Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 94: The Sea of the Soul

Toren Daen

I slowly sat up, blinking warily. For some reason, I expected everything to hurt, aching with the pains of a dozen battles. Yet instead, I felt light as a feather. Lighter, even. I couldn't remember when the last time I'd felt so... unweighted was.

I slowly rose to my feet, turning around to observe my surroundings. I exhaled, my eyes widening at the sight that greeted me. I was standing atop a reflective lake, the water as still as time. Somehow, I was able to stand on the water without sinking in. Each of my movements, however, created tiny, wavelike ripples across the surface of the water.

At the edge of the water was a massive sun, peeking above the lake like a cautious child. It cast the sky in a collage of purples and oranges.

Is that Dusk, I thought absently, Or Dawn?

I remembered this place. It echoed back to that strange fever dream I'd experienced when Toren's soul merged with mine. I remembered what it had been like to course underneath this water as bits and pieces slowly filled themselves in. If I concentrated hard enough, I could remember the paintings, violin, and various items that made me me.

Except Toren hadn't really been apart from me in the first place, had he? We were two sides of the same coin, reflected across dimensions.

Twin souls.

I looked down at the water below me. For all that I could tell, it was simply reflective glass. There was no way to see underneath.

I drew a hand over my face, feeling a calm from the sensation. My mirror self looked strangely unworried by this experience. My emotions felt somewhat distant; like I was watching someone else control my body.

I turned my back on the sun, the warmth lighting up my spine. Where one side of this lake was covered in clouds and sky, the other faded to utter blackness. Where the lake ended, an infinite expanse of darkness stretched further than I could fathom.

But there was someone sitting on the edge of the lake, staring out into that void. I felt my feet carrying me, an undefinable purpose pulling me toward the waiting young man.

The person had short, scruffy brown hair. Their body was toned from hours upon hours of rigorous training, a veritable statement of their skill. Their features were sharp, and though I couldn't see their face, I knew that eyes of hazel stared out. The young man was slouched slightly, something that drew a curve to my lips.

"I always told you that slouching like that was bad for your image," I said lightly. "It seems you still haven't changed."

The young man turned slightly, looking up at me with a raised brow. "And I always told you that presenting yourself like that was an empty gesture," he said. "It's pointless to posture."

I stopped a few feet from the young man, looking at the reflectionless black beyond us.

"Not going to argue, Toren?" he asked, eliciting a chuckle from me.

"We both know I'll lose any verbal spar we have," I replied with an amiable grin. "You were always the better logician. Even if I'm right."

"You want to try this?" the young man asked. "I'll give you half a dozen reasons why I should be allowed to slouch."

I scoffed. "Not falling for that this time," I said. The only way to win that kind of game was not to play.

"Your loss," the young man said, turning back to the void.

I slowly sat down, easing over the water. Miraculously, my pants didn't get damp at all as I settled, letting my legs dangle over the edge of the lake. At this point, it became a waterfall stretching down into the abyss. I squinted, leaning forward and trying to see if there was ever an end to the flow.