Chapter 68: Gingerbread

Aries opened his eyes and found himself back in his wooden vessel. At first, he thought that it was because of his recent container that he felt as light as a feather. But when he became aware of his surroundings, he was alarmed.

He never had the chance to walk around the House of Twins. But he was certainly standing in one of its borders. A few feet away from his right was a huge statue of two identical people facing each other. Their arms were raised and their palms were touching each other. 

In front of him were Gust, Gale, and Jodien. Gale was anxious. Gust was upset. Jodien was excited despite the shallow cut in his neck. And the three of them were wielding their weapons.

"You're lying!" Gale yelled not at Aries but to the person behind him.

Cari was standing there, holding her bleeding right arm. There was frustration in her eyes.

It was strangely confusing for Aries to feel enraged at seeing her like that. It was as if he deeply cared for her safety.

Fear added to his confusion as he gazed back towards Gust, Gale, and Jodien. The three of them were probably working together to defeat Cari and it made him more furious.

"That thing only looks like Aries but he is not Aries! You will not fool us!" Gale yelled in denial.

"Aries, what are you waiting for?! Kill them!"

That command instantly brought forth his crimson claymore. He went for the head of Gale. The latter was prepared but Gust pushed his twin out of the way and his jade sword deflected the crimson claymore.

"Call Guardian Aika," Gust commanded his twin brother. "Quick!"

Gale wanted to protest but decided against it. As he took a few steps backward, a wind vortex had formed behind him and sucked him in.

"If you cannot fight him like before, you can leave him to me. I want a one-on-one with him," Jodien had excitedly offered to Gust after Gale had vanished.

"Don't kill him," Gust strictly instructed.

Jodien laughed then said, "How can he die when he is already dead?"

"Don't destroy his spirit!" Gust snapped at the battle-hungry knight.

"I don't think that I can. I haven't seen anyone who had shattered his spirit. That woman is interesting. Maybe he can break Aries."

"She is doing something nasty to his soul. She will pay for it," Gust tightened the grip on the handle of his jade sword. "Make sure he will not interrupt my fight with Cari."

"I'll try," Jodien grinned before attacking.

Aries was getting more confused. His vessel was moving on its own as if it was on autopilot.

Is there another soul in this vessel?

Aries searched but he had found none.

"I like this version of you," Jodien said after he was sent a few meters away with a powerful kick from Aries. "You've become… heartless."

"I am always like this. I will kill whoever it was that hurts my beloved Cari."

Aries was deeply alarmed when he said those words out loud. For a moment, he felt lightheaded and he was overwhelmed by a strong desire to protect Cari.

What did that Zodiac Knight do to my soul?

Aries was violently attacking. Jodien was on the defensive. The Celestial Knight appeared to be struggling but it was not showing on his face. His excited grin was not leaving his face and with that, Aries was starting to enjoy the fight. He never thought that a fight could be pleasurable.

His fights were all born out of fury. The people he was killing were all disgusting that he could not stand seeing them for a long time. He had to eliminate them as soon as possible. But Jodien was a different opponent. He was like Aries. They were both trying to protect their master. 

Wait!

Aries cleared his head.

What was that? Master? When did Cari become my master? Even Gust is not the Master of Jodien. What am I thinking? Something is definitely wrong with me. This has to stop!

But his vessel was not listening to him. He could not believe that his wooden container was unaffected by the confusion in his mind as if it had a separate mind of its own.

How did Cari do this? I can effectively multitask... but my mind... seemed to be breaking apart.

"Aries! Finish your enemy right away and help me in here!"

That commanding voice of Cari had an instantaneous effect in Aries. His mind went blank and a strong desire to kill just to protect Cari had overridden the rest of his emotions.

"You're getting more and more interesting," Jodien widened his grin when his arms trembled at the impact of the clashing black longsword and the crimson blade. "I thought you had a fragile vessel."

Aries ignored those words and attacked more violently than before. With each parry, Jodien was being pushed backward and as soon as his back hit the statue of twins, his black longsword had shattered and he had been pierced in his shoulder blades.

Aries hissed in fury. He was usually aiming for the neck. He would not miss the second time. He pulled his crimson blade. 

Jodien slumped on the ground, coughed out blood, then laughed, "You will kill me anyway."

"Aries, no!" Gust noisily begged.

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That was probably the reason his aim became erratic and the blade only scratched the neck of Jodien.

Aries pulled his crimson blade that got stuck at the statue then he repeatedly kicked Jodien hard on the face until that man dropped unconscious on the ground.

He would annihilate that lucky Celestial Knight after killing the noisy man that hurt his master.

"How can a Zodiac Knight befriend a Celestial Knight?" he spatted with disgust then rushed towards Gust.

He aimed for the head but the Gust escaped through a wind vortex. He tried to pull Cari along with him that Aries quickly waved his sword and tried to sever the hand of the kidnapper. His crimson blade had suddenly been enveloped by a blazing flame that even though he failed to cut the wrist of his opponent, he managed to burn it and Cari had been freed.

Gust vanished and reappeared right beside Jodien. He took the unconscious man in his arms and jumped back towards the wind vortex.

"Aries, why did you let them go?" Cari was staring at him with annoyance. "Do you want me to get killed by those knights?"

"I… don't know…" Aries winced as his head throbbed with intense pain. 

"Aries! What's wrong?" her voice softened up as Aries dropped to his knees. "No! Don't faint. You have to stay awake. Stay awake, Aries!"

Aries failed to obey his master because his consciousness was already drifting away. 

There was darkness and then there was light. His vision was blurry and he had to wait for a few seconds for the fog to clear up.

Then he had seen Princess Pieffer. Her shield was raised around her entire body and there was a cut on her left cheek.

"What…" his voice faded when he looked down and saw that his body looked like a cactus. Crimson needles surrounded his ripped body.

"Aries?"

He looked up at the princess with guilt.

"Did I…" his voice faded one more time when he realized that he could speak out loud.

"Your body had a little transformation," the princess must have sensed his puzzlement. "You now have a head and a face."

He wanted to have a look at the mirror but they were still stuck at the bed.

"You look like gingerbread with crimson needles as arms and legs," Princess Pieffer was obviously stifling a smile.

"How can you smile at me after I hurt you?" Aries stared at the princess with disbelief.

"I know you didn't mean it," she simply answered. "I'll just put up a shield for myself. I hope you don't mind."

"You should protect yourself at all times!" Aries yelled and then sighed. "I had a terrible nightmare."

"That was not a nightmare," Guardian Aika had entered the room. "You and Cari disrupted Gust in reinstating the barrier at the western border."

"But Aries is with me all this time," Princess Pieffer defended Aries.

"I told you, Princess. That ripped arm only contains a fragment of his soul. Most of it was with the bigger part of the rag doll. And Cari had already transferred it to another vessel," a smile curved on her lips as she continued, "I have to say that it is a powerful one. You even conjured a fire with your blade."

"That… happened?" his eyes widened with dread as he muttered, "Gust…"

"He will live. Even Jodien. They are currently being treated by the house healers. You can see them later."

"Why are you here?" Aries wondered. "Are you going to help us leave this bed?"

"I created that rag doll vessel. I will know if something is happening to it," Guardian Aika evaded his last question. "Cari burned the part he had taken. The ripped arm, on the other hand, I sensed that it changed. Now I see that your consciousness is getting stronger. You learned to shape your vessel to something that is beneficial to you. I have to thank Cari for that."

"Thank her for what?" Aries asked with sarcasm. "She only wants to control and use me to get what she wants. You are her master."

"Correction. I was her master."

"You should have taught her well," Aries glared at the beaming guardian.

"I taught her well," Guardian Aika answered with a proud smile. "You saw her skills."

"You came here just to say those things?" Aries was getting irritated.

"I think she came here to check on you," Princess Pieffer said. "Can you make a better vessel for him?"

"Vessels for souls cannot be created overnight. It will take a year or even years, depending on my mood. But don't worry," the smile on her face had faded when she said, "The king will come after the barriers in this House are reinstated. Master Kiel came here to check on your body. You have one week to save your original vessel."

"Just one week?" Princess Pieffer was worried.

"We can only preserve your body for that long. If you cannot reinstate the barriers within that time, I'm afraid you will remain in that gingerbread vessel for the rest of your lifetime," the guardian beamed mockingly. "Or you can stay in that beautiful wooden body. The choice is yours, Aries. You have one week."

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