I noticed Hygeia's presence, or more accurately the Hygeia of this place, when I was travelling out of the forest. I suspected that when I used the Spirit Magic of Life; she got alerted and searched for the one trying to use her powers. Then it must have been quite shocking to her, when she found out about the contract between us due to her mana signature or something… though I was susceptible to it too.
Using the contract, I tried to pinpoint her location and it was amusing that I found her exactly at a distance away from me. Before, if I had my suspicions that the increase of life spirit energy was due to her, now I was more than sure that it was exactly because of her presence.
"Well… to be honest, I am not from this world… maybe I am, but not from this timeline," I spoke as I ran, following the life traces that Zuriel had left in her trail. With the help of Hygeia, I could more or less see the life forces of everyone around me, but that would require exceptionally precise concentration.
"What do you mean by that?" Hygeia asked, a bit puzzled about my words and I pondered over a bit before speaking,"do you think that a mana contract with a spirit works irrespective of the timeline? Like if you made a contract with me in the future and then I come back in time where you haven't formed the contract with me, will the contract still work?"
She looked at me as she sat on one of my shoulders after shrinking her body to that of about my head and then spoke with a pondering expression, "under normal condition that would be absurd… but I guess… looking at you it can't be completely impossible…" and then her eyes became wide open with shock as she looked at me again before speaking,
"Wait! Doesn't that mean that you are from the future?"
"Duh! Isn't that what I am trying to tell you?" I spoke with a slightly annoyed expression. Is she a kid or something? Oh wait, she is! Well…. Sorry, I tried explaining things to you…
I look at her with pity filled eyes before turning back to the trail and she narrows her eyes at me before biting my ear…
"Ow!" It didn't really hurt, but it pricked a little as I questioned her,"hey! What are you doing?"
"I didn't like the way you looked at me, that's all," she answered with a little hump and I could only shake my head a little as I continued to move forward.
"You came here 4 days ago, didn't you?" Hygeia asks me as she looks at me with a curious smile on her face. I answered without turning to her,"yeah." and she nodded as she explained,
"A few days ago, all of a sudden a contract appeared in my soul and I was quite flabbergasted by it. It was really irritating and scary at the same time."
"It was? Is it really that big of a deal? This contract thing I mean," I asked, a bit confused, and she nodded before speaking,"for a spirit, a contract means a lot of things. It means you are sharing a part of your life force with that person. It means that you are giving someone a chance to be able to kill you, or maybe even more. It is a sign of trust and soul exchange… it means a lot more to the spirits than to those whom it is shared with typically.
That is why I was confused why suddenly I had a contract with someone, much less a human so weak as you." While speaking, she did not conceal any of her thoughts… Maybe this contract and the reason behind it cleared most of her doubts and made her trust me… well, it does make things easy for me, too.
"Can you tell me why my future self formed a contract with you?" She asked curiously, and I pondered over it a bit before speaking,"You do know about the Royal Dragon of Fire, don't you? So... I saved you from him... More like… both you and I were on the brink of death and then, out of nowhere you formed a spirit contract with me and well… I kind of used a bit of my life force along with your powers to slay that dragon."
She looked at me with a really firm expression as she spoke,"but it can't be true," and I looked at her with a question-filled expression as I asked,"why is that so?"
"Because the dragons have signed a contract with the spirits that they won't harm any of us unless we harm them and I being a life spirit, I don't think I can harm anyone let alone a dragon," She spoke in a really perplexed tone and I sighed before muttering out in a low voice,"maybe it was them…"
"Who?" she questions.
"No one, or rather it is not something you should focus on, I will make sure it won't happen, anyway so no point in worrying about things that are not going to happen," I spoke and she looked at me with a deep gaze before she asked,"what happened… what is going to happen in the future?"
I close my eyes a little before muttering slowly,"the spirit world will die in the future," before increasing my speed even more. My eyes get locked at the front as I run faster than before, using any extra energy I can muster, and I finally see the shadow of Nyx travelling at a fast speed ahead.
'Doesn't look like she has noticed me,' I thought as I kept running behind her. Well, at least I figured out a few things about this place… this planet, I mean.
'The past of Planet Vermillion, huh?' I thought as I kept following Nyx with a bit of distance between us. While Hygeia was shell shocked by my words, it looked like she had a thousand questions on her mind, but she was too scared to ask them.
"It's okay. I will save all of you. I promise," I spoke as I looked at her with a bright smile and she just stared at me before she puts her head down and then asks again,
"So… is that, saving the spirits, related to you coming back to the past here?"
And I ponder a little before speaking,"no it is not. It is just a coincidence, our meeting, I mean. I am here for something else, though it is related to saving the future in a way… so I guess you can say that I am here to save the spirits, too."
"There is one thing I want to ask," she asks as she narrowed her eyes at me before speaking,"what was our relation in the future and also… in the future do I survive or die?"
'That's two questions… well whatever,' I thought before speaking,"Our relationship wasn't that great, but it wasn't that bad either… You hated me whenever I used my other powers but still helped me whenever you could. About you surviving or not… from the timeline I came to, you were pretty healthy, to say the least."
She sighs a breath of relief as she then looks at me before speaking,"All right… since you are going to save the spirit world, I will help you out on your journey here… not like I have much to do in the forest."
'Eh? That's… good I suppose.. But…' I then looked at her with a really awkward look as I asked,"I mean I am grateful you will help me… but still, are you really sure you want to do this?"
She smiles at me before speaking,"Frankly… Do you want to know the truth?"
I look at her before asking,"who doesn't want to?" and she observes me before sighing as she speaks,"I want to know about my contract holder. I want to know the reason why I made a contract with you… while spirits have their own place to manage… choosing a contract is way more significant than that. I just want to know more about you… I want to see what kind of a person you are."
I looked at her with an understanding look before smiling at her as I answered,"sure. Take your time."
Though all of a sudden she recalls something before speaking"hey! Wait a sec! What do you mean by other powers?" as I smiled at her before asking slyly,"are you sure you wanna know?"
She glares at me before speaking,"obviously I am… I want to know. I don't sense much power from you, but from the way you are speaking, it doesn't look like you are talking about that small amount of power, are you?"
I smile at her as I speak,"sure, as you wish," and then I look at the front before my eyes begin turning slightly purple.
"Blood Sacrifice: Zeroth Moon."
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m