The medical wing was quiet when I visited that evening.
Garrick was unconscious in a healing pod, a magical device that accelerated recovery.
His wounds were already starting to close, but he'd be out for at least a day.
Kieran was awake, his eyes bandaged again, sipping water slowly.
"Hey." I said softly.
"Edward..." He smiled slightly.
"I heard you yelled at the Headmaster."
"Someone needed to."
"Brave and foolish in equal measure." He set down his cup.
"Don't blame yourself for what happened. I chose to use my eyes. Garrick chose to fight alone. We made our own decisions."
"Doesn't make it any easier."
"No, I suppose it doesn't." He was quiet for a moment.
"But we succeeded. Against all challenge, we worked together and achieved the objective. That's what matters now."
I sat down in the chair next to his bed. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Why are you so calm about all of this? The danger, the pain, the possibility of death?"
Kieran's smile turned sad. "Because I've already died once."
"What?"
"These eyes.." he touched his bandages gently.
"they're not natural. I was born blind. When I was ten, my family made a deal with a powerful creature. I don't know what they traded, but I woke up able to see. Able to see everything."
He leaned back against his pillow.
"For the first time, I saw my parents' faces. I saw colors, shapes, the beauty of the world. But I also saw the truth. I saw that my parents regretted the deal. I saw the entity had marked me. I saw my own death, reflected in every surface, every possibility."
"I lived in terror for years, trying to avoid the deaths I saw. But eventually, I realized something, death is inevitable. The only question is what you do with the life you have before it ends."
He turned his bandaged face toward me.
"So I stopped running. I started living. And if I die in that forest six days from now, at least I'll die having truly seen the world, having had friends, having mattered."
His words hit me harder than any training construct.
Here I was, given a second chance at life in a new world, and I'd been so focused on survival that I'd forgotten to actually live.
"Thank you." I said quietly.
"For sharing that."
"Thank you for listening." He yawned.
"Now, I should rest. The healers say my neural pathways will regenerate faster if I sleep."
"Rest well, Kieran."
As I left his room, I found Morrigan sitting in the hallway, still holding Lisette.
"Is he okay?" she asked in a small voice.
"He will be. So will Garrick."
"I was useless..." she whispered.
"I couldn't heal them. I couldn't protect anyone. Lisette and I... we're not strong enough."
I sat down next to her.
"You stabilized Kieran when his eyes were failing. You helped fight the constructs. You were there when we needed you."
"But not enough."
"None of us were enough individually. That's why we're a team." I looked at Lisette, whose glass eyes seemed sad.
"Morrigan, can I ask you something about Lisette?"
"...Okay."
"Kieran said she's a vengeful spirit bound to an object. Is that true?"
Morrigan hugged the doll tighter.
"Yes. Lisette was... she was my sister. My twin sister."
My breath caught.
"We were part of a noble family that practiced dark magic. They used us for experiments. Tried to create the perfect magical weapons. Lisette died during one of the rituals. But I... I couldn't let her go. I bound her soul to a doll using forbidden magic."
Tears rolled down Morrigan's cheeks.
"She's in pain. Every moment she exists like this, she's suffering. But I'm too selfish to let her rest. Because without her, I'm alone."
The doll turned and gently wiped away Morrigan's tears with its small cloth hand.
"Lisette says... she doesn't blame me. She says she's happy to be with me, even like this. But I know the truth. I'm keeping her in a prison of my own making."
[ EMOTIONAL TRAUMA DETECTED. ]
[ UNIT 'MORRIGAN' CARRIES SEVERE GUILT AND GRIEF. ]
I didn't know what to say. What could I say to someone carrying that kind of burden?
"Maybe..." I started slowly.
"instead of thinking about letting her go, focus on making the time you have together meaningful. If she says she's happy with you, believe her. And work toward finding a way to free her without losing her."
"Is that even possible?"
"I don't know. But the Headmaster has access to ancient knowledge. If anyone could help you find a solution, it would be her."
Morrigan looked up at me with wet eyes.
"Do you really think so?"
"It's worth asking. After we survive this expedition, we'll have proven our worth to her. Maybe she'll be willing to help."
A small smile broke through Morrigan's tears.
"Thank you...thank you..."
Morrigan has a pure heart despite being from the dark mage family.
Now I think. Do I actually make her hold this sin by my own hand?
"But you're so different from the rumors I've heard."
"The rumors?" I muttered it and think about it for a while.
"Oh...you mean by the old Edward?"
I ask her for the confirmation, and by seeing her reaction, maybe it's right.
"Yes, about the old Edward. They said you were arrogant, cruel, selfish." She tilted her head.
"But you're not like that at all. It's like you're a completely different person."
[ WARNING: TOPIC APPROACHING DANGEROUS TERRITORY. ]
"Maybe I am.." I said carefully.
"But you know! I think I like the new Edward better!" Morrigan said.
"The old one wouldn't have sat with me like this."
"I...I see..."
We sat in silence for a while, a strange pair, a transmigrator pretending to be a student, and a girl clinging to her dead sister's soul.
But somehow, it felt right.
_______________________________________________________________________
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind replaying the day's events. The training exercise had been brutal, but it had revealed something important.
We could work together. We could succeed. But we were still weak.
'Edith, what's our current team assessment?'
[ ANALYZING TEAM CAPABILITIES... ]
[ GARRICK: HIGH PHYSICAL COMBAT, LOW TACTICAL THINKING. ]
[ KIERAN: HIGH RECONNAISSANCE, MEDIUM COMBAT, CRITICAL WEAKNESS (EYE STRAIN). ]
[ MORRIGAN: MEDIUM MAGICAL SUPPORT, MEDIUM SPIRITUAL COMBAT, EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY. ]
[ EDWARD (HOST): LOW PHYSICAL COMBAT, LOW MAGICAL ABILITY, HIGH TACTICAL THINKING. ]
[OVERALL TEAM GRADE: C+ ]
[ SURVIVAL PROBABILITY IN GREY SHADOW FOREST: 19.8% ]
'Still under 20%. We need to improve, fast.'
[ AGREED. HOWEVER, PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENT REQUIRES TIME YOU DON'T HAVE. ]
[ RECOMMENDATION: FOCUS ON COORDINATION AND STRATEGIC PLANNING. ]
[ ALSO... ]
'Also what?'
[ I HAVE BEEN ANALYZING THE HEART OF VOID INFORMATION YOU DISCOVERED. ]
[ I MAY HAVE FOUND A WAY TO SAFELY APPROACH IT. ]
I sat up in bed. 'Tell me.'
[ THE ARTIFACT RESPONDS TO "NULL AFFINITY". ]
[ AS A TRANSMIGRATOR, YOU POSSESS THIS AFFINITY. ]
[ HOWEVER, THE ARTIFACT IS SENTIENT AND MALEVOLENT. ]
[ IT WILL ATTEMPT TO CORRUPT OR CONSUME ANYONE WHO APPROACHES. ]
'Wonderful. So even with null affinity, I might die?'
[ UNLESS... ]
[ UNLESS YOU HAVE A SOUL THAT THE ARTIFACT CANNOT FULLY COMPREHEND. ]
[ A SOUL THAT EXISTS PARTIALLY OUTSIDE THIS REALITY. ]
'That's me, isn't it?'
[ CORRECT. BUT THERE'S MORE. ]
[ THE ORIGINAL EDWARD'S SOUL IS STILL PRESENT, DORMANT BUT NOT GONE. ]
[ YOU ARE OCCUPYING HIS BODY, BUT HIS ESSENCE REMAINS. ]
[ THIS CREATES A UNIQUE SITUATION: TWO SOULS, ONE BODY. ]
[ THE HEART OF VOID MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CORRUPT YOU COMPLETELY BECAUSE IT CANNOT DETERMINE WHICH SOUL TO TARGET. ]
My blood ran cold. 'Edward's soul is still here?'
[ YES. DORMANT, SUPPRESSED, BUT PRESENT. ]
[ IT'S WHY YOUR HEMORRHAGIA ARCANA HASN'T KILLED YOU YET. ]
[ HIS BODY RECOGNIZES HIS SOUL, EVEN IF YOU'RE THE ONE IN CONTROL. ]
'That's... that's a lot to process.'
[ UNDERSTOOD. BUT THIS INFORMATION IS CRUCIAL. ]
[ IT MEANS YOU HAVE A GENUINE CHANCE OF RETRIEVING THE HEART OF VOID. ]
[ IT ALSO MEANS YOU'RE CARRYING THE WEIGHT OF TWO LIVES. ]
I lay back down, my mind spinning.
Two souls in one body. A dead boy whose life I'd stolen.
An artifact that consumed everyone who touched it. A suicide mission with less than 20% chance of success.
'Why does everything keep getting more complicated?'
[ BECAUSE YOU ARE LIVING IN A WORLD THAT HAS EVOLVED BEYOND YOUR ORIGINAL DESIGN. ]
[ NOTHING HERE WILL BE SIMPLE. ]
[ BUT YOU ARE NOT ALONE, HOST. ]
[ YOU HAVE ME. YOU HAVE YOUR TEAM. YOU HAVE ALLIES. ]
[ TOGETHER, WE WILL FIND A WAY TO SURVIVE. ]
'Promise?'
[ I CANNOT PROMISE SURVIVAL. ]
[ BUT I CAN PROMISE THAT I WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU. ]
[ THAT IS MY PURPOSE. ]
[ THAT IS WHY I EXIST. ]
Her words brought a strange comfort. For the first time since arriving in this world, I felt like maybe...just maybe...I had a real chance.
Not a good chance. But a chance nonetheless.
_______________________________________________________________________