The Soul Keeper

I drew a sharp breath as the purple coloured flame flickered in my palm.

"You broke a seal I had placed on you when you fought for your life on the day you died." Fetheion's voice had no trace of his usual easy-going attitude. "I had done it to protect you, but perhaps it only stifled your growth and ultimately led to your death." 

I hesitated. "Wait," I mumbled as the flame slowly died down. "What do you mean by that?" What did this seal thing even mean?

"It's still partially there," He continued, without really answering any of my questions. "You haven't broken it completely…"

"Hey!" I raised my voice. "What do you mean? What seal? Explain!" 

He seemed startled for a moment. Was he really so lost in thought that he hadn't even heard me? Annoyed, I glared at him until he finally answered me.

"That body is that of a Demon's." He vaguely gestured towards me. "Your predecessor was a demon – not like the ones who are alive now, but an ancient one. That's why you don't have horns and that's why the sunlight hurts, even if a little."

I took a deep breath. Within, I was already aware of that. The moment I noticed how I looked like them, I had begun to accept that the body I was given was that of a demon. So, very few of what he said came as a surprise to me.

"What about the seal? What did you do?" I asked, deciding that seemed to be the most critical part.

He chuckled. "I cast a spell, to hide some of your own actions from yourself. Such as us, speaking in demonic for the last several minutes."

I flinched. "That was you?" I shouted, startling the wildlife around us. Birds few away at the sound of my voice as I glared at Fetheion. "Do you know how much trouble that caused me?"

He couldn't help but laugh while I glared at him. "Well," He said, still smiling. "I knew you'd be able to understand, speak and read demonic – no matter who entered that body, it was a given. In case it wasn't my friend who came out of Baile Chailce, I had to make sure that knowledge would go unnoticed."

I took a few deep breaths. His words made sense, but I was still annoyed. "Fine, undo that please." I said, trying to keep my annoyance at bay. 

"Sure," He said with a grin. "There's no need for it anymore anyways." He stepped closed and touched my forehead. 

"Now, does it feel any better?"

I flinched and stepped back. I understood every word he said, yet the sounds were foreign to me. 

"What?"

He tilted his head sideways. "Wrong language Kai." This time, he spoke properly. Wait, no.

"Hang on." I said, tilting my head. My brows furrowed. "What language are you speaking in?" His lips didn't match his words, did they?

"What do you mean?" A smile flashed across his lips. "The same one as you are."

I gritted my teeth. "This is your people's language!" I hissed. How had I not noticed this before? Even when I spoke with him, my lips didn't match the English words I was trying to pronounce. "

He nodded, that smile slowly widening until it became a huge grin. "That's not my doing though – Aelith and her servants did that." He raised his hand. "I could undo that as well, but then you'd be unable to understand any Ereth – none of us know English and you don't really know our language."

I hesitated. On one hand, I desperately wanted to get rid of anything affecting my cognition, on the other hand, being able to understand Ereth and their language was somewhat important. 

"Wait," I said as I thought occurred to me. "What about my predecessor? Didn't he know your language?"

Fetheion's smile shattered. "He did – through the soul of an Ereth who died during the war." He hesitated. "Your predecessor refused to speak in our language – he didn't want to stir the soul of that Ereth. I always appreciated that."

There was nothing I could say to that. 

"Anyways," And just like that, Fetheion was cheerful again. "Why don't you try speaking in demonic? It will feel unnatural and awkward at first, but you have to start sometime." He took a deep breath. 

"So, why don't we start now? Tell me something."

I hesitated. It felt so wrong – it sounded so wrong to hear those foreign sounds, while understanding everything he said.

"Why…" I stopped. "Why do you have that sword?" Hearing those foreign sounds in my own voice was even weirder than I thought it would be. 

"It's a good sword."

"It killed me!" I stopped. Demonic was weird. The language itself – the way it sounded – was beautiful but hearing myself speaking it was incredibly awkward. "Anyways," I switched back to English. Well, the Ereth language, but it sounded like English to me. 

"Can you please not use that? It killed me, and I don't like it."

Fetheion grinned. "That's why I'm using it. It's a powerful weapon, now infused with the blood of the Keeper of Souls. All it lacks is some curse to elevate its power to be equal with that of your scythe."

Hearing his words, I couldn't help but feel some anger. "I want that scythe back," I mumbled to myself. Fetheion chuckled. "You will get it back – all of it. Eventually." He glanced at the starry sky for a moment, before once again directing his attention to me. 

"Why don't you check that thing of yours?" He made a vague motion. I hesitated a moment, then understood what he meant. He was talking about the interface. "We call it an interface." I explained as I summoned the it.

"Ah." Of course, things had changed. "Why is it in demonic?" While it was surprisingly easy to read, it still bothered me a little.

"Before, it was Aelith's power that provided you with this… thing. Since I wanted to hide the fact that you're alive, I decided to sever the connection to her power and supplied it with my own. And a few other things', but those don't matter right now." Despite his dismissive voice, he had clearly put some thought into this. 

I accepted his words and decided to not pry anymore – for now at least. Instead, I looked over my status panel. I felt a bit better when I noticed my level had risen, but soon, my shoulders dropped.

'Kai Friseal – Level 99 Soul Keeper | Exp: 56980/130000 - - Souls 0/100 - - Mana: 2130

Fallen Grace Lv. 5 | Death's Scythe Lv. 5 | Dark Bolt Lv. 5 | Soul's Respite Lv. 5 | Keeper's Haven Lv.5 | Soul's Aspect Lv. 5 | Explorer | Crystal Sage

STR: 20 – CON: 11 – DEX: 100 – INT: 100 – WIS: 100'

"The souls are really gone, huh?" I asked after a while passed. I already knew it – I couldn't hear their whispers anymore; I could feel the cold in my chest, and I could sense their presence anymore. For this last month or so, I hadn't ever confused their memories with mine.

"She took them." Fetheion said after a few moments of silence. "I wish I could have stopped her, but I had to choose between them and you."

And thus, he had chosen me. I was grateful, I really was – but it hurt to think how much those souls could suffer in the hands of a Divine.

"I need them back." I said glancing at the crimson haired divine before me. "I have to get them back."

He didn't seem bothered and he didn't hesitate. He simply nodded. "I know – but you need to regain your old strength for that." He a faint smile appeared on his lips. "How about another match?"

I raised my brows. He had already proven how much stronger than me he was, and how much weaker I had become. Why did he want to spar with me again?

"This time though, it will be a battle of magic – not blades."

Ah. Of course. For some reason, the thought of testing my magic against his exited me. It was probably clear from my expression because he didn't even wait for an answer as he created a barrier around the grass covered opening. "Let's not burn the forest down, shall we?"

"Yeah," I said as we took our places across our little arena. "Rules?"

"You survive, you win." He grinned. 

My hands itched with anticipation as I nodded. I'd been curious about his strength since I had woken up. Just how powerful would one have to be to bring someone else back from death? 

As we stood there, silently, the wind blew our hair and tugged at our clothes.

"Oh, and one more thing, Kai." He said with a much more serious tone. "I told you before, but I feel the need to say it again: You need to learn to control your power. Not the power of 'The Soul Keeper' like it says in that little interface of yours, but the power of an ancient, several millennia old demon. The power your predecessor once wielded."