It was as good as saying that she had been raped. His body chilled at the thought. But the sentence for a soul violation was even worse than rape in the eyes of the law. His heart was squeezing tightly, pounding painfully in his heart. His throat stung, the pain spilling from his chest to rest at the bottom of his jaw, and he was choking back his tears.
A soul violation was different in a sense because it affected all soulmates. This was the forceful severance of soul bonds between two parties. To cut the bonds in this way was to sever their ties.
It was like cutting the voices of whales singing for their mates, like gorging the eyes out of two lovers separated by walls of glass, like breaking the limbs of soulmates who could have found one another.
They had bonds. Bonds that were ripped from her. And she could have died. The blood drained from his face and no words could escape from his lips. Chills ran up his spine and his body felt cold. Too cold.
They might not have met again for the rest of his life. He might have waited in vain, years and years of pining, of lusting, of loving his crystal girl. He would dream of her again and again. Until one day, when he was curious enough, he would find out that she was dead. His throat clamped up at the thought of such an alternate universe, his chest squeezing and pulsating with his pain.
Oh God.
"It's not recent," the doctor continued calmly, oblivious to his emotions. Oblivious to how much his words had hurt him. "She's been consuming soul suppressants to cope with it. My device detects it in her system."
He nodded to the odd contraception he had strapped on her chest, a hundred wires clipped to her neck and arms, unfolding like a blossoming flower. The numbers beeped and flickered as she breathed. The monitor danced with charts and graphs that Casper could not read.
He did not want to read them for fear of learning more of her suffering and pain.
"When?" Oliver asked. Casper turned to look, having forgotten that his friend was beside him.
His face was horribly pale, the tremble of his lips painfully obvious as he spoke. His voice was soft, grave and his face ashen with his horror. The expression mirrored his own and he could see himself in those eyes. His feelings, his thoughts, his worries. They were all the same.
"Two and a half months?" The doctor guessed, his eyes flickering with understanding as he regarded both of them, but Casper could not care less. He didn't care if his face radiated his horror like an open book.
Casper swallowed thickly. It would be just after they had met. Fuck. His jaws clenched at the thought of someone, anyone, destroying her like that. He inhaled sharply, clenching his fists together tightly.
He hadn't been there to help her, she had to rely on suppressants instead. His heart squeezed painfully, twisting and turning. If he had been beside her directly after the attack, she would be fine. She would have healed fully.
Fuck, he should have been there!
"Is she okay?" Casper's voice was oddly small as he spoke.
"Don't worry," Dr Eugeum stated clearly, looking at both of them. "She's experiencing some of the side effects of the suppressants. It's quite an addictive drug for the soul violated so this might be from withdrawal symptoms."
The doctor continued, tapping on the device on her chest. "She's vulnerable right now. Her soul is still healing, so it can be easily disturbed. But she's fine." The exhale that escaped Casper's lungs was filled with his relief.
His shoulders sagged as he relaxed into his seat, thankful, grateful. The horrifying weight on his shoulders lifted and his lungs filled steadily with air. He didn't know what he would do if she wasn't okay. His eyes glistened, his body filling with his regret. He should have been by her side. He should have. He should have searched harder.
Stupid.
Dr Eugeum gasped as he twisted the knobs to the device and Casper glanced up alarmed, sitting taller in his seat. The device beeped again, and the doctor hummed, nodding to himself. "This is interesting, I see." He mumbled clicking the buttons.
"Sir?" Casper questioned, confused. "Is something wrong?"
"She's got one completely broken soul bond. That must be the violated bond. There are two that are breaking from agitation. The breakage is a side effect of the suppressants," the doctor hummed, nodding to himself. "The other four are fine." He lifted the panel, showing them the lines on the graph.
There were seven colours. Casper noticed and something within his mind was clicking into place. The number was somehow familiar and ever so safe. It was almost expected.
The yellow one broke off at the start, the shortest of the lot. The red one had the greatest change, it went up higher than the rest and dipped all the way down to the bottom. And the green one travelled up and down haphazardly like the lines on a heart rate monitor.
The other four colours travelled upwards, continuing on in a straight, albeit, wavy trajectory at varying rates and speeds.
"She'll be alright as long as you fix the relationships for these two." The doctor pointed to the red and green, "and ensure close contact for the yellow one to restart the bond." He tapped the yellow bond with a finger. "The yellow one is the one that was violated."
"Excuse me?" Casper stared at the doctor. "Soul bonds?" He emphasised on the S, his mind still trying to wrap around the entire situation. The doctor looked confused, staring at him as he spoke.
"She has seven soul bonds. It's very rare to have that many but not unknown." The doctor began removing the device from her body, gently unclipping the wires and tags. He continued talking as he worked. "A polyamorous soul bond, or in this case, a reverse harem soul bond."
"Polyamorous?" Casper's head spun at the word, his mind flickering to its definition. Polyamory. It involved intimate relationships of one person with more than one partner, with the consent of all partners involved.
Reverse Harem. He liked reading harem comics as a kid. He would read some of them about a single guy with a bunch of girls just for entertainment. Now that he was the object of affection for millions of females and males worldwide, he didn't care for such genres as much as he did before.
But reverse harem…One girl and multiple males.
His heart stopped.
"That's right haven't you heard of the Mattner brothers?" The doctor smiled at him and Casper frowned, the name familiar in his head. "One girl, three soulmates. In my lifetime, I've seen more. There's a family of ten in Bhutan, another of thirteen in Puerto Rico. Just last month, I visited a family of ten in New York. They are all very, very happy. "
The doctor continued. "The researchers say it's from imbalance. Female genocides resulting in the sudden lack of bodies for the souls to go to. I assumed you two would know this," the doctor frowned, eyeing them carefully. The question was obvious on his face. "You boys are her soulmates aren't you?"
Casper was startled by his words turning to look at Oliver. His best friend was in shock, his mouth agape as he stared. Casper guessed, but for the doctor to confirm it like this—
Dr Eugeum spoke quickly. His expression was sober. "You didn't know...I apologise for my lack of professionalism. It seems that I overstepped."
"No, it's fine sir," Casper interjected, licking his lips. "H-how did you know?" He asked nervously.
The doctor smiled. "I've seen many soulmates during my time as a doctor. It's the look in your eyes, the expression on your face," he packed the device back into his suitcase. "The way you both gravitate towards her."
Casper flushed, realising that they did move towards her. The cogs in his mind turned, working quickly as he continued pressing for more answers.
"Then the other bonds? How do we know who—"
"It's easy to tell how many soul bonds a person has, especially one as sensitive as hers," he gestured to Amber. "But to find out who her soulmates are. That requires much more than my device."