Reincarnated - A Solitary Love

Chapter 10 (Part One) - Droplet of Truths

"I have a question."

Ah. Go on, go on...

The azure dragon lazily stretched his head. It was somewhat obvious that he, in his boundless wisdom,  enjoyed teaching.

His nest turned out to be a huge ravine into the side of a mountain. From the inside, it had the form of a droplet of water but the floor was more or less flat. The only entrance to it was a deep fracture into the mountain' slope, high high over our heads.

It was cozy and peaceful but not exactly warm... Spring here was different from what I was used to.

Days, months and years in this world are, also, slightly different from the ones on Earth. "Week" does not exist: days are simply numbered as first, second, third and so on. Months are called "astros" and last 29 days. They are inspired by the moon and her journey through the sky, thus the name "astro" which symbolizes the astral voyage of the planet. Seasons, for a reason or another, had the exact same names. Years were also pretty much the same, composed by twelve astros but slightly shorter due to the duration of the astros. Obviously, this system is working only in the nations which decided to adopt it, so it does not apply for every corner of the known world.

It feels kind of weird to call a month "astro" buuut the old bearded guy who theorized all this must have thought that it sounded cool and smart.... and so it came to be.

We also went into my backstory - better described as the past of the kid I was now - but all he said was a bunch of strange names for me to remember, that my home was no more and, finally,that I traveled a lot by myself... which wasn't much. At some point I'll have to search for that place... or add a bit of "creative interpretation". A lot of it.

"When I reached this body..." I pointed at myself. "....was there anyone else in here? Did I.....did I kill or kick out the owner?"

Yes and no. There was indeed a soul in your body while you were not here but it was a creation of mine. The being you call owner was not in there when you entered the body. What you released from the flesh was something very close to a fake soul...a robot, if that is easier for you."

"You...can create souls?" I asked.

Yes.

I scratched my head, looking around for something I had yet to figure out.

"....noted, I guess."

I felt his gaze upon me.

"What of the owner? Where is she? Is she dead?"

She is not dead.....not entirely. When I found her, her soul was so ruined that it could no longer live independently. As for where she is.....well, in a sense, she is here. She's chatting with me right now.

I looked at him and he looked at me.

It meant me. He was not joking, not lying....from what I could tell at least.

"Yeah....no. It's me who's talking to you. Not her. I've no idea what you're talking about."

He looked at me in awe for a while, then sighed.

I didn't initially have the intention of telling you...but there is really no point in silence. I took the freedom of melding her wounded soul into yours, she was not going to survive anyway.

Silence.

We kept staring at each other

You are not shaken.

"Because I don't believe you?"

Then take it as a joke if you wish, I have no proof at hand anyway.

"How am I supposed to believe such a thing? What am I, a bar of steel?

Again, he sighed.

It is useless to expl-

"Then use simpler terms! We are not talking about a sport's game but my goddamned soul. You can't drop it like that!"

My tone grew with the phrase and I ended up shouting. I didn't want to but it happened.

That tingling voice, more fitting to a bird than a human being, bounced on the walls around us creating a short-lived echo.

Bothered by the fact of sounding like a feathered rat and embarrassed by my overreaction, I looked away, a copious amount of hair jumping over my shoulder and falling on the edges of my eyes.

In a moment of distraction, while another silence separated me and him, I discovered the first actual use of hair...as partial hidey-hole.

I will but you calm down. Dragons have not the finest hearing but it's still not pleasant to be yelled at.

He moved around again, this time leaning on the wall. I wondered if that's how he reacted to an uncomfortable moment.

Imagine your soul as a gravitational point enclosed in a solid hollow sphere. Practically, it is the "You" on an immaterial level. That hollow sphere separates the Inside from the Outside, protecting it and granting the former its unity.

Now, when I found her, what I referred to as the "Inside" had basically lost meaning... or form, whatever suits your understanding the best.

Since I didn't want her to wither in such a cruel way, I searched for a soul somewhat similar to her in as many spectrums as possible, a certain male wandering in a city at night, and... modified, I'd say, you both into a symbiotic being. I've weakened a portion of your soul and I've accompanied hers on it. Now, a "selected" osmosis is happening.

You, my ex-little soul, and she are separate entities but, at the same time, "You" also exist.