Chapter 16: Echoes of the Soul!
Arthur was inside his personal office, sitting at his massive obsidian desk, surrounded by countless tomes, parchments and glowing mana crystals, all the while Arthur read the pages of an ancient manuscript, the ink of his own notes wet on nearby parchment.
The air in the office felt....strangely heavy. The faint hum of Aetheric energy coursing through the Tower normally soothed Arthur, yet now that wasn't happening. There was something else, a faint, gnawing pressure building within him.
"Fuck." Arthur said, a strange feeling building within him as he felt the need to impulsively say that word, to get that feeling off of his chest. He set down his pen, his hand pausing mid-air as he stared blankly at the notes written before him,
"The subject, Ayame, exhibits an unprecedented affinity for Aether integration after Soul Binding. Initial analysis suggests her connection to the Aether is akin to… no, surpasses that of most ancient spirits, almost equivalent to myself. Her raw output exceeds projected limits, yet…"
The words blurred slightly before his eyes, and Arthur frowned.
That feeling was back.
At first, he thought it was mere distraction. Yet, this… this was something else. Something deeper. Something that festered.
He leaned back in his chair, golden eyes staring up at the grand domed ceiling of the study. His hand twitched, and he clenched it into a fist, forcing his body to remain still.
Focus.
With a slow exhale, Arthur extended his hand. A golden light enveloped his palm, and a shimmering projection of his own body appeared before him. It rotated slowly, veins of Aetheric energy glowing beneath the translucent form, tracing the pathways of power within him.
His soul, a luminous core of swirling rainbow light, shone brightly at the center of his chest.
Everything was… normal. Balanced. Controlled.
"Nothing out of place," he muttered under his breath, his voice barely more than a whisper. "No anomalies. No irregularities in soul structure or Mana flow. Then why… why does it feel like something's wrong?"
The projection flickered out, and Arthur let his hand fall to his side. The feeling wasn't physical, it was mental. Foreign. And yet, it wasn't unfamiliar. It felt abnormal and normal at the same time, he couldn't explain it.
It scratched at the edges of his consciousness, like an old wound reopened, yet it simultaneously also felt like he was finally becoming whole. What was happening to him?
A flicker of memory surged forth, Lucius. His smug grin. His cruel laughter. The scent of burning flesh and the sound of desperate screams echoing in the darkness.
Arthur's fingers twitched, and a surge of raw Mana crackled around his hand before he extinguished it with a sharp breath.
Control yourself.
He picked up another tome, this one bound in cracked leather with faded silver lettering etched into its spine. It was one of the ancient archives he had retrieved from the ruins of a forgotten Spirit Library centuries ago.
He thumbed through the brittle pages, his expression neutral as he scanned lines of archaic text, reading patiently.
But the words failed to hold his attention.
The feeling returned, sharper this time. Like a splinter buried deep beneath his skin. He closed the book with a sharp snap, his jaw tight, his golden eyes burning with faint embers of something… raw.
His gaze fell on the scattered research notes before him, the tomes stacked precariously around his desk, the myriad diagrams and calculations that still led to incomplete answers.
Decades. Centuries.
All the time he had poured into unraveling the mysteries of Soul Magic, of the Aether, of his own nature and why he didn't have emotions, and yet, so many pieces of the puzzle still eluded him.
Every discovery birthed new questions, and every breakthrough felt like a drop in an endless ocean of uncertainty. The splinter dug deeper.
With a sharp, guttural growl, one that rumbled low in his throat, Arthur grabbed one of the nearby tomes and hurled it across the study.
It slammed into the crystalline wall with a resounding crack, pages fluttering like broken wings before settling lifelessly on the cold floor.
An era of silence followed, and Arthur froze, his chest rising and followed with controlled, shallow breaths, his hand faintly trembling as he stared at the discarded book, its cover bent as its pages were sprawled out in disarray.
"…What is happening to me?" he whispered into the empty air.
But the Tower had no answer. The Aether around him shimmered faintly, almost as though it could sense his inner turmoil but dared not speak of it.
Arthur turned sharply on his heel, his long coat trailing behind him as he strode across the polished obsidian floor. His boots clicked softly with each step, a sound swallowed almost instantly by the vast silence of the study.
There was one person who might be able to help him make sense of this, one person he trusted, not with his secrets, but with her insight.
Ellara.
Arthur exited his study, stepping into the grand hallway illuminated by cascading streams of light filtering through crystalline walls. He moved with purpose, his golden eyes sharp, but beneath that facade of stoic calm, the storm still brewed.
As he walked, his mind raced.
Was this connected to Ayame? To the Soul Bond?
Was this Lucius' lingering influence, some dormant poison resurfacing in his mind?
Or… was this something far older? Something rooted deep within his fractured spirit?
The faint trace of Ellara's unique energy signature guided him through the labyrinthine halls of the Tower until he reached the expansive training arena he had left Ayame at with the others.
Arthur stopped just at the threshold, his eyes narrowing slightly as he observed the scene before him.
Ellara stood in the center of the arena, her porcelain-like features framed by her silken blue hair. Her ethereal presence seemed almost timeless, with her sharp sapphire eyes glimmering faintly as she smiled at the three figures before her, Elektra, Akeno and Ayame.
Ayame and Elektra wore faint smiles as Ellara haded each of them a small plate with neatly arranged cookies, the scent of coffee and sugar lingering faintly in the air, while Akeno sat on a nearby chair, chewing her own cookies.
For a brief moment, Arthur hesitated. This serene scene, the faint laughter from Ayame, the amused smirk from Elektra, it felt… normal. Warm. Like something entirely foreign to him.
But the splinter in his mind dug deeper, and he pushed the thought away. Arthur stepped forward, his presence slicing through the lighthearted atmosphere like a blade. The air seemed to shift with him, becoming heavier, denser.
It was as if the way he was feeling was altering the atmosphere on a fundamental level.
Ellara sensed this immediately turned her head, her keen eyes locking onto Arthur's.
Ayame and Elektra followed suit, their smiles fading slightly as they took in his expression—a faint crease on his brow, his lips set in a hard line, and a sharpness in his gaze that felt… off, strangely different to the Arthur they knew.
"Arthur?" Ellara said softly, tilting her head slightly, "Is something wrong?"
"Run a diagnostic scan on me," Arthur said flatly, his voice cutting through the arena's silence like steel against stone as he arrived in front of the group.
The group blinked in surprise. Elektra raised an eyebrow and looking towards Ayame whose pink eyes widened slightly.
Ellara frowned, her porcelain-like features flickering with a faint trace of confusion. "A diagnostic scan? But… Arthur, there are no indications of injury, and you, "
"Do it," Arthur interrupted, his voice low but carrying an edge of foreign frustration that sent a chill through the air.
Ellara hesitated for just a moment before nodding, "As you wish."
She stepped closer, her delicate hands rising as faint blue light began to glow along her fingertips. Runes ignited across her porcelain skin, flowing in intricate patterns as Aether began to hum softly in the air.
Her sapphire eyes glowed faintly as she reached out, her hand hovering mere inches from Arthur's chest.
Arthur closed his eyes, his posture rigid, as the scan began. A faint shimmer enveloped him, threads of light weaving across his form, tracing his Aether channels, his mana flow, his very soul.
Ellara's expression remained composed as she meticulously examined every minute detail, her mind calculating and cross-referencing countless data points at impossible speeds.
After what felt like an eternity, the light faded, and Ellara stepped back, her expression neutral.
"Well?" Arthur demanded, his golden eyes locking onto hers.
"...There's nothing wrong," Ellara said carefully. "Your Aether pathways are clear, your mana reserves are stable, and your soul core remains intact. Everything is functioning at optimal levels."
Arthur's jaw tightened, and he exhaled sharply through his nose. His hand twitched by his side as if he wanted to lash out at something, anything.
"Then why does it feel like this? Like something is… wrong?" he growled, his voice dangerously low.
Ellara's sapphire eyes softened slightly, and she hesitated before speaking again. "Arthur… perhaps it's not something physical. Perhaps it's… emotional."
The word hit Arthur like a hammer.
He froze, his golden eyes narrowing dangerously, "That's impossible," he said sharply. "You know as well as I do, Ellara. I cannot feel emotions. That's the law of my Soul, what I've been researching all this time."
"And yet," Ellara continued gently, "what if something changed? Something recent."
Arthur's gaze flickered slightly. Ellara pressed on, her voice soft yet firm.
"The Soul Binding with Ayame was unprecedented, Arthur. We still don't fully understand the extent of its effects on either of you. You mentioned earlier that her connection to the Aether surpasses even most ancient spirits, most likely due to her new connection to you, who has a perfect Aether connection." Ellara explained, taking a short break before continuing.
"However, what if the Soul Binding wasn't one way. Whilst you are healing and evolving her Soul, improving her capabilities, what if she is also giving you the one thing that you've never had?"
Arthur's head turned slightly, his piercing golden eyes fixing on Ayame as he understood the implications of what Ellara was saying. If it was true, the Ayame was the key, the way to solve his biggest insecurity.
The girl froze under his intense stare, her coffee cup trembling slightly in her hands. Her pink eyes met his, wide and filled with uncertainty.
But Arthur wasn't looking at her. He was looking through her, at the connection they shared. He could see their Souls Conjoined in a Hug, with his Soul Essence healing her Soul slowly but surely.
He couldn't see anything else occurring, yet he knew what Ellara said was a serious possibility. Emotions couldn't be seen. Could it be true that Ayame could give him what he always wanted?
Confused, Arthur turned on his heel, his long coat billowing slightly behind him as he began walking away from the group. His boots clicked against the crystalline floor, the sound echoing faintly through the arena.
"Arthur!" Ellara called after him, her voice tinged with concern, "Where are you going?"
But Arthur didn't answer. His shoulders were rigid, his stride purposeful, yet his mind was a storm of tangled thoughts and fragmented realizations.
Emotions? No… impossible.
And yet… why does this feel so… familiar? So… raw?
Ayame watched him leave, her expression filled with worry as she clutched her coffee cup tightly.
Ellara sighed, her sapphire eyes following Arthur's retreating form. "It seems," she said softly, "even gods are not immune to the echoes of the soul."
The air in the training arena grew still as the three women stood in silence, watching as Arthur disappeared down the distant hallway, a lone figure carrying the weight of a question he had no answer for.
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