She widened her eyes and froze in place for a moment before looking at Axeden, who was poking his tongue into the inside of his cheek and glaring at Kausphore. Aurora, shocked, was the first to react.
"Hold on... wait. You are her lover. He is her fiancé. She's Cray-- what? What's going on? What happened between you guys?"
Axeden sighed and stepped between Kausphore and Sophie with difficulty. He took a deep breath and spoke seriously, facing Sophie.
"It's a long story. We'll talk about it another time. But yes… you were Craysophy in your past life. The goddess of crystal. Daughter of the Moon goddess, Slensia, and the Water god, Nerodo. Princess Craysophy. And this person… he's the Demon God, Kausphore. Y-You two were lovers back then, but he failed to protect you. You lost your life because of him, not just your life, but everything that once belonged to you."
He glanced at Kausphore, who scoffed at his words, unfazed by what others thought. He knew Craysophy wouldn't believe such things easily.
"Everyone says, 'Heaven is always on my side,' and now I think it's true because I've been given another chance to protect you. This time, I won't let him manipulate or harm you in any way. That was your past life, and it was meant to be forgotten."
Sophie made an irritated face as she listened. None of it made sense. How could it? She didn't know what happened back then, who was right or wrong. It was too much for her mind to absorb in just a few minutes.
"Wait… who needs your protection when you can't even stand properly? And why are we bringing up my past life? It has nothing to do with my current one, right? I just learned how to let go of things. Don't tell me a Demon God and Fire God are still clinging to the memory of someone long gone, who was reborn just to carry on her next journey? And you… Axeden, right? I promised to help you complete your mission, and I will. But after that... you and I will get divorced and live our lives separately."
"Yeah, sure. But you won't be on Ireas after completing the tasks. You'll continue your immortal life in Heaven."
"What?!" Aurora asked in alarm. "You mean she's going to die?"
"Um… sort of. I mean, she needs to let go her mortal body to gain an immortal one."
Axeden tried to explain as simply as he could. Sophie widened her eyes and shouted at him.
"Why didn't you tell me that before? I won't do it! I don't want to leave Aurora. Even if my life sucks, I don't want to die!"
"You won't die. I only said it that way for Aurora to understand. Right now, you have a mortal body but a celestial soul. It's caged inside your body, which is why you can't enter Heaven or any other realm besides Ireas. A soul and body must contain several elements to be considered complete. When a mortal achieves all of these elements through many births and rebirths, they reach salvation. Then, based on their karma, they're offered choices for their soul's next step."
He took a breath before continuing.
"If they choose to become immortal, they must face retribution, suffering in the Mortal world ten times more than they did before, for the next eight lifetimes, to purify their soul into a celestial one. But most don't choose that path. And those who do often fail to complete it and repeat the cycle endlessly. But if they succeed, they're granted a position based on the karma of all their lives. Those who don't choose to become immortal can select their next life and all its conditions. That's how the cycle of birth and death continues for mortals with mortal souls."
He looked pale and in pain as he finished. Sophie glanced at him with concern, thinking he could explain more later, he didn't seem well enough now.
"But since you have a celestial soul in a mortal body, your case is different. You won't die like other mortals. Your mortal body will embrace the celestial soul and become immortal. But once that happens, you'll have to leave Ireas, unless you have a universal reason to stay. After you complete all the elements of your mortal body, your celestial sou–"
He collapsed suddenly, shocking both girls.
A man rolled his eyes and looked at Sophie, who was reaching out to help Axeden along with Aurora. Kausphore also knelt to assist, muttering under his breath,
"He won't die. He's just being punished for breaking the law."
Aurora was startled. "What?! So his soul left his body to be punished?"
Kausphore looked at her with a strange expression. It was a wild conclusion, but then again, she had seen them enter other realms while their bodies remained on Ireas. He shook his head and explained.
"No. No one is allowed to enter the River of Life. That place is a vacuum of life, everything that exists inside the body of mortals and immortals. The more time you spend there, the more you lose. Even a single second can make an immortal lose their powers for hours."
"Oh my God… he stayed there? Wait, Sophie, do you feel weak?"
Sophie shook her head. "I feel completely normal."
"Then why did it only affect Axeden and not Sophie?" Aurora asked. Sophie also turned to Kausphore for an answer.
He knew Axeden had shielded her soul with his own, but chose not to say it. Seeing the worry and care in Sophie's eyes for Axeden, he lied,
"I don't know."
.
To be continued