Once inside, they all sat down in the living room. It was large and filled with furniture sitting against the walls. There was one wall that had a large window that gave an open look to the backyard garden. In the middle, a few comfortable couches and tables were set up, enough for all the girls to sit around comfortably.
The girls already had their favorite places to sit, so each of them moved with familiarity. Yasenia didn't move to her usual sitting place, though.
While Soluna couldn't be touched by people, that didn't mean that she couldn't touch furniture. Her body didn't react to touch but to the energies from others influencing the balance of her body, creating a reaction between the unstable Sun and Moon energies.
To make sure nothing went wrong, Soluna sat on the corner of the couch, and Yasenia sat by her side. Her tail also curled around Soluna's sitting position, creating a somewhat protective barrier.
Yasenia looked at Kaleina, who sat on her other side and warned. "Baby, be careful and don't touch Soluna, okay? If you do, she will explode and kill you."
Kaleina blinked a few times and nodded, clearly understanding the message. "Okay, Mommy, I won't touch her."
Yasenia smiled and kissed her forehead. "Good girl." Her eyes moved toward Flame, who was sitting by Kaleina's side, and saw the adolescent woman nod. "Don't worry, Aunty."
Meanwhile, the little spirit felt her core buzz with happiness at being surrounded by Yasenia's presence. After Yasenia broke through, her "celestial" aura became more noticeable, and being around her was like being enveloped by a warm blanket on a cold day for the empyrean spirit.
Cecile's cold and aloof voice snapped Soluna out of her reverie.
"Soluna. We asked Yasenia, and now I will ask you."
Soluna looked at Cecile and felt her icy blue eyes locking onto her with piercing intensity. The aura of the Moon Phoenix, similar to most of the girls, had undergone a massive change after breaking through. However, Cecile, who had experienced true death, was a completely different creature.
The profoundness of her gaze, the coldness of her aura, the aloofness her being emitted, everything was much more tangible, as if it had weight on her surroundings.
Even Soluna, who didn't really feel pressure from beings on similar levels due to her incredible individual might, couldn't help but feel slightly pressured.
"Why do you want to become Yasenia's contracted spirit?"
Soluna straightened her back and looked at Cecile seriously. Her usual innocent aura disappeared as her expression turned earnest. "Since the first time I saw Yasenia, I felt a connection with her."
Cecile looked at her and didn't speak as if telling her to speak further.
Soluna was not done, so she continued. "The aura Yasenia has is attractive for most spirits. Even Embera, Nyxeris, and the rest felt attracted to her. However, for me, it is a bit different." Soluna got thoughtful and expressed slowly. "My attraction is not entirely toward her energy signature. It is more about… Yasenia herself."
Soluna, unaware of what her feelings actually were, expressed herself truthfully. "I want to be by Yasenia's side. When she smiles at me, I feel my core flutter. Ah! I also get worried when she gets injured, and I feel happy when she is successful!"
The girls listened to Soluna with twitching eyebrows. 'Who lied to us and told us spirits couldn't fall in love!?'
Soluna's face brightened as she continued. "Not only that! I strongly feel like I want to become her strength! Her strength is awe-inspiring, her attitude feels like that of a ruler, and Yasenia always feels like she is untouchable, invincible! Even against the tribulation, when she was desperately fighting, I felt an unyielding spirit inside of her that I was attracted to!"
The girls looked at Yasenia with a deadpan, and Yasenia looked sideways to escape from their gazes while looking a bit guilty. 'Can you blame me for being me!?'
The girls didn't hear the question, but their answer would've probably been. 'We can!'
After that, Soluna went into more specific reasons. "When I'm in close contact with Yasenia, I also feel like I belong there. Her aura feels comforting and welcoming, she is like… hmm…" Soluna didn't know how to express her feelings with words.
Cecile interrupted. "Well, I think I get the gist of it."
Soluna blinked and asked. "You do?"
Cecile nodded and leaned on her fist, looking at Soluna deeply. "Soluna. If Yasenia eventually rejected you, what would you do?"
Soluna paused and imagined that situation. She couldn't help but feel as if her spirit core was twisting. There was a deep sense of loss and sadness, making her entire body dim down.
The girls looked closely at her facial expressions, but none of them managed to see a tinge of resentment. Only sadness and frustration.
In the end, they saw Soluna's facial expressions becoming somewhat calm as she answered while looking down. "I would be sad for a while, but… Well… I can't really force her, right? So, I would probably just leave."
Cecile's lips arched very faintly. 'I see. She is certainly different from Sarah.'
To confirm, Cecile looked at Kali, and the fox nodded at her.
Kali's nod was all Cecile needed as she looked back at Soluna and commented. "Soluna. Listen well."
Soluna raised her head and looked at Cecile. Somehow, the aura around Cecile felt less oppressive and more welcoming, confusing the spirit.
"Sorry if we were a bit strict this time. However, being in a relationship with Yasenia is different from what you expect." Yasenia blinked and looked at Cecile. The Phoenix smiled. "Yasenia is someone who is bound to be great. She has many challenges ahead of her. Even if she wants to live peacefully, the world won't let her do that. Her entire existence forces her to advance, become stronger, and be someone who is exceptionally renowned."
Cecile spoke in length, her tone as always carrying her usual aloofness, yet having a warm touch that was reserved for when she spoke about Yasenia. "Therefore, being her companion is a challenge. Of course, that's not bad since it pushes you to overcome yourself. Without Yasenia, our strength would not be nearly as high as it is right now. We would be relatively strong cultivators, but nothing out of the norm like we currently are."
Cecile looked at Yasenia and genuinely smiled, making her peerless facial features light up. "Our dragoness is quite a handful, so if your resolve is half-assed, you will just die on the way and make her feel lost and hurt." Cecile looked at Soluna, her expression becoming colder than ever. "And, for us, that's something we never want to occur. Yasenia's path is hard enough as it is without adding the loss of loved ones to it. So, if you are really devoted to following Yasenia for eternity, as a [Companion] should do, you need to understand that your life will be riddled with challenges. Understood?"
Soluna looked at Yasenia and thought about Cecile's words. 'Right. Yasenia has probably not developed her current strength and aura by just cultivating them; the challenges she has gone through must've been arduous and dangerous. After all, for a young 60-year-old dragon to have the same strength as me, a 3000-year-old spirit, that's not normal at all.'
Soluna remembered her hesitation back when Tatyana was speaking with her and frowned. 'I am hesitating because of that shadow of death Lady Tatyana always instilled in her words. A concept that feels unknown and scary.' Soluna pondered why Tatyana was so resolute at scaring her with her wording. It's not that Soluna wasn't aware of Tatyana's intentions when she spoke with her.
Soluna might have been naive and somewhat innocent because of her sheltered way of life, but she was not stupid. 'Death… The concept of losing consciousness forever. Become nothing and be forgotten. However, it is something that I don't need to fear, right? As long as I overcome my challenges, I will not experience it unprepared.'
Soluna's aura, which had been shifting around as her thoughts drifted in many directions, calmed down once more. It was clear that she was about to make a decision.
At this moment, Embera and the rest of the spirits entered the room. "Yasenia, we are here. What's wrong? For you to call all of us at the same time, it must be important, right?"
Yasenia nodded. 'While the final decision rests with Soluna, not informing the spirits feels wrong. I should make them aware of what's happening before we move on.'
Soluna looked at Yasenia with a puzzled expression and the dragoness returned her gaze. "Well, tell them about your decision."
Soluna asked, her voice filled with trepidation. "A-And, what if they don't agree?"
The dragoness shrugged and smirked. "We'll have to beat them down until they do, haha."
Soluna burst into laughter and nodded, feeling relaxed. 'If Yasenia is my ally, I'm not afraid!'
Embera looked between Soluna and Yasenia with a puzzled expression. "Beat us? Why?"
Soluna spoke and threw the bombshell of a statement without prior preparation. "Embera, I want to become Yasenia's contracted spirit!"
All the spirits looked at her with a stunned expression. "What?"
Soluna said it again. "I want to become Yasenia's contracted spirit!"
The dragoness observed their reactions and saw that more than anger, there was confusion and doubt. Embera, as the leader of the spirit group, asked. "I don't understand. Why would you want that?"
As spirits, their value of freedom was higher than most races. They were creatures born from the pure energy of the world, so they didn't have attachments anywhere. Society was a recent development for them. The one they developed was similar to a facade, as it didn't really function as one. It was a shell-like society with no one other than very few spirits who felt as if they really belonged there.
A race that has been living alone for eons would not start changing its ways without a proper and large shift in its ways. For example, humans would not suddenly stop warring wars and transform into a peaceful race, and dragons would not stop being arrogant, prideful, and territorial overnight.
Hence, Soluna's desire to become attached to Yasenia came as a surprise to them.
Soluna explained to them what she had previously explained to the girls, but the spirits still couldn't understand. Embera commented. "While I understand why you want to accompany her for a while, I don't understand why that would translate to making a contract."
Embera reasoned. "You currently feel like you do, but what about 10,000 years later? What about a million years? Will you feel the same?" Embera continued. "Without going that far, what if you want to explore other worlds? When a spirit is contracted, it becomes tied to that being until the creature perishes. Even after that, some spirits will disappear with their contractors because they were too deeply tied."
Embera asked. "If you want to be with Yasenia for a long time, sure, that's not a problem. You can be by her side for a few million years or until you get bored. However, after that time, you can always leave and live as you please because you are not contracted. Right?"
Soluna blinked a few times, finding her words reasonable. At the end of the day, Soluna was a spirit, so spirit-logic worked on her.
Tatyana was not going to lose the nourishment- I mean, the companion that Yasenia was about to get in a word battle, so Tatyana spoke. "While it is true that freedom is valuable, Yasenia is not someone who would tie down Soluna. Moreover, a spirit contract is a bit different from a beast's blood pact. Beasts become practically slaves to their masters; it's the truth, so there is no sense in wording it differently. However, spirits have the ability to make a few conditions on their part."
Tatyana said before Embera could speak. "She can make a condition in her contract that frees her of Yasenia if she suppresses her too much with her orders or tries to force her to do something too many times. Like a chain that rusts the more you pull. Eventually, it can snap and let the spirit free."
Embera wanted to speak, but Tatyana used timing and eloquence to cut off all possibilities of retort. "Soluna is also her own spirit, and, as you said, freedom is important. You limiting her intentions is not much different from Yasenia contracting her." Tatyana smiled. "Don't you think so, Embera?"
Embera paused and got thoughtful. Tatyana's words certainly made sense if they were the truth.
**************************************************************
Yasenia: Eloquent~.
Tatyana: Of course! I'm not losing you such a good treasure!
Soluna: *Blinks* Am I a treasure?
Tatyana: What are you doing here?
Author: Hehe.
Tatyana: …
Tatyana: *Ehem* Yes, you are a treasure, an irreplaceable important member.
Soluna: Ohh! Hahah, thanks~.
Tatyana: … Easy.
Author: Anyways, let's summon today's dear. I summon you!
Flagestis: Hello!
Angel: Oh, a new person!
Flagestis: Hm. Cute.
Angel: Hehe, thanks.
Andrea: So, what's your question?
Flagestis: Tatyana and the other seniors, I wanted to ask if, being Tatyana's daughter, Yasenia will ever "awaken" something Death- or Fate-related?
Tatyana: Well. That's a good question. I am personally not that sure. Yasenia, while I gestated her in my womb, has very little relation to myself. Her appearance is quite telling. While we have somewhat similar facial features, everything else is completely different.
Tatyana: Therefore, if my… let's say, genes, didn't affect her that much even in appearance, affecting her attribute-wise is quite improbable.
Valeria: While that's the truth, she has certainly inherited parts of you. Yasenia, relation-wise, feels more like a distant niece. After all, she has inherited your talent, beauty, and comprehension abilities.
Tatyana: Has she now?
Valeria: Well, I can see that. Still, for her to awaken Death or Fate-related abilities this late in her cultivation path feels quite improbable.
Tatyana: Ho~. Improbable means not impossible.
Valeria: Well, that's right.
Tatyana: Interesting.
Flagestis: I see. Thanks for answering!
Tatyana: No worries, junior.
Author: And that's all for today, bye-bye, little lurkers~.
Girls: Have a fun day~.
Anonymous Proofreader (Ayan): Hmph.
Anonymous Proofreader 2 (Sarah): Anonymous this time, huh? Anyway, have a good day!