Chapter 21: Chapter 20

Hecatolite felt relieved as the pressure that was building in her mind vanished, that was before the feeling of crashing to the cold ground replaced it.

“Well, that sucked.” She hissed as she sat up surveying her surroundings. “oh, I am back here.” She noticed she was sitting in a large field.

It was Amethyst’s void space, or at least it looked like it was. It had the same general layout, a large empty field with a single tree in the center next to what looked like a log cabin, the same cliff to one side with the gentle sound of waves lapping against it as before. Unlike last time however the cabin seemed to sit at the edge of a dense forest of twisted trees of all different shapes and sizes.

“That's definitely new, I wonder when she redecorated?” Hecatolite spoke as she stood, noting the large magical circle she had carved into the ground still beneath her, the grass around the site had withered to nothing leaving a large dirt patch. She let out a sigh, “going to need some fertilizer for that. wonder if they have void space landscapers.”

She looked up into the sky, the same clear blue sky was overhead, a bright sun with clouds that lazily hung in the sky… just there was an abrupt line that seemed to part it right over the cabin, where one side was a clear blue sky the other was a deep red, an enormous black half orb floated in the sky over the forest. 

“Is that the egg I was in?” She asked as she stared at the half orb. It looked as if it was shattered outward parts of it were still hanging in the sky around it, what looked like black liquid was running out of the broken side. “How did I miss that before?”

She noticed the clear line in the void, “this must be Amethyst side meaning that’s… my side.” She looked past the cabin into the forest, she felt if she looked hard enough, she could see figures moving in it, strange white shadows seemed to dance between the trees. “Well, that’s unnerving, I'm going to have to do a demon check.”

She stood for a few minutes surveying her surroundings, contemplating running into the forest and checking for intruders before she remembered. “oh, yea she should be here somewhere shouldn’t she? Or is she driving the body… Inutil?”

The screen flashed, with a bang, into existence a short distance away. It had some words on it but Hecatolite did not bother reading it as she spoke.

“Where is Amethyst?” 

The screen flashed yellow before displaying an answer. “Amethyst is currently in the main room of her soul space.”

“Is she awake?” Hecatolite asked inching towards the screen.

“It would appear that she is conscious, however this brief symbiosis will only last until your power is restored.” Inutil seemed to float a little further. “Estimated time until suppression is reinstated, 4days, 15hours… please refrain from hostile actions Hecatolite.” The screen flashed yellow as Hecatolite swiped at it.

“I made a promise, six boxes,” she lunged again, this time clipping the edge of it, “when did you get so fast!” she yelled as her claws raked across the terminal.

The box flashed a multitude of colors as Hecatolite swiped at it over and over until it finally concluded if it did not allow it to “break” it, the information it was trying to give will never be seen. Resigning itself, the entire Inutil box flashed before it hovered over the jumping creature.

Six “destroyed” terminals later, Hecatolite sat proudly holding a small sized Inutil screen, happily clawing a large “21” in it, choosing a language it could not remember the origin of for this number. 

“So, what were you saying about… something.” She said as she released the screen, admiring her work.

“You have 4 days until your power is fully restored, at that time your soul will begin to overpower Amethyst's soul once again and she will enter a “suppressed” state once more.” Inutil flashed.

“Well, that is easy, I’ll just make more relics.” Hecatolite scoffed, “simple, shouldn’t be too hard. I made two by accident, so I should be able to make more.”

“Incorrect. Creation of a relic requires a small portion of your soul to be left in the item. Continuous creation of relics is dangerous if too much of the soul is used without time to “reform” the used parts, or assimilation of the parts used, it is possible to damage the soul permanently.”

“Wait, I used part of my soul on those!” Hecatolite yelled looking herself over, she did not notice anything different… Well that was not true either. 

She “felt” smaller, and noticed her shape had become more… feminine, looking more as if it would fit Amethyst's body. She did however still have her claws which made her happy.

“Why do I feel different? I feel… smaller? Is this a trick? I'll break you if you are playing with me again.” Hecatolite threatened the box with her claws. “Also why do I have boobs now; I didn’t have those before.”

“You spent a prolonged time in a physical body, your soul conformed to the physical form. It is strange that it would happen so quickly, but a soul is fluid, it can change with how one views itself. If you feel you should have female characteristics, one's soul will reflect that. Just as with your form now. You see yourself as Amethyst twin, so your soul has taken a shape more conforming to her body to reflect that. this is a byproduct of your “soul shaping” ability.”

“Then if I think really hard, I have a tail, I can grow one?” Hecatolite asked excitedly.

“Possibly. However, unlikely. Your soul can be defined by your physical body to a point. Most humanoids have a basic humanoid figure, unless acted upon by an outside force. Since you have both “soul shaping” and “indomitable will” as well as your soul magic, it is unlikely that anything would be able to act upon your soul. It would be possible to shape a tail onto your soul, but it will only be in your soul form not on your physical body.”

Hecatolite scratched her head. “But what about things that don’t have a physical body… Do gods have physical bodies?”

There was a long pause as Inutil flashed a handful of times, Hecatolite could see words flashing on the screen as if it was scanning all the books in its library. “no. gods do not have “bodies” they are souls that have ascended beyond the mortal realm. Their soul forms can be altered but it appears that the process takes thousands of years and can be influenced by the thoughts of their believers.”

“so, if I imagine Valor as a goat for long enough, could I turn…” 

“no.” Inutil interrupted, causing Hecatolite to slash the screen again.

“Fine, so basically “I think therefore I am” all over again, as long as I see myself as a shape I will be that shape… I don’t mind being female… but its dose seems odd… was I male before?... Wait, I’m getting sidetracked, I need to go see Amethyst! Stupid box distracting me!” Hecatolite yelled as another screen flashed into existence only to be cut down immediately. “Inutil make note, carve “stupid box 23” in… draconic… maybe something more subtle… what was that lizard language…. Dragons are lizards… so yea; Draconic on you when I get a minute.”

She rushed to the cabin ignoring the thunderclap of a Inutil box appearing behind her, she did not notice this one still had the crude 15 carved in it that was slowly fading away. A simple message scrolled across the screen.

“Will need to acquire more mana terminals if it keeps up at this pace.” 

Hecatolite rushed to the door stopping just short of barreling into it. She stopped for a moment before calmly knocking on the door, noticing this time her touch did not seem to blacken it.

There was no reply. 

Ok first impressions, Hi I’m Hecatolite, I’m your big.. sister? Doesn’t matter ok, Hi I am Hecatolite you are Amethyst. I live in your body… wait, that's weird. Hecatolite’s mind raced as it knocked again.

“Hello!” She called as she opened the door. The interior seemed unchanged from the last time. “Are you decent in here?” 

Hecatolite walked through the building, stopping at the opening to what she believed was the “main hall” and collected herself before stepping in.

Sitting at the end of the large table was the deep purple soul she had seen last time. It made a motion as if it was looking up from the large book that sat at the end of the table.

“Hello, you are Amethyst, nice to meet you.” Hecatolite said confidently as she stood in the doorway.

The soul simply pointed down at the book as it spoke. “It is nice to meet you too. But I know my name?”

“Yes, of course you do. I mean I am….” 

“Hecatolite Lapidary.” Amethyst's voice was shaky as she turned the page in the soul book.

“Yes… I have a lot to explain… first off… sorry about you know… stealing your body for a while.”

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“You do know… I can see the memories… right?” Amethyst waved a hand and a Babylon screen appeared silently next to her. “you spent a very long time fighting with Babylon outside… I saw you from the window when I woke up.”

“Really!” Hecatolite was shocked, she had spent a good portion of the time thinking of how to get a child to understand their predicament. “That's creepy actually. I hope you didn’t see anything embarrassing.”

“no no no” Amethyst quickly waved her arms around. “Not all of them, just the ones from when… we became like this. I can’t see anything before the alley way… it's more of conscious memories… Babylon explained it better.”

The screen flashed as text appeared.

“Amethyst and Hecatolite are two consciousnesses in one body. It is capable for each one separately to access the physical body’s memories, but one cannot access the other soul memories without permission for the other.”

“So… We have a shared memory drive? That’s convenient.” Hecatolite spoke recalling a memory from its past lives. “Wait, you were out for weeks, how did you watch it all that fast!”

“you sleep… a lot… also when replaying a memory… you can’t hear the thoughts… you spent a lot of time just looking at things, not talking.” Amethyst said as she tapped the screen next to her. An image of a ring sitting on a desk came into view… just sitting there. “Babylon says this goes on for 4 hours.”

“I was thinking of enchantments…. So you can only see and hear through the physical memories… how far did you see?”

“Only until you talked to our family. And a few parts of Alexa teaching you how to talk…” Amethyst seemed to focus on the center of Hecatolite’s chest. 

Hecatolite could suddenly feel the shrinking golden circle in its chest. “Please don’t stare at it too much.”

“is… is he dead?” her voice wavered.

“as a doornail, puked anything that could have been him back up into the street. Nothing left in that but me myself and I.” Hecatolite declared proudly, realizing that maybe saying such a thing to a young girl was not the right choice. “Sorry. Yes, he is dead.”

“So we really… ate him…” She could see the dark purple soul shiver before it spoke again. “and Dora… she died too didn’t she.” Hecatolite did not know if one could cry as a soul, but she was sure she was about to find out.

“I tried to save her… I am sorry.”

A wail cut through the building as Amethyst's small body fell from the chair while holding its head in its hands. 

Hecatolite rushed to her, hesitating to touch her once she got close. “it's…” the words caught in her throat as she looked at the notification appearing on Babylon.

“Amethyst mental stability is deteriorating.”

Shit shit shit. Hecatolite thought as she batted the screen away. It’s too much isn’t it… fuck shes going to breakdown…. How do i…

Without a thought she scooped Amethyst into her arms and gently rocked her. It was awkward given Amethyst somehow seemed a few inches taller than Hecatolite.

“It is not your fault.” She whispered. “I swear to you, I will never let them take anything from us again.”

They sat like that for what felt like hours, Amethyst crying and Hecatolite gently rocking her. Hecatolite tried her best to console the young soul as she wept but nothing she said seemed to work. She wished with her entire being she could calm the young girl yet could not find the words to do so. She closed her eyes and looked deep inside her own memories for anything that she could do before a memory flashed in her mind, a memory that was so distorted only the sound came through. The sound was low but brought a warmth that she did not understand to her very core, a warmth she now wanted to share with Amethyst.

Hecatolite did not know the song she hummed, but it felt right, the deep reverberations seemed to travel through the both of them as they rocked back and forth. Hecatolite letting her entire being reverberate as she forced the sound through herself, letting the warmth emanate from her. Before Babylon flashed again.

“Mental state stabilizing, no traits acquired.”

Hecatolite sighed before a loud thunderclap rang out and another screen appeared. Causing both of them to jump in surprise.

“Skill acquired: calming aura, your magical pressure will now have a calming effect on those within range. Calming aura has been assimilated into soul mastery, you can now resonate your soul to calm those around you. Trait acquired; Forgotten legacy, trait forgotten legacy assimilated into “forgotten legacy.”” 

Well that will help with the magical pressure problem hopefully. 

Hecatolite let out a weak laugh, “just how many legacy’s could I have forgotten?”

As the words left her mouth Babylon flashed in bold letters “Error” before going dormant. 

“a lot apparently.” She sighed as she looked down at her sister who she now held in her arms. “Feeling better?”

Amethyst shuttered as the two parted. “Now what?” she asked weakly as Hecatolite helped her back into the chair. It was clear even to Hecatolite that Amethyst was not ok from her hallow response, it would take her a long time to process everything. The birth of her "sister", the death of a dear friend, and the feeling of taking another life, even Hecatolite knew these were things one did not just get over, she did however find it odd that she herself felt... nothing? About these events. Everyone was "born" at some point and had a family so it was only natural she would have one herself. People died, that's really just a fact of life, people die, it hurt when people you like die but it was better to focus on the life itself then the death; sure she will protect those she cared for and even cry at their passing, but she knew in her soul that loss is part of being alive. And it is only the natural order to kill those who try to harm you. The strong kill and eat the weak, the strong is in turned killed and eaten by the stronger.

she settled on allowing Amethyst her time to cope in her own way, choosing to answer whatever the girl asked and caring for her when she needed it.

“Well now we find a more permanent solution to our cohabitation problem.” Hecatolite said as she took a seat next to her. “if only Eryl was here. I could ask her.”

 Their was a pause before Amethyst replied. “Couldn’t you call her?”

“How would I? She's the…” Hecatolite tried to say system administrator, but the words would not come out. “That's strange, she’s the….” Again, she couldn’t say it. “Inutil. Explain.”

“Forbidden.”

Hecatolite clawed the screen causing it to dissipate. “Forbidden my right foot. How can you keep me from saying a word? Ill show you stupid system. Eryl is the….” 

This time Hecatolite’s mind filled with a blinding static as she attempted to force the words out. After a moment the static seemed to fade as Hecatolite found herself laying face down on the floor a panicked Amethyst standing above her.

“What happened?” Hecatolite asked groggily.

“You tried to do something bad.” Amethyst said, pointing at the floating Babylon screen.

“Forbidden knowledge is unable to be shared.”

“Ok got it.” Hecatolite said, holding her throbbing head. “Eryl is super smart, she would know what to do. She smarter than the dumb boxes for sure.”

“If she has the “voice of the world” skill couldn’t you use Babylon to contact her?” Amethyst asked, the question sending a new throb of pain through Hecatolite mind as she remembered her last encounter with Eryl.

“That would…. Probably not work. She told me it was dangerous to contact me again… but… Inutil, contact the smartest person with access to a world terminal.” 

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