Interlude – Soul Realm
Death. Colette has seen it a lot in their earlier days, but lately, it felt as if she already forgot how it felt like. Then Hafiz died.
Why, Hafiz? Why do that for us? Colette asked. The heroes were gathered all in the main tree on Branchhold, in a special part. A really thick vine wrapped each of their bodies.
Hafiz was a glowing ball of light. A soul, and the space around them was filled with stars.
[Soul realm].
Colette rembered coming here once. Long ago- so long that she didnt even rember the ti. But this felt familiar. Stars. Flickers. Lights.
All the other souls. It felt bigger now. Wider. And she could see there were strands of light that illuminated the paths that went into other places. Worlds. Each seemingly a link. She struggled to make sense of the space, it felt like the space bent into itself.
Because what else is there to do? Hafiz said, Dont make it sound so noble. I already accepted that our lives in this world were just temporary, it was ti. It was damned ti.
You planned to do it? Prabu asked.
Yes. If it ever ca to sacrificing one of us, I decided it would be . I have the least to lose. I dont care about anything. Im losing the ability to care about anything at all. Hafiz said, his frustration palpable. Colette had never seen him so animated in years.
Colette looked across their magical-soul space. At Prabu. At Chung. She stopped, and then looked at Hafiz again.
Hafiz. How do you feel? As a soul?
Hafiz was quiet, his glowing soul hovered and moved a little. Only the five of them were here. Four heroes of Treeho, and one forr hero. Ken. Khefri was never that close to Hafiz. Adrian and Kelly were Mountainworld heroes and their relationship was fairly cordial. In the end, everyone went back to do their own thing.
Even Hafiz. He drifted away a bit. They would et up once every month or so, hed teleport over to Freshka or one of the suburban cities and theyd hang out. But the drift was there.
If there was doubt about the long term success of Kens League of Heroes, the lack of personal rapport was one of them.
Honestly, do you guys really want the answer? Hafiz asked.
Chung didnt say a thing.
Ken nodded. Yes.
Colette always thought it was just a sign of maturity. A sign of age. The weight of experience. They were aging, and she thought it was natural that they all began to quiet down. They were not young, and it would tone down their drive. Even Ken cald down over the years.
I feel light. The dead hero answered. I feel liberated. I feel like I suddenly can rember all the things that I wasnt supposed to.
Ken was the only one that nodded. For him, he always rembered.
I- I feel like I really want to see my family again. Hafiz said.
Will you? Colette asked. She tried to rember her own family, before all of this. But its been so long, and it felt hazy. She could rember snippets, but she forgot what her mothers voice was like.
I dont know. I could feel a power calling . One thats not Aeon. Its waiting for the ti. I can linger here, maybe a few months.
Six. Ken answered. Aeon said the waiting ti is six months from your death.
Colette tried to rember her parents. She could hardly rember. Stella once said she took up painting, in her earlier days in this world, to paint her own mories before they fade away. There was no photo here, and the only way she could preserve her mories was to draw them. Paint them.
She wished she did. She wished she commissioned soone to paint a portrait of her family when she could still find the words to describe them. Now, she wasnt sure she could even link the image if soone showed her a similar photo.
Prabu sounded confident when they spoke one night about this. That they would certainly know. But she felt from the depth of her guts that theyve already lost it.
Hafiz continued, Six months. I see. Then I mustve used up a month. How long has it been? The sense of ti in this place is- wonky.
One and a half. Ken answered.
I rember our lives back ho vividly. Images and things I thought I forgot, now clear to . Im afraid so of you will want to rember this. Rember the past.
Chung abruptly interjected. Ken. You knew this? Do you rember?
Yes. Colette wondered briefly whether Kens mory of tropes was vivid, because he didnt have the hero class trying to suppress his past. No, she was now sure its linked. Not just that, it even felt like Ken talked about this before.
But sohow it never stuck in her mind. As if-
As if-
As if-
The connection should have been clear. Yet what was she trying to link? She looked at Ken, and Hafizs floating soul.
Hafiz. Repeat it again.
Everything in the journal? Hafiz said. Its true.
Colette paused, and rembered her daughter. Unlike Khefri who bore many children with her toyboys, and ignored them afterward, she couldnt do that to Rohana. There was no one she could pass her to. No one she would pass her to.
Why? Why couldnt she think like Khefri?
Was a child made with half the blood of natives worth less? No. That shouldnt be the case. Was it because of pain? Suffering?
Rohana was hers. Her child. She was a mother. A mothers duty. Suffering. Sacrifice.
A mothers duty is first to her-
A heros duty is to slay the Demon King.
Colette felt her connection to the [Soul Realm] waver.
Demon Kings.
What- She whispered it, as if her mind was splitting apart. As if the words seem to lose aning. As if all was pointless.
Sacrifice? What sacrifice?
She raised her head, her spirit transported, Aeons bridge to the soul realm. She looked at Hafiz and she saw death, at Ken and she saw age, at Chung and she saw anger, at Prabu and she saw her new family.
What did she lose to get here?
Theyve done their share. Served their ti. Now that she wanted to look back, why did it seem like its so hard to rember things before all of this?
She looked at Ken.
He seed to be the only one actually getting what Hafiz was saying.
She felt jealous.
Envy.
She wanted to know, and she felt her soul cracking.
Spaizzer
DID YOU MISS MY PREVIOUS POST?
So yes. It's been three months, and now, it's ti for Book 2!
It's EDITED. I was told, TWICE! That should fix my clunky terrible grammar.
You can find the book here on Amazon KU (so it's FREE if you have a KU subscription)-
Here's the link /amazon/B0BZ168P68
Oh, and this is the COVER
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