The mask seemed to pull him forward, as if it were calling to him. It took all of Kastis's willpower not to sprint toward it and seize it.
He forced himself to walk slowly. Each step felt heavier than the last. He examined the mask for several long moments.
That was the longest he could endure before his thoughts began to fray.
"Yo, Kastis. Hello? You good?" Valer asked, concern threading through his voice.
Kastis suddenly shot his hand forward and grabbed the mask.
His eyes glazed over. A red glow flickered within them as liquid mist oozed from the corners. Without hesitation, he pressed the mask against his face.
The moment it touched him, it began to weave itself into his skin.
Kastis convulsed.
His spine arched violently. His fingers clawed at the air as his body twisted in agony.
"AAAAAAAH!"
The scream tore through the chamber, raw and guttural.
Deep within his soul, runes ignited.
[Unknown's Mask, the Warden of Insanity.]
Shard: [Unknown's Mask]
Shard Rank: Unknown
Shard Purity: VIII
Shard Type: Utility, Armor
Shard Origin: [A gift from the gods for a peculiar wedding. Blessed by four divinities. The Unknown believed the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest fear is the fear of the unknown. To hide oneself is to hold power over others. To not know oneself is to glimpse everything.]
Shard Resonance: [Echoes of Identity], [To Be Unknown], [World Sight]
Kastis finally forced himself upright.
He inhaled sharply, then exhaled through clenched teeth.
"Damn. That hurt."
"Relax, relax," Valer muttered.
Kastis reached up.
His fingers curled around the top of the mask. He pulled.
It did not move.
"Oh no. No, no, no. This can't be happening. It's stuck. What do I do?" Panic bled into his voice.
Valer snorted. "Look at you. Stuck in your own mask. Can't even take it off? What are you now, some mysterious warrior, or just a prisoner of your own face?"
"Valer. Not helping."
"Fine, fine. But seriously, that thing is fully woven into you. And it looks insane."
Valer stepped closer, studying him.
"The eye sockets are just pools of darkness. There are red constellations flickering inside. The mouthpiece looks like some ancient demon. I can't even tell your height anymore. You feel… unstable. Like you're shifting."
Kastis swallowed. "What do you mean woven into me?"
"When a shard bonds, it settles into a part of the soul. Yours didn't settle. It engraved itself. Like skin. That mask is basically part of you now."
Silence.
"…Try thinking about it disappearing."
Before Kastis could even speak the word, the thought alone resonated.
The mask dissolved into transparent mist.
Valer whistled softly. "That was smooth."
Kastis stood there, breathing steadily. Then he closed his eyes and looked inward.
Resonance: [Echoes of Identity]
Resonance Description: [A single mask, a thousand lives. To wear it is to fracture the self, to slip between skins that are him… and yet not. Each form is an echo, stolen from the tapestry of time. In its silence, the master becomes many, and in becoming many, becomes no one at all.]
Passive Resonance: [To be Unknown]
Resonance Description: [To hide the master from the world, to be the true unknown, to not be able to be seen, nor heard, nor felt. The absolute limit of nothing, everything, and the unknown.]
Resonance: [World Site]
Resonance Description: [To see the world as it was never meant to be seen. To pierce the veil of mist and glimpse the unknown. To behold the constellations that carved the bones of creation and to read the hidden power burning in every soul.]
"This, this is fucking crazy." Kastis's eyes shot open as he finished analyzing his soul.
"What?" Valer yelped in surprise. "Don't startle me like that."
My bad.
My bad.
Kastis closes his eyes again to make sure what he saw in his soul was real. He sort of new what the residents meant.
Out of pure curiosity, he decided to focus on one, as if imploring to activate.
As Kastis did this, his whole being started to vibrate and melt into mist.
"What the fuck did you do?" Valer yells. "Why the hell are you fading from this… Aaaaah, what the hell?"
Before Valor could finish, he got sucked into Kastis's soul.
…
"Cough, cough, please, Caster, hurry, grab my hand," a voice rang out.
There were three kids: two girls and one boy. "Come on," the girl yelled again.
After that last yell, the girl pushed him out of the way of something. The boy who seemed vacant grabbed her arm all of a sudden after she pushed him out of the way. The girl holding the baby yelped as she was grabbed, only getting grazed on the arm by a burning sculpture that was about to hit her and then dissolved into mist and shadows.
…
"Oh, look at that girl; she may be young, but she could fetch a high price, and the boy too, but that older girl I want to have some fun with." Before those sickening words came out of the bastard's mouth, he fell to the ground.
"Boss, Boss, what happened? Why did you fall, and where did the boy go?" the member asked.
"Aah, the boss's head is missing; we need to retreat-"
Blood splattered everywhere as a jaguar and a demon-looking child slaughtered them all.
…
Did you hear the slave traders got wiped out?
Really, by whom?
The bounty hunter, Geralt Spector, and his companion.
Do you know why?
Gerald used the blood of the dead to write a message. Never try to hurt his family, and he left one person alive to apparently warn the criminals.
Apparently, they tried to kidnap them and sell them. The kids fought back, so the leader sent the whole gang to teach them a lesson, but that got taught the lesson instead. That's just a speculation, though.
…
Gasp, a boy shot up from a bed. What was that? Who am I? What the hell is happening?
The boy took a few minutes to breathe. Ok, so I'm Caster, I'm part of the Serevin family, I'm about 17, and I'm also Kastis, yet I don't remember what happened.
"Oh, oh, you finally fully synced with your other body," a voice rang out. "It's me, Valer, you know, your best friend."
Caster frowned. He said hesitantly, "I do know you, but I feel like I don't; I can't explain it."
"Don't worry, you are you; you are both Kastis and Caster One and the same. It doesn't matter if your memories are all jumbled or not." Valor said encouragingly.
"Thank you, Valer; I'm a lot more calm now and seem to understand myself more."
As Caster said, Valer suddenly jumped at him and went into his soul.
The door creaked open.
Golden mist spilled into the room like breath held too long. Soft beams of sunlight carved through the haze, settling on the floor in shifting streaks. Dust danced in the light, their movements slow and dreamlike.
A figure stepped in.
Unhurried. Barefoot. Yawning softly, as though she did not have a care in the world.
She wore a simple black tunic that left her shoulders bare.
It clung to her body with quiet grace. A subtle flower pattern, barely visible, on the tunic.
Her skin caught the light.
Pale. Too pale. It shimmered faintly beneath the dawn light, like a porcelain doll made out of pearls.
She was young.
Looks to be in the mid-twenties.
There was no immaturity in her presence. Even with that youthful look, she had the presence of somebody much older.
Lirael.
Caster blinked once.
She was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.
And yet…
He felt no desire. No spark of romantic impulse. What stirred in his chest was deeper. More true and honest. Something woven through blood and fire and shared silence.
A love of family.
She was his sister.
Her scent followed next.
A soft perfume, floral and damp, like petals crushed beneath morning rain. The smell of gardens.
Near her shoulder, just below the collarbone, the scar waited.
A burn. Almost faint. Almost beautiful.
It curled like ink across her skin, forming the shape of a rose in bloom. One butterfly near the stem. Another caught at the uppermost petal. Still. A weightless memory.
She had earned it saving him.
The fire had taken almost everything else.
Her face was quiet. Not empty but sleepy. Smooth lines. No hard edges. Her eyes… wide, luminous, soaked in fading sunset. Pink with a trace of brown.
Beneath one of those eyes was a single beauty mark.
A heart.
Shaped too perfectly to be real. Too coincidental to be meaningless.
Her lashes were long. Thick. Like they had been painted on. Her gaze moved slowly and very lazily.
And her ears were not human, but Elven.
Two slender, curved twin earrings shimmered against her ears, pale and pink, reflecting the light like captured tears.
They had once belonged to their mother.
Her hair was a strange mix of black and blonde, neither fully one nor the other, falling just past her shoulders. Her usual lazy, low-bun hairstyle was a complete mess, with strands sticking out in random directions, like she'd slept on it and couldn't be bothered to fix it. It was her classic messy bun.
She yawned again. A slow stretch. Catlike. One arm lifting above her head. Her body lengthened, spine arching. A sleeve temporarily rolled up, hiding the scar.
She didn't speak. She didn't need to.
She stepped into the room as if it were hers. As if she had always been there.
And perhaps she had.
Because Lirael was not the kind of person who asked for space. She simply became part of it.
And Caster wouldn't have it any other way.