Having tea at the kitchen table with a stranger who is possibly a Messiah while his partner is out cold on the sofa in the stranger's house isn't exactly how Vin pictured their village welcome to be. Sure, he was prepared for a possible initiation, which he also thought he was well prepared for, but ended up in this situation where he couldn't tell what just happened back there.
"Sorry for my messy house," the man puts a plate of biscuits in front of them, "Haven't had the time to tidy up with all the missions going on." he smiled.
"It's alright," Vin said politely.
"I believe you have a lot of questions in your mind," said the blonde man sipping his tea, "But first, let me introduce myself," he grinned. "My name is Sigmund F. Rola, but my companions call me Sig. I am an exorcist part of DoReMi's special task force—Messiah." sipping on to his tea once more.
Vin carefully observed the man. He certainly looks like an ordinary priest, but based on how he came to their rescue earlier, he's more than how he looks.
"So you're the mentor the commander assigned to us," Vin replied sternly.
Sig chuckled, "You're so stiff."
Vin was surprised by his response.
Sig immediately noticed Vin staring blankly at him, "Ah, sorry. People call me aloof because of my face and I might have gave you the impression I'm not taking you seriously."
"No, it's alright, this is also my first time meeting a Messiah. I've always viewed you guys as....deadly."
Sig laughed, "Deadly. Is that how the people back at the branch told you about us?"
Vin didn't know what to say. His face went from serious to apologetic.
Sig stared at him, with gentle eyes, he realized how much hardship the boy must have had growing in such an environment and being subjected to such activity at an early age. Boys his age should be out there enjoying his youth, and yet he's obliged to follow his family's line of work.
"I'm not sure about what I'm going to mentor you both on since looking at how you managed to handle Rem earlier, you're already good at what you do."
Vin's expression sunk.
"But I can teach you all about what we really are. It's the job of those who came ahead to educate the ones who will soon take over," Sig winked. That made Vin's expression a lot brighter. "Any start-up questions little Chang?" he gladly faced him.
"Vin, sir. And yes I want an explanation on what exactly happened earlier."
"Mmm.." Sig puts down his cup, "That one earlier was a truly fascinating exhibition between two equally matched spirit whisperers. However, Rem was definitely on the losing end, all because of your partner's quick wits." he and Vin glance at the sleeping Prim at the couch.
Vin pulled his cup over and gulped his tea all the way down, dropping the cup on to the table making a thud sound, "Flower said she had a theory," he mumbles and glared at him, "She reacted when I said I felt a wandering spirit. Like she had the answer right in front of her. But we all know how secured this place is. Care to explain?"
Sig smiled, "Impressive how that girl was able to figure it out with just a few details. It would have taken a regular spirit whisperer to figure out one of the twins was not real."
Vin's curiosity plummeted, "Not...real?"
Sig nodded, "Jeremiah Josiah Culion—Rem, is the only living being among those two brothers. Josh, however, isn't simply imaginary though. Truly they were twins, but Rem was the only one to live. When the other brother died, Josh had simply latched himself to Rem growing up. That's how he became a spirit whisperer. He was known for being able to create an illusion of himself, but the truth is, he is utilizing his brother Josh's spirit. The famous Doppelganger Messiah of DoReMi."
"So when I said I sensed a wandering spirit, that was Josh?"
"Correct, and your partner took the hint and tested her wild hunch by going all out with her ability, which I may say was very risky."
Vin sheepishly smiled, "Yeah, that was our first time doing resonance and I was not able to control her."
"To be honest, that was a very smart attempt coming from you two."
"How come sir?"
"If you hadn't done it," Sig pointed at Vin's core, "Both Rem and your partner might have suffered more than this," he said, You see boy, Josh's soul perhaps be a wandering spirit, but his bond with Rem serves as their resonance that no one can separate them. If you hadn't tried to stabilize...."
"Prim, sir."
"Yes yes, Prim. If you hadn't tried to stabilize Prim's mana, given the fact that Josh is attached to Rem like a leech, she could've gone and pulled out not only Josh's soul, but also Rem's."
"Then..." horror can be heard from Vin's voice, "...she could have killed Rem."
Sig nodded.
That was when Vin had completely grasped how dangerous Prim was. He always viewed the girl's abilities to be horrifyingly effective as he had been studying her case ever since he started training in DoReMi, but to see it first hand was terrifying that even he as an exorcist was affected by an ability meant to attract spirits.
"Is Josh feeding off of Rem?" Vin bluntly asked.
Sig takes another sip, "It may seem like that, but Josh latched himself with the fear of leaving his brother. You see, when they were still in the womb of their mother, Rem had a very weak body. But it was very surprising how it was Josh who died instead."
"Then Josh had been glued to Rem since birth." Vin analyzed.
"Back when I first met the two, Rem explained to me how he wasn't exactly sure how he started seeing things. But he always knew that whenever he was looking at the mirror, he would always see another him talking to him. As a child Rem recognized Josh."
"Sir, is it possible that Rem is the one feeding off from Josh?"
Sig shakes his head, "I highly doubt that. When I got to talk to Josh, he said he was just too afraid of leaving his brother that he unconsciously attached himself to his brother's unaware of what he really did."
A soul attaching to his own brother. Yet another miraculous discovery for Vin. He's always been the curious and sensitive lad, and yet he feels frustrated how Prim was the first one to realize and was able to come up with a quick plan. But he feels more upset of the fact that their resonance failed. He was confident he could handle her but, she was far more powerful, something he did not foresee.
"Sir about the resonance—"
"Unh..." a moan echoed from the sofa. Vin and Sig glanced at each other realizing Prim was awake.
"We'll continue later. Let's check the waking princess, shall we?" Sig said standing up, walking to the living room. Vin poured a cup and immediately followed after him.
Sig crouched down to Prim who was having a hard time opening her eyes.
"You shouldn't crunch your forehead so much, it'll create fine lines." Sig jokingly greeted.
Prim slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes glowed the moment she saw the blonde man.
"Gong man!" she yelped clasping his hands.
Sig was not expecting such a lively greeting that it made him burst into laughter.
"I can't even believe you're the same girl that was so weak on her knees earlier," he said stifling his laugh.
Prim was also shocked by her reaction that it made her push away Sig's hands, as her face heat up in embarrassment. "I'm terribly sorry!" she exclaimed.
"Idiot! That's our mentor Sigmund Rola," said Vin who was right behind Sig carrying a cup of tea. Sig just nods with the short introduction. Vin crouches next to Prim handing her the cup. Prim stares at the cup then at Vin, "You're awfully kind." she mumbles.
Vin felt annoyed, "And I guess you're well enough now that you're back to your barbaric self?"
Prim pouted, "And here I thought there was progress in your stuck up attitude," she grabs the cup, "Thanks for the tea!" said Prim in an ungrateful tone.
Sig bursts into laughter observing them, "You two are so cute." he said wiping off a tear.
"Well, I am, he's not." She said pointing at Vin. The boy obviously was not pleased by that snide remark.
"You're a funny one." Sig chuckles, "But I'm glad you're feeling better after all you did earlier."
Prim goofily scratches her head feeling proud of her efforts.
Bonk.
"That was not even meant to encourage you." Vin smacked her head lightly. "You have no idea how much of a hassle you made earlier."
Prim snaps back, "I'm so sorry you had to carry me all the way here, professor....wait where are we?" she glanced back at Vin.
"You're at my house, princess." Sig said sitting down at the opposite couch, "And it was Vin here who carried you here." he said.
"He did?" said Prim who was confused about how he was acting kind. Vin didn't respond and just stood up sitting to the vacant couch next to Sig. Prim sits up straight realizing she was cozily fitting in with the sofa, not very ladylike.
"Professor, how's Rem?" she initiated, "I realized I did something awful earlier." her face turned apologetic.
"Then," Vin interrupted, "You really did realize what they were in the middle of the battle earlier."
Prim nodded, "It was a wild guess, but with how you told me you felt something odd, that's when I decided to use my ability. But knowing how strong they were, it was either I go all out or not. I knew that it would probably hurt Rem, but with you controlling me, I just knew we had a bigger chance to make them come to us."
"Rem is sleeping upstairs, but I had to calm Josh down. He went on a rampage inside Rem when his brother's body collapsed. You awakened Josh's real nature as a wandering spirit after all the years they've managed to stick together. That itself is an amazing feat." Sig explained, "However, further of what you've done earlier might have not only endangered the brothers, but also awaken what lies beneath the ground."
"The cemetery.." Vin realized.
Prim looked down, "I didn't know what came over me. It felt so refreshing to finally be able to remove my limiter, but it also felt extremely displeasing. Like I was pulled into a black hole and I wouldn't be able to come back."
"Abilities that overwhelm the wielder will make them unhappy," said Sig with a calm expression, "It is true, your gift is way beyond normal and could probably put more lives at risk rather than help."
Prim and Vin glanced at each other with worried faces.
"But no one said you can't control it," winked Sig.
"Can you help me control it, professor?" said Prim.
"Of course. Now that we're at that aspect, I kind of understand now why I was assigned as your mentor." he grinned.
"Siggy is the best in controlled resonance and taming," echoed a voice from the staircase. The three of them glanced sighting the redhead who was coming down, rubbing the sleep off his eyes.
"Rem!" Prim cheered in relief.
"He's normal.." Vin mumbles.
Prim jumped off from the sofa, running towards the sleepy guy, "How are you?"
"Brilliant!" the boy smiled brightly, "More importantly, I was completely baffled with you earlier. Josh was upset that he was driven to a corner like that. It's the first time someone has seen through us in such a short amount of time."
"Please tell Josh I'm really sorry. I wasn't able to control myself."
"Don't sweat it!" he walks right down heading for the kitchen, Prim tailed after him. The boy walks to the fridge pulling out a box of milk and pouring it into an available glass that was just sitting on the table. "Want some?"
Prim shook, "No, I'm fine."
"But seriously, that was one heck of a resonance earlier. It's been so long since I had to actually pull Josh back in to avoid him from slipping out." he chuckles, drinking his glass of milk. "Siggy has always been keeping an eye on us, making sure Josh doesn't eat up the malice surrounding us whenever we use our 'doppel'."
"Doppel, you mean that trick you did on us earlier." Prim elaborated.
Rem winks, "Exactly. Oh, and sorry for being all creepy. Josh brushes off too much on me when we try and act like initiators." he chuckles.
"Which there aren't supposed to be." Sig reprimands from the living room, surprising the two.
Prim and Rem laugh.
"It's just so lonely without new recruits. When we heard there were two new selected ones that came from our region, Josh and I were so thrilled that we had our initiation all planned out to test their abilities just before they came in."
Prim then realized how it must have been sad that Rem had no one his age to talk to. The sight of the boy drinking his milk happily made her feel cozy and happy like a bundle of joy was right in front of her.
"By 'so long', exactly how old are you Rem?" said Prim feeling all sunshine and daisies.
Rem looks at her all smug. Prim felt weird, "What?"
"You're too young for me," he said biting off a cookie that was on one of the plates, eyes locked on her.
"Okay..? How come?" she innocently replied.
Rem moves closer, "25." he says sexily.
Prim pushes him away. Rem was expecting a disgusted look, but instead Prim looked really impressed. "REALLY? But, but...you look so young!" she exclaimed.
Rem bursts into laughter, "Seriously, this girl!"
Prim cocked her head to the side unaware of what just happened.
While the two were busy teasing in the kitchen, Vin had already gone ahead and discussed matters with Sigmund. They heard the laughter of the two who were in the kitchen, and Sigmund felt relieved.
"It's been a while since I heard Rem laugh genuinely like that," he said. "It wasn't easy watching over those Rem at his earlier stages with Josh. Often times he'd lose himself into Josh's powers and then everything just disappears for him. In some ways Rem related to how Prim lost herself earlier."
"Sir, I wish to learn more about how to better take control during resonance. As you can see, I was assigned to her for the fact that none of the exorcists assigned to her was able to resonate with her because of her abnormal wavelength. I'm the only with the flexible soul as of the moment."
Sig smiled, "The genius spirit tamer. I'm already impressed by how you managed to be that skilled at an early age."
"But you're still the most renowned spirit tamer moreover you're one of the Messiahs," Vin bows, "Please teach me."
Sig taps him to back up from the bowing, "Alright. But first, I want to teach you something about DoReMe that wasn't taught in your training back at the base."
"There's more?" Vin's eyes glowed in curiosity.
Sig nodded, "The real reason why the Messiahs were selected."