Lady Shirona was bewildered by the sudden development of the situation, and most likely is wondering why would I be crying. Honestly, I, too can't explain why tears are still gushing down my face. To oppose the tears, I stiffened my face, only to be met with more salty droplets.
No, it's no use resisting. Salaphiel's body and memories wished for this. It would be stupid of me to discard her feelings towards her own mother.
I hugged Lady Shirona, and sobbed on her chest. Surprisingly, she wrapped her arms around me, and embraced me back. A faint feeling of warmth covered my body, which I assumed to be the love only a mother like her could give.
I felt mixed emotions at the time, as I've never experienced this before. In fact, even though Salaphiel is the one who yearns to be with her mother, I also felt loved...What a strange development indeed.
About an hour has passed since, and I laid down on my bed, speculating about the inconsistency of the memories given to me.
Though I did say I was given her memories up to 9 years, about a quarter of them were blurry and impossible to interpret. What's worse, is that the ones that were blurry, are the ones past 6 years old.
All I could decipher out of the vague memories, were two silhouettes. I couldn't get anything else, though.
To conclude, Salaphiel went missing at the age of six. However, this body and the memories all state that I'm 9 years old. The only possible thing that can explain all this, is the phenomena of a...time inconsistency.
Solving these mysteries is my highest goal, but I should currently focus more in developing myself and my abilities. I plan on venturing out to the world soon, after all.
Like I have said before, this is a world wherein the concept of magic is present. There's swords as well, but let's focus on magic.
The reason I survived the fall from when I first arrived, is most likely due to my magic capacity. Salaphiel, whether angel or not, had a high aptitude for magic since she was born, causing her to be trained on it at a young age.
Though this body was supposed to be trained, and supposedly has high mana, then why can't I feel magic at all?! If the concept of magic here is just like in light novels, I should be able to feel it flowing to every corner of my body...but I can't.
That being said, I can feel some kind of restraint inside me. Like chains binding the furthest of my abilities. I have a hunch that it's purpose is to hinder me, but I can't exactly pinpoint why I came to this conclusion.
Anyway, I need magic to survive in the outside world. Which is why I will be asking Lady Shirona if she could teach me. Of course, I will try my utmost to feel my magic flow before that.
Alright, I give up. I stayed up until dawn to try and somehow feel the flow of my mana, but I was met with failure each time. In fact, half of those attempts was me doing weird poses, as I thought doing so would help me.
Because of this, I feel incredibly sleepy right now. However, I should learn magic as soon as possible. With this, I set off and went to...the toilet.
Anticlimactic? No, I felt like going since I couldn't hold it in anymore. Also, who doesn't go to the bathroom after waking up? Oh yeah, I've only went to the bathroom a total of three times in the span of my stay here, since I still can't get used to the system of this body.
Unsurprisingly enough, I didn't feel aroused whenever I went to the bathroom, and looked at my body while showering. But then again, I didn't feel much attraction towards the opposite sex, nor the same one during my past life.
I finished my business, and headed towards the front room. There, I found Lady Shirona elegantly sipping coffee on a table. I walked towards her, and tried to talk about my request.
"Please...teach magic?"
She looked at me, put down her cup, and took some time before replying back.
"I'll make the preparations, and call for you later."
My body unconsciously jumped with glee. Maybe it didn't want to suffer from my methods anymore? In any case, I'm very thankful that she agreed.
I headed back to my room in triumph, and tried to feel the flow of my magic once again. This time, I'll be trying a different approach. Namely, to be in a blank state, bordering between my consciousness.
Remember when I first got here? Yes, the part where Sapahiel's memories were etched into my mind. That's the state I want to recreate, but I must proceed with caution. It would be risky to simply delve deep without any preparations.
Which brings us to now...Behold! My magnificent invention known as 'Wake up with Ice' machine! A wacky name? No, it's perfect. It has a very simple mechanic of tying my hands up, with a bowl of ice falling down on me if I ever so much as budge my arms.
I acquired special ingredient no. 1, through the use of asking Lady Shirona to make water frozen. Then she looked at me dumbfounded, and said You mean ice? To be honest, I must've sounded pretty stupid there.
Anyway, it's time to commence the operation.
I tied up my hands, while the bowl of ice was hanging on top of my head, ready for it's possible assault. I carefully laid down, as water droplets fell down on my face. I began my slumber...
Ah, crap. My back is itchy. I can't move...so I tried my best to ignore it, and finally fell into a sleeping state.
✞
A blue light emanated from the shadows, causing the soul of the young man inhabiting Angel Salaphiel's body, to awaken from an unconscious, blank state.
When he rouse from his sleep, the first thing he laid his eyes on, was the faint azure shade that woke him up. Though the light was strong enough to reach him, it seems that the light was quite far from him.
The soul lazily stood up, and slowly walked towards the azure light. As he progressed, the light gradually paled. With this, he felt uneasy. What could be awaiting him in the distance? Will his soul disintegrate? Negative thoughts flooded his mind.
After a few minutes of treading the path, he felt like he was running in circles. No matter how far he walked, the azure light was still a far way to go. However, the boy realized something, and went back to...where he came from.
He seemed like an idiot for going back, but that certain idiot had a sly look on his face. He marched forward to where he came from, never looking back.
Suddenly, the azure shade of light was nowhere to be found, only leaving the soul with nothing but an empty void of darkness. For some reason, the boy was internally grinning, as if he figured out the way to solve the puzzle.
After walking back, he finally reached his destination. But something is different, no- everything isn't how it was when he awakened. 'I knew it. Salaphiel's soul is mine, and my soul is hers.'
What stood before him was a childish figure, bound by countless chains of glass. The little girl was locked in place, and looked pitiful. Her eyes looked like a lifeless abyss, begging for someone to end her suffering.
The young man reached out to one of the chains that restrained her, causing the glass chains to crackle in response. The soul was startled, and backed off. But he didn't back down.
Instead of brute forcing his way through, he began to thought about how to reach out to the little girl. After pondering on it, he realized that it was...quite simple.
That little girl, looked awfully similar to Salaphiel. Meaning, whatever he decides to do, this girl would probably follow, and vice versa.
He held out his hand, and threateningly looked at the chains. Shortly after, he internally muttered...'Shatter.'
After a few minutes of silence, it could be confirmed that nothing happened. Though his bold declaration, the chains didn't seem to even twitch. The confidence of the soul was nowhere to be found, as he can be seen panicking. 'How didn't that work? Aren't our souls supposed to be one?'
Suddenly, he felt a weird sensation coursing through his body, an overwhelming feeling. His white soul can be seen, splitting into two colors. It was as if someone else is within him.
Involuntarily, he held out his hand, and aimed it specifically on the chain closest to the little girl's chest.
"リリース"
The supposed soul...talked, in a language that seemed incomprehensible by normal people. The voice emitted by the soul couldn't be identified, as it sounded neither male nor female.
Shortly after, the single chain that was previously being locked onto, had shattered into pieces...before completely disintegrating into nothingness.
Perhaps as a result of the events, a blinding ivory light scattered across the room, involving the soul in it's way.
✞
Hmm, what happened there? I lost consciousness ever since I began panicking. I was feeling a bit hopeless back there, but why did I suddenly wake up here? Something's wrong, I can feel it. However, I do feel that something is different about me.
After a short time of focusing, I finally realized it.
Yes, I can more or less feel the magic in my body now! Though it's faint, I can feel it all around my body. I noticed that they're all connected in the middle of my chest, as if it's a core.
I wonder why I'm able to feel it now. Maybe the restraint I was feeling from before has been released? That's most likely the case, but I can't figure out how it happened. It's as if someone interfered with my body.
Let's forget about that for now, and take a shower first. I sat up from my bed, and was met with an extremely troublesome crisis...
I forgot about this! I apparently forgot about the ice above me, waiting for me, leading to my demise. So, I'm now drenched, and really, really cold.
How could you betray me like this, 'Wake up with Ice' machine'! I guess you can't trust your own invention, eh?
Agh, it's freezing.
Hmm, why is the ice still cold? It should've dissolved by now...huh? I checked my surroundings, and could see that the lamp Lady Shirona gave me last night is still present on the table. Normally, she would've picked it up by now...
The sun is still the same place as before I slept? I might just be delusional but the only conclusion I can think of, is that the time I spent there was just about a minute here? Or to be more specific, the flow of time differs from here and there.
Another time anomaly? Or was the state I entered a loophole that defies the very laws of this world? Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm guessing the reason this was possible, is because Salaphiel made it to be. She most likely tried to ease the burden of my involvement here. But then again, this is all but a hunch.
In any case, I'm really cold! There's no time to be hypothesizing about this now. Onwards to the toilet!
I rushed to the toilet, with water droplets dripping down my body. It may be childish, but I can't care about appearances now. I've always hated the cold, this life or the other.
I'm almost there! Yet, I was met with a huge blunder...I slipped.