Kapitel 128: Chapter 128: Welcome to the World...of Spirits
Two months before the war...
"Eri."
Today was a Saturday. By right, Shido should have been outside stopping crimes in Hosu City, but he wasn't.
He was right here, beside Eri on the bed, looking at her thoughtfully.
Eri, hearing his solemn words, stopped reading her manga and turned to look at him.
"What's wrong, Shido?"
"What I'm about to tell you is top secret." Shido leaned towards her and started off slowly, increasing the tension in the room. Eri couldn't help but become serious as well.
"Well?" Eri urged him to continue. Like any other child her age, she was innately curious about new things.
"But not really." Shido leaned back and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
"You!"
Eri was happy that she was being teased and tried pinching him, only to realize that her hands went through him.
"I really hate that mosaic of yours!!" Eri continued trying to pinch Shido to no avail. After a minute of struggling, Shido finally got serious, grabbed her shoulders, and placed her on his lap.
"Alright, be good now..." His arms were wrapped around her waist as he whispered intimately into her ears, causing his breath to hit against her ears.
"Hik!" Eri yelped cutely at the sudden actions and stiffened her body instinctively.
"Shido..." Eri's body relaxed as she practically melted into his arms, her previous grudge wholly forgotten.
'You pampered little girl...' Shido couldn't help but think that as he watched her melt.
It may have been his fault for pampering her a lot, but she also lacked a lot of self-control...Or at least, that was what Shido wanted to think.
"Hey, Eri."
"What now?"
"Do you know what's my race?"
"Aliens? Some monster? Or some random space pirate?" Eri didn't put too much thought into that question and just replied half-heartedly. She was too busy enjoying Shido's embrace.
Shido's lip twitched at her response.
'The last one wasn't even a race! That's a profession!' Shido thought and sighed.
"No, I'm someone known as a 'spirit'."
"A spirit? Like those ghosts that I read in the manga? Or those elemental spirits that can control elements since they were born in that element?"
"You read too much manga..." Shido planned to confiscate all the manga later on and limit her manga-reading time so that she doesn't become a shut-in neet in the future. Shido stopped patting her head and let out a hand in front of her with his palm facing upwards.
"No. I'm a special spirit. I don't know where I came from, but I assume that my parents were spirits as well. All spirits have something known as an angel and..."
Shido continued to explain everything about a spirit - angels, astral dresses, and more - before coming to the most crucial part of the conversation that morning.
"Do you want to become a spirit?"
"Ye-"
"Don't be in a rush to give me a reply." Shido stopped her from speaking and said, "Let me explain first. Firstly, to transform into a spirit, a human must have something known as a Sephira crystal, which serves as the power source for our spirit form.
Secondly, human beings have varying levels of compatibility for becoming a host for the Sephira Crystals, so you might be very compatible with an angel or very incompatible. If you are fully compatible, there would be no side effects whatsoever, and you would be able to wield your angel skillfully when you got it. However, if you are incompatible, don't worry," Shido hurriedly added after seeing Eri's face full of fear, "You won't die. I have made preparations to prevent that. If you are incompatible, there would only be induced madness if you use your spirit form for too long in one go."
"Oh..." Eri muttered thoughtfully, and Shido continued speaking.
"And lastly, and perhaps the most critical point to note, is that you would forever be bound to me, the creator of this Sephira crystal."
"What do you mean bound to you? You mean I wouldn't be able to get away from you?" Eri asked.
"No. Although I used the word 'bound', it actually just means that I'll be able to limit how much power you would be using with your angel. That means I can make you completely powerless, meaning that you would have zero connection with your Sephira crystal, or I can allow you access to the full power of the Sephira crystal all in one go."
Both of them became silent for a while before Eri eventually spoke, "So I would be basically entrusting my life to you since you would be able to render me completely powerless in the face of great danger?"
"Basically, yes. That's why I want you to think about it." Shido placed his index finger on her lips and prevented her from speaking.
"Now, I've also thought about this, and even I don't feel right being under someone else who would have complete control over my powers. I don't like the feeling of insecurity of my powers being volatile.
However, I don't mind being under you if our positions were to ever be switched, but that presents a whole new set of problems. We love each other now, right?"
Eri blushed a little at that blunt and straightforward words but nodded her head nonetheless.
"But have you ever thought, what would happen if either of us were under the other for a long period? I'm worried, Eri. Worried that our 'love' might change to something completely different. What would I do then?"
Eri shifted her position so that she was face to face with Shido.
"Hey, hey...relax..." Eri cupped her hands around Shido's head and spoke with a smile, "Ever since I've met you five, almost six years ago, I've already promised myself to devote to you.
It was you who saved me from that hell, which I never dared to escape alone.
It was you who gave me that addictive taste of love, family, and home.
It was you who gave me the power to exact revenge.
Although your mentality is a little...abnormal, you are the person I love, and that will not ever change. Not in the past, not now, and certainly not in the future.
So don't ever doubt my love for you. Even if you stopped loving me one day-"
"Hey! I would never do that!" Shido interrupted her with a frown.
"I know," Eri giggled before continuing, "If, and only if, that ever happened, I would still not stop loving you. I would follow you to the end of the earth, through the blazing flames and the freezing cold, and through the gates of hell even if you discarded me.
So don't ever doubt my love for you."
"But...I'm scared as well," Tears dripped silently from Eri's eyes, "I'm not scared of dying for you, but I'm terrified of not being loved by you. That's what scares me the most."
"Hey, hey..." Shido wiped the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs, "As you have just said, I won't doubt your love for me, so please don't doubt my love for you as well, alright?"
"Mhm..." Eri hummed in reply as she let out a smile.
Both of them remained in that position, their foreheads and nose touching while Eri stayed seated on his lap for the next ten minutes in silence, just cuddling and enjoying each other's warmth.
A relationship would never grow without communication, but once both parties communicate, their relationships would definitely improve somehow.
"But still, think this through carefully. Promise me." Shido stated after both of them had calmed down, "One month. Until then, let's not mention this thing ever again, alright?"
"One month, I'll give you my answer. I promise that I'll think this through carefully."
*****************
A month before the war...
"So? What is your decision?"
Shido and Eri were at a desolate mountain where few would ever come, sitting down in a seiza position as they faced each other.
"I choose to become a spirit," Eri spoke with a resolute expression.
"And may I ask why?" Shido asked calmly.
"There are three main reasons why I choose to become a spirit. Firstly, becoming a spirit would help me become stronger, and that way, I won't become a burden to you anymore.
Secondly, I trust you with all my life. You won't ever kill me, nor will you ever cause me harm. Since you even put up this suggestion in the first place, you must have a reason to do so. Besides, becoming a spirit will pose me no harm or risk since even if I was incompatible with the Sephira crystal, I would just use my quirk to reverse time on myself.
And lastly, becoming a spirit would make me feel special. It's more of a selfish reason, really. I just want to be 'special' in your eyes and yet, at the same time, the same as you. A spirit."
Eri let out a small laugh, "Quite ironic, isn't it? Wanting to feel special, to stand out from others in your eyes, yet wanting to be the same as you as well..."
Shido just smiled at her reasoning before sighing.
"Seems like you really chose this road. Though I can't say that I did not expect this. But if you're so sure, here."
Shido held up a hand; his palm revealed a fully emerald green crystal that shone brightly under the morning sun.
The green Sephira crystal floated towards Eri, and without any hesitation, Eri grabbed it.
A green light shone from her entire body as the crystal started to merge with Eri's body. Shido was slightly worried, but he couldn't do anything to help with the process.
Shido watched as her body slowly floated into the air, and she started screaming.
"Eri..." Yoshinon muttered with worry while Shido just watched her closely.
Five minutes passed, and other than the screams, it was utterly silent. Not a single cricket croaked, not a single bird sung, not a single breeze whistled.
"Did it hurt when I also integrated with a Sephira crystal?" Shido asked out of nowhere.
"I'm not sure...I don't remember anything more than you. We've been together since the beginning of...whatever we begin from." Yoshinon replied unsurely.
"But I have more than ten angels. So did that mean I had to go through that process nine more times? I must have some strong willpower to go through all that..." Shido didn't forget to praise himself at the end.
"I don't think so. I think it would hurt so much because the Sephira crystal changed a human being's entire physique to a spirit. But after the first time, it shouldn't hurt much. Though I don't think any human can take in more than one Sephira crystal." Yoshinon shook his head and gave his opinion.
Shido finally shifted his gaze to his puppet and raised an eyebrow.
"You sure know a lot for a puppet."
"I'm you, and you're me. Whatever you know, I also know. I just process the things in your brain in a way that you won't normally process." Yoshinon smirked and said, "I can act as your second opinion; I see things different from your perspective if there was more than one."
"I see..."
After ten more minutes of Eri screaming, her body finally stopped floating, and she was gently laid down on the grassy earth.
Shido immediately rushed towards her side and realized that she some slight change in her appearance.
"She looks more...glossy? Is that a side effect of being a spirit? That you would become beautiful and handsome?" Shido muttered as he examined her sweaty body.
"Stop praising yourself..."
"I'm not. I'm praising Eri."
"Yeah, sure."
Shido ignored that puppet on his arm and saw that another horn had protruded on Eri's left temple.
"Hm...? It really turned out to be another horn. I wonder what it does...?"
He then turned his attention to her attire and, although he had expected it, he was still slightly surprised.
Her previous attire was gone. Replacing it was a green dress that gradually gradated to a whitish-blue color near her waist and all the way to her legs.
"Shi...do?" Eri muttered incoherently, her voice hoarse from screaming.
Shido smiled as he greeted the new spirit.
"Welcome to the world..."
"...of Spirits."
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If you want to support me or/and want 14+ chapters in advance, link:
https://www.patréon.com/spirits_everywhere. We are currently 8.25 months ahead (aka 33 chapters going by 1 chapter per week release schedule)
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