Interconnected: Spliced Souls

“Do you remember what we discussed, Lady Srassa?”  

“I do.”  

“Remember your manners?”  

“Yes.”  

“Are you nervous?”  

“…”   

Srassa Flynn looked at her reflection in the mirror as her faithful butler handled her hair and makeup. In just fifteen minutes, she would have an audience with King Lando concerning her friends’ eligibility to attend the Lando Founding Festival Ball.   

The noble had to wait a few days after being teleported here by one of the king’s personal mages. He had been unexpectedly busy as of late and profusely sent apologies and freshly baked sweets daily to the guest room he lent Srassa. But Srassa didn’t mind it. By her estimate, her friends would just be reaching Waveret within the day. If they got a late start, and she expected Ms. Momo to oversleep, they’d arrive too late to make it before the gate went down. That would add an extra day. With a week to return, they had nine days.   

Srassa would return before then. Perhaps she could welcome them back with Ms. Claire, Ms. Dineria, and Ms. Nimyra?   

I’d still have to wait in either case. I hope they’re having fun… I can’t wait to see them again…  

“I desperately want this, Jony. I don’t want to mess up.” Srassa frowned.  

“The king is an understanding man,” replied the butler, his voice still soft and sweet.  It’d always been like that since she could remember. “Do not ask how I know, but he has already agreed. Consider this training from your father. You know combat, but you have little experience exchanging words with a man who isn't your father or myself." 

“…” Srassa didn’t reply. She predicted this would probably happen. Her life…as a single woman was coming to an end. It’d probably happen sooner than later. Her debut at the ball would be sure to turn heads and eyes. Just how long would it be before she had a marriage offer?  

A week?  

A month?  

I’ll have to stay here… Ms. Momo… Servy… I…don’t want…to leave you…  

The heartbroken noble felt emotional and wanted to cry. Srassa yearned to grab her favorite stuffed animal she had brought with her and hug it tightly against her chest because it smelled like Ms. Momo. She did have Victory and Flamewand. Servy told her to keep them because they were gifts, and they were resting on the nightstand near her bed, inside a safe Jony had prepared for her.   

“Be strong, my lady.” Jony performed the finishing touches and asked her to stand. While Srassa preferred her casual outfit—the one she wore to the party at Ms. Nimyra’s apartment-- this dress suited her well.   

It was resplendence elegance—the perfect emerald hue to match her beautiful eyes. She touched the lace around her neck and looked at her cascading hair, which rested delicately across her shoulders like golden honey.  

Anyone who saw her would claim Srassa to be a woman of quiet confidence.   

Srassa was anything but that. She probably knew it, but she depended on Ms. Momo and Servy. Her heart hurt when she was away. These last few days had been hard on her. It took all her willpower to not give in to the urge and touch herself throughout the night while reminiscing about her best friends’ fingers, tongues, and penis.  

“Beautiful… Absolutely gorgeous…” Jony showed a soft smile. Srassa thanked him. Suddenly, she hugged him out of nowhere. The butler expected this. After all, he’d been with her for most of her life. He knew her better than she did. So he was aware that she needed a little boost to her confidence, and the words came out as naturally as if he had rehearsed them for this moment.    

He waited until her heart had calmed, then escorted his lady to the throne room, where the mighty King Lando waited. He was elderly—much more so than Emperor Keywater. The king had wrinkles and liver spots hidden by makeup, and the court knew his auburn hair had been tinged to make it more youthful.  Even his crown had alterations. It wasn’t the same one the first king had made when the country was founded.   

“It is regrettable that so much had been piled on my plate on the 11th hour. I hope your patience isn’t running thin, Lady Srassa,” said the king. His voice was genuine.   

But that was it.   

A dark, cruel fear was hidden behind those friendly eyes. The king hadn’t truly been independent since that…event. He was still paying for his men’s foolishness a decade later. King Lando felt like a failure for giving up so much of his individuality to those…hawks.   

But their claws were in too deep. He couldn’t extract them without causing the destruction of the kingdom through a bloody, violent civil war, so the king had little choice but to ride this out.   

Until then, however, he wanted to help the noble standing before him—the one with her hands crossed over her stomach with a bowing head—the one who asked permission for her commoner friends to attend the kingdom’s most important ball.   

The king wanted to support his people. He had failed as a ruler, but as a person? He still desired proof that his heart was as just as the founder of this great nation. 

---

The meeting didn’t take fifteen minutes. Srassa was back in her room before she knew it, wiping off a pound of unneeded fear from her furrowed brow before immediately leaping onto her bed. She grabbed her favorite plushie and rolled around, giggling. Her mind was filled with picturing just how romantic the ball would be. She’d dance hand in hand with two of her closest, bestest friends! 

“Erm… Lady Srassa?” Jony coughed. “I understand your happiness, but please be mindful of your attire… If you’re to do that, I recommend changing into something more comfortable.”  

Srassa wasn’t embarrassed. She didn’t think she had anything to worry about if Jony somehow caught a peek here or there. However, he was right in that it wasn’t ladylike.     

Even a gentle scolding like this… After I’m married off, I won’t…ever…  

Just like that, the negative emotions returned. Srassa conquered them with a shake of her head and walked to the changing curtain, where she undressed and changed into something more relaxing. It wasn’t like she could venture into the town. Not without her father and suitable preparations.   

It was dangerous for her to walk around, but her room offered an obstructed gaze of Lando’s Nail. It stretched high in the clouds… And it was sparkly white. No matter how dirty it got, any filth was erased by the gentlest summer storm. Her father would be in his office on the top floor at this time of day. He was a man of finer detail. Nothing escaped his piercing gaze.    

“Jony?” Srassa walked to the window and placed a hand on it. “Will…I ever go to the labyrinth? Will…I ever have any freedom?”  

“You are free—”  

“No. I mean…” Srassa turned around. Being showed the greatest freedoms before having them so cruelly taken away…  

Nothing was more painful than being sent to the gilded cage.    

“After I’ve married. After I’ve had children. After I’m a grandmother… Please… How much longer do I have?”  

“I cannot answer that, my lady. Please don’t talk like this. A woman as beautiful as you does not need to sour her face with that expression.”  

Beautiful? It’s always been that word… Beautiful… Gorgeous… Breathtaking… Ten years of training…hard work… determination… It’ll be thrown away to become a status symbol…to a man I won’t love.  

Srassa found it hard to speak. The strength left her hand, and her fingers slid down the window until they dangled by her side. For a moment, she imagined a different scene—one of a bird inside a cage. Even if it was big, a cage was a cage. A cage cladded in gold and silver was still a symbol of restricting freedom.   

And at the end of the day…  

That would be all…she would be…  

Jony saw the tears in the window’s reflection. He did what he could, but he knew his lady well enough to know she needed time alone. Her father wouldn’t finish his work for another three or four days. The return trip would be instant, and it wouldn’t be longer until he’d be blessed by Srassa's blooming smile. 

---

“I trust you’ve seen the report by the twins?” asked a man hidden from head to toe in solid black armor.    

“I have, Adam. A goddess? I’d never expected such a thing, but it makes sense. Only someone divine could withstand my mighty power,” replied a cloaked man wearing a mask. His long-sleeved shirt, black gloves, and abyssal-colored pants made him blend into the darkness of the abandoned shack. It was located just outside the capital.  His shoes were of different sizes and lengths. It was hard to gauge his physique under that oversized coat.    

The two were meeting at the stroke of midnight after the king had met with a certain someone.    

“I would’ve thought you’d lost your cool for failing to retrieve Myrokos’s soul. Consider me impressed at your mental fortitude to stand in the shadow of failure." 

“Our gracious emperor would have been upset, yet the girl was bound to encounter one regardless of her status as a goddess. Myrokos was weak. His body wouldn’t have endured anymore, and the soul we used to give him [Necromancy] was nearing its limit.”  

“True. Myrokos was scarred. And the research facility still has plenty of spares. Let’s not lose any more than we need to,” Adam replied.   

“I agree…”  

“Speak. Out with it. What do you have in mind.”  

“Our completed Jewel isn’t so refined. Tell me, Adam, what is our primary issue?”  

“It’s trivial for the facility to transfer a forbidden soul into a Jewel to produce a Skill Tablet on the [Forbidden Skill System], yet we haven’t created one that can naturally manifest theirs on the [Warden Skill System]. Wait, are…”  

“That’s correct, Adam. I surmise that ingesting a goddess’s blood will force a Skill Tablet to materialize. It may be twisted into that ‘Skill Phone,’ but the overall function should remain the same. If so, Itarr’s moniker as a Primordial Goddess must mean that she has once acted as an overseer of our world.”  

“The logic is there, Golden Reliquary. Yet what if the resulting phone is restricted to the [Forbidden Skill System]? That Jewel is our finest creation. You know how difficult it was to manufacture.”  

“There is no guarantee,” Golden Reliquary replied. “Ponder this. That Jewel is running out of time. It’s set to expire before next summer.”  

“Isn’t this risky?”  

Golden Reliquary nodded. “I’ve petitioned our emperor. He ordered me to act according to my discretion.”  

“I have no qualms about that. Our emperor cannot be disobeyed.”  

“Indeed. A man as great as him…” Golden Reliquary looked up at the ceiling and saw nothing. “He is everywhere with us. He is forever around us… And we shall do his bidding. This is fate, you know.”  

“Fate? Ah, you mean the Jewel’s blood items?”  

“I’m glad you’ve been monitoring the Jewel closely.” Golden Reliquary grinned an animalistic smile underneath his mask. “It cannot be anything but fate for the goddess to have delivered the key to us, but let us practice patience, yes? We do not know if blood from the crystal constructs will react as blood from Servi’s body. We have reports of Puppet Master—Albert-- cooking on a blood crystal pan, yet Momo didn’t undergo any alteration.”  

“Perhaps it wasn’t enough?”  

“I concur. I surmise we need to crush the crystal items into a fine powder. If my calculations are correct, it can force a revenant to regain their prior ego without delay.”  

“And what about liquidizing it? Do you think there’s a difference if one eats rather than drinks it?”  

“There could be,” replied Golden Reliquary. “Much testing will have to be done. If it does work, we shall have a way to produce immortal soldiers.”   

“Immortality… Dreams that are no longer in the realms of fantasy… Recall what Harold Flynn told his daughter a few hours ago. You’ll have to act before they depart for Canary in the morning.” Adam grinned, nodded, and vanished in a puff of smoke.    

Golden worms crawled from the ground and encircled Golden Reliquary, bringing him to a conversation with two necromancers on the outskirts of Arcton. He told them what they wanted to hear—if nothing else, to make them partially aware of a few things to help figure out the depths of Itarr’s influence on the [Forbidden Skill System], then departed. His latest destination brought him to a secret entrance near the castle’s hidden dock.   

The security was laughable. It was easy to sleuth to the third-floor guest hall and pick the door belonging to the most important Jewel the facility had ever created.    

He calmly approached the bed and stared at the sleeping Jewel. That stuffed animal it loved so much was tightly held to its chest.  

“Servy… Ms. Momo…” The Jewel spoke in its sleep. Golden Reliquary looked at the nightstand and found the safe. His glowing worms delved deep into the tiny gaps and dissolved the internal mechanisms.    

He looked at the Jewel and felt shame. Hundreds of years' worth of combat-related memories had been stuffed into its mind during construction. Yet it hadn’t adjusted to its full potential. If it had, it would’ve rolled out of bed and attacked the moment Golden Reliquary set foot inside the room.   

Golden Reliquary was every bit its superior. Perhaps it wouldn’t if it had more time to grow and nurture. A goddess's blood may have been the key to extending a Jewel's lifespan. That would solve the gravest flaw.    

If it did, that was great. If it didn’t?   

Failure was part of the learning process. Time was on their emperor’s side. A thousand failures were worth one success.    

He grabbed the flute and wand the Jewel loved so much and retrieved a matching safe from a pouch enchanted with a storage spell. It held more than it should have, given its small stature. Golden Reliquary slowly reversed his steps, relocked the door, and returned the way he came, knowing well that the guards had been indisposed. He thought of one potential concern that he quickly shook off, though.  

Would Servi realize what happened when the facility crushed the blood crystals into dust? Was there a limit to its range?  

Would she care? The items weren’t enchanted with anything special—just weak skills learnable by anyone. Golden Reliquary didn’t think the effort or risk to recover them would be worth it, and he doubted Servi would think someone intended to use them as the facility planned to.   

Regardless, she was busy running back to Arcton after the Celestial Sentinel had teleported her miles away into the sky. Then she’d have to fight tooth and nail to save Momo from the Kaisaku Syndicate harboring within the Arcton Mountain Range. Those had to take precedence over whatever happened here.   

Golden Reliquary knew those ‘grenades’ Servi had made needed to be dissolved and returned to her body for the skill enchantments to be available. He believed breaking a blood crystal differed from whatever Servi did.   

In either case, his task was complete. He had nothing else to do except return to the Silver Monument, hand the crystal items to the researchers, and resume his post.    

---

During her time here, Srassa had a ritual. She’d wake up, take a bath the king’s most trusted maids had drawn for her, and enjoy breakfast on the balcony overlooking Lando’s Nail. She was only permitted to be there before the 9th bell had rung-- she had to go inside after that-- but Srassa loved looking at proof of her father’s successes. Obviously, she had her favorite plushie, and she was prone to having the wand and flute join her in the tub.  

Srassa didn’t have her armor, so Servy’s precious gifts rested in a specifically designed pouch Jony had sewed for her when they weren’t in the safe.  

But this day wasn’t like any other. Last night, Srassa’s father had told her they would depart the following day—this morning—and the giddy girl couldn’t sleep. She had tried to. But the excitement was too much, and she awoke long before dawn. Just thinking about the fun… Oh, the daydreams were too much! Srassa could already see the fun.   

They’d have to go shopping for dresses with their mother. Maybe she and her friends could coordinate colors like they did with the kitty cat pajamas? But what kind of makeup would suit Servy? She was fierce, so maybe something bold? Ms. Momo was adorable, so something cute would fit her. And their hair? And their shoes? And accessories?  

Srassa wanted to plan the perfect day! And her mother could get in on the action. A mother-daughter-best friend date would cement what would definitely be a core memory.    

And this day... It would forever live in infamy as a turning point for the world.  

Srassa opened the safe as she had done so many times before…and it was empty. The sharp moon flowing from the window illuminated nothing when it should’ve reflected two pristine, crystalline items crafted from reddened rubies.    

Her heart dropped into her stomach. The breath she wanted to use to scream was lodged in her throat, but Srassa forced it out.  

“Lady Srassa?! What is it? What’s wrong?!” Jony barged into the room, dropping the breakfast platter he held—he knew the excitement would wake her early, so he had her morning meal already prepared even while dawn was hours away. No one knew his lady more than him. Syrup, eggs, sausage, bread, and fruit dirtied the spotless floor.    

“They’re gone!!! Jony, Servy’s gifts are… They’re gone!!!!” Srassa exclaimed. She turned the safe upside down and shook it, but nothing happened.   

“Guards! Fetch the guards! We have an intruder!” Jony barked orders after running into the hallway, gaining the attention of two late-night butlers. They ran and spread the word, and the castle went on lockdown. In minutes, dozens of soldiers were stationed at every corridor.    

The poor noble was heartbroken. Jony was a master at cheering her up, but Srassa couldn’t crack a smile. She kept saying Servy would hate her for losing something so precious.   

“Servy made the flute specifically for me, Father…” Srassa hugged her favorite plushie. Its body was soaked from her tears. Harold sat on the bed and hugged his daughter. He arrived as soon as possible, even ignoring a late-night meeting with a supplier that helped furnish the Nail’s most popular item shop. That businessman slept during the day, but not even he would adjust his schedule for Lando’s most influential man.    

“Lord Flynn,” Jony said after Harold had sung a lullaby for his panicking daughter. She recalled how he used to do this before she trained with the kobold and drifted to sleep, but he knew it wouldn’t be restful. “This is severe. An intruder made it here. I don’t know why they stole the safe’s content, but I surmise it must be a statement. Someone wants to tell us they can reach Lady Srassa.”  

“Your words are true.” Harold brushed his hands against Srassa’s hair, gently rubbing her head. “I have numerous enemies. Many would want to see me suffer. It comes with the job.” The bedroom was empty. Morning breakfast was still scattered across the floor.  

“Shall I organize your men?”  

“Only the ones we trust. Have them remain outside the door, but I want you here. Srassa will not leave your sight, Jony. Do not disappoint me.”  

“I know well what you’ve done for me, my lord. I will die to protect Lady Srassa.”  

“Good.” Harold stood and fixed his tie. He looked at his daughter and wondered what additional precautions he’d have to take. Could Harold allow Srassa to continue with Momo and Servi? He only permitted it because few people knew her parentage—and he wanted her to experience her dreams. Fighting, adventuring, questing… He wanted her to experience what most nobles lacked and actively encouraged her before she fulfilled her purpose.   

Harold wondered if the intruder’s targets were the items. Therefore, what if the goal was somehow related to Servi? “There must be more to Servi.” Harold walked to the door and grabbed the handle.  “I'll redouble our efforts in deducing her past.”  

“As you--" Jony couldn't finish his sentence because…the entire castle subtly shook.   

And it wasn’t an earthquake. Somewhere in the world…a goddess was manifesting herself on mortal ground, leaving proof of her incarnation on the planet at this very moment.  

And the visual evidence was there. Arcton was so far away, but it seemed like a pink sun was shining upon the city and the surrounding mountains.   

Almost…as if it was a signal or declaration…