Chapter 106: Chapter 104: A System does some soul-searching.

Jack's thoughts were in an absolute mess after the question Melinoe posed towards him. All he could feel was a deep sense of anger towards himself, and he knew that was her goal. As he floated towards Eramis who approached him, she said "I am sorry about those questions. Melinoe crossed the line with that question."

"She did. Unless Kelsey informed her, how did she get word that I was sleeping?"

Eramis frowned and said "Most likely she got word from Alacanar. The damn asshole seems to have spies everywhere. It goes without saying, since he most likely maintains a connection with these Archmages, he may have heard from them."

"I thought she had some relation to Alacanar as she was sitting next to him."

Eramis nodded and said "The two of them have been seeing each other ever since she appeared about two hundred or so years ago."

"What is she the goddess of?"

"She is a ritual magic goddess and represents the dark side of the moon. She has been gaining strength at an unbelievable rate. I suspect she is using Alacanar to gain followers."

Jack wobbled up and down and asked "You said Alacanara had spies, is that how he knew we went into that room in the large temple?"

The Sun Goddess sighed and said "That was my mistake. I forgot to clean up after you left, and I left those napkins behind. Alacanar must have sent his avatar into the temple to retrieve them. After what happened between us then, I wasn't in the right mindset to notice if he had entered."

"During the meeting, it seemed like he was intentionally baiting you and Aramin. What was he up too?"

"Yeah he does that. He makes it look like he has an opening in his argument. Only when you try to use that opening, you find out it's a trap he set for you. I've learned not to spring on them. That's how I lost some of my support early on. Rather than going for the obvious openings, you need to strike him in his argument where he least expects."

She looked back at the tables and said "Still, I think he was chiefly using this meeting as a way to demonstrate how much power he has gained. All he requires is a few more of the Major gods to side with him, and he will be able to gain control of the court."

"If I'm to be honest, he seems like an asshole. Why would anyone want to follow him?"

"Despite being an arrogant dick, he has been fairly generous to the other gods. He has backed up many promises he has made with others. Plus his view on the world is very tempting."

"His view?"

"For me, I consider our responsibility as gods as being something we as gods have a responsibility to watch over. Alacanar, however, believes the world and it's people are there to serve us. With my viewpoint I have to crack down on the gods, making me less popular, whereas Alacanar whispers in their ear that they should be able to do what they desire."

"Great, just what the world needs." Jack said thinking of how much trouble this would cause his Users. "How much danger do you think you are in losing your position?"

She frowned and said "Very high actually. While I nevertheless maintain the majority, I have a few fence sitters that will just as likely flip to Alacanar's side as they are to remain on mine. To be honest losing Adranus support is a massive hit to my position."

"Why did he switch?"

"Most likely to do with me refusing him access to the Glowing Mountain Region."

"Why did you refuse him access?"

"There is corruption in that region, so I didn't lie. I know why Adranus want's to control the region. It's to make his power grow enormously. I can't allow him to feed off that, not only due to the risk of corrupting him, but to stop him from gaining too much power. Adranus cares very little about keeping the world in order, he would gladly see the world burn to gain more power. If he gained access, he would likely turn that continent into a massive desert just to gain all the power."

"Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Not yourself, but once Everlai joins, she will qualify as another Major god, giving me another vote."

"One of my Users is waking up lost gods. A few of them seem like major gods. They could help you."

"Possibly. Much obliged Jack."

"If we manage to collect evidence of Alacanar's misdeeds, will the other major gods behind him support you if you take action against Alacanar."

"Most should. While they are tempted by the benefits Alacanar promises them. They will not tolerate the things I believe Alacanar is up to. Needless to say, it is going to be very difficult to prove anything. Not even his underlings know everything he is up to. Except, of course, Meline. I wouldn't be surprised if she was helping him cover up the worst of it."

"I will think about this. You said you would introduce me to a god that you called in looking for Alexia's soul?"

"Yes, their name is Letum. Please follow me. I will take you to them." Eramis said and cut open a space in the meeting room and following her through it, Jack found himself floating in a private gloomy chamber. Eramis said "Letum, we are here."

A sharp flash and a candle was lit. From the dark emerged a figure in a black cloak. Their features were concealed by a hood. A gravelly voice came from it saying "Eramis, is this the Jack you mentioned?" 

Feeling that he was being observed by the figure, he said "I am Jack, and you are?"

"I am Letum. Caretaker of the realms of the afterlife connected to this world."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Eramis told me she asked you to look for Alexia's soul in the Glowing mountain Region. Were you able to find her soul?"

A deep and complex sigh emerged from the darkness of the hood and Letum said "There were no free souls in the region."

"No free souls? What do you mean?" Eramis asked.

"It is as you fear Eramis, there is a Soul Chimera running rampant in the region. It has been eating all the free souls. But I have sealed it in the region so it can no longer grow rampant. I will need help to slay it."

"What is a Soul Chimera? Are you saying this thing may have eaten Alexia's soul?"

"Perhaps. Though it looks as if this one only appeared recently. Thus, it's entirely possible that Alexia's soul has already passed on. If you wish I will look through the various afterlife's to see if she entered into one. Of course if she went to the great void, I would be unable to find her."

"As for the Soul Chimera, it is a monster born from a fusion of multiple souls and a dose of corruption. It hunts and feeds on spirits. They most often appear in areas of great death. Of which the Glowing Mountain region qualifies. When it has starved for a bit, I will go back with others and slay it."

Feeling anger that Alexia's soul may have been eaten, Jack said "Is there a way to tell if the Soul Chimera has devoured her soul?"

"Once it is dead, I can see what it has eaten." Letum paused and said "I am sorry I could not provide more comfort to you."

"It is alright. Thank you Letum, if you get a chance can you take a look for her in the afterlife?"

"I will."

Jack looked at Eramis and said "Do you think you can take me back to my space?"

Eramis nodded and tore open a hole and led Jack back to his white space. They arrived in front of the cottage they had built in his space. Feeling the weight of grief assail him once more, he started to float back inside the cottage when Eramis wrapped him tightly into a hug. "I'm sorry we weren't able to find her."

For a short period he felt better and Jack said "Thank you." For a while he just floated being held by her until she let him go and stepped back.

"I would like to stay here with you, but I need to get back and secure my support. It was a big blow for me when Adranus dropped his support, and I need to make sure no one else is ready to jump ship. If they do, Alacanar will like to move to call a no confidence vote before the next major meeting."

"I understand. Thank you for all your help Eramis."

"I will contact you again soon, I promise." Eramis said and went through another hole in the space."

Floating into the cottage, Jack saw Kara Everlai was currently snoring on a couch in his living room. He gently laid a blanket he found nearby over her and then floated off to his room. Laying down into his bed, he focused onto his avatar body and dropped into it. Once he was sitting inside his avatar form, he pulled out the crystal orb he had gotten from the soulamancer.

Focusing onto the orb, Jack let his mind empty. As his thought disappeared, he found his viewpoint falling inward into himself. As he followed his viewpoint, Jack was startled when he found that he was standing in a massive city with towering buildings of multiple styles and designs. 

The one he was standing in was made out of towering glass and steel. Following it up he saw it rose into a sky that was blue like the blue of his screens he made. As he was watching, he saw what looked like vehicles flying through the air and when he looked down he saw a group of people walking along the streets. While he was observing them, he heard a calm woman's voice behind him say "Hello Jack, JP requests a meeting with you."

Turning around Jack found he was looking at Falean. "Falean? What are you doing here?"

"Ah I see your mistake. I am not the actual Falean. I am a Soul Echo of Falean. Falean only comes here when she has fallen asleep. Which could be soon."

Jack looked her over and could not see any substantial difference. She at least did not feel like Falean to him. "What is a Soul Echo?"

"Due to the unique quality of your soul, when another's soul comes into contact with your soul, it can create a soul echo of that soul when it leaves. In JP's words, Soul Echo's are more or fewer simulations of the real soul's they copy. Of course they have limitations that the real souls don't have. For example we only exist inside your soul, if you take us out we would simply cease to exist."

"I see."

"Please follow me." Not-Falean said. Following her, they entered the massive building. As they walked across the lobby, Jack saw numerous people walking about.

"Is everyone here a Soul Echo?"

"Some of them yes, but not all. Jack your soul is massive. It has many pieces, many of which have taken their own personality like JP has done. Others are soul's that have taken residence inside your own soul."

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"Residence? What does that mean?" Jack said.

They arrived in front of a set of steel doors where she pressed a button. Not-Falean said "Occasionally your soul will take a freed soul and invite it to join inside. If the soul accepts then they will take out living a life here. And grant your soul a bit more power."

"Are you saying my soul is some sort of afterlife?"

"In a sense yes. In others, no. It's complicated." The doors opened and they stepped inside. "JP is at the top floor." Not-Falean pushed a button and the doors closed. Seconds later, Jack could feel the room they were in rocketing upwards. After a bit the doors opened and they stepped out. 

Following behind Not-Falean, Jack saw several doors that had various symbols on them. "What is behind these doors?" Jack asked.

"Experiments that JP is conducting. He is currently working with Falean in an effort to discover ways to help increase your powers. He can give you more information than I can about that." They arrived in a front office with a large desk behind which she sat down and said "JP is through that door." 

Walking up to the black door, Jack opened it and stepped through. Behind it was a very simple large room that had only a large black desk and a chair in front of it and behind it. A man was standing by the windows and when he turned to face him, Jack was startled to find the man looked exactly like him.

"Great you are here. We have much to get through, to be honest I'm surprised you decided to come visit the soulspace, given how you are feeling at the moment."

Jack frowned and said "You can tell what I am feeling?"

"Jack, I'm part of you. I know how you are feeling. It's how I'm feeling as well." JP sighed and took a seat behind the desk and said "Please sit. I'm sure you have plenty of questions."

Jack sat down and said "It feels a little strange to be talking with myself."

JP chuckled and said "That it is."

"Falean had told me that you are the part of my soul that was a Man before I became a system?"

Nodding JP said "Yes, I was born a human on a planet called Earth. Later on we underwent a process that ultimately formed you."

"Can you tell me more about my past, like how I became a system?"

"I'm afraid not. It's not in my control to reveal more about your past, and to be honest, the whole becoming a system thing has been removed from my memories. Once you are ready, you will learn. The dreams you see when you sleep? That's the memories that have been approved by the Soul Network."

"Soul Network?"

"As you can see your Soul is quite Massive. Each part of it has a controller like me. Each one influences your overall personality, though ultimately you are in control. We decide which memories to let you have access to, though most of the system stuff is controlled by your system side of your soul. We don't really have control over that part."

"The Soul Echo of Falean told me that my soul was like an afterlife."

"That is partly accurate. I can feel your hope, but I have to break it to you. Our sister is not in here."

"So Alexia is my sister."

"I am uncertain how you actually managed to get her soul to this world. That memory has been hidden by that system side. But I am certain that was my sister's soul. It is possible when you remember how you got her soul, we can once again retrieve her."

"That's if she wasn't eaten by that Soul Chimera."

"Jack, you have to trust in Alexia. A simple Soul Chimera does not have the power to eat her soul."

"Alright." Jack then said "Falean tells me you are experimenting with her soul. What are you planning on doing with her?"

"Oh several things actually. I'm testing the limits of your powers to see what you are truly capable of. Already I see things that would boost your Users powers substantially. Once you get more power, you should be able to enact them. While you have Veronica as a shield for your Avatar, what you really need is a fighter for your soul."

"You want Falean to be that fighter?"

"Yes. She has quite the potential in her. I have with her permission begun a series of Experiments on her to boost her power."

"I don't like that thought. What if you harm her?"

"I assure you, every experiment I have done is thoroughly reviewed by the both of us. I have taken every effort to make sure her soul remains as safe as can be."

"I also get the feeling that you are looking at her more than a colleague."

"That is true Jack. She has been flirting with me, and I have flirted back. I intend to engage in a sexual relationship with her."

Frowning Jack said "What about Maya?"

"What about Maya?" JP said and turned around a photo on his desk revealing Maya. "Jack, I love Maya, she is the only woman that I have ever proposed to. Every day that I am here, my thoughts are of her. Wondering where she went into the void, is she safe? She was always the more adventurous one. She was the one who proposed the agreement we made between us."

"I am only vaguely aware of this agreement."

"We agreed to have a polyamourous relationship. This was even before I even proposed to her. She is okay with us engaging in relationships and sexual interactions with other women as long as we keep her in our heart. She is of course free to do the same."

"That seems a little hard to believe, a little too easy."

JP laughed and said "I assure you it is the truth. Maya was the far more provocative one in the relationship. She was the one who got me into BDSM. It got her off to watch me with other women."

"Fine, do as you wish. As long as you don't cause her harm or force her, you can do as you wish. If I find out you upset her, I will be very cross with you. Still, how would you even have sex?"

"This place?" JP waved his hand around. "It's as real as you and me. In fact, it could be said, sex here would be the Ultimate connection. Two souls enjoined as one."

"Have you touched that Soul Echo of Falean?"

"No. Nor do I plan to. I have taken her as a secretary. To be quite honest, she lacks the charm of the original. While they are essentially copies of the original soul, they quickly deviate and become their own person."

"That is enough about that topic, so what have you done with the parasite that was in my soul?"

"After we captured it, and I played with it for a bit the Soul Network is now in the process of reworking it. Once you manage to find Luxurian, we will unleash it upon her to repay the favor. If you manage to find more soul parasites, we will be able to turn them against their creators as well."

"I'm not quite sure I'm comfortable in acting like them."

"I understand your hesitation, but I assure you, based on the power of them, you will need every edge you can get. Plus we are hoping we can get the soul parasite to focus on corrupted parts of the soul."

"Alright."

They talked for a bit more, then a device on the desk buzzed. JP frowned and pushed a button and said "Yes?"

"Miss Rhamnousia is here to see Jack."

"I see, send her in." JP frowned and pressed a button. 

As he did so, a woman stormed in looking furious. She glared at Jack and said "Why the fuck did you not do anything to that bitch?"

"What?"

"You know Melinoe!" Rhamnousia growled out. "Why if I was out there I would have whooped her ass. You know she is in league with those bastards who killed Alexia."

JP said "This is Rhamnousia, your avenging side of yourself."

"It pisses me off how weak willed you are at times." She snarled. "While you are here, I'm going to give you a lesson in how to fucking fight." 

She grabbed Jack and began to drag him out. JP called out, "Jack, you can come back anytime to talk with me. If I need to talk to you, I will let Falean know."

Speaking of Falean as Rhamnousia dragged Jack down the hallway, they passed Falean who simply nodded at Jack and said "Jack, have a good day."

For the next several hours, Rhamnousia began 'training' Jack in various fighting maneuvers. In Jack's opinion it was more like she was torturing him. Still he felt he had gained some skill in fighting. If he had to fight again, he at least would be better. When he left the soulspace he found he was feeling incredibly sore.

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