Ember frowned at the woman. A friend of a friend. She had no friends. All the people in her life were gone. She never figured out who the woman was talking about and shortly after her story she had left. Ember waited for the blue-haired woman to do that but she didn't. Instead, she stood there smiling.

Ember watched her confused. Did something else happen? Was there a gap in her memory? The world around her began to blur and the memory she was living in faded away but instead of being thrust into a new memory, everything became black. Ember looked around her. Was she going to wake up?

"I need to wake up. How long have I been unconscious?"

"I think for at least a day but you're safe."

Ember whipped around at the sound of the voice and she turned to see the blue-haired woman standing in the darkness with her. She smiled warmly at Ember though her eyes were sad.

"How - Who are you?"

The woman bit her lip. "I don't think I'm allowed to tell you. Honestly, I'm not sure what is and isn't allowed so you can just call me Bird."

"Bird?" Ember asked incredulously.

"It has a bit of truth without actually being the truth so I think it works," the woman said and then plopped on the ground, tucking her legs underneath her. "Sit with me."

Ember frowned. "I'll stand."

"Okay!" The woman said cheerfully. "You're probably wondering what's going on."

"Yes and more, but who are you? Not just your name but everything." She frowned. "Are you using an ability on me? Was I caught by Lord Felis?"

Bird laughed. "Abilities. No. That seems to be completely an Akashic Tree thing. I have my own magic and it is much cooler. Though it has its price just like everything else." She pointed at Ember's eye. "You really are using that for all its worth."

All the things Bird said in a few sentences led to a sleuth of questions and Ember wasn't sure what to ask first. She struggled before settling on one. "Did you curse me?"

Bird scratched her cheek self-consciously. "Sorta. It was kind of a group project. I mean, I wasn't trying to curse you but like I said, all magic has a price no matter what world you live in."

Ember balled up her fist. She considered throwing a fireball in the woman's face but then she would lose her source of information. She could always fireball her after she answered all her questions.

"Why did you curse me?" Ember asked through gritted teeth.

"Because the Akashic Tree needs you to live," Bird said and then frowned. "And that's all I can say about that, I mean if you still want to keep that whole looping ability of yours."

Ember blinked in surprise. "Looping...so this is tied to why I'm repeating this life over again."

Bird nodded. "Those details you're mostly going to have to figure out yourself. If I interfere too much you lose the ability. Unless you want to get rid of it. That's an option."

Ember was startled by that. "I can stop looping."

"Yes. I can tell you about everything and you'll stop looping. This life will be your last chance. I mean you've had a rough start this life but you could recover from it. Honestly, I suggest you don't try to go through another loop. A new one and the price will get even bigger."

Ember had to let that sink in. She hadn't suffered from a curse in her previous life despite the loop. She wasn't sure what made this time different. But if it would get worse then maybe it was better to stop herself from living through another loop.

She discarded the idea. She would suffer through as many curses as she needed to if she was given the chance to save her family. Bird was right that she had a rough start so she wanted to make sure she could fix it if this life ended in failure.

"I'll keep the looping."

Bird shook her head. "I feel sorry for you but I get it. Most people aren't going to say no to having the chance to fix their mistakes even if it just leads to more mistakes."

Ember wasn't sure if Bird was mocking her but she forced herself to ignore it. She had other questions that needed answering. "What exactly is the price I'm paying. Or can you not tell me that either?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Your soul," Bird said, pointing at Ember. "I'm sure you already feel it. Pieces of yourself being eaten away. Of course, it doesn't stop there. There are some physical issues as well." She pointed to Ember's eye. "Eventually you'll lose your sight if you're not careful and the curse spreads."

Bird paused and her expression grew serious. "That's why I'm here. I'm your warning. I had hoped to never have to meet you again but here we are."

The blue-haired woman patted the spot next to her. This time Ember walked oer and sat.

Bird turned to her and she had a sad smile on her face. "Like I said before, Ember. All magic has a cost and you have been using two very costly magics. The looping magic you are using needs something to fuel it and right now that's your soul."

Ember's eyes widened and then her brow furrowed. "That's impossible. Can a soul even be big enough to fuel such a cost?"

Bird made a zipping motion over her lips. "I can't really get into that but let's go ahead and say yours is for unknown reasons. Now, when it comes to reincarnation, souls stay the same but a loop is different. Your soul isn't moving onward but forcing itself to stay in time."

"Stay in time?"

Bird nodded. "Exactly. Time is a tricky thing. It does its own thing. Past, present, and future move all at the same time and separately but there is one thing that time doesn't do and that's stand still. Your loops are basically making time stop and then restart. That takes a ton of magic, the purest magic, and that's soul."

Ember thought she understood the basics of it but it opened up more questions. Questions about time and soul but she stopped herself from asking.

"I won't lose my loop ability by you telling me this, will I?"

"Nope," Bird said. "That's why I'm giving you the short version." Bird leaned back. "In any case, your soul is steadily being gobbled up and if you're not careful it'll be gone."

"What happens if my soul is gone?" Ember asked with a sinking feeling.

"You cease to exist and when I say that I mean ever. You're just gone, forever. No reincarnation, no afterlife. Just a big nothing. It's more than just dying."

Ember shuddered. Since she had already lived two loops and been reincarnated once, a part of her had gotten used to the idea of the flexibility of life. Perhaps she was starting to take it for granted. Now she knew that the price for everything was much higher than she could imagine.

"Well, I've given you the warning, now it's time for a gift."

"Gift?"

Bird tilted her head. "It's more like a tip." She put up one finger. "Every time you strain your soul you'll come here and get to relive some memories. Pay attention to the memories you're given."

"Why?" Ember couldn't help asking.

Bird only smiled. Another question she couldn't or wouldn't answer. The blue-haired woman jumped to her feet. "Well that's it. Warning given. If I stay her any longer I'll end up messing things up."

"Wait!" Ember said, scrambling to her feet. "Why did you pick me? Why do I have this looping ability?"

"You met the requirements," Bird said with a shrug. "You weren't the only one but you got there first."

"What do you-"

"And that's enough for questions. Good luck, Ember. I doubt we'll meet again but I hope we do."

"You're from Earth, aren't you?" Ember blurted out.

Bird stopped and she had a strange look in her eyes. "It's been a while since I heard Earth referred to as a place instead of an element." She glanced back at Ember. "I'm rooting for you. Oh, and one more thing. Watch out for those tainted powers you're using. A corrupted soul can be just as dangerous as having your soul gobbled up."

And with that, Bird was gone. There was no magical fanfare. Just one moment she was there and the next she was gone.

"Bird!" Ember shouted looking around her, hoping that she would get some sort of response. She called out her name several times but she never received an answer. She just stood in the darkness, alone once more.

Her mind whirled with what Bird had told her. She knew about the soul being the pool for magic but she didn't know that there were different types of magic a human could use. Would she be able to access it? She wasn't sure. Honestly, Bird seemed different from other humans and how she said she started as a human.

Was I talking to a god?

Her mind couldn't completely wrap around that. Bird was way too human. Still, that would be the answer that made the most sense. She sighed. She really shouldn't be focusing on that. Instead, her attention came back to what Bird had said about her soul.

The loop was eating her soul, so constantly looping wasn't an option. On top of that her curse would spread, crippling her body as it did as more of her soul was taken. And if the soul was also the root of her magic that meant eventually her magic would be damaged in the process.

Did that mean her current magic was damaged as well? The thought of staying in her weaken state made her shudder. No, she couldn't think like that. Keeper had said her magic was at a hundred percent just that she hadn't met the requirements. But now that she knew she could damage it, she would have to be careful.

She took a deep breath. The last warning reminded her of Viera. She had always hated Soul Torture. So it was corrupting her soul. She had known it tainted her but a cleansing helped with that but corruption was much worse. In the early stages, it could be cleansed but the deeper the corruption the harder it became to cleanse, eventually it would twist a person into an abomination.

The worse part was that she has two corruption powers she had used regularly in her tyrant life. She didn't have access to them now but once they were unlocked, she would have to decide whether to keep them or get rid of them.

There was too much to think about. Right now, she needed to wake up. How long would she be stuck in this black nothingness?

As soon as the thought left her mind the darkness began to blur and a new scene appeared in front of her. It looked like her memories weren't quite done with her yet.