POV Aron Brightcloud

The next few days were spent lying in bed. To heal me, the magicians had forcefully used the energy of my body. Injuries to one’s core and pathways were much harder to heal than normal injuries. With the energy gone, there was nothing left to support a quick recovery, that only left me the slow option. They provided me with healthy food to speed up the process. Still, I had a lot of free-time. I used that to get an in-dept understanding of my situation.

I had hoped to talk with my new “brother” as the word “familiar” didn’t live up to the in-dept connection we had. Yet he had stayed dormant, most likely due to the massive injuries he had taken when he ripped a piece of his soul apart to mend mine.

This led me to another topic. Eventhough I had a new soul fused to mine, I hadn’t gotten any new knowledge. It felt like it had been scrubbed clean beforehand. That removed a big part of my worries. I had already lived through a soul-absorption, and I didn’t want to deal with another personality change.

That left my injured body. Thanks to the magicians and their special food, my body had mostly recovered during the past days. My pathways, or the soup of noodles, depending on how you want to call it, had repaired itself. I still had no clue how much magic I would be able to push through the thinner root pathways, but at least they didn’t look like they would rip apart if touched lightly. My core wall was another topic. It still looked like swiss cheese. The holes hadn’t closed at all.

Still contemplating, my senses picked out steps coming closer. Someone would soon enter my room. I let my body fall back onto the bed and closed my eyes. Not yet sure on how to play it, I preferred to keep my cards close and let them think I slept. I could later initiate a talk.

An earthy smell made its way into my nose, followed by an old voice.

“Open your eyes, I know you are awake. It is time we have a talk.”

I followed suit. There was no benefit in acting asleep any longer.

“Good morning sir.” I opted for the respectful approach. His voice alone had a surety in it that made me careful.

He had been standing at the window of my room, looking out into the distance. Following my words, he turned towards me. I identified him as the former unknown magician who had given the speech at the entrance ceremony. I instantly knew I had made the right decision, his blatant display of power still fresh in my mind.

“You seem to have recovered well for someone who has been dead for over a minute. Let me take a look at you.”

The magician stepped closer and took my head in his hands. I didn’t stop him or tried evading. His power too strong to even entertain the slightest thoughts of such an endeavor. I could only hope that he’d be unable to see the darkness in my soul.

“Everything seems in order, although damaged. How curious. I can’t find a reason to bare you from our school, so recover well. Injuries to your core and pathways are hard to heal. You have to find out how much you still can do with them by yourself. If you are lucky, the upgrades which you reach through fighting will heal the damage over time. Such extensive damage to the core and pathways is very rare. Not much is known on how to treat it. One of the assistant magicians will introduce you to the rules and give you the most important information to live here peacefully.

He will also set up a mini formation for you to get your familiar as well. Obviously it won’t be anything as strong as you would have had with your light core, but it will be better than nothing. It is your choice to decline if you think you are not up to it after your last failure. But understand, the longer you wait the worse it will get. The elemental particles from the outside will change your core, making it less attractive for the spiritual beasts the longer you postpone.”

Surprised by his words, I forced my face to remain a neutral mask. That meant the partial soulfusion didn’t count as a familiar bond, I could still get another. After some thoughts it made only sense, they were two different concepts.

“And before I forget, congratulation to still be alive. Core burn-outs get worse the stronger the core is. Until now no element’s chosen has ever survived such an incident. On the other hand, we also don’t have many of them, as having such a rare core combined with such lacking willpower is practically unheard of.”

His neutral voice turned condescending at the end.

I didn’t react to his contempt. Trying to defend myself and explain the poisoning wouldn’t work. It was widely known that a core burnout only happened due to a weak will. He had already formed his opinion of me. The image of me would fall even further if I tried to push my failure on to an imagined assassination attempt without proof. So I kept silent. Had I still had the little bottle I would have had some proof at least, but it had vanished.

“Thank you for the information, Sir.” I bowed my head. I wondered how much of the changes my core and pathways had gone through were visible to him and the other magicians. They didn’t react like they should have, if they had been aware of the detailed reconstruction my system had gone through.

I considered asking him, but stopped. This time I had luck that they hadn’t found my hitchhicker. If I told them about my core problems they would subjugate me to detailed tests. I couldn’t allow that. The risk was too high. Now without my light-core I had no bargaining position anymore. Most likely I would vanish and live my remaining life in the basement of a magic tower if they found out. Laying low was the only option.

He observed me. Not getting a rise out of me seemed to take him by surprise, yet after a short second he shook his head and made to leave the room.

Stolen story; please report.

“Welcome to the institute.”

I observed his receding figure. The interaction solidified my view of the situation at hand. I was going to be ousted for having a seemingly weak will. I could live with that.

Before the door closed my bodyguard slipped in, giving me her trademark smile.

“How are you feeling, young master?”

“Better. My body is slowly getting stronger. Have you seen the others?”

“Your mother needed to take care of something important, and Sandra is gone as well. Your mother asked me to tell you that she is sorry, but she had to go.”

It surprised me to hear that. I had thought my mum would stay here and observe my recovery. It must have been something important to leave so suddenly. At first I wanted to ask more about Sandra, but Sephiroth obviously hadn’t found out about Sandra, otherwise she would have acted differently. At the moment I couldn’t do anything about her. The school head had approved of me. This meant I was forced to stay the year at the institute. It posed a chance as well, Sandra would not see my revenge coming.

“Okay, thanks for the message.”

Sephiroth nodded, “As we have spoken of earlier, no servants or bodyguards are allowed on the school-grounds. I will stay outside at the nearby town. If you need something call through our bond, I will hear you and join up.”

I gave her a sharp look. I had known that our bond had changed into something else after my alteration, but her having access to my thoughts even this far apart let me wonder what else was possible.

Her Cheshire cat grin widened. She knew I burned to ask her some pointed questions but couldn’t do so in fear of being exposed. I had now illusions, my miraculous survival had put me into the sight of some powerful figures. I had no clue if they were gonna keep taps on me. And knowing Sephiroth, she would most likely try to make a game out of it in which I would lose more than gain.

Having read my face, she bated her eyelashes mirthfully.

“I have to go now. I already overstayed my welcome here at the institute. Can I hug you one last time, my master?”

Annoyed at her games I still opened my arms, I would miss her. She flowed into my arms like water, snuggling closer. For a moment we simply held each other.

“Take care of yourself, okay? There are many things that can be dangerous for a bodyguard as yourself.”

She knew what I meant, as a demon she was in dangerous territory. Luckily the servant contract would make things easier for her. Yet she had to pay attention, racism could be very dangerous.

“Thank you master, I will.” Before she slunk out of my embrace she quickly kissed me on the cheek, grinning at my exasperated expression.

The door closed behind her. All the familiar faces gone this was the first time I was all alone. Nobody to take care of, nobody who wanted my attention, I was fre-

‘No, never, Boss! I will never leave you! Fear not, we shall always be together! I have your back, you can trust me!’

It felt like I stood in front of a wide opened door, looking out towards a luscious garden, a paradise only for myself. I stepped towards it, already feeling the sweet scent of flowers in my nose. Only to have it taken away by the sudden slamming shut of the door in my face. followed by the rattling of chains as a portcullis crashed down on the other side, barring me from my paradise.

Joke aside. I had been looking forward to talk with my “little brother”.

‘Hello, it is good to see you awake again.’

I felt a wave of affection through our bond. I didn’t know what the soul was, but I instantly knew I could trust it.

‘Thanks boss! I am so happy to finally meet you! Together we will have so much fun, I am looking forward to experience all the great things and try out all the delicious meals!’

I had to stop a laugh from coming out. He really sounded like a little innocent brother who dreamed of experiencing all the world had to offer.

‘Yes, we will. Can you tell me about yourself? I have found you on a completely barren planet in the middest of the darkest void. Who and what are you?’

The entity on the other side of my soul nodded eagerly. ‘Sure, I am, mmh, I don’t seem to remember… I was in that dark place because of…of… I can’t remember either… I seem to not recall anything beyond my loneliness and the deep hunger I have felt until now.’

The voice in my head got more and more despondent. I quickly jumped his monologue.

‘It is okay, relax. Everything is fine. We will find a way, and if not it is okay as well. You don’t need to remember your past to have a great future. We will find a name that fits you. From now on you will have a great life!’

My new partner recovered hearing my positive thoughts. That solidified my picture of him even more. Young and innocent, a child at heart.

I hope he would stay that way. It was time to talk about the more serious stuff. My past, my problems and the hitchhicker in my soul. It was only fair for him to know what awaited him. I didn’t have the chance to tell him before, but now he needed to know.

Bringing him up to speed took quite a while. Luckily he didn’t seem perturbed about the problems we faced. What I heard next left me speechless.

“I had been wondering what exactly the deep blackness in your soul is. It tasted delicious! I used a part of it to facilitate our fusion. Its energetic properties are excellent! Sadly, the entity got angry at being eaten and tried to eat me instead! It’s a Meany! Luckily I am too awesome to be devoured by darkness. But it didn’t allow me to consume it further. What a shame! It tasted delicious!”

Hearing his words I had to push down a bubbling laugh treating to make it’s way out of my throat. With the disappearance of the light I had lost most of the defenses against the evil darkness. There I had worried and pictured the devouring of my soul, but my new buddy had already taken care of it. Obviously he had only postponed the problem but it gave me some time to work on a new solution.

‘That’s splendid to hear, you have done great! This helps us immensely! The darkness is a cancer! We need to find a way to get rid of it!’

‘I would love to, but it is too strong to eat it any longer. I only got away with it last time as it was too exhausted from your soul burning up. Maybe if I get more powerful, I will be able to eat more of it.’

The yearning in its voice crystal clear to myself. It put a new priority on my list. My friend needed to become stronger to keep that thing at bay!

Yet for now we were unable to do more about it. Better to focus on things we could influence.

‘Soon we will have another shoot at getting a familiar! You can help me find one that fits us.’

He perked up at that.

‘I get to have a say in it? Finding a bonding partner that completely matches us?’

I could proverbially see his excitement at enlarging his circle of friends. For a creature that had been lonely for an eternity, that must be something enormous.

‘Yes, we will. Together we will overcome all the challenges that the world throws at us!

‘Yes, we will!’

He got quickly infected by my motivational speech. Good.

‘And afterwards we will embark on our journey to study magic. Sadly, the eruption of my light core has left behind a hell of a mess in my core and energy pathways. I hope we will find a cure.’

My new brother seemed surprisingly quiet about the revelation.

‘Yes, we will!’ why did that sound like it was hiding something?

Must have been be my imagination. It had no reason to sabotage my body, it was it’s own as well. The clear feelings of trust and care still fresh in my mind. It would do anything to help me.