The Soul Keeper

Only a day had passed since Alex and Rina had joined us, and we were already busy with preparations.

Asher and I had come to Baile Chailce. Well, Asher had gone there, I was waiting for him to return while exploring some old ruins we hadn't had the chance to check out before.

Despite my calm outer appearance, I was quite worried. As far as we knew, the Divines didn't know much about Asher, at least not more than they knew about Rina, Alex, Lucius, or Mona. There was no reason to think they'd try to harm him in any way, but that didn't really help my anxiousness much.

A faint clicking noise caught my attention. I pushed my thoughts and worries to the back of my mind and tightened my grasp around the hilt of my sword. I knew these ruins were occupied by creatures – that's why I was here for in the first place.

Watching my steps on the uneven brick floors, I carefully entered the next room, only to find a bunch of oversized bugs. I honestly had no idea of what they were – I just knew that the clicking sound came from them and they were disgusting.

I made short work of them. They were weaker than I expected, though still gave a surprising amount of experience. I looked around the room, hoping to find some kind of valuable thing, something to make my time here a bit more worthwhile, but found nothing of value.

With a sigh, I looked around. Was this really the last room of the ruins? I had expected a bit more of a challenge, but I guess that was nothing but an empty hope. Somewhat disappointed, I returned to the entrance to wait for Victoria and Asher.

The sun slowly climbed the sky as I waited. As minutes turned to hours, my worries only grew. What if something had happened? Maybe I shouldn't have let Asher go back to Baile Chailce on his own.

"I understand, but where are we going?" The faint voice startled me. I quickly got up on my feet and hid myself in the shadowy entrance of the old demonic ruin. 

"Like I said, there are some things you should know about." Asher's voice sounded. I sighed a breath of relief as he and Victoria stepped into my view.

Victoria looked quite different from before. Her fancy clothes were nowhere to be seen. Instead, she concealed herself with a cloak and I could see she was wearing simple pants and a shirt underneath. Wearing no make-up, she didn't quite look like herself. Yet, there was no mistaking her voice. 

"I understand that, but why did we have to come so far outside? You do realise demons are about, don't you?" She asked as her gaze scoured the area. She was scared – it was clear as day.

"Don't worry, I made sure this place is safe. Besides, the demons wouldn't dare come quite this close to the city. Not yet anyways." Asher smiled. I knew he intended it to be a reassuring smile, but it looked more like an evil grin. Victoria seemed even more worried as she glanced at him.

"Right here," He said with a calm voice, pointing at the ruins I had just cleared. 

Victoria nodded and approached the entrance, with Asher right behind her.

She stepped closer, then froze mid step as I came out of the shadowy entrance.

"Hello Victoria." 

She flinched as soon as our eyes met. Her face went pale as she stepped back.

"Kai?" She whispered. "You-" She glanced at Asher, who was trying really hard not to grin. "How are you alive?" She asked after a moment. "Joshua told me all about what happened – there was a funeral, the Divine Matriarch gave a speech…" Her voice faded as I shook my head.

"I'll explain. Why don't you come inside? It's not quite as safe out here." I could see her hesitation as she glanced at the shadowy entrance. "I'm not here to hurt you, I promise." If she really didn't trust me, my words would mean nothing, but from her expression, I could see that wasn't the case.

After a few moments of hesitation, she nodded. I led her and Asher inside, to the only room with a desk and chairs. Thankfully, they weren't falling apart quite yet, though I still wouldn't trust them too much. Time had taken its toll on this place, as it always did.

"So," Victoria asked after we all were seated. "What happened? How are you still alive? And why didn't you come back to the city? Joshua and the rest of the kids were devastated after what happened."

I almost rolled my eyes. "I'm sure they were," I mumbled, then took a deep breath. This part was the hardest – convincing someone that they had been lied to, tricked and betrayed. "Victoria, I want to tell you what happened on the day I died. Can you listen till the very end before you draw any conclusions?"

The woman seemed somewhat confused, but she nodded, nonetheless. "Of course." 

I took a deep breath and began explaining what really happened. I told her of Alina and Joshua's betrayal, of how some mysterious person saved me, and of how Divine Matriarch Aelith and the Ereth were the invaders. 

I left out the parts about my predecessor, the Demon Lord and anything else that was remotely sensitive information. While I did value Victoria's cooperation, I didn't trust her nearly enough to tell her anything more.

By the time I finished, her face was pale. 

"So," I said. "That's basically the gist of it. That's why I didn't come back to Baile Chailce. I can't afford to let any Ereth know that I'm still alive."

She nodded absentmindedly. Silence followed my words as we sat there, waiting for her to process everything and get her thoughts in order. I admired her a bit as minutes passed. Everyone else had reacted immediately with anger, defiance, or some form of resistance. Even Asher and Lucius.

Yet, Victoria sat here in silence, pondering, processing, and thinking things through. "Sorry," She said at some point, breaking the silence. "It's a lot to take in."

"It's fine," I quickly replied, then allowed the silence to set in again. Some time later, she finally spoke.

"I understand." Her gaze met mine, and she didn't seem startled a bit by my glowing purple eyes. "I'm going to be honest with you; at first, I found your story hard to believe. After all, two people told me they saw a demon – perhaps even the Demon Lord himself kill you. Yet, Erik and Vincent said nothing of the sort. They only saw a pool of blood at the scene."

She made a vague gesture. "I did think it was odd, at first. Alina and Joshua somehow evading the Demon Lord was tough to believe in, mainly because I know they aren't quite that skilled." She chuckled. "Especially Joshua." 

Asher couldn't help but laugh lightly. "You do have a point." He spoke.

Victoria ignored him and kept talking, choosing her words carefully. "I also remember thinking it was odd how quickly Alina seemed to become almost famous. There are no players who haven't heard of her. She is praised for all kinds of things, while I have seen none of her abilities." She fiddled with her hair before continuing. "I also remember finding it really weird how she would randomly disappear for a couple of days, all while Joshua desperately tried to cover for her."

I raised my brows. "How so?" I asked. Where could she be disappearing to?

"Well, Joshua would always say she was called by some player or another for help, but when I spoke to those players, they'd claim they hadn't met with her on that day."

Asher's brows furrowed as he shot a quick glance at me. "That is weird." He mumbled. "Did you find out where she was really going?"

Victoria shook her head. "No. I didn't really look into it. I didn't want to. I'm…" She hesitated. "I was too exhausted to look into anything."

"Did something else happen while I was gone?" I asked, once again feeling worried. She shook her head. "Nothing in particular," She replied after a moment. "It's just exhausting to be here. I… I just miss stuff from home."

Asher avoided meeting her gaze while I tried to find something to say. 

"Anyways," She said with a sigh. "Thank you for telling me what really happened. I… the inconsistencies had been on my mind for a while now. This clears up a lot."

I raised my brows in surprise. "Does that mean you believe me?"

Victoria nodded. "Of course." She showed me a weak but determined smile. "Joshua as always been the sly, untrustworthy one. I'm not surprised that he did something but attempting to kill you is crossing the line. By a lot."

I chuckled. "I guess that's one way to put it." I glanced at Asher. "But we didn't call you here just to tell you what happened. I need you to do something for me."

Victoria raised her brows. "Oh? I'm listening."