--- KINTHEK ---

“Mentally, I’m more than twice your actual age.” the words echoed through Kinthek’s head, bouncing around unhelpfully as reasons and implications followed in their wake.

Possibility one: she was also soulless. Impossible, she wasn’t even a Larborak, nor did she have red hair. Possibility two: the god she’s bound to gave her a strange ability. Unlikely, to Kinthek’s knowledge the gods were finicky with giving out powers and she had a million of them. Possibility three: she stole powers somehow or won a bargain. He hadn’t heard of anyone actually winning a bargain with demons, but he did know they existed. So… maybe. Possibility four: her abilities as they were were the natural untamed gift somehow leashed. Kinthek hadn’t realized that could be possible, but odd things happened in the world. He labeled that as another maybe.

Possibility five: she was secretly a god herself or a vessel. Unlikely, most people could tell immediately if there was something that powerful in front of them. Possibility six: wherever she’s from, the rules are vastly different in such a way that Kinthek would need more information.

That last one seemed the most likely.

She stared at him. “Sparks that’s awkward.”

He stared at her. “So… are you going to explain?”

“Well that was the plan but you’re giving me that look. I expected you to start guessing. Which admittedly would have been entertaining.” She paused for a moment and then nodded, “Yeah I don’t think you would have gotten the right answer anyway.”

He gestured for her to continue, so Eliax nodded, “I have an ability called Rebirth. Basically, whenever I die, my body is taken to the Dream Realm. After a while—the time depends on how damaged it was—I wake up again, back to being around twelve.”

Kinthek opened his mouth, remembering the dead child that had looked quite a lot like Eliax, “So, when you took me there to look for something? Your dead twin?”

She nodded, wincing slightly, “I’m a clone, my original self died because she was doing something stupid. She’ll be back in a few days.”

Kinthek put a hand to his head, “Stars, I… I’m so sorry.”

Eliax seemed surprised for some reason, “Why?”

He frowned, trying to put his thoughts into words, “Living forever, it’s more a curse than a blessing. I’ve known my whole life that I would outlive everyone. Most people with the red curse live nearly two hundred years. But you… you’ll outlive even that.”

She smiled sadly, “Yes, I will. It’s only starting really, my mind is living there already most of the time. But it’s not all bad if I remember there are still things for me to do, still goals to reach and places to discover. Then, if I end up dying for good one day, at least I’ll be able to say that I accepted that a long time ago.” She paused, “My journey just… seems like it’s going to be a lot longer than everyone else's. It’s not a bad thing, it just means I’ll have a lot more time to lose my mind.”

He stared at her for a long moment.

“What?”

He blinked, “oh, sorry, just trying to see if I can tell that you’re some kind of projection. Are you… different from your real self?”

She glanced downward, “I… well Fora has some mental problems I think—that’s her name, my… real self. I’m completely separate from her in personality, ideals, and short term goals. We’re practically different people.”

Kinthek sighed, looking downward, “sorry, I keep bringing up things like that, you don’t have to talk about it, you know?”

Eliax glared at him, putting her hands on her hips, “I like doing things like this. I like talking about myself in a setting like this. I like explaining my reasons and finding out who I really am on the inside.” She hesitated, “but don’t let this get in the way of how you see me, okay? I’m still the same Eliax you’ve known for the last few weeks. Even if I’m not quite real and even if I’m secretly super old. I’m still the same, you just know part of why I’m so weird now.”

Kinthek smiled, “only part?”

She nodded curtly, “The rest is because I’m just built different. It’s okay, not everyone can be as cool as me.” She said it with a completely straight face, hardly even adjusting her posture to indicate it was a joke.

Kinthek laughed.

The slight tension that was built up in his friend bled away.

--

Kinthek smiled at Vespin, holding up the last bundle, “I’d give this to you, but Eliax tells me I was over the number! Can you believe that!”

The old priest laughed slightly, “do you want the twenty back or do I get to keep them? I’m sure after all that life force training you could use them too.”

Kinthek stilled slightly, setting down the bundle and giving Vespin a slightly uneasy look, “I… don’t think any village will let me near their thunder crystal ever again. Even if I prove I can recharge it.”

Vespin raised an eyebrow. “I see. But out of curiosity, what did you think the shrine was built atop?”

Kinthek felt his eyes bug out at the admission, feeling his head snap toward the shrine, “WHAT? You were letting me go there every day?! Even after what I did?!”

The priest chuckled slightly, but didn’t even really answer the accusation, “I trusted you more than you trusted yourself I see.” Which was pretentious as the stars themselves. Vespin nodded to himself, “You’ll be leaving then?”

Eliax glanced at them at that, apparently not ignoring them as Kinthek had assumed. Kinthek scratched the back of his head, “Ah… yeah, I think tomorrow would be best, right?”

Vespin nodded, “Tomorrow it is then.”

Eliax nodded as well, seeming contemplative for some reason.

--

Kinthek knelt at the shrine, just hours before he was meant to leave. His head wasn’t bowed, his eyes weren’t closed. Instead he simply stared at the altar, feeling lost.

“I…” He swallowed, “I’m leaving soon.” He felt something, it could have just been him, but it seemed like the very air was growing more still. He looked up at the stone arch, “I’m here to claim my life force, I’m here to join the legion of travelers. In that I vow that… that whenever I am able I will find a shrine, when I am not I will give in my heart. For this the… the agreement as old as Sacrifice is spun in my heart.” He swallowed again, hoping he wasn’t missing any words. He knew it didn’t really matter if some parts were off, as long as Atharian knew your intent.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

He felt that stillness increase, “And for all this, I simply request the power of life force. My dedication these past years should begin it and fill in the gaps.”

The stillness completed itself. It seemed as if the whole world was holding its breath. Kinthek did too, just in case that helped.

And then a voice spoke from somewhere both near and far at once, “I see.” Kinthek tried not to jump, but he didn’t think he succeeded. The voice continued, it was deep, deep enough that Kinthek could hardly fathom its depths. “Your request is granted. Life force for your time. I wish you luck, Kinthek Korelli.”

And then it was gone.

Kinthek felt himself shuddering slightly as something was placed inside him.

--- ELIAX ---

I entered the piece of the Between that represented our mind. It seemed much more chaotic than the last time I’d come here, probably because Fora was currently dead, but also because I hadn’t checked up on it for weeks before that, leaving Fora to do most of the organizing herself.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand her system, it made sense.

But the system was less a system and more ‘let’s shove everything I don’t want to deal with in here without putting anything away.’ It wasn’t annoying, per se, but it just led me to once again being disappointed in Fora. I was tired of doing that, one of these days my expectations would get the memo and stop going so high.

Either way, the space was chaotic as I stepped inside it. I took a moment to gather my thoughts, my instinct was to immediately yell at Fora, but she was dead at the moment. My other instinct was to fix the place, but then I’d probably have Fora constantly complaining when she got back that she couldn’t find anything. Annoyingly, she would be back in a day or two, and that wouldn’t even give me enough time to sort through everything we’d taken with us from Virna.

I sighed.

Instead, I looked through things, peering into corners and moving aside various crystals until I came across an intact set of communication crystals. I wasn’t sure if this world had a deadzone like Virna’s Yera, but even if it did, the crystals would still vibrate when told to. It was just that the spoken words wouldn’t go through.

I pocketed the crystals and kept searching before eventually coming across two vials of healing potion. They were the potent kind, and I had a whole shelf of them. I pocketed these as well before wandering about the space, letting my mind wander.

What else was there…

I poked my head into a hollowed out section of the crystalline rock—it was strange to me how my personal section of the between looked like Virna’s when nothing else here did—After a bit of rummaging I pulled out one of my old expanded bags. I stared at it for a minute. I stared at it for a bit longer.

I made a sound reminiscent of a growl and tore out the spell I’d long ago bound to it, letting it unravel harmlessly in my hands and disperse into the between around me. Sparking amateur crafting… I shoved some things off the desk and sat down beside the small bag, pulling out a jeweler's lens and some tweezers.

This would take a while to fix.

Several hours later, I turned the spell around with one hand, the other hand still holding the magically charged tweezers. I’d long since stuck the lens to my face with some old goggles, and I probably looked a sight as I slowly pushed the different runes into place.

After a second of staring at it to be sure nothing was missing, I placed my hand over the whole of the rune, “You are one.” I spoke to it in a whisper willed with energies. The rune obediently tightened beneath my grip.

When I took my hand away, it was more stable, even when I ran the still magic-covered tweezers across the spell, it didn’t waver.

Hesitantly, I set them down and tapped at it a few times. I couldn’t feel it really, but the binding held against the ripples of magic I sent at it. Good, it should last through dimensional ripples. As long as no one specifically targeted the bag it would be fine.

I sighed and stood up, stretching my back and setting the potions and crystals inside. The things I do for people…

I wrote a quick note and some instructions and put them inside before taking one half of the communication crystal set and putting it on a piece of the five sectioned recording system I’d set up. I would try to check it every few days if I wasn’t carrying it on me. Either that or I’d try and get Fora to look after it, but the probability of it getting lost in that case was unfortunately high if she herself didn’t have an emotional tie to the object.

I shook my head and exited the space, bag in hand.

-

When I stepped back into reality, the sun was high in the sky.

I’d entered the between before dark. Sparks, Kinthek had better not have left already, the sparking man seemed so carefree half the time…

I glanced around the area before spotting that Vilvav guy, walking toward the shrine. I caught up to him, matching his pace, “did Kinthek leave already?”

Vilvav smiled, “He’s at the shrine, asking Atharian for safe travels. I think he should be done soon, it’s why I’m returning now.”

I frowned at him, “don’t you usually pray with him?”

The priest shrugged, looking down the path as he started up the steps. “A prayer of travelers is best done alone. They’re quick though, he should be finished any minute now.”

Sure enough, Kinthek was standing up and bowing to the shrine when we entered the area. He seemed more frazzled than usual and—

I gaped at him, I could see his soul.

We hadn’t been able to see very many people’s souls here, and neither Fora nor I had any idea why. I could see Vilvav’s, and a few of the villagers, but before this moment, Kinthek’s soul had been impossible to make out, just a vague sightless blur to my senses.

It looked like a regular soul without any affinities, but it had the same piece that Vilvav did. It was a simple thing, really, but it seemed a bit like a luck spell. I hadn’t seen many of them, but they did exist.

I gaped at him for a whole three heartbeats as the priest asked him how it went.

Kinthek seemed nervous, “It went well I think, he accepted at least. I don’t really feel very different though, are you sure anything happened?”

I stared at his soul, mapping out the shape and color of the glow, taking in the way its runes curved this way and that. Vilvav spoke, smiling, “That’s great then! That means it worked. It’s hard to feel anything at first, but now you can give energy to thunder stones and take vitality from plants. It makes you stronger too, more hardy. You don’t heal any faster though so try not to do anything dumb!”

Kinthek smiled, “I’ll try not to, but I can’t say for sure if that’ll work out very well.”

I kept staring, my mind going over one particular section over and over… Sparks wasn’t that…

“Oh, I don’t doubt that you can’t be sure, but squalls Kinthek, just try to keep yourself in at most two pieces, alright?”

Kinthek grinned, his gaze moved over to me, “ah… Eliax, are you alright?”

I blinked at him, finally realizing I’d been spaced out for most of that, “oh, sorry I’m just surprised, I couldn’t see your soul before.”

Kinthek froze slightly, touching his hair, “I…”

I blinked at him, “oh, no no, it’s not like that. I mean, I can see people’s souls. But here it seems like it’s only certain people, I couldn’t see yours before but now I can.”

Vilvav frowned at me, glancing at Kinthek and then back at myself. “You can see souls?”

I nodded, “Ah… sparks sorry. Kinthek, if it helps, your soul looks just the same as everyone else's. It’s regular sized and it’s not even damaged, which I’ve found is far too common for practically everyone everywhere.”

Kinthek opened his mouth and closed it again, his expression seemed to actually be surprised, “That’s… thank you, Eliax, that’s really good to know.”

I smiled and held out the dimensional bag, “I made this for you, it’s bigger on the inside than the outside. I’m going to stay here for a while to… settle some things, but there’s a way to contact me inside.”

Kinthek blinked at it, he seemed to have tears in his eyes, “Oh, Eliax, you didn’t have to…”

I held it out more insistently until he took it. I nodded at him, “You’ve better not die, you hear me? I learned something important from your soul, and I’m not going to just ignore it, you hear me?!”

Kinthek was examining the bag, but he met my eyes again, “I’ll stay in at most two pieces, just like Vespin said.”

I nodded, that was good enough.