Sona: "So, the time left is so short you're afraid to tell me?"
Dragon: "Huh!?"
The dragon looks at the woman in disbelieve. How could she understand that so quickly? The dragon has thought of her as someone on the brink of insanity. So how could she think and figure things out like a completely sane person.
Sona: "That reaction tells me I am right."
But, on the other end, it isn't sound logic that the woman used to figure it out. It is indeed a barely sane mind that came up with that logic.
There was the possibility that there was so much time left that it could somehow inconvenience the dragon if others knew about it. There was also the possibility that he would die at a particular date or time that others should not know about. But the one that appealed to Sona the most was the one where his enemy dies very soon. And so she wanted that one to be right. Thus, she convinced her – that is the real reason.
This is the logic behind her thoughts. Now that she knows it's true, she doesn't even bother to worry how irrationally her mind is working.
Dragon: "Damn you!"
To the dragon who has had his secret figured out without an explanation as to how she did it, it may look like she has been thinking like a sane person and using deductive reasoning, but the truth couldn't be further from it. It is insanity that allowed her to figure it out after all.
Sona: "So, how much time is left?"
Dragon: "Don't think I will …"
Sona: "Less than a year?"
Dragon: "What!?"
Sona: "Right again, huh?
The dragon's reaction is easy to read. At least, it is easy to read for Sona. He has been anxious for a while now. Combine that expression with his words, and every time it would look like Sona has hit the mark. And she won't even bother to think of other possibilities.
Sona: "Then, if I narrow it down again – less than a month?"
The expression doesn't change and Sona ignores everything else and takes it as a 'yes'. She just wouldn't accept anything that would seem less pleasant. Just like how she will never bother thinking about the loopholes in every single one of her theory.
Sona: "What about – less than a week?"
The same reaction, the same interpretation – Sona decides this will be as less as it can go. If it was less than a day, the dragon would be much more anxious. So she decides she wouldn't ask if it's less than a day or not because the answer is very likely to be a 'no', something she doesn't want to hear.
Dragon: "Tch!"
The dragon looks at her with the same anxiety as before, but for the first time, she notices his eyes, unlike his face showing his true emotions.
Dragon: "It's …"
Those emotions are disbelieve and … resignation.
Dragon: "Four days."
Sona: "Four … days?"
Dragon: "That's all I have left."
Sona: "Just four days. I see, just four days, huh?"
The dragon nods. His secret has been almost completely exposed. He thinks there is no point in hiding it anymore and spills the last part himself.
Sona: "I see."
She looks at the ground as her hair covers her face. Her expression at the moment – the dragon has no idea what it is.
Sona: "So it's … just four days."
Dragon: "Yes."
The dragon interprets her sentence as a question to confirm what she hears and answers once more. But it was not a question; it is far from any question, it is … the crossing of the line.
Sona: "Ha! Ha! Ha! HA! HA! HA!"
She bursts out laughing. Her laughs echo through the forest. They are a show of pure delight, or so one would expect.
In reality, they are laughs of despair.
*******************************
Kais: "Inhuman people like me and … her?"
Who does he mean by that?
Ethan: "Don't you remember there was a woman with me when we first met?"
Kais: "She's a psychic too?"
I didn't sense any psychic energy from her. But if she is powerful enough, she should be able to hide her aura. So the possibility exists. However,
Ethan: "No, but she is a pretty dangerous supernatural nonetheless."
Ethan answering my questions without the smile makes me uncomfortable. Till now, I had thought of Ethan as a sadist. Seeing him without a smile when I am pained by my inner-emotions trying to burst out, that preconception seems to be shattering.
Kais: "Guess you're not that big of an asshole."
Ethan: "I don't know what I ever did to give you that impression. At least, I don't think I have done anything yet."
Kais: "Yet?"
Ethan: "Yeah well, who knows what the future may hold?"
It is as clear as it could be that Ethan is willing to go up against anyone if given a reason to. I have picked up on this and have taken care to maintain a safe distance between us.
Kais: "You did say it's because of your 'Eyes of Truth', but …"
Ethan: "But I didn't exactly tell you how it all ties up, right?"
Yeah, basically, he hasn't answered the question yet.
Ethan: "Well, the easiest way to explain would be to say –"
He pauses again. That annoys me but from the looks of things, it doesn't seem to be his goal to annoy me. It looks like he is collecting his thoughts.
Ethan: "I was a witness."
Kais: "Witness … of what?"
Ethan: "Of the disaster 12 years ago."
Kais: "___"
Ethan: "Hey, you okay?"
My mind can't process that. What he just said is totally absurd, isn't it? There's no way it's true. He must be trying to mess with my head.
Ethan: "I'm not lying, you know."
There he goes again trying to act like a mind-reader even though he is just a human. That's right. He's just a normal human. He thinks he can outmatch a psychic by using a few deceiving words. He must think too lightly of us psychics.
Ethan: "I don't undervalue any of you people."
This bastard! Who does he think he is? Trying to act all high and mighty like that, are we a joke to him?
Ethan: "In contrast, I think you are all terrifyingly powerful people."
Kais: "Why you …"
Ethan: "Trying to lash out at me won't help."
Kais: "Tch!"
Ethan: "You know what would help though – letting your emotions through."
Kais: "Do you think I am a child that I'd start crying now?"
Ethan: "The thinking that only children cry is a very conceited thing to say in reality."
What's wrong with this guy? Just shut up!
Kais: "You sure you don't think that way because you're still a crybaby yourself."
Ethan: "Well, you are free to call me whatever you want. I am not the most self-esteemed man so I don't really care all that much."
And that just irritates me even more, you bastard.
Ethan: "But anyway, all I did was answer. But that was enough to make you this despaired. This is why I warned you before."
Kais: "Alright fine, will you shut up for a second?"
Ethan: "If you stop trying to put a lid on your emotions, I will."
Kais: "Shut the hell up!"
If he doesn't shut his mouth by himself, there's only one way to make him.
Kais: "If this hurts, don't blame me."
I am not a big fan of using my psychic abilities to attack, but this guy needs a good beat-down to keep his mouth shut.
Ethan: "It won't work."
Kais: "Like hell it won't."
I focus my energy in my hands and give him a solid punch in his stomach – only to see my hand going through his body.
Ethan: "I told you it won't work. Only my soul is here, so anything you do with the intention of hurting my body will be ineffective."
Kais: "But how is that …"
Ethan: "Well, I don't know."
Kais: "What?"
Is he messing with me again?
Ethan: "Something happened and I fell unconscious. Then I found myself here, but only in spirit form. I don't know what happened though and I had never seen this place before. So I have no idea what's going on."
Kais: "Damn! Things I don't understand – just keep piling up."
Ethan: "Well, that aside, I think you have pretty much started to hate me now, so I'll be going."
Kais: "The way you say it makes it sound like you came here just so I could start completely hating you."
I say that when Ethan is turning away. Even though I am not sure, I think I saw a glimpse of smile on that face of his.
Ethan: "Well, I'll see you in two days, and this time in flesh."
Kais: "So I'll get a chance to punch you after all."
A smirking sound comes from him.
Ethan: "I'm not sure you'd be benefited much from that though."
While saying that, Ethan leaves the range of my sight. He leaves his torch behind so there's no way I can see him. But he says we would meet in two days, right? Will we now?
*******************************
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Stay healthy!
I stand in the darkness alone. Ethan Kales left a few moments ago. The way he arrived, the way our conversation went and then the smile on his face when he was leaving (I only saw a hint of it but I know it was there) all makes me vary of everything that's happening here.
I have no idea where I am and what I am here for. For all I know, this could be a trap the dragon sent me to. I am inclining towards believing that's not actually the case, but there's no guarantee.
Kais: "Well, I'll have to get a move on."
Even if my head is full of questions, and even if I am anxious as hell because of them, I have to keep moving. Thinking about them might give a theory or two about what their answer might be, but a theory I come up wouldn't necessarily be true. I'll never find any answers unless I look for people who know them.
Kais: "Well, I'll also have to make them talk."
That won't be the easiest thing to do, but it sure wouldn't be as hard as finding them. So, the crux of the situation is, I'm surrounded by various supernatural events, I don't know everything about any of them, and I'll have to try to know as much as I can to proceed.
Kais: "Not a very ideal island adventure, but I guess I have no choice but to do it."
With that decided, I take a step forward. But just as my feet touch the ground again, I feel a chill run down my spine.
Kais: "What … was that?"
There's darkness all around me. The torch Ethan had brought and had (for some reason) left before leaving is still here and the only source of light so far. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness and so I can see some things clearly but not everything. In which case, it won't be very hard to sneak attack me.
Kais: "So if anyone tries to attack me, I'm screwed –"
Or at least an onlooker might think that. I am constantly using Aura-Reading so I can detect any hostile movements and it is impossible to do me any harm without me noticing it. Which is why – there's no reason for me to get afraid or have chills run down my spine.
Kais: "So why did that happen?"
I don't think it was just some random happening that I should ignore. More than I trust anyone or anything else, I have to trust in my senses. After all, my entire psychic arsenal is more or less dependent on them and they have not failed me once in my lifetime. If I felt a chill run down my spine, there has to be a reason for it.
Kais: "So what just happened?"
I turn to look back but nothing appears, I turn some more and the same result repeats itself. As I keep looking, I keep coming to the same conclusion – that everything is fine. But I just refuse to believe that.
Kais: "Can someone slip through without me noticing?"
It's a terrifying thought, but one that I need to consider. One of the psychic abilities is to hide your presence. While Aura-Reading should be the counter to the ability, it's not omnipotent. I know I am not the most powerful psychic in the world. What if someone much more powerful than me tries to use that ability and sneak past me, at least my mind should notice it. In which case, a shiver running down my spine should be a warning of sorts.
Kais: "But can't they just teleport out of here instead?"
If the person was trying to attack me, then it makes sense for them to slip past me, but if all they wanted was to pass me without me noticing them, then they could just teleport away from my range.
Kais: "Unless there was some ulterior motive …"
An ulterior motive – that would make them try to get past me without me noticing. I check my own aura and I am the same as before. No changes have been done to me internally or externally.
Kais: "There is nothing dangerous on me either."
Then, what other reason could there be?
Kais: "Actually, that's a waste of time, isn't it?"
Coming up with a reason I don't even know who had for sneaking past me is absurd. There can be so many reasons and there's no way I can think of and verify all of them. If I am to think of things that might have happened, I need to make sure I am safe for now (which I already have) and to tighten up my defenses.
Kais: "This will take some effort though."
The ability I am about to use is Psychic Barrier and the name is pretty self-explanatory. It will cover me in all fronts and no one can pass unless I allow them to. Though once inside, a person can do anything to me without worrying about the barrier.
Kais: "Okay then."
I close my eyes as I focus my energy into my heart. I have to cover my heart with my psychic energy to activate the barrier. One crucial thing about this ability is that it relies solely on my psychic energy. I can't use any atmospheric energy to power it up. So as my energy runs out, the layer of energy covering my heart will get thinner and my barrier will get weaker. When that happens, there will be no instant way to replenish it.
Kais: "Finally."
The process of activating this barrier doesn't take too much time, only about 15-20 seconds for me, but it takes a lot of effort in just that much time. But while the barrier has all these negatives, it gives me huge positives too. In Aura Reading, someone can teleport from a point from one point to another, both outside of my range, and can avoid detection. This happens because in teleportation, psychic energy of the person mixes with the atmospheric energy and travels to the other point. Since atmospheric energy is used to do aura-reading, it feels like nothing is out of order. On the other hand, if someone tries to teleport in a way that their energy would even touch the barrier, I would know because it would differ from the energy of the barrier which will be purely mine.
Kais: "So I can say I am as safe as I can manage to be right now."
And now that I have confirmed that much, I should get back to the task at hand. I came here to go to do something the dragon says should become clear to me somehow. It is not clear yet, but for now I want to get to the place where Ozyllus' body is.
Kais: "Sorry about it but,"
I know the dragon doesn't want me to go near it and all that, but I can't ignore this once in a lifetime chance now that I am alone.
Thinking that, I start walking in the direction Ethan came from. I might find something there, after all I have been walking straight up to here without any chance to diverge so it's not like there are any other routes I can take. Even if there was, it can be checked later when I return.
Kais: "Being by myself helps quite a bit actually."
I don't have anything against the dragon or the girl, but since I am alone here, I have a lot of freedom I wouldn't have had otherwise and I am glad for it. I have to make decisions for myself and no one would stop me. I am not saying I want everyone to keep agreeing with me, but I hate it when people disagree without giving any explanation as to why.
Kais: "And those two probably won't explain why."
I can be sure of that with the dragon, and the girl probably doesn't know anything the dragon doesn't want others to find out.
Kais: "That being said though …"
And this is a question that has bugged me for a while now, why did the dragon send her here with me? It's hard to believe the dragon didn't know she would just disperse and get drawn back. That can mean that this is not the place the dragon intended me to be. The place should be inside the tomb but we got teleported to a different space when we stepped in. Maybe my assumption that this was as he wanted was wrong.
Kais: "And that would mean – I am in someone's trap right now."
So what should I do? Should I try to get back to the tomb? But even if this all is true and I get back to the tomb somehow, there's no guarantee it would be less dangerous there. Either way, I am in a very dangerous position. I can trust no one here – not the dragon, the girl, Sona, Ethan or anyone else.
The worst part of this problem all is that I have no idea how big of a problem it is and the mysteries just keep piling one over the other.
Kais: "I can't even decide what to do now."
I say that as I realize that I have stopped moving. That's only natural though. I thought I needed to find Ozyllus' coffin and that I might if I go in the direction Ethan came from but now I have doubts about this place even being the real tomb.
Kais: "This is risky. There's no doubt about that."
Do I have any clues that could help me here? There must be something. There must be some sort of information I can use to at least take a step forward in the right path. Think! Damn it! Think!
Kais: "Wait!"
I suddenly remember something the dragon said back then.
Dragon: "The tomb belongs to Ozyllus. No one can dare step foot in if his soul does not allow them to."
So is this what he meant? Does Ozyllus' soul send me here? As unlikely as that sounds, it is not impossible. Ozyllus' soul should be powerful enough to send me to a different space. Ozyllus would have done much more, but his soul can't be as strong as he was. Still, sending me here should still be child's play for him.
Kais: "Come to think of it, Ethan –"
He said ghosts exist. That could also mean Ozyllus exists as a ghost and not a soul, as terrifying as that may sound. If that's true though, would the tomb really be the place he would be lurking around. Unlike souls that are bound to the place the body rests, ghosts are free to do whatever they want or go wherever they want. At least, that's what I have heard. Since I didn't even know they actually exist until a few moments ago, I had never dug much deeper into their topic.
Coming back to the point though, even if he exists only as a soul, if he's capable of teleporting me here, then he should be capable of contacting the dragon somehow too. So, is he a soul or a ghost?
Kais: "Damn! Either scenario is very plausible, so I think I should just keep this in the back of my mind for now."
Ghosts exist and are free to move as they desire. But in that case, Ozyllus would probably keep interfering with the world. It's a terrifying thought that a being so powerful would keep interfering with the world. It almost sounds as if he's a 'demon' … or a 'god'. The world did call him a god but that was just metaphorically. If anyone believed him to be a real god, they would be some fools.
There's a possibility that ghosts aren't capable of interfering with the physical world because they don't belong to it anymore. In that case, he shouldn't be capable of teleporting me here either … unless he is so powerful he can break the rules, which makes this theory non-valuable, at least for now. Besides, that's far-fetched too. No matter how powerful he is, and no matter who calls him a god, he can't go around breaking metaphysical laws and controlling space-time on the tip of his fingers. All us psychics can do is bend these laws a little and get a convenient solution to problems not possible normally. The possibility of him solely being able to interfere with the physical world – I would say it's unrealistic without a doubt.
Then another possibility is contracts and conditions. What if forming contracts allows these ghosts to interfere with the physical world? It certainly becomes possible in the case of lower and middle-class spirits like that rabbit-like spirit and even a high-class one like Death. But Ozyllus would be a spirit definitely among the most supreme ones. I doubt any human on earth will be powerful enough to make a contract with such a spirit. I don't know the details of spirits and contracts but the individual ability of the spirit-user does matter when making a contract and as far as I know, in present, there exists no human being who can make a contract with that high-level of a spirit.
Kais: "Though what if –"
The dragon did it. The dragon might be able to do so and would probably be glad to make a contract with his friend. That could also be a clue for why the dragon would be here if he says Ozyllus' soul can protect the tomb by itself.
The only problem in this theory I can think of right now is that the dragon is essentially not a being that would be capable of forming contracts since that's restricted to human beings. One way around it could be that when he gained his human form, he became able to make contracts with spirits among other human-like attributes he got, but I have no confirmation on that front and there's no indication of anything like that being possible.
*******************************
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Stay healthy!
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