-Krill?
Asked Tommy
-Right you are. Although calling them food would be wrong: these guys don’t escape nor hide.
-Agreed.
Tommy nodded in assent, aware that Ethan was barely more than bouncing his ideas off of him. The Rokian continued
-We are sharing the same energy and I assume when we recharge our mana we might also collect it from them. And yet, they don’t seem angry at us because of that, so I would think these creatures live in symbiosis with pretty much everything...?
Once again Tommy considered and weighted The other man's words
-Right. Lots of assumptions there, but let’s go with it. Next issue, they are attacking Simone. We can safely say whatever is killing her might not good for them either, agreed?
-I am not sure that is the right question. Actually, it is a legitimate one, but before asking any, I would focus on the only thing which is evident: they like us. Me, you, even Hugo, albeit way less.
-Right, it could be that thing Simone was talking about, how you have lived in the wild and have more... She used the word affinity. Right?
Ethan snapped his fingers
-Yes! Hugo is not a proper mage, so they don’t really like him. We are mages, which somehow sets us in tune with them.
-And Simone is not? That doesn’t make sense, man. She has been a mage for God only knows how much time. Of course she should be in tune. Hell, they should freakin’ love her, given her higher level.
Ethan frowned but was soon able to recuperate
-Of course she is a mage but, she must have something wrong withing her spirit.
-You mean her soul?
Asked Tommy looking at Ethan with his arms crossed on his chest.
-Whatever... Yes, that thing. Her soul has something wrong! Would that explain her dying on us?
-From what I know people without a soul either die, or rot away and become different types of disgusting monsters, depending on the degree of the damage.
-She is not a monster yet, I would say. She is dying. To sum it up: the damage to her soul must be big... As you were saying before, so big it is also harmful to the spirits, agreed?
-I am no expert on the matter, I never even knew these things existed, but we could be right.
Noticing Ethan fixed and still scared look, Tommy asked.
-What is wrong? Is something the matter? Speak.
-Tommy, this is all very... Intense. We might be wrong, you know. I could be following an entirely flawed train of thought and we could be...
-Listen man: were you not around, Simone would already be dead. I believe you are giving her a fighting chance. I believe in you, and what you have tried, makes sense to me so far.
He continued resolute
-Whatever we manage to get to, we are in this together and she won’t be angry at you. And even if she will be, well that is her own damn problem!
-You have been keeping it cool until now and got us to understand where to look for the problem. It might even be the wrong damn place, but I’d say we sure found something broken.
-Let’s keep on going! And if you have doubts, talk to me. I might not be able to help you for now, but I sure as hell want to try.
Tommy was looking at Ethan very up close, with eyes half way between angry and faithful, facing what men call “awkward bro moment”.
They silently stared at each other for the time of four breaths, until Hugo mercifully intervened, slapping them both in the face and pointing at Simone with an angry grunt.
The guys felt their cheeks burn hot with pain and embarrassment and flung harsh words at Hugo, almost grateful though for the timely “help”.
When they were done, Tommy went on
-Alright, we got to see there is actually something wrong with her; it’s a starting point.
-Now we just have to find a way to fix it or... Make it at least better. Her soul... Do we have some way to see inside that?
Ethan and Tommy went through their skills lists and tried to think of ways their own abilities could be deconstructed or modified in order to try and help Simone.
After several hours of deliberations though, they had only deducted cheap ways to make her body better by sharing some passive effects. In the end, when dinner time arrived, Tommy had left the room wishing to catch some air and clear his mind.
Hugo on the other hand, was glued to Simone’s side: looking in his almost witless eyes, Ethan knew without the shadow of a doubt the other Rokian was not going to sleep or move until she would be better.
Everything though was the same as that afternoon: her soul was not working and the magic they knew could only be applied to her body which was working as it was supposed to already.
The young Rokian had considered even cutting her up like sashimi, but soon realized it wouldn’t help looking into her soul...
Ethan was feeling very frustrated and angry at himself.
The only one who might have known about any of this stuff was the one they were trying to help and he was the blind man which was trying to start seeing the light without knowing he had to open his eyes.
The more he thought about it, the more he could see himself as a real blind man.
He could see the spirits, but that wasn’t enough.
Maybe leveling the “Spiritual Sight” to a higher level could have helped him, but he didn’t have that kind of time handy.
A blind, impotent, man...
He felt so very much frustrated he started scratching his forehead hard, hating his brain for not finding any solution and ultimately planting all ten of his nails into his skin.
The pain was irrelevant, even though it made him feel less embarrassed of his own ineptitude.
Ethan's frustration just kept on ramping up until he felt he was mere seconds away from the very alluring act of smashing his head on the closest wall; in the end, he decided otherwise.
No matter where he drifted, he would come back to think about blind men, for some reason, grasping to that idea for dear life.
Eventually he shrugged in defeat, deciding to indulge into his own madness.
-Was I really a blind man... I guess I would touch things, listen a lot, and smell.
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Ethan froze: it was so easy...
-Was I really so focused at looking at her that I forgot the simplest thing? My other senses...
He sprung up propelled by his own shame as a jack in the box and walked in front of Hugo
-Slap, please.
The older Rokian looked at Ethan with a slightly questioning gaze, through his leather mask, before gladly obliging to the request and, not too heavily*, hitting the younger man.
*About a six on the “got hit by a truck” scale
-Thank you!
Screamed Ethan with teary eyes, the reddened harmed skin was slightly twitching.
-Let’s do this!
He shouted turning around with his hands triumphantly in the air.
Ethan tried to retrace his steps with what he had done earlier, focusing on one sense and improving it with the employment of mana.
The young man thought which senses had the higher possibilities to give him any kind of information on Simone's status.
Touch and taste were not good candidates, since no matter what he did he didn’t think he was going to be able to touch or taste her soul. Which left him smell and hearing.
The boy got very close to Simone and, connecting the main mana channel out of his vivicar with his nose, he sniffed the area which the natural spirits seemed to be attacking the worst.
The only surprising effect was he could also “see” the smells through the “Spiritual Sight”.
Simone had a good scent, for someone very close to becoming a dead corpse: underneath the chocolaty colored smell of her skin, her purple flowery deodorant and gray sweat though, even being able to catch a trace of something dark green and foreign lingering, it didn’t give him any relevant information. Ethan simply didn't know how to interpret it.
His senses having been overloaded with all of those different signals, Ethan stepped back and undid the connection with his nose. He shook his head and after a little rest, he focused on his ears.
As he did so, he immediately realized he was on the right track, having started to feel dizzy in a matter of seconds.
Ethan looked around the room: everything was warping and shifting. The closer he moved to Simone, the worse it got.
Now he knew how the small spirits felt, although he wouldn’t necessarily want to head butt Simone in order to make her stop.
The droning sound coming from the woman was a thing of death and regret, low pitched and dreadful, seriously harmful, even to Ethan.
Still, the boy was trying to listen carefully, as there were words covered by the noise, a message, underneath that confused dying scream.
Spurred by his curiosity and ego, and against his best judgment, Ethan moved even closer to Simone, finally able to make out two, simple, sad words through the statics:
“Free me”.
When Ethan heard those words, something flickered at the side of his eyes, for a moment.
He could almost see it, but before he had the time to focus, he fainted, rolling down the bed, onto the floor, with his ears bleeding a little and his entire body slowly twitching.
Ethan was drifting away, further and further... He was back at being the other person he had already seen several times in his dreams.
He was chained to a cross, his arms spread and his feet not touching the floor, surrounded by several people, some of them hiding in the shadows.
-She is not going to talk Abramus... Just crush her already and let’s get out of here.
Said some male youngster behind Ethan with a spiteful voice. In response, a very coy and outraged woman on Ethan’s left asked
-Excuse me? We are not here to “crush” anyone! For the hundredth time, Abramus is trying to get access to her soul in order to finish the enchantment. And you really could stop bothering him, Lev.
She had addressed the man like he was a mentally challenged highschooler and she was the homecoming queen, bestowing onto him not only the honor of her presence, but even the unthinkable gift of speaking to him.
Lev, roaring with frustration, eyes wide open and bloodshot, barely covered by a long fur coat, came out of the shadows, sporting an aggressive demeanor, like he had heard nothing.
-Let’s kill them all and move on with our plans, dividing this fresh, juicy planet. We lost enough time here. Aaaargh.
The blond man nodded a little and smiled with a perverted sense of anticipation, thinking about a planetary annihilation.
-Little bitch, how about you quit this annoying barking and prance back into your hole? Some people here have standards, and I for first, simply NEED, WANT and DEMAND to have my slaves. That is all you need to know. If you feel like going away, there is the door.
The woman said maintaining her nasty and condescending tone
-Don't tempt my patience with your arrogance Reece, is not as charming as you think it to be.
We both know the moment I leave the room, my life is forfeit. Plus, who do you think you are to demand something of us or Abramus?
Reece gave a cold snort and smiled
-Smarter then a rotten log, Bravo! And yet not very assertive.
-Does it seem to you like Abramus is saying no to my proposition?
Lev knew the answer to the question was no, so he stood in silent, keeping his cold voracious stare.
-Do you know why? Because for as shocking as it might sound, life has more to offer than killing people at random.
-Spoken like a woman... What do you know of the satisfaction of walking over your enemies’ bodies? Ripping someone’s frame undone piece by piece, smashing skulls and biting into someone’s flesh to increase your own powers?
-For cases where magic fucked up someone already pathetic to an even worse level: here is exhibit “A”.
Reece answered with a laugh full of contempt, cutting through Lev’s visions of destruction.
-Keep your wet dreams in your pants, beastie. Nobody wants to know what you do in the bedroom.
After a few exchanges of razor sharp looks between the two unlikely brother in arms, another woman, sounding very bitter, yet familiar, said in a dry tone
-You both disgust me. Slaves? Massacres? Is this the best you think a new planet has to offer? Earth risked to die because of people who thought like you. Are you really going to fuck up this place? If not for a sense of decency, think about your own future.
-Since when having slaves could harm a planet? Or well... Even killing a few billions of people?
Asked with Reece with snow white innocence, batting her eyelashes for added candor
-Since magic, you headless chicken?
Hissed back the other one
-Blah blah blah, how conservative. How naively “positive”. We are Earth’s bad eggs, darling, do you really think we will become a delicious omelette just because we are on a new rock?
-I am not your darling. I am a war leader with more follow and soldiers than any of you here added together.
-And yet in this council your vote still only counts as one... Therefore, I call for an official and definitive vote: what should we do with these lovely, mingling little creatures? Kill them, save them or enslave them?
As she said the words, Reece also drew them in the air with her finger. The seven humans in the room reluctantly all pointed out at something.
Two of them wanted to kill the Rokians, one alone wanted to save them and four wanted to enslave them.
-So terribly kind of you to have some common sense. Thank you darlings.
Reece curtsied with a childish laugh and a joyous look, also exchanging a very condescending shoulder shrug with the other woman.
Suddenly, before Reece could finish celebrating her victory, another female voice interrupted the remarks and discussions which followed their vote.
-You call this "common sense"?
This was a slightly husky, yet powerful voice; it was so lofty and slow it demanded attention, so outraged it would make even stones feel guilt and turn with self loathing.
-You call this nonsensical, tyrannical and deranged flow of incoherence “common sense”?
Taken aback, everyone looked at the woman on the cross with a sudden case of dry mouth.
They all knew this was not supposed to happen: she was not supposed to be awake!
Before any of them could react in any meaningful way, The woman begun to sing with a tone at the same time bewitching and dangerously dooming.
-Turn your souls to me, you vermin.
As soon as the Rokian woman uttered those words, the humans' souls shined brightly in their chests, quite literally leaving their bodies, answering to the summoning chant, making all the seven faint, lifeless.
With the curious eye of a scholar and a mage, the woman on the cross took a moment to look at the shape of those people’s souls, letting out a snort of contempt
-Ignorant bastards, all of them.
She was going to be free of her chains soon. All she needed was to apply some strength, or magic. And yet, after about fifteen minutes of attempts, nothing had worked. She was covered in sweat, but otherwise still hanging like a salami.
The Rokian woman couldn’t help but bitterly exclaim.
-Well, shit!
Her magic and physical prowess were as weak as those of an infant, which meant her song probably had not killed any of the people present as it was meant to.
The humans were not entirely useless after all. One of them knew how to use sealing spells.
Things turned definitely for the worse when the first of the humans, the male named Abramus, woke up.
He coughed violently, eagerly gulping some life restoring air, while also calling his soul back with a whipping flare of his left hand; holding it as it was some nice shiny trinket, he came to his feet while coughing some more, soon nearing the woman on the cross.
His grizzled, almost old looking face was covered in scented oil and by a long, lush beard. He clearly wanted to look refined and very high maintenance, since not even one hair of his face was out of place, under his mage hood.
-Nifty little trick, young lady. Care to share it with me?
He smiled with a wide, vile smile, far more oily than his face... Simply disgusting.
Knowing to be repeating herself, the woman on the cross couldn’t help but look down, slightly depressed, and once more utter a sad
-Well, shit!
The last thing she saw before angrily closing her eyes, was the face of the woman which wanted to spare the Rokians: it was... Simone!