The Soul Keeper

"Ah." Was all I could say as understanding dawned on me. I narrowed my eyes and looked at her, from head to toe. "Hang on." I mumbled. "Laura?" I guessed on a whim.

Her eyes widened. "How the hell do you know my name?" She shouted, aiming the gun to my heart.

"I'm Kai. We, uh, talked on the phone. I kind of recognised your voice." I chuckled nervously. "Would you mind putting the gun down?"

"Kai?" She mumbled. Her gaze turned to Inspector John, then back at me. She lowered the barrel of the gun slightly. "Wait…" She mumbled in confusion.

Before I could attempt to explain anything, Inspector John suddenly reached up and forward, grabbed her wrists and twisted them, forcing her to drop the gun. Laura's immediate reaction to that was to kick the poor inspector in the crotch.

"Oi, stop!" I shouted, raising my voice with magic. I rushed ahead and positioned myself between Laura and the Inspector. "No kicking down there ever again!" I warned her, then glanced at the instructor who, in all honesty, was handling the unfortunate kick surprisingly well. "No attacking my friends either!" I said, glaring at him.

"…Understood." He grumbled before slowly walking towards the gun, picking it up and holstering it. 

"…Fine." Laura said with a sigh. She took a deep breath, then her expression changed. "You look different than I expected Kai." She said with a faint smile. "And you look a lot like that woman who burst into my room and basically teleported me here."

I nervously chuckled and fiddled with my hair. "Uh, let's put that aside for now-" I felt magic forming perhaps half a meter above our heads. "Get back!" I shouted as I grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A loud scream willed with terror sounded as another woman the same age as Laura appeared in the air, then fell on her back. "FUCK YOU!" She shouted as soon as she hit the ground.

Taken aback by her loud voice and the rather vulgar language, I couldn't find the words to speak.

"Hang on! Theresa?" Laura shouted.

"Oww, that hurt. Wait, Laura?!" 

I felt like a fish out of water as I tried to process that this loud, tall, and rather… unique girl with piercings and dyed hair was Theresa. The meek and shy Theresa that I knew was no more.

"Hi, Theresa." I said, forcing a smile. 

"Hi- WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" She shouted as soon as she glanced at me.

"That's Kai." Laura chuckled. "And language. Please." 

Theresa's eyes widened. "No way – that's Kai?" She leapt up on her feet, almost as if she didn't just fall on her back. "You do not look like I thought you would!" She chuckled.

"You have no right to say that!" I protested. Theresa chuckled and stuck out her tongue. My eyes widened. "What's with you and piercings!" I exclaimed.

"I like them!" She giggled, then turned to Laura. "But on to more serious matters. Kai, the woman who brought me here-"

"Looked just like me. I know." I sighed. If Mother kept this up, it was going to be impossible to keep everyone up to date. "I will explain everything, but for now, can we all just wait for a bit? You two are not the first to be sent here, and my gut feeling is telling me that you're not going to be the last either."

"That's for sure." Asher's voice sounded. I glanced towards the entrance of the hall, only to see him leaning his back on the wall. "Hey, you two," He waved with a mischievous smile. "I'm Asher, though since I was the only old guy in the group, I'm sure you already figured that out." 

"Was it the same person who brought you here too?" Theresa asked. Asher nodded, then took off his glasses and wiped them with a piece of cloth. "It's a long story, I think. And I don't think we're at the end of it." He glanced at me, then back at Theresa and Laura. "My gut is telling me that we'll soon see others arrive as well."

I furrowed my brows. "Lucius, Mona." I said. "I don't know about Vincent and Joshua, and I highly doubt we'll see Alina or Samantha here either." They either hadn't woken up or had lost their memories of the events that transpired if Inspector John was to be believed. 

"Alex and Rina too." Mumbled Asher. "And maybe even Victoria, thought that's a long shot I think."

I nodded. While Victoria was one of our allies, she was simply too close to Joshua for Mother's liking. I didn't think she would trust her one bit.

"I think we can safely assume that we won't be seeing Erik." Laura mumbled moments before another person appeared out of thin air, and fell on the ground. "Hello Mona." Laura continued with a flat voice – was she already used to all this?

Mona stared at the ceiling for a while. "Can I get a break? Please?" She mumbled, closing her eyes. "Alright..." She opened her eyes, pushed herself up, then glanced at Laura and Theresa. "If the two of you are here – and an agent from the UN – that means you are Asher." She glanced at Asher. "And that makes you Kai." She glared at me. 

"You're acting as if all of this is totally normal." I mumbled.

"She's insane." Asher whispered with a grin. "Good to see you Mona." He added after Mona glared at him. 

"I'm not insane, it's the world who's gone mad. Aelith's appearance, all the Ereth, the Divine Pillar…" She shook her head. "I almost expected something like a gathering like this to happen, though I'd like to know who brought us together like this." She glanced at me. "She looked just like you." She added.

I rolled my eyes. I was slowly getting sick of hearing that once sentence. "It's a long story that I'd rather tell once we know for sure no one else will come."

"AAAAAH NO!" Another shout sounded.

"Like that." I said with a sigh.