The Soul Keeper

Lucius took a deep breath and glanced at Asher. The blonde sorcerer nodded. "Kai, do you mind coming here?" He said as he walked into the woods. 

"What's going on?" I asked as I followed him and Lucius into the woods. Soon, we arrived at a small opening. "Guys?" I insisted. Today wasn't a good day to be all mysterious. I didn't have the patience or energy to deal with it.

"What are you doing here?" Asher said, slowly.

I raised my eyebrows. Something about the way he spoke sounded weird to me. Foreign. Like his pronunciation was a bit off.

"What do you mean? You asked me to come!" What the hell was he trying to accomplish?

"Oh, by the M-" Lucius stopped himself at the last second. "Asher, how the hell is that even possible?" His face went pale as he spoke. Wide eyed, he looked at Asher. "He doesn't even-"

"Kai, can you repeat what you just said?" Asher asked. That weird pronunciation was gone. 

"I said, what do you mean? You asked me to come." I pressed every word as I glared at him. "Care to explain?" 

The blonde sorcerer's shoulders dropped. "How on earth…?" He mumbled before taking a deep breath. I made a vague motion with my hands, urging him to try. 

"The first time I told you something, I didn't speak in English." Asher glanced at the pale faced Lucius. "I spoke in Demonic."

I looked at him. Blinked. Then finally spoke. "You what?" 

"And you answered in perfect, fluent Demonic." 

"Wait, no-" I tried to protest, but my thoughts were interrupted by Lucius.

"You spoke Demonic with that demon too." The young swordsman said. "We had no clue as to what you two were talking about. Even Asher couldn't make out the words." 

"But I don't know demonic!" I cried out. "How can I?"

"If it wasn't for Lucius' existence, I'd have deemed you a demon and a native of this world and killed you on the spot." Asher's cold words sent a shiver down my spine. "But since he knew you from before we all got trapped in this game, he is proof that you are, indeed, a human." He narrowed his eyes. "And that begs the question; how can you speak Demonic so fluently that you don't even notice when you switch languages?"

I wanted to shout – tell him that he was wrong. 

"Kai, what's written here?" He raised his hand. Light converged in his palm, then continued to form shapes in the air.

"I will return, one day." I read the text out loud. "Or perhaps I should say, someone will take my place, as the Keeper of Souls." I paused and glanced at Asher. "What's this?"

"Kai, that's not English." Lucius said. "It's not even the same alphabet!" 

"It does look more like kanji – the writing system the Japanese and Chinese use, though it works somewhat differently." Asher added. He shot the text floating in the air a glance.

"I don't understand." I stepped back and shook my head. How was that another alphabet? How was I speaking in Demonic? How could I not notice any of that? How could I miss such an important, obvious fact? "How?" I looked at Asher and Lucius wide eyed. I still couldn't believe it.

"I don't know," Asher said, shaking his head. "I knew you could read Demonic text, but I hadn't realised you had no idea." 

"Wait – I did that before?" My eyes widened as a faint memory scratched the back of my mind. 

"Uh, in the castle where we got the primal core of wind." Lucius explained as I replayed the memory in my mind. "The text on the door to the library was in Demonic. I even commented on it." Asher added. I furrowed my brows. Was it really?

"I… don't remember." I whispered. My eyes wide, I looked at them. "I remember the door, I remember reading the text and I remember you telling me something, but that's all I can remember."

"What?" Lucius asked in shock. "What do you mean?" I shook my head, not even sure of how to explain. I forced myself to remember every other time I had read something out loud. I held my head with my hands as nothing came to mind.

"Kai." Asher's voice sounded. I felt his hand on my shoulder. "First of all, calm down." 

"How can I stay calm?" I asked, stepping away from him. "How can you stay calm?" I asked, wide eyed. My hands were shivering.

"Kai-"

"I can't remember, Asher!" I shouted. "I can't remember even though it's such an important detail!" I stared at my hands. "What if there are other things I don't remember?" 

Asher stopped – had he not thought of that? 

"What's the blank in your memory like?" Lucius finally spoke again. I leaned my back on a nearby tree and slid down. I didn't think my legs could carry me for much longer anyways.

"I hadn't even noticed it until you mentioned it. Whatever Asher said to me about the text not being in English is gone. I remember him telling me something, but I've got no idea of what it is." I stared at my shaking hands. How could I forget? What was happening to me?

"Ok." Asher took a deep breath, presumably to calm himself. "I want you to look at this writing again." He gestured towards the text still floating in the air. "Don't read it – just follow the lines, force your mind to see the symbols, not their meaning."

It didn't take me long to realise what was going on. "Do you – no, let's see if it will work." I mumbled. I took a deep breath and looked at the text.

'I will return, one day. Or perhaps I should say, someone will take my place, as the Keeper of Souls.'

No, I forced myself to focus on the words, to see the symbols that represent these ideas and concepts. Why was my vision so blurry? The more I tried to look at the text, the more difficult it became to see clearly. Everything else, I could see perfectly but the symbols that spelled those words, I simply couldn't see.

"It's a blur." I said after a while. "I can't see it."

I could feel the air grow heavier as both Lucius and Asher stood there, stunned. 

"I know what you're thinking." I said, taking a deep breath. "Something is actively and constantly manipulating my memory and senses." I turned my gaze on Asher, who avoided meeting it. "That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"

He nodded. "This may all be pointless," He said with a sigh. He glanced at Lucius, who had come to my side. I felt the young man's hand on my shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked, glaring at Asher. I pushed his hand aside and forced myself to get up.

"There is a good chance I will forget all about this as well," I glared at Asher. "That's what you mean, isn't it?"

The blonde sorcerer bit his lower lip. "Yeah." He looked away, at the now dark sky. "And I don't know how to fix any of this." He clenched his fist. 

"There has to be a way to get rid of whatever's effecting his mind!" Lucius shouted. His glare jumped between me and Asher. "You aren't giving up, are you?" I could hear the anger in his voice. 

"No." I shook my head. "But my memory can't be trusted anymore." I looked at my hands. "Who knows how much I've forgotten already. Vixia and Delthur may have told me many things that I don't remember anymore." I took a deep breath. My memory being unreliable wasn't entirely new – I was already having trouble keeping all the souls' memories in check. But this – this felt wrong in so many different levels.

"We need to find out who did this." Asher opened his interface. "I doubt it's the demons," He mumbled as he took a notebook from his inventory. "The prime suspect is Divine Matriarch Aelith."

I hesitated while Lucius nodded. "That makes sense." The young swordsman seemed to agree with Asher. "She is trying to constantly keep tabs on Kai after all."

No, that didn't feel right. Aelith was surprised to see me the first time we'd met. "Who else could it be?" I asked after a moment's hesitation. I couldn't rule the possibility that Aelith was responsible out, of course, but if there were any other suspects, I'd rather focus on them.

Asher hesitated a while. "Well," He made a few meaningless gestures. "I don't know." His shoulder dropped in resignation.

Lucius sighed and massaged his temples while just breathed a sigh. There was too much we didn't know. I felt like several different forces were forcing me to play to their tune as I struggles to stay sane.

"Asher, Lucius." I said finally. "Let's head to sleep. I… I'll think of something by tomorrow, I'm sure."

The blonde sorcerer nodded, though I could see the hesitation in his eyes.

"I'll keep watch first." Lucius said. Asher nodded. "Then I'll keep watch for the second half of the night."

I opened my mouth to try and protest, but Lucius' deadly glare stopped me.

"You should rest, Kai. Today was hard on you."

I did as I was told because I understood. I had lost their trust in the span of a quarter of an hour, by no fault of my own.

I resigned myself to an uneasy sleep.