"What now" I asked Ventus. He seemed to be worried about how I took it. "I am not angry at you. Don't worry about it. I was just overwhelmed that I had to confront that guy. I just couldn't bring myself to trust him yet."
"You don't have to." He admitted. Then he motioned me to follow him. I had no choice but to go along. I wouldn't be able to get out of Altimeraea if I didn't. "We just need to help you awaken Israfil's soul so we can get that important piece of information."
"And how are we going to do that? Please don't tell me that I will be a human experiment. You all have this powerful magic, and I will just end up being a guinea pig." I whined. Breaking the ice was hard. There was still tension between Ventus and I. Throwing off some goofy joke seemed to be a great idea. "At least try to go beyond my dumb expectations."
"Thankfully, we don't have to do something like that." But Ventus grinned at the thought. "As of now, Israfil's soul is fractured. And the fact you can tap into his magical knowledge means that there is significant progress."
"May I ask what happened to him? If that's okay with you." I think it was a perfect moment to squeeze some answers from him. It was a delicate territory to linger in. "I mean, Israfil was your best friend. Am I right?"
"Yeah, he is. And you remind me of him a lot. For starters, you kind of look like each other. You have that caring side and that authoritative style. There were a lot of times that Israfil and I clashed when it comes to our perspective." Ventus started. He looked away from me as he wandered into his own memory lane. It just made me wonder if he and Israfil were close, similar to Jaden and me. "To be honest with you, we have been looking for Israfil's fractured soul for almost a year now. It was not an easy task because your world is far larger than ours. There were also a lot of mages who have gone in hiding in your world."
"But the lands I saw outside, they were so huge!" I exclaimed. Whenever I would try to bring that image into my head, all I would feel was awe. There was no way to put those in the middle of cities. "I can't imagine our world being bigger than ours."
"To begin with, we have a sparse population compared to the billions of people living in your world. Mages are not very particular in settling down and making a family of their own. Also, they find more comfort in living with your world because of the culture." Ventus explained. He looked so animated as he speaks the information I asked of him. "Since there are other dimensions parallel to ours, they are busy trying to discover what those other dimensions have in store for them. They are an inquisitive bunch because they want to keep improving in their art. That's why settling down and having a family would be a huge setback to that quest."
"I see. So that's how it is. Anyway, I still don't know what happened to Israfil." I reminded him. His eyes darted back to me. And I knew that my curiosity was really getting the best of me at that very moment. Those blue eyes of his sparkled like the lightning magic he was using. "Sorry, but I would really like to know."
"More than a year ago, the Black Sorceress waged war against the Council of Mir' Quies, think of it as an international council that represents many countries. Just to let you know, the land we are in is called the Republic of Zidania, and it is ruled by a selected council that represents the six major Houses." Ventus started giving out more details one after the other. If I was clueless about what was happening, I could instantly be taken advantage of. And that would have meant the defeat of my purpose. "Israfil and Rei's father was one of the council members who represented the House of Vladimir and took it his personal quest to take down Black Sorceress. She used to be part of the same House as them that's why he was more than willing to do it."
Both of us went back to the towers high terraces. I can't help but look up to the skies filled with a dazzling view. It took me an effort to keep listening to Ven's explanation because the sight above was more than enough to distract me.
"Since Israfil and I were currently apprentices for the Knights of Imperio, we were also involved in the fight against her army. For some reason, other mages followed the belief system she was making. And their force grew strong in just a couple of years. It wasn't an easy fight." He continued on. But I was intent on how he would be able to say regarding what really happened to Israfil. "We were able to corner the Black Sorceress, but she had an escape plan. One of her officers were able to lure us momentarily before she was able to escape to the Great Divide."
"Rei mentioned that Great Divide a couple of times before." I cut him off from his narration. "But where is it exactly? Based on how he used it, that place was to keep demons out."
"The Great Divide is an incomplete dimension that connects all the others. I guess you can think of it as a central train station that can take you to a whole lot of other places." He stated. Then he motioned his hand in the air, and his finger started glowing. Ventus whispered a command I didn't hear and made a circle in the air, which created an image from inside it. It was some sort of window, and we could see the other side. "You can try checking it out."
All I saw was an endless void like the night sky. An impression pressed within my mind, and I knew it was what we were talking about. There was some sort of force that was pulling me towards it. And that part was scary. Ventus must have noticed my stare and closed the portal.
"Powerful mages from hundreds of years ago who discovered this put a set of strong seals to keep some of the dimensions from being accessed. One of them is called Tartaros, which was a dimension filled with demonic forces." He said it with a certain level of rigor. It was as if to warn me of dark possibilities. "Israfil and his father, Aleus, and others went after her there where a battle took place. They were not able to defeat her, but as a last-ditch effort, they were able to seal her in another realm. It was too late because Veronica had mortally wounded them."
"And that killed Israfil." I continued it for him. But Ventus just looked at me, and I knew I wasn't right with my guess. "Don't look at me like that."
"Yes and no. All of their bodies were disintegrated due to what the Black Sorceress used. Aleus died in the process because he prioritized Israfil's soul first. It traveled to your world and found you. That's what we know so far." Then he looked at me. And it was a bit more intense. That was the moment I knew that he missed Israfil badly. "Most likely because you were the first compatible host that he can find. And it took some time before his fragment soul slowly integrates on its own. Israfil held on and kept fighting even if he's partially dead."
At that moment, I got close to him and hugged him tightly. Ventus was too formal with me because I wasn't really his best friend. But I am sure he's the best person who would do anything for Israfil. Then I whispered to him, "I am sure your best friend would be thankful to have you in his life."
Ventus hugged back. And I felt his hands gripped my shoulders tightly. I let him hug me for almost a minute. Then I pulled myself back and saw that he was already crying. Something within me jumped, and a warm feeling washed over me. A tear escaped my eye, and I knew that another someone from within me was trying to communicate.
"Chance, thank you." He smiled. "Seriously, I can't thank you enough for doing that. I've waited too long, hoping that we could bring him back. Now it reignited the hope that I almost let go of. And it really helped that you and Israfil looked like each other."
"So, how do we revive Israfil?" I asked him. But then Ventus looked at me sadly. The concern in his eyes grew more assertive. "I'm sure Rei already had a plan in mind. He seemed to be that kind of person."
"We still need to create a proper vessel for Israfil where his soul could reside in. Otherwise, this would all be useless. But Rei already had prepared for that and was already researching on recreating a human body." Ventus retorted. His eyes narrowed like he was thinking more resonant than usual. "My part in the plan was to befriend you and help you awaken Israfil's soul or at least speed up the healing progress."
"And how do we do that?" I inquired.
"In theory, Israfil's awakening speeds up as you access more of his memories and his knowledge. That means the more you used magic and tap deeper into his mind, then it will integrate faster." Ventus explained. "That's why Rei chose me for this job because I was his closest friend. To put it simply, the first step is I need to help you learn how to use the dark-element magic."
One of my brows raised in question. Then my eyes narrowed in disbelief. His plan sounded too good to be true. "Interesting. I help you out, and I get stronger in return. In short, I can protect my friends if I need to."
"Yeah." He agreed. Then shifted to a serious face. "But I don't think you would really agree for starters. Because first things first, you need to do something."
"And that would be?" I asked.
Ventus almost got stiff. "You need to open yourself to the darkness."