"No, that, that can't be, the fragments I have are fragments of a late friend, she died only a while ago, this can't be possible." Reign said, prompting the soul to shake its barely existent head.
"Your friend has died, these fragments that you possess, they are the fragments of her majesty, not your friend, her soul has merely bonded and fused with the fragments over a long period of time, they have probably entered her soul when she was born, as they did with many beings in the universe."
"A being of such immense power as her Majesty is not a mere mortal, she is ever existent, never perishing, even after an enemy had done all of this in order to put an end to her and us, her faithful servants."
"The fragments you possess are a part of her majesty, and they are also present in the body of the person whose soul we are currently in, her majesty's soul fragments are present, but they will not show themselves until the person perishes, which is why we are here, silently waiting for the fragments to once again appear so that we may use the little power we have left to gather the fragments in order to make her majesty whole again."
Reign's mind shook from the revelation.
The fragments he had, which he believed were the fragments of Lieara's soul, were nothing else but the fragments of another being that had fused with it.
'I never sensed anything out of place in the fragments, the feeling they give off is the same as Lieara when she was alive.' Reign suddenly thought as Aethion nodded.
'But Liara, her soul is different, and yet, they are saying that the fragments are in her as well, but, how are the fragments in the pillar the exact same as Lieara's soul, but Liara's is different, that makes no sense, right?'
"Correct, you've done well to notice that so quickly, there is something that this one is not telling us, something important."
"Who is this being, 'her majesty' as you call her?"
"Much time has passed, and her name has been surely forgotten by the universe, the name of Alfrea, the light-bringer, the holiest of Saints, and the one we have devoted our entire lives to serve." The soul said, and just like he had mentioned since millions of years had passed, that name rang no bell to Aethion.
'Perhaps if Drayce was here, or Jack, they might know, after all, their teachers had lived for a long time, especially Drayce who has a god for a teacher.' Reign thought as he nodded to the soul.
He was certain that the soul was omitting some things, the difference between Lieara's soul, and Liara's soul was too large, not to mention that he only mentioned that the darkness they had found themselves in was made by someone, an enemy of the woman they called Alfrea.
Reign glanced at the soul and smirked inside, if the soul was not going to tell him everything, then it was fine for him to omit some things as well, right?
"The soul is chained after my friend died, a demon tried to take possession of her soul, I barely managed to save it, but I had to seal it, using the infernal chains the demon tried using to take it, so I can't give you the fragments, not because I don't want to, but because I simply can't." Reign said with a slight sadness in his voice.
"There is something, however, that you might be able to help me with, I am certain it has something to do with this place, and the fragments that you say are in Liara's soul, the girl in whose soul you are currently in." Reign said before starting to tell him about the planet they were at.
He told them the truth, mostly the truth, and noticed how the soul, as well as some that were nearby, had slightly shaken when Reign told them about the artifact that the demons were looking for, and how said that Liara was the key to finding it.
"That might very well be connected to her majesty, she had multiple artifacts before her untimely imprisonment, some of them were destroyed in the battle against that foul beast, while other artifacts were scattered around the universe, it wouldn't be surprising that one was here, the fragments of the soul might have chosen this girl because they sensed the artifact that was nearby."
"I am not yet certain how she might help with finding the artifact, they might want to kill her, use her soul to guide them to the artifact, it is viable, the fragments might immediately start sensing the artifact and going to it, and upon sensing the fragments, the artifact might awaken, but controlling it would be an entirely different story."
"Hmm, if they are below the Transcendent realm, I am certain that we can help you with gaining control of the artifact, actually, you might not need to do anything, merely go with the girl, she should be able to sense it by herself." Reign nodded at the soul before sighing.
"The vortex spinning, that was you guys, right?"
"Correct, we were trying to get the fragments."
"It does something to her, to the girl, she changes when you do that."
"Ah, yes, to utilize our power, we have to gain help from the pillar, from the fragments here, it is possible that the power that escapes from the vortex makes the fragments in her soul react, thus influencing her."
"Did, did anything bad happen, I would truly be sorry if that made the poor girl do something she regrets doing." The soul said with a heavy voice, to which Reign merely shook his head.
"No, it's just that her manner of speech changes, and she seems to be quite drawn to me, that is probably because she can sense the fragments that are with me."
"Ah, yes, of course, to her, you might seem as her copy, her other half, it is only natural that she would be drawn to you during that time, good, it is good that nothing bad happened."
'Yeah right, her other half, how many people start sleeping with their other half the same night they meet, this guy is lying through his teeth.'
"Agreed, there definitely is an attraction from Liara to you, which very well could be because of the fragments, but I think there is more to it."
'Yeah, don't forget, the first night we met, she was speaking and behaving the same as Lieara, there is no way that was a simple coincidence, and then there is the matter of these fragments here being the same as Lieara's soul back when she was alive, this guy is hiding more than we thought.'
"Perhaps the fragments were making Liara act more like the woman they serve, that … Alfrea."
'I wouldn't be surprised if that was so, but what kind of holiest of Saints would act like that?'
"One that isn't the holiest at all, that might just be a lie that this soul is telling us, he might be trying to lower our guard, you did good by telling him Lieara's soul is sealed up, chained by some demon, they won't be able to know whether or not you are being honest, and even if they do manage to check, we truly do have the fragments chained up right now."
Reign had to admit that Aethion's existence was truly something that helped him immensely. He truly wished that he could keep him forever, after all, he could converse with him and have a quick conversation, get an opinion, and also he was able to gain an army of souls and could interrogate the souls without lifting a finger because of Aethion.
His departure will truly affect Reign in the future, but of course, that would happen much later, only after Reign had already become a Transcendent or a Saint, perhaps not even then. At that time, Aethion's help would not be as large as now as he was a Transcendent in the past and his soul would heal itself each time Reign evolved, until reaching his previous level.
At that time, he would have to slowly improve the power of his soul, which would be much slower than the rate at which Reign can improve, so his help would be lesser and lesser after that, which meant that perhaps in the future, Reign wouldn't mind letting the old necromancer go as much as he would now.
'So, what do you propose, we continue this act and get their help until finding the artifact?'
"That seems to be the best thing to do right now, anything else will simply make them suspicious, just work with them for now, and be careful when finding that artifact, they might try to do something at that time."
'Yeah, the whole story of them waiting for Liara to die so that they can get the fragments was a bit weird too, they didn't say if they were doing that on purpose or were simply unable to do anything to her.'
"Probably the latter," Aethion said as he stared at the soul that was in front of Reign's fragment.
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