Saro watched Silvanna pace for a few moments. Darkova spoke up in her head.
'Hopefully, she doesn't see you as any form of...danger anymore. Truthfully, I am looking forward to your explanation.'
Saro instantly replied. 'She's going to get a base description of what I'm doing, but I'll explain as much as I know to you later.'
Silvanna spoke, finally. Saro was beginning to get impatient.
"So...you're protecting her soul then? That's what it looked like, but what are you protecting her from?"
Saro chuckled.
"Not quite, but close. I'm protecting both of us. I didn't know for sure that I was using my soul to do it, but it was a suspicion of mine. You just confirmed it for me.
Regardless of that, as far as I can tell, the foreign magic wants to destroy both of us. Probably in an effort to merge us, but we can't really know that for sure. It might want to just destroy both of us."
Silvanna put a hand to her forehead and sighed.
"Well. Neither of you can do Soul Magic while the foreign magic exists within you, so getting rid of it is the only real solution to that specific problem."
Saro nodded.
"That's about what I expected, though I don't know what that means for our grade in this class."
Silvanna scoffed.
"Grade? That's your concern right now? Foreign magic is trying to tear you apart and you're worried about grades?"
Saro chuckled.
"I've dealt with it for a very long time, so don't concern yourself with it. The three of us only need to consider what accommodations can be made while the two of us.."
She pointed at herself.
"Figure out what to do about it."
.....
After a long, terse discussion with Silvanna, she agreed to teach Lia Time and Space magic separately while the rest of the class learned how to use Soul Magic. Hopefully, Both Saro and Kova could eventually come up with a solution to their problem in the meantime.
As for the rest of Darkova's day, it went about as one would expect. The only class that actually ended up teaching her anything was her Forging class. She was given a research tome about sentient weapons and was, effectively, told to read it so she would be able to gain actual field experience.
Once her day ended, she made her way back towards her dorm room. Darkova was rather eager to hear what Saro had to say.
She did not spare any attention to Page as she entered and instead she wandered directly to the shower.
.....
About three hours later, Lia awoke from her meditation and spoke to Saro.
'Alright. I am rejuvenated now.'
Saro mind nodded and performed a small smile.
'So where do you want me to start? You know what, I'll just start at the beginning.
I am not from this world, and most of my memories are not of this place. I was killed in a rather gruesome way, but that part isn't important.'
Darkova thought for a moment before posing a question.
'What was your job?'
Saro chuckled.
'I was a...mercenary of sorts. I mostly did assassinations, but I did do other things sometimes. None of which were particularly good things to do to people.
I was a lone agent for a long time, doing assassinations, set-ups, and all manner of espionage.'
Darkova made a humming noise of some sort and then spoke after a short bit.
'Sounds like it would have been pretty lonely.'
Saro mind-snorted before speaking.
'It was at first, but I did eventually find a group that cared about each other.
They were called "The Family". A ragtag group of hapless people like I was. The leader was a charismatic guy who took incredibly good care of his agents. We had a wide spanning network of people, contacts we all knew and took care of together.
The group was in the best way to describe it, a Found Family.'
Darkova was silent. She did not propose any manner of question, as she sensed the situation did not get better for her.
Saro continued.
'I spent many, many years with them. I was cold, closed off, and largely uncaring toward a lot of things. The group sort of...saved me from myself. But, as all good things, they do eventually end.
I was supposed to take down a target distributing an incredibly dangerous steroid, they were moving in on our business and they did so dangerously.
But when I arrived, the target had been tipped off and I barely escaped with my life. You waking up in the bed covered in blood was due to that experience I relived during a dream.'
Darkova mind-nodded.
'Did you ever find out who did it?'
Saro shook her head.
'No, because that girl, Ve, did something egregious after I told her what happened. She is sleazy, gross, and irredeemable.
She was part of The Family, one of our underground doctors-a surgeon with experience in chemicals.
She produced high grade bombs and destroyed our main headquarters. Many within our group died that day. Including those I cared for.
Ve said that she did it for me, but she became the number one public enemy of our organization on that day.
Following the tragedy, I assumed the position of Family head and began covert movements to find and kill her. I didn't get to finish my task before I died.
Some details here become...slightly hazy, but I will try to keep them in line with what I understand to have happened.'
Darkova mind-nodded as Saro continued.
'I died and was brought before some...strange entity. A god or angel of some kind. They told me I was going to have a new life, with no memories.
I couldn't accept that, I couldn't pass on with the knowledge that I left behind everyone who was relying on me. I was angry, enraged at the entity who did this to me.
And so...I fought with everything I had against their magic, the gray magic that is attempting to un-make us.
It is the price I now have to pay in order to live on as I was.'
Darkova was silent for a bit before her mentally performed a hug. Darkova spoke after a moment of silence.
'Do not mourn what you may have lost. Instead, you should celebrate what it was. Believe it or not, as far as I am concerned, you are my older sister.
We are tied together in a way that is...impossible to describe to others. My strength is your strength if you ever need it, Saro.
Two halves of the same whole.'
Saro chuckled a bit.
'Two halves, huh?'
Darkova grinned viscously.
'Two halves of the same whole.
And look at the bright side, those gods must have sent her here to end what we are. Which means her hour of reckoning is at hand.'
Both Lia's mind-smirked in unison.
'It will be the end of her life. This time, I will make sure of it.'