Three golden threads spun from her blessed hand, guiding three psyches through the fading land.
With divine radiance weaving their path ahead, they departed the capital, wandering—wounded and wary—through days of dread.
Eventually, they came to a halt.
'We've been following these threads for days,' the boy grumbled, frustration saturating his voice.
'Don't worry. We're close now,' the girl replied gently, her tone laced with quiet assurance.
'But if it's taken this long, when we go back to our world, how much time will have passed?' he asked, eyes narrowing with concern.
'Don't worry,' she reiterated calmly. 'He said when we return, only a couple of seconds will have gone by.'
'Well, that's a relief,' the boy muttered, exhaling.
'Yeah, it is,' she said, smiling faintly. 'You know, over these past few days, you've gotten more comfortable talking with us.'
'Well, I don't feel shy around you anymore,' he admitted shyly. 'I was a bit afraid when we first met, but now I feel more at ease.'
At the front, Jin abruptly stopped, his form stiffening as if struck by an invisible presence.
'What is it?' the girl asked, her voice instantly sharpened with alertness.
'The souls are gathering,' Jin murmured, his words low and laden with foreboding.
They moved forward, senses alert, and perceived the souls—shimmering, ethereal shapes drifting through the dim expanse, clustering ominously around a larger one.
'These look like black fishs, like in the western sea,' the boy remarked, squinting at the spectral congregation.
'Black fish? Is that what you see?' the girl asked curiously, her gaze transfixed on the strange forms as she perceived something entirely different.
'How do you see them?' Jin inquired, intrigued by her perspective.
'Like beautiful, shining butterflies,' she whispered in awe.
'They glide through darkness in silent flight,
Their wings aglow with ethereal light.
Delicate flames in the endless night,
Dancing on air, too bright to touch,
Yet fragile as a dream's soft clutch.'
'Butterflies...' Jin echoed thoughtfully.
'And you?' she asked, turning toward him.
'Balls of light,' Jin answered, contemplative. 'Like lanterns floating through the sky.'
'So, we each see the world differently,' the girl mused aloud.
'That's why it's called the Unseen Realm.'
'I wonder why the souls are gathering together,' she said with a furrowed brow.
'Because of a stronger soul,' Jin replied solemnly.
He paused, his thoughts reaching back to the teachings inscribed on the ancient stone tablets of the Forbidden Land.
Not all human souls are equal. The larger the soul, the stronger its presence.
'How do they have size? Aren't they supposed to be formless?' he wondered inwardly.
Recalling her question, he added aloud, 'Weaker souls are drawn to stronger ones.'
'What exactly is a soul?' the boy asked, curiosity gleaming in his voice.
'It's… hard to explain,' Jin confessed, his tone uncertain.
'Let me try,' the girl volunteered. 'An Awakened is someone who has gained their soul, making them whole. They possess all three aspects of existence: soul, psyche, and body.'
She paused, then added, 'My grandfather explained it to me using an example from board games.'
'Board games? Like Hunter and Beast?' the boy asked, puzzled.
'Yes. Think of it like this: when you play Hunter and Beast, the character you control is the body, you yourself are the psyche, and the character chart you're playing on is the soul. Soul makes you who you are,' she said with conviction.
'Oh, I get it. That makes it simple.'
'What's a board game?' Jin mused silently, suppressing the impulse to question aloud.
But he did disagree with her final assertion. It's not the soul that makes someone—it's the psyche.
Still, there was no need to correct her.
After resting for a while in their untiring psyche forms, the boy grew restless and stepped forward.
'Let's see them up close,' he urged, eagerness rising.
Jin quickly extended a hand, halting him. 'Don't get too close,' he warned firmly, pointing toward the dense fog coiling around the spirits.
'Why not?' the boy asked with a frown.
'They're here too,' Jin said grimly.
The girl glanced at him, eyes narrowing. How is he able to sense things so far away in this state? she wondered—but her unguarded thoughts slipped through.
'Well, I suppose it's due to my mental training,' Jin replied with feigned casualness.
He was reluctant to reveal that he had received a cognitive boost from his future self.
Besides, they would forget everything soon enough—no point in revealing anything.
She was about to inquire further when Jin's gaze snapped toward the approaching shadows.
From the fog emerged the soul eaters—fish-like monstrosities with cavernous, gaping maws.
'Black fish!' the boy shouted, recoiling.
'What?! Red dragons!' the girl gasped, stunned.
'Butterflies… then red dragons? Is this girl crazy?' Jin thought, momentarily baffled.
The soul eaters descended on the gathered spirits with surgical precision, their jaws stretching impossibly wide as they devoured the wandering souls.
The ethereal entities, devoid of awareness or resistance, simply drifted into oblivion.
With every bite, the soul eaters grew more frenzied, tearing into the radiant shapes until their glow dimmed and vanished.
The silence was deafening—an eerie, voiceless carnage in the dead of night.
'Does this mean all those people are dead?!' the boy cried, his thoughts trembling with horror.
'No, they're not,' Jin replied coolly.
'Th-Then… what is death?' the girl asked softly.
Jin turned to her, eyes unreadable.
'That depends.'
'Depends on what?'
'Depends on who's dying.'
Jin looked back at the soul eaters, now bloated and floating.
'For the non-awakened, death is when their psyche dies. But for an Awakened, it's the separation of psyche from the soul. As for higher beings… I'm not sure if they even die. I'm no Child of Wisdom, nor one of the Seven Celestial Sages. So maybe I'm wrong.'
'So in a way… we're like the undead.'
'Undead? I don't think…' Jin began, then reconsidered. 'Maybe in a way, you're right.'
The feast ended. The soul eaters, their hunger sated, drifted back into the void.
A heavy silence fell over the trio.
'Hey, are you alright?' the girl asked softly, her eyes searching the boy's face.
'Uh… yeah, I'm alright,' he replied hesitantly.
This kid's psyche is strong, Jin thought. Most children would be broken by this. Even many adults would be.
But age meant nothing here. The strength of one's psyche determined resilience.
And the boy's psyche had that strength.
'He has quite the potential,' Jin acknowledged silently.
'It's alright. I… am not afraid. A hero doesn't fear something like this,' the boy muttered, almost to himself.
'Really? By the look of it, you're about to cry,' Jin teased, a wry grin tugging at his lips.
'Um… no, I'm not crying…' the boy murmured defensively.
'Hey, stop that,' the girl scolded, stepping between them.
The boy puffed up and marched in front of Jin.
'What's your name?' he demanded, defiance in his tone.
Jin regarded him flatly. 'There's no point in telling you that.'
He wasn't sure how close he should get to them. Attachments could only lead to complications.
'Fine,' the boy said sharply. 'My name is Ru, and I'm going to be a hero of justice.'
'Yeah, right,' Jin scoffed.
'Don't laugh at me! One day, I'll prove it. I'll make you call me a hero.'
'Oh, well then, I'll be waiting for that day,' Jin said with a smirk.
He's got potential—but I doubt that day will ever come, he thought.
'Don't think for a second he can't do it,' the girl said firmly. 'You'll see.'
Hearing her support, Ru chuckled softly.
'Hehe… I know you'll believe in me.'
***
Their journey continued, the passage of time marked by the soft rhythm of their steps.
After a day's travel, they reached the entrance of an ancient cave. Its weathered stone walls bore the scars of time.
Darkness loomed, clinging to the opening like a breathing entity. The air was thick with dread. Shadows danced like phantoms, and from deep within, an oppressive aura crept outward—the unmistakable stench of a Corrupt.
'W-What is this feeling I'm having?' the girl stammered, gripped by unease.
'Just as I thought,' Jin mused inwardly.
'Are you certain our souls are inside the cave?' he asked, his voice steady but his gaze wary.
'Yes, I'm sure,' she affirmed. 'My blessing led us here. I can feel our souls within.'
'But how could they all be together?' Jin wondered. It feels… planned.
In the Unseen Realm, souls scattered randomly. The chance of them being in one place—especially here—was minuscule.
Jin could feel it now. The unmistakable presence of a Corrupt within.
But what was it doing here?
Corrupts weren't supposed to leave the Forgotten Land.
This is a trap, Jin realized grimly.
He hesitated, pondering whether stepping into the cave was wisdom—or folly.
He was sure now.
This is orchestrated by That.
The girl watched his troubled face, her own nerves unraveling.
They stood frozen—until Ru stepped forward.
'Hey, where do you think you're going?' Jin asked sharply.
'To the cave. Our souls are there—we have to get them,' Ru replied, his voice trembling beneath the weight of forced courage.
'There's more danger inside than you realize,' Jin cautioned, his eyes drifting upward to the massive eye above them. It had stopped watching.
Why?
'So what? We'll die if we don't get our souls, right? We should at least try,' the boy said boldly. 'Dying without trying is way worse. At least we'd die a heroic death.'
Jin let out a small, sardonic laugh. 'I can't believe a kid is saying that.'
'Hey! Stop calling me a kid!' Ru snapped. 'I've seen ugly things too. I saw my mother… eaten by a monster right in front of me.'
Silence followed. The air grew heavier.
'That's why I want to be a hero. To protect what I have left. To protect everyone.'
So, you lost your mother, Jin thought, sighing through a mouth that no longer existed.
I suppose that makes us the same.