Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Chapter 206 - Hope And Despair

Endra watched the scene with bated breath.

"The goddess in me tells me I should be benevolent, but I am still… a woman. I will not forgive you."

"…"

"I contemplated killing you, but as I've said, it's a waste of talents," the Empress continued. 

"We will dedicate our talents to the Empire," Ori said, knowing it was her only chance of living.

"Don't speak so irresponsibly," the Empress warned. "As long as I live, I will not allow you to die, and of course, you Twelve must share that body until the end of time. Of course, you'll do whatever I tell you to do."

Ori bit her lips, but she didn't falter. She nodded and bowed her head.

The Empress nodded back. She accepted the Twelve's loyalty. She continued. 

"Regarding you work, Alvox may look safe and peaceful, but even as we speak, foreign forces lurk beyond our doorstep. You shall search for them and destroy."

"Otherworlders?"

Ori sounded familiar with the concept.

"Yes. What I'm about to tell you cannot be revealed to anyone else. ----- ----- -----."

The Empress's words turned into something incomprehensible. Endra was a bit confused, but he guessed that Twelve must've blocked that part of the vision. 

"We will do as you say," Ori spoke softly. She seemed shaken by what she just heard.

"Then I shall not waste your time further. Report to Two Tales if you find something relevant."

"Yes, Empress."

"Good," the Empress nodded.

Then, her body started to disappeared bit by bit from the bottom. Endra frowned, not understanding what was happening at first, but he guessed she was teleporting away. 

'I guess she doesn't need to use portals like the rest of us. She can just turn herself to particles and recreate herself somewhere else… But in that case, what's the difference between her being everywhere but nowhere at the same time?' 

Ori, who was left behind, seemed to be lost in thought. Endra was also left behind with questions, such as what was the point of these visions. It felt like the Twelve were only showing their history to him at this point. 

But just before the Empress left, she spoke something, as if she was just remembering them.

"Oh, before I leave… Considering your knowledge and expertise, I know you Twelve will probably try something to split your soul again."

Endra's ears perked up.

'Oh, this is the part I've been waiting for!'

"We…" Ori started but the Empress cut her off.

"Don't bother." 

Terribly casually, the Empress shook her head.

'Why? There must be an explanation, right?'

"As Hex and Magi of the age before, we primarily used our own souls as base and fuel for magic. For that reason, it was natural for us to strengthen our own souls either through virtuous or diabolic methods. It was also a time when the soul of a common man was no different than commodity, ready to be traded, assimilated, or stolen."

"The laws of magic have changed. Mana replaced souls as the primary source of magic. Souls and bodies shall become irreplaceably interconnected. If I pull out any of the souls inside you, they'll be dead in minutes. I'm sure you've felt it, right?"

"Yes…" 

"Actually… try to do it. It might work somehow. But don't be reckless."

'This is bullshit…'

The Empress's body faded completely after the short remark.

Just like that Endra's answers were given to him.

Darkness engulfed his vision, and he woke up on the couch he'd fallen asleep on. It was the end of his visions. Endra spent a few moments in silence, but he pulled himself together.

'This can't be all...' he told himself.

He looked around. Evin was still sleeping on his couch, and Twelve was reading on a chair nearby. 

She took notice of his awakening, and put down her book. 

"So it's not that you prefer to stay in body, you're forced to be in one."

Endra knew he was speaking something dumb, but he couldn't care.

"Yes. And like she said, we tried many ways to separate ourselves."

"And she said it so casually too. As if it was an afterthought."

"Some of us felt wronged about that as well," Twelve smiled. "But such is the life of mortals such as us."

"I don't think you're qualified to say that."

Endra's voice was more hostile than he intended, but Twelve did not mind. 

"You're probably right, but it's hard for me to think like that." She didn't explain why. "Anyhow, I'm sure you have many questions. Don't hesitate to ask them. After all, the boy's still asleep."

'Questions? What good will questions do for me?' 

Endra sighed and thought about the offer. His brain started working on various theories, despite himself. He looked her in the eye and asked softly.

"Is it really impossible to separate?"

He knew it was weak of him to be this persistent, but he couldn't stop his head from thinking like this.

"It is impossible. The Empress did not waste 11 of her arms as a show of strength. She only declared that she denied our bodies, but her magic works the same as chants. What she declares shall always become reality, but she can also influence or alter their effects with her will."

"But there are cases of soul transplants working, right? The kingdom does many experiments on the subject after all. And some of their golems seem to take on life as well."

"Ah, that," Ori said. "Have you spoken to such a golem, or a soul-swapped person?"

"Yes… It was a golem…" Endra realized. "I first heard about the Princess of Denial from it! But how would it be able to know the name? She even banned you all from uttering it."

"Yes. Soul transplants work. Technically. However, the original soul disappears as the Empress intended. But for whatever reason, another soul, usually from the age before the Empire appears in the intended host body. Of course, they're usually deranged due to the long period they spent living as a soul, so it's hard to call them functional."

Endra nodded slowly at that statement. If their spiritual state was something similar to his, then he could see them going insane eventually. Type 12 mostly acted the same way, after all… 

'But what about Type 13?'

"There was a case of success once… I heard it before. It was a professor named Heim Morton, who managed to transplant its consciousness into a golem."

"Don't get your hopes up," Twelve sighed. "That may sound like a successful case, but it's not. It's likely just a relatively sane soul pretending to be someone else."

"But that doesn't explain their capabilities and knowledge. If it was a impostor, then why can it so adeptly live as the original?"

Endra felt a surge of hope, following this trail of logic.