Obrecht has always been a tad bit flabbergasted by other people's emotions. He's confused but at the same time curious of what he fundamentally can't comprehend, or even lack.
Being different from everybody, Obrecht is talented at masking, hiding his difference from people by mimicking the body language and speech of people his age. At this aspect, he is indeed a genius and a fast learner.
Yet, upon Videre's arrival, there have been a lot of firsts for Obrecht. He knew now to be excited, to be selfish enough to want them to see only him, to want to monopolize one person's attention, to be clingy...to be genuinely happy even though he is only sitting quietly beside the person he likes.
One can count in one's hands the things that has piqued Obrecht's attention. Thus, what he isn't interested in, remains neutral, but what he is interested in, ultimately becomes an obsession.
His life thrives and revolves around them, whether it be the ways and techniques of bladesmith, battle arts, or—the recently added to the list—Videre.
So when Videre disappeared in front of his eyes back in the underground country of Inferis, he went crazy.
The previously knocked-out Raguk, who was shaken awake by the ground vibration, was greeted by a big pit in front of him, with a vast expanse of empty field in a wide range. He slowly sat back up, clutching the aching parts of his body. Obrecht didn't pull his punches. Thankfully, there's no broken bone.
Feeling something wrong like a kind of vacancy with the tree trunk he was leaning at, he glanced back.
Gone. It's gone....!
Just a few inches from his scalp, the whole tree was sliced cleanly! Looking around with a much sober mind, Raguk could now see that there were no trees nearby. Inferis' crystal ceiling could clearly be seen! This meant that every tree was chopped off cleanly!
Raguk clutched his nape, a cold sheen of sweat sliding down the side of his face. If his sitting position was a bit straighter instead of slumping, it would have been his neck sliced off along with the tree behind him.
Raguk glances at the man eerily standing near the pit, looking down with a dark face while holding his swords in both hands; his eyes barely showing a hint of sanity. He wanted to leave without alerting him but his actions just led him to opposite results.
Obrecht's eyes moved fluidly to where he sat. Raguk felt a chill, almost as if he got caught by a large predator. He was grabbed by his clothes and dragged towards Obrecht's house, where both men met Obrecht's Ama.
Having seldom interacted with seventh seat's wife, Raguk didn't bother to listen in on their conversation after a quick nod of respectful greeting. He does not know what they spoke about, but it they talked for a long time until Obrecht seemed to have calmed a lot down, determination even shining in his eyes.
From their cave house, the seventh seat's wife led them to the fountain in the middle of the Circ. The place was surprisingly barren of Lumeans, with the shops all closed; perhaps with owners participating in the annual tournaments in the grand amphitheater.
"Vera, what are doing here? I thought you were injured?" Raguk couldn't help but be surprised at the person he first saw standing in front of the fountain with two more people. "What's the meaning of this?" Raguk turned to Krael who didn't answer, before looking at Virgil who also came.
Virgil shook his head, indicating that he didn't have a clue. "Imagine the fright I got when Vera suddenly opened her eyes and asked me to bring necessities for travel out of nowhere."
Raguk peeked at the large the large backpack that was a few inches taller than Virgil's head. Does one really pack the necessities when one is told to pack? He gave Virgil an odd look that was usually aimed at pushovers.
"Are the preparations ready", Odeti asked Vera, who simply nodded. "Are you sure about keeping Aovialutre's soul awake?"
"Although this will tax Aovialutre's soul, there isn't any other way. Videre has already been separated from us, along with the necklace holding Aovialutre's memories. If we want to reach the elder's home in Forbidden Forest without the wanderer's guidance, nor the necklace, Aovialutre's soul will have to stay awake during the journey, to give directions now and then." In a soft sigh, she adds, "Though, this may further deplete her soul's energy and cause her to reincarnate at a later date."
Sleeping for so long, Vera sported a head-splitting headache. Her mind was brimming with so much random knowledge and memory accumulated for thousands of years.
Of the three souls, only one had memories, but this part of Aovialutre's soul seemed to have thought to split her memory for the other two souls just in case. As it turned out, her intuition was on point. Unfortunately, there was no time to fully equally divide her memories, therefore, the two parts of her soul only had a vague memory of the way.
Now, inheriting one of Aovialutre's soul with snippets of her memories still meant thousands of years of memories that Vera needed to mentally digest. Truly, she has become a vessel of enlightenment and soul. It took days of processing that her mind was on shut down. Hence, her comatosed state for a few days.
Sadly, she didn't wake up in time for Videre's scheduled departure.
"How are we leaving?" It's the first time Krael spoke up. Raguk glanced at the younger male. He always had a taciturn impression of the other.
"Guess", Vera playfully looked at Krael sideways.
Krael raised only an eyebrow at her, not saying anything else. Obviously, he was already in a good mood, seeing that Vera was alright and her usual self.
Obrecht dully stared faraway with nothing to particularly look at. He was dead to world.
Particularly, he was dead in front of flirty dogs feeding him dog food.
He wasn't sure just when this happened, but he was determined to compete with Krael on showing public displays of affection. He'll make sure to be lovey-dovey directly in front of this dog.
Just you wait.
Obrecht squinted at that faraway-cannot-be-seen view, all the while etching this promise in his heart.
"There are a lot of hidden exits and entryways in Inferis, and each of them have their own routes. There are only a few in Lumea. The one in Obrecht's cave is an entryway to Inferis so we can't use that", Vera explained.
"I don't quite get it. Why are all talking as if we're leaving?" Raguk finally asked the question that bothered him.
"That's because we obviously are", Krael coolly answered. Raguk was too busy being puzzled to care about Krael's are-you-an-idiot look directed at him.
"Where's the nearest exit then", Virgil asked.
Despite thinking that he got accidentally involved in this fiasco, Virgil nonetheless, can't help but be excited. After more than a thousand years, he'd be one of the few Lumeans to actually step foot on the surface once more! Who wouldn't be excited?! The expression on his face was almost one of those tourists.
"Right here", Vera glanced at the fountain in the middle of the Circ. The same replica of a fountain found in Aovialutre's temple.
"Odeti? What—Obrecht? What are all you children doing here? Vera!" Halvalt stared wide-eyed at the missing patient the other Batrani members were looking for. "Vera, you're Apa has been looking for you."
"Hello, Tito Halvalt", Vera nodded and smiled amiably. "I wrote a letter to my Apa. I left it at Tita Vita's shop. I've explained the summary of everything in that letter. I recommend reading it."
Unsure, Halvalt nodded before he looked at Odeti who he wasn't able to find previously. "Odeti. Where have you been?"
No matter how perfect you thought your plan had been drawn, there will still be a chance for failure. That is why, contingency plans are a must. To Aovialutre, Odeti is exactly that—her contingency plan.
Ever since childhood, Odeti has been talented with a few things, and one of these things is magic. She found that it was a lot easier to use water spells rather the other elements in particular, but it always felt as if she was borrowing it from someone else. She was never tired when she used magic spells, nor did she have a hard time conjuring them even though she never really understood the theories, much to the envy of the other mage-borns in the city. Yet she never really gave it much thought.
It was enough to live a simple life with her saccharine lover, Halvalt.
Life became more prosperous and joyful when Odeti and Halvalt had been blessed with their first and only child, Obrecht. She gave her family love and everything she had in her power, and in return, her family gave her happiness and love right back.
And recently, her family grew; one more person, one more child under her protection and care. And a good child at that! Who doesn't love a behaved filial child who insists in doing the house chores so you can rest?! Is her husband like that? Has her biological son treated her like that?
No!
Yet things changed upon the good child's coming of age ceremony.
Odeti has always wanted to apologize to Videre for hiding things from not just him, but also from his husband and son. Unfortunately, it was never easy to tell another person that she shared one body with another soul; Aovialutre's soul. Wouldn't other people doubt her identity? Who really was the one caring for them—was it her or was it the other soul? Wasn't it just Odeti playing a bad prank or joke on them?
Nobody might even believe her. She felt timid. As if the secret was hacking away at her consciousness, making her retreat back and back again.
The more you love the person, the harder it is to speak the truth sometimes, because you care so much for what they'll say and think of you.
So when part of Aovialutre's memories transferred into Odeti by using Videre's body as a medium, the other soul 'awakened'. It began thinking on its own towards the goal in its memories. It moved on its own, sometimes with or without Odeti's knowledge. Odeti could dispel or trap the soul as she was the legitimate owner of the body, but her kind nature always stopped her. It wouldn't be an exaggeration of Odeti felt aggrieved after sharing the memories of Aovialutre's past.
She can't help but imagine, what if it was her and Halvalt going through the same thing? Could she say that she loved him so much that she can sacrifice her own soul like that and accept such a excruciating life where your lover doesn't even remember your name? Odeti was moved. Yet her family is everything to her, so she can only compromise with Aovialutre—a fellow person yearning for happiness with their lover.