studiobondurri Ep 3. What Even Was That?! (3)
Ep 3. What Even Was That?! (3)
Ep 3. What Even Was That?! (3)
Ep 3. What Even Was That?! (3)
Patrick watched in befuddlement at the scene unfolding before him.
Karas. A renowned mage said to be proficient in any and all elements of contemporary magic, and a respected professor at the largest school of mages...
“Hmm.”
...Was currently performing what seemed like a voodoo ritual on the kid he raised like a little brother for years.
“Hmmm...”
“...”
“Hmmmmmm...”
“...Is that noise a part of the procedure?”
No. No it isn’t, Zion.
The prof always makes that noise when he sees well-written papers.
Although, ‘see’ may be the incorrect choice of words here, as the professor had both his eyes closed. Instead, he was hovering his glowing hands over the little boy’s back, waving them in opposing circles as if muddling through a pile of unsorted wares.
“My apologies.”
The glow soon faded as the professor withdrew his hands.
“It’s an old habit of mine when I embark on an interesting discovery.”
“Seriously? I thought you make that sound when you look at good papers.”
“Explains why I never made it when I saw any of yours, hmm, Patrick?”
“...”
It’d been years since Patrick’s graduation, and yet here he was, still being schooled just like before.
“Ahem. Anyhow...this is a very interesting case. Allow me to elaborate.”
“Very well. Go on.”
If Patrick didn’t know any better, he’d think the little boy was the professor, and Karas was the student.
“Right now, your soul is neither possessed, nor an amalgamation of multiple souls. It’s a perfect whole. Simply put, no abnormality ails you.”
Before Karas could continue, Patrick couldn’t help himself from interrupting.
“Souls can be in multiples?”
Both the professor and the little boy turned towards Patrick with a disappointed gaze.
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
“...”
“I just thought you’d be much happier as one.”
“...”
Patrick could feel his eyes tearing up.
“In the case we have with Serenis, however, there was an error in the cleansing process, and this reset didn’t fully happen; Serenis’ memories weren’t erased, but simply suppressed. And when they resurfaced, her memories likely drowned out what little memory ‘Zion’ possessed in comparison.”
This time, it was Serenis who interrupted with a rather unrelated question.
“Remind me, what star are we on?”
“The name of our star? Nerion.”
“And since when did our...lives...work like this?”
“This cycle, you mean? As far as I’m aware, since time immemorial.”
“This ‘deity of life’ was around since time immemorial?”
“Interesting question. The year is only 1030, and our historical records only go that far back. Only the divine would know what was in the distant past before our contemporary times.”
‘1030?’
The number was nonsensical. Humans of her era did keep track of the passing of seasons, but even they never bothered to count the passing time by a literal tally of years. She could only think that it was some new tradition they came up with.
“A thousand years then. It’s been this way for a thousand years, at least...”
The frown deepened as Serenis struggled to accept the passage of time. This was all news to her.
Deities? There were nothing of the sort when she was alive.
In other words, it’d been at least an entire millennium since her battle ended, and these ‘deities’ came to light.
‘All that struggle to free ourselves from a godly being, and we’re still...’
After an uncomfortable silence, Serenis raised her head to ask another question.
“How many are there?”
“Hm?”
Serenis shot a glare towards the professor before her, her eyes suddenly exuding a murderous menace. Even though the child couldn’t possibly be of any significant threat, Karas reflexively took a step back.
“You said there’s a deity of life. That must mean there’re other deities. How many of these wretches are there?”
“Zion!”
Patrick hurriedly clasped his hands over the little boy’s mouth, stammering in panic.
“You can’t speak like that, they’re divine beings! Your life is a blessing from them too!”
Serenis slowly turned her head. Only then could Patrick see the seething hatred within the dragon’s eyes.
His clasping hand was tossed away.
“My life is a divine blessing?”
Patrick froze in place. He couldn’t dare talk back, and his body instinctively froze before the deathly gaze of a higher being.
“Says who?”