"And that's what happened… in simpler terms, we're dexter level suspicious" Merlin at the other end of the soul sea as he calmly explained to Jayson who sat at the head.
"That isn't so bad, although Ki Song had a lot of questions, I still approve of your method" Jayson nodded as he listened.
The two of them, despite having different bodies, share the same soul sea, and so, passing information between them was more simple.
After Merlin finished anchoring himself to Ravensong, he immediately came to brief Jayson about his interview and finding, he wasn't planning to anchor himself since he could travel at any point in time, but after the stunt CW pulled, he had to earn some trust back.
Jayson nodded then thought of something and said.
"Since you're here, try sending it as a memory of some sorts, you know the way we conjure things with thought"
Merlin nodded and immediately, a small black orb appeared in front of him, the orb floated to Jayson and stopped a few inches from his face.
He stretched out his hand and touched it, the next moment, multiple scenes appeared in his mind, the memories of Merlin's time in Ravensong.
The memory transplant worked as he expected.
"Seems like it works…" he nodded as he turned to Jayson and raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Merlin asked as he noticed his expression.
"I'm guessing I'm the one who's buying an ice cream for Cassie right?" he asked.
"It's not like I can do it…" Merlin replied.
"I thought clones are supposed to take away work from the original, why's it the opposite with you?" He said with a deadpan look.
"Hey… first, there's no original between avatars of the seer pathway, and second, it's not like you're losing out, I'd happily switch if you want" Merlin smiled wryly.
"It's not the switching… it's the fact that it's her" he pinched his temples.
"From not liking her character, to changing her, and now liking the new her, although it's cliche, we can't really do anything about it can we?" Merlin chuckled.
"I guess it's just ice cream, nothing much" he shrugged.
"I might as well… wait, if I get together with someone from the Song domain, does that count as two timing?" Merlin asked with wide eyes.
He thought about it, as his brows furrowed slightly.
"It shouldn't, right? I honestly can't tell, although I'm not dating Cas, I'll ask her opinion, if she agrees, then you're free, if she doesn't…"
"Do you think I can use the cloak to wish she agrees?" Merlin asked.
"I doubt that wish can be granted… women's decisions can't be changed by something as weak as beyonder abilities, you'll have to be CW level to be able to pull it off" he chuckled in response, then he asked.
"What would you do if she refuses?"
Merlin smiled and said.
"We're not selfish Jay, if she refuses, then I'll oblige, you'll keep Cas… after all you would do the same"
He smiled back and nodded, "I guess you should wish me luck…"
Merlin chuckled and said.
"If you die, I'll lose six cores and gain Cassie, an equivalent exchange if I do say so myself"
"I'll take that as 'don't die'..." He smiled as he left his soul sea.
Jayson opened his eyes in his house, he thought back to the memories he received from Merlin, specifically when he summoned the dimension ring, during that time, he noticed as the memory disappeared from his finger.
'It seems we can use the same memories, however just not at the same time, also it seems his hack method of completing the Marionettist ritual was successful, that means I should probably do the same'
He stood up and checked his watch, since Eubin had visited early, dusk was still a few hours away. He picked up his communicator and scrolled through his contacts, then he dialed a number.
After a few rings, the call connected, he smiled as he spoke to the receiver.
"Hey there Kai…"
..
.
A while later, Kai showed up at the location he had texted him, as he knocked, Ariel rushed to open the door, but he stopped her.
"Ari, what did I say about opening doors"
"Hmph…" She pouted then went to sit beside Silver.
'I really shouldn't let Silver teach her… my cute Ariel has picked up some bad habits' He wiped illusory tears from his eyes.
"Fine… next time I'll let you open it" he sighed helplessly.
"Okay you promise…" Ariel beamed.
He sent a slight glare to Silver by the side, thankfully she wasn't looking in his direction, then he turned around and opened the door.
As he opened, Kai's face came into view, then immediately his expression turned surprised and embarrassed as he said quickly.
"I'm sorry… I think I got the wrong house"
"Huh?" He tilted his head confused, then it hit him, he wasn't using his normal face.
"Kai… it's me, Merlin" he chuckled.
"Huh? Merlin?" Kai looked confused, "is that really you? How?"
"Kai… it's my awakened ability, I can change my face and body slightly" he explained.
"Ah… I see" Kai chuckled embarrassedly, "I had no idea"
"That's alright" he patted Kai's shoulder, "come in"
Kai nodded and walked in, he closed the door as soon as Kai entered, from beside, he watched Kai greet Silver and Ariel.
And then he saw it, Ariel's eyes lingering on Kai's face a little longer than necessary, he was starting to regret letting Kai inside.
'Tsk… I ask you about your sisters, you say you have none, but here you are trying to charm mine' he muttered in frustration inwardly.
He stepped forward, blocking Ariel's view of Kai's face as he dragged Kai along with him to the kitchen.
"Sorry, Kai won't be staying long, we have an important meeting" he said to the others.
"Um… Merlin, you said we have an important meeting, so why are we in the kitchen?" Kai asked as he looked around.
"It's a test…" he replied, his eyes still fixed on the door.
"A test? For what?" Kai turned to him.
Merlin sighed and replied.
"7 seconds, that's how long Ariel stared at your face, now we're away from her, if she walks into the kitchen to look at you… I'm sorry Kai, but you'll have to die, or spend the rest of your life in the dream realm away from Ariel"
Kai raised an eyebrow and asked.
"What if she comes to look for you?"
"If that happens…" he thought for a second and answered in a flat voice "you'll still have to die…"
"Hopefully she doesn't" Kai chuckled, after all he could tell he was just joking.
.
A few minutes later…
"Um Merlin, how long are we going to be here?" Kai asked for behind, he was sitting on a high stool.
"I think she's not coming… lucky you" He chuckled.
"Haa… thank the gods" Kai stood up and as he was about to walk out, Merlin stretched out a hand to stop him.
"Woah woah woah, pretty boy… where do you think you're going?"
"Uhm…outside?" Kai tilted his head.
"No no no" Merlin shook his head " we're doing it here, you'll go out only when you're ready to leave"
"I see" Kai sighed helplessly, "What should I do?"
"Sing…" Merlin said calmly, "sing a soul soothing song with your abilities"
"That's all?" Kai asked surprised.
"Yeah… that's about it" he nodded.
"Seriously… then why have we wasted all this time?" Kai sighed.
"Two things…" Merlin pulled out a coin, flicked it into the air and caught it.
"First, we were confirming Ari's intentions, and second, I was waiting for the person following to give up"
"Huh? I was followed?" Kai looked shocked. "Was it Valor?"
He sighed and pinched his brows.
"No… it's one of your fan girls, she was literally wearing a shirt that said 'I Love Nightingale'... And why did you even come out without a disguise"
"Ah" Kai coughed embarrassedly "Sorry…"
"Anyways scratch that, come on, use your abilities on me" He sighed.
"Alright… any song recommendations?" Kai asked.
'Recommendations… brother, I haven't even listened to a song since I entered this world, I've only sang, and listened to Eubin's lullaby' he muttered inwardly.
"Just hit me with anything… and if I start losing control, tell Ariel to give me her heart, and then tell Silver to kill me" he said casually.
"Uh… that's a little much, no?" Kai said, shocked.
"Then let's hope you do well" he patted Kai's shoulder and gave a thumbs up.
"Oh… okay, I'll try my best" Kai nodded.
"I trust you… after all if I lose control and go mad, you that's nearest to me will probably be the first to die" He smiled encouragingly.
"That's…not really helping" Kai chuckled nervously.
Kai took a deep breath and started singing a soothing song as he used his abilities to enhance its effect.
..
.
"See you later Kai" Merlin waved as he sent Kai on his way.
As Kai left, he sighed and summoned his runes.
.
Aspect Ability: [Marionettist]
Aspect Ability Description: [Your ability revolves around seizing Spirit Body Threads to turn both people and creatures into controllable puppets, allowing them to fight safely from behind the scenes.]
.
He had become a Marionettist, again, for the second time in a single day.
"This is indeed a qualitative change" he smiled as he watched the multiple Spirit Body Threads he could control.
He turned to Silver and Ariel, unlike Silver, Ariel didn't have any Spirit Body Threads attached to her.
'Seems like I can't take control of people's echoes… what a bummer'
He sighed and sat down, thinking of how he was going to use his abilities, according to their agreement, he would use the Marionettist ability while Merlin wouldn't, so that means he had to be the one to acquire marionettes.
He had a few in his soul sea that he could use, but those were all sleepers, no one above awakened, and although there were nightmare creatures of different ranks, he wasn't planning on using those unless necessary, and so he decided to go find his new marionette.
However it seems like the Ice cream with Cassie will have to come first.
He turned to Silver's direction, staring at her subtly from the side of his eye.
Silver sighed and without looking in his direction she said in her regular soft voice.
"Merlin… I spent more than 100 years in a forest filled with creatures of different ranks, I can tell when I'm being watched"
'Tsk…' Merlin clicked his tongue inwardly, he was planning on testing his abilities on her, he was so engrossed in the thought that he forgot that she was the same person that spotted Eubin even when the latter tried to hide her presence, and all that was from the comfort of her chair.
Seeing that he wasn't saying anything, she turned to him and asked.
"What is it you want?"
He thought for a few seconds and asked.
"I want to try my abilities on you, I won't take it too far, and also, try to resist as much as possible, without moving your body"
Since he was already planning it, it was better to ask her permission, if a Saint could resist it through will, then he would know, however, he wouldn't turn her into a marionette.
"Can your ability kill?" Silver asked calmly.
Her words made him think of something, that was her flaw, since becoming a marionette equals to a person being dead, he was curious what would happen to her.
Would she stay a marionette for a few seconds and revive and slip out of his control?
Or will she stay dead until he loses control of her body and she revives?
Although he was eager to find out, he wasn't going to, even if a god came down and told him that she would come back, he still would not do it, that's how important Silver was to him.
He shook himself out of his thoughts and answered.
"It kills, but I doubt that it'll work on you, and I'm not going to let it get to that level either"
"Alright" Silver nodded, "Should we go to the basement or is it fine here?"
"Here's fine…" he replied.
"Okay… I'm ready" Silver sat straight.
He took a deep breath and said to her.
"When you start feeling sluggish, try to resist, but don't move your body…"
"I understand" she nodded.
He nodded back and immediately focused, he started controlling her Spirit Body Threads, slowly and carefully.
One second…
Two seconds…
..
.
Eight seconds…
After eight seconds, he gained initial control of her Spirit Body Threads.
He took a deep breath and continued the process, he watched as Silver's eyes widened slightly, he could partially control her body, however at her level, it would be difficult for him, difficult not impossible.
The process was still going smoothly, however after three seconds, he started feeling some resistance, it seems it took Silver's thoughts three seconds to complete the process of thinking and resisting.
The resistance wasn't really much, at worst all it could do was slow down the time taken to achieve total control, maybe from 15 seconds to about 18 seconds.
He nodded inwardly and terminated the process, and Silver's eyes returned from their dazed state, she turned to him and nodded.
"That ability of yours is really discreet and dangerous, a good ability, although I'm curious, you said when my thoughts become sluggish I shouldn't move my body, in that state, I couldn't even move, I lost control of my body, so why did you bother warning me in the first place?"
He sighed and explained.
"From the first few seconds of your thoughts becoming sluggish, you can move slightly and possibly disrupt the process, however, by the time you'll use to achieve the conclusion of moving your body, the few seconds window would already be closed, but you can still snap out of that state with an external interference, and you're good at those, so I told you not to move so you would just focus on resisting with will alone"
"I see… that's a very powerful ability, I'm guessing at the end of that attack is death and the body becomes a puppet of some sort?" Silver asked.
"Yes… that pretty much it" he nodded,"thanks Silvy"
He thanked her and walked towards the kitchen to prepare something, he was happy with his attempt, if it wasn't for the fact that it was late, he was willing to immediately call Master Jet to get him a spot at the government and send him on an assassin mission.
He sighed and started preparing something for everyone to eat, after they finished, he cleaned up and they all went to bed.
Tomorrow he was going to get ice cream for Cassie…