Chapter 49: Tearful Goodbyes

"Thank you," Princess Pieffer was ashamed of herself as Aries gently put her down on the ground, right next to where Siorre was sitting and waiting for Lira to come out of the book.

"What happened?" Scorpio House Leader checked the princess from head to foot.

"That woman in dark violet clothes is possessed by Shairen," Princess Pieffer leaned her head on the wall.

"Shairen?" Siorre seemed to have had goosebumps when she repeated the name. "Can her eyes truly reflect your fear?"

"It appears like that," the princess tightly closed her eyes in shame. "I looked straight into her eyes and saw things I don't want to think about."

"What are those things that you don't want to think about?" Aries curiously asked.

She gazed seriously at Aries and began to ask, "If I…" but hesitated and decided to keep the question to herself. "Never mind. I should stop being afraid. It will always end the same. Shairen was just trying to shake my emotions. It will not happen again," he took a deep breath and smiled as she said, "I am ready to return to the western border."

"Stay here with Siorre," Aries said. "We are nearly done cleaning up that border. You also don't have to worry about the northern boundary. I'm done with the area. Prince Sunrei and I will be back soon. Just rest here."

Princess Pieffer did not argue any further and just said, "Be careful."

Aries only nodded before disappearing into the shadows.

^######^

When Aries returned, Prince Sunrei was nearly done cleaning up the western border. He only helped a little.

"How is my sister?" the prince asked once they were done talking to the villagers.

"She's fine," Aries replied. "You know your sister. She is a tough woman."

"Right," Prince Sunrei agreed with a smile. "But you are still worried about her."

Aries coughed then answered, "I am only curious and wanted to ask her some things."

"Fine," the prince smiled.

"I heard about Shairen," Aries changed the subject. "Were you unaffected by her ability?"

"She can only target one person at a time," Prince Sunrei explained. "At that moment, she had taken a great interest in my sister."

"Why?"

"I don't know," the prince beamed a little wider. "You are asking a lot about her."

"Can I just read that Book of Legends and get some answers to my questions?"

"There is nothing much about my sister in that book. Just her physical appearance. If you want to what it is that she fears, it is not in the book. Nothing is written there about any of your weaknesses," the prince was obviously mocking him.

But he asked anyway, "Do you know?"

"Not really," the prince grinned. "But her worries and fears are mostly related to you. She is not saying things out loud but she cares so much about you and wants to protect you," he suddenly became serious as he added, "This time you should not mess up. Protect my sister."

"I know," Aries seriously replied. "We still have three hours left. Return to the chamber. I need to drop by the House of Maiden."

"What for?"

"I need to do something for the people of this House," Aries said before vanishing into the darkness.

^####^

When he moved out of the shadows, his knees buckled and nearly collapsed on the ground if Gin-Ren failed to catch him.

"What are you doing here at the Central Shrine? And why are you so exhausted?" the young Head Shaman curiously asked as she led him to a bench near the statue.

"I need your help," Aries said through his uneven breathing.

"Our friends… are they all in trouble?"

"No," he quickly replied because Gin-Ren became anxious. "What I need is help in summoning a lot of spirits at the same time. We only have less than three hours to do it."

"Let's ask Shaman Mina."

Aries agreed then grabbed Gin-Ren by her wrist. He was in a hurry that he preferred to use the shadows in traveling.

^######^

His knees totally gave in to exhaustion when he stepped out of the shadows with Gin-Ren.

The young Head Shaman was too astounded by his ability to travel through the shadows that she had failed to catch him.

"Ooops… sorry," she finally noticed Aries lying on the ground and helped him up. "But that was great," she eagerly went on, "There was a bit of discomfort but still great."

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"Aries? What are you doing here?"

It was Shaman Mina. She was a bit surprised that he suddenly appeared in the backyard of her little house.

"He needs our help," Gin-Ren answered as she led Aries to the porch and let him rest in there.

"You need help in warding off corrupted souls?" Shaman Mina asked as she settled between Aries and Gin-Ren.

"He wants us to summon a lot of souls in the House of Scale."

"I am asking Aries," the elder shaman frowned at the young Head Shaman. "Why do you keep on answering?"

"Can't you see? He is exhausted. He needs to rest for a while," Gin-Ren scowled in annoyance.

"Then let's talk after you get some rest," Shaman Mina had slowly got up on her feet.

"We don't have much time," Aries was still catching his breath. "Please, help me."

"Of course, we will help you," the elder shaman smiled kindly at him. "But it depends on the souls we are going to summon. No more corrupted ones."

"Yes. We will not summon corrupted souls this time," Aries weakly smiled.

"Then we can start," Shaman Mina paused for a while and examined Aries with her prying eyes.

After a few seconds, she had given him a piece of good advice, "You should leave the summoning to us."

"No," Aries stubbornly replied. "I want to join you. I owe it to those villagers. I should somehow make amends."

"If you will insist on that then you should rest until you recover your strength," Shaman Mina had suggested and Aries was grateful that he had gained reliable comrades.

^######^

Aries returned to the chamber with Gin-Ren and Shaman Mina. Everyone in the room had been surprised then got confused.

"We only have an hour left," Aries began to explain. "Princess Pieffer, we need your help in summoning spirits. Prince Sunrei, we need you to guard us while we are in a trance. Siorre, I think you need to leave this place and assist the prince. I will also ask Tauren and Quaria to help."

Despite their confusion, everyone nodded agreement and Aries finally laid to them the rest of his plan.

"I'll just fetch Tauren and Quaria," he said after briefing the people at the chamber.

"Leave them to me and my brother," Princess Pieffer grabbed his hand and let him relax on the floor. "Stay there and get as much rest as you can. We will be back soon."

"Thanks," Aries whispered and watched the royal siblings broke different bracelets.

^#######^

Five minutes had passed before the royal siblings returned with Tauren and Quaria. They had also been briefed of the plan before being taken to that chamber.

They were divided into four groups. Aries will summon spirits on the south. He will be protected by Siorre. The group for the west will be Shaman Mina and Quaria. On the north will be the pair of Princess Pieffer and Tauren. And for the south, it would be the tandem of Gin-Ren and Prince Sunrei.

After reviewing their arrangements one last time, the pairs transported themselves to their assigned locations. Aries had it all planned out after he was done cleaning the eastern border. He wanted to give a bit of peace to the souls that passed on and to the ones they left behind. He told the villagers to gather the dead, clean them up, and wait for his return.

Aries was grateful that when he arrived on the southern border, the people were done with the task he had given them.

On each of the borders was a huge statue of a golden scale. That was the place where Aries had placed a transport gem. He instantly settled on the ground right in front of the statue.

"I will begin," Aries told Siorre who only nodded at him.

He closed his eyes and focused with all his mind, body, and soul. He chanted the words Shaman Mina had taught them earlier until his soul drifted away from his body.

When he was studying the summoning ability in the House of Maiden, he came to like the astral plane. It was dim and everything that has life was glowing vibrantly beautiful.

He began drifting around the southern border until he reached the neatly arranged rows of corpses. Families were patiently watching their deceased relatives and waiting for what Aries had promised them.

He placed his palm over the forehead of a dead body and called on to its original owner. It took him a few minutes before he could successfully summon the soul.

For a moment, the summoned soul was confused and Aries had to explain why he was there and what he had to do. He should say a proper farewell to his family.

At first, summoning souls took time. But as he called forth more and more souls, it became easier for him. By the time he had summoned the last soul, all the deceased had ten minutes left to bid farewell to their families. He had to endure those minutes while holding the links to all the souls he had summoned. When that time ends, the trial for the new house leader would also be over.

Ten minutes was a fleeting moment of tearful goodbyes and painful embraces. When all of it was over, when the dead were back to being lifeless, and the souls returned from where they had been summoned, everyone in the southern border was crying and still embracing their deceased family member.

Aries immediately returned to his body and coughed out blood. Siorre knelt beside him and caught his arm when he was about to collapse.

"Let's return to the chamber," the Scorpio House Leader had broken a bracelet and transported themselves back to their temporary refuge.

^######^

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